22nd April,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

Laos eyes increased exports to China, drop in imports

| Publication date 22 April 2019 | 14:45 ICT

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Lao exports to China this year are expected to increase to $1.510 billion, while imports will decline to $985 million. VIENTIANE TIMES/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

LAO exports to China this year are expected to increase to $1.510 billion, while imports will decline to $985 million, according to the latest projections from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Last year, Laos planned to earn $1.478 billion from exports to China but achieved only $1.406 billion, and expected to spend $945 million on imports but the final figure was $1.381 billion.

Laos’ main exports to the northern neighbour are ore sand, rubber and rubber products, copper and copper products, bananas, corn and fertilisers. In turn, Laos imports electrical appliances, vehicles and spare parts, mechanical and electronic equipment, steel and steel equipment.

China is now the biggest foreign investor in Laos and the country’s second largest trading partner.

In 2016, Laos exported about $1.133 billion worth of goods to China which rose to $1.233 billion in 2017.

The increasing number of Chinese investors in Laos and cooperation projects by both governments is a major reason for the increase in imports from China.

The China-Laos railway, the launch of Laos’ first satellite, hydropower development and other projects funded by China have helped to promote connectivity between the two nations.

The government is optimistic that exports to China will rise this year in view of increasing trade and economic cooperation.

Agriculture is seen as an important sector to bolster Lao exports to China especially bananas, rubber, fertiliser, cassava and sweet corn.

The Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce has asked China to consider a rice import quota of 50,000 tonnes along with accepting other industrial goods as part of efforts to bolster trade.

The ministry also asked China to consider more quotas for Lao products to Chinese markets this year, especially rice, rubber and other industrial and agricultural goods.

The call for the increased rice quota comes after 20,000 tonnes were purchased in 2017 by China’s Xuanye (Lao) Co Ltd following approval from China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

The government this year will strive for imports worth $5.775 billion and total exports of $5.516 billion after last year achieving $5.848 billion and $5.410 billion respectively.

Thailand is still Laos’ top trading partner among neighbouring countries and bilateral trade expands year-on-year. VIENTIANE TIMES/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/laos-eyes-increased-exports-china-drop-imports

Food security: FG plans release of new BT crops

ON APRIL 22, 20197:59

Mulls devt of National Biotech Communication policy By Emmanuel Elebeke ABUJA—The Federal Government is to release new Genetically Modified rice, BT rice, BT cassava and other crops soon. File: Tomato sellers at Mile 12 market The Coordinator of Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology in Nigeria, OFAB Nigeria, Dr. Rose Gidado  dropped the hint, weekend, during a capacity building programme for editors and correspondents in Abuja. She explained that the plan would be realised through the ongoing research findings by Nigerian scientists at the National Biotechnology Development Agency, NABDA in line with federal government’s plan to achieve food sufficiency in the country. Gidado said NABDA has demonstrated a lot of capacity in new GM crops with the introduction of BT Cotton and BT Cowpea, which took about 10 years of intensive research, adding that it would amount to understatement to say that Nigeria has  capacity in biotechnology. Similarly, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Bitrus Nabasu has said federal government is taking steps to develop National Biotechnology  Communication policy. Nabasu said the policy when  put in place will ensure that the Nigerian public is adequately informed about the advances on biotechnology. The Permanent Secretary, who harped on strong collaboration between media and government said government has embraced modern biotechnology, stating that the technology is here to stay. “We plan to develop a National Biotechnology Communication policy in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/food-security-fg-plans-release-of-new-bt-crops/

Spotlight: Economic cooperation with China under BRI helps Cambodia diversify economy, strengthen resilience

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-21 19:05:51|Editor: Liangyu

By Mao Pengfei, Nguon Sovan

PHNOM PENH, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia, a firm supporter of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) , has been benefiting in various areas through comprehensive economic cooperation with China to diversify its economy and strengthen resilience, Cambodian officials, experts told Xinhua.

"For Cambodia, with Chinese assistance, we can build mega-infrastructure projects, and those projects are crucial to boosting economic growth and making communication easier and faster," Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said.

According to the recent data the Chinese Embassy to Cambodia posted in social media, China has built 31 highways and 8 bridges for Cambodia with the total length of highway up to more than 3,000 km, as well as all the hydropower stations in Cambodia.

"Our first priority is to boost economic growth and to make everybody have a fair share of the economic growth," Khieu Kanharith said. "The BRI can help us through supporting infrastructure projects and human resources development," he said.

BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE LAYS FOUNDATION FOR FAST GROWTH

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said under the Cambodia-China cooperation within the framework of the BRI, China has invested in many large projects in Cambodia including hydropower plants, road and bridge projects, special economic zones, Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway, and a new Siem Reap international airport.

Kin Phea said that Cambodia has high expectation that China will help further develop its infrastructure. "Doing so will reduce logistics cost in the kingdom, enhance economic competitiveness, and diversify sources of growth," he said.

Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Research Center, said the infrastructure projects, industrial zones that China built here will bring a lot of benefits to Cambodia and her people. "These will help spur the development of Cambodia by assisting Cambodia from a lower-middle income country to an upper-middle income country by 2030," he said.

DIVERSIFY ECONOMY AND STRENGTHEN RESILIENCE

Facing the external uncertainties, Cambodia is strengthening its economic resilience through cooperation with China in important sectors like agriculture, tourism, and diversification of manufacture.

The European Union, the traditional big buyer of Cambodia's rice, imposed earlier this year tariffs on rice from Cambodia in a bid to curb a surge in rice imports from the country, and as a result, Cambodia only exported 51,552 tons of milled rice to the European markets during the first quarter in 2019, down 33 percent.

Agriculture is one of the economic pillars of the country and millions of farmers rely on the rice export. China, at this time, increased its import of rice from Cambodia and became the biggest buyer during the January-March period this year.

Cambodia had exported 75,214 metric tons of milled rice to China in the first quarter of 2019, a 59 percent rise over the same period last year, according to the report of the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export. Export to China accounted for 44 percent of the country's total rice export.

In order to promote tourism cooperation, both countries set 2019 as the China-Cambodia culture and tourism year.

Tourism accounts for 12.7 percent of the country's GDP (gross domestic product) and has created direct and indirect jobs for millions of people, according to Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon.

"Chinese tourists are the biggest spenders of all foreign tourists to Cambodia," Thong Khon said, adding that China had been the biggest source of foreign tourists to Cambodia in 2017 and 2018, and Cambodia is expected to attract 3 million Chinese tourists in 2020, 5 million in 2025 and up to 8 million in 2030.

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the Beltei International University in Phnom Penh, said that Cambodia can put more emphasis on agro-industries such as cassava and rubber processing which can uplift Cambodia's production capacity to meet the demand of the Chinese market. Cassava is Cambodia's second largest agricultural crop after rice.

There have been apprehensions among decision makers in Cambodia about the possible withdrawal of the European Union (EU)'s preferential trade arrangement under the Everything But Arms (EBA) in August 2020, Matthews said.

Therefore, more investment in manufacturing, preferably in electronics and car spare-parts, can create jobs to offset layoffs from the garment sector due to factories cutting back on production because of decreased overseas purchase orders, he said.

In Chinese-invested Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), the investment diversification has gained momentum, Chen Jiangang, president of SSEZ said.

"Among all the 153 companies in our zone, 22 are garment factories and the rest cover a wide range from furniture, travel goods, medical equipment, to machinery, construction material and etc.," Chen said. "We had 35 new companies established in our zone in 2018," Chen said.

More investment in those areas will help the Cambodian workers acquire higher skills and pave the way for Cambodian economy to enter higher value chain to diversify strategically its future economy, Matthews said.

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http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/21/c_137995768.htm

Imports decline to US$ 1.65 bn in January

Monday, April 22, 2019 - 01:00

Expenditure on merchandise imports declined in January 2019 for the third consecutive month by 17.8 per cent (year-on-year) to US dollars 1,655 million, reflecting the effect of policy measures taken by the Central Bank and the government..

All major import categories, namely intermediate goods, consumer goods and investment goods, contributed to this decline. Intermediate goods imports largely contributed to the decline in overall imports, mainly due to lower expenditure incurred on fuel, gold and fertiliser. Expenditure on fuel imports declined due to lower average import prices and lower volumes of crude oil and refined petroleum products despite a higher import volume of coal.

Expenditure on gold imports, which declined since May 2018, following the imposition of customs duty on gold, remained at a negligible level in January 2019 as well. Expenditure on fertiliser imports also declined significantly, led by lower import volumes in all sub categories, particularly urea.

Meanwhile, expenditure on wheat and maize, base metals and rubber and articles thereof contributed notably to the decline in intermediate goods in January 2019. However, import expenditure on textiles and textile articles increased, driven by fabric imports, while mineral products and agricultural inputs also increased during the month.

Import expenditure on consumer goods declined, mainly due to lower expenditure on almost all subsectors under consumer goods except beverages and spices imports. Continuing the declining trend observed since November 2018 that reflected the impact of policy measures taken to curtail imports, expenditure on personal motor vehicle imports showed a significant decline. Expenditure on almost all non-food consumer goods imports decreased in January 2019 compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

However, considering the revision of excise duties in the Budget 2019, eased pressure on the exchange rate and other developments in the external sector, the Central Bank removed the margin deposit requirement on both vehicle and non-essential consumer goods imports against letters of credit (LC) effective from 7 March 2019 and on documents against acceptance (DA) terms effective from 12 March 2019.

Meanwhile, expenditure on rice imports continued its declining trend in January 2019, with higher supply in the domestic market. Import expenditure on vegetables and dairy products also declined.

Expenditure on the importation of investment goods also declined in January 2019, due to lower imports of all sub categories classified under investment goods. Lower expenditure on commercial cabs and auto trishaws categorised under transport equipment, and iron and steel categorised under building material, mainly led to this decline.

In January 2019, the import volume and unit value indices decreased by 14.6 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively, indicating that the decline in imports was driven by low volumes as well as prices of imported goods in comparison to the corresponding period of 2018.

In January 2019, earnings from merchandise exports surpassed US dollars 1 billion for the second consecutive month. Considering the historical pattern of relatively low level of exports being recorded during the month of January, reaching over US dollars 1 billion of export earnings in January 2019 is noteworthy. Accordingly, export earnings increased by 7.5 per cent (year-on-year) to US dollars 1,038 million in January 2019, driven by increased exports from all major sectors.

Industrial exports mainly contributed to the growth of export earnings, driven by textiles and garments, rubber products, machinery and mechanical appliances and food, beverages and tobacco. Textiles and garment exports increased as a result of high demand for garments from the EU and the USA as well as non-traditional markets such as India, Japan, Australia, China and Canada. Further, export earnings from rubber products increased during the month owing to the improved performance in all sub categories.

Export earnings from machinery and mechanical appliances also increased with increases in all sub categories, while earning from food, beverages and tobacco exports increased driven by manufacturing tobacco.

In addition, animal fodder and printing industry products also contributed towards the increase in industrial exports in January 2019. Meanwhile, export earnings from petroleum products declined significantly in January 2019 for the second consecutive month due to lower bunkering and aviation fuel exports driven by significantly lower bunkering quantity, reflecting the intense competition faced by Sri Lankan ports from regional ports mainly in India and Singapore. 

http://www.dailynews.lk/2019/04/22/finance/183420/imports-decline-us-165-bn-january

China to increase imports of corn, but won't change quota

By Wang Yi Source:Global Times Published: 2019/4/21 20:58:39

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Nation won’t change quota, or buy more from US

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Photo: IC

China is expected to increase corn imports in the coming years after having reduced stockpiles in recent years, according to a report published on Saturday.

However, the country will not change its import quota and tariffs policy for the crop, and it will not increase imports from the US as the latter has demanded, experts said.

China will increase corn imports in the next decade because domestic supply cannot meet demand, China Central Television reported on Sunday, citing the China Agricultural Outlook (2019-2028).

Corn planting areas and production have both fallen for three years in a row, and the downtrends are expected to continue this year, according to the annual report of the 2019 China Agricultural Outlook Conference, which was released in Beijing on Saturday.

Meanwhile, consumption of animal feed and deep processing will continue to grow, and inventories will continue to drop, the report said.

The declines have been caused by adjustment measures that China adopted in recent years that aimed to reduce corn stockpiles, Jiao Shanwei, editor-in-chief of cngrain.com based in Central China's Henan Province, told the Global Times Sunday.

China's corn inventories hit 260 million tons in 2016, according to media reports. The current corn storage is less than 80 million tons, according to media reports in November 2018.

Measures to reduce planting areas, combined with a temporary program to auction inventories, have had an effect. Destocking made faster progress than expected in 2018 and will be finished this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported in January, citing an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The area of land devoted to growing corn won't recover until 2020, Xu Shiwei, an expert at the agriculture ministry, said during the conference, CCTV reported.

Corn imports reached 3.52 million tons in 2018 and are expected to reach 3.6 million tons in 2019 and 4 million tons in 2020, Xu added.

China's import quota for corn this year totals 7.2 million tons. China levies a 1 percent tariff on imports within the quota and a 65 percent tariff on imports exceeding the quota, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

But that doesn't mean China will change its tariff rate quota system for corn, according to analysts.

