Milling that extra mile: Kingdom
on track to achieve rice export target
Harrison
White / Khmer Times
Prime Minister Hun Sen drives a rice harvester during a visit to farmers
in Takeo province yesterday. KT/Khem Sovannara
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that new farming
techniques being implemented in the Kingdom will help it to reach a major
target of achieving one million tonnes of milled rice exports which was set
five years ago.
Mr Hun Sen said this during a visit, along with Agriculture
Minister Veng Sakhon and Australian Ambassador Pablo Kang to see demonstrations
of modern farming machinery and a signature irrigation scheme.
The visit was also to showcase the ongoing development of
Cambodia’s agricultural sector now considered the major pillar of the country’s
economic prospects during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These new farming techniques are
much easier than before, as these farmers now have hydraulic systems and modern
agriculture factories to help us achieve our goals. However, we do still have
problems such as rice diseases, insufficient transportation and machinery
needed to process and exports such large volumes,” Mr Hun Sen said.
He said the one-million tonne export milestone can be achieved
through hard work and smart planning although there are some hurdles to
overcome.
Speaking about his visit yesterday, Ambassador Kang said:
“Agriculture has always been the backbone of the Cambodian economy and a safety
net for the Cambodian people.”
“As a friend and neighbour, Australia is building on decades of
support for Cambodian agriculture to respond to the impact of COVID-19. As many
Cambodians face hardship and uncertainty at this time, Australia is proud to
play a role in supporting Cambodia’s food security and its economic
resilience,” he added.
The irrigation scheme inspected in Ta Soung is connected to the Prek
Ambil river and uses a single pump station to transport water through almost 50
kilometres of canals and field channels directly into farmers’ fields.
Funding for the scheme came from one of Australia Aid’s
signature funding initiatives called the Australia Agricultural Value Chain
Program (CAVAC).
CAVAC’s stated goals are to increase productivity and incomes
for smallholder farmers in Cambodia through working in partnerships with the
government and private sector and using a market systems approach to spread
knowledge about new agricultural techniques.
According to the Australian Embassy, before the scheme was built
in 2017, most of the farming households in Ta Soung could only grow one rice
crop each year, using the receding waters from the annual flood.
However, farmers are now able to produce two or three crops each
year, more than doubling their agricultural income. While water costs have
reduced almost threefold, and average rice yields have grown from 4 to 5.5
tonnes per hectare.
CAVAC has expanded construction to 10 schemes located in Takeo,
Prey Veng, and Kandal provinces since 2016.
Collectively, the scheme is now able to irrigate 9,000
additional hectares each year and have doubled rice production, representing
about $10 million of additional income for farmers annually.
CAVAC also works with Provincial Departments of Water Resources
and Meteorology to establish and train Farmer Water User Communities (FWUCs) to
take responsibility for managing the scheme when operations begin.
In addition to sustainable irrigation services, CAVAC is
supporting agricultural mechanisation, encouraging the use of better-quality
seed and appropriate inputs, and promoting investment in higher-value crops and
agro-processing.
These strategies – implemented with both the government and the
private sector – are key to the modernisation of Cambodian agriculture which
will support economic resilience in the face of COVID-19 challenges.
Sakhon has previously stated that Cambodia is looking to reach
one million tonnes of milled rice exports set in 2015 due to high demand from
the international market during COVID-19.
He said according to the first-quarter results, which increased
more than 40 percent compared with the same period last year, exports for 2020
could reach the goal as set by the government five years ago.
Study calls for review of rice and sugar in food subsidy programme
IMAGE: THE RESEARCH TEAM SAW NO EVIDENCE
OF IMPROVEMENTS WHEN CHILDREN RECEIVED SUBSIDIZED RICE AND SUGAR. view more
CREDIT: LANCASTER UNIVERSITY
India's main food subsidy program, the Public Distribution
System (PDS) provides sugar, rice, and wheat to households at reasonably low
costs to improve their nutrition intake and attain food security.
Although the programme aims to improve nutritional outcomes
through its subsidies, the research team saw no evidence of improvements when
children received subsidized rice and sugar.
'Subsidising rice and sugar? The Public Distribution System and
Nutritional Outcomes in Andhra Pradesh India', carried out by a research team
from Oxford and Lancaster Universities, the BITS Pilani in India, and Bocconi
University in Italy, is published in the Journal
of Social Policy.
Today, one in every nine people in the world is hungry. In
India, 38% of children under 5 experience long-term malnutrition that impact
their growth, cognition and psycho-social development and perpetuate a cycle of
intergenerational poverty. This already alarming situation is compounded by the
Covid-19 outbreak and the measures to contain it.
