Friday, November 15, 2019

14th November 2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

14th November,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter https://app.box.com/s/2yjanwe3d9nwfhi0jd5es1ly9x9xz6pq


State sets aside Sh200 million to buy rice for grain reserve

For the first time in history, the Strategic Food Reserve will buy rice from farmers

In Summary
• Kenya produces 152,000 metric tonnes annually against a consumption of 650,000 metric tonnes.
• 75 per cent of rice consumed in the country is imported at a value of over Sh22.5 billion per year.
RICE BOOM: Farmers pack their produce at the Ahero Rice Irrigation Scheme in Nyando, Kisumu county. China will support rice projects in Kenya.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
The government has set aside Sh200 million to buy rice for the Strategic Food Reserve.
This is the first time the state will be buying rice for the grain reserve which has only been buying maize from farmers in the past years.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri said the government will purchase reasonable quantities just like it does with maize.
While visiting the expansive Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kiunjuri said officials from the SFR board will be visiting rice producers in all the schemes in the coming days to discuss the prices.
Food Reserve board chairman Noah Wekesa yesterday confirmed that the government has set aside Sh200 million to buy rice from farmers to help stabilise prices in the market.
“The money has been set aside to buy rice during this season to help stabilise the prices of rice in the market. This is also because besides maize, rice is also an important food in the SFR,” Wekesa told the Star on the phone.
SFR also purchases and stores other food products like beans, corned beef and powdered milk besides maize and rice for emergencies.
Rice farmers have been grappling with low prices due to an influx of cheap imported rice mainly from Pakistan.
A kilo of rice is currently retailing at between Sh140 and Sh150.
Donald Munene, a rice farmer from Mwea, said the imported rice has interfered with the market prices. He said farmers have not been able to reap the benefits.
“We have been farming rice for decades and it is high time the government bought the produce just like it does with maize farmers. We urge the government to set good prices for us,” Munene said.
John Kimani, a rice breeder from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, said growth rate in rice consumption is high at 13 per cent compared to maize which is at one per cent and wheat at four per cent.
“Production of rice in Kenya is approximately 152,000 metric tonnes, while consumption is above 650,000 metric tonnes per year, leading to over 75 per cent importation valued at Sh22.5 billion per year,” he said.
The CS assured farmers that the ministry will work with county governments from all rice producing counties to improve road netorks in schemes that have been destroyed by the ongoing rains.
Kiunjuri said even if agriculture is devolved, the national government will chip in to help farmers reduce post-harvest losses in the paddies.
Farmers in Mwea Irrigation Scheme have been affected by the ongoing rains and this has interfered with the harvesting of the grain, which accounts for 80 per cent of all the rice produced in the country.

Indonesians Quitting 'rice Addiction' Over Diabetes Fears

Indonesian Mirnawati once ate rice with every meal, but its link to diabetes convinced her to join a growing movement to quit a staple food in the third biggest rice-consuming nation on Earth

Jakarta, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2019 ) :Indonesian Mirnawati once ate rice with every meal, but its link to diabetes convinced her to join a growing movement to quit a staple food in the third biggest rice-consuming nation on Earth.
As World Diabetes Day is held Thursday, the Southeast Asian nation is struggling to tackle a disease that affects as many as 20 million of its 260 million people, and has emerged as one of its deadliest killers behind stroke and heart disease.
But kicking the rice habit isn't easy, with Indonesia's favourite dish nasi goreng (mixed fried rice) sold everywhere, and the grain woven into the culinary fabric of a nation whose late dictator transformed it into a must-have meal.
"In my first week without rice I felt like I was being possessed by ghosts," said Mirnawati, a 34-year-old former construction company employee who goes by one name.
"But now I'll never go back to it," she added, about four months into her new diet.
Complications from diabetes, which affects some 425 million globally, can lead to heart attacks, stroke, blindness and even limb amputation.
Most of the world's sufferers live in low and middle-income countries like Indonesia.
Rice is packed with fibre and key vitamins. But an unbalanced diet that relies too heavily on refined white rice has been linked to an increasing global prevalence of diabetes and insulin resistance as it raises blood sugar levels, according to experts.
That is what led Mirnawati -- along with her mother and cousin -- to drop rice in favour of more vegetables, meat and nuts.
It is a step that an increasing number of Indonesians are taking in an informal 'no rice' movement, although there are no official numbers.
The push, partly driven by social media, has been backed by local governments including cultural capital Yogyakarta which last year rolled out a campaign to convince residents to go without rice at least one day a week.

From stubble-burning to smog

Smog has arrived once again – as it comes down this time of the year. Children have not gone to school. Air flights and normal road traffic will probably be disturbed.
We had discussed in this space earlier the role of petroleum, automotive vehicles and road traffic in causing air pollution and smog in Punjab and elsewhere. In the following, we will deal with the role and impact of stubble burning and will explore ways and means of handling and mitigating the issue as well.
The issue is full of controversies. On both sides of the border in our region, blame is being leveled that the stubble burning pollution is travelling from the other side. Both may be right as the area is contiguous and the wind direction keeps changing.
At least in India, farmers are downplaying the role of stubble burning in causing smog and are shifting the blame on other sectors. They are also contesting the role of machines in recycling stubble into the soil – terming it ineffective, expensive and unaffordable. High courts have been issuing edicts banning stubble burning but the ban has not been effective. A subsidy of IRS100 per quintal (100 kg) has also been ordered by the courts to help farmers meet the expenses of machinery in recycling the stubble.
There is no doubt that stubble burning is not the sole reason for smog. Traffic emissions, brick kilns, industrial pollution especially burning of dirty fuels and no pollution controls, dusty construction activities, all are contributors to the problem. However, in the autumn when rice is harvested on both sides of the border and the stubble has to be cleared within fifteen days in order to be able to sow a new crop – both the volume and the time enhance the intensity of the problem. So the cheapest and fastest way is to burn the stubble.
Expensive equipment and technology is around which can be used to clear the stubble without burning it. But only rich farmers can afford it. However, without a useful use of the stubble, nobody would have the incentive to invest in it. Indian Punjab alone produces 20 million tons of stubble, most of which is burnt in a month in October. A recent study in Pakistan estimates stubble burning at some two million tons appears to be an underestimation for a six million ton annual production of rice.
Overall, 60-80 million tons of agricultural waste and residue is generated in Pakistan annually. This can be a resource rather than a liability. It contains energy as is readily seen by the burning flames. Instead of wasting it, it can be usefully employed and can be used in producing electricity, and in the industrial and domestic sectors. Bio-fuels are a new product that is being increasingly produced from rice straw and other agricultural waste.
Raw stubble is, however, a liability and its burning is inconvenient and wasteful. For efficient and convenient use, it is converted into briquettes or pellets. The biomass is to be dried, crushed and pressed into pellets with or without the help of binding additives. Densification reduces volume, reducing transportation costs, and increases volumetric calorific value. It also slows down burning; raw biomass burns too fast making it uncontrollable and wasteful. Also storage becomes easier reducing volume requirements and increasing stackability. While biomass/stubble may be generated in a short time, it cannot be consumed instantaneously; it has to be stored for later sustained consumption.
Raw biomass is currently used by the rural poor in domestic cooking and even heating. In its raw form, it causes indoor pollution affecting women especially. In pellet form, it is less polluting and manageable. All rural areas are not equally endowed agriculturally. Pellets can make biomass transportable and tradable and converted into a saleable commodity. Currently, it has no value, except in some special cases such as Bagasse. If it has a value, it won’t be so mercilessly burnt as stubble is burnt currently.
Only 20 percent of the population in Pakistan has access to gas where a pipeline network is available. In other areas, charcoal, LPG and kerosene are used which are much more expensive. Gas is subsidized (cross subsidy) to small and medium consumers. Gas availability is going down and it is getting costlier, especially due to the advent of LNG.
Biomass pellets can be affordable. Biomass pellets have almost the same energy content as Lignite (Thar coal). Thar Lignite is being produced at a cost of $47 per ton. The government of Pakistan could encourage small, medium and large-scale utilization of biomass including stubble – paddy waste. Small pellet producing plants can be installed on farmlands. Model and demonstrating plants could be installed and easy credit terms provided.
Third parties like the cement industry can install medium to large sized plants. Some progressive cement producers are already lifting municipal solid waste to burn in their kilns. Brick kilns can be encouraged to use biomass briquettes in place of coal and other dirty coals. Thus biomass briquettes can be introduced as another fuel in the fuel market of the country which would improve the quality of life and contribute to rural economies. A curse can be converting into blessing.
Ethanol production from food crops (first generation technology) is not new. However, producing ethanol from Cellulosic materials like rice straw is a relatively new phenomenon. Rice straw can now be converted into biogas and bio liquid fuels. In Italy, Romania, the US and Brazil, rice straw is utilized in producing bio-ethanol. Ethanol is mixed with gasoline in without affecting engine performance or requiring modification.
Policies are in place in most advanced countries requiring 5-10 percent ethanol in gasoline. It is a separate matter that Pakistan produces ethanol but exports it. India is going ahead with several bio-refineries base on rice straw. It is time to examine the feasibility of a similar bio-refinery in Pakistan. It would produce much required petrol, save foreign exchange and would provide incentives to farmers not to burn rice straw. However, varying and low oil prices have put all such proposals into question. Bio-char (a fertilizer) can also be produced from rice straw and other agricultural waste. Gas and bio-CNG is another option and attractive enough in the context of falling local gas production. Agri-biomass including raw straw is often mixed with sewage to produce biogas. This partly solves sewerage issue as well.
Economics is the final constraint in technology choice. Economics varies regionally with location and resource endowment. If smog and pollution health effects are internalized in economic calculations, the aforementioned solutions may possibly become more attractive.
Finally, it is said that it is easier to build and finance a bio-refinery than to collect rice straw and biomass from the farmer, as he has his own constraints and economics. Capital investment in collection by third parties and conversion of rice straw into useful products as mentioned earlier offers a practical solution. If all of it is found too difficult to implement, de-zoning, prohibiting rice production near large cities may have to be introduced. There can be alternative crops. Health is more important than money.
The writer is a former member of the Energy Planning Commission and author of ‘Pakistan’s Energy Issues: Success and Challenges’.
Email: akhtarali1949@gmail.com

Rs 40,000 Fine Imposed On Two Hoarders In Multan

The district administration continued operation against hoarding here Wednesday and imposed heavy fine on two hoarders

MULTAN, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Nov, 2019 ) : The district administration continued operation against hoarding here Wednesday and imposed heavy fine on two hoarders.
 On instructions from DC Amir Khatak, Naib Tahsildar Hafiz Iqbal Kathia raided a godown at Suraj Kund road and imposed Rs 25,000 fine on the owner Shamsher Ali on hoarding hundreds of rice bags.
The official also raided another godown at the main foodgrain market and imposed Rs 15,000 fine on the godown owner for hoarding rice, said a press release.

