From the Lab to the Field,
Agriculture Seeks to Adapt to a Warming World
With
rising temperatures, the world’s food supplies are at risk, with deceasing
yields in key staple crops. Researchers and innovators are looking at more
resilient crops and farm animals — from heat-resistant wheat, to
drought-resistant rice, to Naked Neck chickens that stay cooler.
·
Fac
It may
be coming to a bakery near you: Bread made from wheat that has had its
photosynthetic mechanism refashioned to help it flourish on a warmer planet.
Despite
the fact a number of researchers — some funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation — are scrambling to create this new breed of wheat, it won’t be arriving
any time soon. Increasing temperatures are already taking a toll on the world’s
wheat fields. But a new heat-resistant wheat that will replace the types
currently grown is a decade or more off in the future.
“The
largest single global change that threatens food security is high temperature,”
said Donald Ort, a professor of plant biology and crop sciences at the
University of Illinois who is working on a project called RIPE — Realizing
Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency — to enhance photosynthesis in food crops,
which would also help beat the heat.
The
problem is being seen throughout the world. In 2010 and 2012, for example,
Russian wheat growers saw their yields decline dramatically because of a
combination of hot weather and drought.
“It
caused 30 percent reduction in national production, which is really huge,” said
Senthold Asseng, a researcher at the University of Florida. Russians made up
for the shortfall by reducing exports, he noted, but “If you lose a third of
your production in India or Bangladesh that could be a huge disaster.”
A study showed that each degree rise in temperature
would cause a drop in production of the world’s main food crops.
There is a concerted global effort to help
agriculture adapt to the new climate reality as warming continues apace. The
most urgent adaptation initiatives, experts say, involve the world’s main food
crops — especially wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans, which together provide
two-thirds of human caloric intake. In a study released last year, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that without fundamental changes in
agriculture, the world risks increasing food insecurity.
It’s not just about food. Food shortages are an
important driver of social problems. For example, a drought from 2007 until
2010 is considered one of the main factors leading
to the civil war in Syria.
A 2017 study by a group of
researchers that included Asseng used models to forecast changes to these main
crops under warmer temperatures. The study showed that each centigrade degree
rise of temperature would cause a drop in production of all of the crops, led
by a plummeting yield in corn of more than 7 percent, wheat of 6 percent, and a
drop in soybeans of 3 percent, and rice 3.2 percent. “That means in the next 30
or 40 years, if global temperature rises 3 degrees Celsius we’re talking about
15 to 20 percent loss of wheat yield just from temperature alone,” Asseng said.
Climate
change brings more than just higher temperatures. A whole suite of problems and
benefits come with warmer weather, from too much to too little precipitation
(there’s 7 percent more moisture in the atmosphere for every 1 degree C of
warming); changes in the timing of precipitation, floods, and erosion; abrupt
temperature swings; changes in soil health; and more wildfires, which can
affect planting, ripening, and harvesting. Warmer temperatures may also mean
more pests, more diseases, and more weeds. And along with the loss of yield,
some studies show that important food crops, such as rice and wheat, have
reduced levels of protein, iron, and zinc as they grow in a more carbon-rich
environment.Corn plants sprout from cracked
soil at a research facility at the University of Illinois. CLAIRE BENJAMIN/RIPE PROJECT
All this
comes at the same time the demand for food is rising and may increase by 100
percent by 2050 as the global population soars from 7.6 billion to nearly 10
billion. And as the world shifts from fossil fuels to plant-based materials,
such as biofuels or bio-plastics, experts say it will require a 30 percent
increase in agricultural production. All of this increase will have to be done
on agricultural land already in existence so that the Amazon rainforest or
other important natural areas won’t need to be destroyed.
Wheat —
the largest food crop on the planet, supplying 20 percent of global calories —
is getting a lot of the attention from researchers. One of the leading
approaches to increasing yield and creating a heat-tolerant wheat is in the
optimization of photosynthesis. “Agricultural crops now convert a surprisingly
low percentage of sunlight into plant biomass, some 0.5 to 1 percent,” said
Martin Parry, a leading researcher at Lancaster University in England.
“Doubling the percentage to 1 to 2 percent is all we need, and this has already
been scientifically proven to be possible.”
Researchers
are doing this by focusing on something called Rubisco — an acronym for
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. It’s an ancient enzyme, more
than 3.5 billion years old, that evolved with plants. It takes inorganic carbon
dioxide and turns it into organic carbon.
But 20
percent of the time, Rubisco grabs oxygen instead of CO2, which leads to a
process called photorespiration, which is energetically expensive for the plant
and leads to less photosynthesis and smaller yields.
