چاولوں
کی کون سی قسم صحت کے لیے فائدہ مند؟
یوں تو
چاول نشاستے سے بھرپور غذا ہے اور یہ صحت کے لیے نہایت فائدہ مند غذا سمجھی جاتی
ہے، لیکن کیا واقعی ایسا ہی ہے؟
ایک
تحقیق میں ماہرین کا کہنا تھا کہ سفید چاول غذائیت کے اعتبار سے کم ہوتے ہیں۔ سفید
چاولوں سے ملوں میں پروسیسنگ کے دوران وٹامن بی، آئرن، اور ریشے صاف کردیے جاتے
ہیں۔
گو کہ اس
میں آئرن اور وٹامن بی بھرپور مقدار میں موجود ہوتے ہیں اور پروسیسنگ کے باوجود
ان کی مقدار سفید چاولوں میں برقرار رہتی ہے لیکن ریشے بالکل صاف ہو جاتے ہیں۔
یاد رہے
کہ ریشہ ہاضمے کو بہتر بنانے کے لیے نہایت مددگار ہے اور ریشے کے بغیر چاول موٹاپے
کا سبب بنتے ہیں۔
دوسری
طرف بھورے یا براؤن چاول اپنے مکمل غذائی اجزا کے ساتھ موجود ہوتے ہیں کیونکہ ان
کی پروسیسنگ کے دوران صرف ان کا بیرونی چھلکا نکالا جاتا ہے جو کھانے کے قابل نہیں
ہوتا۔
بھورے
چاولوں میں اینٹی آکسیڈنٹس، وٹامن ای اور ریشہ بھرپور مقدار میں موجود ہوتا ہے۔
ماہرین کے مطابق ایک کپ پکے ہوئے بھورے چاولوں میں 3.5 گرام ریشہ ہوتا ہے جبکہ اسی
مقدار کے سفید چاولوں میں ایک گرام سے بھی کم ریشہ موجود ہوتا ہے۔
تحقیق کے
مطابق بھورے چاولوں میں سبالرین نامی ایک اور مادہ موجود ہوتا ہے جو حیرت انگیز
طور پر سفید چاولوں میں موجود نہیں ہوتا۔ یہ بلند فشار خون یعنی ہائی بلڈ پریشر سے
تحفظ فراہم کرتا ہے۔
اسی طرح
براؤن چاول ذیابیطس ٹائپ 2 کا خطرہ بھی کم کرتے ہیں۔
ماہرین
کی تجویز ہے کہ چاولوں کو کھانے سے قبل ان کی بہتر قسم کا انتخاب کیا جائے تاکہ ان
میں موجود غذائیت سے فائدہ اٹھایا جاسکے۔
Pokkali rice is going places
KOCHI, JANUARY
01, 2019 22:18 IST
UPDATED: JANUARY 02, 2019 12:18 IST
Pokkali is tolerant to submergence in water for a week, the reason
why it was unaffected by the August floods. | Photo Credit: H_Vibhu
Scientists turn to pokkali to
develop rice varieties tolerant to salinity, temperature
Not many Malayalis may have heard
about pokkali, but Kerala’s very own indigenous rice variety is inspiring
scientists the world over to develop new rice cultivars in an effort to build
resilience against climate change.
Several teams of researchers have
turned to pokkali to study how the indigenous rice variety, which is
traditionally cultivated only in the districts of Ernakulam, Thrissur and
Alappuzha, is able to thrive in naturally-occurring saline coastal paddy
fields.
A team, including scientists from
New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), has found through a series of
experiments conducted over six years that the high expression of a specific
gene – OsIF – stabilizes the plant’s photosynthetic machinery in high salinity
conditions, thereby playing a crucial role in pokkali’s tolerance to salty
conditions.
‘Transgenic’ rice
The team developed a new rice
variety by moving this single gene from pokkali to IR64 (a high-yielding
variety cultivated in more than 200 countries). They found that this resulting
‘transgenic’ or modified rice was even more tolerant to salty conditions and
high temperatures than pokkali itself.
“Pokkali has an excellent gene
pool which is very useful for salinity tolerance,” said Professor Ashwani
Pareek of JNU, co-author of the study published in Scientific
Reports, who has been studying the genetic basis of pokkali’s impressive
salinity tolerance for the past two decades.
In his laboratory, at least a
dozen unique genes from pokkali have been identified and characterised for
stress tolerance.
Salt tolerance
Kochi’s Rice Research Station
(RRS) also created a similar variety in 2015 by moving another portion of
pokkali’s DNA (named Saltol QTL, which has also been shown to aid the plant’s
salt tolerance) into Jyothi, one of the State’s popular rice breeds.
Named Jyotsna and released
officially less than a year ago after successful field trials in 2017, the new
variety is now being distributed to farmers, said Shylaraj K.S., Director of
the RRS.
Useful traits
On an average, pokkali fields
yield only around one-and-a-half tonnes per hectare, she said.
“While pokkali’s best yields are
up to four tonnes per hectare, Jyotsna easily produces up to six tonnes in good
soil conditions,” she said.
Several foreign research
institutes, including the International Rice Research Institute in the
Philippines, have also been studying pokkali’s gene pools and has identified a
portion of DNA on one of its chromosomes that is crucial for salt tolerance,
said Dr. Pareek.
With pokkali also being tolerant
to submergence in water for a week, it does have numerous useful traits, said
Dr. Shylaraj. As a result, farmers reported that pokkali fields in Kadamakkudy
and Varapuzha were relatively unaffected by the floods that ravaged paddy
fields where other short rice varieties were cultivated, she said.
Need for conservation
In a recent review of Kerala’s indigenous
rice varieties published in the journal Current Science, scientists at
Chennai’s M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation argue that given the wide range
of such adaptations of these indigenous rice varieties as well as their ability
to thrive under harsh climatic conditions, conserving them is critical in
promoting climate-resilient agriculture.
“Unpredictable monsoons and
higher temperatures are fallouts of climate change and we need high-yielding
varieties that can trump over these,” said Dr. Pareek.
Pockets of hope in PHL agri sector
January 2, 2019
IT was on Christmas day when the
finance chief, who is also a former agriculture secretary, reminded the country
of the difficulties confronting the Philippine farm sector. In a recent
business forum, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said even the private
sector has started worrying about the problems hounding the agriculture sector. (See,
“Agriculture sector’s woes worry Duterte govt, private sector—DOF,” in
the Business-
Mirror, December 25, 2018). The ills that have long plagued the
sector—low productivity, inability of farmers to access affordable credit, lack
of infrastructure—made it difficult for the government to ensure that the
country can produce enough food needed by 106 million Filipinos.
While the acceleration of
inflation, which peaked in September 2018, was unfortunate for millions of
Filipinos, it focused the spotlight on a sector that has been neglected for
years. Nearly 11 years after the Philippines was forced to pay through its nose
for imported rice, it took several tweaks in the Department of Agriculture’s
farm policies, as well as increases in its budget that enabled the agency to
roll out a number of initiatives seeking to raise productivity and income.
One such initiative is the
mechanization program of the government. Increasing productivity cannot be done
sans the equipment that would help farmers do their work and cut costs. In
February 2018, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol announced that the
government has earmarked P400 million for the program that would encourage
farmers to take out loans if they want to buy agricultural equipment. (See,
“Piñol announces P400-M farm mechanization loan program,”
in the BusinessMirror, February 20, 2018). The
government is also moving toward encouraging foreign businessmen to invest in
the assembly of farm equipment in the Philippines. (See, “South Korean firms to assemble farm machines in PHL,”
in the Business-Mirror, November 22, 2018).
Part of the mechanization program
is the pilot testing of drones to spray fertilizer on vegetable farms in
Benguet. Apart from cutting cost, drones will keep farmers from getting sick,
as they will no longer have direct contact with dangerous chemicals. Because of
these advantages, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has also
started testing drones in rice farms and is hopeful that young Filipinos will
be encouraged to go into planting rice. (See, “Drones may attract youth to rice farming—PhilRice,”
in the
BusinessMirror, December 11, 2018).
The decision of the Philippine
Fiber Industry and Development Authority to strictly enforce a
classification-trading scheme for abaca starting 2018 has encouraged farmers to
produce more. The resulting increase in the price of the iconic Philippine
fiber is likely to have expanded output by 6 percent to 76,000 metric tons in
2018, from the previous year’s 72,000 MT. (See, “Abaca output seen rising as overseas demand soars,”
in the BusinessMirror, January 1, 2019). The Philippines is
still the world’s top producer and supplier of abaca, and the government would
do well to capitalize on this to help boost export receipts.
The opening up of more export
markets via trade deals forged by the government in recent years will also
allow the Philippines to improve its export numbers. The Philippines can look
to its neighbors in Southeast Asia and the members of the European Free Trade
Association if it intends to increase its shipments of agricultural products.
Manila has yet to take full advantage of the Asean Free Trade Area and the
government would do well to undertake a study that will identify more products
it can export to this market.
The Duterte administration still
has more than three years to implement other strategies for the agriculture
sector under its Philippine Development Plan. There is no magic pill that can
instantly remove the ills plaguing the farm sector, but inaction and
complacency will make it harder for Philippine agriculture to fully recover.
Top 10 Most Popular Recipes of 2018 Worth
Craving For
January 1, 2019
Pakistani food is known for its
aromatic and spicy unique taste. From Biryani to pasta, our recipes are loved
by everyone.This year has literally just flown by. We’ve had a lot of new
addition of recipes on our dining table that are loved and appreciated by
masses.
Let us recall which recipes
remained most popular recipes of 2018
Russian Salad is also regarded as
Oliver Salad. It is popularly consumed in many European countries, post Soviet
countries, Mongolia, Iran, Latin America, India, and Pakistan. The most
loved Russian Salad recipe is made with boiled potatoes, chickpeas, apples, carrots,
smoked chicken, and some pineapple chunks. It is seasoned with mayonnaise,
lemon juice, salt, pepper, yogurt, and cream. Delicious and
nutritious Russian salad is best starter recipe to serve at lunch or dinner.
