Need to bridge the gap between
Agri-scientists & Agri-engineering
February 25, 2019 2019-02-25T11:51:43+05:00
Pakistan is largely dependent on
imported seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agri-engineering. Why scientists
and innovators of Pakistan could not help? Answer lies in this story.
Pakistan used to produce 150000
bales of cotton in 1975. The scientist of NIAB FSD
developed new cotton variety and output of cotton reached to 11 million bales.
Then for last three decades the output is same and stagnant.
The scientist of KSK Rice Institute
developed Baspati variety and Pakistan secured good name in rice. Rest are
imported varieties. India has 50+ commercial varieties. Why we could not have a
good variety after basmati?
These both scientists got nothing
for innovations. The message is well understood by rest of scientific
community. Just because;
- Our S&T is not responsive.
- It is led by non technical rather political
figures.
- No IP law approved till today for variety,
seed etc.
- No commercial incentives for
scientists.
- Scientists are not allowed to earn from
profits of their innovation as they are treated like civil servants under
ESTA code.
Potential Effects of RA 11203 (Philippine Rice Tariffication)
February 25, 2019 | 12:03 am
By Caesar B. Cororaton, Krista
Danielle S. Yu and Marites
M. Tiongco
School of Economics, De La Salle University
School of Economics, De La Salle University
AFTER 24 YEARS since the
Philippines was granted approval in 1995 by the World Trade Organization (WTO)
to impose quantitative restriction (QR) on rice importation into the country,
the government finally eliminated the quota system on rice importation through
the passage of RA 11203. The law, which was recently signed, will be
implemented on March 5, 2019. One of the key features of RA 11203 is the
replacement of the rice importation quota system with tariffs. In the new law,
the following tariffs apply:
(i) 35% if rice was imported from
within ASEAN
(ii) 40% if within the minimum
access volume (MAV) of 350,000 metric tons for imports coming from countries
outside of ASEAN
(iii) 180% if above the MAV and
from a non-ASEAN country.
The Philippine government expects
to generate additional tariff revenue of P10 billion as a result of the
tariffication of the rice quota. This amount is expected to be allocated to
assist rice farmers who will be negatively affected by the expected increase in
the inflow of cheaper rice imports of similar quality (Class C or 25% broken)
into the country.
The objective of this short note
is to present our simulation results of the potential economic impact of RA
11203 on rice farmers, rice imports, consumer prices, Filipino consumers,
government tariff revenue, and poverty. The simulation was conducted using a
Philippine economic model. We considered two scenarios involving a complete
elimination of QR: (i) without tariff replacement on rice imports; and (ii)
with rice tariffs in RA 11203. The simulations were compared to the base case
where the QR on rice importation is retained.
1. In the case of QR elimination
with no tariff replacement, the volume of inflows of cheaper rice will increase
by 92.7%, displacing local palay production by 5.9%. The price of local palay
will also decline by 2.9%. Overall, the value of local palay production will
decrease by P35.1 billion as a result of the drop in both the volume of
production and prices. Because there are no tariffs to replace the quota,
government revenue will drop by P1.3 billion.
2. If the elimination of the QR
is replaced with tariffs stated in RA 11203, the volume of inflows of cheaper
rice imports increase at significantly lower rate of 8.1 %. The drop in palay
price is also considerably smaller at 0.2%. Overall, the value of local palay
production will decline by P2.7 billion. Because of the tariffs imposed on rice
imports, government tariff revenue will increase by P18.9 billion,
significantly larger than the estimates of the government.
3. In both cases, the elimination
of the rice QR will result in lower domestic prices of rice, which in turn
leads to higher volume of rice consumption. The value of rice consumption
however will decline by P2.1 billion despite the increase in the volume of rice
consumption largely because of the decrease in the domestic prices of rice as a
result of the tariffication of rice QR.
4. In both cases, the
tariffication of the QR will result in lower inflation. The reduction in the
overall price is larger in the case of no tariff replacement, mainly because
tariffs are additional taxes on consumption. Across decile income groups,
however, the decline in consumer prices is higher in lower income groups
largely because these groups have relatively higher expenditure share on rice
in their consumption basket. Cororaton and Yu (2019) have noted that 20.2% of
consumption of poor households is on rice as compared to 10.9% of consumption
of non-poor.
5. Both cases are poverty-reducing.
The number of poor who will be lifted out of poverty is considerably higher in
the first case at 409,956 compared to 38,060 for the second case mainly because
of the higher reduction in consumer prices. However, the negative effects on
palay farmers are significantly higher in the first case with no tariff
replacement compared to the case with tariffs under RA 11203.
The rice QR system which lasted
for 24 years generated sizable pure economic rent that went directly to the
pockets of select few. It is about time to tariffy the rent and redistribute
these to the rice farmers who will be negatively affected by the influx of
cheaper imported rice. The higher expected increase in government tariff
revenue generated through RA 11203 will be more than enough to assist palay
farmers and may be used by the government to increase the assistance to palay
farmers through direct income support or through productivity assistance, e.g.,
the development of improved rice varieties that can withstand and adapt to
rapid changes in weather conditions, in addition to the programmes specified
under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
All told, the implementation of
RA 11203 was a right policy move by the government to correct the distortion
created by the rice QR that puts heavy burden on poor.
Caesar B. Cororaton is a Senior
Research Fellow at the Global Issues Initiative of the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University. He has been working on global economic modeling
focusing on regional trade agreements, country-level modeling focusing on
policy reforms and poverty, and community-level modeling focusing on impact
evaluation of policy interventions.
Krista Danielle S. Yu is an
associate professor and research fellow in the School of Economics of De La
Salle University. Her research activities centers on the development of
quantitative models for disaster risk and vulnerability analyses, as well as on
the economic impact of natural disasters. In 2016, she was recognized by
Thomson Reuters as the Philippines Promising Star in Economics and Business. In
2017, she received the National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding
Young Scientist Award in the field of Economics.
Marites M. Tiongco is a Full
Professor and Dean of the School of Economics at the De La Salle University in
Manila, Philippines. Her research work focus on the impact of human and social
capital on development and poverty, and on the economics of agricultural
development with emphasis on critical natural resources and policy issues as
they affect food security, food and water safety along the value chain, market
access of smallholder producers, agricultural health and productivity, climate
change mitigation and adaptation, and environmental sustainability.
Bureaucracy seen
delaying benefits to rice farmers
February 25, 2019 | 12:05 am
PHILSTAR
By Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
Reporter
Reporter
THE NEWLY-SIGNED Republic Act
(RA) No. 11203 or Rice Tariffication law is expected to reduce poverty by
bringing down rice prices, but the bureaucratic process may delay the farmer
relief measures attached to the law, academics said.
The law is to implemented
beginning March 5, with the National Food Authority’s (NFA) import functions to
be removed, leaving the task to the private sector. A 35% tariff will be
charged for imports from ASEAN countries, while 40% will be imposed on
shipments from non-ASEAN countries for imports within the Minimum Access Volume
(MAV) of 350,000 metric tons (MT).
The tariffs will finance the Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) at P10 billion a year for six years,
with 50% to be distributed for farm mechanization; 30% for development,
propagation and promotion of inbred seed; 10% for low-cost credit to be
facilitated by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) and the Development
Bank of the Philippines (DBP); and 10% for extension services to upgrade
farmers’ skills.
