Study identifies relationship between smog and rice residue
burning in Punjab
ISLAMABAD: A new research study carried out by the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has found a
relationship between smog and the practice of rice residue burning by farmers
in the rice belt of Punjab. Findings of the study provide scientific evidence
of the causes of smog, and the relationship between smog and crop residue
burning. The study will be instrumental in helping reduce the contribution of the
agriculture sector towards the formation of smog, FAO Representative in
Pakistan, Mina Dowlatchahi said on Tuesday.
The study carried out under the ‘Remote Sensing for
Spatio-Temporal Mapping of Smog’ project in collaboration with the Punjab
government, found that the formation of smog, however, was not dependent only
on the presence or increase of these pollutants, but certain meteorological and
weather conditions also help these pollutants suspend in the lower atmosphere
because of which the pollutants from a dense visible layer of smog. FAO
responded to a request from the Punjab government in 2017 and initiated the
project, which has now been completed. It is a first of its kind evidence-based
geospatial research which will contribute to findings on emissions and drivers
of smog.
FAO will present the report to the Punjab government
next week with its recommendations. The research findings were reviewed by FAO
global technical experts on information with a geographical component, methods
and tools and validated by a wide array of Pakistani experts and institutions.
Representatives of the ministry of climate change and the Punjab government
were present on the occasion. Speaking to experts, the FAO representative
stated that the organisation remained committed to support the government
efforts to help devise appropriate strategies and action plans to tackle smog
in Pakistan. Pakistan suffered one of the highest death tolls in the world from
air pollution in 2015, when, according to UN estimates, thousands lost their
lives because of the high level of fine particles in the air.
This phenomenon engulfs several cities in Punjab
province, particularly Lahore, during the winter months and has evolved into a
public health and economic emergency. Smog is one of the several forms of air
pollutants that cause harm to human functioning. Formation of smog, however, is
not dependent only on the presence or increase of these pollutants, but certain
meteorological and weather conditions also help these pollutants suspend in the
lower atmosphere because of which the pollutants form a dense visible layer of
smog. FAO is also carrying out water accounting in the Indus Basin using
geospatial data and techniques.
Japan’s farmers double output of premium rice
More premium rice bands are showing up in high-end
stores, like the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's ritzy Ginza district.
TOKYO -- Japanese rice farmers are expanding production of new, pricier
brands, a move to shore up income as consumers eat less of the staple. The
output of 10 leading brands introduced in 2015 through 2018 is set to more than
double this year to a little over 50,000 tons, a survey of prefectures found.
Shinnosuke, from the famed rice-growing region of Niigata Prefecture, is set to
post a 120% increase to 11,000 tons. Niigata is focusing on marketing the new
grain in greater Tokyo, looking to boost name recognition in the country's
largest market. For nearly half a century, the central government controlled
rice production under its acreage reduction program to prevent steep drops in
price. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hammered out a plan in 2013 to do away
with this policy, starting with the 2018 harvest, and the prefectures have
taken full charge of production instead.
This has led to a rush to develop new regional brands.
Japan has 795 registered brands today, up 50% from a decade earlier. Many of
the newcomers are marketed as premium types. With a retail price of about 3,000
yen ($27) per 5 kg, Shinnosuke is on a par with the top-of-the-line Uonuma
Koshihikari, also from Niigata. This compares with brands that grew popular in
the 2000s and went for around 2,500 yen per 5 kg. A rice shop in the posh
Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district displays many
brand-new offerings. "Ichihomare from Fukui Prefecture is priced at more
than 1,000 yen per kilogram, but it's the No. 1 seller and already has many
repeat buyers," said the store manager. Supermarkets, aware of customers'
preference for more affordable fare, are only dipping their toes in the premium
market. "We'll test consumer reaction to higher-grade brands with 2-kg
bags for now," said an executive at Inageya, a grocery chain based in the
Tokyo area.
Rice acreage has fallen by half since 1970, before the
reduction program began. To deal with the lower income from smaller parcels,
farmers worked on developing high-grade brands. Prefectures are ready to go
all-out in promoting their latest deluxe brands, with some earmarking nearly
300 million yen a year for advertising. But critics say such campaigns are
wasting taxpayer money, since the ads rely too much on celebrities and do not
effectively communicate the flavor of the grains. Meanwhile, Japan faces an
annual shortage of 1.3 million tons of the lower-grade rice typically served at
restaurants. "We want the government to fund increased output of low-cost
rice, too," said the president of a major wholesaler.
Pakistan seeking to expand its exports to Yunnan
China International Import Expo
(CIIE) will lead to creation of economic opportunities for Pakistani exporters
to sell their products to China and we will, also, provide incentives to our
exporters to open up their exports to Yunnan, underscored by Pakistan’s Consul
General to Chengdu, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, while delivering a keynote address
at the “Everlasting China-South Asia Expo” held in Shanghai today.
The Expo, held at the sidelines of
the CIIE, was inaugurated by Vice Governor of Yunnan Zhang Guohua. Other
notable speakers at the opening session of the Expo included Consuls General of
Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand based in Kunming as well as Minister of Business
Supply of Nepal and Deputy Minister of Commerce of Myanmar.
Highlighting on Pakistan’s
participation at the mega event, the CG reinforced that the CIIE, which was
inaugurated by President Xi Jinping, was a monumental success.
He asserted that Prime Minister
Imran Khan, was also invited by the Chinese government to attend the Expo.
Pakistan was one of the 12 Guest of Honor countries at the Expo and had a
Country Pavilion with ten booths, the CG emphasized.
In his remarks, CG added: “During
last year total bilateral trade between Pakistan and Yunnan stood at $ 64
million. This comprised of imports by Pakistan. "We need to open up export
opportunities for Pakistan into Yunnan."
"It is worth noting that
Pakistan’s textile, furniture, leather, seafood, rice, fruits, cotton are
exported to markets around the world, and we hope we can also introduce the
best of our export products to Yunnan.”
The CG, also highlighted the
commencement of Lahore-Kashgar Bus service and urged upon people of Yunnan to
explore Pakistan’s breathtaking beauty by riding that bus service, which he
hoped will further reinforce tourism ties between Pakistan and China.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/390517-pakistan-seeking-to-expand-its-exports-to-yunnan
Rice exports
reach 5.2 million tonnes in ten months
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Monday, 2018-11-05 16:26:17
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 Vietnam exports 5.2 million tonnes of rice worth US$2.6 billion in the first ten months of this year. (Photo: VNA)
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NDO – Vietnam exported 264,000
tonnes of rice with a value of US$136 million in October, thus bringing the
total export volume of rice in the first 10 months this year to US$5.2
million tonnes, worth U$$2.6 billion, up 1.7% in volume and 14.1% in value
over the same period in 2017.
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According to the latest data
from the Department of Agro-Product Processing and Market Development (under
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), China continues to rank
first among Vietnam’s rice export markets, accounting for nearly 24% of the
market share. Other markets also saw a sharp increase in importing Vietnamese
rice, including Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Malaysia.
The average rice export value
in the last nine months of this year was at US$503 per tonne, up 13.7% over
the same period last year. The price of jasmine rice was at US$575 per tonne
at its highest, followed by Japonica rice at US$526 per tonne. The price for
Vietnamese 5% broken rice in the first half of last month was at US$410 per
tonne, higher than India's at US$372 per tonne and equivalent to Thailand's
at US$411 per tonne.
The largest export market for
Vietnamese jasmine rice is still China, accounting for 25% of the total
exports, followed by Ghana with 21%. China continues to be the main market
for Vietnamese sticky rice, accounting for 80% of the total glutinous rice
exports.