Dhaba style Mash Ki Daal is
immensely popular and delicious dish in Pakistan. This recipe got its name from
its traditional Dhaba restaurants style cooking. Lentils, onions, garlic,
spice, butter, cumin powder, red chili, and pepper are the major ingredients to
prepare the ultimate traditional Dhaba style Mash Ki Daal. Unique style of
preparation distinguishes it from your regular Daal.
Are you a fan of yummy roadside
Chapli Kebabs? Bring the taste of Peshawari cuisine to your dining table by
learning and preparing Peshawari Chapli Kabab
recipe posted on this page. It is made
from minced beef or mutton. You can try it for dinner, lunch or as a snack and
can serve it with chatni, salad, or paratha.
Yakhni Pulao is a dish made out
of rice cooked in a seasoned Yakhni (broth). The broth can be made from mutton,
beef, or chicken and beef. It is a popular main course meal which is served
with gravy dish, mint chutney, yogurt, or Salad.
Mouthwatering special Chicken
Karahi is certainly one of the most popular main course dish in Pakistan. This
dish is served with Tandoori Roti, Paratha, or Naan. The special element is its
style of preparation that makes it more popular.
Chicken Malai Boti is a popular
Pakistani BBQ dish. As the name suggests, the recipe comprise of Malai (cream)
for preparation along with other ingredients to get its creamy texture. This
creamy Chicken Malai Boti recipe is often prepared at homes and restaurants and
served as a starter.
Chicken Shashlik is yet another
popular dish from Pakistani cuisine. This dish can be served with gravy, boiled
rice, and egg fried rice. Chicken Shashlik is certainly one of the most popular
dishes of 2018.
Chicken Nihari is a popular
Pakistan recipe served at every dinner, lunch, or wedding function. It is a
mild flavored thick curry made with Desi Masala ingredients. This recipe can be
garnished with ginger slices and served with fried onions, lemon, green
chilies, and Naan. Many local restaurants and highway restaurants are serving
Nihari all over Pakistan. This recipe remained one of the most popular one
during 2018.
Chicken Manchurian is one of the
most popular dishes in Pakistan. Being a renowned dish from Chinese cuisine,
Chicken Manchurian is served with Vegetable Fried Rice. The sweet, sour, and
spicy taste of Chicken Manchurian is loved by children and adults equally.
Dum ka Keema recipe is cooked
with aromatic spices such as white cumin, red chili, all spices, yogurt, brown
onions, and fresh herbs. Dum ka Keema recipe comprises of high nutritional
value and is perfect for children. This dish is served in all leading
restaurants of Pakistan.These are some of the most loved
recipes of 2018. We hope that the journey of taste continues in 2019!
Texas has enough sun and wind to quit coal, Rice researchers say
Jan. 2, 2019 Updated: Jan. 2, 2019 9:20 p.m.
1of 2By
coordinating wind energy with solar production, Texas could replace coal, a new
study finds.Photo: John Davenport, Staff / San Antonio Express-News
2of 2A
West Texas solar farm. By coordinating wind energy with solar production, Texas
could replace coal, a new study finds.Photo: OCI Solar Power
Texas might have the perfect environment to
quit coal for good.Texas is one of the only places where the natural patterns
of wind and sun could produce power around the clock, according to
new research from Rice University.
Scientists found that between wind energy from
West Texas and the Gulf Coast, and solar energy across the state, Texas could
meet a significant portion of its electricity demand from renewable power
without extensive battery storage. The reason: These sources generate power at
different times of day, meaning that coordinating them could replace production
from coal-fired plants.
“There is no where else in the world better
positioned to operate without coal than Texas is,” said Dan Cohan, an associate
professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University who
co-authored the report with a student, Joanna Slusarewicz. “Wind and solar are
easily capable of picking up the slack.”
Texas is the
largest producer of wind energy in the United
States, generating about 18 percent of its electricity from wind. Most of the
state’s wind turbines are located in West Texas, where the wind blows the
strongest at night and in the early spring, when demand is low.
The resource, however, can be complemented by
turbines on the Gulf Coast, where wind produces the most electricity on late
afternoons in the summer, when power demand is the highest. Solar energy, a
small, but rapidly growing segment of the state’s energy mix, also has the
advantage of generating power when it is needed most — hot, sunny summer
afternoons.
In the summer, Gulf Coast wind generation could
overtake West Texas wind capacity from about 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. when sea breezes
kick in, Rice research showed. From about 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., solar power
average capacity also could exceed wind generation in West Texas, which
increases as evening turns to night.
In the winter, winds in West Texas strengthen
and generation increases, dropping off about 9 a.m., when solar energy begins
to ramp up. “It’s all a matter of timing,” said Dan Woodfin, senior director of
system operations at the state’s grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council
of Texas.
Weather, however, remains unpredictable. Texas
would still need battery storage and natural gas-fired power plants to fill in
gaps when, for example, winds might slacken earlier than expected.
Coal still generates about 25 percent of the
state’s power, but its share is shrinking. Since 2007, coal used in generating
electricity has
decreased 36 percent. Last year, Vistra Energy of
Dallas
shut down three coal-fired plants in Texas,
citing changing economics in the power industry that make it difficult for coal
to compete.
Texas has more than 20,000 megawatts of
installed wind capacity, which could rise to 38,000 megawatts by 2030,
according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A megawatt can power about 200
Texas homes on a hot summer day.
Solar energy, however, has developed more
slowly in Texas, despite the abundance of sunshine. Texas installed
about 2,500megawatts of solar capacity in 2018.
Texas is still the sixth-largest solar energy
state. Though solar energy generation capacity Texas is expected to triple over
the next five years, it makes up less than 1 percent of the state’s energy mix.
But the cost for utility-scale solar systems has fallen between 10 to 15
percent every year from 2010 to 2016, according to the Energy Department.
And as those costs continue to fall, energy
specialists said, more investment will flow to solar projects.
“We’ll see more of a pivot toward solar in
Texas,” said Josh Rhodes, a Ph.D. research associate at the University of Texas
at Austin’s Energy Institute. “The price to install solar continues to fall
really fast.”
Texas, and the rest of the nation, have
dramatically increased reliance on renewable resources in recent years.Wind and
solar are expected to provide about
11 percent of of the nation’s electricity next
year, according to the Energy Department, up from 10
percent
in 2018.
The flood of natural gas from the Permian Basin
and other shale formations in the United States also is putting pressure on
coal as generators turn to the cheaper, cleaner burning fuel and shut down more
expensive coal plants, said Scott Jell, an electricity analyst with the Energy
Information Administration, an agency of the Energy Department. No new coal
plants are getting built in Texas or anywhere else in the continental United
States.
“We’re poised on the edge of a much cleaner
grid than we have today,” Cohan said. “There’s an opportunity with coal coming
offline to have wind and solar step up. It’s the cheapest way to do things,
whether or not you care about the environment.”
TO REPRODUCE, NEW RICE PLANT CLONES ITSELF
Plant biologists
have discovered a way to make crop plants replicate through seeds as clones.
The discovery, which plant breeders and
geneticists have long sought, could make it easier to propagate high-yielding,
disease-resistant, or climate-tolerant crops and make them available to the
world’s farmers.
Since the 1920s, many crops have been grown
from hybrid seeds created by crossing two varieties. These hybrids can have
superior qualities in areas such as yield or pest resistance. But the seeds of
hybrid crops don’t produce plants with the same qualities.
The ability to produce a clone, an exact
replica, of a plant from its seeds would be a major breakthrough for world
agriculture. Instead of purchasing expensive hybrid seeds each year, which is
often beyond the means of farmers in developing countries, farmers could
replant seeds from their own hybrid plants and derive the benefits of high
yields year after year.
Imtiyaz Khanday
and Venkatesan Sundaresan stand with the cloned rice plants in a greenhouse in
December 2018. (Credit: Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
About 400 species of wild plants can produce
viable seeds without fertilization. Called apomixis, this process seems to have
evolved many times in plants—but not in commercial crop species.
“It’s a very desirable goal that could change
agriculture,” says Venkatesan Sundaresan, professor of plant biology and plant
sciences at the University of California, Davis.
‘BABY
BOOM’ GENE
The researchers discovered that the rice gene
BBM1, belonging to a family of plant genes called “Baby Boom” or BBM, is
expressed in sperm cells but not in eggs. After fertilization, BBM1 is
expressed in the fertilized cell but—at least initially—this expression comes
from the male contribution to the genome.
BBM1, they reasoned, switches on the ability of
a fertilized egg to form an embryo.
The researchers first used gene editing to
prevent the plants from going through meiosis, a type of cell division that
results in four daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes of the
parent cell. Instead, the egg cells form by mitosis, inheriting a full set of
chromosomes from the mother.
Then they caused these egg cells to express
BBM1, which they would not normally do without fertilization.
“So we have a diploid egg cell with the ability
to make an embryo, and that grows into a clonal seed,” Sundaresan says.
So far, the process has an efficiency of about
30 percent, but the researchers hope they can increase efficiency with more
research. The approach should work in other cereal crops, which have equivalent
BBM1 genes, and in other crop plants as well, Sundaresan says.
BASIC
BIOLOGY, MAJOR RESULTS
“The beauty of this work is that it addresses
fundamental questions in plant biology about how a fertilized egg begins to
develop into a new plant,” says Anne Sylvester, a program director at the
National Science Foundation, which supported the research.
“This basic understanding, combined with new
asexual breeding technologies, opens the door for breakthroughs in plant
agriculture by avoiding the loss of beneficial traits that can occur through
sexual reproduction.”
The research appears in the journal
Nature.
Additional authors of the paper are from UC
Davis; Iowa State University; and INRA in Versailles, France. The Innovative
Genome Institute, a joint venture between UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco that
focuses on applying genome editing to solve global problems, and the National
Science Foundation funded the research.
