World Food Day: Expert advocates increased funding in agric
Prof. Veronica Obatolu, the Executive Director, Institute of
Agricultural Research and Training Ibadan, has called for Federal Government’s
increased investment in agriculture to create jobs for youths in the country.
The Executive Director made the call in an interview with
the News
Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Ibadan as Nigeria joins the
world to celebrate the 2019 World Food Day.
She said that the government’s increased funding of the sector
would improve small scale farmers’ productivity and income through value chain
development and encouragement of farmers’ cooperative groups.
Obatolu said that the closure of the border by the Federal
Government gave room for consumers to seek alternatives in locally produced
food items, thereby, improving farmers’ incomes.
According to her, it will improve the livelihood of farmers
which can subsequently result in job and wealth creation.
“For example, one of my friends told me that someone gave her
Ofada rice about a year ago, she just kept it somewhere with the impression
that it was not as good as the imported rice.
“Fortunately, due to the recent ban, she was forced to try the
Ofada rice and to her surprise, it has better taste and says even if the ban is
lifted, she will never go back to the polished imported rice,’’ she said.
She, however, urged research scientists to look how to completely
get rid of the stones, saying the effect of the ban would bring an increase in
price and reduction in the purchase of imported food items.
The Provost, Federal College of Agriculture, Ibadan, Dr Babajide
Adelekan called for urgent need to ensure increased funding of the food sector
by the federal and state governments.
Adelekan said that Nigerians should embrace the government’s
removal of import duties on tractors and agricultural machines, saying this
would speed up mechanisation of the country’s agriculture.
He said improved access to agricultural loans should be ensured
through the passing of legislation, which should be given at lower interest
rates.
The provost said that close monitoring should be done to ensure
that such loans were used for agricultural purposes.
“Legislation should also establish and insist on a minimum
benchmark for agricultural loans in the overall loan portfolio of a bank.
“Doing these and others will assist the country to improve food
production to feed the population, and fibre production to feed the industries
with an attendant increase in the overall performance of our economy.
“Mechanised agriculture is capital intensive and the typical
Nigerian farmer simply does not have the resources to execute that entirely on
his or her own.
“Therefore, as a matter of policy, agro service centres should
have the full range of agricultural machines and equipment, seeds, fertilisers,
agrochemicals and other essential agricultural inputs be established in every
agriculturally based local government in Nigeria.
“Farmers within the local government can then approach these
agro service centres to rent machines and other equipment at highly subsidised
rates to conduct their farming activities,” he said.
He said that agricultural personnel should also be available at
these centres to render proper extension services to farmers.
The South-West Vice President, Rice Farmers Association of
Nigeria, Mr Victor Korede, said the border closure served as a balancing scale
that had revealed the true worth of the country.
Korede said that the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers
Programme to empower the farmers had boosted rice production in South-West in
the last one year.
“Rice farmers are now in farms around the year which had not
been before. We have also seen the government through its life programme
constructed small scale rice mill in some states,” he said.
NAN reports that World Food Day
annually marked on October 16 is aimed at tackling global hunger.
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a statement it was
released ahead of the day.
FAO said shifting to a healthier diet by eating more seasonal
fruits and vegetables and reducing the consumption of junk food could help in
meeting the ‘zero hunger’ goal of the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals.
(NAN)
Piranha-Proof Fish Scales Offer
Inspiration for Better Armor
Arapaima gigas. Image by
iStock.com/kurga
The scales of the massive Amazonian
freshwater fish, Arapaima gigas, are so tough that they do not tear
or crack when a piranha—which has one of the animal kingdom’s sharpest
bites—attacks. Material scientists have discovered the secret to the fish’s
impermeable armor: each scale is made up of a highly mineralized outer layer
that resists penetration and a soft, yet tough, inner layer of collagen that
deforms and absorbs pressure, preventing damage from spreading.
The work could serve as inspiration
for stronger, lightweight and flexible synthetic armors. Researchers published
their findings Oct. 16 in the journal Matter.
The project was led by Marc Meyers,
a professor of nanoengineering and mechanical engineering at the University of
California San Diego, and Robert Ritchie, a professor of mechanical engineering
and materials science at the University of California Berkeley.
Bullet-proof vests have a material
structure similar to that of Arapaima’s scales; they are made of
internal layers of flexible webbing sandwiched between outer layers of hard plastic.
But man-made materials such as these are bound using a third adhesive material,
whereas the fish’s scales are bound by collagen on an atomic level; they grow
together, weaving into one solid piece.
Other fish use collagen like Arapaima does,
but the collagen layers in Arapaima scales are thicker than in
any other fish species. Each scale is as thick as a grain of rice. Researchers
hypothesize that this thickness is the key to the scales’ toughness.
Left: Six successive views of the
stages of Arapaima fish scale
cracking during tests. Right: Cracking causes separation in the mineralized
layer, while the collagen layer prevents further damage due to stretching,
rotation and delamination. Image courtesy of Meyers lab/Matter
They tested this by creating cracks
in Arapaima scales and soaking them in water for 48 hours,
then slowly pulling the edges apart while applying force through a special
fixture. As they increased the force, they observed that part of the
mineralized, hard outer layer expanded, cracked, and then gradually peeled off.
The scales localized the crack, containing it and preventing damage from
spreading in the twisting structural collagen layer. If the applied pressure
did break through the scale, it deformed the scale rather than breaking it.
Here is a movie showing crack
extension from an artificially created crack on a scale during a fracture
toughness test:
Movie showing the various plastic
deformation mechanisms that retard crack propagation in moist Arapaima fish
scales:
Researchers are now investigating
how Arapaima’s scales have adapted to prevent penetration from
piranha bites as well as how nature behaves this way in other species.
Paper title: “Arapaima Fish Scale:
One of the Toughest Flexible Biological Materials.” Co-authors include Wen
Yang* and Haocheng Quan*, UC San Diego.
*These authors contributed equally
to this work
· Library
· chool
Your Views for October 16
‘Shrink our fear’
As a child, I was told a dragon
collected water in the sky and sprinkled it down to Earth to make rain.
I was born in a village in the
north of Vietnam in 1946. Tu Chau Village was surrounded and protected with
thick, huge bamboo hedges. Red brick paths wandered through the village, not
wide enough for automobiles. I never saw one until age 9, when we left the
village to move south.
In my world, no science, no
scientists, never heard of astronauts — just water buffaloes, endless rice
fields, tons of myths, superstition and ghost stories.
As an adult now with a college
education and years of searching and discovering, I feel I am but a speck of
dust in the vast universe — yet somehow this makes me feel peaceful. This is
what science does for humanity — clarify, explain, help us to understand where
we are in the order of things.
Science expands our minds. We
could use the universe as a metaphor for our mind — keep this mind open, and we
see it expand to infinity. Keep this mind shut, and we are back to prehistoric
time with fear of the unknown.
Science connects us. The moon
landing was watched by an estimated 600 million people around the world. World
scientists share their discoveries. Scientific discoveries offer inspiration and
hope for humanity.
War and struggle are born of
fear. The more I have come to understand this universe, the greater is my
comprehension of the interconnectedness of all things.
What if we look at the Thirty
Meter Telescope as a sanctuary, a synagogue, a mosque, a shrine? Our scientists
as priests, priestesses, kahuna, communicating with the cosmos, contacting the
unknown?
All mountains are sacred, all
rivers, all oceans, forests, marshes and deserts. This Earth is holy.
We were born with endless
curiosity and thirst for knowledge. I say, build this 30-, 40-, 50- or
100-meter telescope! And shrink our collective fear.
Phan Nguyen Barker
Volcano
Wimpy Ige
Gov. David Ige is a spineless
wimp!
He knows the Thirty Meter
Telescope is good for Hawaii and for Hawaiians, yet refuses to enforce state
laws against the illegal blockage of the Maunakea Access Road.
The governor knows the
observatory will be beneficial to our economy and to Hawaii’s reputation as a
leader in astronomy and science, yet he lacks the courage to stand up to the
protesters and their enablers, who think opposition to TMT will somehow correct
past injustices to Hawaiians.
The TMT has spent nearly a
million dollars to provide scholarships for Big Island students to pursue
college degrees that will prepare them for hundreds of high-paying, quality
jobs at TMT and other observatories (Tribune-Herald, Oct. 12).
The protesters, whose righteous
grievances have been addressed by Mayor Harry Kim’s “Heart of Aloha” plan, have
wrongly tied their legitimate concerns to non-negotiable opposition to the TMT.
They are hurting their own futures, helping to further the exodus of their own
children to seek quality jobs on the mainland, and furthering the image of
Hawaii as a banana republic opposed to science that is economically dependent
only on tourism and military spending.
John Lockwood
Customs ban exports, imports via land borders indefinitely
·
NIS denies 1,111 foreigners entry into
Nigeria
Anna Okon and Okechukwu Nnodim
The Nigeria Customs Service on Monday announced an indefinite
ban on importation and exportation of goods through the land borders.
Comptroller-General, NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), who stated
this at a press conference in Abuja, also said Niger Republic had placed a ban
on export of rice to Nigeria as a result of Nigeria’s border closure.
This came as the Nigeria Immigration Service said it had stopped
1,111 foreigners from entering Nigeria since August 20, 2019 when the country’s
land borders were partially closed.
Ali said, “For now, all goods, whether illicit or non-illicit,
are banned from going and coming into Nigeria. Let me add that for the
avoidance of doubt, we have included all goods because all goods can equally
come through our seaports.
“For that reason, we have deemed it necessary for now that
importers of such goods should go through our controlled boarders where we have
scanners to verify the goods and how healthy they are to our people.”
The closure of borders is being enforced by the NCS and NIS, in
collaboration with the Nigerian armed forces and the Nigeria Police Force. It
is being coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Ali said the aim of the exercise was to better secure Nigeria’s
borders, address trans-border security concerns and strengthen the economy.
The customs boss said it was disturbing that some neighbouring
countries were circumventing the ECOWAS protocol on transit.
He said, “For clarity, the ECOWAS protocol on transit demands
that when a transit container berths at a seaport, the receiving country is
mandated to escort same without tampering with the seal to the border of the
destination country.
“Unfortunately, experience has shown that our neighbours do not
comply with this protocol. Rather, they break the seals of containers at their
ports and trans-load goods destined for Nigeria.”
Ali said the closure of the borders had curbed the smuggling of
foreign rice into Nigeria and addressed the diversion of petroleum products
from Nigeria to neighbouring countries.
According to him, 10.2 million litres of petrol had been stopped
from being diverted out of the country since the borders were closed, while
producers of local food were making increased earnings.
On security, the customs boss stated that so far, 317 suspected
smugglers and 146 illegal migrants had been arrested.
He said, “Also, some items seized are 21,071 pieces of 50kg bags
of parboiled foreign rice; 190 vehicles; 891 drums filled with petrol; 2,665
jerry cans of vegetable oil; 66,000 litre-tanker of vegetable oil; 133
motorcycles; 70 jerry cans of petrol and 131 bags of NPK fertiliser used for
making explosives. The estimated monetary value of the intercepted items is
about N1.43bn.”
He explained that 95 per cent of illicit drugs and weapons used
for acts of terrorism and kidnapping in Nigeria came through the porous
borders.
He said following the closure of Nigeria’s borders, “Niger
Republic has already circulated an order banning exportation of rice in any
form to Nigeria.”
According to him, no date has been fixed to reopen the borders,
adding that Nigeria will only end closure when its neighbours have fully
complied with the Economic Community of West African States Protocol on
Transit.
He said, “The government, through diplomatic channels, will
continue to engage our neighbours to agree to comply with ECOWAS protocol on
transit.
“Goods that are on the prohibition list in Nigeria, such as
rice, used clothing, poultry products and vegetable oil should not be exported
to the country.
Meanwhile, the NIS said it had stopped 1,111 people from
entering Nigeria since August 20, 2019 when the country’s land borders were
partially closed.
It also declared that any foreigner living in Nigeria that
failed to register their biometrics with the NIS before January 19, 2020, would
be deported.
The Comptroller-General, NIS, Muhammed Babandede, who disclosed
this during a joint press briefing in Abuja, stated that these resolutions were
in accordance with the Economic Community of West African States Protocol on
Transit.
He said, “The law is very clear and it says ‘Do not enter any
ECOWAS country unless you have a valid travel document’. So, it is important to
state that if you don’t have travel documents, we cannot allow you to enter or
leave Nigeria.”
Babandede said the NIS stopped 142 Nigerians from departing the
country during the period, adding that over 1,000 immigrants from other nations
had been denied entry into Nigeria
He said, “We have refused entry of 1,111 people who wanted to
enter our territory, but because they don’t have the required travel documents
we turned them back.
“We have also removed
people who had already entered. In fact, 728 people have been removed. We have arrested Pakistanis and North Koreans at
the borders and they are meant to be deported.”
On why foreigners staying in Nigeria must register their
biometric, the NIS boss said, “Mr President approved an amnesty for all
migrants staying in this country. And this means that any migrant that has
overstayed in this country can have their biometrics registered between now and
January 19, 2020.”