Ombion: Food sovereignty

Perspective
November 13, 2019
THE recent news reports that Philippines is now the top global importer of rice at 3.1M metric tons (MT) this year from 1.9M MT in 2018 is chilling and like a death foretold for our agriculture.

All the while our people were made to believe by government technocrats and so called experts and scientists of the Department of Agriculture (DA) that we are nearing to become food self-reliant. The past DA Secretary Manny Piñol was even so arrogantly emphatic on this claim.

With the “unli rice” so popular now in big food chains and small restaurants, who would say that our country is having a food and rice crisis?

Yes, our domestic market is now flooded with rice, vegetables, fruits, spices, and other basic crops.

A big percentage of these, however, are imported and the government pays them in dollars, commissions of state officials and private brokers not included.

We also don’t know whether they are healthy and safe or not especially in view of the proliferation of GMO and toxic products produced by multinational corporations.

Importation gives government justifications to increase taxes, let loose food price increases without government price stabilization measure.

Importation is also a big racket business for state officials and their private cohorts. They illegally earn millions in this operations from big traders and importers.

Traditionally, our farmers produce them- practically all that is in our food system, from farms to market, and everything we put on our dining table.

In rural and urban areas, families with small piece of lands usually grow what they eat, buying only non agri based and personal care items.

This practice and lifestyle are no longer true today. People buy everything they need, in malls and convenient stores. Social and tri media have played important role in changing their food 
habits, hence their mindset and values too.

This is exactly the effect of the underlying philosophy of government’s neoliberal policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization.

Liberalization of agriculture is the government policy. It does not want this nation to feed itself from its own rich productive lands but depend on imports, on leasing our lands to foreign companies for other non agri use.

In the case of rice, farms hectarage planted to rice drops almost every year by .4-1%, and this year at 4.7M has from almost 5M has in 2018. And with Rice Tariffication Act in full swing, let’s expect more imports in years ahead.

They argue that it is better and cheaper to import food than produce our own at higher production cost, like in rice, sugar, corn, vegetables, and livestock.

That’s their concept of food security, it doesn’t matter where it is produced, so long as it is available anytime.

True, we may have enough at some point in time, but we can’t be assured all the time, because international conditions, laws and agreements and relations are changing. More countries are increasingly protective of their own economies to avoid national food crisis, financial crisis, and many other crisis.

Sooner or later we can’t just imports what we want or anytime we want, because the government will be spending more for every import it makes due to protectionism.

The strong and lasting position we should take is work for our food sovereignty, which means, set our own national policies on agriculture, disband private land monopolies and distribute to real tillers, invest and modernize our agriculture, support our agricultural forces specially small agricultural producers, grow organic food in each province and ban GMO food, and value agriculture as a great national asset, a science and a noble profession.

When our nation grows and feeds on our own food, and people have access to safe healthy and cheaper food anytime they need them, and stops enriching the super malls and multinational food companies, that’s the time we can truly claim we are food secured and sovereign.

Government rice tariff take from traders hits P20.72 billion in October
November 14, 2019
This file photo shows different varieties of rice being sold at a local market in Manila.
THE government’s rice tariff collection as of end-October has reached P20.727 billion, of which P11.44 billion will be allocated for the government’s Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for next year, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Do-minguez III revealed this in his speech during the 11th World Rice Conference in Makati City on Wednesday.
In a presentation, Dominguez said the government collected P9.283 billion in rice tariffs from January 1 to March 4, or prior to the implementation of the rice trade liberalization (RTL) law.
Following the effectivity of the new law, the government earned P11.444 billion from rice imports. Of the amount, P10 billion will constitute RCEF while the excess amount will bankroll the government’s cash assistance program for rice farmers. In a separate presentation at the same event, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla disclosed that total rice imports as of end-October has reached 2.991 million metric tons (MMT).
Citing data from the Bureau of Customs, Sombilla said 1.102 MMT of imported rice entered the country prior to the implementation of the RTL law while the remaining volume of 1.888 MMT were imported under the new rice trade regime.
Sombilla said total rice imports as of October 31 is already “150 percent higher than the average importation in the same period of the previous 10 years.”
The RCEF is a six-year P10-billion annual funding created by the RTL law to bankroll programs that would provide farmers with high-quality seeds, machinery, easier credit access and relevant training to improve their productivity and become competitive against Vietnam and Thailand.
The fund will come from tariffs collected by the government from rice imports. The amount in excess of P10 billion will be allocated for programs like crop diversification and cash transfers.  The Department of Agriculture earlier said that rice tariffs collection this year under the RTL law would reach P13 billion.
Cambodia's rice export to China up 45 pct in 10 months
Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-14 00:04:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan
PHNOM PENH, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 184,844 tons of milled rice to China during the first 10 months of 2019, up 45 percent over the same period last year, said an official report released on Wednesday.
China is still the largest buyer of Cambodian rice during the January-October period this year, said the report of the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export.
Export to China accounted for 40 percent of the country's total rice export, it said.
Song Saran, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, said China is a huge market for Cambodian rice and the kingdom is expected to export a total of 250,000 tons to China this year.
"Chinese dishes and Cambodian rice are best match!" he told Xinhua. "I believe that Cambodian rice will become more and more popular in China in coming years."
Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation shipped 155,950 tons of rice to the European market, down 27 percent, said the report, adding that the European Union (EU)'s market share for Cambodian rice had declined to 34 percent from 49 percent.
The drop in the export to the European market came after the EU imposed earlier this year duties for three years on rice importing from Cambodia in a bid to curb a surge in rice imports from the country and to protect European producers.
According to the report, Cambodia exported a total of 457,940 tons of rice to 59 countries and regions during the first 10 months of this year, up 5.3 percent over the same period last year.
Gov’t on alert on rice smuggling, hoarding
By: Ben O. de Vera - Reporter / @bendeveraINQ
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:24 AM November 14, 2019
With rice imports surging, the government is shoring up tariff collections while also looking into possible hoarding and smuggling amid falling retail prices, according to the head of the Duterte administration’s economic team.
In a speech at the 14th World Rice Conference on Wednesday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said revenues from import tariffs slapped on rice already amounted to P11.4 billion at end-October.
Under Republic Act No. 11203, or the rice tariffication law implemented since March, the following tariff rates apply: 35 percent if rice was imported from Asean; 40 percent if within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 metric tons, from countries outside Asean; and 180 percent if above the MAV and coming from a non-Asean country.
Since collections this year already exceeded the annual P10 billion to be automatically allocated to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, Dominguez said the government had “ample means to do even more to make our agricultural production more efficient.”
Dominguez said the government would extend help to farmers especially affected by the drop in palay prices.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the finance chief said prices had declined to its current average of P15.71 per kilo from its “normal” price of P17.23 during the 2015 to 2017 period.
He said this meant an average loss of P1.52 per kilo. He noted, however, farmers in some provinces even lost P5.63 while others saw a P3.75-increase.
“The government is constantly monitoring location-specific prices so that interventions may be deployed on an evidence-based and tightly targeted manner,” Dominguez said.
To help the suffering, he said the government would be working with lawmakers in providing subsidies via unconditional cash transfers.
The government would also be implementing loan programs and procurement of paddy above production costs, he said.
He also said the government was “closely monitoring possible distortions in the market, particularly the widening gap between farm gate prices for paddy and rice retail prices in specific provinces.”
Government: Law letting unlimited rice imports stays
Published Nov 13, 2019 6:20:05 PM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 13)— Despite supposed flaws in a policy that allows unlimited rice imports, the government is firm on carrying out the Rice Tariffication Act, saying its benefits outweigh perceived disadvantages.
“The government is not inclined to revise, repeal or suspend the Rice Tariffication law,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told rice traders and stakeholders at the 11th Rice Trader World Rice Conference in Makati City on Wednesday.
Dominguez said the law has benefited low-income households that usually set aside a fifth of their budget for the staple. Rice prices have gone down by an average of ₱8 per kilogram since the rice tariffication policy.
He also said the law caused the inflation rate to go down. “We are now well within the government's target range of two to four percent,” Dominguez said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said rice was the primary driver of high inflation in September 2018.
While the government acknowledges that the law has also resulted in lower average farm gate prices of unmilled rice (palay) in some provinces to the detriment of farmers, Dominguez said these are just one of the “temporary transition challenges.”
He said the law has built-in mechanisms that allow authorities to help farmers suffering from more affordable imported rice. These include distributing modern farm equipment and high quality seed, providing training on farming practices as well as interest-free loans.
These would be funded from the rice farmer support fund under the law. The fund will come from rice tariff proceeds.
Dominguez said repealing the rice tariffication law is a step backward for the agriculture industry, possibly resulting in unstable rice supply, high retail prices, profiteering and low productivity.
“It took nearly three decades of long standing resistance to open up the importation process of our stable crop. As a consequence our rice industry stagnated, trapping millions of rice farmers in outdated farming practices and inflicting the cost of inefficiency on our consumers and taxpayers as a whole,” he said.
“This is not the future of our agriculture. We should let the rice tariff do its work and give it time to adjust further,” he added.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez echoed their Cabinet colleague..
Dar said critics should “give the law a chance to be implemented properly.”
However, he said he is open to “adjustments,” and that revisiting the law is not off the table.
Farmers ‘not affected by the rice tariffication law’
Lopez, meanwhile, said farmers are “not affected by the rice tariffication law itself,” referring to the data presented by Dar in the forum.
But he added that it is “too early to tell what the impact really is on the farmers.”
He said “productivity and competitiveness” must be addressed.
Lopez also rejected calls to impose higher tariffs on imported rice, amid the United States’ Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Services’ forecast that the Philippines might be the top importer of the staple by yearend. This is primarily due to the law that opened the country to rice imports. The report also said it could dislodge usual top global rice importer, China.
The Agriculture chief previously noted that there is an oversupply of rice in the country in light of the rice tariffication law.
In January to October this year, private traders have imported 2.99 million metric tons of rice, according to government data.
This prompted the Agriculture department to consider higher rice import taxes in September. The current law provides that tariffs on imported rice should be between 35 and 40 percent. But Dar said Cabinet members rejected the idea.
Another round of cash aid worth ₱3-billion would be provided to rice farmers instead, Dar said.
Gov’t moves to temper rice importation volume
Published November 13, 2019, 10:00 PM
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
The Philippine government has already issued stricter set of guidelines on the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) for imported rice, a move that has already been coordinated with the country’s major rice trading partners, Vietnam and Thailand.
Agriculture Secretary Dr. William D. Dar . (KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU, MB Photo)
This, according to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, should result to a decline in the amount of imported rice that is being brought into the country amid a liberalized regime.At the 11th World Rice Conference, Dar told reporters on Wednesday he already signed a memorandum circular imposing stringent requirements on rice trading.
The circular, which according to Dar is strictly a food safety control measure, will cover heavy metal content, pesticide residue level, extraneous and filth contaminants in the imported rice that is going to be bought from other countries. It also covers the microbiological parameters.
All the traders who will try to obtain SPSIC from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) should take note of all the items written in the circular.
Under the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act (RA) 11203, which allows the entry of more imported rice in the Philippines, local rice traders should only obtain an SPSIC from BPI before they could be allowed to purchase rice abroad. An SPSIC is a certification that rice imports are free from pests and diseases.
Restricting the SPSIC issuance will discourage traders to import rice, said Senator Cynthia Villar, the author of RA 11203.
Even before the issuance of the aforementioned circular, Dar said BPI already started restricting the issuance of SPSIC which he said already resulted to lower volume of imported rice entering the country.
“Prior to my appointment, the average rice imports that enter the country is at 254,000 metric tons (MT) from March to September. By October, around this time, because of proper and stricter implementation on the issuance of SPSIC, only 85,000 MT of rice imports entered the country,” Dar said.
For this year, the country expects to receive total rice imports of 3 million MT for this year, which will make the Philippines the world’s largest rice importer, beating China.
The other day, Dar urged rice industry stakeholders to uphold free and fair trade amidst negative perception on rice importation under RA 11203 as he disclosed about the influx of undocumented imported rice coming in the country.
In a statement, he mentioned about the seemingly abnormal shoot up of rice imports in the country for 2019.
Reports from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) show that rice import volume since the implementation of the RA 11203 only reached 1.87 million MT from March to October this year.
Meanwhile, the BPI only accounted 2 million MT in the application for SPSIC for imported rice.
Dar said the 2.99 million MT imports reported by BOC then reflects the total rice imports in the country for the year, even before the implementation of RTL.
And then during his recent visit in Brunei, Dar asked his counterparts from Vietnam and Thailand to hold the release of export permits to rice traders without the Philippines-issued SPSIC.

