CRF
kicks off annual forum with rice competition
Mon, 25 January 2016
The
three-day festival, the fifth time it is being organised by the Cambodia Rice
Federation (CRF), gave out three awards in different categories, with the
announcement of two other awards to be made by Hun Sen today. The competition
was a way to push farmers and millers to increase the quality of rice produced
in the Kingdom, said Sok Puthyvuth, president of the CRF.
“Based
on this competition, the federation will know where the best rice is grown and
farmers and associations can study and learn more about the technique used
across the country,” Puthyvuth said.
Battambang-based
agricultural community of Sangha Phal was awarded the best paddy in the
Kingdom, with its representative Nov Sopheap saying the 200 farmers who make up
the community will now look to expand its operations and use better growing
techniques.“With the prize, we will expand membership and land that is farmed
to produce more rice. We will also provide technical assistance to people to
get access to good seeds,” Sopheap said.Chan Pech, general manager of Cambodian
rice miller Signatures of Asia, which won best parboiled rice, said his product
was popular in the European Union, where it was appreciated for its quality.“It
makes us proud that Cambodia can produce the best quality of rice, like India
or Pakistan.
The prize will encourage us to strengthen the
quality going forward,” he added. Cambodia’s biggest rice exporter, Amru Rice,
was awarded for having the best quality long grain white rice, while the
remaining two awards will be for fragrant and jasmine rice. Over the next two
days, the meeting will conduct sessions with technical experts looking to
improve productivity and access to finance, as well has have panel discussions
with government officials and the private sector.
Judges inspect rice yesterday at the Sokha
Hotel in Phnom Penh during the Cambodian Rice Federation's annual rice
festival. Pha Lina
$10-M IRRI seed lab to study climate change effect
on rice
By: Maricar Cinco
03:42 AM January 25th,
2016
LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—Imagine giant refrigerators and
microwave ovens.A $10-million (approximately P480 million) plant-growth
facility, meant for the studies of the impact of climate change on rice
production, has started operating at the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) compound here.Sprawled across a 3,000-square meter area, the
Australian-funded facility has eight controlled environment glasshouses and
large sets of plant and seed laboratories that can simulate weather conditions
such as drought, flood and heat.
It allows researchers to “precisely control”
temperature, humidity, light intensity, atmospheric gases and water management
systems, an IRRI statement said.
“Fundamentally, (the facility will) enable scientists to
simulate the effects of climate change,” said Bruce Tolentino, IRRI deputy
director general for communication and partnerships, in an interview at the
opening of the facility last week.“We will know exactly how the plants react to
the effects of climate change and ensure how [they] will continue to grow and be
productive [under these conditions],” he said.Tolentino described the chambers
as something like “giant refrigerators, microwaves or incubators that simulate
climate conditions experienced in different countries such as the Philippines,
Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.
”The facility was named after Lloyd T. Evans, the late
Australian plant physiologist and a member of the IRRI board of trustees from
1984 to 1989. It was funded by the Australian government through the Australian
Centre for International Agricultural Research.Tolentino said about three to
four dozen scientists from around the globe would be working at the new plant
facility.He said similar research facilities were being built by the Philippine
government on the University of the Philippines Diliman and Los Baños campuses,
but IRRI remains to be the leading institution in science work.
https://www.whatech.com/market-research/agriculture/124820-latest-rice-seed-market-research-for-agriculture-sector-released-with-historic-and-forecasts-data
Price Controls
Re-emerge in Cuba’s 2016 Economy
Unable to meet production targets, Cuba
imports more than 60% of its consumption of rice.Prior to the 1962 embargo,
Cuba was the number one export destination for US-grown rice. In 2000,
Congress permitted US agricultural exports to Cuba. US rice sales to the
island nation totaled 635,000 MT between 2002 and 2006. A rule tightening
in 2005 crippled US exports to Cuba, and there have been no US rice sales to
Cuba since 2008.According to the USDA, Cuba’s field yields averaged 2.8 metric
tons per hectare (rough-rice basis) from 2009/10 to 2013/14 and have shown no
signs of long-term growth since the late 1970s. Cuba’s yields are low compared
with other rice growing countries in the region. From 2009/10 to 2013/14, rice
yields averaged 4.7 metric tons per hectare in the Dominican Republic, 4.4
metric tons in Nicaragua, and 3.5 metric tons in Costa Rica.
In another
development, a Pakistani ship set several days ago sail carrying around 15,000
tons rice to Cuba.Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, said that
Pakistan would extend all possible assistance to help Cuba by reciprocating in
the same spirit as Cuba had done by sending teams of doctors following the
aftermath of the country’s magnitude 7.6 earthquake that took the lives of more
than 100,000 Pakistanis in 2005.
