Rice farmers, others laud FG’s revised 2015 rice import quota
by
ABOLAJI ADEBAYO on May 15, 2015
Posted
under: Agriculture, Business
Farmers
working in a rice farm.
The
,Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, announced the downward review of
the rice import allocations for 2015 by 200,000 metric tons (MT) to 1.3 million
MT from the 1.5MT in 2014. The difference is to be supplied by 22 approved
companies.According to a letter from the Minister to the Coordinating Minister
for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, one million
MT of this quota had been set aside as allocations to existing rice millers,
importers and new investors with approved Domestic Rice Production Plans, DRPP,
at a preferential levy of 20 per cent and duty of 10 per cent.
“This
year’s supply gap is 200,000 MT lower than 2014, as rice importers with no DRPP
will account for the remaining 0.3 million MT at the higher levy of 60 per cent
and duty of 10 per cent,” the letter confirmed.In 2014, rice importers and new
investors were required to post a Domestic Rice Production Performance Bond
from a qualifying bank to clearly demonstrate their commitment to domestic
investment plans in rice production and processing. Under this year’s import
quota, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development identified 22
companies that will receive quota allocations for 2015 out of the number that
was approved last year.
In
the letter titled “Approved List of Companies Allocated Rice Import quota for
April 2015- March 2016 period”, it was stated that certain criteria informed
the trimming down of the number of companies from last year’s figure to what
obtained this year.The letter read in part: “In line with the Federal
Government’s policy (“the Policy”) to ensure selfsufficiency in rice by 2014,
domestic rice production and milling operations continue to rise, which has
resulted in a reduction in rice requirements of the country.“As was the practice
in 2014 and in line with the Policy, the allocation of import quotas continues
to be made along the explicit criteria set for encouraging domestic production
and domestic milling of rice, to lead to self-sufficiency. These criteria are
based on the extent of existing domestic milling capacity as well as along four
(4) specific items that assess each company’s ongoing investment outlay into
domestic rice production and milling.
Government
listed the factors as including, the Domestic Rice Production Plan, DRPP,:
demonstrate evidence of current or planned investment in domestic rice
production over a three-year period, size of investment, proof of land
acquisition and establishment of rice fields and paddy production, paddy
purchase outlook from Paddy Aggregation Centers, PAC,: demonstrate a clear plan
of purchase of paddy from PACs, should include location of PACs, volumes of
paddy to be purchased among others.”Speaking to National Mirror, the Chairman,
Rice Processors Association of Nigeria, Mohammed Abubakar said Nigeria has the
capacity to process 800,000 tons, but it could not due to some inaccuracies in
the policy.According to Abubakar, Nigeria consumes over five million tons of
rice annually.“People should take advantage of locally produced rice because if
you buy one bag of local rice, you are helping the farmers.
If
we mill one bag, the bulk of money goes directly to the farmers. That is why
the President has vowed to support local farmers throughout the country”.The
President, Nigeria Rice Investors Group, Mr. Tunji Owoeye, stated that although
there were challenges in the rice sector, businesses in the industry have been
doing better than before and would continue to be better with the new quota
allocation.The Olupo of Oluponna, Iwo, Osun State, His Royal Highness, Oba
Emmanuel Oyeleso Oyebamiji, who said he had been keeping his about 100 tons of
paddy rice in store due to uncertainty of sustainability of existing policy as
a result of instability in the country’s politics, expressed his optimism about
the prosoects for better rice revolution with the new quota policy.He said if
the current policy could be sustained, he was sure that the country would be
better in term of rice production by 2017.
Meanwhile,
government made it clear that companies that failed to present the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with a Bond have not been given
quotas for the full year April 2015 to March 2016. Consequently, import quota
allocations to 22 approved companies with a total allocation of 961,000 MT were
issued.Already, the Ministry has sent letters to all the 22 approved companies
and copied Dr. Okonjo-Iweala as well as the Comptroller-General of Nigeria
Customs Service.The letter informed the companies of their approved quotas,
which qualified for 10 per cent duty or 20 per cent levy as the case might
be.The Comptroller General of Customs was mandated to facilitate enforcement of
the approved allocations.
http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/rice-farmers-others-laud-fgs-revised-2015-rice-import-quota/
The rice
we eat
M Abdul Latif Mondal
The government should not play hide and seek over rice
imports. If the domestic production of rice falls short of national
requirement, there is nothing wrong in going for imports
While the government is
claiming self-sufficiency in rice production, rise in rice imports hit a
four-year high this fiscal year. A visit to the website of the Food Ministry
shows that the total quantity of rice imported till April of the current fiscal
year stands at more than 1.3 million tonnes, the highest since the fiscal year
2010-11. The government publications show that in fiscal 2010-11, the
total quantity of rice imported by the government and private sectors stood at
1.5 million tonnes. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, it came down to 0.51 million tonnes
and 27 thousand tonnes respectively. In 2013-14, rice imports stood at 3.75
tonnes.
The media reports say that our traders
are importing Indian rice because of the price difference between the Indian
and Bangladeshi rice. The Indian variety is cheaper by 20% or so than local
rice. The increased imports have put Bangladeshi rice-millers in a tight spot
as the demand for locally grown coarse and medium quality rice has come down.
Consequently, the price of paddy has dropped, causing loss of income to
farmers.Is the price difference between the Indian and Bangladeshi rice the
only cause for rice imports by our private sector? It is true that our rice
production has trebled since independence.
