Basmati , A common heritage of
Subcontinent
By Hamid Malik
19 Sep 2020
It's not as simple. There are 3 dimensions. Basmati is a common heritage of
subcontinent & that too belongs to a specific Geographical region of
Himalyian terrain qualify for both genotype(DNA) & phenotypical characters
like typical aroma, cylindrical shape,
3.8/4 ratio of width/length ration,
1.8 to 2.2 times post cooking elongation longitudinally rather than
swelling width wise, minimum AGL 7mm , photosynthetic, climate(night
temperature after flowering less than 36C & typical Soil. US company patent
award for TaXMATI was revoked on Genetically basis. Current GI battle in India
between GI declared areas of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Utranchal, 29 district
of UP & Madhya Pradesh is on phenotypic characters rather than genotype.
Now ownership of GI product can't be granted to individual. It's legitimate
right of growers of that area. In all kind of old literature in Sanskrit or
local language ,product is attributed to Himalyian terrain waters by 5 Eastern
rivers of combined Punjab(Chenab, Sind Jehlum, Ravi & Sutlej, 3 central
Punjab rivers Bias, Gangs & Yamuna(Jamna).
Let's come to current issue of ownership by India or Pakistan. By the
way Nepal(Himalyian proximity) & Bangladesh having Ganga river.
Initially India & Pakistan
applied GI Basmati region combindly. Latter on Pakistan entered into arena in
Indian court through BGA , Basmati Growers Association, a representative body
of Pakistan growers lead by late Mr. Hamid Malhi. Govt of Pakistan through
Commerce ministry was backing the move by providing financial ,legal &
logistics support. In India APEDA was defending petition on behalf of Indian
Govt. In Pakistan ,a split appeared between REAP(Exporters body) & BGA on
having ownership of Basmati GI. As a counter move Hamid Malhi submitted a petition
in Sind High Court to grant Basmati GI tag to BGA. In the meantime Govt of
Pakistan took almost 16 years to draft a GI law which finally is passed by
Parliament recently, thanks to untiring efforts & persistent follow up of
respectable Zulfikar Thaver sahib. Now we come to Indian application in EU.
###
China
donates 3,000 tons of rice to South Sudan
Source: Xinhua Published: 2020/9/18
9:13:37
Manasseh Lomole (L, Front), chairperson of
South Sudan's Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, and Chinese Ambassador to
South Sudan Hua Ning (R, Front) sign documents during a handover ceremony of
food aid in Juba, South Sudan, on Sept. 17, 2020. The Chinese Embassy in South
Sudan on Thursday handed over 3,000 tons of rice as emergency food aid to the
east African country. (Photo by Gale Julius/Xinhua)
The
Chinese Embassy in South Sudan on Thursday handed over 3,000 tons of rice as
emergency food aid to the east African country.
The embassy said the 1,500 tons of the donation will go for emergency relief to
help people affected by recent floods.
The remaining half will be used to support the training of the unified armed
forces as part of China's support to South Sudan's peace process.
"On behalf of the people of South Sudan, we say thank for the rice
donation," Peter Mayen Majongdit, South Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs
Minister, said.
"Our relations with China are unbreakable and we will continue to maintain
this strong relationship in various areas," Majongdit added.
Manasseh Lomole, chairperson of South Sudan's Relief and Rehabilitation
Commission, said the Chinese food aid came at the right time when the
conflict-torn country is battling severe disasters such as floods and food
insecurity.
"People have been displaced, crops submerged under water, livestock lost
and property destroyed. People are heading for a serious food shortage,"
Lomole added.
The oil-rich South Sudan is currently facing a severe economic crisis amid a
fall in global oil prices.
The crisis in the world's newest nation is further exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic and floods that have affected over 500,000 people nationwide.
Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2020 shows bags of
rice donated by the Chinese government to South Sudan in Juba, South Sudan. The
Chinese Embassy in South Sudan on Thursday handed over 3,000 tons of rice as
emergency food aid to the east African country. (Photo by Gale Julius/Xinhua)
"The Chinese government and people are very concerned about the recent
floods in Unity, Jonglei and other states which affected a big
population," said Hua Ning, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan.
Hua said since 2018, the Chinese government has so far provided a total of
9,600 tons of rice to South Sudan in seven batches, adding that Beijing will
continue to support South Sudan to attain peace and stability.
"Our own experience has made us fully empathic with South Sudanese
people," the Chinese envoy said, adding that China will strive to help the
country within its ability.
Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan Hua Ning (C)
and South Sudanese officials inspect bags of rice during a handover ceremony of
food aid in Juba, South Sudan, on Sept. 17, 2020. The Chinese Embassy in South
Sudan on Thursday handed over 3,000 tons of rice as emergency food aid to the
east African country. (Photo by Gale Julius/Xinhua)
Chinese and South Sudanese officials attend a
handover ceremony of food aid in Juba, South Sudan, on Sept. 17, 2020. The
Chinese Embassy in South Sudan on Thursday handed over 3,000 tons of rice as
emergency food aid to the east African country. (Photo by Gale Julius/Xinhua)
Manasseh Lomole (L, Front), chairperson of
South Sudan's Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, and Chinese Ambassador to
South Sudan Hua Ning (R, Front) exchange documents during a handover ceremony
of food aid in Juba, South Sudan, on Sept. 17, 2020. The Chinese Embassy in
South Sudan on Thursday handed over 3,000 tons of rice as emergency food aid to
the east African country. (Photo by Gale Julius/Xinhua)
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1201292.shtml
Rice
will be imported to prevent price hike; warns Min. Bandula Gunawardena
Written by Zulfick Farzan 18
Sep, 2020 | 7:05 PM
Colombo (News 1st);
If rice stocks are not released to the local market, steps will be taken to
import rice to the country, warned Minister (Dr.) Bandula Gunawardena at a
meeting with representatives from multiple sectors in the agriculture industry.
“The Maximum Retail Price
or MRP will not be raised under any circumstance,” said Bandula Gunawardena.
Minister Gunawardena said
the network of intermediaries is not releasing rice stocks to the local market.
The Minister said the
government would never allow for an artificial rice shortage to be created and
stressed rice would be imported in order to prevent a price hike.
Pakistan Weekly Market Monitor Report - September 2020
Format:Situation
Report
Source:
Posted:18
Sep 2020
Originally
published
18
Sep 2020
Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
·
In August 2020, the
average retail prices for wheat and wheat flour increased by 6.6% and 1.4%,
respectively, while the prices of rice Irri-6 and rice Basmati increased by
0.6% and 0.7%, respectively, when compared to the previous month;
·
Headline inflation based
on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased in August 2020 by 0.63% over July
2020 and increased by 8.21% over August 2019;
·
The prices of staple
cereals and non-cereal food commodities in August 2020 experienced negligible
to slight fluctuations, except for sugar which experienced a significant price
increase and live chicken which had a significant price decrease when compared
to the previous month’s prices;
·
In August 2020, the
average ToT slightly decreased by 1.3% from the previous month;
·
In September 2020, the
total global wheat production for 2020/21 is projected at 770.49 million MT,
indicating an increase of 4.46 million MT compared to the projection made in
August 2020
https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/pakistan-weekly-market-monitor-report-september-2020
Rice harvest season in Southeastern Iran
Farmers in Nikshahr County, Southern Sistan Va
Balouchestan Province in Southeastern Iran, have started harvesting rice. The
harvest season will continue until the end of summer. Nikshahr County has
special facets from the natural and geographical status. It is famous for its
citrus orchards. Zahedan, Iran., Sept 18, 2020. IRNA/
6125**1416
Follow
us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish
Pakistani businessmen puzzled as EU approves
plea stating basmati rice is ‘Indian-origin’ product
Pakistan
exports face devastation as India is set to register for an exclusive GI tags
for Himalayan salt, Multani mitti under Indian brand names in the international
market.
September
18, 2020
The EU
has approved India’s application in its official journal last week, now stating
that Basmati rice is an Indian origin product, even though the same rice is
produced in Pakistan at a large scale.
Pakistan’s
exports to European countries under threat from India
Ministry
of Commerce officials, when contacted, were unaware of this groundbreaking
development which could immensely damage Pakistan’s exports to European
countries, Basmati rice being a case in point. Abdul Razak Dawood adviser to
the Prime Minister (PM) on Commerce had earlier in August directed officials to
implement and apply the GI as the law had been implemented over five months
ago.
India,
to support its claim of exclusivity, has referred to various reports and
dictionaries to show that the basmati rice is of Indian origin and conveniently
left out the part that the same rice is widely produced in Pakistan.
According
to leading rice exporter and former official of Rice Exporters Association of
Pakistan (REAP) Taufiq Ahmed, the Indian application at EU must be immediately
opposed as it could devastate Pakistan’s exports to European nations.
Pakistan
must address the issues of the GI law immediately
Authorities
have been ignoring the issue despite multiple requests and reminders. Taufiq
explained that if Pakistan does not handle the issue immediately, Pakistani
producers will be forced to sell basmati rice under an Indian brand name.
“Apart
from opposing the GI tag from the EU, Pakistan must also consult international
dictionaries to rectify the definition as the same rice is largely produced in
Pakistan. Unfortunately, India is also registering Himalayan salt and Multani
Matti with Indian names in the international market,” he added.
According
to an official at Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO), an attached
department of the Ministry of Commerce which drafted the GI law, the Indian
application would definitely be opposed in the EU. Officials say that Basmati
rice was stated as a product of both Pakistan and India in the European Rice
Regime and Duty-Free Regime, hence, making India’s claim for exclusive rights
of Basmati in the EU unlawful.
“The
Cambridge dictionary and Wikipedia also show the product as originating from
Pakistan and India,” he added. The GI law is aimed at increasing exports,
development in rural areas of the country, revenue of agricultural producers
and other skilled labour.
World Trade Organisation (WTO) members need to give protection to
GIs as per Article 22-24 of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPs) agreement. Unless Pakistan undertakes the protection of GI it
will not be able to obtain the same protection for its goods and exports in
other countries implementing and protecting the GI law. The GI law entails
industrial, agricultural, and horticultural products and many others.
GVS News
Desk with additional input by other sources
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/pakistan-gi-law/
As
early variety arrival peaks at Punjab mandis, Basmati rates plunge record 34%
The low price the crop is fetching for farmers in Punjab’s Majha
region, which is the hub of Basmati crop in the state, is happening at a time
when the rates of Basmati in the international market are almost all-time high
between.
Written
by Anju Agnihotri Chaba |
Jalandhar | Updated: September 18, 2020 5:56:07 am
The
procuremenbt rates are as low as Rs 1650/quintal.
As
Pavitar Singh, a farmer from Tarn Taran’s Khabe Dogran village, closed the deal
on 40 quintals of early Basmati variety (PUSU 1509), his return was almost Rs
1000 per quintal less than last year.
While
last year Pavitar Singh had sold the same variety at over Rs 2,500 per quintal,
this year he has sold it for Rs 1,651 per quintal.
It is a
double blow, says the farmer, pointing out that his yield this year is around
10 quintal less per acre. The low price the crop is fetching for farmers in
Punjab’s Majha region, which is the hub of Basmati crop in the state, is
happening at a time when the rates of Basmati in the international market are
almost all-time high between Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 per quintal and exporters are
earning a huge profit.
“What I
have sold at Rs 1,651per quintal, traders will sell at the rate of Rs 3,000 to
3,200 per quintal, and then it would be exported for over Rs 5,000 per
quintal,” said Pavitar Singh, adding that he could not hold out for long hoping
for better price as he has no place to store his produce. The Tarn Taran farmer
grows the early variety on 20 acres out of his 60 acres farmland and has so far
harvested PUSA 1509 only on 3 acres.
While
the early variety (1509) arrival has started peaking at the mandis, the late
ones (1121, 1718) will come in October. Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) officials
informed that the rate of the crop started at Rs 2,400 per quintal in the first
few days, but now with as arrival of the early variety of the crop is about to
touch its peak, the rates have crashed badly.
Basmati
crop is not purchased by the government, and the private players — exporters,
local traders and sheller owners – who purchase it have to pay a 4.50 per cent
Mandi fee and Rural Development Fund (RDF) to the PMB. This tax is refundable
to the exporters.
