Pakistan Biryani festival to be held in
Morocco’s capital
The two countries
share history, religion and deep political ties based on mutual respect and
commonality of views.
Hamid Khan stated this
while receiving Mirza Ishtiaq Baig, the Honorary Counsel General of Morocco in
Karachi and Chairman of Pakistan Morocco Business Council (PMBC) at Rabat.
Baig had called the
the Pakistani ambassador to discuss the forthcoming visit of the Federation of
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) delegation to Morocco.
The delegation’s visit
will coincide with a Biryani festival, which will be held in the capital of
Morocco.
“The Biryani festival
is being organized to promote Pakistani rice in Morocco. The ambassador has
assured us full support of the Pakistan embassy. He has helped us connect with
local business communities and we are thankful for all the assistance he has
provided so far,” said Ishtiaq Baig.
Hamid Asghar also
added that Morocco — which has a population of 35 million people — was an
important market to expand into as well as a gateway into Africa.
The continental free
trade agreement will shortly be in effect, creating tremendous opportunities
for Pakistani products.
“There is a lot of
interest from local businesses in importing Pakistani products including rice.
However awareness and connectivity needs to be enhanced.
"The festival
will play a role in facilitating the contact between the business communities
of two countries and showcasing Pakistani cuisine. The government has a clear
vision to enhance Pakistani exports and so the mission at Rabat will also be exploring
wood furniture, tourism, marble, education and sports industries.”
https://www.geo.tv/latest/253679-pakistan-biryani-festival-to-be-held-in-moroccos-capital
Nigeria's border crisis fuelled by rice
·
31 October 2019
Image copyrightAFP
Bustling
borders have come to a standstill, with goods rotting and queues of lorries waiting
at checkpoints in the hope the crossings will reopen.
The closures
were imposed without warning on 21 August - and Nigeria's neighbours are angry.
What
prompted the move?
Mainly rice.
It seems Nigeria was fed up about the flouting of its ban on the importation of
rice over its land borders.
Smugglers bringing in rice from Benin
appeared to be making a killing.
The biggest
contraband route was between Cotonou, Benin's biggest city, and Nigeria's
commercial hub Lagos, which is just a few hours' drive away.
According to
the World Bank, Benin's economy is heavily reliant on the informal re-export
and transit trade with Nigeria, which accounts for about 20% of its GDP, or
national income.
And about 80% of imports into Benin are
destined for Nigeria, the bank says.
Nigeria
banned the importation of rice from Benin in 2004 and from all its neighbours
in 2016, but that has not stopped the trade.
Why is rice
so lucrative?
Nigeria is
only allowing in foreign rice through its ports - where since 2013 it has
imposed a tax of 70%.
The move is
intended not only to raise revenue but also to encourage the local production
of rice.
But
smugglers have been taking advantage of the fact that it is cheaper to import
rice to Nigeria's neighbours.
According to the Nigerian
maritime site Ships and Ports, in 2014 Benin lowered its tariffs
on rice imports from 35% to 7% while Cameroon erased it completely from 10%.
Rice import
from Thailand (metric tonnes)
Source: Thai Rice
Exporters Association
Neighbouring Benin then recorded an
astronomical rise in imports from Thailand, the world's second-largest
producer.
At its
height, each of Benin's 11.5 million citizens would have had to consume at
least 150kg (330lb) of rice from Thailand alone.
So it seems
pretty clear that the rice was making its way into Nigeria to meet the shortfall
in local production for a country of almost 200 million people.
And Nigerians' appetite for rice is almost
insatiable in a country where the grain is a staple.
There was a
time was when it was considered an elitist meal consumed only on Sundays. But
now its affordability - plus the love for jollof rice - has made it a national
dish.
Is it just about rice?
No. Benin is
also a major corridor for second-hand cars to Nigeria, where there is a ban on
importing cars that are more than 15 years old.
Official figures are difficult to come by,
but Luxembourg-based shipping company BIM e-solutions says an average of 10,000
cars arrive at the Cotonou port from Europe monthly.
According to
the Nigeria Customs Service, many are smuggled across the border.
The
authorities also want to tackle smugglers going the other way. Many sell cheap
subsidised Nigerian petrol in neighbouring countries.
In July, the head of Nigeria's national
petroleum company, Maikanti Baru, said petrol smugglers were taking about 10
million litres (two million gallons) out of the country each day.
How has West Africa been affected?
Many goods
come in through the port of Lagos and are transported by road throughout the
region by hundreds of thousands of lorries.
Nigeria's
immediate neighbours Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon - as well as Ghana and
Togo have been hit by the crisis.
Ghana's Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor
Botchwey said the country's traders had incurred huge losses because their
goods had been detained for weeks at the Nigeria-Benin border.
She advised
the Nigerian government to "find ways of isolating the issues and the
countries that it has problems with, so that Ghana's exports can enter
Nigeria's market without being lumped up with all these issues that have
emerged".
In Benin,
photographer Yanick Folly posted images of baskets of tomatoes, lined up and
decaying near the border.
Benin's Agriculture Minister Gaston
Dossouhoui described it as "a distressing sight" when he visited
markets in the town of Grand Popo.
"It's
very difficult for our producers. It's a disaster," he was quoted by the
AFP news agency as saying.
In an effort
to mollify its powerful neighbour, Niger has since imposed its own ban on the
exportation of rice to Nigeria.
But it is
the border communities, where traders often criss-cross for market days, that
are suffering.
BBC Hausa
reporter Tchima Illa Issoufou in Niger said traders in two border towns she
visited were unable to do business as most were not able to cross the border.
And a long
line of lorries, most heavy with goods, stands at Maradi close to the border
with Nigeria.
Is the move
illegal?
The border
closure goes against an agreement that guarantees free movement between the 15
members of the West African regional bloc Ecowas.
However it is legal for an Ecowas member
state to restrict the importation of certain food and agricultural products -
and in 2004 Benin and Nigeria agreed to ban 29 foreign products from being
imported into Nigeria.
Yet Nigeria's actions have many questioning
its commitment to the historic AfCFTA free-trade agreement, which it signed up to in July that
lays the foundation for the creation of the world's largest free trade area and
is intended to boost trade between African countries.
There are
those who describe Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's protectionist attitude
as "Trumpian".
But Kalu
Aja, a financial analyst in Lagos, says the very fact that Mr Buhari signed
AfCTA is proof that he is different from his US counterpart Donald Trump.
"Buhari
is not being protectionist but seeking to protect the gains made in local
agriculture, in rice especially," he told the BBC.
"Keep
in mind the sea borders are still open, tariffs have not gone up. Trump cut
taxes, then cut regulations then imposed tariffs on China, Canada etc."
How has
Nigeria been affected?
In the
southern state of Rivers, some traders at the rice depot section of the Mile 1
market in Port Harcourt have packed up and gone home.
They say the dramatic closure of the
borders gave them no time to stock up.
And prices
have gone up too. Foreign rice now sells for 60% more, while locally produced
rice has increased by almost 100%.
But there
has been the up side.
Nigeria
customs chief Hameed Ali recently told MPs that tax revenues had gone up as
cargo destined for Benin was now arriving at Nigerian ports.
One day in
September, a record 9.2bn naira ($25m, £20m) was collected, which had
"never happened before", he said.
"After
the closure of the border and since then, we have maintained an average of
about 4.7bn naira to 5.8bn naira on a daily basis, which is far more than we
used to collect."
What happens
next?
No-one
knows. Nigeria has not said how long it will keep the borders shut to
commercial traffic.
In August, Benin's President Patrice Talon
pleaded with Mr Buhari, on the sidelines of a summit in Japan, for the
reopening saying: "Our people are suffering."
But
Nigeria's customs boss has been quoted as saying the borders will remain
closed, blaming neighbouring countries for not doing more to stamp out
smuggling.
Some point
to corruption at border points as the main culprit behind the smuggling, which
implicates Nigerian officials as much as those of its neighbours.
However, as
its crude oil exports are not being affected, Nigeria's borders might remain
closed for a while.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50223045
NOVEMBER 1, 2019 / 6:33 AM / UPDATED 9 HOURS
AGO
RPT-Asia Rice-Vietnam prices slip on weak
demand; India rates steady
Sumita Layek
3 MIN READ
(Repeats with no changes)
* Rainfall damages harvest
crop in many Indian states - exporters
* Thai prices little
changed at $390-$413 a tonne
* Bangladesh to buy 1 mln
tonnes of rice from farmers - minister
By Sumita Layek
BENGALURU, Oct 31
(Reuters) - Rice export rates for the Vietnamese variety fell this week from
multi-month highs on weak demand from Philippines and China, while prices were
steady in top exporter India on festival-thinned trading.
Vietnam’s 5% broken rice
RI-VNBKN5-P1 inched lower to $345-$350 a tonne on Thursday, from a 4-1/2 month
high of $350-$355 last week.
“Trading is thin this week
on weak demand from major buyers such as Philippines and China,” said a trader
based in Ho Chi Minh City. “The autumn-winter crop season will be in full swing
in December,” the trader added.
Vietnam’s rice shipments
in the first 10 months of this year rose 6.1% from a year earlier to 5.56
million tonnes, but export revenue fell 7.8%, government data showed.
In India, prices of the 5
percent broken parboiled variety RI-INBKN5-P1 were unchanged from last week at
$368-$372 per tonne.
“Trading was negligible
due to the Diwali festival. New season supplies have also been delayed due to
recent rainfall,” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.
Prices had recovered from
a four-month low on a stronger rupee last week.
Many rice growing states
had rainfall in the last few days, damaging paddy crops ready for harvesting,
exporters said.
Meanwhile, in Thailand,
benchmark 5 percent broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 prices were at $390-$413 a tonne,
versus $396-$410 last week.
“The domestic price of
rice is actually quite low but it’s the baht that’s really pushing up export
prices and this has deterred overseas buyers,” a Bangkok-based rice trader
said.
Exporters have wrestled
with a strong baht this year, which has kept prices for the Thai variety higher
than those of competitors.
“New supply will gradually
enter the market over the next few weeks until the end of the year and if
exporters can’t sell, stockpiles may build and prices would fall,” another
Bangkok-based trader said.
Elsewhere, Bangladesh will
buy 1 million tonnes of rice and paddy, up from 600,000 tonnes last year, in
the upcoming harvesting season from local farmers who incurred losses from high
production costs and low domestic prices this year, Agriculture Minister Abdur
Razzaque said on Thursday.
