Black Rice and Black Wheat Cultivation in Bihar;
Success Story of Progressive Farmers
Abhijeet Banerjee 1 October, 2020 12:29 PM IST
Black rice is one of the most exotic and
nutritious rice variety and it has started gaining consumers’ attention
globally in last few years. The demand for Black Rice is
increasing in Indian markets as well. This variety of Rice has
a deep black color and usually after cooking the color changes
into deep purple. This phenomenon is mainly due to presence
of anthocyanin, which is available higher in greater percentage than
other colored grains. Black Rice is suitable for creating porridge, dessert, traditional
Chinese black rice cake, bread and noodles. This type
of rice comes from the species of Oryza sativa, some of which
are glutinous rice. Varieties include Indonesian black rice,
Philippine balatina rice, and Thai jasmine black rice. Black
rice is known as chak-hao in Manipur, where desserts made from
black rice are served at major feasts.
Black
Rice Success Story:
The numerous health benefits associated with
this rice in addition to opportunity for generating decent return from its
cultivation has encouraged farmers of different states to take up the
cultivation of Black Rice. Today we shall be covering on the success
stories of Black Rice in the state of Bihar. Lot of farmers in
Bihar have successfully opted black rice over the conventional
white rice this year. There are reports
of progressive farmers in Bihar growing black
rice, boosting their incomes and thinking
of innovation in the farming sector, by giving up
traditional cropping patterns,
and seeking better farming options.
Initially most growers were not sure about the
fate of the Black rice crop but interactions and guidance from
scientists, along with acquiring knowledge on the nutritional value of the
black rice; they decided to try growing it in half an acre of
land. This was a successful venture for most of the growers who then
encouraged their village members/peers to take up cultivation of Black
Rice. The successful farmers even sent the seeds across India
for cultivation purpose hence making this farming popular in the
country. This is a history for these progressive farmers -
since from Bihar it is the first time that any farm
produce has been sent outside the state.
Related
Links
·
The
Amazing Health Benefits of Eating Black Rice
Black Wheat
Success Story:
Like Black Rice the progressive farmers in
Bihar have also tried cultivating black wheat variety and were
successful in this venture as well. Experts have confirmed that black
wheat is rich in anti-oxidants and good for diabetic people, along with other
health benefits. Black wheat farming in Bihar had also given good returns
to the progressive farmers as per sources. Known for its high nutritional
value, Black Wheat is a source of iron, vitamin E, antioxidants, calcium,
magnesium and zinc. It is very effective for lifestyle disorders like
diabetes, inflammatory disorders and obesity, also useful in managing blood
cholesterol level. The plant pigment present in this wheat
is anthocyanin which is a very well-known antioxidant. Our
body produces harmful free radicals therefore Black Wheat becomes useful in
fighting against free radical induced diseases like cancer. Additionally,
it has high concentration of micronutrients like iron and zinc, and the Iron
content is roughly 60 percent more than normal wheat. The
percentage of protein, nutrients and starch are nearly the same as in
normal wheat. Therefore in terms of health, black wheat scores better than the
normal wheat.
Association
with NGO brings Desirable Results:
In last few years, nearly 5,000 farmers in
Bihar had got associated with “Awaz Ek Pahal”, an NGO
working to change the farming habits of farmers for the last few
years. This NGO also helps Growers to cultivate exotic fruits like
kiwis, dragon fruit, strawberries etc. Lots of farmers
associated with this NGO, have made serious efforts to interact
with farmers with the objective to bring innovations to the
sector. Scientists were invited for
visits for explaining methods of Black Rice/Black
wheat farming and also sharing necessary knowledge. Training from
scientists was also on the Agenda list. Those who had successfully grown
the varieties Black rice and Black wheat were then invited to share
their experiences, and this help the farmers to get convinced to a
great extent, in taking up cultivation of the above-mentioned varieties.
Farmers from different villages have confirmed that the growers got profitable
results in using small portion of their land for cultivating Black Rice
and Black Wheat varieties.
The farming community feedback for black rice
grown in half an acre is quite encouraging as most of the farmers have
received better returns. Similarly, lots of black wheat growers could get
higher output, from which they could keep some portion for their family and
near ones while selling rest of the variety and receiving handsome gains against
their production cost. Even there are reports
of some farmers in Bihar, doubling their income
in farming of Black Rice as well as Black Wheat this year.
Bayer's Singapore R&D lab helps
Asian farmers
The crop science seeds laboratory here is the regional hub for
Asia Pacific.
FRI, OCT 02, 2020 - 5:50 AM
The Singapore team uses cutting edge genetics and data science to
positively impact smallholder farmer lives and livelihoods, says Mr
Hartmann.
PHOTO: BAYER
ALTHOUGH Singapore is not a rice
growing country, pioneering research by a leading German chemicals company on
the major Asian crop is being done here and it is benefiting millions of
farmers in the Asia-Pacific region.
Bayer, which is a global
enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and
nutrition, has a crop science seeds laboratory in Singapore as part of its
R&D setup.
"Aligned with Bayer's
vision: 'Health for all, Hunger for none', the focus of Bayer's Crop Science
Seeds laboratory contributes to our goal of developing new crop hybrids that
enable smallholder farmers in the Asia Pacific region to manage the challenge
of growing enough food sustainably while feeding a growing population as
climate change makes growing crops increasingly more difficult," says Jens
Hartmann, the Singapore-based head of Region APAC for the Crop Science Division
of Bayer.
Bayer's Singapore seeds
laboratory, set up in 2008, is the regional hub for Asia Pacific in the
company's global network of crop science research and development (R&D)
centres as a site dedicated to agriculture.
"R&D can help increase
the productivity, sustainability and value of crops for farmers and consumers
through continuous improvements in yield, climate resilience and disease and
pest protection. The Singapore seeds lab team uses cutting edge genetics and
data science to tackle these challenges and positively impacts smallholder
farmer lives and livelihoods every day," says Mr Hartmann.
The seeds lab helps small farmers
simplify their production activities and increase their yield and yield
security by developing hybrid seeds with new features that withstand droughts,
floods, pests and diseases. Giving crops the armour to thrive in difficult
climates means the lab is helping farmers to develop their businesses and to
grow more food for their communities.
One example is the hybrid rice
seed variety of Arize, which was bred with resistance against brown plant
hopper insects and bacterial leaf blight disease, both of which cause
devastating crop losses.
"So far, around 1.7 million
smallholder farmers have benefited from our pioneering work on hybrid rice.
When you consider that around 3.2 billion people worldwide depend on the grain
for more than a fifth of their daily calories, the value of hybrid rice and
similar advances through innovative R&D at Bayer becomes clear.
Importantly, this research and development into rice helps us contribute to the
United Nations Zero Hunger Challenge, which aims to eliminate all forms of
malnutrition by 2030," says Mr Hartmann.
The seeds lab here with a
headcount of eight is one of Bayer's nine laboratory-based innovation centres
on crop science. The scientists' tasks include genetic screening for innovative
agronomic and quality traits that naturally occur in plants and integrating
them into new crop hybrids through plant breeding.
In an interesting development,
Bayer teamed up with Temasek in August to form a new company, Unfold, which
will focus on innovation in vegetable varieties with the goal of lifting
vertical farming to the next level of quality, efficiency and sustainability.
While most startups in the
vertical farming market are focusing on the development of more efficient
infrastructure, Unfold plans to unlock the genetic potential of vertical
farming. Using seed genetics from vegetable crops, Unfold will focus on
developing new seed varieties coupled with agronomic advice tailored for the indoor
environment of vertical farms.
Singapore is Bayer's
Asia Pacific headquarters for the
pharmaceuticals, crop science and consumer health divisions. Its Asean country
group platform is also based here. The company has almost 400 employees here,
representing a diverse group of both local and international talent.
In fiscal 2019, Bayer employed
around 104,000 people worldwide and had sales of 43.5 billion euros (S$70
billion). It invested 5.3 billion euros in R&D.
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The Genius Of ATMs Serving Pizza And Rice During
Covid-19
490 views|Sep 27, 2020,07:00am EDT
Alex
LedsomSenior
Contributor
I
write about travel, culture, food & drink.
A vending machine selling pizza
in Toronto, Canada
TORONTO STAR VIA GETTY IMAGES
ATMs are increasingly becoming a
way of life for distributing more than just bottled water, canned drinks and
chocolate bars. Many swimming pools sell swimsuits and goggles through
automated machines and it has been one of the most efficient ways of selling
sanitary products in toilets for decades. The
largest cemetery in Zurich, Switzerland has a machine which distributes rosaries
and condolence cards.
