China is acting as economic booster for Pakistan, LCCI
President
By Muhammad Sudhir Chaudhry – Deputy Bureau
Chief Lahore
20th
December, 2019
·
·
Back
to back visits of Chinese trade delegations are not only reflect unbreakable
friendship between the two countries but are also an ample proof of Chinese
Investors’ growing interest in Pakistan.
These
views were expressed by the LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh while addressing
a delegation of Chinese investors at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce &
Industry. The Chinese delegation was accompanied with Senator Mian Ateeq ur
Rehman while Senior Vice President Ali Hussam Asghar and Vice President Mian
Zahid Jawaid Ahmad and Mr. Yang Yong also spoke on the occasion. Executive
Committee members Harris Attique, Fiaz Haider, Zeeshan Sohail Malik, Dr Riaz
Ahmad, Rana Nisar Ahmad, Arshad Khan, Atif Ikram and Haji Asif Sehar were
present in the meeting.
Irfan
Iqbal Sheikh said that China is acting as economic booster for Pakistan in true
sense of words. He was of the view that Chinese investment and cooperation for
building of dams in Pakistan can be faith changer as agriculture sector of
Pakistan is starving for water and industrial sector is in a dire need of cheap
hydel electricity.
“Pakistan is looking for foreign investors and buyers especially belonging to China. It will not be wrong to say that at present it is the most appropriate time and environment where both countries can add a new dimension to their bilateral ties”, the LCCI President added.
“Pakistan is looking for foreign investors and buyers especially belonging to China. It will not be wrong to say that at present it is the most appropriate time and environment where both countries can add a new dimension to their bilateral ties”, the LCCI President added.
He
said that that in last few months, we did have the honour of hosting important
trade missions at Lahore Chamber visiting from different parts of China.
Frequent visits of Chinese delegation to Pakistan to explore trade and
investment opportunities are enough to prove that Pakistan is top priority of
the Chinese businessmen.
Irfan
Iqbal Sheikh invited Chinese businessmen to join hands with their Pakistani
counterparts in Information Technology, Real Estate, Solar Technology, Banking
& Finance, Printing, Security, Cosmetics, Porcelain Manufacturing and
General Trading etc. After the formal session of speeches, hopefully, there
will be fruitful interaction among you.
LCCI
Senior Vice President Ali Hussam Asghar said that both the countries not only
share border but also have unanimity of views on various political &
economic issues. The two countries have a combined market of more than 1.5
billion people but the trade volume needs to be pushed up. He said that Chinese
importers may have better prospects for Pakistani goods particularly of
Carpets, Leather and leather products, Surgical Equipment, Sports goods, Fruits
and vegetables, Rice, Pharmaceuticals, Cotton etc.
Senator
Mian Ateeq hoped that Chinese businessmen would find more opportunities for
trade and investment. He said that being a major hub of trade and economic
activities, Lahore can provide more opportunities to the Chinese entrepreneurs.
He hoped that visit of delegation would be result oriented and Chinese
companies will find new trade partners in Pakistan.
REAP
seeks meeting with MNFS&R
By
ZAHID BAIG on December 21, 2019
Rice
Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has requested the Ministry of Commerce
& Trade to arrange its meeting with the Ministry of the National Food
Security and Research (MNFS&R) to seek solutions to the hardships being
faced by the rice exporters because of the Department of Plant Protection
(DPP).
The
Department of Plant Protection (DPP) is an allied department of the MNFS&R
and is responsible for managing the export and import of all agricultural
commodities. This is the most important organization for monitoring and
controlling the import and export by applying international Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary
(SPS) regulations, which have already been ratified by Pakistan under the
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
Rice
is a major export commodity of Pakistan, besides cotton, citrus, mango, dates,
vegetables, potato and other raw and processed foodstuff, said REAP Chairman
Shahjahan Malik while talking to Business Recorder here on Friday.Rice export
could be enhanced immediately but the DPP is facing a host of institutional
capacity issues, which can be managed through aggressive capacity development.
Shahjahan
Malik further said that they are facing multiple issues concerning inspection by
the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) such as not having a proper place for
inspection or not enough strength of the staff concerned.
Allow gene editing, urges top
plant biologist as she retires
Will
Harvie04:45, Dec 21 2019
ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF
Looking
back: Paula Jameson has been awarded the Marsden Medal by the NZ Association of
Scientists for her 36-year career as a researcher and science administrator.
There comes a time in many careers when even the
high-flyers are surpassed by hot new technologies and younger
people with the skills to use them.
So it's been for Dr Paula Jameson, the University of
Canterbury plant biologist and science administrator.
She was awarded her doctorate in 1983 and since then
there's been an explosion of DNA tools, techniques and research.
She understands perfectly well what can be done with
DNA, but was increasingly aware of her limitations in the laboratory.
"That's mostly why I retired," she says.
Plus she's 65, which is a good age to bow out.
She capped a 36-year career by winning the New Zealand
Association of Scientists' 2019 Marsden Medal for her "lifetime of
outstanding service to … science".
Canterbury also named her an Emerita Professor, an
honorary title awarded for outstanding service as an academic.
She was also, for the record, Massey University's
first pregnant professor.
She exits academia with a message – for Parliament,
environmentalists and the public – about DNA technology and research.
Initially, it was reasonable and wise for New Zealand to be
sceptical about genetic engineering.
"In those days, the early 2000s, there wasn't a lot of
good information out there," she says. "I felt New
Zealand needed to be relatively cautious about releasing
crops [before] substantive field tests were conducted under New Zealand
conditions.
"I could see advantages for other countries, but not
necessarily advantages for New Zealand," she says.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF
NZ
should change its restrictive legislation covering gene editing, Jameson says.
But technology has changed again and we're now talking about
gene editing with hot new tools like Crispr.
Don't worry, we're not going to get too technical here.
"It's the precision," she says. "Using
editing, we can target a very specific site and cause a mutation."
This must be compared to other types of genetic manipulation
that have been going on for 80 years, including in New Zealand.
An important one has various names but let's go with
"mutation breeding".
For the purpose of mutating the DNA of plants, they are
irradiated with something like cobalt 60 or treated with
a mutagenic chemical.
The result increases yield or enhances traits such as
disease resistance, herbicide tolerance and drought tolerance. Sometimes
mutation breeding makes food more desirable for humans – grapefruit
with a deeper red colour for example.
Mutation breeding also produces "random, multiple and
unspecific genetic changes" to plants, Jameson says.
About 25 per cent of ornamental and decorative plants and about
75 per cent of crop plants like rice, wheat, barley, peas, grapefruit
and pears have been mutated by these methods at some point.
There are about 3200 mutant varieties registered in more than
170 plant species.
In New Zealand in recent years, a herbicide-tolerant
brassica has been released and these techniques were investigated in
kiwifruit to find resistance to the vine-killing disease Psa.
There is no New Zealand legislation covering these mutation
breeding processes, which are "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS).
There are big differences between "random, multiple and
unspecific genetic changes" and "targeting a single gene and mutating
that", which is gene editing.
An example here is helpful. About 2005, Japanese scientists
observed that some rice has a natural mutation in the gene that controls a
hormone called cytokinin.
The more hormone available, the higher the number and size of
rice grains – desirable results when feeding humans and animals.
About a decade later, another group of
scientists edited the gene that controls the hormone. They
copied or mimicked the natural mutation, what nature had already done.
And they got the same results – higher yields.
What could be wrong with that?
Well, it risks a "wild west of gene editing that puts at
risk the environment, people's health and consumer trust in … food,"
according to lobby group GE
Free NZ.
"We are not growing any genetically engineered crop plants
commercially in New Zealand," Jameson says, "but we should look
to be growing gene-edited plants, as gene editing is so much more
precise."
Her beef is that New Zealand's current legislation
governing genetic engineering is "very, very restrictive" and
also bans gene editing.
The legislation should be "urgently" changed, she
says.
DEAN KOZANIC/STUFF
Jameson
first used this University of Canterbury zoology lab in the 1970s. It was
essentially unchanged when this photo was taken in 2006. She got a major
upgrade funded and completed while head of the School of Biological Sciences.
Paula Jameson was born and raised in Christchurch to a family
closely tied to the land, trees and gardening.
She's the great granddaughter of Harry
Ell, a Christchurch member of parliament from 1899 to 1919. He
was a prohibitionist, unionist and progressive reformer.
He is now best remembered for the Summit Road, a network of
reserves and rest houses linked by a scenic road on the Port Hills
above Christchurch. It is today the city's playground for lovers of
the outdoors.
Her father was John Jameson, who founded the Summit Road
Society to carry on the Ell dream. He also ran Arbor Days for local
schools for "many decades", she recalls.
