Vietnam’s reliance on
imports in agriculture leaves less profit for farmers
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam had a bumper 2014 with bountiful crops
and high farm produce export prices, but farmers believe there is nothing to be
happy about.
Analysts noted that though the production value and
export turnover were high, the money farmers could pocket was modest. The
problem lies in the fact that Vietnam had to import many kinds of raw
materials.A report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)
showed that the total farm, forestry and seafood produce import turnover in the
first 11 months of 2014 reached $19.78 billion, of which the majority were
agricultural materials.Vietnam had to spend $690 million on pesticides and
input material imports during that period and $774 million in 2014, an increase
of 3.5 percent over 2013.Vietnam vows to develop the animal husbandry, but in
order to do that, it has to import most of the animal feed products needed. The
import turnover reached $3.24 billion in 2014, higher by 5.2 percent over 2013
and higher than the money Vietnam earned from rice exports.Vietnam cannot
produce plant seeds. MARD reported that Vietnam had to spend $500 million to
import 8,000 tons of seeds for the country’s 700,000 hectares of vegetable area
in 2013.
Dr. Le Hung Quoc, former head of
the MARD’s Plantation Agency, said these facts are not surprising.He said that
all the input materials used in agricultural production in Vietnam are imports
(except farmers and land).“The best varieties used in Vietnam are imports,” he
said. “Vietnam even cannot make cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, carrot,
cucumber, tomato seeds, the popular kinds of vegetables.”
How much does Vietnam earn from
farm exports?
Though Vietnam is the world’s
biggest rice exporter, the money it can pocket form rice exports is small.The
Vietnam’s rice export price hovers around $400-450 per ton, which is lower by
$50-75 per ton if compared with the products of the same kinds from India,
Pakistan and Thailand.While government agencies report great achievements in
the agriculture sector at workshops and conferences, Vietnamese farmers have
quietly given up their rice fields.According to MARD, 42,785 households gave up
farming in 2012-2013, leaving 6,882 hectares idle. As many as 3,407 households
gave back agricultural land to the state.
The Chair of the Vietnam Farmers’
Association, Nguyen Quoc Cuong, said farmers can make a profit of only
VND100,000-200,000 per 360 square meters from every crop within a three month
period.
Dat Viet
Vietnamese
agro-scientists sell seeds to earn a living
VietNamNet Bridge – Most research institutes and agronomists have
unwillingly become “marketing experts” or “seed sellers” to earn money to live
and conduct scientific research.
Dr. Do Nang Vinh, chair of the
Scientific Council of the Agricultural Genetic Institute, while affirming that
agro-scientists have to take on different kinds of jobs, from producers to
sellers, noted that this paradox only exists in Vietnam.“Such a thing cannot be
seen elsewhere in the world. In Vietnam, scientists can do everything, from
creating new varieties, introducing the varieties to farmers, organizing trial production,
to building up the large-scale production models and selling seeds,” Vinh
noted.“They have to do all kinds of jobs to make money,” he added.
In developed countries, this is undertaken by seed firms, while
research institutes are only in charge of inventions and providing materials
and genetic sources.The scientists in these countries own the copyright on
their inventions. Seed firms have to pay royalties to them to have the right to
exploit the inventions for commercial development.However, Vietnamese
scientists cannot follow such a procedure.“If you give the new varieties to
others, your inventions will be in vain,” he said.“If so, you will not have any
other source of income, except the modest salary paid by the State,” he
explained, adding that creating seeds and selling seeds is the major source of
income of many generations of scientists.
A lecturer at the Hanoi Agriculture
University noted that the research institutes’ achievements are “measured” by
the number of new varieties created.In most research projects, scientists are
required to create new varieties, and they only have three to five years to do
that. Meanwhile, Vietnam now seriously lacks scientific research
works.“Scientists are requested to create new varieties with their specific
characteristics,” the lecturer said. “Meanwhile, genes and hereditary
characteristics have been ignored. This explains why Vietnam can create many
varieties, but cannot make any breakthrough.”
Vinh, in an interview given to Dat
Viet newspaper recently, noted that when scientists have to spend time to
advertise their inventions and sell products, they would not have time and
energy to create.He warned that the unreasonable pay for scientists had led to
lower quality of scientists. The low pay does not allow research institutes to
attract talent.Professor Nguyen Van Hieu has said in the past that he fears
that Vietnamese scientists may be “issueless”.A report shows that rice yield in
Vietnam has increased by 95 kilos per hectare, and rice varieties make up 30
percent of the increase. Thus, Vietnamese scientists created $66 million from
new rice varieties alone.
Dat Viet
Major grant awarded to rice industry
Secretary of Agriculture Tom
Vilsack announced approved grants from the first round of proposals to the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The USA Rice Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Inc. (DU), and
more than 40 collaborating partners are pleased that the “Rice Stewardship
Partnership – Sustaining the Future of
Rice”project was selected for
support.This project will help rice producers conserve natural resources such
as water, soil and waterfowl habitat, while having long-term positive impacts
on their bottom line. The RCPP application process was very competitive;
less than half of all applications were awarded funding, and no proposal was
fully funded.
However, the USA Rice and DU national request
was deemed to have significant merit, and the Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) – the agency responsible for administering RCPP – awarded the
partnership a grant of $10 million, one of the largest awards given under the
program.“The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Texas’ and Louisiana’s Gulf Coast,
and California’s Central Valley are critical landscapes for waterfowl and therefore
ranked as some of DU’s top priorities for habitat conservation,” said DU
President and Arkansas rice producer George Dunklin. A 2014 study conducted by DU scientists for The Rice Foundation
demonstrated thatrice agriculture provides 35 percent of the food resources
available to migrating and wintering dabbling ducks in the regions where
rice is grown in the United States.
