Thursday, January 10, 2019

10th January,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter



Climate change science presented to uncertain Governor Abbott

First Warning Weather takes in-depth look at climate info given to Governor

By: Jim Spencer 

Posted: Jan 08, 2019 08:58 PM CST
Updated: Jan 09, 2019 06:06 PM CST
Jim Spencer and David Yeomans addressed the scientific evidence presented to Texas Governor Greg Abbott Tuesday. Abbott recently said, he wasn't clear about the climate change issue because he wasn't a scientist.
Click on the video above for the full report. Below, see the letter presented to Governor Abbott and to Jon Niermann, Chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
This topic sparked a considerable Facebook discussion after Jim posted a viewer's skeptical email. See it, and/or comment here: https://www.facebook.com/jimspencerKXAN/
----------------------------
January 8th, 2019
The Honorable Greg Abbott
Governor of State of Texas
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711
Cc: Jon Niermann, Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Dear Governor Abbott,
At a press conference last month to discuss a new report on the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, a reporter asked you whether man-made climate change has played a role in Texas' weather disasters. You replied that it would be impossible for you to say, as you are not a scientist. 
We, the undersigned, are climate scientists and experts, and can report to you that climate change is happening, it is primarily caused by humans, and it is having a devastating impact on Texas, including increasing deadly flooding resulting from Hurricane Harvey.  
Furthermore, the recently released National Climate Assessment, put together by more than a dozen federal agencies and more than 300 scientists found that, left unchecked, climate change will have dangerous results for the Southern Great Plains, which includes Texas. The report finds: 
·       Annual average temperatures will increase by 3.6°–5.1°F by the mid-21st century and by 4.4°–8.4°F by the late 21st century
·       An additional 30–60 days per year above 100°F than we currently experience
·       Higher temperatures could result in an additional 1,300 deaths per year by the end of the century
·       Extreme heat will pose health risks to outdoor agricultural workers, with some communities “projected to lose more than 6% in annual labor hours by the end of the century”
·       Sea level rise along the western Gulf of Mexico “is likely to be greater than the projected global average of 1–4 feet or more. Such a change, along with the related retreat of the Gulf coastline, will exacerbate risks and impacts from storm surges.”
·       Up to $20.9 billion in coastal property is projected to be flooded at high tide by 2030
·       The Edwards Aquifer will suffer from “a decrease of water supply during droughts, a degradation of habitat for species of concern, economic effects, and the interconnectivity of these impacts.”
We can take actions now to help us adapt to the impacts of climate change. And, as one of the biggest wind energy producers in the U.S., we can also play a key role in reducing the emissions that will drive future changes in the climate. The only thing missing is leadership.
We therefore request the opportunity to brief you on the climate science and the need for the State of Texas to take immediate action to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.
Sincerely,
Andrew Dessler, Ph.D.
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Reta A. Haynes Chair in Geosciences
Texas A&M University
Daniel Cohan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Rice University
Charles Jackson, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Institute for Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin
Kerry H. Cook, Ph.D.
Professor, Jackson School of Geosciences
Dept. of Geological Sciences
The University of Texas at Austin
Richard M. Mitterer, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Geosciences
University of Texas at Dallas
Gerald North, Ph.D.
Research Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
University Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Texas A&M University
Joshua W. Busby, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Public Affairs
Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin
Sylvia Dee, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Rice University
Dr. John B. Anderson, Ph.D.
Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography Emeritus
Rice University
Yangyang Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Texas A&M University
Laurence Yeung, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary  Sciences
Rice University
Robert A. Dull, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow
Environmental Science Institute
The University of Texas at Austin
Rasika M. Harshey, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Biosciences
The University of Texas at Austin
Hongjie Xie, Ph.D.
Professor
Dept. of Geological Sciences
University of Texas at San Antonio
Gunnar W. Schade, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Texas A&M University
Caroline Masiello, Ph.D.
Professor, Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Rice University
Francisco L. Pérez, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus and Soils Lab Director Emeritus
Dept. of Geography and the Environment
The University of Texas at Austin
Stephen F. Ackley
Associate Professor of Research
Dept. of Geological Sciences
University of Texas at San Antonio
Sylvia G. Dee, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Rice University
Ian Dalziel, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Professor, Jackson School of Geosciences
Institute for Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin
Yuko M. Okumura, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Jackson School of Geosciences
Institute for Geophysics
University of Texas at Austin
Courtney Schumacher, Ph.D.
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
E. D. Brockett Professorship in Geosciences
Texas A&M University
Kara Kockelman, Ph.D.
Dewitt Greer Centennial Professor of Transportation Engineering
Dept. of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
Mark Torres, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Earth, Environmental, & Planetary Sciences
Rice University
Emily Northrop, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Dept. of Economics and Business
Southwestern University
Joshua Long, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Southwestern University
William Quinn, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences
St. Edward’s University

The quest for the missing proteins in rice

January 9, 2019, Macquarie University
Description: rice growing
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Researchers have identified over 5,700 new proteins in rice and are calling for a global effort to find the remaining missing proteins, in a new study co-authored by Macquarie University.
The international team of scientists from Australia, Iran and Japan say there's an estimated 35,000 proteins encoded by the rice genome, and yet we still don't have experimental evidence for 82 per cent of them.
This is important because rice is the major food source for more than half the world's population, and in order for it to grow in warmer climates and with less water we will need to better understand rice at the molecular level.
"The genome of rice was completed and published in 2001," says Professor Paul Haynes from Macquarie University, and a co-author on the study. "So surely we know enough about it now that we should be able to manipulate how it grows to meet our needs? Well, we don't."
"What we have for rice, like most of the well-studied plant and animal species, is a good first approximation of what the gene sequence actually encodes for, but there is still a very large amount of information yet to be confirmed."
Rice is Australia's ninth largest agricultural export and generates approximately $800 million in revenue each year, but this productivity comes at a significant cost.
Australian farmers use large amounts of water to irrigate their crops. The increasing demand for this water is threatening the sustainability of their rice production.
"It is imperative that we find ways to make rice better adapted to environments with warmer climates and less available water," says Paul.
One way to do this would be to give commercial rice varieties some of the characteristics of native Australian varieties of rice, he says.
These plants grow vigorously in many wild areas across Australian without additional watering, in part because their roots grow longer and penetrate deeper into the soil allowing the plants better access to underground reserves of both water and nutrients.
"If we could somehow transform commercial rice varieties so that they grow deeper roots, thereby increasing water uptake efficiency while still retaining high grain yields, we could produce more sustainable plants that would help to future-proof the Australian rice industry," says Paul.
And that's why finding rice's remaining missing proteins is so critical.
Missing proteins are ones that appear to be encoded in the rice's genes but have not been experimentally confirmed to exist in the rice itself.
The idea of missing proteins originally arose from researchers working on the human genome, says Paul, but it's equally applicable to important cereal crops like rice.
The Human Proteome Project is making a map of all the proteins encoded by the human genome, to advance the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Paul's team took a similar approach when they looked at rice.
Initially they found that 98.5 per cent of the proteins in rice are considered missing. However by mining publicly available datasets and matching this data with information from the rice genome they were able to reduce this percentage of missing proteins to 82 per cent.
"If we are to continue to feed the ever-increasing number of people on our planet, we really need to produce rice which is more sustainable in terms of better water use and better nutrient uptake, while still maintaining current levels of grain production," says Paul.
"This will require us to understand rice at the molecular level in a way that we have never done previously.
"It is only by understanding in great detail what happens inside a particular cell that we can really understand what goes on at the whole organism level, and how we can potentially change how that particular organism responds to an external set of circumstances or stimuli."
The team hopes this study will form the basis of a large-scale scale international collaborative project aimed at identifying all the remaining missing proteins in rice.
More information: Mohsen Rahiminejad et al. The Quest for Missing Proteins in Rice, Molecular Plant (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2018.11.009


Arkansas State Meeting All in the Family
By Deborah Willenborg

STUTTGART, AR -- Rice farmers from around Arkansas and the Mid-South met at the Grand Prairie Center here yesterday for the Arkansas Rice annual meeting.  More than 400 people attended, including vendors and business interests that support rice farming, as well as state officials and legislators on hand to discuss a variety of topics, from the proposed restructuring of the state government to the recently passed Farm Bill and more.

In keeping with the meeting's theme of "Family Farming," USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward talked about the USA Rice mission of being the family's "out of town" voice, fighting in Washington for sound policies, and advocating for U.S.-grown rice in markets here and around the world. 

"I appreciate the opportunity to share with folks in Arkansas what we are doing on their behalf and to hear firsthand their concerns and priorities," said Ward.  "It was also nice to be able to share some good news -- bipartisan passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and positive developments in Iraq and China."

Josh Hankins, USA Rice director of grower relations & the Rice Stewardship Partnership, gave a presentation on the new conservation search tool available on the revamped USA Rice website, and Vice President of Domestic Promotion Michael Klein took part in a check-off panel discussion.

Following the general session, Ward and Klein were joined by Sarah Moran, USA Rice international vice president, to present both a review of recent activities and a look ahead to the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board (ARRPB) meeting.  The ARRPB is made up of nine rice representatives who are nominated by industry organizations and appointed to two-year terms by the governor.  The board is responsible for allocating Arkansas rice promotion and research check-off funds annually, and for the past 30 plus years, the ARRPB has awarded promotion funds to the USA Rice Council in recognition of the exemplary work performed by the Council on behalf of Arkansas rice farmers.  The board voted yesterday to continue the relationship.

"It's gratifying to know farmers in this state entrust us with their hard earned funds," said Ward.  "We appreciate the financial and moral support as we push for real progress for the U.S. rice industry."