Vending machines can distribute
all sorts of food without needing customers to come into contact with the
people who have prepared it–think
of eggs from a machine in Aptos, California (18 eggs in exchange for
four dollar bills), pecan
pie in Cedar Creek, Texas, and chocolate-filled
crepes in Kobayashi, Japan (for 200 yen or $2 each).
It can work for hot food too.
PizzaForno has 20 locations in Toronto, Canada, where they make several flavors
of pizza and take them to the machine uncooked. The customer then selects the
pizza, pays and waits, while the oven cooks it or customers select the cold
option and take it home to cook later. ATM
pizza machines are also common sitings in Singapore.
Some products are more
stereotypical–in Île de Ré in France, there
is a machine which sells fresh oysters 24-hours a day and goes the extra mile by
adding in other culinary delights, such as paté, sea asparagus and even entire
pre-cooked meals. And in Belgium, home to the frite or french
fry, there is a 24-hour vending machine for potatoes.
Atlas Obscura reported that many farm shops are
increasingly adding a vending machine as an annexe to the farm shop, to make
money when it’s closed, but also to make sure that all produce is sold before
it perishes.
Or follow the idea of one
entrepreneur who has dotted
the island state of Singapore with Norwegian salmon ATMs. He has cut out stores, staff
and distributors and sells fillets direct to customers for S$5.90 ($4.25) and
the fish stays fresh for up to 2 years because the machine keeps them at -4
degrees F or -20 degrees C.
Pre-pandemic, from Germany to
Scotland, vending machines were commonly found selling everything from
strawberries to freshly-made bread.
A cupcake ATM in New York City
GETTY IMAGES
Vending machines come into their
own in a pandemic
Vending machines can also be a
lifeline for distributing food to refugees, displaced people and the food
insecure–The
United Nation’s World Food Program (WFP) and World Vision International (WVI)
are piloting ATMs in refugee camps in East Africa, which
dispense locally sourced foods like cereals.
In 2020, under pandemic
conditions, authorities in Indonesia have rolled out ATMs distributing free
rice to those in need. Reuters reported in May that 10 machines in
Jakarta were providing 1.5 tonnes of rice for around 1,000 residents every day.
A resident receives free rice at
an ATM in Indonesia in 2020
SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
In April, Bloomberg reported
on queues that
were hundreds of people long–all maintaining social distancing rules–waiting
for a twice-daily distribution of 1.5 kg of rice via an ATM in Ho Chi Minh,
Vietnam. The service has been vital for the 5 million people who have lost jobs
or been furloughed as a result of the pandemic.
In Kansas City in April the
owners of Jones Bar-B-Q took delivery of a vending machine that had been ordered the
winter before but “couldn’t have come at a better time.” Customers can drive
up, socially distanced from one another and the staff, and order one of seven
items–chicken wings, turkey, rib tips and burnt ends (the crispy charred bits
of brisket which are a local speciality). The machine is stocked between 5am
and 10am when they come off the smoker, the pay is contactless and service is
steady, providing an ideal pandemic-friendly food service for a small business.
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me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.
I
have lived in Provence ever since I exchanged my London city life for the south
of France. I have a background in research, business and finance.
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USA Rice Pushes for Rural Access to Technology
WASHINGTON,
DC -- USA Rice, and a host of other agricultural organizations, joined
the Keep
GPS Working Coalition this week to protect Global Positioning System
(GPS) from widespread interference. The coalition was formed in response
to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to permit Ligado
Networks to operate a wireless network in a band adjacent to GPS, threatening
the reception capability of GPS devices.
Coalition members heard from both sides of the
aisle on a media call Thursday with House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin
Peterson (D-MN) and Representative G.T. Thompson (R-PA) expressing their
support for the coalition and the importance of the technology to the
agriculture industry.
"The use of GPS is a critical tool used
widely and regularly by many rice farmers," said Nicole Montna Van Vleck,
California rice farmer and USA Rice Farmers chair. "USA Rice is
proud to be a member of the Keep GPS Working Coalition and will continue
working on this issue to protect the integrity of GPS."
USA Rice participates in several industry
coalitions related to rural access to technology, and recently joined Connect
Americans Now (CAN), a coalition that pushes for increased broadband coverage
for rural Americans.
"Broadband is essential to running a modern
farming operation," said Van Vleck. "Better access increases
our efficiency and productivity as we work hard to supply America with great
U.S.-grown rice." 
Source: USA Rice Daily
Hit by crop failure, Tiruvannamalai
farmers let cattle graze in paddy fields
The farmers had chosen the wrong season for the variety-5 paddy
which is photosynthetic sensitive, the agricultural experts had said.
Published: 01st October 2020
09:15 PM | Last Updated: 01st October 2020 09:15
PM
Cattle are let graze the
unproductive paddy in Tiruvannamalai (Photo | EPS/ S Dinesh)
Express News Service
TIRUVANNAMALAI: Several rice producers at Arni and its adjoining
places in the Tiruvannamalai district have let cattle graze the unproductive
paddy.
,
Farmers, who had opted for the paddy variety-5 developed in neighbouring Andhra
Pradesh, have been the worst-hit in the district as they could not get the
yield even after 180 days have passed since sowing.
With an eye on a bumper production, they sowed this variety
without aware of the suitable environmental conditions.
“I cultivated paddy variety-5 in my 8-acre farm. Now, about 180
days have passed. I could get only 3 bags (each weighing 75 kg) of yield per
acre,” laments S Parthasarathi, a farmer of Ayyampettai.
As they could not afford to hire a machine to remove the
unproductive crop, several farmers have let the cattle graze. “We are not able
to hire a machine to remove the crop, so we are allowing cattle to graze,”
another farmer says.
The farmers have incurred a loss in the range of Rs. 15,000 to Rs.
20,000 per acre due to crop loss.
Agriculture and Seed Certification department officials have
already studied the crop with the help of scientists from the Agricultural
College and Research Institute, Vazhavachanur, to find out the exact reasons
for the crop failure.
“We have already conducted a field study to find out the reasons.
Again two scientists are roped in for further investigations,” Deputy Director
of Seeds, G Somu, said.
The well-grown paddy plants had suffered a failure of panicle
initiation due to unsuitable environmental conditions.
The farmers had chosen the wrong season for the variety-5 paddy
which is photosynthetic sensitive, the agricultural experts had said.
However, the DD claimed that farmers in certain places had taken
better yield from this particular variety.
This variety was grown in 196 acres of land in certain parts of
Tiruvannamalai including Arni, Polur,
and Mandakolathur.
The affected farmers are expecting the government to provide them
financial assistance to tackle the huge loss but officials said there is little
scope for it.
“Since they had purchased the seed variety from a private dealer,
the government can’t arrange them compensation for the loss,” a top officer of
the Agriculture department said.
:https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/oct/01/hit-by-crop-failure-tiruvan
LGUs, private firms told to buy local rice, corn
Published October 2, 2020, 6:00 AM
With prices of the country’s two main
staple foods significantly down weeks ahead of the peak harvest season, the
Department of Agriculture (DA) is making another appeal to provincial local
government units (LGUs) and the private sector to buy palay and corn directly
from farmers.
Farm
workers thresh rice during a harvest, in the barangay of Palattao, in
Naguilian, Isabela province, the Philippines. Photographer: Nana Buxani/Bloomberg
file photo
Farmgate prices of palay have reportedly
dropped to between P11 per kilogram (/kg) to 13/kg for wet palay and P14/kg to
17/kg for dry palay.
This, while the average farmgate price of
yellow corn grain went down to P12.32/kg or by 4.6 percent during the first
week of September, from its level of P12.91/kg in the previous week.
Photo
by DA-CAR.
Prices, according to the Federation of Free
Farmers (FFF), are expected to go down even more when harvests reach their peak
in October and November for rice, while the peak harvest for wet-season corn
crop is August and September.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the
LGU- and private sector-led palay and corn buying should complement efforts of
the DA, through the National Food Authority (NFA), in palay procurement.
For the rest of the year, NFA, whose sole
mandate is to maintain the government’s rice buffer stock for calamities and
national emergencies, has P10 billion left for palay procurement.
NFA Administrator Judy Dansal said this
is enough to buy 10 more million bags of palay.
“We already instructed NFA to roll-over
twice its procurement fund so it could buy P20 billion-worth of palay this
year,” Dar said.
NFA currently buys dried palay, at 14
percent moisture content, at P19/kg.
