Guard to launch basmati hybrid
August 27, 2019
LAHORE -
Pioneer in introducing high yielding hybrid varieties of coarse rice, Guard
Agriculture Research and Services Private Ltd (GUARD) has now focused to
develop a hybrid of ‘Basmati’ rice with an average per acre yield of 80 maunds
and average grain length of 8mm and above.
‘We are very near to achieve our targets after
a hard work of five to six years. Our scientists in collaboration with the
Chinese partners have developed 13 CMS lines out of which one variety is giving
75 maund per acres and average grain length of 7 mm, slightly short of the
target of 80 maund per acre,’ said Chief Executive Guard Agri Shahzad Ali
Malik. Members of the Agriculture Journalists Association (AJA) and Lahore
Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) visited Guard head office here on
Monday to know the role of hybrid rice varieties in ensuring food security.
SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik,
LCCI President Syed Almas Hyder, Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan’s
nominated chairman for next year Shahjahan Malik and Pir Nazim Hussein Shah
were also present on this occasion.
Malik said that
scientists have been given the task that the variety they develop should be
heat & drought tolerant and salinity resistant. He said that Guard started
working on the development of basmati hybrid in 2014 and after six years of
industrious research is near its target. Established in 1989, Guard is involved
in basic as well as applied research for the development of hybrid rice
varieties in collaboration with Longping High-Tech Industries and have achieved
full technology transfer in the field of hybrid rice with a feather, of being
market a leader in hybrid rice seed, in its cap, he said.
Guard
commercialized Super Basmati in 1991, which was eventually approved by
government in 1997 for commercial cultivation after 40 per cent of Punjab area
came under its cultivation. The Company so far has developed 08 different rice
hybrids for general cultivation in Pakistan with first seed company developing
such a big number of hybrids and starting local hybrid seed production.
Malik said that
since the introduction of hybrid rice in Sindh, the income of rice farmers has
doubled due to the double yield of hybrid rice as compared to IRRI varieties.
Due to early
maturing hybrid rice crop, timely sowing of Rabi crops is ensured. Timely sown
Rabi crops give positive and significantly increase in per-unit production /
per acre yield which consequently increases farmer income.
Pakistan, Chinese researchers on the
brink of hybrid rice breakthrough
LAHORE: Pakistani and Chinese researchers are close to developing a
hybrid variety of ‘Basmati’ rice with an average per acre yield of 80 maunds
(40 kilogrammes) and average grain length of 8mm and above, an industry
official said on Monday.
China’s Longping High-Tech Industries and Guard Agriculture
Research and Services Private Ltd (Guard Agri) have been jointly working to
create a high-yield hybrid basmati rice variety for the last five years.
“We are very near to achieve the targets after a hard work of five
to six years,” said Shahzad Ali Malik, Chief Executive Guard Agri, while
talking to economic and agriculture journalist associations at the company’s
head office.
“Our scientists in collaboration with their Chinese counterparts
have developed 13 CMS (cytoplasmic male sterility) lines out of which one
variety is giving 75 maunds per acres with the average grain length of 7 mm,
slightly short of our targeted 80 maunds/acre.”
Malik said the scientists were given the task to develop a variety
which should be heat- and drought-tolerant besides being salinity resistant and
the company started working on the development of basmati hybrid in 2014.
Pioneer in introducing high yielding hybrid varieties of coarse
rice, Guard established in 1989, is involved in basic as well as applied
research for the development of hybrid rice varieties in collaboration with
Longping High-Tech Industries and have achieved full technology transfer in the
field of hybrid rice with a feather, of being market a leader in hybrid rice
seed, in its cap.
The Guard official said since the introduction of hybrid rice in
Sindh, the income of rice farmers had doubled because of the double yield of
hybrid rice as compared to IRRI varieties.
“Due to early maturing hybrid rice crop, timely sowing of Rabi
crops is ensured as crops cultivated on time result in a significant increase
in per acre yield which consequently increases farmers’ income, while having a
shorter maturity period, hybrid rice can be planted in late season,” he said.
