Farm machinery can help reduce smog from crop burning in India
by Julie Mollins | @jmollins | CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center)
Wednesday, 15 November 2017 02:55 GMT
* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author
and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In
conjunction with recent state regulations outlawing the use of fire to destroy
field crop waste in northwest India, some farmers are benefitting from
technological innovations that can help prevent damaging smog levels in the
capital Delhi and other areas, according to scientists.
Currently, the majority of
farmers in northwest India burn leftover vegetation residue to prepare fields
for planting in cyclical rice-wheat crop rotations, leading to negative
consequences for soil quality, the environment, animal and human health.
Rice-wheat crop rotations make up 84 percent of burned crops, a key source of
atmospheric pollution.
“Farmers need access to appropriate machinery and training to
implement change to discourage burning,” said Mangi Lal Jat, a systems
agronomist who works in New Delhi with the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “Using crop residue in a
sustainable and eco-friendly manner could benefit all stakeholders.”
Many farmers keep costs low by burning residue on the farm,
rather than paying for its removal for other uses, which could include animal
feed, biofuel, incorporating it into the soil or retaining it in the field as
mulch, according to a research paper titled “Burning issues of paddy residue
management in northwest fields of India.” After harvest, weeds,
pests, disease and remaining plant stubble are also often burned.
Ash left on the fields after
residue burning increases the availability of some nutrients, while depleting
others and negatively affecting soil health in the long term. During burning,
soil temperature increases, bacteria and fungi are killed off, regenerating in
a matter of days. Residue burning can damage plants and trees on field edges
with negative implications for the overall ecosystem.
Residues can be used as a
renewable energy source to improve air, soil quality, climate change and reduce
global warming, provided these are economically viable options for farmers. Incentives
could also help encourage farmers to leave residues on their fields for use as
fertilizer.
If residue is mulched into the
soil, nutrient levels improve and carbon sequestration capacity increases,
lowering the release of greenhouse gases into the environment. Additionally,
residue retention reduces evaporation and increases soil moisture by as much as
10 percent during the wheat-growing season.
Farmers can benefit from the
Happy Seeder, a machine that can plant wheat seed directly into the soil by
boring through crop residue. The Straw Management System (SMS) machine spreads
straw residue thinly on the soil surface allowing seeding.
“Residues are also of great
economic value as livestock feed, fuel and industrial raw materials, but of the
total rice residues produced in northwestern India, only around 15 percent can
potentially be used for these purposes and the rest must be managed with
in-situ (on site) management technologies,” said Jat, who conducted the
research in collaboration with the CGIAR research programs on maize (CRP
Maize), wheat (CRP Wheat) and climate change, agriculture and food security
(CCAFS).
“Although farmers are aware of
the adverse affects of crop burning, they rely on it due to the lack of
economically viable and acceptable machinery and alternatives to dispose of
residue.”
However, deploying advanced
technology, including the concurrent use of straw management systems, fitted
combine harvesters and Happy Seeders for direct drilling is a viable solution
to eliminate burning, Jat added.
With these advancements and
aggressive campaigns, within a period of a couple of months in Punjab state
alone, over 1,000 combine owners have launched a “Super SMS.”
Additionally, nearly 2,000 happy
seeders are being manufactured, which will lead to large-scale adoption of
conservation agriculture techniques in the upcoming wheat season, Jat said.
UK sex trafficking survivor calls for more action to protect
slaves from US to India
by Belinda Goldsmith | @BeeGoldsmith | Thomson Reuters
Foundation
Wednesday, 15 November 2017 12:31 GMT
An estimated 40 million people were enslaved globally
last year
By Belinda Goldsmith
LONDON, Nov 15 (Thomson Reuters
Foundation) - A British survivor of sex trafficking made an impassioned plea on
Wednesday for more action to be taken against those responsible for enslaving
people across the globe, from upmarket British and U.S. neighbourhoods to slums
in India.
An estimated 40 million people
were enslaved globally last year, in both rich and poor countries, with modern
slavery becoming a catch-all term to describe human trafficking, forced labour,
debt bondage, sex trafficking, and forced marriage.
Sarah said she was aged 12 and in
foster care when she was trafficked by a gang in England who were initially
kind to her, giving her cigarettes then drugs.
They quickly changed, saying she
owed then 75,000 pounds ($100,000) and threatening her, her family and loved
ones.
"They got violent and held
me at gunpoint and said they would sell my body every day until that debt was
paid," Sarah, using a false name, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation's
annual two-day Trust Conference where one day focuses on slavery.
"For the next seven years I
was sold every day to many different men," she said, adding that her
school, social services, and other authorities failed to see her plight.Four
years ago Sarah was rescued by a police officer who realised she was being
exploited and moved her to a safe house while the gang involved was pursued.
But the gang leader died and the
case was closed."Because of the continual system failures it took me seven
years to be free," said Sarah who has received help from the UK-based
non-profit Snowdrop Project that provides long-term, community support to
survivors of human trafficking."All those years of people not caring ...
do that now. Now you know my story, do your job now and protect me and
everybody else who needs protecting," she said to applause.
The British government estimates
there are 13,000 victims of slavery in the country but the UK's Anti-Slavery
Commissioner Kevin Hyland said he feared the number was much higher.
"Behind every number is a
name," said Hyland. "We still need to gain the attention of world
leaders."
Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi,
whose charity Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement) has rescued
over 80,000 enslaved children, told the conference in a video message that the
world must no longer tolerate people living in slavery.
SLAVES AT LOWEST EVER PRICE
With the U.N.'s latest global
goals calling for the end of forced labour, slavery and human trafficking by
2030, campaigners said it was time to end this escalating crime worth an estimated
$150 billion a year.
Professor of Contemporary Slavery
at Britain's University of Nottingham, Kevin Bales, said the price of a slave
was the lowest ever with an average price of just $90-100.
Jessica Graham, victim services
director at U.S.-based non-profit Survivor's Ink - that helps women branded by
sex traffickers get decorative tattoos to cover their marks - said people were
too often choosing not to see what was before them.
"There is this common
misconception that this is only happening in poor countries and poor
neighbourhoods ... But many of these girls come from wealthy backgrounds,"
Graham told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Up to 60,000 people are believed
to be living as slaves in the United States, according to the 2016 Global
Slavery Index.
Graham said she knew nothing of
trafficking until four years ago when she discovered her estranged husband
trafficked women for sex including Jennifer Kempton, who founded Survivor's Ink
after six years in sex slavery in Ohio.
Kempton died of a drug overdose
earlier this year."Sadly I've seen too many survivors unable to have a
normal life because they have a past that haunts them every day. They need
help," said Graham, calling for more assistance for victims to find jobs,
housing and rebuild their lives.
India is home to the greatest
number of slaves in the world with estimates varying from 14 million to 18
million.
Ajeet Singh founded the Indian
non-profit Guria in 1993, to fight child prostitution and sex trafficking, and
has rescued more than 2,500 people so far and run awareness campaigns."The
attitude when I started was so different and no one wanted to know," he
said.
"But now, from the United
States to Britain to India, everyone is talking about human trafficking and sex
trafficking ... This is a major step because when you start talking about a
subject that is the start of a solution." ($1 = 0.7599 pounds) (Reporting
by Belinda Goldsmith @BeeGoldsmith, Editing by Ros Russell and Katy Migiro.
Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson
Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property
rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
http://news.trust.org/item/20171114230510-8263l/
Pakistan seeks share of Saudi food market at
Foodex 2017
ARAB NEWS | Published — Wednesday
15 November 2017
Prince Abdullah bin Saud, head of
the tourism and entertainment committee at the JCCI, and Consul General of
Pakistan Shehryar Akbar Khan at Foodex Saudi 2017.
The Trade Development Authority
of Pakistan (TDAP) in collaboration with the commercial section of the
Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah is participating in the ongoing Foodex
Saudi 2017, Saudi Arabia’s leading international trade exhibition dedicated to
the food and drink industry.
The event started on Sunday and ends on Wednesday at the Jeddah Center for Events & Forums.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Prince Abdullah bin Saud, head of the tourism and entertainment committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).
Consul General of Pakistan Shehryar Akbar Khan said promoting bilateral trade between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is one of the foremost responsibilities of the Pakistani consulate.
The event started on Sunday and ends on Wednesday at the Jeddah Center for Events & Forums.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Prince Abdullah bin Saud, head of the tourism and entertainment committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).
Consul General of Pakistan Shehryar Akbar Khan said promoting bilateral trade between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is one of the foremost responsibilities of the Pakistani consulate.
He said 11 Pakistani companies are
participating in the exhibition and include the country’s top exporters dealing
in rice, beverages, spices, bakery and confectionaries.He said that while Saudi
Arabia is the region’s largest food producer with 74.1 percent of the total
products in the GCC, it imports more than $25 billion worth of food and
beverage products each year to meet its rising consumption demands.”With
growing demand at an annual rate of 18.5 percent due to an expanding domestic
market on account of the growing population and increasing annual pilgrimage,
Saudi Arabia’s food and drink imports are likely to reach around $70 billion
per annum in the next four to five years. Reliance on imports is also likely to
increase as the Saudi government has decided to reduce wheat production to
conserve water,” Khan said.
These developments, he said, offer a huge opportunity to Pakistani companies to further penetrate into the Saudi market and increase their market share. “Given the fact that Pakistan is an agricultural country, and more than 50 percent of its exports are agro- and textile-based, it has enormous potential to increase its exports by tapping into the halal food market of Saudi Arabia, which currently imports more that 80 percent of its total food and beverage requirements,” Khan added.
Commercial Consular Shehzad Ahmad Khan said the Pakistani consulate is extending its full cooperation to Pakistani businessmen to showcase their products in Saudi Arabia and benefit from the opportunities emerging out of the Saudi Vision 2030 to promote bilateral ties and investment.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1193431/corporate-newsPakistan’s
Traditional Cuisines: What We Love to Eat. 4th And 5th Are Your
Special Winter Treats
Posted on 15/11/2017
Pakistan is a country of foodies, and much of our lives revolve
around food (run a search for online food groups and you
won’t have any second thoughts). Be it the grandest of festivities
or a simple breakfast at home, the focus always remains on food. To that end,
we have experimented far and wide with our delicacies and spices, making for the
most tantalizing of tastes and nicest of combinations. Having perfected our
traditional cuisines, we spare no opportunity in celebrating it wherever we
can. And to that end, I present to you the best of the best: here is a list of
the top traditional Pakistani cuisines, with a little about their origins and
popularity.
I would not recommend reading it on an empty stomach!
1. CHAPLI KABAB
The Chapli Kabab is renowned and appreciated around the country,
and considered almost synonymous to Peshawari cuisine, as it finds its origins
in the northwest of Pakistan. It owes its existence to Mughal culinary
influences but has found new taste since then. The kabab itself gets its name
from the Pashto word chaprikh, meaning “flat”,
referring to the kebab’s light, round and flattened shape, in the form of
a patty. It is fried in either oil or fat, and consists of ground beef or
mutton, cooked with various spices. The kebabs are often served
and garnished with parsley, chopped onions and tomatoes, along with
other accompaniments such as various chutney sauces, salad, yoghurt
or pickles, and often with a healthy smarting of lemon juice. While
consumed on a daily basis, it achieves the greatest significance during wedding
feasts, and visits to the northwest.
2. NIHARI
Nihari is a stew consisting of slow-cooked meat,
either beef or lamb along with bone marrow. Most
recently, chicken varieties of it have also found fame with those who avoid
beef or lamb. The name originates from the Arabic word “Nahar“,
which means “day” as it was served right after the morning prayers. To this
day, it is a favorite breakfast food, especially in Lahore, and many would go
as far as to declare it a national dish. The actual origins remain unclear,
with some sources pointing to Old Delhi and some to Lucknow, in the late 18th
century; it is nontheless another present from the Mughals. Spicy and
succulent, Nihari can be considered a staple in our diets.
3. BIRYANI
Biryani is an amalgamation of Basmati rice, vegetables various
types of spices, and a choice of meat. The exact origins of this gift to
mankind are unknown, with the likely creators residing in either the Muslim
centers of Delhi or Lucknow, with both having come up with some
variant of the modern-day dish. Biryani is a favorite lunch item especially on
Fridays, after the afternoon prayers. The food item is an arsenal of choice
employed in Karachi-Lahore banter wars. Weddings also feature biryani heavily,
but the quarrels over potato or no potato are perhaps more grave than those over
pineapple and pizza. However, Sindhi biryani remains especially popular
due to its spicier taste, fragrant rice and delicate meat.
4. SAAG
While meat tends to dominate when it comes to the Pakistani
palate, certain vegetable dishes do make the cut. Saag is one such food. It is
often confused with palak, and both are leaf-based, but palak is made from
spinach, while saag consists of mustard leaves. There are plenty of extra
spices thrown in there in abundance; and additions such as paneer. A
particular favorite of Punjab is Sarson ka saag, which is
usually eaten with a Makai ki roti, which is
bread of maize flour, yellow in color. The saag is also often topped off
with either butter or oil, and makes for a very hearty meal. Potatoes or meat
can also be added to the mix, and this dish features on the dinner tables quite
often, especially when the hosts are Punjabi.
5. SAJJI
Sajji is a native dish of the desert province of Balochistan,
Pakistan. Sajji consists of whole lamb, and is cooked on skewers, with all the
fat and meat still intact while cooking. What sets it apart from other
barbequed meat across the country is unique preparation; it is marinated only
in salt, and occasionally covered with green papaya paste, keeping the taste of
the succulent meat intact and untainted. The lamb itself is first stuffed with
rice, herbs and other ingredients, and then slowly roasted over the coals,
cooking the rice inside as well. Sajji is the native dish of Balochistan, and
is considered fully cooked when it is at the rare stage. In the province, it is
served with special bread called Kaak, which is baked in an
oven, wrapped around a stone. In other parts of Pakistan, chicken may be
substituted for lamb, and a much spicier version may be consumed. The meat is
also roasted until it is medium or well-done in most other regions.
6. HALWA PURI
Puri’s are the puffy, deep-fried and much lighter version of
bread; they are cooked both at home and ordered in. The delicacies are eaten
with Halwa, which is a sweet dish commonly made of either carrots or semolina
and garnished with nuts and all kinds of dried fruits. The combination is so
celebrated around the country that the meal is altogether called Halwa puri.
The food originated in Uttar Pradesh and has kept its place in our hearts
ever since. The puri’s are also eaten with channas, which is a fare made with
chickpeas. Along with the Halwa, these three together comprise the breakfast of
champions, while traditional mango onion pickles, served along with fresh
yogurt, are a common accompaniment.