“They
are offering a lesser price because they know that as per the ordinance they
are not supposed to pay 4.50 per cent taxes and also because the government has
not refunded their previous years’ taxes. So, when they failed to get back
their refundable amount from the government, they started targeting farmers and
paying less to them while making huge margins themselves,” said a senior
officer in PMB, adding that ultimately it is the farmer who will face the
losses.
“The big
traders are calculating and deducting their 4.50 per cent taxes before paying
farmers and it is big loot,” he added.
Farmers
call the low price being offered to them as an impact of the Farmers’ Produce
Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance.
Farmer
Gurinder Singh also sold 38 quintals at Rayya Mandi in Amritsar at the rate of
Rs 1,800 per quintal on Wednesday.
Similarly,
Aman Kaler of Ajnala in Amritsar also sold his Basmati produce for Rs 1,800 per
quintal.
Bhartiya
Kisan Union (BKU) Dakuanda General Secretary, Jagmohan Singh, said that the
government can now see for itself how much the ordinance would help farmers.
“For
non-government purchase crops, the private players always join hands and offer
farmers as per their own wishes and same would happen with assured market crops
like wheat and paddy when this ordinance will come into existence,” he said,
adding that for Basmati farmers were getting price lower than paddy (parmal
rice).
“Traders
are telling us that rate would not go up due to Covid-19 and
farmers have no choice but to sell at this price only as they cannot store
their produce for long,” said another farmer, Davinder Singh, who has grown
PUSA 1509 on 30 acres and will start harvesting in the coming week. He added
that that “traders gang-up and create false price in the market when the crop’s
arrival in the mandis is at the peak and after purchasing from farmers the
rates are suddenly changed and go up”.
Punjab’s
Basmati is mainly exported and it contributes more than 40 per cent of the
total export of Basmati worth Rs 34,000 crore per annum.
Vijay
Kalra, President of the Federation of Arhtiya Association Punjab, admitted that
the rate is less as compared to last year. He said that in Amritsar it was
purchased around Rs 2,200 to 2,300 per quintal in the beginning but now some
farmers are getting less because there must be high moisture in the grain
currently.
Director,
Punjab Agriculture Department, Dr Sutantra Airy said that they have worked hard
to increase the area under paddy as it is the best alternatives to
water-guzzling paddy, but the fluctuation in rates would discourage farmers to
increase the area further. He said that Centre must control these rates to
ensure farmers do not suffer.
Out of a
total of around 6.60 lakh hectares of the Basmati area, PUSA 1509 is sown on
around 40 per cent of the area.
Exporters not purchasing yet
The
Basmati exporters, who are major buyers of Basmati in Punjab, have boycotted
the purchase of the premium rice from the state unless the Punjab government
does not waive off Market Committee Fee and Rural Development Fund (RDF).
Ashok
Sethi, Director, Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association, said: “We have
demanded from the government a complete waiver of Market Fee and RDF, which is
4.5 per cent, and only after that we will purchase it.” He added that there is
no point of charging it because it is refundable. “Punjab government has not
refunded Rs 200 crore pending amount of these taxes for the past few years,” he
said.
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Food
Minister: Rice market stable
·
Published at 09:08 pm
September 17th, 2020
File Photo: Rajib Dhar/Dhaka Tribune
The amount of collected food grains is enough for the
government reserve, the minister says
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder on Thursday said
that the market price of rice is affordable and stable amid the coronavirus
pandemic as the government’s paddy and rice collection aim has been fulfilled.
“Although the government’s paddy and rice collection
target remained unfulfilled, its aim has been achieved successfully in the
recently concluded Boro season,” he said.
The minister came up with the remarks at a programme in
Niamatpur upazila of Naogaon in the afternoon.
He said the amount of collected food grains is enough for
the government reserve.
The country is not facing any food scarcity amid natural
disaster like flood and coronavirus pandemic due to proper decision and
prudence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the minister said.
Responding to a question regarding rice import, he said:
“We’re examining the reserve of rice across the country. If necessary, rice
will be imported to keep the market price stable.”
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2020/09/17/food-minister-rice-market-stable
Haryana
farmers fret as basmati prices plunge below ₹2,000
Parmal, PR varieties of paddy
are being sold below MSP as the government is yet to begin procurement
Pakistan risks damage to export as India
applies for GI tag to basmati in EU
India is also registering Himalayan salt, Multani
mitti with Indian names in the international market
ISLAMABAD: While Pakistan is yet to implement the
Geographical Indications (GI) law promulgated in March this year, India has
applied for an exclusive GI tag to Basmati rice in the European Union (EU). The
EU has subsequently published the application of India in its official journal
on September 11, 2020, showing Basmati rice as an Indian origin product,
despite the fact that similar rice is widely produced in Pakistan.
Interestingly, officials of the Ministry of Commerce, when contacted, were
unaware of this major development which could ultimately damage Pakistan’s
exports, such as the aromatic rice, to European countries. Earlier last month,
Adviser to the Prime Minister (PM ) on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood had directed
the officials to implement the GI since it was promulgated as a law over five
months ago. It may be mentioned here Pakistan, after a delay of almost 18
years, had enacted Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act
in March this year. According to EU’s official journal, any country can oppose
the application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2) (a) of
Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on
quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs within three months
from the date of publication. As per the Indian application, basmati is special
long grain aromatic rice grown and produced in a particular geographical region
of the Indian sub-continent. In India, this region is a part of northern India,
below the foothills of the Himalayas forming part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains
(IGP). The special characteristics of basmati are its long slender kernels with
a high length to breadth ratio, an exquisite aroma, sweet taste, soft texture,
delicate curvature, intermediate amylose content, high integrity of grain on
cooking, and linear kernel elongation with least breadth-wise swelling on
cooking. Further, India has claimed that basmati is grown and produced in all
districts of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, as well as in specific districts of western Uttar Pradesh and
Jammu & Kashmir. Interestingly, to support its claim, India has also
referred various dictionaries such as Oxford Dictionary which defines basmati
as ‘a kind of long-grain Indian rice with a delicate fragrance’, the French
dictionary, Larousse, which defines basmati as an ‘Indian, long grain rice,
very appreciated’ and the Cassell food dictionary which defines it as ‘a superior
type of Indian white rice which is long grained and slender’. India has also
referred other reports to show that the basmati rice is of Indian origin
without mentioning that the same is produced in Pakistan. Leading rice exporter
and former office bearer of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP)
Taufiq Ahmed says that the Indian application at EU must be opposed immediately
as it would badly damage Pakistani products’ exports to European countries.
He said that
despite repeated requests and reminders, concerned authorities in Pakistan have
been ignoring this serious issue for years and now if the problem is not
handled swiftly then we would be left with no option but to sell basmati rice
with an Indian name/brand. “Apart from opposing the GI tag from the EU,
Pakistan must also consult international dictionaries to rectify the definition
as the same rice is largely produced in Pakistan. Unfortunately, India is also
registering Himalayan salt and Multani Matti with Indian names in the
international market,” he said. According to an official at Intellectual
Property Organisation (IPO), an attached department of the Ministry of Commerce
which drafted the GI law, the Indian application would definitely be opposed in
the EU. He said that since the GI law has been promulgated, Pakistan would take
up the issue of all GI products of Pakistani origin with the EU. According to
officials, Basmati was already recognised as a product of both India and
Pakistan in the European Rice Regime and its Duty-Free Regime, making it
illegal for India to claim exclusive rights of Basmati in the EU. “The
Cambridge dictionary and Wikipedia also show the product as originating from
Pakistan and India,” he added. It may be recalled here both India and Pakistan
have approved the GI law which includes basmati as a product of their
respective origin. The protection of geographical indications is aimed at
boosting exports, helping support rural development in the country, and
enhancing the livelihood of agriculture producers and skilled craftsmen.
Furthermore, the marketing of GI products also enhances secondary economic
activities and boost regional economic development in various regions boosting
economic development. GI law protects local products such as the Peshawari
chappals, Multani blue pottery, Hunza apricots, Hala ajrak, Kasuri methi,
Chaman grapes, Turbat dates etc. Member countries of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) need to give protection to GIs under Article 22-24 of the Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement. Unless Pakistan
provides GI protection, it cannot obtain the same for its own goods in other
countries that have the GI law. The GI law covers a wide variety of industrial,
agricultural, and horticultural products among others.
As
early variety arrival peaks at Punjab mandis, Basmati rates plunge record 34%
Punjab
Mandi Board (PMB) officials informed that the rate of the crop started at Rs.
2,400 per quintal in the first few days, but now with as arrival of the early
variety of the crop is about to touch its peak, the rates have crashed badly.
“What
I have sold at Rs. 1,651per quintal, traders will sell at the rate of Rs. 3,000
to 3,200 per quintal, and then it would be exported for over Rs. 5,000 per
quintal,” said Pavitar Singh, adding that he could not hold out for long hoping
for better price as he has no place to store his produce. The Tarn Taran farmer
grows the early variety on 20 acres out of his 60 acres farmland and has so far
harvested PUSA 1509 only on 3 acres. While the early variety (1509) arrival has
started peaking at the mandis, the late ones (1121, 1718) will come in October.
Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) officials informed that the rate of the crop started
at Rs. 2,400 per quintal in the first few days, but now with as arrival of the
early variety of the crop is about to touch its peak, the rates have crashed
badly. Basmati crop is not purchased by the government, and the private players
— exporters, local traders and sheller owners – who purchase it have to pay a
4.50 per cent Mandi fee and Rural Development Fund (RDF) to the PMB. This tax
is refundable to the exporters. “They are offering a lesser price because they
know that as per the ordinance they are not supposed to pay 4.50 per cent taxes
and also because the government has not refunded their previous years’ taxes.
So, when they failed to get back their refundable amount from the government,
they started targeting farmers and paying less to them while making huge
margins themselves,” said a senior officer in PMB, adding that ultimately it is
the farmer who will face the losses. “The big traders are calculating and
deducting their 4.50 per cent taxes before paying farmers and it is big loot,”
he added. Farmers call the low price being offered to them as an impact of the
Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance.
Farmer Gurinder Singh also sold 38 quintals at Rayya Mandi in Amritsar at the
rate of Rs. 1,800 per quintal on Wednesday. Similarly, Aman Kaler of Ajnala in
Amritsar also sold his Basmati produce for Rs. 1,800 per quintal. Bhartiya
Kisan Union (BKU) Dakuanda General Secretary, Jagmohan Singh, said that the
government can now see for itself how much the ordinance would help farmers.
“For non-government purchase crops, the private players always join hands and
offer farmers as per their own wishes and same would happen with assured market
crops like wheat and paddy when this ordinance will come into existence,” he
said, adding that for Basmati farmers were getting price lower than paddy
(parmal rice). “Traders are telling us that rate would not go up due to Covid-19 and
farmers have no choice but to sell at this price only as they cannot store
their produce for long,” said another farmer, Davinder Singh, who has grown
PUSA 1509 on 30 acres and will start harvesting in the coming week. He added
that that “traders gang-up and create false price in the market when the crop’s
arrival in the mandis is at the peak and after purchasing from farmers the
rates are suddenly changed and go up”. Punjab’s Basmati is mainly exported and
it contributes more than 40 per cent of the total export of Basmati worth Rs.
34,000 crore per annum. Vijay Kalra, President of the Federation of Arhtiya
Association Punjab, admitted that the rate is less as compared to last year. He
said that in Amritsar it was purchased around Rs. 2,200 to 2,300 per quintal in
the beginning but now some farmers are getting less because there must be high
moisture in the grain currently. Director, Punjab Agriculture Department, Dr
Sutantra Airy said that they have worked hard to increase the area under paddy
as it is the best alternatives to water-guzzling paddy, but the fluctuation in
rates would discourage farmers to increase the area further. He said that
Centre must control these rates to ensure farmers do not suffer. Out of a total
of around 6.60 lakh hectares of the Basmati area, PUSA 1509 is sown on around
40 per cent of the area.