Resolving
the winter ordeal
India could work with IRRI & ASEAN nations
to collectively develop sustainable alternatives to deal with the persistent
issue of straw burning Anish Tore2 Jan 2019 6:51 PM Nobody can ignore the
winter smog in Delhi, probably because the smog is the only thing that one can
see with bare eyes in the capital's now infamous winters! Though a report by
System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR), under the aegis of the
Ministry of Earth Sciences, shows that vehicles and industries contribute the
most to the pollution in National Capital Region (NCR), pollution arising from
farmers burning crop residue in the regions adjoining NCR has taken the centre
stage recently
.
Despite states blaming each other for the problem, it is now well established
that 'stubble burning' by farmers of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi
itself is a major contributor to the deadly smog-soaked winters. The government
responded to this problem by doing something it loves to do – banning crop
residue burning. The government seems to have a problem of memory loss,
otherwise, it would have remembered that almost all of its previous attempts to
ban such practices failed disastrously. India could have learned from the
international experience – where similar bans imposed by Communist China and
the semi-authoritarian Philippines failed to persuade or coerce rice farmers.
Another
initiative of granting subsidies to farmers to buy machines that help in 'rice
straw management', has also failed to take off in an expected manner. Both the
ban and the subsidy-grant initiatives have the classical markings of being
'top-down' interventions, which, on most occasions, are bound to fail. However,
India could take lessons from the Philippines in this regard. The Philippine
Rice Research Institute (PRRI), in association with some farmer groups, NGOs
and university students, organises an annual 'Dayami Festival' to spread
awareness about the harmful effects of rice straw burning and the available
alternatives to sustainably manage the straw. In Filipino, the word 'Dayami'
refers to 'hay' or 'grass straw'.
Almost
everyone has a role in this festival, for example, the 2017 Dayami festival saw
university students making artistic representations of insects (using leftover
rice straw) that are killed due to stubble burning. On the sidelines of the
festival, activists and scientists affiliated to PRRI & various NGOs
provide tips to farmers on utilising leftover rice straw. The suggestions
include ploughing the rice straw back into the field as a natural fertiliser
(paddy cultivation is particularly nutrient intensive), supplying paddy straw
for generation of bio-energy, and using the paddy straw as a substrate for
mushroom cultivation.
At
the festival, the emphasis was not on preventing rice stubble burning (as in
the Indian case) but to minimise the costs for farmers who opt for alternative
methods of paddy straw disposal and supplementing the farmers' source of
income. This approach, involving different sections of society in the pursuit
of a solution, is expected to be much more effective compared to the
'carrot-and-stick approach' of the Indian State, where it offers subsidies for
rice stubble management on the one hand and aims to take penal action against
farmers who continue to burn rice stubble on the other. There is already an
element of distrust between farmers' groups and the state over long-standing
issues, including crop prices and insurance. Recently, farmers from across the
country gathered on the streets of the national capital on November 29 and 30,
2018, with a long list of grievances.
In this backdrop, paddy cultivators are less
likely to respond to the government only initiatives due to the high levels of
animosity. The problem of crop residue burning can't be solved by technical or
legal interventions alone. We need teams of doctors, scientists, activists and
students to engage with farmers and farmer organisations and look for solutions
together. The People's Science Movement (PSM) is one such platform to achieve
the target, wherein health, pollution and environmental degradation form the
basis of most of its programmes. A full-fledged intervention by the PSM in the
problem of stubble burning may also provide a convenient entry point for the
PSM in the northern agrarian belt.
By
helping the paddy farmers transition to a better, more sustainable style of
farming, the PSM might be able to develop a constituency for itself in the
region. Since we live in an increasingly globalised world, we must make an
attempt to seek global solutions to our local problem of paddy straw burning.
Rice is one of the top three food crops in the world and the staple food of an
overwhelming majority of Asians. Media reports and research papers have
highlighted how the problem of paddy straw burning raised concerns in the
Philippines, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. We might be able to
develop additional methods to sustainably dispose of paddy straw via
collaborative research efforts and co-operation with other rice-producing
countries in the ASEAN bloc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while attending
the ASEAN summit in the Philippines in 2017, paid a visit to both the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as well as PRRI. During the visit,
the PM donated two varieties of rice to IRRI to bolster their rice-gene bank,
when he was also informed about IRRI's work to develop flood-resistant rice
varieties, which would help a world threatened by extreme events and Climate
Change. During this visit, steps were also taken to operationalise the newly
inaugurated South Asian centre of IRRI, located in Varanasi. Thus, a well laid
out infrastructure for future co-operation in development and dissemination of
better rice varieties was put in place during Modi's visit.
Though PRRI & IRRI are already conducting
research to find ways to sustainably manage paddy straw; this issue, curiously,
did not figure in the list of priorities of the Indian delegation during PM
Modi's visit. There already exists an infrastructure for agricultural
co-operation between India and IRRI. It would be wise to see if there exists a
possibility to collaborate and find common solutions to the vexed problem of
paddy straw burning.
Further,
India could explore the possibility of collaborating with countries such as
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar who similarly witness large-scale paddy
straw burning. Co-operation between India and ASEAN countries, in their common
pursuit towards finding sustainable solutions to the problem of straw burning,
will add another layer to the scientific & people-to-people (P2P)
diplomatic co-operation between the two. (The views expressed are strictly
personal)
http://www.millenniumpost.in/opinion/resolving-the-winter-ordeal-334513
China Admits
Exceeding Agricultural Domestic Support Limits
WASHINGTON, DC -- After a substantial delay in notification to the
World Trade Organization (WTO), last month China made public its 2011-2016
agricultural domestic support notifications. In all six of these
notifications, China's support exceeded its WTO commitments.
Chinese domestic agricultural support comes mainly in the form of
price support and government procurement. The Chinese government buys
crops if the price falls to a government-announced minimum. This inflates
the price of various Chinese commodities, creating artificial incentives for
Chinese farmers to increase production.
In 2016, the U.S. brought a case to the WTO regarding China's high
levels of domestic support for corn, wheat, and rice producers. The U.S.
argued that China's support of these three crops exceeded permissible levels by
nearly $100 billion. China's recent notifications show that it did in
fact go over its support commitment for those years ($21 billion in 2015) but
China did not note any change in its methodology for calculating domestic
support, which is a fundamental aspect of the U.S. case against China. The WTO
is expected to make a final decision on this case within the next couple
months.
Over the past several years, China has overhauled its subsidy
programs, cutting and eventually eliminating the minimum prices for corn,
cotton, and soybeans. In 2017, Beijing began to cut minimum prices for
rice for the first time and further cut prices by 2-9 percent in 2018.
"When China joined the WTO, it committed to implementing an
agriculture regime that would facilitate market access consistent with
international obligations and yet it has continued to frustrate the U.S. rice
industry through an improper support system," said Bobby Hanks, chairman
of the USA Rice International Trade Policy Committee. "While it's
promising to see them overhauling their subsidy programs, it doesn't nullify
the harm it's caused our industry over the past several years, or the need for
them to fully comply with their WTO commitments."
USA Rice Daily
US rice wants sales
after China lifts ban
Indian
owned rice mill targets to record 500 tonnes of daily production in Nigeria
2 January, 2019
The
Kano-based Indian owned rice mill, Amarava, has said it is targeting to record
500 tonnes of daily production by June this year after recording 250 tonnes to
boost local self-sufficiency.
Subhash Chand, the Indian Deputy
High Commissioner in Nigeria, gave the assurance that the production capacity
of the mill was being expanded to hit 500 tonnes by June.
The multi-million naira
state-of-the-art rice mill, owned by an Indian national, was inaugurated by
President Muhammadu Buhari in Kano.
He added that the investment was
part of the overall efforts of the High Commission to help Nigeria attain
self-sufficiency in rice production.
Chand said that India was
supportive of Nigeria’s efforts to fully localise rice production, disclosing
that many Indian companies were already among the leading millers in Nigeria.
He said that the mill was built
with machineries produced in Nigeria with local contents by Indian and Nigerian
technological experts.
“India has been maintaining good
relationship with Nigeria and will continue to do so.”
“Through Nigeria-India’s cordial
relationship, Indian investors are already investing in Nigeria to achieve
self-sufficiency in rice production,” he said.
Chand noted that technical
partnership was another area of mutual benefits to the two nations.
In 2017, Nigeria’s rice consumption
stood at 7.9 million tonnes, while the production rate has increased to 5.8
tonnes per annum from previous 5.5 million tonnes due to Federal Government’s
local rice production policy.
The Rice Farmers Association of
Nigeria (RIFAN) had also reported that the country now has 12 million rice
producers because of the opportunity provided by the Anchor Borrowers Programme
of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Amarava Agro Processors Limited,
a subsidiary of Fullmark Group, was established at Amarawa Village, Gezawa
Local Government Area of Kano State, with an initial 288 metric tonnes daily
capacity.
Buhari said at the inauguration
that Nigeria’s continued dependence on rice importation had put a strain on the
economy as well as the nation’s food flow.
He added that a substantial amount
of the nation’s foreign exchange went into rice importation yearly, noting the
mill will help Nigeria to progress towards food self-sufficiency.