But it is also equally true
that in recent years the annual growth rate in rice production has failed to
keep face with the annual population growth rate in the country.According to Bangladesh
Economic Review-2014, the growth rate of crop sub-sector (rice, wheat,
vegetables) of broad agriculture sector (crop, livestock and fishery, and
forests) in fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14 stood at only 0.59% and 1.91%
respectively.This heavily influenced the rice production growth rate. In fiscal
years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, growth rate of rice production stood at
1.03%, 0.00% and 1.33% respectively. This means that the average annual rice
production growth rate (0.78%) in these three years was lower than the annual
population growth rate (1.37%). The government has been
playing hide and seek over rice imports for the last one year or so. In the
last week of June 2014, Food Minister Md Qamrul Islam said: “India usually
releases its low-quality stock every three years at low prices and our private
sector imports them as cattle feed.
”The importers immediately
rebuffed the minister’s claim, and said that they had imported rice for human
consumption and not for cattle feed. They also claimed that there was a
shortage in supply of rice in the market. As a result, the food minister had to
subsequently say: “We need 30 to 40 million tonnes of rice a year. In
comparison with [our] requirement, a small quantity of rice is imported from
India.”Dhaka Tribune reported that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opposed a
proposal for imposing additional duty on rice import from India. She said: “The
government would not bother its losses once the poor people get the Indian rice
at a cheaper rate.”The PM is right if we take into account the continuous rise
in rice price in the last five years or so. Coarse rice was selling at Tk20-22
per kg in the open market in mid-2009. The website of the Food Ministry shows
that coarse rice was selling at Tk31-33 per kg in retail markets in the capital
on April 29 this year.But the media reports suggest higher prices of coarse and
medium quality rice in open markets.
This means a 50% or more rise
in rice price in the past five years, thereby, causing suffering to the poor
and vulnerable. The food ministry has, however, recently asked the National
Board of Revenue to impose additional duty on rice imports.It may be noted that
while the price of paddy has reportedly dropped to a three-year low -- almost
the same as the price of 2012, the price of rice has not fallen to that extent.
A syndication of the rice-millers and their allied traders is adding to the
woes of the farmers during the peak harvesting period. This has also happened
before.
The syndication wants to buy
paddy from the farmers at the lowest price possible, and sell the rice they get
from paddy at the highest possible price. Rice procurement policy of the
government helps implement their nefarious design.For instance, the government
has decided to procure 1 million tonnes of boro rice this year from the
rice-millers and 0.1 million tonnes of boro paddy from the farmers.
This has been the policy for
many years. Experience from the past ten years or so shows that even the small
quantity of paddy is not fully procured from the farmers.The marginal and small
farmers sell paddy and not rice immediately after the start of the harvesting
season to repay their loans and meet the family needs. In the absence of
government policy to procure large quantity of paddy directly from the farmers,
they have to depend on the mercy of the millers and traders to sell their
produce. The government should not play hide and seek over
rice imports. If the domestic production of rice falls short of national
requirement, there is nothing wrong in going for imports. After all, ensuring
sufficient supply of rice, the staple food of the people of the country, is the
responsibility of the government.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/op-ed/2015/may/15/rice-we-eat#sthash.1uAFH2EP.dpuf
Olam
raises stake on local rice production, job creation
By Femi Adekoya on May 15, 2015
It could be
recalled that the firm had earlier this year unveiled its locally produced rice
to the Nigerian market.Olam’s Business Head for Rice, Anil Nair had explained
that the launch was designed to meet growing local demands for the commodity as
well as reduce its importation.
He explained that
the launch of the commodity in Lagos was strategic since the state holds the
largest market of consumers of rice.He said, “There are lots of paddy been
produced and Lagos being the biggest market in the country is having local rice
coming to it. It is a sign of good things to come and we hope that two years
from now, we will be able to bridge the gap. We have a milling capacity of
about 800,000 tonnes in the country and we hope to help this country eliminate
import completely.
On placing a
total ban on the commodity, the company noted that the move should be a gradual
process, saying “Before you ban rice or any agricultural commodity you must
have to develop the local strength of rice production. If you plan the ban of
importation of rice, companies like Olam is into commercial production of rice
with 6,000 hectares in two cities, making it 12,000 hectares that would
definitely help bridge the demand and supply gap, and with support from other
companies, in addition to the role government is playing.“In few years time, we
would be able to bridge the demand and supply gap and we would be able to be
self sufficient in rice production.
”The community
leader of a settlement in the Doma area, Kushunta Adi, said, “Before the coming
of Olam to our community, most people in this area were idle, which is not
good, but today, the story is different. In fact, at that initial time, most of
excavators on the project were foreigners, but today, the company has employed
many of our youths and this is helping many families here”.“In fact, what they
have done here is enormous. I believe if the Federal Government can copy them,
the country would be better. If we have one or two other companies like this in
Nigeria, it will be difficult for us as a country to import rice”, he added.A
former Attorney General of the Federation and Secretary of the rice farmers’
association, Michael K. Aondoakaa, in his position urged government to urgently
protect the local rice industry from being thrown out of the agriculture
sector.
Aondoakaa, at the House of reps hearing, stated worries that corrupt actions by some rice importers could destroy government’s policy and truncate the local rice sub-sector.He disclosed that a certain company behaves like another government and has resorted to dubious activities in apparent bid to frustrate the local rice manufacturers.He called on all and sundry to stop this untoward activities in the best interest of Nigeria, especially local farmers and others.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/05/olam-raises-stake-on-local-rice-production-job-creation/
Philippines may boost rice imports as production falls
Friday, 15 May 2015 10:41
Posted by Parvez Jabri
A government panel that approves rice imports, is scheduled
to convene as soon as next week to discuss the need for additional rice
purchases by state grains agency the National Food Authority (NFA), government
sources said.The Philippines recently bought 500,000 tonnes of rice in a
government-to-government deal between the NFA and key suppliers Vietnam and
Thailand.First quarter rice output of 4.37 million tonnes was up slightly on a
year ago, but below a forecast of 4.47 million tonnes, while second quarter
output is forecast to drop 4.2 percent to 3.9 million tonnes, the PSA said in a
report.
