Duty on rice import
The unsavoury
situation over the import of rice has got a new twist following an ongoing move
to discourage the entry of the main staple from outside by levying customs duty
on it. The ministry of food thus reportedly wants actions in this connection
from the ministry of finance, ahead of the rice procurement drive scheduled to
start from the first day of the next month. The procurement drives are launched
after the harvests of Aman and Boro every year with a view to giving 'price
support' to the farmers.
The
move to impose duty on imported rice has come in the wake of its substantial
import -- nearly 1.3 million tonnes -- until April 15 of this fiscal year (FY)
compared to that of 0.37 million tonnes imported throughout the last fiscal.
However, there has been no import of the item by the government this FY. The
ministry of food considers that it is imperative to levy duty on import of rice
to avoid any rice price-crunch in the domestic market. The trend about falling
prices was witnessed following every rice harvest until a few seasons back. The
ministry of finance, it is understood, would look at the proposal of the
ministry of food favourably since it found the higher level of rice import from
neighbouring India in recent months to be somewhat abnormal.
The
main reason behind the private traders' importing Indian rice in large volumes
is, reportedly, the 'clearance' sale of the commodity after every three-month
period that was put into effect by the Indians. Local importers have already
filled up their godowns with the low-priced Indian rice. Against this backdrop,
the move has come to levy duty on import of rice, ahead of the official rice
procurement drive, which is primarily meant to benefit the farmers through a
minimum level of price support. However, there have been raging debates over
the real outcome of the government's procurement drive and the corrupt
practices ingrained in it. Allegations have it that the drive benefits the rice
millers and middle men more than the growers.
In
most cases the rice growers do not otherwise get what can be termed a fair
return. But even after bumper harvests during last few seasons, the prices of
different varieties of rice had not recoded any fall and maintained a steady
level. That trend is unlikely to change course this time too. Moreover,
international prices of rice and inputs such as oil and fertilizers have been
on the lower side for many months. So, prior to taking any decision relating to
the duty on import of rice, the government should examine the pros and cons of
its actions. It could be that instead of benefiting the rice growers, any hasty
action might destabilise domestic rice prices and help those importers who have
already built up large stocks with the cheap Indian rice.
Vietnam plans to generate power from rice
husks
VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam plans to develop 20 power plants that
will operate on rice husks.
Construction of the first thermal rice husk-run power plant has
started on a 9-hectare land plot in Long My District of the southern province
of Hau Giang. The project is estimated to cost $31 million.The development of
the project shows that Vietnam has paid higher attention to the development of
clean energy from agricultural waste products such as rice husks, sawdust and
bagasse (also known as biomass fuel).This will play an important role in
Vietnam’s power development strategy in the future, because Vietnam, as an
agricultural economy, puts out a big volume of agricultural waste products
every year. If it can take full advantage of the waste products, it will be
able to spend less money on fossil fuel and therefore ensure the national power
security.
Energy from rice husks
The thermal power plant is one of 20 rice husk-run power plants to be built nationwide. In Mekong River Delta, called Vietnam’s “rice granary”, such plants would be built in five provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Hau Giang, Dong Thap and Can Tho with the total capacity of 200 MW.It is expected that 200 tons of rice husk will be consumed a day. The waste to be generated by the plants will be used to make high-quality cement and electrically insulated materials.Scientists have every reason to build rice-husk power plants in Mekong River Delta. The largest rice cultivation area churns out 5 million tons of rice husks every year.
At present, rice husks go to the environment, canals and rivers,
thus causing pollution. However, once the thermal power plants become
operational, the rice husks will be collected for fuel at the power plants,
which will help save money, generate more power for the national grid and
create more jobs for locals.In fact, several thermal power plants using
agricultural waste products have been built, including the Lam Son 12.5 MW
power plant utilizing the waste from the sugar refinery process.However,
scientists affirmed that the thermal power plant in Hau Giang province is the
largest one so far.
Rice husks, bagasse and sawdust all can be used as an alternative
fuel for fossil fuel in industrial production. As for industrial boilers, the
use of sawdust instead of coal would help save 50 percent of the production
cost. Meanwhile, the figure could be up to 70 percent if using sawdust instead
of FO. A report of HAWA, the HCM City wooden fine arts enterprises, showed
that Vietnam would be able to cut 1,000 liters of FO of imports for every 2.5
tons of sawdust it uses as fuel.