“U.S. rice farms are valuable,
not just for the nutritious commodity they produce and their positive impact on
the economy, but also as important contributors to the entire ecosystem, and
today’s announcement from NRCS and USDA recognizes that fact,” said USA Rice
Federation Chairman Dow Brantley, an Arkansas rice farmer. “Wildlife and waterfowl depend on our farms as much as any of us do.”Established in the 2014 Farm Bill, the
RCPP competitively awards funds to conservation projects designed by
collaborating partners.
“RCPP provides an opportunity for locally driven partnerships to
work side by side with local Conservation Districts and NRCS to accelerate
conservation efforts and achieve measurable progress,” said NRCS State
Conservationist for Arkansas Mike Sullivan. The USA Rice Federation, Ducks
Unlimited, and all of our partners commend the USDA for their vision
in creating partnership-driven conservation initiatives, and we especially
appreciate each of the six state NRCS offices who were instrumental in crafting
a competitive proposal,” said Betsy Ward, President & CEO of USA Rice.
“This is a giant step forward for conservation in ricelands with many more
steps to come.
”“We applaud the many rice producers who integrate extra
conservation measures into their rice production to maintain water quality and
provide much-needed waterfowl habitat,” said USDA NRCS Chief Jason Weller. “The
partnership between DU, USA Rice, and USDA offers increased technical and
financial assistance to help producers accomplish these goals on their land,
and the tangible benefits to farmers, the environment, and all Americans will
be felt for a long time.”
Rice policy criticism: Are stakeholders treading the
right path?
Few weeks after the Federal
Government introduced its new rice policy of backward integration, some
stakeholders in the sector have come out with information allegedly aimed at
possibly reversing the initiative that seeks to make Nigeria self-sufficient in
rice production within, possibly, two years. OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA examines the stakeholders’ criticism and the implication on rice
production.Recently in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Capital, Tunji Owoeye,
president, Nigerian Rice Investors Group and managing director of Elephant
Group, led the association’s members to addressed the press and evaluate the
Federal Government new backward integration initiative on rice production.
At the meeting, Owoeye revealed
that some stakeholders in the sector were against the initiative, saying that
the views being brought forward by these stakeholders were false and unfair to
government officials who had worked hard to midwife the policy.According to
Owoeye, “most Nigerians are unaware that time was when we depended entirely on
imported rice. Government examined past efforts to restore self-sufficiency in
rice production that failed before coming out with the new revolutionary
policy.
“The critical thing is
protecting local investors to the point they can reasonably stand on their
feet. The government developed the new rice policy based on what is produced
presently against the shortfalls, which were factored to further encourage
local investors against those whose core interest is importing and selling
locally without the mind of contributing to the national dream of
self-sufficiency.”Although the critics claim to be genuinely concerned about
the initiative derailing, over one defect or another of the implementation
instrument, the truth is that they are driven by insatiable greed and total
disregard for constituted authorities, he said.The rice policy, unarguably, is
the initiative of government and not at the order of stakeholders.
The Federal Government decided
to use fiscal policy to help businesses already engaged in and others
interested in growing, milling and packaging rice locally to end the perennial
importation of the product. Government set the parameters – the best possible
completion time frame, the incentives and who best could be brought in with the
assurance that they would perform.The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, as the project coordinator, invited stakeholders principally to
share with them the dream and seriousness government attached to the policy,
but not to determine the basics such as the volume of rice that would enjoy
import waivers and quota allocation qualifications, according to Owoeye.
These critics argue that the
indiscriminate granting of waivers in the guise of backward integration may
promote smuggling and therefore make the policy counterproductive.However, the
quota allocations based on the supply gap of import grade rice of 1.5 million
metric tons, Owoeye said, were made to both existing rice millers and new
investors in equity.“Existing millers and others with expressed interests
submitted Domestic Rice Production Plan (DRPP), and based on the submissions, a
total of 1.3 million metric tons of rice import quotas was issued to 25
qualifying millers at the preferential levy of 20 percent and duty of 10 per
cent.
The remainder 0.2 million metric tons of rice
imports will be at the higher levy of 60 per cent and duty of 10 percent,”
Owoeye said.Stakeholders did not know why government asked rice investors to
give their DRPP, he said. Thereafter, a committee went round to verify the
claims in terms of farm holdings, and so on, and did not inform the
stakeholders that they were coming to investigate. In some cases, the committee
got to the sites and called the concerned party that the inspectors were at
their premises.“We believe the market is big enough for all genuine investors
in the rice market so that there is no point dissipating energy on frivolities
and wild allegations,” Owoeye said, but added that he wondered why anyone could
sincerely allege that some quota beneficiaries were “already trading it to
interested buyers at between 60 percent to 80 percent levy, having got the same
at 20 percent levy.
”The allegation implies that
the 60 percent levy is lower than what is charged as penalty for otherwise, why
would anyone pay above that to buy from those who got the waiver, the Group
asked.“Rice smuggling into Nigeria is not contentious because it is common
knowledge, but to allude any complexity of the policy is subversive and clear
indication that some interests are trying to persecute others and would stop at
nothing to achieve the unholy objective,’’ he said.Furthermore, the outcry over
giving businesses that expressed interests in investing in rice production
waivers as those who have made substantial investments are not well founded, he
said.“Considered on the surface, the government could be faulted but on close
review, it is certain government wants to recruit and expand the investors’
base and was not whimsical.
“President Goodluck Jonathan
approved the backward integration policy on rice in May and the implementation
is starting just this December 2014. I can say authoritatively that government
did not only ask interested parties to submit their DRPP but demanded also
their production plans, including establishing staple crop processing zones
(SCPZs) that are intended to encourage the clustering of food processing
industries in proximity to raw materials and end markets,” he said.Currently,
16 major investors have farms and or established milling plants with cumulative
capacity of about 1 million metric tons by 2016, while the rice policy
estimates additional 2.7 million metric tons produced locally by 2016. It was
obvious to the government that more reliable investors must be recruited with
secure commitments to attain set targets.
