KSU Doubles Down on Making Water,
Nutrients Go Further on Southern Plains Farms
KSU Research and
ExtensionSeptember 15, 2019
Kansas State University is leading a multi-agency team focused
on improving water and nitrogen use efficiencies and improving soil health in
the semi-arid southern Great Plains.
The nearly $10 million five-year research effort is led by
K-State University Distinguished Professor Chuck Rice and includes a
transdisciplinary team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research
Service, Oklahoma State University and the University of Maryland
The team will conduct research, teaching, and extension
activities to:
- Increase
the growth of agricultural total factor productivity or TFP, from the
current 1.5% to 2% per year and agricultural production by 2% annually;
- Improve
water and nitrogen use efficiency by 50%; and
- Reduce
losses due to environmental stresses by 20%.
The work is funded by the USDA National Institute for Food and
Agriculture.
Crop yields vary widely in the southern Plains, largely because
of erratic weather patterns which complicate decision making for farmers. The
constant uncertainty over how much – or how little – precipitation will fall
pushes many farmers to grow winter wheat for both grain production and cattle
grazing, but that provides relatively low nutrient use efficiency for the
cattle and winter wheat can be subject to high weed pressure.
“Consequently, crop and food animal production in this region
lags well below its potential, and 50% or more of the precipitation received by
cropland is lost by evaporation from soil or is used by weeds,” Rice said.
The long-term goal of the new research effort, he said, is to
sustainably increase the productivity of farms that solely rely on rainfall
rather than irrigation in the southern Great Plains by improving the efficient
use of water and nitrogen, plus reduce yield losses due to environmental
stresses and enhance soil health.
The interdisciplinary team includes researchers, educators and
extension professionals with expertise in agronomy, crop production, soil
science, modeling, economics and sociology.
The multi-pronged effort will focus on developing effective
management strategies for diversifying and intensifying southern Great Plains
cropping systems; developing and using innovative sensors and modeling
technologies for improved mid-season input decisions; providing information to
farmers and others on the resulting information and technologies; and creating
educational opportunities to recruit and train the next generation of
scientists to work in agriculture.
The program will provide research experience for over 50
undergraduates recruited across the country and train over 20 graduate and
post-doctoral students.
Other K-State researchers on the team are Ignacio Ciampitti,
Romulo Lollato, Anita Dille, Andres Patrignani, Doohong Min, Dorivar Ruiz Diaz,
Eduardo Santos and Vara Prasad.
https://www.ksal.com/ksu-doubles-down-on-making-water-nutrients-go-further-on-southern-plains-farms/
Global
overdependence on a relatively small variety of staple foods leaves populations
vulnerable to crop failures, with climate change adding to the strain, a report
by the Food and Land Use Coalition has said. | REUTERS
WORLD / SCIENCE
& HEALTH
Scientists warn
world must transform food production or face possible unrest
THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION
- SEP 16,
2019
ROME – The world must diversify its food production and consumption, or
face damaging supply disruptions that could lead to suffering and social
unrest, scientists warned Monday.
A new global study found the
health and environmental benefits of transforming the way we farm would
outweigh heavily the cost of doing so, with the authors urging governments to
do more to support sustainable agriculture.
“A small disruption in supply
really can do a lot of damage and leads to huge price increases,” said Per
Pharo of the Food and Land Use Coalition, the global alliance of economists and
scientists behind the study.
“That creates suffering and
social unrest. And it will highly likely also lead to hunger and instability,”
he said.
Global over-dependence on a
relatively small number of staple foods leaves populations vulnerable to crop
failures, with climate change adding to the strain, the report said.
“Four different crops provide 60
percent of our calories — wheat, rice, maize and potatoes. That increases our
vulnerability,” said Pharo.
The panel said the report was the
first of its kind to assess the benefits of transforming global food systems as
well as the cost of inaction.
The damage the modern food
industry does to human health, development and the environment costs the world
$12 trillion a year — equivalent to China’s GDP — the study found.
It proposes a series of
solutions, from encouraging more diverse diets to improve health and reduce
dependency on specific crops, to giving more support to the types of farming
that can restore forests, a key tool in fighting climate change.
In Costa Rica, for example, the
government has reversed deforestation by eliminating cattle subsidies and
introducing payments to farmers who manage their land sustainably.
As a result, the amount of forest
cover has risen from a quarter of the country’s land in 1983 to more than half
today, the report said.
The cost of the reforms it lays
out are estimated to be up to $350 billion a year. But that would create
business opportunities worth up to $4.5 trillion — a 15-fold return.
The study said the reforms could
also free up 1.2 billion hectares of agricultural land for restoration, an
integral part of efforts to curb climate change and halt biodiversity loss.
That is more than twice the size
of the Amazon rainforest, which spans seven nations.
“What we’re saying is realistic
if the reform agenda is implemented,” said Pharo, adding that under the
proposed changes, consumers would actually get “slightly more affordable food.”
“The excuse that we cannot
prioritize environment at the same time because we’ve got to focus on
development, on human welfare, is simply false. We can deliver both.”
Farmers complain release of NFA stocks will depress prices
September 16, 2019 | 12:03 am
FARMERS said the government’s
plan to release imported palay into the market threatens to weaken prices further
for palay, or unmilled rice, the form in which they sell their produce to
traders.
“There is already a big glut in
the market because of the large volume of cheap rice imported by private
traders. This glut is the main reason why palay prices are going down. Flooding
the market with NFA rice will just worsen the glut,” Federation of Free Farmers
National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said in a statement.
The government announced plans to
release 3.6 million bags of imported rice from its reserves, in a bid to bring
retail prices more in line with what it considers to be fair consumer price
given the low cost of imported grain.
The palay farmgate price has been
falling since the passage of the Rice Tariffication Act, which liberalized rice
imports by private traders. Access to cheap foreign grain has made traders
reluctant to buy domestic palay, softening the market for domestic products and
leaving the government scrambling to implement palay purchasing schemes at
better — than-market prices that provide breathing room for farmers.
On the retail side, consumer
prices have remained persistently high despite the decline in acquisition price
for imported rice and palay, prompting the Department of Agriculture (DA) to
order releases of inventory from the reserves.
The freeing up of warehouse space
at the National Food Authority (NFA) is expected to encourage more buying at
the NFA support price for farmers, which has been raised to P19 from P17. The
NFA’s purchasing budget has also been raised to about P22.5 billion.
According to the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA), the average farmgate price of palay fell 4.4%
year-on-year during the fifth week of August to P16.68 per kilogram (kg). Some
reports have indicated that traders are offering as little as P7 in some
rice-growing provinces.
On Sept. 12, Agriculture
Secretary William D. Dar said that the NFA Council approved at a Sept. 10
meeting the release of 3.6 million bags of imported rice onto the market until
early October to increase supply and keep retail prices low.
The measure targets “price
manipulators” and “hoarders” who have kept retail prices high despite the drop
in the value of imported rice and palay.
The NFA inventory release will be
sold at P25 per kilo at wholesale and P27 retail.
Mr. Montemayor said that the
timing of the release coincides with the harvest this month and will serve to
depress prices amid high levels of supply.
“Private traders will be the ones
who will buy most of the palay, and they will be forced to buy low because they
will have to compete not only with the cheap imported price plus now also the
P27 NFA rice,” he said.
The Rice Tariffication Law was
enacted in response to the inflation crisis of 2018, with the government making
a bet that consumer prices will fall with the entry of more imported rice. The
traders then turned reluctant to buy palay at fair prices, threatening a
collapse in farmer incomes and forcing the government to step up palay
purchasing, roping in local governments to engage in palay purchasing. — Vincent
Mariel P. Galang
PSA: Average farm-gate price of rice drops to
6-year low
September 16, 2019
93
The
average farm-gate price of dry unhusked rice fell to a six-year low in the
fifth week of August, according to the latest data released by the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA).
Data released by the PSA showed
palay prices declined by 27.4 percent to P16.68 per kilogram, from P22.98 per
kg recorded in the same period last year. Local planters do not usually harvest
rice from July to September.
The latest gate figure is the
lowest since the fifth week of May 2013, when dry palay farm-gate averaged
P16.71 per kg.
“The market is oversupplied by
imported inventory,” University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Center for
Food and Agribusiness (CFA) Executive Director Rolando T. Dy said.
PSA data showed that as of August
1, total rice stocks expanded by 40.3 percent to 2.133 million metric tons
(MMT), higher than the previous year’s level of 1.52 million metric tons
(MMT), or by 40.3 percent.
Of the total rice stocks, 37.1
percent were in the households, 41.2 percent were in commercial warehouses, and
21.6 percent in National Food Authority (NFA) depositories.
Government data on rice imports
in the first half showed that shipments expanded by 118.73 percent to $621.57
million, from last year’s record of $284.18 million.
This made semi-milled or wholly
milled rice as the country’s 13th top import for the first half of the year,
compared to only 26th during the same period in 2018.
Downward trend
With the increase in imports and
the upcoming harvest starting October, the farm-gate price of palay will
continue to go down, according to the Federation of Free Farmers Inc. (FFF).
“We expect prices to go down
further as the main harvest comes in. The procurement of the National Food
Authority [NFA] will not be able to arrest this by itself, as it will be able
to capture only 3 percent of the harvest at most,” FFF National Manager Raul Q.
Montemayor told the BusinessMirror via SMS.
The Rice Watch and Action Network
(R1) said rice planters in rain-fed areas will be hardest hit by the continuos
decline in farm-gate prices.
“The sad thing about it [drop in
palay prices] is that majority of farmers in rain-fed areas are harvesting
their crop. Of course, they are the most vulnerable. We hope government is
ready to address the loss of incomes especially of the most vulnerable,” R1
Executive Director Hazel Tanchuling told the BusinessMirror via SMS.
The drop in the average farm-gate
price of unhusked rice, however, was also reflected in the wholesale and retail
prices of regular milled rice, according to PSA data.
In the fifth week of August, the
retail price of regular milled rice fell by an annualized rate of 18.88 percent
to P34.59 per kg.
On Thursday, the Department of
Agriculture (DA) announced that it will be “flooding” the market with the NFA
cheap imported rice to cut down the prices of the staple.
Agriculture Secretary William D.
Dar disclosed they will be selling 3.6 million bags of rice nationwide.
He said imported NFA rice will be
sold at P25 per kg to retailers and P27 per kg to consumers.
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Japan to win trade concessions on US rice
imports, but hits wall on auto tariffs
September 16, 2019 (Mainichi
Japan)
In this June 28, 2019
file photo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, third from right, and U.S. President
Donald Trump, second from left, and their teams sit down for talks in Osaka's
Suminoe Ward. (Pool photo)
TOKYO -- The amount of U.S. rice
that will be allowed to enter Japan tariff-free under a bilateral trade deal
will be much less than that set under the multilateral Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), which President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2017.
