Managing Asean rice reserves
3/17/2015
New Straits Times (Malaysia)
New Straits Times (Malaysia)
STABILISING Asean
rice markets is a crucial concern for averting crises, such as the 2007-08
global rice crisis. The current strategy towards this is by growing the size of
rice reserves in the Asean-Plus-Three Emergency Rice Reserve (Apterr), although
Apterr has been critiqued for its small size relative to total demand and low
utilisation. A look into the stabilisation policies in currency markets show
that more important than size is the way the reserves are
used to incentivise actors towards behaviours that reduce risk exposure.
As such, the
limited reserves in Apterr can be used for encouraging behaviours such as
increasing transparency/reporting, increasing partner diversification,
addressing structural imbalances in agricultural production and consumption
within countries.Rice, as a commodity, is subject to unstable marketdynamics.
For instance,
chance events, such as a drought in India's wheatmarket combined with panic reactions by both exporters and importers,
triggered world rice prices to soar in 2007-08.This developed into a crisis
when Thailand and Vietnam, major exporting countries, closed their export gates following India's lead.This left
rice importing countries unable to purchase the
needed amounts to meet their own demand.Structurally, risks of the recent crisis
recurring are high since the top five exporters (India, Thailand, Vietnam, the United
States and Pakistan) occupy 81 per cent of global rice trade, as reported by
the International Rice Research Institute.Production shortfalls in any of the
five countries are likely to cause panic.
Worse still, is if
they engage in strategic behaviour of holding stocks to drive prices up (in
fact, a rice cartel was proposed by Thailand in 2012).Lastly, countries hardly
provide accurate data on how much stocks they have, making it harder to assess
risk.To address instability in the rice market, the 10 Asean countries plus
China, Japan and South Korea developed the Asean-Plus-Three Emergency Rice
Reserve (Apterr), a multilateral institution that holds rice reserves contributed
by member countries for use during crises. The attention given in the media is
often to the low amount of reserves relative to demand.Asean reports show that
compared to an Asean demand of half a million tonnes of rice per day, Apterr is
small as its overall size is only at 787,000 tonnes (enough to cover a day and
a half of consumption).
Overall
recommendations for Apterr have focused on increasing accumulation and
accessibility of its reserves for crises.Of the total reserves, 87,000 tonnes
come from all 10 Asean countries combined, while the rest are sourced from the
"Plus Three" countries (Japan, Korea, China), leading to calls for
increasing contributions by Asean countries.Relatedly, it has been critiqued
for its low utilisation rate: member countries prefer to have
country-to-country rice purchases because the Apterr's mechanism poses the risk
that the needed rice/funds are not delivered soon enough.For instance, it
requires a time-consuming process of crisis declarations by countries in need
and approvals by member countries. However, the approach to rice market
stabilisation through the Apterr may be insufficient from the standards of
currency market stabilisation. Rice and currency markets are comparable for a
few reasons:
Firstly, they both
deal with priced commodities, the latter being priced based on the exchange
rate. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was set up after World War 2 for
the purpose of stabilising exchange rates.Similar to the Apterr, the IMF also
has a system of holding reserves and releasing them for stabilisation purposes
though it has committed to doing things differently, learning from the 2007-08
global financial crisis.The IMF has moved on from issues of size and
utilisation. A key insight to be learned from its practices in currency market
stabilisation is its shift from crisis resolution to crisis prevention.
What the IMF will
be doing differently is its use of reserves to influence countries towards
reducing risk, by tailoring the criteria for accessing reserves.Firstly, data
adequacy is a key criterion for which country receives funds, and how much of
it a country can tap.Next, these criteria also include behavioural adjustments
which would reduce structural instabilities in the countries concerned, in the
areas of external position and market access, fiscal policy, monetary policy
and financial sector soundness. In sum, the use of reserves is only a last
resort for the IMF while most of its work focuses on stabilising the structures
of economies so that they will have no need for the said emergency mechanism in
the first place.
Applying this to
rice market stabilisation, the criteria for release of rice reserves can be
tailored towards incentivising countries to reduce their vulnerability to risk,
individually.Firstly, net-importing countries can be incentivised to
prioritise rice production so that they can reduce external dependence, and to
spread their risk by diversifying into other export partners.Strategic indicators may be
drawn from current food security databases, including the Economist
Intelligence Unit's Global Food Security Index, or Syngenta's Rice Bowl
Index.Next, Apterr can also adopt the data adequacy criterion used by IMF to
reward countries for reporting country data on rice stocks held.
This would allow
it to perform effective surveillance in countries, which in turn would feed
into better recommendations for reducing long-term structural risks.Learning
from stabilisation practices in currency markets, Apterr reserves should be
used not simply as a buffer for crisis purposes. Instead, they should be tapped
for incentivising countries towards reducing overall systemic risk.In this
regard, it would not be the size of Apterr, but its potential for reducing
overall risk, which should be the focus in the next Apterr meeting this
year.The writer is an associate research fellow at the Centre for
Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
http://www.world-grain.com/news/news%20home/LexisNexisArticle.aspx?articleid=2323641395
Paradigm shifting’ rice method
receives award
3/17/2015 - by World Grain Staff
SINGAPORE — Cornell University’s
System of Rice Intensification (SRI) production method, which can increase rice
yields by 20% to 50%, received an award from Olam International, the company
announced on March 17.
The International Prize for
Innovation in Food Security was awarded by an international jury panel to
Professor Norman Uphoff and the SRI International Network and Resources Center
(SRI-Rice) at the 3rd Global Science Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture in
Montpellier, France.Launched in partnership with leading scientific
organization Agropolis Fondation to celebrate Olam’s 25th anniversary, the Olam
Prize for Innovation in Food Security recognizes an outstanding innovation for
its impact on the availability, affordability, accessibility or adequacy of
food.
SRI-Rice, which is housed at Cornell University in New York, U.S.,
has been promoting research and facilitating knowledge-sharing on the System of
Rice Intensification, a climate-smart methodology with outstanding results for
rice production that is surprisingly counter-intuitive.Capitalizing on
biological processes, on the genetic potential of the crop, and on
plant-soil-microbial interactions, the system requires 80% to 90% fewer rice
seeds, up to 50% less water and in many instances no fertilizer.
Yields are then boosted by 20% to 50% (and often by much more),
with farmers’ costs subsequently reduced by 10% to 20%.SRI methods include
alternately drying and wetting the rice field rather than the usual practice of
continuous flooding, adding organic matter to soil for their improvement, and
instead of planting the standard of approximately 130 plants per square
meter, about 16 single, very young seedlings are planted with much wider
spacing. These carefully designed planting and growing practices produce
deep-rooted rice plants with a greater amount and diversity of soil organisms.
