Tuesday, April 28, 2020

28th April,2020 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

Rice growers to get subsidy

SIALKOT: A five-year project under Agriculture Emergency, a national programme for higher profitability through increased rice produce, has been launched in 15 rice growing districts of Punjab costing Rs 6.63 billion.
Under the programme the government will provide subsidy to paddy growers belonging to rice growing districts for obtaining authenticated paddy seed.
Rice growers have been advised to contact local agriculture department for registration, sources in Agriculture department told reporters.
It was learnt that special attention would be focused on promoting mechanized farming in these districts. Under national agriculture emergency efforts would be made for timely sowing of identified ecologically best varieties by promoting direct seedling of rice drill in these districts. The mechanized transplanting of rice nurseries will replace the outdated manual transplanting. The project was being carried out in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Okara, Hafizabad, Nankana Sahib, Bahawalnagar, Jhang, Narowal, Kasur, Mandi Bahauddin, Chiniot, Gujrat, Lahore, and Faisalabad districts.

 

Area sown to kharif rice up 37.70% so far: Agri Min

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi Last Updated at April 24, 2020 20:34 IST
Area sown to rice increased by 37.70 per cent to 34.73 lakh hectare so far in the kharif (summer) season of the 2020-21 crop year, according to Agriculture Ministry data released on Friday.
Farmers had planted rice in 25.22 lakh hectare area in the year-ago period in the same season.
Rice iain rain-fed kharif crop besides maize, bajra greengram blackgram, groundnut and sesame seeds in the category of foodgrains basket.
The Met Department has forecast a normal southwest monsoon during June-September period.
With regard to rice planting, the ministry has advised states to promote Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) which require less labour and tend to mature faster than transplanted crops. It has also asked them to promote cultivation of hybrid rice.
Currently, 8 per cent farmers use this method especially in states like Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, it said.
The government is targeting 102.6 million tonne of rice production in the kharif season of the 2020-21 crop year (July-June).
As per the ministry's data, area sown to pulses has increased to 5.07 lakh hectare so far in the kharif season this year from 3.82 lakh hectare in the year-ago.
In case of pulses, the ministry has advised states to promote intercropping of pulses with oilseeds, sugarcane, maize and cotton. It has also asked to use bunds for cultivation of arhar or tur dal besides weed management and application of fertilizers based on soil head card.
Similarly, area sown to coarse cereals has increased to 8.55 lakh hectare from 5.47 lakh hectare, while that of oilseeds acreage increased to 8.73 lakh hectare from 6.80 lakh hectare in the said period, the data showed.
The ministry has asked to give priority to oileeds and promote improved variety of soybean, groundnut sesame and sunflower seeds.
States have been asked to replace upland or low yielding paddy areas with oilseeds besides promoting intercropping with pulses, cotton, maize and millets.
Farming activities have been exempted from the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown. Farmers have been asked to take safety precautions and maintain social distancing while planting kharif crops.
The government has set a foodgrain production target of 149.92 million tonne for the kharif season of the 2020-21 crop year.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/area-sown-to-kharif-rice-up-37-70-so-far-agri-min-120042401368_1.html

 

Rice worth $1.95 billion exported in nine months

Description: https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7c81f1558bdb9b5190737cce40ca4fd0?s=26&d=mm&r=g On Apr 26, 2020


ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 26th Apr, 2020 ) :Rice exports from the country during first three quarters of current financial year registered an increase of 7.13 % as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from July to March 2019-20, the country earned $1.594 billion by exporting over 3.146 million tons of rice, according the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The exports of rice in first three quarters of last financial year were recorded at 2.987 million tons valuing $1.487 billion, the data revealed.
During the period under review, about 657,280 metric tons of Basmati rice worth of $573.196 million were also exported as compared to the exports of 433, 097 metric tons valuing $ 428.796 million of same period of last year.
The exports of Basmati rice witnessed about 38.
68% growth during the period under review as compared the exports of same period last year, it added.
In last nine months over 2.488 million tons of rice other then Basmati worth $1.020 billion exported as compared to the exports of 2.553 million tons valuing $ 1.059 billion of same period last year.
However, during the period under review the exports of rice other then Basmati remained on down track as it decreased by 3.62%, the data revealed.
It may be recalled here that food group exports from the country during first nine months of current financial year grew by 1.43% as different food commodities worth $3.396 billion exported as against $3.348 billion of the corresponding period of last year.
Meanwhile, food group exports during the month of March 2020 decreased by 23.23% as compared to the same month of last year.

 

Rice Prices

as on : 27-04-2020 12:13:57 PM

Arrivals in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.
Arrivals
Price
Current
%
change
Season
cumulative
Modal
Prev.
Modal
Prev.Yr
%change
Rice
Shahjahanpur(UP)
615.00
2.5
3240.00
2650
2665
7.72
Lucknow(UP)
85.00
6.25
3268.00
2400
2425
-9.09
Barhaj(UP)
80.00
-11.11
7065.00
2520
2510
9.09
Ghaziabad(UP)
60.00
140
896.00
2700
5600
NC
Firozabad(UP)
42.50
-1.16
719.60
2620
2590
-
Jaunpur(UP)
40.00
300
878.70
2450
2460
4.70
Naugarh(UP)
35.00
16.67
2838.50
2500
2500
4.17
Hanagal(Kar)
34.00
-40.35
304.00
1900
1910
NC
Fatehpur(UP)
31.00
355.88
1652.90
2400
2385
4.35
Khalilabad(UP)
25.00
-16.67
1045.00
2535
2540
12.67
Teliamura(Tri)
24.00
-20
209.00
3200
2800
10.34
Asansol(WB)
20.50
2.5
595.59
3000
3000
-1.64
Durgapur(WB)
20.00
-9.09
539.25
2950
2850
1.72
Balrampur(UP)
19.00
5.56
470.00
2400
2400
4.35
Ajuha(UP)
8.00
NC
168.00
2600
2550
9.47
Bishnupur(Bankura)(WB)
4.00
81.82
173.50
2700
2650
1.89
Bishalgarh(Tri)
1.60
14.29
16.50
3600
3700
-
Kaliaganj(WB)
1.50
NC
124.90
3300
3350
-
Khatra(WB)
1.50
-31.82
90.50
2680
2650
1.13
Anandnagar(UP)
1.20
-25
170.90
2485
2525
5.74
Soharatgarh(UP)
1.20
-85.88
1280.70
5800
2500
141.67
Alibagh(Mah)
1.00
NC
58.00
4200
4200
NC
Murud(Mah)
1.00
NC
57.00
4200
4200
NC
Achnera(UP)
0.70
NC
22.30
2560
2580
0.79
Published on April 27, 2020
TOPICS
Description: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/static/img/placeholder/SQUARE.gif

Description: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/static/img/placeholder/SQUARE.gif


YOUR AD BLOCKER ISAFFECTING QUALITY BUSINESS REPORTING

Support The Hindu BusinessLine's new online ad-free experience by subscribing now.

Weather: Kalbaisakhi brings lightning, high winds, rain to East India

Vinson Kurian  Thiruvananthapuram | Updated on April 27, 2020  Published on April 27, 2020
Description: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/xxsz0/article31395019.ece/alternates/WIDE_435/BL22LOWPRESSUREMONSOONRAINWEATHERHIGHTIDALWAVESCOASTSEAROU
A barrage of phenomenal lightning strikes associated with dangerous thunderstorms during the ongoing Kalbaisakhi (pre-monsoon) season have claimed 59 lives, during the week ending April 24, across the familiar stretch in East India - Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh.
An extended period from February 21 to April 25 (64 days) has seen more than 200 deaths due to lightning in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand , Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh, according to a Kalbaisakhi bulletin issued jointly by the Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and World Vision India.

Thunderstorm raids East Coast

In fact, Saturday and Sunday saw a rare but dangerous thunderstorm raiding the East Coast from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in a South-South-West direction producing massive lightning strikes and moderate to heavy rainfall across the region. From South-Central Tamil Nadu and adjoining Karnataka, the thunderstorms crossed the Western Ghats and entered Kerala lighting up the evening skies on Sunday and generating a wet spell before dissipating over the Arabian Sea.
Kalbaisakhi extends from March till the South-West monsoon establishes over North- East India. Based on event descriptions and the meteorological environments involved, it appears that the causative dry north-westerly winds (also called "nor'westers") boosted by passing western disturbances, may have packed progressive ‘derechos,’ the bulletin said.

Beneficial rain for crops

Derecho is a Spanish word which literally means ‘straight’ and is taken here to mean a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms. Derechos can cause hurricane-force winds, tornadoes, heavy rain, and flash floods. In many cases, convection-induced winds take on a bow echo (backward ‘C’) form of squall line, often forming in a region abounding in rich low-level moisture (from the Bay of Bengal) and warm-air advection (horizontal movement).
On extremely rare occasions, tornadoes may accompany the thunderstorms, lightning, and hail. Flying through these winds can be extremely dangerous. Circumnavigating or penetrating them may be disastrous and pilots avoid them. However, the rainfall from these storms is beneficial for the tea cultivated in Assam and for the jute and rice and tea cultivated in West Bengal and Bangladesh. The associated thunderstorms move generally from West to East.
The CROPC and the IMD have been monitoring the season and initiated comprehensive lightning safety programme in the form of a Lightning Resilient India Campaign. The campaign offers a series of services to states all through its network of government and non-government agencies, volunteers and academia.

YOUR AD BLOCKER ISAFFECTING QUALITY BUSINESS REPORTING

Support The Hindu BusinessLine's new online ad-free experience by subscribing now.




Government to provide subsidy to paddy growers
By RECORDER REPORT on April 27, 2020
A five-year programme under Agriculture Emergency, a national programme for enhancing profitability through increasing productivity of rice has been launched in 15 rice growing districts of the Punjab costing Rs 6.63 billion.

Under the programme the government will provide subsidy to the paddy growers belonging to these districts for obtaining authenticated paddy seed and interested paddy growers are directed to contact with their local Agriculture department for registration.

Sources in Agriculture department told Business Recorder on Sunday that under the programme special attention would be focused on promoting mechanized farming in these districts. Under national agriculture emergency efforts would be made for timely sowing of identified ecological best verities through the promotion of direct seedling of rice drill in these districts.

Under the programme government will provide riding type rice transplanter, walk-after type rice transplanter, nursery raising machine, Direct Seedling drill, rice straw chopper, water tight rotavator and knapsack power sprayer.

The government will also provide subsidy to the rice grower for the purchase of tested paddy seeds and pesticides. The government will also provide subsidy amounting Rs 1500 per acres to the growers for encouraging combined harvesting. The concept of the programme was to promote mechanized farming aimed at enhancing per acre yield, In this regard government will provide agricultural machinery to the growers on reduce rates for encouraging mechanized agriculture and ensure economic benefits of the growers.

 

What to cook when there's (almost) nothing in the house

Description: Katherine Martinko
April 27, 2020
Description: getting ingredients out of the fridge© MargJohnsonVA via Twenty20
Making do with limited ingredients has taken on new urgency in pandemic times.
I thought I was decent at making meals out of limited ingredients before the coronavirus pandemic hit, but you should see me now! I do everything to avoid going the grocery store, which means that, day after day, I make meals for five hungry people using what appears to be a mostly empty fridge and pantry. Of course it isn't truly empty, but the ingredients are not necessarily the easiest to assemble and require a bit more forethought than the standard veg-carb-protein trio that most Americans define as a proper meal.
Not surprisingly, I've become obsessed with reading lists of what other people are cooking in quarantine – and not the descriptions of fancy culinary experiments. I want to know how people are scraping by, making do, and stretching their pantries to the max, without sacrificing flavor or nutrition. So now I figured it was time to share my own list of go-to meals when it feels like there's almost nothing in the house.

If there's rice:

1. Risotto: It is delicious and easy, especially now that I've discovered the almost-hands-off version in "The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook" by America's Test Kitchen. It may not be entirely authentic, but that's the last thing I'm worried about as I scoop spoonfuls of risotto into my mouth. All it takes is a batch of homemade stock and a pile of asparagus, spring peas, or mushrooms (even better if I have a packet of dried porcini).
2. Fried rice: Whenever I make rice, I make extra so that I can fry it up the next day. Cold rice is best for stir-frying. I keep it simple at lunchtime, starting with onions and garlic in plenty of vegetable oil, adding the rice, then fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. At dinners, it gets fancier with shredded carrot, tofu, frozen peas, parsley, and whatever else I have.

