Roads less
traveled in Pakistan
Stefani Ribka
The Jakarta Post
Karachi/Tando Adam | Tue, January 23, 2018 | 10:01 am
A group of journalists, including The Jakarta Post was invited by the Trade Development
Authority of Pakistan to the country’s Trade Expo to check on its strategic
products as well as to meet some of the importers and suppliers, including
cotton trader Spinwell International, cotton producer Sindh Agro Industries
and rice producer NY Company. Here is the report.
“Isn’t there a war going on there? Don’t you
have to wear a hijab there?” These were some friends’ reactions when they
learned about our trip to Karachi, the financial capital of Pakistan.
Pakistan may sound like a random choice of
travel destination. It is not a popular destination nor is it known as the
safest place to go. But the South Asian country has a lesser-known rich culture
and warm beautiful people.
The world’s second-biggest Muslim country after
Indonesia does indeed have border disputes with its neighbor India to the
northeast and Afghanistan to the west, resulting in clashes near the borders,
but the rest of the country have been enjoying peaceful lives since it gained
independence from Britain in 1947.
Being in Pakistan may feel like being in a
different world; a rather old one, where once the world’s oldest Indus River
civilization dating back to 3,000 B.C. fused with the migrating Indo-Aryan
peoples.
The democratic country saw successive invasions
from various nations before the Brits came in, including the Greeks and Arabs
who brought Islam, the majority religion now.
Even so, the minority Hindus and Christians
claim to see a good deal of tolerance so wearing a hijab is not a must here.
The country’s colonial past has obviously
affected the architecture and outlook in Karachi, the capital of Sindh
province.
Palm trees, dull-looking light brown and yellow
buildings, Mediterranean-style and British colonial architecture, building
ruins, AK-47-wielding military, police and security people — you can easily
spot all these things along the way from Jinnah International Airport to Club
Road, where all the five-star hotels and historical buildings are.
Flocks of birds, from crows to sparrows and
starlings, are everywhere in Karachi’s sky, especially its public parks with
their Mediterranean benches and palm trees on wide green empty spaces. These
places are full of merry people picnicking and playing cricket in the evening.
The Indonesian importers associated the view
with Jakarta in the 1980s, when old buildings and ruins were everywhere, given
its construction style and desert climate — hot in the afternoon and cool at
night, just like Jakarta without the humidity.
The sight of colorful trucks with carved wooden
doors and buses decorated with fancy glittering metallic accessories caught our
eye, besides the other traditional means of transportation such as
auto-rickshaws, donkey-pulled carts as well as all the RX-King lookalike
motorcycles.
The travel warnings and concerns about
traveling to Pakistan proved rather misleading as we enjoyed interacting with
locals to learn about their culture and roots while doing street photography.
“For years we haven’t seen any conflict. We are
very much happy and peaceful here,” said Asha Bankar, a 20-year-old Hindu who
was praying at Lakshmi Narayan temple.
Pakistan’s national language is Urdu, with
English also being an official language. Urdu sounds like an Indian language
but less tonal.
The Pakistan Embassy in Indonesia told us to
have some local people with us when walking around the town to make us feel
safer. We found Pakistani people to be warm, friendly and laid back. Almost
everywhere we went, people asked for selfies and chatted with us.
Men were just chilling, sitting in their shalwar (baggy trousers) and kameez (long shirt) in front
of closed shops at Empress Market, known for cheap garments and staple goods,
as it was the day of Ashura, an Islamic holiday to commemorate the death of
martyr Hazrat Imam Hussain. Cellular service was suspended for the day as a
security measure.
Youngsters in T-shirts and jeans were hanging
out in front of a closed shop, maybe waiting for the right time to go to nearby
Clifton Beach that would have camels in the evening, or to McDonalds, Burger
King or the art gallery located near the upscale Defence Estate. Here, malls
are open from around noon to midnight.
Due to its rooted milk tea culture, there is no
Starbucks here, but a lot of must-visit street restaurants along the Boat Basin
area, where families were sipping the national drink complete with poori and eating cheese paratha bread and various dips
from cholay and potato curry to halva.
Compared to Indian food, Pakistani food has a
milder curry taste and milder spices, which may suit the tastes of many Asians.
The country is also known for its agricultural
produce such as long-grain rice, wheat, sugar, fruit and cotton, much of which
are planted in Tando Adam, a small town a three-hour drive from Karachi, with
Sindh Agro Industries and NY Company as some big players.
Besides agriculture, Pakistan’s economy is
driven by garments, surgical instruments and sports goods as well as the music
industry, which produced that easy-listening “Har Zulm” by Sajjad Ali and the
funky PPP version of “Dila Teer Bija.”
http://www.thejakartapost.com/travel/2018/01/23/roads-less-traveled-in-pakistan.html
MOMBASA
We'll strike strategic partnerships with foreign envoys, says
Kingi
A crew member of the Pakistan
Navy cruise ship with Mombasa County Deputy Governor Dr William Kingi, January
22, 2018. [Photo|Dr William Kingi]
Pakistan remains the second
largest export partner destination for Kenyan goods after the UAE in Asia,
Mombasa County Deputy Governor Dr William Kingi has said.
The biggest export to Kenya from
Pakistan is rice which has a big customer base in Mombasa.
This formed the basis of Kingi's
conversation with the crew of the Pakistan Navy cruise ship that docked in
Mombasa on Sunday January 21.
During the meeting on Monday,
Kingi said leadership of Ali Hassan Joho was committed to creating more avenues
for empowerment of the people and striking strategic partnerships with foreign
envoys for the growth of our local economy.
"We shall harness both
diplomatic and trade cooperation with the Pakistan for the betterment of our
people," said the deputy governor.
Pakistan and Kenya relations
historically dates back to the 1960s when the Pakistani expressed interest in
supporting the independence of Kenya from the colonialists.
Over the years our ties have
grown stronger as Kenya opened other avenues for bilateral trade between the
two countries.
The crew also met county Governor
Ali Hassan Joho.
Arif Habib to launch IPO of Matco
Foods
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): The Arif
Habib Limited has announced that it is launching the initial public offering
(IPO) of Matco Foods Limited beginning with book building scheduled on January
23, 2018 and January 24. Arif Habib Limited (AHL) has been mandated by the
company as consultant and MCB Bank Limited (MCB) has been appointed as book
runner. This issue consists of 2.92 million ordinary shares (25% of the post
issued paid up capital of the company). The entire issue will be offered
through book building at a floor price of Rs26 per ordinary share. Initially,
75% of the issue size or 21,857,000 ordinary shares will be allotted to
successful bidders and 25% of the issue or 7,286,000 ordinary shares will be
offered to retail investors at the strike price during the general subscription
starting from January 29, 2018 to January 30, 2018. Any unsubscribed retail
portion will be allocated to successful bidders on a pro-rata basis. Matco
Foods Limited is primarily engaged in processing and export of rice.
Matco, founded in 1964 by Syed Sarfaraz Ali Ghori, was incorporated in 1990 as a private limited company. In the early days, the company supplied rice processing plants and machinery to government of Pakistan. In 1990, the company set up Pakistan’s first fully automated, modern rice processing plant.