NCDT
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/science-it/128936/vietnam-plans-to-generate-power-from-rice-husks.html
The story of a salt-affected village
M. G. Neogi
Increased salinity in dry
season in the coastal belt is changing the areas which, once upon a time, were
suitable for growing rice. The entire coastal areas are now severely affected
by the intrusion of salinity into arable land, especially in dry season.
Farmers were unable to reap a good harvest in Boro season because of high
salinity intrusion into their cropland which is increasing day by day. Since
then, farm households in the coastal belt are passing bad days, as most of them
are subsistence farmers.
Around 0.74 million hectares of land were cultivated in the coastal
region, out of which around 0.38 million hectares are now salt-affected. A
survey indicates that out of 0.38 million hectares of affected land, around
0.33 million hectares are affected by salt up to 10-12 dS/meter (deciSiemes per
meter) while the condition is worse in the remaining areas. Earlier, farmers
used to cultivate rice in both dry (Boro) and wet (aman) seasons and get a very
good yield. But now-a-days, they have given up Boro cultivation because of
increased salinity in dry season and severe scarcity of salt-free irrigation
water. As a result, around 0.3 million hectares of land in the coastal region
remain fallow now during the Boro season.
To overcome this adverse situation, the Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute (BRRI) and the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA),
under a joint collaboration with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),
have developed four salt-tolerant rice varieties for Boro season. BINA developed
Binadhan-8 and Binadhan-10 while BRRI developed BRRI dhan47 and BRRI dhan55.
All these four varieties have the capacity to fight salinity condition up to
10-12 dS/meter. These varieties have yield potential of five to seven tons per
hectare under normal conditions in non-saline areas while the yield will be
around three to five tonnes per hectare in saline-prone areas, depending on the
degree of salinity.
In 2012-13, the STRASA-USAID-IRRI project established a number of
demonstration trials and distributed small seed packets of these four
salt-tolerant rice varieties to the farmers through the agricultural extension
department and local partner NGOs as well as local private seed producers.
Here is a case study on salt-tolerant rice varieties at Sreefalkathi
village of Ishwaripur union under Shyamnagar upazila of Sathkhira district
which is one of the worst Aila-affected areas. Around five hundred farm
families reside in the village where rice farming is the only source of their
livelihood. Most of the villagers have some land and they cultivate now only
one crop in a year, which is aman rice, in monsoon. But before Aila, farmers
used to cultivate at least two crops in a year including Boro rice in dry
season and earn a reasonable income from agriculture. Since Aila their lands
have become too salty and they do not get reasonable harvests in Boro season.
Each year, during dry season (November to May), salinity increases
in the soil of this village. A white film of salt covers paddy fields in such
areas. This means that the soil contains salt. BRRI and BINA scientists
predicted that the increasing trend of this white film will turn the area's
landscape into barren lands in the near future. Nakshikantha, a partner NGO of
IRRI, provided training to the Sreefalkathi farmers on "cultivation, seed
production and seed preservation of salt-tolerant rice varieties" through
government local agricultural extension officials, while the NGO provided seeds
of salt-tolerant rice variety of Binadhan-8, Binadhan-10 and BRRI dhan47.
During growing stage of rice plant, it was found that the number of
tillers was less in their traditional (non-salt tolerant) rice variety,
compared to salt-tolerant rice variety. Also at the flowering stage, it was
observed that a significant number of panicles of non-salt tolerant rice plants
are becoming white with partial empty grains which resulted in poor yield. The
same scenario was observed in last couple of years when farmers failed to get a
good harvest. Rice scientists confirmed that these are happening due to
increased salinity.In the adjacent plot, where a farmer cultivated
newly-developed salt tolerant rice varieties like Binadhan-8, Binadhan-10 and
BRRI dhan47 no such symptoms were found
and showed a very good performance. At the end of the season, the good yield
made the farmers jubilant.
The average yield of these demonstration farmers was around four
tonnes per hectare which was quite satisfactory in salt-affected areas. This
encouraged the entire farmers' community to go for Boro rice cultivation again
with these salt-tolerant rice varieties. The demonstration farmers have saved
seeds for their own use while many farmers have taken seeds from them for the
next season. Arafat Hossain of this village, who cultivated Binadhan-8, is now
happy to see the outstanding performance of this variety, as rice could once
again grow on his "salty land". He harvested more than four tonnes per hectare. The
project personnel and local elites requested the demonstration farmers not to
consume the seeds of salt-tolerant rice variety this year, but to sell and
distribute these to their neighbours, relatives and other farmers.
