Razak
Dawood assures exporters of complete support
| Advisor to PM inaugurates
Export Facilitation Centre at LCCI
September 06,
2020
LAHORE-Advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce
and Investment Abdul RazakDawood Saturday assured full support to exporters.
Abdul
RazakDawood was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He
also inaugurated the Export Facilitation Centre at LCCI. He hoped that LCCI
Export Facilitation Centre will contribute in enhancing exports and will
provide services to the exporters. He also said that government will safeguard
the interests of local IT industry by not signing the ITA (Information
Technology Agreement). He said that along with goods exports, Pakistan needs to
increase exports of services.
Razak Dawood
informed that the government has abolished import duties on 41% industrial raw
materials which are more than 1600 tariff lines.
He said the
Ministry of Commerce is working on a three-year plan to rationalize tariff,
especially the duties on raw materials. The plan would be finalized in
consultation with chambers and associations and will encourage value addition.
Federal govt.
allocated 62 percent, says Asad Umar
Ministry of
Commerce is also working on making the process of getting refunds easier for
the exporters, he said, adding that the function of setting tariff is now being
done by Ministry of Commerce which was previously being determined by the
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Speaking on the
occasion, President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Irfan Iqbal
Sheikh said that LCCI believes in keeping sound working relations with the govt
departments, especially the Ministry of Commerce for the betterment of our
economy and industry.
The President
of Lahore Chamber said that the retail sector has incurred lot of costs and
efforts on the development of infrastructure for integration with the FBR’s
computerized system for real time reporting. However, the benefit of reduced
rate of sales tax (from 14% to 12%) is being provided to limited sectors (i.e.
finished fabric, textile and textile made-ups and leather and artificial
leather related products). LCCI recommends that all the sub sectors of retail
sectors should benefit from the reduced rate of 12%. He suggested that no audit
should be conducted for at least 2 years for such retailers who opt for
integration under this regime.
New agreements
to stop hike in electricity tariff: FM Qureshi
He said that
the COVID-19 has adversely impacted the Pakistan’s economy which is already
facing stiff economic challenges including high debt, devaluation, inflation,
fiscal deficit and shrinking of GDP. The industrial sector has also been facing
negative growth rate since the last couple of years.
Irfan Iqbal
Sheikh said the exports hold great importance for Pakistan’s economy as they
are the main source of revenue generation, employment creation and maintaining
balance of payments stability.
He said
Pakistan’s export products are heavily concentrated in textiles, leather and few
other items. There is a need to diversify our exports, especially focusing on
potential sectors like Halal food, information technology, engineering
industry, surgical instruments, sport goods and pharmaceuticals etc.
He also
mentioned the export potential of IT sector, saying that Pakistan has presence
of over 5,000 IT companies and call centers and a sufficient number of IT
professionals who are also good in spoken English while every year almost
20,000 IT graduates are being produced at national level. There is a great
potential of taking our IT exports well beyond the current level of $1 billion.
CJCSC Gen Nadeem
Raza meets Minister of National Defense of China in Russia
He further said
that there is also an immense potential to enhance Pakistan’s halal food
exports as we have abundant availability of livestock. Currently our meat
exports are US$ 309 million while the global Halal food market is well above
US$ 1 trillion and dominated by non-Muslim countries.
He said that
there is a need of collective actions for exploring new export markets as about
55 percent of the Pakistan’s exports go to just 10 countries. We have to take
concrete steps to fetch better export revenues from untapped potential markets
like Africa, Russia, South America and Central Asia etc.
Realizing the
importance of Africa as a potential market, President LCCI said, “We have
established an Africa Desk at LCCI for facilitating our members and addressing
the issues involved in enhancing exports to Africa”. It is worth mentioning
that our exports to Africa are just 1.4 billion dollars while India’s exports
to Africa are 29 billion dollars, he concluded.
Funds released
for local govts: Buzdar
Senior Vice
President LCCI Ali HussamAsghar emphasized to resolve the issues of bilateral
trade with Iran. Iran has the biggest import market of Pakistani rice.
Government should consider the 5 billion dollar plan of rice export.
LCCI Vice
President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmed, former Presidents Mian Misbahur Rehman,
Shahid Hassan Sheikh, Sohail Lashari, Almas Hyder, former vice president Zeeshan
Khalil and Executive Committee members were also present.
Weekly inflation rises 0.8pc
By
-
September
5, 2020
ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator
(SPI)-based weekly inflation for the week ended on September 3 witnessed an
increase of 0.80pc as compared to the previous week.
The
SPI for the week under review in the combined income group was recorded at
136.11 points as against 135.03 points registered in the previous week,
according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
As
compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined
consumption group in the week under review witnessed a surge of 9.47pc.
The
weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential
items for all expenditure groups.
The
SPI for the lowest consumption group, up to Rs17,732, also witnessed an
increase of 1.06pc, as it went up from 141.50 points in the last week to 143.00
points.
Meanwhile,
the SPI for the consumption groups from Rs17,732-Rs22,888, Rs22,889-Rs29,517;
Rs29,518-Rs44,175; Rs29,518-Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month inched up by
1.01pc, 0.90pc, 0.86pc and 0.69pc, respectively.
During
the week, prices of six items decreased, 20 items increased while that of 25
items remained constant.
The
items that recorded a decrease in their average prices included bananas, sugar,
mash pulse, rice (basmati broken) masoor pulse and wheat flour.
The
commodities which recorded an increase in their average prices included
tomatoes, onions, eggs, chicken, potatoes, matchbox, garlic, garm pulse, LPG
cylinder, cooked beef, firewood, curd, toilet soap, vegetable ghee, washing
soap, gur, cooking oil (loose), moong pulse, vegetable ghee (tin) and milk
(fresh).
Similarly,
the prices of commodities that observed no change during the week under review
included rice (Irri 6/9), bread, mutton, milk (powdered) mustard oil, salt,
chillies, tea (packet), cooked daal, tea (prepared), cigarettes, long cloth,
shirting, lawn, georgette, gents sandal, gents chappal, ladies sandal,
electricity charges, gas charges, energy saver, petrol, diesel and telephone
call charges.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/09/05/weekly-inflation-rises-0-8pc/
Torrential rains leave hundreds of villages in Sindh,
Punjab submerged
BY STAFF REPORT , (LAST UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO)
KARACHI: Scores of villages in Sindh
and Punjab were inundated with stormwater after heavy rains lashed parts of two
provinces.
The
rise of the water level in the embankments of canals passing through Golarchi
Tehsil of Badin district due to rain wreaked havoc.
In
several villages of Sanghar’s Sindhri Tehsil, the walls of mud houses collapsed
while in Tando Muhammad Khan, victims of the floods were forced to abandon
their homes after heavy downpours damaged their houses and flooded their area.
More
than 200 villages submerged in rainwater in Mirpur Khas District’s Digri.
In
Punjab’s Layyah district, 40 settlements have been flooded while rice,
sugarcane, and cotton crops have been severely affected in the Khushab and
Rajanpur districts.
Easy recipe: Quick-fire vegetarian Indian food by Former Great
British Bake Off contestant Chetna Makan
Former Great British Bake Off contestant Chetna Makan has a new
cookbook, Chetna’s Healthy Indian Vegetarian, filled with recipes designed to
be swift, straightforward and “happen to be good for you”.
©
Nassima Rothacker/PA
Chetna Makan.
Former Great British Bake Off
contestant Chetna Makan has a new cookbook, Chetna’s Healthy Indian Vegetarian,
filled with recipes designed to be swift, straightforward and “happen to be
good for you”.
“People think Indian food will take forever to cook – ‘I’ll have
to soak this, I’ll have to make this and then I’ll have to marinate this’ –
actually, everyday Indian food is not like that,” said Chetna who shares two
recipes with us.
The first is jackfruit rice khichdi.
Chetna Makan.
“If you are looking for a dish you can put in the middle of the
table for everyone to share and don’t want to fuss about vegetable sides, this
is the answer,” she said.
“There is so much going on in the rice that every mouthful tastes
different.
“Just serve it with some yogurt or raita and you’ll have a
feast.”
The second recipe is she says, perfect for picnics, lunchboxes,
or a light meal at home.
Chetna’s Healthy Indian
Vegetarian by Chetna Makan is
published by Mitchell Beazley and is priced at £20.