Matco, founded in 1964 by Syed Sarfaraz Ali Ghori, was incorporated in 1990 as a private limited company. In the early days, the company supplied rice processing plants and machinery to government of Pakistan. In 1990, the company set up Pakistan’s first fully automated, modern rice processing plant.
https://nation.com.pk/23-Jan-2018/newsbrief
https://nation.com.pk/23-Jan-2018/newsbrief
Rice output in H1 seen exceeding 8.7 MMT
January 23, 2018
Paddy production in the first half of 2018 could rise by 1.63
percent to 8.709 million metric tons (MMT), from last year’s record of 8.569
MMT, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Data from the PSA showed the projected hike in paddy production
in the first quarter would offset the anticipated decline in second-quarter
output.
In the January-to-March period, PSA data showed paddy production
would increase by 5.65 percent to 4.669 MMT, from the previous year’s 4.419
MMT. The projection was based on standing crop.
“Harvest area may expand to 1.19 million hectares, from 1.15
million hectares in 2017, or by 3.85 percent. Yield per hectare may improve to
3.92 metric tons [MT], from 3.85 MT,” the PSA said in its report titled “Rice
and Corn Situation Outlook.”
In the April-to-June period, harvest area may contract by 3.89
percent to 910,000 hectares, from the previous year’s 947,000 hectares. Yield
per hectare, however, is seen expanding by 1.29 percent to 4.44 MT, from 4.38
MT in the same period last year.
“The farmers’ planting intentions for April to June 2018 will
probably be affected by the earlier decision to plant during the fourth quarter
of 2017, moving the harvest earlier in the first quarter of 2018 since they are
apprehensive of unpredictable weather,” the PSA report read.
“Nevertheless, they expect yield to increase due to anticipation
of sufficient water supply from irrigation and sustained distribution of good
quality seeds from the government,” it added.
Paddy output in 2017 reached 19.28 MMT, 9.36 percent higher than
the 2016 output of 17.36 MMT. The PSA said harvest area expanded to 4.81 million
hectares, from 4.56 million hectares. Yield was up by 3.54 percent to 4.01 MT,
from 3.87 MT in 2016.
As for corn, the PSA said output in the first semester could
increase by 2.25 percent to 3.779 MMT, from last year’s 3.696 MMT. Yellow-corn
production could go up by 1.71 percent to 3.003 MMT, while white-corn output
could rise by 4.37 percent to 776,000 MT.
“Based on standing crop, probable production in January to March
2018 will be 2.49 MMT, 5.05 percent above the 2.37 MMT output in 2017. Harvest area
may be larger from 695,740 hectares in 2017 to 720,960 MT in 2018, or by 3.26
percent,” the PSA report read.
“Possible increases in production are expected in all regions,
except the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos region, Western Visayas, Eastern
Visayas, Davao region, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” it added.
Based on farmers’ planting intentions, the PSA said corn output
could decline by 2.73 percent to 1.294 MMT in the second quarter, from last
year’s 1.33 MMT.
“Farmers are pessimistic to plant due to expectations of
unfavorable weather, limited seeds and insufficient soil moisture,” the PSA
said.
Corn output last year rose by 9.64 percent to 7.91 MMT, from
7.22 MMT in 2016. The PSA said harvest area increased to 2.55 million hectares
from the previous year’s 2.48 million hectares, or by 2.74 percent. Yield
improved by 6.72 percent to 3.1 MT, from the previous year’s 2.91 MT.
State Logistic Agency to
Auction Rice Import
Posted On 23 Jan 2018
By : Leo Jegho
For 15 years
between 2000 and 2015, Indonesia had been importing rice.
Illustration of imported rice
stocks being loaded for transport. (Photo source: beritasatu.com)
Jakarta, GIVnews.com – The State Logistics Agency (Bulog), which deals with food
distribution and price control, will soon auction the importation of 500,000
tons of medium-grade rice by private firms. So far, Bulog has been the only
importer of rice bought with state funds.
The rice to be imported will
originate from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan. It will arrive at
Indonesian ports by the end this month, including Tanjung Priok (Jakarta),
Bitung (North Sulawesi), Batam (Riau) and Medan (North Sumatra). This is
according to a report by Kompas daily.
For 15 years between 2000 and
2015, Indonesia had been importing rice. Although there was no rice import in
the 2016-2017 period, the government had never decided to stop import the
commodity. Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita recently shared that prices in
Indonesia had continued rising since late last year due to a supply shortage.
President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo,
who rose to the presidency in late 2014, said the planned rice import was aimed
to prevent rice prices from increasing and guarantee adequate stocks of the
commodity. Medium-grade rice is widely consumed in Indonesia.
Rice is a major staple food for
Indonesians and is the biggest contributor to the country’s inflation. The
government’s decision to import rice early this year had sparked a public
debate. Reportedly, the decision had been based on the Ministry of Trade’s
calculations, which was against the Ministry of Agriculture’s argument that
Indonesia would have adequate rice stocks this year so that rice import was not
necessary. In fact, In the past years, the two ministries had often differed
over food supply data.
In addition to Thailand, Vietnam,
Myanmar, and Pakistan, Indonesia has also imported rice from other countries
like India and Myanmar.
Rice industry targets increasing exports in 2018-20
with better finances
23
JAN 2018
The government aims to set the target loan amount totalling K65
billion to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the rice sector. Photo
- Shutterstock
The Myanmar Rice Federation
(MRF) will prioritise scaling up exports for rice between 2018 and 2020,
according to the MRF’s SME development plan, which was announced on
Sunday.
In addition, the Ministry of
National Planning and Finance and the MRF will work together to support SMEs in
the rice sector to secure loans.
The government aims to set the
target loan amount totalling K65 billion to small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in the rice sector. The MRF, with the applied SME loans, plans to
allocate the financial resources into eight sectors, including seed production,
export business, joint-venture formation, upgrading machineries, setting up
rice mills and power supply, among others.
State-owned Myanmar Agricultural
Development Bank (MADB) announced on January 1 that they will grant loans to
agriculture-related SMEs this month.
In addition, the MRF is drafting
a working programme for the rice sector, in terms of finances, management and
other issues which SMEs are facing. Implementation is expected to begin in
April.
The construction of rice and
paddy warehouses and related machineries will be set as priorities, thus those
projects will be given special consideration for loans. The MRF expects that 20
percent of all the loans will be dedicated to warehouses, whereas 18pc will go
to construction of energy plants and 17pc will have reserved for upgrading rice
machineries on the field.
According to the MADB, the loans
will carry an interest rate of 9pc and businesses which cannot offer collateral
will be supported by Credit Guarantee Insurance.
U Soe Tun, MRF vice chair, said
that if the country’s rice sector enjoys robust growth, the national economy
will also develop significantly. Apart from loans and finances, the government
will support the modernisation of technology and market access.
U Nay Lin Zin, managing director
of Myanmar Rice Mill Company, commented that a strong export market is
necessary for sustainable development for the sector. Hence, the administration
and rice federations will need to join forces to secure more
government-to-government export arrangements.
https://www.mmtimes.com/news/rice-industry-targets-increasing-exports-2018-20-better-finances.html
Cambodia’s premium rice gets
certified
Sok Chan / Khmer Times
The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Ministry of Commerce and the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have officially unveiled the
Certification Mark “Malys Angkor” as the top brand for Cambodian premium rice.
The official launch was made during the Cambodia Rice Forum
yesterday and will finish today in Phnom Penh.
