Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is
taking personal interest in pushing up exports, feeling encouraged after a
recent Pakistan-Russia inter-governmental committee meeting where several
Russian companies showed interest in trading with Pakistan. He doesn’t want
this opportunity to be missed.
The food and commerce ministries,
on his instructions, are now busy in preparing a plan for boosting farm exports
to Russia.“We should properly inform our traders that they can diversify their
export destinations, taking advantage of the opportunities for agricultural
exports to Russia”, Dar told officials of the two ministries in a
meeting.Russian imports of food-related commodities were worth about $39bn in
2013, about $23.5bn of which was in categories affected by the Russian ban on
exports primarily to the Western market. From the countries covered by the
sanctions, Russia imported $17.2bn worth of food which it will now import from
other countries. Russian food safety authorities had already banned the import
of Polish fruit and vegetables prior to the ban.
A delegation visiting Moscow recently found Russian officials keenly
interested in Pakistani commodities and willing to extend preferential
treatment to our exporters
Pakistan’s current trade with
Russia is about $550m which, given the existing potential, can be further
enhanced. Pakistani potatoes and citrus fruits are already being exported.
There is a big demand in Russia for seafood such as shrimps, prawns and
shellfish and also for hard cheese and marbled beef. It may require special
expertise to win space in the Russian market.In September, a 20-member
delegation of Pakistan fruit, vegetables exporters Importers and Merchants
Association (PFVA) led by Waheed Ahmed visited Russia to explore the prospects
of export of fruits and vegetables in the wake of ban on imports of such items
from Europe.On return, they said they found Russian officials keenly interested
in Pakistani commodities and were willing to extend preferential treatment to
Pakistani exporters to have a sizable share in Russia’s $2bn fruit and
vegetable market.
However, their hosts were more
concerned about the quarantine standards of the Pakistan companies which, they
pointed out, must meet Russian quarantine standards.However, one may note that
the past record of trade ties between the two countries have not been enviable
by any measure. About 15 years ago, seven trade companies had filed claims
worth $76m with the Russian authorities on a trade dispute which remained
unresolved. Early this year, the Russian government showed interest in
resolving the dispute.
In January, the prime minister
constituted a committee to resolve the matter. Similarly, Russians detected
larvae of Khapra beetles in rice and the golden nematode pest in potato
shipments in 2013. This led to curb on the import of some Pakistani farm
products, including potatoes and rice. The ban on citrus fruit was, however,
lifted in December 2013.The restrictions followed on grounds of alleged
systematic violations of international and Russian Phytosanitary requirements.
Pakistan had started supplying potatoes to the Russian market a few years ago.
Before the ban, the country accounted for 10pc of Russia’s potato import, which
reached 1.2m tonnes in 2010-2011. Russia itself produces 29m tonnes of potatoes
every year. Pakistan also supplied about 28,000 tonnes of rice before the 2013
ban. According to Euromonitor International, the Russian rice market was
estimated at $35.4bn.
Early this year, Russia and Pakistan signed a protocol for
facilitating export of kinnow, rice and potato at a ceremony in the wake of
visit of six-member Russian delegation which saw facilities and quality of
Pakistani food products in various cities.Meanwhile, Ishaq Dar has directed the
ministries of commerce and national food security to coordinate in identifying
exportable food products, keeping in view whether surplus quantities and
requisite quarantine arrangements were available. The minister observed that
quality standards should be considered in advance to ensure the success of the
export plan.
Published in Dawn, Economic &
Business, December 29th, 2014
Source with thanks:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1153668/a-wider-avenue-for-farm-exports
In this photo, women work in an agricultural field in
Lahore. — AFP/FileEveryone is concerned about agricultural growth prospects
during 2015. They cite three factors: poverty (as a majority of farmers are
unable to invest in crops), the confusion about the federal and provincial
governments’ jurisdictions, and climatic changes that make the production cycle
uncertain.
The farmers have lost money on
almost all major crops — cotton, rice, cane and wheat during 2014; in many
cases they were not able to recover even cost of production if official
estimated costs are something to go by.The cost of each maund of cotton was stated
to be Rs3,200, which was sold at Rs2,500 per 40Kg; cane cost was Rs194 per
maund, but fixed at Rs180; rice prices dropped by almost 50pc as compared to
last year, and the federal government had to come up with a subsidy package to
save farmers from total disaster.
For cotton growers, the government had to induct the Trading
Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to support market price to some extent. Under
these circumstances, the farmers have precious little to invest on next crops
that dims prospects for 2015.
The farming
community is caught between falling income and rising cost of inputs and it
could define the prospects of agricultural growth during 2015.
The farmers’ ability to invest on
inputs has always been a crucial factor, which seems to have been significantly
lost. On the other hand, the cost of inputs — barring a temporary relief on
diesel — keeps rising for a number of factors; cartelisation of the market and
small players greed to reap windfall every season being prime factors.The urea
position clarifies the point. Despite heavy imports, dealers are unwilling to
bring prices down to official level and the Punjab government is currently
readying to crackdown on urea black-marketing. It had already lodged a number
of FIRs for pesticides overcharging.
The farming community is thus
caught between falling income and rising cost of inputs and it could define the
prospects of agricultural growth during 2015.This situation is afflicted by
another factor; confusing mandates of federal and provincial institutions about
which one is supposed to do what. The Eighteenth Amendment’s devolution is
still to be absorbed by the provincial governments.The recent row on cane
prices clarifies the point, where the provincial governments of Punjab and
Sindh acted differently; causing social upheaval and the federation siding with
the farmers. The vacuum in some other areas is even bigger. For example, the
federation has a post Animal Husbandry Commissioner (commonly known as chief
veterinarian) but it is lying vacant for the last one year.