A WTO panel decided on Thursday that the system had violated international trading rules. The case was filed by the administration of former US president Barack Obama in December 2016 before current US President Donald Trump launched the trade war. The Obama administration said the system denied US farmers access to the China market.

China's Ministry of Commerce said Friday that it "regrets" the ruling and will "seriously study" the decision.

China will maintain reasonable quota systems for rice, wheat and corn imports, because these items are related to China's food security, Jiao said.

A higher corn price from a tighter supply and demand balance will encourage more domestic farmers to increase corn production, so the balance will recover, Jiao said.

"Even if China imports up to 7.2 million tons of corn, it still just accounts for no more than 2 percent of the country's total corn consumption," Jiao added.

China imported 312,300 tons of corn from the US in 2018, or 8.9 percent of total corn imports, according to media reports.

Although the WTO's ruling obviously favors the US wish to expand corn exports to China, the latter will retain the quota system and will not increase corn imports from the US as it has demanded, said Mei Xinyu, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"China will maintain its import policies on special products like rice, wheat and corn," Mei told the Global Times Sunday.


Newspaper headline: China to increase imports of corn

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1146828.shtml

Glory for consumers, calvary for rice farmers

By: Karl R. Ocampo - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:12 AM April 22, 2019

The rice import liberalization law, while not yet in full effect, is already seeing the benefits—just not without consequences as farmers continue to wallow in losses.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s price monitoring report as of the fifth week of March, a kilo of regular milled rice was priced at P39.91 and the well-milled variant at P44.07, slightly lower than P40.02 and P44.22, respectively, in the same period last year.

The arrival of more rice imports is seen to cut retail prices in half over the next few years.

And even this early, speculations over imported rice forcing local supply out of the market have already pushed the farm-gate price for palay down to P18.80 a kilo, 8.83 percent lower than its average price of P20.62 a kilo a year ago.

This is the 13th consecutive week prices have been on the downward trend.

In some regions, the farm-gate price has dived to as low as P14 a kilo.

National Food Authority (NFA) acting Administrator Tomas Escarez said the agency’s high buying price of P20.70 a kilo had pushed more farmers to sell their produce to the NFA.

In a statement released to the press, the NFA said it had already breached the 2 million-mark for procurements as harvests began peaking this month.

Initial reports from its field offices showed the agency had already secured a total of 2.12 million bags from January to the first half of April, majority of which came from Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, Isabela, Bulacan and Cagayan.

Now that the agency’s mandate is limited to procuring local palay and providing for emergency stocks, Escarez said they were now targeting to buy around 15 million to 30 million bags of palay this year—equivalent to 15 to 30 days of the country’s national rice consumption.

https://business.inquirer.net/268984/glory-for-consumers-calvary-for-rice-farmers#ixzz5lpIqyAMa 

Smugglers Threatening Local Rice Millers

By ABDULLAHI YAKUBU Kano

The chief executive officer of Golden Star Rice Mill, Engr Iliyasu Nazifi, has observed that the successes recorded in the last three years have suffered a setback due to the activities of rice smugglers who gained unhindred access to the market. Nazifi, who spoke with journalists in Kano at the weekend, regretted that the smugglers are thriving with the assistance of some personnel of the authorities concerned who had compromised at the expense of Nigerian citizens. He, however, commended the fresh efforts by the officers at some boarders to tame the ugly activities. According to Nazafi, the success recorded in the last three years recently suffered a setback due to the activities of rice smugglers that had struck back with full force with the assistance of some personnel of the authorities concerned who had compromised at the expense of Nigerian citizens. “No doubt about the fact that we are so optimistic on the attainment of food security in the nation, we have seen how the federal government has contributed in promoting agro activities, and also, we have seen the huge investment being committed by cooperate organisations and individuals in the sector, especially in rice. But, as I speak to you now, many small and medium scale rice milling companies are at the verge of folding up because of the high number of foreign rice being smuggled into the country. Go into the markets and you will understand what I am talking about,” he said. Nazifi further revealed that rice smugglers had been having a swell time as indices showed that some compromising personnel in the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) have not been doing their job as expected. Another rice miller, Alhaji Abba Dantata, said he had to cut down 50 per cent of his work force to be able to manage and move in the business, and that it was disheartening to see how foreign rice was being smuggled into the country freely without anything being done by the authorities concerned, which he said made the market flooded with foreign rice to an extent that the locally milled rice could not compete with the foreign. “From January, 2019, to this moment, only God knows how many tonnes of foreign rice have successfully entered our markets. From our records, we were told that 50 trucks laden with foreign rice get into the country daily through smuggling from Abeokuta and other land boarders. That is why foreign rice now floods our markets to the extent that the local one has to remain aside because it cannot compete with the foreign. “This is a bad omen and a threat to all innovations which the federal government has done in the agricultural sector. Many small and medium rice milling companies have closed down and many more will close down also if necessary action is not taken to address the issue. This will in due course affect the mega rice mills,” Dantata lamented. He further called on stakeholders to as a matter of urgency draw the attention of the customs to brace up and double its effort in addressing the smuggling menace to save the country and Nigerians from drowning back to square one.

Read More at: https://leadership.ng/2019/04/22/smugglers-threatening-local-rice-millers-nazifi/

Firm, Lagos to host rice festival

 by Adeola Ogunlade

 April 21, 2019

TESSCOM West Africa in partnership with the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives has concluded plans to stage a two day Nigerian Rice Festival holding from April 25th to 27th, at Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, CBD, Alausa, Ikejal.

The Executive Director of Tesscom West Africa, Olukemi Ilori who made this known at a press conference said that it is a festival that celebrates Nigeria’s collective cultural identity as a nation in foods like jollof rice which has gained global acceptability.

She noted that the festival gives us an opportunity to take our national food brand, Jollof Rice to other Rice festival and create awareness about Nigeria Jollof Rice, the best in the world as well as other Nigeria Rice dishes.

Ilori stated that the festival is most importantly designed to enhance commercial activity in the entire rice value chain. It does so in such a way that people enjoy it and are happy, adding that we are fast tracking the development of the brand by hosting two festivals a year: one on the mainland and another on the island.

https://thenationonlineng.net/firm-lagos-to-host-rice-festival/

AGRIC MINISTER SPEAKS AT ANNUAL RESEARCH REVIEW & PLANNING MEETING IN ZARIA, HIGHLIGHTS IMPRESSIVE INCREASE IN LOCAL RICE PRODUCTION

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BY BRANDSPUR ON APRIL 20, 2019AGRO NEWS BUSINESS & ECONOMY NEWS

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh on has expressed satisfaction with Nigeria’s current level of rice production which accounts for about 90% local consumption.

The Minister, who was represented by the Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services of the Ministry, Dr Mrs Karima Babangida, was speaking at the 2019 Annual Research Review and Planning meeting held at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria, Kaduna State.

The Minister maintained that the support of the present administration triggered a visible shift to eating what we grow rather than eating imported food.

“One very good example that we see today is the local homegrown Nigerian rice, hitherto, Nigeria has been a major and largest importer of rice from Thailand and this implies largest importer in the world” the minister added.

On the sides of the Annual Meeting, the Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, Dr Mrs Babangida also commissioned the new Balarbe Taminu Conference Hall at AR Zaria on behalf of the Honourable Minister.

https://brandspurng.com/2019/04/20/agric-minister-speaks-at-annual-research-review-planning-meeting-in-zaria-highlights-impressive-increase-in-local-rice-production/

Abundant Seeds Of Rice, Maze And Mung Bean To Be Available For Kharif Season 2019-20

 Zeeshan Aziz (@imziishan)  

  Sun 21st April 2019 | 04:50 PM

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 21st Apr, 2019 ) :The government has taken steps to ensure smooth availability of seeds during the Kharif season 2019-20 and surplus seeds of all major crops including rice (paddy), maize, cotton, pulses and vegetable would be available in order to ensure the maximum per acre output to enhance farmers income during the period under review.

During the current sowing season about 50,192 metric tons of rice seeds would be available for cultivation, besides 2,757, metric tons of imported seeds which was comprising on 121.28 percent of total requirements to achieve maximum per acre output during the season, said an official in the Ministry of National food Security and Research.

Talking to APP, he said that during current season, about 50,192 metric tons of paddy seeds would be available for cultivation across the crop growing areas in the country as against its total requirements of 41, 385 metric tons.

He said that during Kharif season Punjab would have 174.83 percent of the seed as compared the requirements and about 41,975 metric tons of the seed would be available for sowing, where as in Sindh 5,290 metric tons of rice seeds would be available which was comprising about 39.74 percent of the requirements and in Balochistan it was estimated at 170 metric tons making the 5.62 percent of its demand.

Around 112.83 percent quality seed of maize crop would be available during the season as the total requirements during Kharif 2019-20 was recorded at 32,599 metric tons including 7,799 metric tons of imported seed as compared the total local demands of 28,892 metric tons, he said adding that the maize seed availability, during the last year was recorded at 32,599 metric tons which was 98 percent of the total demand.

Meanwhile, he said that availability of maize seed in Punjab would be at 24,567 metric tons, which was comprising on 144.77 percent of province demand, besides maize seeds in Khyber Pakhunkhwa would be at 234 metric tons comprising the 1.99 percent of the total demand of the province, adding that testing was in progress to meet the full demand.

The official said that government was focusing to promote pulses production and oil seed in the country to reduce the reliance on the imported commodities, adding that it was taking steps to ensure smooth supply of seeds and other inputs for the promotions of these crops during the season and encourage the farmers to bring more areas under these crops.

He said that about 1,401 metric tons of mung bean seeds which would be comprising 32 percent of the total requirement of the season, adding that public and private sector seed agencies of the Punjab have procured 1,261 metric tons of mung seed fulfilling about 32.35 percent of its requirement, where as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 140 metric tons which was 62.25 percent of the total requirements of the province.

The newly-enacted rice tariffication law mandates the establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice sector P10 billion in financial support annually for six years beginning this 2019.

Michael Varcas/File

Rice tariff fund to benefit local machinery sector

Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) - April 21, 2019 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A large portion of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be used to modernize rice farms, boosting demand for local machinery in the process, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

The newly-enacted rice tariffication law mandates the establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice sector P10 billion in financial support annually for six years beginning this 2019.

According to its implementing rules and regulations, half of the rice fund, amounting to P5 billion annually, will be used by the government to procure rice farm equipment through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).

Farm machinery as tillers, tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters, and irrigation pumps will be given as a grant-in-kind to eligible farmers, rice farmer associations and registered rice cooperatives.

As a result, the existing outlay of the DA on farm mechanization for will have an additional P5 billion allocation from only P1.92 billion in 2018.

“Modernizing the rice industry has a multiplier effect on the economy. It will not only make our rice farms more efficient and productive. It will also push the demand for farm equipment up, thereby boosting the manufacturing industry and creating more jobs for Filipinos,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

PhilMech is required to procure from accredited local manufacturers, when appropriate, to support local manufacturers of farm machines and equipment.

PhilMech is also tasked to formulate implementing guidelines on rice farm equipment component consistent with the Rice Industry Roadmap.

This will include the eligibility criteria for prospective recipients, modality of selection, and mode of implementation and the accountability system in the procurement and distribution of rice farm equipment.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice Research Institute will receive 30 percent of the RCEF to develop, propagate and promote inbred rice seeds to rice farmers and organizations of rice farmers.

The Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines will be given 10 percent of the fund for the creation of a credit facility with minimal interest rates and collateral requirements.

https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/04/21/1911156/rice-tariff-fund-benefit-local-machinery-sector#LjDUDowXhsmv9spd.99

Outdated techniques in the modern world

Mohammad Hussain KhanApril 22, 2019

SINDH’S first sugar factory was established in Tando Mohammad Khan — then part of Hyderabad district — some time in the early sixties. It was situated on the left bank of the Indus.

Cotton cultivation was allowed on the left bank while rice cultivation has been banned in this area, at least on paper. The right bank areas, however, were to produce rice as a matter of policy. And all this land was fed by the colonial era Sukkur barrage, built in 1932.

The crop-mapping or zoning strategy for Sindh’s agriculture sector was based on parameters established long ago. Sadly, things are different today. A major shift is seen in crop cultivation as the government, both provincial and federal, has turned a blind eye to it.

Crop zoning regulates the farm sector. It determines how and where a particular crop or is to be cultivated so as to achieve the greatest yield. Such zones are defined in view of weather conditions, available water flows, drainage system and soil fertility etc of that area. This method helps ensure efficient utilisation of resources.

Sindh and Punjab are both bearing the brunt of adverse implications of this change. Punjab’s southern parts are home to sugar cane cultivation thanks to the unusual growth of the sugar industry in water deficient areas that do not suit the crop. Sugar cane is considered Pakistan’s political crop commanding patronage of all bigwigs.

The crop-mapping or zoning strategy for Sindh’s agriculture sector was based on parameters established long ago. Sadly, things are different today. A major shift is seen in crop cultivation as the government, both provincial and federal, has turned a blind eye to it

Pakistan’s National Food Security Policy was approved for the first time in 72 years by the outgoing PML-N government. Punjab and Sindh — Pakistan’s two main grain producing provinces — have also framed their own agriculture policies.

Besides these two provinces, Balochistan contributes towards the paddy crop while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa focuses on tobacco, although it also has a lot of potential for maize production.

