The UAE’s sustainable food plan involves growing rice & developing ‘soil’
By
-
September
13, 2020
With
the UAE almost wholly reliant on food imports, food security is a national priority.
In
recent months, the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened domestic concerns as global
supply chains of imports were disrupted.
The
crisis also prompted renewed debate about how best to boost local agriculture
and foster farming innovation.
Searing
summer temperatures, little rainfall and a landscape dominated by arid desert,
has meant that the UAE’s agricultural activities have been relatively
restricted to small areas.
Grassroot
thinking
That
could soon change, however, say academics at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University,
who are developing ‘artificial soil’, made up of almost 90% desert sand.
Their
goal is for the product to be used by local, and eventually regional farmers,
to grow plants & vegetation.
The
soil created in the laboratory resembles the texture, porosity & fertility
of soils found in Thailand & Ukraine.
If
patent approved, scientists in the capital are optimistic that it has the
potential to transform the UAE’s burgeoning home-grown crops sector.
To
dig deeper into the topic, Inspire Middle East’s Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham
caught up with Associate Professor, Dr. Saeed Alkhazraji, a passionate
innovator who helped co-create the earth.
He
began by explaining the soil’s unique qualities, which should be given extra
consideration in light of the UAE’s extreme weather conditions.
“Farmers
have to be aware that any crop they’re trying to grow [here] needs to be dealt
with in a specific way, to allow them to maximize their yield,” he said. “For
example, if they want to grow a plant that is difficult to grow in the UAE,
perhaps you need to use a greenhouse along with the soil that we are making.”
The
soil’s potential to contribute to the local food supply chain, is significant,
the Professor went on to tell .
“There
are many different crops that are challenging to grow in the UAE, crops that
sustain human lives, like rice and wheat – because of their excessive need for
water.” said Dr. Saeed Alkhazraji. “The soil that we developed can allow us to
have better water management, because it allows us to have a higher water
retention than typical soils around the UAE.”
Desert
rice
With
rice a food staple of the UAE, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment
recently announced a joint research programme with the Republic of Korea, aimed
at cultivating rice in the desert.
The
seeds were sowed back in 2019, cultivated using a water-saving drip irrigation
system, and the rice was recently harvested.
Preliminary
results for the first project of its kind in the region, indicated a yield of
763kg of rice per 1,000 square metres.
This
prompted the Ministry to say that, if successful on a large scale, the project
had the potential to shape the future of agriculture and be replicated in other
arid regions.
Sharjah’s
organic growth
The
location of the rice initiative was the emirate of Sharjah, which according to
scientists, is an emerging hotbed of agricultural innovation in the UAE.
It
is also home to the Sharjah Research Technology & Innovation Park, a place
which supports famers & harnesses new technology to produce sustainable
local food all year round.
The
Park notably contains a 150-square metre farm, and an eco-friendly Merlin
Agrotunnel, capable of producing a ton of organic fruits & vegetables each
month.
In
keeping with the country’s environmental and sustainable farming goals, all
produce is irrigated with seawater desalinated via solar energy.
SRTI’s
CEO, Hussain Al Mahmoudi, predicts that in the next 5 years at least 30 percent
of the UAE’s food will be domestically produced.
He
told Inspire that continuous research and development into new farming
innovations & agricultural technology will accelerate the sector’s growth
in the years ahead.
“Since
the inception of the Park, we’ve started to promote things like hydroponics
technology, aquaponics technology & tunnel farming. And they’ve all taken
off,” he said. “At the moment, we are [also] using Artificial Intelligence to
study how aquaponics works, with relation to fish. How the fish really move and
how much food they eat.”
Sustainable
agriculture
When
asked about the economic feasibility of large-scale farming projects in the
UAE, and how production and harvesting costs could be kept down, Al Mahmoudi
had this to say:
“I
think the feasibility is there, because the UAE has an abundant amount of land.
A lot of farmers in the UAE, especially the national ones, get free land. If
you couple this with the cost of doing business here, it is also relatively low
compared to other parts of the world. There’s also the fantastic infrastructure
– in terms of ports and airports and storage and other things.”
On
the subject of the UAE being one of the world’s top rice importers, SRTI’s CEO
is convinced that producing home-grown rice would be game-changing for the
domestic market.
“I
think we can play a strategic role in growing rice,” he said. “We have the
infrastructure, both soft infrastructure and public sector, to really become a
regional player in producing rice and ensuring food security.”
Here
are the latest news in the rice sector. Here are the important details you
should know:
NEWS
New,
free fertilizer app for rice available on PlayStore: Derived from a four-stripped
handy “ruler” called Leaf Color Chart (LCC), the PhilRice Leaf Color Computing
Application (PhilRice LCC App), which can assess nitrogen status of the rice
plant, is now available on Google Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ph.gov.philrice.lcc). Designed for farmers,
extension workers, researchers, and students, the mobile app generates nitrogen
recommendations in just under a minute based on the digital images of intact
rice leaves photographed directly from the field.
Enough
seeds benefit over 150k farmers in CAR, Region 2: More than 150,000 farmers
in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Cagayan Valley (Region 2)
benefitted from certified inbred seeds given by the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF)-Seed Program this wet season. Through partnership
with the local government unit, the station had accomplished over 100 percent
of its target delivery in said regions amidst community quarantine.
PhilRice
Batac recognizes partners in seed distribution program: An official of the
Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) in
Batac City, Ilocos Norte lauded partner-agencies in implementing a government’s
flagship program benefitting over 55,000 farmers in Region I. Executed
amidst a health crisis, the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)-Seed
Program delivered more than 200,000 bags of free certified seeds of the
region’s recommended rice varieties.
To
read the full articles, please see the attached documents.
--
Development Communication Division
Philippine Rice Research Institute (www.philrice.gov.ph)
Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, PHILIPPINES
(044) 4560258 loc 512 (telefax)
0928-3703328
Be a rice fan: http://www.facebook.com/rice.matters
Follow rice: http://twitter.com/rice_matters
Enough
seeds benefit over 150k farmers in CAR, Region 2
More than 150,000 farmers in Cordillera Administrative
Region (CAR) and Cagayan Valley (Region 2) benefitted from certified inbred
seeds given by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)-Seed Program
this wet season.
“The program allocated almost 400,000 bags, which is
enough for the rice farmers in CAR and Region 2. This allotment can be
distributed anytime,” Engr. Leo C. Javier, Department of Agriculture-Philippine
Rice Research (DA-PhilRice) in San Mateo, Isabela, branch director, said.
Through partnership with the local government unit, the
station had accomplished over 100 percent of its target delivery in said
regions amidst community quarantine.
“We strictly followed physical distancing and wearing
of masks to help ensure a safe environment for the farmers receiving seeds,”
Javier said.
Farmer-beneficiaries planted the certified inbred rice
seeds, distributed at 20kg/bag, in almost 200,000 ha or 92 percent of the
target area.
Implementers of RCEF-Seed Program also established 10 technology demonstration farms with 60
farmer-partners from both regions. Called PalaySikatan, the technology
demonstration farms showcase regional varieties, one location-specific
technology, and newly released inbred rice varieties. Machines such as
walk-behind and riding-type mechanical transplanters are also introduced to
reduce production cost.
Furthermore, more than 90,000 farmers received Gabay sa
Makabagong Pagpapalayan leaflet, which contains information about modern
farming while trainers and farm schools will receive PalayCheck System booklet
and primer, respectively.
The RCEF-Seed Program, which is a component of Republic
Act 11203 or Rice Tariffication Law signed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, allots P10
billion fund every year for the rice farmers. Sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Villar,
the program is a six-year government initiative to help the farmers compete in
the international rice market.
Bureau of Plant Industry, DA-regional offices,
provincial and municipal government units, seed grower associations, and
policymakers assisted in program implementation in CAR and Region 2.
PhilRice leads the RCEF-Seed Program and is the
government’s lead agency on rice research and development mandated to help
ensure a rice-secure Philippines. With eight stations across the country, its
programs and projects are in line with the DA’s “Masaganang Ani, Mataas na
Kita” battlecry. For more information about the Institute’s program, queries
can be sent thru PhilRice Text Center (0917 111 7423) or email
prri.mail@philrice.gov.ph.
PhilRice
Batac recognizes partners in seed distribution program
An official of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine
Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) in Batac City, Ilocos Norte lauded
partner-agencies in implementing a government’s flagship program benefitting
over 55,000 farmers in Region I.
Executed amidst a health crisis, the Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)-Seed Program delivered more than
200,000 bags of free certified seeds of the region’s recommended rice
varieties.
“Despite limitations and danger posed by the pandemic,
we’re happy that we have provided farmers the needed seeds in time for the
planting season. This is due to the cooperation, strong commitment, and
partnership among concerned agencies and local government units. We’re also
grateful to the support of our congressmen,” Dr. Reynaldo Castro, PhilRice
Batac director said.
In Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, City Agriculturist Marilyn
G. Martin shared that more than 1,000 bags were distributed to almost 1,000
farmers in two hours during Enhanced Community Quarantine without breaking
health and safety protocols.
“We minimized contact and held the distribution in a
wide venue so that physical distancing is observed,” she said.
The RCEF Seed Program, a six-year government initiative
to help the farmers compete in the international rice market, also helped some
cooperatives expand their memberships.
“Many women-farmers applied for membership in our
cooperative after receiving the free high-quality seeds. They learned it’s
easier for farmers to access government support if we’re organized,” Anita Benito,
president of Nasalukag Women’s Multi-purpose Cooperative in Solsona, Ilocos
Norte said. She added that their members expect higher yield from RCEF seeds
based on the crop’s stand.
Lauding the effort, Sen. Cynthia Villar, author of the
Rice Tariffication Law, in which the RCEF-Seed Program is a component, also
cited the program implementers in a social media post. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte
signed the Rice Tariffication Law, which allots P10 billion fund every year for
the rice farmers.
“Congratulations to PhilRice Batac, DA-Regional Field
Office 1, provincial/municipal/city agriculture offices, and LGUs in
implementing the RCEF- Seed Program in the Ilocos Region! Let’s continue to
support our farmers,” she posted.
PhilRice leads the RCEF-Seed Program and is the
government’s lead agency on rice research and development mandated to help
ensure a rice-secure Philippines. With eight stations across the country, its
programs and projects are in line with the DA’s “Masaganang Ani, Mataas na
Kita” battlecry. For more information about the Institute’s program, queries
can be sent thru PhilRice Text Center (0917 111 7423) or email
prri.mail@philrice.gov.ph.
New,
free fertilizer app for rice available on PlayStore
Right amount of nitrogen fertilizer for rice can now be
generated through a free android application developed by the Department of
Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice).
Derived from a four-stripped handy “ruler” called Leaf
Color Chart (LCC), the PhilRice Leaf Color Computing Application (PhilRice LCC
App), which can assess nitrogen status of the rice plant, is now available on
Google Play Store
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ph.gov.philrice.lcc).
Designed for farmers, extension workers, researchers,
and students, the mobile app generates nitrogen recommendations in just under a
minute based on the digital images of intact rice leaves photographed directly
from the field.
Ailon Oliver Capistrano, PhilRice senior researcher,
said that app users only need to lay down the topmost, fully expanded rice leaf
on smartphone’s front camera to capture its image with the surrounding light as
source of luminance.
According to him, nitrogen levels of rice plants can be
measured from a digital photo of its leaves, which is strongly correlated with
actual leaf nitrogen concentrations.
“The app measures the intensity of green color based on
the captured leaf images and converts this into values correlated with the
amount of nitrogen in the leaf,” he explained.
Different camera-types are normally installed in
smartphones with variations in terms of resolution. The research team found
that regardless of brand, smartphone cameras will deliver an almost similar
reading at 5MP. This means that app
users can install the app even in an inexpensive smartphone brand and benefit
from its function.
“The app is more accurate than the LCC as it eliminates
subjective perception of users, which is prone to variation or errors. The app
is also handy for new users or adopters who have no training or experience in
the use of the manual LCC,” Capistrano said.
Meanwhile, Dr.Karen Eloisa Barroga, PhilRice deputy
executive director for development, said the app is useful for farmers who
often apply too much nitrogen especially during wet season, which results in
pest infestation.
“Many farmers are now online. They also have their
children to assist them. I’m sure that the LCC app will quickly find its way to
them to guide them in the accurate application of nitrogen,” Barroga said.
January-April 2020 data of the DA-PhilRice Facebook
page showed that 75% of its clients are farmers who frequently use the
Messenger. The rest are students, extensions workers, and researchers.
Recommendations derived from the LCC app will be
showcased in field demonstration while farmers engaged through Facebook will be
encouraged to download the LCC app.
Recently, Agriculture Secretary William Dar announced
that the department will harness state-of-the-art tools, systems and
technologies to modernize and industrialize Philippine agriculture to ensure
food supply.
“By digitalizing agriculture, our farmers and fishers
can achieve bigger yields of higher quality products, at a more cost-efficient
and sustainable manner….,” he said.
Ensuring Food Security in Pakistan
A significant percentage of Pakistanis face food insecurity and
it is not because food is not available but rather due to a lack of
affordability and inequitable distribution. Pakistan’s agriculture sector faces
complex challenges that hinder productivity and yields which are much lower
than many regional countries.
-
September 12, 2020
Over the last few years, Pakistan
has seen a drastic decline in the production of staple crops, such as wheat,
rice and cotton, due to natural disasters, volatile security situation and low
economic growth. As a result, the national nutrition survey 2018 points out
that an estimated 37 percent of the population faces food insecurity.