IRRI is not providing any input to this village now, but just a
follow-up along with partner NGOs and local government agricultural officials.
A reasonable number of farm families of Sreefalkathi, who have irrigation
facilities, now cultivate Binadhan-8 and Binadhan-10 varieties. These
newly-developed salt-tolerant rice varieties have started reaching the farmers'
community through farmer-to-farmer seed distribution at the community level and
the NGO is coordinating the activity.
Dr. A. N. Singh of IRRI India recently visited Sreefalkathi
village. During his visit, it was found that rice crops from non-salt tolerant
varieties like BRRI were totally or partially damaged due to increased salinity
intrusion, but the newly-developed salt-tolerant varieties in the adjacent
field grew very well. Farmers of Sreefalkathi are now very happy to receive
these two varieties which can grow easily in their 10-12 dS/meter
"salty" land.
It is now confirmed that suitable salt-tolerant rice varieties are
now available in the country. If it is possible to bring fallow land in the
coastal region under rice cultivation in Boro season by using salt-tolerant
rice varieties, then it will be possible to harvest at least one million tonne
extra rice.
Dr. M. G. Neogi is Consultant of International Rice Research
Institute.
m.neogi@irri.org
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/04/27/90388
PhilRice
taps rice farms to get into agritourism
April 24, 2015
10:02 pm
The Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) is tapping the potential of agriculture as a tourist
attraction, showcasing conventional and cutting-edge technologies on rice
farming, a senior official said on Friday.Visitors and farmers learn about new
technologies in PhilRice’s Future Rice Program farm such as nutrient diagnostic
tools, Rice Crop Manager App and other devices, said Roger Barroga, Future Rice
Program leader.He said the farm in Munoz, Nueva Ecija uses clean and renewable
energy, including solar-powered water pump and biogas digester that provides
alternative fuel from animal wastes.
The farm also showcases hybrid
rice varieties such as Mestiso 19 and 20, rarely seen collection of traditional
varieties, aromatic rice, submergence tolerant varieties, farmers’ varieties
called ‘double diamond,’ and Korean varieties. Vegetables are also grown in
land and in floating gardens.“Our objective is to prepare the Filipino farmers
and extension workers for future rice farming scenarios and train them on
clean, green, practical, and smart rice farming,” said Barroga said.
The 5-hectare farm site provides
education, exposure, and experience to rice farmers and extension workers
through training, site visits, and agricultural events.“This year, in cooperation with the Project IPaD (Improving
Technology Promotion and Delivery through Capability Enhancement of Next-Gen
Rice Extension Professionals and Other Intermediaries), we developed a portion
of the farm as a rice boot camp and hosted the season-long training of 25
AgRiDoc or the new breed of extension workers. The rice boot camp included
plots for rice production,” Barroga said.The farm is about five hours drive
from Metro Manila. A visit to the farm offers agricultural adventures such as
rice rice planting, harvesting, and recreational activities such as boating,
fishing, and kayaking.
The EU has approved
the first GMO crops since 2013
APR. 24, 2015, 10:18 AM
Erik De Castro / ReutersA scientist shows genetically modified "Golden
Rice" (R) and ordinary rice at the International Rice Research Institute
in Los Banos, Laguna south of Manila, August 14, 2013.
Next
generation GMOs include cancer-fighting pink pineapples and heart-healthy
purple tomatoes
Genetically
modified apples are coming to your supermarket
In practice, the crops produced by Monsanto, BASF and Bayer
CropScience will principally be used as feed.It also extended by 10 years the
use of seven other crops already in use produced by Bayer, Monsanto, Dupont's
Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences.Widely grown in the Americas and Asia, GM crops
have divided opinion in Europe. Some green groups say they are worried about the
environmental impact of crops, question whether they are healthy for humans and
say they lead to corporate control of the food chain. Producers say research
shows the crops are safe.
The approvals will be added to the existing list of 58 GM crops
authorized in the European Union. The genetic modifications mainly offer
protection against pests or resistance to herbicides.Two carnations, developed
by Suntory Holdings [SUNTH.UL], have also been approved for import.The
approvals, the first since November 2013, follow a proposal to change the rules
on GM approval, allowing individual countries to restrict or prohibit GM
imports even after they have been approved by the bloc as a whole.That proposal
has angered both pro- and anti-GM camps.
