Africa
still wary of GMOs
Scientists argued that GMOs can
help in many ways, including developing crop varieties that are resistant to
diseases, drought, predators or pests, a move that they say will lead to food
security in Africa.
By
Published : August 07, 2019 | Updated : August 07, 2019
Scientists argued that GMO
technology can help in many ways. It was argued during the Africa Food Security
Leadership Dialogue in Kigali on Monday. Emmanuel Kwizera.
With
Africa being the most food insecure region with over 250 million people going
hungry in 2018, compared to the world’s total 821 million hungry people,
scientists in crops and food are advocating for leveraging science and
technology to address this urgent issue.
One
of the means they are encouraging is the genetically modified organism (GMO)
technology, which refers to organism [in this case crop] whose gene has been
engineered in the laboratory in order to favour the expression of desired
physiological traits or the production of desired biological products.
Scientists
argued while in Kigali during the Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue that
GMO technology can help in many ways, including developing crop varieties that
are resistant to diseases, drought, predators or pests, a move that they say is
primed to revolutionise food production in Africa and save its people from acute
food shortage.
GMO
crops are also called biotech or engineered crops.
Nina
Fedoroff, a professor of molecular biology and genetics at Penn State
University in Pennsylvania, USA, said the genetic modification or genetic
engineering uses technology to improve the qualities of plants to make them
more productive and more resilient.
For
instance, she said, the banana Xanthomonas Wilt which is common in banana
plantations in Africa, can be tackled by GMO disease-resistant banana
varieties.
“We
can go back to wild [plant] varieties that have desirable characteristics like
soil tolerance, disease resistance, and then simultaneously edit those genes
that support the plant’s ability to make big juicy fruits that we are so
accustomed to,” she said.
She
indicated that there are activists who have spent decades trying to convince
everybody that GMOs are bad for them, which she said is not true.
Indeed,
she said, results from some1,783 studies on the safety and environmental impact
of biotech crops showed no health hazards connected to [the consumption of]
such crops.
In
2014, she said, there were 18 million farmers growing GMO crops on almost 200
million hectares in 28 countries.
Experts
warn that food insecurity is getting worse in many parts of the continent because
of the negative effects of climate change on agricultural productivity, natural
resources degradation, rapid population growth, increasing fragility and
insecurity, and economic stagnation.
The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO) projects that
the continent will need to feed over two billion people by 2050. Currently, its
population is estimated to over 1.2 billion.
Sir
Richard J. Roberts, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993, who is an
English biochemist and molecular biologist, said that for developed countries
food is really not a problem as they have food in abundance. But, he said, they
try to convince people in developing countries – who lack food, that GMOs are
dangerous.
A
farmer displays some of the horticulture produce grown in Kajevuba Marshland in
Gasabo District. Emmanuel Ntirenganya.
“GMOs
are not dangerous. There has not been one single incidence of a problem so
far,” he said referring to GMO food intake.
“If
you don’t want to eat GMO food, don’t eat it, but don’t go around telling
everybody that they [GMO foods] are dangerous,” he said pointing out that in
rich countries there is plenty of choice, but people in poor countries have
very little choice. He called for use of the technology to help them.
Scientists
claimed that GMO adoption has faced political problems whereby people are
forced to believe that they are harmful but without grounds.
Mixed
reactions
Momodou
Mbye Jabang, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agriculture
Value Chain Development Project in the Republic of the Gambia, said New Rice
Africa, which is a GMO rice crop, has proved to revolutionise rice production
on the continent, but, it has been facing funding deficit for it to be scaled
up so as to benefit many farmers.
What
the scientists did, he said, was to cross the African rice variety resilient to
pests and disease and it is adaptive to Africa, and the Asian variety which has
higher yield but is prone to diseases.
In
the process, he said, they were able to get the high yielding traits Asian
variety into the resilience of the African variety.
“They
produced the new variety called New Rice for Africa, which produces between
four tonnes and five tonnes per hectare, or more than 200 percent the
production of the African rice variety,” he said adding that it is resistant to
diseases and pests,” he said
“The
issue of GMOs is the question of life and death as far as Africa is concerned.
Our food security situation states that we cannot afford to debate too much
about GMOs anymore after the advocacy of those eminent scientists,” he said.
However,
Tshibangu Kalala, Minister of Agriculture in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo expressed scepticism about adopting GMO crops, pointing out that there is
no longer consensus about GMOs.
“There
is uncertainty about GMOs. They are those who claim that they are harmful to
the environment and human life, while others argue that they are good for
environment and human life. That is a controversy. So, we should apply
precaution as long as there is uncertainty over GMOs. The use of GMOs should
not be advised as long as they are controversial,” told The New Times.
M S Swaminathan's Birthday: How a Geneticist Became the Father
of Green Revolution in India
In 1960, when India was facing
mass shortage of food, M S Swaminathan along with Norman Borlaug and other
scientists developed the HYV (high yielding variety) seeds of wheat.
Updated:August 7, 2019, 9:26 AM IST
93-yr old agriculture scientist M
S Swaminathan shows his finger, marked with indelible ink, after casting his
vote during the second phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, outside a polling
station in Chennai. (Image: PTI)
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, an Indian geneticist who is
known as the father of Green Revolution in India, was born on August 7, 1925.
The founder of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, his vision was to rid
the world of hunger and poverty. An advocate of sustainable development and
preservation of bio-diversity, he has been described by the United Nations
Environment Programme as "the Father of Economic Ecology".
On M S Swaminathan's 94th
birthday, here's looking at a few interesting facts about him.
M S Swaminathan had two bachelor degrees. One in Zoology and the
other in Agricultural Science.
He made the decision of pursuing the field of agricultural after
experiencing the Bengal famine in 1943.
In 1960, when India was facing mass shortage of food, M S
Swaminathan along with Norman Borlaug and other scientists developed the HYV
(high yielding variety) seeds of wheat.
This development led to Green Revolution in India and M S
Swaminathan was known as 'The Father of Green Revolution'.
Indian government awarded M S Swaminathan with Padma Shri and
Padma Bhushan in 1967 and 1972 respectively.
M S Swaminathan served as the Director General of Indian Council
of Agricultural Research from 1972 to 1979 and International Rice Research
Institute between 1982 to 1988.
He served as the Principal Secretary of Ministry of Agricultural
in 1979.
In 1986, M S Swaminathan became the recipient of the Albert
Einstein World Award of Science and in 1988 he became the President of
International Union of the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
In 1999, Time magazine place him in the 'Time 200' list of most
influential Asian people of the 20th century.
Piñol to economic team: Get out of air-conditioned offices, see
reality
Ralf Rivas
Published 5:50 PM, August 06, 2019
Updated 7:15 PM, August 06, 2019
ONE LAST JAB. Former agriculture
secretary Emmanuel Piñol throws shade at the government's economic team. File
photo by Darren Langit/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines –
"Perhaps, it is best for some economists to look beyond the graph and get
out of their air-conditioned offices to see reality."
Ex-agriculture secretary Emmanuel
Piñol delivered one more swipe at the government's economic team, blaming his
colleagues in the Duterte Cabinet for the disproportionate farmgate and retail
rice prices in the market.
In a Facebook post, Piñol
insinuated that the economic team just relied on theory in pushing for
the rice tariffication law.
He threw shade at the economic
team just two days before his appointment as chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority. (READ: Piñol not popular among Bangsamoro people – BTA chief Murad)
The law liberalized rice imports
so that there would be more affordable rice in the market. It protects local
farmers through a higher rice import tariff of 35%, as well as a loan fund for
farmers.
