Hat trick
for rice farmers in Ghana - FARA Researcher
A new variety
of rice is being developed to thrive in the drought
Rice is one of the staple foods
in Ghana and is used to prepare different kind of dishes. It is usually the
dominant food on the menu of most restaurants and roadside eateries in the
county.
As such, there is a high demand for the crop in the country and the sub-region
in general.
However, the country is unable to produce enough to meet the local demands and
has to import to make up for the shortfall.
Even though Ghana produces rice, the level of production has not been able to
match with the demand and many issues are militating against the local
production of the commodity.
Aside the climate playing a role in the low production of rice in Ghana, the
farmers also lack the required technology and seedlings adaptable to the
climate.
According to a Research Associate with the Forum for Agricultural Research in
Africa (FARA) Dr. Paul Boadu, the CSIR- Crop Research Institute is in the
process of developing a GM rice variety called Newest rice, which, is been
engineered to have nitrogen use and water use efficiency traits as well as a
salt-tolerant trait.
The new rice variety is also drought-resistant and suitable for the two
agricultural climates of the country.
“Rice is one of the major food staples consumed in Ghana with consumption
outstripping domestic production and 66% of rice consumed being imported,” he
said.
He indicated that government of Ghana imports rice to the tune of $151m to
$1.2bn primarily from Thailand, Vietnam and India.
“There is a cultural preference in Ghana for imported rice, as it is seen as
being better quality” he added.
Sharing his views on Ghana’s Rice Sector, Challenges Smallholder farmers are
facing and the role of modern technology in improving Agricultural productivity
and livelihood, Dr Boadu said adopting this rice would offer a lot of benefits
to farmers as their incomes would improve whiles consumers also pay less for
the commodity as prices would reduce.
He said an economic assessment by a research consultant showed that the country
would gain GH? 230 million annually if she adopted the nitrogen efficient rice
as the crop was drought resistant and utilized its nitrogen from the atmosphere
making it to do well.
“We observe that most of the rice produced in the country is lowland rice but
due to climate change and effects of drought, they are not able to do well but
the nitrogen efficient rice is actually highland rice that does well in lowland
areas as well,” he said.
Professor Walter Alhassan, Former Director-General of CSIR said the nitrogen
efficient rice variety is good to revolutionize the country’s agricultural
sector urging government to adopt them as part of the Planting for Food and
Jobs programme to help boost food production and nutrition of the people.
According to a report released last week by Graham Brookes, director of PG
Economics, farmers who planted genetically modified (GM) crops increased their
incomes by almost $19 billion in 2018 and reduced carbon emissions by 23
billion kilograms or the equivalent of removing 15.3 million cars from the
roads that year.
The report adds that the higher income represents $4.42 in extra income for
each extra dollar invested.
“GM crop technology continues to make an important contribution to reducing the
environmental footprint of agriculture and securing global food supplies in a
sustainable way. It has also helped lift many small, resource-poor farmers and
their families in developing countries out of poverty” said Graham Brookes.
The Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC),
Dr. Kodjo Essien Mensah-Abrampa said that the NDPC is developing a policy
document on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) for Ghana’s agriculture
sector.
He indicated that the long-term policy document on GMOs will be launched in the
coming months.
“Anywhere agriculture has developed in the world, you have excellent crop
biotechnology policy” he added.
Author: Whitney Brim-DeForest
Published on: August 3, 2020
This field day is open to the
public. Please share broadly to those who may be interested in attending.
UCANR California Rice Virtual
Field Day
When: August 26, 2020, 1:00-3:00 PM
Where: Online Zoom Webinar
Host: Whitney Brim DeForest, UC ANR
County Director, Sutter-Yuba Counties and CE Rice and Wild Rice Advisor
Registration: $20.00
Objectives/goals: The UC Cooperative Extension and
California Rice Research Station will update attendees in the areas of variety
development, disease and arthropod management, weed control, weedy rice, and
fertility.
The full agenda can be viewed
here.
Who should attend: California rice growers, Pest
Control Advisers, and others interested in California rice production systems.
Continuing education units: Applied for 1 CEU from the
California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and applied for 1 CEU from
Certified Crop Adviser (CCA)
Featured speakers:
- Russell
Rasmussen, Associate Director, California Rice Experiment Station,
California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation
- Bruce
Linquist, CE Specialist, Dept. of Plant Sciences, UC Davis
- Kassim
Al-Khatib, CE Specialist, Dept. of Plant Sciences, UC Davis
- Whitney
Brim-DeForest, CE Rice and Wild Rice Advisor & County Director,
Sutter-Yuba Counties
- Luis Espino,
CE Rice Farming Systems Advisor & County Director, Butte County
- Ian
Grettenberger, CE Assistant Specialist, Dept. of Entomology, UC Davis
- Michelle
Leinfelder-Miles, CE Farm Advisor, San Joaquin County
Contacts for more information:
- Logistics
and registration: Rachel Palmer, ANR
Program Support Unit, (530) 750-1361
- Course
content:Whitney
Brim-DeForest, UC ANR County Director, Sutter-Yuba Counties and
CE Rice and Wild Rice Advisor
This field day is open to the
public. Please share broadly to those who may be interested in attending.
THIS EVENT WILL BE RECORDED FOR EDUCATIONAL OR PROMOTIONAL USE
BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. CONTACT THE ORGANIZERS OF THIS EVENT FOR MORE
INFORMATION.
Focus
Area Tags: Agriculture, Pest Management
Tags: field day (1), rice (15), webinar (0)
No
Comments Posted.
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=43265
|
USA
Rice Welcomes New Members ARLINGTON,
VA -- USA Rice recently welcomed two new members: Cain Agra Operations
and Black River Commodities. |
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NEWS
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SPORT
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Supermarkets issue urgent product recalls on rice and seafood (Image: 2018 Getty Images)
Rice and seafood are being
urgently recalled by brands.
Supermarkets have issued product
recalls on the food items amid warnings they could pose safety and allergy
risks.
Sainsbury's and Tesco are among those that have issued recalls
on pre-packed rice, reports The Mirror.
The product recalls have been outlined by the Food Standards Agency whichhave
said anyone with any of the items below should visit their nearest supermarket
for a full refund.
Uncle Ben’s Brown Basmati ready to heat rice pouches
The Food Standards Agency(FSA),
said: "Mars Food UK is recalling Uncle Ben’s Brown Basmati ready to heat
rice pouches as some packs may contain pieces of glass.
"The possible presence of
glass makes this product unsafe to eat."
Product details
Pack size 250g
Best before 17 November 2020
Best before 08 December 2020
Best before 14 June 2021
Best before 15 June 2021
Best before 03 July 2021
Best before 19 July 2021
Best before 09 December 2020
Best before 08 January 2021
Best before 18 January 2021
Best before 19 January 2021
Best before 02 March 2021
Best before 16 March 2021
Best before 20 March 2021
Best before 24 May 2021
The FSA said: "Mars Food UK
is recalling the above product. Point of sale notices will be displayed in all
retail stores that are selling this product.
"These notices explain to
customers why the product is being recalled and tell them what to do if they
have bought the product."
Highland Bay Seafoods Baked Whole King Scallops
The FSA stated on their website:
"Highland Bay Seafoods is recalling their Baked Whole King Scallops with a
creamy leek & kale sauce topped with mash potato because it contains fish
which is not mentioned on the label.
"This means the product is a
possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to fish."
Product details
Baked Whole King Scallops with a
creamy leek & kale sauce topped with mash potato
Pack size 200g (2 scallops in a
pack)
Batch code R006, R007, R008 and 20106
Best before end date: 07/2020,
09/2020, 12/2020 and 04/2021
Allergens: Fish
Highland Bay Seafoods is
recalling the above product from customers and has been advised to contact the
relevant allergy support organisations, which will tell their members about the
recall.
Highland Bay Seafoods says:
"If you have bought Baked Whole King Scallops as detailed above, and you
have an allergy to Fish do not eat it. Instead: Check if you have bought the
affected batch code(s) / best before end date (s) of the Baked Whole King
Scallops.
"You can do this by writing
down the batch code(s)/ best before end date(s) for reference at home."
"Return the product to the
store for a full refund (with or without a receipt)."
https://www.lancs.live/whats-on/shopping/sainsburys-tesco-among-supermarkets-issuing-18707952
Tweak FCI's
procurement strategies to boost rice exports: Expert panel
Rice is among the biggest agriculture
exports from India along with buffalo meat and cotton
Topics
Agriculture products | Food Corporation of India | MSP rice procurement
Sanjeeb Mukherjee | New Delhi Last
Updated at August 1, 2020 19:35 IST
FILE PHOTO: Workers spread rice
grain on a field to dry them in the sun, in Nadia
Coronavirus in
Iran takes a toll on basmati exports, domestic prices fall
Apeda blacklists
basmati rice brands Mohsen and Avazah over defaults
Iran runs out
dollars, India's basmati rice exports may fall 20%
Spurt in domestic,
export demand pushes basmati price by 10% in a month
Basmati prices up
5% during 21-day lockdown even as exports take a huge hit
·
For boosting India’s non-basmati
rice exports, the government needs to ensure that a higher pool
of surplus rice is available to exporters by suitably modifying Food
Corporation of India’s (FCI) procurement strategies, a high-powered panel of
experts on agriculture exports said.