According to the Department,
domestic rice prices are expected to increase as enterprises buy more rice to
serve export orders signed in October and prepare for the next orders that
can be reached in the year-end biddings.
On October 18, the Philippines
closed bids to buy 47,000 tonnes of rice, including 28,000 tonnes from
Vietnam. Also on that day, Egypt opened its first tender in 2018 for the
import of 25,000 tonnes of rice. In addition, during the 10th World Rice
Conference in Hanoi last month, multiple export orders were signed, in which
the Hanoi Trade Joint Stock Corporation (Hapro) reached orders with their US
and Malaysian customers to export rice worth US$ 2.5 million.
Currently, farmers have
finished harvesting their summer-autumn rice crop. Several localities also
started harvesting their autumn-winter crop. The price for autumn-winter rice
in the Mekong Delta rose slightly amidst a limited supply.
According to the local price
supply system, in Vinh Long, the price for the autumn-winter rice variety IR50404
increased by VND200 a kg to reach VND5,300 per kg, while IR50404 dried rice
is priced at VND5,900 per kg and IR50404 husk-free rice is at VND10,000 per
kg. In Bac Lieu, dried OM 5451 rice wholesale price sold by the Provincial
Food Company is at VND6,200 - 6,300 per kg. Many other localities also
reported stable or a slight increase in rice prices.
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http://en.nhandan.org.vn/business/item/6802202-rice-exports-reach-5-2-million-tonnes-in-ten-months.html
Atiku Bagudu: Lake Rice has
reduced importation by 90 percent
November 5, 2018
Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu
has said that the production of Lake Rice through the joint efforts of Kebbi
and Lagos states has reduced the importation of the staple food by 90 per cent.
Bagudu, who commended his Lagos
counterpart, Ambode, for his commitment to the production of the brand,
however, said that the achieving the feat would not have been possible without
the support of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials.
Speaking at the closing ceremony
of the three-day 18th National Women’s Conference organised by COWLSO in Lagos,
Bagudu disclosed that the partnership between Kebbi and Lagos had helped to
improve the economy of Lagos, Kebbi and Nigeria in terms of local production of
rice.
“Without Ambode, there would not
have been Lake Rice. The significance of Lake Rice is that it has encouraged a
revival of the ‘I can do it spirit,” he said.
The governor noted that the
emergence of Lake Rice had help the nation to reduce the importation of rice by
90 percent, as captured by President Muhammadu Buhari recently at a meeting
with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May.
“Without Ambode, we won’t have
been able to do that and that was because he got the support of his wife, who
is the Chairman of COWLSO. His wife supported the idea and that was why it was
successful,” he
said.
said.
Bagudu, however, said COWLSO had
done tremendously well by organising the conference over the years in order to
reposition women and take them to an enviable position in the society, adding
that he was impressed that women in Lagos could take time off their busy
schedule to gather in a place to network and educate themselves on issues
affecting women and society.
In his remarks, Ambode commended
COWLSO for organising the annual event, saying that his wife, Bolanle, had been
able to take the committee to a higher level than she met it.
The governor said he had no doubt
that the three-day programme provided opportunities for networking and
education among the women, adding that the opportunity to be part of the
conference was a privilege that came with responsibilities.
“You have a responsibility to
share your experience with others around you. This is the only way you can
deepen what you have learnt at the programme. Government will give attention to
the recommendation in the communiqué,” he promised.
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https://www.today.ng/news/nigeria/atiku-bagudu-lake-rice-reduced-importation-90-percent-168343
FG faults USDA’s claims on Nigeria’s rice importation, local
production
Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja
The Federal Government on Tuesday said there was no truth in the
United States Department of Agriculture’s World Markets and Trade Report that
claimed that Nigeria imported three million metric tonnes of rice in 2018,
which is 400,000 metric tonnes more than the quantity of the product imported
in 2017.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made
government’s position known in an interview with State House correspondents at
the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Mohammed also faulted the claim in the report that local
production of rice was on the decline and that the facts fly in the face of
government’s claim of what it achieved in the area of rice production.
“I want to say categorically that, that story is false.
Predictably, the Atiku Media Organisation, this afternoon, latched onto the
story. We are not surprised.
“I want to say categorically that, that story is fake and that
Atiku Media Organisation also goofed,” the minister said.
He said immediately after the story broke, he contacted the
Central Bank of Nigeria and the Comptroller-General of Customs, while he also
had meetings with the Rice Producers Association as well as rice millers.
The minister claimed that all of them responded that the story
was not true.
Mohammed said, “For starters, you cannot import rice without a
Form M being approved. You can’t import rice without Letter of Credit.
“So, we challenge the US Department of Agriculture World Markets
and Trade Report to provide evidence that Form M was opened to bring in 400,000
metric tonnes over and above that of last year and that Letters of Credit were
also opened for them.
“Two, the records are very clear as to the importation of rice.
You don’t have to take my words for it, but go to Thailand Rice Miller and the
figures are there.
“In 2014, 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice was exported to
Nigeria. In 2015, 644 metric tonnes of rice was exported to Nigeria, and by
2015, it went down to 5,000 metric tonnes.
“These are not my figures; these are figures from the Thailand
Rice Association.
“The claim that local rice production is on the decline is again
absolutely false. Yesterday (Monday), when I spoke to the millers, all of them
said, ‘please, just come to Kano, come to my factory you are going to see two
kilometre length of trailers waiting to discharge paddy rice.’
“So, I want to say categorically again without fear of
contradiction that the Anchor Borrowers Rice Programme is working. Nigeria has
been able to reduce by 90 percent the $1.65bn it was paying on rice
importation, the number of integrated rice processing mills increased from 13
to 25.
“Those are the majors and that between the smaller ones and the
big ones, today the capacity is 4.9 metric tonnes of rice. That is why we are
confident that in a year plus we are going to meet the six million metric
tonnes of rice production which is our local consumption.
“The facts are there and I challenge anybody to the contrary.”
When asked if it is possible to factor the amount of rice being
smuggled into the country into the official figures he released, the minister
explained, “You cannot claim that smuggled rice is part of rice imported into
the country. Yes, we do know we have a challenge with smuggled rice but we have
taken steps to ensure that these menace is contained.
“You remember that we set up tripartite committee between the
Republic of Benin and Nigeria comprising of the two Ministers of Finance and
Agriculture and Comptroller-General of Customs of both countries.
“Two, we have been able to reach an agreement with the Benin
Republic President to allow Nigerian Customs officials to be present at the
Cotonou Port. And you know that only a week ago, Mr. President jointly
commissioned the border building within Benin Republic. These are all attempts
made to contain smuggling.
“When we say Nigeria imported, it is different from x-amount of
rice is being smuggled because when you import, you open Letter of Credit and
we are saying it is absolutely untrue. Again to say local rice production has
gone down is absolutely untrue.
“We have grown rice farmers from five million to 12 million.
Those facts are out there. We have created prosperity for rice farmers. We have
about 32 or 34 states that produce rice, you can ask them.”
Mohammed said the such report was not only misleading but was
capable of generating a lot of misunderstanding.
He described the story as part of the fake news the government
is fighting.
When asked if the Federal Government would engage the US
government to present the facts since he has declared the story a fake news,
Mohammed said, “That will be at another level. What we are doing here is to
educate Nigerians and let them know that the story is false.
