Focused
on Growth: Rice Production in Tanzania
ON OCTOBER
24, 2019WORLD NEWS
SEATTLE — Tanzania’s Government
launched the Expanding Rice Production
Project (ERPP) on March 12, 2015, in an effort to boost rice
production, increase food security and strengthen the country’s agricultural
sector. The project commenced in Morogoro, Tanzania’s mainland and Zanzibar,
thanks to the government’s partnership with the Global Agriculture Food and Security Program. The ERPP
is specifically focused on improving agricultural practices for small-scale
farmers and farms run by women.
Effect on Income
Tanzania’s agricultural sector
makes up 25 percent of the country’s GDP and employs 75 percent of the population. Since its
launch, the ERPP has improved rice productivity and irrigation systems, as well
as linked small farmers to markets to sell their produce. The increase in
income has come through the sustainable seed systems implemented and the
improvements in production technology. Because of the ERPP, farmers learned a
new farming technique called System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which
increased rice productivity by changing the management of plants, soil, water
and nutrients. In mainland Tanzania, the average number of farmers producing
rice paddies rose from 1.8 percent in January 2014 to 5.4 percent as of May 24,
2019 thanks to this program.
Effect on Food Security
The
Expanding Rice Production Project has made an impact on food security by
quickly and effectively increasing rice production in Tanzania. More than
13,000 people had benefited from the program as of December of 2017 with rice
farmers tripling production.
Effect of/on Women
Out
of the 13,369 people who have benefited from Tanzania’s Expanding Rice
Production Project, 36 percent were women. Across Africa as a whole, women make
up about 60 percent of the agricultural workforce and Tanzania is no exception.
Many of the small farms in the country are run by women, most of whom have
adapted the ERPP. Prior to participating in the program, despite being deeply
involved in agricultural work, many women had limited access to production
technology. As a result, this limited the potential growth of the sector. But,
since the Expanding Rice Production Project introduced new technologies, women
have been more actively involved in the agricultural field and their families
have benefitted from raised standards of living.
Effect on Poverty
The
overarching goal of focusing on bolstering rice production in Tanzania is to
reduce long-term poverty. This is achievable through the new agricultural
technologies that have been implemented in the country, as well as the new
connections to global markets. By strengthening agriculture, and increasing
food security, smallholder farmers will have less of a risk of falling back
into poverty because fluctuation in food prices will decrease.
Tanzania’s
Expanding Rice Production Project is expected to help 165,345 people by the end of the
program in late April 2020.
China
to import more rice from Cambodia
Chinese authorities have agreed to speed up the review of
applications of 40 Cambodian firms that want to export rice to the Chinese
market, according to local media.
Thursday, October 24, 2019 20:39
Illustrative image (Source: khmertimeskh.com)Phnom Penh (VNA) – Chinese authorities have agreed to speed up the review of applications of 40 Cambodian firms that want to export rice to the Chinese market, according to local media.
The Chinese side agreed to prioritise work reviewing the applications of the 40 Cambodian firms at a meeting in Beijing this week between the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture and China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Khmer Times reported.
The meeting aimed to discuss Cambodian exports to China, particularly rice, bananas and mangoes.
During the first round of reviews, 26 local rice traders passed the quality-control tests and were permitted to export rice to China.
“The second round of reviews is taking place soon and those that gain approval will be able to send their rice to China,” the paper quoted Ngin Chhay, director-general of the ministry’s General Directorate of Agriculture, as saying.
The decision by AQSIQ is seen as an important development that will help Cambodia achieve its goal of fulfilling its rice export quota in the Chinese market, said the English-language newspaper.
According to the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Cambodia exported 157,793 tonnes of rice to China from January to September. Exports to China accounted for 39.6 percent of Cambodia’s total rice exports.
Last year, Cambodia was unable to meet its rice export quota in the Chinese market, shipping only 170,000 tonnes out of the 300,000 allowed. This year, however, CRF is confident the Kingdom will be able to ship all the 300,000 tonnes of rice that it is allowed./.
S. Korea’s Rice Consumption Down Average 2.3 pct
Annually over 3 Decades
A rice paddy. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEJONG, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s per capita annual
rice consumption fell an average 2.3 percent annually over the past three
decades, data showed Thursday.
Per capita average annual rice
consumption hit a record low of 61 kilograms in 2018, compared with a record
high of 136.4 kilograms in 1970, according to the data compiled by Statistics
Korea.
Rice is a key staple food for
Koreans, but its consumption has been on a steady decline since 1980, when per
capita average annual rice consumption stood at 132.4 kilograms.
The decline is mainly blamed on
changes in the diets and eating habits of South Koreans.
South Korea’s rice output came
to 5.29 million tons in 2017, accounting for 0.7 percent of global rice
production.
China is the world’s largest
rice producer with 27.9 percent, followed by India with 21.9 percent, Indonesia
with 10.6 percent and Bangladesh with 6.4 percent.
Currently, South Korea imposes
a 513 percent tariff on imported rice for quantities outside the quota of
409,000 tons of annual rice imports from the U.S. and four other countries
under the system of tariff-rate quotas meant to provide minimum market access.
South Korea’s rice paddy area
came to 760,000 hectares — about half the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut
— in 2017, Statistics Korea said.
PCC looking into possible rice price manipulation
Technical
working group to determine why prices have not gone down to desired levels
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:20 AM October 24,
2019
The country’s antitrust body is looking into possible
manipulation of rice prices by unscrupulous groups, possibly working as
cartels, keeping the prices of the staple high despite the abundance of supply
in the market and the declining farm gate prices.
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said on
Wednesday it was forming a technical working group (TWG) with other government
agencies to determine if this situation was caused by anticompetitive
practices.
The actual members of the TWG have yet to be decided, but
the Department of Agriculture will most likely be one of them.
The government has been trying to figure out why retail
prices of rice have not gone down to desired levels despite the liberalization
of rice importation and the low farm gate prices of the local produce.
The Duterte administration had pushed for the passage of
the rice tariffication law when rice prices shot up, driving inflation rate to
hit record highs last year.
The law, which replaced the quantitative restrictions on
rice imports with tariff, should have made retail prices of the staple more
affordable to Filipinos.
While PCC Chair Arsenio Balisacan said certain market
observers had reported low prices of palay at the farms but the same could not
be said for the rice sold in the market.
Balisacan said in an interview that the TWG would try to
determine the root cause of the slow decline, as he noted that the causes of
market disruptions had varied in the past, such as typhoons destroying crops
and therefore making what were left more expensive.
“The intention of the TWG is to have a better
understanding of the situation or the market. Hopefully, with that
understanding we can have a clearer, firmer and more focused investigation,” he
said.
PCC Commissioner Johannes Benjamin Bernabe deferred from
jumping to any conclusion about which specific groups could be blamed for the
rice price situation, noting the extensive value chain in agriculture from the
farms to retail markets.
“Certainly, the farmers are not in a position to abuse
any position they might have. They are not organized. They don’t have any
leverage on imposing prices,” he said, adding that they were also looking at
retailers right now.
“Primarily, the ones who have leverage in this value
chain appear to be the middlemen. At this point, we don’t want to say anyone is
liable, that there are any guilty parties. It’s just that in the PCC, it
behooves us to try and narrow down who it is we should be prioritizing in terms
of examining behavior or conduct,” he added.
https://business.inquirer.net/281789/pcc-looking-into-possible-rice-price-manipulation#ixzz63M9ugfe2
RPT-Asia Rice-Vietnam
rates hit multi-month peak on robust demand from Africa, Cuba
Sumita Layek
OCTOBER 25, 2019 / 6:34 AM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
* Vietnamese rates rise to $350-$355/tonne from $350
* Indian rupee hits highest in over one-week
* Demand muted for Thai variety- traders
* Philippines may ease rice import restriction -Vietnamese trader
By Sumita Layek
BENGALURU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Vietnamese rice export prices rose to
a four-and-a-half-month high this week on healthy demand from Africa and Cuba
as supply remained scant, while a stronger rupee helped rates for Indian
variety recover from a four-month low.
Rates for Vietnam’s benchmark 5% broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 rose to
$350-$355 a tonne — a four-and-a-half month high — from $350 a tonne a week
earlier due to limited stockpiles.
“Supplies are running low while demand remains steady, especially
from Africa and also Cuba,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
The Vietnamese market could get a further fillip as the
Philippines, which accounts for 36% of total shipments from Vietnam, might be
considering easing its restrictions on rice imports soon, another trader said.
In September, prices for the Vietnamese variety had touched their
lowest in nearly 12 years at $325 per tonne.
In top exporter India, prices for the 5% broken parboiled variety
RI-INBKN5-P1 rose to $368-$372 per tonne from $365-$370 a week ago.
The Indian rupee on Thursday hit its highest in more than a week,
reducing exporters’ margins.
President of the Rice Exporters Association B. V. Krishna Rao,
however, said, “demand from African countries is still weak”.
India’s rice exports in August fell 29% year-on-year to 644,249
tonnes due to weak demand from African countries for non-basmati rice, among
other factors.
Neighbouring Bangladesh, meanwhile, has failed to secure any
overseas deals since a long-standing export ban was lifted in May, due to
cheaper rice from competitors.
“We are still looking for a market to export rice. India can export
rice at $370-390 per tonne while we are asking for at least $500,” said Shah
Alam Babu, president of Rice Exporters Association.
Prices in second biggest exporter Thailand’s benchmark 5-percent
broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 rose to $396-$410 a tonne on Thursday from $395-$400
last week.
Traders attributed the slight rise in prices to the changes in the
currency exchange rate.
“There has been very little change in demand and supply and the
strengthening of the baht has moved the price up slightly,” a Bangkok-based
trader said.
A stronger baht has marred demand for the Thai variety for many
months now.
“If the baht weakens a little, we may be able to sell some rice,
but at the moment, Thai rice is just too expensive compared with competitors,”
another rice trader said. (Reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Panu Wongcha-um in
Bangkok, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; editing by Arpan
Varghese and Shinjini Ganguli)
Why the rice trade
wants India in the RCEP
Vishwanath Kulkarni Bengaluru |
Updated on October 24, 2019 Published
on October 24, 2019
Trade sources
feel this will give them access to the 10-million-tonne ASEAN market
At a time when domestic producers
of commodities such as dairy and plantation products including coffee, tea,
rubber, pepper and arecanut, among others, are wary of the proposed RCEP
(Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) deal, the Indian rice trade is
keen that the cereal is included as part of the agreement as it could help
boost exports.
