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LAKHIMPUR: A field day event on Boro paddy was
organized on Thursday by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Lakhimpur under the aegis
of Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) in collaboration
with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
The programme was held in the presence of two
hundred farmers of the Podumoni village under Karunabari Block of the district.
The main objective of the programme was to create awareness among farmers about
different stress tolerant rice varieties and their characteristics including a
newly introduced variety in Podumoni village, – Bina dhan-11.
Efforts were also made to create awareness
among the farmers regarding use of modern technologies and machineries for
scientific production of rice.
A training and demonstration programme on the
use and benefits of post harvest machineries was also conducted for the
benefits of the farmers by the scientists present in the event.
Lakhi Kanta Nath, Subject Matter Specialist
(Agronomy) of KVK, Lakhimpur, discussed about the different
methods and techniques of rice cultivation and their advantages as a whole.
IRRI scientist Sauraj Jyoti Baishya, as a resource person on training of
post-harvest machineries, explained the objectives of the programme and need
for modernization of rice production using machineries.
He also pointed
out the advantages of using machines for rice cultivation. The demonstration on
post-harvest machineries in farmer’s field was given by Research Technician of
IRRI, P Srichandan. Crop cutting of Boro paddy “Bina dhan-11” was also done as
a part of the field day. Assistant Project Scientist Rupshikha Goswami, Project
Associate Mouchumi Dutta, Research Technicians Pulin Saikia and Durlov Bora of
the APART project of KVK, Lakhimpur were among those who present in the event.
Cultivation of MTU 1001 variety of paddy banned
Hans News Service |
13 July 2019 10:27 PM
Cultivation of MTU 1001 variety of paddy
banned HIGHLIGHTS The district administration has banned the cultivation of MTU
1001 variety of paddy crop from the current kharif season. Srikakulam: The
district administration has banned the cultivation of MTU 1001 variety of paddy
crop from the current kharif season. The ban is aimed to prevent illegal procurement
of same paddy produce from adjacent Odisha state by the millers of the district
and also to stop recycling of rice distributed under public distribution system
(PDS) through fair price shops. Advertise With Us In Odisha, 1001 variety of
paddy crop is being cultivated and millers from Srikakulam procure the variety
produced from there by paying low price and showed it as levy target. Millers
have to procure paddy from local farmers by paying minimum support price (MSP)
and supply it as levy to civil supplies department every year and in turn
government is paying amount to the millers. Advertise With Us But millers of
Srikakulam district are procuring paddy produce from Odisha by paying low price
and showed it as levy target here. As a result, the district farmers are unable
to sell their paddy produce here and they are being exploited by local
middlemen. Rice distributed to poor families under the PDS is produced from
1001 but most of poor families are selling the same rice to local brokers at Rs
15 per kg. This rice is being recycled and mixed in branded rice in open market
by the traders and selling it to customers with high price. Advertise With Us
"The aim of government is to distribute rice for Rs 1 a kg to poor
families under the PDS is being defeated and misused. Millers also cheating the
civil supplies department by procuring it from Odisha, as a result, farmers
also affected here. To arrest it, we have banned cultivation of 1001 variety of
paddy crop," district supply officer A Krishna Rao and Joint Director for
Agriculture K Ch Appala Swamy told to The Hans India. We have supplied MTU
1156, 1075, 1061 varieties of paddy seed to farmers as alternatives, the joint
director added
BEIJING:
A Chinese scholar has stressed for construction of agriculture development zone
along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to produce high-quality
agriculture products.
“China
and Pakistan can jointly produce high-quality agricultural products such as
soybean, cotton, peanuts, grapes, olive oil, citrus, mango, pomegranate, and
strawberry, and then export them to China, which has the potential to generate
around US $12 billion a year for Pakistan,”
Cheng
Xizhong, Visiting Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and
Law, Senior Fellow of the Chahar Institute told China Economic Net.
He
said Southern China’s Guangdong province was now focusing on economic
cooperation with South Asian countries, including Pakistan.
The
province took the lead in reform and opening-up, paying special attention to
the research and development of new technologies in the fields of industry and
agriculture, its climate was warm, similar to Pakistan, and its new crop
varieties and cultivation technology were very suitable for Pakistan, he added.
He
informed that Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist, was the pioneer
of hybrid rice research and development in China and was known as the “father
of hybrid rice” in the world.
“China
is also a traditional producer of soybeans and maize. For a long time, China
has accumulated advanced planting technology and management experience, which
it is willing to share with Pakistan,” he added.
Cheng
observed that China and Pakistan were countries which place great importance on
agriculture. Pakistan’s budget this year had substantially increased investment
in agriculture, hence there was great potential for cooperation in agriculture
between China and Pakistan.
In
his perspective, water conservancy infrastructure construction was very
important and Guangdong’s enterprises could cooperate fully with Pakistan.
He
said another key area for growth was the deep-processing of agricultural
products, which could bring enormous economic benefits.
Therefore,
China and Pakistan should work together to develop deep-processing of
agricultural products.
The
Chinese scholar informed that Guangdong enterprises had advanced
deep-processing machinery and excellent technology.
They
could invest in the deep-processing industry of agricultural products and
create conditions for Pakistani agricultural products to increase value and
open up international markets.
FEBR for removal of non-trade barriers to pursue $5b Pak-Iran trade
target
JULY 14, 2019
The Friends of Economic and
Business Reforms (FEBR) President Kashif Anwar has called for removal of
non-trade barriers to pursue a target of $5 billion worth bilateral trade from
the current value of $1.3 billion trade between Iran and Pakistan, as the US
sanctions on Tehran have affected normal trade activities between the two
countries.
He also called for expediting efforts to enter into a final
barter trade deal between Pakistan and Iran, as the two neighbouring countries
were recently holding a round of talks during their 8th meeting of Joint Trade
Committee to review progress on trade issues. He welcomed Iran’s Minister of
Industry, Mine and Commerce Reza Rahmani, who was on official visit to
Pakistan, saying it would open opportunities for enhancing bilateral trade and
economic cooperation. FEBR president, proposing to set up a barter exchange
mechanism for trading goods, stressed the need to identify trade items that
could properly work in a barter mechanism.
He hinted that Iran could offer Islamabad an array of export
items manufactured in the Iranian construction sector and barter them for
Pakistan’s agricultural and pharmaceutical products, as the Preferential Trade
Agreement between the two countries was not fully utilised due to international
sanctions on Iran.
Kashif Anwar, the former LCCI vice president, said that
establishing the barter committee was agreed during a trip in April to Tehran
by PM Imran Khan. The idea came after the two sides failed to finalize a
long-awaited agreement on free trade, citing reasons such as US sanctions and
the fact that a previous preferential trade deal, signed in 2006 had failed to
be fully materialized. Presently, Pakistan and Iran enjoy PTA which gives
concessions on 18 percent of items, which is not being implemented. Due to
which Pakistan is losing its market of mangoes, rice, citrus fruit and other
agriculture items. Pakistan has huge potential in exporting of these
agriculture products and edible fruit and vegetables, while in return Iran has
potential to export crude oil and petroleum products. He said the volume of
Pakistan’s export to Iran remained just $21 million and import from Iran was
$377 million.
FEBR He further added that being brotherly and neighbouring countries
the two countries should further strengthen existing trade ties for the well
being of the peoples of both countries. He urged to address all the issues
which are hampering bilateral trade, creating win-win situation for both the
countries.
Kashif Anwar said that to start barter trade, at the first
instance both the countries should select few items with a competitive
advantage. In this regard, Pakistan can enhance export of wheat, sugar, rice
and fruit to Iran.
LAHORE - Punjab Agriculture
Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial Saturday said the rice crop not only
fulfills nutritional needs but also a good source of earning the foreign
exchange. He said the agriculture department was providing guidance to the rice
growers to meet the production target this year. According to a press release
issued here, he was addressing a seminar, organised jointly by the Punjab
Agriculture Department and Pakistan Basmati Heritage Association in Gujranwala.
He said that during 2018-19, 2.19 million tonnes of rice had been exported,
through which some $1.04 billion forex was earned. The minister said this year
it was expected that the export of rice would increase by $2 billion.
