Updated
28 Jul 2020
Last
week a list of (supposedly) top 100 exporting companies from Pakistan kept
making rounds in business and economics circles. BR Research made a plethora of
calls to find out the source, origin, and accuracy of that data in that list,
but all leads led to a cul-de-sac. However, since a host of sources in
corporate sector found that list by and large reliable, we thought best to take
a quick look at the numbers and see what insights they have to offer.
Unsurprisingly,
textile sector dominates the list with 69 out of top 100 exporting companies in
FY20 being from that sector. The sector contributed about three-fourth (76%) of
the total $8.8 billion worth of overseas earnings booked by top-100 exporters
last year.
What
is rather surprising though is that outside of textile, no other company from
the so-called ‘export-oriented sectors’ – the ones that demand zero-rating
every now so often – is part of the top-100 list. The likes of cutlery,
surgical goods, leather, carpets aren’t in the top-100 list, save for a single
sports goods firm that sells polo goods, such as horse saddles, polo sticks,
etc.
These
statistics are indicative of the small and medium nature of the country’s
export-oriented sector, which is also perhaps why firms from Karachi, Lahore
and Faisalabad dominate the list of top-100 where Karachi alone boasts 53 of
the top-100 exporters accounting for 54 percent total exports of these top
dollar earnings companies. This reiterates why when Karachi bleeds, or drowns
(in rainwater), the political community and the state machinery must listen.
It's
quite obvious that Karachi would also dominate the top-69 textile exporters
from the list of top-100 exporters. With 33 textile exporters contributing
nearly half of total textile exports of the top 69 players, Karachi has a clear
lead. Lahore follows with 21 textile players contributing a third of total
textile exports of the top 69 players, followed by 9 from Faisalabad.
In
addition to textile, of the top 11 rice exporters included in the list of
top-100 exporters, nine are from Karachi. In other words, one can say that top
9 rice exporters of the country that boast about 30 percent share in total rice
exports of the country are based out of Karachi.
It’s
interesting to see that total exports of top-100 firms were about 41 percent of
Pakistan’s total goods exports in FY20, where top-69 textile exports accounted
for about 54 percent of the country’s total textile exports last year. This
reading too points to the small and medium nature of the country’s textile
sector, as does the fact that top 11 rice exporters account for only a third of
total rice exports of the country.
Yet
for many long years, SMEs in the country continue to face a long list of
problems for which successive governments promise a lot but deliver very
little.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40008036/state-of-exports
What ails
agriculture: sowing nothing, harvesting nothing
In the last 20 years, the contribution of agriculture to GDP has
fallen by 8%. And without massive structural changes, our agrarian economy
might be headed for much worse.
Even as we battle in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic,
something most Pakistanis will not know is that we have been fighting another
virus for more than a decade now. The ‘curl leaf virus’ is a pathogenic virus
that affects cotton plants, causing its leaves to curl upwards and growth to
become stunted, resulting in significantly lower yields.
Despite cotton and textiles being a major export for Pakistan,
successive governments have been unable to combat the virus, leaving cotton
farmers frustrated and complaining. This inability is testament to the neglect
that the agriculture sector has seen in the country.
The government often describes Pakistan as an agrarian society,
a fact that is repetitively drilled into our heads by social studies textbooks.
Yet, the agricultural sector remains starved of attention. Even as the
government announced a multi-billion rupee rescue and relief package for
textile mills, the farmers who grow the cotton for those mills were
conveniently ignored.
And without a powerful lobby like the All Pakistan Textile Mills
Association (APTMA) to back them and raise a ruckus in the media, is it any
surprise that farmers do not get anywhere and remain largely ignored?
The latest news, however, has been hopeful, with reports
surfacing that the government has announced the Prime Ministers Agriculture
Emergency Program worth a whopping Rs277 billion. After decades, there is hope
that a meaningful reversal in the fortunes of the agriculture sector might be
on the cards. Naturally, the relief package has drawn attention, and was a
subject of discussion along with the plight of agriculture at a recent webinar
attended by people in powerful corridors. But the question remains, even with
the money, how deep do Pakistan’s agricultural issues go?
The IPR webinar
The woes of the agricultural community and the issues that haunt
this sector prompted the recent webinar held this week by the Institute for
Policy Reforms’ (IPR), a pro-Establishment think tank run by Humayun Akhtar
Khan and some other veterans of the Musharraf Administration. The webinar was
supposed to get powerful movers and shakers together and ask them to be part of
the conversation related to agriculture, which are usually left to farmers and
the raw material users.
The conclusions were stark for the sector, though judging by
what the participants of the webinar thought were problems, perhaps a bigger
problem for the sector is one of mental framework even for those who mean it
well.
For starters, the participants – who were all experts on
agriculture or agricultural economics – thought that one of the biggest
problems facing the agriculture sector is that it is unable to attract enough
foreign aid, a reflection of the old Pakistani bureaucratic beggar mentality
that nothing can be done without a handout from foreign countries. As if
Pakistan does not have the resources to better its own condition.
They pointed to the fact that of the grants that it does manage
to get, it is rare that they are invested in a way that increases productive
capacity to produce exportable goods. Pakistan’s research capabilities have
lagged so far behind that it is often impossible for the government to be able
to ascertain an appropriate policy course of action.
Because of its large agricultural landmass and population,
Pakistan has thus far managed to skate by with its existing natural resources.
However, decades of ignoring the problems have brought us here, where the
country as a whole is still unable to fight the ‘curl leaf virus’ in 2020.
“We have been unable to adequately deal with the virus affecting
cotton, or even the harm done to all crops by insects. Is it any surprise then
that many indicators reflect the sector’s grim reality,” said Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and IPR Chairman, Humayun Akhtar Khan on the
occasion.
“The area under cultivation has stayed the same as it was two
decades ago. Now, this would have been okay if productivity were on the rise,
but our farms have gotten no more efficient and no more larger,” he added.
The production of wheat per hectare has not grown, and cotton
productivity has fallen. So far, there has not been a single meaningful
discussion on the effect of climate change or food security. There has not been
so much as a conversation about how to manage agriculture in a fundamentally
changing world.
“Agriculture suffers from underinvestment, flawed policies and a
lack of connection between research and policy. In times of crises, we offer
Band-Aid solutions, but avoid studying the systemic issues that affect
agriculture. However, it is not a lost cause yet,” said Humayun Akhtar Khan.
According to Syed Fakhar Imam, the federal minister for national
food security, Pakistan needs another major breakthrough in agriculture. “Until
the 1990s, Pakistan’s rates of growth were close to 4%, continuously on the
average for nearly two decades,” he said.
“Our major breakthrough in agriculture came when we had a
paradigm shift both in our wheat production with the assistance of Dr Norman E
Borlaug and with IRRI [International Rice Research Institute] in the
cultivation of rice. That went up by two and half times our traditional,” he
added.