“To ensure government is not
giving cheap money to opportunistic businesses, the waiver requires that 30
percent of the quota fee be paid into a participating bank. In the event the
beneficiary fails to meet the terms, the ministry of agriculture will call on
the bond fee, which means that government would take it over and use it to
develop and advance the policy to the logical conclusion.“What government has
been doing in the last two to three years is to get across the value chain to
get an investment plan in the rice industry, and inspections were concluded
based on the claims. Government has given six months to those who expressed
interests to start tangible and serious work.
The process is tamper proof and
measurable. It is the first time government is doing something right in the
rice sector,” the Group noted.Imploring persons who feel displeased not to
derail the policy with internal squabbles, the Group gave assurance that all
issues will be addressed since the policy was in the early stage.“To a large
extent, government gave allocations to encourage big investors who are putting
down substantial amounts of money. There is nowhere on earth that major
investors are not wooed and that is what the government has done, but I can
tell anyone who cares to listen that government also took adequate precautions
in case of anyone defaulting,” Owoeye said.
He therefore told the
stakeholders to worry over the 1.2 million metric tons lost between the
government’s estimated 1.5 million metric tons imports and what can safely be
assumed allotted the illegally operators.The investors who feel bitter that
others who have not much on ground received high allocations know for sure that
the in-coming players plan to exceed the current investors, Owoeye said.“They
need not hide their fear of being overtaken by the new-comers but should join
hands with other stakeholders to ensure rice smugglers are put out of business
because until illegal traders are caught and caged, honest investors are in
danger.“The reason is simple and applies to all industries: until Nigerian
growers and millers reach maturity and efficiency levels, the international
traditional growers still hold the ace and can sink us unless we are fairly
protected,” he said.
Nigeria’s 170 million people
constitute the largest market in Africa, and in the consumer and commodity
markets, the stakes are high. To dominate the largest market South of the
Equator is serious and sometimes brutal business, he said.Government wants the
Nigerian rice industry to explode similar to what happened in the telephone
industry in recent years, he said, noting that the potential has been there for
decades but the reality has just dawned on the government.“Anyone capable of investing huge has immense
business opportunity and government is saying everyone is welcome on board.
Investors who have made some input should not cry blue murder when there is
none.
The Nigerian rice market (local
productions) can accommodate all serious investors and that is enough
guarantees,” according to the Group.Michael Aondoakaa, former minister of
justice and attorney general of the federation, and secretary, Rice Processors
Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), emphasised that prior to the emergence of
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, nobody had ever wondered who got
what quota.
“The truth is that many have had witnessed the old
system where some highly connected people influenced the rice quota allocation.
This administration made sure it went to rice farmers with visible
investments,” said Aondoakaa.
The rice policy of the present administration is visible for all
to see, Owoeye said, adding: “if you travel through Zamfara, Niger, Benue,
Sokoto, and many other states in the country, you will see vast plantations of
rice in the last two year.‘’We have also seen some of our members who were
traders make huge investments in local rice production. We have seen increase
in employment and value creation in the rice sector.
’’The Federal Government has provided rice investors with improved
seedling and that is the reason rice production is getting better. On his part,
Abubakar Mohammed, president, Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors’
Association of Nigeria, said five years ago, there was only one processing mill
in Nigeria but the number grew to 24 by 2014, just as he stated that before
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, rice paddy produced from Nigeria
was one of the worst in the world. But this had changed, according to him.“We
process 800,000 tons of paddy rice annually, and the government is putting
measures in place to produce additional 360,000 tons. All these happened with
the help of President Goodluck Jonathan and the minister of agriculture and
rural development, Akinwunmi Adesina,” he said.
Changes to Cuba Policy Effective
Immediately
WASHINGTON, DC -- The
promise of more open trade, travel, and business between Cuba and the United
States got that much closer today when the Obama Administration announced new
regulations on export policy that take effect tomorrow. The regulatory
amendments are part of a process of normalization of relations between the two
countries. "We are analyzing how these changes will apply to the U.S. rice
industry," said USA Rice Federation President and CEO Betsy Ward. "The current rapid pace is an
encouraging sign although we realize we're still at the front end of the
process."
Just last week,
the USA Rice joined with more than 25 prominent U.S. food and agriculture
associations and companies to announce the launch of the U.S. Agriculture
Coalition for Cuba (USACC), a coalition that seeks to advance trade relations
between the United States and Cuba. The
purpose of the USACC is to re-establish Cuba as a market for U.S. food and agriculture
exports and address liberalizing trade between the United States and
Cuba."Open trade with Cuba would be an enormous boon for U.S. rice
farmers," said Ward. "There was a time when Cuba was the top
destination for U.S.-grown rice -- we are ready to facilitate a return to those
days."
Contact: Deborah Willenborg
(703) 236-1444
USA Rice and Big Y: Live Well, Eat Smart
Let U.S. rice help you
ARLINGTON, VA -- The USA Rice Federation is participating in the
Living Well Eating Smart (LWES) program at Big Y, a supermarket chain of more
than 60 stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Beginning today through March 25, shoppers
will be introduced to the many uses and nutritional benefits of U.S.-grown rice
through a print and online newsletter, social media, and in-store signage and
displays.USA Rice's Cranberry Pecan Rice Pilaf is the featured recipe on the
cover of the LWES magazine, a publication (print and online) that generates
more than 150,000 impressions a month.
The full recipe, rice nutrition information, and the "Grown in the
USA" logo are highlighted in a two-page spread. Rice is also featured in other sections of
the publication including the "Dietitian's Corner" letter and the
"Here's to Your Heart" article both discussing the health benefits of
whole grains, like brown and wild rice. "The National Rice Month toolkit
we developed for retail dietitians was a huge success and this next step to
customize partnerships will help us promote U.S. rice throughout the
year," said Paul Galvani, chairman of the USA Rice Retail Subcommittee. "Working one-on-one with retail
dietitians is a great way to increase visibility of U.S.-grown rice in the
supermarket communication channels and boost consumer awareness and usage of
U.S. rice."