Malik stressed the need to bring new hybrid rice because yields of
existing rice varieties were low and stagnant. “The low rice yields do not
match with the increasing cost of inputs and because of increasing cost
Pakistan is becoming noncompetitive in the international market,” the official
said.
He added that declining land resources and water shortages were
also serious issues that could only be solved by the adoption of hybrid rice.
Malik said the company was also introducing combine harvesters, rice
transplanters, and other implements to promote mechanisation in this field and
these will be introduced to farmers on rental basis.
To a question, he said to cash in on the opportunities existing in
Iran, the second biggest market of Basmati rice after Saudi Arabia, Pakistan
needs to protect the rice exporters. “Pakistan does not have any cash swap
treaty with Iran, exporters have proposed barter trade with Iran,” he mentioned
and hoped that soon Pakistan will have a barter agreement with Iran of
importing liquefied petroleum gas against Pakistani rice.
The Guard official also urged the need for increasing production
and supply and exploring new markets, stressing that hybrid seeds could boost
agricultural yield that could help the country achieve the export target of $5
billion in the next five years.
Cambodia’s rice farmers in serious danger
Jason
Thomas
26
August 2019
This file photo
shows Cambodian farmers carrying rice bales through a field in Cambodia's
Kampong Speu province, some 60 kilometres south of Phnom Penh. (AFP Photo)
Half a million Cambodian farmers could possibly
be looking at empty rice bowls if the European Union (EU) pushes through with
the withdrawal of its Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preference.
While the garment and
footwear sectors stand to lose the most if the EBA trade scheme –
which gives 49 of the world’s least developed countries tax-free access to
vital EU markets for all exports except for arms and ammunition – is removed,
Cambodia’s rice industry could be staring at tough times ahead.
Already forced to deal
with a historic drought and the reintroduction of an EU tariff
on rice which has cut exports to Europe in half, Cambodia’s rice farmers now
also have to worry about the possibility that that EBA duty-free preference
will be suspended following the EU’s concerns about political freedom, human
rights and labour rights.
In a statement released on Thursday, the
Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) noted that the duties imposed on Cambodian rice
in January has been “acutely felt by most of the 500,000 families in Cambodia
who eke out a living farming jasmine and fragrant long grain rice”. This is in
spite of the fact that these varieties are geographically specific and do not
compete directly with products grown in the EU.
“As if this weren't painful enough, the EU is
now considering the withdrawal of its EBA program. EU legislators are
threatening to end the arrangement to press for policy reforms in Cambodia,”
said the federation.
“A political thrashing could lead to a virtual
threshing of an industry and a way of life (and) the CRF appeals to the EU to
save the livelihood of half a million families and to save the work that we
have done to earn your respect…”
EBA’s importance
The EBA has eased the movement of goods from
Cambodia to Europe since 2003, providing a secure platform upon which an entire
economy has been able to embrace growth and prosperity in an increasingly
demanding world market.
The EU is Cambodia’s second largest trading
partner after China, and Cambodia’s exports to the EU totalled €5.3 billion
(US$5.47 billion) last year – more than a third of its total exports – with
garment and footwear making up the majority of that sum. Crucially, over 95
percent of Cambodia’s exports to the EU took advantage of EBA preferences.
In May, the World Bank estimated that
Cambodia’s exports to the European market could decline by US$654 million a
year if the EBA trade preference was suspended.
The EU in February started an 18-month process
that could lead to the EBA’s suspension in Cambodia. In June it (the EU) sent a
monitoring mission to Cambodia which noted the steps the country was taking
towards improving compliance with international standards on freedom of
association and collective bargaining, as well as in addressing a number of
land disputes in relation to economic land concessions.
The EU is expected to produce a report based on
its findings and conclusions this month, and Cambodia will have one month to
reply.
EU tariff on rice
As it is, Cambodia’s rice farmers are already
feeling the pinch from the re-introduction of EU import duties on rice in
January.
Complaints from Italian and Spanish farmers
that they were being undercut led to an European Commission (EC) investigation,
which confirmed that increases in imports of rice from Cambodia and Myanmar
were causing economic damage to European rice producers.