“Whatever steps government is going to take, I have a
responsibility as the Minister of Information and Culture of this country to
tell you what government has achieved; and if anybody tries to demarket the
government, to put the facts straight.
“I am not surprised that the Atiku Media Organisation latched
unto this story and unfortunately they goofed because what they ought to have
done, when I was in their position as an opposition was to check with Central
Bank, with Customs, rice farmers association and the millers. I have contacted
all of them and what I am telling you is what I am telling you.”
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Move afoot to partly waive defaulting millers’ dues
Nov 7, 2018, 1:24 AM; last updated: Nov 7, 2018, 1:24 AM
(IST)
Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 6
Over a year after bringing a one-time
settlement (OTS) scheme for 1,500 defaulting rice millers whose outstanding
amount has crossed Rs 7,500 crore, the state government is coming up with a
scheme to waive part of their dues by reworking the interest penalty levied on
them.
Directly
benefitting top defaulters owing allegiance to the Congress or the SAD, the
government in the revised OTS has proposed that the interest component should
be less than the principal amount. It is learnt that two Cabinet ministers were
pushing the case of one of the top defaulters.
The principal outstanding that millers owe to
Pungrain, Markfed, Punsup, Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation and the Punjab
State Warehousing Corporation has swelled to Rs 2,182.92 crore and the
compounded interest has multiplied to Rs 5,400 crore.
To be tabled in
the Cabinet meeting, the revised scheme prepared by the Department of Food and
Supplies would be discussed with the CM, who returned from his foreign visit on
Saturday. The Finance Department has been asked to comment on the financial
implications of waiving part of the dues.
Food and Supplies
Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said certain changes had been recommended in the
revised OTS policy. “As millers were not coming forwards to clear their dues,
the government aims at recovering the principal amount,” he said.
The defaulted
amount has accrued for different reasons like failing to return milled rice to
the FCI and selling it in the open market, dispute over pending interest
amount, dues on account of gunny bags, quality cut or loss on account of sale.
Legal
proceedings initiated against such defaulters have been pending for the last
many years resulting in marginal recovery of the outstanding amount that keeps
increasing every year due to the factor of compound interest.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/move-afoot-to-partly-waive-defaulting-millers-dues/679911.html
Rice industry seeks lifting of ban on biomass
Industries
in NCR using this fuel shut from November 4 to 10
Nov 7, 2018, 12:35 AM; last updated: Nov 7, 2018,
12:35 AM (IST)
Tribune News Service
Karnal, November 6
The All-India
Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) and Haryana Rice Millers and Dealers Association
(HRMDA) have opposed direction of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment
Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) of shutting all industries running with coal
and biomass in the NCR between November 4 and 10.
They have urged the EPCA to reconsider it. The
direction was issued to deal with the pollution level in Delhi. Vijay Setia,
president, AIREA, said they had received the letter and it was a jolt as lakhs
of tonnes of paddy was lying in mills, which was yet to be processed.
He said once the
paddy reached the rice unit, it needed to be dried with the help of a boiler,
which ran with biomass. “If the raw material for rice is not separated from
water content within the first few days, fungus can affect it, leading to
loss,” he added.
Vinod Goel, state vice-president of the HRMDA,
said the millers had been allotted paddy in lakh metric tonnes for milling,
which was given on time. He urged the EPCA to lift the ban.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/rice-industry-seeks-lifting-of-ban-on-biomass/679687.html
FG, CBN Reject US Report On Rising Rice Importation
The federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
yesterday debunked the report by the United States Department of Agriculture
World Markets and Trade that Nigeria imported three million metric tons of rice
in 2018.
The US report had said the import figure is 400,000 metric tonnes
higher than the quantity of the product that was imported in 2017. The report
also stated that Nigeria’s local rice production dropped from 2016 to 2018
compared to the situation in 2015. The report ran contrary to several claims by
the Nigerian Government that local rice production had increased while
importation had dropped by up to 90 per cent.
The report, which was released in October, showed that since 2016,
Nigeria had consistently milled 3,780,000 metric tons annually which is a
reduction from 3,941,000 metric tons recorded in 2015. But the Minister of
Information, Lai Mohammed, while briefing journalists in the State House,
described the report as false. Mohammed, who said he had contacted the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Minister of
Agriculture and rice millers on the authenticity of the report, argued that
they all dismissed the report as untrue. According to him, whereas 1.2 million
metric tons of rice was exported to Nigeria in 2014, the figure declined to
644,000 in 2015 and went further downward to 25,000 in 2016.
However, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said the claim by the administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari that it has increased rice production in the country
is false. The minister also faulted the claim by the report that local rice
production in the country is declining, saying instead, local rice production
capacity has risen to 4.9 million metric tons. The CBN has also clarified that
the volume of rice importation into Nigeria (in metric tonnes) has declined
drastically in 2018, judging by figures obtained from various official sources.
Indeed, figures obtained from India and Thailand, which are dominant rice
exporters to Nigeria indicated that as at September, the latter had so far
exported about 5,161 metric tonnes of rice to Nigeria, while the former sold
only a paltry sum of 426 as at July 2018.
Attributing the reduction to concerted effort by the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and interventions of the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mr.
Isaac Okorafor, in a statement yesterday, also stressed that the Bank had not
allocated any foreign exchange for the importation of rice this year. Okorafor,
argued that the figures being bandied in certain quarters were based on
unrealistic assumptions such as satellite mapping of farms, expected demand by
politicians for election campaigns as well as expected losses from flooding,
all of which led to unauthentic conclusions that the country had imported or
could import 400,000 more metric tonnes. The spokesperson for the CBN further
noted that the combined figure of 5, 587 tonnes of rice imports from India and
Thailand may have been rice imported on not-valid-for-forex basis. Meanwhile,
trade figures for the second quarter of 2018 received from the National Bureau
of Statistics (NBS) showed that total imports value was N2,106.7 billion;
-16.3% lower than the first quarter (Q1), 2018 (N2518.26 billion) and – 19.9
per cent lower than Q1, 2017 (N2,631.65 billion). The report on the Bureau’s
site showed that the value of imported agricultural goods in the second quarter
of 2018 (N224.52 billion) increased by 21.7 per cent from Q1, 2018 (N184.49
billion) and lower by -3.14 per cent from Q2, 2017 (N231.80 billion). According
to the report, raw materials imports in Q2 2018 (N261.10 billion) declined by
-8.3 per cent compared to Q1, 2018 (N284.81 billion) and lower by -14.2 per
cent in Q2, 2017 (N304.43 billion).
The solid minerals import in Q2, 2018 (N17.29 billion) increased
by 37 per cent on a quarter-to-quarter basis (N12.62 billion), but declined by
-91 per cent on a year-to-year basis (N193.16 billion). Energy goods imports in
Q2, 2018 (N98.17 million) was 202.6 per cent higher than Q1 2018 (N32.45
million) and 288.5 per cent higher than Q2, 2017 (N25.27 million). The NBS
reported that the value of manufactured goods imported in Q2 2018 (N1,175.86
billion) declined by -1.2 per cent over the previous quarter (N1,189.97
billion) but increased by 1.6 per cent over the same quarter in 2017. The
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the CBN had been
collaborating to reduce the volume of rice importation through what has become
famed as the Rice Revolution.
Meanehile, the presidential
candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said the claim by the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari that it has increased rice
production in the country is false. Atiku in a statement issued yesterday by
his campaign organisation said the recently released data from the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Markets and Trade Report has
proven the claims by Buhari and his government to be false. President Buhari
boasted about it when he told British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on April 16,
2018, that: “We have cut rice importation by about 90 per cent; made a lot of
savings of foreign exchange and generated employment. People had rushed to the
cities to get oil money, at the expense of farming.