Contact: Katie Maher (703) 236-1453
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports
Reported
WASHINGTON, DC -- Net rice sales of 76,900 MT for 2014/2015 were up
noticeably from the previous week and 68 percent from the prior four-week
average, according to today's Export Sales Highlights report. Increases were reported for Mexico (53,600
MT), Taiwan (9,000 MT), Haiti (7,400 MT), Iraq (3,000 MT), and Jordan (2,100
MT). Decreases were reported for Japan
(3,500 MT) and Colombia (1,300 MT).
Exports of 44,900 MT were down 11 percent from the previous week
and 27 percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were
Iraq (31,500 MT), Mexico (3,900 MT), Canada (2,600 MT), Honduras (1,600 MT),
and South Korea (1,200 MT).This summary is based on reports from exporters from
the period January 2-8.
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
CME Group (Prelim): Closing
Rough Rice Futures for January 15
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Louisiana receives
conservation funding for rare snake, Fort Polk and other projects
Jan. 15, 2015
The rare Louisiana pine snake and
the Fort Polk military installation share a common bond as beneficiaries of a
new round of conservation projects announced by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture on Wednesday.Louisiana received approval for four of the 115 conservation projects in the country that will share $370 million in federal
funding through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program approved in the
2014 Farm Bill.
The program was designed to bring
together government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private landowners to
better leverage conservation money and to take on large projects, said Kevin
Norton, state conservationist for Louisiana with the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service.
Partners for each project will bring in another $400 million for conservation, bringing
the total to almost $800 million, according to USDA.Two of the four projects
are only for Louisiana and will bring in $1.5 million in additional money to
conservation efforts in the state. In addition, Louisiana was part of two other
approved multistate projects involving long-leaf pine restoration and rice farm
conservation.One of those multistate projects focuses on restoring or
protecting about 20,000 acres long-leaf pine in and around military bases in
Louisiana as well as South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
In Louisiana, that project will
involve the purchase of 6,300 acres of land near Fort Polk in an effort to
provide habitat for the Louisiana pinesnake. Although not yet listed under the Endangered Species Act, it’s
expected that the species will be listed in the future, said Richard Martin,
director of forest programs with The Nature Conservancy. Martin said the
Louisiana pine snake is possibly one of the rarest vertebrates in the
country.If that listing happens, training exercises on the military base could
be seriously hampered and, with base closures across the country, it could be
enough to put Fort Polk on the chopping block, he said.
“Fort Polk has said let’s try to
get ahead of this,” Martin said.The best habitat for the snake is located on nearby private property. The owner of that
property is willing to sell an easement and the property for restoration to
long-leaf pine, which is the preferred habitat of the rare snake. By providing
an easement for the restoration, the large property owner and Fort Polk get a
little more protection against accidental killing of Louisiana pine snakes
should they be put on the Endangered Species List in the future, Martin
explained.
This is not the first
collaboration between Fort Polk and The Nature Conservancy. For several years,
the two worked together in protecting the endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, which also depend on long-leaf
pine for habitat and call Fort Polk home.However, unlike the woodpecker, which
can be seen in the trees and largely avoided through precautionary measures,
the snakes spend a large amount of time underground and are not easily seen
when above ground, Martin said.In addition to the long-leaf pine project,
Louisiana also got approval for two state projects including $25,000 to determine
the best conservation projects for five watersheds around the state.
The state Department of
Agriculture and Forestry’s Office of Soil and Water Conservation and other
partners will use the money to analyze the most effective conservation tools to
solve soil and water problems.
“They’re going to look where we
can make the biggest impact,” Norton said.Once those critical areas are
identified, other government conservation programs can be accessed to pay for
construction or implementation of the developed plans, Norton said.The rest of
the state’s $1.5 million will go toward a rice stewardship program in the
southwestern part of the state. In this program, Ducks Unlimited will be
working with rice producers and other partners to develop ways to conserve water,
improve water quality and provide improved habitat for wintering birds.
“Rice is good for ducks,” said
Alicia Wiseman, Ducks Unlimited Rice Stewardship Partnership coordinator for
Louisiana. About 42 percent of the food eaten by wintering ducks in Louisiana
comes from these rice fields.Louisiana is also part of the national Rice
Stewardship Partnership project, which expands this rice field conservation
work to multiple states and will include ways to monitor the program’s success
over time.
Wintering geese flock
back to Texas after downward trend
By Shannon Tompkins | January 14, 2015 | Updated: January 14, 2015
9:34pm
Photo
By Picasa
The number of geese
wintering on Texas' coastal prairie and marshes more than doubled this year
from last year's record low, with the largest increase seen along the upper
coast, where rice production also boomed.
More than twice as many geese are wintering on Texas' coastal
prairies and marshes this year than the record-low number counted there a year
ago, according to preliminary data from just-completed aerial surveys conducted
each December and early January since 1948.The survey, for which trained
observers aboard fixed-wing aircraft combed the band of coastal marsh and
prairies between the Sabine River and Rio Grande, locating and counting all
species of geese, estimated 428,000 light geese (snow, blue, Ross's) wintering in
the four coastal survey zones.
That's a considerable bump from the record low of 181,000 geese
counted during the 2014 survey but still about 33 percent below the 1982-2014
average of 636,000 birds and not half the number counted as recently as the
late 1990s.While results of the annual mid-winter goose survey show a
significant increase in the total number of the big waterfowl on their
traditional Texas coastal wintering grounds this year, they also illuminate
issues surrounding winter distribution of North America's mid-continent
geese."One of the big things I think (the 2015 mid-winter survey) shows is
the strong correlation between habitat and where (geese) winter," said Kevin Kraai, waterfowl program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
"The birds are shifting their
wintering areas to where they find the best habitat."Increasingly over the
past decades, that has not been Texas' coastal prairies and marshes.For
thousands of years, 90 percent or more of the snow, blue, Ross's, Canada and
white-fronted geese using North America's Central Flyway wintered on the narrow
band of wetland-rich coastal prairie and marshes stretching from the Sabine
River to northeast Mexico.
