Drought-resistant rice breeds bared
By Manny Galvez (The Philippine Star) | Updated May 23, 2015 - 12:00am
SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija,
Philippines – Amid the searing heat, the Philippine Rice Research Institute
central experiment station here has identified nine rice breeds which have been
proven to be drought-resistant and produce high yields in temperatures as high
as 38°C based on a recent study.Thelma Padolina, lead researcher of the study
titled “Screening of rice-induced mutants for heat and drought tolerance,”
identified the breeding lines as the Ballatinaw lines, PSB Rc72H and Azucena
lines.
The Ballatinaw lines exhibited over
40 percent grain fertility under high temperature conditions and yielded
between six to 6.7 tons per hectare during the testing, followed by PSB Rc72H
with six to 6.2 tons per hectare and Azucena lines with 2.7 to 4.3 tons per
hectare – all better than their original parent stock.The Ballatinaw lines also
showed good milling potential with 66.8 percent to 70 percent recovery, in
contrast with PSB Rc72H with only 59.3 percent to 63.7 percent recovery.The
study, marked by a series of field and laboratory heat stress screening, was
co-authored by Lenie Pautin, Rustom Braceros, Dindo Tabanao and Arnel Pocsedio.It
was presented under the plant breeding and genetics category during the 23rd
Federation of Crop Science Societies of the Philippines, Inc. Scientific Conference
in Clark Freeport, Pampanga from May 11 to 16.
Headlines ( Article MRec
), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Padolina said that screening
promising lines that exhibit tolerance to drought and heat stress will pave way
to the development of new varieties that address climate change in the
country’s major rice-growing areas.She said that normally, rice grows at
temperatures between 20°C to 35°C and it is at its most sensitive during the
booting and flowering stages. Thus, even dry spells for a short duration will
result in substantial yield loss.
Padolina said her team
started the series of screenings in 2012 where 817 mutant lines were initially
screened for drought stress and leaf blast, and later for heat stress.In
biology, especially genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic
character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation , which is a
base-pair sequence change within the DNA
of a gene or chromosome of an
organism .The natural occurrence of genetic mutations is integral to the
process of evolution . The study of mutants is an integral part of biology
because by understanding the effect that a mutation in a gene has, it is
possible to establish the normal function of that gene.Mutant lines are
valuable genetic variations for crop improvement. They are the results of
induced mutation where their major traits, for instance plant height and
resistance to biotic and stresses, were altered.
Padolina said that in
this study, promising lines were identified: two from Ballatinaw and Azucena;
three from modern varieties PSB Rc72H, PSB Rc4, and IR58; and one from
Nipponbare.She added that promising lines were exposed to temperatures ranging
from 21.1°C to 34.4°C at field trials, and 34°C to 38°C at screenhouse trials
for three consecutive seasons to test and validate their grain fertility and
pollen viability.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/05/23/1457786/drought-resistant-rice-breeds-bared
DRR Rice Museum features traditional wisdom and scientific
breakthroughs
An integral and crucial part of the DRR Rice Museum is a mural
painting that gives a panoramic view of the various operations of traditional
and science-based rice farming. It depicts the different rice
ecosystems—irrigated, upland, shallow lowland, semi-deep water, deep water, and
floating rice. It also shows seed production plots and hill rice.The mural
illustrates how rice farmers’ lives are governed and regulated by the seasonal
rhythms of rice growing— sowing, planting, fertilizing, weeding, irrigating,
harvesting, threshing, and hulling. Their lives from birth to death are bound
to rice.As the staff and collaborators of the DRR celebrate its 50th
anniversary, the DRR Rice Museum is observing its 10th year of operation,
having opened its doors on 31 March 2005. The panoramic mural, particularly,
has been a solemn place for staff and visitors to pause in the museum—to take
some quiet time to reflect on the importance and significance of India’s rich
and diverse rice culture.
________________________________________
Dr. Mishra was project director
for the DRR, 2000-05. During his time, 144 inbred rice varieties and 9 hybrids
suited for different rice ecologies were released. He facilitated the
development of hybrid rice in India, which is now planted on around 2.4 million
hectares. He coordinated the largest AICRIP network on rice up to that time,
having 47 funded projects and more than 90 cooperating centers with nearly 500
rice scientists.
What
kind of rice do consumers want?
About a third of the world’s rice is produced and consumed in
South Asia. By 2035, about 194 million tons (source: IRRI Global Rice ModelGlobal Rice Model [2014]) of rice will be needed to
feed South Asians, about 40% of
which will be consumed in urban areas. Income growth, urbanization,
and other socioeconomic transformations have affected consumption and
preferences for food including rice. To understand the current rice preferences
and have a basis for projections of future demand for rice quality, we
interviewed 1,900 rice consumers in 11 major cities in East and South India and
Bangladesh.This is part of an on-going study by the Market Research Team at the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to understand market demand for
rice quality traits and characteristics, and to contribute to the development
of product profiles for a more targeted rice breeding program at IRRI and its
national partners.Our preliminary results are presented here.
_________________________________________
Dr. Laborte is a scientist and GIS specialist in the Social
Sciences Division (SSD). Dr. Demont is a senior economist and leader of the SSD
market and value chain research team, which includes Ms. Custodio, senior
associate scientist; Ms. Ynion, assistant scientist; and Mr. Paguirigan, GIS
and database management specialist.
Agri research key to
inclusive growth
Rolando T. Dy
11:00 PM | Sunday, May 24th, 2015
CONSIDER the following exotic names: Aromatic coconut, giant santol, guapple, monthong durian, honey jackfruit J33, PB360 rubber, cacao UF18, and MG/MD pineapple. They are preferred clones of agriculture crops. They did not come from nowhere.Products of investments in research and development (R&D), many of these are found in the Philippines, but their origins are from other countries: Aromatic coconut, giant santol and monthong are from Thailand; jackfruit J33 and PB360 rubber are from Malaysia; cacao UF18 is from Costa Rica; and MD and MG pineapple are from Hawaii.R&D is about improving yields, attaining better quality, shortening immaturity periods, lengthening shelf life, reducing costs, developing new clones or varieties, and achieving pest and disease resistance.