Gov’t tightens watch on imported rice

 PHILSTAR/EDD GUMBAN
THE GOVERNMENT is matching the rising importation of rice with stricter implementation of existing rules for sanitary permits.
The Department of Agriculture issued on Nov. 12 Memorandum Order No. 28 on “Supplementary provisions to DA Department Circular No. 4, series of 2016, entitled ‘Guidelines on the importation of plants, planting materials and plant products for commercial purposes’.”
Citing, among others, the “need to strengthen registration procedure for importers of plants, planting materials and plant products, and specify the validity of the sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) to safeguard from entry, establishment and spread of exotic plant pests and comply with food safety requirements,” the order implements “revised requirements” in this regard.
Besides listing a host of required documents, the order also implements a section of Republic Act No. 11203 — which this year liberalized rice importation — that said “[t]he imported rice should arrive before the expiration of the SPSIC…”.
“The actual product/consignment must be shipped from the country of origin within the prescribed date in the approved SPSIC and must arrive not later than 60 days from the must-ship-out date,” read the order which was signed by Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar.
“I signed it yesterday, so (for) implementation na ’yun,” Mr. Dar told reporters on the sidelines of the 11th World Rice Conference at the Makati Shangri-La hotel on Wednesday.



Mr. Dar had said in an Oct. 29 news briefing: “We are issuing a stricter set of guidelines but we have to mention that all along all these [requirements] are there, but just to remind ourselves that we have this and we need to reiterate this.”
“That has been our strategy, much more [as] we were entering the main harvest — October, November — and we implemented strictly the guidelines before any SPSIC is issued.”
SPSIC is issued by the deparment’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI). BPI data showed the agency granted 3,115 permits to 228 importers of 2.776 million metric tons (MMT) of milled rice from March to August. This level is more than the country’s 1.5-2.4 MMT estimated import requirement.
According to the Bureau of Customs (BoC), volume of imported rice totaled some 2.9 MMT in the 10 months to October. Of this, 1.87 million MT were imported between March and October after RA 11203 took effect.
The US Department of Agriculture projects that the Philippines will import up to 3 MMT this year, more than China’s 2.5 MMT and making it the world’s top rice importer.
“I have always mentioned my position: give the law a chance to be implemented properly, so after some time — if there will be some little adjustments to make it much more effective — then that is the period when we shall revisit,” the Agriculture chief told reporters.
Also at the sidelines of the rice conference on Wednesday, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said its Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) is investigating the rice import-to-retail chain in an effort to ensure reasonable prices.
The Philippine Competition Commission last month said that it is investigating whether middlemen, through anti-competitive behavior, are widening the price gap between what traders pay at farm gate and what consumers pay at retail.
“FTEB kumukuha ng mga data ngayon (collecting data right now), going around sa mga importers so that they can trace their importation and their pass-on price,” Mr. Lopez said.
Ang gusto lang namin (what we want) is to see cheaper rice in the market.”
Mr. Lopez said that the target range is P33-P36 per kilogram (kg) at retail for imported well-milled rice. He said the margin between trader and market price should typically be at 5-10%.
He expects the investigation to be concluded in three weeks.
The Trade department’s Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) will also pilot direct rice importation for fast food chains and grocery stores. “I’m sure [the companies] are sourcing locally as well, but they are now also — instead of buying from traders, they can buy directly,” Mr. Lopez said.
Mr. Lopez said the trial-run includes importing one shipping container of rice, and estimated imports of 300 hundred containers a month once the program is in effect in two to three months.
He said PITC will not profit from the program, and will charge a management fee below the cost of paying rice traders.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the average wholesale price of well-milled rice fell 0.2% to P37.76 kg week-on-week on the third week of October. The average retail price fell 0.1% to P41.87.
The average wholesale price of regular-milled rice was stable at P33.70 per kg, while average retail prices fell 0.3% to P37.11.Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in his speech at the same conference that the government will not back down from its decision to open up rice importation despite the rice tariffication law’s “transition challenges” that have been hitting farmers hard.
“There is no inclination to repeal, revise or suspend the rice tariffication law,” he said.
Mr. Dominguez noted that the government has collected P11.4 billion worth of tariffs under the program which will be used to aid farmers affected. “This means we have gone beyond the minimum earmark of P10 billion and have ample means to do even more to make our agricultural production more efficient,” he said, referring to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
The law had replaced quantitative import restrictions with tariffs of 35% on rice from within Southeast Asia and 40% for grain from elsewhere.
“According to official data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority, from an average of P17.23 per kilo of dry paddy from 2015 to 2017, when prices were normal, prices declined to an average of P15.71 pesos per kilo from the third week of September to the second week of October of this year. This translates to an average loss for farmers of about 1.52 pesos per kilo,” Mr. Dominguez said.
Even as he said that the law’s birth pains should be “temporary”, Mr. Dominguez said the farm department is moving to cushion its impact on farmers, including through a program disbursing P15,000 interest-free loans to farmers, payable in up to eight years.
He also said that authorities have stepped up measures against smugglers and hoarders, noting that the Bureau of Internal Revenue has uncovered unregistered warehouses in Bulacan with more than 250,000 sacks of rice imported from Vietnam and Myanmar.
“We will never return to the old regime of unstable rice supplies, high retail prices, profiteering, and low productivity. We should let the rice tariffication law do its work and give the economy time to adjust for further easing of rice prices for all Filipinos and for support programs to lower production costs of our farmers,” Mr. Dominguez said.
In the same conference, Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Rosemari G. Edillon cited the need to step up mechanization of the sector in order to boost productivity.
The agriculture sector accounts for about a fourth of the country’s jobs but contributes only a tenth to overall production.
“The adoption of high-yield seed technology is low and about half of the farms are not yet mechanized,” she said.
She said that the country’s quantitative import restriction for around 23 years was meant to protect the domestic rice industry and enable it to develop.
“Unfortunately, while the protectionist policy and the programs associated with it did benefited some local farmers, it has failed to increase production and has made the Philippine rice industry uncompetitive,” she said.
She also said that people are becoming less attracted to work in agriculture, making employment drop to 10.26 million in 2017 from 11.84 million in 2013.
“Our own study points to several demand-and-supply push-pull factors. Among the demand push factors are the low and unstable far incomes due to volatility in geoclimatic conditions, lack of access to post harvest facilities and diminishing farm size. The pull from the non-agricultural sector has also increased agricultural wages, making it unaffordable to small landowners,” Ms. Edillon said.
She also noted that “[f]armgate prices of palay have gone down faster than the decline in retail prices.”
“The influx of imported rice was definitely a factor in this, but so is the lack of access to efficient and affordable drying facilities,” she explained.
“At the same time, there could be unscrupulous traders who are taking advantage of the situations and bidding down farmgate prices unreasonably.” — Vincent Mariel P. GalangJenina P. IbañezLuz Wendy T. Noble and Beatrice M. Laforga

Rice tariff collection reaches P11.4 billion

November 14, 2019

THE government has collected over P11 billion in duties from rice imports by private traders since the Republic Act (RA) 11203 or “Rice Tariffication Law” took effect in March this year, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said.
In his speech during the 14th World Rice Conference held in Makati City on Wednesday, he reported that tariff revenues collected from March 5 to October 31 of this year reached P11.4 billion.
“This means we have gone beyond the minimum earmark of P10 billion and have ample means to do even more to make our agricultural production more efficient,” Dominguez said.
 Finance Secretary Carlos ‘Sonny’ Dominguez 3rd delivers a speech during the World Rice Conference at Shangri-la Hotel in Makati City. PHOTO BY PAUL SUGANO
He is referring to the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which was set up under the law to finance the modernization of the country’s rice industry, and provide farmers with access to credit and training, as well as funds for mechanization, high-quality seeds and fertilizers, among others.

“The revenues raised from rice tariffs will help us mechanize production, provide cheaper financing and better training for our farmers, and encourage a more diversified farm sector,” the Finance chief said.
“Through inter-agency and multi-sectoral efforts, our farmers will gain knowledge of financial literacy, modern agriculture technology, climate and disaster resilience, and agribusiness, among others,” he added.
That said, Dominguez is firm the government will continue implement the rice tariffication law amid calls for its suspension.
“There is no inclination to repeal, revise or suspend the Rice Tariffication Law. We are confident that this is the best means to move our agriculture sector forward and foster competitiveness,” he said.
The Cabinet official also stressed the government remains confident the transition challenges brought about by the law’s implementation are temporary, specifically the drop in palay (unmilled rice) farmgate prices in specific areas.
Citing Philippine Statistics Authority data, he noted that from an average of P17.23 per kilo (kg) of dry paddy from 2015 to 2017, when prices were normal, prices declined to an average of P15.71/kg from the third week of September to the second week of October of this year. This translates to an average loss for farmers of about P1.52/kg.
In some provinces, farm gate prices fell by as much as P5.63/kg while in others, palay prices actually rose by P3.75/kg, Dominguez added.“The government is constantly monitoring location-specific prices so that interventions may be deployed on an evidence-based and tightly targeted manner,” he assured.Furthermore, the Finance Secretary reiterated that executive agencies are working with Congress on providing unconditional cash transfers to the affected rice farmers and distributing rice as part of the government subsidy program for the disadvantaged families to help address the drop in palay prices in a number of specific provinces.
“The Department of Agriculture is coordinating with its attached agencies and agriculture-related financial institutions for the implementation of the Survival and Recovery or SURE-aid program — a P15,000, interest-free loan payable over eight years,” he said.“Complementary programs include the procurement of paddy (palay) above production costs by local governments; and the provision of loan programs to enable local governments to buy this season’s harvest from domestic producers,” Dominguez added.

