|
U.S.
Rice Industry Response to FDA's Release of Final Guidance for Inorganic
Arsenic in Infant Rice Cereals
ARLINGTON,
VA -- This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released
guidance for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereals, finalizing the
agency's 2016 draft guidance, as well as outlining its intended approach to
testing and enforcement. |
|
Fish Food Grown on Winter Rice Fields Could be Key to
Recovering Imperiled Central Valley Salmon
THURSDAY,
AUG 6TH, 2020
By: Roger Cornwell, River Garden
Farms
Jacob Katz, PhD, California Trout
A first-of-its-kind study reveals that rice fields can play an
important role in revitalizing river ecosystems and boosting imperiled salmon
populations in the Sacramento Valley. California Trout, working with River
Garden Farms and a coalition of farmers and public agencies, recently completed
a detailed three-year experiment detailing how farm fields can be managed to
grow food to support wild salmon populations in the fall and winter months,
while still growing food for people during summer. We summarized the scientific
studies in Fish Food on Floodplain Farm Fields. (See the full
studies for 2019, 2018 and 2017.)
California’s native fish populations are struggling for
survival. Before the Central Valley was developed, leveed and drained, over
four million acres of floodplains were inundated each winter. These shallow,
fertile floodplains were hugely productive and created the food that supported
over two million salmon, tens of millions of waterfowl and abundant wildlife
populations. Over last 150 years more than 95 percent of floodplains have been
cut off from Central Valley rivers by levees, effectively starving river
ecosystems of the foundation of the aquatic food web: the solar energy captured
by plants and algae on floodplains that in turn feeds the bugs that are the
primary food source of juvenile salmon. There is a growing body of research
that points to a lack of available fish food in channelized Central Valley
rivers as a leading cause in the dramatic and continuing decline of native fish
populations.
The idea behind the “Fish Food From Floodplain Farm
Fields” experiment was for scientists to partner with growers who farm
the formerly-inundated floodplains on the dry-side of the levees to
manage their fields in such a way that they reproduce the natural pattern of
mid-winter flooding. When the farmers shallowly inundate their fields for
several weeks they replicate the natural wetland conditions that once made
abundant fish food. In several weeks in mid-winter, when the fields are
not otherwise in use, a massive growth of invertebrates bloom in these fertile
floodplain waters. These water bugs can then be drained off the
farm fields back to the river, where they provide food for the starving
juvenile salmon who are stuck in the food-deprived river channel. As the
scientific results suggest, this collaborative approach makes possible a new
way forward in which farmers and natural resource managers work together to
make every acre of land and every drop of water work together for both people
and native fish and wildlife.
Several years ago, the Nigiri Concept studies
proved that juvenile salmon grow at a much faster rate when they have access to
floodplain-like habitat on flooded farm fields in the Central Valley’s flood
bypasses (bypass fields are on the wet-side of the
levees which connect directly to the river during flood).
Here is how it works. In fall after rice harvest, farmers
re-flood their rice fields using the same irrigation canals that were used to
irrigate the fields in summer. But now the water is being used to mimic the
natural floodplain conditions needed to reactivate the floodplain’s explosively
productive aquatic food web. Inundating these floodplain farm fields that used
to be a wetland creates conditions similar to those that occurred naturally.
Wetlands are some of the most productive habitats on earth. In the shallow
water, bacteria and fungi break down the plant matter that grew on the
floodplain during summer, these microbes are then eaten by billions of small crustaceans
and insects called zooplankton. The zooplankton, in turn, feed small fish. In a
very short time small fish become bigger, healthier fish on this energy-rich
bug diet. That’s important because a bigger and fatter juvenile salmon has a
much better chance of coming back from its journey out to sea as a large 30 lb.
adult than a smaller, less fit fish.
This Fish Food study takes the floodplain farm field concept to
the next level and shows that rice fields on the dry-side of levees can
also benefit fish and river food webs if the billions of bugs grown on these
fields are delivered into the nearby river to provide essential food supplies
for the native fish stuck in the food-deprived river channels. A short film
showing how this works can be seen here.
Our study explored the ecological impact and operational
feasibility of increasing fish food supplies (i.e., increasing the number of
zooplankton) in the Sacramento River. The project used existing water
infrastructure managed by Reclamation District 108 and landowners to shallowly
flood approximately 5,000 acres of Colusa Basin farm fields during the
non-growing season. Within three weeks of flooding, the shallowly inundated
fields swarmed with zooplankton. A month after flood-up we began draining the
floodplain water, now rich with floodplain-derived fish food back into the
river. As the water poured back into the river it brought the zooplankton
populations that had developed on the fields into the river for those starving
fish to eat.
During the month while floodplain water was being drained, the
number of zooplankton in the Sacramento River increased forty-fold at the point
where the floodplain water fields entered the river. Even more remarkably, one
mile downstream from the drainage point zooplankton food resources were still
six times greater compared to typical food levels in the river.
To test the effect of these increased zooplankton populations on
fish, juvenile Chinook salmon were held in floating cages in the river in three
locations: upstream of the location of where the floodplain water was
discharged into the river; at the site of the river discharge; and one mile
downstream of the discharge site. Fish caged at the site where the
food-rich water was returned to the river grew five times faster than fish
caged in similar habitats upstream where they didn’t have access to the
floodplain fish food. Fish caged one mile downstream from the discharge point
grew three times faster than those upstream of the discharge point.
A different study published in December by
colleagues at UC Davis indicated that having access to abundant food resources
“may help buffer the effects of increasing water temperature” for cold-water
fish like salmon. As climate change-related extremes become more common,
ensuring sufficient food is available for salmon in Central Valley rivers is one
more way to bolster their chances of survival. In essence, with some help from
us to reactivate productive Central Valley floodplain habitats, salmon may have
a chance to eat their way out of climate change.