Jackfruit rice khichdi
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
For the rice:
·
100g green lentils
·
250g basmati rice
For the jackfruit:
·
2 tbsp sunflower oil
·
1 x 400g tin of
jackfruit in water, drained and thinly sliced
·
2 red onions, thinly
sliced
·
2 tomatoes, roughly
chopped
·
1 red pepper, sliced
2.5cm thick
·
1 ½ tsp salt
·
1 tsp garam masala
·
½ tsp chilli powder
Method
1. Bring 2.2 litres of water to the boil in a deep pan and add the
lentils.
2. Cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes, until the lentils begin to
soften.
3. Add the rice to the same pan and continue cooking on
low-to-medium heat for eight minutes, until the rice is tender.
4. Drain the lot and leave to cool slightly.
5. Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a wide pan and add the
jackfruit.
6. Cook on a low-to-medium heat for 10 minutes, until the jackfruit
turns golden.
7. Add the remaining tbsp of oil and the onions and cook on a low
heat for 10-15 minutes, until golden.
8. Stir in the tomatoes and red pepper and cook for five minutes,
until the tomatoes have softened.
9. Add the salt, garam masala and chilli powder and mix well.
Cheese and potato chapatti sandwich
(Makes 4)
Ingredients
For the chapattis:
·
200g chapatti flour,
plus extra for dusting
·
¼ tsp salt
·
140ml water
For the filling:
·
100g paneer, grated
·
50g cheddar cheese,
grated
·
1 small potato, boiled
and grated
·
¼tsp salt
·
¼ tsp chilli powder
·
½ tsp amchoor (mango
powder)
·
1 small green chilli,
finely chopped
·
10g fresh coriander
leaves, finely chopped
For toasting the sandwiches:
·
Sunflower oil
·
Black mustard seeds
Method
1. To make the chapattis, put the flour and salt into a bowl and
gradually add just enough of the water (or a little more, if necessary) to form
a soft dough.
2. Knead for two minutes, then cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into eight equal portions.
4. Roll out each portion on a lightly floured surface to a circle
15-18cm across.
5. Heat a skillet until hot, and cook each chapatti for one minute
each side on a low-to-medium heat, until slightly golden.
6. To make the filling, combine the ingredients in a bowl.
7. To toast the sandwiches, use the same skillet you used to cook
the chapattis.
8. Drizzle with a tiny bit of oil and, once hot, add a pinch of
mustard seeds.
9. When they start to sizzle, place a chapatti in the pan and
spread with a quarter of the filling.
10. Place another chapatti on top and cook for a minute on a
low-to-medium heat, until the underside is golden.
11. Turn and cook for a minute on the other side, then remove to a
plate.
12. Repeat until you have four, delicious toasted sandwiches.
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/food-and-drink/2454382/2454382/
Silex Council
responds to road conditions
·
Sep
5, 2020 Updated 20 hrs ago
On Aug. 7, the City of Silex
Council members held a special meeting to address possible solutions to
deteriorating roads.
Alderman David Rice referred to
research he had completed relevant to the costs of paving the roads in New
Town. The documented
figures estimated approximately $300,000. Rice
offered alternatives including the use of tax dollars to pay for the work to be
done.
When businesses were approached
about revenues that could be produced from a sales tax increase, the majority
of owners/managers noted they would not agree to the increase. Secondly, taxing
cigarettes and tobacco could only become available through a single vendor. Therefore, the monies collected
would be of negligible value. An
increased fuel tax was also discussed, and the same conclusion as was
applicable to cigarettes and tobacco would result in the funds being of lesser
value than would be helpful.
Mayor Chuck Turbyeville referred
to research he had gathered from conversations with Eric Tapley, the head of
Missouri Department of Transportation for Lincoln County. Areas under review included New
Town and additional streets in Old Town.
Tapley suggested that streets be
graded properly which would help prevent further damage during heavy downpours. Additionally, Tapley suggested a
method to avoid the high cost of asphalt work. The “chip and seal” alternative
is estimated at $22,000-$23,000. Total
estimate for three miles of road came to $66,000 as opposed to $300,000 when
using asphalt.
Alderman Stuart Gambrill brought
to the group’s attention the condition of Duncan Mansion Drive.
Tapley felt that the road’s
condition was in a deteriorated state severe enough to be removed by section
and replaced entirely. Gambrill
suggested that the reasonably priced “cold patch” treatment as was used successfully
in front of Thornhill Towing might be the answer to patching over a dozen holes
on Duncan Mansion Drive as well as areas in front of the bank and the stores on
Second Street.
City Clerk Sylvia Roper reminded
the group that $600 per month, as paid to Silex by the Missouri Department of
Revenue, is to be used specifically for road repairs or police.
Prior to adjournment Mayor
Turbyeville emphasized that a second entrance in and out of New Town would be
helpful in the event that multiple emergency vehicles might some day need
access to the area.
Alderman Steve McDonald stated
that he had contacted MODOT with a request to treat the shoulders on E. Initial work proved helpful and
McDonald will call again to check on project completion dates. At the same time, he will ask
about the possibility of creating a second entrance to New Town.
·
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Shortfall fear makes rice market volatile
Market operators suggest prompt public-sector import
DOULOT AKTER MALA AND YASIR WARDAD
| Published: September 06, 2020 09:37:25 |
Updated: September 06, 2020 15:47:22
A three-phase natural calamity, COVID-19
pandemic and the perceived fear of production shortfall are making the
country's rice market volatile.
The fear of staple shortage deepened after
multiple natural disasters hit the crops.
Excessive rainfall in March-April, cyclone
Amphan in the month of May and consecutive floods in June- July damaged crops,
of which 70 per cent is paddy.
Already prices of rice in the local market
showed an upward trend during the last three weeks, compounding the hardship of
the limited income people.
Prices of all kinds of rice rose by 10-20 per
cent in a month across the country, according to the Department of Agricultural
Marketing and the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Rice prices started increasing at a time when
the government agency revealed that production of the key staple was all-time
high amounting to 20.26 million tonnes in Boro season.
But people involved in the sector said the
two-month flood has severely affected Aman farming, triggering the fear of
further spike in rice prices.
Millers said traders and big farmers are
storing the paddy following flood fearing crop loss during the Aman season.
According to the Food Department under food
ministry, the government's procurement of rice was below requirement by the end
of August, for which it extended the rice purchase period until mid-September.
Until August 31, the government procured less
than 60 per cent of its target.
Mohammad Moniruzzaman, additional director of
food department, said the government procured 656,000 tonnes of boro rice
(parboiled and white rice) against its target for 1.15 million tonnes from May
7 to August 31.
He, however, said although the procurement
remained poor the government has sufficient stock around 1.0 million tonnes of
the staple.
About the procurement price for farmers, he
acknowledged it is one of the major reasons for poor procurement.
The government is buying rice at Tk 35-36 a
kg when the price of coarse rice is Tk. 38 a kg at the mill-gate now.
Prices of rice varieties like Swarna,
Brridhan-28 and 29, Miniket, Jeera, Najirshail showed a Tk 250-275 hike per
50-kg sack at mill gates in Naogaon, Kushtia, Rangpur, Dinajpur in a month,
according to the Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mill Owners Association
(BAMHMOA).
BAMHMOA secretary K M Layek Ali, said high
paddy prices as well as flood in many milling hubs had caused the hike. He said
Brridhan-28 paddy prices have increased to Tk 1,200-1,250 a maund, which was Tk
900-950 a maund a month back.
A Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI)
study said there will be no shortage of rice until November as the country will
have 5.55 million tonnes of surplus rice during the period.
BRRI, in its latest study, said rice
production increased by 3.54 per cent in Boro season despite decline in acreage
as per hectare yield rose notably.
The Institute also found that farmers have
stored 29 per cent of total paddy they produced in Boro season, which was 20
per cent last year.
Agricultural economist and former research
director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Asaduzzaman said
it is assumed that there is a shortfall in rice and the procurement target to
be not met.
He said the government should go for import
immediately, not depending on the private sector alone. He said already prices
of rice have gone up in the market so there is no time to make any delay.
However, international prices of the staple
are surging in recent times. The FAO Rice Price Index said prices surged by 2.7
per cent in August from that of July and the current price is 8.7 per cent
higher than the corresponding period of last year. Indian, Thai and Vietnamese
parboiled rice are now trading at prices between US $ 385 and $ 508 a tonne.
The prices were between $330 and $440 a tonne before the pandemic.
