Trade With Pakistan Rises 23%
Iran traded 1.27 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $642.63 million with Pakistan during the first five months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Aug. 22). This marks a 23.31% and 19.72% growth in tonnage and value respectively compared with last year’s corresponding period, latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show. Iran’s exports to Pakistan stood at 1.11 million tons worth $485.25 million, up 41.97% and 68.21% in tonnage and value respectively year-on-year. Pakistan was Iran’s eighth major export destination during the period. Iran mainly exported tar, liquefied propane and vegetables to Pakistan during the five-month period. Pakistan exported 156,525 tons of goods worth $157.38 million to Iran, down 36.27% and 36.61% in tonnage and value respectively YOY. It was the 22nd exporter of goods to Iran over the five months. The imports mainly included rice, pear and sesame. Pakistan and India are the biggest exporters of rice to Iran.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/93746/trade-with-pakistan-rises-23
NegOcc rice stocks good for 30 days; harvest, imports to boost supply
September 17, 2018
BACOLOD CITY — The inventory of both commercial and government rice in
Negros Occidental is only good for 30 days but the upcoming harvest and
expected import allocation will boost supply by October, according to the
National Food Authority (NFA).
NFA-Negros Occidental provincial
manager Frisco Canoy said as of Sunday, stocks are “safe and very sufficient”
until the harvest peaks and the imported rice supply arrives.
“Within 30 days, we expect to
have our import allocation,” he said, adding that when harvest peaks next
month, there will also be additional rice supply.
Canoy said rice traders may also
have incoming stocks as they start to buy from other provinces.
The total rice inventory in
Negros Occidental reached 618,000 bags, of which, about 16,000 bags are
government rice stored in the NFA warehouses.
At least 600,000 bags account for
commercial rice stocked by millers, wholesalers, retailers, and households.
With an average daily consumption
of 20,600 bags, the existing rice supply in the province will last for only a
month.
Canoy said NFA rice in the
province only accounts for 10 percent of consumption while commercial rice has
90 percent consumption share.
“If we are going to distribute
all our stocks, it will take us only two weeks to do it. We will stretch our
remaining 16,000 bags until our importation arrives,” he added.
The first imported rice
allocation for Negros Occidental this year, totaling 80,000 bags from Thailand,
arrived in July.
An additional importation of 6.5
metric tons or 130,000 bags will follow, but there is no arrival schedule yet.
Canoy said despite the current
limited volume of the government’s PHP27 per kilogram rice, the NFA is ensuring
that its warehouses will not be empty until buffer stocks are available.
Since the NFA has food security
requirement and has to provide rice supply in times of calamities, its stocks
should not be totally sold, he added. (Erwin
Several oil
mills suspended in Monywa
Submitted by Eleven on
Mon, 09/17/2018 - 10:55
Writer: Kaung Khant Lin (Monywa)
Due to rising groundnut price and
a decline in the sale of edible oil, some oil millers have suspended their
operations in Monywa, Sagaing Region, said Myint Htwe, owner of Myathida rice
mill and crops sale.
The oil market has collapsed due
to the unmitigated deluge of fake edible oils. Oil mills face difficulties as
the spreads of fake oils in the market become rampant. Most oil mills from
Monywa use groundnut to produce edible oil.
“Even one-thirds of oil mills are
not in a position to keep operating. Most oil mills are unable to run every
day. Only seven mills can operate during one month. As a matter of fact, palm
oil is very cheap. People use cheap, lower quality palm oil as their incomes
are low. Oil millers have to bear the brunt of the market’s twists and turns.
This year, groundnut gets a good price. But oil price is high,” he added.
Local oil mills may yet survive
if the government can promote the quality of palm oil and adjust oil prices
from a variety of sources to be on a more even level. People are unable to
consume expensive edible oils as they are poor. Most oil mills in Monywa,
Sagaing Region did not produce sesame oil as merchants from Yangon and China
bought sesame produced from Sagaing Region, he continued.
There are more than 30 oil mills
at industrial zone ward in Monywa. Groundnut plants are grown in Monywa,
Butalin, ChaungU, Ayardaw, Salingyi, Yinmarpin, Pale and Kani Townships in
Sagaing Region.
RICE FARM’S NITROUS
OXIDE EMISSIONS ARE A FACTOR FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CONCERN
•
•
• Space News
•
• Rice farm’s Nitrous oxide emissions
are a factor for global climate concern
Intermittently
flooded rice farms will emit forty-five times additional inhalation anesthetic
as compared to the utmost from unceasingly flooded farms that preponderantly
emit paraffin, per a brand new study revealed in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
This raises the
prospect that rice farming across the globe may well be answerable for up to
double the extent of climate impact relative to what was antecedently
calculable.
According to
associate degree incidental to world analysis discharged by Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF), paraffin and inhalation anesthetic emissions from rice
farms might have identical long warming impact as regarding 600 coal plants
(1,900 MMT each year CO2e100).
In the
short-run, this warming impact may well be the maximum amount as one,200
average-sized coal power plants (3,600 MMT each year CO2e100) as a result of
inhalation anesthetic lasts more decades within the atmosphere than paraffin.
The short-run
vs long climate exchange
The authors
additionally found associate degree inverse correlation between paraffin and
inhalation anesthetic emissions from rice farming: water and organic matter
management techniques that cut back paraffin emissions will increase inhalation
anesthetic emissions. this is often crucial as a result of inhalation
anesthetic could be a durable gas that traps many times additional heat within
the atmosphere than paraffin over each twenty and 100-year time frames.
To monitor and
mitigate rice farming's inhalation anaesthetic impact, the authors invoke 1)
scientists to map flooding regimes and live inhalation anesthetic emissions at
a diversity of rice farms across the world; 2) countries to report these
emissions; and 3) rice producers to optimize water, atomic number 7 and organic
matter used to scale back emissions of those 2 necessary greenhouse gases. Rice
could be a vital supply of nutrition for the world's chop-chop growing
population, providing additional calories to humans than the other food.however
growing rice is additionally resource-intensive: rice cultivation covers
Martinmas of the earth's cultivatable land, consumes tierce of irrigation
water.
