Study: Modified Rice Sharpley Curtails
Methane Emissions
Mon, 08/03/2015 - 9:51am
Andy Szal, Digital Reporter
Rice engineered with genes from barley could substantially cut the
amount of methane released during rice production, according to research by
Swedish scientists.Conventional rice grown in flooded paddies
secretes carbohydrates that feed bacteria, which in turn produce methane — a
greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide.Scientists worry that those
methane emissions could be problematic as the world attempts to address climate
change. Rice is a staple food for millions and could be critical to feeding a
growing global population.The study published in the journal Nature, however, found that the modified rice produced
less than 10 percent of the methane from conventional plants in a laboratory
and in field tests.
Researchers from the Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences transferred the barley genes in
an effort to produce starchier crops while generating smaller roots that contribute
to methane emissions.Scientists said more research is necessary to evaluate the
results from entire rice paddies, but a Dutch microbial ecologist wrote in Nature that the study "represents a
tremendous opportunity for more-sustainable rice cultivation."Despite its
promise, the modified crop would need to overcome ongoing concerns about GMOs
among governments and consumers alike. Modified rice currently is not sold
anywhere across the globe.
http://www.chem.info/news/2015/08/study-modified-rice-sharpley-curtails-methane-emissions
Judge Decides on GM Rice Retraction
Ethical breaches in a study on the benefits of so-called “golden
rice” lead to the paper being pulled from the literature.
WIKIMEDIA, INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH
INSTITUTEA Massachusetts judge has ruled
in favor of a journal’s decision to retract a paper on a type of genetically modified rice. The study’s lead author,
Guangwen Tang of Tufts University, previously asked for an injuction against the publisher, who yanked the study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition because the researchers did not comply with certain ethical
guidelines.
According to the retraction notice,
posted online July 29, “The authors are unable to provide sufficient evidence
that the study had been reviewed and approved by a local ethics committee in
China in a manner fully consistent with NIH [National Institutes of Health]
guidelines.”Tang and her colleagues tested how well a genetically modified
rice, called golden rice, could provide children with β-carotene. They found that
the rice was just as good as a β-carotene supplement and better than
spinach.According to a Tufts spokesperson who spoke with Retraction Watch, no one is questioning the validity of
the data. The problem instead lies in how the study was conducted—in
particular, a lack evidence that all participants gave full consent.
Tufts investigated the situation in 2012.
“There was no evidence found of falsification or fabrication of
the data that underlie the study’s primary findings,” according to the
spokesperson. “Those reviews did, however, determine that the research had
not been conducted in full compliance with Tufts research policies and federal
research regulations.”The Clerk of the Massachusetts Superior Court last month
(July 17) posted a notice, which Retraction Watch subsequently shared, about Tang’s
denied request. “The requested order would be an unconstitutional Prior
restraint on speech as well as an unconstitutional order compelling
speech.”According to ScienceInsider, “Adrian Dubock, executive secretary of
the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board in Switzerland disputes that there were any ethical irregularities and argues that the
retraction is not warranted.”
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43656/title/Judge-Decides-on-GM-Rice-Retraction/
Wild Beauty: Winning
Ecology Photos Feature Sunbirds and Zebras
by Elizabeth Palermo, Associate Editor |
August 03, 2015 07:05am ET
The winning photos from a recent ecology photo
contest prove that Mother Nature is always ready for her close-up.In one photo,
a small bird sucks nectar from an exotic flower. In another, a zebra munches
vividly colored grass. And yet another photo captures a tiny beetle displaying
its impressively shaped antennae. These are just a few of the snapshots taken
by ecologists all over the world and submitted to this year's BioMed Central
(BMC) Ecology Image Competition.
The winners of the annual contest were recently announced
online. Only researchers affiliated with a university or other research
institution were eligible to submit photos, and the portraits had to fit into
one of five categories related to ecology, or the study of how living things
interact with one another and their environments. This year, the journal BMC
Ecology invited a guest judge to select an overall winner for the contest. Ana
Porzecanski, director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York City, helped decide which photo
would nab a cash prize of $400 and land a spot on the BMC Ecology website, as
well as its print publication.
The journal's editors chose the contest winners in each of the five
ecology-related entry categories, which were: behavioral and physiological
ecology; conservation ecology and biodiversity research; community, population
and macroecology; landscape ecology and ecosystems; and theoretical ecology and
models.The award for best overall photo went to Mohamed Shebi, an ecologist in
the Department of Plant Protection at Suez Canal University in Egypt. His photo
of a Palestinian sunbird sucking nectar from a thistle plant impressed
Porzecanski, who told
BMC the image was "truly
gorgeous" and that it represented a part of the world (Saudi Arabia) that
is "underappreciated in terms of its biodiversity."It was hard for the
judges to pick just one runner-up for the overall best-picture category — so
they picked two. One of the winning photos was taken at a garbage heap in
Guwahati, India, the last refuge for greater adjutant storks, the world's most
endangered stork species.