Rice is among the few commodities
where India has a competitive advantage in the ongoing RCEP talks. Negotiations
are in advanced stages between the ten members of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and countries with whom they (ASEAN members) have an
existing free trade agreements such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South
Korea, China and India, for the proposed RCEP.
The pact is a proposed
comprehensive trade agreement that covers goods and services, among others,
including investment, economic and technical co-operation and intellectual
property rights. India is the second largest producer of rice after China, but
is currently the largest exporter of the cereal. Trade sources believe that
inclusion of rice as part of the RCEP pact will open up a market as big as 10
million tonnes per year in the ASEAN region, where the Indian players expect to
get a fair chance to compete with other major producers such as Thailand and
Vietnam. Though India has been the largest exporter of rice, including the
basmati, for several years now, its market share in the ASEAN region is
negligible (see table).
Indian exporters, mainly of the
non-basmati rice variety, sources said, have largely been denied a fair chance
to compete in markets such as Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and China due to
various reasons, including the imposition of both tariff and non-tariff
barriers by the consuming countries and their preference to source the cereal
from regional producers. For example, in the Philippines, which annually
imports about 2 million tonnes of rice, the Indian cereal faces a differential
duty structure, which makes it expensive compared to other ASEAN competitors
such as Thailand and Vietnam. Indian rice is subjected to a duty of 50 per cent
in the Philippines, while the Thai and Vietnamese origin rice attract a duty of
40 per cent. This higher duty makes the Indian rice uncompetitive in the
Philippines.
In the case of Malaysia, which
has an annual rice import market of 1 million tonnes, the South East Asian
nation prefers to buy the cereal from Pakistan over religious affinity. “Though
India imports over 3 million tonnes of palm oil and related products from
Malaysia, it is unfair that we get a raw deal from that nation when it comes to
rice,” sources said. Similarly in Indonesia, the complex tendering process
makes it tough for the private Indian players to participate.
China play
With regard to China, the largest
buyer of rice among the proposed RCEP members, with an estimated market size of
3 million tonnes, Indian exporters are yet to receive any major orders. Last
year, China had certified about 23 rice mills in India, including four
non-basmati rice producers.
Meanwhile, China has started
selling its old rice stocks in the African market, the stronghold of India, at
a lower price.
“We want the Centre to insist on
including rice as part of the RCEP deal as there is a possibility that attempts
are likely to be made by ASEAN members to exclude it, knowing fully well that
it is advantageous to us,” a source said.
Also, countries such as Japan and
South Korea present an opportunity for Indian exporters to explore. Japan is
currently importing all its rice requirements from the United States, while
South Korea has a duty of 513 per cent on rice imports.
Besides helping consolidate its
position in the global rice trade, the opening up of the RCEP market could help
rake in more foreign exchange and also trim the bulging stocks in the Central
pool, sources said. Unlike the African nations, which form the largest market
for Indian rice exports, the export realisations could be higher in the
ASEAN/RCEP bloc.
India’s rice production is on the
rise and touched a new high of 116.42 million tonnes in 2018-19. With surplus
rains aiding planting this year, output is likely to go up further. Moreover,
the rice stocks in the Central pool are at a record high of 24.91 million
tonnes as on October 1, ahead of the start of the procurement season.
According to the International
Grains Council, rice production in India is projected to be 115.5 million
tonnes for the 2019-20 October-September marketing year and consumption at
102.2 million tonnes. With an opening stock of 27.4 million tonnes, the total
rice availability is projected at 142.9million tonnes. IGC has projected Indian
rice exports for 2019-20 at 11.7 million tonnes.
New Paddy Rice Analysis Technology
Unites Image and Pressure Testing
Oct 24, 2019
PerkinElmer has launched the
PaddyCheckTM PC 6800, a rice quality testing platform designed to speed sample
throughput, increases accuracy and provides standardization of results for more
consistent classification.
Bringing together imaging and pressure technologies into one instrument and run, this automated, user-friendly technology delivers accurate results in five to ten minutes around key quality markers such as breakage and head rice yield (HRY). The new solution also eliminates the need for the traditional, labor-intensive step of paddy kernel husking and polishing prior to testing.
Part of PerkinElmer’s food analysis portfolio – which includes quality and safety solutions for grain, dairy, produce, meat and oils – the PaddyCheck platform is now available in China, with other markets to follow.
The PaddyCheck solution, part of PerkinElmer’s Perten® product line, includes a comprehensive analysis system that requires no specialized training to operate. It consists of three sensors that are simultaneously served kernels via a rotary sample tray which adjusts for paddy rice of different varieties such as brown, indica and japonica.
The three sensors include: a polarization camera that looks through each kernel to determine transparency; a visible camera that measures morphological parameters such as kernel length, width, and color; and a pressure sensor that applies a 17N force to determine thickness and hardness, uncovering any fissures or potential breakage issues.
Results are then displayed on an intuitive, menu-driven touchscreen and stored for future reference. Additional data and statistical analysis can be conducted with PerkinElmer’s Singulator PlusTM software, exclusively created for the PaddyCheck platform, that allows individual kernel images, kernel force curves and more to be viewed.
Further, the compact and portable design of the PaddyCheck platform enables in-field testing, with a battery pack supporting three hours of run time and eight hours of standby life.
“Rice is a key staple in people’s diets around the world and helping to ensure the quality of this mega-grain is important for the food industry and consumers,” said Greg Sears, vice president and general manager, Food and Organic Mass Spectrometry, PerkinElmer. “With the PaddyCheck platform, research institutes, rice traders and farmers can perform fast, objective and standardized analysis to help satisfy the increasing research and planting demands of the ever-growing global food chain.
Bringing together imaging and pressure technologies into one instrument and run, this automated, user-friendly technology delivers accurate results in five to ten minutes around key quality markers such as breakage and head rice yield (HRY). The new solution also eliminates the need for the traditional, labor-intensive step of paddy kernel husking and polishing prior to testing.
Part of PerkinElmer’s food analysis portfolio – which includes quality and safety solutions for grain, dairy, produce, meat and oils – the PaddyCheck platform is now available in China, with other markets to follow.
The PaddyCheck solution, part of PerkinElmer’s Perten® product line, includes a comprehensive analysis system that requires no specialized training to operate. It consists of three sensors that are simultaneously served kernels via a rotary sample tray which adjusts for paddy rice of different varieties such as brown, indica and japonica.
The three sensors include: a polarization camera that looks through each kernel to determine transparency; a visible camera that measures morphological parameters such as kernel length, width, and color; and a pressure sensor that applies a 17N force to determine thickness and hardness, uncovering any fissures or potential breakage issues.
Results are then displayed on an intuitive, menu-driven touchscreen and stored for future reference. Additional data and statistical analysis can be conducted with PerkinElmer’s Singulator PlusTM software, exclusively created for the PaddyCheck platform, that allows individual kernel images, kernel force curves and more to be viewed.
Further, the compact and portable design of the PaddyCheck platform enables in-field testing, with a battery pack supporting three hours of run time and eight hours of standby life.
“Rice is a key staple in people’s diets around the world and helping to ensure the quality of this mega-grain is important for the food industry and consumers,” said Greg Sears, vice president and general manager, Food and Organic Mass Spectrometry, PerkinElmer. “With the PaddyCheck platform, research institutes, rice traders and farmers can perform fast, objective and standardized analysis to help satisfy the increasing research and planting demands of the ever-growing global food chain.
Government eyes
tougher food safety rules for local, imported grains
October 25, 2019
The Philippines is inching closer
to implementing more stringent food safety measures for rice which will ensure
that the staple, whether locally produced or imported, does not contain heavy
metals and high levels of pesticides.
The proposed rules are also seen
by high-ranking government officials as a way of limiting rice imports that
have skyrocketed in recent months, according to sources privy to the matter.
A draft Department of Agriculture
(DA) memorandum circular (MC) seeks to impose more stringent requirements for
trading rice. The rules will cover heavy metal content, pesticide residue
level, extraneous and filth contaminants, as well as microbiological
parameters.
The draft MC, a copy of which was
obtained by the BusinessMirror, will put in place “food safety control measures
for milled rice that can be used to prevent or eliminate food safety hazard or
to reduce it to an acceptable level,” according to a DA presentation.
The MC also wants to protect the
public from “unsanitary, unwholesome, misbranded or adulterated food” and
“enhance industry and consumer confidence in the food safety regulatory system.”
“This is being done to ensure
food safety, especially since a lot of imported rice has entered the [domestic]
market,” the source told the BusinessMirror.
Once the draft MC is approved and
signed by the DA it shall be applied to both local and imported milled rice.
All rice stakeholders and food
business operators, including importers and exporters, are required to comply
with the guidelines under the draft MC once it is enforced.
Heavy metals
Under the draft MC, the
government would require rice sold in the market, be it locally produced or
imported, to comply with maximum level (ML) of heavy metals. These metals
include arsenic (for husked rice and polished rice), cadmium (polished rice),
and lead (cereal grains).
The draft MC would also enforce
the maximum residue limit (MRL) of pesticides in milled rice “for the first
time,” another source told the BusinessMirror.
The draft circular outlines rules
on extraneous material and filth contaminants, such as bukbok,
thumbtacks and wire staples in rice.
“To the extent possible in good
manufacturing practice, the product shall be free from objectionable matter,”
the draft MC read. “[It should not contain] a hard or sharp foreign object that
measures greater than or equal to 7 millimeters in length.”
Rice sold in the Philippines
would also be subjected to microbiological parameters to ensure that it is free
from microorganism “which may represent a hazard to health,”
according to the draft MC.
according to the draft MC.
The draft MC was presented
earlier this month to the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries.
However, PCAF stakeholders convinced the DA to defer the approval of the draft
MC so it could be subjected to further scrutiny.
The DA, according to sources,
initially wanted to approve it right away to limit the entry of rice imports
especially since farmers are now harvesting rice.
BPI requirement
The four food safety measures in
the draft MC shall be part of the requirements for rice importers who will
apply for sanitary and phytosanitary import-clearance (SPS-IC) from the Bureau
of Plant Industry.
Interested importers shall secure
a Certificate of Analysis (COA) containing compliance with the four
requirements from a “competent” authority or accredited laboratory from the
country of origin of the rice.