Pakistan Agriculture Research
Council (PARC) has a post of a member, Animal Science, which has not been
filled ever since the last one retired and the chief executive officer of the
Federal Livestock Board is missing for the last two years.This vacuum at the
federal level is yet to be institutionally filled by the federating units. On
their part, what provinces are doing is best exemplified by Punjab; during the
last few years, it has nominated around seven different committees on livestock
with grossly overlapping mandate and memberships, creating utter confusion.
Without any institutional input,
decision-making is hijacked by lobbies, which has managed to bring cane prices
down for a week or so and made billions of rupees out it; they managed
duty-free import of skimmed milk and started manufacturing milk at the cost of
farmers. This confusion on mechanism, mandate and decision-making, in all
probability, would continue during the next year and test agricultural
abilities of the farmers and farming.To top them all is water scarcity,
exacerbated by climatic changes and Pakistan’s inability to respond to it
through a well thought-out planning and strategy. In a recent report, the State
Bank of Pakistan had termed climate change not just a global debate, but a
major threat to Pakistan; particularly, when it raises risks for food security.
Estimating that temperature might
rise by another 0.6 to one Celsius by 2030, the central bank warned that the
change may take down wheat production by 1.5-2.5pc and rice by 2-4pc by 2020.
Vegetables and livestock would also have their list of risks.The University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, which has a full-fledged department on climatology,
also sounded a similar warning when dividing the entire 21st century into three
periods (up to 2040, 2070 and the rest), it says that the average day
temperature would increase by 2.8 Celsius by 2040. Even more threatening is
rise in the night temperature by 2.2 Celsius during the same period.Both these
major problems and their solutions or ways fully documented.. In the last four
years, the country has had three floods because of erratic weather behaviour
and still reeling under its damage. This is the area that needs immediate and
full attention of the government.
Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, December 29th, 2014
Published:
December 29, 2014
In one of the most objectionable
decisions, the ECC sanctioned a subsidy of Rs10 per kg on sugar exports, which
will eat up Rs6.5 billion from the national exchequer. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Economic Coordination
Committee (ECC) of the cabinet – a body set up to take economic and financial
decisions – has become a political tool. It is utilised for extending benefits
to selected groups, often by compromising the fundamentals of economics.
The tradition of using the ECC to dole out taxpayers’ money to
vested interests reached a peak in the last year of the previous Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) government. A few months before the elections, PPP’s
finance minister regularly called ECC meetings and approved summaries on the
directives of the then top man of the country.
With the change in government in June last year, hopes arose
that the PML-N administration would discontinue the practice of using the
treasury to offer benefits or stop utilising the ECC’s platform to reward its
voters.From July 2013 to June 2014, the cabinet committee took decisions, which
were by and large defendable. However, the trend reversed in the past six
months, particularly after the start of protest rallies by the opposition
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
In the six months, the ECC
provided over Rs38 billion worth of benefits to the agriculture sector. It also appeased the industrialists by promising gas and
electricity supplies during winter in violation of the energy distribution
policy and the priority list.However, in an effort to ensure transparency in
decision-making, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar outlined measures, prominent among
them were seeking the feedback of the ministries concerned before sending a
summary to the ECC and highlighting the sources of funding if there was no
allocation in the budget.Dar also gave directives that the ministries should
submit their summaries well in advance along with necessary background
information.Instructions flouted
But a critical look at the
decisions taken by the ECC shows a clear violation. In a latest but one of the
most objectionable decisions taken by the government, the ECC sanctioned a subsidy of Rs10 per kg on sugar exports including an inland freight subsidy of Rs2 per kg and cash
subsidy of Rs8 per kg. The subsidy bill will eat up Rs6.5 billion from the
national exchequer.
The clear beneficiaries will be the all-powerful sugar barons,
who also represent the ruling party. The losers are the consumers who despite a
fall in prices in the global market will be paying higher rates.In the
international market, the sugar price is Rs39 per kg whereas in the domestic
market it is in the range of Rs55 to Rs60 per kg.
The decision is also against the free market dynamics where
supply and demand determine the price of a good.The ECC also imposed a 20%
regulatory duty on the import of raw and beet sugar aimed at discouraging its
cheap imports. Earlier, the cabinet committee endorsed a summary prepared to
compensate the farmers of basmati rice with cash payments of Rs5,000 per acre.
The government will bear a subsidy of Rs10 billion on this account, which has
not been provided in the budget.The move came in the wake of a significant
decline in rice prices this year and pressure from the agricultural lobby, led
by the Minister for Food, National Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan.
The third decision that raised eyebrows was the provision of
subsidy on agricultural tube wells. On a proposal of the Ministry of Water and
Power, the ECC agreed on providing Rs10.35 per unit of electricity until June
next year. On this account, the federal government will release Rs22 billion,
again an allocation which has not been covered in the budget.
Provincial domain
Finance Minister Dar, who is also the ECC chairman, also
approved the wheat support price at Rs1,300 per 40 kg for the 2014-15 crop.
However, the determination of crop prices is a provincial subject after the
18th Amendment to the Constitution.For cotton of base grade 3, the ECC set the
support price at Rs3,000 per 40 kg in a bid to stabilise prices in the domestic
market, which were going down after a plunge in the global market. In response
to a summary sent by the Ministry of Textile Industry, the ECC agreed on
ensuring electricity and gas supplies to the textile sector. This came at the
cost of domestic consumers, who were facing continuous outages.
This all underscores the need for restoring the ECC’s
credibility in order to ensure that markets are not manipulated for providing
benefits to selected groups. At present, the committee looks like a
representative body of different lobbies and the nation, particularly people,
eventually suffers.
The writer is a staff
correspondent
Published in The Express
Tribune, December 29th, 2014.
