| 6th December,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter |
PU awards three PhD degrees
By admin
December 6, 2019
The Punjab University on Thursday
awarded three PhD degrees to scholars in various disciplines. The scholars who
were awarded degrees included Sharqa Hashmi in the subject of Statistics after
approval of her thesis titled ‘A Critical Analysis of the Family of Beta
Exponentiated Weibull Distributions’, Farman Ahmad in the subject of
Agriculture Sciences (Plant Pathology) after approval of his thesis titled
‘Role of Commercial Banks in Agri-Business Management in Pakistan (Punjab) A
Case Study of Rice Business in Sialkot District (Punjab)’. Similarly, Muhammad
Raza Taimoor was awarded degree in the subject of History after approval of her
thesis titled ‘Conceptualizing the Idea of Pakistan: Public Sphere in the
Colonial Punjab’.—APP
https://pakobserver.net/pu-awards-three-phd-degrees-2/
Rs 400/kg in Pakistan, but
sky-high prices not a problem as devotees feast on tomato dish at Kartarpur
Sahib
Thanks to
devotees carrying supplies as an offering at Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, a problem of plenty ensured that a
delicious tomato dish was served in langar to around 581 pilgrims who visited
the historic gurdwara on Monday.
Written by Kamaldeep Singh Brar | Published: December 6, 2019
12:04:57 pm
Sai Das cuts vegetables
A heap of tomatoes outside Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib kitchen
belied the essential vegetable’s current luxury status in markets across
Pakistan. At close to (Indian) Rs 200 per kg (Pakistani Rs 400), tomato prices
may have gone through the roof across the border, but thanks to devotees
carrying supplies as an offering at Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, a problem of
plenty ensured that a delicious tomato dish was served in langar to around 581
pilgrims who visited the historic gurdwara on Monday.
“Tomato prices are very high in
Pakistan. So, we had requested a group of devotees to send tomatoes for the
community kitchen. Now, we have them in abundance. Sikh devotees are not only
coming with tomatoes, but they have been bringing other green vegetables as an
offering too,” said Amanat, the Muslim head chef at Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib
for last eighteen years.
He added: “We have no storage
capacity and we feared that tomatoes will start rotting. So, we decided to make
special tomato dish for devotees. I am surprised that devotees are loving it.
Till now, many have asked me the recipe of this special dish. These are just
tomatoes. But it is blessings of the Guru that everyone is loving it.”
The chef said that he wants to
request devotees coming to Gurdwara Sahib through Kartarpur Corridor to bring
material for community kitchen that can be stored for a longer period of time.
“For now we have tomatoes, ginger
and garlic in abundance and we will have no shortage of these. So the devotees
who have plan to visit the gurdwara in near future should come with offerings
like pulses, rice, sugar, desi ghee, salt and spices instead of green
vegetables,” said Amanat.
It is not uncommon for devotees
to offer vegetables and other material for the gurdwara community kitchens.
Amanat, the Muslim head
chef at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib for last 18 years.
About managing the kitchen, Amanat said: “I have been here for
18 years. There was staff of six more, all Muslims, with me. We have employed
12 women and 10 more men for serving langar and washing utensils, peeling
vegetables and other jobs.”
“We start working at 6 am and
work for almost 12 hours in a day. We often get information about how many
people are coming via the Corridor. We plan our day accordingly. Friday,
Saturday and Sunday are most busy days. Around 2500 devotees came this Sunday
via the corridor and it was highest number since the opening of the Corridor.
On other week days, numbers of devotees remains between 500 to 1000. But
numbers are increasing with every passing day,” he added.
Devotees also do sewa at the
community kitchen apart from employees hired by Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandak
Committee, who are mostly Muslims.
The oldest employee at the
gurdwara kitchen is Sai Das. Peeling onions, Das said: “I am aged now. I have
been working here since the gurdwara was reopened. Earlier, very few Sikhs
would come to the gurdwara. Sometimes no one would come in for weeks. But now,
we welcome hundreds of visitors every day. I am very happy that Sikhs have
opportunity to visit this gurdwara. I have seen Sikhs crying after coming here,
but now there are more happy faces.”
A group of Pakistani students,
meanwhile, was stopped outside langar hall. “We don’t know why students are not
allowed. We should be also allowed inside Langar,” said Iqbal, a student from
Narrowal.
Amanat explained: “There are some
restrictions on Muslim devotees, mostly students. Muslim families are allowed
and they have langar. But authorities have restricted the access of Muslim
students. It is mainly because they click many pictures while sitting for
langar.”
Fatima, who came with her younger
sister and two children, said: “We have come from Sialkot. My children wanted
to have experience of langar. Today, we had this chance and it was great
spiritual experience.”
Davider Singh, who visited
Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on Monday, said: “It was sad to see that some Muslims
were not allowed inside the langar hall. It hurts the purpose of langar. Its
main purpose is to make everyone feel equal. Pakistan government and Pakistan
Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee should look into it and everybody should be
allowed.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/pakistan/rs-400-kg-in-pakistan-but-sky-high-prices-not-a-problem-as-devotees-feast-on-tomato-dish-at-kartarpur-sahib-6153528/
Scientists modify plants to fight off
widespread crop disease
The test plants produced a
bacteria-derived antibiotic throughout their lives, successfully protecting
them against a common disease.