Source:
Cambodian Rice Federation
As a result, the EU slapped import duties on
rice from both these countries. Starting from €175 (US$195) per ton this year,
it will be reduced to €150 (US$167) per ton in 2020 and €125 (US$139) per ton
in 2021.
The CRF listed prices ranging from between
US$475 - US$485 per ton for long grain white rice, US$790 - US$805 per ton for
fragrant rice and US$1,035 - US$1,045 per ton for jasmine rice – with January’s
tariffs effectively pricing Cambodian rice out of the EU market.
Cambodia exported more than 93,000 tons of rice
to the EU In the first six months of 2019 – almost half the amount exported
during the same period in 2018.
Chinese connection
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has assured
the Cambodian public that staunch ally China would come to their aid if the EU
withdraws its EBA trade scheme, declaring in March that it “won’t make us
dead.”
China has already agreed to import 400,000 tons
of Cambodian rice this year – up from 300,000 tons last year – and Cambodian
government data shows that rice exports to China have risen 66 percent in the
first half of 2019 to 118,401 tons.
Regional observers will no doubt be wary
of the implications
that Cambodia’s increasing reliance on China will have.
It is perhaps naïve to expect China to make up
for all EBA-related losses after only importing US$355 million from Cambodia’s
two key export industries – garment and footwear – in 2017 according to World
Bank data.
China is already Cambodia’s largest creditor
and the single biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI), and
Cambodia’s overdependence on China – or any other one country for that matter –
should be cast aside for a more multilateral approach to secure economic
diversification.
Related articles:
Agriculture:
Gambia: Promoting access to fertilizer and improved seed enhances rice
productivity
Monday, August 26, 2019
Rice
production in The Gambia is characterized by low productivity and production,
consequently resulting in low revenues for farmers engaged in the rice value
chain. Rice yields in the country have remained extremely low over the last 2
decades. Gambia continues to rely heavily on importation to meet its
national rice consumption needs, with rice imports accounting for at least 70%
of total consumption.
Key
factors contributing to this poor performance include low land productivity and
widespread use of poor quality and low-yielding rice varieties. Over the past
decade, efforts have been made to address these issues through the adaptation
of improved varieties across the key rice ecologies. This includes the
introduction of improved NERICA and ARICA rice varieties in partnership with
Africa Rice, the key international rice research and development institution in
the region. A major issue, however, relates to accessibility as well as
large-scale adoption of these varieties. Although the varieties are considered
suitable and adapted to various rice growing environments across the country,
actual performance of most varieties have been consistently lower than the
potentials. This is due in part to conditions such as the very low inherent
fertility of Gambia soils.
A
holistic approach to addressing these issues will contribute significantly to
improving rice productivity and increasing overall production. This will
consequently, result in increased incomes for rice farmers as well reduction in
rice importation.
The
National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project
(Nema-Chosso) is enhancing rice productivity and production through increased
access to fertilizers and quality rice seed.
Since
2017, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded
Nema-Chosso has been supporting increased access to fertilizer and rice seeds
as a means of enabling rice farmers to increase their productivity, production
and revenues. Targeting selected rice farmer organizations at the village
level, a three-pronged approach consisting of facilitating linkages to major
fertilizer suppliers, providing guarantees as well as an up-front 50% subsidy,
resulted in enhancing immediate access to fertilizers for rice production.
In
addition to this, the project invested in the multiplication and distribution
of quality seed of farmer-selected improved rice varieties. In partnership with
the National Seed Secretariat and the Directorate of Agriculture, quality seed
of improved varieties were made available to producers across the Gambia.
The
Nema-Chosso’s Knowledge Management and Communications Officer, Mr. Bakary
Jammeh spoke on the effectively facilitated tripartite negotiations between the
Gambia Groundnut Council (fertilizer source), farmer organization
representatives and the project for bulk supply of fertilizer for rice
production.
In
his explanation on the arrangement, Nema would provide a 50% subsidy at the
wholesale price as well as a guarantee to Gambia Groundnut Co-operation (GGC)
for a loan of the balance 50% to the farmer organizations.
