Friday, December 20, 2019

20th December,210 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

ICRISAT study links millets to child growth

Findings in Karnataka suggest millet-based mid-day meals can boost growth of adolescent shoolchildren by 50% in three months

By AuthorTelanganaToday  |  Published: 19th Dec 2019  10:32 pm
Sangareddy: Findings from a recently published feeding study with 1,500 children in Karnataka suggest that millet-based mid-day meals can boost the growth of children by 50 per cent in just three months. Children rated the meals, which were designed by scientists and chefs and included little millet as a rice substitute, over 4.5 on 5 for taste.
The findings of the study were released jointly by Prof Ramesh Chand, member, NITI Aayog, and Dr Ashok Dalwai, chair, Empowered Body, Doubling Farmers’ Income, Government of India, in New Delhi on Wednesday. The results were presented at the Tasting India Symposium later in the day.
“This is an example of not only a science-backed nutrition solution but also a link between agriculture and nutrition. It is important now that we achieve mainstream consumption of millets and that they are not just for the elite,” said Prof Ramesh Chand.
Dr Ashok Dalwai emphasised, “Making it profitable for farmers to grow nutritious foods like millets has to be a key part of the Doubling Farmers’ Income vision and millets are important in the rain-fed areas for farmers to cope with climate change and water scarcity.”
This Smart Food study, ‘Acceptance and impact of millet based mid-day meal on nutritional status of adolescent school-going children in a peri-urban region of Karnataka State in India published in the journal Nutrients, was undertaken by The Akshaya Patra Foundation and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Early adolescent school children in four villages—Thathaguni, Kagallipura, Allahali and Chensandra which are located around Bengaluru— participated in the study. Growth was assessed using anthropometry measurements, while sensory evaluations were made to determine acceptability.
“It is not good enough just to say we are going to add millets into the meal,” said Dr S Anitha, a nutritionist at ICRISAT and the study’s corresponding author. “The type of millet, its variety, how it is cooked and the foods it is combined with are some of the key elements that can make a difference in nutrition. For instance, the amount of iron available in a meal can be doubled by selecting the right variety of millet. This is the first known scientific study of millet based meals in a school feeding programme.”
The researchers gave the study group children meals including idli, khichdi, upma and bisibella bath in which rice was replaced by pearl millet (bajra), ragi (finger millet) or little millet (kutki). The anthropometric measurements at the end of the feeding programme were compared with that of control group children who consumed fortified rice with sambar.
“Akshaya Patra is always looking for ways to improve nutrition in mid-day meals. The millet meals were exceptionally successful and were really liked by the children. We appreciate the Karnataka State government’s support, and with this positive result, we now hope this will garner the support needed to make nutritious millet-based meals available to our future generations,” added Ajay Kavishwar, Head of Research at The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
“This initiative also included developing guidelines on how to introduce millets into menus to maximise the nutrition benefits and likability. This is pertinent now given the renewed interest in millets,” said Ashok Jalagam, Smart Food Coordinator for Asia Pacific.

Call to policymakers

The study’s authors have called for policymakers to follow the lessons learnt on how to include millets into meals. They have asked to create a level playing field for the pricing and availability of millets (through Minimum Support Price (MSP), Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) and feeding programmes (MDMs, ICDS) that will benefit from not only including millets, but also from the approach taken to introduce them. “Going one step further and select millets by varieties in programmes, ensuring maximum nutritional value and impact and promote millets in positive fun ways, they said.
This is highly relevant now as millets have gained attention for their nutritional value and resilience in the face of water scarcity and climate change, making them a viable option for struggling farmers if markets can be further developed. The Government of India and various States like Karnataka and Odisha have led the cause to make millets a popular food choice. The government of India designated 2018 as ‘National Year of Millets’ and initiated a millet mission. NITI Aayog recently announced a pilot to include millets in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and MDM schemes.
“These results and guidelines developed from the study are equally important for any scheme addressing malnutrition or general health diets–whether that of governments, NGOs or private sector processors or caterers,” noted Joanna Kane-Potaka, Executive Director of Smart Food and Assistant Director General of ICRISAT.
“ICRISAT holds the world’s largest collections of millet genetic material and works closely with Indian Institute of Millets Research and other partners to improve millets by developing varieties having higher nutrient levels as well as the more conventional traits like yield and resilience,” commented Dr Peter Carberry, Director-General, ICRISAT.
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Will rice survive climate change?