He said, “This year rice is cultivated on an
area above 4.7 million acres and its production target had been set at 3,992
million metric tonnes.” Langrial said that the government had taken various
farmer-friendly steps in the light of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision and
added that agriculture sector was among the priorities of the government.
Despite financial problems, the government had allocated good amount for
development of the agriculture sector in provincial budget 2019-20, he added.
Pakistan Basmati Heritage Association’s Shahid Tarar said that the
association’s basic aim was to protect Basmati rice and to ensure responsible
use of certified poisons.
Pakistan Needs Free
Access To US Markets To Stabilize Its Bleak Economy
Umer Jamshaid 1 day ago Sun 14th July 2019 | 01:00 PM
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan
Point News - APP - 14th Jul, 2019 ) :Business community Sunday hoped that Prime MinisterImran Khan's upcoming visit to United States of America (USA) would bring both the countries closer and help
exploring new venues for mutual cooperation besides seeking direct access to
American markets on zero rate duty to help stabilize its
bleak economy.
In a press statement issued here
today, Founder Chairman Pak-US business Council Iftikhar Ali Malik said Pakistan needs immediate direct access to US markets and not aid as it has suffered irreparable
colossal financial loss for playing frontline role in the war on terror and US
must support Pakistan to achieve its economic prosperity and
self-reliance.
He said joint efforts are needed to
further cement the existing economic ties between Pakistan and US private sector. He said Pakistan and US are enjoying amicable relationship
and coalition partners against war on terror.
He also demanded that the US
president Donald Trump should announce packages of
incentives for the quick revival of the Pakistani economy as the country has also suffered
losses a lot economically in the war against terror.
Iftikhar Malik who is also Senior
Vice President of SAARC Chamber said that USA is the largest trading partner of Pakistan with trade volume US $ 6.7 billion.
He said Pakistan's major exports to United States are sports goods, surgical goods, leather and finished
leather products, textile, cotton yarn, garments, carpets, and rice. Pakistan's main imports fromUnited States are electrical machinery, equipment,
medicines, dry fruits, perfumes, coffee, mangoes, dates and other food items, he added.
He also called for need of negotiation on bilateral investment
treaty for promotion of investment.
He suggested the United States and Pakistan should expand cooperation on the 2013
Joint Action Plan on Trade and Investment as the United States remains Pakistan's largest bilateral export market and a significant source of foreign direct
investment.
He said the USA should remove the bottlenecks in bilateral
investment treaty and efforts should now be made on signing a free trade agreement (FTA) at the earliest and it was now
imperative that the USA should offer same package and incentives which it offered
to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in textileexports, such as duty concessions and market access," said a press release issued
here.
"There must be an incentive
package for Pakistan for being a front-line state in combating
terrorism with the USA. There is a need for duty cut and market access for Pakistanitextile goods to the USA," he added.
He further said visa restrictions should be eased for the Pakistani businessmen and exporters and joint
efforts were needed to further strengthen the existing economic ties
between Pakistan and US private sector.
Iftikhar urged the need to restore
relations to the level of pre 9/11 days, adding that good relations between the
US and the Muslim Ummah would help restore confidence and
attain world peace.
With South Asia becoming the hub of international economic activity, restoration
of peace in the region is all the more necessary, he concluded.
Dr. Mary Rice walks with
Michael Howard at a Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare clinic in Chelsea, Mass.,
as they test his oxygen levels with the addition of oxygen from a portable
tank. He has COPD, a progressive lung disease that can be exacerbated by heat
and humidity. Jesse Costa | WBUR
When Michael Howard arrives for a
checkup with his lung specialist, he's worried about how his body will cope
with the heat and humidity of a Boston summer.
"I lived in Florida for 14 years and I moved back because the
humidity was just too much," Howard tells pulmonologist Mary Rice, as he
settles into an exam room chair at a Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare clinic.
Howard, who is 57, has COPD, a progressive lung disease that can
be exacerbated by heat and humidity. Even inside a comfortable,
climate-controlled room, his oxygen levels worry Rice. Howard reluctantly
agrees to try using portable oxygen. He's resigned to wearing the clear plastic
tubes looped over his ears and inserted in his nostrils. He assures Rice he has
an air conditioner and will stay inside on really hot days. The doctor and
patient agree that Howard should take his walks in the evenings to be sure that
he gets enough exercise without overheating.
Then Howard turns to Rice with a question she didn't encounter in
medical school: "Can I ask you: Last summer, why was it so hot?"
Rice, who studies air pollution, is ready.
"The overall trend of the hotter summers that we're seeing
(is) due to climate change," Rice says, "and with the overall upward
trend, we've got the consequences of climate change."
Dr. Mary Rice, who studies the health effects of air
pollution, talks with patient Michael Howard about hisnincreasednbreathing problems
and their possible link to heat waves,nincreased pollen and longer allergy
seasonsnassociated with climate change. Jesse Costa | WBUR
For Rice, connecting those consequences — heat waves, more pollen, longer allergy seasons — to
her patients' health is becoming routine. She is among a very small but growing
number of doctors and nurses who discuss those connections with patients.
In June, the American Medical Association, American Academy of
Pediatrics and American Heart Association were among 70 medical and public
health groups that issued a call to action asking the U.S.
government, business and leaders to recognize climate change as a health
emergency.
"The health, safety and wellbeing of millions of people in
the U.S. have already been harmed by human-caused climate change, and health
risks in the future are dire without urgent action to fight climate
change," the coalition statement said.
The World Health Organization calls climate change "the
greatest health challenge of the 21st century," and a dozen U.S. medical societies urge action
to limit global warming.
Some societies provide patient handouts that explain related
health risks. But none have guidelines that explain how providers should talk
to patients about climate change. There is no concrete list of "dos"
— as in wear a seat belt, use sunscreen, and get exercise — or "don'ts"
— as in don't smoke, don't drink too much and don't text while driving.
Climate change is different, says Rice, because an individual
patient can't prevent it. So Rice focuses on steps her patients can take to
cope with the consequences of heatwaves, more potent pollen and a longer
allergy season.
That's Mary Heafy's main complaint. The 64-year-old has asthma
that is worse during the allergy season. During her appointment with Rice,
Heafy wants to discuss whether she's on the right medications. But she also wants
to know why her eyes and nose are running and her chest is tight for longer
periods every year.
Dr. Mary Rice checks Mary Heafy's breathing during a
checkup for her asthma at the Beth Israel Deaconess clinic. Climate change
seems to be extending the Boston region's ragweed season, Rice told
Heafy. Jesse Costa | WBUR
"It feels like once (the allergy season) starts in the
springtime, it doesn't end until there's a killing frost," Heafy tells
Rice, with some exasperation.
"Yes," Rice nods, "because of global warming, the
plants are flowering earlier in the spring. After hot summers, the trees are
releasing more pollen the following season. And the ragweed — it's extending
longer into the fall."
So Heafy may need stronger medicines and more air filters, her
doctor says, and may spend more days wearing a mask — although the effort of
breathing through a mask is hard on her lungs as well.
As she and the doctor finalize a prescription plan, Heafy observes
that "physicians talk about things like smoking, but I don't know that
every physician talks about the environmental impact."
There are many reasons few do. Besides the lack of guidelines,
doctors say they don't have time during a 15- to 20-minute visit to approach
something as complicated as climate change.
And the topic can be controversial: While a recent Pew Research Center pollfound that 59%
of Americans think climate change affects their local community "a great
deal or some," only 31% say it affects them personally, and views vary
widely by political party.
We contacted energy-industry trade groups to ask what role -- if
any — medical providers should have in the climate change conversation, but
neither the American Petroleum Institute nor the American Fuel and Petroleum
Manufacturers returned calls or email requests for comment.
Some doctors worry about challenging a patient's beliefs on the
sometimes-fraught topic, according to Dr. Nitin Damle, the past president of
the American College of Physicians.
"It's a difficult conversation to have," says Damle, who
practices internal medicine in Wakefield, R.I. "Many people still think
it's something they're not going to be affected by, but it's really not
true."
Damle says he "takes the temperature" of patients, with
some general questions about the environment or the weather, before deciding if
he'll suggest that climate change is affecting their health.
Gaurab Basu, a primary care physician at Cambridge Health
Alliance, says he's ready if patients want to talk about climate change, but he
doesn't bring it up. Basu says he must make sure patients feel safe in the exam
room. Raising a controversial political issue might erode that feeling. When
patients do ask about climate change, it can be "a difficult
conversation," he says.