The photo, taken by Dhritiman Das of the Ashoka Trust for
Research in Ecology and the Environment in India, depicts humans and storks foraging for resources right alongside one another, amidst
heaping piles of debris.The other runner-up was a photo taken at Cipó National
Park in southeast Brazil. The photograph shows a small carpenter ant sucking
nutrient-rich nectar from a Coccoloba cereifera, a rare shrub that is a favorite food of leaf-loving animals. The
ant's presence on the leaves of this shrub keeps hungry herbivores at bay,
demonstrating a unique, symbiotic relationship between insect and plant, said
the photographer, Daniel Wisbech Carstensen, a researcher in the Department of
Botany at I-UNSESP in Brazil.BMC's competition yielded many other stunning
images, as well. A beautiful beetle with magnificently arching antenna took
first prize in the behavioral and physiological ecology category. The insect's impressive headgear helps it sniff out a mate, according to the man who took the
photo, Bernardo Segura from the Universidad de Chile.
Other winning images included a tray full of different varieties
of rice. Pritesh S. Roy from the Central Rice Research Institute, in India,
took the photo to draw attention to the fact that many traditional varieties of
rice are being lost because of a lack of research attention. The novel traits
and genes that some rice varieties possess could help ecologists develop better crop-improvement
programs, Roy told BMC.Two adorable baboons also made the cut in the
"Editor's pick" category. The photo, taken by Catherine Markham, an
anthropologist at Stony Brook University in New York, shows one juvenile baboon
eating while a fellow baboon checks out the snack. A solitary zebra won first
prize in the community, population and macroecology category. In that photo,
the animal stands, munching grass, near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
Taken by Julia Spaet of the Red Sea Research Center in Saudi Arabia, the photo
depicts the relationships among the zebra, the grass and the climate.
Image: Waterlilies offer an interesting contrast to Baobab trees
in Madagascar.
Credit: Kathryn M. Everson
AP millers promise normal supply of rice
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Rice mill operators from Andhra
Pradesh (AP) under the banner of the East Godavari District Rice Millers
Association held talks with open market wholesale rice traders from the
districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha here on Monday.
Association leaders said the talks were aimed at instilling confidence in the
traders that there would be normal supplies from AP during the Onam season.The
association had decided to stop supplies to Consumerfed and Supplyco since the
State government owned dues of more than Rs.100 crore to the millers of AP. But
after meeting Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday, the association decided
to resume supply to Supplyco, but not to Consumerfed.
Special Correspondent
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/ap-millers-promise-normal-supply-of-rice/article7497956.ece
12,000 Small Farmers Trained – Engro Foundation Takes A
Far-reaching Approach
12,000
Small Farmers Trained – Engro Foundation Takes A Far-reaching Approach |
PakistanTribe.comKARACHI – Engro Foundation, the CSR arm of Engro Corporation,
along with Engro Eximp Agriproducts, the Company’s rice processing business,
has successfully concluded its System Productivity Innovative Rice Trainings
(SPIRiT) project. The project was a first of its kind training program that has
successfully introduced innovative and more effective rice-wheat farming
techniques and technologies to smallholder farmers in five districts of
Punjab.The project was supported by the TVET Reform Support Programme, which is
funded by the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
the Federal Republic of Germany and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
This
Programme has been commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is being implemented by the Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.Using teams of
agri-experts, trainers and mobilizers, the SPIRiT project trained 10,782
farmers & 1,644 agri-farm support persons in the areas of resource and
water conservation, plant population management, improved harvesting & best
crop management practices in the rice–wheat cropping system over a period of
20-months, from December 2013 to July 2015. The Project areas comprised of
40-50 villages in each selected pocket of Sheikhupura (Mureedke & Khanqah
Dogran), Gujranwala/ Sialkot (Qilla Deedar Singh & Madiala Tigga) and Mandi
Baha Uddin (Gojra).
Teams
worked with farmers in the field throughout the whole life cycle of both these
major crops while conducting individual contact activities like farm visits and
mass contact activities such as seminars, farmer meetings, demonstrations,
group discussions, field days and briefings along with literature distribution
. Farmers were
introduced to innovative techniques such as Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR),
Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), Optimum Plant Population Management (OPPM),
Zero-tillage Wheat Sowing and Quality Harvesting of Paddy. Another important
component was to upgrade & install Rice-Harvesting Kits in the combine
harvesters being used in the target area.