Philippines prompts brown rice programme
RiceBIS Negros Agrarian Reform Cooperative
(RiceBIS NARCO), Sitio Timawa Farming Association (STOFA) and Tison-Aida
Farmers Association (TAFA) in Negros Occidental in the Philippines reached a
number of stakeholders through the brown rice agro-enterprise day and feeding
programme
The events aimed to promote brown rice as an
agroenterprise venture and as a healthy option for consumption. (Image source:
ehpien/Flickr) More than 800 students participated in the feeding programme
conducted by RiceBIS NARCO in Cansilayan Elementary School in Murcia, Negros
Occidental, while about 200 participants were involved in the event organized
by STOFA and TAFA in Valencia Ko Elementary School, Victorias City. The three
organisations are not only information allies for the stated events but are
also PhilRice Negros’s partners in the Rice Business Innovations System
Community Programme, which was designed to enhance farmer organizations’
agro-enterprise. The events aimed to promote brown rice as an agro-enterprise
venture and as a healthy option for consumption. The promotion was done through
the distribution of knowledge products from PhilRice, brief talks and serving
of brown rice meals. In one event, Jose Arnel E Cordova, RiceBIS Community
Programme focal person, encouraged the participants to support farmers’ brown
rice enterprise by patronising their products and partnering with them in terms
of financing, service provision, and even joining the organizations to further
strengthen them. Brown rice enterprise and consumption promotion were
participated in by stakeholders like parents in the locale, LGU and barangay
crucial officials, farmers and returning OFWs who are aspiring to be part of
the farming community in the area.
Author Name: http://www.fareasternagriculture.com/crops/agriculture/philippines-prompts-brown-rice-programme
CHINA BUYS FIRST-EVER U.S. RICE
For the first time in history, China has bought
rice from the U.S. A report in the South China Morning Post says customs
officials approved U.S. rice for import last week. U.S. rice officials don’t
know just how much China will buy but they do know it’s a market they’ve been
trying to break into for a long time.
Johnny Sullivan of Producers Rice Mill,
Incorporated, in Arkansas says, “China is a monster of a market. That fact is
based on the consumption rate of rice in China. The unreal part of the story is
China could chew through the entire U.S. rice crop in 14 days.”
The news comes as leaders from both China and
the U.S. will get together for trade negotiations in January. The two sides
began a temporary cease-fire in December by agreeing to postpone any tariff
increases for 90 days while they try to negotiate a settlement.
After a six-month lull, China had recently
begun purchasing U.S. soybeans again, so there is some optimism as the
negotiations draw near.
NFA says its dangerous to leave rice under the mercy of the open
market
By Madelaine B. Miraflor The National Food Authority
(NFA) is hoping to keep its enforcement and regulatory functions even after
President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Rice Tariffication Law, which effectively
liberalizes rice importation in the Philippines.
This,
as it would be dangerous to leave the rice sector under the mercy of the open
market, the agency pointed out. The Rice Tariffication Bill already made it
through the bicameral committee this month and now awaits the final signature
of Duterte.
The
purpose of the bill couldn’t be more straightforward. The Philippines will now
allow the entry of more imported rice, without any cap, as long as it is
slapped with corresponding tariff. NFA, however, feels uncertain about a lot of
things. In an earlier statement, the agency said it is now “looking into its
future role” should the rice tariffication bill approved by the Senate and
House of Representatives be signed into law by the President. Under Senate Bill
1998, rider provisions were inserted that clipped most of the powers and
functions of NFA in implementing its food security and stabilization role.
NFA said it was left with the mere function of
buffer stocking for one specific purpose, which is to sustain the disaster
relief programs of the government during natural or man-made calamities. In a
recent statement, NFA’s Officer-in-Charge Administrator Tomas Escarez
emphasized the importance of enforcement and regulatory function of the NFA.
“The grains industry is one of the most important sectors of our economy as it
directly affects everyone because we all eat rice. Leaving it under the mercy
of the open market without any regulation is just too dangerous,” Escarez said.
“Hopefully,
we can continue this even with the approval of the rice tariffication bill so
we that quality and low-priced rice will still be available to our citizens,
especially the poor,” he added. Throughout 2018, the state-run grains agency
has collected millions just from grains trading violations this year as part of
its efforts to intensify its rice and market monitoring activities. In a
statement, NFA said it has apprehended at least 8,826 grains businessmen for
various violations of grains trading rules and also collected at least P10.
78
million in fines as of November 30. Escarez said the NFA was able to improve
its regulatory efforts by tapping other employees to assist enforcement
officers nationwide. With more manpower, NFA was able to inspect 168,140
business establishments, resulting to the increased number of apprehended
erring rice traders and total fines collected.
Rice stock at 2.1
mln tonnes at end-2018 – Indonesia Bulog
JAKARTA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - * Indonesia state food procurement
agency Bulog said on Thursday it had 2.1 million tonnes of rice stock at the
end of 2018, after procuring 3.2 million tonnes of rice equivalent domestically
during the year.
Baghel govt orders fresh SIT probe into PDS scam
TNN | Jan 2,
2019, 12:52 IST
Bhupesh Baghel, Chhattisgarh chief minister
RAIPUR:
The state government on Tuesday decided to set up a special investigation team
(SIT) to probe the multi-crore PDS scam that
surfaced during the BJP regime in which many people, including two IAS
officers, are facing charges of corruption.
A meeting of state cabinet, presided over by chief minister Bhupesh Baghel,
decided that all probable angles of the PDS scam need to be thoroughly probed.
Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, food and civil supplies minister
Mohammad Akbar and agriculture minister Ravindra Chaube said the investigating
agency, which probed the case earlier, had apparently investigated only six
pages of a purported diary which contained 107 pages with names of alleged beneficiaries
of the scam.
They claimed that names of many powerful people, including politicians and
bureaucrats, figured in the diary recovered during raids at the offices of
state civil supplies corporation. The ACB, which probed the case, had made 27
people as accused in the PDS scam and had filed two chargesheets in the courts.
Among them are two IAS officers - the then civil supplies secretary Dr Alok
Shukla and the then managing director of the state civil supplies corporation
Anil Tuteja.
According to the ACB, the corporation allowed rice millers to
supply poor quality PDS rice to the BJP-led state government and received
commission from them. The commission was distributed among the entire hierarchy
of government functionaries. During the raids, the ACB had also seized around
Rs 4 crore in cash from the drawers of bureaucrats, allegedly involved in the
scam.
Ever since the scam came to light in 2015, the then opposition Congress has
been describing it as "mother of all scams" pointing out that the
money involved was more than Rs 36,000 crore.
Commercial Rice Production in PNG Shows Great Promise
By Eliza
beth Guka – EMTV News Cadet Journalist
Rice, a much-loved staple food
Rice is a common food that is eaten in most
parts of the world.
Whether imported or locally grown, produced and
supplied, people love having rice in their diet. They depend on rice to add
balance to the meals they prepare on their table.
In Papua New Guinea, the bulk of the population
in towns and capital cities consume rice on a daily basis. Even those in the
rural areas, despite having a surplus of fresh vegetables, also opt to consume
rice on a weekly basis based on their financial capabilities to purchase this
favourite grain.
Increase in the demand for rice
With rice being a staple food for people all
over the world, its demand has increased.
Countries that grow and mass produce rice,
export it to other countries that cannot be able to produce rice due to certain
natural weather conditions, climate change issues, or other geographical
reasons.
There are also countries that are able to
produce rice, but lack the technical capability or the required machinery to
produce rice for their people.
It is evident that the demand for rice has
increased, and also with the issue of food security, there is now a need for
PNG to venture into commercial rice production.
Commercial rice production will not only secure
the food security of the country, but will also bring investors into the
country. This means that there could be improvements in the country’s economy,
and also there could be a market demand for home-grown PNG rice.
PNG Rice
Imports
In PNG, rice is imported in large amounts.
PNG imports about 98 percent of the 400,000
kilos of rice that is consumed by Papua New Guineans. Imports come from
countries like Thailand, which is a major supplier of rice.
Other major importers of rice into PNG include
Homestate Co-operation Limited, and Australia’s SunRice.
The two major suppliers of rice in PNG
Homestate Ltd is a Thailand company that
commercially produces rice on a large scale, and then exports that rice to
other countries. This is where PNG comes in as an importer of rice. Homestate
Ltd., whilst exporting rice to PNG through the years, has also set up bases in
Port Moresby, Alotau, Rabaul, Mt. Hagen with the head office in Lae. The
company imports rice products such as the much-loved popular Jasmine rice that
many Papua New Guineans purchase at shops.
SunRice is an Australian Company that produces
rice as well. The company came into PNG to invest, and started off under the
name, “Ricegrowers-Australia Pty. Limited, with only one type of white and
brown rice produced, packaged and sold. Now the company has expanded to PNG and
has changed its brand name to “Trukai”, which is now the most popular food
brand in PNG, with assets including a 200,000 plus tonne rice mill and
packaging plant, with 12 national supply centres in the country.
The expansion of Trukai
Trukai has now expanded to include other
branches throughout the country. Trukai also produces short grain, long grain
and medium grain rice products with various package varieties for customers to
choose from.
Trukai also imports rice that is grown in
Australia.
Currently, Trukai is supporting small scale
rice farming in some parts of PNG to encourage the development of the rice
industry to suite the high demand of rice, with pilot rice farm projects
established in West New Britain, Northern (Oro), Morobe and Central Provinces.
So if these pilot rice projects can prove that
PNG can be able to produce its own rice, then why is PNG still importing rice
from other countries?
The answer to that would be to look closely at
what PNG still lacks.
Though it has been proven that PNG can produce
its own rice, the production can go as far as the growing and harvesting of the
raw product, with the testing, milling, producing, packaging and selling of the
product done by big commercial companies such as Trukai.
Reasons why PNG still cannot mass produce rice
include the following:
- There is a
shortage in skilled man-power
- There is
still a need for more technical expertise
- No proper
machinery
- Small
scale rice farming still ongoing in certain areas, but cannot be commercially
viable due to lack of required facilities.
With these mentioned issue-areas, it is evident
that PNG still has a long way to go in terms of commercial rice production.
In terms of man-power, PNG has local farmers
throughout the country who have been trained through Trukai rice pilot
projects; however, there is still a growing need to train more local PNG
farmers who are willing to grow rice.
Even if PNG does have the required skilled
man-power in the future, technical expertise on operating rice production areas
as well as the necessary machinery will still be required for the whole
production process.
PNG Government’s stance
With the increase in demand for rice as the
main staple food of PNG, food security is also crucial.
