Despite Climate Change, There Will Be Enough Food for
10 Billion in 2050
Food security is not the
problem, but nutrition security could be.
TimeEven in the worst-case climate scenarios, the world's farmers will
be able to produce more than enough affordable calories to feed 10 billion
people in the year 2050. So concludes a team led by the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign agronomist Gerald Nelson, whose study appeared recently in Nature
Sustainability; Nelson has summarized the results in an op-ed for The Washington
Post.
TimeEven in the worst-case climate scenarios, the world's farmers will
be able to produce more than enough affordable calories to feed 10 billion
people in the year 2050. So concludes a team led by the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign agronomist Gerald Nelson, whose study appeared recently in Nature
Sustainability; Nelson has summarized the results in an op-ed for The Washington
Post.
While that's excellent news, Nelson and his colleagues are worried
that a diet rich in carbohydrate calories from abundant wheat, rice, corn,
sorghum, and potatoes will be deficient in vital micronutrients needed to
maintain health. "Micronutrient shortages such as Vitamin A deficiency
are already causing blindness in somewhere
between 250,000 and 500,000 children a year and killing half of them within 12
months of them losing their sight," notes Nelson. "Dietary shortages
of iron, zinc, iodine and folate all have devastating health effects."
Nelson argues that crop breeders
need to shift their research emphasis from food security to nutrition security.
"A major effort must be made to increase the productivity—the yield per
hectare—of nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and
beans," he urges. "By enhancing their productivity, we'll make them
more available and affordable."
Certainly that would help. But an additional strategy would be to
use modern biotechnology to enhance the nutritional value of such staple crops
as wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and potatoes. This is exactly what Swiss
researchers have sought to do by developing golden rice, which boosts the amount of the vitamin A precursor beta-carotene
in that grain. Unfortunately, fearmongering anti-biotech ideologues have for nearly two decades
managed to block the commercial development of golden rice, thus condemning
hundreds of thousands of children in poor countries to blindness and death each
year.
Other biofortification researchers have used biotech to create
rice that boosted folate in that grain by 150-fold;
folate in lettuce by 15-fold; folate in beans by 84-fold. Crop breeders have
used biotech to create rice varieties with higher iron and zinc content. Tomatoes, carrots,
and lettuce varieties have been bioengineered to increase iodine levels.
Activists who continue to oppose
the deployment of crops created by safe modern biotechnology will only
exacerbate the challenges posed by the climate change they claim to worry
about.
Relax delivery norms, rice millers urge
state govt
Jan 7, 2019, 8:58 AM;
last updated: Jan 7, 2019, 8:58 AM (IST)
Nitish Sharma
Tribune News Service
Ambala, January 6
With the elections just three months away, the millers in the
state have again started building pressure on the government to relax the norms
for custom milling of rice.
Unhappy with the
quality of grain, the rice millers have been seeking relaxation in the
permissible limits of discoloured, broken and damaged yield while delivering it
to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
Raj Kumar Singla, president, Rice Millers’ Association,
Ambala, said: “Untimely rainfall badly affected the quality of the grain. The
millers who procure paddy have to return 67-kg per quintal rice to the FCI, in
which 3 per cent damaged, 3 per cent discoloured and 25 per cent broken grain
is allowed. However, as per the loss this year, there is a need to increase the
permissible limits to 5 per cent damaged and discoloured each and 30 per cent
broken.”
“Even the yield
has been on the lower side this time. So, we demand that the millers should be
allowed to return 64-kg per quintal rice instead of 67 kg,” he added.
Singla further
said: “The Uttar Pradesh Government has recently relaxed the norms and reduced
it to 64-kg per quintal rice and a similar step must be taken by the state.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has written a demi-official letter to the
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution requesting
him to relax the norms, but we are yet to hear anything from him.”
Sources,
however, said: “Millers have 58.5-lakh million tonnes (MT) of rice belonging to
the state procurement agencies, against which they have to deliver 39.2 lakh MT
to the government. If the demand of the rice millers is accepted, it will
amount to a financial burden of over Rs 580 crore to the state
government."
They said there
were about 1,100 rice millers in Haryana, of which 200 were big ones. “If their
demand is accepted, each of them is set to get an additional benefit between Rs
2 crore and Rs 5 crore. Also, the UP example given by the millers is also
irrelevant as the total procurement of paddy there is hardly 3 lakh MT.”
Chinese scientists
succeed in developing clonal seeds from hybrid rice
Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/1/6
7:41:14
Chinese scientists have succeeded in
developing clonal seeds from hybrid rice, said an online paper published in
Nature Biotechnology Friday night. The team, led by Wang Kejian, from the China
National Rice Research Institute and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, conducted simultaneous genome engineering of meiosis and
fertilization genes in developing the clonal seeds.
Usually, beneficial phenotypes are
lost in subsequent generations owing to genetic segregation. But with the
clonal seeds, the heterosis, or hybrid vigor of the hybrid rice, can be passed
on to produce high-yielding crops.
"The success has proved the
feasibility of apomixis for hybrid rice, which is significant theoretically. I
hope that with their further research, the seeds will be put into production
soon," said Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice."
Statistics show that China has planted 16 million hectares of hybrid rice,
about 57 percent of the total planting area of rice across the country. The
annual output of hybrid rice is about 2.5 million tonnes. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1134686.shtml
Scientists boost plant yield by
40% through ‘genetic hack’
James
Marshall
January
6, 2019
The
research is part of the efforts of Realizing Increased
Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an global research project which
influences engineered crops to use photosynthesis more efficiently and in that way increase
the productivity of food. They report that these engineered plants developed faster, grew taller, and
produced about 40 percent more biomass, most of which was found in
50-percent-larger stems. 
Researchers
are growing increasingly concerned about the ability of the world to feed a
growing population in a time of serious climate change.
It's
expected that agricultural demand will increase globally by 60-120% by the
middle of this century compared to 2005. However, crop yields are now only
increasing by less than 2% per year, suggesting there will be a significant
shortfall in meeting this demand. Instead, scientists are increasingly looking
to improving the process of photosynthesis as a way of increasing food
productivity. They found that these synthetic shortcuts boost productivity by
40 percent, and will now apply this breakthrough to boost the yield of food
crops. That process is called photorespiration, and it makes plants produce
way less food than they otherwise could.
Green
plants containing the protein rubisco use sunlight to convert
water and atmospheric carbon dioxide into life-sustaining organic compounds,
such as glucose.
Most
crops are plagued by a photosynthetic glitch.
It's the
first time that an engineered photorespiration fix has been tested in
real-world agronomic conditions, having been trialled on a tobacco plant.
"Rubisco has
even more trouble picking out carbon dioxide from oxygen as it gets hotter,
causing more photorespiration", co-author Amanda Cavanagh, an IL
postdoctoral researcher working on the RIPE project said in a statement.
"It's
been estimated that in plants like soybeans, rice and fruit and vegetables, it
can be a significant drag on yield by as much as 36%".
Now,
researchers from the University of IL and U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service have figured out a way to engineer plants with a
built-in photorespiratory shortcut that makes them 40% more productive in
real-world conditions.
One
important holdback is that the photosynthesis glitch becomes more prevalent
under the conditions of higher temperature and drought. This dramatically
reduced the resources needed to detoxify the plant. They also form a fully
closed canopy in the field similar to many food crops. However, they plan to
genetically engineer other plants such as soybeans, cowpeas, rice, potatoes,
tomatoes, and eggplants.
However,
the authors recognise that using genetic modification is controversial in many
parts of the world.
"The
research that's necessary to prove that it has low environmental impact and is
safe for consumption takes a minimum of ten years and many more dollars in
research funds to make sure that this is a good and safe food product",
said Dr South.
While it
will probably take over 10 years for this innovation to be converted into food
crops and accomplish regulatory approval, RIPE and its supporters are focused
on guaranteeing that smallholder farmers, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and
Southeast Asia, will have sovereignty free access to the majority of the
undertaking's achievements.
Inflation of rice in
Pakistan
Rice is such a natural thing every
religion people are eating. Unfortunately, in Pakistan now a day’s rice rate is
being increased. In a day millions of people are eating rice in Pakistan. When
the rice is being high price, the poor people can’t eat. The big reason of
inflation in rice is that, day by day Pakistan carnally is being because of
this, rice become expensive. I request to the government of Pakistan to take
strong action towards this issue and make the inflation rate of rice decreased.
SHABEER QADIR,
Chinese scientists succeed in developing
clonal seeds from hybrid rice
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-01-06 00:49:42|Editor: Yang Yi
HANGZHOU, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have succeeded
in developing clonal seeds from hybrid rice, said an online paper published in
Nature Biotechnology Friday night.
The team, led by Wang Kejian, from the China National Rice
Research Institute and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, conducted
simultaneous genome engineering of meiosis and fertilization genes in
developing the clonal seeds.
Usually, beneficial phenotypes are lost in subsequent
generations owing to genetic segregation. But with the clonal seeds, the
heterosis, or hybrid vigor of the hybrid rice, can be passed on to produce
high-yielding crops.
"The success has proved the feasibility of apomixis for
hybrid rice, which is significant theoretically. I hope that with their further
research, the seeds will be put into production soon," said Yuan Longping,
the "father of hybrid rice."
Statistics show that China has planted 16 million hectares of
hybrid rice, about 57 percent of the total planting area of rice across the
country. The annual output of hybrid rice is about 2.5 million tonnes.
Wild rice
task force calls for new stewardship council
A governor's task force on wild rice reached no consensus on major
changes to protect the plants in Minnesota but instead suggests creating a
permanent stewardship council to develop wild rice protections and plants for
the future. Forum News Service file photo
ST. PAUL -- A task force
appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton last May aimed at finding ways to protect,
preserve and promote wild rice across Minnesota has ended with several
recommendations but no new consensus on state regulations.The task force’s
final report, made public Friday, Jan. 4, said the issue of protecting wild
rice is too complex for the members to solve over a few months.