The panel was constituted by the 15th Finance Commission (FFC) to
suggest measurable performance incentives for States to encourage agriculture
exports as well as to promote crops that can help in high import substitution.
It comprised of senior representatives from the industry,
academicians and former bureaucrats.
The panel said FCI is the largest buyer of rice in the domestic
market for Public Distribution System (PDS) – approx. 40 million tonnes
annually.
And, with the Minimum Support Price (MSP) increasing year on year
it is leading to smaller export surplus and uncompetitive pricing in the
international market for Indian non-basmati rice.
A reason perhaps why, despite being the world’s second largest
producer of rice, both production and exports have been stagnant over the
years.
The panel seemed to suggest that excess FCI buying and increasing
MSP’s are the major pain points for Indian rice exports which could be
addressed through suitable government policies such as price deficiency payment
method (Bhawantar Scheme).
Rice is among the biggest agriculture exports from India along
with buffalo meat and cotton. It was India’s single largest commodity with $7.3
billion trade surplus followed by shrimp ($4.6 billion) and bovine meat ($3.6
billion), the panel said.
Rice production in India is estimated to be over 115 million
metric tonnes (which includes 6-7 million tonnes of basmati rice).
The panel has identified the crop value chains along with 21
others out of a laundry list of over 340 agriculture and commodities products
that needs to developed to enable India increase its agriculture exports from the
current $40 billion to over $70 billion in the next few years.
This push will enable an estimated investment of around $8-10
billion in inputs, infrastructure, processing and other demand enablers which
will in turn create an estimated 7-10 million additional jobs. Such a boost to
exports will also lead to higher farm productivity and farmer incomes.
The other items identified by the panel for value chain
development includes shrimp, buffalo meat, raw cotton, grapes, pulses, mangoes,
banana, potatoes, honey etc.
The panel also advised creation of a state-led export plan with
the private sector playing an anchor role and the Centre acting as an enabler.
It was of the view that the private sector players had a pivotal
role to play in ensuring demand orientation and focus on value addition;
ensuring project plans are feasible, robust, implementable and appropriately
funded.
owell Anderson
"PA" Shockley
Stuttgart, AR, 1933 - 2020
Powell Anderson "P.A."
Shockley Jr., 86, of Stuttgart passed away Friday, July 31, 2020.
P.A. was born Dec. 28, 1933, in
Lincoln County. He was preceded in death by father, Powell Anderson Shockley
Sr.; mother, Geneva Shockley; sister, Frances Maxwell; and brother, Dean
Shockley.
Survivors are his wife, Joyce
Shockley; son, Dean Shockley and wife Julia; daughter, Tammy Smith and husband
Terry; step-daughter, Meredith Lovett and husband Hal; grandsons, Preston
Shockley, Luke Shockley and Zack Smith; and step-grandchildren, Rachel Ferraro,
Barrett Jackson, Farris Jackson, Joshua Walker and Madison Walker.
P.A. attended Star City High
School and the University of Arkansas at Monticello graduating from the
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a degree in agriculture. After
college, he was in the United States Army and later the Arkansas National
Guard.
He began his agricultural career
at the University of Arkansas Research Center in Kelso, and later worked at the
Rice Research Center in Stuttgart as a research specialist in soil fertility,
until he retired after 41 years.
P.A. was a deacon at Southside
Baptist Church and he loved his church family.
He had many hobbies and interests.
He loved watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Quail hunting was his passion,
though. He and his best friend, Carroll Evans, hunted, guided, traveled to and
judged many field trials, and made many great memories together. He was also a
runner.
In the year 2000, P.A. developed
prostate cancer. He recovered fully and even continued running, sometimes
several miles a day. In 2003 he was chosen as the honorary chairman for
Stuttgart's Relay for Life.
P.A. was a lifetime member of
Master Gardners, and a wild flower enthusiast. His last years were spent in his
beautiful yard taking care of his beloved roses and wildflowers.
The family would like to thank
the doctors and nurses at Baptist Health in Little Rock and Stuttgart,
especially Dr. Eddy Hord. Also thank you to Fox Ridge Chenal and Arkansas
Hospice.
Graveside services, officiated by
Bro. Gregg Greenway, will be 2:30 p.m., Tuesday at Lone Tree Cemetery. Viewing
will be noon-5 p.m. Monday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday at Turpin Funeral Home.
The family requests memorials to
Southside Baptist Church, P.O. Box 424, Stuttgart, Ark., 72160; or Pass On Joy,
1920 S. Main, Suite 107, Stuttgart, Ark. 72160.
Please go to www.turpin-co.com to
sign the online guestbook.
Published August 3, 2020
OBITUARY SUBMITTED BY:
Turpin Funeral Home, Inc.
1107 W. 22nd St., Stuttgart, AR
Phone: 870-673-1502
http://www.turpinco.com
https://www.arkansasonline.com/obituaries/2020/aug/03/powell-shockley-2020-08-03/
Moldenhauer Holds Director's Role for Rice
for UA Agriculture (Movers & Shakers)
Monday, Aug. 3, 2020 12:00 am 1
min read
Karen Moldenhauer of the University of
Arkansas System Division of Agriculture in Stuttgart.
Karen Moldenhauer, a professor and rice breeder, has been named interim
director of the Rice Research & Extension Center at the University of
Arkansas System Division of Agriculture in Stuttgart. Moldenhauer put her
recently announced retirement on hold to serve in the position.
William Ryan of UA Pulaski Tech in North
Little Rock.
William “Bill” Ryan has joined University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College
in North Little Rock as the dean of the School of Technical & Professional
Studies. Most recently, Ryan served as an instructor of construction
technology, carpentry and historic preservation technology at Montana Technical
University.
Jerry Stewart of Conway Corp.
Jerry Stewart, the Conway Corp. information risk and compliance administrator,
has earned the certificate for certified information systems auditor from the
Information Systems Audit & Control Association. Stewart has been with
Conway Corp. since 2007 and has been in his current role since December 2018.
Mitch Walton
is the new director of the Office of Graduate & Professional Support at
Harding University in Searcy. The office was launched July 1 to provide
resources for more than 50 graduate and professional programs.
See more of
this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/stats/week/7744424141239132414
New Cooperative Extension Service leader seeks to
modernize, expand access
AGRICULTURETALK
POLITICSVIDEO / PODCASTS
by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net) August
2, 2020 9:45 am 220 views
·
Tags:
·
UA Cooperative Extension
Service
Dr.
Bob Scott is no stranger the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension
Service. For more than 20 years, he’s held posts within the organization from
weed scientist to rice research leader. In late June, he was named director,
and despite his years of service, he’s been learning about aspects of the
service he knew little about.
“I’m
learning every day right now all the different programs that we have. It’s very
wide in scope,” Scott said.
The
extension service is the arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of
Agriculture that takes research and “extends” it to industry and communities.
There are four main program areas: agriculture and natural research; family
consumer sciences; 4-H and youth development; and community, economic and
professional development.
“We
do pride ourselves on being an unbiased source of information using
research-generated data,” Scott said.
He
said while the agency has long been established in rural Arkansas, its mission
is shifting to urban areas as well. Through social media and expanded internet
use, the Cooperative Extension Service has been able to broaden its reach.
Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed the ability for face-to-face and
community meetings – a longtime centerpiece to the service’s communications
strategy.
“I
think we’re learning new things right now and new habits that we can take
forward, even when this crisis is over,” Scott said. “So, I think that’s the
direction I see us going is more of a focus on reaching more people virtually
in combination where it fits with our traditional hands-on approach.”
One
of the biggest challenges facing Scott’s organization involves the shifting
demographics of rural America to more urban settings. Rural America and
Arkansas have seen huge population shifts over the last few decades. Two of the
state’s most rural Congressional Districts – the First and Fourth – are on pace
to lose more than 100,000 residents between 2010 and the end of 2020. Scott
says the Cooperative Extension Service will continue to search for new
audiences, while staying true to its original mission.
“I
think there’s going to be a big focus, frankly, on our family consumer science
areas and on our community and professional development areas. These are good
tools for anybody to use, whether they’re in a rural or more urban or suburban
setting,” he said.
“I
do think though it’s important in the state of Arkansas that we keep grounded
in our rural and agricultural community. I mean, we’re still in a state where
something like 12% of our economy is still ag-based. We’re the biggest
rice-producing state in the country. We do have a very much agricultural-based
economy in this state. So, our balance is going to be to stay rooted in those
things that got us here,” Scott said.
You
can watch Scott’s full interview in the video below.
Farmers see higher tariff collection from rice imports
Published August 2, 2020, 10:00 PM
Rice farmers said that had it not for
alleged undervaluation of imports, tariff collection from rice importation
should have been higher compared to the slight improvement reported by the
Bureau of Customs (BoC).
In a statement, Federation of Free Farmers
National Manager Raul Montemayor questioned the BOC report that rice tariff
collection from January to July did not “significantly” improve from last year.
According to BoC, tariff collections from imported rice had reached P10.73
billion as of July 17, 2020, a slight improvement from P9.94 billion in the
same period last year.
“The agency is using seemingly
improved numbers in tariff receipts to mask its failure to collect correct
revenues from rice importers. It is hiding the fact that undervaluation of
imports and its collection performance worsened this year,” Montemayor said.