This early exposure to plants, trees and the outdoors led
Paula Jameson to the University of Canterbury.
She was a good student and remembers someone suggesting
medical school. However, she thought "without plants, we don't
need doctors" – because humans would be extinct.
So she honed her interest in plant chemistry, what's going
on inside plants and trees.
After a stint lecturing at Otago, she wound up at Massey and
married to fellow plant biologist Dr John Clemens. She was head of
department at 39 and had Massey's first professorial child.
The family moved to Christchurch in 2004 and she became head of
the School of Biological Sciences, a much larger operation.
She liked university administration and its endless
meetings because she got to "facilitate the careers of my
colleagues".
STACY SQUIRES/STUFF
Paula
Jameson, right, and Anne Kennedy examine damage from the 2017 Port Hills fires.
Jameson is descended from Harry Ell, founder of the Summit Rd scheme and today
sits on the board of the Summit Road Society.
She also sometimes facilitated people out of their careers or
off the campus. Sacking students and academics came with the management
job.
Meanwhile, she was rising through the PBRF ranks. Performance-based
research funding is a chunk of government money divided among tertiary
education organisations depending how their academics rank.
Most of these people have PhDs and most have
been A+ students their entire lives.
Every six years, their peers rank their work and many get
Bs and some – horrors – Cs. Many complain PBRF is harsh and
unfair.
Jameson was the Principal Moderator for PBRF 2018. "I was
essentially the final arbiter of every PBRF grade nationally,"
she says.
There was facilitating under way here too.
The role required a "wise and dispassionate voice while
superintending a fair process", according to the
University of Canterbury.
Despite these administrative duties, Jameson kept up her
teaching and research.
Her main speciality was the hormone cytokinin, mentioned above,
and she has written 120 peer-reviewed academic publications, which is a good
number.
She is in the "top 1 per cent of cited plant/animal
scientists", according to one international benchmarking service.
Her citation from the NZ Association of Scientists mentions all
this, plus her research on Aotearoa's indigenous flora, her major
collaborations with industry in forage and seed production, and
her life fellowships from the agricultural, horticultural and plant
biology communities.
"It was nice to be recognised with the [Marsden Medal]
because it's beyond being an academic. It includes all the service and community
work," she says.
Her retirement is not final. She's got a sweet gig in China with
a former student and collaborator that could produce 100 new wheat breeding
lines.
She has committed to assisting for nine months over three years.
And she's probably not done advocating for gene editing.
It's likely, she says, that New Zealand's big environmental
issues – climate change and agricultural issues – could be ameliorated by
editing. Grasses could be edited to reduce nitrogen runoff or reduce
methane emissions.
But before that, we'll need to change the country's genetic
engineering legislation?
"I believe it should be," Jameson says.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/118088195/allow-gene-editing-urges-top-plant-biologist-as-she-retires
’Dark Matter Can Be
Found in Rice Genome
December
20, 2019 6:33 AM EST
Domesticated rice has fatter seed
grains with greater starch content than its wild rice kin — the results of many
generations of preferential seed sorting and sowing. However, although the rice
was the primary crop to be totally sequenced, scientists have solely documented
a number of the genetic adjustments that made rice right into staple meals for
greater than half the world’s inhabitants.
New analysis now finds that a
sizeable quantity of domestication-associated modifications in rice displays
choice on traits that are decided by a portion of the genome that doesn’t
transcribe proteins. Noncoding RNAs are suspected of playing crucial roles in
regulating progress and improvement; however, they’re solely starting to be
characterized.
A big proportion of the DNA
within the chromosomes of many vegetation and animals contains genes that don’t
encode directions for making proteins — as much as 98% of the genome for any
given species. However, this genetic data is poorly understood. Some scientists
have known as these items the ‘darkish matter’ of the genome, and even
dismissed it as ‘junk DNA’ — but it surely seems to have performed an outsized
position in rice improvement.
In this research, researchers
discovered that key modifications that occurred throughout rice domestication
greater than 9,000 years in the past might be tied again to molecules referred
to as lengthy-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a category of RNA molecules with a size
of greater than 200 nucleotides.
About 36% of the genetic data
recorded within the rice genome may be tracked again to noncoding areas.
However, greater than 50% of the variety of traits essential to agriculture is
linked to those identical areas, the researchers discovered.
Working with a number of hundred
rice samples and greater than 260 Gbs of sequence, the researchers employed
delicate detection strategies to quantify and robustly observe lncRNA
transcription in rice. The brand new examine some beforehand recognized lncRNAs
and, in addition, supplies new info on beforehand undescribed molecules.
This new research provides
gasoline to a hypothesis by some researchers that almost all adaptive
variations between teams of plants or animals are because of adjustments in
gene regulation, and never protein evolution. This rice research additionally
opens eyes and presumably new doorways for producing new crops and grains by
way of precision breeding.
A photo taken with a mobile phone to detect frauds in rice labelling
A simple photograph taken with a
mobile phone is able to detect irregularities in the labelling of rice,
according to an investigation conducted by the Complutense University of Madrid
(UCM) and the Scintillon Institute of San Diego (USA).
This has led scientists to
develop an algorithm based on deep learning - a field of artificial
intelligence - that is able to determine whether that rice is really the one
described with the images taken with the smartphone.
"What we contribute compared
to other detection methods is simplicity and we show the consumer that you do
not need large sums of money to verify whether a certain type of rice is the
one mentioned on the label," states José Santiago Torrecilla, Professor
and researcher from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials of the
UCM.
Although in Europe the most
common fraud is selling low-quality rice as if it were high quality, in other
places plastic has been added to grains in quantities undetectable by the
consumer until it is cooked.
To carry out the study, the
researchers used five types of rice that were ground "in order to
distinguish the type of rice not only when it is in grain form but also when it
is ground into flour," says Torrecilla.
With all this information,
algorithms based on convolutional neural networks were designed and optimized
to process the information contained in the images for classification based on
the type of rice, obtaining final precision models between 93 and 99 %.
"It should be noted that
rice is just one example of cereal and, therefore, this technology could be
extrapolated to other types of cereals or food," concludes the UCM
chemist, leaving the door open for future applications in the food industry.
Plant scientists identify new strategy to enhance rice grain yield
DECEMBER 20, 2019
OsACBP2-overexpressing (OE) rice plants produce
bigger grains (A) and higher biomass (B). OE-1, OE-3, OE17 and OE-21 are four independent OsACBP2-OE
transgenic rice lines. VC, vector-transformed control. ZH11, Zhonghua11 wild
type. Scale bar = 1 cm.(*statistically different from the control) Credit: The
University of Hong Kong
Rice provides daily subsistence
for about three billion people worldwide and its output must keep pace with a
growing global population. In light of this, the identification of genes that
enhance grain yield and composition is much desired. Findings from a research
project led by Professor Mee-Len Chye, Wilson and Amelia Wong Professor in
Plant Biotechnology from the School of Biological Sciences of The University of
Hong Kong (HKU), with postdoctoral fellows Dr. Guo Zehua and Dr. Shiu-Cheung
Lung, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Calgary and
Rothamsted Research (UK), have provided a new strategy to enhance grain yield
in rice by increasing grain size and weight. The research results have been
published in The Plant Journal and an international patent has
been filed.
In this technology, the research
group led by Professor Chye has identified a protein, ACYL-COA-BINDING PROTEIN2
(OsACBP2) from rice (Oryza sativa), that when overexpressed in
transgenic rice, will enhance grain size and weight by 10% and elevate grain
yield. The biomass of the OsACBP2-overexpressing transgenic rice grains exceeded
the control by over 10%. OsACBP2 is a lipid-binding protein that binds lipids
such as acyl-CoA esters, the major precursors in seed oil production. Oil was
observed to accumulate in the transgenic rice grains. OsACBP2 is promising not
only in enhancing grain size and weight, but also in improving nutritional
value with a 10% increase in lipid content of rice bran and whole seeds.
As OsACBP2 contributes to
boosting oil content as well as size and weight in transgenic rice grains, an
application of this technology in rice is expected to benefit agriculture by
increasing grain yield and composition to satisfy the need for more food.
Professor Chye said: "Increasing grain size and
yield, besides rice bran and seed lipid content, in crops such as rice is an
important research area that aligns with the aspirations of Dr. Wilson and Mrs
Amelia Wong on the use of plant biotechnology for a sustainable future.
Furthermore, as rice bran oil is considered highly valuable because it contains
bioactive components that have been reported to lower serum cholesterol and
possess anti-oxidation, anti-carcinogenic and anti-allergic inflammation
activities, this technology, if applied to other food crops, would not only
help address food security but also elevate nutritional properties in grains."