With the
assistance of native partners, the authors investigated gas emissions from rice
farms across the south Asian country and located that inhalation anesthetic
emissions from rice will contribute up to ninety-nine of the whole climate
impact of rice cultivation at a range of intermittently flooded farms. These
emissions contributed considerably to heating pollution - way more than the
estimate of 100 percent antecedently prompt by multiple world rice analysis
organizations.
Chinese trade mission to visit Pakistan on 26th
September 15, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Textiles Abdul Razzaq
Dawood has said a Chinese buying mission, consisting prominent businessmen and
investors, would visit Pakistan on September 26-27.
During its two-day stay in
Pakistan, the visiting delegation would hold dialogues with members of the local
business community as well as exporters to enhance the country’s trade.
The adviser asked local business
community, including exporters, to participate in the dialogue with the Chinese
delegation in order to negotiate on their areas of interests. “This is only a
first step towards enhancing the country’s trade and at the same time achieving
export targets,” he added.
Replying to a question, he
expressed hope that during their visit, Chinese buyers would also sign
agreements with local exporters belonging to different sectors, adding that the
visit would be a great opportunity to have access to huge Chinese markets.
Answering another question, the
adviser said the government was committed to enhancing exports and increasing
manufacturing in engineering, textile, agriculture and chemical domains. The
government, Razzaq Dawood added, would give priority to promotion of export-led
growth and reduce dependence on imports.
The adviser said agricultural
exports alone would not enhance the country exports rather “we need to switch
to value addition in this particular area to promote export of value-added
products.”
He said special attention would
be given towards promotion of textile exports, particularly knitwear, apparel,
garments, leather products and rice, besides promoting furniture industry of
the country which enjoys great export potential.
He said the government, in
consultation with stakeholders, would devise a comprehensive policy guideline
to promote textile and industrial exports. “I would call representatives of
textile and rice sectors and exporters as well as other stakeholders to have
consultations so as to devise future guidelines for growth in these vital
sectors,” he remarked.
Davao farmers to test plant growth promoter developed by DOST
September 15, 2018
DAVAO CITY – Some 2,500 rice farmers in the Davao Region will test
the newly-developed Carrageenan Plant Growth Promoter (PGP) set for
distribution by the Department of Science and Technology-Region 11 (DOST-11).
DOST-11 Director Anthony Sales
said the PGP was developed by Dr. Lucille V. Abad of Philippine Nuclear
Research Institute (PNRI) in cooperation with National Crop Protection Center
of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (NCPC-UPLB), and the Philippine
Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
The Carrageenan PGP project is
funded by the DA and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and
Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARD) of DOST as one of the
programs under the Industry Strategic Science and Technology Plan (ISP) for
rice.
Sales said a total of 22,500 PGP
bottles will be distributed to identified sites in Davao Region and
multi-location trials all over the country will be conducted until 2019.
He said the PGP can help
strengthen rice plants against pests and diseases since it is formulated from
radiation-processed carrageenan which is an extract from seaweed processed into
powder.
“By 2020, the Carrageenan PGP
Project aims to increase rice productivity by 34 percent from 4.02–5.40
tons/hectare,” he said.
Sales said the PGP was introduced
in the region on September 5. It was attended by Provincial Agriculture
Officers (PAOs) in the region and project representatives of the Department of
Agriculture (DA), with the NCPC-UPLB to present that possible improvement in
rice production.
He said it will also help grow
healthier crops compared to crops applied with commercial fertilizers. (Armando
Fenequito Jr/PNA)
Sandiganbayan
OKs Arthur Yap’s China trip
On Sep 15, 2018
Deputy House Speaker and Bohol
3rd District Rep. Arthur Yap has been permitted by the Sandiganbayan 6th
Division to go to China this October.
The anti-graft court has issued a
resolution which granted his motion to travel to China from October 10 to 12.
Yap informed the court that he
was invited by Megaworld Corporation CEO Andrew Tan to be the guest of honor at
the launch of Megaworld Corporation’s first residential development outside the
Philippines.
The legislator is facing a graft
charge before the Sandiganbayan over the alleged irregular car loan plans given
at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) when he was still
Agriulture secretary.
Under the case, the then PhilRice
board of trustees allegedly favored 10 employees as beneficiaries for the
institute’s car plan from 2008 to 2009.
This allowed the 10 beneficiaries
to obtain personal loans from the Philippine National Bank (PNB) for the purchase
of private cars which were then leased to PhilRice for the employees’ official
use even though they already receive transportation allowances.
The Office of the Ombudsman which filed the case also found that
two loan recipients allegedly signed hold out agreements with PNB over the car
plan which prevented PhilRice to withdraw funds from its account until the
loans were paid in full.
Duterte
Wants Retiring Army Chief to Head Philippine Food Agency
By Cecilia Yap
and Andreo Calonzo
September 16, 2018, 2:14 PM GMT+5
Cheap rice must be ensured in storm-hit areas: trade
chief
·
Tariff system on rice in place by October, Duterte says
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he plans to name Army
chief Lieutenant General Rolando Bautista as head of the National Food Authority, the agency tasked with
importing rice.
A former commander of the president’s security group, Bautista is
retiring from military service in October. Duterte is scouting for a new head of the agency after a rice
shortage pushed prices to a record and spurred inflation to a nine-year high.
Rodrigo Duterte tands next to Major General Rolando Bautista.
Photographer: Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images
“In the meantime, while I cannot
put you yet in the central bank, maybe you can be with NFA to rationalize, to
come up with a plan and make it structural,” Duterte said in a TV command
conference in Cagayan, where Typhoon Mangkhut first made landfall.
Rice from the National Food
Authority, sold at a much cheaper price, must be made available to ensure
prices are stable, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said, adding that supermarkets
have agreed to sell grains from the government’s food agency. A tariff system
on rice imports, in place of volume restrictions, should be in place by October
to help lower prices, Duterte said.
Mangkhut may damage as much as 11 billion pesos ($203 million)
of rice and corn in the Philippines, with the storm coming just before the
start of harvest, according to the latest estimate from Agriculture Secretary
Emmanuel Pinol, which came a day before the typhoon hit.