Cagayan farmers get
drought-resistant rice variety
January 24, 2016 8:06 pm
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan: Farmers in Cagayan Valley are adopting a
drought-resistant rice variety recommended to them by the Department of
Agriculture (DA) to combat the effects of the long dry spell that has resulted
in the loss of more than P2 billion worth of crops in the region.Ernesto
Guzman, DA-Region 2 chief of operations, said they are introducing the rice
variety called “green super rice” (GSR) to help farmers’ cope with the effects
of the prolonged El Niño phenomenon.He said farmers in the towns of Amulung and
Lallo in Cagayan; Cauayan City in Isabela; and Mad¬dela town in Quirino–areas
in Caga¬yan Valley that suffered the most from natural calamities–were the
first recipients of the said variety.Guzman explained the GSR variety is a
product of research on drought resistant crops and this suits the environment
in Cagayan Valley. Region 2 is vulnerable to a prolonged dry spell weather
condition during summer up to the third quarter of this year.
“GSR variety could survive during dry
season and could produce yields even without pesticides and less fertilizer
inputs. Based on our thorough research, the green super rice variety has a
better yield and higher production compared to the usual varieties planted by
farmers,” he added.The DA office in Region 2 has initially allocated more than
3,000 sacks of GSR for distribution to farmers in the areas most affected by
the long dry spell and those recently hit by the onslaught of typhoons and
floodings.“Our policy is to provide one sack of green super rice variety per
family to give chance to others to avail of the said variety,” Guzman said.
Meanwhile, DA officials said research
expansion is being conducted in the towns of Iguig and Gonzaga in Cagayan; and
towns of of Alicia and Burgos and Santiago City in Isabela to boost production
of GSR seeds to be distributed to more farmers in the region.“We would like to
assure our farmers in Cagayan Valley of the GSR variety’s good quality as
staple food which will surely be patronized by consumers,” Guzman added
http://www.manilatimes.net/cagayan-farmers-get-drought-resistant-rice-variety/241152/
Latest rice seed market research for agriculture sector released with
historic and forecasts data
Published on Monday, 25 January
2016 19:08
Rice
Seed Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on
the current market state of rice seeds providing a basic overview of the
industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry
chain structure. The Rice Seed market
analysis is provided for the international market including development
history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions’ development status.
Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes
and cost structures.This report also states import/export, supply and
consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions
(United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.
This
research on rice seed market helps focus on global major leading industry
players with information such as company profiles, product picture and
specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact
information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers
analysis is also carried out.What’s more, the Rice Seed industry development
trends and marketing channels are analyzed.
Finally,
the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research
conclusions are offered. Companies profiled in this rice seed market report
include Dupont Pioneer (USA), Bayer (Germany), Nuziveedu (India), Kaveri
(India), Mahyco (India), RiceTec (USA), Krishidhan (India), Rasi Seeds (India),
JK Seeds (India), Syngenta (Switzerland), Longping (China), China Seed (China),
Grand Agriseeds (China)¸ DBN (China)¸ Hefei Fengle (China), Win-all Hi-tech
(China), Gansu Dunhuang (China)¸ Dongya Seed (China), KeepLong Seeds (China),
Hengmao (China)¸ OPULENT Technology (China)¸ Zhongnongfa (China)¸ Anhui Nongken
(China), Beijing Doneed (China), Origin Seed (China)¸ Hefei Fengbao (China) and
CHENGDU JINZHUO (China).
https://www.whatech.com/market-research/agriculture/124820-latest-rice-seed-market-research-for-agriculture-sector-released-with-historic-and-forecasts-data
Sanctions removal: Rice export to Iran ineffective sans
detailed mechanism
| REAP chairman wants Pak, Iranian banking sectors to establish active
linkages to facilitate traders
January 24, 2016
Salman Abduhu
LAHORE - The
restart of rice export to Iran will remain ineffective until detailed mechanism
is evolved and appropriate currency transfer arrangements are made through
State Bank of Pakistan, which has not been implemented so far. Pakistan’s rice
export is stagnant for the last many years, both in quantitative and value
terms and is hovering around 4 million tons in quantity and $2 billion in
worth. “Although
Iran could be a huge market for Pakistani rice but country’s rice sector is not
ready to take advantage of this opportunity yet, because energy crisis and lack
of research & development, which leads to development of new seeds, have
turned us regionally uncompetitive,” said Rice Exporters Association of
Pakistan chairman Ch Shafique.
He appreciated the lifting of sanctions on Iran, as it will provide Pakistan with a historic opportunity to raise mutual trade and investment. REAP chairman demanded that the banking sectors of the two countries should also establish active linkages within weeks to facilitate traders to channel their payments. “In the past few years, lack of recognised and trustable payment mechanism through banks proved to be the single largest factor hindering bilateral trade,” he added. Bilateral trade with Iran fell drastically as a result of sanctions and the unwillingness of banks to finance trade. “The last hurdle in resuming smooth trade relations between the two countries has been removed, providing an opportunity to implement the projects which have been in limbo for the last few years,” REAP chairman opined.