Under the TPP, which was
implemented by the remaining 11 partners at the end of 2018, Japan would have
accepted the import of as much as 70,000 metric tons of U.S. rice per year.
However, it was revealed on Sept. 15 that negotiators for a Japan-U.S. trade
deal are looking to settle on a much smaller figure -- apparently with Trump's
blessing.
Meanwhile, tariffs on U.S. wine
imports to Japan look likely to be reduced gradually to zero over five to seven
years, about the same as the eight-year time frame under the TPP. The cut is
eventually expected to reduce Japanese shelf prices of U.S. wines by about 10%.
The two sides are aiming to have
a deal ready to be signed by Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a summit in
the United States in late September.
The Japanese government pushed
for a reduction in the volume of tariff-free U.S. rice from TPP levels to
protect domestic producers. American negotiators initially sought to retain the
70,000-ton figure, but the issue appears to have been a low priority for the
Trump administration as most U.S. rice is grown in California, a Democratic
stronghold.
However, Washington did push back
hard on automobiles by outright refusing Tokyo's demand the U.S. cut duties on
Japanese vehicle imports. It looks likely the Abe administration will play up
its negotiating gains in rice, saying that "both Japan and the U.S. made
compromises" to curry favor with its electorate.
(Japanese original by Shuichi
Kanzaki and Kenji Shimizu, Business News Department)
Break the rice cartel
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 04:48 AM September 16, 2019
Much blame
has been put on the rice tariffication law for the current plight of local
farmers, yet little attention is being focused on the cartel that has been
hoarding imported rice to create supply tightness and, in the process, prevent
prices from falling.
The
liberalization of rice imports was intended to beef up supply of the staple
given the shortage in domestic production, which had caused inflation to breach
government targets last year. With imports allowed at a 35-percent tariff,
economic managers had forecast rice prices to fall by as much as P7 a kilo.
Thus far,
however, prices have only managed to stabilize and decline by P1-2 a kilo. The
reason: Traders suspected of associating into a cartel have been controlling
the supply of the staple to meet demand at a bare minimum and avoid flooding
the market, which could help push prices lower.
It is right
to focus a lot of attention on the plight of local farmers, but it is
shortsighted to blame it all on the rice tariffication law, or Republic Act No.
11203. Some of the proposals to address this problem border on the absurd,
including one seeking to impose an import tariff of 600-800 percent on rice,
and others calling for the outright repeal of the law.
The rice
tariffication law has a provision creating a P10-billion fund precisely to help
local farmers survive a liberalized regime. Measures that the fund will finance
are geared mainly toward bringing up the productivity of local farmers to
enable them to compete with the low prices of imported rice. These include
mechanization, improved irrigation, use of modern seeds, better farm-to-market roads
and other challenges that local farmers have faced for decades.
The
Department of Agriculture has its hands full helping farmers reeling from the
falling farm-gate prices of their palay. The new agriculture secretary, William
Dar, has been coordinating efforts with local governments and other
departments, such as that of social welfare, to help buy the produce of local
rice farmers at prices above their production costs.
But this is
not enough. The government should likewise address farmers’ lack of access to
storage, drying, milling and transport facilities so they can sell directly to
the consumer, and eradicate middlemen who have taken advantage of the system
for a long time. And it needs to release allotments from the P10-billion fund
at a more urgent and more efficient pace, to ensure that struggling farmers are
lent assistance in a speedy, timely manner.
Alongside
these measures, however, the government should apply all its might to the
critical task of dismantling the rice cartel, to allow prices of the staple to
go down significantly for the benefit of millions of minimum wage earners and
ordinary consumers, as had been promised by the law.
Last week,
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda called on the Duterte administration to address the
rice cartel problem; he asked authorities to look at the warehouses of big
traders and check their import and delivery records, the Department of Justice
and the Philippine Competition Commission to investigate possible economic
sabotage, and the departments of Trade and Industry and of Agriculture to
intensify the monitoring of price manipulations.
In his third
State of the Nation Address last July, President Duterte once again warned that
rice cartels will not be allowed to sabotage the economy, as he directed
concerned agencies to hunt the syndicates behind them and bring them to
justice. It’s time for those agencies — the departments of Agriculture and of
Trade and Industry, the Bureau of Customs and even the Philippine National
Police — to work together and finally
address this problem.
address this problem.
Local rice
farmers are in dire need of all the help they can get from the government. At
the same time, ordinary consumers also deserve the low prices intended by the
rice tariffication law, and dismantling the cartel will do this. These criminal
organizations are not that hard to find, if only authorities would stop looking
the other way and do as the President had ordered them.
When It Comes To Tech, These Rice
Farmers Are Outstanding In Their Field
Sep 15, 2019, 09:28am
Colombian rice farmer Campo Elias Urrutia, at the trial site of
the EcoProMIS project, in Casanare, Colombia.
ANDREW
J WIGHT
Dust and noise from a passing
rice harvester swirl around Colombian rice farmer Campo Elias Urrutia as he
tells of a coming rice doomsday – easing of trade restrictions from a US trade
deal means cheap US rice will likely start to pour into Colombia in the next three
years.
But high-tech help is close by: Campo Elias is standing next to
high tech sensors measuring carbon dioxide, methane, solar radiation and
meteorological data – part of a project to make Colombian rice
price-competitive with cheap imports. Rice is a vital Colombian staple and it is now the key crop of central Colombia's tropical grassland plains – Los Llanos. In 2007, 461,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of rice were sown in Colombia for an output of 2.5 million metric tonnes (2.75 million short tons).
Today In: Innovation
Facing the threat of reduced yields from climate change, cheap
imports and other challenges, the Colombian Rice Grower’s Federation, FedeArroz, has teamed up with a
consortium of scientific institutions like Rothamsted Research and private
companies to develop a platform called the Ecological Production Management
Information System – EcoProMIS. A combination of satellites, drones, handheld devices, IOT weather stations, crop inspections and farmer interviews all feed into the system, where the data is crunched by machine learning, AI and crop modelling.
For example, heat sensors in the drones detect “sick” rice plants, giving farmers exact data on which parts of the field are infected.
The benefits are two-fold: farmers can get near-real-time data on the health and projected yield of their crops, while insurance companies can better assess risk – hopefully increasing the alarmingly low prevalence of farm insurance in Colombia.
Roelof Kramer is CEO of Agricompas Limited, one of the partners in the consortium that came together to win £3.9m ($5 million) in initial funding from the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme.
"Overall, the main goals of the project include increasing the area of rice and palm oil crops insured in Colombia 25 percent by 2021 and the collective incomes of Colombian farmers and smallholders by $30 million annually by 2022."
Roelof Kramer – CEO of Agricompas Limited
In order to address community concerns about farmers giving
their data to a third party, the project, which began in February of 2018 and
will continue until April 2021, has partnered with local organisations.Kramer says crop federations like Fedearroz will pass science advances on to farmers; research institutes will conduct further research on climate change effects and genetic improvements; and community group Solidaridad is giving socio-economic support to small-holder growers.
Ricardo Perafan, the executive director at FedeArroz’s research centre in Aguazul, Colombia told me rice is the last cereal grown in Colombia with local varieties – almost all the wheat in Colombia is imported and almost all corn is from imported seed.
"But we only have two farms in the pilot project, so this is just the beginning of greater, integrated actions," he said.
When the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (formally known as the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement or CTPA) came into force in May of 2012, Colombia’s rice attracted a tariff of 80% but those will soon be phased out completely.
Back in his rice field, Urrutia is hopeful.
“The EcoProMis program will help keep the Colombian rice industry alive, but, we won’t be competitive until the Colombian farmer has the control and management of his product, is supplied with appropriate machines and tools for the development of the work, has real ownership of the land, and has a state agricultural policy where the campesino and the nation converge together,” he said.
Check out my website.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwight/2019/09/15/when-it-comes-to-tech-these-rice-farmers-are-outstanding-in-their-field/#515caf54372e
Safeguard
probe on rice imports begins
September 16, 2019
This file photo shows various rice varieties are on display in a
market in San Andres, Manila. The Philippine government has formally notified
the World Trade Organization that it has launched an investigation into the
surge in rice imports to determine whether the application of safeguard
measures is warranted.
The Philippines has formally
informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it has launched an investigation
into the surge in rice imports following the plunge in the farm-gate prices of
local rice to determine whether it should apply safeguard measures.
Manila submitted a formal
communication to the WTO Committee on Safeguards (CoS) on September 12 to
inform member-states that it has initiated a preliminary investigation into
rice imports last September 11.
“Pursuant to Article 12.1[a] of
the WTO Agreement on Safeguards [AoS], the Permanent Mission of the Philippines
to the WTO hereby notifies the Committee on Safeguards of the initiation of a
preliminary safeguard investigation on the imported rice from various
countries,” read the notification, which was made public on September 13.
Manila said it initiated the
safeguard investigation, as the decline in the farm-gate prices of unhusked
rice continue, which caused farmers to incur losses, coincided with the jump in
imports.
Rice imports rose after the
Philippines implemented the rice trade liberalization law, which removed the
quantitative restriction on the staple and eased import rules.
“[The] continued increase in rice
imports coincides with the drop in farm-gate prices of paddy resulting in
income loss for farmers,” the document read.
“Skyrocketing rice imports
significantly affect the Philippines’s ending stock, subsequently affecting the
positioning of local rice in the market,” it added.
Since the passage of the rice
trade liberalization law, Manila argued that “rice traders abruptly shifted
from buying local paddy to importing rice as the latter is now more convenient
to do.”
WTO AoS Article 12.1 (a)
stipulates that member-states shall immediately notify the CoS when initiating
an investigation relating to the possible imposition of safeguard measures.
Farmers groups, including the
Federation of Free Farmers Inc. (FFF), have been urging the Department of
Agriculture (DA) to initiate a safeguard investigation as the farm-gate price
of local palay continued to go down.
FFF argued that rice farmers have
incurred losses amounting to at least P40 billion due to the 20-percent
year-on-year decline in palay prices.
FFF National Manager Raul Q.
Montemayor said trade remedies, such as safeguard measures and antidumping
duties, would limit imports as it would become more expensive. This, Montemayor
added, would prevent farmers from incurring more losses as domestic palay
prices are expected to stabilize.
‘Record high imports’
From March 5 to August 30, the
latest data from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed that the total
volume of rice imports has reached 1.304 million metric tons (MMT). Republic
Act (RA) 11203, or the rice trade liberalization law, took effect on March 5.
During the period, traders,
farmers’ cooperatives and importers have sought sanitary and phytosanitary
import clearances (SPS-IC) for 2.776 MMT of rice from Thailand, Myanmar,
Vietnam, Spain, India, Italy and Pakistan, according to BPI data.