Malys Angkor will be the brand name for premium rice such as
somaly, jasmine, phka romduol, phka chansensor, phka Romdeng, phka romeat and
phka khnei, according to the CRF.
CRF president Sok Puthyvuth said having a national brand of
Cambodian premium rice would be pivotal as it could boost the reputation and
popularity of Cambodia’s premium product on the international market.
He said that previously each export company used its own name
and logo, but now we have another logo and brand name to certify the quality,
standard and the origin of Cambodian rice.
“We will start doing a marketing campaign very soon on this logo
to boost the rice sector,” Mr Puthyvuth said. “This brand name will help boost
Cambodian rice exports and this is to show the international market that we
have a common mark for Cambodia’s premium rice,” he said.
Yon Sovann, the director of Bayon Cereal, one of the leading
rice exporting companies in Cambodia, said that having its own branding for
Cambodian premium rice is very important because it is easy to build trust and
build networks and negotiations on purchasing agreements with customers as we
have the mark to certify our premium rice.
“All producing countries in the world have their own rice mark
for their identity for quality and standard of rice and now Cambodia has it. We
are proud,” Mr Sovann said.
Khy Muny, the General Manager of Amru Rice (Cambodia), said it
was a good move.
“Our rice is more likely similar to neighbouring countries’
rice, so when there is no name for our rice it does not have a certain grade,”
Ms Muny said.
“When we have a name, we have to stick with it and follow that
name and it is Cambodian rice. Then our rice products are easily identified
when it enters into the international market,” she added.
In 2017, Cambodia produced about 10 million tonnes of paddy and
had a four million tonne surplus, while exports were 635,679 tonnes of milled
rice to international markets, an increase of 17.3 percent year-on-year.
Cambodia exported rice to more than 60 international markets
Cambodia’s premium rice gets
certified
Sok Chan / Khmer Times
The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Ministry of Commerce and the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have officially unveiled the
Certification Mark “Malys Angkor” as the top brand for Cambodian premium rice.
The official launch was made during the Cambodia Rice Forum
yesterday and will finish today in Phnom Penh.
Malys Angkor will be the brand name for premium rice such as
somaly, jasmine, phka romduol, phka chansensor, phka Romdeng, phka romeat and
phka khnei, according to the CRF.
CRF president Sok Puthyvuth said having a national brand of
Cambodian premium rice would be pivotal as it could boost the reputation and
popularity of Cambodia’s premium product on the international market.
He said that previously each export company used its own name
and logo, but now we have another logo and brand name to certify the quality,
standard and the origin of Cambodian rice.
“We will start doing a marketing campaign very soon on this logo
to boost the rice sector,” Mr Puthyvuth said. “This brand name will help boost
Cambodian rice exports and this is to show the international market that we
have a common mark for Cambodia’s premium rice,” he said.
Yon Sovann, the director of Bayon Cereal, one of the leading
rice exporting companies in Cambodia, said that having its own branding for
Cambodian premium rice is very important because it is easy to build trust and
build networks and negotiations on purchasing agreements with customers as we
have the mark to certify our premium rice.
“All producing countries in the world have their own rice mark
for their identity for quality and standard of rice and now Cambodia has it. We
are proud,” Mr Sovann said.
Khy Muny, the General Manager of Amru Rice (Cambodia), said it
was a good move.
“Our rice is more likely similar to neighbouring countries’
rice, so when there is no name for our rice it does not have a certain grade,”
Ms Muny said.
“When we have a name, we have to stick with it and follow that
name and it is Cambodian rice. Then our rice products are easily identified
when it enters into the international market,” she added.
In 2017, Cambodia produced about 10 million tonnes of paddy and
had a four million tonne surplus, while exports were 635,679 tonnes of milled
rice to international markets, an increase of 17.3 percent year-on-year.
Cambodia exported rice to more than 60 international markets.
Ancient rice heralds a new future for rice
production
Unique genetics of wild
Australian rice may help boost food security
January 22, 2018
University of Queensland
Summary:
Growing in crocodile infested billabongs in the
remote North of the country, Australia's wild rice has been confirmed as the
most closely related to the ancient ancestor of all rices. The unique genetics
of the Australian rice may help breed disease resistance and climate adaptation
into rice modern production species.
US gives
safety approval to Chinese genetically modified rice strain
23 Jan 2018 08:00PMBookmark
BEIJING: A rice genetically modified (GMO) by Chinese
researchers to resist pests has passed safety inspections by authorities in the
United States, allowing for its sale there even though Beijing continues to
prohibit planting of any GMO food grain.
The rice, known as Huahui 1, was developed by a team at Huazhong
University in central Hubei province to resist pests like the rice stem borer.
While Chinese authorities granted the strain a safety certificate in 2009, it
has never been approved for commercial production.
Beijing has spent billions of dollars researching GMO crops but
has held back from commercial production of any food grains because of consumer
concerns about their safety. Validation of the country's GMO safety testing and
products by U.S. authorities could help persuade the government and consumers
in China to accept the products at home.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified the
research team at Huazhong last week that it agreed with university's safety and
nutritional assessments on the product, Huazhong said in a statement on Sunday
on its website.
"Genetically engineered Huahui No.1 rice grain does not
raise issues that would require premarket review or approval by FDA,"
according to a letter posted on the FDA website that Huazhong highlighted in
its statement.
The product had earlier passed a review by the Environmental
Protection Agency on pesticide residue levels, Huazhong said, clearing the way
for the export of Huahui 1 rice and rice products to the U.S. market.
However, the university would need further approval from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture for planting the rice. The statement did not say
if researchers would seek such approval.
But Huazhong said the approvals from the FDA and EPA further
validated the test methods and evaluation carried out by Chinese institutes to
assess safety and nutrient levels in the new rice.
China has said it aims to push forward the commercialization of
GMO corn and soybeans by 2020 but has not made public any plans to approve
planting of GMO rice, the country's most important staple food.
U.S. Approves Importing Genetically Modified Rice From China,
But It’s Still Illegal in China
By
Posted on January 23, 2018
In a landmark decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a
Chinese strain of genetically modified rice has been approved for sale in the
United States.
Developed by Huazhong Agricultural University scientists,
Huahui-1 is a rice variety that has been genetically engineered to express an
insecticidal protein, improving its resistance to lepidopteran insect
pests, ECNS reports.
Dennis M. Keefe, director of the FDA’s Office of Food Additive
Safety in the U.S., noted in his letter sent to the scientists and posted on
the FDA website that “it is our understanding that
Huazhong has concluded that human and animal foods from Huahui-1 rice grain are
not materially different in composition, safety, and other relevant parameters
from rice-derived human and animal food currently on the market.”
Chinese researchers announced the exciting development in an
online statement on Saturday, noting that the food regulatory agency has
found “no safety or regulatory issues with food derived from Huahui-1
rice,” deeming it safe for
consumption.
According to the South China Morning Post,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted a similar approval earlier.
“This means that the rice can now be exported to the U.S. and sold
to the general public there,” HAU biotechnologist Professor
Yan Jianbing was quoted as saying.
“It’s also an important step for a possible international trade of
the product in the future. If it [can’t be grown] at home, it might be worth
trying to grow it in other countries.”
He celebrated the approval as a milestone in the field which “shows
that the US completely agrees with our methods and data in assessing the safety
and nutrition of the rice”.
To secure the approvals from the necessary American agencies,
Zhang’s team engaged in a series of extensive consultations, coordinating with
the USEPA in 2009 and the USFDA in 2016.
