16th November,2015 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine-Latest Rice News

Rice News Headlines...

·         Pakistan needs a fresh disaster mitigation strategy

·         NFA targets 71,000 food guardians

·         Indonesia may face rice shortage due to El Nino

·         Plant scientists tackle big data problems at workshop

·         A new lease of life for Rudrur research station

·         New Director For Indian Institute Of Rice Research

·         Attending conferences is rewarding

·         Rice prices may reach boiling point in coming months

·         IRRI sees PH as rice importer soon

·         V R Babu appointed as IIRR Director

·         PhilRice should help build farmers’ climate resilience’

·         Marcos’s unmatched legacy

·         IRRI sees PH as rice importer soon

News Detail...

Pakistan needs a fresh disaster mitigation strategy

The rural economy takes a huge hit from frequent floods that can be better managed, says Ibrar ul Hassan Akhtar.

 The history of disasters in South Asia reveals what is at stake in the face of climate change. Analyses of data for natural disasters — from the international disaster database EM-DAT, and covering hazards including droughts, epidemics, floods and landslides — shows that India is the country that has been most affected by these events since 1900, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. [1] .Every year, agricultural losses related to disaster cost Pakistan an average of US$15-20 million. This is due to poor governance, rural communities residing inside flood-prone areas, a lack of adaptive agricultural research and a resistance to changing what has become a ‘flood business’ — the government compensating those affected by floods and then resettling them back to the same flood-prone areas. This spells a need to rethink the country’s national framework for disaster management to protect its agricultural economy.
 

Rising disaster risk

According to EM-DAT data, the risk of natural disasters in Pakistan has increased over the past 100 years: four per cent (four events) of the global total of natural disasters occurred in the country during 1900-1947, rising to 64 per cent (79 events) during 1948-1990 and 32 per cent (40 events), in just the past 15 years, from 1991-2015.Development policy has also changed, alongside these trends, over the past few decades. There is no doubt that Pakistan has shifted towards industries based on agricultural raw materials such as cotton ginning (separating fibres from seeds) or rice exports — much less agricultural growth is occurring among farming communities. The agro-industrial sector contributes around 21-25 per cent to national GDP (gross domestic product).

Wheat, cotton, sugar cane and rice are the crops of major economic importance for the country. Wheat is mainly grown in the Rabi growing season (October-May), which generally avoids the floods caused by monsoon rains that typically fall from June until September. It follows that extreme monsoon events and floods harm the national economy directly — through losses to life and of crops, livestock and houses — and indirectly, through the huge investments the government then needs to make to rehabilitate affected areas.Cotton, sugar cane, rice and other high-value crops are mainly grown in Kharif season (July-September), when they are most at risk from the monsoon floods. Cotton contributes an average of around 1.5 per cent to GDP, with rice providing 0.7 per cent, sugar cane 0.6 per cent and maize 0.4 per cent. 

Although geospatial technology can help to map and monitor areas at risk of disaster, this is not enough. The adoption of policies to reduce the impacts of flooding needs legislation.”

 

Ibrar ul Hassan Akhtar

The numbers on losses speak for themselves. During the flooding that took place in each of the past six years (2010-2015), Pakistan lost cumulatively more than an estimated 1,359,000 hectares of cotton, 372,000 hectares of sugar cane and around 1,391,000 hectares of rice. [2-4, unpublished data 2013-15]

No doubt, the 2010 floods were the worst in terms of geographical extent and damage to crops. But they also highlighted the lack of a preparedness infrastructure and mechanisms in Pakistan.
 

Life on the edge

Systems that rely on satellite technology, such as remote sensing and geographic information systems, have helped improve the country’s management of disasters, through near-real-time situation analysis, coverage of a wider area than could be monitored physically on the ground, and through spatial analysis. Crucially, this technology has also enabled us to understand how many of the country’s rural population live inside or near flood-prone areas and rely on smallholdings for their livelihood.In the province of Punjab, 531,000 hectares (4.4 per cent) of agriculture is practised inside the floodplain; in Sindh province, the figure is 489,000 hectares (7.4 per cent).

