Necessities of life
The food ‘langar’ set up with the
Saylani Trust by the government under its Ehsaas programme is sadly perhaps a
necessity at this point in Pakistan’s history. We see on a daily basis many
other soup kitchens similar to it running in various places, set up by various
individuals or charities. According to international organizations charity, and
especially food charity, is one of the highest in the world in Pakistan. It is
not uncommon to see people handing out rice or other items outside their homes
and some businesses at least provide their leftovers to patients in hospitals
or children in orphanages. However, given that the World Food Programme reports
that 43 percent of Pakistanis confront food insecurity and 18 percent from
amongst these severely lack access to food, the soup kitchens may possibly
help. Prime Minister Imran Khan who shared a meal at the langar with scores of
other people has said that 112 centres distributing free food are to be set up
across the country.
We appreciate the government’s
concern for the poor in a country where almost 50 percent of children are
stunted. Out of the 113 countries listed in the Global Food Security Index
Pakistan in 2016 stood at 78th place. Since then it has sunk lower down the
list and falls behind India and several African countries in its ability to
prevent hunger. Pakistan’s population is rated by international experts as one
of the most malnourished in the world, with the dependence on agriculture for a
living linked to this. The malnutrition among children is of course especially
disturbing.
It is also important to the dignity
of every man and woman that they be able to earn their own food without
depending on handouts on a regular basis. There is every reason to believe that
if proper policies were put in place every Pakistan citizen would be able to
earn enough to feed their families. It is important that while soup kitchens
are used on a short-term basis to offer food to those who have too little, in
the longer-term emphasis is placed on resource allocation, the creation of
jobs, a re-examination of the agriculture policy and other factors that can
help us understand why malnourishment in Pakistan has increased steadily since
the early 1990s. Controlling population growth is also central to this. While
the soup kitchens are an excellent philanthropic measure in a country where
philanthropy is already widespread and extremely generous, longer-term planning
is needed so that food can be available in every household without need to
resort to langars and soup kitchens or charity from wealthier individuals.
Speakers vow
to increase rice production
By
RECORDER REPORT on October 9, 2019
Food
value chain actors at the 2nd Global Sustainable Rice Conference and Exhibition
realigned commitments to increase rice production with minimum footprint in the
environment, increase farm income and reduce waste in the production,
distribution, and trade of the world's most consumed staple.
Themed
“Business Unusual" the event held at the United Nations Conference Centre,
was co-convened by members of the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) – a global
multi-stakeholder alliance comprising some of the world's leading rice
producers, says an information released here on Tuesday.
A
cross-cutting approach to engage a growing global community of sustainable rice
stakeholders with a shared vision to transform the global rice sector was
emphasized by William Wyn Ellis Global SRP Coordinator. Despite technological
trends benefiting the food value chain, the traditional aspect of food is here
to stay, suggested Temina Lalani-Shariff, Director of Communication &
Stakeholder Engagement IRRI. Jong-Jin Kim Deputy Regional Representative FAO
concluded, “The real value of SRP is the way it provides something that public
and private stakeholders can agree upon as a basis for dialogue and planned
action to bring about change in the rice sector.
Shahid
Hussain Tarer, Managing Director, Galaxy Rice during his keynote address,
highlighted the initiation and current status of SRP in rice markets of
Pakistan. He stated about the changes which enabled Pakistan to give SRP an
impetus and zeal for resolving upstream & downstream challenges of rice
value chain in addition to the implications and impact in the rice sector of
Pakistan.
He shared
about the endorsement of the Govt of Pakistan and highlighted its role in
scaling up of SRP in Pakistan. Shahid Tarer Director Galaxy Rice also signed
new SRP entity as a founding member along with others. A considerable size of
delegate comprising members of SRP from the rice industry of Pakistan had
participated in the conference.
Rice
irrigation worsened landslides in deadliest earthquake of 2018
Date:
October 8, 2019
Source:
Nanyang Te
chnological University
Summary:
Irrigation significantly
exacerbated the earthquake-triggered landslides in Palu, on the Indonesian
island of Sulawesi, in 2018, according to an international study.
Share:
FULL
STORY
Irrigation
significantly exacerbated the earthquake-triggered landslides in Palu, on the
Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in 2018, according to an international study led
by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists.
The
7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian city on 28 September 2018,
taking the lives of over 4,300 people, making it the deadliest earthquake in
the world that year.
Writing
in Nature Geoscience, researchers from NTU Singapore's Earth Observatory of
Singapore (EOS) and the Asian School of the Environment (ASE), together with
collaborators from institutions in Indonesia, the United States, the United
Kingdom, China and Australia, reveal that the landslides in Indonesia's Palu
Valley resulted from widespread liquefaction in areas that were heavily
irrigated for rice cultivation.
A
century-old aqueduct, constructed to bring enough water into the Palu Valley to
irrigate rice, artificially raised the water table to almost ground level. This
elevation increased the potential for liquefaction -- a situation where buried
sediment becomes fluid-like due to strong seismic ground-shaking.
The
combination of this fluid-like sediment and the slope of the valley floor
exacerbated the catastrophe, creating wide lateral spreading of water,
landslides, and debris, which swept through the villages.
This
deadly cocktail marked Indonesia´s deadliest earthquake since Yogyakarta in
2006.
"This
event is a wake-up call for any area where active faults and irrigation
coincide," said Dr Kyle Bradley, a principal investigator at NTU's EOS who
led the research.
"We
need to improve the awareness and understanding of liquefaction-related
landslides and pay closer attention to places where irrigation has artificially
raised the water table, said Dr Bradley, who is also a lecturer at NTU's ASE.
The
research highlights the urgency for Southeast Asian nation-states to review
locations with intensive rice farming activities which lie among active faults.
Dr
Bradley said, "This is of particular concern in Southeast Asia as the pace
of development is often faster than the return time of large earthquakes -- the
average time period between one earthquake and the next. Most other similarly
irrigated areas have not yet been tested by extreme ground shaking, and some of
those areas could also pose a major hazard."
Research
used historic and current satellite data
By
analysing satellite images taken before and after the earthquake to identify
areas affected by landslides, NTU researchers discovered that irrigated paddies
and fields were strongly affected, while areas planted with trees were more
stable.
This
suggested that heavy irrigation and a raised water table were responsible for
creating a new liquefaction hazard.
"Hazards
that are created by humans can often be more readily moderated than other
natural hazards. Based on the relative resiliency of areas planted with mixed
tree crops and irrigated fields, we propose that more intermixed planting could
decrease the hazard of large landslides in the future," said Dr Bradley.
The
satellite image mapping was complemented by field observations of the
landslides and of the local irrigation system and practices, produced by an
international team of scientists led by Dr Ella Meilianda of the Tsunami and
Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh.
Professor
Thomas Dunne of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not affiliated with the study,
said "The study has demonstrated how Earth scientists with strong
field-based understanding of land surface mechanics can use the rapidly growing
toolbox of remote sensing to analyse dangerous processes. The landscape-scale
survey approach could be applied elsewhere for systematic assessment and
avoidance of dangers that are often overlooked when large infrastructure is
first proposed in rapidly developing, but potentially unstable terrains."
The
research team plans to continue their study by assessing the effects of local
land use on outcomes during the Palu earthquake.
Story
Source:
Materials provided by Nanyang
Technological University. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.
Journal
Reference:
1.
Kyle Bradley, Rishav Mallick,
Harisma Andikagumi, Judith Hubbard, Ella Meilianda, Adam Switzer, Nairong Du,
Gilles Brocard, Dedy Alfian, Benazir Benazir, Guangcai Feng, Sang-Ho Yun,
Jedrzej Majewski, Shengji Wei, Emma M. Hill. Earthquake-triggered 2018
Palu Valley landslides enabled by wet rice cultivation. Nature
Geoscience, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41561-019-0444-1
Rice bran may help curb malnutrition, diarrhea for infants
Results from a clinical trial in
Nicaragua and Mali
IMAGE: CSU ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ELIZABETH RYAN SAID THERE IS A GREAT
DEAL OF RICE BRAN PRODUCED AROUND THE WORLD, YET IT IS OFTEN EITHER WASTED OR
USED AS ANIMAL FEED. view more
CREDIT: WILLIAM A. COTTON/CSU
PHOTOGRAPHY
Malnutrition is prevalent on a
global scale and has numerous negative consequences for children during the
first five years of life. For some children, it can mean struggling with health
issues for life or a higher risk of death among those under five years of age.
A new study led by Colorado State
University found that adding a rice bran supplement for infants who were being
weaned from their mother's milk resulted in them receiving more nutrients that
enhanced growth and reduced diarrhea, among other findings.
Researchers said the study showed
that rice bran, a nutrient-dense, phytochemical-rich food that has shown
chronic disease-fighting properties, is a practical dietary intervention
strategy in rice-growing regions that have a high prevalence of impaired growth
and development in children.
The study, "Rice bran
supplementation modulates growth, microbiota and metabolome in weaning infants:
a clinical trial in Nicaragua and Mali," was published Sept. 26 in Scientific
Reports, a journal from the publishers of Nature.
Elizabeth Ryan, associate
professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
at CSU, said there is a great deal of rice bran produced around the world, yet
it is often either wasted or used as animal feed.
"Our hope is that, given the
findings from our study, we can make rice bran more available and affordable
for human consumption, particularly in low-resource rural settings," she
said.
Rice bran supplementation effects
To study the effects of daily
rice bran supplementation, the research team collected monthly stool samples
from nearly 100 infants in Nicaragua and Mali over the course of six months.
Scientists also collected demographic information and made note of household
characteristics.
Ryan said one of the most
important findings from the study involved a common data point used to monitor
growth in infants - length for age. In Nicaraguan infants, this data point
significantly changed over time, as well as weight for age scores in Mali
infants when compared with the control group.
"In Mali, we also saw a
lower incidence of diarrheal episodes for infants 6 to 12 months of age when
consuming the rice bran supplement," she added.
Diarrheal disease is the second
leading cause of death in children under five years old, according to the World
Health Organization. It is both preventable and treatable, yet it remains a
leading cause of malnutrition in children under five years old. Each year
diarrhea kills around 525,000 children under five.
In Nicaragua, researchers also
found a significant reduction in a marker of gut permeability, also known as
"leaky gut," which can result in partially digested food or toxins
passing from inside the gastrointestinal tract into the rest of the body.
Ryan said that longer clinical
trials with more follow up -- tracking children from 2 to 5 years old -- are
needed to verify the long-term impacts of these findings for growth outcomes, including
prevention of malnutrition and reduction of diarrheal episodes.
Even so, the scientist said that
it is amazing to see the outcomes from these early stage clinical trials that
can influence a change in rural and urban food systems.
"We've worked hard to
identify practical, sustainable interventions with the potential for an impact
globally," said Ryan.
Next steps
Ousmane Koita, a pharmacist
specializing in medical biology at the University of Bamako in Mali, and Samuel
Vilchez, chair of the Department of Microbiology at the National Autonomous
University of Nicaragua, served as the study site principal investigators. Ryan
also acknowledged the international team of students and staff, who were
instrumental in the design and successful completion of the research.
Ryan is now working with rice
agriculturalists, milling industries, food safety and toxicology experts and
public health scientists in West Africa to build out the human food supply
chain for rice bran so that it can become a sustainable ingredient in infant
diets.
She is also developing dietary
biomarkers of rice bran intake in children and adults with funding from the
National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Ryan and her research team are
examining the impact of host and gut microbial metabolism of rice bran, which
differ not just by age and country, but also involves consideration of a
diverse suite of environmental exposures.