Last updated: 5 December
2019 - 4.01pm
1
Scientists have tested a new
method to protect crops from disease by making the plants manufacture
antibiotics derived from bacteria.
They hope it can replace
conventional antibiotics used to treat plants, removing a driver of antibiotic
resistance that could spread to human diseases.
The team at Glasgow University
genetically engineered plants to fight off bacterial infection on their own by
producing a targeted protein antibiotic, or bacteriocin.
This was effective against the
common crop bacteria Pseudomonas syringae (Ps), which causes diseases including
blight and spot.
Researchers claimed Ps is
responsible for about 5% of worldwide crop loss, and attacks plants including
tomatoes, kiwis, peppers, soybeans, olive and fruit trees.
By replacing conventional
antibiotics, we take away an important driver of resistance that could even
spread to human bacterial pathogens
Researcher Joel Milner
The team genetically modified
plants to manufacture the bacteriocin putidacin L1, which is produced by a
harmless soil-living relative of the disease-causing strains of Ps.
The modified test crops produced
the bacteriocin throughout their life – the first time this modification has
been trialled in plants – and fought off the bacterial infection without any
damage to themselves or the environment.
Co-author Joel Milner said: “Our
results provide proof of principle that the expression of a bacteriocin in
plants can provide effective resistance against bacterial disease.
“Unlike conventional antibiotics,
bacteriocins are highly targeted – in this case they act only against the Ps
strains that infect plants.
“By using bacteriocins we avoid
the risks associated with conventional antibiotics – that resistance will
spread indiscriminately to other bacteria.”
The modified plants remained healthy with no environmental
damage (Glasgow University/PA)
Mr Milner added: “In fact,
by replacing conventional antibiotics, we take away an important driver of
resistance that could even spread to human bacterial pathogens.
“Now we know that expression of
bacteriocins in crops can offer an effective strategy for managing bacterial
disease, we are undertaking research to fully realise the potential of this
novel method.”
Co-author Will Rooney said: “All
major bacterial species produce bacteriocins so we should be able to use our
research as a blueprint to tackle a wide variety of important bacterial
diseases in crops like potato, rice and a variety of fruits.”
The work, funded by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Wellcome, was
published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.
https://home.bt.com/news/science-news/scientists-modify-plants-to-fight-off-widespread-crop-disease-11364416069218
KAU’s innovative
formulation comes to the rescue of farmers
KALPETTA, DECEMBER 05, 2019 22:35 IST
Sampoorna mix mitigates loss of micro-nutrients from top soil
Crop loss owing to micro-nutrient
deficiencies in the post-flood scenario of the hill district Wayanad is the
major concern of farmers. However, a group of farmers in Nenmeni grama
panchayat in the district tackled the issue on their field level demonstration
plots by applying “Sampoorna KAU Multimix”, a mixture of micro-nutrients
developed by the scientists of the Kerala Agricultural University.
Jordan Government
to Raise Public Sector Wages Next Year
Thursday, 5 December, 2019 - 18:30
Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz. (Reuters)
Asharq Al-Awsat
Jordan agreed on Thursday to public sector wage rises,
a move that will increase government spending at a time of rising public debt
but is crucial to stave off social instability, officials said.
Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz said the government took the decision, which covers 700,000 state employees including army personnel and civilian and military retirees, even though the country's finances were stretched.
"The economic situation and the exceptional circumstances that Jordan is going through in the region necessitates improving living conditions," Razzaz told an audience of officials and prominent figures.
The government, which has said it will not resort to new taxes, is mindful of protests in neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Iraq, in the past month over eroding living standards and corruption.
Tax rises pushed by the IMF last year sparked some of the biggest demonstrations in years and were also blamed by economists and politicians for a contraction in business activity.
The last significant public sector pay rises in 2010 and 2011 were part of billions of dollars in extra social spending to curb protests inspired by regional uprisings.
The public sector has over the last two decades expanded rapidly as successive governments sought to appease citizens with state jobs to maintain stability.
The runaway spending contributed to a soaring $40 billion public debt, equivalent to 94% of gross domestic product which Jordan has been struggling to rein in under a three-year IMF program that ended this year.
The latest wage increase, which starts next year, will give state workers from bureaucrats to drivers pay increases ranging from 15 to 20 percent along with other substantial rises to army pensioners and civil servants.
They will add at least half a billion dinars ($700 million) to salaries and pensions that already consume the bulk of state expenditure in the 9.8 billion dinars ($14 billion) 2020 draft budget.
The specter of bigger spending has already alarmed the IMF mission that came in November and will return in January to hold talks over a reform program, officials say.
Jordan wants the new program to focus on raising growth that has been stagnant at around 2 percent in the last decade and reduce record unemployment, which has risen sharply in the last two years to 19 percent, they added.
Jordan would resist any push by the IMF to adopt more austerity measures that risked increasing stability and civil unrest, officials say.
The government hopes higher revenues in revived economic activity in a country that has been hit by regional turmoil would help offset the wage bill hikes.
"We hope it will push growth and raise revenues and move the wheels of the economy," Finance Minister Mohammad Al Ississ said
Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz said the government took the decision, which covers 700,000 state employees including army personnel and civilian and military retirees, even though the country's finances were stretched.
