Nigeria2015:
Jonathan has failed in agriculture – APC
The
All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, APCPCO, has
accused the President Goodluck Jonathan administration of massive corruption in
the country’s agricultural sector.“President Jonathan has failed woefully in
the agricultural sector, and all the self-praise of the administration on
agriculture is simply a ruse,” the APCPCO said in a statement released on
Sunday, February 1.
The statement, signed by Garba Shehu, pointed out
that whereas President Jonathan had promised in 2010 to make Nigeria
self-sufficient in rice and wheat production by 2015, “the grim reality on the
ground today is that Nigeria emerged as the world’s highest importer of rice in
2015, and a whopping $11 billion is spent annually by Nigeria to import rice,
wheat, sugar and fish.”The statement added that according to the former Acting
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sarah Alade, Nigeria as at 2014 spends
$4 billion on rice importation – that is about N600 billion annually on the
importation of 2.1 million metric tonnes of milled rice.
“This is after the Federal Government had approached
the China Exim Bank for a loan of $1.2 billion for the financing of 100
large-scale rice processing plants with a total capacity of 2.1 million metric
tonnes.“The troubling truth today, is that Nigeria is nothing close to
self-sufficiency in rice production and what we have at hand is a close web of
corruption where government cronies stumble over each other to get import
licenses for rice.”
The statement also noted that a similar unacceptable
situation pertained to the importation of wheat.
“According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Nigeria’s wheat consumption as at year 2000
was about two million metric tonnes. But, by 2010, wheat importation to the
country had risen to four million metric tonnes and Nigeria spends N635 billion
annually on wheat importation.“Five years into the Jonathan’s administration, Nigeria
spends even more than we did in 2010 to import wheat; yet the government
continues to brandish false achievements in the agricultural sector – a
situation that is completely at variance with what President Jonathan promised
Nigerians in 2010, saying that his government would make Nigeria save N635
billion annually on rice and wheat importation.”
On fertilizer accessibility to farmers, the APCPCO
faulted the claim by government that local farmers now have unhindered access
to fertilizer through the Growth Enhancement Scheme.On the contrary, Mr. Shehu
says that what gets to each farmer under the e-wallet arrangement, which he
described as, “excessively laborious and technically difficult for the farmers
to work through” are two bags of fertilizer throughout the entire farming
season, “and government has not come out in one instance to tell Nigerians how
much it receives as grants on fertilizer distribution to farmers from donor
agencies.”
“The government will want to give us the impression
that fertilizer is being given to farmers free of charge. But we know that what
subsists is a 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertilizer. Our farmers are being
shortchanged under this so-called e-wallet arrangement because of lack of
transparency.“We may be looking at another subsidy scam over fertilizer unless
the Jonathan administration comes out clean to tell us how much it has received
as grants over fertilizer and how it comes about the 50 per cent subsidy per
bag of fertilizer,” Shehu said.The statement dismissed President Jonathan’s
claims of achievement in the agricultural sector, pointing out that “throughout
the periods preceding the Jonathan’s administration, the contribution of
agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 7 per cent, while under the
so-called transformation agenda of President Jonathan, agriculture’s
contribution to the GDP has been consistent at 5 per cent – an all-time low.
“In any case, food commodities are items Nigerians
buy on a daily basis. If the Jonathan administration was sincere with the
statistics it reels out on agriculture, why would the government buy pages of
newspaper advertorials and TV commercials to force bitter falsehood of its
achievements down the throats of Nigerians? The Jonathan administration has
failed woefully in its agricultural policies and the facts are self-evident out
there at those food stalls in our markets.“In 2015, Nigerians know they spend
far more to buy food than they did in 2010. That reality, in itself, is
President Jonathan’s scorecard in agriculture,” the APCPCO concluded.
Signed:
Garba Shehu
Directorate of Media & Publicity
APC Presidential Campaign Organisation
Source with thanks: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/176092-nigeria2015-jonathan-failed-agriculture-apc.html
Research takes
backseat as police, army, CRPF turn Kulgam rice station into garrison
Lack of political will allows them
use major chunk of land: VC SKUAST
Muhammad Suhail Kulgam, Jan 31: The Regional Rice Research Station (RRRS) located in Khodweni area of this south Kashmir district resembles a fortified garrison with a large chunk of the facility occupied by police, army and paramilitary forces.
Spread over hundreds of Kanals of Agricultural land as an extension centre of the SK University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K) the RRRS also has a two-storey facility to house the researchers and the offices.