But luckily, they are now going back to the farms. Even
professionals are going back to the land. We are making steady progress on the
road to food security.” Atiku noted that the Minister of Agriculture, Chief
Audu Ogbeh, on May 2, 2018, also made similar claim. According to Ogbe,
“Unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it
has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down
because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone.” The former
vice-president, however, noted that the “World Markets and Trade Report of the
USDA, which is a public document disclosed that Nigeria imported three million
metric tons of rice in 2018, which is 400,000 metric tons more than the
quantity of the product imported in 2017.
“It does not end there. The
report shows that there has actually been a steep drop in commercial rice
production from its 2015 peak under the previous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
administration.” Quoting the report further, Atiku added that “Nigeria had
consistently milled 3,780,000 metric tons annually-a drop from 3,941,000 metric
tons recorded in 2015.” Atiku, therefore, appealed to Buhari and his government
to be truthful to the Nigerian public, rather than claiming progress they have
not made, “because no matter how far and fast falsehood has travelled, it must
eventually be overtaken by the truth.”
NFA holds pre-bid
conference for 500K MT rice import
November 7, 2018
MANILA — A total of 12 rice suppliers from Asian countries attended
a pre-bidding conference on Wednesday at the National Meat Inspection Service
(NMIS) auditorium along Visayas Ave. in Quezon City for the government’s rice
importation program.
The importation is for 500,000
metric tons of 25-percent broken, long grain white rice, as additional
government buffer stock.
The National Food Authority (NFA)
conducted the pre-bidding conference to allow prospective bidders to clarify
the provisions of the Terms of Reference (TOR) covering the importation.
The opening of bids is set for
November 20.
The 500,000 MT is divided into
nine lots, with 14 designated discharge ports as follows: Subic — 118,000 MT;
Manila — 75,000 MT; La Union — 65,000 MT; Batangas — 40,000 MT; General Santos
City — 32,500; Tabaco — 30,000 MT; Cagayan De Oro — 26,700 MT; Cebu — 25,000
MT; Iloilo — 20,000 MT; Tacloban — 20,000 MT; Zamboanga — 17,300 MT; Davao —
12,500 MT; Surigao — 10,000 MT; and Bacolod — 8,000 MT.
The first half or 250,000 MT
should be delivered not later than Dec. 31, while the remaining 250,000 MT
should arrive in the country not later than Jan. 31, 2019.
The NFA Council has approved the
importation of an additional 500,000 MT on top of the previous two batches of
250,000 MT rice imports delivered between June and October, and the 250,000 MT
offered for bids last Sept. 18, where only three suppliers won the award for
47,000 MT.
Another bidding for the remaining
203,000 MT will be scheduled, as the second bidding conducted on Tuesday under
a government to government scheme failed to attract offers from the governments
of Vietnam and Thailand, the only countries with a Memorandum of Agreement for
Rice Trade with the Philippines.
The series of rice importations
by the NFA is intended to continuously replenish the NFA’s buffer stocks, in
line with the President’s directive for the government to have sufficient food
stocks at all times. (PR/PNA)
13 foreign bidders vying to supply 500,000 MT rice
November 7, 2018, 5:21 PM
By Madelaine Miraflor
At least 13 companies expressed
interest to supply the country with additional 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice
through a government to private (G2P) importation, which will be done in order
to inject more stocks to the National Food Authority (NFA).
(FILE PHOTO/ MANILA BULLETIN)
On Wednesday, NFA conducted the
pre-bidding for the supply and delivery of the 500,000 MT of 25 percent
brokens, well-milled, long grain white rice, import contracts of which will be
awarded on November 20.
The companies that participated
in the bidding are Asia Golden Rice Co. Ltd., Thai Hua Co. Ltd., Ponglarp Co.
Ltd., Gia International Corp., Shwe Wah Yaung Agriculture Production Co., Ltd.,
Vietnam Northern Food Corp. (VinaFood I), Hiep Loi Joint Stock Company, Phoenix
Global DMCC, Meskay & Femtee Trading Co. (Pvt.) Ltd., VinaFood 2, Tan Long
Group Joint Stock Company, Olam International, Capital Cereals Co. Ltd.
The 500,000 MT is divided into
nine lots with 14 designated discharge ports, including Subic (118,000 MT),
Manila (75,000 MT), La Union (65,000 MT), Batangas (40,000 MT), General Santos
City (32,500 MT), Tabaco (30,000 MT), Cagayan De Oro (26,700 MT), Cebu (25,000
MT), Iloilo (20,000 MT), Tacloban (20,000 MT), Zamboanga (17,300 MT), Davao
(12,500 MT), Surigao (10,000 MT), and Bacolod (8,000 MT).
The first half of 250,000 should
be delivered not later than December 31, while the remaining 250,000 MT should
arrive in the country not later than January 31, 2019.
During the last time the NFA
conducted an open tender importation, which was held on October 18, the agency
failed to award all the import contracts as most of the bidders found it hard
to meet the country’s reference price.
With majority of the bid offers
exceeding the NFA’s approved budget of US$428.18 per MT, only 47,000 MT of the
250,000 MT worth of rice import contracts were awarded to three foreign
suppliers who offered prices lower than the approved budget.
NFA then attempted to secure
offers for the supply of the remaining volume of 203,000 MT of rice through a
government-to government (G2G) importation Wednesday but also failed.
This, as the governments of
Thailand and Vietnam, the only two countries with existing Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) on Rice Trade with the Philippines, decided not to participate
in the bidding.
Vietnam and Thailand both said in
separate letters to the state-run grains agency that they found it hard to
comply with the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the said importation.
Thailand, in particular,
complained about the reassignment of discharge port, fumigation conditions,
penalty for short delivery and short landed, among others.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel
Piñol, who now serves as the chair of NFA Council, said the re-bidding for this
will be done next week.
The series of rice importations
by the NFA is intended to continuously replenish the agency’s buffer stocks in
line with the President’s d
NFA-Bicol orders public markets,
retailers to lower rice prices
November 7, 2018
LEGAZPI CITY — The National Food Authority (NFA) regional office here
has lowered the price of its rice sold in public markets and accredited
retailers.
Henry Tristeza, NFA regional
director, in an interview on Tuesday, said the move was in compliance with
Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol’s directive to lower the price of NFA rice in
all public markets from PHP32 to PHP27 per kilo.
“The decision to lower down the
prices of NFA rice is to cushion the effect of the high inflation rate in Bicol
and the increasing prices of prime commodities in the country,”Tristeza said.
“Tulong ito ng gobyerno sa lahat
ng mamamayan lalo na ang mga nasa poverty line ng bansa (It’s the government’s
way to help the people, especially those who belong to the poverty line),” he
added.
According to Tristeza, their
accredited retailers who bought rice at higher price from NFA warehouses
region-wide will not be affected by the decision because most of them are
almost running out of stocks and they are about to buy another round of stocks.
Tristeza also warned retailers
not to take advantage of the lower price of NFA rice by labeling their stocks
as commercial rice.
“We have a ‘One strike policy’
and whoever violates would be meted out penalties and fine,” he said.
The official also said that on
Friday, NFA-Bicol will implement the SRP, or suggested retail price, on all
commercial rice in the region.
They will require all the
commercial rice traders to put SRPs beginning Friday.
