Monday, March 20, 2017

20th March,2017 daily global,regional and local rice e-newsletter by riceplus magazine

Surge in food trade deficit

IN FY16, Pakistan’s food trade deficit almost tripled to $1.4bn, from $470m in FY15 as the trade surplus seen in FY13 and FY14 could not be sustained.
And, in seven months of this fiscal year, the deficit has already crossed $1.4bn mark. Market watchers say full FY17 food trade gap might touch $2bn (see table). This is alarming. So, what’s wrong and where?
Increasing population and higher per-capita intake of food, craze for protein-rich fast food, increase in income levels and resultant additional demand for diversified and higher quality eatables all are putting pressure on food imports.
On the other hand, low per-acre yields of food crops, limited productivity of dairy and meat sectors, issues in fish hauling and processing and inefficiencies in food processing industries keep export surpluses from growing fast. And, poor export marketing impedes faster food export growth.
“No short-term solution is in sight. Imports will keep growing and exports cannot catch up for a few years,” admits a senior official of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
“Economy is growing faster and with it is growing demand for food imports in all three categories, raw materials, semi-finished and finished food products. Besides, retailing of imported food items in local markets has become quite profitable and less-bothering than food export business.”
“Wholesale markets across Pakistan now remain flooded with food items from China and India throughout the year. Businessmen earn decent profits on distribution and retailing of imported food stuff.
Imports of vegetables and vegetable products from the two neighboring countries have shown a rising trend in recent years also because they are cheaper and help wholesalers earn higher profits than they could by selling local items.

Increasing population and higher per-capita intake of food, craze for protein-rich fast food, increase in income levels and resultant additional demand for diversified and higher quality eatables all are putting pressure on food imports


With online marketing being a big help, thousands of jobless men in Karachi and Lahore are engaged in this business.”
The irony is that our imports not only include animal feed, oilseeds, seed plants, vegetables, pulses, fresh and dry fruits, and confectionary items—but also rice and maize.
In nine months of the last fiscal year, $12m worth of rice and $5m worth of maize were imported from China. During the same period, we imported $28m worth of tomatoes from India—thanks to mismanagement in local tomato marketing. Growers say our last tomato crop was not bad. But delayed supply to local markets created shortage leading to hurried imports from India.
Pakistan’s main food imports include edible oils and oilseeds, tea, coffee, vegetables, and vegetable oils, live animals ad animal products and prepared food products and beverages.
Despite some growth in local oilseed production, edible oil imports continue to remain high chiefly due to less efficient oil extraction industry and smuggling of local edible oil to Afghanistan.
Inefficiencies and uncertainties in farm-to-market supply of domestic veggies make them pricier in wholesale markets, traders say.
Exports of basmati varieties have suffered lately. Branding has made it possible for Indian traders to make bulk purchases of Pakistani rice and sell them to the world under Indian brands.
Small wonder then our rice export earnings declined 8.6pc in FY16 to $1.86bn even though export volumes recorded a 10.4pc increase. Besides, the fact that more than 45pc of our food export revenue comes from rice exports shows the need for developing more market brands.
Over the years, successive governments have promoted local production of cooking oil and ghee. But that is yet to translate into sufficing domestic demand and creating some export surplus. Instead we remain stuck up in issues of industry’s inefficiency and under-reporting.
Our combined annual output of cooking oil and ghee rose to 1.6m tonnes in FY16, from 1.4m tonnes in FY11, showing a total growth of 14pc. On the other hand, our combined imports of palm oil and soybean oil grew close to 2.8m tonnes from a little over 2.1m tonnes during this period, showing a cumulative increase of 33pc.
“Ideally, the growth rate of raw material (palm oil and soybean oil) and the final output (cooking oil and ghee) should vary this much,” says a former chairman of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
“The mismatch in numbers indicates either edible oil manufacturing industry is less efficient or cooking oil and ghee production is being under-reported whether due to expanding informal sector or due to avoidance of taxes by those in the formal sector.”
In meat exports, our export promotion efforts are yet to produce desired results. Over 80pc meat export earnings still originate from six countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Thailand and Germany are some of the other markets where Pakistani meat exporters have made inroads. “But there is a need to diversify the market base further while focusing more on Saudi market where Pakistani meat sells at premium and where our meat exports are growing at the fastest pace,” says a TDAP official.
Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, March 20th, 2017

https://www.dawn.com/news/1321630/surge-in-food-trade-deficit

Who’s enemy number one?