7. CHAAT
Although not a main course item, Chaat is arguably one of the most
popular street foods in Pakistan and a favorite every day snack. The variants
of chaat are all somewhat based on fried dough, with a couple of other ingredients
thrown in. The original was a mixture of potato pieces, crisp fried bread, gram
or chickpeas and a number of spices. It is often topped off with sour home-made
chili and yogurt, and garnished with fresh green coriander leaves. This food
originated in parts of the subcontinent as well, but has enough modern day
variations to bare no resemble to its origins!
These are some of the top Pakistani traditional cuisines. What are
your favorites? Share with us, after all, there is no sincere love than the
love of food!
Thinking About Freelancing? Meet These Top-Rated Pakistani
Sellers on Fiverr
By
We all heard the news when OOI published its recent
report named ‘Online Labour Index’ showing the online gig
economy stats. In the report, Pakistan was placed at the 4th position overall
in the ‘Software Development and Technology’ category making freelancing a
whooping $1 Billion market for us. The report also
highlights that Pakistan has 8.5-9% of the overall freelance workers,
as compared to India which is the Top country with 24% freelancers. Four
biggest platforms that were taken into consideration include Upwork,
PeoplePerHour, Freelancer and Fiverr.
While for most people in the world, freelancing is just some extra
money, people in Pakistan are heavily adopting it over a full-time career job.
Talking particularly about Fiverr, there are many success stories that emerged
time to time where freelancers from Pakistan earned a top-rated badge from
Fiverr and have also managed to turn Fiverr gigs into a profitable skill-set.
For those who never tried exploring Fiverr, it is a gig-based
freelancing platform where freelancers offer their services in areas as diverse
as graphics and design, writing, music and audio, video and animation,
programming and much more just in 5$. 5$ is an initial price of the gig and it
increases as the task requirement expands.
Here are a few top-rated Fiverr sellers from Pakistan who are
doing what they do best on World’s largest freelancing platform.
AALIYAAN CHAUDHRY
Aaliyan is a WordPress Professional, Social Media Marketer,
Youtuber and SEO Expert at Fiverr. He offers his services mostly in the
WordPress category and providing Skype consultation on the same. With whopping
20434 reviews, Aaliyaan is making his clients dazzling daily.
ANEELA SYED
Aneela is a web design and development expert who also offers
Graphic designing services as her Fiverr gigs. She is also one of the top-rated
sellers on Fiverr who designs professional website starting from as low as
125$. Aneela has more than 964 reviews and her clients have left some great
reviews to appreciate her work.
RASHID RUPANI
Rashid is more like a trouble shooter who is helping Fiverr buyers
with the issues like fixing WordPress CSS and creating the manual backup of the
site. All services of Rashid have been rated 5 stars by the client and he has
2820 reviews in his bucket. And yes, Rashid also has the top-rated badge in his
achievements.
MAZAHIR
Mazahir is one of the top-rated graphic designers on Fiverr and
that’s evident from the portfolio and gigs he has shown on his profile. His
services include Infographic design, Logo design, Brochure/flyers designing and
Banner designing as well. Mazahir has 2760 reviews with 4.8 rating that makes
him one of the top-rated sellers on the platform.
UMAR NAWAZ
Umar is an expert data entry operator who is another top-rated
seller. He also provides his services as a virtual assistant and a graphic
designer. He has been using Fiverr since 2012 and has 5744 reviews on his
profile. Umar’s expertise and gigs show that you can start earning money from
tasks as simple as copy/paste or data entry.
BOBBY
Bobby is from Faisalabad Pakistan and has been a freelance graphic
designer on Fiverr for six years. He works Full-time as a freelancer on Fiverr
and was featured as the top-rated super seller on Fiver community after his
best-selling gig got featured. Bobby is a living inspiration for people who
still hesitate in starting small and yes, bobby’s clients can purchase him a
cup of coffee too as a gig. That’s sweet!
FOX SQUARE
Fox square is not an individual rather a team or group of
professionals who claim to have satisfied more than 2700 customers around the
globe. Their major offerings revolve around Mobile applications and their gigs
are as small as designing app icon to as detailed as designing an app’s UI. Fox
Square has 2413 positive reviews and is one of the top-rated sellers as well.
These freelancers are only a few from hundreds of freelancers who
are doing an amazing job on Fiverr. Fiverr is one of the biggest freelancing
platforms which has so far grown to 150 employees having its physical presence
in Tel Aviv, New York, and Miami. In August 2017, the company announced a $30 Series C funding
round bringing its total external financing to $50 million. Isn’t it amazing?
BONUS: AIMING TO BECOME A
TOP-RATED SELLER ON FIVER? NOTE THESE
This may look hard, but, with persistence and hard work, you can
be a top-rated seller on Fiver too. So don’t let initial hindrances discourage
you to get that badge on your profile. To become a top-rated seller, the level
requires you to maintain a reputation, some of the major requirements are
identified below:
·
Maintain a high star rating of
4.8 – 5
·
Very little or No cancellation
rate
·
Over-deliver to make your
clients happy
·
Give feedback to clients and do
not violate any rule.
For more detailed answer, you can view Fiverr’s official website
that states requirement list along with the perks that come with the
title here.
https://pakwired.com/meet-these-top-rated-pakistani-sellers-fiverr/
REAP demands extended financial relief for rice exporters
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Chairman, Samee
Ullah Naeem has urged the government to extend financial relief to rice
exporting sector like other export-oriented industries enabling them to be
price competitive in the international market and also assured that they will
help to achieve a growth of 20 percent per annum.
"We anticipate 20 percent growth if the government patronizes rice exporting sector like other export-oriented sectors. He said rice is the second biggest exporting sector after textile but it is always ignored by the government. Given the required rebate on export, we can add another $200 million per annum in the already $2 billion rice exports," Samee said while talking to a group of journalists here on Monday.
He feared that the sector could face closure if no package is announced for it in near future. He said they are working on a proposal under which exporters showing 10 percent plus growth than the previous year should be offered financial support. Under the proposed formula, the branded exports should get 7 percent, white rice 5 percent and brown rice should get 3 percent rebate, he added.
He said the government will not have to allocate extra revenue for the proposed rebate rather it would issue vouchers against the export consignments which would be adjustable against withholding tax and the banks' mark-up. The financial institutions would charge on the credit facility for the rice exports. The proposal would not cost the government more than Rs 10 billion per year but it would yield Rs 25 billion more export revenue, he claimed.
Samee Ullah Naeem also announced that the Association is going to hold its export trophy in Lahore on November 25, 2017, to honour its members who have excelled in rice export. He said Federal Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik will be the chief guest on this occasion.
Answering a question, he said that paddy prices for the current season had opened on higher end and there was no backlog of rice stock. He said we have orders in hand and hopefully this would prove good for the farmers. He also called for adopting direct subsidy mechanism to bring down the input cost of the growers. REAP's Mentor Pir Nazim Hussain Shah, Executive Committee Member Ali Hussam and Secretary General Kashif-ur-Rehman were also present on this occasion.
"We anticipate 20 percent growth if the government patronizes rice exporting sector like other export-oriented sectors. He said rice is the second biggest exporting sector after textile but it is always ignored by the government. Given the required rebate on export, we can add another $200 million per annum in the already $2 billion rice exports," Samee said while talking to a group of journalists here on Monday.
He feared that the sector could face closure if no package is announced for it in near future. He said they are working on a proposal under which exporters showing 10 percent plus growth than the previous year should be offered financial support. Under the proposed formula, the branded exports should get 7 percent, white rice 5 percent and brown rice should get 3 percent rebate, he added.