“Farmers will be affected because
imported rice can be sold at P35 per kilogram (kg) or about P17 per kg for
palay (unmilled rice), (which is) great for consumers. That is why the government
must have income support for rice farmers,” Rolando T. Dy, Executive Director
of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Center for Food and
Agribusiness, said in a mobile message.
Mr. Dy noted that if government
acts in accordance with the law, it will spur development, though the
bureaucracy may take time to establish an efficient process for distributing
the RCEF benefits.
“It will take time to implement
the P10 billion RCEF due to organizational and bureaucratic weaknesses. I
support the Rice Tariffication Act. I am skeptical on the bureaucracy to
quickly deliver the RSBSA (Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture)
fund transfer and the RCEF,” Mr. Dy said.
The Department of Agriculture
(DA) said last week that it is now fast-tracking the updating and validation of
its National Farmers and Fisheries Information System (NFFIS) which will form
part of the RSBSA that will serve as the official list of recipients of RCEF.
Mr. Dy said that investing in
mechanization will benefit farmers, reducing the labor required and lowering
production costs.
“Mechanization has done well for
Vietnamese farmers. Based on the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute)
PhilRice study, rice farmers in Nueva Ecija use 44 man-days per hectare mainly
for transplanting and harvesting. Vietnamese farmers use only four man-days.
Big cost difference. The machinery should be the farmers’ choice,” Mr. Dy said.
Mr. Dy noted that rice demand
falls as per capita income increases.
“Rice demand falls as per capita
income increases. Our problem is very high poverty. Malaysia’s per capita
demand is down to 82 kg compared with the Philippines’ 110 kg. South Korea’s is
62 kg, China’s is 78 kg, Japan’s is down to 60 kg… Per capita consumption in
most of Asia is falling,” Mr. Dy said.
Roy S. Kempis, a professor with
Pampanga State Agricultural University, said imports outside the MAV will be
charged higher tariffs of up to 180%, which is why he does not expect imported
rice to flood the Philippine market. However, he said the game at the point of
import becomes misdeclaration of rice volume.
“Volume to comply with the MAV
for 35% tariff must meet the 2012 minimum of 350,000 MT from ASEAN countries,
50% from non-ASEAN countries. Any excess imports from the MAV shall be assessed
higher tariffs… One has to be wary of misdeclarations of volume of imports,”
Mr. Kempis said in an e-mail interview.
“Opposition to the law must be
based on responsible and objective appreciation of the principles of
agricultural economics, not politics,” according to Mr. Kempis.
Mr. Kempis said he does not
expect the law to encourage dependence on imported rice or threaten the
livelihood of farmers.
“Filipino rice farmers will
always plant rice, especially for their home consumption. Local and fresh rice
is an experience that rice farmers will not exchange for imported rice which is
usually old stock… But you have to be wary of people mislabeling rice sold to
consumers public,” Mr. Kempis said.
He added some opportunists could
scare farmers into selling their land by painting a negative scenario under
rice tariffication.
Mr. Kempis backs consolidation of
small farms into 50 to 80-hectare plots in order to maximize the efficiency of
farm machinery.
Krista Danielle S. Yu, a
professor with De La Salle University’s (DLSU) School of Economics (SoE), said
the government should also make a strong push for crop insurance and direct
cash transfers.
“There is a need to develop
programs should rice tariff collections exceed P10 billion. Based on our
computation, the welfare loss due to operating with quantitative restrictions
was P28 billion. We suggest that a cash transfer program targeted specifically
to rice farmers be implemented with the remaining collections. Also, given that
farmers are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, crop insurance is also
another program worth looking into,” Ms. Yu said in an e-mail.
Asked if farmers will experience
losses from more extensive imports, Ms. Yu said, “Initially, rice farmers may
incur losses as a result of influx of imported rice. But rice farmers are also
rice consumers. Harvested palay meeds to be milled in order to become rice
which is now cheaper for farmers thereby yielding gains for them as rice
consumers.”
On Sunday, the Federation of Free
Farmers (FFF) warned economic managers and Senator Cynthia A. Villar, the
sponsor of the law, of the consequences of the liberalization of rice imports.
“We warned her (Ms. Villar)
several times of the danger of abruptly removing NFA’s price stabilization
functions, but she did not listen. She just echoed the theory of the economic
managers that the free market will take care of everything. Now she is saying
the President will take care of it. In effect, she has placed the President in
a legally tenuous and politically dangerous trap in case things go awry,” FFF
National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said in a statement.
Farmers’ dismay over rice trade lib law may lead
to lawsuits–report
February 25, 2019
133
Last updated on February 25th, 2019 at 03:55 am
THE Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA-FAS) said the Philippine government may face
lawsuits over the rice trade liberalization law as opposition against the
measure grows.
In a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report,
USDA-FAS Manila noted that Republic Act (RA) 11203 would “likely face legal
challenges in the form of lawsuits in the near future” as some rice industry
stakeholders are “dismayed” over the measure.
RA 11203 liberalized the country’s rice trade, including the
removal of the quantitative restriction on imports, and also deregulated the
National Food Authority, leaving it as a buffer-stocking agency for
emergencies.
“The rice tariffication law has also been met by strong
opposition from some sectors, with legal challenges in the form of lawsuits
likely in the near future,” the Gain report, which was published recently,
read.
The report also agreed with farmers that the country’s rice
imports will increase, particularly from Asean member-states, after Manila
liberalized rice trade.
The USDA earlier projected that Philippine rice imports this
year could reach 2.3 million metric tons (MMT), driven by stronger appetite
from traders as they anticipate the full liberalization of the industry.
This would be the second consecutive year that the Philippines
will import over 2 MMT of rice, as purchases from abroad last year were also
estimated at 2.3 MMT, according to the USDA.
‘Undue haste’
Farmers belonging to the Federation of Free Farmers Inc. (FFF)
on Sunday decried the “undue haste” of the economic managers to finish the
implementing rules and regulations (IRR) by March 5 sans proper consultation
with affected stakeholders.
The FFF noted that RA 11203 provides a 45-day period for the
government to consult farmers, millers and other stakeholders in crafting the
IRR.
FFF National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said it is important to
maximize the 45-day period allotted by the law to ensure that farmers are well
informed about the impact of the law.
This would ensure that the concerns of farmers will be heard and
will be considered in the IRR, considering that the law has “a lot of
loopholes” that need to be clarified, Montemayor added.
“Why are they rushing the completion of the IRR? Have
commitments been made to some importers? Most farmers have not heard of
the Official Gazette, nor do they read newspapers, so they do not even
understand what is inside the law,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“How do you expect ordinary farmers to understand, much less
critique, this draft in one-day ‘stakeholder consultations’?” he added, noting
that the latest draft of the IRR consists of 32 pages.
Officials of the agriculture department sounded the alarm last
week that the government could face lawsuits if it would implement the rice
trade liberalization law on March 5 sans the IRR.
Some members of the President’s economic team had announced that
the new rice trade regime would take effect on March 5 even without the
necessary IRR.
Farmers’ groups and other allied industry stakeholders have
stated that they may challenge the law before the court due to lack of public
consultation in crafting the bill.
Some groups are looking into the possibility of securing a
temporary restraining order against RA 11203 from the Supreme Court.
Moody's: Bangko Sentral,
rice reform laws 'positive' for PH
ABS-CBN News
MANILA -- Recent economic reforms in the Philippines will be
"positive" for its credit score, according to debt-watcher Moody's,
which rates the Southeast Asian economy at investment grade.