The former, such as the United States government, has said it
amounts to a trade restriction and a hindrance to talks towards a planned
EU-U.S. free trade deal.The latter say the change does not provide the legal
grounds for national governments to opt out and will in practice lead to a
flood of new approvals.Greenpeace said Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
had broken a promise to change rules that force GM crops onto the EU market
even if a majority of countries opposed them."Today he opened the flood
gates to a new wave of GM crops only to please U.S. biotech corporations and
trade negotiators," it said.
Industry body EuropaBio said the authorizations were a step in
the right direction and would benefit European livestock farmers after a
standstill over a year and a half. It said a further 40 applications still
pending for genetically modified organisms should be processed without
delay.Friday's approval only covers imports, not cultivation. Only one GM crop
is currently grown in Europe: Monsanto's maize MON810 in Spain and Portugal.
Marquette Scientist Takes Rooftop Rice Experiment to Farm Field
Michael Schläppi at his rooftop paddy system before
spring planting began. Schläppi studied in his native Switzerland before
hopping the Atlantic to do postdoctoral work.
S BENCE
Listen
Listening...
3:28
One of Schläppi's
climate-controlled chambers.
CREDIT
S BENCE
On the roof of the Wehr Life
Sciences building on Marquette's campus, Schläppi built a dozen rice
paddies. They are raised beds, blanketed with swimming pool liner and
filled soil.“Two weeks ago, I started germination inside, which will be put
into the paddy today and flooded," he explains.“It’s the third year I've planted
this time of year – mid April. The rice doesn’t like it, but it can make
it,” Schläppi says. "That’s what I’m testing, I’m stress-testing
the lines."
The rice project at Alice's
Garden
CREDIT
ALISSA MATHISON, UWM-IUAN
Last summer, he partnered with Alice's arden's Fieldhands and Foodways Project.
Schläppi planted rice lines from Africa in two paddy
systems.Schläppi is now preparing to plant rice in a field north of
Milwaukee. It’s Fondy Farm, a cooperative of small-scale farmers who
sell their produce on the city’s North Side. Many of the farmers are
Hmong."I’m renting an acre of land there, so my students will help me
prepare fields," he says. Schläppi will flood a portion of his
parcel to mimic traditional lowland rice farming.
“What we want to test is to take a couple
of seeds, put them into the soil. That’s what the Hmong are proposing, because
that’s what they did in their traditional way. Just make holes, put the seeds,
then you have to irrigate it, you have to weed it, of course, and then see what
kind of yield we get,” Schläppi says.Schläppi has more than a scientific
interest in developing the perfect rice for Wisconsin's climate; he
respects the ancient traditions of growing rice in community.“To grow rice you
really need the community, especially if it is paddy-driven, water resources
you have to manage as a village. You help everyone plant, one family one week,
the next week another family, you all pitch in. For the harvest the same,”
Schläppi says.
FPCCI
reviews Pakistan-Malaysia bilateral trade
April 26, 2015
A Meeting of the Board of Directors Pak-Malaysia Business Council
of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) was held
on 23rd April, 2015 at Federation House, which was chaired by M. Bashir
Janmohammed, Chairman of the Council and was attended, on special invitation,
by S. M. Muneer, Chief Executive Trade Development Authority of Pakistan
(TDAP). The Meeting was also
attended by Rahim Janoo, Senior Vice President, FPCCI, Zubair Tufail and Akram
Rajput, former Vice Presidents of the Federation besides Syed Nasir Ali Mirza,
Asst. Secretary General, FPCCI and notable businessmen/members of the Council.
The position of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Malaysia was reviewed in
detail. The problems being faced by Pakistani exporters and the ways and means
to resolve them were deliberated.
It was decided that in order to overcome the imbalance in trade
between Pakistan and Malaysia, exports from Pakistan to Malaysia, particularly
of non-traditional items besides traditional items, needs to be promoted. It was particularly noted that
Malaysian's quota for export of Rice from Pakistan should be increased, to a
minimum of 200,000 Tons per annum, since Malaysian annual requirements of Rice
is about one Million Tons. It was decided to take up the matter at higher level
with Malaysian Government through TDAP and Ministry of Commerce. The Council
noted that there were certain issues regarding Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with
Malaysia about Duties and permits, which need to be resolved. It was therefore
decided to seek suggestions from the business community for removal of
anomalies and problems in context with FTA, in a fortnight's time, for take up
the matter with the Government.
