Chinese expert believes ‘Green Corridor’ to boost Pakistan’s
agriculture
By Ali Ahmed on
- Rising demand in China will boost agricultural sector in
Pakistan, says Chinese expert.
- Pakistani and Chinese customs administrations have principally
agreed to implement ‘Green Corridor' project.
The implementation of the newly agreed ‘Green Corridor'
project between China and Pakistan would greatly benefit the agricultural
sector of Pakistan, as more agricultural products from Pakistan can be expected
in the Chinese market.
This
was stated by Zhou Rong, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute
for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. Zhou said that as
China becomes the biggest importer of agricultural products in the world, the
rising demand will boost the agricultural sector in Pakistan.
“Key
imports of agricultural products from Pakistan include rice and cotton,"
Zhou said, quoted the Global Times, a
Chinese daily. “Agricultural imports from Pakistan still account for a very
limited amount of China's total imports, but as the market grows and as
production and quality inspection standards are standardized, more products
from Pakistan can be expected in the Chinese market."
However,
in order to take full advantage of the project Zhou said that transportation
needs to be further improved apart from the simplification of custom
procedures. “Due to geographical conditions and extreme regional weather,
many products involved in bilateral trade are still airborne, adding to the
cost of transportation," Zhou said.
Pakistani
and Chinese customs administrations on Thursday principally agreed to implement
the ‘Green Corridor' – a fast track customs clearance system exclusively for
speedy clearances of the perishable agricultural products, under the proposed
Green Corridor at Sust-Khunjerab border.
The
salient features of the Green Corridor which distinguish this expeditious
customs clearance system include; firstly, the fresh fruit and other
agricultural produce imports and exports will be cleared on priority on
fulfilling of due customs and import policy requirements. Secondly, there will
be dedicated customs staff and separate shed/area for the handling,
examination, storage and clearance of such cargo. Thirdly, there will be
minimum intrusive examination, with more reliance on risk-based selective
examination and automated processing.
The Tahri That Binds: How A Sweet Rice Dish Connects A
Woman To Her History
I have always found it difficult to explain my family‘s
syncretic faith traditions to both white Americans and to other South Asians.
We are Hindu Sindhis, originating from around the Indus River, in what is now
modern southeast Pakistan. On our home altar, familiar Hindu idols — Lakshmi,
Ganesh, Krishna — share space with images of the 10 Sikh gurus and Jhulelal.
Jhulelal, a river deity, is not only the patron saint of Hindu Sindhis, but is
also revered by Sufi Muslims. For many, my religion is an outlandish concoction
of incompatible faiths. But one thing that brings it all together is our
traditional foods.
My grandparents left newly formed Pakistan in 1947, after the ,
in one of the largest mass migrations in human history. They settled in refugee
camps in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh before migrating to Pune, an Indian city
with a large Sindhi diaspora and where my parents were born.
In independent India, my family felt spiritually alienated,
because their practices were viewed as not “truly Hindu” by their new
neighbors. As communities in exile often do, Sindhi Hindus formed tight-knit,
transnational networks, and these practices, as well as language and food,
became a vital connection to their roots.
After immigrating to the United States, my parents steadfastly
held onto their “Sindhi-ness.” The Hindu Sindhi diaspora in the U.S. is small;
according to the Census Bureau, fewer than 10,000 people of any and all faiths
speak Sindhi. As a child, I was shuttled to Sindhi camps and conventions,
spoken to only in Sindhi, and served unusual Sindhi dishes.
Once a year, we went to Ved Mandir, a run-down, drafty temple in
central New Jersey to celebrate Cheti Chand, the Sindhi New Year and a
celebration of the birth of Jhulelal. There, my aunties and uncles sang passionate
devotional songs in praise of Jhulelal, and danced the ecstatic chhej (a Sindhi
folk dance).
As I got older, I categorically rejected all these trappings of
my subculture. It was much easier to be a “mainstream” Indian and to assume
more conventional Hindu practices. But now that I‘m an adult — and a parent —
I‘m reclaiming all the quirky bits of my culture and faith.
Jhulelal is known by various names and worshiped in many forms;
his shrine in Pakistan receives both Hindu and Muslim pilgrims. But this
white-bearded saint who sits on fish and whose image is found in nearly all
Sindhi homes was originally a marginal deity for a particular group of Sindhis
who prayed to the Indus River, according to Steven Ramey, in the Department of
Religious Studies at the University of Alabama and Hindu, Sufi or Sikh:
Contested Practices and Identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and Beyond.
After Partition, however, the singer Ram Panjwani, known as a ,
recast Jhulelal into a Sindhi icon. “Panjwani] consciously popularized Jhulelal
as a Hindu Sindhi deity,” says Ramey. Panjwani set Muslim and Hindu spirituals
about the glory of Jhulelal to music. These hymns were then published and
distributed among the diaspora.
There are many rituals associated with the holiday Cheti Chand,
which falls on March 29 this year, but two continue to hold both nostalgia and
meaning for me: pallao payan, when devotees hold their garment hems, or the
ends of their mother‘s sari, as I once did, to pray to Jhulelal, and the
consumption of tahri or sweet rice, during langar, the communal meal at the end
of the celebration.
During langar, we sit cross-legged on the floor while volunteers
scoop heaps of this sticky, aromatic rice onto our plates. Tahri is complex in
flavor. Its varying ingredients — sugar or jaggery, fennel seeds, cardamom, and
caraway seeds — give it a sweet, bitter, peppery and earthy taste. Its perfume
is sharp and slightly aggressive.
Because of Sindh‘s location on the Silk Road, its cuisine has
been influenced influenced by Persian, Arab and central Asian cooking. The
Mughal Empire‘s Muslim rulers‘ decadent staples, such as saffron and pistachios
for example, are showcased in tahri. During langar, tahri was often served with
sai bhaji, a green, leafy vegetable and lentil stew, or bhee aloo, lotus stem
and potato curry, both considered comfort foods for this uprooted population.
A spoonful of tahri instantly transports me to the Cheti Chand
functions of my childhood — of family members chanting, “Jeko chawundo
Jhulelal, tehnija theenda bera paar (Whomever calls the name of Jhulelal, their
ship will safely reach the shore),” while greeting each other on that special
day.
This week, I‘ll be cooking bowlfuls for my daughter, who has a
sweet tooth. She, too, may turn away from all of this one day. But I‘m doing my
best to hold onto that which has survived through war, migration and
globalization, just as my own parents and grandparents did.
Tahri
This family recipe comes to us from the author.
Ingredients:
§ 1 cup Basmati rice
§ 2 cups water
§ ½ cup sugar
§ 4 cardamoms pods
§ few strands of saffron
§ ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
§ pinch of salt
§ 4 tablespoons ghee
§ ¼ cup silvered almonds, chopped pistachios, and chopped cashews
(for garnish)
§ ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (for garnish)
1.
Heat ghee over medium
heat in heavy-bottomed pan. Sauté cardamom pods and rice until cardamom is
fragrant and rice is coated.
2.
Add water, saffron,
fennel seeds, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil.
3.
Cook until water has
reduced by half, and rice is half-cooked.
4.
Add sugar, reduce heat to
medium-low, and simmer until rice is cooked.
5.
Garnish with nuts and
caraway seeds.
Pooja Makhijani is a New Jersey-based journalist, essayist, and
children‘s book writer. Visit her online home at poojamakhijani.
SovereigntySovereignty and rice
Farida Akhter |
Published: 22:01, Dec 15,2019
FORTY-EIGHT
years ago in 1971, Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign nation through a bloody
liberation war, Mukti Juddha. We are now a sovereign country with our own flag
of red and green, a defined territory, a national anthem and the state with a
constitution. But the notion of ‘sovereignty’ is a contested notion in the era
of neo-liberal globalisation. Apart from the issues of political and economic
sovereignty there are major issues related to protection of vital resources
such as water, seeds, natural resources and biodiversity. The very notion of
defending the ecological foundation of life is absolutely integral to
understanding of the meaning of ‘sovereignty’.
Let’s
take the issue of seeds. Seeds and genetic resources are not mere inert input
in farming, but ‘sovereign’ in the sense that we survive as a life-form because
they are integral to our biological existence. Even ensuring the ‘rights’ of
the farmers as the producers of food does not guarantee people’s sovereignty to
exist as biological beings. The notion of political sovereignty thus must be
extended to include the sovereignty of seeds and genetic resources.
In
practical terms, farmers must have their own seeds or access to open pollinated
varieties that they can save, improve and exchange. Seed sovereignty ensures
food sovereignty, to save, breed and exchange seeds, to have access to diverse
open source seeds which can be saved and therefore, they must not be patented,
genetically modified, owned or controlled by corporate business giants.
The
50 years of Bangladesh’s independence is going to be celebrated in the year
2021. I doubt, if we can really say at the 50th birth anniversary of the
country that we are seed sovereign country as well, or in other words, are
capable to defend our biological foundation of the nation. We were separated
from Pakistan and became independent nation in 1971, but we did not give up the
destructive agricultural and seed policies followed by the Pakistani military
regime. We followed the policies of modern agriculture of HYV seeds, along with
use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. In the independent Bangladesh, the
modern rice varieties are grown on around 66 per cent of the rice land, giving
less emphasis on the farmer saved landraces.
Our
policy emphasis was quantitative increase of cereal production. Total rice
production was about 10.59 million tonnes in the year 1971 with the country’s
population of about 70.88 millions. For the newly independent country
devastated by the war, the immediate need after liberation was to ensure
self-sufficiency in food. This was a big challenge, now in 2018, the government
claims rice production came to 36.2 million tonnes, far above domestic needs
(29.1 million). But quantitative increase of cereals also contributed to the
reduction of other vital crops such as lentils, oilseeds, vegetables, etc. The
surplus also achieved at the cost of losing the traditional varieties and vital
nutritional needs. Health and nutrition are at stake now. More importantly
increase in cereal production came with the environmental and ecological
disasters.
Bangladesh
has extensive rice diversity. Despite being a very small country with only 8.6
million hectares of cultivable land, of which rice covers about 75 per cent has
shown a huge diversity. It is known to have 15,000 landraces of rice in the
early part of the 20th century. In the National Gene Bank of Bangladesh Rice
Research Institute about 4500 indigenous rice varieties of Bangladesh origin
and 3500 collected varieties, ie a total of 8000 varieties are preserved.
Instead of doing research on the rice landraces, Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute has developed 94 ‘new varieties’ of rice. The new seeds were provided
to the farmers to boost productivity. What is lost in the process is rice
sovereignty. Do the farmers decide which variety should be grown more than the
others? The new varieties of BRRI are all chemical-dependent, which are the
main reasons for health, environmental and climate disasters.
Rice
plays a vital role in the livelihood of the people of Bangladesh. Small (up to
2.4 acres) and medium (2.5 to 7.4 acres) farming households have been producing
rice and other crops and are supplying the food for our people. They are
growing different varieties of rice, as well as the ‘modern varieties’.
