Rice exports
stagnant as traders unable to meet SPS conditions
Published: July 8, 2019
ISLAMABAD: Agriculture serves as the backbone of
Pakistan’s economy as it contributes 19.5% of gross domestic product (GDP),
provides employment to 42.3% of the labour force and provide raw material for
several value-added industrial goods.
Therefore, agriculture plays a major role in
strengthening the national economy, ensuring food security and poverty
reduction. Increase in population and rapid urbanisation have further pushed up
the demand for high-value perishable and packed products such as fruits,
vegetables, poultry, fish, dairy, meat and other processed food items.
Major crops like wheat, rice, sugarcane,
maize and cotton account for 23.85% of value addition in the overall
agriculture and 4.66% of GDP. Other crops (also called minor crops) account for
11.03% of value addition and 2.15% of GDP.
Livestock contributes 58.33% to agricultural
value addition and 11.39% to GDP. Forestry contributes 2.33% to agricultural
value addition and 0.46% to GDP. Fishing contributes 2.12% to agricultural
value addition and 0.41% to GDP. Pakistan is self-sufficient in primary food
security needs but still it imports agricultural commodities as well as
processed foodstuff. Oilseeds, mostly soybean, are at the top of the import
list, which are primarily imported for oil extraction but the meal is also used
for poultry feed.
Previously, Pakistan tried to produce its
own oilseeds such as mustard, canola, sunflower and even soybean but lack of
interest and support from the quarters concerned, and an unfavourable market
mechanism never attracted growers’ interest.
Consequently, Pakistan is spending not only
a huge amount of foreign exchange but local production is also discouraged.
In addition to oil extraction, Pakistan is
also increasing reliance on imported oilseed meal for poultry and livestock,
thereby discouraging the use of locally produced oilseeds like cottonseed, mustard
and canola seeds as a cheap alternative.Major imports of other foodstuff can
easily be curtailed through coordinated efforts by national and provincial
government agencies and devising smart policies besides involving the business
community.
The promotion of domestic agriculture will
require smart policies which favour farmers, traders and satisfy the needs of
citizens by providing essential food items at affordable prices. This is a
major challenge now as agriculture has been devolved to provinces, therefore,
the federal government and all the four provinces as well as Azad Jammu and
Kashmir (AJK) must be on the same page.
Provinces are empowered to make their own
policies for the promotion of agriculture as per their socio-economic and
ecological conditions. Exports, imports and national food security research are
handled by the federal government, making it very difficult for the central and
provincial governments to frame harmonised policies. Post-devolution
institutional re-organisation has mostly left behind a very weak institutional
structure at the federal level whereas at the provincial level the capacity is
low which is insufficient to cater for increased professional and technical
demand.
The Department of Plant Protection (DPP), an
attached department of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, is
responsible for managing the export and import of all agricultural commodities.
This is the most important organisation for monitoring and controlling the
import and export by applying international Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS)
regulations, which have already been ratified by Pakistan under the
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
Rice is a major export commodity of
Pakistan, besides cotton, citrus, mango, dates, vegetables, potato and other
raw and processed foodstuff. Rice export has been stagnant not because
Pakistan’s paddy production has decreased but because the country has failed to
gear up and increase its technical capacity in line with the SPS requirements.
Rice export could be enhanced immediately
but the DPP is facing a host of institutional capacity issues, which can be
managed through aggressive capacity development.
The DPP is working with the lowest
professional strength and is struggling to hire permanent quarantine
professionals through a lengthy recruitment process. Similarly, other issues
like legal reforms, state-of-the-art laboratory tools and techniques, and
information and communication technologies (ICT) including online registration
for import and export are badly affecting the performance of this important
organisation responsible for enhancing Pakistan’s exports.
Opportunity
Rice is a major export commodity not only in
terms of quantity but also quality. Data of the past five years shows total exports
of 16.34 million tons and in the just ended fiscal year 2018-19 exports were
the highest at 4.89 million tons in 11 months, followed by 2015-16 when exports
reached 4.54 million tons.
Pakistan’s rice export potential is much
higher provided adequate facilities are given and SPS conditions are met.
Challenges
Traditionally, Pakistan’s rice export was
meant for the Middle East and Africa, where most of the countries still have
very low SPS requirements and thus most exports do not face any SPS-related problems.
Therefore, Pakistan takes it for granted in rice export to other markets in
Europe, America, Russia, China, Canada, Australia and Japan and faced hardships
in meeting their SPS conditions.
Consequently, Pakistan lost the Mexico
market due to infestation of the crop by Khapra beetle, also called cabinet
beetle. The Rice Export Association of Pakistan (REAP) has identified four
major issues in terms of SPS requirements.
First, farmers reuse the wheat gunny bags
for transporting and storing rice, which are mostly infested with beetle and
thus rice quality is also affected. Second, farmers tend to mix unripe or
inferior quality rice with the superior quality paddy for maximising profit.
Third, there is no effort on the part of provincial agriculture departments to
educate and encourage farmers for the production and processing of quality rice
for export. Fourth, there is a lack of rice processing units, technological
support and awareness among farmers and exporters of promoting quality rice for
export.
All these issues can be tackled through
well-coordinated efforts by the stakeholders including national and provincial
agricultural departments. There appear to be no serious effort so far by the
stakeholders for improving the post-harvest processing and value addition to
ensure export of quality rice as per SPS requirements.
Way forward
Relevant national and provincial
agricultural departments, farmer associations and REAP must join hands for
devising a strategy aimed at bridging the existing gaps that hamper the export
of quality rice to the world. This will involve capacity-building of farmers,
traders and the DPP staff, besides awareness-raising, enhanced coordination and
support from relevant national and provincial departments.
This will greatly help in not only
increasing rice export from Pakistan but will also help enforce relevant
SPS-related provisions of the IPPC and ensure Pakistan comply with the
international convention.
Like in the case of rice, similar measures
may also be taken for other agricultural commodities to increase Pakistan’s
exports. Pakistan has the potential to produce quality products for export as
per SPS requirements, which can improve the trade parity in favour of Pakistan
and bring more foreign exchange.
The writer is a PhD in natural resources
management and is a civil servant
Published in The Express
Tribune, July 08th, 2019.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2008371/2-rice-exports-stagnant-traders-unable-meet-sps-conditions/
Belarus intends to
increase agricultural supplies to Pakistan Economy
08.07.2019 | 14:31
MINSK,
8 July (BelTA) - Belarus and Pakistan have agreed to increase trade in agricultural
products. This theme was high on the agenda of a meeting between Belarusian
Ambassador to Pakistan Andrei Yermolovich and Pakistan Minister of National
Food Security & Research Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan, BelTA learned
from the Belarusian diplomatic mission. The parties welcomed the steady growth
of trade in agricultural products between Belarus and Pakistan.
“However, they stressed that the volume of
trade is not consistent with the agreements to increase trade reached between
the two countries at the highest level. In this regard, the parties expressed a
mutual interest in expanding the range of supplied products,” the embassy
informed. Belarus is ready to supply powdered dairy products (whole and skimmed
milk powder, dry whey), cheese, condensed and concentrated milk, butter, offal
and canned poultry and beef to the Pakistani market. Pakistan expressed an
interest in increasing direct supplies of rice, potatoes, mangoes and citrus to
Belarus.
“The
parties agreed to provide mutual assistance in finding trading partners who
would like to supply agricultural products to the markets of Pakistan and
Belarus,” the embassy added. In addition, the countries confirmed their
intention to establish direct contacts between their business communities to
set up joint enterprises to process milk in Pakistan, to produce dairy products
(ice cream, drinking yoghurts, cheeses, yoghurts) and dry baby food using
Belarusian dry milk and technology. Another topic on the agenda of the meeting
was the preparations for the fifth meeting of the bilateral working group on
agriculture due in Minsk in autumn this year and a Belarusian-Pakistani
agro-business forum on the margins of this event.
Read full text at: https://eng.belta.by/economics/view/belarus-intends-to-increase-agricultural-supplies-to-pakistan-122552-2019/
If you use BelTA’s materials, you
must credit us with a hyperlink to eng.belta.by.
https://eng.belta.by/economics/view/belarus-intends-to-increase-agricultural-supplies-to-pakistan-122552-2019/
Iran, Pakistan Keen
on Promoting Trade Ties
Iran, Pakistan Keen on Promoting Trade Ties
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday stressed the need
for Pakistan and Iran to take concrete measures against smuggling and ensure
more business opportunities for the people residing along the border.
In a meeting with Iran’s Minister
of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani in Islamabad, the Pakistani prime
minister reaffirmed his country’s commitment to strengthen relations with Iran
in diverse fields, including people-to-people exchanges, the Associated Press
of Pakistan reported.
Khan said geographical proximity
and close brotherly ties rooted in historical, cultural and religious
commonalities offered huge potentials to enhance mutual trade and economic
cooperation for the benefit of the two countries.
The Iranian minister conveyed the
Iranian leadership’s greetings to Khan, whose visit to Iran had provided
momentum to efforts aimed at cementing bilateral relations, especially trade
and economic ties.
Rahmani expressed great
satisfaction over the progress made by Iran-Pakistan Trade Committee in removing
obstacles to mutual trade development.
Deputy Agriculture Minister
Yazdan Saif, MP Ramezanali Sobhani, Chairman of Sistan-Baluchistan Chamber of
Commerce Abdullah Rigi Mirjaveh and Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost accompanied the
Iranian minister.
Pakistan's Minister for Maritime
Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, PM’s Adviser for Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood,
Chairman of the Board of Investment Zubair Gillani and Commerce Secretary Ahmed
Nawaz Sukhera also attended the meeting.
Agreement to Promote Barter Trade
Pakistan and Iran on Friday
agreed to create a committee to identify goods for promoting barter trade.
The decision was reached at the
concluding session of the Eighth Iran-Pakistan Trade Committee. The Pakistani
delegation was led by Adviser to the Prime Minister for Commerce Abdul Razzak
Dawood while the Iranian side was led by Industries Minister Reza Rahmani, Dawn
reported.
It was suggested that for barter
trade to begin, the two countries should select commodities having competitive
advantage. In this regard, Pakistan can enhance the export of wheat, sugar,
rice and fruit to Iran.
The Iranian side acknowledged the
fact that bilateral trade relations did not match the real potential,
particularly in agriculture, food and pharmaceutical sectors.
Iran showed interest in importing
500,000 tons of rice from Pakistan and urged that a mechanism for early
shipment must be devised.
The Iranian delegation extended
its full support to work on the removal of potential bottlenecks to increase
trade and jointly develop a way forward.
The Iranian side also requested
the Pakistani government to open more border checkpoints, mainly at Ramadan,
Pishin and Korak, which will further enhance bilateral trade.
Dawood suggested the removal of
various taxation measures such as road and freight taxes on vehicles/trucks
crossing the borders to facilitate trade.
He promised to establish an
exclusive desk at the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan in Islamabad to
address related issues.
The two sides agreed to resolve
issues, including removing barriers that have made Iran-Pakistan Preferential
Trade Agreement (signed in 2006) ineffective.
The Federation of Pakistan’s
Chambers of Commerce and Industry also advocates the promotion of barter trade
between Pakistan and Iran, as the preferential trade agreement between the two
countries has not been fully utilized due to sanctions on Iran.
At present, Pakistan and Iran
enjoy a PTA that gives concessions on 18% of items, but the PTA is not being
utilized fully due to Iran sanctions.
“Pakistan is losing its market of
mangoes, rice, citrus fruit and other agriculture items,” FPCCI President Daroo
Khan Achakzai recently said.
He called for the promotion of
barter trade between the two countries, as Pakistan has huge potential in
exporting agriculture products and edible fruit and vegetables, while in return
Iran has the potential to export crude oil and petroleum products.