The variety of rice that was integral to the Green
Revolution is being phased out in places in favor of native cultivars.
Ort
calls Rubisco the most important enzyme on the planet because it is responsible
for converting sunlight into plant tissue, which feeds the world. However, Ort
says, “It’s not a very good enzyme. It’s slow. And it makes mistakes. It’s the
most abundant enzyme on the planet, and the reason is the way the plants cope
with its not being a very good enzyme is to make a lot of it.”
What the
University of Illinois’s RIPE program and Lancaster University and other labs
are focusing on is hacking into the plants to boost the efficiency of Rubisco.
“There are more simple ways to do it,” says Ort. “These are complete redesigns
to try to bypass the native pathways and replace them with a simpler, more efficient
pathway” that doesn’t impinge on photosynthesis.
Even
with the focus on redesign for photosynthesis, experts say a new cultivar of
wheat is at least 10 or 12 years away.
At least
one type of wheat that thrives in high temperatures has been grown successfully.
Researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas created a wheat
crop from ancient and modern strains that can grow in temperatures above 100
degrees. It’s being grown in the Senegal River Basin in West Africa.
ALSO ON YALE E360
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eco-friendly agriculture. Read more.
Rice, soybeans, and other crops would also
benefit from a new, redesigned photosynthetic process. Rice, which is a food
source for 3.5 billion people globally, is especially vulnerable. Not only is
its yield hurt by higher temperatures, but it also needs a dependable supply of
water — it uses 34 to 43 percent of the world’s water supplies for irrigation —
and the effects of high temperatures are compounded by irregular weather
patterns and the decline in aquifers. Saltwater intrusion as
oceans rise is also a serious problem.
Researchers examine a
heat-tolerant durum wheat variety planted in the Senegal River Basin. FILIPPO BASSI / ICARDA
A recent study in
the journal Nature found that a warming
climate is increasing the level of arsenic in rice, which by 2100 could reduce
yields by nearly 40 percent.
There
are efforts on a number of fronts to prepare rice for the climate emergency,
including developing types that are drought, disease and saltwater resistant.
The IR8 variety of rice, for example, which was integral to the Green
Revolution in the 1960s, is being phased out in places in favor of native
cultivars that are easier on the soil and more disease-resistant.
And a
team of U.S. researchers are editing the genome of rice in tests to add disease
resistance or edit out genes that make the plant susceptible. They look for a
plant that might have poor yield but has good disease resistance and then
remove the resistant genes and place them in a high-yielding commercial variety
“Genome editing allows us to do that with speed and accuracy,” Adam Bogdanove,
a professor of plant pathology at Cornell University, said.
Researchers
in Arkansas, where much of the U.S rice crop is grown, have found that over the
last four decades nighttime temperatures have increased by 5 degrees
Fahrenheit, which means plants lose more water at night. The increasing heat
also reduces photosynthesis and hampers the ability of rice to self-pollinate.
Some farmers are talking about moving further north to stay within the crop’s
temperature range.
Naked Neck chickens, originally from Romania, are
naturally air conditioned because of the lack of feathers.
There are other approaches to making
agriculture more tolerant in the face of hot temperatures, such as changing the
timing of crops or employing agricultural methods that can help crops stay
cooler. A recent study in Nature,
for example, found that farms in tropical regions that diversify with a mixture
of interwoven crops and a border of native forest, instead of a monoculture,
help keep the agricultural landscape cooler while also providing more habitat
that fosters biodiversity, especially birds.
In
addition to crops, livestock and other animals raised for food are also being
affected by climate change. Chickens, for example, are especially susceptible
to heat.
One of
the more intriguing solutions is the Naked Neck chicken. It’s an odd-looking
bird that appears as if its feathers have been plucked from the bottom of its
neck up to its head. What it lacks in beauty, though, it makes up for in
function in a changing climate.
These
chickens, originally from Romania, are not only naturally air conditioned
because of the lack of feathers, they have bigger lungs than other birds and
other important physiological traits that allow them to adapt to warmer
temperatures. “It’s leggier too,” said Matthew Wadiak, founder of Cooks
Venture, which is pasture-raising and selling these birds in Arkansas. “If you
have a leggy bird that is upright and off the ground it has more airflow around
it and it can stay cooler.”
Criollo cattle, a breed that can
live in arid regions, on a federal research site in New Mexico. NMSU/USDA
Ranchers and scientists are also looking for
cows that can thrive in warmer temperatures. A breed of animal that may help
ranchers in the U.S. Southwest and other arid regions adapt is the raramuri
criollo cow — which means “light footed ones” — as a
replacement for Angus and Hereford, which have more impact on landscapes.