"I have to be honest about the science and the threat that is
there, and it is quite alarming," Basu says.
So alarming that Basu says he often refers patients to counseling.
Psychiatrists concerned about the effects
of climate change on mental healthsay there are no standards of care
in their profession yet. They suggest a response must be tailored for each
patient, but some common responses are emerging.
"We
are hungry for information"
One environmental group isn't waiting for doctors and nurses to
figure how to talk to patients about climate change.
"We're trying to create a demand for these conversations to
get started," says Molly Rauch, the public health policy director with
Moms Clean Air Force, a project of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Rauch urges the group's more than one million members to ask
doctors and nurses for guidance. For example: When should parents keep children
indoors because the outdoor air is too dirty?
"This isn't too scary for us to hear about," Rauch says.
"We are hungry for information about this, we want to know."
But Rauch says it doesn't seem like climate change is breaking
into the medical community as a health issue. One study found classes about
environmental health or global warming at only 20 out of 140 U.S. medical
schools.
A few nursing schools are adding climate-related courses to their
training, to prepare students for conversations with patients.
"Nurses need to catch up quickly," says Patrice
Nicholas, director of the Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice and Health
at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston.
Nicholas attributes the delay, in part, to politics. "Climate
change really needs to be reframed as a public health issue," Nicholas says.
The few doctors and nurses who have started discussing climate
change with their patients say they've not had much pushback, but that may be
because bringing climate change into the exam room is still very new. This story is part of NPR's reporting partnership with WBUR and
Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service of the Kaiser
Family Foundation.
We
need to invest in climate-smart agriculture that sustainably increases
productivity, boosts resilience and enhances the achievement of national food
security, writes Manjit S Kang
Scientists
have concluded that a one degree Celsius increase in minimum temperature would
reduce productivity of rice by 10 per cent.
Secretary
General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres believes that climate change,
which is pervasive across the globe and is caused by global warming, is
progressing faster than we are and if we do not take appropriate action by
2020, disastrous consequences await people and all natural systems that sustain
us. Climate change impacts all facets of human civilisation — health, family
income, livelihood, security, agricultural production (crops, livestock,
fisheries) and international trade.
The main causes of global warming are greenhouse gases (GHGs,
primarily carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide). Of the total human-caused
emissions of GHGs, 10 to 12 per cent are attributable to agriculture. Thus,
agriculture is both an abettor and victim of climate change. Unless we are able
to stem the tide of climate change, agriculture and consequently our food
security, that includes food availability, food accessibility, food utilisation
and stability of food systems, will be adversely impacted.
To reduce the footprint of agriculture relative
to climate change, it is imperative to understand how agriculture contributes
to GHGs. Significant amounts of carbon dioxide are released by decomposition of
soil organic matter and burning of crop residue and fossil fuels, i.e., coal
and natural gas. Methane is produced by flooded rice fields. In addition, gut
flora (methanogens) in cattle produce methane, which is a byproduct of enteric
fermentation; cattle belch out the methane so produced. Nitrous oxide is
produced by microbial processes in soils and manures, and excess application of
nitrogen fertiliser. Innovative solutions are needed to reduce
agriculture-generated GHG emissions.
India’s most
important food security crops are wheat and rice. India is likely to see a
large drop in foodgrain production because of heat stress and water shortage.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a one
degree Celsius rise in temperature would reduce India’s wheat production by six
million tonnes per year, a loss of about $1.5 billion. Scientists at the
International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines have concluded that a
one degree Celsius increase in minimum temperature would reduce rice productivity
by 10 per cent. India’s annual loss for all crops, as estimated by the FAO,
could be as high as $20 billion a year.
A two degree Celsius rise in average
temperature is expected to make India’s monsoon highly unpredictable, and
droughts more frequent, especially in the north-western region. It is predicted
that by 2050, Punjab’s average temperature would increase by over 2.5 degree
Celsius, which would be disastrous for food production as the state produces
more than 20 per cent of India’s wheat and more than 10 per cent of the
countrys rice. On top of Punjab's already depleted water resources, the state's
rainfall is expected to decrease by more than 10 per cent by 2050.
An obscure
consequence of climate change has only recently come to light. Scientists have
reported that when wheat, maize, soyabean and peas are grown under high levels
of carbon dioxide, their protein, zinc and iron content is reduced. Recent
research has also shown that B vitamins (riboflavin and folate) declined
by as
much as 30 per cent in 18 strains of
rice that were
exposed to elevated levels
of carbon dioxide.
Crop pollination
by bees will be affected by increasing the carbon dioxide levels. Plants
exposed to high levels of carbon dioxide would produce less nectar and their
pollen would have reduced the amount of protein, which would affect the bees.
By 2050, India's
population is expected to be around 1.7 billion, up from the 2020 population of
1.39 billion. India's maximum foodgrain production hovers around 270 million
tonnes, but to feed the increased population, more than 400 million tonnes will
be required. This will necessitate the use of additional nitrogenous
fertiliser, which is bound to further increase agricultural contributions to
GHG emissions.
The World Bank
estimates that if nothing is done to combat climate change, India might need to
import more than twice the amount of foodgrains than would be required without
climate change by the year 2050.
We need to
invest in climate-smart agriculture that sustainably increases productivity,
enhances resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes GHGs (mitigation) wherever
possible, and enhances the achievement of national food security. Mitigation of
climate change means avoiding the unmanageable via environmental and industrial
measures and adaptation means managing the unavoidable through research and
development.
Some of the
mitigation strategies are: (i) Become carbon-neutral by 2050; (ii) Stabilise
GHG emissions within 20 years, with two per cent reduction per year thereafter;
(iii) Shift to low-carbon/green economy; (iv) Avoid using fossil fuels (coal)
and incentivise use of renewable energy (solar power, bio-fuels); and (v)
Reduce area under rice from 27 lakh to 15 lakh hectares.
Under the
adaptation strategies, the major ones are: (i) Scientists must identify
adaptive traits conditioned by heat stress-resistant genes through
biotechnological techniques; (ii) Genetic resources (wild relatives) of crops
that can tolerate expected future biotic (insect pests and diseases) and
abiotic stresses (drought, salinity) should be identified; (iii) Enhance
nutritional value of staple crops through biofortification; (iv) Sequester soil
carbon, shift to crops with higher carbon storage potential; (v) Reduce forest
clearing for agricultural expansion; (vi) Adopt conservation and precision
agriculture to reduce GHG emissions; (vii) Practice agro-forestry (grow crops
and trees together); (viii) Preserve wetlands, as they can store three to five
times more carbon than forest trees; (ix) Incentivise efficient use of
groundwater resources; (x) Develop improved cattle feeds to reduce methane
emissions; and (xi) Improve fertiliser-use efficiency of crops.
The Punjab
Government must be commended for creating the Directorate of Environment and Climate
Change at the state level. I suggest that a Centre of Excellence for
Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change be established at the Punjab
Agricultural University (PAU) to conduct cutting-edge research to combat
climate change, which should be interdisciplinary in nature. There should be
porous walls between the disciplines. Scientists and policy-makers will need to
implement innovative ideas to combat climate change. Albert Einstein once said,
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking we used when we created them."
Alarming scenario
·The World Bank estimates that if nothing is done to combat
climate change, by 2050, India might need to import more than twice the amount
of foodgrain than would be required without climate change.
·According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a
1°C rise in temperature would reduce India’s wheat production by six million
tonnes per year, a loss of about $1.5 billion.
·By 2050, India’s population is expected to be around 1.7
billion, up from the 2020 population of 1.39 billion. India’s maximum foodgrain
production hovers around 270 million tonnes, but to feed the increased
population, more than 400 million tonnes will be required.(The
writer is former Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana) https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/in-focus/adapt-or-perish/802349.html
The
Method Used by Environment to Fight the Crisis
Last week, scientists from the
University of Texas recognized a gene in a species of coral that’s activated
when coral becomes heat stressed. Warmer waters on account of climate change
typically trigger stressed coral to expel the algae they rely upon for energy
in the course of often known as bleaching, resulting in mass coral decline.