Arkansas rice information and outfitters pop up shop
Market Information

Daily Rough Rice Prices
(updated daily)


Market Year Average Price Tracker (updated monthly)
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Meeting Discusses Markets For Arkansas Rice, Impact Of Government Shutdown

ROBY BROCK & MICHAEL HIBBLEN  JAN 8, 2019
Description: http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kuar/files/styles/large/public/201901/2019-01-08-Betsy_Ward.jpg
Betsy Ward, president and CEO of USA Rice Federation, speaking at the Arkansas Rice Annual Meeting Tuesday in Stuttgart.
CREDIT ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU
The Arkansas Rice Annual Meeting took place Tuesday in Stuttgart. It’s a key event for industry and government leaders to discuss the state of agriculture.
Organizers say about 400 people attended the meeting, included several top state officials, state senators and state representatives.
On the minds of many this year was the impact the current political climate is having on growers. Among those speaking was Betsy Ward, president and CEO of the USA Rice Federation. The group advocates for all segments of the nation’s rice industry with offices in Little Rock, suburban Washington, DC and Hamburg, German.
The conference was emceed by Talk Business & Politics host Roby Brock. After Ward's comments to the group, she was interviewed by Brock for KUAR News.
Listen
Listening...
4:38
Hear Roby Brock's interview with USA Rice Federation President and CEO Betsy Ward.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS 
On the recently-passed Farm Bill and a new marketing provision with Cuba
Overall we’re really pleased with the Farm Bill. We worked a long time to maintain the provisions that we had in the 2014 Farm Bill which worked very well for rice, but one of the tweaks that they made was, there’s a program that’s funded through the Farm Bill, it’s the export promotion programs that are managed by USDA and they tweaked it a little bit to allow some funding to be used to promote in Cuba which is kind of interesting since we haven’t really been doing much in Cuba under the Trump Administration.
But at the same time there is still a credit restriction that has been in place which has hampered efforts to try to make deals with Cuba
You’re right. They need cash. They don’t have a lot of money, so the inability of our banks to basically loan money, to give credit to Cubans, really restricts their ability to buy a lot of U.S. ag products. They want to buy our rice and corn and chicken and all those things, but the ability to at least go down and promote our products is a step in the right direction.
How the government shutdown is impacting agriculture
We got a Farm Bill passed and now we are going to have difficulty unless the government opens up having farmers go sign up and finish off their loans from last year. The FSA offices are primarily shuttered, so it makes it very difficult to move forward in this new crop year with those folks not working. In Washington, everybody we work with at USDA is on furlough so they’re not available to – they’re really not permitted to actually work, so you can’t contact them if you have questions. They’ve suspended some of the key economic reporting that they do from the USDA that people rely on to sort of project what they think is going to be happening in the coming year, and I think that hampers everybody. And finally for us, we do a lot of market promotion with USDA funds and all of that funding has been suspended. So we’re basically not promoting any markets overseas which is a tragedy for us.
When that changes, new opportunities are expected for Arkansas producers
We have been working on market access to China for over 10 years. The issue had been the lack of something called the phytosanitary protocol which we negotiated an agreement with China on last July. It was signed and probably within a few days of it being signed was when the Trump Administration announced the tariffs on steel and aluminum, and then other products from China. So the Chinese sort of stopped the forward progress that we were making on rice. There has been a renewed effort to… I think you know President Trump had met with the president of China a few weeks ago. There’s a delegation there now trying to relieve some of the pressure on agriculture, soybeans in particular, but also rice is at the top of the list. So we are fairly optimistic that the Chinese will allow rice imports now, and so we’re just looking for the first offer to come. This is potentially a huge market for all of us.

Meeting Discusses Markets For Arkansas Rice, Impact Of Government Shutdown

ROBY BROCK & MICHAEL HIBBLEN  JAN 8, 2019
Description: http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kuar/files/styles/large/public/201901/2019-01-08-Betsy_Ward.jpg

Betsy Ward, president and CEO of USA Rice Federation, speaking at the Arkansas Rice Annual Meeting Tuesday in Stuttgart.
CREDIT ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU
The Arkansas Rice Annual Meeting took place Tuesday in Stuttgart. It’s a key event for industry and government leaders to discuss the state of agriculture.
Organizers say about 400 people attended the meeting, included several top state officials, state senators and state representatives.
On the minds of many this year was the impact the current political climate is having on growers. Among those speaking was Betsy Ward, president and CEO of the USA Rice Federation. The group advocates for all segments of the nation’s rice industry with offices in Little Rock, suburban Washington, DC and Hamburg, German.
The conference was emceed by Talk Business & Politics host Roby Brock. After Ward's comments to the group, she was interviewed by Brock for KUAR News.
Listen
Listening...
4:38
Hear Roby Brock's interview with USA Rice Federation President and CEO Betsy Ward.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS 
On the recently-passed Farm Bill and a new marketing provision with Cuba
Overall we’re really pleased with the Farm Bill. We worked a long time to maintain the provisions that we had in the 2014 Farm Bill which worked very well for rice, but one of the tweaks that they made was, there’s a program that’s funded through the Farm Bill, it’s the export promotion programs that are managed by USDA and they tweaked it a little bit to allow some funding to be used to promote in Cuba which is kind of interesting since we haven’t really been doing much in Cuba under the Trump Administration.
But at the same time there is still a credit restriction that has been in place which has hampered efforts to try to make deals with Cuba
You’re right. They need cash. They don’t have a lot of money, so the inability of our banks to basically loan money, to give credit to Cubans, really restricts their ability to buy a lot of U.S. ag products. They want to buy our rice and corn and chicken and all those things, but the ability to at least go down and promote our products is a step in the right direction.
How the government shutdown is impacting agriculture
We got a Farm Bill passed and now we are going to have difficulty unless the government opens up having farmers go sign up and finish off their loans from last year. The FSA offices are primarily shuttered, so it makes it very difficult to move forward in this new crop year with those folks not working. In Washington, everybody we work with at USDA is on furlough so they’re not available to – they’re really not permitted to actually work, so you can’t contact them if you have questions. They’ve suspended some of the key economic reporting that they do from the USDA that people rely on to sort of project what they think is going to be happening in the coming year, and I think that hampers everybody. And finally for us, we do a lot of market promotion with USDA funds and all of that funding has been suspended. So we’re basically not promoting any markets overseas which is a tragedy for us.
When that changes, new opportunities are expected for Arkansas producers
We have been working on market access to China for over 10 years. The issue had been the lack of something called the phytosanitary protocol which we negotiated an agreement with China on last July. It was signed and probably within a few days of it being signed was when the Trump Administration announced the tariffs on steel and aluminum, and then other products from China. So the Chinese sort of stopped the forward progress that we were making on rice. There has been a renewed effort to… I think you know President Trump had met with the president of China a few weeks ago. There’s a delegation there now trying to relieve some of the pressure on agriculture, soybeans in particular, but also rice is at the top of the list. So we are fairly optimistic that the Chinese will allow rice imports now, and so we’re just looking for the first offer to come. This is potentially a huge market for all of us.

Smog turns ‘garden city’ into a polluted hub

ReutersUpdated January 08, 2019
Description: A Pakistani family walk during dense fog and smog in Lahore. — AFP/File
A Pakistani family walk during dense fog and smog in Lahore. — AFP/File
LAHORE: At his house on the busy Mall Road, environmental lawyer Rafay Alam runs three air purifiers around the clock, keeps his windows shut and stuffs towels into the gaps under his doors.
Some winter days, when the city’s smog is particularly bad, “I don’t send my daughter to school,” he admits. “I am not going to risk permanent damage to her lungs.”
The country’s second-largest city is choking on smog, driven in part by smoke from bricks kiln and steel mills, burning of rice stubble and garbage, growing numbers of vehicles on the road and large-scale losses of trees as the expanding city makes way for new roads and buildings, residents say.
Many in the city of 11 million complain of headaches and burning eyes and throats as air pollution levels this winter have on some days hit five times the legal limit, according to a global air quality index that many in Lahore check via the AirVisual phone app.
Alam thinks it’s time for the government to declare a public health emergency on the worst days, when the air is full of dust and pollutants that can cause health issues including asthma, lung damage, bronchial infections and heart problems.
Many in Lahore complain of headaches and burning eyes as air pollution levels have recently hit five times the legal limit
The air pollution in Lahore is bad throughout the year, but in winters there is temperature inversion where a layer of warm air is prevented from rising and it traps all the pollutants below it, which renders them visible, he said.
Lahore, once known as the Garden City but now choked with cars, regularly figures on air quality indexes as one of the most polluted cities in the world — and many of the pollutants are also drivers of climate change.
The PTI government has restarted air quality monitoring in Lahore after the previous government ceased it two years ago, said Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam.
During that two-year period, air quality monitoring stations in the province weren’t working because of lack of funding and capacity, Alam said.
The prime minister, who grew up in Lahore, said he sees tackling the city’s smog problem as a priority.
“It is a serious issue that must be addressed,” Mr Khan told his cabinet.
In November, the Lahore High Court ordered the Punjab government to implement recommendations of the Smog Commission, set up by the court in 2017 to look at the drivers of smog and find ways to reduce them.
Those included curbing emissions from factories, closing brick kilns that fail to use fuel-efficient technology, and fining polluting vehicles and farmers burning rice stubble in the winter.
The commission also ordered planting of trees in urban areas and efforts to spread environmental awareness in schools.
Monitors, meetings
Mr Aslam said the government now has a team travelling around Lahore reading the city’s air quality monitors, with the data feeding into the city’s own air quality index.
That index, updated daily, is posted for public use on the Environmental Protection Department’s website.
Since coming into office, Mr Khan has organised meetings with brick kiln owners and won a two-month winter shutdown of factories in 12 districts, including Lahore.
The government has also pushed brick kiln owners to shift to cleaner technology, offering loans to make the switch, as well as issuing fines for kilns that operate using the dirtiest technologies, such as burning used tires.
The Environment Protection Department has fined farmers who burn crop stubble — a traditional practice — and is looking at promoting zero tillage farming as an alternative, though making the switch will be costly for farmers, Aslam admitted.
As well, the government is considering setting higher emissions standards for vehicles — but warned the switch could make petrol “more expensive for consumers as a result”, he said.
The Environmental Protection Department said the level of smog pollution was lower this year than last in Lahore because of anti-smog measures already under way.
But Mr Alam said monitors installed in his house continue to show hazardous levels in his neighbourhood.
It’s not just brick kilns and farmers who are causing air pollution. The country uses the most polluted fuel in the world and tackling this problem will require a tremendous change in the energy and transport sectors, he said.
He said the country needed a nation-wide system of air quality monitors in its cities to better understand what is happening and drive action.
Cutting smog would have other benefits as well, he said.
“By reducing greenhouse gases that cause air pollution you are also addressing climate change. The two are linked.”
Abid Omar, who founded the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative, a non-profit group that publishes data about air pollution and its health impacts, agreed that a broad approach is needed.
“We have to reduce air pollution at the source, be it industry, agriculture, urban waste or transportation. This will require time, money and planning,” he admitted.
Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2019
Call to make FTA beneficial for both Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Description: Call to make FTA beneficial for both Pakistan, Sri Lanka

OUR STAFF REPORT

January 08, 2019
LAHORE - High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Noordeen Mohamed Shaheid has said that terrorism remained a big challenge for Sri Lanka but today Sri Lanka is a peaceful country. He said, “We have defeated terrorism but this target could not be achieved without immense support of Pakistan.”
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The LCCI President Almas Hyder presented the address of welcome while Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigal also spoke on the occasion. Executive Committee members and former office-bearers were also present on the occasion.
The High Commissioner said that Sri Lankan nation has great honor of Pakistan and learnt a lot from its experience. He said that Sri Lanka and Pakistan have signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) but some certain issues need to be resolved. The Agreement should be implemented and made beneficial for both countries. He said that there is a vast scope for the expansion of two-way trade between Pakistan and Sri Lank. Both countries should introduce new products for trade and make business-to-business contacts stronger. He said that Sri Lanka offer huge opportunities in various sectors of economy.
LCCI President Almas Hyder said that Sri Lanka is at take-off stage and Pakistani business community should avail this great opportunity. He said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are members of SAARC and enjoy friendly relations based on historical linkages. He said that cooperation between two countries especially in defence sector has played major role in further strengthening the mutual ties.
He said that both the countries are steady trading partners. By way of signing Free Trade Agreement in June 2005, the private sector representatives of Pakistan and Sri Lanka were provided with greater opportunities to take the trade and economic relations to next level. He said that from 2005 on, there was significant increase in bilateral trade but it is also a fact that we have so far not succeeded to fully exploit the existing potential of trade between two countries. He said that among the top importing and exporting countries for Pakistan, Sri Lanka comes at 43rd and 19th places respectively.
The balance of trade is in favour of Pakistan and it is encouraging to see that bilateral trade figures are following increasing trends. The overall trade figures went up from $314 million to 372 million during 2016 and 2017. Pakistan is exporting cotton, pharmaceuticals, cement, rice, fertilizers and home textiles etc. to Sri Lanka. The imports from Sri Lanka are vessels for breaking up, vegetable products, fibre board of woods, natural rubber and fruits etc.
Almas Hyder said that there is considerable demand in Sri Lanka for Pakistani products like light engineering goods, auto parts, industrial raw materials, surgical instruments and plastic goods etc. “We are in a position to easily tap the market demand of Sri Lanka in fields like sports goods, electrical fans and household appliances etc.”, he added and said that the business communities of the two countries should keep on exploring the opportunities of mutual interest. Business delegations composed of sector-specific participants or product-specific groups of entrepreneurs should be organized regularly.