Drought has plagued the Southwest in recent
years and some researchers say it may be a permanent fixture in the region. It
has taken a heavy toll on ranching. The criollo were brought to
North America from Spain by conquistadors and turned loose, before being
adopted by, among others, the Tarahumara Indians. Over the last four centuries
these cattle have adapted to arid conditions in Mexico.
Two
decades ago, they were brought from the Mexican state of Chihuahua to the
Jornada Experimental Station near Las Cruces, New Mexico. They have since been
adopted by ranchers who have seen benefits, and The Nature Conservancy is
studying their impact on the land at its Canyonlands Research Center in Utah.
“These
cattle can withstand heat and lack of water,” said Nichole Barger, an arid land
ecologist at the University of Colorado Boulder who consults at the Canyonlands
Research Center. “They are selecting a broader range of different kinds of
plants, not just those grasses that are in decline because of climate change.”
ALSO ON YALE E360
Could ‘carbon smart’ farming play a key role in
the climate fight? Read more.
The most
important solution to food security over the long term, of course, is reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. There is “no possibility for anybody to say, ‘Oh,
climate change is happening, and we will just adapt to it,” said Hans Otto
Portner, co-chair of the IPCC working group on food and land use. “The capacity
to adapt is limited.”
Rice Prices
as on :
26-06-2020 11:00:15 AM
Arrivals in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.
|
Arrivals
|
Price
|
|||||
|
Current
|
%
change |
Season
cumulative |
Modal
|
Prev.
Modal |
Prev.Yr
%change |
|
|
Rice
|
||||||
|
Naugarh(UP)
|
23.00
|
27.78
|
3606.00
|
2570
|
2565
|
7.08
|
|
Bharwari(UP)
|
10.00
|
NC
|
90.50
|
1950
|
2030
|
-
|
|
Achalda(UP)
|
3.80
|
26.67
|
293.90
|
2600
|
2600
|
17.65
|
|
Safdarganj(UP)
|
3.00
|
NC
|
44.00
|
2450
|
2450
|
-
|
|
Mawana(UP)
|
2.00
|
NC
|
135.20
|
2730
|
2660
|
-
|
|
Alibagh(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
78.00
|
4200
|
4200
|
NC
|
|
Murud(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
77.00
|
4200
|
4200
|
NC
|
|
Achnera(UP)
|
0.80
|
NC
|
31.80
|
2550
|
2050
|
0.39
|
Published
on June 26, 2020
Thai rice
farmers step up to tackle carbon footprint
Different methods target global
greenhouse gas emissions equal to aviation Win-win: harvest time in
Thailand. Measures to reduce rice's carbon footprint can also bring financial
benefits to farmers © (c) Vinhdav | Dreamstime.com Share on Twitter (opens new
window) Share on Facebook (opens new window) Share on LinkedIn (opens new
window) Save John Reed YESTERDAY 0 Print this page Rampha Khamhaeng, a farmer
in central Thailand’s rice-growing Suphanburi province, was sceptical when she
first heard about a new farming method for paddy fields that could reduce both
water use and greenhouse gas emissions. The technique, called alternate wetting
and drying, breaks with Thai custom, under which most farmers keep their fields
submerged through the growing season. That means the new method also reduces
the amount of methane created by stubble and other organic matter decomposing
underwater in the paddy. The gas is a significant contributor to global
warming, with rice cultivation the second biggest agricultural source after
livestock. “To be honest, at first I didn’t buy it,” says Ms Rampha, wearing a
yellow T-shirt bearing the logo of GIZ, the German government aid agency
sponsoring a pilot “sustainable rice platform” in partnership with the Thai
government. “Now I tried it and it works — it’s the best way.” The technique is
not just good for the environment; it also saves her time, she says, and the
money she used to have to spend on diesel to pump water to her farm, which is
on high ground. The Thai project, meant to target 100,000 households in
Suphanburi and five other provinces, is part of a new push by campaigners and
governments to reduce the climate impact of rice. Setting the standard
“Globally, rice production accounts for about 1.5 per cent of greenhouse gas
emissions — the same amount as all aviation emissions,” says Bjoern Ole Sander,
senior scientist and country representative for Vietnam with the International
Rice Research Institute. Vietnam, the world’s biggest rice exporter after India
and Thailand, has made low-carbon rice production part of its commitments under
the Paris climate change agreement. However, persuading farmers and governments
in rice-growing countries to focus on the environmental and other costs of the
sector has taken time. Rice is not internationally traded to the same extent as
other food products: the proportion of the crop that stays in-country is much
higher than for coffee, say, or wheat. As a result, it has attracted less
attention from pressure groups concerned with workers’ rights and the
environment. Wetland: a Thai farmer plucks up a bushel of rice. Prolonged
submersion means such fields emit lots of methane © Saravut Vanset/Solent
News/Shutterstock “In other commodities like cocoa and coffee, there is a more
developed sustainability standard,” says Suriyan Vichitlekarn, a Bangkok-based
agriculture and food expert with GIZ. “For the rice sector, until about 10
years ago, there wasn’t any clear standard.” With sustainability rising up
companies’ and governments’ agendas, however, the commodity’s carbon footprint
is coming into focus. Demand for rice is growing along with the world’s
population, and the crop’s annual water consumption and gas emissions are among
the highest for any food crop. GIZ’s first foray into this sector was a project
called Better Rice Initiative Asia that included Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines
and Indonesia in a push to promote good agricultural practices and standards.
