9th April,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

Of food security in Kashmir

We have to have scientific solutions to our problems

Dr. Nazir A. Bhat 
Srinagar, Publish Date: Apr 8 2019 11:03PM | Updated Date: Apr 8 2019 11:03PM

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Rice is the staple food for majority of the inhabitants of Kashmir valley and its cultivation has been part of our culture for long. In spite of its importance in our daily life, we have always been deficit of rice grains and import significant portion of our requirement from other states. 

To attain self-sufficiency in food production and to cater to the needs of increasing population, we need to increase production of rice and other food crops within our valley. The deteriorating condition of national highway connecting Kashmir valley with other states and its frequent closures during winter has exposed us to shortage of many food items and very high escalation in their cost especially during prolonged winters. Other important factors which contribute to the existing scenario of deficiency in food production include conversion of paddy land for non-agricultural purposes such as construction of new roads or railway tracks through paddy fields, rampant expansion of residential colonies and commercial complexes due to lack of a healthy housing policy and bringing more and more paddy land under more remunerative horticulture sector.

We also see an array of brick kilns erected on paddy fields just from the beginning of Budgam district when we travel by train from Srinagar to Baramulla and also alongside the different highways. 

This situation puts onus on the rice growers and other stakeholders to increase its production from the existing area under cultivation, which is shrinking day by day.  Scientists at Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops (SKUAST-Kashmir) located at Khudwani, Anantnag are making efforts to breed high yielding rice varieties and evolve the management practices to have better production from existing area. As of now we have got some remarkably high yield potential varieties for use by the farmers. These include Shalimar Rice-1, Shalimar Rice-3 and Shalimar Rice-4 for the plains of Kashmir valley and Shalimar Rice-2 for those areas in plains facing water logging problems. In higher belts, above 2000m above sea level, farmers shall use varieties Shalimar Rice-5 and K-332.

Apart from these high yielding varieties, farmers in some niche areas use some high value land races of rice which fetch them better remuneration owing to their high quality parameters. Such varieties may not yield as high as other improved varieties but their high market value not only compensates for the lower yields but fetches better income to their growers compared to the traditional varieties. 

One of the commendable success story in rice research during recent years is the revival of a well known aromatic local land race Mushka Budji in villages Sagam, Tangpowa, Danwethpora  and some neighbouring villages of identical ecology under the guidance of SKUAST scientists, which not only made the rice growing a profitable entrepreneurship but also earned for the farmers of the area the prestigious “Genome Community Saviour Award- 2016”. In yet another similar drive, rice scientists of SKUAST-Kashmir revived cultivation of red rice Zag or Lunda in Gomal and adjoining villages of Tangdar (Karnah) tehsil of Kupwara district to actually revive the hope of profitability for the rice growers of this remote area, besides wining once again the prestigious “Genome Community Saviour Award- 2019” for the farmers of the area. 

Zag or Lunda varieties also offer a nutrient rich staple food to the consumers. Having appreciable quantities of zinc and iron,  Zag rice is very useful staple especially for pregnant women. These success stories substantiate to our view that rice growing is not just for food security but it has potential for economic and nutritional security as well. 

Ultimate benefit of these improved varieties and other recent technologies can be reaped only when these percolate down to the farmers’ level. To achieve this goal and to bring valley into an era of food security and self sufficiency, all the stakeholders need to gear up especially the field functionaries of concerned departments who have to transfer this technology to its end-users. 

The authorities in the government have to ensure that the technology generated in the University reaches the farmers and also there is a continuous flow of feedback from the farmers’ field to the research centres to work out the scientific solutions for their problems. 

One of the most important factors to help increase in rice production is that farmer should get right kind of variety for his particular ecology. If the farmer does not choose the right variety of seed, he cannot reap full benefits of his season-long hard work. The seeds of all the varieties suiting different ecologies are available at KVKs of the University and also at MRCFC Khudwani Anantnag where the scientists of SKUAST-K are always available for the guidance of our revered farmers to help them to bring prosperity in our valley.

(The author is Associate Director Research, MRCFC SKUAST-Kashmir. Call on 9419538677)

nazirpathology@gmail.com

https://www.greaterkashmir.com/article/news.aspx?story_id=318946&catid=12&mid=53&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Bangladesh invaded by invasive alien pests, plant diseases

Emran Hossain | Published: 00:36, Apr 09,2019 | Updated: 01:15, Apr 09,2019

Steady rise in invasions by alien pests and outbreak of new plant diseases induced by global warming over the last two decades made the researchers as well as the Department of Agricultural Extension officials and researchers worried.
Researchers as well as DAE officials agree that minor pests that could be easily controlled in the past became strong plant attackers now that are proving difficult to keep under check. 
At times these pests and plant diseases get highly difficult to control for which the authorities slashed the acreage of vulnerable crops and limited export of some other crops. 
‘Never before in the past did Bangladesh encounter such a big threat from pests and plant diseases,’ Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s principal scientific officer Mohammad Shahadat Hossain told New Age.
Shahadat said, ‘we identified at least a dozen invasive alien pests and plant diseases that entered Bangladesh after 2000.
Some of the alien invasive pests and plant diseases remained unidentified despite their strong presence in parts of Bangladesh, he said. 
‘Due to limited capacity, we prioritise dealing with invasive alien pests and plant diseases with the potential to cause large-scale damage,’ he said. 
Between 1970 and 2000, major pests and diseases in Bangladesh were known to the farmers as well as the researchers , said Shahadat whose career as a researcher began in 1995. 
‘Influx of alien invasive pests or these plant diseases were unknown to Bangladesh between 1970 and 2000,’ he said. 
The situation is changing fast, he said for rice, wheat, corn, potato, mango, papaya, coconut, tomato, brinjal, tea and other major crops as they are increasingly coming under attack from the invasive alien pests and plant diseases.
Razzab Ali, professor of Entomology at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, said that increased pest attacks and plant diseases were occurring mainly due to global warming.
‘Insects are ectotherms, dependent on outside temperature for physiological activities, which means physiologically they become more active in warmer conditions,’ said Razab.
High humidity also an influencing factor for the growth of insects, he said. 
‘Humidity is higher in warm air,’ said Razzab.
Dhaka University zoology professor Murshida Begum said that increased physiological activities means shorter life cycles.
‘The shorter the lifecycle the greater the generation of insects,’ she said.
Murshida said that it was almost universal knowledge that low temperature slowed down insect growth for which blue flies are seen in Bangladesh in large number in the summer. 
She said that in a summer month blue flies complete four lifecycles but in a winter month they cannot complete even two lifecycles. 
Global warming, she said, made winters shorter and longer summers facilitating faster growths in insect populations. 
Similar conditions are applicable for many of the crops diseases caused by fungus, bacteria or virus. 
The 5th assessment report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed the links between global warming and increased pest and disease attacks.
The first ever research quantifying crop losses caused by increased pest attacks linked to climate change was done in August 2018 by US-based scientists.
According to them, even if climate change is restricted to the target 2C, increased pest attacks would still destroy 50 per cent more of the wheat crop than they do today, 30 per cent more corn and 20 per cent more rice.
The researchers said that warmer temperature increases insect reproduction rates and more insects mean a rise in their food demand. 
It is predicted that the need for more food may force insects to change their food habit or make them travel far and wide. Warmer temperature would only expand their territory of migration. 
Former BARI director Syed Nurul Alam said that the most dangerous of the new alien invasive pests that arrived in Bangladesh was identified as Fall Army Worm, a native in the Americas. 
First detected in November last year, the pest was already spread across Bangladesh, infesting at least one per cent of the corn crop, he said.
The pest was first seen outside its native continent in Africa in 2016. In just two years it became pervasive in 44 of the 54 African countries, causing famine in five of them, destroying almost entire production of their staple crop corn.
Able to travel hundreds of kilometres overnight in favourable winds, the pest already invaded India, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka Nepal and also possibly China. 
Although it prefers to feed on corn primarily, the voracious pest could survive on 80 other crops, including rice, said Nurul Alam. 
Wheat and Maize Research Institute director Naresh Chandra Deb Barma said that outbreak of a fungal disease, blast, forced them to reduce the crop acreage over last four years.
Blast was restricted to the rice crop cultivated in South America only for centuries until it started infecting wheat in 1985.
In Asia, wheat blast, considered the most fearsome and intractable of the diseases that appeared in recent decades, was first detected in Bangladesh in 2016.
Wheat was cultivated in 4.45 lakh hectares the year the disease first broke out. This year wheat was cultivated in 3.30 lakh hectare.
‘We were looking for a cure to the disease before expanding wheat production,’ said Naresh.
In 2014, bug scare at Eden Women’s college in the capital made headlines, bringing leading entomologists in the country together to investigate into it. 
The bug was identified as giant mealy bug, a mango pest which is believed to have come from Africa.
Entomologists believed that the pest entered Bangladesh through army peacekeepers who served UN missions in Africa.
They were not sure when the pest arrived in Bangladesh, but after they were seen at the Eden College they drew the attention of the scientists.
Now, mealy bug pest is seen throughout Bangladesh, especially at mango plantations.
Another major threat to mango cultivation comes from Mango Fruit Borer, believed to have entered Bangladesh in 2008. 
Another major pest, coconut mite was first detected in Bangladesh in 2012, forcing the authorities to introduce coconut varieties resistant to the disease. 
Initially a threat in the coastal district, the pest is spread all over Bangladesh, said BARI’s principal scientific officer Shahadat.
According to the DAE estimates, coconut cultivation was reduced to 46,384 hectares last year from 50,971 hectares in 2012.
Entomologists in Bangladesh are also worried over the infestation of pests like Papaya Mealy Bug, American Tomato Leaf Miner, Root Aphid, and Codding Moth.
Vegetable export to UK and the Middle East was limited since 2009 following detection of Thrits, a pest, in several vegetable crops, said Shahadat.
The pest is attacking brinjal, tomato, chilli and many other vegetable crops besides causing large-scale damage in tea plantations.
‘We have known Thrits for long but never before did we find it so devastating,’ said Bangladesh Tea Research Institute’s senior scientific office Shameem Al Mamun.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/69551/bangladesh-invaded-by-invasive-alien-pests-plant-diseases

Will cheap imports kill rice farmers?

BY CONRAD M. CARIÑO

APRIL 09, 2019

·       WILL CHEAP IMPORTS KILL RICE FARMERS?

(First of three parts)
A day before Republic Act (RA) 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Law, or was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 15, private sector representatives led by Presidential Adviser on Economic Concerns Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion 3rd asked the President through a letter to stop the measure.

Farmers harvest rice in Baliuag, Bulacan. PHOTO BY RENE DILAN

The letter, a copy of which was furnished to The Manila Times, stated that about 5.5 million Filipino rice farmers would be affected by the liberalization of rice imports. In place of quantitative restrictions, RA 11203 slaps a 35-percent tariff on rice imports from Southeast Asian countries and 50-percent from countries outside the region.

“The leaders of the business community view with great concern the increasing unrest in the rice sector, especially among the 5.5 million rice farmers, who will be affected by the proposed liberalization of the rice industry in the country,” the letter stated.

The letter, with the subject “Position of the Business Sector on the Proposed Liberalization,” also stated that while the business sector favored liberalization of rice imports, there were worries over the stripping of the National Food Authority’s function of buying palay (unmilled rice) and maintaining rice stocks, measures primarily meant to stabilize the prices of rice in the local market.

“We also would like to raise our concern on the serious political implications of the drastic implementation of the liberalization of the rice industry, this being an election year,” the letter concluded.

The business sector representatives submitted the letter to President Duterte after meeting with Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on February 13 to discuss, among others, issues related to rice import liberalization under RA 11203.

The letter noted that the buying price of palay has gone down to P8 per kilo, below the P12.72 per kilo average production cost based on studies conducted by the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

Rice industry faces challenges

The average cost of producing palay in Vietnam is P6.22 per kilo, and in Thailand, P8.86. These two countries are usually tapped as sources of rice imports, presenting a real challenge to the local rice industry.

Rice farms that have a production cost of less than P16.94 per kilo can still compete with imported rice slapped with 35-percent tariffs, PhilRice said.

Along with corn, rice is the most important crop in the Philippines. According the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its presentation “Regional Initiative Pilot Project Philippines,” the local rice industry accounts for about 20 percent of the gross value added or output of the country’s agriculture sector. FAO cited the paper “Global Cost and Price Competitiveness of Philippine Rice” from 2013.

The FAO presentation said the rice sector employs 2.5 million households, composed of 2.1 million farmers, 110,000 workers for post-farm or post-harvest activities, and 320,000 workers for ancillary activities.

The letter to President Duterte cites a higher number, 5.5 million. The figure is not far-fetched, because at least one farmer is needed to till 1 hectare of rice farm.

The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates the size of land devoted to rice farming in the country at about 4.8 million ha. PhilRice place the average land holding of each rice farmer in the country at 1.48 ha.

PhilRice released in September 2018 the Philippine Rice Industry Roadmap (PRIR) 2030, which recommends policies, plans, programs and projects to make the country’s rice industry competitive.

According to the PRIR, of the 80 rice-producing provinces in the Philippines, 30 have production costs lower than P12 per kilo and have yields averaging 3-4 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha). Among them are Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pampanga and Cavite in Luzon; Negros Occidental, Leyte and Iloilo in the Visayas; and Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental in Mindanao.

Another 26 provinces were categorized by the PRIR as recording “medium cost” in producing palay, or from P12 to P17 per kilo. On the list are Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan,
Bulacan and Ilocos Norte in Luzon; Negros Oriental, Bohol and Southern Leyte in the Visayas; and Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay in Mindanao.

The 26 provinces also recorded yields of 3-4 MT/ha.

The PRIR paints a rather pessimistic picture for Filipino rice farmers whose production cost for palay approaches P17 per kilo, saying they “are at risk of incurring losses and may discontinue producing rice in the future.”

Moreover, the impact of climate change on rice cultivation and production cannot be discounted.

“The uncertainty brought about by climate change makes the task of improving competitiveness doubly difficult,” it said.

