Worms can process rice straw,
scientists discover
A team of scientists from MSMU
discovered that earthworms efficiently process rice straw and enrich the soil
with organic matter increasing its fertility and preventing the burning of the
straw
SECHENOV UNIVERSITY
IMAGE: AN EXPERIMENTAL SET OF MESOCOSMS
THAT HELPED UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF EARTHWORMS IN THE PROCESS OF RICE STRAW
DECOMPOSITION. view more
CREDIT:
COURTESY OF ANDREY ZAITSEV
A team of scientists from I.M.
Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (MSMU) discovered that
earthworms efficiently process rice straw and enrich the soil with organic
matter increasing its fertility and preventing the burning of the straw that
takes quite long to naturally decompose. The results of the study were
published in the European Journal of Soil Biology. The work was
supported with a grant of the Russian Science Foundation.
Rice is staple food product for
the majority of the Earth's population. The demand for it is constantly
growing, making its production increase annually. Harvesting and grain peeling
leave a considerable amount of crop residues which are not naturally consumed
by herbivorous animals and therefore is burned down. Burning causes the
emission of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane) and black carbon,
which negatively affects the climate. Therefore, it is important to develop a
more eco-friendly method for rice straw recycling.
The authors of the study
collected soil samples at three regions of Russia where rice is grown:
Krasnodarsky Krai, Kalmykia, and Primorsky Krai. It turned out, that in all
three regions the rice fields lacked earthworms, and the scientists selected
the cheapest kind of them to be tested - Eisenia fetida that is cultivated in
Russia on an industrial scale for fishing and humus production. The scientists
wanted to find out if they were able to process rice straw.
The team created several
mesocosms (closed confinements imitating natural conditions) to study the ratio
between the emission of carbon dioxide, methane, and organic carbon and the
type of soil, presence of straw, and the number of earthworms in it. Each
system contained 1 kg of soil with or without rice straw. Finally, different
amounts of earthworms were placed into each mesocosm to find out how their
activity would influence the concentration of greenhouse gases and carbon input
into soil.
It turned out that adding rice
straw to any type of soil increases carbon dioxide emission at least by the
factor of three. The ratio between the emitted CO2 and the number of earthworms
varied depending on the soil type. For example, the emissions barely changed
when the worms were added to the mesocosms with soil from Primorsky Krai. In
other types of soil with rice straw the emission of carbon dioxide considerably
increased after the worms were added. The highest effect in the soils from Kalmykia
was reached at the density of 6 worms per mesocosm, and from Krasnodar Krai -
at 4 worms per mesocosm. At the same time the increase in concentration of
organic carbon in Krasnodar soils turned out to be 10,000 times higher than its
loss in the course of emissions. When bound with the soil, organic carbon
improves its fertility and erosion resistance, and when burned - produces
carbon dioxide or black carbon. As for methane emissions, the worms did not
influence those.
"This work is of practical
importance. We've found a way to efficiency process rice straw instead of
burning it which is currently the most common practice worldwide. Along with
increasing sustainability and climate safety of rice growing, it reduces the
risks for the environment and mankind associated with agricultural burns as
causes of fires and atmospheric pollution, including that with carcinogenic
substances. Moreover, adding earthworms to soils will increase the quality,
fertility, and soil health of the fields and reduce the risk of erosion due to
binding with organic substances," added Andrey Zaitsev, a researcher from
MSMU and a senior researcher at the laboratory of soil ecosystem functions,
A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
###
Among the participants of the
work there also were scientists from Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Bangladesh needs hybrid rice production to ensure food
security
Posted
By: daily industryon: January
24, 2019In: Bangladesh, Power, Energy and DevelopmentNo Comments
Bangladesh population will reach
215.4 m in 2050, when 44.6 MT rice will be needed
Zahid Hossain Biplob: Experts have underscored
the need for increasing the rice production capacity for meeting the demand of
future. Hybrid rice production would ensure the future food security of the
country, they opined.
Total annual production may rise 5.78 percent year-on-year from the 32.65 million tones of 2017-18, said the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in its latest issue of Grain and Feed Update on Bangladesh released last week.
In 2014-15, the country acquired a rice surplus of about 2 MT for combined efforts of farmers, rice scientists, extension personnel and government.
However, maintaining the current surplus of rice in the coming decades is a great challenge. Population of Bangladesh will reach 215.4 million in 2050, when 44.6 MT of clean rice will be required, experts predicted.
Rice is the staple food for over half the world’s population. Approximately 600 million metric tons of rice is produced annually across the world. China and India alone account for 50 percent of the rice grown and consumed. Agronomists said more 150 million metric tons of rice will be needed by 2025 as the demand of rice is increasing day by day in the world.
Experts said future rice production would hamper for increasing population, decreasing resources like land, labour, soil health and water. Apart from this, the increasing climate vulnerability appeared as the great challenges to keep the pace of food production in the background of increasing population.
Bangladesh agriculture involves food production for 163.65 million people from merely 8.75 million hectares of agricultural land.
Rice production exceeded 15 million tons for the first time in FY 1986. In the mid-1980s, Bangladesh was the fourth largest rice producer in the world, but its productivity was low compared with other Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently the world’s sixth-largest producer. Highyield varieties of seed, application of fertilizer, and irrigation have increased yields, although these inputs also raise the cost of production and chiefly benefit the richer cultivators.
The government is importing rice maximum from India to fulfill the demand. The US agency forecasted that Bangladesh would import 0.8 million tonnes of rice in July-June period of fiscal 2018-19.
Bangladesh had been a major rice buyer in 2017-18, importing 3.89 million tonnes, the highest in the last three decades, after repeated floods washed away huge amounts of crops.
Experts pointed out that hybrid rice cultivation can ensure the future demand. Hybrid rice cultivation area has remained unchanged at 8 lakh hectares for the last few years and it is yet to cross the 10-lakh-hectare mark, the highest recorded in 2009-10.
So far 174 varieties of hybrid seeds were released but nearly 30 of them survived in the market due to farmers’ unwillingness to use the seeds, which they think may fail in producing expected yield, analysts said.
More cultivation of hybrid rice can help the country to avert its future challenge of diminishing trend of cultivable land, they said.
According to Bangladesh Rice Foundation (BRF), poor quality seeds, inadequate research to invent good variety of seeds and lack of awareness campaign among the farmers are the core challenges to making hybrid rice popular. Crop lands amounting to 62,000 hectares decrease per annum because of the spiraling population, which leave a negative impact on agricultural production.
Talking to Daily Industry, M Anis Ud Dowla, president of Bangladesh Seed Association told that production of hybrid rice in more farm lands will give us a solution stemming from the challenges as its yield is 15-20 percent higher than the inbred varieties.
Farmers usually believe that they might not get their desirable production if they cultivate the hybrid rice, he said.
The private sector has a vital role in popularising the crop. And the government also should take initiative to find a way out on how to cater the seed of hybrid rice to the farmers” said Anis.
Dr Shahjahan Kabir, director general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) said the highest priority should be given to establish a hybrid rice research institute for addressing the challenges. “Hybrid rice seed production is highly technical, so required support needs to be extended at the farmer level who is interested to engage in seed production process,” he added.
The authorities concerned should provide enough funds, human resources, training and logistic support to all stakeholders to help hybrid rice to flourish, industry insiders said.
Department of Agricultural Extension data shows that the cultivation of hybrid rice accounted for only 7.13 percent of the total 1.14 crore hectares of lands in 2016-17.
Z Karim, former chairman of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council said hybrid rice seed industry should be declared a thrust sector in the financial polic
Total annual production may rise 5.78 percent year-on-year from the 32.65 million tones of 2017-18, said the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in its latest issue of Grain and Feed Update on Bangladesh released last week.