Stakeholders have assumed different positions concerning the
total border closure. While palm oil producers applaud it, freight forwarders
have condemned it.
Filipino farmers protest as rice
prices drop
Farmers on streets with
empty pots to protest new law affecting their livelihoods
By Liao, Jo-Luen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2019/10/16 20:17
Filipino farmers
protest rice price drop
(By Central News Agency)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Plummeting rice
prices due to cheap imports from Vietnam and Thailand have driven Filipino
farmers to protest at the Department of Agriculture in Manila on Wednesday
(Oct. 16), CNA reported.After implementation of the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL), which cancels limits on rice exports and imports, prices have dropped precipitously. Before the law was applied, rice could sell at 19 (NT$30) to 23 pesos per kilogram, but it is now valued at 7 to 10 pesos, said Cathy Estavillo, spokesperson of rice watch group Bantay Bigas.
Farmers led by the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP), National Federation of Peasant Women (Amihan), Bantay Bigas, and other farmer organizations went on the streets with empty pots and kitchen utensils, protesting that farmers do not have sufficient rice to feed themselves.
About 70 percent of farmers in the Philippines are tenant farmers. The decline in rice prices has greatly affected their livelihood.
Many rural housewives are forced to work as domestic helpers in the cities. Furthermore, families are unable to provide for their children, so they can attend school, CNA quoted Estavillo as saying.
KMP leader and former minister of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Rafael Mariano, said, “World Food Day” has become “World Foodless Day.”
Farmers have said they might not plant rice next season, said Estavillo. She also stated that the fall in rice prices does not benefit consumers since the price is controlled by the manufacturers.
The government has responded to the price drop, and a suggested retail price is under discussion. A petition started by Bantay Bigas and a women’s organization called Gabriela, set to be submitted to Congress in November, is calling for RTL to be revoked, CNA reported.
Myanmar Govt Backs Minimum Price for Rice Amid Weak Market
Myanmar rice
farmers and dealers are suffering the consequences of declining demand from
China. / Reuters
By SALAI THANT ZIN 16
October 2019
PATHEIN,
Irrawaddy Region—The Myanmar government has fixed the minimum price for rice at
500,000 kyats for 100 baskets of paddy (US$327.30 for about 2.09 tons) in a bid
to establish a fair market and fair prices for paddy farmers.
The
government’s Leading Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights
and Interests of Farmers, led by Vice President Henry Van Thio, met last month
to discuss setting the floor price for paddy grains. Paddy rice refers to
unprocessed rice harvested from a field, rather than hulled rice.
The
government has agreed to pay any farmer the floor price, but only for paddy
that meets quality standards: the grains, once processed, must have a moisture
content of 14 percent and can’t have any dust, sand or gravel, according to an
announcement released by the committee on Tuesday.
According
to the statement, if the market rate is higher than the floor price, rice is to
be bought according to the market rate, but if the market rate is lower than
the floor price, it is to be bought at floor price.
Currently
in Ayeyarwady Region, often called the rice bowl of Myanmar, the price of
low-grade Sin Thuka rice is between 450,000 kyats and 500,000 kyats for 100
baskets. Rice merchants in Ayeyarwady Region who purchased and stored paddy
from the summer harvest in April and May are reporting financial losses as they
attempt to sell on a weak market.
“We
welcome the fixing of floor prices but 500,000 kyats is not a good price
considering the cost of agricultural input,” said Ayeyarwady Region farmers
union chairman U Myo Chit. “It will still provide a cushion for the farmers. It
is important that the government buys immediately once the price falls below
500,000 kyats.”
The
floor price will be applied for this year’s monsoon paddy season and next
year’s summer paddy season. Farmers facing difficulties selling their harvest
at the floor price can contact the township representatives of the Myanmar Rice
Federation.
“The
leading committee has formed rice procurement committees in regions and states
which will buy paddy from farmers when the market rate falls below the floor
price,” federation General Secretary U Lu Maw Myint Maung told The Irrawaddy.
“But as the region and state governments are not yet ready to do this
procurement, warehousing and management of rice, the Myanmar Rice Federation
will assist them in those aspects.”
The
Leading Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Interests
of Farmers was formed under U Thein Sein’s administration and led by Vice
President U Nyan Tun.
Since
2010, Myanmar has seen an increase in rice exports, with around half of its
rice exports going to China. Myanmar exported 3.58 million tons of rice in the
2017-18 fiscal year, the largest volume in 70 years, according to the Ministry
of Commerce.
Though
the Myanmar government allows official rice exports to China, Chinese
authorities consider most rice imports from Myanmar to be illegal but still
allow rice merchants to bring rice across the border. After Chinese authorities
launched a crackdown on illegal rice imports from Myanmar in 2018, Myanmar’s
rice exports to its neighbor declined significantly, dropping by around 1
million tons.
Translated
from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Why Decreased Inventories Could
Lead To High Rough Rice Prices
Oct.
16, 2019 3:12 PM ET
|
Long/short equity, value, special situations, growth at
reasonable price
(29 followers)
Summary
The global production of 497.77 MMT of rice in
2019 was 1.18 MMT short of the amount produced in 2018.
Rice inventory has decreased from 531.6 MMT in
2009 to the current level of 497.77 MMT.
The rising amount of carry-over rice grain
stock amount could signal a rise in global demand.
The World Bank estimates that the price index
of fertilizer may increase by 2% signalling a possible increase in production
cost of grains.
Thesis
The fiscal year 2018/2019 has
witnessed an increased supply of the rough rice. According to the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) the global production of grain rice in
the month of October (2019) is slated for a significant increase. The rice
trade has also remained constant from August 2019 with Indonesia having an
increased import rate. Egypt has in turn lowered its import in 2018/2019
indicating an increased domestic production despite the reduced exports from
Brazil. In this article, I will explain why I am bullish on taking a long
position on rough rice due to the possibility of rice shortage.
Figure 1: Picture of Rough Rice
Source: The Chart-CNN
Increased Production
Rice Futures (ZR) is currently trading
at 11.968. This price represents a decline of 0.76% from the previous reading
of 12.060 recorded on October 11. 2019. The decrease in price can be attributed
to an increase in domestic production (from June 2018 to May- 2019). The United
States milled a total of 7.1 million metric tons of rough rice in the Fiscal
year 2018/2019 up from 5.7 million metric tons in 2017/2018. Other rice
producers recorded an increase of 2.7 million metric tons from 489.2 MMT to
491.9 MMT through the same period.
According to the USDA, the month of
October (2019) is expected to see an increase in production of rough rice to
497.77 MMT. This projection is 3.55 MMT higher than that of September (2019)
that was 494.22 MMT. However, it is important to note that the global rice
production in 2018 was 498.95 MMT a difference of 1.18 MMT as compared to that
of 2019.
Inventories- Consumption
As at 2009, the global rice domestic production was
531.6 MMT of paddy equivalent. Asia remained the rough rice production
powerhouse with the six countries: China, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh
and the Philippines registering high returns. However, there is a significant
decrease with the production in 2009 to that of 2019. The following table shows
the 10-year comparative rice production analysis of the 6 Asian countries.
|
Country
|
Amount Consumed in Million Metric Tons (NYSE:MMT)
|
Difference
|
|
|
2009
|
2019
|
||
|
China
|
156.3 MMT
|
146 MMT
|
10.3
|
|
India
|
123.5 MMT
|
114 MMT
|
9.5
|
|
Indonesia
|
45.3 MMT
|
37.4 MMT
|
7.9
|
|
Bangladesh
|
38.2 MMT
|
35.5 MMT
|
2.7
|
|
Philippines
|
17 MMT
|
12.2 MMT
|
4.8
|
|
Vietnam
|
18.4 MMT
|
28.3 MMT
|
-9.9
|
|
Total
|
398.7
|
373.4
|
25.3 MMT
|
Of the six countries only Vietnam
had an increased rice consumption level. The USDA reported that
Vietnam registered a growth of 7.1 in its real GDP and an unstable inflation
rate near 3%. This positive economic growth led to increased agricultural
output in the country. The difference of 25.3 MMT in rough rice production in
these 6 countries, shows that there is a loss of 2.5 MMT of rice per year.
Further, from the production of 531.6 MMT in 2009 to 497.77 MMT in 2019- the
inventory has significantly declined by 33.83 MMT. This dip in rice inventories
may signal an increase of price in the near future.
Projected Unfavorable Weather
The Philippines and Thailand popular
for wet-season rice was affected by heavy rains in
the month of September and October. Indonesia that produces dry-season rice was
favored by reduced rains in the same period. In addition, there are reports
that uncontrolled rice farming is a major contributor to the increase in
greenhouse gases. According to Scientific estimates, up
to 2.5% of the high temperatures caused by human activities are attributed to
rice farms. Gases such as methane, emissions of Nitrous oxides and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs) known for global warming. North of Vietnam is currently
facing dry conditions. The month of September 2019 saw Thailand face floods due
to heavy rains.
Imports and Rice Prices
Projections by the
Intergovernmental Grain Council (NYSEMKT:IGC) that
promotes global trade stability of grain estimated that the production of rice
for FY 2019/2020 would be 500 MMT. In turn, 46 MMT would be traded while 496
MMT consumed, leaving off 178 MMT as the "carry over stock." This
residual amount is similar to that of 2018/2019 but higher than that of
2016/2017 that was 154 MMT. The rising amount of carry-over rice grain amount
could signal a rise in global demand.
In its quarterly food report on
July 2019, FAO indicated
that there was decreased importation of rice to Haiti. The country's staple
food is rice and the decrease was attributed to increased prices.
Figure 2: Rice Price quotes from
2015-2019
Source: USDA
The price of Vietnamese rice
decreased to $319 per MT in 2019 from $350 in 2015. The US has maintained its
price at $550 per MT- the highest of the 6 countries. From the trade year
(NYSE:TY) 2017
to 2019, the US has maintained a constant increase in exports. The amount has
increased from 2.8 MMT to 3.1 MMT. A total of 46.3 MMT was exported in the TY
2019. Although the amount exported by the US represents only 6.7%, it may
translate to fears of scarcity in the near future. This understanding is based
on the fact that there was decreased production of US rice from 7.1 MMT in 2018
to 6.0 MMT in 2019.
Shifting rice demand
The demand of rice import in
Philippines is up by almost 7% close to China.
Figure 3: Rice import estimates in
China and the Philippines
Source: USDA
From slightly above 1 MMT in
2010/2011, Philippines now imports close to 3 MMT of rice. However, this
increase is subject to an investigation of the country's domestic farm-gate
price. China, decreased its rice import from 4.5 MMT in 2017/2018 to 3.1 MMT in
October 2019. It in turn increased its exports from 2.058 MMT to 3.6 MMT in the
same period. This positive trade balance in Chinese rice production indicates a
surplus that may reduce the price hike getting into 2020. On its part, Brazil
had a negative trade balance of 0.35 with 2019 imports at 0.85 MMT against
exports at 0.5 MMT. It's worthwhile to note that Brazil exported 1.245 MMT
of rice in 2017/2018 the highest in 4 years. Since then it has been decreasing
its production steadily.
Fertilizer and fuel prices
The price index for fertilizer is
scheduled for a 2% increase by the end of 2019. According to the World Bank,
this increase is attributed to the high cost of energy and the delivery of
tight grain supplies.
Figure 4: Price Index of fertilizer
Source: World Bank
The recent tensions in the Middle
East have caused the prices of Natural gas to increase by 18%. According to
the Agricultural market
Information System (AMIS)
Prices of Ammonia-based fertilizers have also increased in Europe as it is a
large importer of rice. The EU imported 2.05 MMT in October 2019 against an
export of 0.3 MMT in the same period. While gas and ammonia prices have surged,
there is a decrease in the price of urea and DAP due to heightened global
supplies. There is no uniformity in the price movement of fertilizers and other
bio-fuels.
Conclusion
Philippines is now almost at par
with China in regard to rice consumption. Although China has reduced its import
rate, the deficit has been compensated by Philippines. However, investigation
into the farm-gate pricing may see a decrease in rice imports going into 2020.
There is an increase in US rice exports despite decrease in production in 2019.
Increased export is likely to indicate future scarcity which may push the rice
prices higher. Further, the global rice inventory has declined from the amount
produced in 2009. With these factors coupled with the increase in natural gas
prices and ammonia fertilizer, there is a high possibility of seeing a surge in
rough rice futures.
Funds
not enough to cover farmers’ losses – NGO
By Panay News
Thursday, October 17, 2019
NON-GOVERNMENT organization
Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF) called on the government to
earmark more funds for financial assistance to farmers who are bearing the
brunt of the Rice Tariffication Act.
IRDF executive director Arze
Glipo on Wednesday said the P10 billion allotted to the Rice Competitive
Enhancement Fund (RCEF) is not enough.
“RCEF is not enough to offset the
huge losses to farmers estimated at a high of P118 billion and a low of P60
billion,” Glipo said during a roundtable discussion in Quezon City.
Established in 1989, the IRDF was
mandated to implement development programs that will contribute to social and
economic empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable sectors such as farmers,
fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, women, and youth.