Exporters not purchasing yet
The
Basmati exporters, who are major buyers of Basmati in Punjab, have boycotted
the purchase of the premium rice from the state unless the Punjab government
does not waive off Market Committee Fee and Rural Development Fund (RDF). Ashok
Sethi, Director, Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association, said: “We have
demanded from the government a complete waiver of Market Fee and RDF, which is
4.5 per cent, and only after that we will purchase it.” He added that there is
no point of charging it because it is refundable. “Punjab government has not
refunded Rs 200 crore pending amount of these taxes for the past few years,” he
said.
Label launched to help shoppers choose
environmentally-friendly rice
A new ecolabel
aims to help shoppers reduce their environmental impact by identifying rice
that has been sustainably produced. The ‘SRP-Verified’ Label, which aims to
reduce the environmental impact of one of the largest food crops in the world,
was launched by the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP).
The SRP is a
grouping of over 100 public, private, research, financial institutions and
civil society organisations led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). 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.
News quiz: Life on Venus, an Aussie pop star
on China's watchlist and thousands of hungry ducks. How much do you know about
the big stories of the week?
Can you
power through this list of news quiz questions with the intensity of 10,000
hungry ducks set loose in a rice paddy?
We hope
you're limbered up, it's time to find out.
Q1:
Scientists are pondering whether life could exist around Venus after a rare
chemical was found in its atmosphere. What was the gas they detected?
- APhosphine
- BCarbon
- COxygen
- DNitrogen
Q2: A
Chinese company with links to Beijing's military and intelligence networks has
been amassing a vast database of detailed personal information on thousands of
Australians, including prominent and influential figures. Which Australian pop
star is featured on the list as being of “special interest” or “politically
exposed”?
- ANatalie
Imbruglia
- BKylie
Minogue
- CVanessa
Amorosi
- DNikki
Webster
Q3: Former
NSW premier John Fahey, one of the key figures in bringing the Olympics to
Sydney, has died aged 75. He’s also remembered for an incident on Australia Day
in 1994 in which he tackled a man who fired two blank shots from a starter
pistol at which public figure?
- APaul
Keating
- BPrince
Charles
- CLady Diana
- DJohn
Hewson
Q4: Oxford
University has announced it will resume a trial for a coronavirus vaccine it is
developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca after getting the green
light from safety watchdogs. Globally, how many people have received the
vaccine so far?
- A14,000
- B18,000
- C29,000
- D30,000
Q5: The
Victorian Government has promised $290 million to help struggling businesses
survive coronavirus lockdown and implement an outdoor dining culture that will
be enjoyed "for many summers" to come, on top of its $3 billion
support fund for business. Which city’s dining culture did authorities draw
inspiration from?
- AMadrid
- BParis
- CSingapore
- DNew York
City
Q6: Regional Victoria moved to step three of its coronavirus reopening
plan on Thursday. To move to this step, the region was required to get its
average coronavirus daily cases to below what number over the previous 14 days?
- AOne
- BFive
- C10
- D15
Q7: This
week US President Donald Trump hosted three world leaders at the White House
for the signing of historic peace agreements. Israel signed a pact with the
United Arab Emirates and which other nation?
- ABahrain
- BQatar
- CKuwait
- DIran
Q8:
Thousands of ducks have been set loose in rice paddies in Thailand for a
regular pest clean-up exercise that benefits rice and duck farmers alike. How
long approximately does it take for the 10,000 ducks to clear a 70-hectare
farm?
Plant nutrient delivery
breakthrough
Date:September 17, 2020
Source:Texas Tech
University
Summary:The
collaboration revealed that the symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi
provides nitrates to plants, which could lead to reduced fertilizer use.
Share:
FULL
STORY
When most people think of fungi, the thoughts
are usually not good, turning to something that does damage more than those
that are actually helpful.
Yet, fungi play a critical role in the growth
and development of plant life and have for millions of years. Scientists have
known for a long time that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that live in
harmony with about 90% of land plants and play a key role in their root
systems, are responsible for carrying needed phosphate to plants to help
growth.
Now, however, thanks to a discovery by a team
of scientists from Texas Tech University's Institute of Genomics for Crop
Abiotic Stress Tolerance (IGCAST) in the Department of Plaint and Soil Science,
and the Nanjing Agricultural University's State Key Laboratory of crop Genetics
and Germplasm Enhancement, that symbiotic role may go even further.
That research team, which included professor
Guohua Xu, Prof. Aiqun Chen and Dr. Huimin Feng from Nanjing Agricultural
University and, Luis Herrera-Estrella, the President's Distinguished Professor
of Plant Genomics and director of IGCAST, and assistant professor Damar
López-Arredondo, discovered that AM fungi also acted as a supplier of nitrogen
to the plant, the protein (NPF4.5) responsible for transporting nitrates from
the fungi to the plant, and that this symbiotic nitrate pathway and the
function of the protein are present in crops such as rice, and probably most
other plant species.
The results from the paper, "Functional
analysis of the OsNPF4.5 nitrate transporter reveals a conserved mycorrhizal
pathway of nitrogen acquisition in plants," were recently published
by Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
of the U.S.
Xu highlighted their finding that the fungi
colonization efficiency, promotion of plant growth and nutrient uptake were
maintained and even enhanced at high nitrogen supply levels, which is opposite
to the high phosphate suppressed colonization, indicating the general
contribution of mycorrhizal route to improving N use efficiency at varied N
presence.
This discovery could lead to groundbreaking
agricultural practices that allow for a reduction in the amount of nitrogen
fertilizer required for crop production, which will help reduce production
costs and benefit the environment by reducing agrochemical use.
"In our study, we showed the nitrate
transporter is contained in many plant species and that it is activated by the
mycorrhizal association in maize, sorghum and several other plant
species," Herrera-Estrella said. "Based on our data, we propose that
nitrate transport takes place in many if not most plant species, and that the
protein plays a key role in the process."
Hundreds of millions of years ago, when plants
moved from aquatic origins and began taking over land masses, their lack of a
strong root system became a hinderance in obtaining water and nutrients.
Herrera-Estrella said fossilized evidence showed that, early in in the
evolutionary process, land plants developed the relationship with mycorrhizal
fungi, which helped improve the fitness of host plants by facilitating mineral
nutrition and water absorption and by increasing tolerance to biotic and
abiotic stresses.
Herrera-Estrella pointed out, though, that past
research has discovered that the symbiotic relationship between plants and AM
fungi is most active in soil with low phosphate availability and suppressed in
soil with high levels of available nutrients. That means cultivated crops that
are highly fertilized see a severely reduced or completely suppressed impact
from mycorrhiza.
The goal of the research was to determine
whether mycorrhiza could provide other nutrients such as nitrogen to the plant.
Indirect evidence has shown the fungi could supply the plant with ammonium
(NH4+) as a nitrogen source, but that it is quickly converted into nitrate
(NO3-) by the microbes in the aerobic soil. That means that under most soil
conditions, nitrate is the dominant form of N supplied to the plant.
In order to test for nitrate transfer ability,
the researchers used nitrogen isotopes to determine the capacity of the fungi
to take nitrate ad deliver it to the plant for intake. Researchers also
identified the gene (NPF4.5) specifically activated in rice roots when joined
by mycorrhizal fungi and were able to identify the role of this gene in nitrate
delivery by producing rice mutants that did not have this transporting gene.
"We found that when the gene is
inactivated, the amount of nitrate that the plant can get from the fungi is
drastically reduced," Dr. Chen said. "Thus, we functionally confirmed
that NPF4.5 was the important protein in the transport of nitrogen from the
fungi to the plant. We also used plant transformation to generate the rice
plants that enrich NPF4.5 proteins in the absence of the mycorrhiza. We found
that these transgenic plants can produce more biomass and show higher nitrogen
uptake efficiency than normal plants when grown in nitrate contained medium,
which has a great potential for use in agriculture."
Researchers estimate that rice containing the
mycorrhizal relationship between plant and fungi could receive more than 40% of
its nitrogen due to the mycorrhizal pathway and that the specific nitrate
transporter gene, NPF4.5, accounted for approximately 45% of the mycorrhizal
nitrate uptake.
López-Arredondo said the next steps in the
project will be to test the transgenic plants under field conditions and deeply
understand the mechanisms that specifically activate the NPF4.5 nitrate
transporter gene when the plant joins with the fungi, as well as discovering
the chemical signals the fungi send to the plant to specifically activate this
and other nutrient transporter genes probably required for this interaction.
Herrera-Estrella, an Emeritus Professor of
Cinvestav in Mexico and member of the US National Academy of Sciences stated
"This is an interesting and productive collaboration between Texas Tech
and the Nanjing Agricultural University," "This type of international
collaboration can rally boost the advancement of science."
Story Source:
Materials provided
by Texas Tech
University. Original written by George Watson. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
1.
Shuangshuang
Wang, Aiqun Chen, Kun Xie, Xiaofeng Yang, Zhenzhen Luo, Jiadong Chen, Dechao
Zeng, Yuhan Ren, Congfan Yang, Lingxiao Wang, Huimin Feng, Damar Lizbeth
López-Arredondo, Luis Rafael Herrera-Estrella, Guohua Xu. Functional
analysis of the OsNPF4.5 nitrate transporter reveals a conserved mycorrhizal
pathway of nitrogen acquisition in plants. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020; 117 (28): 16649
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2000926117
Cite This Page:
Texas
Tech University. "Plant nutrient delivery breakthrough."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 September 2020.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200917105403.htm>.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200917105403.htm
Rice Included
in New Federal Relief Package
By Ben Mosely
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, President Trump and Secretary of
Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced an additional $14 billion dollars in aid for
agricultural producers who continue to face disruptions and costs related to
the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will use
funds being made available from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter
Act and the CARES Act to support row crops including rice, as well as
livestock, specialty crops, dairy, aquaculture, and other commodities.
USDA included rice and made other improvements to the Coronavirus Food Assistance
Program (CFAP) 2 based on stakeholder engagement and public feedback to better
meet the needs of impacted farmers and ranchers.
"America's agriculture communities are
resilient, but still face many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic,"
said Secretary Perdue. "We listened to feedback received from
farmers, ranchers, and agricultural organizations about the impact of the
pandemic on our nations' farms and ranches, and we developed a program to
better meet the needs of those impacted."
CFAP 2 payments will be made for three
categories of commodities - Price Trigger Commodities, Flat-Rate Crops, and
Sales Commodities. Price trigger commodities are designated by meeting a
minimum 5-percent price decline over a specified period of time. Eligible
price trigger crops include barley, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, upland
cotton, and all classes of wheat. Flat-rate crops are those that don't
meet the 5-percent price decline trigger or don't have data available to
calculate a price change. Those payments will be calculated based on
eligible 2020 acres multiplied by $15 per acre. These crops include
alfalfa, extra long staple (ELS) cotton, oats, peanuts, rice, hemp, millet,
mustard, safflower, sesame, triticale, rapeseed, and several others. Payments
will be based on 2020 planted acres of the crop, excluding prevented planting
and experimental acres.
"This assistance is very timely with rice
harvest ongoing or quickly approaching and will help many rice farmers given
the uncertainties in our markets due to COVID-19," said Nicole Montna Van
Vleck, California rice farmer and chair of the USA Rice Farmers.
"While rice farmers weren't eligible for the first round of CFAP, we are
certainly appreciative of USDA for including us in this round of aid."
Producers can apply for assistance beginning
September 21, 2020. Applications will be accepted through December 11,
2020. Additional information and application forms can be found
at farmers.gov/cfap.
For existing Farm Service Agency (FSA) customers, including those who
participated in CFAP 1, many documents are likely already on file.
Producers should check with their FSA county office to see if any of the forms
need to be updated.
The Rise and Fall of the
Quaker Rice Cake, America’s One-Time Favorite Health Snack
Where did they come from and where did they go?
Illustration
by Goldsuit
For many
American children of the ’80s and ’90s, rice cakes — stacked in a column and
kept in long plastic bags — were an omnipresent feature of home kitchens,
preschools, and afterschool programs. I can’t remember the first time I held
one, but I also can’t remember a time before I did. Palm-sized disks, they’re
the same weight as styrofoam with a scant sprinkle of flavor crystals, salt or
maybe cinnamon, dusting the top and coating the crevices between each grain of
puffy rice. No matter the flavor, they lack marshmallow stickiness and cloying
sweetness of Rice Krispies treats, as well as the bake-sale appeal. There was
no right way to bite into a rice cake and definitely no good way to contain the
stream of crumbs that rained down from the corners of my mouth.