In 2014-15, the country acquired a rice surplus of about 2 MT for combined efforts of farmers, rice scientists, extension personnel and government.
However, maintaining the current surplus of rice in the coming decades is a great challenge. Population of Bangladesh will reach 215.4 million in 2050, when 44.6 MT of clean rice will be required, experts predicted.
Rice is the staple food for over half the world’s population. Approximately 600 million metric tons of rice is produced annually across the world. China and India alone account for 50 percent of the rice grown and consumed. Agronomists said more 150 million metric tons of rice will be needed by 2025 as the demand of rice is increasing day by day in the world.
Experts said future rice production would hamper for increasing population, decreasing resources like land, labour, soil health and water. Apart from this, the increasing climate vulnerability appeared as the great challenges to keep the pace of food production in the background of increasing population.
Bangladesh agriculture involves food production for 163.65 million people from merely 8.75 million hectares of agricultural land.
Rice production exceeded 15 million tons for the first time in FY 1986. In the mid-1980s, Bangladesh was the fourth largest rice producer in the world, but its productivity was low compared with other Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently the world’s sixth-largest producer. Highyield varieties of seed, application of fertilizer, and irrigation have increased yields, although these inputs also raise the cost of production and chiefly benefit the richer cultivators.
The government is importing rice maximum from India to fulfill the demand. The US agency forecasted that Bangladesh would import 0.8 million tonnes of rice in July-June period of fiscal 2018-19.
Bangladesh had been a major rice buyer in 2017-18, importing 3.89 million tonnes, the highest in the last three decades, after repeated floods washed away huge amounts of crops.
Experts pointed out that hybrid rice cultivation can ensure the future demand. Hybrid rice cultivation area has remained unchanged at 8 lakh hectares for the last few years and it is yet to cross the 10-lakh-hectare mark, the highest recorded in 2009-10.
So far 174 varieties of hybrid seeds were released but nearly 30 of them survived in the market due to farmers’ unwillingness to use the seeds, which they think may fail in producing expected yield, analysts said.
More cultivation of hybrid rice can help the country to avert its future challenge of diminishing trend of cultivable land, they said.
According to Bangladesh Rice Foundation (BRF), poor quality seeds, inadequate research to invent good variety of seeds and lack of awareness campaign among the farmers are the core challenges to making hybrid rice popular. Crop lands amounting to 62,000 hectares decrease per annum because of the spiraling population, which leave a negative impact on agricultural production.
Talking to Daily Industry, M Anis Ud Dowla, president of Bangladesh Seed Association told that production of hybrid rice in more farm lands will give us a solution stemming from the challenges as its yield is 15-20 percent higher than the inbred varieties.
Farmers usually believe that they might not get their desirable production if they cultivate the hybrid rice, he said.
The private sector has a vital role in popularising the crop. And the government also should take initiative to find a way out on how to cater the seed of hybrid rice to the farmers” said Anis.
Dr Shahjahan Kabir, director general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) said the highest priority should be given to establish a hybrid rice research institute for addressing the challenges. “Hybrid rice seed production is highly technical, so required support needs to be extended at the farmer level who is interested to engage in seed production process,” he added.
The authorities concerned should provide enough funds, human resources, training and logistic support to all stakeholders to help hybrid rice to flourish, industry insiders said.
Department of Agricultural Extension data shows that the cultivation of hybrid rice accounted for only 7.13 percent of the total 1.14 crore hectares of lands in 2016-17.
Z Karim, former chairman of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council said hybrid rice seed industry should be declared a thrust sector in the financial polic
Korean
Tradition Kept Alive with U.S. Rice
Special to the USA Rice Daily
BROOKLYN, NY -- Although not indigenous to Korea, soju, meaning "burnt liquor," is now the country's national drink. It is colorless and more neutral like vodka, but has less of a burn. Mongolian invaders brought soju's ancestor from Persia to Korea in the 13th century where the liquor was made with rice, because of its abundance. Slow to catch on in the United States, soju is now becoming more known and gaining traction. Tokki Soju, the first U.S. distillery of soju, started producing the traditional rice-based liquor here in February 2016. Founder and distiller Brandon Hill makes soju as true to the old Korean style as possible using recipes from the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) that he obtained while in Korea. "With the exception of electricity, you could replicate Tokki Soju 500 years ago," said Hill. Tokki Soju is made with just three ingredients: rice, a traditional wheat-based starter culture called nuruk, and water. In keeping with tradition, Hill uses chapssal, which is the Korean name for sticky rice. He gets his organic sticky rice from The Sun Valley Rice Company in Arbuckle, California. Hill uses short grain sticky rice because it's high in starch and sweet in flavor. That natural sweetness translates to the distillate, so he doesn't have to add any sugar. He currently uses 4,000 pounds of rice a month, and that number is growing as Tokki Soju is sold in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, with plans to expand. "I'll only use the finest ingredients, so you know exactly what you're putting in your body," Hill said. "None of the high quality soju in Korea gets exported, so most of what's on U.S. shelves is chemicals and sugar. I didn't want to make the stuff you get hammered on in a karaoke booth and have an awful headache the next day." When Hill started, there was hardly any craft soju movement in the United States. "The soju story hasn't been told," he said. Now that is changing and Hill hopes Tokki Soju will be a key part of that story, as he works to keep this Korean tradition alive with U.S. rice.
|
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USA Rice Daily
Government tries to export rice
to Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines on G-to-G basis
PUBLISHED 23
JANUARY 2019
ZEYA
NYEIN
The
government is trying to export rice to Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines on a
basis of G-to-G as there has been a fall in the current rice export sector.
Moreover, the government will have to compete with rice-exporting countries for
rice quality, according to the workshop on export promotion of Myanma rice
sector.
“Indonesia, Malaysian and Philippines are mostly buying rice. The government will have to negotiate with these neighbouring countries for G-to-G basis to export rice to them,” said Ye Min Aung, General Secretary of Myanmar Rice Federation.
“We must try to compete with rice-exporting countries such Thailand as Vietnam, Pakistan and India for rice quality. We will have to compete with them for basic structures capable of producing quality rice. If we can‘t do like so, it will have negative effects on the economy of the country and its farmers. The government and the private sector should work together for that,” said Ye Min Aung.
“The usual words the international merchants said was ‘think Myanmar last’. They bought rice from Thailand, Pakistan and India if they saw conveniences. They can guess the situations in these countries in advance and their basic structures are in a good condition. Especially, there must be many gateways to rice export. Myanmar’s navigation gateway is Yangon. Yangon port is always full of activity. It is not easy to penetrate into the rice market at a time when Thailand, Pakistan and India are selling rice,” said Ye Min Aung.
Myanmar’s rice export volume reached more than 1.717 million tons of rice on US$ 578.807 million from April 1 to December 29 in 2018. The last year’s export volume reached 2.542 million tons of rice on US$ 789.780 million.
“Indonesia, Malaysian and Philippines are mostly buying rice. The government will have to negotiate with these neighbouring countries for G-to-G basis to export rice to them,” said Ye Min Aung, General Secretary of Myanmar Rice Federation.
“We must try to compete with rice-exporting countries such Thailand as Vietnam, Pakistan and India for rice quality. We will have to compete with them for basic structures capable of producing quality rice. If we can‘t do like so, it will have negative effects on the economy of the country and its farmers. The government and the private sector should work together for that,” said Ye Min Aung.
“The usual words the international merchants said was ‘think Myanmar last’. They bought rice from Thailand, Pakistan and India if they saw conveniences. They can guess the situations in these countries in advance and their basic structures are in a good condition. Especially, there must be many gateways to rice export. Myanmar’s navigation gateway is Yangon. Yangon port is always full of activity. It is not easy to penetrate into the rice market at a time when Thailand, Pakistan and India are selling rice,” said Ye Min Aung.