Pakistan once
was the largest exporter of rice to Iran before imposition of sanctions on
Iran, but now almost 80 per cent of rice is going to Iran from India though
import from Pakistan is more economical, he said.The REAP chairman also
appreciated the move of government to initiate a free trade agreement (FTA)
with Iran in the wake of lifting of sanctions on Tehran, as Commerce Minister
Khurram Dasatgir Khan a few days back had stated that Pakistan was interested
in negotiating an agreement with Iran. Ch
Shafique also welcomed the Pakistani plan to construct three border posts along
the Iran border on modern lines to facilitate the land trade. The next logical
step after a preferential trade agreement is an FTA and Pakistan couldn’t find
a better time to initiate negotiations on a new trade agreement, he opined.
“New
circumstances merit new agreements and enhanced cooperation for the mutual
benefit of the two neighbours,” he added. “Pakistan
wants more predictability in tariffs on agricultural produce and products from
Iran. Iranian duties on agriculture fluctuate widely depending upon the time of
harvest ranging from on-seasonal highs to off-seasonal lows. The two sides need
to agree on sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards as this proves an unwanted
barrier in bilateral trade,” he said. Ch
Shafique hoped the conclusion of an FTA between Pakistan and Iran and inclusion
of Iran back into the world trading system would bring more predictability and
clarity and the seasonal shifts in duties and trading pattern would give way to
surer trading regime
http://nation.com.pk/business/24-Jan-2016/sanctions-removal-rice-export-to-iran-ineffective-sans-detailed-mechanism
Why is rice-based farming good for farmers and consumers?
The
rice-based farming framework promoted by the Philippine Rice Research
Institute. Source: RTM/PhilRice
Rice-based farming will increase farmers’ income and
consumers will have healthier options according to Dr. Eufemio T. Rasco Jr., of
the National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST) and a former executive
director of PhilRice.The said approach requires diversification, integration,
and intensification of farming practices.
“Instead of rice mono-cropping, farmers should also grow
other crops, and livestock alongside rice. With the use of existing models like
vermiculture, mushroom production, mungbean, corn, garlic, duck, and fish that
can be grown and maintained alongside with rice, farmers will have reduced
dependence on rice as the main source of income,” said Rasco during a seminar
at PhilRice, 13 January.
Rasco highlighted the significance of Palayamanayon, a PhilRice advocacy that aims to
transform a community of farmers into agri-preneurs. Its scope is not limited
to crops and livestock but also covers fishes and vermiculture. Its scale is
not just for household food security but also covers the national food security
as well.In Palayamanayon, everything
a farmer places in his farm serves a purpose. With rice as the main crop,
vegetables and livestock are also integrated to optimize the overall farm
system. Ducks and fish may be integrated for pest control and added income; or
azolla may be planted as source of organic inputs. Nothing is wasted in the
close-loop method.
With rice-based farming, consumers may also try other
staples. Kamote, cassava, white corn,
brown rice, and parboiled rice are among them. Raco also emphasized the
consumption of brown rice in-line with the Brown4Good campaign of the Institute. It is also rich with dietary fibers,
magnesium, selenium and other vitamins that help reduce the risk of colon
cancer.
PhilRice has new
deputies
Dr. Calixto M. Protacio, executive director of PhilRice,
designated three acting deputy executive directors (DED), effective January to
December 2016.Roger F. Barroga has been designated as acting DED for
administration. Drs. Eduardo Jimmy P. Quilang and Flordeliza H. Bordey have
been designated as acting deputies for research and for development,
respectively.
Barroga currently leads FutureRice, a program that explores
ways to increase current rice output using 21st century and practical cutting
edge technologies. He was the former director of the Open Academy for
Philippine Agriculture (OpAPA), a consortium of agriculture stakeholders that
enabled the Philippine agriculture benefit from modernized ICT. OpAPA was the
recipient of the 2010 International Prize for Pioneering Human Development
Projects awarded by the the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND).
Barroga holds Master’s degree in Development Communication
from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Quilang was PhilRice’s DED
for Development from 2011to 2015. Under his watch, several campaigns and
special projects were launched such as the Palayabangan:
The 10-5 Challenge, PalaYamaNayon:
The Rural Transformation Movement, Be Riceponsible Campaign, Gusto Namin Milyonaryo Kayo Campaign,
Best Station Contest, and Rice Science Museum. The new DED for Research holds a
PhD in Agricultural Sciences specializing in Bioproduction Environmental
Science from Kyushu University in Japan under the Monbukagakusho Scholarship.
Meanwhile, Bordey, an economist, was former head of
PhilRice’s Socioeconomics Division. She leads the DA-FSSP-funded project titled
Benchmarking the Philippine Rice Economy
Relative to Major Rice-Producing Countries in Asia. In 2010, she was the
program lead of the Impact evaluation,
policy research and advocacy program of
the Institute. She obtained her PhD in Agricultural Economics at the University
of Illinois in 2010 under the Fulbright – Philippine Agriculture Scholarship
Program. Bordey has been with PhilRice for more than 15 years and published
papers on food policy, trade liberalization, production economics, impact
assessment, and climate change. The new
DEDs are expected to oversee the preparation and implementation of various
transdisciplinary R&D programs of the Institute.