"Our major next steps are to
develop a safe, heat-stable rice bran product for human food consumption in rice-growing
regions of the world where child malnutrition and diarrheal diseases persist
and merit innovative efforts for prevention," she said.
###
This research study was supported
by the Grand Challenges Explorations in Global Health award from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, startup funds from the Department of Environmental
and Radiological Health Sciences at CSU, graduate student research support from
the Colorado School of Public Health and a Fulbright Faculty Development
scholarship award.
Combatting hunger through not-for-profit
project
The colour reveals the provitamin A content: Golden rice shows a
yellow shimmer thanks to the addition of vitamins. Photo: goldenrice.org
Golden Rice is many times richer
in provitamin A than other rice varieties. As a result, this biofortified food
can counteract the deficiency symptoms suffered by many people worldwide for
whom rice is a staple food. Prof. Dr. Peter Beyer, emeritus professor at the
Institute of Biology at the University of Freiburg, and Prof. Dr. Ingo
Potrykus, emeritus professor at the Institute of Plant Sciences at the ETH
Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland,
developed genetically modified rice in the 1990s. Now the Project Management
Institute (PMI) has honored the Golden Rice as one of the most influential
projects of the last 50 years and included it in the Top 10 list in the
“Health” category.
In pre-cooked rice grains there
are only small traces of beta-carotene, also known as provitamin A, which the
body converts into vitamin A. Therefore, people who have rice as their main
staple often suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Eye diseases, blindness and
increased infant mortality are the consequences. Beyer’s and Potrykus’s team
has used two foreign genes – from a bacterium and from the maize plant – to
cultivate Golden Rice. Its yellow color is due to the increased beta-carotene
content.
In 2000, Beyer and Potrykus
donated the technology behind their research work. They founded the non-profit
“Golden Rice” humanitarian project, which aims to spread the rice variety and
thus combat the health damage caused by vitamin A deficiency.
PMI, an American project
management association with more than 550,000 members in over 200 countries,
would like to use its list of the most influential projects compiled by
research and commercial experts to show what a central role project work has
played in positively shaping the world. Golden rice is an important technology
for combating vitamin A deficiency.
“Around 4,500 children a day die
as a result of the ‘nutritionally acquired immune deficiency syndrome,’ which
is Vitamin A deficiency,” explains Potrykus. “Many more become blind. The need
for Golden Rice is clear and it is registered as safe in Australia, Canada, New
Zealand and the USA. It can contribute as an additional measure against vitamin
A deficiency without any cost to farmers or consumers. Regulatory dossiers have
been submitted in major developing countries. All we need now is for public
health professionals to accept Golden Rice.”
“It is a particular challenge to
develop a prototype that certifies feasibility into a product. This requires a
lot of specific knowledge and experience beyond research,” adds Beyer. “The
award and our thanks therefore go also to all those who have helped with
perseverance and to those who have supported the project with staying power.”
Making climate-ready rice
By reducing the number of stomata
that form on rice leaves, it is possible to increase water conservation and
drought tolerance in rice.
ROBERT S CAINE | New Delhi | October
9, 2019 1:07 pm
Rice is a global superfood, eaten
daily by half of the world’s seven billion people. Its impact stretches from
the wealthiest in society, who enjoy it with delicacies such as sushi, to the
very poorest, who depend on rice for day-to-day survival. Cultivation occurs
across six of world’s seven continents, with the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations estimating that, at present, around 510
million metric tonnes of rice are produced annually.
Whilst this level of production
is generally meeting the current demand, it’s foreseen that for every
additional one billion people, an extra 100 million tonnes of rice will be
required. This is a huge challenge considering that as many as three billion
extra people will populate the earth by 2050, or four billion by 2100.
As well as human population
increases, there are a number of other factors that are predicted to put
pressure on future rice yields. A critical factor is the availability of fresh
water, a key and fundamental resource for rice cultivation. Rice uses water to
maintain vigour, acquire nutrients and regulate internal temperatures when it
becomes hot. Currently it takes around 2,500 litres of water to produce one
kilogram of paddy rice, and this high water consumption contributes globally to
rice using between 25 and 33 per cent of all the developed fresh water
reserves. These numbers are clearly unsustainable given that water supplies
will come under increasing pressure as the human population continues to expand
and the demand for rice continues to increase.
This is especially true given
that many people will increase the amount of meat and dairy in their diets,
both of which are highly water intensive to produce. To put the water-use of
rice into context with animal-based foods, it takes six times as much water to
produce one kilogram of beef, and twice as much water to produce a kilogram of
butter. Clearly, as pressure on water reserves increase, efforts need to be
made to improve the efficiency with which rice uses water.
Because of anthropogenic climate
change, water supplies for rice cultivation will be tested further by three
additional factors. First, changes in precipitation patterns are predicted to
lead to more sporadic incidences of rainfall, which in many cases will lead to
increased incidences of severe drought.
Second, because temperatures are
forecast to rise, rice leaves will release more water to maintain safe
temperatures, thereby reducing the amount of water remaining in the soil. And
third, because soil water levels will be reduced due to the first two factors,
the concentration of salt in the remaining fresh water will increase. This will
be further compounded by more frequent influxes of salt water from the rising
oceans, again a factor related to past and present human activities.
Such different environmental
factors together suggest we need rice varieties, which are more water-use
efficient and salt tolerant, yet at the same time permit enough water loss for
rice to stay cool when temperatures are high.
Until August 2019, I was a
postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sheffield. The project I
worked on involved a multi-national team of researchers from the UK, China,
Thailand and the Philippines. Using cutting-edge genetic modification and gene
editing technologies our groups collaborated to investigate ways to improve the
water-use efficiency of rice.
We focused specifically on
manipulating microscopic pores called stomata on the rice leaf surface. Stomata
serve two main purposes — first, to enable carbon uptake for photosynthesis,
and second, to regulate the release of water. Stomatal regulation over water
flow helps to govern the overall water-status of plants, and is crucial for
water conservation in the soil and response to drought.
Using GM and GE we generated
plants with reduced numbers of stomata per unit area of the leaf. We showed
that plants with fewer stomata used less water under normal conditions,
resulting in more water being conserved in the soil. This conservation resulted
in improved drought tolerance when water was withheld during controlled
experiments. We further showed that under higher temperatures plants with fewer
stomata could adapt and still regulate plant temperature, yet at the same time
survive drought longer than control plants.
Despite the above project coming
to a close, we are still working together with one of our partners, the
International Rice Research Institute, to undertake field trials using the GM
and GE plants we generated together. We hope that our plants will exhibit
similarly reduced water usage and improved drought tolerance equivalent to what
we have seen during the controlled experiments conducted in Sheffield.
Because our plants take up less
water, we have further hypothesised that they might also take up less salt – –
therefore being healthier when grown in water with high salinity. We have begun
to test whether this is the case under controlled conditions, and preliminary
results are looking encouraging.
Given the cultural resistance to
GM and GE rice in many rice-growing countries, we acknowledge that our
proof-of-concept studies may not be commercialised at this point in time.
However, our work clearly shows that by reducing the number of stomata that
form on rice leaves, it is possible to increase water conservation and drought
tolerance in rice.
My new role job role at The
University of Sheffield is a global challenge research fellow. I am now
investigating how to optimise rice growth in the future climates of the Mekong
Delta in Southern Vietnam. This region has large swathes of land, which already
suffer with high salinity and/or drought and this is predicted to worsen with
climate change.
At present I’m growing rice
varieties from around the world under controlled conditions at the University
of Sheffield and am beginning to investigate the stomatal properties associated
with the species being grown. I aim to identify rice varieties, which have a
natural reduction in the number of stomata.
By early 2020 I will travel to
Vietnam to begin working alongside partners at the High Agricultural Technology
and Research Institute in the Mekong Delta. We aim to cross varieties
identified to have superior stomatal properties with high yielding varieties,
thereby generating plants, which will have increased drought and salt tolerance
yet still deliver high yield.
Combatting hunger through not-for-profit
project
The colour reveals the provitamin
A content: Golden rice shows a yellow shimmer thanks to the addition of
vitamins. Photo: goldenrice.org
Golden Rice is many times richer
in provitamin A than other rice varieties. As a result, this biofortified food
can counteract the deficiency symptoms suffered by many people worldwide for
whom rice is a staple food. Prof. Dr. Peter Beyer, emeritus professor at the
Institute of Biology at the University of Freiburg, and Prof. Dr. Ingo
Potrykus, emeritus professor at the Institute of Plant Sciences at the ETH
Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland,
developed genetically modified rice in the 1990s. Now the Project Management
Institute (PMI) has honored the Golden Rice as one of the most influential projects
of the last 50 years and included it in the Top 10 list in the “Health”
category.
In pre-cooked rice grains there
are only small traces of beta-carotene, also known as provitamin A, which the
body converts into vitamin A. Therefore, people who have rice as their main
staple often suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Eye diseases, blindness and
increased infant mortality are the consequences. Beyer’s and Potrykus’s team
has used two foreign genes – from a bacterium and from the maize plant – to
cultivate Golden Rice. Its yellow color is due to the increased beta-carotene
content.
In 2000, Beyer and Potrykus
donated the technology behind their research work. They founded the non-profit
“Golden Rice” humanitarian project, which aims to spread the rice variety and
thus combat the health damage caused by vitamin A deficiency.
PMI, an American project
management association with more than 550,000 members in over 200 countries,
would like to use its list of the most influential projects compiled by
research and commercial experts to show what a central role project work has
played in positively shaping the world. Golden rice is an important technology
for combating vitamin A deficiency.
“Around 4,500 children a day die
as a result of the ‘nutritionally acquired immune deficiency syndrome,’ which
is Vitamin A deficiency,” explains Potrykus. “Many more become blind. The need
for Golden Rice is clear and it is registered as safe in Australia, Canada, New
Zealand and the USA. It can contribute as an additional measure against vitamin
A deficiency without any cost to farmers or consumers. Regulatory dossiers have
been submitted in major developing countries. All we need now is for public
health professionals to accept Golden Rice.”
“It is a particular challenge to
develop a prototype that certifies feasibility into a product. This requires a
lot of specific knowledge and experience beyond research,” adds Beyer. “The
award and our thanks therefore go also to all those who have helped with
perseverance and to those who have supported the project with staying power.”
/Public Release. View
in full here.
Tags:america, american, Australia, Award, Canada, Federal, Human, import, New
Zealand, Professor, research, science, Switzerland, U.S., university, University of Freiburg
Rice irrigation worsened
landslides in deadliest earthquake of 2018 finds NTU study
IMAGE: Heavily irrigated rice padi fields artificially
raised the water table to almost ground level, worsening the 2018
earthquake-triggered landslides in Palu, Indonesia.
Image credit:
Gilles Brocard/University of Sydney
Irrigation significantly
exacerbated the earthquake-triggered landslides in Palu, on the Indonesian
island of Sulawesi, in 2018, according to an international study led by Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists.
The 7.5 magnitude earthquake
struck the Indonesian city on 28 September 2018, taking the lives of over 4,300
people, making it the deadliest earthquake in the world that year.
Writing in Nature Geoscience,
researchers from NTU Singapore's Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) and the
Asian School of the Environment (ASE), together with collaborators from
institutions in Indonesia, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and
Australia, reveal that the landslides in Indonesia's Palu Valley resulted from
widespread liquefaction in areas that were heavily irrigated for rice
cultivation.
A century-old aqueduct,
constructed to bring enough water into the Palu Valley to irrigate rice,
artificially raised the water table to almost ground level. This elevation
increased the potential for liquefaction - a situation where buried sediment
becomes fluid-like due to strong seismic ground-shaking.