There are visible signs the country will suffer from the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon this year.

https://www.manilatimes.net/will-cheap-imports-kill-rice-farmers/537455/

In Indonesia, Getting Accurate Data Is Like ‘Finding a Pokemon’

By Rieka Rahadiana and Eko Listiyorini

April 9, 2019, 2:00 AM GMT+5

Indonesia’s government is set to export rice for the first time in more than a decade -- not because the country has turned in a bumper harvest but because it’s been importing the grain based on faulty data collection, resulting in an oversupply of stocks.

The statistics agency has now overhauled its rice output survey to improve the data. It’s also making its surveyors climb mountains and trek down valleys, sometimes in remote islands, to verify satellite images of more than 200,000 paddy fields.

Suhariyanto, the head of Indonesia’s Central Statistics Bureau, said his agents found it tough at first, with some saying it’s “like finding a Pokemon,” referring to the hit mobile game where users catch virtual monsters on a digital map.

“Some people were left crying as their efforts to verify images fell through,” said the statistics chief, who goes by one name. “But it is important we come up with the right result.”

Rice Imports

Imports jump more than six fold in the 2017-2018 trade year

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The flood of imports depressed local prices, widened the current-account deficit and led to opposition accusations that President Joko Widodo was mismanaging food policy.

Badan Pusat Statistik, as the statistics bureau is known, will start releasing rice crop data based on a revised method as soon as May that it says will be more accurate than a previous survey by the Agriculture Ministry. The bureau discontinued rice output data in 2016, suspecting that an inaccurate calculation method had been occurring for about two decades.

Imports of milled rice by the state-owned food company Bulog and private firms rose more than six-fold to nearly 2.3 million tons in the 2017-2018 trade year, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

Field Visits

“With the new method, we can forecast output for the next three months,” Suhariyanto said in an interview in Jakarta. Surveyors, he added, would have to visit the paddy fields on the last week of each month for monitoring and sampling purposes.

A staple food to most of its 260 million people, rice contributes 3.8 percent to the consumer price index basket, making it one of the most-watched items along with chili, meat, garlic and sugar. Food prices rose 3.41 percent on annual basis last year, the third-biggest increase in the CPI, underpinning annual inflation of 3.13 percent.

“It is crucial for the government to manage stable food prices for people’s purchasing power. Accurate data will also lead to a better trade policy and help improve farmers’ welfare,’’ said Dian Ayu Yustina, a Jakarta-based analyst for PT Bank Danamon Indonesia.

Indonesia is trying to reduce imports to narrow its current account deficit, a key vulnerability for the economy and one of the reasons its currency came under pressure during an emerging-market rout last year. The deficit swelled to a four-year high of 2.98 percent of gross domestic product in 2018.

The state-controlled food importer Bulog wants to export its rice surplus to prevent an overloading at its warehouses, where capacity utilization has reached 60 percent. Talks with importing countries in Africa, as well as Papua New Guinea and East Timor, were underway but deals haven’t been reached yet, the company’s President Director Budi Waseso said.

— With assistance by Yoga Rusmana

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-08/in-indonesia-getting-accurate-data-is-like-catching-a-pokemon

Nigeria seeking grain self-sufficiency

Flour Mills of Nigeria is the country’s largest flour miller and a major user of imported wheat. Photo courtesy of Flour Mills of Nigeria.

04.08.2019

By Shem Oirere

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is grappling with an increasing grain import bill as the current lack of a state-supported credit facility for farmers, poor basic infrastructure, surge in farm input costs and insecurity, especially in rice-growing regions, hamper efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, rice, corn, soybeans and other critical agricultural production.

Although the overall growth of Nigeria’s domestic product (GDP), estimated at slightly more than $500 billion, was 0.8% in 2017, up from the -1.5% in 2016, with positive projections of 2.1% and 2.5% in 2018 and 2019, production of wheat, rice, corn and soybeans has remained below national consumption demand.

The value of locally produced wheat in Nigeria was estimated at $13 million in 2016, rising to $15.5 million in 2017 with projections that local producers would increase production to $16 million and $16.3 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively. But the national wheat production capacity is a drop in the ocean compared to the Nigerian market demand that was valued at $1.2 billion in 2016 and $1.5 billion in 2017, with estimates putting the 2018 and 2019 requirements at $1.65 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.

“Local wheat production remained inadequate and other domestic supplies of substitute staples within Nigeria and neighboring countries have not kept pace with demand,” according to a November 2018 report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The deficit has been met through imports from countries such as the United States that exported $300 million and $400 million worth of wheat to Nigeria in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The United States’ wheat exports to Nigeria in 2018 and 2019 are projected to reach $530 million and $534 million, respectively. Additional wheat imports came from Russia, Canada and Germany.

“Nigeria still imports significant amounts of food and the country also does not earn significant foreign exchange from agriculture, meaning we are losing both ends,” said Chief Audu Ogbeh, the federal minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, in a previous ministry report.

Furthermore, government and analyst reports indicate Nigeria, which has only 30 million hectares of cultivated land compared to 78.5 million hectares needed to feed the country’s 196 million, suffers a 2.7-million-tonne rice deficit. This is despite the area under cultivation having expanded from 2.4 million hectares in 2010 to 3.2 million tonnes in 2017, with 80% of the producers being smallholder growers while 20% of the production was from commercial farmers.

New agricultural policy

Nigeria, currently the largest rice producer in West Africa and second largest grower in Africa, meets its rice deficit from imports sourced from India, Thailand, Benin, Brazil and China with the government banking on the implementation of a new agricultural policy, Agriculture Promotion Policy (APP), to not only increase rice production but also substantially reduce the imports, which make Nigeria the world’s third largest importer of the commodity.

Nigeria’s drive to reduce grain imports and increase local production is anchored on APP, which replaces the state-initiated Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), which the government had previously attributed to contributing to 11% growth of the country’s general agricultural output and reduced the total food import bill by $1.3 billion before the collapse of the oil prices in 2015. Nigeria’s food import bill is estimated at $11 billion.

Under the APP, Minister Ogbeh said Nigeria hopes to address two key gaps in agriculture, including “an inability to meet domestic food requirements, and an inability to export at quality levels required for market success.”

The inability to produce enough food volumes, the minister said, “is a productivity challenge driven by an input system and farming model that is largely inefficient and an aging population of farmers that do not have enough seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, crop protection and related support to be successful.”

Nigeria’s constraints in increasing grain exports and other agricultural products is largely because of “an equally inefficient system for setting and enforcing food quality standards, as well as poor knowledge of target markets.”

“Insufficient food testing facilities, a weak inspectorate system in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and poor coordination among relevant federal agencies serve to compound early-stage problems such as poor knowledge of permissible contaminant levels,” said the APP strategy paper.

“The federal APP is a strategy that focuses on solving the core issues at the heart of limited food production and delivery of quality standards, and as productivity improves domestically and standards are raised for all Nigerian food production, export markets will also benefit impacting positively on Nigeria’s balance of payments,” the APP said.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture has listed wheat, rice, soybeans and corn among the pool of crops the government plans to expand area under production and improve production methods in partnership with the private sector. Apart from enhancing end-to-end value addition of these crops, the government also hopes through the six-year APP scheme to woo a new generation of farmers keen on commercial agriculture and who the ministry promises to support with a seamless supply of fertilizers, high quality chemicals and certified seeds to improve production.

Elsewhere, Nigeria suffers from poor infrastructure and high levels of insecurity, especially in rice growing regions where more than 3 million people have been displaced by militants and ethnic conflicts. Even in grain-producing regions, the government is pushing for the elimination of taxes and levies on key crops such as wheat, soybeans and corn by Nigerian regional governments. By the end of 2020, Nigeria, which is struggling to wean itself from over-reliance on oil and gas, expects to have gathered adequate information that the government can use in improving the APP plan with the Ministry of Agriculture promising to publish crop metrics periodically to track performance such as tonnage produced and consumption trends.

Other initiatives

Other interventions introduced by Nigeria in its quest for increased quality agricultural production include the introduction of the Anchor Borrower’s scheme under which the government has disbursed $150 million to 250,000 farmers and also the launch of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.

The fertilizer initiative has led to the revitalization of 14 fertilizer blending plants, with a total installed capacity in excess of 2 million tonnes annually, thereby supporting many farmers nationwide, according to government records. Furthermore, the government recently announced it is proceeding with the privatization of 20 out of the 23 Strategic Grains Reserve Silos in the country to ensure food security.

Despite the determination by Nigeria to pull up its grain production levels, several hurdles must be crossed to achieve quality increased production of key crops, especially rice, wheat, corn and soybeans. Although Nigeria’s rice production has been on the upswing over the last five years to 8.7 million tonnes in 2017, smuggling of the food commodity across the country’s porous borders continues to suppress national efforts to expand production. It is estimated 95% of the rice imported into Nigeria enters through informal means such as smuggling through cross-border smuggling channels despite existence of new foreign exchange regulations to curb the rice imports.

“Nigeria’s domestic rice production target is also far from reality due to lack of infrastructure, poor policy implementation, as well as increasing state of security caused by Boko Haram and rural violence in many rice-producing regions in northern region,” the USDA said.

Demand for corn also is expected to remain high despite Nigeria producing 7 million tonnes of the 7.5 million tonnes needed to meet national demand.

The USDA said Nigeria’s demand for animal feed is set to rise, which together with the “increasing foreign investment in the sector are expected to boost corn imports to 550,000 tonnes, a nearly 40% increase compared to the preceding year (2017).”

The trend of importing key grains to meet Nigeria’s rising demand is expected to continue until it addresses what the African Development Bank identifies as “significant challenges including foreign exchange shortages, disruptions in fuel supply, power shortages and insecurity in some part of the country.”

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/04/09/tenured-n-f-a-employees-to-challenge-constitutionality-of-rice-trade-liberalization-law/

Early boro rice harvest advised in north-eastern region

Flash floods likely in April’s last week

Emran Hossain | Published: 23:55, Apr 08,2019 

The Department of Agricultural Extension on Monday requested farmers in the north-eastern districts to harvest boro rice early to save their crops from flash floods likely to occur in the region in April’s last week.
In the advisory, DAE requested the growers in the region not to wait to reap after their crops had ripened 70 per cent. 
‘We would advise the growers to harvest their boro crop if it ripened by 70 per cent,’DAE director general Mir Nurul Alam told New Age. 
‘We are telling them that they possibly don’t have enough time at hand to harvest before the flash floods hit,’ he said.
Usually, he said , 70 per cent of the haor belt’s boro crop ripens by April.
He said that that the growers began to harvest their boro crop in a limited area.
‘As early harvest reduces output it causes losses to the farmers,’ said Nurul Alam.
DAE officials said that the flash flood alert had been issued in the districts of Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sunamganj, Kishoreganj, Netrokona and Brahmanbaria with this year’s boro acreage hitting almost a million hectares with production crossing 3.7 million tonnes, almost a fifth of the country’s entire boro output.
DAE officials said that they would wait until the first week of May to get the full picture.
This would be for the 2nd time in three years that early flash floods to pose threat to the haor belt’s boro crop.
In 2017, flash floods hit without warning over a month earlier in the last week of March. 
By the first week of April flash floods hit the country’s grain bowl twice wreaking havoc to the standing boro crop on at least a 1,200 sq km area, forcing rice imports for the 1st time in five years.
‘Farmers cannot afford frequent disasters,’ said Kashmir Reza, president of Poribesh O Haor Unnayan Sangstha.
‘Like elsewhere in Bangladesh Haor farmers with mostly small land holdings are still struggling to recover from the losses they had suffered last year,’ he said.
As a consequent, many farmers got into the debt trap, he said.
Agriculture secretary Nasiruzzaman said that efforts were on to help the farmers by providing with early warning. 
Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre executive engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuyan said that they strongly advised the DAE to see to it that the boro rice crop was harvested in the haor region by the 3rd week of April.
The rivers in the haor region are likely swell in the 2nd and the 3rd weeks of April due to intermittent to heavy rains, said Arif. 
There will be heavy rains in the upstream in the neighbouring Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura , he said.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/69544/early-boro-rice-harvest-advised-in-north-eastern-region

Native Australian wild rice trial funded in north

Jessica Johnston9 Apr 2019, 4 p.m.

 CDU researchers Dr Sean Bellairs and Dr Penny Wurm are leading the native rice project.

Aa

WILD native Australian rice is being propagated in the north in what is tipped to become a booming agribusiness to fill a niche food market.

Two significant projects to identify the potential of establishing a wild rice industry are under way after receiving Federal Government funding.

Charles Darwin University (CDU) has received $1.8 million to develop a commercially viable native rice as an agribusiness in Northern Territory wetlands.

It comes after $505,000 was announced for a cooperative of researchers from across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia to investigate the potential of northern Australian rice.

CRCNA Chair Sheriden Morris said that project was the first of its kind in Australia and there was the potential to produce more than one million tonnes of rice annually.

"This project will take a broad look at the whole northern Australian rice supply chain and really zero in on what the opportunities for development are," Ms Morris said.

CDU Research Institute for the Environments and Livelihoods' Dr Sean Bellairs, who is leading the NT project said native rice had environmental value, and work to protect the species had presented the opportunity to establish a consumption based agribusiness.

Dr Bellairs said growers had tried to establish a commercial rice crop at Fogg Dam in the 1950s, but the variety being used failed.

However, a healthy and viable wild rice variety is growing in the area which Dr Bellairs and his team plan to further propagate.

"The resistance of Australian native rices makes it very attractive," Dr Bellairs said.

"Now that we have the support, we could potentially put Darwin on the map as a major producer of a range of native rice."

Dr Bellairs said the product would suit a niche market.

"We are not looking at large scale general commercial rice, we are aiming for that high value, gourmet food that is of cultural significance, particularly sold to tourists going through the area and also nationally and internationally.

"We are aiming for the high value end of the market, selling 100g bags in the supermarket rather than 2kg bags."

Dr Bellairs said native rice had slightly higher protein than other rices tested, and the CDU cookery school had also carried out food trials. "It has more of a smokey, nutty flavour."