The
groups, as Jammeh indicated, would in-turn make the fertilizer available to
their members at agreed retail market prices. Benefits accrued by the said
groups would support their operationalization and capacities to progressively
take over the initiative.
The
Knowledge and Communications Officer is positive that, with this initiative,
immediate access to fertilizer would enable rice farmers to enhance
productivity and increase their production.
“Ensuring
sustainability requires that farmer organizations be in a position to
progressively take over the initiative and continue facilitating access to
fertilizers and seed for their members,” the Nema-Chosso official underlined.
Achievements
and effects
Since
the inception of this initiative in 2017, 26 rice producer groups across more
than 25 villages have been supported to facilitate access to fertilizer and
quality seed of improved rice varieties for their members. The groups have been
clustered into 6 farmer cooperatives to facilitate coordination and enhance
their collective bargaining power.
The
6 clusters are organized around communities in Boiram and Kudang in the Central
River Region/South; Salikenne and Jurunku in the North Bank Region; Pakalinding
in the Lower River Region; and Barajally Suba in the Central River
Region/North.The six cooperatives have a collective membership of more than
12,000 women and men.
The
initiative improved access to fertilizer for rice production for the more than
12,000 members of the cooperatives. In 2017, 220 and 230 tons of NPK and Urea,
respectively, were made available to farmers across the 6 cooperatives.
Producer members of the cooperatives also had access to tons of quality seed of
selected rice varieties (Sahel134, IR19746, IET3137 and WAB 105).
The
combined effect of these two initiatives was a significant increase in yields
as well as the total area under rice cultivation in the targeted intervention
areas. The outreach, yield and production effects of the fertilizer and quality
seed initiatives are shared by cooperative members of Boiram and Jurunku,
respectively.
Access
to fertilizer and seed
Hawa
Jange, a native of Boiram village and President of the Boiram Cluster
Cooperative in the Central River Region/South, recounts how access to
fertilizer and seed has improved rice yields and revenues, noting that rice
production has been a key agricultural activity and source of income for
basically all households in her community, for decades.
“We
cultivate about 350 hectares of rice, with women as the principal rice
producers. Transformation and other post-harvest operations also provide
incomes for our communities.
“Our
principal challenge, however, is the low rice yields due to continuous cropping
on poor soils, use of poor-quality rice seeds and very limited access to
fertilizer.With support from Nema, however, communities in our cluster had
access to 2000 50Kg-bags of fertilizer during our first year of participation
in this initiative,” Mrs. Jagne disclosed to this medium.As she also observed,
the number of members in her Cooperative has increased significantly in 2018,
as “we were able to procure more than 5,700 bags to meet the increasing demand
from our membership”.
Consequently,
she went on, rice yields and overall production in the area have increased
dramatically; and that average yields of beneficiaries increased from 1.8 t/ha
traditionally to 3.5 t/haover the two-year period. Increase in yield has a
direct positive relationship with incomes. “Our earnings have also more than
doubled, as a result…”, she concluded.
Boiram
Rice Field developed by Nema Chosso
At
Jurunku in the North Bank Region, women are producing enough rice to meet their
household needs, thanks to Nema-Chosso. Rice production in the Jurunku cluster
is largely subsistence, and women struggle to produce enough to meet their
household needs due to limited access to key inputs like fertilizer. But with
support from the project, the Jurunku cluster cooperative procured 600 and 1300
bags of fertilizer in 2017 and 2018, respectively. This, it could be noted, was
made available to its members at ongoing market retail prices. In addition to
this, the project provided 30 bags of quality seed of improved rice varieties
selected by the beneficiaries.
The
effects of this initiative are highlighted by Mrs. Jija Drammeh a smallholder
rice producer in the village: “With access to fertilizer and improved seed, my
yields have increased from 1.5 to more than 4.0 tons per hectare. My overall
production increased by 50%.
Lessons
Collective
group action by farmers with otherwise low individual purchasing and bargaining
powers is an effective way of facilitating access to improved inputs for small
scale-farmers.