Source with thanks: The Express Tribune Pakistan
Analysts call for
sustainable ways to help farmers, develop rice industry
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation December 30, 2014 1:00 am
Subsidies do nothing for long-term change, critics charge
"Give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. Teach
a man to fish, you will feed him for a lifetime." This ancient proverb is
certainly true and clearly reflects the failure of the Thai governments'
rice-subsidy projects to help farmers for a decade, critics claim.Rice
subsidies, whether the governments that implement them call them "pledging
programmes" or "income guarantees", have never led to
sustainable development, they charge. Instead, such schemes have caused huge
financial burdens for the Kingdom and only improved farmers' incomes for short
periods.
Thailand has spent between Bt40 billion and Bt80 billion
per annum on rice subsidies during the past decade. Worse, a study by the
Thailand Research and Development Institute (TDRI) suggested that spending on
rice subsidies during the past two years would amount to as much as Bt750
billion.Unfortunately, that money rarely goes towards improving the efficiency
of rice farming or its supply-chain industries. Politicians have only created
short-term measures to satisfy farmers for a short time.
This year, after seizing power
from the elected government with the claim that it would stop playing this
game, the military regime fell into a similar trap - albeit only for the short
term, the junta insists - of directly paying farmers Bt1,000 per rai, for a
maximum of 15 rai (2.4 hectares) each. To ensure the rice price does not drop
precipitously, the government has also budgeted for soft loans to millers and
rice farmers, so that they do not need to accelerate rice sales during the
harvest season.
But despite these populist measures, the market price of
Thai rice is still low, under pressure from the enormous stockpiles in the
government's warehouses. Farmers have still not been able to build rice barns
and therefore cannot hold their produce for too long as its quality would deteriorate.Given
these factors, it appears this is the right time for the government and the
private sector to launch a long-term development plan for the rice industry.
Aat Pisanwanich, director of the International Trade
Studies Centre of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that
with upcoming Asean seamless trade, sustainable long-term measures should be
implemented to encourage Thai farmers to focus on quality rice production
rather than only on price or relying on government support. "It is time to
educate farmers to rely more on themselves by teaching them to develop rice
quality, while the government can provide other support to facilitate rice
production and marketing, and help develop the supply chain," Aat said.
Thai farmers must urgently improve productivity to ensure
their competitiveness in the seamless market, he said. They must also decrease
the cost of production and logistics, and diversify from commodities to
high-value-added goods. The government should draw up a strategy to strengthen
agricultural practices - one that not only promotes higher prices via
intervention schemes, but also improvement in productivity.
Aat claimed Thailand's rice productivity was almost the
lowest among Asean countries, while Thai farmers get the smallest incomes. For
example, in this year's crop, the rice yield per rai is 457 kilograms in
Thailand, 900kg in Vietnam, and 400kg in Myanmar. The cost of Thai rice
production is Bt10,685 per rai, for Vietnam Bt4,071, and Myanmar Bt7,122, while
income per rai for Thai farmers is Bt11,187, for Vietnamese Bt7,252, and
Myanmar farmers Bt10,605. As a result, Thai farmers see only Bt502 per rai as
profit, while Vietnamese farmers have Bt3,181 left, and Myanmar's get Bt3,485
per rai.
Somkiat Tangkitvanich, president of the TDRI, claimed the
rice-pledging project had cost the Kingdom huge amounts of taxpayers' money,
while it was not able to help farmers long-term. He said it was time that the
government, private enterprise, farmers, and all involved created measures to
help farmers in a more sustainable way rather than only handing out money.
Long-term rice strategy development
In fact, the military regime does have a "rice
strategy", but it has not yet been implemented in any tangible measure.
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, director-general of the Commerce
Ministry's Internal Trade Department, said the rice strategy was aimed at
improving the production, marketing and quality of Thai rice, while somehow
improving farmers' lives without intervening in the "market mechanism".
The strategy is meant to solve long-term problems from the
production stage to marketing. The government will set up rice-plantation zones
while also encouraging farmers to grow other economic crops on land that is not
suitable for rice.Those strategies include creating fairness in rice trading,
enhancing rice standards and the trading system, encouraging more rice
consumption, increasing production efficiency, encouraging innovation in the
rice industry, and developing the logistics system for rice.
Those measures sound nice, but they need implementation.
The government needs to invest in these sustainable measures and encourage more
farmers to be concerned with long-term development rather than short-term
income.Pramoth Vanichanont, former president of the Thai Rice Millers
Association, said all involved sectors, including government, academia, farmers
and traders should forge closer ties to develop the rice industry. First, rice
traders and farmers should focus on the upper-end market, because it has higher
returns.
Of the global population, 20-30 per cent are classified as
"upper class", and this group is expected to get larger in the next
five years. This segment has high purchasing power and prefers high-quality
products. Thailand, with its jasmine rice and other premium grades including
Geographic Indication and high-nutrition rice such as "Riceberry" and
"Seenil", must produce more of these types to serve this market.
At present, Vietnam can export up to 7 million tonnes of
rice a year and Cambodia 2 million tonnes, while Myanmar is expected to
increase its annual rice exports to 1.5 million tonnes. Most of this is
lower-value white rice. Thailand must focus more on higher-quality rice,
especially fragrant and high-nutrition grains, so that we can beat our rivals,
he said.
Second, Thailand must develop better breeding techniques
and increase yield per rai. The country has spent more than 30 years developing
its long-grain rice. Pramoth said development time for quality strains must be
shorted from between seven and 12 years to only three years, while increasing
yield per rai, in order to serve higher demand inAsean and other markets.
Moreover, the government needs to invest more on research
and development. The Vietnamese government has invested more than Bt4 billion
in rice development over the past five years, while Thai rice farming has
received only Bt100 million to Bt200 million a year for that purpose. To
achieve the goal of maintaining Thailand's position as the world's biggest rice
exporter and leader in rice-farming development, the government must place
development of the crop on the national agenda, he said. It should allocate
about Bt20 billion a year to develop better breeding techniques, increase
yields, and develop an irrigation system.