These results show that there is a tremendous amount local
farmers and irrigators can do to support salmon recovery by taking a more
deliberate approach to how we move water through our fields during the
non-growing season. Over the last 30 years, Central Valley farm fields managed
for water bird habitat have helped recover migratory bird populations along the
Pacific Flyway. This has been a tremendous success story that
demonstrates the power of managing working lands for the benefit of wildlife.
Coordinated efforts like this experiment also show that we can refine how we
manage limited water supplies in the Central Valley to help stressed fish
populations recover in areas where agricultural operations and wildlife refuges
are vibrant. Our hope is that, with the cooperation of public agencies and other
landowners, we can scale up this collaborative, science-based approach so that
the river ecosystem of the Sacramento Valley can once again produce abundant
populations of salmon and other native fish.
We appreciate the broad partnership to advance this work. In
addition to California Trout and River Garden Farms, we have partnered with the
United States Bureau of Reclamation, Reclamation District 108, Robbins Rice
Company, Davis Ranches, Montna Farms, the California Rice Commission and the UC
Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. The project was funded by the United
States Bureau of Reclamation, the Water Foundation, public agencies and
participating farms, with support by the Northern California Water Association.
For more information on the reactivating floodplains
partnerships and the new way forward, we recommend two films: The New Way Forward and No Going Back.
For more information, see the full
studies for 2019, 2018 and 2017. A slide
presentation on these floodplain topics is here.
Please contact us at rcornwell@rivergardenfarms.com or jkatz@caltrout.org if
you have any questions or would like more detailed information on these studies
or to receive a full presentation on the results.
For our personal stories, see Winter Farming At River Garden
Farms and Chasing Nigiri.
Friday Fakeaway: Indonesian chicken
fried rice
·
·
·
© PA
For today’s Friday Fakeaway, we head to Indonesia from where Lara
Lee brings us this amazing nasi goreng.
Nasi goreng, which literally translates as fried rice in
Indonesian and Malay languages, is an absolute delight that is traditionally
served with a fried egg.
Many cuisines have their own version of fried rice, with people
mostly familiar with the Chinese variety.
Nasi goreng is a little more complicated to make, but it is such
a joy that it is a dish you are sure to make time and time again.
Fried rice dishes are so incredibly versatile that as long as
you enjoy eating rice, you can basically add anything you wish to make a
fantastic meal.
It is believed it was first developed during the Sui Dynasty in
China and as such all fried rice dishes can trace their origins to Chinese
fried rice.
“I’ve been eating chicken fried
rice for as long as I can recall and it’s a dish of which I never tire,”
says food writer Lara Lee.
“This version of nasi goreng is my absolute favourite. The
galangal and white pepper give it a good amount of heat, which is balanced by
the sweetness of the kecap manis and the saltiness of the soy and fish sauce.
Lara Lee.
“The fried duck egg with a runny yolk on top is sheer luxury.
With the added crunch of green beans, fried shallots and kerupuk or prawn
crackers, this dish hits all the right spots and is my favourite choice for a
Friday night in.”
Chicken Fried Rice
(Serves 2 as a large main or 4
as a side)
Ingredients
·
2
skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into small, bite-sized cubes
·
2
garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
·
8cm
piece of galangal or ginger (about 40g), peeled and woody stem removed, finely chopped
·
1
small banana shallot or 2 Thai shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
·
Handful
of green beans, chopped into small chunks
·
2
spring onions, chopped into large chunks
·
¼
tsp ground turmeric
·
95g
jasmine or basmati rice, cooked and cooled (240g cooked weight)
·
2
tbsp kecap manis
·
1
and a ½ tsp fish sauce
·
2
tsp light soy sauce
·
Sea
salt and white pepper, to taste
·
Coconut
oil or sunflower oil, for frying
To serve:
·
2
duck or hen’s eggs
·
1
tbsp fried shallots
·
½
long red chilli, thinly sliced
·
Kerupuk
or prawn crackers
Method
1.
Season
the chicken pieces with salt and white pepper. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a
large frying pan or wok over a high heat and fry the chicken until cooked
through, about three minutes. Remove and set aside.
2.
Add
another tablespoon of oil to the pan, add the garlic, galangal or ginger and
shallots and cook over a medium-high heat until fragrant. Add the green beans,
spring onions and turmeric and cook for one minute.
3.
Add
the rice to the pan, breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon. Ensure all the
ingredients are well combined and the rice is warmed through. Return the
chicken to the pan. Season with the kecap manis, fish sauce, light soy sauce
and a large pinch of white pepper, and extra salt if needed.
4.
Meanwhile,
fry the eggs. Place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and
add one tablespoon of oil. Once shimmering, crack the eggs directly into the
oil. Cook for two to three minutes until the whites are partially cooked. Tilt
the pan and spoon the hot oil over the egg whites until they are fully cooked
(I like my yolk runny, but cook yours to your liking). Season with salt.
5.
Divide
the fried rice between two serving plates and garnish with the fried shallots,
sliced chilli and fried eggs on top. Serve with crackers.
Coconut & Sambal: Recipes
From My Indonesian Kitchen by Lara Lee, photography by Louise Hagger and Lara
Lee, is published by Bloomsbury, priced £26.
Lockdown Recipe
of the Day: Curried Mince & Jeera Basmati Rice
By Tony Jackman• 6 August
2020
(Photo: Tony Jackman)
Give a standard
curried mince a lift and a bit of flare by braising key spices in ghee first
and serving it with basmati rice infused with caramelised onion, cumin and
coriander.
Ingredients
Basmati rice, cooked and drained
(as much as you require depending on how many you are serving)
Per 2 servings (adapt quantities as
necessary):
For the rice:
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs cumin seeds
2 Tbs ghee or cooking oil
Handful coriander leaves, finely
chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
For the mince:
3 Tbs ghee or cooking oil
400 g lean beef mince
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
100 g Tomato paste
400 g chopped tomatoes
400 ml water
2 cm piece ginger, grated
1 tsp ground yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground fennel seeds
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 heaped Tbs extra hot Durban
masala (or masala of your choice)
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves for
garnish
Method
For the mince, melt ghee or heat
oil and sauté onions, garlic and grated ginger with all the ground spices. Add
the tomato paste and braise, stirring, for two minutes. Add the chopped
tomatoes and equivalent amount of water, and the masala, and stir to combine.
