Gov’t
has settled all payments to rice millers – Housty
Chairman of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Claude Housty
says that government has settled all of its financial obligations with rice
millers.The statement came in the wake of continuing complaints by rice farmers
on the Essequibo Coast that they have not been paid by millers.GINA today said
that the GRDB Chairman joined the Acting General Manager of the GRDB Nizam
Hassan and GRDB executive and miller Dr. Peter deGroot for an in-depth
examination of the local rice sector with the state information agency
recently. According to Hassan “All the millers have been paid moneys that were
owed to them by the Government of Guyana”.GINA said that it was explained that
some millers may still owe rice farmers but this is due to private contracts
for other markets that they have exported rice to.
Hassan said the GRDB “didn’t have those contracts”. The
ongoing problem has been compounded by the fact that supplies were purchased,
with prices based on the demand and prices obtained via the Venezuelan markets,
deGroot added. GINA said that he further explained, “When the Venezuelan market
came to a sudden stop, millers were caught with stock on their hand. This was
purchased at a high price, higher than the millers could make money on…Millers
are caught with stock on hand that they have difficulty in exporting and they
will not be able to export it and make a profit”. This, he said, has
contributed to the difficulties some millers face in paying the farmers.GINA
said that it was also revealed that there is an equal number of millers who are
owed moneys by farmers. de Groot said, “Some of them finance the farmers in
order to go back into the crop”. Essequibo millers are often the least
indebted, he noted, but with regards those in Region 5 and 6, “the reverse is
probably true”.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2015/news/stories/09/06/govt-has-settled-all-payments-to-rice-millers-housty/
ASEAN ministers tackle food security
September
5, 2015 10:13 pm
Sixteen ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will
visit the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on September 12 to
strengthen agricultural cooperation and ensure food security across the region.The
visit is part of the 37th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and
Forestry (AMAF) hosted by the Philippines this year.“It is high time for ASEAN
member countries, which are in the largest rice-growing regions of the world to
support the scientific research necessary for the sustainability of their rice
sectors,” said Bruce Tolentino, deputy director general for communication and
partnerships of IRRI.Tolentino said IRRI is fulfilling its crucial role in
providing the scientific foundation, technical support, and capacity-building
to each of the ASEAN member-countries “in pursuing their own national rice and
food security programs.”
Each ASEAN
member-nation has its own strategy and approach in meeting targets in this
area.Some Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Thailand, export rice,
while the Philippines and Indonesia, among others, are rice importers.Myanmar
is on its way to regaining its agricultural competitiveness. In the 1950s,
Myanmar led the ASEAN countries in rice exports.Brunei and Singapore, on the
other hand, do import rice, and only the best quality rice. Moreover, Singapore
is making investments to become the ASEAN cen¬ter for biotechnology.
“So, each of these
countries has differing approaches to achieving their food security goals. But
all of these countries are bound together because there is a common ASEAN-wide
framework for food security,” Tolentino explained.That framework, according to
him, which also includes a strategic action plan on food security, does not
simply focus on strengthening the national capacity of each of the ASEAN member
countries to produce any agricultural commodity, but also facilitation of
trade.The strategic action plan was conceptualized as part of the ASEAN member
states’ need for a long-term agricultural development plan that focuses on
sustainable food production and trade, especially in the context of problems
brought about by the food crisis in 2007 to 2008.
The ASEAN Integrated
Food Security Framework, along with the Strategic Plan of Action on Food
Security in the ASEAN Region, enables sharing of any agricultural commodity.A
close inspection of various countries reveals variation in natural resources
for rice production. This is also the case for other crops and agricultural
commodities.“In effect, there will be a country agenda and there will be a
regional agenda, tied together by trade. ASEAN countries could look at
exporting high-quality rice to, say, Europe, for example. And Africa is a major
growth area because of its rising demand for rice. All these topics, including
IRRI’s support to the Philippine Department of Agriculture’s Food Staples
Sufficiency Program will be part of the discussions during the ASEAN event next
week,” he noted.Aside from the 37th AMAF, the Philippines is also hosting the
15th AMAF Plus Three Meetings with China, Japan, and South Korea this year.
http://www.manilatimes.net/asean-ministers-tackle-food-security/216471/
El Niño to
spur rice importation
By | Sep. 07,
2015 at 12:01am
The government is considering additional rice imports to beef up rice stocks
due to the possible effect of El Niño on the country’s rice production.National
Food Authority Administrator Renan Dalisay said in a text message that the Food
Security Council is already discussing the possible effects of El Niño on rice
production.“The FSC is already looking at the possible worst-case scenario of a
drop in harvest this year and next year [so we need to] prepare our supply
early,” Dalisay said.“We are not yet sure if there will be an arrival this year
or next year because the supply this year is adequate until December.
But given the severity of El Niño, they will give recommendations if
there is a need to beef up the industry inventory until the end of the year,”
Dalisay added.Dalisay said no volume has been mentioned but the FSC will
probably recommend the utilization of a 250,000-metric ton import standby
authority.The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier said that rice harvest is
expected to drop this year because of the impact of the El Niño dry spell that
delayed planting and reduced effective farm areas.
Palay (unmilled rice) production in the first quarter reached 4.37
million metric tons, higher by 1.41 percent than the 4.30-million MT output in
2014.But production in the second quarter contracted 2.9 percent in the second
quarter to 4 million MT from 4.07 million MT a year ago.PSA said palay
production in 2015 could decline 0.6 percent to 18.86 million metric tons from
18.97 million MT in 2014.It said the prolonged dry spell would likely reduce
the harvest area to 4.68 million hectares this year from last year’s 4.74
million hectares.Palay production in the third quarter, based on standing crop,
would likely decrease 14.5 percent from 3.03 million MT last year to 2.59
million MT this year.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice Research Institute encouraged farmers
to plant drought-tolerant varieties to help them cope with the extreme impacts
of El Niño.Government weather forecasters recently reported that the ongoing El
Niño condition is likely to continue until early 2016 with chances of
strengthening toward the end of the year.“These varieties are also known for
their drought-tolerant properties [and are] preferable in areas where El Niño
is expected to hit worst,” Philrice said.“Farmers can also use water-saving
technologies such as controlled irrigation or alternate wetting and drying
(AWD), aerobic rice, drip irrigation and reduced tillage technology,” Philrice
said.
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/09/07/el-ni-o-to-spur-rice-importation/
APEDA Commodity News from India
|
International
Benchmark Price
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Price
on: 04-09-2015
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Download/View
On-Line the above News in pdf format,just click the following link