Scientists believe this gene to be current in lots of coral species and hope to
make use of it to detect stressed coral earlier than bleaching occurs, allowing
them to prioritize conservation of these species.
Researchers have found that cows
may be selectively bred to be more environmentally friendly. The quantity of
methane produced by microorganisms within the cow’s first stomach – the rumen –
is influenced by the cow’s genetic makeup. Prof John Williams from the
University of Adelaide, says this implies we can select for cattle that produce
entirely less methane, which is a significant contributor to global heating.
A group from the University of Copenhagen
recognized a final gene year that makes rice resistant to floods and droughts,
inflicting the leaf surface to become coated in wax crystals, repelling water.
Throughout a drought this prevents water loss by evaporation; in flood, the
waxy surface retains a thin layer of gas for just a few days, preventing the
rice from drowning. Scientists purpose to manipulate the gene to extend
long-term flood tolerance.
In 2018, scientists from the National University of Singapore
found a pressure of bacteria able to changing plant matter into biobutanol: a
biofuel that can be utilized in car engines instead of petrol. Researchers are
now genetically engineering the bacteria to make biobutanol conversion more
efficient.
Farmers seek state government protection of rights on
Godavari River
There is concern among farmers of Godavari Delta in Andhra
Pradesh over the water sharing agreements between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
and they are urging the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy not to forgo
Godavari share to other districts or other state. (Representational Image)
KAKINADA: The farmers of Godavari Delta are seeking the state
government’s help to protect the rights of Godavari Delta. They have also
cautioned the state government to not compromise on cost and get 300 TMCs of
water to Andhra Pradesh. There is concern among farmers of Godavari Delta in
Andhra Pradesh over the water sharing agreements between Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh and they are urging the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy not to
forgo Godavari share to other districts or other state.
Rythu Karyacharana Samiti, headed
by its president Kalidindi Gopalakrishnam Raju submitted a representation to
the government that stated that the government should ensure 300 TMCs of water
for Godavari Delta in accordance with Bachawat Tribunal Award. After fulfilling
AP’s need of water, only then should the Godavari water be diverted to other
areas without affecting the Tribunal's guidelines.
There is also an increasing worry
about the canals being clogged with plastic and other waste with too many
pollutants being dumped in Godavari River, the waters of which were being
supplied to many villages, towns and cities and causing great health problems.
Mr Raju said that the government should take this up very seriously and take
steps to resolve the problem. He also suggested that the government should set
up a purifying water plant at Dowleswaram Head Sluice and then the purified
water should be supplied to the people for drinking water purposes. He said
that Aqua Ponds should not be a polluted environment and the government should
set up separate systems for aqua pollutants and drinking water canals. He also
said that delta modernisation works should be completed to give water to
tail-end lands without any interruption.
The Samiti spokesperson and
coordinator Mant-hena Venkata Suryana-rayana Raju said that resurvey of lands
should be taken up for sorting out land survey problems and steps should be
taken for spot lands (Chukkala Bhumulu), estate lands, prohibited lands and
others and leave the farmers from these hurdles. He urged the CM Mr Reddy to
adopt the system implemented by Chhattishgarh state in the matter of purchasing
paddy.
He said that in Chhattishgarh
state, paddy has to be given to the nearest rice mills and thus the rice
millers directly purchase the paddy from the farmers. He expressed concern that
the paddy, cultivated in Rabi season in AP, had not been sold yet and the
farmers were in a distressed condition, unable to sell their paddy.
Meanwhile the farmers are not
able to cultivate in the Khariff season due to lack of investment. He said that
the Tenancy Act should be amended without causing any inconvenience and
hardships to the genuine farmers.
Thanking the CM for allocating Rs
3,000 crore for Stabilisation Fund for farmers and investment assistance of Rs
12,500 per farmer, the Samiti advised him to name the Polavaram Project after
Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and KL Rao and Sonti Rammurthy’s names for left and
right canals respectively.
Scientists are discovering innovative ways to help
the natural world adapt to environmental change
Dani Ellenby
Sun 14 Jul 2019 06.59 BSTLast modified on Sun 14 Jul
2019 07.02 BST
Gene editing can be used
to detect stressed coral before bleaching occurs. Photograph: Dr Line K Bay,
Australian Institute of Marine Science
A cure for coral
Last week, scientists from the
University of Texas identified a gene in a species of coral that
is activated when coral becomes heat stressed. Warmer waters as a result of
climate change often cause stressed coral to expel the algae they depend upon
for energy in a process known as bleaching, leading to mass coral decline.
Scientists believe this gene to be present in many coral species and hope to
use it to detect stressed coral before bleaching occurs, allowing them to
prioritise conservation of these species.
Climate-friendly cows
Researchers have discovered
that cows can be selectively bred to
be more environmentally friendly. The amount of methane produced by
microorganisms in the cow’s first stomach – the rumen – is influenced by the
cow’s genetic makeup. Prof John Williams from the University of Adelaide, says
this means we can select for cattle that permanently produce less methane,
which is a major contributor to global heating.
The amount of
methane a cow produces is influenced by its genetic makeup. Photograph: David
Paul Morris/AFP/Getty Images
CO2-smart plants
Scientists from the Salk Institute in California are
developing an “ideal plant” that could help slow global heating. This super
plant is designed to absorb carbon dioxide from the air and deposit it in roots
as a carbon-rich, cork-like substance called suberin. Suberin is resistant to
decomposition, allowing efficient, long-term storage of CO2 underground.
Reinforced rice
A team from the University of
Copenhagen identified a gene last year that makes rice resistant to floods and droughts,
causing the leaf surface to become coated in wax crystals, repelling water.
During a drought this prevents water loss by evaporation; in a flood, the waxy
surface retains a thin layer of gas for a few days, preventing the rice from
drowning. Scientists aim to manipulate the gene to increase long-term flood
tolerance.
Bacteria for biofuel
In 2018, scientists from the
National University of Singapore discovered a strain of bacteria capable of
converting plant matter into a biobutanol:
a biofuel that can be used in car engines instead of petrol. Researchers are
now genetically engineering the bacteria to make biobutanol conversion more
efficient.
As the crisis escalates…
… in our natural world, we refuse
to turn away from the climate catastrophe and species extinction. For The
Guardian, reporting on the environment is a priority. We give reporting on
climate, nature and pollution the prominence it deserves, stories which often
go unreported by others in the media. At this pivotal time for our species and
our planet, we are determined to inform readers about threats, consequences and
solutions based on scientific facts, not political prejudice or business
interests.
More people are reading and
supporting The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism than ever
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The Guardian will engage with the
most critical issues of our time – from the escalating climate catastrophe to
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The ADB Country
Director came up with farm statistics to show how Bangladesh’s rice production
has increased by around 37% to 36 million metric tons during 2009-2018 period
Bangladesh will
stand out by growing at record 8% in 2019 and 2020, making it the fastest
growing economy in Asia-Pacific.
This is
happening at a time when the global economic outlook remains challenging, and
growth is expected to moderate across most of developing Asia at 5.7% in 2019
and 5.6% in 2020.
However, South
Asia will buck this trend growing at 6.8% in 2019 and 6.9% in 2020.
Asian
Development Bank’s (ADB) Country Director in Bangladesh, Manmohan Parkash,
stated these in a speech he delivered at a workshop on ‘Climate Smart
Agricultural Practices’ held at a city hotel on Sunday under the joint aegis of
ADB and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
“Today
Bangladesh is seen as a model for growth even in this difficult global economic
outlook. And in this growth story, agriculture is an important sector for
Bangladesh. Bangladesh has gained significant success in agriculture, achieving
third position in vegetable production, fourth position in rice production, and
seventh position in mango production in the world. The country is now
rice-sufficient,” said Manmohan Parkash.
The ADB Country
Director came up with farm statistics to show how Bangladesh’s rice production
has increased by around 37% to 36 million metric tons during 2009-2018 period.
He further
added, “Wheat production rose by 57% to 12 million metric tons. Maize
production grew by 646% to 39 million metric tons. Potato production increased
by 148% to 103 million metric tons. Pulses production grew by 275% to 10
million metric tons. And vegetable production rose by 645% to 159 million
metric tons.”
What is more
remarkable is that Bangladesh achieved this despite natural disasters and
calamities, he added.