He said the government will not have to allocate extra revenue for the proposed rebate rather it would issue vouchers against the export consignments which would be adjustable against withholding tax and the banks' mark-up. The financial institutions would charge on the credit facility for the rice exports. The proposal would not cost the government more than Rs 10 billion per year but it would yield Rs 25 billion more export revenue, he claimed.
Samee Ullah Naeem also announced that the Association is going to hold its export trophy in Lahore on November 25, 2017, to honour its members who have excelled in rice export. He said Federal Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik will be the chief guest on this occasion.
Answering a question, he said that paddy prices for the current season had opened on higher end and there was no backlog of rice stock. He said we have orders in hand and hopefully this would prove good for the farmers. He also called for adopting direct subsidy mechanism to bring down the input cost of the growers. REAP's Mentor Pir Nazim Hussain Shah, Executive Committee Member Ali Hussam and Secretary General Kashif-ur-Rehman were also present on this occasion.
Arkansas
Rice Farmer Jennifer James Named 2017 Farmer of the Year
|
KANSAS CITY, MO -- Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture last night announced the recipients of its inaugural 2017 Sustainability Leadership Awards and Arkansas rice farmer Jennifer James was named 2017 Farmer of the Year. James, a fourth-generation rice farmer from Newport, Arkansas, was recognized for her extraordinary commitment to advancing sustainable agriculture through outstanding conservation and stewardship efforts on her farm, and for sharing best practices with her peers. "Jennifer manages her family's 6,000-acre farm with sustainability at the center of her decision making and an eye toward future generations," said Rod Snyder, president of Field to Market. "Her leadership and commitment to sustainable agriculture is marked by her steadfast dedication to conserving natural resources and instituting practices that provide wildlife habitat while benefiting soil, water, and air quality." "It is well-known within the industry that farmers are good stewards of the land, but the recognition coming here to Jennifer - and by extension our industry - is exciting," said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward. "As chair of the USA Rice Sustainability Committee, Jennifer has taken the lead for our industry in this area, and through her example and leadership, she is helping to tell our great story to consumers and end-users who want to know and need to know everything we are doing. We appreciate the recognition and congratulate Jennifer and her family on this high honor."  The Alliance also honored Kellogg Company, Syngenta, and The Nature Conservancy with the 2017 Collaboration of the Year Award for their collective efforts to deliver sustainable outcomes for agriculture in Michigan's Saginaw Bay. Award winners were selected by Field to Market's Board of Directors and the Alliance's Awards and Recognition Committee. Field to Market is comprised of more than 130 members representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, with members employing more than 5 million people and representing combined revenues totaling over $1.5 trillion. |
|
New Mid-South RCPP Deadlines Approaching
By Josh Hankins
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Over the past month, USA Rice hosted outreach meetings across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri to spread the word about the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Mid-South Graduated Water Stewardship, that will bring financial assistance to rice producers implementing working lands conservation programs throughout the four states.
This project was made possible by the Rice Stewardship Partnership, a partnership between USA Rice, Ducks Unlimited, and other organizations, willing to invest money, labor, and materials on initiatives to expand voluntary, private lands conservation.
Representatives from USA Rice, Ducks Unlimited, USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and participating partner Delta Plastics, were on hand to talk to rice producers and answer questions about the new RCPP program.
"The Rice Stewardship Partnership's efforts have made a tremendous impact on working lands conservation programs in Arkansas," said Arkansas rice farmer Mark Isbell. "It is great to see another rice targeted program being rolled out."
In Arkansas, Missouri, and Mississippi, producers in participating counties have untilFriday, November 17, to sign up for this RCPP's Environmental Qualities Incentive Program (EQIP). Louisiana producers' sign-up period ends on December 15.
For more information and to sign-up, visit your local (NRCS) office.
INDIAN
PRIME MINISTER DISCUSSES AGRI INNOVATIONS WITH IRRI RICE SCIENTISTS
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi discussed agricultural innovations with rice scientists at
the International Rice Research Institute during his visit to the IRRI
Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines on
November 13, 2017.
PM Modi also inaugurated the
Resilient Rice Field Laboratory at IRRI, where the primary scientific research
conducted is the development of high-yielding, stress-tolerant rice varieties
for the region. Some of the varieties are being tested locally at the IRRI
South Asia Regional Centre in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
"India's demonstrated
leadership in agriculture and agricultural science in the region is a real
benefit to farmers not only in India but also across SAARC, ASEAN and
Sub-Saharan Africa in mitigating the risk of climate change for rice
farmers," said Dr. Matthew Morell, IRRI Director General.PM Modi is in the
Philippines for the ASEAN Summit meetings.Read the news release from IRRI.
Cameroon imports rice worth F CFA 100 Billion yearly
Published on 15.11.2017 Ã 12h25 by Journal du Cameroun
According to statistics from the
Ministry of the economy, planning and regional development, the country imports
rice worth F CFA 100 Billion yearly to meet up with the population rice needs.
A trend which economic experts
have described as a significant loss of revenue for a public treasury that
wants to up it’s game.With an estimated domestic production of less than 150
000 tonnes and an annual demand of more than 300 000 tonnes, the country rice
needs is estimated as very high.
It is against this backdrop that
Cameroon government officials have embarked on process aimed at boosting local
rice production to close the gap. Reports say, MINEPAT officials are currently
on the field conducting operations, “with the aim of identifying a
development and extension program for rice production”.The objectives, the
experts say, is to reduce imports and boost local rice production activities
which will eventually cover the entire Cameroonian market and make prices fall.
Food assistance for poor declines
12:00 AM, November 16, 2017 / LAST
MODIFIED: 01:05 PM, November 16, 201
Stock not enough to help flood-hit people; 4.53 lakh tonnes
distributed in July-Oct against 7.28 lakh tonnes during same period last year
This has been a
bad crop year so far with back-to-back floods inflicting losses on the agrarian
economy and seriously affecting livelihood in half the country.More than eight
million people in the north, northeast and central regions took the brunt of
the floods -- first in the form of flashfloods in March and then rain-fed
floods in August-September, according to government data.
The country's poor and the vulnerable ones must have been in need
of aid more than they usually do.
But statistics show they got less.As against 7.28 lakh tonnes of
food distributed among the poor in July-October last year, the government could
provide just 4.53 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period this year under the
public food distribution system (PFDS).And the food minister acknowledged that
this has happened largely because of low food stock in public granaries during
the two crucial flooding periods."Yes, we couldn't provide the hardcore
poor with the subsidised rice [Tk 10 a kg] so far this year. We're now trying
hard to build up stock [through rice imports]," Food Minister Qamrul Islam
told The Daily Star yesterday.The food ministry will hold an inter-ministerial
meeting soon to take stock of the situation and finalise a plan to buy rice
from Aman growers to raise the stock in public granaries.
In September-November last year,
the country's five million ultra-poor families had received 30 kg of rice each
a month under the Tk 10-a-kg rice programme. The government could not start the
programme this year even after rescheduling it twice since September.Due to low
stock in public granaries, the government is now providing rice for Tk 30 a kg
to only 3.8 lakh beneficiaries in six flood-ravaged Haor districts and has
pledged to continue it till January next year.But a large number of
flood-hit people in the 34 affected districts are getting PFDS benefits far
less than they get even in usual times.
Many areas in Rangpur's Taraganj were hit by flood twice this
year.Maleka Begum, a widow who works at a local hotel in Taraganj, doesn't have
any land.Talking to this correspondent over the phone, the 50-year-old woman
said food aid from the government would have been helpful in supporting her
family of four at this difficult time.In Chapainawabganj, another flood-hit
district, Rajkumar Das works as a night guard.