Add the mince and work it with a wooden spoon so that it does not clump. Season
well with salt. Bring to a simmer and put it on the lowest heat for 50 minutes,
stirring occasionally. Serve with spiced basmati rice.
For the rice, cook basmati rice
according to packet instructions or your favoured method. Drain. Fry the
chopped onions in ghee (clarified butter) or oil with cumin/jeera seeds until
lightly golden. Season. Stir into cooked, drained rice. Finely chop coriander
leaves and stir in immediately before serving. DM/TGIFood
Our Thank God It’s Food newsletter
is sent to subscribers every Friday at 6pm, and published on the TGIFood platform on Daily
Maverick. It’s all about great reads on the themes of food and life.
Subscribe here.
Send your Lockdown Recipes
to tony@dailymaverick.co.za with a hi-resolution horizontal
(landscape) photo.
H1 palay output up, RCEF role debated
August 7, 2020
In
file photo: A farmer uses a hand tractor to plow a rice field before planting
palay seedlings In Tanay, Rizal.
THE country’s palay output in the
first half grew slightly to 8.386 million metric tons (MMT) from 8.269 MMT as
farmers used more “good quality” seeds provided by the government under the
Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
However, industry stakeholders
and experts sounded the alarm that the impact of RCEF is yet to be seen as palay
output this year was lower compared to 2018 and 2017, when additional rice
production interventions like RCEF were absent.
Palay output in the
January-to-June period of 2017 and 2018 was at 8.569 MMT and 8.71 MMT,
respectively, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.
PSA data also showed that palay
output in the second quarter rose by 7 percent to 4.125 MMT from 3.852 MMT
recorded last year.
The Department of Agriculture
(DA) attributed the recovery to farmers using more “good quality” seeds.
Industry stakeholders noted,
however, that dismal palay output in the second quarter last year was due to
the adverse impact of El Niño to rice farms.
Furthermore, despite initial RCEF
interventions such as free high-yielding seeds, palay output in the second
quarter was still lower than the 4.15 MMT recorded output in the April-to-June
period of 2017, based on PSA data.
The second quarter output was
just also slightly higher than the 4.09 MMT output recorded in the same period
of 2018, PSA data showed.
Economist Pablito M. Villegas
said the loss of about 150,000 rice harvest area last year could be a factor to
the paltry performance of the rice sector in the first half.
However, Villegas pointed out
that the RCEF seed interventions may have mitigated somehow the detrimental
impact of the shrinkage in total harvest area.
“Producers respond to price
signals and under the rice trade liberalization law palay prices were depressed
last year. It adversely affected farmers’ planting intentions for the first
quarter and second quarter this year,” he told the BusinessMirror.
“However, this could also be the
initial impact of the RCEF seeds, the positive incremental output. Because
somehow it was able to offset the dramatic decision of farmers not to plant
this year,” he added.
Federation of Free Farmers (FFF)
National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor echoed Villegas’s remarks that buying
prices for palay are still a bigger consideration than RCEF in determining
farmers’ planting intentions.
“I was also intrigued about the
good performance of rain-fed areas during the first semester. I don’t think
many rain-fed areas are included in the RCEF seed program, so the good
performance might have been due to good weather,” Montemayor told the
BusinessMirror.
“And if we analyze the first
semester as a whole – not just second quarter – we performed even worse than in
2018, and only marginally better compared to 2019,” he added.
Montemayor said palay output in
the first half should have been better than 2017 and 2018 production levels due
to RCEF interventions. “So it seems the impact of RCEF was negligible if any,”
he said.
Under the RCEF, which was created
by the RTL law, rice farmers will receive P3 billion worth of high-yielding
seeds for free from 2019 to 2024. Rice farmers would also receive P5 billion
worth of free machinery during the period. The BusinessMirror sought comments
from the DA about the matter but there was no response as of press time.
Image Credits: Bernard Testa
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/08/07/h1-palay-output-up-rcef-role-debated/
Group says farmers lost P75B due to rice
liberalization law
By: Tonette Orejas - @ttorejasINQ
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 03:03 PM August 07,
2020
CITY OF SAN
FERNANDO –– The rice price watch group Bantay Bigas estimated that rice farmers
lost about P75 billion in income in most parts of 2019.
In a
statement, Bantay Bigas Spokesperson Cathy Estavillo on Friday said the figure
was thrice the P27.1-billion the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) calculated
to have been gone due to the effects of Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice
Liberalization Law.
Estavillo
called BSP’s estimates to be “conservative.”
She said the
P75-billion loss was “due to depressed farmgate prices caused by the law.”
“This was
based on the government’s data that last year’s volume of production decreased
by one percent or 250,000 metric tons, and value with 21 percent or P80
billion, as compared to 2018. Moreover, this year’s first-quarter production
dropped by 4 percent or 155,000 metric tons, compared to last year’s,”
Estavillo explained.
Bantay Bigas
has projected the rice self-sufficiency ratio to around 81 percent from 95
percent in 2016 to 86 percent in 2018.
Estavillo
said the BSP monitored the rice sector’s losses from April 2019 to February
2020 and published its findings in the working paper “Deregulation and
Tariffication At Last: The Saga of the Rice Sector Reform in the Philippines.”
Bantay Bigas
also countered that the law gave consumers cheaper rice, pointing out that
regular milled rice fetched more than P40 per kilogram.
State Media Admonish China’s Crawfish-Favoring Rice Farmers
Crawfish and rice are often cultivated together
in the same fields, each benefitting the other. But some farmers in pursuit of
profits are prioritizing aquaculture in violation of a national regulation. 
Aug 07, 2020 3-min
read
Peanut
butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, rice and crawfish: Some pairs just belong
together.