“We are just waiting on the
guidelines regarding the SRP program from our central office in Manila, we will
convene the inter-agency to discuss about the implementation,” Tristeza said.
Meanwhile, the regional director
said that based from their latest monitoring, prices of commercial rice sold in
public markets are now PHP2 to PHP3 lower per kilogram.
The NFA expects traders and
retailers to gradually lower prices of commercial rice as more NFA rice imports
are expected the flood the markets soon. At the same time, the agency continues
to buy palay from farmers.
Tristeza said they have been
given the go-signal to procure palay from farmers at a higher price.
They are buying palay from
farmers at PHP20.70 per kilo or an additional of PHP3 per kilo as buffer stock
incentive and additional of 30 centavos per 30 kilometers as delivery incentive
from the origin to NFA warehouse. (Jorge Hallare/PNA)
Northern
localities work hard to improve rice productivity
Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)Nam Dinh (VNA) – Vietnam’s northern region harvested some 5.6 million tonnes of rice during the summer-autumn crop, up more than 320,000 tonnes from the same period last year, heard a recent conference.
Tran Xuan Dinh, deputy head of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said at the conference that each hectare of rice produces an average of 5 tonnes, up 0.35 tonne against 2017.
Since the beginning of this year, the localities have shifted over 10,480 hectares of rice to other crops, a year-on-year rise of 1,800 hectares, the official said.
As of early October 2018, the northern provinces had cultivated nearly 280,000 hectares of vegetables, mostly corn, sweet potato, soybean and peanut, he added.
Many localities have applied science and technology in production, Dinh said, taking the organic rice farming model in Hanoi’s Chuong My district and the rice production-consumption chain in Nam Dinh province which have yielded high economic values as examples.
It is forecast that the region will face water shortages during the upcoming winter-spring crop.
Given this, northern midland and mountainous provinces have taken the initiative in shifting rice cultivation to other crops.
Apart from forming large-scale rice fields, regional localities have also continued with technological application in production in order to raise productivity and quality.
MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh urged cities and provinces to roll out preferential policies and incentives to attract investors in agriculture and rural areas, while developing linkage chains among farmers as well as between farmers and businesses to ensure markets for local products.
He also suggested expanding services of enterprises, cooperatives and farmers’ groups in the supply of varieties, materials and pesticide, and irrigation to cut production cost and improve efficiency.
The region is expected to cultivate more than 1.1 million hectares of rice and garner some 7.2 million tonnes in the upcoming winter-spring crop.-VNA
High rice price has farmers split
over harvested crops
By NNT
November 7, 2018
Surin – The Ministry of Commerce is providing harvesters to rice
growers as higher prices have prompted many to maximize their harvests this
season.
With Hom Mali rice prices now
between 16,000 and 17,000 baht per ton, rice growers nationwide have rushed to
harvest their fields, creating a shortage of rental harvesters. A media survey
of whether or not harvested rice will be sold to market or entered into
government credit programs has found opinions are split.
Most farmers in Surin province
have begun drying their rice for entry into state programs seeking to maintain
rice prices by delaying produce put to market. Only those in need of immediate
cash have said they intend to sell their rice this season.
The Bank for Agriculture and
Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) in Si Sa Ket province has held a session
hosted by relevant authorities on the rice credit program, which urges rice
farmers to receive credit in exchange for state storage of their rice so that
the grain may be sold when market prices are higher.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, farmers in
Non Soong district have begun drying their rice for sale to mills and
cooperatives as well as to fellow farmers in Phra Thong Kam district, who are
seeking to regrow their crops after extended drought damaged much of their rice
fields. The district is selling its rice at 14,000 baht per ton or 14 baht per
kilogram.
A group harvesting program has
been kicked off in Roi Et province, encouraging local farmers to work together
to better manage and improve the quality of their rice. The province is to hold
a World Hom Mali Rice Festival from November 21-28.
Rice exports to EU to be hit by
tariffs
Sum Manet / Khmer Times
Cambodia is looking
for new markets abroad for its rice, following news of impending tariffs in the
European Union.
Hun Lak, vice president of the
Cambodia Rice Federation, said the EU intends to impose tariffs on Cambodian
rice based on complaints raised by Italy and Spain.
“They produce their own rice and
they requested that the EU protects their rice instead,” Mr Lak said.
“We enjoy the benefits of the
Everything-but-arms (EBA) treaty, but the new tariffs will affect our export to
the EU by making our rice less competitive.
“We must diversify away from the
EU market. We are looking at China, one of the biggest markets for Cambodia,”
Mr Lak said, adding that Cambodia needs to continue to reduce the cost of
production and transportation while enhancing quality.
Italy, along with six other European
Union countries, filed a request to the European Union to activate a ‘safeguard
clause’ that allows EU member states to impose barriers to protect against
trade imbalances.
Fragrant rice now sells for $900
per ton, while white rice fetches $500 per ton, said Mr Lak.
The EU intends to impose tariffs
of 175 euros per ton during the first year, 150 euros in the second year, and
125 euros in the next.
Song Saran, CEO of Amru Rice
Cambodia, commented on the ‘safeguard clause’ on his Facebook profile.
“It is totally biased. The
Italian and Spanish farmers switched to Japonica variety because they get
higher profit margins than they do with the Indica variety. Then they blamed
Cambodia and Myanmar for exporting cheap Indica rice to the EU.
“Our farmers have to switch to
other varieties and diversify their markets to keep fighting for survival. No
one will help us, only Khmers can help Khmers,” Mr Saran commented.
According to figures from the
Ministry of Agriculture, Cambodia exported 389,264 tonnes of rice in the first
nine months of 2018, a drop of 8.4 percent. China continues to be Cambodia’s
top export market.
In November last year, Cambodia
signed memorandums of understanding with the Export-Import Bank of China and
CITIC Group Cooperation to help the Kingdom increase paddy production and boost
rice exports.
The agreements aim to increase
rice exports to China beyond the 300,000 tonnes now allowed by the quota in
place.
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 Record turnout for a midterm election |
Midterm Election Results
WASHINGTON, DC -- Most midterm elections results are in and the
for-sure case is that Democrats have taken control of the House and Republicans
solidified their hold of the Senate. Democrats in the House gained 27 seats as
of press time with 17 races yet to be called. Senate Republicans picked up two
seats out of 32, with three races still to be called.
Most rice state/district incumbents held on to their seats and
will return to Congress. Exceptions include Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill
(D) who lost to Republican Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley. A
runoff election in Mississippi between incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)
and Mike Espy (D), a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, will take place on
November 27. In terms of House races, the only rice district race yet to
be called is California's 10th Congressional District where incumbent Rep. Jeff
Denham (R) is facing Democratic challenger Josh Harder. Congressman-Elect
Dan Crenshaw (R) won in Texas' 2nd Congressional District, taking over the seat
of retiring Rep. Ted Poe (R).
The change in House leadership for the 116th Congress, which
convenes in January, is sure to continue to keep things in Washington
interesting. It's widely reported that current Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA) will again be Speaker of the House, however, there is no
guarantee. House Democrats will soon hold leadership elections and Pelosi
could face a challenger vying for the most powerful position in the
chamber. It's also widely reported that current Republican House Majority
Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is likely to become the Minority Leader since
current House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is retiring, though McCarthy could face
a challenger as well.
If Pelosi becomes Speaker, she has publicly stated several times
that shake-ups to committee leadership is not one of her goals, meaning that
current House Committee Ranking Members will presumably take over as
chairs. In the case of the House Agriculture Committee, Ranking Member
Collin Peterson (D-MN) will take over the gavel and again become
chairman. House Agriculture Subcommittee leadership could fall to the
current ranking members: Rep. David Scott (D-GA), Commodity, Exchanges,
Energy and Credit; Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Conservation and Forestry; Rep.