The FFF’s analysis of publicly available
data showed that the BOC’s collection efficiency fell significantly in 2020,
based on FOB (Free on Board or the cost of imports at the point of origin) and
CIF (Cost or FOB plus insurance and freight) prices.
In the first five months of 2020, rice
importers declared that the FOB prices of their imports averaged P1,692 per
ton, which was lower than the BoC’s own reference prices by P2,416 per metric
ton. In 2019, the average gap in FOB prices was only P945 per metric ton,
indicating that the degree of undervaluation of FOB prices increased by 155
percent in 2020.
Similarly, declared CIF prices, the
basis for tariff payments, were lower than BoC reference rates by P3,292 per
metric ton on the average in January to May 2020. In comparison, the gap
between declared and official CIF prices in 2019 was only P1,943 per ton in
2019.
The FFF analysis showed that the declared
CIF prices of imports per metric ton increased from P17,510 in 2019 to P17,723
in 2020, or by a mere P213 per ton. In comparison, the BoC’s own
reference prices during the same period rose by P1,603 per ton.
The FFF claimed that this explains why the
BoC’s tariff collections increased only marginally by 1.3 percent from P 6.13
per kilo of rice imports in 2019 to P6.21 in 2020.
“And yet, FOB prices of rice have
gone up by at least 10 percent in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and supply
uncertainties in Vietnam and other rice exporting countries. Considering
that tariffs are applied on import values, the fact that the increase in
tariffs collected per kilo was way below 10 percent indicates that the degree
of undervaluation by importers actually intensified in 2020,” Montemayor said.
Earlier, the FFF flagged an estimated
P2.676 billion in tariffs that were not collected due to the undervaluation of
FOB and CIF prices of importers from 2019 up to the first five months of 2020.
Another P200 million were not collected by
the BoC due to the wrong application of the 35 percent ASEAN tariff rate on
imports from non-ASEAN countries, the group further said.
Farmers see higher tariff collection from rice imports
Published August 2, 2020, 10:00 PM
Rice farmers said that had it not for
alleged undervaluation of imports, tariff collection from rice importation
should have been higher compared to the slight improvement reported by the
Bureau of Customs (BoC).
In a statement, Federation of Free Farmers
National Manager Raul Montemayor questioned the BOC report that rice tariff
collection from January to July did not “significantly” improve from last year.
According to BoC, tariff collections from imported rice had reached P10.73
billion as of July 17, 2020, a slight improvement from P9.94 billion in the
same period last year.
“The agency is using seemingly
improved numbers in tariff receipts to mask its failure to collect correct
revenues from rice importers. It is hiding the fact that undervaluation of
imports and its collection performance worsened this year,” Montemayor said.
The FFF’s analysis of publicly available
data showed that the BOC’s collection efficiency fell significantly in 2020,
based on FOB (Free on Board or the cost of imports at the point of origin) and
CIF (Cost or FOB plus insurance and freight) prices.
In the first five months of 2020,
rice importers declared that the FOB prices of their imports averaged P1,692 per
ton, which was lower than the BoC’s own reference prices by P2,416 per metric
ton. In 2019, the average gap in FOB prices was only P945 per metric ton,
indicating that the degree of undervaluation of FOB prices increased by 155
percent in 2020.
Similarly, declared CIF prices, the
basis for tariff payments, were lower than BoC reference rates by P3,292 per
metric ton on the average in January to May 2020. In comparison, the gap
between declared and official CIF prices in 2019 was only P1,943 per ton in
2019.
The FFF analysis showed that the declared
CIF prices of imports per metric ton increased from P17,510 in 2019 to P17,723
in 2020, or by a mere P213 per ton. In comparison, the BoC’s own
reference prices during the same period rose by P1,603 per ton.
The FFF claimed that this explains why the
BoC’s tariff collections increased only marginally by 1.3 percent from P 6.13
per kilo of rice imports in 2019 to P6.21 in 2020.
“And yet, FOB prices of rice have
gone up by at least 10 percent in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and supply
uncertainties in Vietnam and other rice exporting countries. Considering
that tariffs are applied on import values, the fact that the increase in
tariffs collected per kilo was way below 10 percent indicates that the degree
of undervaluation by importers actually intensified in 2020,” Montemayor said.
Earlier, the FFF flagged an estimated
P2.676 billion in tariffs that were not collected due to the undervaluation of
FOB and CIF prices of importers from 2019 up to the first five months of 2020.
Another P200 million were not collected by
the BoC due to the wrong application of the 35 percent ASEAN tariff rate on
imports from non-ASEAN countries, the group further said.
Traders’ unused import clearances ‘anomalous’
August 3, 2020
THE Bureau of Plant Industry
(BPI) said “unjustified” underutilization by traders of their approved sanitary
and phytosanitary import clearance (SPS-IC) for milled rice is an “anomalous”
activity that may disrupt state food sufficiency planning.
The BPI, an attached agency of
the Department of Agriculture (DA), told the BusinessMirror that the new
requirements for securing SPS-IC would “avoid under supply for consumption of
the Filipinos and buffer stocking purposes.”
“Underutilization of approved
SPS-ICs without proper justification is a kind of anomalous activity which can
disrupt government planning for food sufficiency,” BPI National Plant
Quarantine Services Division (NPQSD) said in an e-mail interview.
“The new requirements will assure
that applied SPS-ICs will be arriving within the specified period, and together
with the local harvest, avoid undersupply for consumption of the Filipinos and
buffer stocking purposes,” it added.
The BusinessMirror earlier
reported that rice traders and importers who have unused sanitary and
phytosanitary import clearance could be suspended by the DA as about 60 percent
of issued SPS-ICs in the first half, covering almost 2 million metric tons
(MMT), remained unutilized as of July 10.
BPI data obtained and analyzed by
the BusinessMirror showed that only 1,803 SPS-ICs of the 3,926 SPS-ICs issued
from January to June have been used by eligible rice importers as of July 10.
This corresponds to a total rice
volume imported of about 1.347 MMT out of the 3.261 MMT applied volume during
the six-month period, BPI data showed.
About 2,123 SPS-ICs, which cover
1.914 MMT of rice, are yet to be used by registered and eligible traders,
importers, firms, cooperatives, and organizations, based on BPI data.
Citing importers’ explanations,
BPI-NPQSD said the underutilization of the SPS-ICs this year was attributed to
such reasons as the lockdowns in countries of origin due to Covid-19 pandemic
and export ban in Vietnam.
Other reasons given by rice
importers were: delayed shipments, rice suppliers limiting their export to
ensure supply for their own needs, port congestion and holidays at country of
origins and high price of imported rice than locallyproduced staple, according
to BPI-NPQSD.
Dar’s reminder
Agriculture Secretary William D.
Dar earlier issued a memorandum order (MO) reminding importers that “low
utilization” of SPS-ICs could be “grounds for rejection of application or their
suspension as importer.” “Importers should regularly account and surrender any
unused SPS-ICs to BPI,” Dar said in his MO No. 30 dated June 4 but made public
on July 6.
“They are reminded that low
utilization of applied SPS-IC can affect their track record and can be grounds
for rejection of application or their suspension,” Dar added.
Dar issued the new order to
address the “problem of low utilization” of SPS-IC for milled rice and “ensure
availability of food” during this Covid-19 pandemic.
The new order required rice
importers to submit additional requirements for the application of SPS-IC: 1)
payment of certification of the consignment and 2) list of distribution
points/warehouse of the said consignment.
“This will enable BPI and other
government agencies to conduct monitoring and inventory at declared
warehouses,” the BPI-NPQSD said.
Furthermore, BPI-NPQSD said
importers who have abandoned rice shipments and c
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/08/03/traders-unused-import-clearances-anomalous/
Thoughts on the 2020 General Election
Posted
on August 3rd, 2020
By Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara
Let us try to get away from the rhetoric- the art of effective
or persuasive speaking, often with an implication of insincerity or
exaggeration”(Oxford Dictionary). Promises are many but it is quite evident
that most promises cannot be easily fulfilled. President Gotabhaya’s promises
are few but he has vowed to implement them. So far since becoming the President
and from 2005 to 2015 he has been able to keep to his word.
The leaders, who stand a chance of getting elected are
well known and more, in some capacity they have ruled our country for years,
and perhaps more than what they speak, historical facts telling what they
really did, when they were ruling as President, Prime Minister or Minister will
reveal what we can expect of them.
Foreign
Meddling
It has become normal for foreign Superpowers to take
action against countries that were following Socialist policies. The following
excerpt from Professor Jeffery Sachs tells it all:
Notorious act of US unilaterlism include the CIA led overthrow
of several governments-Iran, Guyana, Guatamala, South Vietnam and Chile,
the assassination of countless foreign officials and several disastrous
unilateral acts of war on Central America, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Iraq.
The US has thrown out elections through secret CIA financing, put foreign
leaders on CIA payroles and supported violent leaders who then came back
to haunt the US in a notorious boomerang or blowback effect(including
Sadaam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden), both once on CIA payroles”(Commonwealth
Economics for a Crowded Planet, Allen Lane, 2008)
Sri Lanka has had its share of foreign influence in elections.
It is well known that the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015 was
hatched at Harvard University in the USA.
It is up to the voter to decide which candidates are
acting against the sovereignty of the country.