 During the monsoon season, rising rivers can easily flood crops up to five to ten kilometres around the river channel. Geospatial analyses have identified several districts in Punjab and Sindh with significant areas of crops growing inside floodplains during the July-September flood season.But although geospatial technology can help to map and monitor areas at risk of disaster, this is not enough. The adoption of policies to reduce the impacts of flooding needs legislation — to permanently relocate families to safer zones, adopt flood-resilient cropping practices as a preventive measure, and promote research into cropping systems adapted to floods. In essence, it needs a revised disaster-management framework.

Such a framework would also reinforce the role of technology, by promoting tools that are more time-effective and reliable. For example, conventional approaches to data collection in Pakistan rely on centuries-old administrative systems; they need to be revamped with state-of-the-art geospatial technologies that can visualise and measure every inch of land surface in the country.
Capacity building is important too: those running management systems lack proper technical skills, adding further to improper planning and the tendency towards unscientific approaches to tackling natural disasters.

Pakistan needs a framework that promotes proper assessments of climate change, develops mitigation strategies, maps risk-prone areas by classifying multiple disasters and supports research for agricultural adaptations that can add resilience to cropping systems. The country’s bureaucratic approach to disaster management needs to turn into a technocratic one.Ibrar ul Hassan Akhtar is a scientist at Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, Islamabad. He can be contacted at ibrar.space@gmail.com 

 The views expressed in this article are his and do not reflect the official view of his organisation.

References

[1] Guha-Sapir D, Below R and Hoyois Ph. EM-DAT: The CRED/OFDA International Disaster Database (, a
[2] Pakistan: floods/rains 2010 — Rapid crop damage assessment, series no. 1, series no. 2. (Suparco and FAO, 2010)
[3] Pakistan: floods/rains 2011 — Rapid crop damage assessment, series no. 3 (Suparco and FAO, 2011)
[4] Pakistan: floods/rains 2012 — Rapid crop damage assessment, series no. 4 (Suparco and FAO, 2012)

http://www.scidev.net/global/disasters/opinion/pakistan-disaster-mitigation-strategy.html

NFA targets 71,000 food guardians

November 13, 2015

 Leonard T. Pineda I

ILOILO CITY, November 13 (PIA) ---  The National Food Authority (NFA)-6 has intensified its campaign on food security by recruiting more food guardian volunteers in Western Visayas.NFA-6 Information Officer Cashmere Gemarino said that they are targeting at least 71,000 volunteers in the region who will advocate and perpetuate the best practices for ensuring food security and non-wastage of rice.“This is part of the agency’s #1for100iNFAntry campaign in order to form a proactive army of 1 million food guardian volunteers nationwide,” she said.

Based on research done by the Philippine Rice Research Institute, every individual is wasting an average of 2 tablespoons of rice, which becomes 3.3 kg annually and at 100 million population, it adds up to 330,000 MT (metric tons) per year.This also amounts to P27 million worth of rice wasted every day, or P10 billion worth of rice wasted every year.The NFA said that food guardians pledge not to waste rice; help in making sure that rice is available, accessible, affordable and visible in public markets; and follow the correct food handling procedures to make sure that rice is safe for consumers.Interested food guardian volunteers can sign up at http:foodguardian.me where they could get their free digital ID. (JCM/LTP/PIA-Iloilo).

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2421447385333/nfa-targets-71-000-food-guardians#sthash.ONFqdT6m.dpuf

Indonesia may face rice shortage due to El Nino

Workers unloading sacks of rice from farmers at the biggest rice market in Jakarta on Sept 9, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

PUBLISHED

NOV 14, 2015, 5:00 AM SGT

Delayed decision on imports also contributes to failure to secure target of 1.5 million tonnes

Indonesia faces the prospect of a rice shortage, largely because of a prolonged dry spell caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon coupled with a delayed decision by the government to import the staple for the country's reserve stock.Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong disclosed this week that the government had secured only one million tonnes of rice, half a million tonnes short of the target for the year end.