A law that imposes tariffs on rice imports in place of quotas
will "diminish price volatility" in the staple grain, Moody's said in
a research note.
Expanding the supervisory oversight of the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas to include money services, credit granting businesses and payment
system operators will "enhance financial stability," Moody's said.
"All these are credit positive, but doesn't necessarily
mean there are triggers from an upgrade," Moody's analyst Christian de
Guzman told ANC's Market Edge.
"Our stable outlook connotes a balance between positive and
negative factors at the moment," he said, adding the Philippines still had
a "hangover" from inflation and interest rate increases.
Moody's rates the Philippines at Baa2, or one notch above
investment grade with a "stable" outlook.
Pro-poor: Mareng Winnie cheers Duterte for
finally swapping rice quota with tariffs after 15 years of foot-dragging
Last updated Feb 24, 2019
Former Socioeconomic Secretary
Solita “Mareng Winnie” Monsod gave President Rodrigo Duterte rare praise for
finally signing into law the shift from rice quota to rice tariffs Monsod said
the Filipinos waited for 15 years for a President to have the political will to
enforce this much needed economic reform which called unequivocably “pro-poor.”
“President Duterte’s human rights
record is execrable, and I have dwelt on it in detail… but the two bills he
signed into law—the Rice Tariffication Act and the Universal Health Care
Act—stand out as much-needed reforms whose enactment and approval deserve
applause. They are genuinely pro-poor… it is a good law,” said Monsod in her
Inquirer column.
Monsod said a tariff was
preferable over a quota because duties generate revenues for the government
while quotas benefit importers; and tariffs are universal while quotas are
discretionary which makes it more vulnerable to corruption.
Monsod said that even with a 35
percent tariff, Thai rice imports would only cost P27 per kilo versus the P30
to P40 price range of local rice.
She said the Rice Tariffication
Law has a safety net provision where rice tariffs would be used to raise a P10
billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund every year to be distributed to
farmers to improve their farming operations or shift to higher value crops.
She said the Law empowered the
President to impose a special safeguard duty to protect local farmers from rice
dumping. “The rice industry, dying of neglect as a result of this law? Nothing
can be further from the truth,” Monsod said,
Pakistan, China set to ink FTA-II by
June 2019
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China are
set to ink much-awaited second free trade agreement by June 2019 and to this
effect a technical experts’ delegation from Islamabad will leave for China by
end of February, a relevant top official told The News.
“Yes, both the countries have
progressed on this account and are set to ink the second FTA by June 2019 and
to this effect, Pakistan’s experts’ team is to leave for Beijing to further
fine tune the bilateral trade agreement. And in the month of March, Commerce
Secretary Younas Dagha will hold meeting with vice commerce minister of China
to give final shape to the agreement.”
First FTA with China was, he said,
concluded in 2012, but it didn’t yield the required dividends as the items on
which Beijing had provided tariff concessions but later on provided more
concession on the said items to ASEAN countries owing to which Pakistan’
products in Chinese market remained no more competitive and Pakistan’s exports
to China continued to stay at $1.2 billion whereas import from China soars to
over $15 billion.
There are 8,000 tariff lines that
have been negotiated with Chinese counterparts and to shape up the trade deal-II
in favour of Pakistan, Pakistan remained in talks as per the studies and models
commerce ministry have had exclusively for China.
Beijing has already extended the
commitment to Islamabad during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan that
China will double its imports from Pakistan. According to Commerce Minister
Razak Dawood, Chinese Premier Li Keianq, during the visit, in clear words asked
the top leadership of Pakistan that they are ready to double the imports from
Pakistan and if Pakistani entrepreneurs have the capacity, after doubling the
imports from $1.2 billion to $2.2 billion, they would also increase imports
from Pakistan by more $1 billion. So China, he said, is ready to triple the
imports from Pakistan but it all depends upon the ability of Pakistani
entrepreneurs.
In addition, Beijing has also
agreed to extend to Pakistan a special quota for export of sugar and rice which
will also help to have a massive surge in exports to China.
The cabinet member said that a
crucial meeting of Pakistan top officials is going to take place in Beijing on
November 9 with their counterparts to shape up the process to finalise placing
the dollars in Pakistan’s account to improve reserves situation and carve out
the modus operandi to improve the export of Pakistani goods to China.
Pakistan exports range from
$120-$150 million a month which improved in the July 2018, August, September,
October and November to $200 million a month. In the remaining months, commerce
ministry wants to jack up its monthly export to $400 million to materialise the
offer of China.
Pakistan’s export to china stands
at $1.2 billion per annum which can go up to $2.2 billion and then to $3.2
billion. Pakistan wants market access and unilateral concession of 313 tariff
lines, but the Chinese premier by setting aside these demands offered
Pakistan’s top leadership that his country is poised to increase its imports
from Pakistan by 100 percent and later on it would also increase them by
another 100 percent.
This will help decrease trade
deficit with China. The official said that Pakistan can increase its exports by
just $500 million by sending to Chinese market one million tons sugar and one
million tons rice. China’s imports stands at $2 trillion but Pakistan
entrepreneurs lacks the ability to harness even 1 percent share in China’s
total imports.
The last resort
CRISPIN R. ARANDA
FILIPINO artisans, skilled
workers, professionals would rather stay home or within the country’s shores –
if there are enough jobs that would provide them with decent pay, and
consequently, the prospects of a better future for their families.
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)
who are threatened by war, pestilence, health outbreaks and ethnic conflicts in
one Middle East nation would rather cross the border and wait things out
instead of coming home, even if there are assurances of repatriation and
opportunities for training in preparation for re-entry into the Philippine
workforce.
To these OFWs, going abroad is
not the ideal but it is the only viable option left.
Last week, we traveled to
Batangas, one of the provinces comprising the Calabarzon region.
Based on various sources—the
Philippine Statistics Authority, POEA, Commission on Filipinos Overseas and the
Central Bank—the number of OFWs who work abroad would be at least 2.2 million
as of September 2016.
There are no other available
official statistics from these government sources online. Intermittent news
articles by industry practitioners and recruitment agencies come out every now
and then, but one would have to exert effort to scour the web for actual and
timely numbers.
The Philippines registered a nine
percent decline in the deployment of migrant workers in 2017 after 10 years of
continuous growth.
A Sept. 24, 2018 news article
which appeared on another daily quoted a “recruitment consultant Manny
Geslani,” as saying that “the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to
180 countries declined by nine percent in 2017 as compared to 2016, a banner
year of deployment for migrant workers that hit 2,112,331.”
A POEA summary of Deployed
Overseas Filipino Workers by type of hiring for the years 2006 to the first
semester of 2018 shows only 1,992,746 workers were deployed in 2017.
Of the total deployed in 2017, only
419,955 were new hires, and 1,194,719 were rehires. In 2016, there were 582,816
new hires while rehires numbered 1,086,695.
By region, Calabarzon reported
the biggest share of OFWs with 21 percent, followed by the National Capital
Region and Central Luzon with 12.9 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively.
According to the POEA’s 2010
report on OFW Deployment per Skill and Country, there were 401,000 farm workers
and farmers deployed. Five years earlier, the same occupation group represented
only 103,000 of the total deployed based on 2005 POEA statistics.