If there are beans and legumes:

3. Black bean soup: Black bean soup with smoky chipotle flavoring is a popular dish in our family. I start soaking dried beans first thing in the morning and simmer them in the afternoon. All I need is onions, garlic, homemade stock, beans, and canned chipotles in adobo sauce. I serve with homemade cornmeal muffins and a salad.
4. Red lentil dal: Supremely easy and delicious, dal comes together with just red lentils, onions, and a basic collection of spices. It cooks up quickly and is served over hot basmati rice. I serve whatever vegetables I have on the side – stir-fried carrots or zucchini, spinach salad, or steamed broccoli.

If there are eggs:

5. Spanish tortilla: Potatoes and eggs transform into a magical combination when you cook them like this. It forms into a soft cake that you cut into wedges and can eat for any meal of the day, at any temperature.
6. Huevos rancheros: My version is probably not what's served in Mexico, but it's still tasty. I start with a quick homemade tomato sauce (made with onions and green peppers), poach eggs in it, and top with shredded cheese and scallions. We eat it with toast and green salad.

If there's bread:

7. Pizza: You can make pizza out of many kinds of bread – naan, pita, English muffins, even bagels. As long as I have tomato sauce (sometimes I just whirl a can of tomatoes in the blender and add a splash of olive oil and dried herbs) and mozzarella, the kids will be occupied with making their own and happy with the result. On their own, these make a great lunch; served with soup or salad, they're a satisfying dinner.
8. Wraps: As long as I have tortillas, I feel equipped to make a meal. It could be black bean burritos, cheese quesadillas, a felafel wrap, or a roll-up with peanut butter and jam, banana slices, or a thin egg omelet with shredded cheese.

If there are vegetables:

9. Grain bowl: If I have sturdy vegetables like cauliflower, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and fennel, I like to roast them at high heat and stash in the fridge to make grain bowls. I use whatever grains I have (rice, quinoa, barley, couscous), top with the vegetables, some crumbled cheese, herbs, seeds, and vinaigrette.
10. Cream soups: Almost any vegetable can be turned into a cream-of-something soup – cauliflower, broccoli, butternut squash, beets, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, etc. Start with onions, add the chopped vegetable and stock, simmer till soft, puree, and add cream or coconut milk. Curry powder or dried herbs make it tastier.

Pakistan's economy in deep trouble

Published: April 27, 2020
Description: A Reuters representational image.
A Reuters representational image.
KARACHI: The World Bank has warned that Pakistan’s economy can shrink 1.3% to 2.2% in the current fiscal year whereas the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the economy may contract 1.5%.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also believes all growth indicators will have to be revised downwards.
These are really very troubling times for the nation of 220 million already suffering from a range of structural macroeconomic issues. But there is a silver lining.
International creditors are willing to roll over Pakistan’s external debt. This means the country will have to set aside a much lesser amount of foreign exchange for debt servicing than before.
The SBP will be able to manage foreign exchange reserves with relative ease of mind. The rupee may not witness a free fall, even if exports and remittances don’t grow, foreign direct investment doesn’t pick up pace and outflows of hot money or investments made by foreigners in liquid assets continue.
Exports and remittances will not grow during the final quarter of the current fiscal year is almost certain. Foreign direct investment will not pour in is also almost certain. The country is already witnessing evaporation of foreign investment from once high-yielding treasury bills and once booming stocks.
These things are certain. What is uncertain though and to date only a ray of hope, is the possibility of external debt rollovers. So, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government must not lower its guards. It must not!
That is why the government angst is visible. Perhaps, the government has realised that it now has no room to further procrastinate and must develop a perfectly coordinated approach towards fixing the economic ills.
Such an approach requires taking all stakeholders on board, identifying with their assistance all problem areas of the economy and working on them diligently with focus on immediate results.
Impact on exports
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Mian Anjum Nisar says he is most perturbed by the cancellation of export orders by many countries. He hopes that with the recent easing of lockdown, exports of some sectors will start returning to normal levels and can even show an increasing trend.
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Agha Shahab is not that optimistic. “Since lockdown still remains in place except for some exempted sectors, almost 90% business activities have come to a halt, wreaking havoc everywhere across the industrial spectrum and hitting SMEs very badly,” he says.
It is beyond doubt that Pakistan’s export earnings would decline sharply in the last quarter (Apr-Jun) of FY20 as many large-scale manufacturing (LSM) industries have still not started operating due to the restrictions.
This sadly coincides with an already declining trend in LSM output. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has reported about 3.4% year-on-year decline in LSM production for Jul-Jan 2019-20. For full fiscal year, the negative growth will obviously be much higher due to the lockdown effect.
In Jul-Mar FY20, Pakistan’s exports increased just 2.23% to $17.45 billion and imports declined 14.4% to $34.81 billion. Even this nominal growth in exports may not continue, though imports may continue to slide both due to depressed demand and global oil price crash to multi-year lows.
Businessmen say exports of Basmati rice, horticulture, meat and meat products may show an increasing trend, though. “We expect additional earnings of $200 to $300 million this year not because of increase in rice production but due to ascending prices in the international market, taking exports towards $2.2 to $2.3 billion,” says Shahjahan Malik, Chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan.
When asked about exports during the lockdown, All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters and Importers Association Patron-in-Chief Abdul Waheed says in the early days of the lockdown exporters faced some difficulties regarding documentation in Indonesia and Russia.
However, he acknowledges the role of Pakistani embassies there that managed to get the scanned copies of documents accepted, resulting in restart of shipments with a lag of about 90 days in payments.
Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which has been spared of lockdown restrictions, offers prospects for modest growth. If agriculture grows even modestly, the economic woes unleashed by Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdowns will be somewhat addressed.
Policymakers need to chalk out a proper plan to absorb more jobless people in agriculture and livestock sectors, and to some extent in construction. The blanket amnesty scheme introduced for investment in the construction sector may boost activity in the sector even in the midst of lockdown.
As services and manufacturing sectors have been terribly impacted, short-term export enhancement measures launched by the SBP and the government can be expected to compensate for their output loss, but only marginally.
Remittances
The decline in international oil prices to multi-year lows is a blessing in disguise for Pakistan. It may bring some relief to the balance of payments. But reasons behind these plummeting prices and economic slowdown will be damaging for remittances from overseas Pakistanis.
Massive layoffs of workers in Gulf countries were being reported even before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and now joblessness at historic highs in the United States have made the inflow of remittances all the more vulnerable for Pakistan.
Since 54% of remittances come from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries where more than 4 million Pakistanis live, the layoff of workers in GCC states in the post-pandemic period will deal a big blow to remittances.
Media reports say over 10,000 people have already lost their jobs only in the UAE. Probably, Saudi Arabia and four other GCC countries too will resort to massive layoffs, as their transport, construction and services sectors have been hit hard.
In case of the US from where 15.6% of remittances come to Pakistan, the prospects are quite bleak. Some independent US policy institutes are projecting up to 16% unemployment and more than 15 million job losses this year. This will definitely reduce Pakistan’s remittances from there.
Same is the case for European countries. Although remittances from the EU in March showed a modest 3.8% increase, in the current quarter the country must be prepared to see a big plunge as Covid-19 has devastated major European economies.
The writer is a mechanical engineer and is doing masters
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2020.

Rice Worth $1.95 Billion Exported In Nine Months

  

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Apr, 2020 ) :Rice exports from the country during first three quarters of current financial year registered an increase of 7.13 % as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from July to March 2019-20, the country earned $1.594 billion by exporting over 3.146 million tons of rice, according the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The exports of rice in first three quarters of last financial year were recorded at 2.987 million tons valuing $1.487 billion, the data revealed.
During the period under review, about 657,280 metric tons of Basmati rice worth of $573.196 million were also exported as compared to the exports of 433, 097 metric tons valuing $ 428.796 million of same period of last year.
The exports of Basmati rice witnessed about 38.
68% growth during the period under review as compared the exports of same period last year, it added.
In last nine months over 2.488 million tons of rice other then Basmati worth $1.020 billion exported as compared to the exports of 2.553 million tons valuing $ 1.059 billion of same period last year.
However, during the period under review the exports of rice other then Basmati remained on down track as it decreased by 3.62%, the data revealed.
It may be recalled here that food group exports from the country during first nine months of current financial year grew by 1.43% as different food commodities worth $3.396 billion exported as against $3.348 billion of the corresponding period of last year.
Meanwhile, food group exports during the month of March 2020 decreased by 23.23% as compared to the same month of last year.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/rice-worth-195-billion-exported-in-nine-mon-904302.html

 

CPIC launches relief efforts in Islamabad, Gwadar and Karachi

BY STAFF REPORT ,
Description: https://cache.pakistantoday.com.pk/PR-10.jpg
ISLAMABAD: With the advent of holy month of Ramazan, CPIC, one of the largest developer and real estate companies, has launched a food ration distribution campaign to help the most vulnerable families in Islamabad, Karachi and Gwadar.
Each ration pack includes three-month food supplies including wheat flour, rice, sugar, lentils, ghee, dates, Rooh Afza and tea.
In addition, 50,000 surgical masks are also being distributed to Doctors, Nurses, key workers & those most at risk.
Talking to media, CPIC board member Lt. General (R) Syed Sabahat Husain said that as a leading developer and key stakeholder in Gwadar, we take it as our responsibility to support the city’s most vulnerable segments.
“On behalf of the group and our valued clients, we have started an initiative to provide ration packs that include three-month essential supplies including rice, flour, wheat, lentils, ghee, and tea,” he said.
He said that distribution commenced earlier this week with CPIC project International Port City acting as the distribution centre however now we will be going door to door distrusting the ration packs to those who didn’t have the means of transport to come to us.
“We would like to thank DG Gwadar Development Authority Shazeb Kakar, the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce for their ongoing support and the Pakistan Armed forces for their support. As a responsible organisation involved in the cohesive development of Pakistan, we are here to assist all institutions across the country regardless of geographic location,” he added.
He said now the campaign was also being replicated to Islamabad and Karachi. He said that the officials in Gwadar had requested protective masks from the CPIC and in the coming days we will be delivering 50,000 masks to Gwadar Management.

Govt to provide subsidy to rice growers


By  News desk
 -

Sialkot
A five year project under Agriculture Emergency, a national programme for higher profitability through increased rice produce ,has been launched in 15 rice growing districts of Punjab costing Rs. 6.63 billion.
Under this programme the government will provide subsidy to paddy growers belonging to rice growing districts for obtaining authenticated paddy seed. Rice growers have been advised to contact local agriculture department for registration,sources in Agriculture department told APP here .
It was learnt that special attention would be focused on promoting mechanized farming in these districts. Under national agriculture emergency efforts would be made for timely sowing of identified ecologically best varieties
by promoting direct seedling of rice drill in these districts.
The mechanized transplanting of rice nurseries will replace the outdated manual transplanting. The project was being carried out in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura,Okara, Hafizabad, Nankana Sahib, Bahawalnager, Jhang, Narowal, Kasur, Mandi B.Din, Chiniot, Gujrat, Lahore, and Faisalabad districts. In these area rice—Basmati and course varieties would be cultivated on 70,000 acres of land.
Under the programme government will provide riding type rice transplanter, walk-after type rice transplanter, nursery raising machine, direct seedling drill, rice straw chopper, water tight rotavator and knapsack power sprayer.
The government will provide subsidy to rice grower for the purchase of tested paddy seeds and pesticides. The government will also provide subsidy of Rs.1500 per acre to growers for encouraging combined harvesting. The underline aim of the programme is to promote mechanized farming for higher per acre yield,sources said. —APP

New Arkansas long-grain rice variety offers high yields, UA says

Jewel, a new mid-season, long-grain rice variety from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, offers high yields and resistance to most known blast races, according to a news release.
Foundation seed for Jewel will be maintained by the Division of Agriculture’s Foundation Seed Program at the Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart. Certified seed will be available to growers in 2021.
In 14 Arkansas Rice Performance Trials conducted over three years, Jewel averaged 187 bushels per acre, said Karen Moldenhauer, professor and rice breeder for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture.
In Uniform Regional Rice Nursery trials in Arkansas during that same period, Jewel yielded an average of 229 bushels per acre.
Those yields compare favorably to LaKast and Roy J rice varieties, and in some cases even with the high-yielding Diamond rice variety, she said.
Maturing about three to four days earlier than Roy J, Jewel reaches 50 percent heading in 87 days, Moldenhauer said. Jewel stands about 37 inches tall and has straw strength similar to Diamond and approaching Roy J, indicating lodging resistance.
Moldenhauer said Jewel has excellent milling yields of 59 percent whole kernels and 71 percent total milled rice, based on three years of Arkansas Rice Performance Trial data.
Jewel contains the Pi-ta and Pi-ks genes for resistance to most of the common races of blast, Moldenhauer said. It is moderately susceptible to sheath blight as well as bacterial panicle blight, much like Roy J.
Moldenhauer said Jewel has good food quality and cooks up in a manner desired by consumers. Jewel was developed using Rice Grower Checkoff funds administered by the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board.
To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uark.edu. Follow the agency on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and Instagram at ArkAgResearch.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without discrimination.