However over the last half a decade a large chunk of the facility has been subsequently occupied by a police post, an Army unit, a SOG team and paramilitary CRPF personnel. The SKUAST administration in general and the RRRS administration in particular have been fighting tooth and nail to get the troops vacated off the facility; however the government and the civil administration have been turning a blind eye.VC SKUAST, Dr Tej Pratap, said he has been in constant touch personally as well as officially with the Chief Minister’s office since last many years now.“There has been a lack of political will to get the place vacated so that it can serve its purpose,” Pratap said.Sources at the station said initially there were only some CRPF personnel to guard the facility and things were working just fine till then.
“In 2010 however, during the
unrest, the Khodweni-Qaimoh police post was damaged and they eventually shifted
to our centre,” said G A Parray, Director of research at the centre, “They have
been here ever since.”Moreover, during the recently concluded Assembly
elections, an Army unit and a unit of police’s Special Operations Group (SOG)
were also squeezed in at the facility.Parray is of the opinion that while the
research at the station remains affected by such large number of troops housed
in there; most problematic has been the police post.
“With police post there is always a
large civilian footfall and the place almost always remains overcrowded.” said
Parray, adding that he has been writing to all concerned officials including
the Kulgam Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Deputy Inspector General of Police
(DIG) South Kashmir range.Parray, while talking to Rising Kashmir, said he
writes fresh letters to the concerned officials almost every week.Deputy
Commissioner (DC) Kulgam, Nisar Ahmad Wani, acknowledged that the issue has
been brought into his notice through proper channels time and again.
“I do understand that the place needs to be vacated. We are looking for alternate land somewhere in the vicinity so that the troops can be shifted there and the RRRS resumes doing whatever it was established for,” Wani said.Till then, however, the whole purpose of the centre remains hijacked and it continues to serve as a garrison.
“I do understand that the place needs to be vacated. We are looking for alternate land somewhere in the vicinity so that the troops can be shifted there and the RRRS resumes doing whatever it was established for,” Wani said.Till then, however, the whole purpose of the centre remains hijacked and it continues to serve as a garrison.
Source with thanks: http://www.risingkashmir.com/research-takes-backseat-as-police-army-crpf-turn-kulgam-rice-station-into-garrison/
Korea-India ties celebrated on
Republic Day
Diplomatic
soiree is held after Park’s visit and before Modi’s
Feb
02,2015
The Embassy of India last week commemorated the
country’s 66th Republic Day with an event at the Millennium Seoul Hilton in
Jung District, central Seoul, which was attended by approximately 400 people. Republic Day commemorates the adoption
of India’s constitution and is one of the three national holidays celebrated in
the South Asian country, along with the Independence Day on Aug. 15, and Gandhi
Jayanti on Oct. 2. In a welcoming
address on Jan. 26, Indian Ambassador Vishnu Prakash underscored Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s victory last May in a landslide election.
He
also highlighted key diplomatic steps during the past year to strengthen ties
between India and Korea, such as President Park Geun-hye’s state visit in
January. Prakash also noted the
plan by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) to establish
Korea’s first industrial park in India, in the state of Rajasthan, adding that
he was pushing ahead with organizing Modi’s state visit to Korea later this
year. “The past three years
working in Korea were three great years - and the best three years of my life,”
he said. “I feel like [it has only been] three months” since landing here.Jeong
Kab-yoon, the National Assembly vice speaker who participated as an honorary
guest, said India is Korea’s “friend and strategic partner,” and the
brotherhood “was strengthened while Ambassador Prakash was stationed here.”Jeong
leads a friendship association formed with Korean and Indian lawmakers.
Hanging
on the wall behind the podium was a photograph of President Park shaking hands
with Modi during their trip to Myanmar last November for the 25th Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit. At
the front of the banquet hall flanking the podium were several acrylic and oil
paintings depicting Indian culture and society, all of which were provided by
the Indian Art Museum in Seocho District, southern Seoul. A buffet of Indian dishes was arranged
along the far left and right sides of the room, including chickpea salad,
chicken curry, palak paneer (spinach and cheese curry), steamed basmati rice,
dal makhani (lentil curry) and Cape Brandy bread pudding. Artists at the Indian Cultural Center,
all dressed in traditional attire, provided entertainment for the international
crowd with music and dance performances.Koreans wearing hanbok, or traditional
Korean clothing, took to the stage later to dance and sing with their Indian
counterparts.