At present, only 28 per cent of the 64 million rai devoted
to growing rice is irrigated. Also, the government needs to support
infrastructure development along the rice-industry supply chain. It should
encourage farmers in cooperatives to build their own warehouses and concentrate
on logistics. Prasith Boonchuey, president of the Thai Rice Farmers
Association, claimed most farmers realised that they need long-term development
and not just government handouts.
Thailand has spent huge amounts each year to shore up rice
prices, but less on development than other countries. Nobody is against
measures to help poor farmers improve their standards of living, but Prasith
said the association acknowledged that subsidies were not sustainable. Now is a
suitable period for the government to spend less on price intervention and
focus on sustainable development to educate farmers and help them become
self-reliant for the future.
Amira Nature Foods Ltd
Announces $90 Million Contract with Repeat Customer
Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:19am EST
* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this
press release.
Amira Nature Foods
Ltd Announces $90 Million Contract with Repeat Customer
Amira Nature Foods
Ltd (the "Company") (NYSE: ANFI), a leading global provider of
packaged Indian specialty rice, today announced that it entered into a $90
million contract to supply third party branded basmati rice to a key repeat
customer in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (“EMEA”) region.“We are
extremely pleased to expand our relationship with this customer in the EMEA
region as we believe this illustrates Amira’s leading position in the
industry,” stated Karan A Chanana, Amira’s Chairman.
“The EMEA region continues to be a tremendous
growth market for Amira’s basmati rice with strong consumption and demand in
the market. As we enter into 2015, we look forward to executing on our
additional opportunities for growth with both our Amira branded products and
our third party branded products throughout the world.”
About Amira Nature
Foods Ltd.
Founded in 1915,
Amira has evolved into a leading global provider of branded packagedIndian specialty rice, with sales in over 60 countries
today. The Company sells Basmati rice, which is a premium long-grain rice grown
only in certain regions of the Indian
sub-continent, under its flagship Amira brand as well as under other third
party brands. Amira sells its products through a broad distribution network in
both the developed and emerging markets. The Company’s global headquarters are
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it also has offices in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the
United States. Amira Nature Foods Ltd is listed on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) under the ticker symbol “ANFI.” For more information please visit www.amira.net.
Cautionary Note on
Forward-Looking Statements
This release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal
securities laws. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified
by phrases such as that we or our members of management “believe,” “expect,”
“anticipate,” “foresee,” “forecast,” “estimate” or other words or phrases of
similar import. Specifically, these statements include, among other things,
statements that describe our expectations for the growth of our business,
expansion into new geographic markets, maintaining and expanding our
relationship with key retail partners, the financial impact of new sales
contracts on our revenue, our plans to make significant capital expenditures,
and other statements of management’s beliefs, intentions or goals.
It is uncertain whether any of the events
anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any
of them do, what impact they will have on our results of operations, financial
condition, or the price of our ordinary shares. These forward-looking
statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking
statements, including but not limited to our ability to penetrate and increase
the acceptance of our products in new geographic markets; our ability to
perform our agreements with customers and further develop our relationships
with key retail partners; our ability to recognize revenue from our contracts;
continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; our reliance on a few
customers for a substantial part of our revenue; our ability to implement our
plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to our business and
realize additional opportunities for growth; and the other risks and important
factors contained and identified in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking
statements attributable to us or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly
qualified in their entirety by these risk factors. Since we operate in an
emerging and evolving environment and new risk factors and uncertainties emerge
from time to time, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as
predictions of future events. Except as required under the securities laws of
the United States, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking or
other statements herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Amira Nature Foods Ltd
Bruce Wacha, 201-960-0745
Chief Financial Officer
or
FTI Consulting
Beth Saunders, 212-850-5717
Source
with thanks: Reuters
Summer crop drop may
jack up rice import bills
KATHMANDU,
DEC 28 - Drop in summer foodgrains this year is likely to shoot up country’s
rice import bills and market prices.According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), Nepal’s cereal imports are expected to rise to a record
level of 571,800 tonnes this fiscal, up 10 percent year on year.The FAO said
that most of this volume is rice, imports of which are anticipated at 500 000
tonnes, up 11 percent. The higher import is projected to reduced production of
foodgrains and sustained demand. Maize imports in the 2014-15 are forecast to
remain similar to the low level of 2013-14.
The
Ministry of Agricultural Development has projected paddy output to drop 5.1
percent to 4.78 million tonnes this fiscal. Nepal will produced 258,435 tonnes
less paddy compared to last year largely due to a late monsoon and untimely
rainfall. The ministry said that expanding urban areas, land plotting for
residential development and natural disasters were the other reasons behind the
fall in output. More than 61,000 hectares of paddy fields have been left
uncultivated, while another 23,900 hectares were damaged by floods and
landslides this year.Contrary to the government estimates, the FAO has
projected that Nepal’s paddy output is likely to drop 9 percent to 4.6 million
tonnes this fiscal.
The
decrease is attributed to an estimated 6 percent contraction in area planted as
a result of late and below-average monsoon rains which hindered sowing
operations and reduced yields.Additional damages to the crop were caused by
floods and landslides across Mid-western and Far-western regions following
heavy rains in August, the FAO said.The ministry estimates that the country’s
maize output, the second staple crop after paddy, is expected to fall 6 percent
to 2.14 million tonnes. The figure represented a drop of 137,931 tonnes.
Balloning
imports
The Nepal Rastra Bank statistics showed that rice
import bills from India jumped 135 percent to Rs 4.70 billion in the first four
months of 2014-15. “As paddy output has been projected to drop, it will
definitely exert pressure on the cereal import bills, particularly rice,” said
Hem Raj Regmi, under-secretary and a chief statistician at the ministry.