The project distributed 200 uniquely designed quality rice-harvesting
kits that can be installed in the combine harvesters, facilitating quality
harvesting of paddy with minimum harvesting losses. Other innovations
introduced by the project on an unprecedented scale in Pakistan were the Direct
Seeding of Rice (DSR) and Zero-tillage Wheat Sowing technologies.
To
develop an enabling environment for sustainable proliferation and adoption of
SPIRiT Project concepts even after the closure of the Project, 525 early
adopter farmers were intensively trained to become anchors of the innovative
farming techniques within their communities and continue training their fellow
farmers.SPIRiT on-field training program has enabled smallholder rice farmers
to boost productivity by 8%-15% per acre per rice season, while conserving
25%-35% water and agricultural resources along with other benefits like skill
enhancement, improvement in farmers’ income & livelihoods. However,
millions of rice farmers across Pakistan are still utilizing ineffective and
outdated methods. The SPIRiT project concept holds huge potential to improve livelihoods
and food security.
Indonesia
bracing for worse impact of El Nino
3 Agustus 2015 08:22 WIB |
Pewarta: Ahmad Wijaya
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The weather phenomenon El
Nino has started to take toll in some parts of Indonesia. Harvest failures were already reported in a number of
areas such as Lebak in Banten and haze from forest and bush fires caused
breathing difficulty in Riau and Jambi Provinces. The worst is yet to come in October this year, the
authorities said. "Strong El Nino could cause lengthy drought,
harvest failure, forest and bush fires and outbreak of dengue, although it
could also cause good fish harvest in certain areas," head of the
Meteorology and Geophysics office Andi Eka Sakya said in a meeting headed by
the coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo here on July
28.
Worrisome warnings have been issued by US, Japanese
and Australian meteorology or weather forecasting agencies as well Indonesian
Meteorology and Geophysics office.President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has also
expressed concern with the unseen climatic monster to food security.The
president called a special meeting of related cabinet ministers to address the
problem. "We
must take the threat seriously," the president said at the limited cabinet
meeting attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, senior cabinet ministers, the
national military chief Gen.Gatot Nurmantyo and police chief Gen. Badrodin
Haiti.Jokowi said El Nino is getting stronger between August and December
causing drought in wide areas.
"Drought already hits Java, Sulawesi, Lampung, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara
beginning in May," he said. The president asked his ministers to find way to
avert worse impact of El Nino or mitigate the damage. "This afternoon we are discussing and trying to
find a way out especially to deal with the hot spots and potential forest and
bush fires," he said.
He said the government has to protect the livelihood
of farmers, fishermen. The National Disaster Control Agency (BNPB) recorded
drought has hit at least 102 regencies all over the country.BNPB spokesman BNPB
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said those areas had a deficit of 20 billion cubic meters
of water."Currently drought has hit 102 regencies in 16 provinces all over
Indonesia," Sutopo said.The 16 provinces include Banten, West Java,
Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bengkulu, Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, West
Nusa Tenggara, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Lampung, Riau, South Kalimantan,
Central Kalimantan and Bali. "The hardest hit are Central Java, West Java,
East Java, Lampung, South Sumatra and Bali," he added. Extreme dry season has also dam, aged crops over at
least 111,000 hectares of farmlands and the impact is feared to hit wider
areas, he said.
In fact the country already suffered the impact of
drought for over a decade, he said. "A study by the National Development Planning
Board (Bappenas) in 2003 said every year, 92 regencies in Java suffer a deficit
in water supply for a week up to 8 months," he said.Attempts to cope with
the drought The
agriculture ministry hopes to complete construction of 1,000 water reservoirs
and cultivate 2.6 million hectares of rain fed rice fields with second crops. The Public Works Ministry said five of 16 major dams
have been short of water, therefore, the ministry would use 760 water pumps for
irrigation. The
five dams include Keuliling in Aceh, Batutegi in Lampung, Saguling in West
Java, Wonogiri in Central Java and Bening in East Java. Meanwhile, the Forestry and Environment Ministry is
optimizing the use of water canons and retardant chemicals to extinguish forest
and bush fires.
Director
General of Water Resources Mudjiadi said the government through the Public
Works and Housing Ministry has taken steps to forestall worse impact of drought
in various areas brought about by the weather phenomenon this year. He said water pumps have been made available for
irrigation in areas where surface water has stopped flowing.He said efficiency
would be improved in the use of water. Dam water would be prioritized for
household consumption, irrigation and industry. "Fort the time being we stop using dam water for
other purposes," he said. Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said the damaged
to rice fields inflicted by drought this year was less extensive than last
year. In
the period of October, 2013 to July 2014 drought caused 159,000 hectares of
rice field without water as against only 57,000 hectares in the period of
October 2014- July 2015.