 

 

 

UCCE Addressing Watergrass Issues in California Rice Fields

 NOVEMBER 13, 2019 FIELD & ROW CROPS INDUSTRY
Researchers from UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) are looking closely at the watergrass issues in California rice fields to get a better understanding of the problem.  Watergrass has historically been a fairly common weed species that growers face, however in recent years the issue has been compounded by a number of factors.  Several watergrass species have demonstrated resistance to the materials available and it appears that one or two new species may have emerged.
“In the past few years watergrass is becoming more and more of a problem, whether it’s the ones that we know that we have or these possible new species,” said Whitney Brim-DeForest, UC Rice Farm Advisor serving Sutter, Yuba, Placer, and Sacramento Counties.  “It’s just becoming more difficult to control with the herbicides that we have.”The level of watergrass issues that growers are dealing with is exacerbated by increasing resistance to the materials that are available.  Many watergrass varieties are proving resistant to multiple herbicide modes of action. 
Brim-DeForest noted that the most recent registrations for herbicides have not been exceptionally effective in combatting watergrass in rice fields.  “We have some [new materials] coming down the pipeline that we’re hoping maybe will be available in the next two-to-three years that are better watergrass materials and so we’re hoping that will help a little bit,” Brim-DeForest said.Rice Farming Systems Advisor Luis Espino and Brim-DeForest have both been working to better understand the watergrass issue, through collecting and screening samples from rice fields.  UCCE personnel will be out surveying rice fields this fall to get a better grasp on the situation.  “Some growers are dealing with [new species] and some are dealing with the known watergrass species that are more resistant to herbicides.  So, I would say its sort of a number of things sort of all coming together all at once,” Brim-DeForest noted.

‘Golden Rice’ Review: Against the Grain

An estimated one million people—mostly children—die annually from vitamin-A deficiency. Golden rice could reverse that.

By 
Hugo Restall
Nov. 13, 2019 6:25 pm ET
Why has it taken more than two decades to develop “golden rice,” the genetically modified crop that promises to save millions of lives? The many delays have been costly. Every year an estimated one million people, mostly children, die, and another half a million more lose their eyesight, from vitamin-A deficiency. Golden rice—with its yellow grains rich in beta carotene, which the human body turns into vitamin A—could virtually eliminate this problem in countries where rice is the staple food.
After scientists developed the...

How the world’s most widely used insecticide led to a fishery collapse

Neonicotinoids wiped out plankton and fish in a Japanese lake, and are likely harming aquatic ecosystems worldwide, new research suggests.




PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 13, 2019
IN MAY OF 1993, rice farmers living near Lake Shinji, in southwestern Japan, began widely using an insecticide called imidacloprid.
Within the same year, populations of arthropods that form the base of the food web, such as crustaceans and zooplankton, began to plummet. By the end of 1994, two commercially important fish that depend on these creatures for food, eel and smelt, crashed as well. And as the use of imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids has grown over the years, the fish have never recovered.
These findings, from a paper published in Science in early November, are the first to show that neonicotinoids, a class of toxic insecticides that are the world’s most widely used, can seep into aquatic ecosystems and significantly disrupt fisheries, dramatically reducing their yields. What’s more, scientists think that Japan is not an isolated example, but rather a dramatic illustration of neonicotinoids’ potential to seriously harm aquatic ecosystems worldwide.
© NGP, Content may not reflect National Geographic's current map policy.
The situation at Lake Shinji is unique in that scientists have studied the fishery since at least the early 1980s—more than a decade before and after the insecticides were introduced. Such datasets are rare. Researchers at Shinji have logged reams of information about water quality, populations of arthropods and zooplankton, and the quantity of fish.
That allowed the study’s authors, led by Masumi Yamamuro, with the Geological Survey of Japan and the University of Tokyo, to find a clear connection between the introduction of neonicotinoids and the collapse of the food web.
When the scientists averaged populations of the lake’s zooplankton—tiny crustaceans and other animals eaten by fish—for 12 years before and after the introduction of neonicotinoids in 1993, they found that mean zooplankton biomass declined by 83 percent.
In 1993, farmers in Shimane Prefecture, Japan began using
neonicotinoids in their rice paddies and agricultural fields.
Kilograms of neonicotinoids sold annually in Shimane Prefecture
May 1993
Start of neonicotinoid use
in Shimane Prefecture
Runoff containing neonicotinoids from fields and paddies was
linked to a dropoff of zooplankton biomass in Lake Shinji.
Monthly measurement of zooplankton in micrograms carbon per liter
present in water from Lake Shinji
Populations of commercial smelt and eel in Lake Shinji, which
werereliant on zooplankton and benthos as a source of food,
began to collapse.
One type of midge larvae, known as Chironomus plumosus, could not be found at all in a 2016 survey. That came a shock to Yamamuro.
“I was so surprised,” she says. “In 1982, when I was an undergraduate student, there were tons of them.”
Darren Walls, a spokesperson from Bayer Crop Science, into which Monsanto was folded when the two companies merged in 2018, disputed the clear link between neonicotinoid use and fishery collapse. Bayer is one of the largest producers of neonicotinoids.
“The strong conclusions made in the publication are clearly not supported,” says Wallis, since “it is well known that aquatic environments are dynamic systems that may be influenced by many physical and chemical variables.”
But six other researchers National Geographic interviewed, none of whom participated directly in the study, disagreed—and many were surprised by the strength of the link shown here.
“This study convincingly demonstrates that the decline of two major fish of commercial importance, smelt and eel, was caused by neonicotinoids, since none of the other possible factors that could affect fish changed over time,” says Francisco Sanchez-Bayo, an ecotoxicologist at the University of Sydney who wasn’t involved in the paper.
Though the study could only show a link between pesticide use and fishery collapse, the near-immediate decline of plankton and fish following neonicotinoid introduction is impossible to explain away, Sanchez-Bayo adds. For instance, a host of other potential causal factors has not significantly changed over the years, such as salinity, chlorinity, sediment content, dissolved oxygen, and other water quality measures.
Olaf Jensen, an expert on the impacts of aquatic pollutants at Rutgers University, likens the impacts of neonicotinoids to a continual major stressor. “The annual application of pesticides is a recurring environmental disturbance, like a mini-oil spill,” he says.

Aquatic data lacking

Neonicotinoids, commonly called neonics, were first produced on a large scale in the 1990s. These substances, which are chemically similar to nicotine, were hailed as safer alternatives to the industrial chemicals that they replaced since they are more selectively toxic to arthropods, and less deadly to large animals like mammals. The chemicals work by blocking receptors present in insects’ nervous systems, causing paralysis and death.
However, a growing body of research shows that the chemicals can have unintended consequences. They are fatal to several species of bees and butterflies, for example, and the three most commonly used neonicotinoids—imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam—have been banned for outdoor use in the European Union for this reason.
But their impact on freshwater and marine ecosystems have been studied far less, says Jason Hoverman, an aquatic ecologist at Purdue University.
“While neonicotinoid research has predominantly focused on terrestrial systems, this study suggests that adverse effects in aquatic systems are possible and occur by altering the food web,” Hoverman says.
These insecticides are systemic, absorbed by plants, and stored in their leaves and other tissues. The chemicals are often used to coat seeds; but these coatings are often washed off into the soil and exit as runoff. Neonicotinoid contamination of surface waters, like lakes and streams, is common around the world, studies show.
The paper suggests the regulators may need to rethink how they approve these chemicals, or what studies need to happen beforehand, suggests Dave Goulson, a biology professor at the University of Sussex in England who wrote a letter, along with 232 other signatories, arguing for more restrictions on the substances.
Generally, regulatory studies include short-term impacts on specific animals—but the indirect and long-term impacts, like those to the food web, are not studied, adds Rutgers’ Jensen, who wrote an analytical piece from his perspective accompanying the study in Science.
When researchers have looked, they have often found major problems with neonics. For example, a September study in Science found a link between neonicotinoid use and major impacts on birds, whose populations have been declining. (Read more: Huge decline in songbirds linked to common insecticide.)
This adds to a growing body of work that finds neonicotinoids can reduce populations of non-target insects, and that these chemicals are a contributor to the global decline in arthropods.
IMIDACLOPRID INSECTICIDE'S AFFECTS ON BIRDS

A global problem

Yamamuro says that the impacts may be especially notable in Shinji because it is a brackish environment, with lower levels of species diversity than freshwater lakes—and thus more susceptible to harm from neonicotinoids.
“I think similar collapses may have occurred in other brackish environments, such as lagoons and upper estuaries in rice-culturing and neonicotinoid-using countries,” she says.
Pesticides are easily taken up and carried away by water in rice paddies, and Yamamuro says she expects the impacts from this type of agriculture to be particularly significant. However, since neonicotinoids are water soluble and persistent, the issue of contamination is a global one, she says, and likely to occur even in areas where neonics are applied to crops grown on dry land, like corn and soybeans.
“Neonicotinoids need to be much more tightly regulated,” says Nathan Donley, with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, who suggests that this paper is one more reason to invest much more heavily in research into non-chemical means of pest control, such as multiple cropping, the use of cover crops, and the like.
Purdue’s Hoverman agrees that “a perpetual challenge for society is balancing the need for food production with the environmental impacts of those activities.”
“Obviously, pesticides are designed to kill and, when applied to the landscape, will do their job. Investing in technologies that reduce our reliance on pesticides would reduce environmental impacts.”
The researchers closed out their paper by quoting Rachel Carson’s 1962 classic Silent Spring, about pesticides: “These sprays, dusts, and aerosols are now applied almost universally to farms, gardens, forests, and homes—nonselective chemicals that have the power to kill every insect, the ‘good’ and the ‘bad,’ to still the song of birds and the leaping of fish in the streams.”
Now, nearly 60 years later, they note, Carson’s words are eerily prescient. “The ecological and economic impact of neonicotinoids on the inland waters of Japan confirms Carson’s prophecy,” they conclude.
Doug Main is a senior writer and editor at National Geographic focusing on animals and wildlife.