John Munson/Cornell University
The challenge for rice farmers is how to meet demand for an inexpensive food source when Mother Nature has other ideas—and when the crop itself contributes to the emissions that are making it harder to grow in traditional locations.
Mark Isbell is a commodity rice farmer in England, Arkansas whose 3,000-acre Isbell Farms supplies large buyers like Knorr, a Unilever company. The Isbell family has grown rice for more than a century; Mark, a fourth-generation farmer in his late forties, works alongside his father, mother, brother-in-law, and cousin.
The challenge, for farmers, is how to meet demand for an inexpensive food source when Mother Nature has other ideas.
The work is getting harder. While overall rainfall amounts remain relatively stable, weather patterns have become more erratic, making it tough to gauge yield in a given year. Short, intense periods of rain can make farming difficult.
Although rice consumption is up, rice production is down in commodity rice-growing regions that are becoming prone to inconsistent weather patterns. The challenge, for farmers, is how to meet demand for an inexpensive food source when Mother Nature has other ideas—and when the crop itself contributes to the emissions that are making it harder to grow in traditional locations.
A rice farmer in California says it may be time for state growers to consider different varieties of rice, like Japanese long grain, ones that require less water
Annual rice production has shrunk since the 2010 record of 243.1 million hundredweight (100-pound units, or cwt for short), with production down 20 percent in 2017, to 178 million cwt, according to reports from the Economic Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The four regions where 85 percent of the nation’s crop is grown—the Arkansas Grand Prairie, the Mississippi Delta, the Gulf Coast, and California’s Sacramento Valley—have seen rising temperatures and heavy periods of rainfall like the ones Isbell has noted.
The U.S. will lose its place among the top five rice-exporting countries because of growers’ inability to profitably expand acreage.
The USDA’s 10-year baseline rice projections in 2028 show a slight decline in planted area, modest growth in consumption, a decrease in exports, and A slow increase in farm prices. According to this report, the U.S. will lose its place among the top five rice-exporting countries because of growers’ inability to profitably expand acreage.
Weather changes introduce two obstacles to rice production: an increase in diseases like bacterial panicle blight (BPB), and unpredictable rain patterns that make crops more vulnerable than in the past. In Arkansas, blight caused historical losses of 50 percent in 2010, according to research done by the University of Arkansas. In 2017, flooding eroded and destroyed levees, causing damage to over 100,000 acres of the state’s more than 1.55 million acres of rice.
Commodity rice farming provides the bulk of the U.S. production, with over 100 varieties in primarily six states
Dr. Anna McClung, of Arkansas’ Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center, heads a research team currently trying to identify genes that make rice plants more resilient to heat stress. They also hope to learn what traits are most sensitive to environmental stress, and to identify natural genetic variables that might improve the rice plant’s ability to flourish.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, Arkansas experienced one of the hottest summers on record in 2010, with average temperatures in August of 85.8 degrees, compared to the past average, 80.7 degrees. Arkansas State University researchers studying how high temperatures affect rice have found a five-degree increase in nighttime temperatures over the past 40 years.
Rice farming both contributes to and suffers from climate changes.
McClung says that this increase hampers the plants’ ability to photosynthesize, to harness energy from sunlight by forming carbohydrates and releasing carbon dioxide. Higher temperatures disrupt the process and lead to decreased yield—chalkier kernels, and fewer of them.
Heat also has a negative effect on pollination. “In essence, the pollen doesn’t fly around as it should,” says McClung. “Water as a liquid rather than a vapor causes pollen to rupture. Approximately 97 percent of rice plants are self-pollinated, depending on conditions, so heavy and uniform pollination can be a necessity at times.”
Erika Styger, associate director for climate-resilient farming systems at Cornell University, points out that rice farming both contributes to and suffers from climate changes: It produces methane and nitrous oxide emissions, and then is strained by the droughts and floods that are the consequence of those increased emissions.
“Unless we have water resources, we won’t be able to grow rice like it has been grown conventionally.”
There are government-led initiatives to lower greenhouse gas emissions, such as the purchase of carbon credits in California and the Mid-South, as well as private buy-ups by a diverse group that includes Microsoft, the Environmental Defense Fund, and a private investor, Terra Global. Farmers reduce carbon emissions as well as water and energy use with methods that include alternate wetting and drying, and early drainage of the fields, which can reduce water consumption by millions of gallons. The carbon credits are then sold on the carbon market, where the current price is $7 per ton.
McClung feels that the very future of the rice crop is at stake, unless growers adapt to a new climate normal. “Unless we have water resources, we won’t be able to grow rice like it has been grown conventionally. There will need to be an adaptation of how we grow rice globally,” she says. “The aquifers are being depleted faster than they are being recharged.”
Some farmers build reservoirs on their land to capture rainfall, and reuse drainage water, which helps keep pesticides out of public waterways.
Intermittent flooding is another option: farmers let water levels subside until the soil becomes mud and then floods the fields. McClung says there is no indication that the practice has a negative impact on yield.
“Realistically, is rice something that is going to be practical with climate change?”
But in the past year, conflicting studies have linked intermittent flooding to large emissions of nitrous oxide, 30 to 40 times higher than the amount of methane, another greenhouse gas, reported for continuous flooding. This issue is hotly debated: the International Rice Research Institute, based in the Philippines, claims the study is flawed. Within their research facilities, they house over 135,000 varieties of rice and have secured permanent funding by the Crop Trust, a partnership between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research.
Some growers and researchers are looking north, where it’s cooler—where the weather looks the way the weather used to look farther south: higher temperatures, shorter winters. According to data gathered by the Northeast Regional Climate Center in Rosendale, New York, there was an average of 9.1 more inches of rain in 2010 than in 1957.
Cornell University’s Climate-Resilient Farming Systems has a program that provides resources for some small rice farmers looking to venture up north. In 2019, they gave Nfamara Badjie, a Gambian rice farmer, a grant to help improve his harvest. At his six-acre farm in the Hudson Valley, Badjie starts plants directly in the soil, on raised beds. But the timing is essential. If the seedlings are planted too early or too late, the grains will not be ready for harvest.
John Munson/Cornell University
Left to right, Nfamara Badjie and Moustapha Diedhiou weed the fields at the Badjies’ rice farm in Ulster Park, N.Y.
Erik Andrus started farming six acres at his Boundbrook Farm, in Vermont, in 2016, but has had trouble finding information on best practices. He relies on a loose network of experimental growers sharing notes where they can. “Occasionally, we will get some help from Arkansas research, but Northeastern rice is a different animal than rice in the South,” he says, complaining that California commodity growers do not share information about growing practices.
The California Rice Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
Robin Koda, a second-generation rice farmer at Koda Farms, in California’s San Joaquin Valley, has been a grower long enough to appreciate the threat climate change represents.
“Realistically, is rice something that is going to be practical with climate change?” Koda asks, rhetorically, unable to provide a reassuring answer. Koda knows growers in the Southeast who have already fled bad weather. “They have noticed where they have grown rice has become impacted by hurricanes. So, they are moving more inland into other states that have no previous history of this crop,” she says. As for California, Koda says that it may be time for state growers to consider different varieties of rice, like Japanese long grain, ones that require less water.
“Some people think large farmers are the most productive, but that is not really true. They simplify and reduce the diversity of rice varieties.”
This isn’t the first time rice growers have tried to escape the weather. The first records of rice farming are from Charleston, South Carolina, in 1685, where swamps provided an ideal environment, and, by 1720, a commercial crop. By 1880, farms had started to move inland, to states along the Mississippi River, and eroding levees and floods caused more expansion, to Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and eventually California.
Two kinds of farms developed: the small grower, like Styger, Andrus and Koda, and the big commodity farm that contracts with smaller farmers to grow rice to a price. Commodity rice farming provides the bulk of the U.S. production with over 100 varieties in primarily six states.
But commodity rice farming is not without risk. “Commodity farming is not a very healthy choice. Some people think large farmers are the most productive, but that is not really true. They simplify and reduce the diversity of rice varieties,” says Styger, which can increase risk if a single variety fails to thrive in a given climate. Smaller farmers, who often grow more than one variety, make themselves less vulnerable to the weather.
John Munson/Cornell University
Nfamara Badjie holds a rice plant on his farm in Ulster Park, N.Y.
“Rice is not a commodity in the Northeast,” says Styger, “it is a boutique crop.” The retail price of small-farm rice can go up to $8 or $10 a pound, while most commodity rice sells at less than $2 per pound.
Although sustainability is often touted in smaller farms, Isbell Farms’ commodity crop is considered sustainable under the Farmer Sustainability Assessment run by an international auditing company that Nestle, Unilever, and Danone created to “support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture.” Isbell grows long grain Japanese rice and sake rice, which he says he can grow with a 50 percent reduction of water and 50 percent methane reduction.
Isbell employs ‘zero-ground’ technology, farming on a perfectly level field, which supports controlled water levels, reduced water consumption, little soil erosion and a natural decrease in carbon emissions. He also focuses on not tilling the soil, as well as alternate wetting and drying the fields, all of which reduces usage.
“We are not just the victim in the weather changing patterns,” says Isbell. “We can be part of the positive effects to help mitigate that.”
Ximena Greenhouse is a journalist graduated from Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala City. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Food Studies at New York University focusing on food and media. She has over 5 years of experience in the world of production, content creation, and writing.
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Ghana rice to have special identification stickers – Rice millers

File photo
Moves are being initiated by rice millers in the country to get special identification stickers to differentiate Ghana rice from those imported.

The Convener of the Rice Millers Association, Yaw Adu Poku, who made this known to Citi News said the move is also to check unwholesome or fake Ghana rice that may be on the market.

Yaw Adu Poku, in a Citi News interview, said the Association is collaborating with the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to possibly roll out this initiative as the campaign for the consumption of local rice intensifies.

“We have agreed in principle through our umbrella organization, Ghana Rice Inter-professional Bodies together with Food & Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG) to officially write to the GSA that a stamp or some identification should be given to rice in the system and even those that have been imported into the country so that when you go to the market you can see the stamp. This will immediately differentiate between the rice produced internally and those that come in through the main ports,” he said.

The CEO of Citi FM and Citi TV, Samuel Attah-Mensah, after visiting some rice farms in Northern
Ghana about a month ago found out that locally produced rice was stuck at farm gates due to the lack of buyers.

He subsequently appointed himself Ambassador for the promotion of Ghana Rice and began a campaign to drive the consumption of Ghana rice.

This campaign has caught on with many Ghanaians and received widespread endorsements.
Government and financial institutions have stepped in and made commitments to assist those in the local rice production value chain.

The government has also announced a plan to ban rice importation by 2022.

For this reason, the Food and Agriculture Ministry met with 20 major rice importers and urged them to consider sourcing locally produced rice.

Recently, President Akufo-Addo during an encounter with the media at the Jubilee house called on Ghanaians to consume local rice.

He also announced that all government institutions have been directed to start using local rice for all public programmes and initiatives from January 2020.

President's directive on Ghana rice to save billions

 19h ago    |    Source: BusinessGhana

The John A. Kufuor Foundation (JAK Foundation) together with the Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB), the Millers's Association of Ghana and Hopeline Institute, have expressed gratitude to the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his directive asking state institutions to procure Ghana Rice. Since the announcement which is expected to take effect from January 2020, there has been a reported shortage of the product on the Ghanaian market.

Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, Chief Executive Officer of the JAK Foundation who spoke to the media said that the foundation and its partners had been working to promote procurement and consumption of Ghana rice to reduce the country's dependence on imported rice for several years.
This  move  is  expected  to  save  Ghana  about  USD1.3  billion  annually.

Professor Agyeman-Duah noted that the directive had come at a time when government and importers were working on modalities for import stabilization in the rice sector.

He pledged their support to ensure the directive took effect by working out strategies and monitoring mechanisms to improve service delivery and adherence , engaging with state institutions to develop measures that will encourage nationwide adoption of Ghana rice as well as support value chain actors in order for them to address the challenges in the rice sector.

Nana Ama Aning Oppong-Duah, Policy adviser at the JAK Foundation said that they were looking at forming alliances with agencies such as the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA), Ministry of Food and Agriculture(MoFA) and other institutions to ensure the directive is well implemented.
She noted that they would engage in advocacy to encourage more consumption of the product.

They would also work with the GRA she added, to procure stamps that will help differentiate Ghana rice from imported ones as well as check for smuggled and re-bagged ones.

The President of GRIB, Nana Agyei Ayeh II , pointed out that with government projects such as   the School Feeding program, Free Senior High School Education and the presence of state institutions such as the security services there would always be a   ready market to implement the directive and prevent post harvest losses.

He also urged for a liaison between farmers and financial institutions to promote this initiative along the value chain.
Mr Yaw Adu-Poku, the Convener, Rice Millers Association noted the relevance of collective effort in dispelling the fear that the directive may not work citing the shortage of the Ghana rice product on the market as a positive sign.

They pledged to monitor the   Ghana Procurement Authority as the bulk buyer and the relevant state institutions to ensure adherence.
The  Ghana  rice  directive  covers  any  brand  of  locally  grown  rice  seed.