Dr Bellairs said it would be some time before rice appeared on the shelves, with the first trial crop expected to be harvested next April.

https://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/6009121/wild-aussie-rice-trial-for-north/?cs=4784

Bangladesh invaded by invasive alien pests, plant diseases

Emran Hossain | Published: 00:36, Apr 09,2019 | Updated: 01:15, Apr 09,2019

      

Steady rise in invasions by alien pests and outbreak of new plant diseases induced by global warming over the last two decades made the researchers as well as the Department of Agricultural Extension officials and researchers worried.
Researchers as well as DAE officials agree that minor pests that could be easily controlled in the past became strong plant attackers now that are proving difficult to keep under check. 
At times these pests and plant diseases get highly difficult to control for which the authorities slashed the acreage of vulnerable crops and limited export of some other crops. 
‘Never before in the past did Bangladesh encounter such a big threat from pests and plant diseases,’ Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s principal scientific officer Mohammad Shahadat Hossain told New Age.
Shahadat said, ‘we identified at least a dozen invasive alien pests and plant diseases that entered Bangladesh after 2000.
Some of the alien invasive pests and plant diseases remained unidentified despite their strong presence in parts of Bangladesh, he said. 
‘Due to limited capacity, we prioritise dealing with invasive alien pests and plant diseases with the potential to cause large-scale damage,’ he said. 
Between 1970 and 2000, major pests and diseases in Bangladesh were known to the farmers as well as the researchers , said Shahadat whose career as a researcher began in 1995. 
‘Influx of alien invasive pests or these plant diseases were unknown to Bangladesh between 1970 and 2000,’ he said. 
The situation is changing fast, he said for rice, wheat, corn, potato, mango, papaya, coconut, tomato, brinjal, tea and other major crops as they are increasingly coming under attack from the invasive alien pests and plant diseases.
Razzab Ali, professor of Entomology at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, said that increased pest attacks and plant diseases were occurring mainly due to global warming.
‘Insects are ectotherms, dependent on outside temperature for physiological activities, which means physiologically they become more active in warmer conditions,’ said Razab.
High humidity also an influencing factor for the growth of insects, he said. 
‘Humidity is higher in warm air,’ said Razzab.
Dhaka University zoology professor Murshida Begum said that increased physiological activities means shorter life cycles.
‘The shorter the lifecycle the greater the generation of insects,’ she said.
Murshida said that it was almost universal knowledge that low temperature slowed down insect growth for which blue flies are seen in Bangladesh in large number in the summer. 
She said that in a summer month blue flies complete four lifecycles but in a winter month they cannot complete even two lifecycles. 
Global warming, she said, made winters shorter and longer summers facilitating faster growths in insect populations. 
Similar conditions are applicable for many of the crops diseases caused by fungus, bacteria or virus. 
The 5th assessment report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed the links between global warming and increased pest and disease attacks.
The first ever research quantifying crop losses caused by increased pest attacks linked to climate change was done in August 2018 by US-based scientists.
According to them, even if climate change is restricted to the target 2C, increased pest attacks would still destroy 50 per cent more of the wheat crop than they do today, 30 per cent more corn and 20 per cent more rice.
The researchers said that warmer temperature increases insect reproduction rates and more insects mean a rise in their food demand. 
It is predicted that the need for more food may force insects to change their food habit or make them travel far and wide. Warmer temperature would only expand their territory of migration. 
Former BARI director Syed Nurul Alam said that the most dangerous of the new alien invasive pests that arrived in Bangladesh was identified as Fall Army Worm, a native in the Americas. 
First detected in November last year, the pest was already spread across Bangladesh, infesting at least one per cent of the corn crop, he said.
The pest was first seen outside its native continent in Africa in 2016. In just two years it became pervasive in 44 of the 54 African countries, causing famine in five of them, destroying almost entire production of their staple crop corn.
Able to travel hundreds of kilometres overnight in favourable winds, the pest already invaded India, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka Nepal and also possibly China. 
Although it prefers to feed on corn primarily, the voracious pest could survive on 80 other crops, including rice, said Nurul Alam. 
Wheat and Maize Research Institute director Naresh Chandra Deb Barma said that outbreak of a fungal disease, blast, forced them to reduce the crop acreage over last four years.
Blast was restricted to the rice crop cultivated in South America only for centuries until it started infecting wheat in 1985.
In Asia, wheat blast, considered the most fearsome and intractable of the diseases that appeared in recent decades, was first detected in Bangladesh in 2016.
Wheat was cultivated in 4.45 lakh hectares the year the disease first broke out. This year wheat was cultivated in 3.30 lakh hectare.
‘We were looking for a cure to the disease before expanding wheat production,’ said Naresh.
In 2014, bug scare at Eden Women’s college in the capital made headlines, bringing leading entomologists in the country together to investigate into it. 
The bug was identified as giant mealy bug, a mango pest which is believed to have come from Africa.
Entomologists believed that the pest entered Bangladesh through army peacekeepers who served UN missions in Africa.
They were not sure when the pest arrived in Bangladesh, but after they were seen at the Eden College they drew the attention of the scientists.
Now, mealy bug pest is seen throughout Bangladesh, especially at mango plantations.
Another major threat to mango cultivation comes from Mango Fruit Borer, believed to have entered Bangladesh in 2008. 
Another major pest, coconut mite was first detected in Bangladesh in 2012, forcing the authorities to introduce coconut varieties resistant to the disease. 
Initially a threat in the coastal district, the pest is spread all over Bangladesh, said BARI’s principal scientific officer Shahadat.
According to the DAE estimates, coconut cultivation was reduced to 46,384 hectares last year from 50,971 hectares in 2012.
Entomologists in Bangladesh are also worried over the infestation of pests like Papaya Mealy Bug, American Tomato Leaf Miner, Root Aphid, and Codding Moth.
Vegetable export to UK and the Middle East was limited since 2009 following detection of Thrits, a pest, in several vegetable crops, said Shahadat.
The pest is attacking brinjal, tomato, chilli and many other vegetable crops besides causing large-scale damage in tea plantations.
‘We have known Thrits for long but never before did we find it so devastating,’ said Bangladesh Tea Research Institute’s senior scientific office Shameem Al Mamun.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/69551/bangladesh-invaded-by-invasive-alien-pests-plant-diseases

Nigeria Customs Service Doing Less Than Expected To Address Rice Smuggling, Says RIPAN

Abubakar added that rice smuggling has increased in recent months with 20 million bags smuggled into the country through various land borders.

---

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKAPR 08, 2019

The Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) has expressed dissatisfaction with the Nigeria Customs Service for not being up to the task in combating smuggling of rice into the country.

The group, through Mohammed Abubakar, its chairman, stated this while addressing the press over the weekend.

Abubakar added that rice smuggling has increased in recent months with 20 million bags smuggled into the country through various land borders.

He said: “Investors in Nigeria have made an enormous financial commitment in the rice sub-sector. Unfortunately, the only threat to the industry’s total development is smuggling.

“Over 1 million metric tons of rice (about 20,000,000 bags of 50kg rice) have been smuggled into Nigeria in the last three months.

“In the last 30 days, we have met with Nigeria Customs more than 10 times over the rising spate of smuggled rice through our borders.”

The Rice Processor Association Chairman urged the Nigerian government to draft the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into combating smuggling as it is affecting the economy, adding that smuggling of rice into the country is affecting local production and if not combated early, could lead to a national food emergency.

Abubakar said: "More painfully, millions of small-holder farmers are stuck with their paddy fields, because the millers can no longer afford to buy from them.

“The Rice Processors Association wants to use this opportunity to tell everyone that if this menace is not tackled with appropriate dispatch, the magnitude of loss to Nigerian rice stakeholders starting with the

Federal Government, Integrated Rice Millers, funding banks, CBN, rice farmers, mill workers, rice consumers, etc. would be too devastating to cope with in an economy that is fledgeling.

“There is a need for urgent action to avert eventual national food emergency by combating smuggling, so that we can continue to grow our local rice industry and the economy.”
 

http://saharareporters.com/2019/04/08/nigeria-customs-service-doing-less-expected-address-rice-smuggling-says-ripan

Smugglers crippling Nigeria rice farmers’

By Chris Agabi | Published Date Apr 9, 2019 5:50 AM

The Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) has decried the high spate of rice smuggling into Nigeria saying it is crippling their investments.

Alhaji Ahmed Abubakar, chairman of the association told journalists at a press briefing in Abuja that “over 1 million metric tons of rice (about 20,000,000 bags of 50kg rice) have been smuggled into Nigeria in the last three months,” he said.

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According to him, Nigeria currently loses huge revenues, foreign exchange and jobs to the menace.

As a result, he said “Nigeria rice processing companies are shutting down because of their inability to gain market access.”

 “More painfully, millions of small-holder farmers are stuck with their paddy because the millers can no longer afford to buy from them,” he said.

“The rice processors association wants to use this opportunity to tell everyone that If this menace is not tackled with appropriate dispatch, the magnitude of loss to Nigerian rice stakeholders starting with the Federal Government, integrated rice millers, funding banks, CBN, rice farmers, mill workers, rice consumers, etc. would be too devastating to cope with,” he warned.

According to him, there is need for urgent action to avert eventual national food emergency by combating smuggling so that “we can continue to grow our local rice industry and the economy.”

He said “investigations have shown all our international borders have been converted to smugglers routes and our markets are filled with smuggled foreign rice.”

Alh. Abubakar also said “government must deal firmly with smuggling and severely punish infractions in a way that makes smuggling too costly to risk. Particularly, government must begin the fish out and punish multinational companies that play on both sides of the border – those who actually drive the syndicates (the promoters).”

“It is absolutely vital for government to sustain the current drive for greater investments, strengthen the policy environment and continue to implement policies and strategies that grow local capacity and protect local value chain,” the chairman said.

He said: “Government must as a matter of urgent national importance, take strong diplomatic action with our neighbouring countries who allow parboiled rice into their country for final destination to Nigeria. The government may consider closing the borders for some time if diplomatic overtures fail.”

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/smugglers-crippling-nigeria-rice-farmers.html

Nigerian govt enters N186m agreement with Islamic Bank for hajj, textile industry

April 9, 2019

The Federal Government says it has signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) for the funding of the National Hajj Commission and the nation’s textile industry.

The fund described as Technical Assistant financing pact, is a $523,823 (N185.95m) grant while the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria would get $243,823 and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment gets $280,000.

The details of the deal was given in a statement on Monday by the Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Paul Ella.

According to the statement, the agreement was signed by the finance minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed on behalf of the Federal Government at the 44th ISDB Group Annual Meeting held in Marrakesh, Morrocco.

The President of ISDB, Dr Bandar Hajjar signed on behalf of the bank.The Minister explained that part of the money budgeted for Hajj Commission would cover capacity building SBD logistics.

She added that the grant would improve cotton and textile production.

She said, “The Technical Assistant Agreement Grant of $243,823.0 to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria is for capacity building/equipment and logistics upgrade.

“TA grant of $280,000 to the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment is for the improvement of cotton, textile and garment value chain,” she stated.

https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/nigerian-govt-enters-n186m-agreement-with-islamic-bank-for-hajj-textile-industry/

Rice-ipes, Back to You  

By Kane Webb

CROWLEY, LA -- There are recipes and then there are "Rice-ipes."  Whether you classify it as autological, or maybe even an onomatopoeia, Rice-ipes taste and sound as good as...well, as they taste and sound!

Over two days last week, the early morning TV audience in southwest Louisiana got an inside look at the rice industry and heard about mouth-watering, rice-based recipes as the three-month long Fox 29 and Cajun Country Rice Rice-ipe contest drew to a close. 

On Tuesday, Robbie Trahan, with Cajun Country Rice, took the morning show crew through the rice milling process from delivery by the local grower's farm to the final packaged product over several live segments.  The reporter got into the action, screening and milling rice samples for the live audience, while Robbie explained the process as it was taking place.

Then on Thursday viewers tuned in for the finale with the three finalist chefs' dishes being featured on the morning program where Donavan Bradley's dish, Dono's Jambalaya and Black Eyed Peas was declared the winner.  Part of Bradley's prize package included a years' supply of Cajun Country Rice, a new cookware pot, and a trophy presented by the reigning International Rice Festival Queen Victoria Callahan.

"Being part of the Rice-ipe promotion was great, but having the opportunity to demonstrate the methods used in the milling industry, and how we assure the highest quality rice makes it to the consumer was equally important," said Trahan, who is a past chair of the USA Rice Millers' Association.  "Every chance we get to emphasize that U.S.-grown rice is safe, nutritional, and produced locally, we're glad to share our story."

Go here to check out all the Rice-ipes.