A study, released on Saturday by Disaster
Management Watch, said farmers have been facing problems. About 56 per cent of
them do not have sufficient cash for the next cropping season, some 54 per cent
find the prices of input high, and 56 per cent are facing labour shortage.
Underscoring the need for ensuring fair price
for farmers, report said COVID coupled with flood has led to such problems. It
estimated that there could be 22 per cent crop loss due to the floods.
doulot_akter@yahoo.com
tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/shortfall-fear-makes-rice-market-volatile-1599363445
Activation
of fatty acid receptor causes masculinization of Japanese rice fish
Reviewed
by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 5 2020
A
research collaboration based at Kumamoto University (Japan) has found that
activation of PPARα, a fatty acid receptor that detects fatty acids in cells
and regulates physiological functions, causes masculinization of Japanese rice
fish (medaka). The discovery of this molecular mechanism is expected to advance
the development of new sex control technologies.
The
sex of mammals is determined in their genes, specifically the XX/XY combination
of sex chromosomes. On the other hand, the sex-determination of fish,
amphibians, and reptiles is greatly affected by ambient temperature. The medaka
(Oryzias latipes), however, is a bony fish that uniquely uses the XX/XY
sex determination system.
The
sex-determining gene, DMY, was recently identified on their Y chromosome.
Normally, XY individuals with the DMY gene will differentiate into males and XX
individuals (without DMY) will differentiate into females. However, if medaka
are bred in water with temperatures of 32 to 34°C during their period of sexual
differentiation, XX individuals will differentiate into males. In other words,
their genetic sex-determination is affected by temperature.
Previous
research from Kumamoto University demonstrated that cortisol, a
high-temperature-induced stress hormone, directly acts on the gonads and causes
masculinization of XX medaka (Hayashi et al., 2010; Yamaguchi et
al., 2010; Kitano et al., 2012). However, the molecular
mechanism of cortisol masculinization was not determined.
In
this study, researchers conducted an RNA sequencing analysis to search for
genes activated by high temperature or cortisol. Many genes related to the
fatty acid receptor "peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
alpha" (PPARα) were detected, and when a PPARα activator was administered
to medaka larvae, XX medaka became male. Furthermore, when knockout medaka with
inhibited PPARα function were produced, differentiation into males was
completely suppressed, even after the administration of cortisol or a PPARα
activator. To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first time that PPARα
activation has been shown to be so involved with medaka sex-differentiation by
cortisol or an activator.
In
fish farming for food production, such as flounder or eel, technology that
produces only females is sought after because they grow faster than males.
Here, we have revealed the molecular mechanism that induces differentiation
into males and we hope that new sexual control technologies using this
mechanism will be developed in the future."
Professor Takeshi Kitano, Study
Leader
Source:
Journal
reference:
Hara,
S., et al. (2020) Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
alpha is involved in the temperature-induced sex differentiation of a
vertebrate. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68594-y.
Bridging agricultural livelihoods and energy access - Barriers and
opportunities for rice and rice husk value chains in Labutta, Myanmar
Format
Analysis
Source
Posted
5 Sep 2020
Originally published
4 Sep 2020
Origin
Attachments
Executive Summary
This report presents the results of a one-year collaborative
research project between Mercy Corps Myanmar, Renewable Energy Association of
Myanmar with Biomass Energy Association of Myanmar and the Tyndall Centre for
Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester. The project explored
the intersection between agricultural livelihoods and energy access through an
investigation of social networks in rice and rice husk value chains in rural
farming communities of Labutta in Myanmar’s Lower Delta.
Rice production is an important agricultural activity in
Myanmar, significantly contributing to its economy by providing income and
employment to half of the country’s population. However, because of lack of
access to electricity in many rural areas, rice farmers have limited
opportunities to increase their income. For many off-grid communities, heat and
electricity for household lighting and livelihood activities are provided
through steam and electricity produced from combustion or gasification of rice
husk – a by product of rice milling. With an estimated over 3 million tonnes of
rice husk produced every year, Myanmar has potential to utilise rice husk for
income-generating activities and energy generation in order to support
agricultural production and rural livelihoods.
Focusing on case study sites in Bi Tut and Kan Bet in
Labutta, this research mapped social networks in rice production and rice husk
value chains. This allowed us to identify actors and network structures that
could play important roles in supporting energy access and increasing livelihood
opportunities for smallholders. In addition to this, interviews and focus group
discussions with farmers and millers also revealed important challenges and
opportunities for rice husk bioenergy within rural farming communities.
Among the challenges identified are:
·
Access to
credit and financing. This is one of the most urgent requirements to enable
smallholder farmers and millers to adopt value-adding activities such as access
to high quality inputs (e.g., seeds and fertilisers) or mechanised drying, and so
increase their income.
·
Small-scale
millers in off-grid areas offer an important service to smallholder farmers and
need financial and technical support to upgrade their facilities.
·
A rice husk
market exists but mostly for traditional biomass uses, e.g., as briquettes or
fuel sticks or direct burning for rice husk cook stoves; these can lead to
pollution and negative impacts on health.
·
Medium-scale
millers are willing to participate in new or additional rice husk value added
activities, but only if other actors or businesses can manage rice husk
collection and transportation for them.
There are a number of opportunities for both farmers and
millers that can address these challenges, including:
·
Building or
strengthening connections between medium-scale millers and local businesses
that use rice husk • Supporting market development for rice husk use in energy
generation
·
Empowering
local partnerships within communities to manage husk-to-energy business models
• Linking groups of farmers to service providers in order to lower costs of
production
Reflecting on these, results from this research suggest
that in order to bridge agri-livelihods and energy access:
·
Farmers and
millers need access to credit under fair financing schemes. It is also
particularly important to address issues in rice trading (e.g., differences in
trading price) to increase farmers’ income.
·
Investments
are needed to support facilities and activities that add value to rice husk,
especially by using it for modern bioenergy. This requires financial support
for millers, especially small-scale and husk-to-energy operators to allow them
to invest in zero-effluent husk-to-energy facilities.
·
Capacity
building and partnerships strengthening initiatives are needed, which could be
enabled by collaboration between local businesses, communities, and civil
society organisations.
·
More policy
focus on rice husk bioenergy is needed to encourage investments and upscale
existing initiatives. This includes a consideration of stricter implementation
of rules preventing rice husk or wastewater disposal into river systems.
These findings draw on learnings from our case study
sites and may not be applicable to other rice farming communities or regions.
Nonethless, taken together they encourage thinking about the role of energy in
poverty alleviation, particularly in consideration of urgency and justice –
what is needed now and what is fair, especially for smallholders in rice
production. Future work on this subject should undertake an economic analysis
to further strengthen the case for value chain development for rice husk,
including for rice husk gasifiers which have been valuable in powering off-grid
farming communities, but are beyond the scope of this research.
White rice linked to diabetes, especially in South Asia, says
21-nation study done over 10 yrs
Study involved 1.3 lakh people who were
followed up on for a decade across 21 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and
North and South America.
SANDHYA RAMESH 6 September, 2020 12:50 pm IST
Representational
image of white rice. | Photo: Commons
Text
Size: A- A+
Bengaluru: An analysis of over 1,30,000 adults from 21 countries over
nearly a decade has indicated a high risk of diabetes linked with the
consumption of white rice. The risk is most prominent for the South Asian
population, according to findings from a new, large-scale, long-term study.
The study was an international
collaboration between researchers from various countries — including India,
China, and Brazil — in Asia, North and South America, Africa and Europe.
Led by Bhavadharini Balaji of the
Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster
University, Canada, the study was a part of the institute’s Prospective Urban
Rural Epidemiology (PURE) project.
The findings were published in
the Diabetes
Care journal in its September issue.
White rice and diabetes
White rice is milled rice that
has its germ (the part that sprouts), bran (hard outer layer), and husk (outer
covering) removed. The polishing of rice further results in a bright and shiny
appearance. While white rice has an appealing appearance and can be stored
longer, the milling and polishing process remove nutrients such as vitamin B.
White rice has been linked to an
outbreak of beriberi in Asia, caused by vitamin B-1 deficiency. It also causes
the blood sugar levels to spike upon consumption due to its high glycemic
index.
Globally, 42.5 crore people
currently have diabetes, and this number is expected to increase to 62.9 crore
by 2045, according to the
International Diabetes Federation.