"That means we succeeded in saving 102,000
hectares of rice field from the threat of drought," Amran said. The minister said the government has made available
Rp100 billion to build water reservoirs anticipating extreme dry season. The reservoirs would be built in areas where lengthy
drought is more endemic, he said, adding there are around 200,000 hectares of
farm lands prone to drought and 25,000 hectares of then often face crop
failure. He
said the government has set aside Rp880 billion to cope with El Nino inflicted
damage this year.
The ministry has also asked governors, regents, city
majors to use fund for special allocation of Rp2 trillion from the state budget
to build water reservoirs. "We have expected the drought since early
January and we have taken preparatory steps such as by building and improving
irrigation systems and other infrastructure, distributing water and other
farming tools," the minister said.Therefore, the government is confident
that food security could remain safe, he said.Meanwhile, the state owned Board
of Logistic has held 2.5 million tons of rice in stock, a provision against
scarcity in supply.(*)
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/99736/indonesia-bracing-for-worse-impact-of-el-nino
Trans-Pacific Trade Talks End Without Deal
Negotiations on a major trade deal have ended for now without
agreement. At a news conference late Friday, however, U.S. Trade Representative
Michael Froman said the 12 nations involved have made significant progress and
are more confident than ever that a deal is within reach."After more than
a week of productive meetings we've made significant progress and will continue
to work on resolving a limited number of remaining issues, paving the way for
the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations," Froman
said.
Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership have been
underway for years, and the deal was thought to be close to completion.This
week, trade ministers gathered in Hawaii to move the complex deal forward. The
TPP could cover 40 percent of the global economy. No date has been set for the
next meeting on the agreement, but the trade ministers said work on resolving
the problem areas will go forward. The issues are politically sensitive,
including efforts to allow more imports of rice to Japan, more imports of sugar
to the United States, greater access to Canada's dairy market, and expanding
patent protection to a new class of promising drugs for 12 years.Previous trade
agreements focused on cutting tariffs to encourage trade by making it cheaper.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministers hold a
press conference to discuss progress in the negotiations in Lahaina, Maui,
Hawaii on July 31, 2015. /Reuters
◆ Intellectual Property Issue
Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said Friday each nation's interests
clashed over an intellectual property issue, preventing completion of a
deal."The participating nations interests were at odds over the issue
intellectual property and could not complete negotiations to come to a
deal," Amari said in a separate news conference following the joint news
conference a few hours before.He also said trade ministers shared a view that
they will continue to make efforts toward an early agreement.
"The participating
nations share the belief that they will continue to work towards an agreement
soon," Amari said, adding the next meeting could be by the end of the
month."I feel that with one more meeting of the ministers we will be able
to come to a conclusion on the talks," he added.TPP supporters said this
proposed pact would harmonize rules and laws between trading partners to make
it easier to sell goods and services around the world.Attorney Tim Brightbill,
who litigates trade cases, said a well-constructed deal would be a "big
positive" for all the countries involved. But he warned that a deal that
does too little to help U.S. manufacturing and jobs would not be approved by
Congress.
Other nations have other major goals, and their own approval process.
◆ Keep Working
A researcher who monitors Asian economic, trade and political issues said if
officials cannot get a deal done now, they will "kick the can down the
road," and keep working.Charles Morrison, president of the East-West
Center in Hawaii, said there is a lot of political will behind the talks and
"nobody wants the deal to fail."The TPP has sparked demonstrations in
some TPP nations and is controversial in the United States. The U.S. Congress
saw a related trade issue pass by a narrow margin after a major political
squabble.
Failure to seal the agreement is a setback for U.S. President
Barack Obama. The pact is seen as the economic arm of the administration's
pivot to Asia and an opportunity to balance out China's influence in the
region.The Maui talks were also seen as the last chance to get a deal in time
to pass the U.S. Congress this year, before 2016 presidential elections muddy
the waters.
Some material for this report came from Reuters.
VOA News / Aug. 03, 2015 07:52 KST
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/08/03/2015080300531.html
El Niño spells more losses for rice
farmers
The Philippines is currently experiencing mild El
Niño. AP
MANILA,
Philippines - Rice farmers whose fields are serviced by the Angat Dam are seen
to sustain P3.82 billion worth of production losses in the succeeding quarters
as a result of the prevailing dry spell that is expected to peak in the last
quarter of the year, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), said.Despite
the occurrence of rains, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is keeping a
reduced water allocation for Metro Manila and zero water allocation for
irrigation to surrounding provinces until the water level in the reservoir
reaches a secure level for irrigation, municipal and power needs.