However, experts have noted that
while rice prices have been declining, they have not dipped as fast as local
palay farmgate prices. This places local farmers at a disadvantage, as imported
rice varieties are much cheaper.
Farmgate palay prices as of July
stood at P17.80, 17.6% lower than the P21.59 recorded during the same period in
2018.
Piñol not popular among Bangsamoro people – BTA chief Murad
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol is seen as 'very anti-Bangsamoro
struggle for self-determination' by many people in the new region, says BTA
Interim Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim
Government to set SRPs for imported, local rice
The retail price of regular
milled rice was at P35.26, just 9.2% lower than the P38.85 a year ago.
"One economist projected
that with an abundance of rice supply in the market, prices would fall to as
low as P27 per kilo," Piñol added.
While Piñol did not name the
economist he was referring to, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia
and other officials were quoted several times by the media about rice prices.
Piñol, who was viewed as a weak
link by some Cabinet members because of the dismal growth in agriculture, implied that the
economic team thought that rice was the same as fruits. Currently, prices of lanzones, mangosteen, durian, and rambutan
have dropped by almost 70% because of abundant supply. Piñol said fruit farmers
are not complaining because they understand that they need to immediately sell
the highly perishable goods.
Unlike fruits, rice can be kept
for a much longer time and may be hoarded.
"This is the perfect example
of the economic theory that when there is an abundance of supply, prices will
drop. Perhaps, this was the same theory that was in the mind of the economists
when they proposed and succeeded in flooding the market with imported
rice," Piñol said.
"They should not be
obstinate and show humility by admitting that not all economic theories work in
the real world," he added.
The Department of Agriculture as
well as other government agencies are tasked to ensure healthy market
competition and ensure that hoarding does not take place.
The Senate agriculture committee
was set to assess the impact of the rice tariffication law on Wednesday, August
7, but its hearing will be moved to a later date. –
Rappler.com
Seven-month rice
export up in volume, but down in value
Rice
sacks are loaded onto a vessel for shipment at Cua Lo Port in Nghe An province
(Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam exported 4.01 million tonnes of rice worth 1.73 billion USD in the first seven months of 2019, up 2.1 percent in volume but down 14.3 percent in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The figures include 651,000 tonnes worth 285 million USD in July.In the year’s first half, the Philippines was the biggest buyer that purchased 33.7 percent of Vietnam’s rice exports.
Meanwhile, the markets with strong growth in rice imports from Vietnam include Ivory Coast (up 67 percent), China’s Hong Kong (60 percent) and Saudi Arabia (38 percent).
Export rice prices averaged 431 USD per tonne in the six months, down 15 percent from the same period of 2018.
Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said this year, prices of agricultural products in the global market have decreased by 5 – 15 percent. Notably, rice prices have fallen sharply in all segments.
He explained that the El Nino impact in late 2015 and the first half of 2016 led to a decline in the world’s grain food output, forcing countries to re-balance their reserves. As a result, the rice market in 2018 was very good in terms of both export volume and value, helping Vietnamese rice prices reach a record of over 500 USD per tonne on average.
However, in 2019, many countries, including big ones that used to purchase a large volume of Vietnamese rice, have stocked up enough of the food.
Cuong said in the short term, it is necessary to explore new markets, especially those in Africa and ASEAN, to make up for the drop in shipments to China – a major importer. Meanwhile, production costs must be reduced by applying scientific advances to ensure profit for farmers.
In the long term, the agricultural sector is planning to switch 500,000ha of land currently under rice into that for aquaculture or fruit trees and other cash crops that suit the strengths of each locality to ease the rice output pressure.
The rice industry will need to promote processing and value chains so as to make use of not only the grain but also its by-products like husk, bran and oil and diversify products such as organic and medicinal rice, the minister noted. -VNA
The small rice
farmer is a dead man walking
MARLEN V. RONQUILLO
IF a palay buyer does not care
about the moisture content of the palay he is buying, newly harvested palay can
be had for a price of between P10 to P12 per kilogram.“Dry” or the desirable
palay with a moisture content of 14 percent or less (this can be stored in
warehouses for milling during the off-palay season), is being sold for between
P14 to P17 per kg, with P17 per kg as the top price. To get the top price of
P17 per kg, the farmer-seller has to bring the palay to the buying stations of
the private buyers and shoulder the cost of transport.
More, the farmer-seller does not
only assume the cost of transporting the palay to the buying stations. He has
to take care of drying his palay to meet the 14 percent moisture content. With
the Philippine farming setting notorious for its lack of silos and dryers, a
farmer has to wait for the sun and available basketball courts to dry newly
harvested palay. Do you have the luxury for this if you are drowning in production-related
debt?
After all the effort, a farmer
aiming for the top price of P17 per kg for his palay is just as hopeless as the
farmer unloading his newly harvested palay at P12 per kg. The P5 per kg
difference is eaten up by drying costs, waiting costs and transport expenses.
Either at P12 per kg or P17 per kg, the result is the same — selling at a loss.
What if that desperate farmer is scheduled to pay what he owes the informal
lender, the usurero? And at terms worse than 5/6?
Amid the promises of President
Duterte to suspend rice imports during the harvest season, amid the farcical
boosterism from senators on the would-be impact of the Rice Tariffication Law,
amid the general indifference of the so-called public intellectuals on the fate
of the small rice farmers post-tarification, there is only one reality in the
rice farming areas — the brutish and nasty impact of the rice tariff law. The
collective grief is palpable. Across the farming areas of Central Luzon and
much of the country, the small farmer is a dead man walking.
My 92-year-old mother, a Huk
fighter in the last war who was at the frontline during the bloody retaking of
the old Pampanga Sugar Mill garrison from the Japanese, has defined
post-tariffication life in our farming area as “worse than the Japanese
occupation.”
The incessant boosterism about
the raising of P10 billion a year from the rice tariffs, which would be
dedicated to farm support, does nothing to lift the hopes of the grief-stricken
farming areas. And the farmers have worries as big as the falling palay prices.
Even rice importation is now at the mercy of scammers.
According to the Federation of
Free Farmers (FFF), rice imports in the post-tariffication regime are being
undervalued, and this may result in the failure to raise the P10 billion
required yearly from farm support.
While figures from the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicate that imported rice at 25 percent broken
should arrive at Philippine ports with a landed cost of $391 per metric ton,
the collection figures of the Bureau of Customs indicate otherwise — a landed
cost of $227 per metric ton, that is, if the imported rice was indeed, of the
25 percent broken variety .
FFF said that most of the
imported rice has been of the 5 percent broken and this costs higher — at $422
per metric ton.
The undervaluation is done for
one obvious reason, to cheat on the taxes and depress the amount that the
government would collect under the rice tariff regime and, ultimately, depress
the amount that would be — theoretically — allocated to support the small rice
farmers bludgeoned by the rice tariff policy.
The connivance, corruption and
collusion at the ports to undervalue the rice imports and depress revenue
collection from the rice tariff law is all-too-obvious, even with the FFF’s
reluctance to make a direct accusation that rice imports have been a source of
corruption.
Question: Why would corrupt
parties collude to depress the revenue from the regime of rice imports amid the
general suffering of small rice farmers? Because nobody minds that kind of
suffering and small rice farmers have been declared as losers early on. Another
answer. Because all (without exception) of the institutions that are supposed
to support small rice farmers have all betrayed the small rice farmers. In a
previous column, I cited the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) as Exhibit A.
The state-owned bank was created to support small farmers and agrarian reform
beneficiaries. But it has opted to grant $85 million in unsecured loans to
bankrupt Hanjin than lend to small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Today, the LBP is on lending overdrive, propaganda-wise, to cover up the
anti-farm bias of its lending policies and ease the presidential ire.