Researchers concerned with only food production in quantitative terms think
about rice as an ‘abstract seed’. The scientists and researchers only talk
about ‘modern varieties’ vs ‘traditional varieties’ and strongly believe that
the former is better than the latter. They are happy that small and marginal
farmers and tenancy cultivation in agrarian structure are adopting modern rice
varieties in Bangladesh. But that is not entirely true. Statistics show that
the farmers adoption rate of two Boro varieties — BRRI Dhan 28 and BRRI Dhan 29
— was respectively 40.14 per cent and 28.51 per cent in 2014–15. Other rice varieties
such as Aman BRRI Dhan 11, Aman BRRI Dhan 49 and Aus BR 26 respectively have
adoption rate of 11.6 per cent, 11.07 per cent and 8.75 per cent. Mostly, the
adoption rate is below 10 per cent (Dhaka Tribune, September 19, 2016).
‘Dhana-dhanya-pushpa-bhara’
— Bangladesh is a country of rice with a glorious history of rice varieties.
Rice is interwoven with Bengali culture. It is the symbol of wealth. Husked
dhan or paddy is chaul or chal. Cooked chal is bhat. Bangalee means ‘Bheto
Bangalee’, if fish is added then ‘machhe-bhate bangali’. Bangladesh’s
topography is very suitable for rice cultivation. It consists of low, flat,
fertile land. There are over 230 rivers and their tributaries across the
country flow down to the Bay of Bengal. The flood during the rainy season is a
blessing bringing the alluvial soil which is continuously enriched by heavy
silt deposited by the rivers. The subtropical monsoon climate is blessed with
six seasons including three prominent seasons of summer, monsoon, and winter.
Rice
is grown as three major seasonal crops such as Aus, Aman and Boro which many
people mistakenly take as the varieties. There are over 80 landraces of Aus
rice in farmers’ collection in different agro-ecological zones of the country,
while only four varieties developed by BRRI.
Aman
season of rice is the main rice growing season and has many different varieties
of deepwater rice. This deepwater rice can survive in more than 50cm water for
one month or a longer period during the growing season. That is these are flood
resistant varieties. There are more than 2,000 deepwater rice cultivars in
Bangladesh and more than 6,000 in Asia. In Bangladesh, deepwater rice occupied
2.09 million hectares (21 per cent of the total rice area) in the late 1960s.
The area has now shrunk to about 0.85 million hectares because of cultivation
of high yielding varieties under irrigation in deepwater rice fields in the dry
season (boro). High yielding modern deepwater varieties developed from the
traditional varieties are Dulabhog (BR 5), Kiron (BR 22), Dishari (BR 23) are
promoted by the government.
Boro
Rice is grown in submerged land lower in elevation. Boro rice has always been
grown in only low lying areas such as Haors and had many traditional varieties.
But the government policy to promote Boro rice is given the highest priority by
providing irrigation facilities all over the country. It now means that the
irrigated rice variety paving the way for hybrid rice, which is supposed to
produce 15–20 per cent more yield compared to their inbred counterparts. On the
other hand, local Boro rice varieties in Haors are disappearing due to badly
planned infrastructure development.
Boro
rice is increasingly under strain due to the high level of irrigation it uses.
Most of the popular varieties of Boro rice such as BRRI 28 and BRRI 29 were
developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute and were meant to deal with
cultivation in waterlogged areas. But Boro paddy needs intensive irrigation,
requires about 3,500 litres of water to produce one kilogramme of rice (The
Thirdpole.net, July 14, 2016).
As
a result of the introduction of modern varieties in the name of higher yields,
many indigenous rice varieties have completely disappeared or are on the way of
extinction. The traditional varieties are not promoted by the government as
they have comparatively lower yield of the grain. But other systemic yields of
these varieties such as the fine quality, better straws, and susceptibility
with climate are ignored. Yet farmers’ conservation of rice genetic diversity
has continued managing landraces in the agro-ecosystems and communities where
they have evolved historically. Despite of low yield one of the major reasons
for continuing production of local varieties is varietal adaptation to soils
and other environmental, social, cultural and religious factors. The total
number of landraces as well as the area planted to landraces in Bangladesh is
also declining over time. For example, local variety Aus has declined from 7
million to 5.2 million acres, ie dropped by 25 per cent; local variety Aman
rice dropped from 31 million acres to 27 million acres, ie dropped by 13 per
cent; and local Boro rice dropped from 1.7 million to 1.1 million acres, ie
dropped by 35 per cent during recent years 2011–12 to 2015–16. The major
decline occurred already before this period. This only shows that the decline
is a continuous process. On the other hand HYV and hybrid varieties are
increasing for Aman and Boro season.
Bangladesh
Rice Research Institute is the custodian of rice varieties deposited in the
gene bank. Unfortunately, farmers do not have access to the rice germ plasm
collected in the gene bank while other breeders (known as scientists) are using
the local races for developing improved rice varieties. Studies show that many
of these landraces such as Lati Shail and Niger Shail have been used by rice
breeders as donors to develop elite lines that have been used as parents for
popular improved rice varieties grown throughout Asia.
Farmers
in Bangladesh grow BRRI-developed varieties in four-fifths of the total rice
lands, fetching 91 per cent of their yearly rice output. Although all the BRRI
varieties did not gain popularity, BRRI dhan 28 and BRRI dhan 29 became popular
among the farmers since their release in 1994 for their high yield potentials.
These two varieties are grown in over 60 per cent of rice lands during the Boro
season. Despite being popular among the farmers, BRRI scientists are developing
other HYVs BRRI dhan 88 and 89 as replacements to BRRI dhan 28 and 29. This is
not only because productive rice varieties are losing potential due to ageing
and have diminishing returns, but because these varieties are already being
used for developing Golden Rice, a beta carotene-rich rice genetically modified
as a remedy against vitamin-A deficiency. The vitamin A-rich rice is named
Golden Rice for its golden colour.
The
BRRI 29, a HYV rice variety is no longer under the control of Bangladesh Rice
Research Institute, so it has to be replaced by other variety. It is now a big
philanthropy of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that sanctioned a grant
of over $10 million to IRRI to develop and evaluate Golden Rice varieties for
Bangladesh and the Philippines. The technology developer is a biotech giant
Syngenta, which is at present generously declaring that it will allow ‘a
royalty-free access to the patents, the new rice would be of the same price as
other rice varieties once released for commercial farming in Bangladesh, and
farmers would be able to share and replant the seeds as they wish’ (Dhaka
Courier, September 21, 2018).
International
scientists are now considering engineering rice plant in the context of
ever-growing demand. So the plan is to convert rice into a
photosynthesis-efficient plant, which would produce substantially more grains
using the sunlight. At present rice uses the C3 photosynthetic pathway, which
in hot and dry environments is much less efficient than the C4 pathway used by
other plants. Experts noted that successful completion of engineering rice into
a C4 plant would be a ‘game-changer’ since the 1960s when scientists had first
developed semi-dwarf rice varieties heralding the famous ‘Green Revolution’
(Dhaka Courier, September 21, 2018).
Rice
in Bangladesh, therefore, is not in the control of the farmers, nor even in the
control of the state. These rice germplasms are already in the hands of
International Rice Research Institute. From there these germplasm are
transferred to Fort Knox, USA and finally to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in
Norway mostly controlled by the international agencies and the biotech giants.
Bangladeshi farmers have already lost the rights to grow the rice varieties
they would like to grow; they are given the chemical-dependent varieties
developed by BRRI and agro-industries.
Our
Muktijoddho is not over yet, it has to be fought for the sovereignty of the
rice, the main source food and livelihood of our people.
Farida Akhter is the executive
director of UBINIG and organiser of Nayakrishi Andolon.
Govt working on enhancing ease of living while keeping
middlemen away: Modi
Prime Minister on Saturday said
the Central and state governments are working full-time to ensure that all
projects and schemes rolled out are centred around ease of living and besides
keeping middlemen at bay.
Addressing a summit of the 'One
District One Project' (ODOP) in his parliamentary constituency, the Prime
Minister said that ODOP was an extension of Make in India with the potential of
"firmly placing Uttar Pradesh on the world map".
In an oblique reference to the
Congress regime, the Prime Minister said his government was committed to
keeping middlemen away by making necessary changes in the government system by
making it more transparent. He asked people if "some people were being
troubled because of a tradition of allowing the middlemen."
When the gathering responded with
an applause, Modi said for the prosperity of the nation, some pain has to be
borne to keep middleman at bay. He also lauded the Union telecom ministry for
launching a digital pension project, saying it would benefit pensioners
immensely, reflecting the citizen-centric approach of his government.
"This is our approach to
minimum government and maximum governance," the Prime Minister said.
People can now track the pension status on their mobile phone and don't have to
made rounds of offices for pension-related issues.
Referring to strides taken in
different sectors under the present regime, the Prime Minister said internet
connectivity had increased to 65 per cent in the past two years and India now
had 500 million active internet users. This, he said, was special because the
growth of internet was equally big and significant in villages.
Under his government, he said,
125,000 panchayats have been connected by broadband of which 29,000 villages
are in Uttar Pradesh.
Purchases by government
departments had been shrouded in doubts and charges of favouritism, he said,
adding government's e-market place (GEM) can enable the smallest of traders to
sell their products. "This is the best platform for the sector," Modi
said.
Online loans up to Rs 10 million
are now being disbursed in 59 minutes without any red-tape or exploitation, the
Prime Minister said.
The quality of Ganga water has
considerably improved as tested by scientists. He said while schemes had been
made for long, the Ganga remained polluted, but not any longer. "Jab niyat
saaf hai to Ganga bhi saaf hogi (if the intention is clear, the Ganga will be
cleaner)," he said as people applauded and raised slogans of 'Har Har
Mahadev'.
Talking about the industry in Varanasi
and nearby areas, Modi said there were 150,000 lakh weavers and 70,000 power
looms in the region, and that right from funds to facilitation in marketing
their produce, the state and the Union government were working out things for
the weavers. "We will keep extending job opportunities through such
schemes," he said.
Uttar Pradesh's Minister Satyadev
Pachauri informed the Prime Minister that so far loans worth Rs 53.45 billion
had been given to 65,000 artisans in the state and that Rs 750 billion loans
will be disbursed by banks in the state.
The Prime Minister laid the
foundation stones for 14 infrastructure projects and inaugurated 12 projects,
totalling Rs 2.79 billion.
Earlier Modi inaugurated the
International Rice Research Institute and interacted with scientists.
(Only the headline and picture of
this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of
the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kundapur: Udupi district farmer’s
conference held
Sun,
Dec 15 2019 01:45:17 PM
|
Silvester D’ Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)
Kundapur, Dec 15: “We are troubled by challenges and anxiety in all the
sectors now. But farming sector can survive. A strong agricultural sector is
equal to strong nation. The name that the country is agriculture based becomes
complete by it. It is difficult to imagine life without agriculture. Farmers
are also responsible for the growth of cooperative sector,” said Karnataka
state cooperative marketing federation Bengaluru and Dakshina Kannada district
central cooperative bank Mangaluru president Dr M N Rajendra Kumar.
He was speaking after inaugurating Udupi district farmer’s
conference held in Kundapur Vyasaraj Kala Mandira on the eve of centenary birth
anniversary celebrations of Bakisam founder late Dattopanta Tengadi by
Bharatiya Kisan Sangha, Karnataka region.
