Pakistan
seeks changes in free trade agreement with China
September 09, 2017
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will try to convince Chinese authorities to
revise the existing free trade agreement (FTA) on the less-than-equal
reciprocity principle, Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik told Dawn on
Friday.The move is aimed at overcoming the trade imbalance that exists between
the two countries.
“We will demand an early-harvest programme in the existing FTA
that will cover 100 items of Pakistan’s export interest,” Mr Malik said.
Negotiation teams briefed the minister about the trade agreements
with China and Thailand. The briefing was part of the preparation ahead of the
eighth round of negotiation on the second phase of the FTA to be held in
Beijing on Sept 14-15.
Commerce Secretary Younus Dagha will lead a technical team to
represent Pakistan in the secretary-level talks.
Eighth round of negotiation on the 2nd phase of trade pact to
begin next week
Mr Malik said China signed several bilateral and regional FTAs,
which limited the benefit of preferences to Pakistan. China’s FTA with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries has also made the preferential
treaty for Pakistan mostly irrelevant. For example, China charges 3.5 per cent
duty on the import of yarn from Pakistan under the FTA while it also charges
the same duty on imports from India without any treaty.
This shows the FTA has become mostly irrelevant for Pakistan. The
minister said his ministry has worked out various proposals that will be presented
during the upcoming round of negotiations.
The minister said Pakistan will urge China to enter into the
early-harvest programme. “We also raised this issue with Pakistan’s foreign
minister before his visit to China,” he said, adding that the ministry also
sought help from the Foreign Office to make the treaty beneficial.
But another official told Dawn that Pakistan may not
sign the second phase of the FTA as it fears that the move will further
increase imports from China. Authorities in Beijing are unwilling to accept
Islamabad’s demand for the revival of the preferential treatment for exportable
products under the FTA, the official added.
As per the original plan, the second phase was supposed to be
implemented from Jan 1, 2014. Both countries started negotiations for the
second phase in 2011. The FTA covers more than 7,000 tariff lines at
eight-digit tariff code under the Harmonised System (HS). Both sides have held
seven rounds of negotiation on the second phase to break the deadlock.
An official statement issued after the meeting said the commerce
minister showed satisfaction over the progress of the FTA negotiations. He
directed the negotiating team to work vigorously to conclude the agreement in
the best interest of Pakistan.
Currently, Pakistan has reduced the duty on 35pc products to zero
per cent while China has reciprocated by reducing the duty on 40pc products of
Pakistan’s exports to zero per cent. The official said Islamabad was also
reviewing the services agreement with the Chinese authorities.
A commerce ministry report revealed that Pakistan could not
utilise the concessions granted by China under the first phase. It only
exported in 253 tariff lines, where the average export value was $500 or more,
which was around 3.3pc of the total tariff lines (7,550) on which China granted
concessions to Pakistan.
Pakistan’s key exports to China were raw material and intermediate
products, such as cotton yarn, woven fabric, grey fabric etc. Value-added
products were missing despite the fact that some of these products, like
garments, were included in the concessionary regime.
On the FTA with Thailand, the minister said it was still in the
early stage. However, he said interests of local industries will be protected
under the proposed FTA. Thailand demands market access for the auto sector and
rice.
Call her Spider Woman
Her parents are renowned Filipino scientists whose studies
centered on spiders and their genetics. No wonder Dr. Aimee Lynn Barrion Dupo
got bitten early on by the same bug
By: Maricar Cinco - Correspondent / @maricarcincoINQ
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 07:20 AM September 10,
2017
AWARDEE Dr. Aimee Dupo’s “Faces of the
Teacher” award recognized her as a “force that shaped a nation.”—CHRIS
QUINTANA/ CONTRIBUTOR
LOS BAÑOS,
Laguna — Along with their ABCs and nursery rhymes, Dr. Aimee Lynn Barrion Dupo
drilled into her two boys, aged 8 and 4, what she considers a basic fact of
life — spiders are not insects. As far as the Barrion family is concerned, the
arachnids might well be family members.
That her
parents are renowned Filipino scientists Dr. Alberto and Dr. Adelina Barrion,
whose studies center on spiders, explains why Dupo herself got bitten by the
same bug. Alberto, 63, is a retired taxonomist of the International Rice
Research Institute (Irri) whose studies focused on spiders in ricelands. Wife
Adelina, a former faculty member of the University of the Philippines Los Baños
(UPLB), specialized in spider genetics. Because there is no specific
course on arachnology, the Barrions resorted to “self study” on spider taxonomy
using their training in entomology.
“Spiders
have really become a family affair,” Dupo said.
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But aside
from an interest in spiders, Dupo’s parents bequeathed her something else that
came with their being achievers: a lot of pressure.
“It’s either
people expected (me) to be as good as (my) parents, or they’d say (I) only
achieved this much because of (my) parents. It’s like ‘damned if you do, damned
if you don’t,’” she said.
Ads by Kiosked
Still, the
39-year-old entomologist proved once again that she is more than her parents’
daughter.
Prestigious
award
On Sept. 1,
Dupo, a UPLB professor and curator of the UPLB Museum of Natural History, was
among the awardees of “Faces of the Teacher,” a prestigious award given by Bato
Balani Foundation Inc. and Diwa Learning Systems Inc. to Filipino teachers for
“becoming a force that shapes the nation.”
The second
of five children, and the only one who followed their parents’ career path,
Dupo recalled tagging along with her father to the Irri and “playing with
forceps and microscopes in the lab.”
In college
at UPLB, Dupo took up agriculture and majored in entomology. Her thesis was
about derby spiders or spiders used in spider fights or spider wrestling, a
pastime and form of gambling in the Philippines. She studied the fighting
behavior of these “eensy weensy” creatures, trying to decipher if they are
fiercer when famished or when they had just hatched their eggs.
