String startDate="01-02-2013";
SimpleDateFormat sdf1 = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-mm-yyyy");
java.util.Date date = sdf1.parse(startDate);
java.sql.Date sqlStartDate = new java.sql.Date(date.getTime());

2013-01-01.

SimpleDateFormat sdf1 = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy");

SimpleDateFormat sdf1 = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy");

String startDate="12-31-2014";
SimpleDateFormat sdf1 = new SimpleDateFormat("MM-dd-yyyy");
java.util.Date date = sdf1.parse(startDate);
java.sql.Date sqlStartDate = new java.sql.Date(date.getTime());