A curious case of rice export
Published at 01:57 am July 16th, 2019
To give the farmers some
relief from low paddy prices, the Food Ministry has announced direct
procurement of 400,000 tons of paddy from the farmers Syed Zakir
Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
Ministry says 100,000 tons of rice to be exported to the
Philippines, traders say no agreement reached
One and a half month after the government’s announcement
of a total of one million tons of planned rice exports to cushion domestic rice
growers against the freefall in the staple’s domestic prices, there has been no
move to this effect up until this Sunday last.
Interestingly, right after an impromptu meeting between a
foreign importer, a local rice trader and the agriculture minister yesterday,
the ministry’s public relations officer (PRO) Md Giasuddin announced the
Philippines would import 100,000 tons of rice from Bangladesh.
But the Managing Director of Rashid Group, Md Abdur Rashid,
who was present at the meeting, told Dhaka Tribune that no agreement was
reached at the meeting as the importer offered a price ($385 per ton) well
below “our asking export price of $525 a ton.”
And the person who showed interest in importing rice from
Bangladesh for the Philippines is a Belgian national – Marc Cools – who went to
the Philippines in 2003 to establish a lighting business – Hitech Lighting
World Corporation (HLWC).
This correspondent tried, unsuccessfully, to reach
Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque but his ministry PRO insisted that the
Philippines would indeed import 100,000 tons of rice from Bangladesh. Asked
when that export consignment would leave for the Philippines, he couldn’t offer
any timeline.
He said Rashid Group’s MD Md Abdur Rashid, Executive
Director Md Zahirul Huq and HLWC’s Bangladesh representative, Samsul A Syed,
were present during Marc Cools’ meeting with the minister.
Amidst low paddy prices during peak rice harvesting season
in April-May this year, the government had indicated it would give private rice
traders up to 30% incentives on exports and increased the duty on foreign rice
from 28% to 55% to discourage imports.
But neither the public nor private rice sectors in
Bangladesh have so far had any luck in finding an export market for the surplus
rice. High domestic output and cheaper imports from across the border have
created a rice glut, compelling farmers to sell rice at much lower prices in
the Boro season.
To give the farmers some relief from low paddy prices, the
Food Ministry announced the direct procurement of an additional 250,000 tons of
paddy, on top of the initially planned procurement of only 150,000 tons.
But over two and half months after the public food grain
procurement drive began, the government has bought only one fourth of the total
of 400,000 tons of paddy it intended to buy from farmers.
Nigeria: Food Scarcity,
Banned Imports and the Grim Reaper
By
Dele Sobowale
Nigeria
has two armies. The first army, called "a nation within a nation", is
the one headed by General Buratai. The second army includes 190 million Fellow
Nigerians; not in any uniform, but responding to the universal need for food.
Just as the first army can be wiped out if the enemy cuts off their transport
of food, the second army can also be demolished by mass starvation occasioned
by acute food scarcity. Right now the two armies in Nigeria are endangered by
inevitable very severe food shortage in the country this year.
Never in
the history of Nigeria have the people of this country faced such grim
prospects as now. The forecasts are so dire that unless the Federal and state
governments start to take urgent measures, the impact of the food production
shortfall might soon start to be felt - in mortuaries and cemeteries
nationwide.
As
usual, before the reader assumes this is an exaggerated alarm which is unlikely
to happen let me make a few disclosures that will lend credence to the concerns
raised here.
During
ten years in the North, I was fortunate to have worked and lived in Kano,
Kaduna, Jos, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Karu and Sokoto. I was also involved in two
major farming projects - Karu and Sokoto. Before the farm experiences, I was
the Marketing Manager for a major brewery in Kano with customers all over the
North. Some of the friends I made are still alive today. In a few cases, I was
instrumental to getting their children to go to school. At least fifteen of
those "kids" (they are over fifty now) are university graduates in
responsible positions. They read VANGUARD because of MM - as I was called in
those days. Some are farmers or bulk food contractors and they are located in
fifteen Northern States. So, I don't have to travel North to obtain reports
about the food situation in those states. At any rate, those familiar with
these pages are aware of my restlessness. I travel all the time. So far twenty
two states have been covered this year - including dreaded Zamfara and Katsina.
In all my travels two issues attract my attention - food and education. The
awful roads have long ceased to bother me.
To me
governments primarily owe their people two things - adequate food and education.
Without these infrastructure is of no use. But, for me, it has always been
"food first". So, when I find myself in a state the first thing I
look for is the food supply situation. And in addition to talking to my
"reporters" in those states, a visit to markets to price and buy food
stuff is mandatory. Thereafter my predictions about likely food prices to one
of my clients who is a major food processor are always accurate. This year has
not been an exception. Indeed, for once, he was sceptical when I first gave him
the bad news about trends this year until he started experiencing serious
scarcities of raw food materials for his business. He is now a believer. Like
the Biblical Joseph, he had taken my advice and is storing and preserving food
items at unprecedented rates.
"I
hold that man in the right who is most in league with the future."
Henrik
Ibsen, 1828-1906, Norwegian Author.
Most of
us don't realise that the future starts from the next minute, hour, day, week
or month - not to talk of November 2019. But, what will happen to our food
supply in November and December this year has already been decided by what
occurred from January, February and March.
The
first quarter of the year is when preparations are made for clearing the land
and planting various crops in anticipation of early rains. This year, three
events intruded to disturb the natural flow of farmland activities - especially
in the North; which is the nation's food basket. First, there were elections.
Even farmers were caught in the national bedlam which elections induce every
four years. Second, herdsmen, bandits and kidnappers took advantage of the FG's
total concentration on second term to unleash mayhem on farmers throughout the
country.
Third,
and this is perhaps the most important, nature added is own to the already
overflowing basketful of woes. The early rains on which farmers had banked to
get the years cycle of growth and harvest failed to materialise. The first
seeds planted rotted away without sprouting; so did the second attempts at
planting. Consequently, the nation is at least three months behind where we
should be in terms of harvest of first crops - vegetables, maize, yams,
sorghum, rice etc. A visit to any market rural, road side and urban will reveal
the extent of the problems. Vegetables, which by now should have been dirt
cheap, are so scarce that the prices have escalated for the poorest quality in
living memory.
To state
that we are in a fix is to understate the problem. From my network of
"reporters" less than half of the largest farms in the North are now
being actively tended. Women, who produce almost sixty per cent of the food
items no longer go to farms. Millions of men have also dropped out. The
herdsmen, bandits and kidnappers have created a major problem for the nation
because FG failed to read the danger signals when the terrorists herding cattle
spread their wings all over the country. Millions of Nigerians will starve to
death this year.
That
brings me to the import prohibition list now in place by the Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN. Given the inescapable sharp drop in food supply in 2019, it is
obvious that the CBN can no longer place a ban on the importation of some food
items without exacerbating a potential nation disaster - which is rapidly
unfolding.
For instance,
rice production this year will certainly be less than in 2018 with Zamfara and
Niger States under siege of kidnappers and bandits and thousands of farmers
abandoning farms. Even at the best of times, smuggled rice supplemented the
national harvest. These are far from the best of times. Catastrophe is the word
for what will follow if the CBN still maintains its hard stance on rice imports
this year because rice has become the most widely consumed grain in the nation.
But,
lifting the ban on rice importation alone will only solve part of the problem.
The FG and state governments will now have to start thinking about how to avert
one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes to hit Africa occurring in Nigeria
by considering how to provide food for their people. Without such a national
effort, the last quarter of 2019 might be the beginning of Nigeria's hot spring
as millions of hungry and angry citizens roam around desperately in search of
food.
Our
already overstretched security forces will soon have more potential threats to
national security to deal with. Food-laden vehicles might soon become the
targets of bandits.
Finally,
the grim reaper appears set for a bumper harvest in 2019. Right now, in some
parts of Nigeria, Lake Chad Basin, Mubi, Gwoza in Borno State, Talata Mafara in
Zamfara State etc parents are now burying kids starved to death at
unprecedented rates.
"This
is a world in which children are born to suffer", wrote Albert Camus,
1903-1960.
Nigeria
in 2019 is rapidly becoming a nation in which children are born to suffer and
die.
Palay output Q2 estimate pointing to 5.6% decline
July 15, 2019 | 10:41 pm
Farmers gather crops at a rice field in
Calumpit, Bulacan. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN
PRODUCTION of palay, or unmilled rice, for the
second quarter has been initially estimated at 3.86 million metric tons (MMT),
down 5.6%, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In its Palay and Corn estimates report for the
quarter, PSA said domestic palay production from a year earlier was 4.09 MMT.
Its estimate for corn production in the second
quarter was 1.15 MMT, down 10.2% from the year-earlier production of 1.28 MMT.
The price of palay, the form in which most
domestic farmers sell their crop, has been on a downtrend due to the threat of
competition from cheap foreign grain. The Rice Tariffication Law, which freed
up rice imports by private traders who must pay a 35% tariff on most of their
shipments, particularly on rice from Southeast Asia, is pressuring farmers to
sell their harvest for less while also depressing future planting intentions.
Early July, the Bureau of Customs reported that
it collected a total of P5.9 billion in tariffs from P1.43 MMT of rice imported
by private traders flowing the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law.
The average farmgate price of palay, or
unmilled rice, fell 0.3% week-on-week during the fourth week of June to P17.85
per kilogram (kg), the PSA said.
The PSA said the average wholesale price of
well-milled rice fell 0.1% week on week to P39.30. At retail, it fell 0.2% to
P42.92 per kg.
The wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell
0.2% week on week to P35.39 during the period. At retail, the price decreased
0.3% to P38.56.
The farmgate price of yellow corn grain during
the period declined 0.1% week-on-week to P13.98 per kg. The average wholesale
price fell 1.2% to P18.30 and the retail price decreased 1.2% to P23.68.