“After
classes, I’d go home to watch spiders fight each other,” she recounted, adding
that unlike in Japan where “spiders do not fight to the death,” here, “once the
fighter is maimed, it is fed to the other spiders.”
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Her parents
apparently took an inordinate interest in her undergraduate thesis as
well. It was like having two more thesis advisers at home, Dupo said.
“There was no avoiding it. From breakfast to dinner, (my parents) talked about
(my) research,” she recalled.
“WE ARE FAMILY.” Dr. Aimee Dupo shows a
preserved spider specimen inside a vial. —KIMMY BARAOIDAN
‘Underdogs’
After
graduation, Dupo decided to set aside her spider research to focus on moths and
other arthropods. Like spiders, moths are considered the “underdogs” in
entomology, with only a handful of studies done on them. Most people think of
moths as pests, she said.
Her plans
changed when her mother passed away in 2010, and so did the elder woman’s idea
of a pictorial guide on Philippine spiders, a reference material that can be
used by younger scientists interested in studying spiders.
It set her
father thinking that “he might not live long enough and that we should start
working on the pictorial guide,” she said, adding that she plans to release the
pictorial guide in time for her birthday in March.
The
father-daughter tandem is currently the only Filipino scientists studying
spiders. So far, they have named and provided information in the scientific
database of 45 spider species from China and 27 species of rice black bugs.
Dupo herself
has so far described five species of derby spiders that she named after her
father and siblings.
“In the
Philippines, we have so far documented about 532 to 534 spider species, most of
them from the rice-agro system. Those from the forest system we have only come
to know recently. There are too many of them (to be discovered) and that number
can double in a few years’ time,” she said.
Hopefully,
her recent award would encourage more people to study spiders and other
insects, Dupo said.
“Before we
can protect any place, we have to know what’s inside it. For instance, we know
that spiders are predators, but are they active hunters? Are they day hunters?
Who feeds on them?” she asked.
‘Jigsaw
puzzle’
For Dupo,
studying biodiversity is like working on a “jigsaw puzzle.”
“There might
be irreplaceable relationships (in the ecosystem) that could be gone before we
document them. That has always been the battle,” she said.
As a teacher
and a scientist, Dupo juggles her time between teaching and studying spiders
and moths. She would spend the day collecting spiders and at nightfall, would
be catching moths for her research. One of her recent fieldwork was on Mt.
Guiting Guiting on Sibuyan Island in Romblon.
“My eldest
once told me that he wanted to burn down the forest. That was the time when we
had to go on fieldwork almost weekly,” she said.
Eventually,
her children got used to her bringing home vials that contained spiders and
tarantulas. Even her room at home is filled with cobwebs, she added.
She doesn’t
mind, Dupo said. “Those cobwebs, courtesy of the comb-footed spiders — those
little creatures we often see at home — trap dirt and dust, making household
cleaning easier.”
This
eight-legged creature that people often regard with disgust actually have
practical uses, she added. For one, those palm-sized spiders hanging around the
shower feed on cockroaches.
“So it now
becomes a dilemma — are you keeping the spider or the cockroaches?” she asked.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/929294/aimee-lynn-barrion-dupo-adelina-barrion-alberto-barrion-spiders-arachnology
Rice Ridge fire
crews brace for winds as blaze moves toward Lincoln
Posted: Sep 09, 2017 9:45 PM
PSTUpdated: Sep 09, 2017 9:45 PM PST
SEELEY LAKE - Critical
fire weather in the forecast has firefighters bracing for a big
day on the Rice Ridge fire -- and in Lincoln, there are
fears that the big fires in the Upper Blackfoot could merge.
Crews are prepping lines to
contain expected Rice Ridge fire activity north of Highway 200 with
back burning and fuel removal."The next bunch will be over
the next couple of days, we're looking at a cold front that
may come in, and this is the leading edge of it," said fire
supervisor Phil Oosahwe.
"So we would like
to keep the fire low intensity, start here, and work it down.
And when it gets closer to the road, we will start doing -- what
we call hand firing," he explained during a Friday tour of the
fire.
Between 4,500 and 6,000
acres will be back burned down to the 477 road. Depending
on conditions, they may use hand or aerial ignition to back the
fire down to the road. This could happen before early next week.
Seven homes and
multiple other buildings are in the area, and crews are taking
precautions to protect those structures.
Fire managers are using
heavy machinery to create a fuel break on the side of the road, along
19 miles of the 477 Road in order to prevent the fire
from making a run and potentially jumping the road and
heading toward structures.
The Monture Creek Guard Station
and Monture Campground are also in the path of a southeast running
fire. flames approached within 200 feet of the cabin -- which is
about eight miles north of Ovando.
Meanwhile, crews continue to
mop up areas that were torched over the weekend.
http://www.kpax.com/story/36327023/rice-ridge-fire-crews-brace-for-winds-as-blaze-moves-toward-lincoln
No water at the end of canal for rice zone farmers
HYDERABAD: Muhammad Ramzan
Jatt, a farmer from village Abdul Rehman Jatt, is totally blissed out because
he’s looking forward to a long-awaited rub of the green after being able to
cultivate his 14 acres of fertile land that had been lying barren for many
years owing to scarceness of irrigation water.
“We collected an amount of
Rs3,60,000 from farmers from a dozen of villages to hire excavation machinery
to clean the water body up to seven kilometers,” said Ramzan sharing the
success story of the initiative that made it possible.
“This is how the farmers at the
tail end of Raj Wah (canal) in Badin district had the watercourse de-silted after
32 years with their joint interventions.”
Ramzan said farmers in this area
depend on irrigation water for cultivation without which there would be no
crops to cultivate or livestock to raise that means suffering and
hardship.
Ramzan’s family was one of the few
lucky ones, which got a piece of state land on lease during 1960s. At that time
the area was abandoned and the government had designed a comprehensive plan to
bring farmer families from different areas, offered them pieces of land to
cultivate and settled there. Around 0.4 million acres of land was given to the
farming families that now live in scattered villages.
