Riceplus Magazien is a quarterly magazine that publishes research articles including industry realted for the rice sector.It shares global and regional articles on rice.Riceplus Magazine also publishes two digital magazines on daily basis namely Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter & Exclusive ORYZA Rice E-Newsletter for entire global agriculture community.For more information visit on www.ricepluss.com
Who are the Next Gen consumers and how will they impact food purchases?
Responding to changing consumer tastes is one of the greatest challenges facing farmers and food producers going forward. The upcoming Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Policy Summit West on September 9 will feature new insights into how the next generation of consumers will completely transform the way they relate to brands, products, media and the environment.
Brett Sciotto, CEO of Aimpoint Research, will explore the evolution of consumer preferences and their impacts on the agri-food value chain as he presents his findings on the Next Gen Consumer. “In an industry that’s transforming rapidly, manufacturers, distributors, food processors, growers and all businesses involved in the agri-food value chain will need to be vigilant and innovative when it comes to meeting the evolving needs of future consumers,” said Sciotto.
For the study, Aimpoint Research analyzed global dynamics, consumer and industry trends, as well as propriety research on consumer preferences and drivers. Aimpoint Research is a global marketing research firm founded by Sciotto, a former Army Intelligence Officer, with two decades of research expertise.
“We are thrilled to have Brett as part of our lineup for the Food and Ag Policy Summit West,” said Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant. “This is exactly the type of information the industry needs to take into account as we analyze the future of food production and consumption.”
Additional presenters at the summit include CDFA Secretary Karen Ross; Kroger’s Zero Hunger/Zero Waste Regional Manager Kelli McGannon; Don Cameron, Farmer and Chair, California State Board of Food and Agriculture; Ashley Boren, Executive Director, Sustainable Conservation; State Senator Brian Dahle; Jamie Johansson, President, California Farm Bureau; California Rice Commission Manager of Environmental Affairs Paul Buttner; Jacob Katz, Senior Scientist, California Trout; Udi Lazimy, Senior Sustainability Manager, Just; Eric Schulze, VP, Memphis Meats; and Nicki Briggs, VP, Perfect Day Foods.
This virtual event will be hosted from the California Farm Bureau Federation offices in Sacramento on September 9 from 9 am to 5 pm and broadcast for all participants. There will be a 30-minute lunch break from 12-12:30 pm. As a special “Happy Hour” bonus from 4-5 pm, Agri-Pulse editors will discuss the challenges of covering agriculture in the nation’s largest agricultural state, sponsored by Western Growers Association.
Please click on the following link to register for the Food & Ag Summit. The event is free to current Agri-Pulsesubscribers, state & federal legislative staff, and media. The fee for non-subscribers is $149, which includes a free six-month subscription to Agri-Pulse, currently valued at $727 for a full year. If you have questions, please contact Sandi@Agri-Pulse.com
Sponsors for the Agri-Pulse Food and Ag Policy Summit West include: Corteva, California Farm Bureau Federation, FLM Harvest, Western Growers Association, Aimpoint Research, AgNetWest, California Rice Commission, Farm Credit, Nutrien, and CCI Marketing.
State Times News
JAMMU: Webinar on Production of Basmati Rice in Jammu & Kashmir Union
Territory organised by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and
Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-J) in collaboration with Basmati Export Development
Foundation under APEDA, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt of India
Modipuram, Meerut.
On the occasion Prof. J P Sharma Vice Chancellor SKUAST-J appraised that
Basmati is a principal crop of Jammu region and it is confined to Kathua, Jammu
and Samba district, R S Pura of district Jammu is a basmati bowl of country our
scientist is doing best for upgrading quality of Basmati.
New varieties of Basmati namely 118 and 138 are being developed by scientist of
SKUAST Jammu.
He also emphasized that there should be Centre of Excellence in SKUAST Jammu to
further upgrade its quality and export of the same.
Prof V.P Singh pointed out that Basmati rice cultivation needs some boost up
and also applaud the efforts of Scientists of SKUAST Jammu for popularity and
developing the Basmati. He further narrated the potential of 1121 variety of
Basmati.
A K Gupta, Director BEDF deliberated upon the Export orient policy support for
farmers.
S SNayyar, General Manager, AIPEDA emphasized that export quantum of Basmati
will help to raise not only the livelihood of farmer but also branding the fame
of Basmati of Jammu region in world.
Vinita Sudhanshu DGM APEDA made a detailed presentation about the overview of
APEDA activities and functioning.
Dr Gulzar Singh Singheeri Principal scientist RRS PAU Kapurthala shared his
experience about rice production in general from Lakanpur to Kupwara with
special emphasis on basmati and Mushkbuji.
Rohit Gupta MD Sarweshwar Overseas Ltd also share his experience about the
production and export of Basmati from Jammu to different countries of the
world.
Dr Ritesh Sharma Principal scientist BEDF gives the detailed presentation about
production technology of rice along with its nutrient and water management.
Earlier Dr S K Gupta Director Education SKAUST J welcomed all the participants
in the webinar.
Dr Jag Pal Sharma Associate Director Research interacted with the farmers and
suggested the measures about the organic farming of basmati rice earlier.
Lecture on weed management was delivered by Dr Anil Kumar Professor Agronomy.
Sh Rajesh Talwar Registrar & Comptroller was also present on the occasion.
The programme concluded with vote of thanks by Dr Bharat Bhushan Joint
Registrar SKUAST-J.
Fakhar for
enhancing cooperation with Egypt in filed of cotton research
Published On 27 August,2020 05:03
pm
Syed Fakhar Imam also mentioned that Pakistan exports
mangoes to Afghanistan, UAE, Oman and Iran
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Minister
for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam on Thursday urged for
enhancing bilateral cooperation in filed of cotton research with Egypt in order
to enhance per-acre crop output in country.
The Ambassador of Arabic Republic
of Egypt to Pakistan Tarek Dahrough called on minister and discussed the ways
and means to enhance bilateral cooperation in different fields including
agriculture.
The minister also proposed to
sign an agreement between both the countries for enhancing cooperation in the
fields of research, extension and agricultural education. Syed Fakhar Imam also
mentioned that Pakistan exports mangoes to Afghanistan, UAE, Oman and Iran as
it has good Phytosanitary systems.
The Egyptian Ambassador under
Official Development Assistance (ODA) offered fully funded capacity building
training program and master program to Pakistani professional and scientists.
Economic Affairs Division
finalize nominations from the federal and provincial governments through its
Foreign Trainings Committee.
According the Trade development
Authority of Pakistan, there was huge potential for export of rice but it has
certain trade restrictions by the Egyptian Government.
Major competitors of Pakistani
rice export to Egypt were India, Turkey, China and Vietnam.
Pakistan’s share in rice exports
to Egypt was only $0.58 million against their total imports of $49.34 million.
Besides, there was a huge potential for export of frozen boneless bovine meat to
Egypt (as Egypt imports boneless meat of an annual worth around USD 1.0
billion).
Cameroon spent
XAF807 bln to import food products, up by 14.9% YoY (INS)
(Business in Cameroon) -
Cameroonian economic operators spent XAF807 billion to import food products in
2019, according to the national institute for statistics INS. These imports
were up by 14.9% year-over-year.
Officially, food products
represented 20% of overall import expenses in Cameroon during the period under
review. The products imported were mainly rice and wheat, we learn.
According to the institute, the
volume of rice imported rose from 561,112 tons in 2018 to 894,486 tons in
2019 (ed.note: 803,505 tons according to the Minister of
trade). This represents a 59.4% rise. The value of rice imports rose by 60.9%
year-over-year to XAF231.8 billion, it adds.
(Repeats story published on Aug 27 with no changes to text)
* Vietnam traders eye higher demand from China
* Buyers from Africa making inquiries about Indian rice
* Traders say Thai off-season crops to be disappointing
* Floods damage crops worth $4.29 billion in Bangladesh
By Arundhati Sarkar
Aug 27 (Reuters) - Indian rice export prices rose for a third
straight week with buyers turning to cheaper grain from the top hub, which
continued to grapple with monsoon floods and a worsening pandemic, while
concerns over low rainfall buoyed Thai rates.
Rates for India's benchmark 5% broken parboiled variety
<RI-INBKN5-P1> climbed to $384-$390 per tonne from last week's $383-$389,
as floods also curtailed rice milling with monsoon rains likely to remain heavy
for the rest of the month.
Until last week, planting of rice, the key summer crop, stood at
37.8 million hectares, against 33.9 million hectares during the same time last
year.
However, buyers from Africa are making inquiries as prices have
gone up in Thailand and Vietnam, said an exporter based at Kakinada, the
country's biggest rice-handling port in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Inconsistent rainfall in some rice-growing provinces in Thailand
fueled fears of lower yield in 2020-21, with traders also warning of a
disappointing off-season crop.
Thai 5% broken rice prices <RI-THBKN5-P1> rose to $500-$520
per tonne from $480-500 last week.
Prices for Vietnam's 5% broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> remained
unchanged for a second consecutive week at $480-$490 a tonne, with traders
expecting prices to stay high over the coming weeks, amid higher demand from
China, which has also been suffering from floods.
Exporters cannot sign any new export contracts because of scarce
domestic supplies and are focusing on fulfilling contracts signed with
Malaysia, the Philippines and Cuba instead, a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City
said.
Floods damaged crops worth $4.29 billion on more than 100,000
hectares in Bangladesh as well, pushing up domestic prices of the staple, the
country's Agriculture Ministry said.
Bangladesh, the world's third-biggest rice producer, often relies
on imports to cope with shortages caused by floods and droughts. (Reporting by
Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka,
Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok; editing by Arpan
Varghese and Ramakrishnan M.)
(Repeats story published on Aug 27 with no changes to text)
* Vietnam traders eye higher demand from China
* Buyers from Africa making inquiries about Indian rice
* Traders say Thai off-season crops to be disappointing
* Floods damage crops worth $4.29 billion in Bangladesh
By Arundhati Sarkar
Aug 27 (Reuters) - Indian rice export prices rose for a third
straight week with buyers turning to cheaper grain from the top hub, which
continued to grapple with monsoon floods and a worsening pandemic, while
concerns over low rainfall buoyed Thai rates.
Rates for India's benchmark 5% broken parboiled variety
<RI-INBKN5-P1> climbed to $384-$390 per tonne from last week's $383-$389,
as floods also curtailed rice milling with monsoon rains likely to remain heavy
for the rest of the month.
Until last week, planting of rice, the key summer crop, stood at
37.8 million hectares, against 33.9 million hectares during the same time last
year.
