Bush Fire
Destroys Rice Farms In Northern Regions
By News
Desk
LISTEN 18
HOURS AGO
Some
rice farmers in Northern Ghana are counting their losses as bush fire ravages
hundreds of acres of their rice farms.
The
Upper East, Northern and North East Regions, are the worst-hit regions as
affected farmers attributed the situation to lack of combine harvesters and a
ready market for their produce.
The
farmers who experienced rice gluts this year but struggled to find markets for
their produce fear rice production for the next farming season will be greatly
affected if the government does not intervene.
Over
400 hectares of rice farms along the Fumbisi-Gbedembilisi-Yagaba rice valleys
were completely burned by the fires.
Rice
farmers who are still harvesting their rice during this dry season are
compelled to compete for limited combine harvesters at an exorbitant fee to
harvest their rice or face losing their produce to bush fires.
Some
affected farmers spoke of their ordeals to Citi News with one saying, “[my
farm] covered 52 acres. I harvested only 15. The rest got burned because of a
lack of combine harvesters in the system. I lost GHS25,000 to GHS27,000.”
Another
farmer said: “my rice got burned on the 23 of December this month. 47 acres
that was ready for harvest got burned through bush fires so you can imagine the
amount of rice I am losing.”
Apart
from losing their produce to bush fires, fortunate farmers who have harvested
their produce have to sleep in the valleys to protect their heaped produce from
bush fires whilst others are compelled to store their produce in homes due to
lack of ready market for the produce.
The
rice farmers' debunked claims that neither the Buffer stock company limited nor
rice millers have either bought all their rice or cannot get rice to purchase
for milling purposes.
This
situation caused for an emergency meeting of all rice farmers in the five
regions of the North at Navrongo by the Peasant farmers association of Ghana
(PFAG) to deliberate on recent challenges facing rice production in Northern
Ghana and propose to government pragmatic solutions for redress
Bush fires ravage rice farms in
northern regions
Regional News of Tuesday, 31 December 2019
Source: citinewsroom.com
Some rice farmers in Northern Ghana are counting their losses as
bush fire ravages hundreds of their rice farms.
The Upper East, Northern and North East Regions, are the
worst-hit regions as affected farmers attributed the situation to lack of
combine harvesters and a ready market for their produce.
The farmers who experienced rice gluts this year but struggled to find markets for their produce fear rice production for the next farming season will be greatly affected if the government does not intervene.
Over 400 hectares of rice farms along the Fumbisi-Gbedembilisi-Yagaba rice valleys were completely burned by the fires.
Rice farmers who are still harvesting their rice during this dry season are compelled to compete for limited combine harvesters at an exorbitant fee to harvest their rice or face losing their produce to bush fires.
Some affected farmers spoke of their ordeals to Citi News with one saying, “[my farm] covered 52 acres. I harvested only 15. The rest got burned because of a lack of combine harvesters in the system. I lost GHS25,000 to GHS27,000.”
Another farmer said: “my rice got burned on the 23 of December this month. 47 acres that was ready for harvest got burned through bush fires so you can imagine the amount of rice I am losing.”
Apart from losing their produce to bush fires, fortunate farmers who have harvested their produce have to sleep in the valleys to protect their heaped produce from bush fires whilst others are compelled to store their produce in homes due to lack of ready market for the produce.
The rice farmers’ debunked claims that neither the Buffer stock company limited nor rice millers have either bought all their rice or cannot get rice to purchase for milling purposes.
This situation caused for an emergency meeting of all rice farmers in the five regions of the North at Navrongo by the Peasant farmers association of Ghana (PFAG) to deliberate on recent challenges facing rice production in Northern Ghana and propose to government pragmatic solutions for redress.
The farmers who experienced rice gluts this year but struggled to find markets for their produce fear rice production for the next farming season will be greatly affected if the government does not intervene.
Over 400 hectares of rice farms along the Fumbisi-Gbedembilisi-Yagaba rice valleys were completely burned by the fires.
Rice farmers who are still harvesting their rice during this dry season are compelled to compete for limited combine harvesters at an exorbitant fee to harvest their rice or face losing their produce to bush fires.
Some affected farmers spoke of their ordeals to Citi News with one saying, “[my farm] covered 52 acres. I harvested only 15. The rest got burned because of a lack of combine harvesters in the system. I lost GHS25,000 to GHS27,000.”
Another farmer said: “my rice got burned on the 23 of December this month. 47 acres that was ready for harvest got burned through bush fires so you can imagine the amount of rice I am losing.”
Apart from losing their produce to bush fires, fortunate farmers who have harvested their produce have to sleep in the valleys to protect their heaped produce from bush fires whilst others are compelled to store their produce in homes due to lack of ready market for the produce.
The rice farmers’ debunked claims that neither the Buffer stock company limited nor rice millers have either bought all their rice or cannot get rice to purchase for milling purposes.
This situation caused for an emergency meeting of all rice farmers in the five regions of the North at Navrongo by the Peasant farmers association of Ghana (PFAG) to deliberate on recent challenges facing rice production in Northern Ghana and propose to government pragmatic solutions for redress.
Kiko Pangilinan calls for focus on
climate crisis, food security in 2020
Franco Luna (Philstar.com)
- January 1, 2020 - 11:42am
MANILA,
Philippines — Sen. Francis Pangilinan called for a sharpened focus in the areas
of climate change and food security, citing higher prices triggered by TRAIN
Law, low farmers' incomes and the natural disasters that came at 2019's end.