It also mandated the creation of
RCEF to help rice farmers in the face of unrestricted flow of imported rice
into the country.
The P10-billion RCEF fund
includes P5 billion allotted to farm mechanization and P3 billion to procure
seedlings.
The fund intends to ensure that
rice imports won’t drown out the agriculture sector and rob farmers of their
livelihood.
Should this be divided equally
among local farmers, they will only receive a financial assistance of P4,000
each, Glipo noted.
“That’s P4,000. Ang losses ng ating farmer sa isang cropping
is umaabot
ng mga P25,000 to P30,000,” she said.
“May ibibigay na P15,000 na emergency
loan, but that’s only for 100,000 farmers to 150,000 farmers. So where is the
justice in this?” she emphasized.
Starting September, the National
Food Authority (NFA) started to procure palay from local farmers at
P19 per kilogram.
While the NFA’s buying price was
set at P20.70, as the NFA Council decided to remove the P3.70 of incentives
given to farmers.
The P3.70 incentive covers P3
buffer stocking fee, 20 centavos delivery fee, 20 centavos drying fee and 30
centavos cooperative incentive fee.
NFA administrator Judy Carol
Dansal said the incentives were removed due to limited funds.
IRDF’s Glipo said the government
must increase the budget for the NFA to procure more palay from
local farmers at a higher price, and for the Department of Agriculture to
provide additional financial assistance. (GMA News)
Rice
Importation Ban: Customs officials ‘kill’ smugglers’ informant in Jigawa
A man suspected to be an informant of rice smugglers has been
killed allegedly by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service in Jigawa State.
Tasiu Muhammad, 22, a resident of Babura Local Government Area,
was shot dead at Unguwar Gawo, about five kilometres from Bubara town, the
council headquarters.
The police commissioner in Jigawa, Bala Senchi, at a press
conference on Tuesday confirmed the incident.
He said the police were not involved in the operation that led
to the killing of Mr Muhammad.
Residents said the deceased had been on the wanted list of the
NCS for allegedly running local routes for smugglers and informing them on the
movement of security officials enforcing the ban of importation of contraband
goods through Nigeria’s land borders.
The deceased was reportedly shot dead while attempting to escape
arrest, even though he was not in possession of any incriminating evidence, a
resident who requested not to be named for security reasons said.
The spokesperson of the NCS in Kano, Jigawa command, Dan-Baba,
said he could not speak with the reporter because he was “in a meeting.”
Bubara Local Government Area shares border with Niger Republic.
Rice smugglers use bush paths in the area to smuggle banned items into Nigeria.
The Customs boss, Hameed Ali, at a press conference on Monday in
Abuja, said all Nigerian land borders will remain shut in continuation of a
closure that began in August.
He said the measure is to improve Nigeria’s economic situation
and reduce further exploits by neighbouring countries.
No to rice tariffication
Farmers-activists
called a press conference to condemn the Rice Tariffication Law which they
claimed affected the farmers due to low price of rice. Photo shows a farmers
group calling on the government to junk the Rice Tarffication Law on the
observance of the coming World Food Day celebration held in Quezon City.
Rice blast fungus discovery will drive crop
innovation
Rice Blast Fungus. Credit: Nick Talbot
A secret weapon used by the killer rice blast
fungus to infect host plants has been discovered in new research.
Rice blast is the most serious disease of rice and is caused by the fungus Magnaporthe
oryzae. Each year, blast disease claims enough rice to feed 60 million people.
The fungus also causes wheat blast which recently spread from South America to
Bangladesh, threatening wheat production across South Asia.
To infect plants M.oryzae develops a domed-shaped infection
cell called an appressorium that sticks to the leaf and ruptures the cuticle
using huge invasive force—up to 40 times of a car tyre pressure, one of the
highest pressures ever shown in a living cell.
The six-year study has uncovered the existence
of a sensor in appressoria which tells the fungus that the pressure threshold
required to rupture the rice leaf has been reached.Further mechanisms uncovered
in the study allow the fungus to reposition a penetrative peg which is pressed
against and physically breaks the leaf surface, allowing the fungus to enter
and cause disease.
Knowledge of this novel mechanism provides a
platform for developing fungicides against blast, one of the deadliest crop
killers.
Researchers from The Sainsbury Laboratory,
Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria, and University of
Sussex used mathematical modelling, molecular genetics and biochemistry to
crack the secret of the fungal pathogen.
Plant pathogenic fungi cause many of the
world's most devastating crop diseases.
Researchers had previously worked out how a
group of proteins called septins enable the fungus to infect plants.
By revealing the existence of a turgor-sensing
mechanism and the genetic networks that control polarisation of the fungus
prior to infection, the group has assembled another critical piece in a
research puzzle.
"Rice blast is the most devastating
disease affecting rice, so this research has considerable implications for
global food security," says one of the authors Professor Nick Talbot of
The Sainsbury Laboratory.
"We think this mechanism applies to other
fungi where the process of infection is septin mediated. Most cereal
diseases—rusts and mildews for example—involve appressoria. They are a common
mechanism so from what we now know you could imagine a treatment that could be
very effective," he adds.
Lead author Dr. Lauren Ryder from The Sainsbury
Laboratory adds: "We have to work out how this turgor sensor interacts
with downstream components, which is the focus of our next study. We suspect it
interacts with proteins in the membrane and it senses when there is a
stretch."
Dr. Yasin Dagdas, now at the Gregor Mendel
Institute in Vienna, Austria adds, "Besides the potential for helping
global food security, this study uncovers a fascinating biological innovation
that evolved during the evolutionary arms race between the microbe and the host
plant."
The existence of a turgor-pressure sensor in
the cell had been predicted by mathematical models produced in collaboration
with Professor Anotida Madzvamuse from the School of Mathematical and Physical
Sciences at the University of Sussex. Prof Madzvamuse worked with colleagues
Dr. Chandrasekhar Venkataraman and Professor Vanessa Styles to mathematically
model this problem.
"We were able to translate what was being
observed in the experiments into a new mathematical model. With the biology
described in mathematical terms, we were then able to help predict the point at
which the fungus can reach a pressure
threshold required to rupture the rice leaf, to infect the plant," he
says.
"We hope that this may prove to be an
important step toward developing disease control strategies in the future,
which may have significant humanitarian benefits: improving crop yields to
provide food for more people," he adds.
‘Rise for
Rice!’
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 05:06 AM October 17, 2019
How have we come to this? Those who produce
food for us remain in penury and debt while they are perpetually being stalked
by hunger that need not be.
When the misleadingly called rice
tariffication law was passed last February, its sponsors crowed about it like
it was heaven’s gift to Filipino farmers. Actually, the name of the law is rice
liberalization law (Republic Act No. 11203). Its onerous title: “An act
liberalizing the importation, exportation and trading of rice, lifting for the
purpose the quantitative import restriction on rice, and for other purposes.”
Its pushers in Congress often referred to
it as the “rice tariffication law,” as though afraid that the word
“liberalization” would cast a spell that would cause unrest. Whatever its name,
RA 11203 is not only causing unrest among Filipino farmers, it has also mired
them in debt and penury, because the price of their palay (unmilled rice) has
plummeted to the depths, while cheap imported rice floods the warehouses.
Last Monday, representatives of rice watch
groups and peasant women leaders held a press conference to raise the call
“Rise for Rice!” and launch a signature campaign for the repeal of RA 11203,
and the enactment of House Bill No. 477 or the Rice Industry Development Act
(filed by Rep. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela Women’s Party). HB 477 hopes to ensure
food security based on self-reliance and self-sufficiency, and not on
importation.
The target number of signatures is 11,203
to be gathered from market places, turo-turo and people who live by rice.
Behind the move are groups Bantay Bigas, Amihan (a national federation of
peasant women), Gabriela and Anakpawis.
This is a timely move just before the
United Nations’ celebration of International Day of Rural Women (Oct. 15) and
World Food Day (Oct. 16).
Zenaida Soriano, Amihan national chair,
said: “Women are in the frontline of hunger. Thus, women, especially women
farmers, are direct victims of the rice liberalization law which resulted in
the drop of palay farm gate prices and the absence of affordable rice in the
market.”
I had a one-on-one with Soriano before the
press con, and I was quite impressed when she proudly told me that after the
men are done with field preparations, it is the women who take over as the men
seek nonfarming jobs to augment the family income. But the women are hardly
recognized in the agriculture sector, she lamented.
While RA 11203 is in place, there will be
no let-up in the clamor to have it repealed; that’s the groups’ promise. The
petition and signatures will be submitted to the House of Representatives and
the Senate on Nov. 4 when sessions resume. The petition contains seven points
on why the “deadly” law that came into being with the principal sponsorship of
Sen. Cynthia Villar must be repealed.
“Mapanlinlang” (misleading, a deception) is
how the rural women called government promises that rice for the table would
dramatically go down, citing its current price to be P30 to P50 per kilo and
asking what happened to the National Food Authority’s P27 rice.
“The decrease in rice prices was
short-lived,” Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo said. “The long-term
effect that is to be expected by consumers is a rise in rice prices because of
limited rice supply in the world market, loss of government control of prices,
and the private sector’s monopoly of control over prices and supply.”
As of now, the rice watch groups said,
palay farm gate prices range from P10 to P15 per kilo, with fresh palay costing
a mere P12 per kilo. Without rice dryers, farmers part with their newly
harvested rice at low prices.
Even rice millers are affected, too. Close
to 7,000 rice millers all over the country with some 55,000 workers will be
severely affected if there will be no palay to mill.
The groups estimate a P60-billion loss
among farmers from January to August, with farmers contemplating on abandoning
their farmlands to the delight of real estate developers and land speculators.
“Harvest time is about to end,” Estavillo
lamented, “and there is no relief in sight for the farmers who are victims of
the deadly deluge that is liberalization.”
Send feedback to cerespd@gmail.com
Farmers demand help with
challenges
October 17, 2019
Sok Chan / Khmer Times
Representatives of Cambodia’s
agriculture cooperatives yesterday called on the government, financial backers
and partners to ensure they have adequate water resources, capital, and market
access so they can boost productivity and competitiveness as well as invest in
their businesses.
The demand was made at the
‘Eighth National Farmer Forum on the Enhancement of Multi-Stakeholder
Engagement to Enable Farmers to Invest in Agriculture,’ held in Phnom Penh.
Yann Srey Yat, a women’s farmer
representative and also the president of the Union of Cooperative Agriculture
in Battambang, said there are challenges facing farmers that they needed help
to overcome.
Ms Srey Yat called for sensible
management of water resources.
She pointed to limited knowledge
in the community of planning income and expenses, as well as banking and
microfinance services, which, she claimed, have excessively high interest
rates.
She also accused the government
of poorly marketing their products.
Ms Srey Yat also criticised paddy
brokers over how they set prices and said supply and quality standards were not
always met.
There is still poor cooperation
between local authorities, she pointed out, adding that because production
costs are high, profits are low.
“We are calling on the many
stakeholders to address and solve these issues and challenges so that farmers
can invest in the local agriculture sector,” Ms Srey Yat added.
She called on the Network for
Development of Food Security and Safety in Cambodia (NDF-C) to deal with these
problems, particularly regarding water management and distribution from rivers,
streams, community ponds and rainfall which could be used for agriculture.
Ms Srey Yat said she wanted more
action to counter the effects of climate change and more help in dealing with
regional and global competition, especially regarding protectionist policies,
the lack of seedlings to meet market demand, high production costs and a lack
of investment in modern agriculture.
Nongovernmental Forum Executive
Director Tek Vannara said yesterday’s platform aimed to help farmers share
views and discuss challenges with relevant stakeholders to find solutions.
Mr Vannara said engaging with
stakeholders on cooperation and updating them on support methods and mechanisms
will boost the agribusiness sector.
“The agriculture sector employs
about 36.4 percent of the workforce across the country. That’s 3.1 million
jobs. However, this sector faced many issues including low productivity,
infrastructure support, irregular supplies both in quality and amount, limited
market access, changing commodity prices and climate change,” Mr Vannara said.
He said the
agricultural-commercialisation sector and sustainability needed boosting, as
did production and the value chain. This requires participation from the
private sector, producers and microfinance institutions, as well as
infrastructure development, law implementation, policy support, and the
capacity to increase agricultural production for local markets and exports.
Song Saran, president of the
Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), said it had two main missions: to increase
exports of milled rice to 1 million tonnes by 2022 and to find ways to raise
farmers’ profits sustainably and inclusively.
He said the CRF will help to
improve productivity and farming and milling techniques, lower costs of
production and improve the export process while upholding the highest ethical
standards in all dealings with stakeholders.
“Our strategy is to push for 1
million tonnes of rice exports by 2022, starting from 750,000 tonnes in 2020,
increasing the value from $400 million to $600 million per year, and
strengthening the Cambodian rice brand Maly Angkor, the premium fragrant rice
variety,” Mr Saran said.
“The association will also expand
and strengthen the foreign market in the EU, China, Asean and other countries,
including Australia, prepare contracts between agriculture cooperatives and
rice millers and push farmers to become agri-entrepreneurs.”
