- WITH
PLANT SUPPLEMENTS, LAB-DEVELOPED MEAT CAN BE HEREDITARILY IMPROVED
With
plant supplements, Lab-developed meat can be hereditarily improved
Shubhangi Chavan Posted
onOctober
19, 2020
Analysts from Tufts University have hereditarily designed
ox-like cells to create lab-developed hamburger containing beta-carotene, a
plant supplement that is changed over into nutrient An in the human body. The
scientists propose lab-developed meats later on could be healthfully designed
to pass on a wide grouping of medical advantages.
Countless individuals around the globe experience the ill
effects of nutrient An insufficiency. The dietary inadequacy is a specific
issue in youngsters, with up to a large portion of 1,000,000 losing their
visual perception consistently because of the lack.
With plant
supplements, Lab-developed meat can be hereditarily improved
During the 1990s food researchers hereditarily designed a strain
of rice by including a few beta-carotene qualities. The rice was named
“brilliant rice,” and over the recent many years it turned into a flashpoint
for banters over the security of hereditarily adjusted food.
Until this point in time, just a couple of nations around the
globe have endorsed brilliant rice for public utilization, yet researchers kept
on trying different things with methods of hereditarily controlling foods grown
from the ground to intensify their nourishing substance. Most as of late we
have seen fundamental investigation into “brilliant potatoes” and “brilliant
bananas.”
The scientists from Tufts set out to research whether
lab-developed meat could be healthfully upgraded similarly as brilliant rice.
Researchers and new companies might be extremely near getting
lab-developed meat onto grocery store racks, be that as it may, most examination
consideration in the field has been centered around scaling up creation and
working out approaches to repeat normal items, for example, hamburger steaks
and singed chicken.
“Dairy animals don’t have any of the qualities for delivering
beta carotene,” clarifies lead creator on the new examination, Andrew Stout.
“We designed cow muscle cells to deliver this and different phytonutrients,
which thusly permits us to confer those dietary advantages legitimately onto a
refined meat item such that is likely infeasible through creature transgenics
and regular meat creation.”
The new exploration is essentially a proof-of-idea, exhibiting
how this sort of dietary designing can be adequately conveyed on lab-developed
meat. The investigation notes there are an enormous grouping of likely
applications for these sorts of added substances to lab-developed meat. Not
exclusively are wholesome augmentations conceivable however restorative
nourishments could speculatively be delivered with lab-developed meat spiked
with prescriptions or aggravates that can improve drug assimilation.
The new examination likewise conjectures this sort of hereditary
designing may decrease the cancer-causing nature of meat. Bold says his group
saw a diminishing in lipid oxidation in the wake of cooking a portion of these
“brilliant hamburger” cells.
“We saw a decrease in lipid oxidation levels when we cooked a
little pellet of these cells when they were communicating and delivering this
beta carotene,” says Stout. “Since that lipid oxidation is one of the key
robotic proposition for red and prepared meats’ connect to illnesses, for
example, colorectal malignant growth, I feel that there is a pretty convincing
contention to be made that this might diminish that hazard.”
Relating creator on the new examination, David Kaplan, says
there is still a lot of work to be done before the overall population will
comprehensively acknowledge these sorts of refined meat items. Beside public
acknowledgment and administrative obstacles, creating this sort of meat in
moderate amounts is as yet a test, however Kaplan accepts lab-developed meat
with healthful advantages might be a powerful method to persuade purchasers to
pay somewhat more for the item, in any event from the outset.
“It will probably be trying for refined meat to be seriously
valued with manufacturing plant cultivated meat directly out of the door,” says
Kaplan. “A worth included item which furnishes purchasers with included medical
advantages may make them all the more ready to pay for a refined meat item.”
USTR Alum Receives 2020 USA Rice
Industry Award
|
Farmers find more flexibility and lower costs through row rice
Monday,
October 19th 2020, 1:25 PM CDT
Growing
rice in rows, similar to how corn or soybeans are grown, is becoming more of a
common practice in northeast Louisiana. As LSU AgCenter's Craig Gautreaux
explains, this technique gives farmers some flexibility and lowers water usage.
The technical name is
furrow-irrigated rice, but it is more commonly known as row rice. It is a
farming practice that is growing in popularity across northeast
Louisiana.
"I think we've seen our
acreage increase, a steady increase of 5 to 10 percent a year, for the past
five to six years," according to LSU AgCenter agent, Bruce Garner.
Row rice has several advantages,
because it is grown in fields similar to corn and soybeans, a grower has some
flexibility to choose between three crops based on economic conditions at planting.
It also requires less water than paddy rice.
"When you think about rice,
you usually think about flood," Garner adds. "When you think about
the amount of water we put into it, if we can decrease that by 28 percent, so
we're showing a savings on our water, our pumping costs, even from surface
water."
Jason Waller farms 2,200 acres of
rice, nearly all of it row rice. He sees little difference in yields between
the two techniques, and row rice actually takes less effort.
"The yield was practically
the same, but it was so much easier to grow row rice, and not that, when we get
done harvesting, we didn't have to tear levees down," Waller states.
After four years of growing row
rice, Waller is learning more about the practice each time. His experience is allowing
him to avoid the pitfalls from previous growing seasons.