In Pakistan, food availability is
not the real problem – the real issue lies in affordability and inequitable
distribution across the country that leads to price distortions, supply chain
losses and inadequate availability in some districts. The situation is
exacerbated for the vulnerable groups of women and children, and two-thirds of
the population who live in rural areas that lack market access.
In 2018, the government approved
a comprehensive national food security policy, terming it the most critical
element of national security. This policy aims to enhance food availability,
improve food access, enable food utilization and ensure food stability by
promoting a more sustainable food production and distribution system in
Pakistan.
However, agriculture faces a
complex set of challenges that limit its productivity and, thereby, hinder the
goal of achieving food security. Some of these issues have been highlighted as
follows:
Self-sufficiency in fertilizer production
Before 1980-81, Pakistan imported
well over 50 percent of its annual fertilizer requirements. During the 1980s,
the situation improved considerably after the expansion of the local industry;
however, the country was still a net importer of urea till 2012. The Fertilizer
Policy 2001 encouraged investments in new fertilizer plants by providing
regionally competitive and fixed gas prices.
As a result, the local fertilizer
players invested around PKR 162 billion in state-of-the-art production
facilities, which led to an increase of around 1.9 metric tons per annum of
urea production capacity. These investments enabled the country in
attaining self-sufficiency of urea through production from indigenous gases and
reduced the reliance on imports which also resulted in significant foreign
exchange savings for the national exchequer.
Against a subsidy of PKR180
billion on lower feed gas price, the fertilizer sector has passed on a benefit
of Rs 600 billion over the last decade to the farmer community in the form of
reduced urea rates compared to international prices. Furthermore, the
fertilizer sector is committed to making continuous investments for the
reliable operations of these plants and utilizing the idle capacities to allow
stable production of urea and contribute towards ensuring national food
security.
Read more: Ehsaas program
for the needy
Going forward, the government
must make commercially viable decisions which support the national interest and
provide to small farmers. The recent GIDC decision by the Supreme Court could
be a setback for the fertilizers industry, along with other industrial sectors
such as textiles, as it would be liable to pay huge sums (PKR 111 billion on
non-concessionary gas and PKR 69 billion on concessionary gas, if applicable)
even though the impact of GIDC was not passed on due to price intervention by
the government.
Further, the GIDC payment over
two years would put an immense financial constraint on the industry and
jeopardize future investment plans of the businesses. In case GIDC becomes
payable on concessionary gas as well, it would make urea price increase
imminent that would directly impact the farmer community and agriculture sector
of Pakistan.
The need for smart subsidies
According to the Pakistan Bureau
of Statistics (PBS), around 10 percent of large landowners hold 52 percent of
the agricultural land in Pakistan. As part of its 100-day agenda, the PTI
government had envisioned a smart subsidy program to provide cheaper
agricultural inputs to 3 million small scale farmers that own up to 5 acres of
land and ensure food security with affordable prices for the country.
Currently, the government
provides an across-the-board subsidy on urea produced using imported RLNG that
disproportionately benefits the large landowners rather than small farmers who
need it the most. As per calculations, the large landowners get 52 percent of
across the board national subsidy, while the smallest farmers only get 19% of
the government subsidy.
By introducing a sticker-based
mechanism to roll out smart subsidy, as being already successfully done for
phosphates in Punjab, the government can ensure that small subsistence farmers
earn more and catalyze the growth of the agriculture sector. Through the smart
subsidy mechanism, much higher discounts on urea to small and medium-sized
landowners can be made possible.
Low crop yield and use of nutrients
Crop yields in Pakistan have
considerably lagged behind our regional peers primarily due to usage of
non-certified/substandard seeds, improper nutrients application, lack of
mechanization and low agricultural research & development expenditure.
To ensure the availability and
accessibility of food, Pakistan needs to boost yield per acre of crops,
modernize agricultural practices and promote public-private partnerships for
greater investments into research and development in the sector. One of the
primary reasons behind the country’s lackluster crop productivity is the lack
of application of phosphorus and potash fertilizers.
Experts have forecasted that with
the use of balanced fertilizers, wheat productivity can be enhanced by 35% and
maize by 40%. A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
highlights the over-application of ‘Nitrogen’ by Pakistani farmers (77 percent
of the total nutrient application) against a recommended rate of 57 percent.
While manufacturers like Engro
Fertilizers have introduced fertilizers comprising Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous
(P) and Potassium (K) in a balanced blended product (NPK), which is an optimal
combination of the key nutrients required for soil health, there is a need to
create greater understanding among farmers about the impact on agricultural
productivity of these nutrients.
Read more: Pakistan’s Unusual and Unprecedented Food Inflation –
What is driving it?
The Punjab government has
previously implemented a targeted subsidy scheme for small-scale farmers to
encourage the application of Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) fertilizers,
which resulted in an increase in the use of these farm nutrients by 56 percent
over the last couple of years. To promote balanced use of fertilizers and
improve agricultural output, the subsidy should only be provided on Phosphate,
Potassium and micro-nutrients products.
Earlier this year, the government
had announced a subsidy package of PKR 37 billion on fertilizers. Based on the
impact on agricultural productivity, the subsidy on Nitrogen-based products was
rightly withdrawn, and it was decided to extend smart subsidy on Phosphatic (P)
and Potassium (K) products only. However, the subsidy scheme is yet to be
executed as there is a misalignment of provinces on the implementation
mechanism.
Climate change
According to the latest Global
Climate Risk Index ranking, Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country to
climate change. Recent past serves as a good example of what is yet to come as
temperatures are rising, rainfall and seasonal patterns are becoming
increasingly unpredictable, and natural disasters of floods, droughts and
heatwaves are now more common.
Climate change has increased
water demand of crops by up to 30 percent while decreasing the yield by around
18 percent and pushing the prices of food higher. Small landholders, who
account for more than 80 percent of the total farmers, are most susceptible to
the way climate change is negatively impacting crops.
Therefore, policy measures by the
government need to focus around limiting the impact of climate change as a
foremost priority. While climate change is inevitable, adaptation strategies
must be applied by bringing together knowledge and technology, developing
institutional capacity and introducing policies that help sustain crop
production.
Access to capital/credit
Small and medium-sized farmers in
Pakistan have limited access to formalized agri-loans due to which they are
encircled in a continuous debt trap at the hands of unorganized financing
entities. Therefore, the issue of organized financial inclusion of small farmer
needs to be looked at from a broader perspective because of its wider
socio-economic implications.
Read more: Nestlé Pakistan’s report Creating Shared Value: Nestlé
trains 220,000 children
The small farmers are heavily
dependent on local arthis/middleman for credit availability due to reluctance
of the formal sector and its cumbersome processes. However, it has been
realized that without organized financial inclusion of these farmers, the
agricultural sector of Pakistan will continue to experience low growth and
this, in turn, would limit the country’s progress as well.
Financial inclusion and private
sector participation in this endeavor must be based on financing across the
entire ‘farm to fork’ value chain. There is a need for targeted, value chain
aggregated projects and cooperatives to improve efficiencies and credit
worthiness of small farmers, as seen from examples in Africa and India.
Collateral Management Companies
(CMC) can help create an ecosystem that will improve warehousing and crop
grading practices, provide credit access and price discovery mechanism to
farmers and enable electronic trading of commodities. Technology should be
leveraged to design e-credit and e-subsidies initiatives that can be supported
by the private sector.
The future of food security in
Pakistan depends on how well the government achieves its objectives outlined in
the national food security policy. However,
this would require strong coordination and trust between the provincial and
federal governments.
Read more: Putting
rural women on the path out of poverty
At the same time, the need of the
hour is to engage with all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain and
take rational decisions that promote investment and public-private partnerships
for the overall well-being of small and medium-sized farmers.
DAVAO CITY—Agriculture production areas in Mindanao have been
prepped up to provide a continuous supply of basic food items to
quarantined cities and capital towns of Mindanao and beyond, while local
governments have asked the national task force on Covid-19 to relax strict
quarantine protocols in agricultural areas.
Mindanao regions such as the Caraga Region in the northeast and
Soccsksargen Region in central south are given various forms of support,
including seeds, farm inputs and financial assistance. Beneficiaries are mostly
hard-up farmers and their families.
Cornfields
on a hilltop in Bukidnon in the Northern Mindanao region.
Livestock and crops such as vegetables and corn, which are
considered secondary products of the province, have also been given ample
support in terms of research, marketing and a wider area for planting.
The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the government’s
socioeconomic planning unit for this southern Philippine island, has pushed
this program as one of the key initiatives for recovery in Mindanao in the
midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The regions
In the first quarter of the year, all economic activities,
including the wide areas of agriculture, were at a standstill due to the
quarantine restrictions imposed by the various local government units (LGUs).
As food became scarce due to dwindling supplies, authorities
eventually allowed the unrestricted passage of trucks and vehicles carrying
vegetables, crops and meat from the production areas. The restriction on the
movement of produce from farm to market was also lifted.
In Agusan del Sur in the Caraga Region, the Department of
Agriculture (DA) Regional Office provided rice seeds and fertilizer subsidies
to farmers in time for the wet cropping season. Considered as the region’s
rice-producing province, Agusan del Sur was allocated P125.8 million, or 60
percent, of the P207-million Rice Resiliency Project budget of the region.
“With a coastline of
36,289 kilometers, the fifth-longest in the world, and surrounded by seas and
ocean, it is unthinkable that the Philippines still imports fish from countries
whose fishermen could be fishing in our waters.”—Mindanao Development Authority
Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol
This move is seen to increase local rice production through the
use of high-quality seeds and fertilizer given to an estimated 30,000 rice
farmers covering 32,277 hectares.
The regional DA office also allocated P7.4 million under its
Expanded SURE Aid Fund as cash assistance to 296 farmers and fishermen whose
incomes were badly affected by the enhanced community quarantine since the
early phase of the lockdown.
The farmers and fishermen came from the municipalities of
Las Nieves, Nasipit, Buenavista and Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte, and
Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur. The financial assistance was released by Baug
Carp Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative and the Bayugan Achievers
Multipurpose Cooperative as partner conduits.
Sustained food production
OFFICER-IN-CHARGE Assistant Regional Director for Operations
Rebecca Atega said the government wanted to ensure sustained food production
despite the challenges and restrictions of the pandemic.
The rice hybridization program started two years ago in 2018,
when hybrid seeds used by the farmers increased production by 17.11 percent in
2019, indicating the adaptability of hybrid seeds in the farms. The barangays
of Lemon, Basag and Ampayon in Butuan City were chosen as the technology
demonstration sites, covering 100 hectares.
The demonstration farm program would be supported by the SL
Agritech Corp., SeedWorks, Bioseed, Ramgo, Bayer, Pioneer, Syngenta, Advanta
and LongPing, alongside the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice)
and Phil-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT).
“As the country transitions to the so-called new normal, the
Department of Agriculture-Caraga continues to come up with different
interventions and advocacies to promote a sustainable and secure food
production through the Plant Plant Plant program,” said Director Abel James I.
Monteagudo.
In
this September 5, 2015, file photo, fishermen line up to have their catch of
tuna weighed at a fish port in General Santos City, nicknamed the Tuna Capital
of the Philippines. The city is the regional center for commerce and industry
of the Soccsksargen region.
Other interventions include the distribution of various
vegetable seedlings and seeds given to nonfarmers who want to have their own
vegetable gardens. Just in the first week since the program was introduced, no
less than 200 individuals have availed themselves of this assistance.
In addition to vegetables, the DA-Caraga promoted backyard corn
production and launched the Project Maisan sa Nataran, or Pro-Mais, as the
latest addition to the integrated and diversified home food production program.
Corn has its health benefits, such as controlling diabetes,
preventing heart ailment, and lowering of hypertension. Through the project,
individuals who have available area of at least 100 square meters and were
willing to plant corn were given one-fourth kilo corn seeds.
To further encourage people to patronize corn, free tasting of
rice-corn blend—or cooked rice mixed with corn—was also conducted. To
complement this food production initiative, the Organic Agriculture (OA)
program also handed out organic concoctions that the people could use and apply
on their vegetables to ensure these would be safe for them and their families
to consume.
The World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Program also
saw the construction of the warehouse, seedling production building and seedbed
for rubber tree growers. This infrastructure support amounting to P8.4 million
further re-energized the farming sector in the Caraga Region.
The collaboration between the regional DA, Department of Public
Works and Highways and the various LGUs in Caraga made possible the completion
of 121 farm roads costing P1.9 billion. From 2015 to 2019, a total of 185.6
kilometers of farm roads was constructed in the region.
Other initiatives included the turnover of 50 head of cattle to
backyard raisers in Agusan del Norte, vegetable production by the Soccsksargen
Police Regional Office, turnover of P3.7 million worth of farm inputs and tools
to the farmers of Makilala and Tulunan towns in North Cotabato, and turnover of
100 bags of conventional hybrid corn seeds, 2,664 packs of pinakbet
seeds, 276 kilos of mungbean seeds, 200 bags of inorganic fertilizers, 70 rolls
of laminated sacks, 76 rolls of high-density polyethylene pipes and 150 units
of water plastic drums at Sitio Flortam, Barangay Batasan, Makilala.
Self-reliance
MinDA Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has encouraged LGUs in
Mindanao to be self-reliant, “as the country grapples with the effects of
Covid-19.”
Piñol believes “that in order to restart the economy and bolster
socioeconomic development in the island-region, every local government unit
should rely on their own concerted efforts and abilities in this time of
recovery since the national government, on the other hand, has been devoting
its resources to the ongoing fight against the pandemic.”