A tracker is keeping tabs on the Trump administration’s assault on science

The Silencing Science Tracker has been compiling records since 2018
It’s difficult to remember all the ways the Trump presidency has ignored, subverted, or  kneecapped science in the United States. Picking a story that best exemplifies the administration’s hostility towards evidence-based policy is like picking the perfect rock to smash your own head against. 
There’s the eviction of two US Department of Agriculture (USDA) research agencies from DC to Missouri, effectively firing career scientists who weren’t willing to pick up their lives and move. There’s the move to allow slaughterhouses to self-regulate themselves. And of course there have been countless ways that the administration has undermined the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This week the EPA announced its plan to relax coal industry regulations around waste disposal, which were put in place to prevent metal contamination in water supplies. Also this week the EPA announced new policies that would restrict what research could be used to base policy on. It’s too much to keep track of.
Luckily you don’t have to. The Silencing Science Tracker has been keeping diligent records on the Trump administration’s behavior around science for almost two years. The tracker lists every instance of distorting science that’s occurred at the federal and state level in the US since January 2018, founded on the one year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration. I spoke with Susan Rosenthal at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Climate Science Legal Defense Fund at Columbia University, which houses the Tracker:
″[We’re] seeing all these things, a lot of stuff about web pages being removed, and [scientists] were being asked to or were choosing to censor their work, to stop using certain words, from this fear of attracting attention from officials that were appointed by the new administration.” 
The Tracker only deals with absolute, concrete stuff. So even though the westward movement of USDA and Bureau of Land Management scientists out of DC has a strong air of suppression, since there’s no hard evidence that the move was an act of repression, it’s left out. 
You can sort by state, agency, explanation given, and even by scientists affected. The amount of climate science being ignored or interfered with is so great that the scientists affected are simply categorized as “Climate,” with 261 entries, or 201 “Other” entries. The depth and breadth of climate science suppression is breathtaking. Even Amtrak of all agencies has deleted references of climate change from reports, and withheld studies on the effects of climate change. Said Rosenthal:
“We have a lot of stuff to add, which is good for the Tracker, but obviously, is bad.”

IVRI scientists recommend equipment to check stubble burning

  Updated: Nov 13, 2019 17:36 IST

HT Correspondent
Agriculture  scientists at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) of Bareilly have recommended some state-of-the-art farm equipment for farmers to make Uttar Pradesh a ‘zero stubble burning state.’
“Stubble burning has been a major cause for rising pollution levels. Unless we provide farmers with an alternative solution on how to deal with crop residue, we will not be able to check the problem,” said a senior agriculture scientist at the IVRI, requesting anonymity.
He said there were enough modern farm equipment and machines now available in the market, which offered a solution on how to handle stubble without having to burn it.
In a letter to the agriculture ministry, scientists have provided a list of equipment, which the state government can distribute among farmers through cooperative societies or provide easy loan options for their purchase.
Some of this farm equipment recommended by scientists includes super straw management system (SMS), chopper cum shredder, happy seeder machines, which are used for direct sowing without ploughing.
“The use of super SMS with combined harvester helps facilitate management of crop residue. It is attached to the rear of a combined harvester and uniformly spreads loose straw on the field. With this method, farmers are not required to burn the straw before sowing the next crop,” said the scientist.
Some of these machines are already being used by Punjab farmers and UP needs to follow suit, he said.
He said two crops, which are grown on a large scale are paddy and wheat. Wheat is sown and harvested in dry winter season and rice coincides with monsoon season. According to agriculture scientists, farmers get very little time between rice harvesting and wheat sowing and that is why they resort to stubble burning, which is the easiest and most effective method available to them to get rid of crop residue.
“The short gap between summer and winter crops and lack of equipment to manually cut stubble are also reasons for stubble burning,” pointed out scientists.
M Tariq Khan 9415016831

Thousands join NRRI ‘Rice Walk’

Thursday, 14 November 2019 | PNS | CUTTACK
The ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Cuttack, organised an event, ‘Rice Walk: Walk with Rice, Know Your Rice’, on Wednesday. Over 2,000 students and teachers from over 30 schools from Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, farmers, scientists from ICAR and OUAT and officials, besides general public, joined the event.
The participants visited the institute’s research farm of about 200 acres with full grown crops of newly developed high yielding rice varieties. They were exposed to the development of rice varieties and other agro-technologies related to rice production, plant protection, bio-fortification (high protein rice), climate smart rice with tolerance to both drought and submergence, hybrid rice, rice-fish integrated farming system models, resource conservation techniques, mechanization, seed processing, enhancing rice quality, crop physiology and micro-environment. The participants also visited the institute’s rice museum, rice gene bank with collection of over 35,000 rice germplasms and various laboratories of the institute. Director of the institute Dr Himanshu Pathak inaugurated the Walk. Principal Scientist Dr SK Mishra and Senior Scientist Dr Rahul Tripathi of NRRI, Cuttack coordinated.

Walk to raise awareness about rice production

Cuttack: Indian Council of Agricultural Research -National Rice Research Institute, (ICAR-NCRI) Cuttack organised ‘Rice Walk: Walk with Rice, Know Your Rice’ Wednesday. Over 2,000 students and teachers from over 30 schools from twin cities of Cuttack  and Bhubaneswar, farmers, scientists from ICAR and OUAT, state government officials and general public participated in the event.
The participants visited the Institute Research Farm— spread across 200 acres with full grown crops of newly developed high yielding rice varieties. The visitors were guided and explained by the scientists of the institute during the walk. They were exposed to the development of rice varieties and other agro-technologies related to rice production, plant protection, bio-fortification (high protein rice), climate smart rice with tolerance to both drought and submergence, hybrid rice, rice-fish integrated farming system models, resource conservation techniques, mechanisation, seed processing, enhancing rice quality, crop physiology and micro-environment.
The participants also visited the institute rice museum, rice gene bank with collection of over 35,000 rice germplasms and various laboratories of the institute.
All the students, teachers and visitors were taught about the science behind rice research and development, and various significant contributions of the rice research institute in alleviating hunger from the country and ensuring food and nutritional security. They expressed that similar programme should be observed every year for the benefit of all.
Director of the Institute Himanshu Pathak inaugurated the Rice Walk and expressed that the purpose of this unique event is exhibiting NRRI technologies, farm and laboratories to raise awareness about rice among the students and general public.
Rice paddy art adds excitement to Batac cross-farm visit
By Leilanie Adriano  November 13, 2019, 9:16 pm

RICE ART. Visitors take a photo opportunity at the unusual rice paddy art in front of the administration building of the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac Campus on Tuesday (Nov. 12, 2019). It features an image of former first lady Imelda Marcos. (Contributed photo)
LAOAG CITY— What could have been an ordinary visit had an unusual twist for around 150 farmers, students, researchers, and extension workers among others who went Tuesday to a cross-farm hosted by the state-run Mariano Marcos State University-Batac Campus (MMSU).
Showcasing the best agricultural practices being advocated by research experts of the university, the cross-farm visit featured the MMSU farm in Barangay Quiling Sur, the President’s Farm and Seed Production Project in front of the College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (CAFSD).
Every year, the MMSU conducts this activity to inspire more farmers to plant high yielding and resilient varieties of rice and the application of appropriate technologies to boost productivity.
“No awan iti imula, awan met ti maapit. Itultuloytayo ngarud a tagibenen dagiti imulatayo a pagay tapno nalabonto met ti maapittayo (If we don’t plant, we have no harvest. Let us take good care of our rice plants to ensure good harvest),” MMSU President Shirley Agrupis said during the ceremonial planting at the rice paddy art of MMSU.
But the biggest attraction of the activity was the rice paddy art showing the face of former First Lady Imelda Marcos with a verdant green background at the university’s administration building.
Like in the previous year, the rice paddy art aims to promote the importance of rice farming and the unique art of doing so. Agrupis reiterated to the student-participants the exciting business of modern agriculture which also includes art and science.
The MMSU and PhilRice created the rice paddy art using IR 1552, a traditional Korean purple rice variety and a high-yielding PSB Rc 82, where planters used the anamorphosis principle. This technique is being used in 3D art where a picture looks distorted but appears normal when viewed from a certain angle.
“For students who are taking up agriculture, may you continue your passion to become the next agricultural researchers who will feed and strengthen the agriculture industry in the future,” Agrupis said.
Other participants in the cross-farm visit included PhilRice-Batac Director Reynaldo Castro, Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecile Araneta-Marcos, SK Federated Chairman Rafael Medina, Provincial Board members Medeldorf Gaoat and Aladine Santos, and representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and MMSU personnel.
Meanwhile, the President’s Farm and Seed Production Project of MMSU serve as a model for farmers in using high quality rice seeds to increase farmers’ productivity.
Under the Rice Seedstock Dispersal Project of MMSU established in 2000, farmer-beneficiaries can avail of high-yielding varieties of rice and organic fertilizer but have to pay it back to the university after harvest. To date, there are 81 farmer-beneficiaries under this program. (PNA)

IRRI secures endorsement for ASEAN Rice Net

Dr. Morell met with H.E. Dato Ali Apong to compliment the government of Brunei Darussalam on the successful hosting of the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF), where IRRI secured the endorsement for ASEAN Rice Net. Photo courtesy of IRRI.
11.13.2019
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) secured the endorsement of  the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states (AMS) and the support of three dialogue partners for the launch of ASEAN Rice Net, a new regional network for sharing and evaluating advanced IRRI-developed rice breeding lines.
The collaborative partnership is supported by the Rice Genetic Solutions for Climate Resilience and Value Addition program. The program will accelerate farmers’ access to high-value varieties under climate change environmental conditions and drive long-term increases in rice productivity and incomes.
The endorsement allows IRRI to work closely with the ASEAN Plus Three Dialogue Partners — China, Japan and Korea — for the development of both technical and financing support modalities for the network.
“I commend the ASEAN member states for stepping forward together to ensure they have access to the rice genetics that will underpin future success in rice production in the region,” said Matthew Morell, IRRI director general. “This initiative will help ASEAN and ASEAN +3 nations to increase their rice productivity, meet their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitments for food security and help achieve food and nutrition security for consumers in the region.”
Morell said the region will need to secure increased rice production in the face of climate change challenges, land degradation and declining availability and continued population growth and rapid urbanization.
Access to high value rice varieties and technologies to increase the nutrition of rice are also vital to reduce malnutrition and the developmental challenges of stunting and wasting that currently affect more than 24 million children in ASEAN. The United Nations has identified malnutrition as a serious issue hampering economic productivity of nations, and the World Bank estimates that the effects of malnutrition can cost up to 9% of a country’s gross domestic product.
“These are challenges that clearly require urgent action,” Morell said. “We laud the AMS for taking this significant step change in increasing research and technical capacities toward strengthening regional food security cooperation and contributing to regional economic prosperity.”
The ASEAN Rice Net will launch in 2020 and is projected to generate economic benefits of at least $500 million from variety releases alone across the ASEAN region. Through sharing of IRRI-bred lines carrying characteristics desired by farmers and rice value chain stakeholders, the IRRI expects farmers will be able to continue to be productive under the variable climate change environmental conditions.
“IRRI wants to ensure that no country in ASEAN is left behind in terms of access to rice variety-based technologies and skills,” said Dr. Shoba Venkatanagappa, IRRI’s head of the ASEAN Rice Net Program. “We are grateful to all the AMS partners in the region for the continuous trust and support as their investments and collaboration drive IRRI’s strategy of increasing South-South and Triangular collaboration.”
In the long term, the network will allow partner countries to co-develop new, improved rice varieties by enhancing the technical skills of ASEAN scientists on rice varietal development through training and increasing the capacity of national rice breeding programs across AMS organizations.
ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organization of 10 countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration among its members and other countries in Asia.