Important
infringements on Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty.
The country survived the Fidel Castro type of one day
attempt by the JVP to take over the country in April 1971, when it was found
that the North Korean Embassy had a hand in the uprising and the Embassy was
promptly shut down and the officials deported. Once the uprising was quelled
and the JVP cadres decamped to the Sinharaja Hills, a European Ambassadorial
jeep came several times and went into the jungles to meet them.
With the two uprisings in 1971 and 1987-89, with the functioning
of kangaroo courts, the rich in the rural habitat– the rice
millers, estate owners etc. who had made the rural areas their
homes, decamped to the cities and were so frightened that they never
returned to their rural habitat. It is they and their children when grown
up that had invested in their rural areas. They sent their children
overseas for study, never to return to the Motherland. The rural areas became
dead.
Major historical happenings during Periods when the chief
contenders at this election ruled or when they were associated with the
rulers
Let us take the periods when the chief contenders ruled, when
their political parties held sway and assess the major events of how the
country was handled and the major changes made. This will easily reflect what
we can expect of the present day contenders.
President
Jayawardena 1977-
When President Jayawardena took over at the tail end of 1977, a
major change was to liberalize the economy. Though President Jayawardena
did whatever the IMF dictated, by 1986, the economy ended in shambles.
From 1948, when we achieved independence the economy was
managed with the foreign exchange we earned. There were import controls
to ensure that essential consumer goods were imported and allocations of
foreign exchange were made for the import of luxury items, according to
available foreign exchange. The IMF advised President Jayawardena to open
up imports- not to have import controls and also to liberalize the use of
foreign exchange- allow foreign exchange to be used freely for foreign travel,
for educational expenses abroad. When the country had no foreign exchange to
meet such increased commitments, the IMF advice was to privatize paying State
assets and if that was insufficient, to raise loans. It is this process
followed from the end of 1977 that led to the ballooning of the foreign debt to
some $ 60 billion today. Though Ronnie de Mel, the Minister of Finance in
his Budget Speech of 1978 hailed this : We cannot go round the world begging
for aid like international beggars forever. We must get out of this
vicious circle of no growth, stagnation and mounting internal and external
debt”(Budget Speech: 1978), the result was the opposite. Using money that one
did not possess and raising loans only worked to make us more indebted. In
eight years, by 1986 the economy was in shambles.
In the
words of the World Bank:
By 1986…the deterioration of the economy had become evident. The
growth rate of the GDP slowed to under 4 %, unemployment rose to
about 17% and gross official reserves declined to less than 2
months’ imports”(World Bank:Trends in Developing Economies,1990:496)
While the foreign debt of Sri Lanka was negligible in 1977, by
1986, it had ballooned to $ 4,063 million and it increased to $ 5100
million by 1989. Comparatively when Jayawardena commenced following the IMF
prescriptions of the SAP at the end of 1977 Sri Lanka had a negligible foreign
debt- only $ 750 million. The country slumped to become an indebted nation. In
other words the IMF had through its advice made Sri Lanka a sovereign nation
that had a negligible foreign debt to become a heavilyindebted country with a
foreign debt of $ 60 billion today. Currently Sri Lanka has to meet a payment of
$ 4 billion in 2020 purely to service the loans it owes. This is the legacy
that President Jayawardena of the UNP has left for Sri Lanka- a situation of
indebtedness from which Sri Lanka can never redeem itself.
Even since President Jayawardena followed the prescriptions of
the IMF, though the rich in the country benefitted from relaxed foreign
exchange controls- could go on foreign holidays, send off their offspring to
study abroad and enjoy imported goods, the country slumped into foreign debt
and the masses- the vast majority of the people could not afford even to buy
consumer goods as the prices had escalated. This caused poverty and inflation.
The Structural Adjustment Programme(SAP) of the IMF contain an economic
system that would lead the countries to become indebted in the process of
servicing the loans as the loans were non developmental.”(From Karunaratne: How
the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Kindle/Godages: 2017)
Since gaining independence in 1948 Sri Lanka had developed and
implemented an intricate and effective development infrastructure to enable
development. One of the conditions laid down in following the neoliberal
policies imposed by he IMF was that the Government had to accept the Private
Sector as the Engine of Growth and in keeping with that proviso, the Public
Sector should not have any development incentives. This meant that the
development infrastructure had to be abolished. In order to help
agricultural production, the Government implemented a Guaranteed Price Scheme for
paddy and other cereals in short supply. The aim was to enable cultivators earn
a premium price for their production. This Scheme was abolished and along with
it the godowns and Rice Mills which were very valuable- were sold for a
song or left to rot as scrap. This was a great loss. The producers were thereby
denied a reasonable price for their produce. It is the authors
contention that this was purposely imposed on Third World countries to destroy
their agriculture development so that they would have to depend on wheat
from the USA and Europe.
Another Scheme was the Vegetable and Fruit Purchasing Scheme,
run by the Marketing Department, which provided a high price for local
vegetables and fruits. The Marketing Department also had a Cannery, to make
Jam, Juice and Sauces out of local fruit. The IMF insisted that the
Cannery should be privatized and the Vegetable and Fruit Purchasing Scheme
should be scrapped. This was done and the Marketing Department was
abolished. While this enabled imports of jam and Juice from Developed Countries
like the USA it did cause poverty in that the producers could not sell their
produce.
Sri Lanka had a very successfully run Public Transport Scheme-
a fully equipped coach making unit at Werahera. The country was producing
its own coaches on imported chassis. This fully equipped unit at Werahera was
closed down and the valuable state of the art machinery sold for a song,
Thereafter Sri Lanka had to import all its coaches.
The Railways had developed machinery to make all coaches at
Ratmalana, This was also closed down and thousands of carpenters lost their
jobs. Thereafter rail carriages were imported.
The scrapping of this development infrastructure was agreed and
done by President Jayawardena of the UNP.
Education Sri Lanka had concentrated on having a highly
developed school system, where children were taught free. The UNP Government
introduced Private International Paying Schools which taught the children of
the rich for foreign exams and this ruptured the comprehensive
system of education that had been highly developed with Central Schools.
The UNP is totally responsile for ruining the education system and actually
creating a youth that shun Sri Lankan culture and values. This was
a major retrograde creation of the UNP. Ranil Wickremasinghe of the UNP
happened to be the Minister for Education that ruined education in Sri
Lanka
Another major incident during President Jayawardena’s period is
how he caved in to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India and agreed to enact the
13 th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The Constitution of a country
is a sacred document and any change has a bearing on the sovereignty of the
country and President Jayawardena caving into the Prime Minister of India
to change the Constitution marks a great failure of President Jayawardena. The
13 th Amendment with Provincial Councils and decentralizing subjects was not
suitable for a small country like Sri Lanka. The Provincial Council system is
very costly and it is an unnecessary expenditure. Decntralization of important
subjects like agriculture had a detrimental effect.
The manner in which the 13 th Amendment was passed in
Parliament is also of great importance. It indicates the extent to which
President Jayawardena and the UNP disregarded the interests of the country and
compelled the elected representatives- the Members of Parliament to be
forced, like at gun point- by incarcerating them in a hotel, keeping them under
lock and key and marching them to Parliament to vote as he pleased. The
President also held letters of resignation signed by all MPs (except for
Ronnie de Mel, the Minister of Finance), which he held as ransom to use in case
any MP refused to carry out his instructions. This undemocratic method of ruling
by President Jayawardena remains a major scar on the UNP.. Up to date in
implementing the 13 th Amendment Police and Land Powers have not been
decentralized.
The Samagi Bala Vegaya where Sajith Premadasa is the main
candidate has already declared that the 13 th Amendment in full- with
police and land powers will be implemented. Sri Lanka will be without any
doubt balkanized into provincial regimes and that will be the end
of Sri Lanka.
Prresident
Premadasa 1989-1993
President Premadasas when he was president helped the
LTTE, the Tamil rebels who wanted to carve out the north and east of Sri Lanka
as a separate state. President Premadasa even provided weapons to the LTTE,
which they ultimately used against the Sri Lankan Army.
President Premadasa in Peace Talks with the LTTE agreed to
hand over the Eastern Province to the LTTE and the police personnel in all the
police stations in the Eastern Province were instructed to surrender to the
LTTE cadres in the area. This was done and the LTTE instead of providing them
safe passage to Colombo as agreed, marched 600 police personnel to
the jungle where they were murdered. This action of President Premadasa
is a crime that can never be forgiven. ..
It was during th reign of President Premadasa that there was a
reign of terror and many people went missing, A well known lyric writer, poet
Richard de Zoysa is supposed to have been abducted and killed by the
armed forces. In the days of President Premadasa there was compulsory
acquistion of land in Colombo, without any rhyme or reason. One land
owner could not even find a lawyer to file a petition in the
Supreme Court to stay the acquisition of her land.”(Karunaratne: How the IMF
Ruined Sri Lanka: 2006: Godages)
Sajith Premadasa who leads the Samagi BalaVegaya,
evidently a splinter group of the UNP at this General
Election, only quotes the good deeds like rural development which was
done by President Premadasa
Chandrika
Kumaranatunge
Kumaranatunge during her period tried to defeat the LTTE but
miserably failed. It was during her time that the LTTE attacked the Colombo
Airport destroying a number of aircraft.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa 2005-2015
The major achievement during this period was the defeat of the
LTTE.