In OsACBP2-OEs, more OsACBP2 protein is available to
bind acyl-CoA esters, enriching the cytosolic acyl-CoA pool (red arrow) and
increasing oil production (green arrow). Credit: The University of Hong Kong
Explore further
More information: Ze‐Hua Guo et al, The overexpression of rice ACYL ‐ CoA ‐
BINDING PROTEIN 2 increases grain size and bran oil content in transgenic
rice, The Plant Journal (2019). DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14503
Journal information: The Plant Journal
Provided by The University of Hong Kong
Budget chief Avisado bypassed by
CA
Jess Diaz (The
Philippine Star) - December 21, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines — The Commission on Appointments (CA) has bypassed Budget Secretary
Wendel Avisado after confirming Secretary William Dar’s appointment to the
Department of Agriculture
(DA).
Bypassing
takes place when Congress adjourns session and the CA has yet to confirm the
appointment of an official subject to its processes. The legislature officially
adjourned for its month-long Christmas break yesterday.
When
bypassed, an official has to be issued a new appointment by the president.
Avisado
replaced former budget secretary and now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor
Benjamin Diokno. He served as city administrator of Davao City when President
Duterte was its mayor.
The
bypassing of the budget chief comes at a time when Congress is preparing to submit
the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for next year to the President, who
will most likely ask the Department of Budget and Management to review it.
Avisado
could be subject to pressure from certain lawmakers since his appointment has
not been confirmed and he is therefore not holding his job in a permanent
capacity.
In
Dar’s case, the CA confirmed him on Wednesday after the commission’s committee
on agriculture chaired by Rep. Florencio Noel of party-list group An Waray
voted to endorse him.
In
endorsing the DA secretary, Noel described him as an “action man” who could
propel agriculture to the growth path.
The
President appointed Dar in August to replace then secretary Emmanuel Piñol
after the Chief Executive and his economic managers expressed dismay over the
dismal performance of agriculture, which has been holding back the nation’s
economic growth.
For
some years, agriculture even registered negative growth despite the tens of
billions Congress has been appropriating for it in the annual budget.
Lawmakers,
farmers and other farming groups are pinning their hopes on Dar to improve the
agriculture sector’s performance.
The
DA secretary is described as an “expert on agriculture,” having worked for some
international organizations involved in agriculture and research, and served as
DA chief under the Estrada administration.
Sen.
Francis Pangilinan, who was agriculture secretary during the Aquino
administration, said Dar’s “background and professional experience would do
well in the job for the benefit of millions of Filipinos who work in
agriculture.”
However,
in his first few months as secretary, palay prices dropped to levels below
production cost, resulting in billions of losses for rice farmers.
Some
lawmakers have accused him of failing to take aggressive measures to prop up
prices despite remedies available to him under the law, like the imposition of
higher tariff for rice imports.
The
low palay prices have been blamed on the flood of imported rice in the market,
which reportedly brought down retail prices of the staple. Traders and
middlemen peg their buying rates for palay on rice prices
Rice Exports from India Fall, Prices
Recover after Hitting 5 Year Low
Data released by the government revealed decline in rice export from India due to subdued
global demand. Price of basmati and non basmati rice are currently at 5 year
low. However, non-basmati rice prices recovered last week.
Decline
Indian rice exports fell by 42% in October 2019 to 485,898 tonnes.
The surplus supply of rice during harvest season decreased its domestic prices
too. However, domestic prices recovered after hitting five year low owing to
increased MSP and supply decrease from flood affected areas. Despite being the
biggest rice exporter, India’s exports decreased by 28% during April-October
2019 owing to a decrease in demand from Iran for basmati rice and African
countries for non-basmati rice. The price for India’s 5% parboiled non-basmati
rice variety decreased to USD 356-USD 361 per tonne in the first week of
December, being lowest since January 2017. India exports non-basmati variety to
Bangladesh, Nepal, Benin and Senegal and Basmati to Iran, Iraq and Saudi
Arabia.
Reasons
Iran, one of the largest importers of Indian basmati, accounts for
one-fourth of Indian’s exports while European countries import around 8% of
Indian rice. India has lost its export contracts from the EU and Iran due to strict pesticide residual
laws and ending oil imports respectively. It also came into news that
Pakistan’s basmati rice export to Iran increased since the US sanctions on Iran. On the contrary demand for
Vietnam’s 5%, parboiled rice has picked up from the Philippines. Thai variety
prices remained unchanged owing to the strength of the local currency. Besides,
China is favoring Cambodia and Myanmar for importing rice due to low prices.
Indian rice is losing international competitiveness due to high
domestic prices. This is caused due to high MSP on paddy by the government. Earlier,
government provided 5% MEIS benefit to exporters of non-basmati rice
but they stopped MEIS benefit on 24th of March 2019. Government must provide
subsidies for international sales to encourage exports.
Basmati rice prices decreased to USD 800-USD 900 per tonne from
USD 1100-USD 1200 per tonne in six months. Further, no new basmati rice export
contracts to Iran have been signed. Usually Iran signs these contracts with
India by the end of September or beginning of October every year.
In all, excess supply in domestic market and low demand for export
is a worrisome situation of Indian rice farmers and exporters. Further, export
to Iran requires a resolution to bypass US sanctions.
Rice farmers ‘worse off’ under liberalization —
think tank
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:55 AM December 21,
2019
IMPACT OF ‘REFORM’ A study by the
Philippine Institute for Development Studies noted that while consumers gained
from the decline in retail rice prices, it “dealt a blow” to rice farmers as it
pulled down farm-gate prices to record lows. —MARKALVIC ESPLANA
MANILA,
Philippines — Farmers have been made “worse off” under the liberalization of
rice imports, according to a new study by government think tank Philippine
Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
An ex-ante
(based on assumption) analysis by the PIDS released on Wednesday said local
rice producers are projected to lose an average P10 billion a year until 2030
under Republic Act No. 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Law, which was enacted
in February.
“The
negative impacts in producers’ welfare worsens over time. Loss in rice farmers’
income is up to P7.6 billion per year in 2016 prices to 2024, rising to P12.6
billion per year to 2030, for an average reduction of about P10 billion per
year,” the study read.
The study
looked at the probable long-term effects of the policy on both consumers and
producers, and found that while consumers gained from the decline in retail
rice prices, it pulled down farm-gate prices to record lows.
“The impact
of the law differs sharply between rice consumers and rice producers along the
value chain. Availability of cheap imports will tend to pull down the retail
price … However, the same cheap imports allow traders to quote lower palay
prices, likewise pulling down the farm-gate price. Hence, the reform has dealt
a blow to rice producers… ” the PIDS said.
Flat income
From March
to June, the government think tank said, rice imports reached 966,690 metric
tons, a four-fold jump from the volume during the same period last year of only
185,100 MT.
This caused
rice prices to fall by P7 per kilogram or about 15 percent in one year. The
policy helped in tempering the country’s inflation rate, and the trend has
continued since postliberalization, the PIDS said.
Without
liberalization, the PIDS predicted that the farm-gate price of palay could
increase by 1.5 percent a year, accelerating slightly to 1.7 percent to 2030.
With
liberalization, however, the buying price would only rise by 0.2 percent per
year.
Palay
farmers’ income was also projected to grow by 2.5 percent yearly to 2024, and
would accelerate to 2.9 percent every year until 2030. But the PIDS, on the
contrary, said farmers’ income is flat initially after liberalization, and a
1.8-percent reduction is expected thereafter.
“Obviously,
farmers are made worse off by liberalization. On the other hand, consumers gain
from the decline in retail price,” the PIDS said.
Still
‘propoor’
As of the
fourth week of November, a kilogram of palay was being sold at an average of
P15.57, down 22.34 percent from prices last year. In September, palay prices
hit its lowest in eight years at P15.96 a kilo.
Similarly,
rice prices during the period were between P36 to P46 a kilo depending on the
variant—a continuous downtrend since the policy was implemented in March.
Despite
these findings, the PIDS considered the rice tariffication law as a “propoor”
policy, noting that it has cut rice spending across all income brackets except
for those that produce the staple locally.
Finance
Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said during the recent World Rice Congress that
all these were “temporary transition challenges,” and added that, regardless,
the government had been responding with decisiveness.
During his
agency’s year-end press conference early this week, Agriculture Secretary
William Dar said the implementation of the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund, which is designed to aid farmers’ transition to the new rice
regime, has been accelerated and would continue for the next five years.
The
Department of Agriculture has also instituted conditional cash transfers and
loan programs, and intensified campaigns against smuggling and hoarding as well
as local palay procurement.