Rice Farmers Blame Hoarding by Saboteurs for Price Hike


Godwin Emefiele
James Emejo in Abuja
As the federal government continues to sustain the closure of the country’s land borders to curb smuggling of foreign goods into the country and encourage local production, rice farmers have raised the alarm that the activities of those who are desperate to frustrate efforts of the government in driving consumption of local rice have fueled a hike in the price of the commodity.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had prevailed on the rice farmers, millers and processors not to take undue advantage of the border closure to raise prices.
The CBN governor had argued that the border closure was meant to promote the growth of the Nigerian economy and ensure that the country attained food self-sufficiency in the rice value chain for the benefit and well-being of the citizenry.
He had further argued that imported rice was preserved with chemicals, and therefore, not good for the consumption.
Emefiele warned that hoarding rice with a view to increasing the prices of rice would bring hardship to Nigerians.
But a survey carried out by THISDAY recently, in some markets in Lagos, showed that the price of a 50-kilogramme of local price ranges from between N16,000 and N17,000, compared with between N13,000 and N14,000 before the closure of the borders.
On the other hand, imported rice now sells at between N26,000 and N27,000, as against N18,000 – N19,000 before the border closure.
Though some traders said the rise in the cost of the staple food was due to the recent decision of the federal government to close all its land borders, the President of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, told THISDAY that there was no reason why local rice should not be sold at between N12,000 and N14,000 maximum.
He expressed frustration that despite assurances that the farmers would not hike the price, some saboteurs have hiked the prices of locally produced rice beyond the agreed threshold.
He, nevertheless, expressed optimism that the bumper harvest being expected in about a fortnight will help weigh down on prices.
He said: “You know there are saboteurs who will try by all means to sabotage this good effort that will help Nigeria and Nigerians.
“You know this issue of border closure; saboteurs just want to use that opportunity to sabotage the good things that is good to happen to Nigeria. We are selling paddy at N8,000 per bag and if you mill that it will give you 50 kilogrammes of milled rice and the cost of processing is not more than N2,000.
“So, I see no reason why rice should not be sold at between N12,000 and N14,000 maximum. There are people who don’t have this country at heart and who can go to any extent to put Nigerians into difficulty.”
On his part, the President of Coscharis Group, one of the leading rice producers in the country, Mr. Cosmas Maduka, attributed the development to activities of fraudulent middlemen.
According to him, most of them are in the habit of purchasing locally produced rice and repackaging them as foreign produce.
He said: “We stopped two of our dealers from carrying out any transaction with us. They would carry our rice and re-bag them into a foreign bag and sell. So, you may not be seeing our brand in the market because of things like this. The other thing we heard is that there is something they use in piercing bags of rice to remove some bowls from each bag and still sell the rice that is not up to 50 kilgrammes to a customer as 50 kilogrammes. So, for our bags, if you pierce it, it would tear.
“So, because they can’t do such with our rice,
they make sure they re-bag. But I am advising our customers to insist on buying only Coscharis rice. When you insist on that, then you can be confident that when you are buying 50kg, what you get would exactly be 50kg.”

Soc Trang’s rice variety recognised as best in world

The Soc Trang-based ST24 rice variety was honoured as having the best flavour in the world, as it received the World’s Best Rice 2019 award at the 11th Annual World’s Best Rice Contest in the Philippines on November 12.
VNA Wednesday, November 13, 2019 16:47 
Engineer Ho Quang Cua, a member of Soc Trang's group of scientists that developed the ST24 rice

Soc Trang (VNA) – The Soc Trang-based ST24 rice variety was honoured as having the best flavour in the world, as it received the World’s Best Rice 2019 award at the 11th Annual World’s Best Rice Contest in the Philippines on November 12.

The contest was part of the 11th World Rice Trade Conference held by rice industry analysts The Rice Trader from November 10 to 13, which attracted hundreds of major rice enterprises and traders along with scientists worldwide.

Vietnam’s rice competed with strong rivals from Thailand and Cambodia in the contest, in which the jury and international chefs inspected the visual aspects of the rice submitted, as well as performed a sensory evaluation of the rice (pre-cooked and cooked), before unanimously announcing Vietnam’s ST24 as the winner of this year’s contest.

This is the first time ever that a Vietnamese rice variety has been honoured as the best in the world after 10 seasons of the annual contest.

ST24, developed by a group of scientists of the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, could be cultivated in up to three crops per year.

In 2017, ST24 came third in the 9th World’s Best Rice event in Macau, China.

Director of Soc Trang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Minh Quyet said cultivation areas of ST rice line have been expanded annually, with ST24 accounting for over 10,000 ha./.

IVRI scientists recommend equipment to check stubble burning

  Updated: Nov 13, 2019 17:36 IST
HT Correspondent
Agriculture scientists at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) of Bareilly have recommended some state-of-the-art farm equipment for farmers to make Uttar Pradesh a ‘zero stubble burning state.’
“Stubble burning has been a major cause for rising pollution levels. Unless we provide farmers with an alternative solution on how to deal with crop residue, we will not be able to check the problem,” said a senior agriculture scientist at the IVRI, requesting anonymity.
He said there were enough modern farm equipment and machines now available in the market, which offered a solution on how to handle stubble without having to burn it.
In a letter to the agriculture ministry, scientists have provided a list of equipment, which the state government can distribute among farmers through cooperative societies or provide easy loan options for their purchase.
Some of this farm equipment recommended by scientists includes super straw management system (SMS), chopper cum shredder, happy seeder machines, which are used for direct sowing without ploughing.
“The use of super SMS with combined harvester helps facilitate management of crop residue. It is attached to the rear of a combined harvester and uniformly spreads loose straw on the field. With this method, farmers are not required to burn the straw before sowing the next crop,” said the scientist.
Some of these machines are already being used by Punjab farmers and UP needs to follow suit, he said.
He said two crops, which are grown on a large scale are paddy and wheat. Wheat is sown and harvested in dry winter season and rice coincides with monsoon season. According to agriculture scientists, farmers get very little time between rice harvesting and wheat sowing and that is why they resort to stubble burning, which is the easiest and most effective method available to them to get rid of crop residue.
“The short gap between summer and winter crops and lack of equipment to manually cut stubble are also reasons for stubble burning,” pointed out scientists.
M Tariq Khan 9415016831

Walk to raise awareness about rice production


Cuttack: Indian Council of Agricultural Research -National Rice Research Institute, (ICAR-NCRI) Cuttack organised ‘Rice Walk: Walk with Rice, Know Your Rice’ Wednesday. Over 2,000 students and teachers from over 30 schools from twin cities of Cuttack  and Bhubaneswar, farmers, scientists from ICAR and OUAT, state government officials and general public participated in the event.
The participants visited the Institute Research Farm— spread across 200 acres with full grown crops of newly developed high yielding rice varieties. The visitors were guided and explained by the scientists of the institute during the walk. They were exposed to the development of rice varieties and other agro-technologies related to rice production, plant protection, bio-fortification (high protein rice), climate smart rice with tolerance to both drought and submergence, hybrid rice, rice-fish integrated farming system models, resource conservation techniques, mechanisation, seed processing, enhancing rice quality, crop physiology and micro-environment.
The participants also visited the institute rice museum, rice gene bank with collection of over 35,000 rice germplasms and various laboratories of the institute.
All the students, teachers and visitors were taught about the science behind rice research and development, and various significant contributions of the rice research institute in alleviating hunger from the country and ensuring food and nutritional security. They expressed that similar programme should be observed every year for the benefit of all.
Director of the Institute Himanshu Pathak inaugurated the Rice Walk and expressed that the purpose of this unique event is exhibiting NRRI technologies, farm and laboratories to raise awareness about rice among the students and general public.

Villagers force admn team to return without taking possession of land

Nov 14, 2019, 7:47 AM; last updated: Nov 14, 2019, 7:47 AM (IST)

 

Govt wanted to retrieve land at Daha Madanpur in Karnal for the ‘original’ owner
Residents of Daha Madanpur village of Karnal block a team of the district administration on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed
Tribune News Service
Karnal, November 13
The district administration and residents of Daha Madanpur village of Karnal came face to face after the administration reached the village to take possession of a 35-acre land on Wednesday.
The villagers marked their resentment with sticks in their hands. A large number of women and children sat on dharna and threatened the administration with dire consequences if the administration attempted to take possession forcefully.
As per the information available, dozens of families have been living there for years and cultivating the land. There are three rice mills in operation too.
The administration team went back without taking possession after the villagers requested for some more time.
The villagers set tyres on fire to block roads of the village and threatened that the administration would be responsible if any untoward incident took place.
Budhram, a villager, said, “In 1967, the surplus land was allotted to us and we have all the required documents, including the mutation and registration documents. But now, we have been told that the land was given wrongly and it is to be given to its original owner. Our families have worked hard and made this land fertile over the past 50 years. We have been cultivating the land for years. Where we will go with our families?”
JJP leader Umed Singh and Vinod Goyal, president of rice millers association Karnal, also reached the spot to support the villagers and rice millers.
Rajesh Goyal, a rice mill owner, said, “There are three rice mills in operation and over 50 families are living here for years. We all have ownership rights and we have not been given adequate time to defend ourselves.” They claimed that the land was allotted by the government and it was the government’s fault.
The millers said that a petition has been filed in the High Court. The matter is being heard and they must be given some time.
Later, the administration team and a group of villagers reached Madhuban police station to discuss the issue.
Tehsildar Ravinder Kumar, who was present as the duty magistrate, said, “We had reached the village to take possession of the land as per the orders given by the High Court. But the villagers didn’t allow us to do so. In order to ensure that the law and order situation is not disturbed, a discussion was held with the people. They have sought a couple of days for the compliance of the court’s orders. Meanwhile, the affected party has also approached the High Court.”

Basmati rates fall post high output, growers dejected

Nov 14, 2019, 6:49 AM; last updated: Nov 14, 2019, 6:49 AM (IST)

 

The per-acre yield of basmati is lesser this time due to the change in climate.
Currently, the price ranges from Rs 2,400-2,600 per quintal, which was nearly Rs 3,300 per quintal at the same time last year.
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, November 13
Basmati growers are a dejected lot as its price this year has remained Rs 500-600 per quintal lesser than that in the corresponding period last year. Further, the per-acre yield is also lesser this time due to the change in climate.
Currently, the price ranges from Rs 2,400-2,600 per quintal, which was nearly Rs 3,300 per quintal at the same time last year.
Some basmati growers said those who had sown normal variety of the paddy crop would make more money. “There is no minimum support price (MSP) for basmati whereas the normal paddy crop is sold above the MSP. Last year, the prices had remained good thus the area under basmati crop increased this season but the demand has remained almost the same. The price of basmati depends on the demand from foreign countries,” said a basmati grower.
Ashish Kathuria, general secretary, Punjab Basmati Rice Millers’ Association, said, “This year, the production of basmati in our country is expected to touch 75 lakh tonne but the market remains the same, having a demand of nearly 60 lakh tonne. Therefore, traders from the main basmati-buying countries are negotiating the price. Last year, 43 lakh tonne basmati was exported and 16 lakh tonne was consumed by the domestic market. The prevailing price is nearly Rs 600 lesser than that last year. The situation is similar in all states.”
He said, “Further, industrialists are not taking any risk after 2014. They are not maintaining huge stocks. Even banks are not providing huge funds. Nearly 20 per cent of the crop has arrived in the market and the trend shows that the prices will not go up. Farmers will get some respite only if the government makes a policy in this regard.”