“Success is assured if we work trusting agriculture. Conferences
should create awareness among farmers. We should stress on exporting our
country’s farm produce. The market for the produce in the country decreases
when products from other countries are imported,” he said.
Bhatiya Kisan Sangha national president I N Basavegowda presided
over the programme. District milk producer’s federation president K Raviraj
Hegde who was the Chief guest said that rice is more valuable than gold and mud
is more valuable than rice. There is no stable price for farm produce in the
country at present. But milk fetches steady prices. Therefore, when farmers
indulge in horticulture they can achieve economic progress,” he said.
Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Hopcoms Mangaluru president
Laxminaryayana Udupa, Bharatiya Kisan Sangha Karnataka region president
Puttaswamy Gowda, Bakisam Karnataka region state executive member B V Poojary
Perdoor, Bakisam Karnataka region vice president Ramachandra Alse, Udupi
district committee treasurer Vasudev Shanbhog Pangala, Kundapur taluk president
Seetarama Ganiga Halady, Gangadhar and others were present.
Udupi district committee president Navinchandra Jain welcomed
and gave an introduction. Karkala taluk committee chief secretary Chandrahas
Shetty Inna, Kundapur taluk committee secretary Shivaraj Shetty Kodlady
compered the programme. Subrahmanya Navada sang a song in Yakshagana form.
Kundapur taluk president Seetarama Ganiga Haladi rendered vote of thanks.
Office bearers of taluk and village units and farmers took part.
More than twenty outlets connected with agriculture took part.
Rupee likely to gain
The rupee climbed to its six-month
high against the dollar in the outgoing week, and dealers said the currency
could gain more in days ahead.
A loan disbursement from the Asian
Development Bank, strong foreign exchange reserves position, and improved
economic outlook were the reasons for the rise in the rupee’s value this week.
On Monday, the rupee closed at
154.96 to the dollar in the interbank market, the highest since June this year.
It had ended at 155.06/dollar in the previous session.
The local unit continued in a range-bound
trading pattern, and traded in the band of 154.96 and 154.98 throughout five
sessions.
In the open market, the rupee
gained 20 paisas to close at 154.70/dollar on Tuesday. It remained stable at
this level during the week.
“It seems there are no major import
payment flows next week,” said a dealer. “We see a slight gain in the currency
against the dollar in the coming week due to expected inflows from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).”
The IMF’s board and Pakistani
authorities are scheduled to meet to discuss the first review on Thursday,
which will pave the way for the disbursement of the second tranche worth $450
million under its three-year loan programme.
Dealers said the rupee was likely
to appreciate to 153.50-154 against the dollar by the end of this month.
Pakistan has to repay approximately
$168 million debt to the IMF against its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) this
month.
However, the debt repayment to the
IMF was unlikely to put pressure on the currency due to the stable foreign
exchange reserves.
Ahead of the IMF executive board
meeting with Pakistani authorities, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the fund’s
board would meet on December 19 to discuss the first quarterly review conducted
in November by the staff for preliminary assessment.
“What that indicates is that all
prior actions and performance criteria under the program with Pakistan have
been met,” Rice told late on Thursday a regular news briefing available online.
“And that the financing assurances needed for the program to go forward are in
place.”
The country bagged the first
tranche of $991.4 million under the $6 billion extended fund facility in July.
Pakistan’s bright economic outlook could push the rupee higher in the near- to
medium-term.
Customs intercept vehicle
conveying smuggled rice in Niger
Enyioha Opara, Minna
The Niger State Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has
intercepted a truck conveying 79 bags of 100kg foreign rice believed to have
been smuggled into the country.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the command,
Abba-Kassin Yusuf, said this in an interview with Northern City News in Minna
on Sunday
He said the truck was intercepted along the Yauri Road around
Kontagora.
Yusuf put the duty paid value of the contraband at N2,686,000.
He said the vehicle, a Mitsubishi Canter, was intercepted on
Sunday, December 8, 2019, by the command’s anti-smuggling patrol team.
Yusuf stated, “When my men swung into action following a
tip-off, the driver abandoned the vehicle and ran into a nearby bush.
“It is disturbing that some Nigerians remain unrepentant even as
they continue to lose their goods; not even the Federal Government’s visible
efforts in transforming the agricultural sector, especially in the area of rice
production, have touched their conscience to avoid smuggling rice into the
country.
“Our searchlight is all around Niger and Kogi commands to
uncover and suppress smuggling to the barest minimum in the interest of
economic prosperity and national development.”
The customs boss urged smugglers to seek legal means of
livelihood and stop undermining the nation’s economy.
Rice exports from India witnesses a downward trend owing
to elections
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Belying expectations of upswing,
the rice exports from India have witnessed a downward trend owing to elections
that took place in some states and upcoming general elections apart from global
geopolitical factors in the ongoing season.
While global factors pertain to
recessionary trends in key export markets and persisting payments issue with
Iran, the domestic factors include among others, big traders avoiding taking
long positions due to impending Lok Sabha election in the early months of 2019,
as a caution before the results could reflect in amended export terms with any
change in political equations.
India is the world’s largest rice
exporter and in 2017, it had accounted for 25% of the global rice trade valued
at US$ 7.73 billion, primarily due to its competitive cost advantage. India’s
net rice exports touched 12.7 million tonnes (MT) last year. Basmati exports
had stood at about 4 MT with almost 80% of the consignment going to the Gulf
countries, including
The decline started from August
this year ahead of state elections. Although arrival of new season crop was
also awaited. And during april-November 2018, exports of basmati and
non-basmati are down 6 per cent to $4.67 bn. All the fall has been attributed
to lower exports of non-basmati rice.
Devendra Vora of Friendship
Traders, New Bombay based rice exporter, told Business Standard that the state
elections that ended and coming 2019 Lok Sabha poll has been a major reason for
the “big players” shying away from holding long positions in domestic market
for export related procurements since a change in political equations could
bring radical changes in export policies.
Owing to basmati crop loss
coupled with higher purchase price, the net availability of the crop for
exports was on the lower side but realised value has improved while non-basmati
exports have fallen in quantity and even realisation was lower. Vpora said
that, “the recessionary trend in export markets, including and Europe
contributed to weaker sentiments. Environment in market has been comparatively
subdued than last year due to several factors, including low international
demand and higher purchase price in India resulting lower viability, which
dented the cost competitiveness to some extent,” Vora added.
In the past, the change of
government brought about export ban on staple food grains, which caused
economic loss to exporters holding large inventories meant for exports. “At the
same time, the banks have become jittery about extending credit to exporters
due to stricter norms. This has resulted in complex paper works and delays,
which has also affected trade,” a north India based exporter said.
Drip Capital, a US-based trade
finance company, in its research report ‘Rice Commodity Insights’ outlining the
evolving dynamics in the Indian market in 2018, forecast the current decline in
rice exports was part of a regular annual cycle.
“There is little need for panic,
as demand and export volumes should rise into 2019,” the report said.
The lingering process of payment
terms with has played its part in pulling down rice exports. Iran’s annual
basmati import market is pegged at almost a MT.
“The Iran market is still to open
to potential, since their payment norms are not clear yet and are in the
process of being finalised,” Kohinoor Foods joint managing director Gurnam
Arora said. Iran, which had been facing wide ranging US sanctions, was allowed
barter deals and trade valued in Rupee terms.
Commenting on the China market,
Arora said exporters were getting enquiries from China, mainly for long grain
rice and that the country would take some more time to become a major export
destination.
“We need to explore the China
market with roadshows and exhibitions before it attains scale in the next 1-2
years,” he added. A few months back, a buyer-seller meet was organised in
China, where some Indian rice exporters had participated, while the Dragon has
approved about two dozen domestic rice millers for the purpose.
Govt working on enhancing ease of living while keeping
middlemen away: Modi
span.p-content
div[id^=”div-gpt”]{line-height:0;font-size:0}
Prime Minister on Saturday said
the Central and state governments are working full-time to ensure that all
projects and schemes rolled out are centred around ease of living and besides
keeping middlemen at bay.
Addressing a summit of the 'One
District One Project' (ODOP) in his parliamentary constituency, the Prime
Minister said that ODOP was an extension of Make in India with the potential of
"firmly placing Uttar Pradesh on the world map".
In an oblique reference to the
Congress regime, the Prime Minister said his government was committed to
keeping middlemen away by making necessary changes in the government system by
making it more transparent. He asked people if "some people were being
troubled because of a tradition of allowing the middlemen."
When the gathering responded with
an applause, Modi said for the prosperity of the nation, some pain has to be
borne to keep middleman at bay. He also lauded the Union telecom ministry for
launching a digital pension project, saying it would benefit pensioners
immensely, reflecting the citizen-centric approach of his government.
"This is our approach to
minimum government and maximum governance," the Prime Minister said.
People can now track the pension status on their mobile phone and don't have to
made rounds of offices for pension-related issues.
Referring to strides taken in
different sectors under the present regime, the Prime Minister said internet
connectivity had increased to 65 per cent in the past two years and India now
had 500 million active internet users. This, he said, was special because the
growth of internet was equally big and significant in villages.
Under his government, he said,
125,000 panchayats have been connected by broadband of which 29,000 villages
are in Uttar Pradesh.
Purchases by government
departments had been shrouded in doubts and charges of favouritism, he said,
adding government's e-market place (GEM) can enable the smallest of traders to
sell their products. "This is the best platform for the sector," Modi
said.
Online loans up to Rs 10 million
are now being disbursed in 59 minutes without any red-tape or exploitation, the
Prime Minister said.
The quality of Ganga water has
considerably improved as tested by scientists. He said while schemes had been
made for long, the Ganga remained polluted, but not any longer. "Jab niyat
saaf hai to Ganga bhi saaf hogi (if the intention is clear, the Ganga will be
cleaner)," he said as people applauded and raised slogans of 'Har Har
Mahadev'.
Talking about the industry in
Varanasi and nearby areas, Modi said there were 150,000 lakh weavers and 70,000
power looms in the region, and that right from funds to facilitation in
marketing their produce, the state and the Union government were working out
things for the weavers. "We will keep extending job opportunities through
such schemes," he said.
Uttar Pradesh's Minister Satyadev
Pachauri informed the Prime Minister that so far loans worth Rs 53.45 billion
had been given to 65,000 artisans in the state and that Rs 750 billion loans
will be disbursed by banks in the state.
The Prime Minister laid the
foundation stones for 14 infrastructure projects and inaugurated 12 projects,
totalling Rs 2.79 billion.
Earlier Modi inaugurated the
International Rice Research Institute and interacted with scientists.
Why local rice should not
sell above N14,000 this Christmas –RIFAN chairman
16th December 2019 in Business
Merit Ibe
Contrary to claims that rice farmers have yet to receive adequate
support and provision of equipment to enhance their productivity, leading to
scarcity and increase in price of rice, Chairman of Rice Farmers Association of
Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, has declared that this year’s farming
season recorded a bumper harvest has never been recorded in the past 25 years.
