Senate Democrats release list of climate studies buried by Trump
administration
09/19/2019
01:48 PM EDT
Sen. Debbie Stabenow released the list of more 1,400
climate studies that Department of Agriculture researchers have published. |
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Updated 09/19/2019 02:57 PM
EDT
Senate Democrats released on Thursday a report outlining dozens of
times the Trump administration has censored or minimized climate science across
the federal government at agencies including the EPA and the Department of
Homeland Security.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture
Committee, also publicly released a list of more than 1,400 climate studies
that Department of Agriculture researchers have published during the current
administration after POLITICO reported that USDA buried its own research and failed
to release its plan to study the issue. The matter is increasingly urgent for
farmers and ranchers dealing with erratic and extreme weather.
The trove of studies by USDA researchers carry warnings about
climate change that the government is largely not communicating to farmers and
ranchers or the public. The list published includes research showing that
climate change is likely to drive down yields for some crops, harm milk
production, and lead to a drop in nutrient density for key crops like rice and
wheat.
“These studies show how climate change is affecting crop
production, disrupting how food is grown and increasing risk to communities,”
Stabenow said during a press conference on Thursday. Stabenow also serves as
chairwoman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, the research
arm of Senate Democrats.
The Michigan Democrat called it “outrageous” that “critical
information for communities, for farmers, for those of us who care deeply about
what’s happening to agriculture, these are not being shared with the people who
need to know but they are being paid for by them, as taxpayers.”
A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department said it's
"false" to suggest that the department is suppressing science.
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“We have repeatedly provided the Senate Agriculture Committee with
evidence to the contrary, and the department has been transparent and
communicative to the committee in response to their questions on
research," the spokesperson said, in an email. "The list of studies
linked in the report were provided by the USDA to the committee and are all
publicly available."
The move comes as climate change is becoming an increasingly
prominent issue in the Democratic presidential primary. The report was released
ahead of several planned climate protests Friday and the United National
Climate Action Summit in New York this weekend.
In their report, Senate Democrats allege that the Trump
administration has repeatedly gone out of its way to undermine climate science.
The report pointed to President Donald Trump falsely claiming that
Alabama had been under threat from Hurricane Dorian and his subsequent
insistence on overruling the forecasting of NOAA scientists. It also noted the
government released the Fourth National Climate Assessment — which warned of
billions in damages and sweeping effects to public health and infrastructure —
the day after Thanksgiving when most Americans are not paying attention to the
news.
The roundup includes numerous instances where agencies, including
FEMA, EPA, Department of Homeland Security and Interior Department, have dropped
mention of climate change from key reports or websites.
“Frankly, this is just an overview because it’s being done every
day,” Stabenow told reporters.
19 SEPTEMBER 2019
Scientists worldwide join strikes for climate
change
From Bangkok to Brisbane, researchers are among
those protesting today to urge action on global warming.
Credit:
Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty
Greta
Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm last August for
the first ever ‘school strike for climate’. One year on, the teenage activist’s
Fridays for Future campaign has grown
into a global movement involving people of all
ages and backgrounds, including many scientists and scholars.
As
government and business leaders flock to New York City for the United Nations
Climate Summit next week, millions of people in hundreds of cities worldwide
are expected to take to the streets today to demand stronger action on climate
change. Commitments made so far by nations to the 2015 Paris agreement
are unlikely
to keep the rise in average global temperature below 1.5C.
Nature spoke with scientists
striking in different cities around the world about their motives and
expectations.
Sydney, Australia
Today
was microbiologist Michael Kertesz’s first time protesting about climate
change. His purpose for participating was to highlight the impact the planet’s
warming is having on oceans.
“Fifty
percent of the photosynthesis done on Earth is done by microbes in the sea,”
says Kertesz, from the University of Sydney. But rising sea temperatures are
having a significant effect on those processes, he says. “The Brazilian
rainforests are on fire, but what’s happening in the ocean is even worse.”
The
researcher joined a handful of colleagues — and tens of thousands of Sydney
citizens, including university students, academics, environmental
organizations, school students and their parents — as they marched through the
city’s streets. The event was one of at least a dozen around Australia today.
Kertesz
wants Australia’s government, led by the right-wing Liberal-National coalition,
to transition the country away from coal and oil use and make strong
investments in renewable energy.
After
marching through the city’s centre, the protesters gathered at a central park.
There, school students spoke about how climate change was exacerbating the
drought afflicting much of the state of New South Wales, and climate activists
from the South Pacific island, Tuvalu, spoke about sea levels rising around the
coral atoll.
Ecologist
Glenda Wardle, also from the University of Sydney, joined the strike because
she thinks people’s actions can make a difference. “We each value nature in
different ways, but today the collective voice said we want immediate action on
climate change.”
Wardle
says her team’s
long-term studies in the Simpson Desert in central Australia show that
global warming is contributing to longer, warmer droughts and bigger floods.
Extra rain can make vegetation grow faster, which can lead to more frequent
wildfires, she says. Wardle is also concerned about how warming will influence
water scarcity and disease outbreaks in the desert and other ecosystems, which could
potentially accelerate rates of species extinction.
FIVE SCIENTISTS TELL NATURE WHY THEY’RE STRIKING
Natalya Gallo, San Diego,
California
Joining
today’s climate rallies in San Diego, California, is a matter of professional
ethics for marine ecologist Natalya Gallo. Born in 1988, the year the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was founded, she has always
had an acute interest in climate science and climate policies.
Gallo,
a postdoc at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, has attended
several high-level UN climate negotiations, including the 2015 Paris meeting
that produced a landmark
agreement to
limit global warming to 1.5 °C. The United
States’ withdrawal from the Paris agreement was an incredible
disappointment to Gallo — and a strong motivation to carry on with her science
and policy work.
“The
science shows us clearly where we need to be but, sadly, political action and
public awareness are still far away from there,” she says.
Hundreds
of protesters — among them many scientists from the University of California,
San Diego (UCSD) — are expected to join the rallies organized by schools in the
city. Gallo will attend with her three-year-old daughter, whose life she fears
will be affected by global warming in ways that aren’t yet foreseeable. Gallo
says she will also join student climate protests in October on the UCSD campus
and attend the next round of UN climate negotiations in December in Chile.
Pao-Yu Oei, Berlin
Pao-Yu
Oei, an industrial engineer at the Technical University of Berlin, will take
part in Friday’s climate strike with his entire 15-strong research group, work
duties permitting. In fact, the university’s president encouraged all its
scientists and staff to shift Friday lectures and join youth protesters at the
Brandenburg Gate, the venue for one of around 500 climate rallies planned in
Germany that day.
Oei’s
research focuses on social and economic consequences of phasing out fossil
fuels — a burning issue in Germany, where coal still produces more than
one-third of electricity.
“It
is very clear that Germany will miss its climate goals if it doesn’t quit coal
very soon,” he says. “But what researchers say doesn’t always convince the
powers that be. We will strike because civil society must absolutely put
pressure on policymakers to act.”
Fernando Archuby, La Plata,
Argentina
In
Argentina, the country’s long-running economic crisis tends to obscure
environmental concerns, says Fernando Archuby. The palaeo-ecologist at the
National University of La Plata — the second-largest research university in
Argentina — wasn’t aware of the global climate strikes planned on Friday until
an e-mail from Nature’s news team drew his attention to them.
Curious, he discovered that a handful of local young people involved in the
Fridays for Future movement had this time invited adults to their rally.
Archuby has decided to join them.
He
says there is much to be done to raise public awareness about climate change in
Argentina. “Our politicians are happy when energy consumption rises because it
means that our economy is recovering,” he says. “And people here tend to say
that if climate is a problem at all, then it is up to the rich countries, not
us, to fix it. Few in my country would accept that we must change our habits,
too.”
Most
scientists in Argentina understand the global nature of the world’s climate
dilemma well, Archuby says. But, at least in La Plata, few are prepared to take
to the streets. “I asked my colleagues if they might join the strike tomorrow,”
he says. “I don’t think very many will.”
Jean Balié, Bangkok
Jean
Balié, an economist, isn’t normally a big fan of public demonstrations. But on
Friday, the head of the agri-food policy department at the International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, the Philippines, will step out of an
important steering meeting in Bangkok to join a small group of food-policy
researchers outside the office of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in
the Thai capital. They will be gathering there to protest against feeble global
climate action. “Every one of us can make a contribution,” he says. “But
tackling climate change must rely on a robust policy framework.”