The writer teaches physics and mathematics in Lahore and Islamabad.ASK people around you to identify the three greatest threats facing Pakistan. Ordinary people, chatterbox anchors, mullahs, generals and politicians will name everything from corruption, bad governance and religious terrorism, to Indian and American conspiracies, and general moral decay. But few, if any, waste sleep worrying about the country’s exploding population. Some educated people do have misgivings, but they show concern only when prodded.
Fortunately, the ultra-religious sorts — which this land is abundantly blessed with — are free from useless doubt. For them more is better. Every newborn, say the ultras, comes with a guaranteed rizq (provision) stamped on its forehead. Now let’s assume, ignoring the visible contrary evidence, that this is correct. Yet there shall remain an impossibly difficult problem even if food and water were to drop miraculously from the skies. Fact: Pakistan will eventually run out of physical space. This is what the law of exponential growth says.

Only a miracle can now prevent Pakistan from becoming 400 million people in around 35 years.


An old Persian story helps understand the mathematical concept of exponentials.
Once upon a time, a clever courtier presented an elaborate ivory chess set to his king. In return he asked for only one grain of rice for the first square, two for the second, four for the third, etc. Now, kings in those times did not have degrees in math, and this one was no exception. He foolishly agreed and ordered the rice be brought out from the storage. Working on the agreed upon terms, the 10th square had 512 grains, the 14th weighed around 1kg, and the 20th around 128kg. Long before reaching the last square (64th) the kingdom’s entire rice stock was exhausted.
The moral: if something doubles, and doubles again and again, then even the sky is not high enough.
Let’s return to Pakistan. In 1947 it had 27 million people and now has over 200m. This gives a doubling time of roughly 25 years. Now assume for a moment that the ultras have their way and the doubling time stays unchanged. Then 25 years later there will be 400m Pakistani CNIC holders. Wait for another 100 years and that number will comfortably exceed the world’s current population of 7.2 billion.
The effects will be much more dramatic after yet another 25 years — ie 150 years from today. Imagine that all 800,000 square kilometres of Pakistani territory is somehow levelled. Even so, there will be only room for standing shoulder to shoulder. In such circumstances it is hard to imagine how further reproduction will be physically possible. Generals who receive retirement gifts of 93 acres (approximately 37 hectares) of land today will be lucky if they get 93 square feet.
The good news is that this is not actually going to happen. Every demographer is shouting from the rooftop that birth rates are declining and doubling times are increasing. Indeed, according to the CIA World Factbook, birthrates in Pakistan have fallen from 32.11 in 2000 to 23.19 in 2014.
The bad news is that even this decline isn’t good enough. Short of nuclear war or a miracle, nothing can now prevent Pakistan from reaching 400m people in 35-40 years. Hence the demand for living space will vastly accelerate. Even now, green areas are vanishing as villages become towns, and one city spills over into the next. Karachi and Hyderabad are approaching their eventual merger, just as Islamabad and Rawalpindi have become practically one city, and Islamabad is furiously racing towards Taxila.
Doubling Pakistan’s population means that there will only be half as much fresh water as today, the air will become yet filthier, pollutants will poison the land and sea, and road traffic will become nearly impossible. As poverty skyrockets, hordes of beggars will roam the streets, madressahs will swell in size and number, and the unemployed and unemployable will chafe in anger and frustration. They will be easily persuaded that their predicament comes from some international conspiracy.
Although this holocaust is only some years away, curiously it is the suicide terrorist — whose ball-bearing filled jacket can kill only dozens — that draws our attention. Why? The story of two frogs loitering near the kitchen stove is instructive.
One frog fell into a pot of hot water and was so jolted that he jumped out instantly. He was saved. The other one fell into a pot wherein the water was only slowly warming up. He swam around and around but did not summon the energy to make a sudden jump. Ultimately he was boiled to death. The obvious moral: instant shocks are better survived than long-term threats.
How to avoid a similar doom? As a first step we must declassify our best kept national secret — knowing how babies are made. Only then can contraception be discussed in the public media, and in schools and colleges. Phenomenal ignorance on these matters has led to extremely low rates of contraceptive usage by Pakistani women. This also reflects their disempowerment in deciding the number of children. Hence birth and fertility rates in Pakistan exceed those in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the rest of South Asia.
With discussion suppressed in the name of Mashriqi sharm-o-haya, all kinds of nonsensical belief are going unchallenged today. Should we be surprised that countless workers administering polio shots — which are falsely alleged to decrease fertility — have been shot and killed?
The government’s supreme cowardice makes one shudder. Fearing the wrath of violent ultras, Pakistan abolished the ministry for population planning many years ago. Upon googling, I came across the website of the Population Welfare Department. This ridiculous name suggests that PWD will seek, and succeed, in delivering welfare to Pakistanis irrespective of their number. I could not find an Urdu version of the website. Apart from giving advertisements in newspapers, where it matters little, I am unaware if the PWD does anything else.
Averting catastrophe because of overbreeding does not need rocket science but it does need common sense. It also needs courage, which our pusillanimous leaders — both civil and military — have so far failed to muster. Much more than Zarb-i-Azb, we need Zarb-i-Tauleed. Unless we learn from the second frog’s fate, Pakistan doesn’t have much of a future.
The writer teaches physics and mathematics in Lahore and Islamabad.
Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2017