Of course, the institutions that
have betrayed the small farmers would expect no day of reckoning. You can kick
the dying small rice farmers again and again and again and there would be
neither backlash nor blowback. He Land Bank can pretend to ramp up its loans to
farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries — on paper — and go on its merry way
of screwing them. If you look closely at the advertorials of the Land Bank on
its supposed lending, you will readily notice its banking con. There are no
glowing stories on stand-alone loans to small farmers and land reform beneficiaries.
Because there are none. It would rather lend to bankrupt Hanjin than to small
farmers.
Even in Congress, the party-list
representatives who are supposed to represent the peasantry are either
pseudo-farmers or phony farmer groups.
Given all of these assaults and
acts of brutalization, there is no way forward for today’s wretched of the
earth. I recently read the Case-Deaton study on “deaths of despair,” the story
of marginal white, rural Americans dying from opioids, suicide and alcohol. Our
own version of “deaths of despair” — this time involving small rice farmers pushed to a real state of desperation — is not far
behind.
De Lima Calls For Senate Probe On Rice Tariff Law’s Impact On
Farmers, Agri Industry
By Featuresdesk (ICG) on
August 7, 2019
Senator Leila M. de Lima has urged the Senate to look into the alleged slow and ineffective implementation of the five-month-old Rice Tariffication Law that adversely affects the country’s local agricultural sector and the livelihood of farming communities.
De Lima, chairperson of the Senate
Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, filed Senate
Resolution No. 63, urging the Senate to assess the negative impact of the Rice
Tariffication Law on farmers and the agricultural sector.
“The swift implementation of the
trade liberalization aspect of the Rice Tariffication Law, even before any
significant program was implemented to improve the productivity of our farmers,
led to already serious losses in our local rice industry,” she said.
According to her, the slow and
ineffective implementation of the Rice Tariffication Act, or Republic Act No.
11203, has caused the prices of palay to plummet, thus affecting the livelihood
of farmers and the agricultural industry.
“The implementation of the Rice
Tariffication Law only led to sky high profits for the rice importers who sell
the rice at market rate despite being able to buy at very low prices, while
doing practically nothing for our local farmers,” she added.
Local farmers from different
agricultural provinces in the country have reportedly complained that the
prices of palay had dropped to as low as PhP12 a kilo or the same as the
average cost of producing rice in the first five months since the law took
effect.
The Philippine Statistics Agency
furthermore disclosed that the average farm-gate price as of June was ₱17.85 a
kilo, which is the lowest in almost three years.
With the drastic drop in palay
prices, some 200,000 farmers have reportedly stopped working on food
production, while some 4,000 rice mills have ceased their operations.
The lady Senator from Bicol pointed
out that the new rice tariff law lacks the social safety nets to address the
displacement of an estimated 2.7 million farmers, 6,000 registered rice
millers, and several NFA workers and their accredited retailers.
“There is (a) need to ensure that
the programs for our local rice farming sectors are immediately implemented,
especially the purchase of palay at competitive rates, providing for reasonable
profits for our rice farmers,” she said.
“There is (also a) need to look
into faster rollout of the programs increasing the productivity and efficiency
of our rice farmers to ensure that we will be able to produce rice at a rate
and quality that can compete with those currently being imported,” she added.
Despite the availability of PhP5
billion under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, De Lima said the
government’s underspending and low utilization of the fund has failed to
increase the productivity and efficiency of our farmers.
“If this trend continues, it can
lead to the death of the rice industry,” warned De Lima as she urged the
government to ensure that the welfare of local farmers and the agriculture
sector are protected while implementing the Rice Tariffication Law.
“We must also make sure that the
liberalization of the rice market would lead to better and lower prices of rice
and better food security for our countrymen,” she said.
Photo Credit:
facebook.com/leiladelimaofficial
Seven-month rice
export up in volume, but down in value
Rice sacks are loaded onto a vessel for shipment at Cua Lo Port
in Nghe An province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam exported 4.01 million tonnes of rice worth 1.73 billion USD in the first seven months of 2019, up 2.1 percent in volume but down 14.3 percent in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The figures include 651,000 tonnes worth 285 million USD in July.
In the year’s first half, the Philippines was the biggest buyer that purchased 33.7 percent of Vietnam’s rice exports.
Meanwhile, the markets with strong growth in rice imports from Vietnam include Ivory Coast (up 67 percent), China’s Hong Kong (60 percent) and Saudi Arabia (38 percent).
Export rice prices averaged 431 USD per tonne in the six months, down 15 percent from the same period of 2018.
Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said this year, prices of agricultural products in the global market have decreased by 5 – 15 percent. Notably, rice prices have fallen sharply in all segments.
He explained that the El Nino impact in late 2015 and the first half of 2016 led to a decline in the world’s grain food output, forcing countries to re-balance their reserves. As a result, the rice market in 2018 was very good in terms of both export volume and value, helping Vietnamese rice prices reach a record of over 500 USD per tonne on average.
However, in 2019, many countries, including big ones that used to purchase a large volume of Vietnamese rice, have stocked up enough of the food.
Cuong said in the short term, it is necessary to explore new markets, especially those in Africa and ASEAN, to make up for the drop in shipments to China – a major importer. Meanwhile, production costs must be reduced by applying scientific advances to ensure profit for farmers.
In the long term, the agricultural sector is planning to switch 500,000ha of land currently under rice into that for aquaculture or fruit trees and other cash crops that suit the strengths of each locality to ease the rice output pressure.
The rice industry will need to promote processing and value chains so as to make use of not only the grain but also its by-products like husk, bran and oil and diversify products such as organic and medicinal rice, the minister noted. -VNA
Dar
to speed up rice competitiveness program
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 05:38 AM August 07, 2019
MANILA,
Philippines — Barely 24 hours after his appointment, Agriculture Secretary
William Dar immediately dealt with the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program
(RCEP) which has so far failed to ease the adverse impact of rice imports on
local rice farmers. 
On his first
press conference on Tuesday, Dar said he wanted to “right and accelerate” the
implementation of the RCEP during the first 100 days of his term, and improve
the sector’s growth rate to 3 percent over the next three years.
Anemic
growth
The RCEP
provides a P10-billion rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF) as
financial aid to farmers. It also finances the government’s farm modernization
programs to make farmers more competitive, and counter the negative impact of
the rice tariffication law.
Dar blamed
“high production cost, limited cropping diversification, low productivity and
volatile commodity prices” for the low income of farmers and fisherfolk.
He said he
was not happy with the sector’s anemic growth. Last year, the industry grew by
only 0.98 percent, lower than its average 1.1 percent growth over the past
decade.
Indonesia needs to use more hybrid seeds too boost rice
production: CIPS
Made Anthony Iswara
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta / Wed,
August 7, 2019
/ 12:44 pm
Farm workers harvest rice in Srirejo village, Malang,
East Java.(The Jakarta Post/Aman Rochman)
Indonesia needs to increase the use
of hybrid seeds as part of its long-term national food strategy to meet a surge
in rice demand, the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) has said. CIPS
further recommended that the government give more support to hybrid rice
research centers that are seeking to create new variants of hybrid seeds by,
for example, offering them incentives. By supporting these researchers,
Indonesia can reduce its dependence on imported hybrid seeds, CIPS senior
researcher Indra Krishnamurti said in a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday.
"In the future, the sustainability of local research can maintain and
expand the development of hybrid rice in Indonesia," Krisna said during
her presentation of a report titled "Prospects and Challenges of Hybrid
Rice in Indonesia". According to CIPS’ study, rice consumption in
Indonesia will in...
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Wild rice project
sows seeds for university, tribal collaboration
AUGUST 6, 2019
A canoe filled with wild rice – along with the knockers used to
harvest it – after a ricing trip on the Lac du
Flambeau Reservation.