There
was, however, that pleasant, satisfying crunch, like taking a chunk out of a
perfectly crisp apple, and that miniscule bit of toasted, sometimes sweet,
sometimes salty, flavor mixed in with a slurry of desiccated rice matter. It
was interesting enough to take down the whole cake, and maybe even dip into the
tube bag for another, and another. After all, I was a hungry kid, and one of
those suckers wasn’t going to satisfy my bottomless pit of an adolescent
stomach.
It’s
that feeling of being just on the border of satisfaction that made rice cakes
such a staple in American households like mine during the late ’80s and ’90s.
During that period of time, many kids like me became well acquainted with diet
fads and foods, to the extent that we sometimes didn’t even realize we were
snacking on them. All the adults around me seemed to be perpetually trying to
lose a few pounds by going on the Atkins Diet or re-enrolling in Weight
Watchers. George Foreman Grills whisked away fat and flavor from meat and chocolate cake-flavored Snackwell’s cookies and
Slim Fast shake filled pantries. Rice cakes, for a while, were common in my
household and something I turned to on the regular for an easy afterschool
snack while waiting for my parents to get off work. I could polish off half a
package in one sitting, completely defying any alleged dietary benefit.
Plenty
of cultures have their own version of rice cakes, but we can partially thank a
botanist named Alexander Pierce Anderson for laying the groundwork for the
American rice cake as we know it. Anderson was working at the New York
Botanical Garden in 1901 studying the water content of nuclei in starch crystals
when, as the story goes, he “discovered” steam-puffed rice. Anderson marketed
the product to Midwestern investors who bought into the idea, but eventually
sold their shares to Quaker, a Midwestern company better known for its oats.
He’d caught the company’s eye by demonstrating his rice “cannon” during the
1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Anderson filled a cylinder with uncooked rice
grains and sealed it off, heating the container while rotating it and
increasing the interior pressure. When the time was right, he used a
sledgehammer to remove the end of the cylinder, sending puffed rice shooting
out like a cannon. Anderson and his team offered bags of the puffed rice to the
crowd for a nickel a bag; they sold 20,000 pounds of puffed rice, according to the Minnesota Historical Society archive. Quaker
used Anderson’s methods to make a variety of cereals and
advertised it as “Food Shot From Guns.”
The rice
cakes in my childhood pantry came from Quaker, but at the time there were
several different companies competing in what the Chicago Tribune referred to as a “rice
cake revolution” in 1986. They included brands like Lundberg Family
Farms, Hain, and Chico-San. The latter was a macrobiotics company established
in 1961 that got its start importing products like soy sauce from Japan and
that eventually developed brown rice cakes in the 1970s — the prototype for the
larger snack trend. Chico-San’s ads proposed trading bread for
rice cakes and using the low-calorie rice saucers as a surface to support jelly, cottage cheese, fruit, and other toppings. By
1984, Heinz swooped in to scoop up Chico-San’s market share. One rice cake
lover suggested to the Chicago Tribune that rice
cakes topped with beans were better than tacos, a statement that suggests that
person had never had a decent taco.
Similarly,
representatives from Quaker tell Eater that rice cakes were first launched as
“a low-carb alternative to bread” in the mid-’80s. The advertisements also
seemed to target women and working mothers with fat-free snacks to be eaten
at work, on the go, and while “kickin’ back.” Print advertisements for Quaker Rice
Cakes from that period show thin, grinning models lying on their flat
leotard-covered stomachs to emphasize the lightness of rice cakes. The
message was clear: Eat this and look like these women. In 1992, the rice cake
and popcorn cake market was valued at $174 million and growing. The following
year, Quaker had bought out Chico-San from Heinz, solidifying the brand’s
dominance as major purveyor of rice cakes with 63 percent of the U.S. rice and
popcorn market, according to the Associated Press.
As for
the actual health benefits of rice cakes, like so many other foods marketed as
“better for you,” they’re really just that — marketing. Rice cakes, while low
in fat, are also low in most other nutrients and may have less fiber than
similar snacking options like crackers. The refined sugars in rice cakes are
also digested quickly in your body,
potentially leaving you hungry sooner. But none of that really matters if
enough people buy into the fad.
But its
popularity did wane. As the low-carb trends declined in the mid-aughts, so too did consumer
appetites for blandly seasoned grain cakes. Even so, brands trafficking in rice
cakes didn’t entirely die out. Quaker reports that it still produces 500
million rice cakes annually, and a representative from Lundberg tells Eater
that the company produced 15 million bags of rice cakes (13 cakes per bag) last
year. Speaking generally, the most popular flavors from both brands are lightly
salted, followed by options like caramel at Quaker and Lundberg’s cinnamon
toast.
Rice
cakes have even seen a resurgence in their fortunes in recent years due partly
to a surging interest in gluten-free foods. Whole Foods, for example, has a
section of its cracker aisle devoted to organic puffed rice and popcorn snacks
for the gluten-averse or -intolerant. While slightly spiffier, the advertising
angle doesn’t seem to have changed much either. Companies like Rice Up still
promote rice cakes as a whole-grain option for weight
control. Lundberg reports that in the past year the
company’s rice cake sales have increased by 14 percent. And, true to its diet
snack roots, Lundberg rice cakes tend to sell best in January — right around
the time people are working on their New Year’s resolutions by renewing their
gym memberships and cutting back on the sauce.
Rice
cakes aren’t going away. They’re merely changing with the times. Following the
Everything but the Bagel seasoning trend sparked by Trader Joe’s, Quaker
introduced “everything”-flavored rice cakes in 2020. Lundberg also touted
recent innovations like the chocolate-covered Chocolate Thin Snackers and
Organic Rice Cake Minis, a bite-sized version of the original product geared
toward adults and kids crunching on the go.
Recently,
I located some rice cakes in the aisles of my own grocery store to indulge the
strange nostalgia that I had for a food that’s sometimes compared to dry
cardboard. It was exactly as I remembered: a circle of airy rice grains smashed
together into a remarkably firm plate. It felt like building material, but the
kind that would disintegrate after a heavy rain. With each bite, my ears rang
with that satisfying crunch and my mouth grew drier. All the downsides of
popcorn but none of the good butter grease. And yet I keep eating them — and
that’s the beauty of a successful snack, right? Eating it doesn’t necessarily
bring contentment. It’s about the experience of the texture and the chase after
just a little more of that wisp of flavor.
https://www.eater.com/2020/9/17/21444184/history-of-quaker-rice-cakes-americas-favorite-health-snack
Fly over fields as rice harvest
commences in California
SEPTEMBER
18, 2020, 7:37 AM
The rice
harvest for 2020 has begun. This is drone footage over Montna Farms near Yuba
City. Most of California’s rice production is in the Sacramento Valley, north
of Sacramento.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article245832100.html
What Government Reports
Tell About Business In Kashmir
Among the other landlocked regions like
Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Punjab, Assam, and Bihar, J&K has scored the least (12.27) in
export preparedness.
EVEN after the removal of Article 370
which was considered a “hurdle” in the development of Jammu & Kashmir,
the Naya
Kashmir still lags in Ease of Doing Business (EODB) and Export
Preparedness Index (EPI).
Ease of Doing Business
The DPIIT started a reform exercise in 2014 to
rank all states and union territories in India based on some reform parameters
with the aim to create a business-friendly environment.
The first report titled “Assessment of State
Implementation of Business Reforms” was released in September 2015 covering the
findings of reforms implemented by States/ UTs under the Business Reform Action
Plan (BRAP).
Similar reports of the ranking came out in 2006
and 2017-18.
The reforms cover 12 broad areas like labour
regulation, land administration, environment regulation, obtaining electric and
water supply, etc.
For the rankings of 2019-20, the assessment is
based only on the feedback from service users and industries. The respondent
data is shared by the states through the BRAP portal.
The users are then surveyed by the DPIIT to
determine the efficacy of the reforms.
Under BRAP 2019-20, feedback is only sought on
those reforms, which has been implemented by the states and UT.
In 2017-18, Kashmir was put under the category
of “aspirers” who have implemented less than 80 percent of reforms. The combine
scoreboard of reform evidence and feedback of J&K was 32.76 percent.
For BRAP 2019-20, out of 187 reforms proposed
by New Delhi, 137 were implemented in the region.
Neighboring states of J&K- Himachal Pradesh
(HP) and Punjab have implemented 175 and 178 reforms respectively. HP ranks 7th and
Punjab ranks 19th in EODB.
However, the methodology used in the 2017-18
ranking is different from that of 2019.
The 2017-18 edition used state government and
user feedback to compute the score, whereas in 2019 only business feedback (for
whom the reforms were intended) was taken onto account.
After the abrogation of Article 370, business
stood standstill for a long time in Kashmir. Covid, in 2020, further dented it.
Tourism, handicrafts, and other retail
businesses have incurred huge losses during the period, which according to the
estimates of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), is Rs
40,000 crores.
Export Preparedness Index 2020
J&K ranks at the bottom (36th) in the first
EPI report prepared by the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of
India, NITI Aayog.
Gujarat at 75.19 emerged as the leading state
followed by Maharashtra (75.14) and Tamil Nadu (64.93).
The scores of J&K in the four pillars are-
policy pillar: 0, business ecosystem pillar: 14.92, export ecosystem: 5.63 and
export performance pillar: 25.87.
Under the business ecosystem pillar, the
sub-pillars like business environment, infrastructure, transport connectivity,
and access to finance scored 7.82, 0, 48.29 and 3,56 respectively.
Some important indicators like labour reforms,
number of investor summits, single-window clearance scored zero.
In the case of the export ecosystem,
sub-pillars like export infrastructure, trade support and R&D
infrastructure scored 9.83, 0, and 2.86 respectively.
Growth and Orientation and export
diversifications sub-pillar under export performance scored 6.96 and 44.78
respectively.
According to the report, “There is a high
scoring range amongst Indian states on the EPI where Gujarat has the highest
score of 75.14 and Jammu & Kashmir with the lowest score of 12.27.”
Since the report considers the data from
2016-17 up to 2018-19, J&K is being considered as a state and is grouped
under the landlocked category.
Among the other landlocked states like
Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Punjab, Assam, and Bihar, J&K has scored the least (12.27) in
export preparedness.
The report mentions that J&K needs to
improve its performance under the policy and the export ecosystem pillars,
considering that it “indicates a glaring paucity in both enabling and
facilitating factors that could drive the states towards export-oriented
growth.”
As per the report, Kashmiri shawls have the
highest Market Performance Index in J&K. It is exported to 44 countries and
accounts for 17.8 percent of the share in the erstwhile state’s total export. Other
items having high Market Performance Index are carpets, medicine put up for
retail sale, shelled walnuts, basmati rice, yarn of polyester and derivatives
of pyridine. Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to
produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors
are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break
big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are
reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while
advertising revenues are falling fast.
As early variety arrival peaks at Punjab
mandis, Basmati rates plunge record 34%
The low price the crop is fetching for farmers in Punjab’s Majha
region, which is the hub of Basmati crop in the state, is happening at a time
when the rates of Basmati in the international market are almost all-time high
between.
Written by Anju Agnihotri Chaba |
Jalandhar | Updated: September 18, 2020 5:56:07 am
The
procuremenbt rates are as low as Rs 1650/quintal.
As
Pavitar Singh, a farmer from Tarn Taran’s Khabe Dogran village, closed the deal
on 40 quintals of early Basmati variety (PUSU 1509), his return was almost Rs
1000 per quintal less than last year.
While
last year Pavitar Singh had sold the same variety at over Rs 2,500 per quintal,
this year he has sold it for Rs 1,651 per quintal.
It is a double
blow, says the farmer, pointing out that his yield this year is around 10
quintal less per acre. The low price the crop is fetching for farmers in
Punjab’s Majha region, which is the hub of Basmati crop in the state, is
happening at a time when the rates of Basmati in the international market are
almost all-time high between Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 per quintal and exporters are
earning a huge profit.
