Focus on California Starts Today
By Deborah Willenborg
ARLINGTON, VA -- The focus this week is already on California as
the USA Rice Outlook Conference kicks off in San Diego in a couple days. The Golden State also shines in this month's
"Focus on the Farmer" Facebook series starting today and featuring
California rice farmer Imran H. Khan.
Imran joined his family's rice farming operation in 1995,
continuing a legacy that dates back to 1923.
He is a graduate of the Rice Leadership Development Program, and has a
degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in environmental economics
along with a law degree. "My
practice currently consists of growing rice," said Imran. "It's an honest living that I
love."
Follow along with Imran all week, and look, "like," and,
most importantly, share the posts to help spread the U.S. rice story!
Market Information
Daily Rough Rice Prices
(updated daily)
Scientists call for eight steps to increase soil carbon for climate
action and food security
International coordination and
financing essential
IMAGE: GLOBAL ACTION TO INCREASE SOIL CARBON IS ESSENTIAL FOR CLIMATE
AND FOOD SECURITY, SCIENTISTS SAY
CREDIT: (PHOTO: C SCHUBERT,
CCAFS) LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ojpnem
Leading scientists call for action to increase global soil
carbon, in advance of the annual climate summit of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Katowice, Poland (COP24) and World
Soil Day (5 Dec).
The amount of carbon in soil is over twice the amount of carbon
found in trees and other biomass.
But one-third of the world's soils are already degraded,
limiting agricultural production and adding almost 500 gigatons of carbon
dioxide to the atmosphere, an amount equivalent to the carbon sequestered by
216 billion hectares of U.S. forest.
Modalities for climate action in agriculture will be addressed 3
December at the first workshop of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, a
breakthrough initiative of the 2017 UNFCCC climate negotiations.
In a commentary piece, Put More Carbon in Soils to Meet Paris
Climate Pledges, published today by the journal Nature, climate change and agricultural scientists who
serve on the science and technical committee of the organization 4 per 1000 describe a path for
recuperating soil carbon stocks to mitigate climate change and boost soil
fertility. The scientists suggest that the KJWA formally commit to increasing
global soil organic carbon stocks through coordination and activities related
to eight steps.
The eight steps are:
1. Stop carbon loss - Protect peatlands through enforcement of
regulations against burning and drainage.
2. Promote carbon uptake - Identify and promote best practices for storing carbon in ways suitable to local conditions, including through incorporating crop residues, cover crops, agroforestry, contour farming, terracing, nitrogen-fixing plants, and irrigation.
3. Monitor, report and verify impacts - Track and evaluate interventions with science-based harmonized protocols and standards.
4. Deploy technology - Use high-tech opportunities for faster, cheaper and more accurate monitoring of soil carbon changes.
5. Test strategies - Determine what works in local conditions by using models and a network of field sites.
6. Involve communities - Employ citizen science to collect data and create an open online platform for sharing.
7. Coordinate policies - Integrate soil carbon with national climate commitments to the Paris Agreement and other policies on soil and climate.
8. Provide support - Ensure technical assistance, incentives to farmers, monitoring systems, and carbon taxes to promote widespread implementation.
2. Promote carbon uptake - Identify and promote best practices for storing carbon in ways suitable to local conditions, including through incorporating crop residues, cover crops, agroforestry, contour farming, terracing, nitrogen-fixing plants, and irrigation.
3. Monitor, report and verify impacts - Track and evaluate interventions with science-based harmonized protocols and standards.
4. Deploy technology - Use high-tech opportunities for faster, cheaper and more accurate monitoring of soil carbon changes.
5. Test strategies - Determine what works in local conditions by using models and a network of field sites.
6. Involve communities - Employ citizen science to collect data and create an open online platform for sharing.
7. Coordinate policies - Integrate soil carbon with national climate commitments to the Paris Agreement and other policies on soil and climate.
8. Provide support - Ensure technical assistance, incentives to farmers, monitoring systems, and carbon taxes to promote widespread implementation.
A joint forum for coordinated action and funding to close
research gaps is needed, the scientists argue. The eight steps also inform the
KJWA's next workshop (June 2019), which will address soil carbon.
"Taking steps to increase global soil carbon requires
multi-stakeholder collaboration at the science-policy interface. 4p1000
initiative, which has 281 partners from 39 countries, is showing how such
collaboration can be used to address sustainable development goals in an
integrated way," said Cornelia Rumpel, lead author of the commentary and
Research Director of the National Research Center at France's Institute of
Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
Co-author Farshad Amiraslani, Remote Sensing Specialist and
Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, is
concerned with how lack of coordination among stakeholders and no comprehensive
database is hindering the impact of land restoration efforts. We need to apply
satellite imagery to capture changes occurring at large scales more frequently
and cost-effectively, he said.
"We are amassing a rich body of knowledge on how to
increase soil carbon stocks," said Claire Chenu, a Professor of Soil
Sciences at AgroParisTech. "But further research is needed. For example,
we know root systems make an important contribution to soil carbon stocks, but
we are still researching how specific crops with deep roots, vs. cover crops,
vs. agroforestry systems differentially contribute to increasing soil carbon.
We need more data on the effects of agricultural practices in different
ecosystems."
"Challenges to achieving large-scale carbon sequestration
include nutrient limits, inadequate farmer incentives and lack of organic
matter in some places, but even impacts at lesser scales will benefit the
climate and food security," said co-author Lini Wollenberg, Low Emissions
Development Leader for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change,
Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and Research Professor at the University
of Vermont's Gund Institute for Environment.
"The potential benefits are too large to ignore,"
Wollenberg said.
###
BACKGROUND
4P1000 Science and Technical Committee members and affiliations
Co-authors in Comment article:
- Cornelia Rumpel, National Research Center
(CNRS), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, France
- Farshad Amiraslani, University of Tehran,
Iran
- Lydie-Stella Koutika, Research Center on Productivity
and Sustainability of Industrial Plantations (CRDPI), Republic of Congo
- Pete Smith, University of Aberdeen,
Scotland
- David Whitehead, Manaaki Whenua --
Landcare Research, New Zealand
- Eva "Lini" Wollenberg, CGIAR
Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS),
University of Vermont, USA
Co-signatories:
- Claire Chenu, AgroParisTech, UMR Ecosys
INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris- Saclay, Thiverval-Grignon, France.
- Magali Garcia Cardenas, Faculty of
Engineering, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia.
- Martin Kaonga, Cambridge Centre for
Environment, Cambridge, UK.
- Jagdish Ladha, Department of Plant
Sciences, University of California, Davis, USA.
- Beata Madari, Brazilian Agricultural
Research Corporation, National Rice and Beans Research Center (Embrapa
Arroz e Feijão), Santo Antônio de Goiás, Brazil.
- Yasuhito Shirato, National Agriculture and
Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Japan.
- Brahim Soudi, Institut Agronomique et
Vétérinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco.
- Jean-François Soussana, Institut National
de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Paris, France.
CRF voices concern over EU rice tax on Cambodia
Cheng Sokhorng |
Publication date 03 December 2018 | 07:42 ICT
Share
Capital Food in Cambodia deputy director Chray Son says the
average farmer will be severely impacted by a safeguard clause. Hong
Menea
The president of the Cambodia
Rice Federation (CRF) has expressed concern over an impending EU tariff on
Cambodian rice imports, saying that it is factors within EU states that are
harming European farmers most.
“Difficulties faced by European
farmers are largely due to the lack of collaboration between them, millers and
traders,” CRF president Sok Puthyvuth told the press on Friday.