On the way to La Luz Resort in
San Juan, Batangas, we passed through the Star tollway ending up in Rosario,
bypassing Lipa City. On the way back, we decided to take a road trip through
the backroads from Pagsanjan to Mabitac, onwards to Pililla, Tanay, towards
Teresa then to Antipolo City.
The rice fields along the way had
shrunk while the commercial establishments, particularly the fast food
franchises, had mushroomed. In addition, subdivisions were being built over
rice fields. This is true from Pagsanjan to the long stretch of road to Mabitac
and even the town of Teresa, Rizal.
“Build, build, build” roads, of
course, would require buying the agricultural area planted to rice. Without
sellers, there would be no buyers. In quite a few cases, farmers volunteer to
sell a portion of their rice fields as the value of the land would be more than
the reduced harvest (cavan per hectare).
In some cases, the government
uses its eminent domain authority to take the land without the owner’s consent
provided there is just compensation. The buying price through eminent domain in
general is much lower than if the price were to be negotiated directly between
the farmer and the buyer.
In 2015, the Philippine
Statistics Authority reported that the average family income for all
occupations was P267,000 per year. The average income of farmers (farm,
off-farm, and non-farm), however, was just around P100,000 a year.
After deducting the farming
costs, the net income is much smaller.
PSA’s report on production costs
and returns shows a gross income of P80,360. With total costs of P48,985, a
Filipino farmer only makes P31,375 net income. Remember that NEDA officials got
into hot water when it claimed that a family of five needed only P10,000 a
month to survive. With these numbers, the farmer’s family would be able to
survive for just over three months.
According to Payscale, the
average pay for a farm worker is SAR 15,660, or P217,394 per year. No wonder
the number of farmers being deployed overseas increase over a one to five-year
period.
If there are less areas planted
to palay, where do Filipinos get their rice?
From imports of course.
For politicians, importing
provides a better opportunity to make money than providing funds and support
for the Filipino farmer.
In November 2018, the country’s
rice self-sufficiency level declined to 93.44 percent from 95.01 percent,
according to PSA data. The PSA report said that “the country’s import
dependency ratio (IDR) of rice increased to 6.56 percent last year, from 4.99
percent in 2016.
“Rice imports went up by 39
percent to P18 billion in 2017.In terms of volume, shipments soared 46 percent
to 888,085 metric tons.”
The reason?
The declining self-sufficiency of
rice was due to the reduced share of domestic production in the country’s
supply of the staple, while the share of rice imports increased.
It does not take rocket science
to deduce that with subdivisions being built and commercial establishments
being built over rice fields, domestic production is bound to decrease.
In fact, the PSA reported that by
major industry group, other sectors got a boost, but the agriculture industry
registered a decline of 723,000 workers in farming, hunting, forestry and
fishing sectors.
Rehired OFWs – farmers or
non-agricultural workers – invest their earnings in tricycles, jeepneys and
other modes of transportation as the alternate source of income in anticipation
of the day when the OFW might have to return home, repatriated or not. After
losing the farm or being forced to either pawn or sell their rice fields, the
farm worker/farmer hopes income from tricycles or other forms of transportation
would earn more than the previous farm income.
OFWs also hope that when they
finally have to return voluntarily or otherwise, their children would have
finished secondary education and would be able to earn for themselves or
contribute to the family income, this time as workers in other sectors, but not
agriculture.
In 2012, there were over 650,000
public tricycles operating in the country, accounting for nearly 68 percent of
the total for-hire vehicle population. While this motorized personal and public
conveyances earn income for the OFW operator, tricycles and motorcycles are
responsible for 45 percent of all volatile organic compound that destroy the
ozone layer and worsen the greenhouse effect, according to a study conducted by
the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) of the University of the
Philippines.
A few students in hospitality
courses were deployed by the schools in Batangas province to La Luz Resort.
These on-the-job trainees hope to gain experience and later move out of the
province either to Metro Manila, Metro Cebu or Metro Davao where the pay would
be higher and there would be a career progression compared to inheriting the
farm or working the fields.
In August 2018, the Department of
Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported the minimum wage of non-agriculture in
Calabarzon, or Region IV-A, was P317 to P400. Workers in agriculture, however,
get P303 to P372.
Non-agriculture workers in NCR
get P475 to P512 a day.
With at least two years’
experience, the same entry-level or semi-skilled workers (food and beverage
servers for example) in Canada would earn an average of $12.70 per hour, or
$16,661.00 per year today, according to the Alberta Wage and Salary Survey.
The peso equivalent in today’s
exchange rate would be P657,378 a year.
The son or daughter of a farmer
would be earning P147,456 a year with the highest wages (in NCR), after moving
out of the farm into a provincial resort hospitality job, then on to NCR and
eventually overseas.
As an OFW, the farmer or the
farmer’s children would even be able to save enough and join other OFWs in
Batangas – particularly in Mabini – as homeowners and, with their global
qualification and experience, become mid- to top-level management in hotels,
rental facilities and other hospitality establishments.
Leaving for overseas may have
been the painful last choice of their parents and they had to move out of the
family farm as a last resort, but they can return better individuals, more
productive members of the community and bringing back some of the better traits
from their country of temporary work and residency.
They may even be stockholders,
partners of owners of their first resort.
Rice: our ‘orphan’
export product
February 25, 2019
Basmati rice is Pakistan’s celebrated export. But its production
and exports have slipped of late. — AFP/File
Basmati rice is Pakistan’s
celebrated export. But its production and exports have slipped of late.
The absence of research and
development makes it extremely difficult for the rice sector to prepare for new
challenges. The high status of basmati rice as a major export commodity
conceals the fact that its contribution to the economy is below its potential.
Without a strong commitment to elevating basmati rice as a strategic product,
it will continue to be a victim of changing economic and environmental
conditions.
A report prepared with the help of
technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says the handling of
the country’s premier export product as an ‘orphan’ is a tragedy. In the
absence of research and development–based preparedness, the subsector is
exposed to multiple risks from internal as well as external sources.
While the overall revenues from
rice are stable, the lack of growth of basmati revenues should be a ‘red flag’
for policymakers. A reform programme is urgently needed because years of
under-investment have weakened the system. However, some practical measures can
reverse the trend, ADB says.
The overriding requirement is for
the government to commit to a strategic road map that fills the research and
development gap. It should create an environment that enables the public and
private sectors to engage in commercially viable research. The rice sector is
already paying the bills for its development.
The missing link is the utilisation
of the resources. New efforts may be needed to bypass the existing setup if it
is too costly or rigid to reform. But, without a reform of research and
development, the future of the production and marketing of Pakistan’s basmati
rice is uncertain, cautions the report.
The additional levy on exporters
would not be needed if the current levy is channelled as intended. In 1999,
parliament passed the Export Development Fund Act under which all exporters,
including rice exporters, pay a surcharge of 0.25 per cent. This is deducted by
the exporter’s bank from foreign receipts and submitted to the State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP).
The bank transfers the collected
cess to the Ministry of Finance. Under the Act, the finance ministry must
transfer all proceeds of the Export Development Fund to the commerce ministry,
which is responsible for disbursing the proceeds according to the stipulations
of the Act.
In reality, the finance ministry
has not been transferring all the amounts to the commerce ministry. As a
result, the commerce ministry has a large sum due from the finance ministry.
The cess collected in 2017 from rice exporters is equal to half of all
expenditures on rice research and development for the last 20 years. The Act
specifies that the cess funds can be used for research and development,
technical institutes, market and product development and other areas related to
export enhancement.