"Produksyon
ng pagkain o ang pagsasaka at pangingisda ang mga unang naaapektuhan
nito," the senator said in a statement on Tuesday night, referring to the
global climate crisis.
"Sundin
natin ang mga panawagan ng mga scientists na ibaba ang ating tinatawag na
carbon footprint at bawasan ang polusyon."
(Food
production or farming and fishing are the first things that this climate crisis
affects. We should heed the calls of scientists to lower what we call our
carbon footprint and lessen pollution.)
He
also pointed to the Rice Tarriffication Law, which he said only doubled the
existing burdens of rice farmers.
As
of the fourth week of November 2019, data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA) recorded the average farmgate price of palay at P15.57 per
kilo.
But
farmers themselves have said that the actual price, particularly in far-flung
areas, plunge to as low as P7 per kilo, much lower than their production cost
of around P12.
Data from the US Department of
Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service showed that the Philippines imported the
most rice in the world even over China whose population is over a billion.
And
according to a statement by the PSA in December, the Philippines is
steadily relying more and more on food imports to ensure sufficient supply and
to stabilize prices. Economists, too, have said that the top-importer status
was only an indication of the country stocking up and said that it should even
out eventually.
The
senator also called for stricter policy in a number of areas, namely single-use
plastic, rainwater management, urban agriculture, organic farming, solid waste
importation, food waste reduction, electric and hybrid vehicles incentives,
national mangrove forest protection, expanded crop insurance, post-harvest
facilities, among others.
A 2015 report by the Ocean
Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment on plastic
pollution ranked the
Philippines as the third-biggest source of plastic waste in the oceans just
after China and Indonesia.
Annus Horribilis
January
1, 2020
FROM
what fictional data the Department of Agriculture (DA) will base its upcoming
pronouncement of a “growth rate”for the agriculture sector for the year 2019 is
something beyond the ability of small farmers like me to comprehend. Small
farmers know one thing though: William Dar, the current Agriculture secretary
and a technocrat, is eminently capable of producing a made-up data set on
“growth.” Government statisticians, bending to the will of those in power, will
be willing abettors.
The
country’s feckless agricultural economists — if such expertise in the
economic field still exists — will offer no resistance, and no brave,
empirically trained soul will counter the fictional data from the DA. The
newspaper reports, where intellectual rigor and rectitude is the outlier
rather than the norm, will just dutifully report the hot air from the DA.
A
close friend, a former print journalist now active in social media, has a
theory on how the DA would produce the figure on fictional growth. It would
compute, he said, the rise in share prices of a publicly listed agri
company now building metropolitan subways. And pass on that share price rise as
strides of the agri sector. There are many of that kind in the country —
agri-business companies with side businesses larger than their core, supposedly
agri-centric undertakings. Drawing “growth” from thin air is not even
rocket science.
As
there a thousand and one ways to skin a cat, there are a thousand and one
ways to produce fictional data to support an alleged “growth” for the
agriculture sector.
But
the reality of agricultural enclaves turned into virtual wastelands — and we
are speaking of vast swaths of rural areas of hopelessness and misery
spread across the country — will automatically belie any claim of “growth.”
Reality is both jolting and educational. What the naked eye can see is more
powerful than the most elaborately contrived data in the world.
This
is the truth that does not even need an explanation. The year 2019 was an
“annus horribilis” for the agriculture sector, a truly horrible year.
Looking
back, the presidential rant (delivered in the midst of the last State of the
Nation Address or SONA) on the epic fail of the Land Bank of the
Philippines, in which President Duterte threatened to radically reform the bank
for its failure to carry out its legal mandate, which is to serve as the banker
for small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries, was just a minor assault
on agriculture.
Of
course, it was not. The LandBank was put up to serve the funding needs of
small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries and Dr. Basilio
Estanislao, the late former first president of the LandBank, tried to meet,
against all odds, that mandate. In 2018, the lending of the LandBank totaled
P798.8 billion, according to congressional leaders. It lent P21.6 billion to
agriculture overall, which meant directing most of that amount to
agri-businesses and allocating a token amount for small farmers and agrarian
reform beneficiaries.
Worse,
it faked its lending records to make it appear that it really carried out
small-scale agricultural lending. And spent millions of pesos on newspaper
advertorials to paper over that crime.
The
worst law passed in the 21st century was Republic Act 11203, and it was an
early 2019 assault on the peasantry. The law lifted the quantitative
restrictions on rice imports and allowed “unli” importation of rice based on
moderate tariffs. The law imposed a virtual death sentence on 3 million small
rice farmers who have been neglected by governments from time immemorial and
whose only protection against massive rice dumps and pricing debacles was the
quantitative restrictions or QR.
For
the less than 10 months ending December 2019 that the law was operational,
an impossible volume of 3 million tons was dumped into the country (making
the Philippines the world’s biggest rice importer for the year) and
palay prices dropped from the usual prices of P17 to P20 per kilogram to as low
as P8 per kg in the remote farming communities. Many farmers are contemplating
suicide just to end their miserable existence.
As
if the historically low palay prices were not enough, small farmers found out
that the greedy rice importers undervalued their import prices, thus depressing
the tariffs on the imports. The money pool from the rice tariffs, under
the law, was to be used supposedly for an amelioration program for rice
farmers. So, we have two situations: massive rice dumps and undervalued rice
imports.
Then,
the government planners, harebrained as usual, crafted programs that would just
waste the funds to be generated from the tariffs. These are the programs that
have been designed: training, mechanization, seeds, etc. etc. Loans and
irrigation water are the most basic needs and these were absent in the
so-called amelioration program.