In the month of August alone,
rice traders applied for SPS-ICs for 735,127 MT of rice. The figure is the
highest monthly volume of rice that the private sector sought to import since
RA 11203 took effect.
BPI data also showed that the
agency has issued a total of 3,115 SPS-ICs to over 228 eligible rice importers
from March 5 to August 30. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
said the removal of the QR and the relaxation of import rules would cause
increase the purchases of rice from abroad this year.
The USDA projected that the
Philippines’s total rice imports this year would rise by 24 percent to a
record-high 3.1 MMT, making the country the second-top buyer of the staple
after China.
Fertiliser-N harmful for
environment, warn experts
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, Dhaka
Scientists have expressed concern
over the use of fertiliser-N (nitrogen), which has caused severe environmental
disturbances. Nitrogen has been released in the water bodies, causing unwanted
growth of aquatic organisms, and has been released into the atmosphere, causing
atmospheric pollution and enhancing climate change-related events.
The scientists made these
observations while addressing a two-day-long workshop on ‘Towards Integrated
Nitrogen Management System (INMS)’, held at a city hotel yesterday (Sunday).
Agriculture minister Dr Abdur
Razzaque spoke at the workshop as the special guest.
The director-general of the
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Dr M Shajahan Kabir, the
vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Agriculture University, Dr M Gias
Uddin Mia, the director of International Nitrogen Management System, Prof. D.
Mark A Sutton, and SANC professors in New Delhi, India, Prof. Dr Nandulal
Raghuram and Dr Tapan K Mukherji, also spoke at the workshop.
“Excessive use of fertilisers is
harmful for the environment. Though crop production has increased by 30 to 34
per cent after using N-enriched fertilisers, at the same time it has also
reduced the fertility of the arable lands,” Dr Razzaque said.
He pointed out that many farmers
have no knowledge about the proper use of fertilisers. “The farmers often
over-use fertilisers with a view to increase their production. But the
environment becomes polluted
after the nitrogen gets mixed with air. It even becomes harmful for humans
after the nitrogen mixes with water. Hence, we have to use such fertilisers on
a limited scale. The use of such fertilisers will have to be reduced in
phases,” the agriculture minister said.
According to experts, in order to
extract maximum efficiency of the fertilizer-N in an agricultural way and an
environmentally sustainable manner, it is essential that farmers are advised on
the rational use of fertiliser-N in different sectors of agricultural
productivity like horticulture, aquaculture, animal husbandry and so on.
Apart from agriculture, other
sectors of the economy, such as energy production, transport, industry and
waste management, also contribute to N-pollution, the scientists said.
The scientists noted that South
Asia is one of the most populous regions on this planet. With an agrarian
economy to feed its growing population, it is hugely dependent on the use of
N-fertiliser.
According to experts, nitrogen is
the most important nutrient affecting the growth of all living organisms in
this planet. Although more than two-thirds of the atmosphere is nitrogen, it
cannot be directly used for biological growth, the experts said.
They opined that this nitrogen
has to be converted into its active forms for their uptake and incorporation
into plants and animals.
Soil scientists have pointed out
that the continuous use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the arable
land gradually decreases its productivity.
Chemical fertilisers also destroy
soil biomass, which is important for maintaining the ecosystem and crop
production. Excessive use of chemicals destroys soil nutrients like sodium,
potassium and nitrogen, creating imbalances in soil fertility, according to
researchers.
Most of the soils have low
fertility because of the high removal of plant nutrients from soils. Annual
removal by major field crops is about 2.98 million tonnes compared to acreage
application of 0.80 million tonnes of nutrients. About 85 per cent of the net
cultivable areas have less than the optimum level of organic matter content.
Chemical fertiliser use, combined with the timely transfer of appropriate
technology, is essential to sustaining and increasing yields.
Urea, di-ammonium phosphate
(DAP)/triple super phosphate (TSP) and muriate of potash (MOP) are the major
sources of plant nutrients in Bangladesh. Urea represents about 80 per cent,
DAP/TSP 15 per cent, and MOP, zinc sulphate, gypsum, etc. account for the
remaining 5 per cent of all other nutrients.
This nutrient use pattern
indicates a less than ideal nutrient balance. Though paddy does require, in
most instances, a higher nitrogen ratio to phosphate and potash, soil testing,
soil type and crop rotation are required to determine the exact NPK ratio
required to maximise yield to the extent the yield relates to nutrients.
S. Korea to
push for localization of rice varietiesUpdated:
2019-09-16 10:50:03 KST
Back in the 1970s, Korean rice varieties had a reputation for
tasting inferior to Japanese rice.
Since then, the country has developed local varieties that taste good and are resistant to disease and pests.
Most farms nationwide have switched to these new local varieties, …with the exception of some regions.
Japanese rice varieties make up 64 percent of rice grown in Gyeonggi-do Province …and 35 percent in Chungcheongbuk-do Province, …even if their output is lower than the output of local varieties.
The rice plants fall over easily and are prone to disease and attacks from pests.
"We have planted foreign varieties for a long time and they were purchased by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and other agencies."
By putting forward a variety of Icheon rice called "Haedeul," the government is looking to phase out Japanese varieties from the region.
The variety, developed by Korean researchers in 2017, has strong stalks and is more resistant to disease and pests.
A panel of experts and consumers tasted it and gave the variety favorable feedback.
"It's glutinous and chewy and has a nice texture in the mouth. It's tasty."
By increasing the supply of domestic rice varieties and developing a specialized production and distribution complex, …the Rural Development Administration looks to achieve 100 percent localization by 2022.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.
Since then, the country has developed local varieties that taste good and are resistant to disease and pests.
Most farms nationwide have switched to these new local varieties, …with the exception of some regions.
Japanese rice varieties make up 64 percent of rice grown in Gyeonggi-do Province …and 35 percent in Chungcheongbuk-do Province, …even if their output is lower than the output of local varieties.
The rice plants fall over easily and are prone to disease and attacks from pests.
"We have planted foreign varieties for a long time and they were purchased by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and other agencies."
By putting forward a variety of Icheon rice called "Haedeul," the government is looking to phase out Japanese varieties from the region.
The variety, developed by Korean researchers in 2017, has strong stalks and is more resistant to disease and pests.
A panel of experts and consumers tasted it and gave the variety favorable feedback.
"It's glutinous and chewy and has a nice texture in the mouth. It's tasty."
By increasing the supply of domestic rice varieties and developing a specialized production and distribution complex, …the Rural Development Administration looks to achieve 100 percent localization by 2022.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.
Reporter
:
Policy rate change on the cards
SEPTEMBER 15, 2019
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was elected to
office on the promise of creating ease of doing business, envisaging reduction
of bureaucratic morass, lower utility rates for the business to propel their
capacity in the economy, but it all became redundant when the State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir raised the interest rates to 13.25 percent
on July 16, a 150 basis points increase.
Yet again, the state bank is set to announce its monetary policy
on September 16 for the next two months, however the experts are predicting
that the interest rate is likely to be fixed slightly downward with most of
them predicting that the central bank will opt to reduce the rate by 25 basis
points.
“Inflation rose considerably to 7.3 percent in Fiscal Year (FY)
19 due to higher government borrowings from the SBP, lagged impact of exchange
rate depreciations, hike in domestic fuel prices, and rising food prices.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was 8.9 percent in June 2019 and is
expected to rise in the near term due to the one-off impact of adjustment in
utilities’ prices and other measures in the FY20 budget. These pressures are
expected to recede in the second half of the fiscal year and the Marginal
Propensity to Consume (MPC) expects inflation to average 11 to 12 percent in
FY20,” The SBP governor said, while giving a reason for raising interest rates
on July 16.
However, after the May and July increase in the policy rate by
the state bank, inflation failed to decline, in fact it rose. The rise in
interest rate in theory should have raised the cost of capital, a key input to
productivity, and concomitantly elevated the cost of borrowing by households
which are significant in the perfect model of the economies. Thus a higher
discount rate would lower aggregate demand and consequently inflation in
advanced well documented economies.
The situation for Pakistan is different and has exacerbated over
the time. The trust deficit between PTI government’s economic team and business
community has widened as the rhetorical commitment of Khan’s government to
generate an environment conducive for business has been divorced to the policy
initiatives of technocrats in the economic team.
Instead of bringing its own house in order and correcting
inflationary pressure through fiscal management by reducing government spending
to decrease aggregate demand and thus the inflation, the government’s spending
surprisingly increased exorbitantly. Last year the budget deficit was at 8.9
percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while this year it is projected to
escalate at 7.2 percent with current expenditure alone is due to rise by 31
percent. The ironic contrast makes the contractionary policy of the SBP at odds
with the government’s fiscal policy.
The government may have given an unrealistic tax collection
target to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to collect Rs 5.5 trillion under
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package commitment; however it has
consistently been on the adverse journey of expansive budgeted expenditure. As
the IMF team is due to visit Pakistan, its spokesperson Gerry Rice said that
one of the key elements of the IMF programme in Pakistan was the need to
mobilise domestic tax revenue to fund the “much needed” social and development
spending while placing debt on a “firm downward trend”. Hence, in order for the
government to land at safe fiscal position it needs to handle its tools well
instead of depressing the economy through contractionary monetary policy Khan’s
economic team may not have been elected to the office but the government owes
it to its constituents; to make things right, before Pakistan’s economy takes a
turbulent course to deep recession.
All Basmati rice growers in Punjab to be registered
To boost export of basmati by incorporating quality traceability
feature in its production and supply, Punjab Government has launched an
ambitious project of registration of all Basmati growers in the State. The
process is being carried out in collaboration with Agricultural and Processed
Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), said the State Agriculture
secretary KS Pannu adding that the registration of Basmati growers on the
Centre’s portal — basmati.net — is on full swing. The relevant information
pertaining the names and mobile numbers of basmati rice growers as well as the
longitudinal and latitudinal details of their farms is being uploaded on the
portal. Also details of the quantity and quality of fertilizers and pesticides
used by the farmers on the crop are also being recorded. Pannu said that so
far, about 70,000 Basmati farmers have been registered and the tagging of
details of over 25,000 farms spanning to 1,37,864 hectares, has also been
realised. This tag will help to preserve the unique identity of their rice in
the national and international market, he said. After the completion of
registration process, the farmers are being issued a unique ID and the
registration certificates, said Pannu, adding that 15,000 certificates have
been distributed till date. This is a win-win situation for the farmers as well
as the Department because farmers will get good price of their produce as the
buyers would be able to contact them and get the samples of Basmati directly
from them. Besides, the Department will be able to identify the farmers who are
using the fertilizers over and above the recommended quantity and also those
who are using prohibited pesticides. Subsequently, the Department can monitor
and motivate the non-adherents towards using optimum quantity and quality of
fertilizers or pesticides. This mammoth exercise will be a giant step towards
making Basmati crop “pesticide free”, said Pannu adding that the gradual
elimination of these poisons will result in Punjab’s Basmati passing all the
international import parameters. It is pertinent to mention that use of nine
pesticides including Acephate, Triazophos, Thiamethoxam, Cerbendazim,
Buprofezin, Arbofuron, Propiconazole and Thiophanate Methyl has been banned
since they lead to rejection of Basmati export orders to the European Union and
other Western countries. But, some farmers in a bid to get better yield,
continue to use thrice the recommended urea and a bag of Dai Ammonium Phosphate
(DAP) which are not recommended.
