Rice Bran Oil and
Economic Diplomacy in South Asia
Posted by Saleem Ali of University
of Delaware (USA) and University of Queensland (Australia) in Explorers Journal on March
5, 2017
A view of part of the rice bran oil plant that has recently
started production outside Lahore, Pakistan with technological cooperation from
India. Photo by Saleem H. Ali
For most households across South Asia, rice is life. It is the
stable source of carbohydrates for the more than 1.7 billion citizens of the region who consume it morning, noon
and night; and a vital source of income for the 50 million or so farmers who
cultivate it across
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, the rice plant has now more to offer
than just the grain. Across super markets worldwide, a new product is showing
up rather unobtrusively called “rice bran oil” (RBO). For the healthy shopper,
the labeling on the product will usually reveal its health benefits in terms high omega fatty acids which
promote cardiovascular stability. The origins of this new product
can be traced back to Asia as well but not any particular traditional diet but
to a salubrious confluence of resource economics and chemical
engineering. The diminutive rice grain has multiple layers. The outer
layer is referred to as the hull and is often discarded for animal feed. There
is also an inner layer of bran, which is only 8% of the weight of the
grain capsule but contains over 75% of the oil content. Over
the past three decades, Indian and Chinese scientists have developed complex
chemical engineering processes to extract this oil in edible form.
India can claim ascendancy in
developing rice bran oil as a commercially viable alternative to other high
temperature oils from soybeans, cottonseeds and peanuts. The country is now the world’s
largest producer and the Indian rice bran oil market size was valued over $600
million in 2014. This market is likely to continue growth as
the country has 1.4 million tons of RBO production potential of which only around
900 kilotons is currently produced. In 2015, Government of
India lifted ban on RBO exports, thus opening the way for major international
competition for world markets.
Regionalizing Rice Bran
Technology: The Power of Entrepreneurship
The rice bran industry in India
has added considerable value to the most ubiquitous of agricultural products
but the other major rice producer of South Asia – Pakistan (the world’s fourth
largest producer of rice) – has not been a beneficiary of this new growth
opportunity. Enter, Abid Butt, a self-made serial entrepreneur from Karachi and a World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader.” When Abid saw the rise of RBO products
on his grocery store shelves, he saw an opportunity for growth in this sector
for Pakistan. Moving from his usual comfort zone of logistics supply chain
commerce, he took the plunge in developing Pakistan’s first rice bran oil
extraction plant.
Soon, Abid was on a steep
learning curve in complex solvent extraction technologies and industrial
catalysts that are needed to extract the precious oil from the thin layer of
rice bran that coats the kernel of the grain. The complexity of the process was
daunting but the nearest supplier of the equipment was of course in neighboring
India. The only challenge was that the lack of trust between India and Pakistan
at the political level made technology transfer between the two countries
highly contentious. Yet, Abid was not deterred by the saber-rattling that
warrior hawks from both countries frequently display. He managed to work
through a business visa process to get Indian engineers to Lahore over a period
of several months to literally build the RBO plant in Pakistan on a fair contract
for the Indian suppliers.
Earlier this year, I had a chance to visit the facility an
hour’s drive from Lahore, near Muridke, which is in the heart of northern
Punjab’s rice growing district. The facility stands as a beacon of hope for
economic diplomacy between these two acrimonious nuclear powers. If
commercializable chemical engineering technology can be shared and developed
between the two countries, there are clearly many other opportunities for
knowledge-sharing that can bring mutual benefit. All we need is a willingness
to see creative synergies of cooperation rather than constant fear-mongering of
competition and discord.
Agricultural and environmental research, more broadly for
ecosystem conservation, is another win-win area for cooperation between both
countries, since both countries share watersheds, airsheds and cannot avoid
transboundary pollution no matter how many fences and missiles they may build.
Indeed, even within the context of the rice bran oil plant, there are
opportunities for collaborative research on some potential pitfalls, that can
be faced by such technologies.
Managing Health and
Environment Concerns through Cooperative Research
Despite its demonstrable health benefits as a
heart-healthy oil, there have been some concerns raised about the bioaccumulation of arsenic
in the rice bran which deserves greater attention and monitoring. In addition rice grains are susceptible to attack by fungi that can produce
the potent aflatoxin and
need to be monitored for its presence. Polyarmomatic hydrocarbon
solvents used in the extraction of the oil also need careful management and monitoring.
These are all areas where research cooperation between rice bran producers
could be mutually beneficial for planetary health and consumer safety assurance
of the product itself.
The Pakistani plant is also
aspiring to follow industrial
ecology principles by
using rice husk and other waste materials to generate energy. There is also potential to use
the RBO for biodiesel production, which would potentially add
another product stream that has more environmental and health value. Growth in
sun-protection cosmetics is also likely to favor RBO market growth over the
forecast period. The Oryzol component in RBO
protects against the UV light and can be used as sunscreen
agent. Here too research collaboration can be helpful in expanding the market
for this product. The RBO market is still in its infancy stage, globally, but
particularly in Pakistan and much remains to be seen about its ultimate
success.