Right
now, the specter of a raging African swine fever (ASF) has all but wiped out
the “Hog Belt” in Pampanga, a top hog producer, and many other former
thriving hog -producing areas in Central Luzon. Hog prices dropped to P75 per
kg and that was the average price until early December. Prices have somehow
recovered to P90 per kg but that is still selling at a loss.
Around
90 percent of backyard farms in Luzon have been shuttered and even the
commercial farms with world-class bio-security standards have been helpless
against the ASF, which spread into the country via tainted pork from China,
supposedly an ally of the country.
The
Philippines’ hog industry was the eighth largest in the world last year and in
2019 it literally collapsed on the sheer viciousness of the ASF.
The
government, clueless and heartless on agriculture as usual, wants to impose
another cruel policy, the unlimited importation of sugar.
The
agriculture sector is wallowing in Dickensian sorrow and the Scrooge is
government.
Russia Expected to Lift Yearlong Ban
on Pakistani Rice
It is expected that Russia will lift a yearlong ban on rice
imports from Pakistan. The concerns relating to the
grain phytosanitary standards have been dispelled. This has opened the
prospects of the reopening of a $50 million market, as per a government
official. 
A Trade Development Authority of
Pakistan official said that the Russian government might lift the ban on the
import of grains from Pakistan. The state-owned Department of Plant Protection
did implement the compliance program for rice export to the Russian Federation.
The official said, “The implementation of the compliance program will ensure export of pest-free grains to Russia.”
A Trade Development Authority of
Pakistan official said that the Russian government might lift the ban on the
import of grains from Pakistan. The state-owned Department of Plant Protection
did implement the compliance program for rice export to the Russian Federation.The official said, “The implementation of the compliance program will ensure export of pest-free grains to Russia.”
A detailed report was sent by the Department of Plant Protection
to the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of the
Russian Federation. The measure that has been taken to prevent the Trogoderma
granarium proliferation also known as a cabinet or khapra beetle in the
products supplied to milling, processing, storage, and packaging facilities in
Russia.
A temporary ban was imposed on the rice import from Pakistan,
earlier this year. It was banned on the pretext that khapra beetle was found in
a batch of rice. This happened, despite the fact that the Department of Plant
Protection, which issues sanitary and phytosanitary certificates to each grain
consignment moving outside the country cleared the consignment.
Following the ban, the Russian side has asked for info on the
measure that can be taken to prevent beetle proliferation in products that are
supplied to Russia and information regarding zones in Pakistan free from the
beetle.
The official said, “Russian side has been informed that there is
no specific area in Pakistan, which is free from Trogoderma granarium beetle.
“The implementation of the compliance program will help in exporting pest-free rice to Russian Federation. The Russian side has also been requested for a meeting of experts of both sides too.”
“The implementation of the compliance program will help in exporting pest-free rice to Russian Federation. The Russian side has also been requested for a meeting of experts of both sides too.”
China, dollar likely key
factors for rice market in 2020
·
China to remain key exporter, importer
Dollar
expected to limit Thai exports, buyers' purchasing powers
Demand from
regular buyers, lower production likely to support US, South American
long-grain prices
London
— China's transformation from a net importer to a net exporter was one of
the most significant developments in the 2019 global rice market, and this is
expected to continue in 2020 due to China's large stocks and international
demand for low-cost rice.
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The
strength of the dollar has been a particularly important factor in 2019 because
of US President Donald Trump's trade policies and is expected to remain so
ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The seasonal falls in South American
prices are likely to be restricted by reduced production across the region as
well as demand from regular buyers. Similarly in the US, participants are
expecting limited supply in the first quarter due reduced long grain
production, with harvesting not due until Q3.
ASIA
Chinese
exports have taken market share from most major origins, with particularly high
demand from buyers in Africa. It appears likely that the country's huge surplus
of competitively priced old-crop stocks will continue entering destination
markets at the expense of other origins in 2020. The US Department of
Agriculture has forecast China's ending stocks in the 2019-20 marketing year
(July-June) at 118 million mt (milled equivalent), up 2.41% year on year;
China's ending stocks are expected to make up 66% of total global ending
stocks.
The dollar
has affected supply and demand in 2019. Its strength against the euro has
reduced West and Central African buyers' purchasing power, as both the West and
Central African franc are pegged to the euro. While most origin currencies have
depreciated against the dollar, the Thai baht has appreciated. This has
restricted Thai exporters' ability to keep their prices competitive and Thai
exports have declined as a result. The USDA forecast 2019 exports at 8.6
million mt (milled equivalent) 22.3% lower on the year. While 2020 exports are
expected to increase from this unusually low level to 9.7 million mt. However,
exports are unlikely to reach 2018's 11.1 million mt due to the strength of the
baht and competitive Chinese exports.
Exports
from Thailand, and other Asian origins, have also been affected by the closure
of Nigeria's land borders. This has particularly affected demand for parboiled
rice from Thailand and India. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been
quoted in local reports as saying that the borders will remain closed until at
least January 31, 2020 due to unofficial cross-border rice trade, despite
pressure from its neighbors to open them. While trade is expected to return to
normal once the borders are re-opened, traders are likely to remain cautious in
case they are closed again.
Despite
lobbying from farmers' groups and conflicting statements from President Rodrigo
Duterte, it does not seem likely that the Philippines' Rice Tariffication Law
will be revoked. As a result, imports are expected to continue at the pace
established at the end of Q2 2019.