By Tom Ziemer, UW-Madison
The Ojibwe people tell of a
prophecy that spurred their journey from the Atlantic coast of North America to
the Great Lakes region more than 1,000 years ago – revelations that told them
to travel west to a land where food grew on the water.
A manoomin bed on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in northern
Wisconsin.
That food is wild rice, called
“manoomin” by the Native American nations that, like the Ojibwe, comprise the
broader group of Anishinaabe tribes in the Upper Midwest and Canada.
More than just a crop to these
tribes and others, manoomin represents their connection to nature and holds
profound spiritual significance as a gift from their creator. The Menominee
Tribe’s name literally translates to “wild rice people.”
“It permeates all aspects of
their cultures,” says Sarah Dance, a graduate student in the University of
Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering who’s working on a project to build
connections between the university and Native American tribes around wild rice
protection and restoration efforts.
Sarah Dance is a second-year PhD student who studies
environmental chemistry and technology in the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering at UW-Madison.
Dance, a member of the Lumbee
Tribe of North Carolina and a doctoral student in the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, received a Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Grant to support
her project, which will span three growing seasons.
Research from the University of
Minnesota has illustrated the harmful role of sulfide in the soil beneath wild
rice waterways – a key consideration given the prospect of several potential
mines in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and state legislation in 2017
that eased Wisconsin’s sulfide mining restrictions.
By testing water quality,
studying sediment and conducting bucket experiments that will simulate a range
of environmental conditions, Dance hopes to develop site-specific recommendations
in partnership with her collaborators from the Lac du Flambeau and Lac Courte
Oreilles tribes.
“Native people already know the
water quality issues in the area that are impacting manoomin survival and
growth, and the university has this wealth of resources that can look at some
of those conditions,” said Dance. “We found that there are all of these really
small efforts out there and they’re not well connected to one another. Our hope
is that the research we’re doing can push the needle forward on creating some
best practices and sharing those across all those different entities.”
Dance views building those
connections between tribal and university researchers and instilling trust as
paramount to the effort. The two sides will work together to identify the
testing sites and design the experiments, and Dance hopes to hand off
leadership of the project to the tribes. William “Joe” Graveen, a wild rice
technician in the Lac du Flambeau Tribe’s wild rice cultural enhancement
program, says he hopes the project will spur more research, at UW–Madison and
other UW System schools, into the manoomin conditions in the state.
“I think Sarah’s project really
is a good opportunity for the university to start building a better
relationship, partnership with tribes,” he says. “I think that’s kind of the
missing piece.”
Dance is also planning to hire
Native American students as summer interns, giving them the sort of experience
she had working on environmental research with her own tribe as an
undergraduate at North Carolina State University.
“I’m hoping to spark an interest in pursuing science and to help
improve Native American representation in STEM (science, technology,
engineering and math) by creating this space for students to pursue research
that aligns with their identity and what they want to do for their communities
while also having the academic and rigorous aspects,” Dance says. “You don’t
have to turn your back on your community or pursue something that doesn’t align
with your ideals.”
Washington DC: Big City,
Small Town
By Grant Long
Grant interned at
USA Rice this summer as part of the Demmer Scholars Program.
ARLINGTON, VA -- If you ask me, there's no better place for a rising senior to spend their last summer in college than Washington DC. I've wanted to make Washington my home since the first time I visited when I was 13 years old, and with that goal in mind, I spoke with my career advisor at Mississippi State University about how best to plan for my life after graduation.
As soon as I heard about the Demmer Scholars Program, a program that brings students from Mississippi State and Michigan State Universities interested in natural resource policy together here to intern and study for the summer, I applied immediately. All the "once-in-a-lifetime" experiences I've had here were amazing, and I feel extremely blessed to have participated in the Demmer Program.
I met influential lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, and many others. I also got to meet with some of our rice farmers and hear about their issues firsthand. Attending fundraisers and going to meetings and hearings on Capitol Hill were among my favorite activities.
The USA Rice Government Affairs team helped me figure out which areas of policy I'm passionate about and taught me a lot about how to get things accomplished here. I did a great deal of research on how various policies effect the everyday lives of people involved in the rice industry, and was able to see that research in action on conference calls and in meetings on Capitol Hill. Being able to meet with legislators on behalf of the rice industry has given me a practical perspective of lawmaking that years of studying political science just touched on.
At the beginning of the summer, I was told that Washington was a "big city, but a small town." And, at first, I was skeptical. However, as the summer went on I realized how true that statement really is.
ARLINGTON, VA -- If you ask me, there's no better place for a rising senior to spend their last summer in college than Washington DC. I've wanted to make Washington my home since the first time I visited when I was 13 years old, and with that goal in mind, I spoke with my career advisor at Mississippi State University about how best to plan for my life after graduation.
As soon as I heard about the Demmer Scholars Program, a program that brings students from Mississippi State and Michigan State Universities interested in natural resource policy together here to intern and study for the summer, I applied immediately. All the "once-in-a-lifetime" experiences I've had here were amazing, and I feel extremely blessed to have participated in the Demmer Program.
I met influential lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, and many others. I also got to meet with some of our rice farmers and hear about their issues firsthand. Attending fundraisers and going to meetings and hearings on Capitol Hill were among my favorite activities.
The USA Rice Government Affairs team helped me figure out which areas of policy I'm passionate about and taught me a lot about how to get things accomplished here. I did a great deal of research on how various policies effect the everyday lives of people involved in the rice industry, and was able to see that research in action on conference calls and in meetings on Capitol Hill. Being able to meet with legislators on behalf of the rice industry has given me a practical perspective of lawmaking that years of studying political science just touched on.
At the beginning of the summer, I was told that Washington was a "big city, but a small town." And, at first, I was skeptical. However, as the summer went on I realized how true that statement really is.
Within each area of
public policy there's a tight-knit community that resembles a small town.
No matter what you study or what your interests are, there is a group of
dedicated people in Washington working on behalf of that cause every single
day. The connections and relationships I made at USA Rice and in the
microcosm of ag policy will be invaluable as I (eventually) make my way back to
Washington to work on behalf of folks across America. In the meantime, I look forward to bringing the knowledge I gained and the experiences I had in the "big city" back to my "small town" of Starkville, Mississippi, as I complete my degree.
USA Rice
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices
Open- August 7, 2019
AUGUST 7, 2019 / 1:35 PM
* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-August 7, 2018 Nagpur,
Aug 7 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices showed weak tendency in Nagpur
Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) on lack of demand from local
millers amid high moisture content arrival. Easy condition on NCDEX in gram,
weak trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses and release of stock from stockists also
pulled down prices in limited deals. About 950 bags of gram and 100 bags of
tuar reported for auction, according to sources.
GRAM
* Gram varieties ruled steady in open market here but demand was
poor.
TUAR
* Tuar gavarani showed weak tendency in open market here on poor
buying support from
local traders.