“What I
have sold at Rs 1,651per quintal, traders will sell at the rate of Rs 3,000 to
3,200 per quintal, and then it would be exported for over Rs 5,000 per
quintal,” said Pavitar Singh, adding that he could not hold out for long hoping
for better price as he has no place to store his produce. The Tarn Taran farmer
grows the early variety on 20 acres out of his 60 acres farmland and has so far
harvested PUSA 1509 only on 3 acres.
While
the early variety (1509) arrival has started peaking at the mandis, the late
ones (1121, 1718) will come in October. Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) officials
informed that the rate of the crop started at Rs 2,400 per quintal in the first
few days, but now with as arrival of the early variety of the crop is about to
touch its peak, the rates have crashed badly.
Basmati
crop is not purchased by the government, and the private players — exporters,
local traders and sheller owners – who purchase it have to pay a 4.50 per cent
Mandi fee and Rural Development Fund (RDF) to the PMB. This tax is refundable
to the exporters.
“They
are offering a lesser price because they know that as per the ordinance they
are not supposed to pay 4.50 per cent taxes and also because the government has
not refunded their previous years’ taxes. So, when they failed to get back
their refundable amount from the government, they started targeting farmers and
paying less to them while making huge margins themselves,” said a senior
officer in PMB, adding that ultimately it is the farmer who will face the
losses.
“The big
traders are calculating and deducting their 4.50 per cent taxes before paying
farmers and it is big loot,” he added.
Farmers
call the low price being offered to them as an impact of the Farmers’ Produce
Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance.
Farmer
Gurinder Singh also sold 38 quintals at Rayya Mandi in Amritsar at the rate of
Rs 1,800 per quintal on Wednesday.
Similarly,
Aman Kaler of Ajnala in Amritsar also sold his Basmati produce for Rs 1,800 per
quintal.
Bhartiya
Kisan Union (BKU) Dakuanda General Secretary, Jagmohan Singh, said that the
government can now see for itself how much the ordinance would help farmers.
“For
non-government purchase crops, the private players always join hands and offer
farmers as per their own wishes and same would happen with assured market crops
like wheat and paddy when this ordinance will come into existence,” he said,
adding that for Basmati farmers were getting price lower than paddy (parmal
rice).
“Traders
are telling us that rate would not go up due to Covid-19 and
farmers have no choice but to sell at this price only as they cannot store
their produce for long,” said another farmer, Davinder Singh, who has grown
PUSA 1509 on 30 acres and will start harvesting in the coming week. He added
that that “traders gang-up and create false price in the market when the crop’s
arrival in the mandis is at the peak and after purchasing from farmers the
rates are suddenly changed and go up”.
Punjab’s
Basmati is mainly exported and it contributes more than 40 per cent of the
total export of Basmati worth Rs 34,000 crore per annum.
Vijay
Kalra, President of the Federation of Arhtiya Association Punjab, admitted that
the rate is less as compared to last year. He said that in Amritsar it was
purchased around Rs 2,200 to 2,300 per quintal in the beginning but now some
farmers are getting less because there must be high moisture in the grain
currently.
Director,
Punjab Agriculture Department, Dr Sutantra Airy said that they have worked hard
to increase the area under paddy as it is the best alternatives to water-guzzling
paddy, but the fluctuation in rates would discourage farmers to increase the
area further. He said that Centre must control these rates to ensure farmers do
not suffer.
Out of a
total of around 6.60 lakh hectares of the Basmati area, PUSA 1509 is sown on
around 40 per cent of the area.
Exporters not purchasing yet
The
Basmati exporters, who are major buyers of Basmati in Punjab, have boycotted
the purchase of the premium rice from the state unless the Punjab government
does not waive off Market Committee Fee and Rural Development Fund (RDF).
Ashok
Sethi, Director, Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association, said: “We have
demanded from the government a complete waiver of Market Fee and RDF, which is
4.5 per cent, and only after that we will purchase it.” He added that there is
no point of charging it because it is refundable. “Punjab government has not
refunded Rs 200 crore pending amount of these taxes for the past few years,” he
said.
Has the President erred
in stopping CBN from funding food imports?
What
implication does the President’s directive to the CBN hold for the economy?
September 18, 2020
By
The
President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, last week said, “I
am restating it that nobody importing food or fertilizer should be given
foreign exchange from the Central Bank. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign
reserves to import food or fertilizer. We will instead empower local farmers
and producers.”
Why is the president stopping the CBN from
funding food imports? The answer is simple. The CBN Exchange rates are cheaper
than autonomous sources. The CBN lists the exchange rate for the Dollar at $1
to N379, however the Naira is being sold on the parallel market at N440. Hence,
importers prefer to access CBN funds to import, because it reduces the cost of
those imports. In effect, at N379, the CBN is subsidizing those imports via a
‘strong Naira’
The President’s directive is thus in line with
his new overall push to eliminate all subsidies especially subsidies funded by
the scare US dollar. In this aspect, the President is simply seeking to protect
the foreign reserves which are paying for other imports. So, he is right.
Is this a wise strategy?
Nairametrics
earlier reported on the NBS recently released report on Nigeria’s total spending, which
indicated that about N22.7 trillion was spent on food in 2019. This is 56.7% of
the total spending (N40.2 trillion) for that period.
Where does the food Nigerians eat come from?
Clearly Nigeria has a large agricultural base, but a significant proportion of
Nigeria’s food is imported, and the cost of those imports have risen, as the
value of the Naira has depreciated in relation to the US dollar.
According
to data from the NBS, Nigeria’s spending on food
and drink importation increased from $2.9bn in 2015 to $4.1bn in 2017, but
dipped in 2018.
Have these
imports plus local production met local demand on a consistent basis? The
answer is no. Take rice for instance, the BBC reports that, “Between
2015, when the foreign exchange restrictions for rice came into effect, and
early 2017, the price of a 50kg bag of rice went from $24 to $82 and fell in
mid-2017 to $34, but in June 2019, the price stood at $49.”
The law of supply in economics, states that
when the price of a commodity increases, its supply also increases. Hence,
there is a direct relationship between price and supply of a commodity. In
other words, if the price of rice goes up, more suppliers will enter the market
to supply rice.
However, In Nigeria, as the price of food is
rising, the NBS in the latest Inflation report, says the composite food index
rose by 15.48% in July 2020 compared to 15.18% in June 2020. This rise in the
food index was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Potatoes,
Yam and other tubers, Meat, Fruits, Oils and fats, and Fish. (essentially
everything). The NBS says, the average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality
sold loose) increased year-on-year by 37.72%.
So why has the supply of rice not risen to
correspond with rise in prices? Well, because the supply of rice and other
foodstuff have indeed risen, but the problem remains logistics processing &
storage.
In Nigeria, you only eat corn during corn
season, same with mangoes, and tomatoes. Prices fall during harvest, then rise
after harvest. The problem is not just with the harvest, but getting that
harvest to market, storing the excess, and processing its supplies all year
round. Therefore, imports are needed to plug supply holes. Nigerians in 2019
alone spent N1.9trillion or 4.7% of their budget on rice alone. When the
President banned food importers from getting the CBN dollar at N379; he simply
pushed them to import rice at N440; a N61 difference that will be added to the
cost of imports, and will fuel imported inflation.
Where the president got it wrong is trying to
fix a local logistics problem with a foreign exchange fix.
The solution is to go back to the various food
supply value chains, de-risk and de-cost them. If food is cheap and plentiful,
there will be no need for imports and inflation will fall.
West Africa: Feeding The Future With Homegrown
Rice and Cassava
·
Dakar and Cape Town — The United States African
Development Foundation (USADF) is celebrating a decade of its Feed the Future
campaign, which enables partner organisations to target the root causes of
poverty and hunger. Projects in Burkina Faso and Benin have produced expertise
and economic stability for local agricultural producers.
Growing rice in Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, the Cooperative Mitiiri Rice
Production and Marketing Project led local rice producers to grow an
increasingly sustainable supply of the grain while lowering dependence on
imports from China.
Established in 2009, Mitiri – then named
Association of Young Dynamics for the Development of Bagre – faced financial
difficulties. Help from the USADF helped it to secure production equipment,
storage and and funds to buy rice.
One of the challenge of rice agriculture in the
country is the lack of productive investments and adequate training, and the
USADF worked to provide working capital, capacity building and business
advisory assistance to modernize, provide training to members on post-harvest
techniques, and improve business operations.
As a result, young farmers in the cooperative
are seeing higher domestic sales and revenues and contribute to youth
employment.
Challenges and the Reduction of Chinese Imports
KRE Daouda, the accounting manager of the
Simplified Cooperative Company Mitiiri of Rice Producers of Bagré (SCOOPS
Mitiiri), shared some of the trials and successes that come with rice
agriculture.
One of the biggest challenges is insufficient
production due to the Covid-19 outbreak. “We have noticed that with the
pandemic, the demand for rice at the local level increased, and rice production
to be adjusted. The shift in the training schedule on agricultural
entrepreneurship did not benefit producers. There was also an absence of
manpower the work in the fields,” Daouda said.
But the travel restrictions brought by the
pandemic also meant that SCOOPS Mitiiri sold more products. “The reduction in
rice imports from China had a great impact in the sale of local rice. it must
be said that we no longer have the difficulties as before in selling our
products,” Daouda said.
The co-operative aims to continue making gains
in improving agricultural technique and providing employment in the coming
years, believing that this path to success is something achievable for the
entire continent.
“We believe that Africa as a whole will be able
to produce rice without importing because it is not the land that is lacking
but rather the technical and financial means. At the rate things are going,
with the interest of our governors in agriculture and the support of projects
and NGOs etc., agricultural yields are improving and we are sure that Africa
will meet these challenges.”
“USADFs contribution has helped make us a
leader among the co-operatives in our area.”.
Between 1 October 2010 and March 31, 2020,
USADF invested more than $10 million in Burkina Faso, producing 157 enterprises
and entrepreneurs.
Women of Benin at Forefront of Gari Production
In Benin, the Gbenondjou Cassava Production and
Commercialization Expansion Project saw the development of the Ajahonmè’s
Manioc Transformation Cooperative, a project which aims to feed the population
of West Africa.
The majority of the 25-member co-op are women –
21 of them in fact – and they produce a variety of gari or cassava used in many
dishes in West Africa.
The goal of economic empowerment of women is a
cornerstone of the Cooperative. While a challenge, Gbezounke Sylvie, president
of the Adjahonmey “Gbenondjou” Cassava Transformation cooperative, believes
this is achievable.
The organisation’s efforts secured them a
three-year deal to deliver gari to their newest client, in Senegal. Sylvie
confirms that a first delivery was already made from Cotonou to Dakar, the
Senegalese capital.
According to Sylvie, this new dynamic was
boosted thanks to the support of the USADF, which granted Gbenondjou
much-needed funds between 2017 and 2019.
The Gbenondjou Cooperative used these grants to
build production capacity and purchase equipment to process cassava into gari
while also investing in training its members in financial management,
marketing, improved production techniques and hygiene practices. and sanitation
for production. This, says Sylvie, made it possible to strengthen the
competitiveness and professionalism of the co-op and contribute to food
security, advancing the economic status of the rural women and improve their
quality of life.
From Producers to Successful Women
Entrepreneurs
The lives of the women involved in the co-op
are certainly improved.
A transformation that its president links to
the impact of American support on their activities and their daily lives. For
Sylvie, the support of the USADF has completely changed their lives and the
co-op. “It is thanks to the USADF that our members have started to organize
their activities well and managed to double their production.“This support has
enabled them to make their products competitive while respecting the health and
commercial standards required on the market. “In the market, our products are
sold first because they are now better presented,” Sylvie says proudly.
Profits made have enabled the co-op to acquire
its own land and expand cassava farming areas which, over time, will help boost
the level of yield and production.
“Since this new situation, the women members of
the cooperative have spent less time in the fields and find time to take care
of their household and their children.”
https://thestreetjournal.org/2020/09/west-africa-feeding-the-future-with-homegrown-rice-and-cassava/
Focus on Iraq
09.18.2020
By Chris Lyddon
Iraq, recovering from the effects of war, faces
a new battle with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At the same time as
controls adversely affect its agrifood production and distribution system, the impact
of the crisis on the world economy has hit the value of oil — its one vital
export.