"We really don't want a high
row. High rows in a field can be disastrous, especially if you get lodging and
rice goes down between the rows," he notes. "You can hardly get it
out of those rows."
Both Garner and Waller said
hybrid rice lines have been more successful than conventional varieties in row
rice applications.
https://www.rfdtv.com/story/42785719/farmers-find-more-flexibility-and-lower-costs-through-row-rice
I Miss Restaurants, So I Opened My Own…for a Chipmunk
It
all started when my uncle sent a tiny wooden picnic table in the mail.
October
15, 2020
Photo By Emma Fishman
The
aromatic broth of vegetable scraps, mushrooms, and scallions simmers on the
stove. I place a twirl of noodles into a bamboo bowl, ladle in the steaming
broth, add chopped shiitakes and bamboo shoots, then tweezer on a few sesame
seeds for flavor and garnish. There is a diner already seated at my new
ramen-ya, awaiting the artful balance I hope to have achieved. He sniffs, sips,
and in one giant slurp, it’s gone—bowl and all. Sometimes this happens with
chipmunks. Did I mention my food is tiny and my “restaurant” is on the front
steps of my porch?
I am a freelance food writer by trade. My work centers around
eating and drinking and observing the restaurant culture of Atlanta, where I
live, and then writing about it. But these days, like everyone else, I’m at
home. ALWAYS at home. There are no more new cafés to review or omakase dinners
to critique or chicken wing competitions to judge. I’ve hoarded the beans,
planted the garden, and grown the scallions on the windowsill. I’ve written
about how industry folks are coping with “the new normal.” But how am I coping?
Well.
It was mid-April when the giant box appeared on my front porch.
The return address was from my Uncle Ed, who owns a bowling center in Ohio and
thus has had quite a bit of time on his hands since COVID-19 shut down his
business. I unwrapped layers and layers of Bubble Wrap and there it was: a mini
wooden picnic table on which red magic marker scrawled out “Angela.” It was
intended for hanging on a tree for squirrels, said Ed, but I took a shortcut
and sat it out on the porch, putting a few walnuts left over from Christmas on
top. By the time I’d walked the box to the recycling bin, a chipmunk had taken
a seat at the wee table. In seconds he’d gobbled up all the walnuts.
The next morning he came back and dined on walnuts again. He
seemed eager.
Thelonious, catching up on his reading
Photo By Angela Hansberger
By day three I’d made a makeshift tablecloth cut from a bandana.
Then I fashioned a vase out of one of those rubber guards for pencils and
filled it with a tiny purple vinca bud. “What do chipmunks eat besides nuts?” I
wondered as I made a grocery list. A deep google dive gave me answers. Much as
expected: seeds, berries, buds, and small worms. And, more surprising:
mushrooms, vegetables, and small frogs. (Spoiler: This porch café does
not serve small frogs.) I read that chipmunks are crepuscular
creatures mainly active at dawn and dusk when fewer predators are a threat. And
sure enough, those were the hours in which Thelonious, as I had now named my
chipmunk (Thelonious Munk, get it?), came calling.
WATCH
The One Dish for Every Dinner Party
Important
to dining, especially now, is tipping. Thelonious, I’ll admit, had always been
a poor tipper. Then one evening I watched as he carried over a mysterious wad
of leaves and bits of flowers, things not available near my porch, and left
them at the table. For me? Did he leave these special things for me? I
considered it an excellent tip.
Thelonious Munk comes every day now. Sometimes he sits at the
table, waiting for me. He is the diner critiquing my meals; I am the chef and
the server, waiting for positive reviews. I switch up the menu, making sure not
to overfeed, as chipmunks are hoarders and can eat to their detriment. I watch
like a new parent introducing foods to a baby, cataloging likes and dislikes.
Google be damned, Thelonious doesn’t dig mushrooms, fresh or dried, crimini or
enoki (I tried). He loves blueberries and hates peanuts and yellow bell
peppers. He pushes cabbage to the side.
Missing my own restaurant experiences, I try to give them to
Thelonious. One day, reminiscing on my sushi habit (a frequent writing
subject), I turned the table into a sushi counter. I made a tray from modeling
clay. I took individual grains of rice and tweezered them atop pieces of
carrot, peach skins, mango, and seaweed with grated ginger and “wasabi” made
from a sassafras leaf. I fashioned itty-bitty chopsticks from stems of the
aforementioned scallions. It was definitely wabi sabi—perfectly
imperfect.
Thelonious, at the sushi counter
Photo By Angela Hansberger
Thelonious devoured pizza from a crust of almond flour topped with
smashed raspberry and slivered almond “cheese.” I made a Detroit version too,
and placed the pizzas on a stand made from a Champagne cage. He loved the
accompanying salad of garden herbs and nut “croutons.” It took a lot of trial
and error to create tiny taco shells, but once I did, he seemed to marvel at
them before eating them with his paws, just like a person would. The chips and
guac disappeared too. I created a pretzel recipe without the salt, so as not to
damage little kidneys. Making the teeny twists was especially tedious, but
after about 10 attempts and a few more tries baking them at various
temperatures, my improvised recipe worked: Munk ate them in his own personal
beer garden, and I, too, was soulfully satiated.