It improves the food supply and nutrition, creates jobs and
increases farmers’ incomes. These effects result in more inclusive growth as
more benefit from increased production, especially the poor.Various studies
have shown that R&D can impact productivity and food supply significantly.Peter
Hazel, an international expert on R&D, asserted that the breeding of
improved rice and wheat varieties, combined with the expanded use of inputs,
irrigation, and supportive public policies, led to dramatic yield and
production increases in Asia beginning in the late 1960s. In 20 years, cereal
production doubled and per capita income increased by 190 percent, improving
the livelihood of an estimated 1.8 billion people in rural Asia.Li Xin and
Yuan, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) researchers, cited
the efforts of plant scientists, seed producers, extension agents and farmers,
making China the first country to develop and commercialize hybrid rice.
With yields that exceed other varieties by 15 to 31 percent,
hybrid rice has allowed China to feed an additional 60 million people a year,
while reducing the land allocated to rice production by 14 percent since 1978.
Hybrid rice is cultivated on 63 percent of land in China.Another IFPRI report
claimed that zero-tillage cultivation techniques among Argentine farmers
contributed to a significant increase in the global supply of soybean.
Zero-tillage is a way of growing crops or pasture from year to year without
disturbing the soil. The use of zero-tillage, along with the introduction of
soybean varieties, improved soil fertility by reversing decades of erosion and
created some 200,000 new agricultural jobs.Still another IFPRI report in 2009
claimed that the genetic improvement of tilapia (GIFT) served as a launching
pad for finfish genetic improvement around the world. Based on selective
breeding, GIFT succeeded in producing tilapia that grows faster with a high
survival rate, thus increasing fish yields dramatically. Between 1990 and 2007,
tilapia production in the Philippines expanded by 186 percent, while production
costs fell by up to 35 percent.
In the Philippines, R&D appears to have weak support in the
halls of government and lawmakers due to its long gestation and limited public
visibility.“Government investment during the last 40 years has been
consistently below the minimum level recommended by the World Bank for
developing countries to sustain agriculture growth, which is 1 percent of the
gross value added (GVA) in agriculture,” said Dr. Eliseo Ponce, a noted
agriculture policy expert. “As a consequence, research programs have suffered
from low budget which, in turn, resulted in deteriorating R&D
infrastructure, especially critical upstream laboratories, and an inadequate
cadre of highly trained researchers. This has been exacerbated by the inability
of the country to develop a unified or highly integrated agriculture and
fisheries research system. In the Asean countries, the Philippines has perhaps
the most fragmented system.”Exceptions are the Philippine Rice Research
Institute and the Philippine Carabao Center, as well as the private but now
heavily underfunded Philippine Sugar Research Institute. They have developed
new technologies to enhance rice, carabao milk and sugarcane productivity.
By contrast, there is limited (or none at all) research program
for coconut (the largest crop in farm area), rubber, coffee, cacao, jackfruit
and banana. The private sector has greatly contributed to bringing in new
clones and technologies to the Philippines: Cavendish bananas from Central
America, pineapples from Hawaii, rubber from Malaysia, and palm oil from Papua
New Guinea, Costa Rica and Thailand.There are research institutions in the
world which the Philippines can emulate:
Brazil. Since 1973, the Brazilian
Agriculture Research Corp. (Embrapa) has generated over 9,000 technologies for
agriculture, reduced production costs, and increased food supply. It is the
leading center for tropical agriculture research in the world.Embrapa has 38
research centers and is present in almost all states, each with its own
ecological conditions. It has over 2,000 area researchers, 1,600 of whom having
doctoral degrees. It coordinates the national agricultural research system,
which includes most public and private entities involved in agricultural
research in the country.
Malaysia. The pioneering work of
the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) has had an impact on the local
natural rubber industry and those of other countries. Quality planting
materials determine the profitability of rubber plantation. RRIM produced many
clones, such as RRIM 600, RRIM 928, RRIM 3001, PB 260, and PB 350. Some have
found their way to the Philippines. In addition, the Malaysian Agriculture
Research Development Institute has made significant progress in tropical
fruits, such that the lowly star fruit (balimbing) is now a major tropical
export.Thailand.
The Rubber Research Institute of
Thailand, with headquarters in Bangkok, operates five research centers to
address different agro-ecological zones. It has developed two productive rubber
clones, RRIT 251 and RRIT 408. The country is the world’s leading natural
rubber exporter. It is also a leading player in sugar, cassava, processed
fruits, shrimp and chicken meat.Vietnam. The Western Highlands of Agriculture
and Forestry Science Institute (Wasi) is an agency under the Vietnam
Agricultural Science Institute. Wasi, established in 1997, is a consolidation
of the coffee research institute, mulberry research center, and related
scientific research offices, such as pepper and macadamia. Wasi has developed
coffee hybrids with maximum farmer’s yield of up to 4 kilograms of beans per
tree. Vietnam is the world’s leading robusta and pepper supplier.“Agriculture
research does not happen overnight. In order to have a long-term impact, there
must be sustained budget support to develop and continuously upgrade its
laboratories especially for upstream and strategic research and scientific
personnel,” Ponce said.Development of R&D human resources means educating
the most promising young Filipino scientists in the best universities in the
world.
There must also be opportunities
for researchers to undertake postdoctoral studies abroad. For tree crops, the
Philippines is not there in the league. The coconut research program of PCA is
not at par, in terms of investment and human resources, with other dedicated
institutes or research centers.IFPRI found that the Philippines had one of the
largest agricultural research systems in Asia in 2002. However, in terms of
agricultural research spending, the Philippines ranks behind Asian countries
such as Malaysia. Public agricultural R&D in the Philippines is heavily
reliant on government sources for support.