The International Grains Council (IGC)
forecasts Iraq’s total grains production in 2020-21 at 7 million tonnes, up
from 6.5 million the previous year. The wheat crop is predicted at 5.4 million
tonnes, up from 4.8 million. Output of barley is forecast at 1.2 million
tonnes, down from 1.3 million the year before. The country also is expected to
produce an unchanged 300,000 tonnes of rice.
The IGC’s forecast for Iraq’s 2020-21 imports
of grain is 3.2 million tonnes, up from 3.1 million in 2019-20. The 2020-21
total includes 2.8 million tonnes of wheat, up from 2.6 million the previous
year. Rice imports are seen at an unchanged 1.2 million tonnes.
Iraq is a major importer of wheat flour. The
IGC puts its 2020-21 imports at 2 million tonnes, up from 1.9 million the year
before.
In a Country Brief on Iraq dated May 15, the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that conditions for
crop development had been “generally favorable across the country with timely
and well-distributed rains.”
“The northern cereal-producing belt of Kirkuk,
Nineveh and Al Suleymaniah governorates experienced an early autumn dryness
until late November 2019, but abundant precipitation starting from December
significantly improved soil moisture content,” the FAO said.
The FAO forecast a 6.5-million-tonne grains
crop, compared with its forecast for 2019 of 6.8 million.
The Grain Board of Iraq buys from farmers.
“Despite the pressure on the national budget,
reports indicate that farmers are paid in cash upon presenting a letter from
the ministry of trade confirming the quantity and amount due,” the FAO said.
By May 9, the state buyer had purchased 542,000
tonnes of wheat.
“The wheat purchased is then used in the Public
Distribution System (PDS), which distributes subsidized basic food rations to
the population,” the FAO explained. “The total cereal import requirements,
despite the expectations of an above-average 2020 domestic harvest, are
forecast to be near average, a level similar to the previous year, as the
government tries to rebuild stocks that have been recently depleted by the
COVID-19-related stockpiling by consumers.”
In a separate analysis of the effects of the
pandemic, the FAO said Iraq is vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 due to
pre-existing vulnerabilities, including poverty, dwindling natural resources
and ongoing displacement due to past conflicts.
“The collapse of the global oil market in April
has also had serious implications for Iraq’s capacity to import food,” the FAO
said. “Approximately 90% of the government’s income derives from oil revenue.
“From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
government of Iraq has exempted agricultural stakeholders from movement
restrictions, allowing them to continue production and transport of
agricultural goods.”
However, it warned of challenges to supply
chains.
“Unless the constraints facing agricultural
supply chains are addressed, food security and job opportunities will be
affected,” the FAO said.
In an annual report on the grains sector, the
USDA attaché explained Iraq’s system for distributing grain.
“The Public Distribution System was created in
September 1990,” the attaché said. “Since then, the system has been updated a
number of times. It has consistently provided Iraqis access to a range of
staple commodities. In its current iteration, program participants pay 500
Iraqi dinars ($0.42) for each quota of food, which contains shares of flour,
rice, sugar and cooking oil.”
The attaché noted that the program allocates
nine kilograms of flour eight times per year and allots other staples six times
per year.
“The PDS system accounts for a large percentage
of Iraqi wheat consumption,” the attaché said.
The attaché put the total amount of wheat
distributed under the system at approximately 3.96 million tonnes a year.
“However, there are additional amounts consumed
annually in the form of grain or flour, increasing total consumption,” the
attaché said. “A large quantity of the wheat flour distributed under the PDS
system ends up either as animal feed due to poor quality or because families
have no ability to bake the flour.”
Wheat flour milling industry
There are around 300 privately owned flour
mills in Iraq.
“Much of the private sector milling capacity
remains underutilized,” the attaché said. “Private sector mills receive wheat
supplies after the public sector capacity is filled. Some private millers in
the past stopped or limited production due to security concerns. However, this
constraint no longer occurs. The Iraqi government retains ownership of wheat
and products throughout the production process.”
In April 2019, nine flour mills began milling
72% extraction (fine) flour for sale in the Iraqi market, the attaché said.
Prior to this change, the only fine flour available in the Iraqi market was
imported from Turkey, Iran, Kuwait or Jordan as Iraqi mills produce only 80%
extraction flour.
“Iraq continues to import sizable volumes of
wheat flour from Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Jordan,” the attaché said. “Traders
estimate that around 85% of flour imports are Turkish, while the remaining 15%
comes from other countries. Reportedly, around 100 Turkish mills are producing
only for the Iraqi market. Turkish millers produce specifically for the Iraqi
market and label products in Arabic as per the buyers’ specifications.”
As the Iraqi population is beginning to consume
more barley bread over wheat bread for dietary reasons, some wheat flour
imports from Turkey are being replaced by barley flour, which is becoming an
important source for bread in almost all private sector bakeries, the attaché
said.
“Turkish millers sell flour to Iraqi importers
on credit, which is paid on a weekly basis after the product is sold,” the
report said. “Turkish flour prices are reportedly competitive and stable, in
spite of wheat market fluctuations.
“As crossings are limited in the mountainous
border region, an advanced logistics and shipping system has developed around
the city of Zakho. Reliable statistics on cross-border trade are not available
and large volumes of unregistered product are likely flowing to Iraq from both
Iran and Turkey.”
Other grains
The attaché put 2020-21 barley consumption at
1.685 million tonnes.
“Iraqis generally use barley as animal feed for
sheep, goats, and beef and dairy cattle, which would compete directly with feed
grade wheat,” the report said. “Some breads and other dishes for human
consumption are produced with barley. However, barley in this case is mostly
imported from Turkey and the volumes are low.”
According to the attaché, corn production has
been increasing because of rises in yield and area, with agriculture ministry
promoting higher yielding hybrid varieties, mostly imported from the United
States. Consumption is predicted at 720,000 tonnes in 2020-21.
“Corn in Iraq is mainly used by poultry feed
mills, but the use of corn by the aquaculture sector is also increasing,” the
attaché said. “Traders supply most imported corn to feed mills. Feed mills
prefer imported corn, especially South American origin, due to the quality,
moisture rate, and low occurrence of aflatoxins.”
Rice production was briefly prohibited in 2018
in the face of drought, as officials diverted supplies to drinking water,
industrial uses and horticulture, the attaché said.
The report put 2020-21 consumption at 1.6
million tonnes, with around 720,000 tonnes distributed through the public
system.
“Currently, program participants receive three
kilograms of rice every two months,” the attaché said.
Private firms also mill domestic rice and sell
it on the local market.
“Long-grain variety Basmati rice is mainly
imported from India via UAE,” the attaché said.
Chris Lyddon is World Grain’s European
correspondent. He may be contacted at: chris.lyddon@ntlworld.com.
https://www.world-grain.com/articles/14242-focus-on-iraq
President for
diversification, value addition to explore untapped export markets
APP
President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday said the
diversification and value addition of products were a must to achieve higher
exports and explore the yet untapped global markets, particularly the African
region. Addressing the 4th Export Trophy arranged by the Lahore Chamber of
He said unlike the past, the modern
technologies had made it easier for the businessmen to assess the requirements
of targeted markets to help design the supply chain accordingly.
He said currently Pakistan’s exports revolved
around cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane, which necessitated the
diversification of existing products and investment in modern fields like the
information technology.
He told the audience that until 2010, the
world’s top 10 companies hailed from the oil sector but currently they had been
replaced by the IT (information technology) firms, which manifested the huge
scope of the sector. The president, who earlier distributed export trophies
among the Lahore-based businessmen for their remarkable contribution in the
exports sector, also advised the agriculturalists to think out of the box and
consider producing sugar from beetroots to replace the sugarcane which burdened
the water resources.
He said the flood irrigation of crops caused
huge wastage of rain waters which needed to be mended through modern technology
to preserve the natural resource . He said under the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami,
the government had massively planted olive trees to meet the country’s needs as
well as opening up export opportunities. The president particularly advised the
businessmen to adhere to the principles of morality, honesty and sincerity in
their trade across the globe, which ultimately paid back in the long term.
He said as an initiative to promote Pakistan’s
fruits abroad, the President House dispatched mango packs to different heads of
state along with descriptive pamphlets. He also asked the business community to
support the industry workers and create job opportunities for women and
differently-abled people. The president viewed that Pakistan had successfully
sailed through the COVID-19 pandemic due to Allah Almighty’s blessings and
support extended to the needy ones by the people as well as the government
under the Ehsaas Programme.
Earlier, LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said
the export trophy was meant to encourage the businessmen to diversify and
increase their exports. He thanked the government for extending support to the
business sector particularly during the pandemic and also lauded its policies
to bring ease of doing business. He said fortunately, the pandemic did not
affect Pakistan’s exports as the indicators showed positive growth comparing
with the last year.
He, however, urged his fellow businessmen to
tap the Halal Food and IT sectors for exports and focus the African region,
besides requesting the government to establish export processing zones.
Traders organize training
workshop for rice value chain
Published On 18 September,2020 10:20 am
More than 40 rice mills participated in the event.
ISLAMABAD (APP) – The rice traders organized
safety and capacity building training workshop for rice millers and other
agriculture sector stakeholders in rice value chain, especially to protect the
work place rights of woman rice transplanter.
The Rice Partners Pvt Ltd (RPL) one of the top
rice exporter of Pakistan in collaboration of Helvetas Pakistan and Swiss
Solidarity piloted another Phase-III training workshop to train the
agri-workers associated with rice value chain to create awareness of field work
for women agri-workers, said a press release issued here.
The development sector organizations also
involved in the training process to sensitize the agriculture women workers
about fundamental rights of the children of female agriculture workers,
especially the rice transplanters.
The Rice Partners Pvt Ltd (RPL) one of the top
rice exporter of Pakistan in collaboration of Helvetas Pakistan and Swiss
Solidarity piloted a training workshop to train the rice millers, development
sector organizations to sensitize them about fundamental rights of the children
of female agriculture workers, especially the rice transplanters, said a press
release issued here.
More than 40 rice mills including organizations
from development sectors, academia and media personnel participated in the
event.
Manager Sustainability RPL, Zafar Iqbal while
giving the opening remarks highlighted the initiatives of RPL to promote and
ensure decent working conditions in rice value chain of Pakistan.
He said that RPL started its philanthropic work
from the development of farmers and now it has expanded to the labourers of
agriculture sector.
Zafar said that RPL has trained more than
2,8000 farmers on sustainable rice production and also provided them the
facility of land laser leveling on 50% cost sharing basis.
Manager Sustainability RPL also narrated that
RPL is also working for welfare of agriculture labor. RPL established Community
Mother Centers at multiple villages of district Sheikhupura in which decent
environment was provided to the children of agriculture labour particularly
female rice transplanters.
He added that Free Medical Camps were also
organized to provide free medication to the rice transplanters at their working
places throughout the rice transplanting season.
He said that around 15,000 families engage in
rice transplanting every year only from district Sheikhupura and more than
100,000 from all over the Punjab.
A common practice is that all members from a
family take part in transplanting work and children from those families also
accompanied their parents.
Renowned Senior Child rights activist and
consultant Ms Sadia Hussain said that physical, emotional and psychological
health of children belonging to agriculture labour must be considered for a
conducive working environment in the rice value chain.
She said that the protection of children and vulnerable
adults is a collective societal responsibility.
She said that we must protect the fundamental
rights of children particularly right to name, education, health, safety,
security; freedom of expression, freedom of association without any discrimination
on the basis of race, colour, gender, religion, caste and creed.
She further added that children particularly
children of agriculture sector labour must be protected against abuses,
violence, forced labor and any physical or emotional torture.
Senior Corporate and Development sector
Consultant, Annan Waffi Qureshi on the occasion said that juvenile rights
should be prioritized in every sector including the agriculture sector.
He highlighted the mode of communication to
create the awareness for children’s rights and their protection, especially who
belongs to the families working in the rice value chain.
He said that to engage the children in labour
work whether forcefully or voluntarily is now a crime in Pakistan and everyone
who is present here must raise his/her voice against this crime.
He also highlighted the referral mechanism to
report the cases of violation of rights of children. He further added that
there are a number of government and non-government organizations that are
working for protection of rights of children.