Yet despite these cautionary elements, RBO is an example of an
innovative value-added product which has the potential for augmenting
livelihoods for millions of rice farmers and producers in South Asia.
Technological cooperation and coordination of environmental health and safety
research has much potential for furthering gains in this area for even the most
acrimonious of national players in the region!
Iran may soon permit rice imports from India
Publish Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 18:45:33 GMT
Service: Iran
Iran may soon
issue permission for importing rice from India, India's Commerce Ministry said
in a statement.
The ministry said the move come
following a visit to Iran by a 20-member trade delegation led by chairman of
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
from January 28-30, menafn.com reported.
The delegation met officials from
various departments in the government of Iran including Food and Drug
Organization, Governmental Trading Corporation and Trade Promotion
Organization.
Meetings were also held with Iran
Chamber of Commerce and Rice Importers Association.
The deliberations helped to dispel
the negative publicity which appeared in a section of the media in Iran causing
doubts about the health and safety of rice from India.
The main purpose of the visit was
to promote the export of rice since Iran is one of the largest importers of
Basmati rice from India.
To supplement domestic production
of about two million tons, Iran imports about one million tons of rice each
year out of which about 700,000 tons are exported from India.
‘Tariffs from rice imports to help farmers cut cost, boost
income’
MARCH 5, 2017
By Cai U. Ordinario & Jovee Marie
N. dela Cruz
The Duterte administration vowed
to allocate all the tariffs collected from rice imports for programs aimed at
helping farmers cut production cost, according to the Philippine Development
Plan (PDP) 2017-2022.
The country’s economic blueprint
said the amendment of the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, or Republic
Act (RA) 8178, is included on the priority legislative agenda of the Duterte
administration.
“Replace quantitative
restrictions [QR] on rice with tariffs. The tariff proceeds from rice imports
will be plowed back to the rice sector,” the PDP read.
While the PDP is cognizant of the
adverse impact of the scrapping of the rice QR on small farmers, the government
said the tariff collected from imports will be used to help them recoup their
losses.
The Duterte administration said
it has decided to allow the QR on rice to expire because of its potential
impact on rice prices nationwide.
Rice, the government noted,
accounts for 30.6 percent of the total food expenditure of the poorest 20
percent of households based on the 2012 Family Income and Expenditure Survey
(FIES).It can help lower the price of rice, and this will benefit the general
public, including farmers who are net consumers of rice,” the PDP stated.
Philippine Institute for
Development Study (PIDS) senior research fellow Roehlano M. Briones said in a
recent forum that the government’s rice self-sufficiency policy was responsible
for increasing rice prices.
The rice self-sufficiency policy
was supported by the granting of a second extension of the QR on rice in 2012.
Briones recommended repealing RA
8178, which exempted rice from tarrification; repealing the National Food
Authority’s (NFA) import monopoly; and opening rice importation to the private
sector.
The PIDS senior research fellow
also underscored the important role of the Executive branch in defining an
“informed tariff policy”.
In the first semester of 2014,
poverty incidence rate rose to 25.8 percent. Former Socioeconomic Planning
Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan blamed this on the retention of the QR on rice.
Rice prices posted a double-digit
growth of 11.9 percent in the first semester of 2014, from only 1.7 percent in
the same period in 2013, on the back of a tight supply given lean harvests,
coupled with less imports.
Amending RA 8178
Leaders of the House of
Representatives have filed two separate bills seeking to place safety nets for
Filipino rice producers by imposing tariffs in lieu of QR on rice imports and
to amend RA 8178.
House Bill (HB) 5023, filed by
Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga, and HB 4904, filed by House
Committee on Economic Affairs Chairman Arthur C. Yap of Bohol, called for using
tariff collections from rice imports for projects and programs that would
enhance rice productivity and increase farmers’ incomes.
Arroyo said her proposed Rice
Safety Net Act of 2017 seeks to abolish the sole power of the NFA to import
rice.
She said the proposed legislation
adopts the use of tariffs in lieu of nontariff-import restrictions to protect
local paddy producers in “a direct and transparent manner” and, at the same
time, generate revenues required to provide the infrastructure and finance the
programs that improve farmers’ productivity.
Revenues will go to a Rice
Farmers Development Fund to provide the necessary support services, such
as irrigation, farm-to-market roads, postharvest equipment and
facilities, credit, research and development, extension services, other market
infrastructure and market information.
The bill seeks to repeal Sections
5 and 6 of Presidential Decree 4 (National Grains Authority Act of 1972), as
amended by RA 8178.
Arroyo’s bill seeks to establish
rules and regulations governing the importation of rice and to impose and
collect fees and charges to ensure that imports won’t affect the price of
locally produced rice.
In lieu of QR restriction, the
measures indicated the tariff rate of 100 percent will be imposed on rice
imports beginning January 1, 2018, to provide protection for producers.
It added that any subsequent
reduction of the tariff rate should be based on the implementation of a
comprehensive Rice Farmers Development Program to improve the sector’s
competitiveness.
Yap’s bill is proposing to impose
a tariff rate of 100 percent on rice imports for a period of three years.