The Council noted that big hindrance for exports of Fruits,
particularly Mangoes and perishable Vegetables to Malaysia in commercial
quantities is non-availability of adequate air flights directly to Malaysia and
there was need to increase frequency of PIA flights to Kuala Lumpur, to
overcome exporters difficulties, due to limited air freight/space. The Council further noted that one of
the major constraint in import of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) from Malaysia is the
imposition of Export Duty on CPO by Malaysian Government, as a result of which,
the volume of imports of Palm Oil products in the current year from Malaysia
has come down to about 27% and the remaining 73% import is being made from
Indonesia. The Chairman, Pak-Malaysia Business Council had already put in his
best efforts for elimination of Malaysian Export Duty.-PR
GR Poses Threat to Bio-diversity: Dr Deb
By
Published: 26th April 2015 06:06 AM
Last Updated: 26th April 2015 08:31 AM
KOCHI:Questioning the Green
Revolution (GR) is like blasphemy in mainstream agricultural discourses. But,
plant scientist-turned farmer Dr Debal Deb, an atheist by choice and seed
conservationist by vocation, dares to question the very basics of the Green Revolution,
and rips down the tall claims of its proponents.Delivering a lecture on ‘A
Journey Towards Ecotopia,’ at the Renewal Centre here on Saturday, Dr Deb held
the Green Revolution (GR) responsible for destruction of the rich bio-diversity
and extinction of rare ethnic seed varieties that were far better than the
high-yielding seeds popularised by agricultural scientists. Claiming that the
Green Revolution was a big lie, Dr Deb said statistics proved that the
contribution of the high-yielding rice varieties introduced by the proponents
of the GR had only a limited influence on increasing production.
“The area of irrigated land
increased by more than 60 per cent between 1965 and 2010, and the area under
cultivation expanded exponentially. Also, the farmers tried many crops every
year, contributing to the increase in production. Meanwhile, the use of
high-yielding crop varieties was limited to just 17 per cent of the total
cultivated land,” Dr Deb said, refuting the claims of ‘high yield’ by modern
rice breeds.Calling rice research in India a sham, Dr Deb, who cultivates more
than 1,120 ethnic rice varieties in his farm at Niyamgiri in Odisha, said that
Indian research organisations had not come up with a stable rice variety,
despite sixty years of research, that increased production in upland, rainfed
lowland and coastal salinated farms.
“At the same time, ethnic rice
varieties that are tolerant to adverse conditions were deliberately ignored,”
he added.
“We have 150 varieties of seeds
in my farms that are tolerant to adverse conditions like draught, flood and
salinity. Among the twenty rice varieties that are tolerant to flood, one rice
variety grows up to 20 feet above flood waters,” said Dr Deb, who established
the seed bank named ‘Vrihi’.Dr Deb also questioned the claims that the GR
resulted in self-sufficiency in rice production. “Surplus rice production comes
at a big cost. We imported seeds, pumps, fertilisers and pesticides from
abroad. We have also begun to import mustard oil, among other things, which we
used to export. It is like a ‘lassi’ (curd) vendor claiming self sufficiency.
Of course, he makes the curd himself, but buys milk and sugar from the market,”
Dr Deb added.
College grads energize PH rice farming
Anselmo Roque
Inquirer Central
Luzon5:49 AM | Sunday, April 26th, 2015
The new Filipino farmer is
educated and younger, age between 40 and 59.While the results of three PhilRice
surveys (1996-1997, 2001-2002 and 2006-2007) showed that more than half of the
2,000 farmers covered by the study had elementary education (from 57 percent in
1996-1997 down to 54 percent in 2006-2007), between 13 and 15 percent (260 to
300) had college education.
Like father, like son
Among them is Glen Mandac of San
Mateo, Isabela province, who finished veterinary science and medicine at
Central Luzon State University and passed the board examination for
veterinarians.Instead of seeking employment, Mandac went into rice farming.
Today, at 47, he is tending his 3-hectare farm along with raising hogs and
native chickens and managing his 50 rambutan trees.His son is in a ladder-type
course in agriculture and is planning to go into rice farming, too.Jonathan
Gamilla, 27, a resident of Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija province, went into rice
farming after earning a degree in agriculture.He worked on the land his father,
Angelito, had given him. The property was acquired by the family through
farming.Like his father, Gamilla is producing rice and rice seeds.“If not for
rice farming, we could not have attained a comfortable life today,” he said.