Jim McGovern (D-MA), Nutrition; and Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA),
Livestock and Foreign Agriculture. The two unknowns would be the General
Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee and the Biotechnology,
Horticulture and Research Subcommittee as both ranking members, Rep. Rick Nolan
(D-MN) and Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), respectively, are leaving
Congress at the end of the current session.
In the Senate it's expected Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
will keep the head post for the majority and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will
remain Minority Leader. A new majority whip will be elected by
Republicans as current Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) is term-limited and must vacate
the seat. Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) was not up
for reelection this cycle and should remain at the head of the committee.
Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) won her re-election and will likely keep
her post, as well.
The outcome of this election will have an impact on USA Rice's
legislative priorities, from the Farm Bill to trade.The 2014 Farm Bill expired
on September 30. Now that there is a lame duck 115th Congress, it's
critical that a new Farm Bill is passed before the next Congress takes over in
January. If a farm bill is not passed by the end of this year and no
extension of the 2014 farm bill is passed, then the legislative process must
start all over. If this is the case, a new Farm Bill final product is
destined to look much different in the 116th Congress than what the conferees
are currently negotiating.
While it's likely that the Senate bill wouldn't look much different than the bill passed in June of this year, with Republicans maintaining the majority, a bill out of the House with a Democratic majority has the potential to be drastically different. Rep. Peterson, the presumptive incoming chair of the House Agriculture Committee, has already stated publicly that he does not want to write another bill and is pushing for a conference report to be approved by both chambers before the end of the year.
While it's likely that the Senate bill wouldn't look much different than the bill passed in June of this year, with Republicans maintaining the majority, a bill out of the House with a Democratic majority has the potential to be drastically different. Rep. Peterson, the presumptive incoming chair of the House Agriculture Committee, has already stated publicly that he does not want to write another bill and is pushing for a conference report to be approved by both chambers before the end of the year.
In terms of trade, barriers could compromise Congress' approval of
the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), NAFTA's proposed replacement, due to
Democratic concerns with the agreement not containing more enforceable labor
standards and environmental protections.Brokering any legislative win for U.S.
trade with Cuba is now also up in the air as Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), who
secured an amendment in the Senate version of the Farm Bill to allow for
agriculture trade promotion program dollars to be used in Cuba, lost her bid
for re-election. It's yet to be seen if this amendment will be included
in the conference report.
SUDDEN HEAT CAN
DRIVE RNA CHANGES IN PLANTS
NOVEMBER 7TH, 2018
UNIVERSITY
The stress of hotter temperatures
may trigger a response in a plant’s RNA, or ribonucleic acid, part of a cell’s
genetic messaging system, according to a new study.
The study with rice plants shows
that a sudden increase in temperature led to changes in the structure of the
plant’s RNA, which was linked to a loss in the number of its messenger RNAs—or
mRNAs. The mRNA molecule is a particular type of RNA, which transfers DNA
instructions to the ribosome in a cell during the protein-making process.
Because plants are not able to
regulate their own temperatures, as humans do, or move from the heat source,
this process may be one of the ways they cope with high temperatures and
drought conditions, says Sarah M. Assmann, professor of biology at Penn State.
While more studies are needed,
the current work may serve as an important first step in helping farmers
produce more heat and drought-resistant crops, researchers say.
HEATING UP
“Rice is a staple food for half
the world’s population and is particularly important for subsistence
agriculture in some parts of the world, so it’s a vital food crop,” says
Assmann. “With climate change—and with the goal that we need to increase food
production to feed the world’s growing population—we are always trying to
understand how plants are responding to climate stress, so, potentially, in the
future, we could improve crop varieties, either through breeding or other
mechanisms, to get better stress tolerance and better yields.”
The researchers examined more
than 14,000 different RNAs to look for changes in the molecules’ intricately
folded structures that could signal acute heat stress, says Philip Bevilacqua,
professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology. Unlike the
intertwined double strand—or double helix—of the DNA molecule, RNA is
single-stranded.
“Because DNA has two strands,
it’s really locked into very few different folds, but RNA, because it is not
tied up with another strand, is able to fold back on itself, so there are much
more complex folds in the RNA,” says Bevilacqua.
STRESSED OUT
To create heat stress, the
researchers subjected one group of two-week old rice seedlings to above normal
temperatures—108 degrees Fahrenheit—for just 10 minutes and compared those
plants to a control group of plants growing at 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We chose such a short time
because the refolding of the RNA is a fast process, whereas the downstream
processes, such as protein production, are slower and we were particularly
interested in how the RNA refolded,” says Bevilacqua.
The researchers found that the
folds in the RNA of the plants suffering from heat stress were looser than
those in the control group. The unfolding of the mRNA, then, correlated with a
loss in the abundance of mRNA, suggesting that mRNA unfolding promotes its
degradation, a method that cells use to regulate which genes express and when.
“One of the main things we discovered
is that there’s a correlation between the RNAs that tend to unfold at their
ends and a reduction in the abundance of those RNAs, and since the RNAs code
for proteins you can loosely infer that would then result in a reduction of the
encoded proteins, including enzymes and all the myriad functions that proteins
perform,” says Assmann.
CROPS OF THE FUTURE
According to Bevilacqua, this
process offers hints on next steps for future research into more heat and
drought resistant crops.
“So, if loss of structure results
in loss of abundance and if that loss of abundance is not optimal, then you
could imagine that we could change the sequences of the ends of the RNA, making
them more stable, and, therefore, stabilize the production of those proteins,”
he says.
Zhao Su, lead author of the
paper, says the study also uncovered new insights into gene regulation.
“This study reveals a new layer
of gene regulation that was previously not appreciated,” he says. “In
particular, we showed that mRNAs encoding one specific type of regulatory
protein, transcription factors, are especially targeted for degradation by
unfolding under high temperatures.”
The research will appear in
the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Science Foundation’s
Plant Genome Research Program supported the work.
Source: Penn State
Study calls for revisiting of potato pricing
model
November 06, 2018
A study by Rwanda Civil Society Platform calls for revisiting of
potato pricing. File.
A study conducted last year has
found that the minimum price set for potato farmers was being abused and that
the farmers were the victims.
The research was informed by low
prices or market issues expressed by farmers for their produce, lack of
farmers’ say in setting prices for their produce, and insufficient access to,
and use of quality agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilisers, and agro-chemicals
such as pesticides for crop protection), which adversely affects farm
productivity.
It was commissioned by Rwanda Civil
Society Platform (RCSP).
“Even as prices of potatoes
increased to between Ref450 and Rwf500 a kilo of Irish potato in Kigali markets
as of September 19, 2018, farm gate prices remained at Rwf191,” said Dr Michel
Rwibasira, one of the researchers who carried out the study.
Under the theme; “Analysis of Value
Chain for Intensified Crops and market price in Rwanda,” the case study: maize,
Irish potatoes and rice, the research collected data from 577 respondents from
across the three intensified crops (IC) in targeted districts producing such
crops (Nyabihu, Musanze, and Burera [for Irish potatoes production]; Gatsibo
and Nyagatare in Eastern Province; Ruhango and Gisagara in Southern Province,
and Rusizi in Western Province.
Kimironko and Mulindi food markets
in Kigali were also surveyed as well as views of consumers.