Food subsidy programs are a key component of efforts to combat
food insecurity and malnutrition around the globe, including in India.
Subsidy programs can offer important caloric and nutrient
supplementation, and may also free up income for households to spend on other
vital items. However, it is also possible that subsidizing items of limited
nutritional value can promote unhealthy dietary patterns.
"Importantly, our findings suggest that nutritional
outcomes and food subsidies need to be considered over time rather than as a
snapshot. This is essential for understanding not just the short-term effects
of subsidies, but also the association with long-term nutritional
outcomes," said Dr Jasmine Fledderjohann, of Lancaster University.
"The subsidised foods available in the PDS may very well
prevent severe malnutrition in the short-term by addressing caloric
deficiencies, but rice and sugar subsidies appear not to improve longer-term
nutritional outcomes," she explained.
"Our findings suggest the subsidies should be carefully
reviewed. It is possible that other more nutrient-dense foods could offer
greater benefits for improving nutrition," said Dr Sukumar Vellakkal of
the BITS Pilani Goa campus.
The study also found that, particularly for wealthier
households, the subsidies encouraged the consumption of less nutritious foods,
with children in households receiving sugar subsidies snacking on sugary
treats.
They also found that boys received more rice and sugar than
girls, which is consistent with broader evidence of son preference in India.
A range of previous research has found no evidence of gender
disparities in food consumption, but this body of research has generally
focused on whether or not boys and girls consumed specific foods, and not on
the quantity of those foods.
Findings in this report suggest that girls may receive the same
food items as boys, but in more limited quantities.
Data on children's nutrition came from the longitudinal Young
Lives Survey, conducted in Andhra Pradesh.
The study constitutes an important contribution to the evidence
on food subsidy schemes and nutrition outcomes.
As countries around the globe struggle to feed their populations
in the midst of record unemployment, food system disruptions, and social
distancing associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, careful consideration of what
items are included in food aid programs and what the long-term consequences of
specific programs of food provision are is vital.
Findings from this study highlight that it is important from a
long-term perspective to consider carefully the nutritional value of foods on
offer through state provisioning. Addressing caloric shortfalls in the
short-term may save lives, but subsidized food items of limited nutritional
value may not improve longer-term problems.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/lu-scf_1072120.php
Karen Moldenhauer named interim director of the Rice
Research Extension Center
by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net
The
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture will conduct a national search
for a new Rice Research and Extension Center director. Until a director is
hired, an interim director will be installed. Bob Scott, the current director,
accepted the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service director’s position.
Scott
has asked the recently retired Karen Moldenhauer, a professor and rice breeder
for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture since 1982, to
serve as interim director.
By
the time Scott said, “’I want to talk to you about something,’ I’d already
talked to my husband about it. I was prepared,” she said.
“I
am very thankful to Dr. Moldenhauer for taking on this leadership role,”
Jean-Francois Meullenet, director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment
Station, the research component of the Division of Agriculture. “I know she
will be an outstanding director while we conduct a national search.”
“Karen
has been at the station for a long time and nobody is better positioned to
assume this role,” Scott said. “I also appreciate her dedication as she has
delayed her retirement for a few months while we search for a permanent
replacement.”
It’s
not the first time Moldenhauer was in this position, having served as interim
director for the center in 2001-2002.
“It’ll
give me a chance to finish out my work this season,” she said. “I’m looking at
what lines to advance to the Arkansas Rice Performance Trials, lines we’d like
to advance to the rest of the program, working on Provisia crosses, Clearfield
material — the whole breeding program.”
Moldenhauer
said her predecessor has not only made her job as interim easier, but also for
whomever is appointed director.
“Bob
has done a great job for this station,” she said. “I think it’s in a lot better
shape with many infrastructure updates and improvements and administration has
been very supportive of the work we’re doing.”
Moldenhauer
received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Iowa State, followed by a masters
in plant breeding and cytogenetics from North Carolina State. She returned to
Iowa State for a Ph.D. in plant breeding.
During
her 38-year tenure at the Division of Agriculture, 38 rice cultivars have been
released to producers which have been grown on 21 million acres.
Moldenhauer’s
primary research focuses on improving grain yield, cooking quality
characteristics and disease resistance. Her releases Drew, Kaybonnet, and Katy
were the first commercially available cultivars with resistance to all of the
common blast races in the southern U.S. growing region. They have provided a
source of rice blast resistance to the rice breeding groups in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas.