Under HB 4904, the NFA may be
authorized to import rice tariff-free upon recommendation of the NFA council
and the Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary, and the approval of the
President.
“In the event that the NFA
imports rice at zero tariff, half of the net income earned from the said
importation shall be used to augment the Rice Industry Development Fund. For
this purpose, the NFA must have a separate accounting for its tariff-free rice
imports,” the bill read. Yap said the Rice Industry Development Fund should be
established and used to support the implementation of the Rice Industry
Competitive Enhancement Program of the government.
Upon the enactment of the bill,
the DA, together with relevant agencies would be given a maximum of 180 days to
finalize the rice road map to restructure the government’s delivery of support
services for the sector.
As part of this road map, Yap
said a five-year rice program will be implemented to provide alternative
livelihood for those who will be affected by the shift in the import policy
NFA Council clarifies
rice import schedule
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 12:02 AM March 06, 2017
The Duterte
administration’s way of dishing out contradicting information showed yet again,
this time through National Food Authority’s governing body, which makes crucial
decisions that help ensure stable food supply.
In a
statement issued through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the NFA Council
clarified that all milled rice imports procured through the private sector
should arrive in the Philippines by March 31, a month later than the original
deadline.
While the
NFA imports rice through government-to-government transactions, private
importers are also allowed to do so by way of the minimum access volume (MAV)
mechanism of the World Trade Organization.
ADVERTISEMENT
The council
had to make the clarification on the deadline after the NFA itself announced
last Friday that the deadline remained set at Feb. 28.
The Cabinet
Secretary sits as chair of the NFA Council, while the NFA administrator serves
as vice chair. The BSP Governor is a member of the council, along with the
secretaries of finance, trade and economic planning, as well as the chair of
Development Bank of the Philippines, president of Land Bank of the Philippines
and a representative of farmers.
The
guidelines for this latest batch of imports done through the MAV was spelled
out in NFA Council Resolution No. 825-2016-F, dated June 15, 2016.
“One of the
provisions of [the resolution] gives discretionary power to the NFA
administrator to approve individual requests for extension [of] the arrival of
the rice importation,” the council’s statement said.
“This is a
specific power delegated to the NFA administrator by the NFA Council for
efficiency purposes but in no way to be interpreted to mean that the NFA
Council stripped itself of its power to amend the 2016 MAV guidelines,” the
council added.
Last Friday,
NFA administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino —who assumed office last
January—said in a statement that there was no change in the deadline.
“There’s no
need to extend the deadline because there were others, including farmer
cooperatives, that participated in the MAV and have complied with the deadline,”
Aquino said.
“If these
co-ops (cooperatives) can do it, why can’t the others?” he said, referring to
farmers cooperative that import milled rice through the MAV.
Aquino said
imports should arrive early so as not to dampen prices of home-grown grains,
considering that local harvest season starts this month.
Before this,
in a memo signed Feb. 10, Aquino said the deadline for arrival of shipments was
moved to March 31, but for supplies coming from India and Pakistan only.
In another
memo dated Feb. 20, Aquino invoked the 2016 MAV guidelines to say that the
deadline was set on Feb. 28.
According to
the NFA, a total of 211 farmer cooperatives and private businessmen applied for
the importation of a combined 692,340 metric tons of rice through the MAV.
For this batch
of imports, supplies coming from Vietnam, Thailand, India and Pakistan were
given quota allocations.
NFA data
show that 433,699.35 tons or 63 percent of the approved MAV volume have arrived
as of Feb. 27
Customs command burns
expired rice, gadgets, other
Mar 4 2017 - 12:16am
Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, Customs
boss
The Kano/Jigawa Customs Area
Command on Friday in Kano destroyed expired items worth millions of Naira. This is contained in a statement signed
by the Commands Public Relations officer, Mr Danbaba Isah and made available to
newsmen in Kano.According to the statement, the burnt items include expired
foreign rice, computer scraps and expired bubble gum.Others were harmful and expired drugs including Dizapam,
Heragra, Tranadol tablets and 250 cartons of expired liquid Indo food.
According to the statement, the
Command’s Area Controller, Mr Abutu Onaja led in the destruction of the expired
items which took place in the premises of the command’s warehouse.
“The destruction of the expired
materials was approved and directed by the Comptroller General of Customes,
Retired Col Hameed Ali.
“The exercise was witnessed by
relevant government agencies operating in Kano state,” he said
Under the Radar: Sri Lanka's drought threatens
credit downgrade
Sri Lanka’s ongoing drought is not only a
humanitarian crisis, but also an economic one, as the country’s economy suffers
on multiple fronts. 
Sri
Lanka has been experiencing rainfall shortages since last October, resulting in
the worst drought in 40 years. With the country’s economy under severe stress,
there is little relief in sight until the June / July monsoon season. Some
districts have seen a 60-70% reduction in rainfall, resulting in widespread land
degradation. This has led to the lowest amount of cultivated acreage in 30
years, with the World Food Program noting that only 35% of the country’s rice
paddies had been cultivated by November 2016.