Studies have alluded to risk of
diabetes associated with white rice for a few decades now, although findings
have been contradictory. A 2012 study found that each extra serving of white rice
increased the risk for diabetes by 11 per cent.
However, findings change
depending on which country studies were conducted in. For example, a study of
over 45,000 participants in Singapore found no substantial increase in diabetes
was associated with white rice consumption.
Most such studies were limited to
single countries. To beat this barrier, the authors of the new study extended
it to 21 nations — Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China,
Colombia, India, Iran, Malaysia, ‘occupied Palestine territory’, Pakistan,
Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey,
United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.
However, the South Asian
population seems to show a pattern with white rice consumption and diabetes,
despite a number of other lifestyle factors that increase the disease risk.
“South Asians are genetically
more predisposed to get diabetes, so there are both lifestyle as well as
biological reasons for the high diabetes incidence,” said Bengaluru-based
physician Dr Gowri Kulkarni.
To understand the link between
white rice and diabetes in South Asia, the researchers compared the data from
India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan with the rest of the world.
Also read: Unique protein in placenta could hold key to protecting organs
from Covid infection
Study findings
The study involved 132,373
individuals between the ages of 35 and 70, from these 21 countries, who were
monitored for nine and a half years. Of these, 6,129 developed diabetes over
the course of the study.
Participants were considered if
they consumed more than one cup or 150g of cooked rice a day. Overall, the
average white rice consumption was 128g a day among the study participants.
However, the team found that the
highest consumption of white rice was seen in South Asia at 630g a day,
followed by South East Asia at 239g and China at 200g per day. High consumption
of rice resulted in lower consumption of other foods like wheat, fibre, red
meat, and dairy products.
Carbohydrates make up nearly 80
per cent of calories consumed in many South Asian countries. Since the 1970s,
carbs have become increasingly polished and
refined as well, losing a lot of nutrition in the process.
Rapid urbanisation and economic
development, especially in low- and middle-income countries, have led to a
dramatic change in dietary intake and increased physical inactivity, which are
related to the obesity epidemic.
Talking about the findings,
Mumbai-based nutritionist Priya Kathpal said, “I wouldn’t say every white
rice-eating family would have a diabetic person in their family… A lot depends
on the quantity of rice eaten, what it’s eaten with, and how frequently.”
Also read: Brainwaves study can tell if a worker can handle crisis
situation, IIT Madras research says
China anomaly
China and India are two of the
world’s largest countries where rice is the staple food. Both also lead in the
incidence of diabetes. However, the researchers found that there wasn’t a
significant association with white rice consumption and diabetes in China.
There could be many reasons for
this, apart from other lifestyle factors. The scientists believe that the kind
of rice the Chinese eat (sticky rice) could make a difference.
In India, studies have shown that during the last four to five decades of
replacing hand-pounded rice with industrially milled white rice, the prevalence of diabetes in urban areas in India increased from 2 per cent
in the 1970s to 25 per cent in 2015, and in rural areas from 1 per cent to
14–16 per cent, respectively. White rice is considered to be one of the many
main drivers of the trend, which followed improved socioeconomic growth and
lifestyle modifications.
Studies have shown that
substituting white rice with unpolished brown rice decreases the glycemic
response by 23 per cent and the
fasting insulin response by 57 per cent in overweight Asian Indians, but
consumers do not tend to prefer brown rice due to its inconvenience of longer
cooking duration, greater chewing difficulty, and lack of visual appeal.
“Several patients that I’ve asked
to switch to brown rice have faced difficulty, as everyone’s grown up eating
white rice,” said Kathpal.
“Taste is a huge factor, and
brown rice often doesn’t taste the same as white with vegetable curries and
dals. Sometimes, white rice alternatives like even millets can be more
expensive or not as easily available too,” she said.
Doctors and dieticians are
hesitant to recommend diets that are more expensive and less easily available
even if they are healthier, as patients tend not to adopt them successfully.
“A daily diet should always be
easy to maintain and easily available. Only then can it be sustainable,” said
Kulkarni. “Indians in general have poor protein intake in diet, and this has to
do with available resources and choices. Most calories are from carbohydrates
as they are cheap.”
According to the researchers, in
countries where rice is consumed the most or as a staple, the risk of increased
diabetes among the public can be lowered by substituting white rice with
alternate forms of healthier rice versions and adding more legumes or pulses to
food.
Also read: One drink? Or two? Forget the guidelines, less is always better
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Vale Robin Graham
Gregor
Heard@grheard5
Sep 2020, 1 p.m.
Robin Graham (left) at work on a corn project in Yunnan,
China.
TRIBUTES have flowed for respected South Australian scientist
Robin Graham who died late last month aged 80.
Professor Graham was especially influential in the field of
biofortification.
His colleague Howdy Bouis, founder of HarvestPlus, an organisation
dedicated to addressing micronutrient shortages, said Dr Graham had played a
key role in breeding vitamin enriched staple crops.
"In 1993 I travelled to nine CGIAR (Consultative Group for
International Agricultural Research) to inquire what plant scientists thought
about the feasibility of breeding for minerals and vitamins in food
staples," Dr Bouis said.
"The almost universal response during my conversations across
the nine centres was 'no,' there will be a tradeoff between mineral and vitamin
density and yield," he reminisced.
He said Dr Graham and his colleague Ross Welch had taken on the
challenge.
Dr Graham's background as a professor of plant nutrition at the
University of Adelaide and Dr Welch's experience in soil science meant they
were able to work on developing seeds with higher zinc levels.
Eventually the work of the three men played a key role in the
fortification of rice that has been so successful in concepts such as high iron
'iron rice'.
Prof Graham won a host of prestigious scientific awards during his
career such as the C.M. Donald medal in 2008, awarded by the Australian Society
of Agronomy biannually to an eminent Australian agriculturalist for a long and
distinguished career.
The story Vale
Robin Graham first appeared
on Farm Online.
https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/6911460/vale-robin-graham/?cs=5153
Heart
Disease Risk: Excess of rice may cause heart disease
0
7
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The most commonly used grain in our country after
wheat is white rice. Rice is used almost all over India in making different
food and dish in different ways. In eastern and northern India and Hindi
speaking states, rice is part of the daily diet. That is, lunch without rice is
not complete here. This was fine according to the need of the old times, but in
today’s lifestyle, it can prove to be harmful …
Why is
this kind of discussion happening?
-Chawal is a part of our food for centuries and is also very beneficial for
health. Then why was there a discussion that regular rice consumption can harm
our health?
This is happening because a study done on the daily life of fast
growing sugar and heart patients in our country has revealed that due to high
consumption of rice and not being very active physically. Rice has a bad effect
on their body.
It also helps in removing hangover; it does physiological
reversal in quality juice, 7
Disadvantages of eating more rice
Why was there no loss before?
-The question may come to your mind that our old generations have been eating
rice for a long time, but still they lived a longer life than us and were
healthy. Why are we having problems in this situation? So the answer is,
disappearance of manual labor from our lifestyle. Earlier most people did
farming.
– Every day he walked many kilometers because there was not much
means of transportation. Therefore their body and digestive system worked as
well. Whereas we have become much more inactive today than them. Along with
this, arsenic is found in high amounts in rice, which is causing the increase
of cardiovascular diseases.
Morning Face Swelling: Not only is not complete sleep, it is
also the cause of facial swelling
One possible cause of increased heart disease
Rice cardiovascular disease
Researchers at the University of Manchester and Salford have found in their
research that the places where farmers cultivate rice have higher amounts of
arsenic in the soil. Along with this, if the floods are more in those areas
then the amount of arsenic in the rice increases further. This arsenic, along
with other toxins, causes cardiovascular disease in our body.
To Avoid Embarrassment: If you want to avoid embarrassment,
never eat these things before the meeting.
These factors increase the risk
– If people who consume rice regularly have obesity and habit of smoking, then
the chances of getting heart disease increases manifold. Therefore, it is
important that those who are in control of these habits, control them and
consume limited amount of rice and keep themselves physically active.
Abdominal cramps and loose potty, know the home ways to deal
with this condition
https://pledgetimes.com/heart-disease-risk-excess-of-rice-may-cause-heart-disease/
Congress
angry over distribution of animal rice to poor in MP, demands CBI inquiry
· | Friday | 4th September, 2020
In Madhya Pradesh, the politics of distributing animal rice to
the poor is hot. After Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan handed over the
investigation to the EOW, the Congress has described it as inadequate.