However, the scientists would still require an approval from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture to be able to grow the rice on American soil.
While the U.S. has potentially paved the way for the new rice
variety to be commercialized in the country, China is more apprehensive. The
Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has so far approved the rice and other GM crops
solely for research, but not for consumption or general cultivation.
The Chinese authorities have also restricted planting to experimental
fields, posing a huge challenge to the scientists to be able to start marketing
the rice to the U.S. anytime soon.
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US gives
safety approval to Chinese genetically modified rice strain
23 Jan 2018 08:00PM
BEIJING: A rice genetically modified (GMO) by Chinese
researchers to resist pests has passed safety inspections by authorities in the
United States, allowing for its sale there even though Beijing continues to
prohibit planting of any GMO food grain.
The rice, known as Huahui 1, was developed by a team at Huazhong
University in central Hubei province to resist pests like the rice stem borer.
While Chinese authorities granted the strain a safety certificate in 2009, it
has never been approved for commercial production.
Beijing has spent billions of dollars researching GMO crops but
has held back from commercial production of any food grains because of consumer
concerns about their safety. Validation of the country's GMO safety testing and
products by U.S. authorities could help persuade the government and consumers
in China to accept the products at home.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified the
research team at Huazhong last week that it agreed with university's safety and
nutritional assessments on the product, Huazhong said in a statement on Sunday
on its website.
"Genetically engineered Huahui No.1 rice grain does not
raise issues that would require premarket review or approval by FDA,"
according to a letter posted on the FDA website that Huazhong highlighted in
its statement.
The product had earlier passed a review by the Environmental
Protection Agency on pesticide residue levels, Huazhong said, clearing the way
for the export of Huahui 1 rice and rice products to the U.S. market.
However, the university would need further approval from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture for planting the rice. The statement did not say
if researchers would seek such approval.
But Huazhong said the approvals from the FDA and EPA further
validated the test methods and evaluation carried out by Chinese institutes to
assess safety and nutrient levels in the new rice.
China has said it aims to push forward the commercialization of
GMO corn and soybeans by 2020 but has not made public any plans to approve
planting of GMO rice, the country's most important staple food.
(Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger)
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/us-gives-safety-approval-to-chinese-genetically-modified-rice-strain-9887
Hardiness of Wild Rice Could Assist Commercial Rice Growers
NEWS Jan
23, 2018 | Original Story from The University
of Queensland.
Credit: The University of Queensland.
Wild rice growing in northern Australia’s crocodile-infested
waters could help boost global food security, say University of Queensland
researchers who have mapped its genetic family tree.
Valuable traits from the wild rice – such as drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance – can be bred into commercial rice strains, said Professor Robert Henry from the Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food Innovation.
Valuable traits from the wild rice – such as drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance – can be bred into commercial rice strains, said Professor Robert Henry from the Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food Innovation.
“Northern Australia’s wild rices contain a wealth of untapped genetic diversity and at least two species are very closely related to domesticated rice, so they can be cross-bred with this species,” he said.
“Wild Australian rice genes could make commercial rice production better suited to northern Australian conditions."
“The wild rices could contribute resistance to diseases such as rice blast, brown spot and bacterial leaf spots.”
Professor Henry said the research showed that in the era when the ancient human ancestor known as Lucy lived in Africa, a genetic divergence occurred in the rice variety that is now found only in northern Australia.
This divergence led to the Asian and African rice species commonly used in commercial rice production today.
The wild riceProfessor Henry said that in addition to boosting global rice production, Australian wild rice offered the opportunity to be cultivated as a tasty and nutritious product in its own right.
“It tastes good and we believe it may have more beneficial health qualities than other rice species,” he said.
A UQ doctoral thesis study on the grain quality of Australian wild rice showed the species had the lowest “hardness” of cooked rices, and a higher amylose starch content.
“The higher the amylose content, the longer the rice takes to digest,” Professor Henry said.
“This potentially offers more nutrition to our gut microbes, in the same way high-fibre foods do.”
He noted that human trials were needed to confirm the health benefits but the chemistry suggested this was the case.
Rice is the most widely consumed staple food for much of the world’s population and the third-largest worldwide agricultural crop.
Professor Henry said the study provided a comprehensive insight into the rice family tree, and confirmed that wild Australian rice was the most directly related species to the ancient ancestor of all rices.
“Through this research, we’ve developed a calibrated DNA-based molecular clock that maps when divergences in the rice genome have occurred,” Professor Henry said.
“Few biological systems are as well described as rice now is.”
This article has been republished from materials provided by The University of Queensland. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.
Reference
Joshua C. Stein et al. Genomes of 13 domesticated and wild rice relatives highlight genetic conservation, turnover and innovation across the genus Oryza. Nature Genetics, 2018 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-017-0040-0.
Ancient Rice Heralds a New Future for Rice Production
Unique genetics of wild Australian rice may help boost food
security
| January 23, 2018
Video credit: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture &
Food Innovation (QAAFI)
Wild rice growing in northern Australia's crocodile-infested
waters could help boost global food security, say University
of Queensland researchers who have mapped its genetic family
tree.
Valuable traits from the wild rice—such as drought tolerance and
pest and disease resistance—can be bred into commercial rice strains, said
professor Robert Henry from the Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food
Innovation.
"Northern Australia's wild rices contain a wealth of
untapped genetic diversity and at least two species are very closely related to
domesticated rice, so they can be cross-bred with this species," he said.
Henry said the research showed that in the era when the ancient
human ancestor known as Lucy lived in Africa, a genetic divergence occurred in
the rice variety that is now found only in northern Australia.
This divergence led to the Asian and African rice species
commonly used in commercial rice production today. Professor Henry said that in
addition to boosting global rice production, Australian wild rice offered the opportunity
to be cultivated as a tasty and nutritious product in its own right.
"It tastes good and we believe it may have more beneficial
health qualities than other rice species," he said.
A UQ doctoral thesis study on the grain quality of Australian wild
rice showed the species had the lowest "hardness" of cooked rices,
and a higher amylose starch content.
"The higher the amylose content, the longer the rice takes
to digest," Henry said. "This potentially offers more nutrition to
our gut microbes, in the same way high-fiber foods do."
Rice is the most widely consumed staple food for much of the
world's population and it is the third-largest worldwide agricultural crop.
Henry said the study provided a comprehensive insight into the
rice family tree, and confirmed that wild Australian rice was the most directly
related species to the ancient ancestor of all rices.
"Through this research, we've developed a calibrated
DNA-based molecular clock that maps when divergences in the rice genome have
occurred," Henry said.
"Few biological systems are as well described as rice now
is."
Categories: News
Rice Webinar: Thursday January 25
Tune in Thursday, January 25
at 10:00 p.m. Central Time, for a new rice webinar hosted by Dr.
Bobby Coats, with the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at
the University of Arkansas. Dr. Tim Walker, general manager of Horizon
Ag, will provide insight on the role Horizon Ag played in developing the first
Provisia rice variety (PVL01) that is tolerant to Provisia herbicide.
Horizon Ag has been the exclusive partner to BASF for Clearfield pureline rice
in the southern USA since the launch of Clearfield almost 20 years ago and
Walker will talk about bringing this technology to market, but even more so in
how to keep both technologies viable for years to come.
Go here to register for the webinar.