While the export segment of the
value chain benefits most from rice in terms of private profits, exporters
still expect the public sector to fund core research and development. The
inability to view the whole value chain means that the billions of rupees that
have been collected from rice exporters in the last 20 years have not been used
for basic research and development. The vision of the Export Development Fund
or the exporters is not broad enough to realise that research and development
across the value chain will contribute to increased export revenues.
The amount of funding required to
reviving growth in basmati production and exports is not huge. Recent policy
work, especially in Punjab, has recognised the need for investment in research
and development. Funds are available in the government’s annual development
budget.
The study suggests that the
Malaysian Palm Oil Board, a government body, is a good model of how the
coordinated efforts of a whole value chain can improve the prospects of a
particular crop. The board has made Malaysian palm oil an international
benchmark product and has invested heavily in research and development and
commercialisation.
Pakistan can create a basmati rice
board based on the Malaysian model and funded by the rice exporters’
contributions to the Export Development Fund. As is the case for all research
and development in the country’s agriculture, basmati research and development
in rice suffers from a low quality and quantity of funding. The core issue relates
to the absence of policy commitment and the recognition of the need to invest a
minimum amount consistently. The irony is that the amount of research
investment needed is tiny compared with its potential return, it says.
Insufficient investment in agriculture
research and development in Pakistan has resulted in suboptimal yields and a
lower-than-potential productivity growth curve of its basmati rice varieties.
Pakistan is the globe’s fourth largest rice exporter in terms of quantity and
rice is the country’s largest export earner after cotton. This status was
achieved by liberalising the rice trade in the early 1990s and allowing the
private sector to operate freely.
India is Pakistan’s only competitor
in the export market for basmati rice. But basmati has to compete with other
varieties in the global marketplace. Although Pakistan inherited good rice
varieties and managed to improve on them, the country has not made significant
progress during the last 20 years.
Published in Dawn, The Business and
Finance Weekly, February 25th, 2019
Download the new Dawn mobile app
here:
https://www.dawn.com
/news/1465789
Don’t delay rice tariffication, Piñol warned
Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) -
February 25, 2019 - 12:00am
NFA officials earlier said they are
exploring their options in questioning the law before the Supreme Court.
MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture
Secretary Emmanuel Piñol was warned yesterday not to delay or derail the
implementation of the landmark rice tariffication law, which he had opposed
when it was being deliberated in Congress.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman
of the economic affairs committee and one of the authors of Republic Act (RA)
11203, defended the law as a major solution to the unstable price and supply of
rice in the country amid the strong opposition of Piñol and the National Food
Authority (NFA).
“Secretary Piñol, please
cooperate fully in implementing the law,” Gatchalian told dzBB when
asked about the possibility of officials from the Department of Agriculture
(DA) delaying the law’s implementation.
“He must work for the success of
the law even if he’s against it,” Gatchalian said.
NFA officials earlier said they
are exploring their options in questioning the law before the Supreme Court.
RA 11203 replaces the
quantitative restrictions imposed by the government on rice imports with a 35
percent tariff as required by the World Trade Organization.
The law also allocated P10
billion annually for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for six
years to be extended to farmers for various initiatives including
mechanization, educations, provision of choice fertilizers and seeds.
The senator also warned that he
would scrutinize the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) that the DA and
National Economic and Development Authority are expected to issue in the next
30 to 90 days to make sure the IRR remains faithful to the intent of the law in
ensuring stable rice supply and lower prices while supporting the local farmers
as well as enhancing the country’s competitiveness in producing the staple.
Gatchalian said the country’s
uncertain rice supply and the poor competitiveness of local farmers have been
an issue in government for decades.
He said DA and NFA officials have
been “countering and countering” the Rice Tariffication law for a long time but
“have not presented any credible solution.”
Gatchalian said the law is
expected to lead to a reduction of rice prices by P2 to P7 per kilo.
He said another law providing for
free irrigation to farmers would also help improve the country’s rice
production.
About half of the country’s
rice-producing regions have already become as productive as Thailand and
Vietnam in growing the staple, Gatchalian noted.
This means that the regions can
easily compete with imports and with the RCEF helping the other provinces, it
is possible that the country will have almost no need to import rice in the
future, Gatchalian maintained.
Meanwhile, reelectionist Sen.
Nancy Binay and former senator Juan Ponce Enrile raised issues on the Rice
Tariffication law yesterday in Bulacan.
Binay noted that the Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration has warned of
a possible dry spell in the first quarter of this year due to the developing El
Niño phenomenon.
For his part, Enrile cautioned
the government in its importation of rice.
“When you bring in too much
commodity from the outside, you deprive local farmers of their source of
livelihood, so we should be using tariffs to protect them,” Enrile
maintained.
Enrile said rice could be
imported from other countries at low levels of tariff. – With
Ramon Efren Lazaro
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/02/25/1896518/dont-delay-rice-tariffication-piol-warned
Krishi Kendra employees
demand job regularisation
The
agitating employees alleged though they have been appealing the OUAT
authorities to regularise their job for the last several years, their demands
have fallen in deaf ears.
Published: 24th February 2019 10:44
AM | Last Updated: 25th February 2019 04:03 PM |
BHUBANESWAR: More
than 300 employees of 31 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) under Odisha University
of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) are on dharna for the fifth consecutive
day on Saturday demanding regularisation of jobs.
The agitating
employees alleged though they have been appealing the OUAT authorities to
regularise their job for the last several years, their demands have fallen in
deaf ears.
Of 33 KVKs functioning in 30 districts of the State, 31 are under administrative control of OUAT and the rest two are under National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) and Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA).
Of 33 KVKs functioning in 30 districts of the State, 31 are under administrative control of OUAT and the rest two are under National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) and Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA).
With a team of
six scientists and other scientific staff, each KVK functions as a knowledge
and resource centre. Though all employees working in KVKs prior to 2005 were
regular, contractual recruitment started thereafter due to austerity measures
of the State Government.
The sanctioned
strength of a KVK is 16 headed by a senior scientist and six other scientists
from different disciplines, three programme assistants and other staff. Even as
KVK employees have been made regular in different State Agricultural
Universities in the country and ICAR institutes, it is not so in Odisha.
The facilities like CAS, RACP, MACP and NPS announced by OUAT have also not been implemented yet. The employees have urged the university authorities to send a proposal to the State Government for regularisation of their jobs.
The facilities like CAS, RACP, MACP and NPS announced by OUAT have also not been implemented yet. The employees have urged the university authorities to send a proposal to the State Government for regularisation of their jobs.
Stay up to date on all the latest Odisha news with The New Indian Express App. Download now
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Follow the instructions after that.)
EXCLUSIVE: What went wrong with THE
RICE BILL? (Updated) #AsiaNewsNetwork
PUBLISHED 24 FEBRUARY 2019
(The
Nation/ANN)-LEGISLATION SET FOR FINAL READING COMING WEEK APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN
GUTTED OF MEASURES TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION AND REWARD FARMERS FOR THEIR HARD WORK
AND WISDOM
EVERYONE INVOLVED agrees that the
rice bill – Thailand’s first legislation aimed at guiding holistic management
of production – began with good intentions. But now that it’s sailed through
first reading by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), and despite a series
of amendments in recent months, the devil is appearing in the details.
The NLA initiated the bill in a
rush late last year, prodded along by groups of farmer representatives
allegedly tied to state agencies such as the Rice Department.