"The economic situation and the exceptional circumstances that Jordan is going through in the region necessitates improving living conditions," Razzaz told an audience of officials and prominent figures.
The government, which has said it will not resort to new taxes, is mindful of protests in neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Iraq, in the past month over eroding living standards and corruption.
Tax rises pushed by the IMF last year sparked some of the biggest demonstrations in years and were also blamed by economists and politicians for a contraction in business activity.
The last significant public sector pay rises in 2010 and 2011 were part of billions of dollars in extra social spending to curb protests inspired by regional uprisings.
The public sector has over the last two decades expanded rapidly as successive governments sought to appease citizens with state jobs to maintain stability.
The runaway spending contributed to a soaring $40 billion public debt, equivalent to 94% of gross domestic product which Jordan has been struggling to rein in under a three-year IMF program that ended this year.
The latest wage increase, which starts next year, will give state workers from bureaucrats to drivers pay increases ranging from 15 to 20 percent along with other substantial rises to army pensioners and civil servants.
They will add at least half a billion dinars ($700 million) to salaries and pensions that already consume the bulk of state expenditure in the 9.8 billion dinars ($14 billion) 2020 draft budget.
The specter of bigger spending has already alarmed the IMF mission that came in November and will return in January to hold talks over a reform program, officials say.
Jordan wants the new program to focus on raising growth that has been stagnant at around 2 percent in the last decade and reduce record unemployment, which has risen sharply in the last two years to 19 percent, they added.
Jordan would resist any push by the IMF to adopt more austerity measures that risked increasing stability and civil unrest, officials say.
The government hopes higher revenues in revived economic activity in a country that has been hit by regional turmoil would help offset the wage bill hikes.
"We hope it will push growth and raise revenues and move the wheels of the economy," Finance Minister Mohammad Al Ississ said
Border closure: Spurring rise in rice
milling plants
December 6, 2019
By
It is reported that the Federal
Government’s decision to partially close the country’s land borders since
August this year is already yielding fruits in rice value chain with more rice
milling plants springing up nationwide. Taiwo Hassan reports
The Yuletide season is around
the corner and all eyes are on the country’s rice sector as processors and
merchants are going to step up to meet demand for the number one staple food of
many Nigerians.
There is no doubt that the
border closure has cleared the way for rice millers and producers in the
country to produce abundant rice for consumption at a period smuggling of the
commodity has drastically reduced.
However, against all odd,
reports have, however, showed that hundreds of rice milling plants have sprung
up in the country, while those that were moribund are now being reactivated in
many rice-producing states.
A number of rice millers are
now floating milling plants by adding to their production lines in a bid to
ensure sufficiency and also key into government’s diversification agenda to
promote agriculture.
Genesis
For the record, Nigeria is now
a rice producing nation following Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor
Borrowers Programme (APB), which has opened gateway of opportunities for the
development in the country.
The current administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari would be remembered for the active role it played
towards sustainable development of rice production in Nigeria.
At the launch of ABP scheme on
rice development at Birni Kebbi, Kebbi State in 2015, there were lots of doubts
among some sections of Nigerians about government’s capability to deliver on
its promises on developmental project in the country.
Emphatically, the Anchor
Borrowers Programme has been a success story in all ramifications and it is
even being replicated in some neighbouring countries.
In 2015, at a Federal Executive
Council meeting (FEC) in Abuja, it was agreed that to float rice APB to be
managed by the apex bank, with focus to attain self-sufficiency in rice
production.
Rice millers’ impact
Following Federal Government’s
intention to ban rice importation in favour of local rice production, there has
been aggressive move by private sector–led firms to invest in rice mills.
Particularly, many rice millers
have commenced rice cultivation in line with government’s policy to ensure
sufficiency in the country by year end.
Some of the major rice milling
companies in the country that have heeded the clarion call have intensified
their efforts to see that more rice mills are established in the country to
meet national demand.
These rice companies include
Olam Nigeria Limited owned by Stallion Group, WACOT rice mill, Dangote rice
mill, Sunti Rice Limited, a subsidiary of FMN Plc, Miva rice mill and BUA rice
mill.
Others are Umza Rice, Ebonyi
Rice Mill, Tiamin Rice Mill Limited, Coscharis Farms Limited and others.
Dangote Group is also planning
to establish a multi-billion naira rice processing mill in Hadin, Jigawa State.
The Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, who laid the foundation stone for
the construction of the mill, said it had the capacity to process 16 metric
tons of paddy rice per hour when completed.
He said that in a year, the
mill would process paddy rice worth N14billion, bought directly from famers in
Jigawa at market rate.
Apart from the large millers,
there are many medium-scale ones upgrading their facilities to strengthen
production. They include NFG-CS Rice Mill in Ga’ate and many more in Lafia and
Doma in Nasarawa State; Ogoja Rice Mill in Cross River.
Recently, the management of
Tiamin Rice Mill Limited disclosed that about $13,370,500 was invested to boost
its production capacity from the current 320 tonnes to 1,520 tonnes per day.