First millet-meals scientific study in schools
shows millets boost child growth by 50%
REPORT
Published on 18 Dec 2019
New 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.
Support local rice consumption with Executive Instrument —
Oteng-Gyasi
Date: Dec 20 , 2019 , 06:46
BY: Maxwell Akalaare Adombila
An economist and industrialist, Mr
Tony Oteng-Gyasi, has called for an Executive Instrument (EI) that will compel
public and private institutions to procure and consume local rice.
He was of the view that such a law
would help provide a ready market for farmers and processors of the crop,
leading to increased production of the cereal and sustained growth in the crops
subsector of the agricultural industry.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in
Accra last Wednesday, he said the current situation where moral suasion was
being applied to get Ghanaians to patronise local rice was not productive
enough.
He said there was the need
for legislation which would make sure that local institutions such as prisons,
hospitals and schools patronised local rice.
He pointed out that such a policy
could also prop up the economy, adding: “Ultimately, it is good for the economy
when we buy local rice.”
The industrialist argued that
legislation, with sanctions for the person who fell foul of it, would be of
great help to the nation, farmers and other players in the value chain.
Special audits
Mr Oteng-Gyasi, who is a former
President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), was speaking on how to
sustain the ongoing campaign for the consumption of locally produced rice and
extend it to other products in which the country and indigenous businesses in
particular had competitive advantage.
While describing the initiatives as
laudable, Mr Oteng-Gyasi, who is also the Founder and Managing Director of
Tropical Cable Conductor Limited (TCCL), said history had showed that the
goodwill and moral suasion that were being used to canvass support for
indigenous rice “have never worked” and would not yield lasting results.
“In my opinion, it will be good to
back it (the goodwill) with some legal force or something of that sort,” he
said.
Backing
Already, President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia have backed the push for the
consumption of rice produced locally.
President Akufo-Addo has given
instructions to all state agencies to patronise local rice.
Although Mr Oteng-Gyasi lauded the
President and the Vice-President for their advocacy and directives, he believed
legislation held a stronger position on the issue.
“So, in order not to leave it to the
discretion of the individual purchasing officer, it is important that some
executive instrument or some way of enforcing the purchase of local rice by all
institutions is instituted because goodwill has proved not to be sufficient,”
he said.
If local rice was not purchased, in
spite of the coming into force of the EI, Mr Oteng-Gyasi said, “there can be an
audit to see which rice an institution purchased at what time”.
All that, he suggested, would
motivate rice farmers and millers to increase production to levels that would
help make the country self-sufficient in rice production.
Central tendering system
Rice consumption in the country has
enjoyed strong growth, with data from the International Food Research Institute
(IFRI) showing that per capita consumption rose from 17.4 kg between 1999 and
2001 to 24kg between 2010 and 2011.
A chunk of that growth had been
satisfied by imports, according to the data.
Last year, the Minister of Food and
Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said conservative estimates showed that
rice imports were costing the country about $1.1 billion a year.
Mr Oteng-Gyasi, who has been a
strong advocate for local businesses, said those imports could easily be
replaced with locally grown rice when the right policies and programmes were in
place.
One such programme, he said, was
the establishment of a central purchase and tendering system for the purchase
and supply of rice to institutional buyers.
“Rice is a non-perishable commodity
and so you could have a central purchase tendering system where the government
is buying a few thousands and distributing them to all the agencies that
require it,” he said.
He noted that the National Buffer
Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) could play that role to help ensure that ordinary
consumers were not easily deceived into consuming imported rice disguised as
locally produced rice.
He said he was also hopeful that
increased demand for locally produced rice would help lower the prices of the
produce.
Expanding campaign
To further ensure that people did
not re-bag imported rice to sell as local produce, Mr Oteng-Gyasi said the
Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) should certify all indigenous rice for easy
identification by consumers.
He advised the government and other
stakeholders to take advantage of the current euphoria around the consumption
of locally produced rice and extend the campaign to other foodstuffs.
Customs
raid Mubi market, seize foreign rice
ON DECEMBER 20, 20193:32
Officers and men of the Adamawa/Taraba Command
of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Friday raided Mubi town market for
foreign rice and other contraband. News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) reports that
the raid, led by the Comptroller, Kamardeen Olumoh, led to seizure of many bags
of foreign rice and the arrest of three suspects. The customs personnel, with
reinforcement from the police, stormed the commercial border town main market
around 11 a.m and raided many shops and stores. Rivers Task Force continues
state-wide recovery of government properties Speaking on the development, the
Command Comptroller said the raid was in compliance with a directive from the
Comptroller-General of the service in Abuja. “The menace of smuggling around
this axis is alarming for quite some time, the Comptroller General of Customs
ordered that operations be carried out; that Mubi market must be mopped up of
all smuggled items, especially foreign rice. “Today, we are in the market and
we are able to evacuate large quantity of rice and this is a clear signal to
smugglers. “We are backed by the Law, Section 147 of Customs and Excise
Management Act has given us the power to enter or search premises day or night,
to break and enter, make arrest; in fact, without warrant and that is exactly what
we did today,” Olumoh said. READ ALSO: Yuletide: LAKE rice now N17,000 per bag
as LASG releases products for public sales There was, however, mixed reactions
over the raid in Mubi. While marketers were lamenting and condemning it as they
count their loss, farmers were happy and commending the exercise as a positive
step to boost local production of rice.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/12/customs-raid-mubi-market-seize-foreign-rice/
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/12/customs-raid-mubi-market-seize-foreign-rice/
Physical verification of paddy
stocks in Hry to commence today
Saturday, 21 December 2019 | MANOJ KUMAR |
Chandigarh
With the Opposition alleging
gross irregularities in paddy procurement and demanding an independent inquiry
by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Haryana Government has decided to
conduct physical verification of paddy stocks at all the rice mills of the
State from Saturday.
State Additional Chief Secretary
(Food and Civil Supply) PK Das on Friday said the teams comprising officers of
Food and Civil Supply, Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing
Federation (HAFED) and Food Grains Warehousing Federation have been constituted
and they would start conducting physical verification of paddy stocks from
Saturday.
The State government will get
paddy stocks verified in 15 districts of the State, he said, adding the formal
physical verification of the paddy stocks will be completed in five days. No
policemen will be deployed along with the team. But team members have been
directed to seek police assistance if needed in course of inspection in rice
mills. The Civil and Criminal actions will be taken against rice mill operators
after being found irregularities in the procurement of paddy in the State, he
added.
For 1305 rice mills, 140 teams
constituted.
The additional chief secretary
said that there are 1305 rice mills in the State. As per reports, 65 lakh
metric tonnes have been procured by the rice millers on behalf of the
Government agencies against target of 45 lakh metric tonnes. A total of 140
teams comprising 168 officials have been constituted for completing formal
physical verification of paddy stocks in 1305 rice mills in the State. Days for
completing physical verification of particular mill will be done through
lottery system so that millers could not know the day of verification and
indulge in irregularities, he said, adding ten days ago, the department had
conducted internal verification of the stocks and now formal verification of
the stocks will be done.
"Senior officers have been
assigned for supervising the physical verification of paddy stocks of State
procurement agencies lying in rice mills at district level. The verification is
to be completed in five days. I will supervise the physical verification of
paddy stock from secretariat. Media will be briefed about verification reports
on daily basis," he said,
Paddy is purchased every year and
its procurement is done by rice millers on behalf of government agencies.
Necessary quota for the same is determined. Farmers brings their crop to mandis
with more than permitted moisture level of 17 per cent. Some mill owners
opposed physical verification of the paddy stocks while few of them have
welcomed.
Physical verification of paddy
stocks ordered after Oppositions raise paddy scam
Leader of Opposition in the
Assembly and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior Indian
National Lok Dal (INLD) general secretary Abhay Chautala had alleged in the
Vidhan Sabha that paddy was being hoarded by people with vested interests in
the State and sold in the market when the prices of rice internationally went
high. Recently Hooda had demanded CBI inquiry over irregularities in paddy scam
in the State. He alleged that farmers in the state had been cheated by buying
paddy at lower cost from them.
Hooda said a government cannot
function like this. If there is a scam, the government should immediately order
an inquiry by the CBI. “The moment government said a scam came to light in the
milling of paddy, I demanded a probe. However, the government has not taken any
action.” He said.
Giving the example of stand-off
between rice millers and the state government, Hooda said while Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare Minister Jai Prakash Dalal gave clean chit to the millers, some
others in the government were alleging a scam and another physical verification
was ordered.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar had earlier announced that physical verification of stock of paddy
purchased in the mandis during the current Kharif procurement season would be
conducted by the Additional Chief Secretary.