* Masoor and Moong varieties declined in open market here on poor
demand from local
traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,500-5,800, Tuar dal (clean) – 7,800-8,200,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,200-7,800, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,200-9,200, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 5,800-6,200 * Rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow
range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,900-4,320 3,900-4,350
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 5,000-5,580 5,050-5,660
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,000-2,110 2,000-2,125
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 6,000-6,500 6,000-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,600-6,100 5,600-6,100
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,400-4,500 4,400-4,500
Desi gram Raw 4,300-4,400 4,300-4,400
Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,300-8,500 8,300-8,500
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 8,000-8,200 8,000-8,200
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,600-7,800 7,600-7,800
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,000-7,500 7,000-7,500
Tuar Gavarani New 5,850-5,950 5,900-6,000
Tuar Karnataka 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,700 5,600-5,800
Masoor dal medium 5,100-5,300 5,200-5,400
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,000-9,000 8,300-9,300
Moong Mogar Medium 7,000-7,600 7,000-7,800
Moong dal Chilka New 6,800-7,900 6,800-7,900
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,400-8,800 8,300-8,800
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 6,500-7,500 6,800-7,500
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,400-6,200 5,400-6,200
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,100-4,600 4,100-4,600
Mot (100 INR/KG) 5,400-6,500 5,200-6,500
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,900-5,000 4,900-5,000
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 6,900-7,300 6,900-7,300
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,650 2,500-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,400-4,000 3,400-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,750 2,600-2,750
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,500 2,200-2,500
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,400 3,800-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,600 3,400-3,600
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,200 3,800-4,200
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,500-5,800 5,500-5,800
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice Shriram new (100 INR/KG) 4,400-5,000 4,400-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,000 5,000-7,000
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,500-7,200 6,500-7,200
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,800 5,200-5,800
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 29.6 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 23.8 degree Celsius Rainfall :
27.6 mm FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky with moderate rains. Maximum and minimum
temperature likely to be around 27 degree Celsius and 23 degree Celsius
respectively. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded
from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)
Inadequate rains:
Paddy area deficit widens to 12.5 pct in a week to August 2
New Delhi | Published: August 6, 2019 3:28:11 AM
The sowing
window for this crucial crop is almost over but transplanting will continue to
take place till month-end
Farmers in Burdwan, Birbhum, Nadia and Hooghly, which together
contribute 33% of West Bengal’s rice production, would do well to stop sowing
activity now, said Mahashweta Bhawmik, technical officer of the agrimet
division of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
West Bengal, India’s top rice-producing state with 15% share in
the country’s rice output, has received 32% deficit in rainfall this monsoon
season with the precipitation in its top four producing districts being 43-50%
lower than the long period average (LPA).
With the state’s overall sowing area under paddy down by 39%
(y-o-y) as on August 2, any further delay in rains could bring down production
of the cereal in the state and the country as a whole.
The sowing window for this crucial crop is almost over but
transplanting will continue to take place till month-end, allowing the area
under the crop to increase.
In fact, the paddy sowing area as on August 2 was 12.5% lower than
a year ago, worse than the situation a week ago, when the deficit was 6%.
Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which are also major rice producers, are
currently facing deficient monsoon rainfall. These states, may, however,
benefit from the good spell of rainfall predicted for this week and further.
Both these states have about 9% share, each, in the country’s kharif paddy area
of nearly 40 million hectare.
But because of lower yield compared to states like Punjab and
Tamil Nadu, these eastern states contribute about 6% each in the rice output of
the country. The paddy acreages in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab too were marginally
lower as on August 2 from the year-ago level and are not likely to improve
significantly. Since farmers in both these states get irrigation from
groundwater, the marginal rain deficit is not likely to impact production in a
big way, an agriculture ministry official said.
However, it is too early to predict the impact of the rain deficit
in certain areas and decline in sowing acreage of crops like paddy and pulses,
on the agriculture output. Last year, the monsoon rains were 9% below normal or
91% of LPA, yet the country’s food grain output for the year was a record 283.4
million tonne.
Farmers in Burdwan, Birbhum, Nadia and Hooghly, which together
contribute 33% of West Bengal’s rice production, would do well to stop sowing
activity now, said Mahashweta Bhawmik, technical officer of the agrimet
division of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“The paddy which are 35 days old in nurseries should be
transplanted in the field from now onwards,” she told FE.
The lower area under paddy was mainly due to delayed arrival of
monsoon and high level of rainfall deficiency in June and until mid-July in
those four districts, she said. Farmers who could not sow paddy, should shift to
pulses like moong, she added.
The IMD has said that the low-pressure area lies over north Bay of
Bengal and adjoining coastal areas of West Bengal, which augurs well for rains
in August. “It (low-pressure area ) is likely to become more marked during next
48 hours. Monsoon trough continues to pass along its near normal position and
is likely to remain active during next 3-4 days. Fairly widespread to
widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls are very likely
over Odisha, south Chhattisgarh, south Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra,
south Konkan & Goa, Gujarat region, Kerala, Karnataka and northern parts of
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during next 4-5 days,” IMD said in a statement.
Rice is the key cereal in the country’s food grain output having
40% share in 2018-19 and about 90% is produced during kharif and the remaining
10% comes from rabi season. The target for rice production has been fixed at
116 million tonne this year (both kharif and rabi seasons after the country
harvested a record 115.63 million tonne in 2018-19.
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Nagpur Foodgrain Prices
Open- August 6, 2019
AUGUST 6, 2019 / 12:03 PM
* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-August 6, 2019 Nagpur,
Aug 6 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices reported higher in Nagpur Agriculture
Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) on increased buying support from local
millers amid tight supply from producing regions. Fresh hike on NCDEX in gram,
upward trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses and enquiries from South-based millers
also boosted prices. About 650 bags of gram and 100 bags of tuar reported for
auction, according to sources.
GRAM
* Gram varieties moved down in open market here on lack of demand
from local traders.
Release of stock from stockists also pushed down prices.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties too declined in open market in absence of buyers
amid good supply
from producing regions.
* Udid prices showed weak tendency in open market here on lack of
demand from local
traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,500-5,800, Tuar dal (clean) – 7,800-8,200,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,200-7,800, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,200-9,200, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 5,800-6,200 * Rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow
range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,800-4,225 3,800-4,200
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 5,150-5,680 5,000-5,660
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,000-2,125 2,000-2,125
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 6,000-6,500 6,200-6,600
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,600-6,100 5,800-6,200
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,400-4,500 4,500-4,600
Desi gram Raw 4,300-4,400 4,400-4,500
Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,300-8,500 8,600-8,800
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 8,000-8,200 8,200-8,400
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,600-7,800 7,800-8,000
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,000-7,500 7,200-7,600
Tuar Gavarani New 5,900-6,000 6,050-6,150
Tuar Karnataka 6,200-6,400 6,350-6,550
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,700 5,600-5,700
Masoor dal medium 5,200-5,400 5,200-5,400
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,800-9,500 8,800-9,500
Moong Mogar Medium 7,000-7,800 7,000-7,800
Moong dal Chilka New 6,800-7,900 6,800-7,900
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,400-8,800 8,300-8,800
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,000-7,500 7,200-7,800
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,400-6,200 5,500-6,500
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,100-4,600 4,500-4,800
Mot (100 INR/KG) 5,400-6,500 5,200-6,500
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,900-5,000 4,900-5,000
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 6,900-7,300 6,900-7,300
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,650 2,500-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,400-4,000 3,400-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,750 2,600-2,750
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,500 2,200-2,500
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,400 3,800-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,600 3,400-3,600
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,200 3,800-4,200
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,500-5,800 5,500-5,800
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice Shriram new (100 INR/KG) 4,400-5,000 4,400-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,000 5,000-7,000
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,500-7,200 6,500-7,200
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,800 5,200-5,800
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 29.0 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 24.3 degree Celsius Rainfall :
0.5 mm FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky with moderate rains. Maximum and minimum
temperature likely to be around 30 degree Celsius and 24 degree Celsius
respectively. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded
from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)
KNCCI boss wants
rice farmers protected from Pakistani imports
The chamber
president's views might reignite the early '20s sour trade relations between
Kenya and Pakistan
In Summary
• Kenya produces only a third of
its annual rice demand and imports the deficit mainly from Pakistan
• The Asian country remains the single largest buyer of Kenyan
tea
TRADE: KNCCI president Richard Ngatia (C) with Kirinyaga
county chapter chairman Peter Waweru (L) and MCA Fredrick Bundi during the
Kirinyaga Cultural Festival on Saturday
/Courtesy
/Courtesy
The Kenya National Chamber of
Commerce and Industry wants the threat of Pakistani rice imports to local
farmers addressed as a matter of priority.