In
China, the abundant crop and the popular crustacean form the perfect marriage,
as they can be cultivated together in the same fields. The country has long
touted the agricultural practice of growing the two species side by side
because of their symbiotic relationship: While crawfish waste is a natural
fertilizer for crops, rice supports the growth of microorganisms that make up
the crustaceans’ main food source.
I can’t guarantee that all of our farmers obey the regulations perfectly,
but we haven’t received any reports of misconduct from the village-level
authorities either.
- Zhang Wei, Qianjiang Agriculture Development Center
The
rice-crawfish system is encouraged in China, and strictly defined partly to
ensure a stable supply of rice. In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs set an upper limit
of 10% for the amount of field space that can be allocated to aquaculture such
as crawfish, with the remaining 90% reserved for growing rice. In a rectangular
rice paddy, the crawfish-filled irrigation ditch surrounding the crop would
account for 10% of the area of the field, while the interior space for rice
would make up the rest.
However,
compared with rice, crawfish are a much more lucrative business. The
animals are easy to raise, and the domestic market has an enormous appetite for
them. Medium-sized crawfish can sell for 30 to 40 yuan ($4.30-$5.70) per
kilogram — almost 20 times the price of rice.
In
recent years, some farmers have carved out larger portions of their fields for
crawfish and given less space to rice. Such violations have caught the
attention of state media, with Xinhua News Agency publishing an article Thursday to
warn about the phenomenon.
“I can’t
guarantee that all of our farmers obey the regulations perfectly, but we
haven’t received any reports of misconduct from the village-level authorities
either,” said Zhang Wei, a staff member at the government-backed Qianjiang
Agriculture Development Center in central China’s Hubei province. “When we go
help farmers set up their fields, we would always tell them about the rules
clearly,” he told Sixth Tone.
Hubei
cultivates more crawfish than any other province of China, and the city
of Qianjiang alone has
over 800,000 mu (533 square kilometers) of
fields dedicated to the rice-crawfish system.
A man sorts crawfish in Huai’an,
Jiangsu province, March 4, 2019. People Visual
Last
year, the agriculture ministry announced a
nationwide “thorough inspection” of integrated rice-farming systems, or the
cultivation of aquacultural alongside rice.
“Some
individuals and businesses lopsidedly pursue profits and overlook social
benefits,” the announcement said, adding that reduced rice yields “affect the
healthy development of the industry.”
According
to Cao Linkui, an ecology professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, farmers
who illegally expand their crawfish-cultivating areas are missing the point of
introducing the crustaceans to rice paddies in the first place, which was to
grow better grain.
“Farmers
will need less chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, and improving the
ecosystem is beneficial for supporting the sustainable development of
agriculture,” Cao, who studies integrated farming, told Sixth Tone.
The price of crawfish fluctuates all the time, but we don’t have
to worry about that as much with the rice as insurance.
- Liu Hui, farm co-op manager
However,
limiting space for crawfish also limits the farmers’ incomes, so Cao proposes
more government assistance to encourage farmers to adopt green practices and
seek “organic” certifications for their rice.
“These
add-ons could increase the market value for good-quality rice, thus providing
greater incentives for farmers to follow the regulations,” Cao said.
Despite
the limited space legally allotted to crawfish, the rice-crawfish system has
lured many prodigal farmers back to their hometowns, according to Zhang.
“Back in
the day, a lot of arable land was just abandoned. Many villagers left their
farms and went to big cities where they could earn more money than by growing
rice. But now, with the additional income from crawfish, some of our poor towns
have managed to rise out of poverty,” Zhang said.
Liu Hui,
who runs a farm co-op of over 1,000 mu of rice-crawfish fields in
Qianjiang, said farms he oversees have been following the 9:1 ratio carefully.
“The
price of crawfish fluctuates all the time, but we don’t have to worry about
that as much with the rice as insurance,” Liu told Sixth Tone. “The price of
rice never crashes.”
Editor:
David Paulk.
(Header image:
A man throws crawfish larvae into a rice paddy in Ankang, Shaanxi province,
Sept. 19, 2018. People Visual)
https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006029/state-media-admonish-chinas-crawfish-favoring-rice-farmers
China Wants People’s Rice Bowls Filled With
Locally Grown Grain
Bloomberg NewsAugust 7, 2020, 1:14 PM GMT+5
·
Country buys farm commodities such as corn and soy from
U.S.
·
Agriculture minister’s comments coincide with rising
tensions
A farmer drives a harvester through a rice paddy on the outskirts
of Wenzhou, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
China stressed the importance of
keeping the people’s “rice bowl” filled with domestically grown grain at a time
when available farmland is shrinking, the weather’s turning more extreme and
imports are cheaper.
“If you have enough grain, you
don’t need to panic,” Agriculture Minister Han Changfu wrote in an opinion
piece in the People’s Daily on Friday. “Chinese people’s rice bowls must always
be held firmly in our own hands, and should be full mainly of Chinese grain.”
The country buys hefty amounts of soybeans, corn, cotton and pork
from the U.S., and the comments come as tensions escalate with Washington over everything
from cyber security to Hong Kong. President Donald Trump has just signed
executive orders prohibiting American residents from doing business with the
Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps beginning 45 days from now.
China, the biggest consumer of agricultural commodities, should
always be self-sufficient in rice and wheat, as well as other cereals, while
maintaining an “appropriate volume” of imports, Han said. The country bought
a record volume of meat last month, and increased
soybean imports to the second highest ever in a bid to secure supplies.
China Tells Farmers the Nation’s Rice Bowl Is in Their Hands
The minister’s opinion piece
appears about a week before a review of the phase-one trade deal with the U.S.
While China has committed to honoring the agreement, purchases of farm products
during the first half of the year were only about 20% of the 2020 target.
Beijing has pledged to take the
most stringent measures to prevent farmland from declining and improve
efficiency as it faces challenges from growing shortages of water and labor.