The average farmgate price of white corn grain
was stable week on week at P16.25. The average wholesale price fell 2.1% to
P22.40, and the average retail price declined 1.4%% to P28.82. — Vincent
Mariel P. Galang
Benin tops 184 countries importing rice from Thailand
By Femi
Ibirogba
15 July 2019 | 4:18 am
• Processors allege sabotage to Nigeria’s economy
Out of 184 countries importing rice from Thailand, Benin Republic has consistently been the largest, fueling the argument that the country has done great damage to Nigeria’s economy through smuggling.
Benin
Republic, with a population of about 12 million people, imports more than what
China does, for instance. Data obtained by The Guardian from the Thailand Rice
Export Association indicates that Benin Republic has consistently been the
largest importer of rice from Thailand from 2017 to May 2019.
When
compared with the most populous country in the world, Benin Republic imported
nearly two million metric tonnes of rice in 2017 (1,814,014), while China
imported 1,204,911.
In 2018,
the country imported 1,603,285 tonnes while China imported 1,003062; and it
imported 695,854 tonnes from January to May 2019 while China imported 205,830.
These
tonnes of rice are allegedly repacked and smuggled into the Nigerian cities
through the land borders. This has consistently posed threats to efforts of
Nigeria to become rice-sufficient, and the new agreement will complicate the
smuggling, experts have warned.
The
second most populous country, India, imported 481 tonnes in 2017, 695 tonnes in
2018 and 362 tonnes in 2019 so far. Nigeria, which is larger than Benin
Republic almost 20 times, officially imported 23,192 tonnes of rice in 2017,
6537 tonnes in 2018 and 2,380 tonnes so far in 2019.
The
porous borders, stakeholders lament, filled the demand gap in Nigeria from
Benin Republic. Regional Coordinator of the Africa Rice Centre, Ibadan, Dr
Francis Nwilene, said while he was optimistic about the policy, the Nigerian
government and its agencies such as the Nigerian Customs, SON, NAFDAC, and others
had not proved ready for the more challenging tasks that might emanate from the
agreement.
Describing
impacts of smuggling on the economy, Kebbi State Chairman of the Rice Farmers’
Association, Mr Suaib Augie, said it is great sabotage to the current efforts
to boost domestic production, insinuating that the agreement might compound the
situation.
Oman closer to self-sufficiency as imports down by 9.1 per cent
July 15, 2019 | 9:30 PM
by Times News Service
2
Oman’s dependence on imported goods has decreased,
according to data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Sharelines
Muscat: Oman’s imports have decreased by 9.1 per cent
over the last year, as the country moves towards self-sufficiency and becomes
less reliant on goods brought in from overseas.
As the country sets up industries that manufacture goods and help harvest raw materials that were previously imported, Oman’s dependence on imported goods has decreased, according to data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Commenting on this, Dr Ahmed Al Hooti, the head of economic study at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “We have a strong and competitive stance and we should take advantage of that. 2018 was a good year and we used all the means available to us to decrease imports through Oman’s main ports. Exports from Oman will increase, and its imports will decrease in the coming years as Oman is currently focused on expanding its logistics. Going forward, Oman also needs to increase its exports to its neighbouring countries.”
NCSI data showed that between February 2018 and January 2019, imports decreased by 9.1 per cent.
As the country sets up industries that manufacture goods and help harvest raw materials that were previously imported, Oman’s dependence on imported goods has decreased, according to data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Commenting on this, Dr Ahmed Al Hooti, the head of economic study at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “We have a strong and competitive stance and we should take advantage of that. 2018 was a good year and we used all the means available to us to decrease imports through Oman’s main ports. Exports from Oman will increase, and its imports will decrease in the coming years as Oman is currently focused on expanding its logistics. Going forward, Oman also needs to increase its exports to its neighbouring countries.”
NCSI data showed that between February 2018 and January 2019, imports decreased by 9.1 per cent.
Overall, Oman spent only OMR1.48 billion on imported goods in the first two months of 2019, as opposed to OMR1.63 billion during the same time the previous year. Imports of electrical machinery, mechanical equipment and parts were down by 37.5 per cent and imports of base metals and their articles dipped by 11.2 per cent. The UAE suffered the biggest drop in imports to Oman with 14.1 per cent, followed by India who saw a drop of 11.9 per cent.
Oman’s biggest imports from India are engine fuel, rice, pipeline lengths and gas cylinder valves, while its biggest imports from the UAE are telephones, copper wire, gold jewellery, gold ingots and tobacco products.
Diversification
Financial analysts and trade advisors in Oman said this was because the country was pushing forward with its Tanfeedh plans for economic diversification, which look to move Oman away from traditional oil-and-gas based sources of income and focus on other areas of high potential, namely tourism, agriculture and fisheries, mining and energy, transport and logistics, and manufacturing.
Dr Anchan CK, a trade advisor in Oman, said, “Oman continues to offer a strong value proposition for businesses, with a wide range of industrial estates and special economic zones (SEZs) adding to the attraction. The push to increase manufacturing investment is further supported by government plans to quicken the pace of privatisation.”
He added: “Oman is on the cusp of unlocking its mineral export potential, and this will automatically lead to fewer imports of such goods. The country has some of the richest and most diverse mineral deposits in the world, which are largely concentrated in the country’s mountain ranges. Duqm, in central Oman, holds reserves of industrial minerals and salt, while fertilisers such as potash are found some 500km north. Thumrait in the south is known for gypsum and Salalah for limestone. Shuwaymiah in the Dhofar Governorate has large deposits of limestone, gypsum and dolomite, while Sohar in the far north of the country is rich in copper, gold, gabbro and limestone.”
Non-oil sectors
Ramanuj Venkatesh, a financial analyst in the country, said: “Given that Oman’s oil sector has largely fuelled its GDP, Oman’s economic expansion bodes well for the future. Non-oil sectors such as mining and manufacturing, will be among the most important factors in the future. From this perspective, Oman’s economy will need to be given further momentum by non-oil returns.”
“Petrochemicals and the other leading sectors such as energy and mining are also vital, although I feel it will be some time before these reach their full capacity,” he added. “There needs to be more investment from foreign organisations, so that they can teach local youth how to take over such operations, and this expertise cycle would benefit from partnerships with experienced organisations.”
Group eyes filing of case vs DBM over rice
fund
July 15, 2019
A farmers
group said it would pursue the filing of a case against the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM) before the Ombudsman if it will not release P10
billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) this year.
Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National
Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said his group will make good of its threat to file
legal charges against the DBM for “willful violation of Republic Act [RA]
11203, or the rice trade liberalization law.”
“We may file the case next year because the DBM
has until the end of the year to release the full P10 billion for 2019,”
Montemayor told the BusinessMirror.
Montemayor issued the statement after the
BusinessMirror reported that the DBM maintained its position that it will
release only P5 billion of the P10 billion that the government has promised to
frontload to set up the fund pending the collection of tariffs (See, “Fund for rice farmers to get P5 billion from DBM this
year,” in the BusinessMirror, July 11, 2019).
RA 11203 converted the quantitative restriction
(QR) on rice into tariffs and removed the National Food Authority’s power to
regulate imports. The new law mandated that tariffs collected from imported
rice will constitute the RCEF.
The DBM said, however, that the P5 billion it
released to the Department of Agriculture (DA) last December 28, was already
part of the RCEF.
‘Illegal
release’
Montemayor said it is “illegal” for the
government to release funds on the basis of a nonexistent law or in
anticipation of the passage of a measure.
“We will check the actual nature of the release
last year. I think [it is] illegal for them to release money on the basis of,
or in anticipation of, a nonexistent law,” he said. “What if the law was vetoed
by [President] Duterte? How would [DBM] explain the P5-billion release?”
RA 11203 was signed by the President in
February, and took effect on March 5.
Montemayor said his group will sue only the DBM
as the DA did not request for the P5 billion and was only the recipient of the
voluntarily release of the funds.
He also said the DBM violated several
provisions of the law if indeed the P5 billion it released last year was
already part of the RCEF.
Montemayor said the fund should be released
directly to the implementing agencies of the RCEF and should not be coursed
through the DA.
He added that the disbursement of the RCEF also
requires the approval of the program steering committee, as well as the
completion of a rice industry road map prior to release.
“The amount allocated shall be released
directly to the implementing agencies as provided for in this Act based on the
objectives and plans of the rice industry road map,” Section 13 of the RA 11203
read.
The DA stood pat on its position that the P5
billion, which was released through a Special Allotment Release Order, was a
complementary fund for protecting farmers from the adverse effects of the new
law.
In May, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol
said he was asked by the National Economic and Development Authority to
consider the entire P5 billion as part of the RCEF.
However, Piñol said he refused to grant this as
he would violate the law. Piñol is the only government official who is
accountable for the use of the RCEF.
The agriculture chief said he agreed to return
the P1 billion to the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the
Philippines, as requested by the Neda. Piñol said he agreed to do so since the
amount will also be used for the provision of cheap credit under the RCEF.
“We just agreed to return the P1 billion
because it had the same purpose which is for credit. But the remaining P4
billion cannot be considered as part of the RCEF,” he added.
Under RA 11203, P5 billion of the RCEF is
allocated for farm mechanization, P3 billion is for the distribution of inbred
rice seeds and P1 billion is for credit assistance and farmers’ training
Assuring availability and
affordability of rice
·
NATION
·
Tuesday, 16 Jul 2019
Single gatekeeping mechanism ensures the
availability and affordability of rice in the market.
IT was near the Chinese New Year festivities
when Siu Li went on her usual last-minute shopping for food and groceries at
several hypermarkets, in order to celebrate with her small family and visitors
for the week.
The menu included the usual – chicken, fish,
dumplings, longevity noodles and rice cakes. Rice and rice-based products are
among the first items Siu Li would buy.