Analysis shows benefits of conservation agriculture in South Asia


Amin AhmedUpdated April 27, 2020

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre completes 60 years of research partnership with Pakistan. — Dawn/FileDescription: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre completes 60 years of research partnership with Pakistan. — Dawn/File

ISLAMABAD: A new analysis carried out by a team of scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) has shown benefits of conservation agriculture for crop performance, water use efficiency, farmers’ incomes and climate action across a variety of cropping systems and environments in South Asia.
The analysis, published in ‘Nature Sustainability’, is the first of its kind to synthesise existing studies on conservation agriculture in South Asia and allows policy makers to prioritise where and which cropping systems to deploy conservation agriculture techniques. The ‘Nature Sustainability’ publishes the best research about sustainability from the natural and social sciences.
The analysis used data from over 9,500 site-year comparisons across South Asia. Scientists looked at a variety of agricultural, economic and environmental performance indicators — including crop yields, water use efficiency, economic return, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming potential — and compared how they correlated with conservation agriculture conditions in smallholder farms and field stations across South Asia.
Researchers found that many conservation agriculture practices had significant benefits for agricultural, economic and environmental performance indicators, whether implemented separately or together.
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre completes 60 years of research partnership with Pakistan
Zero tillage with residue retention, for example, had a mean yield advantage of around 6 per cent, provided farmers almost 25 per cent more income, and increased water use efficiency by about 13pc compared to conventional agricultural practices. This combination of practices also was shown to cut global warming potential by up to 33pc.
This comes as good news for national governments in South Asia, which have been actively promoting conservation agriculture to increase crop productivity while conserving natural resources. South Asian agriculture is known as a global “hotspots’ for climate vulnerability, according to the analysis.
With the region’s population expected to rise to 2.4 billion, demand for cereals is expected to grow by about 43pc between 2010 and 2050. This presents a major challenge for food producers who need to produce more while minimising greenhouse gas emissions and damage to the environment and other natural resources.
“The collaborative effort behind this study epitomises how researchers, policy-makers, and development practitioners can and should work together to find solutions to the many challenges facing agricultural development, not only in South Asia but worldwide also,” said Jon Hellin, leader of the Sustainable Impact Platform at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Meanwhile, CIMMYT has completed in 2020 its 60 years of research partnership with Pakistan, playing a vital role in improving food security for Pakistanis and for the global spread of improved crop varieties and farming practices.
Dr Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace laureate and first director of CIMMYT wheat research, kept a close relationship with Pakistan’s researchers and policymakers. The high-yielding, white-grain wheat variety “Mexi-Pak” from CIMMYT addressed the national food security crisis when Pakistan imported 50 tons of Mexi-Pak seed in 1966, the largest seed purchase of its time, and two years later became the first Asian country to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, with a national production of 6.7 million tons.
In 2019, Pakistan harvested 26m tons of wheat, which roughly matches its annual consumption of the crop, CIMMYT says.
Since 1965, Pakistan has released 140 improved wheat varieties for use by farmers. Each year, CIMMYT provides approximately 25,000 new wheat lines to strengthen national wheat breeding for disease resistance, drought and heat tolerance, higher yields, and bio-fortification. More than 70pc of all wheat varieties grown in Pakistan come from collaborations with CIMMYT.
Almost 36 high-yielding, heat and disease resistant varieties released over the last six years have contributed to a 20pc gain in farmers’ wheat yields. A 200pc increase in the number of wheat crosses has led to more varietal releases. Bio-fortified wheat varieties that carry enhanced levels of zinc in the grain are now grown on half a million hectares, contributing to better nutrition among those who cannot afford diverse diets.
In maize, a network of partners has tested and deployed more than 3,000 improved varieties and hybrids across 300 environments. Using CIMMYT parental lines, Pakistan took the lead in South Asia in releasing two new hybrids of quality protein maize, whose grain features enhanced levels of the essential protein-building amino acids, lysine and tryptophan.
Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2020


Confusion over FG’s rice palliative for South West

By Muyiwa Adeyemi (Head, South West State), Seun Akingboye (Akure), Ayodele Afolabi (Ekiti), Rotimi Agboluaje (Ibadan),Timothy Agbor (Osun),Tunji Omofoye (Osogbo), Chukwuma Muanya,Seye Olumide, Femi Ibirogba (Head, Agro-Economy)and Gbenga Salau (Lagos)
27 April 2020   |   4:10 am
Whether the bags of rice the Federal Government donated to states in the South West are fit for human consumption, partially fit, or totally unfit depends on who takes the question.
In an attempt to cushion the pains of lockdowns across the country due to COVID-19, the Federal Government had instructed the Nigeria Customs Service to distribute bags of rice to states. But the rejection of the commodity by the Oyo State government on the grounds of poor quality has continued to stir political undercurrents.
Fresh facts emerged yesterday that only Oyo, and not all the South-West states, would return the allegedly contaminated bags. Investigations by The Guardian revealed that Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and the Ondo States did not see anything wrong with the product.
They, however, declined to comment on how to fit the rice is for consumption, fueling speculations that the matter has gone political.
While the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) controls most states in the region, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holds sway in Oyo.
A source said: “If Oyo, Osun and Ekiti took delivery of the rice from the same source at the customs store in Ibadan, why would only Oyo State allege that the rice is contaminated and other states decline to comment?”
Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde told The Guardian via telephone yesterday that the rice was not only bad for human consumption but “a letter has gone to Nigeria Customs that we are returning the rice. So, it is not conjectured any more. The process of returning it will be finalised. The people who were there saw weevils all over the rice. They saw the ones that were very bad and black.”
But the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Kunle Somorin, said the state was not considering returning the bags. He also did not confirm if the product had been tested and found good for human consumption.
Osun State said it sent a sample of the rice for quality test and was waiting for the result. The governor, who spoke through his media aide, Ismail Omipidan, said a decision would be taken after the result had been received.
The Ekiti State government said it had no plan to return the bags. Commissioner of Information Muyiwa Olomilua said the bags were already in the state’s food bank. He declined further comments on quality.
The Ondo State government admitted it took delivery of 1,800 bags of rice and other items. But several attempts to speak with Commissioner for Information Donald Ojogo were unsuccessful, as he did not pick his calls or reply to messages sent to his phone. Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture Akin Olotu also did not pick his calls.
But a source within the Ondo Government House, who pleaded anonymity, said the state government was subjecting the bags of rice to a quality test.
Refuting the allegation that the bags of rice were spoilt, Abdullahi-Lagos Abiola, public relations officer of the Oyo/Osun Area Command, Nigeria Customs Service, said: “As a responsible agency of government whose function includes ensuring that nothing that could compromise the security, economy and general well being of Nigerians is allowed into the country, we cannot turn round and be associated with giving anything that will negatively affect our people.
“On the 21st of April 2020, the Oyo State government team came with their vehicles under the supervision of Mr. Jacob Ojekunle, Mrs. Saidat Oloko, Mrs. M.O. Lasisi and other top officials, in the presence of the Customs Area Controller, other officers and members of the press to witness the loading and exiting of the 1800 bags of parboiled rice allocated to their state.
“Incidentally, in the process of loading, few bags fell at different times and burst open in the presence of Mr. Ojekunle and Mrs. Lasisi, and there was no time any of the burst bags of rice had weevils in them. The warehouse had no signs of weevils, neither were their signs of weevils on the loaders or on the trucks under the scorching sun.
“Oyo, Osun and Ekiti States took delivery of the bags of rice allocated to them, returned their landing certificates to show delivery to the final destinations. Contrary to allegations by the Oyo State government, Osun and Ekiti States have not complained about their allocations.
“The command is therefore surprised, even embarrassed to hear three days later that the rice allocated to them was infested with weevils and unfit for human consumption.”
Lagos State Commissioner for Information Gbenga Omotosho said: “Lagos State government has not said it was going to return the rice. The truth of the matter is that the rice in the majority of the bags could be eaten; the authorities certified it to be good.”
Lagos is controlled by the APC.
Omotosho said: “Actually some are bad. But there is no plan by the Lagos State government to return the rice or throw it in the lagoon as some people are claiming. We are appreciative of what the Federal Government has done. We had been distributing rice procured by the state government even before the ones donated by the Federal Government came.
“You have to realise that even before the help from the Federal Government came, Lagos had spent a lot of money on palliatives, and we are not going to relent, bad rice or no bad rice.”
The commissioner said about a week after the rice arrived, the state government invited the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to look at the bags of rice. “This was because some members of the state executive raised the issue that the rice might have stayed long in the store and it (NAFDAC) certified that the majority was good.”
In different reactions, Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders Kunle Olajide said: “I will not blame Makinde if truly the rice is bad because he cannot afford to risk the life of Oyo people by giving them bad items to consume. His claim calls for a thorough investigation.” He added: “There have been complaints that the palliatives favour the North against the South and also that there is inequality in the handling of the Social Intervention Fund (SIF). If this is the case, then we shouldn’t dismiss Makinde’s allegation.”
National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere Yinka Odumakin said it was doubtful if the Oyo State government would falsely say the bags of rice delivered to the state were bad. “It is Afenifere’s opinion that a necessary investigation be carried out to determine the true position of things,” he said.
APC National Vice Chairman (South West) Bankole Oluwajana, who hails from Ondo, said: “The rice we received is good, and justice has been done to it without party sentiment.”
He cautioned against politicising efforts by government at containing the pandemic. He said if Governor Makinde was not playing politics, he would have complained that over 600 bags were bad and the customs would have replaced them.
APC South-West Publicity Secretary Dapo Karounwi said: “Ekiti State did not receive any bad rice as palliative from the Federal Government. Where Oyo got it, I wouldn’t know. It would be recalled that this same Makinde endangered the life of his people when the pandemic initially started by inviting all PDP members to hold a rally in the state where he even said coronavirus was not in the party but rather in APC. A week later he (Makinde) tested positive for the virus. Who knows if he is playing another politics with the rice?” Karounwi nevertheless called for an investigation into the claim.
The president of Yoruba Ronu, Akin Malaolu, warned that President Buhari should not be tagged in the matter since he only gave a directive to the customs to distribute the rice. According to him, the president would not know whether the rice delivered to Oyo was bad or not. “I will suggest that the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ibrahim Ali and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 be questioned over Makinde’s claim,” he said.
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the Federal Government for donating the bags of rice. Claiming they were part of seizures by the Nigeria Customs Service several years ago, it said the government should have instead bought food for the citizens using the donations it received.
The party, in a statement by Deputy National Publicity Secretary Prince Diran Odeyemi, said: “It is irreconcilable if, in the name of saving the lives of Nigerians against the coronavirus pandemic, the same Federal Government is giving Nigerians poisonous rice as palliative. We wonder how a government that claims to value the lives of its people will openly toy with the idea of feeding them with expired food items.”
Meanwhile, scientists have associated colour changes in stored rice and other grains with expiration and contamination by mycotoxins, warning that consumption could lead to cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, and suppression of the immune system.
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungal species of the genera Aspergillus, Alternaria, Penicillium, Fusarium, Claviceps, and several others.
Botanically called Oryza sativa, rice is a key source of human calorie intake and is a staple food in many countries.
Studies have shown that rice, cultivated in flooded irrigation conditions and high moisture levels, is susceptible to infection by moulds and subsequent mycotoxin contamination. The situation is aggravated by inappropriate storage and climatic conditions such as floods and heavy rainfall at harvest time. Sun drying, usually practiced by most farmers, is insufficient to reduce the moisture content, making rice more prone to fungal attack.
According to a study, ‘Occurrence of major mycotoxins and their dietary exposure in North-Central Nigeria staples’, published March 2020 in the Scientific African, mycotoxins could be nephrotoxic (harmful to the kidney), immunosuppressive (suppress the immune system), carcinogenic (cause cancer), and teratogenic (causes birth defects in children).
The researchers were from the Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State and Department of Biochemistry, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi.
Also, a grain specialist and Vice Chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Prof. Shehu Garki Ado, said many factors could be responsible for the deterioration of grains in storage.
He said if the grains had been kept in strategic reserves, they would have remained intact and wholesome even without chemical preservation. Storage in silos could last for a very long time, he said, though there is a limit in the timeline before consumption.
Ado said leased strategic grain reserves should be returned to the Federal Government and government should construct silos in each local government and ward, given the importance of food to national security.
Supporting the view, Prof. Samuel Olakojo, a specialist in grain breeding, production and post-harvest management, said because the Nigeria Customs Service is not trained to store grains, it should have moved the seized rice to the strategic grain reserves.
One of the conditions for proper storage of grains, he noted, includes less-than-12 humidity level. If humidity is higher, moulds would form on the grains and dangerous microorganisms like bacteria, fungi would grow.
Olakojo added: “Leasing out the majority of the strategic grain reserves is like leasing the armoury of the Nigerian armed forces to private security firms. Food is a national security matter.
“At best, those strategic grain reserves should be in the hands of a commission or agency if the Federal Ministry of Agriculture cannot handle them. The Federal Government should encourage private firms to construct their grain reserves and use for industrial purposes while the national ones should be used for food security.”

THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1956 Part 4
Posted on April 25th, 2020

KAMALIKA PIERIS

This essay contains the work done by Philip Gunawardana and P.H.William Silva during the MEP government of 1956. In the MEP government of 1956, Philip Gunawardena was given the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The portfolio included the plantation sector as well as animal husbandry.
Philip had got down to work immediately, after taking up the portfolio, perusing files, talking to officials, visiting state farms, research and experimental stations, talking to farmers, and visiting Pettah to inquire into prices of rice and other foodstuffs.
Philip maintained that it was more profitable to invest money in the plantation crops and the existing paddy lands than invest in massive irrigation and land settlement schemes, which needed enormous capital.  ‘Vast sums of money are spent as capital expenditure on schemes which will only begin to pay in 10 or 15 years.  We need a quicker return.  That can be obtained by providing irrigation and drainage in areas where the schemes are already in operation,’ Philip said.
Philip took a deep interest in paddy production and studied it from all angles. He complained repeatedly about the paucity of statistics on paddy cultivation. There was no information on the size of holdings, yield, ownership, and so on. Thanks to Philip, in 1962, the Department of Census and Statistics started an agricultural census.
Philip contested the existing notion that it was cheaper to import rice than produce it. He said that it was not necessary to open up more and more land for paddy cultivation. It was better to increase production in the existing paddy fields in Purana villages and colonization schemes. He strongly urged investment in already asweddumised land through higher use of fertilizer, high yielding seed, use of mechanization for ploughing and sowing, would give greater returns.
Philip said that mechanization would take the drudgery out of agriculture and make it more attractive.  It may also stop the exodus from the village.   We must think of tractors not buffaloes, he said.  The Department of Agriculture will take over all available tractors in the public sector and operate a tractor service.
Philip wanted to create an Agricultural Implements Factory which will also produce mammoties, pick axes etc. Paddy milling industry had to be reorganized said Philip. Most mills are ramshackle and   there is wastage in the milling process.
There was the problem of low paddy yields. The basic principles of land use in ancient Ceylon were sound and in accordance with modern principles of land utilization, said Philip, quoting Ernest Abeyratne. Therefore all what was needed now was the introduction of modern techniques adapted to the Dry Zone environment.
The soil conditions and fertilizer needed In the Dry Zone, was known from ancient times, said Philip. But knowledge of soil conditions and fertilizer needs for paddy production in the Wet Zone was lacking.  Philip found that experimental plots and private individual farms in the Wet Zone had shown good yields where soil had been analyzed and correct fertilizer used. ‘They have obtained as high as 60 to 110 bushels per acres.’ In Kegalle, the Food Production Department had managed to increase yields by providing fertilizer, credit, high yielding seeds and adopting transplanting instead of the traditional   method of sowing.
Philip was deeply concerned with the plight of the farmer. The rural sector needed a body which would give them medium and long term credit. There were no credit facilities in the country for the small traders also.  The two available banks, Agricultural and Industrial Credit Corporation and the Cooperative Federal Bank were of no use. Bank of Ceylon was not operating in rural Sri Lanka, either. The main source for credit were the private loan agencies.
Philip wanted to set up a Cooperative Credit Bank, which would provide credit to the ‘small man’ in industry, trade or agriculture, as the existing commercial banks did not support him. The Cooperative Credit Bank would grant loans to the rural sector, for financing small agricultural industries and businesses, and also give loans for building. It would also act as a pawn broker.  The Bank would have branches in the principal towns and rural centers. The plan was to open 100 branches in the first year.
The Bill had received the support of the Central Bank. Amendment suggested by Central Bank were incorporated. Governor of the Central Bank Arthur Ranasinghe had in a personal letter to Philip, praised the idea and offered the services of his staff to help the take over the Cooperative Federal Bank into the new Bank.
The Cooperative Credit Bank Bill was put to the Cabinet in 1958.  It received the unanimous approval of Cabinet. Then the Bill was opposed by Minister for Lands and Land development, CP de Silva and Minister of Finance, Stanley de Soyza. CP de Silva said they would give Rs. 10 million to the Cooperative Federal Bank, instead.  Stanley de Soyza attacked the Bill when the draft was published in Daily News.  He protested that this Bank was to be set up under its own Act, and would have the powers of a normal commercial bank, not a cooperative bank.
Philip explained that the Cooperative Credit Bank which was a pioneer venture had to be liquid if it was to provide credit into the rural sector. It had to first make that money. ‘We have combined the function of a commercial bank with the functions of a development bank. The commercial side was to earn the money and lending was to be done by the development side, he said.
Philip thought that foreign banking interests were behind the opposition. The Finance Minister is expected to   see that banking facilities were provided to the rural sector. Instead he took the side of the foreign vested interests and opposed the setting up of this bank. SWRD took over the Bill from Philip, promising that he would see it through. That did to happen.  His opponents forced Philip to resign from the Cabinet and the Bill was forgotten.
Philip was also preparing in 1958, a Crop Insurance Bill. It was necessary to protect the farmer from crop failure, through crop insurance. This would be tried out first in two pilot projects, one where risk is high and one where risk is low. The pilot projects will not be experimental ones, they will be fact finding. At present we do not compensate when there is loss of crops. We wait till they are destitute and then give relief.
Philip brought a revised Paddy Lands Bill before Parliament.  The first Paddy Lands Bill was passed in 1953 under the UNP. It was a limited attempt at tenancy reform and was focused on Hambantota and Batticaloa alone. Under this Bill, tenant and owner should sign an agreement, valid for 5 years. Philip found that in Hambantota, only two such agreements had been signed.  Landlords avoided written leases. Without clear tenancy agreements, the benefit was for the money lender, said Philip.
Philip prepared a comprehensive Bill dealing with the whole question of tenancy, security of tenure, rights of landlords and tenants. It was to ensure long term security for the tenant and limited very strictly the rights of the land lord. The new act gave the ande goviya tenure without a time limit.  The number of tenant farmers affected were around 300,000. Philip said the Bill would also free the tenant from his traditional servitude to the landlord. The tenant’s children had to work in the landlord’s house as servants, often without pay.
Philip introduced his Paddy Lands Bill in 1957.  Meegama said that this Bill was perhaps the most important Bill presented in Parliament since 1947. This Bill will benefit the Kandyan peasantry more than any other worker. The Kandyan peasant is the most down trodden, said Philip. Nanda Wanasundera recalls, there was one tenant on the paddy land in Peradeniya, owned by her mother, who insisted she must get three fourths with Mother getting only one fourth.
Paddy Lands Bill was  passed on Dec 19, 1957, 61 for and 7 against. The Paddy Lands Bill gave security to the tenant farmer. There were a lot of objections to the Bill, including tremendous opposition from the SLFP in the MEP, especially CP de Silva. The paddy owners objected strongly. Nothing should be done to disturb to these ancient  hallowed practices, they said.
Crippling amendments were made to the Bill. Philip said he had wanted to implement the Paddy Lands Act in the entire island within three years, but under pressure from landed interests and capitalist interests, he had to make it five years. The number of landlords in the Cultivation Committee was increased to 25%. They could refuse to attend.  They did and the committee could not function.
The enforcement of the Act depended on its proper administration. But Philip could administer the Paddy Lands Bill for only one year. The Act needed certain changes. 50 amendments had been prepared.  Philip pointed out that the necessary amendments to the Act were ready when he was asked to resign. But they were not introduced and many tenants were evicted from their lands. They blamed it on Philip.
Meegama said the Paddy Lands Act , even without amendments could have been successfully implemented under a supportive minister and dedicated officers in the Agrarian Service Department .
One of Philip’s great success stories was potato farming in Nuwara Eliya. This had been tried before and failed.  The MEP government wrote off the debt on this failed attempt and tried again with better seed potatoes. The trial  was a complete success, and a potato research station was established in Rahangala.
In 1957 Philip reported that sugar cane production was begun on a large scale in Kantalai. This was the first time that lift irrigation on a large scale was being used in Sri Lanka.  In 1958 Philip reported that the sugar factory was also coming up.
Philip also started pineapple, coffee, cocoa, tobacco and cotton plantations. Pineapple was tried in Gampaha area, where the soil is suitable. Cocoa in Matale, Badulla and Koslanda, tobacco in Jaffna and Uva. Philip said that a citrus specialist from Australia had been surprised that we were not using the local varieties which will be more resistant to disease, unlike the imported varieties.
 A large cotton farm was planned for Hambantota, in the area between Walawe and Kirindi oya. We have developed a variety of cotton suitable for the area.  It is purchased at a good price by Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills. Area under cotton was expanding as the villagers earned more by cultivating cotton. We propose to open a fairly large cotton farm in Ridiyagama area with Russian assistance, said Philip .
In dairy farming, Philip reported that they had experimented with crossing the Sinhala Cow with the Jersey and Frisian cows. The most successful match was with Jersey. The animal is larger than the Sinahla cow but not as large as Jersey. Milk yield was fairly satisfactory.
Philip improved the distribution of milk. Most of the milk went waste since the producing areas were so far from the towns and in a tropical climate milk soon goes bad. Therefore Philip set up two pasteurization plants in Gampola and Nattandiya where 10,000 pints of milk were collected daily, from producers. Milk Board  planned to set up two more plants at Polgahawela and Kotagala.
The Milk Board in 1958 launched a programme to popularize milk drinking, and to increase the supply to those areas which were ready to drink milk. The Board planned a chain of six feeder units for collection, processing and storage at Nattandiya, Gampola and Welikanda, with Kotagala, Polgahawela and Galle to follow. The Board also up the Colombo Central Dairy with Colombo Plan aid, to serve the Greater Colombo district.
An American NGO, CARE, had been invited by the UNP government to distribute milk powder. CARE was an acronym for Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere’. Philip objected to CARE distributing milk powder. It could be done by local agencies. Also what was the need for CARE to set up an office here, for the mere supervision of the distribution. Why  did the previous government allow a voluntary  organization to set up a branch office in Ceylon. Philip was suspicious. ‘I fear the Greeks  even when they offer gifts ‘ Philip  tried to change the agreement ,but  found that was not possible. ‘I looked,’  he said. ‘
In July 1958   Philip Gunawardene published an Agriculture Plan prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture Planning Committee. This was a substantial document. It was prepared with the support of a  group of dedicated public servants. It had an overview of the Agriculture sector, crop by crop, with   information on each, and what was needed. It covered food and plantation crops, animal husbandry, distribution, credit, crop insurance, multipurpose co-ops. It examined all the problems. It was a good starting point for anyone starting work on an agriculture plan, said Meegama. The plan was criticized by his opponents within the MEP.
Philip encouraged agricultural research. He wanted the research scientists in the Department of Agriculture and elsewhere to concentrate on research and not administration. He appointed administration officers for the 24 districts and relived the scientific officers of this work. Technical officers should be left to do technical work, not promoted to  do administrative work, such as petitions, he said.
Philip said that J.R. Jayawardene had in 1953 and 1954 disposed of very valuable state farms.  If JR had waited for a year or two most of these farms would have paid. Some of these farms were for research not to make a profit, observed Philip.  Philip wanted Gannoruwa to do research on rice.  He  set up  other research units. Rahangala for potato and citrus,    Hambantota for cotton,  sugar in Kantalai,   and paddy at Batalegoda. Under him, the Department of Agriculture started a soil survey.
There are five big firms which import fertilizer. The main ones are, Colombo Commercial , Baur, Shaw Wallace and  Moosajee. They have a virtual monopoly. CCC, Baur and Shaw Wallace work together. Government pays out enormous amounts for fertilizer for coconut, rubber and paddy. The government subsidizes 50% of the cost to the paddy cultivator.  This too goes to the importing firms. We are their mercy said Philip.
Philip wanted to make the CWE the sole importer of fertilizer. The idea was opposed, by many including the Minister for Commerce. Cabinet refused to give approval for CWE to import fertilizer.Even the Prime Minister had objected to the state importing fertilizers.
Philip then suggested creating a separate state organization for the purpose. It would be able to sell fertilizer cheaper. And eliminate the high profits the   three foreign firms were making   since they had a monopoly on it.  Nothing came of this either.
Until 1956, the cooperatives had been single purpose ones. There were about   10,500 of cooperatives   and they were of 70 different types. MEP decided to weld them into one organization, the Multipurpose Cooperative Society.  By 1958 a fair number of Multipurpose Cooperatives were formed, other were converted. There was terrific enthusiasm on the part of the public said Philip.
The MEP had taken over the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment. Before 1956, CWE was selling a bare minimum of items. So that the public had to go to the private trader for the rest.  MEP gave it a new board of directors and they had shown a profit in 1956 itself. MEP gave CWE trading rights and monopolies in respect of several items of food stuffs.  Philip’s plan  had been to make the CWE eventually the sole importer of all essential food stuff.  
However, Philip was not obsessed with state ventures. He  proposed joint stock companies, state and private, for paddy milling, coconut oil, and desiccated coconut.
P.H.William Silva was appointed Minister of Industries and Fisheries in the   MEP cabinet. His name is forgotten today, but it was William Silva who started the industrial sector in Ceylon. There were no local industries when MEP took power in 1956, everything was imported. The country was importing everything, from a pin, comb, pencil, biscuit to mammoties, water pumps, agriculture and industrial machinery, reported economists.   
The main obstacle to the creation of local industry when the country became independent was the lack of credit. World Bank Survey of 1951 reported that the banks operating in Ceylon did not support local industry. The Agricultural and Credit Corporation (est.  1943)  for the express purpose of Providing such credit had not done so. Those who went there found it impossible to arrange acceptable security. The British and Indian commercial banks present in the country, only lent for    short tem import export transactions.
Bank of Ceylon did not help either. Mortgages had to be secured by personal assets of borrowers. Bank of Ceylon did not give loans on new enterprises unless the bank officials knew the person.  The local moneyed class was also not prepared to invest in industry. William Silva observed that when a local person made money, he preferred to buy an estate and get a quick return.
William Silva   decided that in such a situation, the state had to step in and provide a lead in developing industry. He   presented a White paper on Industrial policy. He introduced the State Industrial Corporations Act of 1957. .. Budget 1957-58 included various tax concessions for industry.
A conscious effort was made towards industrialization in 1956. Corporations were established under State Industrial Corporations Act 1957, as well as special legislation. These corporations were provided with startup capital in form of grants and loans, confirmed economist Saman Kelegama. 
William Silva thought that the state    should undertake   ‘large’ industry, such as cement, steel and machinery.  He drew up three lists of industries.  The first list consisted of items reserved for the state. They included iron and steel, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, salt , mineral sands sugar, power alcohol and rayon. 
The second list had industries which were open to both state and private sectors. They included textiles, tyres and  tubes, tiles, asbestos products, bicycles, industrial alcohol, acetic acid,   sugar, vegetable oil, ceramic ware, glass ware, leather products, plywood, paper, electric bubs, dry cell batteries, accumulators, barbed wire, lumber, agricultural implements, wood working, furniture and cabinetry,  and concrete products. 
There was a third list of 82 industries ranging from motor car assembly to activated charcoal, reserved exclusively for the private sector.  Persons embarking on these industries would receive tax concessions and tariff protection . Meegama observed that this period  therefore saw the beginning of a  private  sector in industry with government encouragement . Industrialists  promptly  asked  the government to stop imports in the goods they are producing.  
The first industrial estate was established at Ekala, with a grant from the US, giving facilities for the small industrialist, so that he could avoid the expenses for land, building and provision of water and electricity. Ekala started to operate in 1960.
William Silva needed to find funds for the state  industries.  World Bank had refused to finance  local industry when the earlier government had asked them, so this time William turned to Russia. Russia gave money  to start the  steel factory at Oruwala, tyre factory at Kelaniya, cement factory at Puttalam,  and the state flour milling factory.  A Ceramic Corporation, Leather corporation, Plywood corporation and Caustic soda project were set up by the MEP government later on.
 The Mineral Sands Corporation was started by William Silva. William Silva was aware of the value of these mineral sands.  It contains  titanium oxide, rutile,  and zircon, he told Parliament . He was hoping to process them with the limited technical knowledge we possess.
 He  also took note of the Monazite available. There is monazite washed up by the tide. It is there on the shore. We can collect about a thousand tons for nothing, he said.   Having collected it, you separate by magnetic operation, the monazite from the sand. Monazite is radioactive. We will not sell it. We will stockpile pile it, so that we can use it someday in an atomic programme for peaceful purposes said William Silva hopefully.
William Silva set up a National Textiles Corporation and a new spinning and weaving mill at Veyangoda. He encouraged handloom weaving  by supplying yarn at a reasonable price.  He stopped the import of Indian handlooms to give a boost to the local handloom industry. It was on the foundation laid by him that the industry forged ahead and tens of thousands of rural girls found employment or self employment, said Bandu de Silva.
In 1956, Lakshman Rajapaksa, MP for Hambantota and Deputy Minister for Commerce and Trade set up a cotton processing factory at Mirijjawila near Hambantota to encourage cotton cultivators in Hambantota and Monaragala. During this period cotton was a popular crop in the Eastern part of Hambantota and Monaragala, and cotton was cultivated under rain-fed conditions. This factory functioned satisfactorily and it started processing their home grown cotton. It was set on fire  by the JVP in 1971.
William Silva was responsible for the mechanisation of the deep sea  fishing industry. This was a far reaching change. Till then deep sea fishing was done in the traditional   35 foot oruwa. This was realced in 1958, by a locally built  27 ft, three and half ton mechanized boat with a 25 horse power engine, built with Japanese aid.
William Silva he not only gave a boost to the industry but also improved the living conditions of fishermen throughout the island especially by providing them housing, said Bandu de Silva. William Silva also promoted inland fisheries by breeding tilapia and gourami.
I wish to acknowledge, with deep appreciation, that this essay mainly contains information taken from Philip Gunawardena and the 1956 revolution in Sri Lanka”byAnanda Meegama, Godage 2008.  (continued)