The healthier, more robust plants are better able to withstand the
stresses of drought, flooding, storm damage, and pests and diseases.SRI is now
being promoted by governments in China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam,
where two-thirds of the world’s rice is produced. Use of SRI practices is
increasing the yields of over 10 million smallholder farmers by an average of
1.67 tonnes per hectare, while simultaneously reducing their costs and lowering
water requirements.
“The innovation behind SRI is fascinating because it disrupts
common notions of rice farming, and such disruption is essential if we are to
feed 9 billion people by 2050. Grown by 200 million small-scale farmers, rice
is the world’s staple diet, so I am delighted that Olam is helping to scale up
practices so clearly proven to increase yields, thereby reducing the pressure
on precious arable land and water,” said Sunny Verghese, co-founder, group managing
director and chief executive officer.
“On top of this, there are
no costs to the farmer which provides three benefits: firstly, communities have
increased access to vital calories without paying more; secondly they can
improve their livelihoods by selling the surplus and lastly, through that
surplus they are supporting global food security needs.“As we celebrate our 25
years in the agricultural sector, I am proud that this anniversary prize should
be awarded to SRI-RICE, a team that has ‘transcended boundaries’ – the meaning
of Olam. And with our own 10,000 hectare rice farm and smallholder program in
Nigeria we will certainly be exploring this research further.”In addition to
the promotion of the new methodologies, SRI-Rice provides technical assistance
to development and research programs, advancing knowledge on SRI and acting as
a global hub for the international SRI community.
“The SRI-Rice team stood out for the demonstrable impact their
research and outreach on paradigm-shifting methodologies is having in over 55
rice-growing countries globally,” said Pascal Kosuth, director of Agropolis
Foundation and jury member for the Olam prize. “Professor Uphoff and the
SRI-Rice team at Cornell University are working with a vast global network to
build a body of scientific evidence demonstrating that significant yields can
be achieved from the same land by simply better understanding the natural
synergies between plants, soils, water, nutrients, soil organisms and climate.
”“Along with the rest of the SRI-Rice team and the hundreds of
colleagues all around the world who have made SRI a reality on the ground, I am
honored to receive this award from Olam, one of the world’s largest
agribusinesses and a team that knows very well the importance of agricultural science
to ensuring food security,” said Uphoff, in receiving the award. “However, this
award must be dedicated to the memory of Père Henri Laulanie, whose ideas and
observations working with impoverished farmers in Madagascar some 30 years ago
provided the basis for all SRI research.
“Scaling up SRI and its derived System of Crop Intensification
(SCI) is a matter of changing mindsets, habits and practices, and the
recognition Olam has bestowed on us with this award marks a milestone in terms
of support from the private sector. The Olam Prize money will be used to
support further research, particularly around how SRI management methods can
reduce methane gas emissions – essential in the fight against climate change –
as well as on the role of soil microbes in the uptake of nutrients.”With a
prize value of $50,000, the Olam prize was judged by an international panel of
experts in conjunction with the Louis Malassis International Scientific Prizes.
http://www.world-grain.com/articles/news_home/World_Grain_News/2015/03/Paradigm_shifting_rice_method.aspx?ID=%7BA409D1E3-1093-47E2-87C3-9E15469E0CF9%7D&cck=1
PhilRice develops 25 new
heat-tolerant rice varieties
March 17, 2015
8:54 pm
The Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) has developed 25 new heat-tolerant varieties that can
stand the impact of harsh climate change and other extreme weather conditions
such as the El Nino phenomenon.Dr. Norvie Manigbas, lead researcher, said the
development of rice varieties with high temperature tolerance was intended to
address effects of climate change in areas where 90 to 95 percent of the
population depend on rice.He said PhilRice was able to identify the new
breeding lines after rigorous selection for high temperature tolerance using
conventional method and marker-assisted selection.
“We established breeding
nurseries in high temperature prone areas in Cagayan and Nueva Ecija to screen
and select breeding materials under field conditions,” Manigbas said.Rice grows
optimally between 20-35°C and becomes increasingly sensitive to increasing
temperatures especially during flowering. In 2010, Manigbas and his team
developed new rice genotypes that can tolerate and adapt to high temperatures
at 37-39°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.Manigbas said planting was done
on staggered basis so that flowering, or reproductive stage of all test
entries, will coincide with the highest temperature during the growing season.
“PhilRice 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 said.Manigbas said
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.With his co-researchers — Luvina Madrid, Corazon Cardenas, Evelyn
Ladia, and Ferdinand Enriquez — Manigbas targets the promising line to be
released as a new heat-tolerant rice variety in 2016-2017.Their research won
the bronze medal in the Gold AFMA Best R&D Paper Award.
http://www.manilatimes.net/philrice-develops-25-new-heat-tolerant-rice-varieties/170005/
Golden rice is a humanitarian
effort: Moore
Grain of salt: Leader of the 'Allow Golden Rice Now' campaign
Patrick Moore addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday. - RAMESH
SHARMA
Campaign leader claims it will
address Vitamin A deficiency in developing nations
NEW DELHI, MARCH
16:
The ‘Allow Golden Rice Now’ campaign led by former Greenpeace
member Patrick Moore made its way here on Monday after similar events in Manila
and Dhaka.It aims to promote ‘golden rice’, a genetically-modified variant
containing beta-carotene, that the technology’s proponents claim will address
the problem of Vitamin A deficiency in the developing world.Interestingly, it’s
touted as an “entirely humanitarian” endeavour with public research being
funded by donor organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
the Helen Keller Foundation and USAID, among others. Hence, Moore told BusinessLine, fears of
corporate monopolisation were unfounded and merely rumours spread by anti-GMO
organisations such as Greenpeace.“There’s nothing in it for the companies, not
one is considering making money from Golden Rice,” he said.
Syngenta’s role
When asked about the agri-business giant Syngenta’s role in the
Golden Rice Project, Moore stated that the corporation had helped develop an
improved version called ‘Golden Rice 2’ (GR-2) using a maize gene instead of
the one from daffodils.The new version, introduced in 2005, apparently produces
23 times more beta-carotene than its predecessor.“It was a charitable act that
made Golden Rice better and the technology has been given to others. GR-2 will
be given away free in developing nations where there’s a Vitamin A deficiency
issue, a royalty will only be charged in industralised nations,” he added.
Moore stated that the distribution model, using The Philippines
as an example, involved public research institutes such as the International
Rice Research Institute in Manila (IRRI, where trials have been conducted over
the last decade) and its partner institutions disbursing seeds to farmers for
free once Golden Rice is fully developed.The farmers would grow it and be able
to sell the seeds with no reason to charge more than they would for regular
rice since there was no royalty required to be paid.
Complex system
“It’s not true that there are no corporate interests at work,
Syngenta has a patent on Golden Rice but has permitted others to work with it.