He explanation comes on the heel of last August closure of the
nation’s land borders by the Federal Government following large scale smuggling
activities, especially rice.The government opined that the closure would help
to attain self-sufficiency of the commodity.However, Goronyo attributed the
scarcity to sabotage by few unpatriotic citizens urging Nigerians not to panic
at the effect of the policy
Only recently, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) forecasted that output of milled rice for the current crop
year is expected to be lowered by 3.8 million metric tonnes to 513.5 million
tonnes.
FAO had projected that the production of rice may be affected by
unfavourable weather in major rice-growing countries, including Nigeria.
Consequently, the economic implication of the United Nations’ food
agency’s forecast on Nigeria as a rice nation, was that the price of local rice
is further expected to rise following bad weather, coupled with the uncertainty
in the country’s rice sector with regard to the ongoing border closure.
Refuting the report recently in an interview with Daily Sun,
Goronyo insisted that few Nigerians were sabotaging the Federal Government
efforts to make rice available to all consumers.
“There are people sabotaging the issue of border closure. They go
round the local markets buying rice. These people buy, process, package and
sell at exorbitant prices.
“Today, an official called from one of the rice markets in a local
government and told me a bag of 75kg rice paddy is being sold for N7,800 to
N8,200, it costs millers N2,500 to mill a bag of rice. So, they spend a maximum
of 10,500, why should they sell at exorbitant rate.”
The RIFAN chairman disclosed that in a meeting of producers, millers and dealers in rice
with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, recently
instructed the stakeholders to discuss the issue and arrive at an affordable
price.
Goronyo said if farmers sell for N8,500 and millers mill for
N2,500, then, we should sell at most N14,000 for a bag. It was agreed that a
bag would be sold at N14,000. He said whoever sells above the N15,000 or
N16,000 price, is a saboteur and should be arrested.
“I see no reason somebody will sell at N18,000 or N17,000, it is
sabotage. They buy, process, package and sell at exorbitant price or they hoard
them. It is inhuman for Nigerians to cheat their brothers. We had a bumper
harvest this year, which has never been for the past 25 years.
“There is more than enough paddy in the country, that there is no
how we can finish the sale of our produce. God blessed us this year. We
produced so much this year, that is why we are selling N8,000 for 75kg bag to
millers at that cheap rate. So, whosoever sells above that should be arrested.”
Experts have continued to push for increased funding by the federal
government for farmers to be equipped for the task to increase rice production.
They argue that there is need for acceleration of rice production to achieve
self-sufficiency in the country.
But Goronyo said the Federal Government has been supprtive in
funding the farmers through the Central Bank.We are getting the support in
terms of loans.”He disclosed the country has enough mills; We have almost 38
integrated rice mills, about 210 medium
rice mills, and over 120,000 small mills in the country.”He queried why
Nigerians were punishing their brothers because of money, adding that it was
greed.
The RiFAN chairman pegged the price of rice at N14,000 per bag of
50 kilograms.
But according to Prof. Kayode Babatunde Olusola, former Dean of
Faculty of Agriculture, Lagos State University (LASU), the research institutes
like the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) or any other such
institutes could be consulted to research on how to improve on the production
of the commodity.
“The Federal Government can ensure it galvanises research
institutes to accelerate research on
rice. Production constraints should be looked into.“There should be massive
acceleration of production process in states like Anambra, Ebonyi and Kebbi.
Production process should be removed from the bureaucracies hindering them.
That is the way to go. We are not meeting the target at all.“They should
challenge the NCIR, so that they can help the growers, those into production to
overcome the challenges or constraints in terms of yield, pest control and make
funds available for those involved as well as the processing.
“We need to increase the number of mills in Nigeria. When these are
taken care of, production will increase and availability will be higher which
will in turn bring down the price of rice.The immediate past chairman of the
National Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI), Segun Kuti George,
opined that government would have funded and ensured that production has
increased by funding and giving incentives to farmers, before the border closure,
it would have gone a long way to ameliorate the non-availability of rice and
increase in price.
“Our main stay now is the local rice. It is an opportunity for
farmers to begin to produce what our people consume and increase their output.
If it becomes a permanent thing, our Small and Medium Enterprises in the
agriculture sector would have to be able to produce more to meet up with the
demand.
“We cannot meet the demand because we don’t have the capacity. This
is the time for govt to fund farmers, so they can increase their output and
meet the demand.“When production is increased, prices can come down.
Establishment of more rice mills would also accelerate rice
production, expand milling activities to stimulate further growth in the rice
sector.
An agriculturist and an Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) client in
the North East, Abba Kale, had called for the establishment of mega rice
mills.He urged the Federal Government to support the establishment of modern
mega rice mills in each of the 109 senatorial districts in the country to
encourage processing, value addition, enhance farmer enterprising skills,
promote competition and create a market for the produce.
One of the setbacks in production of rice in the country, experts
say is that the produce cultivated by the farmers is higher than the capacity
of the existing mills in the country.Experts support the ban on importation of
foreign rice proposing that the sudden hike in prices occasioned by the border
closure can be pushed down and controlled through mass production.
Findings show that most of our mills in operation lack basic
equipment such as boilers, driers and trash machines to enable production
of high-quality rice to meet local
demands and for export.Hoarding is also a monster causing price hike, it should
be discouraged.
Andhra
Pradesh government to supply quality rice under PDS from April 2020
A
ministerial committee had suggested that the civil supplies department should
negotiate with rice millers regarding the charges/incentives to be paid towards
improving quality.
Published: 16th December 2019 09:16
AM | Last Updated: 16th December 2019 09:16 AM | A+A A-
Volunteers
oversee supply of quality rice at the doorstep of the beneficiaries as part of
a pilot project in Srikakulam district| Express
VIJAYAWADA:
The State government on Sunday issued orders approving the recommendations made
by the Group of Ministers for the supply of quality rice in the packaged form
under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
In July, the
government constituted the committee consisting of ministers Buggana
Rajendranath Reddy, K Kanna Babu, Cherukuvada Sri Ranganatha Raju and Kodali
Sri Venkateswara Rao to examine various options to improve the quality of rice
including sortex, bagging material and bagging machinery and also to come up
with suitable recommendations needed to improve the quality of rice in the
public distribution system and to start door delivery of rice to eligible
households in packaged form.
In its
recommendations, the committee suggested that the civil supplies department
negotiate with rice millers regarding the charges/incentives to be paid towards
improving quality including sortex, reduction of discoloured/broken grains etc,
finalise appropriate packaging machinery, material and recommend appropriate
measures to encourage small and medium rice mills to install sortex machinery
and participate in the new programme.
In its maiden
meeting held in August, the GOM discussed the issues relating to supply
of quality rice at the doorstep of beneficiaries in tamper-proof and weighment
assured packets through village/ward volunteers and made a few recommendations
that include usage of environment-friendly biodegradable packaging materials
like paper and cloth should be explored for financial and operational
feasibility.
It was finally
agreed upon that an outturn ratio at 92.5 per cent will be fixed for
reprocessing of existing custom milled rice (CMR) stocks. For every 100 kg of
rice supplied by APSCSCL to the rice millers, the latter will provide 92.5 kg of
rice in 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg and 20 kg bags.
Also, APSCSL
will supply the packaging material and bear the transportation charges from
buffer godowns to rice mill and from rice mill to MLS or village level stock
point. The miller is allowed to retain the byproduct to cover its charges for
sortex, grading, packaging, loading and unloading but they have to return the
gunny bags to APSCSCL.
As a pilot
project, the officials already launched the supply of quality rice in
Srikakulam district in September this year. In all other districts, the
distribution of quality rice will be taking place from April 2020. For the
first time, the State government has developed an application like the tracking
system in food delivery apps. Using it, customers can track their ration
supplies through the app.
Note the points
- For every 100 kg of rice supplied by APSCSCL, miller will provide
92.5 kg of rice in 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg and 20 kg bags
- APSCSCL will supply packaging material and will bear the
transportation charges from buffer godown to rice mill and from rice mill
to MLS or village level stock point
- Rice millers will deliver only Swarna and equivalent variety of
rice to APSCSCL without mixture of varieties
- APSCSCL will provide compensation at Rs 600 per metric tonne of CMR
delivered to APSCSCL for sortex charges
- APSCSCL will reimburse Rs 500 against every MT of improved quality
balance CMR equivalent rice supplied by rice millers out of millers own
paddy stocks
- APSCSCL should recollect the used PP bags from the beneficiaries
and arrange for reverse logistics of bags for recycling as a measure to
curtail environmental damage
Modular rice
mills, boost to SMEs -NIDO boss
By Muyiwa Omobulejo
The President of Nigerians in the Diaspora (Asia Group), Prof.
Emenike Ejiogu has described the introduction of the modular rice milling
machine into the nation’s market as “a blessing to the rice value chain and a
boost to the small scale sector of the economy.”
Prof. Ejiogu stated this in his opening remarks at the seminar
and awareness programme on the rice value chain organised recently by NIDO in
collaboration with their Asian partners for stakeholders in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, which major highlight was the
introduction of a compact modular rice milling machine into the market and
demonstration of its usage to rice farmers, millers, sellers, businessmen and
the media, Ejiogu said the Kanryu rice husking and milling machine was
specifically made for the African market and targeted at the small scale
farmers and rice millers.
READ ALSO: No loan defaulters among rice
farmers—RIFAN boss
“The modular rice mill is small and compact. It is also rugged
and durable. Its technology is easy and can be operated by one person. It has a
capacity to produce five tons of rice per day. And it is affordable. This model
by Kanryu industry, our Japanese partners, was developed in conformity with SON
and NAFDAC standards, its coming into the Nigerian market will add value to the
government policy on local rice production, create employment and boost SMEs,”
Ejiogu said.
According to Mr. Shakin Agbayewa, deputy chairman, All Farmers
Association of Nigeria (Lagos State), the coming of the modular rice mill is
timely and good for farmers.
For Mr. Bola Jimson, CEO, Afritrade, a rice processing firm, the
rice milling machine is highly impressive. “With this development, we have no
business with imported rice again. Very soon, Nigeria will get there,” he
stated.
Waiting for Edo
rice mill
Edo State
rice farmers are now smiling to the banks, courtesy of the N5billion loan from
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the Commercial Agric Credit Scheme,
writes OSAGIE
OTABOR
BEFORE now, rice, which is Nigeria’s major staple food used to
be easily available and affordable. The price of the commodity was not on the
high side as the poor could afford it. That was then. Now, the price of the
commodity is literally out of the reach of the poor.
In Edo State, the price is skyrocketing, with a bag of local
rice selling for between N19, 000 and N25, 000 while imported foreign rice goes
for between N28,000 and N30,000 per 50kg. Before now, rice was grown on
subsistence basis in the state and not much is made available for the market.
Last year, some rice farmers assisted by the Edo State
government through the FADAMA 111 Additional Financing Project were in tears.
Their rice fields, measuring over 300 hectares in Iguoriakhi, Agenebode and
Warrake, were washed away by flood just as they were about to harvest. The
farmers were expecting five tons per hectare. Some eventually got two tons per
hectare due to the damage caused by the flood.