“After 1966 things changed because of two specific elements: the
introduction of the short stature mexipak wheat breed, and the use of chemical
fertiliser, and optimal use of application of water with the fertilizer. This
changed the entire paradigm [and significantly increased crop yields]. And
since then, there has not been a second shift in the paradigm.”
Five major crops
Essentially, Pakistan focuses on five major crops. Of these, the
most significant one is wheat, which makes up 36% of agricultural land being
used. The other four are rice, sugarcane, cotton and maize. The first four of
these are all very traditional crops that grow well in Pakistan’s climate.
However, the big breakthrough of the past few decades has been the growing of
maize.
Maize only appeared on the scene somewhere in the last 12 years.
About 12-14 years ago, it accounted for only 1.5 million tons. This number has
now gone up to 6.7 million tons, primarily because the poultry industry depends
on it. It is also worth remembering that Pakistan’s overall growth has not been
this significant, so there has definitely been a change in focus among growers
towards maize.
However, while it is a bit of a success story, maize is also a
great example of everything that is wrong with the growing process in Pakistan.
For starters, most of the maize or corn seeds used by farmers are imported
through multi-national companies (MNCs), and not necessarily indigenous to the
areas they are planted. Domestic seed production has been one major area in
which Pakistan has failed to make any progress
Even the curl leaf virus referred to in the beginning could have
been solved using modern seed technology techniques. Many countries, including
in both Africa and Asia, have managed to overcome this virus. But Pakistan’s
antiquated, local seed technology and treatment has meant the disease persists
and affects yields to this day.
In total, Pakistan needs about 42-45 thousand tons of seeds a
year. There was a time when the Punjab Seed Corporation was providing
reasonably standardised seed. This met about 30-35% of Pakistan’s seed
requirement.
“The federal government is encouraging the provincial governments
in Sindh and Punjab to purchase the seed in partnership with the private sector
to cover about half the requirements,” suggests Fakhar Imam. “The cost of this
to governments is affordable. This way, quality seeds will be available for the
next crop. The above is for several crops. We should also do the same with
wheat.”
Imam believes that our entire research system needs to change.
He said that international specialists will soon appraise, evaluate and analyze
the government’s research systems in their areas of specialisation, with a
particular emphasis on the ability to generate data to analyse and solve
local problems. Until Pakistan actually has cutting edge data that it can use
to focus on problems and solve them, the agricultural sector will go nowhere.
This is where the Catch-22 of all Pakistani problems comes in.
The country needs our agricultural sector to be strong not just for food
security, but because it is a significant export for us. However, to improve
the sector, the country need machines, pesticides, and different kinds of
fertiliser. Out of all these major inputs, very little is manufactured
domestically, and all of them are imported. So to improve agriculture, until we
can manufacture, we will be forced to import.
The heart of the problem
Clearly there is much to be talked about in regards to how the
agricultural sector has been treated in Pakistan over the decades. The neglect
and the hodge podge, half-hearted attempts at fixing it have not made things
better. We also have very little accurate data to determine specific, and
technical problems that the country is facing in this regard. However, experts
have weighed in on what we do know.
For Dr Iqrar A. Khan, former Vice Chancellor of the University
of Agriculture in Faisalabad, Pakistan’s biggest challenge is small farm size
and fragmentation. “The bulk of our present land holdings does not allow
absorption of available technology. The research available cannot be utilized
by small farm holders,” he said.
“Due to large scale urbanization, parts of the country are
threatened with desertification. Range lands are being overgrazed and salinity
is a continuing threat to output. This is happening because of excessive
groundwater mining.”
Water is an endemic issue. Investment in on-farm water
management and large storages have yet to show results on ground. The need of
the hour is a high-efficiency irrigation system, what we have instead is the
traditional gravity operated, analog irrigation system that is no longer
enough, especially with smaller land holdings.
Dr Khan suggested that high efficiency irrigation systems
require pipelines and energy and on-farm storage. The water can be tendered and
delivered on demand. “In Pakistan, we are still reliant on the ‘warabandi’ rotational water allocation system which
is not linked to high efficiency,” he said.
“There is plenty of information available in the form of agro
ecological zoning, and it is time that we see a policy shift. We need to move
out of the traditional mindset of having a rice-wheat system or cotton-wheat
system or talking about mixed cropping. We have around a hundred different agro
ecological niches which are available. Therefore, crop diversification can be
incentivized.”
On the infrastructure side, in addition to water storage, the
government should construct at least two new canals. New canals should be
designed and constructed and put to use according to the needs of a high
efficiency irrigation system.
Currently, farmers have a difficult time in getting access to
the market because of the size, efficiency, and proximity of the markets. “We
need better market governance to build efficiencies. Markets are not
competitive or facilitative. In the current system, they are structured to
exploit the farmer and consumer instead of facilitating them. The farmer is the
least served stakeholder in the market. Therefore, the market deserves
attention in terms of hard and soft infrastructure development,” Dr Khan
explains.
“Then there is the issue of the political economy, and resource
transfer and allocation. Enforcement of the Plant Breeders Rights Act, 2016 has
not begun in earnest. Mechanization is lagging. We have tractors but we don’t
have any agricultural mechanization. To reduce reliance on the five major crops
we need higher productivity and diversification. There is no policy or on
ground support in this regard. Political economy limits the option for farmers.”
There are three crops in which stagnation can be broken with the
current technology, provided we achieve the optimum plant population; wheat,
rice, and cotton. Dr Khan stresses that Pakistan can achieve the optimum plant
population with these three crops. If done correctly, he claims it would not
only manage to break the stagnation, but also add an additional 4% to our GDP.
“Pakistan needs to use the latest technology to reduce the
post-harvest losses. Our current post harvest losses in grains are to the tune
of 12-15 pc, and in perishable goods it amounts to 20- 40 pc. If we could
target the reduction of losses in three to five years, this could also add 2%
to our GDP growth.
Scarce water resources for agriculture
Every year, two key inputs in the agriculture sector, water and
fertilizers, end up either being scarce or subject to large fluctuations. The
former is the more alarming of the two problems, since water availability is in
long term decline. We have not done much to augment its supply, nor have we
improved efficiency of its use. The quantity of fertilizer available to the
farmlands changes from year to year. Its production depends on gas supply,
while imports are contingent on the health of the external account, which is
often fragile. The fertilizers are a problem, the water shortage is a crisis.
Pakistan still relies on the 1873 Canal and Drainage Act to
manage and govern its fresh water resources. This is a huge problem and we need
to problematize the fact that the entire functional basis of our water sharing
across the Indus river basin is essentially outdated.
The structure of water supply is important. Just sixty percent
of the watershed of the Indus river basin lies within Pakistan, through glacial
melts. That means 40% of the watershed lies outside the country’s territorial
control. So what happens outside the country is massively important.