KNCCI president Richard Ngatia
said on Saturday that the imported rice was a concern for his organisation
as rice was one of the country's major cash crops.
Ngatia spoke during the Kirinyaga
Cultural Festival whose theme was Conserving Our Water Towers Through Culture.
He called for easier access to
agricultural inputs and the cushioning of farmers from external competition.
The KNCCI official said
unfavourable business conditions for both domestic and international markets
should be eliminated.
“To ensure business
competitiveness, I propose a provision of incentives on agricultural
inputs such as fertiliser,” he said.
Ngatia further noted: “Low
incentives, underdeveloped agricultural value chains for less dominant cash
crops and exploitation of farmers by middlemen are major drawbacks to
commercial farming.”
The chamber president's views
might reignite the sour trade relations between Kenya and Pakistan of the early
'20s.
In 2010, the Kenya Revenue
Authority was forced to release a consignment of Pakistani rice it had
impounded over clearance procedures. The release averted a potential trade
tussle between the two countries.
The customs officials had
restricted rice imports and insisted that shipments would only be granted
access after the owners provided laboratory analysis reports on key aspects
such as grading.
Kenya produces only a third of
its annual rice demand. The bulk of the deficit comes from Pakistan,
which has for many years remained the largest buyer of Kenyan tea.
The Asian country bought tea
worth Sh3.5 billion in January this year.
Ngatia urged traders to
promote public participation in planning and budget making at the county level.
He asked them to pursue inter-
and intra- county trade for the development of enterprises.
The KNCCI boss said his
organisation has been in partnership with county governments since the signing
of a memorandum of understanding with the Council of Governors in 2015. A
similar deal was entered into with the Kenya Investment Authority in 2016 to
facilitate trade and investment in counties.
The chamber intends to establish
a fund for small and medium enterprises development to support businesses
through credit facilities.
REPORT
Published on 05 Aug
2019 —View Original
FOOD
SECURITY SNAPSHOT
·
Late arrival of rains delayed
planting of 2019 cereal crops
·
Slightly above-average production
gathered in 2018
·
Increasing cereal import
requirements
·
Overall satisfactory food
security situation
Late
arrival of rains delayed planting of 2019 cereal crop
Seasonal rains started late in
June, delaying planting operations of maize, millet and sorghum, for harvesting
from September. However, abundant rains since mid-June contributed to replenish
soil moisture and favoured seed germination and plant establishment. Planting
operations for rice, the major cereal crop produced in the country, are
underway and will be completed by August. The harvest is expected to be
completed in January.The conditions of natural pasture coverage are
satisfactory and rains have filled the main water points at optimal levels
across the country. Due to the abundance and diversification of biomass, the
animal body condition is satisfactory. The health situation remains overall
stable.
Slightly
above-average production gathered in 2018
Despite
some localized flooding in June 2018 and Fall Armyworm attacks on the maize
crop, the 2018 national cereal production was estimated at 224 000 tonnes,
about 5 percent above the five-year average. Production has been increasing
steadily over the past few years due to the support from the Government and its
development partners, including PADES (South Economic Development Support
Project) in the south and PDCV (Rice Value Chain Development Project) in the
east of the country, that contributed to increase the area cultivated with
cereals.
Increasing
cereal import requirements
Over
45 percent of the national cereal utilization in the country is covered by
imports. Rice accounts for about 80 percent of the import requirements,
followed by wheat, which accounts for about 15 percent. Despite the
above-average domestic production obtained in 2018, import requirements for the
2018/19 (November/October) marketing year are forecast at 140 000 tonnes,
allowing traders to replenish their food stocks.
Satisfactory
food security situation
The
overall food situation is satisfactory across the country. However, continued
assistance is needed for the most vulnerable population. According to the March
2019 “Cadre Harmonisé” analysis, about 2 500 people (out of 1.07 million) are
estimated to be in need of food assistance up to August 2019, with a decrease
from 5 000 food insecure in June-August 2018.
Disclaimer: The designations
employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not
imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning
the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities,
or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
South Korea to help Ghana in improving rice production, MoU signed
Devdiscourse
News Desk Accra
Updated: 06-08-2019 19:26 IST Created: 06-08-2019 19:26 IST
The government of Ghana has joined hand
with South Korea with
an objective to improve the production of rice and rice value chain activities
in the West African country.
A Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) has been signed between the governments of South Korea and Ghana in order to
significantly improve rice production including rice value chain activities in
four districts in Ghana's central region.
The agreement between Ghana and South Korea is
geared towards enhancing rice production and productivity through the selection
of good plant varieties, seed distribution, training, improved cultivation
techniques and agricultural machinery support. According to the
agreement, Ghana will
receive support from South Koreain
the production of rice in the Assin North Municipality and the Assin South,
Twifo-Atti-Morkwa and Gomoa East districts with a grant of USD 8 million
(GH¢43.2 million), as reported by Graphic Online.
The MoU was signed between Jeongyi Choi,
the Deputy Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency
and Owusu Afriyie Akoto,
the Ghanaian economist and Agriculture Minister. Under the project, the
deliverables include improving capacity and rice seed development, providing
agricultural machinery and equipment, including the construction of a rice
milling plant and agricultural equipment storage facility all within the period
from 2019 to 2023.
In this association with Ghana, South Korea will
be able to prove her centuries-old expertise in producing rice which will
surely benefit the West African country at a large. In a brief statement on the
association, Choi elaborated that support of the Korea International
Cooperation Agency was to complement efforts the government was trying to make
in improving rice production, mainly its value-added chain processes.
"Interventions will be designed to focus on ex-farm activities to improve
production, harvesting, branding and marketing of rice," she added.
On the other hand, Seth Dumoga,
the Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture said that
the Ministry submitted a proposal to the Korea International Cooperation Agency
two years back request South Korean government's support in improving the rice
value chain in the West African country. "Today's signing of the MoU is
giving legitimacy to the request and to initiate projects towards implementing
the outcomes of the agreement," he added.
Owusu Afriyie Akoto said that the
signing of this agreement was a significant moment in working on the
relationship between Ghana and
South Korea. He further revealed that the government wanted to reduce the 600
tonnes of imported rice with an alternative to increase production capability
in the country.
OPINION: Harmful
invasive species are on the move, we need a global alliance to stop them
by Buyung
Hadi | International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
Wednesday, 7 August 2019 10:07 GMT
We
explore the challenges of ending hunger and malnutrition as food production
adjusts to a warming world
* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the
author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
There has been a baffling absence of an international
alliance to track and respond to the movement of invasive species
Buyung Hadi, an Aspen New Voices Fellow, is an Indonesian
entomologist working on sustainable rice-based crop production. He serves as
Cambodian country representative for International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI).
The sun was mid-way up when the car that carried me and a few
local agricultural officers pulled up in front of a farmhouse. We got out and
walked behind the house. There we found a heavily damaged field of
corn. The farmer talked animatedly about a strange ‘hungry worm’. His corn
was less than one-month old and he had already sprayed three times, without
success.
In my nine years of field work,
I’ve never seen a more depressing plot. Almost every corn plant showed damage
and had worms. I took out my hand lens and examined a worm. It was just a few
centimeters long, with a brownish hue. Suspicion verified: the fall armyworm
had invaded Cambodia.
