Thailand: Cabinet
approves rice support package
VNA WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 - 16:34:00 PRINT
A rice farmer in Thailand (Photo:
EPA)
Bangkok
(VNA) – The
cabinet of Thailand has approved a package worth 87.2 billion THB (2.6 billion
USD) to support rice farmers and stabilise prices ahead of the 2017-2018
harvest, which starts in November.The programme of the Thai Government, which
will officially take effect on November 1, is hoped to assist 3.7 million
farmers.
The package includes a loan of 33.5 billion THB from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives for farmers to delay rice selling time.
The package includes a loan of 33.5 billion THB from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives for farmers to delay rice selling time.
Another
loan worth 53.7 billion THB was allocated for farmers to store rice.
Accordingly, the programmes are designed to stockpile 12.5 million tonnes of
rice.
The
Thai Government will also provide loans for farmers to bolster agricultural
cooperation and raise rice value. The programme, worth of 12.5 billion THB,
will be launched from October this year until end of September, 2018.-VNA
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/thailand-cabinet-approves-rice-support-package/118604.vnp
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Jump in Rice Imports
Jump in Rice Imports
More than 1 million tons of rice worth $963 million were imported
into Iran during the five months to August 22, registering a 79% and 102.5%
growth in weight and value respectively compared with the corresponding period
of last year.With more than 696,000 tons, India was the main exporter followed
by Pakistan, the UAE, Thailand, Turkey and Iraq, ISNA reported.Imports are
taking place while every year and during the rice harvest season, the
government bans rice imports in support of local farmers and domestic production.
“The ongoing seasonal ban on rice
imports will be in effect until Nov. 21,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Yazdan
Seif recently said, noting that the ban went into effect in August.
Traders who have already
registered orders can import their cargos after the deadline. During the ban
period, no imports will take place, Mehr News Agency quoted Seif as saying.
Abbas Keshavarz, also a deputy
agriculture minister, said nearly 2.3 million tons of rice have been produced
in the country in the current Iranian year (started March 21).
Iranians consume 3 million tons
of rice a year. The two northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran are home to
a majority of Iran’s paddy fields
https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/73203/jump-in-rice-imports
Signals from sowing
Initial kharif estimates suggest
farmers are responding to market signals, not MSPs
Hopes that India’s agricultural
output for FY18 will match last year’s record performance are now waning. The
agriculture ministry’s first advance estimates released this week project a
134.6 million tonne foodgrain harvest for the ongoing kharif season which
translates into a 2.8 per cent decline over last year’s output. More
importantly, while the estimates indicate higher output of paddy, sugarcane and
cotton, they point to a decline in coarse cereals (down 3 per cent), pulses
such as tur (down 9 per cent) and oilseeds (down 11 per cent).
It is early days for a prognosis
about agricultural prospects for the whole of FY18 as the first advance
estimates are based mainly on cropping area rather than crop yields. The winter
rabi crop, which chips in with half of the foodgrain output and a third of the
oilseed harvest, also makes a material contribution to annual output. From the
initial signs though, it appears unlikely that we will manage an encore of the
4.9 per cent jump in agriculture GVA (gross value added) which boosted GDP
growth in FY17.
On paper, this year’s south-west
monsoon is ‘normal’ by IMD standards with the quantum of rainfall until
end-September just 5 per cent below the long-period average. But the
distribution has proved erratic, with deficient rains in some parts of Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and deluge in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan
skewing prospects. In making their sowing decisions this year, farmers seem to
have relied more on signals from market prices than the Minimum Support Prices
(MSPs).
Rattled by the collapse in the
market prices of pulses and oilseeds which triggered widespread farmer
agitations a few months ago, the Centre had quietly announced hefty hikes of
7-10 per cent in the kharif MSP for crops such as coarse cereals, pulses and
soyabean in June. Despite this, these estimates point to a material decline in
the area sown for coarse cereals such as jowar, bajra and ragi, and pulses such
as tur and soyabean. Area sown has registered a sharp increase both for
sugarcane and cotton, which have offered remunerative prices this past year.
From a macroeconomic perspective,
the long-term shift in cropping patterns away from essential staples which are
in short supply — such as coarse cereals and pulses — towards water-intensive
crops such as sugarcane and cotton isn’t a healthy trend. But then, after being
forced to grapple with low output in bad monsoon years and distress sales in
good monsoon ones, one cannot blame farmers for seeking to maximise income
prospects.
The situation suggests that
MSP-based interventions in India’s agri-markets are no longer working as they
should. The Centre needs to consider new mechanisms such as those suggested by
the NITI Aayog’s recent action agenda to broadcast the right production signals
to India’s agri sector
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/editorial/initial-kharif-estimates-farmers-india/article9874420.eceCONTACT US
27
September
September
MIS for
paddy/rice sector from next Maha season
Published inPolitical
& Current Affairs
It has been decided to have an on-line Database System for
Paddy/Rice stocks which could then easily be accessed to any official/or member
of the public at any time. Every year, the government makes an effort to
stabilize the price of paddy/rice. But owing to non-availability of
comprehensive information success is limited. Establishing a computerized
digital MIS system for Paddy/Rice Sector will strengthen that effort and
decision makers, relying on this MIS, will be able to take informed decisions
as to the quantity of Paddy and Rice available in the country and the actual
need to supplement by way of imports. The project will be implemented under the
cooperation of several government and private institutes, led by the National
Planning Department, with the guidance of the Central Programme Management Unit
of the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs.
This will be including the data of
extent of paddy: - cultivable, actually cultivated in any season harvested
stocks available, stock purchased by Paddy Marketing Board, pledged loans granted
by Banks, import and export figures etc. The database is expected to be
uploaded at the district level preferably just after the harvesting of each
season initially by the Officials of Consumer Affairs Authority and Officials
of the Paddy Marketing Board attached to each district. Updating of the MIS
will be started with the next harvesting of Maha season (2017/18).
The information related to the
extent planned to be cultivated, actual extent cultivated, paddy production in
any given season, is uploaded to the MIS with the assistance of the Department
of Agriculture and the District Administration, in each season. The data
provide by the Sri Lanka Customs on the value and quantity of import and export
of rice are uploaded to the system monthly. The state and private banks agreed
to provide holistic details of pledged loans taken by millers in each season.
The pledged loan details could be used to do certain verifications for the
existing stocks with millers, stocks with traders. The online database for
Paddy/ Rice has now been developed with the technical assistance of the Faculty
of Computing and Technology, University of Kelaniya
Rice
researchers discover herbicide resistance in popular variety
Kent McKenzie, director and plant breeder,
California Rice Experiment Station, says researchers discovered a single
recessive gene in a common rice variety that makes it resistant to the
herbicide Oxyfluorfen, providing hope that one day weed control in rice systems
may be easier.
Any possible new rice variety is
years away, but researchers are hopeful based on what they've seen in the
greenhouse and test plots
Todd Fitchette 2 | Sep 27, 2017
A discovery by researchers at the
Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, Calif. offers hope that a possible new rice
variety may someday give growers better control of weeds in the aquatic system.
Kent McKenzie, director and plant
breeder with the Rice Experiment Station (RES), says the idea came about in the
greenhouse when studies of the popular M206 variety showed signs of resistance
to Oxyfluorfen, an herbicide with other agricultural applications, but one not
labeled for use in rice.
Weed control in California rice
is a challenge for growers.“It’s huge and it’s expensive,” McKenzie
says.Earlier this year, a granular mixture of benzobicyclon and halosulfuron,
the active ingredient components of a Gowan Company product called Butte, was
registered for use in California rice. What excited growers at the time is
Butte provides a new mode of action (Butte is an HPPD-inhibitor) previously not
offered in California rice systems.
According to McKenzie,
researchers studying Oxyfluorfen (a PPO-inhibitor) in the greenhouse
discovered M206 rice plants – a common variety among California growers – were
not damaged by the herbicide. Additional tests and conventional breeding
procedures from early populations of resistant rice found nine plants that did
not die when exposed to Oxyfluorfen.
“So at that point we got a little
excited and thought maybe we have something that is resistant to this
herbicide,” he said.
From there McKenzie said
researchers began looking at different kinds of weeds common to California rice
systems that could be controlled by Oxyfluorfen and if it can work in the
field.
“The advantage of this is we
found it in M206 which is our most widely-grown variety,” he said. “From the
plant breeding end this is very desirable because we shouldn’t have to fix a
lot of things.”
Also desirable, and unlike other
technologies that allow herbicides to be applied over the top of resistant
crops, is this process does not involve genetic engineering.
“This isn’t going to fly in
rice,” he said. “The technology is there but the markets haven’t accepted it.”
Instead, genetic studies show
that the trait causing the herbicide resistance is inherited as a single
recessive gene through common, long-standing breeding practices.
Though not a variety at this
point, McKenzie says the Oxyfluorfen-resistant rice has been given the name
“ROXY,” and is now patent-pending. Discussions are also under way to find a
company willing to serve as the registrant for a product that could be labeled
for California rice.
The search for a new mode of
action to control rice weeds is critical as these weeds are developing
resistance to currently labeled herbicides.
“It looks promising,” McKenzie
says. “We still don’t know how long it will be before we have this, but people
keep asking me and I just tell them ‘I’ll have the variety by the time you have
the label’.”
http://www.westernfarmpress.com/rice/rice-researchers-discover-herbicide-resistance-popular-variety
80 Pct
Self-Sufficiency Level For Rice Good Enough Till 2020 - Ahmad Shabery
27/09/2017
SERDANG, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Rice
production in the country reaching 80 per cent self-sufficiency level will be
good enough for the people until 2020, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He said this was the latest estimate
on the self-sufficiency level needed for rice production after taking into
consideration that about 20 per cent of the people would not opt for locally
produced rice even though the target earlier was 100 per cent by 2020.The
current level was 72 per cent, he said, adding that the 80 per cent level could
be attained with greater efficiency and less wastage along the supply chain.
"If farmers can improve their
yields from five tonnes to six tonnes and wastage is reduced after the
harvesting process, certainly rice production will increase," he said.
Ahmad Shabery told this to reporters
after checking on final preparations for the the national-level Farmers,
Breeders and Fishermen's Festival 2017 at the Malaysian Malaysia Agro
Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) here today.....
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/newsindex.php?id=1395052
Rice basmati strengthens on rising demand
27 SEPTEMBER 2017 Last Updated at 2:45 PM
New Delhi, Sep 27 Rice basmati
prices strengthened by Rs 50 per quintal at the wholesale grains market today
on the back of rising demand from stockists and rice mills.
However, bajra and maize weakened
on subdued demand from consuming industries.
Traders said, besides rising
demand from stockists and rice mills, paucity of stocks on fall supplies from
producing belts, mainly kept rice basmati prices higher.
In the national capital, rice
basmati Pusa-1121 variety edged up to Rs 5,800-5,850 from previous level of Rs
5,750- 5,800 per quintal.
On the other hand, bajra and
maize shed Rs 10 each to Rs 1,170-1,175 and Rs 1,270-1,275 per quintal,
respectively.