 

Customs urges Oyo govt to probe how FG-donated rice became contaminated

Description: Seyi Makinde: Oyo State Governor
Seyi Makinde: Oyo State Governor

Related News

sThe Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has urged the Oyo State government to investigate how 1,800 bags of rice it delivered to the government became contaminated.
The NCS Oyo/Osun command had on Tuesday supplied the rice to the state on the order of its comptroller-general, Hameed Ali, as part of efforts to cushion the effects of Coronavirus on the people of the state.
Other states that received the commodity were Osun which also got 1,800 bags, Ekiti, 1,800 bags; and Ondo which received 800 bags.
However, three days after taking delivery of the rice, Oyo State government through the special adviser to the governor, Debo Akande, at a press conference rejected the rice, saying it was not fit for human consumption.
But, the command on Sunday said the bags of rice that left its command headquarters were in good condition.
The Public Relations Officer of Oyo/Osun Command, Abdullahi Lagos, in a statement on Sunday, said the agency was embarrassed to hear, three days later, that the rice allocated to Oyo state was infected with weevils.
Mr Lagos, who had earlier spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on the controversy, urged Governor Seyi Makinde to probe the case.
He said as a responsible agency of government, it should not be associated with giving anything that will negatively affect the people.
“The attention of the Oyo/Osun Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to some mischievous and deliberate falsehood being circulated in the media for reasons best known to their author(s) concerning the Federal Government’s palliative given to Oyo State among other states.
“As a responsible agency of Government whose functions include ensuring that nothing that could compromise the security, economy and general being of Nigerians are allowed into the Country, we cannot turn round and be associated with giving anything that will negatively affect our people. We therefore wish to state as follows:
“That in line with the Federal Government’s effort to cushion the hardship in the nation, the CGC had directed the distribution of relief items including bags of rice across the nation through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management as palliative to the vulnerable in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
“As instructed, on the 20th of April 2020, the Oyo/Osun Area Command received high ranking members of the Oyo State Government in the persons of the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Jacob Ojekunle; the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Saidat Bolatumi Oloko; Executive Adviser to the Governor on Agribusiness, Mr Debo Akande; The representative of Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and Social Development in Oyo, Mrs MO Lasisi and other members.
“They visited the command twice on the same day to inspect the bags of rice that were available for allocation.
“The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller, HU Ngozi led them to the warehouses where they inspected the bags of rice, checked expiration dates and expressed satisfaction and readiness to evacuate their allocation.
“Before leaving the command on their second visit, they pleaded to be given those from a section of one of the warehouses they considered “fresher” and this was granted.
“Subsequently, on the 21st of April 2020, the Oyo State Government team came with their vehicles under the supervision of Mr Jacob Ojekunle, Mrs Saidat Oloko, Mrs MO Lasisi and other top officials, in the presence of the Customs Area Controller, other officers and members of the press to witness the loading and exiting of the 1800 bags of parboiled rice allocated to their State as palliative to the vulnerable.
“Incidentally, in the process of loading, few bags fell at different times and burst open in the presence of Mr Ojekunle and Mrs Lasisi and there was no time that any of the burst bags of rice had weevils in them. The warehouse had no signs of weevils, neither were there signs of weevils on the loaders or on the trucks under the scorching sun.
“The three (3) states; Oyo, Osun and Ekiti States took delivery of the bags of rice allocated to them, returned their landing certificates to show delivery to its final destinations. They also showed appreciation to the CGC for his magnanimity. Contrary to allegations by Oyo State Government, Osun and Ekiti States have not complained about their allocations.
“The Command is therefore surprised, even embarrassed to hear three (3) days later, that the rice allocated to them were infested with weevils and unfit for human consumption.
“The command wishes to reiterate that weevils do not hide and in the process of loading the vehicles, traces of weevils would have been noticed on the floor, on the bags, on the loaders or on the trucks bearing in mind that the entire process was in the presence of the CAC, Oyo State Government’s high ranking team and men of the press with full video camera coverage.
“The Command is also aware that for whatever reason, some pictures of bad rice have been circulating the social media.
“We disassociate ourselves from such false images and we suspect foul play on the part of the handlers of these allocated 1,800 bags of rice. The State Government may wish to dig deeper.
“It is surprising how bags of rice that exited the Command HQ in good condition suddenly became so bad after 3 days as being circulated in the social media”.
Your rice is truly bad, Oyo govt insist
However, the Oyo State government has said that it rejected the rice because they were unfit for consumption.
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, noted that any claim to the contrary was a disservice to humanity and attempt at endangering the lives of the people in the state.
Mr Adisa urged the Customs Service to desist from misleading the public.
“No government that is worth its name would agree to serve its people with food items that are infested with weevils that are clearly visible to the eyes. On Friday, April 24, members of the Food Security sub-committee of the Oyo State Covid-19 Task Force embarked on an early morning meeting that lasted close to three hours.
“The meeting was to review the report of the technical team that had been conducting tests on the 1,800 bags of 50kg rice presented to the state government by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in respect of Federal Government’s Covid-19 palliatives.
“The Committee eventually invited the Media, after coming to a conclusion that more than a majority of the 1,800 bags were not fit for human consumption as they had been infested with weevils that freely move about on every of the bags kept at the storehouse in the Secretariat, Ibadan.
“The weevils were clearly noticeable as each or the warehouses was opened. Television cameras were allowed to film the bags of rice just to show the clear reason why the bags were being returned.
“A letter that was co-signed by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Commissioner for Special Duties and the Executive Adviser on Agribusiness, was also prepared for onward delivery to the Oyo/Osun Command of the Customs which supplied the rice in the first instance.
“The state government neither intended to dramatize nor politicise the development. It was just out to state the facts as they are: we cannot serve our people expired rice and replace hunger with another disease. The Executive Adviser to the governor on Agribusiness, Dr. Debo Akande, who addressed the media clearly stated that if the Customs could muster other bags of rice in good condition, the state would readily receive such.
“But the immediate reaction from Customs, Oyo/Osun Command was a bit comforting as it passed a message to the state government that the bad bags of rice must have been picked from the wrong store. We also got confirmation that Customs was ready to immediately send in 600 bags to replace the bad ones and that representatives of the state were free to immediately come for inspection.
“The state’s team that went for the inspection, however, returned another sad verdict: at least 30 percent of the 600 bags promised as replacement were also infested with weevils. To our surprise, statements started flying to town, detailing confusing messages. We wish to place on record that the statements credited to the Customs Service were at best a poor colouration of the truth. Besides, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, which commented on the matter, was merely dabbling in what it knows nothing about. This is not about politics and political grandstanding.
“The Customs claimed that the Special Adviser on Security, Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni (rtd) was part of the team that inspected the rice. That’s a white lie. The team that inspected the rice while at the Customs warehouses came from the State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU) domiciled in the Ministry of Budget and Planning, while the sub-committee on Food Security principally resides in the Ministry of Agriculture.
“The sub-committee took its time before it came to the unavoidable conclusion that the bags of rice be returned. It has nothing to do with political correctness that some could wrongly ascribe. A state that is trying all it could to secure palliatives for at least 120,000 residents would not readily reject 1,800 bags of rice if the reasons are not compelling. We wish to advise the Customs to desist from statements that do not edify the Service, because it would amount to clear betrayal of public trust for an elected government to sanction the release of expired and infested food items to residents of a state.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/390037-customs-urges-oyo-govt-to-probe-how-fg-donated-rice-became-contaminated.html