Later, with the help of my husband, I built a full miniature bar
with stools covered in scraps of leather: the Peanut Club. Thelonious sat
anxiously on the stoop as we worked, watching and waiting to eventually steal
the nut bowl as I positioned mini bottles of booze, a cocktail shaker, and bev
naps. Once it was complete, he took his place on a stool for a while before
opting to be bartender and moving behind the counter. And after a spell at the
bar, he went to his table ready for the next dinner experience. I used to do
this too.
Over
these past months, my Instagram feed has
shifted from shots of the newest restaurants and meticulous chef platings to
this little guy encountering a new setup and new variations on his favorite
flavors each day. Instead of noting the ambiance, the particulars of design, or
the nuances of a restaurant’s menu, I dream it up chipmunk-sized. And for once
I do the verboten in food journalism—I read the comments. Bringing a little joy
to others is the secret sauce that quells my pandemic anxiety. Messages from
strangers who found my munk via social media keep me going. A recent
human-sized take-out order from a local restaurant included a small container
labeled “Thelonious.” Inside were hazelnuts, carrot curls, and wee
chanterelles, a gift from the kitchen.
The existential dread of a global pandemic is pervasive. I find
myself often caught in a state of hopelessness and helplessness, unable to
celebrate newborn babies, birthdays, graduations, and marriages. Unable to
properly grieve losses or sit with a close friend undergoing chemo. Worried
about the chefs and restaurant workers who rely on our collective ability to go
out to eat. News is bleak and we are all feeling physically and socially
isolated. But every day, there is also Thelonious, a chipmunk who sits down to
eat in a world without a doomful election and a deadly virus. This is how I am
coping, laying out a picnic, watching tiny hands hold my tiny food. It’s silly,
yes, but sometimes silliness is needed.
The evening Thelonious dined with a white tablecloth, a
battery-lit candle, and petite silver dinnerware was the best restaurant
experience I’ve had in months. I sat behind my window—next to my eternally
frustrated cat—and marveled as the chipmunk prepared his to-go order, stuffing
nut after nut into his impressively expanding cheek pouches. It made me feel
hopeful, knowing his face luggage would carry these supplies into his own
little subterranean pantry. Knowing that, come winter, they would get him
through his own period of isolation.
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/a-restaurant-for-a-chipmunk
Payments worth ₹2,000 cr to
basmati rice exporters stuck, say industry insiders
Export of basmati rice and tea is likely to be severely impacted
this year due to issues with Iran which is one of the major importers of the
two commodities. Delayed payments from Iran on the back of the “depleting
balance” in the rupee-rial trade account is the problem.
Iran is one of the major importers of basmati rice accounting
for nearly a third of India’s total exports of the commodity. It also accounts
for over 21 per cent of the country’s total tea exports, particularly the
orthodox variety.
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According to estimates by industry insiders, around ₹2,000 crore, due to basmati rice exporters to Iran, is currently
stuck because of a payment crisis. While the tea industry was not able to share
the exact figures of the outstanding dues, it would be a “considerable sum”
given that no payments have been coming for the past four-six weeks, said
Anshuman Kanoria, Chairman, Indian Tea Exporters’ Association.
Payment crisis
Ever since the US imposed sanctions on Iran, India could not
engage in dollar-denominated trade with the country. Hence, a rupee-rial trade
mechanism was put in place in 2018.
Under this, oil refineries from India would deposit rupees in
the two designated banks — UCO Bank and IDBI Bank — for import of crude oil
from Iran; the fund was used to clear dues of exporters from India to Iran.
However, since there have been no oil imports by India since May 2019 due to
the US-mandated sanctions, the accumulations in the rupee-rial accounts have
been depleting drastically.
“The Central Bank of Iran is not doing currency allocations to
importers there (because of the depleting balance in the rupee-rial account).
Therefore, a large number of consignments, shipped from India from December
2019 till July this year, have been stuck at Iranian ports and payments for
none of these has come so far,” Vinod Kaul, Executive Director, All India Rice
Exporters’ Association (AIREA), told BusinessLine.
Looking for alternatives
A senior executive at UCO Bank confirmed that the balance in the
rupee-rial account is “steadily depleting” and also indicated that an alternative
mechanism for payments was being discussed. The possibility of India importing
fertilisers and some other goods, including kiwi, dates and saffron in lieu of
crude oil, to keep the balance in the account is also being explored, he
pointed out.
It may be noted that Indian exporters to Iran had faced similar
delays in payment to the tune of ₹2,000 crore during the period between June and December 2019.
However, the dues were cleared eventually on government intervention.
·
·
LOGIN
TGIFOOD
Lockdown Recipe
of the Day: Tamarind prawn curry
By Tony Jackman• 20 October 2020
This recipe relies on first making a fish/crustacean stock. I keep prawn heads
and lobster shells in the freezer for this purpose. But using the heads of the
prawns for this curry’s stock is a perfect solution.