As for other items, this elder sister of three
has to haggle for the right price when buying any fresh raw product which,
during this season, would have inflated in price.
This scenario is not a first for Siu Li, a
30-year-old executive. She has been going through the same experience for most
of her life.
But does anyone wonder how rice – being such an
essential item as the nation’s staple diet – manages to retain a steady price
and availability even during times of high demand, such as during festive
seasons?
Rice in this country has been solely guarded by
the “Single Gatekeeping Mechanism” (SGM) over 45 years ago.
The gatekeeper works to ensure that rice is
always available and affordable to people in the country.
On top of that, it must ensure that the padi
and rice industry can sustain in the long run.
To do this, the farmer’s well-being must be
taken care of, as they produce about 70% of 2.7 million tonnes of rice for
local consumption.
SGM was formulated back in 1974 as a result of
a food crisis the year before.
In the 1973 catastrophe, a large scale El Nino
sparked a rice shortage by sharply reducing crop production throughout
South-East Asia, especially in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Thailand, the world’s leading rice exporter
during that time, banned rice exports altogether, triggering panic across the
region.
While world rice production fell by 14 million
tonnes, leading to a severe food shortage, the international price for rice
grains shot up to 170%.
During that time, Malaysia imported only 10% of
rice mainly from Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines.
Under the Lembaga Padi dan Beras Negara (LPN)
administration, which was established earlier in 1971, private millers were
given the permit to import rice into the country. However, they refused to, due
to the high cost.
Single Gatekeeping Mechanism
Following the incident, the government placed a
control on rice imports and entrusted LPN to be the sole guardian of the
country’s rice sector – this was the implementation of the SGM.
Under the SGM, LPN will have to import rice
regardless of international price volatility and complement the shortage of
local production, then about 10% short of being fully self-sufficient.
LPN, which at a time was powered by up to 5,000
workers, managed to overcome several food crises along the road – especially in
the late 80s via the SGM.
It is however fully funded by the government
and had consumed around RM55mil of public funds per annum or a total of
RM1.26bil from 1971 to 1994, based on its financial report.
As such, a new sustainable formula and model is
needed in order to nourish the staple food supply and consumption.
Corporatisation of LPN to
Bernas
This led to the emergence of Padiberas Nasional
Berhad (Bernas) in 1994. The company has since assumed the role of taking care
of post-harvest rice management and guaranteeing national food security via the
same SGM.
After being privatised in 1996, Bernas was
similarly tested by a rice shortage incident.
In 2008, dry crop exporting countries such as
India and Vietnam placed a ban on their white rice exports, which led to panic-buying
from the consuming market.
While the global price for rice shot up by
217%, Malaysian domestic rice prices remained stable with only a 30% increase.
No rice shortage was reported, preventing the 1971 crisis from reoccurring.
However, in absorbing the shock, the result was
far from favourable for Bernas, as it incurred a loss of more than RM128mil
that year due to forced rice imports.
Simultaneously, while ensuring rice that is
accessible at affordable prices at all times, Bernas also has to look out for
the padi farmer’s well-being, as every grain of rice comes from the sweat of
their brow.
Maintaining a perfect balance
As a result, whenever there is an excessive
supply of padi, Bernas, as the buyer of last resort (BOLR), has a fiduciary
duty to clean up the surplus. This assures that all local harvests have a ready
market at a guaranteed price tag.
BOLR is crucial, especially when the
international price of rice is low, which occurs several times in the padi and
rice industry.
An instance is in 2001, when the international
price of rice slumped to RM617 per tonne, triggering massive rice smuggling
activities. This led to a local rice market glut as many rice millers reduced
their purchase.
Bernas cleaned up the excess of supply, causing
the padi market share to rise from 27% in 1999 to 32% in 2001.
The government then set a guaranteed minimum
price for padi at RM1,200 per tonne in 2014.
On top of that, Bernas also assists the
government to distribute padi subsidies to local farmers while spearheading the
Bumiputra Rice Millers Programme.
image:
https://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2019/07/16/00/09/farmers.ashx?la=en
Bernas assures
local farmers a ready market at guaranteed prices.
Both are corporate responsibility to ensure the
sustainability of the growers, as well as the commodity in general.
After 25 years, Bernas today operates 28 mills
from a total of about 180 across the country, with normal annual purchases of
about 500,000 tonnes of local harvest.
Bernas managing director Ismail Mohamed Yusoff
described that such a pertinent role needs to be maintained in order to
safeguard both the consumer and supplier market of this staple food.
“It needs to keep going as this rice reaches
every single Malaysian, every day,” Ismail said.
“Now we can still enjoy 1kg of rice at RM2.60,
the second lowest in the region. Meanwhile, farmers’ future would also be
guaranteed as under BOLR, none of their yields should be ignored,” he added.
As for Siu Li, she just hopes that rice would
not be one of her “difficult items” in her grocery list in the future.
Instead, perhaps other necessities may find its
own formula so the supply of such products could be stable and affordable for
the rakyat.
Philippines
wheat imports higher at 7.2 million MT
Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine
Star) - July 15, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines — The Philippines is expected to post a record-high wheat
importation this year at 7.2 million metric tons amid continuous increasing
consumption following smaller corn output.
The
latest report of the United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural
Service (USDA-FAS) showed this year’s importation is 20.4 percent higher than
the 2018 level of 5.98 million MT.
The
USDA hiked this year’s projection from the seven million MT forecasted in
April.
“There
are expectations of stronger feed and food use in the Philippines,” USDA said.
Latest
import data showed wheat imports in the January to May period climbed 25
percent to 740,133 MT from 591,039 MT in the same period last year.
Wheat
imports for the Philippines have more than doubled over the last decade, with a
large surge occurring this year boosted by reduced supplies of other grains as
typhoons cut domestic corn and rice production.
In
fact, Southeast Asia is seen as the top wheat importing region for the first
time amid a strong demand for the commodity in the Philippines and Indonesia.
The
ASEAN will lead global wheat importation this year and next year as demand in
the region continues to trend higher based on longer-term shifts in consumption
from rice to wheat as diets diversify.
Meanwhile,
global production is lowered this month as smaller crops in Australia, Canada,
the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine more than offset a larger US crop.
Exports
are projected lower for Australia, Russia, and Ukraine, creating further
opportunities for the EU and the US. The US season-average farm price is up
$0.10 per bushel to $5.20.
There
is no commercial wheat production in the Philippines and wheat is the main raw
material for flour and feeds.
Bakery
products comprise roughly 50 percent of overall milling wheat consumption while
the other half of milling wheat demand is for producing noodles, cookies and
crackers, and pasta.
The
Philippines sources 95 percent of its wheat requirements from the US. There are
20 flour mills in the country with an aggregate milling capacity of over five
million MT.
Ag
Trade is Front and Center at Annual USAEDC Conference
ARLINGTON, VA -- Last week USA Rice participated in the 39th
annual U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC) conference, a
forum for agricultural commodity exporters and U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) officials to discuss trade. The two-day conference commenced with
individual one-on-one meetings with USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)
officials, where USA Rice met with attachés covering countries within the
Western Hemisphere and Asia.
"USA Rice staff discussed trade priorities and promotional plans with current and upcoming FAS attaches in China, Mexico, and Central America," said Sarah Moran, USA Rice vice president international. "As always, this conference was an excellent opportunity to get updates from USDA and U.S. Trade Representative leadership, with discussions this year centering around China and Japan."
Day Two of the conference commenced with a panel on U.S. priorities and trade, with USDA's Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, and Chief Agricultural Negotiator Ambassador Gregg Doud. The panel was moderated by FAS Administrator Ken Isley. Doud was candid in his opinion on the possibility of a hard or soft Brexit depending on the next prime minister of the UK. He also spoke about trade in Japan and challenges in Africa.
Undersecretary McKinney touched on the big wins for U.S. agriculture, including the second round of Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) funding totaling $100 million. He also spoke about getting "back to the [negotiating] table with China" and USDA's work to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Other sessions at the USAEDC conference focused on deepening trade with the USMCA, new market opportunities, updates from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) agency, as well as challenges and opportunities in China.
Moran gave an in-depth presentation on the history of the Cuban rice market and current opportunities due to the newly authorized availability of Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) funds for programs in the region.
"USA Rice staff discussed trade priorities and promotional plans with current and upcoming FAS attaches in China, Mexico, and Central America," said Sarah Moran, USA Rice vice president international. "As always, this conference was an excellent opportunity to get updates from USDA and U.S. Trade Representative leadership, with discussions this year centering around China and Japan."
Day Two of the conference commenced with a panel on U.S. priorities and trade, with USDA's Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, and Chief Agricultural Negotiator Ambassador Gregg Doud. The panel was moderated by FAS Administrator Ken Isley. Doud was candid in his opinion on the possibility of a hard or soft Brexit depending on the next prime minister of the UK. He also spoke about trade in Japan and challenges in Africa.
Undersecretary McKinney touched on the big wins for U.S. agriculture, including the second round of Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) funding totaling $100 million. He also spoke about getting "back to the [negotiating] table with China" and USDA's work to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Other sessions at the USAEDC conference focused on deepening trade with the USMCA, new market opportunities, updates from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) agency, as well as challenges and opportunities in China.
Moran gave an in-depth presentation on the history of the Cuban rice market and current opportunities due to the newly authorized availability of Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) funds for programs in the region.
Barry could devastate Arkansas’
rice crop
Arkansas’ rice crop, delayed by a wet spring
and bludgeoned by high heat, is now facing a triple threat from Tropical Storm Barry,
whose remnants are expected to drop heavy rain on the eastern side of the state
on Sunday (July 14). The National Hurricane Center on Thursday (July 11) showed
potential rainfall totals ranging from 4 to 10 inches in eastern Arkansas, with
the higher amounts expected closer to the Mississippi River.