In
Madhya Pradesh, the politics of distributing animal rice to the poor is hot.
After Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan handed over the investigation to the
EOW, the Congress has described it as inadequate.
Former
Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Ajay Singh has called for a CBI
inquiry, calling the case serious. He said that he will complain to President
Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The state has gained notoriety
at the national level due to this mess done with public health. Ajay Singh has
described the action of suspending only one officer and removing 2 from the job
in the big case.
Former
Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Ajay Singh has demanded the state
government to ban the distribution of rice in all districts. At the same
time, it is feared that good rice of the state is being sold in the market with
the collusion of the millers. While recycled rice in UP and Bihar is being
supplied in ration shops. There has been a lot of corruption in
this. Ajay Singh has demanded the distribution of wheat and pulses along
with stopping the distribution of rice to the poor.
57
non-standard rice samples
The
state government has filed an FIR against the millers for distributing
non-standard rice in Balaghat and Mandla. In the investigation, 57 samples of
rice from 2 districts have been found non-standard. At the same time, Shivraj
government has formed 51 teams to check the quality of rice in the entire
state. The 51 joint parties are officers of the Food Corporation of India and
the Food and Civil Supplies Corporation. These investigation teams have so far
taken 1021 samples, in which 57 samples have turned out to be non-standard in
the initial investigation. The state government has also issued instructions to
take back the rice millers of inferior quality and get the quality rice.
Boro procurement target falls
flat
Govt
extends deadline as only 7.40 lakh tonnes of rice and paddy procured against
target of 19.50 lakh tonnes
ANISUR
RAHMAN KHAN, Dhaka
In
the wake of massive failure to achieve the 'highly ambitious' Boro paddy and
rice procurement target, the government has extended the purchasing deadline
until September 15 from August 31 and decided to import rice, if necessary.
Sources
in the food ministry and the Directorate General of Food (DG Food) said the
achievement fall far short of target because of lukewarm response from farmers
and millers mainly for a gap between official and open market rates.
According
to DG Food sources, only around 7.40 lakh tonnes of rice and paddy could be
procured against the target of 19.50 lakh tonnes till August 29. The
procurement began in May this year.
The
government fixed the procurement rate for rice at Tk 36 per kg, while the
millers said their cost including husking charge was around Tk 40/kg.
Millers
also demanded increased price, but the authorities didn’t respond positively
and it prompted most of them to stop supplying rice to government godowns,
sources said.
As
a result, the authorities failed to achieve the target in most of the
paddy-growing districts including Bogura, Naogaon, Natore, Dinajpur, Panchagarh
and Nilphamari.
According
to ministry sources, the authorities procured only about 1.31 lakh tonnes of
paddy against its target of 8 lakh tonnes directly from the farmers.
At
the same time, they could buy only 5.32 lakh tonnes of boiled rice against the
target of 10 lakh tones and 0.77 lakh tonnes of non-boiled rice against the
target of 1.5 lakh tonnes, the sources added.
Food
officials apprehend that food grains’ stock and procurement target may face a
setback this year due to prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and floods.
Warning
of fresh floods this month by the meteorological department is also a matter of
concern for the government, they added.
Against
this backdrop, the government has extended the Boro rice and paddy procurement
deadline by 15 days and decided to import rice, if necessary.
High
officials of the food ministry and DG Food said they set the 'highly ambitious'
target this year to ensure fair paddy prices for farmers.
Director
General of DG Food Sarwar Mahmud while talking to The Independent on Saturday
said, “The government's actual target was to keep the rice market stable and
ensure that farmers get fair prices of their produce. The interest of consumers
was also kept in mind."
He
further said farmers have got adequate price of Boro paddy due to the
procurement drive, and that millers failed to manipulate the rice market.
The
DG, however, admitted that they had failed to anticipate such a level of
failure in achieving the procurement target.
Food
Secretary Dr Nazmanara Khanum said their aim to set the 'highly ambitious
procurement target' was to ensure farmers’ interest.
Regarding
rice import, the secretary said, “We are observing the overall situation
including production of Aman, and if Aman production and procurement targets
fail due to flood we will go for rice import".
“…We
have already taken Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s nod in this regard. But, it's
not our target to import rice unless it appears to extremely necessary. We will
import rice in both public and private sectors, if necessary," she added.
http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/252798
28 MP Districts Supplied With 73k Metric Tonnes of Substandard
Rice, Kamal Nath Wants PDS Ration Probed
Basmati rice. (Image for representation.)
Calling it a big scam, the MPCC chief
demanded that all ration distributed through the public distribution system
(PDS) should be probed into.
Vivek Trivedi
Madhya Pradesh Congress leader and former chief minister Kamal
Nath on Friday took on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government demanding a probe
into the supply 73,000 metric tonnes of substandard rice through ration shops
in 28 districts.
Calling it a big scam, the MPCC chief demanded that all ration
distributed through the public distribution system (PDS) should be probed into.
Meanwhile, a letter written to all the district collectors by Department
of Food and Civil Supplies has leaked to the media and it suggests that around
73,540 metric tonnes of rice was found to be below standards in the inspection
carried out by Food and Civil Supplies Corporation.
Taking action, the state government has stopped distribution of
rice under the PDS and has asked the collectors to return the below par rice to
millers and ensure deposit of quality grain in next one week so that the PDS
supplies could be resumed.
A report by Centre had exposed that tests confirmed that PDS
ration shops distributed inferior rice among the poor in Mandla and Balaghat
districts and the rice was not fit for ‘human consumption’.
Meanwhile, the politics continued to heat up on the issue. MPCC
president Kamal Nath claimed that the poultry grade rice distribution wasn’t
limited to Manda and Balaghat districts. “It’s a major scam and all the ration
and other things distributed among the poor should be probed into.” Being a
matter of public interest, the probe should be handed over to the CBI, demanded
Nath.
PWD minister Bhupendra Singh accused Kamal Nath of not doing
anything when he was ‘offered’ intelligence input in February 2020 that
inferior quality rice was brought into the state and good quality rice was
supplied out of state.
Congress spokesperson Syyed Jaafar alleged that instead of acting
against the guilty millers, the state government has offered them amnesty by
asking them to take back 73,000 metric tonnes of inferior rice and re-supply
proper quality grain. "Are those close to the BJP engaged in this
game?" asked Jaafar.
The state government has handed over the probe of substandard rice
supply to Economic Offence Wing, which sent a team to Balaghat on Friday. The
Jabalpur wing of the agency has been asked to probe and submit a report to
headquarters. After a preliminary enquiry, an FIR is expected to be lodged in
the matter.
The divisional commissioner of Jabalpur has ordered extensive
collecting of samples from across the division. An FIR has been lodged against
nine employees of warehousing corporation and food and civil supplies
corporation in Balaghat. Electricity connection of 18 guilty rice mills have
been snapped and these establishments have been sealed.
“We are seizing inferior quality rice inside mills so that it can’t
be shifted anywhere else and FIRs are lodged those found prima facie guilty,”
Divisional Commissioner MC Chuadhary said.
Bridging agricultural livelihoods and energy access - Barriers and
opportunities for rice and rice husk value chains in Labutta, Myanmar
Format
Analysis
Source
Posted
5 Sep 2020
Originally published
4 Sep 2020
Origin
Attachments
Executive
Summary
This report
presents the results of a one-year collaborative research project between Mercy
Corps Myanmar, Renewable Energy Association of Myanmar with Biomass Energy
Association of Myanmar and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at
the University of Manchester. The project explored the intersection between
agricultural livelihoods and energy access through an investigation of social
networks in rice and rice husk value chains in rural farming communities of
Labutta in Myanmar’s Lower Delta.
Rice production
is an important agricultural activity in Myanmar, significantly contributing to
its economy by providing income and employment to half of the country’s
population. However, because of lack of access to electricity in many rural
areas, rice farmers have limited opportunities to increase their income. For
many off-grid communities, heat and electricity for household lighting and
livelihood activities are provided through steam and electricity produced from
combustion or gasification of rice husk – a by product of rice milling. With an
estimated over 3 million tonnes of rice husk produced every year, Myanmar has
potential to utilise rice husk for income-generating activities and energy
generation in order to support agricultural production and rural livelihoods.