Re-engineering NFA to be a
logistics provider
(Second and last part) 
Published September
15, 2018, 10:00 PM
Dr. Emil
Q. Javier
Readers
inquired if re-engineering the National Food Authority into a logistics
provider will lay to rest our rice problem. The obvious reply is NO. By itself,
a reorganized NFA cannot solve our rice problem. Reorganizing NFA is but part
of a total package of reforms that will involve other agencies of government,
particularly the Department of Agriculture; the private sector; the rice
farmers themselves, and the rice consumers, too.
The
trigger of the package of reforms is the impending lifting of quantitative
restrictions (QRs) on the importation of rice which is a national obligation
under the WTO/GATT. However rice imports will be levied a tariff of 35%, in
part to protect domestic rice producers and also to generate revenues with
which to support farmers.
All along the problem with NFA had been the multiplicity of
tasks in its legal mandate, for two of which functions NFA is inefficient,
conflicted and sadly, too-corruption prone to perform.
The idea
is to rid NFA of its impossible conflicting roles of 1) raising income of rice
farmers and 2) improving welfare of consumers with quality, affordable rice.
This will relieve NFA of its loss-making local palay procurement program and
rice trading activities.
As a
logistics organization, NFA will be asked to focus its attention on: 1) holding
the country’s grain reserves in case of global gross disruptions in supply and
price of rice, and 2) pre-positioning grain supplies for immediate food relief
distribution during calamities.
In the new set-up as proposed by Romeo G. David, former NFA
administrator during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos, NFA as a logistics
provider bills the national government for the service it renders at cost plus
a reasonable margin. Thus as a government-owned controlled corporation (GOCC)
will no longer need an annual subsidy from Congress.
With its
trained personnel, 87 rice mills, 300 warehouses 700 transport vehicles, silos
and assorted grain processing facilities and valuable real estate strategically
located all over the country, NFA is fully capable of performing these limited
roles. By reducing personnel by half and further rationalizing offices and
operations, NFA will be profitable according to former NFA Administrator David.
The
determination of the volume of the national grain reserves, their sourcing and
timing have technical dimensions but ultimately they are political decisions.
These should be performed by a cabinet-level inter-agency council (advised by
an inter-agency technical body) responsible to the President. The NFA Council
should be chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture who will be accountable to
the President. Tongue in cheek, should anything happen, since the President
cannot be dismissed, the Secretary of Agriculture is always expendable.
The
actual importation of the grain reserves could be assigned to NFA itself, the
Philippine International Trading Council under DTI, or even the private sector.
Improving
incomes of rice farmers
The most
obvious solutions are: 1) increasing the primary productivity of the rice
farms, and 2) reducing their costs of production. The government should
therefore persevere in its current programs of providing research and
development support, extension services, affordable credit, irrigation systems
and farm-to-market roads which are clearly public goods.
The free
distribution of inputs like good seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, farm equipment
and post-harvest facilities is another way. However, we have been doing these
all these years and they have not really worked. The inputs do not get to the
farmers on time, if at all. The inputs are at times of inferior quality and
overpriced. Better to provide cash subsidies direct to the farmers with which
to buy the inputs as they find appropriate.
Improving
welfare of consumers
The
larger national concern of food security for ALL FILIPINOS (not just the rice
farmers) can be addressed by three complementary measures, namely: 1) creating
more employment in industry, services and in agriculture itself, to provide
wages with which to buy food, 2) bringing down the cost of domestically
produced rice through agronomic intensification in favorable irrigated areas
and more mechanization to reduce labor costs, and 3) complementarily the
importation of cheap rice from our neighbors in the Region, to cover production
shortfalls.
With the
lifting of QRs, the government should refrain from being involved in rice
trading and allow private sector to import rice provided they pay the required
tariff and inform government to allow the government plan availability of
grains supplies accordingly.
Temporary
relief to rice farmers
The
lifting of rice QRs will open the country’s borders to imports of cheaper rice
from Vietnam, Thailand and later perhaps from Myanmar when this land- and
water-rich neighbor gets its act together.
The
cheap rice imports will bring down the retail prices of rice which will be good
for consumers, particularly wage earners whose food bills eat up much of their
household incomes. This will moderate the demand for higher wages and thereby
improve the competitiveness of our industries.
However,
the cheap imports will depress the farm gate price of palay which by estimates
could mean P20,000 less income per hectare to rice farmers most of whom are
poor in the first place.
It is
not fair that the whole burden of adjustment to market liberalization will be
on the shoulders of rice farmers. However, the conventional approaches of palay
price support through procurement by NFA and provision of free seeds,
fertilizers, pesticides, farm equipment by the Department of Agriculture had
been demonstrated to be inefficient, ineffective and prone to leakages.
Thus, our proposal is for government to explore the alternative
approach of direct payments to bonafide rice farmers in the Registry System for
Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) the data base developed by the Department
of Budget and Management to better target government subsidies to those who
need them the most. The direct payments to farmers will be based on farmed area
as reflected in land titles and/or tax declarations. These subsidies can be
sourced from the rice tariffs which by 2022 could amount to P27 billion per
year according to studies by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies
(PIDS). The direct payments however will not be permanent. They should last for
at most ten years to allow the rice farmers who are not able to compete with
imports to diversify away from rice into other higher-value enterprises.
*****
Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a Member of the National Academy of Science and
Technology (NAST) and also Chair of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization
in the Philippines (CAMP).
For any
feedback, email eqjavier@yahoo.com.
Fear of
warehouse raid grips rice dealers
•Customs seizure hit 149,379 bags
Due to ban on importation of rice since last year, dealers
have become fearful of warehousing it.
The Federal Government in 2017
stopped the issuance of Form M, which automatically banned the importation of
rice.
The Nigeria Customs Service
(NCS), Public Relations Officer Joseph Attah disclosed this to our
correspondents in Abuja yesterday.
He said even if the criminals
beat all the border checks to smuggle rice into the country, they have the raid
on their warehouses to contend with.
He disclosed government ware
houses nationwide were filled with seized smuggled rice for onward transfer to
the Internally Displaced Persons camps (IDPs).
The law, according to him,
empowers the operatives of the NCS to clampdown on the warehouse of illicit
items.
He said: “Even when you find
people who can compromise to bring these things into the town and put them in
the warehouses, they are still not safe because the Customs and Excise
Management Act gives us the power to storm and evacuate the prohibited items
and arrest and prosecute you. So, rice smugglers are afraid.”