Farmer-scientist group on GMO rice: Unnecessary, unwanted

INQUIRER.net / 08:32 PM December 19, 2019
MANILA, Philippines–The Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) condemned Thursday the approval of the genetically-modified crop “golden rice” (GR2E) as food and poultry feed for processing by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI).
In a statement, Elpidio Paglumotan of MASIPAG said: “We are appalled that the approval has pushed through despite the numerous unresolved issues that MASIPAG and many other organizations are raising regarding GR2E, mainly on its safety and long-term effects on children, women and other consumers.”
According to MASIPAG, they sent a letter to DA-BPI on October 26 to discuss the consolidated risk assessment report and comments from respected scientists regarding the safety of GR2E. This, they said, is yet to be addressed.
The GR2E, which began as an initiative by the Rockefeller Foundation, is a genetically-modified rice containing beta-carotene (provitamin A), which is then converted into Vitamin A. Proponents say it will help address the Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in the country. MASIPAG, however, disagrees.
Aside from safety concerns, MASIPAG said the approval of GR2E will also threaten “the future of rice production and farmers’ control of seeds.”
“By harking on the humanitarian packaging of the golden rice, and marketing it as ‘healthier rice,’ proponents are deceiving and blinding the people from the ulterior intention of golden rice which is to usher in more genetically modified food,” said MASIPAG.
The DA-BPI, together with the International Rice Research Institute and Philippine Rice Research Institute, granted a biosafety approval for GR2E after it was found to be “as safe as conventional rice.”
Cris Panerio of MASIPAG said: “They hide behind the supposed ‘rigorous biosafety assessments’ and the debatable safety clearances from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”
MASIPAG is now calling on DA Secretary William DAR “to put the welfare of the Filipino people instead of the corporate-influenced research institutions.”

First millet-meals scientific study in schools shows millets boost child growth by 50%

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REPORT
Published on 18 Dec 2019

Description: previewNew Delhi, 18 December: Findings from a recently published three-month feeding study with 1,500 children in Karnataka suggest that millet-based mid-day meals can increase relative growth by 50%. Children rated the meals, which were designed by scientists and chefs and included little millet as a rice substitute, over 4.5 on 5 for taste. The findings of the study were released jointly by Prof Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, and Dr Ashok Dalwai, Chair, Empowered Body, Doubling Farmers’ Income, Government of India, in New Delhi on Wednesday. The results were presented at the Tasting India Symposium later in the day.
“This is an example of not only a science-backed nutrition solution, but also a link between agriculture and nutrition. It is important now that we achieve mainstream consumption of millets and that they are not just for the elite,” said Prof Ramesh Chand.
Dr Ashok Dalwai emphasized, “Making it profitable for farmers to grow nutritious foods like millet has to be a key part of the Doubling Farmers’ Income vision and millets are important in the rainfed areas for farmers to cope with climate change and water scarcity.”
This Smart Food study, ‘Acceptance and impact of millet based mid-day meal on nutritional status of adolescent school going children in a peri-urban region of Karnataka state in India,’ published in the journal Nutrients, was undertaken by The Akshaya Patra Founda.on and the Interna.onal Crops Research Ins.tute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Early adolescent school children in four villages—Thathaguni, Kagallipura, Allahali and Chensandra which are located around Bengaluru— participated in the study. Growth was assessed using anthropometry measurements-height and weight, along with age, while sensory evaluations were made to determine acceptability.
The researchers found that children feed millets had a 1.5% increase in height on average in three months while children in the control group registered a one percent increase in height during the same period. In effect, the study group children grew 50% taller than the height increase of control group children. Similarly, the study group children registered a five percent increase in weight on average, while three percent average weight increase was registered in the control group during the study period. Thus, the weight increase of the study group children was over 50 percent higher than that of the control group.
“It is not good enough just to say we are going to add millets into the meal,” said Dr S Anitha, a nutritionist at ICRISAT and the study’s corresponding author. “The type of millet, its variety, how it is cooked and the foods it is combined with are some of the key elements that can make a difference in nutrition. For instance, the amount of iron available in a meal can be doubled by selecting the right variety of millet. This is the first known scientific study of millet based meals in a school feeding program.”
The researchers gave the study group children meals including idli, khichdi, upma and bisibella bath in which rice was replaced by pearl millet (bajra), ragi (finger millet) or little millet (kutki). The anthropometric measurements at the end of the feeding program were compared with that of control group children who consumed fortified rice with sambar.
“Akshaya Patra is always looking for ways to improve nutrition in mid-day meals. The millet meals were exceptionally successful and were really liked by the children. We appreciate the Karnataka state government’s support, and with this positive result, we now hope this will garner the support needed to make nutritious millet based meals available to our future generations,” added Ajay Kavishwar, Head of Research at The Akshaya Patra Foundation. “This initiative also included developing guidelines on how to introduce millets into menus to maximize the nutrition benefits and likability. This is pertinent now given the renewed interest in millets,” said Ashok Jalagam, Smart Food Coordinator for Asia Pacific and one of the study’s authors.
Call to policy makers
The study’s authors have called for policies that (1) Follow the lessons learnt on how to include millets into meals; (2) Create a level playing field for the pricing and availability of millets (through Minimum Support Price (MSP), Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) and feeding programs (MDMs, ICDS) that will benefit from not only including millets, but also from the approach taken to introduce them; (3) Go one step further and select millets by varieties in programs, ensuring maximum nutritional value and impact and (4) Promote millets in positive fun ways.
This is highly relevant now as millets have gained attention for their nutritional value and resilience in the face of water scarcity and climate change, making them a viable option for struggling farmers if markets can be further developed. The Government of India and various states like Karnataka and Odisha have led the cause to make millets a popular food choice. The Government of India designated 2018 as ‘National Year of Millets’ and initiated a millet mission. NITI Aayog recently announced a pilot to include millets in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and MDM schemes.
“These results and guidelines developed from the study are equally important for any scheme addressing malnutrition or general health diets–whether that of governments, NGOs or private sector processors or caterers,” noted Joanna Kane-Potaka, Executive Director of Smart Food and Assistant Director General of ICRISAT. Ms Kane-Potaka outlined plans for clinical testing to determine bioavailability of millets and the role of gut-microbiome, besides research to see how different forms of processing and cooking can affect nutritional composition of millet meals.
“ICRISAT holds the world’s largest collections of millet genetic material and works closely with Indian Institute of Millets Research and other partners to improve millets by developing varieties having higher nutrient levels as well as the more conventional traits like yield and resilience,” commented Dr Peter Carberry, Director General, ICRISAT.

India's Intense Agri Drive After 1947 Didn't Stop Crop Diversification: Study

As northwest India focused increasingly on rice and wheat, the country's southwest offset this by replacing sorghum and millet with oilseeds and horticultural crops.
Description: India's Intense Agri Drive After 1947 Didn't Stop Crop Diversification: Study
Groundwater has played a vital role in irrigating water-hungry crops such as rice to feed India. Photo: Reuters