"We got only a small amount of rice at soaring prices," he told The Jakarta Post, addressing criticism about the delay in making a decision on imports that has cost the country not only in terms of stock availability but also price.He said Indonesia was overtaken by the Philippines, which entered the market early to rake in 1.5 million tonnes, higher than its normal purchase of around 500,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes annually.Indonesia secured imports at more than US$400 (S$570) a tonne, higher than the price of around US$340 in the second quarter of this year when the government floated the import plan for the first time.

HARD BARGAIN

We got only a small amount of rice at soaring prices.

TRADE MINISTER THOMAS TRIKASIH LEMBONG, addressing criticism about the delay in making a decision on imports that has cost the country not only in terms of stock availability but also priceIndonesia is the world's fourth most populous country with 250 million people and has been importing rice to meet domestic demand almost every year since 1985. It had previously been self-sufficient for 16 years.

Indonesians consume about 2.5 million tonnes of rice every month. The Jakarta Post noted that it is a politically sensitive commodity in the country because it is the main food staple as well as farmers' main crop.Mr Sutarto Alimoeso, chairman of the association of Indonesian rice-paddy huskers, told tvOne: "The government is doing a relatively good job in trying to ensure rice supplies are adequate because it needs to import only up to 1.5 million tonnes despite the fact that it is an El Nino year."Campaigns for the consumption of cassava and potato as an alternative to rice and repairing dilapidated irrigation systems are among the keys to ensuring adequate supplies for Indonesians, according to Mr Sutarto.

President Joko Widodo has made it a priority for Indonesia to be self-sufficient in key commodities - such as rice, corn, soya beans and sugar - and as part of this push the government embarked on a range of programmes, including infrastructure improvements in the form of repairs to damaged irrigation systems.Reports said Mr Joko earlier this year insisted that stocks would remain adequate even though they were running low and agreed to the import plan only late last month. He said the decision to import rice was necessary to maintain sufficient stocks in anticipation of failed harvests due to prolonged drought.

The declining supplies have affected prices. The price of the most widely sold "medium type" of the grain has gone up from 7,000 rupiah (70 Singapore cents) a kilogram in August to 8,600 rupiah now, according to rice trader Zulmawan, who goes by only one name, in Cilacap, Central Java."They decided to import late. Rice prices wouldn't have risen this much had they acted more timely," he told The Straits Times.Drought has badly affected the rice-growing regions of Karawang and Indramayu in West Java as well as Klaten in Central Java, according to Mr Zulmawan. "Stocks held by traders and wholesalers are declining. The worries are for January and February, ahead of the March main rice harvest."

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-may-face-rice-shortage-due-to-el-nino

Plant scientists tackle big data problems at workshop

By Patricia Waldron

Yaw Nti-Addae

Boyce Thompson Institute associate professor Lukas Mueller presents at the GOBII workshop.Participants at the first Genomic and Open source Breeding Informatics Initiative (GOBII) workshop at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) the week of Nov. 2 attempted to plan a one-size-fits-all solution to handling big data in plant research programs. olecular biologists, computational biologists and software developers traveled from breeding centers in the Philippines, India and Mexico, and from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to decide the best way to store and share the trillions of data points generated in the pursuit of breeding better crops.

Ultimately, the GOBII project seeks to create the architecture for a publicly accessible genomics database to accelerate the development of improved crop varieties.GOBII researchers work with breeding centers associated with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, a consortium that supports agricultural research for global development. The centers work to facilitate crop improvement, with the goal of increasing plant yield, nutritional value and resilience in the face of climate change.The database will need to be robust enough to handle a monumental amount of data of multiple types, while also being user-friendly so that plant breeders can efficiently make use of the information – a task equivalent to “finding a shirt that fits everyone,” said Kevin Palis, a software developer at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines.

Breeding centers may sequence tens of thousands of varieties of a single crop to create a catalog of millions of genetic markers for different traits like disease-resistance or heat tolerance. The mountains of data can be used for a plant-breeding strategy called genomic selection, which uses statistical modeling to predict how a new plant variety will perform before being tested in the field. But to use these markers to make better, faster choices, breeders need tools to access and analyze the information. The GOBII project hopes to bridge the gap between plant breeders and available genomic resources to yield better crops, especially in developing countries.“There’s so much information that one can store, and all the centers have overlapping needs, so the goal is to come up with the core requirements that are going to satisfy all the centers,” said Yaw Nti-Addae, GOBII’s lead software developer.