More than half of the Philippines provinces are suffering a
dry spell, the Department of Agriculture said this month.Provinces in the south
had so far been the hardest hit, the PSA said, with planting delayed in South
Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat due to temporary closure of some irrigation
facilities."In Northern Mindanao, the on-going rehabilitation of
irrigation canals and dry spell may reduce plantings in irrigated and rainfed
areas, respectively," it said.Insufficient water supply and "intense
heat" affecting northern provinces had also led to cutbacks in the harvest
area.The El Nino phenomenon, a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the
Pacific, can lead to scorching weather across Asia and east Africa and is
almost certain to last through the Northern Hemisphere summer, the US weather
forecaster said.On Thursday, the Philippine central bank nudged up its
inflation view due to several factors, including the possible impact of El Nino
on food prices.
APEDA India News
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South Korean Researchers Visit USA Rice
USA Rice's Jim Guinn (l.)meets with Korean
research team. ARLINGTON, VA -- Representatives from KREI, South Korea's
equivalent to our own government's Economic Research Service (ERS), stopped by
USA Rice offices yesterday to discuss future trends in American rice markets.
South Korea recently underwent tariffication, and is being challenged at the
World Trade Organization by the U.S. and four other countries on its 513 percent
out-of-quota duty. While the policy and challenges to it were not discussed in
the meeting, both sides acknowledged the mounting political sensitivity of rice
trade in Korea.Korea remains a high value market for U.S. rice, importing over
20,000 MT in the first three months of 2015. USA Rice also conducts several
successful promotion campaigns to raise awareness for U.S. rice in Korea and
most recently exhibited at the annual Seoul Food and Hotel Show.
Contact: Kristen Dayton (703) 236-1464
Mexico Heralds Return of
USA Rice's "Paella Wednesday" Promo
Contact: Sarah Moran (703) 236-1457
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CME
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Master
These 6 Recipes And Call Yourself A Rice Pro
MAY 12, 2015 4:00 PM EDT
We love rice...from
our local takeout place. Whenever we try to make it at home, it's either
totally burnt, waterlogged, or, for lack of a better word, coagulated. Luckily,
Foodiversity: Rice 101 is here to help. Ahead, we'll explain how to cook
perfect rice every time (without any complicated measurements), and provide
five easy recipes ranging from comfort food staples to takeout favorites to
delicious desserts.
Level I: Never Mess Up Rice Again With This Simple Trick
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ERIC HELGAS; FOOD STYLED BY ALI NARDI.
http://www.refinery29.com/easy-rice-recipe?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+May+15%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
U.S. ‘playing by the
rules,’ paying price for unfair competition in rice
International
Trade Commission study points out trade pitfalls
May 15, 2015 | Delta Farm Press
“We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Camp and
Congressman Boustany on bringing these important issues to light on
behalf of America’s rice farmers,” said Dow Brantley, an Arkansas rice farmer
and chairman of the USA Rice Federation who participated in the ITC study.
“We've said all along that we can compete globally and are willing to compete,
but if the system is rigged against us, it makes it quite difficult.”
The U.S. rice industry is following international trade
rules, but its competitors are not, and U.S. rice farmers are paying the price.The
U.S. International Trade Commission completed a study Thursday (May 14) that
indicates foreign governments often engage in unfair trade practices that
distort rice prices and make it more difficult for U.S. shippers to compete in
world markets.“The global rice market is characterized by significant
government intervention in both imports and exports,” the ITC report said.
“This has affected trade and price trends in the world
rice market more than it has for most other agricultural products.”U.S. long
grain rice prices have dropped nearly $2 per bushel in recent months due to
increased world rice supplies and subsidized exports by competing countries,
according to U.S. farmer-owned rice cooperatives and the USDA’s World
Agricultural Outlook Board Supply and Demand Estimates.
The report “Rice: Global competitiveness of the U.S.
industry,” stems from a Section 332 investigation requested by members of
Congress. It examined the rice industry in the U.S. and in major producing and
exporting countries, including China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Uruguay and
Brazil and found the world rice market is a confusing and often unfair place.The
study looked at the impact on the U.S. rice industry of exports from competitor
countries to the U.S. and traditional U.S. markets like Mexico, Haiti, and West
Africa, and found that although the U.S. rice is high quality and enjoys
favorable tariff treatment from markets such as Mexico and Central America,
competition is on the rise.
“Consumption support has the largest effect on the global
rice market,” the report said. “Had such support not been in place in 2013,
global paddy production and rice consumption would have been 6.1 million metric
tons lower. Another factor shaping rice production in non-U.S. countries is
government support for inputs such as seed, fertilizer, and fuel.”"The
study provides detailed evidence that the U.S. rice industry is playing by the
rules, but is at a decided disadvantage from some of our trading partners who
do not," said Betsy Ward, president and CEO of USA Rice. "The report
points out that support for U.S. farmers continues to decline, while in places
like China, Thailand, and India, those supports are going in the opposite
direction."The yearlong study is the result of collaboration between USA
Rice and Congressman Charles Boustany, R-La., a member of the House Ways and
Means Committee and the committee’s Chairman, Congressman Dave Camp, R-Mich.
“We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Camp and
Congressman Boustany on bringing these important issues to light on behalf of
America’s rice farmers,” said Dow Brantley, an Arkansas rice farmer and
chairman of the USA Rice Federation who participated in the ITC study. “We've
said all along that we can compete globally and are willing to compete, but if
the system is rigged against us, it makes it quite difficult.”The U.S. rice
industry will use the study to advocate for change in foreign government
policies that negatively impact the industry's competitiveness, said Ward.