Following are today's quotations
(in Rs per quintal):
Wheat MP (desi) Rs 2,100-2,350,
Wheat dara (for mills) Rs 1,760-1,765, Chakki atta (delivery) Rs 1,765-1,770,
Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) Rs 260-300, Shakti Bhog (10 kg) Rs 255-290, Roller flour
mill Rs 950-960 (50 kg), Maida Rs 990-1,000 (50 kg)and Sooji Rs 1,030-1,040 (50
kg).
Basmati rice (Lal Quila) Rs
10,700, Shri Lal Mahal Rs 11,300, Super Basmati Rice Rs 9,800, Basmati common
new Rs 7,000-7,100, Rice Pusa (1121) Rs 5,800-5,850, Permal raw Rs 2,200-2,225,
Permal wand Rs 2,250-2,275, Sela Rs 2,300-2,400 and Rice IR-8 Rs 1,850-1,875,
Bajra Rs 1,170-1,175, Jowar yellow Rs 1,400-1,450, white Rs 2,800-2,900, Maize
Rs 1,270-1,275, Barley Rs 1,430-1,440
https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/rice-basmati-strengthens-on-rising-demand/1155490
Rice worth US$
223.937 million exported in two-months
Last Updated On 27 September,2017 09:45
am
Rice exports from the country grew by 40.36 percent
during July and August this year.
ISLAMABAD (APP) - Rice worth US$
223.937 million has been exported during the first two months of current
financial year. During the period from July-August, 2017 rice exports from the
country grew by 40.36 percent as compared the exports of the same period of
last year, according the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
In last two months around 428,993
metric tons of rice worth US$ 223.937 million exported as compared the exports
of 380,861 metric tons valuing US$ 159.543 million, it added.
Meanwhile, the exports of basmati
rice grew by 10.35 percent and about 59,433 metric tons of basmati rice worth
US$ 62.741 million exported as compared the exports of 59,192 metric tons
valuing US$ 56.857 million of same period last year.
The exports of rice other then
basmati also witnessed an increase of 58.98 percent, around 369.580 metric tons
of rice costing US$ 161.198 million exported as compared to the exports of
251,669 metric tons worth US$ 102.888 million of last year.
On month on month basis, rice
exports from the country grew by 53 percent in August, 2017 as compared the
same month of last year, the data reveled.
About 227,998 metric tons of rice
worth US$ 116.041 million exported in August as compared the exports of 146,769
metric tons valuing US$ 75.569 million of same period last year. Meanwhile,
basmati rice worth US$ 86.290 million exported in last month, which grew by
2.15 percent as compared the same months of last year.
Exports of basmati rice was
recorded at 28,482 metric tons in month of August as compared the exports
30,446 metric tons of same period last year.
During the period from
July-August 2017, food group exports from the country increased by 30.6 percent
as compared the exports of the same period of last year.
Country earned US$ 512.321
million by exporting different food commodities during first two-months of
current financial year as compared the earnings of the corresponding period of
last year
http://dunyanews.tv/en/Business/407166-Rice-worth-US$-223.937-million-exported-in-two-months
Louisiana
Farmer Garners National Recognition for Conservation and Stewardship
USA Rice Daily, Wednesday, September
27, 2017
This is the Final Week to nominate a
person or entity for the first ever USA Rice Sustainability Award. The nomination form can be found here, and
more information about the award can be found here.
Commitment to stewardship
By Lexi Clark
KAPLAN, LA -- Coinciding with September
National Rice Month, Louisiana rice farmer Christian Richard is being
recognized by Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture as
their Farmer Spotlight Honoree for his commitment to conservation and
stewardship. He was nominated for the
honor for his leadership and advocacy for sustainability in rice production.
Richard is a sixth-generation rice
farmer with a desire to leave the land better than it was before. As he says, "U.S. farmers should not be
afraid to tell their story of how we are being productive while conserving
natural resources and maintaining the safest food supply in the world."
Through
his involvement in the Louisiana Master Farmer Program, Richard developed a
resource management system plan. Though
he has been working to address resource concerns on his farm for many years, he
didn't have a way to quantify those environmental outcomes and realized that
documenting his sustainability improvements could facilitate greater trust with
the supply chain and provide consumers with more specific information about
environmental performance.
"Use of tools, such as the
Field to Market Fieldprint® Platform, to document the field-level metric
performance is necessary to meet consumer demands," Richard said. "Farmers can be more pro-active in
providing feedback to our customers and stakeholders."
Field to Market's Fieldprint®
Platform is an online tool that helps farmers better understand and communicate
how management decisions affect overall sustainability performance and
operational efficiency.
Richard is a participant in the Rice
Stewardship Partnership Fieldprint® Project sponsored by USA Rice and Ducks
Unlimited with a goal of conserving three of the nation's important natural
resources: water, wetland wildlife, and working ricelands. The effort combines public and private
resources to enhance riceland across the country to improve crop production
while providing valuable habitat for waterfowl.
Through his participation in
multiple USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs, Richard
has integrated beneficial conservation practices throughout his farm, including
precision leveling and no-till planting.
"We're so proud of Christian as
he truly exemplifies the ongoing commitment today's U.S. rice farmers have to
not only preserve the environment but to enhance and protect it," said USA
Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward.
The Richard family (photo by Allen Breaux
Studio)
Rice Growers Eager to Enter Chinese Market
As National Rice Month comes to an end, many California growers
are eagerly waiting for the Chinese market to officially open.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue recently set an aggressive timeline,
projecting the first shipments would begin before the end of the year.The
initial agreement was established in July after more than 10 years of
negotiation to allow American rice into China for the first time. “It’s a great
opportunity for rice in California and we look forward to building that market,
probably over that same period, about 10 years,” said President and CEO of the
California Rice Commission Tim Johnson.Progress in getting rice shipments into
China is slow going as Chinese officials inspect potential U.S. facilities as
part of the agreed upon phytosanitary protocol. Johnson explained the
industry is excited at the potential the Chinese market provides, but “we also
have a firm grasp of the realities of opening a new market, it takes time.”
Once shipments arrive in the
Chinese market the demand will be substantial. Over the past 10 years,
China has been increasing their rice imports. Since 2013 China has been
the largest importer of rice, taking in close to five million tons last
year. “This is the first new commercial market that we have seen in the last decade for our rice and that’s very
positive,” said Johnson.
http://agnetwest.com/rice-growers-eager-enter-chinese-market/
EU to
lift import curbs on rice from Fukushima, more deals likely
THE
ASAHI SHIMBUN
September
27, 2017 at 15:45 JST
A farmer plants rice seedlings in
Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, in May. (Asahi Shimbun
The
European Commission is set to relax import restrictions on rice from Fukushima
Prefecture that were imposed after the 2011 nuclear disaster, sources said.The
import curbs could be eased as early as this year and prompt other countries,
including major markets like China, to follow suit, the sources added.In
addition to rice from Fukushima Prefecture, the EU is expected to remove
restrictions on some seafood products from Iwate, Miyagi and other prefectures.
All
restrictions on products from Akita Prefecture will likely also be lifted,
thereby abolishing all curbs on rice grown in Japan.
The
United States on Sept. 22 decided to allow imports of milk and dairy products
from Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures without inspection
certificates stating they are free of radioactive materials.
The
EU move follows a general agreement on an economic partnership in July, during
which EU officials informed Japan of plans to relax import restrictions on
agricultural products. The two sides have been discussing the issue since then.
(This
article was written by Naoki Tsuzaka in Brussels and Tetsushi Yamamura in
Tokyo.)
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201709270035.html
National Rice Month Scholarship contest deadline Oct. 31
The annual National Rice Month Scholarship contest received a
major update last year, and while the focus is the same — creating awareness
for U.S.-grown rice — the methods moved into the 21st Century.
“The contest went to an all video
format last year and competition was fierce,” said Betsy Ward, USA Rice
president and CEO. “The creativity and quality of the student videos telling
the story of U.S. rice was astounding, and I know the judges struggled to
choose a winner out of the field of 18 entrants.”
Scholarship contest entrants are
encouraged to use video and photography to tell the story of U.S. grown rice.
Creative students can also use PowerPoint, Prezi, or any visual presentation
tool, so long as the total run time of the piece does not exceed three minutes.
High school graduating students
from rice-growing states — Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Missouri, and Texas — are eligible for the three scholarship prizes, sponsored
by Dow AgroSciences, totaling $8,500.
The grand-prize winner will
receive a $4,000 scholarship and a trip with a chaperone this December to the
awards ceremony at the 2017 USA Rice Outlook Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
The second-place winner will receive $3,000 scholarship, and third-place
$1,500.
Contest entries will be judged on
creativity, quality, popularity, and effectiveness in promoting U.S.-grown
rice, NRM, and the importance of rice in the student's state. Total run time of
the video should not exceed three minutes. Sample topics include: rice
production, nutrition, sustainability, and marketing/promotion.
Entries are due Oct. 31.
For more information and to submit an entry, visit the NRM
scholarship page (http://www.thinkrice.com/scholarship/).
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/mid-south-weed-scientists-compare-notes-dicamba-new-rice-herbicides
Lost continent of Zealandia: Scientists return from expedition to
sunken land
Did scientists find Zealandia beneath the waves? Their two-month
expedition was a success.
PUBLIC RELEASE: 26-SEP-2017
WHERE WERE THE SCIENTISTS
HEADING? A MAP SHOWS THE ONCE-LOST CONTINENT OF ZEALANDIA. view more
CREDIT: IODP
After a nine-week voyage to study the lost, submerged continent
of Zealandia in
the South Pacific, a team of 32 scientists from 12 countries has arrived in
Hobart, Tasmania, aboard the research vessel JOIDES Resolution.Researchers
affiliated with the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) mounted the
expedition to explore Zealandia. IODP is a collaboration of scientists from 23
countries; the organization coordinates voyages to study the history of the
Earth recorded in sediments and rocks beneath the seafloor."Zealandia, a
sunken continent long lost beneath the oceans, is giving up its 60 million-year-old
secrets through scientific ocean drilling," said Jamie Allan, program
director in the U.S. National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences,
which supports IODP.
"This expedition offered insights into Earth's history,
ranging from mountain-building in New Zealand to the shifting movements of
Earth's tectonic plates to changes in ocean circulation and global
climate," Allan said.
Earlier this year, Zealandia was confirmed as Earth's seventh
continent, but little is known about it because it's submerged more than a
kilometer (two-thirds of a mile) under the sea. Until now, the region has been
sparsely surveyed and sampled.Expedition scientists drilled deep into the
seabed at six sites in water depths of more than 1,250 meters (4,101 feet). They
collected 2,500 meters (8,202 feet) of sediment cores from layers that record
how the geography, volcanism and climate of Zealandia have changed over the
last 70 million years.
According to expedition co-chief
scientist Gerald Dickens of Rice University in the U.S., significant new fossil
discoveries were made. They prove that Zealandia was not always as deep beneath
the waves as it is today.