Raw materials & technologies, Technologies

Superhydrophobic self-cleaning surface derived from rice-husk ash

Wednesday, 13 November 2019
In a present work, scientists report the development of durable and cost-effective nanocomposite coatings using silica particles derived from agricultural waste, rice-husk and different fractions of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
Surface with inherent self-cleaning characteristics is often deemed and desired. However, lack of durability and high cost limits the applicability...
Developed coatings showed the presence of hierarchical structures with nanoscale protrusions. The surface morphology of the coatings was significantly influenced by the PDMS content with roughness factor following an inverse correlation. Static and dynamic contact angles increased with decreasing PDMS content with maximum values observed to be in excess of 160°. Simultaneously, the contact angle hysteresis (< 5° to 20°) and tilting angle (5° to 60°) were also significantly influenced by the PDMS fraction. The observed results are related with ability to retain stable Cassie state and pinning of the liquid-air interface by nano protrusions.

Due resilience under outdoor conditions

Droplet impingement tests and critical wetting angle calculations showed transition from Cassie to metastable wetting state for coatings with higher PDMS. Durability studies performed under different modes indicated a trade-off with self-cleaning ability, highlighting an optimum composition possessing required characteristics. The selected coating subjected to weathering test showed due resilience under outdoor conditions. The present work showed that the agricultural waste can be effectively used for developing low-cost high-end product possessing exceptional functionalities.
The study is published in:
Promoting U.S. Rice and American Football Go Hand in Hand  

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO -- The third annual USA Rice trade mission to Mexico took place here last week with nearly 20 USA Rice and U.S. Rice Producers Association (USRPA) members and staff participating in meetings with local rice millers, importers, and wholesalers.  The group also met with Walmart executives to learn about their rice sourcing needs.
 
"U.S. market share is up 18 percent from this time last year, largely buoyed by an increase in rough rice exports," said Jerry Brown, a USA Rice member who farms rice in Arkansas and who attended the trade mission.  "This was a great opportunity to let our trade partners here in Mexico know we appreciate and value our relationship."
 
Concerns with U.S. rice quality remained a prominent topic in many of these meetings with importers lauding rice from South America as high quality.
 
"The recent ban on Uruguayan milled rice will cause a temporary change in milled rice imports, so during our meetings we discussed U.S. production and ways to meet the quality needs of the importers," said Tim Walker, general manager of Horizon Ag who also participated in the mission.
 
The USA Rice trade mission also joined with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's trade mission in Mexico City, led by U.S. Secretary of Agricultural Sonny Perdue that had also partnered with the National Football League's youth health and wellness activities, NFL Play 60.  While Perdue did show off some of his pigskin moves, he was there primarily to promote the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).  USMCA was a topic of interest with speculation on whether the U.S. would ratify the treaty this year (Mexico ratified it earlier this summer) as several Congressional delegations have traveled to Mexico over the past few months.  
 
"USA Rice is strongly supportive of USMCA," said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward.  "NAFTA, the predecessor of USMCA, turned Mexico into our largest export market, bringing in nearly 800,000 MT of U.S. rice last year."

Pharmaceutical exports up by 12.3pc to $55.48mn

Web Desk On Nov 12, 2019
ISLAMABAD: The exports of pharmaceutical products during the first quarter of the current financial year grew by 12.35 percent.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the pharmaceutical exports were recorded at 55.481 million dollars during July-September 2019-20 as against the exports of 49.383 million dollars during July-September 2018-19 showing an increase of 12.35 percent.
According to the data, in terms of quantity, the exports of the pharmaceutical goods increased by 22.42 percent from 2,792 metric tons to 3,418 metric ton,
Meanwhile, year-on-year basis the pharmaceutical exports rose by 16.35 percent during the month of September 2019 as compared to the same month of last year.
It must be noted that the pharmaceutical exports in June 2019 were recorded at $14.061 million against the export of $14.957 million in June 2018, according to BPS data.
The exports of Rice products from the country during the first quarter of the current fiscal year increased by 50.7 percent to $470 million as compared to the same period in last year, said Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), 839,356 metric tons of rice worth $470.584 million were exported during the first quarter (July-September 2019) of the current fiscal year. However, 551.586 metric tons of rice valuing $312.1 million were exported during the same period in 2018-19.

Hundreds of Indian Sikhs make historic pilgrimage to Pakistan

At least 700 pilgrims and more in the coming days are expected to pass through the border into Pakistan without a visa to pray at the shrine of the founder of their religion, Guru Nanak.

Sikh pilgrims stand in a queue to visit the Shrine of Baba Guru Nanak Dev at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan near the Indian border, on November 9, 2019. (AFP)
Hundreds of Indian Sikhs made a historic pilgrimage to Pakistan on Saturday, crossing through a white gate to reach one of their religion's holiest sites, after a landmark deal between the two countries separated by the 1947 partition of the subcontinent.
Cheering Sikhs walked joyfully along the road from Dera Baba Nanak in India towards the new immigration hall that would allow them to pass through a secure land corridor into Pakistan, in a rare example of cooperation between the nuclear-armed countries divided by decades of enmity.
Some fathers ran, carrying their children on their shoulders.
Buses were waiting on the Pakistani side to carry them along the corridor to the shrine to Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak, which lies in Kartarpur, a small town just four kilometres inside Pakistan where he is believed to have died.



"Generally people say that God is everywhere. But this walk feels like I'm going to directly seek blessings from Guru Nanak," Surjit Singh Bajwa told AFP news agency as he walked towards the corridor, crying as he spoke.
At 78, he is older than India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars already and nearly ignited a fourth earlier this year.
For up to 30 million Sikhs around the world, the white-domed shrine is one of their holiest sites.
However, for Indian Sikhs, it has remained tantalisingly close –– so close they could stand at the border and gaze at its four cupolas –– but out-of-reach for decades.
When Pakistan got independence on August 14 at the end of British colonial rule in 1947 and India a day later, Kartarpur ended up on the western side of the border in Pakistan, while most of the region's Sikhs remained on the other side.
Since then, the perennial state of enmity between India and Pakistan has been a constant barrier to those wanting to visit the shrine, known in Sikhism as a gurdwara.
Pilgrims on both sides of the border echoed the hope that the corridor might herald a thawing in the relationship between India and Pakistan.
"When it comes to government-to-government relations, it is all hate and when it comes to people-to-people ties, it's all love," one of the Sikh pilgrims, who did not give his name, told Pakistani state TV as he crossed.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan Speech at Ceremony of Historic inauguration of Kartarpur Corridor, Nankana Sahib, Narowal District (09.11.19) #PakistanOpensKartarpur 1/2 @ImranKhanPTI
Among the first pilgrims to pass through the gate was former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who told Pakistani state media that it was a "big moment".
"I hope relations between Pakistan and India will improve after the opening of Kartarpur," he said.
The opening has even inspired a singular message of gratitude from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan for "respecting the sentiments of India."
Khan greeted pilgrims at the shrine, and in televised images could be seen speaking with Manmohan Singh.
Khan said a day would come "when our relations with India will improve".
"I am hopeful that this the beginning," he told the pilgrims at the shrine.
For years India had been asking Pakistan to grant Sikhs access to the shrine.
Many believe it has happened now because of the friendship between Khan, a World Cup-winning cricketer-turned-politician, and India's Navjot Singh Sidhu –– another cricketer-turned-politician.
"When Sidhu asked me to open the border, I kept it in my mind," Khan told devotees on Saturday.
He compared the situation to Muslims being able to see holy sites in Medina, but never visit.
Former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh after a visit to #KartarpurCorridor: It was a good beginning, India-Pakistan relations are subject to many buts and ifs, I hope this is a good beginning to normalise our relation.