Rain-fed rice output or
the Aman crop, accounting for nearly a third of country’s annual rice output of
around 35 million tonnes, is estimated to hit 15.3 million tonnes this year
from nearly 14 million tonnes last year, the minister said. (Reporting by
Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi, Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and
Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; editing by Arpan Varghese and David Evans)
https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL3N27G4TC
Parallel probes ongoing on rice import
players
October 31, 2019
A farmer in Cordon, Isabela, mounts bags of
rice after solar-drying the grains on a multipurpose pavement.
THE government is now scrutinizing rice
importation players, including farmers’ cooperatives, as authorities seek to
fully realize the benefits of the rice trade liberalization (RTL) law.
High-ranking officials interviewed by the
BusinessMirror disclosed that parallel investigations have been launched by
different agencies to ensure the proper implementation of the RTL law.
Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio
Joselito Lambino II said the Department of Finance (DOF) is closely monitoring
revenue collections from rice-related transactions, particularly importation.
This, Lambino noted, includes income taxes and tariff collections.
The finance department is doing this to
ensure that rice tariffs are properly collected, especially since they are
vital to bankroll the government’s interventions to improve local farmers’
productivity.
Under the RTL law, tariffs in excess of P10
billion will be given directly to farmers.
On the aspect of income taxes, the Bureau
of Internal Revenue (BIR), an attached agency of the DOF, recently padlocked 11
warehouses in Guiguinto, Bulacan, for various tax violations, including
non-registration and failure to pay the annual registration fees.
This includes not having any permits to
have a warehouse.
Lambino said six of the 11 warehouses had
rice stocks and after the raid, the BIR found a total of 410,040 kilograms of
rice, mostly imported from Vietnam and Myanmar. As of this week, he said, the
BIR reported that the warehouses were unable to present any import documents to
explain the amount of rice stored in the shuttered facilities.
“The tax registration of the warehouse was
the primary motivation for the raid. But because [the warehouses] contained
rice, we checked the import status, [this being] imported rice. As of a few
days ago, I checked, they were unable to present import documents,” Lambino
said.
Lambino explained that the operations that
DOF-attached agencies conducted recently were in coordination with the Bureau
of Customs and the Department of Agriculture (DA), particularly the Bureau of
Plant industry (BPI).
Authorities found out, he said, that the
imported rice stored in the padlocked warehouses did not have any sanitary and
phytosanitary import clearance (SPS-IC), which is a prerequisite for any rice
importation.
Lambino said the DOF supports the recent
move of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the DA to start
investigating rice traders in general.
Recently, the DA forged a memorandum of
agreement with the PCC to closely work together against smuggling of
agricultural products and other illegal trade practices.
This will be in the forms of information
exchange, investigation and enforcement, and pushing for action plans through
shared resources to limit and put a stop to anti-competitive practices.
DA’s CREST-O
Last week, the DA said it has formed a
“unified and integrated regulatory enforcement unit” that would address
unlawful trade of agriculture and fisheries products in the country.
The anti-smuggling unit called Compliance
and Regulatory Enforcement for Security and Trade Office (CREST-O) was able to
seized about 11,660 metric tons of smuggled rice stored at UPFC Logistics Corp.
warehouse in Guiguinto, Bulacan.
The smuggled rice entered the country
through a so-called phantom port in Pampanga, the DA said.
The DA added that the shipments were linked
to five Cooperative Development Authority-registered cooperatives.
“DA CREST-O is currently checking the
records of five Cooperative Development Authority-registered cooperatives that
were reported to have been issued sanitary phytosanitary import clearance by
the Bureau of Plant Industry,” it said.
“It will be recalled that during the
DOF-BIR Inspection of some 11 warehouses on October 3, one of the business
establishments that was reported to be operating without the necessary permits
from the BIR was UPFC Logistic Corp.,” it added.
The DA said they are now digging deeper
into the “mysterious importation of rice through the phantom port in Pampanga.”
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/10/31/parallel-probes-ongoing-on-rice-import-players/
Govt to buy
6 lakh tonnes of paddy, 3.5 lakh tonnes of rice directly from farmers
03:14 PM, October 31, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 07:50 PM,
October 31, 2019
Photo: Collected
The paddy
will be procured at the rate of Tk 26 per kilogramme (Kgs) from November 20
while rice at Tk 36 per kg from December 1, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra
Majumder said at a press briefing at the secretariat today.
The government has taken up a scheme to procure six lakh
tonnes of paddy and two and a half lakh tonnes of rice directly from the
farmers in the upcoming season. Photo: Rezaul Karim Byron
The
government will also procure 50,000 tonnes of non-boiled (atap) rice at Tk 35
per kg, the minister said.
The decision
was taken at a meeting of the food planning and monitoring committee today, the
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said at a press briefing at the
secretariat.
Meanwhile,
the food minister and Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzak who also
attended the meeting expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of the finance
minister.
Shaughnessy Naughton: We need more scientists
in Congress now
By Shaughnessy Naughton
Filed Under Future 50, Donald Trump & Politics of Science
Nearly three years into the Trump Presidency, the disdain
for climate science and inconvenient facts have been well-documented. To
understand how far-reaching the impact of President Trump’s so-called “war on
science” is, take a moment to consider a recent report out of the Department of
Agriculture.
Some 600
million people across the world depend on rice for the majority of their
calories. For this group, a disruption in the supply or quality of rice can be
— quite literally — life and death.
That’s why
it came as a shock to researchers at the USDA that Trump political appointees
were trying to censor and minimize press coverage of a study that found that
rice is losing nutrients because of the effects of global warming. The
physiologist in charge of the study resigned because of what he felt was a
politicization of science, the likes of which poses a significant threat to the
future of agriculture here in America and abroad.
The real-life impacts of this
administration’s reckless policy go much deeper than this kind of buzzy
language conveys.”
This is one of — at this point —
hundreds of public examples of the Trump Administration’s efforts to sideline
science for purely political reasons. The dizzying number of reports that have
come out since Trump took office, ranging from Trump’s EPA’s attempts to squash
a chemical pollution study on the basis that it would be a “public relations
nightmare” to the easement of regulations on coal ash management that will
directly harm families across the nation, have made it easy to point to the
administration as the face of the “anti-science” movement.
While terms like “anti-science,”
“war on science,” or “attacks on science” provide pundits and politicians alike
a soundbite-worthy means to capture the essence of Trump’s destructive impact
on science, they can be too reductionist in nature. The real-life impacts of
this administration’s reckless policy go much deeper than this kind of buzzy
language conveys. These policies undermine faith in institutions as well as the
fundamental role of government to keep Americans safe.
Shaughnessy Naughton is the founder of 314
Action.
I founded 314 Action in 2016 to
elect leaders who would look beyond the talking points and buzzwords.
Specifically, we work to recruit, train, and support scientists and STEM
leaders to run for public office. Legislators who will use their training and
background to not only condemn the broad “war on science” but to use their
power as elected officials to take a deeper dive and shed light on what that
“war” really means — such as the starving masses due to a less nutritious rice
yield.
In 2020 and beyond, we will
continue to push for more scientists in Congress.”
We have some success stories
that show a proof of concept in the idea — Represenative Joe Cunningham talked
about banning offshore drilling on the campaign trail and introduced
legislation to do just that; or Dr. Kim Schrier, who was elected to Congress in
Washington, has used her background to inform legislation that makes the CDC
more alert to future anti-vaccination pockets across the country; and nurse
Laura Underwood founded the Black Maternal Health Caucus.
These are members of Congress
who ran for office last year because they saw a need for their expertise in the
halls of power. A need that was not being served by the disproportionate amount
of lawyers in Congress and lack of professional diversity.
In 2020 and
beyond, we will continue to push for more scientists in Congress and other
offices who will take a look beyond the talking points and present evidence-based,
data-driven solutions to the problems facing communities across America.
While it is
impossible to prevent “deniers for hire” from exercising their first amendment
right, electing those whose careers were built on adhering to the facts is a
potent antidote.
Researchers Use Gene
Modification to Defeat Rice-Killing Disease
By James Quirk
October 31, 2019
Researchers
successfully edited the genome of strains of rice grown in Southeast Asia and
West Africa to block a pathogen that ravages yields of the staple crop, the
latest example of gene modification that may reduce hunger throughout the
world.
Bacterial blight is a closely-studied disease than destroys as much as 75% of a crop yield – a devastating harrier in regions where billions depend on rice as a primary food source. Scientists at Manila’s International Rice Research Institute used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to prevent rice from expressing genes that serve as Xoo’s point of entry to hijack the plant’s nutrients, according to Nature. The team found that rice plants with these engineered genes were resistant to at least 95 Xoo strains.
Genetic modifications like these have caught the attention of private equity and venture capital investors seeking opportunities in life sciences. PE has invested $36.4 billion this year in companies working in the field, more than double the $16.8 billion invested in all of 2018, according to PitchBook. VC has invested $20.2 billion across 1,180 deals this year, compared to $30.3 billion last year.
Bacterial blight is a closely-studied disease than destroys as much as 75% of a crop yield – a devastating harrier in regions where billions depend on rice as a primary food source. Scientists at Manila’s International Rice Research Institute used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to prevent rice from expressing genes that serve as Xoo’s point of entry to hijack the plant’s nutrients, according to Nature. The team found that rice plants with these engineered genes were resistant to at least 95 Xoo strains.
Genetic modifications like these have caught the attention of private equity and venture capital investors seeking opportunities in life sciences. PE has invested $36.4 billion this year in companies working in the field, more than double the $16.8 billion invested in all of 2018, according to PitchBook. VC has invested $20.2 billion across 1,180 deals this year, compared to $30.3 billion last year.
Bacterial
blight, which is also called kresek, causes the leaves
and seedlings of rice plants to yellow and wilt before dying.
·
Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) which is using
the Crispr/Cas9 gene editing tool to create therapies to treat cancer, diabetes
and other diseases, rose 9% to $43.50 after the company reported earnings Oct.
28 that dramatically beat analysts’ expectations. The company reported third-quarter
earnings $2.40 a share, compared to a loss of $1.07 a share, in the same period
a year ago.
·
Broad cultivation of genetically-modified rice has met
with strident opposition, however. The new book Golden
Rice: The Imperiled Birth of a GMO Superfood examines how
groups including Greenpeace blocked the use of Golden Rice, which was created
20 years ago to combat death and diseases caused by vitamin A deficiency across
the developing world.
·
“Golden Rice has not been made available to those for
whom it was intended in the 20 years since it was created,” said the book’s author,
Ed Regis. “Had it been allowed to grow in these nations, millions of lives
would not have been lost to malnutrition, and millions of children would not
have gone blind.”
Registered Dietitians "Think
Rice" at 2019 Food & Nutrition Show
By Lesley Dixon
PHILADELPHIA,
PA -- This week, USA Rice headed to Philadelphia to interface with more than
10,000 dietitians, food policy makers, healthcare providers, nutrition
scientists and researchers, and food industry leaders from around the globe at
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' 2019 Food & Nutrition Conference
& Expo (FNCE).