“Farmers requested that such
profits should be redistributed evenly among all people engaged in the potato
value chain, including farmers,” he said.
They expressed their dismay for not
having a say in what happens to their produce beyond harvesting, especially for
Irish potatoes.
“There is a need to have farmer
protection mechanisms against what they called unfair pricing; farmers need to
be empowered to participate in value chain activities beyond production,” reads
part of the study.
The price of a kilo of potatoes to
a farmer has been set at between Rwf140 and Rwf170 during peak season by the Ministry
of Trade and Industry (MINICOM), after consulting different stakeholders in the
business, including farmers’ cooperatives and potato traders. The price depends
on the quality and type of potato in question.
However, potato farmers, including
Clemence Mukarugwiza of Karago Sector, and Martin Niyibizi from Kintobo Sector
both in Nyabuhu District told The New Times that the set prices are sometimes
not observed as they even sell as low as Rwf70 a kilo during the harvest period
because there is large supply which overweighs the demand.
Currently, they said, a kilogramme
of Kinigi potatoes is Rwf180 and Rwf120 to Rwf130 for other varieties.
“We are afraid that during the peak
season in December, we will sell a kilogramme at about Rwf70, which is not profitable
for us,” Mukarugwiza lamented.
The Rwanda Civil Society Platform
Chairperson, Jean Leonard Sekanyange said that when a farmer hears that a
kilogramme of potatoes is Rwf500 in Kigali, yet they sold it Rwf180, they think
that most of the proceeds are going to the dealer, not the farmer, which
demotivates the farmer.
“That is why we request that
concerned public institutions should ensure effective mechanisms for compliance
with such pricing, and reinforce penalties against those who do not comply,”
Sekanyange observed.
“The price should be determined by
market forces. When someone sets prices yet they are not the ones to buy the
produce, it is sold at a lower price in case of oversupply and few buyers,” he
said.
The director of domestic trade at
the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM, Cassien Karangwa said that there
were some dishonest potato dealers who wanted to make excess profits from low
potato produce that resulted from disasters such as foods that adversely
affected farm produce from March this year, and they were selling potatoes at
higher prices of Rwf450 and Rwf500.
“We have taken measures to inspect
markets and punish such dishonest dealers who hike prices to make undue
benefits,” Karangwa said.
Awareness about anti-rice stubble burning to control smog need of hour:
Benish
November 8,
2018
Staff
Reporter
Additional
Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) Benish Fatima Sahi has said that Punjab is
on the edge due to environmental pollution. She said that smog causes to effect
human health and people have to suffer in case of smog effects.
The Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) said that dense smog has adverse effect for not only human beings but also for the crops. So, it is need of time to disseminate information regarding anti-rice stubble burning among farming community in a more effective and targeted manner.
Benish Fatima stated this while presiding over a meeting to review rice crop situation and its off-season management practices at Rice Research Institute, KalaShah Kaku on Wednesday. High officials of Agriculture Department attended this meeting.
Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) briefed that due to smog, photosynthesis process in leaves of crops is also affected and plants cannot make their necessary food.
Plants, under the effect of smoggy clouds, cannot prepare necessary hormones for its growth and per acre yield of crops may affect due to this situation. He said the government is paying special heed towards Anti-Smog campaign and more than 200 FIRs have been registered against persons who are involved in rice burning incidents.
The spokesman advised instead of burning of rice stubble, farmers should mix the crop residual into the soil through deep plough through rotavator or disc harrow. This year Agriculture Department will monitor & report burning of Rice stubbles incidents on day today basis.
Under section-144, Government of Punjab has imposed ban on burning of crop residuals. Field Assistant of Agriculture Department is monitoring and reporting incident of rice stubble burning to their Divisional Director & Director (M & E) on daily basis.
Researchers and experts also briefed Additional Secretary about departmental activity regarding off-season management of Rice crop.
The Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) said that dense smog has adverse effect for not only human beings but also for the crops. So, it is need of time to disseminate information regarding anti-rice stubble burning among farming community in a more effective and targeted manner.
Benish Fatima stated this while presiding over a meeting to review rice crop situation and its off-season management practices at Rice Research Institute, KalaShah Kaku on Wednesday. High officials of Agriculture Department attended this meeting.
Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) briefed that due to smog, photosynthesis process in leaves of crops is also affected and plants cannot make their necessary food.
Plants, under the effect of smoggy clouds, cannot prepare necessary hormones for its growth and per acre yield of crops may affect due to this situation. He said the government is paying special heed towards Anti-Smog campaign and more than 200 FIRs have been registered against persons who are involved in rice burning incidents.
The spokesman advised instead of burning of rice stubble, farmers should mix the crop residual into the soil through deep plough through rotavator or disc harrow. This year Agriculture Department will monitor & report burning of Rice stubbles incidents on day today basis.
Under section-144, Government of Punjab has imposed ban on burning of crop residuals. Field Assistant of Agriculture Department is monitoring and reporting incident of rice stubble burning to their Divisional Director & Director (M & E) on daily basis.
Researchers and experts also briefed Additional Secretary about departmental activity regarding off-season management of Rice crop.
Nanotube
film drowns out battery-killing lithium tentacles
November 5th, 2018
Rice University chemist James
Tour, left, graduate student Gladys López-Silva and postdoctoral researcher
Rodrigo Salvatierra have come up with a new kind of battery that
prevents dendrite growth(Credit: Tour Lab/Rice University)
Battery researchers are fighting battles on many fronts in their
efforts to advance our energy capabilities, and one of those centers on dangly
tentacles of lithium called dendrites. These form as a battery charges and
quickly degrade their capacity, so scientists are coming at them from all
angles in attempts to quash them. New research out of Rice University describes
yet another promising possible solution, by working a thin film of carbon
nanotubes into the battery design as as way of drowning them out.
Dendrites are microscopic fibers of lithium that form on the
anode of lithium-based batteries as they are charged. These become sharp
needle-like structures that can pierce the battery's separator and cause it to
short circuit, sometimes even resulting in the battery catching fire. One way
to restrict their growth is to limit the charge rate of the battery, but with
lithium-metal batteries promising much faster charging times and as much as 10
times the capacity of the lithium-ion batteries used widely today, scientists
are keen to address the problem.
We have seen experimental versions designed to limit dendrite
growth by using Kevlar nanofibers or the potential for
entirely new kinds of electrolytes, the
chemical solution that carries a battery's charge. In fact, last year the same
group of Rice University researchers developed a lithium-metal battery made
with asphalt that demonstrated faster charging times, as well as a heightened
resistance to dendrite formation.
The team has now taken another step forward by bringing a film
made of carbon nanotubes into the mix. This is used to coat the lithium metal
anode of the battery, and serves to more effectively drown out the dendrites,
kind of like throwing mulch onto a garden bed as a form of weed control. Except
this film soaks up lithium ions from the anode and distributes them during
charging, all without affecting the charging rates themselves.
"The role of carbon nanotube film is to distribute the
lithium deposition, helping to create a smooth layer of lithum with no
dendrites," study co-author Rodrigo Salvatierra tells New Atlas. "In
that sense, the carbon-nanotube modification does not limit these batteries to
slow charging rates. In fact, high rates can be applied for both charge and
discharge."
In integrating this new component into the asphalt-lithium metal
battery developed last year, the Rice researchers found the film prevented
dendrite growth over 580 charging cycles. During this time, the battery's cells
maintained 99.8 percent of their coulombic efficiency, and the finished product
should also be a littler easier to construct, as Salvatierra explains.