Guru Nanak's 550th birthday
The opening comes just days ahead of the Guru Nanak's 550th birthday on November 12, which is marked with celebrations by millions of Sikhs around the world. The shrine will be one of the most important places for Sikhs on that day.
At least 700 pilgrims are expected to pass through the corridor on Saturday, and more in the coming days.
Sikhs from around the world, including some from India, who entered from the main border crossing at Wagah after obtaining visas, have been arriving in Pakistan ahead of the celebrations for several days already.
Vans of pilgrims could be seen travelling through Kartarpur on Friday.
The Indian flag could be seen flying across the border, just beyond fields dotted with eucalyptus and guava trees, though it was half obscured by the heavy smog that has blanketed large swathes of South Asia in recent days.
The presence of Pakistan's paramilitary Rangers leant a menacing edge to the otherwise peaceful scene. The rice-growing region, being so close to the border, is heavily secured, with multiple checkpoints.
'This land is sacred'
"This land is sacred for them," Habib Khan, the 63-year-old imam of a small mosque just outside the gurdwara, told AFP on Friday.
The deal allows for up to 5,000 pilgrims a day to cross.
Pakistan has employed hundreds of labourers to spruce up the shrine, including building a border immigration checkpoint and a bridge, as well as expanding the site's grounds.
The Sikh faith began in the 15th century in the city of Lahore, which is now part of Pakistan, when Guru Nanak began teaching a faith that preached equality.
There are an estimated 20,000 Sikhs left in Pakistan after millions fled to India following the bloody religious violence ignited by independence and partition, which sparked the largest mass migration in human history and led to the death of at least one million people.
Why are farmers resisting a government ban on stubble burning?
Charging farmers for stubble burning under a colonial-era law may do little to deal with the air pollution problem.
Xari JalilUpdated a day ago
A mulcher is attached to a tractor to mix stubble into the soil. It is an alternative for disposing of stubble without burning
— Image by Tahir Wattoo at Mian Ahmed Yar Farms, Pakpattan
Autumn has changed for Pakistan’s Punjab province over the last few years. A season that was once loved for its crisp weather after sweltering summers, a time for outdoor activities, has now become a season full of respiratory illnesses, allergic conditions, and repeated warnings from environmentalists telling the public to confine themselves indoors.
Thick blankets of smog were initially viewed with shock, now their inevitability is a cause for despair.
From Zartaj Gul Wazir, the federal Minister of Climate Change, to the provincial (Punjab) Environment Protection Department, the consensus in Pakistan is that the problem is India’s stubble burning. The government also insists that stubble burning in Pakistan is next to non-existent because the ban is being fully implemented here.
NASA satellite images do show more red spots denoting high heat emissions – fires – on the Indian side. On the Pakistani side, there are a few scattered places where such spots are located.
Read: Why Punjab’s smog has aggravated this year
But Ahmad Rafay Alam, an environmentalist and lawyer, says that this is because Pakistan may have burnt only about 35% of its rice stubble yet. When the rest will be burned, the picture may change. Alam recently helped his teenage daughter, Leila, along with other students to file a writ petition in the Lahore High Court highlighting how the provincial government has been misleading the public by using a more lenient air quality index (AQI) compared to countries like the US. Among other issues, the petition also accuses the government of not publicising air quality readings.
Abid Omar, founder of the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), a system of independently owned air quality meters, says that while crop residue burning contributes towards air pollution woes, it is rather a “meteorological misfortune” that prevails over Punjab that causes the toxic mix during winter.
“More crop residue burning happens after the spring (wheat) harvest than it does after the autumn (rice) harvest,” he said. “Yet smog isn’t a summer problem. But during the winter months, all the toxic emissions stay trapped in the lower atmosphere and cause the infamous Lahore Smog.”
Imposing Section 144
He said that when peaks and drops in the AQI are seen it is mostly due to wind changes and other conditions. Despite what the government would like everyone to think, it is not from their own actions. In October the provincial government had ordered the banning of stubble burning, as well as burning other waste under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This clause, enacted in 1898 and amended in 1997, gives the government emergency powers to prevent actions that may lead to harm or probable loss of life.
Farmers, though, do not take the ban seriously.
“First of all, to set the record straight, I don’t think there has been any action even under Section 144,” said Aamer Hayat Bhandara, an independent farmer from Pattoki. “There is little presence of the government, no monitoring and in reality, rice stubble is being burnt left, right and centre.” There have been pictures doing the rounds on social media, taken by those travelling within the province who can see stubble burning.
“The second question we must ask ourselves is, is stubble burning really a contributing factor to the extent that it is being made to be?” he asks. “Paddy cultivation has been an ancient practice of the region and stubble burning is not a new thing.”
Other options
Despite his questions, Bhandara remains one of those few who opt to use machines rather than burn his crop stubble. He uses a Kubota harvester, which piles the stubble behind it as it moves on so that it can be collected and mixed with animal fodder or sold.
The harvester can be rented for Rs6,000-7,000 (USD 39-45) per acre. Unfortunately, many small scale farmers cannot afford such an investment, or it does not make financial sense for them to invest in it.
Tahir Wattoo, who owns Mian Ahmed Yar Farms uses a mulcher which costs Rs150,000-200,000 (USD 965-1,286).
“I don’t believe that most farmers out there cannot afford it,” he said. “When they want to afford something they manage it. They believe they will be cutting the cost of diesel usage if they do not use this, but actually it would save money. In the end, it boils down to the fact that they do not want to switch to modern methods.”
Wattoo says that mulching is a two-year-old process in Pakistan, and most farmers are not fully aware of the process and its repercussions so they fear their next crop may be harmed.
“Stubble burning is actually a problem, despite being the easy way out. Our soil is already low on fertility. By burning it we continue to distress it of its minerals, its texture and softness. But who will educate the farmers?”
“If the government gives subsidies to farmers, things will become easier,” said Malik Asfar. “After the 1950s ‘London fog’, the government banned stubble burning but without ostracising farmers. I would say stubble burning is a smog contributor by 35% maximum, but no more. We must consider air pollution being caused by rising population and increasing traffic.”
Related: Study identifies relationship between smog and rice residue burning in Punjab
Farmers need to be educated; unfortunately, the agriculture department is missing in action.
“It’s a dead department,” said Wattoo. “How have they helped farmers?”
“Nine months of the year they are sleeping, and then suddenly they wake up and start employing section 144,” said Bhandara who even has videos out on the topic on his Facebook page.
“Section 144 is never a solution; farmers should be heard, their problems must be taken into account, instead of simply arresting them,” said Bhandara. He suggested that incentives for cheaper machinery, such as subsidies, providing farmers with balers, or providing machines on rent, might have a greater impact if the government was serious about behavioural change.
“No one discusses other issues such as the burning of biomass, and indoor air pollution, construction, and as mentioned before vehicular and industrial emissions. Sadly the environment agenda that the government came with has not been sustained,” said Bhandara. He suggested that farmers and kilns are targeted because they are visible, while no oil company is punished for substandard fuel which leads to much higher vehicular pollution.
Government is trying
Anjum Buttar, a director-general at the Punjab Agriculture Department, however, insisted that they are working on more incentives – but only for responsible farmers.
“Most of them are responsible, but those who are not are then taken action against,” he said. “We interact with farmers’ bodies almost daily. Currently, in Punjab there are about five million acres of rice – are there so many people burning stubble out there? In fact, Pakistan is not even burning significantly. The problem is more on the other side.”
He said that the government is working on bringing a national programme where choppers and tillage machines are going to be procured and given on subsidies. “Whoever will use the Kubota harvester will be given a subsidy of Rs1,500 (USD 9.65) per acre. We are also talking to banks.”
But Buttar also defended the sector saying that crop burning is not the main cause of air pollution – it is vehicular pollution.
Read: Stubble burning must be reduced to curb pollution
Meanwhile, Hammad Naqi, Director General of WWF Pakistan, said that they are implementing their Climate Resilient Agriculture Programme.
“We keep proposing to the government to provide the farmers subsidies because they really need these. There are many alternatives out there including Happy Seeder (known as Pak Seeder), Zero Tillage Drill, Rice Straw Chopper, and the Japanese Kubota machine. These should be accessible to responsible farmers.”
This worked when the government wanted to promote land levelling, and provided 60% subsidies. This led to a reduction in water use. Farmers were also given subsidies to promote efficient irrigation practices, and this worked too. Currently, Naqi says WWF is working on a study to examine what may be done with the stubble and how it may be reused.
According to Saad Cheema from WWF, under Section 144, the police lodged 544 cases. The highest number of burning incidents was reported from Sheikhupura (204), Jhang (120), Okara (102) and Nankana Sahib (96) divisions of Punjab.
“How many people will they end up arresting?” asked Naqi. “This is really not a long term solution.”

Pak-Saudi trade relations advance

 November 12, 2019
Prince Fahd Bin Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud inaugurates the Exhibition

By Syed Mussarat Khalil


JEDDAH —
 Deputy Consul General Shaiq Ahmed Bhutto has said that bilateral trade relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have seen gradual increase over last few years which resulted in more economic activities between the two countries.


He was speaking at the inaugural session of the Foodex 2019 Exhibition in Jeddah. He said that 15 Pakistani companies are participating in the Foodex exhibition which shows the increasing interest and opportunities for the Pakistani exporters in Saudi market. Last year nine Pakistani companies participated in the Foodex.

The Exhibition was inaugurated by Prince Fahd Bin Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

Shaiq told that the Pakistani companies, participating in the event are among the top exporters from Pakistan dealing in rice, spices, sauces, processed food, ready to cook pratha and tandoori items, beverages, bakery products and confectionaries.

The Pakistani companies’ representatives while talking to media told that the increasing demand of the food items in the kingdom, offer huge opportunity to Pakistani companies to increase their space in Saudi market and enhance market share by aggressive marketing. Since Pakistan is an agricultural country, and more than 70 percent of its exports are agro and textile based, it has enormous potential to increase its exports share by tapping halal food market of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia currently imports more that 80 percent of its total food and beverages requirement.

Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) in collaboration with the Consulate General of Pakistan is participating in the 7th edition of Foodex Saudi Exhibition Jeddah organized by Pakistan’s Pavilion has been established in the Exhibition. Commercial Section of the Consulate is extending full cooperation to Pakistani companies for match-making of their products in Saudi Arabia and to tap enormous opportunities emerging out of Saudi Vision 2030 to promote bilateral trade and investment.

Mohsin Raza sales manager Hemani General Trading said Hemani Group established since 1949 has vast experience in the field of Herbal trade.

Wasif Hussain industrial Sales representative (CASSIDA) said within the Fuchs Group Fuchs Lubritech is expert for special Application Lubricants. A team of more than 500 specialists around the world work to meet your need.

Ms Nadia Parveen, sales and marketing manager of Eventage, was also present at Pakistani Pavilion. — SG

Smuggling, hoarding in DOF crosshair amid rice imports

By: Ben O. de Vera - Reporter / @bendeveraINQ
Inquirer Business / 03:15 PM November 13, 2019
The government is shoring up tariff collections from a surge in rice imports while looking into possible hoarding and smuggling amid falling retail prices, according to Finance Secretary Carols G. Dominguez III.
In a speech at the 14th World Rice Conference, Dominguez said that revenues from import tariffs on rice already amounted to P11.4 billion as of end-October.
Republic Act No. 11203, which removed volume restrictions on rice import and imposed tariffs, would collect 35 percent tax from rice imported from Asean countries, 40 percent from those not exceeding 350,000 tons from countries outside Asean and 180 percent if more than 350,000 tons from a non-Asean country.
Since collections so far in 2019 exceeded P10 billion, or the amount to be set aside for a program to make local farmers competitive, Dominguez said the government had “ample means to do even more to make our agricultural production more efficient.”
The impact of rice importation was felt most by local farmers as prices of palay, or unhusked rice, fell to some of their lowest levels in years.
Dominguez said the government was extending help to these farmers.
Palay prices, Dominguez said citing Philippine Statistics Authority data, had declined to P15.71 per kilogram in the third week of September to the second week of October. “This translates to an average loss for farmers of about P1.52 per kilo,” he said.
“In some provinces, farm gate prices fell by as much as P5.63 while in others unhusked rice prices actually rose by P3.75 per kilo,” Dominguez said.
He said the government was deploying “evidence-based and tightly-targeted” assistance to local farmers.
National government agencies are coordinating with Congress on giving cash aid to rice farmers and also rice to farming families hurt by the importation of rice.
The Department of Agriculture, Dominguez said, is implementing the Survival and Recovery, or Sure, aid program that offers to rice farmers P15,000 in interest-free loans payable in eight years.
“Complementary programs” are also being put in place. One of these, the finance chief said, was for local government units to purchase palay from farmers at “above production costs.”
Local governments could obtain loans for this purpose, said Dominguez.
He said there’s close monitoring of “possible distortions in the market, particularly the widening gap between farm gate prices for paddy and rice retail prices in specific provinces.”
Strike teams had been formed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to crack down on smuggling and hoarding.
A BIR strike team had already raided unregistered warehouses in Bulacan province and found more than 250,000 sacks of rice imported from Vietnam and Myanmar.
“The companies involved have not produced legitimate import documents,” Dominguez said.
“Over the next months, we see anti-smuggling and anti-hoarding activities to intensify,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, Dominguez added, had “issued clear instructions to unmask and prosecute those involved in economic sabotage and bring them to justice.”/TSB




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