“The COA is in addition to the
existing quarantine pre-shipment and post-shipment SPS requirements for milled
rice,” the draft circular read.
“Importers shall ensure that the
pesticides found in the shipment are contained in the list of registered
pesticides for rice in the Philippines,” it added.
Further, the draft MC would
require a mandatory audit of the food control measures undertaken by existing
countries exporting rice to the Philippines.
“For existing country sources for
milled rice identified in Annex 1, the BPI will conduct an audit of the food
control measures in the country of origin to evaluate food safety from the
stage of production until the export of the commodity and/or into Philippine
port of entry,” it read.
The draft MC would also empower
the BPI to inspect “at any time” rice conveyances, storage, transport and other
handling facilities. This, according to the document, will be done to “ensure
that food hygiene and food safety measures are sufficient to prevent the
contamination of milled rice.”
As early as last month, DA
officials including Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar announced that the
government is looking at imposing more stringent food safety measures to limit
the entry of imports.
In a news briefing last Tuesday,
Dar disclosed that the BPI will inspect rice shipments bound to the Philippines
prior to loading to ensure that pertinent food safety guidelines are followed
before local importers are given SPS-ICs.
“The issuing institution or
agency would like to require that before they issue clearance, they want to see
the imported items from the port of origin. They can do that, which one of the
measures the BPI will do,” he said. “So that the rice entering the country are
really clean and free from foreign materials.”
RPT-ASIA
RICE-VIETNAM RATES HIT MULTI-MONTH PEAK ON ROBUST DEMAND FROM AFRICA, CUBA
10/24/2019
* Vietnamese rates rise to $350-$355/tonne from $350
* Indian rupee hits highest in over one-week
* Demand muted for Thai variety- traders
* Philippines may ease rice import restriction -Vietnamese trader
By Sumita Layek
BENGALURU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Vietnamese rice export prices rose
to a four-and-a-half-month high this week on healthy demand from Africa and
Cuba as supply remained scant, while a stronger rupee helped rates for Indian
variety recover from a four-month low.
Rates for Vietnam's benchmark 5% broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1>
rose to $350-$355 a tonne — a four-and-a-half month high — from $350 a tonne a
week earlier due to limited stockpiles.
"Supplies are running low while demand remains steady,
especially from Africa and also Cuba," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City
said.
The Vietnamese market could get a further fillip as the
Philippines, which accounts for 36% of total shipments from Vietnam, might be
considering easing its restrictions on rice imports soon, another trader said.
In September, prices for the Vietnamese variety had touched their
lowest in nearly 12 years at $325 per tonne.
In top exporter India, prices for the 5% broken parboiled variety
<RI-INBKN5-P1> rose to $368-$372 per tonne from $365-$370 a week ago.
The Indian rupee on Thursday hit its highest in more than a week,
reducing exporters' margins.
President of the Rice Exporters Association B. V. Krishna Rao,
however, said, "demand from African countries is still weak".
India's rice exports in August fell 29% year-on-year to 644,249
tonnes due to weak demand from African countries for non-basmati rice, among
other factors.
Neighbouring Bangladesh, meanwhile, has failed to secure any
overseas deals since a long-standing export ban was lifted in May, due to
cheaper rice from competitors.
"We are still looking for a market to export rice. India can
export rice at $370-390 per tonne while we are asking for at least $500,"
said Shah Alam Babu, president of Rice Exporters Association.
Prices in second biggest exporter Thailand's benchmark 5-percent
broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> rose to $396-$410 a tonne on Thursday from
$395-$400 last week.
Traders attributed the slight rise in prices to the changes in the
currency exchange rate.
"There has been very little change in demand and supply and
the strengthening of the baht has moved the price up slightly," a
Bangkok-based trader said.
A stronger baht has marred demand for the Thai variety for many
months now.
"If the baht weakens a little, we may be able to sell some
rice, but at the moment, Thai rice is just too expensive compared with
competitors," another rice trader said. (Reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi,
Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai;
editing by Arpan Varghese and Shinjini Ganguli)
Unconditional cash aid for rice farmers to go to worst-affected areas,
Finance department says
October 24, 2019 | 10:16 pm
THE government’s unconditional
cash transfer program for farmers will focus on those “most affected” by the
Rice Tariffication Law, with the assistance funded by excess collection from
rice tariffs, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.
Finance Secretary Carlos G.
Dominguez III told reporters late Wednesday that the Department of Agriculture
(DA) will compile a list of areas where farmers have been hardest-hit by
tariffication, which has liberalized rice imports and weakened the prices they
can obtain for their crops.
Agriculture Secretary William D.
Dar said that the program Mr. Dominguez is referring to is the P5,000 one-time
cash assistance program announced last week.
Mr. Dar has said that the cash
assistance will require P3 billion. The Rice Tariffication Law imposes tariffs
on imported rice — typically 35% for Southeast Asian grain — and the
collections support the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund for six years at
P10 billion a year. The cash transfer funds will be taken from excess over P10
billion, or after the government meets its RCEF funding obligations.
Mr. Dominguez said that the DA
will determine the “most affected farmers” as “not all farmers in the
Philippines were affected in the same way.”
“They’re still determining who
are the most affected farmers and determining how much they will provide
assistance to them. And quite frankly, not all farmers in the Philippines were
affected in the same way… The idea is to have those most affected farmers and
we will have the budget for it because we are going to be collecting more (from
rice tariffs),” he told reporters after the members of the Cabinet’s economic
development cluster met Wednesday.
He said that a governor from
Central Visayas “assured” him that farmgate palay prices there “have not
dropped,” while prices in Mindanao “seem to be holding up.”
The presence of large volumes of
rice imports has rendered traders reluctant to offer competitive prices to
domestic farmers, with the farmgate price for palay, or unmilled rice,
reportedly in the single digits in some provinces, well below the P19 per kilo
support price offered by the National Food Authority.
The government has collected P15
billion since March from rice tariffs, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
Monetary Board Member Bruce J. Tolentino said at a briefing on Monday.
Asked about the aborted
investigation into possible safeguard duties to protect farmers from imports,
Mr. Dominguez said Mr. Dar did not bring up the issue during the cluster
meeting.
“Apparently they don’t have
confidence in pushing this idea and maybe they don’t have all the numbers to
their satisfaction. So, we didn’t discuss it today,” he said.
“Decision-making has to be
data-driven. I’m sure the DA is looking at the data so we’ll certainly listen
to them, if and when they bring it back,” he added. — Beatrice M.
Laforga
https://www.bworldonline.com/unconditional-cash-aid-for-rice-farmers-to-go-to-worst-affected-areas-finance-department-says/
Economic managers thumb down safeguard duty on
rice
By: Ben O. de Vera - Reporter / @bendeveraINQ
Philippine Daily Inquirer /
05:28 AM October 25, 2019
The
country’s chief economist on Thursday said the plan by the Department of
Agriculture (DA) to impose special safeguard duties or additional tariffs on
rice—aimed at helping suffering palay farmers from the influx of imports—would
never happen.
Further
rubbing salt to the wound, the head of the Duterte administration’s economic
team said only “most affected” farmers would receive unconditional cash grants
as palay prices were relatively stable in some provinces.
“We in the
economic team objected to it [rice safeguard duty] already. That’s not going to
happen,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told the Inquirer
on the sidelines of the high-level meeting between the Philippine and Chinese
governments in Manila.
Pernia said:
“I actually told [Agriculture Secretary William] Dar it’s uncalled for,
especially this soon.”
For his
part, Monetary Board member V. Bruce J. Tolentino told reporters on Tuesday
that “any kind of additional tariff will kick prices up and add to inflation.”
On Wednesday
night, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters after their
Economic Development Cluster meeting that while the DA brought up the plan to
further hike rice import tariffs, the managers present did not move to discuss
it.
“Apparently,
they [the DA] don’t have the confidence in pushing this idea, and maybe they don’t
have all the numbers to their satisfaction so we didn’t discuss it today,”
Dominguez said.
“All of this
decision-making [on rice safeguard duty] has to be data-driven. I’m sure the DA
is looking at the data, so we’ll certainly listen to them if and when they
bring it [the proposal] back,” Dominguez added.
During
Wednesday’s EDC meeting, however, economic managers discussed how to provide
assistance to the domestic rice sector.
Dominguez
said the DA was “still determining who are the most affected farmers and
determining how much they will provide assistance to them.”
“Quite
frankly, not everybody, not all farmers in the Philippines were affected in the
same way. For instance, there’s a province in Central Visayas where the
governor assured me that prices haven’t dropped in that area. Also, the
statistics that we see in Mindanao showed that prices seem to be holding up
there,” he said.
If the
numbers would add up, the government would be ready to pump more into the Rice
Competitiveness Fund, beyond the P10 billion pool mandated by law to assist
farmers affected by the rice tariffication.
“It seems
that maybe some traders have taken advantage of the supply situation—maybe
that’s why palay prices are down. That’s why we have to see how we can assist
those farmers and, definitely, we are open to that idea,” the finance chief
said.
Crop diversification strategy eyed
THE Department of Agriculture
(DA) is crafting a national crop diversification program to support rice
farmers who face stiff competition from rice imports.
In a press conference for the
Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP) in Quezon City, Agriculture
Secretary William Dar said his department is working on the creation of this
program for rice farmers who could not cope with competition from rice exports,
particularly those who farm in lands not suitable for the crop’s production.
Although RCEP will get P10
billion in funding in the next six years to make the country’s rice farmers
more competitive, it may not be able to cover all of cultivators of the crop.
“There are ecosystems now being
utilized for rice production today na hindi talaga akma (that are not really
appropriate) for rice production, and these are the areas that crop
diversification program will be supporting,” he said.
“Presently, we are now crafting
the crop diversification program that will help present rice farmers who will
not continue planting rice in ecosystems that are not really suitable for rice
production to go into other crop production like vegetable crops,” Dar added.
Also, crop diversification refers
to the addition of new crops or cropping systems to agricultural production on
a particular farm, taking into account the different returns from value-added
crops with complementary marketing opportunities.
Some of the benefits of crop
diversification include increased revenue, creation of new markets and improved
rural communities.
According to the United Nations’
Food and Agriculture Organization, crop diversification could also produce
agronomic benefits in terms of better pest management and soil quality, among
other things. Thus, diversified cropping systems contribute to climate smart
agriculture, which countries may adopt as part of their strategies for
adaptation against extreme weather events.