Dr. Erum Khalid Sattar, Professor at Tufts University, said that
Pakistan should think very carefully and seriously because we are an entirely
river system dependent country. “We are 220 million people heading towards 320
to 350 million by the half century mark. We have a massive population on a
landmass with a depleting resource base,” she said. “This should scare us and
we should strive towards becoming a leader in global climate change
initiatives.”
As she explains, Pakistan’s inter-provincial water accord of
1991 was a huge step forward. But instead of creating confidence in water
sharing, it has led to provincial disharmony and mistrust. We should better
operate the accord with a professionally driven agenda
“It is about time that our water management institutions work on
actual problems that farmers face,” says Dr Sattar. “Essentially, all of these
institutions work on things that have nothing to do with the actual problems or
the problems we will suffer in the future due to an increasing population and
depleting resources due to mismanagement.”
“We must allow sufficient water flow to the sea to prevent
ingress of the sea. The livelihood of one million people depends on the delta
ecosystem.”
Livestock and dairy – exploring other avenues
Where we often get it wrong is that being an agrarian economy
means Pakistan is all about growing crops. However, under the banner of
agrarian also comes farming of livestock and its by-products. To this end,
livestock actually makes up a bigger portion of Pakistan’s economy, accounting
for 11.6 pc of the GDP compared to the 10.2% that the five major crops
mentioned above make. These areas are ripe for government investment to
accelerate further growth and productivity, since the current productivity is
less than desirable.
More than seventy million people depend on livestock for their
livelihoods. Unlike cash crops, livestock generates income throughout the year,
particularly with dairy products and egg farming. Most farmers run their
households by selling animal by-products throughout the year.
Syed Yawar Ali, Chairman of the Pakistan Business Council,
pointed out that many modern farmers have imported breeds from Australia, the
USA, and Holland. The yield of imported cows is three times more than the
Pakistani breed. Productivity is based on breed improvement and genetics. Its
genetics both in the seed as well in the semen.
“We have to adapt to new technologies, especially In Vitro
Fertilization. We must also look towards other avenues,” he explained.
“Pakistan’s poultry sector has been a success and is globally competitive. This
happened through the improvement of knowledge in nutrition and genetic
selection.”
“To increase our exports, we must first improve genetics, then
rationalize feed cost, which is 70% of cost of production, and finally, build
and improve the processing industry. Processing quality and volume makes a
perishable commodity competitive.”
Pakistan needs short- and long-term plans with enough resources
and clearly defined roles for government and private sector. The government
must support the private sector and not compete with it as it does now. Once
again, there is also a dire need to focus on research and expansion. Without
research, the basic needs of the market cannot be determined and all actions
will be little more than shots in the dark.
“We need to develop a new roadmap to increase productivity,
reduce cost, and become globally competitive as the poultry industry in
Pakistan has shown us,” said the business council chairman.
Hurricane Hanna Impacts Texas Ratoon
Crop
By Steve Linscombe
MOUNTAIN HOME, TX -- Hurricane Hanna
made landfall Saturday evening on Padre Island south of Corpus Christi, Texas,
as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 90 mph. Fortunately, this is southwest of the major
Texas rice-producing area west of Houston, and while a small amount of the crop
had some lodging associated with storm winds, the storm's biggest impact is on
the potential for ratoon or second crop production.
Storm bands dumped significant
amounts of rain on some fields that had also received rains a few days
earlier. As a result, harvest in some
fields happened under muddy conditions which leads to severe rutting by the
combines and rice carts. If a field has
considerable rutting after harvest, it minimizes the potential for second crop
production and often rice farmers will abandon the attempt to produce a second
crop.
Almost all the rice fields west of
Houston produce a second crop, if conditions warrant. It is estimated that the rutting associated
with the hurricane rainfall and earlier rains will reduce the potential ratoon
production to 80-85 percent which in turn has a negative impact on the region's
total production.
Approximately 15-20 percent of the
crop west of Houston has been harvested and, for the most part, yields have
been very good. Terry Hlavinka, who
farms near East Bernard in Wharton County, reported that 15 percent of his crop
has been harvested and yields are 5-10 percent above average. Hlavinka plans on producing a second crop on
100 percent of his acres, if possible.
"In our area, harvest results
from farmers across the board have been outstanding," said Timothy
Gertson, another Wharton County rice farmer, who reports that his family
operation is about 10 percent harvested.
"Hybrids are yielding mid to upper 60 barrels dry, and these are
not one-off fields -- everyone seems to have them so far. It's looking like a 'bin buster' crop
although I haven't heard any conventional yields yet."
In the bin just in time
Following the accepted wisdom on
second crop conditions, Gertson said, "Second crop potential will be
damaged somewhat by these storms because we will all be cutting in the mud next
week and hybrid fields may not get shredded.
We would like to second crop 100 percent of our rice acres but may have
to abandon some fields that are severely rutted."
East of Houston, wetter conditions
earlier in the season resulted in later planting. Harvest began on a scattered basis and most
of that has been hybrids but some CL153 will be ready soon.
Dorsey Jones, a crop consultant with Helena Chemical in Liberty
County, does a thorough check on the rice in that region throughout the growing
season. "Most of the medium grain
acreage was treated for blast, and sheath blight pressure has built up with recent
rains on the long grains," said Jones.
"Stink bug pressure here has been light but weedy rice has become
widespread probably because weather prevented summer plowing in those fields
last year." 
About 25 percent of the fields near
Raywood in Liberty County will be second cropped. An increase in crawfish production, to
6,000-plus acres, has reduced the number of acres that are second cropped.
"I look at most of the rice in
this area weekly and despite a few showers during flowering, I believe we will
have an above average crop," said Jones.
"Even the organic rice looks healthier than normal."
S1 E11: Giants in the Rice Fields
Season 1 / By pagedesign
Head north of Sacramento along any
of the major freeways, you’ve likely seen the lush green rice fields with
ubiquitous wildlife such as herons, hawks and egrets. What may surprise you is
just how diverse the rice field ecosystem is – and the unseen giants at home in
those fields.
Nearly 230 wildlife species depend
on Sacramento Valley rice fields for food and a resting place, including the
giant gartersnake, a threatened species.
Although it has “giant” in its name,
this creature is, at most, five-feet long. These snakes are heavily dependent
on rice fields for their survival; having lost most of their earlier habitat –
traditional wetlands, which have been lost over the generations
Anna Jordan and Allie Essert of
the
U.S. Geological Survey are among those working to
maintain and enhance the giant garter snake population. They work in rice
fields, trapping and tracking the snakes. The more they understand about this
species, the better chance it has at surviving. This is unusual work may not
appeal to many, but these biologists love what they do.
“It’s really kind of funny. Whenever I tell people what
my job is, the first question I get is ‘Why?’” Anna said. “It’s a hard question
to answer. You don’t get that question when you’re an accountant or a
doctor. I love what I do and I wouldn’t
change it for the world.”