Gov’t should use more drastic measures against millers who are fleecing rice farmers

 1 min ago
 Dear Editor,
I am happy that a high level team from the government which consisted of the Minister of State and the newly appointed REO, Mr Dennis Jaikarran, visited the owner of Hampton Court Rice Mills on Sunday, January 6th. It was my understanding that they were there to instruct the miller to pay the rice farmers of Region Two for their paddy, after a group of rice farmers met with the government about the issue of being owed long outstanding payments for their paddy by this miller.
The issue of farmers being paid for their paddy is not a new one. It started way back since the previous administration and no one seems to care to resolve this issue. This is not the only rice miller that owes the farmers for paddy purchased since 2018. There are many more in this region who I understand will be selling their rice mills to avoid paying the farmers.
I remember back in 1994, I was with a high-level team from the PPP government and the RPA at Hills Rice Mills at Vilvoorden. The high-level team was led by the late General Secretary, Mr Fazal Ali, after a group of farmers from Wakenaam Island met with the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan at Freedom House to complain about the issue of payments for their paddy which was sold to Hills Rice Mills over a year ago.
The late President instructed Mr Fazal Ali, the General Secretary of the RPA to meet with the management of that rice mill to negotiate the urgent payment for the affected rice farmers. I happened to be on that high level team at the bargaining table.
 First of all we told the managing director of the mill, that we were there on behalf of the President to help solve the payment crisis after a group of rice farmers had met with him.
We had a list of the names and the amount of money owed to each rice farmer which was presented to him and his team of officers at the table. He acknowledged owing the farmers large sums of money for over a year and stated he would immediately pay in full, the farmers whom he owed $200,000. For those over that amount, he promised to pay them in full within a month’s time. The other farmers were owed over a million dollars each.
We then entered into an agreement which both parties signed to and after the signing we were instructed by the General Secretary and the President to follow up on the payments for the outstanding farmers which was duly honoured by the rice miller at Hills.
 The Rice Factories Act was then passed in the National Assembly in 1994, to protect the rice farmers’ interests, however, no one from the RPA or GRDB is policing the act to ensure that that the farmers are being paid on time. This new government should use more drastic measures against all the millers who are fleecing the rice farmers of their hard sweat and blood. Rice farming is a back-breaking job since the farmers have to toil in the sun and rain to care their crops and at the end of the day, they are being robbed of their hard earned cash by some unscrupulous millers.
If the industry falters, all will suffer.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan

Increase in rice facilities boosts price of Kingdom’s paddy rice

Cheng Sokhorng | Publication date 09 January 2019 | 07:44 ICT
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Description: Content image - Phnom Penh Post
A farmer harvests paddy rice in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district in 2016. Heng Chivoan
As a result of more rice facilities constantly being installed, the price of paddy rice for the 2018-2019 season was between 900 riel and 1,300 riel ($0.22 and $0.32) per kg, an increase on the previous season, according to industry insiders.
Cambodia Rice Federation vice-president Vong Bun Heng noted that the price was a 25 per cent increase on the 2017-2018 season.
The price depends on the type of rice and its quality, with premium paddy rice sold at 1,300 riel per kg, with normal rice sold at 900 riel per kg, according to Bun Heng.
“The price is moving in the right direction now. We expect paddy rice [yields] in the next season will keep increasing,” he said, adding that the rising prices were due to an increase in rice facilities which are able to process more of farmer’s paddy rice.
The Kingdom’s main paddy rice collection season starts from the end of each year to the beginning of the following year.
In 2016, rice farmers in Battambang province, one of the Kingdom’s major rice producing regions, protested a drop in prices by blocking roads to demand government intervention.
Som Song, president of Agricultural Development Chamroeurn Phal – an agricultural cooperative consisting of 288 members on 2,225ha of rice fields in Sangke district’s Raing Kesei commune in Battambang province – said the price is an improvement on the past when farmers could only sell their paddy rice for between 500 riel and 600 riel per kg.
Provincial farmers this season are able to sell their rice for between 800 riel and 1,100 riel per kg.
“When we got into contract farming with rice millers, our prices became secure and there were no concerns about fluctuation."
“When we do not have contract farming, paddy prices fluctuate depending on the broker’s word. However, the price is not as unbearable for us as it was back then [two years ago],” he said.
Path Sarourn, Takeo province’s O’Saray Agricultural cooperative president, said prices in the province reached 1,300 riel per kg for premium rice and 900 riel for normal rice – an approximately 20 per cent increase on the previous year’s season.
“We are happy with the current price. We sell to local rice millers and brokers from Vietnam who give us better prices,” he said.
However, Sarourn said he needs to enter contract farming in order to ensure stable prices in the long term.
Centre for Policy Studies director Chan Sophal said that as the Kingdom’s paddy rice market has entered the international market they now have less control over prices.
“Our rice industry cannot set the price for farmers. There is no way to ensure a good price all the time, unless the government guarantees it. But, that would be difficult,” he said.

Back home, it’s Cong and BJP

The Krushak Morcha activists also attempted to gherao the Secretariat protesting State Government’s failure to resolve farmers’ problems.
Published: 09th January 2019 02:45 AM  |   Last Updated: 09th January 2019 03:15 AM  
Description: http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2019/1/9/w900X450/asfji0sd.jpg
BJP Krushak Morcha sets up mandi at Sachivalaya Marg on Tuesday | EXPRESS
By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR:  Even as the Biju Janata Dal leaders, led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, are staging a dharna in front of Parliament in Delhi for hike in minimum support price of paddy, the State unit of BJP hit the streets over farmers’ issues on Tuesday. Despite the bandh call given by Central Trade Unions, Krushak Morcha activists from across the State congregated in the Capital to join the political parties who took out rallies for their cause. The farmers marched to the Secretariat over a host of demands including loan waiver, bonus of `100 per quintal of paddy and ensuring MSP to farmers.
The Krushak Morcha activists also attempted to gherao the Secretariat protesting State Government’s failure to resolve farmers’ problems. They took out a rally from State BJP headquarters to Secretariat via Housing Board but could not proceed beyond Keshari Talkies as police put up a barricades there. The BJP, which has been protesting alleged irregularities in paddy procurement by Government agencies, opened a Mandi (paddy procurement centre) on Sachivalaya Marg to highlight the plight of farmers during sale of paddy.
Claiming that farmers of the State are forced to go for distress sale of paddy due to shortage of mandis and nonpayment of MSP by government- appointed agencies, State BJP Krushak Morcha president Sivaji Mohanty said the offer price to farmers at all paddy procurement centres ranges from `1,000 to `1,200 per quintal against MSP of `1,750 per quintal.
“Farmers are not getting MSP for paddy due to price cut at mandis. As rice millers are dictating terms, farmers are asked to sell their stock at the price offered by miller agents,” Mohanty said. He further alleged that rice millers are not lifting paddy from mandis till they get a price cut for 4 to 5 kg per bag. The protest by farmers for such illegal price cut at the mandis remains unheard.
Reminding Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of his promise at a Sohela farmers’ rally in Bargarh district in 2015 of providing bonus of `100 per quintal of paddy over and above the MSP, Mohanty said the farmers will continue their protest till the Governm e n t f u l f i l s i t s commitment. Criticising the BJD for holding a protest in New Delhi, party vice president Samir Mohanty said ruling party members led by the Chief Minister are on a picnic in the National Capital while farmers are crying for more paddy procurement centres.
Cong joins the race Bhubaneswar: Tuesday turned out to be the day of farmers as Congress also joined the race along with ruling BJD and BJP to woo them by submitting a memorandum to the Governor here demanding a hike in the MSP of paddy, farm loan waiver, opening of mandis for procurement and pension for cultivators. Criticising the BJD Government for not correcting the ground situation where farmers are selling paddy `500 to `600 less than the MSP as mandis are not being opened at the right time because of largescale irregularities at the local level, the farmers’ cell of OPCC threatened to launch a Statewide agitation if the demands were not met.
The Parliament gherao by BJD by ignoring the real picture here is meant for the upcoming polls, said chairman of Odisha Pradesh Kissan Congress (OPKC) Amiya Patnaik and asked Odisha Government to follow the Congress government in Chhattisgarh where the MSP on paddy has been fixed at `2,500 per quintal. Members of OPKC took out a padayatra from Congress Bhavan to Raj Bhavan here before submitting memorandum to the Governor. Meanwhile, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik alleged that announcement of schemes by BJD is confined to files only as more than 3 lakh farmers and workers migrate to neighbouring states in search of work. Referring to KALIA scheme before elections, Niranjan asked who will be the actual beneficiaries.

Co-operative allegations proved false


hursday, 10 January 2019 01:50
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Description: http://static.ft.lk/assets/uploads/image_066dd51b46.jpg
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons & Cooperative Development Rishad Bathiudeen meets Namal Karunaratne of Lanka Govijana Sansadaya (All island Farmers’ Federation-AIFF) on 9 January in Colombo.


  • Rishad, Co-op officials prove allegations to be false
  • ‘It’s not our Ministry that sources foreign funds’ - Rishad
  • ‘We alleged based on info we received’ – AIFF’s Karunaratne

The Sri Lankan consumer can benefit only when the small scale rice miller is safeguarded. “We praise Minister Rishad Bathiudeen for promptly looking into this issue and clarifying it,” said Namal Karunaratne of Lanka Govijana Sansadaya (All island Farmers’ Federation-AIFF) on 9 January. Karunaratne was speaking after a meeting with the Minister of Industry & Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons & Co-operative Development Rishad Bathiudeen at the Co-operative Department, Colombo on 9 January. The meeting was called by Minister Bathiudeen after Namal Karunaratne made false allegations on TV against Minister Bathiudeen. At a recent press conference AIFF’s Karunaratne alleged that Minister Bathiudeen has led the process of registering a false cooperative entity called as Sri Lanka Rice Producers Cooperative Association aimed at fraudulently collecting funds for it. A Sri Lanka Co-operative Rice Producers Association already exists and therefore registration of another co-operative bearing such a similar name is illegal, he said on TV, adding that the newly registered co-operative also applied for a loan from a company in China of more than Rs. 1000 million.