AMERICAS
Harvesting
of South American crops is due to begin in Q1 2020. Production in the major
South American origins (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) are forecast
to either remain close to last year's low levels or fall year on year as
farmers switch to other crops due to high paddy production costs and increased
Chinese demand for soybeans. While CONAB has forecast Brazilian planted area
1.1% lower year on year, higher field yields are expected to boost production
0.6% to 10.5 million mt. Exporters in Uruguay broadly agreed with the forecast
of 2020 paddy production at 1.08 million mt, down 10% on the year, as presented
at the Conmasur meeting. Although figures at this meeting also forecast
Paraguayan production 2.94% lower at 1.09 million mt, Paraguayan rice is still
expected to be extremely competitive. Regular demand from buyers in South and
Central America, as well as the EU and Iraq, is expected to continue.
Reduced
2019 production is expected to support US prices in 2020. Signing of the USCMA
agreement this month is likely to solidify Mexico and Canada as major US rice buyers.
While exporters are hoping that further sales can be concluded to China after
the first shipment was received successfully in 2019, it is unlikely to become
a major importer of US rice next year. Further large volume sales to Iraq under
the countries' Memorandum of Understanding are also likely to provide support
to the market.
EUROPE
Harvesting
in Italy was severely delayed by bad weather in 2019, and new-crop prices have
not witnessed much of a seasonal fall as a result. Farmers have already sold 32.2%
of new-crop paddy, according to Ente Nazionale Risi, and are in no rush to
conclude sales due to adequate storage facilities. While the prices of risotto
and long-grain varieties may fall in 2020 as production rose year on year,
round-grain prices are expected to increase due to lower production.
-- Thomas
Wigglesworth, thomas.wigglesworth@spglobal.com
-- Edited
by Jonathan Dart, newsdesk@spglobal.com
Monthly food relief package for the
poor
Wednesday, January 1, 2020 - 01:10
The monthly relief package worth Rs 3,600 will include rice, wheat flour, sugar, dried fish and sprats among other food items. The monthly food package programme is to meet needs of low income groups affected by food price rises.
Heavy rains experienced over the past few months have had an impact on the prices of rice and other vegetables in the market.
The previous Government without releasing the existing rice stocks in stores to the market had allowed rice imports to the country. As a result, stocks in stores are now about to expire and we cannot release them for human consumption anymore.
“We have to give them as animal fodder at low prices. There is about 350,000 kgs of locally produced rice in stores, but the stocks will expire in February next year.
“This situation has also caused an increase in rice prices. An investigation has now begun to find out who was responsible for this waste”.State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told a news conference that a team of UNP MPs, who were part of the previous Government that had sanctioned rice imports in 2017, had visited the Narahenpita Dedicated Economic Centre making comments on the controlled rice prices.
“They have said that the rice sold at Rs. 98 per 1kg is of low quality. The sellers complained that those remarks were a blow to their trade,” he added. Noting that the Government has already intervened to control the prices of food in the retail market in the festive season, the State Minister pointed out that the wholesale prices of minor export crops such as cinnamon, pepper, ‘karunka’ (dried arecanut) and cloves had increased considerably following the Government’s
Researchers bringing rice ancestors back for new
variety development
·
By Bruce Schultz / LSU AgCenter
CORNELL UNIVERSITY geneticist Susan McCouch works
with Diane Wang and Sandy Harrington to collect leaf tissue from rice plants
grown at the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station near Crowley.
Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter
The
LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station is collaborating with a
Cornell University-based project aimed at studying the ancestors of what became
the modern rice plant.
Researchers
hope the work will uncover useful traits from the wild lines of rice that have
been lost through domestication.
Three
wild strains of rice from China, Laos and Indonesia were used in the project.
“They represent distant cousins of the ancestors that gave rise to modern
rice,” said Cornell University geneticist Susan McCouch.
The
wild strains were crossed with two modern rice varieties — an Arkansas variety,
Cybonnet, and IR64, a variety developed by the International Rice Research
Institute in the Philippines.
After
several generations of backcrossing to the modern varieties, the researchers
generated a collection of 460 genetically distinct lines, each containing only
a small, unique segment of the wild ancestor.
LSU
AgCenter rice breeder Adam Famoso, who earned his doctorate degree while
studying with McCouch, grew the rice lines at the Rice Research Station. Famoso
also worked on the project when he was at Cornell.
McCouch
and two of her co-workers came to the Rice Research Station in summer 2019 to
collect leaf tissue for genetic analyses.
Genetic
analyses of the collection of 460 lines are being compiled for use in breeding
and genetic research. “They’re an encyclopedia that no one has read yet,”
McCouch said.
It’s
possible to discover novel traits conferred by the small, wild segments in
these lines, McCouch said. They could result in new textures, flavors or forms
of disease resistance that were eliminated from the rice genome as
domestication occurred, starting thousands of years ago.
The
project, funded by the National Science Foundation, was designed to turn up
valuable traits that are not immediately obvious, McCouch said.
For
example, research could determine that some plants have a mechanism to shed
pollen early in the day to avoid heat-based sterility or to recruit particular
microbes from the root area in the soil to help them extract nutrients from the
soil in a process may have been lost through domestication.
It’s
also possible that researchers will be able to find new genetic mechanisms that
help rice plants withstand drought or submergence, she said. Those
characteristics could be crucial in countries where water demand is exceeding
the supply or where control of flooding is a problem.