He said the “high cost of milling
in [EU]member states” was the main obstacle to improving European rice
industries, not imports of Cambodian rice.
Sok Puthyvuth’s comments come
following a November 5 announcement from the European Commission, an arm of the
EU, that exporters of Cambodian and Burmese Indica white rice will face
increased taxes within three years.
The customs tariff duty will be
€175 (US$198) per tonne in the first year, €150 in the second year, and €125
the year after.
The tariffs are the result of an
EU investigation launched in March after Italian farmers called for a safeguard
clause restricting rice imports.
They argued that such imports
were harming EU farmers. Italian rice farmers first complained about rice
imports in 2014, but March’s investigation was the first time the European
Commission launched a formal probe.
Scepticism
However, the CRF is sceptical
that safeguard measures will improve the livelihoods of EU farmers, as much of
Cambodian rice is not directly competing with their produce. As much as 55 per
cent of Cambodian rice currently imported into the bloc is fragrant rice – a
variety difficult to grow in the EU.
The impact of tariffs on the
Kingdom’s more than three million rice farmers is of major concern, with the
deputy director of Capital Food in Cambodia, Chray Son, saying the average
farmer will be most severely impacted by a safeguard clause.
“Our cost of production is high,
so if we pay Tax to the EU, how can we compete in the market? The farmers will
suffer first . . . it’s just an excuse from EU, our rice is a small share in
the market – how can we hurt their rice market?”
Centre for Policy Studies
director Chan Sophal believes that tariffs will likely mean Cambodian farmers
will increasingly look to other Asean nations to sell their products.
“If the tariff is implemented it
will impact the Cambodian rice industry, and farmers will rely more on the
market from Thailand and Vietnam as a result.”
EU SET
TO SLAP TARIFFS ON RICE FROM CAMBODIA, MYANMAR
12/3/2018
BRUSSELS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The European Commission will on
Tuesday propose imposing tariffs on rice coming from Cambodia and Myanmar to
curb a surge in imports that it believes is damaging to European producers.
The proposed "safeguard" measures would apply for three
years, setting a duty of 175 euros ($198.84) per tonne in the first year,
dropping to 150 euros in the second and 125 euros in year three, according to
people familiar with the plan.
The two countries benefit from the EU's "Everything But
Arms" scheme that allows the least developed countries to export most
goods to the European Union free of duties.
"However, it is important also to ensure that EU farmers and
producers are not the ones to pay the price for excessively cheap
imports," a Commission spokesman said.
Both countries already face losing their special access to the
world's largest trading bloc over their human rights records, although this
potential sanction is separate from the proposed safeguard measures.
The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 28-member
European Union, opened an investigation into rice imports from the two
countries in March following a complaint by the Italian government.
"The findings of this investigation confirm a significant
surge in imports of rice that has caused economic damage to the rice sector in
Europe," the Commission spokesman said.
EU farming group Copa-Cogeca says that the two countries' exports
to the European Union of longer-grained Indica rice have increased from 9,000
tonnes in 2012 to 360,000 tonnes in 2017, resulting in a collapse of rice
prices.
EU member states will take a final decision on Tuesday and are
expected to back the Commission's proposal given that rice is grown in eight
southern European countries from Portugal to Bulgaria. ($1 = 0.8801 euros)
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
MoFA receives support to boost
rice production
Dr Owusu
Afriyie Akoto, others being taken through some certified seeds by President of
AGRA
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has entered into a
2.5 million euro Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement to boost rice
production in the country.
The agreement, known as “Ghana Rice Initiative”, is expected to last 36 months beginning this month, November 2018. It is being championed by the German Government and implemented by AGRA and other partners.
Project
Dubbed “Public private partnership for competitive and inclusive rice value chain development: Planting for Food and Jobs – Rice Chapter,” the project is aimed at increasing rice production, strengthening and expanding access to output markets among others.
It also intends to adopt a two-tier approach on short, medium and long-term solutions to enable the government achieve its sub-sector goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice production to improve the livelihoods of 128,763 farmers by 2020.
The project will be implemented in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Central and Volta regions.
Already, about 130,000 farmers from 110 districts in the beneficiary regions have been supplied with subsidised certified seeds under the project.
Launch
The sector minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said the project was in line with the government’s flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme.
He stated that a recent tour of some regions revealed that the Central Region had the capacity to produce double the rice requirements of the country.
Dr Akoto said the rice that would be produced would be of high quality comparable to international standards.
According to him, the rice currently produced in the country was good. “It is just that the milling capacity is low and cannot cope with the increasing rice production in the country,” he added.
The minister also stated that the Planting for Food and Jobs programme was yielding results, and added that besides rice, millet, soya beans, maize and vegetables, the programme also extended support to groundnut and cassava farmers this year.
He further announced that his outfit was to receive a $220 million facility from Brazil and India for the importation of machinery from those countries to “take away the drudgery of farmers”.
German Ambassador
For his part, the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, expressed the hope that their partnership with AGRA on the project would be fruitful.
He said the initiative could pave the way for more domestic rice production and less dependence on imports to help achieve the “Ghana beyond aid” agenda.
Mr Retzlaff also said the initiative would offer an opportunity to align and leverage resources on existing programmes such as Competitive Rice Initiative (CARI), Green Innovation Centre (GIC) and existing bilateral agricultural activities in the country.
The agreement, known as “Ghana Rice Initiative”, is expected to last 36 months beginning this month, November 2018. It is being championed by the German Government and implemented by AGRA and other partners.
Project
Dubbed “Public private partnership for competitive and inclusive rice value chain development: Planting for Food and Jobs – Rice Chapter,” the project is aimed at increasing rice production, strengthening and expanding access to output markets among others.
It also intends to adopt a two-tier approach on short, medium and long-term solutions to enable the government achieve its sub-sector goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice production to improve the livelihoods of 128,763 farmers by 2020.
The project will be implemented in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Central and Volta regions.
Already, about 130,000 farmers from 110 districts in the beneficiary regions have been supplied with subsidised certified seeds under the project.
Launch
The sector minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said the project was in line with the government’s flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme.
He stated that a recent tour of some regions revealed that the Central Region had the capacity to produce double the rice requirements of the country.
Dr Akoto said the rice that would be produced would be of high quality comparable to international standards.
According to him, the rice currently produced in the country was good. “It is just that the milling capacity is low and cannot cope with the increasing rice production in the country,” he added.
The minister also stated that the Planting for Food and Jobs programme was yielding results, and added that besides rice, millet, soya beans, maize and vegetables, the programme also extended support to groundnut and cassava farmers this year.
He further announced that his outfit was to receive a $220 million facility from Brazil and India for the importation of machinery from those countries to “take away the drudgery of farmers”.
German Ambassador
For his part, the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, expressed the hope that their partnership with AGRA on the project would be fruitful.
He said the initiative could pave the way for more domestic rice production and less dependence on imports to help achieve the “Ghana beyond aid” agenda.
Mr Retzlaff also said the initiative would offer an opportunity to align and leverage resources on existing programmes such as Competitive Rice Initiative (CARI), Green Innovation Centre (GIC) and existing bilateral agricultural activities in the country.
Local rice price drops due to
Thai rice in Iranian market
12/3/2018 3:26:10 AM
(MENAFN - AzerNews) By Trend
As a result of the supply of high quality Thai rice to Iran on
November 6 this Iranian year, the price of local rice decreased, Director
General of the Iranian State Trade Organization's Distribution and Sales
Coordination Department Hojat Baratali said in an interview with IRNA.