To read
the ITC report, visit http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4530.pdf
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/us-playing-rules-paying-price-unfair-competition-rice?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+May+15%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
How to manage rice
with herbicide drift
May 14, 2015 | Delta Farm Press
Herbicide drift is bad this year, and it can be very difficult
to decide what to do to manage a rice field that Newpath or Roundup has drifted
onto.
Herbicides drift is bad this year. Roundup drift on wheat has
shown up in almost every field I have been in. It is not a matter of “is there
drift” but of “how bad is it?”
If the decision is made to keep the rice
and it is Roundup drift, I suggest a flush when needed. With Newpath drift I
would rather let the field dry up for a while. Depending on the rate of drift,
the Newpath could be reactivated by a flush.It can be hard to tell Newpath drift from Roundup drift, but
lately this has been
made much easier because almost all
conventional rice has at least a plant or two that is Clearfield as a
contaminant in the seed. So when Newpath drifts on the field, these
contaminants are not injured, while a Roundup drift affects all the plants.Eric
Webster and Justin Hensley out of LSU have a great publication on the
differences and effects of Roundup, Newpath and other herbicides on rice.A
lot of folks like to flush in some ammonium sulfate to speed the recovery of
rice from herbicide drift. I was one of them for years. However, our research
results have shown this to be ineffective, especially on younger rice that just
does not have a root system extensive enough to take up nitrogen that early. On
older rice we did observe a “green up” when fertilizer was applied to injured
rice, but we saw no difference in yields by the end of the year.
It is hard to say whether or not early season drift of Roundup
or Newpath will hurt yields. It depends on the year. I have seen everything
from no effect to almost total yield loss. More often than not, the highest
costs are in time, extra management, delayed flood and worry.We have shown that
a good seed insecticide treatment like CruiserMax or NipSit can help younger
rice withstand a drift event and recover faster. This summer we are looking at
some post-applied fertilizers and nutrients in combination with seed treatments
to see if we can come up with even better recommendations. With another type of
herbicide-tolerant rice on the way (Provisia) that will not tolerant Newpath, I
do not see this problem going away any time soon.
Remember to utilize our flag the technology program and FTT Cloud
to identify fields and help avoid drift.
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/how-manage-rice-herbicide-drift?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+May+15%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
India’s rural distress set to worsen
The ministry of agriculture projected that
foodgrain production of cereal and pulses was likely to decline by 5.3% in
2014-15
New Delhi: There seems to be no end rural India’s worries.Last year’s drought
together with unseasonal weather earlier this year is threatening a substantial
decline in foodgrain output—the first in five years of such magnitude.On
Wednesday, the ministry of agriculture projected that foodgrain production—at
251 million tonnes (mt) of cereal and pulses was likely to decline by 5.3% in
2014-15.A deficit monsoon in 2014 that affected production of Kharif crops and
unseasonal showers in March and April that damaged the winter (Rabi) crop just
ahead of harvest is expected to cause a dip in production of rice, wheat,
coarse cereals and pulses, the farm ministry said.
The impact of the last drought year in
2009-10 was similar: production of foodgrains declined by 7% and the agriculture
sector grew at 0.8%.However, a 5% dip in production may not be cause for worry
about food availability as India has ample stocks, over 51 mt of rice and wheat
(as on 1 May). But for farmers who spend more to save the Kharif crop from a
drought and suffered crop loss due to unseasonal rains, the weather events have
severely stressed farm incomes.More so, as prices of key crops like rice, wheat
and cotton were lower this year. Prices of cash crops like basmati rice and
potatoes too crashed, impacting farm incomes.A series published recently in Mint, Fractured Farms,
revealed that farming in the country had undergone a structural shift with
farmers increasingly opting for commercial crops. However, there was no
corresponding growth in institutional support to underwrite the new class of
risks they have been exposed to.
A deficit monsoon in 2014 that affected production of Kharif crops
and unseasonal showers in March and April that damaged the winter (Rabi) crop
just ahead of harvest is expected to cause a dip in production of rice, wheat,
coarse cereals and pulses. Photo: HT
One year of Narendra Modi govt: Not a good year for the farmer
Big-ticket items in the agri-food space—food and fertiliser
subsidies—have largely remained untouched
One year of Narendra Modi govt: Erratic
rainfall during Kharif and Rabi, and lower price realisations, hit farmers
hard. Although the Narendra Modi sarkar raised the compensation for farmers by
50% in one go, it is far from being sufficient to take care of farmers’
interests. (Illustration: Rohnit Phore)
WHEN the Narendra Modi sarkar
took over the reins in Delhi in May 2014, the biggest challenge in the
agri-food space was to tame food inflation, which was hovering in double digits.
Prices of food articles were up by 9.5% in May 2014 over May 2013; potato
prices were up 31% and onion prices were showing surging signs in most major
consuming centres. On top of this, monsoon rains were erratic in June-July
2014, and finally ended up at 12% below the Long Period Average (LPA).
The government realised that this could be a party
spoiler, and so it had to act fast, literally hit the ground running. This was
Modi sarkar’s first litmus test.A slew of measures were announced by the government
to contain the damage from surging food inflation. It not only restricted
exports of onions but also imported onions and dumped them in major onion
markets at prices below import cost. It also used the stick and raided many
onion traders/hoarders. The message was clear that the government will not be a
passive spectator but will move fast. In July, it took a major decision to
liquidate 15 million tonnes of foodgrain stocks, and in September the APMC was
changed in Delhi to allow trading of fruits and vegetables outside the Azadpur
mandi.