Too
many politicians are suspicious of the mounting evidence of dangerous climate
change, he says. “As scientists, we have a responsibility to alert the public
that here’s a real threat to the way we want to live our lives.”
The
IRRI is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research,
which runs 15 research centres worldwide. Growing more food in a sustainable
way in a warming world is an enormous challenge that can’t be tackled by
political declarations and good intentions, says Balié. “What the world needs
now is a plan of action with real commitments, local to global.”
Saphira Rekker, Brisbane,
Australia
Rekker,
a finance lecturer at the University of Queensland in Australia, has taken a
day’s leave to join the climate demonstration organized by trade unions in
Brisbane. “What Greta Thunberg and striking schoolchildren have achieved so far
is just what we need,” she says. “I want to show my support and feel the vibe
of that great movement.”
Rekker
studies how the activities of corporations and industries affect the
achievability of global climate goals. She never thought much about taking
climate concerns to the streets. But on a business trip to Brussels last March,
she saw schoolchildren peacefully demonstrating for their future, chanting
slogans and holding banners. “This was just so inspiring,” she says. “I
suddenly realized what children must feel when short-term interests are put
before the long-term wealth of humanity.”
Rekker is fascinated by how
nature works and everything balances. When raging bushfires spread into the
suburbs of Brisbane during an unusually dry winter, destroying homes and
threatening people, she saw them as a harbinger of a climate that is turning
increasingly hostile. “I’m a global citizen and I can move to a safer place any
time,” she says. “Most other people don’t have that luxury.”
doi:
10.1038/d41586-019-02791-2
This article is part of Covering
Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 media outlets to
highlight the issue of climate change.
NEWS
09-19-2019
Scientists may
have found the key to developing flood-resistant crops
Earth.com staff writer
Rice is the only major food crop that can survive flooding, but a
new genetic study from UC Riverside may ultimately lead to the creation of additional
flood-resistant crops. The potential breakthrough comes at a time when climate change is pushing rainfall patterns to the extremes. “This is the first time that a flooding response has been looked at in a way that was this comprehensive, across evolutionarily different species,” said study co-author Professor Siobhan Brady.
For the investigation, the researchers examined how a wild-growing tomato, a tomato used for farming, and a plant similar to alfalfa responded to being submerged in water compared to rice.
The study revealed that all of the plants shared at least 68 families of genes that are activated in response to flooding, which are called submergence up-regulated families (SURFs).
“Since evolution separated the ancestors of rice and these other species as many as 180 million years ago, we did not expect to find 68 SURFs in common,” said co-author Professor Neelima Sinha.
Rice was domesticated from wild species that grew in tropical regions, where it evolved to endure monsoons and waterlogging. Some of the genes involved in this adaptation were found in the other plants, but were not effective in response to flooding around the roots.
“We hope to take advantage of what we learned about rice in order to help activate the genes in other plants that could help them survive waterlogging,” said study lead author Professor Julia Bailey-Serres.
The team analyzed cells located at the tips of the plant roots to understand whether and how their genes were activated when they became submerged in water and deprived of oxygen.
“We looked at the way that DNA instructs a cell to create particular stress response in a level of unprecedented detail,” said study co-author Mauricio Reynoso.
Although the SURFs were activated in all the plants during the flooding experiments, only the genetic responses observed in rice were effective enough for survival. The researchers will conduct additional studies to improve the flood survival rates of other crops.
“Imagine a world where kids do not have enough calories to develop,” said Professor Bailey-Serres. “We as scientists have an urgency to help plants withstand floods, to ensure food security for the future.”
The study is published in the journal Science.
Interested in learning more fascinating facts about plants? Head on over to the PlantSnap blog!
—
By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
Image Credit: Germain Pauluzzi / UCR
Study paves the way for new approach to boost
rice yield
Sunderarajan Padmanabhan New Delhi | Updated on September
19, 2019 Published on September 19, 2019
National Institute of Plant Genome Research - @nipgr
The new development represents developing
rice varieties that produce bigger and consequently heavier grains.
Rice productivity in India is low
compared to other countries like China and Japan though it has the largest area
under rice cultivation. Now scientists at the National Institute of Plant
Genome Research (NIPGR) here have identified a gene that is involved in
regulating the size of rice grain.
The new development represents a
new approach towards developing rice varieties that produce bigger and
consequently heavier grains.
The researchers had found in
earlier studies that expression of a particular gene, OsMed15a, was higher at
different stages of seed development. The observation led them to explore its
role further. They scanned 509 different rice genotypes and found that the
nucleotide sequences of the OsMed15a gene varied depending on the size of
grain. OsMed15a was also found to play a major role in regulating the
expression of three other genes - GW2, GW5 and DR11I- which determine grain size
and weight.
“When we suppressed the
expression of OsMed15a in transgenic plants using RNAi technology, the seeds
became smaller and wider,” explained Jitender K. Thakur, lead researcher, while
speaking to India Science Wire. For further work, the group is collaborating
with the Ranchi-based Indian Institute of Agriculture Biotechnology so that
grain size could be increased substantially through standard breeding methods.
“This study is important as it
establishes OsMed15a as a connecting link between some of the different genes
important for grain size/ weight trait in rice. In the next phase, using high
throughput ‘omics’ tools, we would be delineating complete network of genes and
proteins being connected through OsMed51a,” Thakur said.
He also noted that the size and
shape of the rice grain are not only important for boosting yield but also
contribute to the market value of rice. “Indians prefer long and slender rice
grains. There is some small grain rice which are full of pleasant aroma. We are
trying to introgress long-grain allele of OsMed15a in these varieties so that
the seeds become longer. We hope that in this way we would be able to produce
location-specific long grain aromatic rice”, he added.
The research team included Swarup
K. Parida, Nidhi Dwivedi, Sourobh Maji, Mohd Waseem, Pallabi Thakur and Vinay
Kumar. The study results will be published in journal BBA - Gene Regulatory
Mechanisms. This work was supported by grants from Science and Engineering
Research Board (SERB) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
Twitter handle: @ndpsr
(India Science Wire)
Genomic squencing on hardy weeds
provides evidence on crop mimicry
Echinochloa crus-galli(E.
crus-galli) is the most hazardous weed which mankind has made every endeavor to
decimate over several millennia. Researchers at ZJU’s College of Agriculture and Biotechnology and China National Rice Research Institute discover
that in order to evade”eradication”, it has picked up the skill
of”camouflaging” itself by bearing closer resemblances to rice.
“Human behavior has accelerated the evolution of E. crus-galli,
thereby giving rise to unintentional selection similar to domestication,”
said FAN Longjiang, a
professor of crop sciences and bioinformatics at ZJU. The most widely
recognized illustrations of mimicry are those seen in the animal kingdom, including Batesian mimicry and Müllerian mimicry. In contrast, there has been no
definite consensus over Vavilovian mimicry or crop mimicry in
academia. It is the first time to verify the existence of Vavilovian mimicry
from the perspective of genome. Relevant findings are published on the
September 16 issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Researchers studied 328 E.
crus-galli accessionsfrom the Yangtze River basin in China, a typical rice
production area. In terms of morphology, the species of E. crus-galli in rice
paddies and on dry farmlands are substantially differentiated from each other:
E. crus-galli individuals on dry farmlands display a loose or prostrateplant
architecture, usually accompanied by a crooked stem node, red or purple stem
bases and loose leaves whereas those in rice paddies are analogous to rice in
that both have a small tiller angle, a straight stem node, a green stem base
and compact leaves particularly at the seedling stage. Therefore, it is hard
for farmers to distinguish between cultivated rice and mimetic E. crus-galli.
In the 1930s, Soviet botanist and
geneticist Vavilov proposed a hypothesis that the resemblance between weeds and
crops is an outcome of mimicry and adaptive evolution. Nonetheless, there has
been an ongoing debate regarding this idea for lack of scientific evidence.
“We resequenced the genomes of
328 E. crus-galliaccessions with a view to confirming the existence of
Vavilovian mimicry at a genetic level,” FAN Longjiang said.