Those who don’t like snakes – and there are many in
that category – may not realize how valuable they are.
“For all of the people who don’t like snakes, you
probably don’t like pest species either,” Allie remarked. “Snakes do a lot to
keep pest populations down. They help to regulate the ecosystem as an aquatic
predator.”
Here are links to more information on this rice field
giant:
• USGS
Article – Construction and analysis of a giant gartersnake population
projection model
• Article
– Conservation reliance of a threatened snake on rice agriculture
• Article
– Behavioral response of giant gartersnakes to the relative availability of
aquatic habitat on the landscape
• WERC
Scientists Find that Threatened Snakes Depend on Agriculture
Download Episode
Episode Transcript
Anna Jordan: It’s really kind of funny. Whenever I tell
people what my job is, the first question I get is, why? It’s kind of a hard
question to answer, because you don’t get that question when you’re an
accountant or a doctor. So, it’s
definitely really interesting and I love what I do and I wouldn’t change it for
the world.
Jim Morris: Anna Jordan and her coworker, Allie Essert
have really unusual jobs and I mean really unusual. But, what they and other
colleagues are doing here in the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley, should
pay big dividends for our ecosystem. Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice
Podcast. I’m your host, Jim Morris. Proud to have worked with California
farmers and ranchers for 30 years. And today, I’m in the Natomas area at a rice
farm, about a 15-minute drive from the state capitol. Sacramento Valley rice
fields are home to nearly 230 wildlife species. And that includes millions of
ducks and geese, more than a dozen types of raptors, and world-class habitat
for shorebirds.
Jim Morris: In my travels, I’ve seen bald eagle parents
teaching their young how to hunt in a rice field. I watched an epic grind of
about 30,000 snow geese in one shallow flooded rice field in the winter. I had
to stop while a river otter family crossed the road in Yolo County, that was
awesome. And only yesterday in Colusa County, I watched a muskrat peek its head
up from a small canal next to a rice field. One of the most unusual species we
have is also heavily dependent on rice fields for its survival. It’s the giant
gartersnake. I’m speaking with Anna Jordan with the US Geological Survey. And
can I ask what your title is and how long you’ve been working with giant garter
snakes?
Anna Jordan: I am a wildlife biologist with the USGS
and I’m also one of the project managers on our giant gartersnake project. And
I’ve been working at the US Geological Survey since 2014. Basically right after
I graduated college, I started and never stopped. And I loved it enough to
start managing the project.
Jim Morris: How important is it to maintain this
habitat? We have a lot of urbanization in this area. It’s critical for the
snakes, right?
Anna Jordan: So, the giant gartersnakes are a federally
and state listed species. They are threatened. And the major reason for that is
because of habitat loss. There used to be historically a lot of native
wetlands, but like you said, with urbanization, a lot of those wetlands have
been completely replaced by agriculture. And in some places that agriculture is
orchards or sunflower fields, very dry crops, but giant gartersnakes are a
wetland obligate species, which means they need water to survive. And, in the
Sacramento Valley, which a lot of people may not know, we grow so much rice and
this rice basically acts like a wetland for snakes, and it’s what allows their
population to exist at all. And so it’s so important for them.
Jim Morris: So we’re right along Highway 99, checking
out traps and Anna, how many do you look at in a given time that you’re out
here?
Anna Jordan: So, our trap lines are made up of usually
about 50 traps, but we can go upwards to a hundred, depending on how big the
canal is because we want to get a good even sampling of the length of the
canal. This one is only 50 and they’re are about 10 to 20 meters apart. And that
really just makes it so that, if we have a snake, we know that we’re sampling
the entire canal and where they could possibly be to get an idea of what the
population is like there.
Jim Morris: Oh great. You have a very large pole and
you’re going to see what we have here. So why don’t you go forward and do that
please? And this is a trap that’s what, about three feet long, I guess? What do
you have in there?
Anna Jordan: Look at that. Lucky snake number one in
trap number one. And there’s also a crayfish with him, which is pretty common.
There’s a lot of crayfish and these rice fields, so that’s a pretty common trap
content. And here we go, this looks like an adult snake. I think it is a male,
which you can tell by the length of their tail, but we do also probe them to
check for the hemipene pockets.
Jim Morris: This one looks pretty lively and healthy to
me, but you’re the expert. So tell me about the overall health here.
Anna Jordan: Yeah,
I would say the snake seems pretty healthy, rambunctious, lively, not
super happy that I took him out of the water. But yeah, he looks great to me,
no scars, nice full tail. Sometimes they will have blunt tails and that’s
usually from predation or sometimes the crayfish will even chop them a little
bit. And that happens even without us trapping. We will measure the mass of the
snake. And we will also measure the length, both from the snout to the vent,
which is this right here. And then the vent to the tail, to give us an idea of
how big the snake is and can help us determine the overall growth rate of the
population and how big the snakes are. We will also mark each snake. This
actually looks like a new snake. So, this is a snake we’ve never captured
before, which is awesome because we’ve been out here trapping for 20 years and
we’re still catching new snakes, which means that the population is still
growing.
Anna Jordan: And that’s really good to see. We will
also give them a pit tag, which is the same as you would give a cat or a dog, a
microchip. And that lets us know, in case the brand fades a little bit, that we
know we have the same snake. Because they are a listed species, obviously we
really care about how their population is doing. And one thing that we found
actually is that the presence of rice fields not only increases the possibility
of giant gartersnakes being present in an area, but it also increases the
probability that they will stay in an area year after year. And that’s directly
affected to the proportion of rice in an area. I’m really optimistic because,
after that drought ended and farmers are able to grow rice and there’s more
water available, we’ve seen that population start to bounce back. So,
California will continue to have droughts, but as long as we’re able to keep
that water available, then giant gartersnakes, I’m really optimistic about
their population increasing.
Jim Morris: They are a key indicator of the ecosystem,
I imagine, because they interact with so many other species.
Anna Jordan: They are a very important of the
ecosystem. Almost every species in an ecosystem is important. And that includes
the species that humans may not necessarily like, but giant gartersnakes are
really important in keeping pest populations down. And if you remove one
species, it affects everything else. So you really want to protect the entire
community and not just the ones that you think are cute. Though personally, I
think giant gartersnakes are very cute, especially for snakes.
Jim Morris: I have to tell you, I was slightly
disappointed when I first heard the name giant garter snake, because as a fan
of B movie monsters, Anaconda comes to mind, 1997, J-Lo, John Voight, Ice Cube
and an Anaconda, the size of a Winnebago. And that’s not the case here, but are
they still giants in their own world, if you will?
Anna Jordan: Honestly, I was a little bit disappointed
the first time I saw a giant gartersnake as well, because you hear the word
giant and you think these giant boa constrictors, they are giant for
gartersnakes. They actually did used to get larger in the southern portion of
their range. But due to habitat loss, they have been extirpated, which means
they are no longer present in that southern portion. Up north, they do still
get pretty big. They can be about three to five feet, but that’s not really as
giant as you would think.