The original bill, which didn’t
survive the draft stage, was aimed at “developing and stabilising rice
production and the supply chain and protecting farmers’ rights more
effectively”, resulting in “the utmost benefit to the whole production
process”.
According to the drafters, the
22-page bill’s six main sections foresaw the creation of a policy body
overseeing rice production and management, pooling the authority of the Rice
Department and other concerned officials, collecting “big data” on rice-grain
trades, and setting out penalties for violations.
The most controversial current
component is Section 5, which concerns the management and supervision of rice
production. The production of and trade in different rice varieties remain the
subjects of heated debate.
The original draft addressed the
issue in Article 26, which proposed a ban on trade in certain rice varieties
without state certification but made an exception for small-scale farming. The
clause drew strong opposition based on the fear that farmers would still be
forced to use only varieties produced and sold in the market by farm-business
firms or else face jail.
Strong opposition by other
alternative-farming and farmers’-rights advocacy groups resulted in the
contentious article being dropped. Other articles were altered in the latest
version to be tabled for second and third readings in the NLA coming week.
“The bill came with good intentions
from people who wished to see holistic management for our rice production and
marketing,” said Witoon Lianchamroon, director of the Biodiversity-Sustainable
Agriculture-Sovereignty Action Thailand (BioThai Foundation), the leading
alternative farming advocacy group.
“The real problem with it is that
the broad public participation it was supposed to have was lacking, so some
critical elements were omitted that were essential to production management
being able to withstand future challenges, including food security.”
BioThai has been working with
farmers across the nation for years and says it is the farmers who still lead
the way in developing and improving rice varieties through their selection
skills. World-renowned varieties such as Hom Mali, for instance, derived from
that wisdom and skill, long before any state agency certified it, Witoon said.
Over the last 10 years, as interest
in organic produce boomed, many rice farmers have parlayed their traditional
skills as growers to become breeders. They’ve created new rice varieties such
as aromatic Chor Ratree, which is Nakhon Sawan’s answer to Hom Mali and Pathum
Thani 1 and the Yellow rice grain cultivated in Yasothon, which is full of
folic acid, a boon to pregnant women.
These varieties tend to be
exchanged among farmers and traded locally before earning state certification,
a process that can take years because it involves scientific study to confirm
that the variety’s distinctive traits are stable.
BioThai’s findings are in line with
those of the Rice Department itself, which says up to 49 per cent of rice
varieties are those developed and improved by farmers. That’s in stark contrast
to the 6 per cent of varieties it has developed and certified, another 6 per
cent coming from its community rice centres and cooperatives, and 18 per cent
derived from rice-business firms.
All of this is ignored in the
current draft of the legislation, which instead focuses on ways to regulate the
state-certified varieties, Witoon pointed out.
And it extends state support only
to farmers who grow the state-certified varieties. Worse, the greater authority
given the Rice Department under the newly added Article 27/4 can also be
enforced through the 1975 Plant Variety Act, which bars trade in uncertified
plant varieties, including rice.
Witoon believes the bill runs
counter to realities in the field and fails to correct mistakes made in the
past. In India, he cited, rights of farmers to plant varieties
are fundamentally protected in the 2001 Protection of Plant Varieties and
Farmer's Rights Act, the point he views as being advanced in developing
countries.
Witoon partially blames the state’s
mindset when writing laws, which gives priority to enforcement and
private-sector benefits while overriding community rights.
BioThai has asked the drafters to
delay further deliberation so that the public has more time to weigh in on the
issues.
“Rice is not just about products on
the market, it’s about the way of life, the culture” said Witoon. “These
dimensions need to be weighed before a decision is made so we can maintain the
diversity and resilience that could help us survive against future challenges,
including food security and control by big business.
“That resilience is in the hands of
our farmers.”
Macro economist and
rural-development policy advocate Nipon Poapongsakorn, a distinguished member
of the technical staff at the Thailand Development Research Institute, said the
current draft is better equipped to deal with the controversial ban on trade in
rice variety. But the challenge remains how to maintain diversity in production
while also maintaining high standards, he said.
Extending greater authority to the
Rice Department seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, Nipon said. It
should not play a regulator’s role, but rather serve as a research institute on
rice production.
The new law, he concurred, should
be written with an eye to meeting future challenges.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2019/02/24/climate-change-rice-crops-heading-towards-collapse
Black rice is the new brown rice -
Benefits of black rice
Posted: Feb 23, 2019 11:34 AM PST
Updated: Feb 23, 2019 11:34 AM PST
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) - You've
been told to switch from white rice to brown rice to get more fiber and
nutrients.
Now, there's another type of rice
to think about... that's black rice.
Health expert Karen Owoc told
KRON 4’s Marty Gonzalez that health-conscious shoppers should consider black
rice.
Karen says it is a whole grain
and more nutritious than brown rice. It has more fiber content, protein, fewer
calories and nutrients. Karen says Anthocyanins are plant purple/blue pigments,
the same pigments that give blueberries, purple grapes, plums,
tart cherries, and beets their color and health benefits.
These purple/blue pigments have
anti-inflammatory effects and protect against carcinogens. They may help
prevent heart disease (Compared to white rice, black rice decreased
Atherosclerotic plaque formation by 50% in rabbits.)
A study showed that a spoonful of
black rice bran contains more Anthocyanins than a spoonful of blueberries.
Scientists are finding that rice contains arsenic, a heavy metal.
Arsenic is a naturally occurring
element that’s present in soil or water due to minerals in the earth and can
eventually end up in food, drinking water, and wine.
A study out of Harvard found no
increased cancer risk from long-term consumption of rice (eating five or more
servings of white or brown rice a week) in U.S. men and women.
Cooking Tips to Reduce Arsenic
Content: Cook rice like pasta In 6
parts water per 1 part rice (6:1). This drastically reduces arsenic levels by
40% as arsenic is water-soluble.
The Takeaway: If you really like rice, choose black for its unique
health benefits, and avoid eating rice grown In Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and
China (due to higher levels of arsenic).
Krishi Kendra employees
demand job regularisation
The
agitating employees alleged though they have been appealing the OUAT
authorities to regularise their job for the last several years, their demands
have fallen in deaf ears.
Published: 24th February 2019 10:44
AM | Last Updated: 25th February 2019 04:03 PM |
BHUBANESWAR: More
than 300 employees of 31 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) under Odisha University
of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) are on dharna for the fifth consecutive day
on Saturday demanding regularisation of jobs.
The agitating
employees alleged though they have been appealing the OUAT authorities to
regularise their job for the last several years, their demands have fallen in
deaf ears.
Of 33 KVKs functioning in 30 districts of the State, 31 are under administrative control of OUAT and the rest two are under National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) and Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA).
Of 33 KVKs functioning in 30 districts of the State, 31 are under administrative control of OUAT and the rest two are under National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) and Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA).
With a team of
six scientists and other scientific staff, each KVK functions as a knowledge
and resource centre. Though all employees working in KVKs prior to 2005 were
regular, contractual recruitment started thereafter due to austerity measures
of the State Government.
The sanctioned
strength of a KVK is 16 headed by a senior scientist and six other scientists
from different disciplines, three programme assistants and other staff. Even as
KVK employees have been made regular in different State Agricultural
Universities in the country and ICAR institutes, it is not so in Odisha.
The facilities like CAS, RACP, MACP and NPS announced by OUAT have also not been implemented yet. The employees have urged the university authorities to send a proposal to the State Government for regularisation of their jobs.