Child Protection and Welfare Bureau and Search
for Justice are the prominent institutes which are particularly working for
protection of children and stopping violations of their rights.
Field Manager, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation,
Mr. Zahid Rehman also addressed the participants on the occasion.
He said that working conditions of the farms
were highly hazardous and exposed children to several risks of insect bites,
injuries and infections, exposure to extreme heat and pesticides without any
shelter.
Rehman added that keeping in view the hazardous
conditions of farms Helvetas and RPL provided moveable backpack canopies
covered from all sides to the children of rice transplanters to avoid the
insects and provision of shelters along with the dry food, repellents, and
water coolers in rice cultivation region of the Punjab.
He further added that similarly, for the larger
group of families working jointly at farm level, a bigger shelter tent along
with solar plates, fans, air cooler, water cooler and first aid boxes were
provided to keep the children in a healthy and safe environment at farm level.
https://dunyanews.tv/en/Business/564506-Traders-organize-training-workshop-rice-value-chain
Rice
farmers want sale of rice seed licensed
Govt to procure scanners
to detect fake ag...
Rice farmers want sale of
rice seed licensed
By Hope
Mafaranga
17th
September 2020 01:43 PM
“Many
women in rural areas in Uganda cannot get a daily income as I do. Many often
have a tendency of judging jobs, not knowing that even a journey of a thousand
miles starts with one step.”
Mustafa
Affan, a farmer, preparing a rice garden. (Photo by Hope Mafaranga)
Agnes
Kadogo, a mother of two, came from Tanzania to Uganda in 2015 to look for a
job.
Kadogo's
search landed her in a rice garden. At first, it was so hard for Kadogo to come
to terms with the hard labour and working in the swamp where rice is planted.
But,
because that was the opportunity that had come her way, Kadogo decided to have
a change of mindset.
"I
stopped focusing on the mud. I wake up daily to this muddy garden to dig
because I realised what I was getting myself out of the job," she said.
Kadogo,
who now works at Kibimba in Bugiri district, said she earns sh6,000 daily,
which she says is a dream come true.
"Many
women in rural areas in Uganda cannot get a daily income as I do. Many often
have a tendency of judging jobs, not knowing that even a journey of a thousand
miles starts with one step," she says.
Kadogo
has taken care of her two children. She says she is also gaining more experience
so that when she goes back to her home country, she can employ other people.
She,
however, asked the government to license rice seeds so that farmers can get
quality and clean seeds.
"Tanzania
grows rice because it is one of the staple foods there. Finding a job in a rice
company was a godsend because I am now earning and saving. My long term goal is
to go back to Tanzania and buy land, where I will still engage in rice farming
because I now have the experience. I know the right seeds to plant, the inches
to measure when I am making a nursery garden and, above all, I have got the
market and economic knowledge on the rice," she said.
Mustafa
Affan, a resident of Bugunga village in Bugiri district and a father of four,
said he could not think about another job other than growing rice. He says the
sh5,500 that he earns daily for the less than six hours of work in the garden,
is better than many odd jobs that youth engage in.
FARMERS
GET A BOOST
Jemilah
Nabirye, another rice farmer in Butaleja district, said when the International
Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) started the Resilient Efficient
Agribusiness Chains in Uganda (REACH-Uganda) project in Butaleja, she did not
know that she could get 20 bags of rice out of half an acre.
She said
before REACHUganda project came, they practised subsistence farming and did not
bother about markets.
The
REACH-Uganda project has improved the level of market engagement by farmers,
strengthened household resilience and increased the availability of agriculture
support services, farmers and businesses in the rice value chains.
Nabirye
said by employing a market systems approach to development, they have boosted
their local markets and they now function more effectively, sustainably and
beneficially for the farmers.
She,
however, said finding clean seed for rice is next to impossible since
government has not licensed the sale of rice seeds. "We are still planting
seeds that we get from our harvests, which compromises the quality and quantity
of our yields.
If the
government could speed up the process of allowing big actors in the rice
farming to produce clean seed, it will go a long way in improving the quality
of the rice we produce and also give farmers more profit," she said.
Ronald
Lamo, the IFDC regional co-ordinator, said they have trained nearly 40,000 rice
farmers to improve their capacity on how to access rice markets and increase
productivity.
REACH-Uganda
encourages farmers to emphasise climate-smart agricultural practices, diversify
their income sources and teaches them how to access to finance.
The
project is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Partners
include Cardno Emerging Markets, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry,
and Fisheries (MAAIF), the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO),
and the Royal Tropical Institute.
CHALLENGES
Lamo
said the government's policy to import rice from China, Pakistan and India was
affecting the local farmers since the cost of production of the foreign
businesses is way lower than for local farmers.
WORKING
WITH OUT-GROWERS
Venugopal
Pookat, the managing director of Kibimba Limited, said they are training
out-growers to produce their own seed. Abubaker Kiirya, the chairperson of
Geshaho farmers savings group in Napinga village, Busolwe subcounty in Butaleja
district, said IFDC taught them a saving culture and connected them to
financial institutions.
"We
started borrowing sh5m, in 2017, but now our loan facility has grown to
sh45m," he said. Kiirya said they were also given technical advice on how
to utilise the money they get from banks.
SOLUTION
Lamo
said they have created linkages between farmers and traders, to eliminate
middlemen. "We also organise them to groups and link them with the
Microfinance Support Centre, where farmers are given money as a group," he
said.
David
Slane, the Chief of Party and country representative of IFDC, said they are
working with the Integrated Seed Sector Development Project and coordinating
with the Directorate of Seed Certification under the agriculture min
istry,
to ensure that the firms are formally licensed to produce rice seed that meets
all the legal requirements under the prevailing seed regulation
https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1527233/rice-farmers-sale-rice-seed-licensed
Pakistan risks damage to
export as India applies for GI tag to basmati in EU
India is
also registering Himalayan salt, Multani mitti with Indian names in the
international market
By Ghulam Abbas
September
17, 2020
ISLAMABAD: While
Pakistan is yet to implement the Geographical Indications (GI) law promulgated
in March this year, India has applied for an exclusive GI tag to Basmati rice
in the European Union (EU).
The EU
has subsequently published the application of India in its official journal on
September 11, 2020, showing Basmati rice as an Indian origin product, despite
the fact that similar rice is widely produced in Pakistan.
Interestingly,
officials of the Ministry of Commerce, when contacted, were unaware of this
major development which could ultimately damage Pakistan’s exports, such as the
aromatic rice, to European countries.
Earlier
last month, Adviser to the Prime Minister (PM ) on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood
had directed the officials to implement the GI since it was promulgated as a
law over five months ago.
It may
be mentioned here Pakistan, after a delay of almost 18 years, had enacted
Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act in March this year.
According
to EU’s official journal, any country can oppose the application for
registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2) (a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012
of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for
agricultural products and foodstuffs within three months from the date of
publication.
As per
the Indian application, basmati is special long grain aromatic rice grown and
produced in a particular geographical region of the Indian sub-continent. In
India, this region is a part of northern India, below the foothills of the
Himalayas forming part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). The special
characteristics of basmati are its long slender kernels with a high length to
breadth ratio, an exquisite aroma, sweet taste, soft texture, delicate
curvature, intermediate amylose content, high integrity of grain on cooking,
and linear kernel elongation with least breadth-wise swelling on cooking.
Further,
India has claimed that basmati is grown and produced in all districts of
the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, as well as
in specific districts of western Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Interestingly,
to support its claim, India has also referred various dictionaries such as
Oxford Dictionary which defines basmati as ‘a kind of long-grain Indian rice
with a delicate fragrance’, the French dictionary, Larousse, which defines
basmati as an ‘Indian, long grain rice, very appreciated’ and the Cassell food
dictionary which defines it as ‘a superior type of Indian white rice which is
long grained and slender’.
India
has also referred other reports to show that the basmati rice is of Indian
origin without mentioning that the same is produced in Pakistan.
Leading
rice exporter and former office bearer of Rice Exporters Association of
Pakistan (REAP) Taufiq Ahmed says that the Indian application at EU must be
opposed immediately as it would badly damage Pakistani products’ exports to
European countries.
He said
that despite repeated requests and reminders, concerned authorities in Pakistan
have been ignoring this serious issue for years and now if the problem is not
handled swiftly then we would be left with no option but to sell basmati rice
with an Indian name/brand.
“Apart
from opposing the GI tag from the EU, Pakistan must also consult international
dictionaries to rectify the definition as the same rice is largely produced in
Pakistan. Unfortunately, India is also registering Himalayan salt and Multani
Matti with Indian names in the international market,” he said.
According
to an official at Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO), an attached
department of the Ministry of Commerce which drafted the GI law, the Indian application
would definitely be opposed in the EU.
He said
that since the GI law has been promulgated, Pakistan would take up the issue of
all GI products of Pakistani origin with the EU.
According
to officials, Basmati was already recognised as a product of both India and
Pakistan in the European Rice Regime and its Duty-Free Regime, making it
illegal for India to claim exclusive rights of Basmati in the EU.
“The
Cambridge dictionary and Wikipedia also show the product as originating from
Pakistan and India,” he added.
It may
be recalled here both India and Pakistan have approved the GI law which
includes basmati as a product of their respective origin. The protection of
geographical indications is aimed at boosting exports, helping support rural
development in the country, and enhancing the livelihood of agriculture
producers and skilled craftsmen.
Furthermore,
the marketing of GI products also enhances secondary economic activities and
boost regional economic development in various regions boosting economic
development. GI law protects local products such as the Peshawari chappals,
Multani blue pottery, Hunza apricots, Hala ajrak, Kasuri methi, Chaman grapes,
Turbat dates etc.
Member
countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) need to give protection to GIs
under Article 22-24 of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPs) agreement. Unless Pakistan provides GI protection, it cannot
obtain the same for its own goods in other countries that have the GI law. The
GI law covers a wide variety of industrial, agricultural, and horticultural
products among others.
Punjabi
farmer saves the country from "ship to mouth" situation, will fight
at every platform - Rana Gurjit singh
ASHOK KAURA | September 19, 2020 10:18 AM
FacebookTwitterWhatsAppPinterestLinkedInPrint
KAPURTHALA:MLA Rana Gurjit singh from
kapurthala today said that the congress party under the leadership of chief
Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will fight from " Sarak to sansad" (
Road to Parliament) to save the farming community from the three anti farmer
ordinance passed by the Union Government.
Terming these ordinances as an organized crime
against the farmers of the country especially the Punjabi farmers who saves the
country from " ship to mouth" situation from last 50 years by
bringing Green revolutions, the MLA said that " it will not provides the
control to MNCs by maintaining their monopoly on the market but will also ruin
the economy of the state.
He said that the punjabi farmers have made the
country self reliant on food grains even destroying their natural resources
like underground water but the NDA Government with the unconditional support of
so called champion of farmers Sharomani Akali Dal has passed these ordinances to
ruin the agrarian based economy of the state.
Talking about the deep impact of these
ordinances, the MLA said that the multi national companies are going to control
the raw material and crop production in the country, leaving the owners of land
into no where. In Punjabs context these ordinances will abolish the mandi
system in the state which will be a great threat to the earning of farmers,
arthiyas, labourers , rice millers etc.
Earlier the MLA and Deputy commissioner
kapurthala Deepti Uppal and farmers from the district were took part in the
virtual kisan mela of the Punjab agriculture university.
The farmers have been advised to take part in
virtual kisan mela by approaching www.kisanmela.pau.edu. on September 19.
Eng Christopher Kasozi
lived twice
By David
Sseppuuya
Added
18th September 2020 04:45 PM
And so
Kasozi’s 1975 brush with the mercurial President Amin could have been fateful.
Eng.
Christopher Kasozi Kaya
OPINION
The
period July/August and then October 1975 was arguably the highest point in the
well-told career of then Ugandan President, General Idi Amin. It was also
unquestionably the lowest for one of the country's most senior technocrats.