Focusing on
case study sites in Bi Tut and Kan Bet in Labutta, this research mapped social
networks in rice production and rice husk value chains. This allowed us to
identify actors and network structures that could play important roles in
supporting energy access and increasing livelihood opportunities for
smallholders. In addition to this, interviews and focus group discussions with
farmers and millers also revealed important challenges and opportunities for
rice husk bioenergy within rural farming communities.
Among the
challenges identified are:
·
Access to credit and financing. This is one of
the most urgent requirements to enable smallholder farmers and millers to adopt
value-adding activities such as access to high quality inputs (e.g., seeds and
fertilisers) or mechanised drying, and so increase their income.
·
Small-scale millers in off-grid areas offer an
important service to smallholder farmers and need financial and technical
support to upgrade their facilities.
·
A rice husk market exists but mostly for
traditional biomass uses, e.g., as briquettes or fuel sticks or direct burning
for rice husk cook stoves; these can lead to pollution and negative impacts on
health.
·
Medium-scale millers are willing to participate
in new or additional rice husk value added activities, but only if other actors
or businesses can manage rice husk collection and transportation for them.
There are a
number of opportunities for both farmers and millers that can address these
challenges, including:
·
Building or strengthening connections between
medium-scale millers and local businesses that use rice husk • Supporting
market development for rice husk use in energy generation
·
Empowering local partnerships within
communities to manage husk-to-energy business models • Linking groups of
farmers to service providers in order to lower costs of production
Reflecting on
these, results from this research suggest that in order to bridge
agri-livelihods and energy access:
·
Farmers and millers need access to credit under
fair financing schemes. It is also particularly important to address issues in
rice trading (e.g., differences in trading price) to increase farmers’ income.
·
Investments are needed to support facilities
and activities that add value to rice husk, especially by using it for modern
bioenergy. This requires financial support for millers, especially small-scale
and husk-to-energy operators to allow them to invest in zero-effluent
husk-to-energy facilities.
·
Capacity building and partnerships
strengthening initiatives are needed, which could be enabled by collaboration
between local businesses, communities, and civil society organisations.
·
More policy focus on rice husk bioenergy is
needed to encourage investments and upscale existing initiatives. This includes
a consideration of stricter implementation of rules preventing rice husk or
wastewater disposal into river systems.
These findings
draw on learnings from our case study sites and may not be applicable to other
rice farming communities or regions. Nonethless, taken together they encourage
thinking about the role of energy in poverty alleviation, particularly in
consideration of urgency and justice – what is needed now and what is fair,
especially for smallholders in rice production. Future work on this subject
should undertake an economic analysis to further strengthen the case for value
chain development for rice husk, including for rice husk gasifiers which have
been valuable in powering off-grid farming communities, but are beyond the
scope of this research.
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https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/bridging-agricultural-livelihoods-and-energy-access-barriers-and-opportunities-rice
Biological Pest Control Saved Coconut
Farmers in Asia Billions of Dollars
Sep 05, 2020 07:23 AM EDT
Biological insect pest control using
pests' natural enemies saved farmers in
the Pacific and Asia billions of dollars. This is the
finding of a study conducted by researchers from the University of Queensland.
Dr. Kris Wyckhuys from the UQ School of Biological Sciences defined biological control as releasing an exotic and
natural enemy of a pest in its native habitat. The purpose is to eradicate or
reduce the pest population.
According to Wyckhuys, scientists
choose a co-evolved and beneficial insect with great care to act as the
control. This species is most effective in eradicating pests and having the
least possibility of creating ecological imbalance and upset.
(Photo : Wikimedia Commons)
READ: Practicing Soil
Conservation Benefits Farmers and Their Crops, Study Says
Wyckhuys and his research
team published a new study in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. They assessed various records of effective biological
control applications, which managed a total of 43 insect pests in the feed, fiber, and food crops of the region
of Asia-Pacific for more than a hundred years.
They discovered that such controls
assisted in regulating the threats of invasive pests in many important food
crops like coconut, breadfruit, and banana.
Biological Controls Save Money
In the assessment by Wyckhuys'
research team, they showed that the use of biological controls saves Asian
farmers roughly 20.1 to 26.8 billion Australian or 14.6 to 19.5 billion US
dollars each year.
According to Wyckhuys, that is a
lot of financial savings, especially compared to other agricultural control
methods. He points out the example of the Asian Green Revolution in the 1960s; during this time, the local rice
production output tripled. However, it also saw the massive use of chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, and other agrochemicals combined with innovative
cultivation methods.
The significant effect of the Green
Revolution, says Wyckhuys, can be attributed to rice varieties that have higher
yields. In Asia, it provided a revenue of $4.3 billion each year.
According to Michael Furlong, an
associate professor at the University of Queensland, acknowledging the
biological control's effectiveness can provide for a better, more resilient,
and higher profits for agriculture worldwide. He says that biological control
provides poor farmers with significant opportunities.
Biological Pest Control in the Coconut Industry
Furlong adds that biological
controls promote prosperity and growth in rural areas with non-rice, poor, and
marginal planting environments.
He cited the example
of Aspidiotus destructor, more commonly known as coconut scale, which threatened the productivity, economy, and food
security of many countries. During the early 1900s, coconut scales destroyed
the copra, banana, and coconut industries in Fiji.
In the year 1928, the introduction
of parasitic wasps and Trinidad lady beetles caused almost instant results.
Within nine months, coconut scales stopped becoming a problem for crops in
every major island in the country. After only 18 months, the pest became so
scarce that they can hardly be found anywhere.
Such innovative pest control
approaches, coupled with progressively improving science, help secure global
food supply, improve farmers and the agricultural sector's lives, and take care
of natural biodiversity.
The researchers hope that their
study improves future programs to minimize or eradicate pests, maintain the
ecosystem's resilience and balance, and sustainably increase global food
production.
The use of biological insect
pest control can be a big boon to agriculture, as natural
enemies of pests not only save money for farmers in
the Asia Pacific and other parts of the world but also conserve
the environment and keep it healthy from harmful pesticides.
Natural pests’ management becomes popular in
Aman rice farming
Published: September 06, 2020
16:47:39
Representational image
The natural methods of pests’ management like
perching and light trap are gaining popularity among farmers while farming
Transplanted Aman rice in Rangpur agriculture region.
The farmers are applying live and dead perching
and light trap methods innovated by agriculture researchers and scientists to
increase more hygienic Aman rice output minimising cost of insecticide.
Talking to BSS, Additional Director of the
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) for Rangpur region Agriculturist
Muhammad Ali said farmers are reaping benefits by adopting perching and light
trap methods in preventing pests’ attacks on Aman rice plants.
Adopting perching methods, farmers have set
up bamboo poles on 4.72 lakh hectares of growing Aman rice fields out of the
totally cultivated land area of 5.99 lakh hectares so far in all five districts
of the region.
“Of them, farmers have brought 1.86 lakh
hectares of land under the live and 2.86 lakh hectares of land under dead
perching methods in the region till Saturday while cultivating Aman rice this
season,” Ali said.
At the same time, farmers have set up light
traps on 655 hectares of Aman rice fields, including permanent light traps on
605 hectares and temporary light traps on 50 hectares of their croplands.
“The process of adopting live and dead
perching and light trap methods still continues on Aman rice fields in all five
districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari in the
region,” he said.
The DAE is conducting motivational and
training activities to inspire farmers in using these eco-friendly methods for
saving growing Aman rice plants from pests’ attack at different stages to get
more rice yield.
“Random application of pesticide and
insecticide are threatening the ecosystems causing extinction of indigenous
species of fishes, beneficial insects and birds while many other species of
them are on the verge of annihilation,” Ali said.
Farmers are erecting bamboo poles on Aman
rice fields so that birds could perch on those in search of food and eat
harmful pests’ for rice plants to protect the crop reducing the use of
pesticide.
Farmers Ariful Haque, Manik Miah and Azizul
Haque of different villages here said adoption of the perching and light trap
methods minimizes cost of insecticide and saves the environment and ecosystems.
Farmers Mozammel Haque, Aiyub Ali and Mohsin
Ali of village Kathihara in Rangpur Sadar upazila said many birds perch on the
poles on growing Aman rice fields to eat insects protecting the growing rice
plants
“Now, we know how to protect growing Aman
rice plants and save money using effective natural methods of perching and
light traps,” Aiyub said, adding that application of these methods have really
been productive and profitable.
Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and
Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid said adoption of
perching and light trap methods are reducing arbitrary use of pesticide while
Aman rice cultivation, reports BSS.