What compounded the farmers’ problems was that their businesses
were not covered by insurance. That would have given them 70 per cent of the
expected revenue. Moreover, the farmers did not plant early due to the delay in
release of funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
To avoid a recurrence of the experience, the Edo State
government, in its effort to ensure success of its agricultural programme,
secured a N5billion loan from the CBN under the Commercial Agric Credit Scheme.
Checks have shown that N2.2 billion of the loan was to be used for crop
production, N2.3 billion for land development and about N100 million for
irrigation.
The target was to harvest 17,000 tons of rice and 11,000 tons of
maize by cultivating 6,600 hectares of land at the end of the planting season
this year.
To ensure that the benefiting farmers understood the import of
the loan, Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Agriculture, Food Security and
Forestry, Prince Joe Okojie, embarked on a sensitisation tour of 200 farmers at
Iguoriakhi, Iguomon, Illushi, Warrake, Agenebode Usugbenu, Sobe and Ekpoma.
Prince Okojie explained the Economics of Production (EOP) to the
farmers and what they stand to benefit if they take proper care of the farms.
“We hope to produce millionaire farmers this year. We do not
anticipate a drop in the price of rice. We are hoping that we are able to
produce about 17,000 metric tons cultivating about 4,400 hectares of rice farm.
“We are not cultivating cassava now but maize. We are looking
forward to cultivating about 2,200 hectares and we are hoping that we will be
able to harvest approximately 11,000 metric tons.
“We have engaged a lot of agronomists. We have employed the
services of Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural
Lending (NIRSAL) that is going to be our technical partner and they are going
to bring on board a lot of agronomists that will help us.
“We are trying to see how we can deploy best practices for the
cultivation of the crops this season and hope that we get better yield than the
one that we got two years ago,” Okojie said.
Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Communication
Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, told The Nation that over 10,600 hectares of land
were cultivated in different parts of the state in which not less than 2,000
farmers benefitted from the scheme.
Crusoe said the state provided inputs and technical support for
the farming season to boost food sufficiency.
He explained that the scheme was a multi-faceted agricultural
development backed by the NIRSAL, Elephant Group and a number of other
off-takers.
He said: “We have an off-taker agreement and intend to harvest
17, 000 metric tons of rice by cultivating 4, 000 hectares of land and 11, 000
tons of maize by cultivating 6,600 hectares of land at the end of the planting
season this year. Off-takers are on ground to buy off the produce, so farmers
are assured of buyers for their produce.
“We are delighted at the bumper harvest in Warake, which follows
the impressive performance of the farm at Agenebode. This is a testament to the
fact that we are doing the right thing as regards rice farming in Edo State. We
intend to expand the scope of what we have in order to accommodate more
farmers.”
Investigation showed that the over 400 rice farmers, who benefitted
from this year’s scheme, have harvested over 500 tons from the various
locations of Agenebode, Warrake and Iguoriakhi.
Prince Okojie said the farmers are still harvesting the rice
while trucks are on standby to take them to rice mills.
On when the rice would hit the market, Okojie explained that the
state does not own a rice mill and, as such, sold the paddy rice to off-takers
who would mill the rice and sell to the public.
“I assure you that the farmers are happy. We don’t have a rice
mill and so cannot sell rice like Lagos State. We sell rice paddy to
off-takers. As the farmers are harvesting, trucks have lined up to buy up the
rice,” he said.
Farmers are smiling to the bank
Some of the farmers, who spoke to The Nation, said they are
selling at the right price and hoped the government builds a rice mill so that
Edo people could buy rice at cheap price. The farmers hailed the closure of the
country’s borders, saying it made rice millers to buy their rice.
Suleiman Ibrahim, who was one of the farmers at Warrake said he
has been a rice farmer for the past 10 years, but has never experienced state
government’s intervention until Governor Obaseki assumed duty as the governor.
He said each farmer that participated in the programme is
expected to make between N400,000 and N500,000 profits after each planting
season.
He said: “This is a wonderful project. It is the type I have
never seen in my life. You can see government helping us with full sincerity.
The loan from the state government was a surprise to us and we are paying it
with ease.
“In Warrake, we (31 farmers) cultivated 165 hectares. Each of us
was given five hectares. Water stopped the tractors from clearing 250 for more
farmers to benefit. Officials of NIRSAL were on ground to assist us apply
fertilisers at the right time. We have harvested over 60 tons.
“We thank Governor Obaseki for this initiative. The least amount
a farmer will get will not be less than N500,000. We pray God for more support.
Trailers will be coming tomorrow to carry more rice.”
On the next planting season, Suleiman said they would start this
December and they planned to clear 500 hectares.
“You know there are no rice mills in Edo. If the government will
off-take the rice, then they can mill it and label it Edo State rice,” he said.
Mr. Shaibu Idatesaba in Agenebode said the flood affected the
rice fields of 16 out of 42 farmers who cultivated 240 hectares. He, however,
said the affected farmers insured their farms unlike last year when they
suffered losses because they did not insure their farms.
“We are happy. We have harvested over 120 tons. The loan was
soft and okay by us. Before, we used to source for loan ourselves, but now the
Obaseki loan came as a gift.
“During the farming period, agronomists were on ground to
support us and teach us how to do things. This time, we insured the farm
because of our experience last year. The profit we made in four months was over
N400, 000.”
Nigeria Mulls Banning Importation of
More Items - Minister
Photo: Pixabay
15 DECEMBER 2019
By Oge Udegbunam and Agency Report
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono,
says the federal government is considering banning the importation of more
items being produced or with the potential of being produced in Nigeria.
"Any commodity Nigeria has the potential of producing or we
are currently producing will be banned from being imported.
"This is to preserve the country's foreign exchange and
ensure national development," he said.
Nigeria has put strong foreign exchange restrictions on the
importation of many food items including rice and poultry.
The government has also shut Nigeria's land borders to stop the
land importation of such items as well as check smuggling.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Nanono
also said the closure of the Nigerian border does not in any way breach the
free trade agreement in the West African sub-region.
The minister said on Sunday in Abuja that the measure was meant
to protect the country and its citizens from the nefarious activities which
take place at the borders.
"Free trade does not mean Nigeria has to be a dumping
ground for everything imported by others. These products are not even from all
these countries involved. So, why should they be feasting on us?
"Nigeria controls 60 to 70 per cent of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) in the West African sub-region.
"So, Nigeria's economy still remains a buffer zone for the
West African sub-region.
"Besides, most of the people that come into this country
and melt into the population from the West African su-region come in because
this country is accommodating them.
"This happens to the extent that some of these people, when
they migrate into this country, you do not even know that they are immigrants.
"Take for example, people from Niger Republic when they
come into Kano State, what will differentiate them from the people from Kano,
or those from Benin Republic who come into Oyo State or Osun. They look like
us.
"This situation creates a problem, and the border closure
is a measure that has gone a long way in solving the problem," he said.
The minister disclosed that the federal government was holding
talks with the countries concerned to ensure that they kept to the terms of the
free trade agreement.
He said the border closure was not meant to hurt anybody.
"It was a decision taken after careful deliberation and
series of attempts by government to get the neighbouring countries to check the
illegal activities at the borders."
Mr Nanono pointed out that a lot of activities were going on at
the borders which were not in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.
"Nigeria became a dumping ground for all kinds of imports,
especially rice, which used to come from these neighbouring countries.
"The unfortunate thing about it is that most of the rice
being imported are not healthy and 100 per cent of these rice were not produced
in these countries. They were produced elsewhere.
"From what I gathered, some of the countries were even
given some forms of assistance to curb these imports, but they refused to
change.
"They went ahead, with their countries becoming routes to
import rice and other things into this country.
"No country in the world can tolerate what we have
tolerated over the years.
"This (Nigeria) is a country that can produce rice, not
only to feed itself but also to export to other countries.
"Even before the closure of border, when the government
changed policy from continuous importation of rice to restriction, the Nigerian
farmers have showed that they can produce rice to feed this nation," he
said.
The minister said one of the major impacts of the closure of
border was that Nigerians have began to consume local rice and other
locally-produced commodities.
"l am pleased to note that the consumption of local rice
has now gone beyond our imagination.
"In the Southern part of this country, people do not eat
foreign rice anymore. In Ebonyi and Bayelsa, you can hardly see somebody
selling foreign rice.
"They now eat Abakaliki rice and they are happy about it.
It is fresh, nutritious and healthy.
Border closure not
breaching free trade agreement – FG
Sunday, December 15, 2019 6:39 pm
| News
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono.
The Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, says the Federal Government’s closure of the
Nigerian border does not in any way breach the free trade agreement in the West
African sub-region.
The minister said on Sunday in
Abuja that the measure was meant to protect the country and its citizens from
the nefarious activities which take place at the borders.
“Free trade does not mean Nigeria
has to be a dumping ground for everything imported by others. These products
are not even from all these countries involved. So, why should they be feasting
on us?
“Nigeria controls 60 to 70
percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the West African sub-region.
“So, Nigeria’s economy still
remains a buffer zone for the West African sub-region.
“Besides, most of the people that
come into this country and melt into the population from the West African
su-region come in because this country is accommodating them.
“This happens to the extent that
some of these people, when they migrate into this country, you do not even know
that they are immigrants.
“Take for example, people from
Niger Republic when they come into Kano State, what will differentiate them
from the people from Kano, or those from Benin Republic who come into Oyo State
or Osun. They look like us.
“This situation creates a
problem, and the border closure is a measure that has gone a long way in
solving the problem,’’ Nanono told NAN.
The minister disclosed that the
Federal Government was holding talks with the countries concerned to ensure
that they kept to the terms of the free trade agreement.
He said the border closure was
not meant to hurt anybody.
“It was a decision taken after
careful deliberation and series of attempts by government to get the
neighbouring countries to check the illegal activities at the borders.’’
Nanono pointed out that a lot of
activities were going on at the borders which were not in the interest of
Nigeria and Nigerians.
“Nigeria became a dumping ground
for all kinds of imports, especially rice, which used to come from these
neighbouring countries.
“The unfortunate thing about it
is that most of the rice being imported are not healthy and 100 percent of
these rice were not produced in these countries. They were produced elsewhere.
“From what I gathered, some of
the countries were even given some forms of assistance to curb these imports,
but they refused to change.
“They went ahead, with their
countries becoming routes to import rice and other things into this country.
“No country in the world can
tolerate what we have tolerated over the years.
“This (Nigeria) is a country that
can produce rice, not only to feed itself but also to export to other
countries.
“Even before the closure of border,
when the government changed policy from continuous importation of rice to
restriction, the Nigerian farmers have shown that they can produce rice to feed
this nation,” he said.
The minister said one of the
major impacts of the closure of border was that Nigerians have begun to consume
local rice and other locally-produced commodities.
“l am pleased to note that the
consumption of local rice has now gone beyond our imagination.
“In the Southern part of this
country, people do not eat foreign rice anymore. In Ebonyi and Bayelsa, you can
hardly see somebody selling foreign rice.
“They now eat Abakaliki rice and
they are happy about it. It is fresh, nutritious and healthy.
“In fact, you can perceive the
local rice’s good aroma in the mill, as opposed to the one being imported into
the country which does not even add value to our health and which is not even
nutritious. So, why should we even bother ourselves about this?