As an exhibitor, USA Rice pushed U.S. rice messaging, answered nutrition and food safety questions, addressed arsenic concerns prompted by recent news reports, and continued to promote and distribute the "RD-Approved Guide to U.S.-Grown Rice" toolkit that has become a go-to resource within the nutrition world.
Visual aids and an interactive display at the USA Rice booth explained the differences in U.S.-grown rice varieties from grain size, to applications, and nutritional components.
"The FNCE show is an event we look forward to each year because of the personal interaction with audiences responsible for supporting healthy diets and shaping food policy," said Cameron Jacobs, USA Rice director of domestic promotion, who staffed the booth. "We talk about the importance of U.S.-grown rice in healthy diets, highlight new programs, make invaluable connections within the nutrition space, and position USA Rice as the ultimate resource for all things rice."
In addition to traditional offerings including the ever-popular Think Rice trivia wheel, USA Rice conducted a survey of more than 70 health professionals to gain stronger insight on rice attitudes and usage.
"The industry feedback we receive from the survey and one-on-one conversations gives us a better understanding of current consumer interests, and pinpoints areas of concern that helps guide development of USA Rice educational materials going forward," continued Jacobs.
As an exhibitor, USA Rice pushed U.S. rice messaging, answered nutrition and food safety questions, addressed arsenic concerns prompted by recent news reports, and continued to promote and distribute the "RD-Approved Guide to U.S.-Grown Rice" toolkit that has become a go-to resource within the nutrition world.
Visual aids and an interactive display at the USA Rice booth explained the differences in U.S.-grown rice varieties from grain size, to applications, and nutritional components.
"The FNCE show is an event we look forward to each year because of the personal interaction with audiences responsible for supporting healthy diets and shaping food policy," said Cameron Jacobs, USA Rice director of domestic promotion, who staffed the booth. "We talk about the importance of U.S.-grown rice in healthy diets, highlight new programs, make invaluable connections within the nutrition space, and position USA Rice as the ultimate resource for all things rice."
In addition to traditional offerings including the ever-popular Think Rice trivia wheel, USA Rice conducted a survey of more than 70 health professionals to gain stronger insight on rice attitudes and usage.
"The industry feedback we receive from the survey and one-on-one conversations gives us a better understanding of current consumer interests, and pinpoints areas of concern that helps guide development of USA Rice educational materials going forward," continued Jacobs.
New animal feed created from rice straw and citric fruit leaves
Credit: Asociacion RUVID
Rice straw
and waste from pruning citric fruit trees have a new use: feed for ruminant
animals. A team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia
(UPV) has designed new diets for cows, sheep, goats, etc. from these
horticultural products. Among its benefits, the use of this new feed would help
decrease the burning of these agricultural sub-products, as well as the
emissions of methane generated by the animals. The first results have been
published in the Animal Feed Science and Technology journal.
"Rice
straw is being disposed of through the monitored burning of crops in recent
years. Furthermore, waste from pruning citric fruit trees—orange and lemon
trees—are also disposed of by burning or crushing them. All these practices
cause major emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere," explains
professor Carlos Fernández, researcher at the Animal Science and Technology Institute
of the UPV and person responsible for this project at the UPV.
The feed designed
by the UPV researchers decreases the emissions of methane (greenhouse gas) by
between 8 and 22%. As well as rice straw and citric fruit
leaves, they include other ingredients that ensure that all the nutritional
needs of the animal are met. And they also stand out because, as well as having
an environmental benefit, they are useful for farmers because they revalue a
sub-product, and for livestock farmers because they provide them with local
food at a competitive price.
"The
Low Carbon Feed diets have added rice straw and
leaves from orange and lemon trees to the compound feed
for ruminant animals. In other words, said
waste has not been used as the source of the fodder, but it has been added as
another ingredient to produce compound feed," adds Carlos Fernández. The
feeds can be used to feed any type of ruminant animal (bovine, ovine, goats,
zebu, water buffalo, yaks, cervids, etc.) and even herbivores such as camelids
(dromedaries, camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, etc.).
"It is
also a proposal that complies with on of the principles of a sustainable
agricultural-farming system: the three Rs—Reuse, Recycle and Reduce -, without
harming or altering the productive level of the animals," says Fernández.
New animal
feed created from rice straw and citric fruit leaves
Credit: Asociacion RUVID
Rice straw
and waste from pruning citric fruit trees have a new use: feed for ruminant
animals. A team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia
(UPV) has designed new diets for cows, sheep, goats, etc. from these
horticultural products. Among its benefits, the use of this new feed would help
decrease the burning of these agricultural sub-products, as well as the
emissions of methane generated by the animals. The first results have been
published in the Animal Feed Science and Technology journal.
"Rice
straw is being disposed of through the monitored burning of crops in recent
years. Furthermore, waste from pruning citric fruit trees—orange and lemon
trees—are also disposed of by burning or crushing them. All these practices
cause major emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere," explains
professor Carlos Fernández, researcher at the Animal Science and Technology
Institute of the UPV and person responsible for this project at the UPV.
The feed designed
by the UPV researchers decreases the emissions of methane (greenhouse gas) by
between 8 and 22%. As well as rice straw and citric fruit
leaves, they include other ingredients that ensure that all the nutritional
needs of the animal are met. And they also stand out because, as well as having
an environmental benefit, they are useful for farmers because they revalue a
sub-product, and for livestock farmers because they provide them with local
food at a competitive price.
"The
Low Carbon Feed diets have added rice straw and
leaves from orange and lemon trees to the compound feed
for ruminant animals. In other words, said
waste has not been used as the source of the fodder, but it has been added as
another ingredient to produce compound feed," adds Carlos Fernández. The
feeds can be used to feed any type of ruminant animal (bovine, ovine, goats,
zebu, water buffalo, yaks, cervids, etc.) and even herbivores such as camelids (dromedaries,
camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, etc.).
"It is
also a proposal that complies with on of the principles of a sustainable
agricultural-farming system: the three Rs—Reuse, Recycle and Reduce -, without
harming or altering the productive level of the animals," says Fernández.
Yellow Rails and Rice Fest continues through Sunday
·
JENNINGS —
Birdwatchers from all over the United States and the Netherlands are in Jeff
Davis Parish and surrounding areas this week hoping to catch a glimpse of the
elusive yellow rail during the 11th annual Yellow Rails and Rice Festival.
The festival
began Wednesday and continues through Sunday with birdwatching field trips,
rice tours and more.
"The
festival offers a unique opportunity for birdwatchers to see the yellow rail, a
secretive and elusive marsh bird," festival coordinator Donna Dittman
said.
Yellow rails
winter along the Gulf Coast and migrate north to breed across the northern U.S.
and Canada, she said. In fall, the species arrive back and occupy maturing
second crop rice fields.
"When
farmers harvest the ratoon (second) rice crop, yellow rails and other species
can be seen as they flush to avoid the combine," she said. "After the
rice fields are cut, rails likely relocate to other suitable habitat in the
region."
Thornwell in
rural Jeff Davis Parish has been named the "Yellow Rail Capital of the
World."
"Jeff
Davis Parish is a wonderful festival host," Dittman said. "Not only
does the parish support exceptional numbers of birds in general, it seems to be
the center of abundance for yellow rails in the Gulf Coast region."
In addition,
Dittman said the area's people and culture provide visitors an enjoyable
glimpse into the Louisiana lifestyle.
This year,
more than 100 visitors from 29 U.S. states, D.C. and Puerto Rico and the
Netherlands are expected to attend.
Noting the
festival's attraction, Dittman said, "The yellow rail is a highly sought
after species due to its elusive nature. This is one of few places where it is
relatively easy to see."
Birders also
have a great appreciation for the overall excellent diversity and abundance of
birds, and they love the opportunity to ride on a harvest combine and to
experience Louisiana cuisine and culture.
Visiting
birdwatchers are interested in a variety of other southeastern speciality
species. Of particular interest in the rice growing areas are king rail,
sprague's pipit, sedge wren, Leconte's sparrow. Pineywoods specialities are
red-cockaded woodpecker, brown-headed nuthatch,Bachman's sparrow and Henslow's
sparrow.
Also on the
coast, participants want to see clapper rail, piping and snowy plovers, seaside
and Nelson's sparrows. Black rail has also been a big attraction, Dittman said.
The festival
works with Audubon Louisiana to do actual marsh surveys to search for the
species. Each year the registrants send a wish list of those species they most
want to see during their visit.
In addition
to birdwatching trips in the vicinity of rice fields, the longleaf pinewoods of
Kisatchie National Forest and the Cameron coast, the festival also hosts two
receptions - one at Myer's Landing and another one at the Welsh Museum -
featuring Louisiana cuisine.
An
additional black rail evening survey in Cameron Parish has been added this
year.
Navy seizes 3,378 bags of smuggled rice in Akwa Ibom
ON
OCTOBER 31, 20194:05 PM
By
Chioma Onuegbu
The
Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, Ibaka in Mbo local government area of
Akwa Ibom State, said it arrested a total of 54 suspects and seized a total of
3,378 bags of smuggled rice from the suspects in the month of October 2019. The
command said the smuggled rice worth about fifty-seven million, four hundred
and twenty-six thousand naira (57,426,000) were seized alongside 14 wooden
boats within the period
Emeka Eneanya commends President Buhari,
Custom on border closure Commanding Officer, FOB, Capt. Peter Yilme spoke
yesterday in Ibaka while handing over 389 and 261 bags of 50kg rice, as well as
8 suspects and 2 wooden boats from the Republic of Cameroon, that were arrested
on October 27 and October 29 respectively to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Yilme who was represented by the Base Operations Officer, Lieutenant Commander
Kabiru Yusuf, said the smugglers from Cameroon were arrested around Parrot
Island along Calabar Channel and Effiat waters ways during a routine patrol by
Nigerian Navy gunboats.
He
said the command will remain steadfast in fighting illegalities on the
waterways, and especially going after persons who continue to engage in rice
smuggling despite the Federal Government’s directives against the importation
of foreign rice. While handing over the suspects and seized items he said, “The
Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, Ibaka hereby hands over two medium sized
wooden boats laden with 389 and 261 bags of rice arrested at Parrot Island to
the Nigeria Customs Service. “The wooden boats along with its 8 crew were
arrested at about 0345 hours and 0230 on 27 and 29 October 2019 during a
routine patrol by the Navy boats,”.