He added that the association
will build a strong partnership with the government to manage and prepare the
irrigation system and seek funding to help the agriculture cooperatives, rice
millers and rice exporters.
“We will also help farmers
improve their effectiveness on data management, pricing, technology, fair
trade, the implementation of the rice blockchain and sustainable rice
platforms,” he said.
KNOCK KNOCK
For Nigeria, economic and national security
rank higher than trade
By Eromo
Egbejule
Posted on Wednesday, 16 October 2019 13:48
Posted on Wednesday, 16 October 2019 13:48
This is the
reality of Nigeria's rice production vs consumption. See that gap there? It
must be closed somehow. And you have millions of young unemployed people who
know how to ride bicycles across the border and have not much else to do.
We
successfully shut down the space for formal rice (and other food) importing and
the industry unsurprisingly moved to the informal sector. If you shut down the
space in the informal sector the industry won't disappear. It will just move to
the heavily armed informal sector.
Bottom
line: With re-election no longer an issue,
Buhari is free to pursue more economic nationalism, arguing for short-term pain
for long-term gain. But will Nigeria ever see the payoff?
https://www.theafricareport.com/18705/for-nigeria-economic-and-national-security-rank-higher-than-trade/
Check
illegal transportation of paddy from other States: Gangula Kamalakar
Minister
directs officials to take strict measures to check illegal transportation of
paddy into Telangana
By Author | Published: 16th Oct 2019 10:11 pm
Civil
Supplies and BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar, Health Minister Etela
Rajender and Welfare Minister Koppula Eashwar participated in the Kharif-2019
Action Plan Regional Conference held at the District Collectorate in
Karimnagar.
Karimnagar: Civil Supplies and BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar on
Wednesday stressed the need to take strict measures to check illegal
transportation of paddy into Telangana from other States.
“Since a bumper paddy crop is
expected in the present kharif season, it is going to be tough for officials to
procure locally produced crops if paddy from other States is also dumped in
Telangana,” the Minister said, adding that police and agriculture officials
much be vigilant.
Kamalakar, Health Minister Etela
Rajender and Welfare Minister Koppula Eashwar participated in the Kharif-2019
Action Plan Regional Conference held at the District Collectorate here. Civil
Supplies Commissioner Akun Sabharwal, Karimnagar District Collector Sarfaraz
Ahmed, joint collectors, district agriculture officers, IKP, marketing and
other officers of erstwhile Karimnagar district participated in conference.
Stating that it had become a
routine practice for illegal traders to bring in paddy from other States and
create problems for local farmers during the procurement season, he said
traders were purchasing paddy in other States including Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra and Karnataka at a cheaper price of Rs 1,000 per quintal and
selling it here at Rs 1,835 MSP announced by the government. “This time around,
it is going to be a big problem since 55 lakh metric tons of paddy is likely to
arrive during the procurement season, and combined with kharif and yasangi, the
total produce would be 95 lakh metric ton,” he said.
Supply of sufficient water for
agriculture sector by completing irrigation projects and Rythu Bandhu scheme
encouraged the farmers to take up farming in a big way resulting in increased
yields, the Minister said, and instructed officials to put an end to illegal
paddy transportation by setting up check-posts. Besides Paddy Purchasing
Centre-wise paddy farmers’ details, the extent of area cultivated in a PPC
limits should also be collected, he said.
Check the details of farmers while
purchasing paddy. If necessary, take the help of sarpanches and Farmers
Coordination Committees (FCC), he said.
Stating that there was no problem
for gunny bags, Kamalakar informed that lack of sufficient godowns to store
crops would be another problem area, and sought the help of rice millers to
overcome the space problem for this season.
Responding to rice millers’ request
to take steps to enhance the quantity of raw rice procurement to 10 lakh ton
from 4 lakh ton from rice mills by union government, he assured that he would
write to the Union government and also bring the issue to the notice of Chief
Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.
Rajender wanted the officials to
allocate PPC centres based on the quantity of crop to be produced in an area
and distance. “Manpower should be arranged based on the quantity of crop to be
procured in a centre,” he said.
“It is also necessary to check
space and manpower in rice mills before allocating paddy for custom milling.
Since there is a problem of godown space, the crop movement should be done on
fast track mode,” he said.
Eashwar advised the officials to
supply gunny bags in two phases instead of number of phases and set up even two
PPCs in a village where cultivation was high. He wanted the officials to take
precautionary measures in the wake of space problem.
Use certified weighing machines for
procurement
Nalgonda: Zilla Parishad Chairman Banda Narender Reddy on Wednesday
said officials of Legal Metrology department must check the weighing machines
before they were sent to Paddy Procurement Centres by the Civil Supplies
department.
Speaking at a district level
programme held on paddy procurement for Mandal Parishad Presidents (MPPs) and
Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency members (ZPTCs) here, Narender Reddy
said the State government had set up paddy procurements to purchase paddy
produced by the farmers and ensure Minimum Support Price for the crop. He
instructed the officials to take measure to ensure that there is not repeat of
problems faced earlier in the paddy procurement of Kharif season.
The weighing machines should be
sent to paddy procurement centre only after check and certification by the
officials of Legal Meteorology department, he added. Same type of Moisture
machines should be used at the paddy procurement centre and milling points, he
added.
Yield of paddy likely to double
In-Charge district Collector V
Chandrasekhar said that it was expecting the yield of the paddy may be doubled
in the kharif seasons due to irrigation facility and good rains. As per the
estimation of the agriculture department, 4,58,580 metric tons of paddy would
be produced in kharif season as the paddy cultivation was taken up in 66,346
hectors in the district. Paddy would be purchased from the farmers through 96
paddy procurement centres including 55 IKP Paddy purchasing centres and 41 PACS
Centres in the district.
District Manager of Civil Supplies
department Nageshwar Rao informed that a control room would be setup in the
district Collectorate to receive complaints from the farmers on paddy
procurement.
https://telanganatoday.com/check-illegal-transportation-of-paddy-from-other-states-gangula-kamalakar
Japanese scientists turn carbon dioxide to organic matter,
useful for clothing, packaging and more
October 16, 2019 13:21 +08
Representational Image
Japanese scientists have come with a way to deal with the huge
amount of carbon dioxide polluting our environment. In a newly invented method,
without expending too much energy, the scientists sucked the CO2 molecules out
of the air. Reportedly, the material can be eventually turned into an
ingredient for clothing, packing and many more things.
The secret is a porous coordination polymer (PCP) made up of
zinc metal ions. The ions have the capability to selectively capture CO2
molecules and have 10 times greater efficiency than any other PCPs. Also, the
interesting thing is that the material is reusable, and runs at maximum
efficiency even after 10 reaction cycles.
According to materials chemist Ken-ichi Otake, from Kyoto
University in Japan, "We have successfully designed a porous material
which has a high affinity towards CO2 molecules and can quickly and effectively
convert it into useful organic materials."
The concept of carbon
sequestration has been around however because of low reactivity of carbon
dioxide it has been difficult to capture without using a lot of energy in the
process, defeating the whole purpose. The research published in Nature
Communications showed how exactly to do it.
While another research team from Rice University in the US
developed a device for turning CO2 into liquid fuel. In this process, the key
ingredient is metal bismuth and formic acid is the end result of the process.
"One of the greenest
approaches to carbon capture is to recycle the carbon dioxide into high-value
chemicals, such as cyclic carbonates which can be used in petrochemicals and
pharmaceuticals," says materials chemist Susumu Kitagawa, from
Kyoto University.
However, further research is required for it to work at larger
scale. Given the rising pollution which in turn is leading to global warming,
this could prove to be really useful for the environment and for us, in
general.
Political Analyst Joins Outlook Lineup
ARLINGTON,
VA -- Political analyst and columnist A.B. Stoddard has joined the USA Rice
Outlook Conference as a General Session speaker where she will talk about some
of the largest political stories of the day, offer insights into the relationship
between Congress and the Trump Administration, and dive into the prospects for
both parties and specific candidates as we head into the 2020 election.
Stoddard is associate editor and a columnist with RealClearPolitics (RCP), a media company that prides itself on nonpartisan analysis of "the most pivotal information on the day's need-to-know issues."
Prior to joining RCP, Stoddard was a reporter and then columnist at The Hill newspaper and a Senate producer for ABC News.
A frequent guest on programs on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, Stoddard is known and respected for her detailed and smart political and electoral analysis.
"Love it or hate it, everything we do at USA Rice is set against the backdrop of politics, and the pace is picking up and the stakes couldn't be higher," said Betsy Ward, USA Rice president and CEO. "I'm looking forward to hearing what A.B. thinks about where we are heading as a nation, the state of political discourse, and what 2020 will likely hold for us."
Stoddard
will join USA Rice Outlook Conference mainstays Nathan Childs from USDA and
ProFarmer's Jim Wiesemeyer in the General Session on the afternoon of Tuesday,
December 10.
The USA Rice Outlook Conference will take place from December 8-10, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Registration and hotel room blocks are now open. Early registration discounts end November 6. Go to usarice.com/outlook for more information or to register online.
Stoddard is associate editor and a columnist with RealClearPolitics (RCP), a media company that prides itself on nonpartisan analysis of "the most pivotal information on the day's need-to-know issues."
Prior to joining RCP, Stoddard was a reporter and then columnist at The Hill newspaper and a Senate producer for ABC News.
A frequent guest on programs on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, Stoddard is known and respected for her detailed and smart political and electoral analysis.
"Love it or hate it, everything we do at USA Rice is set against the backdrop of politics, and the pace is picking up and the stakes couldn't be higher," said Betsy Ward, USA Rice president and CEO. "I'm looking forward to hearing what A.B. thinks about where we are heading as a nation, the state of political discourse, and what 2020 will likely hold for us."
Stoddard
will join USA Rice Outlook Conference mainstays Nathan Childs from USDA and
ProFarmer's Jim Wiesemeyer in the General Session on the afternoon of Tuesday,
December 10.The USA Rice Outlook Conference will take place from December 8-10, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Registration and hotel room blocks are now open. Early registration discounts end November 6. Go to usarice.com/outlook for more information or to register online.
The Struggle to Save Heirloom Rice in India
Long-forgotten varieties of the
staple crop can survive flood, drought and other calamities. The challenge is
bringing them back
IN BRIEF
·
India originally possessed some 110,000 landraces of rice with diverse and valuable properties. These include
enrichment in vital nutrients and the ability to withstand flood, drought,
salinity or pest infestations.
·
The Green Revolution covered fields with a few high-yielding varieties, so that roughly 90 percent of the
landraces vanished from farmers' collections.
·
High-yielding varieties require expensive inputs. They perform abysmally on marginal farms or in adverse
environmental conditions, forcing poor farmers into debt.
·
Collecting, regenerating, documenting the traits of and sharing with farmers the remaining landraces, to
restore some of the lost biodiversity of rice, is the author's life mission.
One scorching summer day in 1991, having spent hours surveying
the biodiversity of sacred groves in southern West Bengal, India, I approached
Raghu Murmu’s hut to rest. Raghu, a young man of the Santal tribe, sat me under
the shade of a huge mango tree while his daughter fetched me cold water and
sweets made from rice. As I was relishing these, I noticed that Raghu’s
pregnant wife was drinking a reddish liquid. Raghu explained that it was the
starch drained from cooked Bhutmuri rice—meaning “ghost’s head” rice, perhaps
because of its dark hull. It “restores blood in women who become deficient in blood
during pregnancy and after childbirth,” he said. I gathered that this starch is
believed to cure peripartum anemia in women. Another rice variety, Paramai-sal,
meaning “longevity rice,” promotes healthy growth in children, Raghu added.
As I would subsequently
establish, Bhutmuri is one of several varieties of indigenous rice in South
Asia that are rich in iron, and it also contains certain B vitamins. And
Paramaisal rice has high levels of antioxidants, micronutrients and labile
starch, which can be converted rapidly to energy. At the time, however, such
uncommon rice varieties, with their evocative names and folk medicinal uses,
were new to me. When I returned home to Kolkata, I conducted a literature
survey on the genetic diversity of Indian rice and realized that I had been
lucky to encounter Raghu. Farmers like him, who grow indigenous rice and
appreciate its value, are as endangered as the varieties themselves.
In the years since, I have become
familiar with a cornucopia of native rice varieties (also called landraces)
that possess astonishingly useful and diverse properties. Some can withstand
flood, drought, salinity or pest attacks; others are enriched in valuable
vitamins or minerals; and yet others are endowed with an enticing color, taste
or aroma that has given them special roles in religious ceremonies. Collecting,
regenerating and sharing with farmers these exceedingly rare but valuable
varieties has become my life’s mission.