Achakzai said annual trade
between Pakistan and Iran stands at $398.5 million, wherein the volume of
Pakistan’s export to Iran stands at $21 million and import from Iran is at
$377.4 million.
PM aide says tariff
structure being rationalised
July 7, 2019
Abdul Razzak Dawood PHOTO:FILE
In a meeting with Punjab industrialists and
officials of related departments on Saturday, Dawood emphasised that the
government had managed to resolve the business community’s major problem of
lack of access to the international market.
“Now, efforts are being initiated to ensure
competitiveness of Pakistani products,” he said and pointed out that to achieve
that, the government reduced and eliminated various duties on the import of
industrial raw material.
He revealed that other ways and means were
also under consideration to enhance the competitiveness of Pakistani products
in the international market. However, he was of the view that Pakistan needed
consistency in its policies.
The adviser said China’s global imports
currently hovered around $2.1 trillion and Pakistan should take maximum benefit
of the opportunity, which was made possible through the promotion of industrial
sector and establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and industrial
estates.
“China has agreed to import $1 billion worth
of Pakistani goods and for the purpose, sugar and rice export targets have been
met,” he said. “China has also promised to import additional consignments of $1
billion after completion of shipments in the first phase.”
However, “Pakistan is targeting to carve out
a $200-billion share in Chinese imports,” he remarked.
Dawood highlighted that China was relocating
its industrial units to Pakistan and the government was focused on improving
the industrial structure as well as full facilitation of businessmen in a bid
to enhance export-oriented industrial production.
He was of the opinion that such a decision
would definitely increase the country’s overall export volume and revenues. He
mentioned that the Japanese government was ready to provide a technology fund
for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) but “we need to understand that the
provincial government has to decide, who wants it and who should get it.”
Speaking at the meeting, Punjab Minister for
Industries Mian Aslam Iqbal said the Punjab government was working on import
substitution to reduce the import bill.
“Initially,
we are focusing on the top 20 import items and how to produce these locally,”
he shared. “We will soon be able to ensure local manufacturing of
export-quality porcelain tiles and oilseed production.”
He reaffirmed that the Punjab government was
fully committed to attracting maximum foreign direct investment and industrial
promotion, which would not only help create employment opportunities but would
also enhance export revenues.
Iqbal pointed out that the provincial
government was devising effective measures for industrial revolution through
investment facilitation and advisory, strategic initiatives, setting up of SEZs
and industrial estates, and bringing together industrial sectors having
potential for joint ventures.
Published in The Express
Tribune, July 7th, 2019.
Magic In A Grain Of Rice
The ubiquitous puffed rice could be worth much more, if fortified
with nutrients. The world is moving in that direction. Will India sit up and
take note?
Damayanti Datta 06 July 2019
“Everybody Loves
Jhalmuri Express.” Angus Denoon has set Twitter ablaze with exotic graffiti on
his trolley of Kolkata street food, jhal muri, right outside the Oval in
London, as the 2019 Cricket World Cup gets going. He picked it up from the City
of Joy, and is now making a quick buck, as the paper cones fly off his counter.
Cheap, simple, vegan, wheat-free, calorie-free, fat-free, sodium-free,
chemical-free—Denoon could write an ode to the good old puffed rice, India’s
staple snack.
Danoon may not know, but the magic of a rice grain is now
resonating with the gods of nutrition. Imagine each grain of puffed rice coated
with layers of iron, folic acid, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and a host of
vitamins. The iron would make sure you don’t get anaemia; folic acid would help
your body produce new cells and reduce risk of cancer; zinc would boost your
immunity; magnesium and calcium would reduce your chances of bone damage;
retinoids would make you look young; thiamine would keep your nerve, muscles
and heart healthy; niacin would improve your cholesterol levels; pyridoxine
would keep your brain sharp; cobalamin would boost your energy and mood, while
helping with weight loss. The ten-rupee fare on Kolkata streets, or Danoon’s £3.50 snack, could actually be worth much more.
GODS OF NUTRITION
Food scientists are experimenting:
a new method for making puffed rice, that retains nutrients and allows
producers to fortify cereals with vitamins and proteins, has come from Cornell
University, US. Researchers at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai,
are probing fortification of puffed rice with calcium salts. The World Health
Organization (WHO) has brought out its first evidence-informed recommendations,
“Fortification of rice with vitamins and minerals as a public health strategy,”
in 2018.
Iron-fortified rice is being
offered as mid-day meal in Odisha and Karnataka. Two research trials in Tamil
Nadu and Gujarat are also distributing fortified rice. Since 2016, the Food
Safety Standards Authority of India is exploring opportunities of fortifying
rice grains with iron and vitamin A. The Geneva-based non-profit, Global
Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), has published a Rice Fortification
Toolkit in 2015. Global non-profit, Food Fortification Initiative is advocating
fortification of industrially-milled commonly consumed grains.
HAPPY SNACKING
Spicy or not, Indians have known
for thousands of years, puffed and popped rice is a smart thing to have
whenever you are hungry. In ancient Sanskrit texts, it is called the “laja” and
used not just as food, but also a fire offering during auspicious occasions,
including weddings. Variously called muri, mudhi, murmura, pori, borugulu,
mamra, puffed rice today continues to be a staple in millions of households. In
village India, they are munched anytime, as a snack, with a cup of tea, mixed
with jaggery, as breakfast, for children coming back after play, and for men
returning home after a hard day’s work. The rising demand for the puffed rice
has made it a cottage industry, providing livelihood to scores of people.
A fistful of fortified puffed rice,
or any rice for that matter, can be the answer to the vulnerability of the
country’s poor: preventable deaths, diseases and defects. The point is: 24
Indian states report anaemia prevalence, between 26 to 65 per cent, among
married women—high enough to be called a “severe” public health concern, by WHO
yardsticks. Not just, 45 in every 10,000 births in the country have a defect of
the brain or spine every year. The major reason for both anaemia and
birth-defects is considered to be nutritional deficiencies. Folic acid
fortification can prevent more than 100,000 deaths among children under five
every year.
A cup of puffed rice has 56
calories and just 0.1 g of fat, 12.29 gram carbohydrates, 0.98 gram protein,
along with some dietary fibre and iron. If fortified, it will turn out to be a
happy panacea for the aam janta— something they are familiar with and enjoy
Emiquon, Rice Lake
to benefit from $5 million grant
A turtle crawls through the grass Friday, July 5, 2019 at
Emiquon Nature Preserve near Havana. [MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR]
A family of swans swim in single file Friday, July 5, 2019 at
Emiquon Nature Preserve near Havana. [MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR]
Giant clouds are reflected in the waters of Emiquon Nature
Preserve on Friday, July 5, 2019 near Havana. [MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR]
A turtle crawls through the grass Friday, July 5, 2019 at
Emiquon Nature Preserve near Havana. [MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR]
Next
Areas along the Illinois River
Valley stand to benefit ecologically and economically from a $5 million award
for conservation efforts.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood announced
last week that the Conserving the Illinois River Legacy project received more
than $5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Ducks
Unlimited and several other conservation organizations. The funding will go
toward protection and restoration of about 13,000 acres of wetlands on public
and private land near the Illinois River.
“Preserving wetlands along the
Illinois River is essential to restoring wildlife habitats in the Illinois
River Valley and will conserve resources along the River,” the Peoria
Republican said in a prepared statement. ” ... This will ensure the Illinois
River remains a habitable environment for wildlife and can be enjoyed by future
generations for years to come.”
Some $1 million will come from a
Department of the Interior wetlands conservation grant, and another $4.1
million from Ducks Unlimited and other groups. Those other groups include:
Wetlands America Trust, The Nature Conservancy, The Wetlands Initiative,
Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Peoria Park District, Friends of
Sanganois, Illinois River Valley Conservation Group and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife program.
The project will protect 1,522
acres of wetlands, restore water to more than 18 acres of drained wetlands and
revitalize 11,461 acres of existing degraded water, according to proposed
plans.
According to Ducks Unlimited,
specific areas for work include parts of Donnelley-DePue State Fish and
Wildlife Area in Hennepin, Emiquon Nature Preserve near Havana, Rice Lake State
Fish and Wildlife Area near Canton and Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area
near Beardstown. Anderson Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area between Astoria and
Bath is also on the list. Those sites are among a total of 11 locations. The
locations stretch across 19 counties and include large backwater lakes,
expansive marshes and bottomland hardwood forests.
According to Ducks Unlimited, the
Illinois River Valley wetlands are “critical for birds, creation and water
quality.” The national conservation organization stated in a prepared release
that it is leading the $5 million conservation effort to “safeguard (wetlands)
from further human development and climate change.”
“It’s a major corridor for birds
funneling between northern breeding grounds and southern wintering grounds,”
said Michael Sertle, Ducks Unlimited regional biologist. “The Illinois River
Valley provides critical habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds for
the food and rest they need to safely continue their journeys.”
DU will provide engineering
assistance to Emiquon Preserve, enabling water level management of 5,289 acres
of wetlands to benefit waterfowl, shorebirds and rare species.
Improvements will improve current
and future wetland and waterfowl research. Improvements at Rice Lake will
enhance 2,623 acres within the Goose Lake and Copperas Creek units to benefit
waterfowl and shorebird habitat.
“Working in concert with partners
like Ducks Unlimited and The Wetlands Initiative allows us to maximize the
return on our investment in nature. Our combined efforts, which involve a host
of partners, volunteers and donors, have yielded incredible restoration and
protection results in this region while providing an enhanced experience for
both people and nature,” said Michelle Carr, The Nature Conservancy Illinois
state director. “We eagerly anticipate the infrastructure upgrades that will
protect the Conservancy’s 5,500-acre wetland at Emiquon as well as our
neighboring landowners.”
Despite being one of its birthplaces, India has forgotten many
varieties of rice
The story of rice in India is
complex, influenced as much by geography as by taste, faith, politics and
contemporary nutrition science. But, after years of getting panned for being
unhealthy, it is finally making its way back to the centre of the table.
Written by Pooja Pillai |
Updated: July 7, 2019 2:56:45 pm
As Motley turns 40, Ratna Pathak
Shah and Naseeruddin Shah take a trip down memory lane
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Kaatuyaanam
All that rice: A generous helping:
Some of the many indigenous rice varieties conserved at the OOO Farms seed
bank. (Photo courtesy: OOO Farms)
Is Basmati rice, with its pristinely
white grain, the only variety that lends itself to making a biryani? It seems a
rather silly question to ask in a country where almost all biryani — whether at
home or in a restaurant — is made with the long, fragrant grains of Basmati,
never mind the origin or brand. But the question, posed by food historian
Pushpesh Pant, is worth exploring. Pant proceeds to explain, “When you make
biryani, you use spices like cardamom and cloves, which have a strong enough
aroma that they mask the fragrance of the rice itself. So tell me, why would
you use Basmati?” According to him, the rice that was originally used to make
biryani was the non-aromatic, long-grained Tilak Chandan, grown in Uttar
Pradesh’s Terai region. “But there’s been a tyranny of Basmati for so long that
we’ve forgotten all the other varieties — especially the short-grained rice —
that have been cultivated and used in different parts of our country for so
many centuries,” he says.
For a land that is widely recognised
as one of the birthplaces of rice, and, which has, according to the late Dr RH
Richharia, pioneering rice conservationist and director of the Central Rice
Research Institute in Cuttack, developed about 200,000 varieties of rice, India
is far too enamoured of Basmati. And yet, while this “tyranny” of Basmati, as
Pant puts it, persists, a small movement by a handful of Indian chefs and seed
conservationists is putting the spotlight on many of India’s neglected — and
vanishing — rice varieties. In the last few years, menus have featured rice as
diverse as Karnataka’s Rajamudi, which was once grown especially for the
Wodeyars of Mysore, Maharashtra’s short-cooked Ambemohar, which is named after
the mango blossoms that its fragrance evokes; and Manipur’s Chak Hao Poreiton,
a black grain that is used to prepare a rich, sweet and deep purple kheer.