Despite strong agricultural intensification in India after 1960, the overall average crop diversity did not decline at the national level, a new study has found. The primary reason is neutralising effects, whereby a decline in diversity in one region was offset by an increase in another.
The average crop species diversity at the district level has been stable but increased at the country-level, the peer-reviewed study, published on December 11, said.
“While there was a decline in diversity in the major rice and wheat producing regions of north-western India, associated with intensification of the production of these crops, diversity in western and southern India, increased due to expansion of oilseeds and horticultural crops that replaced millet and sorghum,” the authors wrote in their paper.
A decrease in diversity associated with crop intensification and specialisation in one area may be associated with increased diversity elsewhere.
The scientists attempted to address the “substantial gaps” in the understanding of how different levels of agricultural biodiversity change over space and time, what drives these changes, and the impact of these changes at scales larger than individual farms.
There is considerable debate over the exact extent of loss of genetic diversity in crop plants, more so because good baseline data and surveys are few or absent, according to the scientists.
There is also lack of clarity on whether, how and to what extent agricultural intensification, including increased mechanisation, crop specialisation and increase in farm plot sizes have impacted diversity, and how these impacts work out at the national level.
The authors cite the example of the US, where species-level crop diversity actually increased between 1870 and 1950 at both the state- and country-levels, in the period in which industrialised agriculture practices were being widely adopted.
Similarly, in the southern Quebec region in Canada, the biodiversity of agricultural crop species was stable between 1911 and 1960 and increased thereafter.
The scientists chose India for analysis as it is a large and diverse country whose agricultural sector has changed drastically since its independence in 1947. After 1960, the country’s ‘green revolution’, which used more fertilisers and other agrochemical inputs together with short-straw varieties to intensify rice and wheat production in many parts of the country, particularly in the northwest.
In the past couple decades, production of maize for animal feed and of oilseed crops and high-value horticultural crops for domestic and export markets has increased.
For the India study, the scientists analysed change in crop diversity at the district, state and national level between 1947 and 2014. The country-level data covered 31 crops from 1947 to 1961 and 80 crops from 1961 to 2014, using 1966 state boundaries as the baseline. The district-level data covered 20 crops from 1956 to 1987 from India Agricultural and Climate dataset and 24 crops from 1966 to 2011 from the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad.
The analysis shows that country-level crop diversity in India increased after the green revolution took off in the early 1960s. This national trend is actually the aggregate of opposing trends at the sub-national level.
For example, while farmers in the Indo-Gangetic plains focused on wheat and rice, its diversity also decreased. “This region is of fundamental importance for food security in India and a loss of diversity could make agriculture more sensitive to shocks such as the outbreak of a new disease,” the study notes.
There were also significant environmental problems in the region, notably groundwater depletion, but that these concerns are a result of intensification and not of low diversity per se.
In southwest India, crop diversity increased as sorghum and millet were partly replaced with oilseeds and horticultural crops. In these regions, where crop production is predominantly rainfed, cropping systems have remained less intense, and crop diversity increased, driving an overall increase in country-level diversity from the 1960s.
“These changes, at least in part a response to the specialisation and intensification in the north, have contributed to somewhat higher national-level crop diversity and provide the supply for more diverse diets,” the study says.
“We show that while it is true that crop diversity declines in the Indo-Gangetic plains, as a result of the ‘green revolution’ rice-wheat intensification and specialisation,” Robert Hijmans, one of the study authors from the University of California, Davis, told The Wire. “We emphasise that in other areas of India, agriculture diversified. We suggest that this was related to the specialisation in the Indo-Gangatic plains, as agriculture there provides cheap grain.”
According to Hijmans, while it is good that agriculture in India is increasingly productive and diverse, which suggests people can improve their diets and farmers find new opportunities, there is a strong dependency on intensive production of rice and wheat, which in turn are linked to groundwater depletion.  Thus, India’s R&D policy needs to focus on keeping rice and wheat productivity high while diminishing their environmental footprint.
The country should also provide support to further develop fruit and vegetable, sorghum, millet and beans crop production.
Rai S. Rana, a former director of the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, and a former member of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), said that while the study is largely useful, there are still some issues with it.
For example, he said, it hasn’t addressed the impact of agricultural intensification upon crucial components of agrobiodiversity: the genetic diversity within crop plants varieties, and the relationship between agricultural intensification and crop diversity.
Rana is also cautious because the study banks on data available in various surveys conducted by several agencies – “but such survey datasets have their own limitations for drawing inferences depending on their objectives, assumptions and designs.”
The authors developed ways to suitably aggregate the available data at district, state and country levels to check for any relationships between the level of agricultural intensification and crop diversity (as reflected by area under a crop and its total production) on the other. “Changes in crop area and production are largely affected by several socio-economic considerations, among many other factors, and establishing cause and effect relationship is risky,” Rana said.
Instead, he suggested a better way to aggregate the data would have been at the “agro-ecological zone level rather than at the levels of administrative boundaries (such as district and states), but such data is not available.”
The results show that agricultural intensification, measured by relative, was associated with increased specialisation in rice and wheat production (particularly in Indo-Gangetic plains), resulting in an overall decline in crop diversity. Government policies, including input subsidies, price controls and creation of improved grain distribution networks, also contributed to this process.
T.V. Padma is a freelance science journalist.


Veggies suffer with WORSE hangovers than meat eaters, scientists discover

·       Lucy Jones
·      
·      
WITH the festive season in full flow and New Year's Eve just round the corner - a hangover or two are inevitable.
But it turns out that eating meat before a big boozy night out, might actually help.Vegetarians and vegans may experience hangovers more severely than meat-eaters doCredit: Getty - Contributor
It comes as scientists discover that veggies and vegans suffer more severe hangovers.
A team at Utrecht University in the Netherlands analysed the after-effects of drinking alcohol in 13 social drinkers.
Twenty-three familiar hangover symptoms were monitored for, on a control night and after a night out drinking.
They included headaches, nausea, heart palpitations, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, sensitivity to light and sound and thirst.
Throughout the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, participants recorded everything they ate.

More severe symptoms

And the analysis discovered that those with less nicotinic acid, otherwise known as vitamin B3, and zinc in their diets suffered more severe hangovers.
Low zinc intake, in particular, was “significantly associated” with vomiting, and low nicotinic acid created more severe hangover symptoms, the study showed.
Zinc is most commonly found in meat, shellfish and legumes.
Vitamin B3 is prevalent in animal products like meat, poultry and fish, as well as in whole grains, peanuts, avocados and mushrooms.

Low alcohol tolerance

Dr Rabia De LaTour, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone Health, says that vegans having low alcohol tolerance is something she hears anecdotally from patients, but lacks serious scientific backup.
“Nicotinic acid and zinc are required to break ethanol, which is alcohol, down into acetaldehyde,” she told The Post.
"You need these two nutrients to digest alcohol.
"It makes sense that if you’re lacking in it, you would experience a worse hangover."
However, taking in a lot of zinc of B3 isn’t a sure-fire way to cure a Saturday night on the town.
Genetic makeup, total food intake and other factors can determine how a person experiences a hangover, she says.

NHS tips to avoid a hangover

·       Don't drink more than you know your body can cope with. If you're not sure how much that is, be careful.
·       Don't drink on an empty stomach. Before you go out, have a meal that includes carbohydrates (such as pasta or rice) or fats. The food will help slow down the body's absorption of alcohol.
·       Don't drink dark-coloured drinks if you've found you're sensitive to them. They contain natural chemicals called congeners, which irritate blood vessels and tissue in the brain and can make a hangover worse.
·       Drink water or non-fizzy soft drinks in between each alcoholic drink. Carbonated (fizzy) drinks speed up the absorption of alcohol into your system.
·       Drink a pint or so of water before you go to sleep. Keep a glass of water by the bed to sip if you wake up during the night. Comments are subject to our community guidelines, which can be viewed here.

Rice to feed the world


19.12.2019
Researchers from the Potsdam Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, as part of the international C4 Rice Project, have just been re-funded by a grant to the University of Oxford from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worth $15 million.
Phase IV of the international C4 Rice Project has received the green light for the next 5 years. During this time an international team of scientists* want to develop a rice variety that will deliver up to 50% more yield and withstand harsher environmental conditions.
Description: https://www.innovations-report.com/images/icon_lupe.png
Rice field in the Philippines.
© U. Glaubitz, MPI-MP
At present, more than 3 billion people in Asia and Africa rely on rice to survive. With current rice yields, 1 hectare of land is sufficient to feed 27 people.
Due to the predicted population growth and the trend towards urbanization, this area will have to feed around 43 people by 2050. This means that the yield per hectare must be increased by at least 50%. One way to increase rice yields is to make photosynthesis more effective.
Improvement of the photosynthesis by process optimizing
Rice uses the so-called C3 photosynthetic pathway, which fixes CO2 into an initial product with three C atoms. The enzyme Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate-carboxylase / -oxygenase), which is responsible for CO2 fixation, can bind oxygen instead of CO2 in a side reaction.
The high concentration of oxygen in our atmosphere, which has evolved over 2 billion years, impairs the efficiency of the photosynthesis, especially at higher temperatures when the plant closes its stomata to save water so less CO2 gets inside the leaf. For this reason, C3 photosynthesis is less effective as temperatures increase and water becomes more limiting.
The plant then produces less sugar for growth and its yields are lower. In C3 plants, the synthesis of sugar and the binding of CO2 take place in one and the same cell type – the mesophyll cells. In contrast, these processes are spatially separated from each other in C4 plants.
These “turbo-charged” plants use a "biochemical" pump to actively concentrate CO2 in specialized bundle sheath cells. CO2 is first incorporated in the mesophyll cells into an intermediate with four carbon atoms. This C4 compound migrates into the bundle sheath cells where the Rubisco sits. Here, CO2 is released from the C4 compound.
A high concentration of CO2 is created around the Rubisco and so the side reaction with oxygen is suppressed. Thus, photosynthesis can still operate even at higher temperatures and when the stomata are partially closed to conserve water. Several of the globally most important and productive crop species are C4 plants, including maize, sugar cane, millet and sorghum.
The C4 photosynthetic pathway has evolved over 60 times independently in different families of plants around the world, accounting for about a quarter of the planet's primary terrestrial production, even though it is only used by 3% of the species.
Challenges and goals of the project
One of the major challenges of the C4 Rice Project, is the modification of rice leaf anatomy to have bundle sheath cells and mesophyll cells arranged in concentric circles around the leaf veins, as they are in C4 plants. Progress has already been made in the previous phase of the project by harnessing a synthetic approach towards engineering the photosynthetic pathway.
Working out which genes need to be modified to achieve this switch will be a major focus of the team’s research over the next five years. Professor Jane Langdale of Oxford University, who leads the consortium, said: "This is an extremely challenging long-term project and we are grateful to the foundation for backing the team for a further five years.
The continuation of the project will get us closer to the goal of breeding rice lines that will have positive and real impact for the smallholder farmers". The continuation of the project makes the C4 rice project one of the longest running projects in the foundation's agricultural portfolio.
Professor Julian Hibberd from the University of Cambridge, who is a member of the consortium, said: "We are excited to be able to build on the significant progress made so far, and move closer to our ultimate goal of generating a higher yielding rice."
The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology was already a partner in the previous phase of the project, but will play a much greater role in the newly funded phase IV, helping to identify which of the rice plants are fixing CO2 by the C4 pathway. Prof. Dr. Mark Stitt and Dr. John Lunn, together with their international colleagues from the consortium, hope that experimental field trials can be conducted in Taiwan by the end of the next phase of research in 2024. By 2039 the rice could be in farmer’s fields. Professor Langdale emphasized: "This is about being custodians of something that’s bigger than our individual scientific interests."
A condition of Gates Foundation funding for the project is a Global Access Commitment to ensure that the knowledge and advancements made will be made available and accessible at an affordable price to people most in need in developing countries.
*The C4 Rice Project is an international collaboration between 10 Research Groups, from 7 Institutions in 5 Countries:
• Professor Robert Furbank, Professor Susanne von Caemmerer & Dr Caitlin Byrt; Australian National University, Canberra
• Professor Julian Hibberd; University of Cambridge
• Dr Steve Kelly & Professor Jane Langdale; University of Oxford
• Professor Asaph Cousins & Professor Gerry Edwards; Washington State University, Pullman
• Professor Su-May Yu; Academia Sinica Institute of Molecular Biology, Taipei
• Professor Alain Tissier; Leibniz Institute of Biochemistry, Halle
• Dr John Lunn & Professor Mark Stitt; Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm;