The company can retain control if it wants to,” said Rajesh Krishnan of the
Coalition for a GM-Free India, and feared that field trials would contaminate
other rice varieties.“Preservation of genetic diversity is one of the biggest
problems because India is one of the centres of origin and diversity of rice,”
he added.“Syngenta still owns the patent but there are plenty of contracts and
sub-contracts which are difficult to unravel. The larger point is that it isn’t
even ready for the market yet.
Excessive Vitamin-A has its problems and the efficacy of the
project can be questioned since a wholesome diet with minerals and fat cannot
be achieved by Golden Rice,” said Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty of the Save Our Rice
Campaign.The IRRI has claimed limited success with multilevel trials, it is
believed that yields have not been adequate either, she added. Currently,
Golden Rice is still under development and is being evaluated at the IRRI and can
only be provided to farmers if it gets regulatory approval.“I don’t see
approvals in The Philippines coming through soon, we hope that this can be
taken to India, Bangladesh and Indonesia,” said Moore.
(This article was published on March 16, 2015)
Hybrid Rice
Delhi ,March 17, 2015 Last Updated at 14:20 IST
Government of India has not fixed any target for increasing acreage of hybrid rice in
the country. However, efforts are being made to promote cultivation of hybrid
rice through various crop development programmes such as National Food Security
Mission (NFSM), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) and
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). From
the initial level of 10,000 hectares in 1995, area under hybrid reached one
million hectare in 2006. It has picked up during the last nine years, mainly
because of increasing popularity of hybrid rice in eastern Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and area under hybrid rice
has exceeded to 2.5 million hectares during 2014, which is about 5.6% of the
total rice area in the country.
Although, there are reports of incidence of bacterial
infection, but no report about huge loss to paddy crop have been received from
state governments of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB) and Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) have jointly developed
bacterial blight resistant variety 'Improved Samba Mahsuri' which variety was
notified and released for cultivation in 2008. The variety has so far spread to
an area of 90,000 ha in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and
Andhra Pradesh. This information
was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture Sh.Mohanbhai Kundaria in Lok
Sabha today.
Govt to introduce cold-tolerant Boro
The government plans to introduce a coldtolerant variety of Boro
paddy to avoid crop damage by erratic weather.This particular variety, tolerant
to cold conditions both at the seedling and reproductive stages, can be
introduced within two years, said Dr Jibon Krishna Biswas, director general of
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).“We are now running trials, and once
we get successful results, we will apply for its commercial release.
”He said the government had been trying to develop crop
varieties tolerant of extreme climatic events to ensure steady food
production.As a part of that initiative, BRRI has been working on cold-tolerant
Boro because a large number of rice farmers suffer significant losses every
year as none of the existing varieties can cope with extreme cold. Though a
winter crop, Boro is often affected by cold-related diseases at the seedling
and reproductive stages.Paddy farmers in haor (wetland) areas usually face more
problems than do others, as they only cultivate Boro and start the cultivation
process in January – a month ahead of the rest of the country.
“Since January is the coldest month in Bangladesh, the haor
farmers often have to tackle cold-related diseases affecting their crops. They
will be particularly benefited by this new paddy variety,” the BRRI DG told the
Dhaka Tribune.The BRRI previously developed another cold-tolerant Boro variety
named BRRI 36, but its cold tolerance is very low.Boro is the most produced
paddy in the country accounting for a production of almost 19 million tonnes
out of 34.6 million tonnes produced in Bangladesh in 2013-14.The BRRI also
released two saline tolerant varieties and two submergence tolerant varieties
of paddy in 2010, and in 2012 the state-run rice research organisation released
two drought tolerant varieties.In addition to these varieties, the BRRI also
released eight more varieties between 2009 and 2013 which are currently being
popularised among farmers.
Japan
Cuts Food Self-Sufficiency Target as Trade Deals Expand
(Bloomberg) -- Japan, which imports about 60 percent of its
food, cut its self-sufficiency target as the government expands free-trade
agreements for economic growth, lowering tariffs on meat and dairy.The largest
Asian buyer of corn, beef and pork lowered the rate to 45 percent by March
2026, the Agriculture Ministry said in an e-mailed report Tuesday. The target,
which is reviewed by the government every five years, was reduced from 50
percent set in 2010.The country reached a free-trade agreement last year with
Australia and began cutting tariffs on the third-biggest beef exporter in
January in line with the bilateral accord to halve duties on frozen meat by
2032. Japan is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership with the U.S. and 10
other nations as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expands trade-promotion deals.
“We need to make our self-sufficiency target more feasible as
the gap between the previous goal and the reality is widening,” Takashi Amou, a
director of the ministry’s policy planning division, told reporters in
Tokyo.The production target for food rice was cut to 7.52 million metric tons
for the year through March 31, 2026 from 8.59 million tons last fiscal year as
Japanese consumption shrank and domestic stockpiles stayed near an 11-year
high, the ministry said in the report. The government wants farmers to produce
feed rice as an alternative to imported corn and wheat, it said.The feed-rice
output goal was set at 1.1 million tons for the fiscal year 2025-2026, a
10-fold increase from output last fiscal year, according to the ministry.Japan
is the world’s largest importer of corn, buying 15 million tons last year. The
U.S. was the biggest supplier to the country with 12.6 million tons, followed
by Brazil with 1.3 million tons and Ukraine with 900,749 tons, according to
data from the ministry.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey
Al-Rikabi atralrikabi@bloomberg.net Jarrett Banks, Sungwoo Park
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-17/dollar-holds-drop-before-fed-while-oil-sinks-on-supplies
Riceland’s Harris visits Cuba
with rice industry group
All the Cuban officials discussed
opportunities in the market for imports of a wide variety of ag products
including inputs and equipment. They also discussed in depth the problems
created by the U.S. embargo and the roadblock it created that prevented
consistent business and a closer ongoing relationship between industries in the
nations
By USA Rice Federation
Posted Mar. 17, 2015 at 10:41 AM
HAVANA, Cuba —
Missouri rice farmer
Rance Daniels and Riceland Foods Senior Vice President of Marketing and Risk
Management Terry Harris represented the U.S. rice industry on a recent trip
with more than 90 people involved in agriculture and education visiting
Cuba. The group, traveling as the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba
(USACC), included two former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture, Mike Espy and
John Block, and the First Lady of Missouri Georgeanne Nixon.The group met on
Monday morning with the Minister of Foreign Investment, Mr. José Luis Padrone,
director of international relations for the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Juan
José León Vega, and in the afternoon with Rafael Rivacoba, director of
international relations for the state sugar enterprise, and Leonardo Chairing,
director of international relations for the National Association of Small
Farmers.