With food security being an issue of concern in
the country, the PNG Government, signed a Memorandum of Agreement in November
last year (during APEC) with the Philippines Government, for Philippines to
help provide technical assistance and training of local PNG farmers to increase
the capability of PNG to commercially mass produce rice in the future.
The MOA included commitment to establishing a
trial rice project at the 14 Mile area, on land belonging to the Pacific
Adventist University in Port Moresby. The trial rice project started in October
2018 with 25 hectares of rice being planted as trial.
Reasons why the Philippines is investing in the
rice project
Philippines has invested in such a project as
this, due to current rice shortage in their own country.
Despite having the necessary technical
capabilities, skilled man-power, required equipment, and the knowledge on how
to operate and maintain the required machinery needed for the project,
Philippines faces a great challenge in food security. This is because it does
not have enough of the staple food (rice) to cater for its growing population,
which is much higher compared to PNG’s estimated population of more than 8
million.
In the agreement, Philippines, upon providing
the technical assistance for the rice project, will also benefit from this
project. The agreement reached by both countries involves Philippines providing
PNG with technical assistance in exchange for being a major importer of PNG
rice in the near future.
This means that after PNG produces enough rice
to feed the bulk of population in the country, the surplus will be bought and
exported to the Philippines, by the Philippines Government.
Achievements of the project
Upon the establishment of the trial rice
project, nineteen (19) skilled Filipino rice technicians were sent from
Philippines to PNG, with the necessary equipment, to assist in the project’s
trial stage. These technicians also helped to train local PNG farmers in the 14
Mile area, who showed interest in learning to grow rice.
The first batch of harvest of the trial rice
project took place at the farm on 21st
December 2018, where PNG’s Minister for Agriculture & Livestock, Benny
Allan, and Philippines Ambassador to PNG, Bien Tejano, officiated at the
harvest.
With the successful harvest of the first trial
rice project, positive feedback of the trial rice project has come from the PNG
government and the Philippines government through its Embassy in Port Moresby.
This harvest has shown that there is great
promise that PNG can be able to commercially produce its own rice.
Expansion of project
Following the success of the trial rice
project, the PNG government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock,
has more plans of expanding the project into other parts of the country.
With technical assistance from the Philippines
government, PNG is set to venture into commercial rice production this year
(2019), once proper facilities and necessary technical areas are in place,
which also includes the training of local PNG farmers in the country.
With that, Minister, Benny Allan, announced the
PNG government’s commitment to this project through an allocation of K8 million
for the expansion of this project this year.
The project will now go into full swing, with
the training of local farmers selected from various provinces in the country,
to be on full-time training at the 14 Mile rice farm area. The farmers will
then go back to their provinces after the training and input what they have
learnt into their local rice farms in their respective provinces.
The 14 Mile trial rice project area will act as
a seed bank for other rice project centres in the country where the project
will be extended to. In that way, the rice farms may grow and expand to
increase the commercial rice production in the country, which will inturn bring
investment opportunities for other countries to invest in home-grown PNG rice
at a large scale.
Rice and tech: Amazon reveals how loyalty system is aiding
blockchain data collection
By Tingmin Koe
02-Jan-2019 - Last updated
on 02-Jan-2019 at 01:04 GMT
Dr Werner Vogels, chief
technology officer at Amazon.com, was speaking at the 5th International Rice
Congress. A reward system is effective in motivating farmers to provide rice
farming data, as seen in the case of Indonesian rural farmers, according to
e-commerce giant Amazon.
Dr Werner Vogels, chief technology
officer at Amazon.com elaborated the above example during the 5th International
Rice Congress held in Singapore.
Citing the use of HARA – a
block chain data exchange platform, Vogels said its rewards system has helped
to collect information that was hardly available in the past.
Under the system, points are
given each time the farmer provides information. Farmers can in turn use the
points accumulated to buy fertilisers and agricultural necessities at
discounted rate.
With HARA, farmers’ data,
geo-tagging, agricultural activities in the field, weather data, land,
satellite, and market information are collected.
“There is an incentive to
start contributing data that is actually immediately impacting farmers. This is
an amazing system to start creating dataset for understanding the farmers,”
Vogels said.
The data collection not only
provide ways to raise farmers’ productivity, but also provide farmers with
alternatives to uplift their financial status.
This is because HARA
provides individual record of the farmers useful for bank loan applications. In
this way, the farmers can enjoy easier access to bank credit and reduces the
chances of them approaching illegal moneylenders.
“Many of the farmers really
have no access to financial resources at all and given that they have no
identity and hardly information about the farmers and so it is really hard for
them to get access a loan. Most of them would go to the loan sharks.”
“These datasets are
increasingly important for everyone in Indonesia because it really drives
access to things like insurance and microloans for the farmers.”
Vogels said that there were
similar projects in Columbia and he hoped to improve the livelihood of at least
two million farmers using similar methods by 2020.
More collaborative research
As data generated becomes
larger, collaboration and sharing of data was needed to accelerate research,
Vogels said.
“Research in the past often happened on
private dataset and maybe the results are published on papers”, however, very
people would have access to the dataset for research to be repeatable, he said.
The purpose of open data is
thus to drive repeatable research and accelerate research.
“You can outreach your research
by working with other people. However, traditional data acquisition was too
hard.”
To facilitate collaboration, storing
information in the cloud and making them publicly available is required.
“(Cloud storage) significantly lowers cost of
research and accelerates research because everybody now has access to the same
dataset.”
Amazon currently runs the
Amazon Web Services (AWS) open data program which makes data from a number of
organisations available, including International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
and NASA etc.
For IRRI, a total of 3,024
sequenced rice genomes from 89 countries are made available on the program.
With the data, researchers
can identify genes associated with crop yield, climate stress tolerance, and
disease resistance.
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ASIAN TASTES, SUPPLY CHAIN, INDUSTRY GROWTH, ALL ASIA-PACIFIC, SOUTH EAST ASIA,
FOOD SAFETY, TRADITIONAL AND STAPLE FOODS
China
Finally Okays U.S. Rice Imports
BEIJING, CHINA -- USA Rice's office in China reports that China
Customs announced today on its official website that the China market is opened
for the import of U.S. milled rice effective from December 27, 2018, in
accordance with the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Protocol signed between the
United States and China from July of 2017 . "This is a
tremendous milestone that has taken more than a decade to reach and is a result
of the insistence from USA Rice in including rice as a step in resolving the
trade dispute between China and the U.S.," said USA Rice Chair Charley
Mathews, Jr., a California rice farmer. "As with all our dealings
with China, the devil is in the details, and we have many questions, including
when the first sales will be made, but this is definitely good news for our
producers and millers as we enter the New Year."
Recently China made large purchases of U.S. soybeans that
received widespread media coverage, however, imports of U.S. rice were illegal
in China and several administrative steps, such as today's action by China
Customs, were necessary before actual sales could take place.
China will now need to post the list of approved U.S. export
mills and facilities of milled rice developed in consultation between the U.S.
rice industry, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and
China's Agricultural Inspection Service. In 2017, USA Rice worked with
U.S. and Chinese government officials to facilitate Chinese inspections of some
10 U.S. mills and facilities interested in exporting rice to China to
demonstrate their compliance with the complex U.S.-China phytosanitary
protocol.
"What is still not 100 percent clear is whether China
has published the complete list of all the U.S. facilities approved to ship to
China," said Bobby Hanks, Chair of USA Rice's International Trade Policy
Committee and a Louisiana miller. "We will be looking in the days
ahead to USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative for clarification to make sure
that all approved U.S. facilities are eligible. We of course are looking
for the first confirmed rice sale to China. This important day for the
U.S. rice industry is the result of the trade policy leadership of the Trump
administration and the commitment of Secretary Perdue to open new markets for
U.S. agriculture," concluded Hanks.
BEIJING, CHINA -- USA Rice's office in China reports that China
Customs announced today on its official website that the China market is opened
for the import of U.S. milled rice effective from December 27, 2018, in
accordance with the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Protocol signed between the
United States and China from July of 2017
"This is a tremendous milestone that has taken more
than a decade to reach and is a result of the insistence from USA Rice in
including rice as a step in resolving the trade dispute between China and the
U.S.," said USA Rice Chair Charley Mathews, Jr., a California rice
farmer. "As with all our dealings with China, the devil is in the
details, and we have many questions, including when the first sales will be
made, but this is definitely good news for our producers and millers as we
enter the New Year."
Recently China made large purchases of U.S. soybeans that
received widespread media coverage, however, imports of U.S. rice were illegal
in China and several administrative steps, such as today's action by China
Customs, were necessary before actual sales could take place.
China will now need to post the list of approved U.S. export
mills and facilities of milled rice developed in consultation between the U.S.
rice industry, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and
China's Agricultural Inspection Service. In 2017, USA Rice worked with
U.S. and Chinese government officials to facilitate Chinese inspections of some
10 U.S. mills and facilities interested in exporting rice to China to
demonstrate their compliance with the complex U.S.-China phytosanitary
protocol.
"What is still not 100 percent clear is whether China has
published the complete list of all the U.S. facilities approved to ship to
China," said Bobby Hanks, Chair of USA Rice's International Trade Policy
Committee and a Louisiana miller. "We will be looking in the days
ahead to USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative for clarification to make sure
that all approved U.S. facilities are eligible. We of course are looking
for the first confirmed rice sale to China. This important day for the
U.S. rice industry is the result of the trade policy leadership of the Trump
administration and the commitment of Secretary Perdue to open new markets for
U.S. agriculture," concluded Hanks.
Arkansas rice stakeholders will have annual meeting in Stuttgart
The Arkansas Rice Council and
Arkansas Rice Farmers will hold their annual meeting and trade show Jan. 8
beginning at 8 a.m. at the Grand Prairie Center in Stuttgart.