The Managing Director of the
company, Aminu Ahmed, explained that the policy of the current administration,
especially the ban on smuggling and the interventions given to them by CBN, had
helped immensely in boosting local production of rice.
He also revealed that the
company was established in 2016 in Kano and started production of rice in 2018
with 320 tonnes per day.
Ahmed disclosed that the
existing production line in Kano would be expanded from 320 tonnes to 920
tonnes next year, just as a new production line would start production of 600
tonnes per day in Bauchi by May 2020.
New rice mills
In order to sustain the
momentum in rice production, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the
sum of N10.7 billion for the construction of 10 new rice mills to sustain the
actualisation of rice-sufficiency programme last year.
Speaking at the press briefing
after the council’s meeting, a former Minister of State for Agriculture,
Heneiken Lokpobiri, said FEC approved the establishment of 10 rice mills with
capacity to produce 100 tonnes per day, which would be managed by private rice
millers.
Lokpobiri said the FEC approved
the construction of 10 large rice mills to boost the milling capacity of rice
value chain in the country.
“A few years ago it was
reported that this country needs a minimum of 100 large rice mills. As of today
we have about, 21, but the Federal Government in its wisdom decided that today
we should approve the establishment of 10 at the total cost of N10.7 billion,”
he added.
According to the former
minister, the rice mills would be given to the private sector for proper
management as they would pay back within a given time frame as agreed between
the Bank of Agriculture and the rice millers.
Lokpobiri noted that the mills
wouldbe located in Kebbi, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Bayelsa, Anambra, Kaduna, Ogun,
Niger and Bauchi states.
Last line
With brisk business at full
swing for local rice millers at this period despite challenges of sophisticated
equipment to improve on paddy processing, some agric experts still doubt the
capacity of the rice millers to meet national demand.
Rice Sector
Sounds Alarm On Shrinking Working Capital, Asks for $200 Million
05
December 2019
FILE: A farmer collects and packages his rice along a
local road in Banteay Meancheay province, on Feb. 23, 2019 (Sun Narin/VOA
Khmer)
In 2016, the Cambodian government infused $27 million through
the Rural Development Bank to assist the sector, adding another $23 million in
2017. The new request is the largest request made so far.
PHNOM PENH —
The Cambodia Rice Federation on
Wednesday said the sector needed at least $200 million in capital infusion to
enable rice millers to buy paddy from farmers, far higher than previous
requests for assistance.
Chan Sokheang, vice president for
the CRF, said the $200 million was needed as emergency capital to continue the
purchase of paddy till January 2020. The rice federation official said there
had been a drop in loan approvals from commercial banks, which coincided with
the European Union’s imposition of tariffs on rice exports.
He did not provide additional
details for why loan approvals were easing off. The rice sector was in January
hit with tariffs for three years on exports to the EU, after Italy triggered
protectionist measures in the ‘Everything But Arms’ trade scheme.
“We need $200 million to buy rice
because the commercial banks have decrease the number of loans in the
agricultural sector after [tariff] restrictions from the EU,” he said.
He added that available working
capital was around $150 million, but the demand was for around $300 million to
$350 million, hoping that multilateral institutions could help ease this credit
shortage as well. Proposals had been made to the Rural Development Bank, he
said, and they were awaiting a response from the Ministry of Economy and
Finance.
In 2016, the Cambodian government
infused $27 million through the Rural Development Bank to assist the sector,
adding another $23 million in 2017. The new request is the largest request made
so far.
Kao Thach, CEO of Rural
Development Bank (RDB), could not be reached for comment on Wednesday and
Thursday.
Agriculture expert Yang Saing
Koma said he was unaware of why there was a credit shortage or why commercial
banks were scaling back loan approvals to the sector. But that the RDB needed
to increase available capital to rice millers, he added.
“When commercial banks don’t give
out loans, interest rates are high and the Rural Development Bank doesn’t add
capital, it will not be good at all for this year,” Saing Koma said.
While Cambodian rice exports to
the EU are being tariffed, China has increased its imports of rice from the
Kingdom, to preempt any drops in the European demand. At the same time, rice
farmers have seen a decrease in prices and have been asked by the government to
refrain from planting rice this dry season.
Leng Yen, a rice farmer in
Banteay Meanchey province’s Monkulburi district, said it seemed the rice
millers, how purchase, process and export rice, did not have money to buy
paddy, which was already being sold by farmers at a low price.
“If the state gives loans to the
big rice millers, the millers will be able to buy rice for storage and
potentially the rice will fetch [us] a good price,” he said.
Cambodia exported around 400,000
tons of rice for the first nine months of 2019, a small two percent increase
compared to the same period in 2018. The EU was still the largest importer of
rice at 269,000 tons, followed by China which imported 170,000 tons, as of
October this year.
Group, firms partner to stop foreign rice imports
Samuel Awoyinfa
Nigerians in Diaspora organisation, Asia, has partnered Kanryu
Industry, Japan and Irai Denchi Nigeria Limited to produce rice processing
machines to ensure sufficiency in rice production and halt importation of the
staple food.
The rice processing machines among other things would dehusk,
dehull, remove pebbles and do total polishing of rice paddy.
The groups hosted a one-day sensitisation seminar on the ‘rice
value chain’ in Lagos on Wednesday.