“It’s
a nontransgenic approach to derive new traits,” McCouch said.
The
harvested rice seed will be used for further study.
For
five years, one of McCouch’s talented postdoctoral associates, Namrata “Moni”
Singh, worked to develop the lines. But she never got to see the final results
of her work, as she died earlier this year after a lengthy battle with
leukemia.
“One
of the last things Moni wanted was to get the paper published describing this
work and to make the seeds available for distribution,” McCouch said.
Anna
McClung, research director at the Dale Bumpers Rice Research Station in
Arkansas, and Georgia Eizenga, a rice geneticist at the Dale Bumpers Rice
Research Station, were directly involved with McCouch in developing these
lines.
Hanoi hosts
Countdown 2020 in city centre
31/12/2019 13:01
GMT+7
As many as 100 young artists will help ring in the new year with
the musical extravaganza ‘Countdown 2020’ at Hoan Kiem Lake on December 31.
 |
|
Vinh Khuat will debut his new composition for
Countdown 2020. — Photo vtv.vn
|
Entitled 'Dance of Light', the
event is co-held by Hanoi People’s Committee, Vietnam National Television (VTV)
and Viettel.
“We invited young artists to
perform at the event,” said one of the event’s producers Diep Chi. “The young
artists, who are creative and energetic, will inspire people."
Attending 'Dance of Light',
guests will enjoy musical performances by singers Phuong Uyen, Luu Huong Giang,
Ngu Cung, Vinh Khuat and many others.
Germany-based Vinh Khuat, who
gained fame after returning to compete at VTV's Sao Mai Singing Contest 2019,
will debut a new composition for the event.
The event will also honour
figures whose great efforts were recognised in 2019. They are scientists Ho
Quang Cua and Nguyen Thi Hiep; designer Cong Tri; and singer Son Tung.
Cua is Vice Chairman of the Soc
Trang Province-based Union of Science and Technology Associations. He was
involved in the creation of rice variety ST25, which was named the World's Best
Rice at the 11th World Rice Conference in Manila.
Tri is an established designer
known globally, with his creations worn by celebrities including Beyonce,
Rihanna and Katy Perry.
Son Tung has gained success with
his Sky Tour 2019 and music video Hãy Trao Cho Anh (Give It To Me). The video
is the first co-operation between the Vietnamese pop singer and American rapper
Snoop Dogg. It garnered 70 million views on YouTube just a week after its
launch.
Scientist Nguyen Thi Hiep is one
of the top 100 Asian scientists. She has developed a bio-glue that seals wounds
and can even be loaded with living cells or therapeutics.
The event will be aired live on
VTV's Channel 1. The audience, including event-goers and television viewers,
will have a chance to play a mini game with total prizes worth VND1 billion
(US$43,000). — VNS
International group backs Philippine approval of Golden
Rice
Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine
Star) - December 31, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Golden
Rice Humanitarian Board, an international group, has backed Philippine
regulators amid calls of a green group to revoke the approval of the
controversial Golden Rice even after it passed rigorous biosafety assessment.
In an email to The STAR, Golden
Rice Humanitarian Board executive secretary Adrian Dubock defended the
Department of Agriculture (DA) which recently issued the biosafety permit
addressed to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which detailed the approval of
the Golden Rice for direct use as food, feed or for processing (FFP).
This after non-governmental
environmental organization Greenpeace formally submitted its appeal to the DA
to revoke the approval of the genetically modified (GM) Golden Rice.
Greenpeace said that the approval
is unwarranted due to the incomplete data submitted by the project proponents,
and the lack of transparency and adequate public participation throughout the
approval process.
“The Philippine regulators are
very experienced in judging the safety of GM crops, which are in widespread use
in the Philippines and which cause no harm and give farmers and the environment
significant assistance,” Dubock said.
“They examined in detail all the
evidence submitted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute and the
International Rice Research Institute and found that there was no potential to
cause harm from Golden Rice consumed as food, or animal feed, including in
processed form,” he said.
The Golden Rice Humanitarian
Board, which provides strategic guidance to worldwide Golden Rice project, has
the responsibility of delivering the technology to the vitamin A-deficient poor
in developing countries in the most efficient way.
It is composed of internationally
recognized experts belonging to various reputed institutions which provides
strategic guidance to the project.
“Farmers are not stupid, they
only buy what they find useful, no one forces them to purchase. They always
have a choice,” Dubock said.
“It is true that all the GM crops
so far available in the Philippines are commercial products. The companies
don’t need any assistance to promote their benefits: the products, and the
farmers speak for them,” he said.
The Golden Rice Humanitarian
Board argued that Golden Rice is different and that it is not a commercial product.
“The only difference from white
rice is that it contains the golden colored beta-carotene. Beta carotene is a
source of vitamin A. And a universal source of vitamin A will reduce childhood
mortality by 23 to 34 percent, and up to 50 percent when it is used to treat
measles,” Dubock said.
Vitamin A deficiency is the
biggest killer of children globally, and the main cause of childhood blindness.
The beta-carotene content of
Golden Rice aims to provide 30 to 50 percent of the estimated average requirement
of vitamin A for pregnant women and young children.
Citing data, Dubock said only 40
grams of dry Golden Rice, cooked and eaten daily, would save lives and sight
and that there is no danger at all of over dosing.
“The beta-carotene delivering
technology in Golden Rice works in all of the public sector owned rice
varieties it has been put into by PhilRice. No commercial company owns
any Golden Rice,” he said.