NIA
spokeswoman Filipina Bermudez said in areas serviced by Angat-Maasin River
Irrigation System (AMRIS) – including Bulacan and Pampanga – farmers would be foregoing a harvest of
225,000 metric tons (MT) in the succeeding quarters. This covers 49, 750
hectares.Farmers, she said, are still able to plant as monsoon rains provide
water to fields.The reduced water allocation from Angat Dam for municipal use,
however, is not likely to lead to water scarcity in Metro Manila, said NWRB
executive director Sevillo David Jr.He said an allocation of 41 cubic meters per
second would continue to be imposed until the end of the month, at least, when
the board makes an assessment about the impact of the El Nino phenomenon on
water supply in Metro Manila.Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1,
sectionmatch: 1
Theboard
also is also keeping a zero allocation for irrigation until then.“This water
supply level that we are using can be managed until summer next year. But we
need to supply water for irrigation so we are monitoring this,” he said.The
NWRB slashed in June the water allocation for metro water
concessionaires-Manila Water Co. (East Zone) and Maynilad Water Services (West
Zone) – to the prevailing 41 cms from 43 cms in May after the water level in
the Angat Dam fell below the critical level.
Protocol
dictates that once the water supply in the dam – where Metro Manila obtains 90
percent of its water supply – falls below the critical level, supply to
irrigation is immediately cut followed by supply for power if the water level
continues to fall.Pagasa senior weather specialist Anthony Lucero said the
rains experienced in Metro Manila may only last until September before a
“stronger El Nino” is felt in the last three months of the year.The effects of
the stronger El Nino, he said, may be felt until summer of next year.The water
level in the Angat Dam is now placed around 180 meters. This is still 29.27
meters short of the normal water level of 210 meters. A water level below 180
meters is considered critical.
Under
normal dam level conditions, NWRB’s allocation for agriculture ranges from 20
cms to 30 cms.“For now, we are still not within the comfortable level. We are
reviewing the allocation for irrigation but for now, farmers still gain from
the rains,” said David. “By the end of August, we think we can decide on what
the allocation for the rest of the year will be.”The provinces of Bulacan and
Pampanga depend mainly on rainwater for their agricultural lands but would need
an irrigation allocation once the monsoon rains stop.David said the metro water
concessionaires have committed to implement measures to manage the reduced
water resource. The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), he said, has also
come up with a contingency plan.“The concessionaires are ensuring that their
facilities are in good operating condition to avoid downtime. More water
reservoirs have also been constructed particularly in elevated areas. Standby
facilities for supply augmentation such as deep wells are also being prepared
and will be operated when needed,” said David.
http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/08/02/1483465/el-nino-spells-more-losses-rice-farmers
Illustration of imported rice stocks being loaded for transport.
(Photo source: beritasatu.com)
In-depth
Jakarta, GIVnews.com – While President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo had repetitively expressed
his resoluteness to stop rice imports, his government is facing a stark reality
in which it may be forced to import the staple food.Following reports about
wide-spreading droughts in the
country, government officials will decide this week whether to import rice. The
government had carefully monitored and studied the impacts of the current
drought, said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sofyan Djalil. “Until today
we still have enough stocks. But, we will carry out further study next week
before deciding whether or not we import rice. Until today, no,” Sofyan told
reporters after a limited cabinet meeting at the State Palace last Friday
(31/7) as reported by Detik.com.
The minister had shared that
until year end, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) must have minimum rice stock
of 1.5 million tons. Lower stock may only force Bulog to import rice, he
noted.“If we have got less, we import. It is not ‘haram’ (forbidden) because it
goes with our need. We need (imports) because of El Nino,” Sofyan said.Sofyan’s
remarks clearly echoed President Jokowi’s ambitious plan of stopping rice
imports. Since last year’s presidential campaign and even after his election as
president, Jokowi had declared his resoluteness to make Indonesia
self-sufficient in rice.Minister Sofyan said last Friday the government had
allocated Rp 3.5 trillion for this year’s reserve fund for food stock.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf
Kalla had in May informed about possible rice imports this year due to
significant drop in domestic rice production. He mentioned drought and low
quality rice seeds as the main factor behind low production.Also in May, as
shared by Minister of Trade Rachmat Gobel, the government already prepared a
permit for Bulog to import rice, notably in anticipation of this year’s Eid
al-Fitr holidays, which fell on July 17. The permit, however, had not yet been
finalized, according to Rachmat Gobel.Yet, on the day Minister Rachmat
disclosed about rice import permit, President Jokowi said Indonesia no longer
needed rice imports. “We need not import rice any more. We have to be able to
fulfill our need for rice (with local product). How come we keep importing
rice, corn … How come we import everything?” Jokowi said during his visit to
Maluku as reported by CNN Indonesia.