Nti-Addae said that the four-day workshop was successful in bringing the interested parties face to face and in planning out a roadmap for the project.In April 2015 the group received $18.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through Cornell to create a breeding database for five major staple crops – wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and chickpea – but ultimately, they hope to develop a system that will work for any crop.Previously, researchers working on a single crop have maintained their own data sets, using a variety of platforms, formats and terminology, which are not easily shared. IRRI has developed the International Rice Information System, but plenty of data is sitting in individual spreadsheets.

“We don’t have [a database] set up yet and we don’t have that much capability to develop something,” said Victor Jun Ulat, a bioinformatician at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Texcoco, Mexico.BTI’s Lukas Mueller, associate professor, is a collaborator on the project. His lab has developedCassavaBase, a database of genomic data and physical traits from thousands of cassava varieties. Peter Bradbury, a USDA computational biologist who works on TASSEL, a software program that analyzes sequence data to find markers associated with plant traits, also attended the workshop.“The plant people moved into the big data realm,” said Ramil Mauleon, a bioinformatics specialist at IRRI, “and now we have to find a way to get a handle on it.”Patricia Waldron is the staff science writer for the Boyce Thompson Institute.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/11/plant-scientists-tackle-big-data-problems-workshop

A new lease of life for Rudrur research station

P. RAM MOHAN

Regional Sugarcane and Rice Research Station at Rudrur in Banswada Assembly constituency is on the path of regaining its past glory with four premier institutions functioning at one place.It is being revamped after the launch of Government Agriculture Polytechnic College and Food Science Technology. Krishi Vignana Kendram (KVS) attached to the research station is also on the premises providing training to farmers in cultivable methods. “All four are at one place on the sprawling 300-acre land and all the research work on various crop varieties is going on well,” said Principal Scientist (Agronomy) and Head, B. Joseph.Established in the year 1932 by the last Nizam of the Hyderabad State, Mir Osman Ali Khan, to conduct research on sugarcane to develop high yielding varieties, the station subsequently took up research on other crops also.

The basic idea behind the establishment of the station was water being available with the construction of the Nizam Sagar Project.During the course of eight decades, the station had seen several ups and downs while carrying out research work. Scientists here developed several varieties of paddy and also sugarcane that was sent to the local Nizam Sugar Factory at Bodhan. But later, for reasons best known to the rulers, the research station was somewhat neglected.As of now, as many as ten agriculture scientists on regular basis and five research assistants are doing research at the station affiliated to Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University. “We need at least 10 more scientists to carry out the research work in full swing,” said Prof. Joseph.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-telangana/a-new-lease-of-life-for-rudrur-research-station/article7875787.ece

New Director For Indian Institute Of Rice Research

 November 13,2015, 03.36 PM  IST | | THE HANS INDIA

Dr. Vemuri Ravindra Babu has been appointed as Director, Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad by Indian Council of Agricultural Research.  Dr. Babu has assumed charge as Director on 9th November, 2015. The scientific community expressed its happiness over the selection of Dr.V.R.Babu to this prestigious position at one of the India’s premier Rice Research Institutes established in the year 1965.

IIRR has completed its 50 years and is celebrating Golden Jubilee this year, taking over of Dr.Babu as Director of IIRR on this occasion assumes a great significance. Dr.Babu hails from Nizamabad district of Telangana and worked in various capacities in several states like AP, Telanagana and Gujarat.

He had contributed immensely for agricultural research and is instrumental in development of several rice varieties and specialized in Bio-fortification of rice. His current focus is  ensuring  the  nutritional security to  the poor along with food security. ICAR has recognized his contributions to agriculture research in general and rice in particular. With the help of his colleague scientists at IIRR he is chalking out the strategies for stepping up the rice production, also to face the challenges emerged out of water, climate change and labour related issues.