All the Cuban officials discussed opportunities in
the market for imports of a wide variety of ag products including inputs and
equipment. They also discussed in depth the problems created by the U.S.
embargo and the roadblock it created that prevented consistent business and a
closer ongoing relationship between industries in the nations.That evening the
group attended a reception at the residence of the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba,
hosted by the Missouri First Lady. Tuesday the delegation split into six groups to visit
various segments of the ag industry including sugar production; aquaculture;
cattle production; fruits, grains and vegetables; tobacco and sorghum; and
rice.Daniels and Harris went on the rice tour, meeting with the board of
directors of a farm cooperative that farmed more than 7,000 acres of
rice. They also toured two rice mills and a rice drying and storage
facility.
There was a detailed discussion between the Cuban and
U.S. farmers about farm practices, pricing, problems and opportunities."I
found it very interesting in talking with the Cuban farmers the practices we
have in common, but also how different some of them are," Daniels
reflected. "They were definitely intrigued with the size of our planting
and harvesting equipment. I also feel renewed trade with Cuba is a great
opportunity for us to expand our rice export markets, but it will also be a way
for us to share some of our technology with the Cuban farmers to help improve
their productivity.
"The meeting ended after a meeting with the
president of Alimport, the state agency that imports almost all foodstuffs into
the country, a follow up discussion with the Cuban officials who had previously
met with the group and capped by comments by both the former Secretaries of
Agriculture."I felt the trip was very beneficial from both the U.S. and
Cuban perspectives," said Harris. "It allowed a good exchange of
information, ideas and goals that could benefit both nations and create opportunities
for bilateral trade. As expressed by both Secretary Block and Secretary
Espy, Cuba holds incredible potential for increased commerce in goods and
technology, but the embargo remains a stumbling block that we must remove to
make this opportunity a reality."
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/article/20150317/NEWS/150319714
El Nino conditions rising, says
Australia Met
Pacific cyclones have increased
chances for such an eventuality to 50% by mid-year
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH
17:
The Australian Bureau of
Meteorology suspects that ‘unusual conditions’ in tropical Pacific during the
past fortnight may increase the chance of El Nino this year. But it also observed that model outlooks
spanning the traditional transition period of February to May generally have
lower accuracy than outlooks made at other times of year.El Nino is a condition
in which tropical and adjoining east Pacific warms up relative to the west,
taking away storm-building, clouding and rains from Asia to the South America
coast.
El Niño watch
This is normally expected to leave an impact on the Asian
summer, including the monsoon, though there is no direct cause-effect relationship.The
bureau’s tracker is now locked at an ‘El Nino watch.’This indicates that there
is about a 50 per cent chance of El Nino forming in 2015 – double the normal
likelihood of an event. This is due to the warmer-than-average sub-surface
temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the bureau said in an update.
Pacific cyclones
International models surveyed by it indicate that central and
eastern tropical Pacific will warm to El Nino thresholds by mid-year.The bureau
recalled that in the western Pacific, super cyclone Pam and tropical storm Bavi
had straddled the equator, producing one of the strongest reversals in the
trade winds in recent years.El Nino happens when weakening trade winds (east to
west, which sometimes even reverse direction) allow the warmer water from the
western Pacific to flow toward the east.A reversal of winds has taken place in
the wake of the cyclones.This flattens out the sea level, builds up warm
surface water off the coast of South America, and increases temperatures in
east Pacific.
Warm anomaly
This change is expected to increase the already warm sub-surface
temperatures currently observed in the tropical Pacific Ocean.It may in turn
raise tropical Pacific Ocean surface temperatures in the coming months.However,
the bureau said that it is too early yet to say whether the reversal in the
trade winds is a short term fluctuation or the beginning of a sustained
trend.International models surveyed have strengthened their outlooks for the likelihood
of El Nino, it said.All eight models are suggesting ocean temperatures will
exceed El Nino thresholds by mid-year.
(This article was published on March 17, 2015)
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/agri-biz/el-nino-conditions-rising-says-australia-met/article7003977.ece
SoCal offering to pay its highest price ever for water
LA Observed
Kevin Roderick: With this drought year starting to look
like the worst yet, the MetropolitanWater District
is offering rich deals and Northern California
rice farmers are selling.
German company helps farmers fight rice blast
disease
Selasa, 17 Maret 2015 21:54 WIB |
Jombang, E Java (ANTARA News) - German chemical
company BASF organized the Rice Innovation Experience Tour in Carangrejo
village, Kesamben sub-district, Jombang district, East Java province, to
introduce its new fungicidal product to 350 farmers."BASF has spent 250
million euros to conduct research and development in a bid to create a product
that can help to fight the rice blast disease and increase the yield of
rice," BASFs Crop Protection Business Area Manager for Southeast Asia Leon
van Mullekom stated here on Tuesday.
Rice blast is one of the most destructive diseases
affecting the rice crop and is caused by the fungus "Magnaporthe
grisea," which can destroy rice plants."Innovations in rice-growing
techniques and pesticides will contribute to higher rice yields and
quality," noted Leon.According to Leon, Indonesian farmers are able to
produce about 4.7 tons of rice per hectare, while farmers in Vietnam and China
harvest 5.6 and 6.5 tons of rice per hectare, respectively.The Jombang district
administration, Indonesian rice experts, and BASF gathered for a Rice
Innovation Tour in Carangrejo village, Jombang district, East Java.
The event was organized to explore ways through which
innovation can boost rice yields and quality, while simultaneously being safe
for the environment and improving the livelihood of the local farmers.BASF
chose Jombang as a location to introduce its new and innovative product as it
is one of the highest rice-producing districts in East Java, along with Banyuwangi,
Ngawi, and Lamongan.Nearly 60 percent of the total population in Jombang work
as farmers, with nearly half of the total land in the area used as rice fields.
"This event is expected to help Jombang achieve
the target of producing 436,207 tons of rice in 2015," Vice Regent of
Jombang Munjidah Wahab affirmed.In January 2015, Jombang has harvested seven
thousand tons of rice. Earlier in 2014, Jombang managed to achieve a surplus
production of 145 thousand tons of rice."Rat, brown planthoppers, and rice
blast disease are the main constraints hindering farmers productivity.
Innovation is expected to increase the productivity of farmers," Munjidah
added.(*)
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/98148/german-company-helps-farmers-fight-rice-blast-disease
Arkansas Rice Depot
needs your help!
On Thursday, April 2,
we’re participating in ArkansasGives, a one-day online giving event. When you
make a donation to Arkansas Rice Depot on April 2, you can help us qualify for bonus dollars and cash
prizes that will make your donation stretch farther.