The President, NIDO, Asia, Emenike Ejiogu, said rice remained a
major stable food in Nigeria, noting that with the recent closure of nation’s
borders, the quest for foreign quality of rice was on the increase.
He said this informed the need for NIDO to collaborate with
other technological companies to produce rice modular machines that could
perform total processing of rice paddy that could match global standards.
He said, “The Nigeria government some years ago encouraged
Nigerians in diaspora to do business outside Nigeria, and form association of
technology hub and skills that will help in national development. Following the
call of the government, most of us in Asia, America among others formed this
group called NIDO, an NGO, in pursuance of national development.
“We partner a Japanese manufacturing company to produced rice
modular machines that do dehusking, dehulling, ‘destoning’ and polishing.”
The Chairman, Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japan,
Ochade Osekwe, said the processing machine could produce 400kg rice per
shift, amounting to eight (50kg) bags of rice.
He noted that the production of the technology- based machine
for rice processing would boost the Nigerian economy and grow its Gross
Domestic Product.
The Managing Director, International Consulting Company, Japan,
Mr Taeho Park, said its company produced the machine in an electrical and
engine-based format.
Iraq Outlines
2020 Wheat Import Goal, Says Protests Not Disrupting Cargoes
Thursday, 5 December, 2019 - 09:30
Iraq plans to purchase 750,000 tons of wheat from abroad in 2020.
(Reuters)
Asharq Al-Awsat
Iraq, a major Middle East grain importer, said on
Wednesday it planned to purchase 750,000 tons of wheat from abroad in 2020 and
said nationwide protests that have extended to a key port were not disrupting
shipments so far.
Iraq needs between 4.5 million and 5 million tons of wheat a year to supply its food rationing program. It mixes local wheat with grain from Australia, Canada and the United States.
“This is within our planning budget,” Hassanein al-Zubaidi, the new head of the Iraq Grain Board, told Reuters, referring to the target of importing 750,000 tons of wheat next year.
Zubaidi, who took up the post as head of the state grain buyer in October, said Iraq had 1.2 million tonnes of strategic wheat reserves, enough to last three months.
Zubaidi replaced Naeem al-Maksousi a week after the eruption of protests against the government and demanding an end to corruption. Protests, in which over 400 demonstrators have been killed, have spread to the Gulf port of Umm Qasr.
But Zubaidi said on Wednesday shipments were offloading normally. “We don’t currently have problems in discharging rice and wheat from vessels in Iraqi ports,” he said. Umm Qasr receives imports of grain, vegetable oils and sugar shipments to a nation largely dependent on imported food.
Zubaidi said Iraq, which had a two-month strategic reserve of rice, signed a contract to import 120,000 tons of Vietnamese rice last week.
The country’s rice purchases from local farmers were expected to reach 667,000 tons this season, he said.
The grain board, which falls under the Trade Ministry, holds regular international tenders to import wheat and rice for the rationing program that covers flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk formula.
The program was first created in 1991 to combat UN economic sanctions.
Iraq needs between 4.5 million and 5 million tons of wheat a year to supply its food rationing program. It mixes local wheat with grain from Australia, Canada and the United States.
“This is within our planning budget,” Hassanein al-Zubaidi, the new head of the Iraq Grain Board, told Reuters, referring to the target of importing 750,000 tons of wheat next year.
Zubaidi, who took up the post as head of the state grain buyer in October, said Iraq had 1.2 million tonnes of strategic wheat reserves, enough to last three months.
Zubaidi replaced Naeem al-Maksousi a week after the eruption of protests against the government and demanding an end to corruption. Protests, in which over 400 demonstrators have been killed, have spread to the Gulf port of Umm Qasr.
But Zubaidi said on Wednesday shipments were offloading normally. “We don’t currently have problems in discharging rice and wheat from vessels in Iraqi ports,” he said. Umm Qasr receives imports of grain, vegetable oils and sugar shipments to a nation largely dependent on imported food.
Zubaidi said Iraq, which had a two-month strategic reserve of rice, signed a contract to import 120,000 tons of Vietnamese rice last week.
The country’s rice purchases from local farmers were expected to reach 667,000 tons this season, he said.
The grain board, which falls under the Trade Ministry, holds regular international tenders to import wheat and rice for the rationing program that covers flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk formula.
The program was first created in 1991 to combat UN economic sanctions.
The politics of border closure
December 05
11:152019
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The closure of Nigeria’s land borders to the movement of goods and
persons, since October 2019, has understandably been generating intense debates
among Nigerians and others, especially the countries affected by the border
closures. Nigeria shares land boundaries with Benin, Niger and Cameroun. The
government had initially imposed a partial closure of the borders in August
ostensibly to facilitate a joint operation involving customs, immigration,
police, and army officers on those borders, which it code-named Swift Response.
President Buhari has not given definite indications about when the closed
borders will be re-opened, though not many expect such to happen before the end
of January next year.