The combination of this
fluid-like sediment and the slope of the valley floor exacerbated the
catastrophe, creating wide lateral spreading of water, landslides, and debris,
which swept through the villages.
This deadly cocktail marked
Indonesia´s deadliest earthquake since Yogyakarta in 2006.
"This event is a wake-up
call for any area where active faults and irrigation coincide," said Dr
Kyle Bradley, a principal investigator at NTU's EOS who led the research.
"We need to improve the
awareness and understanding of liquefaction-related landslides and pay closer
attention to places where irrigation has artificially raised the water table,
said Dr Bradley, who is also a lecturer at NTU's ASE.
The research highlights the
urgency for Southeast Asian nation-states to review locations with intensive
rice farming activities which lie among active faults.
Dr Bradley said, "This is of
particular concern in Southeast Asia as the pace of development is often faster
than the return time of large earthquakes - the average time period between one
earthquake and the next. Most other similarly irrigated areas have not yet been
tested by extreme ground shaking, and some of those areas could also pose a
major hazard."
Research used historic and
current satellite data
By analysing satellite images
taken before and after the earthquake to identify areas affected by landslides,
NTU researchers discovered that irrigated paddies and fields were strongly
affected, while areas planted with trees were more stable.
This suggested that heavy
irrigation and a raised water table were responsible for creating a new liquefaction
hazard.
"Hazards that are created by
humans can often be more readily moderated than other natural hazards. Based on
the relative resiliency of areas planted with mixed tree crops and irrigated
fields, we propose that more intermixed planting could decrease the hazard of
large landslides in the future," said Dr Bradley.
The satellite image mapping was
complemented by field observations of the landslides and of the local
irrigation system and practices, produced by an international team of
scientists led by Dr Ella Meilianda of the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation
Research Center at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh.
Professor Thomas Dunne of the
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, who was not affiliated with the study, said
"The study has demonstrated how Earth scientists with strong field-based
understanding of land surface mechanics can use the rapidly growing toolbox of
remote sensing to analyse dangerous processes. The landscape-scale survey
approach could be applied elsewhere for systematic assessment and avoidance of
dangers that are often overlooked when large infrastructure is first proposed
in rapidly developing, but potentially unstable terrains."
The research team plans to continue their study by assessing the
effects of local land use on outcomes during the Palu earthquake.
50 Years of Life Sciences Innovation:
PMI's Top 10 Impactful Biotech Projects
Published: Oct 08, 2019 By Mark Terry
The Project Management Institute
(PMI) announced its 2019 Most
Influential Projects list. This ranking cites the most impactful projects from
the past 50 years, with the World Wide Web hitting the #1 spot followed by
Apollo 11, and including such projects as Walt Disney World, Harry Potter,
World of Warcraft and the Sydney Opera House.
The list is also broken out into
subcategories, including biotech. Here’s a look at the biotech
list.
#1. Human Genome Project. This ranked #5 on their overall list, and it indeed is one
of the most influential life science projects, changing and informing
healthcare and biology as we know it. One simple example is the overturning of
the central dogma—which up until the completion of the project, was that one
gene coded for one protein. Since there were about a hundred thousand known
proteins, scientists had concluded there must be the same number of genes.
However, it turned out that in human beings, there were about 30,000 genes and
they are read in a variety of unexpected ways to code for those 100,000-plus
genes.
The project launched officially in 1990 and drew on laboratories
and institutions from around the world, including from the U.S. Department of
Energy, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the UK’s Sanger Centre
(later the Wellcome Sanger Institute) and 17 university and laboratory
sequencing centers.
#2. First IVF Baby. This year was the 41st birthday of the
first so-called “test tube baby,” Louise Brown, who was born on July 25 in
1978. The process is in vitro fertilization. Now commonplace, the procedure was
incredibly controversial at the time. Louise’s mother, Lesley Brown, hadn’t
been able to conceive naturally as the result of blocked Fallopian tubes. She
had been trying to conceive for nine years when she signed up for IVF, which
was then an experimental procedure. She was one of 282 women who tried the
procedure. At that time, doctors attempted 457 egg collections, but only 167
cycles led to fertilization. From 12 embryos that were successfully implanted,
five became pregnant. Louise was the only live birth. Since then, about six
million children have been born via IVF.
#3. CRISPR. CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short
palindromic repeats, which is otherwise a fast and easy way to edit DNA.
CRISPR-Cas9 allows researchers to easily identify specific gene sequences, clip
them out and replace them. It has been cited as one of the most important and
recent discoveries that could lead to new therapies and treatments for numerous
diseases. In November 2018, it hit the spotlight with a major controversy when He
Jiankui, a researcher in Shenzhen, China, announced he had utilized CRISPR-Cas9
to alter the DNA of embryos for seven couples. He used CRISPR to disable a gene
called CCR5. CCR5 codes for a protein that allows HIV to enter a cell. In
theory, the children born from the procedure should be resistant to HIV. The
fathers all had HIV infections that were strongly suppressed by standard HIV
drugs. The announcement was met by wide international condemnation, the
eventual moratorium on using
CRISPR germline editing, and He Jiankui being investigated by the Chinese
government.
#4. Genetic
Fingerprinting. Perhaps more accurately described
now as forensic DNA analysis, genetic fingerprinting is a way of using DNA
samples in criminal investigations to identify perpetrators (and victims). It
was first introduced in 1984 by a researcher at the
University of Leicester in the UK, Alec Jeffreys. The first practical
application was in a 1985 immigration case, which was followed by a paternity
case. The first criminal forensic case was applied to the case of two girls who
were raped and murdered in the Enerby area of Leicestershire. There was a
confession for one of the murders. They used the forensic test in an attempt to
prove he committed the second, but unexpectedly, the test proved he was
innocent of both murders. The police force then conducted blood draws and
genetic profiles on the entire male population of that area. Again, no matches
were found until a man named Colin Pitchfork bragged about how he had convinced
a friend to provide the sample. He was a match for both rape and murders.
#5. 23andMe. 23andMe was founded in 2006 by Linda Avey, Paul Cusenza and
Anne Wojcicki. It began by marketing a saliva-based direct-to-consumer personal
genome test. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) forced the
company to pull it from the market because it was advertised as a medical
device, which required FDA approval, which 23and Me did not have. The kits are
still available, but health-related reports that came with it were no longer
included. The company has since inked deals with major
pharma companies, such as Pfizer, to use its genomics data in disease and drug
research and development. In March 2018, the FDA approved 23andMe’s BRCA1
and BRCA2 genetics tests as the first-ever FDA approval for a DTC consumer
genetic test for cancer risk, in this case, breast, ovarian and prostate
cancer.
#6. Dolly. Although it seems like a
distant memory, Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from the cell of an adult.
This was in 1996. Dolly was a sheep. Dolly was cloned by researchers at The
Roslin Institute who were working to develop a better way to produce
genetically modified livestock. The research was led by Ian Wilmut. Dolly was
cloned from a cell acquired from the mammary gland of a six-year-old Finn
Dorset sheep and an egg from a Scottish Blackface sheep. She was born to her
Scottish Blackface surrogate mother on July 5, 1996. Oddly enough, because her
DNA was taken from a mammary gland cell, she was named after country singer
Dolly Parton.
#7. Engineered Organ. In 1999, Anthony Atala and his research group grew
bladders in the laboratory and successfully
implanted them into patients. Atala is the W.H. Boyce professor and director of
the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and chair of the Department
of Urology. Atala and his team took a bladder biopsy from each patient,
isolated muscle and specialized urothelial cells, and grew them in the laboratory.
They then implanted them onto a bladder-shaped scaffold where they grew for
seven to eight weeks. They then attached the engineered bladder to the
patients’ own bladder and followed the progress for up to five years. The
bladder function improved without any of the side effects generally linked to
implanting bowel tissue. The research paved the way for bioprinting of organs.
#8. Beyond Meat Burger. Beyond Meat developed a plant-based burger that mimics the taste
of hamburger. The first plant-based burger was sold commercially in 2016. As of
June 2019, the company had a $10 billion market cap and led the way for a
variety of other companies to produce what are essentially genetically-modified
vegetables that use a variety of ingredients, such as heme, to mimic the taste
of beef. Although nutritionally about the same as beef—typically they have
caloric levels similar to beef, with higher carbohydrate and salt levels with
generally lower fat levels—the primary benefit is taking animals out of the
protein production chain, which may have benefits for decreasing
climate change.
#9. Golden Rice. The Golden Rice Project notes that
Golden Rice “is the first purposefully created biofortified food.” The
technology behind Golden Rice was donated in 2000 by its inventors, Ingo
Potrykus and Peter Beyer. Golden Rice is a not-for-profit project that involved
genetically modified rice to address vitamin A deficiency, which affects about
250 million children around the world. Potrykus was then a professor at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, teamed with Peter Beyer from
the University of Freiberg in Germany.
#10. Kymriah. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to identify
Immunotherapy or Immuno-Oncology as one of the projects, rather than Novartis’
Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), even though Kymriah was the first CAR-T
immuno-oncology therapy approved. The entire field of immuno-oncology has
exploded in the last decade, revolutionizing cancer treatments and is beginning
to make progress in other indications as well. The other approved CAR-T
product is Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel). They are
approved for slightly different, but sometimes overlapping patient populations.
Kymria is approved for pediatric and young adult acute lymphocytic leukemia
(ALL) and for recurrently relapsing (r/r) aggressive lymphomas. Yescarta is
approved for similar aggressive lymphomas.
CAR-T is a type of therapy where blood samples are taken from a
patient, the patient’s white blood cells are processed to be supercharged to
attack their cancer cells, then reinfused into the patient. It is a type of
“living therapy” where the patient’s immune system is programmed to better
attack the cancer.
A journalist
reveals the complicated history of a crop created to help millions
Golden Rice:
The Imperiled Birth of a GMO Superfood
Ed Regis
Johns Hopkins University Press
2019
256 pp.
Purchase this item now
Johns Hopkins University Press
2019
256 pp.
Purchase this item now
The term genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) inspires images of crazy crops: a single plant that bears
tomatoes above ground and potatoes beneath, or a tree that bears a fruit with
stripes of yellow sour orange and green stripes from citron. Unlikely as they
may sound, the two plants described above are very real, although neither was
made in a laboratory. They are products of simple grafting, a technique used by
horticulturalists for thousands of years. In Golden Rice: The Imperiled Birth of a GMO
Superfood, science writer Ed Regis explores why certain food plants
are treated by regulatory authorities and the public as “genetically modified,”
and therefore worthy of strict cautionary regulation, whereas others are seen
as “natural,” despite intensive human intervention in their growth and
development.The book’s title refers to rice whose yellow grains have been
genetically altered to express b-carotene to address the widespread problem of
vitamin A deficiency, symptoms of which include frequent infections, blindness,
and even death. Vitamin A deficiency is estimated to affect one in three
children under the age of 5, claiming 670,000 lives every year. The idea behind
golden rice was that expressing b-carotene, a vitamin A precursor that occurs
in other parts of the rice plant, in the grain, would facilitate the delivery
of the vitamin to children in Africa and Southeast Asia, whose main diet is
rice.
Golden Rice is a thoughtful and carefully documented tale of how
difficult it can be to take something that works in the laboratory and get it
to the people who stand to benefit from it. Regis puts his cards on the table
from the start, dedicating the book to the scientists who led the development
of golden rice. But he also makes clear that these researchers were responsible
for some of the missteps that thwarted the rice’s journey.