“We have estimated that rice import would hover at 400,000 tonnes this year.”
According to him, eating habits or rice culture of Nepalis, who prefer
consuming rice twice a day, has been putting pressure on the import bills every
passing year.
There
has been a massive import of Indian Basmati rice since some years, which
indicated a growing middle class as well as disposable income due to a result
of increased remittance inflow, Regmi said. Studies suggest a big chunk of
remittances is used for food consumption, clothing and in luxury goods.The
country imported cereal worth Rs 28.61 billion in the last fiscal, up from Rs
20.92 in the previous fiscal. Of the total cereal import, rice import amounted
to Rs 12.37 billion, up from Rs 8.45 billion, the NRB statistics showed.
Posted
on: 2014-12-28 07:13
PhilRice develops heat-tolerant rice varieties
By
Ric Sapnu (The Philippine
Star) | Updated
December 29, 2014 - 12:00am
NUEVA
ECIJA, Philippines – The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is
developing rice varieties that can withstand intense heat brought by climate
change.According to Norvie Manigbas, lead researcher at PhilRice, the institute
has identified 25 new advanced breeding lines after rigorous selection for high
temperature tolerance using conventional method and marker-assisted
selection.Manigbas noted that the development of heat-tolerant rice varieties
is important in addressing the adverse effects of climate change in rice
growing areas on which 90 to 95 percent of the population depends.Rice grows
optimally between 20°C-35°C but becomes sensitive to increasing temperatures
especially during flowering, which eventually reduce yields.
In
2010, Manigbas and his team started to develop new rice genotypes that can
tolerate and adapt to high temperatures at 37°C-39°C under irrigated lowland
conditions.
They
identified N22 (Nagina 22 from India), Dular (India), and Nipponbare (Japan) as
donor parents and used conventional breeding and molecular marker-assisted
selection to generate new high temperature tolerant breeding populations.
Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
“We established breeding nurseries in high temperature prone areas
in Cagayan and Nueva Ecija to screen and select breeding materials under field
conditions. Planting was done on staggered basis so that flowering, or
reproductive stage, of all test entries would coincide with the highest
temperature during the growing season. Thus, selection pressure for high temperature
is enhanced,” Manigbas explained.“After that, we identified twenty-five new
breeding lines tolerant and 16 of those had lower percent sterility compared
with the tolerant checks and donor parent N22,” he added.The new lines will be
evaluated further for other traits and if they passed, they can be nominated to
the National Cooperative Test for Multi-Environment Testing.
Source with thanks: The Philippine Star
Myanmar's rice export earns over 300
mln USD in 9 months
Placard ENLARGE
(Globalpost/GlobalPost)
Myanmar's rice export earns over 300 mln USD in 9 months
YANGON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar earned over 342 million U.S.
dollars through exporting 914,969 tons of rice in the first nine months
(April-Dec) of fiscal year 2014-15, local media reported Sunday.Of the rice
export, 716,272 tons were sold through border trade.Myanmar's rice is mainly
exported to China and other Asian countries and regions, as well as Russia and
some European countries and African countries.One ton of Myanmar rice was priced
at about 400 dollars last month.In addition to maritime trade, Myanmar also
exported rice through border points which accounted for 70 percent of the total
rice export volume.According to official statistics, the rice export earning
during 2013-14 was 460 million dollars, a 15.4-percent drop from 544 million
dollars in 2012-13.
Bangladesh starts exporting parboiled rice
Chittagong
Bureau, bdnews24.com
Published: 2014-12-27 20:13:13.0 BdST Updated: 2014-12-27 21:38:31.0 BdST
Bangladesh Shipping Corporation’s ship 'Kakali' has
left for Sri Lanka from Chittagong Port with first consignment of 12,500 tons
of parboiled rice.
2014-12-20
21:55:21.0
It left the 4th jetty of Chittagong Port for Colombo Port at 2pm
on Saturday.Earlier in a press briefing, Director General of Directorate
General of Food Sarwar Khan said the shipment was half of the 25,000 tons of
parboiled rice Bangladesh agreed to export to the island country.Remaining
shipment would be despatched on the first week of January, he said.Considering
Bangladesh’s overall food demand, it would be safe to have a stock of 9-10 lakh
metric tons of rice, he said.
“After maintaining the safety-level stock, we have been
maintaining a surplus of about 400,000 metric tons of rice for the last four to
five years,” Sarwar said.Bangladesh has an availability to export around 75,000
tons more rice now, he said.Sarwar also said India had proposed to import
30,000-40,000 tons rice from Bangladesh for its north-eastern states.“India
will send a delegation to finalise the matter soon,” he added.
Answering a question if the export of rice would have a negative
impact on Bangladesh’s market, he said, “We have started collecting rice of the
Aman season so it will not impact the internal market.”Apart from Sarwar,
Director (administration) of Directorate General of Food Tofazzal Hossain and
Regional Controller of Food in Chittagong Abdul Aziz Molla were present in the
port to send-off Kakali.
Source
with thanks:www.bdnews24.com
Farmers celebrate bumper
yields, but cry for fair prices
Sohel Parvez
Bangladesh saw increased food
production and relatively stable prices of rice and vegetables for almost the
entire 2014.Yields of boro rice, the principal crop, hit a record high at 1.90
crore tonnes, while production of potato, maize and wheat also increased,
thanks to favourable weather conditions and the government's support, according
to agriculturists.
Food and Agriculture Organisation
said Bangladesh is likely to harvest 5.6 crore tonnes of paddy and wheat in the
outgoing year, up 1.6 percent year-on-year.Agriculture officials said the
harvest of aman is going on and the output from the second biggest crop is
likely to be good even after recurrent floods in some growing
regions."Floods inundated lands where water usually cannot reach. We hope
it will facilitate higher yields.