“Given the extraordinary
complexity of the subject matter and the short timeline for the task force,
task force members felt they would be remiss to make final recommendations on
some complex areas of the topic without additional efforts and voices,’’ the
final report notes.
Instead, task force members said
their primary recommendation is to create a new, apparently permanent state
Wild Rice Stewardship Council to develop long-term solutions to wild rice
problems and long term protections for wild rice lakes and rivers. 
The proposed stewardship council
members “would represent a wide range of interests and perspectives, and be
charged with making interdisciplinary recommendations on the management,
monitoring, outreach research, and regulation regarding wild rice,’’ the final
report notes, adding that the new council would be tasked by the state to
recommend a statewide standardized monitoring program, recommend a
comprehensive, statewide management plan for wild rice; encourage more research
on wild rice; and develop a “roadmap” for protecting wild rice from sulfate.
Dayton formed the task force by
executive order in May 2018. The 14 members met nine times over three months to
find ways to address the “regulatory, economic, and scientific challenges
associated with protecting wild rice.”
The final report outlines several
recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature and to incoming Gov. Tim Walz to
both protect wild rice and support continued economic development and job
creation across the state, including developing better relations between state
and tribal interests; instructing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to
improve its variance process; and declaring the first week of September “Wild
Rice Week” to build awareness of the value of wild rice in Minnesota.
The task force — comprised of
representatives from Red Lake Nation, Dakota Tribes, iron mining and copper
mining corporate officials, environmental advocacy groups, scientists, state
and local government agencies and others — agreed on basic tenets of protecting
wild rice and clean water; ensuring the viability of Minnesota communities;
respecting tribal sovereignty; the need to address biological, chemical, and
hydrological threats to wild rice; and sharing the burdens and benefits of any
solutions the state develops.
Kathryn Hoffman, who heads the
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and was a member of the task force,
said effort “made significant progress toward finding common ground on
solutions to protect wild rice’’ despite the limited timeframe.
“The recommendation to form a
Wild Rice Stewardship Council with full representation from all 11
federally-recognized Native American tribes, bands, and communities in the
State of Minnesota is critical for continued momentum forward,’’ Hoffman said
Friday in a statement. “We hope that Gov.-elect Tim Walz and the Minnesota
Legislature adopt its recommendations so that we can continue to work together
toward science-based solutions that protect wild rice.“
An industry representative on the
task force did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the report
Friday afternoon.
The task force didn’t answer the
question of potential sulfate pollution of wild rice beds from industrial
pollution, especially mining, and from sewage treatment plants. Scientists who
have studied the issue say sulfates can convert to sulfides in some waters and
harm development of wild rice. But there is disagreement between industry
scientists and others on how much impact those sulfides have, especially in
waters with different iron contents and chemistry.
The final report offered a vague
statement on sulfate saying that, while most researchers agree the
sulfate/sulfide process harms wild rice “there are wild rice waters that do not
fit this relationship where wild rice thrives. The rate at which sulfate is
converted to sulfide, and how wild rice plants are affected, is an active area
of scientific discussion.”
The report also notes that while
the Pollution Control Agency has forwarded an equation to determine the
sulfate/sulfide/wild rice relationship for individual lakes and rivers “other
researchers have disagreed with this approach and think the equation does not
sufficiently capture the dynamic biological, chemical, and hydrological
relationships related to the effects of sulfate on wild rice. Some researchers
believe the equation-based approach proposed by MPCA was over-protective of
wild rice, and others believe it was under-protective.”
Scientists Tout New Way to Boost Photosynthesis
(CN) – A study released Thursday
offers a glimmer of hope for more efficient crops that can better fill up on
warm sunlight and grow bigger and healthier.
Plant photosynthesis is at the
center of the study, published in the journal Science, helmed by researchers from
the University of Illinois and U.S. Department of Agriculture who say they have
engineered a bio-shortcut for plants to become 40 percent more efficient in
gathering sunlight and converting that into energy.
An unmodified plant (right) grows beside a modified
plant (left) engineered with an alternate route to shortcut photorespiration—a
circuitous and energy-expensive process that costs yield potential. The
modified plants are able to reinvest their energy and resources to
significantly boost productivity. (Photo credit: Claire Benjamin/RIPE Project)
Researchers say this could potentially feed up to 200 million
more people from the amount of energy that is otherwise lost when plants are
taxed and use energy-expensive means to gather nutrients from the sun.
This anti-photosynthesis process can be engineered out of plants
by introducing new pathways to help plants better turn carbon dioxide and water
into sugars that make them grow.
Over a two-year period, researchers stress-tested this process
on 1,700 tobacco plants, which grew faster, taller and produced about 40
percent more biomass.
“Reclaiming even a portion of these calories across the world
would go a long way to meeting the 21st Century’s rapidly expanding food
demands – driven by population growth and more affluent high-calorie diets,”
said Donald Ort, the Robert Emerson professor of plant science and crop
sciences at the University of Illinois.
The team will next apply the process to soybean, cowpea, rice,
potato, tomato, and eggplant crops, but don’t expect to see any of these
results in the produce aisle anytime soon as it will take at least a decade for
the technology to become common practice.
Meanwhile, in another study on light and heat published Thursday in the journal
Science, physicists from Rice University in Texas have created the world’s
first laser-cooled neutral plasma. It’s no small feat, as the team used laser
cooling on clouds of rapidly expanding ions to temperatures about 50 times
colder than deep space.
Plasmas tend to naturally occur in very hot places, like the
surface of the sun or in a lightning bolt, but in order to study the matter,
scientists had to cool, slow and trap particles with intersecting laser beams.
This allows physicists to study coupled plasmas outside of where
they naturally occur, like at the center of Jupiter or in white dwarf stars due
to their intense gravity-squeezing of ions.
Lead scientist Tom Killian, professor of physics and astronomy
at Rice, said his team is not aware of the practical payoff at this point, but
the work allows for the study of exotic states of matter.
“Nobody predicted that laser cooling atoms and ions would lead
to the world’s most accurate clocks or breakthroughs in quantum computing. We
do this because it’s a frontier,” said Killian.
The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific
Research and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
BREAKING: Customs Officials ‘Intercept’
Dangote Truck With 150 Bags Of Smuggled Rice
"One Dangote truck carrying
one hundred and fifty bags of foreign rice was intercepted along Mayo-Belwa
road on the last day of the year,” he stated. "The driver escaped but we
are sure that Dangote, being a responsible corporate entity, will identify and
apprehend the driver and hand him over to us for prosecution.”
BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKJAN 04,
2019
A Dangote truck has been
intercepted with smuggled rice by men of the Nigeria Customs Service in
Adamawa State, SaharaReporters can report.Kamardeen Olumoh, Comptroller of
Customs, Adamawa/Taraba command, paraded the truck to newsmen in Yola on
Friday. "One Dangote truck carrying one hundred and fifty bags of
foreign rice was intercepted along Mayo-Belwa road on the last day of the
year,” he stated.
"The driver escaped but we
are sure that Dangote, being a responsible corporate entity, will identify and
apprehend the driver and hand him over to us for prosecution.” 
Comptroller Olumoh further
disclosed other seizures made by the command, including rice, used clothing and
petroleum products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N59 million.
Giving a breakdown of seizures
during the preceding year, he said: "The command was able to make
sixty-one seizures, which were mainly foreign rice, totalling 1,740 bags.
Also seized were used vehicles,
secondhand clothing and 21,270 litres of petroleum products with a DPV of
N59,781,006.81.
"Three suspects are being
tried in relation to the smuggling offences,” he said.
Olumoh however lamented that the
command's revenue generation for the year was below expectation, a development
he blamed on insecurity and flooding within the command.
"The command generated
N168,294,227.83 from January to December 2018 as against N186,113,181.28
generated in 2017. 
"However, the amount fell
short of the revenue target of N197,301,635.98 for the year in review.
"This can be attributed to
challenges faced by officers and men of the command which include, the current
state of insurgency in the region, sectarian situation in the Republic of
Cameroon and recurring communal clashes in both Adamawa and Taraba states.”
How
Delta is encouraging rice production
ON JANUARY 6, 20194:56 AMIN VIEWPOINT1 COMMENT By Festus
Ahon As part of the Federal Government’s moves to ensure food sufficiency and
security, the Delta State government through its Youth Agricultural
Entrepreneurs Programme, YAGEP, has begun the production of rice in 10 kilogram
packs. Okowa YAGEP, which is part of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s job creation
programme, was established to create decent and gainful youth employment
through the agricultural value chain, boost agricultural productivity as well
as diversify the economy of the state. The design of YAGEP integrates
agricultural training (instructional and fieldwork), personal effectiveness
training, enterprise incubation, agricultural entrepreneurship training, farm
enterprise establishment in clusters and mentorship. Under the YAGEP, a total
of 757 previously unemployed youths have been trained, established and mentored
in agricultural enterprises over the three successive years/cycles of
implementation – 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/2018. The YAGEP rice initiative
started in 2017 with the cultivation of 74 hectares at Ugili-Amai, Ndokwa West
Local Government Area. Subsequently in 2018, the initiative involved the
cultivation of 42 hectares of rice at Deghele, Sapele Local Government Area and
54 hectares at Mbiri, Ika North East Local Government Area.
During the 2018
production year, the process involved 48 youth trainees working under close
tutorials, facilitation and guidance of the Office of the Chief Job Creation
Officer through knowledgeable and experienced resource persons from within and
outside the state. The rice value chain initiative involves instructional and
field-based training, farm enterprise incubation and establishment of youths
through the entire process of rice production, processing, packaging, branding
and marketing.
The programme activities include soil tests and site
selection, land preparation (clearing, ploughing and harrowing), seed treatment
and planting, soil treatment, weeds prevention and control, fertilizer
application, prevention and control of pests and diseases and birds scaring.