Minister Bathiudeen, joined by Secretary of the Ministry KDN Ranjit Ashoka clarified that he does not have any powers to approve loans for co-operatives and clearly showed that his officials did not do so either. “Any foreign fund application should go through the Finance Ministry and External Resources Department and not though our Ministry. Our officials have not approved nor recommended any such fund applications. Therefore this is clearly a false allegation,” Minister Bathiudeen said and added, “I am also instructing my officials to speed up support work for local co-operatives and to speed up registration processes also.”

After clarifications were made, AIFF’s Karunaratne said: “We praise Minister Rishad Bathiudeen for promptly looking into this issue and clarifying it.” He added: “We made these allegations based on the information we received. We have to safeguard our farmers and millers and that is why we took up this cause. We shall clarify to the media of our error today.”


Minister meets with Farmers' Federation to clarify allegations of false cooperative entity
Wed, Jan 9, 2019, 08:59 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 09, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons and Cooperative Development Rishad Bathiudeen today clarified that the allegation of registering a false cooperative entity aimed at fraudulently collecting funds is clearly false.
Meeting with the representatives of the All Island Farmers' Federation (Lanka Govijana Sansadaya) on 9 January at his Ministry, Minister Bathiudeen said the allegation made by the Farmers' Federation convener Namal Karunaratne was false and his Ministry has no authority to collect funds.
Minister Bathiudeen has called the meeting after Namal Karunaratne made false allegations on TV against the Minister.
At a recent press conference Karunaratne has alleged that Minister Bathiudeen has led the process of registering a false cooperative entity called as Sri Lanka Rice Producers Cooperative Association aimed at fraudulently collecting funds for it. Description: http://www.colombopage.com/CGImgs_Events2019/RB01092019.jpg
A Sri Lanka Cooperative Rice Producers Association already exists and therefore registration of another cooperative bearing such a similar name is illegal, Karunaratne has said on TV, adding that the newly registered cooperative also applied for a loan from a Company in China at more than Rs. 1 billion.
Minister Bathiudeen, joined by Secretary to the Ministry KDN Ranjith Ashoka clarified that he does not have any powers to approve loans for cooperatives and clearly showed that his official too did not do so.
"Any foreign fund application should go through the Finance Ministry and External Resources Department and not though our Ministry. Our officials have not approved nor recommended any such fund applications. Therefore this is clearly a false allegation," Minister Bathiudeen said.
The Minister added that he is also instructing his officials to speed up support work for local cooperatives and to speed up registration processes also.
After clarifications were made, Karunaratne praised Minister Bathiudeen for promptly looking into this issue and clarifying it.
"We made these allegations based on the information we received. We have to safeguard our farmers and millers and that is why we took up this cause. The Sri Lankan consumer can benefit only when the small scale rice miller is safeguarded. We shall clarify to the media of our error today," he said.


Huawei to develop 'sea rice' with renowned Chinese agriculturalist

by Asa Butcher Jan 08, 2019 10:23 INNOVATION SHANDONG PROVINCE HUAWEI
Developing rice able to grow in saline-alkali soil would transform 100 million hectares of China's land into arable farmland feeding 80 million more people a year. Melissa FlickrCC BY-NC-ND 2.0   

China looks set to carry out the world's first space launch of 2019 on Thursday


by Andrew Jones Jan 09, 2019 15:55CHINA'S SPACE PROGRAM XICHANG
A variety of salt-resistant rice will be developed by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies and renowned agriculturalist Yuan Longping, who is commonly known in China as the 'father of hybrid rice', following an agreement made yesterday.
The development of so-called 'sea rice' that can grow in saline-alkali soil aims to transform 100 million hectares of China's saline land into arable farmland. This would yield an extra 30 billion kilos of grain every year and feed 80 million more people, reports state media Xinhua.
·        

Chinese hybrid rice produces record-breaking yield

Originally developed by a group of scientists headed by Yuan, the new variety of hybrid rice beganproduction tests at a research centre in Qingdao, a port city in the eastern province of Shandong, in September 2017.
Wild sea rice is sometimes found in saline-alkaline soil at junctures where rivers join the sea. The plant is resistant to pests, diseases, salt and alkali, and does not need any fertiliser.
Plans to increase the yield of salt-resistant hybrid rice to 300 kilograms per mu (667 square metres) by 2020 were previously announced in January 2017 by Yuan, who was nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
Yuan, an 88-year-old academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, began exploring hybrid rice in the 1960s and developed the world's first species of hybrid rice in 1974. He has continued to set new records for the average yields of hybrid rice plots ever since.
Last June, Yuan headed a team of Chinese scientists in the deserts of Dubai where they successfully grew and harvested rice, achieving a top yield of 500 kilogrammes per mu.
The goal is to cover around 10 percent of the UAE's desert land, which has a total area of 83,600 square kilometres, with paddy fields.

Spotlight: Climate scientists alarmed after report dubs 2018 Australia's 3rd hottest year on record

Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-10 11:38:53|Editor: mym
SYDNEY, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Last year was Australia's third warmest since records began, according to the national Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) Annual Climate Statement for 2018.
While the news might be welcomed by Australia's ice cream vendors and air-conditioning salesmen, climate scientists down under are becoming increasingly alarmed.
"We have seen (carbon) emissions rise in Australia for the last four years, and with that we will see a continued rise in temperatures and a worsening of extreme whether," head of research and acting CEO at the Australian Climate Council Martin Rice told Xinhua on Thursday.
"What the data indicates is that climate change is intensifying in Australia and around the world, and we seeing new extreme heat records."
EVERY STATE AND TERRITORY IN AUSTRALIA HEATING UP
Compared to records from 1961 to 1990, Thursday's report shows that average temperatures were up 1.14 centigrades in 2018, with every single state and territory enduring higher than normal day and night-time temperatures.
"The average maximum temperature for the country as a whole was particularly warm, sitting 1.55 centigrade above the 1961-1990 average, making 2018 Australia's second warmest year on record for daily high temperatures," said senior climatologist at the BOM Dr. Lynette Bettio.
"Average minimum temperatures for 2018 were also 0.73 degrees celsius above average, the eleventh warmest on record."
NATIONAL RAINFALL TOTALS DRY UP
As well as being hotter, it was also dryer with September rainfall figures going down as the driest ever for the month.
Throughout the rest of the year, national rainfall measurements were 11 percent below the 1961-1990 average.
Bettio explained that across large areas of the country's southeast, rainfall totals were in the lowest 10 percent on record, exacerbating severe drought conditions that continue to ravage many rural and farming communities in Australia.
"New South Wales State had its sixth driest year on record, while the Murray-Darling River Basin saw its seventh driest year on record."
WARMER WHETHER SET TO CONTINUE
While last year will go down as a scorcher, the dramatic increase in temperatures is predicted to continue.
"With more greenhouse pollution levels in the atmosphere, we will continue to see temperatures rise," Rice said.
"Nine of Australia's hottest years on record have occurred since 2005 and this is part of a long-term trend that is being driven by climate change."
With this in mind, Rice and his team at the Australian Climate Council are urging more to be done in order to arrest the increasing temperatures.
"Australia is one of the sunniest and windiest countries on the planet," he said.
"So we must accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean, reliable and affordable renewable energy technologies."
"We also need to look at ways we can make our agriculture and transport sectors more efficient."

Identifying rice proteins key to creating more efficient strains: scientists

Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-09 13:13:14|Editor: Lu Hui

SYDNEY, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Scientists are calling for a global effort to identify the protein composition of rice, an understanding they hope will allow them to create a more heat and drought resistant crop.
The international team made up of researchers from Australia, Iran and Japan released a study on Wednesday in which they identify 5,700 new proteins in the grain.
However they say that with an estimated 35,000 proteins encoded by the rice genome, 82 percent of which are unknown, we are a long way from being able to harness its full potential.
While the genome of rice was successfully mapped and published by 2001, study co-author Paul Haynes from Australia's Macquarie University says that scientists still don't know enough to be able to adapt it to best suit humanity's needs.
"It is imperative that we find ways to make rice better adapted to environments with warmer climates and less available water," Haynes said.
In Australia and many other areas, rice production is under pressure from limited supply of water, which Haynes believes can be alleviated by merging commercial rice with wild varieties to increase root length.
"If we could somehow transform commercial rice varieties so that they grow deeper roots, thereby increasing water uptake efficiency while still retaining high grain yields, we could produce more sustainable plants that would help to future-proof the Australian rice industry," Haynes said.
"If we are to continue to feed the ever-increasing number of people on our planet, we really need to produce rice which is more sustainable in terms of better water use and better nutrient uptake, while still maintaining current levels of grain production."
The team hopes that their initial study will form the basis of an international collaborative project aimed at identifying all the remaining missing proteins in rice.

Gov’t should use more drastic measures against millers who are fleecing rice farmers

 
Dear Editor,
I am happy that a high level team from the government which consisted of the Minister of State and the newly appointed REO, Mr Dennis Jaikarran, visited the owner of Hampton Court Rice Mills on Sunday, January 6th. It was my understanding that they were there to instruct the miller to pay the rice farmers of Region Two for their paddy, after a group of rice farmers met with the government about the issue of being owed long outstanding payments for their paddy by this miller.
The issue of farmers being paid for their paddy is not a new one. It started way back since the previous administration and no one seems to care to resolve this issue. This is not the only rice miller that owes the farmers for paddy purchased since 2018. There are many more in this region who I understand will be selling their rice mills to avoid paying the farmers.
I remember back in 1994, I was with a high-level team from the PPP government and the RPA at Hills Rice Mills at Vilvoorden. The high-level team was led by the late General Secretary, Mr Fazal Ali, after a group of farmers from Wakenaam Island met with the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan at Freedom House to complain about the issue of payments for their paddy which was sold to Hills Rice Mills over a year ago.
The late President instructed Mr Fazal Ali, the General Secretary of the RPA to meet with the management of that rice mill to negotiate the urgent payment for the affected rice farmers. I happened to be on that high level team at the bargaining table.
 First of all we told the managing director of the mill, that we were there on behalf of the President to help solve the payment crisis after a group of rice farmers had met with him.
We had a list of the names and the amount of money owed to each rice farmer which was presented to him and his team of officers at the table. He acknowledged owing the farmers large sums of money for over a year and stated he would immediately pay in full, the farmers whom he owed $200,000. For those over that amount, he promised to pay them in full within a month’s time. The other farmers were owed over a million dollars each.
We then entered into an agreement which both parties signed to and after the signing we were instructed by the General Secretary and the President to follow up on the payments for the outstanding farmers which was duly honoured by the rice miller at Hills.
 The Rice Factories Act was then passed in the National Assembly in 1994, to protect the rice farmers’ interests, however, no one from the RPA or GRDB is policing the act to ensure that that the farmers are being paid on time. This new government should use more drastic measures against all the millers who are fleecing the rice farmers of their hard sweat and blood. Rice farming is a back-breaking job since the farmers have to toil in the sun and rain to care their crops and at the end of the day, they are being robbed of their hard earned cash by some unscrupulous millers.
If the industry falters, all will suffer.