How much rice does it take to
satisfy one person’s hunger? Pazhankanji (fermented rice gruel from Kerala)
made with fat-grained, earthy Palakkadan Matta rice is said to be so nourishing
and filling that, once upon a time, one bowlful was usually enough to keep
farmers going for an entire day in the fields. On the other hand, a few spoons
of rich, sweet payesh made with Gobindobhog, Bengal’s prized short-grained,
aromatic rice, will suffice even for those with a pronounced sweet tooth.
According to a well-known story from
the Mahabharata, it took just one grain of rice — or five, depending on the
version — to satisfy a god. The Pandavas, while in exile in the forest, were
visited by Durvasa and his entourage. As was customary, the sage expected his
hosts to feed him and his accompanying disciples, and, so, he instructed
Draupadi to get the meal ready while he and his disciples bathed in the river.
The Pandavas were accustomed to feeding large numbers of itinerant sages thanks
to the miraculous akshaya patra, given to them by Surya, the sun god. This
cooking pot ensured that each time it was used, there was an endless supply of
food.
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exhibition, types of rice in india, rice production india, types of indian
rice, black rice, rice varieties india, red rice, Kashmir Mushk Budij, Uttar
Pradesh Kala Namak, West Bengal Tulaipanji, Manipur Chak-hao Poireiton, Assam
Komal Saul, Odisha Kalabati, Goa Korgut, Kerala Mullan Kazhama, Tamil Nadu
Kaatuyaanam
Pakhala bhaat at The Bombay Canteen.
(Photo: Sanjay Ramachandran)
On the day of Durvasa’s visit,
however, the Pandavas and Draupadi had already eaten and there was nothing left
with which to cook a meal in the akshaya patra. Afraid that the sage — known
for his quick temper — would curse her family if she failed to serve them a
meal, a desperate Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna. When he turned up on hearing
her prayer, he also demanded to be fed. When Draupadi told him that there was
no food left, Krishna asked to see the vessel. He peered into the vessel and
discovered a single grain of rice that he popped into his mouth and declared
feeling satiated by it — a feeling that was also experienced by Durvasa and his
students simultaneously. Thus were a sage and his entourage fed, thanks to a
single grain of rice consumed by a god.
The popular reading of this story is
that what fills the stomach of god fills the stomach of his devotees. But
another reading, which places the grain of rice itself at the centre of the
story, could be that rice is the one food that can feed everyone, from gods to
wise men and sages, to kings and queens and farmers toiling in their fields.
And yet, where there is diversity,
the politics of difference — in India’s case, caste and class — comes into
play. This is, after all, a land where certain types of rice, such as Rajamudi,
were cultivated for the exclusive consumption of royalty. Pant, in fact,
attributes the dominance of Basmati and the marginalisation of the so-called
“coarse”, short-grained native varieties to the “rich man’s preference for long
grains”. The consumption of polished white rice, once unaffordable, became
aspirational with the steady migration from villages to cities. Pant adds, “We
have developed a very narrow way of looking at rice, such as only in terms of
the north-south divide, wherein we say that north India has always eaten wheat
and south and east India have always eaten rice. But that’s not true. We are,
as a whole, a nation of rice-eaters.”
Like with most foods, the story of
rice in India is complex, influenced as much by local and regional preferences
and conditions, as by faith, politics, nutrition science, top-down ideas about
development and agriculture technology, and caste and class hierarchies.
Explained: What does it mean for
India to become a $5-trillion economy
One of the biggest factors that led
to modern India’s increasing distance from the bulk of its indigenous rice
varieties was the emphasis on cultivating new dwarf varieties, such as the
high-yielding IR8, which were introduced in the 1960s during the Green
Revolution. This was a time when the largely subsistence agriculture practised
across the country was seen as insufficient to feed a growing population as
well as boost the nation’s economic sovereignty. The native tall varieties
simply could not match the output of the dwarf varieties. On the other hand,
the former had evolved — over centuries — to suit the specific conditions of
the regions they grew in. The use of the newer varieties frequently required
more water than the local conditions could tolerate, and extensive use of
chemicals in the form of fertilisers and chemicals, which in turn affected the
soil quality and impacted the biodiversity of the region. Vandana Shiva,
environmental activist and founder of the NGO Navdanya, which works towards
seed saving, biodiversity conservation and farmers’ rights, says, “The water
crisis was also generated by the depletion of the water table.”
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Kaatuyaanam
Black rice payasam.
The marginalisation of traditional
varieties and the rising water crisis have led to a small, but determined seed
conservation movement in India, driven by the likes of Debal Deb, who has
cultivated over 900 varieties of rice in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills, and “Seed
Mother” Rahibai Soma Popere, who has travelled all across Maharashtra to find
and save the seeds of all kinds of native crop varieties. These conditions are
also what prompted Abhay Bhatia, Shailesh Sakharam Awate, Pranav Khandelwal and
Karan Khandelwal to found the Mumbai-based OOO Farms and promote the
cultivation of native rice varieties using traditional techniques. “We used to
go trekking in the Harishchandragad area in Maharashtra, where the major crop
is paddy, and one farmer, who would guide us on the treks, told us about the
problems he was facing. So, we started off on a small scale, really as a way of
helping this one farmer that we knew, but it became a movement that right now
includes 70 farms in the region and 12 villages,” says Bhatia. Advised by seed
conservationist Sanjay Patil, the OOO Farms team began by scouring the region
for the hardy and climatically-suitable native rice varieties. “We visited
small scale and tribal farmers, asked them about native varieties and if they
could spare three seeds for us. With the three seeds we would get, we then grew
more and built a seed bank that today has some 150-200 varieties, out of which
we sell 34 varieties,” he says.
When it comes to reputation, rice
had a good run in India for centuries, until it collided with a combination of
modern nutrition science and a preference for polished grains. This led to the
deeply persistent myth that because rice is a “simple carbohydrate” it is an
unhealthy choice for a people prone to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and
heart diseases. “There is no logic behind this belief that rice is especially
‘fattening’. Any food, if you have too much of it, is bound to create health
issues. To completely stop eating rice and eat only wheat, as so many people
still think they should do, is extreme,” says Kavita Devgan. The Delhi-based
nutritionist and writer of Ultimate Grandmother Hacks (2018) says that among
the many benefits of rice is that it is one of the most easily digestible
grains, and highly recommended for those with sensitive stomachs. “This is necessary
because today, thanks to our lifestyles, many of us do end up with digestive
disorders. Rice is known to calm the stomach, particularly when it’s consumed
as khichdi. This is something that our ancestors understood,” she says.
This classification of rice as a
“bad” food is especially baffling given how essential the grain has always been
to Indian life. “Our ancestors weren’t stupid to have evolved 200,000 varieties
of rice. It is the grain of this land. Rice is the symbol of a sophisticated
ecological civilisation,” says Shiva. According to her, over the centuries,
Indians bred rice for maximum taste, fragrance and nutritional quality. “They
have found a rice in Chhattisgarh that has medicinal qualities. Many varieties
such as Bengal’s Kobiraj Sal, which was given to lactating mothers, have played
a therapeutic role in diet. Eating different varieties of rice gave a diverse
quality of nutrition. Quality was killed to create the paradigm of mass
(production) in the dwarf varieties of rice introduced in India after the Green
Revolution,” says Shiva.
What to look for in the Union Budget
2019
Visitors to the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale (KMB) 2018-19 who strolled over from Aspinwall House to Cabral Yard
next door would have witnessed a remarkable project that marries a vision of
food as art with a conservationist and revivalist approach. At a stall run by
the Edible Archives Project, the curious and the hungry would have had the
opportunity to partake of meals — cooked by chefs Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar,
Prima Kurien, Kiran Bhushi and Priya Bala — that brought together various
native Indian ingredients, recipes and techniques. The hero of each meal, the
core around which it was conceptualised, was always an indigenous rice variety,
or a combination of varieties. So, if one day, you had a meal of moru curry and
fish in mustard sauce with a combination of Hetumari and Kala Bhaat rices (both
from West Bengal), another day you would be able to sample a raw mango dal,
aloo posto and fish curry with Seeraga Samba and Kaatuyaanam rices (from Tamil
Nadu). “There is a profusion of short-grained, fat rice varieties, which are
usually completely dismissed, but are generally very good, highly nutritious,
and tasty, even if unscented. But they have to be the indigenous ones, not the
more commonly available hybrid varieties,” says editor Shalini Krishan, who, as
part of the Edible Archives team has been documenting their work. “As the most
highly-rated and often used variety, Basmati, feels overrated to us; in part,
because…we are aware of the havoc it wreaks on the water table of the regions
where it’s being grown. Unlike many rain-fed indigenous rice, or even commonly
available hybrid rice that rely on irrigation, Basmati takes up groundwater,”
she says.
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Kaatuyaanam
One of the paddy fields converted to
indigenous rice varieties by OOO Farms in Harishchandragad, Maharashtra. (Photo
courtesy: OOO Farms)
While the Indian fondness for rice
remains despite all the negative, nutrition-related associations, it is
tempered to a large extent by an ignorance about the grain. This is something
that the Edible Archives team discovered while manning their stall at KMB. “We
had set it up in such a way that conversations about biodiversity and
environmental practices were common. We did have to fight against certain
assumptions, for example, that all small-grained rice are the same, or that
there is some variety called brown rice. We had to educate people about rice,
and show them the diversity that exists within the major types. For example,
there can be 20 different types of red rice, grown in different parts of the country.
Also, two varieties that look identical can be very different when cooked and
have different nutritive profiles and tastes,” says Krishan.
Last year, on March 20, The Bombay
Canteen restaurant in Mumbai’s Lower Parel celebrated Universal Pakhala Dibasa
(a day to celebrate the rice-based Odia dish) by serving the traditional
fermented rice dish with five forms of pumpkin. The pumpkin flower pakhala
bhat, as it was christened, brought together two classic Odia dishes — pakhala
and kakharu phula bhaja — for a modern creation that, nonetheless, paid tribute
to the centuries of traditional wisdom that shape so much of Indian cuisine.
“In the last five years, all the travelling that I have done across India has
brought me so many epiphanies about all the ways in which people use rice.
Every part of the country has its own varieties of rice which are used in
specific ways. For example, as part of our Chettinad menu, we served a black
rice payasam. People may think that this is a modern way of using rice, but actually,
it’s very much a part of Chettinad’s culture,” says Thomas Zacharias, partner
and executive chef at the award-winning restaurant, and an advocate of
indigenous produce.
This is what Pant means when he says
that when we think about rice, we need to think outside the paradigm of the
dal-chawal-subzi meal. “The story of rice in India is fascinating, and it’s
been used in so many creative ways. So when you talk about rice, talk about how
it’s handpounded and made into chivda in Bihar. Talk about how it’s used to
make idli and panta bhat. It’s made into khichuri, which is served as bhog
during Durga Puja, and kheer, which is what the Buddha broke his fast with,” he
says.
Still, experiments such as
Zacharias’s are limited only to the urban elite and the question remains: how
much of a difference does it really make to the future of these grains? Shiva
sounds a sceptical note. While agreeing that the “rediscovery” of indigenous
varieties by chefs is something to appreciate, she says, “Chefs suddenly waking
up to biodiversity is important as a voice, not as an economy. If I, as a chef,
use black rice to make one dish on my menu, how many farmers do I have the
capacity to support? Every citizen must become conscious of what they are
eating. This will protect the farmer, the land, and, their health,” she says.
Comfort Bowl
Kashmir’s Mushk Budij: Perfect for
the region’s cold climate, this is a short-grained rice with a distinctly sweet
aroma and taste.