“We have reached a level where in
the next two years we will start exporting rice, based on what I saw when I
visited the cluster of rice millers at Kura in Kano State, which is about a
one-kilometre stretch,” he said.
Nanono also said the Federal
Government had begun examining all issues surrounding all other commodities,
apart from rice, being imported into the country.
“Any commodity Nigeria has the
potential of producing or we are currently producing will be banned from being
imported.
“This is to preserve the
country’s foreign exchange and ensure national development.’’
He urged Nigerians to take
advantage of the border closure to invest in any of the agricultural value
chains, pointing out that opportunities for investment had been created.
Preparing for no QR
Is it really too late to ask for
an extension of the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice importations beyond
July 2017? And will the lifting of QRs by then really negatively affect rice
farming in the Philippines?
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel
Piñol wants the Philippine government to go before the World Trade Organization
and negotiate for another extension of the QR, its fourth if ever, after being
awarded preferential treatment on rice importations in 1995.
The extensions were given
purportedly to give Filipino farmers more time to prepare for free trade, which
essentially meant that our local rice production would be able to squarely
compete with imported rice that would not be subjected to import taxes or even
import limitations.
The first extension was given
until 2004, and extended two more times, with the second until 2014, and the
third by July 2017. If ever the Philippine government would ask for a fourth
extension, the reason would still be the same: to give Filipino farmers more
time to prepare for free trade.
Nothing changed
It is understandable why there is
reluctance on the part of our government planners, and even the President, to
go for another pleading session. Even if the QR were extended by another two
years, as Secretary Piñol is asking, what could really be accomplished towards
getting our farmers prepared?
Secondly, with barely five months
to go before the QR expires, there is not enough time for negotiations. It took
the former administration two years to be given the last extension, which could
now be regarded as a waste of time, money, and human resources since nothing
really had changed.
Sure, we can go plead for another
extension, but the chances of getting it would be slim – and even at the risk
of the country losing face, time, money and resources during the negotiations.
More importantly, you and I know
that Filipino rice farmers would not really be better prepared to face free
trade if an extension of two years – even four or six years – were granted.
There are just too many things needed, including government funds, to nurse
back our rice production to a healthier state.
Tariff debates
It seems the National Economic
Development Authority is thinking of taking a different route about how to
handle the country’s rice production. By letting go of the QRs, why not
increase the tax on imported rice so that local rice production will be priced
lower?
Currently, the government allows
805,200 metric tons of rice to be imported at a tariff rate of 35 percent. Any
importation above this minimum access volume is charged a higher tariff of 50
percent. With the QR removed, the NEDA is thinking of raising tariffs on all
rice imports to 40 percent, even 50 percent.
There is a big debate on the
merit of how much tariffs really should be imposed. Some contend that a 35
percent uniform tariff will do the job of increasing state revenues since some
two million MT are imported by the country annually to augment local
production. A 35 percent tariff would be consistent too with the ASEAN Free
Trade Agreement.
A higher tariff of 40 to 50
percent would, of course, significantly increase importation revenues. And
would likewise provide Filipino rice farmers with more protection from the
forecasted flooding of imported rice as it would allow them to sell at better
prices, and correspondingly, earn better.
But this would make rice
smuggling a bigger temptation, especially if the National Food Authority’s rice
importation role is diminished.
Uncertainties
There are worries too about
adversely affecting global rice prices with the QR lifting. In 2008, when the
Philippines had to urgently import two million MT, rice prices in the global
market doubled to more than $1,0000 per MT from the normal $500 per MT level.
And with the expected
unrestricted importation of rice, there are fears that Filipino rice farmers
will even be discouraged from pursuing rice production, and would leave farming
for good.
On the other hand, NEDA is saying
that about 35 of the country’s rice producing provinces will be able to compete
directly with their Vietnamese and Thai counterparts, and that even without
tariff, about 13 rice-producing provinces would remain competitive.
Safety nets
With all of the uncertainties, it
is best that Secretary Piñol now focuses on setting up all the necessary safety
nets that Filipino farmers would need to get ahead should there be any negative
effectives from the QR lifting.
If the flood of imported rice
would really dent rice farmers’ incomes, as some government planners are
forecasting, the Department of Agriculture should already prepare to supervise
temporary relief programs, including conditional cash transfers.
Longer term measures could
include training affected rice farmers to shift to high value crops, similar to
what sugar farmers in Negros did when world sugar prices plummeted after new
cheaper sources of sweeteners were used by confectionery manufacturers.
Likewise, measures are needed to
ensure that rice prices would remain stable locally and globally, and this includes
mitigating any sudden rice importation order that would cause abnormal
international supply disruptions, even if temporarily.
Realistic program
More importantly, the DA should
start putting together a realistic program that would revert the downward trend
in agricultural productivity, and secure the country’s food supply for future
generations.
With additional income to be
derived from possible higher tariffs on imported rice, the DA must intervene to
make sure that the collected money is spent for the improvement of agricultural
infrastructure such as irrigation and drying facilities, better seeding
varieties, expanded credit, research and development, and farm-to-market roads.
We laud Secretary Piñol’s
enthusiasm and drive to find ways and means to help Filipino farmers. But at
the end of the day, or his six-year term, he will be judged as to whether the
contribution of agriculture to the country’s economic growth had actually
increased.
He definitely cannot cite the QR
lifting as a reason for not performing well.
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Rice
import rules vs dummies, WTO told
December 16, 2019
MANILA
has formally notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its amended rules
on rice importation that seeks to limit the entry of the staple by weeding out
unscrupulous and dummy players through stringent registration requirements.
The Philippines submitted a
notification to the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures on
December 11, informing the body that it has implemented revised requirements
for registration and renewal of importers of rice.
In its notification, the
Philippines submitted Department of Agriculture (DA) Memorandum Order 28 which
institutionalizes additional requirements for interested rice importers in a
bid to remove unscrupulous players.
The order also requires importers
to ship out their rice consignments from the country of origin within the
prescribed date in their approved sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance
(SPS-IC).
The rice imports should also
arrive not later than 60 days from the indicated “must ship out” date in their
SPS-IC. The DA’s order last November 11 strengthened the current registration
procedures for importers of rice and also prescribed a validity period for
SPS-IC issued to eligible traders.
“There is a need to strengthen
registration procedures for importers of planting materials and plant products,
and specify the validity of the sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance, to
safeguard from entry, establishment and spread of exotic plant pests and comply
with food safety requirements,” the DA said in the MO.
The MO clarified certain
provisions of Republic Act 11203, or the rice trade liberalization law,
pertaining to the deadline on the arrival of imported rice in the country.
Tighter rules vs dummies
Under the MO, first-time rice
importers and those renewing their registration are required to comply with the
additional requirements that seek to determine their market capacity.
For initial registration and
renewal of importers, they are now required to submit a proof of existence and
authority to use warehouses that include proof of ownership, physical sketch
and GPS of the exact location of the warehouse, 5R pictures of the warehouse
with a dated newspaper and distributed areas of the imported rice.
Furthermore, rice importers are
now also required to submit their annual income tax return with audited
financial statement of the last three years. In a press briefing on November
21, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar pointed out that the additional rules
are aimed at unmasking and weeding out unscrupulous players in the rice trade,
particularly farmer cooperatives acting as dummies for bigger firms.
Aside from additional
registration requirements, the DA has also implemented other nontariff measures
to limit rice imports in the country, such as compliance with the government’s
more stringent measures covering heavy metal content, pesticide residue, filth
contaminants and microbial presence. (See “PHL to curb rice
imports via nontariff measures,” November 22, 2019). The DA chief cited the BusinessMirror’s stories about
“dummy” cooperatives edging out legitimate traders in rice imports as among the
reasons for their decision to go after these groups (See “Farmer groups ‘top rice importers’—are they?” in the BusinessMirror, November 21, 2019, and “Pre-
and post-rice trade liberalization law, big traders gaming farmer groups,” in
the BusinessMirror, October 31, 2019).
RPT-FACTBOX-A
LOT OF SOY, A LITTLE RICE: CHINA'S HISTORICAL U.S. AGRICULTURAL PURCHASES
12/15/2019
(Repeats story first published on Friday)
CHICAGO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Friday
China would buy an additional $32 billion in U.S. farm goods over the next two
years as part of an initial trade deal.
China gave no firm commitment on an amount of U.S. goods, but said
it may buy more wheat, rice and corn -- goods it has not traditionally bought.
Soybeans made up more than half of China's agriculture purchases from the
United States in 2017, at about $12.2 billion.
Below are agricultural goods China has bought from the United
States in the past: SOY China bought about 60% of all exports of U.S. soybeans,
the main U.S. export crop by value, before the trade war. Since the current
marketing year started on Sept. 1, China has purchased about 10 million tonnes
of soybeans worth some $3.5 billion, according to government data.
SORGHUM China began buying U.S. sorghum, which it uses for
production of baiju liquor and animal feed, in 2008. Its purchases peaked at
$2.115 billion in 2015, but fell by more than half to $1.030 billion in 2016.
So far this year, it has bought $117.149 million worth. PORK China has
increased pork imports after a fatal pig disease, African swine fever,
devastated its herd. U.S. pork exports to China and Hong Kong were up 34% in
value at $974.8 million from January to October. The shipments top full-year
2018 exports to the region of $852.5 million. Full-year exports to China and
Hong Kong set a record of $1.1 billion in 2017.
BEEF China officially resumed U.S. beef imports in 2017 after a
14-year ban, but maintains restrictions on shipments. Exports of U.S. beef to
China and Hong Kong from January to October were down 20% from a year earlier
at $657.9 million. China and Hong Kong imported a record $1 billion in U.S.
beef in 2018.
CORN China was a top five buyer of U.S. corn from 2011 to 2013 but
has not been a major buyer since as domestic production increased. In 2017, it
bought $142.036 million worth, and so far in 2019 it has bought $52.857
million.
RICE China, the world's largest rice producer, typically buys
small amounts of U.S. rice. Purchases peaked at $5.311 million in 2010. In
2017, they totaled $759,000. So far this year, U.S. rice exports to China have
been worth just $147,000.
POULTRY China in November lifted a nearly five-year ban on U.S.
poultry that had been imposed in January 2015 because of a U.S. outbreak of
avian flu. The market bought $500 million worth of American poultry products in
2013. WHEAT China is the world's No. 2 wheat producer after the European Union
and holds roughly half of all global wheat inventories. In recent years it has
been the No. 3 or 4 buyer of U.S. hard red spring wheat, a high-protein variety
used to blend and improve the quality of lesser grades of wheat.
EQUIPMENT Some analysts had speculated that equipment might be
counted in an agriculture component of an eventual trade deal. Farm machinery
exports this year through October were a little over $200 million, according to
data from U.S. Census Bureau. Beijing's biggest purchase in the past two
decades was in 2015 when it imported about $430 million of machines.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek, Julie Ingwersen, Rajesh Kumar Singh,
Mark Weinraub; Writing by Caroline Stauffer Editing by Leslie Adler)
Refined
carbohydrates like white bread, pasta and rice may trigger insomnia
DECEMBER 14, 2019
High-GI foods cause blood sugar
levels to spike, disturbing sleep. [Photo: Getty]
Refined carbohydrates may trigger insomnia, research suggests.