 

Research projects postponed amid COVID-19 pandemic

Matthew Choate, News ReporterApril 26, 2020
Description: Some+research+projects+were+put+on+hold+due+to+COVID-19.+
Photo by Jordan Johnson
Some research projects were put on hold due to COVID-19

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing shutdowns and quarantines, research being done by Marquette students and professors has been postponed.
Stefan Schnitzer is a professor of advanced ecology, tropical forest ecology and environmental studies at Marquette. Schnitzer also does research that focuses on understanding the forces that structure plant communities, maintain species diversity, control species distribution and allow species to coexist. 
Schnitzer is currently in Panama where he is performing his current research project about tropical ecology. Panama had implemented a stay at home order which impacted the project. 
Schnitzer said his research is currently shut down. His collection of field data has been put on hold. For a greenhouse experiment he is conducting, he is only allowed to water the plants and no large scale research can be performed. 
Schnitzer said his research project has transitioned from collecting new data to just analyzing the data, and writing research papers. He said the research team holds online meetings to discuss their research and ideas. The team includes two Marquette grad students and he originally planned to bring Marquette undergraduate students and Milwaukee public school teachers, but that was postponed until next year. 
Even though they have not been able to collect more data from plants, Schnitzer said the team has still been productive. They have used their current data to write papers about their research and have completed and submitted two papers about their research findings.
Schnitzer said they are “making the best of the situation” and are “fortunate to continue their research.” 
Schnitzer said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on his research, but he hopes the impact will not be too great. 
Michael Schläppi teaches multiple biology and genetics courses at Marquette. He is currently performing research in Wisconsin on stress tolerance to cold weather in rice.
Schläppi was the one who brought rice cultivation or rice agriculture to Wisconsin and received an early grant to establish it and harvested the first rice paddy crop in Wiscosnin in 2017. This showed rice could grow in the Wisconsin climate. He currently has two acres of land from the nature preserve in which he conducts research of the effect of the climate rice plants. 
Since Marquette’s campus has been shut down, Schläppi’s research has been put on hold. He said it is not possible to move the research online because it would not be productive for his specific field of research. Still, one graduate student he works with is currently writing their thesis, and they communicate via Microsoft Teams. 
Schläppi said experiments and research being done in labs must be put on hold and continue in the fall. He also said he can only do a limited amount of experiments on rice because of COVID-19.
In addition to the two acres, Schläppi also grows rice on some of the rooftops at Marquette. Schläppi said he is forced to plant his rice on the rooftops now or he will “lose a whole year” or not be able to do data collection since he wasn’t able to grow new plants. He said the fieldwork has to be done now and he meets with students once a week where he guides the students to plant the rice.  All social distancing guidelines are followed during these meetings.  
Schläppi said that some online work does take place such as mapping data from last year and working on data analysis. However, he said online work is “not productive in this field.” 
Karaline Black is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is studying biological sciences with a minor in environmental studies, and is currently the teaching assistant for a field ecology class taught by assistant professor of biological sciences Joe Lamanna.
Black said the class had been studying bird feeders, in which they set up bird feeders and conduct data collection every week. She said the class was able to finish all their data collection before spring break. Black said they were “lucky to have gotten the data,” before the COVID-19 pandemic caused stay at home orders.
The class is now transferring their data to spreadsheets, analyzing the data and writing research papers, Black said. Black’s class has Teams meetings on Tuesdays, as well as a Teams call on Wednesdays and Fridays in which they do lab work.
Black said she has not heard specific instances about research being affected by the pandemic, but she had heard about Schnitzer’s situation in Panama. She also said Lamanna usually does data collection for research over the summer, but that might be affected.
Black said she was grateful because professors in the College of Arts & Sciences have been very responsive and provide good communication during the current situation.
This story was written by Matthew Choate. He can be reached at matthew.choate@marquette.edu. 
§  COVID-19
§  Pandemic
§  projects
§  research


Convergence helps Mahabubnagar stop spread
HYDERABAD, APRIL 26, 2020 18:50 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 28, 2020 08:11 IST
Description: Minister for Excise V. Srinivas Goud distributing bedsheets and clothes arranged by a Hyderabad based charitable organisation to migrant workers in Mahabubnagar during the COVID-19 lockdown
Minister for Excise V. Srinivas Goud distributing bedsheets and clothes arranged by a Hyderabad based charitable organisation to migrant workers in Mahabubnagar during the COVID-19 lockdown  

Migrant workers provided rice, cash for survival, wage work at rice mills

A concerted effort with the convergence of all government departments has helped the administration of Mahabubnagar district in not only restricting COVID-19 cases to 11 but also in finding solutions, including managing migrant workers and providing them wage work by involving them in paddy procurement exercise at rice mills.
Although the district had 327 persons with overseas travel history and 5,981 inter-State travellers till the lockdown was imposed, the administration identified all of them and made them complete home quarantine with the help of community watch teams both in rural and urban areas.
A constant eye on them, including periodic health check-up conducted by the health machinery, prevented the possibility of communication of any infection.
“As soon as instructions were received from the government to gear up the administration to the situation, we have trained all our medical officers of PHCs and government hospitals and health workers on COVID prevention and control measures online and with video-conference,” District Collector S. Venkata Rao said.
Immediately, steps were taken to identify vulnerable groups such as foreign returnees, inter-State travellers and Markaz attendees.
Together with taking up information education and communication (IEC) exercise by distributing over 4.42 lakh pamphlets among people and 20,000 folders among health workers, two quarantine centres were arranged with 500 beds at Government Medical College and a private educational institution complex. Two isolation centres with about 100 beds were also readied at Government General Hospital and SVS Medical College.
According to medical and health department officials, three of 39 Markaz attendees and five of their 108 primary contacts tested positive for COVID-19. Nine out of 11 positive cases had been discharged from hospital by April 25.

Migrant workers

As the lockdown was clamped, the district administration has identified nearly 10,300 migrant workers at 15 places in the district and all of them were provided 6 kg per-head free rice and 1,500 per family as survival assistance.
“We have also been encouraging them to avail wage work at rice mills and over 3,000 of them were already engaged in the exercise of paddy procurement,” the District Collector said, adding that about 28,700 tonnes of paddy had been procured so far at 186 purchase centres.

U.S. Rice Featured at Virtual Food Fair in Hong Kong 
By Jim Guinn

HONG KONG -- As COVID-19 has curtailed large group gatherings in most places around the world, USA Rice is getting creative when it comes to international promotion activities.  Here in Hong Kong, USA Rice is participating in an online food fair promoting U.S. agricultural products, sponsored by the U.S. Agricultural Trade Service (ATO) and HKTVMall, the largest online platform in Hong Kong. 

The virtual USA Food Fair started on April 14 and runs through today.  The promotion campaign consists of cooking demonstration videos by Candace Mama, a popular online celebrity, preparing dishes featuring U.S.-origin rice.

In addition to the online presence, HKTVMall has set up 100 distribution centers throughout Hong Kong where consumers can drive by to pick up merchandise they have ordered online.  This delivery option has become increasingly popular -- in January 2017, average daily orders numbered 2,500 growing to 18,700 by December 2019. 

Another big jump in online ordering occurred between December 2019 and February 2020 when the average daily gross merchandise value doubled, going from HK$8.7 million (US$1.12 million) to HK$16.6 Million (US$2.14 million), due in large part to the social distancing requirements put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. exported 5,629 MT of rice to Hong Kong in 2019, a little less than 2 percent of total imports of 307,000 MT.

USA RICE DAILY


We’re all in it together’

Steven Spearie


For Majidi Jallow, the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield mosque, 3000 Stanton St., has brought “a sense of peace and tranquility where as a group you can talk to God.”
Driss El Akrich of Springfield said evening prayers at the mosque during Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims which started Thursday evening, sometimes stretched to midnight. There was socializing, too, with families partaking of iftar dinners and kids playing hide-and-seek or soccer on the lawn.
The mosque may have been shuttered during “the COVID-19 Ramadan,” as a friend described it to Jallow, but the spirit of the holy month, which is marked by an increase in prayer and charity, in addition to fasting from sunrise to sunset, is alive and well for area Muslims.
About 400 Muslim families from 30 different countries live in the Springfield area.
Ramadan is observed by Muslims to commemorate when Allah first revealed the Qur’an to the prophet Muhammad. It is a movable occasion because Muslims follow a lunar calendar.
Previous
2/2HIDE CAPTION
Fatoumata Jallow fixes her son Amadou a bit of food before she and her family observe evening prayers after breaking their Ramadan fast in their Springfield, Illl., apartment Sunday, April 25, 2020. Ordinarily the family would celebrate Ramadan in community at the local mosque but due to social distancing guidelines and Illinois’ stay-at-home order, they are restricted to observing the holiday in their apartment. [Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register]
1/2HIDE CAPTION
Mukhtaar Jallow looks up at his dad Majidi and his uncle Ibrahim as the family, including his mom Fatoumata and brother Amadou, pray after breaking their daily Ramadan fast Sunday, April 25, 2020. Ordinarily the family would celebrate Ramadan in community at the local mosque but due to social distancing guidelines and Illinois’ stay-at-home order, they are restricted to observing the holiday in their Springfield, Ill., apartment. [Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register]
Fatoumata Jallow fixes her son Amadou a bit of food before she and her family observe evening prayers after breaking their Ramadan fast in their Springfield, Illl., apartment Sunday, April 25, 2020. Ordinarily the family would celebrate Ramadan in community at the local mosque but due to social distancing guidelines and Illinois’ stay-at-home order, they are restricted to observing the holiday in their apartment. [Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register]
Mukhtaar Jallow looks up at his dad Majidi and his uncle Ibrahim as the family, including his mom Fatoumata and brother Amadou, pray after breaking their daily Ramadan fast Sunday, April 25, 2020. Ordinarily the family would celebrate Ramadan in community at the local mosque but due to social distancing guidelines and Illinois’ stay-at-home order, they are restricted to observing the holiday in their Springfield, Ill., apartment. [Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register]
Fatoumata Jallow fixes her son Amadou a bit of food before she and her family observe evening prayers after breaking their Ramadan fast in their Springfield, Illl., apartment Sunday, April 25, 2020. Ordinarily the family would celebrate Ramadan in community at the local mosque but due to social distancing guidelines and Illinois’ stay-at-home order, they are restricted to observing the holiday in their apartment. [Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register]
Next
Like other church congregations, Muslim community leaders are employing technology to stay connected with members while Gov. JB Pritzker’s “stay at home” mandate is enacted. Hassan Mohamoud, the local imam, provides lectures on Zoom and there are other reflections through Facebook Live. For younger children, trivia questions about their faith arrive on a daily basis.
“Ramadan usually is a time where people gather in large numbers,” said El Akrich. “We’re trying to make the best of the situation.”
Congregants are especially keeping an eye on elderly members or those who are shut-in, Springfield’s Jallow added.
“We’re all in it together,” he said. “We’re not congregating, but there’s still a sense of community. The importance is the health and safety of everybody.”
“Social distancing doesn’t mean we’re socially isolated,” El Akrich added. “We’re looking after each other.”
Mona Ahsan of Springfield said that Ramadan always means compassion for fellow human beings. She said she’s been particularly moved by television images of long food lines and the country’s homeless situation.
“More than ever, it’s important to take care of everybody else,” said Ahsan. “It’s important not to leave compassion behind.”
The coronavirus is evidence of “the power of God that has brought the world to a standstill,” Ahsan said, though “my God is merciful and compassionate and benevolent.”
The situation should give us pause, she added, “to sit down and assess what we’ve done to the world. We’ve been persistently greedy in the exploitation of the world. We need to be better citizens of the world.”
El Akrich said Muslims’ relationships with God “aren’t contingent on where we are. I can worship God here at home. It’s a worship of God when you help the needy or poor.”
One of the casualties of the “stay at home” mandate in the state is an iftar dinner local Muslims shared with the public. Last year, it attracted about 125 people to the mosque who were treated to Afghan pulao, a basmati rice dish, beef kabobs, chenwa alloo palak, a vegetarian dish made from chickpeas and spinach, and falafel.
“It’s sad that we’ll not be able to have it this year,” El Akrich said. “You would see people from different faith traditions talking about the things we have in common.”
Contact Steven Spearie: 788-1524, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/stevenspearie.