"More than 8,000 specimens
were studied, and several hundred fossil species were identified," said
Dickens."The discovery of microscopic shells of organisms that lived in
warm shallow seas, and of spores and pollen from land plants, reveal that the
geography and climate of Zealandia were dramatically different in the
past."
The new discoveries show that the formation 40 to 50 million
years ago of the "Pacific Ring of Fire," an active seafloor zone
along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean, caused dramatic changes in ocean
depth and volcanic activity and buckled the seabed of Zealandia, according to
Dickens.Expedition co-chief scientist Rupert Sutherland of Victoria University
of Wellington in New Zealand said researchers had believed that Zealandia was
submerged when it separated from Australia and Antarctica about 80 million
years ago.
"That is still probably accurate, but it is now clear that
dramatic later events shaped the continent we explored on this voyage,"
Sutherland said."Big geographic changes across northern Zealandia, which
is about the same size as India, have implications for understanding questions
such as how plants and animals dispersed and evolved in the South Pacific.
"The discovery of past land and shallow seas now provides
an explanation. There were pathways for animals and plants to move along."Studies
of the sediment cores obtained during the expedition will focus on
understanding how Earth's tectonic plates move and how the global climate
system works. Records of Zealandia's history, expedition scientists said, will
provide a sensitive test for computer models used to predict future changes in
climate.
###
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/nsf-lco092617.php
Mid-South weed scientists compare notes on dicamba, new rice
herbicides
Academic weed scientists from Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas,
Mississippi and Louisiana discuss research findings from the current year.
From the time I began my career
at the University of Arkansas, there has been a fall meeting called DWWIGT or
Delta Weed Workers Informal Get-together. The academic weed scientists from
Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana would gather to
informally discuss research findings from the current year.In the earlier years
it was mostly a discussion about new herbicide candidates. Since there aren’t
many of those any more, the discussion is now more on current topics. No
“outsiders” are allowed, so when I retired in 2002 they kicked me out! However,
when things started heating up last year, the young folks decided maybe it
wouldn’t be so bad to have a mentor, so I was invited back and attended the
past two. I have had a ball.
The main thing I can say is these
young weed scientists are so much sharper and better trained than my generation
— there is no comparison. Much of the discussion is over my head and the only
thing I can ever offer is a little experience.
This year’s meeting was just
held and, of course, the hot topic was dicamba. After all of the discussion, it
was obvious that scientists from each state agreed that volatility was playing
a significant role in the damages to soybean and other vegetation observed in
2017.
Most agreed that the newer
dicamba formulations may be less volatile than the older formulations, but
volatility remains a significant issue with them.
It was obvious that I am not the
only scientist who believes volatiles moving in inversions played a significant
role in the landscape effect observed in the Delta this year.It was also
interesting to listen to members from each state discuss their number of
“official” complaints and how the different regulatory agencies determined what
constituted a complaint. Several commented that if their states used the same
method as the Arkansas Plant Board, their numbers would be much higher and
closer to the Arkansas numbers.
New rice herbicides
There was a nice discussion on
new rice herbicides at the meeting. There is a lot of excitement on all of the
new things coming. The group was unanimous in their feeling that Provisia rice
is going to provide much-needed help controlling weedy rice and grass weeds.
There was concern expressed over
crop injury in certain situations and how it may relate to rates and
environmental conditions.The current variety lags behind in yield potential,
but the group felt it could still contribute in severe weed situations. Better
varieties will hopefully be coming.Many in the group felt the new herbicide
Loyant is the best-looking rice herbicide to come along perhaps since propanil.
It has outstanding activity on aquatics, broadleaves, sedges and barnyardgrass.
There was much discussion on what rates would control what weeds.
I am excited about the herbicide
but also concerned about potential off-target issues with soybeans. It would
seem that herbicide could potentially be more injurious to soybeans than any
current rice herbicides. An intense training program had better be in order
before launch.
I am concerned that no aerial off-target research has been
allowed to this point. Unless our applicators are well-trained on the product,
I am afraid there could be a bunch of first-year surprises — which is the last
thing we need.
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/mid-south-weed-scientists-compare-notes-dicamba-new-rice-herbicides
Golden rice – a miracle tarnished by irresponsible activism
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE
THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
“Their eyes tell their sad
stories as ghostly white irises give way to vacant stares. We can look at them
but they can’t look back at us. They’ve gone blind because of
malnutrition.,” V. Ravichandran,
a farmer in Tamil Nadu, India, describing children suffering from vitamin A
deficiency
This is a dual tragedy — first,
because more than two-thirds of the children referred to in Ravichandran’s
commentary will be dead within a year — blindness from vitamin A deficiency
(VAD) is an early sign of life-threatening debilitation — and second, because
VAD could be prevented with an accessible, modern agricultural technology.
The most elegant and practical approach to preventing VAD is a
group of genetically engineered rice varieties known as Golden Rice because of
its color, which is imparted by the presence of beta-carotene, the precursor of
vitamin A.
Rice is a food staple for
hundreds of millions, especially in Asia. Although it is an excellent source of
calories, it lacks certain micronutrients necessary for a complete diet. In
developing countries, 200 — 300 million children of preschool age are at risk
of vitamin A deficiency, which increases their susceptibility to infections
such as measles and diarrheal diseases. Every year, about half a million
children become blind as a result of VAD and 70 percent of them die within a
year of losing their sight.
In the 1980s and 1990s, German
scientists Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer developed the “Golden Rice” varieties that are biofortified, or
enriched, by the introduction of genes that enable the edible endosperm of rice
to produce beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. Rice plants produce beta
carotene in the leaves but not in the grains, so Potrykus and Beyer inserted
two genes – one from a bacterium, the
other from corn — that causes beta-carotene to be synthesized
in the edible part of the plant as well.
Given its ability to prevent the
scourge of VAD, Golden Rice could make contributions to human health on a par
with the Salk polio vaccine but irrational, self-interested, relentless
opposition to the testing and widespread availability of Golden Rice has been
high on the agenda of activists like Greenpeace, which makes millions per year
behemoth with offices in more than 40 countries, whose PR machine is focused on
denying millions of children in the poorest nations the essential food
nutrients they need to stave off blindness and death.
They have intimidated government
officials by fomenting grassroots opposition to regulatory approvals of Golden
Rice and other genetically engineered crop varieties; and too often, regulators
have dragged their feet or capitulated.
Greenpeace has fiercely opposed
genetic engineering applied to agriculture from the early days of molecular
genetic engineering — recombinant DNA technology, or “gene-splicing,” to
produce so-called GMOs. In 1995, the organization announced that it had
“intercepted a package containing rice seed genetically manipulated to produce
a toxic insecticide, as it was being exported . . . [and] swapped the
genetically manipulated seed with normal rice.” [I. Meister, “Uncontrolled
Trade in Genetically Manipulated Products,” press release, April 7, 1995].
The rice seeds stolen by
Greenpeace had been genetically improved for insect resistance and were en
route to the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines from the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The modified seeds were to be
tested to confirm that they would grow and produce high yields of rice with far
lower applications of chemical pesticides.
Greenpeace has ignored
the scientific consensus about the safety of genetically engineered crops,
the result of hundreds of risk-assessment experiments and extensive real-world
experience. In the United States alone, more than 90 percent of all corn, soy
and sugar beets are genetically engineered, and in two decades of consumption
of trillions of servings of food from genetically engineered plants around the
world, not a single health or environmental problem has been documented.
Greenpeace has variously alleged
that the levels of beta-carotene in Golden Rice are too low to be effective or
so high that they would be toxic. But feeding trials have shown the rice to be
highly effective in preventing VAD, and toxicity is virtually impossible
because conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A ceases when vitamin A levels
in the blood rise above normal.
With no rational basis for its
antagonism, the organization has been forced to adopt a “fake news” strategy of
trying to scare off the developing nations that are considering adopting the
lifesaving products.
In a 2012 screed,
Greenpeace claimed, “If
introduced on a large scale, golden rice can exacerbate malnutrition and
ultimately undermine food security.” Psychiatrists call this projection: The
real threat to the poor and vulnerable is not genetic engineering; it’s
Greenpeace and its ilk. In 2014, economists Justus Wesseler and David Zilberman
calculated the impact of the delays in the regulatory approval of Golden Rice.
They found that
the absence of Golden Rice in the prior decade caused the loss of at least
1,424,680 life-years in India alone. If Greenpeace’s actions were
perpetrated by government officials, they would be called crimes against
humanity.
Henry I. Miller, a physician and
molecular biologist, is the Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and
Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution; he was the founding
director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology.
http://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/352498-golden-rice-a-miracle-tarnished-by-irresponsible-activismChinese
scientists spot genetic way to clean up contaminated rice
Scientists spot
genetic way to clean up contaminated rice
Source:Global Times Published:
2017/9/27 21:28:40
A
prominent Chinese rice expert recently announced that he and his research team
have made a breakthrough in removing cadmium from rice, which could make the
grain safer and cleaner.
Rice
contamination of this kind could lead to kidney failure or bone cancer,
according to the website of agriculture authority in Huaihua, Central China's
Hunan Province. The website added that the problem of rice contaminated by
cadmium is obvious in Hunan.
Professor
Yuan Longping, who is known as China's "father of the hybrid rice,"
described this new development at a new rice exhibition in Hunan, Hunan Daily
reported on Monday. "We've seen a breakthrough in rice seed breeding, in
removing genes containing or absorbing cadmium in the parent seeds. And, if
they are clean, then the rice seed is clean," said Yuan. Media have been
reporting, since back in 2013, that the soil in many of China's key
rice-producing regions contains high levels of cadmium, lead, arsenic and other
harmful heavy metals.
The latest figures from the
Environmental Protection and Land and Resources ministries show about 16
percent of China's land is polluted by cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury and
other heavy metals. With the improvement in the standard of living, we need to
place emphasis on the quality, and not just the quantity, of rice, as opposed
to the past century, when the focus was merely on quantity to meet basic food
demands, Yuan said in a recent documentary, Huihuang Zhongguo or
"Brilliant China."Yuan's new achievement in cadmium removal will most
likely help reverse the domestic problem of crops containing heavy metals, said
the Hunan Daily report. Newspaper headline: Scientists spot genetic way to
clean up contaminated rice
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1068509.shtml
LCCI hails
Bosan for ban on tomato import from India
26.09.2017
| UkrAgroConsult
Lahore Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (LCCI) on Monday appreciated the announcement of Federal Minister for
National Food Security & Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan not to import
tomatoes from India and termed it a step in right direction.LCCI President
Abdul Basit stated here that Sikandar Hayat Bosan deserved appreciation as this
step would encourage the local farmer to grow more, besides saving huge foreign
exchange. He added the country had all resources to feed the population
therefore local grower should be facilitated to the maximum and their issues
should be resolved on priority.
Abdul Basit urged the government to
add to the cropped area to avoid any crisis-like situation, asserting, "We
cannot afford to stay where we are today in terms of cropped areas and per
hectare yield because we are already running well short of per capita food
availability."