Concerns over food production are common during
droughts, yet the situation in Sri Lanka highlights the convergence of multiple
risk factors. The lack of rain has not only damaged rain-dependent crops, but
has also led to a shortage of irrigation water necessary for the country’s
water-intensive staple crop – rice. Agriculture accounts for 9% of Sri Lankan
GDP and employs 28% of the country’s workforce. In response to the drought, the
government announced the implementation of relief payments to the approximately
900,000 people affected by the drought.
Specifically,
the government will provide Rs. 10,000 ($66) for every acre of blighted land
per family per month for four months. With around half of national rice paddy
acreage affected (1.5 million acres), the cost of this
effort will account for between 0.1 and 0.2% of GDP; this does not include
relief efforts for other crops.
Entire agricultural supply chain in turmoil
The agriculture sector is not expected to make
a full recovery in 2017, even if sufficient rain falls during the rest of the
year. In order to combat food shortages, the government has accepted food and
water aid from India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand as well as increased
food imports. To encourage imports Sri Lanka has cut import taxes on rice from
15 to 5 rupees per kilo. While this may aid imports, the measure also adds
additional fiscal pressure on a government whose foreign reserves are
dwindling.
Another
issue are the government price controls on rice which, while fixing prices
between Rs 70 and Rs 80 per kilo of various types of rice, risks unrest. The
government is attempting to prevent inflation and price-gouging from further
exasperating the food crisis, but not everyone is happy. While the move
benefits (especially low income) citizens, rice millers are complaining about
losses. Having purchased rice at higher wholesale prices prior to pricing
limits, millers are now being forced to sell at a loss. On February 13th, some
120 leading millers refused to sell at government prices, calling for between Rs 80
to Rs 90 per kilo, and demanding to meet with President Maithripala Sirisena.
On February 21st, Sri Lanka’s price control
agency conducted cross-country raids on 52 stores, arresting the owners for
selling rice above government prices. Unlike small business owners, major
millers have significant political clout, with one of the largest being Dudley
Sirisena, the president’s brother. The government must walk a careful line in
order to ensure cooperation from millers and protect food security. President
Sirisena finds himself in a difficult position, especially since he championed
his outsider status during the 2015 elections to win the presidency; touting
his hardworking attitude, degree in agriculture and origin from Sri Lanka’s
north-central rice bowl. If the populace thinks Sirisena is not doing enough to
combat the drought, or is bending to pressure from business, the likelihood of
unrest will increase.
More than food production affected
Concerns about the balance between business and
public interest goes beyond rice milling, with MP Douglas Devananda warning
against plans to relocate Coca Cola’s largest South Asian plant from India to
Sri Lanka. Devananda has cited water-related complaints against Coca Cola’s 57
Indian bottling operations, including the fact that the company has been banned
from drawing from the Thamirabaran river.
“With
such [drought] conditions prevailing in Sri Lanka, Coca Cola wants to use our
water resources to meet the demands of their largest consumer market in the
region: India. How can this be allowed?” Devananda complained in
parliament on February 24th.
The
drought has also led to an energy crisis in Sri Lanka, as reservoirs are only
at 29% capacity. As a result hydro-electricity generating rates are only 30% of
installed capacity, a major problem for a country that relies on hydro-power
for around 40% of total production. This forced state-owned utilities to
purchase $50 million worth of electricity from the private sector in January
and increase fuel imports: oil imports doubled in
January alone. Increased fuel imports have further widened the trade deficit
which has grown to $957 million (December 2016) up from $827 million in 2015.
This is yet another financial drain on Sri Lanka and contributes to the rupee’s
continuing devaluation. The rupee has already lost 1% in 2017, following a 3.9%
drop in 2016 and 10% fall in 2015.
The rupee’s devaluation combined with increased
imports and other drought effects saw consumer price inflation hit a record
high of 6.8% in February compared to the same period in 2016. Dwindling foreign
reserves threaten balance-of-payments pressure from foreign outflows at a time
when Sri Lanka is negotiating up to $2.5 billion in foreign financing.
Drought threatens Sri Lanka’s IMF loan goals
Overall the effects of the drought have already
lowered the 2017 GDP growth forecast from 6% to 5%. Direct government actions
against the drought could cost $264 million, with state minister for finance
Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena stating that the government may need around $1.5
billion for drought contingencies. By way of comparison the entire national
budget for 2016 was $5.5 billion. The effects of the drought have derailed Sri
Lanka’s efforts to tackle systemic overspending, with the government projecting
a 17% increase in spending, versus a 0.6% increase in 2016.
With a budget deficit of 7.4% of GDP in 2015,
Sri Lanka was already facing serious fiscal headwinds, as the country’s
inability to rein in government spending undermines its financial stability. As
a result the drought is hampering Sri Lanka’s efforts to reduce the budget
deficit to 4.6% – a key goal of the country’s $1.5 billion IMF loan. With
fiscal deficit calculated at 5.2% for 2017, Sri Lanka faces a credit downgrade
if it fails to meet its loan conditions.