“The 328 phenotyped E. crus-galli
accessions can be divided into three major groups: mimetic (MIC), non-mimetic
(NMC) and mixed (MIX). In contrast with NMC, MIC displayed a decrease in
genetic diversity and suffered agenetic bottleneck, suggesting that it was
forced to undergo selection during the mimicry process,” FAN Longjiang added.
The time of divergence of MIC
from NMC samplesof E. crus-galli was estimated to be over 1,000 years ago in
this study. According to Chinese historical records, during the Song Dynastythe
economic hub changed from the Yellow River basin to theYangtze River basin, the
human population underwent rapid growth and rice replaced wheat as the staple
grain. NMC E. crus-galli may have originated from the stronger selection
pressure by humans accompanied by the requirement for more rice production due
to the rapid population growth during that period.
In this study, researchers
provide genomic evidence of human selection on Vavilovian mimicry. Using
genome-level analysis, theydetect significant genomic distinctions and positive
selection signalsin some local genomic regions between MIC and NMC E.
crus-galli populations. These findings extend the core knowledge of mimicry and
improve the understanding of the origin and evolution of paddy weeds. This work
sets the stage for future studies aimed at providing broader insight into the
process of Vavilovian mimicry.
Ogun Customs Command 1 rakes N6.7b revenue
OGUN State Operational Command Headquarters 1, Idiroko has
declared N6,735, 215, 877.45 as the revenue it collected from January to June
30, this year.
Comptroller Ogbara Ojobo Michael, who gave the figure in an
interview, said the revenue was above the command’s target of N3,860,830,
583.90 for the period under review.
He added that the command revenue generated in the period under
review was in excess of N2,874,385, 293.50 – about 174.45 per cent performance.
In the area of anti-smuggling during the period under review,
Ogbara said smuggle items confiscated include 29,905(50kg each) and 15 (25kg
each)of bags of foreign rice; 1,466 kegs of vegetable oil (25 litres
each); 17units of motorcycles; 9,407 new and 1,042 pairs used, three jumbo 69
sacks and one small sack of footwear.
Others are 427 cartons of frozen poultry products; 25 bales,29
sacks of second hand clothing, 12 sacks of Ankara rapper; four sacks of yards
materials and five wraps of lining materials; 51 pieces of used handbags;
583Pcs of used tyres; 1,181kegs of PMS(Petrol) of 25 litres each; 3 bags of
sugar(50kg each); 40×142, 60×200 & 40×41 android cartons of Itel Phone
3; 897 pieces of used tyres and others with Duty Paid Value (DPV)
of N1,235,923,760.00
Read
Also: Court fixes Oct 7 for ex-basketball stars N51m extortion suit
against Customs
Ogbara added: “The seizure of over 29,905 bags of rice in the
first half-year of 2019 is indeed a landmark among numerous successes recorded
as compared to 15,976 bags of rice seized during the corresponding period of
the year 2018. The aforementioned was achieved due to strategic enforcement
measures put in place in line with the Federal Government Policy targeted at
boosting agricultural development within the country.
“Also, within the period of June 1 to 30, the command generated
revenue of N1, 196, 146, 835.60. While in the area of anti-smuggling the
command made 83 seizures with the DPV of N310,555,588.00. The items seized
include: 30 units of vehicles, 7,095 bags of foreign rice (50kg each),
258 kegs of vegetable oil (25 litres each), 10 units of motorcycles, 7,572
pairs of new, used and rubber footwear, three bales of secondhand clothing, 28
pieces of used handbags and 392 cartons of frozen poultry products and others.
The command’s boss noted that the seizures were made after
clashes between his officers and some daredevil smugglers and accomplices,
leading to loss of lives and properties.
“The command will continue to dialogue, engage, sensitise and
educate the public on social, security, health and economic implication of
smuggling, while on the other hand, the statutory functions of enforcing
compliance with strict adherence to the law will be rigorously sustained.
“I wish to commend the sister agencies, opinion leaders, head of
traditional institutions, eminent personalities, the media and other
law-abiding members of the public on the cooperation and support we are
receiving in properly implementing Federal Government’s policies,” Ogbara said.
He explained that the revenue and the seizures were made before
two area commands – Ogun Area 1 and Ogun Area 2 – were created out of the old
command with different responsibilities within the state.
He explained that Ogun Area 1 will oversee the regulation and
enforcement of all import, export and anti-smuggling related activities in the
state with its headquarters at Idiroko.
He, however, refused to speak on the tighter border surveillance
nationwide.
At the Idiroko border in Ogun State security operatives were
seen strictly enforcing the presidential order on cross-border movement.
The Federal Government inaugurated the joint exercise by the
security agencies to further secure the land borders across the country.
The operation, which is being coordinated by the Office of the
National Security Adviser (ONSA), affects the four geopolitical zones,
including Southsouth, Southwest, Northcentral and Northwest.
Navy arrests 12 oil, rice smugglers in Akwa Ibom
Published September
20, 2019
Patrick Odey, Uyo
Operatives of the Nigerian Navy,
Forward Operating Base, Ibaka, in the Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom
State, have arrested 12 suspects with 50 drums of illegal Automated Gas Oil and
486 bags of smuggled rice.
It was gathered that the arrests
were made in three different operations by the operatives.
In the first two operations, five
suspects each were arrested with 209 and 277 bags of 50kg rice, while in the
last operation, two suspects were arrested with 50 drums of illegal AGO.
The new Commanding Officer, FOB,
Captain Peter Yilme, said the arrests were made within two days of his
resumption in office, adding that the base under his watch would sustain the
war against smuggling on the waterways.
He warned the smugglers to desist
from the illegal activity.
Speaking on Thursday while handing
over the items to the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps, Yilme, who was represented by the Base Operation Officer,
Kareem Yusuf, said smugglers would continue to experience hard times if they
did not desist from smuggling.
“On behalf of the Flag Officer
Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, I hand over 486 bags of smuggled rice and
10 suspects to the Nigeria Customs Service. I also hand over two suspects and
50 drums of AGO to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,” he stated.
The Deputy Superintendent of
Customs, Alabi Adedokun, who received 10 suspects and 486 bags of rice from the
Nigerian Navy, commended the navy for the synergy existing between them.
In his remarks, the Divisional
Officer, NSCDC in charge of the Mbo Local Government Area, James Essien, who
received the 50 drums of AGO and two suspects, commended the navy for its
efforts in combating smuggling.
He stated, “On behalf of the
state Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Akwa Ibom
State Command, Adeyinka Fasiu, I hereby take over the two suspects and 50 drums
of 300 litres each of AGO from the Nigerian Navy.”
Contact: theeditor@punchng.com
China sets up sea rice breeding station in
cold region
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-09-19 22:04:30|Editor: mingmei
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have set up the
country's first cold region breeding station for sea rice in the northeast
Province of Heilongjiang.
The breeding station was established in Tieli, a city located at
high altitude with one of the world's three major tracts of soda saline-alkali
land.
Sea rice is a new type of rice with saline-alkaline tolerance.
Chinese scientists, led by Yuan Longping, known as China's "Father of
Hybrid Rice," have worked on the research to yield more rice in saline
environments.
The program will help meet the needs of rice-growing areas in
the northeastern provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said
scientists from the Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and
Development Center, who built the breeding station.
It will also contribute to better study of cold- and
alkali-resistant rice.
Yuan's team has established eight experimental planting bases in
five major saline-alkaline areas across China. About 1,333 hectares of the sea
rice has been planted in 2019.
Less than 13.33 hectares of sea rice has currently been planted
in northeast China, and 1 million hectares will be planted in the region in the
next three years, according to the Qingdao center.
Scientists may
have found the key to developing flood-resistant crops
09-19-2019
Earth.com staff writer
Rice is the only major food crop that can survive flooding, but a
new genetic study from UC Riverside may
ultimately lead to the creation of additional flood-resistant crops. The
potential breakthrough comes at a time when climate change is
pushing rainfall patterns to the extremes. “This is the first time that a flooding response has been looked at in a way that was this comprehensive, across evolutionarily different species,” said study co-author Professor Siobhan Brady.
For the investigation, the researchers examined how a wild-growing tomato, a tomato used for farming, and a plant similar to alfalfa responded to being submerged in water compared to rice.