The national food security policy, coupled with the two provincial agriculture policies, cover all policy areas for sustainable agriculture growth. However, to ensure sustainability, what appears to be missing is synchronisation at federal and provincial levels.

“The government needs to share information-based knowledge to convince growers about which crop should be sown in a given season. This culture needs to be developed if we aim to achieve sustainability in our farm sector which has a huge potential for growth,” contended Dr Yusuf Zafar, former chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.

Water, a precious commodity, is becoming scarce. The government often uses the public’s purse to provide subsidies to first produce a certain crop, such as sugarcane, and then export the sweetener with rebate, without benefitting either genuine farmers or consumers. Farmers don’t get the desired price for their produce while consumers get expensive sugar thanks to institutional lacunas at the implementation stage.

It is owing to a missing zoning system that Pakistan often has a bumper sugarcane crop coupled with sugar surpluses, all at the cost of declining cotton acreage and looming water scarcity. The country has a huge potential for cotton production and a large textile industry.

To borrow from a Punjab-based agriculture analyst, Ibrahim Mughal, Pakistan is spending Rs600-700 billion on import of various agro-commodities especially cotton, edible oil and pulses.

“We can easily produce [these commodities] by ensuring proper zoning to protect our ecosystem. But we have to protect the natural habitat of our crops and we must stop tinkering with the natural ecosystem or be ready to face the consequences,” he observed.

If the country earns foreign exchange on rice exports, it also spends a huge amount to import edible oil and pulses. And both crops can be grown domestically, as evident from the experience gained in the 2010 super floods when sunflower cultivation boomed.

The West Pakistan Rice (Restriction on Cultivation) Ordinance 1959 is often invoked in command (left bank) areas of Ghotki Feeder canal (Guddu barrage), Nara and Rohri canals (Sukkur barrage) to ban sowing of paddy. This mirrors the zoning system. But due to weak governmental writ these rules are not strictly enforced, thus paddy surpluses are seen in banned areas.

Pakistan exports a freshwater resource when rice is exported, says former chairman Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Dr Mohammad Ashraf. Out of 8.6 million tonnes of rice produced in 2015-16, 4.2m tonnes (worth Rs194bn) were exported. These exports required 6.8MAF of freshwater amounting to Rs8.4bn (at Rs1,233 per acre foot of water)

Due to nonexistent zoning, high delta crops are grown in areas where surface water is insufficient and groundwater is deep or saline. Edible oil crops should be introduced which require less water and don’t affect foreign exchange.

Dr Ashraf underscored the need for crop zoning given depleting water resources. The focus should be on water conservation and maximization of per acre productivity to lessen the usage of surface freshwater resources. Abstraction of groundwater, another important resource, is going unchecked and is another burden on the ecosystem.

Over the years Pakistan has become largely dependent on cotton import thanks to declining domestic production of cotton bales. The textile industry needs around 15m cotton bales while domestic production hovers around 10m, resulting in imports.

The area under cultivation for cotton faces massive encroachment in Sindh and Punjab by the sugar cane crop which continues to be politically patronised regardless of which party is in power. This has lead to an unnatural growth of the sugar industry.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, April 22nd, 2019

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1477675/outdated-techniques-in-the-modern-world

‘The goal is to curb import bill’

From the NewspaperApril 22, 2019

SAHIBZADA Muhammad Sultan, federal minister for the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, talked to Dawn from his home town Jhung in Southern Punjab. He expressed confidence that the PTI government will resolve the long standing issues of the farming community that have held agriculture growth potential hostage for so long.

The minister was preoccupied with attending to the post-stormy weather situation that damaged the standing crop in several areas of the country. Perturbed by losses incurred by growers across the country owing to harsh rains, he was working on a strategy to contain losses and ensure that the affected growers get the support they deserve from the government.

“I intend to go to affected areas for a realistic damage assessment to put up a case for a relief package for those who lost their crop and incurred unsustainable losses,” he said.

The three time MNA, following in his father’s footsteps, entered parliamentary politics in 2002 by winning a national assembly seat on the PML-Q ticket. In 2008, despite PPP groundswell after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, he won again from the same platform.

He lost the election in 2013 when he contested on the PML-N ticket but made a comeback with a bang in the National Assembly on a PTI ticket in 2018. Many consider him to be a key politician who turned Jhung into a PTI stronghold by bagging all national and provincial assembly seats.

The minister, with a landed background, was confident that the full potential of the rural economy can be realised by implementing the food security policy with the active support of the provinces.

Earlier a set of questions were mailed to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research seeking the minister’s views. Citing the pressing current situation and a close deadline, the responses to three out of five questions were mailed back that are reproduced below:

Is Pakistan food secure? Do we have sufficient stocks of essentials to brave a sudden drop in production in case of some calamity?

SMMS: Yes, Pakistan is food secure. We do have sufficient stocks of essentials in case of any challenge. For major crops

like wheat, sugar cane, maize and rice, Pakistan is not only self-sufficient, it produces a surplus.

Do you have a plan to reduce dependence on imports of edibles, particularly oil and pulses?

SMMS: Yes, the ministry is working with the provinces to launch various projects in the agriculture sector for its betterment. One of the goals is to reduce the import bill of oil and pulses. We want to produce indigenous oilseeds to achieve self-sufficiency.

Post-18th Amendment, how effectively is your ministry working with the provinces to achieve food security?

SMMS: For the first time since the devolution, the ministry is working in collaboration with the provinces to launch projects worth Rs290 billion of which the federal contribution is around Rs90bn. These projects will be spread over the next four years. —AS

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, April 22nd, 2019

https://www.dawn.com/news/1477679/the-goal-is-to-curb-import-bill

No walls on our borders

Fatima S AttarwalaApril 22, 2019

DESPITE being an agri-based economy, with an import bill of $6 billion in 2018, Pakistan is hardly food sufficient.

Though we produce enough rice, dates, wheat, and potatoes for our needs, staples such as edible oil — used to make ghee — and pulses are imported. And what is grown within the country is not protected from imported pests.

The composition of food imports as a percentage of total imports has averaged at 11 per cent since 2003, with edible oils taking the lion’s share, according to Trade Map data. While in absolute terms, edible oil imports, mostly palm oil, has increased over the years, its share has declined from 53pc to 36pc over a decade and a half.

The decrease in share of edible oil as a percentage of overall imports is in part because of an increase in oilseeds, namely soybeans. Most oilseeds are mainly crushed for oil, however soybean seeds are crushed for protein and used in poultry feed.

Increase in soybean imports actually contributes towards food security, says Shakil Ashfaq, chairman of the All Pakistan Seed Extractors Association and CEO of Shujabad Agro.

While countries have advanced systems to detect food items entering their borders, in Pakistan there is no checking, especially at points such as Torkham and Chamman

Soybean formulation of poultry feed was introduced by Charoen Pokphand Group, a Thai company, in 2013. Incorporating soybean in poultry diet has decreased their Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR).

The FCR indicates the amount of feed that needs to be given to get one kilogram of meat. Typically, the FCR in Pakistan used to be 2.5kg but with the introduction of soybean it has been reduced to 1.6kg because of which the cost of poultry has come down. Simply put, more nutrition is now packed in a small amount of feed.

While soybean imports may be good news, the volumetric rise in palm oil imports is not. The key ingredient in making vegetable ghee is palm oil. Palm oil is also the preferred choice in the confectionary, baking and frying industries.

An increasing population and the rise of the fast food culture and snack industry has increased the consumption of palm oil and made it a staple of the country’s import bill.

At 2.96 million tonnes, as per Trade Map data, 2018 saw the highest quantum of palm oil import to date. Import substitution in the form of cultivation of oilseeds leaves a lot to be desired.

Over the last decade, area under oilseed has decreased from 8.47m hectares to 7.6m hectares despite the country’s growing population, and hence, need for edible oil.

Other than edible oil, oilseeds, and tea, pulses are a top food import. Though we grow a variety of pulses, including gram, lentil, moong bean, mash, red gram, and cowpea, production is not enough to satisfy domestic demand. At nearly a billion dollars, 2017 saw the highest import of pulses in the country’s history.

Import dependency aside, lack of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards for food imports opens a whole different can of worms.

A senior official of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research lamented the lack of agri-protection from pests, including insects, diseases, bacteria, and viruses.

“Around 60-65pc of pests that infect our crops are imported because we do not have regulatory checks or a holistic set of SPS standards,” he said.

Due to insects and disease, production decreases while production costs increase. In 2012, Pakistan consumed pesticides in the range of Rs25-30bn. Today this number has increased to stand at Rs75bn.

The official indicated that the existence of infections and pests in our crops prevents access to high value markets.

He narrated the example of dirt accompanying potato seeds imported from Holland that was infected with Golden Nematode. This is one of the world’s most damaging potato pest and can remain present, dormant in the soil, for up to 30 years. As a result of this infection, Russia stopped importing all agri-products from Pakistan for a while.

Another example he narrated was of the weed Parthenium that was imported through food substance from Australia. This weed is not only capable of destroying 60-80pc of the country’s crop but can also prove to be deadly to cattle.

While countries have advanced systems to detect food items entering their borders, in Pakistan there is no checking, especially at points such as the Torkham and Chamman border. Not only is the country vulnerable due to import dependency of certain staples, its lack of biosecurity is a threat to domestic cultivation as well.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, April 22nd, 2019

https://www.dawn.com/news/1477521/no-walls-on-our-borders

Three proposals for trade with Iran under study

·      MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

·      APR 21ST, 2019

·      ISLAMABAD

Pakistan is reportedly considering three proposals for trade with Iran which include seeking waiver on sanctions from the US, barter trade and setting up a special bank, well-informed sources told Business Recorder. On April 12, 2019 Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi presided over an inter-ministerial meeting in which all outstanding issues concerning Iran pertaining to the domain of various Ministries, which are likely to come for discussion during the visit of Prime Minister to Iran, were discussed.

The Prime Minister is undertaking this long-awaited, important visit on the invitation of the President of Iran Seyed Hasan Rouhani on April 21, 2019 (today). According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, over the years, Pakistan''s relations with Iran have remained mired in several layers of mistrust, the most recent being Pakistan''s demand that Iran must take action against training camps of Baloch terror organizations on its soil.

Previously due to security issues along the Pak-Iran border, negative public statements against Pakistan have emanated from Iran, and the government, as part of its principled approach to strengthen its relations with neighbouring countries, is eager to explore all avenues of strengthening bilateral relations with Iran particularly in the economic areas.

The sources said Pakistan has pursued a policy of balanced engagement with Iran vis-à-vis Arab countries for the past several years. Given Pakistan''s financial compulsions, recent warming of its relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE has created an impression of a tilt in this balanced approach towards the Arabs, at the expense of Iran.

The sources said Pakistan can apply for waiver on the following grounds: (i) Pakistan''s economy is highly dependent on import of oil while Iran is an oil producing country and can offer oil to Pakistan at a comparatively cheaper price; and (ii) there has always been demand of medical/surgical instruments and Pakistani rice and fruits in Iran. Pakistan is quite capable of meeting Iranian needs of these products by improving the requisite logistics/infrastructure in this regard.

According to sources, in case legal means of trade are not explored between Iran and Pakistan, the population in border areas is likely be involved in exploring illegal means/channels of trading goods, which may ultimately give rise to the greater risks of money laundering and terror financing. Iranian authorities are charging a fee from Pakistani drivers and business community of Rs 3,750 as compared to Pakistan visa fee of Rs 2,750 being charged by Pakistan from Iranian citizens. The visa fee and visa can be cancelled any time by Iranian authorities without assigning any reason.

The export consignments from Pakistan to Iran are required to be attested by the consulate of Iran at Quetta with attestation fees of Rs 100,000 for consignment of Rs 100 million tons of rice and takes around 2-4 days. Pakistan has not imposed any such condition on Iranian imports. Load tax is charged at the rate of 10 per cent of the fare of Transport Company. If a truck is charged Rs 40,000 for travel from Quetta to Zahedan the transporter has to pay Rs 4000 even though the distance from Taftan border to Zahedan is 80 kms.

According to sources, there is a wide difference between trade data released by Iran Customs and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The Iranian customs data shows that the bilateral volume crossed $ 1 billion in 2017 while data reported by FBR shows the total trade of $ 392 million. Pakistan will emphasize the need of reconciliation of trade data. The government of Iran has imposed a ban on import of a number of agricultural goods including fruits and vegetables, seasonal ban on rice and the country specific ban on wheat from Pakistan. The ban on import of kinnows since 2011-12 is seriously affecting Pakistani fruit exporters and Pakistan is losing on average $ 30 million per annum.

Talking about Pak-Iran Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the sources said, in order to finalise the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Iran, three meetings of the Technical Negotiating Committee (NNC) have been held since 2016. The third meeting of the TNC was held in Tehran in 2017. Draft of FTA in goods and Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary have been shared.

The source said, US sanctions on Iran were categorized into primary sanctions and secondary sanctions. The primary sanctions prevented US citizens or entities from engaging in transactions with Iran and its government. The secondary sanctions were applicable were applicable to non-US person and entities. After GCPOA, the USA lifted the secondary sanctions on Iran with effect from January 26, 2016 while primary sanctions remained enforced. However, following US decision to withdraw from JCPOA, the secondary sanctions were re-introduced partly on August 7, 2018 and partly on November 5, 2018. The US issued 180 day waivers for relaxation of some of the sanctions with effect from November 5, 2018.