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http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-11-13/New-Director-For-Indian-Institute-Of-Rice-Research-186298

Attending conferences is rewarding

by Zac Sarian

November 13, 2015

Attending agri-related conferences is rewarding in a number of ways. For one, you meet interesting persons you would not normally meet elsewhere.At the recent rice forum in Vietnam organized by Bayer CropScience and the International Rice Research Institute, we met Dr. Manuel Regalado, a long time researcher at PhilRice and now deputy director of the same.We were most excited by a novel concept on palay drying that he has been working on for sometime which promises a big impact on the rice industry once it is commercialized.

The technology will enable farmers to dry their palay faster and with very minimal loss in the quality of the grains. He calls the technique Far Infrared Ray (FIR) radiation of palay grains. In their experiment, this technique can reduce the moisture content of the grains from 18% to 13% in a matter of two hours. That’s so much faster than the conventional system of spreading the grains on a concrete floor or using a mechanical dryer that could take several hours to do the job.

DR. MANUEL REGALADO, PhilRice deputy director and scientist, has an ongoing research on the use of Far Infrared Ray (FIR) for drying palay. In their experiment, palay with 18 percent moisture content can be dried to 13 percent moisture content in just two hours with the use of the technology. The wavelength of FIR is similar to that of the water molecule in the grain of rice, hence the palay dries fast when hit by FIR.Dr. Regalado explained how FIR works. He said that the wavelength of FIR is similar to the wavelength of the water molecule inside the grain. If the grains are exposed to FIR, the ray hits the water molecule inside the grain so it dries faster with practically no loss in grain qualTo dry the gains, Dr. Regalado and his team made a ceramic plate out of lahar. When the ceramic plate is subjected to heat coming from a rice hull gasifier burner, it gives out FIR. The ceramic plate is placed above the grains that are moved around by a conveyor underneath.Once it is finally ready for commercialization, the technology will have a great impact on the rice industry.

VETERAN RICE BREEDER – At the Vietnam rice forum, we also met a veteran rice breeder at PhilRice, Ms. Thelma F. Padolina who holds a degree in chemistry and an MS in crop science. She heads a group that has been responsible in producing various outstanding rice varieties that are commercially grown by farmers today. She also heads a technical working group that tests certain lines before they are approved as varieties by the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) for commercial production.

Two well known varieties developed by Ms. Padolina and her team are NSIC Rc 160 and 218. These have excellent eating quality and are well liked by consumers because they are soft when cooked. These varieties are good for both the wet and dry seasons, yielding five to six tons per hectare. It is said that these two varieties are also the favorite of rice millers because they have a high milling recovery. 

Some millers use the two varieties in coming up with what they call ramble rice. This is a mixture of several varieties that will be acceptable to most customers. Why do they have to do that? Well, there is an inbred variety NSIC Rc 222 which usually yields 30 cavans higher than most other commercial varieties. The problem is that when cooked, the rice is hard because it has a high amylose content. So by mixing the varieties with more desirable eating quality, they can come up with the ramble that can be acceptable in price and eating quality to many consumers.

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AANI FARM TOUR – If you want to see an award-winning organic farm, better join the AANI Farm Tour tomorrow, November 15. The tour will visit the Costales Nature Farms in Majayjay, Laguna which has become a favorite destination for tourists who are interested in organic farming.Aside from organic vegetables, Costales also raises organic pigs and poultry. It has also become a training center for people who want to go into organic farming. It is an accredited technology provider in organic agriculture by the Agricultural Training Institute of the Department of Agriculture. You can contact Jocelyn Mahipus for your reservation at 0917-795-0616.

http://www.mb.com.ph/attending-conferences-is-rewarding/

Rice prices may reach boiling point in coming months

PTI | Nov 15, 2015, 09.00PM IST

As per the government estimates, kharif rice production is estimated at 90.61 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year.NEW DELHI: After pulses, rice prices may also shoot up and reach a "boiling point" in the coming months due to depletingstocks and likely fall in its kharif output, according to industry body Assocham. The report, however, contradicts the current price trend in the market, where wholesale prices of non-basmati prices are ruling down at Rs 25 per kg as against Rs 30 per kg last year. Similarly, wholesale rates of premium basmati rice have declined sharply by about 30 per cent to Rs 44-45 per kg at present from Rs 62-65 per kg last season, as per traders. 