It will begin with an update from
USA Rice CEO Betsy Ward. A legislative overview will highlight both state and
federal issues, including the Farm Bill and tax exemptions. State Senator and
Agriculture Committee Chairman John Cooper, R-Jonesboro, will speak to the
upcoming regular session of the 92nd General Assembly.
U.S. Geological Survey
hydrologist Drew Westerman will provide analysis on groundwater levels, trends
and forecasts for rice-growing regions. In addition to a legislative overview
and water outlook, the event will also highlight estate planning and the rice
checkoff program.
“It is our responsibility as
growers to educate ourselves on industry issues and this annual meeting
provides an ample opportunity to do just that while networking with other
producers and industry stakeholders,” said Jeff Rutledge, Chairman of the
Arkansas Rice Federation.
“The recent passage of the Farm
Bill and upcoming state legislative session are both topics all farmers should
be familiar with, as well as groundwater trends and progress of the checkoff
program,” Rutledge added.
The event will include an
industry trade show and conclud
Arkansas rice stakeholders will have annual meeting in Stuttgart
The Arkansas Rice Council and
Arkansas Rice Farmers will hold their annual meeting and trade show Jan. 8
beginning at 8 a.m. at the Grand Prairie Center in Stuttgart.
It will begin with an update from
USA Rice CEO Betsy Ward. A legislative overview will highlight both state and
federal issues, including the Farm Bill and tax exemptions. State Senator and
Agriculture Committee Chairman John Cooper, R-Jonesboro, will speak to the
upcoming regular session of the 92nd General Assembly.
U.S. Geological Survey
hydrologist Drew Westerman will provide analysis on groundwater levels, trends
and forecasts for rice-growing regions. In addition to a legislative overview
and water outlook, the event will also highlight estate planning and the rice
checkoff program.
“It is our responsibility as
growers to educate ourselves on industry issues and this annual meeting
provides an ample opportunity to do just that while networking with other
producers and industry stakeholders,” said Jeff Rutledge, Chairman of the
Arkansas Rice Federation.
“The recent passage of the Farm
Bill and upcoming state legislative session are both topics all farmers should
be familiar with, as well as groundwater trends and progress of the checkoff
program,” Rutledge added.
The event will include an
industry trade show and conclude with a free catered lunch for registered
attendees. Online registration is
available here until January 3. The event is sponsored in part
by Greenway Equipment.
Rice Shortages Hamper Recovery Efforts in Laos
2018-12-31
Buffaloes on the roof of a house in the flooded Sanamxay
District, Attapeu Province on July 24
Photo
courtesy of an RFA listener
Rice shortages are the latest
setback in Laos’ relief efforts for victims of the country’s worst flood
disaster in decades.
The rupture of a dam in July
inundated 12 villages and killed at least 43 people in Champassak and Attapeu
provinces, leaving hundreds more missing. Now up to 3,000 victims are facing
hardship as relief rice is running out.
“We don’t have enough rice to
distribute to the victims,” a labor and social welfare official in Attapeu’s
Sanamxay district told RFA’s Lao Service on Friday.
“Our rice stocks are running low,
so we haven’t been able to distribute December rations to a lot of the
victims,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said that the
district has reported the shortage to the central government, but there has not
been any response yet.
On Dec. 20, a victim living in
one of Sanamxay’s temporary shelters posted on social media that many families
in the area were running out of rice because village leaders were keeping the
rice in their own homes without distributing it to villagers.
Asked about the shortfalls,
District Governmor Bounhome Phoummasane told RFA on Friday: “We’ve distributed
all the rice for the month of December as planned.”
“Whether we have enough rice for
next month, I don’t know yet. We’ve submitted the request to the province, and
I think they’ve forwarded that request to the [central] government,” the
district governor said.
Phoummasane said that the victims
aren’t suffering major hardships while in their temporary living situations.
“They, the villagers, have
everything [they need] except independence,” he said.
The food shortage comes on top of
other problems with relief efforts. Many of the victims were promised living
stipends of about $12 a month, but some have not received the stipend in
months.
Other victims have reported there
is little access to clean drinking water and shortages of water needed for
irrigation during the dry season.
Meanwhile, infrastructure damaged
by the floodwaters remains in disrepair, making some villages inaccessible.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service.
Translated by RFA's Lao Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Export
Of Basmati Rice
India is the largest exporter of Basmati rice, which is one of
the major varieties of aromatic or scented rice. Details of exports of Basmati
Rice during April-October, 2018, as compared to the same period during 2017,
are as under:
|
Year
|
Quantity (MT)
|
Value (Rs. Crore.)
|
|
Apr-Oct. 2017-18
|
2371108
|
15208
|
|
Apr-Oct. 2018-19
|
2294787
|
16963
|
Source: DGCI&S
While there is a marginal decline of 3.28%in quantity terms, in
value terms the exports have grown by 11.54%. As such, there is no question of
any major hardship due to non-export of basmati rice.
The major export destination for basmati Rice are Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Yemen Republic, USA, and UK.
The Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export
Development Authority (APEDA), an autonomous organisation under the
administrative control of Department of Commerce, has been mandated with the
export promotion of Basmati rice. APEDA has been able to register Basmati Rice
as a Geographical Indication (GI) in February 2016. APEDA, in collaboration
with the trade, has also established Basmati Export Development Foundation
(BEDF), which undertakes various activities for development and export
promotion of Basmati rice. Moreover, APEDA has also been providing assistance
to the Basmati rice exporters under various components of its export promotion
scheme.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce
and Industry, C. R. Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
***
Rice Prices
as on :
02-01-2019 02:53:22 PM
Arrivals in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.
|
Arrivals
|
Price
|
|
Current
|
%
change
|
Season
cumulative
|
Modal
|
Prev.
Modal
|
Prev.Yr
%change
|
|
Rice
|
|
Gadarpur(Utr)
|
672.00
|
-
|
672.00
|
1755
|
-
|
-
|
|
Gazipur(UP)
|
470.00
|
-
|
994.00
|
2950
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kanpur(Grain)(UP)
|
460.00
|
-
|
1175.00
|
2150
|
-
|
-
|
|
Bharthna(UP)
|
330.00
|
-
|
2703.00
|
2355
|
-
|
-
|
|
Hardoi(UP)
|
270.00
|
-
|
1330.00
|
2260
|
-
|
-0.88
|
|
Choubepur(UP)
|
265.00
|
-
|
265.00
|
2585
|
-
|
-
|
|
Jangipura(UP)
|
250.00
|
-
|
398.00
|
2250
|
-
|
7.14
|
|
Sultanpur(UP)
|
187.50
|
-
|
1370.50
|
2370
|
-
|
-
|
|
Puranpur(UP)
|
185.00
|
-
|
4165.00
|
2300
|
-
|
-
|
|
Shahjahanpur(UP)
|
180.00
|
-
|
4710.00
|
2365
|
-
|
-
|
|
Siliguri(WB)
|
165.00
|
-
|
165.00
|
3700
|
-
|
-
|
|
Jafarganj(UP)
|
163.00
|
-
|
519.00
|
2250
|
-
|
-
|
|
Gondal(UP)
|
153.00
|
-
|
2462.50
|
2520
|
-
|
14.81
|
|
Pilibhit(UP)
|
140.00
|
-
|
8548.00
|
2320
|
-
|
-
|
|
Mainpuri(UP)
|
127.00
|