Myanmar’s rice export volume reached more than 1.717 million tons of rice on US$ 578.807 million from April 1 to December 29 in 2018. The last year’s export volume reached 2.542 million tons of rice on US$ 789.780 million.
Biryani Stories: Is Biryani the national dish of
Pakistan?
Biryani, one of the staples of
Pakistani cuisine. Image by Faizan Ashraf. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
This is the first part of our
series: “Biryani Stories” – a look at the common culinary culture in South
Asian Countries.
The king of South Asian cuisine
and a loved-by-all dish is Biryani. The layered preparation, usually with
fragrant basmati or kalizira rice, is sprinkled
with saffron and has chunks of sumptuous meat. Its trademark smell lets
everyone know that it’s a special occasion. It is a very popular dish in
Pakistan and the question often arises, “Is this the national dish of
Pakistan”?
Once a dish for royalty, today
biryani reflects the flavor and traditions of each locality and is a common
dish across many places in Pakistan. However, there is a
controversy as to whether Biryani is the national dish of Pakistan. It seems
that the Government of Pakistan has not declaredany food to be the national
dish because there isn't just one dish that is popular in every region and such
a lavish meal is often out of reach for some Pakistanis.
However, Biryani is definitely one of the strong contenders for the title.
Biriyani has its origins among
the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent and is popular beyond the region.
The word “biryani”
comes from the Persian word “birian” which means “fried before cooking.” This
South Asian mixed rice dish has its origins among the Muslims of the Indian
subcontinent. It’s part of the Mughlai cuisine that India is famous for which
was developed from the 15th century to about the 19th century during the reign
of the Mughal empire. The Mughals raised cooking to
an art form, introducing several recipes to India like biryani, pilaf,
and kebabs.
Biryani was first introduced by
the Mughals in Northern India. It was known as pakka Biryani because most of
the ingredients are pre-cooked and then assembled in a pot (deg) and then set
on slow fire (dum) for final cooking. The Nizam of Hyderabad (a monarch) adapted the preparation
of Biryani to Katcha (raw) style in which most of the ingredients are raw and
mixed in the deg to the right proportion. The deg is sealed and placed on slow
fire until it is cooked to perfection.
Punjabi Biryani. Image from WIkimedia Commons by Miansari66.
Public Domain.
Some of the regional flavors of
Biryanis in Pakistan include Sindhi Biryani, Punjabi Biryani,
Bohri biryani, Afghani Biryani, or the traditional Mughlai Biryani or
Hyderabadi style Biryani.
According to food critic Bisma
Tirmizi, Sindhi Biryani is a Mughlai twist on the pulao,
with a more fierce and exotic taste.
The masala-seeped potatoes, the tangy alloo bukhara (dried
plums/prunes), mint and khatta dahi (sour yogurt) render the Sindhi Biryani a
different taste, it’s spicier than most regional biryanis and the proportion of
the masala to the rice is a little more than of most biryanis on the
sub-continental menu.
There is another debate which is
common in India and Pakistan regarding whether there should be Aloo (potato) in
the Biryani or not. Some like the taste with or without potato. Earlier this
year Manal Aijaz, a Pakistani blogger, posted a poll on social media. For the
next 5 days, the Pakistani Twitter space was seen taking this poll seriously. Here is the
result:
Whichever wins, stays the other is gone
forever
If you would like to have a taste
some of the Pakistani Biryanis check out Faatimah's recipe for an easy and traditional Pakistani Chicken Biryani. You
can also look at Ainy's recipe for Punjabi
Biryani, Pakistani Lamb Biryani among others.
For now, it seems the decision as
to whether or not Biryani is the national dish of Pakistan is still undecided.
Belarus, Pakistan seek
to expand interregional contacts Society
23.01.2019 | 19:11 fvkoktgm Vladimir Kravtsov GRODNO, 23 January
(BelTA) – Chairman of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee Vladimir Kravtsov
met with Ambassador of Pakistan to Belarus Leena Salim Moazzam to discuss ways
to intensify cooperation in agriculture, trade and other areas between the
regions of Belarus and Pakistan, BelTA has learned. Grodno Oblast exports baby
foods, meat and dairy products to Pakistan. “Pakistan supplies Belarus with
agricultural products, for example, rice. However, we should step up
cooperation in this sector. In fact, there are many cooperation opportunities.
I am talking not only about trade and economic contacts but also joint
ventures,” Vladimir Kravtsov noted. He said that Grodno Oblast can also be of
interest to potential partners due to its logistic and transit capacities. The
countries plan to further develop interregional cooperation. In 2015, for
example, the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee and the Provincial Assembly of
Sindh province signed a memorandum of understanding. Grodno might sign a
twin-town agreement with one of Pakistan's towns. “We are well positioned to
promote cooperation. There are a lot of areas of mutual interest, from
agriculture and trade to tourism and education. It is important that more goods
from Pakistan appear on Belarus' market, and vice versa. We have a lot to share
in culture and even cuisine,” Leena Salim Moazzam noted. She said that she
likes Belarusian draniki and, in her opinion, Pakistani spices which are not
yet represented in the Belarusian market would add new flavors to this
traditional dish. 
If you use BelTA’s materials, you must credit us with a hyperlink to eng.belta.by.
If you use BelTA’s materials, you must credit us with a hyperlink to eng.belta.by.
SNGPL conducts op against illegal connections in KP
PESHAWAR: Complying the with the direction of
Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited
(SNGPL) on Wednesday conducted an operation against illegal gas connections in
Peshawar, reported Radio Pakistan.
6,550 meter illegal gas pipelines were cut in
the areas of Sarband, Bahadur Kallay, Landi Sarrak, Charsadda road and Landi
Arbab.
“Legal actions will be taken against people who
are using compressors,” said General Manager SNGPL Peshawar Arbab Saqib.
“For this purpose 57 compressors and 68 gas meters have been disconnected.”
The work on a 32 km gas supply line from Darra
Adamkhel to Peshawar has almost completed but the low gas pressure issue still
needs to be addressed.
Similarly, a 16-inch diameter pipeline is being
set up that would provide direct gas to the industrial estate near Hayatabad.
Apart from that an extra 12 inch operation phase will be added in order to
resolve gas pressure in Peshawar.
On Jan 22, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood
Qureshi said Qatar would buy two gas power plants from Pakistan and will build
two other power plants in the country.
While talking exclusively to ARY News, Qureshi
said Qatar would play a key role in the revival of Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) and will financially support the national flag carrier.
He added that Doha was interested in investment
in agriculture sector pertaining to processing field in Pakistan and that a
delegation of Qatari business community would arrive in Pakistan to explore the
investment opportunities in the country.
As a goodwill gesture, Qatar had lifted ban on
rice import from Pakistan, Qureshi concluded. https://arynews.tv/en/sngpl-conducts-op-against-illegal-connections-in-kp/
Over-optimistic export projections
Our policymakers seem to believe that they have almost resolved
the most challenging issue of external sector imbalance of the economy.
According to the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industry
and Investment, exports of the country would increase to $27 billion this
fiscal year which will be the highest level in the history of the country.
"The country's economy is heading for improvement amid difficulties. This
year will see more good news," he is reported as saying the biggest challenge
of the country is current account deficit and the government is making efforts
on war-footing to overcome this crisis. The government had devised a new
strategy to curtail imports and increase exports aimed at reducing the widening
trade deficit and is also trying to provide substitute of imports by increasing
local production. "We have asked China to enhance Pakistan's rice and
sugar import," the Advisor added. The precious foreign exchange could also
be saved if production of edible oils could be indigenized by promoting local
production of edible oils. Pakistan cannot afford to import edible oils worth
$4 billion. The country has suffered greatly owing to lack of good research
institutions. As a result, yield in the agricultural sector is far from being
adequate. The country's cotton production has also plunged to 10.5 million
bales from 15 million bales due to low quality of seeds.