Overall production will rise
because of increased acreage of hybrid varieties," said an official of
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).The DAE has set a target of 1.34
crore tonnes of aman rice this season, up from 1.30 crore tonnes last
year.Also, good vegetable production enabled people, particularly in urban
areas, to get different varieties of vegetables throughout the year.The supply
of import-based cooking oil, sugar and wheat was also good and their prices
fell gradually amid increased production and price cuts globally.
As a result, overall inflation
came down. Food inflation, which was 9.09 percent in May, declined to 6.44
percent in November, much lower than 8.55 percent in the same month a year ago,
according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. "Overall, it was
quite a good year for agriculture, mainly due to favourable weather," said
M Asaduzzaman, a professorial fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development
Studies (BIDS)."We have seen attempts of diversification in farm
production," he said.
THE CRY FOR FAIR PRICES
Despite increased production,
many of the 1.48 crore farmers in Bangladesh were deprived of fair prices of
their produce such as potato, maize, vegetables and jute. Factors such as last
year's political turmoil, weak marketing infrastructure and falling jute
exports were blamed.Also, high transport costs and extortion on highways
continue to remain a major problem in ensuring fair prices, agriculturists and
farmers said.
Farmers who grew rice received
higher prices after the boro harvest. But spiralling rice imports, particularly
from India, have dampened prices of paddy and rice in recent days.Rice imports
between July and December 15 exceeded last year's total of 3.74 lakh tonnes.
Total rice imports reached 4.44 lakh tonnes since July this year, according to
the food ministry.Prices of potato, which fell below farmers' production costs
for ample supply early this year, rebounded later amid increased exports and a
storing facility, allowing growers to minimise past losses."Although
potato prices declined early this year, a rise in prices later has benefitted
me.
Yields and prices of boro rice
were also good," said Md Wazed Ali Fakir, a small farmer in Joypurhat
district in the north.Mohammed Motaleb, a farmer in Rangpur, said their
production costs did not go up much in the outgoing year as the government did
not increase prices of diesel and fertilisers."It allowed us to make some
profit from boro rice. And at the current prices of aman, I will not incur
losses. Overall, it was a good year for me," he said.However, Suruj Mia, a
farmer from Faridpur, a major jute producing region, has complaints for losses
he saw from jute cultivation this year.
"I could not even recover my
production costs," he said.Babu Sarker, a small farmer at Shibganj, a
vegetables hub in Bogra district, said he incurred losses by cultivating
cauliflower."Prices of vegetables have fallen again this year although
prices are high in Dhaka. Last year, I suffered losses for recurrent shutdowns
and blockades," he said.He said wholesalers were offering them Tk 5-Tk 7
for a cauliflower at Mahastan, a wholesale market for vegetables in Bogra.
In Dhaka, the same was selling at
Tk 12-Tk 18 at wholesale and Tk 15-Tk 25 at retail levels, according to
Department of Agricultural Marketing. The picture is the same for other
vegetables as well."We feel uncomfortable when farmers ask us why we
request them to grow more crops but cannot ensure fair prices for their
produce," said an official of the DAE, asking not to be named.Every year,
at the time of harvest, growers have to sell vegetables at throwaway prices in
absence of specialised cold storages and proper transport facilities.Md Rafiqul
Islam Mondal, executive chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council,
said production of most of the crops, including vegetables, was good in the
outgoing year.
"But we are yet to ensure
fair prices for farmers. It is a failure," he said.Asaduzzaman of BIDS
said the marketing system and infrastructure for farm produce remain very weak.
"The government should immediately pay attention to improving the
marketing system. Otherwise, growth of agriculture will be uncertain," he
said.Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said: "We are trying to develop
infrastructure as much as possible. We are intervening sincerely, though on a
limited scale."She said the government purchases rice and wheat so that
their prices do not fall much. The private sector should come forward to
establish cold warehouse facilities and introduce cold chain transports, she
said.
On extortion on highways, she
said the government is taking punitive steps to stop it. "We have
initiatives to ensure an ideal situation. But it will take time to reach
there," the minister said.On the global front, commodity prices are
expected to remain weak for the remainder of 2014 and perhaps through much of
2015, said Commodity Markets Outlook by World Bank Group.
At the domestic level, bringing
new and effective agricultural technologies, and above all, ensuring fair
prices and giving incentives to growers will be the key to maintaining the
buoyancy in farm production, analysts said. "Incentives for farmers
may prove futile due to increased rice imports. As the oil prices have fallen
in the global market, the government should reduce prices of diesel for
irrigation. It will act as an incentive for growers," Asaduzzaman said.
Nigeria: Waivers, Smuggling, Others
Threaten Nigeria's Rice Sector
By Femi Adekoya
The
Federal Government's backward integration plan for the rice industry may suffer
a major setback if key issues of discretionary approval of waivers and
unrealistic supply gap are not addressed.Indeed, the country may continue to
lose at least N20 billion to smugglers of the commodity and another N20 billion
to discretionary concessions and waivers, especially to non-committed
stakeholders under the scheme.
With
at least $183.6 million enjoyed in bonds, there are questions bordering on the
sincerity of government under the backward integration plan, considering the
fact that investors who have only expressed interests enjoy higher imports than
those who have remain committed to the plan, especially now that some of them
are already trading the import quotas at higher prices to interested importers.
Findings
by The Guardian have shown that the Federal Government through the
indiscriminate granting of waivers under the backward integration plan may be
promoting activities of smugglers while putting the rice policy under threat.Documents
obtained and investigations by The Guardian showed that indiscriminate approach
of the Federal Government in granting waivers and import allocation quotas to
investors who have no investments in the industry, either in form of paddy or
rice milling may be a dysfunctional approach to the backward integration plan
in the sector.