This changing face of the
Filipino farmer has been presented in the paper “An overview of the
socioeconomic changes among Filipino rice farmers and their households,”
released recently.The results were compiled by researchers Ronnel Malasa,
Marlon Velayo and Sergio Francisco of the Socio-Economic Division (SED) of
PhilRice.Jesusa Cabling-Beltran, SED head, said the surveys were carried out in
five-year intervals in 30 major rice-producing provinces.
2011-2012 survey
The surveys involved 2,000
farmers or their heirs and successors. The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics
helped conduct the surveys.Analysis of the results of the fourth survey, covering
2011-2012, has yet to be finished by the researchers.“For the educated farmers,
we surmised that they decided to engage in rice farming because they knew it is
a profitable enterprise,” the researchers said. “They have a higher gross
income compared with their counterparts with lower educational attainment.”The
average income advantage of farmers with college education is 40 percent, they
said.In the 2006-2007 survey, the following incomes for two cropping seasons
and classified by educational attainment of rice farmers were recorded:
elementary school, P53,908.11; secondary school, P74,085.02; and college,
P99,643.79.
Graying farmers
The researchers also said
Filipino farmers are “graying” and they do not encourage their children to
become their successors and take farm work.“The mean age of the Filipino farmer
is 54. Over a 10-year period, those in the age bracket 40-59 increased by 7
percent and those 60 and above, by 2 percent,” they said.Pampanga province has
the highest mean age of farmers at 61.The oldest farmer was found in Quezon
province, who was 94, while two farmers in Nueva Ecija were 91.But the
researchers said this should not be a problem as far as farm labor is
concerned.A new force that provides labor in rice production has appeared, they
said. It is composed mostly of young people hired by older farmers and other
farm operators as “kasugpong,” or farmers paid on a percentage basis.“The
farmers or farm operators with permanent hired laborers increased from 4
percent to 13 percent,” the study said. “This new force enabled them to rent
land in order to expand their rice farms.”Reports said the kasugpong get 10
percent from the gross harvest as their share or payment. Their number is
reportedly increasing.Many respondents said remittances of their relatives
working abroad had become a major source of capital.
The wet season yield in irrigated
farms increased from 3.57 metric tons per hectare in 1996-1997 to 4.14 MT/ha in
2006-2007.For nonirrigated farms, the yield increased from 2.84 MT/ha in
1996-1997 to 3.08 MT/ha in 2006-2007.For the dry season cropping, the average
yield in irrigated farms was 3.66 MT/ha in 1996-1997 and 4.21 MT/ha in
2006-2007.For nonirrigated lands, the yield was 2.38 MT/ha in 1996-1997 and
2.85 MT/ha in 2006-2007.
Incomes drastically improved
Rice-based farm households’
(RBFH) average gross income increased from P41,826.75 to P67,194.08 over 10
years, representing an increase of 61 percent.Noticeable among many farm
households are their other sources of income, which implied that they
diversified their income-sources.They increased their incomes from P68,974.85
in 1996-1997 to P78,925.59 in 2001-2002 and to P127,799.95 in 2006-2007.“The
socioeconomic status of RBFH has dramatically improved considering that 60
percent of them are living above the poverty level in the 2006-2007 survey,”
the researchers said.PhilRice records showed that 2 million families are
engaged in rice farming and about three-fourths of farm household revenue come
from rice farming and related activities.ne farmer, according to PhilRice data,
feeds 37 Filipinos, up from 28 in 1980. By 2040, each farmer is targeted to
feed 57 Filipinos, considering the country’s population growth.
Getting out of poverty
The increasing yield makes farmers stick to rice production and attract
professionals to join them, the researchers said.It helps that the Department
of Agriculture is allocating a large chunk of its budget in the rice program,
they said.Farm mechanization is also easing the burden of farm work, which used
to be dominated by the draft power of the carabao.“Definitely, there are
handsome benefits to rice farming,” the researchers said. “With some more yield
increases and income diversification, it can give enough push to make farmers
break away from poverty over time.”http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/687731/college-grads-energize-ph-rice-farming#ixzz3YVEa4yxP
Download/View On-Line the above News
in pdf format,just click the following link
No comments:
Post a Comment