Although the Advisor to the Prime Minister was speaking at the Pakistan Edible Oil Conference (PEOC) held in Karachi, his emphasis on exports and the overall balance of payments of the country, rather than on edible oils, is a clear indication that the challenge of overcoming huge deficit on the external sector is weighing heavily on the minds of our policymakers. Their obsession on the subject, in our view, is for the right reasons. Current Account (CA) deficit of the country during the FY18 was about $19 billion. Although this deficit has declined somewhat during the first half of the current fiscal year, it is still huge and unsustainable. Foreign exchange reserves held with the State Bank of Pakistan are also dwindling at a fast rate despite a substantial depreciation of the Pak rupee, infusion of a large amount of foreign exchange into the kitty of the SBP from some friendly countries and a sharp increase in home remittances during the current year. Razak Dawood seems to think that the solution to fix this problem lies in the promotion of exports and containment of imports through import substitution and he is very much on the right track but his over-optimistic tone at the Conference does not reflect the reality of the situation. For instance, he is sure that the country would be able to achieve the target of $27 billion of exports which will be the highest level of exports in the history of the country. His confidence perhaps stems from the export data of December, 2018 which is better as compared to the same month of last year. However, the Advisor, in all probability, is forgetting that one month data is not enough to establish a trend in the future and the target of $27 billion is too high to be achieved. The latest data show that country's exports amounted to $11.5 billion during July-December, 2018, meaning that $15.5 billion has to be earned through exports in the remaining part of FY19. The increase of $4 billion or 35 percent in the next six months appears to be an impossible task. Also, there is nothing wrong with the idea of import substitution to narrow the gap in the external sector but it takes a considerable length of time for materialising such an idea because the necessary capital has to be arranged, machinery has to be fixed, necessary raw materials have either to be imported or domestically arranged and marketing facilities have to be put in place throughout the country. Razak Dawood also seems to think that cotton production has plunged due to low quality of seeds but this is only a minor reason. Cotton output has mainly dropped due to the shift of agricultural land from cotton crop to sugarcane. Cotton is suffering mainly because of the strong lobby of sugar mills and sugarcane growers to gain heavy subsidies from the budget. Besides, it is true that Pakistan's oil and fat market had grown significantly, from 2.7 million tonnes in 2000 to over 4.4 million tonnes in 2017 and the country is spending a huge amount of foreign exchange on the import of edible oils. It needs to be recognized, however, that more area under a certain crop could only be cultivated by shifting acreage from certain other crops and such a shifting could only take place over time by altering the price signals in the market.
Although the Advisor to the Prime Minister was speaking at the Pakistan Edible Oil Conference (PEOC) held in Karachi, his emphasis on exports and the overall balance of payments of the country, rather than on edible oils, is a clear indication that the challenge of overcoming huge deficit on the external sector is weighing heavily on the minds of our policymakers. Their obsession on the subject, in our view, is for the right reasons. Current Account (CA) deficit of the country during the FY18 was about $19 billion. Although this deficit has declined somewhat during the first half of the current fiscal year, it is still huge and unsustainable. Foreign exchange reserves held with the State Bank of Pakistan are also dwindling at a fast rate despite a substantial depreciation of the Pak rupee, infusion of a large amount of foreign exchange into the kitty of the SBP from some friendly countries and a sharp increase in home remittances during the current year. Razak Dawood seems to think that the solution to fix this problem lies in the promotion of exports and containment of imports through import substitution and he is very much on the right track but his over-optimistic tone at the Conference does not reflect the reality of the situation. For instance, he is sure that the country would be able to achieve the target of $27 billion of exports which will be the highest level of exports in the history of the country. His confidence perhaps stems from the export data of December, 2018 which is better as compared to the same month of last year. However, the Advisor, in all probability, is forgetting that one month data is not enough to establish a trend in the future and the target of $27 billion is too high to be achieved. The latest data show that country's exports amounted to $11.5 billion during July-December, 2018, meaning that $15.5 billion has to be earned through exports in the remaining part of FY19. The increase of $4 billion or 35 percent in the next six months appears to be an impossible task. Also, there is nothing wrong with the idea of import substitution to narrow the gap in the external sector but it takes a considerable length of time for materialising such an idea because the necessary capital has to be arranged, machinery has to be fixed, necessary raw materials have either to be imported or domestically arranged and marketing facilities have to be put in place throughout the country. Razak Dawood also seems to think that cotton production has plunged due to low quality of seeds but this is only a minor reason. Cotton output has mainly dropped due to the shift of agricultural land from cotton crop to sugarcane. Cotton is suffering mainly because of the strong lobby of sugar mills and sugarcane growers to gain heavy subsidies from the budget. Besides, it is true that Pakistan's oil and fat market had grown significantly, from 2.7 million tonnes in 2000 to over 4.4 million tonnes in 2017 and the country is spending a huge amount of foreign exchange on the import of edible oils. It needs to be recognized, however, that more area under a certain crop could only be cultivated by shifting acreage from certain other crops and such a shifting could only take place over time by altering the price signals in the market.
https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/01/20190124441884/
Qatar lifts ban on import of Pakistani rice
ISLAMABAD: During recent visit of
the Prime Minister to Qatar, the Qatari Government has agreed to include
Pakistan origin rice in the tender documents of the Central Tendering Committee
which falls directly under the purview of Qatar’s Ministry of Economy and
Commerce.
The lifting of ban is expected to
provide additional $ 40-50 million of rice exports to Qatar if quality is
maintained.
Qatar annually imports 200,000
tonnes of rice, says a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce here
Wednesday.
The statement quoted Advisor on
Commerce, Textile, Industries, Production, and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood as
saying that the government intends to take export to the highest level ever.
The government, he said, is taking
different measures for export enhancement including reclaiming traditional
markets besides accessing to new markets.
One of the initiatives is to manage
removal of restrictions on Pakistani products in foreign markets.
Removal of restriction by Qatar on
Pakistani rice export is a step in this direction that will reclaim Pakistan’s
share in the global rice market, he added.
The statement added that over the
years, rice has been Pakistan’s major export product to Qatar.
The exports were 80 to 100 thousand
tonnes of rice per annum worth $ 80-90 million up to 2010-11, which has dropped
to $ 20-25 million per annum (21,000 tonnes) in last five years.
Whereas, the private sector in
Qatar continued to import rice from Pakistan, the Central Tendering Committee
(CTC), Government of Qatar which procures for state-supplied subsidized rice
for Qatari citizens made its tender Indian-origin specific thereby effectively,
banning the import of any other origin rice including Pakistani rice into Qatar
in 2011-12.
The CTC issues tenders after every
two months for supply of more than 5000 MT of high-quality rice to the
government of Qatar and the Pakistani origin rice has been excluded from these
tenders.
Therefore, Pakistani exporters have
been deprived of supplying of about 30,000 to 40,000 MT good quality rice to
Qatar per annum.
Reportedly, the main reason for
this change was the sub-standard and low-quality Pakistani rice supplied by the
exporters against the government tenders in 2011-12.
The Indian rice exporters were the
ultimate beneficiaries of this situation and Indian rice exports to Qatar
reached to 142,000 tonnes in 2017 from 18,774 tonnes in 2011.
The statement added that
henceforth, as a viable solution, a third-party inspection for supply of rice
through CTC tenders and to take strict action against those found involved in
supplying substandard rice in future will be offered to ensure that quality
rice are being exported to Qatar.
New-and-improved
protein-rich rice has higher yields
January 24th, 2019
An audio version of this article is available to New
Atlas Plus subscribers.