On Thursday, Dar asked NFA to make
available its warehouses for use by farmers’ cooperatives and associations
(FCAs) and LGUs.
“We will accelerate the modernization of
the NFA’s drying and milling facilities so they could provide much-needed services
for the benefit of our rice farmers,” he said.
Further, the DA chief said provincial
governments can avail of loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank)
of up to P2 billion at two percent interest to procure palay and acquire farm
machineries and post-harvest facilities.
“This should be part of the ‘new normal,’
where LGUs are taking a more pro-active stance by directly buying farmers’
produce – be these rice, corn, vegetables, chicken, eggs, fish and other farm
and fishery products – at reasonable prices, and then including them in their
food packs for their constituents,” Dar said.
This harvest season, the DA wrote the
governors of the top 12 rice-producing provinces in the country to once again
buy palay from their farmers.
https://mb.com.ph/2020/10/02/lgus-private-firms-told-to-buy-local-rice-corn/
Ignored minority peasants crushed by
poverty after Sindh floods
Marginalised minorities in rural
Sindh have suffered badly in heavy rains this year due to displacement and loss
of income.
Mohammad Hussain Khan
“Many
[government officials] turned-up and wrote down our names, but we weren’t
provided relief,” said Ganga, a peasant whose poverty-stricken community in
Sindh has been displaced by floods.
Ratol
Kohli, an elderly member of her community, too, looked despondently at every
passing vehicle. Their grievance is that, while officials jot down the names of
displaced people, many have still not been given relief goods “though some
people do provide us cooked rice as lunch”, she said.
Extreme
weather events have been unkind to Ganga and her community in Pakistan’s second
largest province, which this year witnessed unprecedented rains and flooding.
While the media’s focus was on the catastrophic urban flooding in Karachi and
other urban centres, the August-September spell of rain wreaked havoc in rural
areas with poor drainage.
The
disaster has hit the marginalised Kohli, Bheel and Meghwar communities hard, as
many of these scheduled Hindu caste members work in farms without ownership of
the land they till.
Rain-hit
communities have shifted to highlands and roads in Mirpurkhas district and set
up improvised tents. They were displaced from their villages due to heavy rains
in August. — Photo by Yasir Rajput/The Third Pole
Kohlis,
Bheels and Meghwars are considered scheduled castes in India’s caste system
which follows Hindu mythology. They are voiceless in the farming sector. They
live in substantial numbers in Sindh but largely below the poverty line. While
Meghwars opt for other occupations, the Kohlis and Bheels remain in the
agriculture sector.
The
Sindh government declared 20 districts as calamity hit areas after the recent
rainfall. Districts in lower Sindh, including Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot,
Sanghar and Sujawal are the worst hit. The Pakistan Meteorological Department
(PMD) office recorded 348 millimetres of rainfall in August 2020 in Mirpurkhas,
which in the previous year had received 150 millimetres of rain.
The
rains and the ensuing disaster are reminiscent of catastrophic floods in the
area in 2011, when minority communities suffered tremendous losses yet received
no relief.
This
year, thousands have lost their produce — cotton and chilli crops — after the
excessive rainfall. Selling it would have earned them an income for which they
toiled tirelessly as the sun’s heat seared their faces.
A picture of misery
“It’s
been around one month [since the rains] but we have been left to fend for
ourselves here,” said Ganga, one of millions displaced by rains in district
Mirpurkhas which is home to Sindh’s famous mango orchards.
“Do
you know how difficult it is to pick cotton and hold a baby simultaneously? We
are bearing all this pain and suffering only to earn some money. Merely 10 to
15 maunds [around 40kg] of cotton is left for picking. The rest is lost,” she
told The Third Pole. In other years, they have picked nearly
three times this amount.
“As
if this disaster-driven displacement is not enough, the police forces us to
leave sections of the highways and shift to other highlands,” she said.
Even
in the third week of September, long after the rains stopped, large swathes of
agricultural lands are submerged by standing rainwater. Drainage remains slow,
and the poor farmers who worked in what is known as the ‘breadbasket of Sindh’
sit idle.
The
men, women, elderly and children sleep under the open sky. Their homes,
traditionally made of mud and thatched straw, have collapsed. They lack basic
civic amenities and even toilets. Their livestock and cattle suffer as
mosquitoes and insects invade the environs soon after sunset, making the
animals prone to skin infections.
When
their homes flooded, the displaced communities temporarily shifted to highlands
and roadsides with whatever belongings they could gather. They have set up
improvised tents with empty sacks or polypropylene bags, plastic and pieces of
cloth.
“We
gathered whatever we could when it started raining heavily on Aug 24 and 25 at midnight,”
said Marva Kohli.
Displaced
women fetch water to take to tents erected on the bank of the spinal drain on
the Left Bank Outfall Drain System (LBOD) near Naukot in Mirpurkhas district. A
breach had occurred in the spinal drain at RD-287. — Photo by Yasir Rajput/The
Third Pole
Extensive damage leaves
government helpless
Sindh
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah wants international aid to ameliorate the
situation in Sindh. He put the figure of people affected by rains at 2.5
million. “We need international assistance like the kind we got in 2010, when
the Indus river was swollen and experienced super floods, and then in 2011 when
torrential rains visited Sindh,” he said.
A
September 19 assessment by his government’s Provincial Disaster Management
Authority (PDMA) put crop damage at 1.128 million acres and affected people at
2.48 million in Sindh. It reports 151 people dead, including 49 women and 23
children. The survey suggested nearly 30,000 homes were damaged and about
50,0000 cattle perished.
Among
the damaged crop, cotton — an exportable commodity — and chilli are badly hit.
The province, which produced 4.2 million cotton bales in 2009-2010 has barely
come close to that figure in recent years. Production figures for 2010-2020
show a 40% decline.
The
Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association’s senior vice chairman Haresh Kumar puts
the overall damage to cotton crop in 2020-21 at Rs 5 billion [USD 30.3
million].
Progressive
farmer and the leader of a vibrant growers’ body, Syed Mehmood Nawaz Shah, too,
said that while the value of Sindh’s agriculture produce in 2020-21 for summer
crops is about USD 7 billion, ‘“close to USD 1 billion has been lost in recent
rains and flooding”.
No relief for farmers
For
the poor farmers, more hardship lies ahead.
“We
have lost the produce we had grown. We will lose our share [in the crop] as it
will be adjusted by the landowner towards the cost of input he invested in the
crop,” said Peeru Kohli.
The
immediate rehabilitation of haris (bonded farm hands) is a distant dream.
Barefoot peasants enter submerged cotton fields to pick the remainder of cotton
from dawn to dusk for Rs 400 (USD 2.40) per 40kg, thus exposing themselves to
infection and insects.
Male
and female peasants, including children, pick the remainder of the cotton crop
hit by rains in Digri taluka of Mirpurkhas district. — Photo by Yasir
Rajput/The Third Pole
The
hari-grower relationship is not governed under any law. Haris are not
registered under the record of rights as permanent tenants as per Sindh Tenancy
Act 1950. In practice, peasants share expenses incurred by the landlord from
the sowing to harvesting stages of the crop. All inputs are purchased by the
landlord or through the area’s conventional lending system.
The
local lenders charge interest at rates much higher than banks. For instance, if
a local lender provides a urea bag at Rs 17,500 (USD 10.60) on credit, he will
charge USD 4.5 over and above the price as interest. The borrower/farmer has to
sell his produce to the very lender as a precondition. Usually, a peasant’s
loan is adjusted once the crop is harvested and sold in the market or to the
same lenders who then offer a lower price for the crop along with deductions.
The entire practice undermines the monetary interests of haris, who have to
make do with a meagre share in profit after the deduction of expenses.
According
to Peeru’s calculation, the landowner invests around Rs 30,000 (USD 181) per
acre in the cotton crop which he or other peasants are supposed to share
equally. “With the considerable chunk of cotton or chilli gone, we end up
getting zero share in the profit,” he said, adding that he will now have to ask
his landlord to lend him money.
“My
community fellows will be borrowing more money to earn a living till the new
crop is sown and harvested.”
A
village woman wades through thigh deep water in a village of Kali taluka of
Tharparkar district to reach her makeshift roadside tent. — Photo by Yasir
Rajput/The Third Pole
“Scheduled
caste members can’t buy assets or even read their religious books in line
within Hinduism. They are the most persecuted community within Hindus,” said Dr
Sonu Khangarani, recipient of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest civilian
honour, for his social work in 2010. “I, too, hail from the Meghwar community,”
he said.