Though Pakistan's almost 43 percent
labour force was dependent upon agriculture, he added, the yield gap in the
four major crops of Pakistan was three times from the best producers in the world
such as China and Egypt.They said that low yield has contributed to the poverty
in rural areas besides forcing country to import agriculture produces to feed
its population.
He cited that fact should be an
eye-opener that China produced two times more cotton and wheat per hectare and
Egypt produced around three times more rice and sugarcane per hectare as
compared to Pakistan.LCCI President said, "Factors which are recommended
to improve the yield are through large scale introduction of hybrid seeds and
mechanized farming, high efficiently irrigation systems such as drip irrigation
and reduction in wastage of crop through introduction of privately owned
storage facilities and cold storage facilities."
Abdul Basit said that 21st century
belonged to biotechnology and Pakistan had tremendous potential to emerge as
Biotechnology leader but to achieve the goal private sector, scientists,
researchers and government would have to work hand in hand.He was of the view
said that Pakistan's agriculture sector was losing heavily due to insufficient
utilization of biotechnology as the magic progress of agriculture sector was
only due to Genetically Modified crops.
They said that agriculture sector in
Pakistan has a huge potential.It continued to be the single largest and
dominant driving force for growth as well as the main source of livelihood for
66 percent of Pakistan's population, but it had always faced two major
problems: first, productions per acre were lower than many countries and
secondly, around 40 percent of production was wasted in the form of
post-harvest losses due to insufficient utilization of biotechnology, he
maintained.Abdul Basit said that Pakistan was a sleeping technology giant, the
day it got up, Pakistan would be another China.
http://www.blackseagrain.net/novosti/lcci-hails-bosan-for-ban-on-tomato-import-from-india
Rice worth US$
223.937 million exported in two-months
Last Updated On 27 September,2017 09:45
am
Rice exports from the country grew by 40.36 percent
during July and August this year.
ISLAMABAD (APP) - Rice worth US$
223.937 million has been exported during the first two months of current
financial year.
During the period from
July-August, 2017 rice exports from the country grew by 40.36 percent as
compared the exports of the same period of last year, according the data of
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In last two months around 428,993
metric tons of rice worth US$ 223.937 million exported as compared the exports
of 380,861 metric tons valuing US$ 159.543 million, it added.
Meanwhile, the exports of basmati
rice grew by 10.35 percent and about 59,433 metric tons of basmati rice worth
US$ 62.741 million exported as compared the exports of 59,192 metric tons
valuing US$ 56.857 million of same period last year.
The exports of rice other then
basmati also witnessed an increase of 58.98 percent, around 369.580 metric tons
of rice costing US$ 161.198 million exported as compared to the exports of
251,669 metric tons worth US$ 102.888 million of last year.
On month on month basis, rice
exports from the country grew by 53 percent in August, 2017 as compared the
same month of last year, the data reveled.
About 227,998 metric tons of rice
worth US$ 116.041 million exported in August as compared the exports of 146,769
metric tons valuing US$ 75.569 million of same period last year. Meanwhile,
basmati rice worth US$ 86.290 million exported in last month, which grew by
2.15 percent as compared the same months of last year.
Exports of basmati rice was
recorded at 28,482 metric tons in month of August as compared the exports
30,446 metric tons of same period last year.
During the period from
July-August 2017, food group exports from the country increased by 30.6 percent
as compared the exports of the same period of last year.Country earned US$
512.321 million by exporting different food commodities during first two-months
of current financial year as compared the earnings of the corresponding period
of last year.
http://dunyanews.tv/en/Business/407166-Rice-worth-US$-223.937-million-exported-in-two-months
In the Philippines, a Chinese hybrid rice program highlights the
'win-win' policy
26.09.2017
| UkrAgroConsult
Three hours from traffic-choked Manila is the Science City of Muñoz
in the province of Nueva Ecija, a land of lush greenery and known as the center
of agricultural research and innovation in the Philippines.
The Rise of Chinese Aid series
As China continues to grow as a global power, so too does its
footprint on the development sector. Its rise comes at a moment when the status
quo is shifting in the aid industry. Traditional standard bearers such as the
U.S. and EU may still drive the majority of funds and set the agenda, but
protectionist policies and changing domestic priorities are setting in motion significant
changes.
In this special series, Devex examines China's expanding role in
aid and development across the globe. From tensions in Ghana to projects in
Pakistan, from climate financing to donor partnerships, from individual
philanthropy to state-financed investment, this series traces the past, present
and future of Chinese aid and development.
Join the conversation on our Facebook discussion forum.
Among the city’s structures is the Philippine-Sino Center for
Agricultural Training (PhilSCAT), launched in 2003 and a result of technical
cooperation between China and the Philippines. The program’s aim is to explore
the potential of Chinese hybrid rice varieties in the country, as well as
introduce China’s modernized farming technologies to local farmers. The center
is a 10-hectare property composed of buildings that serve as a workshop,
lodging for Chinese experts and office space for PhilSCAT staff members. Part
of the property is an experimental land area for hybrid seed varieties.
While other Chinese aid-funded projects here have come under fire
for alleged corruption, PhilSCAT’s work has avoided such accusations. The
center is a rare development program between China and the Philippines. In its
office lobby is a wall-to-ceiling painting showing two white birds and a shower
of rice grains on Philippine farmers. On the adjacent wall hangs a plaque that
says, in Filipino, that the artwork serves as a symbol of friendship between
the two nations.
PhilSCAT through the decade
The need to rapidly grow more food in the Philippines is dire. With
more than 100 million people to feed, the country ranks 13th in the world in
terms of population. Prime agricultural land is increasingly being converted to
highways, residential areas and commercial centers. In order to address this,
the government placed a two-year moratorium on the conversion of 4.7 million
hectares agricultural land in 2016. The Department of Agriculture, meanwhile,
is eyeing 1 million hectares for hybrid rice production by 2018.
The government believes hybridization is a key element in reaching
the Philippines’ rice self-sufficiency goals. Many agronomists and industry
players believe hybrid rice varieties produce higher yields than inbred ones,
whose yield performance, they said, had plateaued over the years. Some hybrid
varieties produce twice as much rice per hectare, making them an attractive
option for a heavy rice-consuming country such as the Philippines. The
country’s population growth and dwindling space for agriculture due to
industrialization have created an imbalance between rice demand and supply and
PhilSCAT fits perfectly into the country’s push for seed hybridization.
The PhilSCAT center was built with a $5 million grant from China’s
Ministry of Agriculture, and an estimated $2.9 million of counterpart funding
from the Philippine government. It is one of the few known Chinese-aid funded
projects in the Philippines that come in grant form and whose establishment is
far from the showy economic and infrastructure projects China is often known
for in countries where it has an aid presence. The project has been renewed
twice and is set to continue into its third phase after China’s Ministry of
Commerce approved a new $10 million grant to expand its operations.
“We will build a laboratory to develop super hybrid rice, which we
will test for quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and yield,” said Dr.
Carlos Abon, Jr., head of technology and product development at the center.
There are also plans to “recreate” PhilSCAT or set up a satellite
branch in Davao Oriental in the island of Mindanao.
Photo by: Jenny Ravelo / Devex
In over a decade of operations, PhilSCAT has made a number of breakthroughs.
The center was able to identify Chinese hybrid rice lines that can be adapted
in the Philippines and were eventually certified by the country’s National Seed
Industry Council as seed varieties. It was also able to produce hybrid seed
varieties using local seeds.
The center distributed farm machinery from China to cooperatives in
the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Isabela, all in grant form. Its staff members
conduct regular technological training and demonstrations for farmers,
sometimes in collaboration with experts from the the Central Luzon State
University and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), a government
research and development entity that creates high-yielding rice varieties, but
at a lower cost. Over the years, hundreds of farmers have received training on
everything from hybrid rice seed production to modernized ways of rice farming,
including the repair and maintenance of farm machinery that was provided by the
Philippines’ Department of Agriculture. Mechanized agriculture is a priority of
the President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
Due to its modest budget and set mandate, PhilSCAT’s contributions
to the Philippines’ goal of rice self-sufficiency has been limited. The center
has developed a number of hybrid rice varieties that have received approval
from the NSIC, but because of its mandate as a research facility, it has a
smaller land area for production.
PhilSCAT has turned to the private sector for assistance in
expanding production. For its Mestizo 38 hybrid rice variety, for example,
PhilSCAT entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with two seed entities, Prasad
Seeds Philippines Inc. and the Davao Oriental Seed Producers Cooperative, to
produce and commercialize the said variety.
Private sector involvement in hybrid rice production is common in
the Philippines, and is often welcomed by the government given the private
sector’s resources and capacities to produce at a much larger scale. Private
sector companies are seen by the government as partners in the push for rice
self-sufficiency. Industry watchdogs, however, warn of downsides to
over-reliance on the private sector. It allows for wider corporate control over
the food system.
“Seeds are a political commodity. If you own them, you’re very
powerful,” Jean Lugasip, program manager for Visayas and Mindanao at NGO Rice
Watch and Action Network (R1), told Devex. R1 advocates more government support
for grassroots-led innovation on the research and development of high-yielding,
high-quality rice seed varieties.
China’s tied agricultural aid
Join the conversation on our Facebook discussion forum.
The transfer of Chinese technology in agriculture is not new. In
Africa, training centers have been operational for decades. Since the turn of
the century, China has regularly launched or incorporated hybrid rice programs
in technical cooperation.
This technology transfer, however, has been criticized by civil
society organizations and perceived as openings for Chinese business interests,
even though China has often labeled such programs as assistance for countries
trying to reach rice self-sufficiency.
Genetic Resources Action International, a small international nonprofit that analyzes
trends in food systems, captured the business aspect of China’s hybridization
promotion in an article published in 2010.
“It is often not realized that China’s international hybrid rice
activities are almost always led by private Chinese seed companies, and mostly
often by one company — LPHT,” according to the article. “Over the years, with
the support and blessing of the government, this state-owned company has grown
into a major multinational corporation, with 26 subsidiaries, and a listing on
the Shenzhen stock exchange, with a large stake now owned by the world’s
fourth-largest seed company, Vilmorin Limagrain of France.”
The article identifies the different Asian countries — such as
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar — that import most of the seeds for
their hybrid rice programs from China.
PhilSCAT’s case is no different. The parental lines the center has
been using to develop hybrid rice varieties come from China’s Yuan Longping
High-Tech Agriculture Co. Ltd.
As hybrid seeds lose their vigor when replanted — they won’t be
able to produce the same number of yields — PhilSCAT will require imports of
the Chinese hybrid rice lines to continue producing the same hybrid rice
varieties. Not only will this create reliance on imports, it is also in
contrast to the government’s goal of rice self-sufficiency, one that is not
measured by the ability to meet the country’s rice demands alone.“Self-sufficiency
is about ensuring food being served is safe and that farmers are earning enough
for producing them,” R1’s Lugasip said.
Patricia Bernal, information officer for knowledge management at
PhilSCAT said, however, that not all of their varieties were produced using
Chinese hybrid rice lines. Mestizo 38, she noted, is produced using local
hybrid parental rice lines — and that is done with help from modern
technologies and knowledge shared by Chinese experts.