Prof. Herry Utomo evaluates the growth of
new generations of high-protein rice lines(Credit:Ida Wenefrida)
According to the American Society
of Agronomy, it's an unfortunate fact that many people in developing nations
don't get enough protein in their diets. What they often do get
a lot of, however, is rice. With that in mind, scientists have improved upon a
type of rice that has over 50 percent more protein than regular varieties.
Two years ago, a Louisiana State
University team led by Prof. Herry Utomo released a high-protein long-grain
rice cultivar known as Frontière. It was developed via a traditional breeding
process, and it has an average protein content of 10.6 percent – that's a
53-percent increase over the protein content of the conventional Cypress rice
with which the team started.
In order to address that
shortcoming, Utomo and colleagues recently tested 20 newly-developed lines of
high-protein rice (some of the plant cell selections are pictured above). It
turned out that one of them had a 10 to 17-percent higher yield than Frontière.
This new line is now ready for
final field testing. It is hoped that the harvested rice could serve not only
as a basic food, but also as a source of protein-rich rice flour, rice milk, or
other food ingredients. The scientists are presently investigating the baking
characteristics of such flour, as compared to those of other types of rice
flour.
Marketed as Cahokia rice, the
original Frontière line is now being grown commercially in Illinois. Farmers
reportedly don't incur any extra costs, or need to change their current
rice-growing practises in any way.
Amira Nature
Foods Ltd Announces Appointment of Thomas Dennhardt as CEO of Its German
Subsidiary, Amira Basmati Rice GmbH
January 22, 2019 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amira
Nature Foods Ltd (the "Company") (NYSE: ANFI), a global provider of
packaged Indian specialty rice, today announced the appointment of Thomas
Dennhardt to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Amira Basmati Rice
GmbH, the Company’s German subsidiary. The German subsidiary was purchased in
2014 and contains many well established brands in Germany. Mr. Dennhardt
received an MBA from the European Business School and started his career at
Lidl, one of Europe’s largest food retailers. As Chief Financial Officer of
Lidl, Mr. Dennhardt assisted in building its business in various European
countries including Spain and the United Kingdom. More recently, Mr. Dennhardt
assisted in building and turning around several other food-related businesses
in the United Kingdom and Germany.
“I am very pleased to be joining
Amira and look forward to driving the development and execution of the
company’s corporate strategy in Germany going forward. We intend to devote
significant time and effort to pursuing various opportunities in Germany, which
we believe offer tremendous opportunity for value creation.”
Mr. Dennhardt commented, “I am
very pleased to be joining Amira and look forward to driving the development
and execution of the company’s corporate strategy in Germany going forward. We
intend to devote significant time and effort to pursuing various opportunities
in Germany, which we believe offer tremendous opportunity for value creation.”
Karan A. Chanana, Amira’s
Chairman commented, “We are very pleased to have Thomas on board and look
forward to leveraging his expertise and track record in steering Amira’s German
business going forward. We believe the subsidiary is well positioned to develop
the German market and we look forward to Thomas helping us develop that
further.”
About Amira Nature Foods
Founded in 1915, Amira has
evolved into a global provider of packaged Indian specialty rice, with sales in
over 40 countries today. Amira sells Basmati rice, premium long-grain rice
grown only in certain regions of the Indian sub-continent, under their flagship
Amira brand as well as under other third party brands. Amira sells its products
primarily in emerging markets through a broad distribution network. Amira’s
headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it also has offices in
India, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Cautionary Note on
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities
laws. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases
that we or our members of management use such as “believe,” “expect,”
“anticipate,” “foresee,” “forecast,” “estimate” or other words or phrases of
similar import. Specifically, these statements include, among other things,
statements that describe our expectations for the global rice market, the
financial impact of new sales contracts on our revenue, our expectations
regarding the successful efforts of our distribution partners, and other
statements of management’s beliefs, intentions or goals. It is uncertain
whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will
transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on our
results of operations, financial condition, or the price of our ordinary
shares. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to our
ability to perform our agreements with customers; our ability to recognize
revenue from our contracts as planned; continued competitive pressures in the
marketplace; our reliance on a few customers and distribution partners for a
substantial part of our revenue; our ability to implement our plans, forecasts
and other expectations with respect to our business and realize additional
opportunities for growth; and the other risks and important considerations
contained and identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or to persons
acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk
factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, we undertake no
obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements herein, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
Miriam Nasralla
The Amira Group
+97144357303
miriam.nasralla@theamiragroup.com
The Amira Group
+97144357303
miriam.nasralla@theamiragroup.com
EU’s imposed tariffs on Cambodian
rice too fast: CRF
Cambodia Rice Federation
(CRF) said that the European Commission’s decision to impose tariffs on
Cambodian rice was made too fast leaving the country’s
rice sector ill-prepared to respond to them. In its statement issued
on Thursday, the CRF said that the imposition of tariff will affect the
competitiveness and it will be difficult for Cambodian rice export to the EU as
Cambodia has not yet been well prepared.
It said that Cambodian
rice sector needs more years to strengthen its capacity to keep the
competitiveness without the preferential status. “The CRF had meeting on Monday
to discuss the impact on EU’s decision as the result the CRF will protest the
decision. At the same time, the CRF will boost the internal competitiveness by
reducing production cost and expand more markets,” the CRF said. “We also
call on Cambodian people to support and purchase the Cambodian rice to expand
domestic market and support farmers as well as rice sector as the whole,” it
said.
Last week, the European Commission
officially imposed tariffs on rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar that, it
says, are hurting farmers in Europe. The EC argues that a significant increase
in shipments of Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar into the EU are causing
economic damage to producers in Europe. During the first year, the EU will levy
175 euros ($199.5) per tonne on imports of Cambodian rice, 150 euros ($171) in
the second year, and 125 euros ($142.5) in the last.
Tax officials suspicious
of Afghan rice trade
By Umer Farooq
Published: January 24, 2019
PESHAWAR: Officials of the income tax department have
detected over Rs100 million income tax pending against some businessmen
involved in rice trade with their counterparts in Afghanistan.
“This is not only tax evasion, but the
department fears that the rice business is just eyewash and is most probably
being done in order to launder money outside the country,” a senior official at
the Regional Tax Office (RTO) Peshawar revealed.
The official, requesting anonymity as he was
not authorised to talk to the media, said there were apprehensions that the
said businessmen might have nexus with organised crime that may warrant action
under the National Action Plan (NAP).
An official privy to the development stated
that the department served show-cause notices to traders who had failed to
clear their income tax dues. The department also asked upon the defaulters to
submit evidence if the tax was paid.
Despite repeated notice, however, the
identified businessmen failed to submit any details of paying income tax. “Now,
we are in the final stage and we are all set to take action under Income Tax
Ordinance,” he said.
The official, who requested anonymity since
he was not entitled to speak to media stated that the department was under
severe pressure but will never step down since they feared the business was
done in order to launder money.
“There are many chances that the rice
imports and export was just eyewash and in fact the businessmen were involved
in money laundering,” the official said.
Exporters and importers involved in the
business were detected by the Withholding Zone of RTO with liability on account
of non-deduction of taxes amounting to over Rs100 million as required under
section 153 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 which might enhance as a result
of further probe.
“Cross-border business with Afghanistan has
a huge revenue generating potential which remained untapped due to either
negligence of the relevant authorities or because of them being in connivance
with the businessmen,” the official informed.
He stated that however the intervention by
the RTO Peshawar on the information of some reliable insiders where not only
taxes evaded worth millions of rupees will be recovered but will also help
identify businessmen involved in other illegal activities since long.
Deputy Speaker Garin urges Duterte to immediately sign the Rice
Tariff Bill
Published January 24, 2019, 3:04 PM
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
President Duterte has been urged
to immediately sign into law the Rice Tariffication Bill to help mitigate the
adverse effects of inflation.