Pakistan-India talks good omen to settle water issue’

* Agriculturists say Pakistan should raise issue of construction of dams by India
By:   By Razi Syed
20-Mar-17 
NEWS
KARACHI: Talks between India and Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty 1960 are being held in Lahore from Monday (today).On invitation of the Pakistani water commissioner, his Indian counterpart has arrived along with a 10-member team in Lahore through the Wahga Border.
It is anticipated that issues, three western rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Indus besides fast-tracked hydropower projects worth $15 billion in Indian-held Kashmir, disrupting water supplies to Pakistan would be focused in the talks.
Agriculturists and industrialists said it is the time for Pakistan to raise the issue of construction of dams by India, depriving Pakistan of its due share of water.
They said it seems that India has realised the importance of this mechanism under treaty for resolving water disputes related to Indus Water and its tributaries.
Executive members of Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), Pakistan Yarn Merchant Association (PYMA), Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), Sindh Agriculture Forum, (SAF), Pakistan Apparel Forum, All Pakistan Business Forum and growers of cotton, rice and wheat were of the view that this is an opportunity for the two countries to begin resolving issues in an amicable manner and in line with the spirit of the treaty rather than pursuing concurrent processes that could make the treaty unworkable. Ghulam Rabbani of PYMA said that Pakistan is heading towards the worst water shortage in the next couple of years due to insufficient water management practices and storage capacity.
The Indus Water Treaty with India has been remained just on papers. India had diverted Pakistani water and is constructing more dams which would further worsen the water situation in Pakistan.
Under the treaty, three Western rivers; Chenab, Jhelum and Indus are allocated to Pakistan and India is not allowed to build storages on them, he asserted.
Overall, about 200kms of riverbed in Azad Kashmir will be affected by the Kishanganga project. The river will turn dry over 40 kilometers, a negation of international environmental laws.
Under the law, at least 70 percent of river flows are to be protected in case any project is taken in hand. Saddain of PTA said Baglihar Dam is run of the river hydro electric project and it is India's responsibility to establish that it will neither reduce the flow of water into Pakistan nor divert the flow of water in Indian Territory.
If the process on the Indian side continued then the underground water situation in Pakistan's Punjab would further worsen that would adversely affect the main crop producing province of the country, he added. The leather sector needs a large number of skin and hides of animals and if they are not fed on well managed pastures, how would we get good quality raw material for our end-products.
Shakeel Ahmad of SAF said the main crops of the country required more than 100 million acres feet (MAF) water but usually 80MAF water available in the country.
If the process on the Indian side continued then the underground water situation in Pakistan's Punjab would further worsen that would severely affect the principal crop producing province of the country.
The farmers take excessive water through tube wells, which results in a downward trend of water in Punjab. The underground water levels went down from about 82-112 feet to up to 1,023 feet and termed it a worsening situation.
'Cotton, sugarcane and rice are cash crops of Pakistan and we are in dire need of agriculture water."
Pakistan should convert into joint watershed management which would be a win-win situation as it would take care of water outflows from all rivers flowing into Pakistan from Indian-controlled areas, he maintained.
Rana Sattar of PCGA was of the view that per capita surface water availability was around 5,300 cubic meters in 1951, when population was 34 million, which has been reduced to 1,032 cubic meters in 2016 when the estimated population is over 189 million.
Quoting a statement of Water and Power Development Authority, with the increased population, Pakistan is fast heading towards a situation of water shortage, he added. Ibrahim Qureshi said that the upcoming meeting on the treaty should raise concern over the Kishenganga of 330 megawatts (MW) and Ratle of 850 MW hydroelectric power plants, being built by India on Kishenganga and Chenab rivers respectively.
He said that Pakistan should oppose these projects, as they violate the treaty on sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries upon which 80 percent of Pakistan's irrigated agriculture depends.
There is a dire need to appoint trustworthy people to protect and guard the water rights of Pakistan. In the past there have been reports about the alleged link of Pakistan's key water managers with India besides the reported alleged deliberate losing of a water dispute with India in the International Court of Arbitration by Pakistani representatives.
Pakistan has to decide now to appoint patriotic water management experts to take up its case before the International Court of Arbitration against India over construction of Kishanganga Hydropower project on River Neelum in violation of 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, they opined.
Pakistan has a right to oppose the Kishanganga project because its diversion will reduce by 16 percent the power generation capacity of the 969 MW.
It is astonishing that non-availability of authentic data on water in Pakistan led to creation of disputes among provinces.
The treaty disqualifies construction of any storage by India on Chenab and Jhelum, but gives some allowance on a very limited extent.
Many of Pakistan's concerns on the Baglihar Dam in occupied Kashmir are "legitimate and carry weight".
Weather experts: Changing rainfall pattern is a signal for adopting a modified water management strategy. The rainfall witnessed a decline near the equator and increase as it moves northward into the polar region between 1951 and 2000. Entire rainfall area slightly shifted west by 80 kilometers and from upper to lower Himalayas.
The monsoon rains in Pakistan started earlier due to dump of pollution (June to August now).
If El-Nino can affect Pakistan, the developments in India will have an impact on the weather in Pakistan and vice versa. Instead of developing dams, Pakistan should invest in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to save future generations. Option: Pakistan has only 30 days of rainfall while other countries get 200 days of rain so Pakistan needs to have large dams.
There is also a need to ratify the EIA Convention realising environmental dangers, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe initiated Convention on EIA in a Transboundary Context in Espoo, a city in Finland. The convention sets out the obligations of parties, that is, European countries have agreed to carry out an environmental impact assessment of development project at an early stage of planning that are likely to have a significant, adverse environmental impact across boundaries.
It quotes South Asia scholar Anatol Lieven as saying that water shortages present the greatest future threat to the viability of Pakistan as a state and a society.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/business/20-Mar-17/pakistan-india-talks-good-omen-to-settle-water-issue