Uttar Pradesh’s Kala Namak: A
long-grained, fragrant variety that gets its name from its black husk.
West Bengal’s Tulaipanji: A
medium-grained aromatic rice that is highly resistant to pests.
Manipur’s Chak-hao Poireiton: A
non-glutinous rice with a nutty, sweet flavour which is believed to be rich
with anti-oxidants.Assam’s Komal Saul: This “instant” rice is ready to eat
after being soaked in warm water for a few minutes.
Odisha’s Kalabati: A nutritionally
dense black variety which was brought back from the brink of extinction.
Goa’s Korgut: A salt-resistant red
rice which grows well on inter-tidal mudflats and khazan (reclaimed) land.
Kerala’s Mullan Kazhama: A
short-grained, plump, aromatic variety, this rice is used to make Malabar
biryani.
Tamil Nadu’s Kaatuyaanam: With its
light red grains, this rice grows tall enough to hide elephants, hence the
name, which translates to “wild elephant”.This article appeared in the print
edition with the headline ‘Written on the Grain’
Cambodia's EU rice exports fall sharply
after tariffs; China sales up
JULY 8,
2019 / 10:47 AM
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia’s rice exports to the European
Union fell sharply in the first half of the year following the imposition of
tariffs, official data showed on Monday, but the loss was offset by increased
sales to China.
The EU in January imposed tariffs for three years on rice from
Cambodia and Myanmar, aiming to protect EU producers such as Italy following a
surge in imports from the two Asian countries.
For the first six months, rice exports to the EU fell 32 percent
from the same period last year to 93,503 tonnes, according to data from the
Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality, a joint
private-government working group.
However, rice exports to China rose 66 percent over the same period
to 118,401 tonnes, while total rice exports rose 3.7 percent to 281,538 tonnes,
with Australia emerging as a new market.
Kann Kunthy, vice president, of Amru Rice (Cambodia) Co Ltd, which
exports the grain to foreign countries, said that the EU tariffs meant
Cambodian long grain white rice was no longer competitive.
“Exports to the EU have declined after the safeguard measure so
China and other new markets, especially Australia, are picking up,” Kunthy told
Reuters.
“Losing a market is never good, but the good thing is that we find
other markets,” he added.
Kunthy said Amru had concluded a deal with an Australian rice
importer and anticipated annual exports of about 20,000 tonnes. Sales to
Australia reached 8,035 tonnes in the first half of this year.
Under a trade program known as Everything But Arms (EBA), all
Cambodian exports to the EU are duty free except arms. The block accounts for
more than a third of Cambodia’s exports, including garments, footwear and bicycles.
However, in February the EU started an 18-month process that could
lead to a suspension of Cambodia’s EBA status over its record on human rights
and democracy.
In April, Cambodian Prime Minister
Hun Sen said China will help Cambodia if the EU withdraws the EBA. China had
also agreed to import 400,000 tonnes of Cambodian rice, according to Hun Sen’s
Facebook page.
Is rice tariffication working?
July 7, 2019 | 11:49 pmIntrospective
July to September of any year is
when we have the lowest local supply of rice. In the past, the National Food
Authority (NFA) would have been ready with at least 30 days-worth of rice stock
by July 1, most of which would be imported. The remaining 60 days of rice stock
to be consumed by the population were expectedly held by households and the
private commercial sector. That had been how we managed the seasonality of rice
production to ensure our access to our food staple.
This year is special since this
government did what several governments in the past did not dare do:
liberalized rice imports and exports.
The timing of the law was
precarious. In about two quarters after its enactment, the country would have
gone through its leanest quarter in rice supply. Its implementing rules and
regulations came out in March, relatively fast, but still it put to question
whether, given that the NFA was no longer allowed to import rice, the country’s
private sector would have enough time to import enough rice and avert a
shortage.
If the response of the private
sector was slow, there would not be enough imported rice for the country to
reach the 90-day rice stock needed at the start of July. With inadequate
stocks, the country would go through another round of rice price inflation, as
in 2018.
So how did the country fare so
far under the rice tariffication law? Has the private sector imported adequate
quantities of rice? Can we avert another bout of rice price inflation this
year?
Finance Secretary Carlos
Dominguez III answered that for us: yes, rice tariffication is working. Rice
prices declined because total rice supply is adequate as the private sector
imported 1.4 million metric tons in the first four months of the year, and is
still importing. The projected quantity of rice imports this year could reach
about 2.5 million metric tons.
RICE STOCKS AND PRICES
The level of stocks relative to use is an important determinant of rice prices. In any year, the demand for rice in the country is made up of the use of rice as food, seeds, feeds and waste, inputs for processing, exports, and ending year rice stocks. Rice supply on the other hand is comprised of beginning year rice stocks, local output, and imported rice.
The level of stocks relative to use is an important determinant of rice prices. In any year, the demand for rice in the country is made up of the use of rice as food, seeds, feeds and waste, inputs for processing, exports, and ending year rice stocks. Rice supply on the other hand is comprised of beginning year rice stocks, local output, and imported rice.
Rice use or demand is somewhat
more predictable than supply. Food use is, on average from 2000 to 2015, about
72.5% of the total. From time to time, the ratio varies but not by much. Food
use of rice is a relatively stable quantity. And that goes as well for our use
of rice for seeds, feeds and waste, and processing, which is about 9.3% of
total use. The remaining 17.5% is the end of year rice stocks.
Rice supply is the more volatile
side. Of total supply, local rice output is about 73.6%, while imported rice
comprises about 8.8%. Start of year rice stocks, 17.6% of total supply, simply
mirrors the level of the ending year rice socks in the preceding year.
Rice supply is more unstable than
demand because of output fluctuations and the volatility of the quantity of
imported rice. Outputs go up and down depending on the weather and natural
calamities including pest incidence. Extreme weather situations, such as what
we are going through now with the El Niño dry spell, and pest problems reduce
harvests.
Import volatility contributes
more to supply instability than the former. The problem reflects the variations
of policy decisions on whether the country should import rice, and if so, when
and how much should we import. That volatility is linked to the country having
had only one importer of rice, the NFA. In 2018, the NFA was late in importing
rice, depleting the rice stock, and rice prices spiked.
The country faces a risk that
imported rice will not be enough to ensure adequate stocks as the country goes
through the lean quarter in the year, causing stocks-to-use (STU) ratio to
fall.
From 2000 to 2017, stocks-to-use
(STU) ratios as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) are good
predictors of rice prices, as the chart here depicts. In the period just before
the rice crisis in 2008, the country’s STU ratio was at its lowest level,
discounting 2013. The price went up in 2008 by about 27% from its level in
2007. The price spike just about plateaued from 2009 to 2012, with the recovery
of the STU ratio to its long-term average of 18%.
However, in 2013 the ratio fell
once again to its lowest level, reflecting the actions of former Agriculture
Secretary Proceso Alcala to keep rice imports down to show he succeeded in
attaining rice self-sufficiency in 2013. He did not, but he succeeded in
bringing down the STU ratio to about 14%, and the price went up by 15% in 2014.
The STU ratio recovered in 2014
to 2015, which may be traced to former President Benigno Aquino’s taking food
security and the NFA away from Secretary Alcala and appointing former Senator
Francis Pangilinan as Presidential Adviser for Food Security.
In 2017, the STU ratio fell once
again to a low of 14% and rice prices went up. At the time, Cabinet Secretary
Leoncio Evasco, Jr. chaired the NFA Council, having been appointed by President
Duterte. However, problems resurfaced. He and the other NFA Council disagreed
with the NFA Administrator on the timing and manner of rice imports, delaying
rice imports, pulling down the STU ratio and pushing rice prices up.
That was repeated in 2018. And we
all know what transpired then.
The PSA does not have an estimate
yet of the STU ratio for 2018 and 2019. I attempt to estimate that in order to
see how comfortable we should be in 2019.
The ratios for 2018 and 2019 were
projected based on the following actual and projected data.
• The output and import
statistics in 2018 for rice were obtained from other publications of PSA. In
assembling the data for 2019, the rice output and food and non-food uses (other
than ending stocks) of rice is maintained for 2019.
• I had obtained a copy of the
rice import data in the first few months of 2019 from the Department of
Finance. It indicates that in roughly the first five months of the year, rice
imports reached 1.7 million metric tons — an expansion by 243.9% over the same
period in 2018. Apparently the NFA was still able to import rice, and this must
be orders made by the NFA last year which just came in the first quarter of
2019. Sixty-five percent of the volume was brought in by the private sector,
indicating a good response by the sector to the new policy regime. In fact,
some forecasters placed the projected imports of the country in 2019 to reach
2.4 million tons.
Based on the projected data for
2018 and 2019, the STU ratio in 2018 might have plunged to 12.98%, which is 8%
lower than its level in 2017. The low estimate may explain why rice prices went
up sharply in that year.
In 2019, the STU ratio is estimated
to climb up to 16.05%, which approaches its average level of 18%. The country
is thus moving towards a stable rice price regime.
Apparently due to the recovery of
the STU ratio, monthly prices of well milled rice have been falling. At their
peak in September 2018, the average monthly price of well milled rice was
P44.17 a kilogram. By April 2019, PSA reported the monthly rice price at
P34.76.
It would seem therefore that this
part of the rice tariffication law on food security seems working. Indeed, the
revenues from rice imports is approaching P6 billion in the first five months.
The government may well collect more than P10 billion in tariff revenues from
rice imports this year, which the government could use for the rice
competitiveness enhancement fund to modernize our agricultural sector.
Farm-gate price of rice at 2-yr low
July 8, 2019
The average farm-gate price of
unhusked rice fell to P17.85 per kilogram in end-June, the lowest in
two-and-a-half years, as rice imports surged past 1.3 million metric tons
(MMT), data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The average buying price of palay
as of the fourth week of June declined by 16.51 percent, from last year’s P21.38
per kg, according to preliminary data from the PSA.
PSA data compiled by the
BusinessMirror showed that the latest figure is the lowest since the third week
of December 2016, when average quotations reached P17.84 per kg.
Figures from the PSA also indicated
that the average farm-gate price of palay has fallen for the seventh
consecutive week. The lowest was reported in Caraga at P15.05 per kg.
The average farm-gate price of
palay usually picks up in June as the country prepares for the lean season,
which starts in July, when rice harvest is usually minimal.
Higher
imports
Rice farmers and other industry
stakeholders attributed the drop in palay prices to higher rice imports this
year following the implementation of the rice trade liberalization law.
PSA data obtained by the
BusinessMirror showed that rice imports from January to April more than doubled
to 1.317 MMT, from last year’s 468,949.86 metric tons.
The volume is comprised of rice
imports brought into the country by the government and the private sector,
according to the PSA.
The National Food Authority (NFA)
allowed the out-quota importation of rice in the latter part of 2018 to pull
down retail prices and temper inflation.
NFA data showed that as of March
5 at least 357,816.45 MT of rice arrived this year under the out-quota
importation program.
The food agency monitored rice
imports until March 5, when the rice trade liberalization law took effect and
limited its role to buffer stocking.
NFA data showed the arrivals of
rice it imported reached 532,775.285 MT, which it bought last year via the
government-to-government scheme and open tender transactions.
The Bureau of Customs said it has
collected P5.9 billion in tariffs from some 1.43 MMT of rice imported by
traders following the implementation of Republic Act 11203 in March.
Retail prices
The average retail price of
regular-milled rice (RMR) as of the fourth week of June fell to a 17-month low
of P38.56 per kg, PSA data showed. The latest average quotation was 5.23
percent lower than last year’s P40.69 per kg and slightly lower than P38.68 per
kg recorded last week.
This was the lowest retail price
of RMR since the third week of January 2018, when the average quotation reached
P38.45 per kg.
PSA data also showed that the
average retail price of well-milled rice declined by 2.11 percent year-on-year
to P43.10 per kg.