However, buyers from Africa are making inquiries as prices have
gone up in Thailand and Vietnam, said an exporter based at Kakinada, the
country's biggest rice-handling port in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Inconsistent rainfall in some rice-growing provinces in Thailand
fueled fears of lower yield in 2020-21, with traders also warning of a
disappointing off-season crop.
Thai 5% broken rice prices <RI-THBKN5-P1> rose to $500-$520
per tonne from $480-500 last week.
Prices for Vietnam's 5% broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> remained
unchanged for a second consecutive week at $480-$490 a tonne, with traders
expecting prices to stay high over the coming weeks, amid higher demand from
China, which has also been suffering from floods.
Exporters cannot sign any new export contracts because of scarce
domestic supplies and are focusing on fulfilling contracts signed with
Malaysia, the Philippines and Cuba instead, a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City
said.
Floods damaged crops worth $4.29 billion on more than 100,000
hectares in Bangladesh as well, pushing up domestic prices of the staple, the
country's Agriculture Ministry said.
Bangladesh, the world's third-biggest rice producer, often relies
on imports to cope with shortages caused by floods and droughts. (Reporting by
Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka,
Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok; editing by Arpan
Varghese and Ramakrishnan M.)
CORRECTED-BRAZIL
TO ERASE IMPORT TARIFFS ON CORN, RICE AND SOYBEAN TEMPORARILY -REPORT
8/27/2020
(Corrects info on 3rd paragraph to reflect imports from inside the
Mercosur bloc are exempt, not from outside)
SAO PAULO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian government has decided to
remove temporarily import tariffs on rice, corn and soybeans, an Agriculture
Ministry official told local newspaper Valor Economico.
The move aims at fighting inflation, as prices for the three
products have risen recently, according to the report.
Imports from inside the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil,
Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, are already exempt.
The report does not mention when the tariff exemption would come
into effect or its expiration date.
The Agriculture Ministry did not immediately comment on the
matter. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
UPDATE 2-BRAZIL PLAN TO NIX
IMPORT TARIFFS ON SOYBEANS, CORN, RICE CONCERNS MERCOSUR PARTNERS
8/27/2020
(Adds comment from Paraguay and Argentina,
background)
SAO PAULO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The
Brazilian government is mulling temporarily removing import tariffs on rice,
corn and soybeans, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The move is aimed at staving off
inflation, the statement added. Prices for rice, soybean and corn have risen
recently in the domestic market.
While the ministry said there is no
sign of a potential shortage of these products, Brazil has exported almost all
its soybeans, and imports are expected to rise this year.
Brazil's partners in South
America's Mercosur trade bloc, which are already exempt from import taxes, were
taken by surprise by Brazil's move and said it could not be carried out
unilaterally.
Argentina and Paraguay stand to
gain from higher Brazilian soy imports, and Uruguay from rice imports, but they
will lose out, mainly to the United States, if Brazil lowers its tariffs for
other countries.
"Brazil cannot unilaterally
change its tariffs. It has to do it through talks with the other Mercosur
countries," Paraguay's Deputy Agriculture Minister Santiago Bertoni told
Reuters.
"Any reduction in the common
external tariff must be negotiated within Mercosur," said Gustavo
Idigoras, head of the CIARA-CEC grains exporters and crushers chamber.
The tariff exemption is expected to
be discussed by Brazil's trade management committee, known as Gecex and
presided over by the Economy Ministry, in September. (Reporting by Carolina
Mandl and Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo, Daniela Desantis in Asuncióm, and and Maximilian
Heath in Buenos Aires; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
About 300 hectares (750 acres) of
rice farms belonging to 250 farmers in the Fumbisi rice valley in the Builsa
South District of the Upper East Region have been abandoned for lack chemicals
to fight the infection by weeds known as “wild rice”.
The few farmers still in the valley are using traditional methods of farming to
uproot the wild rice tillers which is time consuming and capital intensive to
hire labourers to undertake the exercise.
Many of the farmers, who expressed their frustrations to the Ghanaian Times
during a field visit to the rice farms on Tuesday, stated that the
Governmentgovernment promised to provide them with farm inputs in the farming
season, which encouraged most of them to expand their farms.
One of the farmers, Mr Moses Agontu, who stated that the government had not
done much to honour that pledge, added that the weedicides for spraying the
weeds that had attacked the rice were very expensive and also difficult to come
by.
Mr Emmanuel Afoko, another farmer who told the Ghanaian Times that the weeds
had the potential of reducing yields, appealed to the Governmentgovernment to,
as a matter of urgency, support the farmers to deal with the infection to avoid
food insecurity.
The Builsa South District Director of Agriculture, Mr Sylvan Dauda Danaa,
reiterated the need for the government and researchers to intervene with a
lasting antidote to deal with the wild rice infection in order for rice farmers
to have the motivation to grow more rice.
The Upper East Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr Francis Ennor, said the
wild rice infection is causing a lot of anxiety among rice farmers in the area
and so assured farmers in general of better agricultural interventions which
would help increase crop and animal production in the region.
There are rice fields totalling 850 hectares (2125 acres) fully developed in
nine valleys in the Builsa South District and each year, between 5.5 and 5.8
metric tons of rice is cultivated in the valleys by 894 rice farmers, including
out-growers, and their effort is above the national rice cultivation.
It would be recollected that last year there was huge rice glut in the rice
valleys due to lack of ready market.
Other challenges confronting rice farmers at the valleys are lack of motorable
roads to the rice
When in May, this year, President
Muhammadu Buhari reappointed Godwin Emefiele as Governor of Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN, the loudest commendation came from Nigerian farmers. It was not
for nothing. Emefiele has through the Anchor Borrowers Programme, ABP, launched
in November 2015 byPresident Muhammadu Buhari re-written the sour narrative on
local agriculture.
ABP is a low-interest loan scheme
which gives ample room and flexibility for payment. Interest was as low as 9
percent but with the advent of the Covid-19, the interest has been adjusted to
as low as 5 percent. The loans are disbursed through any of the Deposit Money
Banks (DMBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks
(MFBs), all of which the programme recognises as Participating Financial
Institutions (PFIs).
Through the ABP, the CBN governor
did not only change the script from the old unimpressive order, he gave force
of action to its performance. He has thus become the best friend of the
Nigerian farmer who hitherto had struggled for lack of funds to expand
operations.
The ABP was to provide farm
inputs in kind and cash to small-holder farmers (SHFs) to boost agricultural
production which had been neglected through years since Nigeria discovered that
huge cash comes from crude oil. The whole scale dependence on crude oil
receipts by successive Nigerian governments created a very unhealthy balance of
payment between the country and other nations. The ABP was therefore aimed at
reversing the negative economic trend aside achieving food security.
Categories of farmers captured
under this programme include those cultivating cereals, cotton, roots and
tubers, sugarcane, tree crops, legumes, tomato and livestock. If there is one
sector that the Buhari administration has scored the bull’s eye, it is in
agriculture. It’s revolutionary and the indices speak for themselves.
Because of this new push by CBN
in the area of agriculture, the nation has witnessed a leverage and quantum
leap in agricultural produce. Rice, yam, sundry grains, poultry and livestock
among others have enjoyed increased production with some farmers exporting
their produce. With this has also come a significant improvement in the value
chain. More and more farmers have upped their game by producing in the farm and
processing for the table.
Thus when Emefiele was
reappointed, it was the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), the umbrella
body of farmers in the country, that was among the most vocal voices that
commended President Buhari for his faith in the CBN governor. AFAN said the
reappointment of Emefiele portrays the President as `agriculture friendly’.
Chief Daniel Okafor, the National
Vice President of the association, while commending the President for the
re-appointment, appealed to Emefiele to continue with the Anchor Borrowers
Programme and to ensure that all agriculture commodities associations
benefitted from the scheme in his second tenure.
He appealed to the CBN governor
to ensure the reduction of interest rates on agriculture loans to between three
and five per cent. He wants Emefiele to initiate other agriculture-friendly
programmes as well as support the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) with funds to
enable farmers access agriculture loans.
Without a doubt, farmers want the
Anchor Borrowers Programme to continue, stressing that CBN has been agriculture
friendly since Emefiele’s tenure.
Expectedly, CBN under Emefiele is
already thinking ahead. Emefiele himself is an unrelenting crusader for
backward integration. On several occasions at different meetings with
stakeholders including the media, he has never shied away from making a case
for local production. The CBN ban on the importations of scores of goods, some
of which can be describedas low-hanging products for Nigerian entrepreneurs,
and Emefiele’s determination to follow the ban through showed the character and
the will of a central banker committed to rescuing his local economy from the
treacherous vagaries of a globalized marketplace.
To make good its determination to
push beyond the limits in the pursuit of food security and economic
sovereignty, the CBN said it would fund 1.6 million farmers across the country
in the 2020 wet season through the ABP.
CBN’s Director, Development
Finance Department, Yila Yusuf, disclosed this during the flag-off of Farm
Inputs Distribution for cotton farmers for the 2020 planting season in Kwali,
Abuja . He was represented at the event by Ayoola Quadri. According to Yusuf,
the bank would finance the farmers under the bank’s 10 focal commodities which
would cut across the value chains.This, he said, would help to create an impact
that would guarantee food security in the country.
Through the ABP, CBN had already
engaged 256,000 farmers in cotton production for the 2020 planting season,
besides other farmers. The CBN commitment to cotton production way back in 2018
is already yielding results. One discernible result, according to operators in
the nation’s textile industry, is that in 2019, textile industries had enough
supply of cotton produced within the country for their raw materials with some
still lying in their warehouses.
“CBN is trying to bring back the
glory of textiles of those days where the industry used to employ 10 million
people across the country.
“In the 80s, we lost that glory
because of smuggling where our country was turned to a dumping ground of
textiles materials. It is an unfortunate situation, about five billion dollars
was spent annually on the importation of textiles,” he said. Ordinarily, this
is money that would have been ploughed into the development of infrastructure.
But Emefiele and his team are
working hard to reverse this economic hemorrhage by ensuring that the entire
value chain in the industry was funded for the benefit of the people and the
country. Many Nigerians have lamented the total neglect of the textile
industry. Before the introduction of the ABP, most of the textile factories
across the country had closed shops. Some had both the factory floor and their
numerous houses converted to car lots by car dealers; some as warehouses for
imported rice and other exotic products.
In the aspect of growing local rice,
the impact of ABP has been outstanding. Conservative estimates by international
agencies place Nigeria’s annual rice production at 3.2 million metric tonnes.
However, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RiFAN) claims it has established
that Nigeria now leads local rice production in Africa. RiFAN President, Aminu
Goronyo, insiststhat Nigeria has two rice farming seasons in a year. In each
season, 4 million metric tonnes of rice is produced. RiFAN says a good 12
million Nigerians are engaged in the production of the 8 million metric tonnes.