Leveraging
project resources for loan guarantees as well as part-financing with a clear
strategy for ownership and sustainability are key drivers of the success of
this initiative
Capacity
development support is essential for effective organizational management and
the ability of the cooperatives to respond to the needs of their members and
take appropriate measures to meet their contractual obligations with the GGC.
Perspectives
Continued
capacity development support to cooperatives for effective management of
resources and a business approach to agriculture
Linking
cooperatives to other actors of the rice value chain across key sites
Supporting
the development of sustainable agricultural financing strategy in partnership with
the National Cooperative Credit Union of The Gambia (NACCUG).
AfricaRice,
Africa Harvest In Partnership To Boost Rice Production
AfricaRice
and Africa Harvest with the support of International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) have initiated a project in partnership with national
programmes to enhance the performance of rice production.
According to AfricaRice, the project titled ‘Strengthening Rice Sector in East Africa for improved productivity and competitiveness of domestic rice’ (EARiSS) targets Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar with an aim to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri in a speech read on his behalf by Deputy General Manager, Operations & Irrigation Management Services Daniel Atula said that IFAD-funded project seeks to boost rice output to 400, 000 tons by 2022 under food security of the ‘Big Four’ agenda.
“Rice is the third most consumed staple food in Kenya after maize and wheat. Its consumption which is estimated at 500, 000 tons continues to increase due to changing dietary preferences, higher income and urbanization. Local production estimated at 70, 000-80, 000 tons annually has not been able to meet the demand leaving a deficit of close to 400, 000 tons,” said Kiunjuri.
Kiunjuri added that rice imports have been costing Kenya Sh7 billion annually to meet the demand and that the country’s import dependency ratio remains at a high of 88 percent adding that a solution to this is increasing the land under irrigation for rice production.
The three year project will benefit about 3, 000 households that is 2, 000 from Madagascar, 500 from Kenya and 500 from Uganda. Approximately 18, 000 people are expected to benefit from this project whereby at least 40 percent will be women and 20 percent youth.
AfricaRice Director General Harold Roy-Macauley in a speech read on his behalf by AfricaRice Rice Value Chain Expert Gaudiose Mujawamariya said that this was the first project in Kenya which aims to contribute to the rice value chain in Africa.
Africa Harvest Chief Executive Officer Florence Wambugu said that the project would contribute to the nation’s rice strategies key among them ensuring rice self-sufficiency to reduce the country’s import bill which runs to millions of dollars every year. This money could be used to improve Kenya’s domestic rice production sector.
“The project is expected to contribute to the improvement of food and nutrition security, sustainable agricultural development, creation of rural employment for women and youth, reduction of import bill and economic development in the project countries,” Wambugu reiterated.
The project is linked to the national rice development strategies in the three countries and is aligned with IFAD objectives as it would promote the out scaling of innovative, pro-poor approaches and technologies through the indigenous persons to achieve greater impact, strengthen partner’s institutional capacities, enhance advocacy and policy engagement and share generated knowledge for development impact.
By Arasha Soila/Charles Kirundi
According to AfricaRice, the project titled ‘Strengthening Rice Sector in East Africa for improved productivity and competitiveness of domestic rice’ (EARiSS) targets Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar with an aim to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri in a speech read on his behalf by Deputy General Manager, Operations & Irrigation Management Services Daniel Atula said that IFAD-funded project seeks to boost rice output to 400, 000 tons by 2022 under food security of the ‘Big Four’ agenda.
“Rice is the third most consumed staple food in Kenya after maize and wheat. Its consumption which is estimated at 500, 000 tons continues to increase due to changing dietary preferences, higher income and urbanization. Local production estimated at 70, 000-80, 000 tons annually has not been able to meet the demand leaving a deficit of close to 400, 000 tons,” said Kiunjuri.
Kiunjuri added that rice imports have been costing Kenya Sh7 billion annually to meet the demand and that the country’s import dependency ratio remains at a high of 88 percent adding that a solution to this is increasing the land under irrigation for rice production.