"Last year we got rice at a subsidised price. But this year
when flood caused damages and rice prices rose in the open market, we received
nothing." Lending him a hand to run the family of four, his wife
supplements his poor earnings by sewing clothes at home. The night guard,
however, added that the government is providing rice under the open market sale
(OMS) programme, but its price has been doubled to Tk 30 a kg from Tk 15 last
year.
At the beginning of fiscal 2017-18, the government's rice stock
dipped to a historic low of just 1.5 lakh tonnes, which has now gone up to a
little more than four lakh tonnes.The food minister said his ministry was
trying hard to increase the food stock to 10 lakh tonnes by January.
Officials told The Daily Star that with this low food stock, the
government has to support the food needs of over six lakh Rohingyas, who have
crossed over to Bangladesh from Myanmar since August. UN aid agencies are
taking the host country's food support for the Rohingyas on the understanding
that these would be reimbursed upon receipt of sufficient international
aid. Dr Khan Ahmed Syed Murshid, director general of Bangladesh
Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), finds it only natural that the
government's food assistance has been "very tight" given its
“not-so-good stock”.
He said this is a lesson the government learnt the hard way.
Because of a poor stock, it couldn't intervene in the market when rice prices
continued to show upward trend.
Besides, food support for the Rohingyas is also putting pressure
on the public food stock, he added."You can't always foresee floods,
droughts or price fluctuations on the international market. So what you have to
do is keep arrangements for absorptions of such shock," Murshid noted.
SEEDS FOR FARMERS
Under the agriculture ministry's rehabilitation initiatives, more
than seven lakh farmers got incentives, including seeds and other agro-inputs,
to recoup flood-induced crop loss.
Aman crop in over six lakh hectares of land was severely damaged
in the last flood. However, many farmers could replant the monsoon rice as the
government provided them with seeds.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury told this newspaper that it's
still too early to predict the yield of Aman that farmers have just started
harvesting.
A recent field report of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) projected 1.3 million tonnes of Aman production this year,
down by 3.5 lakh tonnes from last year's output.Boro yield in May this year was
less than last year's, as some 20 lakh tonnes of rice were lost to Haor
flashfloods and fungal attack in different areas of the country.Since July 1
this year, the government and private traders have imported 17 lakh tonnes of
rice.
VOX POPULI: Tough
market of today makes rice a truly complex carbohydrate
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily
column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
November 16, 2017 at 13:10 JST
Children sample "Ichihomare" as the
new rice strain developed in Fukui Prefecture goes on sale in Fukui in
September. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The last few years have seen a
slew of new strains of rice with innovative brand names hitting the market.
Among them are "Shinnosuke" from Niigata Prefecture,
"Tsuya-hime" from Yamagata Prefecture, "Seiten no Hekireki"
from Aomori Prefecture and "Yume Pirika" from Hokkaido.
What is behind this phenomenon?
"It has become absolutely
necessary to produce new varieties that can outperform Koshihikari, 'the king
of rice,' " explained Toyohiro Shimizu, 60, head of the Fukui agricultural
experimental station.
Since its birth about 60 years
ago, Koshihikari has overwhelmed other varieties in crop acreage. But along
with Japan's steadily declining rice consumption, rice farmers around the
nation began scrambling to develop money-making rice.
Six years ago, Shimizu's lab set
up a department to develop "post-Koshihikari" strains. Called the
"Posu-Koshi department" for short, it raised 200,000 strains of
different genetic makeup and selected 10,000 varieties based on their growth
height and disease tolerance. This was followed by examinations of their ears
and unmilled grains, which resulted in the selection being pared down to 100
cultivars.
In the meantime, the researchers
enlisted 1,500 consumers and culinary experts to participate in tasting, which
found "sweetness, stickiness and smoothness" are the three key
requirements.
The researchers evaluated what
could be physically measured, such as the rice's hardness and composition. As
for qualities that are less easy to measure, such as texture, about 30 staffers
at the lab acted as tasters and judges.
The variety that ultimately
earned their highest approval was named "Ichihomare," which went on
sale on an experimental basis this autumn.
Tasting sessions are still being
held for qualitative improvement, and I visited its lab's tasting room
recently.
There were partition panels
around the tasting tables, reminding me of polling booths. Tasters sample one
mouthful each of five types of rice and rate them on flavor, stickiness and so
forth.
Even to the untrained eyes such
as mine, it was obvious that if the color of Koshihikari is to be called
"white," Ichihomare's should be described as "pure white."
Unlike in the days when hunger
and malnutrition were serious national issues, rice today is judged on its
shine when freshly boiled and even on how its brand name sounds.
In this new age of rice, only the
strains that satisfy all five senses will survive the competition.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 16
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular
daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and
social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the
column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and
its culture.
Sifting through clues about rice
·
By
Pam Eastlick
·
Nov
16, 2017
It’s time to dip into the plant
file, and I found a couple of items about what could be just the most important
plant in the world. At least to us humans. And what is it? Rice.
One of the problems that global
warming brings is extended periods of drought all over the planet. And unfortunately,
rice takes an incredible amount of water to grow which makes it very
susceptible to drought. Now, scientists at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable
Resource Science in collaboration with researchers from other countries have
developed strains of rice that are resistant to drought in real-world
situations. They tackled this issue by developing transgenic strains of rice.
Normally, plants adapt to
drought-related stress by producing molecules like soluble sugars that help
prevent water from leaving cells. So the researchers took the genes that
produce galactinol, one of these sugars, from a plant called Arabidopsis and
grafted it into a rice plant.
Drought-related stress
The genomic addition improved the
rice’s resistance to drought-related stress, and increased its grain yield in
dry field conditions. The researchers say it’s one of the best examples where
basic research knowledge has been successfully applied toward a resolution to a
food-related problem.
For this study, they created
several lines of transgenic Brazilian and African rice that overexpress this
gene, and with their collaborators, tested how well the rice grew in different
conditions in different years.
First, they grew different rice
lines in greenhouse conditions and showed that the modified Brazilian and
African rice did indeed show higher production levels of galactinol than the
unmodified control rice. Next, they tested tolerance to drought during the
seedling growth period because this period often overlaps with seasonal
drought. In order to precisely control this part of the experiment, it was
conducted in a shelter that allowed them to artificially create drought-like
conditions. After three weeks, the modified strains had grown taller and showed
less leaf-rolling, a common response to drought stress.
After several other trials, they
tested the transgenic rice over a three-year period in different natural
environments and several of the transgenic strains showed higher grain yield
under mild and severe natural drought.
Although the researchers say that
it may take five to 10 years before the drought-resistant rice reaches the
marketplace, our rapidly changing climate sure makes it a good idea.
Weedy rice
Climate change isn’t the only
threat to the rice crop. A new study in Nature Genetics describes an ancestry.com-type
adventure that reveals the deep history of a family, including some
disreputable relatives. The family is Asian rice (Oryza sativa), and the
disreputable relatives are the weedy cousins of domesticated rice.
Weedy rice is neither wild rice
nor crop rice but rather formerly domesticated rice that’s "gone
rogue" and shed some traits that are important to people. Although it
grows only in rice paddies, it’s not easily harvested and produces inedible
seeds.
In some places, these weeds can
cause a 90 percent reduction in rice crops and even in the U.S., weedy rice is
estimated to be present in 30 percent of rice fields and causes crop losses of
more than $50 million annually.