Buhari and the Kenke War, By Azu Ishiekwene
October 24, 2019 2019-10-24T11:52:15+00:00
We’re hurting, too; but to
continue to abandon our borders to criminal gangs and sub-regional opportunism
is not only hurting us; it is also threatening to kill us. Yet, every Charley
knows that kenke, however desirable, is only for the living.
Ghanaian traders appear to have reached their wit’s end. Two months after Abuja ordered the closure of Nigeria’s western land border, traders in Accra are calling for a boycott of Nigerian products and also, asking their government to retaliate.
Ghanaians may find it difficult to believe that this is not a
war on kenke, shito or banku. But it’s not. When the Nigerian government
announced temporary closure of parts of its land border in August, it was a
desperate act of survival and self-preservation that was long overdue.
Nigeria had been hemorrhaging for years, troubled both by its
own insatiable appetite for what it does not produce and also by the complicity
of some of its Customs officials who collude with smugglers to exploit the
situation. Our self-inflicted misery was coming in a handcart and it was just a
matter of time before the toll would become unbearable.
By the time President Muhammadu Buhari gave the hint of the
border closure at the sidelines of a meeting in Japan with Benin president,
Patrice Talon, the gains of the government’s agricultural self-sufficiency
programme in the last five years were leaking so profusely through the borders
that Nigeria was at the risk of becoming the biggest importer of rice by the
end of 2019, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
The Ghanaian protesters and banner-mongers across the border may
not have been looking but our immediate neighbours, the Beninoise, know what
this is all about. Benin Republic is a country with roughly five per cent of
Nigeria’s population, which has grown from nearly zero to the world’s largest
importer of rice in the last few years.
According to figures by the Thailand Rice Exporters Association,
Benin has been importing between 1.4 million and 1.8 million metric tons (MT)
of rice in the last five years, topping China and India. If wealth was measured
in per capita import of rice, Benin would be the gold standard.
Yet, the bulk of the rice imported by the government in Cotonou
is not for the domestic population of about 12 million people. Over the years,
the government has weaponised the staple by exploiting our insatiable taste for
foreign goods, especially rice and poultry, with help from corrupt border
agencies. Killing Nigeria with rice and poultry has become the official policy
of our ECOWAS neighbours.
Talon and his predecessors in Cotonou cannot claim that they
don’t know what is happening at the Seme border because they have built an
economy that thrives on smuggling at Nigeria’s expense.
While rice smuggling is perhaps the biggest business in the
sub-region, other products from petrol to cars and other consumer goods are
also smuggled in and out of Nigeria through the Seme/Idi Iroko border. The
porous borders have also become conduits for illegal arms.
Should temporary closure become
a substitute for policy then? No. But the closure should not be lifted before
we have in place a system that will drastically reduce smuggling across our
western border and potentially see how the benefits can be replicated on other
land border fronts. And that shouldn’t take too long.
I’ve heard the argument that border closure is crude, old-fashioned and futile. What is the point in closing your borders when you cannot produce the goods you’re shutting out or when you do not have plans to encourage local substitutes? Why shutter when you have signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement or the ECOWAS protocol on the free movement of goods and persons?
Well, maybe this adversity will help us look inwards more
seriously. As for the second part, I’m not sure Nigeria or any of the
signatories signed up for neighbours to swamp them with rice or tokunbo
vehicles or to have their essential products smuggled by organised criminal
gangs, sometimes with the backing of neighbouring countries.
Free trade ought to mean fair trade, too. For all his
shenanigans – and God knows they are legion – I sometimes sympathise with U.S.
President Donald Trump when he takes a tough position on trade against Mexico
and China on the grounds that some World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules are
rigged against his country. If Americans, the high priests of free trade, look
out for their own country’s interest, we can and should do no less.
Should temporary closure become a substitute for policy then?
No. But the closure should not be lifted before we have in place a system that
will drastically reduce smuggling across our western border and potentially see
how the benefits can be replicated on other land border fronts. And that
shouldn’t take too long.
It’s not unlikely that with inflation up by 1.3 per cent from
its September level of 11.2 per cent, and with Christmas not too far away, the
government will be under pressure to re-open the border. It should resist the
temptation. If the price of a more secure land border is closure beyond one
Christmas season, it’s well worth it.
If neighbouring countries are really interested in solving the
problem, this is time to do so – while the border is closed. And by
neighbouring countries I’m not talking about Benin alone – which appears to be
the worst affected. It’s also time for an ECOWAS-wide review of smuggling in
the sub-region.
It’s not a coincidence that two ECOWAS countries – Benin and
Cote d’Ivoire – are among the top five importers of rice in the world from
Thailand. They have profited from our misery for too long and we can’t pretend
that it doesn’t matter anymore.
There’s the danger that Customs boss, Hameed Ali, might get so
used to the windfall from the closure that he would be tempted to delay the
reopening indefinitely, without planning to find a permanent solution to the
problem as quickly as possible.
Since he has acknowledged that bad eggs in the Service have made
matters worse, he must root them out and optimise the use of technology. The
more prolonged the delay without plans for a more permanent solution, the
greater the tendency that those managing the temporary success would subvert it
for their personal gains.
Any government seriously
interested in steering genuine importers away from the porous and ungoverned
land borders must tackle the situation at the ports head-on.
The situation at the nation’s major sea ports – especially the Lagos port, which handles about 70 per cent of the seaport traffic – is a disgrace. Any government seriously interested in steering genuine importers away from the porous and ungoverned land borders must tackle the situation at the ports head-on.
From the time cargo arrives at the Tin Can Island port,
assessment to terminal delivery order takes about eight stages, sometimes
fraught with uncertainty, frustrating delays and red tape that often requires
bribes to cut through. The scanners that could have made things faster, cheaper
and more transparent have all broken down and those profiting from the
breakdown appear not to be in any hurry to fix them.
To make matters worse, the nightmare that awaits the importer or
businessman along the Apapa/Oshodi expressway will make him think that
smugglers are doing the country a favour.
Smugglers thrive because there is a market that sustains them.
And that market has grown and flourished because unnecessary bottlenecks and
corruption at our ports have transformed Cotonou from a transit to final
destination port where duties are, at best, optional or at worst, completely
evaded.
It’s the government’s business to fix the system and to create
policies and incentives that would substantially reduce smuggling.
Anyone who has been following the Ghanaian or Nigerien
protesters in the last week or so, would be forgiven to think that Nigeria was
enforcing autarky.
We’re hurting, too; but to continue to abandon our borders to
criminal gangs and sub-regional opportunism is not only hurting us; it is also
threatening to kill us. Yet, every Charley knows that kenke, however desirable,
is only for the living.
Musa Adede @ 65
He was one of the few truly distinguished men and women who
inspired serious debate at the Senate between 1999 and 2003. Here is an early
goodwill message for Senator Musa Adede as he turns 65 on Sunday, October 27.
Azu Ishiekwene is
the managing director/editor-in-chief of The Interview and member of the Board of the Paris-based Global Editors
Network.
Buhari and the
Kenke War
October 24
Ghanaian traders appear to have reached their wit’s end. Two
months after Abuja ordered the closure of Nigeria’s western land border,
traders in Accra are calling for a boycott of Nigerian products and also,
asking their government to retaliate.
Ghanaians may find it difficult to believe that this is not a war
on kenke, shito or banku. But it’s not. When the Nigerian government announced
temporary closure of parts of its land border in August, it was a desperate act
of survival and self-preservation that was long overdue.
Nigeria had been hemorrhaging for
years, troubled both by its own insatiable appetite for what it does not
produce and also by the complicity of some of its Customs officials who collude
with smugglers to exploit the situation. Our self-inflicted misery was coming
in a handcart and it was just a matter of time before the toll would become
unbearable.
By the time President Muhammadu
Buhari gave the hint of the border closure at the sidelines of a meeting in
Japan with Benin President Patrice Talon, the gains of the government’s
agricultural self-sufficiency programme in the last five years were leaking so
profusely through the borders that Nigeria was at the risk of becoming the
biggest importer of rice by the end of 2019, according to the US Department of
Agriculture.
The Ghanaian protesters and
banner-mongers across the border may not have been looking but our immediate
neighbors, the Beninoise, know what this is all about. Benin Republic is a
country with roughly five percent of Nigeria’s population which has grown from
nearly zero to the world’s largest importer of rice in the last few years.
According to figures by the
Thailand Rice Exporters Association, Benin has been importing between 1.4m and
1.8m MT of rice in the last five years, topping China and India. If wealth was
measured in per capita import of rice, Benin would be the gold standard.
Yet, the bulk of the rice imported
by the government in Cotonou is not for the domestic population of about
12million. Over the years, the government has weaponised the staple by
exploiting our insatiable taste for foreign goods, especially rice and poultry,
with help from corrupt border agencies. Killing Nigeria with rice and poultry
has become the official policy of our Ecowas neighbours.
Talon and his predecessors in
Cotonou cannot claim that they don’t know what is happening at the Seme border
because they have built an economy that thrives on smuggling at Nigeria’s expense.
While rice smuggling is perhaps the
biggest business in the sub-region, other products from petrol to cars and
other consumer goods are also smuggled in and out of Nigeria through the
Seme/Idiroko border. The porous borders have also become conduits for illegal
arms.
I’ve heard the argument that border
closure is crude, old-fashioned and futile. What is the point in closing your
borders when you cannot produce the goods you’re shutting out or when you do
not have plans to encourage local substitutes? Why shutter when you have signed
up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement or the Ecowas protocol on
free movement of goods and persons?
Well, maybe this adversity will
help us look inwards more seriously. As for the second part, I’m not sure Nigeria
or any of the signatories signed up for neighbors to swamp them with rice or
tokunbo vehicles or to have their essential products smuggled by organised
criminal gangs, sometimes with the backing of neighbouring countries.
Free trade ought to mean fair
trade, too. For all his shenanigans – and God knows they are legion – I
sometimes sympathise with US President Donald Trump when he takes a tough
position on trade against Mexico and China on the grounds that some WTO rules
are rigged against his country. If Americans, the high priests of free trade,
look out for their own country’s interest, we can and should do no less.
Should temporary closure become a
substitute for policy then? No. But the closure should not be lifted before we
have in place a system that will drastically reduce smuggling across our
western border and potentially see how the benefits can be replicated on other
land border fronts. And that shouldn’t take too long.