How you can help:
· Sign up for a callback. Only
gifts made on April
2 through ArkansasGives
will count towards the Arkansas Rice Depot grand total; therefore, we will
be set up at Rice Depot from 8 am – 8 pm on April 2 to
assist you with your donation. Sign up for
a call to remind you to make your donation count!
· Donate! We have set a goal to
raise $25,000 through this event, but we will
need your help! OnApril 2, visit ArkansasGives.org to make a donation to
Arkansas Rice Depot between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ArkansasGives requires gifts to be made
via credit card (including American Express, Visa, Discover and MasterCard and
debit cards that bear the Visa or MasterCard symbol). The minimum gift required
by the Arkansas Community Foundation is $25, but since $30 will feed a
child for a month, we are asking a minimum gift of $30.
· Challenge 6 friends to donate. This
is going to be a really fun and easy way to help with our fundraising efforts
for 2015 as well as a perfect opportunity to introduce us to your friends that
might be interested in hunger relief. Forward this email to include your
friends and family in this challenge!
We couldn't fulfill our mission
to improve the lives of hungry Arkansans without you! If you have any questions feel free to contact me at brandi@ricedepot.org or (501) 565-8855 ext 102.
Serving the hungry with you,
Brandi Johnston, Director of
Developmen
Genetically modified food in China: time to reap what scientists
sow?
Genetically modified food is a field in which
China is globally competitive, but researchers say government hesitation is
slowing growth
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 18 March, 2015, 5:11am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 18 March, 2015, 7:52am
Mandy Zuomandy.zuo@scmp.com
Illustration:
Henry WongAngel or demon, transgenic crops have become one of the
"frontier technologies" that China is determined to embrace.In contrast
to China's usual modesty in academic matters, mainland scientists claim that
genetically modified organisms, utilising recombinant DNA technology, i s among the few fields in which China can
claim to be globally competitive.Genetically modified rice, in particular, is
the achievement that China should be most proud of, they say. But they fear the
government's persistent hesitation to commercialise their successes could make
China's GM quest lose momentum.
A quarter of the world's top research papers on
rice have been written by Chinese researchers, said Yan Jianbing, a corn
genomics researcher at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan
."Agricultural biotechnology is one of the few technologies in which China
is on an equal footing with the world's best," said Yan, who works at the
university's laboratory of crop genetic improvement, a key GMO research
facility designated by the central government.With vast funding and a big team,
China was ready to bring to market an insect-resistant transgenic rice it
developed on its own a decade ago, said Zhu Zhen, a researcher at the Chinese
Academy of Sciences' Bureau of Life Sciences and Biotechnology.
But the government has chosen so far not to
commercialise its GMO expertise as the technology remains controversial around
the world and has triggered fierce debate at home."Public opinion remains
unfavourable for the technology, and even now, the prospect for
commercialisation is unclear," Zhu said.China pumped vast funds into GMO
research when global studying of the subject started in the mid-1980s, and kept
pace with international research all the time, he noted.China was the first
country to commercialise transgenics in the early 1990s with the introduction
of virus-resistant tobacco.In the mid-1990s, China was behind only the US in
planting transgenic crops, with 1.1 million hectares of such crops, or 39 per
cent of the world's total, being sown in 1996.
But
progress slowed considerably as controversy arose at home and abroad.In the
past decade, many talented researchers returned from overseas to become the
pillar of China's GM research effort, Zhu said. Today, his main fear is that
the government's sluggishness to commercialise these accomplishments is
frustrating ambitious young scientists."It's important to maintain an
advantage in research, but to keep the technology from being commercialised
means it won't be rewarded by the market. This will only make our research lose
momentum," said Zhu, who is also the deputy director-general of the
Chinese Society of Biotechnology. "The market will not wait," he
said.
"There is good stuff overseas
too."According to the non-profit international organisation, the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA),
a record 181.5 million hectares of GM crops were grown globally in 2014.The
United States planted most, while China ranked sixth with 3.9 million
hectares.Yan Jianbing said China had invested greatly in research and building
a solid base of expertise.A handful of genetically modified 'Golden Rice'. GM
research was designated by the government as one of 16 major areas in which it
was aiming for major breakthroughs by 2020, according to a national scientific
research plan in 2008.The China Business News cited a leading scientist as saying
that from 2006 to 2020 about 20 billion yuan would be devoted to GM research.
Yan was optimistic that China could keep up
the good work as long as the government maintained its investment, but shared
Zhu's concern that China lagged others in applying the technology. "GM
research, especially its application, needs to be driven by corporations, but
for now the central government is doing the job, which is inconsistent with
economics," he said.Dr Alan McHughen, a geneticist at the University of
California, Riverside, said the healthiest approach to research was to have
vigorous involvement by the public and private sectors. The public sector
should concentrate on the underlying technologies, while the private sector
would adapt the results of public researchers to develop commercial products
for the good of society.
"In this respect, China is well
organised and strategic in using public funding support to encourage GM
research in China to improve crops of highest importance to the country,
instead of simply adopting GM crops developed elsewhere," he said.Calling
China "one of the world leaders in GM agriculture", he said the
country would increase agricultural productivity and environmental
sustainability with such public support.William Niebur, vice-president of
DuPont for crop genetics research, also saw a promising Chinese GM market.He
noted that faced with an urbanising population and natural resource
constraints, China had begun to move away from extensive management methods
driven by large output goals and excessive agricultural input 
practices."In
the future, improving agricultural competitiveness will be achieved by
promoting technological innovation in agriculture and mandating environmentally
sustainable development," he said."As the world's most populous
nation and the largest grain consumer, China has stepped up efforts to ensure
its food safety and security, as well as integrating new agricultural
technologies to increase land productivity."But much concern remains as
views on GM agriculture vary greatly among ordinary people and even government
officials.
In the government's first policy directive
this year, issued earlier this month, authorities called for improvements in
safety management and public education on GM crops."After the frequent
reports of illegal planting and circulation of GM crops in the past decade due
to slack supervision, the authorities have apparently started to realise it's a
serious problem," said Fang Lifeng, formerly a biosafety campaigner for
environment group Greenpeace and now an independent observer."It was the
first time public education was brought up in the document, which actually
started in the second half of last year," he said.Led by the Ministry of
Agriculture, various departments have increased their propaganda about GM
technology to create a favourable environment for the commercialisation of GM
crops."So I expect more publicity machines are going to voice support for
GM research in the future," said Fang.This article appeared in the South
China Morning Post print edition as Time to reap what scientists sow?
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1740481/genetically-modified-food-china-time-reap-what-scientists-sow
PhilRice develops 25 new
heat-tolerant rice varieties
March 17, 2015 8:54 pm
The Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) has developed 25 new heat-tolerant varieties that can
stand the impact of harsh climate change and other extreme weather conditions
such as the El Nino phenomenon.Dr. Norvie Manigbas, lead researcher, said the
development of rice varieties with high temperature tolerance was intended to
address effects of climate change in areas where 90 to 95 percent of the
population depend on rice.He said PhilRice was able to identify the new
breeding lines after rigorous selection for high temperature tolerance using
conventional method and marker-assisted selection.