There are two major strains of
weedy rice in the U.S.: strawhull and blackhull awned. Analysis shows that the
two weeds evolved from two different crop varieties. They evolved at different
stages in the domestication process, and the genetic basis for weediness differs
between the strains. It also revealed that relatively few changes were needed
to turn the crop plant into a weed. Unfortunately, rice seems to tend toward
weediness.
When rice is planted by hand,
each seedling is looked at and the weedy ones are thrown away. But the adoption
of mechanized farming has changed the equation. The weedy relatives look so
much like the crop, they blend in and farmers don't realize they have a problem
until they have a real infestation.
The weeds have shattering seeds
which helps them disperse at a higher rate but makes them impossible to
harvest. They also have a higher rate of dormancy which means that there’s a
reservoir of weed seeds in crop fields that come up year after year and
out-compete the crop.
What the researchers found
fascinating is the way the weeds have co-opted the agricultural system. They
take advantage of this wonderful environment we create by tilling and providing
nutrients, and way out-compete the plants that have desirable traits.
Of course, desirability is subjective.
What’s desirable for us may not be desirable for the rice!
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Waive GST on all brands of rice:
millers
CHENNAI , NOVEMBER 16, 2017 07:34 IST
The Federation of Tamil Nadu Rice Mill Owners and Paddy-Rice Dealers Associations has urged the Central government to not impose any Goods and Service Tax (GST) on rice.
At present, GST is being imposed even on unregistered rice brands that comes in packs from millers. “Since most customers are used to rice from a particular mill, they recognise them by the images on the bags. They wouldn’t even know the name of the mill or from where the rice comes. In most cases, these are local brands and the rice is sold in a particular area. These people would have been selling rice for several generations now under the same name,” said Association president D. Thulasingam. Association Secretary A.C. Mohan said that if GST for unregistered brands was to be waived, the government had directed them to print an undertaking on the bags that they will forgo any actionable claim over the brand/image on their bags. He said this was unfair and was like giving up their hard earned name among customers.
“These unregistered brands should not be treated on a par with Basmati rice,” he said. Mr. Thulasingam also added that non-Basmati rice was the staple of 60% of the population. “We have written to the Central government urging them to waive GST for rice regardless of brands,” he said.
Waive GST on all brands of rice: millers
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHENNAI , NOVEMBER 16, 2017 07:34 IST
UPDATED: NOVEMBER 16, 2017 07:34 IST
SHARE ARTICLE 1 PRINT A A A
The Federation of Tamil Nadu Rice
Mill Owners and Paddy-Rice Dealers Associations has urged the Central government
to not impose any Goods and Service Tax (GST) on rice.At present, GST is being
imposed even on unregistered rice brands that comes in packs from millers.
“Since most customers are used to rice from a particular mill, they recognise
them by the images on the bags. They wouldn’t even know the name of the mill or
from where the rice comes. In most cases, these are local brands and the rice
is sold in a particular area.
These people would have been selling rice for
several generations now under the same name,” said Association president D.
Thulasingam. Association Secretary A.C. Mohan said that if GST for unregistered
brands was to be waived, the government had directed them to print an
undertaking on the bags that they will forgo any actionable claim over the
brand/image on their bags. He said this was unfair and was like giving up their
hard earned name among customers.
“These unregistered brands should
not be treated on a par with Basmati rice,” he said. Mr. Thulasingam also added
that non-Basmati rice was the staple of 60% of the population. “We have written
to the Central government urging them to waive GST for rice regardless of
brands,” he said. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/waive-gst-on-all-brands-of-rice-millers/article20463911.ece
5 rice mills debarred from procuring paddy
15 NOVEMBER 2017 Last Updated at 11:12
PM
Sambalpur (Odisha), Nov 15 The
Odisha government today debarred five rice mills of Sambalpur from procuring
paddy since these mills were found hoarding paddy even the procurement process
started in the district.
Though Kharif paddy procurement
process began in the district from today, the five rice mills were found
stocking paddy, officials said.
The officials of Revenue
Department and Civil Supply Department had conducted raids in 10 rice mills
here on November 13 and found around 20,000 bags of paddy stacked in five of
them.
The owners of the rice mills had
also failed to explain from where they got the paddy before the beginning of
procurement.
Civil Supply Officer Pitambar
Acharya said, the five rice mills would be issued show cause notices after
verification and they would not be involved in the paddy procurement process
until they come up with proper explanations about the paddy stock.
Altogether 51 millers in the
district were supposed to take part in the paddy procurement process in the
district.
While the minimum support price
is Rs 1,550 per quintal for common paddy, for Grade A paddy it is is Rs 1,590
per quintal.
The state government has set a
tentative target to procure 2,55,882 ton of paddy in the district during the
current crop season.
At least 34,285 farmers have
registered for selling paddy.
Phnom Penh Post - Rice
sector optimistic as harvest wraps on Rumduol
A rice farmer gathers rice grains for sale after harvest season in
Battambang province.Heng Chivoan
Rice sector optimistic as harvest
wraps on Rumduol
Thu, 16 November 2017
Rice farmers and millers are
confident that the price for premium fragrant paddy will continue to increase
over the next two weeks as the annual harvest season for Phka Rumduol wraps up.
However, farmers complain that they are still facing long-standing problems
that could see profits squeezed.
Hun Lak, vice president of the
Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), said that after the first week of the Phka
Rumduol rice harvest, the cost of paddy rice would be expected to increase from
1,150 riel to 1,200 riel per kilo.
“The price of paddy rice will
continue to increase over the next two weeks, and it’s more stable this year
than last because of high demand,” he said, adding that the price of paddy rice
suffered last year in September when Thailand flooded the rice market and
prices in Cambodia fell to 700 riel per kilo.
According to Lak, the current
price of paddy rice is profitable for farmers, and the most successful farmers
this harvest season will be those who followed the government’s instructions on
ensuring seed quality, fertiliser and pesticide control.
According to CRF, the price for
paddy rice purchased from the field was valued at 1,070 riel per kilo while the
price millers are paying is at 1,150 riel per kilo.
Den Srey Lim, deputy director of
Agricultural Development for Battambang province’s agricultural cooperative
Chamroeurn Phal, who represents 220 family farmers on 1,152 hectares of rice
fields, said that she anticipated the harvest this year would be a good one.
“We are happy with the paddy rice
price this year, unlike last year,” she said, referencing the protests which
erupted among farmers last year when the price of rice plummeted and profits
disappeared.
Chray Son, deputy director of
Capital Food, said that despite heightened profits this harvest season, claims
from the government that they have propped up the sector are over-exaggerated.
The state-run Rural Development Bank has allocated $50 million in emergency
funding for rice millers, with only $9 million utilised by the private sector
as of the end of last month.
“The price of paddy rice is
better than last year because farmers haven’t been harvesting all at once,
leading to large stockpiles of rice without storage or drying facilities to
process them,” he said. “The stable price is not due to the government’s
intervention at all, but is thanks to the industry itself, which has increased
the number of drying and storage facilities this year.”
He added that farmers are still
facing challenges, including lack of water irrigation, which have yet to be
addressed.
Va Saroeurn, president of Mongkol
Agricultural Development Cooperative in Battambang province’s Sangke district,
who represents 500 farming families on about 1,000 hectares of rice fields,
said that farmers are still not seeing significant profits because of damage
caused by unaddressed challenges including drought and rampant pests. He added
that only 40 percent of his members can properly access the water system.
“Despite the high price of rice,
we’re still not making much profit because we cannot access water for our
fields,” he said. “Most farmers in my cooperative have lost profits this year
due to low production and lack of irrigation.”