In April 1984, at the end of the
day at a rice conference, some of the world’s preeminent rice breeders met up
for beers and started to discuss new molecular biology technologies, debating
which trait they would most like to introduce into rice. The answer, according
to veteran rice breeder Peter Jennings, was clear: add a gene for yellow
endosperm.
By 2000, Ingo Potrykus and Peter
Beyer had identified the right set of genes and inserted them into an existing
rice genome (1). Here, Regis gives special mention to Adrian Dubock, an
intellectual property expert who negotiated the deals that made it possible for
the researchers to legally use all the patented technologies—from gene
constructs to the Agrobacterium vector— that had gone into creation of golden
rice.
From a scientific standpoint, the
technology was a success. So, what prevented golden rice from being quickly
disseminated? Although Greenpeace and other anti-GMO activists have been vocal
critics of the project, Regis also points to another culprit: the Precautionary
Principle.
The Precautionary Principle,
cited in the Cartagena Protocol of 2000 (an international agreement on
biosafety), allows countries to restrict, postpone, or ban any product or
technology without offering any evidence that the item poses a threat or
danger—“better safe than sorry” writ large. Many years of the Golden Rice
Project have thus been spent attempting to comply with stringent regulatory
hurdles.
When it came time, in 2012, to
transfer the “golden” trait to a strain of rice used in Asia, researchers were
forced by the high cost of regulation to select a single cultivar, GRG2. When
it produced a lower yield than those of nongolden varieties, the researchers
had to make the costly switch to a backup variety in order to ensure that they
were bringing to market a grain high in yield and in b-carotene content.
Although nuclear energy has
Chernobyl and pharmaceuticals has thalidomide, Regis points out that no such
disaster exists for GMOs. (A suspected link between Monarch butterfly decline
and Bt corn might have fit the bill, but these claims were later debunked by
numerous studies.) While one could argue that it is better to be proactive than
to wait for a tragedy to occur before taking precautions, Regis invites the
reader to consider whether it may be worth the unknown risks ostensibly being
prevented by regulation to prevent the death and disability that is known to
accompany vitamin A deficiency.
After millions of dollars and
years of effort, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have all
recently approved golden rice as safe for consumption. Now, the end goal is in
sight: Golden rice is in front of regulators in the Philippines and in
Bangladesh, where it is expected to be approved by the end of 2019.
REFERENCES AND NOTES
1. X. Ye et al., Science 287, 303 (2000).
1. X. Ye et al., Science 287, 303 (2000).
Iran attains
self-sufficiency in rice production
TEHRAN, Oct. 08 (MNA) – Deputy Ministry of Agricultural Jihad for
Planning and Economic Affairs Abdol-Mahdi Bakhshandeh said that Iran attained
self-sufficiency in the production of rice.
He revealed the considerable 42 percent growth of rice
production in the country in the current year (started March 21, 2019).
For the first time, Iran became self-sufficient in the
production of rice.
He made the remarks in an interview with IRNA correspondent on
Tue. and added that the country needs three million tons of rice.
This year, rice production volume will hit 2.9 to 3 million tons
due to the climatic conditions, so that this volume of rice will meet the
domestic demand, he added.
He pointed out that 960,000 tons of white rice, valued at $1.1
billion, was imported into the country in the first half of the current year
(from March 21 to Sept. 22).
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Deputy Minister of
Agriculture said that the self-sufficiency of rice production will save more
than $1.1 billion worth of foreign currency in the country.
Turning to the sanctions conditions overshadowing the country,
increased production of rice about one million tons in the current year
(started March 21, 2019) will prevent capital flight of more than $1.1 billion
from the country.
Rice imports have been assigned to the Ministry of Industry,
Mine and Trade, he said, adding, “accordingly, 960,000 tons of rice has been
imported into the country by the private sector in the first half of the
current year.”
TESDA to provide training for farmers under new circular
October 8, 2019, 6:53 PM
By Dhel Nazario
Training efforts are being rolled
out by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for
farmers through the Rice Extension Services Program (RESP) under the TESDA
Circular No. 101, Series of 2019.
TESDA Director General, Secretary Isidro S. Lapeña
(TESDA / FILE PHOTO MANILA BULLETIN)
(TESDA / FILE PHOTO MANILA BULLETIN)
TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña
recently signed the circular that shows details on the implementing guidelines
on RESP activities to be carried out by the agency through its regional and
provincial offices in 1,010 priority municipalities.
Section 13 of RA 11203 creates
the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or the Rice Fund, which
entails the government to allot an annual P10-B budget for the next six years
to several concerned agencies, including TESDA, to help improve the Filipino
rice farmers’ competitiveness, productivity, and income amid the liberalization
of the Philippine rice trade.
Furthermore, RCEF, made up of
four key components — rice farm machinery and equipment; rice seed development,
propagation, and promotion; expanded rice credit assistance; and rice extension
services — is implemented in an integrative manner, ensuring rice farmers are
given adequate support and assistance given the challenge of free trade that
has removed quantitative restrictions on rice imports replaced by purely tariff
system.
Under the rice extension services
component, TESDA, Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and
Mechanization (PHilMech), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and
the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) are to utilize 10 percent of the
total fund for skills training, developing new education modules, and other
related extension efforts. 70 percent of this P1-B chunk will go to TESDA,
while PhilMech, PhilRice, and ATI will get 10 percent each to carry out their
own tasks related to the rice fund program.
Particularly, TESDA under the
RESP cluster, is tasked to “teach skills on rice crop production, modern rice
farming techniques, seed production, farm mechanization, and knowledge/technology
transfer through farm schools nationwide,” employing a larger part of the
budget to scholarships and a small portion to advocacy activities.
This is among the other
objectives of the extensions component of the Rice Fund to strategically raise
the knowledge, attitude, and skills of the beneficiaries in producing more rice
at a reduced cost, increase their access to modern and science-based farming
techniques, and extend the availability of free skills training programs to
them.
TESDA will be offering Rice
Machinery Operations NC II, Drying and Milling Plant Servicing NC III, Small
Engine Servicing (Leading to Small Engine Servicing NC II) and Farmers Field
Schools (FFS) Programs to promote rice competitiveness program to 73,000 target
beneficiaries from August 2019 to January 2020.
These beneficiaries, all rice
farmers, farm workers, and their dependents listed in the Registry System for
Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA), rice cooperative and association members,
in 57 target provinces, are prioritized in the said programs to be funded by
RCEF.
They are also eligible to avail
of the training multiple times, provided that they take the training one at a
time, and not simultaneously. Any training under the extension program of TESDA
can be availed by the identified scholars.
Additionally, to fast-track the
RSEP activities of TESDA, Secretary Lapeña ordered that its field offices
should coordinate with their local RESP implementing agency- counterparts,
LGUs, and other appropriate agencies; conduct an inventory of all existing and
potential training and education providers of programs covered by the program
and existing and potential relevant trainers and assessors; coordinate with the
Certification Office (CO) and the National TVET Trainers’ Academy (NTTA) for
the conduct of Regional and Provincial Lead Assessors and Lead Trainers
Training; and identify potential trainers who can attend the specialist
training and trainers training programs to increase the pool of trainers.
TESDA also invites more farm
schools to register their programs with TESDA so more training centers can
offer rice production and agricultural technology skills-related training.
While in terms of advocacy and
promotion of the program, TESDA, with all other partner agencies involved in
the RCEF, wants to raise awareness of the RCEF program, enhance stakeholders’
motivation to adopt the program; and cultivate a sense of program ownership
among the target beneficiaries.
Agriculture group calls for more tariff protection for rice
October 8, 2019 | 10:25 pm
PHILSTAR
A SEGMENT of the agriculture
industry is seeking the immediate imposition of higher tariffs on imported rice
to provide relief for farmers suffering from competition from foreign grain.
“We are convinced we must change
the tariff, because it’s P12 (per kilo) and the farmgate price for palay
(unmilled rice) is now P11-P12.40 [per kilo]. They are losing money,” Ernesto
M. Ordonez, chairman and co-founder of Alyansa Agrikultura, told BusinessWorld in
an interview.
“If you do it now, you stop
(imports). You don’t do it now, they will continue until you do it,” he added.
Alyansa Agrikultura is a group of
42 federations and organizations from the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Mr. Ordonez did not say what an appropriate tariff might be.
Under the Rice Tariffication Law,
the government liberalized imports of rice while collecting a 35% tariff on
Southeast Asian grain.
Agriculture Secretary William D.
Dar told reporters in September that rice imports in the March to August period
totaled 2.4 million metric tons (MMT), well above the level of imports needed
to meet domestic demand, estimated at 1.5 MMT to 2 MMT.
PHL better off
with rice law in place–Diokno
October 9, 2019
BSP
Governor Benjamin E. Diokno stresses a point at the BM Coffee Club forum in
this file photo.AMID the continous decline in the price of unhusked rice
produced by local farmers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) maintained
that the government did the right thing in easing the restrictions on imports
via the rice trade liberalization law.BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno told
reporters on the sidelines of The Asset Forum in Bonifacio Global City on
Tuesday that the Philippines is not competitive in rice production.
Diokno said rice is two to three
times more expensive to produce in the Philippines and this places the farmers
and consumers at a disadvantage.
“So choose [between] 105 million
Filipinos versus 1.25 million farmers. Who will benefit? In fact some of the
farmers are consumers, right? So [the choice is a] no-brainer,” Diokno said.
“[Easing import restrictions] still makes a lot of sense because of the law of
comparative advantage.”
The BSP chief also said Republic
Act (RA) 11203, or the rice trade liberalization law, needed to be passed since
it has been “languishing in Congress for 50 years.”
He said a policy that removed the
import restrictions on rice will serve the “greater good.”
When it comes to giving farmers
cash or rice subsidy, Diokno said the choice was another “no-brainer” as
farmers would rather receive cash.
Cash, he said, is a better
transfer because it will allow households to adjust their spending according to
their needs.
“Cash is better than in kind. If
you want to help somebody, it’s better to give them cash,” Diokno said.
Last week, the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA) disclosed that the average farm-gate price of dry
unhusked rice sank to a new seven-year low in the second week of September.
Preliminary figures released by
the PSA showed that average palay prices plunged 30.08 percent to P16.18 per
kilogram, from the P23.14 per kg recorded in the same period of last year.
The latest average dry palay
quotation is the lowest since the fifth week of March 2013, when dry palay
farm-gate price averaged P16.15 per kg.
Farm-gate prices fell after RA
11203 took effect on March 5. Experts, such as University of Asia and the
Pacific Center for Food and Agribusiness Executive Director Rolando T. Dy, said
the influx of imports caused the rice glut and resulted in lower quotations
from traders.
Sowing the Seeds of
the Climate Crisis in Odisha
In Kaliponga
village, farmer Ramdas sows Bt and HT cotton a few days after dousing the land
with glyphosate, a broad spectrum herbicide. Photo: Chitrangada Choudhury.
“Everybody is doing it. So we are too,” said
Rupa Pirikaka, somewhat uncertainly.
‘It’ is genetically modified (GM)
Bt cotton seeds, now easily bought at the local market, or even in one’s own village.
‘Everybody’ is countless other farmers like her in the village of and
across the rest of south-western Odisha’s Rayagada district.
“They are getting money in their
hands,” she says.
Pirikaka is a Kondh Adivasi farmer in her 40s. Every year,
for over two decades, she would prepare a hill slope for dongar chaas – literally, ‘mountain
farming’ (shifting cultivation). Following traditions honed by the region’s
farmers over centuries, Pirikaka would sow mixed plots of heirloom seeds which
she had saved from family harvests the previous year. These would yield a
basket of food crops: millets like mandia and kangu, pulses like pigeon pea and black gram, as
well as traditional varieties of long beans, niger seeds and sesame.