By extrapolation, it means that
in the rice value chain, about 12 million Nigerians have been positively
impacted by rice production alone. These same people still have other
engagements in farming aside rice production.
For clearer understanding, the
rice value chain actors includeinputs dealers, farmers, paddy traders,
parboilers, millers, milled rice marketers and consumers. A study on value
chain analysis of rice in Kano River Irrigation Project (KRIP) Kano State, by
Isma’ila Yunusa Ilu explained the true essence of the rice value chain to
include both male and female, literate and the illiterate. The study covered an
average farm holding of 2.6 hectares withyield of about 2.9 tons/ha.
Further breakdown of the study
outcome showed that more than 80 percent of the estimated 189,630 tons of paddy
produced in the study area was sold. The remaining was used for home
consumption and seeds. About 156,000 tons of paddy wasinjected into the market
through wholesalers (65%), rural assemblers (15%) and rural retailers (2%). The
paddy moved to the millers for milling. The milled rice is sold to both urban
and rural wholesalers. This is how a typical rice value chain looks like. It is
a wide network of gainful employment for different categories of persons. This
is the sense in which the 12 million persons engaged in the rice value chain is
feasible.
Aside the statistics, the reality
in the markets speaks to the rice revolution. For the first time in our
history, Nigerian rice are sold in neighbourhood open markets and in mega
stores. For the first time, our local rice gets to the market well packaged and
properly branded. Rice millers are not ashamed to emblazon their names and
addresses on rice bags. For the first time, a functional and effective value
chain has been created. Rice distributors are busy. And retailers are
confidently urging consumers to buy local rice.
Nigerians must not overlook the
contribution of CBN. Emefieleand his team at CBN have set the nation on the
path to self-sufficiency. Not yet Eldorado, but if the journey of a thousand
miles begins with the first step, Emefiele and his team have paved the path for
the nation. The next is sustenance to ensure that locally produced agricultural
goods are readily available, accessible and easily affordable.
… Ugbechie, a public affairs
analyst wrote in from Abuja.
The Cambodia Rice Federation
(CRF) has asked the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) to release
more funds and requested an extension to the loan cycle repayments, blaming an
adjustment in the harvest season.
The request was made during a
meeting to discuss the current situation of the rice market and harvest in
order to study the possibility of providing loans from the government.
Song Saran, president of the CRF, raised various proposals
as well as some of the challenges that the private sector in the rice sector is
facing.
“We want the loan cycle extending
up to 11 or 12 months because we want the use of loans to be more efficient to
help farmers,” he said.
Saran said the reason to extend
the loan cycle is to adjust to climate change which he said has delayed the
harvesting of rice paddy this year. He said in July last year, millers had
already collected rice paddy from farmers but this year it will be delayed
until September.
“We are now facing climate change
and that is making us miss the harvest seasonal target, so we need a longer
loan cycle that will make it easier for rice millers to have time to collect
rice paddy at a fair price,” he said
Kao Thach, general director of
the state-run ARDB, said the bank has yet to make a decision.
“Because it is a government fund,
we need to submit the request to the government for approval,” he said.
Thach said previously the private
sector that provided loans needed them paid back during May and June each year.
Saran said with the target of
exporting 800,000 tonnes of rice this year, the government needs to inject
between $80 million to $100 million while the private sector needs to have
reserves of about $200 million.
“So we need about $300 million to
buy rice paddy during this year to reach our target of 800,000 tonnes,” he
said, adding that both state and private sector need to inject more money to
reach the ultimate target of 1 million tonnes.
Rice milling in Kampong Speu province. KT/Chhor Sokunthea
In March this year, the
government via the ARDB allocated a $50 million special fund for small and
medium enterprises. The fund is designed to specifically focus on
agri-processing, food processing, agri-business, crops including vegetables,
livestock and the aquatic business plus any enterprise that uses raw materials
from agriculture.
Cambodia’s rice exports increased
by 42 percent in the first six months of the year, according to a report from
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Cambodia sent 397,660 tonnes of
milled rice from January to June this year, an increase of 42.25 percent,
compared with 281,538 tonnes in 2019, according to the report.
Rice exports to the EU increased
by more than 45 percent. To China they rose by 25.20 percent. Asean countries
increased imports by about 47.7 percent and other market destinations surged by
79.26 percent.
People’s Bank empowers SMEs with ‘Business
Power’ loan scheme
Published
August
28, 2020
People’s Bank has stepped forward to support the government’s
development programme by introducing the “Business Power” loan scheme to
empower small and medium enterprises operating in sectors of agriculture,
manufacturing, construction, direct and indirect exports, innovation and
technology, etc.
The loans are granted in order to boost financial strength of a
large segment of the SMEs Island wide including credit facilities at
concessionary interest rates through easy payment systems. Sectors that are
eligible for Business Power loan schemes include Agriculture (farming, livestock,
fisheries, agro produce collectors and intermediaries, small rice millers),
Manufacturing industries focused on direct and indirect exports and import
substitution, food preparation and distribution, businesses based on innovation
and technology as well as Essential Services (health, education, logistics,
telecommunications).
Maximum Business Power loan amount for investment purposes is
Rs.50 million and permanent working capital requirements is Rs.20 million while
the maximum exposure should be Rs.50 million per borrower. For Investment
Loans, the maximum repayment period is 7 years with a maximum grace period of 1
year, if required, whereas for working capital loans the maximum repayment
period is 3 years with a maximum grace period, of 6 months on need basis.
May Kunmakara | Publication date 27 August 2020 |
22:18 ICT
Cambodia exported more than 426,073 tonnes of milled rice to the
international market in the first seven months of this year. Heng Chivoan
The State-owned Agricultural and
Rural Development Bank of Cambodia (ARDB) has agreed to assess the feasibility
of Cambodia Rice Federation’s (CRF’s) request to increase the scope of its
special loan scheme for rice millers to purchase paddy during the harvest
season starting next month.
CRF president Song Saran told The
Post this after a meeting with the ARDB on Wednesday to discuss the current
situation of the rice market and readiness for the harvest and to ascertain the
most effective way to provide government loans.
He noted that CRF members are
lacking the funds needed to purchase paddy from farmers to hit this year’s
export target.
“We appreciate the government’s
continued special loans to the rice sector, which will help us in collecting
paddy from farmers in the upcoming harvest season and stabilising the price of
the crop.
“With the harvest season
approaching, we proposed that the ARDB increase the amount of special
government loans this year as we plan to export around 800,000 tonnes, which
requires us to have between $80 and $100 million,” Saran said.
At the same time, the CRF has
asked the ARDB to extend its loan repayment period to 12 months to help rice
millers buy paddy, he said, adding that the current period is too short and
could hinder its members’ ability to purchase paddy from farmers.
ARDB CEO Kao Thach told The Post
that the institution must first assess the situation of the harvest and
estimate yields before forwarding the CRF’s requests to the government.
“We must have a clear
understanding of whether the projected upcoming harvest yield will require us
to expand loans to the rice sector or not,” he said, adding that he will submit
the requests to the government if the study deems them necessary.
Cambodia exported more than
426,073 tonnes of milled rice to the international market in the first seven
months of this year, climbing 38.3 per cent from 308,013 tonnes in the
corresponding period last year.
The Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries reported this, citing data from the General Department
of Customs and Excise that was extracted from phytosanitary certificates.
The Chinese market topped the
list of destinations with 155,327 tonnes (accounting for 36.46 per cent),
followed by European markets (144,247 tonnes; 33.85 per cent), ASEAN markets
(57,064 tonnes; 13.39 per cent) and other markets (69,435 tonnes; 16.3 per
cent).
Last year, Cambodia exported
620,106 tonnes of milled rice to the international market, inching down 0.97
per cent from 626,225 tonnes in 2018.
Minister of National Defense Tea Banh on Monday encouraged a
Cambodian UN peacekeeping force preparing to ship out to South Sudan to
strengthen internal unity. The pep talk came at an event at the Training Centre
for Peacekeeping Forces and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (
Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine recently announced
that Cambodia will wait for approval from the World Health Organisation (WHO)
before it administers Covid-19 vaccines to any of its citizens. The
announcement came after China and Russia declared they had manufactured
Covid-19 vaccines fit for
Japan will resume flights to Cambodia next month for business
travellers and long-stay passengers, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs
Toshimitsu Motegi announced at a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen over the
weekend. Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn
was also
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport released guidelines
for schools to follow when they physically reopen in September. Minister Hang
Chuon Naron said on August 24, his office discussed reopening kindergartens,
primary schools and secondary schools. The two approaches laid out in the
guidelines include
Prime Minister Hun Sen has instructed top border official Var
Kimhong to meet residents in Tbong Khmum province along the Vietnamese border
who claim Cambodia had lost land to the neighbouring country. The order came
during a closed-door meeting of the Supreme Council for Consultation
Two Chinese-owned manufacturers have decided to invest in the
Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ) despite Covid-19. PPSEZ is a 357ha
industrial park in Kambol district’s Kantaok commune on the western outskirts
of the capital and is operated by the Cambodian-listed Phnom Penh Special
Haji Nanna Biriyani, a popular
restaurant in Old Dhaka that serves up a mouthwatering selection of
sub-continental and rice-oriented dishes, has reopened its doors to customers
nearly a month ago.
The turnout of customers is fair
given the coronavirus jitters that keep haunting people, but the daily sales at
the food joint still remain half the pre-pandemic time.
Three hundred kilometres northwest,
in Chapainawabganj, the state of affairs for aromatic rice milling firm Erfan
Group is more depressing.
The demand for aromatic rice,
popularly known as chinigura, nosedived nearly 70 per cent to about 50 tonnes
per day at this mill from 150-200 tonnes in the pre-pandemic days when life was
normal, social festivals and gatherings were everyday affairs and the habit of
eating out among urbanities was building up quite steadily.
"Hotels and restaurants are
one of the main buyers of aromatic rice. Though lockdown has been lifted, most
people still choose to stay put as the ruthless killer lurks in the open,"
said Md Erfan Ali, chairman and managing director of Erfan Group.
The spread of the novel coronavirus
has put a curb on ceremonies as people have been forced to maintain social
distancing and avoid gatherings.
Subsequently, wedding parties,
birthday celebrations, and other social, cultural and public events have been
scarce, affecting the community and party centres, restaurants and other
businesses like these.
As a result, the prices of aromatic
rice dropped, Ali said.
The prices of locally produced chinigura
rice declined to Tk 86-87 each kilogram now at wholesale from Tk 92 before the
pandemic took over the country -- a situation that can only be termed as a
sharp contrast to the usual trend in the rice market.
The regularly consumed rice though
is becoming dearer amid fears of crop losses for repeated floods, reduced
yields and slow release of paddy by large farmers and stockists.