He stated constant raid on the
warehouses, provision of logistics for mobility, zero tolerance corruption
stance of the Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) have abated the rate of
rice importation in Nigeria.
Attah, who admitted there were
still pockets of cases of smuggled rice, said: “we are yet to achieve 100%
stoppage of rice importation.”
He however noted that from
January to August, the Customs recorded total seizure of 149,379 bags of
imported rice.
The Cost Insurance Freight (CIF)
on the seized rice, according to him, was N104, 565,300 and a Duty Paid Value
of N1, 150,218,300.
He also stated the ban on
importation of tomatoes paste is still in force.
He urged stakeholders to help the
NCS with information to track the activities of importers of tomatoes paste
into Nigeria.
Batting for food security
A seminal study by Supawan Srilopan, Sara
Bumrungsri and Sopark Jantarit of the Prince of Songkla University, Thailand,
established that the bat was an important biological suppression agent of
planthoppers.
COLUMNS Updated: Sep 16, 2018 14:32 IST
Vikram Jit Singh
Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed bats swarm over rice fields in
central Thailand to prey on insect pests. (Pachara Promnopwong)
In the columns last week, I had
dwelt upon the unheralded role played by small urban bats in controlling
insects, mosquitoes and termites. Scientific research conducted outside of
India has proved its role through evidence, but we are still obsessed with
burly tigers and elephants, adorable dogs and pigeons.
Tens of millions of brown planthoppers,
an insect pest on rice crops in South-East Asia, are consumed by wrinkle-lipped
free-tailed bats (Chaerephon Plicatus) at night-time in Thailand. A seminal
study conducted by Supawan Srilopan, Sara Bumrungsri and Sopark Jantarit of the
Prince of Songkla University, Thailand, established that the bat was an
important biological suppression agent of planthoppers.
Thai researchers analysed the
diet of bats from two caves that differed in the percentage of surrounding land
area occupied by rice fields (70% versus 22%). Bat fecal pellets were collected
monthly for a year. A total of 720 pellets were analysed and the result
revealed that bats daily fed on at least eight insect orders, including
Coleoptera, Homoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Odonata, Hymenoptera
and Orthoptera. It was found that Homopterans comprised greatest diet volume in
the rice-growing season, whereas Coleopterans were most abundant in bat diet
when rice fields were fallow. Moreover, most homopterans were identified as
brown planthoppers, according to their research paper titled, ‘The
Wrinkle-Lipped Free-Tailed Bat Feeds Mainly on Brown Planthoppers in Rice
Fields of Central Thailand’.
“To the estimate relative numbers
of brown planthoppers consumed each month, the number of genitalia of male
brown planthoppers was counted. We recorded the greatest numbers of genitalia
during rice-planting period, with an average of four genitalia per fecal
pellet. Examining both the percent volume and percent frequency of each insect
order in the diet of the bat revealed that the two study caves were no
significantly different, even though the proportion of surrounding active rice
fields was different. Our result suggests that tens of millions of brown
planthoppers are consumed by this bat species each night,” Srilopan told this
writer.
Researchers examine a Wrinkle-lipped Free-tailed bat. (Nittaya
Ruadero)
The field study corroborates the
earlier hypothesis from 2014 put forward by researchers, Thomas Wangner, Kevin
Darras, Sara Bumrungsri and Alexandra-Maria Klein, stating that the bat pest
control contributes to food security in Thailand and that the sustainable
production is critical to food security, especially in Asia, effective
biocontrol of major rice pests such as White-Backed Planthopper is of eminent
importance.
“In Thailand, this single species
(wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat) interaction may prevent rice loss of almost
2,900 tons per year, which translates into a national economic value of more
than $1.2 million or rice meals for almost 26,200 people annually. Thus, bat
population decline as currently observed in South-East Asia, will directly
affect people by food and money. Functionally important populations, not just
the rare and endangered species, should be included in conservation management
of human-dominated landscapes,” was the prudence delivered for Asian
governments by the researchers.
India is home to 125 species of
bats, the majority being insectivorous. “All insectivore bats feed on insects
of economic importance such as crop pests, moths, plant-sucking bugs, beetles,
flies etc,” informs bat specialist, assistant professor Sumit Dookia of Guru
Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi.
But are Indian policy makers
heeding the clarion calls of science and biodiverse sensitivities?
Researchers task Southwest farmers
on fonio cultivation
By Gbenga
Akinfenwa
16 September 2018
| 3:12 am
As part
of efforts to increase economic gains, farmers in the Southwest have been urged
to embrace the cultivation of Fonio, known in some quarters as hungry
rice.Known as acha in Hausa, fonio is a notable crop in parts of West
Africa. It is also one of the most nutritious grains. Its seed is rich in
methionine and cystine, amino acids, vital to human health.
Researchers
in the Food Science and Engineering department, Faculty of Engineering and
Technology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo
State, led by Dr. Grace Babarinde, gave the hint at a community training
programme, in Ikoyi-Ile, headquarters of Orire Local Council Area of the state.
The
group of researchers said aside its economic gains, Fonio (Digitaria
iburua), also contains some nutrients, which are useful for the body, as well
as amino acid, which other cereals do not have.
According
to them, Fonio grains are rich in essential amino acids needed for
body growth, tissue functions and repairs such
as methionine and cysteine, which are two human-vital amino
acids almost absent in major cereals like sorghum, rice, wheat or barley.
They
revealed that a white fonio variety contains much more sulphur than other
cereals and are also mainly concentrated in the grain, noting that Methionine,
which is built up with sulphur, is accumulated in fonio twice the amount in
corn or millet and three times compared to rice.
Babarinde,
who was lead speaker at the seminar, added that Methionine is an
antioxidant used by the body to neutralise and prevent damage by highly
charged, unstable molecules known as free radicals that are cancer causing.
Speaking
on the various food items that it can be made from it, she said it could be
used in bread, desserts or even spaghetti or pasta production. “Boiled fonio is
generally consumed with vegetable stew, fish or meat. Products developed from
it in this research are porridges (like oat used as breakfast), tuwo, chinchin,
peanut, doughnut, and eba.
“On its
benefits, the group of researchers discovered that it is rich in energy, iron,
aids digestion and cardiovascular function, good for diabetics, gluten-free
diet, an excellent meal for weight loss, good for the skin and also hair
formation.”
