13th December,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

Explained: Why Basmati export has come to a standstill in Punjab

Anju Agnihotri Chaba

The Indian Express13 December 2019

Explained: Why Basmati export has come to a standstill in Punjab?

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Major Basmati growers and exporters — Punjab and Haryana, which account for 80 to 90 per cent of total Basmati export — have failed to pass mandatory certification despite restrictions on pesticides. (Express archive)

After restricting the usage of nine pesticides for Basmati crop (fine-quality aromatic rice) this year, Punjab Agriculture Department was hoping to harvest EU and US complaint pesticide-residue Basmati crop. But post-harvest, the export of the crop has come to a halt as most samples from Punjab, and even Haryana, have failed “mandatory testing and certification of inspection” due to the presence of “residue of unregistered pesticides” in the import-bound countries.

The Indian Express explains why both major Basmati growers and exporters — Punjab and Haryana, which account for 80 to 90 per cent of total Basmati export including 50 per cent export from Punjab alone — have failed to pass mandatory certification despite restrictions on these pesticides.

What is mandatory testing and certification?

For the first time this year, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issued a notification on November 4, while the Basmati crop was being harvested in Punjab and Haryana, making it mandatory for Basmati exporters to get their Basmati tested and certified prior to its export to the European Union (EU). The crop will now require a certificate of inspection from the Export Inspection Council (EIC)/Export Inspection Agency (EIA) with immediate effect. EIC is the official export certification body of India that ensures quality and safety of the products exported from here. There are total five EIA labs including in Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Why this certification was made compulsory?

The EU, which has 28 countries in the union, had brought down Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) for Tricyclazole, a fungicide used for Basmati crop, from 0.03 mg to 0.01 mg per kg a couple of years back. EU has started rejecting Basmati having MRL beyond this level as a result of which India’s four lakh tonnes Basmati export to the EU earlier had come down to 1.85 lakh tonnes this year due to the MRL limit. To avoid rejection from there, the Centre made this test compulsory here before export.

Which are countries our Basmati crop is exported to?

India exports Basmati to 80-90 countries including EU, USA, Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Iran was a major importer, but not any more.

Why has Basmati export come to a halt when certification is mandatory only for EU?

Punjab alone grows over 20 lakh tonnes of Basmati every year. But for the past one month not more than 200 to 300 tonnes of Basmati could be exported. All India Rice Exporters Association president Nathi Ram Gupta said that following the notification, majority of samples from Punjab and Haryana states failed in EIA labs. But Gupta added that all these “failed samples” got passed in other government’s certified labs. “Who should we believe? Also, why tests should be conducted by EIA labs, which are charging 5-6 times more than the government certified labs?” he questioned.

“It is surprising that Centre has included 40 more countries along with EU in this list including Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and other Commonwealth of Independent State (CIS) countries while they are not part of EU,” said Arvinder Pal Singh, president of PRMEA (Punjab Rice Millers Exporters Association), adding that every country has its own parameters for MRL of different pesticides but now every country is expecting the same.

“My 70 containers to non-EU countries, which should not be included in EU by our government, are stuck awaiting certification and export to other countries has also come to standstill,” said Ashok Sethi, Director PRMEA.

How the certification test is conducted?

Around one kg of rice is taken from a container, which carries 18-20 tonnes, and then tests related to various pesticides are conducted. If the quantity of banned pesticides is found more than the MRL, then such shipments are rejected and penalty can be imposed on such exporters prohibiting them from exporting their other containers for 15 days. Also, due to only five EIA labs the test process is quite slow, said exporters.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/explained-why-basmati-export-come-044739426.html

Unemployment: ILO restates importance of Nigerian forum

Published

 14 hours ago 

on

 December 13, 2019

By

 Correspondents 

Following the growing youth unemployment in Africa, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has declared that the forum organised in Nigeria in August was apt to address the unfortunate development.

Speaking on the challenges facing Africa as regards unemployment at the 14th African Regional Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the Director-General, (ILO) Guy Ryder, said that despite opportunities to be proud of within the continent, a number of challenges are also there to contend with.

According to him, “our meeting is taking place at a time when the global economy is stalling: estimates for next year will show growth to be only three per cent worldwide, and about 4 percent to the continent. It is in this context that the challenge of employment in Africa will have to be met: to create 26 million productive jobs every year in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“It is also in this context that the $68 billion annual financing gap will have to be filled in order to finance the investments needed to make universal social protection a reality in Africa.”

The ILO boss said that it was estimated that by 2035 the labor force would grow by more than 60 per cent in Africa, adding that “it is a tremendous demographic dividend for growth and development, provided that all the jobs that it needs can be created, without which this development will lead to more economic, social and migratory pressures.

“That is why it was particularly timely for Nigeria to host the Global Forum on Youth Employment in Abuja in August, and I was very pleased to be able to participate.”

He pointed out that new technologies opened up entirely new perspectives for development in Africa, with real breakthroughs if these technologies can be applied and deployed successfully.

“However, the danger is that digital divide and marginalization will become worse if the necessary investments and innovation are lacking.

“Africa has a unique renewable energy potential, which gives it an extraordinary advantage in the transition more than ever necessary to climate neutrality. At the same time, we are witnessing the continent’s vulnerability to climate change, which gives rise to fears of large-scale population displacement and the destruction of their livelihoods.

“Experience has shown us that the benefits globalization brings to Africa depend entirely on the conditions in which it integrates into the global systems of trade, investment, finance, migration and technologies. Hence, ladies and gentlemen, the imperative need to strengthen the global foundations for sustainable, balanced and just development for Africa’s future prosperity.

“This is to say how important are the issues of the discussions that we will have this week here in Abidjan. It is about how to apply in Africa the approach to the future of human-centered work enshrined in the Declaration of the Centenary adopted in June by the International Labor Conference.”

On her part, the ILO’s head of employment and labour markets, Sukti Dasgupta, described the youth unemployment crisis in Africa as a reflection of ineffective development strategies, saying that serious and honest political will was needed to avoid a disaster.

Of the over 226 million youth on the continent, 13.4 million are unemployed, while 52.2 million are not in employment education or training.

Dasgupta said the biggest problem that has exacerbated the youth unemployment crisis was a lack of opportunities and that drastic action is needed to fix this.

“There is a time bomb about to explode, I would say. The number of youth in the labour market is rising. By 2040 you will have a labour force size on the African continent which will be the combined size of the labour market in India and China,” she noted.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/12/unemployment-ilo-restates-importance-of-nigerian-forum/\\

Cambodia morning news for December 13

By Raksmey Khoem on December 13, 2019

Advertisement

Cambodia Responds to EU over Human Rights Concern
Cambodia’s government said on Thursday it had responded to the European Union over human rights and political concerns and urged the bloc to consider that nearly one million female workers would be affected if it suspended trade benefits.
— VOA 

Ministries Must Monitor for Cheap Rice Price, Hun Sen Says
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday ordered government ministries to monitor rice millers to ensure that they used government-funded loans to help rice farmers profit rather than lower the price of rice, following the announcement of a $50-million government rice subsidy last week.
— VOD 

PM Hun Sen: Government Takes Measures on RFA Journalist over Pornography, Not Publications
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen strongly denounced the allegations made by the oppositions, accusing the Royal Government of oppressing right to freedom of press following the arrests of reporters of Radio Free Asia (RFA).
— Fresh News

PM committed to meet Trump during Asean-US Summit
Despite recent diplomatic setbacks with the United States, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said he was committed to attending the Asean-US Summit in the United States early next year to hold talks with President Donald Trump.
— Khmer Times

Kingdom implores EU to consider reform efforts as part of EBA review
Improvements to gender equality and labour rights were among initiatives highlighted by the government in its official response yesterday to a European Commission report on the possible suspension of the Kingdom’s Everything-but-arms trade status.
— Khmer Times

https://aecnewstoday.com/2019/cambodia-morning-news-for-december-13-3/

Inside Taraba booming local rice business By Magaji Isa Hunkuyi, Jalingo | Published Date Dec 13, 2019 4:26 AM TwitterFacebookWhatsAppTelegram Inside Taraba booming local rice business Local rice business is booming in Taraba State following the closure of Nigerian borders, which has drastically reduced foreign rice coming into the country. North-East Trust’s finding revealed that both farmers and local rice dealers are reaping from the booming market across farming communities in the state. ADVERTISEMENT Hundreds of merchants from across the country including rice millers now source rice paddy and locally processed rice from the state. ADVERTISEMENT HOW OVER 5000 NIGERIA MEN HAVE PERMANENTLY OVERCOME TERRIBLE BEDROOM PERFORMANCE DUE TO THIS RECENT BRILLIANT DISCOVERY BY MEDICAL CONSULTANTS Potential of the state in rice production was not fully exploit until recently when demands for both paddy and locally processed rice increased. The state has vast fertile land suitable for rice production during wet and dry seasons and thousands of farmers engaged in rice farming, turning out thousands of tonnes of rice paddy annually. Findings further revealed that the three major rivers in the state-River Benue, River Taraba and River Donga have fertile wet land stretching hundreds kilometers and is suitable for both wet and dry season rice farming. It was further gathered that only about 25 percent of these lands are being utilized while the remaining lay fallow. Major areas where rice farming is taking place include Tau,Yalwan Tau,Donada,Lau,and Didango. Others are Sheka, Kambari,Amar, Gassol, MutumBiyu,Donga, Chinkai,Ibbi,Sansani,Ibbi sarkin Kudu,Bali  and several other areas. North East Trust’s investigation also revealed that currently there are about seven major markets for paddy and locally processed rice in the state. The markets are located in MutumBiyu, Bantaje, Didango, Lau, Donga, Jalingo and Tella. It was further discovered that majority of rice milling companies in the country sourced paddy rice from MutumBiyu paddy market. At Mutum-Biyu paddy rice, there are depots with pyramid of rice paddy purchased by major rice milling companies in the country. Similarly, some millers also purchased locally processed rice from the state and package them for sale after reprocessing and packaging. The booming rice market in the state also gave rise to increasing number of local rice milling business. There are over 14 local rice milling facilities across seven local government areas of the state. A local rice miller, Mallam Habibu Jalingo, told North East Trust that every day over 3000 bags of 100kg bags of rice paddy is being processed locally in the state and there was a ready market. According to him, customers from Abuja, Kano, Lagos and many other parts of the country come to buy local rice from the state on daily basis. He said price of local rice has come down because of mass production of rice paddy, adding that the closure of border is a blessing to both rice farmers and local millers In Jalingo town, there are two major rice milling factories –AL-Ganzaki rice mill and Mophido rice mill, which process more than 35 tonnes of paddy  daily. Alhaji Aliyu Sarkin Noma, owner of AL-Ganzaki rice mill told North East Trust that the closure of border has brought good market for both rice growers and the millers. He said there were increasing demands for local rice, resulting to increase in its production. The chairman of Taraba state Rice Farmers Association (RIFAN), Alhaji Tanko Bobbo Andami, said presently there were over 300,000 rice farmers in the state. He said the Anchor borrower scheme introduced by the federal government through the central Bank allows the farmers to access soft loans. He said demand for local rice following closure of borders also boost business in both paddy and locally processed rice in the state. The National President of Rice Farmers Association (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, said Nigerians now eat fresh and healthy rice and that farmers are now getting value for their produce.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/inside-taraba-booming-local-rice-business.html

Govt. to reduce duty on wheat flour imports

13 December 2019 09:06 am - 0      - 37

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The government will reduce duty on wheat flour imports for a limited period in order to ease the cost of living amid a hike in rice prices, Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said.