Jim Morris: Do you have friends that have disowned you
or do they think it’s cool what you’re doing, or is it a combination?
Anna Jordan: I think it’s a combination. I’ve had
friends who are super eager and are like, “Oh, I would love to come out with
you and get out and see those snakes.” And I’ve had friends who, like I said,
will go, “Why? I don’t understand what you’re doing, but as long as you keep
them away from me.” And usually those people who don’t want to know about
snakes, I take that as an education opportunity because a lot of people who
don’t dislike snakes have never held a snake, have never seen a snake. Their
exposure to snakes is these kind of horror movies or rattlesnakes, which are
dangerous. But, especially in California, the only venomous snake we have is a
rattlesnake and even rattlesnakes don’t want to bother you. They probably want
to get away from you as much as you want to get away from them. So if you leave
them alone, you will be totally fine.
Jim Morris: What do you like about them?
Anna Jordan: They are just a really cool species. And
honestly, I think part of the reason that they’re unloved is like I said, that
lack of education. And so the more I learn about snakes, the more I love them
and especially giant gartersnakes, they are the sweetest, most docile snakes.
And even their musk doesn’t smell that bad, which is kind of that smelly
predator defense. I’ve had my first project manager when I joined the crew
actually said she loved it. And once a guy gets perfume, which is their
scientific name, I wouldn’t go that far, but they are just very lovable snakes.
And they’re fascinating creatures that are kind of unlike anything else. And I
think that’s what makes them my favorite animal.
Jim Morris: And you would be a big advocate, I suspect,
for keeping rice in production?.
Anna Jordan: Yes, a hundred percent. Without rice
fields and rice production, these snakes would go extinct.
Jim Morris: I’m also speaking with Allie Essert is with
the US Geological Survey as well. And Allie, how long have you been working
with snakes?
Allie Essert: I actually started working with giant
gartersnakes when I graduated from high school. I started volunteering after
that first summer, and it is a really, really strange job. Most people are
shocked or sometimes even creeped out, when I say that I spend all day at work,
trapping snakes and handling snakes, looking for snakes, but I love this job
and I’m so happy I’ve been able to do it for so many years.
Jim Morris: It’s interesting too, because we’re not
very far from Sacramento, yet we have rice fields which surprise people. And
then we also have a threatened snake species out here. So you probably can have
some great conversations with people.
Allie Essert: Oh, definitely. Even before I got this
job, I had no idea that there were snakes even out here and I didn’t know
snakes used rice at all, and being so close to Sacramento, it’s kind of crazy
that they’re just next door neighbors with us. So, water for giant gartersnakes
is super, super crucial. During the active season, they spend probably the
majority of their time within five meters of water. So even having the water
out here is really beneficial for them. And then once the rice fields are
flooded and the vegetation grows in, they also are able to use that as kind of
a surrogate wetland habitat.
Allie Essert: Rice helps support prey populations like
bull frogs and other types of fish that the snakes eat. And, it also allows the
snakes to move between the landscape more easily. They prefer to move in the
water then moving across any large terrestrial space, because they’re kind of
more susceptible to predators across the terrestrial landscape. So having the
rice here allows them to get in between canals. It gives them more area for
hunting and it really helps support their populations where wetlands are not
available to them.
Jim Morris: Now, I believe your project coming up at
school and explain this to me, involves telemetry with snakes. So tell me a
little bit about what this is all about and how this will help the giant
gartersnake.
Allie Essert: For my project. I am focusing mainly on
telemetry of snakes. So studying kind of their movement behavior and how
they’re using the landscape, what type of habitat features they’re selecting.
And one thing that’s really helpful with telemetry is we also do a lot of snake
trapping, but we’re only really seeing a snapshot of what the snakes are doing.
And it’s not as natural of an environment because they’re caught in the traps
and we don’t know how they got in there, when they got in there. But telemetry
is nice because it allows me to kind of track exactly where the snakes are
located before disturbing them.
Allie Essert: So I’m able to see what kind of substrate
they’re using. Are they underground? Are they under a certain type of veg? It
also lets me see how much they’re moving during different seasons of the year
at different temperatures. So, it kind of gives us a look at their ecology and
behavior that we really can’t get in any other kind of sampling scheme.
Allie Essert: They’ve been implanted with a radio
transmitter. So it looks about the size of a double AA battery, and it actually
goes inside the body cavity of the snake and has an antenna that kind of runs
down. And each transmitter has a unique frequency, and that’s how I’m able to
use this antenna and receiver later on to pick up on the specific frequency of
the snake and help zero in and locate them later on.
Jim Morris: Interesting. So technology is really
helping and you also mentioned GPS technology, global positioning system. Tell
me a little bit about how that helps.
Allie Essert: So, we use GPS points at where the snakes
are located and then we also will take GPS points around the surrounding
landscape. And we ultimately use these points to kind of get an idea of the
total home range of the snakes. So kind of how much space each snake is using.
Jim Morris: When you talk with your friends, do some
disown you or do they think it’s cool that you handle snakes?
Allie Essert: Most think it’s cool, but they would
agree that they would never want that to be their job. And it’s actually kind
of comical because I love snakes. I’ve worked with them, I’ve had them as pets
and I have absolutely no fear of them. But my husband is terrified of them and
he agrees that he could never do the job that I do.
Jim Morris: So it sounds like this has been a passion
for a long time. Have you always liked animals then?
Allie Essert: I’ve always liked animals. I was always
the kid, just the young kid who was picking up frogs out of the ponds and
showing weird bugs to my parents and relatives. So, I’ve always loved animals.
And then when I got an opportunity to work with snakes, they’ve quickly become
one of my favorite animals. I mean, even the mere fact that they do so many things
with no legs, as weird as that sounds, it really fascinates me. I think snakes
just have a really interesting, curious personality and I really enjoy working
with them, especially giant gartersnakes. They’re one of the most docile,
friendly snakes of the snakes in this area. And for all the people that say
they don’t like snakes, I argue that point with you probably don’t like pest
species, either. And snakes do a lot to kind of keep pest populations down and
they help just to regulate the ecosystem as an aquatic predator.
Jim Morris: You can find out more about the giant
gartersnake and all of the wildlife and rice fields at our website,
calrice.org. We have hundreds of photos and videos available, and we will keep
you posted on the latest developments and helping solidify the giant
gartersnake population. That will wrap up this episode of Ingrained. Thank you
so much to Anna and Allie for their time and fascinating comments, what
interesting research they’re doing. A reminder to go to podcast.calrice.org,
where you can subscribe and listen to past episodes. And we would love to hear
from you. We invite your questions and comments. Thanks for listening.
https://podcast.calrice.org/s1-e11-giants-in-rice-fields/
DA yet to obligate, disburse 65% of
RCEF for this year
Published July 27, 2020, 1:15
PM
Based on data obtained from the Department
of Agriculture (DA), RCEF has P15 billion that must be disbursed within this
year, which included the P5-billion allotment for mechanization that weren’t
touched last year due to bureaucratic issues.