Bangladesh invaded by invasive alien pests, plant diseases

Emran Hossain | Published: 00:36, Apr 09,2019 | Updated: 01:15, Apr 09,2019 

Steady rise in invasions by alien pests and outbreak of new plant diseases induced by global warming over the last two decades made the researchers as well as the Department of Agricultural Extension officials and researchers worried.
Researchers as well as DAE officials agree that minor pests that could be easily controlled in the past became strong plant attackers now that are proving difficult to keep under check. 
At times these pests and plant diseases get highly difficult to control for which the authorities slashed the acreage of vulnerable crops and limited export of some other crops. 
‘Never before in the past did Bangladesh encounter such a big threat from pests and plant diseases,’ Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s principal scientific officer Mohammad Shahadat Hossain told New Age.
Shahadat said, ‘we identified at least a dozen invasive alien pests and plant diseases that entered Bangladesh after 2000.
Some of the alien invasive pests and plant diseases remained unidentified despite their strong presence in parts of Bangladesh, he said. 
‘Due to limited capacity, we prioritise dealing with invasive alien pests and plant diseases with the potential to cause large-scale damage,’ he said. 
Between 1970 and 2000, major pests and diseases in Bangladesh were known to the farmers as well as the researchers , said Shahadat whose career as a researcher began in 1995. 
‘Influx of alien invasive pests or these plant diseases were unknown to Bangladesh between 1970 and 2000,’ he said. 
The situation is changing fast, he said for rice, wheat, corn, potato, mango, papaya, coconut, tomato, brinjal, tea and other major crops as they are increasingly coming under attack from the invasive alien pests and plant diseases.
Razzab Ali, professor of Entomology at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, said that increased pest attacks and plant diseases were occurring mainly due to global warming.
‘Insects are ectotherms, dependent on outside temperature for physiological activities, which means physiologically they become more active in warmer conditions,’ said Razab.
High humidity also an influencing factor for the growth of insects, he said. 
‘Humidity is higher in warm air,’ said Razzab.
Dhaka University zoology professor Murshida Begum said that increased physiological activities means shorter life cycles.
‘The shorter the lifecycle the greater the generation of insects,’ she said.
Murshida said that it was almost universal knowledge that low temperature slowed down insect growth for which blue flies are seen in Bangladesh in large number in the summer. 
She said that in a summer month blue flies complete four lifecycles but in a winter month they cannot complete even two lifecycles. 
Global warming, she said, made winters shorter and longer summers facilitating faster growths in insect populations. 
Similar conditions are applicable for many of the crops diseases caused by fungus, bacteria or virus. 
The 5th assessment report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed the links between global warming and increased pest and disease attacks.
The first ever research quantifying crop losses caused by increased pest attacks linked to climate change was done in August 2018 by US-based scientists.
According to them, even if climate change is restricted to the target 2C, increased pest attacks would still destroy 50 per cent more of the wheat crop than they do today, 30 per cent more corn and 20 per cent more rice.
The researchers said that warmer temperature increases insect reproduction rates and more insects mean a rise in their food demand. 
It is predicted that the need for more food may force insects to change their food habit or make them travel far and wide. Warmer temperature would only expand their territory of migration. 
Former BARI director Syed Nurul Alam said that the most dangerous of the new alien invasive pests that arrived in Bangladesh was identified as Fall Army Worm, a native in the Americas. 
First detected in November last year, the pest was already spread across Bangladesh, infesting at least one per cent of the corn crop, he said.
The pest was first seen outside its native continent in Africa in 2016. In just two years it became pervasive in 44 of the 54 African countries, causing famine in five of them, destroying almost entire production of their staple crop corn.
Able to travel hundreds of kilometres overnight in favourable winds, the pest already invaded India, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka Nepal and also possibly China. 
Although it prefers to feed on corn primarily, the voracious pest could survive on 80 other crops, including rice, said Nurul Alam. 
Wheat and Maize Research Institute director Naresh Chandra Deb Barma said that outbreak of a fungal disease, blast, forced them to reduce the crop acreage over last four years.
Blast was restricted to the rice crop cultivated in South America only for centuries until it started infecting wheat in 1985.
In Asia, wheat blast, considered the most fearsome and intractable of the diseases that appeared in recent decades, was first detected in Bangladesh in 2016.
Wheat was cultivated in 4.45 lakh hectares the year the disease first broke out. This year wheat was cultivated in 3.30 lakh hectare.
‘We were looking for a cure to the disease before expanding wheat production,’ said Naresh.
In 2014, bug scare at Eden Women’s college in the capital made headlines, bringing leading entomologists in the country together to investigate into it. 
The bug was identified as giant mealy bug, a mango pest which is believed to have come from Africa.
Entomologists believed that the pest entered Bangladesh through army peacekeepers who served UN missions in Africa.
They were not sure when the pest arrived in Bangladesh, but after they were seen at the Eden College they drew the attention of the scientists.
Now, mealy bug pest is seen throughout Bangladesh, especially at mango plantations.
Another major threat to mango cultivation comes from Mango Fruit Borer, believed to have entered Bangladesh in 2008. 
Another major pest, coconut mite was first detected in Bangladesh in 2012, forcing the authorities to introduce coconut varieties resistant to the disease. 
Initially a threat in the coastal district, the pest is spread all over Bangladesh, said BARI’s principal scientific officer Shahadat.
According to the DAE estimates, coconut cultivation was reduced to 46,384 hectares last year from 50,971 hectares in 2012.
Entomologists in Bangladesh are also worried over the infestation of pests like Papaya Mealy Bug, American Tomato Leaf Miner, Root Aphid, and Codding Moth.
Vegetable export to UK and the Middle East was limited since 2009 following detection of Thrits, a pest, in several vegetable crops, said Shahadat.
The pest is attacking brinjal, tomato, chilli and many other vegetable crops besides causing large-scale damage in tea plantations.
‘We have known Thrits for long but never before did we find it so devastating,’ said Bangladesh Tea Research Institute’s senior scientific office Shameem Al Mamun.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/69551/bangladesh-invaded-by-invasive-alien-pests-plant-diseases

Tenured N.F.A. employees to challenge constitutionality of rice trade liberalization law

By BusinessMirror

April 9, 2019

A man carries a sack of commercial rice in a store in Parañaque City as the market starts feeling the possible impact of the new law, which liberalizes the importation, exportation and trading of rice. The rice tariffication law has been signed, but tenured employees of the National Food Authority (NFA) are questioning its inclusion of provisions that overhaul the agency, displacing hundreds.

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas & Cai U. Ordinario

TENURED employees of the National Food Authority (NFA) will soon file a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the new rice trade liberalization law, which could cause thousands of NFA workers to lose their jobs.

NFA Employees Association (NFAEA) Central Office President Maximo M. Torda told the BusinessMirror the group will file the petition by May.

Torda said the NFAEA will question the legislative history of the law, which started at first as a rice tariffication bill. The bill sought to convert the country’s quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports into ordinary customs duties.

He said the initial bill had evolved into a measure that affected government safeguards against imports and included the deregulation of the food agency.

“The rice trade liberalization law eventually removed all the effective safeguard measures for controlling and supervising the country’s food security,” Torda said in an interview.

“From the simple objective of removing the QR, it evolved into an encompassing law which resulted in major changes, such as the revamp and reorganization of the NFA that would now lead to thousands of layoffs,” he added.

Torda said NFAEA’s Supreme Court case is only part of a series of legal challenges that will be made by various rice-industry stakeholders against the new law in the coming weeks.

“Our petitions would have different bases and reasons. We want to be apolitical,” Torda said. “Our petition is more of protecting our agency and our employees. We want to protect what is left of the NFA, with our security of tenure being only secondary.”

Election ban

Torda said that no NFA employee could be displaced until June due to the election ban. This, he said, will give the NFA more time to discuss the reorganization and restructuring of the grains agency to fulfill its new mandate under the new law.

“Things are still complicated. There are still a lot of gray areas even in the signed implementing rules and regulations [IRR], particularly the reorganization of the NFA,” he said.

Torda cited the commissioning of an independent study that would outline the NFA’s buffer-stocking role under the new trade regime as the basis for the agency’s reorganization.

This, he said, would allow the NFA to determine how many workers will be displaced. “We think that study would be the basis of a concrete plan for the NFA reorganization. It’s just sad that [the national government] is rushing things and wants to railroad everything.”

Torda said some 1,000 employees will be affected by the NFA reorganization mandated by the new law, higher than the initial estimate of 400 made by government officials.

The 400 NFA employees that may be displaced are from the industry services department and security services and investigation department, which are directly involved in the NFA’s previous regulatory functions of licensing importers and retailers and monitoring the country’s rice trade.

‘Not true’

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the reorganization of the NFA will affect less than 500 employees.

Neda Regional Development Office Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla told the BusinessMirror these employees are involved in the importation and licensing functions of the NFA.

The importation and licensing function of the NFA has been repealed under Republic Act 11203. Under the new law, the NFA’s functions have been limited to buffer stocking.

“Only 400 plus employees will be affected, those involved in licensing and importation as these are the only functions that were changed in the new law,” Sombilla said. “Their number will not even reach 500,” she added, disputing claims by NFA employees that over a thousand will be affected by the reorganization.

Sombilla said the number was based on a survey of employees who wanted to avail themselves of the “retirement package” to be offered by the government. This means the number includes both the affected employees and those who want to leave NFA. The survey was done prior to the signing of the law’s IRR.

Under the IRR, NFA employees will receive up to 1.5 times their monthly basic salaries (MBS), depending on their years of service.

Initially, Sombilla said this was not the computation offered by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). She said determining the compensation package was one of the reasons the IRR was not signed immediately after the law was passed.

“I went to DBM to haggle. I asked if they can add to the compensation package since the NFA is considered a state-owned corporation. So finally, after four to five days that the DOF [Department of Finance], Treasury and DBM debated, they finally came up with a rate which is 1.25 and 1.5,” Sombilla said.

Under Rule 3.4.1.2, the package of employees who are in their first 20 years of service will be equivalent to their MBS multiplied by their years of service.

However, those who have reached 20 years and one day to 30 years of employment will receive a package that is equivalent to 1.25 times their MBS for every year of service.

Those who stayed longer at 30 years and one day or more, will receive 1.5 times their MBS for every year or service.

Image Credits: Nonie Reyes

Pests love a warmer world

by Hiren Kumar Bose | Apr 8, 2019

As climate change gathers pace, insects are proliferating across the world, which scientists say will threaten food production, particularly in bio-diverse countries like India

Blister Beetle (Mylabris phalerata) pest on green gram (Photo by Entomological Society of India)

It is now becoming increasingly clear that climate change is affecting virtually all aspects of life, and one alarming dimension is the growth in the number of insect pests that are a threat to food security, particularly in developing economies such as India.

Vital to ecosystems and humans, insects pollinate crops and flowers, provide food for higher-level organisms, break down the detritus, maintain a balance in ecosystems by eating the leaves of plants and help recycle nutrients in the soil. However, they also consume somewhere between 18% and 26% of crops produced around the world, a loss valued at USD 470 billion.

The greater proportion of losses occurs in the field, before harvest, and this is heaviest in developing countries. As the world warms up, these losses are likely to grow. India is likely to be badly affected. Although the country has only 2% of the world’s land area, it has around 8% of the world’s species, including insects.

Climate change will affect agriculture, but predicting exactly how is complicated. However, researchers worldwide are of the opinion that agriculture and horticulture yields will decrease as growing-season temperatures increase. Insect pests are likely to exacerbate this effect.

Crop losses

Crop losses will be most acute in areas where warming increases both population growth and metabolic rates of insects. These conditions are centred primarily in temperate regions, where most grain is produced. While climate change directly affects insect growth, development, reproduction and survival, it also indirectly influences breakdown in temperature-sensitive host-plant resistance.

The insect world is vast, diverse and millions are yet to be discovered and identified. Until now, less than one million species of insects are known out of an estimated 30 million.  Of these, anthropods (ants, cockroaches, grasshoppers, beetles, crabs, spiders, scorpions, mites, millipedes, centipedes etc.) are the most dominant and constitute more than 90%.

“As insects are cold-blooded organisms, the temperature of their bodies is approximately same as that of the environment,” said V.V. Ramamurthy, Division of Entomology, Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. “Due to global warming, when the temperature changes and also the relative humidity with more rainless humid days, the sucking pests, in particular, will increase. Also, due to changes in climate in hilly terrains, there will be an upward movement of insect populations. In this process, at least temporarily there will be extensions in range.”

Insects burn calories at a faster clip when their surroundings heat up, forcing them to eat more. Elevated levels of carbon dioxide can increase levels of simple sugars in leaves and lower their nitrogen content. These can increase the damage caused by many insects, which will consume more leaves to meet their metabolic requirements of nitrogen.

In India, there are cases available to show how several minor pests have become major due to change in agriculture practices and climatic variability. The brown plant hopper is a case in point. It was a minor pest in rice of no economic significance till its outbreaks in Kerala in 1973-74. The spotted bollworm completes its life cycle in 88 days when the temperature is 16 degrees Celsius, but at 25 degrees, the lifecycle reduces to 31 days, which means more pests.

Caterpillar’s hunger

Infestation of brown plant hopper in Basmati (aromatic) and non-Basmati rice in western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi are recent examples. Incidents of thrips (a sucking pest) attack on crops like groundnut, cotton, chilli, roses, grapes, citrus and pomegranates are being reported. There are also more frequent attacks of diamondback moth in cabbage, and hoppers on mango. In layman’s terms, the appetite of the caterpillar is likely to rise as the earth gets warmer.

A team of researchers from various US universities — using a computer model focused on crop yield in relation to pest destruction — showed that the number of crops lost globally each year due to insects is likely to increase by 10% to 25% per degree of global surface warming.

Closer home, a study on the effect of elevated temperature on the development time of rice Yellow Stem Borer (YSB) by researchers of Coimbatore’s Tamil Nadu Agricultural University revealed that the number of eggs laid increased at higher temperatures, while egg hatching was reduced. Insects develop faster, which may be why they lay eggs early, and hence, the population is likely to grow earlier than expected.

The mealy bug (Phenacoccus solenopsis) feeding on tomato (Photo by Entomological Society of India)

Pest attacks

Increased temperature results in extension of the geographical range of pests and pathogens and sudden outbreak of some notorious pests, said R.R. Patil, Professor of Entomology at the Department of Agriculture Entomology of Dharwad-based University of Agriculture Sciences. “Pink bollworm and maize armyworm in recent times are live examples. Both have devastated large areas of cotton and maize in Karnataka and the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.”

Studies undertaken by Indian scientists on the trends of temperature rise, heat waves, droughts and floods, and sea level rise are in consonance with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), though the magnitude of changes could differ. The mean temperature in India is projected to increase up to 1.7 degrees Celsius in the Kharif season (July to October) and up to 3.2 degrees during the Rabi season (November to March). Mean rainfall is expected to increase by 10% by 2070, a scenario leading to a situation affecting many familiar insects restricted to smaller habitats while new pests spread over wider areas.

According to India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, crops such as rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, mustard, potato, cotton and coconut are likely to be adversely affected. Wheat production is likely to decrease by 6-23% by 2050. Maize production could fall by 18%; paddy may witness a fall by 4-6% by 2020; and potatoes would show a decline by 2.5% by 2020, 6% by 2050 and 11% by 2080. Soybean is, however, predicted to fare better in the future, with its production likely to increase by 8-13% from 2030 to 2080.

Chances of invasion

There is an increased risk of invasion by migrant pests due to global warming. The most recent case is that of the dreaded fall armyworm crop pest (Spodoptera frugiperda), which mainly devours maize in its caterpillar phase, but can feed on more than 80 plant species, including other key crops like rice, sorghum, cotton and vegetables.

First spotted in Africa in 2016, it has spread rapidly through the sub-Saharan belt and was spotted in Karnataka. According to Nigel Andrew, Professor of Entomology, the University of New England and Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, as quarantine regulations are diluted due to free-trade agreements, more pests are likely to get into areas previously free of them.