“The Cabinet has decided to cut import duties on wheat flour for a short period of time to keep prices down during the festival season and ease cost of living,” Pathirana added.

“This will break the monopoly on wheat flour.”

Sri Lanka maintains higher duties on wheat flour imports and lower taxes on wheat grain imports.

Sri Lanka’s wheat grain market is controlled by two multinational millers.

Pathirana said a gazette notice on the new import tax will be notified shortly. However it was not clear for how long the reduced import duties will be maintained. 

Meanwhile, rice prices in the market shot up since the new government came into power as several large rice millers, who store the bulk of the rice paddy in Sri Lanka raised prices of their branded rice.

The government plans to release 42, 000 metric tonnes of stored rice to small rice millers to maintain the retail rice prices at Rs.98 per kilogram during the festive season. 

http://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Govt-to-reduce-duty-on-wheat-flour-imports/273-179485

Christmas rush: Controversy over Nigerian rice re-bagging

Published

 13 hours ago 

on

 December 13, 2019

By

 Taiwo Hassan 

Following massive rush to buy rice for Yuletide and New Year celebrations, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and also repackaging Nigerian rice as foreign to desist from the act in the interest of the  economy. Taiwo Hassan reports

Already, the hierarchy of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) led by Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), had raised the alarm over existence of expired rice in circulation.

Ali, who made this known when the customs destroyed containers of foreign rice smuggled into the country recently, warned that Nigerians were eating expired rice without knowing.

The comptroller-general blamed importers of the commodity for not saying the truth on the state of what was being imported into the country.

He, however, applauded the country’s border closure policy of the Federal Government, saying that the closure would benefit the nation in future.

However, despite the attempt to take the minds of Nigerians away from foreign rice consumption, it was learnt that the preference is still outweighing that of local rice as investigations carried out by this newspaper showed that Nigerians are desperately looking for foreign rice to buy for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Amid this mass rush for foreign rice by Nigerians, there are insinuations that business owners involved in the country’s rice value chain are now secretly bagging local rice with foreign labels and also jerking up the price tag following Nigerians preference for foreign commodity.

In fact, the fallout of rice conversion from local to foreign ones is mind blowing.

Why foreign rice patronage

Recently, a survey on the rice market across the six geo-political zones in the country by the Economic Confidential team observed that foreign rice such as Mama Gold, Royal Stallion, Rice Master, Caprice, Falcon Rice and Basmati were sold alongside Nigerian rice such as Umza and Fursa Crown from Kano, Mama Happy from Niger, Labana Rice from Kebbi, Olam Rice from Nasarawa, Abakaliki Rice from Ebonyi, Ofada Rice from Ogun State, Swomen Dama from Plateau, Lake Rice of Lagos/Kebbi States among others.

The reason for the sale can be attributed to the fact that the desire for Nigerian rice is still low, thereby raising doubt as to Nigerians’ preferences for local rice.

Stakeholders in the rice sub-sector, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) and Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) had given kudos to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the timely intervention and banning of rice import into the country since 2015 without issuing of Form M, a development that has seen growth in local production, thereby saving foreign exchange for the country.

On-the-spot checks by the magazine showed that the preponderance of foreign rice in these markets by merchants who said that profits coming from foreign rice far out-weigh the local rice which majority of those interviewed believed has more nutritional value than the foreign rice.

However, what cannot be fathomed is why still preference for foreign rice by Nigerians despite the border closure, ban and aggressive local production of rice milling?

Locally fabricated rice de-stoner machine

Speaking on the changes that need to embrace by local millers to bring sanity to the country’s rice value chain, an agriculture expert, Mrs. Bridget Obi, charged the three tiers of government to embrace and adopt the locally fabricated rice de-stoner innovation machine to boost local rice production in Nigeria.

Obi, also the former Commissioner for Women Affairs and Youths Development in Anambra State, disclosed this at the unveiling ceremony of three agricultural devices by the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE) in Oshodi, Lagos recently.

According to her, the agricultural devices were: scale down rice de-stoner,castor oil de-husking machine and automated mains failure device.

Obi pointed out that these rice machines would ensure accelerated production and reduces drudgery, especially in the processing of agricultural produces in the country.

“We don’t need to import rice again. The Federal Government should support various institutions to help in driving technology that will help our nation to achieve our agricultural goals. “Without technology, we can do nothing; it helps to save cost, manpower and man hour,” she added.

She said local rice production should henceforth be encouraged with the devices to assist in addressing the major challenge of local rice.

“With huge amount released by CBN toward increasing rice production, the NATE scale down rice de-stoner will increase mass production of quality rice to ensure availability in the farming communities. “I urge governments to give necessary assistance in ensuring mass production of the machines at subsidised rate.

“They should be made available to farmers at a very low interest rate with long term repayment plan,” Obi said.

NAFDAC’s warning

However, NAFDAC has read the riot act warning business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and repackaging local rice as foreign to desist from the act.

The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Adeyeye, in a statement made available to New Telegraph recently, called on Nigerians to be vigilant, and exercise discretion when purchasing rice and other food items.

“NAFDAC is fully alive to her responsibilities of assuring the safety, wholesomeness and quality of foods and other regulated products offered for sale to the public,” she noted.

She said the Ogun State office of NAFDAC received a report from the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state of ongoing food fraud at Oke-Aje market in Ijebu Ode

“We, in company of men of the Nigeria Police Force proceeded to the scene of the illegal activity. On arrival, the suspected perpetrators of the food fraud instigated unnamed persons to unleash mayhem on the team of investigators

“However, enforcement officers of the agency and its Federal Task Force team stormed the market in company of DSS officials. They sighted miscreants at the market who took to their heels.

“Bags of expired rice, caked rice, bags of local rice, bags of popular foreign rice and sealing machines were found in the shops the NAFDAC enforcement team finally gained access into.

“Three shops were sealed during the operation. It is instructive to note that expired and caked rice are unwholesome as they contain moulds and microorganism that cause diseases which are of immense public health concern,” she added.

She called on Nigerians to report cases of re-bagging and sale of caked and expired rice or other food items to the nearest NAFDAC office across the federation.

Last line

With this disturbing report of re-bagging, sale of caked, expired rice or other food items in the country, it has shown that government needs to do more in its monitoring activities by extending its searchlight beyond borders as perpetrators are ready to make more gains on Nigerians through re-bagging of Nigerian rice as foreign ones.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/12/christmas-rush-controversy-over-nigerian-rice-re-bagging/

Rice: Integrated millers boost production value to N288bn

Published

 13 hours ago 

on

 December 13, 2019

By

 Bayo Akomolafe 

●Deficit crashes by 64.3%

As consumption climbed to N1.2billion daily, value of rice production by integrated mills in Nigeria has increased by 1.8million tonnes or N288billion this year.

The boost in production has made the grain fall by 64.28 per cent from 2.8million tonnes to one million tonnes.

It was learnt that Nigeria currently boasts of 40 integrated milling machines of world standard procured through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers Programme.

After the border closure, Nigeria suddenly experience rise in milled rice production from 4.9million tonnes to 6.7million tonnes. Currently, a bag of the grain is N16,000 in the market.

Before August, 2019, milled rice production had fallen by 800,000 metric tonnes from 5.7million tonnes to 4.9million tonnes despite CBN’s N55billion anchor borrowers support.

According to the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RPAN), the 1.8million tonnes produced by the integrated mills are different from millions of metric tonnes produced annually by small scale millers and local millers.

The processors noted that they had the capacity to meet the country’s demand during and beyond the Yuletide.

The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, noted that the positive impact of the Federal Government’s border closure was responsible for the huge production, saying that it was enormous to the rice millers.

He explained that the combined capacity of integrated mills produced about 150,000 truck load of rice on a daily basis and 1.8 million metric tonnes annually.

Abubakar said in Abuja that the figure was different from millions of metric tonnes produced annually by small scale millers and local millers.

The chairman stressed that there would be no scarcity of rice during the Christmas period as there would be enough supply of rice in the country.

He noted the country relied on one mill in operation for 10 year until recently rice processing was up to 40.

Abubakar added that before the border closure, members of the association had been complaining that they could not sell the grain in their various warehouses.

However, the chairman explained that they had exhausted their stock, noting that that some RPAN members, who closed their factories due to lack of patronage, were now back in business because of border closure.

The chairman said that he had gone to CBN on behalf of his members to seek grants for expansion of their rice business.

Farmers in Ghana under the aegis of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) have also advised their government to adopt the Nigerian model of ban by making it immediate instead of waiting for 2022.

The Association in a statement signed by Abdul- Rahman Mohammed, National President and Board Chairman of PFAG called for a show of commitment and steps to be put in place for immediate ban rather than wait until 2022.

It said adopting Nigeria’s food importation ban concept would not only help to reduce Ghana’s import bill but create employment opportunities in Ghana and stabilise the cedi.

In 2018, top rice importers, like Olam and Stallion, embarked on rice cultivation to remain in business as Federal Government concluded plans to end importation of the grain.

Major rice merchants, Dangote Group,  Stallion Group,  Olam International,  Cosharis Group and Miva, have invested  $1billion (N360billion), N50billion,  N20 billion,  N2billion and NI.369 billion respectively to acquire farms and mills to end the nation’s huge import bill  on the grain running into $3billion annually.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/12/rice-integrated-millers-boost-production-value-to-n288bn/

Central American and Dominican Rice Buyers Attend USA Rice Outlook Conference 

By Sarah Moran

LITTLE ROCK, AR -- A delegation of USA Rice members and representatives from the Central American Rice Federation (FECARROZ) met here ahead of the USA Rice Outlook Conference to talk about the Central America-Dominican Republic-U.S. free trade agreement (CAFTA-DR).