In taking the decision to close the
borders, the Nigerian government highlighted the well known facts that these
borders are avenues for the smuggling of all sorts of goods into the country
(such as rice and poultry products) and for the illegal export of subsidized
petrol from the country to the neighbouring countries. The World Bank
estimates that about 80 per cent of imports into Benin Republic, which has a
population of only 11 million people, are destined for Nigeria. Similarly, the
Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria has claimed that some 10-20% of
Nigerian fuel is smuggled into the neighbouring countries. The Buhari
government feels convinced that our neighbouring countries are not doing enough
to enforce regional protocols on the transit of goods. Buhari, whose government
has pursued a wide range of protectionist measures since he came to power in
2015 (including placing restrictions on the sale of foreign exchange for the
importation of 41 products that include rice, palm oil, beef) has argued that
allowing cheaper imports will undermine his government’s efforts to push the
country towards self-sufficiency in local production.
There are a number of issues raised
by the government’s decision to “temporarily” close its land borders:
One, border closure in Africa is
not unusual. For instance, earlier this year Sudan closed its border with
Libya and the Central African Republic while Kenya suspended cross-border trade
with Somalia. Both countries cited security concerns for their actions. Rwanda
also briefly closed its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in
response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC. Nigeria’s border closures
however differ from the above mentioned on their suddenness and the fact that
they were premised mostly on smuggling concerns – though the government also
mentioned the need to checkmate the movement of terrorists. The unexpected
nature of the announcement gave traders and communities little time to prepare
for the economic shock that followed.
Two, there is a feeling that the
government is using the border closures to opportunistically mobilize patriotic
sentiments through making scapegoats of the neighbouring countries. For
instance the government recently claimed it uncovered “hundreds of filling
stations” along Nigeria’s Magama Jibia border with the Republic of Nigeria,
which it said were set up for the sole purpose of smuggling of petroleum
products from Nigeria. As if to drive home the innuendo that the
neighbouring countries are major causes of the country’s economic woes,
the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, claimed
that since the border closure, the country has recorded over 30 per cent
increase in revenue – with the Customs recording daily revenues of between N5bn
and 8bn compared to the N4.5bn it recorded daily before the closure. The
argument here is that the move has boosted government revenues because more
duties are being collected on the increased volume of goods entering the
country legally through the ports than before. The Minister further asserted
that since the border closures, bandits and terrorists are finding it hard to
procure arms and ammunition. He also inveighed that since the closures there
has been a reduction in cases of cattle rustling, kidnapping and armed
banditry.
Three, while the government has
been proclaiming the successes of the border closure, the negative economic
impact of the move is often downplayed. For instance while the government
claims that the border closure will protect domestic industries and stimulate
local production, it glosses over critical issues like domestic demand. A good
example here is rice, a heavily consumed staple in the country. According to
the US Department of Agriculture, domestic production of rice in Nigeria in
2018/2019 was only 3.7 million tonnes (or about half of local demand). Though
the Buhari government has since 2015 provided incentives to rice farmers,
including generous credit and subsidized inputs, demand still far outstrips
supply, and the government’s ban on rice imports (on a wrong assumption that
the country has attained self sufficiency in rice production) has the
unintended effect of encouraging smuggling since the shortfall in supply
provides an enhanced opportunity for accumulation. Not surprisingly therefore,
with the ban on the importation of rice, and with domestic demand
for the staple outstripping supply, prices of the staple – both the imported
and the locally cultivated varieties – have skyrocketed.
Four, border closures also have
consequences for legitimate Nigerian businesses that export their goods to
neighbouring countries through the closed land borders. For instance a recent
report by FSDH Merchant bank found that some textile firms in Kano have closed
shop because they cannot export to clients across the border with Niger.
Following from this, critics have wondered whether border closure is an
effective solution to the problem of smuggling or whether it can simply
complicate the problem.
Five, is the question of
whether the obvious benefits from the border closures (such as increased
revenue to the government) are enough to offset some of their deleterious
impact on the informal sector, which at 65 per cent of the country’s GDP, is
the largest in sub-Saharan Africa? How, for instance, do the gains from
the measures offset the pains they inflict on ordinary Nigerians, more than
half of whom live in abject poverty? For example, following the border
closures, official inflation figures rose in October to 11.6 per
cent year-on-year, driven by food prices, which jumped 14.1 per cent
during the same period to an 18-month high. It is estimated that an
average Nigerian spends about 60 per cent of his/her wage on food.
Six, very worrying is that the
border closures come just three months after the country celebrated signing the
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in August. AfCFTA, which aspires
to create a ‘continental market’ with the free movement of persons, capital,
goods and services comes into force in July 2020 and is predicted to increase
intra-African trade by 53.2 per cent. There are also questions of whether
the border closures are consistent with the country’s commitments to the
ECOWAS’ protocol on trade liberalization, in which members commit to
eliminating custom duties, quotas and quantity restrictions and to accord each
other most favoured nation treatment. It can even be argued that as a member of
the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995, Nigeria is bound to comply with
similar commitments at a multilateral level. In essence, Nigeria’s border
closure demonstrates the implementation gap that often exists in Africa between
the letters of regional and continental agreements and the actual measures that
some African governments adopt.
Seven, no one doubts that Nigeria as
a sovereign country has a right to do all it can to protect itself from
smugglers, and to allow its perceived national interests to drive its policy
options. No one also doubts that the concerns about the impact of smuggling on
local production and industries are legitimate. The question however is whether
border closure is the most appropriate instrument for dealing with the problem.