JAK Foundation supports President’s directive on local rice
Date: Dec 20 , 2019 , 06:59
BY: Zadok K. Gyesi
Category:
Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah (middle), addressing the media in
Accra. Those with him are Nana Adjei Ayeh (right) and Nana Ama Oppong-Duah
(right). Picture: GABRIEL AHIABOR
The John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation
(JAK Foundation), in partnership with the Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body
(GRIB), the Millers Association of Ghana and Hopeline Institute, has lauded
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for issuing a directive to compel state
agencies and institutions to purchase and use Ghana rice.
According to the rice interest
institutions, the President’s directive would inure to the benefit of rice
farmers in the country, consumers and the economy in general.
Happy
At a press conference in Accra last
Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer of the JAK Foundation, Professor Baffour
Agyeman-Duah, said: “We are unreservedly happy by the President’s directive
asking all state institutions to procure Ghana rice. This will go a long way to
revitalise the local industry which has seen a decline.”
He said the foundation and its
partners would work out a plan of action towards improving service delivery by
developing a monitoring mechanism to ensure that public institutions adhered to
the President’s directive on local rice.
“We shall also, in collaboration
with our partners, evolve effective and institutionalised monitoring and
evaluation frameworks or strategies for monitoring and/or evaluating compliance
with the President’s directive,” Prof. Agyeman-Duah said.
Directives
President Akufo-Addo, at a media
encounter at the Jubilee House in Accra on Friday, December 13, this year,
directed all state institutions to purchase rice and other foodstuffs produced
in Ghana from January 1, next year to boost the country’s agricultural sector.
India's Intense Agri Drive After 1947
Didn't Stop Crop Diversification: Study
USA Rice Hosts Chinese Importers on
Tour through U.S. Rice Country
By Sarah Moran
RICE COUNTRY, USA -- USA Rice hosted
a group of seven Chinese importers for the past ten days, traveling with them
through rice country in Arkansas, Louisiana, and California. The tour kicked off at the USA Rice Outlook
Conference in Little Rock last week, where members of the delegation had
one-on-one business meetings with several approved exporters to China.
They toured several mills in
Arkansas and Louisiana, and visited the Louisiana State University Rice
Research Center where they learned about rice production practices in
Louisiana, variety development, and the important role growers play in funding
research and promotion for the betterment of the rice industry in the United
States.
Could've used a selfie stick
for this one
"The group was very engaged at
every stop on our tour," said Kane Webb, USA Rice director of field
services, who accompanied the group throughout the entire trip. "They asked a lot of questions,
particularly about jasmine and other varieties, packaging options related to
consumer preference in their market, and the availability of milled rice
throughout the year for export. We were
told the "Grown in the USA" logo was something Chinese consumers want
to see on packages, as it reflects the assurance of a high quality, safe
product."
A highlight of the trip was the
visit to a Louisiana crawfish farm as China consumes more than 90 percent of
the world's crawfish.
"They saw crawfish being caught
on John and Pat Shultz's farm outside of Crowley," said rice farmer Fred
Zaunbrecher from Acadia Parish, Louisiana.
"We cooked them up later that day and had a great feast. This trade mission has been an educational
and enlightening visit, both for the Chinese importers and for us farmers as
well, as we get to learn what characteristics are important to the Chinse rice
consumer."
The team then traveled to California
where they attended a seminar with the California Rice Commission and their
members, followed by one-on-one discussions with several approved exporters to
China.
Derek
Alarcon (third from left) leads the FRC tour
"Farmers' Rice Cooperative
(FRC) hosted an in-depth mill tour showcasing the high standards adhered to in
the U.S. food safety program," said Derek Alarcon, FRC director of export
sales. "They saw our state of the
art milling and packaging equipment, and the process and procedures that
ultimately provide some of the highest quality and safest rice produced
anywhere in the world. I believe our
guests were impressed with the consistency and reliability of U.S. rice, and
will share these attributes when marketing to Chinese consumers."
"The trip coincided with news
of the U.S. and China nearing an agreement on trade, which includes increased
purchases of U.S. agricultural goods including rice (see USA Rice Daily
December 13, 2019)," said Webb.
"Everyone toasted to the positive news between the two governments
and to the prospect of U.S. rice sales to China."
USA Rice continues to facilitate
meetings between Chinese importers and U.S. exporters, with the next
opportunity being at the SIAL show in Shanghai in May 2020.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Congress
Ends 2019 on a High Note for Trade and Ag Funding
WASHINGTON, DC -- The first session of the 116th
Congress is officially a wrap. To say that the happenings in Congress
during 2019 have been interesting would be an understatement. But, two
vital pieces of legislation made headway prior to Congress leaving Washington
for the holiday break.
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5430, which is the implementing legislation for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 385 to 41. The new trade pact is slated to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if approved by all three member countries.
Mexico approved the agreement this past summer; remaining is passage and signature by the U.S. Senate and President, respectively, as well as approval by Canada, which is likely to closely follow U.S. approval. Given the end of the legislative session in the U.S., the Senate will not consider the measure until early next year.
"USA Rice strongly supports the ratification of the USMCA and appreciates the House of Representatives' approval of the agreement," said Charley Mathews, Jr., California rice farmer and chair of USA Rice. "While rice trade with our neighbors to the north and south remains duty-free, we look forward to market stabilization and advancing our efforts to increase exports to our North American trading partners. We're hopeful for the Senate's quick approval of the agreement early next year so we can achieve these goals."
Also
yesterday, the Senate passed two omnibus appropriations measures that were
passed by the House earlier this week. President Trump is expected to
sign the bills into law later today, funding the government for fiscal year
2020 through September 30, while also reauthorizing the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) and several other policy riders.
Discretionary funding in fiscal year 2020 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and related agencies is $23.5 billion, an increase of $183 million over fiscal year 2019. Included in the measure is an additional $1.5 billion allocated for agriculture disaster assistance programs. This additional disaster funding authorizes USDA to cover additional causes of loss, including excessive moisture for the 2018 and 2019 crop years. The measure also replenishes the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) with $26.3 billion in mandatory funding.
"As the 2019 legislative session comes to a close, the U.S. rice industry can be proud of our accomplishments over the past year," said Ben Mosely, USA Rice vice president of government affairs. "However, much work remains to be done this Congress, and USA Rice looks forward to representing our members in Washington and advocating for our priorities next year."
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5430, which is the implementing legislation for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 385 to 41. The new trade pact is slated to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if approved by all three member countries.
Mexico approved the agreement this past summer; remaining is passage and signature by the U.S. Senate and President, respectively, as well as approval by Canada, which is likely to closely follow U.S. approval. Given the end of the legislative session in the U.S., the Senate will not consider the measure until early next year.
"USA Rice strongly supports the ratification of the USMCA and appreciates the House of Representatives' approval of the agreement," said Charley Mathews, Jr., California rice farmer and chair of USA Rice. "While rice trade with our neighbors to the north and south remains duty-free, we look forward to market stabilization and advancing our efforts to increase exports to our North American trading partners. We're hopeful for the Senate's quick approval of the agreement early next year so we can achieve these goals."
Also
yesterday, the Senate passed two omnibus appropriations measures that were
passed by the House earlier this week. President Trump is expected to
sign the bills into law later today, funding the government for fiscal year
2020 through September 30, while also reauthorizing the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) and several other policy riders.Discretionary funding in fiscal year 2020 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and related agencies is $23.5 billion, an increase of $183 million over fiscal year 2019. Included in the measure is an additional $1.5 billion allocated for agriculture disaster assistance programs. This additional disaster funding authorizes USDA to cover additional causes of loss, including excessive moisture for the 2018 and 2019 crop years. The measure also replenishes the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) with $26.3 billion in mandatory funding.
"As the 2019 legislative session comes to a close, the U.S. rice industry can be proud of our accomplishments over the past year," said Ben Mosely, USA Rice vice president of government affairs. "However, much work remains to be done this Congress, and USA Rice looks forward to representing our members in Washington and advocating for our priorities next year."
Supreme Rice announces $20 million expansion
Expansion will add 25,000 square feet to Crowley facility
Posted: 3:56 PM, Dec 19, 2019
Updated: 2:56 AM, Dec 20,
2019
By: KATC News
![Description: items.[0].image.alt](file:///C:/Users/Mujahid/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image027.jpg)
Photo by: Robideaux, Heidi
Supreme Rice President and CEO
Bobby Hanks and Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a $20 million expansion of the
rice mill's facilities in Crowley.
The project will add 25,000 square
feet of manufacturing space, bringing the facility to 75,000 square feet.