In
response, finance minister Ravi Karunanayake countered that “we
have drafted the budget factoring in these uncertainties […] The budget deficit
doesn’t need to swell up just because of one abnormal condition.” The minister
went on state he expects 6% growth despite the drought and that the government
is not considering a waiver on the IMF’s deficit target. International
observers are less optimistic, with Moody’s warning of the “negative credit
effect of the drought” and assigning Sri Lanka a B1 credit rating with negative
outlook.
Under the Radar uncovers
political risk events around the world overlooked by mainstream media. By
detecting hidden risks, we keep you ahead of the pack and ready for new
opportunities.
Extra rice, please!
March 05, 2017 By JINGGOY I. SALVADOR DAVAO.
Tweaking the rice recipes for
Davao, Sous Chef Bang Flores with one of her rice dishes. (Contributed Photo)
THIS is the time to forget the no-carb diet. Or you can try, but resistance
will be futile. Misto at Seda Abreeza’s March food promotion will be the
Achilles’ heel of your strict diet. The International Rice Bowls made a
successful run in Seda BGC, but for Davao, Chef Bang Flores and her culinary
team will tweak the recipes to make it their own.
Misto’s six reasons to cheat the
diet are Hong Kong XO Fried Rice with Scallops and Asparagus, Saffron and
Pimiento Basmati Rice (Spanish-Indian fusion), Brown Rice Stir-fry Vegetables,
Creole Shrimp Rice (South American-inspired), Thai Spicy Basil Chicken Fried
Rice, and Smoked Fish, Salted Egg Fried Rice. The danger lies on the style of
serving—buffet style! This just means you can have your fill of all six rice
bowl varieties and as much as you can take. Though each of the bowls is a meal
in itself, all-time Pinoy favorites will be served alongside the stars as the
perfect match. Start with the Mixed Salad with Malagos Blue Pepato Cheese,
Glazed Pili Nuts, Calamansi-Honey Vinaigrette, or skip it and scoop the rice
offerings and servings of seafoods like the grilled squid, shrimp, tuna belly,
and the Baked Tahong in ala Pobre Sauce. Go for a second serving with the
boneless lechon this time or perhaps the Chicken BBQ Pinoy Style. Repeat if
necessary.
No one around you will judge your
appetite for the good food because everybody is on the same boat, so to speak.
To end the meal, there are the classic Filipino desserts to sugar coat your
palate, head to the Halo-halo station. I call this dessert the great Pinoy
chiller- perfect summer cooler and one fine saccharine fix. Make room for the
Coffee Leche Flan, Mango Sansrival, Almond Roca Chocolate Finger, Ube Crinkles
and Ube Cheesecake as well. Consider Friday as your official cheat day this
March and April.
Workout those muscles and burn the
calories five days a week and work out your appetite Friday night buffet at
Misto. (P980 net) If you want to hold off on the temptation, Misto will gladly
have you pick on the set menus (P1,680 net, good for four, and P980 net, good
for two), and ala carte menu (P580 net) for lunch and dinner. Bon apetit! (The
promotion is made as part of the “Flavors of the Philippines” project initiated
by Department of Tourism and Tourism Promotions Board.) Email me at
jinggoysalvador@yahoo.com. For more lifestyle & travel stories, visit
www.ofapplesandlemons.com & www.jeepneyjinggoy.com
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/lifestyle/2017/03/06/extra-rice-please-529282
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/lifestyle/2017/03/06/extra-rice-please-529282
Dry Zone farmers struggle to switch to new
rice varieties
04/03/2017
An aerial view of paddy fields in
a town in central Myanmar. (Photo Credit: Myanmar Now)
By Htet Khaung Linn / Myanmar
Now
BYINKAT VILLAGE, Mandalay
Region - Kyaw Win is one of the millions of farmers who have long struggled to
make ends meet in the harsh environment of central Myanmar’s Dry Zone.
But last year he began
cultivating high-quality rice seeds at his farm in Byinkat Village and closely
followed the growing instructions for the drought-resistant variety, which was
supplied by international NGO AVSI.
Since then, his harvest has
significantly increased. “I can now produce 100 paddy baskets per acre by using
the methods of AVIS. Some farmers have imitated me and asked about my farming
practices,” Kyaw Win said, adding that his harvest had increased with about 40
percent.
In the Dry Zone, some 10 million farmers rely on rainy season rice, oil seeds and pulses. Many
languish in poverty and debt, and a lack of enough food is common. The region’s
drought is compounded by the poor quality groundwater and by climate change,
which has caused increasingly erratic rainfall in the past decade.
The introduction of more
productive and resilient rice seeds, government officials and aid workers said,
is a key strategy for helping the vulnerable communities.
“Climatic change in the Dry
Zone is affecting the incomes of farmers through unseasonal rainfall or
drought,” said Aung Soe Win, project manager of AVIS in Yamethin Township,
Mandalay Region.
INTRODUCING NEW SEEDS
His organisation has been
freely supplying four villages in the area with 13 varieties of high-quality
paddy seeds since 2014. Aung Soe Win said AVIS teaches farmers how to grow the
paddy and it provides them with farming machinery, while collecting feedback
from farmers on which varieties perform best.