“LGUs cannot expect a lot from the national government. The
national government has no funds now. In fact, the funds of agencies have been
sequestered [for Covid response]. So, there’s not much money to talk about
right now,” Piñol said in a mix of English and Filipino, noting that majority
of government funds were realigned to combat the pandemic.
He said MinDA must refocus its programs to help the economy
regain its momentum once again and yield concrete results “that will be felt on
the ground despite the presence of financial difficulties and limitations.”
Addressing his management team, he said: “Our objective is to
really restart the economy of Mindanao. Here’s what we should consider in
prioritizing our programs: what program will have immediate effect that can
quickly benefit our people and restart the economy,” he said.
While efforts for economic restoration remain under way, he said
it is also the right time for LGUs “to unleash their individual coping
mechanisms and maximize resources under the new normal.”
“So, whatever we do in Mindanao right now will be guided by the
philosophy of self-reliance. We will have to encourage LGUs to really invest,”
Piñol added.
In his recent visits to Impasugong, Talakag, Sumilao and
Lantapan (Imtasula) in Bukidnon, he urged the mayors to look for ways to prop
up their local economies.
“You buy equipment. Don’t be scared to borrow. Buy the needed
equipment because you have to build your own roads right now.”
Among the Covid-19 response programs that MinDA is actively
taking on are the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa BP2 program, Sustainable
Agriculture Project for Imtasula areas and MinDA Tienda.
It has also started to validate the different fish center sites
to double Mindanao’s current aquaculture and fisheries production of two
million metric tons annually by year 2025.
“With a coastline length of 36,289 kilometers, the fifth-longest
in the world, and surrounded by seas and ocean, it is unthinkable that the
Philippines still imports fish from countries whose fishermen could be fishing
in our waters,” he said.
Piñol also asked local chief executives to urge lawmakers to
review the rice importation law, Republic Act 11203, saying that farm-gate
prices of palay had dropped from P22 a kilo two years ago to just P11 per kilo
in many areas of the region during harvest season.
He reported also that the municipality of Kalawit in Zamboanga
del Norte has earmarked a 200-hectare plantation area for the first 200
families coming home from Metro Manila under the BP2 program.
MinDA already turned over on August 18 a P500,000 support fund
for the survey of the proposed BP2 site.
The province will give each family a house and the whole
community of returning families will work as one in undertaking agricultural
production.
“In contrast, the Kauswagan Model has a compact area of 6.3
hectares where the beneficiaries will undertake organic chicken and vegetable
production,” he said.
This week, Piñol suggested that grains storage complexes with
modern dryers and silos be established in at least four corn-producing regions
of Mindanao to ensure food security on the island and propel the economy adversely
affected by the pandemic.
“This problem is not new. As a farm boy who grew up among rice
and corn farmers, I saw the frustration and disappointment in my late father
and other farmers’ faces when their earnings after four months fell way below
what they had expected. This trapped them in an endless cycle of poverty where
they borrowed money to plant and paid back with what they harvested, oftentimes
leaving them in deep debt,” Piñol stressed.
He likewise discussed the measures which are the salient features
of the Mindanao Corn Development Program that MinDA is crafting, and which will
be submitted as a priority project for inclusion in the Mindanao Peace and
Development Program, or Rise Mindanao.
Image credits: Teoderico
Decierdo | Dreamstime.com, Hugo Maes |
Dreamstime.com, minda.gov.ph, Jamesbox |
Dreamstime.com
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/09/13/southern-food-bowl/
The UAE’s sustainable food plan involves growing rice &
developing ‘soil’
Last updated: 11/09
- 16:00
Inspire
middle east
With the UAE almost wholly reliant on food
imports, food security is a national priority.
In recent months, the Covid-19 pandemic has
heightened domestic concerns as global supply chains of imports were disrupted.
The crisis also prompted renewed debate about
how best to boost local agriculture and foster farming innovation.
Searing summer temperatures, little rainfall
and a landscape dominated by arid desert, has meant that the UAE’s agricultural
activities have been relatively restricted to small areas.
Grassroot
thinking
That could soon change, however, say academics
at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University, who are developing ‘artificial soil’, made
up of almost 90% desert sand.
Their goal is for the product to be used by
local, and eventually regional farmers, to grow plants & vegetation.
The soil created in the laboratory resembles
the texture, porosity & fertility of soils found in Thailand & Ukraine.
If patent approved, scientists in the capital
are optimistic that it has the potential to transform the UAE’s burgeoning
home-grown crops sector.
To dig deeper into the topic, Inspire Middle
East’s Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham caught up with Associate Professor, Dr. Saeed
Alkhazraji, a passionate innovator who helped co-create the earth.
Dr. Saeed Alkhazraji speaks to Inspire Middle
East
He began by explaining the soil’s unique
qualities, which should be given extra consideration in light of the UAE’s
extreme weather conditions.
“Farmers have to be aware that any crop they're
trying to grow [here] needs to be dealt with in a specific way, to allow them
to maximize their yield,” he said. “For example, if they want to grow a plant
that is difficult to grow in the UAE, perhaps you need to use a greenhouse
along with the soil that we are making.”
The soil’s potential to contribute to the local
food supply chain, is significant, the Professor went on to tell Euronews.
“There are many different crops that are
challenging to grow in the UAE, crops that sustain human lives, like rice and
wheat - because of their excessive need for water.” said Dr. Saeed Alkhazraji.
“The soil that we developed can allow us to have better water management,
because it allows us to have a higher water retention than typical soils around
the UAE.”
Desert
rice
With rice a food staple of the UAE, the
Ministry of Climate Change and Environment recently announced a joint research
programme with the Republic of Korea, aimed at cultivating rice in the desert.
The seeds were sowed back in 2019, cultivated
using a water-saving drip irrigation system, and the rice was recently
harvested.
Preliminary results for the first project of
its kind in the region, indicated a yield of 763kg of rice per 1,000 square
metres.
This prompted the Ministry to say that, if
successful on a large scale, the project had the potential to shape the future
of agriculture and be replicated in other arid regions.
Sharjah’s
organic growth
The location of the rice initiative was the
emirate of Sharjah, which according to scientists, is an emerging hotbed of
agricultural innovation in the UAE.
It is also home to the Sharjah Research
Technology & Innovation Park, a place which supports famers & harnesses
new technology to produce sustainable local food all year round.
The Park notably contains a 150-square metre
farm, and an eco-friendly Merlin Agrotunnel, capable of producing a ton of
organic fruits & vegetables each month.
In keeping with the country’s environmental and
sustainable farming goals, all produce is irrigated with seawater desalinated
via solar energy.
SRTI’s CEO, Hussain Al Mahmoudi, predicts that
in the next 5 years at least 30 percent of the UAE’s food will be domestically
produced.
Hussain Al Mahmoudi monitors the crops at SRTI
He told Inspire that continuous research and
development into new farming innovations & agricultural technology will
accelerate the sector’s growth in the years ahead.
“Since the inception of the Park, we've started
to promote things like hydroponics technology, aquaponics technology &
tunnel farming. And they've all taken off,” he said. “At the moment, we are
[also] using Artificial Intelligence to study how aquaponics works, with
relation to fish. How the fish really move and how much food they eat.”
Sustainable
agriculture
When asked about the economic feasibility of
large-scale farming projects in the UAE, and how production and harvesting
costs could be kept down, Al Mahmoudi had this to say:
“I think the feasibility is there, because the
UAE has an abundant amount of land. A lot of farmers in the UAE, especially the
national ones, get free land. If you couple this with the cost of doing
business here, it is also relatively low compared to other parts of the world.
There’s also the fantastic infrastructure - in terms of ports and airports and
storage and other things.”
On the subject of the UAE being one of the
world’s top rice importers, SRTI’s CEO is convinced that producing home-grown
rice would be game-changing for the domestic market.
“I think we can play a strategic role in
growing rice,” he said. “We have the infrastructure, both soft infrastructure
and public sector, to really become a regional player in producing rice and
ensuring food security.”
DA gives P53.8-M agri-machinery to Davao rice
farmers
September
13, 2020
DAVAO CITY: The Department of Agriculture
(DA) gave a total of P53.8-million worth of agri-machinery to rice farmers in
the Davao Region under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund mechanization
component held recently in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. DA Secretary William
Dar, who led the distribution, highlighted the agency’s priority programs to
help rice farmers reduce the cost of production and increase their income.
Included among the agri-machinery were 32 floating tillers, 23 hand tractors,
13 combine harvesters, 13 four-wheel tractors, 8 riding-type transplanters, 4
walk-behind transplanters, one reaper and one precision seeder.
Mindanao leaders ask Congress to review rice
importation law
By: Jigger J. Jerusalem - @inquirerdotnet
Inquirer Mindanao /
02:51 PM September 13, 2020
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Mindanao leaders are
asking Congress to revisit the Rice Tariffication Law, or Republic Act 11203,
in a bid to address the sharp drop in the income of rice farmers whose
production now competes with supply from abroad.
The call came through a resolution of the
governing board of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) that counts among
its members local and regional leaders of the government and private sector.
MinDA is the government’s chief
coordinating agency for fostering development in Mindanao. Among the members of
its governing board are Bangsamoro chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim and Sen. Juan
Miguel Zubiri.
Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, MinDA chair,
noted that the farm gate price of palay or unmilled rice in some parts of
Mindanao has dropped to P11 per kilo, from P22 per kilo two years ago.
The price of P11 per kilo is below the
average production cost of P12 per kilo, Piñol said.
Implementation of the Rice Tariffication
Law began in March last year, doing away with quantitative limits to imports of
the staple crop while also setting higher tariffs that would go into the Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to support the local rice industry.
The law aims to provide affordable rice
prices for consumers as well as raise the income of rice farmers.
However, Piñol, who used to be the
country’s Agriculture chief, said there is “irrefutable evidence that the
unimpeded rice importation has caused injury to the local rice industry and
rice farmers of Mindanao.”
“The resolution was presented during the
MinDA governing board meeting as among the issues and problems which could
affect Mindanao’s economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic,” he
explained.
Mindanao has about 1.2 million hectares of
rice farms, generating over 350,000 jobs.
If left unchecked, Piñol said the worsening
situation of rice farmers could adversely affect the economic recovery efforts
of Mindanao.
Piñol cited studies conducted by the
Federation of Free Farmers showing that while rice consumers benefited from the
lower rice prices, at an estimated value of P6 billion, rice farmers lost about
P80 billion because of reduced income from very low farm gate prices.
“Additional losses which have yet to be
quantified were also reported in ancillary activities to rice production,
including land preparation equipment utilization, milling and processing and
by-products like rice bran and rice hulls,” he added.
He revealed that Sen. Zubiri, who voted for
the Rice Tariffication Law, has expressed openness to revisiting the measure.
“If it is really causing injury to the rice
industry and hardships to our farmers, then it is only fair that we review the
law,” Piñol quoted Zubiri as saying.
JE
State Tribal Museum Virtual Tour: Indigenous Methods of Food
Preservation by ‘Paraja’ Community
On Sep 12, 2020
14
Bhubaneswar: As a new initiative of the ST&SC Development Department,
State Tribal Museum goes virtual. Visitors can visit the museum virtually by
opening the Twitter pages @scstrti, @stscdev in every Sunday.
On 13th September visitors can
visit the indigenous methods of food preservation by ‘Paraja’ community. Paraja
are the agrarian tribe settled in the districts of Koraput, Nawarangapur,
Malkangiri, Kalahandi, and Rayagada in the Southern Odisha. For the vast
majority of ‘Paraja’ who live in Odisha, life revolves around paddy
cultivation.
To ensure food and seed security,
the ‘Paraja’ follow traditional methods of food preservation. They preserve
food grains like rice, finger millet, black gram, and green gram. They prefer
to use organic pesticides and pest control techniques.
The ‘Paraja’ community of Koraput
cultivates open-pollinated local varieties of rice. Indigenous traditional
knowledge of ‘Paraja’ tribes reflect that they use leaves of the crown flower,
neem, and bitter gourd. These leaves are mixed with cow dung and cow urine and
the mixture is allowed to ferment for 15-20 days. The resultant liquid is
filtered and used as pesticide spray.
If a pest attack is observed,
interestingly ‘Paraja’ use spiders for natural pest control. An odd number of
Sala Palm leaves (5,7,9) each bearing cobwebs is planted among the growing
seedlings. The practice being a combination of traditional beliefs and
scientific observance. The Goleki or Bamboo grain bin serves as the storehouse
of the family’s rice. The grain beans are placed in a small room with the ‘Paraja
House. The second way of preserving rice is in a wooden storage bin known as
‘Gaadia’.
Using traditional practices, the
‘Paraja’ preserves grain, pulses, and vegetables. The ‘Paraja’ maintain the
biodiversity of the Koraput region favouring open pollination rather than
hybrid seeds. Their traditional practices, the use of organic pesticides, and
insecticides natural pest control, and indigenous methods of food preservation
are studied by Agriculture Scientists.
‘Parajas’, much before the
invention of refrigerators and other machinery, were trying to preserve using
their own indigenous methods. Different kinds of vegetables mainly mushroom,
Potato, ginger, cauliflower, and many other vegetables were preserved often
pretty long time using their indigenous method and using organic materials,
said Prof. Dr. Akhil Bihari Otta, Director, SCSTRTI.