Agriculture
Ministry Secretary Md. Nasiruzzaman, IRRI Representative for Bangladesh Humnath
Bhandari, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Director General Dr. Md
Shahjahan Kabir, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Director General Mir
Nurul Alam, and Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) Vice Chancellor Prof.
Dr. Lutful Hassan were present, among others.
ADB Country
Director, however, mentioned about some of the challenges. He said, over 40% of
the labor force or 62 million people are employed in agriculture but it accounts
for 14% of GDP.
“Land available
for agriculture is shrinking due to rapid urbanization. As personal incomes
rise, per capita food consumption increases, food demand goes up, and so does
the wastage. Then there is the mother of all challenges: impact of climate
change. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change. Thus, there is a
need for increasing productivity of the agriculture sector and effectively
mitigating impacts of climate change.”
He said,
“Autonomous robots, drones or UAVs, and sensors and the Internet of Things
(IoT) are expected to become pillars of the smart farm. From driverless
tractors, which will use big data such as real-time weather satellite
information to automatically make the best use of ideal conditions, independent
of human input, and regardless of the time of day to precision farming which
combines geo-mapping and sensor data detailing soil quality, density, moisture
and nutrient levels so that seeds have the best chance to sprout and grow and
the overall crop have a greater harvest are the technologies coming up.”
Manmohan
Parkash went on to add, existing precision seeders together with autonomous
tractors and IoT-enabled systems that feed information back to the farmer can
plant an entire field with only a single human monitoring the process over a
video feed or digital control dashboard on a computer or tablet, while multiple
machines roll across the field. Friends, this is the future of climate-smart
agriculture.
Automatic water
drying and irrigation could operate autonomously, relying on data from sensors
deployed around the fields to perform irrigation as needed, he said.
In recent
times, ADB has promoted agro-processing and high value crops through the
Northwest Crop Diversification Project, Second Crop Diversification Project,
and Agribusiness Development Project. Similarly, agriculture sector is the main
beneficiary of ADB’s Participatory Small-scale Water Resources Planning and
Management Project, which promoted community-based water management throughout
Bangladesh.
Dr
Issoufou Abdourhamane is the director at African Agricultural Technology
Foundation (AATF) for West Africa. In this interview with ADOYI M. ABA and PAUL OKAH, he speaks on the
activities of AATF in Nigeria, as well as the controversy on the desirability
of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Background
What AATF does essentially in its field of service is plant
disease control. In the process, I learnt a lot in breeding because breeding is
very important in plant disease control. I have learnt a few things in other
agronomic fields. I have more than 25 years experience in agricultural research
and development in Africa. I have been in Nigeria in the last 25 years and half
as head of AATF office in Abuja and also as manager of the cross border cowpea
projects.
Areas of intervention
We only intervene in a few areas in Nigeria, because we want
Nigeria to be the AATF hub in West Africa. Our office is not only for Nigeria,
but for West Africa. The cassava mechanisation project was the first project of
our intervention in Nigeria, which was based at Ilorin in Kwara state. It was
in collaboration with the Agricultural Mechanisation Centre. Our aim in the
project was to start the cassava mechanisation system in Nigeria only. We have
been able to deal with hundreds of farmers to mechanise cassava from planting
to harvesting. It is all done by machines. We imported the machines from
Brussels under FEEDER. They became interested and even gave us money to import
more equipment. In the process of helping farmers, we have been able to
quadruple the yields of cassava. We extend it to many areas and link the
farmers to the cassava process.
Innovation
Cassava production used to involved manual labour. A farmer who is
50 years old whose son is studying doesn’t have help, so the new innovation was
to introduce these machines from planting, weeding to harvesting. The machines
harvest and automatically put the cassava into trucks. Nowhere else in West
Africa is cassava mechanised other than Nigeria, so it is an innovation. When
we started with farmers, the average yield was eight metric tonnes per hectare.
Now, we average 30 to 32 tonnes per hectare. We work with a cluster of farmers.
We provide the machines and each farmer pays a certain amount of money and the
field work is done. It has been very successful as I always receive people
coming to ask about the cassava project. An emir even asked us to come and do
an illustration in Ilorin and we have also gone to Minna.
Collaboration
Our host is the Agricultural Research Council (ARCN). AATF does
not work alone in a country. We always work with agricultural research
institutions of host countries and stakeholders in agriculture. We always look
for partners for public private partnership.
Target
We look at the key problems in the agricultural sector that has
become a bottleneck for farmers to increase their productivity and look for
available technology that farmers can take up quickly to solve these problems.
It may be conventional technology or bio technology products; we do not
discriminate against any technology, as long as it is safe, productive and can
solve the problem. If the farmers can quickly take these technologies and
innovate, we don’t discriminate. I didn’t give you all the projects; I just
gave you the first project AATF is doing here in Nigeria. Another project is
rice at the national research centre in Badegi. Do you know how many billions
of dollars Nigeria spends on daily importation of rice? Anybody who hears it
will cry. Nigeria alone spends close to $1 billion every day; that is about
$360 billion a year. Other West African countries are also dependent on the
importation of rice; so the amount of money we are losing that can go into
developing this sector is huge.
Rice
In 2008, there was food crisis because Vietnam, India, Pakistan
and Thailand stopped the export of rice and the price of rice in West Africa
skyrocketed and people started crying. Giving our nature, if people are crying
for lack of food, who is to blame? It is the leadership of a country, but what
do they have to do with it? Can they force Vietnam, India, Pakistan or Thailand
to lift the ban? They cannot. 70 per cent of Nigeria’s export earning is
dependent on oil. What happens if the price of oil drops? Does Nigeria control
the price oil in the international market? If the value of naira goes down,
in this country that is dependent on oil, inflation follows and then social
unrest. This is because you can’t stop the bandits on the road when people go
hungry. This is why we decided to think of how we can stop the importation of
rice. We can develop rice by improving the agronomy, the genotypes and
varieties themselves or both. In West Africa, 80 per cent of rice produced is
by rain-fed agriculture. Nobody controls the rain except God. Sometimes you get
the rain or it doesn’t come the way you want. So, how can we make the rice to
maximise the little rain or make rain available? This is because nitrogen
fertilisers are becoming expensive. Worse still, Nigeria, which used to supply
neighbouring countries with fertilisers, is fast becoming fertiliser- dependent
now. So, how can we make maximum use of the rain available to natural plants to
increase their efficiency? When it rains too much, the nitrogen is not
available and when it rains a little, the soil is not humid and will resist
drought and the nitrogen is no longer soluble. Nitrogen metabolism gene has
been put in rice to make it very efficient and taking nutrient and water
easily. They are also soil-tolerant. If you go to Sierra Leone and other
countries, they plant mangrove and you get salinity. When you do irrigation,
you get salinity sooner or later and that is a problem. So, you get tolerance,
good usage of nitrogen. For every kilogramme of nitrogen taken from the soil,
the plant produces more rice than the conventional rice.
GMOs
People that are against GMOs never extract the DNAs of plants.
They never look at the DNA sequence of the cowpea plants or any plant. So, how
do they know? It is pure invention to scare people. You take the DNA of this
plant, you analyse it. You take the DNA in sequence. We use the same variety
which has been transformed into conventional breeding programme to put the
resistance gene into the variety you want. We pass through the same
conventional breeding programme in back crops to recover all the maternal
variants. The back crops work this way: from the first cowpea, which has been
transformed, we use it as a donor gene, in conventional back crops, which means
the cowpea is working well. Then you will have to sequence the cowpea genes and
analyse the cowpea gene clinically to see what is being produced. Is it
producing only the product you want or there is a difference? So, the cowpea is
as safe as any other product or cowpea. Secondly, farmers who have seen it are
even on our necks because of the unavailability of the cowpea in large
quantities in the market. Since last year, many farmers have been requesting
for the seeds. I have been getting phone calls from farmers who are desperate
to buy it.
Adoption/regulation
It is not available. You know Nigeria has some laws and we have to
respect the laws. You have to respect the laws if you don’t want to be in
trouble. The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) are the ones who grant
permit, in the first place, to make your researches or trials and they will
monitor you to see if you are respecting the laws. Therefore, you will present
to them your data, chemical analysis and everything about your product. NBMA
has the pool of biotechnology in Africa, so they will call others to assess the
product, whether it is safe or not. So, it is the bio-safety organisations in
Africa, especially Nigeria, that will analyse and make recommendations on
whether a product is safe or not.