Young farmers are increasingly moving to the cities from rural areas. The changing
climate has also brought extreme weather, such as flooding, putting years of
bumper harvests at risk.
The government plans to enhance seed varieties for better yields,
and expand the use of machines in grain production, Han said. Among various measures,
China has already given safety approval for domestically developed
genetically modified corn, for the first time in 10 years, in a bid to boost
food security.
— With assistance by Heesu Lee, and Shuping Niu
Satake
develops bread production method with rice flour
08.07.2020
By Susan Reidy
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN — Satake Corp. has
developed a bread production method using rice flour that is capable of
producing an equivalent texture to wheat flour bread without using any of the
seven main allergens, such as wheat, mandatory to list, along with 21 others,
on food products in Japan.
Bread from rice flour has been
studied and developed throughout Japan. Traditionally, however, bread made with
rice flour alone has had a lower viscosity than that with wheat flour,
therefore, it needed to be mixed with wheat-derived gluten to make the dough
rise sufficiently for that wheat bread like texture.
Satake has been working to develop
a new method for producing rice flour bread that is as tasty as those based on
wheat, in an attempt to contribute to further expanding rice consumption in
Japan.
As a substitute for gluten, Satake
focused on research on the thickening polysaccharide. After repeated research
to ensure its effectiveness and safety, Satake has established a manufacturing
method to produce bread that is as expansive as regular wheat flour bread. The
production method is currently patent pending.
This unique bread production method
uses only rice flour, sugar, salt, oil, yeast, and thickening polysaccharide.
Since the bread does not contain any of the 28 ingredients currently mandated
or recommended by the Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency to be listed on the food
product packaging, consumers with food intolerances, such as wheat allergy, can
enjoy eating without worries.
When baking, the dough rises to the
same level as wheat flour bread and has a fluffy, light texture. This allows
families or even the food and hotel industry to serve the bread without
concerns about allergic reactions. Furthermore, the rice flour bread dough is
softer than that of wheat flour, and rises in a shorter time, meaning the
production time can be shortened by about 50% when compared to that of wheat
flour bread — approximately 120 minutes from mixing to finished baking.
Satake plans to provide the method
and technology to bread producers to promote rice flour bread for
hotel/restaurant meals, school lunches, emergency rations, and a sixth
industrialization by utilizing locally grown rice.
https://www.world-grain.com/articles/14073-satake-develops-bread-production-method-with-rice-flour
GIEWS Country Brief: Mexico 07-August-2020
Source
Posted:7
Aug 2020
Originally
published
7
Aug 2020
Origin
Attachments
FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT
Planting of 2020 main maize and paddy crops ongoing under dry weather
conditions
Cereal import requirements in 2019/20 marketing year anticipated at record
highs
Prices of black beans well above year‑earlier values
Planting of 2020 main maize and paddy crops ongoing under dry weather
conditions
Harvesting of the 2020
minor season maize crop is nearly completed and production, despite a slight
reduction in plantings, is estimated at an average level of 8.2 million tonnes.
The harvest of the 2020 main season wheat crop, which accounts for 95 percent
of the total annual production, also finalized. Production is estimated at 2.9
million tonnes, nearly 20 percent lower than the previous five‑year average.
The low output reflects the continuous contraction in the planted area in the
last five years as farmers have shifted to crops that are more profitable.
Furthermore, the limited availability of irrigation water during the planting
period curtailed the planted area.
Planting of the 2020 main season maize and paddy crops is underway and the
key producing central‑western areas are experiencing moderate soil moisture
deficits due to the below‑average rainfall amounts in the June‑July period.
Weather forecasts point to average to above‑average rainfall amounts during the
August‑October period, which is expected to replenish soil moisture and be
favourable for crop growth.
The Ministry of Agriculture continues to support smallholder farmers for
the second consecutive year by purchasing maize, beans, wheat, rice and fresh
milk at fixed prices that are higher than the market prices. In addition, in
order to boost domestic maize production, the Ministry will implement
guaranteed prices for medium‑sized farms (up to 50 hectares).
Cereal import requirements in 2019/20 marketing year anticipated at record
highs
Cereal import requirements are officially forecast at 24.4 million tonnes
in the 2019/20 marketing year (October/September), an all‑time high and about
20 percent above the five‑year average. The increase mainly reflects the
increased demand of yellow maize by the feed industry, compounded by higher
import needs of wheat grain and flour following the reduced harvests in 2019
and 2020.
Prices of white maize and black beans started to decline since May
Prices of white maize and black beans increased sharply in March and April,
reflecting the increased domestic demand and a significant depreciation of the
domestic currency amid the COVID‑19 pandemic. Prices of maize declined since
May due to increased market availabilities from the harvest of the minor season
crop, and as of June 2020, they were near their year‑earlier levels. Prices of
beans only slightly decreased in May and were nearly 40 percent higher year on
year. Prices of rice remained stable during the first half of 2020 and were
similar to a year earlier in June.
vhttps://reliefweb.int/report/mexico/giews-country-brief-mexico-07-august-2020
Area covered under rice 47.60 lakh ha more and under oilseeds 24.33
lakh ha more in comparison to last year
August 7, 2020
New Delhi: The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and
Farmers Welfare, Government of India is taking several measures to facilitate
the farmers and farming activities at field level during COVID 19 pandemic.
There has been satisfactory progress of sowing area coverage under Kharif crops,
the status of which is given as under:
Rice: About 321.79 lakh ha area coverage under rice as compared
to 274.19 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Thus 47.60
lakh ha more area has been covered compared to last year.
Pulses: About 119.59 lakh ha area coverage under pulses as
compared to 114.77 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Thus
4.82 lakh ha more area has been covered compared to last year.
Coarse Cereals: About 160.43 lakh ha area coverage under coarse
cereals as compared to 154.77 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last
year. Thus 5.66 lakh ha more area has been covered compared to last year.
Oilseeds: About 181.07 lakh ha area coverage under oilseeds as
compared to 156.75 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Thus
24.33 lakh ha more area has been covered last year.