“Barry has the potential to dump inches of rain
during flowering and heading – rain which will disrupt pollination,” said
Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the University of Arkansas System
Division of Agriculture. “We’re very vulnerable at this point, particularly as
the plants begin flowering.”
“A little wind is good — we like to have pollen
on the move because it means improved chances for pollination and grain fill.
But if we get excessive winds and heavy rains during this period, particularly
during the middle of the day, it’s bad news. It’s not that common in July, but
you can end up blanking out entire panicles from severe wind and rain,” Hardke
added.
Heavy rains present an additional concern.
“All that moisture will further aid disease
development such as sheath blight and blast,” Hardke said.
The third worry is whatever strength Barry
still might be packing when the storm sweeps into Arkansas. Strong winds could
cause early lodging. Lodging is a condition in which the plant’s stalks start
to lean or are flattened, which makes the grain difficult to harvest.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration reported Tuesday (July 9) that July 2018 through June 2019
represented the wettest 12 months on record for the 48 contiguous states, with
an average rainfall of more than 37.8 inches — 7.9 inches above average.
According to the National Weather Service, several cities had unrelenting rains
n June. West Memphis saw 186% of its normal rainfall, Pine Bluff had 110% of
its normal rainfall, and Little Rock had 123% of its normal June rainfall. On
the flipside, Jonesboro came in at 91% of normal.
“The weather is very much an unknown,” Hardke
said. “One of the problems with the sporadic thunderstorms this time of year is
that they pop up in the middle of the day when plants are actively attempting
to flower. If a storm hits around 4 p.m., it’s not that big of a deal — most of
the flowering for that day is complete. But noon is the worst possible time for
a storm to hit rice in this stage.”
Aside from storms, growers will also be keeping
an eye on nighttime temperatures.
“Once we pass flowering, and get into the grain
fill stage, the concern is the nighttime temperatures getting too high,” Hardke
said. “It can lead to chalky rice kernels, rather than translucent. It’s just
not as desirable an appearance, although it doesn’t necessarily change how the
rice cooks or eats. In extreme cases, it can lead to yield losses.”
Jasmine Food Wins Malaysia's
Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brand Award for 15 Consecutive Years
Monday, July 15, 2019, 9:35 am
ACROFAN=PRNewswire |
mediainquiries@prnewswire.com | SNS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia,
July 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jasmine
Food Corporation (Jasmine) Sdn Bhd has proven itself as a
consumer trustworthy brand after receiving its twelve consecutive
"Platinum Trusted Brand" in the Rice Category from Malaysia's Reader's Digest. The award was
received by Jasmine Food Corporation's CEO, Lim Swee
Keat, during the 2019 "Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Award"
ceremony on June 11, 2019.
Jasmine Food Wins Malaysia’s Reader Digest Most Trusted Brand Award for 15 Consecutive Years
This prestigious Reader's Digest Trusted Brands
award is presented to industry leaders across six Asian countries, that excel
in their Trustworthiness and Credibility, Quality, Value, Understanding of
Customer Needs, Innovation, and Social Responsibility. Voted by thousands of
consumers, the final score is calculated by multiplying the final number of
votes along with the average score for six categories.
"Jasmine Food's 15 consecutive wins
as Malaysia's most trusted brand in
the Rice category has strengthened our position to help Malaysia's food and beverage sector grow. We've
now set a major benchmark, ensuring the healthy development of this industry
and ensuring complete customer satisfaction. We will continue to uphold our
beliefs and continuously improve our service and products to maintain the
highest standards possible," said Lim .
As a market leader in the Malaysian rice
industry, Jasmine Food Corp has been providing a large range of rice products
for over three decades. In 1996, Jasmine became a subsidiary of Padiberas
Nasional Bhd (Bernas), and also began importing a wide variety of rice
from Thailand, Myanmar, China, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Australia and
USA.
"We create and provide a wide range of
products that best suit diverse customer's needs. Our products include fragrant
rice, imported and local white rice, specialty basmathi rice, brown rice,
glutinous rice and rice vermicelli. Apart from variety, we also ensure all out
products are of the highest quality to earn the trust of consumers. This is
reflected in our position in Malaysia - one of the largest and most
trusted rice manufacturers in the country," added Lim.
Trust is crucial for any company according to
PWC Global Insights Survey 2018. It stated that apart from pricing, "trust
in the brand" is among the top three reasons why people choose a product.
Hence, Lim added, "You need trust to win your customers' heart, as well as
to keep your business evolving."
To enhance consumer trust and confidence, Jasmine
Food provides assurance warranty which includes money-back guarantee for the
purchase of selected product. Customers will be refunded if they are
unsatisfied with their purchase.
Also, to keep developing their business,
Jasmine Food is also continuously innovating with the technology, while
engaging in stronger partnership to leverage their values.
Among Jasmine Food's innovative products
include fluffy long grain basmathi rice, which is lower in fat, glycemic
index, and consists more fiber that is better for diabetics. This is in line
with the brand's aim of creating a healthier society, with a full support and
partnership by the country's health institute, Tung Shin Hospital, National
Blood Donation Centre, National Diabetic Association, and Institut Jantung
Negara (IJN).
Previously, Jasmine Food Corporation has also
awarded the prestigious Brand Laureate Award for 4 years,
from 2007 to 2017 and bestowed the Malaysian Superbrands Award
for over a decade. For more information, visit: www.jasmine.com.my
Related Links :
https://www.jasmine.com.my
Rice
production target fixed at 3,992m metric tons
This
year rice crop has been sown over an area of 4.754 million acres of land in the
province and the government has fixed a production target at 3,992 million
metric tons. The government is committed to guiding the paddy growers at every
stage in order to meet the production target. The agriculture sector tops the
priority list of present government and it has taken numerous farmers' friendly
steps in its brief period.
Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial said this while addressing a 'Khushaal Kissan' seminar arranged by the Pakistan Basmati Heritage Association (PBHA) in collaboration with the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) at Gujranwala on Saturday.
The Minister said that Pakistan stands at the fourth place in rice exporting sector and has exported 2.19 million tons of rice during the year 2018-19 fetching precious foreign exchange of US 1.04 billion dollars. He hoped that the export figures would touch US 2 billion dollars during the current year.
He said the provincial government had allocated collectively over Rs 40 billion for the development of agriculture in the budget for current year and taken many steps like increase in the limit of interest free loans, subsidy on seeds and fertilizer, crop insurance scheme and etc to bring down cost of production and push up the profit for well being of the growers.
Convener Pakistan Basmati Heritage Association Shahid Tarar speaking on the occasion said that the objective of the Association is to protect the Basmati variety and strengthen its value chain besides promotion of responsible and balanced use of pesticides and fertilizers.
Rana Nazir Ahmad Khan, Shaheena Riaz Cheema MPA, Naveed Anwar Bhinder Chairman Punjab Agriculture Marketing Regulatory Authority and others also spoke on this occasion. Experts in their addresses throw light on methods of using the latest technology to ensure maximum per acre yield.
Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial said this while addressing a 'Khushaal Kissan' seminar arranged by the Pakistan Basmati Heritage Association (PBHA) in collaboration with the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) at Gujranwala on Saturday.
The Minister said that Pakistan stands at the fourth place in rice exporting sector and has exported 2.19 million tons of rice during the year 2018-19 fetching precious foreign exchange of US 1.04 billion dollars. He hoped that the export figures would touch US 2 billion dollars during the current year.
He said the provincial government had allocated collectively over Rs 40 billion for the development of agriculture in the budget for current year and taken many steps like increase in the limit of interest free loans, subsidy on seeds and fertilizer, crop insurance scheme and etc to bring down cost of production and push up the profit for well being of the growers.
Convener Pakistan Basmati Heritage Association Shahid Tarar speaking on the occasion said that the objective of the Association is to protect the Basmati variety and strengthen its value chain besides promotion of responsible and balanced use of pesticides and fertilizers.
Rana Nazir Ahmad Khan, Shaheena Riaz Cheema MPA, Naveed Anwar Bhinder Chairman Punjab Agriculture Marketing Regulatory Authority and others also spoke on this occasion. Experts in their addresses throw light on methods of using the latest technology to ensure maximum per acre yield.
Pakistan needs
free access to US markets to stabilize its economy
Last Updated On 14 July,2019 08:05 pm
US and Pakistan should expand cooperation on the 2013 Joint Action
Plan on Trade and Investment.
ISLAMABAD (APP) – Business community Sunday
hoped that Prime Minister Imran 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 on Sunday, 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
from United 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 textile exports, 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 Pakistani textile 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.
Need stressed for free access to US
markets
Business
community Sunday hoped that Prime Minister Imran 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 that 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 from United 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. "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 Pakistani textile 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.
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 that 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 from United 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. "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 Pakistani textile 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.
Anatomy of cotton belt
BR
ResearchJuly 15, 2019
Pakistan’s largest cash crop is grown in over
half of the districts of the country, from Awaran in hinterlands of Balochistan
to the high altitudes of Mardan valley. Yet close to 70 percent of its
production is sourced from Punjab on average, of which almost 95 percent is
contributed by just 14 districts of the province.
Identified
as Punjab’s cotton belt, this contiguous region is defined as districts where
cotton is the largest kharif crop by acreage, ahead of competing crops such as
rice and sugarcane. Geographically, the region constitutes the heart of Indus
basin, starting from Mianwali and Bhakkar near western border of the province,
to Sahiwal and Bahawalnagar in south-east, and Rajanpur near southern border.
(For a visualized map, look at “Cropping Patterns in Punjab, published July 10,
2019 in this section).