Minister
Receiving the 8 suspects, 650 bags of rice and two wooden boats from the
Nigerian Navy, Deputy Superintendent of NCS, Alabi Adedokun commended the Navy
for the cooperation and for their unrelenting efforts. “On behalf of the
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), I, Alabi, Adedokun take over the 8 defendants
and 650 bags of foreign parboiled rice. On behalf of the Nigeria Customs
Service, we thank you very much”, he simply said.
Customs
links 33 containers of expired rice to firms in Lagos
Abuja
By Simon Echewofun
Sunday
| Published Date Oct 31, 2019 20:11 PM
Some
smuggled rice. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Thursday, said the 33
containers of expired rice it discovered recently at the ports in Lagos are
linked to trading firms in Lagos and Abuja. Its spokesman, Deputy Comptroller
Joseph Attah, in a statement, said 25 of the containers belong to Masters
Energy Limited and some of the bags of rice, although imported, have Nigeria
addresses traced to No. 31A Remi Fani Kayode Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos and
Yunee International Trading Co. Ltd at 103 Ebitu Ukiwe Street in Jabi, Abuja. 
2016/2017 which were ‘falsely’
declared as Yeast, and after judicial process, the rice was forfeited to the
federal government which were then distributed to IDPs in the Northeast.
ADVERTISEMENT OVER 5,000 NIGERIAN MEN HAVE OVERCOME POOR BEDROOM PERFORMANCE
SYNDROME DUE TO THIS BRILLIANT DISCOVERY However, the Comptroller General of
Customs (CGC) Hameed Ali (Rtd), in a press briefing last Tuesday, said: “The
discovering of these containers, stacked in the terminal, came as a result of
painstaking profiling of un-utilized Bill of Lading and unclosed manifests
which led to the physical discovering of these containers with expired rice.”
Customs said the goods were imported but not yet declared and hence, the
interception.
2016/2017 which were ‘falsely’
declared as Yeast, and after judicial process, the rice was forfeited to the
federal government which were then distributed to IDPs in the Northeast.
ADVERTISEMENT OVER 5,000 NIGERIAN MEN HAVE OVERCOME POOR BEDROOM PERFORMANCE
SYNDROME DUE TO THIS BRILLIANT DISCOVERY However, the Comptroller General of
Customs (CGC) Hameed Ali (Rtd), in a press briefing last Tuesday, said: “The
discovering of these containers, stacked in the terminal, came as a result of
painstaking profiling of un-utilized Bill of Lading and unclosed manifests
which led to the physical discovering of these containers with expired rice.”
Customs said the goods were imported but not yet declared and hence, the
interception.
Referring to Masters Energy accusation,
Customs said: “We have the numbers of those falsely declared as yeast and
seized then and these (25 in reference) are containers that were not declared
and have been fished-out through profiling.” At another briefing in
Port-Harcourt, Area II Command, Onne on Wednesday, Customs said another 11 containers
of expired rice, worth N102.3 million and many other prohibited items were
intercepted.
Navy seizes N57.4m smuggled rice in Akwa Ibom
Patrick
Odey, Uyo
The Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base,
Ibaka, in the Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has announced the
seizure of 3,378 bags of smuggled rice estimated at N57.4m and arrested 54
suspects in October.
Southern City News gathered that 14 wooden
boats used for smuggling were also seized during the period.
The FOB Commanding Officer, Capt. Peter
Yilme, said these at Ibaka on Wednesday while handing over eight suspects 389
and 261 bags of smuggled rice seized in two separate operations to the Nigeria
Customs Service.
Yilme, who was represented by the Base
Operations Officer, Lieutenant Commander Kabiru Yusuf, said the suspects were
arrested on October 27 and 29 on the Parrot Island and Effiat waterways by
naval gunboats.
He said the command was determined to
reduce the illegal trade in Nigeria waterways, adding it would not relent in
its determination to track down smugglers, who refuse to heed the Federal
Government’s directives against the importation and smuggling of foreign rice
Yilme stated, “The Nigerian Navy, Forward
Operating Base, Ibaka, hereby hands over two medium-sized wooden boats laden
with 389 and 261 bags of rice arrested on Parrot Island to the Nigeria Customs
Service.
“The wooden boats, along with its eight
crew members, were arrested around 3.45am and 2.30am on October 27 and 29,
2019, during a routine patrol by navy boats.”
The Deputy Superintendent of Customs, Alabi
Adedokun, while receiving the suspects and the smuggled items, commended the
navy for the cooperation existing between it and the NCS, leading to the
frequent arrest of smugglers.
“On behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service,
I, Alabi Adedokun, take over the eight suspects and 650 bags of foreign
parboiled rice. On behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service, we thank you very
much,” he stated.
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Govt to
procure 6 lakh tonnes of aman paddy from farmers
Bangladesh
Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka | Published: 16:41, Oct 31,2019 |
Updated: 22:12, Oct 31,2019
The government will procure six lakh
tonnes of aman paddy directly from farmers at Tk 26 per kilogram from November
20 to February 28 next year.
Besides, the
government will buy 3.50 lakh tonnes of boiled rice from mill owners at Tk 36
per kg, while 50,000 tonnes of non-boiled (atap) rice will be procured from the
millers at Tk 35 per kg.
The rice
procurement drive will begin on December 1 and continue till February 28 next.
The decisions
were taken at a meeting of the food planning and monitoring committee at the
secretariat in Dhaka on Thursday.
Talking to
reporters after the meeting, food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said
considering the interest of farmers, the meeting had decided to procure six
lakh tonnes of aman paddy directly from farmers.
The food
minister said local administrations would send the lists of farmers by November
10 this year and the lists will be uploaded in web sites of union parishads.
After
scrutinising the lists of upazila procurement committees, the paddy will be
procured directly from the farmers as per the lists, he said.
Majumder
said the Food-Friendly Progrmme of the government had been extended to seven
months from five months marking the Mujib Year to be celebrated in the next
year.
A total of
50,000 households are now getting rice at Tk 10 per kg for seven months under
the programme, he added.
Agriculture
minister Abdur Razzaque, lawmakers and senior officials of the food ministry
were present at the meeting.
India
Grain:Wheat, basmati up on firm demand; maize up on low supply
Thursday,
Oct 31
By Sampad
Nandy
NEW DELHI –
Prices of maize rose today across key spot markets as demand for good quality
crop remained strong, traders said, adding that higher arrivals of fresh
but poor quality crop capped a sharp rise in prices.
In
Nizamabad, arrivals were pegged at 1,000 bags (1 bag = 100 kg), up from
500 bags from Wednesday.
Demand for
the new kharif maize crop is likely to remain weak in the coming
days as fresh arrivals are of poor quality with moisture content of
25-30%, against the acceptable limit of 13-14%, traders said.
Futures
contracts of maize on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange were not
traded today.
Prices of
mill-quality wheat also rose today in spot markets due to low arrivals and firm
demand from flour millers, traders said.
In Indore,
arrivals were pegged at 200 bags (1 bag = 100 kg), down from 300 bags on
Wednesday, traders said. In Jaipur, arrivals were at 250 bags tn compared with
300 on Wednesday, they added.
Prices of
the grain are, however, seen falling in the coming days as the price has
crossed the base price of the government's weekly auction scheme at most
mandis, traders said.
For
Oct-Dec, the government has set a base price at 2,190 rupees per 100
kg in non-wheat producing states under its open market sale scheme. The price
will be hiked by 55 rupees every quarter in the current financial year.
Futures
contracts of wheat on the NCDEX were also not traded today.
Prices of Pusa
1121 basmati paddy rose due to a rise in demand from rice millers amid steady
arrivals, traders said. The new crop has started arriving in some parts of
Haryana and Punjab in full swing, Amritsar-based trader Ashok Sethi said.
However, heavy rains during the harvest season has delayed arrivals in many
places.
The November
1121 basmati paddy futures contract on the Indian Commodity Exchange fell 2.4%
to 2,161 rupees per 100 kg as production is pegged 15% higher on year, traders
said.
India's
basmati rice production may also rise 15% on year to 5.7 mln tn in
2019-20, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority's Basmati Exports Development Foundation Director A.K. Gupta had told
Cogencis earlier.
Following are
today's prices of wheat, maize, and paddy, in rupees per 100 kg, in key
wholesale markets, and the change from the previous day:
|
Commodity
|
Market
|
Price
|
Change
|
|
Wheat
|
Indore
|
2,250
|
10-15
|
|
Wheat
|
Jaipur
|
2,200
|
15-20
|
|
Maize
|
Sangli
|
2,300
|
10-15
|
|
Maize
|
Nizamabad
|
2,100
|
15-20
|
|
Pusa
1121 basmati paddy
|
Amritsar
|
2,900-2,930
|
50-70
|
End
Edited by
Nidhi Chugh
Cogencis Tel
+91 (11) 4220-1000
Send
comments to feedback@cogencis.com
This copy
was first published on the Cogencis WorkStation
© Cogencis
Information Services Ltd. 2019. All rights reserved
Malay rice millers association wants 30 per
cent AP to import rice
The
association which represents eight Malay rice mills in the country said their
business could not compete with other big rice mills.
ALOR SETAR:
The Malay Rice Millers Association met today to ask the government to help
Malay rice millers in the country from shutting down.
Its chairman
Mohamad Temmizi Yop said one ways the government could help was by giving them
a 30 per cent AP.
“Malay rice
millers can close down by 2021 if the government does not help us.
“We are
asking the government to give Malay rice millers a 30 per cent AP so we can
make a turn around,” he told a press conference at their office here today.
The
association which represents eight Malay rice mills in the country said their
business could not compete with other big rice mills.
The
association was also currently embroiled in a court case with them needing to
settle debts worth over RM100 million that had accumulated since 1996.
“We are
certain that by getting the AP quota, we can turn everything around within two
years and also settle the debts.
“We would
like to request a meeting with the Agriculture Minister to hear our plans and
help us prove ourselves so the eight rice mills owned 100 per cent Bumiputera
can also be successful,” he said.
He also
assured the government that they were not asking for the quotas so they can
sell the AP in an Ali Baba like scam.
“The government can trust us; If we cannot
make a turn around, we will return the AP quotas willingly,” he said.
162 reads
Ghana has
set a target of three years for the country to put a stop to rice importation.
This was
disclosed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Kennedy
Nyarko Osei.
Osei said
Ghana was working round the clock to stop the importation of rice into the
county based on recent projections.
The Deputy
Minister revealed this in an interview with Kwame Tutu on “Anopa Nkomo” on
Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7.
Osei, whose
position was published on the website of Kingdom FM 107.7, said: “We import
billion dollars of rice into the country, but the Agric Ministry, led by Dr.