CAFTA-DR is on the verge of entering the agreement's fifteenth year since enactment and has been largely beneficial for both the U.S. domestic industry and the Central American and Dominican processors.

The delegations spent several hours discussing the trade agreement, providing updates on USA Rice international promotion efforts within the region and U.S. efforts to improve U.S. rice quality.  

Additionally, a report was given on the Agriculture Review Commission, established last month as a requirement for the fourteenth year of the free trade agreement.  Membership of the Commission is made up of government representatives from all seven CAFTA-DR countries tasked with conducting a review of the operation and implementation of the free trade agreement as it relates to trade in all agricultural goods, including rice.

"Central America is a top destination for U.S. rice and helps keep our export market thriving," said USA Rice Chairman Charley Mathews, Jr.  "We are pleased that FECARROZ has given thought to how this trade can be sustained and continues to nurture the relationship with our U.S. exporters through these periodic meetings."

FECARROZ is interested in pursuing additional research that looks toward the future of the trading relationship between the U.S. and their countries to help provide insight for future discussions.

"USA Rice is supportive of reviewing potential research on the future of our trading relationship," said Todd Burich, chair of the USA Rice Latin American Trade Policy Subcommittee.  "We will take a closer look at their proposal next month during the USA Rice International Promotion Planning Conference, and be in continued conversations with FECARROZ during this process."

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December 12, 2019Diet, Food, Health & Medical

No Bread In Bed: Study Suggests Refined Carbs Can Trigger Insomnia

by John Anderer

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NEW YORK — Sleep seems to happen almost instantly on some nights, while others are spent endlessly tossing and turning in pursuit of some rest. Insomnia can be caused by a variety of factors, but it is indisputably a common occurrence nowadays. In fact, an estimated 30% of adults experience insomnia regularly. If you’ve been having trouble falling asleep lately, a new study says you may want to examine your eating habits. Research performed at Columbia University found that post menopausal women consuming a diet high in refined carbohydrates, specifically added sugars, are more likely to deal with insomnia.

Conversely, women eating more vegetables, fiber, and whole fruit were less likely to experience trouble sleeping. While this study focused solely on older women, the research team theorize that the same holds true for men and younger women as well.

“Insomnia is often treated with cognitive behavioral therapy or medications, but these can be expensive or carry side effects,” comments senior study author James Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, in a release. “By identifying other factors that lead to insomnia, we may find straightforward and low-cost interventions with fewer potential side effects.”

This isn’t the first time researchers have investigated a possible connection between refined carbohydrates and insomnia, but prior studies had ultimately yielded inconclusive results. For example, none of those previous studies had followed participants over an extended period of time, making it impossible to definitively say if a high-carb diet led to insomnia, or if insomnia actually caused some individuals to eat more carbs and sweets.

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So, for this study, researchers utilized data collected from over 50,000 women who had filled out diet diaries. They then analyzed this information to see if women with diets high in refined carbs were more likely to develop insomnia.

Now, different types of carbs have varying effects on blood sugar. Refined carbs, including added sugars, white rice, soda, and white bread, entail a higher glycemic index, which really just means they induce a more rapid and pronounced increase in blood sugar after consumption.

“When blood sugar is raised quickly, your body reacts by releasing insulin, and the resulting drop in blood sugar can lead to the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can interfere with sleep,” Gangwisch explains.

As predicted, the study’s authors found that the more carbs women ate with a high dietary glycemic index, specifically foods with added sugars or processed grains, the more likely they were to experience insomnia.

“Whole fruits contain sugar, but the fiber in them slow the rate of absorption to help prevent spikes in blood sugar,” Gangwisch comments. “This suggests that the dietary culprit triggering the women’s insomnia was the highly processed foods that contain larger amounts of refined sugars that aren’t found naturally in food.”

Of course, postmenopausal women aren’t the only individuals who experience an increase in blood sugar levels after eating refined carbs. With this in mind, the research team are fairly confident that similar findings would appear among more diverse population samples.

“Based on our findings, we would need randomized clinical trials to determine if a dietary intervention, focused on increasing the consumption of whole foods and complex carbohydrates, could be used to prevent and treat insomnia,” Gangwisch concludes.

The study is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

https://www.studyfinds.org/no-bread-in-bed-study-suggests-too-much-refined-carbs-can-trigger-insomnia/

Biologist develops new model for analyzing photosynthesis in vivo

by RUDN University

Credit: RUDN University

A RUDN University biologist has developed a model for the analysis of photosynthesis in vivo. This method calculates the absorption coefficient of light by chlorophyll based on its reflectivity. Analysis of light absorption is important for assessing ecosystem productivity, which affects the state of the biosphere and the global climate. The article is published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.

Measurements of the efficiency of photosynthesis in living systems are necessary because they allow scientists to estimate the carbon cycle, and therefore the impact on the climate. To study photosynthesis in vivo, researchers use the vegetation absorption coefficient, a value that shows how deeply the incident radiation penetrates the canopy. It depends on biochemical, structural and external factors, so its evaluation is very difficult. Alexei Solovchenko, an employee of RUDN University, and his colleagues from the U.S. and Israel have found a new way to assess this indicator.

First, biologists calculated the ratio of absorption and transmission coefficients for individual leaves and canopy in general. Measuring these coefficients for the canopy "in sum" is difficult, but for a single leaf it is simple, so by knowing the ratio between them, scientists can calculate the absorption and transmission of canopy from the coefficients for a single leaf. Then the researchers of RUDN University obtained an equation that connects the canopy absorption coefficient to the pigments absorption coefficient—primarily that of chlorophyll—in leaves. It turned out that the canopy, unlike a single leaf, can absorb light in the infrared range, and that the absorption coefficients of pigments for plants with different densities of canopy may differ. Therefore, the biologists had to make appropriate changes to the final model.

The researchers tested this mathematical model describing the canopy absorption coefficient on crops with different types of photosynthesis—corn (C4 photosynthesis), soybeans and rice (C3 photosynthesis), measuring the spectra of absorbed and reflected solar radiation.

The model showed that in the blue spectral region, the canopy of rice reflects more than the canopy of other crops. Scientists believe it is because rice grows in water. Also, absorption curves for plants with C3-type photosynthesis (soybeans and rice) obtained with the model differed from those of plants with C4-type photosynthesis (corn), due to biochemical differences.

Thus, the model created by biologists can predict the absorption of light by different types of plants with different types of photosynthesis, different canopy architectures and different pigment content in the leaf.

https://phys.org/news/2019-12-biologist-photosynthesis-vivo.html

India's October rice exports drop 42% y-o-y on weak demand from Africa

Smaller shipments from India could help rivals such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar to increase their exports, according to Indian exporters

Reuters  |  Mumbai Last Updated at December 5, 2019 18:07 IST

 

14

Representative Image

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Indian rice exports face threat from Asian peers, including Pakistan

·        

India's rice exports in October fell 42% year-on-year to 485,898 tonnes, government data showed on Thursday, due to weak demand from African countries for non-basmati rice.

Smaller shipments from India could help rivals such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar to increase their exports, according to Indian exporters.

"Export demand is very subdued," said Nitin Gupta, vice president of Olam India's rice business.

New Delhi mainly exports non-basmati rice to Bangladesh, Nepal, Benin and Senegal, and premier basmati rice to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

India is the world's biggest rice exporter but its shipments have plunged 28% in the first seven months of the 2019/20 financial year, which started April 1, to 4.85 million tonnes, the data showed.

Indian rice has been losing competitiveness in the world market due to higher local prices, said B V Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association (REA).

The government needs to provide subsidies for the overseas sales or exports would remain weak, he said.

https://agriculture.einnews.com/article_detail/504047997/9RWtOkiO-ImPoDS2?n=2&code=VuZLay2YinrVF2-0&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Basmati+Rice+News&utm_content=article

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Business News of Thursday, 12 December 2019

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Standards would be set out to make foreign rice unattractive in Ghana - GSA boss

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play videoExecutive Director of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) says talks are ongoing with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to set out the modalities for high requirements and standards that will make foreign rice unattractive in Ghana.

According to the Executive Director of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, the move is expected to give more prominence to locally produced Ghanaian rice unto the market as well as protecting Ghanaian consumers and businesses.

“I have had a conversation with the lead campaigner of ‘Buy Made in Ghana Rice’ and what we have told them is that we (GSA and FDA) will ensure that Ghanaians set a standard that will make it unattractive for foreign rice to enter into the country. Now that there is a campaign and the ability to produce rice locally, the question we should ask is why do we want to import rice that has been kept for some 10 years, we have started those discussions and we are very keen that we set out the requirements for rice so high that Ghana made rice will compete way above any other rice.”

Professor Alex Dodoo made this known in an interview with GhanaWeb on Wednesday, December 11 in Accra.

He, however, says the notion that some people may think it is rather setting a barrier on the rice market is a wrong one, but rather protecting the Ghanaian public by setting these high standards.

“For me and for most people in the field, having rice which is so old that it’s been treated with chemicals for years is harmful to our health so why should we patronize it. We’re looking at these requirements and definitely it will change soon to project the Ghanaian consumer and Ghanaian businesses,” he concluded.

Buy Ghana Rice Campaign

Earlier, local rice producers and dealers across the country have expressed worry over the difficulty in accessing market avenues for the purchase of their production of local rice in large quantities.

According to them, there’s been an influx of foreign imported rice flooding the market and destroying their businesses.

Recently, President Nana Akufo-Addo in his speech at the 35th National Farmers’ Day celebration appealed to Ghanaians to consume local rice just like he does with his family, arguing that if Ghanaians consumed more local rice, it would boost production and lead to self-sufficiency.

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Standards-would-be-set-out-to-make-foreign-rice-unattractive-in-Ghana-GSA-boss-813526

Iran’s payment default leaves rice traders apprehensive about further export

As per information, Iran owes about ₹1,200 crore to the state’s farmers

CITIES Updated: Dec 12, 2019 22:53 IST

Neeraj Mohan
Hindustan Times, Chandigarh

     

With Iran failing to clear their pending dues for the last eight months, rice traders in Haryana are reluctant to export this season’s produce to the country, fearing more defaults. As per information, Iran owes about ₹1,200 crore to the state’s farmers. Adding to their apprehension is the fact that Basmati price have seen a steep fall this season.