“We were able to see and develop local hybrid rice varieties for
our own purposes,” she said.
Of the 79 hybrid rice varieties currently available in the
Philippines and approved by the NSIC, however, it is unclear how many were
developed using local versus imported hybrid parental rice lines. Breeders of
these varieties — public or private — often don’t disclose parental lines to
the public, said Joanne Caguiat, senior science research specialist and head of
the three-line hybrid rice breeding project at PhilRice.
PhilRice and the International Rice Research Institute continue to
develop the genetic diversity of local hybrid parental lines. Most of the seven
hybrid rice varieties PhilRice was able to develop from 2011 onwards were
mostly produced using local hybrid parental lines, said Caguiat.
“The Philippines can produce and develop its own hybrids using
local parental lines,” Caguiat told Devex. “It’s just that China’s seed lines
can produce higher yields. In addition, China has a long and vast research and
experience when it comes to hybrid rice production compared with the
Philippines.
Locally bred hybrid rice varieties produce 6 tons per hectare on
average while those from China can produce as much as 14 tons per hectare, she
said. Bernal stressed that under the
terms of their agreement with seed companies, hybrid rice varieties developed
by the center will need to be sold at a low price given that the variety is
cultivated by a public entity.
This means the Indian company, Prasad Seeds, and the Davao Oriental
Seed Producers Cooperative will have exclusive rights to market Mestizo 38, but
they will have to do so at a rate of 3,800 Philippine pesos ($75) for 18
kilograms of hybrid seeds — good for one hectare. By comparison, private
companies usually sell hybrid varieties at PhP4,800 to PhP5,000 (roughly $100)
for the same amount of seeds, Bernal said.
This is clearly not the case for other of their cultivated hybrid
rice varieties.During PhilSCAT’s first five years, staff members and experts
tested more than 50 Chinese hybrid rice lines on different farms across the
country. The goal was to find varieties that could adapt well to local
conditions. At the end of this period, scientists were able to select three
Chinese hybrid rice lines that would become Mestizo 12, Mestizo 13 and Mestizo
14 rice varieties in the Philippines.
But for all its efforts, PhilSCAT did not get to keep any of the
three hybrid rice varieties. Yuan Longping High-Tech, which supplied the
Chinese hybrid rice seeds PhilsCAT tested, sold them to the private sector,
said PhilSCAT’s Abon. Mestizo 12 was procured by vegetable seed producer Allied
Botanical Corp. Mestizo 13 was sold to Pioneer, a U.S.-owned hybrid rice seed
company.
Abon said he doesn’t know what happened to Mestizo 14 or what the
terms for selling the two other hybrid rice varieties. He said PhilSCAT didn’t
get any royalties from both sales.
“I don’t know why. They said there was no Memorandum of Agreement
[barring Longping from selling the varieties],” he told Devex in Filipino.
Bernal agreed.
“We can’t run after it since there weren’t any signed MOAs,” she
told Devex. She did say the negotiations were under the guidance and
supervision of PhilSCAT’s Chinese co-director, Cheng Liangji.
Mestizo 14, it turns out, is also now with Longping-Allied Hybrid
Research and Development Inc., a merger between Yuan Longping High-Tech and
Allied Botanical. It has exclusive distribution rights for Mestizo 14 in the
Philippines.
Bernal said Yuan Longping High-Tech has also ventured into seed
production in the Philippines as they now know the areas and networks where
PhilSCAT conducted technology demonstrations and adaptability trials for hybrid
seed varieties.
Different project, same rhetoric
Activities at PhilSCAT underscore a familiar perception often
associated with Chinese assistance: mixing aid with commercial interests.
China is known to use development assistance for diplomacy, as well
as business. It is not uncommon for Chinese-funded projects to be contracted to
Chinese companies or state-owned enterprises. Materials used for infrastructure
projects come from China, and the government often insists on hiring its own
experts on any of these projects and programs.
In PhilSCAT’s case, materials for the buildings in the 10-hectare
property came from China, as did the hybrid seed varieties they tested, the
machinery they use for farming, and the experts who conduct hybrid testing and
machinery training.
Dennis Trinidad, professor of international relations at De La
Salle University in Manila, explains the logic behind China’s strategy:
“The main concern [of China] is to simply look for opportunities
for its state-owned enterprises. So, if there’s a state-owned enterprise that
would want to get the contract, the Chinese government is willing to finance.
And this is because the nature of the project is tied. It’s always tied. And
the projects are always awarded to a Chinese company,” he told Devex. “It’s
primarily business. Chinese state-owned enterprises get contracts because of
Chinese assistance, so imagine, that’s a huge [sum of] money.”
Trinidad said it is “always beneficial” for the Philippines to have
a wide variety of financing sources given its immense development needs. But
given the corruption often linked to Chinese aid programs, he emphasized the
importance due diligence in recipients’ contracts and engagements with the
nontraditional donor.
“It’s up to the recipient country. [If they don’t provide due
diligence], then, basically, China will just implement. Then after
implementing, they will run. After they get the money, they will run,” he said.
The Philippines’ due diligence practices will be tested as several
Chinese-funded projects are set to be implemented in the country in the next
few years. President Duterte secured a multibillion aid package and several
investment projects during his visit to Beijing in 2016. Some of these ventures
are in the area of agriculture — hybrid rice production even — but many of them
are huge infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars.
PhilSCAT’s case, however, exemplifies China’s win-win approach to
development.
“The assistance provided was tied to Chinese agricultural
equipment. It was also an opportunity to promote Chinese technology in
agriculture,” Trinidad said.
He noted that very few donor countries under the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development Development Assistance Committee provide
technical assistance on agriculture because many of them have little or no
experience in rice cultivation. China has a vast resources in this area.
“It's a win win for the Philippines obviously because there is a
need to increase our agricultural productivity and self-sufficiency,” he added.
PhilSCAT’s Abon agrees. The center comes with strings attached,
such as its right to sell the hybrid rice varieties Mestizo 12, 13 and 14,
whose profits could have been in the range of millions of dollars. But he
insists that the Philippines has benefited massively, though not always in
monetary terms. Chinese assistance was key in training researchers and farmers
on modernized hybrid rice production and farming technologies.
“When it comes to rice, they are helpful,” he said. But of course
some of their deals, he noted, “involve large sums of money.”
The grassroots organizations Devex reached out to — those working
with and for the benefit of farmers — remain wary.
Cris Panerio, national coordinator for Magsasaka at Siyentipiko
para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura, a farmer-led network composed of people’s
organizations, NGOs and scientists “working towards the sustainable use and
management of biodiversity through farmers’ control of genetic and biological
resources, agricultural production and associated knowledge,” admit they are
not familiar with PhilSCAT and its work, but they are against the generally
aggressive push for hybridization in the country.
“The common argument with hybrids is that they produce higher
yields and are necessary for rice self-sufficiency,” he said. “But hunger in
rural areas is not a function of production, but a function of distribution.”
The approach to the Philippines’ agricultural problem should be
holistic and not entirely just about technologies. Until then, the impact of such
development projects will remain minimal, Paneiro said. But with the Philippine
government’s continued push for hybridization and mechanized farming, programs
such as China’s agricultural assistance is likely to continue and expand.
Rice worth US$ 223.937mn
exported in two months
ISLAMABAD: Rice worth US$ 223.937 million has been exported during the first two months of current financial year.
During the period from July-August, 2017 rice exports from the country grew by 40.36 percent as compared to the exports of the same period of last year, according the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In last two months around 428,993 metric tons of rice worth US$ 223.937 million was exported as compared to the exports of 380,861 metric tons valuing US$ 159.543 million, it added. Meanwhile, the exports of basmati rice grew by 10.35 percent and about 59,433 metric tons of basmati rice worth US$ 62.741 million was exported as compared to the exports of 59,192 metric tons valuing US$ 56.857 million of same period last year.
The exports of rice other than basmati also witnessed an increase of 58.98 percent, around 369.580 metric tons of rice costing US$ 161.198 million was exported as compared to the exports of 251,669 metric tons worth US$ 102.888 million of last year. On month on month basis, rice exports from the country grew by 53 percent in August, 2017 as compared to the same month of last year, the data reveled. About 227,998 metric tons of rice worth US$ 116.041 million exported in August as compared to the exports of 146,769 metric tons valuing US$ 75.569 million of same period last year.
Meanwhile, basmati rice worth US$ 86.290 million was exported last month, which grew by 2.15 percent as compared to the same month of last year. Exports of basmati rice was recorded at 28,482 metric tons in the month of August as compared to the exports 30,446 metric tons of same period last year.
During the period from July-August 2017, food group exports of the country increased by 30.6 percent as compared to the exports of the same period of last year. Country earned US$ 512.321 million by exporting different food commodities during first two-months of current financial year as compared to the earnings of the corresponding period of last year
http://www.brecorder.com/2017/09/26/371564/rice-worth-us-223-937mn-exported-in-two-month/
Call
for adoption of modern agri tech
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): The
government should make the regulatory system simple and easier so that farmers
may get access to the modern agriculture technology. Although the government
has taken various steps on technology adoption, but still efforts are required
to change the traditional outdated techniques in the field of agriculture.
Dr Siang Hee TAN, a leading
agricultural scientist and executive director of CropLife Asia, expressed these
views in an interaction with media persons on Tuesday. Dr Hee is currently
visiting Pakistan on an invitation from CropLife Pakistan Association and is
scheduled to meet key policy-makers, regulators, government officials, industry
and the scientific community.
“We praise the government of
Pakistan’s vision and policy-position on technology adoption, especially
relating to biotechnology. The establishment of more than 30 biotechnology
research institutions is a testament to the government’s commitment towards
promoting biotech crop solutions,” he said.
Dr Hee was of the view that Pakistan’s growing population, climate change, scarcity of water and changing lifestyles continue to pose challenges to the food security. In order to address this emergent challenge, he stressed the need to promote sustainable means to grow food and embrace technological innovations that enabled the same.
Based in Singapore, CropLife Asia is operating in 91 countries with generous support from prestigious global enterprises like; Bayer, Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, etc. This global federation nurtures technological solutions to enrich the plant-science industry in pursuit of sustainability in agriculture, while it advocates international developments for crop-protection, seeds and agricultural biotechnology.
While sharing his assessment of
the present regulatory environment in Pakistan, Dr Hee emphasized the
importance of an independent, science-based, transparent and predictable
regulatory regime that would enable farmers to fully reap its benefits. He also
urged regulators to develop better synergies with their international
counterparts and benefit from knowledge-sharing through data-transportability
arrangements.