For instance both the AfCFTA and the ECOWAS protocol on trade liberalization
contain a number of provisions that could be used to respond to border
smuggling, including provisions to strengthen customs cooperation and trade
facilitation. It should also be highlighted that Nigeria is already moving away
from a heavy reliance on physical monitoring of entry points to technology-driven
monitoring. For instance in late April, the government approved N52bn for
electronic monitoring of 86 border posts and over 1,400 illegal routes to
tackle smuggling and criminality. The question is whether the deployment
of technology, the strengthening of the capacity of border agents to do their
job well, and invigorating custom co-operation with the neighbouring countries
will not give a better outcome than the blunt measure of border closure?
Email: pcjadibe@yahoo.com
Twitter: @JideoforAdibe
IRRI,
government tap cloud computing for rice database
December 6, 2019
In Photo: An irrigation canal divides a huge tract of land
planted with rice in Bulacan.
The International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) have
unveiled a comprehensive database that can help policy-makers and researchers
create new knowledge to improve rice production.
Dubbed Ricestats Database, Irri
said it intends to create a reference resource by using ontology to combine
data into a one-stop accessible database with a displayable dashboard for rice
statistics.
The platform runs on Amazon Web
Services, such as AWS Glue, Athena, and S3 for data extraction, transformation
and loading while the transformed data is stored in AWS cloud warehouse
Redshift.
The database will contain data
from existing household surveys conducted by Irri globally and will include
data from national bureaus and international organizations. Currently, Irri
said such a consolidated database with disaggregated data, such as production
by season and gender of household head up to the barangay level, does not exist
for rice in Asia.
“Without new knowledge especially
in science and technology, without the new knowledge that will be generated, it
will be difficult to make good decisions on conservation and resource use,
something that is vital to the success of rice production,” said academician
Dr. William Padolina in his speech.
The launch held recently in
Makati City, was hosted by Irri, the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology
Institute (Asti) and AWS.
Irri is connected to the
Philippine Research, Education, and Government Information Network, which is
being managed by the DOST-Asti. PREGINET is the Philippines’s only National
Research and Education Network (NREN) that is connected to a global REN, of
which “Asi@Connect” is the Asia-
Europe connection.
Europe connection.
“Ricestats Database will enable
the dissemination of comprehensive rice socioeconomic data through an easily
accessible database interface on a wider scale. The project will provide a
unique resource for agricultural and social science researchers, academia,
policy-makers, donors and investors in the rice sector and beyond,” said Irri
Representative for the Philippines Romeo Recide. Asi@Connect empowers
Asian countries by enabling them to participate in collaborative programs like
Ricestats Database. They also bridge the digital divide that exists within the
global communities of research, education and health.
Asi@Connect marks the fourth
phase of European Union funding to the Trans-Eurasia Information Network
program which was launched as an Asia-Europe Meeting initiative in 2000; it
successfully established a regional research and education Internet network
from scratch in 2004, and progressively expanded its geographical footprint
over the years.
The Asi@Connect partners
are the NRENs of Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Warmer Temperatures Will Increase Arsenic
Levels in Rice, Study Shows
December 5, 2019
People around the world consume
rice in their daily diets. But in addition to its nutrient and caloric content,
rice can contain small amounts of arsenic, which in large doses is a toxin
linked to multiple health conditions and dietary-related cancers.
Now researchers at the University
of Washington (UW) have found that warmer temperatures, at levels expected
under most climate change projections, can lead to higher concentrations of
arsenic in rice grains. The team will present these findings Dec. 10 at the
American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco.
“We know that more arsenic is
released from soil at higher temperatures. Here we saw this response to
temperature in the soil impact the arsenic content of rice grain,” says senior
author Rebecca Neumann, a UW associate professor of civil and environmental
engineering. “We were working with soil that had relatively low arsenic levels,
but the warmer temperatures still led to increased arsenic concentrations in
the grains at ranges where we begin to have health concerns. If these results
are representative of what we might expect for field-grown rice, then climate
change could exacerbate the problem of arsenic-contaminated rice.”
Arsenic occurs naturally in the
soil, though its concentration is higher in areas that have historically used
arsenic-based herbicides or where irrigation water contains arsenic. When
farmers grow crops like rice under flooded conditions, arsenic is drawn out of
the soil and into the water.
“In general, the plant is like a
big tube or a straw as it draws water up from its roots to its leaves. And rice
naturally takes up arsenic because the arsenic mimics other molecules that
these plants preferentially draw out of the soil,” says lead author Yasmine
Farhat, a UW doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering. “It’s a perfect
storm for concentrating arsenic.”
To determine whether rice would
draw up more arsenic under warmer conditions, the team collected soil from a
paddy field in Davis, California. Back in Seattle, the researchers grew rice in
this soil in temperature-controlled growth chambers.
They compared arsenic uptake
under four different temperature conditions. Some plants were grown under
normal conditions for that part of California: 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 C) on
average during the day. Others were grown at incrementally warmer temperatures
reflecting different potential levels of warming for that region by the end of
this century: 82 F (28 C), 87 F (30.5 C), and 91 F (33 C). Night time
temperatures were 3.6 F (2 C) cooler than daytime for all plants.