According
to the list of beneficiaries of the preferential import quotas, quantities of
rice imports approved and corresponding size of performance bond to be
submitted shows that of the 28 beneficiaries, only 16 have mills, while the
remaining 12 have no mills and account for higher imports than
millers.Investigations also show that many of the investors who got import
allocation quotas are already trading it to interested stakeholders at between
60 to 80 per cent levy having got the same at 20 per cent levy.
Specifically,
documents obtained showed that investors who have only submitted expression of
interests without commensurable form of investments in the sector, may be enjoying waivers amounting to at
least N20 billion under the exercise.
For
instance, allocation of rice import quotas under the new rice policy by the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that a move to
bridge the supply gap of import-grade rice of 1.5 million metric tonnes as
determined by the Federal Government was designed to ensure that existing rice
millers and new investors receive a preferential levy of 20 per cent and duty
of 10 per cent while other importers pay a higher levy of 60 per cent and duty
of 10 per cent.
In a
letter from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi
Adesina to the Coordinating Minister of Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the
allocation of rice import quotas, Adesina noted that the criteria for
allocation of quotas under a methodology which assigns weight to key criteria
of self-sufficiency in rice production and milling in Nigeria include the
submission and approval of a Domestic Rice Production Plan (DRPP) among others.
According
to Adesina, a supply gap of import-grade rice was determined to be 1.5 million
metric tonnes for 2014 while an inter-ministerial committee discussed the
methodology for allocation of the import quotas.
"Subsequently,
a letter was sent to existing rice millers and new investors, to submit a DRPP,
and based on their submissions; a total of 1.3 million metric tonnes of rice
import quotas was issued to 25 qualifying millers at the preferential levy of
20 per cent and duty of 10 per cent. The remainder 0.2 million metric tonnes of
rice imports will be at the higher levy of 60 per cent and duty of 10 per cent
for other rice importers", the letter read in part.
However,
documents obtained showed that the supply gap estimate is unrealistic when
compared to a total of 2.74 million metric tonnes of imported rice that made
its way into the country in 2014 (representing a combination of rice imported
into the country from Thailand and India and the smuggled commodity from
neighbouring West African countries like Benin, Cameroun, Niger and Togo).
Nigeria: Osun State Bans Revenue in
Cash
As
from January 2015, the government of Osun State will no longer accept
collection of cash for payment of fees, fines, charges and other forms of
revenue collection in the state.The state, according to Governor Rauf
Aregbesola, has concluded all arrangements to go digital in the collection of
its revenue in order to erase all avenues through which revenue officials come
in contacts with raw cash.
Aregbesola,
according to a statement by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy,
Semiu Okanlawon, dropped this hint when members of the Nigerian Labour Congress
(NLC) and representatives of all trade unions submitted a report of their
effort at seeking alternative sources of revenue for the state in the face of
the dwindling revenue from the federation account.
"I
must announce this to all of you that as from next month (January), no revenue
official will be allowed to come in contact with cash again. This is because we
have decided to go digital in our revenue collection. So, be it school fees,
fines, charges, and all other forms of payment in obligations to the government
by the citizens, no cash will be collected again," Aregbesola told the
representatives of the workers.
The
governor, while explaining to the workers why his government has taken the bold
step, said the government, at this critical time, must know what accrues to it
and not only what is recorded by revenue collection officials.Aregbesola had
earlier described as patriotic, selfless and commendable, the initiative by the
workers in the state to confront the dwindling resources of the state arising
from the persistent meagre allocation from the federal government, on their own
volition, seeking fresh avenues of generating revenues to ensure economic
survival of the state.
"I
thank the entire workforce in the state for their sense of responsibility; for
their exhibition of the Omoluabi ethos."I find it difficult to deprive any
worker his or her income at the end of each month. So, for the workers to
express their readiness to tolerate and absorb the delay in salary payment is
the highest demonstration of understanding and patriotism. That sense of duty,
patriotism and extreme sacrifice is appreciated."
"We
will study this report very seriously and intimately and come up with our own
white paper of the actions of government such that at the end of the day, you
will come to appreciate the deep consideration we shall give to your
suggestions," he was quoted as saying.Aregbesola regretted that the
revenue crisis had created complications in the payment of salaries across the
country saying, "either at the federal or at the state level, where is it
that workers in this country are being paid as and when due? "We thought
this situation will not last long. That was why we used our strategic reserve
to augment salaries for one year. All our savings were spent on augmentation of
salaries. Our commitment to the welfare of workers is incomparable."
Chairman
of the NLC in the state, Saka Adesiyan, while explaining why the workers took
the initiative, said it was more realistic for workers, having seen the true
picture and bearing in mind the previous good disposition of the Aregbesola
administration to workers' welfare, to embark on moves to find alternative ways
of getting revenues to run the state.Adetunji Oladele of the Trade Union
Congress, who read the highlights of the proposal by the workers before presenting
the document to the governor, said the committee set up met all the 64 agencies
in the state to seek their inputs into the proposal.
"We
did that so that no agency will claim that they are not aware of the
initiative. Everybody contributed. We made them understand that the economy of
the state is going down to an extent that if we don't look inward on how to
increase the Internally Generated Revenue, we might not be able to sustain
ourselves.The TUC chairman expressed hoped that the government would have the
needed political will to embark on some of the proposals in order to ensure
adequate revenue for the state.
Brown rice more nutritious
Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:19 AM | Monday, December 29th, 2014
Let me express my appreciation of and gratitude for the excellent article
titled “Redeeming the lost glory of brown rice” (Across the Nation, 12/3/14).I
have noticed that brown rice is more expensive although it needs less
processing. I have also noticed that there are many rice hybrids and GMO
varieties being promoted.