He said that rice is domestically
produced and imported and there is no shortage in this area.
According to the implemented
programs, the country's rice reserves are sufficient and even increased by 40
percent compared to the previous year.
Baratali said that earlier, the
price of imported rice increased. The price of this product has dropped thanks
to the country's State Trade Organization.
Thus, according to the new
statistics, 1 kilo of the imported rice reached about 700-800 rials
(approximately $0.016-0.019). The price of local rice decreased by 500-600
rials (about $0.011-0.014).
He said that a decision was made
to supply 10,000 tons of Thai rice to the market from November 6 to December 6.
This volume may be increased in
case of necessity, he said.
According to the decision, 1 kilo
of Indian rice is 70,000 rials (about $1.66) in the port.
Taking into account the shipping
and distribution costs, the Indian rice should be sold at 80,000-82,000 rials
(about $1.9-1.95) to the customer.
Iran ends seasonal rice import ban - agencies
·
A woman plants rice seedlings on a field near Mahmoudabad, 240 km
(149 miles) northeast of Tehran, May 6, 2008. Picture taken May 6, 2008.
REUTERS/Caren Firouz/Files
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has ended
its seasonal ban on rice imports, allowing importers to register their orders,
Iranian news agencies reported on Sunday.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Ali
Akbar Mehrfard announced the end of the annual ban in a letter dated Nov. 28,
the ISNA semi-official news agency reported. Other agencies carried similar
reports.The government usually imposes the ban for a few months each year to
support local prices and help Iranian growers during the harvest season.Iran
consumes 3 million tonnes of rice a year. About one million tonnes is imported,
mainly from India and Pakistan.
Reporting by Dubai newsroom;
Editing by David Goodman
SPONSORED
Rice Imports Resume in Iran as Seasonal Ban Ends
December 03, 2018 18:25
Rice Imports Resume in Iran as Seasonal Ban Ends
Rice imports have resumed in Iran following a letter sent by
Deputy Agriculture Minister Ali Akbar Mehrfard to the caretaker of Trade
Promotion Organization of Iran Mohammad Reza Modoudi.
Mehrfard notified TPO that the
seasonal ban on imports of the crop, a staple food in Iran, has come to an end,
ILNA reported.
Every year and during the rice
harvest season, the government bans rice imports in support of local farmers
and domestic production.
Iranians consume 3.2 million tons
of the staple food annually, less than 2 million tons of which are cultivated
by local farmers.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/95403/rice-imports-resume-in-iran-as-seasonal-ban-ends
Iran ends seasonal rice import ban
December 03, 2018
DUBAI: Iran has ended its seasonal
ban on rice imports, allowing importers to register their orders, Iranian news
agencies reported on Sunday.
The country consumes 3 million
tonnes of rice a year. About one million tonnes is imported, mainly from India and
Pakistan.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Ali
Akbar Mehrfard announced the end of the annual ban in a letter dated Nov 28,
the ISNA semi-official news agency reported. Other agencies carried similar
reports.
The government usually imposes the
ban for a few months each year to support local prices and help Iranian growers
during the harvest season.
Published in Dawn, December 3rd,
2018
https://www.dawn.com/news/1449119
Cloud of suspicion in China over rice from near Japan’s nuclear
meltdown zone
Beijing has lifted a
ban on rice imports from Niigata prefecture, neighbouring the Fukushima
disaster area, but consumers will take some convincing to buy it
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 02 December, 2018, 6:34pm
UPDATED : Monday, 03 December, 2018, 10:52am
China’s General Administration of Customs announced on Wednesday
that it had lifted a ban on rice imports from Niigata, one of a number of
prefectures neighbouring Fukushima, home to the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant,
which went into meltdown and released radioactive material in the aftermath of
a tsunami in March 2011.
According to the World Health Organisation, radioactive iodine
and caesium in concentrations above the Japanese regulatory limits were
detected in some food commodities soon after the disaster.
China responded by banning imports of food and livestock feed
from 10 prefectures.
More than seven years later, Niigata is the first area to have
the ban lifted on its rice. “After evaluation, we permit Niigata rice to be
imported,” the customs administration said on its website.
It said the rice was produced in the prefecture and processed in
registered factories, and that when imported it should satisfy Chinese laws and
regulations on food safety and plant health.
But Chinese internet users weren’t so convinced.
“The officials would rather sacrifice Chinese people’s health
for diplomacy,” one person said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.
“Whoever wants to buy the rice can buy it,” another wrote. “I
only ask for it to be properly marked on the packaging.”
In all, 54 countries and regions imposed temporary import bans
on Japanese food from affected areas immediately after the nuclear disaster.
Since then, 27 have lifted their restrictions and Fukushima prefecture shipped
210 tonnes of agricultural products abroad last year, mainly to Malaysia and
Thailand.
It follows a years-long clean-up effort and a concerted campaign
by the Japanese government to promote agricultural products from Fukushima and
neighbouring regions, both domestically and internationally.
A page on the Japanese government website, titled “Fukushima
Foods: Safe and Delicious”, is dedicated to the clean-up and monitoring efforts
and features photos of farmers encouraging tourists to try their rice,
vegetables and fruit.
Hopes that the ban would be eased grew as relations between the
two countries thawed. An agreement was reached in March to hold talks in Tokyo
between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,
after which Fukushima officials told the South China Morning Post they
hoped Beijing would reopen the door to exports of agricultural and fisheries
products. Those prospects rose in late October with the first visit to China by
a Japanese prime minister in seven years.
There were grass-roots efforts, too. Last week, a group of
Chinese reporters led by Xu Jingbo, from the Tokyo-based, Chinese-language Asia
News Agency, quietly visited northeast Japan, stopping in disaster-hit areas
including Fukushima.
Xu told the South China Morning Post he
had organised the trip because he wanted there to be fair coverage of food safety
and the Fukushima nuclear clean-up.
“We should look at the Fukushima nuclear leak in a scientific
and fair way,” he said.
The group visited the power station and government centres that
test radiation residues on agricultural products and seafood. He said that
since the accident, the Japanese government had cleaned up debris and
contaminated soil, digging 30cm into the earth and transporting the soil to a
remote area for treatment.
“The radiation level tested on my body was only 0.03
millisieverts after the visit, about 1/80 of taking a CAT scan in hospital and
about the same level as riding on an aeroplane,” Xu said.
But lingering fear and opposition in China and neighbouring
regions remains strong. Last week, voters in Taiwan showed overwhelming support
for keeping a ban on food imports.
On the Chinese mainland, every movement towards lifting the ban
has provoked hostility online.
Xu’s Weibo account was flooded with comments, calling him a
“traitor”. Some questioned whether he received money from the Japanese
government for such “propaganda”.
An article published on the WeChat account Buyidao, operated by
the state-run Global Times, questioned the
Japanese government and media, saying they had covered up the severity of the
radiation in Fukushima and dealt with the clean-up irresponsibly.
“Tokyo Electric Power [the owner of the plant] and the Japanese
government have not been honest with the Japanese people and the world, the
panic runs inside Japan and has permeated to other countries,” it said.
On the rice ban lifted this week, Guo Qiuju, a radiation expert
at Peking University’s physics department, said the Chinese government had its
own standard and detection methods.
“China has strict levels on radiation levels detected in foods;
if it’s detected below a certain level, it can be assumed to be safe,” she
said.
But public concerns persist.
A shopper at Alibaba’s Hema Xiansheng supermarket in Shenzhen
she said she probably would not buy any products from the affected areas even
if the ban was completely lifted. Alibaba owns the South
China Morning Post.