In 2002, the Philippine government
provided more than 85 percent of funding to the government agencies.In 2013,
the agriculture GVA reached P1,297 billion. At 1 percent, the calculated
agriculture R&D budget could have been P13 billion. In 2012, according to
the Bureau of Agriculture Research, the government R&D budget was P1.5
billion. Due to low investment, the country needs to tap other countries that
have succeeded in making technological advances. This had been shown in the
adoption of zero-tillage cultivation. Another way is to acquire good plant
varieties from more advanced countries through closer bilateral and
multilateral collaborations.
“The challenge is that, on top of
increasing the R&D budget, there is the lack of focus of many Philippine
R&D institutions, particularly the proliferating state college and
universities. They have to be rationalized, to achieve the critical mass of
cadre of researchers,” said Fermin Adriano, a noted political economist.Agriculture
research has a very high rate of social return. An estimate of the median of
the rate of return is 48 percent a year for research, according to IFPRI. A
hurdle rate of 15 percent is good enough.Agricultural research has proven
itself effective at increasing farm productivity, enhancing product quality,
and reducing costs, along with providing spillovers in manufacturing and
services. The resulting job creation is part of the outcome of inclusive
growth.
The Philippines certainly needs a
coherent research agenda in the next 20 years.(This article reflects the
personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the
Management Association of the Philippines. The author is vice chair of MAP
agribusiness and countryside development committee, and executive director of
Center for Food and AgriBusiness of University of Asia & the Pacific.
Feedback at <map@map.org.ph>
and < rdyster@gmail.com>. For previous articles, please visit
<map.org.ph>)
http://business.inquirer.net/192466/agri-research-key-to-inclusive-growth#ixzz3b8udwalg
Study throws new light on bao-dhan
City Correspondent
Study throws new light on bao-dhan
City Correspondent
GUWAHATI,
May 24 – Bao-dhan (deep water paddy), being cultivated since time immemorial,
may be an alternative option for the State’s farmers.
This variety of
paddy has unique tolerance to stress, which is not possible for any other paddy
variety. The seedlings can withstand drought-like conditions. During
May-September, which is the rainy season (flood season in Assam), this paddy
shows the unique ability to grow rapidly with the rising water level.Floods in
Assam mostly affect rice, the major staple food in the State. But the
government has not taken any major steps to control flood over the decades
Every year farmers
lose lakhs of hectares of paddy due to floods.Paddy is widely cultivated across
the length and breadth of Assam.In respect of nutrition, the bao paddy has high
nutritive value. A study led by Prof AK Handique and his team of researchers
from the Department of Bio-technology has shown that bao-dhan contains high
levels of carbohydrates, crude protein and lipids. The result of a similar study
carried out by Prof KK Baruah was the same, though the studies were carried out
independently.
The findings were
published in an acclaimed international journal Oryza, which is published by
the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack.However, unlike other rice
varieties such as Joha, Sali, Masuri, Lahi and other high-yielding varieties
(HYV), bao-dhan yield is low, but maintenance-free and takes a long time (March
to November) to ripen.Most varieties of bao-dhan are red and hence called ‘red
rice’. This redness is due to a naturally occurring compound called
Anthocyanin, which gives a red hue to this rice variety.This paddy can prevent
diseases like cancer, coronary heart disease, various diseases of bone and bone
joints, age-related health problems, etc.It was Prof Handique’s research team
who for the first time studied and reported the presence of Anthocyanin in ‘red
rice’ from Assam as early as 2008. The study, published in India Journal of
Plant Physiology, was widely acclaimed by the scientific community associated
with rice research.
Category: News
Published on Monday,
25 May 2015 04:00
Written by Musa Abdullahi Krishi
...Stallion, others owe N22bn duty
Twenty five billion naira in lost revenue was recorded by the
Federation Account between May and December last year due to importers’ clever
manipulation of the Federal Government’s preferential tariff policy on rice
imports, Daily Trust learnt from authoritative National Assembly sources in
Abuja yesterday. Also, leading
rice importers owe the treasury nearly N22billion in unpaid import duties with
Stallion/Popular Foods leading the way with N15 billion in unpaid duties, the
sources said.
Daily Trust learnt that some of the affected companies do not
want to pay the import duties and are putting pressure on top officials of the
outgoing Jonathan administration to prevail on the Nigeria Customs Service to
waive the amounts payable by them.Earlier this month, an ad hoc House of
Representatives committee led by held public hearings over the government’s
messy rice import policy at which different government agencies gave
conflicting accounts of the policy’s effectiveness.
Daily Trust learnt that the summary of the problem is that the
dual rice import tariff policy approved by President Goodluck Jonathan mid last
year allowed rice traders that are not granted concessionary tariffs to collude
with rice millers that were so granted concessions in order to evade payment of
the higher tariff. This the traders did by importing parboiled rice in the name
of rice millers, thereby paying concessionary duty instead of the higher one.Loophole
The loophole that allowed this manipulation was contained in the 2014-2017 Fiscal Policy Measures on Rice issued by Coordinating Minister of the Economy [CME] Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on July 8, 2014.
The loophole that allowed this manipulation was contained in the 2014-2017 Fiscal Policy Measures on Rice issued by Coordinating Minister of the Economy [CME] Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on July 8, 2014.
She said Jonathan approved the new policy “in an effort to
encourage investment in the rice value chain through backward integration.” The
policy provided that “the importation of husked brown rice, semi milled or
wholly milled rice by investors with rice milling capacity and verifiable
backward integration programs shall attract 10% duty with 20% levy.” On the
other hand, it provided that “the importation of husked brown rice, semi milled
and wholly milled rice by other rice traders shall attract 10% duty and 20%
levy.” The problem with this policy, the source said, was that while rice
millers were given a preferential import tariff, they were not restricted to
the importation of husked brown or even semi-milled rice which they must then
further process in their mills. Instead, they were also permitted to import
wholly milled rice which requires no local value addition.