As someone who worked to make rice-growing less polluting to our
environment, I am concerned that hybrids often require a heavy chemical input,
much of which runs off into our streams, rivers, lakes and ocean. When growing
rice with integrated rice duck methods, we use azolla and/or duckweed to
provide extra nitrogen for the rice via the ducks. Small fish can also be
integrated if the water level is sufficient, and then both the ducks and the
fish will eat the azolla and excrete the nitrogen and other nutrients into the
water. Aside from consuming insects and adding to the nutrients in the water,
the fish provide additional food and product for the farmer.
In the past I was told that this will not provide sufficient
nutrients for hybrid varieties and that we should plant old varieties that do
well with the natural fertilizers provided by the ducks (recycled snails, weeds
and insects).Before I began my integrated rice duck project I visited both the
International Rice Research Institute (Irri) and the Department of Agriculture.
Scientists at Irri told me that too much rice is wasted through improper
postproduction methods (such as drying palay on highways). A scientist at the
DA told me that more rice is wasted by consumers.
The wasted rice, all in all, is more than what is needed for the
countryÃs self-sufficiency in rice.Also, importing rice from abroad is
detrimental to Filipino farmers as it inevitably lowers the price they get for
their produce. Why not focus on eliminating waste rather than going to hybrid
varieties that are likely to contaminate our water with chemical runoff?
One last point, the GMO “golden
rice” mentioned in the article lacks some of the nutrients that are present in
the rice bran—the bran is removed when rice is milled into the white rice that
Filipinos prefer. I urge people to cook and enjoy brown rice, which still has
the bran intact and is more filling and nutritious than the polished white
rice. In fact, before I heard of the GMO golden rice, I was calling unpolished
brown rice golden rice.I was surprised that all things brown are considered
inferior here in the Philippines. In my homeland of California, tanning salons,
lotions and ointments turn the white into golden brown, a most desirable color…
and with rice a most delicious and nutritious one!
—ROWLAND LANE ANDERSON,
permaculturist at Tagpopongan
Natural Farm, Veterans For Peace Mission to the Philippines, Davao City
andersonlane47@yahoo.com
APNU
questions $2.1B gov’t advance to rice millers
Main opposition APNU yesterday said that the government’s
announcement on Christmas Eve that it was advancing $2.1B to millers so they
could meet obligations to rice farmers is intended to mislead the public and
divert attention from the hardships faced by growers.In a statement, APNU said
that the announcement by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Leslie Ramsammy that
the Government is advancing $2.1B to millers “is deliberately intended to
mislead the Guyanese public and divert attention from the existing pressures
that these farmers are facing on a daily basis.”It called on Ramsammy to
explain the following:
If the farmers have delivered
600,000 tons of rice to the millers, valued at $42.0B, then the paddy price
must have …..To continue reading, login or subscribe now.
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Bangladesh
will receive China’s support to boost rice production in the country under an
agricultural cooperation agreement, according to local sources.Under the
agreement, China has agreed to transfer the technology of its indigenous
high-yielding rice variety to Bangladesh and will also set up a rice research
center in Bangladesh.The decision was taken during the recent visit of the
Chinese Foreign Minister to Dhaka, according to local sources. The Bangladesh
Foreign Minister told local media sources that discussions with his Chinese
counterpart have been successful and would help Bangladesh in increasing food
production significantly. China agreeing to transfer technology of high-yield
rice is "a big development," he said.
Italian rice
farmers are reportedly reducing the use of certified seeds for the last couple
of years, according to the data from Nazionale Risi, the National agency for
rice, the use of certified seeds in the crop year 2013-14 remained unchanged
from the previous year despite an increase in the rice acreage. The data also
shows that area for growing certified seeds in 2013-14 has declined by about
20% y/y due to reduction in the usage of certified seeds. Total area for seed
production (including certified seeds and self-produced seeds) in Italy during
the year stood at around 9,581 hectares. Italy produced 42,884 tons of seeds
and exported around 8.470 tons during 2013-14. The European country also
imported around 241 tons of rice seeds during the year.
Experts have
slammed Nigeria's new rice policy of granting waivers and concessions to
importers as part of efforts to bridge supply-gap of import-grade rice of
around 1.5 million tons in the country, according to local sources. In order to
encourage investment in the rice sector and support its rice self-sufficiency
plan, the Federal government has decided to provide duty waivers to existing
millers as well as new investors in the country. According to the new rice
policy, existing millers and investors have been receiving a preferential levy
of 20% and duty of 10% while other importers are required to pay a higher levy
of 60% and 10% duty to the government. Accordingly, the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development has been allocating rice import quotas to
various importers, millers and investors.
Italy has
exported around 632,930 tons of rice, basis milled, in the crop year 2013-14
(September 1, 2013 - October 31, 2014), down about 6.3% from around 675,434
tons exported in the crop year 2012-13, according to data from the Ente
Nazionale Risi, the National agency for rice.Italy's rice exports to EU
countries during 2013-14 accounted for around 524,604 tons, down about 5.6%
from around 555,924 tons exported last year. Exports to non-producing EU
countries declined about 7.6% y/y.
The
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is developing new rice varieties
that can endure high temperatures and provide high yields, according to a news
release on its website.Normally, rice grows optimally between 20-35 degrees
centigrade and becomes sensitive to increasing temperatures especially during
the flowering stage and eventually, yields may be affected.
Separately, the Philippines Department of Agriculture
(DA) is planning to incorporate climate smart technologies in its programs to
help local agriculture sector adapt to extreme weather conditions.The DA is
currently testing the adaptability of three varieties of Green Super Rice,
which is jointly developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
and the PhilRice, for different climatic conditions. Green Super Rice is
developed by combining the superior traits of 250 rice varieties and hybrids for
tolerating extreme weather/growing conditions such as drought, floods and low
inputs, including zero pesticides and less fertilizers. The National Seed
Industry Council has to certify thper Rice for commercial use. 