This development is likely to affect rice traders of the country, especially Haryana, adversely as Iran is the biggest consumer Indian aromatic Basmati rice as it imports about 20-25% of India’s total rice exports of 4.5 million tonnes every year.

Haryana’s rice traders say that payment of about ₹1,200 crore was stuck in Iran since May this year when India stopped importing oil from the country due to US sanctions. Though the Iran government had started to clear pending payments, it stopped after clearing dues to the tune of ₹100 crore.

The traders say that the delay has caused them huge losses and the Indian government did not intervene to help them clear their dues.

As per members of the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), most of the affected traders belong to Haryana and Punjab. They further said the farmers had to sell their produce for around ₹2,500 per quintal, the lowest in the past five years.

“Since Iran is the largest basmati importing market for Indian traders and the annual the basmati exports to Iran in the past three years had increased to 14.83 lakh MT (₹10,790 crore) in 2018-19 from 7.16 lakh MT (₹3,778 crore) in 2016-17. But the delay in payments has left farmers not wanting to take any risks next year,” said Vijay Setia, former president of AIREA.

AIREA president Nathi Ram Gupta said, “The delay in payment has affected the big rice exporters of the country. They will now have to focus on the local market, which may lead to a fall in prices, affecting both traders and farmers.”

“The bad trade with Iran has also affected farmers during this harvesting season. Affected traders could not purchase paddy this year and farmers had to sell their produce at ₹2,000 to ₹2,800 per quintal this season against ₹3,000 to ₹4,500 per quintal last year,” said Gurdev Singh, a rice trader of Kurukshetra.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/iran-s-payment-default-leaves-rice-traders-apprehensive-about-further-export/story-2qT8xpnlZFdqynOvVUy6qN.html

Sri Lanka to cut wheat flour import duty to relax oligopoly as rice prices spike

Thursday December 12, 2019 10:27:23

Sri Lanka in the past kept wheat flour prices high

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will cut import taxes to temporarily break a wheat milling and duopoly and bring prices down, as rice prices spiked, cabinet spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirana said.

“The cabinet decided to cut import duties on wheat flour temporarily to keep prices down in the festival season,” Minister Pathirana said.

“This will break the monopoly on wheat flour.”

Sri Lanka has a government sponsored duopoly on wheat flour high maintained by a high tax on wheat flour and a by a lower tax on wheat grain to give high profits (rents) to a milling oligopoly and block a free market in wheat.

Wheat grain has a general duty of 15 percent, while milled flour is taxed at 30 percent.

Minister Pathirana said a gazette notice on the new import tax will be issued shortly.

It is not clear for how long the duopoly would be broken and when it will be re-instated.

“Our stance is that there should not be a monopoly on any essential food,” Minister Dulles Akahapperuma said.

The high prices on wheat flour has also generated the background for an oligopoly of rice millers to keep rice prices high.

Rice prices rose sharply over the last month, with several large millers, who store most of the rice paddy in the country, raising retail prices of their branded rice.

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Opposition politicians have charged that the blocking of un-husked paddy from government stores to small millers had pushed up prices.

The government hoped to quickly release 42,000 metric tonnes of stored rice to millers.

Pathirana said the government hoped to keep retail rice prices at 99 rupee a kilogram.

Rice prices soared from around 85 to 90 rupees a kilogram at the beginning of November to over 110 rupees by the first week of December. (Colombo/Dec12/2019 – Update II)

https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-cut-wheat-flour-import-duty-to-relax-oligopoly-as-rice-prices-spike-35424/

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A farmer harvests rice on Nov. 7 in the northern Thai village of Mae Rim. | AFP-JIJI

BUSINESS

Thai rice farmers shun pesticides and fight climate change

AFP-JIJI

• DEC 12, 2019

ARTICLE HISTORY

• PRINT
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•  

MAE RIM, THAILAND – Battling drought, debt and ailments blamed on pesticides, rice farmers in northern Thailand have turned to eco-friendly growing methods despite powerful agribusiness interests in a country that is one of the top exporters of the grain in the world.

Walking through a sea of green waist-high stalks, farmer Sunnan Somjak said his fields had been “exhausted” by chemicals, his family regularly felt ill and his profits were too low to make ends meet.

But that changed when he joined a pilot agricultural project for the SRI method, which aims to boost yields while shunning pesticides and using less water.

“Chemicals can destroy everything,” the 58-year-old said, adding that the harvest in his village in Chiang Mai province has jumped 40 percent since employing the new method.

There have been health benefits too: “It’s definitely better, we don’t get sick anymore,” he added.

SRI was invented in the 1980s in Madagascar by a French Jesuit priest, and the technique has spread globally.

It works by planting crops wider apart — thus drawing in more nutrients and light — and limiting the amount of water that gets into fields, which helps microorganisms flourish to act as natural fertilizers.

In a plus for debt-laden farmers, it also uses fewer seeds, and farmers are encouraged to use plants and ginger roots that naturally deter insects rather than using chemical alternatives — meaning fewer expenses.

Traditional Thai rice farmers earn around 3,000 baht a month ($100), but Sunnan was able to increase his income by 20 percent after adopting the SRI method.

“I’ve finally gotten rid of my debts,” he said.

Rice is a staple in the diet of around 3 billion people globally.

But agricultural workers are locked in a vicious cycle. Beset by drought and floods brought on by climate change, farmers contribute to the disruption as their fields release methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouse gases.

With SRI, paddy fields are not permanently flooded, which reduces methane emissions by 60 percent, according to Tristan Lecomte, founder of Pur Projet, a French company supporting the technique.

The project also helped Sunnan plant trees around his crops to reinforce the water table.

According to Lecomte, rice yields can jump from 20 percent to more than 100 percent compared to the traditional method.

Southeast Asia, where agriculture supports millions, is slowly embracing SRI.

The U.S.-based Cornell University created a center specializing in the technique in 2010; more than 2 million farmers in the region — especially from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos — have been trained.

In Bac Giang province in Vietnam, net profits for farmers were as much as 226 percent higher after adopting the SRI method than when using traditional ones, according to Abha Mishra, who led a large project on behalf of the Asian Institute of Technology.

The Philippines, which grows rice but is also one of the world’s leading importers, is also interested in this method, and the Ministry of Agriculture has started training farmers.

The method is also used in parts of India, China and Africa. But though there is support from NGOs, as well as some scientists and authorities, it has a long way to go before widespread adoption.

It faces resistance domestically from agribusiness because there is no new hybrid seed or fertilizer to sell.

Industry lobbies are very active in Southeast Asia — particularly in Thailand, one of the largest users of pesticides in the world.

And they recently won a big battle over chemical use in agriculture.

Thai authorities, who had committed to ban controversial glyphosate, backtracked at the end of November, deciding that “limited” use would eventually be allowed. The use of two other herbicides has also been extended.

Lecomte says the other challenges potentially affecting the rate of adoption are that the SRI method is quite complex to learn and that it is labor-intensive.

“You have to plant one by one and closely control the amount water,” he explained, adding that the extra manual effort required means some farmers don’t want to try the method, and others give up early on.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/12/business/thai-rice-farmers-shun-pesticides/#.XfOfMpMzbm4

Local rice farmers face challenging 2019 season resulting in low rice yields

NEWS

by: Sylvia Masters

Posted: Dec 11, 2019 / 06:45 PM CST / Updated: Dec 12, 2019 / 09:07 AM CST

ACADIA PARISH, La. (KLFY)- The 2019 rice season was difficult for rice production in Southwest Louisiana because of poor growing conditions throughout the year.

In Acadia Parish, they’re the number one rice producing parish in the State of Louisiana.

Rice yields were much lower this year because of the challenging season many local farmers faced.
Dustin Harrell, Extension Rice Specialist for the State of Louisiana and a Rice Research Agronomist for the LSU Ag Center Rice Research Station in Crowley, said, “When you look at the state as a whole, we are probably about 17% lower in our rice yields this year than we were in 2018.”

Harrell said this year, yields were around 39 barrels of rice per acre. Compare that to last year of well over 40 barrels per acre.

All because of the challenging season rice farmers endured.

Harrell added, “Last year was pretty difficult for us as far as rainfall events. We actually had three different rainfall events throughout the growing season that caused trouble for our growers.”

Had Hurricane Barry dumped more rain as forecasted, Harrell said it would’ve been a complete disaster for rice farmers.

Still, many yields were lost.

“What happened was we didn’t get as much rain, but the rice was flowering and the flower was open, and that’s when it sheds pollen and it pollinates that grain, and if you get rain and wind during that time, that can disrupt that pollination process. It’ll actually blank the grain and you can lose yield that way,” explained Harrell.

Acadiana farmers told Harrell their rice yields were about 30% lower than previous years.

“Another thing that hurt our yield potential last year was smuts, and it’s a type of disease that’ll hit the rice as it’s maturing and it’s a disease that we really haven’t worried about in the past, but we had epidemic levels of it this year,” said Harrell.

This past year, Louisiana saw 415,000 acres of rice with Acadia Parish producing 80,000.

https://www.brproud.com/news/local-rice-farmers-face-challenging-2019-season-resulting-in-low-rice-yields/

DECEMBER 13, 2019 / 6:32 AM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO

RPT-Asia Rice-India prices rebound, Vietnam sees uptick in demand

Karthika Suresh Namboothiri

3 MIN READ

(Repeats from Thursday)

* Indian rupee hits more-than one-month high

* India’s exports in October fall 42% year-on-year

* Stronger baht continues to weigh on Thai demand

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri

BENGALURU, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Indian rice export prices rebounded this week from three-year lows as exporters increased rates to compensate for a rising rupee, while low supply and an uptick in demand from Cuba, Iraq and Philippines pushed up Vietnamese rates.

Top exporter India’s 5% broken parboiled variety RI-INBKN5-P1 was quoted around $358-$363 per tonne this week, up from last week’s $356-$361, which was the lowest since January 2017.

The appreciation in the rupee has been forcing traders to raise prices, but demand is still subdued, said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian rupee on Thursday rose to its highest level in more than a month, trimming exporters’ margin from overseas sales.

India’s rice exports in October fell 42% year-on-year to 485,898 tonnes, government data showed, due to weak demand from African countries for non-basmati rice.

In Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 were quoted at $350 a tonne on Thursday, up slightly from $345 last week.