“We have managed to cultivate a
decent crop of rice after a gap of 15 years,” said he hoping to have enough
water through the recently de-silted canal.
This dream of theirs, however, was
shattered when heavy monsoon that jumpstarted in June forced the irrigation
department to minimise the flow of water into the canal to avoid breaches. As a
result, farmers lost their investment on the cultivation of water-intensive
crops like rice and sugarcane.
“Since Badin district is a rice
belt, the water shortage adversely affected the yield this year,” he added.
Raj Wah is a tributary of Akram Wah
(canal), which was built in 1962 with 4100 cusec capacity. It covers a distance
of 80 kilomters from Kotri barrage to the coastal area in Badin district.
Ramzan, who is also a community
elder, said when the government had leased out the land five decades ago, it
was very fertile and their forefathers used to cultivate almost all food and
cash crops. “They had more graains, milk, and butter because of adequate water
supplies. But after many years the political maneuvering in agriculture sector
the tail-end farmers were left to suffer because powerful landlords starting
stealing water thus,” he added.
Reportedly, major landlords from
Hyderabad and Tando Muhammad Khan districts also laying claim to the irrigation
water of canals and watercourses, including Raj Wah.
Initially there were 137
watercourses registered with irrigation department on Akram Wah. Currently
hardly 82 watercourses are functional, while the rest neither get their proper
share of water, nor any attention from the government.
The farmers depending on Raj Wah
still fear reversal of the situation after temporary relief due to the
“different” approach of authorities.
The responsibility of dealing with
water courses, distribution and maintenance is shifted from irrigation
department of the provincial government to Sindh Irrigation Drainage Authority
(SIDA).
SIDA has formed farmers’
organisations (FOs) to work independently with the powers to deal with problems
in their areas. These FOs generate funds on their own by collecting water tax
from landlords to utilise the same on the maintenance of watercourses.
A SIDA spokesman told The News that
the main problem at watercourses is illegal direct outlets made by influential
landlords, who operate lifting machines for 24 hours and deprive the tail-end
farmers of their due share of water.
“Akram Wah has now lost its
capacity and can carry only 2000 cusec instead of its original capacity of 4100
cusec,” said the spokesman. To ensure supply to tail-end users, the SIDA
representative said, the authority and the provincial government were trying to
secure funding from World Bank to improve capacity of Akram Wah.
Nazir Ahmed Jatt, vice president of
Sarsabz Ittehad, a representative body of 12 villages in UC Kadhan, informed
The News that they were mobilising farmers, including peasant women to take
initiative to resolve local problems on their own instead of waiting for the
government’s help.
Sarsabz Ittehad is a brainchild of
Indus Consortium, a national support organization, which has mobilised the
community people in two union councils of the district Badin. “We convene joint
meetings with heads of local bodies’ institutions for the resolution of water
supply and drainage schemes,” said Nazir adding that actually Sarsabz Ittehad,
which means green alliance, is the driving force behind the recent de-siltation
of Raj Wah canal. He said its members are continuously approaching area
legislators, political parties and government authorities, sensitising them to
extend the help to farmers, who are facing problems, specifically acute water
shortage.
Abdul Wahid Brohi, popularly known
as Jumma Khan in the area and owner of 32 acres of family land, said the area
has been declared prone to disaster. “We have seen disasters like breaches in
Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) after devastating rains in 2011, earthquake in
2001, prolonged drought-like-situation due to the closure of canal and
continuous sea intrusion, which has played a major role in polluting
underground water.”
Presently, Brohi disclosed, the
underground water was heavily contaminated with arsenic. “Recently 80 people,
including children and women of neighbouring village Fazal Jatt were brought to
hospitals in Badin and other smaller towns. They were all diagnosed with
arsenic poisoning,” Brohi said. The incident, he added, had created panic in
the area. Badin district health department officials visited the area and
found the hand-pumped groundwater unfit for human consumption because it was
tainted with arsenic.
He said the government teams
dealing with health matters responded to the crisis by bringing in thousands of
bottles of safe mineral water for the villagers, but it can hardly be called a
solution. “They are ready to provide stopgap solutions but are not
willing to touch the influential landlords, who control the watercourses,
leaving not a single drop of water for the tail-end villagers,” said he
lamenting the government’s apathy towards tail-end farming communities
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/228830-No-water-at-the-end-of-canal-for-rice-zone-farmers
TN university to help Nepal in integrating cultivation of rice
with fish, poultry rearing
Bosco Dominique| TNN | Updated: Sep
10, 2017, 00:11 IST
Cuddalore: A project that integrates rice cultivation and rearing of fish and poultry, evolved by Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Cuddalore
district, will be replicated at Nepal at a cost of Rs1.2 crore, thanks to the
initiatives undertaken by USAID of the USA and Knowledge park of India (IKP).
The Project was successfully experimented in four districts between 2008 and
2015
Annamalai University director (research and development) R M Kathiresan will supervise the implementation of the project in association with Commercial Agriculture A, a non-government organization in Nepal, from 2017 to 2019. Annamalai University registrar K Arumugam formally launched the project in a simple function on Friday.
Kathiresan said the project involves rearing fish (Katla, Common corp, Mrigal and Rahu) in a 1m trench surrounding the farm measuring not more than an acre and 20 poultry cages (with 20 broiler hens in each cage) erected four feet above the paddy crops.
"The fish feeds on the insects and worms in water that affect crops, while poultry droppings are rich manure for the crops. We have experimented the project involving more than 1,200 farmers in Cuddalore, Villupuram, Nagapattinam and Tiruvannamalai districts and found that the income of farmers went up three-fold by adopting integrated farming and rearing techniques," said Kathiresan.
He said farmers, who used to earn between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000 by cultivating paddy in one acre in a season have reaped a profit of more than Rs60,000 per acre by integrating cultivation of paddy with rearing fish and poultry.