Hence, of this P15 billion, P10 billion is
now supposed to go to mechanization, while P3 billion, as usual, will go to
seed distribution. The rest would be for the provision of credit and extension
services for rice farmers.
However, as of July 24, only P4.65 billion
of the P15 billion has been obligated, while P606.8 million has been disbursed,
of which P574 million was disbursed for seeds distribution, the same data
showed.
To recall, one of the conditions of the
Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) or Republic Act (RA) 11203, which allowed
unlimited rice importation in the country, is for the Philippine government to
help Filipino rice farmers become more competitive by giving them access to
free seeds and modern farm equipment to be funded by RCEF.
On top of the rice import tariff, RCEF is
supposed to be injected with P10 billion annually from 2019 to 2024.
As the DA fell short in RCEF distribution,
Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National Manager Raul Montemayor is also
looking for the excess in the rice import tariffs for 2019, which he said stood
about P3 billion and should have been appropriated by Congress.
Based on RA 11203, if the annual tariff
revenues from rice importation exceeded P10 billion in any given year, the
excess tariff revenues shall be earmarked by Congress and included in the
General Appropriations Act (GAA) of the following year.
“In 2019, I understand total tariff
collections was about P13 billion, so the extra P3 billion should be
appropriated by Congress this year for additional support programs such as crop
insurance, diversification, land titling, etc. I don’t think this has been done
yet. And of course there is the issue of undervaluation of imports and lost
tariff collections, which we estimate at P3 billion since 2019,” Montemayor
told Business Bulletin.
Montemayor thinks that if tariff
collections for rice importation will exceed again for this year, it will still
take a long time for the government to release it and distribute it to farmers.
“For the tariff collections in 2019 in excess of P10 billion, BoC will first
have to finalize its computations and then Congress will have to appropriate
the money. If tariff collections exceed P10 billion again this year, the excess
will also be appropriated by Congress. But we have to wait until the end of the
year and up to early next year for BoC to determine the exact surplus before
Congress can appropriate the money,” Montemayor said.
“If there are unused RCEF funds in a given
year, it is not a problem because the money just stays in the fund. But for the
excess over P10 billion that is appropriated every year, the money has to be
spent during the year otherwise it will be lost. It may take until 2022 before
we can use this excess tariff from 2019 and 2020,” he added.
Nevertheless, Montemayor said the DA is already slowly catching up in terms of
the release of RCEF, especially with the rice seed distribution component.
In a statement, the DA said it is on track in providing rice farmers
appropriate machinery and equipment under RCEF.
The agency said that to date, Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and
Mechanization (PhilMech) has already procured and is currently distributing
2,938 farm machinery and equipment worth P2 billion to 625 RCEF-accredited
farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) nationwide.
The second batch of 4,996 units worth P3 billion is under a bidding process and
expected to be completed by July 31, 2020, according to PhilMech Director
Baldwin Jallorina.
Thereafter, the farm machines and equipment will be given to the second batch
of 1,068 FCAs.
Jallorina also said that PhilMech has to
date validate 2,587 FCA applicants, of which 1,259 FCAs have been shortlisted
and qualified to receive 4,543 farm machineries.
Research paper
by UA doctoral student named faculty editor’s pick
·
FAYETTEVILLE — A paper written by a doctoral student and faculty
of the department of food science in the University of Arkansas System Division
of Agriculture and the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and
Life Sciences has been named an “editor's pick” by the Cereals & Grains
Association.
The paper, “Physicochemical and Functional Properties of
Medium-Sized Broken Rice Kernels and Their Potential in Instant Rice
Production,” was written by doctoral student Rebecca Bruce, associate professor
of food processing and post-harvest system engineering Griffiths Atungulu, and
associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering Sammy Sadaka.
Atungulu is on the teaching faculty of Bumpers College and the
research faculty of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research
arm of the Division of Agriculture. Sadaka is an extension engineer with the
Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, the teaching and outreach arm of the
Division of Agriculture.
The study found the use of broken rice kernels for production of
instant rice is feasible and can reduce the cost of raw materials, and improve
cooked rice sensory characteristics. The authors recommend consumer sensory
studies be conducted to determine product acceptability. The research provides
information on the enhancement of the value of broken rice as a commodity
through novel applications. It also provides science‐based information on
characteristics of medium-sized broken rice, which is useful in new product
development.
The paper was one of two papers selected by Cereal
Chemistry Editor-in-Chief Les Copeland for his June editor's picks, saying
the research “describes a means to enhance the value of broken rice. The
description of the characteristics of medium-sized broken rice will be useful
for new product development.”
Bruce, who has created her own foundation in Ghana, earned a
Doctoral Academy Fellowship from the U of A Graduate School and International
Education. She was named Bumpers College's Distinguished Master's Scholar as
well as the department's outstanding M.S. student in 2019. Bruce has won
multiple awards at presentations and conferences, and is a member of the
Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society of Agricultural and
Biological Engineers.
Atungulu is Bruce's primary advisor and Sadaka is on her
dissertation committee.
Cereal Chemistry is an international journal of scientific
papers reporting significant and recent research in areas of genetics,
composition, processing and utilization of grains, including barley, maize,
millet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, triticale, wheat, pulses, oilseeds and
specialty crops.
This 125-year old
Kerala farm brought an extinct rice crop back to life. Here's how they did it
The Navara Eco Farm used a
completely organic method and hours of manual labour to bring the 2000-year-old
Navara Rice back to life
Edex Live
By 2006, Navara Eco Farm
had over 72 varieties of rice
The Navara variety of rice
is almost 2000 years old. P Narayanan Unni is a third
generation farmer on a piece of land in Palakkad that brought the crop back to
life from the verge of extinction. The family farm, which is almost 125 years
old, was inherited from his father and his brother who were the first rice
specialists at the Rice Research Station in Pattambi.
Following the introduction of the Landfill Act, the family lost a sizeable part
of the farm. With increasing prices and falling revenues, their crops began to
fail and Navara rice grew increasingly rare in the state. Unni, who was working
as a computer salesman in Kozhikode at the time, took over in 1995. He drew a
long-term plan for the farm focusing on specialty rice varieties and converting
it into an integrated one, adopting organic farming methods, biodiversity and
ecology practices and environmental and conservation methods.
RICE BOWL: Navara rice
has a lower yield than most others
He explains, “With each generation, the area was getting smaller and less
economically viable. In my father’s days, people would work on the land for all
365 days of the year. But as agriculture lost importance, the workforce got
fragmented and certain seeds started to grow extinct. I wanted to focus on
saving Navara. It is a medicinal rice, which is known for building immunity and
for Ayurveda.”