The study revealed that all of the plants shared at least 68 families of genes that are activated in response to flooding, which are called submergence up-regulated families (SURFs).
“Since evolution separated the ancestors of rice and these other species as many as 180 million years ago, we did not expect to find 68 SURFs in common,” said co-author Professor Neelima Sinha.
Rice was domesticated from wild species that grew in tropical regions, where it evolved to endure monsoons and waterlogging. Some of the genes involved in this adaptation were found in the other plants, but were not effective in response to flooding around the roots.
“We hope to take advantage of what we learned about rice in order to help activate the genes in other plants that could help them survive waterlogging,” said study lead author Professor Julia Bailey-Serres.
The team analyzed cells located at the tips of the plant roots to understand whether and how their genes were activated when they became submerged in water and deprived of oxygen.
“We looked at the way that DNA instructs a cell to create particular stress response in a level of unprecedented detail,” said study co-author Mauricio Reynoso.
Although the SURFs were activated in all the plants during the flooding experiments, only the genetic responses observed in rice were effective enough for survival. The researchers will conduct additional studies to improve the flood survival rates of other crops.
“Imagine a world where kids do not have enough calories to develop,” said Professor Bailey-Serres. “We as scientists have an urgency to help plants withstand floods, to ensure food security for the future.”
The study is published in the journal Science.
Interested in learning more fascinating facts about plants? Head on over to the PlantSnap blog!
—
By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
Image Credit: Germain Pauluzzi / UCR
Fall in area
under rice, sugar will not hurt us’
Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog - THE HINDU
Citing resistance to biotechnology, NITI
Aayog’s Ramesh Chand favours a productivity breakthrough in oilseeds, pulses
There appears to be no let-up in
the agrarian crisis prevailing in the country, despite the government taking
various measures. Agri growth has witnessed a decline in recent quarters and
could pose a challenge to the government in doubling farmers’ income by 2022. BusinessLine caught
up with NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand to get his views on the prevailing
crisis. Excerpts:
Do you think the decline in
agriculture growth will hamper the doubling of farmers’ income?
Decline of agri GDP in one or two
quarters will not alter the overall trend. Indian agriculture consists of many
segments and I am hopeful that in some segments we will still be able to
achieve the target of doubling farmers’ incomes. Like in fisheries, for
instance, which is already growing at a higher rate. The gross value added
(GVA) in fisheries is growing at more than 7 per cent while the GVA in
livestock is growing at 6.5 per cent.
Within the crop sector, of
concern is field crops, where the growth rate is quite low. Horticulture
segment within the crop sector is doing well, and in some of the other
segments, growth is on track. But in the case of field crops, the growth rate
is not as projected in the NITI Aayog model that envisages a doubling of
farmers’ income. Still we have three years, we need to do something. We need to
take some set of measures.
The Prime Minister has
constituted a high-powered committee of chief ministers which is discussing how
farmers’ income can be increased, how to promote exports, how to give a big
push to agri-processing and invite private investments, etc. So we are tracking
the situation and seeing in what areas we need to take action.
But are fresh investments
happening in the agri sector?
Yes. But the concern is private
investments should be coming to the production side of agriculture. Private
investments are coming into the post-harvest sector. Private investment should
come right from the seed to the harvesting stage. After detailed analysis we
found that unless we bring in reforms in agriculture, unless we allow contract
farming, and unless we bring about changes in the Essential Commodities Act and
the APMC Act, it will be difficult to bring in private capital into
agriculture. The Centre has notified the model APMC Act and the Contract
Farming Act. We are working with States. The High Powered Committee of CMs had
TORs on how to take States on board to undertake these reforms.
How many States have started
adopting these laws?
The Model APMC Act has nine
different provisions. The provisions are being adopted by States on a piecemeal
basis and in a partial and diluted form. That’s why we are not seeing results.
States should implement the Act comprehensively. Maybe, one or two provisions
may not fit the situation of a particular State. But they should do it. By implementing
one or two provisions for formality’s sake, you cannot claim that you have
brought in reforms.
How are the BJP-ruled States
implementing these reforms?
Gradually, the States are coming
on board. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana are far ahead in terms of
implementing the reform measures. Uttar Pradesh is picking up. It has
introduced the model land lease law, and amended the Revenue Act to create
scope for land leasing. One by one the BJP-ruled States are coming on board.
Punjab, which passed the model APMC Act two years back, is yet to notify it.
Maharashtra has the Contract Farming Act, but farmers have not come in lakhs to
adopt it. One reason is there are not many sponsors for contract farming. They
are waiting for a more facilitating environment. Things are changing, but a bit
slowly.
You said field crops are the weak
links, but production is still going up?
Production is growing, but the
growth rates are still slow. In the case of cereals, we are already surplus. We
have to sell 10 million tonnes of rice in the overseas market. But as far as
the oilseeds and pulses sectors are concerned we are still depending on imports
to meet our requirement. The growth can be much higher here. In these two
commodities groups, the main problem is we are not having a tech breakthrough.
And there is resistance in the country to go for bio-tech crops, whereas the
world has gone ahead in a big way for GM technology. We seriously need to think
of some breakthrough for oilseeds and pulses.
So with GM crops facing stiff resistance,
what are the options available to boost yields of oilseeds?
One option is crop area
substitution. India will not suffer if the area under rice or sugar declines.
We are finding it very difficult to dispose our sugar in the international
market. The second option is that since these crops — pulses and oilseeds — are
largely grown in rainfed conditions, it will make a big difference to their
productivity if we are able to expand irrigation to those crops.
But do you see the need for a
policy to discourage water-intensive crops such as sugarcane and rice?
There is such a thinking. There
is a task force in the NITI Aayog, which I am heading, which is looking into
this issue. We have prepared a report to figure out what is the optimal area
that should be under sugarcane. In the last few years, both yields and
profitability have increased. The increase in FRP (fair and remunerative price)
has also been quite high. So sugarcane profitability has been increasing. So if
there is domestic demand it is okay.
But we are not having adequate
domestic demand and the international prices are very low. Also, the crop is a
big water consumer. So, because of these issues, substitution needs to be
considered. Earlier, Maharashtra was the largest producer of sugarcane. Now, UP
is the largest, accounting for 60 per cent of the sugarcane produced in the
country. The government is also trying to promote ethanol from B and C grade
molasses. I think we should also be looking at technologies that allow direct
conversion of sugarcane juice to ethanol. We can allow some percentage of
sugarcane to be converted into ethanol. We are having a consultation with the
industry and farmers on this report soon. The main idea is to bring in a
balance between the demand and supply of sugar.
How do you see the crisis in the
plantation sector?
From the macro statistics that I
have seen, rubber is facing a serious crisis, while other crops are not having
such serious problems. Since 25 per cent of all plantation crops are exported,
what happens globally is very important. Look at coffee and what’s happening in
Brazil and Vietnam. The output has gone higher and higher with improved
productivity. We are stuck and our production is stagnant. I feel that over
time, either of three or four things should happen.
There should be either a
technological breakthrough or an organisational innovation — like in the dairy
sector. The organisational innovation was a co-operative model, which has
helped achieve scale and reduce costs. Or there should be some brand loyalty
creation where people don’t mind paying premium on their products. I feel that
they need to spend much more money on demand creation, like the Café Coffee Day
did, which has helped create demand. After all, with the export market is
getting more and more difficult, it will become more a niche kind of thing.
Coffee producers should look at how we ways to promote coffee consumption
within the country.
Plantation crop growers face
disadvantage both in terms of high labour costs and lower yields. The germplasm
varieties in the plantation crops are too old. In the case of apple, a change
has started happening. If this change had not happened, our apple industry
would have been wiped out. Now, the apple growers are going in for high density
plantations. The kind of apple that is grown in many areas of Himachal Pradesh
now is totally different. You don’t see those old big trees. This could be
possible because we allowed import of root stock and plant-propagation material
after due process of testing. I think we need to look at that for the entire
plantation sector. We must upgrade entire plantations.
But research in plantation crops
is largely controlled by the public sector...
I will say that research has been
a tragedy in the case of commodities. Research was not taken up by the
mainstream public sector system. That responsibility was given to commodity
boards. At one point in time, the commodity boards had three or four scientists
to carry out the research. Agriculture research has become both capital and
knowledge intensive. I think it is time to have a relook at who will be doing
R&D for plantations. The agriculture universities of the States where these
crops are grown should take the lead in the research activities.