Cong. Sharon S Garin. (FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Deputy Speaker and AAMBIS-OWA
party-list Rep. Sharon Garin said she is eagerly anticipating the enactment of
the bill into law after the harmonized version of the measure was transmitted
to Malacañang.
She noted that the reconciled
version of the bill strikes a balance in protecting the interest of the poor
and marginalized as well as the interest of the local farmers.
“While it’s true that the current
system is providing ample protection to domestic rice farmers, it also keeps
the price of rice artificially high due to the limited supply,” Garin,
principal author of the bill, said.
The bill seeks to replace the
Quantitative Import Restrictions on rice with tariffs and lift the quantitative
export restrictions by amending the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996. It
allows the unimpeded importation of rice.
Garin said upon the bill’s
enactment, rice imports will be subject to tariffs in line with the agreement
of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The bill also calls for the
establishment of a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
The RCEF, which shall have a P10
billion appropriation annually for six years, will be used to provide different
forms of assistance to farmers, including inbred rice seeds, development of
rice farm equipment and skills enhancement.
“This bill will ensure that we
are able to keep the price of rice relatively low due to competing market
forces, but still provide adequate support for our own local farmers,” Garin
said.
Since the 16th Congress, Garin
has been pushing for the passage of the bill, which now awaits the signature of
President Rodrigo Duterte. It will automatically lapse into law if not signed
after 30.
ASIA RICE-INDIA RATES
RISE, VIETNAM PRICES SLIP BEFORE HOLIDAY
1/24/2019
* Vietnam government mulling purchases for stockpiling- trader
* Bangladesh to not cut import duty despite rising local rates
* Deals with Philippines focus for many Thai exporters- trader
By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri
BENGALURU, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Rice export prices rose in India,
driven by higher procurement costs for local paddy even as demand was tepid,
while rates for the Vietnamese variety slipped as activity slowed before a
holiday season.
Top exporter India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety
<RI-INBKN5-P1> rose to $381-$386 per tonne this week from the $379-$384
range last week, traders said.
"Paddy prices have risen due to lower supply in the local
market, so we have to raise export prices," said an exporter based in
Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Export prices had shot up after the central state of Chhattisgarh,
a leading rice producer, raised minimum paddy buying prices to 2,500 rupees per
100 kg from 1,750 rupees.
Neighbouring Bangladesh has no plan to cut the import duty on rice,
despite a rise in domestic prices in recent week, given good crops and healthy
reserves, a food ministry official said on Wednesday.
Higher domestic prices for the staple had prompted speculation
amongst traders that the government would cut the duty.
The south Asian country, which emerged as a major rice importer in
2017 after floods destroyed crops, imposed a 28 percent duty in June to support
its farmers after local production revived.
A report from the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) estimated Bangladesh's rice output would hit a record 53.6 million tonnes
in 2018 on strong domestic prices and bumper yields due to favourable weather
conditions.
In Vietnam, rates for the benchmark 5 percent broken rice
<RI-VNBKN5-P1> fell further to $340 a tonne from to $355-$360 last week,
ahead of Tet, the Lunar New Year Holiday during the first week of February.
"Trade is very quiet and I think it will stay like this until
Tet is over," a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader said. "Customs offices
will close during the week-long holiday and things will get slow."
Another trader based in Hanoi said the government was mulling
buying rice for stockpiling this year.
"The government couldn't buy last year because prices were
high, but we are seeing downward pressure on prices this year given that China
has moved to limit shipments from Vietnam," a second trader said.
Thai benchmark 5 percent broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> prices
were quoted at $390-$402 a tonne, free on board Bangkok, versus last week's
$385-$400, with traders attributing the change to gains in the domestic
currency, as demand remained flat.
"The Philippines remains the focus for many Thai rice
exporters because of its liberalized market and because their government said
last year that they still need to import a million tonnes," a
Bangkok-based trader. "But we are still waiting to hear more about the
possible auction." (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Panu
Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Ruma Paul in Dhaka Editing by
Arpan Varghese and and Edmund Blair)
Rice output growth falls short of targets
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:12 AM January 24,
2019
Unfavorable
weather conditions pulled the agriculture sector’s growth rate in 2018 down to
0.56 percent—way below the targets set by the Duterte administration and the
Department of Agriculture (DA).
DA targeted
an annual growth rate of 2.5 percent, while economic managers had asked the
agency to maintain a growth rate of at least 2 percent yearly.
Philippine
Statistics Authority data showed that of the four agricultural subsectors, only
livestock and poultry were able to post growth at 1.89 percent and 5.75
percent, respectively. The crops and fisheries subsectors fell by 0.98 percent
and 1.13 percent.
Nonetheless,
the gross value of the sector’s output at current prices hit P521.2 billion, up
4.05 percent from the previous year’s level.
The series
of typhoons that hit the country last year pulled down palay output by 2.2
percent, leading to a significant drop in the overall growth of the sector.
The poultry
and livestock sectors benefited from higher prices and output last year.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said they were banking on these subsectors
to lift the industry this year.
Meanwhile,
the fisheries segment remained the sector’s weakest link. Since 2014, the
industry has yet to post a positive growth. Piñol said he had instructed
regional offices to establish fish cages all over the country to boost fish
production by 28,000 metric tons.
“It was a
challenging year for agriculture and we attribute that to the almost monthly
tropical disturbances and typhoons punctuated by supertyphoon Ompong, which
really affected agricultural production,” the secretary said.
“We expect
2019 to be a better year especially for crops. We are banking on the RCEF (Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund) and the release of the coco levy funds for
agriculture to be able to bounce back in 2019,” he added.
The release of
RCEF, an annual P10-billion subsidy for the development of the rice industry,
remains in limbo since President Duterte has yet to sign into law the rice
tariffication bill.
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Floods submerge South Sulawesi`s
over 13 thousand hectares rice fields
Reporter: Antara 24th
January 2019
A house was swept away by
flooding in South Sulawesi, on Tuesday (Jan 22, 2019). ANTARA FOTO/Abriawan
Abhe/aww.
Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Flash floods submerged
13,792 hectares of rice fields in the districts of Maros and Gowa in South
Sulawesi Province.
In Maros, a total of 8,332 hectares of rice fields were flooded, while 5,469 hectares in Gowa, Fitriani, head of the agriculture office of South Sulawesi, stated here, Wednesday.
"Hopefully, the floods would subside and not last for more than four days, so paddy plants will not be destroyed," she stated.
Flooding has affected farming areas in the sub-districts of Mandai, Maros, Tanralili, and Bantimurung in Maros District.
In Gowa, three sub-districts, including Bajeng and Parangloe, were inundated.
Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has ordered to dispatch logistics aid and rescue officers to six districts and a city in South Sulawesi Province hit by flash floods.
"The team has moved to the locations. Some 450 personnel will help the process to evacuate flood victims," he stated here, Wednesday.
The logistics aid worth Rp874,517,200 comprises food, beverages, blankets, kitchenware, and clothing, among other things.
Flash floods hit the districts of Gowa, Maros, Pangkep, Barru, Jeneponto, and Sopeng, as well as Makassar City.
One hundred personnel were deployed in Gowa, 200 in Makassar, and 50 each in Pangkep and Barru. The ministry also deployed two rubber boats in Gowa and one in Makassar.
Gowa is the worst hit by flooding triggered by incessant heavy rains over the last two days. Jeneberang River, the longest river in South Sulawesi, also overflowed its bank.
The floods displaced 2,121 residents of Gowa and some one thousand others in Makassar.
They are currently being accommodated in mosques and local government offices, among others.
Two public kitchens have been set up in Makassar and one in Gowa.
Reporting by Abdul Kadir, fardah
In Maros, a total of 8,332 hectares of rice fields were flooded, while 5,469 hectares in Gowa, Fitriani, head of the agriculture office of South Sulawesi, stated here, Wednesday.