As this
fire-fighting to contain food inflation was going on, good luck seemed to
descend on the Modi sarkar in the form of tumbling global commodity prices—from
crude oil to corn to cotton, all started slipping down. This came in very handy
to finally bring down food inflation within reasonably comfortable range, and
in April 2015 the consumer food price index increased by only 5.1% over April
2014. How much it was due to domestic policies of the government and how much
it was due to global price slide, will remain an issue for discussion and
debate. But the fact remains that, in May 2015, food inflation is not as
burning an issue as it was in May 2014.The flip-side of this scenario was the
impact on farmers.
Although government did not declare 2014 as a drought
year—presumably to allay the fears of food inflation—practically with 12% below
normal rainfall, it was a drought.Falling global prices of agri-commodities led
to a slowdown in exports of several commodities, notably cotton.Domestic prices
started crashing and it goes to the credit of the government that it put the
Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) into action, which procured more than 9
million bales at minimum support prices and gave a breather to cotton farmers.
This was a timely action, and without CCI’s proactive role there could have
been a spate of farmer suicides in the cotton belt. That disaster was averted.
But farmers’ price realisation in most agri-commodities declined
significantly—by 15-25%—whether it was basmati rice or cotton or corn, and so
on.So, for the farmer, it was not a good year. Farmers suffered a drought in
kharif and unseasonal rains in March-April 2015 hit the crops badly, which
otherwise could have been a bumper rabi.
This double whammy
of poor and erratic rainfall during kharif and rabi, and lower price
realisations, has hit farmers hard. Although the Modi sarkar has raised the
compensation for farmers by 50% in one go, and also lowered the trigger point
for compensation from minimum 50% damage to one-third damage, yet it is far
from being sufficient to take care of farmers’ interests.Moreover, our
procedures of assessing damages and compensating farmers are so slow and often
corrupt that farmers remain at the receiving end. Creating a more robust crop
insurance system with the help of modern technology that uses satellites,
drones, enhanced and upgraded all-weather stations and rainfall loggers,
digitisation of farmers plots, and dovetailing these with Jan-Dhan accounts and
Aadhaar’s UID, remains a challenge for the Modi sarkar.
Overall, while consumers have heaved a sigh of relief
from high food inflation, farmers have come under distress due to nature’s fury
and falling global prices. The overall agri-GDP in FY15 may fall flat.The big-ticket
items in the agri-food space have not been touched much in the first year of
the Modi sarkar. These are food and fertiliser subsidies. Of the budgetary
allocations to five key ministries (agriculture, food, fertilisers, water
resources and food processing) which impact agri-food outcomes, more than 85%
of resources go as subsidies on food and fertiliser.
The PDS suffers from large leakages (over 40%) and
fertilisers are being smuggled and used for non-agriculture purposes due to low
pricing of urea. Massive inefficiencies continue to dog the food management
system, from excessively high stocks to high costs of operation of the Food
Corporation of India (FCI). The PM set up a high-level committee under Shanta
Kumar—the former Union minister for food—to look into the functioning of FCI
and streamline the food management system. While the panel has submitted its
report, it has yet to see any solid action by the government.
Even the PM’s
directive to liquidate 15 million tonnes of grains in 2014-15 has not been
implemented in its true sense; actual open market sales by FCI have been less
than one-fourth of this amount.This is the unfinished agenda, along with
streamlining fertiliser subsidy and raising investments in water management,
which should be on high priority in FY16, else Indian farmers will remain under
stress and Indian agriculture will keep limping.
The author is Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture,
ICRIER
Amira Nature Foods : to Take Part in National Restaurant
Association Show 2015
05/15/2015 | 02:21am US/Eastern
Amira Nature Foods will participate in the National
Restaurant Association Show 2015 on May
16-19 in Chicago, Illinois.Amira will showcase
their new organic and natural dry rice range products at booth #10432 in the Organic and Natural Pavilion of the show held in McCormick Place. Amira will also have
a variety of basmati rice dishes to sample, as well as cooking demonstrations
by Chicago-based Chef Helge Pedersen.
"Amira is excited to participate in the
NRA Show 2015 to introduce our new range of products to the foodservice
industry," said Karan A Chanana, Chairman of Amira Nature Foods. "We are
committed to expanding our distribution into North
America, and the NRA show is an opportunity to connect with restaurant buyers
and distributors from across North
America."Amira is a global provider of branded packaged Indian specialty
rice and other products, with sales in over 60 countries.
More
information:www.amira.net
((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))
For
Modi's year-old government, storm brewing in rural India
Promising
good governance and a stronger economy, Modi romped to power in elections last
May by the biggest margin any prime minister has got in three decades.
From the start of the crop season last October through March,
India's farm exports have fallen more than 11 percent to $15 billion, as the
impact of the global commodities glut has been sharpened by events like Iran's
nuclear talks and a currency dip in Brazil.The fall in exports has depressed
domestic farmgate prices just as unseasonal rain damaged winter crops such as
wheat, potato, chickpea and rapeseed. Farmers have little money now to buy
seeds for the summer sowing, and meteorologists have predicted the annual
June-October monsoon will be below par, which means the next crop may also fail."A
perception is gaining ground that the government is slow in responding to the
crisis in the countryside," said D.H. Pai Panandiker, president of the RPG
Foundation think-tank in New Delhi.
"Any inept handling of the situation will only invite trouble
and impair the plans for economic reforms."Farming accounts for only 15
percent of India's $2 trillion economy but provides a livelihood to 60 percent
of its 1.25 billion people. A crisis in the countryside would have severe
political impact.The opposition Congress party, crushed by Modi a year ago, is
latching on to rising discontent in the countryside.Party leader Rahul Gandhi
has been touring the affected farming regions and the heir apparent to the
Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty is getting a good response."While Modi has
failed to help us, Rahul Gandhi was here to assuage our pain," said
Paramdeep Singh, a wheat farmer at Khanna wholesale market in Punjab."His
visit has forced the government to at least acknowledge the fact that we've
suffered huge losses."