Fears
The fears were soon borne out because last September, the Nigeria Customs Service [NCS] warned CME Okonjo-Iweala that rice traders were colluding with the millers to import wholly milled rice at the preferential tariff rate, thereby leading to loss of billions of naira in revenue. Similarly, the millers were engaging in wholesale imports of wholly milled rice, thereby defeating the purpose of the concessionary tariff granted to them. In several memos to the government, including one sent to President Goodluck Jonathan in December, NCS urged a review of the policy but Agriculture Minister Adewunmi Adesina insisted that the policy was on track and opposed any changes.preferential tariff
The fears were soon borne out because last September, the Nigeria Customs Service [NCS] warned CME Okonjo-Iweala that rice traders were colluding with the millers to import wholly milled rice at the preferential tariff rate, thereby leading to loss of billions of naira in revenue. Similarly, the millers were engaging in wholesale imports of wholly milled rice, thereby defeating the purpose of the concessionary tariff granted to them. In several memos to the government, including one sent to President Goodluck Jonathan in December, NCS urged a review of the policy but Agriculture Minister Adewunmi Adesina insisted that the policy was on track and opposed any changes.preferential tariff
While Adesina insisted that the preferential tariff rate granted to the millers was based on quotas shared after a national rice supply gap was calculated by a committee, the Customs complained that a list of the approved quotas was not made available to it until late December. By then, the millers and traders had engaged in indiscriminate imports of rice. The policy however called for the charging of higher tariff rates to any miller that exceeded its allotted import quota. As at May this year eight rice millers had exceeded their import quota even under the preferential tariff rate. They include Olam that exceeded its quota by 110,000 tonnes and has N3.5 billion in excess duties to pay; Stallion/Popular Foods [N15.5 billion in excess duties for importing 564,000 tonnes of rice above its quota] and BUA, with N1.5 billion excess duties to pay.
Millan Nigeria Limited also has to pay an excess duty of
billion. Sources told Daily Trust
that while the poorly worked out concessionary policy has already cost the
treasury more than N25 billion, it stands to lose another N22 billion due to
the unwillingness of some major rice importers to pay duties on rice they
imported above their allotted quotas. They are hoping to induce the outgoing
government to revise the national rice supply gap and raise their quotas so as
to wipe out the duties they owe for excess imports. The source said, “The government
cannot afford to lose this money at a time when it is facing a huge revenue
shortfall due to the fall in oil prices, yet some people are bent on
circumventing the payment. The rice import policy must also be reviewed by the
incoming administration to eliminate this loophole which has been duly
exploited by unscrupulous elements to sabotage the economy.”
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/index.php/news-menu/news/55491-rice-imports-fg-loses-n25bn-to-dual-tariffs
The troubling abundance
Shamsul Huq Zahid
The
production of Boro rice this year has surpassed all past records. The plentiful
production is a piece of welcome news for the policymakers. But it has in a way
brought miseries to millions of farmers and others involved in its processing
and marketing. The prices of paddy have come down to such a low level that
farmers are reluctant to dispose of their stock. Apparently, they have decided
to wait for some more time with the hope of a turnaround in the price
situation. But the hope of better price could prove to be elusive.In the
meanwhile, the small and marginal farmers who cannot afford to hold on to their
stocks have already become victims of the falling prices of paddy.
They
have disposed of a large part of their small stocks to meet other necessities
and repay the money they had borrowed to finance the cost of production of Boro
rice. Such an unpalatable experience, however, is nothing new. On a number of
occasions in the recent past, they had to sell their produce at prices that
were well below the cost of production. The
import of a substantial volume of rice by the private sector traders at cheap
prices from neighbouring India is largely blamed for the slump in paddy prices
during the peak harvest time of Boro rice this year.The government food silos
in India are usually required to sell off old food stocks after every three
years. The silos dispose of mainly the poor quality stocks at cheaper rates.The
inflow of a large quantity of rice procured at cheaper prices in recent months
has left an impact on the overall rice price situation.
Aware
of the possible impact of the supply glut of rice on local rice harvests, the
government started actively considering the withdrawal of the duty exemption on
rice and imposition of duty afresh. But for reasons best known to the decision
makers, it took a long time to levy duty on rice import. The delay in decision
making had allowed enough time to the traders to continue their import of rice
at cheaper rates. By the time the government decided to withdraw the tax
exemption facility, the storages of the private importers were filled up with
imported rice. So, they don't have any appetite for the locally produced coarse
variety of rice, which has led to the slump in paddy prices at major paddy
procurement centres. Reports coming from these centres provide a dismal
picture. The current price level of paddy, on an average, is equivalent to 60
to 70 per cent of the cost of production of the same at the growers' level. So,
the farmers find no incentive to bring their produce to the major rural
procurement centres.
Thus,
the reduced supply of paddy has resulted in the slowdown in activities in the
procurement centres and rice milling facilities. Many rice growers are now
pinning their hopes on the government's procurement drive that started from May
01 last and will end on August 31. But the rice producers can hardly make use
of the government procurement drive mainly because the government is more
interested in the procurement of rice, not paddy. This season, the directorate
of food will procure only 100,000 metric tonnes of paddy as against the
procurement target of 935,000 tonnes of rice.
The
directorate usually buys rice from the rice millers. So, the farmers have very
limited scope to benefit from the official procurement drive.Moreover,
irregularities, financial or otherwise, are rampant in the government's food
procurement programmes. The rice importers or exporters, it is alleged, get
information from officials concerned as soon as any move is initiated with
regard to imposition of duty, procurement prices, etc.
The
rush of private importers for importing rice in large quantities could also be
linked to the leaking of information about the imposition of duty on rice
import. The quality of the rice procured
by the food officials at the field level remains a concern. It is alleged that
millers, in collusion with food officials, supply poor quality rice to the food
department's silos. The possibility of supplying the rice imported at cheaper
prices from India to the government under the ongoing procurement drive cannot
be ruled out. Anything is possible in the government's procurement of goods and
services in this country. One can cite lots of stories about such
irregularities.