“I’m afraid of what might happen to me,” she said.
This
article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Suspicion lingers over rice from Fukushima despite
Beijing lifting ban
CRF voices
concern over EU rice tax on Cambodia
Cheng Sokhorng |
Publication date 03 December 2018 | 07:42 ICT
Share
Capital Food in Cambodia deputy director Chray Son says the average
farmer will be severely impacted by a safeguard clause. Hong
Menea
The president of the Cambodia
Rice Federation (CRF) has expressed concern over an impending EU tariff on
Cambodian rice imports, saying that it is factors within EU states that are
harming European farmers most.
“Difficulties faced by European
farmers are largely due to the lack of collaboration between them, millers and
traders,” CRF president Sok Puthyvuth told the press on Friday.
He said the “high cost of milling
in [EU]member states” was the main obstacle to improving European rice
industries, not imports of Cambodian rice.
Sok Puthyvuth’s comments come
following a November 5 announcement from the European Commission, an arm of the
EU, that exporters of Cambodian and Burmese Indica white rice will face
increased taxes within three years.
The customs tariff duty will be
€175 (US$198) per tonne in the first year, €150 in the second year, and €125
the year after.
The tariffs are the result of an
EU investigation launched in March after Italian farmers called for a safeguard
clause restricting rice imports.
They argued that such imports
were harming EU farmers. Italian rice farmers first complained about rice
imports in 2014, but March’s investigation was the first time the European
Commission launched a formal probe.
Scepticism
However, the CRF is sceptical
that safeguard measures will improve the livelihoods of EU farmers, as much of
Cambodian rice is not directly competing with their produce. As much as 55 per
cent of Cambodian rice currently imported into the bloc is fragrant rice – a
variety difficult to grow in the EU.
The impact of tariffs on the
Kingdom’s more than three million rice farmers is of major concern, with the
deputy director of Capital Food in Cambodia, Chray Son, saying the average
farmer will be most severely impacted by a safeguard clause.
“Our cost of production is high,
so if we pay Tax to the EU, how can we compete in the market? The farmers will
suffer first . . . it’s just an excuse from EU, our rice is a small share in
the market – how can we hurt their rice market?”
Centre for Policy Studies
director Chan Sophal believes that tariffs will likely mean Cambodian farmers
will increasingly look to other Asean nations to sell their products.
“If the tariff is implemented it
will impact the Cambodian rice industry, and farmers will rely more on the
market from Thailand and Vietnam as a result.”
EU SET
TO SLAP TARIFFS ON RICE FROM CAMBODIA, MYANMAR
12/3/2018
BRUSSELS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The European Commission will on Tuesday
propose imposing tariffs on rice coming from Cambodia and Myanmar to curb a
surge in imports that it believes is damaging to European producers.
The proposed "safeguard" measures would apply for three
years, setting a duty of 175 euros ($198.84) per tonne in the first year,
dropping to 150 euros in the second and 125 euros in year three, according to
people familiar with the plan.
The two countries benefit from the EU's "Everything But
Arms" scheme that allows the least developed countries to export most
goods to the European Union free of duties.
"However, it is important also to ensure that EU farmers and
producers are not the ones to pay the price for excessively cheap
imports," a Commission spokesman said.
Both countries already face losing their special access to the
world's largest trading bloc over their human rights records, although this
potential sanction is separate from the proposed safeguard measures.
The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 28-member
European Union, opened an investigation into rice imports from the two
countries in March following a complaint by the Italian government.
"The findings of this investigation confirm a significant
surge in imports of rice that has caused economic damage to the rice sector in
Europe," the Commission spokesman said.
EU farming group Copa-Cogeca says that the two countries' exports
to the European Union of longer-grained Indica rice have increased from 9,000
tonnes in 2012 to 360,000 tonnes in 2017, resulting in a collapse of rice
prices.
EU member states will take a final decision on Tuesday and are
expected to back the Commission's proposal given that rice is grown in eight
southern European countries from Portugal to Bulgaria. ($1 = 0.8801 euros)
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Recto urges gov’t to ensure proper implementation of rice
tariffication law
Published December 3, 2018, 7:48 PM
By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senate President Pro Tempore
Ralph Recto has urged the government to ensure the proper implementation of the
rice tariffication law so its promises to farmers would not end to no avail.
Senator Ralph Recto (JOHN JEROME GANZON / MANILA BULLETIN FILE
PHOTO)
President Duterte is expected to
sign into law soon the final version of the bill that will liberalize rice
importation and exportation in the country, and replace the quantitative
restriction on rice import with tariffs, which both houses of Congress have
ratified last week.
In his explanation on voting for
the bill’s final approval, Recto, one of the authors of the proposed rice
tariffication law, said the measure should not suffer the same fate as laws
that are “full of good intentions, only to die at the hands of bad
implementors.”
“I believe we owe our farmers
candor, and we should also likewise forewarn the executive that they will be
betraying our toiling and tilling class if they will bungle the implementation
of this law,” Recto said in a statement sent to media on Monday.
“So much is at stake, so high the
expectation, so great the promises, so many depend on it that failure is not an
option,” he added.
The soon-to-be law, Recto said,
should be subject to a “stringent congressional oversight to prevent deviation
from its intention.”
He added that this way, Congress,
also, would not forget its implementation.
Recto reiterated that proceeds
from the import tariffs should be distributed to rice farmers “to the last
centavo.”
Under the Congress-approved bill,
at least P10 billion shall be allocated annually as Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for the country’s rice industry.
Recto said farmers who have been
adversely affected by the liberalization of the rice market should be
prioritized in the distribution of assistance to increase their production.
The Senate leader insisted that
the bill is “not a revenue measure” and the government should not use it to
shore up its fiscal position.
“This is about putting cheap rice
on the table, and not stashing money in state coffers,” he said.
The government, he added, should
continue to modernize the rice sector to prevent farmers from shifting to other
crops or stopping their produce.
“We have to retain it because
rice is a thinly-traded global commodity. Only a small surplus is up for sale
outside the borders of gross producers. Even China, which produces about 130
million metric tons of rice per annum, still imports around six million metric
tons of rice annually,” Recto noted.
He said it is hightime to invest
in “climate-smart, science-proven farming technologies.”
He also asked the government to
intensify its drive against rice smugglers while it is allowing rice imports
into the country.
More food for
Filipinos
December 4, 2018
I believe the passage of the Rice
Tariffication bill by the bicameral conference committee of the Senate and the
House of Representatives will mean more affordable food on the dining table of
Filipino consumers.
The measure will remove the
monopoly by state-run National Food Authority on food supply. And with the
lifting of quantitative restriction on imported rice, inexpensive rice from
other countries is expected to easily reach the domestic market.
The measure amends the outdated
Republic Act (RA) No. 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996.
Specifically, it will replace quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports
with tariffs and remove NFA’s control over the rice market, thereby allowing
private traders to bring in affordable rice from other countries as long as
they pay the 35-percent tariff for imports from other Southeast Asian
countries.
What caused rice prices to soar
this year in the first place is the tight supply in the market amid weak
production, which came after several typhoons hit Luzon and a miscalculation on
the part of NFA to import the right volume of the staple. Hoarders exacerbated
the situation by holding on to their stock to create an artificial shortage so
that prices would escalate.
As rice is the biggest item in the consumer price index basket, inflation rate reached a nine-year high of 6.7
percent in September and October, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority
show. Allowing more rice supply in the domestic market will definitely address
food supply concerns, stabilize commodity prices and help bring down inflation
rate.
