RICE is the second major crop in
the country whose contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) stands at
0.6 per cent and 3pc in the agricultural value-added sector.
Since rice is not a staple food in
the country, a large quantity of the produce is exported, fetching around $2
billion foreign exchange each year.
Still, the commodity fails to
appear on policymakers’ priority list, at least in Punjab which produces 97pc
of the fine aromatic rice.
Rice growers generally complain of
high fertiliser prices, shortage of canal water, high price of farm inputs,
high rent charges of agricultural machinery, and a lack of consultancy
facilities and finance during the crop production stage.
Moreover, they also say that
research institutes have failed to develop new varieties of basmati having
better yield and resistance against pest attacks and climate change.
Rice growers are sowing the same
super kernel basmati variety for the last over two and a half decades. But the
seed is now losing its productivity and attracting more pest attacks, says
Chaudhry Nisar Ahmad, the central president of Kissan Board Pakistan.
He says there is a need to
introduce new hybrid varieties that could yield more and perform better in case
of pest attacks. This, he believes, will help growers earn more and bring down
the production cost of rice. However, he doesn’t think a new variety could be
developed in the near future.
Stakeholders
say the government is ready to spend huge sums on compensations or reliefs but
is not developing new seed varieties that may help farmers stand on their own
feet
His pessimism is not that misplaced
as policymakers in the province have allocated a meagre amount in the latest
budget for the purpose.
Budget documents say that a sum of
Rs8.74 million has been allocated for the provision of laboratory and field
equipment to the staff of the Rice Research Institute in Kala Shah Kaku for
developing hybrid basmati rice that is resistant to bacterial leaf blight
disease as well as flood and salinity.
The project, with a total estimated
cost of over Rs44m, was approved in 2015 and was allocated Rs8.84m that year
and Rs12.86m in 2016. The completion of the project or provision of the
equipment will take at least two more years as budget documents show its
throw-forward beyond June 2019 to the tune of Rs5.66m.
Interestingly, the federal
government allocated a sum of Rs20bn in the year 2016-17 as cash support for
rice growers at a rate of Rs5,000 per acre to help them come out of the
financial crunch caused by falling global prices.
Pakistan Kissan Ittehad President
Khalid Mahmood Khokhar regrets that the government is ready to spend huge sums
of money on compensations or reliefs but is not ready to allocated sufficient
funds for research work to develop new seed varieties that may increase farm yields
and ensure a better return to the growers so that they may not look towards the
government for support.
Some private parties are now trying
to fill the void. A rice exporting firm, which also runs its own farms, claims
it will provide a new basmati seed for the next crop (in 2018).
Shahzad Ahmad Malik, CEO of the
Guard Agricultural Research Services, says the firm will first introduce the
open pollen variety while in the 2019 season it will also provide hybrid
variety of the rice.
He claims that the new varieties
will be capable of yielding 3,200kg per acre while the length of its grain will
be 8mm plus, which is in highest demand in the international market.
India, the main competitor of
Pakistani basmati rice on the world market, has already developed 8mm-long rice
grain variety.
“Currently, we are finalising
formalities for the registration of the new seed with the Pakistan Agriculture
Research Council,” he adds.
An official of the agriculture
department acknowledges that the government is performing poorly in providing
growers with seeds of various crops.
He says the government is meeting
30pc of the seed needs and a similar contribution is made by the private
sector, while the rest is taken care of by the growers themselves who save seed
from the previous crop for use in the next season.
“But the absence of an effective
quality monitoring system is causing a new problem, i.e. a lack of uniformity
as the seed is not coming into the market from a single source,” he adds
varieties
https://www.dawn.com/news/1350113/rice-growers-pessimistic-about-new-
Rice deal with
Dhaka in the offing
7 Aug 2017
Thailand is seeking to strengthen its trade relations
with Bangladesh in the hope of exporting more rice to the South Asian country,
according to Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn.
She said delegates will be in Dhaka on Aug 9-10 for the 4th
Thailand-Bangladesh Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting. They are due to meet
Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tofial Ahmed, who is expected to raise several
trade cooperation issues."The discussion will be a good opportunity to upgrade our ties and could lead to a free-trade agreement (FTA) in the near future," said Ms Apiradi.
Bangladesh is expected to discuss a proposal to buy Thai rice, and could ask to enter a long-term contract. Bangladesh was among Asian countries that approached Thailand to buy rice recently, after their food crops were damaged by bad weather over the past few years.
It offered to buy around 200,000 tonnes of parboiled-grade Thai white rice for prompt shipment to serve strong demand at home. However, the deal has not yet be sealed since the countries are still discussing the price and delivery period.
In the short-term the countries are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice purchasing, covering a certain amount of rice that Bangladesh would buy from Thailand each year to secure its food security in the long run.
Other issues expected to be discussed concern further investment and cooperation covering agriculture, food-processing, fishery, construction, energy and tourism.
With a population of 160 million, Bangladesh has had annual gross domestic production (GDP) averaging 6% a year over the past 10 years.
It is Thailand's third-biggest trade partner among South Asian countries after India and Pakistan, with annual two-way trade with Thailand worth US$1 billion (33 billion baht) last year, up 10.4% from the previous year.
Thai exports to Bangladesh were worth around $940 million. Major exporting items are plastic pellets, chemical products, cement, textile, steel, tapioca products and cosmetics.
Thailand, meanwhile, imported from Bangladesh covered garments, fertiliser and livestock.
Bangladesh is not only a potential trade partner, but due to its sharing a boundary with India, is also seen as the gateway to the Middle East and African countries.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1301479/rice-deal-with-dhaka-in-the-offing
No comments:
Post a Comment