Other operations include harvesting (cutting and packing), threshing, drying,
winnowing, washing/parboiling, milling, destoning and packaging/bagging. The
cultivation, harvesting, threshing, drying, parboiling, milling, destoning and
bagging operations were carried out with participation of the YAGEPreneurs. All
the inputs, technologies and materials used in the rice production and
processing and packaging operations were provided by the Office of the Chief
Job Creation Officer. The Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof Eric Eboh in a chat
with Sunday Vanguard said; “the trainees have been programmed to acquire skills
for practical knowledge, entrepreneurship and self-employment in the rice value
chain, comprising rice farming, rice pre-processing, rice processing and rice
marketing.
“As strategy, the trainings are integrated in the rice
production and processing activities in order to achieve maximum impact and
sustainability. The trainees were taken through the entire range of rice
production activities – soil tests and site selection, mechanical land clearing
and land preparation, seed treatment and sowing, soil treatment and management,
pest and disease control measures, weed prevention and control measures, birds
prevention and control measures, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, parboiling,
milling, packaging and branding. “The performance of the trainees in the two
rice farm clusters – Deghele and Mbiri – is satisfactory. The trainees,
otherwise called YAGEPreneurs, will apply the knowledge and skills to continue
production and maintain self-employment. Effects on the economy of the state.
“Rice is one of the priority agricultural commodities in the state. The
production of YAGEP rice has boosted economy of the state as well as
demonstrated the potentials for creating youth employment through the rice
value chain. The rice production system adopted under YAGEP provides critical
demonstration effects on the rice economy of the state, as it involved the
application of best agricultural practices. “Many farmers have learnt new
improved rice production techniques and practices through the YAGEP rice
production process and are poised to applying same in their respective farm
enterprises. Statistics derived from recent economic data released by the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that agricultural sector in Delta
State has grown at an annual average of 13.3% from 2015-2017, compared to 8.6%
from 2013-2015. This accelerated growth of agriculture in the past 3 years
(that is, since 2015) is a clear evidence of the positive impacts of YAGEP on
the economy of the state. “In addition, the success of YAGEP has encouraged
youths towards seeking self-employment through agricultural entrepreneurship.
This is reflected by the increasing demand for admission into YAGEP”.
Customs impounds Dangote truck with smuggled foreign rice in
Adamawa
By Emmanuel
Ande, Yola
05 January 2019
| 4:11 am
Ogun community appeals
to Buhari, Fashola over outage
In a
renewed fight against the smuggling of foreign rice and other goods into the
country, the Nigerian Customs service has impounded a Dangote truck with 150
bags of foreign rice in Mayo-Belwa local government in Adamawa state.While
briefing journalists yesterday in Yola, Area Commander of Adamawa/Taraba
command, Comtroller Kamardeen Olumoh, said that the driver of the truck escaped
after his men shot the tires of the vehicle when the driver attempted to run
away with the illegal goods.
Olumoh
said that his command last year generated N168 million, falling short of N29
million, which was their target for 2018, blaming the short-fall on the
activities of insurgents, farmers/herders clashes in both Adamawa and Taraba as
well as flooding which has affected the roads and the sectarian situation in
the Republic of Cameroon.
He
stated that his command has seized 1,740 bags of foreign rice, vehicles and
other goods including petroleum products with a duty paid value of N59.7
million, pointing out that three suspected smugglers are being tried in
relation to smuggling offences.
The rice revolution
6th January 2019
With the exponential
growth in local rice production, stakeholders say Nigeria has moved closer to
ending rice importation.Olakunle Olafioye, Olanrewaju Lawal (Kebbi), Geoffrey
Anyanwu (Awka) and Obinna Odogwu (Abakaliki)
The claim by the
United States Department of Agriculture Culture Agency that Nigeria is likely
to become the world’s second largest rice importer in 2019, may not hold water after
all as findings by Sunday Sun revealed that the nation is on course in its
determination to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.
In its latest report,
Rice Outlook, released recently, the US had projected that Nigeria would become
second largest rice importer this year, with China becoming world’s largest
importer of rice.
Contrary to this
claim, findings by Sunday Sun in some select rice producing states in the
country showed that the Federal Government is on course with its commitment to
making the nation self-reliant in rice production.
As parts of the
current administration’s commitment to boost rice production in the country,
President Muhammadu Buhari launched the Anchor Borrowers Programme on November
17, 2015.
The programme is aimed
at providing farm inputs in cash and kind to small-holder farmers in order to
boost local production of commodities, including rice; stabilize inputs supply
to agro-processors and address the country’s negative balance of payments on
food.
The result is the exponential
growth in local rice production, which stakeholders claimed has now moved
Nigeria closer to ending rice importation.
Sunday Sun gathered
that within two years, rice importation from Thailand fell from 644,131 metric
tons in September 2015 to 20,000 metric tons in September 2017, a drop of over
90 per cent.
The development is
contrary to the claim made by the American report: “On an annual basis,
consumption and residual use is projected higher in 2018/19 in Angola, Benin,
Burkina-Faso, Cambodia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya,
Madagascar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
“China and Nigeria are
projected to remain the largest rice importing countries in 2019, followed by
the EU, Cote d’Ivoire, and Iran. Nigeria and Egypt are projected to account for
the bulk of the 2019 import increase. Imports in 2019 are also projected to be
larger than a year earlier for Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire,
EU, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates and
the United States.
“Global rice
consumption (including a residual component) in 2018/19 is projected at a
record 488.4 million tons, down 0.1 million tons from the previous forecast but
up more than 1 per cent from a year earlier.”
Stakeholders in
Nigeria, however, dismissed the report, describing it as erroneous and
misleading just as findings by Sunday Sun in some rice producing states
confirmed federal and state governments’ relentless efforts to make Nigeria a
force to be reckoned with in rice production.
In Kebbi State,
despite the devastating effects of flood this year, about 200,000 rice farmers
who cultivated over 500,000 hectares rice farm still recorded bumper harvest.
Findings by Sunday Sun
showed that only the rice farmers along the banks of River Rima and River Niger
were mostly affected by the flood while other rice farmers in the high land
(outside river banks) recorded good harvest.
Speaking with Sunday
Sun, Chairman, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), in the state, Alhaji
Mohammed Sahabi Augie, disclosed that since rice farming was not restricted to
the rainy season, flooding which was experienced in many local government areas
in the state did not affect production of paddy rice for rice mills in the
state.
Augie explained: “Our
membership is increasing every day and that is why more rice mills are
springing up in the state. Before, it was only Labana Rice Mill, but today, we
have WACOT in Argungu, there is another one in Kamba and Dangote Group is
planning to establish their rice-processing compact in Yauri. If they have not
been getting enough raw materials, that is, paddy rice, how would they be
establishing more rice mills?
“I can tell you today
that what we have harvested so far could sustain our rice mills in the state
for the next six months. So, before they exhaust, we would have recorded
another bumper harvest.” Augie while reacting to the report that Nigeria would
be among the largest importers of rice in 2019, described the report by the US
agency as propaganda aimed at rubbishing the Federal Government’s efforts.
“Nigerians and rice
farmers have not had it so good like this. Today, there an organized market for
rice farmers to sell their paddy rice directly to the companies and making
profits not through agents again who have been making money and subjecting us
to debts. What I think state governments should do now is to introduce their
own agriculture initiatives just as the Federal Government introduced the
Anchored Borrowers Scheme, which has yielded positive impact today. We are
getting more new rice farmers, therefore, there is a need to have more
extension service agents to teach our new entrants technology and skills on
rice plantation.”
In Ebonyi State, the
Commissioner for Agriculture, Moses Nomeh, confirmed to Sunday Sun that the
state has been receiving support from the Federal Government to boost its rice
production.
“We are benefiting
from the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers Scheme. And it is part of the
things we are using to drive agriculture in Ebonyi State. In 2017, we got N3
billion and we distributed it to 14,642 farmers in the state.
“We are also
benefiting from the Federal Government’s loan. We have also got equipment from
the Federal Government. For example, they gave us threshers which we are
sharing now,” he added.
But despite the
support received from the Federal Government, Sunday Sun gathered that rice
farmers in Ebonyi State still face a number of challenges.
Findings showed that a
good number of rice farmers are yet to have access to reliable supply of high
quality local paddy, particularly as the dry season production is almost
non-existent in the state.
Similarly, access to
credit facility is still a major challenge just as land preparation remains the
farmers’ nightmare; and post-harvest processing, among others.
An executive member of
the Abakaliki Rice Mill Owners Association (ARMOA) and Rice Millers Association
(RMA), Mr Augustine Obasi, told Sunday Sun that in addition, flooding, illegal
activities of rice importers and smugglers are other sources of concern to rice
farmers in the state.
In Anambra State, the
state government’s determination to hit 600,000 metric tons in rice production
is on course as the state currently produces 345, 000 metric tons.
Confirming this to
Sunday Sun, the Technical Assistant to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr
Chinedu Nwankwo, said: “When it comes to rice production in Anambra, the state
currently has 345,000 metric tons and going by the target the state has from
the governor’s administrative blueprint, we are expected to hit 600,000 metric
tonnes by 2020.
“When it comes to the
possibility of achieving it, yes the state can achieve it based on the
machinery the government, the governor and the initiatives of the commissioner
have put on ground. The state has a very good focus. 
“Over N3.5 billion has
been set aside to ensure land development and the support Governor Willie
Obiano is giving in terms of provision inputs. For this year, a total sum of
N195 million has been set aside for the procurement of inputs to achieve the
expected target of the year for the state.
“Also looking at the
partnership and investment system of the state, now the state has very good
investors on ground, people like Coscharis Group, which has over 3000 to 5000 hectares
of land it is cultivating.
Also there are other
investors in rice production and so on, all these are being channeled to
achieve the set target.” Coscharis rice farm
In terms of reducing post-harvest loss, the state, Sunday Sun
gathered, is strategically set to assist processors by providing equipment and
other necessary support.
In spite of this, rice farmers in the state still have to
contend with flooding, according to Okonkwo.
“One of the major challenges the state is facing at the moment
is flooding. Anambra is one of the states affected by the flood in the country
and a good number of our farmlands were affected. We have over 20,000 hectares
of rice farms that were affected and it was devastating, especially when these
farmers had already positioned themselves for harvest, only to encounter flood.
It was a major setback.