The three year project will benefit about 3, 000 households that is 2, 000 from Madagascar, 500 from Kenya and 500 from Uganda. Approximately 18, 000 people are expected to benefit from this project whereby at least 40 percent will be women and 20 percent youth.
AfricaRice Director General Harold Roy-Macauley in a speech read on his behalf by AfricaRice Rice Value Chain Expert Gaudiose Mujawamariya said that this was the first project in Kenya which aims to contribute to the rice value chain in Africa.
Africa Harvest Chief Executive Officer Florence Wambugu said that the project would contribute to the nation’s rice strategies key among them ensuring rice self-sufficiency to reduce the country’s import bill which runs to millions of dollars every year. This money could be used to improve Kenya’s domestic rice production sector.
“The project is expected to contribute to the improvement of food and nutrition security, sustainable agricultural development, creation of rural employment for women and youth, reduction of import bill and economic development in the project countries,” Wambugu reiterated.
The project is linked to the national rice development strategies in the three countries and is aligned with IFAD objectives as it would promote the out scaling of innovative, pro-poor approaches and technologies through the indigenous persons to achieve greater impact, strengthen partner’s institutional capacities, enhance advocacy and policy engagement and share generated knowledge for development impact.
By Arasha Soila/Charles Kirundi
Government vows
to ramp up export measures
PUBLISHED : 27 AUG 2019 AT 04:00
NEWSPAPER SECTION: BUSINESS
WRITER: PHUSADEE ARUNMAS
Commerce Minister vows to ramp up export. (Bangkok Post
file photo)
The government pledges to ramp up trade, particularly with Iraq,
the Philippines, Japan, China, India, Turkey and New Zealand, as an urgent move
to spur exports in the remaining months of the year.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who chaired the war room
meeting yesterday to deal with the impact of the ongoing trade war, said to
offset the trade war and baht appreciation Thailand needs to emphasise those
markets.
"The government is committed to focusing not only on
regular buyers but also traditional trading partners," he said. "For
old markets, the government should try to revive government-to-government [G2G]
rice deals with Iraq, which suspended its rice purchases from Thailand in 2016
because of concerns about quality."
Mr Jurin said the Iraqi government already informed the Thai
government of its interest in buying rice under a G2G contract. He said his
ministry is working with the private sector to negotiate with the Iraqis for a
G2G deal with certified quality this year.
Iraq used to buy 700,000-800,000 tonnes a year during 2011-13,
dropping to 111,500 in 2014 and 83,350 in 2015.
Iraq has not bought any Thai rice since 2016, as the country was
concerned after finding that the 100% white rice delivered from Thailand during
the Yingluck Shinawatra government was of poor quality.
In 2018, the Iraq Grain Board of the Trade Ministry imported
735,516 tonnes of rice, mainly from Vietnam, Uruguay, the US, Argentina and
Paraguay.
Last year Iraq imported 320,235 tonnes from Vietnam, followed by
185,707 tonnes from Uruguay, 126,131 tonnes from the US, 63,081 tonnes from
Argentina and 30,362 tonnes from Paraguay.
Mr Jurin said the government will speed up talks with the
Chinese government to deliver the remaining 300,000 tonnes under the 1 million
tonne G2G contract made with the previous government.
For the Philippines, the ministry pledges to hold more business
matching after the Philippine government changed the means of rice purchase
from auctions under the G2G deal to imports from the private sector. As well,
the negotiations with Japanese buyers will continue to increase rice import
quotas for Thailand, he said.
In its best bid to boost exports in the remaining months, the
Commerce Ministry will also come up with proactive marketing in Southern China
and new markets including India, Turkey and New Zealand.
Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong, chairwoman of the Thai National
Shippers' Council, said the government needs to foster closer cooperation
between the Agriculture and Industry ministries if it wants to drive shipments
of agriculture, food and rubber products.
The government's price guarantee scheme for farmers is also
expected to increase production costs for intermediate and downstream
processors, she said.
"Exporters are still maintaining the country's export
forecast at 0 to -1% this year," she said. "The forecast has already
taken into account the trade war's impact.
65 homes
burnt in Karaga after cattle destroyed rice farm