The current programme is called Thai Rice Nama (which stands for Nationally
Appropriate Mitigation Action) and it takes in a broad range of sustainability
concerns, from water conservation and biodiversity to worker safety and
eliminating child labour. As well as alternate wetting and drying, it
encourages the use of practices such as laser land levelling, which produces
flatter paddies. These in turn allow farmers to reduce their use both of water
and fertiliser. Small farms, big picture For the Thai government, the focus of
the rice pilot is maintaining jobs in farming and producing food for the
country more profitably. But for the farmers themselves, many of them smallholders
and many female, the focus is on sustaining livelihoods. Sawanee Phorang,
another Suphanburi farmer, heard about laser land levelling and began watching
demonstrations of it on YouTube; when the process became available, she
volunteered to try it out. Greener grain: rice farmers harvest their crop in
northern Thailand, where efforts are being made to introduce more eco-friendly
farming practices © AFP via Getty Images “It reduced my fuel costs by 50 per
cent,” she says, leafing through a ledger where she records farm expenses. Ms
Sawanee supports a family of four and earns money from multiple sources,
including selling rice seed and making sweets and noodles from rice. The
farming pilot comes at a time when climate change is coming into sharper focus
in Thailand after the past year’s unusually severe drought. The farmers in
Suphanburi have no difficulty drawing a connection between their own activities
and the changing climate. “Farmers are a small player, but we want to take part
in the fight against climate change,” says Ms Sawanee. “Consumers should be
free of worry from eating the rice we grow, and the environment should be
better.” Get alerts on Climate change when a new story is published Get alerts
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020. All rights reserved. Reuse this
content(opens in new window) Explore the Special Report READ MORE Dutch farmers
face pressure over intensive practices ABOUT THIS SPECIAL REPORT Food
production accounts for one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this
special report, we look at how farmers and food businesses are trying to reduce
their carbon footprint, and ask what impact coronavirus will have on their
efforts Supported by Rabobank Currently reading: Thai rice farmers step up to
tackle carbon footprint Dutch farmers face pressure over intensive practices
Soil offers key to curbing climate change Hazelnut sourcing spreads discontent
for Italy’s Nutella Vertical farming finally grows up in Japan Audio feature:
on the frontline of deforestation in the Amazon São Tomé and PrÃncipe grows
premium cocoa in fragile tropical soil See all 49 stories Follow the topics in
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Is
Vietnam outstripping Thailand in rice exports?
Because of unprecedented difficulties, Thailand may be outstripped
by Vietnam in rice exports this year, but this may only be for the short term.
The US Department of Agriculture in
its May report showed that Thailand suffers heavily from drought, while Vietnam
doesn’t.
The agency predicted that
Thailand’s rice output this year would decrease by 2.34 million tons, or 11.5
percent, while Vietnam’s output won’t see reductions.
The reports of Thai agencies showed
that the baht price increased by 2.18 percent in the first half of 2019, from
32.31 baht per dollar to 31.61 baht per dollar. The local currency increased by
another 3.52 percent in the second half of 2019 to 30.49 baht per dollar.
In the second half of 2019,
Thailand’s rice exports decreased by 1.1 million tons compared with the first
half.
Nguyen Dinh Bich, a respected trade
expert, in his article on Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon, cited statistics by Thai
agencies as reporting that Thai export volume in January was 547,000 tons, a
sharp fall of 42.5 percent compared with the same period last year.