Wissenschaftliche Ansprechpartner:

Prof. Dr. Mark Stitt
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Tel. 0331/567 8100
mstitt@mpimp-golm.mpg.de
Dr. John Lunn
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Tel. 0331/567-8171
lunn@mpimp-golm.mpg.de
Ursula Ross-Stitt
Head of Public Relations
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Tel. 0331/567 8310
Ross-stitt@mpimp-golm.mpg.de

Weitere Informationen:


Agriculture Ministry Rejects Criticism Over Low Rice Prices

20 December 2019
·       Malis Tum
·       VOA Khmer

A Cambodian vendor cleans her rice as she prepares it to sell at a rice store in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday, April 27, 2019.
The Cambodian Agriculture Ministry rejected criticism circulating on social media about farmers getting low prices for their rice in the paddy-producing provinces of Battambang, Pursat and Banteay Meanchey.
The ministry released a statement on Tuesday claiming that farmers receiving low rice prices were selling poor quality rice and that prices were still within an acceptable range. Ministry officials were also working with rice mills to procure as much rice as possible from farmers.
The claims of low prices, the ministry said, were “far from the truth” and that the ministry was ensuring that farmers’ paddy was purchased and at fair prices.
“Actually, the ministry has been taking continuous action [on the issue], but some Facebook users published the old information, which is why the ministry had to issue a statement to inform the public,” said Chan Heng, the ministry’s deputy cabinet director.
Following the wet season, farmers have complained about low rice prices and have even been asked to not plant a dry season crop on account of very low water levels across the country.
Chan Sokheang, deputy director of Cambodia Rice Federation, said that prices were still within reasonable levels.
“The price for [certain] quality of rice is different from last year…but the price is not different [for all rice] compared to last year,” Chan Sokheang said.
However, Yaing Saing Koma, an agricultural expert, said that rice prices were low mainly because rice export to European Union is declining.
The rice export to the EU has dropped from around 170,000 tons in 2018 to 120,000 tons in 2019 for the first eight months, according to representatives of rice millers. The rice sector was also hit with tariffs for exports to the European Union earlier this year, after Italy triggered safeguard mechanisms.
“The rice exports to the EU are dropping badly so it affects the profit of the rice milling companies. They are afraid to stock a lot of rice for export,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Cambodia Rice Federation said it needed $200 million in working capital to buy rice from the farmers on account of shrinking loans available in the financial sector, with government allocating only $50 million of the required capital.

Here is how rice millers in Ghana intend to differentiate local rice from imported ones

 Yesterday at 3:30 PM
The Convener of the Rice Millers Association, Yaw Adu Poku, has said that rice millers in Ghana are working to get special identification stickers to differentiate Ghanaian produced rice from imported produce.
Description: How rice millers in Ghana intend to differentiate local rice from imported onesHow rice Tell your friends  
 millers in Ghana intend to differentiate local rice from imported ones
In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Adu Poku said this is an effort to check substandard and fake Ghana rice that may be on the market.
He added that the Association is collaborating with stakeholders including the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to roll out this initiative as the campaign for the consumption of local rice intensifies.
“We have agreed in principle through our umbrella organization, Ghana Rice Inter-professional Bodies together with Food & Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG) to officially write to the GSA that a stamp or some identification should be given to rice in the system and even those that have been imported into the country so that when you go to the market you can see the stamp. This will immediately differentiate between the rice produced internally and those that come in through the main ports.”
Ghanaians in recent times are being encouraged to consume more locally produced rice to help boost the sector. Currently, local rice production stands at 460,000 metric tonnes with 640,000 metric tonnes imported annually.
The Fumbisi Rice Valleys, for example, has the capacity to produce 4,500 metric tonnes but is currently producing just 1,000. The Agric Ministry had assured that the capacity will be expanded.
The National Food Buffer Stock is also to intensify the issuance of license and purchasing of both paddy and milled rice from local producers.
Meanwhile, 10 major rice millers have agreed to buy locally grown rice for processing at 60% capacity which translates to 300,000 metric tonnes annually. This will produce over 23 million bags of home-grown rice.
The government has also announced a plan to ban rice importation by 2022.
At a media encounter recently, President Akufo-Addo called on Ghanaians to consume local rice.
He also announced that all government institutions have been directed to start using local rice for all public programmes and initiatives from January 2020.

Andhra traders cash in on procurement delay

t News Network

Hatiota: As procurement of paddy got delayed in Polsara block of Ganjam district, farmers resorted to distress sale of paddy. Taking advantage of the delay, traders from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh are on a buying spree, while the administration has not taken steps to stop distress sell of paddy.
The weather being cloudy for last few days, farmers are a panicky lot. Possibility of rain has left them worried and they hurriedly sell their paddy to middlemen and traders at whatever prices the latter are ready to offer. They do not feel it safe to wait for the mandis to open in the district as there are chances of rain getting their paddy soaked.
Delayed procurement in Gamjam district has sent farmers into a rage. There are scores of mandis across the district but procurement of paddy has not started in several parts of the district. As a result, farmers are forced to sell their produce to traders from Andhra Pradesh, a report said.
In the first phase, the district administration decided to procure 89,000 quintal paddy from farmers of Polsara block. 16 co-operative societies and two SHGs were assigned to mandis in the block to manage procurement of paddy in the block.
But these co-operative societies and SHGs have not started their work yet, as they are waiting for mandis to be opened.
When the secretary of a co-operative society was asked in this regard, he said though they were assigned with the procurement work, things have been delayed due to a dispute between the administration and rice millers. Sources said, the millers have not deposited their security money yet at the block office.
When Polsara block civil supplies officer Hemanta Kumar Pradhan was asked in this regard, he said we will start procurement of paddy in the block after receiving security deposits from millers. He clarified that farmers who are selling their produce to Andhra traders are not registered farmers.