Increase in rice facilities boosts price of Kingdom’s paddy rice

Cheng Sokhorng | Publication date 09 January 2019 | 07:44 ICT
Description: http://www.colombopage.com/CGImgs_Events2019/RB01092019.jpgDescription: Content image - Phnom Penh Post
A farmer harvests paddy rice in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district in 2016. Heng Chivoan
As a result of more rice facilities constantly being installed, the price of paddy rice for the 2018-2019 season was between 900 riel and 1,300 riel ($0.22 and $0.32) per kg, an increase on the previous season, according to industry insiders.
Cambodia Rice Federation vice-president Vong Bun Heng noted that the price was a 25 per cent increase on the 2017-2018 season.
The price depends on the type of rice and its quality, with premium paddy rice sold at 1,300 riel per kg, with normal rice sold at 900 riel per kg, according to Bun Heng.
“The price is moving in the right direction now. We expect paddy rice [yields] in the next season will keep increasing,” he said, adding that the rising prices were due to an increase in rice facilities which are able to process more of farmer’s paddy rice.
The Kingdom’s main paddy rice collection season starts from the end of each year to the beginning of the following year.
In 2016, rice farmers in Battambang province, one of the Kingdom’s major rice producing regions, protested a drop in prices by blocking roads to demand government intervention.
Som Song, president of Agricultural Development Chamroeurn Phal – an agricultural cooperative consisting of 288 members on 2,225ha of rice fields in Sangke district’s Raing Kesei commune in Battambang province – said the price is an improvement on the past when farmers could only sell their paddy rice for between 500 riel and 600 riel per kg.
Provincial farmers this season are able to sell their rice for between 800 riel and 1,100 riel per kg.
“When we got into contract farming with rice millers, our prices became secure and there were no concerns about fluctuation."
“When we do not have contract farming, paddy prices fluctuate depending on the broker’s word. However, the price is not as unbearable for us as it was back then [two years ago],” he said.
Path Sarourn, Takeo province’s O’Saray Agricultural cooperative president, said prices in the province reached 1,300 riel per kg for premium rice and 900 riel for normal rice – an approximately 20 per cent increase on the previous year’s season.
“We are happy with the current price. We sell to local rice millers and brokers from Vietnam who give us better prices,” he said.
However, Sarourn said he needs to enter contract farming in order to ensure stable prices in the long term.
Centre for Policy Studies director Chan Sophal said that as the Kingdom’s paddy rice market has entered the international market they now have less control over prices.
“Our rice industry cannot set the price for farmers. There is no way to ensure a good price all the time, unless the government guarantees it. But, that would be difficult,” he said.

01-10-2019 03:14 AM CET - Fashion, Lifestyle, Trends

Indonesian President observes rice stock availability at Jakarta`s Bulog warehouses

Reporter: Antara 
Description: Indonesian President observes rice stock availability at Jakarta`s Bulog warehouses
President Joko Widodo visited a warehouse of Bulog at  Kelapa Gading,  North Jakarta, on Thursday. (10/1/2019). ANTARA News (Agus Salim)
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo observed the availability of rice stock at the warehouses of Jakarta`s state-owned logistics company Bulog here on Thursday to ensure sufficient supply of this basic commodity.

"Today, I want to observe the stock of basic commodities, particularly rice, at Bulog`s warehouses," Widodo noted on the sidelines of his visit during which he was accompanied by Bulog President Director Budi Waseso and several cabinet members.

He said the current rice stock remains sufficient.

"This year`s stock is higher than that of last year," the president, who was accompanied by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita during his visit, stated.

Currently, Jakarta`s Bulog warehouses have rice stock totaling 2.1 million tons to be used for maintaining stability in the prices of this basic commodity, he noted, adding that he was informed of the prices of the commodity having decreased to some Rp50 per kilogram (kg).

The prices were lower due to the market operation launched by Bulog to maintain price stability over the past few days, Widodo, who aspires to be reelected in the upcoming presidential election, remarked.

The president is giving serious attention to the stable prices of basic commodities. Hence, he has frequently visited markets for observing the prices of basic commodities and conversing with the local traders.

On Jan 4, President Widodo began the second day of his official visit to East Java Province by visiting the Ngemplak wholesale market in Tulungagung District to check and observe prices of staple foods sold there.

He visited kioks selling rice and chicken, among others. He also bought two kg of rice and five kg of chicken meat. A merchant named Sukri said a kilogram of chicken meat cost Rp31 thousand.

"The price has gone down," he stated.

Reporting by Agus Salim, Rahmad Nasution
 
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

Canada to consider importing Pakistani mangoes, rice

 January 10, 2019
Description: Minister calls for enhanced collaboration in agriculture, boosting trade. PHOTO: FILE
Minister calls for enhanced collaboration in agriculture, boosting trade. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Canada’s bilateral relations have bright future prospects not only in the context of bilateral trade but also keeping in view the mutual benefits, which would be attained in agro research and development, said Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan.
In a meeting with Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan Wendy Gilmour on Wednesday, he said that the country’s trade of agricultural commodities has been influenced by sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures adopted by the developed countries. The procedural formalities like pest risk analysis and stringent conditions render trade difficult.
In such a situation, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research is making efforts to obtain maximum market access for agro-commodities, he explained.
He shared that Pakistan imports mostly pulses and canola seeds from Canada. “Last year, Pakistan imported 880,525 tons of oil seed and pulses, whereas the volume of Pakistan’s export to Canada remained 14,521.36 tons,” the minister recalled.
He outlined the need for bilateral trade, between the two nations, to be accelerated through harmonisation of SPS measures.
Speaking on the occasion, Gilmour added that Canada was eager to explore new areas of cooperation and the country believes in scientific rigour. “In fact, Canada is always ready to share information,” she said. She disclosed that canola was the major commodity which Pakistan imports from Canada and “Pakistan imports agro products worth $800 million from our country.”
The federal minister expressed desire for Canada to consider and proceed forward to open its market for Pakistani mangoes and rice, which are of exceptional quality. Currently, Canada imports these items from Mexico and Brazil. The Canadian ambassador agreed to consider the issue. 
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2019.

Canada keen to increase volume of Pakistani mangoes, rice import

Description: https://www.thenews.com.pk/assets/uploads/updates/2019-01-09/416706_7757307_canadian-hc_updates.jpg
Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan Wendy Gilmour called on Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan here in Islamabad.
 Pakistan and Canada’s bilateral relations have good future prospects not only in bilateral trade context but in getting mutual benefits in agro research and development. 
Pakistan trade of agro commodities has been influenced by SPS measures of the developed countries. The procedural formalities like pest risk analysis and stringent conditions make trade difficult. In this situation the Ministry of National Food security is trying to get maximum market access for agro-commodities. 
Pakistan imports mostly Pulses and Canola seeds from Canada, during last year Pakistan imported 880525 metric ton (0.94 MMT) of oil seed and pulses, whereas the volume of Pakistan export to Canada is 14521.36 Metric ton (0.88MMT). 
Federal minister for National Food Security Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan said that bilateral trade between the two countries could be accelerated through harmonization of SPS measures between two countries; moreover the vibrant liaison between importers and exporters of agro commodities is essential. 
The Minister further said that cooperation in technical assistance to improve alignment of National SPS and quality infrastructure with international standards, it is also in the interest of both the countries to specify mutual areas in research for long term implications in existing and potential trade agreements in future. Seminar and frequent sessions to increase awareness and understanding of issues of the relevant markets. 
Mehboob Sultan said Pakistan could benefit from Canada to minimize post harvest losses of perishable food items, constructions of packing houses and cold storages equipped with state of the art technology, so that the fruit and vegetables may be saved from wastage and same may be exported. 
Mehboob Sultan added that we could jointly work in establishment of pest and disease free areas across Pakistan, which will not only minimize the risk associated with our agro commodities export but will reduce the post-harvest cost of plant and plant material and this will give sound footings to Pakistan in international market
. Mehboob Sultan said that both countries should jointly work for intensive cooperation in value addition of projects to increase the production of agro commodities based on general crop production practices and using scarce resources efficiently. 
The Minister added that we could jointly work on efficient plant breeding technologies to introduce pest and disease resistance and water use efficient varieties of crops for better production. 
Canadian Ambassador Ms. Wendy Gilmour said that Canada is eager to explore new areas of cooperation and she further said that we believe in scientific rigor and we support that any modification should not harm human beings or animals, Canada is always ready to share information. 
Ms. Ambassador said that canola is the major import of Pakistan from Canada and Pakistan imports worth 800 million (0.8 billion) US$ agro products from our country. She further added that Canada is greatly benefitting from Pakistani Canadians who are contributing a lot in Canada. 
Federal Minister expressed his desire that Canada must consider and proceed forward to open its market for Pakistani Mangoes and Rice which are of exceptional quality, currently Canada is exporting these food products from Mexico and Brazil, Canadian ambassador agreed to look into the proposed import from Pakistan. 
She added that it is a tremendous opportunity between the two countries and we are cognizant of best practices which are conducive to human and environment friendly. 
Federal Minister welcomed the high Commissioner to Pakistan and reiterated that both we shall move together to facilitate the trade as per international best practices. Federal Secretary NFS&R Hashim Popalzai and other officials of the Ministry were present. 