Customs
ordered to flood areas hit by ‘Ompong’ with rice
GATHERING STORM A thick, foreboding veil of
rain on Friday envelops a highway in Quezon town in Isabela province, where
residents are bracing themselves for the onslaught of Typhoon “Ompong”
(international name: Mangkhut). —RICHARD A. REYES
Anticipating critical shortages of foodstuff
in areas in the path of Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut), the
government has ordered the release of smuggled rice and other food items to the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for immediate distribution.
Government emergency service operations in
the northern and eastern parts of Luzon and the Visayas kicked into high gear
on Friday as heavy rains whipped by Ompong’s powerful 255-kilometer-per-hour
wind gusts lashed the regions well ahead of its landfall before dawn on Saturday
between Cagayan and Isabela provinces.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration raised typhoon Signal No. 4 over the two
provinces before 6 p.m. on Friday.
First victim
Ompong claimed its first victim in Pio
Duran town, Albay province, when an 8-month-old infant fell through a hole in
the bamboo floor of a house and drowned in waters that overflowed from a nearby
river on Thursday night, police said.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on
Friday directed the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to make available all confiscated
food shipments, particularly rice, for distribution to areas expected to suffer
the brunt of the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.
“Please release all seized rice and
foodstuff in your possession to the DSWD for possible disaster relief,”
Dominguez said in his directive to Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña.
The Department of Finance (DOF) said on
Friday that Dominguez’s order was “in response to President Duterte’s directive
to all government agencies to ensure the highest level of readiness for the
typhoon.”
Rice and other seized goods such as onions,
garlic, noodles and goods that can be used for shelter, clothing and medicines
may be donated to the DSWD under the BOC’s Customs Modernization and Tariff
Act.
The DOF noted that the BOC confiscated 100
6.1-meter (20 feet) containers with 50,000 sacks of rice from Thailand at the
Manila International Container Port in August.
AID READIED Volunteers help pack relief
goods on Friday at the People’s Gym in Tuguegarao City, one of the areas in the
path of Typhoon “Ompong.”
Thousands flee
On Tuesday, the BOC and the Philippine
National Police raided seven warehouses in Marilao, Bulacan province, and
seized 125,000 sacks of smuggled rice worth about P300 million.
About 10,000 more sacks of rice from
Thailand and Vietnam that were seized by BOC agents in a warehouse in Calamba,
Laguna province, in July may also be donated to the DSWD, finance officials
said.
With still 24 hours until its landfall,
Ompong had already forced tens of thousands to flee their homes for safer
areas, airlines to cancel most of their flights to Luzon and schools to call
off classes from Cagayan to as far south as Samar province.
The Philippine Coast Guard announced it
would apprehend any boat caught violating its “sail ban” in the eastern
seaboard of Luzon and the Visayas after nine people were rescued from a
passenger boat that capsized due to strong winds and 3-meter (10 feet) waves on
Thursday night off Catbalogan City, Samar.
The motorized banca, MB CA3J Signwater, was
on its way to Barangay Singko, a village on Canduyong Island, when it sank 500
meters from the Catbalogan wharf at about 7 p.m., a report from the Coast Guard
station in the city said.
Businesses and residents in Cagayan and
Isabela busied themselves on Friday boarding up windows and tying down roofs
that could be sheared off by winds, as farmers rushed to harvest palay, corn
and other crops that could be destroyed by flooding.
Rice and corn farmers, particularly in
Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya provinces, braved Friday afternoon’s heavy rains,
saying Ompong forced the premature harvest of their crops.
NO CHOICE Farmers in Tuguegarao City have
decided to harvest corn earlier than scheduled lest they incur heavier losses
because of Ompong’s expected effect on their fields.
“These (corn crop) are due for harvest next
month, but we need to gather them, hoping to make up for even just the planting
expenses,” said 71-year-old Pedro Bangayan, as he and his three sons loaded
newly harvested corn onto a cargo vehicle in their farm at Barangay Riverside,
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.
Tugade, Bello briefings
Also on Friday, Transportation Secretary
Arthur Tugade and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III briefed police teams at
the police regional headquarters at Camp Marcelo Adduru in Tuguegarao before
their deployment for disaster relief operations in the region.
“They will be our lifeline to Malacañang
and will relay to the President all our concerns in relation to this typhoon,”
Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said of Tugade and Bello.
In a command conference of the National
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Thursday, the President
designated Tugade in charge of relief operations in Cagayan. Bello has the same
task in Isabela.
At Camp Marcelo Adduro, Transportation
Secretary Arthur Tugade briefs a police contingent who will be deployed for
rescue and relief operations. —PHOTOS BY RICHARD A. REYES
Secretary Francis Tolentino, who was
designated by Mr. Duterte as overall head of the government’s relief operations
for Ompong, took a long overland travel to Cagayan after civil aviation
authorities prevented his plane from taking off in Manila.
According to Mamba, preemptive evacuation
was enforced in the northern coastal communities of the province, as well as in
the villages along the banks of the Cagayan River.
About 500 families from flood-prone
communities in 25 of Tuguegarao’s 49 barangays were brought to six evacuation
centers in the city, according to city social welfare officer Myrna Te.
Jail authorities in the provincial capital,
Aparri, moved 143 prisoners detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and
Penology facility that faces the Pacific Ocean to secure government buildings
in the towns of Lal-lo and Gattaran, said Supt. Flory Sanchez, the bureau’s
assistant director for Cagayan Valley.
Eyes on Benguet roads
In Isabela province, some 500 families in
coastal towns, including 300 in Maconacon, 50 in Dinapigue and 50 in Palanan,
were evacuated to safer areas after typhoon Signal No. 3 was raised over the
province on Thursday night.
Anticipating major landslides, Public Works
Secretary Mark Villar deployed personnel and heavy equipment to 44 critical
areas in the Cordilleras on Friday.
Special attention was given to roads in
Benguet province, which supplies the bulk of vegetable produce to Metro Manila
and lowland provinces.
In an advisory on Friday night, the Manila
International Airport Authority said that from Friday to Monday next week, 154
flights would not be able to depart or arrive at all four terminals of Ninoy
Aquino International Airport.