Thailand and Vietnam were
Indonesia’s largest rice suppliers in the past years.
111,000 Hectares Hit
Kompas daily reported that prolonged drought had hit about 111,000
hectares of rice fields across the country from January to July of this year.
The 111,000 hectares were below the 200,000 hectares in the same period of last
year, the newspaper quoted Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman as
saying. He had shared this during a visit to Sidoarjo in East Java last
Thursday (30/7).According to Amran, the government had taken more serious
anticipatory measures so that only 111,000 hectares of rice fields had been
affected as compared with last year. The measures included the reparation of
irrigation ditches and the distribution of water pumps to farmers.
Still, there are fears that El
Nino will continue until December 2015, which means more rice fields will be hit.
Clean water scarcity in many regions will pose another serious problem.A
prolonged drought will pose a big challenge to the government’s program of
holding this December simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada)
across the 9 provinces, 269 districts and 36 cities. These simultaneous
elections will be the first of the total seven rounds until 2017. They aim to
ensure more effective and more efficient democratic life in Indonesia
Government to rope in private players for
kharif rice procurement
By PTI | 2 Aug, 2015, 12.48PM IST
The Union Food Ministry has prepared
a policy acting on the recommendations of the high-level commitee of the
state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI).
NEW DELHI:
Faced with inadequate storage facility, the Centre has decided to engage
private players during the current kharif season for procurement of rice in
Uttar Pradesh and four other eastern states. The Union Food Ministry
has prepared a policy acting on the recommendations of the high-level committee
of the state-owned Food
Corporation of India (FCI). Rice procurement for the 2015-16 kharif
season would begin from October. And the government has kept a total
procurement target of 30 million tonnes (MT) for the season.
"The procurement policy has been
finalised for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and
Assam. Private players will be roped in for rice procurement wherever necessary
in these states," a senior Food Ministry official told PTI. These five
states contribute over 40 per cent of the country's estimated total rice
production of over 102 MT, but the procurement has been very
"negligible", the official said. In 2014 kharif season, 5.13 MT of
rice was procured in these states. Despite West Bengal being the top rice
producing state at 15.1 MT, procurement here was only 1.80 MT in the said
period.
As per the proposed plan, the official said Bihar and
West Bengal that follow a decentralised procurement policy (DCP) would be
permitted to engage private players either independently or on behalf of the
state agencies. In other non-DCP states, FCI would step up procurement
operations at the minimum support price (MSP). "Where FCI and state
governments are not able to open procurement centres, private agencies will be
engaged," the official said, adding that private agencies would be
selected via tenders. DCP states are those where FCI is not involved in
procurement. States procure foodgrains on their own and supply to the PDS. The
Centre, in turn, bears the difference in the margin between the issue price and
the economic cost for the states. Any surplus food stocks after catering to the
PDS is picked up by the central pool.
The
north eastern states with inadequate infrastructure for procurement have traditionally
not been on the FCI radar, even though farmers in the states are often
compelled to sell their produce below the MSP. The FCI restructuring panel,
headed by former food minister and veteran BJP leader
Shanta Kumar, had in its report suggested the government to focus more on
north-eastern states to ensure farmers in the states benefit from Centre's
price support mechanism.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/government-to-rope-in-private-players-for-kharif-rice-procurement/articleshow/48315864.cms
Indonesian
drought will not cause rice shortage
Senin, 3 Agustus 2015 14:49 WIB
Pewarta: Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The ongoing drought affecting
various parts of Indonesia will not cause shortage of rice this year as the
government has taken anticipatory steps to reduce its impacts on rice
fields.Indonesia has set its rice production target for 2015 at 46.14 million
tons while its annual rice requirement is only about 28.5 million tons. The Ministry of Agriculture has forecast that it will
reduce the impact of drought on rice farms from 200 thousand hectares in 2014
to 100 thousand hectares this year.
Hence, based on the five-ton rice production in every
hectare of land, the drought this year will reduce rice production by only five
thousand tons of the targeted 46.14 million tons. Of the 8.61 million hectares of rice fields in
Indonesia, about 3.3 million hectares of rain-fed rice fields are prone to
drought.However, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman has made assurance
that the current drought will not affect the rice production, which will remain
adequate. The government has even managed to successfully save Rp2 trillion
worth of rice this year until July this year.
Some 198 thousand hectares of land across Indonesia
is hit by drought every year."Last year, the drought affected 200 thousand
hectares of rice fields. It is forecast that it will affect only 100 thousand
hectares this year. This means that we will save 100 thousand hectares,"
Minister Sulaiman noted in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on Friday, July
31. He
affirmed that during the period between October 2013 and July 2014, 159
thousand hectares of rice fields were affected by drought across the country,
while during the same period this year, only 57 thousand hectares bore the
brunt of the drought."Hence, we managed to save 102 thousand hectares of
rice fields from the drought," he affirmed.If one hectare of paddy field
could produce five tons of rice, the ministry has successfully saved 500
thousand tons of paddy worth Rp2 trillion, he pointed out.