Image:
Indian
Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, center; Jeong Kab-yoon, right, the National Assembly
vice speaker; and Kim Ki-jai, the former minister of government administration
and home affairs, light a traditional Indian lamp on Jan. 26 at the 66th
Republic Day of India celebration held at the Millennium Seoul Hilton in Jung
District, central Seoul. By Park Sang-moon
BY LEE SUNG-EUN [selee@joongang.co.kr]
BY LEE SUNG-EUN [selee@joongang.co.kr]
Source with thanks: http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3000390&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1
Farmers welcoming lower gas prices across the country
By
BRIAN FANNEY - Associated Press - Sunday, February 1, 2015
LITTLE
ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Falling energy prices mean tractors are cheaper to run, water
is less expensive to pump and crops are more economical to ship. Arkansas
farmers are benefiting from the same forces that have driven down gasoline
prices, though falling gasoline prices take the cost of ethanol - and the money
farmers receive to grow corn - down with them.
“It’s
certainly a benefit for one side,” said Matt King, director of market
information and economics for Arkansas Farm Bureau. “But it hinders the other
side.”These Celebrities changed our lives forever, but left too soon.These 12
super foods speed up your weight loss and melt fat as soon as you start eating
them!In 2014, the average Arkansas farmer spent about $61,000 on diesel fuel
and other energy sources to farm 1,000 acres of land. That’s about 16 percent
of the average farmer’s total operating cost.Those numbers could fall
substantially this year.Diesel - which powers irrigation wells, trucks and
tractors - has been slower to decline in price than gasoline. But since
December, retail prices have dropped from $3.61 a gallon to $2.93 a gallon,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Farmers
use mostly off-road diesel, which they don’t pay state and federal taxes on. King
said prices are now around $2 a gallon for that form of fuel.Rabobank, a global
financial services company with a focus on agriculture, said Wednesday that
lower oil prices could have a large enough impact to make a noticeable
difference in supermarket prices.The size of the drop in oil prices combined
with the already significantly lower prices of agri-commodities will place
substantial downward pressure on global food prices, possibly reaching
multi-year lows,” said Clara van der Elst, a Rabobank analyst, in a news
release.
And
in Arkansas, cheaper fuel could have a large impact on rice growers. The
average rice farmer spent $127,000 - $93,000 to run irrigation pumps and
another $34,000 on diesel fuel to apply chemicals and fertilizer - for every
1,000 acres of land.In fact, rice farmers spend more than 21 percent of their
operating costs on energy - far more than other farmers - because of the amount
of water that needs to be pumped from the ground to grow the crop.K. Bradley
Watkins, research assistant professor of agricultural economics for the
University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center, said many rice
farmers have adapted to high prices by moving from diesel to electric pumps.
“There’s
been a sizeable movement,” he said. “When fuel costs really skyrocketed,
especially for diesel, that’s when the transition really started.”Though lower
fuel prices will help farmers control the cost of growing their crops, other
factors could mean farmers won’t see an increase in profit margins.King said
fertilizer costs have yet to fall, though it is made from natural gas, which
has declined in price. And the dollar is gaining strength while the economies
of Canada and Mexico — the United States’ largest trading partners — are
hurting from low oil prices.“Our dollar has been fairly weak over the last few
years, but we’re starting to see it strengthen,” King said. “As the dollar gets
more expensive, other countries buy less of our product.”
Source with
thanks: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/1/farmers-welcoming-lower-gas-prices-across-the-coun/#ixzz3QdQJiyXY
Rice millers in C'nawabganj incur huge loss
Many workers have become jobless
as blockade disrupts supply chain, production
RABIUL HASAN, Chapainawabganj
A huge quantity of rice remains piled up at a husking
mill at Atahar in Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila as transport is badly hampered
due to the indefinite countrywide blockade enforced by BNP-led 20-party
alliance. PHOTO: STAR
Rice millers in the district are
incurring huge losses due to non-stop countrywide blockade enforced by BNP-led
20-party alliance.Thousands of labourers of different rice mills have also
become temporarily jobless as many rice millers have stopped or lessened
production due to problem in sending the food grain to Dhaka, Chittagong,
Sylhet and other places.
"I have suspended operation
of four of the seven boiling units of my rice mill due to transport problem
amid countrywide blockade," said Akbar Hossain, owner of Nabab Auto Rice
and Feed Mills Pvte Ltd at Atahar in Sadar upazila."I usually collect
paddy from Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Dinajpur. After husking it in my mill,
I supply the rice to the capital and other places but both procurement and
supply works are now badly disturbed," said the owner of the large rice
mill. Monsur Rahman, owner of Sagor Auto Rice Mill in the town, Mozammel
Haque, owner of Haque Auto Rice Mill, and Mofizudddin, owner of Mafiz Auto Rice
Mill in Atahar area of Sadar upazila, said they now produce much smaller
amounts of rice that is supplied to markets within short distances only.