Export for 17,000 tons of rice jammed at ports resumed

SGGPSaturday, April 25, 2020 14:56
The General Department of Vietnam Customs has announced the list of 14 enterprises that are allowed to register customs declaration from April 25 to 30 to export around 17,000 tons of rice stuck at border gates and international ports for having not been able to register customs declaration in the previous time.
In the evening of April 24, the office of the General Department of Vietnam Customs informed that this agency had sent an express No. 2638 to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) and rice export enterprises on the resumption of rice export registration in April this year for cargo that has been brought into ports and border gates but has not been exported.

Based on the response of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to the Ministry of Finance on April 24 on how to handle batches of rice sent to international ports and border gates before March 24 this year but have not been able to register customs declaration, the Vietnam Customs has set up on the VNACCS/VCIS system for enterprises to carry out the registration of customs declaration from 0 a.m. on April 25 until the end of April 30 for these shipments.

Accordingly, the Vietnam Customs has released the detailed list of enterprises whose cargo has been brought into ports and border gates after the latest count and review and asked these enterprises not to register customs declaration with a quantity exceeding the actual quantity of rice they brought into international seaports and border gates.

Enterprises that have batches of rice kept at international seaports and border gates before March 24 but have not been listed should send their detailed information to the Vietnam Customs enclosing with the confirmation of the customs offices and port enterprises to be updated into the system.

As for customs declarations that have been registered in the quota of 400,000 tons in April but enterprises have not produced goods for customs offices to check after more than 15 days since the registration of customs declarations, the Vietnam Customs said that they will be canceled following the regulations and provincial and municipal customs offices are in charge of reporting to the Vietnam Customs before 9 a.m. on April 27 this year.

Based on the canceled volume, the Vietnam Customs will reinstate the export quota in April this year and will announce publicly on its portal and set up the VNACSS/VCIS system for enterprises to continue to register customs declaration from April 28.

According to the VFA, around 200,000 tons of rice is estimated to be jammed at ports and border gates after the order to suspend the export of rice to ensure food security and the application of an export quota of 400,000 tons of rice in April this year.

The list announced by the Vietnam Customs includes only 14 enterprises that are allowed to register customs declaration from April 25 to export nearly 17,400 tons of rice because they have sent their goods into ports before March 24. The amount of rice is currently at ports in Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho City, An Giang, Long An, and Dong Thap provinces.

If compared with the amount of 100,000 tons of rice in the quota of May this year that are allowed to advance under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung at the Notice No.163 of the Government Office, the amount of rice allowed to export this time merely accounts for 20 percent of the advanced quota and is extremely small compared to the amount of rice congested at ports, the VFA estimated.

By 9 p.m. on April 24, just more than 150,000 tons of rice of the total export quota of rice in April were cleared for customs approval, accounting for around 37.5 percent.
Additional 38,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice to be exported
27/04/2020 07:56 PM
HANOI, April 27 -- Vietnam will export an additional 38,000 tonnes of rice in April, said General Department of Vietnam Customs.
According to Vietnam News Agency (VNA), this volume is part of Vietnam’s 400,000-tonne-rice export quota for April.
Earlier this month, the government of Vietnam has limited the export rice volume to 800,000 tonnes for April and May as a measure to ensure sufficient domestic supplies amid high global demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This volume is reduced by 40 percent compared to that in April and May 2019. It is also 35.7 percent and 21.7 percent lower than the same period in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Meanwhile, the national rice reserves will increase from 300,000 to 700,000 tonnes.
-- BERNAMA
Customs department allows exports of over 38,640 tons of rice
The Saigon Times
Sunday,  Apr 26, 2020,14:45 (GMT+7)
Description: https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Uploads/Articles/76351/859ee_rice.jpg
Farmers harvest rice in the Mekong Delta – PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH
HCMC - The General Department of Vietnam Customs received registrations for exports of over 38,640 tons of rice in the wee hours this morning, April 26.
This is part of the rice quota of 400,000 tons for April, according to Vietnamplus news site. Rice traders can register for rice exports on the Vietnam Automated Customs Clearance System (VNACCS/VCIS).
The system will automatically stop receiving registrations when 38,640 tons are fully occupied.
Earlier this month, the Government decided to limit the rice export volume to 800,000 tons for April and May to ensure food security during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This quota is reduced by 40% compared to the same period last year. It is also 35.7% and 21.7% lower than in the same period in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
At the same time, the national rice reserve increases from 300,000 to 700,000 tons.

 

Govt Assures Plenty of Rice Stocked for May

Translator: Non Koresponden

Editor: Petir Garda Bhwana
27 April 2020 12:06 WIB
Description: https://statik.tempo.co/data/2020/03/04/id_920265/920265_720.jpg
TEMPO.COJakarta - The Ministry of Agriculture has ensured the availability of rice throughout May 2020 to remain secure, as 3.5 million tons of rice have been stocked.
The Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, has assured the Indonesian people of food security during the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby guaranteeing food to remain available for 260 million Indonesians.
Syahrul explained that, based on the national food balance, the government has prepared three scenarios in calculating the availability of rice throughout May. With the current stock of 3.5 million tons of rice, the coming harvest period is estimated to yield an additional 12.4 million tons of rice.
“Plus another 1 million tons stocked by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), and with the (rice) still in the milling; totals to approximately 15 tons,” Syahrul said in the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s broadcast, on Sunday, April 26, 2020.
The optimistic scenario sees that public consumption needs from February to May are estimated to be at 7.6 million tons. With the 15 million tons of rice stocked, he predicts that the final stock after May will still reach 8 million tons.
In the moderate scenario, the harvest period is expected to yield 11 million tons, with public consumption from February to May reaching 7.9 million tons; 7 million tons of rice will remain stocked by the end of May.
On the other hand, the pessimistic scenario estimates the coming harvest to yield 11.2 tons of rice, with public consumption from February to May reaching 8.3 million tons; leaving 6 tons of rice stocked by the end of May.
“(Rice) stocked for the fasting month and Eid al-Fitr remains under control, and we have validated this with the regional (governments),” Syarul said.
The Ministry of Agriculture has carried out objective monitoring through satellite, by ensuring the validity of the data with more than 400 regional government chiefs, through teleconference. “Until the next three months, we will still have rice available,” he added.
ANTARA | DIO SUHENDA (INTERN TRANSLATOR)

https://en.tempo.co/read/1335991/govt-assures-plenty-of-rice-stocked-for-may

 

Rice stock in check despite lower production, higher demand: Ministry

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta   /   Sat, April 25, 2020   /   05:12 am
Description: Rice stock in check despite lower production, higher demand: MinistryFarmers plant rice during their second planting period of 2020 in Tunggulwulung village, Malang, East Java, on April 10. (JP/Aman Rochman)
The Trade Ministry has said that the rice stock from the upcoming harvest season will last through November despite declining production and surging demand.
The ministry’s domestic trade director general, Suhanto, estimated rice production to decline by 10 percent to around 17.8 million tons, citing a report by the Indonesian Rice Millers and Entrepreneurs Association (Perpadi). Added with the current stock of 3.3 million tons, the supply would exceed national demand by 6.2 million tons, the ministry estimated.
Perpadi also recorded a threefold rise in demand recently with government agencies and private organizations buying more rice for social assistance aimed at helping those most vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“It means that milled rice in general has been distributed to the public either via retail markets or social assistance,” Suhanto said Tuesday in an online hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VI overseeing trade and industry.
Rice farmers and food businesses are facing logistical disruptions on top of price volatility due to the large-scale social restrictions that were implemented to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, which has infected more than 7,700 people nationwide.
The average price of rice slightly rose by around 0.8 percent to Rp 11,950 (77 US cents) per kilogram on Wednesday from a month earlier, according to data from the government’s staple food prices tracker, the Information Center for Strategic Food Prices (PIHPS).
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said Tuesday that rice prices should have fallen instead, in line with the downward trend in unhusked rice prices. The average price of unhusked rice declined 4.6 percent to Rp 4,936 per kg between March and January, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data in February.
With Ramadan having started Friday, the demand for rice is expected to rise even more. According to data from the Agriculture Ministry's Food Security Agency (BKP), rice demand rose 3 percent in the days leading up to Ramadan and is expected to jump 20 percent ahead of Idul Fitri in late May.
“To ensure there is a sufficient rice stock and stable prices, the Trade Ministry has ordered the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to distribute medium quality rice to the markets,” Suhanto said.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/25/rice-stock-in-check-despite-lower-production-higher-demand-ministry.html

 

NFA distributes 2.2 million bags of rice for COVID-19 relief efforts

April 27, 2020 | 12:04 am
Description: https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NFA-rice-warehouse-042720.jpgThe National Food Authority increased its palay procurement and milling volumes to augment the national rice supply, in response to the extension of the enhanced community quarantine. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE NATIONAL Food Authority (NFA) said it released around 2.2 million bags of rice from its inventory for relief operations since the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Between March 16 and April 16, around 1.9 million bags of NFA rice were released to local government units (LGUs), 94,413 bags to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), 86,655 bags to legislators, and 90,946 bags to other institutions involved in relief operations.
About 1.2 million bags were released in Luzon, followed by the Visayas with 631,460 bags, and Mindanao with 350,537 bags.
NFA Administrator Judy Carol L. Dansal said the agency is operating on weekends and holidays during the lockdown to ensure continuous buying operations from farmers as well as a readily-available supply for end-users.
“Starting March 16, NFA’s market participation had increased from 10% to as high as 17% as LGUs, the DSWD, legislators and other relief institutions chose to buy our lower-priced good quality NFA rice for distribution to families affected by the ECQ,” Ms. Dansal said.
The NFA increased its palay procurement and milling volumes to augment the national rice supply, in response to the extension of the ECQ period.
“We still expect high volumes of NFA rice withdrawals during the duration of ECQ until April 30 and beyond, as the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections continue. That’s why we also continue to replenish our rice stocks especially in areas with high incidence of infection,” Ms. Dansal said.
Under Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, the NFA’s role was modified to focus it on domestic procurement and maintaining a rice buffer stock, which will be distributed during calamities and emergencies.
NFA rice is sold to local government units and relief agencies at P25 per kilogram. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

https://www.bworldonline.com/nfa-distributes-2-2-million-bags-of-rice-for-covid-19-relief-efforts/

 

Gov’t rice buffer stock projected at 94 days by end of 2020

April 27, 2020 | 9:34 pm
Description: NFA rice warehouse import A worker carrying rice at a Quezon City NFA warehouse. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE rice buffer stock held in government warehouses has been projected at the equivalent of 94 days’ consumption by the end of the year, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.
“We would like to inform the public that based on our estimates, the country will enjoy an ending rice inventory of 3.27 million metric tons (MT) by Dec. 31. That means we will have rice to feed the entire country for 94 more days or three months, up to March 2021,” Mr. Dar said in a statement.
The Department of Agriculture said the overall rice supply by the end of the year, including those held by households and commercial traders, is projected at 17.99 million MT, 18% higher than overall rice demand of about 14.67 million MT.

https://www.bworldonline.com/govt-rice-buffer-stock-projected-at-94-days-by-end-of-2020/

 

PH rice inventory to hit 94 days by end of 2020

posted April 27, 2020 at 08:10 pm
by Othel V. Campos
The Agriculture Department said the Philippines will end 2020 with a rice inventory of at least 94 days despite the great demand for the commodity.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said new estimates showed an ending rice inventory of 3.27 million metric tons by the end of this year.
“This will settle, once and for all, the misconceptions espoused by uninformed quarters on the rice supply outlook, as the Department’s estimate is based on the official data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, and validated on the ground by the regional field offices,” he said.
The country’s rice supply comes from three sources—from beginning stock or surplus carried over from the previous year, local production and imports.
The estimated rice supply by the end of the year is about 17.99 million MT, or 18 percent higher than tota demand of 14.67 million MT.
The computation included the contribution of the Rice Resiliency Project under the Plant, Plant, Plant Program or the Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) kontra Covid-19.