“We established breeding
nurseries in high temperature prone areas in Cagayan and Nueva Ecija to screen
and select breeding materials under field conditions,” Manigbas said.Rice grows
optimally between 20-35°C and becomes increasingly sensitive to increasing
temperatures especially during flowering. In 2010, Manigbas and his team
developed new rice genotypes that can tolerate and adapt to high temperatures
at 37-39°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.
Manigbas said planting was done
on staggered basis so that flowering, or reproductive stage of all test
entries, will coincide with the highest temperature during the growing
season.“PhilRice 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 said.Manigbas said 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.With his co-researchers — Luvina Madrid,
Corazon Cardenas, Evelyn Ladia, and Ferdinand Enriquez — Manigbas targets the
promising line to be released as a new heat-tolerant rice variety in
2016-2017.Their research won the bronze medal in the Gold AFMA Best R&D
Paper Award.
N sees success in seizing HK rice market from Thailand
Wichit Chaitrong
The Nation March 18, 2015 1:00 am
Vietnam
has gained a substantial share of Hong Kong's rice market at the expense of
Thailand, resulting from fierce competition over the past 10 years.Back in
2004, Thailand controlled almost 90 per cent of that city's rice market, by
sending about 275,000 tonnes to Hong Kong. But its market share plunged to
about 45 per cent in 2013 and then slightly recovered to 48 per cent last year,
according to Hong Kong's Trade and Industry Department. Vietnam's rice sales in
Hong Kong started from almost nothing - 0.3 per cent of the market in 2004 -
but its share jumped to 42 per cent in 2013 before dropping slightly to 40 per
cent last year.
"It
will be very difficult for Thailand to regain 90 per cent," Fong Ngai,
director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office for Asean, said yesterday
during an interview on NOW26 TV. Thailand's market share in the first month of
this year was up to 65.1 per cent versus Vietnam's 26.3 per cent and Cambodia's
0.3 per cent. However, that might not be the trend for the whole year. Vietnam
made a very smart move. It started by selling to restaurants and caterers. Now
it can sell to consumers. "Before we saw only Thai rice on the shelves of
supermarkets. Now we 
also see
Vietnamese rice," Fong said. Recently Cambodia also made a successfully
market entry. In the near future, Myanmar and other Asean members will likely
join the fray. Hong Kong's rice market - 320,000 tonnes last year - is
dominated by fragrant rice, followed by white rice. hareon Charoen Laothamatas,
president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, is pessimistic about the
market outlook: "We will not be able to recapture our 90-per-cent market share
in Hong Kong, because of our higher price.
also see
Vietnamese rice," Fong said. Recently Cambodia also made a successfully
market entry. In the near future, Myanmar and other Asean members will likely
join the fray. Hong Kong's rice market - 320,000 tonnes last year - is
dominated by fragrant rice, followed by white rice. hareon Charoen Laothamatas,
president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, is pessimistic about the
market outlook: "We will not be able to recapture our 90-per-cent market share
in Hong Kong, because of our higher price.
"
Thai fragrant rice is quoted at about US$1,000 per tonne against Vietnam's $500
and Cambodia's $600. Rice-subsidy schemes perpetuated by previous governments
are to blame, Charoen claimed. "The governments wanted higher prices and
it led to a loss of our overseas market share," he said. The previous
governments did not recognise that the market price is very important, while on
the quality front, Vietnam and other Asean rice exporters have quickly upgraded
their products, he added. The association forecasts Thai rice shipments abroad
to reach about 10 million to 11 million tonnes this year compared with 11
million tonnes last year
.http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/VN-sees-success-in-seizing-HK-rice-market-from-Tha-30256192.html
More people here sticking with
Japanese rice
The short-grained stickiness of Japanese rice has
become more popular here despite costing more, with consumption more than
doubling since 2011.Last year, Singapore residents consumed 1,359 tonnes of rice from Japan, up from 602 tonnes in 2011,
figures from state trade promotion arm International Enterprise Singapore
showed.Singapore is the second-largest importer of Japanese rice in the world
after Hong Kong, going by data from the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and
Fisheries Japan (MAFFJ).People here ate eight times as much Japanese rice as
the amount exported to China and 26 times that in Malaysia.
Industry players point to increasing affluence, the
booming number of Japanese restaurants and the growing number of Japanese
expatriates in Singapore as reasons for the increase.Others said the recent
surge in the prices of Thai rice, leading to falling demand here, led to more
consumers switching sources."The gap in prices between Japanese rice and
Thai rice narrowed a little. When that happened, some consumers switched and
didn't switch back," said Andrew Tan, 35, chairman of the Singapore
General Rice Importers Association.At Meidi-ya Supermarket, a 5kg bag of Royal
Umbrella Thai rice costs $18.95; and a 2kg bag of Niigata Uonuma rice from
Japan costs $21.However, he also pointed out that the rapid rise in figures
should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that they started from a low base.
Singapore consumed a total of 325,860 tonnes of rice
last year, with Japanese imports making up less than 1 per cent.Akira Karasawa,
MAFFJ's director general of crop production, said the greater consumption of
Japanese rice in Singapore could be due to the presence of more Japanese
expatriates and restaurants here, as well as the affluence of Singaporeans.The
Japanese ministry has launched the This Is Japan Quality logo, which is tagged
onto all Japanese rice products here. It has a QR code that links to a website
with information about the merits of Japanese rice.Supermarkets are also seeing
brisk sales.
At Giant, demand for Japanese rice has grown each year since
2011, with its spokesman reporting "high single-digit percentage
growth" year-on-year. FairPrice saw 50 per cent growth last year from 2013
of its house brand FairPrice Japonica Rice.Jane Wong, 36, started buying more
Japanese rice last year to make Japanese meals for her four children to take to
school because "it is healthier", she said. She added that she
usually makes sushi for them.However, replacing the Vietnamese rice they eat
for their daily meals with Japanese rice is not an option for now. "The
price is still too high," she said.
Houses stalled over paddy issue again
Times of India
Patna: BJP members on Monday stalled the proceedings of first
half of both the Houses of state legislature over slow paddy procurement in the
state. The opposition members trooped into the well of both the Houses
demanding a debate on the issue as was promised by CM Nitish Kumar on March 12.
They demanded a high-level probe into the alleged scam in paddy
procurement.Rejecting the pleas of ministers Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Shrawan
Kumar in the assembly that the government was ready for discussion and BJP should
raise it as per the rules, leader of opposition Nand Kishore Yadav said had the
government been serious, it would have tagged the cooperatives issue
(administrative body of PACSs for paddy procurement) instead of panchayati raj
with the debate on the 3rd supplementary budget.