Calculations made by the Ministry of Agriculture had previously
revealed that the per capita consumption of rice in Indonesia is 124 kilograms
per annum. Hence, the government based its rice production target on the per
capita consumption of 124 kilograms.However, a joint assessment conducted by
the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) and the Ministry of Trade showed that
Indonesias per capita consumption of rice is only 114 kilograms per
annum.National Development Planning Minister/Head of the National Development
Planning Board (Bappenas) Andrinof Chaniago stated last March that by taking
the per capita rice consumption of 114 kilograms into account, the total annual
rice consumption of Indonesians stood at 28 million tons.In 2014, the total
production of dried unhulled rice reached 70 million tons, which was equivalent
to about 43 million tons of rice.
This year, the Ministry of Agriculture has set itself
a target of increasing the output by 3.84 million tons, with the total
production of unhulled rice reaching 73.40 million tons, or equal to 46.14
million tons of rice.With the target of 46.14 million tons of rice, the impact
of drought on rice production, which is forecast at five thousand tons, is
insignificant.Therefore, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman disagreed to
reports that Indonesias rice production this year will significantly decline,
as his ministry had taken anticipatory steps to overcome the impact of the dry
spell.The Ministry of Agriculture will provide more than Rp884 billion for the
procurement of supporting agricultural equipment to overcome the dry spell. It
is developing agricultural irrigation infrastructure, dams, and water
pumps.Besides providing 82 thousand water pumps, the government is also
developing irrigation networks.
"So far, it has developed 1.3 million water
channels across the country," the minister confirmed.Sulaiman pointed out
that the government had set aside Rp2.2 trillion as funds to implement the
program to build retention reservoirs and deep/shallow wells near rain-fed rice
fields."The funds have been taken from the Ministry of Agriculture and the
Special Allocation Fund scheme," the minister added.In East Nusa Tenggara
(NTT), for instance, the government will develop seven dams for holding water
during the rainy season and supplying it to the people during the dry spell.One
of these reservoirs is the Raknamo Reservoir, some 35 kilometers east of Kupang
city. It has been built to supply water to the urban areas and to irrigate
around 841 hectares of farmlands in the district of Kupang."NTT has
considerable water problems," President Joko Widodo stated while
inspecting the development of the Raknamo Reservoir on Saturday (July 25).The
Raknamo Reservoir is one of the seven dams to be built by the government in
this region.
The seven reservoirs are Lambo Reservoir in Nagekeo
district, Kolhua in Kupang city, Raknamo and Manikin in Kupang district,
Rotiklot in Belu district, Temef in Timor Tengah Selatan district, and
Napunggete in Sikka district.According to Chairisal Manu of the Directorate
General of Natural Resources, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the
central government has set aside funding worth Rp6 trillion to develop six dams
in NTT.According to data revealed until June 30, five of the 16 main dams in
the country that had run short of water were the Keuliling Dam in Aceh, the
Batutegi Dam in Lampung, the Saguling Dam in West Java, the Wonogiri Dam in
Central Java, and the Bening Dam in East Java.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency official Sutopo
Purwo Nugroho noted that the ongoing drought in several regions in Indonesia
will peak in October or November.The drought is triggered by a moderate El Nino
phenomenon, the impacts of which are felt in regions south of the equator. In
Indonesia, it will affect West Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi, South Sumatra,
Bangka-Belitung, Java, Bali, NTB, NTT, and Maluku.(*)
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/99742/indonesian-drought-will-not-cause-rice-shortage
Golden Rice—a star among GMO foods—has a major study
retracted
The golden child of the pro-GMO advocates just got a little
tarnished. (Reuters/Erik de Castro)
WRITTEN BY
Deena Shanker
August 03, 2015
Golden Rice, often touted as a shining example of the benefits of
genetic engineering, might not be as golden as originally thought.The American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition has issued a retraction to a 2012 paper on Golden
Rice because of insufficient evidence of consent from the parents of the
children involved in the study, The Ecologist reports. And, perhaps more
significantly, the retraction provides the opportunity to re-raise another
question regarding the validity of the AJCN trial: The diets fed to the
children in the trial were, according to critics, unrealistically high in fat.
(Because vitamin A, the primary benefit of Golden Rice, is fat soluble, the
body needs fat to absorb it.)