Confusion over FG’s rice palliative for South West

By Muyiwa Adeyemi (Head, South West State), Seun Akingboye (Akure), Ayodele Afolabi (Ekiti), Rotimi Agboluaje (Ibadan),Timothy Agbor (Osun),Tunji Omofoye (Osogbo), Chukwuma Muanya,Seye Olumide, Femi Ibirogba (Head, Agro-Economy)and Gbenga Salau (Lagos)
27 April 2020   |   4:10 am


• States acknowledge receipt, silent on quality
• Some bags bad, majority good, says Lagos govt
• Customs absolves self as PDP flays agency
• ‘Spoilt rice may cause cancer, liver damage’
Whether the bags of rice the Federal Government donated to states in the South West are fit for human consumption, partially fit, or totally unfit depends on who takes the question.
In an attempt to cushion the pains of lockdowns across the country due to COVID-19, the Federal Government had instructed the Nigeria Customs Service to distribute bags of rice to states. But the rejection of the commodity by the Oyo State government on the grounds of poor quality has continued to stir political undercurrents.
Fresh facts emerged yesterday that only Oyo, and not all the South-West states, would return the allegedly contaminated bags. Investigations by The Guardian revealed that Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and the Ondo States did not see anything wrong with the product.
They, however, declined to comment on how to fit the rice is for consumption, fueling speculations that the matter has gone political.
While the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) controls most states in the region, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holds sway in Oyo.
A source said: “If Oyo, Osun and Ekiti took delivery of the rice from the same source at the customs store in Ibadan, why would only Oyo State allege that the rice is contaminated and other states decline to comment?”
Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde told The Guardian via telephone yesterday that the rice was not only bad for human consumption but “a letter has gone to Nigeria Customs that we are returning the rice. So, it is not conjectured any more. The process of returning it will be finalised. The people who were there saw weevils all over the rice. They saw the ones that were very bad and black.”
But the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Kunle Somorin, said the state was not considering returning the bags. He also did not confirm if the product had been tested and found good for human consumption.
Osun State said it sent a sample of the rice for quality test and was waiting for the result. The governor, who spoke through his media aide, Ismail Omipidan, said a decision would be taken after the result had been received.
The Ekiti State government said it had no plan to return the bags. Commissioner of Information Muyiwa Olomilua said the bags were already in the state’s food bank. He declined further comments on quality.
The Ondo State government admitted it took delivery of 1,800 bags of rice and other items. But several attempts to speak with Commissioner for Information Donald Ojogo were unsuccessful, as he did not pick his calls or reply to messages sent to his phone. Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture Akin Olotu also did not pick his calls.
But a source within the Ondo Government House, who pleaded anonymity, said the state government was subjecting the bags of rice to a quality test.
Refuting the allegation that the bags of rice were spoilt, Abdullahi-Lagos Abiola, public relations officer of the Oyo/Osun Area Command, Nigeria Customs Service, said: “As a responsible agency of government whose function includes ensuring that nothing that could compromise the security, economy and general well being of Nigerians is allowed into the country, we cannot turn round and be associated with giving anything that will negatively affect our people.
“On the 21st of April 2020, the Oyo State government team came with their vehicles under the supervision of Mr. Jacob Ojekunle, Mrs. Saidat Oloko, Mrs. M.O. Lasisi and other top officials, in the presence of the Customs Area Controller, other officers and members of the press to witness the loading and exiting of the 1800 bags of parboiled rice allocated to their state.
“Incidentally, in the process of loading, few bags fell at different times and burst open in the presence of Mr. Ojekunle and Mrs. Lasisi, and there was no time any of the burst bags of rice had weevils in them. The warehouse had no signs of weevils, neither were their signs of weevils on the loaders or on the trucks under the scorching sun.
“Oyo, Osun and Ekiti States took delivery of the bags of rice allocated to them, returned their landing certificates to show delivery to the final destinations. Contrary to allegations by the Oyo State government, Osun and Ekiti States have not complained about their allocations.
“The command is therefore surprised, even embarrassed to hear three days later that the rice allocated to them was infested with weevils and unfit for human consumption.”
Lagos State Commissioner for Information Gbenga Omotosho said: “Lagos State government has not said it was going to return the rice. The truth of the matter is that the rice in the majority of the bags could be eaten; the authorities certified it to be good.”
Lagos is controlled by the APC.
Omotosho said: “Actually some are bad. But there is no plan by the Lagos State government to return the rice or throw it in the lagoon as some people are claiming. We are appreciative of what the Federal Government has done. We had been distributing rice procured by the state government even before the ones donated by the Federal Government came.
“You have to realise that even before the help from the Federal Government came, Lagos had spent a lot of money on palliatives, and we are not going to relent, bad rice or no bad rice.”
The commissioner said about a week after the rice arrived, the state government invited the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to look at the bags of rice. “This was because some members of the state executive raised the issue that the rice might have stayed long in the store and it (NAFDAC) certified that the majority was good.”
In different reactions, Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders Kunle Olajide said: “I will not blame Makinde if truly the rice is bad because he cannot afford to risk the life of Oyo people by giving them bad items to consume. His claim calls for a thorough investigation.” He added: “There have been complaints that the palliatives favour the North against the South and also that there is inequality in the handling of the Social Intervention Fund (SIF). If this is the case, then we shouldn’t dismiss Makinde’s allegation.”
National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere Yinka Odumakin said it was doubtful if the Oyo State government would falsely say the bags of rice delivered to the state were bad. “It is Afenifere’s opinion that a necessary investigation be carried out to determine the true position of things,” he said.
APC National Vice Chairman (South West) Bankole Oluwajana, who hails from Ondo, said: “The rice we received is good, and justice has been done to it without party sentiment.”
He cautioned against politicising efforts by government at containing the pandemic. He said if Governor Makinde was not playing politics, he would have complained that over 600 bags were bad and the customs would have replaced them.
APC South-West Publicity Secretary Dapo Karounwi said: “Ekiti State did not receive any bad rice as palliative from the Federal Government. Where Oyo got it, I wouldn’t know. It would be recalled that this same Makinde endangered the life of his people when the pandemic initially started by inviting all PDP members to hold a rally in the state where he even said coronavirus was not in the party but rather in APC. A week later he (Makinde) tested positive for the virus. Who knows if he is playing another politics with the rice?” Karounwi nevertheless called for an investigation into the claim.
The president of Yoruba Ronu, Akin Malaolu, warned that President Buhari should not be tagged in the matter since he only gave a directive to the customs to distribute the rice. According to him, the president would not know whether the rice delivered to Oyo was bad or not. “I will suggest that the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ibrahim Ali and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 be questioned over Makinde’s claim,” he said.
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the Federal Government for donating the bags of rice. Claiming they were part of seizures by the Nigeria Customs Service several years ago, it said the government should have instead bought food for the citizens using the donations it received.
The party, in a statement by Deputy National Publicity Secretary Prince Diran Odeyemi, said: “It is irreconcilable if, in the name of saving the lives of Nigerians against the coronavirus pandemic, the same Federal Government is giving Nigerians poisonous rice as palliative. We wonder how a government that claims to value the lives of its people will openly toy with the idea of feeding them with expired food items.”
Meanwhile, scientists have associated colour changes in stored rice and other grains with expiration and contamination by mycotoxins, warning that consumption could lead to cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, and suppression of the immune system.
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungal species of the genera Aspergillus, Alternaria, Penicillium, Fusarium, Claviceps, and several others.
Botanically called Oryza sativa, rice is a key source of human calorie intake and is a staple food in many countries.
Studies have shown that rice, cultivated in flooded irrigation conditions and high moisture levels, is susceptible to infection by moulds and subsequent mycotoxin contamination. The situation is aggravated by inappropriate storage and climatic conditions such as floods and heavy rainfall at harvest time. Sun drying, usually practiced by most farmers, is insufficient to reduce the moisture content, making rice more prone to fungal attack.
According to a study, ‘Occurrence of major mycotoxins and their dietary exposure in North-Central Nigeria staples’, published March 2020 in the Scientific African, mycotoxins could be nephrotoxic (harmful to the kidney), immunosuppressive (suppress the immune system), carcinogenic (cause cancer), and teratogenic (causes birth defects in children).
The researchers were from the Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State and Department of Biochemistry, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi.
Also, a grain specialist and Vice Chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Prof. Shehu Garki Ado, said many factors could be responsible for the deterioration of grains in storage.
He said if the grains had been kept in strategic reserves, they would have remained intact and wholesome even without chemical preservation. Storage in silos could last for a very long time, he said, though there is a limit in the timeline before consumption.
Ado said leased strategic grain reserves should be returned to the Federal Government and government should construct silos in each local government and ward, given the importance of food to national security.
Supporting the view, Prof. Samuel Olakojo, a specialist in grain breeding, production and post-harvest management, said because the Nigeria Customs Service is not trained to store grains, it should have moved the seized rice to the strategic grain reserves.
One of the conditions for proper storage of grains, he noted, includes less-than-12 humidity level. If humidity is higher, moulds would form on the grains and dangerous microorganisms like bacteria, fungi would grow.
Olakojo added: “Leasing out the majority of the strategic grain reserves is like leasing the armoury of the Nigerian armed forces to private security firms. Food is a national security matter.
“At best, those strategic grain reserves should be in the hands of a commission or agency if the Federal Ministry of Agriculture cannot handle them. The Federal Government should encourage private firms to construct their grain reserves and use for industrial purposes while the national ones should be used for food security.”

Don’t villainize bats: Researchers bust Covid-19 myths

Chethan Kumar | TNN | Apr 26, 2020, 17:11 IST

BENGALURU: Several researchers of various universities and conservation organisations spread across nine countries including India, Germany, UK, Australia and the US, while arguing that it is premature and unfair to blame bats or any other animal for the Covid-19 pandemic given that the exact origin of SARS-CoV-2 or its precursor is not known, have urged people not to villainize bats.
Referring to the increasing unverified social media posts that have led to widespread antipathy and fear in the general public — incidents of the public requesting for removal of bats, destroying bat roosts, have increased in the last month in India — they said that the viruses found in two species of bats in India as per the most recent ICMR study are different from SARS-CoV-2 and that they cannot cause Covid-19.
“Information on the current, and past zoonotic disease outbreaks suggest that global wildlife trade and/or large-scale industrial livestock farming play an important role in such events. Killing bats and other wild animals, or evicting them from their roosts in retaliation is counterproductive and will not solve any problems,” a joint statement by 64 researchers reads.
They argue that bats, in fact, perform vital ecosystem services: They pollinate flowers of some mangroves, and many other commercially and culturally important plants. Insect-eating bats are voracious eaters of pest insects in rice, corn, cotton and potentially, tea farms. Therefore, they say, bats benefit ecological and human health, and provide intangible economic benefits.
Stating that none of the South Asian bats are proven to be natural reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2, they said that scientists strongly suggest that it is highly unlikely for SARS-like viruses to jump directly from bats to humans. Also, there is no evidence of humans contracting coronavirus or any such viruses through the excreta of bats .
Recently, a study by ICMR found bat coronaviruses (BtCoV) in the common Indian Flying Fox and Fulvous Fruit Bat. “However, less than 5% of the screened samples contained this BtCoV and, as the study mentions, it is very distantly-related to SARS-CoV-2 and hence cannot cause Covid-19,” they said.
“The society currently needs more awareness about the bats around them in addition to epidemiological facts for a healthy coexistence. “We urge the governments of South Asian countries to strengthen the legal framework to protect bats in view of their ecosystem services and their slow breeding capacity,” the researchers further added.
The actual origin of SARS-CoV-2 is highly debated among scientists. “SARS-CoV-2 appears to be similar to another coronavirus RaTG13 found in a species of bat called the Intermediate Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus affinis). However, a recent study has shown that RaTG13 and SARS-CoV-2 diverged 40-70 years ago from each other (a long timespan for the evolution of viruses) and hence the direct transmission of SARS-CoV-2 or its precursor from bats to humans is improbable,” the researchers said.

No comments:

Post a Comment