The LTTE had a reign of terror for 30 years, developed the idea
of having child soldiers and suicide bombing and had a reign of terror in the
entire island
President Rajapakda vowed to defeat the LTTE and commenced
military action. The LTTE ruled the North of the island for close on three
decades ,but was militarily defeated by President Rajapaksa in 2009. The cat
was out of the bag at the last moment when the Superpowers, including France,
the UK and the USA, came forward and insisted that Prabhakaran, the
leader of the LTTE should be spared. President Rajapaksa did not give in
and finally the LTTE was routed and the leader Prabhakaran killed in 2009.
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa
who had once served in the Sri lanka Army as a Lietunenant Colonel was the
Defence Secretary and played a key role in the defeat of the LTTE.
This defeating the LTTE shows their mettle.
The major achievement of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the
defeat of the LTTE. Earlier as Minister for Highways under the reign of Chandrika
Kumaranatunge, he saw to it that Sri Lanka had developed a network of
well built roads..
President Gotabhaya Rajpaksa played a major role in the
development of the country. He singlehandedly developed the City of
Colombo, equipped it with walkways, and various amenities. Under
him Colombo could even aspire to have been the best city in South Asia.
The Helping Hambantota cheque incident is held against
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. During the Tsunami Invasion in 2004, it was
brought to his notice that a cheque has ben received as a donation and he
ordered that it be banked. It was banked and forgotten. Later on it was raised
as a charge of misappropriation and the cheque was traced lying unused in a
bank account. This incident has to be taken in context when some 30,000
citizens had perished when the Tsunami struck and in the absence of the
President, Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the PrimeMinister, was
running everywhere in a helicopter issuing instructions. There was no time to
record events and keep notes. It was a time when the earth was turning on its
head. Take the matter out of context and one can say that he should have
ensured that the cheque was credited properly. The author too has had an
inkiling of serious days when it was a matter of life or death, when
there was an action sequence every minute and there was no time to write down
and check whether orders had been carries out. This cheque incident must
be taken in the context of handling an unprecedented national calamity.
Prime Minister Mahiunda Rajapaksa has faced many problems. He
has never run away like President Chandrika when the Kolonnawa oil tanks were
in flames- an attack by the LTTE. She was emplaning at the airport when that
incident happened. She continued leaving the island, leaving the
Presidential Secretariat to be manned by his Secretary. The one time Mahinda
Rajapaksa ran away was in 2015, when he realized that the
voters had rejected him. Then he left Temple Trees abruptly and stopped
only at Medamulana. That indicates his adherence to the democratic process of
governance and elevates his standing in democratic politics.
Maitripala
Sirisena cum Ranil Wickremasinghe 2015-2019
The Yahapalane Government of 2015 was actually a Government that
was established by foreign forces. The USA played a key role. It was the
sequel to President Rajapaksa refusing to follow the dictate of all the
Superpowers not to harm and spare Prabhakaran the leader of the LTTE.
True to his form President Rajapaksa refused to accede to their request and the
LTTE was totally defeated with the leader too being killed in 2009.
Though Maitripala Sirisena was implanted as the president, the
Yahapalana Government was ably run by Ranil Wickremasinghe of the UNP who was
the Prime Minister.
Sacrificing the sovereigny of Sri Lanka was clearly evident in
the Yahapalana Government co sigining and agreeing to a UK sponsored
submission to the Geneva Council of Human Rights. By this the Government
of Sri Lanka agreed to many provisions put forward by the Superpowers including
foreign judges participating in Sri Lanka on investigations against the Sri
Lankan Army defeating the Liberation Tigers.
The Period 2015-2019 was marked with an increased foreign debt.
The Central Government debt, as a share of the GDP had increased to 102.5% when
the UNP ended its term in 2005. President Mahinda Rajapaksa handled the
economy prudently and reduced the debt to 72.3% by 2015. However from
2015 to 2019, under the Yahapalana Government the debt increased to
86.8%. This speaks of mismanagement during UNP rule and prudent
management during President Rajapaksa’s rule.
Earlier in 2001-2004 Ranil Wickremasinghe as the Prime Minister,
sided the Liberation Tigers and had to be removed by the President
Kumaranatunge in 2004.
The MCCCompact. The United States pressurized the
Government to sign an agreement with the MCC(Millennium Challenge Corporation)
for allowing the USA to have a stake in Sri Lanka in return for a grant of $
480 million. This was supposed to be spent on a transportation and a land
project. An agreement was to be signed but due to protests the Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said that the agreement will be signed after the
UNP nominee Sajit Premadasa wins at the presidential election. Under the
transport project some roads and traffic lights etc were to be developed , to
easen traffic congestion while under the land project, all crown land
including land on colonization schemes, alienated under restricted
conditions, were to be given full saleable rights. These lands were
alienated on specific conditions meant to ensure that this land will remain
within the peasantry. This was decided during the State Council days. The
intention of the MCC proposals was evidently to enable multinationals to get
control over land in Sri Lanka.
This MCC agreement divides Sri Lanka into three segments with a
corridor from Trincomalee to Colombo, including both ports. This major corridor
comprised 28% of the land mass of Sri Lanka. This section was to be given to
the USA for a period of 200 years. Comparatively the British ruled Sri Lanka
only for a period of 133 years- 1815 to 1948. This section would come
under US jurisdiction. In short the land would be US territory coming under US
laws..
.
A map distributed by MCC team Leader Steve Dobrilovic showed
this 200 mile corridor between Colombo and Trincomalee to be awarded to
the US authorities coming under US jurisdiction where an electric rail
track was to be built effectively dividing Sri Lanka into a southern and
northern region. It was a plan for Sri Lanka to be handed over to the US
Government and for the North to get into the hands of the Ltte rebels who today
are planning subversion in secret.
These negotiations took place in absolute secrecy between
representatives of the Yahapalana Government and the MCC team from the USA
housed within the Temple Trees Complex used by Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremasinghe.”(Lanka Web10/1/2019) This was highly irregular.
The grant was to be given to be managed by a MCC Company under
US Government procurement rules and regulations”(Lanka Web: 11/01/2020)
It is important to note that similar agreements to divide Sri
Lanka were also proposed earlier by the Asian Development Bank an the
Export Import Bank of Korea, but these were all based on loans. In the case of
the MCC it was a grant. However the grant was to be given to a
company- which will work with theMillennium Challenge
Corporation.
It is to be noted that the valuable phosphate deposits of Eppawela
as well as the illmenite deposits at Pulumuddai were within this corridor to be
handed over to the USA.
It is correct to state that this MCC Compact will impringe on
the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Once granted this area will come under US,
managed under their laws.
The UNP Yahapalana Government of 2015-2019 was at first to get
Minister Mangala Samaraweera to sign this MCC Compact Agreement but this
was put off due to protests.
The aim of the MCC as the alleviation of poverty is only a
façade to get this agreement signed. Instead the MCC Compact will enable
foreign multiinationals to gain control over the land.
It is the opinion of Neville Laduwahetty that in the case
of the MCC Compact, the issue is that an Act that affects an asset that is an
integral part of the sovereignty of all the people and held in
trust by elected representatives of governments should not be passed by a
simple majority but ONLy by a special majority of two third approval of
Parliament and approval by the people at a Referendum.(The Island:
16/7/2019)
The UNP insisted that they would sign the MCC Pact and when they
found it impossible to sign, then declared that they would sign the
agreement on the day after their candidate Sajith Premadasa is victorious at
the presidential election That did not happen and now they shout out that the
Government of President Gotabhaya will sign it. On the other hand President
Gotabhaya has subjected the MCC Pact to a Report by experts led by Professor
Gunaruwan and the entire Report has been released to the public. The Report
states in definite terms that the MCC Pact infringes on the sovereignty of Sri
Lanka and spokesmen of the Government have stated that it will not be signed.
The President Gotabhaya method is upright with nothing to hide while when
it was handled in 2015-2019, by Prime Minister Wickremasinghe everything was
swept under the carpet. It was definitely wrong to house a US Company the
Millennium Chaallenge Corporation drafting and scheming to get the Pact signed
housed in the hallowed sacred premises of Temple Trees.
Sajith Premadasa was a leading minister of the Yahapalana
Government of 1995 to 2020 and has to take responsibility for Government
misdeeds as he was a senior minister in the Cabinet.
It is sad that the US Embassy resorted to many tactics to get
the MCC Pact signed. Though the MCC Pact is couched in terms of poverty
alleviation- it amounts to a sweetened pill to drag Sri Lanka more into the
orbit of the US hedgemony in South Asia.
My frank opinion is that the MCC Compact is an attempt to carve
out a separate State for the LTTE, this time in a sheep’s clothing. It is a
task that was earlier attempted by the ADB and the Eximm Bank of Korea. Then
the offer was a loan. In the MCC Compact it was a grant.
Our Sri Lanka has the ability to develop our own resources
as proved just at this moment by the restoration of the Valachenai Paper
factory accomplished in a few months during President Gotabhaya’s regime. It is
reported that Valachenai Paper will be offered for sale within the next month.