They are incurring losses
as they have to continue paying labourers' wages, electricity bills and
interests on bank loans, said the rice mill owners. Several rice mill
workers including Torikul, Atikur, Anarul Islam and Habibur Rahman said they
are passing hard days with their families as they have become jobless due to
decreased production in rice mills. Some 15,000 labourers work in around 250
rice mills in the district and nearly 100 truckloads of rice is usually sent to
the capital and different districts daily from Chapainawabganj, said
Erfan Ali, owner of Erfan Agro Food Ltd and Raju Rice Mill.
But now only 10 to 20 trucks
carry rice outside the district as truckers feel insecure to rent out their
vehicles fearing vandalism and arson attacks by blockaders and the fair has
increased by 100 to 150 percent, said Erfan, also president of rice mill
owners' association in the district.
Published: 12:00 am Sunday, February 01, 2015
Source with thanks: http://www.thedailystar.net/rice-millers-in-cnawabganj-incur-huge-loss-62679
It's not the
weather BUT corruption in your ministry causing trouble, Ismail Sabri!
Written
by Gooi Hsiao Leung
On
15.1.2015, I issued a statement highlighting the serious problem of excess
supply of rice stockpile faced by rice millers in Kedah and Perlis due to
corruption, abuse and mismanagement of the ST15% national rice subsidy program.I
had warned that the problem of excess supply of rice in rice mills would have
dire consequences on the entire supply chain of the rice industry, and raising
immediate fears that farmers would be unable to sell their harvest this season
or face high rejection rates for their paddy sold to rice millers.
My fears have now been
confirmed with widespread news coverage in the past 3 days concerning farmers
complaints of rice millers refusing to buy their paddy, causing 800 to 1000 m/t
of paddy to be stockpiled daily in paddy purchasing centers’ of the Farmers
Organization Authority (Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang (LPP)) since the a week ago
(22.1.2015). Perlis farmers are also complaining of steep rejection rates of up
to 32% imposed by rice millers on paddy sold by the farmers.Shockingly, the
Agricultural Minister blamed the “weather” as the cause for the paddy stockpile
crisis, citing that “uncertain weather” had caused the farmers to plant late
this season, and as such, he has instructed BERNAS to buy up all the excess
stockpile paddy.
The
Minister’s explanation in blaming the weather for the paddy stockpile problem
is totally illogical and most ridiculous.The weather or late planting and
harvesting of paddy does not cause paddy stockpile currently faced in Perlis.
Even during the best harvesting seasons where Kedah and Perlis can together
harvest up to 650k m/t of paddy per season, Kedah and Perlis rice millers have
the capacity to process and mill 950k m/t of paddy each season.
The
Minister is totally evading the real root cause of why rice millers are not
buying paddy. As I have previously highlighted, it is because rice millers
themselves are facing difficulty disposing stockpiled rice in their mills due
to the blatant abuse and corruption in the government mismanagement of the
national ST15% rice subsidy scheme.Each year, the government budgets around
RM2.2 billion on subsidies and incentives on the rice sector from subsidizing
farmers for the price of paddy (RM480 million), fertilizer subsidy (RM465million),
incentive to produce paddy (RM563million), rice price subsidy (RM528million),
paddy seed subsidy (RM85million), etc.
If
the rice and paddy stockpile crisis persists and paddy harvested become damaged
and spoilt because they are not sold, dried and processed, hundreds of millions
spent on subsidies and incentives by the government will be totally squandered
with farmers being the biggest victims.Without any further delay and lame
excuses in blaming nature, I urge the Agricultural Minister to immediately make
a visit to Perlis and Kedah to personally meet the farmers and rice millers to
listen to their grievances and offer long term solutions to overcome the rice
and paddy stockpile problem before it before it becomes a full blown national food
security crisis.
Full
article:
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=451761:its-not-the-weather-but-corruption-in-your-ministry-causing-trouble-ismail-sabri&Itemid=2#ixzz3QdSHgTUc
Source with thanks: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=451761:its-not-the-weather-but-corruption-in-your-ministry-causing-trouble-ismail-sabri&Itemid=2#axzz3QdNkhujJ
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