"Hopefully, the floods would subside and not last for more than four days, so paddy plants will not be destroyed," she stated.
Flooding has affected farming areas in the sub-districts of Mandai, Maros, Tanralili, and Bantimurung in Maros District.
In Gowa, three sub-districts, including Bajeng and Parangloe, were inundated.
Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has ordered to dispatch logistics aid and rescue officers to six districts and a city in South Sulawesi Province hit by flash floods.
"The team has moved to the locations. Some 450 personnel will help the process to evacuate flood victims," he stated here, Wednesday.
The logistics aid worth Rp874,517,200 comprises food, beverages, blankets, kitchenware, and clothing, among other things.
Flash floods hit the districts of Gowa, Maros, Pangkep, Barru, Jeneponto, and Sopeng, as well as Makassar City.
One hundred personnel were deployed in Gowa, 200 in Makassar, and 50 each in Pangkep and Barru. The ministry also deployed two rubber boats in Gowa and one in Makassar.
Gowa is the worst hit by flooding triggered by incessant heavy rains over the last two days. Jeneberang River, the longest river in South Sulawesi, also overflowed its bank.
The floods displaced 2,121 residents of Gowa and some one thousand others in Makassar.
They are currently being accommodated in mosques and local government offices, among others.
Two public kitchens have been set up in Makassar and one in Gowa.
Reporting by Abdul Kadir, fardah
Both opportunities, challenges forecast for agricultural export
Vietnam's
agricultural export will face both opportunities and challenges this year
(Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s rice exporters could be set for a big first quarter, with demand from the Philippines and Indonesia being forecast to increase due to the impact of recent natural disasters.
The Agro Processing and Market Development Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said in a recent press briefing it predicted a mixed year for the country’s key farm products.
Rice in particular looks set for an export bump thanks to the Philippines removing import restrictions, leading to 166 Filipino firms applying to purchase 1 million tonnes of rice. Many of these firms intend to buy the grain from Vietnam.
Under a new rice policy, the Philippines will impose a tariff of 35 percent on rice from ASEAN countries while the rate from non-ASEAN exporters, 50 percent.
However, Vietnam will also face fierce competition from regional rivals like Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. Additionally, China – a major market of Vietnamese rice – has changed its cross-border trade management and boosted investment in rice production in regional countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. That is likely to pressure rice shipments, the department said.
Regarding fruit exports, Acting Director of the department Nguyen Quoc Toan said overseas shipments of fruits hit a record of 3.8 billion USD in 2018. As fruit exports benefited from many favourable conditions last year, cultivators have sharply increased the output of many fruits like lychee, longan, orange, mango and rambutan.
However, he admitted fruit exports are still too reliant on the Chinese market, adding China has tightened import management in recent months.
In 2019, fruit, vegetables and food will have to satisfy stricter requirements to be imported into China, Toan noted.
Pepper prices are forecast to rebound slightly this year as the output in some big exporting countries, including Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia and India, is likely to decline from 2018. Vietnam is expected to produce 175,000 tonnes of black pepper and 25,000 tonnes of white pepper in 2019.
Meanwhile, rubber exports rose 13.3 percent in volume but down 7 percent in value last year. Rubber prices have tended to increase slightly in line with the developments in the global market since last December, but they are unlikely to hike strongly in 2019 due to a lack of support factors and weaker Chinese demand, the Agro Processing and Market Development Department said.
Difficulties are also predicted for Vietnam’s tea exports, which fell 8.6 percent in volume and 4.1 percent in value year on year in 2018, it noted, pointing to the oversupply in the global market, almost stagnant tea demand and strict requirements in importing countries.
In terms of aquatic exports, Toan said the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will take effect this year with tariffs on about 90 percent of Vietnamese aquatic products destined for the EU reducing to zero percent in three or four years. This is a considerable advantage for aquatic products from Vietnam as the EU’s tariffs on similar products of other countries stand at about 14 percent.
Besides that, demand in some markets like the Republic of Korea or ASEAN countries is forecast to soar in 2019. Therefore, Vietnam is likely to record a surge in aquatic exports this year to reach 10 billion USD, the official added.-VNA
EU’s imposed tariffs on Cambodian
rice too fast: CRF
Sok Chan / Khmer Times
Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) said that the European
Commission’s decision to impose tariffs on Cambodian rice was made too fast leaving the country’s rice sector ill-prepared to respond to them.
In its statement issued on Thursday, the CRF said that the
imposition of tariff will affect the competitiveness and it will be difficult
for Cambodian rice export to the EU as Cambodia has not yet been well prepared.
It said that Cambodian rice sector
needs more years to strengthen its capacity to keep the competitiveness without
the preferential status.
. .
“The CRF had meeting on Monday to discuss the impact on
EU’s decision as the result the CRF will protest the decision. At the same
time, the CRF will boost the internal competitiveness by reducing production
cost and expand more markets,” the CRF said.
“We also call on Cambodian people to support and purchase
the Cambodian rice to expand domestic market and support farmers as well as
rice sector as the whole,” it said.
Last week, the European Commission officially imposed
tariffs on rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar that, it says, are hurting
farmers in Europe.
The EC argues that a significant increase in shipments of Indica
rice from Cambodia and Myanmar into the EU are causing economic damage to
producers in Europe.
During the first year, the EU will levy 175 euros ($199.5) per
tonne on imports of Cambodian rice, 150 euros ($171) in the second year, and
125 euros ($142.5) in the last.
. .
Myanmar ups efforts to stem fall
in rice exports
THIHA KO KO 24 JAN 2019
A farmer works in a padi field in
the outskirts of Yangon. Zarni Phyo/The Myanmar Times
Myanmar’s
rice exports have been falling over the past year, and the government is upping
efforts to diversify its markets and reduce costs to better compete with other
exporting countries.
Myanmar
exported 1.7 million tonnes of rice and broken rice worth US$ 578 million in
between April and December last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce
(MOC). Around 52 percent was exported via sea, while the remaining was sold at
the border to China.
At
those levels, rice exports have decreased by over a third from 2.5 million
tonnes worth US$780 million compared to the same period last year. Myanmar
exports over 80 percent of its rice to China.
During
the 2017-18 fiscal year, Myanmar exported 3.5 tonnes of rice worth over US$ 1
billion. It was the highest volume of rice exports in 50 years.
The
main reason for the recent fall in exports is lower demand from China, said U
Nay Lin Zin, joint secretary of the Myanmar Rice Federation.
Last
November, an import ban on Myanmar rice, sugar and maize by China led to a
standstill in trade. To avoid paying high import tariffs on those commodities
by the Chinese authorities, the number of traders in China resorting to buying
from illegal routes has also spiked in recent months, resulting in frequent
border checks and arrests, which culminated in the ban.
There
is currently no precise policy for border trade between Myanmar and China.
“Every country should have a policy to deal with trade disagreements and
volatility. Right now, Myanmar is on the losing end with little power to deal
with trade issues,” said Dr Maung Maung Lay, vice chair of the Union of Myanmar
Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the Myanmar Times earlier this
year.
While
Myanmar has yet to take steps to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with its
neighbours to avoid volatility in border trade, it has made efforts to increase
sea-based exports to other foreign markets, such as the European Union and
Africa.
This
month though, the EU reinstated tariffs on Myanmar Indica rice imports to
protect European farmers and producers, which have seen their market share
eroded in recent years.
The
European Commission, which oversees trade policy in the EU, undertook an
investigation since March 2018, which found that importing price of Indica rice
from Myanmar and Cambodia were substantially lower than those produced within
the EU.
However,
the import duties will be gradually reduced over a period of three years. The
rate will be at €175 (around US$200) per tonne in the first year, which will be
lowered to €150 per tonne in the following year, and then to €125 per tonne in
the third year.