“Supply has run very low now as the harvest has ended while demand from exporters to fulfil shipments to Cuba and Iraq is still high,” said a trader in Ho Chi Minh City, adding demand from Philippines had also been picking up in the past two weeks.

Another trader said local supplies would increase from late next month when the winter-spring harvest begins.

Meanwhile, prices of 5% broken Thai rice RI-THBKN5-P1 were little changed at $397-$411 a tonne on Thursday versus $397-$410 the week before.

“We were expecting the price to drop with new supply this month but prices have not changed much,” a Bangkok-based trader said.

Prices for the Thai variety have been high relative to competitors throughout the year, largely due to the strength of the local currency.

“I have not been able to sell any for more than two months now because of the high prices,” another trader in Bangkok said. “My usual customers say they have been buying from Vietnam and Myanmar. Rice from those countries are of similar quality to ours and more importantly, their rice is cheaper.”

Bangladesh, the world’s fourth largest rice producer, could face severe damage to its growth in agricultural output due to climate change and rising sea-levels, the World Bank said in a report this week.

The country produces around 35 million tonnes of rice annually. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok; editing by Arpan Varghese and Jane Merriman) https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL4N28M34Q

December 12, 2019

More than 30,000 hectares of rice paddy hit by drought

Sen David / Khmer Times  Share:    

Rasmei News

More than 30,000 hectares of rice paddy in nine provinces have been hit by drought and are in dire need of water, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Ministry spokesman Chan Youttha yesterday said that about 30,000 hectares of rice paddy were hit in the provinces of Prey Veng, Kandal, Kampot, Kampong Cham, Tboung Khmum, Kratie, Kampong Chhnang, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey.

“The Ministry of Water Resources via provincial departments helped to pump water to save 1,300 hectares of rice paddy and about 30,000 hectares are still facing water shortages,” Mr Youttha said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called on farmers to conserve water and asked farmers not to cultivate dry-season rice twice as the country faces dry spells.

“Farmers, please plant dry-season rice once to conserve water. You can plant vegetables instead because they need less water,” he said.

Agriculture Ministry spokesman Srey Vuthy yesterday said relevant authorities in the provinces are helping farmers whose farms are facing water shortages.

“At the provincial level, water resource departments and local authorities are using water pumps and giving gasoline to farmers to pump water to irrigate fields,” he said, noting that the figure of affected rice paddies will be updated on Friday.

Sim Thavirak, director of Kampong Cham provincial agriculture department, said local authorities recently pumped water to save 200 hectares of rice paddy in Stung Trang district’s Peam Koh Sna commune.

“The officials are monitoring the situation of rice paddies hit by a lack of water and they will try to find water to save them,” he said.

According to a Kampong Cham Provincial Hall report, 2,500 hectares of rice lack water. In Kratie, about 2,400 hectares of rice are facing water shortages.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50669337/more-than-30000-hectares-of-rice-paddy-hit-by-drought/

Thai Rice Farmers Shun 'Big Agribusiness' And Fight Climate Change

By Sophie DEVILLER and Anusak KONGLANG
12/12/19 AT 12:02 AM

00:33

Australian Luke Cook Sentenced To Death In Thailand Over Drug Smuggling Charges

Battling drought, debt and ailments blamed on pesticides, rice farmers in northern Thailand have turned to eco-friendly growing methods despite powerful agribusiness interests in a country that is one of the top exporters of the grain in the world.

Walking through a sea of green waist-high stalks, farmer Sunnan Somjak said his fields were "exhausted" by chemicals, his family regularly felt ill, and his profits were too low to make ends meet.

But that changed when he joined a pilot agricultural project for the SRI method, which aims to boost yields while shunning pesticides and using less water.

"Chemicals can destroy everything," the 58-year-old said, adding that the harvest in his village in Chiang Mai province has jumped 40 percent since employing the new method.

 TOP ARTICLES1/5Late Fightback Keeps TigerWoods' US In Hunt At Presidents Cup

There have been health benefits too.

Battling drought, debt and ailments blamed on pesticides, rice farmers in northern Thailand have turned to eco-friendly growing methods despite powerful agribusiness interests in a country that is one of the top exporters of the grain in the world Photo: AFP / Lillian SUWANRUMPHA

"It's definitely better, we don't get sick any more," he added.

SRI was invented in the 1980s in Madagascar by a French Jesuit priest, and the technique has spread globally.

It works by planting crops wider apart -- thus drawing in more nutrients and light -- and limiting the amount of water that gets into fields, which helps micro-organisms flourish to act as natural fertilisers.

In a plus for debt-laden farmers, it also uses fewer seeds, and they are encouraged to use plants and ginger roots that naturally deter insects rather than chemical alternatives -- meaning fewer expenses.

Traditional Thai rice farmers earn around 3,000 baht a month ($100) but Sunnan was able to increase his income by 20 percent after adopting the SRI method.

"I've finally got rid of my debts," he told AFP.

With SRI, paddy fields are not permanently flooded, which reduces methane emissions by 60 percent, according to Tristan Lecomte, founder of Pur Projet, a French company supporting the technique Photo: AFP / Lillian SUWANRUMPHA

Rice is a staple in the diet of around three billion people globally.

But agricultural workers are locked in a vicious cycle: beset by drought and floods brought on by climate change, the farmers contribute to the disruption as their fields release methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouse gases.

With SRI, paddy fields are not permanently flooded, which reduces methane emissions by 60 percent, according to Tristan Lecomte, founder of Pur Projet, a French company supporting the technique.

Farmers harvesting rice in the village of Mae Rim in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai Photo: AFP / Lillian SUWANRUMPHA

The project also helped Sunnan plant trees around his crops to reinforce the water table.

According to Lecomte, rice yields can jump from 20 percent to more than 100 compared to the traditional method.

Southeast Asia, where agriculture supports millions, is slowly embracing SRI.

The US-based Cornell University created a centre specialising in the technique in 2010 and more than two million farmers in the region -- especially from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos -- have been trained.

In Bac Giang province in northern Vietnam, net profits for farmers were as much as 226 percent higher after adopting the SRI method than when using traditional ones, according to Abha Mishra, who led a large project on behalf of the Asian Institute of Technology.

The Philippines, which grows rice but is also one of the world's leading importers, is also interested in this method and the Ministry of Agriculture has started training farmers.

The method is also used in parts of India, China, and Africa.

But, while there is support from NGOs, as well as some scientists and authorities, it still has a long way to go before widespread adoption.

It faces resistance domestically from agribusiness as there is no new hybrid seed or fertilizer to sell.

Industry lobbies are very active in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand, one of the largest users of pesticides in the world.

And they recently won a big battle over chemical use in agriculture.

Thai authorities, who had committed to ban controversial glyphosate, backtracked at the end of November, deciding that "limited" use would eventually be allowed. The use of two other herbicides has also been extended.

Lecomte says the other challenge potentially impacting the rate of adoption is the SRI method is quite complex to learn and it is labour intensive.

"You have to plant one by one and closely control the amount water," he explained, adding that the extra manual effort required means some farmers don't want to try the method, and others give up early on.

Sunnan admits that his workload is heavier but the financial and health benefits make it worth it in the end.

He added: "It is safe for our body, and the environment."

Copyright AFP. All rights reserved.

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https://www.ibtimes.com/thai-rice-farmers-shun-big-agribusiness-fight-climate-change-2884088

DECEMBER 12, 2019 / 9:06 PM / UPDATED A DAY AGO

IMF board to meet on Dec. 19 to review Pakistan funds release

1 MIN READ

·        

·        

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund’s board will meet on Dec. 19 to review a staff-level agreement with Pakistan to release about $450 million from the Fund’s $6 billion financing program with the south Asian country, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.

“What that indicates is that all prior actions and performance criteria under the program with Pakistan have been met and that the financing assurances needed for the program to go forward are in place,” Rice told a regular news briefing. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

https://www.reuters.com/article/imf-pakistan/imf-board-to-meet-on-dec-19-to-review-pakistan-funds-release-idUSL1N28M0ZB

nsurers Sue Shipper Over Damaged Rice Cargo

Law360, London (December 12, 2019, 3:11 PM GMT) -- AXA and AIG and several other insurers have filed a suit against a Swiss shipping giant for allegedly damaging a 521 kilogram shipment of rice that was heading from Pakistan to Madagascar. MSC Mediterranean Shipping breached a contract to load, handle and discharge 20 containers of rice from Karachi, Pakistan to Diego Suarez in Madagascar, the insurers allege.  They are suing the Geneva-based shipping company for £76,000 ($100,000) plus fees, according to the filing at the High Court. The insurers said in their claim, which was dated Sept. 4 but only recently made public, that two vessels were intended to be carrying the. . .

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https://www.law360.com/articles/1227025/insurers-sue-shipper-over-damaged-rice-cargo

Pak-Russia agree to strengthen bilateral trade ties

By

 TNS World

 -

December 12, 2019  2:32 pm

142

    

ISLAMABAD, Dec 12 (TNS):Pakistan and Russian Federation on Wednesday agreed to strengthen bilateral ties in all areas of mutual interest including political, trade, economic, energy, education and people-to-people contacts.

The agreement was made during a plenary session of 6th Pak-Russia Inter Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation here.

Minister for Economic Affairs, Muhammad Hammad Azhar led the Pakistani delegation while Minister of Industry and trade of the Russian Federation, Denis V. Manutov led the Russian delegation.

From Pakistan side, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Foreign Secretary and senior representatives from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Energy, National Food Security and Research, Industries and Production, Planning, Development and Reforms, Aviation, Federal Board of Revenue, Board of Investment, Ministry of Railways, Petroleum Division and Power Division participated in the IGC.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Muhammad Hammad Azhar, briefed the forum about the recent economic developments and outlooks and highlighted improved indicators of Pakistani economy especially current account balance.

He further apprised the Russian side of the successful implementation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme, bright future prospects of Pakistani economy and huge potential of trade and investment between the two sides.

While both sides exchanged views on the prospects of the mutual economic cooperation in multiple sectors especially energy, trade, transport, industries and production, railways, agriculture and science and technology. Prospects of Russian Investment for revival of Pakistan Steel Mills were also discussed.

The Russian side expressed keen interest in Energy Sector such as North South Gas Pipeline.

Discussions were held on removing the temporary ban on Pakistan’s agriculture exports including rice and potatoes.