“The best-practices being adopted across the Asia region include allocation of adequate resources for staffing and capacity-building of regulatory bodies along with the deployment of modern agriculture technologies and progressive-farming methods. Rules and processes are being made more conducive to agricultural growth, through close consultation with the experts of this sector,” he said
http://nation.com.pk/business/27-Sep-2017/newsbrief
Malaysia’s rice
production self-sufficiency level at 72%
·
More
·
A
Malaysia's
rice production has seen an increase from 1.9 million tonnes in 1990 to 3.5
million tonnes last year. – EPA pic, September 26, 2017.RICE production in the
country has hit 72% of the nation's self-sufficiency level, compared with the
target of 80%.Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek
said the 80% target sufficed as 20% of consumers did not opt for locally
produced rice.“It is normal for 10% to 15% of consumers in countries where rice
is the staple to not opt for locally produced rice. Depending on their taste,
they might prefer Siamese rice, fragrant rice and others.
"If the self-sufficiency level is at 100%, where are we
going to send the excess stock?
“If we want to export to other countries, is our rice
competitive enough to compete in the international market?” he said after
opening the National Padi Conference 2017 in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said productivity in rice production must increase to meet
the 80% target, noting that production had increased from 1.9 million tonnes in
1990 to 3.5 million tonnes last year.He said Malaysia should also focus on
products based on high-quality rice, like beauty creams, which had a huge
export potential.
On a separate matter, Shabery said the ministry was assessing
the losses suffered by padi farmers in Kedah due to the latest round of
flooding in the state."About 700ha of padi fields were affected. We will
find a way to help the affected farmers based on the existing formula.” –
Bernama, September 26, 2017
http://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/16144/
ananaline/ThinkstockPhotos
Mid-South weed
scientists compare notes on dicamba, new rice herbicides
Academic
weed scientists from Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana
discuss research findings from the current year.
From the time I began my career at the University of Arkansas, there has been a
fall meeting called DWWIGT or Delta Weed Workers Informal Get-together. The
academic weed scientists from Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and
Louisiana would gather to informally discuss research findings from the current
year.
In the earlier years it was mostly a
discussion about new herbicide candidates. Since there aren’t many of those any
more, the discussion is now more on current topics. No “outsiders” are allowed,
so when I retired in 2002 they kicked me out! However, when things started
heating up last year, the young folks decided maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to
have a mentor, so I was invited back and attended the past two. I have had a
ball.
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SEP 07, 2017
The main thing I can say is these young weed
scientists are so much sharper and better trained than my generation — there is
no comparison. Much of the discussion is over my head and the only thing I can
ever offer is a little experience.
This year’s meeting was just held and, of
course, the hot topic was dicamba. After all of the discussion, it was obvious
that scientists from each state agreed that volatility was playing a
significant role in the damages to soybean and other vegetation observed in 2017.
Most agreed that the newer dicamba
formulations may be less volatile than the older formulations, but volatility
remains a significant issue with them.
It was obvious that I am not the only
scientist who believes volatiles moving in inversions played a significant role
in the landscape effect observed in the Delta this year.
It was also interesting to listen to members from each state discuss their
number of “official” complaints and how the different regulatory agencies
determined what constituted a complaint. Several commented that if their states
used the same method as the Arkansas Plant Board, their numbers would be much
higher and closer to the Arkansas numbers.
New rice herbicides
There was a nice discussion on new rice
herbicides at the meeting. There is a lot of excitement on all of the new
things coming. The group was unanimous in their feeling that Provisia rice is
going to provide much-needed help controlling weedy rice and grass weeds.
There was concern expressed over crop injury
in certain situations and how it may relate to rates and environmental
conditions.
The current variety lags behind in yield
potential, but the group felt it could still contribute in severe weed
situations. Better varieties will hopefully be coming.
Many in the group felt the new herbicide
Loyant is the best-looking rice herbicide to come along perhaps since propanil.
It has outstanding activity on aquatics, broadleaves, sedges and barnyardgrass.
There was much discussion on what rates would control what weeds.
I am excited about the herbicide but also
concerned about potential off-target issues with soybeans. It would seem that
herbicide could potentially be more injurious to soybeans than any current rice
herbicides. An intense training program had better be in order before launch.
I am concerned that no
aerial off-target research has been allowed to this point. Unless our
applicators are well-trained on the product, I am afraid there could be a bunch
of first-year surprises — which is the last thing we need.
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/mid-south-weed-scientists-compare-notes-dicamba-new-rice-herbicides
·
·
·
Punjab
mandi board reluctant on market fee hike; key meeting on Oct 11
The funds collected as fees go to the Punjab
Rural Development Board for infrastructure, including link roads, which, the
government argues, is for the benefit of the farmers.
Gurpreet Singh Nibber
Hindusta Times, Chandigarh
Hindusta Times, Chandigarh
Punjab
mandi chairman Lal Singh(HT File Photo)
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
The
Punjab government move to increase the market and rural development fees on
farm produce sale from the current 2% to 3% — to mop up an additional Rs 900
crore a year — has received cold response from the Punjab State Agricultural
Marketing Board, or mandi board.
The
August 24 decision of the state cabinet awaits clearance from the mandi board,
whose directors will discuss the matter on October 11. There is opposition to
the move from state farmers, and the mandi board is at the centre of it,
because it manages procurement of grains and other produce through a network of
1,700 mandis.
The
corresponding levy is lower in states such as Rajasthan (1.6%) , Uttar Pradesh
(2.4%), and Madhya Pradesh (0.2%).
One
of the options on the mandi board’s mind is to hike the fee only for the
dominant crops, wheat and paddy. “We will implement the government’s decision,
but we will see that farmers’ interests are not harmed,” said the board’s
chairman, former Congress minister Lal Singh. “In the board meeting of October 11,
we will decide whether to implement the hike on all crops or just wheat and
paddy.”
Balbir
Singh Rajewal, president of a faction of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, said the
enhancement is unjustified because, “though the fees are levied on the
purchaser of the farmers’ produce, the burden actually falls on the farmers”.
He added, “This will lead to increase in the costs and dissuades traders from
buying from the state,” he said.
The
funds collected as fees go to the Punjab Rural Development Board for infrastructure,
including link roads, which, the government argues, is for the benefit of the
farmers.
However,
with the cotton crop ready, farmers in south-west Punjab prefer to take it to
mandis of Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) and Dabwali (Haryana), where the levies
are lower. Next, basmati growers are worried and already demanding a rollback
as the crop is set to arrive in mandis by the end of October.
The
Punjab Basmati Rice Millers’ Association has said that said big mills set up
under the ‘mega project’ category have been exempted from the market fee, so
the business will shift to those. In 2013, the government had abolished both
the fees on purchase of basmati, but it was levied again in 2015.
Wheat
and paddy produce are bought mostly by state agencies and the Food Corporation
of India (FCI) on behalf of the Centre, while other crops are primarily
procured by traders.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/punjab-mandi-board-reluctant-on-market-fee-hike-key-meeting-on-oct-11/story-joKSeDzPs3TANVvKN9AIYP.html
“I was
made to walk long distances even with my ailing leg, as they moved with me from
one location to another for the four days.
“They
blew cigarette smoke into my face, choking me in the process, while I had to
beg them for water.
“I was
fed stale rice meal, which upset my stomach and upon my throwing-up, they
threatened that I’d have to eat my vomit to survive if my children didn’t meet
their N1.5 million ransom demand,” she recounted.
According
to her, “when they got N1 million of their N1.5 million demand from my family,
they told me it was time to go. They set me on a path and directed that I
should keep walking, that my children would pick me on the road.
“After
I’ve trekked for about a kilometre, I saw someone to whom I cried for help.
With the phone they gave me, I was able to contact my children.”
She was
found in Awo community, a distance of not less than 50 kilometres from where
she was abducted.
Former Thai PM Yingluck sentenced
to five years over rice scheme
Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at
the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on November 4, 2016.
Bangkok,
Thailand (CNN)Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled the
country last month, has been found guilty of dereliction of duty over a
controversial rice subsidy scheme.
She has been sentenced to
five years in prison in absentia.
Yingluck failed to appear on
August 25 as hundreds of her supporters waited outside Thailand's Supreme Court
for the scheduled verdict.
At the time, a highly-placed
source in Yingluck's Pheu Thai party said she had fled Thailand just before the
hearing and was "safe and sound" in Dubai. A warrant was issued for
her arrest.
Yingluck Shinawatra's
supporters wait outside the Supreme Court for a verdict in her two-year trial,
Wednesday, September 27.
Controversial scheme
Yingluck had faced up to 10
years in prison for her role in the rice-buying scheme, introduced in 2011,
which pledged to pay farmers well above the market rate for their crops.
Critics say the program
wasted large amounts of public funds trying to please rural voters, hurting
exports and leaving the government with huge stockpiles of rice it couldn't
sell.
Yingluck said the subsidy
scheme was "beneficial for the farmers and the country" and claims it
lost billions of dollars were wrong and motivated by political bias against
her.
The verdict was delivered in
absentia, after Yingluck fled the country before an earlier court date.
Core support
She has maintained a core
group of followers since being ousted by a military coup in 2014.
Some were outside the court
Wednesday, waiting to hear the verdict, though there were far fewer than the
crowds seen spilling over the pavement onto the streets in August.
Then, large numbers of police
had prepared for potential protests, depending on the outcome of the two-year
trial.
2016:
Former Thai PM tells CNN, 'I've never thought of fleeing' 01:51
Yingluck was barred from
leaving Thailand without court approval in 2015, when the trial started. When
she fled, the court confiscated her bail of 30 million baht ($900,000).
On Tuesday, the Thai junta's
leader, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, told reporters that he knew where
Yingluck was, and would reveal her whereabouts after September 27, the day of
the verdict.
When she was inaugurated in
2011, Yingluck became Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest
in over 60 years.
She followed her brother
Thaksin Shinawatra to the role. Anti-government protesters, drawn mainly from
Bangkok's middle class, royalist establishment, allege that Yingluck was her brother's
puppet, who was installed to carry on his work.
Thaksin was overthrown as
Prime Minister in a military coup in 2006. He lives in Dubai and London in
self-imposed exile to avoid corruption charges.
After the 2014 coup, Yingluck
was impeached by Thailand's military-appointed National Legislative Assembly.
The ruling barred her from political office for five years.
At the time, Yingluck said
she had behaved with integrity and honesty during her time as prime minister.
Amid the outcry over the rice
subsidy scandal, Yingluck was investigated by Thailand's National
Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for the rice subsidy issue and put on trial.
The trial lasted two years.
Date: 27-Sep-2017
Rice And The Private Sector: Asia’s Food-Energy-Water Nexus –
Analysis
September 28, 2017 RSIS 0 Comment Agriculture, ASEAN, Climate, Diet,
Sustainability
By RSIS
With global food demand and energy needs increasing amid a
potential shortfall in water, the interdependencies between these resources –
defined as the water-food-energy nexus – have become the resource scarcity
challenge of the 21st century. The pressures are especially acute as Asian the
countries rapidly develop. The private sector needs to step in.
By Stella Liu*
As Asia develops, global food and energy needs are projected to
rise dramatically in the upcoming decades. While these two sectors have
normally dealt with their challenges in their individual silos, the shared
requirement of water, an increasingly scarce resource, to support their growth
has inextricably linked them together.