Ingredients
1 large red onion, chopped
2 fat cloves of garlic, chopped finely
3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 kg tiger prawns
2 bay leaves
1 tsp each ground cumin, turmeric, fennel, and mustard seeds
1 tsp dried chillies
1 whole star anise
2 tsp fish masala or other mild masala you have to hand
100 ml tamarind water (or thereabouts, more is fine as the water
will cook away; it’s the flavour you’re after)
80 ml tomato paste
1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes
500 ml fish stock, or more (commercial if you aren’t able to make
your own)
Basmati rice, cooked and drained
Coriander leaves for garnish
Method
Have 500ml or more of stock to hand, and a ladle. If making your
own, boil down shells, prawn heads, fish bones etc. with carrots, onions, leeks
and garlic in plenty of water until there is only a tenth or so of concentrated
liquid left.
Prepare the prawns this way or do the same but leave the tail
shell on.
Melt coconut oil in a large pan. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and
star anise and sauté until softened.
Add the ground spices and tomato paste and braise for 2 to 3
minutes, gently.
Add the chillies, masala, and chopped tomatoes, simmer while
stirring for 2 or 3 minutes. Salt well.
Simmer gently for half an hour to 40 minutes, adding a ladleful of
stock at intervals, to develop and strengthen the flavours.
Dissolve tamarind pulp in hot water, cool it a little and squeeze
it with your fingers to get as much of the pulp as possible to meld with the
water. Essentially you’re adding tamarind water to the dish. Pour the contents
into the curry through a fine sieve and discard the rest.
When your tastebuds tell you the sauce is just right (and
presuming you’ve made some basmati rice in the meantime), add the prawns and
simmer for 10 minutes. Serve immediately. DM/TGIFood
Our Thank God It’s Food newsletter
is sent to subscribers every Friday at 6pm, and published on the TGIFood platform on
Daily Maverick. It’s all about great reads on the themes of food and life.
Subscribe here.
Send your Lockdown Recipes
to tony@dailymaverick.co.za with a hi-resolution horizontal
(landscape) photo.
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you are already an Insider.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-10-20-lockdown-recipe-of-the-day-tamarind-prawn-curry/
Experts: Study well curbs on rice
importation
File photo: Workers unload tons of rice to be distributed to
Quezon City barangays affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. (NONOY LACZA)PROPOSALS to limit rice imports
to stabilize farmgate price, especially during harvest, require careful study,
according to economists.
Economists said proposals such as
barring rice cooperatives from importing the commodity, as well as banning
importation of commodities during their main harvest, could affect the rice
market and eventually hurt consumers.
Last week, the Department of
Agriculture proposed to bar cooperatives from importing rice while on Monday,
senators suggested disallowing importation during the main harvest of
commodities.
“These proposed policies are going
to hurt the consumers. While producers are supposedly supported by imposing
these restrictions, these can in the long run cause inefficiencies in the
market. The goal should be to make producers competitive without causing a
burden to the consumers,” Ateneo Eagle Watch Senior Fellow Leonardo A. Lanzona
Jr. told the BusinessMirror.
With the passage of the Rice
Trade Liberalization (RTL) Law, any entity with proper papers can import rice,
Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow
Roehlano M. Briones pointed out.
Briones added that implementing
seasonal import bans does not really work given that “someone can pre-purchase
rice during open season.”
Non-tariff barrier
Moreover, barring cooperatives
from importing could be a form of non-tariff barrier (NTB), said Briones.
Former University of the
Philippines School of Economics Dean Ramon L. Clarete explained that there is a
difference between NTBs and Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs).
“You distinguish between NTMs and
NTBs. Former may be allowed like SPS [Sanitary Phytosanitary] or TBT [Technical
Barriers to Trade]. Generally NTMs have valid reasons for using them. But NTBs
may just be disguised protection. They appear to be NTMs but without valid
reason for using them,” Clarete told the BusinessMirror.
These are important
qualifications that need to be understood when making trade policy. These kinds
of qualifications include, Clarete said, on the proposal on barring
cooperatives from importing as well as the meaning of harvest.
Clarete said before barring
cooperatives, the government should make a qualification that the policy covers
“co-ops which allow themselves to be used by big importers.”
He added that if the government
can define well the meaning of harvest, imposing a seasonal ban could be an NTM
more than an NTB.
“A seasonal ban may be defensible
under the development criterion of supporting economically depressed rural
areas whose residents derive their main income from, say, rice. But if the
harvest is arbitrary like growing livestock and poultry then it becomes an
NTB,” Clarete explained.
University of Asia and the
Pacific Center for Food and Agri Business Executive Director Rolando T. Dy said
Agriculture Secretary William Dar should have a basis for not allowing cooperatives
to import.
Dy told the BusinessMirror this means
determining whether they are legitimate farmers cooperatives or trader-financed
farmers’ cooperatives.
He added that before a seasonal
ban on importation is enforced, the government should determine whether the
country would be compliant with the rules of the World Trade Organization
(WTO).
“Such barriers may have
implications on the labor market as well since these maintain existing
inefficiencies,” Lanzona stressed.
On Monday, certain senators
suggested halting importation of commodities during their main harvest season
of local output. This includes rice, corn, feed wheat, and whole chicken.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary
William D. Dar declared in a hearing presided by Sen. Cynthia A. Villar that he
will bar farmers’ cooperatives and associations from importing rice.