Price of paddy rice ‘acceptable’, CRF says

Chea Vannak / Khmer Times  

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) has fought back against claims that the current price of paddy is too low to sustain farmers’ livelihoods.
For in depth analysis of Cambodian Business, visit Capital Cambodia
.
“Despite what people are saying on social media, the price of paddy has not decreased below market price. The current price is acceptable for farmers,” said CRF president Song Saran.
CRF comments follow viral posts on social media platforms claiming the current price level is insufficient to make a living.
At a press conference held at the Council of Ministers yesterday, Mr Saran acknowledged that the price of paddy rice has decreased, but said it is not as bad as portrayed on some social media posts, which he labelled fake news.
According to Mr Saran, fragrant paddy rice sells above 1,000 riel ($0.25) per kilogram, which represents a 10 percent decrease compared with the prices during the previous harvest.
He said the depreciation is linked to a downward trend in the price of milled rice in international markets.
“It is lower than last year, but it is not a big fall and farmers can survive,” Mr Saran said.
He also suggested that the drop in the price of paddy may be the result of farmers planting lower quality varieties. He called on farmers to focus on “purer” rice types.
Mr Saran highlighted a government initiative to stabilise the price of rice. Through the state-owned Rural Development Bank (RDB), the government is disbursing “emergency” loans to help rice millers purchase and store paddy during harvest season.
The initiative, Mr Saran argued, has kept rice in the hands of millers and away from middlemen who would have sold it to neighbouring countries.
RDB director-general Kao Thach also praised the scheme.
“With warehouses and silos build with loans from the government, millers have money to buy rice from farmers and can store it for longer periods,” Mr Thach said.
Cambodia exported 457,940 tonnes of rice during the first 10 months of 2019. Of this, 184,844 tonnes were sent to China.
Kufuor Foundation, Rice Millers Hail Prez Akufo Addo  


19-Dec-2019      


Description: https://media.peacefmonline.com/photos/news/201901/4775644_710986.jpg
The John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, the Ghana Rice Interprofessional Body (GRIB) and other stakeholders have lauded President Akufo-Addo for directing all state institutions to procure Ghana rice.

During his recent media encounter, the President announced that from January 2020, all state institutions, agencies and departments should consume made-in-Ghana rice.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah, at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said, “The President’s directive comes at a very opportune time when local producers, together with government and importers, are working out modalities for import substitution in the rice sector.”

Prof. Agyeman-Duah added that “we are unreservedly happy by the President’s directive that all state institutions should procure Ghana rice.”

He said the directive would go a long way to revitalize the Ghanaian rice industry “which has been blighted by decline.”

He reiterated the commitment of stakeholders in the sector to create a viable domestic rice industry, with the aim of making Ghana self-sufficient.

“We believe that the government’s target of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production by 2023 is achievable and we will work to support this goal,” he added.

Measures

Outlining measures to support the realization of the President’s vision, he noted that “the foundation and its partners shall, as a matter of urgency, work out strategies for improving service delivery by developing a monitoring mechanism to ensure that public institutions adhere to the directive of the President.”

He added that the foundation shall in partnership with other stakeholders evolve effective and institutionalized monitoring and evaluation frameworks/strategies for monitoring and or evaluating the compliance with the directive.

Furthermore, the CEO noted that the foundation shall support the value chain actors to forge closer ties to address the challenges of the rice sector and create the most conducive environment.

According to him, the interest of the Kufuor Foundation is to ensure that Ghana becomes self-sufficient in terms of rice production and by so doing save the country an amount of $1.3 billion that is used to import rice annually.
https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/201912/397729.php

Ghana rice to have special identification stickers

 

Business News of Friday, 20 December 2019
Rice production in Ghana
Rice millers in the country have hinted that moves are being initiated to get special identification stickers to differentiate Ghana rice from those imported. Description: Rice production in Ghana

The Convener of the Rice Millers Association, Yaw Adu Poku, who made this known to Citi News said the move is also to check unwholesome or fake Ghana rice that may be on the market.

Yaw Adu Poku in a Citi News interview said the Association is collaborating with the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to possibly roll out this initiative as the campaign for the consumption of local rice intensifies.

“We have agreed in principle through our umbrella organization, Ghana Rice Inter-professional Bodies together with Food & Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG) to officially write to the GSA that a stamp or some identification should be given to rice in the system and even those that have been imported into the country so that when you go to the market you can see the stamp. This will immediately differentiate between the rice produced internally and those that come in through the main ports,” he said.

The CEO of Citi FM and Citi TV, Samuel Attah-Mensah, after visiting some rice farms in Northern Ghana about a month ago found out that locally produced rice was stuck at farm gates due to the lack of buyers.

He subsequently appointed himself Ambassador for the promotion of Ghana Rice and began a campaign to drive the consumption of Ghana rice.

This campaign has caught on with many Ghanaians and received widespread endorsements.

Government and financial institutions have stepped in and made commitments to assist those in the local rice production value chain.

The government has also announced a plan to ban rice importation by 2022.

For this reason, the Food and Agriculture Ministry met with 20 major rice importers and urged them to consider sourcing locally produced rice.

Recently, President Akufo-Addo during an encounter with the media at the Jubilee House called on Ghanaians to consume local rice.

He also announced that all government institutions have been directed to start using local rice for all public programmes and initiatives from January 2020.

President firm on enforcement of MRP on rice, other gazetted essential items


Friday, 20 December 2019 00:00

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) that immediate steps be taken to enforce the declared Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs) and ensure uninterrupted market supply of essential goods during this festive season, at which times consumers are vulnerable to market manipulation.

Recently, the CAA has gazetted a MRP on rice at Rs. 98/kg. This decision was arrived at by the Cabinet of Ministers, having consulted the major suppliers and verified stock positions in the country.

Major millers agreed that they will mark this price at their rice packets, and ensure their retail distribution network will sell such rice at this price. However, there are complaints that this is not complied with in several places. Therefore, the CAA is instructed to check the market supply situation to deploy a team to check the stock and daily releases at rice milling supply stations. The CAA should also initiate immediate actions to check the rice suppliers at Pettah and other major markets.

Further, rice millers and traders should appreciate that the Government is making its best endeavours to develop the rice industry, and it is the responsibility of the millers and traders to ensure supply conditions in the market, without compelling undue import of rice or other form of Government interventions to the market operations. Since 2019-2020 Maha cultivation season has begun, and the harvest is expected from late January 2020, the farmers must be given maximum comfort to expand their cultivation, while consumers are given the opportunity to have affordable prices at this festive season. There is no reason to fear supply shortages.

The Government has also relaxed the restriction on the import of wheat flour with a view to promote market competition and availability of wheat flour at affordable prices, particularly in support of urban and plantation working community during this season.

The Government has already reduced VAT rate from 15% to 8%, removed 2% NBT and several other indirect taxes, with a view to reduce the high cost-of-living on the one hand, and to create a business-friendly environment to promote supply activities in the country on the other. Rice millers and traders will also benefit from the removal of Economic Service Charge (ESC), and concessions announced by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

However, observations have been made that prices of some commodities have not come down satisfactorily. Prices of all food items, cosmetics, building materials and many other items must reflect corresponding price reduction. Therefore, CAA have been instructed to summon all sector groups involving supplying such commodities, and request them to pass down this benefit to the consumers and also to communicate to the market effectively on a regular basis.

President orders CAA to take immediate action

against price manipulation of rice
Thursday, December 19, 2019 - 15:50
Description: http://www.dailynews.lk/sites/default/files/news/2019/12/19/gota-prez.jpg
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the Consumer Affairs Authority to take immediate steps to enforce the declared Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs) and ensure uninterrupted market supply of essential goods during this festive season which consumers are vulnerable to market manipulation.
Recently, the Authority has gazetted a MRP on rice at Rs. 98/kg. This decision was arrived at by the Cabinet of Ministers having consulted the major suppliers and verified stock positions in the country.

Major millers agreed that they will mark this price at their rice packets and ensure their retail distribution network will sell such rice at this price. However, there are complaints that this is not complied with in several places. Therefore, the CAA is instructed to check the market supply situation to deploy a team to check the stock and daily releases at rice milling supply stations. The CAA should also initiate immediate actions to check the rice suppliers at Pettah and other major markets.

Further, rice millers and traders should appreciate that the government is making its best endeavors to develop the rice industry and it is the responsibility of the millers and traders to ensure supply conditions in the market without compelling undue import of rice or other form of government interventions to the market operations. Since 2019-2020 Maha cultivation Season has begun and the harvest is expected from late January 2020, the farmers must be given maximum comfort to expand their cultivation while consumers are given the opportunity to have affordable prices at this festive season. There is no reason to fear supply shortages.

The government has also relaxed the restriction on import of wheat flour with a view to promote market competition and availability of wheat flour at affordable prices particularly in support of urban and plantation working community during this season.

The government has already reduced VAT rate from 15 percent to 8 percent, removed 2 percent NBT and several other indirect taxes with a view to reduce the high cost-of-living on the one hand and to create business friendly environment to promote supply activities in the country on the other. Rice millers and traders will also benefit from the removal of Economic Service Charge (ESC) and concessions announced by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

However, observations have been made that prices of some commodities have not come down satisfactorily. Prices of all food items, cosmetics, building materials and many other items must reflect corresponding price reduction. Therefore, CAA have been instructed to summon all sector groups involving supplying such commodities and request them to pass down this benefit to the consumers and also to communicate to the market effectively on a regular basis

Grain Traits Discovered in "Dark Genome" of Rice


Description: Grain Traits Discovered in "Dark Genome" of Rice
Credit: Pixabay
 Read Time: 3 min
Domesticated rice has fatter seed grains with higher starch content than its wild rice relatives — the result of many generations of preferential seed sorting and sowing. But even though rice was the first crop to be fully sequenced, scientists have only documented a few of the genetic changes that made rice into a staple food for more than half the world’s population.