White rice linked to diabetes, especially in South Asia, says
21-nation study done over 10 yrs
Study involved 1.3 lakh people who were
followed up on for a decade across 21 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North
and South America.
SANDHYA RAMESH 6 September, 2020 12:50 pm IST
Representational
image of white rice. | Photo: Commons
Text
Size: A- A+
Bengaluru: An analysis of over 1,30,000 adults from 21 countries over
nearly a decade has indicated a high risk of diabetes linked with the
consumption of white rice. The risk is most prominent for the South Asian
population, according to findings from a new, large-scale, long-term study.
The study was an international
collaboration between researchers from various countries — including India,
China, and Brazil — in Asia, North and South America, Africa and Europe.
Led by Bhavadharini Balaji of the
Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster
University, Canada, the study was a part of the institute’s Prospective Urban
Rural Epidemiology (PURE) project.
The findings were published in the Diabetes
Care journal in its September issue.
White rice and diabetes
White rice is milled rice that
has its germ (the part that sprouts), bran (hard outer layer), and husk (outer
covering) removed. The polishing of rice further results in a bright and shiny
appearance. While white rice has an appealing appearance and can be stored
longer, the milling and polishing process remove nutrients such as vitamin B.
White rice has been linked to an outbreak of beriberi in Asia,
caused by vitamin B-1 deficiency. It also causes the blood sugar levels to
spike upon consumption due to its high glycemic index.
Globally, 42.5 crore people
currently have diabetes, and this number is expected to increase to 62.9 crore
by 2045, according to the International Diabetes
Federation.
Studies have alluded to risk of
diabetes associated with white rice for a few decades now, although findings
have been contradictory. A 2012 study found
that each extra serving of white rice increased the risk for diabetes by 11 per
cent.
However, findings change
depending on which country studies were conducted in. For example, a study of
over 45,000 participants in Singapore found no substantial increase in diabetes
was associated with white rice consumption.
Most such studies were limited to
single countries. To beat this barrier, the authors of the new study extended
it to 21 nations — Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China,
Colombia, India, Iran, Malaysia, ‘occupied Palestine territory’, Pakistan,
Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey,
United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.
However, the South Asian
population seems to show a pattern with white rice consumption and diabetes,
despite a number of other lifestyle factors that increase the disease risk.
“South Asians are genetically
more predisposed to get diabetes, so there are both lifestyle as well as
biological reasons for the high diabetes incidence,” said Bengaluru-based
physician Dr Gowri Kulkarni.
To understand the link between
white rice and diabetes in South Asia, the researchers compared the data from
India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan with the rest of the world.
Study findings
The study involved 132,373
individuals between the ages of 35 and 70, from these 21 countries, who were
monitored for nine and a half years. Of these, 6,129 developed diabetes over
the course of the study.
Participants were considered if
they consumed more than one cup or 150g of cooked rice a day. Overall, the
average white rice consumption was 128g a day among the study participants.
However, the team found that the
highest consumption of white rice was seen in South Asia at 630g a day,
followed by South East Asia at 239g and China at 200g per day. High consumption
of rice resulted in lower consumption of other foods like wheat, fibre, red
meat, and dairy products.
Carbohydrates make up nearly 80
per cent of calories consumed in many South Asian countries. Since the 1970s,
carbs have become increasingly polished and refined as well,
losing a lot of nutrition in the process.
Rapid urbanisation and economic
development, especially in low- and middle-income countries, have led to a dramatic
change in dietary intake and increased physical inactivity, which are related
to the obesity epidemic.
Talking about the findings,
Mumbai-based nutritionist Priya Kathpal said, “I wouldn’t say every white
rice-eating family would have a diabetic person in their family… A lot depends
on the quantity of rice eaten, what it’s eaten with, and how frequently.”
Also read: Brainwaves study can tell if a worker can handle crisis
situation, IIT Madras research says
China anomaly
China and India are two of the
world’s largest countries where rice is the staple food. Both also lead in the
incidence of diabetes. However, the researchers found that there wasn’t a
significant association with white rice consumption and diabetes in China.
There could be many reasons for
this, apart from other lifestyle factors. The scientists believe that the kind
of rice the Chinese eat (sticky rice) could make a difference.
In India, studies have shown that
during the last four to five decades of replacing hand-pounded rice with
industrially milled white rice, the prevalence of diabetes in
urban areas in India increased from 2 per cent in the 1970s to 25 per cent in
2015, and in rural areas from 1 per cent to 14–16 per cent, respectively. White
rice is considered to be one of the many main drivers of the trend, which
followed improved socioeconomic growth and lifestyle modifications.
Studies have shown that
substituting white rice with unpolished brown rice decreases the glycemic
response by 23 per cent and the fasting insulin response by 57
per cent in overweight Asian Indians, but consumers do not tend to prefer brown
rice due to its inconvenience of longer cooking duration, greater chewing
difficulty, and lack of visual appeal.
“Several patients that I’ve asked
to switch to brown rice have faced difficulty, as everyone’s grown up eating
white rice,” said Kathpal.
“Taste is a huge factor, and
brown rice often doesn’t taste the same as white with vegetable curries and
dals. Sometimes, white rice alternatives like even millets can be more
expensive or not as easily available too,” she said.
Doctors and dieticians are
hesitant to recommend diets that are more expensive and less easily available
even if they are healthier, as patients tend not to adopt them successfully.
“A daily diet should always be
easy to maintain and easily available. Only then can it be sustainable,” said
Kulkarni. “Indians in general have poor protein intake in diet, and this has to
do with available resources and choices. Most calories are from carbohydrates
as they are cheap.”
According to the researchers, in
countries where rice is consumed the most or as a staple, the risk of increased
diabetes among the public can be lowered by substituting white rice with
alternate forms of healthier rice versions and adding more legumes or pulses to
food.
Also read: One drink? Or two? Forget the guidelines, less is always better
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APMCs losing trade share post reforms; crop arrivals fall as
traders, farmers kick middlemen out
By: Nanda Kasabe and Deepa Jainani |
Updated: Sep 07, 2020 8:52 AM
Signs of a weakening of the Agriculture
Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) networks are now evident across major farm
production centres in the country.
In Maharashtra, the traders have launched an open revolt against
the APMC brass, refusing to pay the mandi taxes and opting for direct sales to
bulk consumers outside the APMC ambit.
By Prabhudatta Mishra, Nanda Kasabe & Deepa Jainani
Signs of a weakening of the Agriculture Produce Marketing
Committee (APMC) networks are now evident across major farm production centres
in the country, heralding an era of unfettered market access and bolstered
bargaining strength for farmers.
On June 5, the Centre promulgated three Ordinances reforming the
country’s agriculture marketing, and their impact on the trade has been rather
sudden and material: During the June 6-August 31 period, mandi arrivals of
crops –- from fruits and vegetables to cereals and pulses – have dropped
dramatically. The fall was up to 49% for fruits, 57% for vegetables and 45% for
grains (see chart).
Of course, part of the decline can be attributed to the lockdown
restrictions prevailing in large parts of the country and the crop damage or
rotting of stored produce as in the case of onion, but the ceding of trade
share by the once-all-powerful mandis indeed has much to do with the reforms.
In many centres, particularly in states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the
farmer community, organised as farmer producer organisations/companies
(FPOs/FPCs), and the small traders/aggregators are giving the APMC markets a
miss. In Maharashtra, some FPOs, which FE spoke to, narrated how a definite
shifting is taking place in agriculture marketing. There is also anecdotal
evidence of aggregators and food processing firms buying directly from the
farmers on a scale seen never before.
In Uttar Pradesh, the aggregate fall in mandi arrivals of all
crops was 32% on year during June and 64% in July. The state has collected Rs
172 crore in mandi tax/cess revenue during June-July, a drop of 36% on year.
The decline in arrival will likely continue in August as well and market
watchers believe that it could be in the range of 65-70% in the month.
“We have closed our outlets inside the local mandi and have
started sourcing 100% of our requirements directly from farmers. Traders are
now approaching farmers at their villages and getting the crops delivered at
mills,” said Atul Agarwal, MD of Saket Foods at Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh.
Agarwal has already ordered machinery to add another rice plant to his existing
three at Bahraich. “We are now looking for land to set up a food park within
20-km radius of Lucknow in which we will set up three units — solvent
extraction plant, edible oil refinery and rice mill,” said Agarwal, who has also
two pulses processing units.