Cultivars
released under her direction helped state average rice yields to increase from
95 bushels per acre in 1982 to as high as 168 bushels per acre in 2013 and
2014. These varieties have averaged between 50 and 60 percent of the rice
acreage in any given year from 1982 until 2009, when the hybrids became
popular. Since then the Arkansas varieties have averaged between 20 and 30
percent of the Arkansas acreage. Her 2016 release, Diamond, was grown on 20
percent of the state’s rice acreage in 2018.
In
2002, Moldenhauer was named the first holder of the Rice Industry Chair for
Variety Development in 2002, a position she still holds.
Top rice exporter gets more
hi-tech
Sok
Chan / Khmer Times
Bloc2 enables the source of food to be found by
reading the QR on its container. Supplied
Amru Rice (Cambodia), one of the country’s leading rice
exporters, has scaled up its BlocRice technology project to 500 households in
two communities in Preah Vihear province.
BlocRice project phase I had 50 household farmers in one
agricultural community in Preah Vihear province. The project, a first in the
Kingdom because of its usage of blockchain technology, was launched in April
2018 as a pilot programme that ended in March 2019. Its goal is to ensure
farmers can sell their products at a higher price and it also enables the
source of food to be identified.
The BlocRice pilot involved relevant actors in the rice supply
chain with 50 farmers from the Reaksmei cooperative, rice
exporter AmruRice, rice-cake producer SanoRice and Oxam Novib and Schullelaar
& Partners.
After a successful pilot, demonstrating the use case and
providing farmers with a digital identity, the partners decided to upscale the
project to a commercially viable level, involving more farmers and providing a
direct link with consumers.
The first phase was also involved in the research phase
determining the living income benchmark and good agriculture practices plus
technological needs. The project also monitors the progress of rice farmers
towards a living income; improves farm income from rice and from other sources
as a result of technical assistance and extension services; reduces operational
costs through farmers’ cooperatives and gives farmers a digital identity and
voice in the supply chain as well as increasing transparency in the supply
chain. Retailers and consumers have real-time insight in the rice supply chain
for enhanced social auditing.
“Let’s talk about agri-tech and how financial technology could
be part of it. A lot of people are talking about Blockchain, big data, the
internet of things (IOT), the Industrial Revolution 4.0, Smart Agriculture etc.
Here we make things work by utilising Blockchain technology. It is called
BlocRice phase II,” said Kann Kunthy, vice-president of Amru Rice (Cambodia).
BlocRice mainly focuses on trust, transparency and traceability.
Kunthy added that in phase I, the team piloted with one agricultural
cooperative (AC) with 50 households and now it is scaling up to two ACs with
500 households.
“Our goal is to utilise Blockchain technology for millions of
households not only in rice but all agricultural crops. Local tech firms or
individuals with block chain knowledge and expertise would be part of the
future (localisation),” Kunthy said, adding that it is only possible if farmers
and ACs are organised and integrated, turning them from seasonal farmers to
commercial and professional farmers who are market-oriented.
“The digital infrastructure can only perform given that the
physical infrastructure can support [be it logistics, transportation, post-harvest
management, storage and delivery],” Kunthy added. “The ultimate goal is to
train and educate ACs to become ‘agri-preneurs’.”
Prime Minister Hun Sen told farmers in Prey Kabbas district,
Takeo province, yesterday that the agriculture sector must be aligned with the
Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025 is to attract more foreign investment
to work on processing in Cambodia.
He said that Cambodia has put a strong effort into the building
of silos, warehouses and rice milling machinery. He added that Cambodia will
take $400 million from China to build warehouses for paddy across the country.