Cebu Pacific
listed the highest number of cancellations with 66 flights, while flag carrier
Philippine Airlines had 30. —With reports from Melvin Gascon, Dexter Cabalza,
Julie M. Aurelio, Ma. April Mier, Rey Anthony Ostria, Maricar Cinco, Joey A.
Gabieta, Leo Udtohan, Erwin M. Mascariñas, Bong Sarmiento and Judy Quiros
Seized rice,
other food items set for disaster relief
The Bureau of Customs has been ordered to immediately
turn over smuggled rice and other seized food items to the Department of Social
Welfare and Development to augment preparations for the onslaught of Typhoon
“Ompong” this weekend.
SAFEGUARDING THE GRAINS. Farmers from the fourth class town
of Mallig (population 30,000 plus) in Isabela collect and transport
their harvested crops, already in sacks, by carabao-pulled sleds more
than a dozen hours before the projected landfall of powerful Typhoon ‘Ompong,’
the 15th to breathe down on the country which averages 21 typhoons in a
year. Richard de Guzman, Greenpeace
“Please release all seized rice and foodstuff in your
possession to the DSWD for possible disaster relief,” Finance Secretary Carlos
Dominguez III told Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña.
Dominguez’s directive was in response to President
Rodrigo Duterte’s order to all government agencies to ensure the highest level
of readiness for the powerful typhoon.
Dominguez said government-to-government transfers in
emergency situations can be legally facilitated under the Customs
Modernization and Tariff Act.
Dominguez was present during a command conference led
by the President Thursday afternoon at Camp Aguinaldo to discuss ongoing
preparations for Ompong’s arrival.
Ompong was expected to slam into the northern
province of Cagayan Saturday morning, bringing heavy rains within its
900-kilometer radius.
Earlier, Dominguez instructed the BOC to coordinate
with the DSWD on the distribution of confiscated rice stocks to flood victims
and the poorest municipalities in the country, in response to a proposal of
Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua.
Lapeña reported that the BoC seized in July some 100
containers with 50,000 sacks of rice worth P125 million at the Manila
International Container Port.
The shipment from Thailand was consigned to the Sta.
Rosa Farm Products Corp. without the necessary import permits, Lapeña said.
Cua had earlier proposed that smuggled rice be
donated to families affected by the recent typhoons.
The lawmaker said during the hearing that rather than
auction off the stocks, which could possibly end up in the hands of smugglers
who use dummies to buy these back, it would be better for the BoC to just
donate them to flood victims.
Dominguez had also directed the BOC to keep a closer
watch on the entry of “hot” stocks of rice and sugar.
Starting Friday, the Metro Manila Development
Authority was put on blue alert, with all first responder units at their
congregation point and ready for immediate deployment.
Under blue alert status, MMDA personnel are on
standby for possible deployment.
“The raising of blue alert aims to ensure the
continuous monitoring of the possible effects of the current weather system and
ensure prompt coordination with concerned agencies and offices,” said MMDA
Chairman Danilo Lim.
As signal number 1 is up over Metro Manila, Lim also
advised the 17 local government units in Metro Manila to implement disaster
preparedness measures in their respective localities for the safety of the
public.
In Central Luzon, the country’s rice granary,
disaster officials said preparations were in place for Ompong’s arrival.
The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management
Council said classes were suspended in all levels in all schools until Sept. 15
in the entire region.
Director Mario Salazar, chairperson of the RDRRMC,
said four provinces—namely Aurora, Bulacan, Tarlac, and Pampanga—have suspended
work effective Friday to assure the safety of government employees and their
families.
Local government units in Region 2 were on high alert
as the storm approached.
The city information officer of Ilagan reported that
Mayor Evelyn Diaz has ordered the emergency purchase of relief packs in
anticipation of massive evacuation.
Sacks of Sinandomeng, a locally favored brand of
commercial rice, were seen unloaded by trucks owned by City Government of
Ilagan.
“In the absence of cheap NFA rice, the city
government procured Sinandomeng rice. Anyway, this will be for our
constituents,” City Information Officer Paul Bacungan said.
Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Carlos Padilla convened the
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council on Thursday and ordered
the close monitoring of roads and landslide-prone areas.
Both the Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya provincial
governments issued orders suspending classes at all levels, including work in
government offices on Friday.
The weather bureau forecast shows that Ompong will
likely cross the same path as the 2016 Typhoon “Lawin” did.
The Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela has issued an
advisory to communities along the Cagayan River to take necessary precautions
as it released water from its reservoir.
Meanwhile, airlines and airport officials announced
the suspension of 33 international and 82 domestic flights scheduled Friday
until Monday due to bad weather.
Cebu Pacific Air has the highest number of
cancellations with 56 domestic and 24 international flights while Philippine
Airlines suspended 18 domestic and six international flights.
PAL also announced that its Middle East flights in
Doha, Riyadh, Dubai, and Dammam to Manila Saturday ¨will be re-timed to arrive
in the afternoon of Sept. 15 to stay clear of the typhoon.”
¨We ask our passengers to reconsider their travel
plans for the coming two days, as we expect there to be more cancellations or
delays. PAL will closely monitor the typhoon situation and will provide updates
on any further changes in schedules or cancellations,” the airline said.
Also on Friday, some major shopping malls announced
they were waiving their overnight parking charges to assist shoppers and nearby
residents who will be affected by the typhoon.
In a tweet, SM Supermalls listed the following
branches where overnight parking fees are waived. These were SM Megacenter
Cabanatuan, SM City Cabanatuan, SM City Tarlac, and SM Center Tuguegarao
Downtown.
Aside from also waiving its overnight parking fees,
the Ayala Malls made accessible their designated waiting areas and restrooms
beyond mall operating hours.
The Robinsons Malls also made the parking spaces of
some of its branches free of charge. With Joel E. Zurbano, Romeo Dizon and Abe
Almirol
Agri scientists upbeat about pulse revolution in Northeast
Pulse
revolution is silently taking place in the fields of the country.
Even as India basks in the warmth
of the green (rice) revolution and eyes with expectancy the white
(milk) revolution, silently in the fields of the country another
revolution is taking place, the pulse revolution.
This was revealed on Friday at the
inaugural session of 24th annual group MULLaRP meet of All India
Coordinated Research Project on MULLaRP ( mungbean, urdbean,
lentil, lathyrus, rajma and peas) Rabi Crop,
held at the
Assam Agricultural University here.