Owusu Afriyie Akoto, is determined that by the end of 2022 we will stop
importing rice from other countries based on our projections.
“The two crops
we are focusing on are rice and soya; soya because of the poultry industry and
rice because of import substitution.”
It will be
recalled that Ghana recently put pressure on Nigeria to open its borders for
goods from other countries.
President
Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria had ordered the closure of Nigeria’s borders to
stem the importation of goods with local substitutes, especially rice.
Reports had
it that the Republic of Benin, which does not consume parboiled rice, is the
perhaps the largest importer of the rice type through its ports.
The border
closure came after years of ban by the Central Bank of Nigeria of access to
foreign exchange by importers of 43 prohibited products.
The
Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, retired Colonel Hameed Ali,
said within one week of the closure of Nigeria’s borders, over 500,000 bags of
locally manufactured rice that had been lying in warehouses of the producers
were sold.
According to
available information, rice constitutes 82 per cent Ghana’s import, accounting
for $1 billion.
The amount
was at almost 2 per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product, according to
Ghana’s Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka Lindsay.
Osei told
Kingdom FM 107.7 further: “Changing the structure of our economy through
diversification and value addition will not happen overnight.
“It remains
a major pre-occupation of the government because it is our pathway to reduce
dependency, expand the economy, create jobs, increase exports, reduce imports
and support the value of our currency.”
It would be
recalled that Afriyie-Akoto had told the West African nation of plans to cut
food importation through a flagship programme: Planting for Food and Jobs.
The programme
is expected to provide farmers fertilizers at low rates to help boost local
yield.
The
subsidised rate, which is 50 per cent, is catered for by the Government as an
incentive to smallholder farmers.
So far,
farmers who used to produce three bags of rice per acre in the past, now
produce 10 bags.
The ripple
effect has led to the creation of more jobs as the need for hired hands in the
harvesting and processing of farm produce has spiked.
Jobs created
as at 2017 stood at 745,000, which is now improving to 900,000, according to
the Minister of Agriculture.In addition to this, a spinoff of the programme,
tagged: “Rearing for food and jobs,” is set to begin.
Ghana Too Moves To Ban Poultry, Rice Imports To
By THEWILL_
October 31, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO, October 31, (THEWILL) -Ghana
says it will ban the importation of poultry and rice, a policy that is already
being implemented by Nigeria.
Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto,
said the policy will be implemented in three years adding that government is
pushing to establish local capacity to meet local demand.
Merchants are expected to trade with local
farmers once the policy becomes effective, he said on a JoyNews’ PM Express
programme Wednesday.
Ghana heavily depends on imported rice and
poultry from Asia and Europe to feed its people.
Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka
Lindsay, had previously said rice importation alone takes 82 per cent of all
imports into the country.
This cost more than $1 billion, almost two
per cent of the country’s GDP in 2018.
This must stop, the Agriculture Minister
said.If successful, the policy will create jobs and wealth for local farmers.
Nigeria has closed its land borders in a
bid to cripple illegal smuggling of rice and other banned goods into the
country. The Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari says it wants
to support local manufacturers and farmers grow.
Transparency on rice
needed for vibrant democracy
Philippine Daily Inquirer /
05:00 AM November 01, 2019
When government information lacks transparency, especially for 2.5 million rice
farmers and the 11 million household members suffering today, a vibrant
democracy is imperiled.
Other forces are using this transparency lack to threaten our freedoms.
The main issue here is the transparency of the Department of Agriculture study
on a possible rice tariff increase from the current rate of 35 percent. We
earlier recommended a procedure advocated by international trade experts, our
own laws and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is to calculate a tariff
that gives no preference to either imported or domestic product. This is done
by matching the price of the landed import with that of the wholesale domestic
product. When the Oct. 15 deadline came, we asked for even partial findings. We
got none because the study was aborted. The reason given was the possible
impact on inflation. But no calculation was done on this and no other
information was given.
Shortly after this, a senior government official announced to the press
that 1.8 million tons of rice had been imported as of September. By the end of
the year, it was estimated to hit 2 million tons. Doing our own investigation,
Bureau of Customs records showed that 2.8 million tons (not 1.8 million)
arrived by September. For August and September, the monthly average was 0.28
million tons. If we use this monthly average for the next three months, the
ending imports will be 3.6 million tons (not 2 million). The information given
is not only not transparent, it is also misleading.
The transparency of correct information is critical here because it
gives us the accurate number of rice farmers displaced by imports that now far
exceed our 1.3 million-ton rice supply gap.
On inflation, rice has been reported by some sources as an overwhelming
factor causing the 6.8-percent inflation in September last year. However,
Philippine Statistics Authority recorded that rice accounted for only 10
percent of inflation, while transport and “electrical gas and other fuels”
together accounted for 13 percent.
The 35-percent tariff is also claimed by some as the the overwhelming
factor for the decline of inflation in September to 0.9 percent from 6.8
percent a year ago. Again, PSA showed that rice accounted for only 8.5 percent
of this decrease, while 91.5 percent was caused by other factors.
Since there was no transparency on the government’s estimated impact of
a rice tariff increase on inflation, we computed 86 percent as the tariff that
equated the landed import with the wholesale domestic price. Though a
70-percent tariff favors the imported over the local product, we used it as a
possible challenge for local producers to be more efficient.
The overall impact would then be anywhere from 0 to 2.1 percent,
depending on how much of the increased tariff cost would be passed on to the
consumers. After consultation, no nationwide cartel, free competition and the
traders getting a lower but still extremely large margin, a 27-percent pass on
cost was calculated. This resulted in an increase of 0.5 percent in inflation
rate. Whatever rate is used, it will be well within the government’s 2-4
percent inflation target.
Last year, the farmers got an average of P18.32 a kilo for wet palay
price. This has declined to P13.01 as of Oct. 21. A farmer’s income has dropped
from P25,280 to only P4,000 a hectare, way below the monthly family poverty
line of P10,481.
On Oct. 24, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez took the right approach
and said: “DA is looking at the data, so we will certainly listen to them if and
when they bring the proposal back.” With the support Agriculture Secretary
William Dar gives to our farmers, transparency must be part of this data
delivery which should be done with meaningful farmer involvement. It is only
with this transparency that we can help ensure our vibrant democracy.
Gov’t to ban
poultry, rice imports within next 3 years – Agric Minister
The Government
of Ghana has revealed plans to place a ban on the importation rice and poultry
into the country.
This was
disclosed by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto during
an interview with Joy News.
According to him, the government intends to
halt the importation of rice and poultry within the next three years.
Dr. Afriyie-Akoto explained that steps are
being taken to “establish the local capacity” to meet demand, so that merchants
would be able to trade with local farmers.
Currently, almost two per cent of the
country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) goes into rice importation.
In 2018, more than $1billion was spent
by the government to import rice, the Trade Ministry revealed.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto said government intends
to increase the yield of farmers with the help of its flagship Planting for
Food and Jobs programme.
This, the Agric Minister said, has already
started, with the government selling fertilisers to farmers at subsidised
rates.
Government
plans to ban rice, poultry imports in 3 years – Minister
Agric
Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto
Rice importers would be ordered to cease
their trade in three years if everything goes as planned, the Agric Minister
has said. The same applies to persons who
import poultry products.Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto says the government is working fervently to “establish the local capacity” to meet demand.Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express programme on Wednesday, he said this should be completed in the next three years. After that, merchants would be expected to trade with local farmers.
Currently, most of the rice consumed locally comes from overseas.
Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka Lindsay had previously said rice importation alone takes 82 per cent of all imports into the country.
This cost more than $1billion, almost two per cent of the country’s GDP in 2018.
This must stop, the Agric Minister says.
The government intends, with the help of its flagship planting for food and jobs programme, to increase the yield of farmers.
This, Dr. Afriyie-Akoto said should be achieved in three years, paving way for the order to stop imports.
He said this is not over-ambition, neither does it violate WTO protocol.
Planting for Food and Jobs
The government has been selling fertilisers to farmers at subsidised rates as part of the planting for food and jobs programme.
The Minister says with 50 per cent government subsidy on fertilisers for smallholder farmers, a farmer who was previously producing three bags of rice per acre was now producing 10 bags.
This has massively increased jobs since more hands are needed to harvest the produce and process same for the market.
The Minister puts the figure of jobs created at 745,000 in 2017 but that number has gone up to 900,000; he says.
Meanwhile, the government has introduced a spinoff of the programme, rearing for food and
Pakistan to
benefit from Chinese expertise in agriculture sector : President Alvi
ISLAMABAD:
President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that Pakistan will adopt modern
agricultural techniques with the support of China to improve agriculture
sector.
Addressing Pak-China Agricultural
Cooperation Forum in Islamabab, President Alvi said, “We need to learn the
techniques of efficient use of water in agriculture sector from China.”
The president said with the active interest
of farmers’ community joint research can be conducted for the production of
good seeds, Radio Pakistan reported.
He said China can also help Pakistan to
improve the livestock sector and joint ventures can be made for manufacturing
of modern machinery.
The president said that Pakistan wanted to
get benefit from the experiences of China in agriculture, harvesting and other
agricultural sectors for further progress in the sectors of Pakistan.
He said Pakistan was producing value added
productions in this sector including basmati rice and mango which were the most
demanded in the world.
President Alvi said that Pakistan was a
maturing country in agriculture and working hard to bring improvement in this
sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Food
Security and Research Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan said that Pakistan and
China were time-tested friends which were being witnessed in the form of China
Pakistani Economic Corridor Project.
He said Pakistan and China will jointly
work by Agriculture sector under the CPEC and Pakistan will provide all
possible facilitation to Chines investors.
·
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Manchester
Christmas Markets 2019 - the full list of traders at every location
Where to find mulled wine, Yorkshire pudding wraps, s'mores and
more
·
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·
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· 14:49,
31 OCT 2019
Anyone who has passed through the
city centre this week will be in no doubt - the Manchester Christmas Markets
are well on their way already.
The wooden sheds are beginning to
take shape across the multiple sites that the festivities cover, from Albert
Square to St Ann's Square and over to Piccadilly Gardens for the first time.
This year marks 20 years of the Christmas markets and there's
plenty of new things to explore, including an ice tiki bar and a snow globe bar .
It can be overwhelming trying to
pick your way through the crowds, so if you're looking for something specific
(even if it's just a steaming mug of gluhwein), here's where to head.
Albert Square
The Mill Exchange: Christmas punches,mulled wine, coffees and prosecco
cocktails.
Little Spain: Freshly cooked paella, chorizo rolls, cava, Spanish beer
and wine, patatas bravas, hot sangria and soft drinks.