The secondary sanctions pertain to the following: (i) financial and banking institutions; (ii) insurance related issues; (iii) Iran''s energy and petrochemical sectors; (iv) shipping sector; (v) trade in gold and other previous metals; and (vi) supply of goods and services related to the auto sector.

In order to trade with Iran in the presence of US sanctions, countries have employed different methods. Countries including China, Japan and South Korea have been granted a waiver by the US for import of oil as the economies of these countries are largely dependent on oil imports from Iran. Similarly European countries have devised a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for trade with Iran. SPV facilitates European-Iran trade while reducing the need for transactions between the European and Iranian financial systems. It will do this by allowing European exporters to receive payments for sales to Iran from funds that are already within Europe and vice versa. Further details are being worked out. However, this mechanism will include only trade in food and medicines. Petroleum products will be kept outside this mechanism.

The sources further stated that Pakistan is also considering various options for engaging in trade with Iran. Currently, trade with Iran is conducted mainly through Dubai. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, although, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between SBP and Bank Markazi Jamhouri Islami Iran (BMJII) on April 13, 2017 in Tehran, Pakistani banks are still reluctant to do business with the Iranian banks and have adopted a risk averse approach especially after the recent penalty imposed on Habib Bank Limited by US treasury. Another reason is comparatively low volume of trade with Iran compared with USA.

A committee under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Revenue comprising public and private sector (Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industries) representatives has been constituted. During the meetings of the committee, the SBP stated that since the entire banking sector is under sanctions, it is not possible to open branches of Iranian banks in Pakistan. Following deliberations, the committee has come up with the following proposals to overcome the payment problem with Iran: (i) seek waiver from the US on sanctions; (ii) establish a mechanism for barter trade; and (iii) set up a dedicated bank to do business with Iran.

The source said these proposals are under examination by the relevant Ministries and Departments in the light of their possible economic and political repercussions.

https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/04/20190421466234/

Deceptive IRRI strategy to get Golden Rice approved

Farida Akhter | Published: 00:00, Apr 21,2019 | Updated: 21:20, Apr 20,2019

      

ON MARCH 7, 2019 the director general of the International Rice Research Institute, Dr Matthew Morell visited Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. He discussed with the director general Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir on ways and means to strengthen collaboration on some frontier technologies and projects such as Golden Rice, C4 Rice, Zinc Enriched Rice, and Transforming Rice Breeding etc.
In the next few days, Dr Morell visited other institutions such as Krishibid Gobeshona Foundation at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and ACI Agribusiness. He also met the prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the prime minister’s office. His visit received wide media coverage mostly in the English dailies of the country. Indeed it was a high level visit by the IRRI chief.
IRRI activities to earth the approval of Golden Rice started in January 2019 as the application for approval was lodged to the ministry of environment in November 2017. On January 30 2019, the agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzak told journalists after a meeting with International Rice Research Institute that ‘Golden rice, a new variety of rice enriched with Vitamin A will be available soon in Bangladesh’. He said, ‘A committee of the environment ministry will give clearance to the rice for production. We will be able to start cultivation in Bangladesh within two to three months upon getting the clearance.’ He further said ‘Golden rice is more important than other varieties as it will help fight Vitamin A deficiency. The rice variety has already got clearance in USA, Canada and Australia.
This visit of Dr Mathew Morell in March was indeed a step forward to push the process of approval of Golden Rice. Since the announcement of the agriculture minister announced about the potential approval in March, there have been protests and concerns by environmental and farmers groups not only in Bangladesh but also at international level.
The Dhaka Tribune published an exclusive interview of Dr Mathew Morell. He said ‘both Bangladesh and the Philippines have taken the vitamin-A enriched ‘Golden Rice’ varietal development to an advanced stage now. Once the last steps of the bio-safety regulatory process are completed, he hoped vitamin-A enriched rice would hit the market and address to a large extent, the acute problem of vitamin-A deficiency.’
In another interview with the Daily Star he said the variety (Golden Rice) has got approval from regulatory agencies from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It is currently going through the regulatory process in Bangladesh and in the Philippines. He also responded on concerns related to Golden Rice, and said ‘the IRRI has very rigorous criteria for releasing the variety. This is why we went to go through the regulation process in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These are some of the toughest regulatory agencies in the world and Golden Rice met the criteria set by them.’
According to the Daily Star report the application for approval for commercial release was lodged to the National Committee of Biosafety in November, 2017. IRRI DG remarked, ‘It’s about 15 months. They are examining the dossier. So, we would hope that they will make their decision in the coming months.’
The agricultural minister expected that the clearance will be given by March, 2019. So far, there has been no media report about the clearance. In March 2019, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association using the Right to Information Act lodged an application to the ministry of environment seeking more information on the issue; the response was that since this is still under experimental stage, the ministry cannot provide any information on the status of the approval.
The IRRI chief, Dr Matthew Morell in his exclusive interview to the Daily Star has made several misleading statements regarding the Golden Rice approval from regulatory agencies in USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Referring to approval from regulatory agencies in the developed countries is irrelevant for Bangladesh and the Philippines. This reference is also meant to influence, rather mislead, the National Committee of Bio-safety of Bangladesh.
Rice producing countries of Asia, such as the Philippines, where International Rice Research Institute is situated could not introduce the field cultivation of this rice because of concerns from the environmental groups, while non-rice producing countries such as USA, Canada and Australia have given the clearance. It is indeed ironic. Bangladesh being a rice producing country with huge population of rice-eaters, known as ‘Bheto Bangalee’ has no relevance to the clearance in the non–rice producing developed countries.
Since there have been protests against the Golden Rice worldwide, particularly in the Philippines and Bangladesh, over last few years and concerns about its safety were expressed, Dr Mathew addressed the issue creating more confusion. He said ‘the IRRI has very rigorous criteria for releasing the variety. This is why we went to go through the regulation process in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These are some of the toughest regulatory agencies in the world and Golden Rice met the criteria set by them.’ It gives an impression that the IRRI went to these agencies seeking approval for cultivation of Golden Rice in these countries. This is far from the truth and is meant to deceive the common people and the policy makers in Bangladesh on the issue that if developed countries like USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada can give regulatory clearance for ‘cultivation/commercial release’ of Golden Rice, why can’t Bangladesh, especially when the country’s National Committee of Biosafety is evaluating the issue of commercial release of golden rice since November 2017. Should the National Committee on Bio-safety decide only on the basis of what the non-rice producing countries are doing, or it should take into consideration the bio-safety issues applicable to Bangladesh? If that is the case, then why did NCB decide to approve Bt Brinjal in 2013, despite the fact that India and the Philippines did not approve it on environmental considerations?
The international organisation, GRAIN has revealed the truth about the regulatory clearance in Australia and New Zealand. IRRI had made an application (A1138) to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand on November 16, 2016 requesting a variation to Schedule 26 in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) to include food from a new genetically modified (GM) rice (Oryza sativa) line, GR2E. According to the approval report dated December 20, 2017, the Golden Rice (GR2E) is not intended for commercialisation in Australia or New Zealand i.e. neither for growing or intentional sale in the food supply. The applicant (IRRI) has however applied for food approval because it is possible the rice could inadvertently enter the food supply via exports from countries that may supply significant quantities of milled rice to Australia or New Zealand. So approving this crop will prevent trade disruption should GR2E be inadvertently present in imported shipments of milled rice. The report further says that the uncooked GR2E paddy or brown rice could not be imported into Australia or New Zealand without an environmental approval from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator in Australia or the Environmental Protection Authority in New Zealand because the presence of the embryo means the rice could be germinated i.e. would be regarded as a viable genetically modified organism.
The FSANZ approval report does not stop here. It further says that the whole rice and unrefined rice products derived from line GR2E would be required to carry the mandatory statement ‘genetically modified’ on the label of the package of food. This labeling requirement will apply to rice sold as a single ingredient food (e.g. a package of rice) and when the rice is used as an ingredient in another food (e.g. rice flour, rice milk).
Similarly, GRAIN also revealed the truth about the United States Food and Drug Administration regulatory approval to Golden Rice. It explicitly states that GR2E rice is not currently intended for cultivation or marketing and not intended for human or animal food uses in the United States. The FDA letter (dated 24 May 2018) to the IRRI clearly indicates that the Manila based International Rice institute submitted its documents to FDA (on November 14, 2016) for a ‘consultation’ on safety and nutritional assessment of GR2E (Golden Rice) with the FDA’s Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Centre for Veterinary Medicine. The FDA says, ‘although GR2E rice is not intended for human or animal food uses in the United States, when present, it would be a producer’s or distributer’s responsibility to ensure that labeling of human and animal foods marketed in the United States, meets applicable legal requirements’. In fact FDA clearance, which Mr. Morell cites, rather questions the nutrient content in Golden Rice when it says, ‘although the concentration of Beta-carotene in GR2E rice is too low to warrant a nutrient content claim, the beta-carotene in GR2E rice results in grain that is yellow-golden in color.’ 
The so-called ‘clearance by the regulatory agency in Canada’, as boasted by the IRRI Director, is actually just an opinion from the Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada on the ‘food use’ of Provitamin A Biofortified Rice Event GR2E (Golden Rice) because it is possible that raw commodity or food products derived from GR2E rice may unintentionally enter Canada via imports from countries of production. As per the Novel Food Decisions dated March 16 2018, the Health Canada received a submission in 2017 to allow the sale of Golden Rice as food. The technical summary of this case clearly point out that if IRRI, in future, has an interest in selling golden rice in Canada, compliance with the Food and Drug Regulations regarding the addition of vitamins to foods would be required.
Another important point to mention here is that in all these cases where Golden rice has got clearance from the ‘toughest regulatory agencies in the world’, the decisions have been taken based on the data supplied by the IRRI and these foreign agencies have probably not conducted any field study or environmental studies on the golden rice. And it is mainly because the golden rice is not meant for cultivation or use as seeds in any of these countries which granted its approval. And it gets established by the fact that in all these countries the IRRI applied in 2016 and 2017 and within few months of the application, the approval in the forms of an opinion was granted.
It is quite disgraceful that director general of IRRI is using the Bangladesh media to deceive the people and the policy of Bangladesh by presenting a half-truth about the regulatory clearance on golden rice in USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This shows that the IRRI is desperate to get clearance in Bangladesh for commercial cultivation. They do not care about the potential risks it poses for the country and the major crop rice. It is also a threat to all other rice producing countries. Taking advantage of ‘weak’ regulatory agency and influencing of the authorities with misleading facts in unethical.
It is also very surprising that IRRI is showing more interest in getting it approved than the applicant organisation Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. It is IRRI which is trying so hard for the approval using Bangladeshi regulatory agencies on GMOs. Why?

Farida Akhter is the executive director of UBINIG and organiser of Nayakrishi Andolon.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/70433/deceptive-irri-strategy-to-get-golden-rice-approved

The newly-enacted rice tariffication law mandates the establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice sector P10 billion in financial support annually for six years beginning this 2019.

Rice tariff fund to benefit local machinery sector

Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) - April 21, 2019 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A large portion of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be used to modernize rice farms, boosting demand for local machinery in the process, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

The newly-enacted rice tariffication law mandates the establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice sector P10 billion in financial support annually for six years beginning this 2019.

According to its implementing rules and regulations, half of the rice fund, amounting to P5 billion annually, will be used by the government to procure rice farm equipment through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).

Farm machinery as tillers, tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters, and irrigation pumps will be given as a grant-in-kind to eligible farmers, rice farmer associations and registered rice cooperatives.

As a result, the existing outlay of the DA on farm mechanization for will have an additional P5 billion allocation from only P1.92 billion in 2018.

“Modernizing the rice industry has a multiplier effect on the economy. It will not only make our rice farms more efficient and productive. It will also push the demand for farm equipment up, thereby boosting the manufacturing industry and creating more jobs for Filipinos,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

PhilMech is required to procure from accredited local manufacturers, when appropriate, to support local manufacturers of farm machines and equipment.

PhilMech is also tasked to formulate implementing guidelines on rice farm equipment component consistent with the Rice Industry Roadmap.

This will include the eligibility criteria for prospective recipients, modality of selection, and mode of implementation and the accountability system in the procurement and distribution of rice farm equipment.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice Research Institute will receive 30 percent of the RCEF to develop, propagate and promote inbred rice seeds to rice farmers and organizations of rice farmers.

The Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines will be given 10 percent of the fund for the creation of a credit facility with minimal interest rates and collateral requirements

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/04/21/1911156/rice-tariff-fund-benefit-local-machinery-sector#zJ389EtD9S12vell.99https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/04/21/1911156/rice-tariff-fund-benefit-local-machinery-sector

China Focus: Builders of the Belt and Road

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-22 16:17:21|Editor: mingmei

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Situated on a road less than 2 km in the Haidian District of Beijing are research institutes and a university that not only share the same location, but also a same role: builders of the Belt and Road.

"We have research institutes on railway construction, agricultural technology, metallurgical research on this road. They are all making contributions to building the Belt and Road," said Lei Yumei, deputy Party secretary of the district's Beixiaguan community.

Situated at the road's southernmost end is Beijing Jiaotong University, which established a railway technology education and service center in 2013.