However, the average retail
prices of RMR and WMR were still higher than the average quotations in the same
period of 2015 to 2017.
United States makes
first rice sale to China
July 8, 2019 | 12:04 am
REUTERS
CHICAGO — A private importer in
China last week bought US rice for the first time ever, in the midst of a trade
war between the two nations, a rice industry group said on Wednesday.
The Chinese importer bought two
containers, about 40 tons, of medium-grain rice from California-based Sun
Valley Rice, said Michael Klein, a spokesman for USA Rice, a trade group that
promotes the sale of the US grain.
The US rice was milled and
packaged into bags for consumer and food service use, Klein said.
It was not immediately clear
whether the rice purchase was a goodwill gesture following the Trump-Xi
meeting. The rice deal follows a sale of 544,000 tons of US soybeans to China
confirmed last week by the US Department of Agriculture, the largest such sale
since March.
China is the world’s largest rice
grower and consumer, producing 148.5 million tons of the grain in the 2018/19
marketing year and importing 3.5 million tons.
The United States produced 7.1
million tons of rice in 2018/19 and exported less than 3 million tons.
Chinese officials agreed to allow
imports of US rice in July 2017, following years of negotiations. But a nearly
year-long trade dispute between the two countries threatened the first sale.
“It looked dicey for us for a
while, with the hostility going back and forth … We were about to have a
market, and saw it snatched away, or so we thought,” Klein said.
Sun Valley Rice hopes the deal
lays the groundwork for more sales of US rice to China in the future,
representatives said.
“Sun Valley has been a leader
when it comes to agriculture trade with China, we have been taking the first
steps,” said Karen Leland, Sun Valley’s chief marketing officer.
Slowing inflation
boosts gov’t growth optimism
7, 2019, 10:00 PM
By Chino S. Leyco
The government economic managers
have expressed optimism that the slowing rate of increase in consumer prices
last month would help propel the country’s economy this year.
While the upside risks to inflation
remain, both the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the
Department of Finance (DOF) assured the government continues to put in place
“preemptive measures” to mitigate the impact of weather-related shocks on food
prices and uncertainties in the international oil market.
For Finance Undersecretary Gil S.
Beltran said the government is streamlining programs aimed at improving the
food supply that would drive down inflation.
NEDA said the government will implement several measures to prevent the spread of the African swine fever — a major threat to food supply — while moderating its effects on inflation.
NEDA said the government will implement several measures to prevent the spread of the African swine fever — a major threat to food supply — while moderating its effects on inflation.
In June, the headline inflation
eased to its slowest level in nearly two-years at 2.7 percent from 3.2 percent
in the previous month mainly due to softer price adjustments in some commodity
groups, especially food and non-alcoholic beverages.
“The implementation of the rice
tariffication law allowed the entry of ample imported rice into the country
that helped bring rice prices down,” NEDA said.
Since the effectivity of the law,
private traders have applied for import clearances of 1.26 million metric tons
of rice imports from the Bureau of Plant and Industry. Of these, 576,000 metric
tons have already arrived in the Philippines as of June 7 this year.
Meat processors ask govt to stop imposing 40%
tariff on MDM
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
& Rea Cu
The Philippine Association of
Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) is asking the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to stop
collecting the 40-percent tariff on mechanically-deboned meat (MDM) of chicken,
saying the rice trade liberalization law did not authorize the reversion to a
higher rate.
Industry sources also told the
BusinessMirror that they are more concerned about the BOC’s decision to collect
the 35-percent tariff difference on earlier chicken MDM shipments than the ban
imposed by Manila on German meat imports.
In a letter sent to Customs
Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero last June 21, Pampi’s legal counsel Ma.
Luz S. Azraga-Mendoza complained about the “unwarranted imposition of excessive
duty rate of 40 percent on MDM.”
Mendoza said the right tariff
should be 5 percent since the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11203 did not
automatically mean a reversion to the higher duty rate of 40 percent for MDMs.
“We are respectfully requesting
your good office to issue a directive immediately stopping the further
imposition of the 40-percent duty rate on MDM and order for the refund of the
excessive payments advanced by the aggrieved importers,” she said in the letter
obtained by the BusinessMirror.
Chicken MDM is a key component
for processed meat products, such as hot dogs and canned luncheon meat.
“Though it cannot be gainsaid
that RA 11203 already lifted the quantitative imports restriction on rice, said
law however did not authorize any reversion to the higher duty rate of 40
percent insofar as MDM is concerned,” she added.
Arzaga-Mendoza said
even President Duterte “never gave his imprimatur to the honorable commission to unilaterally order the impo-
sition and collection of the aforementioned rate.”
even President Duterte “never gave his imprimatur to the honorable commission to unilaterally order the impo-
sition and collection of the aforementioned rate.”
The President issued Executive
Order (EO) 82 on June 14, which retained the 5-percent import tariff on MDM
until 2020.
Pampi said the decision of the
BOC to collect a 40-percent tariff on MDM and the collection of the tariff
difference had significantly affected the meat processing industry.
“By reason of the sudden upsurge,
our meat importers are being constrained to incur staggering amount of costs.
Not to mention the serious threat to their viability, especially those new
players who cannot afford the additional burden,”
Mendoza said.
Mendoza said.
Pampi’s counsel said Atty.
Erastus Sandino B. Austria, District Collector of BOC at Manila International
Container Port (MICP), earlier issued letters to MDM importers demanding the
payment of the 40-percent duty rate and threatening to impose the corresponding
surcharges and interests starting March 5, when RA 11203 or the rice trade
liberalization law took effect.
The BOC insisted that the
adjustment of the rate to 40 percent was in accordance with what was discussed
during a meeting involving the BOC, Tariff Commission (TC), DOF and the
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) on April 12 in line with the
implementation of the rice tariffication law.
The TC called the meeting after
Pampi requested the BOC to reinstate the 5-percent tariff on imported chicken
MDM. The BOC sent the letter of Pampi to the commission on April 3.
Impact on
prices
The increase in the prices of
some processed meat products can be averted if the BOC will no longer
retroactively collect the 35-percent tariff difference on imported MDM from
March 5 to May 16, according to industry sources.
The BOC earlier said it expects
the Manila International Container Port (MICP) to net an additional P400
million from the collection of the 35-percent tariff difference from importers
and processors.
However, meat industry sources
said the figure could go as high as P1 billion given the volume of chicken MDM
that local processors import monthly. “If the BOC would not collect those
P1-billion back taxes then the meat processors could just easily absorb
whatever price increases in raw materials due to limited supply, such as the
banning of German imports,” the source said.
Manila banned all meat products
from Germany—the second top source of Philippine meat imports—after the Bureau
of Animal Industry (BAI) discovered a major breach of quarantine protocol for
African swine fever (ASF).
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F.
Piñol issued a memorandum order authorizing the suspension of the system
accreditation of German foreign meat establishments to ship meat products to
the Philippines. The order takes effect immediately.
Piñol said BAI’s investigation
found that the confiscated meat shipments from Germany last June 27 in Cebu
contained 250 kilograms of pork from Poland, a country struck by ASF. Poland
was banned from exporting meat to the Philippines due to the outbreak of the
fatal pig disease.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/08/meat-processors-ask-govt-to-stop-imposing-40-tariff-on-mdm/
Rice price falls
more
Procurement policy benefits millers: experts
Md Owasim Uddin Bhuyan | Published: 00:00, Jul
08,2019 | Updated: 00:19, Jul 08,2019
The
market price of boro rice, the largest cereal crop of Bangladesh, has fallen
further across the country, making farmers incur more losses.
Both
farmers and millers said that the price of coarse un-husked rice had already
fallen by Tk 50 to 60 per 40 kgs of rice over a week.
Despite
the government’s declared steps to push up the price to protect farmers from
further losses, the current procurement mechanism has totally failed to benefit
the growers, said agriculture experts.
Such
procurement policy rather creates scopes for the millers to make high profit
from the throw-away rice price that always hits hard the cultivators, they
said.
Farmers
are now selling 40 kgs of un-husked rice or paddy at around Tk 600-Tk 650
against the production cost of around Tk 900, the experts said.
A
network of syndicates of the rice hoarders might be involved in the process of
causing the rice price to continue to fall, they said.
Sher- e-
Bangla Agricultural University’s agronomy professor Md Abdullahil Baqui told
New Age that the government should take immediate steps to protect the farmers
by ensuring them fair rice price.
‘Otherwise,
rice farming will fall in danger in coming days,’ he cautioned.
The role
of the syndicates in the procurement of rice, therefore, must be eliminated, he
emphasised.
Food
department officials, however, said that they continued to procure rice and
paddy from the local markets and that they had already raised the target of
paddy procurement in order to benefit the farmers.
According
to the food ministry, as of July 3, the government has procured 7.35 lakh
tonnes of rice from the local markets, of which 85,501 tonnes are unhusked
rice, 6.17 lakh tonnes boiled husked rice and 41,000 tonnes atop or unboiled
husked rice.
Rafiqul
Islam Talukder, a rice wholesaler at Pathbazar in Gouripur under Mymensingh,
told New Age that the current market price of 40kgs of BR 28 unhusked rice was
Tk 680 and of BR 29 Tk 620, which were much lower than the government
procurement price.
The food
ministry has set the procurement price for 40kgs of un-husked rice at Tk 1,040.
Rafiqul,
who claimed that he also had farming, said that the growers continued to incur
losses and were gradually losing their interest in producing the rice crop.
As the
government is procuring husked rice from millers the farmers are not getting
the government-fixed price, he said.
‘Actually
the listed rice millers are benefiting from the government procurement,’ he
added.
Rice
trader Mohammad Roki of Sarar Char Bazar in Bajitpur under Kishoreganj told New
Age that rice price had fallen further by another Tk 50 per 40 kgs over the
past week.
Due to
low supply of husked rice to the wholesale market, the price of un-husked rice
might have fallen, he said.
When
asked about the falling price of rice, food department director general
Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum told New Age that the price was falling due to the
weather condition or for other reasons.
She said
that her department was trying to ensure fair prices to the growers by
procuring un-husked rice directly from the farmers.
Against
the target of procuring a total of four lakh tonnes of un-husked rice, she
said, they were able to buy only 87,000 tonnes of un-husked as of July 7.
Nazmanara
also said that the government undertook a project to build 200 paddy silos for
procuring paddy directly from the farmers, probably from the next year.
Meanwhile,
officials said, the government has increased the import duty on rice to 55 per
cent in June last year from the previous 28 per cent to discourage rice import.
Rs 5.10 cr worth paddy, rice seized
Monday, 08 July 2019 | Staff Reporter | RAIPUR
The team of Food Controller,
Raipur and assistant food officer conducted inspection of rice millers’ not
lifting paddy for custom milling leading to seizure of paddy and rice estimated
worth Rs 5.10 crore.
According to Food Controller, the
inspection was conducted at Champaran based Prabhu Enterprises, Navapara.
The team found the mill is not
maintaining stock register and as per agreement has not carried out the lifting
of paddy from procurement centres. Based on findings, 460 quintal paddy, 285
quintal rice, 900 quintal broken rice, 135 quintal extremely broken rice were
seized. Taking all on record, the team kept the seized material in custody of
the rice miller for further action.
Similarly, at Shri Shyamji Rice
Mill, Navapara, the miller based on his milling capacity has not carried out
the custom milling and lifted the paddy. Team from spot seized 28000 quintal
paddy and 3344 quintal rice. Both the seizures estimated price is around Rs
5.10 crore. Under different sections of Chhattisgarh Paddy Produce Rules, and
Essential Commodities Act section 3/7, legal process has been initiated.