How Jonathan govt. issued multi
billion naira rice import quotas last day in office
Former President Goodluck Jonathan
A few hours to the expiration of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s tenure, papers for a huge rice import quota worth billions of Naira
were rushed in for the president’s accent, ostensibly as parting gifts to
cronies and businessmen close to the power corridor.A state House memo dated
May 27, 2015 and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES conveyed the President’s approval of
another memo forwarded to him only a day earlier by his Vice President, Namadi
Sambo.In the earlier memo dated May 26, 2016, the then Vice President had
sought a subsidy approval for select rice importers to bring in a total of
782,000 metric tonnes under what was termed ‘2015 Rice Quota Allocations’.The
then President signed the largesse deal on his last day in Aso Rock. But the
allocation was rejected, and cancelled by the succeeding Muhammadu Buhari
administration.
PREMIUM TIMES had on December 21, 2015, published an investigation detailing the
corruption that plagued the 2014 Rice Quota Allocations and how some of the privileged beneficiaries of the rice
subsidy colluded with smugglers to subvert the national rice development
policy.The report exposed the ingenious ways employed by the beneficiaries to
sell their quotas to pure businessmen, helping them to dodge the payment of 40
percent tariff to government.The same ingenuity was deployed to divert cargoes
originally meant for Cotonou, a notorious seaport that thrives on welcoming any
vessel carrying items on Nigeria’s import prohibition list.
The May 27, 2015 quota was not the first to be released
for the year 2015.A botched attempt was earlier made on April 13, 2015 when a
list of 22 beneficiary companies was released by the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture after what was supposed to have been a laborious due
process.However the joy of the new beneficiaries were short-lived when nine
days later, on April 22, the same Agric Ministry reversed itself and cancelled
and withdrew all allocations.Before the then Agriculture Minister, Akinwunmi
Adesina, departed for the African Development Bank as its president, he had in
a memo titled ‘Approved List of Companies Allocated Rice Import Quota for April
2015 – March 2016 Period’ and sent to his Finance Ministry counterpart,
mentioned that his ministry had identified a domestic rice supply gap of 1.3
million metric tonnes for the year 2015.He said he had, therefore, issued
import quota allocations to 22 approved companies to import 961,000 metric
tonnes of rice at 10 percent duty and 20 percent levy.
However, in announcing the cancellation of Mr. Adewunmi’s
quota list, Permanent Secretary Of the ministry, S. T Echono, talked about a
new information reaching the ministry to the effect that some Nigerian rice
farmers were unable to sell their paddy to local rice millers due to a flooding
of the market with imported rice.Industry watchers blamed the flooding on
influx of smuggled rice from Cotonou and Niger Republic.To keen observers, the
discordant tunes coming from the same Ministry belied high-powered politics in
the scramble for a chunk of a new national cake.The second quota announced by
Mr. Adewunmi had new beneficiaries such as Arewa Livestock Farms, African
Farms, Olea Nigeria Ltd, Dependable Foods & Confectionary, Blue Line
Investments Nigeria Ltd, Quarra Rice, Hammond Wright Nigeria Ltd and Blaine
& Wilkes Nigeria Ltd.All of them were however thrown out of the list of the
third quota beneficiaries supervised by Vice President Sambo.
The Sambo committee reviewed downward the national supply
gap from 1.3 million MT to 782,000 MT just as it pruned beneficiaries from 22
to 20. But even the third quota allocation is not recognised by the Customs
service, and is treated as though it never happened.The gulf in the two figures
bandied as national supply gap is seen by concerned stakeholders as indicator
of how sentiment and cronyism are robbing government of much-needed revenue in
the face of dwindling oil fortunes.A policy analyst, Evelyn Beredugoh, blamed
the discrepancy on phantom local capacities as claimed by many of the local
rice investors.She said, “For you to qualify for import quota you must have a
rice farm or rice mill the size of which determines the size of your
allocations. Some people call themselves investors even when they have no verifiable
business down the rice value chain.
“Some of the investors quote local capacities that are
only a figment of their imagination. Because there is no serious verification
exercise, these phantom figures are added up as national rice production capacity.
The higher the local capacity, the lower the national supply gap.“In the end,
you find that the actual supply gap might be higher than the 1.5 million metric
tonnes quoted in 2014. The real beneficiaries remain the smugglers while the
real investors face hard times in boosting local production which is the only
objective of the rice policy.”
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/197242-how-jonathan-govt-issued-multi-billion-naira-rice-import-quotas-last-day-in-office.html
15,000 tons of rice gifted to Cuba
January 23, 2016
Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP)
dispatched some 15,000 tons rice to Cuba as a gift from people of Pakistan.
Sources told Business Recorder on Friday that it was after a long
gap that the state-run grain trader has made a export shipment of rice,
procured from domestic exporters/traders amounting to around Rs 689 million,
while another rice export consignment is likely to be sent next month for
Benin. They said that some three
domestic exporters/traders have supplied the commodity for the export/gift
purpose and a ship `Mv Moleson' carrying 15,000 tons rice, including long grain
white rice (IRRT-6) and super Basmati rice, has sailed to Cuba. Following the
directives of the federal government in December last year, the TCP initiated
procurement of some 15,000 tons of rice for sending it to Cuba as a `gift'.