But look closely at annual figures coming out
of Central Cotton Committee, and it is hard not to notice that the so-called
cotton heartland encapsulates all the ailments faced by Pakistan’s cotton
today. While the region may contribute highest acres to fibre crop cultivation,
not one of these districts even come close to the average yield in Sindh.
Consider that Punjab’s highest yield in past
five years was recorded in district Bahawalnagar at 896 kg per hectares, which
is lower than Sindh’s average yield during same period by more than 100 kg per
hectares. For other districts such as Bhakkar, five-year average is still lower
than KP which has negligible share in terms of overall acreage.
Cotton’s other persistent woe – declining area
under cultivation – is often seen independently of its poor and falling yield
in Punjab’s cotton belt. However, it should be noted that not only Sindh’s
share in total acreage has remained consistent over past five years at more
than 20 percent; it has also been inching upwards in recent years.
In contrast, the correlation between falling
yield and contraction of acreage in Punjab is very obvious. For the period
under review, a fall in yield in one season was followed by a decline in
cultivated area in the following year – indicating a lag relationship. That has
resulted in cotton been replaced by other cash crops such as rice, cane and
maize is only logical. Except most opinion makers appear to muddy the issue, by
confusing cause and effect and arguing that better renumerative returns on other
crops is forcing growers to switch away from cotton.
The trends coming out of Punjab’s cotton belt
need a hard look by sector experts if Pakistan’s policymakers are serious about
staging a revival of textile on the back of indigenously grown cotton. That
needs identifying causes for decline in cotton yield in this region through
research, and not just parroting sound bites reverberated by media anchors.
Pakistan Needs Free Access To US Markets To Stabilize Its
Economy
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -
APP - 14th Jul, 2019 ) :Business community Sunday hoped that Prime Minister Imran 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 that Pakistan's major exports to United States are sports goods, surgical goods, leather and finished
leather products, textile, cottonyarn, garments, carpets, and rice.
Pakistan's main imports from United 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.
"There must be an incentive package
for Pakistan for
being a front-line state in combating terrorism with the USA.
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.
Navy
nabs 11 suspected smugglers, seizes 483 bags of rice in Akwa Ibom
Nnenna Ibeh - Some suspected smugglers have
been arrested by officers of the Nigerian Navy - The smugglers were arrested
while conveying 483 bags of smuggled rice in two wooden boats - According to
the Navy, intense patrol of the waterways has drastically helped to reduce
smuggling in that axis for some months now The Nigerian Navy Forward Operating
Base located at Ibaka, Mbo local government area of Akwa Ibom state, says it
arrested eleven suspects conveying 483 bags of smuggled rice in two wooden
boats. The commanding officer, Navy Captain Toritseju Vincent, said on Sunday,
July 14, while handling over the suspects and bags of rice to the Nigeria
Customs Service in Ibaka that the arrest was made in two separate operations on
July 10. Vincent said the navy patrol team arrested five suspects with 319 bags
of 50kg rice and six others with 164 bags of 50kg rice in wooden boats coming
from neighbouring Cameroon. According to him, the intense patrol of the
waterways has drastically helped to reduce smuggling in that axis for some
months now. READ ALSO: Osinbajo, Tinubu face smear campaign ahead of 2023 polls
“Like we have always been doing, we will continue to secure your assistance and
cooperation in our fight against illegalities." “In the past months, there
has been a drastic reduction in rice smuggling between Cameroon and Akwa
Ibom." “This is largely due to our efforts on the water. We will continue
to intensify our patrols to nip this completely in the bud." “So, on
behalf of the Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, I hereby hand over
these 5 suspects, 319 bags of rice and a wooden boat, as well as 6 suspects,
164 bags of rice and a wooden boat to the Nigeria customs service,” Vincent
said. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the suspects and seized rice were
handed over to Assistant Controller of Customs, Ali Garko. “As part of the
synergy that the Nigerian Navy has been having with the Nigeria customs, we
wish to state that we are grateful for this kind gesture and wish it to
continue so that we nip out smuggling,” Garko said. Two of the suspects, a
student and an artisan, however denied that they were smugglers. They claimed
that they were passengers who followed the boats due to circumstances beyond
their control. Elisha David, a student and indigene of Ilaje in Ondo state,
said he left Cameroon for Nigeria to process his passport so he would
participate in the National Youth Service Corps programme upon the completion
of his studies there. “I am a victim of circumstance. I was a passenger in one
of the boats that was arrested and do not know anything about the smuggled
rice. I came here to pursue my Nigerian passport in Uyo. “I am a final year
student in Higher Institute of Management Technology in Cameroon and the
passport is one of the requirements for the NYSC programme. I had started the
process and have the receipt of the passport with me. My coming to Nigeria was
to check if the passport was ready,” he said. The other suspect, Ezekiel
Omogunle from Gbokoda in Ondo narrated that he was a fisherman in Cameroon and
was returning to Nigeria to get treatment for an illness but was unfortunate to
be arrested by the Navy in the boat carrying the suspected smuggled rice.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that local rice millers in Nigeria have
lamented the proliferation of smuggled foreign rice into the market. The
millers said the growing smuggling of rice into Nigeria has become a threat to
the confidence and ability of local farmers.:
Nigeria’s government neglects small holder farmers – Oxfam
Oxfam Nigeria has raised serious concerns over
the neglect of small holders farmers and its attendant effect on food
sustainability in Nigeria, JOHN OBA, writes.
The federal government has several
policies on agriculture that fails to address the plight of small holders
farmers or are not implemented properly to suit the needs of the small holder
farmers.
Small holder farmers are faced with several
challenges further compounded by unfavourable policies and funding. These
farmers are faced with challenges such as lack of support from local government
councils (LGCs); lack of information, limited access to modern agricultural
technology; lack and high cost of farm inputs; land tenure system; inadequate
agricultural credit; lack of off takers; extension education needs, and
agricultural credit constraint among other continue to be a drawback to small
time farmers..
Poverty in Nigeria is particularly outrageous
because it has been growing in the context of an expanding economy where a
minority reap the benefits while the majority continue to wallow in poverty.
Annual economic growth in the early 2000
averaged over 7 per cent in the 2000, yet Nigeria is one of the few African
countries where both the number and the share of people living below the
national poverty line increased from 69 million in 2004 to 112 million in 2010
representing 69 per cent of the population, income inequality, as measured by
the Gini Index, grew from 40 per cent in 2003 to 43 per cent in 2009.
But agriculture holds the most potential to
speedily transform the nation’s mono-product economy into a varied one and
large-scale agricultural industrialisation will guarantee food security,
employment, equality and social inclusion, especially for women and young
people. The ability of the sector to play this role depends on the political
will of the government to increased investments in the sector, in line with
Nigeria’s commitment to the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security
in Africa.
This will ensure adequate resources are
available to small-scale farmers who produce over 80 per cenr of the food
consumed in Nigeria, increasing productivity and employment, reducing poverty
and ultimately enhancing food security for the continent’s most populous
nation.
But in a press conference recently, Oxfam
Nigeria raised concern over the level of poverty ravaging the nation and said
majority of the poor people are farmers not because they don’t engage in
farming but because most government policies has failed to lift them out of
poverty.
Oxfam Country Director, Mr Constant Tchona,
said economically, the majority of women are concentrated in casual,
low-skilled, low-30 paid informal sector employment and they constitute 54
million of Nigeria’s estimated 78 million women that live in rural areas and
off the land.
He said though agriculture remains the largest
economic platform for women, it is mostly subsistence farming with hoes and
cutlasses. He explained that women and other small farmers also remain at a
disadvantage: some 55 per cent of female 31 headed households are landless and
a further 29 per cent own less than one hectare.
Meanwhile, between 2007 and 2013 the number of
millionaires in Nigeria increased by approximately 44 per cent – from 10,900 in
2007 to 15,700 in 2013. Regionally, inequality is high in Nigeria, and it
translates into higher rates of poverty in the north-western states. In Sokoto
State for instance, 81% of the population is poor, while poverty incidence is
much lower, at 34 per cent in Niger.
“Economic and gender inequality are
interconnected and reinforce each other. The life of Nigerian women is affected
by a myriad of discriminatory traditional and socio-cultural practices that put
them at disadvantage in a number of areas compared to men. For example, the
majority of women are employed in casual, low-skilled, low-paid informal jobs;
women are less likely than men to own land and 75.8% of the poorest women have
never been to school, compared to 28% of 10richest men. In Jigawa State, 94% of
women (against 42% of men) are illiterate. As a result of these
disadvantages, women are more likely to be poor than men, and keep being
excluded from full participation in the country’s economic, social and politics
Disenfranchising women
Oxfam research, he stated revealed although
women represent between 60 and 79 per cent of Nigeria’s rural labour force, men
are five times more likely than women to own lands. There are regional
differences as women in the South are more likely to own and access land than
those in the North.
Also the sector is further beleaguered by
environmental problems such as pollution of farmlands in the oil-producing
Niger Delta, deforestation, and land degradation in the North.
“Additionally, poor road networks, limited
access to financial assets, and women’s lack of inheritance rights to land all
further add to the barriers women face in making a livelihood from agriculture.
Women constitute only 21% of the non-agricultural paid labour force (British
Council, 2012) and even outside agriculture they are relegated to poorly-paid
jobs performed under precarious conditions.
“Some factories show a preference for hiring
women because they are perceived as less likely to complain about poor wages
and unsafe work conditions. As in the case of Joyce Ugbede, many women are
forced to work long hours in precarious jobs which pay salaries that are
insufficient to meet their basic needs,” he said
Unfavourable Policies
Most government policies are also skewed
against small holders farmers as elite capture of public sector policies and
resources which undermines the productivity of the most important sectors of
the economy and prevent fair distribution of the benefits of growth.
According to Oxfam, most agricultural policies
have been unfavourable for majority of small, often poor farmers. As a
consequence, agricultural growth has had limited impact on poverty reduction.