In the past six years, the center has carried out 69 training projects on railway construction in 46 countries and regions, most of which are participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The training covers topics such as railway planning and construction, railway operation and management and is mainly for senior managers and mid-level technical personnel," said Zhu Xiaoning, director of the center.

"The training projects not only help promote the implementation of the railway construction projects, but also enhance cultural exchanges between countries," Zhu said.

"Many of the managers and personnel didn't know China well before the training. But afterward, the earlier prejudice they held against our railway construction technologies was gone. They gave us a thumbs-up," Zhu said.

The China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited (CARS), which neighbors Beijing Jiaotong University, is also carrying out railway construction projects in Kenya and Indonesia.

"We are responsible for the supervision, consultation and related technical services of the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway," said Wang Jijun, representative of CARS' office in Indonesia, who has been working in Indonesia for more than three years.

In 2015, China and Indonesia signed a joint-venture agreement on the construction of the high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung, the first such project overseas.

"We are now working hard to make preparations for its completion in 2021," Wang said.

Apart from railway construction, agricultural technologies have also been shared along the Belt and Road.

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), at the road's northernmost end, has provided more than 70 hybrid rice varieties to Belt and Road countries including Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines for variety testing and seed production in recent years.

Joint hybrid rice research centers have also been established in Indonesia and Pakistan to provide high-quality and high-yielding rice varieties to local farmers.

"We are very proud that so many from the university and institutes on this road are builders of the Belt and Road. We will try our best to provide services for them and do our part in building the Belt and Road," Lei Yumei said.

Food exports dip 2.4pc to $3.34bn

ByAPP

April 21, 2019

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—Imports decline by 7.96pc to $40.755 billion from $44.281 billion recorded during 9 months of current fiscal year

ISLAMABAD: The food exports from Pakistan witnessed a negative growth of 2.4 per cent after they went down to $3,348.144 million during the first three quarters of the ongoing fiscal year compared to the exports of $3,430.346 million during the corresponding period of fiscal year 2017-18, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The food commodities that contributed in negative growth of food group trade included rice exports which slipped by 0.48 per cent, from $1494.667 million during July-March (2017-18) against exports of $1487.510 million during July-March 2018-19.

The exports of fish and fish preparations also decreased from $315.614 million to $293.887 million, showing a decline of 6.88 per cent during the period under review while the exports of vegetables decreased by 2.48 per cent, from $172.623 million to $168.338 million.

Tobacco exports decreased by 24.72 per cent, from $23.745 million to $17.875 million, whereas the exports of sugar also decreased by 68.20 per cent, from $362.043 last year to $115.130 million during the current fiscal year.

The exports of meat and meat preparations also decreased by 1.42 per cent during the period under review by slipping from $159.166 million to $156.901 million, the PBS data revealed.

Meanwhile, the food products that witnessed positive growth in external trade included fruit exports which increased by 8.66 per cent to $369.225 million from $339.814 million, whereas the wheat exports increased by 104.11 percent, from $59.710 million to $121.872 million.

The exports of spices increased from $59.698 million to $68.445 million, an increase of 14.65 per cent while the exports of oil seeds, nuts and kernels increased by 117.88 per cent, from $31.888 million to $69.479 million.

The exports of all other food items also witnessed positive growth of 16.56 per cent by going up from $411.378 million last year to $479.482 million.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the food exports from the country declined by 19.88 per cent from $589.238 million in March 2018 to $472.083 million.

On a month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed positive growth of 15.63 per cent in March 2019 when compared to the exports of $408.263 million in February 2019.

It is pertinent to mention here that overall merchandise trade deficit decreased by 13.02 per cent during July-March 2018-19 as the deficit contracted by over $3.544 billion to $23.672 billion in the period under review against the deficit of $27.216 billion recorded during same period of the previous year.

The exports during the period under review witnessed an increase of 0.11% to $17.08 billion from $17.064 billion during July-March 2017-18.

On the other hand, the imports declined by 7.96 per cent to $40.755 billion from $44.281 billion recorded during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

On a year-on-year basis, the imports into the country witnessed a negative growth of 20.88 per cent during March 2019 when compared to the imports of the same month of last year. The imports during March 2019 were recorded at $4.155 billion against the imports of $5.25 billion in March 2018

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/21/food-exports-dip-2-4pc-to-3-34bn/

China Focus: Chinese scientists use rice straw to desalinate seawater

 April 20, 2019  Brinkwire  0 Comments

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have developed an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for clean water production.

Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation device from wasted rice straw.

The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are designed as water pumps.

The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.

Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats, wetlands and marshes.

The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.

According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great need to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven steam generation has attracted wide attention.

“As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and sustainable technologies that address the water crisis worldwide,” Liu said.

To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed. Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials, they are not suitable for large-scale applications.

Liu’s team explores new materials and new engineering designs to improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of desalination.

Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery capability through its culms.

China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been banned in many places.

“If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology,” Liu said.

The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods, earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining clean water, according to the team.

Liu’s team is also researching other solar thermal materials, which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in three years.

An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in using solar energy to desalinate sea water.

“By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for desalination can be further reduced,” Zhu said.

http://en.brinkwire.com/news/china-focus-chinese-scientists-use-rice-straw-to-desalinate-seawater/

The market ramifications of increased rice imports in the Philippines

POSTED ON APRIL 21, 2019, SUNDAY AT 12:10 AMBIZHIVE

The Philippines has lifted restrictions on rice imports under new legislation aimed at bridging the supply gap and reducing prices.

On February 14, President Rodrigo Duterte ratified the Rice Tariffication Law, which had been passed by Parliament in November.

The new law, which went into effect on March 5, lifts quantitative restrictions on rice imports and removes the importing role of the National Food Authority (NFA), allowing licensed private operators to ship rice directly from abroad.

In place of the former restrictions, rice imports from Asean member states are now subject to a 35 per cent tariff, while non-Asean states will face either a 50 per cent charge or equivalent tariff in accordance with the World Trade Organisation agreement on agriculture with the Philippines.

Domestic inflation and pressure from international partners motivated lawmakers to reform the two-decade-long policy of capping rice imports to protect Filipino rice farmers.

According to preliminary estimates from the Department of Finance, the state stands to gain 27 billion pesos (US$511 million) per year in revenue from the tariffs, as imports are projected to double to three million tonnes.

Prior to the law’s ratification, importers moved to gain approval for increased shipments, with the NFA announcing in late January that it had approved applications from 180 brokers for the import of 1.2 million tonnes of rice.

Liberalisation set to relieve inflationary pressures

Last year inflation peaked at 6.7 per cent in September and October – partially due to rising rice prices, which increased more than 18 per cent year-on-year in late September – before easing to 5.1 per cent at year’s end and dropping further to 4.4 per cent in January.

Rice price increases were attributed at least partly to higher operating costs for farmers as a result of new taxes on products such as gasoline, imposed in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, which became effective on January 1 last year.

In February the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) forecast that the Rice Tariffication Law would ease supply side pressures contributing to inflation.

At the time, AMRO said that if the new legislation was implemented by March, it could reduce inflation by 0.7 per cent this year, bringing headline inflation down to 3.2 per cent.

Winners and losers from new rice tariff law

While the liberalisation of the Philippine rice market is expected to positively impact prices and check inflation, it has been met with trepidation by domestic producers of the staple.

“While the rice tariffication law is intended to help the economy, rice farmers are challenged to compete against cheaper imports.

“The focus now is to increase farm productivity so that they may maintain their income while anticipating a drop in palay prices,” Nicholas Gam, general manager of agricultural products supplier Yara Philippines, told OBG.

Among other organisations, the Peasant Movement of the Philippines criticised the new law, saying that it threatened the livelihoods of 500,000 of the country’s 2.4 million rice farmers.

Furthermore, the research foundation Ibon warned in February that the legislation could adversely affect farmers and may not reduce the price of the grain, given international rice market volatility and that rice production in neighbouring states is heavily subsidised.

Accompanying legislation to boost domestic competitiveness

While local rice growers will find themselves under pressure following the implementation of the new law, there is potential for the expansion of the domestic sector if producers move to higher-value farming by increasing quality and productivity.

Nevertheless, achieving this objective will require greater action and funding to support the development of the domestic rice industry.

In order to buffer the impact of these changes on farmers and support a domestic productivity drive, a 10 billion pesos (US$190.2 million) public, per annum fund has been voted through in conjunction with the new law to help farmers increase their competitiveness.

The new fund is set to be capitalised through revenue gained from rice tariffs and will remain in place until 2025.

Half of this fund will be used to provide aid to farmers’ associations, cooperatives and local government units. Rather than a monetary subsidy, the five billion pesos (US$95.1 million) will be paid in kind as farm equipment to improve mechanisation.

The remaining balance will be used to provide low-cost loans to producers, support agricultural education programmes and provide seeds.

According to the International Rice Research Institute, hybrid seeds produce 10-15 per cent higher yields and are more resistant to disease than those sown by domestic farmers.

Yet despite this, only 10 per cent of Philippine rice producers currently use hybrid seeds.

Therefore, there have been increasing calls from Philippine stakeholders to remove tariffs on hybrid seed varieties to increase usage of these strains by domestic producers.

This Philippines economic update was produced by Oxford Business Group.

https://www.theborneopost.com/2019/04/21/the-market-ramifications-of-increased-rice-imports-in-the-philippines/

The House deputy majority leader maintained that establishing the Rice Stock Market could be among the first items of the Rice Industry Roadmap as mandated by the law and its implementing rules and regulations.

Creation of ‘Rice Stock Exchange’ pushed

Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) - April 21, 2019 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — With the implementation of the Rice Tariffication law, the national government should also establish an industry counterpart of the Philippine Stock Exchange to prevent price manipulation and supply shortages in the future. 

Rep. Ron Salo of party-list Kabayan urged implementors of Republic Act 11203 to execute the “long-delayed plans for a Rice Stock Market” especially since “modern rice trading mechanism should both have physical location and internet and mobile application access.”  

“This is necessary for transparent and open market trading of rice between buyers and sellers, with the regulators and the public keeping a watchful eye on trades made, to thwart attempts at price manipulation, oversupply and shortages,” he pointed out.

He added that the “identities of all rice buyers, sellers and brokers should be open for all to see. Location information on all their bonded warehouses and other warehouses must be available on the Rice Stock Exchange.”

The House deputy majority leader maintained that establishing the Rice Stock Market could be among the first items of the Rice Industry Roadmap as mandated by the law and its implementing rules and regulations.  

Salo said other rice-producing countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia and elsewhere in the world have long had mercantile exchanges where rice has been traded along with other major agricultural commodities. 

“We have really been left behind. We are actually centuries behind. Grains have been traded in the mercantile exchanges of the US and Europe since the 19th century. Here in Asia, modern farm commodities trading began in the 1990s,” he disclosed.  

“It is only through Rice Stock Exchange that we will be able to know the exact supply status of the staple as well as the demand for rice in the whole country. We will also see palay buying price for Filipino farmers, and the cost of imported rice shipments,” he added.

Meanwhile, a party-list group that represents the poor and marginalized farmers in the House of Representatives has called on the government to achieve self-sufficiency in producing the rice staple instead of depending heavily on imports from other countries. 

“If there is a lesson that could be learned from the current Philippine drought, it is the ‘untenability’ of anchoring the rice and food security needs of our country on importation,” said Rep. Cecil Chavez of party-list Butil.

She added that a drought in the world’s top rice-producing countries, like giants China and India, “could wipe out the global rice surplus overnight and plunge the rice-consuming countries into a mad scramble for available rice at skyrocketing prices.” 

Chavez said a dry spell in these countries, touted as the “world’s top rice producers,” will definitely be more than enough to “radically bring down global rice production and instantly wipe out the 50 million metric tons of rice surplus that is traded on the global market.” 

“If the rice production in China and India falters, no amount of bountiful yields from Vietnam, Thailand and Bangladesh could offset the production loss from the two big countries,” she asserted. 

She also said that the global rice surplus of about 50 million metric tons is enough during normal times but could disappear overnight once China or India ramp up their rice importation. 

China, despite its record as the top rice producer, imports rice regularly, around six million metric tons annually, she added.

The drop in the volume of globally traded rice would bring a worst-case scenario to the Philippines, which has abandoned the pursuit of rice self-sufficiency in favor of unlimited rice importation, Chavez maintained.

In 2008, the Philippines imported more than two million metric tons of rice to offset the drought-induced short supply, a world record. If that scenario will take place in either China and or India, there surely will be panic and confusion in the rice-consuming countries.

Chavez said there is “no alternative to rice self-sufficiency, which the Philippine government can pursue on the basis on moderate costs and sound economics.”

“If the Philippine government will just give half of the support that the governments of Vietnam and Thailand currently give to their rice farmers, we will be on our road to rice self-sufficiency,” she claimed.

She said that the basis of the policy to end the quantitative restriction on rice imports and open up the country to unlimited rice importation was based on “voodoo economics” and was peddled by the economic managers of the Duterte administration.

Chavez asked for a reset on the policy and the pursuit of the more tenable and stable option of producing rice that is enough for the national requirements.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/04/21/1911205/creation-rice-stock-exchange-pushed#xPgGg4SOAcSK3UhJ.99

Dilemma over rice export 

Published:  April 20, 2019 22:08:02 

---

The reported strong pleas from the rice traders to lift ban on rice export has again brought to the fore the issue whether the country has exportable surplus of the cereal. Traders during a meeting held late last week requested the commerce minister to reconsider the ban that has been in place in the case of common varieties of rice for more than a decade. The latter, however, refrained from making any commitment and assured the traders of discussing the issue at appropriate levels.