Scientists from Columbia University in New York looked at the food diaries of more than 50,000 women.
READ MORE…
%%
Refined carbohydrates may trigger insomnia, research suggests.
Scientists from Columbia University in New York looked at the food diaries of more than 50,000 women.
READ MORE…
%%
Ijeoma Ndukwe: Why doesn‘t Nigeria
develop sufficient rice?
A long line of customers queue along
a glass divide separating them from a rice food station at an eatery in Lagos,
Nigeria‘s commercial capital. Diners can choose between white rice, fried rice
and jollof at this popular local restaurant known as “The White House”.
A steady flow of customers is
served in the main hall, and in two packed adjoining rooms diners are enjoying
Nigerian dishes.
Rice is the basis of the popular
national dish jollof and a staple across the country.
The problem is not a lack of
land, or that there are not enough people to grow it in Africa‘s most populous
country.
During the eight years ago,
Nigeria experienced shortages in rice that made the country rethink its food
security and ability to supply the local market.
As a result, President Muhammadu
Buhari has made rice farming a priority.
Nigerians‘ appetite for rice
means that the country imported nearly 17 million tonnes of it over the past
five years. Duties for imported rice are currently 60% and consumers have seen
the price of a bag of rice double in the past 12 months.
Many domestic players have been
entering the market. Olam, a multi-national agribusiness, set up a rice farm in
2012 in response to government calls for local players to help feed the 170
million Nigerians.
Nigeria‘s rice in numbers
It is a bumpy journey to Olam‘s
farm in Rukubi village close to the Benue River in Nasarawa State. The lush
green fields of the farm are an oasis among miles and miles of dusty red road
and bushes.
Large metal silos carrying
228,000 tonnes of rice rise up from the ground, gleaming in the scorching
afternoon sun. Manager Anil Nair, drives us around 4,500 hectares of the farm
and mill.
Most of the farm hands have
finished work for the day. They usually work in the rice paddies from 07:00,
before the sun gets too hot. Only a few women remain, standing ankle deep in
the paddies, planting rice seedlings.
This is one of the largest rice
farms in Nigeria and although it grows 50,000 tonnes each year, that is still
just a small fraction of the country‘s demand.
According to the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the country imported 2.3 million
tonnes in 2016, about half of the country‘s estimated requirements.
Minister of Agriculture Audu
Ogbeh says that the culture of importation has to stop.
“We can‘t afford $5m a day for
rice shipments in this country. It‘s gone on for 40 years. And I assure you
that it‘s our reckless policy of importation that‘s brought Nigeria down to
where she is now.
Those who keep talking of imports
either don‘t mean Nigeria well or simply refuse to recognise the fact that we
can‘t afford the imports.”
However, most farmers in Nigeria
are small scale and struggle to get the financing they need to improve farming
methods and boost their yield.
Members of the Rice Farming
Association of Nigeria say they can only access high-interest loans from
commercial banks.
Joseph Jatau Kudu has been
farming near the town of Doma in Nasarawa State since 1982. He says the banks
charge as much as 30% to lend money.
“It‘s too high. We end up earning
nothing,” he says.
Without the capital to mechanise,
workers must do everything on his 15-hectare farm by hand.
“Sometimes the tractors are not
available. So now I‘m using manual labour. It‘s not as effective as in the case
of using a tractor and it‘s one of the reasons I can‘t expand.”
‘Pipe dream‘
The agriculture minister claims
that Nigeria will become self-sufficient in rice production by the end of the
year.
However, critics of government
policy not only point to a lack of spending on agriculture, but also to an
under-investment in the entire value-chain for rice, from field to cooking pot.
Ninety two billion naira ($302m;
£240m) was assigned to the sector in the 2017 budget – only 1.26% of the entire
budget for the year.
AgroNigeria‘s Managing Director Richard
Mbaram says that achieving self-sufficiency in the next couple of years is
merely a “pipe dream”.
“Rice production isn‘t willed
into existence. It is cultivated and systematically sown.
“There is research, there is
mechanisation, there is warehousing and storage. There is market opening and
market access.
“You cannot drive
industrialisation or agro-industrialisation without connecting the farm gate
where the production is happening. Do we have that? We‘re very far back in
terms of achieving that.”
In the meantime, Nigerians‘
appetite for rice shows no sign of slowing down.
Medical News Today: Whole grains
improve metabolism, could assist promote weight reduction
Whole grains have been shown to
be superior in the diet when compared with refined grains, suggests new
research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Whole grains
increased calorie loss by decreasing the number of calories retained during
digestion, while simultaneously speeding up metabolism.
Whole grains, such as brown rice, may help weight loss by decreasing calories retained during digestion.
Whole grains, such as brown rice, may help weight loss by decreasing calories retained during digestion.
Previous research has indicated
that whole grains and high dietary fiber intake have several health benefits,
such as for glycemic control and sensitivity. However, scientists have been
unable to agree whether whole grains and fiber help to regulate weight.
The grain food group includes
rice, oats, wheat, and barley. While whole grains contain the whole-grain
kernel and include brown rice, oatmeal, and whole-wheat flour, refined grains
are starches that are processed and milled to remove the bran and germ to
prolong their shelf life. Examples of refined grains include white rice, white
bread, and white flour.
Milling empties the starch of
dietary fiber, iron, and B . Although iron and B vitamins can be added back
into the refined grains, the fiber is not often reintroduced.
In the , investigators conducted
a study over 8 weeks that included 81 men and women aged between 40 and 65. All
food was provided to the participants over the course of the study and included
either whole grains or refined grains. Participants were asked only to consume
the food provided, return any uneaten food, and continue with their usual
levels of physical activity.
“We provided all food to ensure
that the composition of the diets differed only in grain source,” says senior
author Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., senior scientist and director of the Energy
Metabolism Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.
For the first 2 weeks, all
participants ate the same type of food, and the calorie needs of each
individual were determined. The participants were then randomly assigned to
either a group that included whole grains or a group with refined grains.
The differences between the
whole-grain diet and refined-grain diet were mostly in grain and fiber content.
Type of food, meal structure, and energy and macronutrient composition were
similar in both groups.
The researchers compared the
effects of whole grains and refined grains on resting metabolic rate and fecal
energy losses, in addition to how full or how hungry the participants felt. Measures
of the study included weight, metabolic rate, blood glucose, fecal , hunger,
and fullness.
Eating fiber in whole grains
increased calories lost per day
Results showed that the group
that ate whole grains had increased resting metabolic rate and greater fecal
losses compared with the refined grain group. Furthermore, the increases in
fecal energy losses were not because of the extra fiber, but from the effect of
the fiber on the digestibility of other food calories.
Participants who consumed whole
grains – an amount that matched the recommended daily allowance for fiber –
lost almost an extra 100 calories per day than the participants who consumed
refined grains without much fiber.
“The extra calories lost by those
who ate whole grains was equivalent of a brisk 30-minute walk – or enjoying an
extra small cookie every day in terms of its impact,” says Roberts.
Roberts‘ colleagues included Phil
J. Karl, Ph.D., first author of the study, an alumnus of the Friedman School of
Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, and a scientist at the United States
Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, MA.
“Many previous studies have
suggested benefits of whole grains and dietary fiber on chronic disease risk.
This study helps to quantify how whole grains and fiber work to benefit weight
management, and lend credibility to previously reported associations between
increased whole grains and fiber consumption, lower and better health.”
Phil J. Karl
The study used commercially
available products that used whole-grain flour. The team hypothesizes that
using foods with whole-grain kernels might affect metabolic rate and fecal loss
further. Fullness, hunger, and diet satisfaction did not appear to differ
significantly between the two diets.
Cambodia sees 34
pct rise in rice export to China in 11 months
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-12-15 17:11:44|Editor: mingmei
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 205,358 tons
of milled rice to China during the first 11 months of 2019, up 34 percent over
the same period last year, said an official report Sunday.
China is still the top buyer of Cambodian rice during the
January-November period this year, said the report of the Secretariat of One
Window Service for Rice Export.
Export to China accounted for 40 percent of Cambodia's total
rice export, it said.
Song Saran, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, said
China is a key market for Cambodian rice and the kingdom is expected to export
a total of 250,000 tons to China this year.
Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation shipped 174,397 tons of
rice to the European market during the period, down 26 percent, the report
said.
The drop in the export to the European market came after the
European Union imposed earlier this year duties on rice importing from Cambodia
in a bid to curb a surge in rice imports from the country and to protect
European producers.
According to the report, Cambodia exported a total of 514,149
tons of rice to 59 countries and regions during the first 11 months of this
year, up 3.4 percent over the same period last year.
Bank management fee on P1-billion
farmers’ credit fund assailed
Updated December 15, 2019, 9:06 PM
By Ellson Quismorio
Pro-farmer party-list groups on
Sunday assailed the 3.5-percent annual bank management fee on the P1-billion
credit fund for small farmers under the controversial Republic Act (RA)
11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
Magsasaka Party-List Rep. Argel Cabatbat
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Given the huge amount of credit
allowance given to the farmers, that management fee looks ostensibly
disadvantageous to the farmers,” said Magsasaka Party-List Rep. Argel
Cabatbat.
Cabatbat was referring to the
management fee to be charged by state-owned banks on the P1-billion
credit fund, which is one of the safety nets for small farmers in light of the
effects of the RTL.
“The most prudent action is to
investigate and order the responsible officials to justify and account for
the fees,” he said.
“We should dig deeper as to the
propriety of these charges/fees. After all, it is the season of
questioning onerous provisions in the contracts which are disadvantageous to
our people,” the rookie solon said, taking a dig at the law that he has
challenged since day one.
The purported bane of some 2.5
million Filipino rice farmers is the RTL, which did away with the old
quantitative restrictions on rice imports in exchange for tariffs. This liberalized
the entry of imported rice to the county.
Since imported rice is cheaper,
local farmers have found it difficult to sell the palay (unhusked rice) that
they themselves planted and harvested.
Meanwhile, Butil Party-List
described the bank management fee “unconscionable and cruel,” and called for
its scrapping.
“The P1 billion is a pittance
when viewed in the environment of almost zero credit for small rice farmers and
their many other woes. Why would two government banks charge management fees for
the elementary task of looking for conduits for that negligible P1 billion
fund?” asked former Butil Rep. Cecil Chavez.
She asked President Rodrigo
Duterte to intervene to force the Land Bank of the Philippines and the
Development Bank of the Philippines to forgo the 3.5-percent management fee and
eliminate the administrative cost on that small fund.
“The people in government
corporate banking already enjoy decent salaries and other perks…In contrast,
the three million rice farmers have been denied loans even by the institutions
that were organized to help small farmers,” she claimed.
Chavez also slammed the two
government banks for supposedly wanting to raise the yearly management fee to
the standard level of 4.5 percent, since the 3.5 percent rate was inadequate.
Butil was the only party-list to
vote against RA 11203 outside of the Makabayan bloc during the previous 17th
Congress.