Paddy procurement begins in Sambalpur
By Express News Service |
Published: 16th November 2017 02:39 AM |
Last Updated: 16th November 2017 07:22
AM | A+A A- |
Paddy bags being carried on tractors to Baraipali market
yard for procurement in Sambalpur on Wednesday | Express
SAMBALPUR: The paddy procurement for kharif marketing
season (KMS) began in the district on Wednesday. The procurement will start in
Kuchinda and Rairakhol sub-divisions from November 23 and November 27
respectively.
Food and Civil Supplies Officer, Sambalpur, Pitambar
Acharya said the State Government has set a tentative target to procure
2,55,882 tonnes of paddy during the KMS. Of the total 2,55,882 tonnes of paddy,
Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation, MARKFED and Tribal Development
Co-operative Corporation will procure 2,30,882 tonnes, 22,059 tonnes and 2,941
tonnes respectively. On the first day, about 44,894 bags of paddy have been
procured, he informed.
Acharya said there is no restriction for procurement of
paddy, which will come to market yards from registered farmers, even after
achieving the set target. The minimum support price (MSP) of paddy declared by
the Centre for KMS 2017-18 is `1,550 per quintal for common paddy and `1,590
per quintal for Grade-A, he added.
So far, about 37,000 farmers have registered themselves
to take part in the KMS against participation of 36,405 in the last year. The
paddy will be procured through 77 market yards and paddy purchase centres
spread across nine blocks of the district.
Meanwhile, the Food and Civil Supplies department has
debarred five rice mills of the district from the procurement process after
huge stock of unaccounted paddy was found from their mills. The officials of
Revenue and Civil Supplies departments had conducted raids on rice mills in
Sambalpur and found about 20,000 bags of paddy hoarded in five rice mills on
November 13.
Acharya said the verification of paddy stock is yet to be
over, while the five rice mills will be issued show cause notices soon.
Altogether, 51 rice millers in the district were supposed to take part in the
procurement. At present, paddy will be procured through 46 millers after
exclusion of five millers from the procurement process, he added.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2017/nov/16/paddy-procurement-begins-in-sambalpur-1702507.html
India's LT
Foods buys facility in Texas for rice product processing
 |
|
LT
Foods - rice specialist is expanding production in the US
|
It was revealed last month in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange LT announced its intention to expand its operations in Houston for this purpose. The "rationale for setting the facility is to diversify and take [the] lead in this growing segment", the filing said.
To this end it has acquired a 49,778 sq ft, Class A industrial building in Lakeview Business Park in Missouri City. It is adjacent to a facility which LT Foods already owns.Jarret Venghaus of property agent JLL, which did the deal on the new building, said: "This offering presented a great opportunity for LT Foods to expand their business without interrupting their operations.
"This location continues to serve them well and now they have the space they need to grow."
The firm mills, processes and markets branded and non-branded basmati rice, as well as manufactures rice-based products, in its domestic market and for overseas.
Its US subsidiary, LT Foods Americas, located in Cypress, California, was established in 1992 and imports basmati rice along with Thai Hom Mali Jasmine rice from Thailand, grape seed oil from Spain, and tea from Sri Lanka.
·
Author: Whitney
Brim-DeForest
·
Author: Luis
Espino
·
Author:
Timothy Blank
·
Author:
Teresa DeLeon
November 14, 2017
The 2017 season kicked off with much fanfare regarding weedy
rice. Thanks to the vigilance of the entire rice industry, the UCCE Rice
Advisors received many calls regarding weedy rice, starting in late June, as
growers finished their herbicide applications. Calls continued to come in
through July and August. The California Crop Improvement Association (CCIA)
began inspecting fields as the rice headed, and suspected plants were pulled
and sent to the UCCE Weedy Rice Team for genetic testing.By the end of the season, we had a total of:
- 53
samples submitted for testing
- Out
of the 53, 15 have been confirmed to be weedy rice
- 7
are still pending genetic testing
- 3
were new medium grain seed fields
- 1
was an established medium grain seed field
- 4
were specialty variety seed fields
There were many calls throughout the season, which indicated that everyone was out inspecting their fields. Thankfully, many of the calls were not weedy rice!
Some commonly things that can be mistaken for weedy rice:
1) Sprangletop: like rice, it has a ligule, so early in the season, before heading, it may be easy to confuse it with weedy rice. However, sprangletop has a white stripe down the middle of the leaf (mid-vein).
2) Elongated Upper Internode (EUI): this is a genetic abnormality of common medium grain rice varieties that causes the part of the stem attached to the rice panicle to elongate. The panicles stick up above the canopy, just like weedy rice. However, the rest of the plant will look just like the variety planted in the field.
3) Bakanae: this disease of rice causes the plants to elongate and appear taller than the surrounding plants, and they also appear lighter in color. However, any panicles produced by the infected plants will be blanks.
4) Fertility Differences: if the field has more or less nitrogen in certain areas, some of the rice plants may appear lighter in color than others.
 |
 |
Elongated upper internode (left)
and sprangletop (right) can be confused with weedy rice plants.
New Information for Management
We have been working on characterizing some of the biological characteristics of the weedy rice populations. We made considerable progress over the summer, and are happy to report that the dormancy and shattering status of each of the five populations is now known.
|
Characteristics |
Populations |
Duration
of time in soil |
|
High
dormancy, high shattering |
Type
1, Type 3, Type 4 |
Long-term
(may be 10 or more years) |
|
Low
dormancy, high shattering |
Type
2, Type 5 |
Shorter
(likely to be a few years, but only if more seed is not being put into the
soil seedbank) |
For images of all the weedy rice
types found in California, go to www.caweedyrice.com
Implications for Management
All weedy rice types found in California so far are high shattering, which means that many of the seeds will fall off the panicle before harvest. Therefore, it is critical to remove plants from the field before they can shatter completely. Any seeds shattering on the soil surface will have the potential to be deposited into the soil seedbank, lengthening the amount of time weedy rice will be infesting the field.
Three of the types found in California have high dormancy: Type 1, Type 3, and Type 4. High dormancy means that once the seeds are in the soil, they will remain there for a long period of time without germinating, even if the grower is doing everything possible to get the plants to germinate so that they can be killed. Two of the types have low dormancy: Type 2 and Type 5. These types will readily germinate the following spring if they are close to the soil surface, so they can be more easily eradicated from a field, if a grower follows all best management practices.
Summary: We Are Working Together!
Overall, grower and PCA participation in scouting for weedy rice was really high in 2017. Since we can only get rid of it if we know that it is there, this is very encouraging, and we hope that the participation continues into the future. Likewise, those growers that already know they have weedy rice infestations are working hard to eradicate it, following the Best Management Practices. Again, this is very encouraging, as the only way that we can eradicate this pest is as a group, working togetherhttp://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=25650
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- November 16, 2017
NOVEMBER 16, 2017 / 1:38 PM
/ UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-November 16
Nagpur, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Gram prices recovered further in
Nagpur Agriculture Produce Marketing
Committee (APMC) on increased demand from local traders amid
thin supply from producing belts.
Fresh rise on NCDEX, upward trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses and reported
demand from South-based
millers also helped to push up prices, according to
sources.
FOODGRAINS &
PULSES
GRAM
* Desi gram reported
higher in open market on renewed buying support from local
traders.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties ruled
steady in open market here but demand was poor.
* Lakhodi dal moved
down in open market in absence of buyers amid profit-taking
selling by stockists
at higher level.