Customs seizes tramadol, rice, worth over N54m in Kaduna
 ON JANUARY 9, 20197:10 PMIN
The Nigeria Customs Federal Operation Unit, Zone `B’,  has seized three cartons of Tramadol 255 mg and 1,100 bags of foreign rice with Duty Paid Value of over N54 million in Kaduna. Customs seizes bags of rice Drug Abuse: NGO, NDLEA, NYSC move to curb menace among youths The Area Controller of the zone, Mohammed Sarkin Kebbi, who disclosed this while conducting Journalists round the seized items on Wednesday in Kaduna, said the rice were in various vehicles covered in local rice bags. The Controller further explained that the three cartons of tramadol were uncovered along Kaduna Abuja road, concealed in a truck conveying motorcycle spare parts. He said the discovery was done based on intelligence information from good Nigerians, adding that each carton of tramadol had a market value of over N5 million, thus putting the value of the total seizure at N15 million. He noted that tramadol drugs are still being imported into the country in large quantities in spite of the ban on it. He added that between December and January, the command had seized 1,100 bags of smuggled foreign rice. “We also have about 10 vehicles that are intercepted with various smuggled goods,” he said. According to him, the seizure is important to the customs service in its commitment to stem smuggling, including illicit drugs. “Customs will remain committed to preventing banned drugs from getting to the teaming youths. “Tramadol is very expensive and sell very fast because criminals have been able to put the drugs into the market, ” he said. Description: https://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/customs3.gif


PH’s biggest rice seed production area eyed in N. Samar
TACLOBAN CITY -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) will transform San Roque, Northern Samar from being a poverty-stricken town into the biggest rice seed production center in the country this year. In a post on his social media account Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the project will tap about 2,000 hectares for the production of seeds of high-yielding rice varieties developed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). The project, a major component of the Samar Rice Development Program (SRDP), is a joint project of the DA, PhilRice, San Roque town local government, a private company, and farmers. The SRDP, which is up for launching this year, targets about 100,000 to 200,000 hectares of rich lands into rice production areas. “Under the program, a private seed production group will set up a nucleus farm of 200-hectares, establish rice seeds processing facilities and a refrigerated warehouse for seeds storage. The private seed production group will engage farmers of San Roque in a seed production contract where the seeds from the farmers will be bought by the company,” Piñol explained. Under the agreement, DA and PhilRice will support the program by providing the farmers with technical training, equipment and loan support. Farm-to-market roads and solar-powered irrigation systems will also be installed in the seed production areas of the farmers. The agriculture department will purchase the seeds produced in San Roque town to be distributed to the farmers in the rest of Samar Island, including parts of Leyte. The San Roque local government will be tasked to consolidate the areas to be developed into seed production areas. San Roque is a fourth class town in Northern Samar located 280 kilometers north of Tacloban City, the regional capital.
 The SRDP will be the first major beneficiary of the Rice Tarrification Program with an estimated PHP10-billion fund for 2019. The project seeks to introduce new rice farming technologies and equipment to develop areas and contribute to a bigger national rice production and poverty reduction in Samar Island. “From the current average of two metric tons per hectare average yield in the island, the SRDP targets an average production of six metric tons by introducing high-yielding rice varieties developed by PhilRice and commercial hybrid seeds and solar irrigation systems in the vast rain-fed areas of the island,” Piñol said.
By 2020, the SRDP is expected to contribute an estimated 1.2 million metric tons of paddy rice to the national production, which would make Samar Island as one of the country’s major rice-producing areas, the DA chief said. The DA will organize the Project Management Office tasked to handle and monitor the implementation of the SRDP. It will be chaired by the DA Secretary with the heads of the other support agencies as members. (PNA)

Egypt’s GASC seeks white rice for March 20-April 20 and/or April 1-30

Shoaib Ur RehmanJanuary 10, 2019
Description: https://www.brecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/rice-1024.jpgDUBAI: Egypt’s state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), said on Wednesday it was seeking cargoes of at least 20,000 tonnes of white rice in an international purchasing tender for arrival March 20-April 20 and/or April 1-30.
GASC said it was seeking white rice with 10 percent to 12 percent broken parts. The deadline for offers, to be submitted on a cost, insurance and freight (CIF) basis, is Jan. 27. Each bidder should present samples alongside their offer to be tested by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Rice tariffs in European market ‘almost certain’
 The noose around the Cambodian rice sector is tightening as the European Commission (EC) is almost certainly implementing the safeguard measures on rice exports from Cambodia and Myanmar from mid-January onwards, said a source close to the issue. The action is expected to culminate in the regressive tax imposition, beginning with 175 euros per tonne on Jan 15, 150 euros per tonne a year later, and 125 euros the subsequent year. “I hate to break the news but we have learned that the EC will implement the safeguard clause with immediate effect for varieties of rice customs codes. “This affects rice with a ratio more than three (not broken rice), while those with a ratio below three are allowed access.
 It is bad news for Cambodia as the only quality we will be able to export is broken rice, since all others are subject to tax,” said the source who declined to be named because of the issue’s sensitivity. Tariffs will only apply to milled Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar with CN codes 1006 30 27, 1006 30 48, 1006 30 67 and 1006 30 98, according to the source. According to Confagricoltura, an organisation that represents Italian agricultural businesses, a written procedure to activate the tariffs started on Jan 4 following a hung verdict a month earlier when EU members failed to come to a consensus over the tax imposition.
 As a result, the EC was tasked with issuing a final decision on the subject by Jan 15. Last March, the EC launched an investigation to ascertain whether imports of semi-milled and milled Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar resulted in serious difficulties to European Union producers of similar or competing products. “In this safeguard thing, Cambodia loses out big time as the EC imposes duties on all rice over ratio three, which means only broken rice can be imported tax-free. Anything above ratio three will be taxed.
 “Myanmar has been exporting primarily broken rice to EU all this time, representing 70 to 80 percent of their exports to EU, whereas Cambodia doesn’t export broken rice as ours is not competitive at all. Our broken rice is mainly sold in the domestic market because it fetches a higher price,” the source said. Data from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export showed that between January and November 2018, Cambodia exported 497,420 tonnes, down 13 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2017.
That year rice exports rose 17.21 percent to reach 635,325 tonnes, with a total value of $333.1 million. Cambodian rice exports in 2017 represented 1.6 percent of global rice exports, World’s Top Exports research portal showed. That year Cambodia was the ninth biggest exporter in the world, while Myanmar held the tenth spot. Observers argue that, unlike the proposal to withdraw Cambodia’s Everything-but-arms (EBA) status, the rice tax imposition is not politically motivated. “We definitely cannot save the rice issue but we still have good hope that we can avoid the EBA revocation.
 They seem to be separate issues. Unlike the EBA revocation where ample notice will be given, there is no grace period for safeguards,” the source said. Yesterday, Khmer Times reported that local exporters rued over the lack of clarity that was causing delays of shipments, with buyers reluctant to go ahead with exchanges.
Chan Sokheang, chairman and CEO of Signatures of Asia, said if the EU activates the tariffs, many buyers might cancel their orders, inflicting pain to the rice sector. To this, the source said zero import duties should apply to rice consignments that were already on the way to the EU on the regulation’s enforcement date. “EC’s Directorate General for Trade has indicated that a bill of lading dated prior to the date of entry into force of the tariffs could be used to demonstrate that the rice is already on the way,” the source added.

China inches towards allowing U.S. rice sales

File photo of David Wildy, a prominent Arkansas farmer, in a field of soybeans that were damaged by dicamba.
DAN CHARLES / NPR NEWS Description: File photo of David Wildy, a prominent Arkansas farmer, in a field of soybeans that were damaged by dicamba.
China customs has announced it will allow imports of U.S. rice and industry leaders are waiting for the first orders. The move is part of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Protocol signed between the United States and China from July 2017.
USA Rice CEO and President Betsy Ward told Talk Business & Politics the ongoing trade war has hampered efforts to open the Chinese market after the agreement was reached. Industry leaders hope that the Chinese will buy several hundred thousand metric tons of U.S. rice, Ward said.
Listen
Listening...
Listen to USA Rice CEO Betsy Ward talk to Talk Business’ Roby Brock at the Annual Arkansas Rice Meeting in Stuttgart about the state of agriculture.
Officials have spent 10 years working on a deal to sell rice in the world’s most populous country with China consuming as much rice as Arkansas produces every 13 days, according to estimates.
“We are fairly optimistic the Chinese will allow rice imports,” she said. “This is potentially a huge market for us.”
China will now need to post the list of approved U.S. export mills and facilities of milled rice developed in consultation between the U.S. rice industry, United States Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and China’s Agricultural Inspection Service, according to the Agriculture Council of Arkansas. In 2017, USA Rice worked with U.S. and Chinese government officials to facilitate Chinese inspections at 10 U.S. mills and facilities interested in exporting rice to China to demonstrate their compliance with the complex U.S.-China phytosanitary protocol.
“What is still not 100% clear is whether China has published the complete list of all the U.S. facilities approved to ship to China,” said Bobby Hanks, Chair of USA Rice’s International Trade Policy Committee and a Louisiana miller. “We will be looking in the days ahead to USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative for clarification to make sure that all approved U.S. facilities are eligible. We of course are looking for the first confirmed rice sale to China.”
China’s rice imports have grown in recent years and are hovering near 5 million metric-tons.
China has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 2001, but the U.S. has been barred from selling rice there because it lacked the phytosanitary standards required by the Chinese government. Seminars will be held in China and the U.S. to educate consumers about the different kinds of American rice. Demand for export rice will be highest in coastal areas, restaurants, hotels, and high income consumers.
Arkansas farmers were projected to grow 1.4 million rice acres during the 2018 season, an uptick from 2017 when about 1.161 million acres were planted. It was 47.1% of all rice acres planted in the U.S., according to the B.R. Wells Arkansas Rice Research study issued by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Those acres accounted for 82.6 million hundredweight of rice, and it represented 46.4% of the 178.2 million hundredweight produced in the country. During the last three years, Arkansas has accounted for more than 47% of the nation’s total rice production, the report found. Per acre, farmers had a yield of 164.4 bushels per acre or 7,400 pounds. It was the third highest yield on record in the state and a 570 pound per acre uptick from 2016.
Rice is grown in 40 of Arkansas’ 75 counties and is predominately grown in the eastern section of the state. The first rice crop was grown on a single acre in Lonoke County in 1902, although there are reports of the crop in the state before the Civil War, according to historians. Rice acres steadily grew from then and by 1955 the federal government initiated a set of controls capping the number of rice acres at 500,000. Controls were lifted in the 1970s, and the number of rice acres continued to grow. The state set its all-time rice acreage record in 2010 when farmers planted 1.785 million acres.
Talk Business and Politics is a content partner of KASU.  Their show airs on KASU 91.9 FM on Mondays and Fridays during NPR’s Morning Edition at 6:51 am.  It also airs during NPR’s All Things Considered on Wednesdays at 5:20 pm.  You can follow more of their coverage on their website TalkBusiness.net where you can also catch the latest Northeast Arkansas news.
Enactment of rice tariffication bill to stabilize prices-NEDA
MANILA, Philippines — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) urges the immediate enactment of the rice tariffication bill, saying it is “fundamental” to the stabilization of food prices. The bill amending the two-decade old Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 replaces the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports with a 35 percent tariff. It is set to be transmitted to Malacañang for President Duterte’s signature, having been ratified by both chambers of Congress last Nov. 28.