The sharp falls were also seen in
the next two months, which led to the modest total export volume of 1.47
million tons in Q1. Meanwhile, Vietnam exported 1.52 million during the same
time.
According to the US Department of
Agriculture, as of early May, exports of white rice, which account for 2/3 of
Thailand’s total exports, still saw a decrease of 38 percent, though Vietnam’s
and India’s exports were interrupted at moments.
As such, it is highly possible that
Vietnam will still be the second largest rice exporter in the upcoming months,
the position where Thailand stood firmly for many years.
Nevertheless, Bich doesn’t think
that Vietnam will be in the second position for a long time.
The US agriculture department
insists that the total rice demand of the world will continue decreasing in
2020 for the second consecutive year.
In such condition, the only way for
Thailand to implement a plan to reduce their very large rice stockpile is to
reduce their export prices.
Thailand began reducing prices in
their offers in the first three weeks of May and the trend will continue in the
remaining months of the year.
In other words, the second position
among the largest rice exporters belongs to Thailand and the country is likely
to have to lower export prices in order to protect its position.
Asia
Rice-Quality concerns hit Vietnam rates; India's demand improves
·
JUNE 26,
2020 / 6:32
·
*
Vietnamese prices may fall further in coming weeks-traders
*
Thai rates firm on supply crunch, stronger baht
*
Indian rates at $373-$378/tonne vs last week’s $366-$372
By
Eileen Soreng
BENGALURU,
June 25 (Reuters) - Vietnamese rice export prices eased this week, hurt by
falling purchases and quality concerns as the harvest progresses, while India
rates rose from an over two-month low hit last week as demand picked up from
Africa.
In
Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 slipped to a range of $405-$450
per tonne on Thursday from $450 per tonne a week earlier.
The
winter-spring rice is offered at $450 per tonne, while the ongoing
summer-autumn harvest is being offered at $405-$410 per tonne, traders said.
“The
quality of the summer-autumn rice is low due to heavy rains during the
harvest,” a trader based in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang said, adding
the harvest is expected to last till end-July.
Adding
further pressure on the rates was weak demand from foreign buyers and cheaper
Indian rice, traders said, adding prices may fall further over the coming
weeks.
Top
exporter India’s 5 percent broken parboiled variety RI-INBKN5-P1 was quoted
$373-$378 per tonne this week, up from last week’s $366-$372.
Rising
cases of coronavirus have prompted some buyers in Africa to raise purchases, an
exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh said.
Thailand’s
benchmark 5-percent broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 prices were quoted at $514-$520 on
Thursday, versus last week’s $505-$525.
Thai
export rates have been high mainly due to drought-induced low supply and a
stronger Thai baht, while demand has been muted, traders said.
“Concerns
over supply persist in the market which is likely to continue until August,
when new crops are expected,” a Bangkok-based trader said.
In
Bangladesh domestic rice prices gained this week, which market insiders blamed
on stockpiling by traders and millers. Medium quality rice was being sold at
around 50 taka ($0.5896) a kilogram.
Panic
buying driven by the coronavirus outbreak had boosted domestic rice prices to a
two-year high in April. ($1 = 84.8000 taka) (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in
Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok
Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Indonesia
plans farm estate in Borneo to boost food security
·
JUNE 25,
2020 /
JAKARTA,
June 25 (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to develop a major farm estate covering
more than 164,000 hectares (405,000 acres) on the island of Borneo after
warnings of a potential food crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak, the
agriculture ministry said on Thursday.
The
project in Central Kalimantan province will boost output from around 85,000
hectares of existing farmland and add another 79,000 hectares, including from
previously drained peat land, the ministry said.
The
government will cultivate a range of food crops, as well staples, Kuntoro Boga
Andri, a spokesman for the agriculture ministry, said in the statement.
“We
are talking about a food estate that will not only have rice and corn,” he said,
adding that it would include fruit and vegetables and animal farms.
The
government has previously developed a similar estate on in Papua province and
has plans to develop more.
Local
media quoted Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono as saying the
land planned for the food estate was previously developed by the government in
the mid 1990s, but had since been abandoned. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina
Munthe; writing by Fransiska Nangoy; editing by Richard Pullin)
Indonesia's
Bulog targets 1.57 mln T local rice procurement in 2021
·
JUNE 25,
2020 / 9:36 AM
JAKARTA,
June 25 (Reuters) -
*
Indonesia food procurement agency Bulog plans to procure 1.57 million tonnes of
rice equivalent from local farmers next year, chief executive Budi Waseso told
the parliament on Thursday.