Bars@Yours Ltd: Beers, wines, spirits, mixers, cocktails and hot drinks.
de Creperie: Mini pancakes and waffles. Soft drinks: Mawson's pop. Coke
and water.
Star Bakery GMBH: Bavarian strudels, gluhwein, warm fruit punch, non
alcoholic gluhwein and liqueur.
Fine German Foods: Flammkuchen and feuerzangenbowle.
One Catering: Hand cut triple cooked chips, with various seasonings and
sauces, plus loaded chips with BBQ pulled meats, Manc poutine, steak and Dutch
cheese sauce.
Porkys Of Yarm (The Pig &
Barrel): Pork rolls, Hydes beers,
locally produced micro brewery cider, English wines, including sparkling,
mulled wine, hot cider, tea, coffee and soft drinks.
Clowbecks (Porkys of Yarm): Cumberland sausage torpedos, bubble and squeak, mushrooms,
tatties, black peas, tattie ash, mulled wine, locally brewed lager and soft
drinks.
Manke Markets Ltd: Gluhwein, gluhwein with shot, non-alcoholic gluhwein and
hot chocolate.
Lakeland Picnic Company: Homemade beef burgers and sausages with bread, regional
cheeses and chutneys, and soft drinks.
Northern Soul Manchester: Grilled cheese sandwiches with assorted fillings, mac and
cheese, freshly made drinks, milkshakes and hard shakes.
The Pancake House: Sweet and savoury pancakes and soft drinks.
Bavarian Swing Grill: Bratwurst, krakauer, pork steaks, German beer, gluhwein
and soft drinks.
Delicacies from Luxembourg: Potato pancakes, goulash soup, pretzels and gluhwein.
Brook's Mill / Hollies: Tea and liqueur coffee, hot chocolate, cakes and biscuits.
Mulled English wine, Baileys chocolate cup, mead and soft drinks.
The Manchester Winter Ale
House: Draft and decanted bottled,
real ale from the north west UK only, along with wassail, locally produced
micro brewery cide, Vimto and Temperance drinks from Fitzpatricks. Also,
Yates's hot blobs and red / white / rose wines.
Mango Rays: Burrito with beef, pulled pork, roast chicken or vegan
five bean, all served with various sauces and sides, including nachos, salsa
and guacamole.
Bjorn Thomas Catering Services: German Beers, gluhwein, gluhwein with shot, spicy orange
punch with Jagermeister. Hot chocolate and coffee (with optional shots), egg
nog punch and soft drinks.
Bjorn Thomas Catering Services
Ltd: German beer and gluhwein,
bratwurst, hamburgers, big pan traditional German food and soft drinks.
Elsie Mays: Warm cookie dough served with fresh cream and a choice of
toppings, including wild berry, chocolate sauce, salted caramel and apple and
cinnamon, plus warm Belgian brownies with various confectionery toppings.
Mamma Mia: Traditional Italian food including meat, vegetarian and
vegan pasta dishes, prosecco, Italian lager and wine.
T3 Events: Hot buttered rum, mulled gin, mulled Morgans, apple pie
moonshine, fruit teas with a shot, mulled cider and mulled cider cocktails,
gluhwein and aspen.
Mr Bombay: Tandoori chicken wraps, masala paneer wraps, various meals
including chicken karahi, tadka dahl, basmati rice, vegetable samosa, onion
bhajis and masala fries
Yard & Coop: Buttermilk fried chicken burgers and goujons, fries and
sauces, chicken in cones with mac and cheese, and chicken trays with various
toppings.
Star Bakery: Wooden and glass Christmas decorations.
Flowerdirk: Coconut craft animals (penguins, reindeers), craft Santa
images.
Twixie-Pixie: Felt puppets and twinkling lights, woollen gloves and hats
Alexander Interiors: Candles in presentation boxes
Gingerbread House Confections: Handmade chocolates, truffles, marzipans, Belgian
chocolate Santa, houses and other figures. Handmade chocolate cakes and
gateaux, gingerbread houses and special chocolate spoon lollies.
Ken The Hat Man: Hats, gloves, walking sticks and hip flasks.
Urban Colours: Original acrylic paintings, limited edition giclee prints,
framed and mounted prints. Own artwork printed cushions, fine bone china mugs,
cufflinks and washbags.
The Good Bag Co: Jute bags
The Great North Pie Company: Handmade pies (meat, fish, vegetarian) served cold, for
consumption off site.
Birchwood Leather: Leather goods: bags, purses, hats, wallets and cow hides.
Earth, Rock & Stone: Handmade sterling silver and gemstone pendants and rings,
bracelets, selection of gemstones and crystals.
Snugglebottle.co.uk: Herbal heatpacks
Terrasa Ltd: Christmas decorations made from re-cycled wood, decorative
hot water bottles, fluffy toys.
Interlude Ceramics: Designer pottery including mugs, bowls, cups, vases and
kitchenware.
Junk Of Manchester: Designer/vintage recycled fashion label clothing and
jewellery
Amazonas Jewellery Designer: Hand crafted silver and glass jewellery.
Off My Head Hats: Handmade fake fur and sheepskin hats.
N & P Events Ltd: Italian biscuits, nougat, panettone, chocolate and
gluten-free biscuits.
The Wooden Tie Company: Wooden ties, wooden bow ties and wooden beard combs.
Platters UK Ltd: Natural slate tableware, platters, plates, coasters,
placemats, memo boards, cheese boards, trays, photo frames.
Popsters: Pop record clocks and coasters
Dorri Limited: Baklava, dried fruit and nuts, Turkish delight and olives.
B2SEE: Decorations, ceramics, sound animals, lampshades, woollen
light-chains and key-rings.
Sillfield Farm Products: Wild boar and rare breed pork and Herdwick lamb meat; wild
boar, pork and lamb sausages; pork and wild game pies and scotch eggs.
Gros und Einzelhandel
Sonderposten: Pickles, gherkins, sausage,
horse radish. German chocolate, Christmas cake, gingerbread, Christmas
decorations.
Eat Liquorice: Handmade liquorice and chocolate kisses.
Winbridge: Wooden games, 3D and 2D acrylic wooden lamps.
The Great British Cheese Company: Waxed truckle cheeses and gift packs including cheese with
three different types of chutney.
Johnson Crafts: Leather bracelet watches, leather bracelets and necklaces.
Celtic Spirit Co: Welsh spirits (bottled, for off-site consumption).
Dinky Art Bonsai: Bonsai trees and bonsai accessories (pots, tools, growing
kits), plus Oriental buddhas and figurines.
Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire
Cheese: Cheese, chutneys, crackers
and cheese hampers.
Romlene Primeurs: Charcuterie, sausage, pates, gift hampers, garlic, fish
soup, French cheese, chestnuts, olives. jam, duck confit, cassoulet.
Lapponia by JM Production: Reindeer skins and clothes. Wild animal soft toys.
Traditional Lapponia slippers and scarves
Crios Gifts Jewellery: Surgical steel jewellery, pendants, wristbands, belts,
buckles, cufflinks.
Pure Indulgence: Aromatherapy, bath products and soaps.
Lakeland Artisan: Handmade traditional cordials and carbonated drinks, rum
punch, hot soft drinks, jams, chutneys, spices and sauces, and cheese biscuits.
Also handcrafted liqueurs and syrups, and flavoured vodka and gin sold in
bottles and baubles (for consumption off-site)
Drydock Driftwood: Driftwood sculptures and clocks.
TOYS4EVERYONE: Mechanical model 3D puzzle air vehicle toys, mechanical
model 3D puzzle bus toys, maze toys and puzzle building construction kits
locomotive models.
Manc & Proud: T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, coasters, badges,
patches, keyrings and babygrows.
Zara Cakes: Cakes, cupcakes and cake jars.
Mosaic Jewellery & Bags: Gemstone jewellery and leather bags, belts, scarves.
Sasha Ray Photography: Mounted art prints, fine art framed prints, mugs,
coasters, wrapping paper, stickers and associated greetings cards.
Johnsons Toffees: Selection of various toffees and fudges
Runkels Crafts: Hand made wooden crafts, decorations, toys, pen holders,
sculptures, chopping boards, mobiles, t-lights, jigsaws
Suay Design Jewellery: Tungsten, titanium, stainless steel, silver and leather
jewellery.
Continental Cottage: German meat, sausages, salamis, wursts.
The Best Of Italy: Italian cheese, salami, ham, dried pasta, pasta sauces,
oils, vinegars, pesto, sundried tomatoes, plus necklaces, earrings, rings and
copper structures.
Schmidt Glass: Hand made glasswares, including animals, flowers,
butterflies, snowmen, Christmas bubbles, Christmas trees, Christmas decorations
and pens.
The Buddha Beauty Company: Hand made organic and vegan beauty products, and Buddha
candle and incense holders
Flowerdirk: Flowers, plants and Christmas trees.
Garlic Grater: Garlic and garlic related accessories.
Dutch Cheeseman: Dutch cheese, clogs and slippers.
Zakad d.o.o: Wooden name plaques, wooden photo frames and wooden
mirrors.
Riverside Spirits: Riverside branded spirits including gin, rum and vodka.
de Creperie: Dutch biscuits, waffles and macaroons.
Dimkin: French macarons.
Ohmygiftshop: Bauble stands, made with glass,chrome and metals
(Christmas decorations), Christmas baubles and hand painted tea chests.
Artichoke Wooden Toy: Handmade wooden bouncy puppets and toys.
O'Donnell Moonshine Ltd: O'Donnell branded moonshine spirit, tough nut liqueur,
bitter rose liqueur and roasted apple liqueur with pouring lids.
Metal Art Productions: Metal sculptures made from recycled parts.
Piccadilly
Gardens
Cheshire Cheese Company: Cheese, chutney, jams and spreads.
Baby Leon: Children's boutique clothing, children's party dresses and
suits and matching headgear (only to outfits stated).
Demoda LTD: Festive wooden decorations, LED Christmas decorations,
soft hanging Christmas decorations and wooden festive candle holders.
Silver Flowers: Real flower jewellery made with silver and set in resin.
G & J Catering: Pick 'n' Mix sweets, lollipops and cables.
Gorgeousselection Limited: Chokers, necklaces, ladies rings and jewellery items.
Grilla: Chicken gyros, boneless chicken, chicken and pork
souvlaki and fries.
Hot Stuffed Bread Company: Fresh baked bunzels (bread/pretzel rolls) with a variety
of fillings, including vegetarian options.
Elsie Mays: Smores, freak shakes, vegetarian kebabs and hot chocolate.
Market Street
Lancaster Candles: Scented candles, reed diffusers.
Beaded Keyrings Beaded crafts: keyrings, car charms, window charms.