For instance, a government policy designed to encourage investments in the rice
value chain through backward integration has resulted in more difficult
production conditions for millers and farmers. There is evidence that import
quotas meant for investors with rice-milling capacity were instead issued to
cronies, who in turn sold it to larger traders and corporations.
“Millers and rice farm owners have had to deal
with the effects of this policy distortion: a combination of import quota
racketeering and smuggling through porous borders floods the market with cheap
rice. Unfavourable policies in the agriculture sector have also led to the
closure of several vegetable oil mills.
“Waivers were granted to select companies to
import vegetable oil into the country, creating an uneven playing field for
domestic 41manufacturers. Local soya farmers were also affected because
the price of soya seeds plummeted. Soya bean production in Nigeria employs about
1,500 skilled and unskilled workers and is a source of income for about 42,000
local farmers, all of whom continue to now face an uncertain future,” the
report said.
Recommendations
The Organisation therefore recommended that the
present administration increase support and policies for agriculture to better
help small-scale farmers by allocating at least 10 per cent of government
budgets to support agriculture. Develop National Agricultural Investment Plans
that are gender-sensitive and seek primarily to support small-scale farmers in
non-cash crop sectors. Bridge the rural–urban divide by ensuring that there is
a balance between public investments in rural and urban areas.
It also called on the government to strengthen
the land rights of the poorest people, fully implement the African Union’s Land
Policy Framework, with particular focus on ending agricultural land poverty,
landlessness and insecurity in land use among the poorest people, and
particularly among women.
Tchona said women account for about half of all
smallholder farmers, but gender inequalities make it difficult for them to
access and control land, stop the large-scale land grabbing that is currently
happening at the expense of small-scale farmers, streamline land registration
processes to ease the burden and the prohibitive cost of land registration,
especially for vulnerable groups, including women and young people.
“To promote entrepreneurship in women, Nigeria
should consider establishing a Women’s Bank, where women can access collateral-free
loans to operate micro and small enterprises. Such a bank would ultimately
serve to correct the imbalance and inequality created by a traditional system
that hands immovable assets only to husbands, brothers and fathers.
“The private sector has a key role to play in
making deliberate policies that remove the barriers to women’s economic
participation from the boardroom, the factory floor, supply chains, down to
communities that host private sector activities.
“Review all government policy incentives aimed
at promoting agriculture-related exports and local agricultural production,
including the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the Growth Enhancement Scheme,
to identify and eliminate bottlenecks, abuses and corrupt practices. Immediate
attention should be paid to agriculture insurance. Of the estimated 20 million
commercial farmers in Nigeria, only 700,000 (3.5%) have accessed agricultural
insurance in the last five years as of 2014, implying over 19 million 76farmers
are still unserved.
“A revival of the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk
Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), designed by the Central Bank,
to lower lending risk, credited with lifting lending to the sector to about
4% of banks’ total loans (from the average of 1.5%), the scheme puts money
in the hands of thousands of smallholder farmers, input producers,
agro-processors and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain. Special
efforts should be made to ensure small-scale women farmers have easy access to
the fund,” he said.
He also advise that government should train
farmers as skills help workers to access non-agricultural jobs and help
increase their earnings. And that there is urgent measures are needed to
address the youth unemployment crisis by increasing support to small-scale
agriculture as essential to addressing poverty and inequality, increase
investment, review of government incentives, elimination of bottlenecks and
corrupt practices and strengthening of agricultural insurance and credit
schemes which are critical to achieving more inclusive agricultural growth.
Barry
Could Devastate Arkansas’ Rice Crop
1:45 PM, JULY 14, 2019, BY TALK BUSINESS & POLITICS
ARKANSAS (TB&P)
—Arkansas’ rice crop, delayed by a wet spring and bludgeoned by high heat, is
now facing a triple threat from Tropical Storm Barry, whose remnants are
expected to drop heavy rain on the eastern side of the state on Sunday (July
14). The National Hurricane Center on Thursday (July 11) showed potential
rainfall totals ranging from 4 to 10 inches in eastern Arkansas, with the
higher amounts expected closer to the Mississippi River.
“Barry has the
potential to dump inches of rain during flowering and heading – rain which will
disrupt pollination,” said Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We’re very vulnerable
at this point, particularly as the plants begin flowering.”
“A little wind
is good — we like to have pollen on the move because it means improved chances
for pollination and grain fill. But if we get excessive winds and heavy rains
during this period, particularly during the middle of the day, it’s bad news.
It’s not that common in July, but you can end up blanking out entire panicles
from severe wind and rain,” Hardke added.
Summer- autumn rice yield
increases in south
July, 13/2019 - 08:25
Harvesting summer – autumn rice in Vị
Thanh City in Hậu Giang Province. – VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khương
HẬU
GIANG – The southern region expects to harvest an average of 5.66 tonnes of
paddy per hectare in the current summer-autumn crop, 139 kilogrammes more than
last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s
Plant Cultivation Department.The region is entering the harvest season and estimates output will be around 9.24 million tonnes.
The region, which comprises the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta and south-eastern region, has planted 1.64 million hectares, down 46,000ha from last year, with the delta accounting for 42,000ha.
Speaking at a seminar in Hậu Giang Province on Thursday, Lê Thanh Tùng, deputy head of the department, said the 42,000ha in the delta are now used to grow high–value crops or for aquaculture.
The switch was due to the low prices rice farmers got for the 2018-19 winter-spring crop and the delay in the arrival of rains in some areas.
The southern region has increased the rate of high-quality rice varieties it grows in the summer-autumn crop.
Specialty and fragrant varieties account for almost 25 per cent, high-quality varieties for 44 per cent, medium-quality varieties for 19 per cent, and other varieties including glutinous for the remaining 12 per cent.
For the upcoming autumn-winter crop, the department is considering two options for the Delta: planting 750,000ha, up 9,380ha from last year, or 700,000ha.
If the latter is chosen, 30,000 will be left inundated during the Mekong flooding season and other crops and aquatic species will be raised on the remaining area.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Quốc Doanh said the main criterion is not the area but the safety of the crop.
The autumn – winter rice should be grown in areas with flood-prevention embankments, he said.
The ministry’s relevant departments should do the task of forecasting weather and availability of water properly so that each locality can draw up appropriate planting schedules, he said.
They should counsel farmers to focus on high-quality and fragrant rice varieties to meet export demand, he added. – VNS
Thailand
maintains principle to stabilise rice prices
Illustrative
image (Source: AFP)
Bangkok
(VNA) – The Thai government has affirmed that it is still using the
market-oriented production principle policy to stabilise the prices of rice
according to the mechanism.
Farmers are asked to accept the government’s guidelines intended to solve the problems.
Deputy Government Spokesman Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukondhapatipak said on July 14 that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha takes heed of rice farmers who want the government to ensure that the prices of rice is in accordance with the market mechanism and will not cause a long-term problem leading to corruption.
He has confirmed that what the farmers want is in line with the government’s policy, especially the comprehensive rice production and marketing plan, which is aimed at balancing the demand for rice and its supply, under the principles of market-oriented production, rice price stabilisation and enhancement of rice production along with marketing efficiency that regulates the price of rice according to the market mechanism.
The PM has emphasised that throughout the year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will pursue plans promoting rice selling and farming, reducing production costs and price risks, such as planting a variety of crops during the dry season, producing and distributing good seeds, promoting the large-scale farming system and organic rice production, while comprehensively linking the organic rice market with the GAP rice market.
As for the new government’s guidelines, the PM will take into account sustainable benefit to farmers by promoting the principle of market-oriented production, and encouraging everyone to build an income that can support themselves and their families.-VNA
Farmers are asked to accept the government’s guidelines intended to solve the problems.
Deputy Government Spokesman Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukondhapatipak said on July 14 that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha takes heed of rice farmers who want the government to ensure that the prices of rice is in accordance with the market mechanism and will not cause a long-term problem leading to corruption.
He has confirmed that what the farmers want is in line with the government’s policy, especially the comprehensive rice production and marketing plan, which is aimed at balancing the demand for rice and its supply, under the principles of market-oriented production, rice price stabilisation and enhancement of rice production along with marketing efficiency that regulates the price of rice according to the market mechanism.
The PM has emphasised that throughout the year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will pursue plans promoting rice selling and farming, reducing production costs and price risks, such as planting a variety of crops during the dry season, producing and distributing good seeds, promoting the large-scale farming system and organic rice production, while comprehensively linking the organic rice market with the GAP rice market.
As for the new government’s guidelines, the PM will take into account sustainable benefit to farmers by promoting the principle of market-oriented production, and encouraging everyone to build an income that can support themselves and their families.-VNA
Irrigation deals firmly
with violators of rice cultivation rules
Rice is
cultivated once a year in Egypt – CC via Pixabay/Natalia Rezanova
Mon, Jul. 15, 2019
CAIRO - 15 July
2019: The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation confirmed on Monday that
it will deal firmly with those who violate the rules of rice cultivation set by
the government, which is to prevent cultivation in the unauthorized
areas.
Head of the Irrigation Department Mahmoud al-Saadi praised the cooperation and coordination between the ministries of agriculture and irrigation, especially in the development of crop varieties to save water through research centers in both ministries, saying "dry rice was planted in experimental areas in the governorates authorized for rice cultivation this year."
In April 2018, Egypt's Parliament passed a law banning the cultivation of some crops that require a large amount of water, amid fears that building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) would cut the country's share of the Nile. The Parliament also approved the government's request to amend some provisions in Agriculture Law No. 53 of 1966.
Article 1 in the Agriculture Law refers that the minister of agriculture shall determine the areas to cultivate certain crops, and shall ban other crops in certain areas. Hence, the draft law to amend Article 1 of the Agriculture Law stipulates that the minister of agriculture, in coordination with the minister of irrigation, shall issue a ministerial decree to ban the cultivation of some crops in certain areas that have low amounts of water, in order to rationalize water usage.