The both sides resolved to increase volume of bilateral trade from the present levels to its true potential through greater cooperation and enhanced business activities by the private sector of the two countries.

The Russian side invited Pakistan to organize a road show in Moscow to provide an opportunity to the Russian private companies to explore new avenues in Pakistan.

Pakistani side on the other hand invited Russia for their presence in trade expos held in Pakistan.

The Russian side was apprised that Pakistan held the bilateral and economic relations with the Russian Federation in high esteem which was evident by the recent settlement of the long standing “Settlement of mutual Financial Claims” between the two countries.

The Pakistan side appreciated that Russian had supported in laying foundation for its Industrial growth by extending support in establishing the Pakistan Steel Mills and expressed firm resolve to continue such interactions at higher level to better understand the development needs, opportunities of cooperation and investment in the emerging sectors and remove any obstacles in trade and investment.
The 7th session of IGC will be held in Moscow on mutually agreed dates.
Pakistan-Russia Inter-Government Commissions (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation are held alternately in the capitals of both the countries.
Sixth Session of Pakistan-Russia IGC was held in Islamabad.
Addressing to Press briefing on the occasion, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Muhammad Hammad Azhar said that Pakistan and Russia had agreed for Joint Venture to enhance the cooperation for the up gradation and modernization of Pakistan railways infrastructure.
“I believe that Russia have expertise in this sector and we will expand the cooperation for introducing the modern locomotive in local trains for resolved the issues of design and speed of trains,” he added.
He said that Pakistan and Russia relations had now entered in new phase of development to search the new avenues for economic integration and business to business ties.
He said that “we are negotiating for Russian investment in local market and the government has invited them to bring investment in mines sector”.
Meanwhile Minister of Industry and trade of the Russian Federation, Denis V. Manutov said that Pakistan and Russian federation were committed to enhance the bilateral traded and further cooperation in aviation, professional training and capacity building of the local industrial sector.
He said that Russian investment groups were keenly interested to invest Pharmaceutical sector , medical machinery and aviation.

https://tns.world/pak-russia-agree-to-strengthen-bilateral-trade-ties-2/

Bugs are eating into Pakistan’s economic prospects

INTERNATIONAL a day ago REPORT

Thank you for your reading and interest in the news Bugs are eating into Pakistan’s economic prospects and now with details

Aden - Yasmin Abdel Azim - Karachi: Pakistan’s efforts to turn around its economy after winning bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund face a new threat - from crop-eating pests.

Swarms of locusts are fanning out through the South Asian nation, gorging on wheat, cotton, mustard and other crops. That, together with unseasonal rain and a scourge of low quality seeds, has hit major crops in the country’s largest producing regions of Punjab and Sindh.

Cotton production in the current crop year is forecast at 10.2 million bales, or 20 per cent short of the 12.7 million bales target, according to the state-run Pakistan Central Cotton Committee.

The pest outbreak has the potential to hurt farm production that accounts for about a fifth of the economy’s output. While cotton is Pakistan’s top farm export, wheat is the main staple food crop in the country where more than 40 per cent of the labour force depends on agriculture for a living.

Among the top five cotton producing nations, Pakistan may find itself importing a record quantity of the fibre. Islamabad will this year have to spend more than $1.7 billion to purchase about 6 million cotton bales, according to Naseem Usman, chairman of Karachi Cotton Broker’s Forum.

Authorities tasked with protecting crops are in the process of hiring aircraft to spray pesticides in the worst-affected regions in at least 13 districts, including Khairpur, Tharparkar and Sukkur.

“We are having an emergency-like situation,” said Falak Naz, director general of crop protection at the Ministry of Food Security and Research.

Naz said last week Pakistani authorities also met their Indian counterparts at Khokhrapar-Munabao border point to deal with these crop-eating insects also threatening crops in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

A lower-than-expected crop output will weigh negatively on Pakistan’s external account, once again pushing it into deficit, according to Sulaiman Mehdi, the chairman of Pakistan Stock Exchange. The nation’s current account turned into a surplus for the first time in four years in October.

“Based on these weak production, your imports are going to go high,” Mehdi said.

Pakistan’s central bank Governor Reza Baqir is pinning hope on rice output to offset the impact of cotton.

“Cotton is doing less than what we have previously thought but other areas are doing better,” Baqir said in an interview. “We right now feel reasonably confident about the projections that we have on growth.”

These were the details of the news Bugs are eating into Pakistan’s economic prospects for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.

It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Gulf News and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

https://alkhaleejtoday.co/international/1867/Bugs-are-eating-into-Pakistan%E2%80%99s-economic-prospects.html

Govt trains more rice farmers under RCEF-backed program

By

 BusinessMirror

 -

December 13, 2019

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said 22 batches of rice planters are currently undergoing training on seed production and machine operation to improve their productivity and help them compete against their Southeast Asian counterparts.

The government is training farmers through the Rice Extension Services Program (RESP), a key component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. Republic Act (RA) 11203 had mandated the set up of the P10-billion RCEF, which consists of tariffs from rice imports. 

Since the implementation of the RESP, the DA said 77 batches of rice planters have completed the training. Aside from farmers, the training program also covers regional focals, agricultural extension workers, farmers and farmworker, including members of cooperatives and associations.

Of the P10-billion RCEF, the DA said 10 percent or P1 billion was allotted to skills training in developing new education modules, and other related extension efforts. 

The money is being used by implementing agencies that include the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

The DA said 70 percent of the extension funds go to Tesda, while PhilMech, PhilRice, and ATI get 10 percent each to carry out their tasks related to the rice fund program.

Among the topics covered for the training include high-quality inbred rice production, farm mechanization, high-quality rice seed production, seed certification and analysis, rice machinery operation and maintenance, and management of agri-machinery pool.

“We are conducting the training using a top-down approach, meaning we train the specialists first, these are experts who will then train the agricultural extension workers who will later become the ‘trainers’ who will teach the farmers and farmworkers on the ground,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.

Also under RESP, communication campaigns, accreditation of farm schools, and granting of scholarships are being undertaken.

To date, 96,382 copies of information, education and communication materials have been reproduced and distributed including farmer’s guides and references. Technical briefings were also conducted for 154 batches of participant-beneficiaries.

Out of the 43 farm schools targeted for this year, 20 have already been accredited. Tesda is implementing the scholarship program for farmers and farmworkers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture to enroll in a farmers’ field school which is being conducted by the accredited farm schools. To date, 8,945 scholarships have been granted.

“We see to it that training modules are harmonized to ensure the timely delivery of services intended for the rice farmers under RCEF,” said Dar.

Aside from rice extension service, the other three components of RCEF are rice seed development, propagation and promotion; rice farm machinery equipment; and expanded rice credit assistance.

The training program was rolled out after RA 11203, which removed the quantitative restriction on rice, took effect on March 5. The law also eased the rules on importing rice and limited government intervention in the domestic rice market.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/12/13/govt-trains-more-rice-farmers-under-rcef-backed-program/

Govt trains more rice farmers under RCEF-backed program

By

 BusinessMirror

 -

December 13, 2019

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said 22 batches of rice planters are currently undergoing training on seed production and machine operation to improve their productivity and help them compete against their Southeast Asian counterparts.

The government is training farmers through the Rice Extension Services Program (RESP), a key component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. Republic Act (RA) 11203 had mandated the set up of the P10-billion RCEF, which consists of tariffs from rice imports. 

Since the implementation of the RESP, the DA said 77 batches of rice planters have completed the training. Aside from farmers, the training program also covers regional focals, agricultural extension workers, farmers and farmworker, including members of cooperatives and associations.

Of the P10-billion RCEF, the DA said 10 percent or P1 billion was allotted to skills training in developing new education modules, and other related extension efforts. 

The money is being used by implementing agencies that include the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

The DA said 70 percent of the extension funds go to Tesda, while PhilMech, PhilRice, and ATI get 10 percent each to carry out their tasks related to the rice fund program.

Among the topics covered for the training include high-quality inbred rice production, farm mechanization, high-quality rice seed production, seed certification and analysis, rice machinery operation and maintenance, and management of agri-machinery pool.

“We are conducting the training using a top-down approach, meaning we train the specialists first, these are experts who will then train the agricultural extension workers who will later become the ‘trainers’ who will teach the farmers and farmworkers on the ground,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.

Also under RESP, communication campaigns, accreditation of farm schools, and granting of scholarships are being undertaken.

To date, 96,382 copies of information, education and communication materials have been reproduced and distributed including farmer’s guides and references. Technical briefings were also conducted for 154 batches of participant-beneficiaries.

Out of the 43 farm schools targeted for this year, 20 have already been accredited. Tesda is implementing the scholarship program for farmers and farmworkers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture to enroll in a farmers’ field school which is being conducted by the accredited farm schools. To date, 8,945 scholarships have been granted.

“We see to it that training modules are harmonized to ensure the timely delivery of services intended for the rice farmers under RCEF,” said Dar.

Aside from rice extension service, the other three components of RCEF are rice seed development, propagation and promotion; rice farm machinery equipment; and expanded rice credit assistance.

The training program was rolled out after RA 11203, which removed the quantitative restriction on rice, took effect on March 5. The law also eased the rules on importing rice and limited government intervention in the domestic rice market.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/12/13/govt-trains-more-rice-farmers-under-rcef-backed-program/

46 provinces receive rice seeds from RCEF

ByEireene Jairee Gomez

December 12, 2019

SOME 46 out of 57 target provinces have received 341,203 bags (20 kilogram/bag) of inbred rice seeds under the seed program of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), according to the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute. In its latest program report, it said the 46 provinces, which make up 81 percent of the accomplishment, included 282 municipalities and cities with high potential for competitiveness in rice production. “The provinces have been identified based on the size of area harvested, yield level, cost of production and share of irrigated area…have an annual area planted of more than 500 hectares for dry season 2019–2020,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar, adding that the two-million bags of certified seeds will translate to planting around one million hectares of rice land, which can contribute to increasing the yield up to six tons per hectare in high-yielding provinces by 2024.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/12/12/business/46-provinces-receive-rice-seeds-from-rcef/663732/

Female scientists receive L’Oreal - UNESCO awards

Thursday, 2019-12-12 22:16:34  Font Size:     |        Print

Three outstanding female scientists receive L’Oreal - UNESCO awards for their research on December 12. (Photo: VNE)  Font Size:     |

NDO/VNA – Three outstanding female scientists of Vietnam on December 12 received L’Oreal - UNESCO awards for their research.