Bringing back
forgotten rice landraces requires the sowing, tending and harvesting of more
than 1,000 varieties every year. Scenes from Basudha depict an indigenous
farmer transplanting baby plants into a flooded field (top)
and another working (bottom) on the farm. Credit: Zoë Savitz
LOST TREASURE
Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) resulted from centuries of selection and breeding of wild
ancestral species—a process that Charles Darwin called “artificial
selection”—by early Neolithic humans. Archaeological and genetic evidence
suggests that the indica subspecies of Asian rice (almost all cultivated rice from
the Indian subcontinent belongs to this group) was grown about 7,000 to 9,000
years ago in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas. Over the ensuing millennia
of domestication and cultivation, traditional farmers created a treasure trove
of landraces that were perfectly adapted to diverse soils, topographies and
microclimates and suited to specific cultural, nutritional or medicinal needs.
According to pioneering rice
scientist R. H. Richharia, more than 140,000 landraces were grown in India’s
fields until the 1970s. If we exclude synonyms (that is, the same variety
referred to by different names in different locales), this figure boils down to
around 110,000 distinct varieties. As I learned from my literature survey, however,
the genetic diversity of Indian rice has declined steeply since the advent of
the Green Revolution.
In the late 1960s the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) provided the Indian government
with a few high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice, which provide substantial
quantities of grain when supplied with ample water, fertilizer and pesticides.
In concert with international development agencies, the IRRI urged the
replacement of indigenous varieties across all types of fields with these imported
strains. Heavily promoted and sometimes forced onto farmers’ fields, the new
rice types rapidly displaced the landraces.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s
IRRI researchers listed 5,556 landraces in West Bengal and collected 3,500 of
these for its gene bank. In 1994, finding no documentation of surviving
varieties in the state, I began my own, lone survey. Finally completed in 2006,
it revealed that 90 percent of the documented varieties had vanished from
farmers’ fields. In fact, it is likely that no more than 6,000 rice landraces
exist in fields across India. Similarly, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
documented the names of 12,479 varieties between 1979 and 1981, but my analysis
of a recent study indicates that no more than 720 landraces are still
cultivated in the entire country.
When I got an inkling of this
staggering loss of biodiversity in the subcontinent, it shocked me as a
biologist and as a concerned citizen. I wondered why agricultural institutions
were unconcerned about the genetic erosion of the most important cereal of the
region. After all, the dire consequences of the loss of genetic diversity of a
key crop should have been evident from Ireland’s Great Famine of 1845–1849.
Most potatoes grown in Ireland were of a single variety, the Irish
Lumper, which had no inherent resistance to Phytophthora infestans, the microorganism that causes
potato blight. In 1846 three quarters of the harvest was lost to infection,
resulting in a scarcity of seed potatoes in subsequent years and major demographic
effects: up to 1.5 million people died from starvation and disease over the
course of the famine, and in more than a decade of hunger and deprivation about
1.3 million people emigrated from Ireland to North America and Australia. The
unforgettable lesson for agriculturists is that the absence of multiple
varieties of a crop can make that plant vulnerable to pest or disease
infestations: monocultures are disastrous for long-term food security. In the
wake of the Green Revolution, insects such as the rice hispa and the brown
planthopper, which had never before posed a significant problem, devastated
rice crops in several Asian countries.
Vast expanses of monocultures
provide banquets for certain pests. Farmers may try to eliminate them with
generous applications of pesticides—which end up killing the natural enemies of
those pests. The net effect is to enhance the diversity and abundance of pests,
thus driving the pesticide mill wheel. The genetic uniformity of crop
species—in particular the Green Revolution varieties, selected for the single
trait of high yields—also means the plants lack endowments that would enable
them to withstand vagaries of the weather such as insufficient or too late
rain, seasonal floods or storm surges that inundate coastal farms with
seawater. Their fragility makes a poor farmer who might not have the money to,
say, buy a pump to irrigate his or her fields more vulnerable to environmental
fluctuations.
The loss of landraces further entails the withering of a
knowledge system associated with their cultivation. For example, traditional
farmers can distinguish varieties by observing the flowering time; the color of
the basal leaf sheath; the angle of the flag leaf; the length of the panicle;
and the size, color and shape of the grain [see graphic below]. Using these and other characteristics, they eliminate all
atypical or “off-type” plants to maintain the genetic purity of the landrace.
Nowadays, however, the vast majority of South Asian farmers rely on an external
seed supply, which obviates the need to conserve the purity of homegrown seeds.
When a local variety is no longer available, the knowledge related to its
agronomic and cultural uses fades from the community’s memory. Millennia-old
strategies for using biodiversity to control pests and diseases have been
supplanted by advice from pesticide dealers—to the detriment of soil and water
quality, biodiversity and human health.
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The Green Revolution and, more
broadly, the modernization of agriculture have also had severe social and
economic effects. Rising costs of inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, pesticides
and fuel for irrigation pumps require farmers to borrow money, often from
private money lenders. Debt, coupled with falling prices for the harvested
crops, has contributed to distress sales of small farms and an epidemic of
farmer suicides in India. In contrast, over decades of working with tribal
farmers who are still growing local rice and millet varieties on their marginal
farms, I have encountered not a single case of farm-related suicide.
In 1996, with 152 landraces in my
collection, I approached the West Bengal State Directorate of Agriculture’s
Rice Research Station, where all heirloom rice germplasm is supposed to be
conserved. Not only did it refuse to accept and maintain the seeds I had
collected, but the director chastised me for pursuing the “unscientific and
retrogressive” goal of reviving the forgotten landraces. To insist on growing
them would mean “going back to the caveman’s age” and condemning farmers to low
productivity and lifelong poverty, he said. When I argued that none of the HYVs
can survive on dryland farms without irrigation, on deep-water farms or on
coastal saline farms, he assured me that modern transgenics would soon come up
with the best varieties for those marginal farms, so I should leave the matter
with the experts in agricultural science.
LIVING SEEDS
Trained as an ecologist
specializing in ecosystem structures and functions, I was working with the
eastern regional office of World Wide Fund for Nature-India. At that time, it
and other conservation organizations typically sought to safeguard large,
charismatic animals such as the tiger, but because cultivated crops are not
“wildlife,” there was no focus on their protection. Research institutions were
also uninterested because the conservation of folk crop varieties would receive
no funding support.
The only option left to me was to
go it alone. I resigned from my job in 1996 and settled in a village in West
Bengal to set up a folk rice seed bank and exchange center for farmers. In 1997
I named it Vrihi, Sanskrit for “broadcast rice.” In the early years I used my
savings and considerable support from Navdanya, a New Delhi–based
nongovernmental organization, to collect rare seeds from different corners of
the country and distribute them for free to farmers in need. Since 2000,
however, donations from friends and supporters have constituted the bulk of our
funding.
In 1999, while in northern Bengal to survey biodiversity for the
state’s forest department, I took the opportunity to explore the region’s
fields. One day, after six hours of travel by bus and on foot to a remote
village named Lataguri, I collected a critically endangered rice variety named
Agni-sal. (I define a critically endangered variety as one that is being grown
on only one farm.) The grain was fiery red in color—hence the name Agni, meaning “fire”—and its stem was
strong enough to withstand storms. The next season I gave the seeds to a farmer
who was looking for a rice that would flourish on his highland farm, which was
swept by strong winds. He returned the following year with a broad smile of
gratitude because of the great harvest from this rice, despite a cyclone that
had devastated all the neighboring farms. The year after that, however, an
officer from the district’s agriculture department persuaded him to replace
Agni-sal with an HYV. As a result, Agni-sal was lost from our accession. I
rushed to Lataguri to procure another sample from the original donor farmer,
only to learn that he had passed away the year before and that his son had
abandoned that rice. Agni-sal thus, to my knowledge, went extinct from the
world.
Credit: Rebecca Konte
Another incident at about this time persuaded me that I needed
to do more than collect and distribute seeds. Traditional lowland farmers in
India used to grow two types of flood-tolerant rice. One can grow taller and
taller in tandem with rising water levels. This underwater “stem elongation”
property, governed by the genes SNORKEL 1 and SNORKEL 2, located on chromosome 12, is seen in traditional varieties
such as Lakshmi dighal, Jabrah, Pantara and Rani kajal. A second type of
flood-tolerant landrace can withstand prolonged submergence in floodwater. One
of the genes governing submergence tolerance is SUB1, found in several Bengal
landraces.
In June 1999 a southern district
of West Bengal experienced a flash flood. All rice crops perished. At the time,
my accession had no varieties that could tolerate submergence, but I knew that
the IRRI and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources in New Delhi
possessed several dozen. I wrote to both institutions, requesting that they
send me 10 to 20 grams of these seeds to save the distressed farmers. I
received no acknowledgment from either of the gene banks. If an educated
person, writing in a European language on letterhead showing his academic
degrees and affiliations, does not merit any response from the national and
international gene banks, one can imagine how likely it is that a poor farmer
from Kenya or Bangladesh might receive seed samples from them. To my knowledge,
no farmer in any country has ever received any seeds from these lofty ex situ,
or off-site, gene banks—even though their accessions were built on
contributions from traditional farmers.
In contrast, the gene banks do make their accessions available
to seed companies for hybridization programs and patenting. An estimate by the
International Food Policy Research Institute indicates that by 1996 about three
quarters of U.S. rice fields had been sown with material descendant from the
IRRI collection. And in 1997 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the
broadest ever patent on an indigenous rice, for a hybrid strain of basmati
whose parents originated in South Asia and were accessed from the IRRI
collection, to Texas-based company RiceTec. The IRRI, which supposedly holds
its accession in trust for the world’s farmers, itself applied in 2014 for an
international patent on a yield-boosting rice gene called SPIKE discovered in the
Indonesian landrace Daringan. (The governing body of the International Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture has reviewed the legality of
this controversial application but has yet to announce its decision.)
Not only are ex situ seed banks
physically and socially distant from farmers, but also their seeds are handicapped
by long isolation. Rice seeds are dried and preserved at –20 degrees Celsius,
which keeps them viable for up to 35 years. Frozen in time, they are separated
from the constantly evolving life-forms in the outer world. When grown out
after 35 years, they will have lost any inherent resistance to specific
pathogens, which will meanwhile have evolved into newer strains. In contrast,
farmers’ in situ seed banks are necessarily low budget, so they must sow all
the seeds every year—otherwise most of the rice would fail to germinate. Thanks
to this imperative, the seeds conserved on farms continue to coevolve with
diverse pathogens and pests.
After a series of such
experiences and observations, I decided to set up a conservation farm of my own
to maintain a small population of each landrace so that it would survive even
if abandoned by most farmers. I used my savings from a postdoctoral fellowship
at the University of California, Berkeley, to found Basudha farm in 2001. Vrihi
is now South Asia’s largest open-access rice gene bank, and its 1,420 varieties
are grown every year on Basudha farm in a tribal village in southern Odisha. Of
the varieties in our accession, 182 are now extinct from India’s fields.
With less than 0.7 hectare at our
disposal, we have to grow 64 individual plants of each variety on only four
square meters of land. (The minimum number of plants required to maintain all
the genetic endowments of a given landrace is about 50.) Because we cannot
adhere to the internationally recommended isolation distance of at least 110
meters on every side of each landrace, preventing cross-pollination between
neighboring varieties is a challenge. I managed to overcome this constraint by
planting the different varieties so that each is surrounded by others with
different flowering dates. Furthermore, we eliminate the off-type plants in
each population at different life stages by observing 56 different
characteristics, as per Bioversity International guidelines. After this step,
all the seeds harvested are assumed to be 100 percent genetically pure, barring
some undetected mutations.
On Basudha farm, all the rice landraces are grown in accordance
with the agroecological principle of “zero external input”—no agrochemicals, no
groundwater extraction, no fossil fuels. Nutrient supply comes from leaf and
straw mulch, legume cover crops (whose roots are rich in nitrogen-fixing
microbes), composted greens and animal manure, biochar and soil microbes. We
control pests by growing “weed” grasses and shrubs that provide habitats for
predators such as spiders, ants and reptiles, as well as parasites. Another
strategy is to maintain puddles of water as breeding habitats for aquatic
insects and frogs, which also prey on crop pests. And we occasionally use
herbal pest repellents such as tobacco, garlic and tulsi (Ocimum sanctum; also known as holy basil).
Crop diseases are never a problem on Basudha: varietal and species diversity
has repeatedly been documented as the best strategy for protection against crop
pathogens.
We store some of the harvested
seeds in earthen pots, which protect them from insects and rodents while
allowing them to “breathe,” for the next year’s sowing. The rest we distribute
among farmers, in exchange for a handful of seeds of other folk varieties, which
we cultivate and donate to farmers. This system is a conscious attempt to
revive the ancient practice of seed exchange in all farming communities, which
had once helped all crop varieties to spread across continents.
My co-workers and I have helped
establish more than 20 other seed banks in different parts of India, so that
local farmers can access the varieties they need without having to travel to
Vrihi. We also promote seed-exchange networks among farmers. These banks and
networks have benefited more than 7,800 farmers in five Indian states. Further,
we document the characters and properties of each variety and register the
landraces in the name of farmers to preclude any biopiracy patents on them. By
such means, we seek to restore to farmers sovereignty over seeds—essential to
their long-term financial and nutritional security.
Debal Deb and his
long-term associate Debdulal Bhattacharya examine, record (top)
and discuss (bottom) the detailed characteristics of rice grains from the harvest.
and discuss (bottom) the detailed characteristics of rice grains from the harvest.