The
government leaders speak about the achievement of the country in food
production with great satisfaction. But they should find ways to keep the
growers of the main staple happy by ensuring fair prices of their produce.
Otherwise, if this kind of distortion in price continues, the feeling of
satisfaction at bountiful production may not last long.
zahidmar10@gmail.com
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/25/93942
NFA backs anti-smuggling
bills
National
Food Authority Administrator Renan Dalisay expressed strong support to Senate
Bills 2082 and 2765 that declare smuggling as a form of economic sabotage, the
agency's website said.At a joint committee hearing of the Committees on
Agriculture and Food, Ways and Means, and Human Rights, Dalisay said smuggling
destabilizes the entire supply chain of rice since rice is a highly
agricultural political commodity.
“If
smuggling sets in, our government will be at loss. Aside from that if we have
under import, rice prices will increase and if it is over import, farm gate
prices will decrease,” Dalisay said.The NFA is the only government agency that
issues import permits to rice importers, the absence of which presupposes that
the imported commodities are smuggled. Data obtained from the Philippine Navy
Western Command revealed that from 2013 to the present, naval forces in
Mindanao have intercepted P542 Million worth of smuggled rice or 301,138 bags
of 50kg or 15,000 MT in Zamboanga alone.
Recently,
Dalisay, who was appointed head of the NFA in November, met with Bureau of
Customs Commissioner Bert Lina, with Secretary Francis Pangilinan of the Office
of the Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization,
to discuss ways of strengthening government forces to curb smuggling. He said
the NFA cannot do this alone and needs the help of the BoC. During the meeting,
the BoC and the NFA agreed to maintain close coordination to eradicate
smuggling. Dalisay is also encouraging
the public to report to NFA immediately any suspicious illegal activities. “We
want to involve the public in our efforts to keep things in order. Your
assistance will be treated strictly with utmost confidentiality,” Dalisay said.
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2015/May/25/businessnews5.htm
Much abuse in national rice
subsidy scheme
MP
SPEAKS A few days ago, I had asked the agriculture deputy minister
whether the ministry would review the ST15 percent national rice subsidy
programme.
This follows the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) recent recommendation to suspend the national rice subsidy programme for having failed to achieve its objectives in benefiting the poor.
This follows the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) recent recommendation to suspend the national rice subsidy programme for having failed to achieve its objectives in benefiting the poor.
In
April, the PAC had called for the national rice subsidy programme to be suspended after
it found that there were no standard operating procedures (SOP) or guidelines
in the sale and distribution of the subsidised ST15 rice to low income earners
and the poor.The purpose of this rice subsidy scheme was to produce ST15
percent (ST15) broken rice, to ensure that low income groups and the poor would
have sufficient supply of the subsidised ST15 rice at a controlled retail price
of between RM1.65 to RM1.80 per kg. In 2014, our government allocated
RM528 million in its budget for the ST15 national rice subsidy programme. By
year-end 2015, our government would have spent in excess of RM3.9 billion for
the entire programme since its introduction in 2008.
The
deputy minister’s answer in Parliament - that businesses of rice millers,
wholesalers and retailers would be adversely affected if the national rice
subsidy programme is stopped - totally fails to address PAC’s concern that
subsidised rice is not reaching the intended target of low income groups in
Malaysia. The deputy minister also could not give me a straight answer on
whether the agricultural ministry has data on actual amounts of ST15 rice sold
by wholesalers to retailers on a monthly and yearly basis, after I had pointed
out to him that the agriculture minister had failed to answer this exact
question in my written question asked in the last Parliament sitting.Since its
inception, the national rice subsidy programme has been plagued with
allegations of government mismanagement, corruption and abuse in its
implementation.
Corruption allegations
Corruption allegations
There have been allegations of corrupt officials in the agricultural ministry demanding bribes to give quotas to wholesalers to buy and sell ST15 rice, and complaints of widespread practice of unscrupulous wholesalers mixing ST15 rice and selling the rice off as higher grade (ST5 and ST10) rice for profit.Additionally, there is no effective government control and supervision of retailers in the sale of the subsidised rice to ensure that only the targeted low income groups can buy ST15 rice.
There
is a clear and urgent need to review and revamp the implementation of the
national rice subsidy programme in its current form, failing which hundreds of
millions of taxpayers’ money will be wasted each year without benefiting the
poor, as the subsidy program was originally intended to achieve.As such, I
fully support the PAC's call to Malaysia’s auditor general to conduct an audit
of the rice subsidy scheme. I urge the auditor general to focus their audit on
the following areas:
i) Whether the selection process of ST15 rice wholesalers has been carried out in a fair, transparent and proper manner;
ii) Whether the government has implemented effective enforcement mechanisms to stop abuse of wholesalers mixing ST15 rice and selling off the rice as a different grade of rice to fetch higher prices;
iii) Whether the government has implemented effective measures to monitor and control wholesalers and retailers nationwide - to ensure that ST15 rice is only sold to the targeted low income group and the poor.
GOOI HSIAO LEUNG is MP for, Alor Setar and PKR supreme council member.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/299459
Lack of focus on R&D hurts progress
potential: minister
Artificial rice unlikely to enter Sarawak market, says authority
Posted on May 23, 2015, Saturday
KUCHING: The state’s Padi and Rice
Division under Agriculture and Agro Based Industry Ministry (MOA) has assured
all that there is little possibility for the controversial artificial rice
entering the local market.According to division’s director Ismail Sahari, the
state has not been importing rice from China over the past 20 years; thus it is
very unlikely for the fake grains to be sold here.“At the moment, we have not
received reports or complaints on the discovery of artificial rice in our
market,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He also said rice importers were
required to have approved permits (AP), adding that the constant close
monitoring of the grade and quality of rice brought into the state would ensure
that the supply comply with the nation’s food safety and quality standards.According
to Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan are
currently the main rice exporters to Sarawak.