It’s not unlikely that with
inflation up by 1.3 percent from its September level of 11.2 percent, and with
Christmas not too far away, the government will be under pressure to re-open
the border. It should resist the temptation. If the price of a more secure land
border is closure beyond one Christmas season, it’s well worth it.
If neighbouring countries are
really interested in solving the problem this is time to do so – while the
border is closed. And by neighbouring countries I’m not talking about Benin
alone – which appears to be the worst affected. It’s also time for an Ecowas-wide
review of smuggling in the sub-region.
It’s not a coincidence that two
Ecowas countries – Benin and Cote d’Ivoire – are among the top five importers
of rice in the world from Thailand. They have profited from our misery for too
long and we can’t pretend that it doesn’t matter anymore.
There’s the danger that Customs
boss, Hameed Ali, might get so used to the windfall from the closure that he
would be tempted to delay the reopening indefinitely without planning to find a
permanent solution to the problem as quickly as possible.
Since he has acknowledged that bad
eggs in the Service have made matters worse, he must root them out and optimise
the use of technology. The more prolonged the delay without plans for a more
permanent solution, the greater the tendency that those managing the temporary
success would subvert it for their personal gains.
The situation at the nation’s major
sea ports – especially the Lagos port, which handles about 70 percent of the
seaport traffic – is a disgrace. Any government seriously interested in
steering genuine importers away from the porous and ungoverned land borders
must tackle the situation at the ports head-on.
From the time cargo arrives at the
Tin Can Island port, assessment to terminal delivery order takes about eight
stages, sometimes fraught with uncertainty, frustrating delays and red tape
that often requires bribes to cut through. The scanners that could have made
things faster, cheaper and more transparent have all broken down and those
profiting from the breakdown appear not to be in any hurry to fix them.
To make matters worse, the
nightmare that awaits the importer or businessman along the Apapa/Oshodi
expressway will make him think that smugglers are doing the country a favour.
Smugglers thrive because there is a
market that sustains them. And that market has grown and flourished because
unnecessary bottlenecks and corruption at our ports have transformed Cotonou
from transit to final destination port where duties are, at best, optional or
at worst, completely evaded.
It’s the government’s business to
fix the system and to create policies and incentives that would substantially
reduce smuggling.
Anyone who has been following the
Ghanaian or Nigerien protesters in the last week or so, would be forgiven to
think that Nigeria was enforcing autarky.
We’re hurting, too; but to continue
to abandon our borders to criminal gangs and sub-regional opportunism is not
only hurting us; it is also threatening to kill us. Yet, every Charley knows
that kenke, however desirable, is only for the living.
Musa Adede @ 65
He was one of the few truly
distinguished men and women who inspired serious debate at the senate between
1999 and 2003. Here is an early goodwill message for Senator Musa Adede as he
turns 65 on Sunday, October 27.
FacebookTwitterTelegram
Anuga
2019: A Century Old and Still "Tasting the Future"
By Sarah Moran
COLOGNE, GERMANY -- Earlier this month, USA Rice
exhibited at 2019 Anuga, the largest bi-annual foodshow in the world.
This year marked the 100-year anniversary of the tradeshow that attracts more
than 170,000 attendees and 7,590 exhibitors from 106 countries.
Located in the USA National Pavilion, the USA Rice booth was a focal point for visitors from Europe, as well as the Middle East, Africa, and other parts of the world. USA Rice members joined USA Rice staff collecting trade leads and touching base with existing trade contacts.
"Anuga is an important meeting place for rice traders not only from the EU, but also from the Middle East area," said Derek Alarcon, Farmers' Rice Cooperative director of export sales, who attended the show. "It provides a great opportunity to generate new contacts, as well as meet with existing clients and collect valuable market intelligence."
A welcome visitor to the USA Rice booth was USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Ken Isley, who stopped by to talk with members and learn about the promotion work USA Rice conducts throughout the region.
"A big draw enticing visitors to our booth were the graphics highlighting the U.S. industry's sustainability efforts," said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice marketing program director. "Thanks to all the important work our farmers do across the three pillars of sustainability - environmental, economic, and social - we had a good story to tell here."
After the successful conclusion of Anuga, USA Rice has already started prepping for the next big tradeshow in the region, the Gulfood show that takes place in Dubai, February 16-20, 2020.
Located in the USA National Pavilion, the USA Rice booth was a focal point for visitors from Europe, as well as the Middle East, Africa, and other parts of the world. USA Rice members joined USA Rice staff collecting trade leads and touching base with existing trade contacts.
"Anuga is an important meeting place for rice traders not only from the EU, but also from the Middle East area," said Derek Alarcon, Farmers' Rice Cooperative director of export sales, who attended the show. "It provides a great opportunity to generate new contacts, as well as meet with existing clients and collect valuable market intelligence."
A welcome visitor to the USA Rice booth was USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Ken Isley, who stopped by to talk with members and learn about the promotion work USA Rice conducts throughout the region.
"A big draw enticing visitors to our booth were the graphics highlighting the U.S. industry's sustainability efforts," said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice marketing program director. "Thanks to all the important work our farmers do across the three pillars of sustainability - environmental, economic, and social - we had a good story to tell here."
After the successful conclusion of Anuga, USA Rice has already started prepping for the next big tradeshow in the region, the Gulfood show that takes place in Dubai, February 16-20, 2020.
USA RICE
Ancient
Chinese Buildings Are Held Together With Rice, Sugar, and Blood
Edible additives in mortar served both practical and
philosophical purposes.
MAY 6, 2019
Ancient Chinese Buildings Are Held Together
With Rice, Sugar, and Blood
In This Story
China
A section of the Great Wall, in Yanqing County,
contains mortar made with blood. OLEKSANDR
RUPETA/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
THE CITY WALL OF NANJING, built 600 years ago, was the first line of defense for the
founding capital of the Ming dynasty. Originally 22 miles long, it was built
with 350 million bricks, most of which have survived centuries of weathering.
In 2010, intrigued by the wall’s sturdy composition, a team of Chinese
researchers analyzed mortar samples from one section. The secret ingredient turned out
to be humble sticky rice, a staple of Chinese cuisine.
This use of gummy grains as an
adhesive is not entirely surprising. For thousands of years, Chinese builders
mixed sticky rice, or glutinous rice, with lime mortar to assemble structures
across the country, including city walls, pagodas, bridges, and tombs. Cooked
rice was first boiled into a paste, then blended with sand and lime, a
substance produced by heating limestone. According to researchers Yan-Bing Luo
and Yu-Jie Zhang of Sichuan University, this starchy concoction “holds important
status and value in Chinese architectural history.” Because of its strength and low porosity, they refer to it as
“Chinese concrete.”
Scientists have long been
fascinated with this unusual formula, and in recent years, different teams have
conducted studies to better understand it. Researchers Jiajia Li and Bingjian
Zhang spent six years collecting 378 samples of ancient mortar from 159 sites
throughout China, dating from the Taosi phase (2300-1900 BC) all the way to the
late Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Their numerous chemical tests found that 219
mortars from 96 locations had “organic components”—that is, small traces of
starch, protein, brown sugar, blood, and oil. These mixtures have helped preserve
much of China’s built landscape. As the researchers write, “the quality of
mortar used in construction has played an important role in determining
monument durability.”
Parts of Nanjing’s city wall are held together with
sticky rice mortar. ZHANG PENG/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
A New Cookbook
Traces the Surprising Histories of Famous Dishes
One notable sample, from a
2000-year-old tomb in Jiangsu province, turned up what the researchers say is
the oldest known trace of sticky rice mortar. (A separate study identified an
earlier use, dating to three thousand years ago.) While the researchers
don’t know the recipe’s origin story, they determined that by the Tang dynasty
(816-907), rice was often used to improve construction. By the Song and Ming
dynasties, both periods of extensive architectural activity, this unique mortar
was prevalent, especially in the foundations of important buildings.
Sticky rice is sweet, and
augments savory dishes such as zongzi, pyramids of rice and
fillings neatly wrapped in leaves, or tang yuan, a sweet soup with rice
dumplings. It is also waxy—a texture that comes from the polysaccharide
amylopectin, which gives the rice a denser microstructure. Mixed with lime
mortar, the grains boost compressive strength, helping walls bear loads without
fracturing. They are also highly water resistant, which protects buildings
against erosion.
Mortar samples from halls and the
garden of the famed Forbidden City, built in the 15th century, tested positive
for the starch. So did sections of the Great Wall of China, which was largely
restored during the Ming dynasty. But one sample from the Wall, where it runs
through Yanqing County, contained a less common ingredient: animal blood, which
showed up in just five sites.
Researchers found sugar in the mortar of Suzhou’s
Tiger Hill Pagoda. SIYUWJ/CC BY-SA 4.0
Animal blood might sound like a
grisly substance for building walls, but it was a perfectly normal additive
used by several cultures. Historical recipes written in French, Italian, and
English have detailed ways to mix oxblood and lime mortars. In China, builders
used pig blood to improve the consistency of their mortar, according to a 2014 study. It is also easily available,
resulting in diverse regional dishes such as pork blood soup and pig blood
curd.
Many other organic additives
favored by the Chinese helped repel water. Li and Zhang found oil samples from
87 sites, which they believe to be tung oil, a common waterproof seal for
wooden ships. Another, egg white, is not only water resistant but also improves
the viscosity of mortar. (Eggs whites were also used as a paint binder to color
the famous Terracotta Army.) Researchers have found that brown sugar, too,
reduces water content in mortars, enhancing their strength. According to ancient
literature, sucrose was often used to build forts and homes in eastern and
southeastern China.
These mortars were also likely
invented out of necessity. In distant Rome, the secret ingredient of concrete
was volcanic ash, which improved the durability of
lime mortar and enabled it to set underwater. Similar mortars made with
volcanic ash were adopted throughout Europe and western Asia; however, volcanic
ash was not available in ancient China. Instead, engineers would have used
their own regional ingredients to create distinctive building materials. Other
innovative mortars have similarly developed out of convenience, from a church
in the Philippines made of egg whites to a Brazilian chapel
held together by wine.
Whether used for pyramid-shaped zongzi or
rice mortar, glutinous rice serves many purposes. NATASHA
BREEN/REDA&CO/UIG/GETTY IMAGES
Great design is often the result
of thinking beyond form and function. Philosophy, the researchers posit, might
be one poetic inspiration for these fusion pastes. “Ancient Chinese people
advocated a view of nature often termed ‘heaven-and-human oneness,’” Li and
Zhang write. “The use of agricultural, forestry, and animal products in
building materials reflected architectural aesthetics that sought to integrate
architecture and nature.”