“But be that as it may, the state is not relenting. Not long
ago, the governor launched the dry season farming and rice production is one of
the areas by repositioning the state in provision of water pump for dry season,
irrigation facilities in some locations like Ayamelum, Ogbaru and Ihiala. Also
a good number of farmers have been assisted with water pumps and tube wells.
“Apart from that we have been able to observe that the residue
moisture complex of the state is good enough to enable production of dry season
rice that will give, you know yield rate in dry season is too high, so what we
are doing in Anambra is very strategic and transparent in that aspect and I
believe we are on course.
“2020 is possibility and is even the target of the ministry for
the dry season where we say that zero hunger is possible. Not only zero hunger,
we are also looking at healthy farmer, healthy farm scheme, so with this two
schemes, we will be able to increase and if not surpass the expected target in
rice production,” he boasted.
Despite the success recorded so far in its bid to make Nigeria
self-sufficient in rice production, the Federal Government is not relenting. As
part of the effort to crash the price of local rice, the Federal Government has
disclosed its plan to disburse N60 billion to subsidise rice production.
The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, made the disclosure
after a meeting of the National Council on Food Security presided over by
President Buhari last year.
Ogbe said: “There is a subsidy programme coming up. Government
has approved N60 billion to support the rice industry to bring down prices. But
we are going to handle it differently.
“We don’t want to get into petroleum subsidy problem. So, a
committee is looking at it with the Ministry of Finance. We think that it is
better for us to lend money to the millers, farmers and distributors at a very
low interest rate, so that the capital doesn’t disappear, so they have cheaper
credit to do their business that should impact on the price of rice in the
market. When we are ready we will let you know.”
He added that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had
concluded plans to restructure the Bank of Agriculture, to make it possible for
investors and farmers to buy shares in the bank.
“It will eventually become the farmers’ bank. And we hope that
in the process this will bring down interest rates reasonably maybe five
percent or a little higher, so that agriculture will become attractive and
people can raise capital to invest,” he said.
Ogbeh also said that the Federal Government had approved N24 billion as
compensation for flood victims across the country.
Wild rice
task force calls for new stewardship council
A governor's task force on wild rice reached no consensus on major
changes to protect the plants in Minnesota but instead suggests creating a
permanent stewardship council to develop wild rice protections and plants for
the future. (file / News Tribune)
A task force appointed by Gov.
Mark Dayton last May aimed at finding ways to protect, preserve and promote
wild rice across Minnesota has ended with several recommendations but no new
consensus on state regulations.
The task force's final report,
made public Friday, said the issue of protecting wild rice is too complex for
the members to solve over a few months.
"Given the extraordinary
complexity of the subject matter and the short timeline for the task force,
task force members felt they would be remiss to make final recommendations on
some complex areas of the topic without additional efforts and voices,'' the
final report notes.
Instead, task force members said
their primary recommendation is to create a new, apparently permanent state Wild
Rice Stewardship Council to develop long-term solutions to wild rice problems
and long term protections for wild rice lakes and rivers.
The proposed stewardship council
members "would represent a wide range of interests and perspectives, and
be charged with making interdisciplinary recommendations on the management,
monitoring, outreach research, and regulation regarding wild rice,'' the final
report notes, adding that the new council would be tasked by the state to
recommend a statewide standardized monitoring program, recommend a
comprehensive, statewide management plan for wild rice; encourage more research
on wild rice; and develop a "roadmap" for protecting wild rice from
sulfate.
Dayton formed the task force by
executive order in May 2018. The 14 members met nine times over three months to
find ways to address the "regulatory, economic, and scientific challenges
associated with protecting wild rice."
The final report outlines several
recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature and to incoming Gov. Tim Walz to
both protect wild rice and support continued economic development and job
creation across the state, including developing better relations between state
and tribal interests; instructing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to
improve its variance process; and declaring the first week of September
"Wild Rice Week" to build awareness of the value of wild rice in
Minnesota.
The task force — comprised of
representatives from Red Lake Nation, Dakota Tribes, iron mining and copper
mining corporate officials, environmental advocacy groups, scientists, state
and local government agencies and others — agreed on basic tenets of protecting
wild rice and clean water; ensuring the viability of Minnesota communities;
respecting tribal sovereignty; the need to address biological, chemical, and
hydrological threats to wild rice; and sharing the burdens and benefits of any
solutions the state develops.
Kathryn Hoffman, who heads the
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and was a member of the task force,
said effort "made significant progress toward finding common ground on
solutions to protect wild rice'' despite the limited timeframe.
"The recommendation to form
a Wild Rice Stewardship Council with full representation from all 11
federally-recognized Native American tribes, bands, and communities in the
State of Minnesota is critical for continued momentum forward,'' Hoffman said
Friday in a statement. "We hope that Gov.-elect Tim Walz and the Minnesota
Legislature adopt its recommendations so that we can continue to work together
toward science-based solutions that protect wild rice."
An industry representative on the
task force did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the report
Friday afternoon. 
The task force didn't answer the
question of potential sulfate pollution of wild rice beds from industrial
pollution, especially mining, and from sewage treatment plants. Scientists who
have studied the issue say sulfates can convert to sulfides in some waters and
harm development of wild rice. But there is disagreement between industry
scientists and others on how much impact those sulfides have, especially in
waters with different iron contents and chemistry.
The final report offered a vague
statement on sulfate saying that, while most researchers agree the
sulfate/sulfide process harms wild rice "there are wild rice waters that
do not fit this relationship where wild rice thrives. The rate at which sulfate
is converted to sulfide, and how wild rice plants are affected, is an active
area of scientific discussion."
The report also notes that while
the Pollution Control Agency has forwarded an equation to determine the
sulfate/sulfide/wild rice relationship for individual lakes and rivers
"other researchers have disagreed with this approach and think the
equation does not sufficiently capture the dynamic biological, chemical, and
hydrological relationships related to the effects of sulfate on wild rice. Some
researchers believe the equation-based approach proposed by MPCA was
over-protective of wild rice, and others believe it was under-protective."
A new way to genetically tweak
photosynthesis boosts plant growth
Tobacco plants
with a simplified process of photorespiration grew 40 percent bigger
2:00PM, JANUARY 3, 2019
FIELD TEST Field tests with plants under real-world farming conditions
have revealed how tweaking plants’ genetic instructions for a process called
photorespiration increases crop yield.
BRIAN STAUFFER/UNIV. OF ILLINOIS
A genetic hack to make photosynthesis more efficient could be a
boon for agricultural production, at least for some plants.This feat of genetic engineering simplifies a complex, energy-expensive operation that many plants must perform during photosynthesis known as photorespiration. In field tests, genetically modifying tobacco in this way increased plant growth by over 40 percent. If it produces similar results in other crops, that could help farmers meet the food demands of a growing global population, researchers report in the Jan. 4 Science.
Streamlining photorespiration is “a great step forward in efforts to enhance photosynthesis,” says Spencer Whitney, a plant biochemist at Australian National University in Canberra not involved in the work.
Now that the agricultural industry has mostly optimized the use of yield-boosting tools like pesticides, fertilizers and irrigation, researchers are trying to micromanage and improve plant growth by designing ways to make photosynthesis more efficient (SN: 12/24/16, p. 6).
Photorespiration is a major roadblock to achieving such efficiency. It occurs in many plants, such as soybeans, rice and wheat, when an enzyme called Rubisco — whose main job is to help transform carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into sugars that fuel plant growth — accidentally snatches an oxygen molecule out of the atmosphere instead.
That Rubisco-oxygen interaction, which happens about 20 percent of the time, generates the toxic compound glycolate, which a plant must recycle into useful molecules through photorespiration. This processes comprises a long chain of chemical reactions that span four compartments in a plant cell. All told, completing a cycle of photorespiration is like driving from Maine to Florida by way of California. That waste of energy can cut crop yields by 20 to 50 percent, depending on plant species and environmental conditions.
Using genetic engineering, researchers have now designed a more direct chemical pathway for photorespiration that is confined to a single cell compartment — the cellular equivalent of a Maine-to-Florida road trip straight down the East Coast.
Paul South, a molecular biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Urbana, Ill., and colleagues embedded genetic directions for this shortcut, written on pieces of algae and pumpkin DNA, in tobacco plant cells. The researchers also genetically engineered the cells to not produce a chemical that allows glycolate to travel between cell compartments to prevent the glycolate from taking its normal route through the cell.
NEW AND IMPROVED Modifying
tobacco plants’ genetic instructions for photosynthesis increased the growth of
tobacco plants by about 40 percent (one at left) compared with unmodified
plants (one at right).
CLAIRE BENJAMIN/RIPE PROJECT
Unlike
previous experiments with human-designed photorespiration pathways, South’s
team tested its photorespiration detour in plants grown in fields under
real-world farming conditions. Genetically altered tobacco produced 41 percent
more biomass than tobacco that hadn’t been modified.
“It’s very exciting” to see how well this genetic tweak worked in
tobacco, says Veronica Maurino, a plant physiologist at Heinrich Heine
University Düsseldorf in Germany not involved in the research, but “you can’t
say, ‘It’s functioning. Now it will function everywhere.’”Experiments with different types of plants will reveal whether this photorespiration fix creates the same benefits for other crops as it does for tobacco. South’s team is currently running greenhouse experiments on potatoes with the new set of genetic modifications, and plans to do similar tests with soybeans, black-eyed peas and rice.
The vetting process for such genetic modifications to be approved for use on commercial farms, including more field testing, will probably take at least another five to 10 years, says Andreas Weber, a plant biochemist also at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf who coauthored a commentary on the study that appears in the same issue of Science. In the meantime, he expects that researchers will continue trying to design even more efficient photorespiration shortcuts, but South’s team “has now set a pretty high bar.”
Do plants favor their kin?