Heading: Division to work
closely with ministry on rice import
“We will still be monitoring the
market and working closely with the KPDNKK (Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and
Consumerism Ministry), despite that we have not been importing rice from
China,” Ismail said, adding that his division’s headquarters in Putrajaya had
issued directives to all divisions nationwide requiring them to remain vigilant
and continue with their monitoring efforts.State KPDNKK director Dato Stanley
Tan, when contacted, also said his side had yet to hear any complaint on the
sale of artificial rice in Sarawak.“We will also be keeping tabs on the sale of
rice and monitor our (consumer) complaints hotline.”Meanwhile, a source close
to the ministry said the whole artificial rice issue could not be verified as
information based on news reports was rather sketchy.
According to the source, rice is a
very cheap commodity in China, which is able to produce a yearly output of
around 130 million tonnes – for both local consumption and export market.“This
questions the logic as to why someone would produce artificial rice. The
production cost, which includes that for polishing the grains, would be very
high and will affect its selling price,” the source said.The controversial
issue had been making headlines across Asean, in which it stated that it was
possible to manufacture artificial rice by mixing potatoes, sweet potatoes and
synthetic resin or plastic together. It is said that the target markets are
countries with large rural population such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam.Apparently,
the reports also highlighted the danger of the fake grains to the human
digestive system.An online news portal explained that the artificial rice would
remain solid even after being boiled for hours, while the resin used to mold
the ‘grain’ would emit the smell of burnt plastics whenever it got heated.
A press statement from the Health
Ministry (MOH) said it would continue to monitor the situation closely.“We
would duly update the public if there’re new findings concerning food safety,”
said the ministry’s director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. At the same
time, he advised consumers who were suspicious of the authenticity of rice in
the market to notify the ministry via the nearest Health Office, or by
accessing the Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) Division on http://fsq.moh.gov.my.
The Nino strikes
Saturday, May 23, 2015
WITH a mild El Nino still upon
us, the Department of Agriculture in Davao Region had already reported that
rice and corn farmers have already incurred a total of P55.96 million in
losses.As of April 21, DA 11 El Nino focal person Herna Palma reported that the
total area affected by El Nino in the region for rice is placed at 1,427.81
hectares (ha.) destroying 933.81 ha. and damaging 494 ha. while 591.64 ha.
total area affected for corn with 138.25 ha. destroyed and 453.59 ha. damaged.She
said that total losses in term of production for rice are at 3,674.75 metric
tons (MT) and 828.47 MT for corn amounting to P51.16 million and P4.79 million
respectively.For both corn and rice combined, total losses are at 4,503.22 MT
or P55.96 million which, said Palma may still increase by the middle of the
year as it has been predicted to be the peak of the dry spell.
As El Nino phenomenon continues
in the region farmers have also been affected with some pests and diseases are
which are arising during the hot months.Included in one of the most rampant
pests during these months according to Department Palma, in a separate
interview, include rats and black bugs which mainly affect rice and corn
fields.In a copy of the “Field Guide” booklet by DA’s Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice), rats have been identified under the “most harmful”
organisms as they cause extensive damage to seedlings on the early and
transplanting stage and they also cut tillers (stem and leaves) and eat
portions of developing panicles (terminal shoot of a plant that produces
grain). According to PhilRice, rats live one year or longer wherein females can
produce and wean 24 offspring in one year.
Rats can reduce yield base on their
number on the field.For black bugs, they also attack crops during seedling to
flowering stages; adults and nymphs are said to suck plant sap at the base of
stems and move up the plant and suck the sap of the tillers at night. Black bug
infestation during the growing stage can result to deadhearts (dead rice
tillers) and severe infestations causes young plants to die and make the field
appear burnt. According to PhilRice, this damage is because black bug’s saliva
is toxic.Other than pests, PhilRice, in another “Field Guide” booklet, had
identified sheath blight which is a type of disease that develops due to high
temperature. This disease can be found on the leaf sheaths that look like oval
grey spots with black brown margins and the base portion of the leaves. Sheath
blight is said to affect plants during heading and at maturity stages. Other
factors contributing to its development and severity include high nitrogen
fertilizer, close plant spacing, and high humidity.
For other crops, DA 11 had also
recently discovered a “highly specialized bacteria” which affects cassava
farmers in the region.DA XI Cassava Focal Person, Leorence J. Nasol, in an
interview, said that the phytoplasma disease attacks the different parts of the
plant which makes it hard to control.The disease, according to Nasol, can only
be seen once it has already infected the plant which can only be eradicated
after harvest by soaking the stalks to be planted in streptomycin sulfate for
six hours and burning the surface of the affected land area in order to
disinfect it.Nasol explained that phytoplasma disease is not a new disease;
however, as the cassava plantations are growing big in the region these
diseases are slowly being seen.
She added that the disease may
have come from Bukidnon because their planting materials came from there.There
are currently 2,000 hectares of cassava planted in the region.In Davao Region,
Nasol said that most cassava plantations affected were in Compostela Province
and Tagum City in Davao del Norte wherein the cassava varieties being attacked
are KU 50, Lakan 1 and Rayun 72. Native varieties of cassava like the ones
planted in Tamugan have not been affected by the disease.
Assistance to farmers
As El Nino had already affected the region, Palma said that they
had allocated around P22.22 million to serve as assistance fund for farmers
which could still increase if they have additional funds.The budget, according
to her, covered 6,923 bags of corn seeds, 4,200 bags of certified rice seeds,
1,130 bags of registered rice seeds, 10,000 packs of eight-in-one vegetable
seeds, and drugs and biologics for livestock."If El Niño will end, we will
give this to them," said Palma referring to the farmers.For the cassava
farmers, Nasol said that they are set to give out 2,200 packs of streptomycin
sulfate which can cover up to 200 hectares to those affected by phytoplasma
disease around June this year.