The food sector requires water for agriculture and fossil fuel
production, a dominant part of the global energy mix, is highly
water-intensive. According to the United Nations, the world is anticipated to
face a 40% shortfall in water by 2030. As water becomes more scarce, any action
in one sector will have an impact in one or both of the sectors.
Rapid Urbanisation’s Impact on Water
Asia’s needs for energy, food and water are especially acute as the
region rapidly urbanises. Current energy consumption trends suggest that
projected energy demand and supply in Asia can almost double by 2030. To feed
the projected additional one billion more people in Asia, food production must
make gains in productivity.
For water, an MIT research on economic and population growth and
climate change for the next 35 years projected that more than one billion
people in Asia may become water-stressed compared to today.
Efficiency gains in the ‘food’ link of the nexus can influence the
outcome of this challenge. Currently, 90% of the world’s total production and
consumption of rice is located in Asia. Developing more water and energy
efficient agri-technologies for rice is a key entry point to address the nexus
challenge.
Advances in biotechnology and water-conservation agricultural
techniques are promising because they use considerably less energy and water
resources required by traditional agriculture.
However, public sector investment and research in the agricultural
sector have been waning in the past few decades and prioritised below
development. As the food-energy-water nexus becomes the forefront of the
resource scarcity debate, the agriculture sector can no longer be ignored.
Water for Agriculture
Rice is the world’s largest irrigated cereal, covering 29% of the
total irrigated crop area and almost half of the irrigated cereals area.
Research into making rice production more water-efficient yet productive has
yielded promising results. IRRI, the International Rice Research Institute, has
conducted research into applying precision agriculture with rice paddies.
Precision agriculture is the optimal and precise application of
inputs into the fields based on data or best practices. One example is the
Alternative Wetting and Drying (AWD) method; Irrigation water is applied a few
days after the disappearance of water so the field gets routinely flooded and
non-flooded rather than continuously flooded.
The University of California Davis this year analysed 56 studies on
AWD. It discovered that overall, the farms who implemented AWD experienced a
small yield reduction of 5.4% with a water usage reduction of 23.4%. The
findings highlighted the potential of AWD to reduce water inputs with rice without
jeopardising yields.
Energy for Agriculture
The energy needs for food production are expected to rise to meet
growing food demand in Asia. As agriculture becomes more productive and
industrialised, the input needs for fossil fuels increase along the value
chain:
Developing countries use less than half of the energy input for
agriculture compared to industrialised countries. To meet growing food demand
around the world, agriculture needs to become more ‘energy-smart’ in developing
countries, while still making significant gains in productivity.
Impact assessment studies on biotechnology crops by Brookes and
Barfoot demonstrate the potential for these technologies to increase
productivity while using minimal energy. Its tracking of different biotech crops
from 1996-2014 found that the adoption of biotechnology allowed farmers to
increase their yields while using no-till and/or reduced till farming and less
herbicides and insecticides use.
As tractor fuel usage for tilling is reduced, soil quality is enhanced
and more carbon remains in the soil. Based on savings arising from the rapid
adoption of reduced tillage and no tillage bio-technology crop farming systems
in North and South America, an extra 6707 million kg of soil carbon is
estimated to have been saved in 2012. This is equivalent to taking 10.9 million
cars off the road for one year.
Way Forward for Asia
In ASEAN, there have been diminished investments in public sector
agricultural research and development over the years as development in other
areas took priority. There has been, however, recognition that technological
change can no longer be advanced by the public sector alone. Currently half of
the agricultural R&D comes from the government in ASEAN and for some
countries like Malaysia and Myanmar it’s all of it.
Figures from the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) and the Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions
(APAARI) demonstrate that agricultural R&D spending has been either
stagnating or dropping from 1996 to 2008. Incentivising private sector
investment can fill that gap.
Given the scale and urgency of these challenges, a mix of
traditional and innovative private sector incentives is needed. The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) 2013 Report on food security provided a few traditional
recommendations. Intellectual property rights, trade and foreign investment
liberalisation, advance purchase rewards and rewards are a few mechanisms that
the public sector can use.
G20 Recommendation
For a more innovative approach, the G20 summit in 2010 launched the
idea of “pull mechanisms.” Rather than “push” mechanisms that strengthen the
supply of research, this type strengthens demand by fostering markets for
innovations to “pull” or draw private investors. Since then, AgResults, a
US$110 million multilateral initiative, has launched a few pilots and initial
results are promising. For instance, in Kenya, post-harvest grain losses in the
developing world led to lowered food insecurity rates for smallholder farmers.
AgResults addressed this by creating a competition to provide
economic incentives for companies to design and sell on-farm storage devices
for smallholder farmers. Companies that sold the greatest amount of storage
capacity received the largest proportion of the prize. In the first year, the
companies sold 113,000 on-farm storage devices.
The competition encouraged companies to compete and create a new
market that did not exist before and provided smallholders with a wider range
of options. The key to address the nexus challenge in Asia is to focus on
future innovative “pull mechanisms” and traditional private sector incentives
on more energy and water efficient agri-technologies for rice.
*Stella Liu is a visiting US Fulbright Research Fellow at the
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre), S. Rajaratnam School
of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU),
Singapore.
Fatima Fertilizer orgranises Dhaan Seminar in Gujranwala
Gujranwala : Recently, Fatima
Fertilizer in association with Government of Punjab and Rice Research Institute
Kala Shah Kaku orgranised ‘Dhaan Seminar’ in Gujranwala.
The seminar brought together more
than 3000 farmers. Chief guests included Secretary Agriculture, DG Agriculture,
DG Agriculture Extension, DG Agriculture Research, President Kissan Ittehad,
MNA Zafarwall, Hafizabad and Gujranwala.
The seminar focused on latest rice
production technology, pect control and balanced use of Sarsabz Nitrate
Fertilizers.
Secretary agriculture in his speech
to farmers asked them to start incorporating latest technology as that was the
only way their prosperity could be guaranteed. For this purpose, the government
of Punjab is setting up 72 Hi-Tech Mechanization Service Centers in partnership
with Fatima Fertilizers all over Punjab.
Latest agriculuture farm machinery
and services will be rented out to farmers through these centers. At the end of
the program, Fatima Fertilizer distributed 4 Umra tickets, 1 tractor, 2
motorcycles and other such high value gifts among farmers through lucky
draws.**
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/233017-Fatima-Fertilizer-orgranises-Dhaan-Seminar-in-Gujranwala
Rice Seed
Market: Business Opportunities, Current Trends, Market Forecast & Global
Industry Analysis by 2022
By Rashmi Saraf
September 27, 2017
Rice Seed
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and 2022 is mentioned. Various Global Rice Seed industry
leading players are studied with respect to their company profile, product
portfolio, capacity, price, cost and revenue.
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Apart from the aforementioned information, trade and distribution analysis for
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http://newshawktime.com/rice-seed-market-business-opportunities-current-trends-market-forecast-global-industry-analysis-by-2022/
United States
Rice Starch Market Research, Key Players, Growth Opportunities, Outlook
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 BY AMIT PAWAR
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LBP to
lend at 6% per annum for rice production
September
27, 2017, 10:01 PM
By Zac B. Sarian
The Land Bank of the Philippines
will soon extend loans for rice production at the hitherto unheard of interest
rate of 6% per annum. This is under what it calls its “corporative” rice
production program which will be initially implemented in Bansud, Oriental
Mindoro.A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on Sept. 25 between Land
Bank and the Agri-Tech Integrated Services Co. (ATISCO), formalizing the two
agencies’ cooperation in implementing a land consolidation scheme that will
allow the mechanized production of rice under professional management.
The MOU was signed by Land Bank
president Alex Buenaventura and ATISCO chairman Feliciano L. Torres. ATISCO is
a member of the Yazaki Torres Manufacturing Inc. group located at the export
processing zone in Calamba City.
LAND
BANK RICE PRODUCTION FINANCING AT 6% PER ANNUM – Under the “corporative” rice
production program of Land Bank, Agri-Tech Integrated Services Company (ATISCO)
will be able to avail itself of Land Bank loan with a low interest of 6 percent
per annum. Under the “corporative” program, lands owned by small farm owners
will be consolidated to make it possible to mechanize rice production under
professional management. Hybrid varieties will be used but some high-yielding
inbred varieties developed by PhilRice will also planted to observe their
performance.
In
the last two years, ATISCO has established a successful track record of
providing services to rice farmers in Mindoro under a scheme where the farmer
can engage ATISCO in land preparation for a fee, mechanical rice transplanting,
harvesting by machine and then buying he palay at a rate better than the
prevailing market price. In their experience in the last four cropping seasons,
the farmers were able to increase their net income per hectare to P27,000
compared to their previous net income of P18,000 per hectare by engaging the
services of ATISCO.Under the MOU between Land Bank and ATISCO, their
collaboration will eventually involve the planting of rice on 500 hectares in
Bansud.
No, the 500 hectares which belong to small
landowners each owning a few hectares will not necessarily be contiguous. They
could be clusters of at least 20 hectares, 50 hectares or bigger. This will
make it possible to mechanize rice production, according to Dante Delima, chief
operating officer of ATISCO.ATISCO will execute a management contract with the
landowners so that the company will take full control of operating the
consolidated farm lands. The agreement would be for five years, renewable for
another five years. Through the financing of Land Bank, ATISCO will take care of
every expense in producing rice on the 500 hectares, including seeds,
fertilizers and other inputs.The landowner will not do anything, except perhaps
monitor the developments in the consolidated lands. The landowner is assured of
P5 per kilo of fresh palay produced at an average of 4.5 tons per hectare. This
means that he will get P22,500 per hectare per cropping.
If
the yield is lower than 4.5 tons, ATISCO will still give the landowner P22,500
per hectare. If the yield is higher, say 6 tons per hectare, the landowner will
then get P30,000 per hectare.Based on their experience, Delima said they have
already figured out that they could produce polished rice at P27 per kilo. And
they can sell the rice at P36 per kilo for a margin of P9 per kilo. The rice produced
will be absorbed by the canteen of Yazaki Torres which has more than 13,000
employees. In case, the production exceeds the requirements of Yazaki Torres,
they are targeting the locators at the nearby Philippine Economic Zone
Authority (PEZA) as their market.
ATISCO
could also derive additional income from its rice milling operations. The rice
bran could be sold as ingredient for livestock feed. The rice hull could be
turned into carbonized rice hull. And the rice straw could be baled for feeding
to cattle and other farm animals.Delima is also looking at planting mungo after
harvest of rice. The company will take care of all the expenses. But the
landowners who would like to do the harvesting will get half of the harvest as
their share. ATISCO is not only interested in the seeds. Mungo, being a legume,
can enrich the fertilizty of the farm.
Delima
does not expect the project to take off immediately. Land Bank will still have
a lot to in social preparation in the targeted communities. They have already started
to conduct consultations to explain the scheme so that the farmers will
understand what the project is all about. Of course, the local government
officials are also involved in the social preparation of the project.In the
meantime, while waiting for the actual start of the consolidation project,
ATISCO will already put in place its machinery in the target areas. The farmers
may then engage the services of ATISCO in land preparation, planting and
harvesting of their rice crops. That will assure them of the capability of
ATISCO in doing what it promises it can do.Now, you might say.