As pests are part of natural ecosystems and compete with humans for their existence, crop protection technologies are likely to be less effective and need to be customised to suit the changes. “Alternatives are being developed in some crops like wheat, rice, cotton and some selected horticultural crops and in hotspots of rain-dependent agriculture under the NICRA (National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture) of the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) during the last few years,” said Ramamurthy, who also is chief editor of the Entomological Society of India journal. “As the modified technologies have started emerging recently it will take more time and investments to become the established alternatives.”

Protection put to test

As temperatures rise, we are looking at a future when the effectiveness of traditional crop protection technologies will be put to test. In such a situation, pest forewarnings are likely to provide lead time for impending attacks and thus minimise crop loss and optimise pest control leading to reduced cost of cultivation.

Agreeing that new farming strategies to adapt to a rapidly changing climate will be difficult to implement, Andrew said that integrated pest management methods will have to become the norm.

“Cultural methods of insect control will need to be re-introduced and used more extensively. Areas of alternative habitat will need to be replanted on to farms to enable predators and parasitoids to be active,” he said. “Methods such as sterile insect techniques will also need to be used as alternatives to chemical controls.  Chemical controls will need to be more specialised and used more intelligently.”

https://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2019/04/08/pests-love-a-warmer-world/

Pakistani rice: Second to all

Ahmad Fraz KhanUpdated April 08, 2019

According to data from the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, it sent out a little over four million tonnes (for $2 billion) in 2018. ─ Photo courtesy Ahsan Mahmood/File

IN Pakistan’s context, rice statistics are pretty impressive. Sown on 2.89 million hectares (about 10 per cent of total cropping area), it earned $2 billion (around 8pc of export income) for the country.

Put it in the agricultural context, it is second to wheat in acreage and, in economic terms, only second to cotton (and its allied products as per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data) in export earnings. It accounts for 3.1pc of value-addition in the agriculture sector and varyingly contributes 1.3-1.6pc to the GDP.

Last year, it assumed added significance when production hit 7.4 million tonnes placing Pakistan on the list of the 10 largest producers on the world rice chart. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan (2017-18), the area under rice increased by 6.4pc — 2.74 million hectares in 2016-17 to 2.89 million hectares and production swelled by 8.7 per cent — from 6.84 million tonnes to 7.44 million tonnes.

Both these factors helped Pakistan post a 28pc increase in rice export. According to data from the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap), it sent out a little over four million tonnes (for $2 billion) in 2018, as compared to 3.44 million tonnes for $1.6 billion in 2017. This showed a significant growth of 27.7 per cent in terms of value and 17 per cent in terms of quantity.

As far as profiling of rice is concerned, its three board categories are: basmati (long grain and aromatic), coarse (IRRI type) and a generic term called “others.” The last type comprises of hybrid, unapproved and some smuggled varieties that have crept in due to relaxed official control.

What adds to national seed confusion is the fact that the country has approved 108 varieties in the last 15 years — from 2003 to 2018. All of them are now entitled to sale. However, only 48 of them are actually released and found in the field, depending on requirements of different ecological zones. It is the Chinese hybrids which have made the difference in the last two years.

Punjab (with all kinds of basmati, super, IRRI and hybrids) leads the national production scale with a contribution of 53pc. Sindh (IRRI and hybrids) follows with 26pc, Balochistan (IRRI, hybrids) with 12pc and the remaining 9pc comes from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has many local coarse varieties for hills and plains. Punjab’s contribution may increase as hybrid varieties are now getting more space while competing crops lose economic sheen.

However, this happy rice scenario has two sore points: it is still stuck in a low yield groove and failing in international retail markets. Despite a massive influx of seeds, Pakistan has not been able to break beyond 2.56 tonnes per hectares production. The world average is 4.7 tonnes per hectare production. With high yielding seeds and recommended practices, 4 tonnes per hectare is easily achievable.

The federal Ministry for Food Security and Research took an initiative in 2015 for improving yield and tradable surpluses and enlisted the Chinese for help. For the next two years, both sides made a beeline towards each others’ fields and laboratories. It resulted in better hybrid seeds arriving in Pakistan and making a difference the very next year i.e. 2018.

Last year’s three-pronged increase was the result of the same effort: the area increased by 6.4pc, production went up by 8.7pc and average yield jumped from 825 kilogram per acre in 2010-11 to over 1,000 kilograms.

Despite this, improvements on the supply side and corresponding initiatives on the marketing side — domestic and international — is still a distant dream. Exports are largely restricted to bulk dumping in Middle Eastern markets while brand development is encouraged for domestic markets. These brands can then go beyond national borders and claim a niche in the world market.

Agreeing to the argument that domestic brand development is necessary for claiming a share in international retail markets in the future, Shahzad Malik, one of the largest rice brand owners, is not much hopeful about the prospects. “The domestic market is overwhelmingly dominated by loose sales. There is hardly any quality consciousness for brands. Since brand development is an expensive exercise — entailing a huge and sustained media presence — traders avoid it because there is no premium on it. That is why one can count domestic rice brands on fingers.

One or two brands, which have emerged on the domestic scene in the last few years, are restricted to supplying to international chains like Metro or Hyperstar. Considering investment on brand development as expensive, they take the easy and short-term route of open sales to domestic markets, he said.

“Multiply the domestic expenses on brand development with the dollars exchange rate (140 at time of reporting) and one will know why no one has dared developing international brands,” said one member of Reap, who did not want to be named. Since no Pakistani brand has a direct share in the world retail market, almost all exports are dumped in Dubai for those who have the share and can buy it for repackaging and re-export. Translating this domestic success in foreign advantage needs policy space, planning, investment and sustained production, which is the missing link so far, he pointed out.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1474525/pakistani-rice-second-to-all

Lok Sabha elections 2019: ‘Sam Pitroda can flirt with Pakistan, but India will reply bullets with mortars’, says Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s advisor Sam Pitroda for advocating peace talks with Pakistan.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS Updated: Apr 07, 2019 23:10 IST

Debabrata Mohanty 
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar

BJP Amit Shah addresses the audience in Bhubaneswar at the releases of the party manifesto ahead of the simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly in Odisha. (Arabinda Mahapatra /HT Photo)

BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s advisor Sam Pitroda for advocating peace talks with Pakistan and said India would not flirt with the neighbouring country.

At an election rally in Belgaon area of Ganjam’s Polasara assembly constituency, Shah said after the terror attack on CRPF jawans at Pulwama there was mourning. “Of the 40 jawans who were killed in Pulwama attack, 2 were from Odisha. There was anger in the country. Everyone was thinking what would happen now. But on 12th day after the Pulwama attack, Modiji did airstrike on terrorists hideouts in Pakistan,” he said.

Shah said though entire country was garlanding the photos of the CRPF martyrs and distributing sweets, there was mourning in Congress camp apart from Pakistan. “Rahul baba was crestfallen. Rahul’s team was against air strike. His guru Sam Pitroda was against the air strike and he asked what would India gain? He said we should talk to Pakistan. I want to tell Sam Pitroda that he can continue to flirt but we would reply with mortars if bullets are fired from the other side,” he said, adding apart from Modi, no other leader can keep India secure.

The BJP chief said he hears chants of Modi wherever he goes. “The people of the country have decided to make Modi PM again. The country has been divided into two factions. On one hand BJP and NDA faction has been readying to make Modi PM again. On the other side an alliance led by Rahul baba has been readying to gain power. I ask Rahul every day please tell me name of your leader, but he is not ready to tell. When I ask him who will be his leader if his alliance gets majority, he is not able to tell. How would he say when he does not know the name?” said Shah.

He also attacked chief minister Naveen Patnaik accusing his bureaucrats of embezzling money sent by the Centre. “Narendra Modi sent Rs 5.56 lakh crore to Odisha in last 5 years. All the money was gobbled up by babus of Naveen,” he alleged.

Patnaik, however, launched a counter-attack during his election campaign in Rayagada and Gajapati districts and accused the Centre of neglecting Odisha.

“All central leaders are ‘Biradi Baishnab’ (hypocrites). For the poor people, the Centre has no feeling. We have AAHAR scheme which the Centre refused to fund. The State government has been funding the programme entirely on its own. We are also running the Rs 1 a kg rice scheme. Centre refused to give rice to 30 lakh people. In addition to that, women are getting Rs 7 lakh worth health benefits under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. For drinking water, Centre is giving Rs 1000 crore but State is giving Rs 12,000 cr. For irrigation, State is giving Rs 20,000 crore and Centre is giving only Rs 250 crore,” he said.

In the 2014 LoK Sabha elections, the BJD won 20 of the state’s 21 seats while the BJP won only one.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/lok-sabha-elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019-sam-pitroda-can-flirt-with-pakistan-but-india-will-reply-bullets-with-mortars-says-amit-shah/story-nAgDXLnCyhHl7NdKnLE0nM.html

Call for adopting climate smart agriculture approach

·      RECORDER REPORT

·      APR 7TH, 2019

·      KARACHI

Climate smart agriculture requires adoption of a wide array of techniques for all crops to tackle climate change threats and enhance yields, said State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its recent report. Pakistan is ranked among the top 10 most climate vulnerable countries according to the Long Term Climate Risk Index and the agriculture sector is affected by the short-term variability and longer-term climate changes.

Rapid population growth will lead to higher caloric demand and at the same time will be accompanied by rapid urbanization. In such situations, adaptation to climate change is needed and for agriculture it means focusing on farm management practices, proper fertilizer usage and adoption of heat/drought resistant varieties.

Climate Smart Agriculture is an approach used worldwide focusing on enhancing agriculture productivity and incomes while simultaneously building resilience to climate vulnerability and changes.

According to report, climate change has led to long term reduction in rainfall in semi-arid regions of the country and in November 2018, the Pakistan Meteorological Department issued a drought warning for Sindh and Balochistan due to below normal rainfall. This was the second warning of the year.

Irrigation water flows for Oct-Jan FY19 have been 20 percent lower than the 5-year average. Shortages and erratic nature of water has already been stressed upon in previous SBP reports.

Mean temperature of the country has increased by 0.5 degree Celsius in previous 30 years. By 2060, Pakistan's mean temperature is expected to rise by 1.4 degree Celsius to 3.7 degree Celsius, higher than the world average.

The manifestations of climate changes and variability are currently witnessed in the erratic nature of rains, higher temperature and reduced water availability.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) International Model for Policy Analysis of Agriculture Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) calculates the percentage difference between climate change occurring scenario with and without climate change over the period 2020-2050 on trade, yields, cultivated area and livestock in Pakistan.

The crops at risk are wheat, maize, sugarcane and gram with the most negative impact, where yields of all crop are expected to decline. The 2050 wheat projected area is expected to decline by 2.5 percent lower under climate change as compared to no climate change. Furthermore, through crop models predictions it is concluded that yields will reduce due to high temperature in arid, semi-arid and humid zones. The temperature changes have already effected wheat-sowing season, resulting in crop sowing delays.

According to report to tackle climate change threats and enhance yields, climate smart agriculture requires adoption of a wide array of techniques for all crops, from water saving and pest management to adoption of heat/drought resistant varieties of seed.

Several practices such as alternative wet and drying (AWD) of paddies helps save up to three irrigations as compared to continuous flooding, no-till rice and wheat systems are in practice where wheat is sown without tilling the land after rice, it added. The FAO study for Pakistan highlights the main impediments to accepting the Climate Smart Agriculture practices which need to be addressed.

This includes adoption of several climates smart and yield increasing practices is low due to lack of knowledge and awareness. Extension services by the agriculture departments are still weak as many of the farmers are unaware of modern agro-chemical, crop seed varieties and adequate fertilizer use. Only 27 percent of total households surveyed in Punjab in 2014 had interacted previously with an extension agent.

In addition, lack of financing tools and credit disbursements for smart technology such as drip irrigation and high yielding seeds are low, resulting in disappointing uptake of several techniques and adequate quality seeds even when available.

https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/04/20190407462105/

This is what happens when you only eat frozen food and frozen ready meals for a week

Everyone has had a couple of days in a row where you've got lazy or simply not had time to cook a proper meal so you've just nuked a ready meal in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Of course, there are many different types of frozen food - from nasty boxed 'meals-for-one' to lovely looking healthier foods that have all the good things in you that help keep you alive and well.

But what about doing it for an entire week? Is it advisable, will it kill you, will you save money?

Molly Holt at The Mirror found out.

Day one

Full of first day excitement, I woke up early and began prepping my food for the day ahead.

And it was here, barely minutes into Monday, that I hit my first hurdle: My distinct lack of microwave.

Living in a tiny London flat means that not only do I have limited living space, but there’s also no room in my beloved but compact kitchen for the modern miracle that is the microwave: home to five minute ready meals, one-bowl recipes and of course, speedy defrosting.

Seeing as it was 6am I wasn’t quite ready to start cooking up cajun prawns and quinoa on the hob, so instead I opted for a frozen sushi box planned for tomorrow’s lunch for a fancy al-desko picnic that would hopefully have self-defrosted by lunchtime.

Breakfast once I finally reached work was a handful of frozen blueberries in a pot with some yogurt - just as good for you as the fresh variations, but considerably cheaper, at £1.50 for a 300g pack.

Frozen blueberries also have some considerable health benefits in comparison to their fresh counterparts, with three times more vitamin C when frozen (versus three-day old fresh blueberries).

With most frozen food is turned into its cold state mere hours after being sourced, freezing food not only stops food waste, but preserves nutrients and flavour.

This means that in some cases, frozen versions of fruit and vegetables can contain more nutritional benefits than fresh food which has been left in the fridge for a few days.

Paired with some good old greek yogurt, once defrosted a little, the juicy superfood turned into an almost coulis-esque state. Healthier than cereal and cheaper than a pastry en-route.

Lunch was my saviour sushi, whose flavour was of course not the best I've ever had, but by no means bad, on par with the supermarket sushi from a Tesco meal deal. And at £3 a pack, you got a lot for your money, plus it even came with chopsticks!

Healthy food doesn't necessarily mean tiny portions, or that's what I told myself anyway as I served up a rather sizeable plate of fillet steak with Slimming World chips (all the health of chopping potatoes, without having to actually chop any potatoes), frozen tenderstem broccoli and frozen peppercorn sauce, that had actual whole pink peppercorns in!

No Schwartz packet in sight, the Iceland-own Slimming World special is considerably healthier than the packet alternatives too, made from actual real life vegetables including potato and cauliflower, plus onion puree, cannellini beans and quark, instead of just pure cream and salt.