Elizabeth
Pennisi
See all authors and affiliations
Science 04
Jan 2019:
Vol. 363, Issue 6422, pp. 15-16
DOI: 10.1126/science.363.6422.15
Vol. 363, Issue 6422, pp. 15-16
DOI: 10.1126/science.363.6422.15
Summary
More than a decade ago, a Canadian biologist
planted the seed of the idea that plants help close relatives. Many plant
biologists regarded it as heretical—plants lack the nervous systems that enable
animals to recognize kin recognition, so how can they know their relatives? But
with a series of recent findings, the notion that plants really do care for
their most genetically close peers—in a quiet, plant-y way—is taking root. Some
species constrain how far their roots spread, others change how many flowers they
produce, and a few tilt or shift their leaves to minimize shading of
neighboring plants, favoring related individuals. The new work may even have a
practical side, suggesting ways to increase crop yields.
Scientists Tweak Photosynthesis and Enhance Crop
Development by 40 %
A slow enzyme named rubisco has left plenty of room for
improvement.
Without photosynthesis, life as
we know it wouldn’t exist on Earth. When plants convert light energy into
chemical energy, they release oxygen as a byproduct. But over the past
millennia, they’ve slowly become less effective at production. Researchers at
the U.S Department of Agriculture and the University of Illinois have
engineered a correction and figured out how to make crops that are 40 percent
more productive in real-world farming conditions.
The problem lies with an enzyme
known as rubisco, short for “ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase.”
Rubisco has a crucial role in the photosynthetic process: It takes inorganic
carbon dioxide and transforms it into organic carbon. However, for an enzyme
that plays a crucial role for all life on Earth, scientists describe it as
“remarkably inefficient.” Most enzymes can process thousands of molecules in
the time it takes rubisco to process two or three.
Plants typically make up for this
by creating lots and lots of rubisco—so much that it’s the most ample enzyme on
Earth. And for the most part, it’s worked. Rubisco has been converting carbon
dioxide into organic carbon to the extent that Earth’s current atmosphere is
rich with oxygen.
But the inefficient enzyme has
encountered another difficulty. It’s begun to confuse its natural diet of
carbon dioxide molecules with oxygen. That’s no good for photosynthesis. When
rubisco grabs oxygen, as scientists say it does around 20 percent of the time,
it forces the plant to undergo an energy-consuming process known as
photorespiration. During photorespiration, a plant sends its enzymes through
three different compartments within the plant cell.
“Photorespiration is
anti-photosynthesis,” says lead author Paul South, a research molecular biologist
with the Agricultural Research Service, in a press statement. “It costs the
plant precious energy and resources that it could have invested in
photosynthesis to produce more growth and yield.”
Over two years, the research team
attempted to develop a more efficient version of photorespiration. Testing
through 1,700 plants, they created three. These new methods of photorespiration
using alternate sets of promoters and genes, allowing plants to achieve the
same results while expending far less energy,
“Much like the Panama Canal was a
feat of engineering that increased the efficiency of trade, these
photorespiratory shortcuts are a feat of plant engineering that prove a unique
means to greatly increase the efficiency of photosynthesis,” says Stephen Long,
the Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at
Illinois and director of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE).
In field studies, these
engineered plants were able to develop plants faster, grow taller, and produce
around 40 percent more biomass.
Although only tested in tobacco
(an ideal test subject due to its relative genetic simplicity and big ol’
leaves) scientists now hope to expand testing to crops that make up the staples
of many diets around the globe: soybeans, cowpeas, rice, potatoes, tomatoes,
and eggplants. Scientists anticipate a decade-long journey towards gaining
regulatory approval for the new engineering across the glob.
After that process, smaller farms
in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia could have royalty-free access to
these engineered plants producing more oxygen than they have in a long time.
Source: University of Illinois
Chinese scientists succeed in developing clonal seeds from
hybrid rice
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-01-06 00:49:42|Editor: Yang Yi
HANGZHOU, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have succeeded
in developing clonal seeds from hybrid rice, said an online paper published in
Nature Biotechnology Friday night.
The team, led by Wang Kejian, from the China National Rice
Research Institute and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, conducted
simultaneous genome engineering of meiosis and fertilization genes in
developing the clonal seeds.
Usually, beneficial phenotypes are lost in subsequent
generations owing to genetic segregation. But with the clonal seeds, the
heterosis, or hybrid vigor of the hybrid rice, can be passed on to produce
high-yielding crops.
"The success has proved the feasibility of apomixis for
hybrid rice, which is significant theoretically. I hope that with their further
research, the seeds will be put into production soon," said Yuan Longping,
the "father of hybrid rice."
Statistics show that China has planted 16 million hectares of
hybrid rice, about 57 percent of the total planting area of rice across the
country. The annual output of hybrid rice is about 2.5 million tonnes.
Wild rice task force calls for new
stewardship council
107
A governor's task force on wild rice reached no consensus on major
changes to protect the plants in Minnesota but instead suggests creating a
permanent stewardship council to develop wild rice protections and plants for
the future. (file / News Tribune)
A task force appointed by Gov.
Mark Dayton last May aimed at finding ways to protect, preserve and promote
wild rice across Minnesota has ended with several recommendations but no new
consensus on state regulations. 
The task force's final report,
made public Friday, said the issue of protecting wild rice is too complex for
the members to solve over a few months.
"Given the extraordinary
complexity of the subject matter and the short timeline for the task force,
task force members felt they would be remiss to make final recommendations on
some complex areas of the topic without additional efforts and voices,'' the
final report notes.
Instead, task force members said
their primary recommendation is to create a new, apparently permanent state
Wild Rice Stewardship Council to develop long-term solutions to wild rice
problems and long term protections for wild rice lakes and rivers.
The proposed stewardship council
members "would represent a wide range of interests and perspectives, and
be charged with making interdisciplinary recommendations on the management,
monitoring, outreach research, and regulation regarding wild rice,'' the final
report notes, adding that the new council would be tasked by the state to
recommend a statewide standardized monitoring program, recommend a
comprehensive, statewide management plan for wild rice; encourage more research
on wild rice; and develop a "roadmap" for protecting wild rice from
sulfate.
Dayton formed the task force by
executive order in May 2018. The 14 members met nine times over three months to
find ways to address the "regulatory, economic, and scientific challenges
associated with protecting wild rice."
The final report outlines several
recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature and to incoming Gov. Tim Walz to both
protect wild rice and support continued economic development and job creation
across the state, including developing better relations between state and
tribal interests; instructing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to improve
its variance process; and declaring the first week of September "Wild Rice
Week" to build awareness of the value of wild rice in Minnesota.
The task force — comprised of
representatives from Red Lake Nation, Dakota Tribes, iron mining and copper
mining corporate officials, environmental advocacy groups, scientists, state
and local government agencies and others — agreed on basic tenets of protecting
wild rice and clean water; ensuring the viability of Minnesota communities;
respecting tribal sovereignty; the need to address biological, chemical, and
hydrological threats to wild rice; and sharing the burdens and benefits of any
solutions the state develops.
Kathryn Hoffman, who heads the
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and was a member of the task force,
said effort "made significant progress toward finding common ground on
solutions to protect wild rice'' despite the limited timeframe.
"The recommendation to form
a Wild Rice Stewardship Council with full representation from all 11
federally-recognized Native American tribes, bands, and communities in the
State of Minnesota is critical for continued momentum forward,'' Hoffman said
Friday in a statement. "We hope that Gov.-elect Tim Walz and the Minnesota
Legislature adopt its recommendations so that we can continue to work together
toward science-based solutions that protect wild rice."
An industry representative on the
task force did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the report
Friday afternoon.
The task force didn't answer the
question of potential sulfate pollution of wild rice beds from industrial
pollution, especially mining, and from sewage treatment plants. Scientists who
have studied the issue say sulfates can convert to sulfides in some waters and
harm development of wild rice. But there is disagreement between industry
scientists and others on how much impact those sulfides have, especially in
waters with different iron contents and chemistry.
The final report offered a vague
statement on sulfate saying that, while most researchers agree the sulfate/sulfide
process harms wild rice "there are wild rice waters that do not fit this
relationship where wild rice thrives. The rate at which sulfate is converted to
sulfide, and how wild rice plants are affected, is an active area of scientific
discussion."
The report also notes that while
the Pollution Control Agency has forwarded an equation to determine the
sulfate/sulfide/wild rice relationship for individual lakes and rivers
"other researchers have disagreed with this approach and think the equation
does not sufficiently capture the dynamic biological, chemical, and
hydrological relationships related to the effects of sulfate on wild rice. Some
researchers believe the equation-based approach proposed by MPCA was
over-protective of wild rice, and others believe it was under-protective."
Scientists boost plant yield by
40% through ‘genetic hack’
James
Marshall
January
6, 2019
The
research is part of the efforts of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic
Efficiency (RIPE), an global research project which
influences engineered crops to use photosynthesis more efficiently and in that way increase
the productivity of food. They report that these engineered plants developed faster, grew taller, and
produced about 40 percent more biomass, most of which was found in
50-percent-larger stems.
Researchers
are growing increasingly concerned about the ability of the world to feed a
growing population in a time of serious climate change.
It's
expected that agricultural demand will increase globally by 60-120% by the
middle of this century compared to 2005. However, crop yields are now only
increasing by less than 2% per year, suggesting there will be a significant
shortfall in meeting this demand. Instead, scientists are increasingly looking
to improving the process of photosynthesis as a way of increasing food 
productivity. They found that these synthetic
shortcuts boost productivity by 40 percent, and will now apply this
breakthrough to boost the yield of food crops. That process is called
photorespiration, and it makes plants produce
way less food than they otherwise could.
productivity. They found that these synthetic
shortcuts boost productivity by 40 percent, and will now apply this
breakthrough to boost the yield of food crops. That process is called
photorespiration, and it makes plants produce
way less food than they otherwise could.
Green
plants containing the protein rubisco use sunlight to convert
water and atmospheric carbon dioxide into life-sustaining organic compounds,
such as glucose.
Most
crops are plagued by a photosynthetic glitch.
It's the
first time that an engineered photorespiration fix has been tested in
real-world agronomic conditions, having been trialled on a tobacco plant.