This is an indication of the economic development that can be expected under
President Gotabhaya. The manner in which President Gotabhaya handled the
Corona virus epidemic , by deploying the army to check and provide quarantine
has enabled Sri Lanka to become the foremost country that handled the
Coronavirus epidemic in an able manner. This alone speaks volumes about
President Gotabhaya’s ability to tackle a calamity. In his able hands Sri Lanka
will inevitably prosper.
The historical facts detailed above enable the voter who
may have forgotten our history, to act as a patriot and save Sri Lanka at the
General Election 2020..
Garvin Karunaratne
Former GA, Matara,
2/7/2020
Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative
Programmes of Success(Godages :2006)
How the IMF Sabotaged Thord World Development(Kindle/Godages: 201
2 Responses to “Thoughts on the 2020 General Election”
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2020/08/03/thoughts-on-the-2020-general-election/
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Ben Robinson News and
Media Relations Officer 0161 275 8388 |
4 August ,2020
Increased global mortality linked to arsenic exposure
in rice-based diets
Rice is the most widely consumed staple food source for a large
part of the world’s population. It has now been confirmed that rice can
contribute to prolonged low-level arsenic exposure leading to thousands of
avoidable premature deaths per year.
Arsenic is well known acute poison, but it can also contribute
to health problems, including cancers and cardiovascular diseases, if consumed
at even relatively low concentrations over an extended period of time.
Compared to other staple foods, rice tends to concentrate
inorganic arsenic. Across the globe, over three billion people consume rice as
their major staple and the inorganic arsenic in that rice has been estimated by
some to give rise to over 50,000 avoidable premature deaths per year.
A collaborating group of cross-Manchester researchers from The University
of Manchester and The University of Salford have published
new research exploring the relationship, in England and Wales, between the
consumption of rice and cardiovascular diseases caused by arsenic exposure.
Their findings, published in the
journal Science of the Total Environment, shows
that - once corrected for the major factors known to contribute to
cardiovascular disease (for example obesity, smoking, age, lack of income, lack
of education) there is a significant association between elevated
cardiovascular mortality, recorded at a local authority level, and the
consumption of inorganic arsenic bearing rice.
“
The
study suggests that the highest 25% of rice consumers in England and Wales may
plausibly be at greater risks of cardiovascular mortality due to inorganic
arsenic exposure compared to the lowest 25% of rice consumers.
Professor
David Polya
„
Professor David Polya from The University of Manchester said:
“The type of study undertaken, an ecological study, has many limitations, but
is a relatively inexpensive way of determining if there is plausible link
between increased consumption of inorganic arsenic bearing rice and increased
risk of cardiovascular disease.
“The study suggests that the highest 25% of rice consumers in
England and Wales may plausibly be at greater risks of cardiovascular mortality
due to inorganic arsenic exposure compared to the lowest 25% of rice consumers.
“The modelled increased risk is around 6% (with a confidence
interval for this figure of 2% to 11%). The increased risk modelled might also
reflect in part a combination of the susceptibility, behaviours and treatment
of those communities in England and Wales with relatively high rice diets.”
While more robust types of study are required to confirm the
result, given many of the beneficial effects otherwise of eating rice due to
its high fibre content, the research team suggest that rather than avoid eating
rice, people could consume rice varieties, such as basmati, and different types
like polished rice (rather whole grain rice) which are known to typically have
lower inorganic arsenic contents. Other positive behaviours would be to eat a
balanced variety of staples, not just predominately rice.
The lead author, Ms Lingqian Xu, is a President's Doctoral
Scholarship Award recipient from The University of Manchester and supervised by
Professor David Polya (The University of Manchester) and Dr Debapriya Mondal
(University of Salford). Mr Qian Li is a former Masters of Pollution and Environmental
Control (MPEC) student from The University of Manchester.
Further
reading
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this release
No worry clouds as IMD sees normal rains in
Aug-Sept
Vinson
Kurian Thiruvananthapuram | Updated on July 31, 2020 Published on July 31,
2020
Farmers transplant paddy saplings in a field during
rain, in Kochi - PTI
All atmospheric conditions over Pacific and
Indian Oceans are positive
With the last two weeks of July
ending deficit rainfall over large parts of North-West India and Central India,
the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is pinning its hopes on a likely
low-pressure area forming over the North Bay of Bengal to revive the monsoon in
a resounding fashion from August 5.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan said the State government too has received an input to the effect from
the IMD, which it has taken seriously in the context of experience from the
recent past when such low-pressure areas have triggered massive floods and
landslides during the second rainiest monsoon month of August.
Heavy rains in South
Currently engaged in a grim
battle with spiralling Covid-19 transmissions, the State has already witnessed
a round of heavy to very rainfall across many parts from a cyclonic circulation
(graded lower than a low-pressure areas) currently located over Coastal Andhra
Pradesh and adjoining coastal Tamil Nadu.
Unlike this circulation that
formed in situ (locally) over the Bay, the low-pressure area over the North Bay
emerging next week would take birth out a circulation crossing in from West
Pacific/South China Sea, and originating from a stronger system (depression)
located this (Friday) morning to the South-East of Haikou, China.
In the North Bay, the remnant
circulation would grow into a low-pressure area and is projected to quickly
cross the Odisha/West Bengal coast and race towards West and adjoining
North-West India. This could ramp up the monsoon into the second week of August
over most parts of the country.
Rains for North-West India
Both North-West India and Central
India would be able to receive their quota, if not more, during this period,
according to projections made by the IMD. Importantly, it also indicated the
possibility of heavy to very rainfall over the South-West coast and the rest of
the West Coast during this period.
In fact, Kerala, Coastal
Karnataka and adjoining South Peninsula would not need to wait for the second
week to witness the heavy rain events since the circulation over Coastal Andhra
Pradesh and adjoining Coastal Tamil Nadu would ensure that the current rain
wave sustains during the interregnum.
Short-term outlook
A forecast outlook by the IMD for
next 2-3 days us is follows: widespread rainfall with isolated heavy over Jammu
Division, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi,
Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, hills of West
Bengal, Sikkim, and Gujarat.
Widespread rainfall with isolated
heavy to very heavy falls over Konkan, Goa and the Ghat areas of Madhya
Maharashtra during August 1-3 (Saturday to Monday). Heavy to very heavy falls
are likely to continue over parts of Kerala today (Friday).
Published
on July 31, 2020
FMCG sector shows
recovery ahead of festival seasons on the back of rural pent up demand
Exports show signs of
improvement, but the labour shortage still an issue: FIEO
PTI New
Delhi | Updated on August 02, 2020 Published
on August 02, 2020
Exports fell for the fourth straight month in
June as shipments of key segments like petroleum and textiles declined, but the
country’s trade turned surplus for the first time in 18 years as imports
dropped by a steeper 47.59 per cent.
The country’s merchandise exports
will further revive in the coming months as order books are showing signs of
improvement, even as the industry is still facing a labour shortage, according
to exporters.
Federation of Indian Export
Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said there is no problem of
orders in the shorter run, but exporters are still not getting long-term
orders.
“We are expecting that the situation
will improve further as the order book situation is improving. Orders are
mainly coming from the US and European countries,” Sahai said.
On labour shortage, he said that
factories are still not running at full capacity, but the situation will improve
in the next few months.
Council for Leather Exports
Chairman P R Aqeel Ahmed said the sector is doing well as “our order books are
improving“.
Sharing similar views, Apparel
Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said there is a positive sentiment
for Indian goods, and this is helping in pushing the outbound shipments.
“Orders are coming. This year we
are hoping that we will be able to significantly increase our exports.
Factories are running at about 60 per cent capacity. By November, we will be
able to reach the pre-Covid level,” Sakthivel said.
Ludhiana-based Hand Tools
Association President S C Ralhan too said that order books are good with
engineering exporters.
“But we are facing problems
because of the labour shortage. Still, only 50 per cent of the workers are
coming to factories, and due to this, we are not able to ramp up our
production,” he said.
Ralhan hoped that after the flood
water recedes in states like Bihar, labour movement would start.
Export Promotion Council for
Handicrafts (EPCH) Executive Director Rakesh Kumar said that orders are coming,
but due to shortage of workers, there is a problem in boosting production.
“Labours are not coming in full
shifts,” he said.
Kumar also urged the government
to address issues related to merchandise export from India scheme (MEIS) as
exporters are not able to fix the prices on their products.
“MEIS helps in increasing price
competitiveness of exporters, but due to the uncertainty over the scheme,
exporters are in confusion over fixing the price of new orders,” he added.
June data
India’s exports fell for the
fourth straight month in June as shipments of key segments like petroleum and
textiles declined, but the country’s trade turned surplus for the first time in
18 years as imports dropped by a steeper 47.59 per cent.
Export sectors which recorded
negative growth in June include gems and jewellery (-50 per cent), leather
(-40.5 per cent), petroleum products (-31.65 per cent), engineering goods (-7.5
per cent), ready-made garments (RMG) of all textiles (-34.84 per cent), and
cashew (-27 per cent).
Import segments which recorded
negative growth include gold, silver, transport equipment, coal, fertiliser,
machinery and machine tools.
However, exports of oilseeds,
coffee, rice, tobacco, spices, pharma, and chemicals reported positive growth
in June.
Indian Oilseeds and Produce
Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) Chairman Khushwant Jain said that oilseed
exports are recording growth on account of sound output and steps taken by the
government to promote shipments.