Downward trend
Hunters and birders noticed that changing in the 1960s as the tens
of thousands of large Canada geese - birds weighing 9-12 pounds - that had
wintered along the Texas coast began stopping far up the flyway, where
increased corn production and permanent open water in new reservoirs gave the
big geese no reason to migrate farther south. By the 1970s, only a handful of
the large subspecies of Canada geese wintered on the Texas coast.But snow
geese, white-fronted geese and smaller subspecies of Canada geese continued
pouring into Texas each autumn.
Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, Texas' booming rice industry
provided outstanding wetland/moist soil habitat, and coastal prairies and
marshes wintered as many as 1 million snow geese, more than 100,000 Canadas,
and 100,000 whitefronts. Coastal Texas was the center of the goose and goose
hunting universe.That quickly changed beginning in the late 1990s with the
decline in the amount of rice grown in Texas.Texas rice production peaked in
the 1980s, with more than a half-million acres of the water-loving grain
planted. Rice acreage began a steep decline as changes in federal farming
policy made rice a less attractive crop for farmers and Houston's sprawl
consumed tens of thousands of acres of prairie and rice fields west and
southwest of the city.
Texas' rice acreage fell from 590,000 acres in 1981 to 215,000
acres by 2001.Changes in water policy triggered by persistent drought over the
past decade that included the record-setting single-year drought of 2011 and
increasing demand for water in urban areas have further reduced rice acreage.
The harshest blow has been the Lower Colorado River Authority's decision to greatly reduce or
decline to provide irrigation water for rice production or creation of managed
wetlands along the river's lower section, a move resulting in about 60,000
acres taken out of rice production.Texas rice production has been below 200,000
acres since 2006 and as low as 130,000 acres - a fifth of what it was three
decades ago.
Population booms
Those rice fields were crucial as feeding and roosting areas for
wintering geese. As rice acreage fell, so did the number of geese wintering on
the Texas coast. In 1999, the mid-winter goose survey counted about 1.01 million
light geese on the Texas coast. Over the past decade, that number has fallen as
low as 181,000 and averaged around 390,000.That decline in light geese came as
the birds' mid-continent population exploded.
The decline in the number of Canada and white-fronted geese
counted in the mid-winter survey of the Texas coast has been even more severe.
The past four mid-winter surveys have counted fewer than 20,000 whitefronts in
the coastal zones, down from more than 100,000 most years prior to 2000. The
numbers are much worse for Canada geese. Only handfuls of Canada geese - as few
as 100 total - have been spotted during recent mid-winter surveys of Texas
coastal zones.As with snow geese, the decline in the number of Canada and
whitefronts on the Texas coast comes as continental populations of those birds
booms.So where are all of those geese that once wintered on the Texas coast?
"There's been a massive shift of wintering Canada geese to
the north, and whitefronts have moved north and east," Kraai said.Snow
geese, too, have moved their wintering areas to the north and east in places
like Arkansas, where rice production has boomed over the past decades and more
than 1 million acres of rice are now planted annually.
Staying to the north
Huge numbers of Canada geese winter in the Midwest, where the
landscape has turned to corn fields. The birds are so numerous they have become
nuisances, and daily bag limits have been raised to as many as eight Canadas
per day."There's no reason for them to go any father south. They have
everything they need," Kraai said of the short-stopping
Canadas.Whitefronts are following a similar pattern of behavior, he
said."Not that long ago, Texas was where all the Central Flyway's
whitefronts wintered," he said.
"Now there are big numbers wintering in places like
Kansas."Even more of the mid-continent's whitefronts -
"specklebellies" to most waterfowlers - have shifted to the east and
winter in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley in Arkansas, he said."Thirty
years ago, seeing a specklebelly was a rare thing in Arkansas," Kraai
said. "Not anymore."Despite the steady shrinking of the wintering
population of all species of geese on the Texas coastal plain, the region still
attracts large numbers of snow geese and good numbers of whitefronts, Kraai said.
And some of the results of this year's mid-winter survey are encouraging for
those who would like to see the number of geese coming to the Texas coast grow
instead of decline, he said.
This year's survey counted almost 243,000 snow geese in the coastal
zone east of Houston. That's a record for the zone that includes Chambers.
Liberty, Jefferson and Orange counties and more than twice as many snow geese
as the region has averaged since the zone counts began in 1982.
Rice on rebound
That surge in the zone's snow geese numbers comes in the wake of a
boom in the amount of rice acreage in the area. This past year, an estimated
30,000 additional acres in the region were put into rice production as
operations that once grew rice along the water-starved middle coast shifted
their businesses to the upper coast, where irrigation water remains
obtainable.That increase in the number of rice fields - along with efforts of
landowners, waterfowl hunting clubs, wetland conservation groups such as Ducks
Unlimited, and state and federal wildlife agencies to pump water and create
managed wetlands - resulted in a significant flush of excellent waterfowl
habitat."
When you see almost a quarter-million snow geese show up - a
record number for that zone - and look at the increase in the amount of rice
acreage and other habitat, it points strongly toward habitat, particularly
rice, as one of the biggest factors in how many geese we see on the
coast," Kraai said."It gives me hope," he said. "If rice
acreage can rebound - if that 50,000-60,000 acres of rice that has disappeared
along the mid-coast comes back - it's not out of the question that we could see
wintering populations of 500,000 or 600,000 snow geese on the Texas coast
again."