New research now finds that a sizeable amount of domestication-related changes in rice reflects selection on traits that are determined by a portion of the genome that does not transcribe proteins.

Noncoding RNAs are suspected to play very important roles in regulating growth and development, but they’re only beginning to be characterized.

“Despite almost 20 years of genomics and genome-enabled studies of crop domestication, we still know remarkably little about the genetic basis of most domestication traits in most crop species,” said Kenneth Olsen, communicating author.

“Early studies tended to go for “low-hanging fruit” — simple traits that were controlled by just one or two genes with easily identifiable mutations,” Olsen said. “Far more difficult is figuring out the more subtle developmental changes that were critical for a lot of the changes during crop domestication.

“This study offers a step in that direction, by examining one regulatory mechanism that has been critical for modulating domestication-associated changes in rice grain development.”

Diversity of traits

A large proportion of the DNA in the chromosomes of many plants and animals comprises genes that do not encode instructions for making proteins — up to 98% of the genome for any given species. But this genetic information is poorly understood. Some scientists have called this stuff the “dark matter” of the genome, or even dismissed it as “junk DNA” — but it appears to have played an outsized role in rice development.

In this study, researchers found that key changes that occurred during rice domestication more than 9,000 years ago could be tied back to molecules called long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of RNA molecules with a length of more than 200 nucleotides.

About 36% of the genetic information recorded in the rice genome can be tracked back to noncoding regions, but more than 50% of the diversity of traits important to agriculture is linked to these same areas, the researchers found.

“For the first time, the lncRNAs in noncoding region of cultivated rice and wild rice was deeply annotated and described,” said Xiaoming Zheng, first author.

“Our transgenic experiments and population genetic analysis convincingly demonstrate that selection on lncRNAs contributed to changes in domesticated rice grain quality by altering the expression of genes that function in starch synthesis and grain pigmentation,” she said.

Working with several hundred rice samples and more than 260 Gbs of sequence, the researchers employed sensitive detection techniques to quantify and robustly track lncRNA transcription in rice. The new study validates some previously identified lncRNAs and also provides new information on previously undescribed molecules.

This new study adds fuel to speculation by some researchers that most adaptive differences between groups of plants or animals are due to changes in gene regulation, and not protein evolution.

“Based on our findings, we propose that selection on lncRNAs could prove to be a broader mechanism by which genome-wide patterns of gene expression can evolve in many species,” Zheng said.

This rice study also opens eyes and possibly new doors for producing new crops and grains through precision breeding.

Reference

Zheng et al. (2019) Genome-wide analyses reveal the role of noncoding variation in complex traits during rice domestication. Science Advances. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax3619

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.


Philippines Approves GMO Rice to Fight Malnutrition

By Steve Baragona
December 19, 2019 03:55 PM
Description: Golden Rice, left, contains beta carotene, the same vitamin A precursor that makes carrots orange. (Credit - IRRI)

A breed of rice genetically engineered to combat vitamin A deficiency has received approval from regulators in the Philippines.
Supporters say "Golden Rice" could remedy a condition that kills up to 250,000 children each year worldwide and blinds twice that number, according to the World Health Organization.
It's the first genetically modified organism (GMO) designed to fight a public health issue to get a green light from food safety officials in the developing world.
Golden Rice has faced vigorous opposition from GMO opponents throughout its development, citing safety concerns and other issues. Protesters destroyed test fields in the Philippines in 2013.
The Philippine Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry announced Wednesday that Golden Rice is as safe as conventional rice. Regulators in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have also cleared the grain of safety issues.
After 20 years of development, "it feels absolutely tremendous" to reach this stage, said Adrian Dubock, Executive Secretary of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board, the nonprofit working to take the crop from the lab to the field.
Two added genes turn rice golden, one from maize and one from a soil bacterium. Under their direction, rice grains produce beta carotene, the vitamin A precursor that makes carrots and sweet potatoes orange. A third bacterial gene serves as a traceable marker.
In the Philippines, vitamin A deficiency among children has increased from 15.2% in 2008 to 20.4% in 2013, despite a national supplement program, according to the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute, which is developing the crop.
Golden Rice could provide up to half of a young child's daily needs, IRRI says.
Description: FILE - Different varieties of rice are seen for sale at a food market in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines, Aug. 31, 2018.
FILE - Different varieties of rice are seen for sale at a food market in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines, Aug. 31, 2018.
Controversial crop
Biotech boosters have presented Golden Rice as one of the best examples of what biotechnology can do, producing plants and animals that benefit humanity faster than conventional breeding can.
Opponents have said the crops raise unknown risks, though the scientific consensus is that GMO varieties on the market today are safe, including Golden Rice.
GMO critics are also wary that the for-profit corporations that have developed GMOs will have undue influence over the seed supply.
Agricultural biotech company Syngenta previously owned key patents for Golden Rice but has donated them to the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board. Dubock said Golden Rice strains are for use only by public and nonprofit crop breeding programs and would not cost farmers any more than conventional rice.
Dietary solution
Critics say the considerable time, effort and money spent on developing Golden Rice would have been better spent pursuing efforts to diversify the diets of the people who suffer from malnutrition.
"There are very limited funds available for development in third-world countries. It really matters which route you choose to go, where you choose to put your funds," said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety.
Programs that get more fruits and vegetables into the diets of low-income people would help alleviate several chronic ailments, not just vitamin A deficiency, he noted.
Dubock agrees that "a diversified diet is the best solution," he said. But he added that Golden Rice is a tool that works with how people are already eating.
It's not clear when Philippine farmers will be able to grow Golden Rice. Regulators still have to certify that the crop won't cause problems in farmers' fields. IRRI says it will submit its application early next year.

Golden Rice gets biosafety approval as food, feed

By Filane Mikee CervantesPhilippine News Agency on December 18, 2019


Description: http://www.canadianinquirer.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/42596427_1779924945449862_2037242416016130048_o.jpgThe Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced the FFP approval on Wednesday, citing that the Golden Rice “has been found to be as safe as conventional rice” after rigorous biosafety assessment. (File Photo: Golden Rice Project/Facebook)
MANILA – The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry has granted a biosafety permit for the direct use of the vitamin A-enriched rice variety, Golden Rice, as food and feed or for processing (FFP).
The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced the FFP approval on Wednesday, citing that the Golden Rice “has been found to be as safe as conventional rice” after rigorous biosafety assessment.
PhilRice executive director Dr. John de Leon welcomed the regulatory decision as the rice variety could be seen as a complementary intervention to address the health problems associated with vitamin A deficiency (VAD).
“With this FFP approval, we bring forward a very accessible solution to our country’s problem on Vitamin A deficiency that’s affecting many of our pre-school children and pregnant women,” de Leon said.
Golden Rice is a new type of rice that contains beta-carotene (provitamin A), which is converted into vitamin A as needed by the body and gives the grain its golden color. It is developed through genetic engineering and produces two new enzymes that complete the beta-carotene expression in the rice grain.
IRRI Director General Matthew Morrel said the beta-carotene content of Golden Rice aims to provide 30 to 50 percent of the estimated average requirement (EAR) of vitamin A for pregnant women and young children.
“IRRI is pleased to partner with PhilRice to develop this nutrition-sensitive agricultural solution to address hidden hunger. This is the core of IRRI’s purpose: to tailor global solutions to local needs,” Morrel said.
“The Philippines has long recognized the potential to harness biotechnology to help address food and nutrition security, environmental safety, as well as improve the livelihoods of farmers,” Morrel added.
To complete the Philippine biosafety regulatory process, Golden Rice will require approval for commercial propagation before it can be made available to the public.

Farmer-scientist group on GMO rice: Unnecessary, unwanted

INQUIRER.net / 08:32 PM December 19, 2019
MANILA, Philippines–The Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) condemned Thursday the approval of the genetically-modified crop “golden rice” (GR2E) as food and poultry feed for processing by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI).
In a statement, Elpidio Paglumotan of MASIPAG said: “We are appalled that the approval has pushed through despite the numerous unresolved issues that MASIPAG and many other organizations are raising regarding GR2E, mainly on its safety and long-term effects on children, women and other consumers.”
According to MASIPAG, they sent a letter to DA-BPI on October 26 to discuss the consolidated risk assessment report and comments from respected scientists regarding the safety of GR2E. This, they said, is yet to be addressed.
The GR2E, which began as an initiative by the Rockefeller Foundation, is a genetically-modified rice containing beta-carotene (provitamin A), which is then converted into Vitamin A. Proponents say it will help address the Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in the country. MASIPAG, however, disagrees.
Aside from safety concerns, MASIPAG said the approval of GR2E will also threaten “the future of rice production and farmers’ control of seeds.”
“By harking on the humanitarian packaging of the golden rice, and marketing it as ‘healthier rice,’ proponents are deceiving and blinding the people from the ulterior intention of golden rice which is to usher in more genetically modified food,” said MASIPAG.
The DA-BPI, together with the International Rice Research Institute and Philippine Rice Research Institute, granted a biosafety approval for GR2E after it was found to be “as safe as conventional rice.”
Cris Panerio of MASIPAG said: “They hide behind the supposed ‘rigorous biosafety assessments’ and the debatable safety clearances from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”
MASIPAG is now calling on DA Secretary William DAR “to put the welfare of the Filipino people instead of the corporate-influenced research institutions.”