(Related story:
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/10/16/agri-chief-dar-to-bar-farmer-co-ops-from-importing-rice-amid-dummy-for-traders-issues/)
The BusinessMirror broke
the story last year that unscrupulous traders continue to use farmers’
cooperatives and associations as their fronts and dummies even after the rice
industry was liberalized.
(Read the award-winning story here
(https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/10/31/pre-and-post-rice-trade-liberalization-law-big-traders-gaming-farmer-groups/).
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/10/20/experts-study-well-curbs-on-rice-importation/
Rough year for rice farmers after
hurricanes Laura and Delta
LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Whether wind or rain, farmers across
Southwest Louisiana are used to adjusting to Mother Nature, but after COVID,
and hurricanes Laura and Delta it hasn’t been an easy year.
Rice and crawfish farmer, Joel Stelly believes he got lucky.
“For Laura, I was fortunate I had all my crops were in the
bins,” Stelly said. "I had some minor damage on some of my bins but I
saved all of my rice.”
Some of his fellow farmers in Iowa, however, lost the fruits of
their labor as a result of the storms.
“Some of my neighbors were less fortunate south of me,” Stelly
said. "They lost rice in their bins and in their field. And the ones that
were in the fields, whenever they harvested it, there was a severe crop
reduction in yield due to the wind knocked the botanicals off the wind. It was
a pretty tough situation for the people in this area.”
County Agent for the LSU Ag Center, Jimmy Meaux explained, not
just crops were damaged by the hurricanes.
“A lot of them, their infrastructure got damaged,” Meaux said.
"A lot of their bins that they harvest that they keep the rice in, got
destroyed. A lot of them are damaged, they’re not about to use them anymore. A
lot of their equipment, some of their equipment sheds got damaged.”
An overall rough year for rice for farmers, which Stelly said is
a job hazard when you’re dealing with Mother Nature.
“Farmers cannot control Mother Nature in any aspect,"
Stelly said. "Some years she’s great to us, some years she takes it from
us. Each year, we take what she gives us and make the best out of it.”
Meaux estimates around 80 to 100 thousand acres were damaged as
a result of the hurricanes.
Copyright 2020 KPLC. All rights reserved.
Annual rice yield to remain above
200m tons
By
Wang Xiaoyu | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-10-20 15:22 
A farmer smiles at he
holds a bundle of saline-alkali tolerant rice and a sickle in Weifang,
East China's Shandong province, on Oct 16, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
China's total rice growing area will remain above 30 million
hectares, while annual production will be maintained above 200 million metric
tons, said Han Changfu, minister of agriculture and rural affairs.
More preferential policies, incentives and compensation will be
rolled out to protect major rice-planting regions and keep farmers motivated.
China will accelerate development of high-quality farmland,
improve agricultural equipment, logistics and storage, and enhance protection
of black soil in Northeast China, Han said at the opening ceremony of the 3rd
International Rice Festival of China in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on
Sunday.
He said efforts will continue to reduce the use of chemicals and
pesticides while increasing their efficient use. Mechanization of the industry
will also be promoted and emerging industries such as tourism will be fostered,
he said.
Market demand will be monitored to help adjust rice planting
schedules. The ministry will also strive to cut back losses and waste in the
industrial food chain, he said.
Han added that the ministry will step up efforts to establish and
promote a number of domestic rice brands.
China has 20 percent of the world's rice planting areas and
produces nearly 40 percent of the global supply, according to the ministry.
ttps://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202010/20/WS5f8e903ca31024ad0ba7fd97.ht
Japan Donates $3.8 Million To
Haiti For Rice
Japan pledged to give Haiti $3.8 million to purchase rice that
can be sold at reasonable prices to residents.
Claude Joseph, Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Culture,
met with Mitsuaki Mizuno, Japan’s Ambassador to Haiti, to sign the agreement of
the project, KR 2020, in Port-au-Prince on Monday. The KR 2020 Project fund
will also cover the purchase of agricultural tools.
The officials did not mention when the project would start nor
what prices would be considered reasonable. Source
Claude Joseph, Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Culture, sitting next to Mitsuaki Mizuno, Japan’s Ambassador to Haiti. Photo
credit: Juno7
Japan Donates
$3.8 Million To Haiti For Rice
Japan pledged to give Haiti $3.8 million to purchase rice that
can be sold at reasonable prices to residents. 
Claude Joseph, Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Culture,
met with Mitsuaki Mizuno, Japan’s Ambassador to Haiti, to sign the agreement of
the project, KR 2020, in Port-au-Prince on Monday. The KR 2020 Project fund
will also cover the purchase of agricultural tools.
The officials did not mention when the project would start nor
what prices would be considered reasonable. Source
GIEWS Country Brief: Guyana 20-October-2020
Format
News
and Press Release
Source
Posted
Originally
published
Origin
Attachments
FOOD SECURITY
SNAPSHOT
·
Paddy production
anticipated at record level in 2020
·
Rice exports expected
to continue to rise in 2020 marketing year
Paddy production anticipated at record level in 2020
Harvesting of the 2020 second season paddy crop is ongoing and production
is expected at an above‑average level. The 2020 paddy output is officially
anticipated at a record level of 1.1 million tonnes, including the first season
crop harvested in the first half of 2020. Paddy production has been increasing
in the past four years reflecting large plantings due to improved financial
gains for farmers, prompted by strong demand for exports. The improvement of
extension services of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the
expanding of public agricultural investments supported crop yields.