This July, for the first time, Pirikaka
switched to Bt cotton. That was the time we met her, sowing the dark pink,
chemical-doused seeds on a hill slope at her village in Bishamakatak block. The
penetration of cotton into the shifting cultivation practices of the Adivasis
was striking, making us ask her about this switch.
“Other crops like turmeric also give money,” admits Pirikaka.
“But nobody is doing that. Everyone is leaving mandia [millet]…
and going after cotton.”
The area under cotton in Rayagada
district has risen by over 5,200 per cent in barely 16 years. Official data
show just 1,631 acres under cotton in 2002-03. In 2018-19 that was 86,907
acres, according to the district agriculture office.
Rayagada, with close to 1 million
people, is a part of the Koraput region, one of the world’s great biodiversity
hotspots, and a historical area of rice diversification. A 1959
survey of the Central Rice Research Institute showed the region still had
over 1,700 rice varieties at the time. It’s down to around 200 now. Some
researchers believe it to be a birthplace of rice cultivation.
The Kondh Adivasis here, largely
subsistence farmers, are known for their sophisticated practices of
agro-forestry. Even today, many Kondh families across the region’s
emerald-green terraced fields and mountainside farms, cultivate a dizzying
array of paddy and millet varieties, pulses and vegetables. Surveys by Living
Farms, a non-profit in Rayagada, have recently documented 36 millet varieties
and 250 forest foods.
Most Adivasi farmers here work on
individual or common property farms ranging from 1 to 5 acres in size.
Their seeds are largely nurtured
and shared within the community, using almost no synthetic fertilisers or other
agri-chemicals (also called agro-chemicals).
Yet, cotton has become the
second-most cultivated crop in Rayagada after paddy, overtaking millets – the
premier traditional food crops of the region. It covers a fifth of the 428,947
acres under cultivation in this district. Cotton’s swift expansion is reshaping
this land and people steeped in agro-ecological knowledge.
Cotton occupies roughly 5 per
cent of India’s gross cropped area, but consumes 36 to 50 per cent of the
total quantum of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides applied
nationally. It is also a crop with the greatest correlation to
indebtedness and farmer suicides across India.
The scenario here is reminiscent
of Vidarbha between 1998 and 2002 – initial excitement over the new miracle
(and then illegal) seeds and dreams of great profits, followed by the
effects of their water-guzzling nature, the huge spike in expenses and debt,
and various ecological pressures. Vidarbha subsequently ended up as the
epicentre of farmer suicides in the country for over a decade. Those farmers
were overwhelmingly Bt cotton growers.
*****
The shop we’re standing in is
owned by Chandra Kudruka (name changed), a 24-year-old Kondh youth. Returning
from Bhubaneswar with a degree in hotel management, he started this store in
his village of Rukaguda (name changed) in the Niyamgiri mountains this June.
Potatoes, onions, deep-friend snacks, sweets – it seemed like any other village
shop.
Except for his hot-selling
product – stacked under the counter. A large sack of glossy, multi-coloured
packets of cotton seeds, many featuring images of happy farmers and Rs. 2,000
notes.
A bulk of the seed packets in
Kudruka’s shop were illegal and unauthorised. Some packets were not labelled at
all. Several were not approved for sale in Odisha. Nor was his shop
licensed to sell seeds and agri-chemicals.
Also in stock, to be sold with
the seeds, were cartons of green and red bottles of the controversial herbicide
glyphosate. A World Health Organisation report in 2015 (later contradicted by
the WHO under industry pressure) termed glyphosate as ‘probably
carcinogenic to humans’. It is banned in states like Punjab and Kerala,
restricted in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, and is currently at the centre of
multi-million dollar lawsuits brought by cancer patients in its country of
origin, America.
All this is unknown to farmers in Rayagada. Glyphosate, referred
to as ‘ghaasa maraa’ – literally ‘grass killer’ –
is marketed to them to destroy weedplants on their fields swiftly. But it is a
broad spectrum herbicide, which kills all plants other than those which have
been genetically modified to resist it. Kudruka also breezily showed us
seeds of cotton, which he said will survive the spraying of glyphosate. Such ‘herbicide tolerant’ or ‘HT seeds’
are prohibited in India.
Kudruka had already sold 150 seed
packets to farmers in the past fortnight, he said, adding. “I have ordered
more. They will be here by tomorrow.”
Business seems to be roaring.
“About 99.9 per cent of the
cotton in Rayagada today is Bt cotton – non-Bt seeds are just not
available,” an officer observing the crop’s cultivation in the district
told us off the record. “Officially, Bt cotton is at a standstill in Odisha. It
is neither approved, nor banned.”
We found no authorisation from
the central government agency responsible for allowing release of Bt cotton in
the state of Odisha. The Ministry of Agriculture’s cotton status report of
2016 in fact shows figures for Bt cotton in Odisha, year upon year, as
nil, suggesting that governments would rather not acknowledge its
existence. “I don’t have information on HT cotton,” state agriculture
secretary Dr. Saurabh Garg told us on the phone. “On Bt cotton, whatever is the
government of India policy is our policy. We do not have anything separate for
Odisha.”
That attitude has serious
consequences. Trade in unauthorised Bt and illegal HT seeds, as well as in
agri-chemicals, is thriving and fast penetrating new areas of Rayagada, as was
evident in Kudruka’s shop in the Niyamgiri mountains.
Globally, agri-chemicals have
destroyed soil microbes, eroded fertility and harmed “countless habitats of
plants and animals, both on land and in water,” as Prof. Shahid
Naeem recently said. Naeem, who heads the department of ecology,
evolution and environmental biology at Columbia University, New
York, says, “All these organisms are important, because collectively they
make up healthy ecosystems that remove pollutants from our water and air,
enrich our soil, nourish our crops and regulate our climate systems.”
*****
“It did not come easy, I had to
work very hard to get them (Adivasi farmers) to switch to cotton,” said Prasad
Chandra Panda.
‘Kappa Panda’ – literally ‘Cotton Panda’ – as he is called by
his clients and others, was speaking to us at his seed and chemical inputs
shop, Kamakhya Traders, in the tehsil town
of Bishamakatak in Rayagada.
Panda opened the shop 25 years
ago, all the while holding his job as an extension officer in the district’s
agriculture department. He retired after 37 years there, in 2017. As a
government officer, he pushed villagers to abandon their “backward agriculture”
for cotton, while his shop, licensed in his son Suman Panda’s name, sold them
seeds and associated agri-chemicals.
Panda saw no conflict of interest
in this, saying, “Government policies introduced cotton as a cash crop for
farmers. The crop needed market inputs, so I established a shop.”
Through the two-hour conversation
we had in Panda’s shop, farmers kept dropping in to purchase seeds and
chemicals, seeking his counsel on what to buy, when to sow, how much to spray
and so on. He answered each one with an air of infallible authority. For them,
he was the scientific expert, the extension officer, their advisor, all rolled
into one. Their ‘choice’ was his command.
The scenes of dependence we
witnessed at Panda’s shop played out across the cotton-growing villages we
toured. The coming of ‘the market’ has had an impact way beyond the cotton
crop.
“As the farm land is entirely
allocated for cotton, farmers have to buy all their household necessities from
the market,” Debal Deb, scientist and barefoot conservationist, told
us. Based in Rayagada since 2011, Deb runs a remarkable in-situ rice
conservation project and conducts farmer trainings.
“The traditional knowledge of
farm-related as well as non-farm occupations are rapidly disappearing,” he
said. In village after village, there is no potter, no carpenter, no weaver.
All household goods are bought from the market, and most of these – from the
pitcher to the mat – are made of plastics, imported from faraway towns. Bamboos
have disappeared from most villages, and with them bamboo crafts. They are now
substituted by wood from the forest and expensive concrete. Even for erecting a
pole or making a fence, villagers have to cut trees from the forest. The more
people depend on the market due to the lure of profit, the more the environment
degrades.”
*****
“The shopkeeper said these were
good,” Ramdas (he only uses his first name) told us sheepishly, of the three Bt
cotton seed packets he had bought on credit from Kudruka’s shop. We had met the
Kondh Adivasi farmer at the foothills of the Niyamgiri as he was walking
back to his village, Kalipanga, in Bishamakatak block. The shopkeeper’s advice
was the sole reason he gave us for choosing those seed packets.
What had he paid for them? “If I
had paid just now, Rs. 800 each. But I do not have Rs. 2,400, so the shopkeeper
will take Rs. 3,000 from me at harvest time.” But even if he were paying Rs.
800 per packet and not the Rs. 1,000 he eventually will, that would still be
costlier than the mandated price of Rs. 730 for the most expensive cotton seed:
Bollgard II Bt cotton.
None of the packets Ramdas had purchased displayed a printed
price, a manufacturing or expiry date, name or contact details of the company.
They featured a huge red ‘X’ overlaid on an image of a bollworm, but were not
labelled as Bt seeds. Although the packets did not specify ‘HT’, Ramdas
believed the crop “can be sprayed with ghaasa maraa [herbicide]”
since the shopkeeper had told him so.
Like every farmer we interviewed
over a fortnight in July, Ramdas was unaware that herbicide-tolerant seeds are
disallowed in India. He did not know that companies cannot sell unlabelled
seeds, or that there are price caps on cotton seeds. Given that none of the
writing on seed packets and agri-chemical bottles was in Odia, farmers here
would not know what claims manufacturers were making, even if they could read.
Yet, the prospect of money was
drawing them to cotton.
“If we grow this, I might make
some money I need this year for my son’s fees in a private English-medium
school” – that was the hope of Shyamsundar Suna, a Dalit tenant farmer
speaking to us in Kerandiguda village of Bishamakatak block. We found him, his
Kondh Adivasi wife Kamala, and their two children Elizabeth and Ashish, hard at
work sowing cotton seeds. Suna had applied all kinds of agri-chemicals, of
which he knew little, to his seeds. “The retailer told me the cotton will come
out well,” he explained.
Pirikaka, Ramdas, Suna and other
farmers told us that cotton was unlike anything they had planted before. “Our
traditional crops do not require anything to grow – no fertiliser, no
pesticide,” said Pirikaka. But with cotton, Ramdas said, “each packet demands
further expenses of 10,000 rupees. Only if you can spend on these seeds,
fertilisers and pesticides, might you get some return at harvest time. If you
can’t do this… you will lose all your money. If you can, and things turn out
good [with] stable weather – then you might sell it [his harvest] for Rs.
30,000- Rs. 40,000.”
Even as farmers were taking to
cotton in the hope of making money,most were hard-pressed to say how much they
earned through it.
Come January-February, farmers
will have to sell their produce back via the input retailer, who would
recoup his costs with exorbitant interest, passing on what remained to
them. “I have just ordered 100 packets from the trader in Gunpur on
credit,” Chandra Kudruka told us. “I will repay him at the time of harvest, and
we will split the interest paid by the farmers.”
What if the farmers’ crops fail
and they cannot pay him back for the packets he has sold them on credit? Isn’t
that a big risk?
“What risk?” asked the young man,
laughing. “Where will farmers go? Their cotton is sold to the trader through
me. If they harvest just 1-2 quintals each, I will recover my dues from that.”
What went unsaid was that the
farmers might be left with nothing.
Rayagada will also be left shorn of its precious biodiversity.
As Prof. Naeem puts it, globally, eliminating crop
diversity means jeopardising food security and reducing the ability
to adapt to global warming. He also warned that climate change and
biodiversity loss are deeply linked: “a planet that’s less green and less
biologically diverse is likely to be hotter and drier.”