Exglo UK: Baubles with small remote controlled cars inside. Blendy
pens and associated arts packs.
Amazing Curtains Ltd: Christmas tablecloths, table runners and doilies.
Chi Chi's: Painted animal-shaped tin lanterns from Bali, pop-up
greeting cards, papier-mache animal ornaments, ornamental metal butterflies and
dragonflies, framed contemporary pop art designs.
TWS TRADING LIMITED: Steel spinners.
Personalised Gifts: Personalised gifts including toy trucks, hairbands,
purses, bracelets, trains, plaques, coasters, frames, bottles, personalised
mood lockets.
The Great British Cheese
Company: Waxed truckle cheeses.
A L Jennings Ltd: Personalised ragdolls and teddy bears.
Amber Jewellery: Hand made amber and silver jewellery, handmade amber
"good luck" trees.
VietnamUKConnect Ltd: Wooden lacquer ware boxes, candle holders and wine
holders.
M Crafts: Personalised tree decorations, personalised Santa plates
and Christmas decorations.
Priya Trading: Nepalese woollen jumpers, jackets, coats, scarves, hats,
and felt items.
Silver Flowers: Real flowers jewellery made with silver and set in resin.
Made of Music: Ethnic crafted drums, shakers, whistles, digiridoos, dream
catchers and boomerangs.
Pretty Little Princess: Children's clothing, children's footwear, children's
fashion accessories.
Mandalay Accessories Ltd: Hair accessories (hair clips and ribbons), silk scarves,
handbags, handmade jewellery.
Amazonas Gifts: Jewellery, bags, purses, scarves, wall hangings and
t-shirts.
M & C Crafts: Personalised Christmas tree decorations.
Vybrid: Decorative wooden plaques made with recycled materials, in
various sizes.
The Festive House: Handmade wooden decorations, soft reindeer toys, Christmas
stockings.
Promise Bags: Leather bags, belts and wallets, jute shopping bags and
tote bags.
The Salford Rum Company: Salford-branded spiced rum and dark spiced rum.
Salford-branded rum gift sets with glasses.
Stall name TBC: Laser engraved pendants, keyrings, ornaments and charms.
Stall name TBC: Ceramic, glass and metal candle holders.
Sinful Flavours: Artisan cheeses, chutneys, relish and crackers.
Stall name TBC: Soft animal toys in presentation boxes.
The Pontefract Liquorice
Company: Liquorice sticks, liquorice
sweets and liquorice cables.
Coole Swan: Coole Swan cream liqueur.
Bohemia Beauty: Historical glass replicas, ceramic, horn and wooden
tankards. Wooden boxes, chests, swords and shields. Jewellery.
The Melting Pot: Tea and coffee, water, locally sourced soft drinks, cakes
and biscuits.
Flowerdirk: Coconut craft animals, craft Santa images.
Cathedral
Gardens
Manchester City Football Club: Official Manchester City FC merchandise.
The Closet Boutique: Faux fur clothing, hats, gloves, scarves and headbands.
de Creperie: Mini pancakes and waffles. Soft drinks: Locally sourced
pop. Coke and water
Well & Spruce: Tea and Liquor Coffee, hot chocolate, cakes and biscuits.
Mulled English wine and Elderflower wine. Soft drinks: Locally sourced pop.
Water
Windmill: Gluhwein (inc shot), alcohol-free gluhwein, German wine,
German beer and locally sourced soft drinks.
The Dog House: Gourmet sausages, gourmet burgers, loaded fries with
pulled meats, loaded nachos with melted cheese.
Exchange
Square (upper section)
The Mill Exchange: Mulled wine, champagne cocktails, Christmas cocktails,
liqueur coffees, non-alcohol mulled wine, coffee.
Tikka Kebab Kitchen: Specialist curries made with lamb and chicken, with a
vegetarian option served with rice. Also, side dishes and tikka kebabs.
Forum Foods: Stone baked pizza with the following toppings: Fresh
buffalo mozzarella and spinach, Pear, Gorgonzola and balsamic glaze, Calabrian
sausage and Taleggio cheese and many more. Also Arancine: Sicilian sausage and
Gorgonzola clue cheese, Smoked salmon and ricotta and more. Peroni lager.
de Creperie: Mini pancakes and waffles. Soft drinks: Locally sourced
pop. Coke and water
Turks Charcoal Pit: Hot roast pork sandwiches, halloumi fries,Hyde's ales,
locally produced micro brewery cider, English wine (inc sparkling), mulled wine
and hot cider.
Round Food House: Traditional German foods - Bratwurst, hamburgers, steak,
vegetable spear. German lager and beer.
Elsie Mays: Teas, coffees, speciality coffees and hot chocolates,
locally produced soft drinks. Hot cookie dough,afternoon tea inc glass of
bubbly.
Pineapple Events Solutions: Fruit dipped in chocolate, honey cake houses and figures,
chocolate fountain. Kusse cakes / chocolate kisses.
DPNY Crafts: 3D / 2D acrylic wooden lamps.
Dorri: Baklava, dried fruit and nuts. Olives and Turkish delight.
Laura's Fudge: Handmade fudge, handmade toffee, liquorice.
Pure Indulgence: Aromatherapy, bath products, soaps.
Poppy K Gifts: Jewellery, personalised gemstones, charm jewellery, druzy
and real, dried flowers set in resin, animal lover themed jewellery, animal
themed scarves.
Heimat Berlin Muecke GMBH: Paper star lampshades and lightchains.
From The Olive Tree: Olive oil soaps, crafted olive wood boxes, statues and
ornaments.
Ice Cold Vision: Christmas pudding liqueur for off-site consumption.
Grey Thread: Tweed waistcoats, jackets and gillets. Organic bamboo
fibre t-shirts, tote bags.
Exchange
Square (lower section outside Corn Exchange)
The Crusty Pie Company: Pork pies, pork pies with added fillings, pasties,
chutneys, scotch eggs etc.
Sticky Chocolate: Chocolate slabs, assorted chocolates and fudges.
Crios Gifts: Jewellery, body piercings, surgical steel jewellery,
pendants, wristbands, belts, buckles, cufflinks, keyrings, fridge magnets. Also
gothic tattoo art and biker statues, trinket boxes, canvas 3D prints and
dreamcatchers.
Forage: Recycled leather belts, cotton belts, finger-knitted hats
and Forage clothing and Jewellery.
De Luciano: Latin American alpaca clothing, ponchos, capes, shawls,
slippers and rugs.
Priya Trading: Nepalese woollen jumpers, jackets, coats, scarves, hats,
felt items.
The Cheese Board: Cheese, chutneys and jams.
Mandalay Accessories: Hair accessories: hair clips, ribbons.
Beaded Keyrings: Beaded crafts, keyrings, car charms, window charms.
Artisan Farm: Selection of hand made traditional cheeses.
Adore My Look: Wooden storage books, wooden storage cases, wooden
Christmas hanging decorations, mirrors, wall hangings, glass baubles.
Direct Beers Limited: Bottled Beers for consumption off site.
The British Fudge Company: Sweets, fudge and toffees.
Holzpuzzle: Silk scarves, pashminas, ladies and gents sheepskin gloves,
sheepskin earmuffs and hats.
READ MORE
Manchester Christmas Markets 2019
St Ann's
Square
Star Bakery GMBH: Bavarian Strudels and soft drinks
The Pancake House: Sweet and savoury pancakes, lamb and chicken curries, rice
and wraps. Soft Drinks - locally produced pop.
Manke Markets UK: Traditional German beer and gluhwein, traditional German
big pan foods - potatoes, mushrooms, Swing Grill - bratwurst, krakauer, schnitzel,
and ham kababs.
Gingerbread House Confections: Handmade chocolates, truffles, marzipans. Belgian
chocolate santa, houses and other figures. Hand made chocolate cakes and
Gateauxs. Gingerbread houses and chocolate waffles.
R E Dawson: Lemax Christmas villages and figurines.
Metal Art Productions: Metal sculptures made from recycled parts.
Manke Markets: Almonds, chocolate, marshmallow.
Pure Indulgence: Aromatherapy, bath products, soaps.
Fa. Meyveli: Flavoured coffee -beans and ground, cafetieres.
Manc & Proud: Tees / hoodies / sweatshirts, mugs and coasters, badges
and patches, keyrings and baby-grows etc, all Manc & Proud design only.
The Cheese Board: Cheese, chutneys and jams.
Continental Cottage: German meat, sausages, salamis, wursts.
Harmony Of Chocolate: Fresh fruits covered with Belgian chocolate, toffee
apples, marshmallows with Belgian chocolate
Garlic Grater: Garlic and garlic related accessories.
Wraptious: Mounted giclee art prints, greeting cards, gift wrap, mugs
(painted) locally produced, soft furnishings, cushions and coasters.
M & C Crafts: Personalised Christmas tree decorations.
Winbridge: Wooden games.
New Cathedral
Street
Zen Experimental: Peaky Blinders themed gift sets, Peaky Blinders rum, Peaky
Blinders bourbon and moonshine. Beckfords caramel rum and spiced rum.
Mantra: Leather books/ photo albums, Tibetan bowls, natural
incences, authentic Indian Jewellery, Suede bags, Camel leather bags, scarves,
wall hangings, papier-mache and embroidered xmas decorations, wooden and brass
hindu gods statues.
Cheshire Cheese Company: Cheese, chutney, jams and spreads.
Birchwood Leather: Leather goods - bags, purses, hats, wallets.
Simplicity Heritage: Designer silver Jewellery.
Naji's Heritage Crafts: African hand crafted garden pots, flower vases, baskets,
wood carvings, wooden figurines and musical instruments.
The Little Gift Hut: Keepsakes, charms, love gifts, friendship gifts, hearts,
crystals, wishbags, fairies and angels.
Eat Liquorice: Handmade liquorice.
Tumaini: Fair trade jewellery and basketware.
Unikalus Vaizdas: Ceramic candle houses.
Mouse And Moon - Moonlighting: Hand painted glass bottles with LED lighting.
Artesania: Ceramic money boxes and mugs, real insects in resin, worry
dolls, candle holders, range of skulls, goblets, tankards and ceramic salt and
pepper sets.
Mayflower Apiaries: Honey and beeswax products - candles, polish, hand cream,
lip balm and soap.
Pringle & Fairweather Natural
Skincare: Natural skincare products -
soaps, hand creams, body butters, bath spas, melts, scrubs.
RJS Candles: Hand-made candles.
Continental Cottage: Chocolates.
Java Bar Espresso: Pain au Chocolat and panettoni, coffees and teas.
Associated sundries.
414 Alcohols: Kuro London dry gin, Kuro cherry blossom gin and Kuro soft
peach gin.