Kathiresan said the university undertook the research with the help of assistance from World Bank (Rs9 crore) and biotechnology research assistance council — Birac (Rs70 lakh) and other funding agencies and partners including The Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation, Dhan Foundations and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).
Annamalai University director (research and development) R M Kathiresan will supervise the implementation of the project in association with Commercial Agriculture A, a non-government organization in Nepal, from 2017 to 2019. Annamalai University registrar K Arumugam formally launched the project in a simple function on Friday.
Kathiresan said the project involves rearing fish (Katla, Common corp, Mrigal and Rahu) in a 1m trench surrounding the farm measuring not more than an acre and 20 poultry cages (with 20 broiler hens in each cage) erected four feet above the paddy crops.
"The fish feeds on the insects and worms in water that affect crops, while poultry droppings are rich manure for the crops. We have experimented the project involving more than 1,200 farmers in Cuddalore, Villupuram, Nagapattinam and Tiruvannamalai districts and found that the income of farmers went up three-fold by adopting integrated farming and rearing techniques," said Kathiresan.
He said farmers, who used to earn between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000 by cultivating paddy in one acre in a season have reaped a profit of more than Rs60,000 per acre by integrating cultivation of paddy with rearing fish and poultry.
Kathiresan said the university undertook the research with the help of assistance from World Bank (Rs9 crore) and biotechnology research assistance council — Birac (Rs70 lakh) and other funding agencies and partners including The Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation, Dhan Foundations and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).
"We worked on different and diversified farming and rearing techniques. We experimented integrating farming and rearing of fish, broiler chicken, Japanese quail, duck and rabbits and finally found that rice-fish-broiler chicken yielded the maximum profits," said Kathiresan. "Poultry droppings are rich in nitrogen content (1.25%) when compared to cattle droppings (0.5%). The manure is so rich in minerals that chemical fertilizers will not be required (barring initial stages of the project)," he said.
There are more than 100 countries in the world cultivating rice and more than 200 million families involved in cultivation of rice. "More than 70% of rice growing families own land less than one acre. Small land holders land are the predominant growers of rice. This integrated farming and rearing technique is most suited at farms less than an acre," said Kathiresan.
A delegation of scientists from the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations will soon visit India to
study the project implemented by the Annamalai University and replicate it in
their respective nations
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/puducherry/tn-university-to-help-nepal-in-integrating-cultivation-of-rice-with-fish-poultry-rearing/articleshow/60443610.cms
Marawi soldiers receive rice
supply, letters of support
(philstar.com) | Updated September 9, 2017 - 6:40pm
Marawi soldiers stand in full-gear reading letters addressed to
them under the #loveformarawi initiative by Kapatid Zarah Juan. The
letters were part of care packages that were sent to the soldiers through Go
Negosyo’s Kapatid for Marawi effort. File photo
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Government troops battling
the Islamic State-inspired Maute group received rice supply, chocolates and
letters for their patriotism in defending Marawi City, according to military
official.
Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao
Command and Joint Task Force Marawi, said 100 sacks of rice were
donated Saturday by the government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao led by Regional Gov. Mujiv Hataman.
Petinglay said the sacks of rice were delivered in Camp Ranao,
Marawi City and received by soldiers of the Joint Task Group "Ayuda,"
the unit in charge of logistical goods and supplies.
She said the bags of rice will be brought to different military
units inside the main battle area on Sunday.
Brig. Gen. Rolando Joselito Bautista of the Joint Task Force
Marawi expressed his gratitude for the support provided by Hataman and the ARMM
regional government.
“Rest assured our troops are more motivated to bring back peace
and stability in Marawi City,” Bautista said. Meanwhile, soldiers in the main
battleground also received on Saturday letters and chocolates from the the
Zamboanga Council of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. Petinglay said the troops read the letters from BSP with mixed emotions, recognizing that the letter senders are young yet know how to appreciate the sacrifice of soldiers for the country.
Westmincom chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said the goodies and letter artworks further inspire his men to fight the Maute group in Marawi City, which is now in its 110th day.
"It is so heartwarming to know that these young boys are well
aware of the sacrifices our soldiers are doing here in Marawi," said
Petinglay as quoted by Galvez.
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/09/09/1737361/marawi-soldiers-receive-rice-supply-letters-support
TN university to help Nepal in integrating cultivation of rice
with fish, poultry rearing
Annamalai University director (research and development) R M Kathiresan will supervise the implementation of the project in association with Commercial Agriculture A, a non-government organization in Nepal, from 2017 to 2019. Annamalai University registrar K Arumugam formally launched the project in a simple function on Friday.
Kathiresan said the project involves rearing fish (Katla, Common corp, Mrigal and Rahu) in a 1m trench surrounding the farm measuring not more than an acre and 20 poultry cages (with 20 broiler hens in each cage) erected four feet above the paddy crops.
"The fish feeds on the insects and worms in water that affect crops, while poultry droppings are rich manure for the crops. We have experimented the project involving more than 1,200 farmers in Cuddalore, Villupuram, Nagapattinam and Tiruvannamalai districts and found that the income of farmers went up three-fold by adopting integrated farming and rearing techniques," said Kathiresan.
He said farmers, who used to earn between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000 by cultivating paddy in one acre in a season have reaped a profit of more than Rs60,000 per acre by integrating cultivation of paddy with rearing fish and poultry
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/puducherry/tn-university-to-help-nepal-in-integrating-cultivation-of-rice-with-fish-poultry-rearing/articleshow/60443610.cms
Agri scientists call for effective adaptation strategy
SIVASISH THAKUR
GUWAHATI, Sept 10 - With floods hitting the State with increasing frequency and causing substantial crop damage, agriculture scientists have called for an effective adaptation strategy to mitigate the flood-induced damage.As the floods occur in multiple waves and the nature and extent of damage varies, the adaptation approach and contingency plan may also accordingly vary.