And as Rayagada’s Adivasi farmers
abandon that biodiversity for a monoculture of Bt cotton, Odisha is undergoing
a far-reaching shift in ecology and economy, sparking crises at both, the level
of the individual household and at that of climate impact. Pirikaka, Kudruka,
Ramdas and ‘Cotton Panda’ are among the unlikely cast of characters
caught up in this shift.
“Southern Odisha was never a
traditional cotton-growing area. Its strength lay in multiple cropping,” said
Debal Deb “This commercial cotton monoculture has altered the crop
diversity, soil structure, household income stability, farmers’
independence, and ultimately, food security.” It sounds like an infallible
recipe for agrarian distress.
But these factors, especially
those relating to changes in land use, plus what all this implies for water and
the rivers, and loss of biodiversity – could also be playing themselves into
another long-term, large-scale process. We are witnessing the sowing of the seeds
of climate change in this region.
Heart attack: Take this supplement
daily to reduce your risk suggests study
HEART attack risk is strongly linked to
unhealthy lifestyle decisions. It is well understood that eating a healthy,
balanced diet can help to ward off the threat. A new study backs taking a
popular supplement.
By Adam Chapman
20:10, Tue, Oct 8, 2019 | UPDATED: 20:25, Tue, Oct 8,
2019
Heart attack happens
when a blockage in a person’s coronary artery causes part of their heart muscle
to be starved of blood and oxygen. It requires immediate medical attention. The
good news is, making small changes to one’s lifestyle can reduce the risk of
having a heart attack in the first place. In addition to eating heart-healthy
foods and keeping active, a new study supports taking omega 3 supplements.
This meta-analysis provides the most up-to-date evidence
A meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American
Heart Association found that people who received omega-3 fish oil supplements
in randomised clinical trials had lower risks of heart attack and other
cardiovascular disease (CVD) events compared with those who were given placebo.Researchers found an association between daily omega-3 supplementation and reduced risk of most CVD outcomes, including heart attack, death from coronary heart disease, and death from CVD, but did not see benefit for stroke.
In addition, higher doses of omega-3 fish oil supplements was associated with an even greater risk reduction.
"This meta-analysis provides the most up-to-date evidence regarding the effects of omega-3 supplementation on risk of multiple CVD outcomes. We found significant protective effects of daily omega-3 supplementation against most CVD outcome risks and the associations appeared to be in a dose-response manner," said first author Yang Hu, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School.
The findings support a growing body of evidence that has linked omega 3 supplementation to heart health. Research has been inconsistent, however.
A large-scale analysis published last year found omega 3 supplementation had “little or no effect” on heart disease risk.
Heart attack: Study suggests daily omega 3 supplementation can
reduce the risk (Image: Getty Images )
In this new analysis, the researchers did an updated meta-analysis
that included three recently completed large-scale trials, which increased the
sample size by 64 per cent.The total population analysed by Hu and colleagues included more than 120,000 adults in 13 randomised trials worldwide.
The analysis included the VITAL trial, the largest randomised trial of omega-3s to date.
The findings showed that people who took daily omega-3 fish oil supplements, compared with those who took a placebo, lowered their risk for most CVD outcomes except stroke, including an eight per cent reduced risk for heart attack and coronary heart disease (CHD) death.
Significantly, the association was stronger at higher doses of omega-3 fish oil supplementation.
"Although public health recommendations should focus on increasing fish consumption, having an overall heart-healthy diet, being physically active, and having other healthy lifestyle practices, this study suggests that omega-3 supplementation may have a role in appropriate patients," said senior author JoAnn Manson, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Heart attack: A heart-healthy diet consists of plenty of fruit and
vegetables (Image: Getty Images )
What is a heart-healthy diet?According to the British Heart Foundation, a heart-healthy diet includes:
- Plenty
of fruit and vegetables
- Plenty
of starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes and pasta. Choose
wholegrain varieties wherever possible
- Some
milk and dairy products
- Some
meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein
- Only
a small amount of foods and drinks high in fats and/or sugar
Keeping active can also reduce the risk, as the NHS explained: “Being active and taking regular exercise will lower your blood pressure by keeping your heart and blood vessels in good condition.
“Regular exercise can also help you lose weight, which will help lower your blood pressure.”
What are the symptoms of a heart attack?
Symptoms of a heart attack can include:
- Chest
pain – a sensation of pressure, tightness or squeezing in the centre of a
person’s chest
- Pain
in other parts of the body – it can feel as if the pain is travelling from
the chest to the arms (usually the left arm is affected, but it can affect
both arms), jaw, neck, back and abdomen
- Feeling
lightheaded or dizzy
- Sweating
- Shortness
of breath
- Feeling
sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting)
- An
overwhelming sense of anxiety (similar to having a panic attack)
- Coughing
or wheezing
Rice millers who sign contract before
Oct 10 to get incentives
Shellers
were protesting over the milling policy as they fear losses; will stand by
genuine millers, says Ashu
INDIA Updated: Oct 08, 2019 23:49 IST
Vishal Rambani
Hindustan Times, Patiala
Hindustan Times, Patiala
Department
of food supply director Anindita Mitra flagging off paddy lifting at Rajpura in
Patiala on Tuesday. (HT PHOTO)
The Punjab food and civil supplies
department has employed the divide and rule policy to persuade rice millers to
end their protest.
The department on Tuesday announced
incentives and priority allotment of paddy to the millers who sign the
agreement before October 10.
Food and civil supplies director Anindita Mitra visited the
Rajpura Grain Market after the millers refused to sign contracts and provide
space for storing paddy. She was successful in starting the lifting process by
persuading millers to process paddy.
Meanwhile, food and civil supplies
minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu dubbed the rice millers’ protest as a politically-motivated
gimmick. He said in a statement that people with vested interests had become
pawns of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Reiterating the state government’s
commitment to ensure hassle-free procurement, Ashu said the government stands
by all genuine millers. He said all those who apply within the stipulated time
will be suitably rewarded with an increased quantum of allotment.
Punjab rice miller association
president Tarsem Saini has given a call to boycott the procurement process
alleging that the present milling policy was against the interest of millers
and bound to cause losses.
Mitra said, “Around 100
millers in Patiala have signed a contract with agencies. There are nearly 450
rice mills in Patiala, and the state government needs only 200 to complete its
paddy procurement.”
“We only need around 2,000 mills to
produce rice, while the state has 4,100 mills. Around 1,645 millers have
already approached the department while 1,335 have signed contracts.”
She said the state was expecting
170 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, of which 1.68 lakh metric tonnes had been
purchased.
Meanwhile, Mitra found that
commission agents in Rajpura had procured 5 lakh bags of paddy before the
procurement process started. “I have sought an explanation from the mandi
board. We will procure paddy only if it meets our specifications,” she said.
Official takes stock of
paddy lifting
Oct
9, 2019, 7:48 AM; last updated: Oct 9, 2019, 10:50 AM (IST)
Photo for representation.
Patiala,
October 8
The Department of Food, Civil Supplies and
Consumer Affairs is expecting more than 170-lakh metric tonnes of paddy to
reach the grain markets this season. Of this, 1.60-lakh metric tonnes of paddy
has arrived at various grain markets.
Anindita Mitra, Director of the Department,
today conducted a survey for lifting of the crop at the Rajpura grain market.
She said the agencies have been directed to speed up the lifting process.
Mitra
said there were 4,093 registered rice mills in the state and 1,645 have applied
for allotment of space in grain markets, of which 1,335 were granted the allotment.
While meeting farmers, rice millers and
commission agents, she said: “The state government has directed senior IAS
officials to keep a check on the crop lifting process across the state. The
government is keen on making sure that farmers and millers do not face any
issues in the lifting process. Today, we shifted some trucks to other places
from Rajpura.” She said the state government will ensure farmers did not face
any problem regarding payment for their produce. — TNS
Health-Focused
Consumers Think Rice Thanks to New RD Program
By Lesley Dixon
ARLINGTON, VA -- Last month, USA Rice partnered
with several registered dietitians to create an RD Blogger program that will
run throughout the coming year. The goal of the program is to utilize the
RDs' expertise and network to help spread the word about the health benefits
and culinary versatility of U.S.-grown rice.
Over the course of the year, four RD bloggers will create and share three unique rice recipes in a series of blog and social media posts that feature several different varieties of U.S.-grown rice. In addition to the unique rice recipe and stunning photography, each blog post will also include cooking tips and key USA Rice messages and be shared using the hashtag #thinkrice.
"We are very excited about this new program," said USA Rice Domestic Promotion Manager Cameron Jacobs. "Growing awareness about all of the health benefits associated with U.S.-grown rice consumption within health-focused audiences and spreading USA Rice's health resources along with the production of new recipes is a win/win/win!"
To kick off the program each blogger received a mailer with U.S.-grown rice samples and a rice cooker to fuel their creativity. With the theme of National Rice Month, the RDs created and shared a Teriyaki Rice Bowl recipe, a Buffalo-Cauliflower Rice Bowl recipe, a Rainbow Asian Rice Salad with Shrimp recipe, and a Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Chimichurri Rice and Chorizo recipe.
"With 30 percent of shoppers indicating that blogs direct their purchasing habits, we hope this program not only educates consumers on the health benefits of rice, but also impacts their purchasing habits when it comes to U.S.-grown rice," continued Jacobs.
The blogger program will run through June 2020 and follow future themes of "Rice in Comfort Food," "Spring into Summer with Rice," and more. The program will result in production of 12 RD approved recipes along with associated blog posts and photography, all of which will be owned by USA Rice.
Over the course of the year, four RD bloggers will create and share three unique rice recipes in a series of blog and social media posts that feature several different varieties of U.S.-grown rice. In addition to the unique rice recipe and stunning photography, each blog post will also include cooking tips and key USA Rice messages and be shared using the hashtag #thinkrice.
"We are very excited about this new program," said USA Rice Domestic Promotion Manager Cameron Jacobs. "Growing awareness about all of the health benefits associated with U.S.-grown rice consumption within health-focused audiences and spreading USA Rice's health resources along with the production of new recipes is a win/win/win!"
To kick off the program each blogger received a mailer with U.S.-grown rice samples and a rice cooker to fuel their creativity. With the theme of National Rice Month, the RDs created and shared a Teriyaki Rice Bowl recipe, a Buffalo-Cauliflower Rice Bowl recipe, a Rainbow Asian Rice Salad with Shrimp recipe, and a Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Chimichurri Rice and Chorizo recipe.
"With 30 percent of shoppers indicating that blogs direct their purchasing habits, we hope this program not only educates consumers on the health benefits of rice, but also impacts their purchasing habits when it comes to U.S.-grown rice," continued Jacobs.
The blogger program will run through June 2020 and follow future themes of "Rice in Comfort Food," "Spring into Summer with Rice," and more. The program will result in production of 12 RD approved recipes along with associated blog posts and photography, all of which will be owned by USA Rice.
Saffron Road Unveils Four New Globally-Inspired Entrees
By Resident Magazine
You are here:
Today, Saffron
Road, a leading brand in the natural and organic products industry, unveiled
their latest epicurean additions to its globally-inspired frozen entrée product
line: Thai- style Green Curry with Chicken, Coconut Curry Chicken, Vegetable
Biryani and Madras Curry with Chicken Meatballs.
Upholding Saffron Road’s brand
promise and unwavering commitment to superior quality, premium ingredients,
full transparency, and unmatched taste profiles, these new delicious meals are
chef-crafted using traditional, time-honored cooking traditions and authentic
recipes which feature chicken raised without antibiotics and sustainable
plant-based proteins like chickpeas and cashews. They are free from any
artificial ingredients- including colors, flavors or preservatives.