The fightback by the opposition has slowed Modi's reform agenda in parliament. This week, Congress delayed bills that would make it easier for corporations to buy land - changes it says are "anti-farmer" - and harmonise national and state taxes.
The fightback by the opposition has slowed Modi's reform agenda in parliament. This week, Congress delayed bills that would make it easier for corporations to buy land - changes it says are "anti-farmer" - and harmonise national and state taxes.
DRAW
THE STING
Finance minister Arun Jaitley said last week agriculture was the
biggest challenge for India's economy and would need major investments.Meanwhile,
Modi's government has asked state governments to tap into more than $1 billion
from the State Disaster Response Fund and raised compensation by 50 percent for
farmers suffering crop losses.In an attempt to draw the sting of falling
exports and prices, the government has also eased quality requirements for
wheat purchases by state agencies, raised import taxes on rubber and sugar, and
given an incentive for raw sugar exports.To some farmers, the response is too
little, too late.
"When you lose 10,000 rupees ($156), they offer you 100
rupees. So far we haven't got any assistance," said Manik Andhale, a
farmer from Kamargaon village in Maharashtra state, whose onion crop suffered
rain damage.To be sure, some of the events that have led to the crisis are
beyond the government's control.Until last year, for example, Iran paid a
premium for Indian sugar, soymeal, barley and basmati rice. Now, with the
easing of some Western sanctions, Iran is looking to buy elsewhere.Cotton
exports have been hit by China's decision to abandon a stockpiling plan, while
non-basmati rice shipments face headwinds after Thailand decided to run down
its stockpiles.
On the other side of the
world, a decline in the Brazilian real following a scandal at oil giant
Petrobras last year has weighed on sugar prices, making Indian exports
uncompetitive.Meanwhile, the fall in global crude oil prices has depressed
prices of grains and oilseeds used for biofuels. It also trimmed freight rates,
making imports of commodities such as corn and soymeal from South America
cheaper for Asian buyers.A strong rupee - despite a fall last week - has
further made India's farm exports uncompetitive and imports cheaper.A major
commodities trader has said the decline in agricultural exports could be as
much as $5 billion, or nearly 20 percent, for the crop year to September, which
would be the steepest on record.In the villages, farmers struggle to understand
why they are earning less."How come prices of all crops are going
down?" asked Anil Sathe, a farmer in Kamargaon who said he has had to
start working as a part-time labourer to make ends meet.
100pc self-sufficiency in rice production by 2020
Published
on: Friday, May 15, 2015
|
Alor Setar: The
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry wants the country to achieve a 100
per cent self-sufficiency level (SSL) in padi production by 2020, its Minister
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.Towards this end, he said, the Government
would spend RM2.2 billion out of the total RM6 billion allocated to the
Ministry this year to help padi farmers to increase their crop yield.He said
various strategies and projects had been planned to achieve the target,
including upgrading of the irrigation system in the Mada areas.He said this
when opening the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) Farmers'
Convention and launching of Mada Corporate Plan.
Ismail Sabri said the country imported about 900,000
metric tonne of rice every year and the amount did not include about one
million tonnes which was smuggled into the country.In an effort to achieve the
100 per cent SSL, he said farmers had to increase their crop yield to seven
tonnes per hectare from the current six tonnes per hectare.At the event, Ismail
Sabri also witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
Mada and Bayer Co (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd or use of the company's technology to
increase padi yield in Mada areas.Meanwhile, in PADANG BESAR, the Perlis
government has taken exclusive ownership of 'Harumanis', the famous mango of the
State.The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) has awarded the
State government the exclusive right, said Perlis Border Security and
Agriculture Committee chairman Ahmad Bakri Datuk Ali.Efforts would be stepped
up to increase production of the 'Harumanis' mango to meet rising demand, he
told reporters after launching a mango rehabilitation project in Kampung Udoh
Bilal near here.The project is being implemented by the Malaysian Agricultural
Research and Development Institute (Mardi), which has been given a RM600,000
grant by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry to help cultivators
of the 'Harumanis' mango in Perlis.
Ahmad
Bakri said he hoped that Mardi would undertake research to improve the quality
of the mango and do bud grafting to expedite fruiting.He said the State
government target to cultivate the mango on 1,000 hectares by the end of this
year could be achieved because 987 hectares were under the crop now, though
only 635 hectares were producing yield.On a complaint that the 'Harumanis'
mango was sold for RM60 per kg in Permatang Pauh during the parliamentary
by-election recently, he said traders could not be stopped from setting the
price so long as there was demand."The State government has set up a
monitoring committee to curb cheating by passing off other mangoes as the
Harumanis," he said.Ahmad Bakri advised the people to buy the fruit
directly from the orchards or at stalls run by the Federal Agricultural
Marketing Authority (Fama).Mardi Director-General Datuk Dr Sharif Haron said
the agency was committed to coming up with the best Harumanis mango and
educating farmers to engage in good agricultural practices. – Bernama
Philippines Q1 agricultural output up
1.78 pct
Reuters
Posted
at 05/15/2015 11:16 AM
MANILA - The Philippines'
agricultural output in the first quarter grew 1.78 percent from a year earlier,
led by crops, livestock and poultry sectors, the statistics agency said on
Friday.Crops production rose 1.65 percent, with paddy rice up 1.41 percent to
4.37 million tonnes, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in a statement
issued ahead of the first quarter GDP data due later this month.The first
quarter rice output was lower than a government forecast of 4.47 million
tonnes. [ID:Livestock output grew 3.23 percent while poultry production rose
5.42 percent. Fisheries output shrank 2.57 percent.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/15/15/philippines-q1-agricultural-output-178-pct
Rice Gets a Bath Amid
California's Drought
19 MAY 15, 2015 12:26 PM EDT
As you
read this, farmers in the Sacramento Valley are flooding hundreds of thousands
of laser-leveled acres under five inches of water as they prepare to plant the
annual rice crop. After that comes my favorite part. From the California Rice
Commission’s “How Rice Grows” tutorial:
Rice
seed is then soaked and loaded into planes. Flying at 100 mph, planes plant the
fields from the air. The heavy seeds sink into the furrows and begin to grow.