CORNUCOPIA
On precarious farms experiencing
drought or seasonal floods, traditional landraces are the only reliable means
of providing food security to poor farmers. After 22 years of growing folk rice
varieties, I am confident that landraces such as Kelas, Rangi, Gadaba, Kaya and
Velchi will provide greater yields than any of the modern HYVs in drought
conditions. Lakshmi dighal, Rani kajal and Jabra can elongate their stems as
floodwaters rise, keeping their seed-bearing panicles above water up to four
meters deep. Matla, Getu, Talmugur and Kallurundai can grow on saline soil and
survive seawater incursion. These landraces are stable germ lines with a suite
of genes conferring broad adaptive plasticity.
Moreover, given optimal soil
conditions in rain-fed farms, a considerable number of folk rice varieties such
as Bahurupi, Bourani, Kerala sundari and Nagra can outyield modern HYVs. A set
of exceedingly rare varieties with relatively high yields includes double- and
triple-kernel rice; these may have resulted from selections of rare mutations
in the structural genes of the rice flower. Basudha seems to be the last
repository of one such triple-kernel rice landrace, Sateen.
Several landraces also possess
resistance to pests and pathogens. Kalo nunia, Kalanamak, Kartik-sal and Tulsi
manjari are blast-resistant. Bishnubhog and Rani kajal are resistant to
bacterial blight. Kataribhog is moderately resistant to tungro virus.
Gour-Nitai, Jashua and Shatia seem to resist caseworm attack, and stem-borer
attack on Khudi khasa, Loha gorah, Malabati, Sada Dhepa and Sindur mukhi
varieties is seldom observed. Such seeds, distributed from Vrihi, have reduced
crop losses from pest and disease attacks in thousands of farm fields over the
past 25 or so years.
Modern rice breeding is largely focused
on enhancing grain yield, but numerous folk rice varieties contain various
micronutrients that are absent from modern cultivars. Our recent studies
identified at least 80 folk varieties that contain more than 20 milligrams of
iron per kilogram of rice, with the highest levels recorded for Harin kajli,
Dudhé bolta and Jhuli rice, which range from 131 to 140 milligrams per
kilogram. Compare this range with the 9.8 milligrams of iron per kilogram of
the transgenic iron-fortified rice IR68144-2B-2-2-3, developed at IRRI at
enormous expense.
Certain landraces may have medicinal uses. Ayurveda, the
traditional Indian system of medicine, recommends Nyavara rice from Kerala to
help treat a class of neurological disorders. Along with my co-workers, I am
examining its chemistry and also hope to study its efficacy for such use.
Another medicinal rice, Garib-sal from West Bengal, was prescribed in
traditional medicine for treatment of gastroenteric infections. In a 2017 paper
in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and
Engineering, my collaborators and I
documented the bioaccumulation of silver in Garib-sal grains to the extent of
15 parts per million. Silver nanoparticles kill pathogenic bacteria, according
to a 2017 study in Chemistry Letters, so this rice might help fight human gut pathogens. A plethora
of such medicinal rice varieties awaits laboratory and clinical testing.
Aesthetics is yet another value
that indigenous farmers cherish, cultivating certain landraces simply for their
beautiful colors or patterns: gold, brown, purple and black furrows on yellow
hulls, purple apexes, black awns, and so on. Many in eastern India take pride
in the beauty of the winglike extensions of the sterile lemma in Moynatundi and
Ramigali rice. Aromatic varieties are associated with religious ceremonies and
cultural festivals in all rice-growing cultures. When these types of rice
disappear from fields, numerous culinary delicacies are no more, and the
associated ceremonies lose their cultural and symbolic significance. Basudha’s
collection of 195 aromatic rice landraces has helped revive many evanescent
local food cultures and traditional ceremonies.
The complexity of ecological
interactions has resulted in another set of rice varieties. Smallholding
farmers of West Bengal and Jharkhand prefer varieties with long and strong awns
(spine-like projections at the end of the hull), which deter grazing by cattle
and goats. Indigenous farmers also prefer landraces with erect flag leaves
because grain-eating birds cannot perch on them.
Interestingly, some farmers in Odisha grow a combination of
awned and awnless varieties on their farms, regardless of any direct benefits.
Other rare varieties with no obvious use possess purple stems and leaves.
Indeed, South Asian tradition appears to deem biodiversity, at both the genetic
and the species level, as so essential to agriculture that it was enshrined in
certain religious rituals. For example, some wild relatives of cultivated rice,
such as Buno dhan (Oryza rufipogon) and Uri dhan (Hygroryza asiatica), are associated with local Hindu rites and maintained on many
farms in West Bengal and its neighboring state, Jharkhand. Such wild gene pools
are becoming ever more important as a source of unusual traits that can be
incorporated, as required, into existing cultivars. Further, the presence in
rice fields of certain trees such as neem (Azadirachta indica), whose leaves serve as a natural pesticide, and of predators
such as the owl has been considered auspicious.
SAVING FARMERS
Given the failure of modern agricultural
research to provide marginal farmers with any reliable germ lines of rice, a
large collection of folk rice varieties, with their fine-tuned adaptations to
adverse conditions, is our best bet. Convinced by the superior yield stability
of the landraces, more than 2,000 farmers in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West
Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have adopted several folk rice
varieties from Vrihi and abandoned cultivation of HYVs.
When Cyclone Aila hit the
Sundarbans coast of West Bengal and Bangladesh in May 2009, it killed almost
350 people and destroyed the homes of more than a million. A storm surge
inundated fields with seawater and left them salinated—which meant that quite
apart from the immediate devastation, the food security of the region was
likely to suffer long-term damage. We distributed a small amount of seeds from
the Vrihi seed bank’s repertoire of traditional salinity-tolerant landraces,
such as Lal Getu, Nona bokra and Talmugur, among a few farmers on island
villages of the Sundarbans. These were the only rice varieties that yielded a
sizable amount of grain on the salinated farms in that disastrous season.
Similarly, in 1999 several folk varieties such as Jabra, Rani kajal and Lakshmi
dighal ensured rice production for southern Bengal farmers after a flash flood
of the Hugli River. In 2010 Bhutmuri, Kalo gorah, Kelas and Rangi rescued many
indigenous farmers in the western district of Puruliya when delayed arrival of
monsoon rains caused a severe drought.
Such disasters prove, time and
again, that the long-term sustainability of rice farming depends crucially on
the restoration of traditional farming practices based on biodiversity and use
of the full diversity of crop varieties that have survived the onslaught of
industrial farming.
This article was originally published with the title
"Restoring Rice Biodiversity" in Scientific American 321, 4, 54-61
(October 2019)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1019-54
MORE TO EXPLORE
Beyond Developmentality: Constructing Inclusive Freedom and Sustainability. Debal Deb. Earthscan, 2009.
Rice: Origin, Antiquity and History. Edited by S. D. Sharma. CRC Press, 2010.
The Imperial Roots of Hunger. Madhusree Mukerjee in Himal Southasian, Vol. 26, No. 2, pages 12–25; April 2013.
A Profile of Heavy Metals in Rice (Oryza sativa ssp. indica) Landraces. Debal
Deb et al. in Current Science, Vol. 109, No. 3, pages 407–409; August 10, 2015.
Debal Deb
TT producing all the rice it
needs makes no sense
Rice farming in Orange Grove, Tacarigua. Local production of goods
is still affected by the imports of machinery
which are not manufactured in TT.
AGRICULTURE Minister
Clarence Rambharat said it would make no sense for this country to locally
produce all of the rice that is required.
He was
contributing to budget debate in the House Monday.
"Agricultural
production in this country, and food, is not keeping the imports out. If we had
to produce rice in this country to dispel the imports, we would have to level
every building in Trinidad, Tobago and down the islands and turn them into
lagoons and plant rice. But there is no economic rationale for planting rice and
producing rice."
He said the
country has good rice farmers whom the Government wants to keep in production.
He added, however, the price of local rice as paddy is three time the price of
first-grade parboiled rice.
"That is
the reality."
He announced
the preferred bidder for Carlsen Field mill to talk to Government about a rice
parboiling plant and, after several months, and yesterday morning he delivered
the letter to Trinidad Parboil Ltd to establish a rice parboil plant in Couva
South.
He said every
agriculture minister had fallen into the "trap" of reducing the food
import bill. Rambharat recalled in his first year the food import bill dropped
by $1 billion, but he had very little to do with it, as foreign exchange was
tight and weather conditions in the US led to a reduction in grain prices. He
said the case for supporting local farmers and farmers markets was the health
of consumers.
"The
food import bill will always be with us."
Rambharat
said the country has been "obsessed" with local rice and the term
"food security" had stuck in our language despite the reality of
modern trading.
Nagpur Foodgrain
Prices Open- October 16, 2019
OCTOBER 16, 2019 / 2:27 PM
* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-October 16, 2018 Nagpur,
Oct 16 (Reuters) – Gram prices reported down in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and
Marketing Committee (APMC) here on poor buying support from local millers amid
high moisture content arrival. Easy condition in Madhya Pradesh pulses and
release of stock from stockists also affected prices in thin trading activity.
About 300 bags of gram and 50 bags of tuar reported for auction, according to
sources.
GRAM
* Desi gram moved down in open market here in absence of buyers.
TUAR
* Tuar Karnataka reported higher on increased demand from local
traders.
* Moong Chamki declined in open market here on poor demand from
local traders amid good supply from producing belts.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,400-5,600, Tuar dal (clean) – 8,100-8,200,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,700-8,700, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,000-8,700, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 5,400-5,800 * Wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a
narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,600-4,500 3,800-4,500
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 4,600-5,150 4,700-5,200
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 1,975-2,195 2,000-2,100
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 5,800-6,200 5,800-6,200
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,450-4,550 4,450-4,550
Desi gram Raw 4,450-4,550 4,500-4,600
Gram Kabuli 8,500-10,000 8,500-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,300-8,500 8,300-8,500
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 7,800-8,200 7,800-8,200
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,500-7,800 7,500-7,800
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 6,900-7,400 6,900-7,400
Tuar Gavarani New 5,750-5,850 5,750-5,850
Tuar Karnataka 6,000-6,100 5,950-6,050
Masoor dal best 5,200-5,600 5,200-5,600
Masoor dal medium 5,000-5,100 5,000-5,100
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,000-9,000 8,000-9,000
Moong Mogar Medium 7,000-7,700 7,000-7,700
Moong dal Chilka New 6,800-8,000 6,800-8,000
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,300-9,000 8,500-9,000
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 8,000-9,000 8,000-9,000
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-7,200 6,200-7,200
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,900-5,500 4,900-5,500
Mot (100 INR/KG) 5,800-6,800 5,800-6,800
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,700-5,000
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 6,850-7,100 6,850-7,100
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,250-2,350 2,250-2,350
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,650-2,750 2,650-2,750
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,550-2,650 2,550-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,450 2,300-2,450
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-4,000 3,200-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,600-3,100 2,600-3,100
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice BPT best new (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,600 3,200-3,600
Rice BPT medium new(100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,100 3,000-3,100
Rice Swarna best new (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,700 2,500-2,700
Rice Swarna medium new (100 INR/KG)2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Rice HMT best new (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,200 4,000-4,200
Rice HMT medium new (100 INR/KG) 3,500-3,700 3,500-3,700
Rice Shriram best new(100 INR/KG) 4,600-5,000 4,600-5,000
Rice Shriram med new (100 INR/KG) 4,200-4,500 4,200-4,500
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,200 5,000-7,200
Rice Chinnor best new 100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,500 5,400-5,500
Rice Chinnor medium new(100 INR/KG)5,000-5,200 5,000-5,200
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 33.3 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 19.8 degree Celsius Rainfall :
Nil FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be
around 33 degree Celsius and 20 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.—not
available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices,
but included in market prices)
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Rice floor price set at K500,000
for every 100 baskets
THIHA KO KO, HTOO THANT 16 OCT 2019
Photo: EPA
The
basic reference price for paddy will be maintained at K 500,000 for 100 baskets
of monsoon paddy grown in 2019 and summer paddy to be cultivated in 2020,
according to an October 15 announcement released by the government’s Leading
Committee for Farmers Rights Protection and Interests Promotion.
At
that level, the reference price, or floor price, is expected to be fair and
supportive of sustainable development across the whole rice supply chain and in
accordance with the Law of Protection of Farmer Rights, the committee said in
its statement.
“The
basic reference price of 100 baskets of paddy, each basket weighing 46 pounds,
will be K500,000 if the grains have moisture content of 14 percent, are free of
dust, sand, gravel, and meet the set standards,” the announcement stated.
Farmers
facing difficulties selling their produce at the floor price can also contact
the township representatives of the Myanmar Rice Federation.
The
government first set a basic reference price for paddy at K500,000 per 100
baskets in 2018.
U
Myo Tint Tun, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock,
and Irrigation, explained that the floor price will be the benchmark price used
for trade should the market price for paddy fall below K500,000.