He requested Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary to accept
the adjournment notice by BJP members. But, the Speaker rejected the
notice."The CM's fast on land acquisition bill was to divert the attention
of farmers who are angry with the government as PACSs (primary agriculture
cooperative societies) have stopped buying paddy because they lack storage
facility as the FCI godowns were already full," Yadav told the media after
the House adjournment, adding only 12.5 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured
so far against the target of 30 lakh tonnes by March 31. He said the government
was benefiting middlemen at the cost of 76% farmers who had to sell their paddy
at a throwaway price to brokers
."Only 8.98 lakh tonnes of paddy could be procured
through PACSs and 3.5 lakh tonnes through the state food corporation against
the target of 24 lakh tonnes and 6 lakh tonnes respectively by the two
agencies," Yadav said, adding the CM was evading the issue as the
government would be in the dock as it had no defence for poor paddy procurement
in the state.Sasaram MLA Jawahar Prasad said farmers in his area, known as rice
bowl of the state, were on the verge of starvation because they were unable to
sell their paddy. Now, rabbi buying season has arrived. BJP MLA Prem Kumar gave
an adjournment notice, which the Speaker rejected.Mahishi MLA Abdul Gafoor,
through a call attention notice, demanded opening of a bank branch as there was
none in a radius of five kilometres of Bhelahi village under Mahishi block.
In Council, BJP member Satyendra Narain Kushwaha
moved an adjournment notice. Mangal Pandey, Nawal Kishore Yadav, Rajnish Kumar,
Sanjay Mayukh, Lal Babu Prasad and Kushwaha trooped into the well and started
shouting antigovernment slogans.Leader of opposition in the Upper House Sushil
Kumar Modi said the government has not paid farmers the bonus of Rs 300 per
quintal of paddy procured as announced by it. Modi also demanded a CBI inquiry
into the rampant corruption in the state food corporation.
Crop Insurance
Briefings Shed Light on Complex Programs
Don't snatch it away
WASHINGTON,
DC -- Anticipating attacks from the far left and far right, the Senate and
House Agriculture Committees last week hosted Crop Insurance 101 briefings
where producer and crop insurance industry representatives were on hand to
educate staff on the history, issues, and complexities of the programs.
USA Rice Federation joined a broad coalition
of commodity groups that helped promote the briefings that were widely attended
by Congressional staff.The current success of the federal crop insurance program
reflects Congressional effort to provide availability and affordability, thus
improving actuarial performance, raising farm coverage, promoting farm
financial stability, and avoiding costly ad hoc disaster assistance.
The House briefing included presentations from Dr. Keith Collins
with National Crop Insurance Services, Christy Seyfert who offered a company
perspective on behalf of Rural Community Insurance Services, Tom Sell on behalf
of the Crop Insurance Professionals Association, Sam Willett with the National
Corn Growers Association for producer perspective, and Brandon Willis, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Administrator for Risk Management Agency.
"These briefings were timely as both Chambers release budget proposals
this week which could open the door for harmful amendments that aim to
undermine the farm safety net," said USA Rice Vice President of Government
Affairs Ben Mosely who attended the House briefing.
"Agriculture interests will need to stick
together to fight off potential amendments."Matt Schertz, the policy
director for the House Agriculture Committee said, "With fewer voices
representing rural America in Congress, it is important to educate
Congressional staff on issues vital to farmers and ranchers. We appreciate the efforts of USA Rice and
other members of the Crop Insurance Working Group for taking the time to
explain just how essential crop insurance is to our agricultural
producers."
Contact:
Julie Vieburg (703) 236-1467
Conservation
Stewardship Program Renewal Deadline March 31
NRCS Chief Jason Weller (l) talks
conservation projects with Mississippi producer Buddy Allen during last month's
USA Rice Government Affairs Conference
WASHINGTON,
DC -- Eligible agricultural producers and forest landowners who wish to renew
expiring Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contracts must have their
renewals completed by Tuesday, March 31, 2015.
The renewal process is optional but benefits CSP participants with
expiring contracts because it is non-competitive. In order to renew, an
agricultural producer or forest landowner must meet the minimum criteria
established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS).
Contract renewal also offers these agricultural producers and
forest landowners an opportunity to add new conservation activities to meet
their conservation goals and protect the natural resources on their farms,
forests or ranches.The 2014 Farm Bill includes an expanded conservation
activity list that offers producers more options to address natural resource
challenges. New conservation activities
include cover crops, intensive rotational grazing and wildlife-friendly
fencing.NRCS Chief Jason Weller said, "CSP producers are established conservation
leaders who work hard at enhancing natural resources on private lands. This contract renewal period will provide
greater opportunities for these conservation stewards to voluntarily do even
more to improve water, air and soil quality and enhance wildlife habitat on
their operations."
Contact:
Ben Mosely (703) 236-1471
CME
Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
|
Dick Bell: Leader in U.S. rice and ‘effective public servant’
Mar 16, 2015by Hembree Brandon in Farm Press Blog
Although Dick Bell was a “Yankee” by birth (Illinois), and he
never really lost his accent during his decades in Arkansas, he was the
consummate southern gentleman: gracious, soft-spoken, always showing a keen
interest in those with whom he interacted.The Agricultural Council of Arkansas’
Twitter post last Friday evening characterized Dick Bell quite elegantly:
“Great man, great intellect, great leader.
”Dick’s death last week brought to a close a life of much
accomplishment, not just for the rice industry — where for almost three decades
he led Riceland Foods as the world’s largest rice miller and one of the
region’s largest processors of soybeans — but in the broader arena of national
and international agricultural policy.Although he worked for years in
bureaucratic circles — as an agricultural economist with the USDA’s Foreign
Agricultural Service, as an assistant agricultural attaché in Ottawa and Brussels,
as ag attaché for the American Embassy in Dublin, and as Assistant Secretary of
Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs — he was as
un-bureaucratic as you could ask for.
He had a knowledge of agricultural policy and economics that
bordered on encyclopedic, and could more than hold his own with members of
Congress or Capitol Hill leaders, but he had a marvelous (and enviable) knack
for distilling the brain-numbing minutiae of government programs and policy
into language the average man could comprehend.Although Dick was a “Yankee” by
birth (Illinois), and he never really lost his accent during his decades in
Arkansas, he was the consummate southern gentleman: gracious, soft-spoken,
always showing a keen interest in those with whom he interacted.