“They
can’t break this vicious circle,” he added. He urged the government to build
villages on highlands for these landless peasants under the federal
government’s ‘five million houses’ scheme and to give them ownership of land.
Under
the Sindh Industrial Relations Act 2013, peasants are defined as “industrial
workers”. But seasoned labour rights leader Nasir Mansoor said that unless
rules are framed in line with the 2013 Act, it remains irrelevant. “These are
rules which will provide a framework to get haris enrolled under social
security laws…but the government’s will is missing.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1582827/ignored-minority-peasants-crushed-by-poverty-after-sindh-floods
Basmati rice thru GI tag: REAP vows
to foil Indian conspiracy of claiming exclusive rights
Zahid Baig 02 Oct 2020
LAHORE: The leadership of Rice
Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has vowed to foil the Indian
conspiracy of claiming exclusive rights to "Basmati Rice" through
Geographical Indication (GI) tag and said that Basmati variety was, is and will
remain of Pakistan.
The REAP members expressed these
views while addressing the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association here
last night where its new Chairman Abdul Qayum Paracha, Senior Vice Chairman
Malik Faisal Jahangir and others assumed the office for the term 2020-21.
Abdul Qayum Paracha, the incoming
Chairman, said that the rice sector of Pakistan is facing a threat from this
Indian GI claim and they will work to thwart this plan as first priority.
He said that he will also be making
efforts to get this sector declared as Industry, which is making huge exports
and earning valuable foreign exchange for the country.
New Senior Vice Chairman Malik
Faisal Jahangir in his address said that there were three major goals before
him during his tenure and that include foiling Indian design of claiming GI
rights on Basmati, sending at least six delegations to explore new markets and
getting status of industry for the rice export sector.
Abdur Rahim Janoo, veteran rice
exporters leader, in his address said that the government should give the REAP
chairman a seat in the Export Development Fund (EDF) as member. He said that
money should be allocated to the Association out of EDF for carrying out
research and development to increase per acre yield and attain more exportable
surplus, construction of REAP House, etc.
Outgoing REAP Chairman Shahjahan
Malik in his address threw light on the efforts made during his tenure despite
the lockdown to enhance rice exports from Pakistan.
"We managed to triple the
exports to Europe in wake of the ban on Indian rice and mapped rice fields in
Punjab with the government help to analyze pesticides residue here and guide
farmer about remedial measures," he added.
He said that rice planters and
harvesters got included in the agri emergency plan to prevent post harvest
losses and made efforts to export Basmati to Japan.
Meanwhile, the members of the
Managing Committee from north zone declared elected unopposed include Malik
Faisal Jahangir, Ali Hussam Asghar, Jahanzeb Javed, Ahmad Mubarak and Zulfiqar
Ali. From South Zone, Abdul Qayum Paracha, Muhammad Anwar, Safder Hussain
Mehkri, Mahesh Raja Manglani and Syed Abdul Mateen were declared elected
unopposed.
Pir Syed Nazim Hussain Shah, Ali
Hussam Asghar, Samee Ullah Naeem, Chaudhry Shafique, Abu Bakar Mirza and
various other prominent exporters attended the meeting.
Basmati trademark registered in one person’s name
SMEDA asked to resolve matter pending for past many years
Usman HanifOctober 02, 2020
PHOTO: FILE
At a time when Pakistan needs to approach the
European Union for geographical indication (GI) tag for its Basmati rice, it
has come to light that Basmati trademark has been registered in an individual’s
name in the country instead of being registered as a GI.
The Intellectual Property Organisation of
Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan) registered the trademark of Basmati in an individual’s
name under application number 179196 in Class 30 dated July 20, 2002, with a
disclaimer that it might be challenged.
“Basmati is a generic name that can only be
used as a geographical indicator and cannot be used as a trademark until and
unless a new word is added to it,” said trademarks and copyrights practitioner
Asif Hayat.
He elaborated that trademark was a business
name and a company could not own the words separately but in a combination.
“It is unfortunate that nobody could point out
this development in about two decades,” he said, referring to Basmati being
registered as a trademark in favour of an individual. “In fact, the applicant
himself was fooled by somebody in the authority and just one dispute can
eliminate this entire trademark.”
When a person or organisation gets a trademark
registered, others cannot sell their product or service under the same name.
India has applied to the European Union for GI tag for its Basmati rice,
claiming it is grown only in India despite the well-known fact that both India
and Pakistan grow the aromatic rice.
If the neighbouring country succeeds in its
attempt, Pakistan’s exporters will not be allowed to sell rice abroad under the
Basmati category.
At a time when Pakistan should claim
co-ownership of Basmati rice in the international market, it seems it needs to
straighten its own record first. Hayat requested the Small and Medium
Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) to approach the commerce ministry,
industries ministry, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), IPO and
Registrar of Trademarks to resolve the matter pending for the past many years.
He added that Basmati was a heritage of
Pakistan and undoubtedly Basmati rice had been grown in the country for
decades. “It has all the features and characteristics of Basmati,” he stressed.
“Needless to say, it has the best aroma, length and look, and it is renowned in
the world for its aroma.”
Basmati trademark belongs to all Basmati
growers, millers, processors and exporters, said Union of Small and Medium
Enterprises (Unisame) President Zulfikar Thaver. He added that it was a
national property owned by Pakistan and could not be registered in the name of
any individual or a firm.
“Of course, national institutions like TDAP
can register it on behalf of Pakistan but due to some reasons, it was
registered in an individual’s name with a disclaimer,” he said.
“India has applied to the European Union for
the GI tag for exclusive registration of Basmati, which shows its mala fide
intensions,” he said.
Published in The Express
Tribune, October 2nd, 2020.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2266564/basmati-trademark-registered-in-one-persons-name
Basmati Export: India Catches Pakistan Napping; Moves EU To Get
Exclusive GI Tag For
Snapshot
·
A GI tag for basmati would mean
it is exclusively grown in India or parts of the country.
So it will be tough for Pakistan
to rush through the process of demarcating areas for its basmati cultivation
within a short span.
The Narendra Modi government has
made a swift move to protect the exclusivity of basmati rice
grown in the country in the global export market.
As part of its efforts, it
applied to the European Union (EU) for exclusive Geographical Indication (GI)
tag for the fragrant, long grain rice, last month. India has applied for the
recognition at EU’s official registry, the Council on Quality Schemes for
Agricultural Products and Food Stuffs, for the tag.
A GI tag for basmati would
mean it is exclusively grown in India or parts of the country.
The move is a significant one
since the EU’s revised regulations on fungicides presence in the rice that came
into force in 2017-18 resulted in Indian basmati rice losing ground.
Tests had shown that basmati rice
from India had higher levels of tricylazole, a pesticide that is sprayed on the
paddy to overcome fungal pests. Since the levels could not be brought down,
Indian share in the EU basmati market suffered.
This helped Pakistan, which
competes with India in the global basmati market, to nearly
double its export of the fragrant rice since 2017-18.
A pertinent point here is that
Indian basmati has enjoyed a premium
position in the global rice market with its prices quoting at least $200 a
tonne, higher than Pakistan’s.
Currently, on Alibaba trading
website, Indian basmati rice is quoted at
around $950-1,000 a tonne against $600-800 quoted by Pakistan shippers.
Indian basmati rice enjoys a 65 per
cent share in the global export market and Pakistan, the rest.
India has been protective about
its basmati rice,
even taking on an American firm, which tried to get patents for the variety
under Texmati brand in the US, during the late 1990s.
India eventually won its case
with the US authorities and since then, followed up with measures to protect
its exclusive agricultural products. It was for this purpose that the
Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, was
enacted by India in 1999.
Though basmati is
grown in various parts of India, the GI tag for the fragrant, long-grain rice
has been assigned to the variety grown only in states such as Himachal Pradesh,
Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, outskirts of Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh and
parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
In providing the GI tag cover to
its basmati rice,
the Indian government has resisted attempts by Madhya Pradesh to get a similar
tag for a fragrant variety grown in the state. The MP government even moved
court but has not been successful until now.
India produces about 7.5 million
tonnes (mt) of basmati rice and exports about
4.5 mt annually. During 2019-20, India earned Rs 34,000 crore shipping 4.45
mt basmati rice.
Basmati exports have stagnated at this level for quite some time.
The EU regulations on pesticide have, in a way, affected the growth in its
exports.
The Indian move comes at a time
when two contrasting developments have taken place.
One, basmati exports
witnessed a 10 per cent rise during April-June this year. They earned about Rs
8,600 crore, making up one-third of the country’s agricultural exports during
the period.