Go here to register for the webinar.
USDA Rice Daily
Water is limiting factor for south Texas rice
Cliff Mock, left, farmer and crop consultant from
Alvin, Texas, chats with Mo Way, Texas A&M entomologist at the AgriLife
Research and Extension Center in Beaumont, following their presentations at the
Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice conference in Memphis.
South Texas rice production competes for water with
business, metropolitan uses.
Texas rice production has not approached base acreage—600,000
acres—for many years, with typical plantings running around 160,000 acres, says
farmer and crop consultant Cliff Mock, Alvin, Texas.
Competition for water, Mock said during a presentation at the
recent National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference in Memphis, is
a limiting factor. “We have competition for irrigation and ground water,” he
says. “Every day Texas requires 58 million more gallons of water for industry
and metropolitan use.”
Water is also expensive, costing from $30 to $55 per acre.
He says a lot of producers in the south Texas rice production area are drilling
wells to supplement or replace reliance on surface water that may be limited by
upstream users, especially during drought. Subsidence districts, he says,
dictate where, when and how landowners can drill wells.
Rice requires water, he says. “We need 1.5 to 2.5 acre feet of
water to makea main crop of rice,” he explains. “We need another 1 to 1.5 acre
feet to make a second (ratoon) crop.” Typical production practice for Texas
rice is planting in late February or early March into a stale seedbed. “We
expect emergence in 7 to 10 days, and 25 days until we flood. We may push flood
date a bit to conserve water, and we like to delay flooding on hybrid rice.
Hybrids can handle that and it seems to tiller a little better with a later
flood.”
We plant mostly hybrid varieties, he says. “They have to be
managed properly to do well.”
He adds that the ratoon crop is an important aspect of south
Texas rice. “Our main crop Is not profitable at current prices. The ratoon crop
is an advantage and growers place heavy emphasis on the second crop.”
He explains that the production costs for the main crop run to
$1,000 per acre, “in and out. The ratoon crop production cost is $225 per acre,
in and out.”
Growers expect 8,000 pounds per acre dry weight on the main crop
with conventional varieties, 4,000 pounds on the ratoon crop. Production with
hybrid varieties increases to 9,000 pounds from the main crop but remains at
4,000 from the ratoon production.
“Flooding is necessary for the ratoon crop to prevent volunteer
rice,” Mock says. Producers may double up on fertility rates to make the second
crop.
Conservation is Crucial
Mock says water conservation is a crucial issue with rice
production, and water use monitoring is helping improve irrigation efficiency.
A metering program, using a volumetric probe, helps producers assess water use.
A probe is inserted into a pipe going to the field. “The probe reads the water
going into the pipe and transmits the information to a website. After a
15-minute delay, growers can determine gallons per minute going into the
fields.”
He says a Texas Water Development Board grant of $250,000 helps
fund the metering program. “The probes cost $5,000 apiece.”
Estimates of water use before the metering program began have
shown rice farmers using from five to six acre feet, assumptions that were way
off. “The meters are helping us know what we’re doing and helping us
manage water better,” Mock says. “We can document it.”
He says the metering program started with only a few meters and
was phased in. “Growers have accepted it well and find that the program helps
them regulate and manage water use.”
Harvey Damage
He says the 2017 season brought different water problems.
“Hurricane Harvey dropped 55 inches of rain,” he says. “We had a good crop
going, but rice not already harvested was under water for an extended period of
time.”
Mo Way, Texas A&M entomologist at the AgriLife Research and
Extension Center in Beaumont, says 20 percent of the main crop remained in the
field when Harvey hit. The ratoon crop was hit hard.
“It hammered our second crop,” Mock says. “We had nothing left
to harvest where rice was under water.” Way says the hurricane dumped enough
water on south Texas to fill Lake Tahoe.
Way adds that questions lingered for weeks after the storm
regarding whether the crop could be marketed at all because of potential storm
water contamination. “The FDA was concerned about contaminates in rice that
went under water,” he says. “Potential for heavy metal, mycotoxin, pesticide,
fuel and other pathogen contamination put marketing on hold,” he says.
“The state chemist analyzed rice for contaminates. If not
‘adulterated’ rice could be harvested, stored and sold; mills would not accept
adulterated rice. This created a lot of concern and delayed or terminated
harvest.”
Organic production was in jeopardy because of widespread
mosquito control sprays initiated to prevent Zika and West Nile Virus
outbreaks. Producers were concerned that they lose organic certification.
“Organic rice growers were eventually able to sell the crop,” Way says. And the
land retained its organic certification.
Mock says rice producers are conscious of conservation and
understand both the economic and environmental reasons to use water
efficiently. Most producers are using conservation tillage methods. “Less than
5 percent of the area is now in conventional tillage,” he says. Typical
practice includes a burndown herbicide treatment, a pre-emergence herbicide,
fertilize and plant. He adds that producers used to plant earlier but
have delayed to conserve moisture.
He anticipates producers will increase rice acreage in 2018. “I
don’t know how much, maybe 10 percent to 15 percent,” he says “Organic rice,
however, will be down big.”
http://www.southwestfarmpress.com/rice/water-limiting-factor-south-texas-rice
Pernia favors
tariffs over extension of rice import quota
ABS-CBN News
MANILA - Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia on
Wednesday said he favored tariffs instead of quantitative restrictions or
import quotas on rice.
The government can use tariff revenues to help farmers increase
their productivity, Pernia told ANC's Headstart. The quotas, he added, were
partly to blame for high rice prices.
"With the liberalization using tariffs, that will improve the
performance of our rice sector and the proceeds from the tariffication would go
into improving the productivity of agriculture," he said.
Lawmakers should prioritize crafting a law to convert the quotas
into tariffs because the Philippines is past its deadline for setting it aside,
said Pernia.
The Philippines should have lifted its quantitative restriction on
rice by June 30 last year as part of its commitments to the World Trade
Organization.
In May, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order 23, which
extended for three more years the country's QR for rice, as it is believed to
benefit local farmers.
The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, led by Sen. Cynthia
Villar, on Tuesday started hearings on a law that would impose duties on rice
imports. -- with a report from Abner Mercado,
ABS-CBN News
Misguided Rice Management
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The furor began when Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman
stated that Indonesia has a rice surplus last year, which would continue this
year. The claim turned out to be unreasonable: in reality, rice supply on the
market was so limited, it triggered a price hike. The rocketing price
has prompted the trade ministry to import 500,000 tons of rice
by the end of this month.
The muddled data on rice as the staple food of Indonesia's 262
million people is central to the bad management of the national rice affairs.
The agriculture ministry, for instance, said that rice production covered a
total area of 16.4 million hectares, with remaining stock of a million tons at
the end of 2017. The Central Statistics Agency mentioned different figures:
until 2015, paddy harvests only came from an area of 14.1 million hectares. It
is hard to believe that within two years, the area of rice fields increased by
two million hectares. As for the rice stock, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)
only registered a reserve of around 950,000 tons.
The core point of the rice predicament is the way the government
views the problem. So far, rice has been seen from the viewpoint of politics
and ideology while ignoring economic calculations. The pursuit of rice
self-sufficiency with the illusion that Indonesia is a land of gemah
ripah loh jinawi (prosperity)- has become a bombastic dream.