The annual 'L’Oreal - UNESCO for Women in Science Award' was launched in Vietnam in 2009. The programme encourages women’s intelligence, creativity and passion for science. Over the past 10 years, the programme has recognised 32 female scientists from different provinces and cities across the country. Their studies are in different fields such as rice production, pharmaceuticals, genetics and physics. The three excellent female scientists this year include Associate Professor Dr Ho Thi Thanh Van from the HCM City University of Natural Resources and Environment; Dr Tran Thi Hong Hanh from the Vietnam Academy for Science and Technology; and Dr Pham Thi Thu Ha from the HCM City-based Ton Duc Thang University. The three scientists were chosen among hundreds of applicants across the country. The selection is based on their achievements, the publication of their research in international magazines and the scientific activities that they have taken part in so far. Each received an award of VND150 million (US$6,500) so that they can conduct further research and then ensure benefits for the country. Speaking at the award ceremony, Valery Gaucherand, country managing director of L’Oreal Vietnam, said Vietnamese female scientists had contributed to methods, measures and answers for important scientific questions. L’Oreal committed to support the scientists to achieve excellent results and participate equally in resolving problems that face humankind. The women proved that scientific research could change the world, he said.

Refined carbohydrates like white bread, pasta and rice may trigger insomnia

Alexandra Thompson

Yahoo Style UKDecember 12, 2019

High-GI foods cause blood sugar levels to spike, disturbing sleep. [Photo: Getty]

More

Refined carbohydrates may trigger insomnia, research suggests.

Scientists from Columbia University in New York looked at the food diaries of more than 50,000 women.

READ MORE: The best sleep aids to help you nod off

They found those whose diets had a higher glycemic index (GI) were more likely to struggle to nod off.

GI is a measure of how carbohydrate-rich foods raise blood glucose levels. High GI produce - like white bread, pasta or rice - cause sugar spikes.

“When blood sugar is raised quickly, your body reacts by releasing insulin, and the resulting drop in blood sugar can lead to the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can interfere with sleep,” study author Dr James Gangwisch said.

Insomnia affects a third of people in the UK, Bupa statistics show.

In the US, 30% of adults struggle to nod off, with 10% battling chronic insomnia, according to the American Sleep Association.

Medical conditions like asthma, back pain and depression can be to blame, as well as shift work, napping and certain medications, the National Sleep Foundation reports.

When it comes to our diet, alcohol, caffeine and heavy meals are all recognised triggers.

READ MORE: Doctors say this is what happens when teens don’t get enough sleep

Studies have suggested refined carbohydrates may cause insomnia, however, results were mixed.

With most trials being short lived, it was unclear if refined carbs triggered the condition or those who struggled to nod off ate more sugary foods to “get them through the day”.

To learn more, the scientists analysed tens of thousands of post-menopausal females who took part in the Women's Health Initiative.

Results, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest a higher consumption of refined carbohydrates with a high GI raises the risk of insomnia.

Compared to those with the lowest intake, the women who ate the most high-GI foods were 11% more likely to suffer.

Added sugars and processed grains were found to be particularly responsible, while vegetables and whole fruits - not juices - reduced the risk.

“Whole fruits contain sugar, but the fibre in them slows the rate of absorption to help prevent spikes in blood sugar,” Dr Gangwisch said.

“This suggests the dietary culprit triggering the women's insomnia was the highly-processed foods that contain larger amounts of refined sugars that aren't found naturally in food.”

READ MORE: Sleeping more than nine hours a night raises the risk of stroke by up to 85%

The scientists hope their study will help insomniacs overcome the issue without resorting to treatments.

“Insomnia is often treated with cognitive behavioural therapy or medications, but these can be expensive or carry side effects,” Dr Gangwisch said.

“By identifying other factors that lead to insomnia, we may find straightforward and low-cost interventions with fewer potential side effects.

“Based on our findings, we would need randomised clinical trials to determine if a dietary intervention, focused on increasing the consumption of whole foods and complex carbohydrates, could be used to prevent and treat insomnia.”

Although the scientists only looked at post-menopausal women, they expect the results to apply to other populations.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/refined-carbohydrates-like-white-bread-pasta-and-rice-may-trigger-insomnia-142214202.html

China-Pak Symposium On Genomics Selection Held

 23 hours ago  Thu 12th December 2019 | 09:24 PM

The National Agricultural Research Centre here on Thursday organized one day Sino-Pak Symposium on "Genomic Selection for Productivity Enhancement of Crops including rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2019 ) :The National Agricultural Research Centre here on Thursday organized one day Sino-Pak Symposium on "Genomic Selection for Productivity Enhancement of Crops including rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton.

The symposium was held at National Institute of Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB) at National.

Eminent scientists led by Professor Dr. Zhikang Li, Chief Scientist CAAS, Founder of GSR, PR China shared their research experiences on new breeding technologies for crop improvements.

Syed Fakhar Imam, prominent politician, Dr. Muhammad Hashim Popalzai, Federal Secretary for Ministry of National food Security and Research , Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan Chairman, PARC, Dr. Muhammad Ali, DG, NARC and other prominent scientists participated and highlighted the importance of the event.

The experts made discussions on related aspects, such as germplasm, transgenic against insect and herbicide, transformation technology as well as the mechanized planting.

They also discussed the concept, theory and practices for Genomics and biotechnology, sugarcane genetic improvement through breeding, the genetic basis of cotton fiber quality and yield related traits and its utilization for variety development, Selective introgression lines-based QTL mapping and QTL-designed molecular breeding in wheat.

The experts of both countries agreed the China-Pak Joint Cooperation has made plentiful achievements.

They hope to further deepen cooperation field and will strive to promote the development of two countries agriculture industries.

The event provided the opportunity of collaboration among academia, researchers, industry and progressive growers to address the issues related to rice, eheat, sugarcane and cotton production for enhancing the production of better crops.

The symposium aims to bring together academia, scientists, researchers, progressive farmers, industry and students to share and enhance the knowledge about innovations in breeding and biotechnology of these crops and to solve the problems faced by cotton for improving yield and quality.

Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan expressed on the occasion that Sino-Pak Symposium on innovation in ricce, wheat, sugarcane and cotton breeding and biotechnology brought together scientists and research scholars to discuss the enhance the knowledge about recent advanced technologies in major crops and to find the solutions of the contemporary issues in crop production through recent technological advances in genetics and to provide the valuable awareness about technological advances in agriculture to cope with the current rising problems of crops production.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/china-pak-symposium-on-genomics-selection-hel-785793.html

Rice: Integrated millers boost production value to N288bn

Published

 15 hours ago 

on

 December 13, 2019

By

 Bayo Akomolafe 

●Deficit crashes by 64.3%

As consumption climbed to N1.2billion daily, value of rice production by integrated mills in Nigeria has increased by 1.8million tonnes or N288billion this year.

The boost in production has made the grain fall by 64.28 per cent from 2.8million tonnes to one million tonnes.

It was learnt that Nigeria currently boasts of 40 integrated milling machines of world standard procured through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers Programme.

After the border closure, Nigeria suddenly experience rise in milled rice production from 4.9million tonnes to 6.7million tonnes. Currently, a bag of the grain is N16,000 in the market.

Before August, 2019, milled rice production had fallen by 800,000 metric tonnes from 5.7million tonnes to 4.9million tonnes despite CBN’s N55billion anchor borrowers support.

According to the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RPAN), the 1.8million tonnes produced by the integrated mills are different from millions of metric tonnes produced annually by small scale millers and local millers.

The processors noted that they had the capacity to meet the country’s demand during and beyond the Yuletide.

The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, noted that the positive impact of the Federal Government’s border closure was responsible for the huge production, saying that it was enormous to the rice millers.

He explained that the combined capacity of integrated mills produced about 150,000 truck load of rice on a daily basis and 1.8 million metric tonnes annually.

Abubakar said in Abuja that the figure was different from millions of metric tonnes produced annually by small scale millers and local millers.

The chairman stressed that there would be no scarcity of rice during the Christmas period as there would be enough supply of rice in the country.

He noted the country relied on one mill in operation for 10 year until recently rice processing was up to 40.

Abubakar added that before the border closure, members of the association had been complaining that they could not sell the grain in their various warehouses.

However, the chairman explained that they had exhausted their stock, noting that that some RPAN members, who closed their factories due to lack of patronage, were now back in business because of border closure.

The chairman said that he had gone to CBN on behalf of his members to seek grants for expansion of their rice business.

Farmers in Ghana under the aegis of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) have also advised their government to adopt the Nigerian model of ban by making it immediate instead of waiting for 2022.

The Association in a statement signed by Abdul- Rahman Mohammed, National President and Board Chairman of PFAG called for a show of commitment and steps to be put in place for immediate ban rather than wait until 2022.

It said adopting Nigeria’s food importation ban concept would not only help to reduce Ghana’s import bill but create employment opportunities in Ghana and stabilise the cedi.

In 2018, top rice importers, like Olam and Stallion, embarked on rice cultivation to remain in business as Federal Government concluded plans to end importation of the grain.

Major rice merchants, Dangote Group,  Stallion Group,  Olam International,  Cosharis Group and Miva, have invested  $1billion (N360billion), N50billion,  N20 billion,  N2billion and NI.369 billion respectively to acquire farms and mills to end the nation’s huge import bill  on the grain running into $3billion annually.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/12/rice-integrated-millers-boost-production-value-to-n288bn/

Govt. to reduce duty on wheat flour imports

13 December 2019 09:06 am - 0      - 39

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The government will reduce duty on wheat flour imports for a limited period in order to ease the cost of living amid a hike in rice prices, Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said.

“The Cabinet has decided to cut import duties on wheat flour for a short period of time to keep prices down during the festival season and ease cost of living,” Pathirana added.

“This will break the monopoly on wheat flour.”

Sri Lanka maintains higher duties on wheat flour imports and lower taxes on wheat grain imports.

Sri Lanka’s wheat grain market is controlled by two multinational millers.

Pathirana said a gazette notice on the new import tax will be notified shortly. However it was not clear for how long the reduced import duties will be maintained. 

Meanwhile, rice prices in the market shot up since the new government came into power as several large rice millers, who store the bulk of the rice paddy in Sri Lanka raised prices of their branded rice.