Preliminary estimates by the
National Economic and Development Authority show that headline inflation rate
would ease 1 percentage point if rice prices in the local market were reduced
to the level of imported rice.
No less than President Rodrigo
Duterte was alarmed by the high inflation data and ordered the importation of
more rice to stabilize the domestic supply. Thankfully, food prices are now
steady, following the arrival of rice shipments from Vietnam.
Once signed into law, the Rice
Tariffication bill will allow more traders to buy rice from other countries as
long as they pay the proper import duties and
taxes. As more people join the trade, rice supply will stabilize and prices
will become more competitive. Hoarding will be discouraged, and the cartels
that control the stock and dictate the prices will be neutralized.
However, it is important that the
government provide Filipino farmers with safety nets against the influx of
imports. One is in the form of tariff rate, representing 35 percent of the
price of rice imported from other Southeast Asian countries. Another is in the
form of subsidy or support that will give Filipino farmers a fighting chance
against farmers of neighboring countries, who also get subsidies from their
respective governments.
Making Filipino farmers more
competitive should be a priority of the Department of Agriculture.
****
This should be complemented by
the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, or RCEF, that will allow farmers
to acquire farm machineries and the latest
technologies in rice production. The bill provides for an annual appropriation
of P10 billion for the fund over the next six years. If the tariff collection
exceeds P10 billion in any given year, the excess revenue will also be
allocated to RCEF specifically to provide direct financial assistance to rice
farmers.
The financial assistance program should be designed to directly
compensate rice farmers who will lose income as a result of the open rice
importation.
The Philippines is considered a
research center for rice production, and I believe that Filipino farmers will
become more competitive and productive, if they are given the latest
technologies.
Whatever know-how that is
available at the International Rice Research Institute should be dispersed to
the farmers. The use of modern technologies, such as the propagation of inbred
and hybrid varieties, will enable local farmers to produce more. I believe that
harvesting 10 tons of palay per season, two or three times a year, will enable
a farming family to meet its needs.
This will be a win-win solution
for the Filipino consumers and Filipino farmers. Our consumers will be assured
of a steady supply of affordable rice, while farmers will be protected from any
sudden surge of imports and subsequently compensated for any loss of income.
The rice industry is a vital
component of the Philippine economy, but we have to realize that with our
growing population and limited land, we should take advantage of the global
marketplace to feed our people while taking care of our farmers
Taiwan Votes to Maintain Import Ban on Fukushima Food Imports
While Fukushima suffered a blow, trade ties between Japan and
Taiwan avoided any major impact.
December 03, 2018
On Friday, Japan and Taiwan
signed off on five bilateral trade pacts just days after Taiwan voted in a
referendum to uphold an import ban on agricultural products from areas
surrounding the Fukushima nuclear fallout.
Last week, 7.8 million voters in
Taiwan approved renewing a legally binding food ban that was originally imposed
after the nuclear disaster in 2011. The ongoing agricultural ban covers five
Japanese prefectures including Fukushima and nearby Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi,
and Chiba over an extended two year period. Although the setback was expected
to put a strain on bilateral relations, outright animosity has been diverted
for now.
While there was no hiding the
tension during two days of annual trade talks in Taipei, negotiations remained
on cordial terms. In the absence of formal diplomatic representatives, leaders
of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association and Japan-Taiwan Exchange
Association reached one agreement to speed up customs clearance on trade goods
and four memorandums of understanding dealing with exchanges of patent
information, business partnerships, medical equipment trade, and joint
research.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro
Kono described the referendum results as “extremely disappointing” based on
government efforts to provide food safety information and its continuous
requests to lift the ban. Critics pointed out that the issue of Fukushima food
safety was addressed on the referendum without any scientific backing. Kono
said he was planning to retaliate by taking into consideration all available
options as a future response. One tactic included advancing the World Trade
Organization dispute settlement route and pushing efforts to persuade public
opinion in Taiwan based on scientific data.
Although Taiwan’s President Tsai
Ing-wen has called for closer exchanges between the two countries, she also
stressed the need to respect the referendum as the embodiment of public
opinion. Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee also responded saying
they will handle the issue “carefully” and seek understanding from the Japanese
side.
Taiwan has also been seeking to
sign a full free trade agreement with Japan, the island’s third largest trading
partner, but momentum to accelerate negotiations has stalled since the
referendum. Taiwan’s lack of support in dispelling misinformation based on
scientific inspection fueled criticisms in Japan that the food ban referendum
was politically motivated by anti-Japanese feelings.
However, Taiwan isn’t the only
government to regulate Fukushima imports behind the backdrop of radiation
concerns. China, South Korea, Singapore, and Macau are among the neighbors
imposing partial seafood and farm produce restrictions to varying degrees. Fukushima
Governor Masao Uchibori acknowledged how rumors and hearsay overseas were
making it difficult to eliminate import embargoes, but said progress on the
safety of prefectural products can be seen from the number of countries easing
restrictions. The number of countries limiting imports from the area has
dropped from an initial 54 to 25.
A major breakthrough signaling
regional attitudes are loosening up came with China’s announcement that they
will begin to relax import restrictions on rice from Japan’s west coast Niigata
prefecture. China suspended imports of all animal feed, agriculture and
fisheries products after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. But after
scientific evaluation, described as examining wind direction and distance from
the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor, Chinese President Xi Jinping cancelled
import restrictions on the condition that white and brown rice are processed at
milling factories registered with the Chinese Customs Authority.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s
efforts to persuade Xi to lift restrictions at the bilateral summit in October
have paid off, symbolizing a warming of political ties.
Niigata is one of Japan’s
flagship regions for rice production and there is growing demand for the staple
food in China, which consumes 20 times more rice than Japan and amounts to 30
percent of the world market. Seven years after the ban was first imposed, its
abolition unlocks the potential to expand exports within a market of wealthy
consumers eager for high end Japanese rice.
How Nigeria cut food
imports, saved $21bn in 34 months
FG a
day ago 1292 views by Nnenna Ibeh -
Nigeria has cut its food importation, according to the CBN governor, Godwin
Emefiele - Emefiele said the country has also been able to save $21 billion in
34 months - According to him, the reductions in food import were recorded on
basic food items including rice, fish, milk, sugar and wheat The federal
government has said that Nigeria has cut its importation of food into the
country. The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said the
country's monthly food import bill fell from $665.4 million in January 2015 to
$160.4 million as of October 2018.
Emefiele
said the reductions in food import were recorded on basic food items including
rice, fish, milk, sugar and wheat. He said the policy on food items and its
importation would be maintained. READ ALSO: 2 major reasons Atiku did not
travel to US finally revealed “Noticeable declines were steadily recorded in
our monthly food import bill from $665.4 million in January 2015 to $160.4
million as at October 2018; A cumulative fall of 75.9% and an implied savings
of over $21 billion on food imports alone over that period. “Most evident were
the 97.3 per cent cumulative reduction in monthly rice import bills, 99.6 per
cent in fish, 81.3 per cent in milk, 63.7% in sugar, and 60.5 per cent in
wheat.
“We are glad with the
accomplishments recorded so far. Accordingly, this policy is expected to
continue with vigour until the underlying imbalances within the Nigerian
economy have been fully resolved," Emefiele added. The CBN governor also
said the country has maintained a particular focus on supporting farmers,
entrepreneurs and small and medium scale businesses, through our various
intervention programmes. READ ALSO: Atiku appoints 4 youths ahead of 2019
presidential election He said one of such programmes is the Anchor Borrower
Programme which ensures that Nigeria emerged from being a net importer of rice
to becoming a major producer of rice, supplying key markets in neighbouring
countries.