During April-June 2020, exports
fell by 36.71 per cent to USD 51.32 billion while imports shrank by 52.43 per
cent to USD 60.44 billion. The trade deficit stood at USD 9.12 billion during
April-June.
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Published on August 02, 2020
INDIA'S
CROP PLANTING GATHERS PACE, BUOYED BY BOUNTIFUL MONSOON RAINS
8/1/2020
By Mayank Bhardwaj
NEW DELHI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A rapid progress of the monsoon
helped Indian farmers plant nearly 14% more land than last year with rice,
corn, cane, cotton and soybean crops, according to the farm ministry.
Farmers planted more acreage of every single summer-sown crops
between June 1 and July 31 than last year, brightening the prospects for a
bumper output in the world's leading producer of farm commodities.
The area planted with rice, the main food crop of the world's
second-most populous country, was 26.7 million hectares, compared with 22.4
million hectares in the year-earlier period.
Oilseeds planting was at 17.5 million hectares, compared with 15
million hectares. Sowing of soybeans, the main summer oilseed crop, stood at
11.7 million hectares, compared with 10.8 million hectares. Soybean output is
set to jump by at least 15%
Sugar cane planting was marginally higher at 5.2 million hectares.
Planting of the protein-rich pulse, a staple in the Indian diet,
was at 11.2 million hectares, higher than 9.4 million hectares last year.
Corn acreage was at 7.4 million hectares versus 7.2 million
hectares in the previous year.
The area planted with cotton totalled 12.1 million hectares
against 10.9 million hectares.
The monsoon covered the entire country nearly two weeks earlier
than usual, helping farmers speed up planting.
Monsoon rains are critical for farm output and economic growth as
about 55% of India's arable land is rain-fed.
The weather office on Friday said monsoon rains are expected to be
104% of the average in August and September.
The India Meteorological Department defines average, or normal,
rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 88 cm for the entire
four-month season. (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Mike Harrison)
© Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
India’s kharif rice sowing up 19% so far, thanks to
good rains
By: PTI |
Published: July 31, 2020 10:16
PM
Among
cash crops, cotton planting has risen by 11.29 per cent to 121.25 lakh hectares
so far in the current kharif season of the 2020-21 crop year (July-June) from
108.95 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
Sowing of kharif crops begins
with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, while harvesting from October
onwards.
Area
sown to rice, the main kharif crop, has increased by 19 per cent to 266.60 lakh
hectares so far across the country in the current kharif season on account of
good rains, the agriculture ministry said on Friday. Among cash crops,
cotton planting has risen by 11.29 per cent to 121.25 lakh hectares so far in
the current kharif season of the 2020-21 crop year (July-June) from 108.95 lakh
hectares in the year-ago period.
Sowing
of kharif crops begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, while
harvesting from October onwards.
“There
has been satisfactory progress of sowing area coverage under Kharif crops. …so,
as a whole, there is no impact of COVID-19 on progress of area coverage under
kharif crops as on date,” the ministry said releasing the latest sowing data of
kharif crops. It also said that the Centre is taking several measures to
facilitate the farmers and farming activities at field level during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
As
per the data, higher rice planting area has been reported in states of Bihar
(10.01 lakh hectares) followed by Madhya Pradesh (8.19 lakh hectares),
Jharkhand (7.50 lakh hectares), West Bengal (4.60 lakh hectares), Uttar Pradesh
(4.57 lakh hectares), Odisha (4.01 lakh hectares), Chhattisgarh (3.90 lakh
hectares) and Telangana (3.28 lakh hectares).
Pulses
sowing has increased by 19.26 per cent to 111.91 lakh hectares area till August
31 of the ongoing kharif season compared to 93.84 lakh hectares in the year-ago
period. Area sown to moong has increased by 37.42 per cent to 29.57 lakh
hectares from 21.52 lakh hectares, while that of urad by 21 per cent to 33.38
lakh hectares from 27.64 lakh hectares and arhar area increased by 8 per cent
to 40.05 lakh hectares from 37.09 lakh hectares in the said period.
Higher
area under pulses has been reported from Rajasthan (5.25 lakh hectares)
followed by Madhya Pradesh (3.79 lakh hectares), Maharashtra (3.43 lakh hectares)
and Uttar Pradesh (1.16 lakh hectares) so far this season, the data showed.
Coarse
cereals acreage rose 6.52 per cent to 148.34 lakh hectares so far this kharif
season from 139.26 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Maize acreage rose
2.36 per cent to 74.30 lakh hectares from 72.58 lakh hectares in the said
period.
In
case of oilseeds, the sowing area rose by 16.80 per cent to 175.34 lakh
hectares so far in the current kharif season from 150.12 lakh hectares in the
year-ago period. Soyabean area rose by 8.35 per cent to 116.62 lakh
hectares from 107.64 per cent in the said period.
In
case of sugarcane, the area coverage rose to 51.78 lakh hectares so far in the
current kharif season as compared to 51.20 lakh hectares during the
corresponding period last year. Total area under all kharif crops rose
13.92 per cent to 882.18 lakh hectares of area against 774.38 lakh hectares in
the said period.
The
ministry said the actual rainfall received in the country was 447.1 mm in
June-August period as against the normal of 443.3 mm. The Central Water
Commission (CWC) has reported that the live water storage in 123 reservoirs in
different parts of the country was 141 per cent of the corresponding period of
the last year.
Cambodia's rice export up 38 pct in 7 months
Source:
Xinhua| 2020-08-01 08:25:06|Editor: huaxia
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 426,073 tons of
milled rice in the first seven months of 2020, up 38 percent from 308,013 tons
over the same period last year, Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon said on
Friday.
China remained the biggest buyer of Cambodian rice, he said,
adding that the kingdom shipped 155,327 tons of milled rice to China during the
January-July period this year, up 26 percent over the same period last year.
He added that the kingdom also exported 144,247 tons to the
European market during the period, up 38 percent, and 57,064 tons to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market, up 44 percent.
In sum, the kingdom's rice exports to all destinations during
the first seven months of this year were on the rise, the minister said, adding
that the Southeast Asian nation shipped rice to 57 countries and regions.
Ngin Chhay, director general of agriculture at the Ministry of
Agriculture, said recently that the COVID-19 pandemic had driven high demand
for Cambodian rice.
He predicted that the country's rice export to the international
market is expected to reach 800,000 tons in 2020, an estimated rise of 29
percent from 620,106 tons last year.
Cambodia produced about 10 million tons of paddy rice last year,
according to the Ministry of Agriculture. With this amount, the kingdom saw
paddy rice surplus of about 5.6 million tons in equivalent to 3.5 million tons
of milled rice. Enditem
Farmers see higher tariff
collection from rice imports
Published August 2, 2020, 10:00 PM
Rice farmers said that had it not for
alleged undervaluation of imports, tariff collection from rice importation
should have been higher compared to the slight improvement reported by the
Bureau of Customs (BoC).
In a statement, Federation of Free Farmers
National Manager Raul Montemayor questioned the BOC report that rice tariff
collection from January to July did not “significantly” improve from last year.
According to BoC, tariff collections from imported rice had reached P10.73
billion as of July 17, 2020, a slight improvement from P9.94 billion in the
same period last year.
“The agency is using seemingly
improved numbers in tariff receipts to mask its failure to collect correct
revenues from rice importers. It is hiding the fact that undervaluation of
imports and its collection performance worsened this year,” Montemayor said.
The FFF’s analysis of publicly available
data showed that the BOC’s collection efficiency fell significantly in 2020,
based on FOB (Free on Board or the cost of imports at the point of origin) and
CIF (Cost or FOB plus insurance and freight) prices.
In the first five months of 2020,
rice importers declared that the FOB prices of their imports averaged P1,692
per ton, which was lower than the BoC’s own reference prices by P2,416 per
metric ton. In 2019, the average gap in FOB prices was only P945 per
metric ton, indicating that the degree of undervaluation of FOB prices
increased by 155 percent in 2020.
Similarly, declared CIF prices, the
basis for tariff payments, were lower than BoC reference rates by P3,292 per
metric ton on the average in January to May 2020. In comparison, the gap
between declared and official CIF prices in 2019 was only P1,943 per ton in
2019.
The FFF analysis showed that the declared
CIF prices of imports per metric ton increased from P17,510 in 2019 to P17,723
in 2020, or by a mere P213 per ton. In comparison, the BoC’s own
reference prices during the same period rose by P1,603 per ton.
The FFF claimed that this explains why the
BoC’s tariff collections increased only marginally by 1.3 percent from P 6.13
per kilo of rice imports in 2019 to P6.21 in 2020.
“And yet, FOB prices of rice have
gone up by at least 10 percent in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and supply
uncertainties in Vietnam and other rice exporting countries. Considering
that tariffs are applied on import values, the fact that the increase in
tariffs collected per kilo was way below 10 percent indicates that the degree
of undervaluation by importers actually intensified in 2020,” Montemayor said.
Earlier, the FFF flagged an estimated
P2.676 billion in tariffs that were not collected due to the undervaluation of
FOB and CIF prices of importers from 2019 up to the first five months of 2020.