SIVASISH THAKUR
GUWAHATI, Sept 10 - With floods hitting the State with increasing frequency and causing substantial crop damage, agriculture scientists have called for an effective adaptation strategy to mitigate the flood-induced damage.As the floods occur in multiple waves and the nature and extent of damage varies, the adaptation approach and contingency plan may also accordingly vary.
The problems that arise during flood time range from deficit
of seedlings for planting sali rice and rice seedlings (surviving the flood
damage) getting over-aged due to the farmers’ inability to transplant the
seedlings within the stipulated time to damage of the transplanted rice at
different stages of growth.
“Depending on the time of flood occurrence, the farmers can
choose high-yielding improved rice varieties with appropriate duration,
including early-maturing varieties. The duration of the varieties should be
such that the varieties must come to flowering within October,” Dr PK Pathak,
Associate Director of Research, Assam Agricultural University (AAU), told The
Assam Tribune.
In situations where flood water may submerge the rice plants
for not more than two weeks, the farmers should opt for submergence-tolerant
sali rice varieties like Ranjit Sub 1, Bahadur Sub 1, Jalashree, Jalkuwari (all
AAU-developed varieties), Swarna Sub 1, etc.
In flood-prone areas, the farmers can choose Gitesh for sali
rice crop as this is suitable for staggered planting with aged seedlings.
“We need to maintain a buffer stock of seeds of early and
mid-early rice varieties such as Luit, Disang, Kolong, Dikhow, Lachit, IR50,
etc., every year as a matter of policy by the State government and with
participation of AAU, Assam Seeds Corporation, and the Department of
Agriculture,” Dr Pathak said.
Having a contingency plan with thrust on crop care during
flood time can also ease the situation for the farmers.
According to Dr Pathak, post-flood, in the event of
non-availability of seedlings and constraints of transplanting rice crop due to
shortage of man and animal power, the farmers may opt for growing rice following
direct sowing of seeds on the puddled field with sprouted seeds depending on
the suitability of the field conditions.
“It is always advisable to arrange sowing of the seeds in
line to facilitate better management and also to ensure optimum plant
population. It is also advisable to use herbicide for weed control. Under no
circumstance, direct sowing can be delayed beyond the first week of September
even with the shortest-duration varieties,” he said.
In upland and medium lands where farmers fail to grow rice,
they should be guided and duly supported for growing blackgram and green gram
during end of August to mid of September with provision of surface drainage.
“A massive programme for encouraging farmers to grow rabi
crops is another option. For this, the farmers should be supplied free seeds of
appropriate crops (based on land suitability/farmers’ choice),” Dr Pathak said,
adding that expanding irrigation facilities, particularly through
installation/renovation of shallow tube-wells can compensate the farmers for
their loss in the sali season.
Expanding the area under Boro rice can also compensate the
farmers’ loss in rice production during the sali season.
Sources in the agriculture department said that steps taken
by it in the aftermath of the floods included raising of community nurseries
for sali paddy over 700 hectares of land, distribution of 2,300 quintals of
kharif black gram seeds to cover 11,500 hectares of land.
“Flood-affected families are being given first priority for
subsidized inputs under different ongoing schemes,” sources said.
The floods this year affected a total of 3.823 lakh hectares
of cropland in 30 of the 33 districts in the State. The total area of crop
damage was 2.79 hectares and the total number of affected farm families was
6.19 lakh
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=sep1117/at060
Rice imports from Myanmar will be
cheap
12:00
AM, September 11, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:31 AM, September 11, 2017
Food minister tells parliament
Nazmul said the food minister
recently visited Myanmar to import rice from there at a time
when Bangladesh was experiencing a serious crisis due to the Rohingya
influx to the country.
“Does the minister get special
discounts?” he asked.
In his reply, the minister said
trade and diplomatic efforts would go side by side with Myanmar.
"I went to Myanmar to buy rice from there following the prime minister's
permission. The PM said diplomatic efforts will continue to resolve the
Rohingya issue. But our trade with Myanmar will also continue,” Qamrul
said.
Highlighting the facilities of
importing rice from Myanmar, he said it would take only three days to import
the rice from the country.
"We can buy the rice at a
cheaper rate in comparison with Thailand and Vietnam. It takes 15 to 20 days to
import rice from Thailand and Vietnam. We are buying rice from Myanmar as we
will be able to import quickly,” he said.
The food minister added that the
government signed an agreement with Myanmar to import 3 lakh tonnes of rice.
"We will get 1.20 lakh tonnes of rice in the first phase."
Answering another question, the
minister said the price of rice remains stable at present. “The rice price
remains within the purchasing capacity of the people."
Govt considers importing two million tons of rice
Published
at 12:22 AM September 11, 2017
Up to eight
million tons of Boro paddy had been destroyed by the latest bout of monsoon
floods that inundated several districts
The government is thinking of importing
two million tons of rice, to compensate for the shortage caused by the recent
rain and flood in various parts of the country.Planning Minister AHM Mustafa
Kamal announced it during a meeting at the National Economic Council conference
room in Agargaon, Dhaka on Sunday.He further mentioned that up to eight million
tons of Boro paddy had been destroyed by the latest bout of monsoon floods that
inundated several districts.
He estimated that a total of
12-14 million tons of rice had been damaged as well, causing a rather
significant deficiency.
As the flood has dispersed many
families out of their homes, the demand for food and shelter has increased.The
government is aware of this situation and hopes to make up for the shortage of
food, sources in the Ministry of Planning said.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/09/11/govt-considers-importing-two-million-tons-rice/1460488
Government moves to crash price of local rice
By Joke Falaju, Abuja
| 11 September 2017 | 4:13 am
PHOTO: KEMI FILANI
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Audu Ogbeh, has hinted of plans to reduce the price of 50kg bag of
local rice from N18,000 to N13,000.