“It is in light of the success of the Anchor
Borrowers Program with regards to cultivation of rice and maize that the
Monetary Policy Committee in its last meeting on the 21st of November, 2018
recommended that the Anchor Borrowers program be applied to other areas such as
palm oil, tomatoes and fisheries to mention a few,” Emefiele noted. Meanwhile,
Legit.ng previously reported that the minister of agriculture and rural
development, Audu Ogbeh, had said that Nigeria’s importation of rice will end
in December.
The
minister spoke in Osogbo, Osun state capital when he paid a courtesy visit to
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Ogbeh said Nigeria had embarked on mass rice production
noting it is unfortunate that Nigeria is still spending billions of dollars on
food importation. He said the ministry of agriculture has been restructured so
as to meet Nigeria’s food demand
Could anyone have stopped
gene-edited babies experiment?
12/2/18 8:17 PM
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE and
CHRISTINA LARSON -HONG KONG — Early last year, a little-known Chinese
researcher turned up at an elite meeting in Berkeley, California, where
scientists and ethicists were discussing a technology that had shaken the field
to its core — an emerging tool for “editing” genes, the strings of DNA that
form the blueprint of life.
The young scientist, He Jiankui,
saw the power of this tool, called CRISPR, to transform not only genes, but
also his own career.
In visits to the United States,
he sought out CRISPR pioneers such as Jennifer Doudna of the University of
California, Berkeley, and Stanford University’s Dr. Matthew Porteus, and big
thinkers on its use, like Stanford ethicist Dr. William Hurlbut.
Last week, those shocked
researchers watched as He hijacked an international conference they helped
organize with an astonishing claim: He said he helped make the world’s first
gene-edited babies ,
despite clear scientific consensus that making genetic changes that could be
passed to future generations should not be attempted at this point .
U.S. National Institutes of
Health Director Francis Collins called He’s experiment “a misadventure of a
major sort” — starring “a scientist who apparently believed that he was a hero.
In fact, he crossed every line, scientifically and ethically.”
But nobody stopped him. How can
that be?
To be fair, scientists say
there’s no certain way to stop someone intent on monkeying with DNA, no matter
what laws or standards are in place. CRISPR is cheap and easy to use — which is
why scientists began to worry almost as soon as the technology was invented
that something like this would happen.
And there is a long history in
science and medicine of researchers launching experiments prematurely that were
met with scorn or horror — some of which led to what are now common practices,
such as in-vitro fertilization.
Gene-editing for reproductive
purposes is effectively banned in the U.S. and most of Europe. In China, ministerial
guidelines prohibit embryo research that “violates ethical or moral
principles.”
It turns out He wasn’t exactly
tight-lipped about his goals .
He pursued international experts at Stanford and Rice Universities, where he
had done graduate studies work, and elsewhere, seeking advice before and during
the experiment.
Should scientists who knew of
He’s plans have spoken up? Could they have dissuaded him?
The answers aren’t clear.
“It doesn’t fall into the
category of legal responsibility, but ethical responsibility,” said Collins. He
said that not speaking up “doesn’t seem like a scientist taking
responsibility.”
China’s National Commission of
Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences and He’s own university have said they were
in dark and have since condemned him .
But three Stanford scientists —
Hurlbut, Porteus and He’s former fellowship adviser, Stephen Quake — had
extensive contact with him over the last few years. They and other scientists
knew or strongly suspected that He intended to try to make genetically edited
babies.
Some confidantes didn’t think He
would follow through; others raised concerns that were never heeded.
Stanford has not responded to an
interview request.
Quake, a bioengineering
professor, was one of the first to know about He’s ambition. Quake said he had
met with He through the years whenever his former student was in town, and that
He confided his interest a few years ago in editing embryos for live births to
try to make them resistant to the AIDS virus.
Quake said he gave He only
general advice and encouraged him to talk with mainstream scientists, to choose
situations where there’s consensus that the risks are justified, to meet the
highest ethics standards and to publish his results in a peer-reviewed journal.
“My advice was very broad,” Quake
said.
Hurlbut thinks he first met He in
early 2017, when he and Doudna, co-inventor of CRISPR, held the first of three
meetings with leading scientists and ethicists to discuss the technology.
“Somehow, he ended up at our
meeting,” Hurlbut said.
Since then, He returned several
times to Stanford, and Hurlbut said he “spent many hours” talking with He about
situations where gene editing might be appropriate.
Four or five weeks ago, Hurlbut
said He came to see him again and discussed embryo gene editing to try to
prevent HIV. Hurlbut said he suspected He had tried to implant a modified
embryo in a woman’s womb.
“I admonished him,” he said. “I
didn’t green-light his work. I challenged him on it. I didn’t approve of what
he was doing.”
Porteus said he knew that He had
been talking with Hurlbut and assumed Hurlbut discouraged the Chinese
scientist. In February, He asked to meet with Porteus and told him he had
gotten approval from a hospital ethics board to move forward.
“I think he was expecting me to
be more receptive, and I was very negative,” Porteus said. “I was angry at his
naivete, I was angry at his recklessness.”
Porteus said he urged He “to go
talk to your senior Chinese colleagues.”
After that meeting, “I didn’t
hear from him and assumed he would not proceed,” Porteus said. “In retrospect,
I could have raised a hue and cry.”
In a draft article about the
gene-edited twin girls, which He planned to submit to journals, he thanked UC
Berkeley biophysicist Mark DeWitt for “editing the manuscript.” DeWitt said he
tried to dissuade He and disputed that he edited the paper. He said he saw the
paper, but the feedback he offered was “pretty general.”
He’s claims, including that his
work has resulted in a second pregnancy ,
cannot be independently confirmed and his work has not been published. He
defended his actions last week at a gene editing summit in Hong Kong.
In contrast, another U.S.
scientist said he not only encouraged He but played a large role in the
project.
Michael Deem, a bioengineering
professor at Rice University and He’s doctoral degree adviser, said he had
worked with He since the scientist returned to China around 2012, and that he
sits on the advisory boards and holds “a small stake” in He’s two genetics
companies in Shenzhen. Deem defended He’s actions, saying the research team did
earlier experiments on animals.
“We have multiple generations of
animals that were genetically edited and produced viable offspring,” and a lot
of research on unintended effects on other genes, Deem said. Deem also said he
was present in China when some study participants gave their consent to try
embryo gene editing.
Rice said it had no knowledge of
Deem’s involvement and is now investigating.
So far most of the attention has
focused on regulatory gaps in China.
But that’s not the whole story,
said Rosario Isasi, an expert on genomics law in the U.S. and China at the
University of Miami.
“Let’s focus on how it happened
and why it happened, and the way it happened,” said Isasi. “How can we
establish a system that has better transparency?”
There’s no international
governing body to enforce bioethics rules, but scientific bodies and
universities can use other tools.
“If someone breaks those rules,
scientists can ostracize, journals can refuse to publish, employers can refuse
to employ, funders can refuse to fund,” said Hank Greely, a professor of law
and genetics at Stanford.
Greely expects He’s experiment
will have ripple effects in academia, whether or not regulators act.
“Universities are going to take a harder look at what’s going on. This incident
will put everyone on alert about any related research.”
Of course, sometimes bad
beginnings can turn into better endings.
In 1980, University of
California, Los Angeles, professor Martin Cline was sanctioned for performing
the first gene therapy on two women in Israel and Italy because he hadn’t
gotten approval to try it at UCLA.