Exporters losing out on Iranian rice market

KARACHI: Pakistan is losing the Iranian rice export market of $500 million because commercial banks are reluctant to open letters of credit and issue Form-E even after the lifting of sanctions in January 2016.
Iran was a key importer of Pakistan’s super basmati rice, but the trade came to a virtual halt after the imposition of sanctions on Tehran.
After sanctions and an economic embargo were lifted 14 months back many countries restarted trading with Iran but Pakistan has yet to normalise trade relations with its neighbour. Even during sanctions, there was no food embargo on Iran, and India kept supplying food items including basmati rice to Iran in barter arrangement.
Pakistan, however, ceased trade with Iran, which allowed Indian exporters to capture the Iranian market. Today India exports one million tonnes of Basmati rice worth $1 billion.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Chairman Mahmood Moulvi told Dawn that he took up the issue with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in October who assured him of resolving the problem at the earliest.
Later the matter was taken up with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Mr Moulvi said.
In a letter on Feb 3, REAP drew the attention of the SBP governor to the issue. The association urged the government to direct the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to help restore the country’s share in the Iranian export market if the private banks are reluctant to cooperate. The REAP chairman said there was a time when Pakistan’s basmati rice dominated the Saudi Arabian market. But today, around 80pc of the market has been captured by Indian exporters.
Before the imposition of sanctions, Pakistan exported between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes of super basmati rice to Iran and earned around $300-$400m per annum. Today we can earn up to $500m, he added