You think the proposed RCEP will
have any impact on Indian producers?
It will depend on how we
negotiate it. You can’t simply say by looking at things on the surface. The
modern FTAs nowadays give special and differential treatment for many
commodities. They keep many commodities in the exempt category. It will depend
on how we negotiate. We are keeping commodities we are not very competitive in
compared to ASEAN countries and others in the exempt list. If we get special
and differential treatment for those commodities, then it will not matter.
Otherwise, in a modern world, if you feel safe that you are not part of an FTA
it is not true.
Then there is trade deflection.
Assuming that Sri Lanka is part of RCEP and we are trading with Sri Lanka, a
lot of commodities will start coming from Sri Lanka. I have observed this in
the case of palm oil. Bangladesh was allowing imports at much lower duty than
India. So palm oil started coming to India from Bangladesh. So this is the
problem. You can’t say that you are fully insulated and protected if we don’t
become part of any FTA. So it is better that you become part of that to get
whatever benefit you can get, and then try to protect your sensitive
commodities through the exempt list and by having provision for high tariff.
There’s a sense of concern among
planters on the RCEP agreement...
We should not always look at very
high tariff walls. Then other countries can also apply that logic to us. Trade
is a two-way route. It can’t be that you would want to sell your product and
not buy their products.
Program tests resilience of rice in frigid,
salty soil
2019-09-20
10:04:19China DailyEditor : Li Yan
A technician collects rice seedlings for transfer to a salinity
test field at the Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development
Center. (Photo/Xinhua)
A rice breeding program aimed at
testing the resilience of rice strains that can grow in salty, frigid soil at
high elevations was launched this week in the northeastern province of
Heilongjiang.
The program, unveiled in a national
agricultural park in Tieli city on Wednesday, is the country's first to test
experimental rice species that are tolerant of saline-alkaline land-also known
as saltwater rice-in frosty environments in Northeast China, according to the
Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center.
"Previous trial planting in
parts of Heilongjiang province covered about 0.67 hectares at most. The new
program now covers 2 hectares and is expected to expand significantly in the
future," said Li Jiming, deputy director of the research center based in
Shandong province.
Currently, the average annual
output of saltwater rice varieties planted in salty land in Northeast China
stands at about 3.75 metric tons per hectare, Li said. It is generally
acknowledged that a new strain of rice attains market potential if it can yield
more than 4.5 tons per hectare, agricultural experts have said.
By applying these varieties to the
harsh conditions in Tieli, which is situated between the alkalized stretches of
Songnen Plain and the snowcapped Lesser Khingan Mountain, Li said the program
is intended to breed and select a few strains that demonstrate the highest
yields and resilience.
"Freezing temperatures will be
a major impediment to our cultivation," he said."Rice seedlings die
out quickly as soon as frost develops on their stalks."
According to Li, there are about
2.7 million hectares of saline-alkaline land in Heilongjiang, Jilin and
Liaoning provinces, the three major grain-producing areas in China, and 4
million hectares of such land in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
"The breeding program is
expected to provide valuable experience for overall rice farming in these
regions," he said.
As the climate shifts and a growing
population strains arable land, Chinese agricultural scientists have been
striving to tap into unused land resources and develop innovative ways to
produce food.
Research into rice strains that can
grow in saline-alkaline soil began in the late 1980s in China. As of recently,
the center in Shandong province has established eight trial planting bases
across different types of salty land in five provincial-level regions across
China, covering a total of 1,333 hectares of salty land.
S. Korea remains cautious over whether to maintain
developing-nation status
By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South
Korea remains cautious over whether to stick to its special and differential
treatment under the World Trade Organization as the United States pushes to
reform the global trade body. 
South Korea has been keeping
developing country status since 1995 mainly to protect its sensitive
agriculture industry, especially rice.
Hong Nam-ki, the minister of
economy and finance, said South Korea needs to "fundamentally" review
whether it can maintain the status in the future, saying other developing
countries are taking issue with South Korea's status.
"A very cautious approach is
needed" Hong said in a meeting with officials at a government in central
Seoul. He said South Korea will take into account national interest, its
economic status and economic impact when it decides whether to keep the status.
Hong Nam-ki (R), the minister of economy and finance, speaks in a
meeting with officials at a government in central Seoul on Sept. 20, 2019.
(Yonhap)
hide caption
The comments came as U.S. President
Donald Trump is seeking to overhaul the rules of the Geneva-based trade body to
make sure that self-declared developing countries do not take advantage of the
benefits that come with the status.
The U.S. has proposed that the WTO
strip countries of developing country status if they meet certain criteria --
being members of Group of 20 advanced economies; being members of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); being high-income
countries as classified by the World Bank and taking up at least 0.5 percent of
total global trade.
South Korea meets all four of the
criteria, which could undermine its efforts to maintain its status
In July, Trump named South Korea,
Mexico and Turkey as countries claiming developing-country status even though
they are members of both the G-20 and the OECD, a group of 36 mostly rich
nations.
Trump also said if no substantial
progress is made in overhauling the WTO rules by mid-October, the U.S. will no
longer treat as a developing country any WTO member Washington says is not one.
The issue of the developing country
privileges is also about future multilateral negotiations, meaning that South
Korea's agricultural subsidies and its agricultural tariffs won't be affected
even if Seoul decides to forgo the status.
Currently, South Korea imposes a
513-percent tariff on imported rice for quantities outside the quota of 409,000
tons of annual rice imports from the U.S. and four other countries under the
system of tariff-rate quotas meant to provide minimum market access.
Hong said South Korea is in the
final stages of negotiations with the U.S., China, Australia, Thailand and
Vietnam over rice tariff, though he did not provide any further details.
Government data showed 54 percent
of the 1 million South Korean farming households grow rice, a staple food for
Koreans.
South Korea paid 8.2 trillion won
(US$6.87 billion) in agricultural subsidies to farmers out of the 11.49
trillion won available in 2015, the latest year for which statistics are
available.
South Korea's total agricultural
subsidies largely depend on the value of agricultural output in a given year
and the ceiling hovers around 11.49 trillion won.
Organic Rice Forum Slated In
Davao City
By Featuresdesk (ICG) on
September 19, 2019
A forum on organic and premium rice as well as Adlai farming organized by government and private sector spearheaded by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) will be held on September 20 at the Grand Regal Hotel.
MinDA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, in
a statement issued on Monday, said “the forum marks a shift in the direction of
rice farming in Mindanao, as the massive inflow of imported rice has boxed out
local farmers producing ordinary rice from the market resulting in very low
farm gate prices, to as low as PPH10 to PHP12 in many parts in Mindanao.”
Also participating in the forum
aside from private groups are organic rice farmers’ cooperatives.
Piñol said the shift to premium and
organic rice farming in Mindanao is expected to open a niche market for
health-conscious consumers, a market opportunity for rice farmers affected by
the rice tariffication law.
The forum, dubbed as “Looking
beyond Rice Liberalization: Growing and Marketing of Premium, Organic Rice and
Adlai,” aims to gather farmers’ groups, private companies, local government
units, and the regional offices of the Department of Agriculture which promotes
Adlai farming.
Adlai or “Job’s Tears” is a wild
grass with round grains, grown and consumed by tribal people as a staple food.
Interest in the Adlai has grown over the years because of its reputed health
benefits.
Don Bosco Multi-Purpose
Cooperative, which pioneered the export of organic black and brown rice, will
make a presentation on organic rice farming and the different black and brown
rice varieties. As earlier reported, Don Bosco could not produce enough volume
for the local market, an indication of huge market demand for organic black and
brown rice.
Organic farming advocates will also
share their experiences.
Invited as resource persons are
former Congressman Eric Acuña will lecture on the benefits of organic
fertilizer called AMO which many farmers have used with positive results;
Zamboanga Sibugay Governor Wilter Palma, known for his advocacy on organic rice
farming, will share his province’s successful organic rice farming program; and
Seedworks Philippines will introduce two hybrid rice varieties which could be
grown organically with outstanding eating quality – Tatag TH 82 and US 88.