The TCP invited separate bids for
procurement of 10,000 metric tons IRRT-6 and 5,000 metric tons super Basmati
rice on Free on Board (FOB) basis. Some
10 exporters/traders submitted bids for supplying IRRT-6. The tender award
committee found that the lowest bid of Rs 34,490 per metric tons (exclusive of
taxes) on COST & FOB (transit between seller's warehouses and loading on
board/vessel) basis for a quantity of 5,000 metric tons IRRI-6 was quoted by
M/s KAFI Commodities (Pvt) Limited. As the lowest bid was responsive and competitive,
TCP declared M/s KAFI Commodities as successful bidder and issued the award
letter for supply 5,000 metric tons to the firm. As the total required quantity was
10,000 metric tons, the tender awarding committee cognisant of the fact that a
single vessel has been hired through PNSC for dispatching the cargo and in view
of urgency of the matter offered the second lowest bidder - M/s Noor Rice Mills
- for price matching of first lowest bidder.
Claiming that the price matching request was justified in
terms of Rule 42(v) (d) of the Public Procurement Rules, 2004, the sources said
that M/s Noor Rice Mills accepted the offer and was issued letter for award for
supplying remaining quantity of 5,000 metric tons IRRI-6 at a price of Rs
34,490 per metric ton COST & FOB. M/s Noor Rice Mills had earlier submitted
bid for 5,000 metric tons of IRRI-6 at a price of Rs 34,987 per metric tons,
the sources added.. With regard
to procurement of 5,000 metric tons of super Basmati rice, sources said that
some six exporters/traders submitted their bids and the tender award committee
declared M/s Chappal Traders as the successful bidder as it offered 5,000
metric tons super Basmati rice at the rate of Rs 68,920 per metric ton,
excluding taxes on COST & FOB (transit between seller's warehouses and
loading on board/vessel) basis
http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/9209/
Stakeholders
canvass research to improve agriculture
January 24, 2016
Anna Okon
Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have emphasised the
need for research development to improve the agricultural sector.According to
the Group Executive Director, Elephant Group, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, since the the
focal point of the current administration was to boost agriculture to diversify
the economy, there is an urgent need to adopt technology and research in
identifying products in which the country has comparative advantage.Ogunbiyi,
in a recent interview, advised the the nation to look at research development
in the sector and boost agriculture extension programmes.
Also, the President, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry,
Mines and Agriculture, Dr. Abdul Bello, in an interview with our correspondent,
emphasised the need for research in the sector, lamenting that Nigeria had
continued to record poor crop yields, while there were soil testing
laboratories lying waste.He also stressed the need for the sector to embrace
technology, adding, “We must learn to work with Information and Communications
Technology. Rwanda has adopted ICT in every sector of its economy and
everything in that country is currently working. Nigeria should do the
same.”Bello made a case for the decentralisation of the agriculture ministry,
adding that little could be achieved by concentrating everything at the centre.
The Chairman, Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors
Association of Nigeria, Mr. Tunji Owoeye, on his part, decried the effect of
policy inconsistency on the development of large-scale farming and backward
integration.He urged the government to encourage large-scale farming through
consistent and stable policies, adding that Nigeria had become one of the
largest producers of cassava today because of past government policies that
encouraged cultivation of cassava.“If Nigeria can be the largest producer of
cassava in the world, with the right political will and consistent policies, we
can also be the largest producers of other commodities including rice,” he
said.
He advised that government policies targeted at the growth of
agriculture such as the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for
Agricultural Lending should be maintained.He also said government should
increase access to credit for the value-chain operators, improve the capacity
of NISRAL to take on insurance and risks more to support the teeming
value-chain operators across all the products.To make Nigeria succeed as a net
producer and exporter of rice, Owoeye suggested that the 10 rice mills approved
by the Federal Executive Council of the previous administration should be made
to come on stream.“If we put those 10 on stream, with the capacity of 35,000
metric tonnes per mill, that is about 350,000 metric tonnes added to the
nation’s paddy processing. This would encourage our farmers, create employment
and bring down pressure on the foreign exchange,” he said.He added that
agribusiness must be technologically driven as it is done in the western world.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
http://www.punchng.com/stakeholders-canvass-research-to-improve-agriculture/
Jonathan
Signed Multi-Billion Naira Rice Deal Before Handover
·
·
Details have emerged of how the former president,
Goodluck Jonathan signed a multi-billion Naira rice import quota deal a few
hours to the expiration of his tenure, Premium Times Reports.
A state house memo dated May 27, 2015 showed that
Jonathan signed the approval of another memo forwarded to him by Namadi Sambo,
the then vice president a day earlier.In the memo, Sambo had sought a subsidy
approval for select rice importers to bring in a total of 782,000 metric tonnes
under what was termed ‘2015 Rice Quota Allocations’.Jonathan had signed the
deal on his last day in office but the allocation was subsequently rejected and
cancelled by the incoming president, Muhammadu Buhari.