Additionally, all four entrees are Certified Halal and Gluten-Free. With this
new frozen lineup, Saffron Road decided to innovate deeper into the ethnic
category it has successfully built its stellar brand on – the Asian epicurean
segment.
Saffron Road fans can now enjoy a Journey to Better by exploring
the following meals:
Vegetable Biryani: This bold recipe combines flavorful Biryani, using
premium basmati rice, with a colorful mélange of roasted cauliflower, green
peas, cashews, chickpeas and caramelized onions. Also Vegan.
Coconut Curry Chicken with
Basmati Rice: This exotic meal features
tender white meat chicken in a warmly- spiced, creamy curry of coconut milk and
yogurt.
Madras Curry & Chicken
Meatballs with Basmati Rice: Curry leaves, tamarind and
coconut milk in a South Indian recipe chock-full of spices, perfectly
complimented by chicken meatballs in this innovative delicious delight.
Thai Style Green Curry with
Chicken: This flavorful recipe is
an authentic Thai green curry – coconut milk, red bell peppers, green beans,
succulent dark meat chicken and rice.
Previous
Next
Saffron Road Founder and CEO,
Adnan Durrani, commented, “We believe that authentic flavors have the
power to transport you, and at Saffron Road, we make that journey a reality by
offering the best from around the globe. The spirit for flavor adventure and
exploration only continues to grow with the rising spending power of younger
shoppers – especially millennials. They increasingly want more internationally
inspired options that are made with only clean-label ingredients, like
antibiotic free and plant-based proteins. We are proud to be at the forefront
of the intersection between authentic world cuisines and wholesome, pure
ingredients and we think the interest in better-for-you products featuring
global flavors will continue into 2019 and beyond.”
Frozen ready meals comprise 43.2%
of global frozen food sales, and the overall category continues to improve,
according to a July 2018 report from Global Industry Analysts Inc. Specifically
it states, “Current microwavable food options offer myriad benefits in terms of
preparation, time, flexibility, handling, portion consistency, hygiene, waste
reduction and easy-to-make recipes,” says the report, which points out that
future growth “will be driven by a steady offering of high-quality and healthy
meals,” like Saffron Road.
Furthermore, according to Acosta,
26% of total U.S. grocery shoppers are shopping in the frozen aisle more often
than last year, and not surprisingly, that is being driven by millennials and
households with children, seeking innovation, new flavors AND the convenience
the freezer case provides. And, although small, disruptive brands like
Saffron Road account for just 2% of market share currently, they will capture
30% of growth over the next five years, estimates Bain & Company.
The four new Saffron Road frozen
meals are launching this month at the upcoming Specialty Food
Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City, booth 5840. Here,
the Vegetable Biryani will be available for sampling along with their popular
new Ramen Bowls and Crunchy Chickpea snack products.
Consumers will be able to find
the new entrees starting this month at Kroger and next month at HEB for the suggested
retail price $4.99.
For more information about
Saffron Road’s new snack products, please visit saffronroad.com.
You can also follow the brand on Facebook,
on Twitter, on Pinterest, or
on Instagram.
Below are some quick facts about
the meals:
·
Made with
chickens raised without antibiotics
·
The vegetable
biryani features sustainable plant-based protein like chickpeas/cashews
·
Free from
anything artificial (colors, flavors or preservatives)
·
Certified Halal
·
Certified
Gluten Free
·
Price 4.99
Stores:
·
Kroger
·
HEB
·
Fred Meyer
·
Natural Grocers
·
Sprouts
·
Marianos
·
Von’s
·
Albertsons
·
Ralph’s
·
About Saffron Road
The Saffron Road brand is wholly
owned by American Halal Company, Inc. and is a leading brand in the natural and
organic food industry, offering a wide range of products from frozen entrées to
plant-based protein snacks. All Saffron Road Products are Halal-certified by
IFANCA and are available in more than 15,000 retail locations in the U.S. and
Canada. Saffron Road is a socially responsible brand on a mission of collective
progress for the betterment of humanity, by inspiring, connecting and
respecting global citizens through a shared love of ethical World Cuisines.
With Saffron Road, explore international cuisines that combine bold flavors
from around the world with high quality, wholesome ingredients which are better
for the environment, better for the farmers, better for the animals, better for
your health, and most all better tasting. Saffron Road. Journey to
Better®.
For more information about
Saffron Road, check out saffronroad.com
Ever had a momo? These juicy little
flavor-bomb dumplings at Everest Kitchen in Lake Forest Park are a ‘must-try’
Oct. 8, 2019 at 6:00 am Updated Oct. 8, 2019 at 11:37 am
Make sure to
order a plate of momos, traditional Nepali dumplings filled with chicken or
vegetables and served with a dipping sauce... (Jackie Varriano / The Seattle
Times) More The scene was at Everest Kitchen in Lake Forest Park. One of you lovely readers sent me an email saying it was worth a visit. My message to a friend who lives in the area to ask if she had ever been resulted in a near immediate response: “soooooooo good!!!” and informing that a Nepalese friend claims it’s the closest thing he’s had to a taste of home in the Seattle area. I was sold.
This friend has a son near in age to my 16-month-old daughter, so we made our party a foursome.
Everest Kitchen is a part of the Town Center; an unassuming storefront at the end of the strip mall on the north side of the massive Third Place Books. If the late Jonathan Gold — and more recently, Tan Vinh — has taught us anything, it’s to never underestimate a strip-mall restaurant. (I reached out to the owners to learn more about this unique spot, but unfortunately they’re on an annual trip to Nepal and won’t be back until the end of October.)
Everest specializes in dishes from India, Tibet and Nepal, serving a lunch buffet every day from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and a full menu at lunch and dinner. Although the lunch buffet looked tempting — various curries and rice alongside a cold bar with raita, green salad and condiments — it was mostly Indian cuisine and I had my heart set on momos, so we requested the menu.
Momos are a steamed dumpling popular across Southern Asia, especially in Nepal and the region of Tibet. They can be stuffed with meat or vegetables and are usually served with a rich, spiced tomato-based sauce called achar.
We ordered the vegetable momos, plump with a filling of finely diced cabbage, spinach, onion, cashews and paneer ($9.95). Everest Kitchen also offers a chicken momo and a spicy chili version of each, spiked with jalapeño. The rest of the menu is what we might think of as “classic” Indian cuisine: samosa and pakora starters, aloo gobi and chana masala under an extensive list of vegetable curries, tandoori chicken and lamb kabob. But there’s also the traditional vegan Nepali soup qwati, with nine different kinds of beans; barbecued lamb or chicken skewers called Sekuwa, fragrant with herbs and baked in a clay oven; and daal bhaat.
The daal bhaat
at Everest Kitchen is a complete (and filling) meal with lentil soup, pickles,
curry, rice, and even rice pudding for dessert. (Jackie Varriano / The Seattle
Times) I thought we had ordered the bone-in goat, but somewhere between trying to keep two toddlers satiated with everything from freeze-dried mango to cheddar bunnies and getting them to not destroy the restaurant, we were served the vegetable daal bhaat. It’s a testament to the vegetables at Everest Kitchen that neither one of us even noticed until hours later.
We also ordered chicken tikka masala ($14.95) and a side of plain naan bread ($2.95).
Pro mom tip: If you find yourself at Everest Kitchen with an impatient toddler (aren’t they all?), resist ordering off the menu — or perhaps just add on an order of the momos — and go for the lunch buffet. Food like this takes a little while, and while it’s well worth the wait, it’s hard to tell a little kid that.
If you’ve got time, or perhaps things are quicker during dinner service, please order from the menu. The vegetable momos are little flavor bombs in a wonderfully chewy dough wrapper, and the tomato achar is worth eating by the spoonful.
The chicken
tikka masala at Lake Forest Park’s Everest Kitchen features a rich,
tomato-based sauce and plenty of tender chicken. (Jackie Varriano / The Seattle
Times)
Advertising
There
was enough food to warrant a to-go box and I happily packed up the remaining
momo, curry and rice.It was even better the next day when I ate it standing up in my kitchen, patchily hot from a zap in the microwave while my kid was napping. Maybe it was the silence? Either way, I’m ready for more momo and tikka masala.
Everest
Kitchen
11
a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily; 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Suite #A-016, Lake Forest Park;
206-440-0321, theeverestkitchen.com
Jackie Varriano: jvarriano@seattletimes.com;
covers the food scene in the neighborhoods around Seattle. She loves digging
into stories that discuss why we eat the things we do — and when — in our
region and beyond. Her very first article was a gossip column for her YMCA
summer camp in 1990.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are
those of the author only, and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.
Pak-China FTA phase-II to be implemented shortly
Published: October 7, 2019
BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China Naghmana
Alamgir Hashmi has said that the free trade agreement (FTA) phase-II between
Pakistan and China will be implemented shortly as it is still going through the
internal ratification process.
In an exclusive interview with China
Economic Net in late September, Naghmana said, “We hope that in the next few
months, it will become operational. With the FTA becoming operational, the
prices will in any way go down, because import duties will not apply then.”
Although the reporter asked for a more
specific timeline on the FTA becoming operational, the ambassador said, “That
depends on how quickly work is done, because on our side all the procedures
have been completed. On the Chinese side, there are a few procedures that are
left. So we think it is going to be sooner rather than later. We just need to
wait a little more, because governmental procedures have to take time. But I
think it will be very shortly very, very shortly.”
The envoy said that the first phase of
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is nearing completion and the second
phase has now started, which is actually the establishment of Special Economic
Zones in various parts of the country.
“With the establishment of these Special
Economic Zones and increasing number of agreements and cooperation in the
agriculture sector, which is a priority for both President Xi and Prime
Minister Imran Khan, I think this is one area where there is a huge potential
for investments, growth and then re-export of those value-added products to
China.”
Talking about the recent mango festival
organised in Beijing, Naghmana said, “Mango is our leading export product and
one day we hope to see Pakistani mangoes being sold in supermarkets and markets
all over China.”
Responding to a question on the difference
in prices, the envoy said the price of a product is always cheaper in the
country where it is produced. However, by the time the product is exported,
duties, taxes, and processes are involved.
“It either has to be sanitised by heat,
water vapour or through other technologies. Those technologies are not very
easily available in Pakistan.”
She added that China can actually help
reduce prices of Pakistan’s agricultural products, particularly mango and other
delicate fruit, by having joint ventures with the growers and exporters.
“Secondly, I think with the completion of
CPEC and the establishment of cold chains, a lot of products can then be
transported by road and they won’t have to be airlifted. Mangoes cannot be
shipped up to now, because they have a very short shelf life and roads with a
cold chain are also necessary for fisheries and other agricultural products. So
that is another area where I think a lot of our Chinese friends and investors
have an opportunity to do business in Pakistan, which would be mutually
beneficial to the importers and exporters, and is a nice way of introducing
good Pakistani agricultural products at reasonable prices here in China.”
Motorway project
The ambassador also talked about the delay
in the operation of Sukkur-Multan motorway, saying, “These are huge projects,
so some delays are normal. It’s nothing to be really very alarmed about. The
actual project itself has been completed. So the highway is there. But then
along with this highway, there are certain other things that need to be
established.”
She said, “All CPEC projects have the
absolute and full support of the government of Pakistan, of the people of
Pakistan, of all the political parties across the political divide. So there is
no confusion or no controversy over either the importance of CPEC or the
importance of completing the projects in time. And some of the projects, as you
know, have been completed even before time.”