Other assistance for this year,
according to Nasol, will be giving treated cassava stalks to farmers per
province in the region covering 10 hectares per province under their Cassava
Seeds Pieces Production Program. She said that under the program the harvest of
the cassava will be given to the farmers wherein in return they will give back
500 bundles of stalk which will be given to other interested farmers.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao
newspaper on May 24, 2015
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/weekend/2015/05/23/nino-strikes-409101
Scientists develop zinc enriched rice to fight malnutrition
May 23,2015, 10.41 AM IST | | PTI
The new paddy seed,
called ‘Chhattisgarh Zinc Rice-1’, the first zinc bio-fortified rice variety in
India, was launched by State Variety Release Committee, the authority for
official release of new varieties of seeds, in March and its production is
likely to begin from the next kharif season. Similarly, researchers from Indira
Gandhi Agriculture University, Raipur, led by Girish Chandel, have rolled out
two varieties of high zinc rice, of which one has been released..
“We focused on increasing our crop production since
the inception of the Green Revolution. In the process, we managed to yield high
production, but the quality of crop did not improve,” Prof. Chandel said. In
2000, the Centre, along with, health organisations in a survey found that 60-70
per cent of population was suffering from malnutrition because of deficiency of
micro-nutrients, particularly iron, zinc and Vitamin A.
Following this, the government decided to come out
with a research programme to improve the variety of three staple crops — rice,
wheat and maize — in different states, he said. Under the programme,
Chhattisgarh decided to work on the quality aspect and took up ‘Rice Bio
Fortification Research Project’.“Currently, we have 100 kg seeds of this
variety and we are further planning to multiply it in 10 acres. By December, we
will distribute it to 5,000 farmers across the state,” he said.
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-05-23/Scientists-develop-zinc-enriched-rice-to-fight-malnutrition-152799
30% rural students in need of nutritious meals: Study
HYDERABAD: Almost 30% school students in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana are deprived of nutritious meals. This was unearthed by a team from
Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) that recently undertook an
international project to research on child poverty.Titled 'Young Lives', the
project studied the eating habits of almost 3,000 children from various
districts, including Anantapur, Mahbubnagar and Karimnagar.
While on the upside, it revealed that the enrolment
of students has significantly improved from 89% in 2006 to 97% in 2013, it also
inferred that one-third of these students were served no micronutrients in
their daily meals thanks to the poor quality of mid-day meals served in these
areas.Incidentally, as per official data, about 55 lakh students in AP and
Telangana 'the highest in the country' are dependent on the mid-day meal
scheme. The scheme, records suggest, covers students from Classes I to X in
77,631 schools in the two states. In Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam
alone, two lakh students are beneficiaries of the scheme.But is it reaching
every student? And in what way?
These are the
questions that the study brought to the fore. In fact, data collated by the
CESS team -- that covers an eight-year span between 2006 and 2013 'suggests
that nutrition levels have improved only by a marginal 4% during this period."Children
were found to be not receiving micronutrients in proper quantities. The diet
lacked protein intake," said F Galab, principle investigator of the
project. "Although the scheme has been implemented in most of these areas,
the composition of the food served is not up to mark. It is not enough to curb
malnutrition. The government should contemplate providing two meals with more
protein content," he added.The mid-day meal menu ideally comprises
vegetables, grains and pulses apart from oil and fat components. However,
nutritionists fear this is not enough for the development of children.
"Proteins
are extremely important since they build muscles. Feeding them two boiled eggs,
two glasses of milk, leafy vegetables and two fruits a day may improve their
health," said M Gayathri, clinical dietician at Apollo Hospitals,
Hyderguda.The state education department also admits that malnutrition persists
in rural areas. "We serve mid-day meal once a day for 220 days a year. For
the rest of the days, children are with their parents and they don't get
sufficient proteins at home. Meals provided under the scheme have more
carbohydrates than proteins since they are meant only to curb classroom
hunger," said T Chiranjeevulu, state project director for Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyaan. "The government has, however, recently started giving eggs and
super fine basmati rice to students to address the issue of malnourishment,"
he added.
Times
of India
Asian countries told
to build up rice stocks
soon
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Bangkok, Thailand |
Business | Mon, May 25 2015, 7:49 AM
Business
News
Asian countries need to build up
rice stocks as global supply may shrink due to growing demand from major buyers
like China and India, which will eventually push up prices, according to global
research house The Rice Trader.“China is still not on the pace to meet [annual
purchase of] 4.5 million tons this year, but they will make it. The fact that
they now only have 2.2 million tons suggests that they will buy aggressively,”
said Jeremy Zwinger, the president and CEO of the California-based research
institute.China, now the world’s-biggest rice buyer, imported 4 million tons of
rice last year, up from 3.2 million tons in 2013, according to data from United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The country’s rice imports in 2014 set a new record for a fourth
consecutive year.
The dramatic increase rice demand
from the world’s most populous nation began in 2007, when imports increased to
more than seven times the average of the previous five years.The Rice Trader
also expects Indian rice stocks to jump to nearly 10 million tons this year. As
of early May, India’s rice stocks had plunged by 22 percent to 22.23 million
tons from the previous year, according to statistics from Food Corporation of
India (FCI) issued recently. Rice Trader data from five rice
exporting countries — Thailand, India, Vietnam, Pakistan and the US — shows
that overseas shipment sin 2014 reached historically high levels at 34.67
million tons, up 12.4 percent from 2013.The potential of a long drought caused
by El Niño would be another factor to watch, as it might pose a significant
threat to production, Zwinger noted.
Scientists have warned that the
world is on track for another year of record-setting heat, with temperatures
having hit a new high in the first four months of this year. Australia’s weather bureau has already declared the major event
of El Niño, which is caused by a reversal of trade winds in the Pacific,
causing ocean temperatures to rise.Apart from bringing unseasonably dry
conditions to Australia and India over the next several months, forecasters
have also said El Niño could trigger famine in West Africa. Zwinger said that over the next several months rice prices would
stay at a low level on abundant supplies from rice-producing countries,
particularly Thailand.In the first two months of this year, Thai rice exports
totaled 1.34 million tons, and if the trend is maintained, the country’s rice exports
will reach 8.04 million tons, still much lower than 10.97 million tons exported
in 2014, according to The Rice Trader.