The beneficiaries of the rice subsidy had been colluding
with smugglers to subvert the national rice development policy and dodge the
payment of 40 percent tariff to government.It was reported that effort had
earlier been made in April 13, 2015 when the Ministry of Agriculture released a
list of 22 beneficiary companies for the rice quota but the list was withdrawn
a few days later by the ministry.Akinwunmi Adesina, he then minister of agriculture
had in a memo titled ‘Approved List of Companies Allocated Rice Import Quota
for April 2015 – March 2016 Period’ and sent to the Ministry of Finance
mentioned that his ministry had identified a domestic rice supply gap of 1.3
million metric tonnes for the year 2015 and so issued import quota allocations
to 22 approved companies to import 961,000 metric tonnes of rice.
However, Sonny Echono, the permanent secretary in the
Ministry of Agriculture cancelled the quota list on the ground that information
reaching him showed that Nigerian rice farmers were unable to sell their paddy
to local rice millers due to a flooding of the market with imported rice.A new
quota was released and contained new beneficiaries such as Arewa Livestock
Farms, African Farms, Olea Nigeria Ltd, Dependable Foods & Confectionary,
Blue Line Investments Nigeria Ltd, Quarra Rice, Hammond Wright Nigeria Ltd and
Blaine & Wilkes Nigeria Ltd but all of them were thrown out in the quota
supervised by the vice president. The Sambo quota made changes by cutting the
beneficiaries from 22 to 20 but the customs serviced refused to honour
it.Evelyn Beredugoh, a policy analyst said some people parade themselves as
investors even when they had no business in the rice chain.
“For you to qualify for import quota you must have a rice
farm or rice mill the size of which determines the size of your allocations.
Some people call themselves investors even when they have no verifiable
business down the rice value chain.
“Some of the
investors quote local capacities that are only a figment of their imagination.
Because there is no serious verification exercise, these phantom figures are
added up as national rice production capacity. The higher the local capacity,
the lower the national supply gap.
“In the end, you find that the actual supply gap might be
higher than the 1.5 million metric tonnes quoted in 2014. The real
beneficiaries remain the smugglers while the real investors face hard times in
boosting local production which is the only objective of the rice policy.”
https://www.naij.com/706238-revelation-jonathan-signed-multi-billion-naira-deal-hours-tenure-expiration.html
Airlift The Rice To Monrovia, Please!
Mon,
01/25/2016 - 00:22 admin
In the Observer’s
end-of-year edition, we made Lofa County farmer John Selma Person of the Year.
The choice for us was clear. Here was a man who, after all of the noise the
international community had made over food sustainability, galvanized a group
of Lofa farmers and decided they would produce enough rice to feed the country.
The Liberian government has long paid lip service to agriculture, and these
patriotic, hardworking Liberians had decided that that notwithstanding, they
would grow enough food to feed their country—at their own expense.The farmers borrowed
money from a village loan and savings scheme, expanded their farms and yielded
an abundant harvest. They were overjoyed—until they found out that there was no
way of getting their produce to market and their government was wasting time in
helping them.
Then last week, we found
out that the farmers were in trouble—that they could face legal action if they
were not able to pay back the money they borrowed to expand their farms.The
Observer contacted the Ministry of Agriculture to ask whether the government
could mandate that rice importers purchase rice from local farmers before being
allowed to import it from India and China. The Ministry of Agriculture said
that was the Commerce Ministry’s job. When the
Observer contacted the Commerce Ministry, they said they were waiting for the Ministry of Agriculture to take the lead in mandating that foreign rice importers buy from Liberian farmers first before being allowed to import.
Observer contacted the Commerce Ministry, they said they were waiting for the Ministry of Agriculture to take the lead in mandating that foreign rice importers buy from Liberian farmers first before being allowed to import.
Economically and logically
speaking, food produced in-country should be much less expensive than imported
food. But the price of locally grown rice (affectionately known as ‘country
rice’) is on par with the price of imported rice on the Liberian market mainly
because of the cost of transporting it to Monrovia on very bad roads.So the
farmers have done their part. Whose job is it now to ensure that they are able
to sell their rice at a profit so that their families are fed and their
children go to school? So that in such a tough economy, as Varney Sherman has
already warned us, there is an affordable and sustainable alternative on the
market as far as the supply of our staple food is concerned? So that more and
more Liberians are encouraged to go back to the soil in a country so rich in
vegetation? So that we do not wake up one day to find this country embroiled in
another April 14?
We can answer most
unequivocally that it is the government of Liberia’s (GOL) job. Whom do they
expect to build farm-to-market roads? These farmers are not asking for a
handout; nor did they drink and party away the money they borrowed. They have
the evidence to show that they did what they were supposed to with the money.
They were responsible and even united. And must they now be punished for such a
patriotic initiative?
The government of Liberia
is creating around this issue an air of impossibility, as if fixing the roads
would be the only way to get the rice to markets. Why has the government of
Liberia not contracted cargo planes from Ghana, Nigeria or even asked the
United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to make the rice available on the
market? Surely rice milling machines can be made available to the farmers (we
understand they are made in Ganta).