AVIS is working together with
the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), a poverty reduction donor
fund supported by 12 governments, and the International Rice Research
Institute, which has developed rice seeds that are more resistant to drought
and the saline groundwater found in the area.
LIFT’s Dry Zone Programme brings
together nine NGOs and UN agencies to improve livelihoods, food security and
child nutrition among vulnerable families.
The AVSI project supports the
wider efforts of the Agricultural Department to promote the use and proper
cultivation of more productive rice seeds.
Kyaw Myin Zaw, an officer at
Mandalay Region’s Agricultural Department, said it provides 90,000 baskets of
high-quality paddy seeds each year to farmers at subsidised prices, which is
enough to plant some 1.3 million hectares of paddy.
The department grows the seeds
at specific farms and sends some of its surplus seeds to Magwe and Sagaing, two
other Dry Zone regions, he added.
PRACTICAL CHALLENGES
Thet Naing Win, an officer at
Yamethin Township’s Agriculture Department, said, however, that his department
was too short-staffed to help farmers switch to better seeds and to teach them
how to properly grow such varieties.
“We have 16 staff members to
reach farmers from 64 village tracts. This means that each staffer is working
in nearly 30 villages in six village tracts,” he said. “We need more staff
members and other facilities to work effectively in each village.”
Aung Soe Win, of AVSI, said
improving farm methods to ensure new varieties thrive is a major challenge not
only because of a lack government resources, but also because farmers are not
always committed to innovation.
“If more farmers would be
careful about growing methods and techniques they would produce more rice, but
many farmers don’t care enough,” he said.
Kyaw Naing Oo, secretary of
the Agriculture and Livestock Committee at Mandalay Region parliament, said
poor farmers often also fail to properly store high-quality seeds from their
harvest so they can plant them again next season.
“Farmers sell off all paddy
after the harvest as they need money, so they cannot keep the seeds for next
crop,” he said, adding that farmers need financial support, as well education,
to raise production.
“The government should conduct
more education campaigns so farmers understand how to grow high-quality paddy
through model farming,” said Kyaw Naing Oo, a National League for Democracy
(NLD) MP from Singu Township.
Myint Swe, another Mandalay
Region NLD MP, said government agencies had long failed to connect with farmers
and supply them with the right seeds and knowledge.
Tint Wai Tun, a marketing
manager at a private fertiliser company, said farmers were now increasingly
turning to chemical fertilisers rather than high-quality seeds to increase
production. “But poor quality seeds will generate only lower quantity harvest,”
he said.
(Edited by Paul Vrieze)
NFA’s rice importation order deplored as ‘biased’
Published March 4,
2017, 10:01 PM
By Chito A. Chavez
President Duterte was asked by a
group of farmer-importers to intercede in their behalf after the National Food
Authority (NFA) extended until Mar. 31, 2017 the importation of rice, but only
from India and Pakistan and not from other rice-exporting countries like
Vietnam and Thailand.
In a press briefing in Quezon
City, Edwin Paraluman, chairman of the Philippine Farmers Advisory Board
(PFAB), branded as unfair the decision of NFA Administrator Jason Aquino to bar
the importation of rice from countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.
He noted that members of his
group who are mostly lowly farmers have incurred huge losses as a result of
Aquino’s decision.
However, Paraluman remained mum
on Aquino’s decision to grant the extension of rice importation only to India
and Pakistan, citing that the administrator’s decision was a clear proof of
double standard as his group was prevented from importing rice from India and Pakistan
after February 28.
Gerry Magisa another leader of
the farmer importer group in Agusan said he already paid for including the
required tariff for his rice import from Thailand and Vietnam but the delivery
was snagged due to the NFA’s decision.
“Rice imported from Thaildand and
Vietnam cannot be delivered in the Philippines since Customs can seize it
without the March 31 rice importation extension since it will them be
considered smuggled goods.
Forest, poultry, rice pros
inducted to hall
Posted: March 5, 2017 at 1:53
a.m.
·
3
Allen Bedell of Hot Springs
Untimely deaths in the family, a
sudden illness, and a good intuition for the future of Arkansas agriculture
played roles in the lives of the five newest members of the Arkansas
Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Neely Cassady of Nashville
Gary Sebree of Stuttgart
Mark Simmons of Siloam Springs
The late Bobby R. Wells of
Fayetteville
Inducted Friday during a luncheon
at Embassy Suites in Little Rock, the five are:
• Allen Bedell of Hot Springs, a
forester.
• Neely Cassady of Nashville, a
poultry operator and former state senator.
• Gary Sebree of Stuttgart, a rice
farmer and longtime director of a rice growers' cooperative.
• Mark Simmons of Siloam Springs, a
poultry executive.
• the late Bobby R. Wells of
Fayetteville, a rice scientist.
The hall of fame now has 158
members since its establishment in 1987 to acknowledge those who have helped
make agriculture a $16-billion-a-year industry in the state.
A man among trees
Allen Bedell blushed, folded his
hands into his lap and gazed downward when a fellow member on the Arkansas
Agricultural Board noted Bedell's latest honor. Bedell wasn't as bashful in
2009 when he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry.