Currently,
the price of high quality Pawsan paddy grown in this year ranges between
K800,000 and K1.2 million for 100 baskets. “The floor price announcement will
ensure that the price for lower-grade Emata paddy will not fall below K500,000
per 100 baskets,” U Aung Than Oo, vice chair of the Myanmar Rice Federation
told the Myanmar Times.
At
the moment, Emata paddy which meets the 14pc moisture content requirement
fetches up toK520,000 per 100 baskets in the market. For paddy with higher
moisture content, the price is now K450,000 per 100 baskets, U Aung Than Oo
said.
The
cost of production for paddy is around K 350,000 for 100 baskets, according to
Myanmar Rice Federation.
While
the basic reference price was welcome, some farmers said difficulties, such as
getting the right weighing equipment, linger. “It isn’t easy for us to weigh
the goods with platform scales as some of us don’t even have those measuring
devices,” said Ko Myo Win from Lewe township in Nay Pyi Taw.
U
Sein Win, Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Maubin Constituency of Ayeyarwady Region, said
setting the floor price at K 500,000 will not solve the daily necessities of
farmers but that the announcement will reduce protests of low paddy prices
before next year’s General Election.
Innovation buzz: Drones help Ghana's farmers ward off birds -
and drought risks
ASUTSUARE, Ghana (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ephraim Kofi
Kenney does not like to work in the fields scaring pests away. But today he
must.
A flock of migratory birds has repeatedly invaded his parents’
rice plot outside Accra, Ghana’s capital, and the 16-year-old has been tasked
with keeping the invaders away from the young crop.
If he fails, there will be no harvest on the one-acre
(half-hectare) farm this season.
“This work makes me very tired. I can lose my voice because of
shouting at the birds,” said the youth, as he tugged at a rope attached to a
bell he was using to scare off the hungry creatures.
“I wish there was a way to make it easier.”
Nearby, farmers and researchers are experimenting with one
possible answer: A drone that can help farmers protect their crops from the
effects of climate change and ward off hungry birds at the same time.
In a project run by the Netherlands-based Technical Centre for
Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) rice farmers are being taught how to
use drones to carry out jobs such as spraying fertilizer more efficiently and
mapping scarce water sources, said George Madjitey, CEO of GEM Industrial
Solutions.
But there turns out to be a bonus: The drones can emit a noise
to keep the birds from undoing all the farmers’ hard work, said Madjitey, whose
social enterprise is one of the local firms supplying drones for the project.
The drones cannot operate at all times - but they can help cut
down on the need for work like Kenney’s, which can keep young people away from
their studies.
As climate change brings more unpredictable and extreme weather,
small-scale farmers are increasingly turning to technology to help them find
ways to keep their farms sustainable, agricultural experts say.
While drones have become a staple in farming tool kits in many
parts of the world, Ghana’s rice farmers are for the first time learning how
the devices can help them adapt to the prolonged droughts the country is
experiencing.
With dry spells killing crops and drying natural sources of food
across Africa, migratory birds now spend more time feeding on grain fields they
come across because they don’t know how long it will be before their next meal,
said Kunga Ngece, a Nairobi-based development expert.
According to Madjitey, a single drone can scare away birds on a
farm as large as three acres (1.2 hectares).
“The drone makes work easier for farmers because it can operate
over a wide range of land. Also, the children are able to stay at home with their
families and do their homework instead of being on the farm,” he said.
COMPLEX PROBLEMS
According to Ghana’s minister of food and agriculture, Owusu
Afriyie Akoto, about 80% of the country’s farmers have been impacted by drought
this year.
Crop yields have dropped by about 7% since a decade ago, and the
country loses more than $200 million every year to droughts and flooding, he
said in a press conference during the 2019 African Green Revolution Forum held
in Accra.
Since the CTA launched its Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the
Ground project in Ghana three years ago, starting with cassava and cashew nut
farmers, more than 2,800 farmers in rural Ghana have become involved, Madjitey
said.
Rice farmers have been included since September, he said.
When farmers join the project, they organise into cooperatives
of about 100 people. Each cooperative then pays for, uses and maintains a set
of drones, which can cost upwards of $1,000 each, he said.
The farmers are grouped by neighborhood, so a single drone can cover
two or three farms each time it goes on a flight, said.
Usually, one or two farmers in each cooperative are trained to
use the drones and they operate the devices for all the farmers in the group,
he added.
“This ensures the technology reaches as many of them as
possible,” Madjitey said, as he walked around an irrigation project in Kpong,
one village involved in the drone effort.
The use of drones in agriculture is part of a global move toward
technical innovations that allow farmers to work faster and more efficiently.
According to a report on the digitalization of agriculture in
Africa published by the CTA in June, technology can be a “game changer” in
supporting and accelerating the industry across the continent.
“With so much at stake, it is no surprise that most African
countries have prioritized agricultural transformation as a key pillar of their
national strategies,” added the report.
Agnes Kalibata, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution
in Africa, which works with small-scale farmers, said the continent’s farmers
have long lagged behind the rest of the world when it comes to technological
innovation.
“Africa has been going round and round in circles, but digital
innovations now present an opportunity to change things. Drones are helping
farmers solve complex problems in a simple way,” Kalibata told the Thomson
Reuters Foundation.
For example, she noted, drones can be used to collect field data
- such as crop inventories or the status of irrigation infrastructure - over a
wide area.
This data can help farmers and policymakers plan for and adapt
to the ongoing effects of climate change, she said.
YOUNG INNOVATORS
Helping farmers adapt to climate change also presents new
business and job opportunities, said Giacomo Rambaldi, head of the drone
project at CTA.
Since its launch, Eyes in the Sky has been working with business
startups run by young people in more than 20 Africa countries, he explained.
The project trains youth in rural areas to operate
agribusinesses, such as creating and selling innovations that can improve
production for smallholder farmers.
“Some of them are doing really well. They are employing other
people and they have quite successful operations,” said Rambaldi.
One reason drone technology has not seen more uptake among African
farmers is that many African countries either have no laws regulating the
operation of drones or ban their use by civilians, he noted.
In countries like Ghana where drone technology is allowed,
however, some farmers are seeing the benefits.
As well as helping them save time and labor, farmers point out
that drones cut down on the health risks associated with being in daily contact
with chemicals on crops and microbes in muddy fields.
“Drones have taken away all these
discomforts,” said Susan Fiebor, a farmer in the village of Asutsuare.
Reporting by Kagondu Njagi ;
editing by Jumana Farouky and Laurie Goering: Please credit the Thomson Reuters
Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian
news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property
rights.
Dept proposes reducing rice farming areas for upcoming
crop
October, 16/2019 -
20:32
Mekong Delta provinces have been
advised to reduce rice farming areas and focus on more profitable products
because of the threats of saline intrusion and drought. — VNA/VNS
Photo Trường Giang
MEKONG
DELTA — The area for rice farming in the Mekong Delta and Southeast Việt
Nam should be reduced for the upcoming winter-spring rice crop to lessen
the negative impact of saline intrusion, according to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development's Department of Crop Production.The 2019-20 winter-spring rice crop is facing complex hydro-meteorological conditions and a high probability of salt intrusion in the dry season in the Delta, reported the Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper.
Salt intrusion might also occur sooner and affect more land than usual, which could affect irrigation systems' ability to withdraw water.
The department has also proposed sowing less rice seeds for the crop, which would result in a lower output. They also advised farmers to take into account that the pest, the brown planthopper, is expected to appear during the rice sowing season.
Lê Quốc Doanh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the water level was falling and the risk of saline intrusion and drought was increasing.
Provinces should sow seeds earlier in October to avoid salt intrusion, and coastal areas should focus on rice strains that are more resilient to salt and take less time to grow, as well as apply solutions to save water.
Rice farming areas that provide low economic value should grow more profitable products, according to the ministry.
The Department of Crop Production said that around 722,000ha of rice were sown in the Mekong Delta's autumn-winter crop, which was 9,800ha less year-on-year. The output was around 3.9 million tonnes, or 38,900 tonnes less than last year.
So far in 2019, Southeast Việt Nam and Mekong Delta have produced around 25.7 million tonnes of rice, or 197,900 tonnes less than the same period of 2018.
The department said the rice farming areas in the two regions fell by 41,000ha after a switch towards growing products of higher economic value. — VNS
Jan-Sep rice exports plummet
By Dat Nguyen
October 16, 2019 | 11:27 am GMT+7
A woman dries rice in Binh Da Village on the outskirts of Hanoi.
Photo by Reuters/Kham.
Vietnam’s rice exports value fell 9.8 percent
year-on-year to $2.24 billion in the first 9 months as demand from China and
other major markets dwindled.
The country's 5-percent broken rice
price fell to $325 per ton last month, a 12-year low, according to the Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Nguyen Quoc Toan, head of the
ministry's department of processing and agricultural market development, said
that China has been expanding import markets, tapping new ones like Myanmar and
Cambodia, making it more difficult for Vietnam to compete.
China has also tightened its import standards to ensure safety and quality,
which some Vietnamese rice exporters have not met, he added.
Other officials said that other
major markets, such as Indonesia and Bangladesh, have also cut their imports as
world economic growth slows down, leading to lower demand.
Toan said that Vietnam needs to
diversify its market and export more to the Philippines, the largest buyer of
Vietnamese rice, as well as Indonesia and Africa.
Last year, Vietnam exported $3.03
billion worth of rice, up 16 percent from 2017, MARD data shows.
PHL urges
Asean+3 nations to develop new rice varieties
October 16, 2019
Photo shows NSIC Rc 222, one of the rice varieties developed by
the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). NSIC Rc 222 is known to have
“moderate” resistance to pests. To come up with more varieties like Rc 222, the
PhilRice is currently developing an analysis tool dubbed as “RIGby.”
Manila said it is supporting the
proposal of the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) to involve
Southeast Asian nations and their trade partners in the development of new rice
varieties that are resilient to multiple environment stresses.
The Department of Agriculture
(DA) said the new varieties will help increase rice production amid the
challenges presented by climate change and the expansion in the population of
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
“The Philippines, being the host
country of Irri, will reiterate its strong support to the institute’s proposal
to the 41st Asean Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (Amaf) Meeting, hoping
that Korea, Japan and China can really come forward, and significantly push
this initiative,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.
Dar went to Brunei Darussalam to
represent the Philippines in the 41st Amaf.
Irri’s proposal hopes to bring
the Asean+3 (South Korea, Japan and China) to be involved in the selection and
the development of new rice varieties that are resilient to multiple
environmental stresses, pest and diseases, thereby elevating the production
capacity in the region.
“We need to combine these
strengths and to have the right rice varieties that can adapt to all potential
scenarios and also meet the market readiness and expectation acknowledging that
in Southeast Asia consumers have particular preferences,” Irri Director General
Matthew Morell said in a statement.
Morell added that the Irri’s proposal
is set to build a comprehensive testing and selection that is also backed up by
training capacity for its national partners.
“We are not just transferring
these new varieties but we are doing it with the national partners for them to
conduct it themselves,” he added.
The Philippines is endorsing
Irri’s proposal during the Amaf meeting and it hopes to secure the strong
support of Japan, South Korea and China.
El Niño episodes in the
Philippines usually wreak havoc on rice production. The destruction rice crops
in 1998 and 2010 forced the country to import some 2 million metric tons (MMT)
of rice. Output fell during those years as El Niño dried up farms and destroyed
standing rice crops.
The rice sector also bore the
brunt of the El Niño episode this year. The dry spell destroyed billions of
worth of unhusked rice and caused farmers to incur losses.
The Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA) said inadequate water supply/rainfall, and the dry spell caused
the harvest of rice to decline in Mimaropa, Bicol region and Western Visayas.
Palay production in January to
June fell by 5.1 percent to 8.269 MMT, from 8.713 MMT in the same period last
year, according to data from the PSA.
Filipino farmers protest as rice
prices drop
Farmers on streets with empty pots to protest new law affecting their
livelihoods
By Liao, Jo-Luen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2019/10/16 20:17
Filipino farmers
protest rice price drop
(By Central News Agency)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Plummeting rice
prices due to cheap imports from Vietnam and Thailand have driven Filipino
farmers to protest at the Department of Agriculture in Manila on Wednesday
(Oct. 16), CNA reported.After implementation of the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL), which cancels limits on rice exports and imports, prices have dropped precipitously. Before the law was applied, rice could sell at 19 (NT$30) to 23 pesos per kilogram, but it is now valued at 7 to 10 pesos, said Cathy Estavillo, spokesperson of rice watch group Bantay Bigas.
Farmers led by the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP), National Federation of Peasant Women (Amihan), Bantay Bigas, and other farmer organizations went on the streets with empty pots and kitchen utensils, protesting that farmers do not have sufficient rice to feed themselves.
About 70 percent of farmers in the Philippines are tenant farmers. The decline in rice prices has greatly affected their livelihood.
Many rural housewives are forced to work as domestic helpers in the cities. Furthermore, families are unable to provide for their children, so they can attend school, CNA quoted Estavillo as saying.
KMP leader and former minister of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Rafael Mariano, said, “World Food Day” has become “World Foodless Day.”