Golden Rice, first introduced in a 2000 study in Science, is
genetically engineered rice that’s extra high in beta-carotene, a precursor to
vitamin A. It was developed as a potential solution to vitamin A deficiencies
in children around the world, especially those in highly populated,
impoverished areas. In 2005, a paper in Nature Biotechnology introduced Golden
Rice 2, which had 23-times more beta-carotene than its predecessor. In the 2012
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, the beta-carotene in Golden Rice
2 (now just Golden Rice) was found to be as effective as pure beta-carotene in
a capsule, and even more effective than spinach in providing children with
vitamin A.
Golden Rice was the golden
child of pro-GMO interests.Even though the private sector was involved in the
development of Golden Rice, and companies including Syngenta and Monsanto have
proprietary rights in it, they emphasize that they do not make money from the
marketing or sale of Golden Rice, and the efforts are coordinated not by them,
but by the International Rice Research Institute.Golden Rice’s real value to
these companies is in publicity. Though there have been protests about its use
from environmental groups like Greenpeace, the nutritional qualities of Golden
Rice have overshadowed the complaints.
All that may now come into question if the study’s validity is
challenged beyond the consent issue. The children in the trial ate meals that
were 20% fat by calories, and included both pork and egg—foods not usually
available in large quantities, if at all, to the target population of poor
children. Without it, much of the vitamin will go to waste. (The AJCN did not
include this critique in its decision to retract the paper.)
Syngenta did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Monsanto directed inquiries to industry group BIO, which declined to comment.
http://qz.com/470261/golden-rice-a-star-among-gmo-foods-has-a-major-study-retracted/
TPP
Ministerial Yields No Agreement
TPP
No deal yet
MAUI,
HI - Trade ministers from twelve countries met for several days here last week,
but failed to reach agreement on the broad and far reaching Trans Pacific
Partnership (TPP) agreement. USA Rice
was present at the meeting to press for greater market access for U.S. rice and
to protect existing U.S. rice markets.
Obstacles on agriculture market access, particularly dairy, sugar, and
rice, as well as on auto trade, among key TPP players are behind the lack of
agreement.
"Despite
a reasonable and commercially viable U.S. negotiating position on rice market
access to Japan, Japan is offering new access equivalent to less than one
percent of Japan's market," said Michael Rue, a California rice farmer who
attended the Ministerial. "Additionally, the government of Japan is
seeking to continue a very heavy-handed management of imports that prevents
direct access to Japan's consumers."
Rue is also the chairman of USA Rice's Asia
Trade Policy Subcommittee and believes the current deal is ultimately
unacceptable to the U.S. rice industry.
"We are also concerned
about the competitive status of U.S. rice if under this agreement Vietnam
achieves duty-free status for milled rice in Mexico," he said. "We
will look at any agreement as a whole, but an agreement without meaningful
improvement in the quantity and quality of market access for U.S. rice in Japan
and preservation of existing market access overall is an agreement that we have
no choice but to oppose." "We will redouble our efforts with
administration officials and Congress to educate them on the critical
importance of not settling for an agreement that provides substandard benefits
for U.S. rice," said Bob Cummings, USA Rice COO who also attended the
Ministerial. Cummings said another Ministerial could be planned for later this
summer, and USA Rice would continue to participate to represent the U.S.
industry.The twelve TPP participants are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada,
Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United
States, and Vietnam.
Contact: Kristen Dayton
(703) 236-1464
|
Crop
Progress: 2015 Crop 63 Percent Headed
|
WASHINGTON, DC -- Sixty-three percent of the nation's
2015 rice acreage is headed, according to today's U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Crop Progress Report.
|
|
Rice
Headed, Selected States
|
|
Week Ending
|
|
State
|
August
2, 2014
|
July
26, 2015
|
August
2, 2015
|
2010-2014
average
|
|
Percent
|
|
Arkansas
|
46
|
45
|
65
|
59
|
|
California
|
46
|
20
|
25
|
24
|
|
Louisiana
|
91
|
91
|
94
|
92
|
|
Mississippi
|
65
|
72
|
81
|
76
|
|
Missouri
|
56
|
42
|
58
|
43
|
|
Texas
|
88
|
79
|
84
|
89
|
|
Six
States
|
57
|
51
|
63
|
59
|
|
|
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice
Futures
|
CME Group (Preliminary): Closing Rough Rice
Futures for August 3
|
September
2015
|
$11.395
|
-
$0.120
|
|
November
2015
|
$11.660
|
-
$0.115
|
|
January
2016
|
$11.935
|
-
$0.115
|
|
March
2016
|
$12.135
|
-
$0.120
|
|
May
2016
|
$12.320
|
-
$0.120
|
|
July
2016
|
$12.320
|
-
$0.120
|
|
September
2016
|
$11.830
|
-
$0.120
|
|
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