On the other hand, exports to
Iran, a major buyer of Indian basmati rice importing some
1.5 mt annually, have suffered on account of the US sanctions against it. Right
now, some quantity of Indian basmati rice reaches Iran's
shores indirectly.
The US sanctions have prevented
India from buying crude oil from Iran and this, in turn, has affected basmati exports.
This has benefitted Pakistan as a result.
The Indian move to get the GI tag
from the EU comes amidst these developments. According to EU rules, competing
nations have three months’ time to contest the claim.
With over two weeks having
already passed after the notification of Indian claim, the neighbouring country
has less than 10 weeks now to respond. The problem for the Imran Khan-led
government is that it has not assigned any geographical territory for its basmati rice
cultivation.
Basmati rice in Pakistan is grown mainly in its Punjab province
and its cultivation has extended to Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Within
Punjab, the traditional areas are lagging behind in production.
The cultivation of basmati rice
in provinces other than Pakistan’s Punjab has diluted the exclusivity of the
fragrant rice’s geographical territory. If Pakistan takes measures to demarcate
the geographical exclusivity of the rice, then it would be up against regional
politics from the Sindh politicians, in particular.
Thus, it will be a tough ask for
Pakistan to rush through the process of demarcating areas for its basmati cultivation
within the short span.
Pakistan has to prove to EU that
it has been maintaining exclusivity of its regions cultivating basmati.
This also means hours will have to be spent on talks and negotiations.
But given the fact that the EU is
upset with China and its allies such as Pakistan after the novel coronavirus
breakout since it holds Beijing responsible for this, the Imran Khan government
has the onerous task of convincing it.
With the Indian government now
planning to ban pesticides such as Tricyclazole and Buprofezin, which led to
trade dispute with importing nations, the basmati rice industry has more
reasons to cheer.
Tags:
Delhi to launch massive anti-air
pollution campaign from Oct 5: Gopal Rai
Rai said he has also appealed to the Centre and neighbouring
states to use the chemical developed by scientists at the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute (IARI) here to manage stubble.
Published: 01st October 2020
07:12 PM | Last Updated: 01st October 2020 07:12
PM |
AAP's Delhi convener Gopal Rai
(Photo | EPS)
NEW DELHI: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said
the city government will launch a mega anti-air pollution campaign on October
5, and that a centre is being set up in Najafgarh to produce a chemical to deal
with stubble burning.
Rai said he has also appealed to the Centre and neighbouring
states to use the chemical developed by scientists at the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute (IARI) here to manage stubble.
"Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch a mega anti-air
pollution campaign after a meeting with officials from departments of
environment, transport, development, PWD, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi
Jal Board, traffic police and municipal corporations," he said.
At a meeting of NCR states with Union Environment Prakash
Javadekar, Rai asked the Centre to take time-bound action to ensure that 11 thermal
power plants and more than 1,900 brick kilns using outdated technology in the
national capital region control their emissions.
ADVERTISEMENT
There are 11 plants around Delhi - in Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh and Punjab -- which were supposed to retrofit their units with
technology called flue-gas desulphurisation to reduce emissions by December
2019.
Rai said there are more than 1,640 such brick kilns
in Uttar Pradesh, 161 in Haryana and 164 Rajasthan.
"All these contribute to Delhi's air pollution massively,"
he said.
The minister said the Delhi government presented its
plan to tackle stubble burning in the city during the meeting with Javadekar.
He said a centre is being set up in Kharkhari village in Najafgarh
where "bio-decomposer" solution will be prepared in around 400
containers starting Tuesday.
IARI's new technology involves a liquid formulation prepared using
bio-decomposer capsules, fermenting it over 8-10 days and then spraying the
mixture on crop residue to ensure speedy bio-decomposition of the stubble.
Capsules worth Rs 20 can effectively deal with 4-5 tonnes of raw
straw per acre.
Rai said the Centre has been providing subsidies up to 80 per cent
on farm machinery, but farmers still have to pay from their own pocket to use
it.
"The Pusa bio-decomposer is an economically viable
option.
We have estimated that only Rs 20 lakh is needed to manage stubble
in 800 hectares of agricultural land in Delhi," he said.
The minister said an action plan has been prepared to stop stubble
burning in the city.
Under it, farmers will fill a form providing details such as name,
address, village, the area where they produce non-basmati rice and the date
when they want the government to spray the chemical to tackle stubble burning.
Based on this form the Delhi government will send officials to
spray the chemical at the designated farmland.
Agricultural development officers of all the districts will lead
this work, he said.
/www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2020/oct/01/delhi-to-launch-massive-anti-air-pollution-campaign-from-oct-5-gopal-rai-2204482.html+&cd
Rice prices
still high in market
Staff Correspondent | Published at 12:39am on October 02, 2020
The prices of rice remained high in the city’s kitchen markets
although the government had set the mill-gate price of the staple to contain
the unusual price hike of the commodity.
Rice mill owners claimed that they were selling rice at the
government-set price but wholesalers were not decreasing the price.
Wholesalers, however, said that the government had lowered the
mill-gate rate about Tk 20-30 a bag (50-kg) compared to the previous price and
it could hardly have any impact on the wholesale and retail prices of rice.
The food ministry in a meeting with the rice mill owners on
Tuesday set the price of miniket rice at Tk 51.50 a kg, while the price for
medium-quality rice was set at Tk 45 a kg.
‘For the sake of the national interest we agreed with the
government and all the rice mill owners’ were selling the staple food at the
fixed prices,’ KM Layek Ali, secretary general of Bangladesh Auto Major and
Husking Mill Owners Association, told New Age on Thursday.
He said that in most cases rice mill owners were incurring loss
to comply with the government-set prices due to the high price of paddy but
wholesalers did not decrease the price of the item.
M Layek Ali urged the government to take an initiative so that
the benefit of decreased prices of rice percolated down to the level of the
consumers.
Kawsar Alam Khan, a wholesaler at Babubazar in the city, said that
the prices of rice set by the government did not impact the market much as the
mill-gate rate of rice remained almost the same.
He said that the government had set the prices at Tk 2,575 for a
50-kg sack of miniket and Tk 2,250 for medium quality BR-28 rice, but the
previous rate was only Tk 20-30 higher than the current ones.
‘I think there was no possibility to decrease the price of rice
in the market with the government initiative as the newly set mill-gate rate of
rice was almost the same with the previous prices.’
Md Maksud, a retailer at Mohammarpur Krishi Bazar, said that the
rice prices remained high in the market as the wholesale prices remained
unchanged.
Although the government set the mill gate rate of rice the
retail prices would not come down until decreasing the wholesale prices, he
said.
According to the traders the standard variety of BR-28 rice sold
for Tk 50-52 a kg while the fine variety sold for Tk 54-55 a kg in the capital
on Thursday.
The standard variety of miniket rice sold for Tk 56-58 a kg and
the fine variety sold for Tk 60-65 a kg.
The fine variety of najirshail rice retailed at Tk 60-65 a kg
and the coarse variety sold for Tk 44-48 a kg on the day.
Editor: Nurul Kabir, Published
https://www.newagebd.net/print/article/117856
Cambodia wins
rice battle in EU court
By
October 2, 2020
The European General Court has
rejected the European Commission’s (EC) request to reject a complaint submitted
by Cambodia and the Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) regarding the EU’s
reintroduction of tariffs on Indica rice exports from Cambodia.
A court order uploaded to the
European Law Journal on Sept 10 said the EC had submitted a plea requesting the
court to dismiss Cambodia’s complaint and regard it as inadmissible, reported
Vietnam News Agency quoting local media, the Phnom Penh Post.
But Cambodia and the CRF argued
that the court should reject the EC’s plea of inadmissibility and annul the
contested regulation on the rice exports.
In full: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cambodia-wins-rice-battle-eu-court
https://english.cambodiadaily.com/business/cambodia-wins-rice-battle-in-eu-court-170079/
Cambodia’s rice export increases
by 22% in first 9 months to nearly 500,000 tonnes
A lush rice
field under cultivation in the provinces. AKP
Cambodia exported 488,775 tonnes
of milled rice in the first nine months of this year, up 22.6 percent compared
to the same period last year.
Figures from the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries showed that Cambodian milled rice was
shipped to 60 countries around the world.
The ministry also mentioned that as of September this year,
paddy rice cultivation was carried out on 2.7 million hectares nationwide,
equivalent to 104 percent of the yearly plan. Chea Vannak – AKP
Asia Rice-Rates dip in top hubs;
traders flag low Mekong water levels
OBER 1, 20207:25 PMUPDATED* Vietnamese traders warn of drought,
salination
* Bangladesh government fixes wholesale price
* New supply expected to pressure on Thai prices
Oct 1 (Reuters) - Rice export prices eased this week in most
hubs on lackluster demand with fresh supplies expected to be a further drag,
but Vietnamese traders were concerned about low water levels in the Mekong.