https://www.dawn.com/news/1321327/exporters-losing-out-on-iranian-rice-market


Scientific research leads to revival of Mushkbudji rice in J&K


Sun, 19 Mar 2017-09:45am , PTI
Ten years of hard work by the scientists in Kashmir's Agricultural University has resulted in the revival of Mushkbudji, an aromatic variety of rice grown only in the Valley, as the Jammu and Kashmir government is hand-holding the farmers to cultivate the rare variety on a large scale.
"The research of scientists led to the production of the pure line of Mushkbudji rice and the cooperation of over 400 farmers resulted in a relatively large scale production last year," an official of Jammu and Kashmir's Agro Industries Development Corporation (AIDC), which is providing marketing support to the farmers cultivating Mushkbudji, said.
He added that an area of 125 hectares was brought under cultivation of the rare variety of rice over the years and the yield last year was 900 tonnes.
The state Agriculture department provided seeds and fertilisers to the farmers for free as part of the scheme to revive the Mushkbudji variety.
To encourage the farmers to cultivate Mushkbudji, the state government felicitated some of them with certificates for the preservation of the near extinct variety.
The farmers were also given cash prizes.
The Mushkbudji revival programme was undertaken by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) through its Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, at Khudwani in south Kashmir in 2007.
The main objective was to conserve the local biodiversity through utilisation for the socio-economic development of rice growers which proved to be a huge success, the official said.
He said the scientists developed the purified version of Mushkbudji after exercising the pure line selection for true to type plant architecture, grain and cooking quality.
Since Mushkbudji, the short bold aromatic rice, is grown in the higher ridges of Kashmir, the government has focused on roping in farmers from south Kashmir's Sagam Soaf Shali and Panzgam areas for its cultivation. (MORE)
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.
Legal Metrology officials raid rice millers, traders
KOCHI MARCH 18, 2017 00:00 IST
The Legal Metrology Department conducted surprise raids in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Idukki districts on Friday and registered cases against rice millers, distributors and retailers for violation of provisions of the Packaged Commodities Rule, 2011.
R. Rammohan, Deputy Controller, Central Zone of the department, said that 20 cases had been registered for selling rice without mentioning the packaging date and price.
Five cases were registered for correcting the price in the old stock of rice packets. The raids were conducted following reports that rice was being sold at higher rates in many places by exploiting the existing shortage.
“For instance, 25 kg of rice which was priced at Rs. 1,400, was sold by increasing the price to Rs. 1,600 while 10 kg packets (earlier price Rs. 450) were sold to customers at Rs. 680. We also seized rice that was sold without mentioning the price and date of packaging,” he said.
Eight cases were reported from Ernakulam for not mentioning the packaging date and price; seven from Thrissur; Idukki (3); and Palakkad (2).

Three cases in Idukki
Three cases were registered in Idukki for changing the original price and printing an increased rate while two such cases were reported from Palakkad.
Mr. Rammohan said that stringent action would be taken against those responsible under the provisions of the Packaged Commodities Rule, 2011
Pick of rice market venue soon
20 Mar 2017 at 06:30 2,707 viewed0 comments
NEWSPAPER SECTION: BUSINESS | WRITER: PHUSADEE ARUNMAS
A variety of milled rice is available at Or Tor Kor market in Bangkok. The government plans to set up a central market for milled rice as a distribution channel for rice traders and farmers. SEKSAN ROJJANAMETAKUN
The government is expected to decide on the venue for a central market for milled rice as a distribution channel for traders and farmers by mid-year, at a cost of 300-400 million baht.
Suthatsanee Rajruangrabin, deputy director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said officials are still looking for a proper area in Bangkok's outskirts to establish the market."The department proposes the central market for milled rice be located at Talad Thai, Thailand's largest market for food products, or the planned AEC Trade Center close to Thammasat University Rangsit Campus," she said. "There has also been a private proposal to locate it at the rice processing plant of Patum Rice Mill and Granary Plc."
Ms Suthatsanee said proper locations need at least 3,000-6,000 square metres and should have complete facilities such as an office building.The AEC Trade Center belongs to TCC Land Asset World Co, a property arm of billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
She said the Commerce Ministry is in the process of asking for 300-400 million baht for the market to be financed by the additional mid-year budget of 190 billion baht for fiscal 2017, approved by the cabinet in December.
Some 40 groups of rice farmers and 20 rice operators have agreed to participate in the planned central market for milled rice.
Although Thailand is a leading producer and exporter of rice, averaging 20 million tonnes of milled rice a year, it has no central market for trading milled rice thus far. Such a marketplace would enable importers, wholesalers and retailers to shop for different grains.
Late last year the government pitched the idea of setting up a central market as another distribution channel for traders and farmers after Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn visited China last year and observed the Sanyanqiao Grain and Oil Wholesale Market, a large central market for cereals in Guangdong province operated by the Guangtie Sanyanqiao Grain Goods Yard.
The Guangdong market spans 100,000 sq m, handling trading services for 2.5 million tonnes of cereals a year.
Mrs Apiradi said earlier a new central market for milled rice will enable exporters, millers and farmers to meet potential buyers direct and compare prices. It will also require rice quality inspections, helping ensure transparency in trading. Farmers can also sell their grains direct to potential buyers.
Thailand has a central market for rice paddy.She said the presence of a central market for milled rice would further strengthen the local economy.The cabinet in December approved an additional mid-year budget of 190 billion baht for fiscal 2017, where more than half of the fund was earmarked to finance investment in provincial clusters.Some 115 billion baht will be allocated for local development of provincial clusters. The government has sought to increase budgets for provincial clusters, hoping it will spur private sector investment.
The additional mid-year budget is expected to start being disbursed by April or May.
Ms Suthatsanee said the ministry set a target of monthly rice trading at the central market of at least 50 million baht, or 6,250-7,500 tonnes a month. The market could help boost exports by 1% or about 95,000 tonnes, worth 1.49 billion baht, she said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1217769/pick-of-rice-market-venue-soon