Why can’t the small farmers enjoy the 6%
annual interest that Land Bank is giving ATISCO? That is because the funds are
coursed through the cooperatives which have to charge service fees and other
charges. In the case of ATISCO, the bank is directly transacting business with
a rice producer. Besides, LBP president Alex Vergara is not totally happy about
many cooperatives that have reneged on their mandate to serve their members. In
fact, he said, a total of P1.6 billion lent to cooperatives was written off
from the accounts of mismanaged co-ops
https://newsbits.mb.com.ph/2017/09/27/lbp-to-lend-at-6-per-annum-for-rice-production/
Corruption
eating away relief for the public
12:00
AM, September 28, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:21 PM, September 28, 2017
Coarse
varieties of rice were on sale for Tk 50-54 per kg in the capital's retail
markets last week—Tk 10 higher than the price only a month ago.
Despite the progress, natural
calamities like floods and landslides are having a disastrous effect on the
nutrition situation, which is likely to be more severe this time around,
considering the extent of damage caused by floods this year. According to the
state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), coarse varieties of rice
were on sale for Tk 50-54 per kg in the capital's retail markets last week—Tk
10 higher than the price only a month ago.
With rice prices soaring across the
country in recent months, following widespread fears of rice shortages fuelled
largely by the fact that massive amounts of agricultural losses were endured,
the government has rightly started to intervene in the market recently by
selling the staple at a subsidised price under a nationwide Open Market Sale
(OMS) programme. Although, only after wrongly delaying from intervening.
Food Ministry sources, meanwhile,
said that the intervention was not possible earlier because of the shortage of
rice in public granaries, while also blaming a section of rice millers for
deliberately hoarding rice and hiking prices. The Anti-Corruption Commission
too has “received the allegation” that traders were hoarding rice in cahoots
with “some government officials”, which it has said it will “inquire
into”.
Consequently, their attempts to
defraud the public also allegedly included dissemination of a confusing letter
that said that India had stopped exporting rice to Bangladesh, which was later
cleared to have been fake by the government. When seen from a broader
perspective, this allegation is much more serious than it initially seems. At a
time when the nation had barely recovered from one massive disaster (floods)
and was struggling to deal with another crisis (the Rohingya influx), that
special-interest groups will attempt to destabilise the rice market—endangering
the national interest—for a quick buck should not be taken lightly.
Thus, the government should
carefully investigate the matter and transparently deal with its findings.
However, what none of this can excuse is the government's own failure to
pre-empt a situation in which it would significantly have to intervene in the
market in order to stabilise the price of a commodity as essential as
rice.
One further indicator of this is
the shelving of the government's rice distribution programme to the ultra-poor
which it had drummed up for quite some time. The government suddenly postponed
the plan as it would require 4.5 lakh tonnes of food-grains, while to operate
the OMS programme beyond the district-level for a month, it would also need
50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of rice; whereas, the public food stock had 3.45 lakh
tonnes of rice only and 1.21 lakh tonnes were still in the import pipeline,
information from food ministry officials revealed.
This and other similar failures
have prompted even rice traders to allege that “the food ministry didn't pay
any attention to a fast depleting government food stock, and [had] responded
late to the urgency of replenishing the rice reserve after the Haor deluge.”
And to blame the government for “the delay in reducing the high import duty on
rice” and for refusing “to give better price for homegrown rice”, only to
procure the staple later “from abroad at much higher prices” (Govt wasn't alert
to depleting stock, September 20, The
Daily Star).
One leading private rice importer
said that had the government reduced duty on rice imports “right after the
flash flood-induced crop loss, a situation like this would not have arisen in
the first place.” And so, this is the crux of the current crisis. While it is
understandable that the government has had to deal with a number of crises all
at the same time, what is inexcusable is the food ministry's failure to perform
its primary and specific duty. This too demands a proper investigation as much
as the circulation of the fake letter does.
And, finally, there is the matter of
what has been happening since then which, bar none, deserves the greatest and
most urgent attention; particularly given that it is still rectifiable. And,
that is, corruption in the OMS programme, including in its sale and
distribution.
One incident of this was recorded
in Rajshahi's Durgapur upazila on September 20, where three dealers were
alleged to have falsely shown on paper the sale of rice at the subsidised OMS
rate. “Taking advantage of lax monitoring by food officials,” the dealers were
alleged to have sold three tonnes of rice—the total allocation of OMS for the
day—on the black market (one can only assume at a higher price for personal
profit) in complete disregard for the plight of ordinary citizens and the
intent of the initiative (Dealers go rogue with OMS rice, September 22, The Daily Star).
One of the monitoring officials had
even admitted signing the document confirming the sale, under pressure from
someone named Rustom, who also happens to have the “blessings of local leaders
of the ruling party”. No doubt, there are many more cases of similar corrupt
practices happening regularly that are going completely unreported.
Given the settings, while it is
perhaps illogical to ask the government to address each and every case of such
corruption individually, what it can do is take exemplary measures against the
corrupt in cases that are brought to its notice—particularly when its own party
men are involved—to show that no one should feel emboldened enough to chance
their luck. Also, assigning responsible and non-partisan monitoring officials
at the points of sale is as paramount as properly informing the public about
where and how they can easily obtain OMS rice—that has been dismally lacking so
far.
It has been a difficult year for
the government with so much going on, but an even tougher one for those who
have lost everything and now have nothing going for them. In some of the cases,
the government did well and meant well, but in others, it made a hash of
things. In some of the instances it was a handful of individuals at fault, but
in others, the government's lack of action that allowed it.
Right now, those who have nothing
going for them cannot afford to have the government make a hash of things any
longer, nor its lack of action to alleviate their sufferings.
Chinese scientists spot genetic way to clean up contaminated rice
Source:Global Times Published: 2017/9/27 21:28:40
Scientists spot genetic way to clean up contaminated riceA
prominent Chinese rice expert recently announced that he and his research team
have made a breakthrough in removing cadmium from rice, which could make the
grain safer and cleaner.Rice contamination of this kind could lead to kidney
failure or bone cancer, according to the website of agriculture authority in
Huaihua, Central China's Hunan Province. The website added that the problem of
rice contaminated by cadmium is obvious in Hunan. Professor Yuan Longping, who
is known as China's "father of the hybrid rice," described this new
development at a new rice exhibition in Hunan, Hunan Daily reported on Monday. We've
seen a breakthrough in rice seed breeding, in removing genes containing or
absorbing cadmium in the parent seeds. And, if they are clean, then the rice
seed is clean," said Yuan. edia have been reporting, since back in 2013,
that the soil in many of China's key rice-producing regions contains high
levels of cadmium, lead, arsenic and other harmful heavy metals. The latest
figures from the Environmental Protection and Land and Resources ministries
show about 16 percent of China's land is polluted by cadmium, arsenic, lead,
mercury and other heavy metals. With the improvement in the standard of living,
we need to place emphasis on the quality, and not just the quantity, of rice,
as opposed to the past century, when the focus was merely on quantity to meet
basic food demands, Yuan said in a recent documentary, Huihuang Zhongguo or
"Brilliant China."Yuan's new achievement in cadmium removal will most
likely help reverse the domestic problem of crops containing heavy metals, said
the Hunan Daily report. Newspaper headline: Scientists spot genetic way to
clean up contaminated rice
Thailand:
Cabinet approves rice support package
Bangkok (VNA) – The cabinet of Thailand has approved a package
worth 87.2 billion THB (2.6 billion USD) to support rice farmers and stabilise
prices ahead of the 2017-2018 harvest, which starts in November. The programme
of the Thai Government, which will officially take effect on November 1, is
hoped to assist 3.7 million farmers. The
package includes a loan of 33.5 billion THB from the Bank for Agriculture and
Agricultural Cooperatives for farmers to delay rice selling time. Another loan
worth 53.7 billion THB was allocated for farmers to store rice. Accordingly,
the programmes are designed to stockpile 12.5 million tonnes of rice. The Thai
Government will also provide loans for farmers to bolster agricultural
cooperation and raise rice value. The programme, worth of 12.5 billion THB, will
be launched from October this year until end of September, 2018.-VNA
Former Thai PM Yingluck sentenced to
five years over rice scheme 
Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra arrives at the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on November 4, 2016.
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN)Former Thai
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled the country last month, has been
found guilty of dereliction of duty over a controversial rice subsidy scheme.
She has been sentenced to five years
in prison in absentia.
Yingluck failed to appear on August
25 as hundreds of her supporters waited outside Thailand's Supreme Court for
the scheduled verdict.
At the time, a highly-placed source
in Yingluck's Pheu Thai party said she had fled Thailand just before the
hearing and was "safe and sound" in Dubai. A warrant was issued for
her arrest.
Yingluck Shinawatra's supporters
wait outside the Supreme Court for a verdict in her two-year trial, Wednesday,
September 27.
Controversial scheme
Yingluck had faced up to 10 years in
prison for her role in the rice-buying scheme, introduced in 2011, which
pledged to pay farmers well above the market rate for their crops.
Critics say the program wasted large
amounts of public funds trying to please rural voters, hurting exports and
leaving the government with huge stockpiles of rice it couldn't sell.
Yingluck said the subsidy scheme was
"beneficial for the farmers and the country" and claims it lost billions
of dollars were wrong and motivated by political bias against her.
The verdict was delivered in
absentia, after Yingluck fled the country before an earlier court date.
Core support
She has maintained a core group of
followers since being ousted by a military coup in 2014.
Some were outside the court
Wednesday, waiting to hear the verdict, though there were far fewer than the
crowds seen spilling over the pavement onto the streets in August.
Then, large numbers of police had
prepared for potential protests, depending on the outcome of the two-year
trial.
2016: Former Thai PM tells CNN,
'I've never thought of fleeing' 01:51
Yingluck was barred from leaving
Thailand without court approval in 2015, when the trial started. When she fled,
the court confiscated her bail of 30 million baht ($900,000).
On Tuesday, the Thai junta's leader,
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, told reporters that he knew where Yingluck
was, and would reveal her whereabouts after September 27, the day of the
verdict.
When she was inaugurated in 2011,
Yingluck became Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest in over
60 years.
She followed her brother Thaksin
Shinawatra to the role. Anti-government protesters, drawn mainly from Bangkok's
middle class, royalist establishment, allege that Yingluck was her brother's
puppet, who was installed to carry on his work.
Thaksin was overthrown as Prime
Minister in a military coup in 2006. He lives in Dubai and London in
self-imposed exile to avoid corruption charges.
After the 2014 coup, Yingluck was
impeached by Thailand's military-appointed National Legislative Assembly. The
ruling barred her from political office for five years.
At the time, Yingluck said she had
behaved with integrity and honesty during her time as prime minister.
Amid the outcry over the rice
subsidy scandal, Yingluck was investigated by Thailand's National Anti-Corruption
Commission (NACC) for the rice subsidy issue and put on trial. The trial lasted
two years.