Nationwide round-up


Group denounce Golden Rice approval

Description: https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Golden-Rice-111219.jpgIRRI
A GROUP of farmers and scientists expressed disappointment over the approval of the biosafety permit of Golden Rice despite health issues related to its consumption. “We are appalled that the approval has pushed through despite the numerous unresolved issues that MASIPAG and many other organizations are raising regarding Golden Rice, mainly on its safety and long-term effects on children, women and other consumers,” Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) Chairman of the Board Elpidio E. Paglumotan said in a statement on Thursday. MASIPAG is a farmer-led group of people’s organizations, non-government organizations, and scientists, which promotes the welfare of the country’s farmers.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), has approved the commercial use of Golden Rice as food, feed, or for processing (FFP). Golden rice, a variety produced through genetic engineering, aims to provide 30%–50% of the estimated average requirement of Vitamin A of the body.
 “With this FFP approval, we bring forward a very accessible solution to our country’s problem on Vitamin A deficiency that’s affecting many of our pre-school children and pregnant women,” Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Executive Director Dr. John C. de Leon said in a statement on Wednesday. PhilRice, which applied for the permit in 2017 to be able to conduct field trials, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have been pushing for the commercial use of Golden Rice. However, groups protesting against the variety have noted that beta-carotene, which is contained by the rice variant and is being converted to Vitamin A by the human body, degrades fast after harvesting and processing.
A study by the Indian government showed that 84% of the beta-carotene in Golden Rice can be lost unless vacuum-packed and refrigerated. High temperature and humidity also leads to degradation of the antioxidant, while cooking will lead to a 25% loss of beta-carotene. “Proponents have failed to address concerns on the Golden Rice’s negligible beta-carotene content, its fast degradation and the possible toxicity associated with the beta-carotene degradation,” MASIPAG National Coordinator Cris Panerio said. The group also said that the lack of transparency and speed of approval of its permit shows the “desperation” of the concerned agencies to bring in the rice variety. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

CRISPR immunizes rice against multiple diseases, preserving crop yields and biodiversity

ISAAA | December 19, 2019
Description: riceRice farmers
Scientists from China National Rice Research Institute used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit Semi-Dwarf1 (SD1) in elite Chinese rice varieties, which has several desired agronomic traits. The results are published in Scientific Reports.
Expanding genetic diversity among rice varieties is vital to prevent genetic erosion or loss of genetic variation in a crop. Thus, the researchers edited SD1 in the elite landraces Kasalath and TeTePu, which contain many desired agronomic traits such as tolerance to low phosphorous and broad-spectrum resistance to several diseases and insects. Mutations of SD1 led to shorter plant height for better resistance to lodging. Field trials showed that the yield of the mutant lines was improved compared to the wild-type progenitors, while maintaining the desirable agronomic characteristics.

Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that breeding using available landraces together with genome editing techniques can prevent genetic erosion in modern rice varieties.
Read full, original article: Crop Biotech Update December 18, 2019

Tell it to SunStar: Scrap Golden Rice approval

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December 19, 2019
IN A sly move that is characteristic of the GM (geneticall-modified) rice proponents including the various agencies in the Joint Department Circular (JDC), the direct use for food, feed and processing of the GM Golden Rice has been approved on Dec. 10 despite the staunch opposition from farmers and consumers in the Philippines.

We condemn the Golden Rice approval and the collusion among the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) and the Deptartment of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI).

This gravely threatens not only the health of the people and the environment, but also the future of rice production and farmers’ control of seeds.

Farmers and consumers in the Philippines and in other countries as well remain adamant that Golden Rice will not address the Vitamin A Deficiency among vulnerable sectors in developing countries, but is in fact a tool of the increasing corporate control over agriculture.

By harking on the humanitarian packaging of the Golden Rice, and marketing it as “healthier rice,” proponents are deceiving and blinding the people from the ulterior intention of Golden Rice, which is to usher in more GM food, such as soybean, cotton, potato and more varieties of GM corn.

According to IRRI’s website, research is also being conducted on high-iron and zinc rice in response to iron-deficiency anemia and stunting.

We are appalled that the approval has pushed through despite the numerous unresolved issues that we and many other organizations are raising regarding Golden Rice, mainly on its safety and long-term effects on children, women and other consumers.

We, along with other farmers’ groups, wrote the DA-BPI on Oct. 16 to discuss the consolidated risk assessment report and the comments from respected scientists including Dr. Chito Medina, Dr. David Schubert and Dr. Michael Antoniou, contesting the proponents’ claim on the safety of Golden Rice.

Up to now, proponents have failed to address concerns on the Golden Rice’s negligible beta-carotene content, its fast degradation and the possible toxicity associated with the beta-carotene degradation.

Instead, they hide behind the supposed “rigorous biosafety assessments” and the debatable safety clearances from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The lack of transparency and speed of approval of Golden Rice reeks of the desperation of IRRI, Philrice and DA-BPI to bring in the GM rice which has been gaining greater opposition because it is unnecessary and unwanted.

Such acts are in dissonance to the spirit of the JDC on transparency and public consultation. (Magsasaka at Siyentipiko Para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura)

Will Golden Rice help us climb the PISA ladder?


Description: https://businessmirror.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/agri01-112417-696x489.jpg
IN October, United Nations Children’s Fund warned in a global report that “Filipino children are increasingly suffering from poor diets, inadequate nutrition and food systems that are failing them.” Unicef’s flagship report—“The State of the World’s Children”—examines for the first time in 20 years the issue of children, food and nutrition around the world. Here’s the alarming part of the report: One in 3 Filipino children under five years old are stunted, which means they are too short for their age, while roughly 7 percent of children are too thin for their height.
“The undernutrition facts in the Philippines are disturbing—one in three 12 to 23-month-old children suffer from anemia while 1 in 3 children are irreversibly stunted by the age of two. On the other hand, 1 in 10 adolescents are obese from wrong eating habits,” said Oyun Dendevnorov, Unicef Philippines representative. She added: “The triple burden of undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight poses serious threats to child health, therefore, Unicef is supporting the Philippine government in implementing the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition. Under the leadership of the government, working together with private sector, civil society and all stakeholders, we must address the causes of unhealthy
eating in all its forms.” 
Given this background, there’s a need to look at the relationship between nutritional status and educational performance among school-age children. Remember the 2018 PISA results, where the country’s 15-year-old students were randomly tested as a group in Reading literacy and came up last among the 79 countries tested? Surely, food and academic performance are closely intertwined: If we properly feed our children, then they will do well in school. It’s hard to focus on any lesson when you are hungry.
Here’s good news for people who can’t get over the PISA results: On Wednesday, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) declared that Golden Rice, after rigorous biosafety assessments, has been found to be as safe as conventional rice. The verdict, addressed to the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), details the approval of GR2E Golden Rice for direct use as food and feed, or for processing.
This is a welcome development in a country where many children are still suffering from vitamin A deficiency. Despite the success of public-health interventions like oral supplementation and complementary feeding in public schools, vitamin A deficiency among Filipino children aged six months to five years alarmingly increased to 20.4 percent in 2013, from 15.2 percent in 2008. The beta-carotene content of Golden Rice aims to provide 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimated average requirement of vitamin A for young children and pregnant women. 
With the BPI approval, the DA-PhilRice and IRRI will now proceed with sensory evaluations and finally answer the question that many Filipinos want to know: “What does Golden Rice taste like?”To complete the Philippine biosafety regulatory process, Golden Rice will require approval for commercial propagation before it can be made available to the public. We hope that this provitamin-A biofortified rice variety will be available in the market soon, and hopefully, it will help improve our PISA results in the near future.



A panel discussion on row rice at the 2019 USA Rice Outlook Conference included Elliott Maschmann, left, district sales manager, RiceTech, Inc., Sydney Robnett, Triple D Farms, Stuttgart, Ark., Jarrod Hardke, Extension rice agronomist, University of Arkansas, and Jeff Rutledge, Rutledge & Rutledge Ag Commodity Producers, Newport, Ark.

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