Weather forecasts indicate average to slightly above‑average rainfall
amounts in the November‑December period, providing conducive conditions for
planting operations of the 2021 first season paddy crop.
Rice exports expected to continue to rise in 2020 marketing year
Rice is the country’s
fourth most important exported commodity, after gold, aluminium ore and cargo
containers (designed for transport mode), with about half of the annual
production being exported. Rice exports have been on the rise over the past
three years due to increasing production and are forecast to continue rising in
the 2020 marketing year (January/December). Rice exports in the January‑August
period exceeded the record high exports in the same period in the previous
year, with the major destinations being the European Union and Latin America.
Rice exports in 2020 are forecast at 530 000 tonnes, more than 20 percent above
the last five‑year average.
https://reliefweb.int/report/guyana/giews-country-brief-guyana-20-october-2020
Pakistani
rice participates International Rice Festival in China
:
2020-10-20 09:25 | Gwadar Pro
HARBIN,
Oct 19 (Gwadar Pro) – Oct 18-22, the 3rd China Heilongjiang International Rice
Festival is held in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. Pakistani rice companies
also take part in the exhibition. Meanwhile, Pakistani rice took part in the
Rice Tasting Competition with rice from China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia,
Myanmar, Laos, Russia, and other countries.
The
opening ceremony of the 3rd China Heilongjiang International Rice Festival was
held in Harbin last Sunday (18th). About 260 people from Japan, South Korea,
Thailand, Pakistan, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries attended the
opening ceremony.
After
the opening ceremony, the "World Hundred Rice Gathering" activity was
held. On the occasion, the rice from various countries and regions including
Pakistan were steamed with 100 electric rice cookers. With local special snacks
side dishes, guests were invited to taste quality rice from around the world.
During
the exhibition, the rice auctions and promotional events also are held online.
Chinese merchants and consumers can buy Pakistani rice through this
platform.
On
the opening ceremony, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Director-General, Qu Dongyu, congratulated the rice Festival through a video.
“For many people in the world, rice is life,” he said, rice cultivation has
contributed to population growth in Asia. Qu also called on countries to adopt
more active policies to promote sustainable development of the rice
industry.
（Editor:Liao
Yifan）
http://en.ce.cn/main/latest/202010/20/t20201020_35909878.shtml
Mekong Delta Takes Preventive Measures Against Saline Intrusion
Vietnam + —
Local authorities in the Mekong
Delta have begun taking measures to cope with the effects of saltwater
intrusion and drought in the upcoming 2020-2021 dry season.
In recent years, the Mekong
Delta – the country’s largest rice, fruit and seafood producer – has faced
severe saltwater intrusion from sea via river mouths during the dry season.
Local authorities in Can Tho
City and the delta’s 12 provinces, have warned farmers to sow rice and other
crops in the dry season under certain schedules and in areas that can
secure irrigation water.
The provinces in coastal areas have
upgraded irrigation systems to protect crops and aquaculture.
The Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development of Sac Trang province has warned farmers to sow the
2020-21 winter-spring rice crop one month earlier than normal to mitigate
the impact of saltwater intrusion and drought.
Situation Update No. 2 - Flooding in Central Viet Nam -
Monday, 19 Oct 2020, 23:00 hrs (UTC+7)
Format
Situation
Report
Source
Posted
Originally
published
Origin
Attachments
1.
HIGHLIGHTS
a. The combination of weather systems (Tropical Storms LINFA and NANGKA,
and the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone combined with cold air) affected the
Lower Mekong Region. This resulted in widespread flooding and landslides in
multiple provinces of Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam.
b. A fourth weather disturbance (after Tropical Storms LINFA and NANGKA,
and tropical depression INVEST 94W), currently named tropical depression INVEST
19W, is forecasted to impact the central provinces of Viet Nam between 24 to 26
October 2020.
c. The floods, landslides, storms, and winds in Central Viet Nam affected
an estimated 800.5K people, 160.1K houses, 112.8K hectares of land damaged or
destroyed, 42 commune health stations (Quang Tri: 32; Quang Ngai: 5; Quang Nam:
4; and one regional clinic), 362 educational institutions, 14.7 km of roads,
and the loss of 462K livestock (cattle and poultry). About 26.3 km of coastal
landslide was also reported. Casualties were also reported (64 dead and 12
missing).
**highest
number reported as of 16 October 2020 source: VNDMA
d. The Government of Viet Nam identified several humanitarian needs: 6,500
tons of rice**, 5.5 tons of dried food, 20,000 boxes of instant noodles,
medicines, disinfectants, and search and rescue equipment.