Top exporter India's 5% broken parboiled
variety RI-INBKN5-P1 slipped to $376-$382 per tonne from last week's
$379-$385.
“Local prices are softening due to the expected rise in production.
Exports prices are not falling in the same proportion because of rising rupee,”
said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice
prices RI-THBKN5-P1 fell to $472–$477 from $475-$495 last week,
attributed largely due to the fluctuation in Thai Baht amid muted demand.
“We are starting to see new supply steadily entering the market
this month, and this could gradually lead to a decline in prices over the next
few weeks,” a trader said.
In Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 were
quoted at $460-$480 a tonne range versus $470-$475 last week, as export
activity was muted with the absence of buyers from the Philippines.
“Some exporters are only focusing on fulfilling their contracts
signed with Cuba,” a trader in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang said.
Traders said water levels in the rice bowl Mekong Delta are low
this year and they are concerned about possible drought or salination during
the upcoming crop season.
Bangladesh this week fixed wholesale prices for rice following a
jump in domestic rates after a government drive to shore up supplies fell short
of targets.
Millers will now have to sell fine quality rice at 2,575 taka
($30.37) for a sack of 50 kg and medium quality at 2,250 taka ($26.54) in line
with the new prices.
“We’ll have no option but to import rice if the millers don’t
sell the grain at the fixed prices,” Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder
said.
Reporting by Diptendu in Bengaluru, Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Rajendra
Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok; Editing
by Shailesh Kuber
Our Standards: The
Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
PAID
PROMOTIONAL LINKS
Promoted by Dianomi
DA to buy local palay
amid decline in prices
ABS-CBN News
MANILA - The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Friday it would
buy palay or unmilled rice by local farmers at P19 per kilo in light of
plunging farmgate price of the staple crop.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the National Food
Authority (NFA) would expand its palay procurement and buy the rice harvest of
farmers in their villages.
"This early, we have put in place the buying stations of
NFA all over the country," he told Teleradyo's "Kabayan."
"They will buy dry and clean palay at P19 per kilo, at 14
percent moisture content," he said in Filipino.
The NFA will also help pick up the produce if farmers don't have
the means to deliver it, Dar said.
The agriculture chief said they had received reports that
farmgate prices of palay had plummeted to P15.
The agency will buy as much as possible from rice farmers using
its P10-billion procurement fund this year, he said.
He had also instructed the NFA to roll-over twice its
procurement fund so it could buy P20-billion worth of palay this year.
The DA earlier urged provincial local government units (LGUs)
and the private sector to buy palay and corn directly from farmers to prop up
prices.
In an earlier statement, Dar said provincial governments could
avail of loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) of up to P2
billion at 2 percent interest to procure palay, and acquire farm machineries
and postharvest facilities.
In 2019, the country’s top 12 rice producing provinces were
Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Iloilo, Camarines Sur, Tarlac,
Negros Occidental, Maguindanao, Bukidnon, North Cotabato, and Leyte.
They produced more than 9.74 million metric tons (MMT) of palay,
roughly 52 percent of the country’s total harvest of 18.815 MMT last year.
Palay farmgate price declines 3% in second week of September
October 2, 2020 | 5:49 pm
THE AVERAGE farmgate price of
palay, or unmilled rice, fell 3% week-on-week to P17.12 per kilogram in the
second week of September, with the price up 5.8% year-on- year, according to
the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In its weekly update on palay,
rice, and corn prices, the PSA said the average wholesale price of well-milled
rice fell 0.4% to P38.42 while the retail price rose 0.02% to P42.24.
The average wholesale price of
regular-milled rice fell 0.5% to P34.81 while the retail price fell 0.1% to P37.89.
The farmgate price of yellow corn
grain fell 2.5% week-on-week to P12.01. The average wholesale price of yellow
corn grain fell 0.3% to P20.79 while the retail price fell 0.1% to P24.82.
The farmgate price of white corn
grain fell 2.5% week-on-week to P13.18.
The average wholesale price of
white corn grain fell 0.8% to P15.75 while the retail price was flat at P27.80.
— Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
https://www.bworldonline.com/palay-farmgate-price-declines-3-in-second-week-of-september/
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Welcome to the Anthropocene
Join thousands of researchers, policymakers
and educators who rely on our Weekly Science Dispatch to keep up to date on the
latest sustainability science.
DAILY SCIENCE
Researchers
get closer to the goal of flood-proof crops
Engineered
enzymes could allow plants to tolerate low-oxygen conditions
By Emma Bryce
October
2, 2020
The effects of climate change on
agriculture usually conjures up an image of plants flailing under
drought-stricken skies. But how will agriculture cope with climate change’s
other offering—the rise of floods? Increasingly extreme weather worldwide is
causing flooding across parts of the planet, and that’s driving a parallel
decline in growing area, since most crops can’t subsist in the low-oxygen
conditions of waterlogged soil.
But now, researchers writing
in PNAS say they have identified a key player in plants’
molecular makeup—one which might help us flood-proof crops against this
uncertain future.
In most plants, being submerged
in water for prolonged periods leads to hypoxia, a lack of oxygen that shuts
down their ability to produce ATP, the molecule that ferries energy around a
plant—and which needs air to function. But certain plants like rice, which
grows in waterlogged soils, have an unusual capacity to withstand soggy soil
for periods of time, because they use a different energy pathway that doesn’t rely
on the presence of air.
Researchers know that in these
plants, certain genes control that particular energy pathway, and that those
genes are regulated by proteins. In turn, the behaviour of those proteins is
governed by a unique group of enzymes called plant cysteine oxidases
(PCOs)—which, from the top of this chain, set the whole sequence of events in
motion.
Because those enzymes are so
crucial to helping these plants survive waterlogged soils, the researchers on
the new study set out to describe their structure, and illuminate how they
work—and how they might therefore be enhanced to improve crops’ adaptations in
flooded environments.
By mapping out the detailed
structure of the PCOs, the researchers identified key amino acids to target and
mutate, which they used as proof that the enzymes could be engineered to behave
differently. Then they introduced those engineered enzymes into test thale
cress plants—which was practically important, because it proved that these
crops could effectively incorporate the altered components. “This is great as
it suggests that we can directly translate our biochemical work into a plant
context to manipulate PCO function,” says Emily Flashman, a co-author on the
new study, and chemist from the University of Oxford, who collaborated on the
research with colleague Francesco Licausi.
Discover more: To reduce food
waste, we actually need more grocery stores
For now, the enzyme tweaks the
researchers have made haven’t resulted in significant changes to plants’ flood
control: instead, their primary research aim was proof of principle. But with
the structure of the enzymes now fully laid out, they’re in a stronger position
to identify targets for mutation. This will enable them to pinpoint the
specific amino acids that alter the enzymes’ behaviour in ways that change the
downstream activity of proteins and gene regulation—and could ultimately boost
flood tolerance.
“We’ll have to use much more
subtle changes to the enzyme’s function to produce plants that are usefully
flood-tolerant, for example changing how sensitive they are to low-oxygen
conditions—think a dimmer switch, rather than an on-off switch,” Flashman says.
If they can make the right tweaks, it could help create plants that are able to
continue transporting energy and functioning as normal, despite the low-oxygen
conditions of their suddenly-aquatic environments. “Really this is where the
hard work starts, as we have to understand the enzymes in more detail to be
able to achieve that—but we’re on our way!”
Next up, Flashman says, they’re
going to investigate precisely how the enzymes interact with oxygen, to point
them towards enzyme modifications that will “generate plants with improved
flood tolerance, but without any penalty in yield.”
She thinks this early stage
discovery, advanced by future insights into enzyme hotspots, could have
widespread benefits for crops—including staples like wheat and barley. That’s
because PCO enzymes are ‘conserved’ in all crops, she explains, meaning that
even though they may not be functional in a plant, their infrastructure still
exists within.
So ideally, one day researchers
will be able to tap into these reservoir enzymes to breed flood-resilient
plants—a potential life raft for our food systems, on our ever-changing
planet.
Source:
White et. al. “Structures of Arabidopsis
thaliana oxygen-sensing plant cysteine oxidases 4 and 5 enable targeted
manipulation of their activity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2020.