Basmati rice tote bag is a real thing
September 11, 2020
NDTV – Next time you get Basmati
rice, don’t throw the sack away – instead, try re-purposing it into a trendy
tote bag. Sounds rather like a strange thing to do? Many on Twitter would agree
with you if you answered yes. In fact, thousands of people on the microblogging
platform were left stunned to discover that ‘Basmati rice tote bags’ are a
thing that actually exist.
The bags came to light last week
when a Twitter user wrote “I can’t believe this is real” while sharing a
picture of a Basmati rice tote bag, which is exactly what it sounds like – a
sack re-imagined into a bag.
More details on Weekend’s Borneo
Bulletin
https://borneobulletin.com.bn/2020/09/basmati-rice-tote-bag-is-a-real-thing-2/
NESG vs CBN: A Battle of Wits?
September 13, 2020
4:58 am
SimonKolawolelive
By Simon-Kolawole, Email: simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961
SIMONKOLAWOLE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
Amidst the series of tough decisions rolled out by President
Muhammadu Buhari as the Nigerian economy gasps for breath under the weight of
low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, a mini-war broke out between the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)
last week. In a statement with the title “Matters of Urgent Attention”, NESG
dished out subtle and not-so-subtle criticisms of the CBN over its development
finance, and questioned the transparency and sustainability of the
interventions. The CBN, in a reply dripping with fury, defended its record and
called to question the intellectual authority of the NESG leadership.
As journalists, we love “two fighting” because it gives us a
litany of headlines. But this is not a joke. We are discussing matters that
affect the life of every Nigerian — rich and poor, high and low, northerners
and southerners, schooled and unschooled. NESG was set up as a non-profit
private sector organisation in 1996 with a mandate “to promote and champion the
reform of the Nigerian economy into an open, private sector-led globally
competitive economy”. Therefore, the face-off between NESG and CBN should be
seen as a “contest of ideas” on the economic health of Nigeria and Nigerians
rather than some media relief from the socio-economic tension.
Although NESG raised many issues, most were aimed at the CBN:
the efficiency of the agriculture intervention under the anchor borrowers
programme; transparency in foreign exchange transactions, disbursement of
intervention funds, and price fixings “without appropriate policy clarity”;
provision of “immunity” for CBN officials in the newly amended Banking and
Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA); “distortions” in the liquidity and
interest rate management; and the “quantitative easing” (what you and I would
call pumping money into the economy) by the CBN to fund the large deficit
caused by low oil prices and effects of the pandemic.
For one, NESG got it wrong when it said CBN was seeking immunity
for its officials under the amended BOFIA. The provision, according to the CBN,
“protects the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria and their
respective officials against adverse claims for actions or omission in good
faith exercise of powers under BOFIA and other specified statutes including the
Central Bank of Nigeria Act and regulations…” In fact, the “immunity” has been
there as far back as 1991. This error makes NESG vulnerable to accusations of
pursuing an agenda and questions its credibility, given the calibre of
professionals within its ranks. Some also find it a bit curious that the NESG
chose to go to the media rather than utilise its communication channels with
the CBN and federal government.
But immunity is the smallest issue, if you ask me. The NESG
wants the government to re-open our borders “given its negative impact on trade
and employment”. Our work in ECOWAS, it said, “must also effectively harness
trade opportunities within the sub-region”. That is, allow trans-border trade
to continue unhindered. In an ideal world, you cannot fault the logic. In fact,
some will argue that shutting the borders is primitive. But what do you do
when, in practice, free trade becomes an open invitation to the smuggling of
rice, eggs, cars, fuel and even arms — thereby ruining your own economy and
security? This was not the intention of those who wrote the ECOWAS treaty.
Ideally, you say “beef up security then”. But what do you do
when the people beefing up the security are the ones facilitating the illegal
trade? The incentives to be corrupt or to corrupt the system are so high. It’s
a no-win situation. Open the borders, you are damned. Close the borders, you
are damned. Yet we all know that the borders cannot be closed forever. But some
will ask: what is CBN’s business with the borders? It’s a good question. The
CBN has, for all intents and purposes, become a major stakeholder having
financed agriculture extensively and feeling threatened that if the borders are
re-opened so soon, the gains particularly in rice and poultry farming will go
down the drain.
The issue of border closure as it affects the economy should
ordinarily be addressed by the ministry of finance or presidency, rather than
the CBN. The bank still ventured an opinion, though, stating: “Benin Republic
imports as much rice as China and nearly as much frozen chicken as the UK… In
which country does the NESG think all these rice and chicken end up? How then
can a Nigerian rice farmer or poultry owner survive?” However, the border
closure also comes with unintended consequences. I would love to suggest how to
effectively curb the illegal trade but I have no idea. ECOWAS countries should
sit down and develop the solution. For now, Nigeria is the biggest victim.
On the power sector, I was initially critical of Mr Godwin
Emefiele, the CBN governor, for the apex bank’s intervention. I kept asking:
why should the CBN be providing loans to the power sector? Today, I look back
and conclude that but for the CBN, the sector would have collapsed long ago.
The liquidity problem was grave. The fiscal authorities did not want to approve
tariff increase for obvious reasons. You would be justified to argue that it
was not CBN’s business to intervene. But doing nothing, especially when you
have the leeway to provide the financial oxygen, also has dire consequences for
the economy. Let’s now hope the industry will be saved with the new tariffs.
We can apply similar arguments to agriculture intervention. I
wrote a sceptical article some years ago when Emefiele announced a forex ban on
41 import items, including rice. I argued then that what we really needed was a
fiscal policy, not just a monetary one, to grow our agriculture and become
self-sufficient. This is typically the position of free market economists. To
them, restricting imports under any guise is a no-no. We could not legally ban
rice import because of WTO rules, but we could stop funding rice imports. We
could help our local industry grow and reduce the pressure on the exchange
rate. That was what CBN did and we have clearly made progress in rice farming.
The NESG made a valid point, in my view, about the
sustainability of CBN’s interventions, especially the deficit caused by
minimising the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. Their argument is that the
government should “consider a strong communicating (communication) strategy
that engages the people and prepares them for tougher times ahead whilst the
current reforms take effect”. It said that the “current business as usual
disposition is not sustainable”. Except there is something unsaid here, I think
this is a fair point. The CBN cannot afford to pump money into the system for
too long; at some point, the bubble will burst. It’s going to be a painful
journey to recovery.
Still, the CBN defended its “quantitative easing” by drawing
parallels with how central banks across the world reacted to the pandemic by
expanding their balance sheets through monetary measures that would otherwise
be considered “unorthodox”. The US Federal Reserve Bank provided loans to
non-banking institutions and bought corporate bonds usually classified as below
investment grade. The bank pumped a stimulus of $3 trillion into the American
economy, and there is no plan to stop until the economic impact of COVID-19
begins to ease significantly. We don’t know when. The European Central Bank
also pumped in $1 trillion as the pandemic bit harder in the European Union.
Even the Bank of England that initially said it would resist
“political influence” ended up opening its treasury to the UK government to
save the economy. The UK government, in trying to save jobs, undertook to pay
as much as 80 percent of staff salaries for certain businesses. It provided
“bounce back” loans of maximum £50,000 to small businesses, repayable over five
years after a one-year moratorium. The government also did an “eat out to help
out” scheme to save the eateries and restaurants. In all, the Bank of England
injected over £750 billion into the UK economy by buying government and
corporate bonds. Nothing is cast is stone about economic theories.
By the way, I am not against this battle of ideas. We can have a
decent debate devoid of rancour and ill will. For instance, some think we
should re-open our borders; others think it is premature except we want to hurt
the little progress we have made. Check both ideas. Neither is 100 percent
right or wrong. In all policy decisions, there are always trade-offs. We left
the border open for decades and suffered immense damage to the economy and
security — but it also promoted legitimate trade and created legitimate jobs.
We’ve now closed the border and have reduced smuggling and protected some
sectors of the economy, but legitimate trade is also suffering! There must be a
way out.
Emefiele has come under heavy criticism but the whole truth is
that the economy is in a big mess. Fiscal mess. Monetary mess. We are in
desperate times. We are taking desperate measures. Even before the coronavirus
pandemic, we were living on borrowed time. Our overreliance on oil was bound to
drown us one day. The severe distortions that come with poorly managed
oil-powered economies have damaged the normal economic, social and political
order. All the arguments about trade, agriculture and monetary policies, etc,
are products of an economic and socio-political system built on a feeble
petrodollar foundation. Let’s hope we have finally reached the turning point.
AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…
HARDENED
CRIMINALS
Kaduna state lawmakers have passed a law prescribing castration for rapists.
For sure, we need to tackle the rape menace with all our might, but I’m not
sure the lawmakers got medical advice. They would have discovered that
castration (removal of the testes, except they are talking about cutting off
the penis entirely) does not prevent rape. A castrated man can still have sex
but he cannot father a child. Castration can affect the ability of a man to
have an erection, but even that can be taken care of with aphrodisiacs and
medication. We should also realise that rapists are perverts — they are not
just interested in having sex, but having it without restraint. It is not that
I have a better punishment for rapists, but castration is not it. Overrated.
NAKED ABUSE
Close to rape is sexual harassment. The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife,
organised a webinar on Wednesday inspired by Naked Abuse, a book by celebrated
columnist and Ife alumnus, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, on sexual harassment in African
universities. In his remarks, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo spoke my mind when
he said: “The victim must always be seen as the victim. There cannot be an
excuse, especially given the power configuration between students and
lecturers, that the victim could have somehow invited the abuse upon
themselves.” We only justify perfidy when we blame the victim. Imagine a robber
accusing you of inviting robbery on yourself by having a car! Twisted.
GANA GONE
The death of Terwase Akwaza, aka Gana, “the most wanted bandit in Benue state”,
remains a mystery. Did soldiers kill him extra-judicially or was he really
taken down in a gun fire exchange? It is scary, all the same, that he appeared
to have enjoyed the sympathy of some politicians. I remember that in the early
2000s, some Niger Delta boys were bred as militias by one or two governors,
only for them to become Frankenstein monsters that went completely out of
control. Has it become a Nigerian culture now? The early growth of Boko Haram
was fertilised by politicians who used and dumped the youth. Today, thugs and
bandits operate fiefdoms all over the country. Terrifying.
OSHIOMHOLE VS OBASEKI
On Saturday, the governorship election will hold in Edo state. The key contest
is a reverse of the 2016 poll: Mr Godwin Obaseki, then of APC now of PDP,
squaring off with Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, then of PDP now of APC. After he got
into office, Obaseki fell out with his Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, his
benefactor. This governorship battle is, therefore, not an ordinary one. If it
goes Obaseki’s way, that means he has taken out two heavyweights with one blow.
If it goes Ize-Iyamu’s way, Oshiomhole would have made his point and Obaseki
would likely fade into political oblivion. Clearly the stakes are extremely
high. My plea to all: play well, play fair. Sportsmanship.
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/09/13/nesg-vs-cbn-a-battle-of-wits/
Punjab
govt committed to doing more for rice sector: minister
Recorder Report 12 Sep 2020
LAHORE: The Punjab government has been giving 50 percent subsidy
on the micronutrients and is committed to introducing more measures to
facilitate rice sector.
Under the Prime Minister's Agricultural Emergency Program, subsidy
is being given to farmers for the approved varieties of paddy seeds,
agricultural machinery, large and small components and herbicides with a hefty
amount of Rs. 6.32 billion. Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman Ahmad
Langrial stated this while speaking at a launching ceremony of Journal of the
Rice Exporters Association Pakistan at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Senior Vice President Ali
Hussam Asghar, Chairman Rice Exporters Association Shahjahan Malik, Member Rice
Exporters Association Captain Taimur Ahmed (retd), Pir Nazim Hussain Shah and
Chief Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture Punjab Shahid Qadir were also
present on the occasion.
Under the Prime Minister's Agricultural Emergency Program, various
projects are being implemented worth Rs. 300 billion. In these projects,
subsidy is being given to farmers for the approved varieties of paddy seeds,
agricultural machinery, large and small components and herbicides with a hefty
amount of Rs. 6.32 billion; the Minister said adding that rice crop is
important for our nutritional needs as well as earning foreign exchange.
Pakistani basmati rice is loved all over the world for its aroma and quality.
The Minister said the farmers will be given trans-planters and
rice harvesters at 50 percent discount and rice choppers will also be given to
the farmers on subsidy. He said that the LCCI will be given representation in
the agriculture committee of the Punjab government. He said the government will
coordinate with rice exporters in regard with the use of pesticides.
Competitions should be held among the farmers to encourage production, adding
that the government is working to develop long grain basmati which is
internationally acceptable.
During the financial year 2018-19, rice was exported 2.19 million
tonnes and country earned foreign exchange of $ 2.04 billion. Under the Prime
Minister Agricultural Emergency Program, a plan to increase paddy production
per acre has been launched in 15 districts of Punjab which will increase the
average production of coarse, and basmati varieties of paddy by 20 and 10 men
per acre respectively, he said.
The provincial government is striving to make the agricultural
sector active and developed and for this purpose, despite financial
constraints, priority is given to the agriculture sector by the federal and
provincial governments, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Senior Vice President LCCI Ali Hussam
Asghar said that there is a lack of Research & Development, especially in
developing hybrid seed varieties for Basmati. Other countries, despite of the
fact that we have most suitable soil for basmati cultivation, have developed
more hybrid varieties of rice. He also said the most effective remedy for
lowering the cost of production is increasing the per acre yield. This has been
witnessed in case of coarse variety where hybrid rice replaced IRRI and took
tremendous yield jump in Sindh. He was of the view that there is a need to work
in collaboration with the private and public research institutes to introduce
new varieties especially hybrid in Basmati rice, which could ensure quantum
jump in its production thus leading to more export surplus as well as the
economic well-being of the farmers.