Under the new import regime, legitimate rice traders can import rice from various sources without permit from the National Food Authority (NFA), provided they secure a sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and pay the appropriate tariff to the Bureau of Customs. The NFA, on the other hand, would merely focus on ensuring the sufficiency of buffer stocks for use in emergencies.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia said as there is a need to periodically replenish the buffer stocks, the NFA can still sell cheap rice but to targeted markets. “In selling rice, the NFA may opt to focus on far-flung areas, which some private traders may not find profitable to serve,” he said. He also noted that even with tariffication in place, the rice subsidy provided under the government’s conditional cash transfer program would continue. “The aim of the bill is to make rice accessible and affordable to every Filipino, and to make the rice sector competitive,” he said.
The bill also provides for the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) using tariff revenue, the proceeds of which would be used by the DA for productivity enhancing programs for rice farmers. Key interventions to be financed by the RCEF include the improvement of farm mechanization, development of high-yielding rice seed varieties and promotion of use, expanded rice credit, crop diversification, and extension services. As a safety net measure to the rice sector, the bill provides for the imposition of a special safeguard duty on rice in the event of sudden price fluctuations.
 An SSG is essentially an additional tariff imposed on agricultural commodities, the purpose of which is to allow free trade but prevent foreign suppliers from undercutting prices charged in the domestic market. In the event of a supply shortage, the President is empowered to allow importation of a specified volume at lower rates to increase supply and stabilize prices. “Increasing the number of market players and competition in the rice sector are critical for the bill to deliver on its promise of lower rice prices for everyone,” said Pernia. He also urged the DA, along with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to carry out information dissemination campaigns on the new rice  importation regime and ensure that rice traders are ready to participate when the bill is enacted.  
 Rice tariffs in European market ‘almost certain’
January 10, 2019
Sangeetha Amarthalingam / Khmer Times  
The noose around the Cambodian rice sector is tightening as the European Commission (EC) is almost certainly implementing the safeguard measures on rice exports from Cambodia and Myanmar from mid-January onwards, said a source close to the issue.
The action is expected to culminate in the regressive tax imposition, beginning with 175 euros per tonne on Jan 15, 150 euros per tonne a year later, and 125 euros the subsequent year.
“I hate to break the news but we have learned that the EC will implement the safeguard clause with immediate effect for varieties of rice customs codes.
“This affects rice with a ratio more than three (not broken rice), while those with a ratio below three are allowed access. It is bad news for Cambodia as the only quality we will be able to export is broken rice, since all others are subject to tax,” said the source who declined to be named because of the issue’s sensitivity.
Tariffs will only apply to milled Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar with CN codes 1006 30 27, 1006 30 48, 1006 30 67 and 1006 30 98, according to the source.
According to Confagricoltura, an organisation that represents Italian agricultural businesses, a written procedure to activate the tariffs started on Jan 4 following a hung verdict a month earlier when EU members failed to come to a consensus over the tax imposition. As a result, the EC was tasked with issuing a final decision on the subject by Jan 15.
Last March, the EC launched an investigation to ascertain whether imports of semi-milled and milled Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar resulted in serious difficulties to European Union producers of similar or competing products.
“In this safeguard thing, Cambodia loses out big time as the EC imposes duties on all rice over ratio three, which means only broken rice can be imported tax-free. Anything above ratio three will be taxed.
“Myanmar has been exporting primarily broken rice to EU all this time, representing 70 to 80 percent of their exports to EU, whereas Cambodia doesn’t export broken rice as ours is not competitive at all. Our broken rice is mainly sold in the domestic market because it fetches a higher price,” the source said.
Data from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export showed that between January and November 2018, Cambodia exported 497,420 tonnes, down 13 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2017. That year rice exports rose 17.21 percent to reach 635,325 tonnes, with a total value of $333.1 million.
Cambodian rice exports in 2017 represented 1.6 percent of global rice exports, World’s Top Exports research portal showed.
That year Cambodia was the ninth biggest exporter in the world, while Myanmar held the tenth spot.
Observers argue that, unlike the proposal to withdraw Cambodia’s Everything-but-arms (EBA) status, the rice tax imposition is not politically motivated.
“We definitely cannot save the rice issue but we still have good hope that we can avoid the EBA revocation. They seem to be separate issues. Unlike the EBA revocation where ample notice will be given, there is no grace period for safeguards,” the source said.
Yesterday, Khmer Times reported that local exporters rued over the lack of clarity that was causing delays of shipments, with buyers reluctant to go ahead with exchanges.
Chan Sokheang, chairman and CEO of Signatures of Asia, said if the EU activates the tariffs, many buyers might cancel their orders, inflicting pain to the rice sector.
To this, the source said zero import duties should apply to rice consignments that were already on the way to the EU on the regulation’s enforcement date.
“EC’s Directorate General for Trade has indicated that a bill of lading dated prior to the date of entry into force of the tariffs could be used to demonstrate that the rice is already on the way,” the source added.

Niigata rice exports to China start

Description: https://the-japan-news-archives.s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/preview/entries/264524/materials/763317/NSP0063190108.NSK.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI7EPFDYX6SSPYKKQ&Expires=1547175639&Signature=yfmGulLCrS0nAcPCfXTe1DMLbhI%3D
Jiji Press

Rice produced in Niigata Prefecture to be exported to Shanghai
7:16 pm, January 09, 2019
Jiji PressYOKOHAMA (Jiji Press) — The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or JA Zen-Noh, resumed Tuesday exports of rice produced in Niigata Prefecture to China after a break of nearly eight years.
Niigata rice exports were suspended following the triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant just after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
JA Zen-Noh, the business and marketing arm of the Japanese agricultural cooperatives, or JA, group, will resume Niigata rice sales in Shanghai late this month on a trial basis.
It aims to expand Japanese rice sales in the huge Chinese market with a population of more than 1.3 billion amid falling domestic consumption.
China lifted its import ban on Niigata rice in November last year.
The export resumption is “a landmark event” that will be appreciated by producers, agriculture minister Takamori Yoshikawa said at a ceremony in Yokohama on Tuesday.
JA Zen-Noh President Genichi Jinde said he regards the resumption as “the first step” in efforts to expand rice sales overseas.
JA Zen-Noh will sell a total of 500 bags each containing 2 kilograms of polished Niigata rice in Shanghai, targeting wealthy consumers. The organization plans to expand its Chinese sales network to cover Beijing and other cities.
China introduced its import restrictions on Japanese farm and fishery products in April 2011. The regulations still affect products produced in 10 prefectures including Fukushima, where the TEPCO power plant stands.
China also maintains import restrictions on Niigata products other than rice.
The Japanese government aims to increase the country’s annual exports of farm, forestry and fishery products plus food to one trillion yen in 2019.
The exports totaled ¥807.1 billion in 2017, of which rice accounted for only ¥3.2 billion.
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005466081

“You work with figures, I work with facts…’ Buhari insists Nigeria has achieved food security

 On Jan 9, 2019
Description: https://i0.wp.com/www.icirnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/You-work-with-figures-I-work-with-facts...-Buhari-insists-Nigeria-has-achieved-food-security-in-spite-of-available-records.jpg?zoom=1.5&resize=694%2C409&ssl=1President Muhammadu Buhari
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DESPITE the many negative reports by several internationally recognised bodies on the rate of hunger and poverty in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari insists that the nation has achieved food security under his administration.
Buhari said this during an interview conducted by a team of journalists drawn from Arise Television, ThisDay Newspaper, and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). The interview was aired on Arise TV on Monday night and is also available on the station’s Youtube Channel.
Buhari said he and his team were “very lucky”, having prayed a lot to God, and as a result, the rainy seasons of 2016, 2017, and 2018 were quite favourable to Nigerian farmers, regardless of the flood disasters that occurred in some states across the nation.
He accused the media of not fully appreciating “the luck we have, and what we did in Agriculture”.
“I am sure you will know that we have virtually achieved food security,” Buhari said.
He explained that he directed the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to come up with measures that would ensure that local farmers are able to access soft loans in order to improve their harvests.
“We made fertilizer available at virtually half the price we met it, and we are producing it locally. We work together with another African country, Morocco.
“…I’m sure you have felt it. We don’t import rice, virtually, anymore. We don’t import rice, we have stopped importing rice, and we are even exporting grains.
“But we want to be self-sufficient in maize so that the chicken feed and so on, can be there locally. We made tremendous progress.
“I very much recommend that you do some in-depth study in it and see how much we have earned in Agriculture.”
However, one of the journalists pointed out to Buhari that his comments on food security were contradictory to the realities on the ground as evidenced in several reports by reputable international organisations. For instance, figures show that several millions of Nigerians are unemployed and the country recently overtook India as the poverty capital of the world
To this Buhari replied, “You work with figures, I work with facts. I’m telling you this, (and) that’s why I recommend that you see the Minister of Agriculture and the Governor of the Central Bank (to explain to you) how much money Nigeria was thought to be allocated to import rice, to import other foodstuffs, and how much we are now giving for import of food.”
Buhari said many people are leaving their white collar jobs and are returning to agriculture and many hitherto unemployed Nigerians have taken up agriculture and are doing well.
There are no available statistics to support Buhari’s claims that Nigeria has achieved food sufficiency. Rather Buhari’s administration claims it has reduced rice importation by 90 percent. A fact-check report by The ICIR showed this claim is false.
In fact, the 2018 United States Department of Agriculture report puts Nigeria’s rice importation in 2018 at about 400,000 tonnes and estimates that the country will only be second to China in rice importation by 2019.
The CBN Governor, Emefiele, however, disputes the USDA report, saying that available data shows “that rice imported legally into the country is less than 25,000 tonnes in 2018 so far”.
But as Nigeria records a drop in the rate of legally imported rice, the Benin Republic, one of Nigeria’s closest neighbours continue to record a huge spike in theirs.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, once confessed that “as Nigeria’s rice import falls, Benin’s rice imports increase” and that “most of the parboiled rice imported by Benin eventually land in Nigeria through smuggling”.
According to data from the International Grains Council, over half of Nigeria’s imports in 2015 entered from neighbouring Benin, where the duty on rice is only 12 per cent, and most of Benin’s rice imports, up to 30,000 truckloads per year, are routed via transit shipments through Niger to the northwest of Nigeria.

KPK Deputy Unfazed by Wednesday's Terror Threats

Translator: 

Ricky Mohammad Nugraha


Editor: Laila Afifa
10 January 2019 07:12 WIB

Description: The situation at KPK deputy chief Laode Muhammad Syarif on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, after a  Molotov cocktail-looking device was found. TEMPO/Francisca Christy RosanaThe situation at KPK deputy chief Laode Muhammad Syarif on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, after a Molotov cocktail-looking device was found. TEMPO/Francisca Christy Rosana
TEMPO.COJakarta - The Molotov explosive device found yesterday at the house of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Deputy Chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif did not scare him to stay at his only house.
“What, and move to a hotel?” said Laode on Wednesday when asked if he planned to move to a house that he might consider to be safer. Interestingly, Laode who just came home from work seemed unfazed by the incident.
Around 05:30 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Wednesday, a Molotov cocktail-looking device was discovered by Laode’s personal driver Bambang.
According to Laode, this incident is certainly an unwanted effect of his job and considers the terror as a risk that cannot be separated from his position as a leader in an anti-corruption agency.
As of the safety of him and his family, Laide said that he is entirely confident that police would provide ample protection. He also hopes that police would soon be able to uncover the assailant and what their motives were.
On Wednesday, the house of two KPK higher-ups, Laode and KPK Chairman Agus Rahardjo, were terrorized by the finding of a Molotov cocktail explosive that was placed inside a plastic bag hung over the gate of their houses.