Meanwhile, Piñol said that
prospective premium and organic rice importers from Papua New Guinea, led by
Central Province Governor Robert Agarobe, and the United States of America are
expected to attend the forum, a move to link rice farmers to international
markets.
“The forum is open to all
interested farmers but since the venue is not large enough, seats and food will
be on a first-come-first-served basis,” the statement read. (PNA)
Importers Smuggling Rice In Tyres, Says
Economist
When the four tyres are rolling, will you suspect there is rice
there? The way they are bringing it in, it can cause cancer.
BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKSEP
19, 2019
Due to the closure of Nigeria’s
borders with Benin Republic, rice smugglers are seeking out more devious ways
of importing the product into the country.
National Coordinator of the
Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, Dr Oladapo Ganiyu, while speaking
with SaharaReporters said that people have resulted to fitting bags of
rice into tyres of automobiles.
Ganiyu, who claims this method is
carcinogenic, said the border closure was untimely.
He said, “The closure of the
border now is untimely. People are now packing rice inside tyres.
“When the four tyres are rolling,
will you suspect there is rice there? The way they are bringing it in, it can
cause cancer.
“The people I have spoken with on
commercial buses and market women, say the rice is not sweet and it takes time
to cook.”
Speaking further, Ganiyu said
ICEN will give the government’s new economic team six months before judging
their performance.
For over 30 days, Nigeria’s
border with Benin Republic and parts of its Northern border with Niger Republic
had been closed.
Comptroller-General of Customs,
Hameed Ali, insists that the border closure will not cease until concerned West
African states stop the smuggling of parboiled rice from their country into
Nigeria.
Ecija rice millers deny Dar’s
hoarding claim
September 19, 2019
BySteve A. Gosuico
Led by its president Elizabeth Mendoza-Vana, the Nueva Ecija Rice Millers Association denied the hoarding allegations earlier raised by Sec. Dar during an agriculture stakeholders’ forum held at the Marquez Restaurant on Wednesday.
Retired government prosecutor Danilo Yang, a farmer, and chairman of the Ugnayan ng Magsasakang Novo Ecijano (UMANE) said they gathered at the forum to touch base with the millers’ group and come out with a statement categorically denying the hoarding issue.
“Hindi dapat sana nagsasalita ang DA (Department of Agriculture) na bine-blame ang ating mga rice millers dito sa rice hoarding, unless na lang kung mayroon silang ebidensiya. Bakit hindi nila sampahan ng kaso ang mga ito, Yang,” a staunch Duterte supporter, told reporters in an interview.
City Mayor Mario “Kokoy” Salvador, also a rice miller himself being the owner of V.S. Gripal Rice Mill, echoed their group’s sentiment against rice hoarding. “Kaming mga rice mill owners, after each harvest season, may mga warehouse kami makikita mo ito, puno ng mga palay. Ang tawag dito ay buffer stocks at ito ay gamit para sa everyday na pangangailangan ng aming mga suki,” he said.
The city mayor pointed out that this buffer-stocking being done at the rice mill during every harvest season cannot be labeled as hoarding.
“Ang alam kong hoarding ay iyung itatago mo ang produkto, hindi mo ibebenta at ilalabas mo lang ito kung kailan mo gusto. Sa aming rice mill naman tuloy-tuloy at araw-araw ang mga transaksyon,” Salvador said.
Also present during the stakeholders’ forum
were representatives from the National Food Authority, PhilMech, the Department
of Agriculture, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, Land Bank of the Philippines,
Development Bank of the Philippines, and members of farmers-groups and
cooperatives, including the Juan Novo Ecijano Tapang at Malasakit Inc.
represented by Boyet Amorin Jr.
CBN spends N146bn to
support 849,480 rice farmers
ON SEPTEMBER 19, 201910:35
The
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it spent N146 billion to support 849,480 wet
and dry seasons rice farmers across the country. CBN Governor, Mr Godwin
Emefiele The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, gave the details at a meeting
with some state Governors in Abuja on Thursday. Emefiele said that the bank was
working with other stakeholders to wage war against smuggling of rice into the
country.
He explained that CBN had financed the
construction of rice mills to support food self-sufficiency and security. Osun
to create 25,000 new jobs through dairy project He said that Dangote Farms was
also constructing five mills; two in Jigawa and one each in Kebbi, Zamfara and
Sokoto states. The CBN governor said that other rice mills funded by the bank
included the WACOT and Labana Rice Mills in Kebbi State and Umza Rice Mill in Kano.
According to him, the CBN’s focus will remain on sectors that can create jobs
on a mass scale. He also said that the Bank would also pay closer attention to
financing sectors that could help Nigeria to “reduce its burgeoning import bill
and conserve much needed foreign exchange”.
“The bank will maintain a keen interest in
supporting the creation of an enabling environment to trigger private sector
investment. “Our emphasis will focus on value chain financing in 10 priority
commodities. These products have been responsible for a significant share of
our country’s food import bill in the last couple of years,” he said. Emefiele,
who commended the Federal Government on border closure to address the issue of
smuggling in the country, said that such steps had yielded a positive result.
He said some farmers and millers in some parts
of the country had complained of lack of patronage before the closure. “But as
soon as the borders were closed, they exhausted all they had in warehouses and
did not have any in stock to supply their customers,” Emefiele said.
Seedwork Philippines eyes propagation of premium rice in Davao
September 20, 2019 | 12:05 am
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/PG/SEEDWORKSPH
DAVAO CITY — Seedwork Philippines
is pushing for the propagation of its premium rice variety in the Davao Region
as a way for local farmers to increase their incomes as the Mindanao
Development Authority (MinDA) looks to export these varieties.
In a forum here Wednesday, Carlos
Miguel L. Saplala, president of the Seedwork Philippines, said its premium rice
variety US 88 is among those that can be marketed both locally and abroad as it
commands better prices.
Mr. Saplala said he is confident
this “is the right seed variety that our farmers in Mindanao need to bolster
their yields.”
Aside from a farm trial in Nueva
Ecija, the variety also underwent a trial in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur where the
resulting yield was about 10 metric tons a hectare, way above the average rice
production of four metric tons a hectare.
Its genetic potential is 14
metric tons per hectare, which can be achieved in optimal conditions, Mr.
Saplala said.
If milled, the rice variety is of
long grain quality, soft even if not hot and better tasting compared with some
premium varieties, the official said.In Mindoro, Mr. Saplala said the milled
rice variety sells for about P2 higher than the average per-kilogram price.
Millers market it as specialty
rice of hybrid variety as the US and its name stands for “Ubod ng Sarap.”
Mr. Saplala said the variety is
tolerant to some rice diseases, including the Bacterial Leaf Blight, which
usually reduces production.
In Tagum City Wednesday night,
the company launched its “Ang Hari ng Ani” contest for farmers using US 88 to
motivate them to adopt the variety. The contest will run between November and
December.
The company added it is
collaborating with MinDA to produce premium rice for export.
Remus C. Morandante, Seedwork
Philippines vice- president for sales and public affairs, said a top official
of the company, Franklin Y. Aguda, was among those who joined former
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol during a visit to Papua New Guinea in a
bid to export premium rice to the country.
“We are collaborating with MinDA
(on propagating the variety either for local and export markets),” said Mr. Morandante.
He said there is demand for the
variety among farmers in the Davao Region, particularly those in Davao del
Norte and Compostela Valley.
“There were demands from the
farmers…if it is not US 88, they better not be given (seeds),” he said.
He added that aside from the
possibility of exporting the variety, the plan is to teach farmers of Papua New
Guinea to propagate it.
“There are potential areas (in
the country where they can grow rice),” Mr. Morandante added.
Meanwhile, in a related
development, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will be distributing about two
million bags of certified seeds under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund
(RCEP) to rice farmers within the year, in a bid to increase yields by 2024.
The Agriculture department said
in a statement that farmer beneficiaries listed in the Registry System for
Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBA) will receive seeds for two consecutive
cropping seasons until December 2020.
They will also be entitled to up
to four bags of inbred seeds depending on farm size for the October to December
planting season. Rice seed varieties include NSIC Rc 160, Rc 216, Rc 222, and
two location-specific inbred varieties.
The seeds are equivalent to
planting about one million hectares of rice land, which the DA expects will
boost yields by up to six tons per hectare in high-yielding provinces by 2024.