"For too long the timber
industry has been a stepchild in the agricultural field," Bedell said in
advocating for an industry ravaged by a slow economy.
Now retired from logging, Bedell
continues his support of the logging and forestry industries through his
membership since 2001 on the Arkansas Forestry Commission. He was its chairman
from 2008 to 2013. He also helped found the Arkansas Timber Producers
Association 25 years ago.
Bedell was an engineering major at
Louisiana State University in 1958 when he abruptly switched to forestry,
largely because of working with his grandfather, a Missouri logger, the
previous summer. "My mother said, 'Oh, son, don't do that, you're throwing
your life away,''' he said recently.
Bedell was a forester for
Georgia-Pacific Corp. in Fordyce and also owned two whole-tree chipping
operations. He also started the Log a Load for Kids program, which has raised
about $8 million for patients at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
"I guess I've gone full
circle," he said. "Logging led me to forestry, and then forestry led
me back to logging."
Bedell said he knows the three
other loggers who preceded him into the hall of fame. "To be mentioned in
the same breath as those guys is just breathtaking," he said. "I
still think they got the wrong envelope."
A poultry pioneer
Neely Cassady was serious whenever
he told people that he grew up in a chicken house, Cassady's son, Mark, said
recently.
"During the winter months, he
and an older brother really would sleep in a chicken house," stoking a
small fire to keep the chickens -- and themselves -- warm, Mark Cassady said.
The two had one blanket between them. "Whoever woke up without the blanket
would know it was time to restart the fire," Mark said.
Lankston Cassady, his father, had a
hatchery business near Nashville in Howard County, but died at 58. Neely was
just 18, but he took over the business, never attending college as he had
planned. The youngest of seven children, he was the only one to continue in the
poultry business.
He built two poultry companies that
are now part of Pilgrim Industries and Tyson Foods. He served part of southwest
Arkansas as a state senator from 1983 to 1997. He was president of the Arkansas
Poultry Federation for a year and a Tyson board member from 1974-2001.
Neely Cassady, 88, has Alzheimer's,
Mark said. "I know he's honored, but he also thinks the true recognition
belongs to his father, who really started the poultry industry in southwest
Arkansas," he said. Mark Cassady represented his father at the induction
ceremony.
An accidental farmer?
Gary Sebree's induction was largely
for his leadership of Producers Rice Mill, a farmer-owned cooperative. But
Sebree credited an early bout with tuberculosis for his success in business and
in life.
Sebree was 18 and majoring in
science at Hendrix College in 1959 when the diagnosis abruptly changed his
plans. He'd grown up on farmland near Stuttgart established by his grandfather.
"My father took over for him, and he had a couple of brothers, so it
looked like there wasn't enough farmland to go around," he said. "I
actually never intended to farm. It was a strange deal."
Going home to recuperate "gave
me a chance to do some things on the farm that I hadn't been able to do
before,'' Sebree said. After recovering, he returned to Hendrix for a short
time.
"For some reason, it just
wasn't the same," he said. "I came back home. Now I tell everybody
that getting TB was the best thing that happened to me. I have two wonderful
kids and four great-grandkids, and probably wouldn't have married the woman
that I did." He and Phyllis Sebree have been married for 54 years.
Sebree was chairman of Producers
Rice Mill for 24 years and a board member for 19 years. Owned by farmers, the
co-op's membership grew from 956 members in 1971, Sebree's first year on the
board, to 2,637 in 2013. Members' sales grew from $17 million to $568 million
during the same period. Arkansas is the nation's top rice producer.
"It's all a great honor,"
Sebree said. "I told someone the other day, it [the Hall of Fame] wasn't
really on my bucket list. I was just trying to help the industry, but I had a
lot of good people around me who helped."
Friday was a big day for Sebree. He
also turned 76. And, later that night, a friend from college, Jim Rasco, was
inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
A family business
Like Cassady, Mark C. Simmons took
over the family business after his father's long illness and death but had
enough time, over the span of several years, to learn from him.
"I took over in 1973, when he
was in the hospital," Simmons, 70, said recently. "I was 26. It was a
shock ... but I'd had several years of working closely with him. So, while I
wasn't necessarily running the company, I was highly involved and had some
experience."
He was 4 years old in 1949 when his
father moved the family of four from Nebraska to Decatur in Benton County.
"He leased a plant but quickly outgrew it, so he built a new one in Siloam
Springs that opened in 1952," Simmons said.
Simmons worked with his father
throughout high school and while attending the University of Arkansas at
Fayetteville.
As president of Simmons Foods since
1973 and chairman since 1987, he has watched his privately held company grow
from a single processing plant in Siloam Springs with about $20 million in
sales and 350 employees to $1.4 billion in sales and 6,000 employees at more
than 20 facilities across North America.
"There have been bright spots
no question about it," he said. "But the poultry industry for decades
has been extremely cyclical, where you make pretty good money one year, do OK
another year, and lose money the next. But through the years, we were able to
expand when others were contracting."