They will keep growing throughout the hot valley summer
(temperatures regularly top 100 degrees Fahrenheit), in the midst of a historic
drought. Harvest comes in September, after which the rice -- mostly
medium-grain, much of it destined for sushi -- will be milled and then shipped
to customers, about half of them outside the U.S.Even rice farmers get that
there is something incongruous about this. “It’s hard to believe we’re growing
rice in this semi-arid place,” Mike De
Wit told me last month
as he surveyed one of his parched, as-yet-unplanted fields with
the Sacramento skyline -- also incongruous -- looming in the distance. But
it works. The soil in the counties north of Sacramento where rice growing is
concentrated is a thick clay that holds water well.
“It’s basically a bathtub out there, and rice seems to
thrive,” De Wit said. “Tomatoes or corn, they need lighter soil. This area grew
sugar beets, but the sugar-beet industry in Northern California really went
away. People have tried wheat and other crops, but rice seems to be the best.”The
hot, dry summer weather also produces great rice, less likely to be hit by the
diseases that plague wetter, more humid rice-growing states such as Arkansas
and Louisiana.Still, you need a lot of water to grow it. Rice’s per-acre water
needs, flooded fields and all, actually aren’t off the charts relative to other
crops, but they are higher. Rice on average requires 5.1
feet of water applied per growing season, edging out alfalfa as the most water-intensive of major California crops.
Multiply that
times the 550,000 acres planted in a normal year, and you get 2.8 million
acre-feet of water, or about 6 percent of the state's total consumption. That
overstates rice's take a bit, as some of the water is reused after it
sloshes off the fields or soaks into the ground. But it's clear that growing
rice simply wouldn’t work in California without a lot of water.Happily for the
rice growers, most of them are clustered along the Sacramento River and its
tributary, the Feather River, two of the state’s most bounteous sources of
irrigation water. Unlike farmers in the San Joaquin Valley to the south who
rely on contracts with state or federal water projects and will be getting
little or no water this summer, many of the rice farmers possess rights to
river water that predate these projects and were to some extent
enhanced by them. Commercial rice farming in the Sacramento Valley dates
back to 1912.
The feds completed Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River in
1945 and the state built the Oroville Dam on the Feather River in 1968 with the
idea of sending extra water south. The Sacramento Valley rice farmers got
protection from spring floods and a more reliable summer water supply.Rights
holders in rice country still won’t be getting all the water they need this
summer -- depending on where they are and how senior their rights are, some
will get 75 percent of normal, some will get 50 percent, some will get less
than that and some will get none at all. The feds and the state determine how
much water is available, and local water districts handle the delivery.
There’s no charge for the water itself, but landowners
have to pay their share of their district’s expenses regardless of how much
water they get.De Wit rents rice fields in several different locations, and the
one where I visited him was in a less-favored district that won't be
getting water this year. His field does, however, have a shallow aquifer
under it that shows no signs of depletion, so he’ll be pumping from that.
The Sacramento Valley, even in the fourth year of a
drought, isn't starved for water. At the north end of the valley, this hasn’t
even been much of a drought year. Almost 49 inches of rain have fallen at
Shasta Dam since last fall -- 78 percent of average -- and unlike most of the
state’s peaks, 14,179-foot Mount Shasta is covered in deep snow. Shasta Lake,
the state’s biggest reservoir, isn’t exactly full (it’s at 56
percent of capacity), but it has more water than this time last
year.Which raises a question: Given how dry it is elsewhere in the state,
shouldn’t the rice farmers be selling some of that water?
They aren’t entirely unwilling -- the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California cut deals this winter with a number of
rice-country water districts to buy as much as 115,000 acre-feet of water
(enough for about 230,000 households for a year) at $700 an acre-foot. But the
deals were contingent on how much water those districts got, and most backed
out as they got word that they won’t receive their full allotments, according
to recent news reports. One oft-stated reason for
these decisions is that rice farmers are already fallowing about 25 percent of
their acreage because of the drought, and cutting back planting even more than
that would hurt local businesses that revolve around rice growing. As a matter
of local politics and just plain neighborliness, this makes sense.
As far as statewide economics, not so much. In
California, rice is planted from airplanes and harvested with giant machines --
it’s not a labor-intensive crop. When Peter Gleick of California’s Pacific
Institute set out a decade ago to calculate how many jobs were
created relative to the amount of water used in various agricultural and
industrial pursuits, rice came in dead last at one job per 1,000 acre-feet of
water. Almond and pistachio orchards created six jobs per 1,000 acre-feet,
fruit and vegetable crops 18 jobs and semiconductor manufacturing 9,013.Another
reason for not selling water is that water rights aren’t absolute. If you sell
all the water you’re entitled to, many farmers fear, the state or the
courts may eventually take those rights away. State officials have been doing
what they can to assuage such fears and encourage water transfers, but worries
understandably remain.
Then there’s the rice growers’ trump card. Much of California’s
Central Valley (composed of the Sacramento Valley in the north and the San
Joaquin Valley in the south) was once wetlands. The draining of the swamps that
began in the 1850s was what enabled the valley’s blooming as the country’s most
important agricultural region. It also destroyed millions of acres of wildlife
habitat. Rice growers have figured out that, for birds at least, their flooded
fields can function as surrogate wetlands. They now try to avoid
insecticides in their farming, and make habitat preservation a major priority.