High prices cut
non-Basmati rice exports 37%
Rising domestic rice prices have affected exports this year with
shipment of the non-Basmati variety falling about 37 per cent or 10 lakh
tonnes, over the previous year.
gh Basmati rice exports have also declined 1.5 per
cent, but experts don`t suggest price as reason behind it. Image source:
Reuters
Written By: IANS
Updated: Sat, Sep 14, 2019
09:50 am
09:50 am
Rising domestic rice prices have affected exports this year with
shipment of the non-Basmati variety falling about 37 per cent or 10 lakh
tonnes, over the previous year. Though Basmati rice exports have also declined
1.5 per cent, but experts don`t suggest price as reason behind it.
Arvind Kumar Gupta, Director of the Basmati Export Development
Institution that comes under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority (APEDA), told IANS, "Prices of non-Basmati
rice are high in the country, which has affected its demand overseas. Exports
have declined in the first four months of this financial year (FY20) against
the corresponding period of FY19".
According to APEDA data, 17,06,891 tonnes of non-Basmati rice
were exported in April-July of FY20 against 26,94,827 tonnes in the same period
of FY19. The non-Basmati rice exports have declined around 9.88 lakh tonnes or
36.66 per cent.
In value terms, it has declined by 36.30 per cent to Rs 48.16
crore over the smape period of FY19. Similarly, Basmati rice exports have
declined by 1.42 lakh tonnes to 14.35 lakh tonnes between April and July
against the year-ago period.
Vijay Setia, Chairman, All India Rice Exporters Association,
said due to the high prices of non-Basmati rice its demand had soften in the
foreign market. "The paddy is sold on the minimum support price (MSP)
decided by the government, which pushes rates compared with other competitive
countries".
Rise in local production in the importing countries is also the
reason behind the falling demand. For instance, demand in Bangladesh has come
down because of domestic production, said Setia.
India is world`s top rice exporter, followed by Thailand and
Vietnam. Pakistan also exports rice.
"Countries, like Bangladesh, have to pay less shipping
charges when they import rice from India. Therefore, high-prices don`t cost
them much. But in the far away African countries, the situation is different.
They purchase it from where they find it cheaper," Gupta told IANS.
There is a price difference of around $30 per tonne of
non-Basmati rice between India and other nations. It meant that the domestic
price was $30 per tonne higher, said Gupta
High prices cut non-Basmati rice exports 37%
Rising domestic rice prices have
affected exports this year with shipment of the non-Basmati variety falling
about 37 per cent or 10 lakh tonnes, over the previous year.
Rising domestic rice prices have affected exports this year
with shipment of the non-Basmati variety falling about 37 per cent or 10 lakh
tonnes, over the previous year. Though Basmati rice exports have also declined
1.5 per cent, but experts don`t suggest price as reason behind it. Arvind Kumar
Gupta, Director of the Basmati Export Development Institution that comes under
the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
(APEDA), told IANS, "Prices of non-Basmati rice are high in the country,
which has affected its demand overseas. Exports have declined in the first four
months of this financial year (FY20) against the corresponding period of
FY19". According to APEDA data, 17,06,891 tonnes of non-Basmati rice were
exported in April-July of FY20 against 26,94,827 tonnes in the same period of
FY19. The non-Basmati rice exports have declined around 9.88 lakh tonnes or
36.66 per cent. In value terms, it has declined by 36.30 per cent to Rs 48.16
crore over the smape period of FY19. Similarly, Basmati rice exports have
declined by 1.42 lakh tonnes to 14.35 lakh tonnes between April and July
against the year-ago period. Vijay Setia, Chairman, All India Rice Exporters
Association, said due to the high prices of non-Basmati rice its demand had
soften in the foreign market. "The paddy is sold on the minimum support
price (MSP) decided by the government, which pushes rates compared with other
competitive countries". Rise in local production in the importing countries
is also the reason behind the falling demand. For instance, demand in
Bangladesh has come down because of domestic production, said Setia.
India is world`s top rice exporter, followed by Thailand and
Vietnam. Pakistan also exports rice. "Countries, like Bangladesh, have to
pay less shipping charges when they import rice from India. Therefore,
high-prices don`t cost them much. But in the far away African countries, the
situation is different. They purchase it from where they find it cheaper,"
Gupta told IANS. There is a price difference of around $30 per tonne of
non-Basmati rice between India and other nations. It meant that the domestic
price was $30 per tonne higher, said Gupta.
Better
domestic prices eat into non-Basmati rice exports of India Source :
By
: PK Jha Last Updated: Sat, Sep 14, 2019 14:02 hrs
New
Delhi: Rising domestic rice prices have affected exports this year with
shipment of the non-Basmati variety falling about 37 per cent or 10 lakh
tonnes, over the previous year. Though Basmati rice exports have also declined
1.5 per cent, but experts don't suggest price as reason behind it. Arvind Kumar
Gupta, Director of the Basmati Export Development Institution that comes under
the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
(APEDA), shared with this agency, "Prices of non-Basmati rice are high in
the country, which has affected its demand overseas. Exports have declined in
the first four months of this financial year (FY20) against the corresponding
period of FY19". According to APEDA data, 17,06,891 tonnes of non-Basmati
rice were exported in April-July of FY20 against 26,94,827 tonnes in the same
period of FY19. The non-Basmati rice exports have declined around 9.88 lakh
tonnes or 36.66 per cent. In value terms, it has declined by 36.30 per cent to
Rs 48.16 crore over the smape period of FY19. Similarly, Basmati rice exports
have declined by 1.42 lakh tonnes to 14.35 lakh tonnes between April and July
against the year-ago period. Vijay Setia, Chairman, All India Rice Exporters
Association, said due to the high prices of non-Basmati rice its demand had
soften in the foreign market. "The paddy is sold on the minimum support
price (MSP) decided by the government, which pushes rates compared with other
competitive countries". Rise in local production in the importing countries
is also the reason behind the falling demand. For instance, demand in
Bangladesh has come down because of domestic production, said Setia. India is
world's top rice exporter, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. Pakistan also
exports rice. • Here's how much India earned through Basmati exports last year
"Countries, like Bangladesh, have to pay less shipping charges when they
import rice from India. Therefore, high-prices don't cost them much. But in the
far away African countries, the situation is different. They purchase it from
where they find it cheaper," Gupta told this agency. There is a price
difference of around $30 per tonne of non-Basmati rice between India and other
nations. It meant that the domestic price was $30 per tonne higher, said Gupta.
P.K. Jha can be contacted at pramod.j@ians.in
https://www.sify.com/finance/better-domestic-prices-eat-into-non-basmati-rice-exports-of-india-news-agriculture-tjohAxebdafca.html
https://www.sify.com/finance/better-domestic-prices-eat-into-non-basmati-rice-exports-of-india-news-agriculture-tjohAxebdafca.html
Truth-tellers
are the heroes
·
Cokie Roberts and Steven V.
Roberts Commentary
·
Sep 15, 2019
Cokie & Steven Roberts
Sharpie-gate
really matters.
Yes,
President Trump's erroneous insistence that Alabama would be hit by Hurricane
Dorian — and his ham-handed alteration of an official map to support his
mistake — has spawned countless hilarious memes. But the larger
implications of this incident are far more serious. It starkly symbolizes this
president's ferocious war on any facts or findings that contradict his warped
view of the world.
He's
single-handedly destroying the ability of his own government to make sensible
policy because he refuses to accept the work of professionals — scientists and
economists, intelligence analysts and agronomists — who remain dedicated
to their standards of independent nonpartisanship.
Three
former administrators of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) made this point about weather forecasting in the Washington Post, but
their words apply to all information produced by government researchers.
"Even
a hint that a forecast or warning was influenced by politics would undermine
the public's trust and the ability to respond quickly and effectively under
potentially life-threatening conditions," wrote Jane Lubchenco, D. James
Baker and Kathryn D. Sullivan. "If political appointees overrule trained
scientists, imposing political concerns on scientific matters, they endanger
public safety as well as the credibility and morale of the agency charged with
protecting that safety."
When
Trump inflates the size of his inaugural crowds, or denies hush-money payments
to former girlfriends, he's being outrageous, but not dangerous. But when his
delusions undermine government policy, the consequences can be deeply damaging.
When
he insists that trade wars are "easy to win," or that tax cuts pay
for themselves, the results can be fiscal disaster. When he denies that Russia
tried to help him win the last election, he cripples our ability to protect the
integrity of future elections.
No
issue illustrates Trump's war on facts better than climate change. Maria
Caffrey was a climate scientist for the National Park Service who documented
the potential danger to coastal parks from future sea level increases. After
Trump took office, she writes in The Guardian, senior park service officials
"tried repeatedly, often aggressively, to coerce me into deleting
references to the human causes of the climate crisis."
After
a long battle, Caffrey's report was published, but she was forced out of her
job. "Politics has no place in science," she writes. "I am an
example of the less discussed methods the administration is using to destroy
scientific research. ... The current administration may only last a matter of
years, but its actions may potentially impact our planet for centuries."
As
an analyst in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Rod
Schoonover produced a report "on the national security implications of
climate change" for the House Intelligence Committee. But his superiors
truncated his live testimony and blocked the submission of his written
conclusions.
"The
White House trampled not only on the scientific integrity of the assessment but
also on the analytic independence of an arm of the intelligence
community," Schoonover writes in the Post, after resigning from "the
institution I loved."
Lewis
Ziska, a plant scientist for the Department of Agriculture, documented
"how rice is losing nutrients because of rising levels of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere," writes Politico. Department officials tried to bury
his findings, "which raised serious concerns for the 600 million people
who depend on rice for most of their calories."
"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
told Politico. "That's so sad. I can't even begin to tell you how sad that
is."
The
political leadership at NOAA bent to the president's pressure, contradicting
their own analysts and issuing a statement supporting Trump's fallacious claims
about the risk to Alabama. But the professionals in the agency are fighting
back and defending their integrity.
Craig
McLean, NOAA's chief scientist, said the heads of his own agency had acted
"inappropriately and incorrectly" when they undermined their staff's
forecast that Alabama was not in danger. "My understanding is that this
intervention to contradict the forecaster was not based on science, but on
external factors including reputation and appearance — or, simply put,
political," Mclean wrote.