-
|
931.00
|
2740
|
-
|
7.45
|
|
Naugarh(UP)
|
105.00
|
-
|
1033.50
|
2225
|
-
|
-
|
|
Agra(UP)
|
105.00
|
-
|
1109.00
|
2530
|
-
|
-0.78
|
|
Asansol(WB)
|
105.00
|
-
|
832.30
|
3000
|
-
|
-
|
|
Ballia(UP)
|
100.00
|
-
|
370.00
|
2355
|
-
|
10.56
|
|
Lucknow(UP)
|
98.00
|
-
|
668.00
|
2350
|
-
|
-
|
|
Madhoganj(UP)
|
98.00
|
-
|
1833.50
|
2050
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kalna(WB)
|
95.00
|
-
|
461.00
|
3000
|
-
|
-
|
|
Aligarh(UP)
|
80.00
|
-
|
1055.00
|
2500
|
-
|
NC
|
|
Faizabad(UP)
|
80.00
|
-
|
315.00
|
2200
|
-
|
3.53
|
|
Howly(ASM)
|
70.00
|
-
|
137.00
|
2500
|
-
|
-
|
|
Bazpur(Utr)
|
70.00
|
-
|
1308.10
|
2500
|
-
|
-
|
|
Jorhat(ASM)
|
65.00
|
-
|
196.00
|
3200
|
-
|
-
|
|
Beldanga(WB)
|
65.00
|
-
|
845.00
|
2600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Ghaziabad(UP)
|
60.00
|
-
|
1350.00
|
2725
|
-
|
-
|
|
Hapur(UP)
|
60.00
|
-
|
890.00
|
2750
|
-
|
-
|
|
Indus(Bankura Sadar)(WB)
|
55.00
|
-
|
1110.00
|
2750
|
-
|
-
|
|
Hanagal(Kar)
|
49.00
|
-
|
233.00
|
1900
|
-
|
-
|
|
Bhivandi(Mah)
|
46.00
|
-
|
151.00
|
3300
|
-
|
17.86
|
|
Fatehpur(UP)
|
41.00
|
-
|
233.10
|
2280
|
-
|
2.93
|
|
Cachar(ASM)
|
40.00
|
-
|
1221.00
|
2400
|
-
|
NC
|
|
Allahabad(UP)
|
40.00
|
-
|
420.00
|
2315
|
-
|
-
|
|
Lalitpur(UP)
|
40.00
|
-
|
950.00
|
2590
|
-
|
-
|
|
Lakhimpur(UP)
|
40.00
|
-
|
657.50
|
2250
|
-
|
-
|
|
Mathura(UP)
|
40.00
|
-
|
348.00
|
2860
|
-
|
-
|
|
Vasai(Mah)
|
36.00
|
-
|
487.00
|
3385
|
-
|
16.72
|
|
Pukhrayan(UP)
|
35.00
|
-
|
188.00
|
2160
|
-
|
-
|
|
Basti(UP)
|
34.00
|
-
|
643.50
|
2210
|
-
|
-
|
|
Jhargram(WB)
|
33.00
|
-
|
259.00
|
2700
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kandi(WB)
|
32.00
|
-
|
138.00
|
2500
|
-
|
-
|
|
Saharanpur(UP)
|
29.00
|
-
|
476.00
|
2745
|
-
|
6.40
|
|
Jaunpur(UP)
|
28.50
|
-
|
938.00
|
2300
|
-
|
5.50
|
|
Islampur(WB)
|
28.00
|
-
|
279.00
|
3450
|
-
|
-
|
|
Bareilly(UP)
|
27.00
|
-
|
457.50
|
2340
|
-
|
-
|
|
Raiganj(WB)
|
26.00
|
-
|
284.00
|
3350
|
-
|
-
|
|
Auraiya(UP)
|
25.00
|
-
|
182.50
|
2170
|
-
|
-
|
|
Ulhasnagar(Mah)
|
22.00
|
-
|
152.00
|
4000
|
-
|
-
|
|
Naanpara(UP)
|
22.00
|
-
|
345.40
|
2300
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kolaghat(WB)
|
21.00
|
-
|
39.00
|
2620
|
-
|
-
|
|
Mahoba(UP)
|
20.00
|
-
|
147.60
|
2175
|
-
|
-
|
|
Sitapur(UP)
|
20.00
|
-
|
116.00
|
2210
|
-
|
-
|
|
Devariya(UP)
|
20.00
|
-
|
393.00
|
2165
|
-
|
0.70
|
|
Maharajganj(UP)
|
20.00
|
-
|
40.00
|
2100
|
-
|
-
|
|
Wansi(UP)
|
20.00
|
-
|
248.00
|
2110
|
-
|
-
|
|
Purulia(WB)
|
20.00
|
-
|
40.00
|
2600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Falakata(WB)
|
20.00
|
-
|
180.00
|
2650
|
-
|
-
|
|
Alipurduar(WB)
|
20.00
|
-
|
200.00
|
2650
|
-
|
-
|
|
Panchpedwa(UP)
|
19.00
|
-
|
481.00
|
2000
|
-
|
-
|
|
Tamluk (Medinipur E)(WB)
|
18.00
|
-
|
36.00
|
2640
|
-
|
-
|
|
Sirsaganj(UP)
|
17.00
|
-
|
212.00
|
2760
|
-
|
8.66
|
|
Dhekiajuli(ASM)
|
16.00
|
-
|
94.50
|
2300
|
-
|
-
|
|
Vishalpur(UP)
|
16.00
|
-
|
328.50
|
2340
|
-
|
-
|
|
Giridih(Jha)
|
15.39
|
-
|
154.93
|
4200
|
-
|
-
|
|
Karsiyang(Matigara)(WB)
|
15.20
|
-
|
265.80
|
3000
|
-
|
-
|
|
Jasra(UP)
|
15.00
|
-
|
321.00
|
2360
|
-
|
-
|
|
Khurja(UP)
|
15.00
|
-
|
260.50
|
2610
|
-
|
33.85
|
|
Kayamganj(UP)
|
15.00
|
-
|
251.00
|
2460
|
-
|
-
|
|
Fatehabad(UP)
|
14.00
|
-
|
96.10
|
2220
|
-
|
-
|
|
Badayoun(UP)
|
14.00
|
-
|
244.00
|
2260
|
-
|
-
|
|
Ghatal(WB)
|
14.00
|
-
|
119.00
|
2500
|
-
|
-
|
|
Rasda(UP)
|
13.00
|
-
|
13.00
|
200
|
-
|
-
|
|
Farukhabad(UP)
|
12.00
|
-
|
193.50
|
2650
|
-
|
-
|
|
Puwaha(UP)
|
12.00
|
-
|
55.00
|
2350
|
-
|
-
|
|
Bethuadahari(WB)
|
12.00
|
-
|
12.00
|
3600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Karvi(UP)
|
11.00
|
-
|
65.00
|
2160
|
-
|
-
|
|
Sheoraphuly(WB)
|
10.20
|
-
|
80.80
|
3100
|
-
|
-
|
|
Muradabad(UP)
|
10.00
|
-
|
104.00
|
2340
|
-
|
-
|
|
Vilthararoad(UP)
|
10.00
|
-
|
270.00
|
2150
|
-
|
-
|
|
Paliakala(UP)
|
9.00
|
-
|
158.50
|
2275
|
-
|
5.81
|
|
Jhansi(UP)
|
8.00
|
-
|
43.50
|
2340
|
-
|
-
|
|
Chitwadagaon(UP)
|
8.00
|
-
|
137.00
|
2100
|
-
|
5.00
|
|
Etah(UP)
|
7.00
|
-
|
79.00
|
2520
|
-
|
-
|
|
Tamkuhi Road(UP)
|
7.00
|
-
|
153.50
|
2135
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kannauj(UP)
|
6.50
|
-
|
84.60
|
2510
|
-
|
-
|
|
Hailakandi(ASM)
|
6.00
|
-
|
12.00
|
2400
|
-
|
-
|
|
Unnao(UP)
|
5.80
|
-
|
40.10
|
2225
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kosikalan(UP)
|
5.00
|
-
|
53.30
|
2600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Mirzapur(UP)
|
5.00
|
-
|
163.50
|
2275
|
-
|
-
|
|
Nautnava(UP)
|
5.00
|
-
|
58.00
|
2300
|
-
|
-
|
|
Chhibramau(Kannuj)(UP)
|
5.00
|
-
|
51.00
|
2400
|
-
|
6.67
|
|
Badda(UP)
|
4.50
|
-
|
20.70
|
2350
|
-
|
-
|
|
Chandoli(UP)
|
4.20
|
-
|
23.00
|
2325
|
-
|
-
|
|
Anandnagar(UP)
|
4.00
|
-
|
100.40
|
2300
|
-
|
-
|
|
Buland Shahr(UP)
|
4.00
|
-
|
42.00
|
2600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Maudaha(UP)
|
4.00
|
-
|
42.00
|
2180
|
-
|
-
|
|
Kalyani(WB)
|
4.00
|
-
|
93.00
|
3400
|
-
|
-
|
|
Ranaghat(WB)
|
3.50
|
-
|
34.90
|
3600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Alibagh(Mah)
|
3.00
|
-
|
13.00
|
7200
|
-
|
-
|
|
Murud(Mah)
|
3.00
|
-
|
13.00
|
7200
|
-
|
-
|
|
Jahangirabad(UP)
|
3.00
|
-
|
55.00
|
2600
|
-
|
3.17
|
|
Sehjanwa(UP)
|
3.00
|
-
|
96.10
|
2160
|
-
|
-
|
|
Tundla(UP)
|
2.60
|
-
|
80.80
|
2560
|
-
|
1.67
|
|
Gadaura(UP)
|
2.50
|
-
|
19.20
|
2200
|
-
|
-
|
|
Darjeeling(WB)
|
2.20
|
-
|
2.20
|
3150
|
-
|
-
|
|
Amroha(UP)
|
2.00
|
-
|
54.00
|
2600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Mau(Chitrakut)(UP)
|
2.00
|
-
|
70.60
|
1775
|
-
|
-
|
|
Bangarmau(UP)
|
1.40
|
-
|
17.60
|
2200
|
-
|
4.76
|
|
Khairagarh(UP)
|
1.20
|
-
|
21.70
|
2530
|
-
|
2.02
|
|
Jagnair(UP)
|
1.10
|
-
|
20.00
|
2540
|
-
|
2.01
|
|
Jambusar(Kaavi)(Guj)
|
1.00
|
-
|
3.00
|
3000
|
-
|
-
|
|
Penugonda(Mah)
|
1.00
|
-
|
12.00
|
4080
|
-
|
-
|
|
Fatehpur Sikri(UP)
|
1.00
|
-
|
8.70
|
2565
|
-
|
-0.58
|
|
Samsabad(UP)
|
1.00
|
-
|
1.00
|
2400
|
-
|
-
|
|
Muskara(UP)
|
1.00
|
-
|
5.60
|
2250
|
-
|
-
|
|
Achnera(UP)
|
0.80
|
-
|
14.00
|
2530
|
-
|
1.20
|
Govt rice procurement reaches 238.8 lakh tons so far
New Delhi, Dec 30 () The government has procured
238.8 lakh tonnes of rice in the current 2018-19 marketing season so far, with
the buying in Punjab and Haryana almost over, according to official data.
PTI | Dec 30, 2018, 11:50 IST
New
Delhi, Dec 30 () The government has procured 238.8 lakh tonnes of rice in the
current 2018-19 marketing season so far, with the buying in Punjab and Haryana
almost over, according to official data.
Rice
procurement target for the current season (October-September) has been fixed at
375 lakh tonnes. In the previous year, total rice procurement stood at 381.8
lakh tonnes.
Procurement
is undertaken by state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies for
the central pool to meet the requirement of food security law. Rice is
purchased at the minimum support price (MSP).
According
to FCI data, rice procurement has reached 113.3 lakh tonnes in Punjab, 39.09
lakh tonnes in Haryana and 22.42 lakh tonnes in Chhattisgarh so far.
Rice
procurement has touched 22.46 lakh tonnes in Telangana, 13.28 lakh tonnes in
Uttar Pradesh and 10.7 lakh tonnes in Andhra Pradesh so far, the data showed.
A Food
Ministry official said the procurement operation in Punjab and Haryana is
almost complete.
The
buying in Chhattisgarh, where farmers had stopped selling their produce in
anticipation of a hike in MSP, has resumed after the new government in the
state implemented its poll promise.
The rice
purchase in eastern states such as Bihar and West Bengal normally starts from
January.