Cline announced his work rather
than publishing it in a scientific journal, and faced criticism for trying
“genetic engineering” on people when its safety and effectiveness hadn’t yet
been established in animals. Now gene therapy is an established, although still
fairly novel, treatment method.
Two years earlier, in 1978, Dr.
Robert Edwards was similarly denounced when he announced through the press the
world’s first “test tube baby,” Louise Brown. The work later earned a Nobel
Prize, and IFV has helped millions to have a child.
And this year, Louise Brown —
mother of two sons, conceived in the old-fashioned way — turned 40.
Young Atlantic sturgeon numbers
surge in the James River
Recent discoveries of the
juvenile fish stir hope for the species’ comeback
·
By Sarah
Vogelsong on December 03, 2018
A bumper crop of juvenile Atlantic sturgeon in the James River
this fall is raising some environmentalists’ hopes that the endangered fish may
be staging a steady comeback in Virginia’s largest river.
All of the juvenile sturgeon found in the James River
this year were in the 6–11 centimeter range and classified as “age 0,” meaning
they were likely just a few weeks old. (Matt Balazik)
“We’re starting to see real momentum to see a species come back,
but also a river come back,” said Jamie Brunkow, riverkeeper for the James
River Association.
This fall, as of Nov. 12, 153 juvenile sturgeon had been
discovered in the James during routine trawling surveys — a staggering
increase over last fall’s yield of just two.
Of those, 148 have been caught by Virginia Commonwealth
University’s Rice Rivers Center; 40 of them captured on Nov. 5 alone. All of
the center’s catches were made between the Benjamin Harrison Bridge near
Hopewell and Sturgeon Point, which sits just west of the Fort Pocahontas
historical site in Charles City County. The five juveniles turned up by the
James River Association were found in mid-October during an education program
at Presquile National Wildlife Refuge.
While the finds have sparked excitement among environmental
advocates and researchers — Brunkow called the discoveries “extraordinary” even
when the count sat at nine — some are urging caution in claiming a restoration
success.
“It is exciting, but it’s still too early to call it for me,”
said Matt Balazik, a scientist with Rice Rivers and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers who specializes in Atlantic sturgeon in the James. “These guys have a
long way to go before I’m comfortable with [the rate of juvenile] recruitment.”
Overfished in the Chesapeake
region almost to the point of collapse in the 1800s, Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser
oxyrinchus) have been slowly returning to the Bay watershed
over the last decade. But in the James River, where researchers have identified
and tagged more than 700 adults, juveniles have largely been absent until
recent years.
“We seem to have a recruitment problem in the James River of
fish surviving when they’re young,” Balazik said.
Researchers aren’t quite sure why juveniles have been so scarce
in the James. Some suspect predation by other fish, such as the nonnative blue
catfish, may be decimating the ranks of the young. Disappearing habitat may
also play a role: For spawning to occur successfully, sturgeon need a hard,
rocky river bottom for eggs to adhere to, as well as water with low levels of
sediment and high dissolved oxygen content.
Other risks include vessel collisions, the dredging of spawning
areas and water intakes at industrial plants.
Although it was clear that juveniles must exist somewhere in the
James, none were found by either fishermen or research trawls until November
2016, when three turned up. The next year, two more emerged.
All five of the earlier juveniles, though, were older than this
year’s discoveries. The two 2017 finds were 47 and 52 centimeters in length,
respectively, while the 2016 juveniles were all less than 43 centimeters in
length. Based on their measurements, Balazik estimated them to be about a year
old.
In comparison, all of this year’s finds were in the 6–11
centimeter range and classified as “age 0,” meaning they were likely born
within the last few weeks around Osborne Landing, where a number of tagged
female sturgeon have been detected.
Juveniles ages one to two years “are the ones I really love
catching, because those are pretty much safe at that point,” Balazik said.
Mere weeks old at the time of discovery, the 153 juveniles are
not assured of reaching maturity, and they are too small to be equipped with
tracking devices that could help researchers learn more about how the fish live
and grow in the James.
Both Brunkow and Balazik speculated that the high incidence of
juveniles this year may be due to the heavy rains that affected the entire
James River watershed this summer and fall. Sturgeon move upriver to spawn, and
the juveniles move slowly downriver as they grow. Researchers at the Rice
Rivers Center no longer conduct trawls above the fall line, though, because of
the high incidence of snags their equipment encounters upstream.
“It’s a good chance in a normal year they’re up there, but maybe
with the stronger flows, maybe they came downstream a little more quickly,”
Balazik said.
While Balazik is tempering his excitement until next year, when
researchers can get a sense of how many juveniles survived their treacherous
early months, Brunkow sees the finds as a hopeful signal of water quality
improvement.
“The sturgeon just happens to be our local mascot here in the
James,” he said, and this year’s juveniles offer “some reason to be excited and
positive about the future
Farmers forced to sell paddy below MSP:
Odisha BJP
Purohit further alleged that rice
millers are not lifting paddy from the mandis till they got a price cut for 4
to 5 kg per bag much to the chagrin of the farmers.
Published: 03rd December 2018 11:06
AM | Last Updated: 03rd December 2018 11:06 AM
BHUBANESWAR: As the paddy procurement scam
in Kendrapara district returned to hunt the Odisha Government, the BJP on
Sunday claimed that farmers of the State are forced to go for distress sale due
to shortage of mandis and non-payment of minimum support price (MSP) by
Government appointed agencies.
“Farmers
are not getting MSP of paddy due to a price cut at procurement centres. As
millers are dictating terms, farmers are forced to go for distress sale of
their agriculture produce,” BJP MLA Pradip Purohit alleged.
It is
ironical that farmers are made to sell their paddy below the MSP at a time when
the State Government and several farmers’ organisations have been urging the
Centre to double the MSP of paddy, he said.Even as the official date for paddy
procurement in Kharif Marketing Season-2018 was November 1, the State
Government prepared a schedule for districts under the three Revenue Divisional
Commissioners (RDCs) after due consultation with Collectors.
Though
procurement of paddy was scheduled to start from November 5 in Northern
Division, only a few market yards have started functioning, he said.While paddy
stocks are piling up in the market yards, non-functioning of the mandis have
forced the farmers to sell their stocks to middlemen who are agents of the
local rice millers at whatever price they quote, the BJP legislator said.
The Centre
has fixed paddy MSP at Rs 1,750 per quintal for common variety and `1,770 for
Grade-A variety, but the farmers are selling paddy at Rs 1,000 - Rs 1,200 per
quintal to private traders.
Purohit
further alleged that rice millers are not lifting paddy from the mandis till
they got a price cut for 4 to 5 kg per bag much to the chagrin of the farmers.
Even as a House Committee under the chairmanship of Speaker decided during the
winter session of the Assembly to meet the Prime Minister and the President to
press the demand for MSP hike, the Government has left the farmers at the mercy
of the private traders.
Recto urges gov’t to ensure proper implementation of rice
tariffication law
Published December 3, 2018, 7:48 PM
By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senate President Pro Tempore
Ralph Recto has urged the government to ensure the proper implementation of the
rice tariffication law so its promises to farmers would not end to no avail.
Senator Ralph Recto (JOHN JEROME GANZON / MANILA BULLETIN FILE
PHOTO)
President Duterte is expected to
sign into law soon the final version of the bill that will liberalize rice
importation and exportation in the country, and replace the quantitative
restriction on rice import with tariffs, which both houses of Congress have
ratified last week.