For a number of reasons, Navara rice has a lower yield than most others.
The first being its seasonal growth cycle, which means that it is only produced
once in a year. In addition to this, the lack of any chemical pesticides or
fertilisers being used results in a longer growing period. At the farm,
pesticides have been banned from the premises since 1978 considering its impact
on health. In 2003, Unni implemented a policy where all fertilisers used were
also completely organic. Along with other farmers, he began working twice a day
in shifts during the season where it grew.
ADVERTISEMENT
FARM FRIENDLY: Over the past
12 years, the farm has been developing
By 2006, Navara Eco Farm had over 72 varieties of rice, vegetables, and fruit
trees including Navara Rice within its grounds. At the same time, Unni began to
work towards claiming geographical rights over the crop. He grouped together a
cluster of farmers who had ownership of the land and claimed a commercial
trademark based on the geographical location of its growth. He also enforced
strong biodiversity initiatives that have led to a diverse population of birds,
butterflies, animals and plants.
Unni began sharing the story behind Navara’s rebirth extensively. He received
to meetings and trade fairs where he would take samples. For the past 12
years, since his main aim has been to get the word out. He offers to train
other farmers and the world on pest control, organic farming and everything
that led to his success. He says, “When Navara is in season, you can see us
slaving away through those 25 days trying to keep it alive. In the beginning,
people thought it was a farce. Even I have felt embarrassed. But now, we are
committed. This is our tribute to the soil that brought our dreams back to
life.”
TAGS
Nepal’s
overall imports have gone down but agriculture import continues to expand,
hitting record Rs 250 billion
Experts say import-promoting policies, high production costs,
change in consumer behaviour and lack of restrictions on import are to blame as
the government fails to support farmers. 
A
vegetable seller arranges onion sacks at a market in Kathmandu. Nepal’s
vegetable import bill is increasing every passing year. Post file photo
Sangam Prasain
Published at : July 27, 2020
Updated at : July 28, 2020 09:12
Kathmandu
While the country’s overall imports dropped by 15.63 percent to
Rs1.19 trillion in the last fiscal year, ending mid-July, due to Covid-19
pandemic related restrictions, agricultural goods imports continued to
increase. The share of agro products in the total import bill has swelled to 21
percent.
The agricultural goods imports bill in 2009-10 amounted to Rs
44.43 billion. In 10 years, it has grown by almost six times.
Agriculture economist Devendra Gauchan said that the government
has been putting no restriction on imports.
“Although in a liberal economic policy curbing the imports of
cheaper goods is against consumer rights, we could still make it more difficult
for imports with strict quality check and imposition of quarantine,” said
Gauchan, also the director of Nepal Agriculture Economic Society
Pawan Kumar Golyan, chairman of the Golyan Group, one of the
leading private sector enterprises promoting agri business, agrees.
“The government had imposed mandatory quarantine at the borders
to stop imports of vegetables that have high levels of pesticide residues,” he
said. “But that has been lifted now.”
The problem is also factors that affect productivity in Nepal.
“There is high land fragmentation, and the cost of agricultural
labour is high,” said Chandan Sapkota, an economist. “Absence of scientific
land reform to enable proper utilisation and distribution of land is a factor.
Smaller agricultural holdings are increasing but larger holdings are
decreasing, and this obviously results in low production.”
According to the Department of Customs statistics, cereal tops
the list of agro imports followed by edible oil, vegetables, fruits and nuts
and seeds. Cereal import bill amounted to Rs56.88 billion, almost a fifth of
the total agriculture import bill.
Nepal started importing cereals nine years ago, according to
government statistics.
Of the total cereal imports, rice accounts for Rs22.23 billion
and maize comes second with Rs14.75 billion.
Imports of maize have been growing at an alarming rate and it's
due to the demand of livestock feed. Besides, Nepal spends Rs15 billion on the
imports of animal fodder alone.
“The rise in the income mainly from remittance has given people a
choice,” said Gauchan.
Choice is the reason behind the growth of rice imports too,
according to Rameshore Khanal, a former finance secretary.
“Nepal is importing fine varieties of rice mainly due to the
expanding number of middle-income Nepalis who prefer to eat basmati rice, and
Nepal doesn’t grow such fine rice in sufficient quantities,” he said. “It’s a
preference. People will buy what they like.”
After cereals, the biggest import
bill is for vegetable fats and oils which stands at Rs50.24 billion, up from
Rs37.12 billion in the previous fiscal year.
A significant share of this is taken by the import of crude palm
oil which is then exported to India, taking advantage of the South Asian Free
Trade Area (SAFTA), according to government officials.
As the SAFTA agreement provisions zero tariffs on goods exported
from underdeveloped countries like Nepal, Nepali traders have been importing
crude palm oil from other countries paying minimum tariffs and then exporting
the finished product to India with zero tariffs.
“It’s sad to know that the vegetable import bill is increasing
every passing year. In vegetables, we can be self-sufficient within six
months,” said Golyan, who has acquired 35 hectares (220 bighas) of land in
Jhapa for commercial fruits, vegetables and cereal production. “The basic
things that we lack are the basic infrastructure like processing zones, cooling
centres and agriculture rural roads.”
Nepal is the third largest producer of ginger and fifth largest
producer of lentils but it is yet to take full advantage, according to Golyan.
“This is simply because there is a lack of attention to the agriculture
sector.”
According to Gauchan, Nepal can learn some lessons from India
which provides massive subsidies to farmers. “It has become cheaper to buy from
India than produce inside the country due to high production costs,” said
Gauchan. “Traders import in larger volumes, as a result it becomes cheaper as
transaction costs are low.”
Meanwhile, in Nepal it is difficult being a farmer.
According to Sapkota, multiple factors, including timely
unavailability of key inputs such as chemical fertilizers, seeds, irrigation,
finance, labour, machinery/technology diffusion, and infrastructure like roads,
energy and ICT, make productivity costs high in Nepal.
“So basically, it’s an import-promoting policy of the government
that is stopping the country from being self-sufficient on its production,”
said Gauchan, the agriculture economist. “Because the government is focused on
making revenue–no matter from where it comes.”
https://tkpo.st/2X3vxFL
High Quality Carbs Lower Risk of Diabetes
By Eliza
Erskine
Lead Image Source : Chachamp/ Shutterstock.com
Indian rice
exports slow as coronavirus disrupts supply chain: trade
JULY 27, 2020 / Rajendra Jadhav
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s rice
exporters are struggling to fulfil orders due to limited availability of
containers and workers at mills and the biggest handling port on the east coast
after novel coronavirus cases jumped in the region, industry officials told
Reuters.
“The vessel loading rate at
Kakinada port has gone down by nearly 30%,” said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of
the Rice Exporters Association.