He is also considering lowering the electricity tariff for farmers and the
agriculture sector in general and also building more physical infrastructure to
support farmers.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50747088/top-rice-exporter-gets-more-hi-tech/
Customs arrests 41 suspected
smugglers with cannabis, rice
JULY
21, 20206:52 PMIN NEWS Kindly
Nigeria Customs Service Ola Ajayi –
Ibadan Nigeria Customs Service, Oyo/Osun Area Command, has made seizure of some
contrabands worth N171,001,782. The smuggled items include Cannabis, bags if
fertilizers, Premium Motor Spirit, bales of used dresses, used tyres and
several bags of parboiled imported rice. This was disclosed by the Comptroller
of Customs, Oyo/Osun Area Command, Mrs Helen Ngozi. According to her, the
command was able to arrest 41 suspected smugglers. READ ALSO: Customs set
ablaze N12m worth of contraband, expired goods in Kwara She said, “The
cumulative DPV for January to July 20 is N483,191,238 representing 170 per cent
increase compared with the total value in 2019 which was put at
N178,698,340.39. “In comparison with 
N20,946,359,729.50
revenue collected between January and June 2019, the command made 65.4 per cent
increase with a total revenue collection of N32,020,103,911.90 from January to
June 2020, out of the N62,848,518,366.93 allotted to the Area Command for 2020
fiscal year.” Mrs Ngozi further noted that between May 1 and July, the Oyo/Osun
Area Command intercepted 500 drums of 100 litres each of PMS and 320 kegs of 25
litres each of PMS was seized within the period. “One truck-load containing 800
bags of NPK fertilizer with DPV of N18,702,000 without end-user certificate was
also seized. READ ALSO: Customs rakes in #19.5 million in Ogun in three months
“Other seizures made include 2,054 bags of 50 kilogrammes each of imported
parboiled rice with DPV of N82,776,200; a total of 85 bales of second-hand
clothing with DPV of N16,680,919; and 480 units of used tyres with DPV of
N10,428,048” “The items were conveyed with a Mazda 323 valued at N1,158,790; a
Volkswagen Passat with DPV of N724,238; Mitsubishi Lancer with DPV of
N1,838,017; three units of used Volkswagen Golf with DPV N3,259,068; and one
used Volvo car with DPV of N2,896,950. “Other items that were recovered are one
Ford Galaxy (N3,621,188); used Bedford Pick Up with DPV N1,303,628, and one
used DAF truck with DPV of N10,906,294.” Vanguard
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/07/customs-arrests-41-suspected-smugglers-with-cannabis-rice/
Nigeria: Customs Kwara Area Command
Destroys 927 Bags of Poisonous Rice, Other Items
22 JULY 2020
By Demola
Akinyemi
The Nigeria Customs Service, Kwara State Area Command Tuesday in
Ilorin destroyed seized food items said to be dangerous for human and animal
consumption.
Items that were set ablaze in the presence on newsmen included
927 bags of foreign rice, 123 bags of semolina of 10Kg each, 25 bags of
semolina of 5kg each and 35 cartons of mamador vegetable oil.
Earlier, the Head of Kwara Area of the Nigeria Customs Service,
Comptroller Hussaini Ahmed,
told journalists that the Area Command had between January and
June 2020 generated the sum of N2,343,952.86 into the coffers of the federal
government.
He said, "From January to June this year alone this zonal
command has remitted the sum of Two billion, three hundred and forty-three
million, nine hundred and fifty-two thousand, three hundred and twenty-two
Naira eighty-six kobo (₦2,343,952,322.86)into the Federal Government account as
revenue generated.
"It is no longer news that COVID- 19 has affected virtually
every aspect not only the nation's economy but world at large. In the month of
April 2020, the Command recorded zero revenue which is as a result of the
lockdown. In May 2020, we were able to bounce back and surpassed what we
generated in March 2020 with Two Hundred and Eighty-Seven Million Nine Thousand
Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Thousand Forty-Eight Kobo (₦287, 009,456.48)"
"Today, I make bold to say that since my assumption of
office in Kwara Area Command we have so far generated the sum of Four Billion
Seven Hundred and Forty-Eight Million Two Hundred and Seventy Thousand Three
Hundred and Sixty Five Naira Thirty Four Kobo (₦4, 748,270,365.34) and remit
same to Federation account".
He said the Command has made an unprecedented number of seizures
including 2,598 Bags of foreign rice, 34 kegs of vegetable oil of 25 liters
each, 41 units of various types of used vehicles, 372 jerry cans of PMS of 25
liters each and 3,742 kg of Cannabis Sativa popularly known as marijuana.
Ahmed, who decried the activities of smugglers despite the
closure of the nation's land borders warned them to steer clear of the Area
Command or meet their waterloo.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202007220168.html
UA names interim head of Stuttgart rice station
The University of Arkansas System
Division of Agriculture named Karen Moldenhauer, Ph.D, interim director of the
rice station at Stuttgart.
Moldenhauer had already announced
her June 30 retirement when Bob Scott, director of the Rice Research and
Extension, said he needed to visit with her.
A professor and rice breeder for
the Division of Agriculture since 1982, Moldenhauer knew what was coming. After
all, Scott had just accepted an offer to become director of Arkansas’
Cooperative Extension Service.
By the time Scott said, ”‘I want
to talk to you about something,’ I’d already talked to my husband about it. I
was prepared,” she said.
“I am very thankful to Dr.
Moldenhauer for taking on this leadership role,” said Jean-Francois Meullenet,
director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research
component of the Division of Agriculture. “I know she will be an outstanding
director while we conduct a national search.”