I crossed paths with him often over the years, at one meeting or
another, and he invariably would make it a point to come and chat with me and
other members of the media, and no matter which of our Farm Press editors was
covering his comments, he would, a twinkle in his eyes, manage to work in a
reference during his talk to something we’d written, as if he followed our
scribblings religiously. He further endeared himself to those of the media by
always making himself available when we needed information or cogent comments
about ag policy or markets. Much has been written about Dick’s careers with
USDA/FAS, with Riceland Foods, and later, after his retirement, as Arkansas’
first Agriculture Secretary.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, who appointed him to that post, said
following his death, “With his vast knowledge of the entire agricultural
landscape, and the respect he earned from everyone in the agri-world, there was
no one I could think of who was better suited for the job. He was a
hard-working, conscientious, and effective public servant.”In an era when
government and government service are often reviled, Dick would, I think, have
liked that label: effective public servant.U.S. rice and U.S. agriculture are
the better for his lifetime of service, and on his passing can remember with
gratitude his many contributions.
A
Google Hangout in Celebration of National Ag Day
Posted by Rachael Dubinsky, USDA
Office of Communications, on March 16, 2015 at 11:20 AM
Join
Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden on Wednesday March 18 at 2 p.m. for a Google
Hangout with Dr. Linda Young, Chief Mathematical Statistician and Director of
Research and Development of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service,
and Marji Guyler-Alaniz, photographer and founder of FARMHER as we celebrate
women farmers and ranchers on National Ag Day. You can tune in at
www.usda.gov/live.The Census of Agriculture counts nearly one million women
working on America’s farms and ranches. These statistics are crucial for our
understanding of women in agriculture.
However, they only tell a
fraction of the story.
They
might not capture women who are working the farm although the property is in
someone else’s name. They might not
reflect the younger women who are just getting started in farming, or the older
generation of women who are ready to transition their land to the next
generation.The discussion will be about how women are represented in
agriculture – both in statistics and in images.
We will talk about USDA efforts to collect better statistics about women
in agriculture to reflect the work women are doing on the farm, and learn about
photography projects documenting farmers.
We will also be taking your questions.
Use #womeninag to join the conversation about women in agriculture.
You
can also send your questions in advance to agwomenlead@usda.gov.Last month,
Deputy Secretary Harden announced the Women in Agriculture Mentoring Network as
a place for women in agriculture to support and engage women across all areas
of agriculture and to connect women with shared backgrounds, interests, and
professional goals. Since then, we’ve heard from hundreds of diverse women who
are counting themselves as part of America’s agricultural community.March is
also Women’s History Month, and to celebrate, USDA has been interviewing women
leaders across the agricultural sector. Read the first two stories on the USDA
Blog and stay tuned for more throughout the month of March. You can join the
network and join the conversation about the many diverse faces of #womeninag.
Drought descends over
rice fields
Water pumps in an irrigation canal
provide water for farmland in Tambon Sanamklee of Suphan Buri's Muang district.
(Photo by Thanarak Khunton)
With
the searing heat and drought extending over large swaths of farmland in Suphan
Buri, many local farmers see no hope of growing off-season rice crops to
sustain their income.Along irrigation canals in several districts, water pumps
are lined up side by side to siphon water into small, feeder canals, where
water will be stored for farm use in the next two months.But there is no
telling if the water supply will be enough to last them that long.Farmers are
uncertain whether irrigation authorities would open sluice gates to release
more water in the near future as the drought appears to be more severe and it
arrived earlier than communities expected.
"Farmers
in Nong Yasai and nearby districts knew in advance they might not be able to
grow off-season rice two years in a row," Kraison Kaewruang, the
42-year-old village headman of Moo 5 in Nong Yasai district's tambon Nong
Pho.Mr Kraison said not much rain fell this year over the Kra Seaw dam, one of
the main water sources.Even if market sales fetched 10,000 baht per tonne, the
risk of planting rice and seeing it wilt from drought is simply too much of a
gamble, he said."The irrigation authorities wouldn't supply us with water
for sure.
''Farmers
already have a hard time earning a living because they cannot grow rice year
round, yet constantly shoulder their daily living expenses, Mr Kraison
said.Now, growers may have to refrain from working the fields for the next nine
months.They hope the water released from the Kra Seaw dam will be enough to
feed livestock or quick-growing crops, which can be eaten or sold on the side
to supplement their income, he said.Mr Kraison said the drought would hit 4,800
rai of sugar cane and rice farms belonging to 156 households in his village. He
said rice and sugar cane need at least four rounds of irrigation water per
season — now a pipe dream as the dam is being rapidly depleted of water.Some
growers, he said, are forced to dig wells to get water for their farms.
According to Mr Kraison, an idea was earlier floated that water should be
siphoned from the main Srinagarind dam to Doembang Nangbuat and Nong Yasai
districts for agricultural use.
It
was eventually scrapped as the pipe has to go through a natural World Heritage
site where any man-made construction is banned, he said.Wilaiwan Robkob, a
37-year-old sugar cane grower in tambon Thap Luang of Nong Yasai district, said
the drought is particularly severe this year.She and her neighbours, who own
100 rai of land between them, spent tens of thousands of baht installing pipes
to draw water from an irrigation canal several hundred metres away. The pipe
installation is necessary because the irrigation system does not reach his
farm, he said. Sugar cane is also affected by drought although it needs less
water than rice to grow.The drought leaves the canes thin and lowers their
market value."It's even hard now to find water for bathing. Drinking water
has to be drawn from our underground water system, which is not ideal,"
said Ms Wilaiwan.Pratuan Masomphan, a 42-year-old resident of tambon Talingchan
of Muang district, and dozens of his neighbours grapple with siphoning water
from the irrigation canal onto their land to feed livestock. The water stock
could run out before May, he said. This is despite the fact that irrigation
authorities released water from the Chao Phraya dam to Khlong Makham Thao in
Suphan Buri for two days. "We wouldn't dare grow rice even if the price
had gone up," said Mr Pratuan."Some people took the risk last year
and went broke because there just wasn't enough water," he added.
Mr Pratuan said
the tambon administration and irrigation officers are rationing water to prevent
community conflicts. But Pathum
Ruennarong, 76, and his wife Prang Srisamran, 79, in tambon Phlapphla of Song
Phi Nong district, took the risk and grew rice.They said they did not know what
else to do. Luckily, their 50-rai rice field leased from a Bangkok landlord is
close to a reservoir, though they also worry about the supply as they fear they
will run out before they get a chance to harvest."Water must be pumped
into the rice field every 15 days. We're afraid it may not be enough until
harvesting time in May," Mrs Prang said.Farmers expect yields to drop by
40% this year.Prices have hit an all-time low, between 6,500-7,000 baht per
tonne, while leasing land costs up to 2,500 baht per rai."If the prices
stay this low, we are in for very meagre profits or even losses," Mrs
Prang said.
Courtesy:The Bangkok Post
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