Talking about the visa process for
businessmen, Naghmana said, “For the Chinese, as you know, we have on-arrival
visa policy and now we also have visa online. So I don’t think there should be
a problem. Maybe some people only apply for three months and then they realise
that they need more than three months. They don’t need to come back. They can
apply to the department concerned in Pakistan and it’s very easily extended.”
Referring to Pakistan’s visa policy, she
added, “We are liberalising. One of the first countries with which we’ve
liberalised the visa regime is China. There is so much work going on. There’s
so much people-to-people contact. There’s so much political contact.”
Joint ventures
The ambassador also spoke about potential
Pakistani categories where China can invest.
“There are certain products which have
traditionally come to China, which are very much appreciated here. We export a
lot of rice to China, not Basmati. Basmati is not that popular in China. We
have another category of rice which is very close to the Chinese kind. It’s
small glutinous rice. So there’s a huge market for that here.
“Then sugar is increasingly being imported
into China. And sugar is of very good quality. And yarn, we produce a lot of
cottons and you have a huge textile industry. So yarn comes to China.
“And then, of course, we have a lot of
stones. For example, we produce the best onyx in the world. I mean Balochistan
is the only area in the world that produces onyx. And Chinese people love onyx.
Then, a lot of gold and copper comes from our mines to here. So we have a lot
of potential both in minerals and gemstones because our northern areas are full
of beautiful gemstones. We do not have that advanced technology to polish and
create them. So that is another area where we are looking for potential joint
ventures.”
She added, “The area that has the most
potential and again the area that has the focus of the leadership of both
countries is agricultural products, development of farms, research on hybrid
seeds, and research and cooperation in cultivation.
“Then there is a huge prospect of
cooperation in drip irrigation because we are now trying to go to drip
irrigation because of the shortage of water. China is one of the leading
countries that have really made very good use of drip irrigation. So I think
agriculture is one area where there is a huge potential for further
cooperation, joint ventures, and investments. And then, of course, the export
of the material to China and beyond China also.”
“I think they also feel that if they develop
a hybrid quality of Basmati rice, then it’s a patent for Pakistan Basmati rice
and it may lose its aroma and taste. We want absolutely pure Basmati. So I
think they want to preserve the originality and the texture and the aroma and
the length of Basmati. I think that is why they don’t want to open Basmati.”
This article originally appeared on the
China Economic Net
Published in The Express
Tribune, October 7th, 2019.
Vietnam
struggles to reach rice export plan
08/10/2019 16:00 GMT+7
Analysts warn that Vietnam will have to struggle to implement
the rice export plan this year because many key markets have tightened control
over imports.
According to Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the
Import/Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT),
Vietnam exported 5.4 million tons of rice in the first eight months of the
year, an increase of 0.1 percent over the same period last year, but the export
value was $1.96 billion, a decrease of 15 percent.
China, which was the biggest rice importer of Vietnam in previous years, has cut purchases. Exports to the market dropped by 65 percent.
In 2018, Vietnam sold rice at $500 per ton on average, but the price decreased in 2019. China, which imported rice in large quantities across border gates in previous years, began restricting imports through this channel in 2018.
Moreover, China has also begun applying the rice import quota scheme. It plans to import 5 million tons of rice this year, but in fact, it has imported 3.3 million only.
According to Do Ha Nam, deputy chair of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), importing countries have also set barriers to Vietnam’s rice.
 |
|
Vietnam exported 5.4 million tons of rice in the first eight
months of the year, an increase of 0.1 percent over the same period last
year, but the export value was $1.96 billion, a decrease of 15 percent.
|
Meanwhile, banks have tightened lending and exporters are still
meeting difficulties expanding to other markets such as Africa and America.
However, exporters can see opportunities from the Philippines which has changed its quota policy. Vietnam’s exports to the market no longer depend on the quota, but on its competitiveness with other rivals – Thailand and Cambodia.
The rice price has been unstable in the domestic market. Le Van Lam, a farmer in Tan Hong district in Dong Thap province, said in 2018, he cultivated clean rice on an area of 6 hectares. However, he incurred a big loss in the first crop because of insects, low yield and unsatisfactory rice price.
Since the beginning of the year, the farmer has resumed traditional cultivation methods. However, he is anxious as the rice price is unstable and dependent on merchants.
Ly Van Phong in Cang Long district of Tra Vinh province complained that the price has been unstable since the beginning of the winter-spring crop.
“The summer-autumn rice price also has not increased. I have sold IR 50505 at VND4,300 per kilogram only, or VND300 per kilogram lower than the previous month. I heard that it is now difficult to export rice, so the price cannot move up,” he complained.
Some rice exporters think the new Evfta will help them enter the EU.
Sri Lanka rice surplus for 2019 lowered to 428,000MT
Tuesday
October 8, 2019 07:25:45
ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is heading for a rice
surplus of over 428,000 metric tonnes, a lower than the an earlier projection
of 535,000 metric tonnes, the state agricultural office said.
The agency had revised down the main Maha season paddy (rough
rice) output to 2.9 million metric tonnes from an earlier estimate of 3.07
million million metric tonnes.
The paddy will be enough to produce 1.83 million tonnes of
milled rice, down from an earlier 1.94 million.
The minor Yala season output is projected 1.54 million metric
tonnes, unchanged from the previous forecast, enough to produce 940,000 metric
tonnes of milled rice.
The output from both seasons would be 4.44 million metric tonnes
of paddy, enough to produce 2.77 million metric tonnes of milled rice.
Sri Lanka has an estimated monthly rice consumption of 195,299
metric tonnes.
The department of agriculture is projecting a surplus of 428,363
metric tonnes at the end of the 2019.
Due to years of protection and state intervention in rice farming, Sri Lanka does not produce
internationally traded grades of rice which have marketable qualities of palate and aroma.
Due to years of protection and state intervention in rice farming, Sri Lanka does not produce
internationally traded grades of rice which have marketable qualities of palate and aroma.
Unlike spice or tea farmers, who export and earn revenues from
abroad, rice is almost a non-tradable good and farmers seek price support at
the expense of taxpayers and consumer.
Sri Lanka’s private traders have rice storage space, as well as
some state warehouses. In the past there has been constraints when there were
two years of good harvests.
The recent collapse of Sri Lanka’s rupee due to central bank
money printing and contradictory policy, has brought domestic rice prices more
in line with international prices. (Colombo/Oct08/2019)
Rice Export volume up but
value falls
Việt Nam's total
rice export volume in the first nine months of this year reached 5.2 million
tonnes. photo vietnambiz.vn
HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam enjoyed growth in its rice export volume but saw
value fall in the first nine months of the year, according to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam enjoyed growth in its rice export volume but saw
value fall in the first nine months of the year, according to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The ministry said the total rice export volume and value in the
first nine months of this year reached 5.2 million tonnes and $2.24 billion,
respectively. The figures represented a rise of 5.9 per cent in volume and a
drop of 9.8 per cent in value compared to the same period in 2018. Of which,
Việt Nam shipped abroad 586,000 tonnes of rice in September for $251 million.
The Philippines was the top market for Vietnamese rice in the
first eight months of this year, consuming 1.76 million tonnes worth $720
million, 2.9 times higher in volume and 2.6 times in value over the same period
last year.
Strong growth was also seen in other markets, including Australia
(75 per cent), Ivory Coast (nearly 35 per cent) and Hong Kong (nearly 35
per cent).
The average rice price in the first eight months fell 13.8 per
cent year on year to $435 per tonne.
White rice led the way in the period, accounting for 47 per cent
of total revenue, followed by Jasmine rice with 39.8 per cent.
According to the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority
(AgroTrade) under the MARD, the Philippine Government planned to diversify
non-tariff measures to adjust rice import activities.
At the same time, the Philippine Department of Agriculture has
also proposed the application of a defence tariff on imported rice at between
30-65 per cent, which may affect Việt Nam’s rice exports to the market in the
future.
However, positive signals were seen in the Japanese market, which
is considering switching rice imports from the US to signature countries of the
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership,
including Việt Nam.
Meanwhile, Singapore has also shown more interest in rice from
Southeast Asian countries such as Việt Nam.
To deal with the situation, the ministry said in the long
term Việt Nam planned to move away from rice cultivation to focus on
other crops which are more efficient.
It
would also look to expand export markets in Africa and the Middle East as well
as regional markets like Indonesia and the Philippines. — VNS
FAO: Unfavourable weather to affect 513.5m tonnes of rice
production, others
by New Telegraph on
Tue, 08 Oct 2019
Despite the Federal Government's support for local rice production, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has forecasted that worldwide output of milled rice for the current crop year is expected to be lowered by 3.8 million metric tonnes to 513.5 million tonnes due to unfavourable weather in major rice-growing countries, including Nigeria. With []The post FAO: Unfavourable weather to affect 513.5m tonnes of rice production, others appeared first on Newtelegraph.
Despite the Federal Government's support for local rice production, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has forecasted that worldwide output of milled rice for the current crop year is expected to be lowered by 3.8 million metric tonnes to 513.5 million tonnes due to unfavourable weather in major rice-growing countries, including Nigeria. With []The post FAO: Unfavourable weather to affect 513.5m tonnes of rice production, others appeared first on Newtelegraph.
Punjab rice
millers oppose new policy, hold protests
Manish Sirhindi | TNN | Updated: Oct 9, 2019, 13:52 IST
Protesting millers raised slogans during the visit of Anandita Mitra, director, department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, Punjab, who had reached there to resolve the issues being faced by commission agents during paddy lifting.
Punjab Rice Millers Association president Tarsem Saini, who along with his supporter raised slogans during her visit, said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had run out of storage space but the state millers were being asked to supply rice before March 31. He said while the millers were not in a position to accept new lots of rice, they will have to pay 12% penalty under the latest milling policy if they fail to deliver the produce by March 31.
The millers also held a meeting with Mitra in Rajpura but it remained inconclusive, following which they started protesting against the government.
Speaking to TOI, Mitra said she had met the rice millers and taken note of issues being raised by them. She said the government was committed to providing storage space and that the millers’ apprehensions were farfetched.
However, Saini claimed that in the absence of space, the FCI refuses to accept the produce and, under these circumstances, a miller would end up paying hefty penalties. He said other demands of the rice millers include settlement of milling bills, a refund of levy security and user charges payment @ 7.32 rupees per bag have not been settled had also not been sorted out by the government forcing the miller to hold protest against the government.
Some rice millers playing pawns to
SAD trying to vitiate paddy procurement process : Ashu
Chandigarh, Oct 8 (UNI) Dubbing the protest
staged by the Rice Millers as a totally politically motivated gimmick, Punjab
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Tuesday said that some
with vested interests are playing pawns to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and are
trying to vitiate the paddy procurement process.
The Minister said that it is the frustration of those who could not digest the continued exemplary procurement of sixth wheat and paddy crops by the present Congress government after taking over the reins in 2017 that they are instigating different stakeholders involved in the procurement process on flimsy grounds.
Reiterating state government’s commitment to conduct hassle free procurement, Ashu said that government stands by all the genuine millers. He said that all millers applying to the Food and Civil Supplies department for allotment of paddy on or before October 10 would be allotted paddy on priority and added that all of them would be suitably rewarded with increased quantum of allotment.
The Minister said that it is the frustration of those who could not digest the continued exemplary procurement of sixth wheat and paddy crops by the present Congress government after taking over the reins in 2017 that they are instigating different stakeholders involved in the procurement process on flimsy grounds.
Reiterating state government’s commitment to conduct hassle free procurement, Ashu said that government stands by all the genuine millers. He said that all millers applying to the Food and Civil Supplies department for allotment of paddy on or before October 10 would be allotted paddy on priority and added that all of them would be suitably rewarded with increased quantum of allotment.