Increase paddy purchases as harvesting begins: Farmers to Govt.

Paddy farmers called upon the Government to increase paddy purchases with the harvest season coming into effect.
The call came with the Cabinet decision to purchase only 79,500 metric tonnes of paddy for the Maha season, with Nadu being bought at Rs 38 per kg and Samba varieties at Rs 41 per kg.
All Island Farmers Federation Secretary T.B Sarath said the Government is slow in buying paddy from the farmers due to harvesting in most areas not taking place at different times, due to the adverse weather conditions.
He explained that, currently, harvesting is on at Vavuniya and Ampara, therefore the large scale millers are buying paddy through brokers, paying farmers Rs 34, while the Government has quoted Rs 38-40.
United Rice Millers Association (URMA) President Mudith Perera said that, even wet paddy is bought by large scale millers at cheaper rates.
He said the Government also slacks at purchasing paddy as they are unable to buy huge amounts. The large millers exploit the situation and buy as much paddy as they can gather, and sell rice at higher prices.
However, Minister Ajith P. Perera said at the Cabinet Press briefing this week, that the Government only has sufficient space to store 5.5 metric tonnes of paddy from 17 Districts, adding that, Government cannot use taxpayers money only to buy paddy.
He explained they are buying paddy only as a measure to control market prices.
“The solution for this paddy issue doesn’t lie with the Government buying paddy. The Government should take action against millers who are stockpiling paddy,” he said

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170319/news/increase-paddy-purchases-as-harvesting-begins-farmers-to-govt-233393.html


Research leads to revival of rare rice variety in J&K

March 20, 2017

Srinagar: Ten years of hard work by the scientists in Kashmir’s Agricultural University has resulted in the revival of Mushkbudji, an aromatic variety of rice grown only in the Valley.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is hand-holding the farmers to cultivate the rare variety on a large scale.

“The research of scientists led to the production of the pure line of Mushkbudji rice and the cooperation of over 400 farmers resulted in a relatively large scale production last year,” an official of Jammu and Kashmir’s Agro Industries Development Corporation (AIDC), which is providing marketing support to the farmers cultivating Mushkbudji, said.
He added that an area of 125 hectares was brought under cultivation of the rare variety of rice over the years and the yield last year was 900 tonnes.

The state Agriculture department provided seeds and fertilisers to the farmers for free as part of the scheme to revive the Mushkbudji variety. To encourage the farmers to cultivate Mushkbudji, the state government felicitated some of them with certificates for the preservation of the near extinct variety. The farmers were also given cash prizes.
The Mushkbudji revival programme was undertaken by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) through its Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, at Khudwani in south Kashmir in 2007.