“Karen has been at the station
for a long time and nobody is better positioned to assume this role,” Scott
said. “I also appreciate her dedication as she has delayed her retirement for a
few months while we search for a permanent replacement.”
NOT HER FIRST RODEO
After all, it wasn’t the first
time Moldenhauer was in this position, having served as interim director for
the center in 2001-2002.
Putting off retirement plans is
no small thing, but she was philosophical.
“It’ll give me a chance to finish
out my work this season,” she said. “I’m looking at what lines to advance to
the Arkansas Rice Performance Trials, lines we’d like to advance to the rest of
the program, working on Provisia crosses, Clearfield material — the whole
breeding program.”
Plus, the Moldenhauers were going
to retire to a place in her native state of Iowa.
“They’re still working on
renovations to the house,” she said.
Moldenhauer said her predecessor
has not only made her job as interim easier, but also for whomever is appointed
director.
“Bob has done a great job for
this station,” she said. “I think it’s in a lot better shape with many
infrastructure updates and improvements and administration has been very
supportive of the work we’re doing.”
DEEP EXPERIENCE
Moldenhauer received a bachelor’s
degree in biology from Iowa State, followed by a master’s in plant breeding and
cytogenetics from North Carolina State. She returned to Iowa State for a Ph.D.
in plant breeding.
During her 38-year tenure at the
Division of Agriculture, 38 rice cultivars have been released to producers
which have been grown on 21 million acres.
Moldenhauer’s primary research
focuses on improving grain yield, cooking quality characteristics and disease
resistance. Her releases Drew, Kaybonnet, and Katy were the first commercially
available cultivars with resistance to all of the common blast races in the
southern U.S. growing region. They have provided a source of rice blast
resistance to the rice breeding groups in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Cultivars released under her
direction helped state average rice yields to increase from 95 bushels per acre
in 1982 to as high as 168 bushels per acre in 2013 and 2014. These varieties
have averaged between 50 and 60 percent of the rice acreage in any given year
from 1982 until 2009, when the hybrids became popular. Since then the Arkansas
varieties have averaged between 20 and 30 percent of the Arkansas acreage. Her
2016 release, Diamond, was grown on 20 percent of the state’s rice acreage in
2018.
In 2002, Moldenhauer was named
the first holder of the Rice Industry Chair for Variety Development in 2002, a
position she still holds.
“She has nearly 40 years of
experience and with that wealth of experience she brings to the table she’s a
welcome addition in that role,” said Nathan Slaton, assistant director of the
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.”
NATIONAL SEARCH
With the faculty and staff and
slate of improvements at the center, Scott said he expects “that the position
of director to be a very desirable job and I know our search will go well.”
The Division of Agriculture will hold a national search for a
new Rice Research and Extension Center director. Details: https://division.uaex.edu/jobs/default.aspx or https://aaes.uark.edu/research-locations/rice-research-extension-center/.
The University of Arkansas System
Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and
services without discrimination.
To learn more about extension and research programs in Arkansas,
visit www.division.uaex.edu. Follow the agency
on Twitter at @AgInArk, @uaex_edu or @ArkAgResearch.
www.swtimes.com/news/20200721/u
Grocery prices are
starting to rise
/
.
Similarly, raw rice has seen a price rise from Rs 54 to Rs 58, sugar from Rs 36
to Rs 39/40. Tur Dal, one of the key ingredients for sambar, has gone up from
Rs 94 to Rs 99 per kilo. Oil prices too have seen a revision, with sunflower
oil costing Rs 110, as opposed to Rs 95 per litre, groundnut oil going up from
Rs 95 to Rs 110 per litre. Most of the millets which used to be sold for Rs 75
have almost touched RS 90 per kilo.
Haris S, who runs a retail shop said, “Labour shortage has restricted the
movement of goods and is one of the key reasons for the price rise.” Sridhar S,
a wholesale dealer at the
Karnataka
State Millers’ Association has blamed the price revision due to low supply.
Vagish Swamy, one of the rice mill owners and part of this association said,
“The free rice scheme which has been launched by the government after the
.
Additionally, a severe shortage of labourers has affected the harvest, leading
to low supply and eventually price rise.”
Among vegetables, tomato prices have plunged, with it being sold anywhere
between Rs 30 to Rs 50. Other vegetable prices have so far remained the same.
Kolar, which is considered Karnataka’s tomato basket is seeing a renewed
activity. Sources said that the tomatoes from Kolar have got a lot of demand
and are being supplied to northern states as well as being exported to
countries like Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The tomato traders say that the
prices of tomatoes are expected to remain high till August.
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