Whereas industry body Assocham in its study said after pulses, onion and mustard oil, rice prices may trouble consumers if timely adequate safeguards are not taken. "...prices of rice may shoot up and reach a boiling point in the coming months as the stock of the key staple cereal is depleting fast owing to deficient rains and fall in output," the study said. As per the government estimates, kharif rice production is estimated at 90.61 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year. "...this is unlikely to be achieved due to severe deficit rains in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka and the best that could be achieved is 89 million tonnes," it said adding that overall rice output may be around 103 million tonnes during 2015-16. 

That apart, the study said rice stocks have declined in last three years from 24.59 million tonnes in 2012 to 13.89 million tonnes (plus unlimited paddy 3.61 tonnes) in stocks at present. "Increasing export outgo on account of PDS (Public Distribution System) and other welfare schemes will continue to weigh on availability in the open market. Unless government is able to handle the situation prudently, depleting stocks will soon reflect on the open market prices", adds the study.

The Times of India

IRRI sees PH as rice importer soon

by Ellalyn De Vera

November 14, 2015

An expert of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said the Philippines has a lot of potential, in terms of rice production, and could even reach exporter status.“I think it can increase production and reach a level where they can become a rice exporter,” said Dr. Tobias Kretzschmar, head of the Genotyping Services Laboratory of the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Division of IRRI.According to Kretzschmar, there are a lot of rice varieties in the Philippines that are grown and sold, which contain the majority of IRRI germ plasms, living genetic resources such as seeds or tissue that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses.

“But I think if we look at the very current situation, PhilRice is catching up. I think PhilRice is releasing more varieties into the market than IRRI at the moment. So from becoming a major work horse, I think we are stepping back in our support for the Philippines because the Philippine national program is strong enough to probably lead itself,” he said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/irri-sees-ph-as-rice-importer-soon/#6gHiKIj7pgHzJULz.99

V R Babu appointed as IIRR Director

PTI AUTHOR:           NITI PTI BOT - NOVEMBER 14, 2015

            Hyderabad, Nov 13 (PTI) Dr Vemuri Ravindra Babu has been appointed the Director of Hyderabad-headquartered Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).Babu, who assumed charge on November 9, hails from Nizamabad district of Telangana and served in various capacities at the IIRR, established in 1965, an IIRR statement said.

He has contributed immensely to agricultural research and is instrumental in development of several rice varieties and specialised in bio-fortification of rice, according to IIRR.With the help of his scientist colleagues at IIRR, Babu is chalking out strategies for stepping up rice production and working on issues surrounding challenges arising out of water, climate change and labour-related issues, it said.

http://news.niticentral.com/2015/11/14/v-r-babu-appointed-as-iirr-director/

PhilRice should help build farmers’ climate resilience’

 

November 16, 2015 at 12:01 am by  Ferdie G. Domingo

SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija—A former director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute said those in the agency must think out of the box as it pursues a climate-resilient agriculture for Filipino farmers.Calixto Protacio, former executive director, said this as the agency observed its 30th anniversary this weekend.The anniversary is marked by 70 rice varieties bred, 24 rice machines developed, 23 patents applied for, and several other achievements in rice research and development.Protacio led the two-day celebration at PhilRice’s central experiment station here along with officials and various stakeholders, including farmers.

“We are eager to do more so our research outputs will reach more farmers, particularly the resource-poor farmer,” Protacio said in his anniversary message.PhilRice, which has been leading rice R & D efforts since its founding in 1985, has provided cost-reducing and yield-enhancing technologies on rice.Muñoz Mayor Nestor Alvarez said with PhilRice, Muñoz is now heralded as among the major rice seeds hub in the country.“Muñoz is privileged to host PhilRice. Along the national highway, one cannot help but notice the proliferation of rice seed centers, making the Science City a major rice seeds hub in the Philippines,” he said.This certainly creates a domino effect in terms of livelihood creation from people manning the rice fields, sales agents, to the many of input dealers in the city.