As the temperature increased, the
team saw increased uptake of arsenic to every part of the plant the researchers
looked at — including the rice grains.
“For the stem and the leaves,
it’s a clear step up in arsenic concentration as we increase the temperature,”
Farhat says. “For the grains, the highest temperature made the plants so
stressed out that they didn’t produce any grains. But these other two forecasts
of increasing temperature show a similar increase of arsenic in the rice
grains. Arsenic concentrations in the grain more than tripled between the low-
and high-temperature treatments.”
Arsenic is a toxin for rice
plants too, and they have mechanisms to protect themselves against higher
levels of it. One method includes turning on a protein that sequesters arsenic
in specific cells and tissues of plant. But when the researchers measured
expression levels of this protein in their plants at higher temperatures, they
saw no difference compared to the plants grown at today’s relatively low
temperatures.
“Maybe the arsenic concentration
was so low in our soil that the plant wasn’t ‘aware’ it needed to turn on its
defense mechanism,” Farhat says. “We haven’t been as concerned about these
low-arsenic systems, but our data suggest that as temperatures start to warm, even
rice grown in soil with low arsenic could be at risk for having higher levels
of arsenic in the grains.”
Some forms of arsenic are more
toxic than others. The team is now collaborating with researchers at UW Tacoma
to develop a method that would allow them to see what forms of arsenic are in
the different parts of the plant. That way, they can get a better picture of
any potential health risks to people.
“Arsenic in all forms is bad for
us, and it’s bad for the plants as well,” Farhat says. “Increasing arsenic can
decrease crop yield. That can be economically bad for rice farmers. I want
people to remember even if they are not eating a lot of rice, a lot of people
are heavily relying on this crop. When we’re thinking and planning for the
future, we need to remember that rice touches a lot of people and we should
work together on that.”
https://seedworld.com/warmer-temperatures-will-increase-arsenic-levels-in-rice-study-shows/
Less rice, more nutritious crops will enhance
India’s food supply
By Nyooz Admin
December 6, 2019
Credit: Columbia University
India can sustainably enhance its
food supply if its farmers plant less rice and more nutritious and
environmentally-friendly crops, including finger millet, pearl millet, and
sorghum, according to a new study from the Data Science Institute at Columbia
University.
The study, published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that diversifying crop
production in India, in this case replacing some rice—India’s main crop—with
millets and sorghum, would make the nation’s food supply more nutritious while
reducing irrigation demand, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. Such
diversification of crops would also enhance India’s climate resilience without
reducing calorie production or requiring more land.
“To make agriculture more
sustainable, it’s important that we think beyond just increasing food supply
and also find solutions that can benefit nutrition, farmers, and the environment.
This study shows that there are real opportunities to do just that,” says Kyle
Davis, an environmental data scientist at the Data Science Institute at
Columbia University and lead author of the study.
With nearly 200 million
undernourished people in India as well as widespread groundwater depletion and
the need to adapt to climate change, increasing the supply of nutri-cereals may
be an important part of solving India’s food shortage, Davis says.
Historical practices, especially
the Green Revolution, have promoted the use of high-yielding seed varieties,
irrigation, fertilizers, and machinery and emphasized maximizing food calorie
production often at the expense of nutritional and environmental
considerations. But Davis assessed India’s crops according to multiple indices.
He and fellow researchers evaluated alternative production decisions across
multiple objectives using India’s rice-dominated monsoon grain production as a
case study.
The team performed a series of
optimizations to either maximize the production of important dietary nutrients
(i.e., protein and iron), minimize greenhouse gas emissions and resource use
(i.e., water and energy), or maximize resilience to climate extremes. They
found that planting more coarse cereals such as millets and sorghum could
improve India’s national food supply in myriad ways. On average, it would
increase protein by 1 to 5 percent; increase iron supply by 5 to 49 percent;
increase climate resilience (1 to 13 percent fewer calories lost during a
drought), and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2 to 13 percent. The
diversification of crops would also decrease the demand for irrigation water by
3 to 21 percent and reduce energy use by 2 to 12 percent while maintaining
calorie production and using the same amount of cropland.
These findings show the many
potential benefits of increasing millet and sorghum production in India,
particularly in regions where rice yields are currently low, Davis says. “This
work provides strong evidence that agriculture can be a powerful tool in
helping to solve many of our planet’s most important challenges, including
malnutrition, climate change, and water scarcity.”
The Indian Government is also
promoting the increased production and consumption of nutri-cereals, which will
be important for farmers’ livelihoods and the increased cultural acceptability
of these grains.
More information:
Kyle Frankel Davis et al. Assessing the sustainability of post-Green Revolution cereals in India, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1910935116
Kyle Frankel Davis et al. Assessing the sustainability of post-Green Revolution cereals in India, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1910935116
Citation:
Less rice, more nutritious crops will enhance India’s food supply (2019, December 4)
retrieved 5 December 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-12-rice-nutritious-crops-india-food.html
Less rice, more nutritious crops will enhance India’s food supply (2019, December 4)
retrieved 5 December 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-12-rice-nutritious-crops-india-food.html
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Nitya Annadanam:
contributionof vegetable donors lauded
TIRUMALA, DECEMBER
05, 2019 19:21 IST
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