In his explanation on voting for
the bill’s final approval, Recto, one of the authors of the proposed rice
tariffication law, said the measure should not suffer the same fate as laws
that are “full of good intentions, only to die at the hands of bad
implementors.”
“I believe we owe our farmers
candor, and we should also likewise forewarn the executive that they will be
betraying our toiling and tilling class if they will bungle the implementation
of this law,” Recto said in a statement sent to media on Monday.
“So much is at stake, so high the
expectation, so great the promises, so many depend on it that failure is not an
option,” he added.
The soon-to-be law, Recto said,
should be subject to a “stringent congressional oversight to prevent deviation
from its intention.”
He added that this way, Congress,
also, would not forget its implementation.
Recto reiterated that proceeds
from the import tariffs should be distributed to rice farmers “to the last
centavo.”
Under the Congress-approved bill,
at least P10 billion shall be allocated annually as Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for the country’s rice industry.
Recto said farmers who have been
adversely affected by the liberalization of the rice market should be
prioritized in the distribution of assistance to increase their production.
The Senate leader insisted that
the bill is “not a revenue measure” and the government should not use it to
shore up its fiscal position.
“This is about putting cheap rice
on the table, and not stashing money in state coffers,” he said.
The government, he added, should
continue to modernize the rice sector to prevent farmers from shifting to other
crops or stopping their produce.
“We have to retain it because
rice is a thinly-traded global commodity. Only a small surplus is up for sale
outside the borders of gross producers. Even China, which produces about 130
million metric tons of rice per annum, still imports around six million metric
tons of rice annually,” Recto noted.
He said it is hightime to invest
in “climate-smart, science-proven farming technologies.”
He also asked the government to
intensify its drive against rice smugglers while it is allowing rice imports
into the country.
Commodity
picks: 3 December, 2018
Availability of
cheaper substitutes like rice bran, churi and lower mustard cake prices will
further weigh on cotton oil cake prices
Prerana Desai Last Updated at December 2, 2018
21:51 IST
1
Castor is trading at Rs 5,360 per quintal in Deesa and is expected
to move higher towards Rs 5,470 per quintal following fresh buying at lower
levels and lower overall supplies.
Cotton oil cake
Cotton oil cake at the benchmark Akola market is trading at Rs
1,923 per quintal. For the week ahead, prices are expected to decline by Rs
30-60 per quintal and head towards Rs 1,880 per quintal due to higher
availability as arrivals are at a peak and cake demand from Rajasthan is lower
due to upcoming elections. Availability of cheaper substitutes like rice bran,
churi and lower mustard cake prices will further weigh on cotton oil cake
prices.
Prerana Desai, VP-Research -Edelweiss Agri Services and Credit,
Edelweiss Agri Value Chainhttps://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/commodity-picks-3-december-2018-118120200589_1.html
Rainfed rice on the rise in NSW Northern Rivers
by Liz Wells, 03 December 2018
THE RAINFED rice industry is gaining traction on the Northern
Rivers of New South Wales at a time when NSW’s traditional rice-growing area,
the Riverina, is reducing area due to competition from other crops and limited
water for irrigation.
Brett Slater in a rainfed rice
crop growing at Slater Farms near Casino in the Northern Rivers region of New
South Wales. Photo: Slater Farms
Northern Rivers’ production last year hit 3000 tonnes, and the
region is producing conventional and bio-dynamic rice, all of it milled at
Slater Farms near Casino, which added rice to its summer and winter-cropping
rotation after 2008.“That was the year we had our biggest flood in 50 years, and southern NSW had its smallest crop because of limited water,” Slater Farms principal Brett Slater said.
“A cane farmer near us was trialing rice, and we thought we would try it because it can cope so well with the wet conditions.”
Mr Slater and wife Karen grew their first rice crop in 2009, and have since transitioned from organic to bio-dynamic farming.
Rice now makes up one-third of Slater Farms’ summer-cropping area of 344 hectares, with soybeans holding the balance.
Move into milling
The Northern Rivers has an annual average rainfall of around
1000 millimetres. Most of it falls between January and March.The rainfall pattern makes the region ideal for growing rainfed rice, but its distance from existing rice mills in the Riverina in southern NSW, and the Burdekin in North Queensland, posed an immediate problem for Slater Farms.
“We realised that if we were growing rice, we’d have to market it ourselves, so we put a mill in in 2010.”
The mill arrived in four 40-foot shipping containers, and took six months to assemble.
It grades and dehulls the grain to produce brown rice. Mr Slater said the company was looking at adding a whitening process to its capabilities so it could also offer white rice to the market.
“Being a farmer, I understanding machinery and cropping, but the marketing world was a challenge for us.
“We’ve got good distributors now, and our rice has going into health-food stores in every state.”
Contract milling
Slater Farms is contract milling additional rice tonnage grown
in the region for Natural Rice Co, which is now being supplied by close to 50
Northern Rivers growers, including cane farmers who are trialling a
supplementary crop.Natural Rice Co managing director and food-industry veteran, Nelson Green, said the company was expecting to market rice from a record conventionally farmed area of at least 800ha next year.
“We’ve been going for three years, and now we’re focusing on building infrastructure in the form of storage,” Mr Green said.
Natural Rice Co is acquiring a site at Kyogle with potential to store up to 10,000t of rice, and with drying and aeration capacity to reduce rice moisture levels to around 14 per cent, instead of 22pc, which is common for rice at the time of harvest.
Farming challenges
Mr Slater said Slater Farms’ rice has yielded up to 7.5 tonnes
per hectare, and as little as 2.5t/ha.“It suffers in the dry years, but does better in the wet years than soybeans, which we can lose if they get waterlogged.
“Soybeans have more vigour when they’re younger, and rice is slower to start, but once it’s up and going, it’s a great crop.”
Slater Farms grows wheat, triticale and green-manure legume crops over winter.
Mr Slater said rice was a good fit with soybeans as a summer crop in a three or four-year rotation.
“We started planting rice late October or November, but found the pressure from grass weeds was high.
“Now we plant in December or early January to make better use of that summer rainfall, and use an inter-row cultivator to control the weeds.”
Slater Farms harvests its rice in May.
Going it alone
Under legislation which controls the rice industry in NSW, both
Slater Farms and Natural Rice Co are authorised to buy rice for domestic sale.“We can contract growers on a per-area basis, we can supply seed, give them agronomic support, and buy the rice from them, and we commit to a price, but we cannot export,” Mr Green said.
“SunRice holds the sole export licence for NSW rice.”
He said current legislation tied to the Rice Marketing Board and SunRice precludes Slater Farms and Natural Rice Co from holding an export licence.
Mr Green and Mr Slater both said they saw potential for growth in rice production in the Northern Rivers, and Mr Green said export markets would be welcomed.
“Growers in the Northern Rivers aren’t going to make any money out of rice if they send it to SunRice in the Riverina, so we have to find domestic markets,” Mr Green said.
“Because we’re not relying on irrigation allocations, we’ll always get a crop, and we’ve got to have the ability to switch on other markets when we have a big crop.”
According to SunRice, southern NSW in 2017 harvested 801,714t of rice at an average yield of 9.9t/ha.
SunRice has handled crops as large as 1.2 million tonnes, with around 80pc exported to more than 60 countries in years of large production.
Competition from cotton saw the 2018 crop come in at close to 600,000t, and limited irrigation supplies could mean the 2019 crop is a fraction of that, which would leave Australia’s domestic rice requirement of 300,000t profoundly short.
https://www.graincentral.com/cropping/rainfed-rice-on-the-rise-in-nsw-northern-rivers/