“For the extra beta-carotene
nutrition in Golden Rice, there is no extra cost to the government, no extra
cost to farmers and no extra cost to consumers,” he said.
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Nigeria closer to self-sufficiency in rice production – FG
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed
Nigeria is closer to attaining self-sufficiency in rice
production owing to the border drill that has drastically reduced smuggling and
catalysed rice production across the country, the Federal Government has said.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
said this on Monday in Lagos while briefing newsmen on the major achievements
of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd.) regime for the
outgoing year.
“We recently visited some of Nigeria’s 34 integrated rice mills
as well as rice clusters in Kano. The rice mills are either operating at full
capacity or have doubled their production.
“Before the drill, there were 12.2 million rice farmers in
Nigeria, but now six million people, mostly youths, are venturing into rice
production.
“Before the drill, farmers were cultivating rice twice a year,
now that has increased to three times a year, and some rice farmers are now
venturing beyond rice cultivation to milling, packaging, and marketing.
“Overall, the integrated mills currently produce 150,000 bags of
rice daily and about 35 million bags per annum,’’ he said.
The minister added that the border drill had curbed the
smuggling of other prohibited items into the country, leading to significant
seizures with an estimated monetary value of over N3.5 billion.
He said the exercise had reduced the importation of arms,
ammunition, and drugs.
Mohammed said because of the drill, terrorists and other
criminals are finding it hard to procure arms and ammunition while criminal
elements no longer make their way into the country through the land borders.
“This has resulted in reduced cases of insecurity, whether its
kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery or other violent crimes,’’ he said.
The minister said smuggling of petroleum products out of Nigeria
had been drastically curtailed and had led to a 30 per cent reduction in
domestic fuel consumption.
Lack of
capital, human resources, land impedes rice production
31/12/2019 14:53
GMT+7
Vietnam is a major rice producer and exporter in the world, but
Vietnamese farmers and companies cannot make fat profits.
Pham Van Quang, chair and general
director of Trung Thanh Hi-tech Agriculture JSC, complained at the dialogue
between local authorities and enterprises in Can Tho City some days ago that
his enterprise meets difficulties in loan access and human resources.
Quang said rice companies need huge capital to collect rice from farmers, upgrade the husking technology and preserve products to serve exports. Most of the technologies being applied by rice processing mills are out of date.
“We want to export rice to choosy markets which always set high requirements. Even China, the familiar export market of Vietnam, now also requires product traceability. This proves to be an impossible mission if we don’t have huge capital,” he said.
Quang emphasized that enterprises need capital rather than preferential interest rates.
Meanwhile, commercial banks are tightening lending and the local authorities don’t have policies to support companies to make medium- and long-term investments.
Le Thi Thuyen Quyen, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Can Tho Branch, while affirming that banks don’t lack capital to provide to rice companies, said in order to increase the credit limits, borrowers have to satisfy some conditions. They have to have feasible business plans, assets to mortgage for loans, and transparent financial situation.
Quang said companies are seriously lacking high-quality workers.
“Many workers who operate machines worth hundreds of billions of dong only finished the third or fourth grades,” he complained, adding that the result of the use of unskilled workers is the high rate of loss during rice processing.
If rice is dried with commonly used technology, the cost is VND100-120 per kilogram for summer-autumn and autumn-winter crop rice and VND80 per kilogram for winter-spring crop rice. Meanwhile, if drying with higher technology, which allows to control the heat, the production cost would be VND35 per kilogram only.
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta has the total rice growing area of 2 million hectares and the rice output of 25 million tons a year, of which 50 percent is reserved for export. One of Vietnam’s rice varieties, ST 25, has been recognized as the best in the world.
Scientists said with the great potential, Vietnam will be a rice production power if it can modernize the rice production phases.
One of the barriers that make it difficult to do this is the existence of fragmented small fields. It is impossible to modernize the production phases on the fields with the area of less than 0.5 hectares. Meanwhile, most households are farming on such small fields.
Rice Prices
as on :
31-12-2019 12:10:04 PM
Arrivals in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.
|
Arrivals
|
Price
|
|||||
|
Current
|
%
change |
Season
cumulative |
Modal
|
Prev.
Modal |
Prev.Yr
%change |
|
|
Rice
|
||||||
|
Sehjanwa(UP)
|
120.00
|
100
|
1118.00
|
2465
|
2490
|
14.12
|
|
Gazipur(UP)
|
81.00
|
-7.95
|
6848.50
|
3120
|
3120
|
7.59
|
|
Naugarh(UP)
|
73.50
|
-13.53
|
6169.50
|
2550
|
2525
|
14.86
|
|
Karimpur(WB)
|
45.00
|
NC
|
1820.00
|
3580
|
3550
|
17.38
|
|
Dibrugarh(ASM)
|
8.70
|
27.94
|
612.00
|
3100
|
3100
|
6.16
|
|
Anandnagar(UP)
|
2.80
|
16.67
|
304.40
|
2540
|
2535
|
15.45
|
|
Jambusar(Kaavi)(Guj)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
137.00
|
3300
|
3200
|
6.45
|
|
Alibagh(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
152.00
|
4200
|
4200
|
-41.67
|
|
Murud(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
153.00
|
4200
|
4200
|
-41.67
|
|
Mawana(UP)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
48.00
|
2660
|
2720
|
|
DA seeks ways to help rice farmers
The
Agriculture Department said it is seeking more ways to lessen the burden on
rice farmers aside from regular programs, like the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund and the Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance Program for
Rice Farmers.