"I
have a responsibility to pursue these truths," he added. "I
will."
McLean
speaks for a vast army of professionals — judges and journalists, analysts
and researchers — who share his determination. The best way to constrain
the Lord of the Lies is to pursue the truth, wherever it leads.
Midday Brief, Sunday, September 15,
2019
September
15, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:54 PM, September 15, 2019
CRUELTY
SHE CAN’T TAKE … Grief-stricken 4th grader Shathi Akhter demands justice for
the killing of birds at a rice mill near her home in Aponpara of Lalmonirhat.
Local millers allegedly poisoned over 100 birds of different species. A
magistrate said the offenders may face jail time or fines of up to Tk 1 lakh
DOF credits cheap rice for low inflation
September 14, 2019, 10:00 PM
By Chino S. Leyco
The Department of Finance (DOF) said
the continued downward trend in the growth of consumer prices was reflective of
the government’s “decisive efforts” to keep inflation at a manageable level.
One such measure that
significantly contributed to the record-low inflation rate was the enactment of
the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) or Republic Act (RA) No. 11203, said the DOF’s
Strategy, Economics and Results Group (SERG) in a report.
It said the lifting of
quantitative restrictions (QRs) on rice imports helped increase the domestic
supply of the staple, thereby pulling down retail prices by P7 to P10 per kilo
and benefitting most especially poor Filipinos who spend about 20 percent of
their total household budget on rice.
SERG issued this statement as the
country’s inflation rate decelerated further to 1.7 percent in August, or the
lowest rate since October 2016. This brings the year-to-date average inflation
to 3 percent, or well within the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent.
The inflation of rice decelerated
at -5.2 percent year-on-year, the lowest ever recorded and the fourth
consecutive month of a negative rate.
At the household level, the
August inflation rate means an additional spending of just P1.70 for every P100
spent in the same month last year.
Had rice inflation remained flat
YOY, the additional spending would have been P2.20 for every P100.
This was further validated in a
report by Jose Sosa of the Bulacan Consumer Affairs Council, Inc. during the
Malacañang economic press briefing last Sept. 4.
According to the consumer group
leader, local-milled rice in Sta. Maria, Bulacan now costs only P25 to P32 per
kilo.
This downtrend is expected to
help reduce poverty incidence, malnutrition, and hunger in the medium-term as
more Filipino families gain access to affordable and high-quality rice, said
SERG.
As of 31 August, the government
has raised P9.2 billion in Customs duties from 1.5 million metric tons (MT) of
rice imported by the private sector under the new tariffication regime as put
in place by RA 11203.
The tariff revenues from the rice
imports are being utilized to boost our local farmers’ productivity and global
competitiveness through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which
RA 11203 has set up with an annual allocation of at least P10 billion.
Of the P10-billion RCEF fund, P5
billion will go to rice farm machineries and equipment to be administered by
the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, and P2
billion to the production of high-yield seed varieties by the Philippine Rice
Research Institute (PhilRice).
About P2 billion was also
released to skills training programs of Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) and P1 billion to credit facilities via the Land
Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines
(DBP).
Should tariff collections exceed
P10 billion, the excess amount shall also be utilized for similar intervention
programs to boost rice farmers’ productivity.
SERG called on the Department of
Agriculture to fast-track the provision of rice farm machineries and equipment
distribution, high-yielding seed development, expanded credit assistance, and
extension services under the RCEF to help our local rice farmers be more
competitive.
The government will stay on
course towards a more competitive rice sector and a robust economy, which will
translate into a comfortable life for all Filipinos as envisioned by President
Duterte, SERG said.
|
Non-basmati rice exports slump 37 pc
|
|
|
SME Times News Bureau | 14 Sep, 2019
Rising domestic rice prices have affected exports this year with shipment of the non-Basmati variety falling about 37 per cent or 10 lakh tonnes, over the previous year. Though Basmati rice exports have also declined 1.5 per cent, but experts don't suggest price as reason behind it. Arvind Kumar Gupta, Director of the Basmati Export Development Institution that comes under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), told IANS, "Prices of non-Basmati rice are high in the country, which has affected its demand overseas. Exports have declined in the first four months of this financial year (FY20) against the corresponding period of FY19". According to APEDA data, 17,06,891 tonnes of non-Basmati rice were exported in April-July of FY20 against 26,94,827 tonnes in the same period of FY19. The non-Basmati rice exports have declined around 9.88 lakh tonnes or 36.66 per cent. In value terms, it has declined by 36.30 per cent to Rs 48.16 crore over the smape period of FY19. Similarly, Basmati rice exports have declined by 1.42 lakh tonnes to 14.35 lakh tonnes between April and July against the year-ago period. Vijay Setia, Chairman, All India Rice Exporters Association, said due to the high prices of non-Basmati rice its demand had soften in the foreign market. "The paddy is sold on the minimum support price (MSP) decided by the government, which pushes rates compared with other competitive countries". Rise in local production in the importing countries is also the reason behind the falling demand. For instance, demand in Bangladesh has come down because of domestic production, said Setia. India is world's top rice exporter, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. Pakistan also exports rice. "Countries, like Bangladesh, have to pay less shipping charges when they import rice from India. Therefore, high-prices don't cost them much. But in the far away African countries, the situation is different. They purchase it from where they find it cheaper," Gupta told IANS. There is a price difference of around $30 per tonne of non-Basmati rice between India and other nations. It meant that the domestic price was $30 per tonne higher, said Gupta. |
Border
closure: Benin, Niger economies under pressure
September 15, 2019
By
As the anti-smuggling and
anti-oil theft borders patrol operation launched recently by the Federal
Government of Nigeria, enters its day 26 today, indications are that the
economies of Benin and Niger Republics have come under severe pressure even as
the Government of Niger Republic has banned the importation of foreign
(parboiled) rice into the country in an effort to persuade Nigeria to re-open
the borders.
The people of Niger Republic do
not eat parboil rice (they eat white rice), but importers based in Benin and
Nigeria import parboiled rice to Benin Republic in very large quantities and
then re-export same to Niger, Chad and Cameroon (all Nigeria’s next door
neighbours) for smuggling into Nigeria where parboiled rice is eaten.
This is coming as the National
Security Adviser (NSA) Maj. Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno (rtd) has disclosed
that the ongoing border security operation, code-named ‘Exercise ‘Swift
Response’, will continue in the four geo-political zones of the country until
Nigeria’s neighbours take decisive action to ensure that their countries no
longer serve as transit points for smuggling of goods into or out of Nigeria.
Speaking at the inauguration of
two armoured anti-smuggling patrol vessels acquired by the Nigerian Customs
Service, on Thursday in Lagos, Maj. Gen. Monguno said President Muhammadu
Buhari had already conveyed to the leaders of the neighbouring countries that
the operation will continue until neighbours ensure smuggling into or out of
Nigeria stops
He said: “The bottomline of
what Mr. President is saying is that if it is in the interest of neighbouring
countries to allow all these dangerous items to transit their territories into
Nigeria, so that they can collect transit charges, then it is in Nigeria’s
national interest to shut our borders.”
Maj. Gen. Moguno added that the
operation has been very successful and did not give any indication that it will
end soon.
Sunday Telegraph learnt that as
the border hurts the economy of Niger Republic, President of the country,
Mahamadou Issoufou had pleaded that the borders be reopened, but Nigeria had
told him to first of all stop smuggling of rice and other products across the
borders into Nigeria.
To this end, President Issoufou
had on September 5, placed a ban on the importation of the foreign (parboil)
rice from Benin Republic.
In a circular to all the
Customs formations and relevant Government Agencies in Niger a copy of which
was made available to PRNigerian; the Nigerien government said that the ban
took effect from September 5, 2019.
The DIG in-charge of Customs
Service in Niamey, Mr. Oumarou Amadou said revenant agencies of government are
to comply strictly or face severe sanctions.
Recall that when the President
of Benin Republic, Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon met with President Buhari
at the recent Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD 7) in Yokohama, Japan; he had pleaded that the border operation be
brought to an end.
Meanwhile, the Controller
General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) has said at the commissioning of the
two anti-smuggling patrol vessels in Lagos that Nigeria’s quest for non-oil
revenue is a largely dependent on the Nigerian Customs Service to fight
smuggling and bring it to the barest minimum.
According to him, experience
has shown that whenever smugglers face stiff enforcement by Customs
anti-smuggling operatives on the land, they turn to the waterways to carry out
their illegal trade.
He added: “Unfortunately,
before now the Service has been weak on the water arising from the lack of
seagoing vessels to effectively to checkmate smugglers on the high sea. This
situation led to the death of nine Customs Marine officers while confronting
deadly petrol smugglers on the sea in 2014.
He explained that the two
seagoing vessels are well equipped with necessary firepower and other
requirements for long time water patrol is in line with the ongoing
repositioning of the Service to effectively deliver its mandate to the nation.
Col. Ali said: “With these
vessels, I hope smugglers will no longer take advantage of NCS vulnerability on
water to smuggle in contraband. NCS Marine operatives can now sail to intersect
them right on the high sea.
“The timing of this
commissioning is strategic as it will on the immediate boost the ongoing joint
security Ex-Swift Response on the water and henceforth remain symbol of NCS
strength on the sea the NCS as a present unbundling
of the Service now has four marine Commands, namely Western marine, Easter Maritime, North western marine and North
Eastern marine Command. It is therefore the resolve of management that
smugglers find no space to operate either on land, air or sea.”
Trade mulls over 'SRP' on imported rice
The Department
of Trade and Industry is considering a suggested retail price on imported rice,
with officials believing retail prices should have gone down with the Rice
Tariffication Law in place which allowed the runaway importation of the
commodity.
Trade
Secretary Ramon Lopez, in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV aired on GMA News
TV on Saturday and heard nationwide, said in Filipino they would study
implementing SRP if the volume of imported rice had gone up.
During
the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring at the Commonwealth Market in
Quezon City certain well-milled varieties were discovered being sold at up to
P45 per kilo.
“We
were expecting more vendors were hawking the commodity at P34-P37 per kilo,”
Lopez said.
The
Cabinet official said retail prices of rice had not plunged as expected because
several importers were not yet releasing their stocks in the market.
“This
must be the reason the prices have remained in that level,” Lopez added.
The
DA said Friday it was looking at a list of traders suspected of “manipulating”
the release of imported rice in the market.
The
farmgate price of palay has plunged to as low as P7 per kilo after rice
tariffication was implemented earlier this year, prompting farmers to ask for
government intervention.
After
the Rice Tariffication Law was passed in February, up to 2.4 million metric
tons of imported rice entered the country, Agriculture Secretary William Dar
said.
But
not all of the imported volume was released into the market.
The
Rice Tariffication Law removed the quantitative restrictions on rice and
imposed a 35 percent tariff on imports from Southeast Asian neighbors.