He stressed upon the need of participation of private sector in
seed development; the current MNFSRD regime for seed certification needs to be
shifted to truth-in-labelling regime. He pointed out the areas that need
intensive work including seed development, Better farm practices and higher
yields through water management and mechanical transplanting and Research and
Development.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40018169/punjab-govt-committed-to-doing-more-for-rice-sector-minister
IMF in 'initial stages' of Argentina loan talks:
official
The IMF is in the early phase of talks with Argentina
over a new financing programme, and is gathering information on how best to
help the country, confirms spokesperson.
IMF SPOKESMAN GERRY RICE. | IMF
The International Monetary Fund is
in the early phase of talks with Argentina over a new rescue package, and is
gathering information on how best to help the crisis-hit nation, a fund
official said Thursday.
"We are in the initial stages
of the process," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters, noting that fund
officials are focused on "fact finding" and "listening to the
Argentine authorities for their sense of priorities."
After defaulting on its debt in May
for the ninth time in history, the government of President Alberto Fernández in
late August reached a deal with foreign creditors to restructure US$66 billion
in debt after months of tense negotiations, giving it US$37.7 billion in debt
relief.
Once a deal seemed assured, Buenos
Aires formally opened consultations with the IMF to agree new terms on the
repayment of a US$44 billion bailout loan agreed in 2018 (the original credit
line was worth US$57 billion, though not all of it was received by Argentina).
The talks with the Washington-based
crisis lender are "taking place in what I would characterise as a very
constructive climate," Rice said at a press conference, but there is no
date yet for a sending a mission to Argentina to further the discussions.
Key topics in the talks include the
government's "plans to strengthen macroeconomic stability, kick start
growth and job creation and reduce poverty, unemployment and, of course, to
help Argentina fight the pandemic, which is an additional serious
challenge," the official said.
Argentina's troubles have been
exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than a third of the country's
population of 44 million living in poverty.
Inflation stands at 40 percent and
the IMF expects Latin America's third largest economy to shrink by 10 percent
this year.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/economy/imf-in-initial-stages-of-argentina-loan-talks-official.phtml
Pb Govt Gives 50 Pc Subsidy On
Micronutrients: Langrial
Punjab government was giving 50
percent subsidy on the micronutrients and also committed to introduce more
measures to facilitate rice sector
LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Sep, 2020 )
:Punjab government was
giving 50 percent subsidy on the micronutrients and also committed to introduce
more measures to facilitate rice sector.
These views were expressed by Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman
Ahmad Langrial during the launching ceremony of Rice Exporters Association
of Pakistan (REAP) Journal
at the Lahore Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday.
The minister said that the farmers would be given transplanters
and rice harvesters at 50 percent discount,a dding that rice choppers would
also be given to the farmers on subsidy.
He said that the LCCI would be given
representation in the agriculture committee of
the Punjab government.
Speaking about the measures which government had planned
to implement, the minister said that government would
coordinate with rice exporters in regard with the use of pesticides.
He said that competitions should be held among the farmers to
encourage production, adding that the government was working
to develop long grain Basmati which was internationally acceptable.
Speaking on the occasion LCCI Senior Vice
President Ali Hussam Asghar said that there was a lack of Research &
Development, especially in developing hybrid seed varieties for Basmati. Other
countries, despite of the fact that we had most suitable soil for Basmati
cultivation, have developed more hybrid varieties of rice.
He said the most effective remedy for lowering the cost of production was
increasing the per acre yield.
Ali Hussam Asgahr was of the view that there was a need to work in
collaboration with the private and public research institutes to introduce new
varieties especially hybrid in Basmati rice, which could ensure quantum jump in
its production thus leading to more export surplus as well as the economic
well-being of the farmers.
LCCI Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmed, Chairman REAP
Shahjahan Malik, Pir Syed Nazim Hussain Shah and LCCI executive committee
members were also present on the occasion.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/pb-govt-gives-50-pc-subsidy-on-micronutrients-1027311.html
Funding options for agriculture in Nigeria expands with N50 bln
scheme
14 SEP 2020
NEWS
THE NATION
Published 14 Sep,2020 via The
Nation - The Agricultural
Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGSF) Amendment Act assented to by President
Muhammadu Buhari increased the share capital of the fund from N3 billion to N50
billion. The new scheme is in line with Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) move
to increase lending to the agricultural sector and support increased food
production. The fund provides a guarantee for bank loans for agriculture and
boost lending to agriculture. Financing of production farm machinery,
production equipment, processing, storage and transportation are now allowed
under the amended ACGSF Act, writes COLLINS NWEZE.
Before now, farmers were the
least that banks would consider for loans. Such loans, if approved, were deemed
lost from the outset, especially when advanced to smallholder farmers.
Today, the story is different.
Both the smallholder farmers and established ones can take a shot at bank
loans. Also, lenders, which previously saw agricultural loans as high risk, are
now seeing the potential of how much a well-priced credit can add to their
balance sheets and profitability. The amendment of the Agricultural Credit
Guarantee Scheme (ACGSF) Bill raised share capital of the fund from N3 billion
to N50 billion, a step that allowed more farmers to access agricultural loans.
A breakdown of the ACGSF
Amendment Act 2019 shows that the sharing ratio is Federal Ministry of Finance
(60 per cent) and Central Bank of Nigeria (40 per cent). The maximum for a
non-collaterised loan under the scheme is now N100,000.00, the maximum amount
for collaterised loan granted to individuals, cooperative societies and
corporate entities is now N50 million, up from N10 million.
Also, complete Agricultural Value
Chain financing is now allowed as well as the financing of production farm
machinery, production equipment, processing, storage and transportation.
This Act amends the ACGS Fund Act
Cpa. A11, Laws of the Federation Nigeria 2004, to enhance capital base, expand
coverage of the scheme, increase the size of the loanable fund, increase
membership and give more powers to the board.
Further details of the ACGSF
showed that the amended section 2 of the Principal Act enacted by the National
Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, now requires that the Minister
shall appoint a chairman, a representative of the Nigerian farmers, a
representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and a representative of the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The fund was increased from N100 million to
N50 billion, which may be increased by such amount the Board may determine and
that amount shall be contributed in a proportion as the board may prescribe.
President Buhari signed and certified the ACGSF Bill into law.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele identified agriculture financing as the way
forward for the economy. He explained that part of its developmental role, the
CBN has in collaboration with the Federal Government established the ACGSF for
promoting agricultural enterprises in Nigeria.
The fund, he added, will
complement other special initiatives of the apex bank in providing
concessionary funding for agriculture.
According to Emefiele, “there was
no need to allocate scarce forex to rice importers when vast amounts of paddy
rice of comparable quality produced by poor hard-working local farmers across
the rice belts of Nigeria are wasted, and farmers are falling deeper into
poverty at a time the government exports their jobs and income to
rice-producing in overseas countries.
“A few decades ago, Nigeria was
one of the world’s largest producers of palm oil but, today, we import nearly
600,000 metric tonnes while Indonesia and Malaysia combine to export over 90
per cent of global demand.
“Under these circumstances, I
believe it is appropriate, and in fact, expected, that the CBN contributes to
protecting the jobs and incomes of local farmers, using some of the same
principles Western economies use to justify the protection of their farmers
through huge subsidies.”
Noting that agriculture remained
the largest employer of labour, the CBN chief said the sector contributes about
24.2 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Emefiele described as
unacceptable that the greatest share of the demand for forex goes directly to
importing agricultural produce.
He said: “So, the CBN has both a
direct and indirect rationale to ensure that this sector is revived in a
significant way. In this regard, we are gratified that the CBN’s Anchor
Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), together with other initiatives like the CACS and
Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL),
are proving to be successful in several states.”
He explained that in Kebbi State
alone, over 78,000 smallholder farmers cultivate about 100,000 hectares of rice
farms. It is expected that over one million metric tonnes of rice will be
produced in that state alone this year.
Bankers’ Committee and Agric
Financing
The CBN and commercial banks,
under the aegis of the Bankers’ Committee, restated their commitment to
expanding bank lending in agro-business to discourage importation of goods that
can be produced locally.
The bankers also stated their
resolve to explore large corporates as anchors to lend to participants across
the value chain to improve the capacity of Nigeria’s agro-businesses to create
sustainable jobs and inclusive growth.
The bankers affirmed their
commitment to financial deepening of the economy, improving financial access to
key sectors of the economy, innovative solutions for the critical finance of
generation, provide finance for small and medium enterprises, among others.
“We note that four basic
commodities that are consumed by Nigerians – rice, wheat, fish and sugar
jointly account for a significant amount of the country’s annual import bill.
We are convinced that the nation can produce these consumables in required
amounts to meet our domestic consumption needs. With its attendant impact on
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and job creation, agriculture remains a critical
focus sector of the financial system,” the Committee added.
Stakeholders speak on
agricultural potential in the economy
The Group Chief Executive Officer
(GCEO) of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Ade Ayeyemi, has said
Nigeria can feed Africa’s estimated 1.2 billion people if it harnesses the
gains of the agricultural value chain.
According to him, success in
Nigeria’s agricultural sector means the reduction in the demand for foreign
exchange to import food items into the country and the development of the
agribusiness value-chain with a resultant effect in the creation of a new breed
of entrepreneurs as well as jobs for the teeming population.
Ayeyemi spoke at the Ecobank
Agribusiness Summit in Lagos. The summit had its theme “Unlocking Productivity
and Investment Opportunities Across Nigeria’s Agribusiness Value Chain”
Also speaking, Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Nanono affirmed that the
administration of President Mohammadu Buhari is committed to finding a lasting
solution to issues bothering on food security affecting the country.
He stressed on the need for
viable synergy and collaboration between relevant stakeholders in the
agricultural sector, to further promote its contribution to the Gross Domestic
Products (GDP) of the country.
“Nigeria’s potentials and
prospects make the agricultural sector a pilot for economic stabilisation,
diversification and growth in the country. Indeed, the sector is a major
contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contributing about 27
per cent to the GDP and the biggest in job creation in the non-oil sector”.
Nanono disclosed that the Federal
Government has also earmarked N600 billion to enhance farmer access to
agricultural financing in the country. He said that about 2.4 million farmers
were targeted to benefit from the interest-free facility, designed to encourage
the application of modern technologies in rice and cash crop cultivation.
Nanono said the initiative would
support farmers to achieve improved productivity, enhance self-sufficiency and
food security in the country. He said: “We have commenced farmer registration
exercise to capture their information, number of farmlands and locations.
“Also, the beneficiaries will be
monitor to ensure effective utilisation of the facility, and mobilise
participation in subsequent programmes.”
ACGSF’s Linkage Banking
Initiative
Through the ACGSF Self-Help Group
Linkage programme, farmers are encouraged to form themselves into groups of
between five and 15 based on common purpose (informal and informal). The groups
are encouraged to undertake regular savings with a partner bank of their
choice. After operating such savings for six months, they could then apply to
the partner bank for a loan. The amount saved provides part cash security for
loans to saving groups.
Bank loans to the groups are
normally in multiples of the balance in their savings account at the time of
the application for the loan. The group savings security would not be drawn on
until the loans are fully repaid. The aim of the Self-Help Group Linkage
Banking is to inculcate the culture of savings and banking habit in-group
members as well enable them to build up resources for financing their farm
projects without recourse to bank borrowing on the long run.
Understanding the ACGSF Amendment
Bill
The ACGSF Amendment Bill,
sponsored by Senator Andy Uba, a representing Anambra South senatorial
district, was targeted at improving the prospects of commercial agriculture as
an integral contributor to the Nigerian economy. This it seeks to do by
expanding the capacity to guarantee credit facilities extended to Nigerian
farmers, and making the regulation of such finances in consonance with
international best practices.
Furthermore, the new Act will
facilitate better management of agricultural funds, enhance greater
transparency, promote export business and safeguard the delivery of dividends
to Nigerian farmers.
Uba disclosed that the law would
drive the course of Nigeria’s economic diversification.
Analysts said that with the
signing of the ACGSF bill into law, the Federal Government is reiterating its
commitment towards repositioning the agricultural sector and enhancing its
overall contributions to the government’s overall earnings.
Copyright © 2020 Vintage Press
Limited. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
https://www.salaamgateway.com/story/funding-options-for-agriculture-in-nigeria-expands-with-n50-bln-scheme
Rice, Sugar, and Pulses Lead India’s Agricultural Exports
India assures UNFAO for an undisrupted supply of
agricultural commodities as it sees a surge of 23% in agricultural
exports. Rice, Sugar, and Pulses lead India’s agricultural exports.
Increase in
India’s Agricultural Exports
While several countries witnessed disruption in trade, India’s agricultural exports increased
23.24% to Rs 25,553 crore during March-June this year, 4,818.2 crores more than
the previous year. Also, India’s agrarian GDP has registered an increase of 0.5%
from 2017-18 to 2018-19. Data released by WTO reveals that India’s agricultural
exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 stood at 2.27% and
1.90%, respectively.
While basmati rice worth Rs 8,591 crore tops the list of farm
exports, non-basmati rice contributed the highest rise of Rs 2,392 crore to the
Agri exports. Non-basmati rice and sugar together
account for more than a 95% increase in the Agri commodities export.