Sugarcane: About 51.95 lakh ha area coverage under sugarcane as
compared to 51.33 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Thus
0.62 lakh ha more area has been covered compared to last year.
Jute & Mesta: About 6.95 lakh ha area coverage under jute
&mesta as compared to 6.85 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last
year. Thus 0.10 lakh ha more area has been covered compared to last year.
Cotton: About 123.64 lakh ha area coverage under cotton as
compared to 118.73 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Thus
4.90 lakh ha more area has been covered compared to last year.
As on 06.08.2020, actual rainfall received in the country is
505.7 mm against normal of 507.3 mm during the period from 01.06.2020 to
06.08.2020 and as reported by Central Water Commission, the live water storage
available in 123 reservoirs in the country is 108% of live storage of
corresponding period of last year and 94% of storage of average of last ten
years.
$220 m earned from broken rice
export to 58 countries in over nine months
PUBLISHED 7
AUGUST 2020
Myanmar
has earned over US$220 million from export of over 830,000 tons of broken rice
to 58 countries over the past nine months this fiscal year with the largest
amount going to Belgium, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation.
From
October 1 to July 17 in the current 2019-2020 fiscal year, 839,956.677 tons of
broken rice worth US$224.818 million were exported to 58 countries. Of the
total amount, over 220,000 tons worth over US$56 million went to Belgium, over
154,000 tons worth over US$40 million to Senegal, over 143,000 tons worth over
US$41 million to China, over 100,000 tons worth over US$30 million to Indonesia
and over 30,000 tons worth over US$7 million to the Netherlands.
Myanmar
exports rice through both maritime and border trade routes. Maritime route is
used for Europe, Africa and China while the border route is used for
neighbouring countries including China.
Some
countries have offered to buy rice from Myanmar, according to the Ministry of
Commerce.
Deputy
Minister for Commerce Aung Htoo said: “Over two million tons of rice were
yearly exported and it is targeted to reach about 2.5 million tons this year.”
Govt’s decision
on Bernas’ extension considers impacts on Malaysia’s food chainFriday, August
7th, 2020 at , Economy | News
The concession will ensure all aspects across
the supply chain will be in good hands, including improving on the SSL for
paddy
by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH/ pic by MUHD AMIN
NAHARUL
THE government’s decision to retain Padiberas
Nasional Bhd (Bernas) as the sole concessionaire in managing Malaysia’s rice
supply considers the risk to the food chain, should the concession be passed on
to an unfitted entity.
Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk
Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee (picture; second from left) said
extending Bernas’ concession will ensure that all aspects across the supply
chain will be in good hands which will improve the country’s self-sufficiency
level (SSL) for paddy.
“The decision was made according to all aspects
of paddy farming, including the livelihood of Malaysian farmers, our current
level of the stockpile, the SSL and the industry as a whole.
“Thus, maintaining the single gatekeeper
mechanism (SGM) and Bernas is the best way to proceed,” he said at the National
Farmers, Livestock Breeders and Fishermen Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur
yesterday.
In a response to a question during a Parliament
session on Tuesday, Ronald said Bernas’ concession as the single gatekeeper for
rice imports will be extended for an undecided duration.
He said in the reply that the government is
currently finalising the terms and conditions of the extension agreement,
adding that Bernas will have to fulfil more social obligations in addition to
the terms stated in the previous contract.
Bernas — through the SGM — was appointed as the
guardian for the country’s rice management to prevent a food crisis and be the
buffer in the event of it.
The local rice industry has been solely managed
through the SGM for the past four decades to prevent excessive profiteering and
ensure constant supplies.
The government extended Bernas’ concession in
2011 to manage the country’s rice supply for 10 years. The current concession
will end in January next year.
Separately, Ronald said the National Agro-Food
Policy (NAFP) 2.0, which is currently being fine-tuned by the ministry, will
include ramping up the utilisation of modern technology and encouraging
automation, as well as mechanisation adoption.
“As the continuation of the current policy,
NAFP 2.0 will be focusing on transforming the agricultural sector into a modern
industry that uses advanced technologies with the application of mechanisation
and automation.
“Through our agencies, the government has been
working with banks to monitor and facilitate loans regarding these
implementations, so that our industry does not get held back by financing,” he
said.
Ronald added that the utilisation of advanced
technology could increase youth participation in the country’s rice farming
activities.
In easing the impact of the pandemic, the
government has allocated some funds for the agricultural industry through the
economic stimulus package, the Prihatin Rakyat economic stimulus package and
the National Economic Recovery Plan.
Under Prihatin, RM190 million has been
provisioned for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries to be channelled
to its agencies, including the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (FOA), which has
received a total of RM62 million.
FOA said the allocation will be utilised for
the upgrading of the machinery under the authorities which will allow the
machines’ lifespan to expand by three to five years and benefit about 65,000
paddy farmers in the country.
Severe drought
takes toll on 40,000ha rice crops across country
Khouth Sophak Chakrya | Publication date 06 August
2020 | 23:07 ICT
Share
The irrigation canal in Banteay Meanchey province turns dry.
Drought has destroyed over 40,000ha of rice crops in Battambang, Banteay
Meanchey and other provinces while water sources across the country continued
to dry up, further threatening its survival. Supplied
Drought has destroyed over
40,000ha of rice crops in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and other provinces
while water sources across the country continued to dry up, further threatening
its survival.
A high-ranking official from the
National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said on Thursday it will be
difficult to pump enough water to affected areas.
NCDM adviser Keo Vy told The Post
the damaged rice crops were planted by farmers in May and June and farmers
expected to harvest in August or September. But climate change has altered the
schedule.
“Meanwhile, over 40,000ha of rice
crops in Cambodia are in danger due to water shortages while another 5,000ha
have been damaged,” Vy said.
He said the provinces most
affected are Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Kampong Thom.