"This works differently from the asphalt-particles in
several aspects," he says. "First, we are using a thin carbon
nanotube film to modify a solid lithium metal foil, therefore the lithium metal
foil and carbon nanotube film are ready to go in a battery. In the
asphalt-derived electrodes, lithium metal had to be electrochemically deposited
over the particles before the use in the full battery device."
Salvatierra also tells us that this new anode can store three to
five times more charge than commercially available versions, and that a fully
charged version was stored for a month with "negligible charge loss,"
which bodes well for its potential use as a long-term energy storage solution.
The team's research was published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Vietnam, Thailand withdraw from bidding to supply 203,000 MT
rice to PH
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6) — Both Thailand and Vietnam refused to participate in the
bidding to supply the country with 203,000 metric tons of rice, citing the
National Food Authority's (NFA) terms of reference of importation.
According to a letter read by Maria Mercedes Yacapin, Chair of the NFA
Committee on Government-to-Government Procurement, Thailand cannot adhere to
the terms of reference provided to them on October 31.
The terms of reference, which enumerates the conditions to be
followed by bidders, included reassignments of discharge ports, fumigation
conditions and fines for short deliveries. "Having considered
the NFA's condition, we are concerned that the terms of reference even with
some amendments as stated in your letter remains difficult for us in terms if
compliance," the letter said.
Thailand's foreign trade department also argued that they have
already abided by the terms of reference set on May 16 this year.
Vietnam echoed Thailand's sentiments saying they may not be able to comply with
the regulations under the terms of reference. Vietnam and Thailand,
produce an average of 5-8 tons per hectare at P5 to P9 per kilogram, while
local farmers produce only 3 to 6 tons at higher costs of ₱11 to ₱14 per
kilogram. Authorities have resorted to importing rice from these two countries
to lower costs in the market. However, Yacapin contends that
Thailand and Vietnam's withdrawal is not a cause for alarm since they are
expecting rice prices to stabilize due to the implemented suggested retail price
(SRP). The SRP sets prices of rice at ₱37 to ₱47 per kilogram.
She added that they are
also expecting 47,000 metric tons of rice to arrive on November 30 from last
month's bidding. In an interview with CNN Philippines News Night, National
Food Authority (NFA) spokesperson Gerry Imperial said the countries
refused to participate because of the shortness of the delivery period for the
staple. He said the first 250,000 metric tons import of rice is expected to be
delivered to the markets by the end of December. Imperial added rice supply
will still be sufficient even without the supply of the said countries.
"Yes, there is enough
supply, and kasalukuyan tayong umaani. Although tumama
si 'Ompong' at 'Rosita' sa northern part of Luzon, di naman
naapektuhan ang isa sa rice granary natin na Region
IV and other rice-producing provinces in Central Luzon," Imperial said.
[Translation:Yes, there is enough supply, and we're currently harvesting.
Although typhoons Ompong and Rosita hit parts of Northern Luzon, they have not
affected one of our rice granary which is Region IV, and other rice-producing
provinces in Central Luzon.]
Deal with Philippines eyed for rice commercialisation
By
JEFFREY ELAPA The signing of a memorandum-of-agreement
(MoA) between Papua New Guinea and Philippines on Nov 16 will herald the
beginning of rice commercialisation in PNG, both countries say. Agriculture and
Livestock Minister Benny Allan and Philippines Ambassador Bien V Tejano
asserted this during a visit to the Pacific Adventist University rice model
farm outside Port Moresby yesterday, which will have its first harvest next
month.
The signing will be done
between agriculture ministers of the two countries while Philippines President
Rodrigo Duterte and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill will witness at the PAU farm.
Duterte will be in PNG for the Apec leaders’ summit at that time. Initial
discussions were made by the leaders of the two countries during Apec 2017 in
Vietnam, and a State visit by O’Neill to the Philippines this year. After the initial discussion, 19 technical officers from department of agriculture
of Philippines started an initial rice modelling research station at PAU, which
will become a seed bank centre for rice in the region and the country.
Allan said four different
types of rice varieties would be trialled at PAU and distributed throughout
Central and PNG. He said the centre would also be used to train rice farmers.
Allan said there were already investors from the Philippines ready to invest in
rice farming in the country, with the agreement opening up the floodgates.
“This is a good project to set the tone for rice growing in PNG on a bigger
economic scale to meet the local demand and even to export and supply the
Philippines population of 150 million people,” he said. “The MoA of Nov 16 will
set that course for rice production, seen as a food security issue for this
country.” Tejano said the water, climate and soil was conducive for paddy rice
farming in the country. He said the project would expand throughout Central and
the Southern Region.
Tejano said PNG imported 400 tonnes of rice annually at a cost of
K500 million while the Philippines need eight million tonnes of rice to feed
150 million people. He said most of that rice was imported from Thailand and
Vietnam but that could change with PNG coming into the picture. Tejano said the
project could feed the people of PNG within three years as it only needed
18,000ha, with more land available. He said rice production would reduce the
price of rice, retain foreign currency, bring in more revenue, address food
security and provide job employment opportunities.
Rice thefts worry farmers amid high prices
- 7 Nov 2018 at 16:10 WRITER: NILA
SINGKHIRI AND MAKKAWAN WANNAKUL
Farmers are putting up their guard against rice thefts
after several cases have been reported this year in the wake of high prices.
Noosin Damri, a farmer in Warin Chamrap district of Ubon Ratchathani
province, on Monday lodged a complaint at the Huay Khayung police station.
She claimed 16 bags of Hom Mali rice paddy weighing about 450kg had been stolen
from her granary. (continues below)
She told police that she had heard the sound of a motorcycle
leaving her house around 1.30am and suspected it could be the vehicle used by
the thieves.
The loss was estimated at 6,000 baht or more based on the current prices
of between 13,800 and 17,500 baht per tonne, according to a recent joint survey
by the Commerce Ministry and the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry."That paddy won't make them rich. What they did to me was a sin," Ms Noosin said.
Huay Khayung police found only two pairs of sneakers and motorcycle tyre traces near her barn.
This year is a good year for farmers. Paddy prices have fetched high prices due to drought in the lower northeastern provinces which diminishes supply while the demand remains high, the Office of Agriculture Economics has said.
The prices of Hom Mali rice paddy from August to September were quoted at 13,800-17,500 baht a tonne, up from 11,550-14,250 baht a year earlier. The prices of 5% white rice paddy were 7,500-8,000 baht a tonne, up from 7,300-7,8000 baht.
The good news stokes worries about rice thefts. Officials in Chaiyaphum, Amnat Charoen, Roi Et and Nong Khai provinces, as well as those in other areas, have urged farmers to be vigilant when drying their produce, a common practice aimed at fetching better prices when the grain is sold to rice mills. Rice paddy with lower moisture content is normally sold for higher prices. (continued below)
In Chaiyaphum's Muang district, farmers have to take turns guarding their paddy dried on school football fields, temple lawns and village roads.
"We volunteer to guard our rice around the clock," Fok Promyaem, a farmer of tambon Cheelong, said.
Samran Boonpriem, who has rice fields at Ban Khai in tambon Ban Khai, said her family, including her husband and sons, stayed outdoor near the village ground at night to make sure the family's paddy was safe.
"Sometimes, we can hardly sleep. Whenever we hear vehicles coming nearby, we wake up and turn on the flashlight," she said.
Chaiyaphum police chief Pol Maj Gen Sompot Khomprang said all police stations in the provinces are working with farmers by stepping up their patrol duty, targeting strangers in villages who might be rice thieves.