When Bangladesh exported 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka under a government-to-government special deal struck in 2014, there was a raging debate whether the former has an exportable surplus of the food item. The truth is the country has been a net importer of rice for many decades. The volume of import of the main staple depended on its domestic production.  In 2017, import of rice by both private and public sectors reached a record level--- nearly 3.2 million tonnes--- when two consecutive floods wrought havoc on boro rice production.

The government also then had cut the duty rates from 28 per cent to only 2.0 per cent on rice import to help tame soaring rice prices in the local market. The domestic food stocks, however, have greatly improved since then due to good harvest in consecutive seasons. The government has raised the import tariff to the previous level and the volume of import of the item has come down to a very low level. The food department's silos do also have sufficient food reserves--- more than 1.2 million tonnes-now.

Against the backdrop of fluctuations in food production, a couple of issues have emerged. Firstly, whether the country is really self-sufficient in food production and, secondly, whether it has exportable surplus. There is no denying that a country where rice remains the main staple does need to meet the domestic consumption need first before considering export of the item. In the case of good harvests, the country does have enough rice to feed its population. But, it has always remained dependent on import for building the food reserve.

The volume of rice import goes up substantially in the event of any crop failure, a very likely development because of the country's high vulnerability to natural calamities such as floods and cyclones. Amidst such uncertainty, the relevant policymakers should take into cognizance the ground realities before allowing export of common rice varieties in what maybe perceived to gain a false sense of pride for the country as a rice exporter.

Besides, there exists a potential danger in the rice export move. As soon as the government allows export of common varieties of rice, the possibility of local market reacting adversely cannot be ruled out. The rice prices that have been otherwise stable in recent months could become volatile again. Under the circumstances, the government might consider allowing the traders to export a limited quantity of aromatic rice. As far as export of other common varieties of rice is concerned, the country should ensure the best agricultural prices to help raise food production that would leave truly exportable surplus. A country that has more than tripled its food production over a period of four decades does surely have the latent capacity to achieve that milestone. 

https://www.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/editorial/dilemma-over-rice-export-1555776482

Nellore: Paddy growers in a fix over low market price

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | PATHRI RAJASEKHAR

PublishedApr 21, 2019, 6:40 am IST

UpdatedApr 21, 2019, 6:40 am IST

Millers not very keen on procuring produce from farmers.

 The growers want to supply paddy to PPCs that are offering Rs 1,770 per quintal rice of ‘A’ grade with market rate being Rs 1,500.

Nellore: Paddy growers in a fix over where to sell their produce because of the tantrums being thrown by rice millers in procuring paddy.

Though the  government had opened around 98 paddy purchase centres (PPCs) across SPSR Nellore district, the procurement is too slow.

The growers want to supply paddy to PPCs that are offering Rs 1,770 per quintal rice of ‘A’ grade with market rate being Rs 1,500.

Market price, which is less than the procurement price, is the main reason for lack of interest being shown by millers to collect the paddy from growers.

The government is treating the widely cultivated ‘Nellore Masoori’ variety as A grade when it is in the shape of paddy. The same, however, becomes ‘B’ grade after converting as rice.

This way, millers tend to  lose `630 per tonne tonnne of paddy after conversion.

Last year, the state government had compensated this loss in Nellore district at the instance of agriculture minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.

The state also paid `210 as bonus for ‘A’ grade variety of rice to compensate for broken (virugullu in Telugu) paddy, which was rampant in Nellore last year, at the instance of the minister.

There is no such initiative because of election code this time. The only solace for farmers is that the Central government has hiked minimum support price by `200 this time though it is no match to what the state government offered last year.

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/210419/nellore-paddy-growers-in-a-fix-over-low-market-price.html

Telangana: Harvest-ready papaya damaged in Khammam

He, along with Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Ch Priyanka, visited Chimmapudi village of Raghunathapalem mandal to take stock of the situation. He interacted with papaya growers whose standing crop suffered damage.

By AuthorTelanganaToday  |  Published: 20th Apr 2019  10:15 pmUpdated: 21st Apr 2019  12:48 am

Khammam: Collector RV Karnan on Saturday directed officials of the Agriculture and Horticulture departments to submit reports on the crop loss caused by recent unseasonal rains in the district. He, along with Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Ch Priyanka, visited Chimmapudi village of Raghunathapalem mandal to take stock of the situation. He interacted with papaya growers whose standing crop suffered damage.

The farmers informed the Collector that at the papaya was cultivated on an extent of around 45 acres. Fifteen famers invested Rs 3 lakh each and they were scheduled to harvest the crop in the next two days, but the rain damaged it.

The Collector assured the farmers that a report on crop loss would be submitted to the State government and all possible help would be extended to them at the earliest. He also suggested that they take up alternative crop cultivation to overcome the loss.

Karnan directed transport contractors to provide sufficient number of vehicles for the transportation of paddy from procurement centres to warehouses. He held a meeting with the officials of Civil Supplies Department, DRDA, paddy procurement centres in-charges, transport contractors and rice millers at the Collectorate to review paddy procurement.

He wanted the all departments and officials to make coordinated efforts for speedy and smooth procurement of paddy. He cautioned against stocking the yield at markets, IKP centres and fields situated in low-lying areas. District Agriculture Officer Jhansi Lakshmi Kumari, ADAs G Saritha and Srinivas Rao, ZPTC Veeru Naik and others accompanied the Collector to Chimmapudi village.

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on WhatsApp /Telegram everyday. Click this link to subscribe and save this number 9182563636 on your contacts.

https://telanganatoday.com/telangana-harvest-ready-papaya-damaged-in-khammam

Govt to show zero tolerance against irregularities, says food minister

Boro rice procurement

ANISUR RAHMAN KHAN, Dhaka

The government will not tolerate any irregularities in the procurement of Boro rice, and if any official or employee is found guilty during procurement, he or she would have to face legal action. The ministry will also file divisional cases against any corrupt official or employee found guilty during Boro procurement, and they would lose their jobs as well.

Food minister Shadhan Chandra Majumder made these statements while talking to The Independent yesterday (Saturday). Earlier, the government decided to procure 12.50 lakh tonnes of Boro rice this Boro season to increase its buffer stocks. It will also procure 50,000 tonnes of wheat.

“The government has set the Boro production target at 1.96 crore metric tonnes this year,” said Md. Mizanur Rahman, deputy director (monitoring), field services wing, Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), adding that the farmers have cultivated a total of 49.33 lakh hectares of Boro. The figure was 49 lakh hectares last year.

“We want to ensure proper interest on the part of the Boro farmers. Boro rice will be procured from farmers directly this year. Only card-holder farmers can supply their products to local food offices and their payments will be made to their bank accounts,” Majumder said.

At a recent meeting, the minister warned the regional controller of food (RCF) to maintain transparency during Boro procurement, which is scheduled to begin from April 25.

“We won’t tolerate any irregularities during procurement. If anyone is found guilty, he or she would have to face the music,” the food minister warned the RCF.

The food minister also said committees have been formed, headed by upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs), comprising agricultural officers and local representatives, so that real farmers get proper prices for the crops they have grown.

While the food ministry was planning to buy local Boro rice from farmers at Tk. 39 per kg this year, the FPMC eventually decided to buy the rice for Tk. 36 a kg, maintaining similarity with the Aman procurement price, after estimating the production cost of Boro at Tk. 34 a kg.

The agriculture ministry estimated the production costs of paddy and rice at Tk. 23.50 and Tk. 34 a kg, respectively, the food minister said.

“The directorate-general of food (DG Food) will start buying Boro rice and paddy from April 25 from local farmers and rice millers. We will buy 11 lakh metric tonnes of rice, both boiled and Atap varieties, and 1.50 lakh tonnes of paddy,” Majumder said.

According to the estimation, 1.50 lakh tonnes of paddy are equivalent to 1 lakh tonnes of rice. The price of paddy was fixed at Tk. 26 per kg this year, estimating its production cost at Tk. 23.50 per kg, the food minister said. He also said the

authorities would buy boiled rice for Tk. 36 a kg, while Atap rice would be bought for Tk. 35 a kg.

According to the food minister, the department concerned under the food ministry had bought nine lakh tonnes of rice and 1.5 lakh tonnes of paddy last year.

Rahman added that the government has set the rice production target at 3.64 crore tonnes for the current fiscal year (2018–19), with an emphasis on the high-yielding variety (HYV).

The target has been set to produce 2.98 crore tonnes of HYV in the current year against last year’s production of nearly 3 crore tonnes, he added. The DAE official said of the total targeted rice output, 46.64 lakh tonnes are hybrid, almost 2.98 crore tonnes are of the high-yielding variety and the remaining 16 lakh tonnes are of the local variety of rice.

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/196584

The easy decision for Indonesian farmers between palm oil and rice production

20 April 2019

Authors: Palmira Permata Bachtiar and Asep Suryahadi, SMERU Research Institute

Many Indonesians remember a time of rice paddy fields with rows of women applying traditional cold powder on their face to avoid sunburn. This portrait is slowly disappearing. Agricultural household heads — who never noticed how much a kilo of rice costs thanks to their self-sufficiency — are now aware of it. Many in recent years have stopped cultivating their paddy fields and now buy rice in the market. At the same time, many farmers have shifted from rice to palm oil production. What factors are driving this shift and what are the implications?

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows that rice production surpassed its consumption, rendering a surplus of about 2.85 million tonnes in 2018. Wholesale data has shown a 10 per cent increase in the last three years from 10,915 Indonesian rupiah (US$0.78) per kilogram in 2015 to 12,054 Indonesian rupiah (US$0.86) in 2018. This steady hike reflects a growing dependency on rice sold in the market.

Disruption in the subsistence system of rice at the household level consequently brings more problems to food security. Many paddy fields in Jambi province, for instance, are left abandoned. This is also where palm oil is gaining increasing popularity among farmers. The choice of producing palm oil is not without reason.

At the micro-level, households continuing to plant rice are encountering labour constraints. Farmers used to apply a communal rotating system, where households worked together to plant one plot before moving to another, ensuring planting was done before the rainy season’s end. This system of reciprocal and mutual assistance gradually disappeared as community obligation loosened and households increasingly worked independently.

Hiring labourers means more working capital has to be made ready in addition to seed, fertiliser and pesticide capital. This is less of a problem with palm oil, as farmers can easily borrow from palm fruit traders to be paid after harvest time.

At the macro-level, the expansion of big plantations and processing industries near villages further intensifies the labour constraints faced by household producers. Labour allocation becomes more complicated as labourers prefer working in industrial plantations rather than village or household paddy fields.

Avoiding risk, these farmers enjoy secured incomes as employees. Proximity to these processing industries brings further security to palm oil farmers. This is why it is not easy for farmers to switch to other crops, such as durian, whose markets are more uncertain, even when the President encourages them to.

A further attraction for farmers from the macro-level perspective is that palm oil prices tended to be stable, particularly relative to other estate crops like rubber and coconut. Meanwhile the price of rice is intentionally kept affordable for consumers. Consequently the incentives to be rice consumers, rather than rice producers, are greater.

At the global level, climate change has complicated matters further by taking a toll on rice production. Farmers are observing more frequent and more severe weather events, such as prolonged droughts and floods. These lead increased humidity, causing more pests and diseases. Climate change also adds difficulty in predicting the beginning of the rainy season and causes disruptions to planting patterns.

Estate crops are relatively less susceptible to climate change in contrast to food crops, palm oil harvests are less affected by prolonged droughts and floods. Palm oil farmers do not have to worry about minor seasonal shifts. Meanwhile rice production is highly sensitive, often costing total losses and failed harvests. This, added with the micro-level and macro-level issues, explains why rice production is no longer attractive, even at the subsistence level.

The total area of palm oil household-level smallholders has grown significantly, almost 27 per cent in the last three years, from 4.42 million hectares in 2014 to 5.61 million in 2017. This is more than three times greater than the increase in private estate farms. In September 2018 a Presidential Decreetemporarily froze the permit of new private estates. But this moratorium will not affect the  expansion of smallholders — they are not the target of the decree. Yet events at the global level would certainly have an effect on them, directly or indirectly, including the EU plan to ban biofuel palm oil imports.

Three policy issues are on the table: food security, failed harvests, and future price slumps as palm oil farmer numbers continue to rise. The government has contemplated constructing new paddy fields for extensification — instead of intensification — to strengthen food security. But unless the growing failed harvests problem is addressed, the construction of more paddy fields is ineffective.

Following the 2014 Suryana report, the optimal policy option to counter climate change-burdened harvests is to invest in resistant seeds and to educate farmers in efficient water management.

The agricultural industry also has to empower farmers by eliciting their critical thinking. While the price of palm oil has been more attractive compared to rice, what happens if they all plant it?

Farmers must protect their livelihoods by putting their eggs in different baskets.

Palmira Permata Bachtiar is a Senior Researcher for the SMERU Research Institute, Jakarta.

Asep Suryahadi is the Director of the SMERU Research Institute, Jakarta. He also sits on the Editorial Board for the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies (BIES) and the Advisory Board of the Indonesia Project, The Australian National University.