Technology Developed By BGU And Rice Researchers Will Filter
COVID-19 Particles From The Air
|
Published• Thu, Oct 01, 2020 |
Technology developed by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of
the Negev in Israel, in partnership with Rice University, is being
commercialized by LIGC Application Ltd. to develop and manufacture products for
filtration systems, including those that filter COVID-19 airborne particles.
LIGC is a company at the forefront of laser-induced graphene (LIG)
commercialization. Hubei Forbon Technology Co. Ltd. (300387.SZ) in Wuhan, China
provided $3 million in funding.
“For the past five years, our lab at the BGU Zuckerberg Institute for Water
Research [in.bgu.ac.il/en/bidr/ziwr/Pages/default.aspx] has focused on the
development of LIG, specifically in antimicrobial filtration and environmental
applications,” said Dr. Chris Arnusch. “We are excited to be commercializing
our technology in a number of air-filtration products for COVID-19 and other
specialized filtration applications.”
LIGC co-founder and CEO Yehuda Borenstein said, “In the absence of better
filtration technology, the indoor spaces where we used to spend most of our
‘normal’ life – schools, stores and workplaces – due to COVID-19 present a real
risk. This technology will provide cleaner and more breathable air with lower
energy and maintenance costs and virtually silent sound levels.”
Active air filters made with LIG are designed to damage and destroy organic
particles, including bacteria, mold spores and viruses at the micron and
submicron levels when passed through a microscopic network of porous graphene.
This cost-effective and scalable approach is produced using commercially
available CO2 lasers to create a conductive graphene mesh. The graphene mesh
heats, electrocutes and neutralizes organic particles and pathogens with
revolutionary efficiency compared to active carbon filters, UV-C and fiber HEPA
filters that are used widely in schools, offices, homes, ships and other
facilities. Aircraft already are equipped with HEPA filters that remove viruses
and bacteria from the circulated cabin air, but at high-energy and maintenance
costs.
Since the LIGC filter uses low-voltage electricity to eliminate bacteria and
viruses, lower density filtration media can be used, resulting in significantly
less energy consumption. In addition, LIGC active filters require lower
maintenance than other filters and are safe for the operator during maintenance
and replacement.
“To understand the technology, imagine the porous graphene is an electric fence
that functions as a mosquito zapper at the submicron level,” Bornstein said.
“When an airborne bacteria or virus touches the graphene surface, it is shocked
at a low voltage and currents that are safe for use. While 2020 has highlighted
the importance of protecting against airborne viruses, the post-pandemic world
will likely show us how important it is to do so without increasing energy
costs past the point of affordability.”
NFA says too early to gauge
impact of Rice Tariffication Law
October 2, 2020 | 5:58 pm
The National Food Authority said
it is too early to judge the overall impact of the Rice Tariffication Law
(Republic Act 11203) and resisted calls for it to be amended.
"Since the law is still new
and the rice sector is still under a transition period, we cannot yet attain or
savor the full benefits of the law, although we can already see and feel them,”
NFA Administrator Judy Carol L. Dansal said in a statement.
The law removed the restrictions
on rice imports while charging a 35% tariff on Southeast Asian grain. The
tariffs generated will provide P10 billion a year to the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which will assist farmers with mechanization,
obtaining quality seed, and accessing farming know-how.
It also removed the NFA’s
importing functions and left it with the main functions of maintaining a buffer
stock via domestic purchases and supplying subsidized rice to the poor. Its
purchasing activity helps set a floor for the price of palay, or unmilled rice,
the form in which farmers sell their harvest.
The NFA buys palay for P19 per
kilogram, but it cannot buy the entire domestic harvest due to limited funds
and storage, leaving farmers to deal with private traders, who undercut the NFA
price.
The NFA said it purchased around
two million bags of palay in September, for an average of 90,012 bags per day.
The Cagayan Valley was the top
source of palay procured by the NFA with 505,440 bags, followed by Western
Visayas 318,383 bags, Central Mindanao 298,665 bags, CALABARZON (Cavite,
Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) 121,910 bags, and Bicol 100,714 bags.
Ms. Dansal said the NFA is ready
to purchase the harvest through its 558 warehouses and buying stations.
"As instructed by President
Rodrigo R. Duterte and pursuant to our mandate of buffer stocking for
calamities and emergencies, we do our very best to accommodate as many farmers
who would want to sell palay to the government," Ms. Dansal said.
According to the NFA, some 4.93
million bags of palay were purchased in the year to date as of Sept. 29.
The NFA recently sought to boost
its purchasing power by signing agreements with Quirino and Isabela provinces,
which agreed to participate in purchasing by supplementing the NFA purchase
price by add P1 and P2, respectively using their own funds. — Revin
Mikhael D. Ochave
https://www.bworldonline.com/nfa-says-too-early-to-gauge-impact-of-rice-tariffication-law/
Retail prices of rice, edible oil
continue to rise in Dhaka
Published: 03 Oct 2020 02:26 AM BdST Updated: 03 Oct 2020 02:26 AM BdST
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Retail prices of rice and edible oil have
continued to increase in Dhaka, rising by up to Tk 5 per kg and litre in a
week, as government has failed to rein in the market.
Customers believe a lack of strong government monitoring is to
blame for the rising prices of commodities.
Prices of bottled soybean oil of some brands have gone up to Tk
115 per litre, increasing twice in a month.
Maidul Islam Mahin, a grocer at Rampura Kitchen Market, said he
was selling oil at previous rates on Friday because his old stock was not
exhausted.
He will charge the customers the new rates once the dealers of
the companies bring the new products Saturday.
Khurshed Alam, a retailer at Mohakhali, said he received the new
products and began selling them at the new rates.
“People in the government work hard when the media writes about
the price hike. But we don’t see strong monitoring by the government,” said
customer Sarwar Hossain, who resides in Malibagh.
Biswajit Saha, the general manager of City Group which produces
oil under the brand name Teer, said they raised the prices following hike in
the international market.
All the companies took approval of the Bangladesh Tariff
Commission before raising the prices, he claimed.
In the rice market, coarse Swarna, the cheapest in Dhaka, was
being sold at Tk 50 per kg.
The fine quality Miniket rice was priced between Tk 62 and Tk 65
a kg.
Ali Ahsan, the proprietor of Bikrampur Rice Store at Rampura,
said prices of coarse varieties of rice have increased more than the fine ones.
He was selling Miniket at Tk 2,800 to Tk 3,000 per sack of 50
kg. The price of coarse rice was Tk 2,450 to Tk 2,550.
“The millers have told us that that paddy price hike has driven
rice prices,” Ahsan said.
“But sitting here we can’t say what has exactly happened,” he
added.
Wahiduzzaman, a wholesaler at Mirpur-1, said the millers were
manipulating the market having bought paddy from the farmers at lower rates
much earlier.
https://bdnews24.com/business/2020/10/03/retail-prices-of-rice-edible-oil-continue-to-rise-in-dhaka
Haryana Govt budges, allows UP farmers to sell produce
at Karnal border
Makeshift
purchase centre to come in stadium within 2 days
SHARE
ARTICLE
·
Posted: Oct 03, 2020 07:05 AM (IST)
Officials
check the moisture content in paddy in the Karnal grain market on Friday.
Tribune photo
Parveen
Arora
Tribune
News Service
Karnal,
October 2
The
state has finally allowed the sale of Uttar Pradesh paddy in Karnal, ending
days of uncertainty for farmers. For this, the district administration will
establish a temporary purchase centre in Mohidinpur village situated on the
Haryana-UP border.
The
state government took the decision after the district administration submitted
a proposal in this regard.
The
marketing board has started re-carpeting a road that leads to the purchase
centre, installing lights and constructing toilets. The centre is expected to
be functional in a couple of days.
Arhtiyas’
associations have been asked to inform farmers in UP to bring paddy to the
makeshift centre after October 5. A schedule in this regard has been released.
Besides, registered rice millers have been asked to start procurement.
In
its September 30 edition, The Tribune had published a news story “Haryana ban
on outside crops negates Centre’s free market policy”, highlighting that
farmers of UP who wanted to sell their produce in Karnal and Panipat were
stopped by the police.
“To
help UP farmers, we are setting up a temporary purchase centre at a stadium in
Mohidinpur village. The government has approved our proposal. I visited the
site on Friday and directed market committee officials to ensure all facilities
there,” said Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav.
Meanwhile,
a day after arhtiyas called off their strike, the district witnessed speedy
paddy procurement on Friday.
Till
evening, around 22,000 MT of paddy was procured out of 40,000 MT that has
arrived in 13 purchase centres of the district. Till Thursday evening, only 627
MT was procured.