Farmers have said they might not plant rice next season, said Estavillo. She also stated that the fall in rice prices does not benefit consumers since the price is controlled by the manufacturers.
The government has responded to the price drop, and a suggested retail price is under discussion. A petition started by Bantay Bigas and a women’s organization called Gabriela, set to be submitted to Congress in November, is calling for RTL to be revoked, CNA reported.
India injects $30 mln into rice
production in Sierra Leone
Wednesday, 16 October 2019
14:44
(Ecofin
Agency) - India is giving Sierra Leone $30 million to boost rice
production, Venkaiah Naidu, the Indian Vice President, said after a meeting
with the beneficiary country’s President, Julius Maada Bio.
The
money will be pumped into the rice development project ongoing in Tomabom,
according to daily Sierra Leone Telegraph. This project needs a
total of $500 and aims to develop 110,000 ha of rice farms in the focus
region.
To
reach this goal, the government plans to purchase the required machinery and
tools and set up a seed multiplication unit. The construction of access roads
is also planned.
According
to authorities, the project’s completion will push rice production to 1.6 million
tons by 2023, of which 900,000 tons will go for domestic consumption.
95% of tested baby foods contain
toxic metals, report says
6:15 AM, OCTOBER 17, 2019, BY CNN
WIRE
Toxic heavy metals damaging to
your baby’s brain development are likely in the baby food you are feeding your
infant, according to a new investigation published Thursday.
Tests of 168 baby foods from
major manufacturers found 95% contained lead, 73% contained arsenic, 75%
contained cadmium and 32% contained mercury. One fourth of the foods contained
all four heavy metals.
One in five baby foods tested had
over 10 times the 1-ppb limit of lead endorsed by public health advocates,
although experts agree that no level of lead is safe.
The results mimicked a
previous study by the Food and Drug Organization that
found one or more of the same metals in 33 of 39 types of baby food tested.
Foods with the highest risk for
neurotoxic harm were rice-based products, sweet potatoes and fruit juices, the
analysis found.
“Even in the trace amounts found
in food, these contaminants can alter the developing brain and erode a child’s
IQ. The impacts add up with each meal or snack a baby eats,” the report said.
The tests were commissioned by
Healthy Babies Bright Futures, which calls itself an alliance of scientists,
nonprofit organizations and donors trying to reduce exposures to neurotoxic
chemicals during the first months of life.
Rice-based foods
Infant rice cereal, rice dishes
and rice-based snacks topped the list of most toxic foods for babies.
“These popular baby foods are not
only high in inorganic arsenic, the most toxic form of arsenic, but also are
nearly always contaminated with all four toxic metals,” the report said.
Prior research has shown that
even low levels of arsenic exposure can impact a baby’s neurodevelopment.
A 2004 study looked
at children in Bangladesh who were exposed to arsenic in drinking water, and it
found that they scored significantly lower on intellectual tests. A meta-analysis of
studies on the topic found that a 50% increase in arsenic
levels in urine would be associated with a 0.4-point decrease in the IQ of
children between the ages of 5 and 15.
Arsenic is a natural element
found in soil, water and air, with the inorganic form being the most toxic.
(“Inorganic” is a chemical term and has nothing to do with the method of
farming.)
Because rice is grown in water,
it is especially good at absorbing inorganic arsenic and, according to the Food
and Drug Administration, has the highest concentration of any food.
And in this case, brown and wild
rice are the worst offenders, because the milling process used to create white
rice removes the outer layers, where much of the arsenic concentrates.
And you can’t rely on organic
either. A 2012 study found
that brown rice syrup, a frequent sweetener in organic foods, was also a source
of significant levels of arsenic. One “organic” milk formula marketed to
toddlers had levels of inorganic arsenic that were six times the levels
currently considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
In the Healthy Babies analysis,
four of seven rice cereals contained the most toxic form of arsenic in levels
higher than the FDA’s proposed action level of 100 parts per billion (ppb).
Action needed
Urgent action is needed by major
baby food companies and the FDA, the report said. While the FDA has been
investigating how to reduce exposure and some levels of arsenic in rice and
juice are lower than a decade ago, exposure is still too high.
“When FDA acts, companies
respond. We need the FDA to use their authority more effectively, and much more
quickly, to reduce toxic heavy metals in baby foods,” said study author Jane
Houlihan, research director for Healthy Babies Better Futures, in a statement.
What can parents do
The analysis looked at which baby
foods are highest risk, and offered safer alternatives.
Puff rice snacks and cereals
Rice cereal is the top source of
arsenic in a baby’s diet because it is often used as a first food; rice puffs
and other rice flour snacks also contain high levels. Healthy Babies suggested
cereals low in arsenic, such as oatmeal and multigrain cereals, and rice-free
packaged snacks.
Pediatrician Tanya Altmann, author of “What
to Feed Your Baby” echoes the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics,
which advises parents to offer a wide variety of first foods including grains
such as oats, barley, wheat and quinoa.
“Best first foods for infants are
avocado, pureed veggies, peanut-butter oatmeal and salmon,” Altmann said. “They
all provide important nutrients that babies need, help develop their taste buds
to prefer healthy food and may decrease food allergies.”
She believes meats are a better
source of iron and zinc for babies than rice cereal, “so I haven’t been
recommending rice cereal as a first food for several years.”
If you do choose to cook rice for
your toddler, Healthy Babies recommends cooking rice in extra water and pouring
it off before eating. That will cut arsenic levels by 60%, they say, based on
FDA studies.
“For the lowest levels, buy
basmati rice grown in California, India, and Pakistan. White rice has less
arsenic than brown rice,” the report said.
Teething foods
Teething biscuits can contain
arsenic, lead and cadmium, the report said. Instead, soothe your baby’s pain
with frozen bananas, a peeled and chilled cucumber or a clean, wet washcloth —
but be sure to watch for choking.
Drinks
Juice is often the go-to drink
for parents, but it’s not a good option, says the American Academy of
Pediatrics. Juices are high in sugar, lack fiber, and can contribute to tooth
decay and later obesity. Apple, pear, grape and other fruit juices can also
contain some lead and arsenic, so frequent use is a top source of these heavy
metals.
Instead, experts say water and
milk are best choices, depending on the age of the child. Babies under six
months only need breast milk and formula. The drinks of choice for a child’s
second year of life should be water and whole milk. Between age 2 and 5 parents
should move to skim or low-fat milk and keep pushing water to hydrate their
children.
At all ages, juice should be kept
to a minimum. One tip: add water to make the juice last longer and always be
sure the drink is 100% juice.
Fruits and veggies
While sweet potatoes and carrots
are great sources of vitamin A and other key nutrients, the report found they
are also high in lead and cadmium. Go ahead and feed your child these veggies,
but be sure to add many other colorful fruits and vegetables to add variety.
Central Luzon farmers seek help as palay
price falls
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 05:04 AM October 17, 2019
FARMERS’ VOICE Farmers in Central Luzon
stage a protest in Nueva Ecija to call the government’s attention to their plight.
—CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CABANATUAN
CITY, Nueva Ecija, Philippines — About 100 farmers in Central Luzon staged
protest actions here to call on the government to repeal the rice
liberalization law (Republic Act No. 11203) that they blamed for the low buying
price of palay (unhusked rice).
The
protesters, who belonged to the farmers’ coalition Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa
Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), camped out at the National Food Authority (NFA) regional
office here on Tuesday before marching to the public market the following day.
They said
the average farm gate price of palay in Nueva Ecija province remained at P11 to
P12 per kilogram due to the influx of imported grains in the market. (See
related story in Business, Page B4.)
Nueva Ecija
is one of the major rice-producing provinces in the country.
Ignacio
Ortiz, chair of AMGL-Nueva Ecija, said the downtrend in the palay prices had
buried farmers in debt and led to their hunger.
He said the
NFA should buy rice directly from farmers at P20 per kg to help them cope with
the rising production cost.
In Tarlac
and Pampanga provinces, the buying palay price has dropped to P10 a kg.
Mechanization
Farmers also
deplored the government’s farm mechanization program, which, they said, was not
aligned with their needs.
“[Farm] mechanization
is useless if we will lose our farmlands,” Ortiz said, adding that they have
been pushing for agricultural reforms that will benefit landless farmers.
AMGL members
also held protest rallies in front of the offices of the Philippine Center for
Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) and the Philippine Rice
Research Institute (PhilRice) in the Science City of Muñoz.
PhilMech is
in charge of developing farm machines for agriculture mechanization while
PhilRice is the country’s prime agency for rice research.
Both offices are tasked with providing
skills training to farmers with the implementation of the P10-billion rice
competitiveness enhancement fund. —Armand Galang
PhilRice, Philmech train rice specialists, extension
workers
By
Marilyn Galang October
16, 2019, 7:37 pm
FIELD
TRAINING. Rice
specialists and farmer-leaders in Nueva Ecija are trained on the use of a drum
seeder, a piece of gender-friendly farm equipment for direct seeding. The
activity is part of the training being conducted by the Philippine Rice
Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Philippine Center for Postharvest
Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) to help farmers become
competitive. (File photo by PhilRice)
SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija — The Philippine Rice
Research Institute (PhilRice) and Philippine Center for Postharvest Development
and Mechanization (PhilMech) are conducting various training for rice
specialists, extension workers, and farmer-leaders to make farmers competitive.
The move is in line with the Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) program of the Department of
Agriculture.
Dr. Glenn Ilar, PhilRice training
coordinator, said on Tuesday that he training will make rice specialists,
extension workers and farmer-leaders in educating farmers cope up with the
challenge on the availability of cheaper imported rice in the local market.
“The training for farmer-leaders
and extension workers of Luzon amplifies the program’s extension services.
Farmer-leaders and extension workers are now updated on farm technologies and
techniques, especially on the use and production of quality seeds and farm
machines, which they will impart to the farmers by conducting Farmers Field
School,” he said.
Ilar said at least 30 personnel
from the Agricultural Training Institute, regional field offices of the DA,
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and PhilRice underwent a
rice specialist training course from April 29 to Oct. 18 in preparation for the
implementation of the RCEF program in their areas.
He said that PhilRice has also
recently trained about 85 regional and provincial RCEF coordinators who will
assist in the RCEF seed distribution program.
“Farmer-trainees shared rice
production-related technologies such as pest and nutrient management to their
fellow farmers and that they are also tapped to teach young farmers,” he said.
Ilar added that PhilRice has also
trained rebel returnees, military personnel, retirees, and out-of-school-youth
on rice and rice-based production.
With funding for six years, RCEF
serves as farmers’ safety net under the Rice Tariffication Law, in which
collected tariffs are used to improve Filipino rice farmers’
competitiveness. (PNA)
Rice price guarantee seeded with B9.4bn
published : 16 Oct 2019 at 04:01
newspaper
section: Business
writer:
Phusadee Arunmas
Commerce Minister Jurin
Laksanawisit (centre) presided over Tuesday's kick-off ceremony for the income
guarantee scheme for rice farmers. The programme pays 9.4 billion baht directly
to 349,000 registered
farmers.
The rice price guarantee scheme started on Tuesday, with
eligible farmers set to receive the difference when market prices fall below
the predetermined benchmark.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the state-owned
Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) transferred 9.4
billion baht in compensation directly to the accounts of 349,000 registered
farmers.
The compensation will be paid mainly to growers of white
rice paddy and fragrant Pathum Thani rice paddy if the market prices stay below
a certain level.
Mr Jurin said the government is scheduled to pay the
compensation every 15 days until the end of the harvest season.
On Aug 27, the cabinet approved a package worth 59 billion
baht in price guarantees and subsidy schemes for rice and oil palm. Of the
total budget, 13.3 billion baht is for rice price guarantees, 21.4 billion baht
for oil palm and 25 billion baht to subsidise production costs for rice
farmers.
The rice price guarantee covers five types of rice: white
rice paddy with 15% moisture, hom mali rice paddy,
fragrant Pathum Thani rice paddy with 15% moisture, glutinous rice paddy with
15% moisture and provincial fragrant rice paddy.
Under the scheme, running from October this year to
October 2020, farmers will see the price of white rice paddy with 15% moisture
guaranteed at 10,000 baht per tonne, but the guaranteed rice cannot exceed 30
tonnes per family or 40 rai.
The guaranteed price is set at 15,000 baht a tonne for hom
mali rice paddy, but limited to 14 tonnes per family or 40 rai, while fragrant
Pathum Thani rice paddy with 15% moisture is set at 11,000 baht a tonne with a
limit of 25 tonnes per family or 40 rai.
The price of glutinous rice paddy with 15% moisture is set
at 12,000 baht a tonne for a limit of 16 tonnes or 40 rai, while the price of
provincial fragrant rice paddy is set at 14,000 baht at tonne for a limit of 16
tonnes per family or 40 rai.
The scheme will be run by the BAAC.
Under the programme, farmers will be paid the difference
only when prices fall below the benchmark.
Pramote Charoensilp, the president of the Thai
Agriculturalists Association, said most farmers felt satisfied with the
government's scheme, but he argued that the government should compensate
farmers at 2,000 baht per rai.
He said farmers do not need to monitor paddy prices every
15 days.
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