*
Bulog also targets to distribute 1.5 million tonnes of rice equivalent next
year, he said.
*
The procurement target in 2021 is an increase from this year’s target of 1
million tonnes.
*
Bulog does not expect to import rice this year despite higher demand for the
grains due to social assistance distribution, Waseso told reporters earlier
this week. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe, Writing by Fransiska
Nangoy, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Governor
calls for research in immunity-boosting crops and Palm trees
Hyderabad, June 25 (INN): Governor Dr. Tamilisai
Soundararajan on Thursday called upon the agricultural scientists to carry out
research in immunity-boosting crops so as to prevent the ill-effects of viral
outbreaks on the humankind.
“Despite the fact that our older
generation ate rice and lived longer, our younger generation is distancing away
from consuming rice saying it as the diabetic-prone food. We need to come up
with new varieties of rice that are low on sugar and maintain our traditions,
especially in South India, associated with rice,” she added
The Governor was reviewing and
interacting with the functionaries of the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State
Agricultural University through a video conference from Raj Bhavan, here. She
said that there must be greater emphasis on research on improvised fine quality
rice varieties like Telangana Sona, which is considered a low sugar variety.
Exhorting the agricultural
scientists to carry out intensive research on Palmyra trees (Thaadi chettu),
which the Governor termed as the kalpa vriksha of a kind, she stated that every
part of the Palmyra tree also known as the Palm tree is useful and added that this
particular tree given its traditional importance has been made the official
State Tree of Tamil Nadu.
“As its medicinal and nutritional
value, the Palmyra trees must be protected from the diseases and grown in large
numbers to process different parts of the tree. The Neera, tender palm water,
is one product that is highly nutritious and we need to come up with
technologies that preserve the Palmyra-based Neera product for longer periods
and for its packaged selling,” Dr. Tamilisai added.
The Governor stressed that we
must not lose our traditional assets that date back to times immemorial and we
must protect these trees so as to help our future generations to enjoy its
fruits, and other benefits.
Referring to the use of lot of
oils in our traditional cooking, Dr. Tamilisai said that most of the health
issues emanate from the excessive use of some unhealthy oils and this calls for
increased research on the part of the agriculture and horticultural scientists
to come out with special crops that give healthy oil.
As the food patterns are changing
at a rapid pace in this viral pandemic-era, she said that it was the
responsibility of the agricultural scientists to create awareness and educate
people on the traditional and healthy food habits that contribute to our
well-being.
She appreciated the PJTS
Agricultural University for coming out with new varieties of crops and for
producing healthy oils through the research.
Secretary K. Surendra Mohan, University vice-chancellor Prof
Praveen Rao and other senior officials were present
Intensify research on
immunity boosting crops: Governor
HYDERABAD, JUNE 25,
2020 19:59 IST
Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan interacted with the functionaries of
Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University through a
video-conference on Thursday.
Tamilisai interacts with
agriculture varsity scientists
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has exhorted the agricultural
scientists to intensify research on immunity-boosting crops.
The Governor recalled how the older generations ate rice and
lived longer and said younger generation is however distancing itself from rice
consumption claiming it to be diabetic-prone food. Scientists need to come up
with new varieties of rice that are low on sugar and maintain our traditions in
south India associated with rice.
Dr. Soundararajan made these comments during an interaction with
the functionaries of Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University
through a video-conference on Thursday. She stressed the need for research on
improvised fine quality rice varieties like Telangana Sona, considered to be a
low sugar variety crop.
Palm trees
The scientists at the same time should carry out more intensive
research on palm trees (thadi chettu) as every part of the
tree is useful, she said adding the palm tree was made official tree of Tamil
Nadu, given its traditional importance
She said efforts should be made to protect palm trees from
diseases and they should be grown in large numbers to enable processing of
different parts of the tree that is known for its medicinal and nutritional
value. Neera, the tender palm water, is one such product that is highly
nutritious and there is need to come up with technology enabling preservation
of Neera for longer periods and for its packaged selling.
There is also need for research on the part of the agriculture
and horticultural scientists to come out with special crops that would give
healthy oil as several health issues emanate out of the excessive use of
unhealthy oils, said an official release.
Congressman Higgins Meets with Rice
and Crawfish Farmers
By Kane Webb
MIDLAND, LA -- This past Tuesday, Congressman
Clay Higgins, who represents Louisiana's Third District, spent the morning here
meeting with local rice and crawfish farmers to discuss current issues and
potential COVID-19 relief options available through the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
The opportunity to spend time
together, which has not been common in recent months, was made possible by
Randy, Dale, Steven, Ross, and Eric Thibodeaux, of the Thibodeaux Ag Group, who
hosted the event at their farm shop and attached equipment shed. The space had ample room to comply with the
state's Phase Two reopening occupancy limits and accommodated social distancing
requirements with chairs set six feet apart.