In this respect, he said talks were ongoing
with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria to crash the N150,000 per ton
price tag of paddy rice to N120,000 to enable millers sell the commodity at
N13,000 per bag.
Ogbeh, who was speaking at the weekend in Abuja
on the upcoming national conference on the transformation of the country’s
livestock industry, lamented that local rice were becoming costlier thatn
imported ones.
He regretted that a ton of paddy rice that sold for N65,000 in July 2015
had suddenly jumped making it extremely difficult for millers to sell a 50kg
bag of rice less than N17,O00.
The minister said: “ To Nigerians, I’m sorry
that the prices of food are too high. We are not too happy about it, but we are
not going to turn around and bully the farmers. We will persuade them, but with
the increase in food production, prices will go down. Then non-farmers can eat
very well. We don’t want any Nigerian to go hungry because he or she is an end
user of farm product.
Ogbeh alleged that farmers in Katsina and Kano
states were hoarding their grains, thereby inducing an artificial scarcity, as
a ton of maize rose from N85,000 to N130,000 with its adverse effects on
poultry which need them as feeds.
He clarified that government had not banned the
importation of any food commodity, saying: “You can still bring in rice as long
as it comes in through the ports and you pay levy. It is smuggling we do not
want.”
The clarification comes in the wake of protests
by local farmers over the importation of a large vessel of maize into the country
by a certain big company.
He, however, promised to persuade the firm from
the act beginning from next year
Kushtia millers raise rice prices again
·
Published
at 05:58 PM September 10, 2017
In
late August, mill owners raised the prices of all rice varieties by Tk3 per kg
The prices
rose for the second time in just two weeks amid widespread allegations of price
manipulation against the rice mill owners
Rice millers in Kushtia have once again
raised rice prices, this time by Tk1-Tk4 per kg.
Fine rice, otherwise known as
Miniket, was selling at Tk58 per kg at the wholesale market on Saturday,
whereas the price was Tk54 per kg on Thursday. The prices of coarse rice
varieties, such as BR-28, also went up by Tk1-Tk1.5 per kg during this period.
They rose for the second time in
just two weeks amid widespread allegations of price manipulation against the
rice mill owners.In late August, the millers had raised the prices of all rice
varieties by Tk3 per kg.Media reports on the price anomaly prompted Kushtia
Deputy Commissioner Md Zahir Raihan to call an emergency meeting with officials
concerned on August 30. He gave an ultimatum to the mill owners to rein in the
soaring prices within 24 hours.
However, the mill owners did not
take heed to the warning, instead claiming that they were compelled. They noted
that paddy prices at the growers’ level have been high due to low production in
the preceding Boro season.
Kushtia Rice Mill Owners
Association President Jainal Abedin Prodhan said: “The mill owners have nothing
to do with this. The farmers don’t have the paddy. There is a huge paddy crisis
across the country. Thus, the millers do not have bargaining power while buying
paddy.”Meanwhile, a recent intelligence agency report has revealed that major
rice mills in Kushtia are sitting on huge stocks of rice.The report mentioned
that at least 70 mills in Kushtia have abnormally high stocks.Among them, six
of the top mills have a total stock of 1 million tonnes of rice
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2017/09/10/kushtia-millers-raise-rice-prices-again/
A General Introduction to Pancakarma Treatment
FPJ
Bureau | Sep 10, 2017 09:00 am
Pancakarma, as the name specifies, includes
five types of actions or processes which eliminate vitiated dosas and malas from
the body. Pancakarma is an important part of Ayurvedic treatment
because several times disease aggravation recurs, in spite of using different
types of medicines. The methods of purification and detoxification for the
prevention as well as eradication of disease, by the elimination of
aggravated dosas and malas from the body,
is Pancakarma treatment. The processes before the initiation
of Pancakarma treatment are pre-monitoring procedures, carried
out with the help of palliation and purification therapies, which especially
includes oleation and fomentation. These five basic processes are as follows:
1.
Vamana (Emetic
therapy)
2.
Virecana (Purgative
therapy)
3.
Nasya (Inhalation
therapy or Errhine)
4.
Anuvasana basti (A
type of enema)
5.
Niruha basti (Another
type of enema)
Acharya
Susruta and
other scholars described rakta moksana (blood-letting therapy)
in place of nasya (errhine) as a part of
pancakarma. Before administering all such treatments, it is necessary
to find out whether the patient is capable, physically and mentally, to bear
such treatments. Otherwise it may get harm instead of them benefitting a
patient. The preparations before pancakarma treatment, after
examining the mental condition of the patient, are ‘pre-monitoring procedures,’
and some precautions and compatible diet must be followed along with and after
the treatment which are ‘post-treatment measures.’ Special types of medicines
and procedures are selected according to the patient and diseases. These
pancakarma procedures are described here in brief.
·
For
elimination of Kapha – Emesis is the best.
·
For
elimination of Pitta – Purgation is the best.
·
For
elimination of Vata – Enema or basti (both anuvasana and asthapana
basti) is the best.
·
For
tenderness in the body – Fomentation is the best.
1)
Vamana: Emetic therapy
The treatment where emetic drugs are used to
induce vomiting for detoxification of the abdomen is emetic therapy or
therapeutic vomiting. This treatment can be followed throughout the year except
in severe winter and extreme summer. Emetic medicines are used to expel toxic
substances or wastes from the body.
• Use
Emesis is beneficial for all those suffering
from Kapha and Pitta disorders. Therapeutic vomiting is also useful when there
is congestion in the lungs causing cough, bronchial asthma, fever due to Kapha,
tonsillitis, cold, inflammation of the nose, sinus and suppuration in the nose,
palate and lips, and otorrhea (suppuration from the ears). It is also indicated
in nausea, loss of appetite, indigestion, sprue syndrome, diarrhea, fat
accumulation or diseases due to obesity, anemia, poisoning, intrinsic
hemorrhage from lower channels of the body, dermatitis and other skin diseases
(itching, erysipelas, etc.), boils, glandular swelling, edema, urinary
disorders, excessive sleeping, drowsiness, hydrocele, epilepsy and insanity.