While these regions face water
shortages, others like the Cardamom Mountains and Northeast Plateau have been
hit by fierce storms, including three Sinlaku or small typhoons, which cause
severe regional flooding.
Despite the deluge, farmers say
rainfall density is still low and a reason for concern.
Battambang provincial Department
of Agriculture director Chhim Vachira told The Post on Thursday that drought in
the past weeks seriously damaged 17,981ha of rice crops in, Bavel, Thma Koul
and Banan districts and 1,000ha were wiped out. Farmers are trying to replant.
“There was rain in some parts of
Bavel and Thma Koul districts on Wednesday, but rainfall density is still low. It
is a concern for us in being able to pump water to rescue rice crops,” he said.
Banteay Meanchey provincial
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries director Pang Vannaseth told
The Post in July that 3,030ha of rice crops in Mongkol Borei and Sisophon were
damaged entirely and another 6,600ha in Mongkol Borei seriously damaged from a
lack of rain.
“We hope that rain will save all
these rice crops,” Vannaseth said.
Kampong Thom provincial
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries director Pen Vannarith said
on Thursday that up until August 4, farmers in Kampong Thom planted rice crops
during the rainy season on 207,038ha.
This is equal to 97.06 per cent
of the 213,300ha in the cultivated land plan, but a decrease of 8,260ha from
the same period last year.
It is predicted that drought
conditions will increase in some areas around Sekong River, Sesan River and
Srepok River in the northeast part of Cambodia, a report by the Mekong River
Commission (MRC), cited by AKP press on Thursday said.
The MRC’s Regional Flood and
Drought Management Centre said there will be a severe drought in the coming
weeks that will cause serious drought in some areas of Ratanakkiri, Mondulkiri,
Stung Treng and Kratie provinces, said the report.
Vietnam
exports 3.9 million tonnes of rice in seven months
VietReader
Illustrative image (Photo:
VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam exported
3.9 million tonnes of rice, earning 1.9 billion USD, in the first seven months
of this year, according to the Department of Agro Processing and Market
Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development.
Export
volume fell 1.4 percent but increased by 10.9 percent in value over
the same period last year.
The
department also said that in the first half of this year, the Philippines
ranked first in Vietnam’s rice export market with nearly 37 percent of total
rice exports.
Vietnam
exported 1.4 million tonnes of rice to the Philippines, raking in 635 million
USD, up 13.3 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively, over the same period last
year.
Other
markets with strong growth in rice exports included Senegal (up 19.6 times),
Indonesia (2.8 times) and China (nearly 90 percent).
Vietnam’s
average rice export price in the first six months hit 487.6
USD per tonne, 13 percent higher than the same period in 2019./. VNA
https://vietreader.com/business/9977-vietnam-exports-39-million-tonnes-of-rice-in-seven-months.html
Asian rice
market: Vietnam pushes the peak of export price
VietReader
While
the increase in demand pushes the Vietnam rice rate, the strengthening
domestic currency of Thailand deprives its rice consumption.
Vietnam’s
5% broken rice prices rose to $470 per tonne on Thursday, their highest since
mid-June, from $440-$450 last week, said Reuters.
Illustrative
image (Photo: VNA)
“Supplies
are running low as the summer-autumn harvest has come to an end,” a trader
based in Ho Chi Minh City said, adding that local traders have also been
hoarding the grain in anticipation of higher prices, reported Reuters.
“Traders
have been focusing mainly on fulfilling their export contracts signed earlier
with Cuba, Malaysia and the Philippines.”
Vietnam
will start sowing the autumn-winter crop, and the next harvest won’t begin
until October, other traders said.
According
to some experts, Vietnam may surpass Thailand in rice exports.
This
June, Vietnam has won the deal of exporting 60,000 tons of rice supply to
the Philippines on the order from the government. This is a part of
300,000 tons of rice to serve national food security under the impact of
COVID-19.
Apart
from allocating a quota of 20,000 tonnes of rice to all members of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO) this year, the Republic of Korea had given
a quota of 55,112 tonnes of rice for Vietnam, reported VNA.
Statistics
of the Thai Rice Exporters Association show that Thailand exported 2.57
million tonnes of rice worth 54.2 billion THB (1.71 billion USD) in the first
five months of this year, down 31.9 percent on volume and 13.2 percent in value
year-on-year.
Meanwhile,
Vietnam shipped nearly 2.9 million tonnes of rice for 1.41 billion USD in the
reviewed period, up 5.1 percent in volume and 18.9 percent in value, according
to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
In
Thailand, benchmark 5% broken rice prices were quoted at $463-$485, little
changed from $465-$483 last week, according to Reuters.
“The
strong baht (against the U.S. dollar) has really kept the price of Thai rice
higher than our competitors and deterred buyers,” a Bangkok-based trader
said.
Experts
forecast that Thailand is likely to fall from the third to the fifth place in
the list of global rice exporters in the next decade unless the country adopts
long-term policies to increase the competitiveness of the staple, according to
VNA.
Other
Asian countries are suffering from the risk of food security due to coronavirus
and catastrophe.
India’s
rice exporters are struggling to fulfill orders due to the limited availability
of containers and workers at mills and the country’s biggest rice handling port
due to surging coronavirus cases, according to Reuters.
“Loading
is still limited at Kakinada port due to labor shortage,” said an exporter
based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
In
Bangladesh, the longest-running floods in over two decades have submerged
nearly 80,000 hectares of paddy fields, according to officials from the
agriculture ministry shared on Reuters.
Asian rice market: Vietnam pushes the peak of export price
Seabird Poop Is Worth More Than $1 Billion
Annually
Scientists put a price tag on guano’s global benefits, which range from
agricultural fertilizer to coral reef enricher
Guano stains the cliffs of a gannet breeding colony
in Shetland (Education Images/Universal Images Group
via Getty Images)
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
AUGUST 7, 2020 9:32AM
When Don Lyons, director of the
Audubon Society’s Seabird Restoration Program visited a small inland valley in
Japan, he found a local variety of rice colloquially called “cormorant rice.”