And so, as we understand
it, there is absolutely no other reason why Liberian ‘country rice’ is not being
sold on the market at a competitive price other than a lack of commitment on
the part of the GOL. So what really is the problem that causes the GOL
consistently to give foreigners preference over Liberians in their own country?
It seems the determined and unconscionable propensity (inclination) of this
government to want to outsource EVERYTHING—why? Has the government lost
confidence in its own people, and in itself?
We recently learned that
the GOL has its eye on the privatization of education in this
country—“Public-private partnerships” as they are called. Whose curriculum will
these foreign-run schools be using? Will education be contextualized to our
culture and environment or will our children see things they cannot relate to
in their text books?
Today President Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf is scheduled to deliver her Annual Message to the Legislature.
We suggest that one of the first things she should tell them is that GOL will
airlift the rice produced by Lofa and other farmers around the country to Monrovia,
have it milled and sold without delay so that none of this momentous (historic,
extraordinary) harvest is lost and the patriotic initiative of these
hardworking farmers does not go in vain. GOL cannot afford to let the Lofa
farmers down and run the risk of totally discouraging farming in Liberia.
The President should also
outline and activate every resource needed to implement a serious agenda for
agricultural transformation in Liberia, focusing most especially on four crops:
cocoa, coffee, rice and vegetables. Financing agriculture and good roads are
the other legs of this important stool of our national economy.She cannot help
but deliver to the Legislators a litany of economic woes. The agenda for the
transformation of agriculture, focusing particularly on these four crops and
speeding up road building and maintenance would spell the answer to the
economic crisis.If the Sirleaf-led administration fails this country at a time
such as this, if they sit back and watch the farmers drown with their hands
extended for help, history will judge Ellen Johnson Sirleaf most harshly.
http://www.liberianobserver.com/editorials/airlift-rice-monrovia-please
Taste
Takes Center Stage at Cambodia Rice Festival
Khmer
Times / Chea Vannak
Sunday,
24 January 2016
The third annual Cambodia Rice Festival is aiming to
continue to raise the brand profile of Cambodia’s “white gold” by adding a
cooked-rice competition this year that will allow visitors to taste the best
rice the Kingdom has to offer as well as help select the top rice millers in
the country, according to members of the Cambodia Rice
Federation. The festival began yesterday and runs until tomorrow at
Sokha Hotel. Federation members said that although Cambodia fell far short
of the government’s rice-export target of 1 million tons last year, exports
surged by almost 40 percent to 538,396 tons, and have been rising steadily from
the about 100,000 tons exported in 2010. The introduction of a cooked-rice
competition is intended to give visitors to the festival the chance to taste
dozens of varieties from dozens of millers, federation members said.
The festival draws producers, millers and exporters to
identify solutions that will continue to reduce the bottlenecks and barriers
preventing exports from rising, festival organizers say.Through the
competition, visitors, both Cambodian and foreign nationals, will have a chance
to test the cooked rice, federation president Sok Puthivuth said. “Our
[members] clearly know what the best quality rice is,” he added. Mr.
Puthivuth said that promoting the quality of Cambodian rice was one way of
increasing its export.The competition will also aim to identify the rice
millers who produce the highest quality rice, Mr. Puthivuth
said. Pov Bunnarith, director of marketing and promotion at the
federation, told Khmer Times that 37 samples of rice had been submitted to the
competition by millers and export firms, and these include romdul fragrant
rice, which has been named the best rice in the world for three consecutive years.
The rice samples submitted have been divided into four
groups, and one from each group will win top prize, Mr. Bunnarith
said. Despite being named the best rice in the world, exports of
Cambodia’s romdul fragrant rice continue to be dwarfed by exports from other
countries in the region, including Thailand and Vietnam, federation members
say. Te Taing Por, president of the Federation of Associations for Small
and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia, said Cambodian rice is gradually gaining
recognition globally. “We can see the amount of milled rice shipments has
sharply increased annually over the last five year,” he said, noting that they
rose more than fivefold from 2010 to last year.
Many companies attending the festival are displaying
agricultural products and machinery, signaling a shift from traditional to more
advanced rice-growing techniques, federation members pointed out. Executives
representing the entire value chain are networking to find partners and
increase productivity, federation members said. The festival is a platform for
the private sector to brainstorm on how to improve the sector, they said.
Kuwaiti farms yield rare produce for
the first time in Mideast history
24/01/2016 | LOC17:55
KUWAIT, Jan 24 (KUNA) -- Kuwait
possesses diverse agricultural profits that are adequate to cover the country's
nutritional needs, thanks in part to national farmers who have always sought to
add variety to their produce.Farming in Kuwait had begun in earnest several
years ago, only to morph into a pillar of the country's economy as a result of
persistent government support and farmers' steadfast efforts, all to ensure
nutrition security.Kuwaiti farmer Yousef Al-Kirabani has always aimed to
diversify his produce, as he was able to cultivate rare produce made locally,
for the first time in the history of the country.In comments to KUNA,
Al-Kirabani said that the agricultural sector in Kuwait has experienced
exponential growth over the last few years, having witnessed
"unprecedented produce that has been introduced to the Middle East for the
first time." Moreover, Al-Kirabani pinpointed Al-Wafra farms as hotbeds of
rare produce such as black tomatoes, white strawberries, saffron and Basmati
rice.