From
Black Bean Tacos To Arroz Con Leche: 3 Plant-Based Traditional Latin American
Foods
Shirley Gómez | Oct 02 2020, 10:50AM EDT
·
OCT 03, 5:50 AM EDT
For Hispanic Heritage Month, Luisa Sabogal RD, is sharing
better-for-you, plant-based updates to traditional Latin American breakfast,
lunch, and dessert dishes. Photo by Sandi Benedicta on
Unsplash
Registered
Dietitian Luisa Sabogal,
joins the Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month celebration by sharing
better-for-you, plant-based updates to traditional Latin American breakfast,
lunch and dessert dishes. Some Latinos and Latinas tend to consume high
saturated fat foods and forget about the risk of common health conditions
in the community, like high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
According
to a 2015 study conducted by the American Heart Association, 49.3
percent of Hispanics had high cholesterol levels and were not aware,
while those who were aware, only 29.5 percent received treatment. The
researchers also revealed that high cholesterol was more common among men than
women, 44 percent versus 40.5 percent.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention also informed in 2019 that Hispanic/Latino
Americans are more likely to have type 2 diabetes (17%) than
non-Hispanic whites (8%).
Based on
the data, Sabogal wants to use her knowledge to create a healthier world;
Therefore, she shared with Latin Times three plant-based
recipes using products from Califia Farms.
3
Plant-Based Traditional Latin American Foods
·
Black Bean
Tacos – Black beans make a hearty, plant-based taco filling. You can make
your cashew sour cream (using cashews that have been soaked overnight blended
with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, and garlic) for a creamy topping.
Black beans make a hearty,
plant-based taco filling. Courtesy
Ingredients
¼ C white onion, chopped
1 C beans, drained
½ tsp Califia Plant Butter with Avocado Oil
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp cilantro
½ lemon juice, medium-size lemon
Directions:
1. In a medium pan over low heat, warm the
butter. Add chopped onions and cumin. Cook and mix well until onions are
well cooked-translucent in color.
2. Add the garlic and continue to stir. After 1
minute, add drained beans, stir and cook for 5-10 minutes covered. Use a potato
masher or the back of a fork to mash beans to desired consistency.
3. Turn off the heat, add 1 tbsp chopped
cilantro and fresh lemon juice, and stir to mix well.
RD
Tip: Instead of “frying” beans, cook beans
with Califia Farms Plant-Based Butter with Avocado Oil and mash
with a fork. Using plant-based butter is a great way to reduce the intake
of saturated fat and cholesterol while still adding flavor.
·
Calentado (rice
and beans) with hogao (sautéed tomato, onion, and garlic stew) – a
Colombian, Puerto Rican, and Costa Rican breakfast or lunch that is typically
made with chorizo. You can make it vegetarian with a mix of tomatoes, onions,
and garlic.
Calentado is a Colombian,
Puerto Rican, and Costa Rican breakfast or lunch that is typically made with
chorizo. Courtesy
Ingredients:
For
hogao
1 C fresh tomatoes, chopped
½ C scallions, chopped
1 small garlic clove, pressed
¼ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp Califia Farms Plant Butter with Avocado
Oil
Salt to taste
For
calentado
½ brown rice, cooked
1 C beans, cooked
Directions:
Make tomato stew by heating butter in a pan and
add the tomatoes, scallions, garlic, and ground cumin. Mix well and cook for 10
minutes covered.
Add salt and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring
until the sauce has thickened. Remove sauce from heat.
Add cooked beans and rice to a separate pan,
mix well and warm them up.
Serve cooked beans and rice on a plate, and
accompany with tomato mixture, oven-baked plantains, and avocado slices for a
balanced, tasty, and nutritious meal.
RD
Tip: Swapping out meat for veggies makes this a
heart-healthy meal because it reduces saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium
intake, and increases fiber intake.
·
Arroz con Leche
(rice pudding) – a popular Latin American dessert traditionally made with
condensed milk. Replace condensed milk with creamy, dairy-free oat milk.
Popular Latin American dessert
traditionally made with condensed milk. Courtesy
Ingredients:
• ½ C short grain rice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 C Califia Oatmilk
• 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
• Optional: ground cinnamon and raisins
Directions:
1. In a pot, combine oat milk,
cinnamon sticks, and rice. Bring milk to a simmer and simmer slowly for ~10
minutes.
2. Remove cinnamon sticks, add coconut
sugar and simmer for ~10 minutes, and stir often to prevent the rice from
sticking to the pot
3. Remove from the heat, add the raisins
and extra cinnamon, and let it cool. It will thicken as it cools.
RD
Tip: Choose unsweetened oat milk, like Califia Farms Oatmilk, for a
dessert with less saturated fat and sugar and no cholesterol.
TAGS: FOOD
URA bans warehousing of rice, sugar
after tribunal ruling
Tax Tribunal upholds URA
decision to ban warehousing of rice and sugar. PHOTO URN
Kampala, Uganda |THE INDEPENDENT
| The Tax Appeals Tribunal has given the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) a go-ahead to ban the warehousing
of sugar and rice.
The Tribunal has further ordered
the Commissioner Customs URA to gazette the import of all rice without any
restrictions, and to grant adequate notice of 2 – 3 months before any action
taken by URA becomes effective.
Tax experts say the decision
favours URA policy, and is a big step towards protecting consumers and the
local industry.
In October 2019, URA issued a list
of goods that it declared not eligible for warehousing, including sugar, milled
and broken rice, building materials and wines and spirits (except in
duty-free). Others were motor vehicle tyres and tubes, motorcycle tyres and
tubes, dental care products, garments and footwear of all kinds, as well as imported cars of 14 years and above.
The East African Community Customs Management Regulations 2010
already had a list of products deemed ‘high risk’ that should not be in
warehouses, including acids, ammunition for trade and business, arms for trade
and business, chalk, explosives, fireworks, dried fish, perishable goods and
matches other than safety matches.
URA boss Musinguzi
Combustible or inflammable goods were also listed except petroleum
products which were allowed for storage in approved places. The directive only
allowed small importers who bring in goods in group containers to put their
products in warehouses where necessary, but only for 24 hours to enable them to
clear their goods.
URA argued that under Regulation 64(k) of the East African
Community Customs Management Regulations 2010, the Commissioner has the
discretion to gazette any other goods that are not supposed to be warehoused
and that the directive was issued to protect the public from hazardous goods
and to also protect local manufacturers.
These new measures, however, did not go down well with importers
and distributors, accusing the URA of making business more expensive. Importers
usually keep their goods in warehouses manned by the URA as they prepare
themselves to clear all tax obligations, while others delay their introduction
onto the market, anticipating for better proceeds.
However, for re-exporters, the system is used to prepare them for
another market, including the processing of documents, organizing for logistics
before shipping them out to their final destination. Sometimes, the importers
have been accused of offloading goods declared as transit goods, onto the local
market, which amounts to dumping.
It is based on this that R1 Distributors led 11 other importers
and distributors to challenge this decision. Now, the Tax Appeals
Tribunal has ruled that URA’s decision to list sugar among items not to be
warehoused was lawful, rational and within URA’s mandate.
Kampala City Traders Association Chairman Everest Kayondo says the
URA has the mandate of securing warehouses from leaking and to keep the records
of all imported and bonded goods, and that banning the practice is unnecessary.
He says that sometimes the goods are shipped in when the demand as dropped and
traders need to hold them for some time.
The main point of contention in the Tribunal, therefore, was
whether the notice published by URA was lawful and/or proper. The tribunal
acknowledged that there is ample evidence to prove that the government of
Uganda has to protect the local industries that manufacture sugar from unfair
competition arising from dumping, diversion of sugar in transit and tax
evasion.
The Tribunal agrees with URA that this will ensure that Ugandans
are protected from the consumption of expired sugar and that the local sugar
manufacturers are protected from unfair competition arising from dumping. URA
Manager Corporate Affairs Ian Rumanyika says the ruling a will now allow the
Commissioner to make similar decisions on goods it deems not safe for
warehousing.
While the URA says that the move aims at curbing unfair
competition in the country, KACITA says it puts Uganda on the back-foot in the
region because warehousing facilitates re-exports, which is a legal trade
activity.
Kayondo says countries like Rwanda, which are instead promoting
warehousing of the said goods will attract Ugandan investors to the
neighbouring country, especially re-exporting products to the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
www.independent.co.ug/ura-bans-warehousing-of-rice-sugar-after-tribunal-ruling/+&cd=1&hl=e