Egypt depends entirely on the Nile water for drinking and irrigation purposes, reiterating consistently its "historical right" to the river guaranteed in the 1929 and 1959 Nile agreements, which granted the country 87 percent of the Nile water and the right to veto or approve irrigation projects in the upstream countries.
Egypt annually needs at least 105 billion cubic meters of water to cover the needs of more than 90 million citizens. However, it currently has only 60 billion cubic meters, of which 55.5 billion cubic meters come from the Nile and just less than 5 billion cubic meters coming from non-renewable subterranean water in the desert. The remaining 80 billion cubic meters are covered by the reuse of wastewater.
In 2011, Ethiopia started the construction of the 6,000-megawatt Renaissance Dam over the Blue Nile River, one of the major sources of water that forms the Nile River downstream. Concerns have risen in Cairo and Khartoum over the negative impact the Ethiopian dam will have on their historic Nile water shares.
Since 2014, the three countries (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) have held several tripartite meetings and agreed on the Declaration of Principles. However, the disagreement among the countries is related to the filling and operation period of the dam; Egypt demands that this period be seven to 10 years, while Ethiopia insists on a maximum of three years
Head of the Irrigation Department Mahmoud al-Saadi praised the cooperation and coordination between the ministries of agriculture and irrigation, especially in the development of crop varieties to save water through research centers in both ministries, saying "dry rice was planted in experimental areas in the governorates authorized for rice cultivation this year."
In April 2018, Egypt's Parliament passed a law banning the cultivation of some crops that require a large amount of water, amid fears that building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) would cut the country's share of the Nile. The Parliament also approved the government's request to amend some provisions in Agriculture Law No. 53 of 1966.
Article 1 in the Agriculture Law refers that the minister of agriculture shall determine the areas to cultivate certain crops, and shall ban other crops in certain areas. Hence, the draft law to amend Article 1 of the Agriculture Law stipulates that the minister of agriculture, in coordination with the minister of irrigation, shall issue a ministerial decree to ban the cultivation of some crops in certain areas that have low amounts of water, in order to rationalize water usage.
Egypt depends entirely on the Nile water for drinking and irrigation purposes, reiterating consistently its "historical right" to the river guaranteed in the 1929 and 1959 Nile agreements, which granted the country 87 percent of the Nile water and the right to veto or approve irrigation projects in the upstream countries.
Egypt annually needs at least 105 billion cubic meters of water to cover the needs of more than 90 million citizens. However, it currently has only 60 billion cubic meters, of which 55.5 billion cubic meters come from the Nile and just less than 5 billion cubic meters coming from non-renewable subterranean water in the desert. The remaining 80 billion cubic meters are covered by the reuse of wastewater.
In 2011, Ethiopia started the construction of the 6,000-megawatt Renaissance Dam over the Blue Nile River, one of the major sources of water that forms the Nile River downstream. Concerns have risen in Cairo and Khartoum over the negative impact the Ethiopian dam will have on their historic Nile water shares.
Since 2014, the three countries (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) have held several tripartite meetings and agreed on the Declaration of Principles. However, the disagreement among the countries is related to the filling and operation period of the dam; Egypt demands that this period be seven to 10 years, while Ethiopia insists on a maximum of three years
Nigeria yet to attain self-sufficiency in rice production, says
Osinbajo
By Isaac Taiwo
and Jesutomi Akomolafe
15 July 2019 | 4:31 am
Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde
Harps on
righteousness as key to nation building
Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo has said the country is yet to attain self-sufficiency
in rice production. He was speaking at the 4th National Discourse organized in
Lagos by The Companion, an association of Muslim Men in Business and the
Professions themed ‘Food Security: Unleashing Nigeria’s Natural Potential for
self Sufficiency’.
“We used
to import $5 million of rice every day. Although local rice is enhancing the
economy, it is still more expensive than imported rice,” he said. Professor
Osinbajo said that countries normally place subsidy on their rice to make it
less expensive.
His
words: “We are still at the point where we can do so much better. Once we are
able to mill our rice, then we can compete with imported rice in terms of
pricing.” Immediate past governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, described
Nigeria as a very poor nation that needed to stand up against corruption and
improve on food security.
At the
National Discourse, he stated that high concentration and investment on crude
oil was melting the economy without meeting the demands of Nigerians and world
markets. Reacting to the country’s downward slope in agricultural development,
president of Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) and pioneer vice-chancellor
of the University of Uyo, Professor Fola Lasisi, expressed displeasure over the
country’s inability to achieve food security.
Osinbajo
also said that a modern nation where there are peace and progress could only be
built on righteousness, which could only be achieved when the citizens were
ready to pay the price. He made the point as a special guest at the
50th-anniversary Lecture, Award, and Dinner of Shepherdhill Baptist Church,
Obanikoro, Lagos.
The vice
president noted that one of the reasons systemic corruption had been prevalent
in Nigeria was because Nigerians were not ready to fight it. He disclosed that
often, relatives of criminals, including religious leaders, had been in the
habit of soliciting for them to be released, instead of allowing them to face
the consequence of their misdeeds to serve as a deterrent.
Pastor
of the Church, Rev. Israel Kristilere, said: “We believe that the Church needs
to do more than what she has been doing in building the nation, not just being
pessimistic, but optimistic and move into action. “We will continue to stand
for the truth which exalts the nation, and the Church should be able to assist
the government in carrying out its duties through godly advice.”
Govt uses production principles to
stabilize rice prices
BANGKOK (NNT) - The
government is still using a market-oriented production principle policy to
stabilize the price of rice according to the mechanism. Farmers are asked to accept
the government’s guidelines intended to solve the problems.
Lt Gen Werachon
Sukondhapatipak, Deputy Government Spokesman, disclosed today that Prime
Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha takes heed of rice farmers who want the
government to ensure that the price of rice is in accordance with the market
mechanism and won’t cause a long-term problem leading to corruption. He has
confirmed that what the farmers want is in line with the government’s policy,
especially the comprehensive rice production and marketing plan, which is aimed
at balancing the demand for rice and its supply, under the principles of
market-oriented production, rice price stabilization and enhancement of rice
production along with marketing efficiency that regulates the price of rice according
to the market mechanism.
The Prime Minister
emphasized that throughout the year, the Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives will pursue plans promoting rice selling and farming, reducing
production costs and price risks, such as planting a variety of crops during
the dry season, producing and distributing good seed, promoting the large-scale
farming system and organic rice production, while comprehensively linking the
organic rice market to the GAP rice market.
As for the guidelines of
the new government, the Prime Minister will take into account the sustainable
benefit to the farmers. They won’t be trapped as in the past. The new
government will still promote the principle of market-oriented production, and
encourage everyone to build an income that can support themselves and their
families continuously. He asked the farmers to believe in the new government’s
efforts.
Hopeful of
addressing India's concerns in RCEP: Indonesian Trade Minister
Indonesia
is the RCEP coordinator and leads the troika that also comprises Thailand’s
trade minister and the Asean secretary general.
Jul 15, 2019, 09.43 AM IST
Indonesia's Trade Minister
Enggartiasto Lukita.
NEW DELHI: The Asean
troika led by Indonesia had a “fruitful” and “very frank”
dialogue with India on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP)
and efforts are on to address Delhi’s concerns ahead of a meeting on the
proposed trade agreement in China later this month, Indonesian trade minister
Enggartiasto Lukita has told ET.
“Efforts are ongoing to substantially conclude RCEP by end of 2019,” Lukita said after a meeting with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal here last Tuesday. “We had very good and very fruitful meeting with the Indian commerce minister. The dialogue was frank, open and positive. We will work towards addressing India’s concerns.”
Indonesia is the RCEP coordinator and leads the troika that also comprises Thailand’s trade minister and the Asean secretary general.
“It is not India alone that has concerns over elements of RCEP. Indonesia also has some concerns, which we are trying to address,” Lukita pointed out while stating that he remains hopeful that India’s interests can be safeguarded in RCEP. “This meeting helped in developing better understanding of India’s concerns,” the minister noted.
RCEP is a proposed regional economic integration agreement among the 10 Asean countries and its six free-trade agreement partners—Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, South Korea and India.
Intense negotiations are slated for this year with a recently-concluded meeting in Australia and another one scheduled for later this month in China. A ministerial meeting in August will take place in China as the members aim to conclude the mega trade agreement this year.
Lukita and Goyal also explored robust India-Indonesia bilateral trade partnership following directives from the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Osaka, Japan last month. Jakarta is considering to import basmati rice and raw sugar from India, indicated the visiting minister.
ET has leant that India on Tuesday took a tough stance to secure its interests at the ongoing talks for a mega regional agreement with 15 other Asia Pacific countries including China.
The Indian industry is not convinced if the proposed RCEP trade agreement will be a win-win situation for all, Goyal told the troika.
He termed duty concession issues with China for Indian goods as “particularly problematic” at the RCEP trade pact, and said India has made “asymmetrical sacrifice” in goods in its previous trade pacts, including the one with Asean, according to a statement issued by his ministry.
“The minister was tough when he discussed India’s interests, but he also said the agreement should be balanced overall and everyone must be as constructive as possible,” an official aware of the details of the Asean Troika meeting said.
Domestic textile and automobile industries have cautioned the government to not cede space to China while aluminium and copper industry associations have raised concerns at the likely rise in trade deficit with China due to likely “alarming” spike in imports and a potential threat to the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“India too has shown significant flexibility during the negotiations and helped to achieve convergence in few important areas,” the commerce and industry ministry said in the statement, adding that two more chapters are close to conclusion, which will take the number to nine of the total 16 chapters.