Read More

Day two

As a fan of both anything savoury and anything avocado, I was seriously excited for this breakfast.

Sadly, my frozen avocado on toast didn’t turn out to be as revolutionary as frozen steak, but it was innovative in a different way...

Lacking in flavour, difficult to defrost and with what I swear was an almost stringy texture, on toast I had to add a lot of black pepper, lemon juice, chilli flakes and olive oil in order to actually taste something.

But if you aren’t keen on guacamole for breakfast, I’ve since discovered that the hearty, healthy treat is ideal for using in smoothies.

Adding a cold, creamy texture to everything from blended protein shakes and healthy chocolate milkshakes to green juices, I’d 10/10 buy them again - I just wouldn't put them anywhere near my toast.

For lunch, me and my meal-prepped self finally got to taste the cajun prawn medley: a glorious mix of huge, pink prawns with the perfect amount of spice (and a very space-saving packet).

As for dinner, I was keen to try out some of Iceland’s newer vegan options, with their No Bull burgers (£2 for 2) causing quite a scene when they were first launched last year, to the point where they outsold all the brand's other summer launches.

While I'm a big fan of innovative, environmentally friendly developments like this, I'm sad to say these don’t add up to their meaty alternatives.

While they certainly looked the part (especially when paired with brioche buns and sweet potato fries), they didn’t taste of much really in that classic soya way, but I'd probably still buy them again, as for a carbon-footprint friendly alternative, they'll do the job.

Read More

Day three

Breakfast was a standard strawberry and banana smoothie, made with handfuls of frozen fruit straight out the freezer with a little bit of milk. A popular favourite for good reason.

After my super healthy smoothie breakfast, I went for a full curry feast lunch.

Ten times more interesting than your usual flaming hot vindaloo, I cooked up a Sri Lankan chicken curry ready meal that paired complex coconut and tomato flavours with a spicy kick, with basmati rice, naan bread and the creme de la creme of any Indian: onion bhajis.

For dinner, it was another gloriously meaty, cheese-filled carb fest: an Iceland 'Luxury beef lasagne' with side salad.

Seriously rich and indulgent, you got a lot of meat for your money ( all £2.69 of it ), including both beef and pancetta, to the point where I’m pretty sure if you served this up at a restaurant no-one would notice.

One thing I did notice though, is that instead of a black plastic tray, this one is made out of cardboard, meaning it’s fully recyclable.

Day four

Thursday lunchtime was perhaps one of the best meals of the entire challenge: a steak and roquefort Ciabatta with peppery side salad.

One of the only things I didn’t freeze during this challenge was bread, and that was purely down to space (there was a whole week’s food shop in my freezer, after all).

The first ciabatta I got for my challenge somehow managed to go mouldy in a day (it was right next to the hob, but still) and then when I went in store to replace it, they only had paninis.

Sad because the ciabatta boasts some very impressive reviews on the Iceland website but determined for my dream lunch not to be deterred by bready technicalities, I decided to plough on with the paninis instead.

Read More

Salty blue cheese, paired with buttery, warm bread, a scattering of fresh, peppery rocket and of course, the piece de la resistance: a deliciously charred, full of flavour sirloin steak.

Despite having never cooked a steak from frozen before,  I know exactly how I’ll be cooking all of them in the future. With a beautifully crispy sear but tender centre, I felt like I’d transformed into Gordon Ramsay overnight, yet all I’d really done is got lazier and utilised the freezer.

Dinner was of a similar gourmet standard: linguine with wild red shrimp in a tomato and chilli sauce .

If like me you’ve never seen these packs before, it’s essentially buying all the hard work done for you, without any cheap carbs added to bulk it out. Just throw it all in a pan and add the carbs - or veg - to go with.

While it will set you back a fairly pricey £4 a pack , the prawns are absolutely huge, paired with lobster, hake and a few other natural ingredients.

Read More

The best street food in Manchester

Day five

For anyone that’s ever attempted meal prepping, there’s one go-to breakfast we’ve surely all attempted at some point in our lives: overnight oats. This time mine was complete with huge handfuls of frozen raspberries.

For lunch I opted for a quick salad, and quickly regretted it, as being an avid salad fan, I was looking forward to tucking into a healthy chicken and sweetcorn extravanganza.

Only once it was all prepared (using sliced chicken fried straight from the freezer), it left a lot to the imagination. When people tell me they don't like salads, it's probably because they're eating these ones. Tasteless, wet lettuce, with little variation and unsurprisingly, very little flavour.

But it was at dinner, just before passing out on the sofa, that I began to get some serious revelations about frozen food - and how wrong I’d been doing it for all these years.

First off, let me just say that I am far from shy about food. There’s nothing I wont eat, including most things days after their use-by date, and I can't say I've ever ensured my rice is piping hot before I've devoured it. 

But if there’s one thing I’ve never done when it comes to braving food, it’s cooking certain fish and meet straight from the freezer. Beef? Yes. Sea bass and raw chicken? Never.

Taking instructions from the back of the packet, I popped my two fancy Mediterranean butterflied sea bass fillets (£5.50) onto a tray with some soy sauce and frozen ginger, and a broccoli, green bean and pea vegetable medley into a pan.

In under ten minutes, everything was ready. And if I had better presentation skills, it probably would have looked straight out of a restaurant.

Day six

Slightly hungover, this is the breakfast I’d been waiting for all week. Aware that most Brits have already sampled the British masterpiece that is a sausage sandwich, I opted to try out a very different kind of the breakfast classic: a frozen Slimming World one.

Using Iceland’s Slimming World Syn Free sausages, you can certainly discern the difference, with the SW-friendly sausages tasting more taut and much less juicy, but in some ways, weirdly better than your usual banger.

For lunch, I opted for a Slimming World special chicken and vegetable soup paired with Iceland’s ‘luxury’ flat breads.

Iceland’s diet range is one of the store’s most popular choices amongst customers, with everything from low-calorie chips and sausages to ready meals.

As for the soup? Well I’ve certainly had worse. Decent for a diet soup in terms of taste and texture, the only downside was the overpowering taste of cauliflower. Why?!

Dinner was similarly healthy, heading into Gwenyth Paltrow territory with a divine salmon fillet, quinoa and vegetables.

Day seven

Feeling pretty smug with myself for not finding a single thing I didn’t detest in my entire week on frozen, I began cooking my final breakfast: frozen mushrooms and scrambled eggs on toast... And they never even made it onto the plate.

Maybe it was me, or I cooked them wrong, but I can still smell the wet stench of them in my nose weeks later.

After picking one out the pan with a fork and tasting a soggy, limp and chewy hunk of mass, it turns out mushrooms are one of the only things you're better off not freezing. Plus, being a fungus, the standard ones take a while to go off in the first place. Thankfully, my eggs was unscathed, so I didn't go hungry.

Lunch was a £2.69 ready meal crab linguine, with lots of al dente pasta and a generous serving of chilli, but a bit stingy on the crabmeat, tomatoes and sauce for my liking.

For the final meal, I decided to take on the biggest challenge of them all: a completely frozen sunday lunch, complete with chicken, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, lots of vegetables and gravy.

I used a butter basted chicken breast joint, roast potatoes, Slimming World vegetable gravy, petit pois , fancy green bean and carrot bundles and frozen cauliflower cheese. Yes really.

Having never even heard of frozen bags of cauliflower cheese before let alone cooked it, I was very dubious of this huge £1.75 bag, but it turns out, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Quick to cook and insanely creamy, I will hands down be buying this again, whether it's to easily add as a side to my roast dinner, or use as a base for a bigger main dish, before adding extra cheese and bacon.

Another favourite was the fancy carrot and green bean bundles, which certainly look the part, despite only setting you back £1.

Thoughts? Did it compare to normal life?

Bar eggs, yogurt and fresh salad food (although Iceland do sell all of these), there's really not much that you can't freeze - as long as you have a freezer big enough.

And while you're at it with the extra freezer, ensure you've got a microwave too, as although most things can be eaten straight from frozen (and i'll be doing all my steaks that way from now on), not everything can, and it could also save you a fair bit of time.

While meal planning is always a great way to save money and eat healthier, it's equally as useful if you're eating most things straight from the freezer, so you don't end up with a frozen tapas of all the bits left in the bottom drawer.

The big difference between meal planning when cooking straight from frozen and the standard way though is that if you need to skip a meal for whatever reason, there's no chance of it going off.

Most of all though, I loved the perfect portion sizes, and the ability to have a salmon fillet for dinner without worrying about what I'll do with the other pieces in the packet. Because nothing puts you off your favourite foods more than eating it every day for a week straight...

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https://theworldnews.net/gb-news/this-is-what-happens-when-you-only-eat-frozen-food-and-frozen-ready-meals-for-a-week

I only ate frozen food for a week and this is what happened

Frozen food is often better for both our bank balance and food waste, so we spent an entire week only eating things from the freezer. And came to a surprising conclusion...

This article contains affiliate links, we may receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

·       COMMENTS

By

Molly Holt

·       11:48, 8 APR 2019

·       UPDATED13:39, 8 APR 2019

From roast dinners, to steak sandwiches to vegan burgers - here's how we got on

While we all want to reduce our food waste, sometimes using up everything we’ve got is easier said than done, with rogue salad bags, leftover slices of bread and that last chicken breast from the multipack still regrettably finding their way into the bin now and again.

Whether you’re in it to save money , save the planet - or both - opting for the frozen versions of food is often touted as a great way of only using what you need and saving the rest for next time, whenever that may be.

But does eating everything out of the freezer mean compromising on taste? And can we still be healthy without consisting solely on chicken nuggets every meal?

With the frozen food market on the rise, we put it to the test, as I (a keen cook and champion of eating good food) challenged myself to an entire week of only eating food from freezer-favourite supermarket Iceland for breakfast, lunch and dinner to see how it compared.

Here’s how I got on...

Day one

Fitting my entire weekly shop in the freezer was like a game of Jenga

Full of first day excitement, I woke up early and began prepping my food for the day ahead. And it was here, barely minutes into Monday, that I hit my first hurdle: My distinct lack of microwave.

Living in a tiny London flat means that not only do I have limited living space, but there’s also no room in my beloved but compact kitchen for the modern miracle that is the microwave: home to five minute ready meals, one-bowl recipes and of course, speedy defrosting.

From fish, to soup, to steak, it was all a little overwhelming

Seeing as it was 6am I wasn’t quite ready to start cooking up cajun prawns and quinoa on the hob, so instead I opted for a frozen sushi box planned for tomorrow’s lunch for a fancy al-desko picnic that would hopefully have self-defrosted by lunchtime.

Breakfast once I finally reached work was a handful of frozen blueberries in a pot with some yogurt - just as good for you as the fresh variations, but considerably cheaper, at £1.50 for a 300g pack.

Frozen blueberries also have some considerable health benefits in comparison to their fresh counterparts, with three times more vitamin C when frozen (versus three-day old fresh blueberries).

With most frozen food is turned into its cold state mere hours after being sourced, freezing food not only stops food waste, but preserves nutrients and flavour. This means that in some cases, frozen versions of fruit and vegetables can contain more nutritional benefits than fresh food which has been left in the fridge for a few days.

I swear the berries were sweeter than usual

Paired with some good old greek yogurt, once defrosted a little, the juicy superfood turned into an almost coulis-esque state. Healthier than cereal and cheaper than a pastry en-route.

Lunch was my saviour sushi, whose flavour was of course not the best I've ever had, but by no means bad, on par with the supermarket sushi from a Tesco meal deal. And at £3 a pack, you got a lot for your money, plus it even came with chopsticks!

Iceland is selling £10 big meat bundles with enough food to feed 16 people

Healthy food doesn't necessarily mean tiny portions, or that's what I told myself anyway as I served up a rather sizeable plate of fillet steak with Slimming World chips (all the health of chopping potatoes, without having to actually chop any potatoes), frozen tenderstem broccoli and frozen peppercorn sauce, that had actual whole pink peppercorns in!

Believe it or not, all this - including the broccoli - came straight out the freezer

No Schwartz packet in sight, the Iceland-own Slimming World special is considerably healthier than the packet alternatives too, made from actual real life vegetables including potato and cauliflower, plus onion puree, cannellini beans and quark, instead of just pure cream and salt.

Clearly easily pleased, I couldn't believe the peppercorn sauce had actual pink peppercorns in

Day two

As a fan of both anything savoury and anything avocado, I was seriously excited for this breakfast.

Sadly, my frozen avocado on toast didn’t turn out to be as revolutionary as frozen steak, but it was innovative in a different way...

Lacking in flavour, difficult to defrost and with what I swear was an almost stringy texture, on toast I had to add a lot of black pepper, lemon juice, chilli flakes and olive oil in order to actually taste something.

Avocado on toast - a millennial classic, that doesn't freeze well

But if you aren’t keen on guacamole for breakfast, I’ve since discovered that the hearty, healthy treat is ideal for using in smoothies.

Adding a cold, creamy texture to everything from blended protein shakes and healthy chocolate milkshakes to green juices, I’d 10/10 buy them again - I just wouldn't put them anywhere near my toast.

This pack was very handy and felt super healthy

I only ate food from Deliveroo for a week and lost weight - here's what happened

For lunch, me and my meal-prepped self finally got to taste the cajun prawn medley: a glorious mix of huge, pink prawns with the perfect amount of spice (and a very space-saving packet).

As for dinner, I was keen to try out some of Iceland’s newer vegan options, with their No Bull burgers (£2 for 2) causing quite a scene when they were first launched last year, to the point where they outsold all the brand's other summer launches.

The "bleeding" vegan burgers (if you can look past the dirty tin foil... sorry)

While I'm a big fan of innovative, environmentally friendly developments like this, I'm sad to say these don’t add up to their meaty alternatives.

While they certainly looked the part (especially when paired with brioche buns and sweet potato fries ), they didn’t taste of much really in that classic soya way, but I'd probably still buy them again, as for a carbon-footprint friendly alternative, they'll do the job.