Bangladesh annually produces 18
lakh tonnes of aromatic rice and the majority of the grain is produced from the
paddy planted in the rainy season, according to Md Shahjahan Kabir, director
general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).
Apart from domestic production,
traders import long-grain rice such as basmati to cater to the demand from the
middle class and upscale consumers.
"We, the aromatic rice
millers, are one of the first victims of the pandemic. There is barely any
demand for scented rice," said Sanat Saha, who operates a rice mill in
Sherpur, an aromatic rice-producing district in the north.
Millers, who process scented paddy,
have been incurring losses as they have to sell each maund of milled rice at Tk
2,400.
The processing costs, including the
prices of paddy, stand at Tk 2,800 per maund, Saha said.
"Lockdown is over but there
are no large gatherings. None would invite 500 people during this time to
celebrate anything," he added.
Anup Kumar Saha, deputy executive
director of ACI Consumer Brands, a unit of ACI, said they processed 3,500
tonnes of aromatic rice but faced difficulties to clear the stock as demand
fell.
ACI, which operates rice mills,
incurred losses as prices declined at the wholesale level because of a fall in
demand. It has 1,600 tonnes of aromatic rice in stock now.
"The purchasing power of
people has dwindled due to the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic.
Preparing food like polao or biriyani is not an expense for rice only. People
also need to buy other items such as meat to enjoy the food."
Despite the decline in prices at
the wholesale level, processors did not reduce the prices of their retail packs
to that extent.
Instead, marketers are trying to
sell their items through promotions or increasing trade commissions to
distributors and retailers, according to Anup.
Marketers are giving extra benefits
to retailers to stay ahead of others in the competition, said MA Mahmud, senior
brand manager of Square Food & Beverage.
Some 50 companies sell aromatic
rice to profit from the market of nearly Tk 800 crore in the branded segment.
Retail prices of consumer packs
could not be reduced as procurement prices were higher, he said.
"We can't suffer losses,"
he said, expecting that the demand would rebound slowly.
Saha, however, was not upbeat about
recovery as he thinks there is no hope of business until a vaccine is developed
and brought into the country.
He rather believes that farmers
would reduce cultivation of aromatic rice this planting season frustrated by
low prices of this type of grain.
The market would see increased
supply and prices might decline further when a new crop will arrive in
December, Ali said.
Disaster-weary
Gulf shrimpers, Louisiana rice farmers, and coastal food banks ready for
anything as they await
The Category 4 storm is
making landfall just days before the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s
descent on New Orleans. It’ll collide with multiple food and agriculture
industries.
Pictured above, crew
members of a shrimp boat called the Sea Lion V prepare as they wait for
Hurricane Laura to make landfall, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in Port Arthur,
Texas.
The coasts of Texas and
Louisiana are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Laura late on Wednesday
night or early Thursday morning, a storm that’s projected to make landfall
between Houston and Lake Charles as a Category
4 hurricane.
Laura could bring with it
storm surge of up 20 feet, meaning the threat of flooding for communities as
far as 40 miles inland. Officials across Texas are scrambling to free
up hotel rooms so that evacuees can shelter in place with minimal risk of
contracting Covid-19.
“You do
everything you can, because what we’d like to do, when it’s over, is get back
to business.”
Farmers in the region have
been preparing for the storm by harvesting rice through the night and
moving livestock to higher ground. The Louisiana Farm Bureau has established
a hay clearinghouse that
will be able to connect ranchers whose cattle are displaced by the storm to
farmers who have extra land and hay. Crawfish farmers say they are concerned
that prolonged flooding might impact the females’
ability to reproduce.
Louisiana sugarcane
farmers, meanwhile, face potential storm damage from flooding. The state is the
second-largest producer in the country, with nearly 500,000 acres already
planted this season. Texas and Arkansas cotton growers may face risks as well,
Bloomberg reports.
Hurricane Laura is
projected to make landfall just days before the country marks the
15-year-anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall off the coast of
Louisiana on August 29, 2005. One month later, in late September, Hurricane
Rita targeted the Louisiana coast, and destroyed the commercial fishing
industry in Cameron, Louisiana, then the sixth-largest in
the nation.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike blew
“everything” off the walls of a 65-foot fish house owned by Buddy Guindon, a
commercial fisherman in Galveston, Texas. In the days after, he said, he found
equipment and inventory three or four blocks away.
Galveston is currently
under an evacuation order and Guindon said he prepared for what he expects will
be 50-mile-an-hour winds and a 7-foot storm surge by packing in ice around
12,000 pounds of fresh snapper and grouper and 6,000 pounds of shrimp in
refrigerated trucks and moving some of the fish to higher shelves in his
re-built shed. Guindon said he hopes to complete a Houston-bound delivery on
Thursday.
“The report is, it’s going
to stay east of us, and everything’s going to be good, but you can’t take that
chance,” Guindon said. “You do everything you can, because what we’d like to
do, when it’s over, is get back to business.”
Hurricane Laura’s timing is
bad for commercial fishers, said Andrea Hance, executive director of the Texas
Shrimp Association: it’s arriving both the end of a fishing cycle, and on the
heels of economic devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I’m scared to
death that our prices will continue to fall.”
Texas opened its commercial
Gulf shrimp season on July 15, and because most boats stay on the water for 30
to 45 days, many are now on their way back to port, some carrying over 30,000
pounds of shrimp, she said. Wild-caught shrimp are not insurable, Hance said,
which means a commercial fisher caught in the storm could lose $100,000 in
shrimp, per boat.
“I can’t even imagine
somebody trying to tie a boat up in the path of the hurricane,” Hance said, and
expected that many would instead head south, away from Galveston and Port
Arthur.
On average, Texas
commercial fishers bring in between 40 and 50 million pounds of shrimp
annually, second only to Louisiana, said Hance. Around 60 percent of that
shrimp is sold to restaurants. During the pandemic, as those customers
dwindled, Hance said she estimates that prices fell by as much as 40
percent—from around $5 per pound in years prior to roughly $3 today. That could
worsen, she added.
Jan Buchholtz/FlickrWarning
signs seen while traveling Interstate 610 (I-610 South) in Houston during a
mandatory evacuation of Galveston and surrounding areas.
“I’m scared we haven’t seen
the full brunt to the industry, moving forward,” she said. “I’m scared to death
that our prices will continue to fall.”
Another concern in Texas
and Louisiana, as communities prepare for an encounter with the storm: hunger.
Both states have higher rates of food insecurity, 14 and 15.8 percent, than the
national average of 11 percent, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reported last year.
As we know, access to food banks and pantries can be threatened by natural
disasters, and that’s a food-assistance infrastructure that’s already been
forced to adapt to another historically disastrous human tragedy in 2020.
“After these hurricanes
down here, [food availability] can be a problem,” said Sylvia Poimboeuf,
co-director of the Faith & Friends Food Pantry in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
She estimates that the pantry serves approximately 400 to 500 families a month.
Poimboeuf and her husband
have operated the pantry out of an old school house for a decade, and their
facility isn’t equipped with a power generator. She told The Counter that she
has produce stored in refrigerators and dairy and eggs in the freezer. If the
power goes out, a lot of that food will have to be be thrown away (perishables
have a very short food-safety window.)
As Wednesday afternoon, Poimboeuf said she planned to head out and check on the
state of the facility on Thursday—that is, if the roads are accessible and the
wind isn’t too strong.
The food pantry’s supplies
come from a combination of food purchased from the Second Harvest Food Bank,
supplemented by purchases from supermarkets. Right now, Poimboeuf is just hoping
that her most recent order from Second Harvest went through, so that families
will have something to pick up next week. The pandemic has led to shortages of
canned goods, Poimboeuf said, and there’s a chance that the storm will make
shelf-stable foods even more difficult to access.
In Galveston, Texas, The
Counter reached Julie Morreale, development coordinator for the Galveston
County Food Bank, just as she was preparing to leave the office in advance of
the storm. Morreale said that the food bank’s partners had cancelled their
scheduled food distribution events from Tuesday through Thursday of this week
as a safety precaution for both clients and volunteers.
“At this point,
unless that storm turns, we will start on Friday and just be able to move forward
and not lose a beat.”
Morreale said she was less
worried about the storm’s potential to disrupt the food bank’s operations. The
facility has backup generators should there be any outages. Its staffers had
also pre-emptively loaded delivery trucks with water that they’d be prepared to
distribute to the greater community.
Nonetheless, the impending
storm had temporarily disrupted the flow of food into the Galveston County Food
Bank, because it is a regional node that relies on distribution from the larger
Houston Food Bank nearby, Morreale said. Due to evacuation orders, deliveries
are now on pause, though there’s food in storage that she expects to tide the
organization over for the next few days.
“We have produce, and we
have full warehouses of canned goods and cleaning supplies and water. But we
can’t bring anything else in until next week,” she said.
Morreale was optimistic
that the food bank and its partners’ distribution efforts would resume as soon
as the end of this week.
“At this point, unless that
storm turns, we will start on Friday and just be able to move forward and not
lose a beat,” she said. “We’ll be here for everybody that evacuated and we’ll
be here for them as they come back.”
Correction: This story initially stated Hurricane Rita was in
2006, a year after Hurricane Katrina. It was actually one month later, in
September 2005.
This is a developing story.
We will keep readers updated as the situation progresses.The Counter’s reporting fellow Anya Schulz
contributed to this story.
GLOBAL
-- Representatives of the U.S. and Taiwan rice industries plus the Agriculture
and Food Agency (AFA) of Taiwan met using the Lifesize video conferencing
platform last night for annual technical talks regarding rice trade between
both countries.
"This
was our fifth annual meeting with the industry and government in Taiwan,"
said Alex Balafoutis, executive vice president at Western Foods Co., LLC, and
chair of the U.S. delegation."Taiwan has a history of cooperation and collaboration with our
industry and we use these meetings to work through issues proactively
concerning inspection, grading, and tendering in order to increase
understanding on both sides and improve market efficiency with one of our most
important customers."
Topics
for the meeting included an exchange of information on this year's rice
production and utilization in both countries; a review of Taiwan's rice export
promotion program; follow-up from the 2019 rice grading seminar held in Taipei;
changes to Taiwan's import specifications for glutinous rice moisture levels;
and discussion of Taiwan's maximum residue limits for crop protectants used on
U.S. rice.
Both
sides agreed to meet again in 2021 in Taiwan, who would have hosted this year's
meeting had it not been for COVID-19-related travel restrictions.
Taiwan
began importing rice from the United States when the island joined the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007.Taiwan
currently has a country-specific import quota for U.S. rice of 64,634 MT,
within an overall annual import quota from all WTO members of 144,720 MT.Taiwan consumes medium grain rice, and
purchases U.S.-grown rice from both the mid-South and California.