“So far, we have identified 57
provinces based on the size of area harvested, yield level, cost of production,
and share of irrigated area. These municipalities and cities must also have an
annual area planted of more than 500-ha for dry season 2019-2020,” DA Secretary
William D. Dar said in a statement.
The DA will also provide farmers
with technical briefings on seed preparation and other interventions and
technologies from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI) to achieve
their yield targets.
The department tapped local
government units to help it validate the farmer beneficiaries listed in the
RSBA. The LGUs will further assist in seed delivery inspection and seed
distributions.
The distribution of the better
seeds is part of Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Act. It
states that the government should allot a P3-billion fund or 30% of the RCEP
for the PRRI for the production and distribution of high-yielding rice over a
six-year period. — Carmelito Q. Francisco and Arra
B. Francia
USA Rice Exhibits at Hanwha World Craft Beer Festival
By Jim Guinn
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Last week, South Korean craft beer
enthusiasts were treated to a sampling of U.S. rice dishes paired
with imported brews. Held at 63 Convention Center in Seoul, the
annual World Craft Beer Festival is hosted by Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, and
reflects the growing popularity of craft beer in South Korea. This year's festival
was an opportunity for Korean consumers to experience all that U.S.-grown rice
has to offer, complemented by some of the best imported craft beers.
USA Rice Korea worked with Hanwha Hotels & Resorts as well as
the Korean Micro Beer Importers Association (KMBIA) to create a "USA Rice
Section" that showcased U.S. rice at the festival. The 63 Convention
Center's chef team and food and beverage managers developed four new recipes
using U.S. rice: Grilled Cube Steak & Risotto, Grilled BBQ Skewers with
Saffron Fried Rice, Grilled Sausages & Rice Cake Skewers, and Roast Shrimp
Butter with Lemon Garlic Sauce & White Rice. Menu items were paired with
craft brews that highlighted the complementary flavors of each dish.
The USA Rice dishes received such high praise from the 2,500
festival goers that 63 Convention Center has decided to use the menus at future
events and functions.
South Korea is a significant market for U.S.
exports, and USA Rice-led initiatives such as participation in the World Craft
Beer Festival are essential to consumer outreach and
maintaining market share. U.S. rice exports to Korea in the January-July
2019 time frame totaled 151,000 metric tons valued at $126 million, compared to
81,000 MT valued at $63 million during the same period in 2018.
Rice Excluded From Trade Accord U.S., Japan
Aim to Sign Soon
By Jenny Leonard, Mike Dorning,
and Michael Hirtzer
September 17, 2019, 10:19 AM GMT+5 Updated on September 17, 2019, 10:11 PM GMT+5
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U.S. rice growers won’t get
increased sales under the current terms of a trade deal agreed by President
Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, people familiar with the
accord said.
While there are still details to be
finalized, the people said there won’t be any expansion of Japan’s quotas for
U.S.-grown rice. U.S. producers hope the issue will be dealt with in the second
phase of negotiations between the two countries, according to one of the
people.
Still, it’s unclear whether or when
Trump and Abe will continue talks given that any trade deal in Japan has to be
approved by the parliament and the Trump administration is running out of time
before the 2020 presidential election.
Japan is a key export market for U.S. rice farmers, who have been
under pressure after the Asian nation signed trade agreements with other
countries including the revised 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership. U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had suggested the White House may make
a concession on rice, which is “sort of a cultural
issue in Japan,” local media have reported.
“Although we are glad to see the
bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Japan, we were disappointed to see
that U.S. rice was not included,” said Stuart Hoetger, a rice trader and
manager of Pinnacle Rice Coop in Chico, California. A spokesperson for the U.S.
Trade Representative didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Japan is required to import 682,000 tons of rice under World Trade
Organization commitments, with the U.S. typically making up about half of that
amount, according to USA Rice. Since Japan signed the Comprehensive and
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, there’s been more
competition from Australian producers, the industry group said.
Chris Crutchfield, president of rice miller and
marketer American Commodity Company LLC in Williams, California, said the U.S.
industry wants not only more volume but better quality access to the Japanese
market. Much of the U.S. rice going to Japan is auctioned by the government and
used to make noodles, beer or sake, with only a small amount sold as table
rice. American rice should be allowed to be auctioned directly to private
buyers and marked as being grown in the U.S.
“We still believe the administration
is going to get us something better than we currently have,” Crutchfield said
by telephone.
— With assistance by Isis Almeida
Early rice farmers unwittingly selected for weedy imposters
The common form of barnyard grass (top) has red
stems, while the mimic has green stems -- more like rice. Credit: Jordan R.
Brock/Washington University
Early rice growers unwittingly
gave barnyard grass a big hand, helping to give root to a rice imitator that is
now considered one of the world's worst agricultural weeds.
New research from Zhejiang
University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Washington University in St.
Louis provides genomic evidence that barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) benefited
from human cultivation practices, including continuous hand weeding, as it
spread from the Yangtze River region about 1,000 years ago.
Barnyard grass is a globally
common invasive weed of
cultivated row crops and cereals. The new study was published Sept. 16 in the
journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
"In Asia, rice farmers have
traditionally planted and weeded their paddies by hand. Any weeds that stick
out are easily detected and removed," said Kenneth Olsen,
professor of biology in Arts & Sciences. "Over hundreds of
generations, this has selected for some strains of barnyard grass that
specialize on rice fields and very closely mimic rice plants. This allows them
to escape detection."
Olsen collaborated on data
analyses and interpretation for the new study. He is working with the study's
corresponding author, Longjiang Fan of Zhejiang University, on other research
related to rice evolutionary genomics and agricultural weed evolution.
This study sequenced the genomes
of rice-mimic and non-mimic forms of the weed as a step towards understanding
how this process has occurred.
This form of mimicry, called
Vavilovian mimicry, is an adaptation of weeds to mimic domesticated plants. In
the case of barnyard grass, the rice mimics grow upright like a rice plant
instead of sprawling along the ground like most barnyard grass. They also have
green stems like rice plants instead of the red stems more commonly found in
the weed.
"With the advent of
agriculture about 10,000 years ago, humans all over the planet began creating a
wonderful habitat for naturally weedy plant species to exploit," Olsen
said. "The most successful and aggressive agricultural weeds were those
that evolved traits allowing them to escape detection and proliferate in this
fertile new environment."
The researchers estimate that the
mimic version of E. crus-galli emerged at about the same time
that Chinese historical records indicate that the regional economic center was
shifting from the Yellow River basin to the Yangtze River basin. During this
period of the Song Dynasty, human populations were growing rapidly, demand for
rice as the staple grain was paramount. This is also the time when a
quick-maturing, drought-resistant variety of rice called Champa rice was
introduced to the Yangtze basin from Southeast Asia—to allow two harvests in a
year. Weed management in paddies might have been intensified in the context of
these conditions.
However, while common barnyard
grass is a major agricultural weed in the U.S., the rice mimic form has never
become widespread in the main rice growing region—the southern Mississippi
valley.
Olsen speculates that this is
because U.S. rice farmers rely on mechanized farming instead of hand labor.
"Without farmers out in the
fields planting and weeding by hand, there's not such strong selection for
weeds to visually blend in with the rice crop,"
he said.
Lawmakers want extra P15B for NFA
to buy palay from local farmers
Mara Cepeda
Published 4:04 PM, September 19, 2019
Updated 4:04 PM, September 19, 2019
RICE CRISIS. DA Secretary William Dar makes a
surprise inspection on stalls selling NFA rice at the San Andres Market in
Manila on September 13, 2019. File photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Fifty-three
lawmakers led by the progessive Makabayan bloc are seeking to provide a
P15-billion supplemental budget to the National Food Authority (NFA) amid the
plummeting prices of palay.
The 53 legislators filed House
Joint Resolution (HJR) No. 18 on Thursday, September 19, seeking to mandate the
immediate release of an additional P15 billion to the NFA. The amount will be
for the “exclusive and urgent” procurement of at least 750,000 metric tons of
palay from local farmers at the farmgate price of P20 per kilogram.
The lawmakers also want the NFA
rice to be sold at P27 per kilogram to help ease the “dire impacts” of the rice
tariffication law, which replaced the old import quotas with tariffs.