With the expansion, Supreme Rice
will retain 150 employees across the state, including 105 at the Crowley site.
Louisiana Economic Development estimates the Crowley mill supports an
additional 374 indirect jobs, for a total of more than 475 jobs in Acadiana and
the surrounding areas.
"Louisiana's natural resources
and geographic position have blessed us with an agricultural bounty that is the
envy of the world," Gov. Edwards said. "This landmark Crowley company
will celebrate 85 years in business in 2021, and they are celebrating this
milestone with a reinvestment in the community. I congratulate the Supreme Rice
team on this expansion and on the securing of great jobs in Acadiana."
The investment will allow the
company to upgrade its current milling process to a new state-of-the-art
milling process. New equipment to be installed will include the latest
technology in milling machines and milled rice storage, and the project will
include related railroad improvements to the site.
"Supreme Rice is pleased to
announce plans to upgrade and expand our rice mill in Crowley, which has been
in operation since 1937," Hanks said. "This expansion is a commitment
to our local community, to Louisiana jobs and to demonstrate Supreme Rice's
strong commitment to the Louisiana rice industry and to the success of the
Louisiana farmer. The Crowley mill will undergo a major state-of-the-art
upgrade and expansion in capacity to improve the ability of the Louisiana
worker to mill, package and ship high-quality milled rice grown by Louisiana
farmers to our customers in the U.S. and around the globe."
Supreme Rice was established in
1936 in Kaplan and moved to Crowley in 1935. The mill processes more than 1
billion pounds of rice annually and produces packages of white long grain,
medium long grain, jasmine, and brown long grain rice. Supreme Rice is the
premier exporter of U.S. milled rice on the gulf coast.
"On behalf of the City of
Crowley, it is an honor to offer congratulations to Supreme Rice and its
leadership on this great day," said Crowley Mayor Tim Monceaux. "With
your leadership and compassion, we are very confident that you will have many
years of success. Crowley is very blessed to have Supreme Rice call this city
home. Again, congratulations and thank you."
Louisiana Economic Development
began discussing a potential expansion project with Supreme Rice in July 2019.
To secure the project, the state offered Supreme Rice a competitive incentive
package that includes $500,000 from Louisiana's Economic Development Award
Program to support infrastructure improvements, as well as a $300,000 Modernization
Tax Credit. The company also is expected to utilize the state's Industrial Tax
Exemption Program.
"For over 80 years, Supreme
Rice has been rooted in Crowley and continues to serve as a driver in our
region's agricultural economy," said President and CEO Amy Thibodeaux of
the Acadia Parish Chamber of Commerce. "We are extremely proud of Supreme
Rice's expansion, which is a testament to the success businesses are having in
Acadia Parish. We appreciate their endless commitment to the farmers and agricultural
industry they serve."
"Supreme Rice has a long
history of helping fuel the growth of Acadia Parish and the surrounding region,
and we're proud they are expanding right here in South Louisiana," said
Troy Wayman, President and CEO of One Acadiana. "This expansion is a
testament to Acadiana's strong business climate, outstanding farmers, and our
incomparable workforce. We're honored to share this milestone with Supreme Rice
and hope to celebrate many more."
For more information on Supreme Rice, click here.
Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CURATION BY
REAP plans to send trade
teams to S Arabia, Australia
By ZAHID BAIG on December 20, 2019
Rice Exporters Association of
Pakistan (REAP) is planning to take trade delegations to Saudi Arabia and
Australia during the next calendar year in a bid to boost Pakistani rice
exports to the two nations.
‘Saudi Arabia is one of the
biggest buyers markets for Pakistani rice. Currently, it is importing around one
million tons of rice out of which 70 per cent is Basmati and this figure can be
enhanced substantially provided both the public and private sector make
concerted efforts,' said REAP Chairman Shahjahan Malik while talking to Business
Recorder here on Thursday.
REAP has decided to send around
18-members Trade Delegation to enhance rice export to Saudi Arabia at the end
of January 2020. It will be the second delegation under Shahjahan Malik as he
took first such delegation during his tenure as Senior Vice Chairman too.
Shahjahan said that they are
planning to visit Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam and holding Biryani festivals there
to showcase Pakistani rice's taste, aroma and potential to the big buyers.
IMF approves second tranche of $452m for Pakistan
DECEMBER 20, 2019
The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) on Thursday (Dec 19) during a meeting of its executive board in
Washington, approved second tranche worth of $452 million for Pakistan under
the $6 billion loan package.
The IMF’s Executive Board was
scheduled to meet on December 19 in Washington to approve the first review and
release of second tranche under $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The letter signed by Shaikh and
Baqir demonstrated Islamabad’s commitment that it would pursue all committed
reforms and conditions so the executive board grants approval for release of
next installment worth $452 million.
“The IMF management have
circulated the signed Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP)
among the members of Executive Board and now the meeting is scheduled to take
place before Christmas holidays on December 19, 2019 for approving release of
next tranche”, official sources confirmed.
IMF’s spokesperson, Gerry Rice,
had confirmed the news on Twitter, saying, “IMF Executive Board approved today
a three-year US$6 billion loan to support Pakistan’s economic plan, which aims
to return sustainable growth to the country’s economy and improve the standards
of living.”
The IMF and Pakistan’s government
had earlier already signed a staff agreement on May 12 in this regard.
“Respect
Akufo-Addo's Directive On Local Rice Use” – Stakeholders tells State
Institutions
By Nana
Yaw Reuben
LISTEN DEC
19, 2019
Chief Executive Officer for the
John A. Kufuor Foundation Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah is urging public and
government institutions to start using Ghana Rice for their programmes and
activities as directed by the President.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah believes that
an enabling policy environment will facilitate massive uptake of the Ghana Rice
sector for increased productivity to make the Ghana Rice sector a viable
business for farmers.
“We are working tirelessly in
different capacities to promote the adoption of Ghana Rice to reduce the
country’s dependence on imported rice” he added.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah made these
remarks during a press conference organized by The John A. Kufuor Foundation in
partnership with value chain institutions such as the Ghana Rice
Inter-professional Body (GRIB), the Miller’s Association of Ghana and Hopeline
Institute to commend the president’s executive order on the consumption of
Ghana Rice.
He believes that the growth of
the rice industry in Ghana would lead to massive job creation and save Ghana
millions cedi’s.
The Value Chain Actors urged
everybody to eat grown in Ghana rice, “So for this Christmas, as you go out to
buy your rice, please make sure you are buying rice which is grown in Ghana;
let’s buy and eat made in Ghana rice,” they added. Below is the press release
by the Value Chain Actors.
PRESS RELEASE:
COMMENDATION TO THE PRESIDENT FOR DIRECTIVE ON GHANA RICE
COMMENDATION TO THE PRESIDENT FOR DIRECTIVE ON GHANA RICE
We would like to warmly applaud
the directive by the President H.E Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo, that all
state institutions must procure Ghana rice, beginning next year.
The John A. Kufuor Foundation in
partnership with value chain institutions such as the Ghana Rice
Inter-professional Body (GRIB), the Miller’s Association of Ghana and Hopeline
Institute, have been working tirelessly in different capacities to promote the
adoption of Ghana Rice to reduce the country’s dependence on imported rice.
After years of collaborating in
diverse ways, mainly through policy and advocacy for reforms in the rice sector,
we find it immensely important that this bold step will be undertaken by
government.
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.
We would like to use this
opportunity to reiterate our full commitment to creating a viable local rice
sector where Ghana will become 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.
In view of this, we would like to
outline the following actions in support of the government’s decision.
KEY POINTS
1. We are unreservedly happy by the President’s directive that all state institutions to procure Ghana rice. This will go a long way to revitalise the local industry which has been blighted by decline.
1. We are unreservedly happy by the President’s directive that all state institutions to procure Ghana rice. This will go a long way to revitalise the local industry which has been blighted by decline.
2. 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.
3. We shall also, in
collaboration with other partners, evolve effective and institutionalized
monitoring and evaluation frameworks/strategies for monitoring and/or
evaluating the compliance with the president’s directive.
4. We shall also engage further
with other state institutions to develop measures that will encourage
nationwide adoption of Ghana rice.
5. The Foundation will support
the value chain actors to forge closer ties to address the challenges of the
rice sector and to create the most conducive environment.
Once again, we will like to
express our sincerest gratitude to the president and also reaffirm our
commitment to promoting Ghana rice and ending the country’s dependence on
imported rice.
Signed
…………………………………..
…………………………………..