Based on this illusion, Indonesia strives for self-sufficiency through various
means, including ways that disregard economic principles. During the administration
of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for example, this kind of standpoint which opposes
modern economic thinking was also adopted. As a consequence, the rice problem
has never been resolved.
Indonesia has an open economic system. Thus, a policy that ignores
economic norms is difficult to apply. Rice is a key commodity, so the number of
transactions for this product is massive. Therefore, it is impossible for the
Indonesian government, with its limited economic capacity, to regulate price
movements.
What the government should prioritize is to ensure rice is
available at an affordable price. With this demand, the government should not
put a taboo on imports as an instrument to safeguard supply and absorb price
fluctuations. Allowing imports will give shock therapy to delinquent traders
accustomed to making big profits by hoarding rice when domestic rice production
is inadequate.
Refraining from importing rice or not announcing import plans to
give a pro-farmer impression- is obviously a mistaken stance. It has been
proven that imports always serve as an effective government move to halt price
hikes. One thing to be understood is any decision to delay the stockage of rice
supply will spark off price fluctuations that harms the public interest.
Farmers will also be put at a disadvantage because they also have to purchase
rice at a high price.
Permitting imports does not mean making the rice price at home
equal to the rate on the international market. For farmers' protection, the
local rice price should be made higher. Importing rice should be intended more
to build the perception in society that domestic rice supply will always be
maintained under any circumstances. This import policy is not necessarily in
conflict with local production promotion efforts. Such endeavors should be
supported especially through land productivity increase and post-harvest
technological improvements.
Rice imports have indeed become a profit-making arena for
interest seekers. But this illegal practice should not make the government doubtful.
Several preventive measures should be taken, such as realizing imports in a
transparent manner and by open tenders. Imports should also be conducted on the
basis of legitimate data. Through these procedures, the government does n
ot need to run in circles to secure the national rice supply.
Also, these methods can prevent regional heads and ministers from playing
politics by disseminating vague information- for the sheer purpose of being
regarded as pro-farmers.
The government must not make rice a means of enhancing its
image. A World Bank study indicates that every 10 percent increase in the price
of rice will raise the poverty rate by 1.1 percent. Without rice management
improvement, the target of lowering the poverty rate from 10.2 percent (2017)
to 9.5-10 percent (2018) will be in vain.
Rice Production: Surplus Now, Shortage Later
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Potential decreases in rice production were already detected early last year.
Verification in the field strengthened this suspicion. The ministry of
agriculture, however, remains stoical.
Hermanu Triwidodo has taken a rather duplicitous stance lately.
He is happy because his predictions about rice production were right on the
mark. However, this lecturer at the Department of Plant Protection at the Bogor
Institute of Agriculture (IPB) is also saddened because rice scarcity has
caused the price of this primary commodity to increase. Since last year, we
sent out warnings that national rice production would decrease, said Hermanu on
Thursday last week.
Evidence of Hermanus prediction was first seen in early December
2017. According to data from the Cipinang Central Rice Market released on the
foodstation.co.id website, the wholesale price of rice began to rise in
mid-December. At that time, the price was still Rp12,700 per kilogram. On
Friday last week, it reached Rp13,825 per kilogram. The price of IR-64 rice
(alias Ramos Class I) rose from Rp11,100 to Rp12,650 per kilogram. These are
the two most popular types of rice in Indonesia.
Billy Haryanto, a major rice vendor in Cipinang, Jakarta, said that vendors have had difficulty finding a steady supply since early December. The supplies which usually come from West Java, CentralJava, and East Java began to decline. "Mills are not receiving rice," he said. "So we are only selling to our regular customers. We're afraid stocks will run out."
In January of last year Hermanu,
who is also General Chair of the Nusantara Famer's Movement, sent a letter to
Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman. In that letter, Hermanu said that attacks
of the brown planthopper (WBC) pest were alarming in Java. Conditions resembled
those attacks which took place from 2009-2011, which resulted in national rice
production dropping by two million tons. This pest also spread the rice ragged
stunt virus (RRSV) and rice grassy stunt virus (RGSV), which dried up the rice
paddy fields.
Hermanu asked the Ministry to
remind farmers to not spray insecticide on land attacked by the pest.
"Research shows that an explosion in WBC occurs due to a pest resurgence
process resulting from the use of insecticide," said Hermanu in his
letter. As a result, the pest becomes immune and more damaging. The best way,
according to Hermanu, is to sever the pest's breeding cycle by spacing
the rice plantings. The greatest pest attacks occur on land which is
planted all year round without alternating crops.
Six months later, the WBC attacks
had not ceased. In late July 2017, Hermanu invited professors in agriculture,
including Andi Trisyono from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta, to meet
Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Teten Masduki, who was replaced by Gen. (ret)
Moeldoko last week. In that meeting, Hermanu and Andi again explained the
matter of the brown plant-hopper attacks. A week later, Hermanu invited some
farmers from the north coast of West Java to meet Teten. "We said to the
KSP, ‘Be careful; in parts of Subang they couldn't harvest for three planting
seasons due to pest attacks'," said Hermanu.
Customs Seizes 1150 Bags Of Foreign Rice In
Kano, Jigawa
Ag Secretary Perdue Has a Rice Day in Arkansas
|
|
|
|
|
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue on
the Brantley farm talking about NAFTA and American agriculture |
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Sonny Perdue started off his day in Arkansas last Friday with a roundtable
discussion at the Governor's Mansion, hosted by Governor Asa Hutchinson and
attended by Arkansas Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward, State Attorney General
Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Rice Chairman Jeff Rutledge, and representatives from
several other ag organizations.
Following the roundtable discussion, Perdue traveled to Brantley Farms near England. Dow Brantley, former chairman of both USA Rice and Arkansas Rice, gave Perdue a tour of his family's operation. He also talked with the Secretary about current regulations imposed on farmers and possible ways to streamline the process to improve efficiency for both the producer and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"As the top rice producing state, we appreciate Secretary Perdue's time in Arkansas," said Brantley. "In addition to touring the farm, we discussed industry priorities including the importance of NAFTA and the development of new markets, namely China. Secretary Perdue understands the significance of these issues and also conveyed his commitment to reducing the regulatory burdens farmers' face. We look forward to continuing our work together to improve the Arkansas rice industry."
Perdue then visited Riceland Foods in Stuttgart where he toured the mill and had a chance to sit down and talk with farmers and employees from Riceland and nearby Producers Rice Mill.
At the end of the day, Secretary Perdue tweeted, "Always the best way to find out what's working and what's not - talk to the producers of American agriculture."
Following the roundtable discussion, Perdue traveled to Brantley Farms near England. Dow Brantley, former chairman of both USA Rice and Arkansas Rice, gave Perdue a tour of his family's operation. He also talked with the Secretary about current regulations imposed on farmers and possible ways to streamline the process to improve efficiency for both the producer and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"As the top rice producing state, we appreciate Secretary Perdue's time in Arkansas," said Brantley. "In addition to touring the farm, we discussed industry priorities including the importance of NAFTA and the development of new markets, namely China. Secretary Perdue understands the significance of these issues and also conveyed his commitment to reducing the regulatory burdens farmers' face. We look forward to continuing our work together to improve the Arkansas rice industry."
Perdue then visited Riceland Foods in Stuttgart where he toured the mill and had a chance to sit down and talk with farmers and employees from Riceland and nearby Producers Rice Mill.