The main objective was to conserve the local biodiversity through utilisation for the socio-economic development of rice growers which proved to be a huge success, the official said.
He said the scientists developed the purified version of Mushkbudji after exercising the pure line selection for true to type plant architecture, grain and cooking quality.
Since Mushkbudji, the short bold aromatic rice, is grown in the higher ridges of Kashmir, the government has focused on roping in farmers from south Kashmir’s Sagam Soaf Shali and Panzgam areas for its cultivation.
https://news.statetimes.in/research-leads-revival-rare-rice-variety-jk/

Corruption in pvt godowns alleged

By Express News Service  |   Published: 20th March 2017 02:05 AM  |  
Last Updated: 20th March 2017 05:01 AM  

JEYPORE: Millers of Koraput district have threatened to stop delivery of rice to private entrepreneur godowns (PEGs) engaged by the Civil Supply Corporation alleging harassment and corruption at the PEGs while receiving rice.
According to official sources, the Corporation had procured about 17 lakh quintals paddy from Koraput farmers during the recent kharif season through Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS). Later, the stock was handed over to about 90 miller agents of the region for custom milling. Accordingly, the millers delivered the rice to the designated PEGs at Koraput and Dumuriput.
But, there have been complaints of regular returning of rice stock delivered at PEGs and this has evoked widespread resentment among the miller agents in the district.
In a letter to the Principal Secretary, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department, the millers alleged that managers of PEGs have been deliberately rejecting their rice quota due to vested interests and are even illegally collecting `4,500 per 200 quintal rice while  delivering the same from the godowns. They alleged that the PEG management has also been facilitating a few selected trucks and procuring rice quota while many millers are forced to wait for several days to supply their stock.
They appealed to the Secretary to put an end to such a practice at the PEGs by disengaging private godowns. They have also threatened to stop supply of rice to PEGs if the harassment is not checked immediately.

Earlier, the rice millers met the Koraput Civil Supply Officer and apprised him about their problems. They demanded that the department should direct them to other godowns, including FCI and different panchayats in the district, to stop such unruly practice. But, the plea went unheard.

Though the FCI godowns in Jeypore have a storage capacity up to 1.2 lakh quintal, the Corporation is directing the millers to deliver their stocks to PEGs by paying over ` 1 crore towards space cost and transportation, they alleged
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2017/mar/20/corruption-in-pvt-godowns-alleged-1583382.html

Rice cost of production is too high
By STAFF WRITER March 20, 2017


Dear Editor,
I learnt that the rice magnate Mr Turhane Doerga of the Alesie Rice Group is shutting shop after 25 years in the rice and paddy business.
There is no doubt that the rice industry is now  facing difficult times since the Venezuelan market was lost; millers and farmers are in deep trouble trying to keep their businesses above water because the cost of production is too high and there are no subsidies; duty free concessions are a thing of the past. Simple things like jute bags, twine and ‘polly’ bags are hard to get; the cost of fuel has skyrocketed; millers’ wear and tear is very costly and sometimes their profits are minimal. The farmers are barely surviving; year round they have to borrow money from the bank in order to go back to the land with the hope that things would be better, but instead of getting better they are getting worse.
Since the Minister of Agriculture assumed office nothing has changed for the better. In my honest opinion he has no vision for the industry and the future of the country. We have too many government officers in the agriculture sector sitting behind their desks when they should have been in the fields advising farmers. Agriculture is the backbone of this country and there is no doubt it is failing drastically. There is no policy to drive agriculture forward; there is no market for farmers’ produce, whether it’s rice, cash crops, fish, sugar or livestock; there is more talk than action. Lately I was made to understand that some millers on the Essequibo Coast still owed farmers huge sums of money for their produce sold over decades. These same millers are buying out rice mills from Wakenaan and other parts of the coast.
If this is true, rice farmers are doomed, because the monopoly these millers have will send the prices down for paddy and they might have to leave their land abandoned for the coming crop. The government will have to act quickly or rice will end up like sugar. I cannot blame Mr Doerga for selling out his assets; no businessman will work for a loss, but with 300 more employees on the breadline there will be more crimes and broken homes. At the moment the best prices for paddy this crop are EX-A- $2,400,A B C $  2,300 and below C Grade the millers and farmers will have to decide on a price. Farmers will find it hard to go back to their land; they would not be able to recover their expenses if the cost of input is too high.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan

No comments:

Post a Comment