Shivraj invites Modi for Simhastha Mahakumbh
Staff Reporter, Bhopal
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today urged
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grace the Simhastha Mahakumbh Mela, to be
organised in the state’s temple town of Ujjain in April next year. Mr Chouhan
met the Prime Minister at his residence in New Delhi and extended the invitation,
an official release said. Significant from religious and spiritual viewpoints,
Simhastha Mahakumbh attracts saints, seers, philosophers, devotees and foreign
nationals in large numbers to avail the benefit of this confluence of knowledge
and faith. International seminars over Swachh Bharat, spirituality and
conservation of environment and Earth will also be organised on the occasion.
Mr Chouhan also requested the Prime Minister to inaugurate the
Singaji Thermal Power Plant in Khandwa. Referring to the deep sense of agony of
basmati producing farmers before Mr Modi, Mr Chouhan said that APEDA has gone
in appeal against the Registrar General of Patents and GI’s (geographical
indication) order dated December 31, 2013 recognising Madhya Pradesh as a Basmati
paddy growing-state.APEDA’s moving the Intellectual Property Rights Board has
affected interests of the state’s farmers whereas situations are arising in
international market to purchase Pakistani basmati rice.
Mr Chouhan urged the Prime Minister to take steps in this regard
so that the interests of basmati rice producing farmers in the state were
safeguarded and the export of basmati rice from the state continues as
before.He also requested him to expand the ambit of private-public partnership
(PPP) by bringing the projects of waste management, rural drinking water
supply, micro irrigation, logistic parks, medical colleges and metro project of
Indore and Bhopal. The Prime Minister assured of all possible help on the
issues raised by the Chief Minister and gave his consent to visit Madhya
Pradesh.
Gov’t requests Chinese funding for rice warehouses
Thu, 15 January 2015
In a bid to stock 1.2 million tonnes of rice paddy, Cambodia has
sent a draft memorandum of understanding to China asking the country for a $300
million loan to build more than 10 warehouses nationwide.The draft MoU was
prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and sent to the Chinese government
late last month, according to Mey Kalyan, senior adviser for the Supreme
National Economic Council (SNEC) and leader of the project.Kalyan said Cambodia
is now waiting for the Chinese government’s response and expects to begin the
project mid-year.
“We will build warehouses that ensure the good quality [of the
paddy],” said Kalyan.“Our goal is to build confidence to creditors so that
those who store their paddy can use it as collateral for bank loans.”Kalyan
added that while the warehouse would be built by the government, it would be
run by the private sector, with revenue coming from millers paying maintenance
fees to have their paddy stored during the harvest season.“The success of this
project depends strongly on participants from the private sector,” Kalyan
said.A major portion of Cambodian paddy is exported to neighbouring countries
through unofficial channels during the harvest season.
Because of this, millers face severe paddy shortages once the
season is over.Hun Lak, vice president of Cambodia Rice Federation, said that
developing the warehouse system would help millers find more stable sources of
paddy storage.Lak added that there were other potential benefits as well.“Once
the government builds warehouse for paddy storage, we will be able to better
realise which kinds of paddy have high market demand and how high the quality
of our rice is,” he explained.“If we don’t address such issues clearly, we will
have a problem for this project.”But independent economist Srey Chanthy warned
that building more warehouses was far from a silver bullet.
Chanthy said that the country’s rice sector faced many other
issues asides from a lack of paddy storage, explaining that rice processing
techniques and the sector’s overall governance was still poor compared to other
countries.“If the government charges a low fee for millers to rent a place to
stock their rice, it will increase the competitiveness of the Cambodian rice
sector in some ways,” he said.“But if the service change is not affordable for
millers, they may turn away from using this service.”
Utilizing a Self-steering Robotic Tractor in the
Developmental
Phases of Rice
-- Feasibility Study on Using Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
for Precision Farming in Australia --
January 14, 2015
Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., and Yanmar Co., Ltd.,
have been commissioned to conduct a study on the effective use overseas of
advanced positioning signals from Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS)
*1, organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of
Japan.The study seeks to verify that advanced positioning signals transmitted
from the QZSS can be used in precision farming in Australia. Specifically,
demonstration tests will be conducted using the advanced positioning signals to
control a self-steering robotic tractor and perform actual farm work in a paddy
field.
At present, technical validation is in progress for three
high-precision positioning methods: 1) RTNet, 2) RMIT, and 3) MADOCA *2. The
demonstration tests aim to determine the optimal positioning method for
precision farming in Australia.The mainstream positioning method, precise point
positioning (PPP), receives positioning data directly from GPS satellites. The
challenge is that this provides limited accuracy with an error of approximately
10-20 centimeters, and cannot be replaced with data of centimeter-level
accuracy. The study aims to enhance positioning accuracy by employing a new
method, precise point positioning with ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR), using
Australia's electronic datum points *3, and make it possible to perform
accurate farm work with an error of 5 centimeters.
The first demonstration test, conducted in late November 2014
during the growth stage of rice, succeeded in controlling the self-steering
robotic tractor so that its tires run between rows of planted rice. In January
2015, the tractor will be used to monitor growth conditions. The study will
continue thereafter, performing several aspects of farm work at different
timings.
Following the study, farm workers and government officials will be
interviewed based on the demonstration test results to identify challenges in
commercializing precision farming employing advanced positioning signals. In
the future, a consortium is scheduled to be organized centering on the three
commissioned companies to actively promote precision farming. Plans include
further enhancing the accuracy of positioning data, applying the technology to
other programs, and expanding services to regions other than Australia, such as
Japan and Asia.
Study Abstract
1. Consignor : Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan
2. Title : “Study on
the Effective Use Overseas of Advanced Positioning Signals from Japan's
Quasi-Zenith Satellite System”
3. Details : Generate
highly accurate positioning correction data from QZSS's LEX signal *4 and
collect data on field and rice growth conditions using a self-steering tractor.