The facilities like CAS, RACP, MACP and NPS announced by OUAT have also not been implemented yet. The employees have urged the university authorities to send a proposal to the State Government for regularisation of their jobs.
Stay up to date on all the latest Odisha news with The New Indian Express App. Download now
(Get the news that matters from New Indian
Express on WhatsApp. Click this link and hit 'Click to Subscribe'.
Follow the instructions after that.)
Importers’ rice
cartel?
February 24, 2019
The new untested Rice
Tariffication Law could affect the productivity of local farmers,
lower the price of rice, or ensure a stable rice supply only if the government
will make good its assurance of a P10-billion substantial support to rice
production in agriculture.
This money support for rice
farmers from government is envisioned to come from the tariff of importers
duties ranging from 35 to 45% rate. If realized, the importation
tarriff is expected to hit P100-billion. What if unforeseen events will fall?
What if rice importers will form a cartel and control the price of
rice? How will the rice industry survive? Of course it will
go back to the poor Filipino farmers burden. Or government will form its own
set of importers by using favored business groups.
The Rice Tariffication Law
replaces volume restrictions and allows unlimited rice importation, with a
35-percent tariff on rice imports from members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean) and 50 percent from non-Asean countries. This means
anyone can import rice, thus, huggle for low prices….But what if the importers
will form a cartel?
This takes effect on March 5,
with up to P11 billion in import duties expected to be collected during its
first year of implementation, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Tuesday.
Under the law, a P10-billion rice
competitiveness enhancement fund will be taken from the tariff revenues to
support Filipino farmers for six years.
Beyond control
But global prices cannot be
controlled. If foreign rice cartels will jack up their prices, our country will
be forced to buy rice abroad for high a price, and makes it un-affordable here
bv our people.
Or there will be
possible price manipulation by domestic rice traders. Or the accelerated land
conversion by CARP land reform could lessen rice production.
Skeptics say Global rice prices
are volatile and can become very high depending on the production
conditions of exporting countries. Rice production [in] Vietnam and Thailand is
subsidized and incentivized, making their rice cheap. But they can decide to
prioritize local consumption and ban exports, making cheap rice unavailable to
Filipino consumers.” Ibon warned.
Palace assurance
But Malacañang has assured
farmers that safeguards would be put in place to prevent the misuse of the
fund, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) being accountable and responsible
for it.
The DA, would work with farmers
cooperatives and groups to validate the list of beneficiaries.
The Congressional Oversight
Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization will also conduct a
periodic review of the fund.
Dept of Financve
spokesperson Antonio Joselito Lambino II said “the Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) of the new law is being crafted to ensure that [there would
be no corruption].”
Ludhiana CLU controversy: Punjab
cabinet minister Ashu dares Navjot Singh Sidhu to prove his involvement
Civil supplies
minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who is being accused of helping a realtor procure
CLU, says he has nothing to do with the property.
CHANDIGARH Updated: Feb 23, 2019 23:25 IST
Hindustan Times, Chandigarh/Patiala/Ludhiana
Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Navjot Singh Sidhu (HT File )
The long-standing differences
between cabinet ministers —Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Navjot Singh Sidhu — have
escalated over change of land use (CLU) granted to a housing project in
Ludhiana. Food and civil supplies minister Ashu on Saturday dared local bodies
minister Sidhu to prove former’s alleged involvement in the ongoing CLU
controversy or initiate action against the official who had named him in an
inquiry report.
“I have nothing to do with the
property involved in the CLU controversy. It’s Sidhu who should explain how my
name is being dragged. And if he (Sidhu) finds any merit in the inquiry report,
he should report the matter to the CM and seek action against all, including
me. But if my name is added with a mischievous intention, then take the
official to task,” said Ashu, who was attending a function organised by All
India Rice Millers’ Association in Patiala. Ashu and Sidhu have been at
loggerheads for long over delay in development works in Ludhiana.
Ashu reacted a day after Sidhu
said that “no matri or santri (minister or official)” will be spared after Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) deputy leader in the assembly Sarabjeet Kaur Manuke raised
the issue during the Zero Hour in the Vidhan Sabha on Friday. She termed Sidhu
an “honest minister” and raised finger at officers and sought resignation of
Ashu. Sidhu also said he had put a stay on the CLU granted to Grand Manor
Homes, a housing project in Ludhiana’s Ishar Nagar area, which he said was
obtained using “forged” documents.
When asked whether his name in
the inquiry report was outcome of political rivalry, Ashu said, “Sidhu can
explain that better.”
Sidhu pointed out that the
application for the CLU was submitted on January 17, 2018, and documents
attached were forged. He said the registry of the land was done two days later
on January 19, whereas it is mandatory to attach the registry papers at the
time of applying for the CLU. “This means that the applicant was not the owner
of the land at the time of applying for the CLU,” he had said.
Sidhu has asked principal
secretary, local bodies, to take stringent action against the officers guilty
of willful disobedience of the orders issued by him on July 7, 2018, regarding
keeping the matter of CLU approval in abeyance.
Ludhiana municipal corporation
commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar and assistant town planner SS Bindra are
under the lens for granting the CLU and Sidhu reportedly has summoned them to
produce the project records.
Indonesia formally grants immediate market access
for 20 Pakistani products
-
February 22, 2019
ISLAMABAD: Indonesia has issued a formal notification for the correction of
Indonesia-Pakistan Preferential Trade Agreement (IP-PTA) by offering immediate
market access for 20 products of Pakistan’s prime interest.
The priority products included
mangoes, broken rice, ethanol, tobacco, yarn and fabric, home textile, terry
towel, apparel and knitwear.
A memorandum of understanding to
amend the Preferential Trade Agreement between the two countries was signed
during the visit of the Indonesian president in January 2018. Following this, a
meeting was held between the Indonesian trade minister and Commerce Secretary
Younas Dagha on the sidelines of Shanghai Expo in 2018 wherein the latter
underlined the need for correction in PTA and requested for early resolution of
this issue.
The secretary also took up the
issue of non-tariff barriers imposed on Pakistani agriculture products by
Indonesia. Owing to the sustained efforts of the Ministry of Commerce,
Indonesia has finally offered unilateral market access for Pakistani products.
IP-PTA was signed in 2012;
however, it failed to help Pakistan’s exports grow in the Indonesian market.
Despite the PTA, Pakistan’s exports to Indonesia showed a negative growth
during the post-PTA period; the figures came down to $141 million (2016-17)
from $236 million (2011-12). However, 2017-18 proved a good year for Pakistan’s
exports, which jumped to $296 million.
The balance of trade was highly
tilted in favour of Indonesia. At the time of the signing of the PTA, the total
volume of bilateral trade was $1.6 billion, which reached $2.8 billion in
2017-18. All the growth in bilateral trade was due to an increase in
Indonesia’s exports to Pakistan, which were recorded at $1,720 million in
2013-14 and increased to $2,530 million in 2017-18.
The Ministry of Commerce took up
this matter with the Ministry of Trade Indonesia during review meetings of
IP-PTA. Subsequently, three review meetings were held and Indonesia
acknowledged concerns expressed by Pakistan regarding adverse effects of IP-PTA
on Pakistan’s exports and finally agreed to unilaterally grant zero duty on 20
products of Pakistan export interest.