The
U.S. exported 64,464 MT of rice to Taiwan in 2019, valued at approximately $39
million.
Brazil
Looks to Temporarily Suspend Tariffs on Rice Imports
Destination
Brazil?
By
Peter Bachmann
BRASILIA,
BRAZIL -- Following months of high domestic pricing and growing inflation and
economic issues, Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture is exploring a temporary elimination
of import tariffs on rice, corn, and soybeans for domestic consumption.
Brazil
is primarily a long grain market, nearly self-sufficient in rice
production.While they do export some
rice throughout the world, they also import about the same quantity, bringing
in more than 90 percent of imports from neighboring South American countries
duty-free.Rice imports from outside of
the Mercosur bloc, including the United States, face a 12 percent import duty
on milled rice and a 10 percent duty on paddy rice.
Brazil
annually grows more than 7 million MT of rice on a milled basis and typically
imports between 600,000 and 800,000 MT to meet domestic needs.With a reduction in supply due to a smaller
2018/19 crop and increased COVID-19-related retail purchases, Brazil is in need
of additional rice and other commodities to satisfy the demand and ease prices
for financially strapped consumers.
"While
Brazil is not a traditional market for U.S. rice due to pricing and the
logistical and duty-free advantage provided to their neighboring countries, a
potential temporary market opening timed with U.S. crop harvest could create a
unique opportunity for U.S. rice to enter that market," said Sarah Moran,
USA Rice vice president of international.
Moran
explained:"While discussions of
temporary relief from import duties are certainly welcomed, Brazil employs a
number of other taxes, including on sales and services (VAT) for up to 25
percent, a freight tax at 25 percent, and an excise tax at 9.25 percent.These additional taxes make landed costs for
U.S. rice up to 60 percent higher than the actual cost and add another layer of
challenges."
The
Ministry of Agriculture has not yet announced the change or details regarding
the starting and ending dates for the potential measure nor has there been any
mention of waiving any of the additional taxes that imported commodities would
incur.Since 2011, annual U.S. rice
sales to Brazil have remained below 1,000 tons with small sales ranging from
parboiled long grain to paddy to milled short and medium grain rice over the
years.
Category
4 Storm Weakens
We
will report on the full impacts to rice of Hurricane Laura when more is
known.Though now downgraded, the storm
is still dangerous with both high winds and significant rains expected across
rice acres in the mid-South over the next 24 hours.
Hurricane
Laura batters Louisiana, takes aim at Arkansas
GLOBAL
-- Representatives of the U.S. and Taiwan rice industries plus the Agriculture
and Food Agency (AFA) of Taiwan met using the Lifesize video conferencing
platform last night for annual technical talks regarding rice trade between
both countries.
"This
was our fifth annual meeting with the industry and government in Taiwan,"
said Alex Balafoutis, executive vice president at Western Foods Co., LLC, and
chair of the U.S. delegation."Taiwan has a history of cooperation and collaboration with our
industry and we use these meetings to work through issues proactively
concerning inspection, grading, and tendering in order to increase
understanding on both sides and improve market efficiency with one of our most
important customers."
Topics
for the meeting included an exchange of information on this year's rice
production and utilization in both countries; a review of Taiwan's rice export
promotion program; follow-up from the 2019 rice grading seminar held in Taipei;
changes to Taiwan's import specifications for glutinous rice moisture levels;
and discussion of Taiwan's maximum residue limits for crop protectants used on
U.S. rice.
Both
sides agreed to meet again in 2021 in Taiwan, who would have hosted this year's
meeting had it not been for COVID-19-related travel restrictions.
Taiwan
began importing rice from the United States when the island joined the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007.Taiwan
currently has a country-specific import quota for U.S. rice of 64,634 MT,
within an overall annual import quota from all WTO members of 144,720 MT.Taiwan consumes medium grain rice, and
purchases U.S.-grown rice from both the mid-South and California.
The
U.S. exported 64,464 MT of rice to Taiwan in 2019, valued at approximately $39
million.
Now that we are allowed to visit
restaurants again the dishes I am most looking forward to are those that are
very different from my own home cooking: a tasty Chinese banquet with a
never-ending delivery of delicious dishes flowing from the kitchen to the table
or maybe a fabulous, steamy curry, mouth-wateringly flavoursome with spicy
chutney, naan bread and aromatic cardamom rice.
This lamb and spinach curry is very easy to prepare at home and
it tastes even better the next day. Why not make it and get someone else to
serve it to you. Refuse to do the dishes!
LAMB AND SPINACH CURRY
Ingredients
500g lamb shoulder
4 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons ground coriander
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1½ if you prefer a very hot curry)
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
4 tablespoons water
400g fresh spinach, shredded
450g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
40g fresh coriander
Squeeze lemon juice
Method
Trim the lamb of any excess fat and cut into 2-3 cm pieces.
Put in a bowl and add the grated ginger, garlic and ground
coriander.
Mix everything together, cover and leave in the fridge for an
hour or so.
Start cooking the curry. Pre-heat oven to 150C/Gas 3
Add the marinated lamb, the turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt
and cook on a medium heat, stirring until the lamb is browned all over.
Now add a tablespoon of yoghurt, stirring so that the lamb is
well coated, and the yoghurt gradually melts to form the start of a sauce.
Add the rest of the yoghurt, a tablespoon at a time, stirring to
absorb each time.
Add the 4 tablespoons of water to add some extra moisture.
Stir in the spinach.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook in the oven for an hour
or so until the lamb is tender. Check and stir halfway through adding a little
more water if the sauce looks dry.
In the last 15 minutes, stir in the strained chickpeas and cook
so they start to take on the flavour of the spices.
Finally add a good squeeze of lemon juice which sours the
flavour of the yogurt a little to sharpen the taste.
When ready to serve sprinkle over the chopped fresh coriander.
Serve with steamed basmati rice, thick fluffy naan bread and
lots of spicy lime pickle chutney.
Rice products worth $2.5bn
exported last year: minister
The quality of our rice is
acceptable globally. This was said by Federal Minister for National Food
Security and Research (NFSR) on Wednesday while attending a webinar on
Sustainable Rice Production for Boosting Rice Export of Pakistan. Syed Fakhar Imam
said that last year 7.2 mn rice was produced. He mentioned that rice products
of 2.5 billion USD were exported. There is 30 % contribution of rice in value
addition. And rice contribution in GDP is 0.6 %.He said that 2.5 tones HA is
the gap in our present production. He said that we need to invest in rice
industry. Syed Fakhar Imam said that we need to update our Phyto sanitary
systems. Federal Minister was of the point of view that Rice is Pakistan’s
third largest crop in terms of area sown, after wheat and cotton. About 11
percent of Pakistan’s total agricultural area is under rice during the summer
or “Kharif” season.
Pakistan is a leading producer and exporter of
Basmati and IRRI rice (white long grain rice). Rice ranks second among the
staple food grain crops in Pakistan and exports are a major source of foreign
exchange earnings. Pakistan grows a relatively high quality of rice to fulfill
domestic and export demand. Rice accounts for 3.1 percent of the value added in
agriculture and 0.6 percent of gross domestic product. Pakistan has two major
rice-producing provinces, namely Punjab and Sindh. Both provinces account for
more than 88 percent of total rice production. Punjab, due to its agro-climatic
and soil conditions, is producing 100 percent of the Basmati rice in the
country. Pakistan’s “Kalar” bowl area, a local term that refers to a type of
soil suitable for Basmati production, is famous for producing Basmati rice and
is located between the Ravi and Chenab rivers in Punjab. IRRI rice is grown in both
Punjab and Sindh.
The Brazilian
government is mulling temporarily removing import tariffs on rice, corn and
soybeans, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Adds Agriculture
Ministry confirmation
SAO PAULO, Aug 27
(Reuters) - The Brazilian government is mulling temporarily
removing import tariffs on rice, corn and soybeans, the Agriculture
Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The move aims
to stave off inflation, the statement added. Prices for rice, soybean and corn have risen
recently in the domestic market.
Still, the
ministry said there is no sign of a potential shortage of these products.
Imports from
inside the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and
Uruguay, are already exempt from import duties.
The tariff
exemption is expected to be discussed by a trade management committee called
Gecex, presided over by the Economy Ministry, in September.
Local newspaper
Valor Econômico earlier on Thursday reported on
the potential tariff exemption.
(Reporting by
Carolina Mandl; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Bernadette Baum)
The views and
opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Tropical
Storm Laura: Mass power outages in Louisiana and Texas; 6 dead
By
Don Jacobson & Daniel Uria
(0)
Hundreds of thousands of homes and
businesses in Louisiana and Texas are without electricity and dealing with
flooding after Hurricane Laura. Photo by PO3 Paige Hause/U.S. Coast Guard
| License Photo
Aug. 27 (UPI)
-- Hundreds
of thousands of homes and businesses were without electricity in Louisiana and
Texas on Thursday and at least six people died after Tropical Storm Laura
arrived on land as a major hurricane.
Laura made
landfall near Cameron, La., early Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane. The
National Hurricane Center had warned of a potentially catastrophic impact and
"unsurvivable" storm surge created by the hurricane.
Laura weakened
to a Category 2 storm almost immediately after moving over land, and was later
downgraded to a tropical storm.
Laura produced
winds of 150 mph when it arrived. In Lake Charles, which was in Laura's direct
path, there were reports of
damage and debris in the downtown area -- but no severe
flooding, which had been a major concern for the area since it's 15 feet above
sea level.
The White
House said Thursday President Donald Trump is committed to
"deploying the full resources of the federal government to rescue those in
distress, support those in the region affected and restore disruptions to our
communities and infrastructure."
Trump and Vice
President Mike Pence visited
the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Response Coordination to monitor
Laura's path along the Gulf Coast.
"This
team forward deployed resources," Pence said. "We were ready for the
worst and by all accounts from the experts, while this was obviously a major
storm with devastating impact, it was not as bad as it could have been."
Trump said he
considered postponing his speech to close the Republican National Convention to
Monday in order to survey damage in Texas, Lousiana and perhaps Arkansas, but
said he intends to instead travel to those states as soon as this weekend.
"We got a
little bit lucky," Trump said. "It was very big, it was very
powerful. But it passed quickly and so everything's on schedule.
When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005,
it caused widespread catastrophic flooding due to the state's low elevation.
Other areas,
including Lafayette, La., saw some flooding after Laura passed through.
A New Orleans
Times-Picayune reporter tweeted that mobile homes in Lake Charles were
"shredded," roofs were torn off and trailers thrown around.