"Rubisco has
even more trouble picking out carbon dioxide from oxygen as it gets hotter,
causing more photorespiration", co-author Amanda Cavanagh, an IL
postdoctoral researcher working on the RIPE project said in a statement.
"It's
been estimated that in plants like soybeans, rice and fruit and vegetables, it
can be a significant drag on yield by as much as 36%".
Now,
researchers from the University of IL and U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service have figured out a way to engineer plants with a
built-in photorespiratory shortcut that makes them 40% more productive in real-world
conditions.
One
important holdback is that the photosynthesis glitch becomes more prevalent
under the conditions of higher temperature and drought. This dramatically
reduced the resources needed to detoxify the plant. They also form a fully
closed canopy in the field similar to many food crops. However, they plan to
genetically engineer other plants such as soybeans, cowpeas, rice, potatoes,
tomatoes, and eggplants.
However,
the authors recognise that using genetic modification is controversial in many
parts of the world.
"The
research that's necessary to prove that it has low environmental impact and is
safe for consumption takes a minimum of ten years and many more dollars in
research funds to make sure that this is a good and safe food product",
said Dr South.
While it
will probably take over 10 years for this innovation to be converted into food
crops and accomplish regulatory approval, RIPE and its supporters are focused
on guaranteeing that smallholder farmers, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and
Southeast Asia, will have sovereignty free access to the majority of the
undertaking's achievements.
Scientists
Tweak Photosynthesis and Boost Crop Growth by 40 Percent
A slow enzyme named rubisco has left plenty of room for
improvement.
Jan 5, 2019
JAMES BALTZ/COLLEGE OF
AGRICULTURAL
Without
photosynthesis, life as we know it wouldn't exist on Earth. When plants convert
light energy into chemical energy, they release oxygen as a byproduct. But over
the past millennia, they've slowly become less effective at production.
Researchers at the U.S Department of Agriculture and the University of Illinois
have engineered a correction and figured out how to make crops that are 40
percent more productive in real-world farming conditions.
The problem
lies with an enzyme known as rubisco, short for "ribulose bisphosphate
carboxylase/oxygenase." Rubisco has a crucial role in the photosynthetic
process: It takes inorganic carbon dioxide and transforms it into organic
carbon. However, for an enzyme that plays a crucial role for all life on Earth,
scientists describe it as "remarkably inefficient."
Most enzymes can process thousands of molecules in the time it takes rubisco to
process two or three.
Plants
typically make up for this by creating lots and lots of rubisco—so much that
it's the most ample enzyme on Earth. And for the most part, it's worked. Rubisco
has been converting carbon dioxide into organic carbon to the extent that
Earth's current atmosphere is rich with oxygen.
But the
inefficient enzyme has encountered another difficulty. It's begun to confuse
its natural diet of carbon dioxide molecules with oxygen. That's no good for
photosynthesis. When rubisco grabs oxygen, as scientists say it does around 20
percent of the time, it forces the plant to undergo an energy-consuming process
known as photorespiration. During photorespiration, a plant sends its enzymes
through three different compartments within the plant cell.
“Photorespiration
is anti-photosynthesis,” says lead author Paul South, a research molecular biologist with the
Agricultural Research Service, in a press
statement. “It costs
the plant precious energy and resources that it could have invested in
photosynthesis to produce more growth and yield.”
Scientists Don Ort (left), Paul
South (center) and Amanda Cavanagh (right) studying their engineered plants
next to plants that undergoing photorespiration naturally.
CLAIRE BENJAMIN/RIPE PROJECT
Over two
years, the research team attempted to develop a more efficient version of
photorespiration. Testing through 1,700 plants, they created three. These new
methods of photorespiration using alternate sets of promoters and genes,
allowing plants to achieve the same results while expending far less energy,
“Much like the
Panama Canal was a feat of engineering that increased the efficiency of trade,
these photorespiratory shortcuts are a feat of plant engineering that prove a
unique means to greatly increase the efficiency of photosynthesis,” says
Stephen Long, the Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Crop Sciences and Plant
Biology at Illinois and director of Realizing
Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE).
In field
studies, these engineered plants were able to develop plants faster, grow
taller, and produce around 40 percent more biomass.
Although only
tested in tobacco (an ideal test subject due to its relative genetic simplicity
and big ol' leaves) scientists now hope to expand testing to crops that make up
the staples of many diets around the globe: soybeans, cowpeas, rice, potatoes,
tomatoes, and eggplants. Scientists anticipate a decade-long journey towards
gaining regulatory approval for the new engineering across the glob.
After that
process, smaller farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia could have
royalty-free access to these engineered plants producing more oxygen than they
have in a long time
Bangladesh fifth largest wheat importer
| Update: 13:54, Jan 06, 2019
Bangladesh has emerged as the fifth largest wheat importer in the
world, with its import of the grain increasing by 36 per cent over the past
five years, according to a report of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO).
Among
the fastest growing importing countries, Bangladesh imported 5.5 million tonnes
of wheat in the last fiscal. FAO predicts this is likely to increase to 6
million tonnes in the current fiscal year.
Even
just five years ago, Bangladesh was not among the top 10 wheat importing
countries of the world.
Changing
in food habits and increased health awareness has made people to turn more to
wheat, consequently raising the demand of the grain, said former director of
the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science Nazma Shahin told Prothom Alo.
“People
nowadays eat less rice as wheat contains more protein and provides more energy.
On the other hand, rice contains starch that may cause diabetes. Also, wheat is
cheaper than rice,” Shahin explained.
The top
four countries ahead of Bangladesh in importing wheat are Egypt, Indonesia,
Algeria and Brazil. These countries imported 507 million tonnes wheat in the
previous fiscal year.
The top
exporting countries are the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia and
Ukraine.
According
to the FAO report, overall wheat production increased by 20 per cent over the
past five years.
The
production increased from 900,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes in 10 years.
Usually
the wheat available in the local market is mixed with corn. Corn production has
also increased to 39 million tonnes last year. Most of the corn is mixed with
wheat to prepare poultry and fish feed.
Meanwhile,
government statistics show, the risk of diabetes is increasing among the adults
of the country. The government’s 2006 survey on non-communicable diseases
(Steps 2006) showed about 5.5 per cent of adults were suffering from diabetes
while another similar survey (steps 2018) showed 6.4 per cent of adults suffer
from this disease in Bangladesh. That means more than 7.6 million people are
suffering from diabetes.
Physicians
advise eating roti (flat bread) instead of rice to control blood sugar levels.
Apart from this, many people eat rice once a day and bread in the two meals
other meals, out of health awareness. There is thus an increased consumption of
roti, bread and wheat products in the country.
With
growing urbanisation and increased per capita income, the consumption of roti,
fish, meat and dairy products will increase, says country representative Akhter
Ahmed of Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (IFPRI).
“A large
number of working people eat out nowadays in Bangladesh. This is positive, but
the quality of food in the outside eateries should be ensured,” he added.
*This
piece originally published in Prothom Alo print edition has been rewritten in
English by Farjana Liakat
Bulacan airport ready
to take off
Just recently, several overseas Filipino worker groups have
asked both the Office of the President and the Department of Transportation to
fasttrack negotiations for a new international airport in Bulacan.
These OFW groups are of course referring to the P735-billion
proposed New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan of San Miguel
Corp. (SMC) which has already been approved by the NEDA Board and will be
subject to a Swiss Challenge in 2019.
These groups, according to their letter, are longing for a
world-class airport that can unlock the country’s growth potential.
Susan Ople, who heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center which also
signed the petition, said her group wrote the letter as an expression of
support not just to the building of a new airport in Bulacan but also for other
major infrastructure projects that would lead to job creation and OFW
reintegration.
She said that optimism is high that once these critical projects
begin, the floodgates for more jobs and potential investments will be flung
wide open and that hopefully, more OFWs would be enticed to return and reunite
with their families because more local jobs would be open to them.
Other groups that signed the petition are the Integrated
Seafarers of the Philippines, OFW Watch, OFW Chamber of Commerce, OFW Council
of Leaders-KSA, Kabalikat ng Migranteng Pilipino, Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak
ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, LBS Recruitment Solutions Corp.,
Philippine Association of Migrant Workers & Advocates, Kaibigan ng OCWs,
OFW Committee, Zonta Club of Quezon City, United Filipino Seafarers, Ang
Kaagapay ng Bawat OFW, Filipino Malaysian Cultural Sports and Workforce
Training Program, and Bulacan Federation of OFW Family Circle Officers.
They said that Bulacan province is fast becoming the next growth
area. It is adjacent to Metro Manila and a strategic neighbor of Pampanga,
thus accelerating and strengthening the growth corridor for investments and
tourism for the Central Luzon-Northern Luzon corridor.
Their clamor is truly understandable. Airport development is
linked to economic development and having a world-class airport at no expense
to our government should be a priority.
The NEDA Board chaired by President Duterte earlier gave the
green light to the concession agreement with SMC for the proposed Bulacan
airport, paving the way for a Swiss Challenge to the unsolicited proposal early
this year.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that during the
NEDA Board meeting held before Christmas, the Cabinet-level, interagency body
approved the concession agreements for the proposed airport.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia
said the Swiss Challenge is scheduled this month.
A new world-class airport financed solely by the private sector
but benefitting the whole nation is one infrastructure project that should
receive the full support of the Duterte administration.
NFA to buy
locally
Sen. Cynthia Villar has reminded Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel
Piñol that the National Food Authority (NFA) will not be able to sell cheap
rice to the public under the Rice Tariffication Bill, which was approved on
third and final reading by both Congress.
Villar told Piñol that the NFA is no longer allowed to import
rice under the new law but only allowed to buy from local farmers.
Earlier, President Duterte said that even with rice
tariffication and liberalization of the rice industry, the NFA shall continue
to provide the public, particularly the less fortunate, with rice that is
affordable and safe.
Once the bill is signed into law by the President, the NFA will
be directed to buy palay from local farmers and together with DA, will focus on
developing a cost-efficient system that will help reduce the production cost of
locally-produced rice and stabilize rice prices.
Villar, the principal author of the bill, added that the rice
subsidy of the Department of Social Welfare and Development amounting to P28
billion should be bought from the local farmers.