The John A. Kufuor Foundation
The Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB)
The Miller’s Association of Ghana
Hopeline Institute Ghana
The Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB)
The Miller’s Association of Ghana
Hopeline Institute Ghana
Pakistani Christian
asylum seekers in Bangkok rounded up by police during Christmas season
19 Dec 2019
Bangkok: (PCP) While
people around the world begin preparations for Christmas and the holidays,
parties and family gatherings that ensue around 30 Pak-Christian asylum seekers
and refugees begin a morale-sapping detention in a Thai cell before moving into
a long-term detainment in the substandard Immigration detention centres (IDC)
in Bangkok.
Worse still family members and friends may have to suffer long term, distant separation from one another as refurbishment at the main Bangkok IDC has already scattered the Pak-Christian community across the nation of Thailand.
This morning at 6am (19th December 2019) immigration officers accompanied by police and the army raided condos at Siriroongruang Soi 38, with intention to arrest the large Pak-Christian asylum seeker/refugee community residing there.
28 people were arrested which includes 9 men, 11 women 6 children under the age of 10 and 2 teenagers. Already our BPCA officer has met and spoken with those arersted and efforts are being made to help with the necessary court fines to keep these vulnerable victims from incarceration in the brutal Central Jails in Bangkok by paying the necessary overstay fines they will be required to pay in court within the next four days and we are seeking information of the date of the court hearing and location. We estimate fines of 4000 baht for each victim. These fines will need to be paid irrespective of any UNHCR held asylum or refugee status as Thailand is not signatory to UN Conventions for asylum.
After paying for court fines the families will be detained in the brutal IDC's throughout the country as repairs are still ongoing on the Bangkok IDC This will leave families separated by some distance in some cases and away from friends and other support as Bangkok. This lack of access will no doubt create a significant amount of stress and anxiety and we will be praying for individuals and ask for others to unite in prayer for them too.
Our lead officer in Thailand, John, said: "The timing of these arrests could not be worse.
"Our community is feeling distraught and extremely sorrowful for our suffering brothers and sisters.
"We were all beginning Christmas celebrations but for many now their joy will be dulled as they await upon their future with only the thinnest strand of hope."
Juliet Chowdhry, said: "This will be a devastating Christmas for all those arrested and we will do all we can to make Christmas feel special for these and other detainees.
"Our primary concern is to cover the overstay fines those arrested will have to pay in order to prevent them from incarceration in a brutal Thai Jail with murderers and rapists - this will adversely affect the children in particular.
"Our staff in Thailand are producing Christmas cards made by asylum seeker children and will distribute them to as many IDC's as financially possible with some Biryani rice near to Christmas.
"Biriyani is a traditional Christmas meal for pak-Christians and when I think of the plain boiled rice they will eat on other days.
"I hope this will remind them that one day this world will end and more pleasant things are awaiting us in heaven."
Worse still family members and friends may have to suffer long term, distant separation from one another as refurbishment at the main Bangkok IDC has already scattered the Pak-Christian community across the nation of Thailand.
This morning at 6am (19th December 2019) immigration officers accompanied by police and the army raided condos at Siriroongruang Soi 38, with intention to arrest the large Pak-Christian asylum seeker/refugee community residing there.
28 people were arrested which includes 9 men, 11 women 6 children under the age of 10 and 2 teenagers. Already our BPCA officer has met and spoken with those arersted and efforts are being made to help with the necessary court fines to keep these vulnerable victims from incarceration in the brutal Central Jails in Bangkok by paying the necessary overstay fines they will be required to pay in court within the next four days and we are seeking information of the date of the court hearing and location. We estimate fines of 4000 baht for each victim. These fines will need to be paid irrespective of any UNHCR held asylum or refugee status as Thailand is not signatory to UN Conventions for asylum.
After paying for court fines the families will be detained in the brutal IDC's throughout the country as repairs are still ongoing on the Bangkok IDC This will leave families separated by some distance in some cases and away from friends and other support as Bangkok. This lack of access will no doubt create a significant amount of stress and anxiety and we will be praying for individuals and ask for others to unite in prayer for them too.
Our lead officer in Thailand, John, said: "The timing of these arrests could not be worse.
"Our community is feeling distraught and extremely sorrowful for our suffering brothers and sisters.
"We were all beginning Christmas celebrations but for many now their joy will be dulled as they await upon their future with only the thinnest strand of hope."
Juliet Chowdhry, said: "This will be a devastating Christmas for all those arrested and we will do all we can to make Christmas feel special for these and other detainees.
"Our primary concern is to cover the overstay fines those arrested will have to pay in order to prevent them from incarceration in a brutal Thai Jail with murderers and rapists - this will adversely affect the children in particular.
"Our staff in Thailand are producing Christmas cards made by asylum seeker children and will distribute them to as many IDC's as financially possible with some Biryani rice near to Christmas.
"Biriyani is a traditional Christmas meal for pak-Christians and when I think of the plain boiled rice they will eat on other days.
"I hope this will remind them that one day this world will end and more pleasant things are awaiting us in heaven."
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.
“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.
Asia Rice-India export rates gain as demand picks up
Karthika
Suresh Namboothiri
December
19, 2019
8:28 AM EST
8:28 AM EST
Last Updated
December 19, 2019
1:15 PM EST
December 19, 2019
1:15 PM EST
Filed under
PMN Business
BENGALURU
— Indian rice export prices extended gains this week as demand ticked up and
paddy prices on the local market rose, while demand for Thai rice was still being
hurt by cheaper competitors.
Top
exporter India’s 5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $360-$365
per tonne this week, up from last week’s $358-$363.
“Paddy
rice prices have been rising as farmers are demanding the minimum support price,”
said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
New
Delhi earlier this year raised the paddy rice purchase price by 3.7% to 1,815
rupees per 100 kg for the 2019/20 crop.
Demand
for the Indian rice has been fairly subdued of late, with export rates near
multi-year lows. 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.
Demand
has been dull for Thailand’s exports too, with prices throughout the year
significantly higher than those from main competitor Vietnam, largely due to a
strong local currency .
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“Prices
are already low for us, but still not low enough to compete with Vietnam,” said
one Bangkok-based trader.
Thailand’s
5% broken rice was quoted at $395-$420 a tonne, on a free on board basis,
compared with $397-$411 last week.
Farmers
are harvesting new season rice and exporters hope the new supply could help
lower prices in the near future.
In
Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice were quoted at $350-$352 a tonne on Thursday,
compared with $350 a week earlier.
“Demand
from the Philippines is increasing, but domestic supplies are running low,” a
trader based in An Giang province said.
“We
expect prices to edge up further until supplies from the winter-spring crop are
available from late January and early February,” he said.
In
Bangladesh, the rain-fed rice output or Aman crop is expected to exceed the 14
million tonne target for this year, helped by favorable weather, a senior
official at the agriculture ministry said.
Aman,
the second biggest rice crop after summer variety Boro, makes up just under 40%
of Bangladesh’s total rice production of around 35 million tonnes.
Fears
that Cyclone Bulbul that ripped through coastal areas of Bangladesh and eastern
India last month could cause havoc, were unfounded, the official added.
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Khanh Vu in Hanoi
and Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
India
Basmati Rice exports fall to $2.22 bn in Apr-Oct FY20
Commodity Online |
December 20 2019
UPDATED 11:56:17 IST
UPDATED 11:56:17 IST
India's basmati rice shipments declined by a tenth at $2.22
billion during April- October 2019-20 on lower volumes, despite a marginal
increase in per unit realisation, according to the latest figures released by
the Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) under
the Commerce Ministry.
Exports of basmati stood at $2.47 billion in the corresponding period last year.
In volume terms, shipments stood lower at 2.05 million tonnes (2.29 million tonnes). Basmati rice is India’s largest export product, and accounted for a fourth of the total farm produce shipments.
Non-basmati rice saw a major decline in both volumes and value terms after being outpriced in the international market. Non-basmati rice shipments were down 37% at $1.14 billion ($1.81 billion) during the period.
Volumes fell drastically to 2.81 million tonnes, against 4.48 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Non-basmati rice accounted for 13% of the overall farm produce exports.
Exports of basmati stood at $2.47 billion in the corresponding period last year.
In volume terms, shipments stood lower at 2.05 million tonnes (2.29 million tonnes). Basmati rice is India’s largest export product, and accounted for a fourth of the total farm produce shipments.
Non-basmati rice saw a major decline in both volumes and value terms after being outpriced in the international market. Non-basmati rice shipments were down 37% at $1.14 billion ($1.81 billion) during the period.
Volumes fell drastically to 2.81 million tonnes, against 4.48 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Non-basmati rice accounted for 13% of the overall farm produce exports.