Eduardo Jimmy P. Quilang, PhilRice deputy executive director for development, noted that the institute has become visible through the Be RICEponsible campaign, a nationwide initiative to convince local governments to issue ordinances on half-cup serving of rice on major food establishments to arrest the issue on rice wastage.Quilang said the campaign has yielded encouraging results. “We are all united to help reduce rice wastage in the Philippines,” he said.Eden Gagelonia of the PhilRice’s rice engineering and mechanization division said the institute is also leading efforts to mechanize the rice industry. “A number of machines has been developed to help reduce work load in farming and make them useful even for women farmers.

’’Meanwhile, former executive director Leocadio S. Sebastian advised PhilRice to “properly position itself” amid climate change and other threats to rice food production.“PhilRice should focus its programs, harness its networks and partners, and think outside the box in developing, together with our farmers and concerned stakeholders, options for a competitive, sustainable, and climate-smart agriculture,” said Sebastian, who headed PhilRice from 2000-2008.Aside from its central experiment station here, PhilRice also has branch stations in Batac City, Ilocos Norte; San Mateo, Isabela; Los Baños, Laguna; Ligao City, Albay; Murcia, Negros Occidental; Romualdez, Agusan del Norte; Central Mindanao State University, Bukidon; and Midsayap, North Cotabato.In 2015, Philrice received the Anak ni Juan Award from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhl).

It recognizes PhilRice as the agency with the most number of patents applied.Jerry Serapion, Philrice intellectual property management chief, said the award is a testament to the intensive knowledge production going on in the institute.As a research institute, PhilRice is tasked to advance the various frontiers of rice science. Protacio said that this year, more than 25 scientific publications have been produced by the institute’s researchers and scientists.Some of these were even published in some of the most reputable journals in the world such as the Journal of Food Agriculture and Environment, International Journal of Ecology and Conservation, Philippine Journal of Crop Science, and the Philippine Agricultural Scientist.

http://thestandard.com.ph/news/-provinces/192011/-philrice-should-help-build-farmers-climate-resilience-.html

Marcos’s unmatched legacy

by Cecilio Arillo - November 15, 2015

Conclusion

IN his first term, President Marcos immediately sat out to solve the country’s most urgent problems of inadequate food supply, lack of basic social services, infrastructure support and a lethargic economy controlled by aliens and a well-entrenched oligarchy. He relentlessly pursued his political and social platform of “rice and roads.” The priority was to achieve food security for his people.It was during Marcos’s presidency that the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was established to serve as the focal point of research efforts in rice technology, not only for the country, but also for the rest of the world.

The different high-yielding varieties developed at IRRI soon changed the agricultural landscape in most rice-producing nations in the Third World, includingour country. As a result, the Philippines began exporting rice in 1977. After being a rice importer for many decades, the country was able to ship 15,000 metric tons of rice to Indonesia. Since then, the country has been consistently exporting rice in varying amounts to such countries as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil, Australia and Germany. 

Aware that the agriculture-based economy could not compete with the emerging markets in Asia, President Marcos ordered on September 28, 1979 the implementation of the country’s 11 heavy industrialization projects and announced this before the University of the Philippines Law Alumni Association. At that time. we were already on the way to NIC-hood status (newly industrialized country).The projects were integrated steel, petrochemical complex, heavy engineering industries, the expansion of the cement industry, the industrialization of the coconut industry, an integrated pulp and paper mill, copper smelter, aluminum smelter, phosphate fertilizer, the manufacture of diesel engines and Alcogas.

In reaction, the International

Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank and their allies, including the President’s technocrats, led by then-Prime Minister Cesar Virata; the Makati Business Club, led by the late Jaime Ongpin and the Zobel-Ayala group; and the Center for Research and Communication, an institution associated with Opus Dei, whose spokesman was Dr. Bernardo Villegas, went to work, relentlessly blocking and delaying the projects at every turn.To oppose Marcos, they even came up with a sardonic slogan to dramatize their effort: “You can’t eat steel!”Visibly irritated over the negative reactions of the IMF-World Bank and the Makati business group, Marcos issued a strong public statement accusing them of sabotaging the country’s industrialization plan.