4. Commissioned companies : Hitachi-Zosen,
Hitachi and Yanmar, as core members.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), who operates QZSS, and
various research institutes in Japan and Australia for technical cooperation
and research support.
5. Roles of organizations involved :
Hitachi-Zosen (main contractor) - Supervises whole project.
Investigates feasibility of study, evaluates positioning data accuracy and
overall project development. Uses PPP-AR positioning function of
Hitachi-Zosen's multi-GNSS analytic software “RTNet” as a new positioning
method to generate highly accurate positioning correction data which is able to
superimpose on QZSS's LEX signal, and verifies position accuracy and
operability in the field of a self-steering robotic tractor.
Hitachi - Tracks and integrates data of a self-steering robotic
tractor and crop growth sensors installed on it into “GIS Cloud Service” *5 and
displays machine operation and crop growth conditions on computer maps. This
will verify tractor path and movement precision, and enhance farm planning and
operations precision.
Yanmar - Develops, manages and operates a self-steering robotic
tractor.
Hitachi Australia Pty Ltd - Conducts project management and
workshops, and coordinates with the related research institutes in Australia.
Hokkaido University - Supports precision farming research
(Agricultural Information Engineering Research).
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) - Operates QZSS
(Generation, distribution and conversion of correction data, technical
support).
Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRC-SI) -
Supports geospatial information research and investigation.
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University -
Supports positioning system research (satellite positioning research and
investigation).
University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia - Supports
positioning system research (satellite positioning research and investigation).
University of New England (UNE) - Supports precision farming
research (precision farming research).
Rice Research Australia Pty Ltd (RRA) - Supports precision farming
research (agricultural research on rice).
SmartNet AUS - Provides data from Australia-based electronic datum
points.
6. Area : New South
Wales, Australia
7. Period : October,
2014 - March, 2015
Commerce Min led exporters to sell rice to Hong Kong
BANGKOK, 15 January 2015 (NNT) -- The Ministry of Commerce has led a delegation of Thai rice exporters on a trip to Hong Kong, during which a cooperation contract will be signed between Thailand's and Hong Kong's rice trader associations
Gen. Chatchai Sarigalaya and the delegation of the Thai Rice Exporter Association will meet with Hong Kong's Minister of Commerce, Gregory So, and its rice importers. According to the Minister, a contract will be signed calling for Hong Kong to purchase 100,000 tons of rice from Thailand. This is the first time Hong Kong has signed a major deal with Thailand since Thailand lost her rice market to other countries a few years back.
However, the situation has changed now that the prices of rice from Thailand have dropped, enabling the country to compete with others in the market. With the support of the Commerce Ministry, Thai rice exporters hope to tighten relations with Hong Kong's importers, attracting them to buy more rice from Thailand in the near future.
BANGKOK, 15 January 2015 (NNT) -- The Ministry of Commerce has led a delegation of Thai rice exporters on a trip to Hong Kong, during which a cooperation contract will be signed between Thailand's and Hong Kong's rice trader associations
Gen. Chatchai Sarigalaya and the delegation of the Thai Rice Exporter Association will meet with Hong Kong's Minister of Commerce, Gregory So, and its rice importers. According to the Minister, a contract will be signed calling for Hong Kong to purchase 100,000 tons of rice from Thailand. This is the first time Hong Kong has signed a major deal with Thailand since Thailand lost her rice market to other countries a few years back.
However, the situation has changed now that the prices of rice from Thailand have dropped, enabling the country to compete with others in the market. With the support of the Commerce Ministry, Thai rice exporters hope to tighten relations with Hong Kong's importers, attracting them to buy more rice from Thailand in the near future.
Strategy to tap core export markets
via goods with strong potential
THE NATION January 15, 2015 1:00 am
THE COMMERCE MINISTRY is seeking cooperation from large,
established companies to serve as mentors for small and medium-sized
enterprises to help achieve its 4-per-cent growth target for exports this
year.Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said yesterday that his ministry
would adopt an aggressive export strategy with clear targets that show
potential for growth in line with current global trends.
A "cluster" marketing approach will be used to enter new
industries and expand marketing channels creatively with the focus on four core
markets:
Highly economically developed: Markets such as the United States,
the European Union and Japan, which account for 30 per cent of total Thai
exports. The emphasis will be on the elderly, institutions, hotels, casinos,
cruise ships, environmentalists, animal lovers and Hispanics, who make up a
third of the US population. The export value growth target is 1.9 per cent.
Mid-range economically developed: Markets such as China, India, South Korea,
the Middle East, Latin America and Russia, which account for 36 per cent of
total Thai exports. The focus will be on the "super rich". The aim is
to penetrate secondary sectors with potential, including encouraging exporters
to utilise the e-commerce/online marketing channel, as well as the modern trade
(retailers). The target is to expand this market by 6 per cent.
Developing: Markets such as
Africa and South Asia excluding India. The focus will be on tapping the
agricultural goods industry, construction, sanitation and raw materials
sources.
Asean: The focus will be on consumer goods, service-related
businesses, construction and investment. The growth target is 5.9 per cent.
Large, established companies will be asked to coach and assist
local SMEs by providing useful training and advice and accompanying SMEs abroad
to help them explore overseas markets.
Loxley has agreed to serve as a mentor for local SMEs to help them
tap business opportunities in Hong Kong, while Charoen Pokphand Group and
Central Group will do the same for SMEs interested in mining mainland China's
business opportunities. The ministry hopes to achieve the export target through
an aggressive but cautious approach to prevent potential international trade
problems or conflicts, as well as to restructure the export framework to
support long-term economic goals.
The ministry will expedite the sale and distribution of the
government's remaining rice stocks from this month to March. On March 15,
Chatchai will visit Hong Kong to witness the signing of a purchase contract for
about 100,000 tonnes of Thai jasmine rice. Next in his sights are mainland
China, India and Russia, where Thai jasmine rice is popular with upper-income
consumers.