Supreme Rice in Crowley to undergo $20 million expansion
·
DEC 19, 2019 - 4:17 PM
Gov. John Bel Edwards and Supreme Rice President and
CEO Bobby Hanks on Thursday announced a $20 million expansion of the rice
mill’s facilities in Crowley. The project will secure the company’s position as
a leading rice processor by adding 25,000 square feet of manufacturing space,
bringing the facility to 75,000 square feet.
Supreme Rice is the largest rice-milling operation in Louisiana.
With the expansion, the company will retain 150 employees across Louisiana,
including 105 at the Crowley site.
“Louisiana’s natural resources and geographic position have
blessed us with an agricultural bounty that is the envy of the world,” Edwards
said. “This landmark Crowley company will celebrate 85 years in business in
2021, and they are celebrating this milestone with a reinvestment in the
community. I congratulate the Supreme Rice team on this expansion and on the
securing of great jobs in Acadiana.”
The new investment will allow the company to upgrade its current
milling process to a new state-of-the-art milling process. New equipment to be
installed will include the latest technology in milling machines and milled
rice storage, and the project will include related railroad improvements at the
site.
“This expansion is a commitment to our local community, to
Louisiana jobs and to demonstrate Supreme Rice’s strong commitment to the
Louisiana rice industry and to the success of the Louisiana farmer," Hanks
said. "The Crowley mill will undergo a major state-of-the-art upgrade and
expansion in capacity to improve the ability of the Louisiana worker to mill,
package and ship high-quality milled rice grown by Louisiana farmers to our
customers in the U.S. and around the globe.”
Established in Kaplan in 1936, Supreme Rice moved to Crowley the
following year. Founder Joseph Doré built and implemented one of the first
drying units in the industry, as rice processing moved from field-dried shocks
and threshing to one-step methods. Since its founding, the company has expanded
its reach and is shipping worldwide to more than 50 countries. Processing more
than 1 billion pounds annually, Supreme Rice produces packages of white long
grain, medium long grain, jasmine and brown long grain rice.
“On behalf of the City of Crowley, it is an honor to offer
congratulations to Supreme Rice and its leadership on this great day,” said
Crowley Mayor Tim Monceaux. “With your leadership and compassion, we are very
confident that you will have many years of success. Crowley is very blessed to
have Supreme Rice call this city home. Again, congratulations and thank you.”
Louisiana Economic Development began discussing a potential
expansion project with Supreme Rice in July 2019. To secure the project, the
state offered Supreme Rice a competitive incentive package that includes
$500,000 from Louisiana’s Economic Development Award Program to support
infrastructure improvements, as well as a $300,000 Modernization Tax Credit.
The company also is expected to utilize the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption
Program.
“Supreme Rice has a long history of helping fuel the growth of
Acadia Parish and the surrounding region, and we’re proud they are expanding
right here in South Louisiana,” said Troy Wayman, President and CEO of One
Acadiana. “This expansion is a testament to Acadiana’s strong business climate,
outstanding farmers, and our incomparable workforce. We're honored to share
this milestone with Supreme Rice and hope to celebrate many more."
Acadiana
Business Today: Supreme Rice in Crowley to undergo $20 million expansion; First
riverboat casino approved to come ashore near Lake Charles; see next steps,
expected completion
Inconsistent Weather Brings Low
Yields for 2019 Rice Harvest
Inconsistent weather has defined
the 2019 rice harvest season in Acadiana, bringing low yields.
LSU AgCenter County Agent for
Acadia Parish Jeremy Hebert explains rice yields have dropped anywhere from 15
percent to 30 percent for farmers.
“It’s been a challenging year
across southwest Louisiana.” said Hebert
Hebert added the rice season
began poorly with a wet spring, only accentuated by Hurricane Barry.
He points out that prevented
farmers from properly fertilizing their rice crop putting them behind the eight
ball.
Conditions improved in the fall
but it wasn’t enough to recoup the losses from the spring.
“They’ve gotta explain to their
banker who they are going to get their loans from why they had bad a 2019 year
and it’s going to be tough for a lot of these guys in 2020 to get that loan and
to get back out there in the field.” said Hebert
Alan Lawson is a rice farmer in
Acadia Parish who saw a 20 percent drop in yields.
He believes the down year will
have a trickle down effect
“When a farm turns a profit. We
have a lot of businesses that service the farm sector. You have suppliers and
you have bag manufacturers and you have mills and just every part of the
community, down to the grocery store will notice less disposable money from the
farm side.” Lawson explained.
Both Lawson and Hebert understand
this is just the nature of the beast.
“You can’t spend all of your
money in the good years. You have to have something left over.” said Lawson.
“We’re not going to press the
doomsday button. 2019 shouldn’t dictate how 2020 goes because it’s all up to
mother nature.” said Hebert.
Rice farmers like Lawson are also
keeping a close eye on President Trump’s trade negiotations with China.
Lawson says he hopes they can
break into china market, because us rice isn’t currently sold in China.
Agriculture
Ministry Rejects Criticism Over Low Rice Prices
By VOA Cambodia
A
Cambodian vendor cleans her rice as she prepares it to sell at a rice store in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday, April 27, 2019.
December 20, 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.
Pakistan should export value-added products’
Islamabad:Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina Brig Gen (r) Sakib
Foric, has said that Pakistan can use Balkans as a bridge by capitalising on
the trade and investment opportunities in the Balkans, especially Bosnia,
because other regional countries like India were not that focused on the
region.
Brig Foric was addressing a Roundtable Discussion on ‘Regional
ties: Balkans and South Asia’ organised by Institute of Regional Studies here
Thursday.
Mr Foric asked Pakistanis to focus on value additions to their
export commodities. He maintained that while Pakistani leather was very good,
the Pakistani finished leather products like shoes and jackets were not trendy.
Appreciating Pakistan’s support to the Bosnian refugees during the
Balkans war and supporting its UN mission in completing membership
documentation of various UN bodies, he said that Pakistan was among the first
few countries recognising Bosnia soon after its independence.
He said that there was very little Pakistani investment in Bosnia.
He said that since Bosnia was an energy-surplus country and energy prices were
low, it was a good destination for investment. He regretted that there were
only 22 Pakistanis studying in Bosnian universities despite the fact that there
were some very good universities in his country.
Mr Foric said that although Pakistan and Bosnia were negotiating a
preferential trading agreement, no free trade agreement had been signed between
the two countries, which had limited the trade potential of the two countries.
He regretted that Bosnia and Pakistan only had 7 operational ratified
agreements between them. He said that the market for Pakistani rice, mangoes
and furniture in Bosnia could be explored by Pakistani traders. He said that
another limiting factor in Pakistan-Bosnia economic relations was the lack of
direct flights between the two countries.
Talking about his life in Pakistan, the Ambassador shared that he
received tremendous affection from Pakistanis wherever he disclosed that he was
from Bosnia. He expressed his profound appreciation for the hardworking spirit
of Pakistanis and the remarkably beautiful tourist destinations in the country.
He called for improving tourism infrastructure in Pakistan for further
enhancing Pakistan’s international tourism potential.
He disclosed that Bosnia had attracted 1.8 million foreign tourists
last year. He added that Bosnia had received a large amount of investment in
residential real estate from Arab countries. He estimated the total number of
homes built by Arabs in Bosnia in the last few years at more than 100,000. He
opined that since the Middle Eastern summers were very hot, many Arabs had
invested in real estate in Bosnia to visit in summers. He said that complete
Arab villages had been established by investors from the Arab countries in the
suburbs of Bosnian cities like in the capital Sarajevo.
Dr Rukhsana Qamber, President IRS, in her vote of thanks said that
she had travelled to Bosnia and had found the Bosnian people very friendly
toward foreign tourists.
Modi Govt agrees to procure 24L MT
rice under central pool
Friday, 20 December 2019 | Staff Reporter |
RAIPUR
Finally the Union government has
agreed on procuring 24 LMT rice from Chhattisgarh through Food Corporation of
India under central pool.
A consent
letter regarding the same came on
Thursday after the state submitted details of paddy purchase from farmers on
Minimum Support Price prescribed by the Union government.
Centre had earlier refused the
demand of the state for procuring all the surplus rice which amounts to be 32
LMT. Earlier in the letter written to Union Minister for Food, Ram Vilas
Paswan, Chief Minister Baghel outlined the amount of surplus
rice available with the state while talking about the state's
expectations about Central procurement of rice.
"Out of 57.37 LMT of rice
produced after custom milling, 25.40 lakh will be procured for PDS requirement
of the state (Central 15.48 lakh metric ton, State Pool 9.92 LMT) and nearly 32
LMT of surplus rice will be made available for central
pool of FCI", the state Chief Minister said demanding of the Centre to
procure all the surplus paddy.
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