Way forward
All the GMOs released in the market are safe. If a GMO variety is
not safe, the bio-safety agency of the country involved would have destroyed it
even before it gets into the market. This was what happened when some people in
the US wanted to use Brazilian product to modify Hazonat. The project was
stopped when it was realised it would not be safe, as it would lead to allergic
reactions. We have food and environment protection agencies and many other
institutions monitoring, so safety is assured. Africans can embrace GMOs or
technology and use them if they can solve their problems or stop using them if
they can’t solve their problems. But you don’t have to rely on a single one.
You may have other solutions. But there are cases where you don’t have any
single option than to go to GMOs. Like in cross border cowpea, there is no
resistance. All the cowpea varieties of the world have been screened and tested
for resistance. So, if you can use this technology that has been used for more
than 25 years and proved to be safe to solve maruka problems; that will be a
great leap forward for our agriculture.
Manuring
Fertilisers were brought by the Europeans. So, in our minds, we
have both the white man’s fertilisers and our own. But it is the same nitrogen.
Farmers should be encouraged to use manure because the soils are being depleted
of organic matter. It is a disaster, but it doesn’t mean that people should
rely completely on manure. You cannot have enough. What is the nitrogen content
of the dung of a cow that has been in the soil for a year and six months? At
most, it will be 0.5 per cent. So, for one tonne of maize, you need 20 tonnes
of manure per hectare, so where will you get 20 tonnes of manure per hectare
today? If you can get, apply it; it is good, but it is difficult to get it.
When are the leaves going to decompose in the soil? Even if they
do, they take mineral nitrogen, not organic nitrogen. The nitrogen has to
mineralise nitrate ammonia, so how long will it take? You do it, and then get
profit next year, but not planting it in the alleys. Even the cowpeas, we plant
it in rotation in mixed cropping. They fix nitrogen. It fabricates,
manufactures urea in its roots, that is the noodles. But the cowpea
manufactures it for the cowpea, not the serial crop. If the farmers uproot the
cowpea plant, nothing is left for the crop next year. Even what is left is not
enough for a good yield, so that’s a problem. It is not enough for the plants.
People who are not agronomists are inventing suggestions of how agriculture
should be. Worse still, they tell people not to believe agricultural scientists
and professors. If the majority in the country cannot believe what agricultural
scientists and professors are saying, then ask the government to close the
agricultural department in universities because they will become useless. If
you can’t believe someone who is a PhD holder and has been teaching for the
past 20 years and instead choose to believe someone who has never been to the
university nor carried out any research, then close research institutions and
the schools of agriculture. It is as simple as that.
Future of agriculture
There are two things going on in agriculture today and we need to
be very careful. I don’t know much about East Africa, but from Central Africa
to West Africa, there is a tendency to take Africans away from science and
technology. There are many NGOs which are even in the villages telling people
not to use fertilisers, science or buy hybrids. This is a dark agenda; it is
terrible as it is taking us back to the dark years. How can you tell farmers
not to use fertilisers? The ability to sensitise ammonia from the air we
breathe is 70 per cent nitrogen. If you can’t clinically sensitise ammonia,
what do people have to rely on? If you have big fungi, the nitrogen in the air
will smell if not sensitised. Cowpea is fixing nitrogen by itself, so it also
needs sulphate. If there is no sulphate in the shore, cowpea cannot fix. So,
sulphate is obligatory and it has been known that in West Africa you clear a
forest every year; otherwise it will be depleted of sulphate. Lack of sulphate
in the soil is one of the limiting factors. It is a lie to tell farmers not to
use agronomy products or fertilisers. First year, agricultural students are
told that the organic factors of the soil are important. It is in every
textbook, but people are inventing lies to tell modern farmers not to use
manures.
Minister promises support for value-addition facilities
Efforts to secure Geographical
Indication (GI) tag for Kuttiattoor mango is in final stage, Minister for
Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar has said.
The Minister held a meeting with
scientists of the Kerala Agricultural
University, Agricultural department officials, Kuttiattoor mango cultivators,
and representatives of local self-government Institutions from Kannur district
to discuss the proceedings here on Friday.
Minister assured all support to
Kuttiattoor mango cultivators to enhance the value-addition facilities and
marketability of the fruit with the support of the APEDA (Agriculture and
Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) and the KAU.
The meeting finalised and
approved the application for GI status to be submitted to GI registry, Chennai.
The process is piloted by IPR cell of the KAU, which has so far obtained GI tag
for ten agricultural products, including Kaipad rice, Pokkali rice, Wayanad
Jeerakasala rice, Wayanad Gandhakasala rice, Vazhakulam pineapple, Marayur
jaggery, Central Travancore jaggery, and Chengalikodan nendran banana.
Sweet-smelling mangoes
The application for GI tag was
being filed in the name of Kuttiattoor Mango Producer Company, said P. Indira
Devi, KAU Director of Research.
Kuttiattoor mango is a rare
variety of sweet-smelling mangoes grown mostly in Kuttiattoor village of Kannur
district. Almost every household at Kuttiattoor has at least one mango tree.
The tree grows without any special care and gives lots of fruits. It is
believed that the quality of soil at Kuttiattoor gives the mango its special
flavour, taste, and colour.
Ugandan and Kenyan livestock sub-sector experts in a group photo
after a joint meeting. (PHOTO/Courtesy)
KAMPALA – For increased cross-border knowledge sharing in the livestock
industry, a joint meeting between livestock sub-sector experts chaired by Hon.
Joy Kabatsi, the State Minister for Animal Industry has kick-started between
Kenya and Uganda.
This partnership with Kenya, which will also enhance
traceability of livestock in the region will be led by the International
Livestock Research Institute (Based in Nairobi) and the Ministry of Agriculture
Animal Industry and Fisheries (Uganda) through livestock sub-sector Departments
and Agencies including the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and
Databank (NAGRC&DB).
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is one of
15 CGIAR research centres and is the only centre dedicated entirely to animal
agriculture research for the developing world. ILRI is co-hosted by Kenya and
Ethiopia, and also has regional or country offices in 14 other locations in
Africa, South and South-East Asia.
Drawn from some 40 nationalities, ILRI has a workforce of about
630 staff globally and operates on an annual budget of just over US$80M. The
institute works through extensive partnership arrangements with research and
development institutions in both the developed and developing parts of the
world.
ILRI’s research for development agenda covers a range of areas
from laboratory-based biosciences to field-based research. Topics include
animal productivity (health, genetics and feeds), food safety and zoonoses,
livestock and the environment and policies, institutions and livelihoods.
Capacity development is an important part of the institute’s mandate and cuts
across all its research and development areas.The Mazingira (Swahili for
‘environment’) Centre at ILRI’s Nairobi campus aims to be the nucleus for
environmental research and education in Africa, providing state-of-the-art
facilities, analytical equipment and methodological approaches.
The focus is on quantifying the environmental footprint of
livestock productions systems in sub-Saharan Africa by measuring greenhouse gas
emissions from livestock and other agricultural production systems. A specific
focus is given to methane emissions from ruminants, methane and nitrous oxide
emissions from manure as well as soils.
The centre also aims at documenting land use change dynamics as
driven by the increased demand for livestock products and to develop
region-specific strategies for decreasing the environmental impact of livestock
production. ILRI is also the co-founder, with the AU-NEPAD, of the Biosciences
Eastern and Central Africa (BecA-ILRI Hub) on its Nairobi campus where
world-class facilities for biotechnology research are in use by ILRI, other
international centres and many national partners.The platform increases access
to the laboratories for African and international scientists conducting
research on African agricultural challenges. Also to be found on the campus are
nodes of other CGIAR centres, these include the International Potato Centre
(CIP), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT).
Dr Issoufou Abdourhamane is the director at African Agricultural
Technology Foundation (AATF) for West Africa. In this interview with ADOYI M.
ABA and PAUL OKAH, he speaks on the activities of AATF in Nigeria, as well as
the controversy on the desirability of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Background
What AATF does essentially in its
field of service is plant disease control. In the process, I learnt a lot in
breeding because breeding is very important in plant disease control. I have
learnt a few things in other agronomic fields. I have more than 25 years
experience in agricultural research and development in Africa. I have been in
Nigeria in the last 25 years and half as head of AATF office in Abuja and also
as manager of the cross border cowpea projects.