Rice tariffication improving PHL’s WTO standing
January 9, 2019 | 9:13 pm
Description: NFA rice warehouseA worker is seen at an NFA warehouse in Quezon City. -- PHILSTAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE Philippines’ decision not to extend quantitative restrictions on rice has improved its position with potential trading partners, its World Trade Organization (WTO) representative said.
“Our view is that the perception of the Philippines as a trading partner has improved after the current administration’s declared policy of ending its quantitative restriction on the importation of rice and our making progress towards tariffication,” Representative to the Philippine Mission to the WTO Ambassador Manuel A. J. Teehankee said in an e-mail interview.
The Philippines has been receiving queries from WTO-members about its obligation to move away from a QR regime, which were brought up frequently during the country’s trade policy review last year.
The QR is a non-tariff measure imposed by a member of the WTO to limit the volume of a particular commodity entering its borders.
Annex 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture which was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade allowed members to apply for special treatment in certain products by complying with certain provisions under the deal.
Rice is the only commodity in the Philippines that enjoys special treatment, granted to the country upon acceding to the WTO in 1995.
With the QR, the Philippines sought more time to achieve self-sufficiency in the staple grain, to counter the impact of the expected influx of cheap rice imports.
The waiver’s validity ended a decade later but was further extend by seven years after the Philippines lobbied for an extension which was granted in 2007.
This continued until its 2012 expiry after which the country negotiated for another extension, again to buy more time to prepare farmers for liberalized trade. The second request for an extension was granted in 2014 and ended June 30, 2017.
However, the country failed to amend the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, and replace the quantitative restriction on rice imports, in time for the waiver’s expiry.
The waiver was nevertheless extended up until the country passed the law.
In November, Senate Bill No. 1998, Act Replacing the Quantitative Import Restrictions on Rice with Tariffs, Lifting the Quantitative Export Restrictions, made it past the chamber’s plenary.
Under the measure, the country will apply a 35% tariff for rice shipments from ASEAN member states, in recognition of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement. For non-ASEAN member states, a 50% tariff equivalent will be applied.
Rice tariffication has raised concerns that rice farmers may lose their livelihoods because of their inability to compete with cheaper imported rice.
Mr. Teehankee said that “the interests of our rice producing farmers and sectors are safeguarded while assisting them in becoming competitive and also be able to avail of the benefits of higher value-added rice production that can be exported.”
The Senate bill as approved proposes the creation of a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund which will be funded from tariffs.
It will receive a minimum P10 billion every year for six years, after which period all duties collected from the importation of rice are expected to have replaced the allocated funds.
The fund will provide assistance to rice farmers, helping them develop inbred rice seeds, farming equipment and upgrade their rice-growing skills. — Janina C. Lim


Enactment of rice tariffication bill to stabilize prices — NEDA
Michael Varcas
The bill amending the two-decade old Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 replaces the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports with a 35 percent tariff.
Description: https://media.philstar.com/photos/2019/01/09/bus4-nfa-rice-michael-varcas_2019-01-09_18-53-16.jpgCzeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) - January 10, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) urges the immediate enactment of the rice tariffication bill, saying it is “fundamental” to the stabilization of food prices.
The bill amending the two-decade old Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 replaces the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports with a 35 percent tariff.
It is set to be transmitted to Malacañang for President Duterte’s signature, having been ratified by both chambers of Congress last Nov. 28.
Under the new import regime, legitimate rice traders can import rice from various sources without permit from the National Food Authority (NFA), provided they secure a sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and pay the appropriate tariff to the Bureau of Customs.
The NFA, on the other hand, would merely focus on ensuring the sufficiency of buffer stocks for use in emergencies.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia said as there is a need to periodically replenish the buffer stocks, the NFA can still sell cheap rice but to targeted markets.
“In selling rice, the NFA may opt to focus on far-flung areas, which some private traders may not find profitable to serve,” he said.
He also noted that even with tariffication in place, the rice subsidy provided under the government’s conditional cash transfer program would continue.
“The aim of the bill is to make rice accessible and affordable to every Filipino, and to make the rice sector competitive,” he said.
The bill also provides for the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) using tariff revenue, the proceeds of which would be used by the DA for productivity enhancing programs for rice farmers.
Key interventions to be financed by the RCEF include the improvement of farm mechanization, development of high-yielding rice seed varieties and promotion of use, expanded rice credit, crop diversification, and extension services.
As a safety net measure to the rice sector, the bill provides for the imposition of a special safeguard duty on rice in the event of sudden price fluctuations.
An SSG is essentially an additional tariff imposed on agricultural commodities, the purpose of which is to allow free trade but prevent foreign suppliers from undercutting prices charged in the domestic market.
In the event of a supply shortage, the President is empowered to allow importation of a specified volume at lower rates to increase supply and stabilize prices.
“Increasing the number of market players and competition in the rice sector are critical for the bill to deliver on its promise of lower rice prices for everyone,” said Pernia.
He also urged the DA, along with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to carry out information dissemination campaigns on the new rice  importation regime and ensure that rice traders are ready to participate when the bill is enacted.

Rice research to be funded $1.6 million following levy

Reuben Wylie
 JANUARY 10 2019 - 10:00AM
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Rice growers in Griffith and around the country will pay an additional $3 for every tonne of rice they sell if recommendations put forth to the government in a report by Rice Growers Australia (RGA) are approve

Samar town eyed as PH’s biggest rice seed producer

JANUARY 10, 2019
SAMAR TOWN EYED AS PH’S BIGGEST RICE SEED PRODUCER
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) are working together to develop San Roque, Northern Samar as the country’s biggest seed production center which could potentially produce high-yielding varieties in 2,000 hectares of agricultural land.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the two agencies would coordinate with the local government of San Roque, a private company and farmers for the implementation of the Samar Rice Development Program (SRDP).
“The SRDP, which will be launched this year, targets about 100,000 to 200,000 hectares of rich lands into rice production areas,” Piñol said Wednesday in a statement.
San Roque is a poor town in Northern Samar, which is among the 10 poorest provinces in the country.
Once implemented, Piñol said the program would transform the poor town into one of the most progressive localities in Northern Samar.
“Under the program, a private seed production group will set up a nucleus farm of 200 hectares, establish rice seeds processing facilities and a refrigerated warehouse for the storage of the seeds,” he explained.
“The private seed production group will engage the farmers of San Roque in a seed production contract where the seeds from the farmers will be bought by the company,” Piñol added.
He said the program will be supported by the DA and PhilRice by providing the farmers with technical training, equipment and loan support.
“The DA will purchase the seeds produced in San Roque to be distributed to the rice farmers in the rest of Samar Island, including parts of Leyte,” Piñol said.
He also said farm-to-market roads and Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) will also be installed in the seed production areas of the farmers.
The SRDP targets to boost the average rice yield in Samar Island to 6 metric tons from the current 2 metric tons per hectare by 2020.
San Roque Mayor Don Abalon said the program would also bring in an estimated P600 million earnings for the local farmers.
Neda: Rice tariffication to stabilize inflation
January 09, 2019 at 09:10 pm
The National Economic and Development Authority said the immediate enactment into law of the Rice Tariffication bill will stabilize food prices and overall inflation rate.
Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said once signed into law, the Rice Tariffication bill would make rice affordable from various sources. Rice supply will also no longer the sole responsibility of the National Food Authority.
The measure amends the two-decade-old Republic Act No. 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, and replaces the quantitative restrictions on rice imports with tariff.  
The bill, which was ratified by both chambers of Congress on Nov. 28, 2018, is set to be transmitted to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.
“The aim of the bill is to make rice accessible and affordable to every Filipino, and to make the rice sector competitive,” Pernia said.
Under the new rice importation regime, legitimate rice traders can now import rice without NFA permits, provided they secure a sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the appropriate tariff to the Bureau of Customs.
The NFA, on the other hand, will focus on ensuring sufficient buffer stocks to address emergency situations.  As there is a need to periodically replenish the buffer stocks, NFA can still sell cheap rice, but to very targeted markets. 
“In selling rice, the NFA may opt to focus on far-flung areas, which some private traders may not find profitable to serve,” Pernia said.
Pernia said wven with rice tariffication, rice subsidy under the government’s conditional cash transfer program or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program would continue benefiting poor households.
Pernia said that through the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund coming from the tariff revenues, the Agriculture Department would have an additional source of funding for its programs and projects to increase the productivity and enhance the competitiveness of the sector.
Key interventions to be financed by the RCEF include farm machinery and equipment to improve farm mechanization, rice seed development, propagation and promotion, expanded rice credit, crop diversification and extension services. 
A portion of the rice tariff revenues in excess of P10 billion will be used to provide direct financial assistance to rice farmers.
The measure also provides safety nets to the rice sector as it grants the president emergency power to increase, reduce, or adjust existing tariff rates to safeguard Filipino farmers. 
The bill also provides the imposition of a special safeguard duty on rice in case of extreme or sudden price fluctuations in accordance with RA 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act.
The bill empowers the president, for a limited period and for a specified volume, to allow importation at lower rates for the benefit of consumers in the event of possible rice shortage.
Pernia asked the DA, along with the Department of Trade and Industry and other concerned agencies, to carry out information dissemination campaigns on the new rice importation regime and ensure that rice traders are ready to participate when the bill is enacted into law. 
“Increasing the number of market players and competition in the rice sector are critical for the bill to deliver on its promise of lower rice prices for everyone,” Pernia said.


Identifying rice proteins key to creating more efficient strains: scientists

Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-09 13:13:14|Editor: Lu Hui
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SYDNEY, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Scientists are calling for a global effort to identify the protein composition of rice, an understanding they hope will allow them to create a more heat and drought resistant crop.
The international team made up of researchers from Australia, Iran and Japan released a study on Wednesday in which they identify 5,700 new proteins in the grain.
However they say that with an estimated 35,000 proteins encoded by the rice genome, 82 percent of which are unknown, we are a long way from being able to harness its full potential.
While the genome of rice was successfully mapped and published by 2001, study co-author Paul Haynes from Australia's Macquarie University says that scientists still don't know enough to be able to adapt it to best suit humanity's needs.
"It is imperative that we find ways to make rice better adapted to environments with warmer climates and less available water," Haynes said.
In Australia and many other areas, rice production is under pressure from limited supply of water, which Haynes believes can be alleviated by merging commercial rice with wild varieties to increase root length.
"If we could somehow transform commercial rice varieties so that they grow deeper roots, thereby increasing water uptake efficiency while still retaining high grain yields, we could produce more sustainable plants that would help to future-proof the Australian rice industry," Haynes said.
"If we are to continue to feed the ever-increasing number of people on our planet, we really need to produce rice which is more sustainable in terms of better water use and better nutrient uptake, while still maintaining current levels of grain production."
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-01/09/c_137730672.htm

https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/01/10/1883690/enactment-rice-tariffication-bill-stabilize-prices-neda




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