Gov’t
to reduce reliance on hydro
Thou Vireak |
Publication date 08 July 2019 | 09:28 ICT
The government will prioritise renewable energy development rather
than hydroelectric power construction, according to Electricite duCambodge
(EdC) director-general Keo Rattanak. PUBLIC DOMAIN
Private sector insiders have
hailed the decision, saying investment in solar power would make the Kingdom’s
manufacturing sector more competitive due to lower prices.
Speaking at a presentation on
Cambodia’s 2020 energy vision, Rattanak said Cambodia will expand its solar
energy investment by 12 per cent by the end of next year and increase it up to
20 per cent over the next three years.
He said that solar power would be
used to meet the increasing electricity demands in the industrial and
commercial sectors.
“We want to set up solar power
plants in many locations. We believe solar power will provide lower prices. As
EdC’s director, I do not want to see the Mekong River as part of the hydropower
generation,” he said.
Rattanak said Cambodia will
produce 70MW of solar energy next year – 10MW from a solar farm in Svay Rieng
province and 60MW from solar power plants in Kampong Speu province’s Oudong
district.
Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF)
secretary-general Moul Sarith said expanding solar power plants would help
reduce electricity costs and boost the Kingdom’s exports.
“I think it is good for the rice
industry as production costs will be lower and this will provide us with
greater potential to compete with other countries,” he said.
Electricity prices for the
industrial and commercial sectors currently range between 600 and 800 riel
($0.15 and $0.20) per kWh.
Sarith said the private sector
has called for prices to be reduced to between 400 and 500 riel per kWh. CRF
member rice millers pay on average between $50,000 and $150,000 per month for
electricity.
The government recently approved
two solar power projects which can produce 120MW of power in Pursat and Kampong
Chhnang provinces, which are due to be online by the end of next year and in
2021 respectively.
The government also approved a
20MW expansion to a 60MW solar power plant which is currently under
construction in Kampong Speu province’s Oudong district and scheduled to launch
in December.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce
vice-president Lim Heng said EdC expanding solar power would attract foreign
investors.
“I think that it’s a good thing,
the cheaper the cost of electricity, the better the production levels we can
achieve."
“If electricity is cheaper, it
will encourage more investors to come. It’ll help the industrial sector a lot
as it will help to lower production costs,” he said.
Wheat that can withstand the
heat
Published at 12:12 am July
7th, 2019
Photo: Bigstock
Bangladeshi
scientists develop heat tolerant wheat variety at a time when wheat output is
dwindling largely due to shorter winters, higher temperatures
With the
gradual rise in temperatures and shorter winters in Bangladesh, growing wheat
in warmer weather appears to be increasingly challenging. Bangladesh’s
dependence on imported wheat, the second most important food crop after rice,
is increasing year on year.
Only the
development of a heat tolerant variety can come to the rescue. And the
breakthrough has just been achieved!
Scientists at
the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) have developed a high
yielding wheat variety – WMRI Gom 01 – which can withstand warmer weather and
mature early.
The National
Seed Board recently approved the release of the heat tolerant and early
maturing variety of wheat, that also a high yield potential of upto 5 tons a
hectare compared to a national average wheat yield of 3 tons per hectare.
This is a
welcome development given the fact that Bangladesh currently grows a little
over one million tons of wheat on 0.35 million hectares of land a year,
compelling public and private importers to buy six million tons of wheat
internationally to meet increasing domestic demand. Bangladesh spends upto USD
1.5 billion a year to foot the wheat import bill.
Domestic wheat
production hit a record high of 1.9 million tons in fiscal 1998-99. But thanks
to shorter winters as a fallout of climate change, and farmers switching over
to more high value crops such as maize, potatoes, and vegetables, the
production of wheat has dwindled over the years.
Bangladesh is a
subtropical country where only spring wheat is grown in short winters. The
spring wheat grown in this region is exposed to chronic heat stress at certain
growth stages. Thanks to land scarcity and high cropping intensity, up to 80
percent of wheat in Bangladesh is grown after monsoon rice is harvested, and
hence wheat seeding is often delayed.
Late planting
exposes the wheat to higher temperatures in its grain filling phase, causing
significant yield loss.
And as
Bangladesh has a cropping intensity of nearly 300% (meaning, on average, crop
land is harvested thrice a year) , one of the highest in the world, wheat has
to compete with winter rice, maize, potato, and other crops, for farmland.
The new heat
tolerant variety would come to the rescue of thousands of wheat growers. They
would be able to plant late and harvest the grain long after winter is gone.
The WMRI Gom 01 wheat strain would be able to tolerate high March temperatures,
explained one of the country’s preeminent wheat scientists, Dr. Naresh Chandra
Deb Barma.
Dr Barma, who
oversaw the Wheat Research Centre’s transformation into an institute, the
Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI), as its first director
general, told Dhaka Tribune that the WMRI Gom 01 is a hybrid of two popular
wheat varieties, Shatabdi and Prodip.
“It was
initially named BAW 1194, selected from various wheat strains in diverse
environments. This breeding line produced a 20-25% higher yield than the trial
varieties in different nurseries and yield trials. This variety has been proven
high yielding and heat tolerant, successively for three years in research
trials and farm fields,” said Dr Barma.
Back in 1983 the
Wheat Research Centre developed and released a highly productive semi-dwarf
wheat variety called Kanchan. In subsequent years varieties like – Kanchan,
Shatabdi, Prodip – became hugely popular with wheat farmers. But eventually
some of the earlier varieties degenerated and became susceptible to various
diseases.
National Seed
Board officials say the newly released variety is not only early maturing and
heat tolerant, but also resistant to leaf blight and leaf rust diseases.
Wheat
scientists say heat stress is becoming an issue in the Rabi season of
Bangladesh due to global warming and shorter winters. They say the newly
released wheat variety, WMRI Gom 01, needs rapid expansion to boost wheat
yields and farmer incomes.
They said where
many traditional wheat varieties take up to 120-125 days to mature, WMRI Gom 01
can be harvested in 105 to 110 days, and farmers can plant till as late
as mid-December and can withstand the hotter March temperatures.
About its
features BWMRI scientists said, the variety is 90 to 100cm tall with 4 to 5
tillers in each plant having broad and dark green leaves. The spike is long,
with 45-50 grains in each spike. The grains are white, shiny, and bold,
with a thousand kernels weighing 52-60 grams.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/agriculture/2019/07/07/wheat-that-can-withstand-the-heat
Lend farmers a helping hand
Jul 8, 2019, 7:16 AM; last updated: Jul 8, 2019, 7:29 AM
(IST)AGRICULTURE:
CROP RESIDUE MANAGEMENT
Stubble
fires can be doused if farmers are guided and incentivised to use eco-friendly
technology, writes Balwinder Singh Sidhu
The burning of crop residue not only contributes to global warming
but is also a major health hazard. The poor commercial value of the residue,
coupled with the high cost of collection and storage, reduces its value for
farmers.
INDIA, the
second largest agro-based economy in the world with round-the-year crop cultivation,
generates a large amount of crop residue, which is burnt in the absence of
adequate sustainable management practices. As per the Global Burden of Disease
Study-2017, about 12.5 per cent of the total deaths in India were caused by air pollution. Of these, 51.4
per
cent persons
were less than 70 years of age. Around 76.8 per cent Indians breathe air that
is worse than the levels recommended by the National Ambient Air Quality
Standard. Apart from contributing to global warming, crop residue burning (CRB)
has become a major environmental problem causing health issues.
The main adverse
effects of CRB include the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to
global warming, increased levels of particulate matter and smog in winter that
reduces visibility and causes health hazards, loss of biodiversity of
agricultural land and the deterioration of soil fertility. CRB significantly
increases the quantity of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide and sulphur dioxide, which results in the aggravation of eye, skin and
respiratory diseases. According to an Indian Agricultural Research Institute
study (2008-09), Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh accounted for about 53 per
cent of the country’s total crop residue burnt. The intensification of agriculture
and the economics of burning are major contributors to the spread of the CRB
menace to central, eastern and southern parts of the country, as captured in
the satellite images after the harvest of crops.
Why residue is burnt
The burning of one tonne of paddy straw results
in the loss of nutrients — about 5.5- kg nitrogen, 2.3-kg phosphorus (P2O5),
25-kg potash (K2O), 1.2 kg sulphur, 50-70 per cent of micro-nutrients present
in the straw and 400 kg of carbon. Valuing these nutrients at the current market
prices means a loss of about Rs 1,500 per hectare due to four major nutrients
alone. Farmers continue to burn paddy residue due to its zero cost as well as
the narrow window of time available to prepare the fields for sowing of wheat
after paddy (which is being further shortened due to delay in transplanting of
paddy). Further, the farmers also have the mindset to plant the crop in a
well-prepared seed bed on account of the belief that “better the tilth, better
the crop”. Further, they normally own the machinery required for tillage and
sowing in clean fields, whereas they have to invest to purchase new machinery
for Crop Residue Management (CRM), which is costly. Since these machines are
used only for 15-20 days in a year, the farmers do not consider these worth
investing. Wheat straw is collected and used as fodder and the left-over volume
in the field is very small, yet the farmers resort to burning.
The farming
sector is facing a severe economic distress and farmers prefer to continue with
paddy due to almost negligible marketing risk; the increasing area under this
crop is increasing the volume of residue. The poor economic and commercial
value of crop residue, coupled with high cost of collection and storage,
reduces its value for farmers. The commercial supply chain and an ecosystem for
alternative use are almost non-existent at present. The enforcement of a ban on
burning is also a challenge due to the extent of its incidence. In Punjab, the
number of fire incidents captured has been 81,093, 45,410 and 50,590 after rice
harvesting (October-November) and 14,857, 11,510 and 11,698 after wheat harvest
(April-May) in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, though these events are not a
true quantification of the ‘volume and acreage’ burnt.
The options
Many solutions
have been proposed from time to time to utilise the huge quantity of crop
residue generated every year. The collection of straw for ex situ use in
biomass-based energy generation facilities, co-burning in some coal-fired
energy units, production of briquettes and pellets for domestic energy use and
ethanol production is being done, but for large-scale use, collection,
transportation to central facilities and storage of millions of tonnes of
residue must occur in only 20-25 days. To store rice straw of one million
hectares requires about 2,500 hectares. Further, the removal of residue from
the field is not a good proposition because it entails the removal of huge
amounts of essential plant nutrients and soil organic matter.
Only on-farm
i.e. in situ management of residue largely has the potential to address all
three criteria of sustainability, profit and practicality. As the incorporation
of residue into the soil requires two to three extra tillage operations along
with extra irrigation, in addition to the use of chopper to reduce their size
to hasten its decomposition, the retention of residue as mulch is the best
option. The combine harvester fitted with super straw management system
(Super-SMS) chops and spreads loose rice residue as mulch and wheat can be
planted into mulched fields using an innovative agricultural technology called
the Happy Seeder. In situ management of crop residue through conservation
agriculture (CA) is a viable, practical and scalable solution and needs to be
propagated.
The new initiative
Smog in 2016 and
2017 brought this menace into serious focus and attempts were made to find an
appropriate solution. As remarked by Milton Friedman, “Change only happens in a
crisis and then the actions that are undertaken depend upon the ideas that are
just lying around.” The Union Government launched a scheme with an allocation
of Rs 1,150 crore for in situ CRM through the promotion of agricultural
mechanisation and thereby retention of residue as mulch or its incorporation
into the soil through the use of appropriate machinery. Financial assistance is
being provided to purchase the machinery for own use or establish farm
machinery banks for custom hiring. The government also made it mandatory for
all combine harvesters to be equipped with the SMS. The scheme was aggressively
implemented during 2018-19 and 28,616 machines have been provided to the
individual farmers, cooperative societies and entrepreneurs for setting up
custom hiring centres (CHCs). To provide access to a large number of farmers,
emphasis was laid on involving primary agricultural cooperative societies to
purchase the machines for use by their members and also on the organisation of
farmers into groups for joint ownership of machinery. As many as 3,119
cooperative societies and 1,147 farmer groups were provided with machinery for
CRM. In addition, a campaign was launched to create awareness through print and
electronic media as well as village-level training camps, demonstrations, field
days and exposure visits for farmers. The programme resulted in the reduction
of quantity of straw burnt, which was monitored in terms of active fire
incidents, but these are not a true indicator of the area under fire and the
quantity burnt.