Country’s future
HIDDEN AGENDA - Mary Ann LL.
Reyes (The Philippine Star) - September 15, 2019 - 12:00am
Agriculture is literally going down the drain in this country and
if the sector’s problems are not addressed immediately, then farming in the
Philippines will just be a thing of the past.Take a look at these facts: agriculture employs 30 percent of the Philippine workforce but accounts for only seven percent to eight percent of the gross domestic product. The average age of the Filipino farmer is 57 and his average education level is Grade 5 only. And according to studies, assuming an average life span of 70, we might reach a critical shortage of farmers in just 15 years. From 2008 to 2018, the Philippine agriculture workforce went down from 35 percent to 26 percent.
Nobody wants to be associated with agriculture, which is linked to poverty, anymore.
To attain and ensure food security, Agriculture Secretary William Dar is appealing to the youth to engage in agriculture, fisheries, food processing, and other agribusiness ventures to ensure sustainable food security.
To make farming more profitable and increase rice production, the DA and the Villar SIPAG Farm Schools have partnered to teach farmers on farm mechanization and inbred seeds production.
Sen. Cynthia Villar said farmers can avail of free training courses on rice crop production, modern rice farming techniques, inbred seed production, as well as farm mechanization, farm machinery servicing and maintenance.
At least 21 schools all over the country have been identified to train trainors who will in turn teach the farmers.
Under Republic Act 11203 or the rice tariffication law, P1 billion of the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be for skills training of farmers and knowledge and technology transfer through farm schools nationwide.
Villar said that at the rate of doing two sessions of two-week training programs in a month, the 21 schools will be able to teach farmers from 54 provinces in two to three months.
Meanwhile, Dar said he aims to double the income of farmers and fishermen in the next five years through industrialization, promotion of exports, infrastructure development, and higher budget and investments, among others.
Still no end in sight
It seems the fight of Panay Electric Co. (PECO) to have a congressional
imprimatur to distribute electricity in Iloilo City and two neighboring towns
is over, at least in the meantime, but it doesn’t mean that PECO is taking
things sitting down.According to reports, the House of Representatives legislative franchise committee denied PECO’s application for a franchise even before PECO could present documents and data to back up its bid. The committee is chaired by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez.
It will be recalled that the committee threw out PECO’s bid for a new 25-year franchise in the 17th Congress, and instead granted a franchise over the same area to newbie More Electric and Power Corp.
PECO was hoping that things would change under the 18th Congress but they didn’t. Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel moved to quash PECO’s application, citing the firm’s alleged bad record in supplying power to Iloilo households. This, in spite of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) having recognized PECO as a top performer among the country’s 160 electricity suppliers for decades.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda opposed the PECO bid by citing Republic Act 11212 which granted an electricity distribution franchise to More Power. This law granted More Power the authority to undertake expropriation or eminent domain proceedings to take over PECO’s assets, including poles, wires, cables, transformers, switching equipment, stations and buildings, machinery, and other equipment used to distribute electricity in Iloilo, after payment of just compensation.
PECO, however, filed an action before the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court, which ruled last July that RA’s 11212’s provisions (Sections 10 and 17) giving More Power the power of eminent domain are unconstitutional since PECO’s assets are already being used for a public purpose and there is no necessity of taking, both of which are legal requirements for a valid expropriation.
Mandaluyong RTC Judge Monique Ignacio said that these provisions are void and unconstitutional for infringing on PECO’s rights to due process and equal protection of the law, adding that PECO’s rights to its properties are protected against arbitrary and confiscatory taking.
More Power has filed an expropriation case before the Iloilo RTC and the company maintains that the Mandaluyong RTC decision has no serious effect on the Iloilo case being co-equal courts.
But in last Wednesday’s hearing, PECO counsel Estrella Elamparo told the franchise committee that the proceedings at the Iloilo court have to give way to the Mandaluyong RTC ruling since the Mandaluyong case was filed before More Power sought for expropriation.
It was learned that the Iloilo RTC granted More Power’s application for the issuance of a writ of possession to expropriate distribution assets of PECO. But the RTC Branch 37 Judge Marie Yvette Go who issued the ruling inhibited herself from the case. The expropriation case was raffled again and will now be heard by Judge Daniel Amolar of RTC Branch 35.
Last May, More Power deposited P481.8 million with the Land Bank, equivalent to the assessed value of PECO’s properties subject to expropriation but way below what PECO claims is the fair market value assessment of more than P1 billion.
More Power went to Supreme Court asking it to review the Mandaluyong RTC ruling and for a restraining order but the High Tribunal has not acted on the petition for more than two months now.
PECO insists that the Iloilo court ruling is patently invalid and preempts the Supreme Court decision on the matter while More Power said it expects the enforcement of the writ of possession anytime now.
PECO top executive Marcelo Cacho revealed that they will wait for the SC decision and if it rules in PECOs favor, then it will pursue the renewal of its franchise,” stressed PECO top executive Marcelo Cacho.
While the legislative, judicial, and executive departments are co-equal branches of our government, under a system of checks and balances, a law enacted by Congress and signed by the President can be set aside by the SC if it is found to be unconstitutional. As held by the High Tribunal in one case, the power of the courts to test the validity of executive and legislative acts in light of their conformity with the Constitution is not an assertion of superiority by the courts over the other departments, but merely an expression of the supremacy of the Constitution.
One-time settlement scheme for rice millers
soon, says Ashu
Minister
inaugurates tennis court in Muktsar
Sep 15, 2019, 7:32 AM; last updated: Sep 15, 2019, 7:32 AM
(IST)
Cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu after inaugurating tennis court in Muktsar on Saturday. Tribune photo
Muktsar, September 14
Cabinet minister
Bharat Bhushan Ashu inaugurated an international-level tennis court at Guru
Gobind Singh Stadium on Saturday.
Built by the
Department of Rural Development and Panchayats under the supervision of the
District Olympic Association at a cost of Rs32 lakh, the six-layer synthetic
court is the first tennis of its kind in the public sector in the state.
Ashu said the tennis court would prove a boon
for players of the district and the academy would prepare international-level
players. He further called upon youth to obtain maximum advantage of this
facility.
Notably, the
announcement of the court was made by the minister during his visit to the
district on January 26 this year as the chief guest at the Republic Day
function.
Interacting with the mediapersons, Ashu, who
holds Food and Civil Supplies portfolio, said the state government was making
all arrangements for the procurement of paddy, so that farmers did not face any
problem. He further informed that the state government was also coming up with
a one-time settlement scheme for rice millers and a milling policy would also
be framed soon. — TNS
Ineffective and
delusional
Published September 14, 2019, 10:00 PM
Dr. Emil Q. Javier
This is how I describe the
well-meaning nevertheless futile efforts to raise the farm gate price of palay
by reviving the mandate of the National Food Authority (NFA) to buy palay
beyond the requirement to maintain the country’s buffer stock. Forceful words
indeed but appropriate to stress the point and bring us to our senses.
The intention is to prop up the
price of palay to stem the losses inflicted on rice farmers by the lifting of
restrictions on the import of rice under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
However, the reality was/is NFA
never had enough resources to really influence the market. The rice traders knew
this all along and had been gaming the system accordingly at the expense of the
rice farmers themselves and the rest of us consumers.
This year’s NFA budget for palay
procurement is P7 billion. Since the national output of 20 million tons of
palay is worth about P340 billion, this is equivalent to a measly 2% of the
market. If we multiply five times NFA’s buying capacity to 10%, we will need
P35 billion. Unfortunately, the more palay NFA buys, the
more it loses. How much can we really afford?
In addition to not having enough
resources to really influence the market, the price support scheme as
implemented by NFA has two infirmities: First, since most of the palay are
already in the hands of traders, assemblers, and rice millers soon after
harvest, most of the price support subsidy accrue to them, rather than the
primary producers. Second, the really poor rice farmers are those without
irrigation and they are often located distant from NFA’s buying stations and
warehouses. Thus, the benefits of price support do not reach those most in
need. It is not fair.
Therefore, the more honest and
equitable approach to bring immediate partial relief to rice farmers adversely
affected by the RTL is by direct payments. This practice is prevalent in USA
and Europe, albeit for a different purpose. The problem of these developed
economies is surplus grains, milk and butter. They have realized that the most
expedient way to address this is to compensate their farmers for not planting
at all, culling their herds or based on their historical production records.
However in our case, farmer pay-outs based on production will be
problematic and could be prone to exaggeration. More prudent are pay-outs based
on physical area as reflected in land titles and/or tax declarations. Moreover,
it should be made clear that the farmer pay-outs are not permanent doleouts but
temporary measures to help the rice farmers in market transition.NFA’s
primary remit should therefore be limited to buying palay from domestic
producers with which to maintain our country’s grain buffer stock as provided
in the RTL.Nevertheless, NFA could have a life of its own
beyond its buffer stocking role. As proposed by former NFA Administrator Romeo
David, NFA with its strategically placed facilities and warehouses,
increasingly valuable real estate and with a right-sized bureaucracy, can be a
profitable logistics service provider not only to the government but also the
private sector.
The sooner we disabuse ourselves
of the notion that price support is a cost-effective and equitable way of
helping our rice farmers, the better.
The permanent long-term equitable and sustainable solution is to provide the rice farmers ready access to timely and affordable credit with which to diversify and raise their productivity, competitiveness and incomes.
The permanent long-term equitable and sustainable solution is to provide the rice farmers ready access to timely and affordable credit with which to diversify and raise their productivity, competitiveness and incomes.
*****
Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chairman of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP).
Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chairman of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP).
For any feedback, email
eqjavier@yahoo.com
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Lundberg Family
Farms® Unveils NEW “Ready to Heat” Rice Pouches
-- Richvale, CA, Sept. 13, 2019 (GLOBE
NEWSWIRE) -- Lundberg Family Farms, a national leader in organic
rice, rice products and US-grown quinoa, add flavor and variety with their
“Ready to Heat” rice line. These handy pre-cooked, rice pouches make a great
side dish or entrée base, and provide a quick and convenient way to prepare a
meal. Each eight-ounce pouch contains approximately 2 servings. All are
organic, non-GMO verified, gluten-free, vegan, and are ready to serve in only
90 seconds!
The first addition is a line of
five flavored rice pouches inspired by recipes from around the world. These
products are currently available in supermarkets now with an MSRP of $3.69.
Flavors include:
·
Coconut
Rice
·
Spanish
Style Rice
·
Turmeric
Rice
·
Sesame
Soy & Ginger Rice
·
Harissa
Rice
·
Black
Thai Khao Dum Rice
And also new is Black Thai Khai Dum
Rice, a black rice variety imported from Thailand that is “Ready to Heat” and
ready in 90 seconds. It is Fair Trade certified and contains 47 grams of whole
grains per serving. The Black Thai pouch is available in supermarkets now with
a MSRP of $2.99.