At
present, the government is procuring rice grown in the kharif season of this
year.
Rice output is
pegged at 99.24 million tonnes during the 2018-19 kharif season, as against
97.50 million tonnes in the year-ago period, as per the Agriculture Ministry's
first crop estimate. LUX ABM
Bangladesh ranks 5th in
global wheat imports
03.01.2019
The country witnessed a robust
growth in wheat import during last five fiscal years’ period, mainly for
changing food habit of the countrymen.
With around 5.5 million tons of barely purchased, Bangladesh has emerged as a
leading wheat importer in the world with its import volume hitting a record
high in the last fiscal year, mainly due to a shift in consumers’ diet
preference and flourishing baked food market, according to the industry
insiders.
The country ranks fifth in wheat imports in the world. The other four leading
wheat importers are: Egypt (12 million tonnes), Indonesia (9.5 million tonnes),
Algeria (8 million tonnes) and Brazil (7 million tonnes). The country’s wheat
import tripled in five years to 5.4 million tonnes in FY 2016-17 from 1.8
million tonnes in FY 2012-13. The import of wheat was 2.7 million tonnes in FY
2013-14, followed by 3.8 million in 2014-15 and 4.2 million in 2015-16.
The country has turned to the Black Sea region for wheat import because supply
from India has dwindled as it meets growing domestic demand, said agriculture
expert Dr Delwar Hossain.
The South Asian country imports around 5.5 million tonnes of wheat, making it
one of the world’s biggest importers of the grain. Bangladesh’s output has
stagnated at around 1.3 million tons.
A recent report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations predicted that wheat import requirements for the 2018-19 fiscal for the
Bangladesh will be at a record level of over 6 million tones, 34 percent above
the previous five-year average following steady increases since 2012-13 fiscal.
The strong demand for wheat reflects a shift in consumers’ diet preferences as
well as the increased use as a substitute for more expensive rice. Similarly,
maize import requirements are expected to increase to 1.7 million tonnes, 10
percent more than last year’s record due to sustained demand for feed. By
contrast, rice import requirements are estimated at a well below-average level
of 850 000 tonnes reflecting ample supplies from the record output in 2018.
Overall, cereal import requirements in the 2018-19 marketing year (July/June)
are estimated at 8.6 million tonnes, almost 30 percent above the five-year’s
average and 22 percent less than previous year’s unusual high, said the report.
Talking to The Daily Industry, director (marketing) of PRAN-RFL Group, a
leading manufacturer of wheat-based food items, said, “The consumers’ dietary
habits and lifestyle have changed a lot. Many of them now skip rice in lunch or
dinner and have snacks, breads, noodles and other sophisticated food items in
which wheat are used.”
He said they are exporting many wheat-based diversified food products to
markets in India, Europe, USA, Malaysia and the Middle-East.
Kamal stressed the need for government efforts to increase wheat production.
“We’re trying to increase domestic production, develop better breeds and
increase the crop’s acreage,” said Naresh Chandra Dev, a top ranking official
of the Wheat Research Centre while talking to Daily Industry yesterday. 
A FAO report also revealed that, the world would require around 840 million
tonnes of wheat by 2050 from current production level of 642 million tonnes and
it has to be achieved with less land and resources through genetic,
physiological and agronomic interventions, particularly resource conservation
technologies. Besides, precision breeding for improving varietal elasticity,
new initiatives for climate change monitoring and crop modeling for advance
yield forecasts would help in fulfilling future demands.
ASIA RICE-INDIA RATES EASE ON FALLING
RUPEE, DEMAND; THAI HARVEST TO AUGMENT SUPPLY
1/3/2019
*
For Vietnam exporters, 2019 expected to be difficult - trader
* Bangladesh imports slow in
July-Dec due to tax imposition
By Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Rice
export prices in India eased from a four-month high this week due to a
depreciation of the rupee and sluggish demand, while Thai traders expect prices
to drop over the coming weeks as supplies start to arrive from the new season
crop amid flat demand.
India's 5 percent broken parboiled
variety <RI-INBKN5-P1> was quoted around $376-$383 per tonne this week,
compared with $378-$384 last week.
"Prices are moderating due to
a weak rupee but still demand from African countries is weak," said an
exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The rupee fell to a two-week low on
Thursday, increasing exporters' margin from overseas sales.
Export prices in India shot up in
the second half of last month after the central state of Chhattisgarh, a
leading rice producer, raised the minimum paddy buying price.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, rice
imports slowed to 106,000 tonnes in July-December due to the imposition of a
tax in June, data from the food ministry showed. The country imported a record
3.9 million tonnes of rice in the last financial year that ended in June 2018.
The south Asian country, which
emerged as a major importer of the grain in 2017 after floods damaged crops,
imposed a 28 percent duty to support its farmers after local production
revived.
In Thailand, benchmark 5-percent
broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> was quoted at $380-$400 per tonne, free on
board Bangkok, slightly widening from $380-$390 last week as the baht
strengthened against the dollar.
Traders said demand for Thai rice
had been flat this new year and that supplies from the new harvest would likely
bring down prices over the next few weeks.
December to January is usually the
rice harvest season in Thailand, but this time there has been some delay in
harvesting in some parts of the country.
"We are now expecting supply
from the new harvest to enter the market in early February, so that could
affect rice prices this month," a Bangkok-based trader said.
In Vietnam, rates for 5 percent
broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> fell to $370-$375 a tonne from $385 a week
earlier due to weak demand.
"This year is forecast to be a
difficult year for Vietnamese rice exporters due to weaker demand, along with
China's move to impose technical barriers on shipments from Vietnam," a
trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
China has put a cap on the number
of Vietnamese companies eligible to export rice to China at 21, and Vietnam is
asking China to add more firms to the list, reported the Nong Nghiep Vietnam
newspaper.
Government data released last week
showed Vietnam's rice exports in 2018 rose 4.6 percent to 6.09 million tonnes.
Rice export revenue in the year rose 16 percent to $3.05 billion.
"I think it's time for
Vietnamese farmers to reduce their rice growing area and turn parts of their
rice fields into fishing farms," said another trader. (Reporting by Panu
Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Rajendra
Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Jonathan:
I Didn’t Leave Empty Treasury For Buhari
President Goodluck Jonathan
Wednesday stated that he did not leave an empty treasury for his successor,
President Muhammadu Buhari, describing Pastor Tunde Bakare’s claims to that
effect as false and untenable.
Bakare was quoted as claiming during a recent trip to Canada
that President Buhari could not appoint a cabinet for six months because “he
met an empty treasury.”
But in a statement by one of Jonathan’s media aides, Reno
Omokri, he described Bakare’s statement as lies and a figment of both the
imaginations of President Buhari and Pastor Bakare.
“The Jonathan administration left $2.07 billion in the Excess
Crude Account when it handed over to the Buhari administration on May 29, 2015.
This is an easily verifiable fact from both the Central Bank of Nigeria and is
also available from other open sources”, Omokri stated.
“In addition to that, the Jonathan government left a foreign
reserves of $29. 6 billion for the incoming government and $5.2 billion was
left for the Buhari administration by way of dividend payments from the NLNG.
“Now, there is no way these huge amounts can be described as
empty treasury. I challenge Pastor Tunde Bakare to disprove these figures I
have given here or take me to court and I will embarrass him there and show him
to be the liar that he is.”
He also disputed claims by Pastor Bakare that Nigeria no longer
imports rice as untrue.
Omokri said, “first of all, even the Buhari administration has
not claimed that Nigeria is no longer importing rice. What they said, which is
also a lie, is that rice imports have reduced.
“But the truth is that Nigeria’s rice imports have actually
increased by 60 per cent as revealed by no less an institution than the United
States Department of Agriculture.
“In fact, according to the USDA, not only has Nigeria’s rice
imports increased by 60 per cent, but Nigeria is projected to be the second
largest rice importing nation.
“These are the exact words of the USDA “China and Nigeria are
projected to remain the largest rice importing countries in 2019, followed by
the EU, Cote d’Ivoire, and Iran.
“You do not have to take my word for this – google it by
yourself. The last time Nigeria’s rice imports went down, according to the
USDA, was in 2015 under former President Jonathan.”
Omokri added that Bakare’s claims that 17 Local Government Areas
(LGAs) occupied by Boko Haram are no longer an issue means that Pastor Bakare
is out of touch, saying that as he was granting that interview, Baga,
Doron-Baga, Kross Kawwa, Bunduran, Kekeno and Kukawa towns are all under Boko
Haram/ISWAP’s control.
“In fact, the Governor of Borno State, a notorious political
enemy of former President Jonathan, was forced to hold a press conference on
New Year’s eve where he confessed that the situation has deteriorated and was
worse than before.
“For emphasis, the following was the front page headline in the
Punch on New Year’s eve “Residents flee as Boko Haram takes over Borno
communities”, Jonathan’s spokesman said.
“There has been mass movement of people out of communities in
Borno State through Damaturu the Yobe State capital to Bauchi, Gombe, Kebbi,
Zamfara, Kebbi and Jigawa States.”
He added that unlike the Jonathan era, the insecurity in Nigeria
is almost total, arguing that “as I write this today (January 2, 2019, Aminu
Bello Masari, the Governor of Katsina State, President Buhari’s own state,
raised an alarm on the insecurity and breakdown of law and order in his state.”
Omokri further stated, “We are not talking of Zamfara or the
North-east. We are talking Katsina. If Buhari cannot secure his own state, is
it Nigeria he can secure? And then there is Zamfara State, which is becoming as
bad, if not worse, than the Northe-ast.”
He said that with these unimpeachable facts it is hard pressed
to understand why “Pastor Tunde Bakare cannot respect himself and the calling
he claims to have, by using his mouth to speak truth instead of lying like a
heathen.”
http://saharareporters.com/2019/01/03/jonathan-i-didn%E2%80%99t-leave-empty-treasury-buhari%E2%80%8B