The delay in
starting the programme and consequently the delay in the supply of requisite
machinery, lack of capacity-building of the machine operators and shortage of
trained staff to provide requisite extension services and their will to work
together with the private sector suppliers, contributed to less than optimal
utilisation of machinery. Demand-driven mechanisation is viable and profitable
only when based on a sound business model and risk management strategies.
The way forward
Though
significant progress has been made in advancing conservation agriculture-based
technologies (CA-Happy Seeder) during the past year, based on the feedback from
stakeholders, there were some gaps in implementation. The programme has been
designed and implemented in a top-down approach, whereas such an approach has
not always been successful in the past. Keeping in view the social, economic
and cultural aspects at the local level, the technology needs to be adapted to
farmers’ requirements for the delivery of right equipment in the right
environment. Accordingly, it is suggested that:
(i) Building
technical capacity of stakeholders is a pre-requisite for propagation of new
technologies, so a major emphasis needs to be laid on their training for proper
operation and maintenance of the equipment and its profitable use.
(ii) The service
from a well-equipped and well-trained service provider is necessary to improve
access of small holders to relevant machinery. So, the selected entrepreneurs
should be nurtured and trained in business skills — market appraisal, costing
and fixing of rate, cash flow control, partial budgeting and record-keeping —
as well as technical skills such as operation, calibration of equipment,
maintenance and servicing.
(iii) The
private sector should also be encouraged to participate through demonstrations,
technical support, machinery fairs and formation and consolidation of farmers’
mutual support groups along with the public sector.
(iv) For
the cooperative societies, providing CRM machinery on rent must be viable as a
business. Demand aspects need to be addressed by ensuring that farmers have
access to information about availability and suitability of machinery in order
to make informed choices. The secretary of the society should be accountable to
ensure the optimal use of machines.
(v) The present programme
does not incentivise the farmers to cover the additional cost of hiring of
machinery. Initially, an incentive of Rs 2,500 per hectare, limited to two
hectares, may be provided to enable the small holders to cover the increase in
the rentals of SMS-equipped harvester combines and the seeding machinery to
improve adoption on a large scale.
(vi)
Efforts for propagation and adoption of climate-smart and environment-friendly
machinery should be an ongoing programme instead of limiting it to two years.
For coverage of two-thirds of the area under paddy-wheat rotation under in situ
CRM, about 40,000 zero-till drills/Happy Seeders are required.
(vii) The
seeding of wheat in standing rice stubble provides an additional window of
about two weeks for advancing the sowing of the wheat crop. As a medium-term
strategy, the selection and breeding of wheat varieties suitable for
conservation agriculture so as to utilise this window to increase the duration
and saving from terminal heat for improving productivity may be taken up. It
will offset a major cost in ownership and use of CA machinery.
(viii) There
were some sporadic incidents of attack of ‘army worm’ on the wheat crop at some
locations during the past season. Accordingly, research for fine-tuning agronomic
practices for conservation agriculture — pest control, weed control, timing of
first irrigation and fertiliser application — may also be taken up.
(ix) In the long
term, there is a need to develop a range of alternatives. Reduction in area
under rice-wheat cropping system is a must to reduce the straw load. Though
wheat is an ecologically benign crop, diversification from paddy should be the
top priority. For this, a package of incentives and disincentives has to be put
in place for discouraging rice cultivation and encouraging other crops’
cultivation. Agricultural research on alternatives to paddy requires continuous
investment in terms of time and resources to make these economically
competitive.
(x) The Punjab
State Farmers’and Farm Workers’ Commission set up a Paddy Straw Challenge Fund
with an award money of $1 million for developing innovative technologies for
solving the problem of paddy straw-burning. The Union Government should make a
matching contribution towards the award money to attract international research
organisations to participate.
To enable the
country to feed itself sustainably in the scenario of rising population,
growing rural-to-urban migration, degradation of natural resources and
increasing negative impact of climate change, emphasis will have to be put more
firmly on conservation agriculture production systems. For this purpose,
farmers need to be guided, motivated and incentivised for embracing the
paradigm shift to this new way of farming. As CS Lewis put it, “You can’t go
back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the
ending.” We have to make a new beginning before it is too late.
Biofortified staples
may hold the key to India’s rural malnutrition
by Smriti Verma and Anjani Kumar |
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Monday, 8 July 2019 08:18 GMT
We explore the challenges of ending hunger and
malnutrition as food production adjusts to a warming world
* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the
author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Indian diets involve copious consumption of staples
and not enough nutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables
Smriti Verma is a research analyst and Anjani Kumar is a senior
research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
based in New Delhi.
The National elections in India
may well be over, but the persistent issue of malnutrition still holds the
nation in its tight grip. And yet, of the myriads of topical issues that
comprised political propaganda, including caste, religion, employment, farmer
upliftment, and even social transfers, none of the political parties raised
this critical issue. The twin problems of malnutrition and nutritional
insecurity are particularly severe in rural India.
According to the latest estimates available from the Indian
government’s 2015-16 National Health and Family Survey, nearly 27 percent of
women and 23 percent of men in rural India are malnourished. Economic growth
and development cease to be inclusive if vast swathes of India’s young remain
malnourished: 38 percent of children under five years of age are stunted
(low height-for-age) and 36 percent underweight (low
weight-for-age).
“Hidden hunger”, or micronutrient
deficiency, that inhibits proper growth and development of the human mind and
body, affects a large section of the Indian population, as it does in many
developing countries. It has no visible signs but can seriously impair the
cognitive abilities of individuals, cause fatigue, reduce immunity, and
result in diminished physical capabilities.
Indian diets largely involve
copious consumption of staples such as rice and wheat, with limited dietary
diversification toward micronutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and
animal products. Introduction of biofortified staples, are bred to have higher
micronutrient contents, in the food system can help improve diets considerably.
In fact, biofortification can be a key food-based approach to tackle
malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency, especially among the poor who
cannot afford high-value foods.
In an ongoing study at the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), we explore the scope for
introducing biofortified rice and wheat through the public distribution system
(PDS) – a state-funded program targeting provision of staples and other essential
commodities at discounted prices to the poor – in the eastern Indian states of
Bihar and Odisha.
Both the states have among the highest incidences of
malnutrition and anaemia (iron deficiency) in the country: incidence of anaemia
among children aged 6-59 months and women aged 15-49 years is over 60 percent in Bihar and close to 50 percent in Odisha. In
rural Bihar, over 70 percent of all iron and zinc intake comes from cereals
whereas in rural Odisha, a third is contributed by cereals.
PDS accounts for a significant share – between 20 and 40 percent
– of the iron and zinc consumed through cereals (mainly rice and wheat) in
rural Bihar and Odisha. If the amount of ordinary rice consumed from PDS in
these states is replaced by biofortified varieties, zinc intake from rice could
increase by over 60 percent. Similarly, replacement of PDS wheat with a biofortified variety could increase iron and zinc intake from
wheat by over 30 percent. Replacing staples
provisioned through the PDS with biofortified varieties could
result in substantial gains in ensuring nutritional security for India’s
poorest and most vulnerable.
Bihar and Odisha undertook
intensive reforms in the PDS to address some of its most obstinate problems,
simplifying entitlements, expanding coverage, enhancing transparency, and
plugging leakages, soon after India passed the mammoth National Food Security
Act in 2013.
Almost a third of all wheat and
rice consumed by the poor in these states now comes from the PDS, signaling its
wider reach, and highlighting the critical role it can play in any policy
initiative to improve nutritional outcomes among the poorest. However, simply
introducing biofortified staples through the PDS without first setting up the
stage in terms of a robust physical and institutional infrastructure for its
production, procurement, and distribution might prove to be a myopic policy
move.
To encourage wider uptake of
these varieties for cultivation, farmers can be incentivised through a price
differentiation procurement mechanism. Sophisticated systems for sampling,
testing, grading, and marking will be essential to maintain traceability of
produce.
India needs to urgently
streamline its efforts toward institutionalizing production, procurement, and
distribution of biofortified staples through the existing PDS network. Their
introduction into the food system will be a major stride for the nutritional
security push in India. Later, India could also explore similar possibilities
for biofortified pulses and oilseeds.
Research
ends with doctoral honor
Aaron
Lee Kasey Sampson, son of Kenneth Sampson of Chickasha and Zora Lobaugh Sampson
of Pauls Valley and grandson of Imogene Gay Garland Lobaugh, completed his
doctoral research and successfully defended his PhD thesis on May 13.
He
has earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Neurosciences from the
University of California San Diego.
His
research under Professor Terrence J. Sejnowski focused on analyzing brain
states using advanced signal processing techniques and resulted in several
published papers.
During
his graduate studies, Aaron also served as the chair of the American Indian
Graduate Student Association at UC San Diego.
Aaron
will be moving to Johns Hopkins University as a postdoctoral fellow with
Professor Ernst Niebur.
Aaron
completed his undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Physics, with a minor in
Spanish, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known by most simply as
MIT.
He
then worked as a research technician at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
In
2018 he was awarded the National Institutes of Health Diversity Specialized
Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience Award.
The
UCSD Intertribal Council Resource Center hosted Aaron and other graduates to a
dinner and presented him with a UCSD Triton beaded medallion and a graduation
stole that read “2019 Native Grad, Aaron Sampson, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.”
Aaron
was born in Norman, Okla., and graduated from Rice Lake High School in Rice
Lake, Wisconsin.
https://www.paulsvalleydailydemocrat.com//research-ends-with-doctoral-honor/article_09c0d4b5-531a-5322-8f78-27dd60f8e004.html
Fall
in palay prices now on its sixth month
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:13 AM July 08, 2019
The
downtrend in palay prices has entered its sixth month, reinforcing the need for
more government interventions as struggling farmers await a much-needed buffer
fund.Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s weekly price monitoring
report, the average farm-gate price of palay has declined anew to P17.85 a
kilogram as of the fourth week of June, down 16.51 percent from year-ago
prices.
During this
period, a kilo of regular milled and well-milled rice was sold at P38.56 and
P42.92, respectively, from P40.69 and P44.37 in the same period last year.
According to
the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, farmers, especially from Nueva Ecija
and Isabela, have complained farm-gate prices have dropped to P13 a kilo. The
group said current rates were barely enough to cover production cost, currently
at P12 a kilo.
The
continuous decline in rice prices is due to the arrival of more affordable
imported rice following the passage of the rice tariffication bill.
According to
the Department of Finance, the government had already generated P5.9 billion in
additional revenue from the imposition of tariff on rice imports, and this was
expected to swell as the country entered lean months.
While a
joint study by the National Economic and Development Authority and the
International Food Policy Research Institute bore a rosy outlook for the
country following the deregulation of rice trade, it also recommended the
provision of cash transfers to local rice producers to help them cope with a
more competitive rice regime.
https://business.inquirer.net/274167/fall-in-palay-prices-now-on-its-sixth-month
Agriculture required government
policies in GDP
July 8, 2019 2019-07-08T17:08:54+05:00
Muhammad Adnan
I
am Muhammad Adnan from College Of Agriculture University of Sargodha, Sargodha,
Pakistan and currently student of M.Sc(hons) Agronomy.
First of all, that what is agriculture, Agriculture means the
cultivation of land and rearing or rising of animals for the production
purposes. Like all other fields which play very important role in the
government GDP of Pakistan.