The
department, Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the
Philippines jointly launched the P3-billion Rice Farmer Financial Assistance
program.
Starting
Dec. 23, 600,000 rice farmers in 33 rice-producing provinces each received cash
assistance worth P5,000 under the RFFA. The program will be piloted in
the provinces of Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija, which are among the top rice
producing provinces in the country.
Dar
said the RFFA guidelines were meticulously crafted and targeted to benefit the
farmers who suffered from the impact of the Rice Tariffication Law.
Agriculture
Field Operations Service director and Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program
coordinator Roy Abaya said that 36 percent of the P10 billion from RCEF was
obligated for its first year of implementation beginning September 2019.
Success in agro machine fabrication
Cross River State-based
entrepreneur, Emmanuel Ntiti, is up on the entrepreneurship ladder, having set
up a thriving business of fabricating durable machines for agro entrepreneurs and
farmers, DANIEL ESSIET reports.
Cross River State-based entrepreneur, Emmanuel Ntiti, fabricates
a range of farm machinery for industrial use.
His agricultural background helped him to identify the various
problems that grassroots farmers face.
A Senior Technical Instructor at the Government Technical
School, Calabar, Ntiti has developed a range of machines for small scale
business owners.
These include machines for de-stoning, harvesting, threshing,
milling, peeling and polishing machines to process maize, potatoes, groundnuts,
rice, yam and cassava.
He started small with his savings. The early days weren’t easy.
He designed and produced machines for processing cassava
into ethanol. This is good news for farmers and producers who cannot
afford these machines.
Ntiti said his machines break waste biomass into ethanol,
thereby reducing costs through savings on maintenance, production time and
capital expenditures, for farmers using cassava.
The equipment, made of iron and steel, has a distillation system.
Ntiti is ready to deploy the technology to parts of the country,
especially rural areas where cassava is produced. He said his dream is to serve
the farming community by providing innovative techniques to reduce drudgery.
One of his machines is the cassava grater, which can process
about 800 kilogrammes of cassava per hour. This has assisted farmers to reduce
the time spent on the pressed cassava before it is turned to garri.
He also fabricated a manual palm kernel oil (PKO) expeller. The
machine can produce a drum of PKO in eight hours. It processes the oil palm
fruit from its fibre, and shell. It processes the oil into fatty alcohols.
Ntiti is empowering Nigerians to make briquettes out of charcoal
dust, solve fuel problem, reduce poverty, unemployment and tackle poor waste
management.
To him, producing charcoal requires wood, which means an increase
in deforestation and stress on ecosystems.
Burning wood to charcoal leads to emission of large amount of
Carbon Dioxide (CO2). To address this, he has been looking for an alternative
source of fuel after realising that firewood contributes to the depletion of
forests.
He saw a business opportunity in briquettes and started
researching the possibilities of making them to save the forest and create
opportunities for Nigerians to make money.
At the moment, he makes environmentally-friendly charcoal briquettes
from wastepaper, plants and agricultural wastes that are combustible, including
grass, straw, water hyacinths, maize and rice husks, peanut shells and potato
and banana peels.
They burn longer than wood and the coal are cheaper, safer and
cleaner to cook with.
The investment is also minimal for small producers and has high
returns.
According to Ntiti, briquettes have a high growth potential in
the market with lot of businesses still relying on wood and diesel for fuel.
The other advantage, he said, is international funding coming
for energy friendly businesses, using options, such as briquette for
e-processing.
Ntiti’s mission is to support farmers by providing them with
better and cheaper machinery than the imported models. He wants to partner cooperatives
to establish Agro-processing centre (APC) to process the grains in the villages
to enhance farmers’ income.
He believes the establishment of such centres at the farm gates
will help in getting quality products, reducing post-harvest losses, employment
to rural youth and achieve diversification in agriculture besides improving the
economic and social status of farmers.
GM golden rice gets landmark safety
approval in the Philippines
Golden rice (r) has been
genetically modified to boost vitamin A
Erik de Castro/Reuters
The Philippines has become the
first country with a serious vitamin A deficiency problem to approve golden
rice – which is genetically modified to prevent such health
problems – as safe for humans and animals to eat. According to a government
report, it is as safe as conventional rice varieties.
“This is a victory for science,
agriculture and all Filipinos,” member
of congress Sharon Garin said in a statement.
In the Philippines, many children
under five years old are severely vitamin A deficient, according to the World
Health Organization – even
though most of them are given vitamin A supplements. Vitamin A deficiency
affects the immune system and makes children vulnerable to diseases, as well as
leading to blindness.
Golden rice has been altered
produce the orange pigment beta-carotene, which the body can turn into vitamin
A. Because rice is a major part of the diet in the Philippines, if
children eat golden rice instead of normal rice, it should substantially reduce
vitamin A deficiency.
It could reduce deaths among
children by up to a third, says Adrian Dubock of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board,
a non-profit group of experts who help with the development of golden rice. “This
decision is huge,” says Dubock.
Read more: Approval of golden rice could finally end vitamin A deficiency
deaths
The Philippine Rice Research
Institute and the International Rice Research Institute will now carry out
taste tests as they seek approval for farmers to grow specific strains
commercially.
Greenpeace, which has
long campaigned against golden rice, has asked the agriculture
department to overturn its decision. According to the Philippine
Star, Greenpeace has said the
approval is unwarranted due to incomplete data and a lack of transparency.
These claims are rejected by Dubock.
Golden rice has already been
approved as safe to eat in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US.