At the end of the day, Secretary Perdue tweeted, "Always the best way to find out what's working and what's not - talk to the producers of American agriculture."
USDA rice daily
A ‘Floating Fillet’: Rice Farmers
Grow Bugs To Help Restore California’s Salmon
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | Permalink
Jacob
Katz, with California Trout, says growing bugs in rice fields could be part of
the solution for boosting salmon populations in rivers statewide.
Ezra David Romero / Capital
Public Radio
Jacob Katz is on the hunt — but not for geese or ducks. On a
farm about 40 minutes north of Sacramento, he wades through a rice paddy with
an aquarium net in hand. But he’s not fishing.
“We’re going bug hunting,” Katz
says.
The senior scientist for California
Trout, a conservation group with a focus on protecting wild fish, is at River
Garden Farms. Founded in 1913, they typically grow things like corn, wheat, and
around 5,000 acres of rice — the kind local sushi rice restaurants use.
But today, he’s working on a
pilot project with UC Davis to create what they call “floodplain fatties” — a
nickname for the well-fed baby salmon and smelt who will eat his bugs while
swimming through the Sacramento River.
“Dip this net into the water and
it just comes out literally full of bugs,” says Katz, adding that they are
mostly cladocerans, but that he calls them “water fleas.”
“These little bugs are floating
fillet for salmon that’ll be in the river.”
The reason he’s doing this? Young chinook salmon and other fish need help. Much
of the water they require to survive is stored in dams or diverted through
thousands of miles of levees. Before this happened, floodplains in the Central
Valley supported large populations of fish. The project to grow bugs for the
fish is in year two and the end goal is to improve the likelihood that salmon
survive the trek to the ocean and back.
“What farmers are doing is
reconnecting that floodplain natural wealth to the river system where it’s
needed,” Katz says. “More fish equals a win-win for everybody. It means we have
a system that works for people and for the environment.”
The project is called the Fish
Food on Floodplain Farm Fields Project. It’s part of a greater effort to
restore threatened fish species — the Sacramento Valley Salmon Recovery
Program. The project comes at a key time: A recent UC Davis study suggests that
winter run chinook salmon could go extinct if efforts to recover the species
aren’t taken up. The latest population count is less than 2,000. In the 1970s
there were more than 25,000.
The project starts with rice
paddies, says River Garden Farms general manager Roger Cornwell. He’s used to
flooding fields during the off-season, to provide a rest-stop for millions of
birds along the Pacific Flyway. Now, instead of just letting the water soak
into the earth, he’s made a change that mimics the natural floodplain of the
Sacramento River.
“We’re creating fish food,”
Cornwell says. “It’s very simple. We just pump the water in. Let it slow down
and it starts to breakdown the carbon that is there. It creates algae, algae
create bugs and then we pump that right back to the river to feed the fish.”
(Top) Roger Cornwell, with River Garden Farms, spends about
$45 per acre on the bug growing pilot project. He says the minimal cost is
worth it to sustain bird and fish populations along the Sacramento River.
(Left) All sorts of bugs grow in rice fields, but Jacob Katz, with California
Trout, says “water fleas” (cladocera) are like floating fillet for fish in
rivers. (Right) “Floodplain fatties” is a nickname for the well-fed baby salmon
and smelt who will eat bugs farmed in the rice fields while swimming through
the Sacramento River.Ezra David Romero / Capital
Public Radio
So far 12 farmers are growing
bugs on about 50,000 acres in the Sacramento area. That’s about 70 pounds of
bugs per acre.
The group is figuring out the
details about exactly how to get that fish food back into the river on a
large-scale. They hope to ramp up the project with as many rice farms as
possible in the future — there are more than 500,000 acres of managed floodplains
in the Sacramento Valley alone.
Still, Cornwell says kinks still
need working out. “I think for the farmer it's more of how effectively can we
get food to the fish,” he says. “We’ve got to have all the processes figured
out to make it easy for everyone to implement,” such as resolving complications
with irrigation pumps and canals.
Carson Jeffres — an aquatic
biologist with UC Davis — and Katz published a study last year that suggests
that, when farmers and conservationists work together, there could be more fish
in California Rivers. He thinks projects like this could help eliminate the
popular farms versus fish argument.
“As opposed to standing with our
heads in the sand, this is getting us to a place where we can have real impact
and change over time,” says Jeffres, who added that the project could be
implemented on other rivers like the San Joaquin in the future.
Back on the rice farm, Cornwell
prepares to release the bug rich water back into the Sacramento River through a
system of pumps and canals. “This water’s been out here for right at three
weeks right now,” he says.
For Cornwell, who’s farmed in the
region for more than a decade, this science-farm partnership costs him about
$45 per acre.
“We’re stepping out of our
comfort zone,” he says. “As this grows people will see what we are doing, and
we will start developing trust among neighbors and then this program is just
going to take off on its own.”
He says the minimal cost is worth
it to save fish and to make sure the acreage is around for future generations.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/01/23/a-floating-fillet-rice-farmers-grow-bugs-to-help-restore-californias-salmon/
India asks Germany to help
relax new EU rice import rule
PTI|
Jan 22, 2018, 04.28 PM IST
NEW DELHI: As
the new stringent EU rice
import rule kicked in this month, India has asked Germany to use its good offices to resolve the issue at
the earliest.
The European Union (EU) has reduced the maximum permissible residue level (MRL) of Tricyclazole (a fungicide) in basmati rice to 0.01 mg per kg from the present limit of 1.0 mg per kg effective January 1.
India, the world's largest producer of the aromatic grain, has made several representations to some European countries, to convince them on the need to relax the rules.
During last week's visit to Germany's capital Berlin, Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Sekhawat raised the issue with his German counterpart.
"Sekhawat also impressed upon the German minister to use his good offices for early resolution of Indian rice export being subjected to arbitrarily fixed maximum residue limit on Tricyclazole at 0.01 mg/kg by the EU," the minister was quoted as saying in an official statement.
He also highlighted that the EU was not accepting the digital phytosanitary certificates.
"The German minister, in response, conveyed his admiration for India's advance on digitalisation of the certificate and assured to personally take up the matter with the EU authority concerned," the statement added.
Sekhawat had led an Indian delegation to 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture that concluded on January 20. He also met Agriculture ministers from three countries - Germany, Argentina and Uzbekistan.
With his Uzbekistan counterpart Zoir Mirzaev, Sekhawat talked about trade opportunity in moong beans besides cooperation in areas such as farm machinery, skill development and crop residue management.
With Argentinian Minister of Agriculture Luis Miguel Etchevehere, Sekhawat discussed various areas of mutual interest including trade in agriculture products such as fruits, vegetables and meat.
India also conveyed its interest in Argentina's farm mechanisation and sought collaboration to such technologies to suit Indian conditions, and obtain technology for manufacturing silo bag to reduce storage losses, the statement added.
At the 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, Sekhawat stressed the actions taken by India to mitigate the effect of climate change, both in animal and crop sector.
He also called upon the developed countries to abide by the principles of equity but common and differentiated responsibilities towards tackling climate change.
The European Union (EU) has reduced the maximum permissible residue level (MRL) of Tricyclazole (a fungicide) in basmati rice to 0.01 mg per kg from the present limit of 1.0 mg per kg effective January 1.
India, the world's largest producer of the aromatic grain, has made several representations to some European countries, to convince them on the need to relax the rules.