The government plans to release 42, 000 metric tonnes of stored rice to small rice millers to maintain the retail rice prices at Rs.98 per kilogram during the festive season. 

http://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Govt-to-reduce-duty-on-wheat-flour-imports/273-179485

Iran’s payment default leaves rice traders apprehensive about further export

As per information, Iran owes about ₹1,200 crore to the state’s farmers

CITIES Updated: Dec 12, 2019 22:53 IST

Neeraj Mohan
Hindustan Times, Chandigarh

     

With Iran failing to clear their pending dues for the last eight months, rice traders in Haryana are reluctant to export this season’s produce to the country, fearing more defaults. As per information, Iran owes about ₹1,200 crore to the state’s farmers. Adding to their apprehension is the fact that Basmati price have seen a steep fall this season.

This development is likely to affect rice traders of the country, especially Haryana, adversely as Iran is the biggest consumer Indian aromatic Basmati rice as it imports about 20-25% of India’s total rice exports of 4.5 million tonnes every year.

Haryana’s rice traders say that payment of about ₹1,200 crore was stuck in Iran since May this year when India stopped importing oil from the country due to US sanctions. Though the Iran government had started to clear pending payments, it stopped after clearing dues to the tune of ₹100 crore.

The traders say that the delay has caused them huge losses and the Indian government did not intervene to help them clear their dues.

As per members of the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), most of the affected traders belong to Haryana and Punjab. They further said the farmers had to sell their produce for around ₹2,500 per quintal, the lowest in the past five years.

“Since Iran is the largest basmati importing market for Indian traders and the annual the basmati exports to Iran in the past three years had increased to 14.83 lakh MT (₹10,790 crore) in 2018-19 from 7.16 lakh MT (₹3,778 crore) in 2016-17. But the delay in payments has left farmers not wanting to take any risks next year,” said Vijay Setia, former president of AIREA.

AIREA president Nathi Ram Gupta said, “The delay in payment has affected the big rice exporters of the country. They will now have to focus on the local market, which may lead to a fall in prices, affecting both traders and farmers.”

“The bad trade with Iran has also affected farmers during this harvesting season. Affected traders could not purchase paddy this year and farmers had to sell their produce at ₹2,000 to ₹2,800 per quintal this season against ₹3,000 to ₹4,500 per quintal last year,” said Gurdev Singh, a rice trader of Kurukshetra.

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https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/iran-s-payment-default-leaves-rice-traders-apprehensive-about-further-export/story-2qT8xpnlZFdqynOvVUy6qN.html

Ghana wants to boost its local rice industry

Ghana imports over 1 million metric tons of rice annually to feed local consumers. This has led to a sharp increase in demand for foreign rice brands. But the government wants to change that.

    

Watch video01:42

https://www.dw.com/en/ghana-wants-to-boost-its-local-rice-industry/av-51649819

Govt trains more rice farmers under RCEF-backed program

By

 BusinessMirror

 -

December 13, 2019

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said 22 batches of rice planters are currently undergoing training on seed production and machine operation to improve their productivity and help them compete against their Southeast Asian counterparts.

The government is training farmers through the Rice Extension Services Program (RESP), a key component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. Republic Act (RA) 11203 had mandated the set up of the P10-billion RCEF, which consists of tariffs from rice imports. 

Since the implementation of the RESP, the DA said 77 batches of rice planters have completed the training. Aside from farmers, the training program also covers regional focals, agricultural extension workers, farmers and farmworker, including members of cooperatives and associations.

Of the P10-billion RCEF, the DA said 10 percent or P1 billion was allotted to skills training in developing new education modules, and other related extension efforts. 

The money is being used by implementing agencies that include the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

The DA said 70 percent of the extension funds go to Tesda, while PhilMech, PhilRice, and ATI get 10 percent each to carry out their tasks related to the rice fund program.

Among the topics covered for the training include high-quality inbred rice production, farm mechanization, high-quality rice seed production, seed certification and analysis, rice machinery operation and maintenance, and management of agri-machinery pool.

“We are conducting the training using a top-down approach, meaning we train the specialists first, these are experts who will then train the agricultural extension workers who will later become the ‘trainers’ who will teach the farmers and farmworkers on the ground,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.

Also under RESP, communication campaigns, accreditation of farm schools, and granting of scholarships are being undertaken.

To date, 96,382 copies of information, education and communication materials have been reproduced and distributed including farmer’s guides and references. Technical briefings were also conducted for 154 batches of participant-beneficiaries.

Out of the 43 farm schools targeted for this year, 20 have already been accredited. Tesda is implementing the scholarship program for farmers and farmworkers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture to enroll in a farmers’ field school which is being conducted by the accredited farm schools. To date, 8,945 scholarships have been granted.

“We see to it that training modules are harmonized to ensure the timely delivery of services intended for the rice farmers under RCEF,” said Dar.

Aside from rice extension service, the other three components of RCEF are rice seed development, propagation and promotion; rice farm machinery equipment; and expanded rice credit assistance.

The training program was rolled out after RA 11203, which removed the quantitative restriction on rice, took effect on March 5. The law also eased the rules on importing rice and limited government intervention in the domestic rice market.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/12/13/govt-trains-more-rice-farmers-under-rcef-backed-program/

Christmas rush: Controversy over Nigerian rice re-bagging

Published

 15 hours ago 

on

 December 13, 2019

By

 Taiwo Hassan 

Following massive rush to buy rice for Yuletide and New Year celebrations, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and also repackaging Nigerian rice as foreign to desist from the act in the interest of the  economy. Taiwo Hassan reports

Already, the hierarchy of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) led by Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), had raised the alarm over existence of expired rice in circulation.

Ali, who made this known when the customs destroyed containers of foreign rice smuggled into the country recently, warned that Nigerians were eating expired rice without knowing.

The comptroller-general blamed importers of the commodity for not saying the truth on the state of what was being imported into the country.

He, however, applauded the country’s border closure policy of the Federal Government, saying that the closure would benefit the nation in future.

However, despite the attempt to take the minds of Nigerians away from foreign rice consumption, it was learnt that the preference is still outweighing that of local rice as investigations carried out by this newspaper showed that Nigerians are desperately looking for foreign rice to buy for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Amid this mass rush for foreign rice by Nigerians, there are insinuations that business owners involved in the country’s rice value chain are now secretly bagging local rice with foreign labels and also jerking up the price tag following Nigerians preference for foreign commodity.

In fact, the fallout of rice conversion from local to foreign ones is mind blowing.

Why foreign rice patronage

Recently, a survey on the rice market across the six geo-political zones in the country by the Economic Confidential team observed that foreign rice such as Mama Gold, Royal Stallion, Rice Master, Caprice, Falcon Rice and Basmati were sold alongside Nigerian rice such as Umza and Fursa Crown from Kano, Mama Happy from Niger, Labana Rice from Kebbi, Olam Rice from Nasarawa, Abakaliki Rice from Ebonyi, Ofada Rice from Ogun State, Swomen Dama from Plateau, Lake Rice of Lagos/Kebbi States among others.

The reason for the sale can be attributed to the fact that the desire for Nigerian rice is still low, thereby raising doubt as to Nigerians’ preferences for local rice.

Stakeholders in the rice sub-sector, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) and Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) had given kudos to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the timely intervention and banning of rice import into the country since 2015 without issuing of Form M, a development that has seen growth in local production, thereby saving foreign exchange for the country.

On-the-spot checks by the magazine showed that the preponderance of foreign rice in these markets by merchants who said that profits coming from foreign rice far out-weigh the local rice which majority of those interviewed believed has more nutritional value than the foreign rice.

However, what cannot be fathomed is why still preference for foreign rice by Nigerians despite the border closure, ban and aggressive local production of rice milling?

Locally fabricated rice de-stoner machine

Speaking on the changes that need to embrace by local millers to bring sanity to the country’s rice value chain, an agriculture expert, Mrs. Bridget Obi, charged the three tiers of government to embrace and adopt the locally fabricated rice de-stoner innovation machine to boost local rice production in Nigeria.

Obi, also the former Commissioner for Women Affairs and Youths Development in Anambra State, disclosed this at the unveiling ceremony of three agricultural devices by the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE) in Oshodi, Lagos recently.

According to her, the agricultural devices were: scale down rice de-stoner,castor oil de-husking machine and automated mains failure device.

Obi pointed out that these rice machines would ensure accelerated production and reduces drudgery, especially in the processing of agricultural produces in the country.

“We don’t need to import rice again. The Federal Government should support various institutions to help in driving technology that will help our nation to achieve our agricultural goals. “Without technology, we can do nothing; it helps to save cost, manpower and man hour,” she added.

She said local rice production should henceforth be encouraged with the devices to assist in addressing the major challenge of local rice.

“With huge amount released by CBN toward increasing rice production, the NATE scale down rice de-stoner will increase mass production of quality rice to ensure availability in the farming communities. “I urge governments to give necessary assistance in ensuring mass production of the machines at subsidised rate.

“They should be made available to farmers at a very low interest rate with long term repayment plan,” Obi said.

NAFDAC’s warning

However, NAFDAC has read the riot act warning business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and repackaging local rice as foreign to desist from the act.

The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Adeyeye, in a statement made available to New Telegraph recently, called on Nigerians to be vigilant, and exercise discretion when purchasing rice and other food items.

“NAFDAC is fully alive to her responsibilities of assuring the safety, wholesomeness and quality of foods and other regulated products offered for sale to the public,” she noted.

She said the Ogun State office of NAFDAC received a report from the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state of ongoing food fraud at Oke-Aje market in Ijebu Ode

“We, in company of men of the Nigeria Police Force proceeded to the scene of the illegal activity. On arrival, the suspected perpetrators of the food fraud instigated unnamed persons to unleash mayhem on the team of investigators

“However, enforcement officers of the agency and its Federal Task Force team stormed the market in company of DSS officials. They sighted miscreants at the market who took to their heels.

“Bags of expired rice, caked rice, bags of local rice, bags of popular foreign rice and sealing machines were found in the shops the NAFDAC enforcement team finally gained access into.

“Three shops were sealed during the operation. It is instructive to note that expired and caked rice are unwholesome as they contain moulds and microorganism that cause diseases which are of immense public health concern,” she added.

She called on Nigerians to report cases of re-bagging and sale of caked and expired rice or other food items to the nearest NAFDAC office across the federation.

Last line

With this disturbing report of re-bagging, sale of caked, expired rice or other food items in the country, it has shown that government needs to do more in its monitoring activities by extending its searchlight beyond borders as perpetrators are ready to make more gains on Nigerians through re-bagging of Nigerian rice as foreign ones.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/12/christmas-rush-controversy-over-nigerian-rice-re-bagging/