Monday, April 27, 2015

27th April (Monday) , 2015 Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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
by James Konstantin Galvez Reporter

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


PHILIP BLENKINSOP, REUTERS
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


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union cleared the import of 10 new types of genetically modified crops and two more kinds of cut flowers on Friday, its first authorizations in more than a year after a review of its blocked approval process.The European Commission said it had authorized 10 new types of maize, soybeans, cotton and oilseed rape as either human food or animal feed for 10 years.
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

 SUSAN BENCE  APR 24, 2015
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.
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Most of the world’s rice production occurs oceans away from the United States. In 2011, molecular biologist Michael Schläppi dove into rice research hoping to grow the grain in Wisconsin.According Schläppi, 80 percent of the rice Americans consume is grown in a handful of states, especially Arkansas and California. “But I think it would be wise to think about, with climate change or the drought in California, (is) maybe they won’t be able to grow rice anymore,” he says.Of course wild rice grows in Wisconsin, but it’s a distant relative. The real thing originated around the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers of China.The Marquette University scientist challenged himself to uncover varieties able to cope with Wisconsin’s climate.

One of Schläppi's climate-controlled chambers.
A long, narrow room at the university serves as Schläppi’s greenhouse. It holds special climate controlled growth chambers and is filled with rice at various stages of development.“The main thing that I’m testing whether they flower here, set seeds and the seeds can be harvested on time before winter, before it gets to cold," he says. "And also, measure what the actual yield is."He has experimented with more than 200 rice varieties, from Australia to Uzbekistan to South America. Each possesses unique colors and characteristics.Schläppi uncovered a Russian line he thought would have the best results in Wisconsin. It’s known as Krasnodarky 3352.


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
RECORDER REPORT
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 Express News Service
Published: 26th April 2015 06:06 AM
Last Updated: 26th April 2015 08:31 AM
Renowned seed conservationist Dr Debal Deb delivering a lecture at Renewal Centre in Kochi on Saturday | Express

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

SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ— Visit any rice farm in the country and chances are you will find middle-age or older men working the fields, either sowing rice seeds, harvesting grain or preparing land for the next planting cycle. These farmers have been portrayed in news reports as poor and unschooled, but the results of surveys done by researchers of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) starting 1996 have shown otherwise.
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



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