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
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.
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
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