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/04/20/the-easy-decision-for-indonesian-farmers-between-palm-oil-and-rice-production/

China Focus: Chinese scientists use rice straw to desalinate seawater

 April 20, 2019  Brinkwire  0 Comments

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have developed an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for clean water production.

Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation device from wasted rice straw.

The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are designed as water pumps.

The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.

Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats, wetlands and marshes.

The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.

According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great need to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven steam generation has attracted wide attention.

“As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and sustainable technologies that address the water crisis worldwide,” Liu said.

To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed. Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials, they are not suitable for large-scale applications.

Liu’s team explores new materials and new engineering designs to improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of desalination.

Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery capability through its culms.

China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been banned in many places.

“If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology,” Liu said.

The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods, earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining clean water, according to the team.

Liu’s team is also researching other solar thermal materials, which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in three years.

An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in using solar energy to desalinate sea water.

“By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for desalination can be further reduced,” Zhu said.

http://en.brinkwire.com/news/china-focus-chinese-scientists-use-rice-straw-to-desalinate-seawater/

HAU gets Rs 4.62 crore for research projects

Tribune News Service

Hisar, April 19

The Union Human Resource Development Ministry had sanctioned six research projects worth Rs 4.62 crore to Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) to work with foreign institutes.

Prof KP Singh, Vice Chancellor, HAU, said the projects had been sanctioned under the ‘SPARC’ (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration) scheme. “The SPARC scheme launched in October last year aims to improve the research ecosystem of higher education institutes of the country. It also includes the facilitation of academic and research cooperation, in which top ranked Indian institutions and globally ranked foreign institutions will work together on joint research projects. Under the scheme, research projects were invited from the researchers who have collaboration with world famous foreign universities,” he said.

On these projects, the HAU faculty would work in collaboration with scientists the University of Massachusetts; Washington State University, USA; Laval University, Canada; University of British Columbia, Canada; Massey University, New Zealand; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Switzerland; and University of Sydney, Australia, he said.

The Vice Chancellor said according to a communiqué received from Dr A Goswami, national convener of SPARC, the project granted to the university by the Human Resource Development Ministry included development of low silicon rice for the management of paddy straw (Rs 96.55 lakh), stress tolerance and yield in soybean (Rs 78.32 lakh), techno-economically viable technologies for crop residue management (Rs 74.73 lakh) and standardization of seed testing procedures and storability for medicinal plants (Rs 62.88 lakh). It also includes promoting smart farming through agro-meteorological techniques (Rs 75 lakh) and research on wheat to achieve food security (Rs 75 lakh).

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/hau-gets-rs-4-62-crore-for-research-projects/760995.html

'Pakistan must shift to high value-added exports'

By Shahram Haq

Published: April 20, 2019

Due to capital and high value-added imports, the import bill surpasses export revenues, resulting in an unsustainable current account deficit. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: Economic researchers have said that Pakistan’s balance of payments crisis is a result of less sophisticated, low value-added exports, which have led to a lower economic growth.

They ask whether Pakistan will be able to break out of this cycle of balance of payments crisis if it changed the nature of goods it exported.

A research conducted by the Lahore School of Economics concluded that a shift towards higher value-added exports, characterised by high income and price elasticities, was the only realistic way for Pakistan to realise sustained levels of higher economic growth.

It pointed out that Pakistan was again faced with an unsustainable balance of payments crisis and was on the brink of taking another stabilisation programme. While there is a tendency to blame different policy-makers, the actual problem is the structural issue in the economy which, if left unaddressed, will lead to continuation of the cycle of balance of payments crisis.

More specifically, owing to a narrow export base (concentrated in low value-added textile exports) and a relatively inelastic import base, the value of imports rises to unsustainable levels while exports increase only marginally.

“This leads to a balance of payments crisis which is addressed by the usual troika of policies – devaluation, monetary contraction and fiscal contraction,” the research added.

Pakistan’s current account deficit contracts 29.5% to $9.6b

Exports are mainly concentrated in textile and agricultural sectors. According to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics (UN Comtrade), Pakistan is the most effective exporter of rice, fruits, fish, cotton, leather apparel, cotton fabrics, linen, suits and ensembles and collector pieces and antiques. These products are included in low value-added categories and basic manufactured items.

In contrast to that, the main imports of Pakistan comprise petroleum products, power generating machinery, electrical machinery and apparatus, palm oil, iron and steel, plastic material, LNG and raw cotton. Naturally, due to capital and high value-added imports, the import bill surpasses export revenues, resulting in an unsustainable current account deficit, it said.

Given the low value-added exports and capital imports, any attempt to uplift GDP sparks fears of a balance of payments crisis.

“This is because, if GDP growth surpasses a certain level, in order to produce more goods and services to maintain or further increase that rate, the imports of essential products increase exponentially,” the research said.

Since the export structure remains the same and export quantities are largely determined by foreign markets, the revenues from exports stay stagnant. As a result, the current account deficit soars and since it is not possible to finance it for an indefinite time period, it eventually leads to the balance of payments crisis.

It was found that average real economic growth in Pakistan from 1980 to 2017 was 4.61% whereas the balance of payments constrained growth rate for the same time period was 4.5%.

“This suggests that Pakistan has been growing at approximately the same level of its balance of payments constrained growth rate, hence, to simultaneously increase the GDP growth rate and avoid the balance of payments crisis, it is imperative to broaden the export base.”

The research also simulated the outcome in the current account as a result of devaluation under three scenarios based on estimated export and import demand functions.

It incorporated a conservative estimate for domestic GDP growth, IMF forecasts for international GDP growth and three different exchange rates, ie Rs140, Rs150 and Rs160 against the dollar.

In each of these scenarios, the results showed that while the current account deficit improves, it was due to the reduction in imports and not due to any significant increase in exports.

“Ultimately, the policy of devaluing the rupee does little to boost exports and eventually restricts economic growth at or below 4.5%,” it added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2019.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1954849/2-pakistan-must-shift-high-value-added-exports/

Food exports dip 2.4pc in nine months FY19

ByAPP

April 19, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The food exports from the country witnessed a negative growth of 2.4 per cent, as it went down to $3.34 billion during the first three quarters of the ongoing fiscal year (FY19) as compared to the exports of $3.43 billion during the corresponding period of FY18, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The food commodities that contributed in the negative growth during the period under review included rice (0.48pc), fish and fish preparations (6.88pc), vegetables (2.48pc), tobacco (24.72pc), sugar (68.20pc), and meat (1.42pc).

On the other hand, the food products that witnessed a positive growth in external trade included fruits (8.66pc), wheat (104pc) and spices (14.65pc), while the export of oilseeds, nuts and kernels increased by 117pc.

The exports of all other food items also witnessed a positive growth of 16.56pc, as it went up from $411.378 million during the first nine months of FY18 to $479.482 million.

On a year-on-year basis, the food exports from the country declined by 19.88pc, from $589.238 million in March 2018 to $472.083 million in March 2019.

On a month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed a positive growth of 15.63pc in March 2019 as compared to February 2019.

It is pertinent to mention that the overall merchandise trade deficit decreased by 13.02pc during July-March 2018-19 as the deficit contracted by over $3.544 billion to $23.672 billion in the period under review against the deficit of $27.216 billion recorded during the same period of the previous year.

The exports during the period under review witnessed an increase of 0.11pc to $17.08 billion from $17.064 billion during July-March (2017-18).

On the other hand, the imports declined by 7.96pc to $40.755 billion from $44.281 billion recorded during the first nine months of the previous fiscal year.

On a year-on-year basis, the imports into the country witnessed a negative growth of 20.88pc during March 2019 as compared to March 2018. The imports during March 2019 were recorded at $4.155 billion as against the imports of $5.25 billion in March 2018.

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/19/food-exports-dip-2-4pc-in-nine-months-fy19/

Rising CO2 on declining nutrition in food is big issue, TED talk hears

The phenomenon starts with declining protein and nutrients in plants and continues up the food chain, research shows.

DERRICK PENNER

Updated: April 19, 2019

Epidemiologist Kristie Ebi told a Thursday audience at the TED talks in Vancouver that rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are going to have profound implications for the future of agriculture and public health. BRET

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Carbon dioxide is fuel that helps the plants humans require for food to grow, but researchers are learning that too much of it actually hurts the nutritional quality of rice, wheat and other crops so much of the planet depends on.

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are going to have profound implications for the future of agriculture and public health, epidemiologist Kristie Ebi told a Thursday audience at the TED Talks in Vancouver.

Field studies have revealed that rice crops grown in conditions with carbon dioxide levels expected mid-century have 10 per cent less protein, 15 per cent fewer B1 and B2 vitamins, and 30 per cent less folate, Ebi said.

“These are very serious potential consequences for health as carbon dioxide continues to rise,” Ebi said.

Those B vitamins are important in physiological functions of the body and folate critical for pregnant mothers and child development.

For wealthier people, who can afford to compensate for the faltering nutrition of plants, the trend isn’t that big a deal, Ebi said.

“When you start thinking about the poor in every country who rely on starch, this will put people on the edge over the edge and into deficiencies that create all sorts of health problems,” she said.

Ebi, who is the Rohm & Haas professor in public health at the University of Washington, added the impact will move up the food chain as the forage crops for livestock also declines in nutritional value.

“This is true in Vancouver, the state of Washington and everywhere else,” Ebi said in an interview following her talk.

And she is just looking at the effects of rising CO2 on plant nutrition, never mind the impacts of climate change — extremes of flooding, temperature and drought — that will also alter agriculture.

TED is an acronym that stands for technology entertainment and design and the idea of TED Talks is to expose ideas deemed worth spreading. Ebi was keen to make sure this science becomes more widely known.

To date, although studies are being published, Ebi said it isn’t on the radar of government agencies.

“I came here primarily to raise awareness,” Ebi said of her TED talk. “This is an issue people should know about, should be paying attention to.

“And many of the people who come to TED invest in companies, invest in new technologies and invest in lots of different ways.”

So the talk was also a nudge to get people thinking about making investments in the additional research needed for a more complete understanding of the phenomenon.

For instance, the studies that have been done project the potential for nutritional decline into the future.

Ebi said what researchers don’t know is how much the nutrition in food has already declined as CO2 has risen in the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the ultimate solution, Ebi said, but it will take decades for even dramatic reductions to make a difference.

“The lifetime of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 1,000 years,” Ebi said. “So, yes we need to reduce our emissions and yes, (the modelling) shows that the most effective route is to reduce our emissions (but) that’s not enough.”

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https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/rising-co2-on-declining-nutrition-in-food-is-big-issue-ted-talk-hears

Highlights of China's science news

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-20 16:24:32|Editor: Li Xia

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's science news from the past week:

ANTARCTIC SEA ICE

-- A team led by Chinese researchers has revealed the fine-scale surface features of the Antarctic sea ice by using drones to acquire high-resolution images and data.

Using the unmanned aerial vehicle "Polar Hawk-III," Chinese researchers obtained remote sensing data of sea ice in the east Antarctic in China's 33rd Antarctic expedition in 2016 and 2017.

This is the first time that Chinese researchers used drone technology in surveying and mapping large areas of Antarctic sea ice.

CHANG'E-6 MISSION

-- China announced the cooperation plan for its future Chang'e-6 mission, offering to carry a total of 20 kg of solicited payloads, according to the China National Space Administration on Thursday.

The orbiter and lander of the Chang'e-6 mission will each reserve 10 kg for payloads, which will be selected from both domestic colleges, universities, private enterprises and foreign scientific research institutions.

ASTEROID EXPLORATION

-- China on Thursday unveiled its plan to explore an asteroid and a comet, inviting scientists around the world to participate in the program.

The mission will involve exploring a near-Earth asteroid, named 2016HO3, and a main-belt comet, named 133P, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

HUMIDITY-RESPONSIVE SMART TEXTILE

-- A new study published in the international journal Advanced Functional Materials said that scientists using silkworm silk have developed a smart textile that can automatically contract and stretch with humidity changes.

According to the study, the sleeves made from such smart textile can shrink as much as 45 percent in the vertical direction when exposed to moisture or sweat and then recover to its initial length when the environment becomes dry.

DESALINATION WITH RICE STRAW

-- Chinese scientists have developed an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for clean water production.

Solar steam generation is considered to be a promising strategy for purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a solar steam-generation device from wasted rice straw.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/20/c_137993231.htm

China Focus: Chinese scientists use rice straw to desalinate seawater

 April 20, 2019  Brinkwire  0 Comments

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have developed an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for clean water production.

Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation device from wasted rice straw.

The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are designed as water pumps.

The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.

Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats, wetlands and marshes.

The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.

According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great need to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven steam generation has attracted wide attention.

“As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and sustainable technologies that address the water crisis worldwide,” Liu said.

To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed. Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials, they are not suitable for large-scale applications.

Liu’s team explores new materials and new engineering designs to improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of desalination.

Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery capability through its culms.

China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been banned in many places.

“If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology,” Liu said.

The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods, earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining clean water, according to the team.

Liu’s team is also researching other solar thermal materials, which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in three years.

An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in using solar energy to desalinate sea water.