• Indications
Therapeutic vomiting is useful for those who
are suffering from the above-mentioned diseases, who have strong vision, who
have no problem while vomiting and have patience.
• Contra-Indications
Therapeutic vomiting is contraindicated in
childhood, old age, debility, emaciation, hunger, heart patients, those having
cavities in the lungs, bleeding from the upper body channels, during
menstruation, during pregnancy, while in grief, in obesity or in any sort of disorders,
intoxicated people, those having fear of vomiting, those who face difficulty in
vomiting, those with eye diseases (cataract, blindness, pain in the eyes and so
on), and those with a dry body constitution, jaundice, worm infestation and
Vata disorders.
Even in contra-indications if a person
suffers from Kapha aggravation, indigestion or poisoning, emetic therapy can be
administered in a mild form using a decoction of liquorice root. But in
childhood, debility and in fragile and fearful persons this therapy is not
feasible.
• Pre-emesis measures
Before emesis, measures should be taken to
aggravate Kapha in the patient’s body. For this 1-3 days prior to emesis, a
person is provided with medicated oils to drink 2-3 times a day until the feces
become oily and he feels nauseated. A day before initiation of the treatment,
oleation (oil massage) followed by fomentation on the chest and back are
administered to liquefy Kapha. To vitiate Kapha, a Kapha facilitating diet such
as thin gruel, Basmati rice, milk, buttermilk, and yogurt should be eaten with
adequate salt in it. Emesis should be conducted in the morning (the time when
Kapha is active).
• Emetic substances
Rock salt and honey are importantly used.
Besides emetic nut, licorice root, margosa, bitter sponge gourd, bitter bottle
gourd, long pepper, bitter oleander, and cardamom are the main emetic
substances. In Kapha provocation pungent, penetrating and hot potency
substances; and in Pitta provocation sweet and cool potency substances are used
as emetics. In case of Vata and Kapha aggravation sweet, salty, sour and hot
potency substances are useful. All these medicines are used as decoctions,
boiled and reduced to half the amount (in the ratio 170g in 3 liters of water).
• Method
During emesis a person should sit at ease on
his legs with folded knees or on a chair of knee-height and drink the decoction
in high, moderate or low doses of 7, 4.5 or 1.5 liter(s) respectively. After
the intake, the person will feel nauseated. At this time the person should use
his middle and index finger or use a tender and smooth castor twig to rub the
tongue up to the throat to induce vomiting, continuing the process until it
causes elimination of Pitta and Kapha followed by medicine taken, and finally
Pitta is expelled in vomiting. If a person feels detoxified with lightness in
the heart, throat, head and in the whole body, then emesis is successfully
performed. The degree of success is determined by the number of vomits. Eight,
six and four vomits are maximum, moderate or minimum respectively.
• Post-emesis measures
When hungry, give vegetable soup, boiled rice
and green gram to eat. For at least one day avoid cold drinks and cool
substances, physical exercise, coitus, anger, ghee or oil massage. Be careful
of getting indigestion.
• Result of the therapy
The symptoms observed after every treatment
help to analyze the degree of success, whether it is successfully perfomed,
less than required or more than required. The aim of the treatment is to pacify
the disease. If the disease gets pacified, the body feels light, fresh and
energetic, and the dosas get expelled from the body. If all the medicine taken
is vomited and this results in the carmination of Vata, it can be considered
that the procedure has been satisfactorily performed.
• Minimal effect
If more vitiation of dosas is seen as
compared to before and there is heaviness in the body, lethargy, oiliness,
smoothness, nausea and itching then the dosas have not been eliminated
properly. The effect of the therapy is then below normal.
• Over-effect
On the contrary, excessive dryness in the
body, syncope, pain, excessive weakness, anorexia, stiffness, excessive thirst
and excessive elimination of dosas indicates the over-effect of the procedure.
PH needs more investments for rice R&D
September 10, 2017, 10:00 PM
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
Despite the Philippine government’s intense campaign towards
rice self-sufficiency, investments to make the country’s yield more globally
competitive are still not enough.
Economist Emmanuel Esguerra said there is still a need for the
government to invest more in agricultural research and development (R&D) to
achieve rice competitiveness.
To recall, after giving the agriculture sector a significant
boost in the first half, the country’s main staples — palay and corn — are now
expected to yield unprecedented production results by the end of this year,
thanks to ample water supply and availability of planting materials.
The probable production of both palay and corn crops for July to
December 2017 is now seen to rise to 6.76 percent and 6.11 percent,
respectively.
For the entire calendar year, palay and corn outputs may even
accelerate by 9.06 percent and 11.08 percent, respectively, compared with 2016
levels.
These projections came after these staples yielded impressive
production in the first half of the year.
Despite higher yields, Esguerra pointed out that farmers across
the country still struggle under the weight of high production cost.
He pointed out that producing rice in the Philippines is more
expensive than in our neighboring exporting countries such as Vietnam and
Thailand. Some of the factors that contribute to the higher cost of rice
production include labor cost and machinery, low yield per hectare, and high
marketing costs.
“High prices harm poor Filipino households more than anyone
else. These households spend around 20 percent of their incomes on rice alone,”
said Esguerra, who serves as a professor at the UP School of Economics (UPSE),
said
http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/09/10/ph-needs-more-investments-for-rice-rd/
Rice imports
from Myanmar will be cheap Food minister tells parliament
The government would import rice
from Myanmar considering the cheap prices and short shipping time, Food
Minister Qamrul Islam told the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday. "Rice is being
imported from Myanmar considering the cheap prices there. Besides, it will be
possible to import the item within a short time,” Qamrul told parliament while
responding to a supplementary question of lawmaker Nazmul Haque Prodhan. Nazmul
said the food minister recently visited Myanmar to import rice from there at a
time when Bangladesh was experiencing a serious crisis due to the Rohingya
influx to the country. “Does the minister get special discounts?” he asked. In
his reply, the minister said trade and diplomatic efforts would go side by side
with Myanmar.