After further confirmation, the Cambodian government announced
the presence of fall armyworm in the country on June 14. Taiwan followed soon
after. Then South Korea and Japan.
Fall armyworm--a voracious pest of multiple crops but especially
corn—is native to the Americas. It invaded
Africa in 2016 and spread across the continent in a short time. In 2018, it was
discovered in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
In Africa alone, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) warns fall
armyworm could cost smallholder farmers US $5 billion in lost maize and
threaten the food security of 300 million people in 44 countries. With its
ability to spread quickly over long distances, the damage in Asia could be much
greater.
Fortunately, Cambodia and other countries are not in this fight
alone. FAO and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have
made laudable efforts to raise awareness of the threat.
But when it comes to dealing with the broader threat of invasive
species, such a global response has been the exception rather than the rule.
There has been a baffling absence of an international alliance to track and
respond to the movement of invasive species more broadly.
Many invasive species affect agriculture in subtler ways than
the fall armyworm, but the impacts can be just as harmful. Defined as any
organism that is non-native and poses economic or environmental threat to an
area, there are a number of invasive species traveling the globe. For example,
the invasive cane toad with
an appetite for insects that feed on rice pests is upsetting an effective
natural system of rice pest control. In Indonesia, the mountain apple,
brought to the country 1917, is displacing many native tree species and changing the very face of Indonesian rainforests,
especially in areas with pockets of logging. Indeed, invasive species are
responsible for a large portion of the earth’s biodiversity loss.
Meanwhile, detection is often too late and there is frequently
insufficient coordination between the scientists investigating problems and the
government and organizations that must manage them.
There are models available that could provide guidance for a
better global system. For example, the FAO’s Emergency Prevention System
(Empres) coordinates international action against the spread of animal
diseases, like African Swine Fever. It also has been used to
monitor the spread of agriculture pests like fall armyworm by coordinating
information and raising awareness among at-risk countries before a potential
invasion begins. But the FAO system only looks at agriculture threats, a subset
of invasive species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) maintains an online global database and registry of invasive
species. Unfortunately, with fluctuating funding, its database is not updated
frequently enough to be used for a rapid response. What we need is a
combination of these networks, a scaled up version of Empres, writ large to
include IUCN-sized ambitions and scope. To do this, we need a consensus among
countries to work together, dedicated coordination staff and funding to support
on the ground. This is expensive, but the benefits would outweigh the costs.
The economic costs of invasive species--some USD 33.5 billion per year in
Southeast Asia alone—justify the creation of a more comprehensive global
system. The potential costs of the fall armyworm, bad as they are, have been
significantly reduced by the existence of a global network that tracks the
movement of this pest. Indeed, this approach should be applied to monitor other
invasive species.
Not every invasive species will lead to the devastation the fall
armyworm can bring. But collectively they are steadily undermining our
biodiversity and ability to feed ourselves. The damage these invaders cause is
substantial and growing. Clearly, it’s time for a global effort to fortify our
defenses against the onslaught of invasive species.
Top Scientist Quits
USDA, Says Trump Admin Tried to Bury Study Linking Climate and Nutrition
Aug. 06, 2019 07:32AM ESTPOLITICS
Plant physiologist Lewis Ziska quit the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Friday. Peggy Greb / USDA Agricultural Research
Service via sciencenewsforstudents.org
By Jessica Corbett
The exodus of federal scientists in the era of
President Donald Trump continued
Friday as 62-year-old plant physiologist Lewis Ziska left the U.S. Department
of Agriculture "over the Trump administration's efforts to bury his
groundbreaking study about how rice loses nutrients due to rising carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere," POLITICO reported Monday.
Ziska — who worked at USDA under
five presidents, both Republicans and Democrats — charged in an interview with
POLITICO that he left the department's Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
because the USDA tried to block the public dissemination of his research on how
the human-caused climatecrisis's impact on rice could threaten the
nutrition of 600 million people. The study,
POLITICO reported, was internally cleared at the department and peer reviewed
prior to its publication in the journal Science Advances last year.
USDA, in a statement to the
outlet, said that "this was a joint decision by ARS national program
leaders — all career scientists — not to send out a press release on this
paper" based on scientific disagreement, and the decisions involving the
study weren't politically motivated.
Ziska, however, said that
"this isn't about the science. It's about something else, but it's not
about the science."
"You get the sense that
things have changed, that this is not a place for you to be exploring things
that don't agree with someone's political views," Ziska said about the
current environment at the USDA. "That's so sad. I can't even begin to
tell you how sad that is."
Ziska's resignation comes after
the departures of Rod Schoonover, a State Department official who claimed the administration blocked the
submission of his report on the climate crisis and national security to a U.S.
House committee, and Maria Caffrey, a National Park Service employee who wrote for The Guardian last month,
"In February 2019, I lost my job because I was a climate scientist in
a climate-denying administration."
POLITICO previously reported on
the Trump USDA refusing to publicize dozens of
government-funded studies that warn about the climate emergency's consequences
or to release a "multiyear plan that outlines how
the department should help agriculture understand, adapt to, and minimize the
effects" of the crisis.
Turns out the "swamp" that @realDonaldTrump wants to drain isn't
lobbyists it's civil-servant scientists. #USDA relocation is as cynical as it
gets. (Until tomorrow, brace yourself.) https://twitter.com/ceboudreau/status/1158371238236086272 …
But it's not just top-down censorship that's impacting U.S.
government research on the climate, Ziska told POLITICO.
The overriding fear among scientists within USDA, Ziska said,
was that the administration would take an axe to the department's science
budget, and research priorities that perhaps didn't align with the
administration's agenda would be the first to go. (The Trump administration has
repeatedly proposed significant cuts to ARS' budget, but Congress has so far
largely kept funding flat.)
Anything related to climate change was seen as extremely vulnerable, he said.
"We were careful," he explained. "And then it got to the point where language started to change. No one wanted to say climate change, you would say climate uncertainty or you would say extreme events. Or you would use whatever euphemism was available to not draw attention."
Anything related to climate change was seen as extremely vulnerable, he said.
"We were careful," he explained. "And then it got to the point where language started to change. No one wanted to say climate change, you would say climate uncertainty or you would say extreme events. Or you would use whatever euphemism was available to not draw attention."
"There was a sense that if
the science agreed with the politics, then the policymakers would consider it
to be 'good science,' and if it didn't agree with the politics, then it was
something that was flawed and needed to be done again," Ziska added.
"That was a sea change in how we viewed our role."
Ziska told POLITICO that by
politicizing climate science, the administration is jeopardizing the future of
agriculture on a global scale, which could have devastating consequences for
human health. As he put it:
To ignore it. To just dismiss it and say 'oh that's political'
... I don't have the words to describe that. It's surreal. It feels like
something out of a bad sci-fi movie.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
(D-Maine), a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee,
was among those who responded to news of Ziska's resignation by calling out the
Trump administration for "silencing our scientists."
Once again, the Trump admin is silencing
our scientists. @USDA
researchers study key topics like the devastating effects of climate change on
agriculture—topics the Administration has repeatedly undermined at the expense
of real data for farmers. This is a huge loss for USDA. https://twitter.com/politico/status/1158339385798082561 …
The POLITICO interview was not
the only report that cast a spotlight Monday on the Trump administration's
impact on government-backed climate research.
In a blog post for Scientific American, Jacob
Carter, a research scientist for the Center for Science and Democracy at the
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), wrote that "the Trump administration
has suppressed, censored, and threatened to fire many of its experts for the
work they do, or simply for discussing scientific information that is
politically contentious. In some cases, the Trump administration's actions are
driving experts out." He pointed to Schoonover and former U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency official Betsy Southerland as examples.