India has
Enough Stocks to Meet Global Demand
Agriculture commissioner S K Malhotra, in FAO’s 35th Asia-Pacific
regional Conference, assured that India has enough stock not only for domestic
needs but also for global supply. Further, he added that the government
is focusing on penetrating wellness food under the “Brand India” campaign into
foreign markets. Agriculture ministry officials stated that India’s
agricultural export basket has a limited scope. Though India’s rice is demanded
globally, wheat is still not competitive at the international level. Besides,
India produces pulses to meet domestic requirements.
Prompt Action
Amid the Pandemic Ensured Timely Procurement and Eliminated Wastage
Experts attribute this surge to the abundant availability of
stocks of rice, sugar, and wheat. Besides, India has also been quick in
providing support to farmers during harvesting season amid the pandemic.
Moreover, India has also gained from the rise in Thai and Vietnamese rice
prices owing to poor weather conditions. Besides, the depreciation of Indian
rupee against the dollar facilitated exporters to quote lower prices. Not only
has this but carryover stocks of sugar also facilitated more significant
shipments to Indonesia and Brazil. The country had also supplied its
excess wheat stocks to Lebanon and Afghanistan. Shipments to the African
region, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Russia have increased this year.
In all, India has the prospects of gaining immensely due to the
mentioned reasons. It will need to continue providing quality products in the
international market to sustain the rise in agricultural exports.
Tags: afghanistan, african region, agricultural commodities, agricultural exports, agriculture ministry, agriculture trade, Basmati
Rice, brand india, farm
exports, foreign market, global supply, imports, india, India agricultural GDP, indonesia, international market, malaysia, non basmati rice, philippines, Pulses, Russia, stock, sugar, trade disruption, UNFAO, wheat
https://www.grainmart.in/news/rice-sugar-and-pulses-lead-indias-agricultural-exports/
The UAE’s sustainable food plan involves
growing rice & developing ‘soil’
By
-
September 13, 2020
24
Share
With the UAE almost wholly
reliant on food imports, food security is a national priority.
In recent months, the Covid-19
pandemic has heightened domestic concerns as global supply chains of imports
were disrupted.
The crisis also prompted renewed
debate about how best to boost local agriculture and foster farming innovation.
Searing summer temperatures, little
rainfall and a landscape dominated by arid desert, has meant that the UAE’s
agricultural activities have been relatively restricted to small areas.
Grassroot thinking
That could soon change, however,
say academics at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University, who are developing ‘artificial
soil’, made up of almost 90% desert sand.
Their goal is for the product to
be used by local, and eventually regional farmers, to grow plants &
vegetation.
The soil created in the
laboratory resembles the texture, porosity & fertility of soils found in
Thailand & Ukraine.
If patent approved, scientists in
the capital are optimistic that it has the potential to transform the UAE’s
burgeoning home-grown crops sector.
To dig deeper into the topic,
Inspire Middle East’s Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham caught up with Associate
Professor, Dr. Saeed Alkhazraji, a passionate innovator who helped co-create
the earth.
He began by explaining the soil’s
unique qualities, which should be given extra consideration in light of the
UAE’s extreme weather conditions.
“Farmers have to be aware that
any crop they’re trying to grow [here] needs to be dealt with in a specific
way, to allow them to maximize their yield,” he said. “For example, if they
want to grow a plant that is difficult to grow in the UAE, perhaps you need to
use a greenhouse along with the soil that we are making.”
The soil’s potential to
contribute to the local food supply chain, is significant, the Professor went
on to tell .
“There are many different crops
that are challenging to grow in the UAE, crops that sustain human lives, like
rice and wheat – because of their excessive need for water.” said Dr. Saeed
Alkhazraji. “The soil that we developed can allow us to have better water
management, because it allows us to have a higher water retention than typical
soils around the UAE.”
Desert rice
With rice a food staple of the
UAE, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment recently announced a joint
research programme with the Republic of Korea, aimed at cultivating rice in the
desert.
The seeds were sowed back in
2019, cultivated using a water-saving drip irrigation system, and the rice was
recently harvested.
Preliminary results for the first
project of its kind in the region, indicated a yield of 763kg of rice per 1,000
square metres.
This prompted the Ministry to say
that, if successful on a large scale, the project had the potential to shape
the future of agriculture and be replicated in other arid regions.
Sharjah’s organic growth
The location of the rice
initiative was the emirate of Sharjah, which according to scientists, is an
emerging hotbed of agricultural innovation in the UAE.
It is also home to the Sharjah
Research Technology & Innovation Park, a place which supports famers &
harnesses new technology to produce sustainable local food all year round.
The Park notably contains a
150-square metre farm, and an eco-friendly Merlin Agrotunnel, capable of
producing a ton of organic fruits & vegetables each month.
In keeping with the country’s
environmental and sustainable farming goals, all produce is irrigated with
seawater desalinated via solar energy.
SRTI’s CEO, Hussain Al Mahmoudi,
predicts that in the next 5 years at least 30 percent of the UAE’s food will be
domestically produced.
He told Inspire that continuous
research and development into new farming innovations & agricultural
technology will accelerate the sector’s growth in the years ahead.
“Since the inception of the Park,
we’ve started to promote things like hydroponics technology, aquaponics
technology & tunnel farming. And they’ve all taken off,” he said. “At the
moment, we are [also] using Artificial Intelligence to study how aquaponics
works, with relation to fish. How the fish really move and how much food they
eat.”
Sustainable agriculture
When asked about the economic
feasibility of large-scale farming projects in the UAE, and how production and
harvesting costs could be kept down, Al Mahmoudi had this to say:
“I think the feasibility is
there, because the UAE has an abundant amount of land. A lot of farmers in the
UAE, especially the national ones, get free land. If you couple this with the
cost of doing business here, it is also relatively low compared to other parts
of the world. There’s also the fantastic infrastructure – in terms of ports and
airports and storage and other things.”
On the subject of the UAE being
one of the world’s top rice importers, SRTI’s CEO is convinced that producing
home-grown rice would be game-changing for the domestic market.
“I think we can play a strategic
role in growing rice,” he said. “We have the infrastructure, both soft
infrastructure and public sector, to really become a regional player in
producing rice and ensuring food security.”
https://upnewsinfo.com/2020/09/13/the-uaes-sustainable-food-plan-involves-growing-rice-developing-soil/
NFA still has P10-B for palay
procurement
Published September 14, 2020, 3:03 PM
For the
remainder of the year, the National Food Authority (NFA) still has more than
P10 billion budget to buy as much as 10 million bags of locally produced
unhusked rice, a top official of the state-run grains agency said.
In a text
exchange, NFA Administrator Judy Dansal said NFA is still set to buy 10 million
bags of palay from rice farmers for the remaining part of 2020. If this isn’t
enough, she said, the agency could still buy more since it has “credit lines
available.”
“For this
year, we have P7 billion from subsidy, P5.5 billion from corporate receipts
that include our sales of rice, and P2.5 billion from cash and credit lines. So
far, we already used P3 billion for procurement,” Dansal said on Monday.
“Yes [we can
buy more palay because] we have credit lines available and the DOF [Department
of Finance] supports us,” she added.
She said
this amid calls by some groups for the Philippine government to buy more palay
from farmers so they wouldn’t be forced to sell their produce at current
farmgate price of about P11 per kilogram (/kg) to P12/kg.
In the
Philippines, the cost to produce rice is about P12/kg, while NFA, whose sole
mandate has been reduced to buffer stocking for calamities and emergencies
after the passage of Rice Tariffication Law, buys palay at P19/kg.
Every year,
NFA gets an annual budget of P7 billion to procure palay, which it sells to
local government units (LGUs) and other government agencies like Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to support their relief efforts.
Dansal told
Business Bulletin that while NFA could increase the amount of palay it could
buy for this year, the agency couldn’t buy it all because some farmers would
still choose to sell to traders.
“We don’t
buy everything. The private traders of course will also buy because they have
clients requiring local rice too,” she said.
At present,
NFA procures 33,775 bags of palay per day nationwide in different provinces.
In August,
Dansal said it is not the supply, but the lack of rice milling facilities and
low buying price that impedes the agency’s palay procurement.
According to
her, NFA’s rice milling warehouse could only cater to 25 percent of its palay
inventory, forcing the agency to keep its contract with private millers, while
farmers sometimes opt to sell their produce to traders when the farm-gate price
of palay is higher than the government buying price.
“The market
dictates the price. So if the farm-gate price of palay is high, higher than the
P19/kg buying price of the government, the farmers sell their produce to the
private traders,” she said.
Also on
Monday, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) pointed to the unabated entry and
unpredictable pattern of rice imports as the main cause for the current drop in
palay farmgate prices.
Data from
the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that palay prices have been on
a downward trend, averaging P18.39/kg in late August, down about 5 percent from
their peak in May 2020.
Field reports, on the other hand, showed that buying prices, as of September,
have already gone down to as low as P16/kg on a dry basis and to P11/kg to
P13/kg for wet or freshly harvested palay.
The FFF
noted that the decline in farmgate prices is surprising considering that
imports from January to August 2020 totaled only 1.66 million tons, or about 25
percent lower than in the same period last year.
In turn,
national rice inventories as of August 1 were about 16 percent lower than in
the previous year, which should also help push the price of palay higher.
FFF National Manager Raul Montemayor attributed the declining prices to
speculative behavior of traders arising from the lack of a clear rice import
policy from the DA.
“Many
traders are playing safe and buying low because they fear that imports will
continue to come in and flood the market again in the coming months. Last year,
they bought palay from farmers during the first half of the year at relatively
high prices and were caught flatfooted by the massive inflow of imports in the
second half of the year. Many of them could not unload their stocks at a profit
and some had to suspend their operations,” he said.
Normally,
palay buying prices really go up in September because of the scarce supply of
palay and then go down only during the peak harvest season in October and
November.
https://mb.com.ph/2020/09/14/nfa-still-has-p10-b-for-palay-procurement/
India could lose basmati rice market in Iran to Pakistan as US
sanctions disrupt payments
Tehran and New Delhi explore barter trading
options even as Iran has stepped up importing basmati rice from Pakistan.
NAYANIMA BASU 14 September, 2020 12:04 pm IST
File
image of India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar (left) with his
Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif | Photo: ANI
Text
Size: A- A+
New Delhi: India could lose its position as the leading exporter of basmati
rice to Iran, with Tehran now beginning to procure the produce from Pakistan,
ThePrint has learnt.
For the first time in decades,
basmati rice exports from India to Iran have fallen drastically in the first
half of 2020-21 fiscal owing to disruption in payments, a result of the US-led
sanctions. New Delhi and Tehran are now exploring a conventional barter trading
system to address the rising concerns.
The matter was discussed between
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif
during the former’s recent visit to that country. Jaishankar had made a stopover in Tehran
while on his way to Moscow last week for the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation’s foreign ministers’ meeting .
India and Iran have been
discussing the barter trading system for nearly a year now, ever since the
Donald Trump administration began imposing tough economic sanctions on
Tehran.
Iran has said it will buy basmati
rice, sugar and medicines from India in lieu of fertilisers. New Delhi,
however, is yet to firm up its decision, Iranian government sources told
ThePrint.
Iran is now importing basmati
rice from Pakistan while Indian consignments worth Rs 1,500 crore are stuck
owing to payment issues, the sources said, adding that Tehran has now asked New
Delhi to quickly move on this decision by utilising the banking channels of UCO
Bank and IDBI Bank that continue to maintain a presence there.
Sanctions and the barter system
Due to the US sanctions on Iran,
it has become difficult for Indian banks to operate the payment mechanism,
while exporters are finding it increasingly difficult to sell rice in that
market.
Some of the exporters, who used
to ship their basmati rice consignments through Dubai, have now come under the
scanner of investigating agencies.
The Indian government believes a
traditional barter trading system with Iran will be difficult since India has
stopped buying crude oil from that country. This is because India exports
basmati rice worth $1 billion to that market, and hence buying fertilisers
worth that amount will not be cost-effective, according to Indian government
sources.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry is exploring the options of extending a limited line of
credit to Iran via the EXIM Bank so that the payments issue for Indian exports
can be sorted out until the sanctions are lifted.
“Exporters are concerned that
rice exports can also come under sanctions and payments have become a huge
issue,” said Ajay Sahai, DG and CEO, Federation of Indian Export Organisations
(FIEO). “Basmati rice exports to Iran have taken a hit this year. Getting the
market back will be difficult if we lose it to other countries, if and when the
sanctions are lifted.”
Owing to the US’ unilateral
sanctions, India brought down its crude imports from Iran to zero in May last
year. In 2019, India was the top exporter of basmati rice to that country,
shipping nearly 1.6 million tonnes.
China eyeing massive investments
in Iran
While India has made it clear to Iran
that it will not be able to make much progress in the next phase of the Chabahar Port project as
long as the US sanctions are there, Tehran has asked New Delhi to invest in
some of the affiliated projects such as free trade zones, economic enclaves and
other logistical infrastructure.
Even though the Chabahar port
project was spared from American sanctions,
Indian players have shied away from participating in the next phase, which entails
constructing a rail link from the port to Zahedan in the Sistan-Baluchistan
province and a 218-km road from Zaranj to Delaram.
“India has to see these projects
from the perspective of its own national interest and not through the prism of
other countries,” said a top Iranian official, who refused to be named. “We are
telling India to at least invest in the ancillary projects that will feed into
the larger Chabahar project. Many countries are waiting to invest in these
projects but we want India to come in but it should not be too
late.”