State officials and many environmentalists have come to accept that
rice fields play a crucial role in maintaining what’s called the Pacific
Flyway for migratory
birds. For this reason alone, California rice isn’t going away.But still, does
there need to be quite as much of it grown as there is?
There’s no satisfactory answer to this. Rice is
California’s fourth biggest crop by acreage, after almonds, alfalfa and grapes. And while there have been some
significant ups and downs -- and the state’s peak rice year remains 1981, when
593,000 acres were harvested -- the overall trend has been up. During a drought
in 1977 the number of acres harvested fell to 308,000. Last year it was
431,000.
This is the way of California farmers. They don’t just
grow stuff, they grow it in huge quantities with ever-increasing efficiency
(rice production has grown much faster than acreage), then they band together
to find new markets for it. In the case of rice it hasn’t just been advertising
and marketing, but also a decades-long diplomatic campaign to get Japan to open
itself to rice imports. Such efforts in almost any other industry would be
universally applauded; it can seem a little unfair that entrepreneurial,
market-savvy behavior in agriculture is so often derided as corporate or
industrial farming.Still, you can’t quite say that the market determined that 550,000-odd acres of
California farmland should be planted in rice.
As described above and in this Bloomberg View editorial, California’s water
markets are something less than functional. The rice farmers generally qualify
as water-rich, but they have limited opportunities to take advantage of
those riches other than by planting rice. Rice is also one of the few major
California crops that gets federal agricultural price-support subsidies. Those
subsidies have been piddling in recent years because rice prices have been high,
but overall the price supports surely induce farmers to plant more rice than
they would otherwise.Then again, the value of rice fields as wetland stand-ins
probably isn’t fully reflected in the returns to growers. There is no simple
equation here -- just a lot of fields, buried in 5 inches
of water, in the midst of a drought.
2.
The six major
rice-producing states in the U.S. are, in order of acreage harvested in
2014, Arkansas, Louisiana, California, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas. Most
years, though, California is in second place.
3.
As I've written before, the fact that farms use lots of water
in relation to their economic impact is not an argument for driving them out of
the state.
To
contact the author on this story:
Justin Fox at justinfox@bloomberg.net
Justin Fox at justinfox@bloomberg.net
To
contact the editor on this story:
James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net
James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-15/california-floods-fields-to-grow-rice-in-a-drought
New breed of pledging
Former finance minister
Korn Chatikavanij launches project to encourage appreciation of new strains of
rice and guarantee crop prices
15 May 2015 at 03:30 ,WRITER:
VANNIYA SRIANGURA
Just like most
consumers of the Kingdom's main culinary staple of smooth, polished white rice,
Korn Chatikavanij was never much of a fan of so-called novel types of Thai
rice.
Korn Chatikavanij.
"Modern-day
consumers might look at the non-white rice as fancy breeds that require
intricate cultivation. But the truth is that those breeds are indigenous and
easily grow at their origin. Compared to commercially popular counterparts,
growing native crops costs less and requires much less pesticide and
fertiliser."According to him, Thailand, which boasts some 60 million rai
of rice plantations, has more than a thousand indigenous rice breeds. The
majority of Thais, however, couldn't be more ignorant when it comes to the art
and science behind our national produce.As a matter of fact, rice can be
identified very roughly by four different characteristics: whether ordinary;
sticky; white; or unpolished.
As
diners, we hardly ever consider, or care, where the rice on our plates comes
from."Thais regard rice as a commodity, not culinary bliss, let alone a
national distinction that should be preserved and protected," Korn
noted. "Even I, myself, am not that
knowledgeable about rice culture. Despite this, I decided to start the project.
Otherwise it wouldn't have been able to progress."By encouraging diners to
blend rice, Korn hopes it can be a good starting point in creating a new
gastronomic appreciation, that will eventually lead to a greater demand for
rustic breeds. "And when the consumers get to realise the tastiness of
different kinds of rice, I'm sure they will be interested in finding out and
studying more about the origins of different strains." Korn said that
agriculture will always be the world's key industry. As consumers today are
more sophisticated and have more buying power, they are willing to pay for
better quality food.His Kaset Khemkhaeng project is therefore aiming to promote
high-quality produce that comes straight from the rice fields to the diners'
tables.
Korn finds unpolished, colourful options of
rice provide a very satisfying taste."If we want to support small-scale
food producers, we have to upgrade the quality of their produce as opposed to
increase the volume of their harvest, which is very difficult, in order to
compete with big-scale players."We can rest assured that, when it comes to
professional skill, local farmers are armed with carefully passed-on wisdom and
hands-on experience, but they lack negotiating power to obtain a fair price and
are tremendously concerned about the market."Our challenge is to assure
farmers that without the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides they would
be able to cultivate enough crops to be able to yield enough income. It's a
process of building belief."Korn said that rice farmers who participate in
this project right now are paid 20,000-25,000 baht per tonne of rice, compared
to the typical 6,000-8,000 baht they are usually paid by middlemen."So
even with low yields due to unfavourable climate conditions, farmers know they
would still be able earn more than they did in the past," he said.
"Introducing
the local farmers to e-commerce trade is another way to build a sustainable
trade channel. They don't have to be worried about the product outlet." According
to Korn, the second batch of Imm rice, from Bang Rakam district in Phitsanulok
province, has already attracted Chinese merchants interested in chemical-free
Thai produce. There have also been some interested buyers from Europe and
Australia. "We hope to see the involvement of high-profile corporates in
promoting Thai rice as a national heritage for the world. Meanwhile, provincial
authorities can also help, for example, by certifying produce and organising
farmers' markets. From the data of the number of plantations, farm capacities
and types of crops, authorities can
forecast the annual produce and
pre-sell the harvest online.
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