**the Government of Viet Nam will shoulder rice provision
e. The UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam provided a report summarising
sectoral needs for Education, Food Security, Health & Nutrition, Protection
& Gener, Shelter, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
f. Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) has organised response
missions to the affected provinces. It has also maintained close coordination
with its partners. On the morning of 19 October 2020, the Government of Viet
Nam convened a meeting with Disaster Risk Reduction partners to discuss and
coordinate support from international organisations. Several organisations —
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Save the Children, World Health
Organization (WHO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also provided or
pledged assistance to Viet Nam.
g. From 20 to 23 October 2020, three (3) teams, coordinated by VNDMA, will
conduct damage assessment and needs analysis in the provinces of Quang Binh,
Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai.
h. The ASEAN relief
items, consisting of 1,000 shelter repair kits and 1,300 kitchen sets from the
Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN (DELSA) regional stockpile in
Subang, Malaysia have been prepared by the AHA Centre for air freight. The
relief items are expected to arrive in Da Nang International Airport on the
evening of 20 October 2020.
SCORES DEAD AS FLOODS, HEAVY RAINS
HAMMER VIETNAM, CAMBODIA, LAOS
ScotFree | Oct 20, 2020
Home » Asia » Scores Dead as Floods, Heavy Rains Hammer Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos
Floods,
landslides, and other natural disasters triggered by downpours in Cambodia,
Laos, and Vietnam have left scores dead, with paddy fields and rice stocks
destroyed, and thousands displaced from their homes in a region hard hit by
COVID-19 and its economic fallout, officials and state media said Monday.
In
Vietnam, at least 90 are dead and 34 missing, with thousands of households
evacuated from flooded areas to safer ground, state media and other sources
say.
Quang
Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces have been hardest hit, with 41 deaths, 18
missing, and 27 deaths, 15 missing, respectively, Vietnam’s Central Steering
Committee for Natural Disaster and Control said on Oct. 19.
In
Thua Thien Hue, nearly 40 thousand households have been evacuated, with some 121,700
dwellings reported still under water.
“At
present, we are safe, but thousands of local households have remained without
power for three days, and at first we couldn’t contact anyone for help,” a
resident of Quang Tri’s Cam Lo district told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Sunday
after he and his family were rescued by boat.
“Now,
we are holding up with instant noodles until the waters go down again,” he
said.
News
of a release of water from a local dam due to flooding never reached local
residents, who were already cut off from outside contact, the source said,
adding that his home was now submerged to a depth of two meters.
“[The
authorities] said on Facebook that they were going to discharge water from the
dam, but because our area was already isolated, we never got that news, and the
flood hit us at midnight. We had no chance to get away,” he said.
A
source named Thao in Quang Tri’s capital city Dong Ha confirmed that power
outages had prevented residents in low-lying residential areas from learning
that large quantities of water would be released from dam reservoirs.
“They
announced this on Facebook, but no one in our area was connected to the
internet, so we never heard anything about it,” she said, adding that rescue
teams had arrived at her home at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday to take her and her
children to a safer place.
Landslides
on Oct. 12 and 18 also buried 17 workers and 13 members of a rescue team at the
Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant in Thua Thien Hue province and 22 soldiers and
officers at a military barracks in Quang Tri’s Hung Hoa province, sources said.
The
bodies of the missing soldiers were recovered on Oct. 19, but searches continue
for 15 of the 17 workers buried at the Rao Trang 3 hydropower plant.
More
rain is expected to hit central areas of the country in coming days as a
tropical storm forms in the South China Sea, called the East Sea in Vietnam,
off the coast of the Philippines, with continued high risk of floods and
landslides that have already damaged highways and roads, media sources say.
Villagers
cut off in Laos
In
Laos, storms have ravaged Savannakhet province in the country’s center, with
authorities unable to access many areas due to damaged roads and not enough
boats available to transport aid and other supplies, Lao sources said.
More
than 100 villages in eight districts have now been flooded, with many houses
and over 10,000 hectares of paddy fields submerged, official sources in the
province say.
Heavy
rains due to tropical storms along with an overflow of the Xe Ranong No. 1 Dam upstream
were to blame for the devastation in Phin, a district agriculture and forestry
official told RFA, saying that 35 villages in the district have been affected
by floods.
“Around
502 hectares of paddy rice has also been flooded,” the official said, adding,
“Things are hard, but we will have to endure.”
“People
who live close by will get rice and dry goods more quickly than those who live
far away.”
In
Phin district’s Apia village alone, 184 people in 32 families have been
affected, with rising waters destroying rice fields, food stores, and
villagers’ homes, a village official told RFA on Monday.
“[Some]
houses have been damaged beyond repair, and the rice that the government gave
us during the last flood is now almost gone,” the official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
“A
store of rice reserves with 50 sacks of sticky rice has been destroyed in this
flood,” another villager confirmed, adding that he had been able to move
livestock and other family valuables to high ground before the flood hit, but
that clothes, utensils, and other household goods had been washed away.
“Our
rice in the fields was almost ripe and was ready to be harvested soon, but the
rain and floods destroyed it all. We are going to be hungry here next year,” he
said.
District
officials say that authorities have too few boats now to move people from
flooded areas or to transport supplies to villagers cut off by the flood or by
roads damaged or cut off by fallen trees. Phin district authorities are now
working with the neighboring district of Champhone to convey dry goods,
medicines, clothes, and gasoline for boats to those in need, sources said.