Agriculture is also play very important role in the GDP of
Pakistan. Agriculture contributes about 25% in the GDP of Pakistan which is
higher than all other sectors. According to a survey about 70% of the people of
the Pakistan directly or indirectly links with this sector, about 40% labor is
directly link with this sector.
All these above factors collectively play very important role in
the GDP of Pakistan. Similarly, by the government of Pakistan implementation of
agriculture policy except for centrally sponsored schemes is by and large in
the hands of the state government, basically the policy is plans of five years
which have great importance in all the fields of Pakistan.
There are some main points which have great importance in the
economy of Pakistan.
Source of employment
Consistency of employment in any sector espically in agriculture
sector has great importance in GDP of Pakistan. As employment also affect
the GSP of economy as well as the per capita income.
As per capita increase the living style of the people also
increase and similarly facilities of the people also increase also the
education off the people also increase. These all are above factors affect the
economic development. Since in this way agriculture have great importance in
the development of Pakistan economy by providing the employment.
Food requirement
Pakistan population is increasing day by day; According to survey
of UNDP Pakistan population is increasing 2% per year. As this rate if the
population increase then the food requirement also increase.
Agriculture is the major field that fulfills the requirement of
the population. It also reduces the import of food from other economies. By
providing the food agriculture sector play very important role and support the
economy growth.
Contribution in exports
Wheat, rice and cotton are the major exports of Pakistan.
According to a study about 9.8 billion bales of cotton produced per year ,
similarly rice crop is produced 4.3 million tons is produced per year. These
agriculture products are exported to the other countries against foreign
exchange.
This foreign exchange is used to import the industrial or auto
mobile machineries and other products. This foreign exchange is utilized to
improve the development of economy to improve the other sectors like education,
health and investment.
Raw material for industries
In Pakistan industries play very important role in development of
economy. Raw material is used to produce to finish product. As agriculture also
provide raw material to these industries. Cotton is major export of Pakistan
whose raw material is used in textile industries and from these textile
industries, the products is exported to other countries. In agriculture sector,
livestock has also very important.
Their raw material likes sports product, leather from industries
are used to export to other countries which help in the development of economy
against foreign exchange. So in this way, agriculture helps to Pakistan economy
and its development.
Infrastructural development
Like all above factor, infrastructure has also very importance. It
acts as a fuel for the growth of economy. Agricultural products mean of transportation
and communication is a key for the distribution of agricultural products.
Quick means of transportation, communication are required to
improve the infrastructure. For the distribution of agricultural products,
development of transportation is very important
Increase in GDP level:
Agriculture contributes about 25%
in the total GDP of Pakistan which is higher than all other sectors of
Pakistan. As the GDP increase the economy of Pakistan also increase. Since
independence agriculture plays important role of GDP. Now
agriculture has third largest contribution in GDP.
IN THE AGRICULTURE, fisheries livestock and other major crops like wheat rice cotton
have huge sector in order to providing the employment. As employment
contributes in GDP, increase in employment will increase the per capita income
as a result the GDP rate of economy also increase.
Government policies
Policies are the plans to regulate any system. It is made by the
every new government for their next 5 years era which are directly controlled
by the prime minister. Implementation of agricultural policies is very
important because agriculture has great importance in the growth of GDP. The
following are the major problems in the agriculture sector which highly need
government policies
1- Yield collection problem:
In marketing the collection of yield from the small farmers is
very difficult and expensive.
2-Storage problem:
In Pakistan the storage facilities are not enough. In this way the
farmers cannot their products and wait for the higher price of products.
3-Rough grading products:
In market the products which are graded have high price. As in
Pakistan most of the farmers are poor so the grading problems must reduce.
4-Market advisory committee:
For the advice and information’s to
the farmers MAC at district and tehsil level should be setup
in the market. The agriculture and the other related departments should be the
member of this committee.
5-Market reforms:
Market system should be improved by the government. For the
improvement of this system government should introduced strict rules and laws.
This system checked agricultural products prices daily by the inspector.
6-Pricing policy:
Market economy is determined at large level.
7-Access policy:
Access to agriculture technology input and output is very
important for the rural financial policy.
8-Recourse policy:
This policy is for the land tenure and for the management of
resources like land, water, forests and fisheries.
Authors: Muhammad Adnan, Dr. Mubashar Nadeem, Akash Munawar, Mubashir
Hussain, Mohsin Amin and Hassan Noorani
Department of agronomy, college
of agriculture, university of Sargodha
These seed bankers are saving India’s native crops
Shobita
Dhar| TNN | Jul 7, 2019, 01:00 IST
Farmers, agri scientists and even former techies
are pitching in to stop hardier and healthier indigenous varieties from
disappearing
It was in 2001 that Sangita Sharma set up Annadana, a seed bank with 20 varieties of indigenous seeds on her five-acre farm in Bengaluru. Eighteen years later, her bank is richer by 800 varieties of desi seeds that are cheaper and more nutritious than hybrid varieties. The history of Indian agriculture goes back 10,000 years. Over centuries, nature picked the most resilient seeds that thrived in Indian conditions without help of chemicals and fertilisers. Our native seeds. However, they lost out to high-yielding hybrid seeds introduced in the 1960s as part of the green revolution. Dr Debal Deb, a plant scientist and rice conservationist in Odisha, says that India was home to 1,10,000 varieties of rice till 1970. Of these only 6,000 survive today.
Today, individuals like Sharma are reviving the food diversity of India by preserving desi seeds from all over India. “I love food. And I wanted to know where it comes from,” says the former communications professional who now farms and preserves seeds for a living. At Dr Prabhakar Rao’s farm near Bengaluru, visitors can see a number of desi vegetables in bloom. Red bhindi, red corn, violet peppers and tomatoes in at least four different colours including blue and yellow. Varieties that we never get to see in the market. “India has lost 99% of biodiversity in vegetables,” says Dr Rao, an agricultural scientist who started collecting native seeds seven years ago, and today has 540 in his bank called Hariyalee.
To reintroduce these varieties to people, Rao holds farming workshops that attract urban farmers, terrace gardeners, students and scientists. “Most people don’t know a crucial fact about native seeds: they cannot be grown using chemicals. If I add urea to a native wheat variety, it will grow tall but easily snap in the wind. In contrast, GMO and hybrid seeds cannot grow without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Also, they are designed to not reproduce. This ensures that the farmer has to go back to the seed corporation every sowing season to buy seeds,” says Rao, who started his career during the green revolution but had a change of heart when he realised the long-term unsustainability of chemical agriculture.
A software engineer by profession, Babita Bhatt left a corporate career in Gurugram three years ago, and moved to Dehradun along with her husband Alok to preserve heirloom seeds. She also set up an e-store, Himalaya2home, to sell these seeds and other products like native dals, oils and flours. “There’s so much pesticide in our food. Cancer cases are increasing. What is happening to our food chain is obviously affecting our health,” says Bhatt, who sources seeds from all over Uttarakhand.
She introduced a desi variety of black rice, indigenous to Imphal valley, to some local farmers. “I figured that the climate conditions in Doon and Imphal are similar and decided to experiment. The rice has taken very well to Dehradun,” she adds. However, the local Type 3 Dehradun basmati, famous for its fragrance and long grains, is no longer the same. “Paddy here was grown with water fed from mountain streams. Now, the streams have little water left in them or it’s contaminated. So, while the desi variety is around, it has lost its aroma,” says Bhatt.
On her e-store, she sells 15 varieties of rajma sourced from valleys across the state, like Henval, Bhagirathi, Johar, Alaknanda and Doon.
It was in 2001 that Sangita Sharma set up Annadana, a seed bank with 20 varieties of indigenous seeds on her five-acre farm in Bengaluru. Eighteen years later, her bank is richer by 800 varieties of desi seeds that are cheaper and more nutritious than hybrid varieties. The history of Indian agriculture goes back 10,000 years. Over centuries, nature picked the most resilient seeds that thrived in Indian conditions without help of chemicals and fertilisers. Our native seeds. However, they lost out to high-yielding hybrid seeds introduced in the 1960s as part of the green revolution. Dr Debal Deb, a plant scientist and rice conservationist in Odisha, says that India was home to 1,10,000 varieties of rice till 1970. Of these only 6,000 survive today.
Today, individuals like Sharma are reviving the food diversity of India by preserving desi seeds from all over India. “I love food. And I wanted to know where it comes from,” says the former communications professional who now farms and preserves seeds for a living. At Dr Prabhakar Rao’s farm near Bengaluru, visitors can see a number of desi vegetables in bloom. Red bhindi, red corn, violet peppers and tomatoes in at least four different colours including blue and yellow. Varieties that we never get to see in the market. “India has lost 99% of biodiversity in vegetables,” says Dr Rao, an agricultural scientist who started collecting native seeds seven years ago, and today has 540 in his bank called Hariyalee.
To reintroduce these varieties to people, Rao holds farming workshops that attract urban farmers, terrace gardeners, students and scientists. “Most people don’t know a crucial fact about native seeds: they cannot be grown using chemicals. If I add urea to a native wheat variety, it will grow tall but easily snap in the wind. In contrast, GMO and hybrid seeds cannot grow without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Also, they are designed to not reproduce. This ensures that the farmer has to go back to the seed corporation every sowing season to buy seeds,” says Rao, who started his career during the green revolution but had a change of heart when he realised the long-term unsustainability of chemical agriculture.
A software engineer by profession, Babita Bhatt left a corporate career in Gurugram three years ago, and moved to Dehradun along with her husband Alok to preserve heirloom seeds. She also set up an e-store, Himalaya2home, to sell these seeds and other products like native dals, oils and flours. “There’s so much pesticide in our food. Cancer cases are increasing. What is happening to our food chain is obviously affecting our health,” says Bhatt, who sources seeds from all over Uttarakhand.
She introduced a desi variety of black rice, indigenous to Imphal valley, to some local farmers. “I figured that the climate conditions in Doon and Imphal are similar and decided to experiment. The rice has taken very well to Dehradun,” she adds. However, the local Type 3 Dehradun basmati, famous for its fragrance and long grains, is no longer the same. “Paddy here was grown with water fed from mountain streams. Now, the streams have little water left in them or it’s contaminated. So, while the desi variety is around, it has lost its aroma,” says Bhatt.
On her e-store, she sells 15 varieties of rajma sourced from valleys across the state, like Henval, Bhagirathi, Johar, Alaknanda and Doon.
One of her suppliers is Vijay Jardhari from Jardhar village in Henval valley, Tehri-Garhwal. Jardhari, 67, runs Beej Bachao Andolan, a social initiative to preserve seeds native to Uttarakhand. A key figure in the Chipko movement, Jardhari started collecting native seeds in 1985-86, and today has around 150 varieties of rice and 200 varieties of rajma, in addition to desi vegetables. Of the rice varieties, some like tapachini and jhamcha, yield 70 quintals/hectare. In comparison, Pusa RH 10, a hybrid basmati, yields 65 quintals/hectare. “Native varieties act like vaccines,” says Jardhari.
“You have them in the season and you are recharged for the rest of the year. If you eat kulath dal (horse gram) two to three times in winter, it will prevent stone formation. If you have stones, then drinking its water will help dissolve them,” says Jardhari, who is invited to many sustainable farming conventions both in India and abroad. Though Jardhari’s claims stem from traditional knowledge of farmers and don’t necessarily have scientific backing, there are many converts. Cancer survivor Amit Vaidya is one of those. “Hybrid tomatoes can’t be stewed the same way as desi tomatoes. Their skin comes off differently. Native beetroot varieties are softer, sweeter and darker in colour indicating a higher concentration of antioxidants. I know where my food comes from and it makes all the difference,” says Vaidya, who lives on Vypin island, near Kochi.
Sharma of
Annadana says it’s time the government steps in to preserve native seeds.
“State horticulture farms can start using them,” says Sharma, who’s looking for
collaborations to create more community seed banks.