PowerOutage.us showed nearly
900,000 customers in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas were without electricity by
early Thursday afternoon.
"Power is
out pretty much everywhere," Calcasieu Parish spokesman Thomas Hoefer
said. "We may get water in but it's not here now. Cameron is dealing with
the surge; we are dealing with the wind."
City and state
leaders had warned before Laura's arrival that it could take several days to
restore power to the affected areas, particularly with added precautions due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least six
people have died in the storm. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told
reporters at a news conference Thursday that a 14-year-old girl
was killed, and Edwards' Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness said two others died
in Acadia and Jackson parishes. Details were unclear on the location of the
fourth fatality.
All four were
killed by falling trees.
A 24-year-old
man in Calcasieu Parish also died of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a
generator inside his home and another male drowned during the storm when his
boat sank, according to a Louisiana health department spokesperson, the New York Times reported.
"As we
wake up today, everyone must remember that the threat Laura poses to Louisiana
is ongoing," Edwards tweeted earlier. "Stay home, continue to heed
the warnings and instructions of local officials and monitor your local news to
stay informed."
A chemical
fire erupted in Westlake, La., less than 5 miles west of Lake Charles, and
state troopers closed nearby Interstate 10.
"Residents
are advised to shelter in place until further notice and close your doors and
windows," Edwards tweeted.
Storm chaser
Brandon Clement of WXChasing posted video of
wind toppling a recreational vehicle and WKRG-TV
broadcast footage of a badly damaged home in Lake Charles.
A video shot
by storm chaser Reed Timmer showed a powerful winds battering the Lake Charles
Convention Center as Laura moved through the city in the pre-dawn hours.
One user posted a tweet early
Thursday that showed high winds destroying a Wendy's restaurant sign.
Hurricane Laura may affect early Arkansas
harvest efforts
·By Ryan McGeeney U of A System Division of Agriculture
·Aug
27, 2020
LITTLE ROCK — High winds and
heavy rainfall from what forecasters expect will be a major hurricane –
Hurricane Laura – will likely sweep through most of Arkansas by Friday, just as
harvest nears for several major crops across the state.
Laura was upgraded to a hurricane
on Tuesday. Laura and the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Marco are
expected to sweep northward from the Gulf of Mexico.
Laura is predicted to push into
Arkansas before turning northeastward toward Missouri, Mississippi and
Tennessee. The National Weather Service office in Little Rock said Laura was
likely to maintain tropical storm-strength-winds of 30-40 mph and that gusts
could briefly exceed 50 mph.
Terrible
timing
While the rice harvest is set to
begin in northern Arkansas, the corn harvest throughout the state has already
begun for producers with grain drying capabilities.
As of Aug. 23, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture reported about 5 percent of the state’s approximately
640,000 acres had been harvested. Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains
agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said
much of the state’s corn crop is in a vulnerable state.
“The timing is terrible, to be
honest,” Kelley said.
While some corn producers in the
state began harvesting as early as Aug. 1, Kelley said that those first three
weeks of harvest were mainly limited to producers who have access to grain
dryers.
“If you don’t have a way to
handle corn above 15 percent moisture, there’s not much you can do prior to the
tropical storm arrival, since most commercial grain terminals only want dry
corn,” he said. Much of the state’s 2020 corn crop was late-planted, due
primarily to wet conditions throughout March and April.
As with many crops in the state,
lodging – the phenomenon of crops becoming first saturated with rain, and then
blown down in high winds – poses the most likely threat at this point.
“Getting a big storm at the very
end here isn’t ideal,” Kelley said. “But the big concern is that we get wind
with it, which could cause lodging. When corn blows down, you’re just never
able to get it all picked up and into the combine.”
Even lodged corn plants that can
be recovered may suffer significant yield and grain quality loss, he said. The
situation can be even more dire for grain sorghum, which, although not
currently grown on substantial acreage in Arkansas, is ready for harvest this
week.
“The problem with sorghum is that
if it’s 80 degrees and it rains for 24 hours, the grain quality suffers –
you’ll see sprouting in the head,” Kelley said. “We’ve seen this before in
grain sorghum – we get these tropical rains, and the grain begins sprouting,
and a very good crop can become unmarketable very suddenly.”
Additionally, heavy rains one
week can make for muddy fields the next, even if the storm passes.
According to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, all but the northern 25 percent or so of
Arkansas stands a 10-30 percent chance of receiving tropical-storm-force winds
between now and Sunday, Aug. 30. NOAA also forecasts all of the state receiving
at least 2 inches of rain by the end of the week, with some spots receiving up
to 10 inches of rain.
Lodging in
rice, soybeans
Jarrod Hardke, extension rice
agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said that as with corn, lodging in
rice poses a significant challenge in harvesting rice. Arkansas is the nation’s
leading producer of rice.
“As a general rule, some high
winds at this time of year don’t bother me a great deal, as most of our
cultivars stand pretty well,” Hardke said, “and some rainfall doesn’t really
bother me though it does make for muddy harvest conditions and ruts. The concern
is higher winds with rainfall, which turns into a heavy hand that can lay rice
down and cause severe lodging.”
Depending on the severity of the
lodging, producers could be looking at a much slower harvest and a reduction in
yield, he said.
Jeremy Ross, extension soybean
agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said storm-related lodging also
poses a potential problem for the state’s No. 1 crop.
“Most of the soybean crop is in
mid- to late-reproduction,” Ross said. “At these growth stages, the crop can
withstand some ‘lean’ to the plants, but we don’t want to see plants completely
flat on the ground. Most of the state is dry, so we could use some rainfall to
help finish out some of the early planted crop.
“We don’t need excessive amounts
of rain that could potentially cause flooding in low-lying fields and the lower
ends of fields that typically flood with large rainfalls,” he said.
Rain may help
cotton
Cotton, which is slightly ahead
of the five-year average for crop progress with bolls open on 25 percent of the
state’s 500,000 planted acres, still has more than a month before most
harvesting efforts will begin.
Bill Robertson, extension cotton
agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said a thorough wetting this week
will, if nothing else, help cotton growers struggling with decisions regarding
termination dates for irrigation.
To learn about extension programs
in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or
visit www.uaex.edu.
RPT-Asia
Rice-More takers for cheaper India offers even as floods hit supply
Arundhati
Sarkar
AUGUST
28, 2020 / 6:30 AM / UPDATED 9 HOURS AGO
(Repeats
story published on Aug 27 with no changes to text)
*
Vietnam traders eye higher demand from China
*
Buyers from Africa making inquiries about Indian rice
*
Traders say Thai off-season crops to be disappointing
*
Floods damage crops worth $4.29 billion in Bangladesh
By
Arundhati Sarkar
Aug
27 (Reuters) - Indian rice export prices rose for a third straight week with
buyers turning to cheaper grain from the top hub, which continued to grapple
with monsoon floods and a worsening pandemic, while concerns over low rainfall
buoyed Thai rates.
Rates
for India’s benchmark 5% broken parboiled variety RI-INBKN5-P1 climbed to
$384-$390 per tonne from last week’s $383-$389, as floods also curtailed rice
milling with monsoon rains likely to remain heavy for the rest of the month.
Until
last week, planting of rice, the key summer crop, stood at 37.8 million
hectares, against 33.9 million hectares during the same time last year.
However,
buyers from Africa are making inquiries as prices have gone up in Thailand and
Vietnam, said an exporter based at Kakinada, the country’s biggest
rice-handling port in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Inconsistent
rainfall in some rice-growing provinces in Thailand fueled fears of lower yield
in 2020-21, with traders also warning of a disappointing off-season crop.
Thai
5% broken rice prices RI-THBKN5-P1 rose to $500-$520 per tonne from $480-500
last week.
Prices
for Vietnam’s 5% broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 remained unchanged for a second
consecutive week at $480-$490 a tonne, with traders expecting prices to stay
high over the coming weeks, amid higher demand from China, which has also been
suffering from floods.
Exporters
cannot sign any new export contracts because of scarce domestic supplies and
are focusing on fulfilling contracts signed with Malaysia, the Philippines and
Cuba instead, a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Floods
damaged crops worth $4.29 billion on more than 100,000 hectares in Bangladesh
as well, pushing up domestic prices of the staple, the country’s Agriculture
Ministry said.
Bangladesh,
the world’s third-biggest rice producer, often relies on imports to cope with
shortages caused by floods and droughts. (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in
Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Khanh Vu in Hanoi and
Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok; editing by Arpan Varghese and Ramakrishnan
M.)
Deputy minister: Detailed study to be conducted before
setting local, imported rice controls
Thursday, 27 Aug 2020 04:52 PM
MYT
Deputy Minister II Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi
said whatever the decision to be made on the issue, should require careful
study because it is a strategic and critical industry, and it is also the
staple food of Malaysians. — Picture by Azinuddin Ghazali
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 ― The Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Industries will conduct a detailed market study before
submitting the proposed local rice ceiling prices and setting price controls on
imported rice.
Its Deputy Minister II Datuk Che Abdullah Mat
Nawi said whatever the decision to be made on the issue, should require careful
study because it is a strategic and critical industry, and it is also the
staple food of Malaysians.
“This is to ensure that the impact of price
changes does not burden consumers and the people as a whole,” he said at a
question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Elaborating further, Che Abdullah said the
government had introduced a ceiling price for local rice starting in 2008 to
ensure that the people and consumers obtained their supply of rice at a
reasonable and controlled price despite the increase in rice prices in the
international market.
Currently, he said local white rice, with a
crushed content of five per cent, is controlled at RM2.60 per kilogramme and to
cover the 30 per cent shortage of domestic rice consumption, white rice is
imported at an average price of around RM2.80 to RM3 per kilogramme.
“Taking into account some policy changes such
as the increase in the ceiling price of rice which has been standardised from
RM850 per tonne to RM1,200 per tonne in 2014, the ministry is of the view that
a study on the ceiling price of local rice should be implemented.
“This is to give justice to others throughout
the industry chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers as the business profit
margin is shrinking as a result of the set retail ceiling price,” he said. ―
Bernama
The Royal Irrigation Department
(RID) has revealed plans to divert masses of water now flooding Sukhothai to
feed rice fields in the Chao Phraya River basin.
A system of water gates in
tributary canals along the Yom River and Chao Phraya River from Sukhothai to
Chai Nat, where the water will enter the basin, will be put to work in the
diversion plan, according to Thaweesak Thanadechopol, the RID deputy
director-general.
This effectively cancels an
original plan to push water into a network of canals and waterways in the vast
Bang Rakam fields of Phitsanulok.
Mr Thaweesak said the Bang Rakam
fields will be freed up for now in anticipation of tropical storms in the near
future when the space will be required to absorb large volumes of water.