Incredibly, structures built with
sticky rice mortar have survived more than natural erosion. A Ming tomb, of the
minister Xu Pu and his wife, was nearly damaged by a bulldozer when found in
1978, but it was “so firm [the vehicle] could do nothing about it,” according
to a 2009 paper. Its three authors describe another
near-miracle: in 1604, when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake shook the port city of
Quanzhou, many temples, stupas, and bridges were not destroyed. Instead, sticky
rice mortar kept their foundations firmly secured.
Although clearly effective, these
revolutionary adhesives fell out of fashion in the late Qing dynasty. Li and
Zhang note that China’s first cement factory opened in 1889 in Hebei province,
and this inorganic binder gradually filled the role of composite mortars.
Samples of mortar from the Forbidden City also
contained starch. PETERFUCHS/CC BY-SA 2.0
But researchers still see
potential in these ancient formulas, especially to stabilize historical sites.
Cement is detrimental to conservation work, writes Dr. Gaetano Palumbo, an
archaeologist with the University College London. It “contains high quantities
of salts and is incompatible (being too strong and rigid) with
traditional lime-based mortars.” In China, restorers
successfully used sticky rice-lime mortars to mend ancient structures, such as
the single-arch Shouchang Bridge from the Song dynasty.
One group of conservationists is
combining the timeworn technology of sticky rice with relatively new
nanotechnology to develop an innovative treatment for historical sites. “This
is an original and ecologic application that can be used to repair any
lime-based structure, such as limestone or a lime mortar,” says Jorge Otero, a
researcher with the Getty Conservation Institute. His team is still testing the
durability of their materials, but the capabilities of the ancient grain are
evident. Soon, glutinous rice may glue together historical buildings around the
world.
Gastro Obscura covers the world’s most wondrous food and drink.
Customs seize 3,529 bags of rice in Niger
Some seized bags of rice and other items
Enyioha Opara,Minna
The Niger State Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has
seized 3,529 bags of smuggled rice into the country, with duty of N62,159,700
paid.
The Area Controller in charge of the command, Abba-Kassin Yusuf,
stated this in an interview with journalists in Minna on Thursday.
He said at the command office in Minna that a diesel tanker with
number plate, RBC 05ZS, suspected to be concealing imported foreign rice yet to
be examined, was seized.
He said, “The command initiated new anti-smuggling strategies
which led to remarkable exploits evidenced in the seizures of various items.
“We apprehended one DAF truck diesel tanker with number plate,
RBC 05ZS, concealing imported rice; a DAF truck diesel tanker with number
plate, MNA 893 XV, loaded with 950 bags of imported rice.”
“We seized nine bales of used clothes, four Toyota Corolla
conveying cumulatively a total of 135 bags of 50kg imported rice. Another 397
50kg imported bags of rice hidden within the forests were also seized.”
The controller stated that the seizures were made at different
locations within the command’s area of coverage this month.
He, however, noted that some Nigerians still remain unrepentant
in the illegal business of smuggling
“The seizure of the diesel tanker should send a serious signal
to these recalcitrant saboteurs of the Nigerian economy that there is no hiding
place. We are determined to beat all their concealment patterns with our
superior intelligence network,” he added.
Yusuf explained that the strategies put in place to free the
command of illegal goods, were yielding good result.
He said, “We are more determined than ever to make the command
uncomfortable for the economic saboteurs, as the command will henceforth beam
its searchlights on the trucks plying Niger and Kogi area commands.
“We are keen on implementing the federal government policy of
encouraging home-grown rice farmers, as it will not only create jobs for our
teeming unemployed youths, but will also improve the nation’s economy.”
The controller gave assurance that his men would remain
committed to ending the scourge of smuggling.
Customs seizes 3,529 bags of foreign rice
worth N62m in Niger
October 24, 2019
By
The Controller of the Nigeria
Customs Service, Niger/Kogi Area Command, Yusuf Abba-Kassim on Thursday said
the command has apprehended and seized 3,529 bags of rice with duty paid value
of N62,159,700.
He said also while addressing
journalists at the Command office in Minna that, a diesel tanker with
registration Number RBC 05ZS suspected to be concealing imported foreign rice
yet to be examined was seized.
According to him: “In keeping to the
promise of the command initiated new anti-smuggling strategies which led to
remarkable exploits evidenced in the seizures various items.
“We apprehended one DAF truck
diesel tanker (six tyres) with registration number RBC 05ZS concealing imported
rice yet to be examined. DAF truck diesel tanker (ten tyres) with registration
number MNA 893 XV loaded with nine hundred and fifty (950) bags of imported
rice.”
He added that “We seized nine bales
of used clothes, four Toyota Corolla conveying cumulatively a total of 135 bags
of 50kg imported rice. Another 397 50kg imported bags of rice hidden within the
forests by smugglers.”
The Controller stated that the
seizures were made at different locations within the Command’s area of coverage
all in the month of October, 2019.
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/10/customs-seizes-3529-bags-of-foreign-rice-worth-n62m-in-niger/
Climate
change forces drastic lifestyle changes
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 24 2019
Karoli Ssemogerere
In Summary
· Food regulators must think of preserving prime food for their local
populations. In 2019, it came off as a big embarrassment that the Kenyans were
exporting Grade A fish from their overfished tiny portion of Lake Victoria to
China and importing pond fed fish from China.
· Struck down abuses. The
Pakistanis are fleeing to vegetables, for example, as they can no longer afford
meat.
By Karoli Ssemogerere
The last instalment of rain for 2019/2020 have
arrived nearly on time, throwing the farming communities in a frenzy. Rain is
the lifeline of most perennial crops, sugarcane, coffee and cocoa. Efficient
annuals, maize, legumes and lastly vegetables - all thrive in high rainfall. If
the rain holds up, it will end the dry spell that has bedevilled southwest
Uganda for more than a year now.
The rest of the news from the farming world is
mixed. Rainfall totals are dropping in most parts of the country affecting
yields. The government has proposed irrigation as the panacea to water
shortages, a risky if not death sentence to farming communities.
Drilling for water targets the water table, the
water bank that nourishes springs, brooks. Drilling for water also thins
surface water sources. It is possible that communities that are dammed
extensively and are implementing irrigation are the same ones experiencing
scorched earth conditions.
In the Caribbean, desert-like conditions emerged from nowhere, turning once rich dark soils into granules of sand in a short time. The Caribbean famously grows fresh vegetables for the United States, especially asparagus, broccoli and cucumber.
In the Caribbean, desert-like conditions emerged from nowhere, turning once rich dark soils into granules of sand in a short time. The Caribbean famously grows fresh vegetables for the United States, especially asparagus, broccoli and cucumber.
It is doubtful very few farmers can afford to
go through the rigorous procedure of applying for a surface water extraction
permit managed by the Directorate of Water Development. As 2020 beckons, the
world is waking up to serious substantial nutrition problems. First is lower
disease resistance due to poor feeding habits. Many countries trapped in an
inflationary spiral, low growth, flat incomes are seeing a collapse in meat
consumption.
The Pakistanis are fleeing to vegetables, for example, as they can no longer afford meat. Grade A beef in Uganda jumped from up from Shs11,000 to Shs16,000 per kg in 2018/2019. Chicken whose demand is partly seasonal rose from Shs11,000 to Shs15,000 to Shs17,000 for a broiler.
The Pakistanis are fleeing to vegetables, for example, as they can no longer afford meat. Grade A beef in Uganda jumped from up from Shs11,000 to Shs16,000 per kg in 2018/2019. Chicken whose demand is partly seasonal rose from Shs11,000 to Shs15,000 to Shs17,000 for a broiler.
Now the shocker even before talking about pork,
peas are right where beef was at Shs11,000 per kilo and fresh beans not far
behind atShs7,000 per kilo. Dry beans have risen sharply from Shs2,500 a kilo
to Shs4,000 a kilo.
The African farmer, long a beneficiary of EU largesse, is seeing a lot of stress from cheap imports. Local supermarkets in Kampala are importing fruits from South Africa, oranges from Swaziland, chicken and onions from the EU. A feature in Cameroon estimates that landed cost for some of these items are 30 per cent less than domestically produced food. African countries in exchange for access to EU and SADCC markets have been forced to open up their domestic markets starting in 2019 in order to retain low tariff access to these markets.
The African farmer, long a beneficiary of EU largesse, is seeing a lot of stress from cheap imports. Local supermarkets in Kampala are importing fruits from South Africa, oranges from Swaziland, chicken and onions from the EU. A feature in Cameroon estimates that landed cost for some of these items are 30 per cent less than domestically produced food. African countries in exchange for access to EU and SADCC markets have been forced to open up their domestic markets starting in 2019 in order to retain low tariff access to these markets.
Nigeria is importing more cut flowers, pizza
from the UK while exporting its last trees as charcoal. Apparently its native
trees flavour the meet differently compared to cheaper charcoal from countries
like Poland, which are earning a fortune from planted timber. Flowers far from
being a symbol of affluence communicate the opposite. People like to feel good
about themselves. Unless government does something to protect shea butter trees
in northern Uganda, it will lose some of the feel good income from shea butter
whose quality is much better than that from West Africa.
Food regulators must think of preserving prime
food for their local populations. In 2019, it came off as a big embarrassment
that the Kenyans were exporting Grade A fish from their overfished tiny portion
of Lake Victoria to China and importing pond fed fish from China.
Travellers to Masaka cross Lukaya (Kalungu), the parliamentary seat of the Minister of Agriculture in the middle of the Katonga estuary. In 2019, Parliament tried and failed to protect “Lwera” from an attack of rice production. You would think you are in the Chinese villages, Zhiyang Rice Millers, even a famous pastor Kakande is in on the game. This false economy on the environment is a hazard.
Travellers to Masaka cross Lukaya (Kalungu), the parliamentary seat of the Minister of Agriculture in the middle of the Katonga estuary. In 2019, Parliament tried and failed to protect “Lwera” from an attack of rice production. You would think you are in the Chinese villages, Zhiyang Rice Millers, even a famous pastor Kakande is in on the game. This false economy on the environment is a hazard.