Simmons said he recently perused
previous classes of the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame and realized he
knew, or had known, some 30 percent to 40 percent of the inductees.
"While this is an honor that
is being given to me, it is really deserved by the people of Simmons who've
made our organization a great place to work. My family, my wife, our employees
-- all of them deserve this honor more than I do," he said.
A brilliant mind
The late Bobby R. Wells was only
about 5 feet 9 inches tall, but was a giant in Arkansas agriculture research,
especially in rice, said Richard Norman, a longtime colleague and friend of
Wells at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where both men taught
agronomy and soil science.
"He was a humble man and a
wonderful mentor to students and young scientists," said Norman, who
nominated Wells. "He was innovative. He wasn't one of those who, as they
get older, would say, 'oh, we've already done that, or there's no better way to
do that.' He was always pushing students to keep experimenting."
Wells died Dec. 22, 1996, at age
62, of complications from abdominal surgery.
Wells came from Kentucky to
Arkansas in 1966 to be an assistant professor at UA's rice research station in
Stuttgart. After 16 years there, he moved to Fayetteville to teach and,
eventually, became chairman of the Department of Agronomy.
Wells developed what is still
believed to be the nation's only college course in rice production, Norman
said.
After Wells moved to Fayetteville, Norman
filled the vacancy at the rice research center but was eventually brought to
Fayetteville to fill a faculty position in what is now the Department of Crop,
Soil and Environmental Sciences. Norman is a professor there.
"Filling out the [Hall of
Fame] paperwork was an honor, and it also made me miss him all over
again," Norman said.
Wells' wife, Marcia, lives in
Arizona. Their only child, Teresa, who followed her father in becoming a
scientist, died in September.
SundayMonday Business on 03/05/2017
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/mar/05/forest-poultry-rice-pros-inducted-to-ha/
NFA’s rice importation order deplored as ‘biased’
Sat 04 March 2017 05:59 GMT | 10:59 Local Time
Text
size: 
Iran may soon issue permission for importing rice
from India, India's Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the move come following a visit to Iran by a 20-member
trade delegation led by chairman of Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority (APEDA) from January 28-30, menafn.com reported,
according to Iran Daily.
The delegation met officials from various departments in the
government of Iran including Food and Drug Organization, Governmental Trading
Corporation and Trade Promotion Organization.
Meetings were also held with Iran Chamber of Commerce and Rice
Importers Association.
The deliberations helped to dispel the negative publicity which
appeared in a section of the media in Iran causing doubts about the health and
safety of rice from India.
The main purpose of the visit was to promote the export of rice
since Iran is one of the largest importers of Basmati rice from India.
To supplement domestic production of about two million tons,
Iran imports about one million tons of rice each year out of which about
700,000 tons are exported from India
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Mahindra & Mahindra
expands overseas tractors and farm machinery business
MUMBAI, MARCH 5:
Mahindra & Mahindra is
expanding the international play for its tractors and farm machinery business,
targeting to earn 50 per cent of the revenues from the overseas market in the
next two years.
The world’s top tractor maker by
volumes is also open to more acquisitions to expand its reach and product
capabilities.
“We would like to see ourselves
move from being a domestic tractor maker to a global farm machinery company
beyond tractors,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, President and Chief Executive, Farm
Equipment & Two-Wheelers.
Managing Director Pawan Goenka
said the company was looking at acquisition opportunities as a part of its
overall game plan for the business.
“If something fits like a puzzle
piece, we will go for it,” he said.
The global farm equipment market
is estimated at $156 billion of which tractors is only $60 billion.
“There is a large global
opportunity outside tractors and we would like to take advantage of it,” he
added.
Currently, tractors bring in
about 85 per cent of the sales for the business, while the rest is from farm
machinery. The company’s target is to bring down the share of tractors to 79
per cent by FY-19.
“We can’t globalise by being
everywhere. We have identified a few top markets where we would like to be
present through manufacturing or sales and distribution set up. These markets
are North and South America, China, Japan and Turkey, where we already have
on-ground presence.”
Globalisation initiative
Jejurikar said the company’s
recent acquisitions will aid its globalisation initiative. Japan’s Mitsubishi
Agriculture Machinery, with its range of rice transplanters and harvesters will
help M&M address the requirements of the global rice value chain. The
others are Finland’s Sampo Rosenlew and Turkey’s Hisarlal, with strength in the
soil preparation area. “We would like Sampo to be the base for harvester
product development and centre of excellence,” Jejurikar said.
Turkey is a large market for
tractor and farm machinery, pegged at around $3 billion. Hisarlal, said
Jejurikar, will provide a good reach to M&M. “It creates a base for us to
introduce our tractors using the good distribution structure that Hisarlal
brings to us. It will allow us to access markets in CIS and parts of the Middle
East,” he added.
The company is also building base
organically in Brazil and Mexico. In Brazil, M&M has set up a factory in
Porto Alegre from where it plans to launch new portfolio of tractors. It is
already sourcing about 60 per cent of the parts locally.
“We will focus on product
development around the world. But we will localise our offerings as per the
requirements of different countries,” Jejurikar added