During last week's visit to Germany's capital Berlin, Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Sekhawat raised the issue with his German counterpart.
"Sekhawat also impressed upon the German minister to use his good offices for early resolution of Indian rice export being subjected to arbitrarily fixed maximum residue limit on Tricyclazole at 0.01 mg/kg by the EU," the minister was quoted as saying in an official statement.
He also highlighted that the EU was not accepting the digital phytosanitary certificates.
"The German minister, in response, conveyed his admiration for India's advance on digitalisation of the certificate and assured to personally take up the matter with the EU authority concerned," the statement added.
Sekhawat had led an Indian delegation to 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture that concluded on January 20. He also met Agriculture ministers from three countries - Germany, Argentina and Uzbekistan.
With his Uzbekistan counterpart Zoir Mirzaev, Sekhawat talked about trade opportunity in moong beans besides cooperation in areas such as farm machinery, skill development and crop residue management.
With Argentinian Minister of Agriculture Luis Miguel Etchevehere, Sekhawat discussed various areas of mutual interest including trade in agriculture products such as fruits, vegetables and meat.
India also conveyed its interest in Argentina's farm mechanisation and sought collaboration to such technologies to suit Indian conditions, and obtain technology for manufacturing silo bag to reduce storage losses, the statement added.
At the 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, Sekhawat stressed the actions taken by India to mitigate the effect of climate change, both in animal and crop sector.
He also called upon the developed countries to abide by the principles of equity but common and differentiated responsibilities towards tackling climate change.
The wilds of Australia’s north open up a new future for rice + VIDEO
Professor Robert Henry … Australian wild rice “tastes
good and we believe it may have more beneficial health qualities than other
rice species”.
The Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food Innovation’s Professor Robert
Henry said valuable traits from the wild rice – such as drought
tolerance and pest and disease resistance – could be bred into commercial rice
strains.“Northern Australia’s wild rices contain a wealth of untapped genetic diversity and at least two species are very closely related to domesticated rice, so they can be cross-bred with this species,” he said.
“Wild Australian rice genes could make commercial rice production better suited to northern Australian conditions.
“The wild rices could contribute resistance to diseases such as rice blast, brown spot and bacterial leaf spots.”
Professor Henry said the research showed that in the era when the ancient human ancestor known as Lucy lived in Africa, a genetic divergence occurred in the rice variety that is now found only in northern Australia.
This divergence led to the Asian and African rice species commonly used in commercial rice production today.
Professor Henry said that in addition to boosting global rice production, Australian wild rice offered the opportunity to be cultivated as a tasty and nutritious product in its own right.
Wild rice.
“It tastes good and we believe it may have more beneficial health qualities
than other rice species,” he said.A UQ doctoral thesis study on the grain quality of Australian wild rice showed the species had the lowest “hardness” of cooked rices, and a higher amylose starch content.
“The higher the amylose content, the longer the rice takes to digest,” Professor Henry said.
“This potentially offers more nutrition to our gut microbes, in the same way high-fibre foods do.”
He said human trials were needed to confirm the health benefits but the chemistry suggested this was the case.
Rice is the most widely consumed staple food for much of the world’s population and the third-largest worldwide agricultural crop.
Professor Henry said the study provided a comprehensive insight into the rice family tree, and confirmed that wild Australian rice was the most directly related species to the ancient ancestor of all rices.
“Through this research, we’ve developed a calibrated DNA-based molecular clock that maps when divergences in the rice genome have occurred,” he said.
“Few biological systems are as well described as rice now is.”
The paper detailing outcomes of the research into the genomes of domesticated and wild rice species is published in Nature Genetics. DOI: 10.1038/s41588-017-0040-0
Source: UQ
Amid weak prices of agri commodities, robust rice demand bucks the trend
The price of rice has been ruling high, mainly on robust exports, demand
from mills, and the entry of traders who lost in other commodities like
oilseeds and pulses
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Even as rural India reels from the impact of a sharp decline in the prices of several farm commodities, rice seems to have outperformed major agriculture goods, driven mainly by good export demand, a decline in kharif output and heightened stocking by traders and dealers. The price of common variety rice has risen by almost 14.5 per cent in the wholesale market over the past year, a phenomenon different from what has been seen in other agriculture commodities, reveal data sourced from various agencies. In the past five months alone, the price has risen by nine per cent. While export demand is likely to keep prices at an elevated level, higher procurement and stock position with state-run agencies – which is better than last year – could act as a cushion. “This season has been good for rice, as exports have improved for all varieties, including basmati. Exports to Bangladesh have triggered a higher demand,” said Devendra Vora of Friendship Traders, based in Mumbai’s APMC Vashi. According to Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (Apeda), exports to Bangladesh have seen a revival of sorts. Compared with 30,572 tonnes in April-November last year, they have crossed one million tonnes in the first 8 months of this financial year. The governments of Bangladesh and India had last year agreed on exports of parboiled rice to Bangladesh (on a government-to-government basis), as that country was facing a shortage of 1.5 million tonnes. After Bangladesh reduced its import duty to two per cent, private traders there also started importing rice from India. Both Basmati and non-basmati varieties have seen a sharp jump in overall exports, with Basmati (especially 1401 and 1121 varieties) witnessing a price realisation increase of 26.8 per cent in the export market. Looking at the opportunity, Indian farmers have this Rabi season so far sown rice on 633,000 hactares more area than last Rabi season.
Rice sowing has reached 2.23 million hactares this season. In the global context, the prices of rice are rising in Thailand and Vietnam as well, on prospects of exports to Indonesia and Philippines, respectively. “This season, several traders from North India have shifted to buying rice, as they had been incurring losses in most other agricultural commodities like pulses and oilseeds,” Vora said, adding that rice mills and traders had also stored paddy at the start of the season when the prices were lower. Paddy for long grain was quoting at Rs 2,100-2,200 per quintal at the beginning of the season which led to a milled basmati rice price of Rs 5,100-5,200. Common grade paddy was at Rs 1,400 per quintal. Experts attribute the price rise to higher demand, higher procurement and an estimated drop of 2 million tonnes in kharif rice production to 94.5 million tonnes. Private estimates show that the loss could be compensated by a higher-than-expected rabi rice production, estimated at 14.76 million tonnes, as against 13.76 million tonnes last year. Rice production in the kharif season, according to the first advanced estimates, is projected at 94.50 million tonnes, against 96.39 million tonnes during last kharif season, mainly due to a drought in some parts of the country. The stock position with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is also at a comfortable level. Latest data show that FCI has rice stocks of around 35.76 million tonnes in January (to date), which is 31.3 per cent more than in the same period last year. On top of that, procurement of ‘paddy in terms of rice’ has also been good this year. According to latest data from the department of food and consumer affairs, 27.43 million tonnes of ‘paddy in terms of rice’ had been collected by state agencies till January 21. This is 25.57 million tonnes more than last year. A big increase in rice procurement among non-traditional states has been in Uttar Pradesh, where procurement till January 21 has risen by 108 per cent to 2.43 million tonnes, and Odisha, where it has increased by 67 per cent to 1.52 million tonnes. In Punjab and Haryana, which are traditional big states in terms of rice procurement, purchases this year till January 22 have been 11.83 million tonnes, as against 11.04 million tonnes last year.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/amid-weak-prices-of-agri-commodities-robust-rice-demand-bucks-the-trend-118012400580_1.html