Areas of intervention
We only intervene in a few areas in
Nigeria, because we want Nigeria to be the AATF hub in West Africa. Our office
is not only for Nigeria, but for West Africa. The cassava mechanisation project
was the first project of our intervention in Nigeria, which was based at Ilorin
in Kwara state. It was in collaboration with the Agricultural Mechanisation
Centre. Our aim in the project was to start the cassava mechanisation system in
Nigeria only. We have been able to deal with hundreds of farmers to mechanise
cassava from planting to harvesting. It is all done by machines. We imported
the machines from Brussels under FEEDER. They became interested and even gave
us money to import more equipment. In the process of helping farmers, we have
been able to quadruple the yields of cassava. We extend it to many areas and
link the farmers to the cassava process.
Innovation
Cassava production used to involved
manual labour. A farmer who is 50 years old whose son is studying doesn’t have
help, so the new innovation was to introduce these machines from planting,
weeding to harvesting. The machines harvest and automatically put the cassava
into trucks. Nowhere else in West Africa is cassava mechanised other than
Nigeria, so it is an innovation. When we started with farmers, the average
yield was eight metric tonnes per hectare. Now, we average 30 to 32 tonnes per
hectare. We work with a cluster of farmers. We provide the machines and each
farmer pays a certain amount of money and the field work is done. It has been
very successful as I always receive people coming to ask about the cassava
project. An emir even asked us to come and do an illustration in Ilorin and we
have also gone to Minna.
Collaboration
Our host is the Agricultural
Research Council (ARCN). AATF does not work alone in a country. We always work
with agricultural research institutions of host countries and stakeholders in
agriculture. We always look for partners for public private partnership.
Target
We look at the key problems in the
agricultural sector that has become a bottleneck for farmers to increase their
productivity and look for available technology that farmers can take up quickly
to solve these problems. It may be conventional technology or bio technology products;
we do not discriminate against any technology, as long as it is safe,
productive and can solve the problem. If the farmers can quickly take these
technologies and innovate, we don’t discriminate. I didn’t give you all the
projects; I just gave you the first project AATF is doing here in Nigeria.
Another project is rice at the national research centre in Badegi. Do you know
how many billions of dollars Nigeria spends on daily importation of rice?
Anybody who hears it will cry. Nigeria alone spends close to $1 billion every
day; that is about $360 billion a year. Other West African countries are also
dependent on the importation of rice; so the amount of money we are losing that
can go into developing this sector is huge.
Rice
In 2008, there was food crisis
because Vietnam, India, Pakistan and Thailand stopped the export of rice and
the price of rice in West Africa skyrocketed and people started crying. Giving
our nature, if people are crying for lack of food, who is to blame? It is the
leadership of a country, but what do they have to do with it? Can they force
Vietnam, India, Pakistan or Thailand to lift the ban? They cannot. 70 per cent
of Nigeria’s export earning is dependent on oil. What happens if the price of
oil drops? Does Nigeria control the price oil in the international
market? If the value of naira goes down, in this country that is
dependent on oil, inflation follows and then social unrest. This is because you
can’t stop the bandits on the road when people go hungry. This is why we decided
to think of how we can stop the importation of rice. We can develop rice by
improving the agronomy, the genotypes and varieties themselves or both. In West
Africa, 80 per cent of rice produced is by rain-fed agriculture. Nobody
controls the rain except God. Sometimes you get the rain or it doesn’t come the
way you want. So, how can we make the rice to maximise the little rain or make
rain available? This is because nitrogen fertilisers are becoming expensive.
Worse still, Nigeria, which used to supply neighbouring countries with
fertilisers, is fast becoming fertiliser- dependent now. So, how can we make
maximum use of the rain available to natural plants to increase their
efficiency? When it rains too much, the nitrogen is not available and when it
rains a little, the soil is not humid and will resist drought and the nitrogen
is no longer soluble. Nitrogen metabolism gene has been put in rice to make it
very efficient and taking nutrient and water easily. They are also
soil-tolerant. If you go to Sierra Leone and other countries, they plant
mangrove and you get salinity. When you do irrigation, you get salinity sooner
or later and that is a problem. So, you get tolerance, good usage of nitrogen.
For every kilogramme of nitrogen taken from the soil, the plant produces more
rice than the conventional rice.
GMOs
People that are against GMOs never
extract the DNAs of plants. They never look at the DNA sequence of the cowpea
plants or any plant. So, how do they know? It is pure invention to scare
people. You take the DNA of this plant, you analyse it. You take the DNA in
sequence. We use the same variety which has been transformed into conventional
breeding programme to put the resistance gene into the variety you want. We
pass through the same conventional breeding programme in back crops to recover
all the maternal variants. The back crops work this way: from the first cowpea,
which has been transformed, we use it as a donor gene, in conventional back
crops, which means the cowpea is working well. Then you will have to sequence
the cowpea genes and analyse the cowpea gene clinically to see what is being
produced. Is it producing only the product you want or there is a difference?
So, the cowpea is as safe as any other product or cowpea. Secondly, farmers who
have seen it are even on our necks because of the unavailability of the cowpea
in large quantities in the market. Since last year, many farmers have been
requesting for the seeds. I have been getting phone calls from farmers who are
desperate to buy it.
Adoption/regulation
It is not available. You know
Nigeria has some laws and we have to respect the laws. You have to respect the
laws if you don’t want to be in trouble. The National Biosafety Management
Agency (NBMA) are the ones who grant permit, in the first place, to make your
researches or trials and they will monitor you to see if you are respecting the
laws. Therefore, you will present to them your data, chemical analysis and
everything about your product. NBMA has the pool of biotechnology in Africa, so
they will call others to assess the product, whether it is safe or not. So, it
is the bio-safety organisations in Africa, especially Nigeria, that will
analyse and make recommendations on whether a product is safe or not.
Way forward
All the GMOs released in the market
are safe. If a GMO variety is not safe, the bio-safety agency of the country
involved would have destroyed it even before it gets into the market. This was
what happened when some people in the US wanted to use Brazilian product to
modify Hazonat. The project was stopped when it was realised it would not be
safe, as it would lead to allergic reactions. We have food and environment
protection agencies and many other institutions monitoring, so safety is
assured. Africans can embrace GMOs or technology and use them if they can solve
their problems or stop using them if they can’t solve their problems. But you
don’t have to rely on a single one. You may have other solutions. But there are
cases where you don’t have any single option than to go to GMOs. Like in cross
border cowpea, there is no resistance. All the cowpea varieties of the world
have been screened and tested for resistance. So, if you can use this
technology that has been used for more than 25 years and proved to be safe to
solve maruka problems; that will be a great leap forward for our
agriculture.
Manuring
Fertilisers were brought by the
Europeans. So, in our minds, we have both the white man’s fertilisers and our
own. But it is the same nitrogen. Farmers should be encouraged to use manure
because the soils are being depleted of organic matter. It is a disaster, but
it doesn’t mean that people should rely completely on manure. You cannot have
enough. What is the nitrogen content of the dung of a cow that has been in the
soil for a year and six months? At most, it will be 0.5 per cent. So, for one
tonne of maize, you need 20 tonnes of manure per hectare, so where will you get
20 tonnes of manure per hectare today? If you can get, apply it; it is good,
but it is difficult to get it.
When are the leaves going to
decompose in the soil? Even if they do, they take mineral nitrogen, not organic
nitrogen. The nitrogen has to mineralise nitrate ammonia, so how long will it
take? You do it, and then get profit next year, but not planting it in the alleys.
Even the cowpeas, we plant it in rotation in mixed cropping. They fix nitrogen.
It fabricates, manufactures urea in its roots, that is the noodles. But the
cowpea manufactures it for the cowpea, not the serial crop. If the farmers
uproot the cowpea plant, nothing is left for the crop next year. Even what is
left is not enough for a good yield, so that’s a problem. It is not enough for
the plants. People who are not agronomists are inventing suggestions of how
agriculture should be. Worse still, they tell people not to believe
agricultural scientists and professors. If the majority in the country cannot
believe what agricultural scientists and professors are saying, then ask the
government to close the agricultural department in universities because they
will become useless. If you can’t believe someone who is a PhD holder and has
been teaching for the past 20 years and instead choose to believe someone who
has never been to the university nor carried out any research, then close
research institutions and the schools of agriculture. It is as simple as that.