With the OAU summit Uganda, therefore, could not afford any hiccups. Anxiety
levels were palpable, government officials pulling and tugging to ascertain
that the conference went on without a hitch: cleaning Kampala, securing
borders, drilling schoolchildren in parade gymnastics, expelling beggars,
stopping at nothing to keep dozens of African leaders happy (nobody seems to
have told the Nigerian military, who overthrew General Yakubu Gowon — Go On
With Our Nigeria — while he was in Uganda). For Eng. Christopher Kasozi Kaya,
the task was a simple one: ensure that there was adequate and uninterrupted
water supply at all key venues.
By 1975, the effects of the disastrous Economic War, declared by Amin in 1972,
had begun to kick in, with scarcities of not only "essential goods"
like soap, sugar and cooking oil, but also spare parts for motor vehicles and
industrial machinery.
Knowing the frequency of breakdown of pumps and other equipment at the National
Water & Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Kasozi decided to hedge his
bets.
The systems at the Gaba station were broken and NWSC decided to ferry water in
trucks (bowsers) and fill Nakasero's Gunhill Tank (adjacent to State House and
the Sheraton) that would supply the key conference venues — Nile Mansions
(Serena Hotel today), International Conference Centre and International Hotel
(Sheraton Hotel) — to ensure an uninterrupted flow. A jumpy and suspicious
President presumed that Kasozi was sabotaging the conference and promptly fired
him.
This was a time when a number of public servants lost their lives on account of
professional decisions that would end up rubbing powerful individuals the wrong
way. Joseph Mubiru, the former Governor of the Bank of Uganda and Kasozi's
former collegemate at Trivandrum University in India in the 1950s, had been
abducted and presumably murdered by state agents in September 1972, five days
before another senior technocrat, Chief Justice Benedicto Kiwanuka, disappeared
forever in similar circumstances, faulted for taking professional positions on
national matters. Frank Kalimuzo, the Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University,
had also been murdered following abduction, so the trend was evident, and the
dread would have been tangible.
In 1965, Kasozi had become the first Ugandan Engineer Manager of the Kampala
& District Water Board, taking over from a departing British expatriate. In
1973, when NWSC was formed, he became founding Managing Director.
Kasozi was among a clutch of young technocrats who would take over governance
and management, and at Trivandrum University in South India, his six years
(1954-1964) studying engineering were to overlap with those of other Ugandan
students, like the perennial Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, Akbar Adoko Nekyon (first
Ugandan minister of Information), Mubiru (first Governor of BOU), Wilson Kityo
(Chief Magistrate) and Godfrey Lule (Attorney General). Kasozi would recall a
relentless diet of rice of his days in India: rice for breakfast; rice at
lunch; rice for dinner, all served with hot piri piri, in dubious nutrition
rather like some communities in Uganda do eat bananas — bogoya, gonja, matooke,
ndizi, as well as banana beer all year round; or those that do unremittingly
consume maize in the form of porridge, popcorn for breakfast, cornflakes,
posho/ugali, roast-on-the-cob, and in a potent gin!
And so Kasozi's 1975 brush with the mercurial President Amin could have been
fateful.
As it were, upon dismissal for trying to ensure a flawless and flowing OAU
summit, Kasozi chose the quiet life, retreating into private practice with his
own firm and in service to the Church. In 1975 Kasozi was 45 years old, which
was also just about the life expectancy for a Ugandan male — fate, divine or
otherwise, had him survive both a natural death and potential execution at the
hands of an insecure state terror machinery.
His survival granted him a second lease on life, effectively doubling his span
to the ripe old age of 90, at which he rested last month. It was a life
well-lived.
Kasozi survived by his widow, Mary Kasozi Kaya, and children Paul Sebirumbi,
Peter Segujja, Eva Nabawanda Semakula, Patrick Sebanwagi, Philip Seruwagi, and
Phares Sekalala.
Eng.
Christopher Kasozi Kaya was born on January 17, 1930, and he died on August 26,
2020. He studied at Aggrey Memorial, Kings College Budo and Trivandrum
University.
He was
the first Ugandan Manager, Kampala and District Water Board and first Managing
Director National Water and Sewerage Corporation. He was first chairman Uganda
Institute of Professional Engineers, He was fellow, Economic Development
Institute of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and
Board of Governors, Mengo Hospital.
https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1527339/eng-christopher-kasozi-lived-twice
Indian rice exporters increase considerations
after Iran begins putting orders for basmati from Pakistan
September 17, 2020by John Show
Iran has began putting orders with Pakistan for
basmati rice, elevating considerations of Indian basmati rice exporters who’ve
stalled exports to the Gulf nation attributable to non-payment of their dues
price Rs 1,700 crore. However, exporters see this merely as a brief blip.
“Yes, we have heard that Iran has placed some
order with Pakistan recently. It is nothing unusual. However, Pakistan exports
6 lakh tonnes of basmati rice in the world markets whereas India’s exports
stands at 4.4 – 4.5 millon tonnes,” stated Vinod Kaul, government director, All
India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA).
Kaul stated that it’s a momentary phenomenon
and as soon as Iran clears its dues, India will once more begin exporting to
the nation. Iran accounts for 34% of India’s basmati exports to the abroad
markets.
Kaul stated exporters are anxious about once
they get their a refund.
“They are extremely worried. Also, if Pakistan
gradually increases its presence in Iran, then may be in the long term, it may
create some problems for Indian exporters,” he stated.
A Crisil examine has said that Iran, which
imports round 1.three million tonne of basmati rice yearly, is predicted to
register 20 per cent decrease quantity from India as payment-related points
proceed from final fiscal due to US sanctions.
India and Iran have been discussing the barter
buying and selling system for practically a yr now, ever because the Trump
administration started imposing robust financial sanctions on Tehran. Iran has
stated it would purchase basmati rice, sugar and medicines from India in lieu
of fertilisers. A last determination is but to be taken.
Exports with Iran must be resumed quickly as
basmati manufacturing is predicted to be greater this yr. In the final kharif
season, India produced 7.5 million tonnes of basmati rice. “This year, the
acreage has increased and we are expecting 8 million tonnes of rice,” stated
AIREA’s Kaul.
Gurnam Arora, joint managing director, Kohinoor
Foods stated Pakistan has been sending basmati rice to Iran by way of some convoluted
enterprise route. “The payment was being made in cash. But with India, Iran has
a transparent business model. The buyers may have placed some order with
Pakistan to meet temporary demand. This will no way impact Indian exports going
ahead.”
Arora added that Iran’s personal crop will
begin coming by October after which the nation won’t require imported basmati.
“Moreover, Indian basmati is superior than basmati from our neighbouring
nation,” he added.
Olam Urges International Brands to Adopt New
Rice Eco-label to Allow Consumers to Support Farmers and Promote Sustainable
Rice Production
Submitted by:Olam
International
Categories:Sustainability, Environment
Posted:Sep 18, 2020 – 09:31 AM ESTPhoto credit: Olam Rice
Speaking ahead of UN Climate Week, Paul
Nicholson, Head of Rice Research and Sustainability for Olam’s global rice
business said, “Unlike crops such as coffee and cocoa, consumers have no
awareness of the sustainability issues associated with rice, and therefore, no
impetus to change them. This label can help galvanise consumer action behind
rice – an affordable food that’s unique in its international appeal and the
largest food source on earth.
“I know that a label cannot transform a sector
overnight, but it can give consumers a chance to catalyse real change. It can
give brands a purpose-driven marketing campaign and allow brands and retailers
to lead from the front. As Olam has experienced through our own farmer
engagement programmes, the SRP Standard works:
farmer incomes are increasing by 10-20% while methane emissions are reduced by
up to 50%. Now with the Assurance Scheme it will catalyse both ends of the
value chain for greater scale.”
The ‘SRP-Verified’ Label has been developed by the Sustainable Rice Platform – a grouping of over 100 public, private,
research, financial institutions and civil society organisations led by the
development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH
(GIZ), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI).
The majority of
the world’s rice farmers earn just US$2-7 a day and paddy fields emit up to 20%
of global manmade methane emissions – a gas more potent than carbon
dioxide.
Paul Nicholson
continues, “In 2016 and in partnership with GIZ, Olam was the first private
company to trial the SRP indicators with farmers in Thailand. I have seen
first-hand what a difference it is making. At Olam we are intent on supporting
this initiative to supply SRP-verified rice to allow our customers and partners
to re-imagine this sector by improving the livelihoods of farmers and their
families, and protecting the environment.
Rice is
integral to the global food security system. 144 million households are growing
the world’s rice, yet 90% are living at or near the poverty line.
Through SRP,
women – often the main labourers – are able to gain their own land tenure
certificates. It is also enabling freshwater to be preserved as farmers are
learning to keep records, to reduce water, to reduce pesticides. Migratory
birds can feed in the vital wetlands without risk of contamination or culling,
eating pests naturally.
Paul Nicholson
continues, “Our team in India is working with a community who had drawn so much
groundwater for irrigation that their community water-source has turned saline.
Through the SRP Standard we are helping them to reduce water use and recharge
the local aquifer to address the balance between agriculture and local water
use.
“Thanks to
partnerships with GIZ, as well as the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and respective
governments, we are currently providing SRP Standard training to about 35,000
farmers in Nigeria, 750 in India, 10,000 in Thailand and 4,000 in Vietnam. But
our vision is to see the SRP Standard scaled by the sector so that the label is
just as accessible on consumer packs in those domestic nations as it is in
international markets.
Other actions
being taken by Olam’s rice team and our partners include:
·
Putting data into the hands of customers
through Olam’s revolutionary supply chain sustainability insights
platform AtSource, which tracks
150 data points across 9 core sustainability topics, connected to 12
Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to monitoring the farm-level
indicators under SRP and any additional requirements from customers, AtSource
provides social and environmental footprints for the full journey of the product
– through processing and logistics to the manufacturer’s door. Tools include
country risk assessments and an eco-calculator that can give carbon, water and
land use change footprints per tonne of product, essential when reporting
impacts for third party supply chains.
·
Participating in sector-wide initiatives
including the Sustainable Rice Landscapes
Initiative (SRLI).
·
Through Olam’s Re-Imagineers programme, we are
actively exploring opportunities to commercialise rice biomass straw to unlock
value for farmers and Olam into packaging and other uses.
Five facts about global rice production†
1.
Worldwide, 3.5 billion people consume rice and
144 million family farmers produce rice, tragically some 90% of them live at or
near the poverty line – many of them are women
2.
1 out of 4 farmers in the world are rice
smallholders, who earn on average US$2 to US$7 per day from rice
3.
Irrigated rice cultivation uses 30-40% of the
world’s freshwater and is responsible for 10% of global man-made methane
emissions
4.
Rice production is a leading cause of habitat
loss, both in wetlands and forests
5.
Global rice consumption is projected to grow
13% from 2018 to 2027, requiring 500 million tons of milled rice annually
# # #
About Olam International Limited
Olam
International is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients,
feed and fibre to 25,200 customers worldwide. Our value chain spans over 60
countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well
as a sourcing network of an estimated 5 million farmers.
Through our
purpose to ‘Re-imagine Global Agriculture and Food Systems’, Olam aims to
address the many challenges involved in meeting the needs of a growing global
population, while achieving positive impact for farming communities, our planet
and all our stakeholders.
Headquartered
and listed in Singapore, Olam currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary
listed companies in terms of market capitalisation on SGX-ST.
To subscribe to the Olam Newsroom please
click here (privacy statement here). If you do
not wish to receive information from Olam please contact media@olamnet.com
More information on Olam can be found at www.olamgroup.com.
Follow @olam
Olam is located at 7 Straits View, Marina One
East Tower #20-01, Singapore 018936.
Telephone: +65 63394100, Facsimile: +65 63399755.
Contacts for Corporate Communications
Nikki Barber
Group Head of PR
nikki.barber@olamnet.com
+44 2074848994, 7568108555
Issued on behalf of Olam International Limited
by:
WATATAWA
Consulting, 77 Robinson Road, Robinson 77 #33-00, Singapore 068896
Ong Chor Hao
Deputy Director
chorhaoo@we-watatawa.com
+65 96272674
Hoong Huifang
Manager
hhoong@we-watatawa.com
+65 91280762
* Launched 14 September: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-backed-label-launched-help-shoppers-choose-environmentally-0
† Sourced from SRP: http://www.sustainablerice.org
For more information, please contact:
Zoe Maddison Group PR Manager
Phone: +44 (0)78 2590 4234
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