“By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for desalination can be further reduced,” Zhu said

http://en.brinkwire.com/news/china-focus-chinese-scientists-use-rice-straw-to-desalinate-seawater/

DOF: NFA must strengthen logistics ops with rice tariffication in place

(Philstar.com) - April 20, 2019 - 2:08pm

MANILA, Philippines — After the agency’s role in rice imports was removed following the enactment of the Rice Tariffication Law, the National Food Authority needs to strengthen its logistics capacity to ensure that the government has enough buffer stocks of the staple grain at all times, the Department of Finance said.

Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II said that starting March 5 when Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Act took effect, the NFA’s import licensing and other regulatory functions ceased, although the crucial role of emergency buffer stocking remains.

Lambino said the NFA’s task of regulating the rice sector was removed owing to the agency’s "inefficiencies" resulting from a controlled import system, and which left the agency saddled in debt amounting to about P145 billion. 

With the rice tariffication law in place, imports from ASEAN countries will be charged a tariff of 35% of its value, while imports from non-ASEAN countries within the minimum access volume (MAV) initially set at 350,000 metric tons will be taxed 40%. A tariff of 180% will be collected for imports above the MAV from non-ASEAN countries. 

The collected tariffs will be used to fund mass irrigation, warehousing and rice research.

Based on the central bank’s estimate, scrapping import caps on rice could reduce annual inflation by 0.7 percentage points in 2019. 

While the measure is expected to give households reeling from soaring prices a reprieve, farmer groups said replacing rice import limits with a system of tariffs would drive down prices for their produce and hurt their business. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/04/20/1911113/dof-nfa-must-strengthen-logistics-ops-rice-tariffication-place#RcbK3SiC7ujqxg0A.99

DOF says NFA must strengthen logistics ops amid rice tariff law

Published April 20, 2019 3:14pm 

By TED CORDERO, GMA News

The National Food Authority needs to strengthen its logistics capability to ensure that the government has enough buffer stocks of the staple grain with nationwide reach at all times, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Saturday.

In a statement, Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II said this becomes more imperative after the NFA was stripped off of its function in rice importation as a result of the Rice Tariffication law taking effect last March.

The NFA’s import licensing and other regulatory functions ceased when Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Act took effect last March 5, although the crucial role of emergency buffer stocking remains with the agency and has been emphasized.

Lambino said the NFA’s task of regulating the rice sector was removed owing to the agency’s "inefficiencies" resulting from a controlled import system, and which left the agency saddled in debt amounting to about P145 billion.

Under the law imposing tariffs on rice imports in lieu of quantitative restrictions, private traders would now be allowed to import rice so long as they comply with basic requirements set by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) for food safety and protection of farming areas, Lambino said at a recent media forum in Quezon City. 

With the rice tariffication law in place, imports from ASEAN countries will be charged a tariff of 35 percent of its value, while imports from non-ASEAN countries within the minimum access volume (MAV) initially set at 350,000 metric tons (MT) will be taxed 40 percent. A tariff of 180 percent will be collected for imports above the MAV from non-ASEAN countries.

On top of paying tariffs, rice importers will be required to secure sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSIC) from the BPI, which assumed the food safety regulation function of the NFA under the rice tariffication law. 

This requirement will ensure that rice imports are free from pests and diseases that could affect public health and local farm production, he said. 

Lambino said that aside from lowering rice prices and providing direct assistance to farmers, the law will also be an effective deterrent to smuggling because rice imports would now be liberalized.

"The tariffication law is the most important weapon against smuggling. The incentive to smuggle would almost be nil because anyone can now import rice so long as they comply with the requirements,” Lambino said.

He said that with imports now hewing closer to prices in the global or regional markets, traders would be discouraged from smuggling or even hoarding their stocks.

“Who would be encouraged to hold on to their stocks when there is enough supply in the market and anyone can import if the supply declines?”  he stressed.  

Lambino said that as earlier projected by economic managers, liberalizing rice imports would further lower inflation by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage point this year, ensuring that the rate remains within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)'s 2 to 4 percent target for 2019. — MDM, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/691835/dof-says-nfa-must-strengthen-logistics-ops-amid-rice-tariff-law/story/

Liberia: Rice Importers Refute Media Report

Tagged:

The managements of UCI and SWAT will like to inform the public that the story in the April 17, 2019 edition of the New Democrat newspaper about a "cartel" of rice importers is nothing less than rubbish intended to confuse the general public and create a bewildering environment for the rice business community and the consumers.

The story was based on mare speculations intended to push an agenda for unserious people. We would like to state that the price of a bag of rice is 13 usd/bag, and not 20 usd/bag as reported. Secondly, to own a warehouse at the free port is not a condition for importing rice in the country.

The paper also referred to rice importers as cartel, which is a pure manifestation of a tabloid weaseling for relevance. When President Weah came to power, the first thing he did was to ask the rice importers to reduce the price of rice. That was done without hesitation, regardless the losses the importers underwent.

Storage facilities at the port of Monrovia are leased by the relevant government agency. It is not restricted or reserved for any special person. Whichever company or individual that affords the lease price, is given it.

It is very unfortunate that this paper which was, once, one of the best media organs of this country will go down the drain probably because it slid in the hands of someone who does not care about professional writing, but innuendos that are acrid of yellow journalism, image tainting and blackmailing.

https://allafrica.com/stories/201904190260.html

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Indian rice fetches low price as demand wanes

Posted at: Apr 20, 2019, 7:16 AM; last updated: Apr 20, 2019, 12:40 PM (IST

Bengaluru, April 19

Asian rice exporting hubs saw tepid activity this week, with prices for the staple from top exporter India dipping on lower demand, while Bangladesh mulled a review of its ban on exports of the grain.

India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted around $377-$380 per tonne, down from last week’s $387-$390.

Demand from African buyers was weak as they have ample inventories, said Nitin Gupta, vice-president, rice business at Olam India.

Aggressive selling of old inventories by China at lower prices has also weighing on prices, he added.

The country’s rice exports for April-February dropped 9.4% from a year earlier to 10.57 million tonnes, as leading buyer Bangladesh trimmed its purchases due to a bumper local harvest, a government body said.

On Thursday, Bangladesh’s commerce minister said a long-standing ban on rice exports will be discussed after strong pleas from traders to lift the restriction.

“If we have surplus, we can allow rice exports,” Tipu Munshi told reporters after a meeting with the rice traders association.

Bangladesh, traditionally the world’s fourth biggest rice producer, banned overseas shipments of some common rice varieties in May 2008 following a spike in domestic prices. It banned all rice exports a year later.

In 2017, the country was forced to massively increase imports to shore up domestic reserves after floods wrought havoc on local crops and pushed domestic rice prices to record highs, but domestic stocks have since greatly improved.

In Thailand, the world’s second-largest exporter, the benchmark 5% broken rice prices eased slightly to $393-$411 a tonne, free on board Bangkok, from $405-$410 last week.

“Overseas buyers have turned to rice from India and Vietnam because their prices have been more competitive compared to ours,” a trader said.

However, concerns over domestic supply in the country have kept prices steady recently, traders said.

“The harvest of the last crop was completed last month and there is no new supply except unsold rice from the mills, this meant prices remain stable with a tendency to rise even though there is no demand,” a Bangkok-based rice trader said. — Reuters

Exports decline 9.4% in April-February

·       The country’s rice exports for April-February dropped 9.4% from a year earlier to 10.57 million tonnes, as leading buyer Bangladesh trimmed its purchases due to a bumper local harvest

Aggressive selling of old inventories by China at lower prices has also weighing on prices

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/business/indian-rice-fetches-low-price-as-demand-wanes/760804.html

Audu Ogbeh’s declaration on rice is far from the reality

The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh’s declaration that 90% of the rice Nigeria consumes is produced in the country is wishful thinking at best. Image credit: Daily Trust

Currently, Nigeria remains the largest importer of rice in Africa, taking billions of Naira out to other countries that could have been used to improve the lives of its citizens. It is in recognition of this problem that the government promised in 2016 that it would be self-sufficient in the production of rice, maize, and soybeans by 2018.

On the 17^th of April, the minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, announced that 90% of the rice Nigeria consumes is produced here in the country. While we desperately want this assertion to be true,  all reports indicate that this is far from reality.

Granted, there have been marked improvements in rice production in the country. In addition to Lake rice, we now have Anambra rice, Mama happy rice and some other brands whose names are not known.

And the fact that we do not know the names of the rice we produce as a nation shows that there is a problem. Till date, in spite of the funds the government has pumped into the production of rice, demand continues to outweigh supply. According to this PWC report,  Nigeria in 2017 was producing 3.7million tonnes which was not enough to cover her consumption of 6.4million.

In 2018, the situation did not improve. A US Department of Agriculture report predicted that we would be importing 3.4million tonnes by this year based on our production and consumption rate at the time.

According to this infographic from PWC, in 2017, consumption of rice in Nigeria far outweighs production. Sadly, in 2019, the situation has not improved.

And we cannot say they are lying. The famous Lake rice has not even gotten to every household in Ikorodu, never mind Lagos. Anambra rice may not even be eaten outside Onitsha. The only type of rice that remains popular till date is Ofada rice, which has been with us for as long as I can remember.

Why would Audu Ogbeh boldly claim that 90% of the rice we consume is produced here in the country? Perhaps he meant to say that we consume 90% of the rice produced here, which sounds more like it considering the fact that our rice does not get to every household. What exactly might be his reason for tying, vainly, to present the world with a different reality?

It is doubtful that Lake Rice is eaten outside the West of Nigeria

Of course, we know that this is a rhetorical question since no credible answer would ever be gotten. However, instead of indulging in wishful thinking, maybe the Minister of Agriculture should try to improve rice production in the country, and the government making the importation of rice illegal without increasing the volume produced here in the country is not the solution.

Incentivizing the production of rice and making it transparent to possible investors while actively seeking their contribution is the first place to start from. The government cannot on its own fund rice production to the level where it becomes available to all Nigerians, but it will not get the investors it desperately needs if they do not see any gain in leaving rice importation for production. Making false and bogus promises of what they stand to gain will not cut it either.

Qwenu! publishes opinions, reflections, and experiences of Africans on contemporary issues. Click here to read articles from Africans at home and in the diaspora. Email submissions to editor@qwenu.com Follow us @qwenu_media

Sreedevi is churning profits using local flavours

Manorama Correspondent April 20, 2019 06:57 AM IST

Food processing industry is a sector that generates a number of opportunities. Riding on this potential, a businesswoman from Thrissur is reaping huge profits with minimum investment.

What's her business line? Products that can be used for cooking and some ready-to-eat dishes.

'Thiruvonam Mills' is managed by Sreedevi and her husband Suresh Nath as a family business at Edakulam in Thrissur district, and its products in two categories – ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat – hit the market with the brand name 'Mrs Nalans.'

The main products are steamed 'puttu podi' and 'ragi podi,' 'idli and 'dosa' podi,' 'avulosu podi,' coconut 'chammanthi podi,' prawns 'chammanthi podi,' 'idli-dosa chammanthi podi', and various curry mixes, among others. Easy-to-prepare 'sambar' mix is a special item from the stable of 'Thiruvonam Mills.' Apart from these, the firm is also marketing rice flour, chilli, coriander, semolina (rava) and 'maida.' The delicacies made of 'Nalans' rice flour would be very soft and tasty as rice is washed, dry-fried and pestled properly.

Sreedevi has been running the business for the past three years. She got the inspiration to become an entrepreneur from her father, who had a flour mill. Sreedevi's training stints with Kozhikode NIT and Mannuthy Agriculture University in Thrissur in processing of fruits gave her the confidence to make products having local flavour.

Investment of Rs 20 lakh

The couple bought a piece of land near to their home and built a unit there and installed requisite machinery. The main machines are rice washer, steamer, pulverizer, roaster and, continuous and hand sealers. Seven people are working in the unit, which is open on Sundays too. Traditional foodstuffs such as 'puttu,' 'neyyappam,' 'ada,' 'appam,' and 'vada' are made as per orders from customers. While Sreedevi is a draftsman (civil), Suresh is a diploma holder in mechanical engineering. Their son Ashith has completed graduation in food technology and daughter Anjali has an MSc in food technology.

Sale through shops

Majority of the sale is generated through shops, and the products are supplied after directly taking orders from the shop owners. Supermarkets are not points of sale for 'Thiruvonam Mills,' but there is spot selling of products. The food items are sold on cash-and carry concept and the couple don’t encourage credit sales. Sreedevi is planning to appoint some good distributors. There is pretty good competition in this field but there are opportunities too.

Logs 30% profit

The average sale is worth around Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, and the net profit is about 30%. Sreedevi has plans to supply traditional breakfast food items, and scale up the daily production capacity from 500 kg to 2,000 kg. She is also planning to step into export market.

Main features

Stress on increasing and maintaining quality

Raw materials are subjected to a three-step cleaning process for quality assurance

Makes it a point to not buy sticky rice

In-house processing

Food items will be soft even when they are not warm

Dosa-idli batter will not ferment too much

'The trade secret will not be revealed'

Local flavour is maintained

All products are fresh

Address

Sreedevi/Suresh Nath,

Thiruvonam Mills

Edakulam PO,

Thrissur – 680 688.

Phone: 9447442347, 7559942347

Read more at: https://english.manoramaonline.com/women/shebusiness/2019/04/19/sreedevi-local-flavour-food-items-kerala.html

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