Future of agriculture
There are two things going on in
agriculture today and we need to be very careful. I don’t know much about East
Africa, but from Central Africa to West Africa, there is a tendency to take
Africans away from science and technology. There are many NGOs which are even
in the villages telling people not to use fertilisers, science or buy hybrids.
This is a dark agenda; it is terrible as it is taking us back to the dark
years. How can you tell farmers not to use fertilisers? The ability to
sensitise ammonia from the air we breathe is 70 per cent nitrogen. If you can’t
clinically sensitise ammonia, what do people have to rely on? If you have big
fungi, the nitrogen in the air will smell if not sensitised. Cowpea is fixing
nitrogen by itself, so it also needs sulphate. If there is no sulphate in the
shore, cowpea cannot fix. So, sulphate is obligatory and it has been known that
in West Africa you clear a forest every year; otherwise it will be depleted of
sulphate. Lack of sulphate in the soil is one of the limiting factors. It is a
lie to tell farmers not to use agronomy products or fertilisers. First year,
agricultural students are told that the organic factors of the soil are
important. It is in every textbook, but people are inventing lies to tell
modern farmers not to use manures.
In the first
half of this year, China, Indonesia and Bangladesh – three major rice importing
markets of Vietnam – reduced rice imports. Experts concerned that this
situation might last until the end of this year, muting export of rice of three
largest rice exporters, consisting of India, Thailand and Vietnam.
However, thanks to the activeness of
enterprises, Vietnam’s rice export has had positive changes.
Figures by the General Department of
Vietnam Customs showed that in the first five months of this year, firms
exported 2.76 million tons of rice, worth US$1.18 billion, a drop of 6.3
percent in volume and 20.4 percent in value compared to the same period last
year. Mr. Phan Van Chinh, head of the Agency of Foreign Trade under the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the country’s rice export faced
several disadvantages as there was no large enough contract to lead the market.
Medium to large traditional markets of Vietnamese rice all cut rice exports due
to various reasons. China had a large amount of rice inventory and even
competed with other rice exporters, including Vietnam, by exporting old rice to
African countries. Indonesia became subdued during the year of election while
Bangladesh recovered rice production after suffering flooding. As a result, it
is forecasted that rice market would remain gloomy for the rest of this year.
This continues to put pressure on consumption of the summer-autumn rice crop
this year.
Nevertheless, the ministry has also recorded that many enterprises have quickly
adapted to changes in rice import policies of the Philippines. As Vietnamese
firms were able to expand export of rice to this market, the country did not
see a slump as sharply as some other countries. There were also changes in
market structure and rice variety structure as well as efforts to seek for new
markets of Vietnamese rice exporters in the first months of this year.
Vietnamese rice has been strongly exported to Africa, Europe, America and the
Middle East region. This year, Iraq is expected to import a steady amount of
around 300,000 tons of rice from Vietnam. Several African countries, including
Ivory Coast, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique and Angola, had increased import
of Vietnamese fragrant rice at the beginning of this year.
In addition, firms can take advantage of preferential treatments for rice at
countries which have already signed free trade agreements with Vietnam, and
bilateral agreements, such as a quota of 10,000 tons per year with import
tariff of zero percent to the market of the Eurasian Economic Union. Vietnam
also has just finished negotiations with South Korea on rice export quota to
this country at a fairly good price. The signing of the free trade agreement
between Vietnam and the European Union creates more opportunities for
Vietnamese rice to enter this market in the near future.
According to Mr. Le Minh Duc, director of the Department of Industry and Trade
of Long An Province, the current difficult of domestic rice exporting and
consuming is excessive rice supply. It is forecasted that demand for Vietnamese
rice import is around 5 million tons whereas the country’s rice production
capacity is up to 7 million tons.
Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and provinces
should consider the appropriate rice production and area of land for rice
cultivation. At the same time, they should also review cultivation schedule and
make cultivation schedule reasonable and suitable with the market so as to
lessen pressure on warehouses and rice dyers.
Mr. Pham Thien Nghia, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Thap
Province, said that it is time to check whether rice is the key export product
of Vietnam when rice export turnover is lower than that of aquatic products and
vegetables and fruits. Several provinces have shifted from rice cultivation to
aquaculture and fruit tree cultivation.
According to Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh, deputy minister of the Ministry of Industry
and Trade, amid unfavorable market, firms should join hands with the Government
to resolve difficulties. In short term, the ministry will build a stable
mechanism, creating conditions for firms to buy rice for farmers.
At the same time, ministries should collaborate to update market information to
help firms to have an overview and understand the market. The Ministry of
Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will
cooperate to put forth detail mechanism for the development of rice industry
and report to the Government for reasonable development policy. Firms should
co-ordinate with the Vietnam Food Association to build brands, packing and
labels. Of which, each firm must ensure quality, keep its prestige and avoid
breaking contract so as not to cause negative impacts on the brand name of
Vietnamese rice. At the same time, firms should improve administrative ability
to search for new markets.
By Cong Phien, Thanh Hai – Translated by Thuy
Doan
A Senior Agricultural Economist, World Bank Office, Abuja, Dr
Adetunji Oredipe, has advised the federal and state governments to go back to the
basics instead of dissipating energy on Ruga programme that continues to divide
the country along tribal and ethnic lines.
He spoke as a guest speaker at a public lecture organised by Mr
Olumakinde Oni-led Ibadan Recreation Club, marking the 100 days of the new
executives in office, on Saturday.
Oredipe, in his presentation entitled ‘Food security and
national development,’ recalled that the neglect of the agricultural sector was
Nigeria’s greatest undoing over the last decades because of oil boom.
He said, “Nigeria became dependent on oil and that has been a
disaster for the country. If Nigeria had held to its market share in palm oil,
cocoa, groundnut and cotton, it would be earning at least $10bn per year from
these commodities.”
He said Nigeria had remained one of the largest food importers
in the world because “it spent over $1.7bn per year on imports of wheat, rice,
sugar and fish.
“As at 2016, Nigeria spent $965m on import of wheat, $39.7m on
import of rice, $100.2m on sugar imports and with all the marine resources,
rivers, lakes and creeks we are blessed with, Nigeria spent $655m importing
fish.
“This is not fiscally, economically or politically sustainable.
Nigeria is leaving in borrowed time. While we all smile as we eat rice every
day, Nigerian rice farmers are daily retrogressing because the import of these
commodities undermines domestic production.
“As Nigeria imports food from the global market, with rising
world food prices, all it is doing is importing inflation. At the same time,
low productivity of our domestic production systems increases the price of our
staple crops.
“Together, these two factors lead to high domestic food prices.
Our poor urban and rural households spend 70-80 per cent of their incomes on
food and as a result, life has become unbearable for many.
“Nigeria can no longer continue to depend on expensive food
imports nor can we continue to rely on volatile global markets, to meet our
food requirements,” Oredipe remarked.”
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NavForWeM) has
intercepted a shipment of P12 million worth of smuggled rice off Basilan
province Friday.
The Naval Forces Western Mindanao intercepts a wooden-hulled
vessel, M/V Indah Jehan, loaded with some P12 million worth of smuggled rice on
Friday, July 12, 2019 after conducting a maritime security patrol near
Lampinigan Island, Basilan province. (Photo courtesy of Navforwem Public
Information Office via PNA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Rear Adm. Erick Kagaoan, NavForWeM
commander, said NavForWeM’s special operation unit Naval Task Force 61 was
conducting maritime security patrol when it chanced upon the wooden-hulled
vessel M/V Indah Jehan in the vicinity of Lampinigan Island, Basilan.
Kagaoan said the vessel was loaded
with some 10,000 sacks of rice worth P12 million with no importation documents.
Investigation showed that M/V
Indah Jehan manned by 10 crewmen came from Labuan, Sabah, Malaysian.
The vessel was escorted to Ensign
Majini Pier at the Naval Station Romulo Espaldon this city for proper
documentation and turnover to the Bureau of Customs.
پنجاب (پاکستان ) میں چاول کاپیداواری ہدف