Addressing the meeting Assistant
Director General, Plant Protection, Indian Council of Agricultural
Research P K Chakrabarty said that there had been a quantum leap in production
of pulses and the country was nearing self sufficiency.
The reasons for this he said was
increase in production due to the government supplying was supplying good
quality breeder seeds to the farmers and increase in area if cultivation of
pulses including the use of rice fallow land, that is land left fallow
after rice is harvested.
Chakrabarty said that self
sufficiency would be achieved after if this growth was sustained and in order
to do this improved varieties had to be researched and given to farmers and
pests and disease kept under control.
He asked the 60 odd scientists
gathered from across the country to formulate a package of practices for
herbicides and pesticides otherwise without certification, the application
of these would be illegal.
He stressed on biofortified pulses
which would help to reduce malnutrition in children and lactating mothers.
In this regard Assam had produced a lentil fortified with iron and zinc and was
looking to infuse foliate.
Sanjeev Gupta, project
coordinator, MULLaRP from Indian Institute of Pulses
Research, Kanpur said that pulses in the country had achieved highest
production upto 25.23 million tonnes (MT) in 2017 which had stagnated at
14 MT continuously for two decades, this was short of about 3 to 4 MT required
for the country to be self sufficient.
“While chickpea is a major pulse in
the winter season, there is much scope for area expansion for
lentil, field pea, lathyrus and rajma.
He said that the government of
India had launched a programme Targetting Rice Fallow Areas (TRFA) in six
states including Assam with an outlay of Rs 200 crore.
He said that about 3 to 3.5 million
hectare could be brought under rice fallow cultivation whereas at present
only about 1-1.5 hectare is under cultivation in the eastern states.
“Assam is deficit in pulses by 25
percent and all the
Northeastern states by 60 per cent. So these
areas need to be targeted for pulse production programmes, “he said.
As new pulse varieties are produced
taking into consideration different farming zones, soil, climate and
other factors, field pea variety TRCP9 had been released for Tripura
which could cater to the needs of other North Eastern States. Assam has
also developed two varieties of black gram Rupohi and Buroi.
‘Rice field
day’ observed in Kulgam
By reader on September 14, 2018
KULGAM:
To provide awareness to farmers regarding cultivation of various kinds of rice
varieties, researched and developed at Mountain Research Centre for Field
Crops, Khudwani of SKUAST-K, the centre organised a Kisan Mela-cum Rice-Field
Day here on Friday.
Farmers from various districts participated.
The mela aimed to sensitise the farmers about new technology and high yielding
variety of seeds being introduced in the agriculture sector to increase
productivity and to provide better marketing facilities to the farmers, read an
official handout.
VC SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad presented a detailed presentation about the
progress of the research centre and new initiatives of the institute to improve
the productivity of crops.
Farmers, on the occasion, interacted with the scientists and discussed various
field issues.
Various scientists also spoke on the occasion and shared their views and
experience regarding the cultivation of the new variety of crops, it read.
IUB’s Professor attends
seminar on hybrid rice in China
·
September 15,
2018
23
Staff Reporter
Bahawalpur
Dr Naveed Aslam Malghani, Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology,
University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, the Islamia
University of Bahawalpur has participated in the three-weeks seminar on Hybrid
Rice Promotion for Pakistan in China. According to the spokesman of the
university Shahzad Ahmad, the event was organized by Yuan Longping High-Tech
Agricultural Company, Changsha, Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of
China.
The seminar was meant to help Pakistani farmers in the production of hybrid
rice.
Univer versity Of Bahawalpur Assistant
Professor Attends Seminar On Hybrid Rice In China
Dr Naveed Aslam Malghani, Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology,
University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, the Islamia
University of Bahawalpur has participated in the three-weeks seminar on Hybrid
Rice Promotion for Pakistan in China.
BAHAWALPUR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan
Point News - 14th Sep, 2018 ) :Dr Naveed Aslam Malghani, Assistant Professor,
Plant Pathology, University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur has participated
in the three-weeks seminar on Hybrid Rice Promotion for Pakistan in China.
According to the spokesman of the
university Shahzad Ahmad, the event was organized by Yuan Longping High-Tech Agricultural Company, Changsha, Ministry of Commerce, People's Republic of China. The seminar was meant to help Pakistani farmers in the production of
hybrid
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/agriculture/islamia-university-of-bahawalpur-assistant-pr-432684.html
Scientists developing new rice variety to replace ‘Jyoti’
| TNN | Sep 17, 2018, 03:32 IST
Panaji:
The Old Goa-based ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI)
is developing a new rice variety which will serve as a replacement for the
existing Jyoti variety of rice in the state.
“Farmers in Goa have largely been using the Jaya and Jyoti varieties of rice,
but there are other varieties that need to come into the picture. We are likely
to come out with this new variety in another six months,” said ICAR-CCARI
director E B Chakurkar.
While experts are yet to name this variety, it will be titled in the same
series as Goa Dhan. Two new varieties, Goa Dhan 1 and Goa Dhan 2 that were
developed by ICAR last year have been recognized as better yielding compared to
Jaya and Jyoti.
“At present, the ICAR scientists are working on the new Goa Dhan variety. It’s
yield will be better than the existing Jyoti variety,” Chakurkar said.
The commonly-cultivated Jyoti is prone to suffering damage in case of rainfall.
In addition to this, the ICAR-CCARI is also popularising the cultivation of
Sahbhagi Dhan in the state’s uplands. “This variety can be grown well in areas
with less water. We have already distributed 1.5 tonnes of its seeds to farmers
in Canacona. It has come through the cooperative movement of the International
Rice Research Institute. The variety works for all South Asian countries,”
Chakurkar said.
In the salt areas, mainly khazan lands, the scientists have distributed the Goa
Dhan 1 and Goa Dhan 2 seed varieties among farmers which are being cultivated
in the ongoing Rabi season.
“Our aim is to improve production for farmers so that they get more yield and
remuneration, as they would otherwise not find agriculture to be a sustainable
job. We are working out techniques considering all aspects of farming,” he
said.
Golden price for golden rice?