Paddy farmers in Erode expect bumper harvest
Seed
requirement, human labour very less; revenue likely to be double the investment
System of Rice Intensification
(SRI) methodology of rice cultivation has been adopted overwhelmingly by
farmers in the district this year, in view of the twin advantages: higher
productivity, and lesser requirement of capital and human labour.In Modakurichi
block, for instance, farmers who have switched over to SRI methodology are
looking forward to reaping a bumper harvest.
Scientific demonstrations of the
benefits carried out by officials through biometric testing have convinced the
farmers.In the first place, seed requirement under SRI methodology is just
one-tenth when compared to normal planting.Fifteen-day seedlings of ADT 38
variety planted under the SRI pattern have shown robust growth at the mature
stage, in a five-acre farm owned by Sengottayan in Modakurichi village, who is
in the reckoning for State-level prize for best paddy productivity.
The farmer required only 2kg of
seeds an acre.Another farmer Vadivel, who has adopted SRI cultivation for his
seed farm at Odanilai is also looking for handsome returns. He is poised to
make a margin of two-times over the invested amount from the seven acre field
where he is raising seeds of ADT 38 and IR20 paddy varieties.Tilling is much
higher per hill in farms under SRI cultivation wherein saplings are planted
with spacing of 25cm.At the fields of the two farmers, the number of panicles
exceeded 45 in certain hills chosen randomly. On an average, there would be not
less than 25 panicles a hill in the farms under SRI, explained Kulandaivelu,
Assistant Director of Agriculture, Modakurichi.
There are only 16 hills a square
metre under SRI when compared to 50 under normal planting.But, in terms of
productivity, the number of panicles are more than thrice under SRI when
compared to normal planting. Also, the number of grains is close to 300 per
panicle when compared to 180 to 200 per panicle under normal planting method.As
the saplings are planted in lines, cultivators could rely on mechanised
equipment and shed dependence on shrinking number of farm labourers. Machine
transplanting was a viable option and power-operated rotary weeders could be
utilised, Mr. Kulandaivelu said.There was cost saving in mechanisation since
the rotary weeders perform the deweeding task, which would otherwise require a
day of employment for 20 labourers, in just a matter of few hours.Paddy
cultivation has been carried out in about 31,000 hectares and 70 per cent of
farmers have adopted SRI methodology, Joint Director of Agriculture Selvaraj
said. The new methodology had gained popularity fast, he said.
Why commodities are
taking a beating again
Wednesday, 14 Jan 2015 | 2:13 PM ETCNBC.com
Commodities took a beating Wednesday, as prices for everything
from industrial metals to grains slid on global growth concerns.Copper, which is often seen as an
important indicator of global growth because of its use in industry, fell as much as 5 percent on Wednesday. A host of other commodities, including palladium, rice and oats, also saw multiple-percentage
point drops on the day. Although separate factors weighed on each asset, some
factors affected the international commodities market.That said, some expressed
that the pain could soon be drawing to an end for traders.
"Commodities are going to be
a big deal this year," said Michael Gurka, founder and president of
BruinHill Partners. "We're going to have to ratchet our belts a bit
tighter, but I think we're about to hit a bottom."
Muriel de Seze | Photodisc | Getty Images
Copper wire. The commodity was trading at five-year lows
Wednesday.
The World Bank said on Tuesday that it was lowering its global growth forecasts for 2015 and
2016 on account of economic prospects inEurope, Japan and emerging markets. That outlook is weighing on commodities traders, especially
those looking at copper, AvaTrade's chief market analyst, Naeem Aslam, wrote in
a Wednesday morning note.Copper, which on Wednesday traded at its lowest levels
since July 2009, has faced expectations of a major surplus from mines. Many
analysts are revising those estimates, however, saying that supply should be
more balanced with demand this year than previously expected.
Still, copper traders are also
concerned about demand for the metal, which finds uses in both construction and
consumer products. Markets are particularly focused on growth in China, traders said, with all eyes on the property market in Asia's
biggest economy."The key might be in the second half, when we see whether
the Chinese property cycle recovers modestly or if it continues to slump. That
will be a key determinant in terms of how big the copper surplus will be,"
Xiao Fu, head of commodity markets strategy at Bank of China International,
told Reuters.Oil, of course, is among the
commodities that have suffered most in recent months—with many traders saying that it is
impossible to knowwhere the bottom for crude
lies.For his part, Gurka said he sees West Texas Intermediate crude finding support between $38 and $42 per barrel, but that
it will be a slow climb back upward.Investors are torn over whether low oil
prices will prove beneficial for global growth, but some have theorized that
pessimism about the energy slide is at least partly responsible for the fall in
other commodities.But as with the precipitous fall in crude, oversupply is also
to blame for dragging down prices across the board.Despite a vicious drought
consuming California, the biggest U.S. agricultural state, bumper crops elsewhere
have put downward pressure on farmed commodities.
The U.S. corn crop is at a record-setting 14.2 billion bushels,
but is still slightly lower than numbers forecast in November, according to the
USDA's January Crop Production estimate on Monday. Farmers produced more corn
per acre than they did in 2013, and devoted more acreage to grain production
over 2013 as well.Soybeans, cotton and rice production all exceeded 2013
numbers, with cotton farmers producing 25 percent more cotton in 2014.As of
noon EST on Wednesday, corn, oats and rice futures had fallen by 1.6 percent, 4
percent and 2 percent, respectively.Not all commodities dropped on Wednesday.
In fact, gold saw slight gains, stretching out a recent run of good fortune.For
its part, copper may be nearing a level where its cheap price actually begins
to spur new building in places like China, Gurka said."The pain is going
to be a little bit more, but truly there's value here in copper," he said.
"I'm buying when the whole world's selling."
report.
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