The quantitative restriction on importation of rice by the
Philippines allowed by the World Trade Organization expired on June 30, 2017.
The Philippines has to liberalize the importation of rice so
Congress passed the law on rice tariffication to protect Filipino farmers from
imported rice.
The tariff will be 30 percent on rice imports from ASEAN
countries as per agreement and 50 percent from the rest of the world.
Proceeds from the tariff will be given to the farmers in the
amount of P10 billion a year for the next six years to make the farmers
competitive by mechanization (P5 billion), better seed production (P3 billion),
and cheaper credit from Landbank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the
Philippines (P1 billion).
Ten percent shall be made available for extension services
provided by PhilMech, PhilRice, Agricultural Training Institute, and Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority for teaching skills on rice crop
production, modern rice farming techniques, seed production, farm mechanization
and knowledge/technology transfer through farm schools nationwide. Seventy
percent will go to TESDA, and 10 percent each to ATI, PhilRice and PhilMech.
Villar, chair of the committee on food and agriculture, also
informed Pinol that the NFA will not be abolished with the implementation of
the rice tariffication bill.
She said that only the regulatory and importation functions of
the NFA will be removed, but the agency will remain, to solely focus on
buffer-stocking with its inventory acquired from domestic farmers.
Villar explained that NFA will now be required to buy from local
farmers for buffer-stocking purposes, instead of importing rice.
According to the senator, the budget for the NFA should be
pegged at around P7 billion, strictly for the maintenance of a buffer stock to
stabilize the rice supply and allow it to sell subsidized rice to the poor and
to release emergency supplies during periods of calamity.
She added that with the NFA committed to buying domestically at
P17 per kilo, with an additional P3 incentive, the price of NFA rice might be
P33 per kilo, a level seen sufficient to achieve break-even levels.
Contrary to misconceptions, she said the bill includes a package
of support programs that will help farmers adjust to competition under a
tariffied regime.
Under the bill, Filipino farmers will have a fighting chance
against farmers from neighboring ASEAN countries as cheaper rice will start
flooding the market.
According to Villar, the bill creates the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund or Rice Fund consisting of an annual appropriation of P10
billion for the next six years following the approval of this act.
Scientists
question govt policies responsible for rising area under water-intensive rice
crop
They questioned the government over potato is
being thrown on roads, and onions being sold at Rs 2 per kg in wholesale market
and Rs 20 per kg in retail.
Written by Anju Agnihotri Chaba |Phagwara
|Published: January 7, 2019 5:45:39 am
Reducing area under paddy crop in
Punjab has been a big issue for every successive government for over past two
decades as water table is depleting 90 cm every year. In the ongoing Indian
Science Congress, the agricultural scientists questioned the policies, which
are responsible for growing rice on 3 million hectares in Punjab, besides the
reason of providing water subsidy on paddy, a highly water-intensive crop
resulting in depleting water table.
They questioned the government over
potato is being thrown on roads, and onions being sold at Rs 2 per kg in
wholesale market and Rs 20 per kg in retail.
“I have been hearing about
diversification of crop in Punjab for the past two decades, but just the
opposite has happened when the area under rice has increased from 21 lakh
hectares in 2001 to over 30 lakh hectares in 2017-18,” said senior scientists
Dr Rajbir Singh, Agriculture Technology Application Research Institute, under
Government of India. He adding that rice is sustainable crop in Punjab and
cannot be replaced by any other, but definitely the area under it can be
reduced if the government helps farmers by providing better price for other
crops.
He was speaking at a session on
Rice Production System in India. H S Sidhu, a senior Research Engineer with
Borlaug Institute of South Asia centre at Ladhowal in Ludhiana, said that rice
and wheat have no replacement and are the most sustainable crops in Punjab.
“But, we need to change farm practices for it so that our land and water can be
protected from degradation, for which government support is highly essential.”
Sujay Rakshit, Director of Indian
Council of Agricultural Research, Institute of Indian Institute of Maize
Research (ICAR, IIMR), Ludhiana, said that when the government is providing
free power to irrigate rice and procuring at a minimum support price, why
farmers will go for other crops, which do not have any support price.
“Sometimes farmers face huge market problem. It is up to the government to make
such policies so that other crops can get fair price.”
Concluding the session, senior
scientist of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Darshan Singh Barar said
the government needs to give better price for every crop and have processing
units like for making chips from potato and ketchup from tomato.
Prior to this Japanese scientist
Kazuyuki Inubushi, Chiba University, Japan, informed the session that how they
are working on reducing water usage in rice cultivation by adopting various
techniques. Engineer Sasi Elumali suggested ways to manage paddy stubble.
At that NFA the fact that if a if to cut off
Scientists question govt policies responsible
for rising area under water-intensive rice crop
They questioned the government over potato is
being thrown on roads, and onions being sold at Rs 2 per kg in wholesale market
and Rs 20 per kg in retail.
Written by Anju Agnihotri Chaba |Phagwara
|Published: January 7, 2019 5:45:39 am
Reducing area under paddy crop in
Punjab has been a big issue for every successive government for over past two
decades as water table is depleting 90 cm every year. In the ongoing Indian
Science Congress, the agricultural scientists questioned the policies, which
are responsible for growing rice on 3 million hectares in Punjab, besides the
reason of providing water subsidy on paddy, a highly water-intensive crop
resulting in depleting water table.
They questioned the government over
potato is being thrown on roads, and onions being sold at Rs 2 per kg in
wholesale market and Rs 20 per kg in retail.
“I have been hearing about
diversification of crop in Punjab for the past two decades, but just the
opposite has happened when the area under rice has increased from 21 lakh
hectares in 2001 to over 30 lakh hectares in 2017-18,” said senior scientists
Dr Rajbir Singh, Agriculture Technology Application Research Institute, under
Government of India. He adding that rice is sustainable crop in Punjab and
cannot be replaced by any other, but definitely the area under it can be
reduced if the government helps farmers by providing better price for other
crops.
He was speaking at a session on
Rice Production System in India. H S Sidhu, a senior Research Engineer with
Borlaug Institute of South Asia centre at Ladhowal in Ludhiana, said that rice
and wheat have no replacement and are the most sustainable crops in Punjab.
“But, we need to change farm practices for it so that our land and water can be
protected from degradation, for which government support is highly essential.”
Sujay Rakshit, Director of Indian
Council of Agricultural Research, Institute of Indian Institute of Maize
Research (ICAR, IIMR), Ludhiana, said that when the government is providing
free power to irrigate rice and procuring at a minimum support price, why
farmers will go for other crops, which do not have any support price.
“Sometimes farmers face huge market problem. It is up to the government to make
such policies so that other crops can get fair price.”oncluding the session,
senior scientist of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Darshan Singh Barar
said the government needs to give better price for every crop and have
processing units like for making chips from potato and ketchup from
tomato.Prior to this Japanese scientist Kazuyuki Inubushi, Chiba University,
Japan, informed the session that how they are working on reducing water usage
in rice cultivation by adopting various techniques. Engineer Sasi Elumali
suggested ways to manage paddy stubble.
.
Eyes in the sky: Space technology
aiding Meghalaya to expand boro rice cultivation
by by Sahana Ghosh on 7 January 2019
- Space technology is
helping identify areas suitable for growing and expanding cultivation of
boro rice which is sown in winter and harvested in spring/summer.
- By using satellite
images and data in cohesion with ground reports on parameters such as
slope, soil and climate, researchers at North Eastern Space Applications
Centre mapped potential areas for expansion of boro rice cultivation.
- This technique will help
bridge demand-supply gap for rice in Meghalaya, utilise available land in
winter for rice sowing and save time and money.
- Meghalaya’s department
of agriculture has initiated steps for application of the findings by
taking a policy decision to link the activity for growing boro rice with
the Indian government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA)
program.
In Meghalaya’s tough hill
terrains that limit field visits, space technology is aiding the selection
of areas that are suited for growing and
expanding cultivation of boro rice which is sown in winter and harvested in
spring/summer, officials said.
Boro refers to a special type of
rice cultivation on residual or stored water in low-lying areas after the
harvest of kharif (winter) rice. Space technology has zoomed in on potential
stretches in the state and offered a bird’s eye view of tracts that are best
suited for growing boro season rice.
This will help bridge the
demand-supply gap in Meghalaya where 81 percent of the population is dependent
on agriculture but the net cropped area is proportionately quite less: only
about 10 percent of the total geographical area of the state.
So to identify areas for
expansion of boro rice in Meghalaya, the North Eastern Space Applications
Centre (NESAC) at the request
of Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Meghalaya, tapped
into a suite of geospatial technologies.
These technologies such as remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems are a range of modern tools contributing to the geographic mapping and analysis of a range of dataabout people, such as population, income, or education level and also about landscapes.
These technologies such as remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems are a range of modern tools contributing to the geographic mapping and analysis of a range of dataabout people, such as population, income, or education level and also about landscapes.
Space tech can reduce time lost on trial and
error
“By using satellite images and
data with ground information on parameters such as slope, soil and climate, we
mapped potential areas for expansion of boro rice cultivation. This was one of
the first of its kind project in the northeast,” Pratibha T. Das of NESAC told
Mongabay-India.
Having space technology focus on potential areas saves time and money in implementation by skipping the field trial stage, explained Das.
Having space technology focus on potential areas saves time and money in implementation by skipping the field trial stage, explained Das.
In an email communique to
Mongabay-India, officials at Meghalaya’s agriculture department also reiterated
that this approach eliminates the trial and error method “saving time, effort
and money and scale of implementation in a given (short) period of time.”
Das further said: “Even though
the identified areas are small, the agriculture department need not conduct
field trials; they can directly select the potential areas from the maps and
start cultivation.”
Boro rice farm
in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya. Photo by Meghalaya Agriculture Department.
The mapping exercise covered
landscapes spread across nearly 5000 square km at elevation below 200 metres
and excluding forest, built up and barren rocky areas. The findings published
in Current Science show that out of 4903 sq.
km study area only 807 sq. km (16.5 percent) is suitable for boro rice
cultivation.