“The traders who we deal with for purchase of raw materials like
maize and jowar have now started directly purchasing from farmers/aggregators.
The legal reforms have come as a big relief to us as we no longer have to re-route
the maize from Bihar through the local mandi,” said Vijay Jain of Vikas Sortex
Industries, a Kanpur-based cattle feed manufacturer. Since Bihar does not have
APMC law, traders of other states used to route the stuff from Bihar via local
mandis.
While pan-India arrivals have dropped in nine out of 11 field
crops (grains, pulses etc) reviewed by FE during the period since the
promulgation of the Ordinances, higher arrivals were reported for only
groundnut and maize. The sharp drop in mandi arrivals of fruits and vegetables
is largely due to the shift to alternative sales routes like corporate
purchases and supplies to retailers by farmers. But the fall in demand due to
closure of restaurants also contributed to the lower mandi arrivals of fruits
and vegetables.
In Maharashtra, the traders have launched an open revolt against
the APMC brass, refusing to pay the mandi taxes and opting for direct sales to
bulk consumers outside the APMC ambit.
While most mandis in Maharashtra remained shut during the lockdown
period, Jai Sardar Farmer Producer Company in the state’s Buldhana district
reached out to farmers providing them an alternate marketing mechanism. Ashish
Nafade who heads the FPC, said it procured some 300 tonnes of maize at market
prices, 2,000 quintals of tur and 4,500 quintals of chana under the Price
Stabilisation Scheme (PSS).
“Around 30 farmer groups are part of our FPC and through their 30
odd procurement centres are reached out nearly 1,500 farmers both at the
purchase centres and at the farm gate level,” he said. The FPC also sold
vegetables to housing societies in sizeable quantities, he said. The FPC has
set up 1,500 tonnes of warehousing infrastructure and will soon run a pilot
with Warehousing Registration and Development Authority to provide e-warehousing
receipts to farmers. The FPC has set up two drying platforms for agri-produce,
cleaning and grading facilities and an 80-tonne weighing bridge, Nafade said,
adding that the plan is to get into online trading from the next season through
tie-ups with NCDEX and registration on E-NAM as well.
Santosh Dedhe, chairman, Jaylaxmi Farmers Producer Company,
Osmanabad, said his FPC has been active in the purchase of chana and tur from
farmers and is also a part of the government’s PSS programme. Chetna Sinha,
founder of Manndeshi Foundation, Mhaswad, Satara, a foundation which works with
marginalised women farmers in Satara in Maharashtra said the Manndeshi FPO
works with around 1,200 women farmers and is sourcing turmeric, rice, dal and
vegetables from them.
Under a new central law on inter-state trade, farmers have the
freedom to sell their produce in any market within and outside the state of
their residence, without being hamstrung by the APMCs. No state levies will be
imposed on trade outside the APMC mandis and the farmer is supposed to receive
payment within three working days after deal. According to the new law, anyone
having PAN card can trade, while the Centre reserves the right to lay down any
new procedures, including mandatory prior registration.
Via another Ordinance on contract farming, farmers would get share
of post-contract price surge, after they sign agreements of contract farming
with private players. Also, they will have the cover of minimum guaranteed
price if open market/mandi rates fall drastically. The two ordinances, along
with another one through which the Essential Commodities Act has been amended
easing stock holding restrictions on commodities, will together go a long way
in unshackling the entire agriculture-to-food-processing-to-retailing
value-chain and giving farmers the choice to sell their produce in any market
across the country, analysts feel.
Though the UP government has decided to lower the total incidence
of mandi tax and cesses to 1% from 2.5%, it is yet to issue the necessary
order, said Rishi Kumar Bansal, a commission agent in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.
“The trade will substantially shift from mandis in the long run, but mandis
will continue to co-exist. The large traders and processors will appoint
commission agents to buy directly from farmers on their behalf, as they cannot
set up infrastructure in every village,” Bansal said. The arrivals of maize and
bajra in Hathras mandi have not been impacted, he said.
“Arrivals in the mandis are definitely low as it is turning out to
be a losing proposition. Those traders who are purchasing from mandis still
have to pay 2% mandi tax. As trade margins are revolving between 0.5%-1%, how
will they (traders who used to trade via mandis) compete against those who are
paying no tax,” asked Bharat Bhushan, chairman of the Lucknow Dal and Rice
Millers Association.
During April pan-India arrivals of five key rabi crops dropped
18-80% y-o-y, but in June these crops (except masur) reported 16-80% surge
(y-o-y) in arrivals. Clearly, the easing of lockdown curbs boosted arrivals.
Various restrictions on during lockdown (March 24-May 31), were lifted in
phases from June 1 easing public movement and expanding economic activities.
In the case of wheat, the arrivals at mandis during May-June this
year was about 35% lower than the year-ago period, but it improved in June
(when these usually recede) registering 22% higher than the year-ago period.
“As kharif maize prices were around MSP level (Rs 1,760 per
quintal) during October-December last year, there was expectation of a further
increase and farmers were holding the crops. Now that maize is ruling lower at
about Rs 1,270 per quintal (June-August, 2020), the farmers resumed selling,
out of compulsion,” said Basavraj Patil, an aggregator in Davangere district of
Karnataka.
Curiously, some farmer leaders in the northern states of Punjab,
Haryana, Rasjasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have asked the government
to roll back the three ordinances. “The government should tell how much
farm-gate prices have increased after the promulgation of ordinances,” Sudhir
Panwar, president of Kisan Jagriti Manch, said.
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Basmati exporters uncertain, seek clarity over imposition of
market fee, RDF
Say the neighbouring states have accepted the
central ordinance, which provides exemption from these levies and they will
rather buy from there.
CHANDIGARH Updated: Sep 06, 2020 23:54 IST
The new paddy
crop of 1509 variety will start arriving in the mandis by September 15.(HT
FILE)
Basmati exporters based in Punjab
are uncertain over the purchase of the aromatic rice variety from the state as
the Centre’s new ordinance for agriculture marketing, allowing farmers to
directly sell their produce to exporters, has created a parallel system even as
the Punjab government has opposed it.
The Punjab rice millers and
exporters association have raised the contentious issue with the state
government through representations to clarify its stand on the new ordinance as
the neighbouring states, particularly Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have accepted the
central ordinance.
The Association feels that since
the new paddy crop of 1509 variety will start arriving in the mandis by
September 15, the issue of the 2% market fees and 2% rural development fund
(RDF) levied by the state Mandi board remained unresolved as the new ordinance
gives exemption of these two levies, provided the crop is purchased directly
from the farmers or is procured from a private market area as envisaged in the
new act. This year, basmati was grown over 17.5 lakh acres and arrival of the
aromatic produce has started in some parts.
Demanding rationalisation of the
mandi fee and RDF, the exporters said they will like to purchase levy-free
basmati as per the ordinance and buy paddy either directly from the farmers or
from other states which offer exemptions.
“It is important to add that the basmati
growing states of Haryana, UP, Uttrakhand and Jammu and Kashmir have notified
that they will be levying only 1% user charges on the produce brought to their
mandi yards while adhering to the new norms under the ordinance which would
definitely make the Punjab paddy costly, with 4% fees and fund being levied by
the state,” said association director Ashok Sethi. He led a delegation of rice
exporters from state to meet cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on
Sunday for clarity over the matter.
Sethi said Bajwa assured the
exporters that the state government would come to the rescue of the rice
millers by bringing parity in taxes, allowing the industry to grow further
while giving better rates to the farmers. According to Bajwa, agro processing ventures
are an important segment and he will apprise the Punjab CM for a possible way
out.
Top officers in the mandi board
revealed that the matter was under consideration of the top brass in the state
and a statement will be issued shortly.
According to rice exporters, the
taxes imposed by Punjab government will leave their trade uneconomical and
render their rice export unviable as they can’t compete with the exporters
based in Haryana, UP and Delhi as the disparity of taxes would lead to
financial crisis.
The rice exports had a phenomenal
growth during last three years with exports from state touching Rs 14,000
crore, out of the total country’s export of Rs 34,000 crore as per the latest
figures released by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority (APEDA).
The association claimed that it
remained at the forefront in educating basmati growers to use minimal
pesticides and other agro-chemicals so that the produce is accepted worldwide.
In 2017, the basmati consignments faced rejection from European countries and
Saudi Arabia due to presence of fungicide higher than permissible limits.
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