A year later, Ninoy Aquino, who ignored the government’s request to suspend his return to the country, was assassinated on his arrival at the airport. The incident triggered a political and economic crisis in the country, exacerbated by a spate of oil-price increases, inflation, capital flight and the deliberate tightening control of credits by the IMF-World Bank and other foreign creditors.As a consequence, Marcos’s massive industrialization plan evaporated into thin air.

Look what happened:

The economy in the post-Marcos years turned from bad to worse notwithstanding his successors’ accumulated budgets in 29 years of more than P30 trillion. This huge budget, which is now a subject of a comprehensive research work by the Philippine Council of Management Research Institute, was supposed to spur economic growth.By comparison, Marcos’s official accumulated budget in 20 years was only P486.42 billion. Yet, on records, none of them or all of his successors combined could not even match his economic infrastructures of roads, bridges, hospitals and schools; a tri-modal transportation system of air, land and sea; communication facilities; energy infrastructure; and the laws required to safeguard the economy and make it progressive.

Marcos’s laws and other edicts

Marcos crafted and formulated with the help of experts 7,883 presidential decrees (PDs) and other legal issuances from September 21, 1972 up to February 26, 1986, a span of 14 years.Justice Manuel Lazaro said these laws set the rules, regulations and penalties for almost every facet of lawful and ethical human conduct—from birth to grave.

They are categorized as follows: PD (1 to 2036); Letters of Instruction (1 to 1525); Letters of Implementation (1 to 157); General Orders (1 to 61); Executive Orders (EO) (366 to 1093); Administrative Orders (349 to 504); Proclamations (1081 to 2486); and Memo Circulars (599 to 1297).Out of the 7,883 presidential issuances, only 67 PDs or less than .01 percent have either been repealed or modified. The minimal percentage of 67 PDs either repealed or modified by EO 187 issued by Corazon Aquino were the decrees increasing the penalties for certain offenses against public order and security, e.g., PDs 38, 1735, 1834, 1974 and 1996.

Interestingly, the rationale and purpose of the PDs repealed or modified were resurrected in enacting Article 134-A of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by RA 6968. Notably, 7,816 issuances are still effective and enforced up to the present. These laws are eloquent proof of the wisdom, vision, dedication and foresight Marcos possessed as instruments of good and effective governance.Lazaro said: “No President in the country’s legal history had codified more laws. Worth mentioning are the 15 codified laws, with social and economic relevance. These are the Local Tax Code [PD 231]; Labor Code of the Philippines [PD 442]; Real Property Tax Code [PD 464]; Child and Youth Welfare Code [PD 603]; Insurance Code [PD 612];

“Revised Forestry Code [PD 705]; Code of Sanitation [PD 856]; Coconut Industry Code [PD 961]; Water Code [PD 1067]; Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines [PD 1083]; National Building Code [PD 1096]; Philippines Environment Code [PD 1152]; Fire Code [PD 1185]; Government Auditing Code [PD 1445]; Tariff and Customs Code [PD 1464]; and Code of Agrarian Reform [PD 444].”

More important, there is the Judicial Development Fund, the wellspring of the financial benefits of the members of the judiciary. There is also the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., a consistent source of revenues for the country.In essence, as long as the laws he issued are embedded in the country’s legal system, Marcos lives and they will continue to guide and safeguard the nation and its people.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/marcoss-unmatched-legacy/

IRRI sees PH as rice importer soon

by Ellalyn De Vera

November 14, 2015

An expert of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said the Philippines has a lot of potential, in terms of rice production, and could even reach exporter status.“I think it can increase production and reach a level where they can become a rice exporter,” said Dr. Tobias Kretzschmar, head of the Genotyping Services Laboratory of the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Division of IRRI.

According to Kretzschmar, there are a lot of rice varieties in the Philippines that are grown and sold, which contain the majority of IRRI germ plasms, living genetic resources such as seeds or tissue that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses.“But I think if we look at the very current situation, PhilRice is catching up. I think PhilRice is releasing more varieties into the market than IRRI at the moment. So from becoming a major work horse, I think we are stepping back in our support for the Philippines because the Philippine national program is strong enough to probably lead itself,” he said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/irri-sees-ph-as-rice-importer-soon/#eL8iRs2OIGmZUU2b.99