Within such a buyer’s market,
Zwinger recommended Asian countries, including China, Indonesia, and the
Philippines, to buy overseas, as the situation might change into a seller’s
market immediately, describing the current situation as a“transition” moment.“The
price now is very acceptable, especially with the risk that the oil price will
go back [up, the risks of weather we keep seeing and the fact we had many years
of lower production,” he said during Thai Rice Convention recently.As of May
15, rice prices from key suppliers followed a downward trend from the past
year. Thai’s 100 percent grade B rice price, for example, dipped by 3.75
percent to US$385 per ton, and India’s 5 percent broken rice price declined by
12.05 percent to $365 per ton, according to data compiled by The Rice Trader. Indonesia’s state-owned logistics firm Bulog finance director
Iryanto Hutagaol, however, said the government had no immediate plan to import
rice, as at present, rice stocks at Bulog warehouses was sufficient, while
production was good. Indonesia, the world’s
third-largest rice consumer, has delayed the planting season, which will extend
the harvest season into June from the normal end period in April.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/25/asian-countries-told-build-rice-stocks-soon.html#sthash.ooT1cJQJ.dpuf
Southeast Asia’s ‘harmless harvest’
Riza
Bernabe and Maya Quirino, Bangkok | Opinion | Mon, May 25 2015, 6:30 AM
Opinion
News
Poor small-scale farmers are the
world’s biggest risk takers. Imagine a poor farmer who owns a small plot of
land. She buys seeds with cash she borrows from a trader and must find a way to
manage pests without killing her vegetables. She must guess when and when not
to plant because weather patterns are no longer predictable. She farms even if she knows her produce will compete and
probably lose to cheaper ones imported from state-subsidized industrial
mono-crop farms elsewhere. In her 50s to 60s (the average age of farmers), she
gambles season after season, because agriculture is the livelihood — and the
life — she knows. Southeast Asia is home to poor
small-scale farmers like her who, despite hardship, prop up the region’s
agriculture sector. Agriculture contributes significantly to the gross domestic
product (GDP) and provides employment to the labor force of several countries
in the region.
However, Oxfam’s new report,
Harmless Harvest argues that climate change is undermining the viability of
agriculture in the region and putting many small-scale farmers’ and
fisherfolks’ livelihoods at risk. The report found that increasing
temperatures are linked to declining rice yields. According to the
International Rice Research Institute, rice yields drop as much as 10 percent
for every 1 percent rise in temperature. Citing a study by NK Redfern et al presented at a FAO/OECD
workshop in Italy, in 2012, the report found that in Cambodia, Lao PDR,
Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, rainfall has been below average since 2009,
resulting in droughts, which are correlated to lower yields and increased pest
and plant disease infestation. Where irrigation facilities are woefully few,
this trend is a cause for concern.
Rising sea levels also cause
saltwater to seep into water sources and agricultural lands in Indonesia and
Vietnam, affecting rice and food production, a study of the Asian Development
Bank found. Extreme weather events, which show up more and more on the
doorstep of Southeast Asia, are the bane of agriculture. The Fifth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that in
Cambodia, intense floods and droughts accounted for 90 percent of rice
production losses from 1996 to 2001. In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan decimated
more than 30 million coconut trees, on which hundreds of thousands of poor
families in central Philippines depend for their livelihood.
On the flip side, agriculture’s
contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is also on the rise. According
to the IPCC, agriculture accounts for 14 percent of total GHGs, the same level
of emissions from the industry and transport sectors. Large-scale industrial
agriculture is responsible for these agricultural emissions. Against this background, what can the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) do to make small-scale farmers and agriculture become
resilient to climate change? Bet on sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology. Sustainable agriculture practices include crop diversification,
composting, responsible water management, and rehabilitation of degraded soils.
Agro-ecology’s virtues include
recycling biomass to enhance the soil’s nutrients, managing water more
efficiently, intercropping, and using heirloom seeds. Agro-ecology upholds the
symbiotic interaction between plants, insects, animals, soil, and the
surroundings to maintain a flourishing ecosystem.
Both sustainable agriculture and
agro-ecology put a premium on small-scale farmers’ welfare and livelihood.
Sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology practices are, in effect, also ways to
adapt to climate change and mitigate its impact. Those practices will help
farmers grow food in a changing climate (climate adaptation) without further
emitting GHGs (climate mitigation). For agriculture to thrive in a looming
climate crisis, ASEAN must shift to sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology,
which can be expressed concretely in a number of ways. First, ASEAN must duplicate sustainable agriculture and
agro-ecology practices across the region. One such program is Systems of Rice
Intensification (SRI), which optimizes harvests without depleting soil
nutrients, and uses rice varieties that can withstand floods or droughts. SRI
is already gaining ground in Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Women, who
are also food producers, must be included in these programs.
Women are often mistakenly not
counted as economic actors, and are therefore left out of development projects. Second, ASEAN should look at forming a centralized knowledge hub
for adaptation and mitigation which will allow member states to share and
access information such as climate impacts on agriculture and good practices of
agricultural adaptation. Third, ASEAN should study the
creation of an ASEAN fund for adaptation and mitigation. Damages to agriculture
wrought by disasters cost billions of dollars. Early warning systems and
localized weather forecasting and climate data collection would save many a
harvest from being submerged. Finally, national governments in
ASEAN must incentivize small-scale farmers to continue or adopt sustainable and
agro-ecological farming practices. The stakes are too high for small-scale
farmers in the age of climate change. ASEAN must bet on poor farmers and
sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology for the region to deal with certain
risk.
_______________________
Riza Bernabe is the policy coordinator and Maya Quirino, the media, advocacy and communications lead, of Oxfam’s GROW campaign in East Asia.
_______________________
Riza Bernabe is the policy coordinator and Maya Quirino, the media, advocacy and communications lead, of Oxfam’s GROW campaign in East Asia.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/25/southeast-asia-s-harmless-harvest.html#sthash.txjyHJxK.dpuf
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