·      

Iceland are selling a huge 1.8kg leg of lamb for a tenner this Easter

 

My presentation skills need some work

A week on only eating frozen food - what I ate

Day One

·       Breakfast: Blueberries with yogurt

·       Lunch: Sushi

·       Dinner: Steak with Slimming World Chips or Chunky Chips Served with Tenderstem and Peppercorn Sauce

Day Two

·       Breakfast: Avocado on toast

·       Lunch: Cajun Prawns with brown rice and quinoa

·       Dinner: No Bull Burger served with side salad and sweet potato fries

Day Three

·       Breakfast: Banana and strawberry smoothie

·       Lunch: Sri Lanka chicken curry with naan bread, pilau rice and onion bhajis

·       Dinner: Luxury beef lasagne with side salad

Day Four

·       Breakfast: Berries and yogurt

·       Lunch: Steak & Roquefort Ciabatta with Peppery Side Salad

·       Dinner: Red shrimp with chilli and spaghetti

Day Five

·       Breakfast: Overnight oats with raspberries

·       Lunch: Chicken and sweetcorn salad

·       Dinner: Seabass with green beans, soy sauce and ginger

Day Six

·       Breakfast: Sausages on toast

·       Lunch: Slimming World Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Flatbreads

·       Dinner: Light Smoked Salmon with Zesty Quinoa

Day Seven

·       Breakfast: Mushroom & poached egg on toast

·       Lunch: Luxury crab linguine

·       Dinner: Chicken roast dinner

Day three

Breakfast was a standard strawberry and banana smoothie, made with handfuls of frozen fruit straight out the freezer with a little bit of milk. A popular favourite for good reason.

After my super healthy smoothie breakfast, I went for a full curry feast lunch.

A lot of rice, and very little chicken. But very, very tasty

Ten times more interesting than your usual flaming hot vindaloo, I cooked up a Sri Lankan chicken curry ready meal that paired complex coconut and tomato flavours with a spicy kick, with basmati rice, naan bread and the creme de la creme of any Indian: onion bhajis.

Keep it in the freezer for when the cravings kick in

For dinner, it was another gloriously meaty, cheese-filled carb fest: an Iceland 'Luxury beef lasagne' with side salad.

Seriously rich and indulgent, you got a lot of meat for your money ( all £2.69 of it ), including both beef and pancetta, to the point where I’m pretty sure if you served this up at a restaurant no-one would notice.

I was very impressed with the pancetta lasagne

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One thing I did notice though, is that instead of a black plastic tray, this one is made out of cardboard, meaning it’s fully recyclable.

Day four

Thursday lunchtime was perhaps one of the best meals of the entire challenge: a steak and roquefort Ciabatta with peppery side salad.

I'll be cooking all my steaks from frozen now on

One of the only things I didn’t freeze during this challenge was bread, and that was purely down to space (there was a whole week’s food shop in my freezer, after all).

The first ciabatta I got for my challenge somehow managed to go mouldy in a day (it was right next to the hob, but still) and then when I went in store to replace it, they only had paninis.

Sad because the ciabatta boasts some very impressive reviews on the Iceland website but determined for my dream lunch not to be deterred by bready technicalities, I decided to plough on with the paninis instead.

It might not look the best, but I'd happily eat this again and again

Salty blue cheese, paired with buttery, warm bread, a scattering of fresh, peppery rocket and of course, the piece de la resistance: a deliciously charred, full of flavour sirloin steak.

Despite having never cooked a steak from frozen before,  I know exactly how I’ll be cooking all of them in the future. With a beautifully crispy sear but tender centre, I felt like I’d transformed into Gordon Ramsay overnight, yet all I’d really done is got lazier and utilised the freezer.

You don't pay for cheap carbs with these packs - just bulk it out yourself

Super-savvy mum reveals the secrets of her healthy, 24p family meals

Dinner was of a similar gourmet standard: linguine with wild red shrimp in a tomato and chilli sauce .

If like me you’ve never seen these packs before, it’s essentially buying all the hard work done for you, without any cheap carbs added to bulk it out. Just throw it all in a pan and add the carbs - or veg - to go with.

It was a solid 10 from me

While it will set you back a fairly pricey £4 a pack , the prawns are absolutely huge, paired with lobster, hake and a few other natural ingredients.

Day five

For anyone that’s ever attempted meal prepping, there’s one go-to breakfast we’ve surely all attempted at some point in our lives: overnight oats. This time mine was complete with huge handfuls of frozen raspberries.

Overnight oats are super cheap, easy and healthy - then amp it up with some frozen berries

For lunch I opted for a quick salad, and quickly regretted it, as being an avid salad fan, I was looking forward to tucking into a healthy chicken and sweetcorn extravanganza.

Only once it was all prepared (using sliced chicken fried straight from the freezer), it left a lot to the imagination. When people tell me they don't like salads, it's probably because they're eating these ones. Tasteless, wet lettuce, with little variation and unsurprisingly, very little flavour.

Fried chicken breast and a basic salad bowl is hard to get excited about

But it was at dinner, just before passing out on the sofa, that I began to get some serious revelations about frozen food - and how wrong I’d been doing it for all these years.

First off, let me just say that I am far from shy about food. There’s nothing I wont eat, including most things days after their use-by date, and I can't say I've ever ensured my rice is piping hot before I've devoured it. 

But if there’s one thing I’ve never done when it comes to braving food, it’s cooking certain fish and meet straight from the freezer. Beef? Yes. Sea bass and raw chicken? Never.

One of my favourite meals of the lot, this was so quick and easy to whip up

·       Best and worst Lidl own-brand foods revealed - rated by the shoppers themselves

Taking instructions from the back of the packet, I popped my two fancy Mediterranean butterflied sea bass fillets (£5.50) onto a tray with some soy sauce and frozen ginger, and a broccoli, green bean and pea vegetable medley into a pan.

In under ten minutes, everything was ready. And if I had better presentation skills, it probably would have looked straight out of a restaurant.

Day six

Slightly hungover, this is the breakfast I’d been waiting for all week. Aware that most Brits have already sampled the British masterpiece that is a sausage sandwich, I opted to try out a very different kind of the breakfast classic: a frozen Slimming World one.

I was a huge fan of the Slimming World sausages

Using Iceland’s Slimming World Syn Free sausages, you can certainly discern the difference, with the SW-friendly sausages tasting more taut and much less juicy, but in some ways, weirdly better than your usual banger.

For lunch, I opted for a Slimming World special chicken and vegetable souppaired with Iceland’s ‘luxury’ flat breads.

The diet soup was a bit too cauliflowery for me

Iceland’s diet range is one of the store’s most popular choices amongst customers, with everything from low-calorie chips and sausages to ready meals.

As for the soup? Well I’ve certainly had worse. Decent for a diet soup in terms of taste and texture, the only downside was the overpowering taste of cauliflower. Why?!

Dinner was similarly healthy, heading into Gwenyth Paltrow territory with a divine salmon fillet, quinoa and vegetables.

Another healthy fish dish that was super easy to cook up in no time at all

Day seven

Feeling pretty smug with myself for not finding a single thing I didn’t detest in my entire week on frozen, I began cooking my final breakfast: frozen mushrooms and scrambled eggs on toast... And they never even made it onto the plate.

Inoffensive scrambled eggs on toast - minus the frozen mushrooms which went straight in the bin

Maybe it was me, or I cooked them wrong, but I can still smell the wet stench of them in my nose weeks later.

After picking one out the pan with a fork and tasting a soggy, limp and chewy hunk of mass, it turns out mushrooms are one of the only things you're better off not freezing. Plus, being a fungus, the standard ones take a while to go off in the first place. Thankfully, my eggs was unscathed, so I didn't go hungry.

Lunch was a £2.69 ready meal crab linguine, with lots of al dente pasta and a generous serving of chilli, but a bit stingy on the crabmeat, tomatoes and sauce for my liking.

This was okay, but nothing special

Pringles now being made with rice rather than potatoes - for a very good reason

For the final meal, I decided to take on the biggest challenge of them all: a completely frozen sunday lunch, complete with chicken, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, lots of vegetables and gravy.

I used a butter basted chicken breast joint, roast potatoes, Slimming World vegetable gravy, petit pois , fancy green bean and carrot bundles and frozen cauliflower cheese. Yes really.

Who knew you could cook an entire roast dinner from the freezer?

Having never even heard of frozen bags of cauliflower cheese before let alone cooked it, I was very dubious of this huge £1.75 bag, but it turns out, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Quick to cook and insanely creamy, I will hands down be buying this again, whether it's to easily add as a side to my roast dinner, or use as a base for a bigger main dish, before adding extra cheese and bacon.

The carrot bundles look so fancy

Another favourite was the fancy carrot and green bean bundles, which certainly look the part, despite only setting you back £1.

Food  Challenges

Thoughts? Did it compare to normal life?

Bar eggs, yogurt and fresh salad food (although Iceland do sell all of these), there's really not much that you can't freeze - as long as you have a freezer big enough.

And while you're at it with the extra freezer, ensure you've got a microwave too, as although most things can be eaten straight from frozen (and i'll be doing all my steaks that way from now on), not everything can, and it could also save you a fair bit of time.

While meal planning is always a great way to save money and eat healthier, it's equally as useful if you're eating most things straight from the freezer, so you don't end up with a frozen tapas of all the bits left in the bottom drawer.

The big difference between meal planning when cooking straight from frozen and the standard way though is that if you need to skip a meal for whatever reason, there's no chance of it going off.

Most of all though, I loved the perfect portion sizes, and the ability to have a salmon fillet for dinner without worrying about what I'll do with the other pieces in the packet. Because nothing puts you off

Rice tariff IRR signed — NEDA

BY EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

APRIL 07, 2019

RICE TARIFF IRR SIGNED — NEDA

THE implementing rules and regulations (IRR), of Republic Act (RA) 11203, or the “Rice Tariffication Act,” has been signed and adopted for immediate implementation, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

The final draft of the IRR was signed by officials of the Departments of Agriculture, Budget and Management and NEDA.

The government had said that rice tariffication would bring down prices of the staple.

“Among the salient provisions in the IRR are guidelines on the President’s powers and the enforcement of safeguard measures in case of emergency situations like the sudden rise and drop in domestic prices,” NEDA said in a statement.

“The IRR likewise provides guidance on the reorganization of the NFA (National Food Authority), following the repeal of its regulatory powers and the change of its functions to maintenance and management of the country’s buffer stocks,” it added.

The Rice Trade Liberalization Act liberalizes the importation, exportation, and trading of rice. The law also lifts the quantitative import restriction on rice.

The law allows private traders to apply for unlimited importation of the grain as long as they secure the necessary permits and pay the proper duties, set at 35 percent for rice sourced from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) neighbors. A 40-percent tariff will be levied on shipments sourced from non-Asean countries within the minimum access volume of 350,000 MT, going up to 180 percent for out-quota imports.

RA11203 also calls for the establishment of the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which will be utilized to provide different forms of assistance to the country’s rice farmers.

“We celebrate this milestone for the agriculture sector. All concerned agencies, including NEDA, are duty bound to implement this historic law. In moving forward, we all have the long-term goal of modernizing the rice industry and improving the lives of all Filipinos, especially farmers, in our minds,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.

https://www.manilatimes.net/rice-tariff-irr-signed-neda/536497/

Rice market: Patterns of Thailand, Vietnam exports

By: Rolando T. Dy - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:59 AM April 08, 2019

2018 was an exacting time in the Philippines. There was a rice “crisis.” The government buffer stock agency—the National Food Authority (NFA)—failed in its mandate to import and buy palay. Its rice inventory as early as July 2017 was already nil. Inflation ensued in 2018. The government inflation target of 2 to 4 percent was breached. For the poor, where rice is a large part of household budget, it was a miserable year.

As a result of the crisis, the NFA was transferred to the Department of Agriculture from the Office of the President. The Rice Tariffication Act was passed with rice tariff from Asean set at 35 percent. Hopefully, rice price inflation will be tamed.

Meanwhile, the Asian rice market was relatively stable with prices of various white rice grades hovering around $395 to $400 per ton, f.o.b. Thailand.

There are perennial fears from local quarters that since the world surplus is small, the Philippines must strive for self-sufficiency.

The world rice market has been in the order of 45 million tons a year, or about 9 percent of global rice production. It has been dominated by a few countries. There are about 12 countries exporting 500,000 tons a year or more. The key players are India, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, Pakistan, Myanmar, Cambodia and China, all selling over 1 million tons.

Asean countries, specifically Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia, supply about half (23 million tons) to the world market (USDA). Interestingly, other Asean nations—the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia—import about four million tons, or a third of the Asean surplus. Asean exported some 6 million tons to Africa. China is a net importer of about 2.8 million tons in 2017.

The Philippines, as part of the Asean rice stock facility, is safe from future supply volatility, allaying fears from the pessimists. This facility is covered by the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve agreement.

Thai exports are highly diversified. They are mostly white rice (10 percent brokens or less), hom mali and parboiled compared to mostly 25 percent broken rice in the Philippines. The low-priced 25-35 percent broken and other rice accounted for 15 percent, high-grade for 37 percent and parboiled for 25 percent. Note: Parboiled rice has been partially boiled in the husk. Parboiled white rice is 80 percent nutritionally similar to brown rice.

Meanwhile, Vietnam in early 2018 exported more high-grade white rice, jasmine and glutinous (nearly 80 percent). There was very little low-grade rice (25 percent broken).

What do the shifts to higher grades and fancy varieties mean?

First, the rice exporters are upgrading their mills to produce high-priced grades.

Second, the diversification to high value rice like Thai hom mali and Vietnam jasmine means higher margins for farmers and better export prices.

Third, the Philippines cannot continue to pursue importing low-grade rice. Supply is getting scarce. Insisting on lower grades means that Thai or Vietnamese suppliers will mix higher grades with broken rice entailing added costs. And the price differentials with higher grades do not appear significant. Filipino consumers are willing to pay a little more (less than P1 per kilo) for better quality rice.

As of early January 2019, Thai export prices (spot) were at $1,194 per ton (100 percent) for hom mali, $777 per ton for jasmine, $410 per ton for white rice (five percent broken) and $402 per ton for white rice (25 percent broken). Vietnam rice has a discount of about two to three percent.

Fourth, the Philippines can be a niche exporter of high-priced heirloom rice like the Cordillera red rice, Mindanao black rice and SL premium rice.