Meanwhile,
the MOC and Myanmar Rice Federation are now working on an action plan increase
rice exports. The plan includes production, quality, market information,
research and connecting with new markets.
“We
are also working on reducing costs to compete better with the other
rice-exporting countries,” said U Aung Soe, the director general of the Myanmar
Trade Promotion Organisation under the MOC.
Nagpur Foodgrain
Prices Open- JAN 24, 2019
JANUARY 24, 2019 / 2:09 PM
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-January 24, 2018 Nagpur,
Jan 24 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices reported down in Nagpur Agriculture
Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) on lack of demand demand from local millers
amid high moisture content arrival. Easy condition on NCDEX in gram, release of
stock from stockists also downward trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses also affected
sentiment. About 200 bags of gram and 1,100 bags of tuar reported for auctions
in Nagpur APMC, according to sources.
GRAM
* Gram varieties ruled steady in open market here but demand was
poor..
TUAR
* Tuar Karnataka firmed up in open market on increased seasonal
demand from
local traders.
* Wheat MP Sharbati best and medium varieties firmed up in open
market here on good
demand from local traders amid thin supply from producing belts.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 4,800-5,000, Tuar dal (clean) – 7,600-7,800,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 6,500-7,500, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,600-8,100, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 6,300-6,500 * Other varieties of wheat, rice and other foodgrain
items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in weak trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,675-4,100 3,750-4,200
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 4,450-5,160 4,550-5,250
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Wheat Lokwan Auction 1,950-2,000 1,950-2,055
Wheat Sharbati Auction 2,600-2,900 2,600-2,900
Gram Super Best Bold 6,500-6,800 6,500-6,800
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,600-6,000 5,600-6,000
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,400-4,500 4,400-4,500
Desi gram Raw 4,400-4,500 4,400-4,500
Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,000-8,200 8,000-8,200
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 7,600-7,700 7,600-7,700
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,800-8,000 7,800-8,000
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,000-7,400 7,000-7,400
Tuar Gavarani New 5,150-5,350 5,150-5,350
Tuar Karnataka 5,300-5,500 5,300-5,500
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Masoor dal medium 5,200-5,400 5,200-5,400
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 7,500-8,500 7,500-8,500
Moong Mogar Medium 6,500-7,000 6,500-7,000
Moong dal Chilka New 6,800-7,500 6,550-7,500
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,000-8,800 8,000-8,500
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,000-8,000 7,000-8,000
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,500 5,500-6,500
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,200 3,800-4,200
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 5,550-5,650 5,550-5,650
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 5,000-5,100 5,000-5,100
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,550-5,650 5,550-5,650
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 6,600-6,800 6,600-6,800
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,150-2,200 2,050-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,600 2,500-2,600
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,450-2,650 2,450-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,600-4,000 3,400-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,800-3,200 2,700-3,200
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,600 3,400-3,600
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,600-3,000 2,600-3,000
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,800 2,600-2,800
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,600 2,500-2,600
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,400 4,000-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,500-3,900 3,500-3,900
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,600 5,200-5,500
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,000 4,600-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 9,700-14,000 9,500-14,000
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 4,800-7,200 4,800-7,000
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,600-7,000 6,800-7,300
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,500 6,500-6,700
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 31.3 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 13.6 degree Celsius Rainfall :
Nil FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be
around 31 degree Celsius and 13 degree Celsius. Note: n.a.—not available (For
oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in
market prices)
Telangana
paddy output set to be highest in 20 years
KV Kurmanath Updated
on January 24, 2019
Paddy farmers in Telangana have
reaped a bumper harvest this kharif, with total production likely to cross the
60-lakh-tonne mark at the end of the season.
According to the latest reports
with the Civil Supplies Department, procurement centres had already bought 30
lakh tonnes as against 18-19 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.
“We expect this to touch the
39-40 lakh tonnes in the next few days. Production has gone up twice,” Akun
Sabharwal, Commissioner of Civil Supplies (Telangana), told BusinessLine.
He attributed the sharp increase
in production to the increased minimum support price (MSP), improved irrigation
facilities and pro-farmer policies’ being implemented by the State Government.
A senior government officer said
that total paddy production could touch the 60-lakh-tonne mark, the highest in
recent times.
The highest paddy production in
the region was recorded five years ago in 2013-14, when it recorded output of
56 lakh tonnes. This year’s production could well surpass that level.
On an average, the State sows
paddy on an area of 9.50 lakh hectares in the Kharif season and 6.5 lakh
hectares in the Rabi season.
P
Telangana
paddy output set to be highest in 20 years
KV Kurmanath Updated on January
24, 2019
Paddy farmers in Telangana have
reaped a bumper harvest this kharif, with total production likely to cross the
60-lakh-tonne mark at the end of the season.
According to the latest reports
with the Civil Supplies Department, procurement centres had already bought 30
lakh tonnes as against 18-19 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.
“We expect this to touch the
39-40 lakh tonnes in the next few days. Production has gone up twice,” Akun
Sabharwal, Commissioner of Civil Supplies (Telangana), told BusinessLine.
He attributed the sharp increase
in production to the increased minimum support price (MSP), improved irrigation
facilities and pro-farmer policies’ being implemented by the State Government.
A senior government officer said
that total paddy production could touch the 60-lakh-tonne mark, the highest in
recent times.
The highest paddy production in
the region was recorded five years ago in 2013-14, when it recorded output of
56 lakh tonnes. This year’s production could well surpass that level.
On an average, the State sows
paddy on an area of 9.50 lakh hectares in the Kharif season and 6.5 lakh
hectares in the Rabi season.
Basmati Rice prices to rise
further on export demand, low carryover stock
Jan 18, 2019, 01.31 PM IST
Basmati tops
the list of agricultural commodities exported from India. CHANDIGARH: Basmati prices that have
opened firm are set to go up further, traders said, as Indian exporters are
facing a shortage of the premium long-grain rice in a season when top importer Iran has opened its
market earlier than usual. Basmati has regained its flavour for the trade and
farmers this year, as prices opened 15-20% higher than last year due to lower
carry-over stocks, the government’s decision to increase the support price for
non-basmati rice and a weaker rupee that boosted returns in the local currency
on this export-focused commodity.
Early
opening of the Iranian market has come in as a boon for exporters in India and Pakistan. The Gulf
nation usually observes a five-six-month ban on import of rice to safeguard the
interest of its own growers. Tehran, which is facing US sanctions, opened the
trade in December this time, compared with January in the previous season,
following forecast of a lower domestic output of rice.
However, traders said there were delays in payments, causing liquidity issues for them.Iran is releasing payments to exporters only after the bill of lading is submitted. “The situation is contrary to previous years when exporters were extended advance payments based on export history and export orders,” said Amit Miglani, managing director of rice exporter Lekh Raj Narender Kumar. This is because Iran has overhauled its payment mechanism to check misuse of subsidy on food grains by domestic importers who wrongly claim benefit on goods other than basmati, sources in the trade said.
But the situation is expected to improve, driving exports and strengthening prices from the current range of $1,050-1,200 (Rs 74,550-85,200) per tonne, traders said. “The global prices are set to keep the uptrend once payment issue of Iran is fixed, as exporters have limited stock and farmers have been paid Rs 500 per (quintal) higher for premium quality of rice,” Arvinder Pal Singh of Amar Singh Chawal said. Some exporters will have to default on their export commitments due to limited stock, he added.
Basmati tops the list of agricultural commodities exported from India. The country ships around 4 million tonnes of the premium rice annually to more than 120 countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. A quarter of its bought by Iran. After initial hiccups over stringent residue rules that Saudi Arabia had adopted, exports have picked up to the second largest basmati buyer as well, as Riyad decided to withhold implementation of the regulations.
www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/telangana-paddy-output-set-to-be-highest-in-20-years/article26081562.ece