Kakinada is located in East
Godavari district of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh - a district
that has been reporting more than 1,000 new virus infections every day -
accounts for more than a quarter of India’s rice shipments.
“Labourers are working only on
day shifts and not doing night shift,” Rao said.
In the next few months, India
could export around 100,000 tonnes less rice per month as the labour shortage
means rice mills are operating at lower capacity, Rao said.
Rice exporters operating outside
Andhra Pradesh state have also been hit by limited availability of containers,
said Ashwin Shah, director at Shah Nanji Nagsi Exports Pvt. Ltd, an exporter
based in Nagpur in central India.
“There are logistical problems in
executing export orders. Otherwise demand is good as Indian rice is cheaper,”
Shah said.
India was offering 5% broken
parboiled variety at around $380 per tonne on a free-on-board basis last week,
while Thailand was offering the same grade at around $460.
African buyers were actively
buying non-basmati rice, while demand is good for basmati rice from the Middle
East, said Nitin Gupta, vice president of trader Olam India’s rice business.
“If logistical bottlenecks are
fixed, India could export much more rice than last year,” Gupta said.
Copious monsoon
rains spur summer crop sowing in India
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian farmers have planted
79.9 million hectares with summer crops so far, according to the Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, up 18.3% from last year as robust monsoon
rains spurred sowing in the world’s leading producer of farm goods.
Farmers generally start planting
rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and peanuts, among other crops, from
June 1, when monsoon rains typically arrive in India. Sowing usually lasts
until July or early August.
Monsoon rains play a crucial role
in agriculture, which employs 50% of India’s 1.3 billion people, as nearly half
of the country’s farmland lacks irrigation.
The farm ministry provides
updates on the provisional sowing figures as it gathers information from state
governments. The planting figures are also subject to revision depending on the
progress of the June-September monsoon season.
As of Friday, planting of rice,
the key summer crop, was at 22 million hectares, against 18.7 million hectares
at the same time last year. Corn planting was at 7.1 million hectares, up from
6.6 million during the same period last year.
The area planted with cotton
totalled 11.8 million hectares against 9.6 million hectares a year earlier.
Sowing of soybeans, the main
summer oilseed crop, stood at 11.4 million hectares, compared with 9.7 million
hectares at the same time in 2019. Soybean output is set to jump by at least
15%.
Planting of the protein-rice
pulse was at 9.9 million hectares, higher than 7.9 million hectares last year.
Sugar cane sowing was unchanged at 5.1 million hectares.
India has received 6% above
average rainfall since June 1.
The weather office defines
average, or normal, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 88
cm for the entire four-month season.
Water levels in main reservoirs
were at 39% of their storage capacity, against 25% at the same time last year.
Enugu residents patronise local rice as price of foreign rice increases
The patronage of local
rice has continued to increase as price of foreign rice soars in major markets
in Enugu.
![Description: Enugu residents patronise local rice as price of foreign rice increases. [PM News]](file:///C:/Users/abc/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image031.jpg)
A market survey conducted by the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in markets in Enugu on Saturday, showed that
residents are switching from foreign rice to local rice.
At Ogbete Main Market, a 50kg bag of local de-stoned rice goes
for between N17,000 and N21,000 depending on their duration.
The non de-stoned rice of 50kg goes for between N16,000 and
N16,500 while its 25kg stands at N8,000.
A 4.5 litres painter of de-stoned goes for N2,000 while the non
de-stoned local rice remained at N1,700 per painter.
In most major markets, the survey revealed that the price of
foreign rice has increased significantly.
A 50kg of foreign rice now sold for between N27,000 and N30,000
while its 25kg goes for N13,000.
A rice dealer at Ogbete
market, Mr Chuks Ibe, said that the increase in price of foreign rice was due to the
ban placed on importation of foreign rice.
“Before this present government
foreign rice was in abundance but usually costly only during festive period.
“Because of the ban and the
price increase, many people have started going for local rice,” Ibe said.
Mr Julius Uzoh, a rice seller at New Market, also attributed the increase
patronage of local rice to its availability in the state.
According to Uzoh, the Adani Rice in Uzo-Uwani Local Government
Area had flooded markets in the state and beyond leading to reduction in prices
of the product.
Mrs Lara Egbuna, a resident of Achara Layout, said that because of the high
cost of foreign rice, she had switched to local rice, saying that the local
rice was more affordable and nutritious.
Will technical barriers imposed by
the Philippines create difficulties for Vietnam’s rice exports?
It will be difficult for Vietnamese businesses to keep stable rice
exports to the Philippines in large quantities as currently seen, experts said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) said the Philippines
plans to tighten control over rice imports to ensure food hygiene.
The country is the biggest rice importer in the world and the No 1
export market for Vietnam. In 2019, the country imported 2.9 million tonnes of
rice, including 2.132 million tonnes from Vietnam, worth $885 million, or 73.4
percent of total amount of rice imported by the country.
In 2020, the country plans to import 2.5 million tonnes.
Vietnam exported 87.828 tonnes to the Philippines in June, worth
$42.768 million tonnes, a decrease of 44.62 per cent in quantity and 34.9
percent in export turnover.
The figures were 1.376 million tonnes and $634.26 million in H1,
which represented increases of 12.89 percent in quantity and 30.06 percent in
export turnover.
The Philippines initially planned to send it staff to Vietnam to
examine rice production earlier this year, but it later postponed the plan
because of Covid-19. The examination is expected to be carried out after the
epidemic is contained.
Tran Tuan Kiet, deputy general director of Dung Nam Trade and
Import-Export Services, warned that the technical barriers by the Filipino
government would be a big obstacle for Vietnam, though Filipino consumers
favour Vietnam’s rice.
Kiet said the technical requirements set by the Philippines are
nearly the same as the requirements set by China, and it would be difficult for
Vietnam’s enterprises to continue exporting rice to the Philippines in large
quantities.
“The tentative requirements can be met only by large corporations,
and it would be a big obstacle for small and medium enterprises,” Kiet said.
The Philippines initially planned to send it staff to Vietnam to
examine rice production earlier this year, but it later postponed the plan
because of Covid-19. The examination is expected to be carried out after the
epidemic is contained.
It is highly possible that the Philippines will follow China and
grant export licenses only to enterprises which have processing plants meeting
their food hygiene requirements.
A rice market analyst said the Philippines’ decision to set
barriers on rice imports will cause difficulties for Vietnam’s rice exporters.
Malaysia and Indonesia do not set food hygiene requirements on
rice imports.
There’s a possibility that the Filipino government has set barriers
to restrict import volume and protect domestic production. However, domestic
production cannot satisfy domestic needs, and the rice from Filipino farmers is
much more expensive than rice imports from Vietnam.
The decision would affect people’s purse strings. The Philippines
currently is very short of rice, and it won’t find other supply sources that
can provide delicious rice at such competitive prices like Vietnam’s products,
the analyst said.