The House members are blaming the
rice tariffication law for the sharp decline in the farmgate prices of palay, which have reportedly
dropped to as low as P7 per kilo in some areas.
RPT-Asia
Rice-Firm rupee lifts Indian rates; Vietnam prices hold near 12-year low
K. Sathya Narayanan
SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 / 6:32 AM /
(Repeats SEPT 19 story. No change to
text.)
* Thai prices unchanged, but still
near June 2018 high
* Vietnamese rice rates slump 13%
from the beginning of 2019
By K. Sathya Narayanan
BENGALURU, Sept 20 (Reuters) -
Indian rice export prices rose this week on a resurgent rupee, while sluggish
demand kept Vietnamese rates near a 12-year low even as the country looks to
encourage private investment to make its rice more competitive.
Top exporter India’s 5% broken
parboiled variety RI-INBKN5-P1 rose to around $373-$379 per tonne from
$370-$376 a week ago, despite faltering demand from African countries.
The rupee on Thursday moved further
away from a near two-week low touched earlier in the week.Buying from west
African countries, especially from key buyer Benin, has been faltering, said
Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India’s rice business.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s 5% broken rice
RI-VNBKN5-P1 rates were unchanged at $325 per tonne, their lowest since
November 2007, as “trading activity remains subdued on weaker demand,” a Ho Chi
Minh City based trader said.
A lack of fresh deals has squeezed
the Vietnamese market, with prices now about 13% lower than at the beginning of
the year.
The country is seeking to encourage
private investment in modernising local rice processing and storage facilities
in order to raise competitiveness, state media reported on Thursday, citing an
official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Prices for second-biggest exporter
Thailand’s benchmark 5% broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 were also unchanged at
$400-$418 a tonne on lack of demand and little fluctuation in the exchange rate
between the baht and U.S. dollar.
At an average of $409, Thai rice was
still near its highest since June 2018.Demand remains flat as higher prices
have deterred buyers, traders said. A strong baht has kept rates elevated
compared with competitors since the start of the year.
However, concerns over supply
persist due to ongoing floods in northeastern Thailand, along with estimated
damage to more than 240,000 hectares of agricultural land from floods caused by
tropical storm Podul.
“At the moment there are no
immediate concerns over supply but we will have to see how much the flood will
impact rice supply towards the end of the year,” a Bangkok-based trader said.
Bangladesh, also recovering from a
devastating flood, is contemplating whether to introduce newer rice varieties
and technology to try to reduce production costs and boost domestic output,
Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said.
Dhaka has been unable to clinch
overseas deals since a long-standing export ban was lifted in May, with its
rice more expensive than India’s or Thailand’s, despite a recent fall in local
prices. (Reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Ruma Paul
in Dhaka and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Mark Potter)
Study paves
the way for new approach to boost rice yield
Sunderarajan
Padmanabhan New Delhi | Updated on September 19, 2019 Published
on September 19, 2019
National Institute of Plant Genome Research - @nipgr
The new development represents developing
rice varieties that produce bigger and consequently heavier grains.
Rice productivity in India is low
compared to other countries like China and Japan though it has the largest area
under rice cultivation. Now scientists at the National Institute of Plant
Genome Research (NIPGR) here have identified a gene that is involved in
regulating the size of rice grain.
The new development represents a
new approach towards developing rice varieties that produce bigger and
consequently heavier grains.
The researchers had found in
earlier studies that expression of a particular gene, OsMed15a, was higher at
different stages of seed development. The observation led them to explore its
role further. They scanned 509 different rice genotypes and found that the
nucleotide sequences of the OsMed15a gene varied depending on the size of
grain. OsMed15a was also found to play a major role in regulating the
expression of three other genes - GW2, GW5 and DR11I- which determine grain
size and weight.
“When we suppressed the
expression of OsMed15a in transgenic plants using RNAi technology, the seeds
became smaller and wider,” explained Jitender K. Thakur, lead researcher, while
speaking to India Science Wire. For further work, the group is collaborating
with the Ranchi-based Indian Institute of Agriculture Biotechnology so that
grain size could be increased substantially through standard breeding methods.
“This study is important as it
establishes OsMed15a as a connecting link between some of the different genes
important for grain size/ weight trait in rice. In the next phase, using high
throughput ‘omics’ tools, we would be delineating complete network of genes and
proteins being connected through OsMed51a,” Thakur said.
He also noted that the size and
shape of the rice grain are not only important for boosting yield but also
contribute to the market value of rice. “Indians prefer long and slender rice
grains. There is some small grain rice which are full of pleasant aroma. We are
trying to introgress long-grain allele of OsMed15a in these varieties so that
the seeds become longer. We hope that in this way we would be able to produce
location-specific long grain aromatic rice”, he added.
The research team included Swarup
K. Parida, Nidhi Dwivedi, Sourobh Maji, Mohd Waseem, Pallabi Thakur and Vinay
Kumar. The study results will be published in journal BBA - Gene Regulatory
Mechanisms. This work was supported by grants from Science and Engineering
Research Board (SERB) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
Twitter handle: @ndpsr
(India Science Wire)
Border closure leaves rice-loving Nigerians steaming
2019-09-19 10:19
A Nigerian man poses next to some
rice in his shop at Ajara Market in Badagry, near Lagos. (Benson Ibeabuchi,
AFP)
The days
of heaping 50kg sacks of rice across the saddle of their motorbike and slipping
a few notes to a customs officer are now gone.With Nigeria having snapped its
borders shut, the legions of motorbike riders who used to satisfy the nation's
hunger for imported rice are lucky at best to sneak through a few packets of
Basmati.The smugglers risk more than just jail time if they try force or sneak across the border.
"They shoot us and kill us like goats," said Adewole, who asked for his full name not to be published, stuttering with anger.
The some 3 000 sacks of rice per day that motorbike riders estimate they previously smuggled across the border from Benin have slowed to a trickle.
As a result, the price of rice has skyrocketed, from 9 000 nairas (22 euros, $24) for a 50kg sack, to 22 000 nairas, a price higher than Nigeria's minimum monthly wage of 18 000 nairas.
The border closure is part of President Muhammadu Buhari's plan to end Nigeria's economic dependence on oil, by developing domestic agriculture and industry.
With cheap goods - smuggled or imported - long having hampered domestic producers, Buhari ordered a partial closure of the border with Benin in August.
This month, the borders with all neighbouring countries have been shut completely.
"The Nigerian borders will remain closed until the countries sharing borders with Nigeria" accept conditions put in place for the country's economic policies on what is imported, warned Hameed Ali, comptroller general of the Nigeria Customs Service.
'Protectionist'
Analyst Adedayo Ademuwagun, of the Lagos-based consultancy Songhai, called the border closure an "extreme level protectionist policy".
He said that the move was built on the idea that, instead of encouraging development with incentives, one can bring it about by necessity.
"They expect that by creating a gap in the supply, the industry should grow," said Ademuwagun.
"But it's not what's happening."
Nigeria has pursued this type of development strategy before, with some success.
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in office from 1999 to 2007, banned cement imports.
That helped local producers flourish, including Obasanjo protege Aliko Dangote, who now heads a multi-billion-dollar cement empire.
'Not an island'
Buhari may have trouble repeating that outcome, however, as the situation with rice shows.
Nigeria has been ramping up rice production, with local output rising by 60% since 2013, according to official figures, although specialists say they are inflated.
But at 4.8 million tons last year, local rice production was still not enough for the 190 million Nigerians, who spend about a tenth of their food budget on the staple.
Beyond quantity, there is also the issue of quality.
"It's the imported rice people love," said one trader at the market in Badagry, a coastal town between the capital Lagos and Benin. "Nigerian rice is not good enough and too expensive."If you can get it.
The border closure means Nigeria is choked off from supplies until the next harvest by local farmers.
The Badagry market, usually teeming with activity thanks to its location near the border, now lacks its usual hubbub.
Not only is there almost no rice to be had, there is almost no macaroni, cooking oil, or sugar either.
"We can't depend only on local production," said market director Todowede Baba Oja.
"No one is on an island. We depend on one another. This suffering is getting out of hand."
Even the butcher who sells locally-produced beef is having trouble, as his customers have little left for meat after paying higher prices for staples.
People have "no more money", he said.