Also, rice farmers in the Chao
Phraya river basin, which encompasses the country's rice belt areas, still need
water for irrigation.
Mr Thaweesak said the department
expected the masses of water currently passing through Sukhothai to reach the
basin in five to six days. The water in the Yom River originated from upstream
Phrae province which was lashed by storms and suffered from floods between Aug
20-22.
In Sukhothai, Sri Satchanalai was
the first district to be battered by water that flowed down from Phrae on
Monday.
It was the largest volume of
water in the Yom River to reach the district during the same period in the past
three years. Yesterday, at its highest point, the flow was measured at 1,499
cubic measures of water per second, Mr Thaweesak said.
The deputy department chief said
the plan was to divert water through the Had Prajan watergate before it gets to
Sukhothai city centre. The water will flow through canals before entering the
Nan River in Sakhon Sawan.
After that the water will head
down to the Chao Phraya barrage in Chai Nat where it will be channeled into
canals on both sides of the Chao Phraya River.
On the left side of the river,
the water will feed rice fields along the Khlong Chai Nat Pasak and Khlong
Rapeepat, which are connected to Khlong 13 and Khlong Pra-ong Chonlathit in
downstream Chachoengsao province.
Mr Thaweesak said farming has yet
to begin for the current crop season in about 3.5 million rai of paddy fields covered
by the basin.
On the right side of the Chao
Phraya River, the water will be diverted into the Noi and Tha Cheen rivers
through Khlong Makhamthao U Thong.
He said several storms are
forecast for northern parts of the country during this rainy season which is
expected to last until the middle of October.
If the Bang Rakam fields in
Phitsanulok cannot take all the excess water, there is Bueng Boraphet, the
country's largest swamp in Nakhon Sawan, which can serve as an alternative
water catchment area.
According to
the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), Vietnamese white rice price has become the
highest in the world compared to its peers from India, Thailand, Pakistan and
Myanmar.
Presently, Vietnam’s 5 percent
broken white rice was traded at US$488-$492 per ton and Vietnam’s 25 percent
broken white rice was sold at $463-$467 per ton.
Economists said the price of
Vietnamese rice has increased to the highest for many recent years because of
the world’s strong demand while supply of India and Thailand is limited.
Additionally, the quality of Vietnamese rice is improve leading to rise in
price.
Vietnam’s abundant supply and quick
delivery amidst Covid-19 crisis are the advantage which made importers
prioritize. From now to end of the year, experts forecast that price of
Vietnamese rice will continue increasing.
Rice farmers in the Mekong Delta are
happy at the good news.
Though severely affected by climate change, the
Mekong Delta province of An Giang nonetheless earned handsome profits from the
recent summer-autumn rice crop, with local farmers potentially pocketing 900 to
1300 USD per hectare after deducting costs.
Rice production in the province’s summer-autumn
crop amounted to some 1.2 million tonnes amid the adverse impacts of climate
change. The achievement is primarily due to proactive measures being taken
against saltwater intrusion, including retaining fresh water, rescheduling
crops, and changing rice varieties.All local rice has been sold, mostly for
export. According to the local agriculture sector, the bright prospects for
rice exports nationwide in recent times encouraged local companies to buy large
amounts from farmers, including those from An Giang.
Still, the rice sector faces numerous
challenges from now until the end of the year as the flood season has only just
begun. Numerous response plans have been deployed, including switching crops to
ensure the financial security of farmers.
Mekong Delta provinces have carried out various
response measures against the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change since the
beginning of this year, with rice production not interrupted to any great
extent. The rice sector has also been striving to meet the strict requirements
of fastidious foreign markets. With abundant harvests and exponential export
growth, farmers’ livelihoods have been greatly improved./.
The
announcement by The SunRice Group to open a pool for the forthcoming 2021
Riverina rice season will be widely appreciated by the industry which has
suffered greatly during the past few seasons of low returns and meagre water
allocations.
The
announcement has been made ahead of the planting window which opens in October
2020, following recent increased rainfall, inflows to major water storages and
allocations.
A
spokesperson said this is the first pool that the Group has run since 2018,
with the 2019 and 2020 crops the third and second-smallest on record as a
consequence of drought, low water allocations, high water prices and water
reform.
The
opening of the pool follows SunRice's announcement of an initial fixed price
offer on 24 July 2020 for specific varietals, which closed on 3 August 2020
after strong demand from growers.
As
a result of this strong response, SunRice has already contracted substantially
more volume than was grown in the 2019 or 2020 seasons.
The
Group has also announced an estimated range of $390 to $450 per metric tonne
(for medium grain Reiziq) for the 2021 pool.
Commenting
on the announcement, SunRice chair, Laurie Arthur, said the company is pleased
to announce the opening of a pool after a very difficult period for the
Riverina rice industry due to drought, which has been exacerbated by the
impacts of water reform and high water prices.
"With
the weather outlook remaining positive over coming months - we are increasingly
optimistic of a much larger Riverina rice crop being planted for the 2021
season," Mr Arthur said.
"Growers
responded positively to our initial fixed price offer announced in July 2020 -
with SunRice having already contracted for significantly more rice for 2021
than was grown in 2019 or 2020.
"We
have continued to closely monitor conditions since that first offer, which is
why we are now pleased to be announcing the opening of a pool, and we believe
the estimated range provides a compelling proposition for our growers.
"We
are hopeful that the Bureau of Meteorology's strong forecast for the coming
months plays out, and we see increased rainfall and inflows to water storages,
so that our rice growers can plant a large crop in 2021."
Seed
orders for the No.1 Pool will open at 9am on 7 September 2020 for growers who
grew in a Critical Year (2019 and / or 2020), and then for all other growers at
9am on 9 September 2020.
For more information or to take
up the offer, growers can contact SunRice's Grower Services team on 1800
654 557.
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Palay production in Western Visayas grows by 12.15% in
H1
By
Erwin Nicavera August
27, 2020, 2:03 pm
HIGHER
YIELD. In
this file photo, rice farmers in Bago City, Negros Occidental harvest their
yield during one of the cropping seasons last year. During the first six months
of 2020, palay production in Western Visayas increased by 12.15 percent, the
Department of Agriculture said in a report on Wednesday. (PNA Bacolod
file photo)
BACOLOD CITY – Palay production in Western
Visayas increased by 12.15 percent in the first six months of 2020 amid the
resiliency of rice farmers in the region, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in
Region 6 (Western Visayas) said on Wednesday.
DA-6 Regional Director Remelyn
Recoter said in a statement that despite the threats posed by the coronavirus
disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the farmers manifested their dedication and
commitment to provide sufficient, affordable and safe food for the people.
“Our farmers are situated in the
rural areas. During the enhanced community quarantine period, movement and
transportation were restricted but they still found enough time to monitor,
supervise, and manage their rice lands,” she added.
Based on figures from the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Western Visayas produced
753,832.24 metric tons (MT) from January to June this year compared to only
672,152.53 MT during the same period last year.
According to the DA-6, across all
ecosystems, whether irrigated, rain-fed and upland, Iloilo had the highest
production of 352,416.38 MT in the first six months.
Capiz is next with 179,345.01 MT
followed by Negros Occidental, 107,821 MT; Aklan, 52,223.85 MT; Antique, 46,890
MT; and Guimaras, 15,136 MT.
Last year, Iloilo also ranked first
with a six-month palay production of 298,376.53 MT.
Recoter said she is optimistic that
with the interventions provided to farmers under the Rice Resiliency Program,
Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, and Regular Rice Program, particularly
the distribution of seeds and fertilizer during the wet season, Western Visayas
could play a big role in ensuring the rice sufficiency of the country for the
year.
In 2019, Region 6 contributed 2.077
million MT or 11.04 percent to the 18.814 million MT national rice production
in 2019.
Western Visayas is one of three
regions with major contributions to the national palay production aside from
Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley.
“I am happy that more rice farmers
have planted hybrid, certified, and good seeds this season. I am also
optimistic that they have applied appropriate fertilization with the free Urea
fertilizer we gave to them,” Recoter said. (PNA)
LITTLE ROCK, AR — The University
of Arkansas (U of A) Division of Agriculture held their annual Rice Field Day
last week. Participants tuned in via computer as the virtual event kicked
off last Thursday evening with pre-recorded presentations, and Dr. Jarrod
Hardke, director of the UofA Rice Experiment Station, moderating the live
question and answer session following presentations.
Dr. Bob Scott, the newly appointed director of the UofA Cooperative Extension
Service, started off the event by reminding attendees that “the extensive
research we do helps inform our recommendations for best practices for the rice
industry in Arkansas. It is the desire of the Division to share our
research findings even when an in-person field day is not recommended.
So, we may not have catfish or BBQ, but, thanks to technology, we do have the
ability to bring the field day to you.”
“The Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board is investing grower check-off
funds to facilitate rice production in Arkansas,” said Roger Pohlner, chair of
the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board, who provided his board update
from the future home of the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center.
“Primarily, we direct these funds into areas that you are probably already
familiar with: variety development, fertility and irrigation management,
weed and disease control, and the rice research verification program, just to
name a few.”
Design plans for the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center, to be
directed by Dr. Tim Burcham, were shared.
Other presenters included Dr.
Jason Norsworthy who discussed weed control and tolerance of herbicides such as
Provisia, Rogue, Loyant, and others. Dr. Ehsan Shakiba reviewed the
process of hybrid rice breeding.
Dr. Trent Roberts encouraged producers to regularly test their soil which could
increase yield and profitability, and also reported on research results
pertaining to optimizing soil fertility. Dr. Yeshi Wamishe focused on
fungicide management and urged producers to know the disease reactions of their
rice varieties and then use those ratings to select varieties that match with the
history of their fields.
Lastly, Dr. Xueyan Sha provided an overview of the varieties released over the
past two years including CLL16, released late last year, and talked about a new
variety that could be ready in the near future.
By Olayinka Olawale
Lagos, Aug. 27, 2020 Mr Segun Atho, Deputy National President, Rice Farmers
Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), says Lagos State has the potential to feed
itself without depending much on others.
Atho told newsmen on Thursday in
Lagos that he believed the state government would develop more in the
production of rice, even when it just started its revolution,
He lauded the state government
for its intervention in the rice value chain.
Atho said: “Lagos State has land,
even when they have a rather limited landmass. We want them to help farmers in
terms of equipment, machinery, roads, water and other things that can enable
them expand and sustain their developmental projects.
“We want government to clear and
develop more land, provide swamp dozer, swamp buggy and other machinery to
clear the swampy land for expansion.
“Lagos has the potential to feed
itself without depending so much on others.
“Even though we are just
starting, I believe that going forward, we are going to develop in this area of
production.
“The Imota Rice Mill will need a
lot of support and all hands should be on deck, both from the government’s side
and that of the farmers.