Finally, the fear of massive price surges in the world market due to “thin” surplus is unfounded. The Asean has huge surplus to address Philippine supply shortages.

Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/268238/rice-market-patterns-of-thailand-vietnam-exports#ixzz5kaiN5DMW
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

https://business.inquirer.net/268238/rice-market-patterns-of-thailand-vietnam-exports

Don’t set ceiling for rice prices, govt told

By Cai Ordinario

April 8, 2019

Last updated on April 8th, 2019 at 01:29 am

LOCAL economists have cautioned the government against setting a floor or ceiling price for rice prices under a post-Quantitative Restriction (QR) regime.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow Roehlano Briones told the BusinessMirror over the weekend that this was a “losing proposition” for the government.

“This is a losing proposition and prone to corruption. The National Food Authority [NFA] must align with market prices,” Briones said.

STRIVE/SIKAP Foundation Inc. Founding President and Chairman Leonardo A. Gonzales said this contradicts the law of demand and supply, and is still tantamount to a subsidy.

Gonzales said if the government wants to subsidize farmers, it would be better to do so through a cash transfer. He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) can give cash transfers to farmers, a subsidy that is still allowed under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“It’s the same old thing where you protect the farmers. Let them bite the bullet and let them do other alternatives where they can derive their incomes from. But this is not being promoted. Now, if you want a support price, let DSWD support the farmers as a cash transfer payment. That’s a subsidy,” Gonzales said.

“Look at the GATT provision, you are allowed to provide subsidy so long as it does not exceed 10 percent of the gross value of the tradable good. How much is the value of total rice transaction? That’s equivalent to billions. Ten percent of that is under de minimis principle. We just don’t have the budget to do that,” he explained.

Meanwhile, under the Rule 8.3.2 of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the rice trade liberalization (RTL) law, NFA will be allowed to sell and distribute its stocks in support of disaster relief programs or to “dispose stocks as necessary before the quality of rice deteriorates/become unacceptable/unsafe.”

National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Regional Development Office Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla explained that the disposal of these stocks will be done before the stocks are deemed unfit for human consumption.

Sombilla said this will be sold at market prices which the government hopes to be around P32 to P34 per kilo. She added that the stocks will be distributed to vulnerable areas, even at a loss to the government.

“We also will preposition stocks in vulnerable areas and if needed to lower prices in those areas at government loss, it will still be a good cause because it would have gone to those [who] would need it most. The final scheme will be based on the results of a study,” Sombilla said.

Ateneo EagleWatch Senior Fellow Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. said this could have been seen more as a compromise to appease those who do not favor passage of the RTL.

Lanzona said this provision “creates an illusion” that the government is still in control of the situation, despite the promotion of free trade when it comes to rice importation in the post-QR regime.

“However, without substantial support, the NFA will have no way of replacing market forces. In the end, this measure will be ineffective and will not cause any significant changes in the market,” Lanzona said.

Gonzales said maintaining buffer stocks is expensive and difficult to maintain, especially if the government is not precise in making estimates on the timing of releasing and obtaining stocks.

He said Indonesia, for one, experienced difficulty which led to the spoilage of its stocks. Gonzales said authorities in Indonesia failed to predict the shelf life of their stocks.

Given the history of the Philippine government, Gonzales feared that the same thing could happen to the country’s buffer stock or a glut in market prices. He said the country’s ill-timed importation of stocks coincided with the harvest season which depressed rice prices.

“So the question is, can NFA now do a [better] job than before because its functions have been simplified? But they have a [bad] history, so now, what are the safeguards?” Gonzales said.

Neda said part of the key provisions of the IRR includes a study to be commissioned by the NFA Council chaired by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to determine NFA’s optimal buffer stock for emergency and relief purposes.

Prior to the completion of the study, the NFA will continue to maintain its current buffer stock level ranging from 15 to 30 days based on a daily national rice consumption of 32,593 metric tons per day.

The unused grain rice stocks will be unloaded and sold in the domestic market at the prevailing market price or even at a slightly lower rate as long as this would cover storage logistics costs.

The IRR also details the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and how the P10-billion fund from the General Appropriations Act will be transferred directly to implementing agencies.

Similarly, the document also sets the guidelines on the allocation of the tariff revenues in excess of P10 billion. This will be tapped to provide direct financial assistance to rice farmers adversely affected by the new rice import regime.

While the IRR takes effect 15 days after its publication, self-executing provisions of the law are now being enforced.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/04/08/dont-set-ceiling-for-rice-prices-govt-told/

Rice prices fall again after signing of new tariffication law’s IRR

April 8, 2019 | 12:05 am

A worker carrying rice at a Quezon City NFA warehouse. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

THE average farmgate price of palay, or unmilled rice, fell 0.47% week-on-week to P18.87 per kilogram in the fourth week of March, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), continuing to decline as the Rice Tariffication Law moved forward to full implementation.

The law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) were signed last week, operationalizing the law which leaves rice importation to the private sector, a practice which promises to significantly bring down retail prices for the staple in the wake of the political outcry from last year’s inflation crisis.

The average wholesale price of well-milled rice fell 0.12% from a week earlier to P40.61 per kg. The average retail price fell 0.25% to P44.22.

The average wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell 0.83% week-on-week to P36.87 per kg. The average retail price fell 0.69% to P40.02.

Prices for both yellow and white corn grain, used in both animal feed and food products, rose during the fourth week of March.

The average farmgate price of yellow corn grain rose 0.29% week-on-week to P13.87 per kg.

The average wholesale price for yellow corn grain rose 0.59% week-on-week to P18.61 per kg. The average retail price rose 0.33% to P24.08.

The average farmgate price of white corn grain rose 1.06% week-on-week to P15.29 per kg. The average wholesale price rose 2.26% to P22.66, while the average retail price rose 1.39% to P29.12. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

https://www.bworldonline.com/rice-prices-fall-again-after-signing-of-new-tariffication-laws-irr/

PH targets 96% rice self-sufficiency by 2020

UNTV News and Rescue

UNTV News8 April 2019

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is eyeing to achieve 96 per cent rice self-sufficiency in the country by the year 2020.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said the agency needs to make some adjustments to comply with the provisions of the newly enforced Rice Tariffication Law which has eased rice importation in the country.

According to Piñol, the country was able to reach about 19.28 million metric tons of palay production in 2017 or equivalent to 93% of its target.

This slowed down, however, in 2018 due to a number of tropical cyclones that affected the country’s agriculture.

This year, the agency projects an increase of more than 20 million metric tons in production. He added that if the succeeding harvests improve, the country will be able to reach its 96% rice self-sufficiency target in 2020.

By that time, Secretary Piñol said the agriculture sector will be able to fully benefit from the government’s financial assistance particularly from the P10B monthly subsidy under the Rice Competitiveness and Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

The government will also launch a fertilizer loan program for local farmers to avail.

“But the dramatic increase is expected in 2020 when we shall have implemented the RCEF (Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund) at saka na -implement natin itong national fertilizer support program [and the national fertilizer support program is implemented],” the Secretary assured.

Secretary Piñol explained, however, that the country still fell short of its target of 100% rice self-sufficiency because the government was not able to provide for its request of assistance for agriculture programs since the agency asked for them in 2016.

“We ask for a P50 billion budget over the next 3 years para suportahan ang rice industry (but) on the contrary ay nabawasan pa ang budget ng DA. So iyon talaga ang dahilan [We ask for a P50 billion budget over the next 3 years to support the rice industry but on the contrary DA’s budget was instead reduced. So that’s the main reason], he said.

Meanwhile, Secretary Piñol assured that the P27/kg rice of the National Food Authority (NFA) will remain available in local markets even after the agency’s stocks of imported rice have been consumed.

“Ganun pa rin ang magiging presyo P27 (per kilo) and iyon ang commitment ni Presidente [The price will remain at P27 per kilogram. That’s the commitment of our President] as part of his efforts to really make low-cost price available to the consumers,” he concluded. – Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rey Pelayo)

The post PH targets 96% rice self-sufficiency by 2020 appeared first on UNTV News.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/ph-targets-96-rice-self-090534306.html

Southern region plans to grow other crops on low-yield rice fields

The Mekong Delta and the south-eastern region plan to grow other crops on more than 126,300ha of low-yield rice fields this year as a means of adapting to climate change and improving farmers’ incomes.

Farmers grow chilli in rice fields in Tien Giang Province’s Cho Gao District.

Of the figure, 124,526ha are in the delta, according to the Plant Cultivation Department.

Farmers will rotate rice and other crops in the same fields or stop growing rice completely and grow only other crops.

In the 2018 -2019 winter-spring rice crop farmers switched to other crops on 32,840ha of rice fields in the southern region, including 30,990ha in the delta.

They grew corn, peanut, soybean, sesame, vegetables, orange, grapefruit, mango, and dragon fruit.

The winter-spring rice crop is the main one in the delta, the country’s rice granary, so the rate of switching to other crops was not high in 2018-2019 winter-spring.

The rate will be higher in the summer – autumn and autumn – winter crops this year.

The switch helps save water amid the more frequent droughts, improve soil fertility and prevent diseases, according to the department.

It also diversifies agricultural products and fetches farmers higher incomes.

But the switch faces difficulties such as the small scale and scattered nature of farms making the conversion and lack of irrigation facilities.

But the lack of tie-ups between farmers making the switch and buyers means there are no guaranteed outlets for their crops.  

The area of low-yield rice fields which have been turned into fruit orchards is increasing rapidly in the delta since fruits offer higher incomes.

In Tien Giang province, the delta’s largest fruit producer, authorities have been encouraging farmers to turn their low-yield rice fields in areas prone to saltwater intrusion and drought to grow fruits and other crops.

Farmers in Tien Giang who grow both vegetables and rice in their fields can earn 3.7 – 5.8 times the money they do from only rice, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.  

Farmers giving up rice and growing only other crops earn 71-300 million VND (3,060-12,930 USD) per hectare annually, it added.

Nearly 57,000ha of rice fields have been converted in the province since 2013.-VNS

https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/221499/southern-region-plans-to-grow-other-crops-on-low-yield-rice-fields.html

Sri Lanka celebrates year's rice harvest at 'New Rice Festival'
Sun, Apr 7, 2019, 11:09 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Apr 07, Colombo: The national "Aluth Sahal Mangalyaya" (New Rice Festival), the annual ritual of dedicating the year's harvest to the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura was held today under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The National Ceremony of the New Rice Festival organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Services Development was held for the 52nd time this year.

Following the religious rituals at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the President offered the first portion of the toxin-free rice threshed from the first harvest of paddy in the Maha Season to the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi.

The farmers in the Rajarata then offered the first portion of their harvest of the Maha Season wishing for rains on time for the success of their cultivations.

The traditional offering of Bees Honey during the festival took place under the patronage of leader of the Indigenous people Uruwarige Wanni Yala Eththo.

The event was organized under the auspices of Chief Incumbent of Atamasthanaya Venerable Pallegama Siri Nivasa Nayaka Thero.

Speaking at the occasion, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that this is part of Sinhala civilization. He said that the life depended on a successful harvest. Paddy was grown using water collected in small tanks built in villages. It was ritual to offer the first portion of a successful harvest to Gods. After the arrival of Arahat Mahinda Thera that custom was practiced near the Ruwanweli Seya.

He noted that many of these areas could not be cultivated due to the drought. "However this time we have received a bountiful harvest of more than 3 million metric tons of paddy," the Premier said.

"This is the highest harvest during a season received by the country and we should both thank the Gods and the farmers for that."

However the Prime Minister cautioned that the farmers should be able to face the climate change that is taking place.

The Premier pointed out that modern methods should be used and ways should be explored to increase income by selling the produce. He said that the government has paid its attention on modernizing paddy cultivation and also to retain young generation with farming. Chief Monk of Ruwanweli Chaithyarmaya Venerable Pallegama Hemarathana Thera, the Maha Sangha, North Central Province Governor Sarath Ekanayake and a large group of people were present at the ceremony.

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/Apr07_1554658759CH.php

Local rice production now 8m tons, not 4m tons – RIFAN

By . . | Published Date Apr 7, 2019 3:22 AM

 Nigeria (RIFAN) has put the current statistic of rice production at eight million tonnes annually.

President of RIFAN, Aminu Goronyo, said Nigeria has no option than to place total ban on rice importation before the end of this year.

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“We have two cropping seasons in rice production and in each season we produce an average of four million tonnes, which will give you eight million per annum,” he said.

The challenge is to see how the local rice becomes affordable to every Nigerian -something that Goronyo said they are working on in collaboration with the Federal Government.

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“We have enough paddies on the ground the same thing with rice millers – they have more than enough in stock – which means that we don’t need to import paddy or milled rice,” said Goronyo.

But for now, they have one thing to seriously worry about – smuggling – and the Federal Government must worry, but most importantly, tackle the menace too.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/local-rice-production-now-8m-tons-not-4m-tons-rifan.html

Egypt's GASC buys 114,000 tonnes of chinese rice in tender: trade

The rice was purchased from Hanalico at $405 a tonne

By Maha El Dahan and Nadine Awadallah, Reuters News

DUBAI, April 7 (Reuters) - Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodites (GASC), bought 114,000 tonnes of Chinese rice in a tender, traders and a GASC document showed.

The rice was purchased from Hanalico at $405 a tonne, the document showed.

(Reporting by Maha El Dahan in Dubai and Nadine Awadallah in Cairo Editing by David Goodman) ((Hadeel.AlSayegh@thomsonreuters.com; +971566883310;))

https://www.zawya.com/mena/en/markets/story/Egypts_GASC_buys_114000_tonnes_of_chinese_rice_in_tender_trade-TR20190407nD5N20J01EX2/

Sri Lanka- Ranil proposes following Philippines model for rice farming

4/7/2019 9:40:26 AM

(MENAFN - Colombo Gazette) While President Maithripala Sirisena had looked to follow the Philippines in his ‘war on drugs' Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today proposed following the Philippines model for rice farming.

Wickremesinghe said that the Philippines has found a system where less water is used for rice farming.

He said that Sri Lanka must also look at following a similar system.

The Prime Minister said that the Government will look to modernise the rice farming industry in the near future.

The Prime Minister was speaking at an event held in Anuradhapura today which was also attended by President Maithripala Sirisena. (Colombo Gazette)