The grain got its moniker not from its size or color or area of origin, but
from the seabirds whose
guano fertilized the
paddies in the valley. The birds nested in the trees around the dammed ponds
used to irrigate the rice fields, where they could feed on small fish stocked
in the reservoirs. Their excrement, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, washed
into the water and eventually to the paddies, where it fertilized the crop.
The phenomenon that Lyons
encountered is not a new one—references to the value of bird guano can be found
even in the Bible, and
an entire industry in
South America grew around the harvesting of what many called “white gold.” What
is new is that scientists have now calculated an exact value for seabird poop.
This week, researchers published a study in Trends
in Ecology and Evolution that estimates the value of seabird
nutrient deposits at up to $1.1 billion annually. “I see that [many] people
just think you care about something when it brings benefits, when they can see
the benefits,” says Daniel Plazas-Jiménez, study author and researcher at the
Universidade Federal de Goiás in Brazil. “So, I think that is the importance of
communicating what seabirds do for humankind.”
Given that 30 percent of the
species of seabirds included in the study are threatened, the authors argue
that the benefits the birds provide—from fertilizing crops to boosting the
health of coral reefs—should prompt global conservation efforts. Government and
interested parties can help seabirds by reducing birds accidently caught during
commercial fishing, reducing the human overfishing that depletes the birds’
primary food source and working to address climate change since rising seas
erode the birds’ coastal habitats and warming waters cause the birds’ prey fish
to move unpredictably.
To show the benefits seabirds
provide, Plazas-Jiménez and his coauthor Marcus Cianciaruso, an ecologist at
Goiás, set out to put a price tag on the animals’ poop. Scientists and
economists lack sufficient data on the direct and indirect monetary gains from
guano. So the ecologists had to get creative; they used a replacement cost
approach. They estimated the value of the ecological function of bird poop as
an organic fertilizer against the cost of replacing it with human-made chemical
fertilizers.
Guano bags ready for distribution and sale in Lima, Peru (Photo by Manuel Medir/Getty Images)
Not all seabirds produce guano,
which is desiccated, or hardened, excrement with especially high nitrogen and
phosphoric content, so the authors took a two-step process to figure out how
much waste the birds produce. First, the authors calculated the potential
amount of poop produced annually by guano-producing seabirds based on
population size data. They valued the guano based on the mean international
market price of Peruvian and Chilean guano, which represented the highest-grossing
product. Next the scientists estimated the value produced by
non-guano-producing seabirds, who also excrete nitrogen and phosphorus. The
researchers valued the chemicals based on the cost of inorganic nitrogen and
phosphorus traded on the international market. The primary value of the poop
based on replacement costs was around $474 million.
The scientists then estimated
that ten percent of coral reef stocks depend on nutrients from seabirds, a back
of the envelope number that they admit needs more study. Since the annual
economic return of commercial fisheries on Caribbean reefs, Southeast Asian
reefs and the Great Barrier Reefs is $6.5 billion, the scientists estimated
secondary economic benefits from seabird guano to be at least $650 million.
That brought the estimated total benefit of guano up to $1.1 billion.
Still, that number, Lyons says,
is likely a pretty significant underestimate since there are secondary benefits
to not producing chemical fertilizers. “Another aspect of that is the
replacement product, fertilizers, are generally derived from petroleum
products,” says Lyons. “And so, there's a climate angle to this—when we can use
more natural nutrient cycling and not draw on earth reserves, that’s a definite
bonus.”
Though the billion dollar-plus
price on poop is impressive, it is likely much lower than the comparative value
before seabird numbers declined over the past roughly 150 years. The richness of guano in
South America, particularly on the nation’s Chincha Islands, has been
documented for centuries. Birds nest along the island’s granite cliffs where
their excrement builds up and the hot, dry climate keeps it from breaking down.
At one point, an estimated 60 million birds—including
guanay cormorants, boobies and pelicans—built 150-foot-high mounds of poop. The
Incans were the first to recognize guano’s agricultural benefits, supposedly decreeing death to those who harmed
the seabirds.
By the early 1840s, guano became
a full-blown industry; it was commercially mined, transported and sold in Germany,
France, England and the United States. The 1856 Guano Islands Act authorized one of the
United States’ earliest imperial land grabs outside of North America, stating
that the nation could claim any island with seabird guano, as long as there
were no other claims or inhabitants. This paved the way for major exploitation and
the establishment of Caribbean, Polynesian and Chinese slave labor to work the “white gold” mines.
The industry crashed around 1880
and revived in the early 20th century. Today, interest in guano is resurgent as
consumer demand for organic agriculture and food processing has risen. However,
only an estimated 4 million seabirds
now live on the Chincha islands, drastically reducing the amount of guano
produced. This loss is part of a global trend. According to one study, the
world’s monitored seabird populations have dropped 70 percent since the 1950s.
The decline of seabird
populations, says Plazas-Jiménez, is devastating to local cultures that have
used the organic fertilizers for generations, local economies that depend on
fisheries, and the world’s biodiversity. One study found that guano nutrient
run-off into the waters of the Indian Ocean increasing coral reef fish stocks
by 48 percent. Another study found
that dissolved values of phosphate on coral reefs in Oahu, Hawaii, were higher
where seabird colonies were larger and helped to offset nutrient depletion in
the water caused by human activities.
Improving the health of coral
reefs is important. Roughly a quarter of ocean fish depend on nutrient-rich
reefs to survive. And seabirds’ contributions to coral reef health provide
ecosystem services beyond increasing fish stocks; they also drive revenue
through tourism and coastline resilience. Coral reefs function as important
natural bulkheads protecting remote island and coastal communities from storm
erosion and rising water. “It's really compelling to think in terms of billions
of dollars, but this is also a phenomenon that happens very locally,” says
Lyons. “And there are many examples of where unique places wouldn’t be that way
without this nutrient cycling that seabirds bring.”
Like
this article? SIGN
UP for our
newsletter