"I went to Myanmar to buy rice
from there following the prime minister's permission. The PM said diplomatic
efforts will continue to resolve the Rohingya issue. But our trade with Myanmar
will also continue,” Qamrul said.
Highlighting the facilities of importing rice from Myanmar, he said it
would take only three days to import the rice from the country. "We can
buy the rice at a cheaper rate in comparison with Thailand and Vietnam. It
takes 15 to 20 days to import rice from Thailand and Vietnam. We are buying
rice from Myanmar as we will be able to import quickly,” he said. The food
minister added that the government signed an agreement with Myanmar to import 3
lakh tonnes of rice. "We will get 1.20 lakh tonnes of rice in the first
phase." Answering another question, the minister said the price of rice
remains stable at present. “The rice price remains within the purchasing
capacity of the people."
Author Name:
http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/rice-imports-myanmar-will-be-cheap-1460488
MP
govt and APEDA in Basmati rice geographical indication registry row
12:00 AM, September 11, 2017 /
LAST MODIFIED: 12:00 AM, September 11, 2017
The
geographical indication (GI) registry over Basmati rice has sparked a row
between the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority (APEDA) and the Madhya Pradesh government, following the latter’s
application for the GI registry of the central Indian state for Basmati rice
production. B M Sahare, additional
director, ministry of agriculture, government of Madhya Pradesh, said,
“Thirteen or fourteen districts of the state are currently producing Basmati
rice.”
“There is
a formidable basis for our application, and even the GI Registry, which is
based in Chennai, has recognised our claim. But this was challenged in the
court, and the matter is now sub judice,” he added. Sahare stated that the
state government applied for GI Registry after conducting several of the
mandatory tests at accredited laboratories to prove the claim. However, a senior official dealing with the
issue stated that APEDA’s position was open and clear. Only seven states are a
part of the GI registry for Basmati Rice, and the authority will oppose any
move to include any other state for it. APEDA also fears that this will open a
Pandora’s box, and Pakistan and China can also claim the GI tag for Basmati
rice.
Currently, eleven districts in Pakistan, under
a treaty with India, enjoy GI registry for Basmati rice. India, meanwhile, has a 85 per cent share in
the global basmati rice trade. It exported basmati rice worth Rs 21,604 crore
in 2016-17. In a previous statement, the ministry of commerce and industries
reported in Parliament that the National Agricultural Research System, under
the ministry of agriculture and cooperation has recognised only the states of
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, the western part of
Uttar Pradesh and two districts of Jammu and Kashmir (namely, Jammu and Kathua)
as the traditional geographical indication for Basmati rice cultivation.
This means that the basmati rice produced in
these regions are considered an intellectual property and will be acknowledged
as Basmati rice, while the Basmati rice produced in other places will not be
considered Basmati rice, as APEDA does not consider areas other than those with
the GI tag for Basmati rice production.
http://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/mp-govt-and-apeda-in-basmati-rice-geographical-indication-registry-row-41107
Add zinc-enriched rice in safety net
schemes: HarvestPlus
Howarth E Bouis, founding director
of HarvestPlus, speaks at a press briefing at its Bangladesh office in Dhaka
yesterday. HarvestPlus
HarvestPlus Founding
Director and Ambassador-at-Large Howarth E Bouis, also spoke. Bouis will leave
Dhaka tomorrow after completing his four-day visit.
In Bangladesh, 44 percent
of children below five years of age and 57 percent of women suffer from various
complications for zinc deficiency, according to HarvestPlus.
The organisation said every one kilogram of biofortified rice has up to 24
milligram of zinc which can fulfil up to 70 percent of daily zinc requirement
of a person.HarvestPlus said regular consumption of zinc enriched food can
prevent stunting, increase appetite, and helps in physical growth and brain
development.
Zinc is very essential
for adolescent girls and pregnant women while children require 3-5 milligram of
zinc and women need 8-9 milligram daily, HarvestPlus said, adding that zinc
prevents risk of disease.
The non-governmental
organisation in collaboration with Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI)
and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) developed the world's first
biofortified zinc rice variety in 2013.So far, BRRI has released four
zinc-enriched rice varieties -- BRRI Dhan-62 and BRRI Dhan-72 for the aman
season and BRRI Dhan-64 and BRRI Dhan-74 for the boro season.
A hybrid zinc-enriched
variety, BU Aromatic Rice 1, has also been released by Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University with support from HarvestPlus, the NGO
said.HarvestPlus said to have distributed 908 tonnes of seed of zinc rice
varieties to 498,400 farming households in over 350 upazilas of 62 districts.
Bashar said biofortification
is done through conventional breeding processes and addressing micronutrient
deficiency in this manner is sustainable and cheaper.“Taste of the rice of the
zinc-enriched varieties is also good,” he said.With the progress in
biofortification and cultivation, he said mainstreaming biofortification in
crop development, seed multiplication and delivery of staple food has become
important.
He said the government
should have a policy for biofortification in agricultural and nutrition related
strategies and initiatives.
Bangladesh is one of the
countries where most of the population suffer from micronutrient deficiency,
said Bouis, who is also a World Food Prize laureate.HarvestPlus said it aims to
further develop and widely disseminate high-yielding, comparatively disease and
pest tolerant biofortified rice varieties in Bangladesh.
In the next five years,
HarvestPlus targets to mainstream biofortification in agricultural research,
extension and involve private sector actors for a sustainable value chain
establishment for all biofortified crops, the organisation said.
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