* In Akola, Tuar New –
4,000-4,100, Tuar dal (clean) – 5,700-5,800, Udid Mogar (clean)
– 8,000-8,500, Moong
Mogar (clean) 7,000-7,300, Gram – 4,500-4,650, Gram Super best
– 7,300-7,500
* Wheat, rice and other
foodgrain items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and
settled at last levels in thin trading activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC
auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,800-4,650 3,600-4,600
Gram Pink
Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction n.a. 3,500-4,000
Moong Auction n.a. 3,900-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Wheat Mill quality
Auction 1,600-1,695 1,600-1,670
Gram Super Best
Bold 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 6,600-7,000 6,600-7,000
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill
Quality 3,800-3,900 3,800-3,900
Desi gram Raw 4,800-4,900 4,750-4,850
Gram Kabuli 12,400-13,000 12,400-13,000
Tuar Fataka
Best-New 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Tuar Fataka
Medium-New 5,800-6,100 5,800-6,100
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 5,700-5,900 5,700-5,900
Tuar Dal Medium
phod-New 5,200-5,600 5,200-5,600
Tuar Gavarani
New 4,050-4,150 4,050-4,150
Tuar Karnataka 4,400-4,700 4,400-4,700
Masoor dal best 5,200-5,400 5,200-5,400
Masoor dal
medium 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold
(New) 7,100-7,500 7,100-7,500
Moong Mogar
Medium 6,300-6,700 6,300-6,700
Moong dal Chilka 5,800-6,200 5,800-6,200
Moong Mill
quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki
best 7,100-7,500 7,100-7,500
Udid Mogar best (100
INR/KG) (New) 8,000-9,000
8,000-8,800
Udid Mogar Medium
(100 INR/KG) 5,700-7,000 5,500-7,000
Udid Dal Black (100
INR/KG) 5,200-6,300 5,100-6,300
Batri dal (100
INR/KG) 5,000-5,500 5,000-5,400
Lakhodi dal (100
INR/kg) 2,750-2,850 2,800-3,000
Watana Dal (100
INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Watana Green Best
(100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,800 3,400-3,800
Wheat 308 (100
INR/KG) 1,900-2,000 1,900-2,000
Wheat Mill quality
(100 INR/KG) 1,750-1,900 1,750-1,90
Wheat Filter (100
INR/KG) 2,100-2,300 2,100-2,300
Wheat Lokwan best
(100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,450 2,200-2,400
Wheat Lokwan medium
(100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,150 1,900-2,100
Lokwan Hath Binar
(100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100
INR/KG) 3,100-3,600 3,100-3,600
MP Sharbati Medium
(100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,700 2,300-2,700
Rice BPT best (100
INR/KG) 3,000-3,500 3,000-3,500
Rice BPT medium (100
INR/KG) 2,800-2,900 2,800-2,900
Rice Luchai (100
INR/KG) 2,200-2,400 2,200-2,400
Rice Swarna best (100
INR/KG) 2,500-2,600 2,500-2,600
Rice Swarna medium
(100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Rice HMT best (100
INR/KG) 3,600-4,000 3,600-4,000
Rice HMT medium (100
INR/KG) 3,250-3,600 3,250-3,600
Rice Shriram best(100
INR/KG) 4,800-5,100 4,800-5,100
Rice Shriram med (100
INR/KG) 4,400-4,600 4,400-4,600
Rice Basmati best
(100 INR/KG) 10,000-14,000 10,000-14,000
Rice Basmati Medium
(100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best 100
INR/KG) 5,000-5,500 5,000-5,500
Rice Chinnor medium
(100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,700-5,000
Jowar Gavarani (100
INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,100
Jowar CH-5 (100
INR/KG) 1,800-2,000 1,700-2,000
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 31.7 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 18.8 degree
Celsius
Rainfall : Nil
FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and minimum temperature
would be around and 32 and 19
degree Celsius respectively.
Note: n.a.--not available
(For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery
prices, but
included in market prices)https://in.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-politics/corrected-zimbabwes-mugabe-resisting-army-pressure-to-quit-senior-source-idINKBN1DG0AO
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Bangladesh Scraps Rice Deal With Cambodia Over Shipment Delayi
Dhaka. Bangladesh has cancelled its first-ever deal with Cambodia to
import 250,000 tonnes of white rice over a delay in shipments, officials at the
state grains buyer said on Tuesday (14/11).
The deal was signed in August at
$453.00 a tonne as the Bangladesh government raced to shore up depleted stocks
and combat record domestic prices of the staple grain after floods hit its
crop.
"We had to terminate the
deal as they failed to supply the rice on time," Badrul Hasan, the head of
Bangladesh's state grain buyer, told Reuters.
Despite deals with several rice exporting countries including
Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, Bangladesh is still battling to build its
reserves, with rice imports are set to hit their highest levels in a decade.
"We don't think this will
have an impact on our efforts to build stocks," he said, adding the state
grains buyer was in talks with an Indian agency.
"Tomorrow we are holding
talks with India's National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation
(NAFED). We hope we will succeed to finalize a deal with them."
Traditionally the world's
fourth-biggest rice producer, Bangladesh has emerged as a major importer of the
grain this year and helped pushed Asian rice prices to multi-year highs in
June.
Rice is a staple food for
Bangladesh's 160 million people and high prices pose a problem for the
government, which faces a national election next year.
Bangladesh has also issued a
series of tenders as it looks to import a total of 1.5 million tonnes of rice
in the year to June.
Rice at government warehouses
stood at 411,000 tonnes, well below the normal level of around 1 million tonnes.
In August, Bangladesh cut a duty
on rice imports for the second time in two months. The lower import duty has
prompted purchases by private dealers, with most of the deals being struck with
neighboring India.
Bangladesh produces around 34
million tonnes of rice annually but uses almost all its production to feed its
population. It often requires imports to cope with shortages caused by floods
or droughts
http://jakartaglobe.id/international/bangladesh-scraps-rice-deal-cambodia-shipment-delay/Paddy production in Punjab highest since 2014
The higher procurement of paddy
this year is being attributed to favourable weather during the harvesting
season and also good varieties of paddy.
55
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Written
by Anju Agnihotri Chaba | Jalandhar | Published:November 16, 2017 1:32 am
Farmers in the state prefer paddy, which has assured market, over
Basmati rice, which has been seeing a poor market for the past few years.
Punjab has procured around 17.8 million tonnes of paddy (Parmal
rice) this year, up around 6.84 % against last year’s 16.8 MT despite the fact
that the area under paddy cultivation this year was less compared to the last
year. This is the highest paddy production in Punjab since 2014 and the figure
could go even higher since the paddy procurement is still going on. Records
show Punjab procured 11.9 MT of paddy in 2014 and 13.9 MT in 2015.
The higher procurement of paddy this year is being attributed to
favourable weather during the harvesting season and also good varieties of
paddy. Farmers in the state prefer paddy, which has assured market, over
Basmati rice, which has been seeing a poor market for the past few years.
According to the state’s agriculture department, 29.26 lakh
hectares was under rice cultivation this year, of which 24.50 lakh hectares was
under paddy and the rest under Basmati rice (fine quality rice). Last year,
30.10 lakh hectares was under rice cultivation, of which 25.10 lakh hectares
was under paddy and the rest under Basmati.
Dr J S Bains, director at the state’s Agriculture Department,
said per hectare yield of paddy was also reported to have increased at several
places this year compared to last year. This year, the procurement price of
paddy was Rs 1,590 per quintal. Around 95 per cent procurement has already taken
place.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/paddy-production-in-punjab-highest-since-2014-4939326/