According to the official, India
should “utilise this opportunity to be a major partner in the lucrative
project” even as China is planning investments of
billions of dollars under the new and updated Iran-China strategic partnership
deal.
“Wish India also did the same… To
be close to China does not mean we are against India,” the official said.
The China-Iran agreement is
expected to overshadow even the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor. Under this deal, China is also expected to build a major port
development project on the Strait of Hormuz.
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As low prices beset local farmers, PH
expected to import
more rice
By: Karl R. Ocampo - Reporter / @kocampoINQ
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:10 AM September 14,
2020
The Philippines is expected to produce less
and import more rice this year, according to an international report.
Based on a report by the United States
Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Services (USDA-FAS), the
Philippines would likely increase its rice imports this year to 3 million
metric tons (MT) from 2.9 million MT in 2019.
Milled rice production, on the other hand,
was expected to decrease to 11 million MT from 11.9 million MT last year.
The projections ran counter to USDA-FAS’s
report last month, where it stated that the country’s rice imports could
decline to 2.2 million MT amid improving local production.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar had also
said they were gunning for a record high palay production of 22.12 million MT
this year, which may translate to 13.72 million MT of rice.
Amid the conflicting estimates provided by
the USDA and the Department of Agriculture on rice production and imports,
industry groups were more worried about another issue—the low farm gate prices
of palay.
According to the Samahang Industriya ng
Agrikultura, the average farm gate price of palay is currently at P14 a kilo on
average and not P18 a kilo as stated by the Philippine Statistics Authority
(PSA).
The group said data from the PSA was
inaccurate, noting there were no surveys conducted in rice-producing areas.
They said it was a worrying trend for
farmers given that the harvest season is still a month away. Low prices are a
major disincentive for palay producers. INQ
Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/307260/as-low-prices-beset-local-farmers-ph-expected-to-import-more-rice#ixzz6Y0YOuQaR
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
Rice imports lowest in 20 years, agric exports drive foreign
trade
By Femi Ibirogba, Head, Agro-Economy
14 September 2020 | 3:06 am
Rice paddies produced in Taraba State last year
• Cocoa
beans, sesame seeds lead exports
•
Experts harp on standards, value chain infrastructure
• ‘1m
tonnes of smuggled chicken prevented’
Despite multifarious challenges facing the agricultural
sector of the economy, indications have emerged that Nigeria’s strength truly
lies in the sector if obstacles are removed and necessary infrastructure is
emplaced.
This follows as Nigeria’s rice importation data
in 2020 has been described as the lowest in 20 years as a result of total land
border control, disincentives to neighbouring countries (which imported rice to
re-export), and home-grown Anchor Borrowers’ scheme in the rice value chain.
The Foreign Affairs Service (FAS) of the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated this in its August 2020
report. Similarly, the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS’) Top Products by
Imports and Exports for the first quarter (Q1) 2020 recent report showed that
though Nigeria’s total export value decreased by 14.42% in Q1, 2020 compared to
the value recorded in Q4, 2019, the value of agricultural goods exports grew
85.36% in Q1, 2020 compared to Q4, 2019 and 46.76% compared to Q1, 2019.
“The value of raw material exports,” NBS data
said, “increased 60.17% in Q1,2020, relative to last quarter but decreased by
7.08% year on year.”Solid minerals exports were 16.31%, lower in Q1,2020
relative to Q4 2019 and 82.17% less than the value recorded in Q1, 2019;
manufactured goods exports decreased by 12.72% in value in Q1,2020 compared to
Q4,2019 and 3.86% compared to Q1, 2019.
Also, crude oil exports decreased by 18.86% in
Q1, 2020 compared to Q4, 2019 and 12.80% compared to Q1, 2019. Other oil
products exports decreased by 1.47% in value in Q1,2020, compared to Q4, 2019
and 4.89% compared to Q1, 2019.
By implication, only agricultural exports and
raw materials (which were mostly semi-finished agricultural products) drove the
export sector of the country’s international trade in the first quarter.
This buttresses the persistent calls for
emplacement of farm infrastructure, such as irrigation facilities, rural road
upgrade, and farm mechanization for productivity as part efforts to entrench
agriculture as a major employer of labour and biggest foreign exchange earner
for the country of the year.
During the quarter, total trade in agricultural
goods stood at N387.7 billion (or 4.67% of the overall trade), of which
exported agricultural goods accounted for N126.3 billion.
Key drivers of agricultural product exports
were sesame seeds, whether or not broken (N49.1billion), good fermented
Nigerian cocoa beans (N35.2billion) and superior quality cocoa beans (N16.8
billion).
Sesame seeds worth N9.8 billion, N9.5 billion
and N9.3 billion were exported to Japan, Turkey and China respectively, while
good fermented cocoa beans were exported mainly to The Netherlands (valued at
N16.5 billion) and Germany (valued at N6.6 billion). Superior raw cocoa beans
were also exported mainly to The Netherlands at a value of N11.2 billion.
In another development, the Nigeria Institute
of Animal Science (NIAS) has disclosed that over one million tonnes of chicken
was prevented from being smuggled into the country, translating into about
100,000 jobs along the broiler and turkey value chains, while about N50 billion
was saved in the poultry sector.
The FAS of the USDA said neighboring countries
served as ports of entry for parboiled rice, and arrivals through these
neighboring countries largely offset the decline in rice shipped directly to
Nigeria over the past couple of years.
“However, rice arriving in Nigeria and
surrounding ports both began to sharply decline beginning in October 2019.
“The combination of various trade policies,
economic conditions stemming from lower oil prices, and more intense border
checks …, have led to lower imports through the nearby countries and ultimately
on to Nigeria. As a result, Nigerian rice imports are forecast at the lowest
level in about 20 years,” the USDA report said.
Meanwhile, Nigeria produced 4,536 million
tonnes in 2017; 4,470m tonnes in 2018; 4,538m tonnes in 2019; 5,040m tonnes as
of July, 2020, while it consumed 6,700 million tonnes in 2017; 6,750m tonnes in
2018; 6,800m tonnes in 2019; 6,550m tonnes as of July, 2020, according to the
USDA production and consumption database.
Prof. Eustace Iyayi, Chief Executive Officer of
the Nigeria Institute of Animal Science (NIAS), explained that Nigeria consumes
about 2 million tonnes of poultry meat yearly, and 70% of this was smuggled
into the country before the border closure.
According to the Poultry Association of Nigeria
(PAN), the closure of the border significantly reduced the smuggling of chicken
into the country, saving the poultry industry about N50 billion.
Prof Iyayi added: “According to PAN, production
activities in the broiler meat industry has increased to 70% from the previous
45% capacity utilisation due to the border closure. The poultry sub-sector is
the most commercialised sub-sector in the agricultural sector worth about 1.6
trillion.”
He added that the government/CBN could do more
to boost the sub-sector by giving support for input supply, especially maize,
which constitutes about 70% of the poultry diet. “Poultry farmers should be
given subsidy for day-old chicks,” he suggested, “the starting material for any
poultry enterprise. Eggs should be incorporated into the School Feeding
Programme and poultry farmers should be compensated in periods of adversity.”
A professor and former Dean of Agriculture at
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Funso Sonaiya, commented that the
government policy had promoted the export of agricultural products.
“We all remember that the Nigeria Export
Promotion Council (NEPC) has been working with various potential
exporters, particularly in the area of standards and this certainly is one
outcome….”
Prof. Sonaiya said agriculture could replace
oil as number one foreign exchange earner, saying, “Agriculture should be the
basis for our economic and industrial development in Nigeria if we pay the
necessary attention to its development in terms of ensuring that the right
seeds are produced by breeders; that the right husbandry methods are used for
crops and animals; that the right harvesting techniques and storage
environments are provided.”
He added that Nigerians should realise that
with agriculture, because it is renewable, food and raw materials could be
produced two-three times in a year.
He recommended that first, the results of
agricultural research need to be properly studied and implemented, saying, “So,
we need to go back to those shelves and get all the results and use them to
develop agriculture and agricultural policies. We should all put our hands on
deck to develop our country through agriculture.”
Vice President, Nigeria Economic Summit Group,
Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, admitted that though there are many challenges in the
sector, policies of the government appear to be making an impact, and there are
some more fundamental things that are evolving.
He said: “During the time of Dr Akinwumi
Adesina, when he was Minister of Agriculture, he revolutionised the thinking in
agriculture and started bringing people’s minds to the opportunities that exist
in the space. More and more educated people are coming into the sector. And
what is more interesting is the fact that those various factors negated
people’s attitude towards agriculture are beginning to sort themselves out.”
Ijewere explained that oil in particular was
the biggest and most destructive blow to agriculture, and forces beyond Nigeria
are now changing the entire outlook in the oil sector.
The blow on the oil sector, he added, is making
it dawn on Nigerians that the future is not in oil, but in agriculture.
“Monthly state allocations are no longer what
they were, whereas, their various expenditures are increasing. That translates
to state governments being more favorably disposed to agriculture. What we have
seen is a tip of the iceberg.
“And the Ministry of Trade and Investment is
now playing a positive role. Over and above that is the attitude of the CBN
that has been extremely positive to agriculture. They are identifying those
various obstacles and removing them. We are just beginning to see a
turn-around,” he said.
Also commenting, Executive Director,
Agriculture and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Dr Olufemi
Oladunni, said the government efforts, policies and CBN injection of funds into
the agricultural value chain have been commendable.
But, he added: “What the country needs to do is
to further step it up by providing international standards for the entire value
chain so that we will not have a rejection of our products at the international
market as a result of poor quality.”
https://guardian.ng/features/agro-care/rice-imports-lowest-in-20-years-agric-exports-drive-foreign-trade/
China's impact on poor Brazilians:
prices of staples skyrocket, black beans 30%, rice 20%
Monday, September 14th 2020 -
08:27 UTC
Inflation (IPCA) measured by the Brazilian Institute of
Geography and Statistics (IBGE) has been 0.7% since the beginning of the year,
but food has shot up 6.10%.
Black beans are up nearly 30%, beef
about 40% – Brazilians are facing a skyrocketing rise in food prices, caused by
record exports to China and strong domestic demand. This rebound, amid the
economic and social crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, has led the
president, Jair Bolsonaro, to ask the owners of supermarkets to show
“patriotism” and “keep their profit margin as low as possible”.
Inflation (IPCA index) measured by
the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) has been only 0.7%
since the beginning of the year, but the food item has shot up 6.10%.
Among the staples of the daily diet
in Brazil, the price of rice has risen 19.3%, black beans 28.9%, corn flour
8.1% and soybean oil 18.6%.
Regarding animal proteins,
according to the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), beef increased by 38%,
chicken and eggs by 7.5% and pork by 19.4% between September 2019 and August
2020.
The rise is mainly explained by the
growing appetite of foreign buyers, and in particular China, in a context of
strong depreciation of the Brazilian real against the dollar (-36% in one year)
and the trade war between Beijing and Washington , which leads the Asian giant to
buy more in Brazil.
The soybean and corn harvest, of
which Brazil is the first and third world producer respectively, is expected to
reach historic levels this year, but that will not alleviate the situation in
the domestic market.
Strong external demand “reduced the
supply of these foods in the Brazilian market” because farmers prefer to export
them, André Braz, an economist at FGV, told ..
Brazilian soybean exports to China
increased 29.5% between January and August compared to the same period last year,
according to data from the Ministry of Economy. The harvest of that grain
should have an increase of 4.3% this year.
At the same time, the rise in
prices of grains and oilseeds has led to higher production costs for ranchers,
who feed their cows, chickens and pigs with soy and corn flour.
“The decline of the Brazilian
cattle herd in the last two years” and the growing demand from China have also
put pressure on the prices of this animal protein, explains Thiago Bernadino,
from the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics of the University of
Sao Paulo (Cepea) .
Vice President Hamilton Mourao on
Wednesday attributed the increase in food prices to the rise in domestic
consumption, due to the emergency aid of 600 reais (about US$ 115) that the
government gave since April to the poorest to deal with the pandemic, halved in
September.
«The money that the government
injected into the economy was much more than what people are used to, » he
said.
“The problem is that the government
is abandoning its policy of regulatory reserves, which allow it to intervene in
the event of a sharp increase in inflation,” says Enori Barbieri, vice
president of the Agrarian Federation of the State of Santa Catarina (south).
Barbieri believes that the tax
exemption on rice imports, announced on Thursday, will not have much impact on
the price in supermarkets, because the devaluation of the real has made
purchases abroad more expensive.
J:https://en.mercopress.com/2020/09/14/china-s-impact-on-poor-brazilians-prices-of-staples-skyrocket-black-beans-30-rice-20+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk
PhilRice mobile app to help
optimize fertilizer dosages
September
14, 2020 | 12:03 am
THE
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said it has developed a mobile
application that will help farmers determine the right amounts of nitrogen
fertilizer to use for rice.
The
application, PhilRice Leaf Color Computing App (PhilRice LCC App), checks the
nitrogen status of the rice plant and is based on an older tool, a leaf color
chart.
“Designed
for farmers, extension workers, researchers, and students, the mobile app
generates nitrogen recommendations in just under a minute based on the digital
images of intact rice leaves photographed directly from the field,” PhilRice
said.
According
to PhilRice senior researcher Ailon Oliver V. Capistrano, the users must
photograph the topmost, fully expanded rice leaf on a smartphone using
available light.
Mr.
Capistrano said the nitrogen levels can be determined from photographs, guiding
decisions on fertilizer use.