The weather cooperated better than expected as overcast skies and a
light breeze out of the south made the open shop pavilion comfortable for a
late June outdoor gathering.
Higgins acknowledged that COVID-19
has had an unprecedented effect on families and their concerns for staying safe
during these extraordinary times, as well as the economic impact brought on by
mandatory closures throughout the nation. "Every American family has been
negatively impacted by coronavirus shutdowns, including our farmers," he
said. "My office is here to help
you navigate the path to relief funding.
We serve you."
Higgins talked about the effects the
pandemic has had on agriculture as a whole, but particularly to rice and
crawfish production, key components to the viability of many south Louisiana
farms. He also answered questions on
topics such as trade, and the H-2A and H-2B worker programs, both critical to
Louisiana agriculture.
"To have the Congressman come
and visit during this time, in person, was reassuring for all of us," said
Ross Thibodeaux. "It showed he
understands the challenges we're facing in this industry. We're glad our facility was helpful in making
his visit possible."
Ron Smith
Big crop, big price for 2020 rice expected
Tighter supplies, good demand support rice markets.
Updated: Rice supplies are tightening, adding strength to markets.
Updated. Previous version
indicated price per bushel instead of price per CWT.
U.S. rice producers should make a
big crop this year and get paid for it.
"I think the market will get
tight in the U.S." says Milo Hamilton, senior economist with FirstGrain, a
rice marketing service in Austin, Texas.
"That's a minority
opinion," Hamilton said during a June 17 Zoom meeting, "Thinking Our
Way Through Rice Market Disruptions," with global rice industry experts
and other observers zooming in. Hamilton says U.S. demand for rice has
increased 40 percent, due in part to stocking up, hoarding and consumers eating
more rice at home during the COVID-19 shutdown.
He thinks the market could
support rice at $12 to $13 per cwt. "I think the demand will move it that
high," he said. "I expect a big crop and a big price."
Rice, unlike other grain and
fiber crop markets, and similar to peanuts, has performed well during the
shutdown as people stay home and rely on staples such as rice and peanut
butter. "U.S. grain and meat demand was demolished by trade spats and the
pandemic," Hamilton said, "but not rice."
Hamilton's bullish expectation
comes in spite of increased U.S. acreage and early positive crop progress.
"Farmers are still planting rice in the Delta (on June 17)," Hamilton
said. "They are typically through by now, but the rice market is much
better than other options."
Supplies are tightening.
"The U.S. 2019/2020 rice
stocks-to-use ratio is the tightest in 11 years," he said. "The
domestic market for 'paddy' or 'rough' rice will stay strong."
He attributes some of the bull
market to a few nations halting exports during the pandemic but doesn't expect
the virus to exert lasting influence on food prices, as was the case following
1918 Spanish Flu.
"Of course, the world has
changed in the last 100 years. No global grain is grown with as much human
labor as rice — not corn, wheat or beans. That field and transport labor
migrates. It lacks government supports, particularly in India and points east
in the Asian rice belt.
"Labor and storage problems
could lead to export problems this time around," Hamilton said. Other
considerations for rice market movements will occur in Asia. Hamilton says China
holds 60% of the global rice stocks. Thailand and India also hold significant
rice stocks. But absent those three, the global supply is diminishing, he says.
Asian production is vulnerable.
The virus remains a concern in India, where COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
That's problematic because India and other Asian nations depend on what
Hamilton refers to as "informal" or migrant labor. Virus infection or
fear of infection, he says, may affect production. He says labor may be
"available but not accessible," because of the virus. "Problems
with India's rice crop this summer could mean a tighter market," Hamilton
said.
He adds that China productivity
is vulnerable to a return of the virus as well as potential for rising fuel
costs and resulting higher fertilizer prices.
Skepticism on China
He's also skeptical of China's
supply figures and quality. "A lot of things are mysterious in
China," he said.
"U.S. exports also should
bounce back for the 2020/2021 season," he said. But he and Ricardo Hahn,
Montevideo, Uruguay, say the U.S./Mexico market share could be trimmed. Hahn
said unless a second coronavirus wave causes significant disruption, South
America "will see an increase in rice seeding. We're still in a drought
but it's starting to rain, so we will plant as much rice as possible. That
might bring the price down."