Mr Ssemogerere is an
Attorney-at-Law
and an Advocate. kssemoge@gmail.com
and an Advocate. kssemoge@gmail.com
The economics of the rice
conversation: Between a rock and a hard place
Following the closure of the Nigerian land borders by the Federal
Government in a bid to curb excessive smuggling into the country, its apex
bank; the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a recent statement urged the Rice
Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) and other players in the rice value
chain to refrain from ‘inordinate’ hiking of rice price.
Since the shutdown of the border in
August, the cost of a 50kg bag of rice in the retail consumer segment has
skyrocketed by over 40%, from N15,000 to N22,000. A key component of the bank’s
statement as rendered by its governor; Godwin Emefiele was that the border
closure policy was implemented to enhance the developmental process of the
Nigerian economy – a critical piece being Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in rice
production.
The aforementioned signifies that
Nigeria would be able to cater for current rice demands by bridging production
deficits and improving the overall growth trajectory of the sector. It is
pertinent to note that rice is the most consumed food staple in the country and
is somewhat a ‘political crop.
Though rice consumers remain
skeptical at the level of supply from Nigerian Rice millers, the RIPAN
chairman, Hon. Abubakar Maifata has assured the stakeholders of the Industry
that all members of the association are doing their absolute best to make sure
production of rice is maximized and supply to the various markets of the
country is maintained to the best of their abilities.
Beaming a searchlight on the
practicality of accession, the realities of the sector are such that rice
producers and processors will keep falling short should they attempt to rein in
their cost of production for ‘affordable’ pricing.
For one, the current ban on NPK
15-15-15 is impacting not only farm yields but also costs. Blended fertilizers
are more costly and those that use DAP/MAP increase the iron content in the
already high iron toxic soils, a development that adversely impacts farm
performance and yields over a long period. As things stand, NPK prices have
increased from N6000 per bag to N8500 per bag.
The CEO of Fullmark Group, Mr.
Sriram Venkateswaran while speaking at the recently concluded Feed Nigeria
Summit also revealed that Nigeria’s paddy (unprocessed rice) is the most
expensive in the world, another indication that without a level playing field,
price equity is at best an illusion.
The current price of Paddy that a
Nigerian Rice Miller has to buy is at best between N 135-140k which is
about 70% higher than the major rice producing countries in the world. In order
to be competitive with the top rice producing countries, our Millers need to be
able to buy paddy in the range of N 100 – 105k maximum and have same delivered
to their Mills.
An often ignored fact and one that
barely gets put in the paddy and rice conversation is as follows. One ton of
paddy gives you the following-Packed rice 60%,mix brokens,6.5%,Rejects
2.5%,Bran 7% and Husk 24%..The paddy comes with 6-8% impurities like chaff,
stones, sands and other particles and what this means invariably is that
paddy you buy from the market is always 6-8% more costly than the price
quoted as you buy these impurities as well. Every sector has its economics be
it Aviation, Telecoms, Power and as such those realities must be factored in to
get the appropriate pricing.
Another area of concern is the
production capacity of the sector. Between 2015 and 2019, Nigeria’s rice
production increased from 3.9million metric tonnes to 4.9million. Demand
however still outweighs supply as Nigeria currently consumes almost 7 million
metric tonnes of rice per year.If the law of demand and supply which is a
fundamental economic principle holds any water, it then becomes natural to
expect an increase in price, where demand exceeds supply. While it is tempting
to view re-opening of the borders as a viable means of escaping this quagmire,
we would only have succeeded in trading more holistic solutions for temporary
succour, particularly now that alternative smuggling routes are being
discovered.
As a result of the President
Muhammadu Buhari led administration’s 70% tariffs and levies on rice
importation also aimed at boosting production and consumption of local rice,
would-be importers with access to cheap paddy have taken to massive smuggling
of rice into the country -all thanks to our porous borders. Nigeria’s rice
deficit of about 2.1million MT up until the border closure directive was
steadily augmented by smuggling, translating again to the fact that local
producers can simply not compete with their foreign counterparts.
Data out recently revealed that the
Republic of Benin, Nigeria’s closest neighbor with a population of 11 million,
barely 5% of Nigeria’s is the biggest buyer of the grain from Thailand; the
world’s second-largest exporter. Yet, official shipments from Thailand to
Nigeria have dwindled to almost nothing from more than 1.2 million tons in 2014
and ‘incidentally’, the largest tonnes of smuggled price in Nigeria are
illegally transferred through the porous Nigeria-Benin border – indeed the
facts speak for themselves.
WAY FORWARD
According to the National
President, Rice Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Aminu Goronyo, the
rice industry has gained over N52.21bn since the border closure as recently
disclosed by the CBN Governor, the onslaught is total and his statement is
re-echoed by the Customs head honcho Rtd Col Hameed Ali
Evidently, enforcing a steep drop
in rice price will not augur well for operators in the value chain.As things
stand, rice milling is already very expensive and further reduction in sales
prices will impact negatively on cash flows and Return on Investments (ROI).A
recent released report by a big time player in Nigeria and unarguably the
largest player in the rice value chain-(they should know with a 160 million
dollar investment in the sector) indicated a strong improvement in Nigeria’s
domestic rice milling capacity which further proves that the sector needs
protection from cheap smuggled rice. The fact is that the domestic Rice
Industry has bridged the consumption gap in the country at a rate of about 0.2
million metric tonnes per year for the last 3 years and will likely do so at
about 0.4 million metric tonnes per year over the next 3 years if investments
in the industry grow at the current rate
This will in turn reduce the rice
consumption gap in the country to a minimum. Hence, it is imperative that the
rice policy in the country supports the investors in this domestic value chain
to maximize their investments in this crucial three year period till the end of
2022.
Most importantly, as Dr Debisi
Araba, Regional Director at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT) posited that the Nigerian rice ecosystem needs to expand beyond more
than what is currently obtainable. “Agriculture is really sophisticated, and
you can’t reduce it to distributing blended fertilizers to farmers alone. It
has to be an all-inclusive rounded approach that addresses concerns of all
critical stakeholders in the value chain”, he said.
Another convener of Rice
Conversations in the last four years Richard Mbaram of Agro -Nigeria believes
this is the time to convene another dialogue of sorts for Grains, Cereals,
Tubers and other commodities that examines the inherent weaknesses and the
apparent lack of linkages in the entire ecosystem and I couldn’t agree more.
Corroborating the statement of the
CIAT researcher,independent studies conducted have shown that a turnaround in
Nigeria’s rice production landscape without improved infrastructure, production
and milling activities self-sufficiency will remain a mirage and as I am wont to
say , you can only be competitive where you have comparative advantage.Let the
conversations continue as I rest my case for now.
India Grain: Spot wheat dn on weak
demand, maize up on low arrivals
Thursday, Oct 24
By Sampad Nandy
NEW DELHI – Prices of mill-quality wheat fell today across
key spot markets due to a decline in demand from flour mills and stockists,
traders said. A sharp fall in prices was restricted today due to low arrivals,
they said.
In Kota, arrivals were pegged at 25 tn compared with 70 tn on
Wednesday, Kota-based trader Aniket Mehta said. In Indore, arrivals were pegged
at 500 bags (1 bag = 100 kg), down by 500 bags from Wednesday, traders said.
Prices of the grain are seen falling near term as they have
crossed the base price in the government's weekly auction scheme–open market
sale scheme–at most mandis, traders said.
For Oct-Dec, the government has set a base price for wheat
at 2,190 rupees per 100 kg in non-wheat producing states under its open
market sale scheme. The price will be hiked by 55 rupees every quarter in the
current financial year.
Futures contracts of wheat fell today on the National Commodity
and Derivatives Exchange tracking spot markets, traders said.
The November contract ended at 2,131 rupees per 100 kg, down 1.5%.
Prices of maize across key spot markets rose today due to a
decline in arrivals, traders said. However, weak demand from the poultry feed
industry and starch makers capped gains in prices, they said.
In Nizamabad, maize arrivals were down due to Diwali, traders
said. Arrivals in Nizamabad were pegged at 300 bags (1 bag = 100 kg), down 700
bags from Wednesday.
Demand for the new crop is seen weak in the coming days as
fresh arrivals are of poor quality due to high moisture content of 25-30%,
against the acceptable limit of 13-14%, traders said.
Prices of Pusa 1121 basmati paddy were unchanged today due to
low demand from rice millers and weak arrivals, traders said. Millers are not
picking up stocks as they are awaiting arrivals of the new crop to start
in full swing, Amritsar-based trader Ashok Sethi said.
The November 1121 basmati paddy futures contract on the Indian
Commodity Exchange fell 0.6% to 3,395 rupees per 100 kg. Futures contracts fell
today tailing spot cues, traders said.
Following are today's prices of wheat, maize, and paddy, in
rupees per 100 kg, in key wholesale markets, and the change from the previous
day:
|
Commodity
|
Market
|
Price
|
Change
|
|
Wheat
|
Indore
|
2,200
|
(-)20-30
|
|
Wheat
|
Kota
|
2,050
|
(-)20-30
|
|
Maize
|
Sangli
|
2,250
|
20-30
|
|
Maize
|
Nizamabad
|
2,050
|
30-40
|
|
Pusa 1121 basmati paddy
|
Amritsar
|
2,800-2,850
|
Unch
|
End
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
Cogencis Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000
Send comments to feedback@cogencis.com
This copy was first published on the Cogencis WorkStation
IFAD-VCDP plans to
introduce usage of standard weight measurement in Ebonyi markets
By . . | Published Date Oct 25, 2019 1:13 AM
The International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD-VCDP) says it is working hard to ensure the
usage of standard weight measurement on food items in all markets in Ebonyi. Mr
Sunday Ituma, IFAD-VCDP State Programme Coordinator, disclosed this on Thursday
in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakiliki.