Lundberg Family Farms is also
introducing a new 90 second format of their most popular rice and quinoa
varieties. These convenient pre-cooked microwavable pouches do not contain any
oils or sodium, and come in four delicious offerings:
·
Organic
Long Grain White Rice
·
Organic
Short Grain Brown Rice
·
Organic
Lundberg Wild Blend® Rice (a blend of brown, red, black, and wild rice)
·
Organic
California Basmati & Quinoa (Brown Basmati rice and Tri-color Quinoa
blend).
Each 8 ounce pouch contains
approximately 2 servings. Three of the varieties are whole grain, providing
more than 65 grams of whole grains per serving. These products are available
now in supermarkets with an MSRP of $3.49 for the Wildblend®, $3.29 for Basmati
& Quinoa, and $2.99 for the Long Grain White or Short Grain Brown rice.
For more information about Lundberg
Family Farms and other products, visit www.lundberg.com.
About Lundberg Family Farms
Since 1937, the Lundberg Family has been farming rice and producing rice products at their farms in the Sacramento Valley. Now led by its third generation, Lundberg Family Farms uses organic and eco-positive farming practices to produce wholesome rice and quinoa products while protecting and improving the environment for future generations. For more information, visit Lundberg.com and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.
Since 1937, the Lundberg Family has been farming rice and producing rice products at their farms in the Sacramento Valley. Now led by its third generation, Lundberg Family Farms uses organic and eco-positive farming practices to produce wholesome rice and quinoa products while protecting and improving the environment for future generations. For more information, visit Lundberg.com and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.
UP government wants
to promote 'Kala Namak' rice cultivation
13.09.19
(Syndicated
story. Not edited by The Quint.)
Gorakhpur, Sep 13 (IANS) The Yogi Adityanath government is
preparing to promote the cultivation of a special variety of rice called 'Kala
Namak'.
Once known as the 'pride of Purvanchal' , this rare variety of
rice known for its rich aroma and exotic taste, has been shunned by farmers
because of its low yield and non-profitability.
Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises' Principal
Secretary Navneet Sehgal recently visited Siddhartha Nagar and interacted with
officials and farmers.
He assured farmers that they would be provided good quality
seeds for the next sowing season and informed them about the government's
decision to promote cultivation of 'Kala Namak' rice.
Sehgal said that this variety of rice contained zinc and iron in
ample measure and could be consumed by diabetes patients too.
"If we can create awareness of this rice variety on an
international level, the income of farmers can easily be doubled," he
said.
The state government plans to consult the National Institute of
Nutrition in Hyderabad on ways to preserve the aroma of the 'Kala Namak' rice.
Scientists have said that if organic fertilizer is used in rice cultivation,
its aroma can be preserved up to three years.
The Principal Secretary said that the government was keen to
increase the cultivated area of 'Kala Namak' rice and set up special rice mills
for this variety. "Talks are on with the private sector for this," he
said.
Incidentally, the Kala Namak rice gets its name from the fact
that its husk is black in colour.
Agricultural Scientist Dr S.K. Misra, meanwhile, said that four
more varieties of the 'Kala Namak' rice were being researched.
The state government has chosen 11 districts of Purvanchal that
will apply for a GI tag and then export the rice.
At present, this variety of rice is being sold online at Rs 299
per kilogram and has customers from Chennai and Hyderabad too.
--IANS
amita/rs/bg
(This story was auto-published
from a syndicated feed. No part of the story has been edited by The Quint.)
Wide
world of rice in K-W restaurants highlights globally eaten food
Social Sharing
Grain eaten by
billions has versatile use in global panorama of dishes
· CBC News · Posted: Sep 14,
2019 7:07 AM ET | Last Updated: September 14
One of the most popular uses for rice in K-W:
sushi. (Jenn Hueting/Oceana) comments
From sushi to paella, rice is a
basic food for many people around the world.
While it nourishes billions and
can have traditional and ritualistic importance (good luck, for instance), we
can simply eat it for its flavour and the unique ingredients for which it forms
a foundation.
And you can find examples of all
that right here in Waterloo region, whether it's jasmine, basmati or Arborio
varieties.
Drop by just about any restaurant
and you'll find rice in its Italian, Spanish, Indian and Chinese iterations: Sicilian
arancini with a tomato gravy are food-truck staples, and classic dishes such as
risotto Milanese with saffron, like that found at Kitchener's Italian-inspired
Del Dente.
Restaurants specializing in
Chinese dim sum, the little snacks we order with pen and paper, serve a sticky,
glutinous rice wrapped in a lotus leaf; the heady, earthy aroma arrives before
the dish gets to the table and you dig in to find "treasures" of pork
and shrimp.
It's available at Cameron Seafood
in Kitchener and Crystal Palace in Uptown Waterloo, among a host of other
venues too numerous to name here.
Thai influences
Rice appears in kitchens that
specialize in Thai and Laotian cooking, too. MiMo Kitchen in Waterloo serves a
delicious Thai fried rice that includes shrimp and cashews.
Choun Kitchen in Hespeler
prepares a Thai-influenced rice, according to chef-owner Bobby
Chounramany, adding that high heat and flame are essential for the best
flavour.
"It's a street-style fried
rice," he says. "The oil in the wok has to be super hot so when the
vegetables get tossed in it creates a flame for about five seconds, giving it
the perfect amount of heat to cook and also char the veg to give it a smoky
flavour."
Choun also serves nam kao, a
crispy rice salad with pork.
From
Asia to Europe to Africa and both the Americas, rice is used in dishes from all
around the world. (Adam Walsh/CBC)
Rice is also served at breakfast
in many countries such as China, India, Cambodia and Korea: check out congee, a
thin rice-based "porridge" that is eaten in Asian countries. Examples
that I have enjoyed are found at Jia Jia Lok on King Street near Wilfrid
Laurier University and Crystal Palace.
Filipino rice
At her thrice-weekly pop-up on
Hurst Avenue, Rosel DeGuzman, who was born in the Philippines, says she grew up
with rice and acknowledges the importance of the foodstuff to the culture. She
makes pineapple-fried rice and garlic fried rice as well as coconut sticky
rice.
"At home, we ate rice five
times a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and sometimes for snacks. Coming to
Canada was different because here it's bread. I found that I needed rice when I
came here," she says.
Heavenly rice
Paul Boehmer, chef and owner of
Waterloo's Bhima's Warung, notes the significant role that rice plays in food
and culture.
"Rice plays a huge part of
most Asian cultures, but in particular in Bali where Sri Dewi, the goddess of
rice and fertility, is the most important and revered god. Rice is raised to a
heavenly status," Boehmer says. "I prefer sticky rice done perfectly.
Nasi kuning, a yellow coconut rice is good."
He says there are different
Balinese words for rice seed, rice that's growing, rice that has been harvested
but not yet cooked, and rice that has been cooked.
"That took me a while to
figure out," he says, adding the restaurant has also prepared nasi ulam, a
northern Malay rice with a good amount of shredded herbs and spices added at
the last minute.
Central
American rice
Central American rices are found
in many dishes and often seasoned with annatto, which creates a rich
reddish-orange colour in the jasmine rice. Genesis Restaurant and Latinoamerica
Unida are Cambridge examples.
At Waterloo's Taco Farm, the
kitchen uses basmati rice, not typically Central American, because of the way
it cooks for service. They add caramelized garlic, charred-tomato salsa, lime
juice and the liquid from the pickled jalapenos that they make.
"The acidity and the subtle
touch of heat give this rice a unique flavour," says owner Nick Benninger.
Other rice
At Bogda Restaurant in Waterloo,
the menu focuses on Uyghur dishes (those found in the autonomous Xinjiang
region in northwest China), including what owner and chef Rahila David calls a
pilau — a rice dish simply prepared with carrots, onions and raisins and served
with roasted lamb.
Rice bowls and bibimbap like
those at Waterloo's Aroma Cafe and Taste of Seoul in Kitchener, respectively,
are other classic rice dishes; the former is made with kimchi and gochujang;
the latter features the wonderful nurungji crunchy-crisp rice on the bottom.
Hakka cuisine blends Indian and
Chinese flavours and techniques; check out Hakka Hut in Cambridge for
Manchurian fried rice, which is cooked in a high flame with spicy Szechuan
seasoning.
One of my all-time favourites is
arroz de mariscos, the Portuguese rice and seafood dish. It's not on the menu
at Kitchener's Algarve Restaurant on Stirling Avenue at Courtland, but if you
call them and order it they will prepare it for you: it's for two people.
Suffice it to say that in many
ways and in many cultures, rice is the great equalizer: nothing in the fridge
is off limits, according to Chounramany at Choun.
"Growing up as kids our
grandma, grandpa, our mom, dad and aunts and uncles were making rice for
us," he says. "It's a quick go-to meal, but it's always different
because fried rice is like a casserole. It's whatever is in the fridge that
gets tossed in."
Secret
to success with any rice: keep it cold before you use it, say
chefs. (Julie Van Rosendaal/CBC)
Recipe
Basic fried rice at home
This recipe is flexible and is
only a guide: make fried rice using ingredients that you've got on hand. It can
have protein, such as leftover chicken or pork, or not. Don't be afraid to
experiment: you're not going to break anything! The amounts and measurements in
this recipe aren't important, so cook and adjust to your taste.
Ingredients
- ½ white onion, chopped
- Spices to taste
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ carrot, finely chopped
- ¼ cup red pepper, chopped
- ¼ cup green pepper, chopped
- fresh ginger, grated
- 2-3 cups cooked and cold rice
- sesame oil
- soy sauce
- 1-2 eggs, beaten (depending on how eggy
you want it)
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced on the bias
- sesame seeds
Method
- Add some vegetable oil to a pan and heat
it on medium-high.
- Toss in the onion and cook just
until soft. Add whatever spices you like and toast them a bit.
- Add the garlic, but be careful it doesn't
burn. Throw in the vegetables and cook, then add the ginger.
- Cook for a few minutes. Add the rice and
turn the heat to high. Stir and toss to combine.
- Add sesame oil and soy to taste.
- Make a space in the centre of the pan and
pour in the beaten egg. Stir egg vigorously, then combine and toss with
the other ingredients.
- At the last minute, add the green onion
slices, reserving a few for garnish. To serve, place in a bowl, add green
onion garnish and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
India's WPI inflation remains unchanged at 1.08%
in August
The rate
of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary
Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group increased
from 4.54% in July 2019 to 5.75% in August 2019.
September 16, 2019 11:47 IST | India Infoline News Service
The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI
for August 2019, remained unchanged at 1.08 compared to July 2019 and 4.62%
during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in
the financial year so far was 1.25% compared to a build-up rate of 3.27% in the
corresponding period of the previous year.
The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group increased from 4.54% in July 2019 to 5.75% in August 2019.