“Efforts are ongoing to substantially conclude RCEP by end of 2019,” Lukita said after a meeting with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal here last Tuesday. “We had very good and very fruitful meeting with the Indian commerce minister. The dialogue was frank, open and positive. We will work towards addressing India’s concerns.”
Indonesia is the RCEP coordinator and leads the troika that also comprises Thailand’s trade minister and the Asean secretary general.
“It is not India alone that has concerns over elements of RCEP. Indonesia also has some concerns, which we are trying to address,” Lukita pointed out while stating that he remains hopeful that India’s interests can be safeguarded in RCEP. “This meeting helped in developing better understanding of India’s concerns,” the minister noted.
RCEP is a proposed regional economic integration agreement among the 10 Asean countries and its six free-trade agreement partners—Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, South Korea and India.
Intense negotiations are slated for this year with a recently-concluded meeting in Australia and another one scheduled for later this month in China. A ministerial meeting in August will take place in China as the members aim to conclude the mega trade agreement this year.
Lukita and Goyal also explored robust India-Indonesia bilateral trade partnership following directives from the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Osaka, Japan last month. Jakarta is considering to import basmati rice and raw sugar from India, indicated the visiting minister.
ET has leant that India on Tuesday took a tough stance to secure its interests at the ongoing talks for a mega regional agreement with 15 other Asia Pacific countries including China.
The Indian industry is not convinced if the proposed RCEP trade agreement will be a win-win situation for all, Goyal told the troika.
He termed duty concession issues with China for Indian goods as “particularly problematic” at the RCEP trade pact, and said India has made “asymmetrical sacrifice” in goods in its previous trade pacts, including the one with Asean, according to a statement issued by his ministry.
“The minister was tough when he discussed India’s interests, but he also said the agreement should be balanced overall and everyone must be as constructive as possible,” an official aware of the details of the Asean Troika meeting said.
Domestic textile and automobile industries have cautioned the government to not cede space to China while aluminium and copper industry associations have raised concerns at the likely rise in trade deficit with China due to likely “alarming” spike in imports and a potential threat to the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“India too has shown significant flexibility during the negotiations and helped to achieve convergence in few important areas,” the commerce and industry ministry said in the statement, adding that two more chapters are close to conclusion, which will take the number to nine of the total 16 chapters.
Deal opens market, and offers new tariff target | Editorial
By
Editorial Board
|
July
14, 2019 at 1:41 am
There was some huge news this month for the Sacramento Valley
that you might have missed if you don’t make your living out in the ag lands:
An Arbuckle firm reached the first-ever contract to sell rice to China.Most people might think that China already imports a lot of rice from the United States. It’s a staple crop in the nation with the largest population in the world, eating about 10 million tons every two weeks. That’s a full year’s production for the United States.
But up until this summer, none of that rice has come from the United States, for reasons that no one here has been quite able to explain.
The contract reached earlier this month between Sun Valley Rice Co. and Dragon Ocean Hing Group will send 40 tons of medium grain Calrose rice from California to China in time for a September festival. The Chinese firm said Sun Valley’s study of Asian cultures made a big difference in its selection to break the import block.
It’s not a lot of rice. California produces about 2 million tons a year and the Chinese eat 40 tons about every two hours. But it’s huge that the door is opened just a sliver.
But in light of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, one might wonder if this will end up being good news for local growers. In the short term it certainly will be because the amount of rice is so insignificant the Chinese aren’t likely to target it for tariffs. We’d hope the two counties will figure out the damage they’re doing to their own people before the rice trade gets big enough to get dragged into the economic battle.
That’s the thing about tariffs: They’re great for governments, but that comes at the expense of the people. Trump apparently doesn’t get that (or he’s purposely obscuring it) as he talks in campaign rallies about the billions the Chinese are paying the U.S. because of the tariffs. In fact, they aren’t paying us a cent.
Every time a Chinese product subject to a tariff lands on our shores, the importer has to pay that tariff to the U.S. government before the ships can be unloaded. It’s the American importer who pays the tariff — not the Chinese — and those cost are passed on to American consumers who bear the ultimate bill. Tariffs are effectively sales taxes, hidden behind flag-waving and other deception.
- Hits and misses: Highlights, lowlights from the
week’s news
- Doing nothing on wildfire should not be an option |
Editorial
- Editorial: There are reasons for deliberate speed by
government
- Editorial: Grand Jury offers a new set of fire
lessons
- Hits and misses: Highlights, lowlights from the
week’s news
It seems like the madness can’t go on much longer, and that the two sides will reach an agreement convoluted enough that both will be able to say they won, and the rest of us won’t be able to tell the difference.
That’s likely to happen before rice exports to China rise to the level of being a target. So for now, let’s just celebrate the breakthrough, with the future hope it bears for the Sacramento Valley economy.
Assuring availability and
affordability of rice
·
Nation
·
Tuesday, 16 Jul 2019
Single gatekeeping mechanism ensures the
availability and affordability of rice in the market.
IT
was near the Chinese New Year festivities when Siu Li went on her usual
last-minute shopping for food and groceries at several hypermarkets, in order
to celebrate with her small family and visitors for the week.The menu included the usual – chicken, fish, dumplings, longevity noodles and rice cakes. Rice and rice-based products are among the first items Siu Li would buy.
As for other items, this elder sister of three has to haggle for the right price when buying any fresh raw product which, during this season, would have inflated in price.
This scenario is not a first for Siu Li, a 30-year-old executive. She has been going through the same experience for most of her life.
But does anyone wonder how rice – being such an essential item as the nation’s staple diet – manages to retain a steady price and availability even during times of high demand, such as during festive seasons?
Rice in this country has been solely guarded by the “Single Gatekeeping Mechanism” (SGM) over 45 years ago.
The gatekeeper works to ensure that rice is always available and affordable to people in the country.
On top of that, it must ensure that the padi and rice industry can sustain in the long run.
To do this, the farmer’s well-being must be taken care of, as they produce about 70% of 2.7 million tonnes of rice for local consumption.
SGM was formulated back in 1974 as a result of a food crisis the year before.
In the 1973 catastrophe, a large scale El Nino sparked a rice shortage by sharply reducing crop production throughout South-East Asia, especially in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Thailand, the world’s leading rice exporter during that time, banned rice exports altogether, triggering panic across the region.
While world rice production fell by 14 million tonnes, leading to a severe food shortage, the international price for rice grains shot up to 170%.
During that time, Malaysia imported only 10% of rice mainly from Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines.
Under the Lembaga Padi dan Beras Negara (LPN)
administration, which was established earlier in 1971, private millers were
given the permit to import rice into the country. However, they refused to, due
to the high cost.Following the incident, the government placed a control on rice imports and entrusted LPN to be the sole guardian of the country’s rice sector – this was the implementation of the SGM.
Under the SGM, LPN will have to import rice regardless of international price volatility and complement the shortage of local production, then about 10% short of being fully self-sufficient.
LPN, which at a time was powered by up to 5,000 workers, managed to overcome several food crises along the road – especially in the late 80s via the SGM.
It is however fully funded by the government and had consumed around RM55mil of public funds per annum or a total of RM1.26bil from 1971 to 1994, based on its financial report.
As such, a new sustainable formula and model is needed in order to nourish the staple food supply and consumption.
Corporatisation of LPN to Bernas
This led to the emergence of Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) in 1994. The company has since assumed the role of taking care of post-harvest rice management and guaranteeing national food security via the same SGM.
After being privatised in 1996, Bernas was similarly tested by a rice shortage incident.
In 2008, dry crop exporting countries such as India and Vietnam placed a ban on their white rice exports, which led to panic-buying from the consuming market.
While the global price for rice shot up by 217%, Malaysian domestic rice prices remained stable with only a 30% increase. No rice shortage was reported, preventing the 1971 crisis from reoccurring.
However, in absorbing the shock, the result was far from favourable for Bernas, as it incurred a loss of more than RM128mil that year due to forced rice imports.
Simultaneously, while ensuring rice that is accessible at affordable prices at all times, Bernas also has to look out for the padi farmer’s well-being, as every grain of rice comes from the sweat of their brow.
Maintaining a perfect balance
As a result, whenever there is an excessive supply of padi, Bernas, as the buyer of last resort (BOLR), has a fiduciary duty to clean up the surplus. This assures that all local harvests have a ready market at a guaranteed price tag.
BOLR is crucial, especially when the international price of rice is low, which occurs several times in the padi and rice industry.
An instance is in 2001, when the international price of rice slumped to RM617 per tonne, triggering massive rice smuggling activities. This led to a local rice market glut as many rice millers reduced their purchase.
Bernas cleaned up the excess of supply, causing the padi market share to rise from 27% in 1999 to 32% in 2001.
The government then set a guaranteed minimum price for padi at RM1,200 per tonne in 2014.
On top of that, Bernas also assists the government to distribute padi subsidies to local farmers while spearheading the Bumiputra Rice Millers Programme.
Bernas assures
local farmers a ready market at guaranteed prices.
Both are corporate responsibility to ensure the
sustainability of the growers, as well as the commodity in general. After 25 years, Bernas today operates 28 mills from a total of about 180 across the country, with normal annual purchases of about 500,000 tonnes of local harvest.
Bernas managing director Ismail Mohamed Yusoff described that such a pertinent role needs to be maintained in order to safeguard both the consumer and supplier market of this staple food.
“It needs to keep going as this rice reaches every single Malaysian, every day,” Ismail said.
“Now we can still enjoy 1kg of rice at RM2.60, the second lowest in the region. Meanwhile, farmers’ future would also be guaranteed as under BOLR, none of their yields should be ignored,” he added.
As for Siu Li, she just hopes that rice would not be one of her “difficult items” in her grocery list in the future.
Instead, perhaps other necessities may find its own formula so the
supply of such products could be stable and affordable for the rakyat.