“The training of rice farmers is
a very good omen and I want the government to keep the tempo because growing
rice is another level of development in the state.”
He urged government to provide
other things like roads, warehousing, aggregating centres and ensure that
farmers did not lack viable seeds and sustainable ones that could keep the
tempo.
According to him, the rice initiative
that the government has started is a welcome development.
`My advice for farmers is to
utilise whatever support they get from government and not to do otherwise.
“They should be ready to use
those things for what they are meant for.
“Farmers should not play pranks
and should not see the support as political sharing, rather they should see it
as an effort to develop themselves,” Atho added.
Speaking on the change in rain
pattern and the long break, Atho said it was a natural climatic change, which
he believes would not go without having an impact.
He urged farmers to take
necessary precautionary measures to mitigate its impact on food production and
security.
According to him, rain will
surely fall.
“I fear that when it starts
raining, it should not affect our production. This is because if you have not
prepared the land and the rains start, then there will be problems.
“Farmers should prepare their
land before the rains return, to avert problems.
“When it comes to the dry season
like this type of nature that we are experiencing now, what we need is water
pumping machine and boreholes.
“The Federal and State
Governments can drill boreholes so that farmers can use their water pumps to
wet their farmlands.
“Irrigation is the only solution
to this kind of weather. Farmers need to continue to wet their farmlands as
often as possible, to sustain the farms,” he said.
Laguna Golf Lang Co’s family of
water buffalo greenskeepers have helped the club reap a record rice harvest:
the fruits of which are going towards feeding members of the local community in
Central Vietnam.
The bovine brood has been
bolstered by the birth of Lulu, a new baby daughter, who joins fellow recent
arrival Luna, eldest calf Bao,
and father and mother Tu Phat and Chi Chi in the workforce.
Baby
Lulu (right) is the latest addition to the now five-strong family of water
buffalos at Laguna Golf Lang Co
And the extra sets of hooves have
dramatically boosted productivity, with the club gathering 28 tonnes of rice
from the seven hectares of fields right in the middle of the Sir Nick Faldo
Signature layout – a record harvest-time haul.
The buffalo “bio-mowers” have
been vital in helping to maintain the elevated status of the layout, which
winds its way through tropical jungle, ocean sand dunes and ancient rice
paddies.
They help to manage the seven
hectares of rice fields located right in the middle of the course by eating
excess weeds, crops while tilling the soil in the area that would otherwise
require machinery and additional manpower to maintain.
The rice-fields, though, are not
just for show. Harvested twice a year, they have previously yielded up to 20
tons of rice that are used to support the organic farm at Laguna Lang Co and
donated to families and seniors in the area who are in need of extra support.
This winter’s record haul,
however, surpassed previous harvests by some way. Additionally, the bumper crop
could not have come at a timely juncture, with Vietnam’s economy taking a hit
on tourism as the international borders remain closed to combat the spread of
the global pandemic.
Adam Calver, director of golf at
Laguna Lang Co, said: “The communities that have limited economic means have
been hit the hardest by the economic downturn that has resulted from the global
pandemic. The fact that we are able to donate even more rice to locals who need
it most this year was a really positive outcome for our edible golf course.”
The Deputy National President,
Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Mr Segun Atho said Lagos State has
the potential to feed itself without depending much on others.
Atho told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that he believed the state government would develop
more in the production of rice, even when it just started its revolution,
He lauded the state government
for its intervention in the rice value chain.
“Lagos State has land, even when
they have a rather limited landmass.
”We want them to help farmers in
terms of equipment, machinery, roads, water and other things that can enable
them expand and sustain their developmental projects.
“We want government to clear and
develop more land, provide swamp dozer, swamp buggy and other machinery to
clear the swampy land for expansion.
“Lagos has the potential to feed
itself without depending so much on others.
“Even though we are just
starting, I believe that going forward, we are going to develop in this area of
production.
“The Imota Rice Mill will need a
lot of support and all hands should be on deck, both from the government’s side
and that of the farmers.
“The training of rice farmers is
a very good omen and I want the government to keep the tempo because growing
rice is another level of development in the state.”
He urged government to provide
other things like roads, warehousing, aggregating centres and ensure that
farmers did not lack viable seeds and sustainable ones that could keep the
tempo.
According to him, the rice
initiative that the government has started is a welcome development.
`My advice for farmers is to
utilise whatever support they get from government and not to do otherwise.
“They should be ready to use
those things for what they are meant for.
“Farmers should not play pranks
and should not see the support as political sharing, rather they should see it
as an effort to develop themselves,” Atho added.
Speaking on the change in rain
pattern and the long break, Atho said it was a natural climatic change, which
he believes would not go without having an impact.
He urged farmers to take
necessary precautionary measures to mitigate its impact on food production and
security.
According to him, rain will
surely fall.
“I fear that when it starts
raining, it should not affect our production. This is because if you have not
prepared the land and the rains start, then there will be problems.
“Farmers should prepare their
land before the rains return, to avert problems.
“When it comes to the dry season
like this type of nature that we are experiencing now, what we need is water
pumping machine and boreholes.
“The Federal and State
Governments can drill boreholes so that farmers can use their water pumps to
wet their farmlands.
“Irrigation is the only solution
to this kind of weather. Farmers need to continue to wet their farmlands as
often as possible, to sustain the farms,” he said.
Fakhr
Imam said the draft memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation
formerly proposed by the Ethiopian side could not be finalised due to poor
response of the provincial governments. — DawnNewsTV/File
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is considering
extending the period of lifting ban on the import of red kidney beans from
Ethiopia on the condition that the SOPs the two countries agreed to observe are
fully complied with by the Ethiopian government, Minister for National Food
Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam said on Thursday.
Speaking to Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to Ethiopia Syed
Shozab Abbas, the minister said it was important that the Ethiopian side keeps
on sharing progress on the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) with our Department of
Plant Protection (DPP) for permanent settlement of this issue based on
scientific evidence and procedures.
Mr Fakhr Imam said the draft memorandum of understanding on
agricultural cooperation formerly proposed by the Ethiopian side could not be
finalised due to poor response of the provincial governments. He suggested that
the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) may sign an MoU with its
counterpart, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organisation, for which a
draft of MoU may be shared by PARC after completion of the internal formalities
of the Pakistan government.
The PARC has suggested that Pakistan can extend assistance to
Ethiopian side in the many areas which include honey bee management and value
addition, poultry production and processing, developing and fabricating
agricultural machinery and farm implements, livestock breed improvement, and
artificial insemination and rehabilitation of degraded lands, conservation of
biodiversity.
This year, Pakistan exported 150 metric tons of maize starch with
the value of $0.033 million and 362.30 metric tons of rice valued at $0.20
million. Similarly, this year Ethiopia imported 152.5 metric tons of black tea,
12,160 metric tons of kidney beans and 213 metric tons of Pinto Beans worth
$11.414 million.
Construction work at the Sh20 billion Thiba dam is on course with
first December 2021 targeted as the completion date.
At completion, the dam is expected to provide water to Mwea
Irrigation Scheme and ensure farming goes on throughout the year uninterrupted.
The project Engineer Stephen Mutinda said they were now
concentrating on the construction of the dam wall having already diverted the
river.
He said the diversion works currently stands at 84% and they were
now embarking on the creation of the spill way which was at 18%
Mutinda said they were periodically carrying out water analysis to
ensure minimal contamination of the water from the construction works.
“No water from the quarry is going back to the river directly as we
have made reservoirs for the dirty water which we dispose elsewhere,” Mutinda
said
Mutinda was speaking during a visit to the project by the
Kirinyaga County Development Implementation and Coordination Committee (CDICC).
Kirinyaga County Commissioner Jim Njoka who chairs the committee
said Thiba dam project was among a hundred projects identified by the
government for monitoring.
He said it was important for the contractor to ensure he kept to
the works’ timelines for the government to get value for the money being
channeled to the project.
He said the government has provided enough money for the work
progress and there was no budget challenge as witnessed in the past.
A temporally halt to the construction of the Dam had raised
concern among the rice farmers who viewed the project as a major solution to
water shortage in Mwea.
Njoka said the government is committed to ensuring the project
moves within the scheduled time to enhance irrigation of rice in Mwea and
improve of the country’s food security.
Data from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics shows that Kenya imports
rice worth about Sh40 billion every year largely from Pakistan, Thailand, India
and Vietnam
It is estimated that with the completion of Thiba dam, this amount
would be reduced by half or even more if it succeeded in improving more water
to allow for three seasons of rice per year, unlike the current one season.
National Irrigation Board Manager Innocent Ariemba says the
current rice production during a good season is about 100,000 tonnes or about
80 percent which has been achieved without dedicated water flow.
The rice scheme is fed by direct water flow from Thiba and
Nyamindi rivers without a dam.
Ariemba says Thiba dam would provide a holding ground for water,
ensuring controlled flow even during the times of lower rainfall.
“This is planned to increase normal production by about 100
percent, meaning 140,000 tons and since the water will double overall area
under rice, Mwea is set to produce about 280,000 tons,” he said.
The board manager says there is much more opportunity as by the
time the dam is finished, ongoing research on better yielding rice is likely to
have reached the farm level.
“Rice farms are also likely to be more mechanized by then. The
storage of rice will have improved, eliminating post-harvest losses,” Ariemba
noted.
He said more farmers would also be educated on modern farming methods
to ensure that they harvest more bags of rice per acre than they currently do.
He said for instance, Kenya produces on average 4 tons of rice per
2.5 acres, Egypt produces double that at 8 tons while Vietnam produces 6 tons,
same as china, Pakistan and India.
Exporters of rice into Kenya produce the same tonnage as
Kenya, according to data aggregator index Muindi. It therefore means Kenya has
a very big opportunity to become self-sufficient in rice if it could increase
its yields per acre.
“The project will also help in the stabilization of the irrigation
water supply, allowing double cropping with the area under irrigation
increasing from 25,000 cares to 35,000 acres,” the official said.
The
diversion of river Thiba which has been done to pave way for the construction
work of the dam
The construction of the Thiba dam is being financed in partnership
with the Japanese government through Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA).
At completion, the dam will be 40 meters tall and 1-kilometer-long
and is expected to have a holding capacity of 15 million cubic meters.
The construction was initially expected to take 3 years and seven
months, meaning it would have been through around July 2020.
Thiba dam project, officially launched on November 23 2017 by
Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta, is being constructed at Rukenya in Gichugu
constituency, about four kilometers from Kutus town, the County headquarters.
During the launch, the President directed that work be completed
within the stipulated time.
Kenya produces 100,000 tons of rice annually which is not enough
to meet the local demand of 500,000 tones.