The cultivation of rare produce
has become a cornerstone of the agricultural world, Al-Kirabani noted, pointing
to the numerous nutritional benefits that such produce contain.Black tomatoes
have been proven to be a rich source of antioxidants that help combat cancer
and diabetes, he added."We aim to debunk common perception that Kuwaiti
lands are not fertile through cultivating rare produce," Al-Kirbani
said."We have proven to everybody that we are capable of producing special
products on our own through experimenting with various methods, and are now
able to cultivate staple products such as Basmati rice," he added.The
Kuwaiti farmer also revealed plans to "maximize production and sell the
produce locally to a number of firms including hotels and restaurants."
"The unthinkable has become reality as Kuwait has proven that it is fully
capable of yielding the most superior of products, eclipsing many countries in
the Middle East." (end) tab.nam
Latest rice seed market
research for agriculture sector released with historic and forecasts data
Published
on Monday, 25 January 2016 19:08
Submitted
by eMarketOrg
Reads: 2 times
Rice Seed Industry 2016
Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current
market state of rice seeds providing a basic overview of the industry including
definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure.
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Recipes from Mughlai and Awadhi
kitchen
DECCAN CHRONICLE
PublishedJan 22, 2016, 12:12 am IST
UpdatedJan 22, 2016, 12:09 pm IST
Explore
the authentic flavours of Mughlai and Awadhi cuisine from the North-West
Frontier with these delectable hand-picked recipes.
Galouti
kebab
Galouti kebab
Ingredients
500 gm mutton mince
100 gm raw papaya
10 gm salt
3 tsp red chilli and garam masala powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
100 gm fried onion
50 gm roasted channa powder
50 gm cashewnuts
50 ml kewda water
100 ml ghee
5 cloves
100 gm raw papaya
10 gm salt
3 tsp red chilli and garam masala powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
100 gm fried onion
50 gm roasted channa powder
50 gm cashewnuts
50 ml kewda water
100 ml ghee
5 cloves
Method
Clean the papaya, peel cut into cubes and make a fine paste, add salt.
Make a paste of fried onion & cashewnut, keep separate.
Mix all the spices & above paste with mutton mince.
Smoke the mixer with ghee and clove to infuse the aroma.
Make small round cakes & grill it on hot plate.
Cook both sides and serve hot.
Clean the papaya, peel cut into cubes and make a fine paste, add salt.
Make a paste of fried onion & cashewnut, keep separate.
Mix all the spices & above paste with mutton mince.
Smoke the mixer with ghee and clove to infuse the aroma.
Make small round cakes & grill it on hot plate.
Cook both sides and serve hot.
Aloo ka bharta
Ingredients
500 gm diced potato
100 gm diced onion and tomato
5 gm chopped garlic, a little methi seeds
1 tsp each of salt, red chilli, turmeric, chat masala
50 gm freshly chopped coriander
1 tbs ghee
10 gms garlic leaf
500 gm diced potato
100 gm diced onion and tomato
5 gm chopped garlic, a little methi seeds
1 tsp each of salt, red chilli, turmeric, chat masala
50 gm freshly chopped coriander
1 tbs ghee
10 gms garlic leaf
Method
Roast or boil the potato well.
Then, crush the potato in chunks and mix with all the masalas, raw onion and tomato.
Heat oil in a pan; temper whole methi seeds till brown. Add turmeric powder and potato mixture. Cook for five minutes.
Finish with ghee, garlic leaves and chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot.
Roast or boil the potato well.
Then, crush the potato in chunks and mix with all the masalas, raw onion and tomato.
Heat oil in a pan; temper whole methi seeds till brown. Add turmeric powder and potato mixture. Cook for five minutes.
Finish with ghee, garlic leaves and chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot.
Pineapple Ka Muzafar
Ingredients
1 kg (each) of pineapple, basmati rice and sugar
1 kg (each) of pineapple, basmati rice and sugar
50 ml Kewda
1 gm saffron
15 green cardamoms
10 cloves
250 gm khoya
2 tsp food colour (orange)
250 ml ghee
20 gms pista
20 gm almond
Method
Peel pineapple and cut into small strips.
Peel pineapple and cut into small strips.
Soak rice for 40 minutes
In a pan add a glass of water, sugar and make syrup.
Later on add pineapple with dry fruit cook it for a minute.
Take another container add 4 litres water with cloves,
cardamom and food colour, boil it. Add rice into boiled water and cook it till
70 percent.
Strain the rice and cook the rest in sugar syrup till it
gets reduced. Finish with khoya and ghee.
— Recipes courtesy Chef Anwar Ali Ansari in the guidance
of Chef Satya Kedarnath (aka Chef Sunny), Terracotta’s kitchen,,Vivanta by Taj
APEDA Rice Commodity
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