Photo
from PhilRice and Irri
Photo
from PhilRice and Irri
Photo
from PhilRice and Irri
Photo
from PhilRice and Irri
Photo
from PhilRice and Irri
Photo
from PhilRice and Irri
+
AA
-
September
16, 2018
WITH the continued
increase of rice prices in the Philippines, there is but one question consumers
and farmers would want to ask on the case of the soon-to-be commercialized
golden rice – is it affordable?
Golden rice, according to International Rice Research Institute (Irri), is seen
to be a complementary answer to end Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) among Filipinos.
It is a genetically-engineered (GE) rice that has a beta-carotene in the grain
(beta-carotene is a precursor of Vitamin A) which can be a new food-based
approach to improve vitamin A status.
This, they say, can significantly help the most affected sector of the problem
– the malnourished poor. In a most recent study conducted by Food and Nutrition
Research Institute (FNRI) in 2013, there are approximately 2.1 million
Filipinos aged from six months to six years old considered Vitamin A deficient.
But how can this GE rice help the poor if, once commercialized, the most
affected sector will not benefit because of non-affordability?
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Senior Science Research
Specialist Reynante Ordonio assured in an interview that the Golden Rice will
just be like an ordinary rice existing in the market now, only that it has a
beta-carotene. So is the price.
“The price will not be expensive as compared to the other rice varieties. It is
very much competitive, there will be no added cost and burden for farmers and
consumers,” he said.
He added that the way of farming of the golden rice will be same of that of the
existing rice varieties.
Why focus on rice?
Violeta Villegas, Irri Senior Scientist and Golden Rice coordinator, in a
previous interview, shared that poor cannot access or afford a diverse and
healthy diet emphasizing that there is a need to fortify rice because it
comprises bulk of their diet.
This was also true according to Ordonio saying rice is Filipinos’ most staple
food.
“This is the most affordable and accessible, just by making it more nutritious,
we can make sure better nutrition will reach the poor sector. Children also are
not into vegetables and fruits, so with golden rice better nutrition will be
given to them,” he said.
But they underscored that Golden Rice is just one of the complementary
approaches in addressing VAD. It is never a silver bullet to the looming
problem.
Presently, the Golden Rice is set for multi-location field trials. The
researchers are still waiting for the biosafety permit. The eyed locations for
the field trials are Maligaya in Munoz, Nueva Ecija and San Mateo, Isabela.
After which, the GE rice will undergo nutrition study, market test, regulatory
and safety assessment before it will be commercialized.
As developers of Golden Rice, he said, it is their ethical responsibility to
assure the public that it is as safe to as conventional rice, but with added
nutritional benefit of beta-carotene.
The GE rice has a long way to go as challenged with various groups opposing to
it, a necessary disruption to ensure that it really is safe for the public
health and environment.
Once all the necessary process will be completed smoothly, Ordonio said, Golden
Rice may be in the market in 2022.
Intensive farming may be less damaging than organic, study
finds
© Tim Scrivener
Intensive, high-yielding farming may be the best way to meet
rising demand for food while conserving biodiversity, a new study has found.
Organic farming has long been considered more environmentally
friendly than intensive, conventional farming.
But a study led by scientists at the University of Cambridge
suggests this may not be the case – provided that more natural habitats can be
“spared the plough”.
The team behind the study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, worked
with 17 organisations across the UK and around the globe, including researchers
from Poland, Brazil, Australia, Mexico and Colombia.
Four
sectors analysed
They analysed information from hundreds of investigations into
four large food sectors – Asian paddy rice, European wheat, Latin American beef
and European dairy.
The researchers measured the environmental costs of what they
called major “externalities” – such as greenhouse gas emission, fertiliser and
water use generated by high- and low-yield farming systems.
Although the scientists found the data is limited, they
concluded that many high-yield systems are less damaging to the environment and
use less land.
Examples of high-yield strategies studied include enhanced pasture
systems and livestock breeds in beef production, use of chemical fertiliser on
crops and keeping dairy cows indoors for longer.
For example, in field trials, nitrogen boosted yields with
little to no greenhouse gas “penalty” and lower water use per tonne of rice.
Per tonne of beef, the team found greenhouse gas emissions could be halved in
some systems where yields are boosted by adding trees to provide shade and
forage for cattle.
Five key findings of the report
1. Agriculture
is the most significant cause of biodiversity loss on the planet.
2.
Intensive farming is the “least bad option” for
the environment – provided the plough is not used.
3.
In rice production in Asia, nitrogen boosted
yields with little to no greenhouse gas “penalty” and less water use.
4.
In beef production, greenhouse gas emissions
could be halved in some systems where yields are boosted by adding trees to
provide shade and forage for cattle.
5.
Organic dairy farming systems caused at least
one-third more soil loss and take up twice as much land as conventional dairy
farming.
‘Least
bad option’
“These results add to the evidence that sparing natural habitats
by using high-yield farming to produce food is the least bad way forward,” said
lead author Prof Andrew Balmford, from the University of Cambridge.
“Where agriculture is heavily subsidised, public payments could
be contingent on higher food yields from land already being farmed, while other
land is taken out of production and restored as natural habitat, for wildlife
and carbon or floodwater storage.”
Defra secretary Michael Gove has made paying farmers “public
money for public goods” a key part of his new system of post-Brexit
agricultural policy in the Agriculture Bill, announced last week.
The study only looked at organic farming in the European dairy
sector, but found that for the same amount of milk, organic systems caused at
least one-third more soil loss and take up twice as much land as conventional
dairy farming.
“Across all dairy systems we find that higher milk yield per
unit of land generally leads to greater biological and economic efficiency of
production,” said co-author Phil Garnsworthy from the University of Nottingham.
Organic
lobby reaction
But the Soil Association (SA) has disputed the findings of the
study and pointed to previous studies that suggest organic farming is better
for the environment.
“When the environmental and other damages caused by high energy
and chemical inputs in non-organic are factored in – some of which the report’s
authors did not take into account – the research we’ve seen to date shows
organic farming is more beneficial to society,” said an SA spokesperson.
“Organic methods show it is possible to have long-term
sustainable food production and environmental conservation; supporting 50%
higher abundance of wildlife than non-organic and higher standards of animal
welfare, while improving soil health and supporting soils to capture up to
450kg more carbon per hectare.”
https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/environment/intensive-farming-may-be-less-damaging-than-organic-study-finds