ADVERTISEMENT He said that the essence was to build on the success recorded in
such usage for the sale of rice in the state. ADVERTISEMENT OVER 5,000 NIGERIAN
MEN HAVE OVERCOME POOR BEDROOM PERFORMANCE SYNDROME DUE TO THIS BRILLIANT
DISCOVERY Ituma said that with the adoption of the standard weight measurement
by rice millers, the organisation would intensify efforts to replicate such
usage on other food items, such as beans and garri, among others, in all the
markets in Ebonyi. “We will also sustain such success on rice in Abakaliki by
shifting attention to rice millers at Onueke and Afikpo towns, among other
towns. “Nigeria’s neighbours adopt the standard weight measurement in the sale
of food items, including ‘suya’ meat, so there is no reason it should not be
adopted in Nigeria. “The practice will enable buyers to determine the exact
quantity of what they are buying and this will be beneficial to both the buyer
and seller,” Ituma said. He said that the introduction of standard weight
measurement and successes recorded did not come easy because traders were used
to bushels as standard scale of measurement. “A standard bushel is supposed to
contain 100 milk cups of measurement but overtime, dishonest people started to
alter the bushels to shortchange buyers,” he said. Ituma said that IFAD-VCDP
met with resistance while consulting with the rice millers on the usage of the
standard measurement. “In 2017, we donated 15 standard measurement scales to
the millers as a demonstration with the understanding that they will adopt its
usage. “Also, in collaboration with the state Ministry of Agriculture and
Matural Resources, we scheduled that the implementation of the measure would
commence in March 2017 but this failed due to change in the ministry’s
leadership,” Ituma said. He said that they were left with no option than to
commence the implementation of the law 
on the usage of standard weight
measurement. “We informed the rice millers of the law which stipulates fines
and terms of imprisonment for people who fail to adopt the standard weight
measurement in selling rice. “We discovered that most of them were not aware of
the law but with effective collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders,
the measure was finally implemented by the rice millers,’’ he said. (NAN)
Customs Nabs 15 Suspects For Re-Bagging
Foreign Rice
October 25, 2019
By
Barely few weeks to Christmas, the
Nigeria Customs Service, Adamawa/Taraba Command, has arrested 15 persons
including a manager for re-bagging foreign rice to sell as local rice.
The command, in a statement,
yesterday, said the suspects were arrested in a warehouse in Yola, Adamawa
State.
The comptroller in charge of Adamawa/Taraba Command, Kamardeen Olumoh, said that the suspects were found with 900 bags of rice with duty paid valued at N14.5 million.
“We have 15 suspects including the manager of the warehouse and some labourers. We can assure you that they will be prosecuted according to the law,” he said.
The suspects, he said, were arrested on Tuesday in Yola by the gallant officers of the command.
The comptroller warned smugglers in the area to desist from such negative act, saying the command was committed to checking their activities.
Olumoh said that the command would soon embark on raiding of markets and sale points for foreign rice.
“In fact, we had a meeting with Yola market officials and cautioned them on selling foreign rice. We need to assist our local farmers who I am pretty sure can feed the nation,” Olumoh said.
Similarly, Olumoh said a truck carrying foreign rice was intercepted with three people along Mubi-Yola road.
According to him, the rice was hidden under bags of beans and other grains, and has a duty paid value of N10.3 million.
The Tide reports that the Federal Government has banned the importation of foreign rice into the country with a view to encouraging local food of the item.
The comptroller in charge of Adamawa/Taraba Command, Kamardeen Olumoh, said that the suspects were found with 900 bags of rice with duty paid valued at N14.5 million.
“We have 15 suspects including the manager of the warehouse and some labourers. We can assure you that they will be prosecuted according to the law,” he said.
The suspects, he said, were arrested on Tuesday in Yola by the gallant officers of the command.
The comptroller warned smugglers in the area to desist from such negative act, saying the command was committed to checking their activities.
Olumoh said that the command would soon embark on raiding of markets and sale points for foreign rice.
“In fact, we had a meeting with Yola market officials and cautioned them on selling foreign rice. We need to assist our local farmers who I am pretty sure can feed the nation,” Olumoh said.
Similarly, Olumoh said a truck carrying foreign rice was intercepted with three people along Mubi-Yola road.
According to him, the rice was hidden under bags of beans and other grains, and has a duty paid value of N10.3 million.
The Tide reports that the Federal Government has banned the importation of foreign rice into the country with a view to encouraging local food of the item.
Diet high in
trans fats may increase dementia risk, study says
OCT. 24, 2019 / 9:15 AM
Most trans fats were banned in the U.S. last year.
But foods with less than a half-gram of trans fats can be labeled as containing
zero -- so some still contain them.
By
HealthDay
News
(0)
Foods that contributed the most to high
blood levels of trans fats included sweet pastries, margarine, and candies and
caramels, among others. Photo by cegoh/Pixabay
Oct. 24 -- A diet high in trans fats could put you
at increased risk for dementia, a new study suggests.
Most trans
fats were banned in the United States last year. But foods with less than a
half-gram of trans fats can be labeled as containing zero, so some foods still
contain them.
The new study
included over 1,600 people in Japan without dementia. Their average age was 70,
and they were followed for an average of 10 years. During that time, 377 of
them developed dementia.
Of the 407 who
started the study with the highest levels of trans fats in their blood, 104
developed dementia, a rate of 29.8 per 1,000 person-years. (A
"person-year" is a formula that accounts for the number of people in
a study and how long they were followed.)
Among those
with the second-highest level of trans fats, the rate was 27.6 per 1,000
person-years. The rate was 21.3 among those with the lowest trans fat levels in
their blood.
After
adjusting for other dementia risk factors -- such as high blood pressure,
diabetes and smoking -- the researchers concluded that compared to study
participants with the lowest levels of trans fats, dementia risk was 52 percent
more likely among those with the highest levels.
Foods that
contributed the most to high blood levels of trans fats included sweet
pastries, margarine, candies and caramels, croissants, non-dairy creamers, ice
cream and rice crackers, according to the study published online Oct. 23 in the
journal Neurology.
"These
results give us even more reason to avoid trans fats," said lead author
Toshiharu Ninomiya, a professor of epidemiology and public health at Kyushu
University in Japan. "In the United States, the small amounts still
allowed in foods can really add up if people eat multiple servings of these
foods, and trans fats are still allowed in many other countries."
Ninomiya noted
in a journal news release that the World Health Organization has called for
trans fats to be eliminated worldwide by 2023. "These public health
efforts have the potential to help prevent dementia cases around the world, not
to mention the decrease in heart disease and other conditions related to trans
fats," Ninomiya said.
Half of Mekong Delta to be lost under sea level: research
25 OCTOBER 2019
HANOI
(Viet Nam News/ANN) - More than half of the Mekong Delta will
disappear under sea level in the next two generations if no action is
taken now, research has found.
The results of the five-year-long
'Rise and Fall' research project funded by the Netherlands government were
announced to the press on Thursday.
The findings shed light on the
linkages between land subsidence, groundwater extraction and saline intrusion
in the Mekong Delta, locally known as the Cuu Long Delta, while giving out a
red alert over the future of Vietnam’s largest rice production area.
The delta is home to more than
17 million people, most of whom are farmers who grow nearly 60 per cent of the
country's rice and 40 per cent of the country’s aquaculture products.
Rapid economic development in the
region since the 1990s led to a drastic increase of groundwater extraction for
agriculture, aquaculture and living activities, researchers from Utrecht
University and Deltares Institute found.
The over-extraction of groundwater
reserves, estimated at about 2.5 million cubic metres a day in 2015, triggered
and accelerated mass land subsidence in the delta with some areas sinking at
rate up to 6 cm a year.
It ultimately left the Mekong
Delta, which saw almost no subsidence in the 1990s, merely 80 cm above the
current sea level.
“I come from the Netherlands which
is a flat land but I have seen some parts in the Mekong Delta even flatter than
the Netherlands during my field trips to the region,” said Dr Philip
Minderhoud, leader of the research group.
“Groundwater extraction is not
free. We pay for it by elevation and once below sea level the costs of
protecting the land rapidly increase.”
The researchers also made
projections of the sinking rate of the delta taking into account subsidence
induced by groundwater extraction and rising sea levels due to climate change.
If groundwater usage keeps
growing at 2 per cent per year, the outlook will be at the bleakest as a number
of areas will stay under sea level by less than 10 years from now while the
southern half and beyond will be engulfed by seawater by 2080.
In other scenarios which see no
increase in the groundwater extraction, the percentage of land falling under
sea level will subsequently decrease. Nearly 50 per cent of the delta will sink
below sea level in case of stable extraction and only a third if the water use
was reduced by 75 per cent.
While the irreversible sinking
already set in motion and accelerated quickly, river sediment which was
supposed to compensate land subsidence became insufficient. It was either
blocked upstream due to a series of dam construction on the Mekong River or
destroyed by sand miners, according to the research findings.
The sand starvation made the tide
intrude deeper with greater volume, resulting in exacerbating salinisation that
would seriously damage the region’s crops and aquaculture industry.
“It is recommended that the
Government of Vietnam tackles the root causes related to the mining of
groundwater and sand,” Dr Minderhoud said.
“The research is not to scare
people but to prepare them. Vietnam has to take action now. That’s the crucial
part.”
Smugglers conceal N62m rice in diesel tanker
October 25, 2019
By
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS),
Niger/Kogi Area Command, said yesterday that it had apprehended and seized
3,529 bags of rice with duty paid value (DPV) of N62,159,700 in Niger State.
The Controller, Niger/Kogi Area
Command, Yusuf Abba-Kassim, disclosed this yesterday while addressing
journalists at the command office in Minna.
Abba-Kassim said a diesel
tanker with registration number RBC 05ZS, suspected to be concealing imported
foreign rice yet to be examined, was seized.
He said: “In keeping to the
promise of the command, we initiated new anti-smuggling strategies which led to
remarkable exploits evidenced in the seizure of various items.
“We apprehended one DAF truck
diesel tanker (six tyres) with registration number RBC 05ZS concealing imported
rice yet to be examined. DAF truck diesel tanker (10 tyres) with registration number
MNA 893 XV loaded with 950 bags of imported rice.
“We seized nine bales of used
clothes, four Toyota Corolla conveying cumulatively a total of 135 bags of 50kg
imported rice. Another 397 50kg imported bags of rice hidden within the forests
by smugglers.”
The controller added that the
seizures were made at different locations within the command’s area of coverage
all in this month.
Abba-Kassim, however, regretted
that some Nigerians still remained unrepentant even as the smugglers continue
to lose.
He said: “The arrest of the
diesel tanker should send a serious signal to these recalcitrant saboteurs of
the Nigerian economy that there is no hiding place. We are determined to beat
all their concealment patterns with our superior intelligence network.”
The commander disclosed that
among the seized items were 29 used vehicles (Tokunbo) with DPV of N32,333,500
and 1,018 bales of second hand clothes with N48,912,000 DPV.