Thousands
evacuated in Cambodia
Floods
in Cambodia have meanwhile killed at least 25 and seen 40,000 evacuated to
temporary shelters, Cambodian national disaster management authorities said.
More than 200,000 hectares of paddy field and nearly 80,000 farms have also
been destroyed, with more than 500 school buildings and 79 garment factories
damaged.
Roads,
hospitals, and dams have also been affected, authorities said.
Cambodians
in debt to banks or other lenders have been especially hard hit, with many left
unable to work and make monthly payments to their creditors,
“I
don’t know what to do,” said one villager from Banteay Meanchey province’s
Mongol Borey district named Sareourm. “We don’t have enough rice to eat, even
though we got a small amount of food aid on Oct. 18.”
Sareourn
said he wants his creditor, a microfinance institution, to delay demands for
payment until the flood waters recede, allowing him to look for a job.
“I
can’t look for work now because I’m taking care of my grandchildren, and I
can’t leave them behind because the flood is now up to the ground floor of my
house. If my creditor doesn’t agree, I will have no choice but to sell off my
house and land to pay my debt,” he said.
“I’m
having real difficulties now,” added a villager from Battambang province named
Chun Ry, who said that he can’t earn enough money now to pay back a loan from a
microfinance company that helped him buy a small home and a motorbike to start
a taxi service.
“Now,
people are commuting to the markets and other places mainly by boat, though.”
“I
park my bike on higher ground where I earn only about 20,000 riel [U.S. $5] per
day, and half of this goes for gasoline. So it’s hard even to earn a living,
not to mention paying back my loan,” he said, adding that he hopes the
government can work with his creditor to cancel his payments for at least one
or two months.
Reported
by RFA’s Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian Services. Translated by Huy Le, Sidney
Khotpanya, and Sum Sok Ry. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Copyright © 1998-2018, RFA. Published with the
permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036
1
www.asiapacificnews.net
https://www.thescotfree.com/asia/scores-dead-as-floods-heavy-rains-hammer-vietnam-cambodia-laos/
Farmers
reeling from crop losses due to torrential rains across Mekong Delta
20.10.2020, 15:14
VietReader
Soldiers
help farmers on the field during early harvest to cut losses (Photo: SGGP)
Farmers in the Ca Mau Province in the southern tip of Vietnam are harvesting on
October 19 amid heavy rains inundating rice fields causing difficulties in
cutting rice with sickles.
Farmer Duong Van Thang in Tran Van Thoi District said that continuous downpour
wreaked havoc in the district. More than 1.5 hectares of his rice field was
destroyed by downpours; he suffered a complete crop loss .
Farmers are scrambling to find desperately needed manpower to harvest their
rice to minimize loss; however, high pay for laborers who helped to harvest the
rice fields damaged by heavy rain disappointed farmers. Farmer Pham Thi Ut in
Khanh Binh Dong Commune said payment for hiring people to reap ripe rice surged
from VND500000 to VND600000- VND800000 at the time plus rent for a machine to
pluck grains off ears each rice bag is VND20000.
Many rice fields in districts Vi Thuy, Long My, Phung Hiep and Vi Thanh town in
the Mekong Delta of Hau Giang were flattened after heavy rains. Farmer Tran Van
Trai in Vi Thuy District sadly said that a month ago, traders offered VND6000
for a kilogram of fragrant rice; his rice field is estimated to generate profit
of VND8 million. But continuous downpours in these days tore his dream as
traders refused to buy the rice.
According to the provincial Steering Board for Disaster Prevention and Rescue,
of farmers have harvested the fall-winter crop on 21600 hectares. By October 19
more than 3913 hectares of ripe rice field in the province were flattened; the
yield at the rice fields is expected to fall by 5- 80 percent. Water levels in
additional 5809 hectares of paddy field with ripe rice plants ready for
harvesting are from 10 to 30cm.
Farmers in Soc Trang also suffered the same fate as their rice plants were
flattened.
Alongside complete losses due to bad weather, farmers in Ca Mau are in despairs
as traders proposed to buy rice at VND3000- VND3800 per kilogram, a drop of one
third compared to before. Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development in Kien Giang Province Do Minh Nhut said approximately 10000
hectares of rice were flattened and submerged in floodwater.
Meanwhile Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in
Bac Lieu Province Luu Hoang Ly said that as per each locality’s initial
statistics, there were 16000 hectares of the flood-affected rice fields while
380 hectares of the summer-fall crop were totally destroyed.
Traders proposed to buy unhusked rice at VND6100-VND6400 a kilogram before; but
now, they didn’t want to buy. Presently, the Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development directed related competent agencies and local administrations
to drain water from irrigation culverts.
For these days, soldiers were sent to localities to help farmers on the field
during early harvest to cut losses. Related state competent also made
statistics of loss to have plan to compensate farmers.
Deputy Chairman of Hau Giang Province People’s Committee Truong Canh Tuyet
yesterday toured to flood-affected paddy fields to study the situation. He
requested local administrations to reinforce embankments as well as advised
farmers to harvest the ripe rice to minimize losses. Moreover, he asked local
administrations to have compensation plan to help farmers.
By
staff writers – Translated by Anh Quan
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