Bangladesh, which also has a vitamin A deficiency problem, is expected to make
a decision soon.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2228793-gm-golden-rice-gets-landmark-safety-approval-in-the-philippines/#ixzz69mCbyoiahttps://www.newscientist.com/article/2228793-gm-golden-rice-gets-landmark-safety-approval-in-the-philippines/
Dr Rachael Wood's research will help
rice industry
· The Irrigator
WELL DONE: Dr Rachael Wood's
PhD research has made a big discovery for the rice industry. Photo: Contributed
NEW PhD research has found rice grain quality
is improved when the crop is grown using water saving methods, increasing
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THE IRRIGATOR
35,000 MT paddy missing from mills in Haryana
Manvir Saini | TNN | Updated: Dec 31, 2019, 13:05 IST
TimesPoints
There are 1,305 rice mills in Haryana
CHANDIGARH: A total of 35,000 metric tonnes
(MT) of paddy was found missing from the rice mills of Haryana,
a report on the physical verification of the stock till December 26 has
revealed.
Haryana additional chief secretary (agriculture) P K Das said this figure could go up as the inspection was in progress. "Once we quantify the total figure, we will issue a show-cause notice to millers to explain the deficiency. Once we receive replies, adequate action will follow. One thing is for sure: wrongdoers will not be spared," he said.
Haryana additional chief secretary (agriculture) P K Das said this figure could go up as the inspection was in progress. "Once we quantify the total figure, we will issue a show-cause notice to millers to explain the deficiency. Once we receive replies, adequate action will follow. One thing is for sure: wrongdoers will not be spared," he said.
There are 1,305 rice mills in the state.
Till December 26, officials could inspect 1,105 mills. Das said the physical
verification was almost over by Monday and officials were compiling data for
the final figure.
As of now, the highest mismatch has been recorded in Karnal district, where 12,000 MT of paddy was missing from stock of rice mills. It is followed by 9,400 MT in Ambala .
Soon after the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP-JJP government had taken over Haryana, it was faced with allegations of irregularities in paddy procurement. Not only the Congress and INLD, even BJP's coalition partner JJP had questioned paddy procurement.
It was alleged that rice millers or arhtiyas (commission agents) had either made bogus purchases or purchased paddy from outside the state. It resulted in unrest among farmers.
As of now, the highest mismatch has been recorded in Karnal district, where 12,000 MT of paddy was missing from stock of rice mills. It is followed by 9,400 MT in Ambala .
Soon after the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP-JJP government had taken over Haryana, it was faced with allegations of irregularities in paddy procurement. Not only the Congress and INLD, even BJP's coalition partner JJP had questioned paddy procurement.
It was alleged that rice millers or arhtiyas (commission agents) had either made bogus purchases or purchased paddy from outside the state. It resulted in unrest among farmers.
Why
prices of key food items are rising rapidly
Tuesday December 31 2019
Beans, which are widely consumed in Tanzania, are now leading in price movements, having increased by at least 25 percent in the last three months.
A survey condueted in some markets and retail outlets in the city indicated that beans are currently retailing at between Sh3,000 and Sh3,200 per kilogramme, up from Sh2,400 recorded in October.
Rice and maize are also experiencing increased prices although at a slower pace in recent months, according to dealers.
Traders say it’s a common volatility fueled by the seasonality - and, of course, high demand following year-end festivals.
They also say the limited supplies experienced in the markets have nothing to do with food availability in the country.
“We hope prices will start falling in January because new harvests will have started in places like Kagera Region and, therefore, increase supply,” he added.
“The funny thing about beans is that its price can go up in like three months and fall abruptly. That’s whereit eats into our capital,” he said.
The traders also say the ongoing rains may have contributed to the price increases in the sense that transporting the produces from upcountry to markets has become challenging.
“Tanzania has plenty of food; but the challenge might be in transporting it from other regions due to heavy rains which disrupt transportation in rural areas,” said Mr Mohamed Mwekya, a trader at Tandale market.
“We should also understand that the stocks of foods crops were now on the hands of middle men or traders who are holding until they see the prices are giving them better profits,” said Mr Mwekya.
According to him, this is a temporary situation which may end in the next one or two months.
Mr Tabran Shabani who sells maize flour at Manzese market says the produce prices were going up to Sh1,000 per kilogramme before processing.
“This is one of the toughest periods in the season as prices go up due to limited supply. A lot of milling machines have been switched off around Manzese due to the fact that you need to be very careful to continue operating,” he said.
“From my experience, prices of maize will continue going up until end of February when places like Kahama start supplying again,” he added.
He sells maize flour at Sh35,000 per 25kg bag and retail outlets are selling at Sh1,600 per kilogramme in some areas.
Rice is not spared in the price growth with prices ranging between Sh1,700 and Sh2,300 around Mbagala.
“Currently, I’m depending much on the supply from Mbeya and prices are going up,” said Mr Ali Omary who sells cereals at Mbagala.
“I think prices will continue increasing until around March when new stocks start getting into market from the Lake Zone areas including Shinyanga,” he said.
Reports from Kariakoo Markets indicate that prices have drastically changed over the year in all major food crops. For instance, wholesale maize prices recorded on December 28 last year were between Sh47,000 and Sh60,000 per 100kg sack and increased to between Sh85,000 and Sh87,000 on December 23 this year.
Rice increased from between Sh130,000 and Sh180,000 to between Sh170,000 and Sh250,000 per sack. Beans also increased from between Sh180,000 and Sh200,000 to between Sh230,000 and Sh270,000 per bag.
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