Formal notification of inclusion
of additional tariff lines in the IP-PTA has now been issued after the approval
of the president and effective from 1st March 2019.
During the previous year,
Pakistan exported 200,000MT of white rice and 200,000MT of wheat to Indonesia.
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce has managed to get special permission from
Indonesia to export mango for the upcoming season as well.
Traditionally, Indonesia has been
one of the leading export destinations for Pakistani kinnow. In wake of these
new tariff concessions, exporters of denim fabric, ethanol, towel, leather and
home textile products are very excited and eager to exploit the potential of
the Indonesian market.
Advisor to Prime Minister on
Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood thanked the Indonesian government for understanding
the negative impact of the PTA on Pakistan’s trade and for addressing the issue
accordingly. The advisor stated that Pakistan would review other FTAs/PTAs as
well to make them more beneficial for the country.
More than a grain of truth
The draft bill on rice reform
is the latest political earthquake shaking up the country's rice industry, as
it has stirred an uproar among farmers and
academics who have cried foul that the bill is designed...
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1634590/more-than-a-grain-of-truth.
View our policies at http://goo.gl/
Genetically modified crops
contributing to country's agriculture
12:00 AM, February 25, 2019 / LAST
MODIFIED: 02:35 AM, February 25, 2019
BRRI director general says at workshop
Staff Correspondent
Aiming to develop journalists'
capacity, a two-day workshop on application of biotechnology in agriculture,
began at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) and Farming Future Bangladesh (FFB), an initiative of Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, jointly organised the event with technical
support from Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).
A total of 28 journalists from
different print, electronic and online media outlets participated in the
training, titled “Agri-Biotechnology Reporting”. The training will end today
with a field trip at BRRI office in Gazipur.
Biotechnology is the manipulation
of living organisms or their components, through genetic engineering, to
produce useful -- usually commercial -- products such as pest resistant crops,
new bacterial strains or novel pharmaceuticals.
Speaking at a session of the event
yesterday, BRRI Director General Shahjahan Kabir said there are some
misconceptions among people about genetically modified organisms.
“Genetically modified crops are
completely safe and these have a significant contribution to global
agricultural production. Now it has started to contribute to our country's
agriculture,” said Shahjahan.
He expressed hope that journalists
would help dispel the misconceptions through their reporting.
IRRI Representative for Bangladesh
Humnath Bhandari, former BRRI Director General Jiban Krishna Biswas, Dhaka
Tribune Executive Editor Reaz Ahmad and Farming Future Bangladesh Executive
Director Arif Hossain, among others, also spoke at the programme.
Govt agro research
bodies press for GM crops
Staff Correspondent | Published: 00:18, Feb
25,2019
Three government agricultural research organisations on Sunday
argued in favor of promoting genetically modified crops as a means of reducing
pesticide consumption without affecting crop yields.
While attending a workshop organised for journalists at a city hotel, they called for a scientific transformation in agriculture sector to feed growing population in land-starved Bangladesh.
Journalists attending the workshop, however, pointed out that the research organisations did not have enough work to assure people that the genetically modified crops they were proposing to introduce were safe for human consumption, environment and biodiversity.
‘For ensuring food security in future we need scientific transformation in agriculture sector,’ said Bangladesh Rice Research Institute director general Md Shahjahan Kabir.
He said that they were close to releasing genetically modified golden rice to meet vitamin A deficiency among people, especially children and women.
‘People have to keep in mind that we are not trying to promote any business,’ he said.
‘We are promoting science. And we assure people of our commitment to protecting their health and the health of our environment,’ he said.
Cotton Development Board executive director Md Farid Uddin said that the country could drastically reduce application of pesticide in cotton production by shifting to cultivation of genetically modified BT cotton.
He said that Bangladesh met 97 per cent of cotton demand with imports which could be reduced by increasing production through cultivation of BT cotton.
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s senior scientific officer AKM Quamruzzaman, BRRI’s principal scientific officer Partha S Biswas and CDB’s senior scientific officer Kamrul Islam presented separate keynote papers highlighting benefits of having genetically modified crops.
Journalists criticised the presentations for being highly biased with the intention of pushing genetically modified crops in Bangladesh without proper research.
They blamed the research organisations for ignoring people’s health safety concerns in their research work and focusing only on the aspect of increasing production.
They said that the research organisations completely failed to justify the necessity for having genetically modified crops like BT Cotton and golden rice.
They said that introduction of BT Brinjal had also been unjustified and authorities failed to ensure marketing of the product with proper labelling so that people could make informed choice.
They feared that introduction of genetically modified crops may offer a window for multinational companies to overtake agriculture sector rendering hundreds of thousands of farmers jobless.
As many as 28 journalists attended the workshop on knowledge sharing and capacity building workshop on agri-biotechnology reporting.
It was jointly organised by International Rice Research Institute, Farming Future Bangladesh and BRRI.
IRRI representative for Bangladesh Humnath Bhandari, its national consultant Jiban Krishna Biswas and FFB chief executive officer Arif Hossain also attended the workshop among others
While attending a workshop organised for journalists at a city hotel, they called for a scientific transformation in agriculture sector to feed growing population in land-starved Bangladesh.
Journalists attending the workshop, however, pointed out that the research organisations did not have enough work to assure people that the genetically modified crops they were proposing to introduce were safe for human consumption, environment and biodiversity.
‘For ensuring food security in future we need scientific transformation in agriculture sector,’ said Bangladesh Rice Research Institute director general Md Shahjahan Kabir.
He said that they were close to releasing genetically modified golden rice to meet vitamin A deficiency among people, especially children and women.
‘People have to keep in mind that we are not trying to promote any business,’ he said.
‘We are promoting science. And we assure people of our commitment to protecting their health and the health of our environment,’ he said.
Cotton Development Board executive director Md Farid Uddin said that the country could drastically reduce application of pesticide in cotton production by shifting to cultivation of genetically modified BT cotton.
He said that Bangladesh met 97 per cent of cotton demand with imports which could be reduced by increasing production through cultivation of BT cotton.
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s senior scientific officer AKM Quamruzzaman, BRRI’s principal scientific officer Partha S Biswas and CDB’s senior scientific officer Kamrul Islam presented separate keynote papers highlighting benefits of having genetically modified crops.
Journalists criticised the presentations for being highly biased with the intention of pushing genetically modified crops in Bangladesh without proper research.
They blamed the research organisations for ignoring people’s health safety concerns in their research work and focusing only on the aspect of increasing production.
They said that the research organisations completely failed to justify the necessity for having genetically modified crops like BT Cotton and golden rice.
They said that introduction of BT Brinjal had also been unjustified and authorities failed to ensure marketing of the product with proper labelling so that people could make informed choice.
They feared that introduction of genetically modified crops may offer a window for multinational companies to overtake agriculture sector rendering hundreds of thousands of farmers jobless.
As many as 28 journalists attended the workshop on knowledge sharing and capacity building workshop on agri-biotechnology reporting.
It was jointly organised by International Rice Research Institute, Farming Future Bangladesh and BRRI.
IRRI representative for Bangladesh Humnath Bhandari, its national consultant Jiban Krishna Biswas and FFB chief executive officer Arif Hossain also attended the workshop among others
http://www.newagebd.net/article/65759/govt-agro-research-bodies-press-for-gm-cropshttp://amarketreportsjournal.com/excellent-growth-of-rice-noodles-market-comprehensive-study-by-global-innovations-new-business-developments-and-top-companies/50173/