"Imagine the working culture
for federal experts watching the Trump administration go on the offense against
their own staff. What do you do to get your day-to-day work done? How do you
continue to get your work funded? One option is to censor politically
contentious words or phrases," Carter continued. "Self-censorship may
not make headlines, but there is a lot of evidence that it's happening in the
chilling environment the Trump administration has created for federal
government experts."
.@UCSJacob,
@UCSUSA in @sciam: “We cannot afford to retreat from
the science-based policies that help our nation respond effectively to complex
challenges to public health, the environment and national security.” #ScienceNotSilence
http://epn.news/qzl
Government Scientists Are Censoring Themselves
Carter referenced his
organization's August 2018 survey of 63,000 scientific experts across 16
federal agencies which revealed, as Common Dreams reported at the time, that "as the Trump
administration continues to brazenly attack national environmental regulations,
it is also 'sidelining science' within agencies, with staffers reporting issues
including 'censorship and self-censorship, political interference in
scientists' work, low morale, decreased agency effectiveness, and dwindling
resources.'"
Next week, UCS and other partners
will host a panel discussion in Albany, New York about the
importance of federal science and how it can be safeguarded from political
manipulation:
Southeast Awarded USDA Grant to Infuse
Technology in Agriculture Operations
The Department of Agriculture and
the Economic and Business
Engagement Center at Southeast Missouri State University has
been awarded a $51,000 Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish an agricultural advanced digital
technology initiative.
The Southeast initiative is part
of an effort to incorporate the use of technological advancements into
agriculture operations in the region’s agriculture industry. Southeast has used
the funding to purchase a hyperspectral camera and DJI Matrice 600 drone.
The new hyperspectral camera
allows for state-of-the-art remote sensing in agriculture, including isolating
crop injury, soil nutrition status, disease and insect damage, and more, said
Dr. Mike Aide, Southeast professor of agriculture.
“The drone-hyperspectral system
is a substantial advancement for crop farmers to initiate real-time crop
management decisions,” he said. “Hyperspectral imaging captures and processes
images with several hundred wavelengths, such as light from plants, soil or
residue in a given field. The advantage of hyperspectral remote sensing is the
ability to collect indistinct spectral differences that aren’t visible to the
human eye and provide more accurate field evaluations for crop health in the
form of a map.”
Combined with other technologies,
such as images from an infrared camera, the University can make precision
agriculture decisions based on detection of crop stress, nutrient deficiencies,
noxious weed detection, yield prediction and seed viability. Currently,
Southeast produces corn and soybeans at the David M. Barton Agriculture
Research Center in Cape Girardeau, cotton at Southeast’s Sikeston campus, and
rice at the Missouri Rice Research Farm in Glennonville, Missouri.
Additionally, each year the Department of Agriculture varies its crops
depending on research and marketplace demands
Andy Chronister, agriculture technology coordinator in
Southeast’s Economic and Business Engagement Center, operates the new
hyperspectral camera and DJI Matrice 600 drone at Southeast’s David M. Barton
Agriculture Research Center in Cape Girardeau.
This technology will be very
helpful right now because the region has received a lot of rain and is experiencing
flooding across a large portion of Missouri’s farmland, said Aide.
“A lot of farmers are considering
replanting or scrapping their fields,” he said. “With drones, we can canvas a
large area without having to physically walk the fields, and the cameras can
provide a true vision of what is going on inside the crops that we can’t see.”
As the technology becomes more
available and affordable, farmers can assess and make crop health decisions,
and there are more opportunities for agronomic research.
“Aerial hyperspectral imagery is
currently being used in research regarding wetland nutrient enrichment, wetland
and agricultural monitoring, water quality assessment, oil spill detection and
monitoring, and classifying plant types in wetlands and forests,” said Andy
Chronister, agriculture technology coordinator in Southeast’s Economic and
Business Engagement Center. “This is just scratching the surface of the kind of
research topics that involve aerial hyperspectral imagery.”
As part of the grant, Southeast’s
new drone and hyperspectral camera can support research efforts with the
University of Missouri Fisher Delta Research Center, the Missouri Soybean and
Merchandising Council, and the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising
Council.
The new hyperspectral camera
allows for state-of-the-art remote sensing in agriculture, including isolating
crop injury, soil nutrition status, disease and insect damage, and more.
Additionally, Southeast will
support local farmers and the regional agriculture community to incorporate the
new technologies in the industry and provide expertise and experience.
Southeast will also integrate the
new technology into curriculum for students, said Aide.
The data collected from the
hyperspectral camera can help students studying weed management, soil
fertility, plant nutrition, pest management, crop production and water
management.
“We can teach students to use the
equipment and properly read the data for their own projects, assignments and
research,” he said. “We’re preparing the next generation of agriculture leaders
to effectively use new technology to have a positive effect on the whole
industry. Hands-on experiences with this technology and a working knowledge of
how to interpret and use the data can lead them to amazing career opportunities.”
RRI, TCTI partner on hybrid rice initiative
08.06.2019
LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA, THE PHILIPPINES
— The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Tao Commodity
Trader, Inc. (TCTI) partnered together to promote the commercialization and
nationwide distribution of seeds of three IRRI-developed rice hybrids: Mestiso
71, Mestiso 77, and Mestiso 89.
The seven-year limited exclusively
commercial license agreement was formally signed by Peter Brothers, IRRI chief
of staff and representing IRRI’s director-general, and Julio Sy, Jr., TCTI
chief executive officer, on July 30 at IRRI’s headquarters in Los Baños,
Laguna.
The selected hybrid rice varieties
are bred for higher yield, superior grain quality, improved pest and disease
resistance, resilience to climate change-induced stresses, and higher seed
production, traits that could help farmers increase their yields and incomes by
up to 20%. IRRI said hybrid rice technology has significant potential to
improve rice productivity and contribute to a rice self-sufficient Philippines.
“As IRRI strives to achieve food
and nutrition security, we always emphasize the importance of building strong
partnerships with different organizations to achieve our mission,” Brothers
said. “We cannot do it alone. Today is a significant day for IRRI as we enter
into this new partnership with TCTI, an industry-respected and established
group, that can help bring some of our innovations to our main clients — the
countless farmers and consumers who depend on the rice sector for their food,
nutrition, and livelihoods.”
The agreement was made possible
through the IRRI-led Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC), which works to
develop elite hybrids suited to different agro-climatic conditions. Seed
companies can apply to become members of the HRDC. As members, seed companies
are allowed wide, non-exclusive or limited-exclusive access to HRDC germplasm,
with the end goal of accelerating the development and dissemination of new
products to farmers.
Tao Corp., a trader of molasses in
the country, decided to diversify into the rice seed market, with its
subsidiary TCTI becoming a member of HRDC.
“This historic partnership between
Tao Corp. and IRRI could not have come at a more opportune time when our rice
farmers are facing very tough times due to challenges on several fronts — from
climate change to unfavorable market conditions,” Sy said. “Through this joint
undertaking with IRRI, we could extend much needed help to our rice farmers.
This is a project that Tao Corp. undertakes with much pride and responsibility,
and we are extremely honored to be IRRI’s partner in providing rice farmers a
chance at a better tomorrow.”
Under the agreement, TCTI
will fully invest in scaled-up development, production, and distribution of
seeds, as well as meeting seed sales objectives, for the three rice hybrids.
TCTI will work with Aski Inc., a microfinance company with over 18,000
farmer-clients in the Philippines, to provide farmers with training,
technologies, and financial services to help further spread the use of the
selected rice hybrids’ seeds. As a member of the HRDC, TCTI also commits to
contribute to the development of superior hybrid rice varieties.
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