Another P200 million were not collected by
the BoC due to the wrong application of the 35 percent ASEAN tariff rate on
imports from non-ASEAN countries, the group further said.
https://mb.com.ph/2020/08/02/farmers-see-higher-tariff-collection-from-rice-imports/
Farmers see higher tariff
collection from rice imports
Published August 2, 2020, 10:00 PM
Rice farmers said that had it not for
alleged undervaluation of imports, tariff collection from rice importation
should have been higher compared to the slight improvement reported by the
Bureau of Customs (BoC).
In a statement, Federation of Free Farmers
National Manager Raul Montemayor questioned the BOC report that rice tariff
collection from January to July did not “significantly” improve from last year.
According to BoC, tariff collections from imported rice had reached P10.73
billion as of July 17, 2020, a slight improvement from P9.94 billion in the
same period last year.
“The agency is using seemingly
improved numbers in tariff receipts to mask its failure to collect correct
revenues from rice importers. It is hiding the fact that undervaluation of
imports and its collection performance worsened this year,” Montemayor said.
The FFF’s analysis of publicly available
data showed that the BOC’s collection efficiency fell significantly in 2020,
based on FOB (Free on Board or the cost of imports at the point of origin) and
CIF (Cost or FOB plus insurance and freight) prices.
In the first five months of 2020,
rice importers declared that the FOB prices of their imports averaged P1,692
per ton, which was lower than the BoC’s own reference prices by P2,416 per
metric ton. In 2019, the average gap in FOB prices was only P945 per
metric ton, indicating that the degree of undervaluation of FOB prices
increased by 155 percent in 2020.
Similarly, declared CIF prices, the
basis for tariff payments, were lower than BoC reference rates by P3,292 per
metric ton on the average in January to May 2020. In comparison, the gap
between declared and official CIF prices in 2019 was only P1,943 per ton in
2019.
The FFF analysis showed that the declared
CIF prices of imports per metric ton increased from P17,510 in 2019 to P17,723
in 2020, or by a mere P213 per ton. In comparison, the BoC’s own
reference prices during the same period rose by P1,603 per ton.
The FFF claimed that this explains why the
BoC’s tariff collections increased only marginally by 1.3 percent from P 6.13
per kilo of rice imports in 2019 to P6.21 in 2020.
“And yet, FOB prices of rice have
gone up by at least 10 percent in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and supply
uncertainties in Vietnam and other rice exporting countries. Considering
that tariffs are applied on import values, the fact that the increase in
tariffs collected per kilo was way below 10 percent indicates that the degree
of undervaluation by importers actually intensified in 2020,” Montemayor said.
Earlier, the FFF flagged an estimated
P2.676 billion in tariffs that were not collected due to the undervaluation of
FOB and CIF prices of importers from 2019 up to the first five months of 2020.
Another P200 million were not collected by
the BoC due to the wrong application of the 35 percent ASEAN tariff rate on
imports from non-ASEAN countries, the group further said.
https://mb.com.ph/2020/08/02/farmers-see-higher-tariff-collection-from-rice-imports/
Last kharif crop rice diverted to market?
Roushan Ali | TNN | Aug 4, 2020,
04:44 IST
Hyderabad: Rice millers have not
returned 3.6 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of rice to the government a year after
paddy was given to them for milling, raising suspicion that the staple may have
been diverted to the open market.
Every year the government gives paddy of two crops i.e., vaanakalam (kharif)
and yasangi (rabi) to the millers, which are milled and returned to the
government for supply through the public distribution system (PDS).
Civil supplies officials were apprehensive that further delay in getting back
rice from the millers would result in shortage of stocks to be distributed to
the poor (white ration card holders) through fair price shops.
Also, the financial burden on the state government would increase in the form
of interest as it had obtained over Rs 10,000 crore loan to procure rice from
farmers and could repay it by selling milled rice to Food Corporation of India
for public distribution to Telangana and other states.
The 3.6 lakh MTs of rice should have been returned to the government by
March-end itself as the paddy was given during the last monsoon. Though it is
suspected the millers in connivance with some officials might have diverted the
rice to the open market, a member of the Telangana Rice Millers’ Association
said shortage of labour, lockdown and coronavirus scare were prime reasons for
delay in returning it to the government.
Civil supplies minister Gangula Kamalakar has expressed ire over the delay on
the part of the officials to procure rice from the millers. “The delay is
continuing even for procurement of milled rice of the recent yasangi,” he said.
He also asked the civil supplies department task force teams to raid rice mills
and FPS to check diversion of PDS rice to the open market. “I will review the
raids and performance of task force every month,” the minister said.
Indian
basmati rice and tea exporters to Iran facing uncertainty
SECTIONS
Indian basmati
rice and tea exporters to Iran facing uncertainty
, ET BureauLast Updated: Aug 03, 2020, 12:21 AM IST
Indian
basmati rice exporters said they are not entering into new contract with
Iranian importers so as to avoid any payment-related problems. Meanwhile, tea
traders said export to Iran may stop within a month if the payment issue is not
resolved. This would impact the trade in orthodox teas as Iran is India’s
biggest buyer in this category.
AgenciesUncertainty
looms over export of basmati
rice and tea
to Iran as the Central
Bank of Iran has slowed down allocation of currency against which Iranian
traders were buying these commodities from India.
Indian basmati rice exporters said they are not entering into new contract with
Iranian importers so as to avoid any payment-related problems.
Meanwhile, tea traders said export to Iran may stop within a month if the
payment issue is not resolved. This would impact the trade in orthodox teas as
Iran is India’s biggest buyer in this category.
“Getting payment from Iran has become a major issue. There is no clarity on
whether the rupee reserve of UCO Bank and IDBI Bank has come down or not.
Exports to Iran in the first quarter have fallen significantly due to the
lockdown. The exporters are not doing any new contracts with Iran,” Vinod Kaul,
executive director at All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), told ET.
India exported 1.156 million tonnes of basmati rice in the first quarter of
FY20, according to AIREA statistics. According to Kaul, in April of FY21, India
exported 429,000 tonnes of basmati rice, of which only 50,966 tonnes were
exported to Iran.
“The figures for May and June are yet to be compiled, but according to
information from trade, exports in May were more or less similar to that in
April . But in June and July there has been drastic reduction in exports to
Iran, as the payment issue has upset basmati exporters,” Kaul said.
Gautam Miglani, owner of LRNK, a Haryana-based basmati rice exporter, said his
firm is receiving payments for consignments to Iran that were shipped before
the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The payment is very slow and it is coming in small tranches. It is becoming
impossible to do trade with Iran. The Indian government should work out a deal
with Tehran so that exports can be carried out smoothly,” said Miglani.
Tea exports to Iran have already taken a hit in the first three months of 2020.
In the January-March period of the current year, Iran has imported 9.6 million
kg of Indian teas, down 45.36% from the year-ago period. In 2019, Iran had
imported nearly 54 million kg of orthodox teas from India.
Anish Bhansali, managing partner, Bhansali & Company, and a tea exporter to
Iran, said, “Payment is not coming from Iran on a regular basis. If this trend
continues, then exports will come to halt within a fortnight or by the end of
this month.”
Mohit Agarwal, director, Asian Tea, said, “Till Friday, no payment was coming.
But on Saturday some payment came from Iran for the teas shipped in May. But
payments are being delayed. We are hoping that things will improve shortly so
that orthodox tea exports pick up to Iran and prices revive.”
Unit price realisation of tea exported to Iran has come down to Rs 262.76 per
kg this year from Rs 266.65 per kg last year.
Sagaing to cultivate over 736,500 hectares
of monsoon rice
03 Aug 2020
Sagaing
to cultivate over 736,500 hectares of monsoon rice
Farmers in Sagaing Region, the country’s second-largest rice-producing
area, are growing over 736,500 hectares of monsoon rice, a senior agriculture
official said.
U Win Hlaing Oo, head of the region’s Department of Agriculture, said
Sagaing has received enough rain to allow the planting of large areas in rice.
“We have planted more than 736,500 hectares of monsoon rice as we’ve had
enough rain this year,” he said. “In this region, where the famous shwebo
paw san rice is grown, the paw san grain has been planted on
202,342 hectares, and grains such as ayeyarmin and sin yadanar have
been planted as well.”
U Win Hlaing Oo said farmers can grow rice and other crops this year
because high water levels in the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers have allowed
the irrigation of more land.
He said that when the river level subsides, farmers can shift to
growing other crops such as pulses and onions.
“All crops can be cultivated this year,” he said. “Farmers are happy because
river water is reaching their land this year.”
Sagaing gets good rainfall some years but droughts in others, making
it difficult for farmers.
“We have educated farmers to save and collect water to reduce crop damage
due to climate change next year,” U Win Hlaing Oo said. “It will work if there
is less rain next year.”
Sagaing has more than 1.82 million hectares planted in rice.
Meanwhile, the Department of Consumer Affairs said it would increase its
rice reserves by another 20,000 tonnes.
"The amount of reserve rice reached 50,000 tonnes, and we stopped
purchasing on July 16,” said U Ye Htut Naing, director of the department. “We
have requested to buy a further 20,000 tonnes of reserve rice.”
He said the rice would be bought from 23 Myanmar export companies and stored
at nine warehouses from April 30 to June 12.
"We will sell the rice to the public at retail shops with the help of
the Myanmar Rice Federation,” he said.
The government plans to export 2.5 million tonnes of rice this year and
would purchase 10 percent of the rice that businesses seek to export. –
Additional reporting by Aung Loon/Translated