Lanx Shoes: Mens and women's shoes, socks and laces.
Eat New York: Salt beef bagels, Reuben sandwiches / turkey Reubens, rib
of beef French dip sandwiches, goofie fires, pastrami burgers, breaded
camembert bagels, baba ganoush bagels.
Bar 3: Craft lagers and ciders, mulled English wine, Baileys
chocolate cup, mead, soft drinks and water.
The Witch House: German beer and gluhwein, Hot punch, tablewine, egg nog
punch, bratwurst, hamburgers, big pan traditional German food. Soft drinks -
Coke, locally produced pop, water.
Exchange
Street
Emerald City Cupcakes Cupcakes: cake stands and baking sets.
Platters UK: Natural slate tableware, platters, plates, coasters,
placemats, memo boards, cheese boards, trays, photo frames.
Angel Belle Jewellery: Designer silver and crystal jewellery and hand crafted
mosaic art and mirrors.
Amy Gibbings Photography: Original framed black and white photography, T-shirts
printed with original images, mugs with original images.
Dontbitchstitch: Designer hats, bags, clothing.
Snowdonia Cheese Co Cheese: Chutneys and gift boxes.
Ridiculously Rich By Alana: Chocolate brownies, crème brulee brownies, peanut butter
fudge cake, rocky road / salted caramel slice, sticky toffee flapjacks.
Trolle Trading Limited: Toffee vodka (for consumption off-site) and gift boxes.
Winterberries: Tea and Liquor Coffee, hot chocolate, cakes and biscuits.
Mulled English wine and Elderflower wine. Soft drinks - locally sourced pop,
water.
King Street
O Sweet Home: Crepes and waffles, including waffle lollies.
Cuisine Provencale: Garlic potatoes, provencale Potatoes, Provencale chicken,
garlic mushrooms, cassoulet.
Frifoo Limited: French draft beer, French bottled beers, French wine, hot
French wine, champagne, soft drinks.
N & P Events Ltd: Arancini of various flavours including ham and cheese,
sausage and gorgonzola, and bolognese. Also Coppo Misto, croquette and
panzerotto.
Eat Grk: Freshly made Greek gyros with various fillings, including
lamb, chicken and crumbled feta, all served with tzatziki and salad. Vegan
wraps with jackfruit, halloumi fries, herb salted fries and halloumi wraps.
Le Moulin Au Chocolat: Tea and liquor coffee, hot chocolate, cakes and biscuits.
Mulled English wine and elderflower wine.
Pineapple Events Solutions
Limited: Fruit dipped in chocolate,
honey cake houses and figures, chocolate fountain.
O Sweet Home: French biscuits and French macaroons.
Dorri Limited: Baklava, dried fruit and nuts, Turkish delight and olives.
Just The Cheese: Cheese truckles and various chutneys.
Martins Craft Bakery Limited: bread, cakes, sponges and chocolates.
Soaps of Provence Limited: French soap.
The Cherry Tree: Chutneys, pickles, jams, marmalades, curds and flavoured
cheeses.
M Crafts: Personalised tree decorations, personalised Santa plates
and Christmas decorations.
The Best Of Italy: Italian cheese, salami, ham, dried pasta, pasta sauces,
oils, vinegars, pesto, sundried tomatoes.
Flowerdirk: Flowers, plants, and Christmas trees.
Trader name tbc: Retro hats, hair garments, vintage gloves
Trader name tbc: Gemstone earrings, bracelets, necklaces, raw to jewel
charmstones
Shalom SCL: Handcrafted iron incense burners, oil burners shaped like
old stoves, incense and oil.
Malvavisco: Gourmet marshmallows in various flavours.
Brandusa Ungurasu Porcelain
Jewellery Art: Porcelain objects and porcelain
jewellery.
Joya: Bamboo and woollen socks.
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Rice yields plummet and arsenic
rises in future climate-soil scenarios
Rice is the largest global staple crop, consumed by more than
half the world's population—but new experiments from Stanford University
suggest that with climate change, production in major rice-growing regions with
endemic soil arsenic will undergo a dramatic decline and jeopardize critical
food supplies.
"By the time we get to 2100, we're estimated to have
approximately 10 billion people, so that would mean we have 5 billion people
dependent on rice, and 2 billion who would not have access to the calories they
would normally need," said co-author Scott Fendorf, the Terry Huffington
Professor in Earth system science at Stanford University's School of Earth,
Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "We have to be aware
of these challenges that are coming so we can be ready to adapt."
The researchers specifically looked at rice because it is grown
in flooded paddies that help loosen the arsenic from the soil and make it
especially sensitive to arsenic uptake. While many food crops today contain
small amounts of arsenic, some growing regions are more susceptible than
others. Future changes in soil due to higher temperatures combined with flooded
conditions cause arsenic to be taken up by rice plants at higher levels—and using irrigation water with naturally occurring high
arsenic exacerbates the problem. While these factors will not affect all global
commodities in the same way, they do extend to other flood-grown crops, like
taro and lotus.
"I just didn't expect the magnitude of impact on rice yield
we observed," said Fendorf, who is also a senior fellow at the Stanford
Woods Institute for the Environment. "What I missed was how much the soil
biogeochemistry would respond to increased temperature, how that would amplify
plant-available arsenic, and then—coupled with the temperature stress—how that
would really impact the plant."
A naturally occurring, semi-metallic chemical, arsenic is found
in most soils and sediments, but is generally in a form that doesn't get taken
up by plants. Chronic exposure to arsenic leads to skin lesions, cancers,
aggravation of lung disease and, ultimately, death. It is especially concerning
in rice not only because of its global significance, but also because the
low-allergen food is often introduced early to infants.
"I think this problem is also crucial for people that have
young kids in our society," said lead author E. Marie Muehe, a former
postdoctoral scholar at Stanford and now at the University of Tübingen,
Germany. "Because infants are a lot smaller than we are, if they eat rice,
that means that they take up more arsenic relative to their body weight."
Climate simulations
The researchers created future climate conditions in greenhouses
based on estimates of a possible 5 degree Celsius temperature increase and twice
as much atmospheric carbon dioxide by 2100, as projected by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
For the experiments, the group grew a medium-grain rice variety
in soil from the rice-growing region of California. The greenhouses were
controlled for temperature, carbon dioxide concentrations and soil arsenic
levels, which will be higher in the future due to its buildup in soils from
irrigating crops with arsenic-contaminated water, a problem that is worsened by
over-pumping groundwater.
"We don't often think about this, but soil is alive—it's teeming
with bacteria and a lot of different microorganisms," Fendorf said.
"It turns out those microorganisms determine whether the arsenic stays
partitioned onto the minerals and away from the plants or comes off the
minerals into the water phase."
The researchers found that with increased temperatures,
microorganisms destabilized more of the soil's inherent arsenic, leading to
greater amounts of the toxin in the soil water that is available for uptake by
the rice. Once taken up, arsenic inhibits nutrient absorption and decreases
plant growth and development, factors that contributed to the 40 percent
decrease in yield the scientists observed.
Early warning, future planning
While the dramatic loss in production is a major cause for
concern, the scientists are hopeful that this research will help producers find
potential solutions for feeding the world.
"The good news is that given past advances in terms of the
global community's ability to breed varieties that can adapt to new conditions,
along with revisions to soil management,
I'm optimistic we can get around the problems observed in our study,"
Fendorf said. "I'm also optimistic that as we continue to shine a light on
the threats resulting from a 5 degree Celsius change, society will adopt
practices to ensure we never reach that degree of warming."
As next steps, Fendorf, co-author Tianmei Wang and Muehe hope to
asses rice yields on a global scale by using remote sensing to pinpoint
contaminated rice paddies in order to model future yields and arsenic contamination.
"This is most likely to be a problem where most rice is
consumed, so we think about South and East Asia," said Wang, a Ph.D.
candidate in Earth system science. "Especially for people like my dad—he
consumes rice three times a day and he just cannot live without it."
Farmers
ready to stop stubble burning if it is cost-effective
TNN |
Updated: Nov 1, 2019, 13:10 IST
According to the farmers, the reason they still refuse to use alternative means available at the moment is the cost. They have been demanding a bonus on paddy - Rs 200 per quintal or Rs 6,000 per acre - as well as free machines to manage the crop residue.
"Fire provides us with a quick way of
cleaning the field, rather than depend on the straw management machinery, which
takes at least five additional days to deal with the crop residue," says
Karnail Singh of Lang village located on the outskirts of the Patiala
city, who had recently burnt his farm to make way for wheat sowing.
Gurmail
Singh, another villager from Lang, said there was a shortage of stubble
management machines in most of the villages. "There are farmers in our
village who have procured these machines, but still, the availability is far
less and during this time of the year, the farmers are generally in a hurry to
sow the next crop and they chose fire over machines to clear the fields,"
he said.
The scene is the same in rice-growing areas of Haryana, too, especially in Kurukshetra and Karnal, despite a ban by the state government. Many farmers have been booked for violating the prohibitory orders.
"The government needs to provide heavy duty machines, which can be collectively used by a group of farmers at village-level to make bundles of paddy straw so that it can be sold to the power generating units or to other units requiring the same. Most farmers cannot afford the heavy-duty machines on their own. The cost of diesel is another factor. In general, farmers find it easy and cheaper to burn the stubble than mulching it in the field by using multiple machines. No farmers want to burn paddy stubble if they are provided the machinery to manage the residue at an effective cost and in a collective manner," said Malkiat Singh, a farmer from Sahibpura village in Ambala district and district president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Haryana).
"Shortage of time, too, play a vital role in the choice. Farmers who sow potato will prepare their fields earlier than wheat growers," said Rakesh Kumar Bains, a farmer of Shahabad in Kurukshetra district.
The scene is the same in rice-growing areas of Haryana, too, especially in Kurukshetra and Karnal, despite a ban by the state government. Many farmers have been booked for violating the prohibitory orders.
"The government needs to provide heavy duty machines, which can be collectively used by a group of farmers at village-level to make bundles of paddy straw so that it can be sold to the power generating units or to other units requiring the same. Most farmers cannot afford the heavy-duty machines on their own. The cost of diesel is another factor. In general, farmers find it easy and cheaper to burn the stubble than mulching it in the field by using multiple machines. No farmers want to burn paddy stubble if they are provided the machinery to manage the residue at an effective cost and in a collective manner," said Malkiat Singh, a farmer from Sahibpura village in Ambala district and district president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Haryana).
"Shortage of time, too, play a vital role in the choice. Farmers who sow potato will prepare their fields earlier than wheat growers," said Rakesh Kumar Bains, a farmer of Shahabad in Kurukshetra district.
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