“The
app measures the intensity of green color based on the captured leaf images and
converts this into values correlated with the amount of nitrogen in the leaf,”
Mr. Capistrano said.
PhilRice
Deputy Executive Director for Development Karen Eloisa T. Barroga said the app
will keep farmers from using excessive nitrogen fertilizer during the wet
season and also cut down on pest infestation.
PhilRice
said in its Facebook page that 75% of the clients are farmers, while the rest
are students, extension workers, and researchers.
“Many
farmers are now online. They also have their children to assist them. I’m sure
that the app will quickly find its way to them to guide them in the accurate
application of nitrogen,” Ms. Barroga said.
PhilRice
said its mobile app can be downloaded for free via the Google Play Store.
— Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/7744424141239132414
Bengaluru: Re-exam to be held for NLAT
candidates who faced glitches
TNN | Sep 14, 2020, 10:56 IST
TimesPoints
NLSIU informed some of the affected candidates that they
will get another chance to write the exam on Monday a...Read More
BENGALURU: After complaints from several students who
faced technical glitches during the National Law Aptitude Test held on
Saturday, the National Law School of India University informed some of the
affected candidates that they will get another chance to write the exam on
Monday at 12.30pm.
Some students received a message on Sunday night that a technical review
committee reviewed their queries and recommended that they write a re-exam the
next day. The message said the final slot will begin at noon; after
verification, the exam will begin at 12.30pm. If a student chooses to log in,
the previous exam score will be erased. If not, the September 12 score will be
considered.
However, students continued to be anxious about the re-exam announced at such a
short notice. We are not aware of the criteria used by NLSIU to determine who
gets this second chance,” said a student.
Buhari
laments devastation of over 450,000 hectares of rice farms ON
Kebbi Floods: Buhari laments devastation of
over 450,000 hectares of rice farms ON SEPTEMBER 13, 20206:36 PMIN NEWS Kindly
Share This Story:FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsAppPinterestShare Promises to assist
affected farmers soon By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari, at
the weekend, lamented the devastation of over 450, 000 hectares of rice farms
caused by floods in Kebbi State. The Buhari who was represented by the Minister
of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Nanono, on a visit to assess the
situation and commiserate with the State Government and affected farmers
pledged assistance to mitigate the effects of the losses incurred. This was
contained in a statement signed by the Director, Information, Federal Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development, Theodore Ogaziechi, where Nanono described
the floods as one of the worst disasters ever witnessed in recent times. The
Minister who was accompanied by the Governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Atiku
Baguda, said his visit was “to restore hope and build up confidence for the
farmers in the State.” READ ALSO: Kebbi flooding a national tragedy,
requires urgent attention ― Gov Bagudu Hundreds of villages are said to be
affected and many homelands washed away by the floods. Affected places the
Minister visited include Argungu, Natsimi Gada of Argungu , and communities
along the Dukku- Makera Road that were completely washed off, where he promised
that seeds will be made available to the farmers to commence planting after the
raining season and floods recede. According to him Kebbi State being one of the
major producers of the commodity in the country including other crops like
maize, groundnuts, wheat, sweet potatoes, sorghum, and millet, and this huge
loss will affect other states in the country. He, therefore, promised that the
Ministry will immediately set up a special committee to mitigate the situation
and ensure that the dry season farming will be boosted He said the ministry
will also encourage the farmers to explore the innovative early harvesting of
their products as is done with other crops and promised to assist them with improved
seeds. He said: “What I have seen here today is very devastating, my coming
here is at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari who has sent me to
commiserate with the people of Kebbi state over the flood and to give you hope
and assurance that the government is concerned about your plight and will do
something. “Meanwhile, affected farmers not to despair, the Federal Government
will address the situation. Also lamenting the unprecedented loss by farmers in
the State, the Governor, Abubakar Bagudu, while explaining that it is not
only the rice farms that were affected, but also animals, crops, and fishing
grounds including human lives. Bagudu also commended the resilience of affected
farmers and encouraged them to do more not only to compensate for lost grounds
but also to generate more support. According to him, 2020 flooding in the State
is worst after the 2012 experience, which over 450, 000 hectares of farmland
stretching more than 270km of farmlands. Meanwhile, he commended the Federal
Government’s proactive steps taken to embark on an immediate assessment visit
to the state and promised that the state will remain focused and consistent
with its agricultural programmes. READ ALSO: FG promises speedy
intervention to Kebbi flood victims The Minister also visited Sarki Kebbi
Argungu, Alhaji Samaila Mohammed Mera, and the Emir of Gwandu who is also
Chairman, Kebbi State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Ilyasu Bashar. 
They both expressed appreciation for the
speedy visit of the Federal Government to commiserate with the State. The Emir
of Gwandu, Alhaji Bashar said, the flooding affected many communities who had
no option than to relocate. Bashar said the disaster came just when the people
were recovering from the shock of COVID-19, which he mentioned crops lost to
the flood, including rice, millet, sorghum, others. The traditional ruler also
called on the people to be patient and appealed to the media to assist in
sensitizing them on the government’s efforts.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/09/kebbi-floods-buhari-laments-devastation-of-over-450000-hectares-of-rice-farms/
NFA still has P10-B for palay
procurement
Published September 14, 2020,
3:03 PM
For the remainder of the year, the National
Food Authority (NFA) still has more than P10 billion budget to buy as much as
10 million bags of locally produced unhusked rice, a top official of the
state-run grains agency said.
In a text exchange, NFA Administrator Judy
Dansal said NFA is still set to buy 10 million bags of palay from rice farmers
for the remaining part of 2020. If this isn’t enough, she said, the agency
could still buy more since it has “credit lines available.”
“For this year, we have P7 billion from
subsidy, P5.5 billion from corporate receipts that include our sales of rice,
and P2.5 billion from cash and credit lines. So far, we already used P3 billion
for procurement,” Dansal said on Monday.
“Yes [we can buy more palay because] we
have credit lines available and the DOF [Department of Finance] supports us,”
she added.
She said this amid calls by some groups for
the Philippine government to buy more palay from farmers so they wouldn’t be
forced to sell their produce at current farmgate price of about P11 per
kilogram (/kg) to P12/kg.
In the Philippines, the cost to produce
rice is about P12/kg, while NFA, whose sole mandate has been reduced to buffer
stocking for calamities and emergencies after the passage of Rice Tariffication
Law, buys palay at P19/kg.
Every year, NFA gets an annual budget of P7
billion to procure palay, which it sells to local government units (LGUs) and
other government agencies like Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) to support their relief efforts.
Dansal told Business Bulletin that while
NFA could increase the amount of palay it could buy for this year, the agency
couldn’t buy it all because some farmers would still choose to sell to traders.
“We don’t buy everything. The private
traders of course will also buy because they have clients requiring local rice
too,” she said.
At present, NFA procures 33,775 bags of
palay per day nationwide in different provinces.
In August, Dansal said it is not the
supply, but the lack of rice milling facilities and low buying price that
impedes the agency’s palay procurement.
According to her, NFA’s rice milling
warehouse could only cater to 25 percent of its palay inventory, forcing the
agency to keep its contract with private millers, while farmers sometimes opt
to sell their produce to traders when the farm-gate price of palay is higher
than the government buying price.
“The market dictates the price. So if the
farm-gate price of palay is high, higher than the P19/kg buying price of the
government, the farmers sell their produce to the private traders,” she said.
Also on Monday, the Federation of Free
Farmers (FFF) pointed to the unabated entry and unpredictable pattern of rice imports
as the main cause for the current drop in palay farmgate prices.
Data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA) showed that palay prices have been on a downward trend,
averaging P18.39/kg in late August, down about 5 percent from their peak in May
2020.
Field reports, on the other hand, showed that buying prices, as of September,
have already gone down to as low as P16/kg on a dry basis and to P11/kg to
P13/kg for wet or freshly harvested palay.
The FFF noted that the decline in farmgate
prices is surprising considering that imports from January to August 2020
totaled only 1.66 million tons, or about 25 percent lower than in the same
period last year.
In turn, national rice inventories as of
August 1 were about 16 percent lower than in the previous year, which should
also help push the price of palay higher.
FFF National Manager Raul Montemayor attributed the declining prices to
speculative behavior of traders arising from the lack of a clear rice import
policy from the DA.
“Many traders are playing safe and buying
low because they fear that imports will continue to come in and flood the
market again in the coming months. Last year, they bought palay from farmers
during the first half of the year at relatively high prices and were caught flatfooted
by the massive inflow of imports in the second half of the year. Many of them
could not unload their stocks at a profit and some had to suspend their
operations,” he said.
Normally, palay buying prices really go up
in September because of the scarce supply of palay and then go down only during
the peak harvest season in October and November.
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UP TO DAILY NEWSLETTER
https://mb.com.ph/2020/09/14/nfa-still-has-p10-b-for-palay-procurement/
PhilRice mobile app to
help optimize fertilizer dosages
September 14, 2020 |
12:03 am
THE Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said it has
developed a mobile application that will help farmers determine the right
amounts of nitrogen fertilizer to use for rice.
The application, PhilRice Leaf
Color Computing App (PhilRice LCC App), checks the nitrogen status of the rice
plant and is based on an older tool, a leaf color chart.
“Designed for farmers, extension
workers, researchers, and students, the mobile app generates nitrogen
recommendations in just under a minute based on the digital images of intact
rice leaves photographed directly from the field,” PhilRice said.
According to PhilRice senior researcher Ailon Oliver V.
Capistrano, the users must photograph the topmost, fully expanded rice leaf on
a smartphone using available light.
Mr. Capistrano said the nitrogen levels can be determined from
photographs, guiding decisions on fertilizer use.
“The app measures the intensity of green color based on the
captured leaf images and converts this into values correlated with the amount
of nitrogen in the leaf,” Mr. Capistrano said.
PhilRice Deputy Executive Director for Development Karen Eloisa
T. Barroga said the app will keep farmers from using excessive nitrogen
fertilizer during the wet season and also cut down on pest infestation.
PhilRice said in its Facebook page that 75% of the clients are
farmers, while the rest are students, extension workers, and researchers.
“Many farmers are now online.
They also have their children to assist them. I’m sure that the app will
quickly find its way to them to guide them in the accurate application of
nitrogen,” Ms. Barroga said.
PhilRice said its mobile app can be downloaded for free via the
Google Play Store. — Revin Mikhael D.
Ochavehttps://www.bworldonline.com/philrice-mobile-app-to-help-optimize-fertilizer-dosages/
Rice Milling
Machines Market Size foreseen to grow exponentially over Forecast 2020 – 2025
UN-backed label launched to help shoppers choose environmentally
friendly rice
Over 3.5
billion people rely on rice as a daily staple, but the crop has an
undeniable environmental impact. Rice farming consumes up to
one-third of the world’s developed freshwater resources and generates
up to 20% of global anthropogenic emissions of methane, a potent
greenhouse gas. This life-giving crop will also be the victim of rising global
temperatures, with production expected to fall by 15% by 2050 due to climate
change, according
to the International Food Policy Research Institute.
The new Assurance
Scheme is based on the SRP
Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation, the world’s first
voluntary sustainability standard for rice. It is underpinned by proven best
practices and provides a science-based process to assess compliance. Employing
best practices in rice farming can reduce water use by some 20% and methane
emissions from flooded rice fields by up to 50%.
The scheme will be managed by Germany-based GLOBALG.A.P., which will oversee approval of
qualified verification bodies that will be responsible for inspection of
producers according to the SRP Standard. NEPCon-Preferred by Nature, a
Denmark-based non-profit organization that supports better land management and
business practices, is the first to be approved to perform SRP verification
audits, with several others expected to be approved soon.
“SRP was established to address global environmental and social
challenges in rice production. The Assurance Scheme offers supply chain actors
a robust, cost-effective and transparent path to sustainable procurement.
Consumers are increasingly demanding that food is produced sustainably, and now
they have a reliable way to choose environmentally friendly rice,” said Wyn
Ellis, SRP Executive Director.
With the new label, consumers will be able to trace the rice
back to its origin country. The scheme will also benefit an entire industry. By
stocking SRP-verified rice, retailers can make significant and measurable
contributions to sustainability commitments and climate change targets.
Industry actors will also be able to de-risk their supply chains and ensure
stability by sourcing through SRP-verified suppliers.
Farmers also benefit - switching to SRP practices can boost
farmers’ net incomes by 10-20%. With 90% of the world’s 144 million rice
producers living on or near the poverty line, this can make the difference
between a secure livelihood and a family going hungry.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the Sustainable Rice
Platform
The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) is a
global multi-stakeholder alliance led by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), together with over
100 public, private, research, financial institutions and civil society
organizations. SRP, whose Secretariat is hosted by UNEP, works with partners to
transform the global rice sector by improving smallholder livelihoods in developing
countries, reducing the social, environmental and climate footprint of rice
production; and by offering the global rice market an assured supply of
sustainably produced rice
About GLOBALG.A.P.
GLOBALG.A.P. is a global organization
with a crucial objective: safe, sustainable agriculture worldwide. GLOBALG.A.P.
sets and operates voluntary standards for the certification of agricultural
products around the globe – and more and more producers, suppliers, and buyers
are harmonizing their certification standards to match our Company’s Purpose:
the right of every generation to safe food.
About the UN Environment
Programme
UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides
leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by
inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality
of life without compromising that of future generations.
For more information, please
contact:
Keishamaza Rukikaire, Head of News &
Media, UNEP
Adam Hodge, Asia-Pacific Regional Information
Officer, UNEP
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