The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) for August 2019 rose by 0.2% to 121.4 (provisional) from 121.2 (provisional) for the previous month, as per Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Primary Articles (Weight 22.62%)
The index for this major group rose by 1.3% to 143.9 (provisional) from 142.1 (provisional) for the previous month.
The index for 'Food Articles' group rose by 1.4% to 155.9 (provisional) from 153.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of betel leaves, condiments & spices and jowar (4% each), ragi, barley, fruits & vegetables and pork (3% each), fish-inland, wheat, arhar, maize and beef and buffalo meat (2% each) and fish-marine, milk, peas/chawali, rajma, paddy and mutton (1% each). However, the price of egg (7%), tea (2%) and poultry chicken and gram (1% each) declined.
Fuel & Power (Weight 13.15%)
The index for this major group rose by 0.1% to 100.7 (provisional) from 100.6 (provisional) for the previous month.
Manufactured Products (Weight 64.23%)
The index for this major group declined by 0.3% to 117.8 (provisional) from 118.1 (provisional) for the previous month.
The index for 'Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment' group declined by 0.4% to 113.1 (provisional) from 113.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of dumper (12%), rice mill machinery (8%), conveyors - non-roller type and gasket kit (5% each), pressure vessel and tank for fermentation & other food processing (4%), open end spinning machinery (3%), pharmaceutical machinery (2%) and pump sets without motor, air or vacuum pump, hydraulic pump, precision machinery equipment/form tools, threshers and mining, quarrying & metallurgical machinery/parts (1% each). However, the price of packing machine (5%), chillers (4%), roller and ball bearings, separator and manufacture of bearings, gears, gearing and driving elements (2% each) and air gas compressor including compressor for refrigerator, harvesters, injection pump, soil preparation & cultivation machinery (other than tractors), deep freezers, agricultural tractors, motor starter and furnaces & ovens (1% each) moved up.
The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group increased from 4.54% in July 2019 to 5.75% in August 2019.
The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) for August 2019 rose by 0.2% to 121.4 (provisional) from 121.2 (provisional) for the previous month, as per Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Primary Articles (Weight 22.62%)
The index for this major group rose by 1.3% to 143.9 (provisional) from 142.1 (provisional) for the previous month.
The index for 'Food Articles' group rose by 1.4% to 155.9 (provisional) from 153.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of betel leaves, condiments & spices and jowar (4% each), ragi, barley, fruits & vegetables and pork (3% each), fish-inland, wheat, arhar, maize and beef and buffalo meat (2% each) and fish-marine, milk, peas/chawali, rajma, paddy and mutton (1% each). However, the price of egg (7%), tea (2%) and poultry chicken and gram (1% each) declined.
Fuel & Power (Weight 13.15%)
The index for this major group rose by 0.1% to 100.7 (provisional) from 100.6 (provisional) for the previous month.
Manufactured Products (Weight 64.23%)
The index for this major group declined by 0.3% to 117.8 (provisional) from 118.1 (provisional) for the previous month.
The index for 'Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment' group declined by 0.4% to 113.1 (provisional) from 113.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of dumper (12%), rice mill machinery (8%), conveyors - non-roller type and gasket kit (5% each), pressure vessel and tank for fermentation & other food processing (4%), open end spinning machinery (3%), pharmaceutical machinery (2%) and pump sets without motor, air or vacuum pump, hydraulic pump, precision machinery equipment/form tools, threshers and mining, quarrying & metallurgical machinery/parts (1% each). However, the price of packing machine (5%), chillers (4%), roller and ball bearings, separator and manufacture of bearings, gears, gearing and driving elements (2% each) and air gas compressor including compressor for refrigerator, harvesters, injection pump, soil preparation & cultivation machinery (other than tractors), deep freezers, agricultural tractors, motor starter and furnaces & ovens (1% each) moved up.
Buy local rice, DA
Region 11 asks consumers
Updated September 16, 2019, 2:46 PM
By Zea Capistrano
DAVAO CITY – In a bid to help local farmers, the Department of
Agriculture in Region 11 said they are encouraging consumers to buying and
consuming local rice.
Department of Agriculture (MANILA BULLETIN)
Noel Provido, chief of the
Regional Regional Agriculture & Fishery Information Section, of DA-11, said
a way to help the local farmers is for consumers to buy their produce. To make
it more accessible in the market, Provido said they recently held a meeting
with provincial governors in the region to appeal for their support in engaging
in rice business.
“Since provinces have their
Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) and the Landbank of the Philippines offers a
loan for LGUs to engage in rice business, encouraging the provincial
governments to engage in rice business is a way to offer fair price to
farmers,” he said in a phone interview.
Provido said that the LGU
officials have shown interest in the proposal.
The DA official said the price of
palay in the region is currently at P16 to P17 a kilo. The NFA, he added, buys
clean and dry palay at P19 per kilo.
He said they aim to cut down the
cost of production by 30 percent and increase rice yield from four metric tons
per hectare to six metric tons per hectare by providing farmers with machinery
and seed subsidy under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund.
“Our production cost is currently
at P12 per kilo, while the rice from other countries like Thailand and Vietnam
have lower production cost at P8 per kilo and P6 per kilo, respectively,” he
said.
Provido said mechanization will
help bring down the cost of rice production.
Distributor seeking
to expand use of rice combine harvester
September 16, 2019 | 12:02 am
ALL CERTIFIED Equipment Trading
Corp. (ACETC), a supplier of farming equipment, said it is targeting more
rice-producing provinces to grow the market for its rice combine harvester.
ACETC has been distributing
various brands of farming equipment in the past eight years, and is seeking to
promote the Massey Ferguson 2168 (MF 2168) Rice Combine Harvester from Massey
Ferguson Ltd., based in the US state of Georgia.
“Positively, our goal in the
following months is to promote and sell this product nationwide, especially in
the major rice producing parts of the country,” ACETC President and Chief
Executive Officer Benigno P. Limcumpao said in an email interview.
The MF 2168 was launched in the
Philippines in 2017 and sells for P1.5 million per unit. Some 100 units are
currently active in the Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Central
Visayas, South Cotabato, Cotabato City, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat,
Sarangani and General Santos City (SOCCSKSARGEN), and Caraga.
The company claims that the MF
2168 can harvest and bag palay, or unmilled rice, in an hour, compared to 12–24
hours for a crew of 10 employing traditional manual methods. It said the
combine has been optimized for Philippine conditions.
Mr. Limcumpao said mechanization
largely explains the gap in production costs between the Philippines and
Thailand. He said the Thai production cost is equivalent to P8.86 per kilogram,
as opposed to P12.72 for the Philippines. The Thai farm mechanization rate is 4
horsepower per hectare against 2.31 for the Philippines.“Evidently the level of
mechanization greatly contributes in lowering the production cost,” he said.
He said mechanization also
increases yields.“The Philippines averages 16% production losses due to
traditional post-harvest operations… Through this machine post-harvest losses
due to harvesting will be greatly reduced compared to the conventional or
traditional way,” he said.
“Less palay is lost (compared to)
manual labor,” he said, because traditional methods expose the grain to heat,
dirt and rain,” he said.
The government started this year
its bid to improve the farm mechanization through the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which has allotted P5 billion for such purpose.
“ACETC has been constantly and
actively participating in government public biddings, a move that gives our
farmers an opportunity to use quality farming machinery,” Mr. Limcumpao said.
— Vincent Mariel P. Galang
Brunei to achieve national rice
sufficiency targets: minister
Xinhua, September 15, 2019
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept. 15
(Xinhua) -- Efforts to boost Brunei's rice production to achieve its national
rice sufficiency targets are gaining momentum with the use of high-yielding
rice strains and the doubling of sites for commercial rice cultivation, local
media reported on Sunday, quoting Brunei's Minister of Primary Resources and
Tourism Haji Ali.
According to the Borneo Bulletin,
the minister said at a ceremony to mark the second harvest of the "Sembada
(188)" high-yielding strain that a local company has successfully doubled
the output to about six tonnes of rice per hectare for this harvest season from
its maiden season in February since it was first planted last October.
Despite the success in doubling the
output, the minister said that they are seeking more higher-yielding paddy
varieties through research and collaboration with various parties including
higher education institutions locally and abroad to get the best method of
paddy farming for Brunei's soil.
He told Xinhua in July this year
that the Brunei government is currently collaborating with a China-based
institution, Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co Ltd, to come up with a
hybrid that can produce an even higher yield. Yuan Longping is a world-known
award-winning rice scientist dubbed "the father of hybrid rice."
According to the report, Brunei's
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah participated in the first cultivation of
"Sembada (188)" last October and officiated its maiden harvest in
February this year. Enditem
Sep 15 2019,
21:02pm ist
updated: Sep 15
2019, 22:03pm ist
Looking
for ways to enhance rice yield, Indian plant biologists have cracked a novel
genetic code that could nearly double the length of a rice grain.
As a consequence, the yield per every rice
plant would increase, providing the country with yet another option to augment
rice productivity.
While India has the world's largest rice
acreage with every state cultivating paddy, the overall productivity is low
compared to China, Japan, Korea, the USA and Indonesia.
The Indian productivity is little more than
2,000 kg per hectare which is far less compared to others.
Researchers at the National Institute of Plant
Genome Research, Delhi have now identified a rice gene named OsMed15a
that has the potential to transform the landscape as it plays a key role to
regulate the rice grain size and consequently the yield. A tweak of the gene
can make the rice grains bigger.
Globally scientists are yet to fully comprehend
the complex biochemical mechanism that lies behind the process to determine the
grain size and weight in rice, though important roles played by several genes
and proteins are known.
“Our understanding about the molecular
mechanism is full of gaps. We don't know how different regulators coordinate to
regulate the size and shape of the grain. The genetic and molecular
interactions between these regulators are not yet known. In this context, our
study is very significant,” NIPGR scientist Jitendra K Thakur, who led the
team, told DH.
Thakur and his colleagues at NIPGR have
discovered a genetic switch, which can be turned on or off in order to control
the grain size. Once turned on, the gene can influence several other molecular
behaviours related to grain growth in the rice plant.
“When we suppressed the expression of the gene
(OsMed15a),
the seeds became smaller and wider. On the other hand, its over-expression
makes the rice seeds bigger. Thus expression level of the gene has a profound
effect on rice grain size and weight,” he said.
Buoyed by early success in the laboratory, the
NIPGR team has tied up with Indian Institute of Agriculture Biotechnology,
Ranchi — one of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research units— to create
rice plants with the gene turned-on through the standard breeding methods.
"We hope to nearly double the grain size,
from about 5 mm to nearly 10 mm," Thakur said.
This, however, may take several months as
standard breeding techniques are time consuming. Meanwhile, a part of the NIPGR
team's research has been accepted for publication in the journal BBA -
Gene Regulatory Mechanisms.
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