Though 16.5 percent area is suitable for boro rice, only 0.8 percent (6.35 sq. km) area is highly suitable, which is found in West Garo hills district. Around 581.74 sq. km is marginally suitable whereas 219.07 sq. km area is moderately suitable.
“The data tells us that slope, soil texture, soil fertility (acidity) and soil drainage are the major limiting factors/problems, because of which maximum areas are found marginally and moderately suitable for boro rice expansion,” said Das.
Though 16.5 percent area is suitable for boro rice, only 0.8 percent (6.35 sq. km) area is highly suitable, which is found in West Garo hills district. Around 581.74 sq. km is marginally suitable whereas 219.07 sq. km area is moderately suitable.
“The data tells us that slope, soil texture, soil fertility (acidity) and soil drainage are the major limiting factors/problems, because of which maximum areas are found marginally and moderately suitable for boro rice expansion,” said Das.
Based on problems/limitations of
the land, land users and planners can decide on crop management strategies to
increase productivity, she said.
Thematic maps like soil drainage, soil texture, soil depth, flooding and gravel/stoniness and land use maps were dovetailed with soil sample analyses and digital elevation models to get a clear picture on ground.
Soil samples were collected from 121 locations and analysed, revealing that sandy clay soil texture, that was best fit for boro rice, was distributed in six percent of the area examined.
Thematic maps like soil drainage, soil texture, soil depth, flooding and gravel/stoniness and land use maps were dovetailed with soil sample analyses and digital elevation models to get a clear picture on ground.
Soil samples were collected from 121 locations and analysed, revealing that sandy clay soil texture, that was best fit for boro rice, was distributed in six percent of the area examined.
Space data can strengthen ground data
Ecology and sustainable
development professor Ruth DeFries at Columbia University, New York, stressed though
satellite data can provide a bird’s-eye view to observe many features of the
landscape, one needs to factor in social and community dynamics.
“The project to map potential
areas for rice cultivation using satellite data makes it possible to identify
suitable locations over large areas, which is much more difficult from the ground,”
said DeFries.
However, she said, satellites
cannot detect social and community dynamics, so one needs to combine different
sources of information for a complete view of which places would be
ecologically and socially suitable for cultivation.
The most important aspect for
accessing the suitability of boro rice is availability of surface or
groundwater for irrigation during the dry season, especially in the months of
February, March and April, pointed out Parvesh Kr. Chandna, Scientist – Remote
Sensing & GIS, South Asia at International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI).
The conditions suited for boro rice production are level fields, warm temperature, adequate sunshine hours and assured irrigation. These conditions are generally found in low altitude plain areas that are close to water sources (surface or groundwater irrigation), the state government’s agriculture department added.
The conditions suited for boro rice production are level fields, warm temperature, adequate sunshine hours and assured irrigation. These conditions are generally found in low altitude plain areas that are close to water sources (surface or groundwater irrigation), the state government’s agriculture department added.
“Fortunately, Garo hills have a
good potential for ground water exploitation, especially in the alluvial plains
of the West Garo Hills. According to the analysis of the Central Ground Water
Board of the Government of India, these alluvial plains have large
replenishable reserves of ground water and the current utilisation of groundwater
is very low,” the agriculture department explained.
Chandna agrees on this (potential
for groundwater exploitation) but also elaborates on the choice of crops.
“If we have potential for ground
water development, then the next question is whether we are choosing the most
profitable crop, considering the total water requirements for boro rice and the
availability of alternative options (high profitable cash crops) in dry season
in comparison to wet season where rice is the only option,” Chandna told Mongabay-India.
Space
technology combined with field data is helping Meghalaya’s agriculture
department expand areas under cultivation of boro rice. Photo by NASA/Wikimedia
Commons.
Meghalaya on a rice mission
The move to expand area of rice
grown in the boro season comes under the Meghalaya State Rice Mission (MSRM) aimed at
narrowing the gap between rice production and consumption by doubling the
production of rice – a major staple food of the northeastern state, accounting
for over 80 percent of the food grain production.
In West Bengal and Bangladesh,
expansion of irrigation, essential for supporting the boro rice production, led
to a rapid increase in boro rice area and production during the past two
decades and Meghalaya can benefit by deploying a similar strategy of expanding
the boro season area, the state agriculture department opined.
Previous estimates from the rice
mission document peg the consumption at approximately 400,000 tonnes
annually during the years 2010-11. This estimate is double the rice produced
during that period. 
“Rice recorded an annual
production of 3,01,076 metric tonnes during the year 2015-16 at an average
productivity of 2.72 metric tonnes per hectare. Our spring rice/boro paddy
produces an average yield of 4.28 metric tonnes per hectare under assured
irrigation,” the agriculture department said.
In Meghalaya the rice crop is
distributed in three rice ecosystems. They are low altitude rice that covers 70
percent of total rice growing areas, mid altitude rice covers 25 percent and
high altitude rice that covers five percent.
In a report submitted to NITI Aayog, Indian government’s think tank, the Meghalaya government has said that the under-utilisation of land during the winter season has resulted in shortage of rice for the ever-increasing population.
In a report submitted to NITI Aayog, Indian government’s think tank, the Meghalaya government has said that the under-utilisation of land during the winter season has resulted in shortage of rice for the ever-increasing population.
In addition, with assured
irrigation, boro paddy yield is double the average yield per hectare compared
to sali rice.
“Boro paddy gives an average yield of 4 MT per hectare compared to the average yield of 2 MT per hectare of sali paddy,” according to the report.
“Boro paddy gives an average yield of 4 MT per hectare compared to the average yield of 2 MT per hectare of sali paddy,” according to the report.
Further, winter planting is free
from flash floods and is well-suited for SRI (System of Rice Intensification)
technique with yields of 6-7 MT per hectare, the report said, justifying the
augmentation of boro paddy cultivation in areas where this practice was not in
vogue.
With the NESAC data at disposal,
the department of agriculture has initiated steps for application of the
findings by taking a policy decision to link the activity for growing boro rice
with the Indian government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA)
program.
“This will achieve both the
objective of providing assured employment under NREGA and also productive
output and income for the NREGA wage earner cum farmer,” an agriculture
department official said.
Baton Rouge, New Orleans area Business Briefs for Jan. 6, 2019
· JAN
6, 2019 - 12:15 AM
Keep La.
Beautiful grant applications starting
Keep Louisiana Beautiful will begin accepting letters of intent
for its 2019-2020 Healthy Community Grant on Jan. 15, with letters due to the
organization by Feb. 12.
The Healthy Communities Grant provides funding to support local
projects and programs that bring about behavioral changes needed to improve,
preserve and protect the natural beauty of Louisiana. Grant funds of $2,500 to
$8,000 per project are available to encourage community action in the areas of
litter and waste reduction; recycling; reusing; litter enforcement; and
environmental education, as they relate to the organization's mission of
promoting personal, corporate and community responsibility for a clean
Louisiana.
The program, which provided $92,000 for projects throughout
Louisiana in 2018, is a reimbursement grant and is open to nonprofit
organizations, governmental agencies, schools and universities, organization
affiliates, and pre-certified affiliates.
After a first selection round from letters of intent, applicants
will be invited to submit a formal application, due on March 25. The funding
cycle for the Healthy Communities Grant will run from Aug. 1 to May 1, 2020.
Partnership
promotes disaster preparation
The Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have formed a partnership to help
improve financial preparedness of individuals and families before a natural
disaster.
The organizations will develop comprehensive training for
financial professionals and aid in the financial preparedness of people across
the country.
Using feedback and expertise from accredited financial
counselors, the organizations will develop an emergency saving and financial
curriculum for finance professionals to use with clients. From there, the
organizations will develop resources and tools that encourage people to prepare
financially for disasters by saving for emergencies, maintaining adequate
insurance for potential hazards and safeguarding critical documents.
Agriculture
tech, data conference planned
The LSU AgCenter will host a conference on data and
technology in agriculture from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 29 at the State
Evacuation Shelter on U.S. 71 near Alexandria.
Several AgCenter experts will present information about digital
and precision agriculture — fields of study that deal with using technology to
collect and interpret data to make farming more efficient.
Terry Griffin, an assistant professor at Kansas State
University, will deliver a keynote address on the value of “big data” to
agriculture.
After a lunch break, Louisiana farmers will take part in a panel
discussion on data topics.
The conference also will feature a trade show, giving attendees
a chance to talk to representatives of leading Louisiana agri-businesses.
Vendors interested in having a booth should contact AgCenter agent R.L. Frazier
at rfrazier@agcenter.lsu.edu.
Rice
farmer meetings address 2019 crop
The LSU AgCenter will hold a series of meetings to help rice
farmers prepare for their 2019 crop, while the Rice Council and Louisiana Rice
Growers Association are planning a joint annual meeting.
Don Groth, resident coordinator of the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse
Caffey Rice Research Station, said the LSU AgCenter events will provide advice
on choosing varieties, land preparation, controlling pests, the new farm bill
and new technologies.
“We’ve got a much better understanding about how to use new
herbicides, fungicides and insecticides that were released to the market last
year,” Groth said.
The sessions, which will include lunch, will be held on the
following dates:
- Jan.
9 at the Ville Platte Civic Center, 704 N. Soileau St. Registration is at
7:30 a.m. and the program 8 a.m.
- Jan.
10 in Abbeville at the Vermilion Parish Farm Bureau meeting room, 3139
Veterans Memorial Drive. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and the program at 9
a.m.
- Feb.
14, the Northeast Louisiana Rice Forum at Iona Golf Course, 10 Country
Club Lane, Rayville. Registration is at 8:15 a.m. and the event at 9 a.m.
- A
meeting for central Louisiana growers is anticipated in late February in
Mansura. The date and time are pending.
Also on Jan. 9, the Rice Council and Louisiana Rice Growers
Association will hold their annual joint meeting in Jennings at The Grand
Marais, 919 N. Lake Arthur Ave. A trade show begins at 4 p.m., followed by the
meeting.
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