Hamilton says increased
production in Brazil and other South American countries will compete with the
U.S. for a share of the Mexican market. He doesn’t' expect the Americas to
source a lot of rice from Asia or for Asia to source much from the Americas. He
adds that aromatic rice could be the exception as a higher value product.
Key takeaways from the session
include:
• Record global rice stocks of
six months, but, excepting China, the supply drops to only two months.
• Politics drive trade deals and
price levels.
• The pandemic attacks where rice
workers exist in dense quarters.
• Food cannot wait on labor to
arrive. It spoils.
NFA releases 622,683 bags of rice
during pandemic
June 24, 2020, 9:47 pm
RICE LAND PREPS. The land preparation for the wet
season is ongoing in some palay areas in Iloilo. A Department of Agriculture
regional official said on Tuesday (June 23, 2020) that they target 85 to 90
percent of palay areas will be planted this wet cropping season. (PNA
photo by Perla G. Lena)
ILOILO CITY – The National Food Authority (NFA) has released 622,683
bags of rice from March 31 to June 19, 2020 for the calamity response of local
government units (LGU) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
NFA assistant regional director
Lolita Paz said on Wednesday that based on inventory, they still have more than
400,000 bags of rice that is good for eight days. If commercial and household
stocks in the region are included, stocks would last for 65 days.
Paz said their procurement is
ongoing although they do not expect much harvests as it is planting season and
considered as lean months.
"Fortunately, here in Region 6
(Western Visayas) there are household inventories and there are those who sell
their palay to NFA. We continue to procure palay from them,” she said in an
interview.
She added that Western Visayas does
not only produce palay for the region but also supports other rice deficit
areas such as Central and Eastern Visayas regions.
“For your information, the transfer
of stocks is ongoing to support them. We are fortunate here in Panay because we
have a very sufficient production,” she said.
This year NFA Western Visayas was
allotted PHP36 million for its procurement program. So far, around 600,000 bags
of the targetted 1.285 million bags have been procured.
“We expect half of the procurement
by the next harvest in September. Since last time we were able to procure more
than 1.5 million starting September last year. With the partnership with local
government units, we hope to procure again the 1.2 million bags,” she said.
She added that provincial managers
were instructed to closely coordinate with local government units and farmers’
association for the procurement.
Rene Famoso, Department of
Agriculture (DA) regional technical director for Western Visayas, in a press
conference on Tuesday, said they expect to have a higher production this wet
season, especially from those that are using hybrid seeds.
He said that the production in the
region could reach eight to 10 tons per hectare.
With the various interventions
provided to palay farmers, he said DA is looking forward to a 125 percent rice
sufficiency from the current 112 to 115 percent sufficiency level.
The department is targeting 85 to
90 percent of the 322,000 hectares of palay areas in the region to be planted
this wet season.
Currently, though around 30 to 40
percent of the target area is already planted with palay. (PNA)
'End Neo-slavery': Lebanon Maid Abandonment Sparks Outrage
After preparing dozens of rice
packages for out-of-work domestic staff, 30-year-old Tirsit breaks down in
tears recounting life as a foreign housekeeper in crisis-hit Lebanon
Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan
Point News - 24th Jun, 2020 ) :After preparing dozens of rice packages for
out-of-work domestic staff, 30-year-old Tirsit breaks down in tears recounting
life as a foreign housekeeper in crisis-hit Lebanon.
"The (recruitment) agencies sell us," said the 30-year-old
Ethiopian, a large sack heaped with bags of rice by her side.
"If I come to work for
(a woman)
and I don't like it, or she hits me, or there is no food, if I want to change
households or leave, I can't," she explained.
"She says: 'I bought you. Pay
me back $2,000 then go wherever you want.'" Around 250,000 migrants --
usually women --
work as housekeepers, nannies and carers in Lebanese homes, a large proportion
Ethiopian and some for as little as $150 a month.
None are protected by the labour law.
Instead, they work under a sponsorship system called kafala that
has repeatedly been condemned by human rights groups as abusive and racist.
As the Black Lives Matter movement
trends worldwide, activists in Lebanon are saying abolishing
kafala is long overdue.
"Something really needs to
change," said Tirsit, after seeing persistent mistreatment of fellow
workers during her 12 years in Lebanon.
Under kafala, an employer pays
around $2,000 to $5,000 to a recruitment agency to find a helper, with prices varying according to
nationality, then sponsors the worker to stay legally in the country.
The live-in employee cannot resign without
their permission, or she becomes undocumented. Nothing prohibits an
employer from confiscating
the worker's passport.
This leaves the worker entirely at the mercy of their employer.