A ten-year plan for rice
(Conclusion)
Published December 14, 2019, 10:00 PM
Dr. Emil Q. Javier
The opening up of our rice market to imports under the Rice
Tariffication Act (RTA) will be good to our country in the long run. The retail
price of rice will moderate in line with the world market price to the benefit
of consumers and the economy as a whole. The rice farmers, on the other hand,
will suffer an immediate decline in income. The more progressive among them who
are cultivating rice under favorable conditions (i.e. with irrigation) will be
able to hold their own against the low-priced rice inputs from Vietnam and
Thailand. But the farmers cultivating the lands not favorable to rice growing
(i.e. rainfed) will be obliged with government’s help to shift to other crops
often more profitable than rice, and/or into livestock and fish culture. In
fact, with market support, they may end up with higher income than those growing
rice alone (rice monoculture).
Also as a consequence, we shall
produce less rice and therefore be more dependent on imports. But we will
produce more of the other commodities which are more valuable than rice and
create more livelihood opportunities.
It is therefore in our country’s long-term interest to persevere and stay the course with the RTA. But to make RTA work, we have to embark in three complementary strategies/directions, namely: 1) direct decoupled payments to rice farmers to provide them immediate relief, 2) further intensification of rice efforts in productive irrigated lands, and 3) diversification of rainfed rice lands into other high value crops, livestock and fish culture.
It is therefore in our country’s long-term interest to persevere and stay the course with the RTA. But to make RTA work, we have to embark in three complementary strategies/directions, namely: 1) direct decoupled payments to rice farmers to provide them immediate relief, 2) further intensification of rice efforts in productive irrigated lands, and 3) diversification of rainfed rice lands into other high value crops, livestock and fish culture.
This turn-around of the rice
industry will easily take 10 years to attain. The burden of transition to an
open market should not borne by the rice farmers alone. The farmers need help
in the transition while Strategies/Directions 2 and 3 are being installed.
Hence, the necessity to commit ALL the tariffs collected under the RTA as
direct cash payments to farmers (Strategy/Direction1).
The second Strategy/Direction is
fairly straightforward: 1) continuing investments in irrigation development,
but tactically in the next five years, more attention to rehabilitation and more
effective operation and maintenance of existing irrigation systems, 2)
universal use of high-yielding inbred seeds and increasing adoption of hybrids
and more fertilizers to ensure high yields, and 3) more mechanization to reduce
labor costs and to minimize post-harvest losses.
However providing these inputs
free, as provided for in the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) of the
RTA, has been proven time and again to be wasteful, graft-prone and expensive. The better way is to provide farmers easy access to credit
with which to purchase these inputs. The government subsidy should be in the
form of more dedicated credit technicians to be deployed by Land Bank of the
Philippines, affordable low interest, crop insurance and loan guarantee for the
banks. Credit support will be cheaper, more efficient and more sustainable in
the long term. The RTA should therefore be amended accordingly.
Diversification of rainfed rice
lands into high value crops, livestock and fish culture
Depending upon the terrain, soil type and access to market, the rainfed rice lands can be devoted to a wide range of annual crops, tree crops, as well as to livestock and fresh-water fish culture. Rainfed lands may be marginal for rice growing but perfectly suitable for these other commodities/enterprises.
Depending upon the terrain, soil type and access to market, the rainfed rice lands can be devoted to a wide range of annual crops, tree crops, as well as to livestock and fresh-water fish culture. Rainfed lands may be marginal for rice growing but perfectly suitable for these other commodities/enterprises.
For low-lying, poorly-drained
areas, they can very well be converted into fish ponds for the culture of
tilapia, hito and dalag. They can also be drained by digging a permanent
network of canals and planting crops on the elevated portions much like
the sorjan cultivation system
widely practiced in Indonesia.
After the first crop during the rainy months which is usually rice, the second crops could be leafy vegetables like pechay and mustard; solanaceous crops like tomato, chili pepper and eggplant; beans like peanut, mungbean, and soybean; onion and garlic, and cucurbits like squash, and melons.
After the first crop during the rainy months which is usually rice, the second crops could be leafy vegetables like pechay and mustard; solanaceous crops like tomato, chili pepper and eggplant; beans like peanut, mungbean, and soybean; onion and garlic, and cucurbits like squash, and melons.
For the better-drained areas
subject to occasional flooding, perennial fruits like pineapple, papaya,
bananas (dessert and plantain), lanzones, durian, rambutan, jackfruit,
tamarind, avocado, etc. can be grown. The trees can be planted in raised beds
to enhance drainage and root aeration.
For the long-term, drip
irrigation systems should be installed not only to provide timely, supplemental
water during the dry months but also for efficient direct delivery of
fertilizers and systemic pesticides and bio-stimulants into the root zones of
the crops.
Drip irrigation units are modular
and becoming cheaper to install than conventional surface irrigation systems.
But even now drip irrigation units can pay for themselves in the commercial
production of high value tree crops for domestic consumption and for export.
Alternatively, the rice fields
can be converted into high yielding forage crops to feed dairy cows and
buffaloes and small ruminants like goats and sheep.
Para grass, a water-loving
tropical pasture grass grows exceedingly well under partly flooded conditions.
A hectare of Para grass can support under grazing management 40 female goats
(ewes) producing at least 60 kids a year. At ₱2,000 per weaned kid, the gross
income is ₱120,000 per hectare per year with hardly any labor cost and little
cash cost for dewormers and occasional feed concentrate. I have demonstrated
this in my farm.
The same hectare of Para grass can support as many as 10 milking cows in a cut-and-carry system with moderate levels of fertilizers and manure recycling. The investments in dairy cows are of course very high but the income per hectare from 10 dairy cows will easily be 5–8 times that from two crops of rice.
The input requirements of these diversified farm lands will be varied and often higher than those required for rice. In the same manner, these inputs should not be given away free to the farmers but must be acquired through subsidized credit.
The same hectare of Para grass can support as many as 10 milking cows in a cut-and-carry system with moderate levels of fertilizers and manure recycling. The investments in dairy cows are of course very high but the income per hectare from 10 dairy cows will easily be 5–8 times that from two crops of rice.
The input requirements of these diversified farm lands will be varied and often higher than those required for rice. In the same manner, these inputs should not be given away free to the farmers but must be acquired through subsidized credit.
Market support — the key
Unlike grains which are
relatively easy to store and transport, these other crops are perishable and
require better organized supply chains. Before the farmers embark into planting
these other crops, their markets must be assured through contract growing
arrangements with local buyers, supermarkets and/or food processors and
exporters.
Better yet, instead of just being
raw material suppliers to the food processing plants, arrangements can be made
for the farmers to become part owners in joint ventures through agreed
deductions from the produce they deliver to the processing plants.
The farmers will have better
leverage if they can produce in the volumes and times of delivery required by
the market. This will require concentration of production in designated areas
close to the processing plants not only to facilitate extension but also reduce
the cost of assembly of produce and to minimize post-harvest losses. The
adoption of the one-town-one-product approach and empowerment of farmers’
cooperatives will be crucial.
*****
Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chairman of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP).
For any feedback, email eqjavier@yahoo.com
Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chairman of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP).
For any feedback, email eqjavier@yahoo.com
Related Posts
NFA warned on rice
imports schedule
on December 15, 2019
MANILA,
Philippines – The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) has urged the National
Food Authority (NFA) Council not to extend the deadline for the arrival of rice
imports under the minimum access volume (MAU) mechanism, considering farmers
are now starting to harvest their rice crops.
The MAV
currently stands at around 800,000 metric tons of rice imports which the
Philippines had promised to allow stands at every year at a reduced tariff, in
exchange for the extension of quantitative restrictions or controls over rice
imports.
According
to FFF president Leonardo Montemayor, the NFA distributed last year quotas to
private importers for around 600,000 MT of MAV imports on the condition the
imports should arrive in the country on or before Feb. 28, 2017.
Only
400,000 MT actually arrived on time, and quota holders are now lobbying the NFA
Council to extend the deadline so that they can bring in the balance of 200,000
MT, he said.
Montemayor,
a former agriculture secretary, pointed out extending the deadline will benefit
only a few moneyed importers at the expense of millions of rice farmers who
have started harvesting their dry season crop. He added palay traders,
who absorb up to 95 percent of farmers’ produce, will have to lower their
buying prices if they know that cheaper imports of rice will enter the country
and compete with their locally purchased palay.
“Around
8.5 million tons of palay are harvested during the first half of the year, most
of it during the March to June period. Every one peso decline in palay
prices takes away up to P6 billion from small farmers. This is equivalent
to a reduction of 20 percent of the net income of farmers from their summer
crop”, Montemayor explained.
At the
same time, Montemayor expressed full support for moves to investigate
corruption within the NFA. However, he cautioned using corruption
allegations as an excuse to allow MAV imports to harm farmers at harvest time.
Ruben
Presilda, FFF vice-president for Luzon, added: “Rice farmers are still
recovering from the long El Nino drought in 2015-2016 and the series of
typhoons in 2016. Now, they are in danger of facing another calamity,
this time man-made, if the NFA Council gives in to the demand of rice
importers. This directly contradicts the instructions of President
Duterte for government agencies to prioritize their support for the poor,
including the rice farmers.”
GOCC subsidies
climb in September
December 16, 2019
Subsidies extended by the
national government to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs)
rose in October, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
Twenty-eight state-run firms
secured P7.23 billion, a 366.66-percent rise from P1.55 billion in the same
month last year.
The National Food Authority (NFA)
accounted for the bulk, or P2.77 billion, of total subsidies in the month. NFA
is responsible for promoting the integrated growth and development of the
grains industry covering rice, corn, feed grains and other grains like sorghum,
mongo, and peanut.
The National Irrigation
Administration (NIA) came in second with P483 million, and Local Water
Utilities Administration with P276 million.
Also receiving assistance in
October were the Light Rail Transit Authority, National Electrification
Administration, National Power Corp., Philippine National Railways, Aurora
Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority, Bases Conversion and Development
Authority, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Credit Information Corp., Center
for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Lung Center of the
Philippines, National Dairy Authority, National Kidney and Transplant
Institute, Philippine Coconut Authority, Philippine Children’s Medical Center,
Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine
Institute for Development Studies, Philippine Institute of Traditional and
Alternative Health Care, People’s Television Network Inc., Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority, Southern Philippines Development Authority, Sugar
Regulatory Administration, Tourism Infrastructure, Enterprise Zone Authority,
and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority.
The October figure boosted the
year-to-date government subsidies to surge by 25.60 percent to P158.73 billion
from the year-earlier figure of P126.38 billion.
State-run companies with the
biggest funding assistance in the first 10 months of the year were the
Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) with P61.55 billion, NIA with
P32.05 billion, and Land Bank of the Philippines with P30.48 billion.
Subsidies fell under the national
government’s disbursements program.
State spending in October rose by
1.37 percent to P310.8 billion from P306.6 billion a year ago, boosting the
year-to-date tally by 5.05 percent to P2.93 trillion.
In 2018, the government gave away
a record P136.652 billion in subsidies.
Andhra
Pradesh government to supply quality rice under PDS from April 2020
A
ministerial committee had suggested that the civil supplies department should
negotiate with rice millers regarding the charges/incentives to be paid towards
improving quality.
Published: 16th December 2019 09:16
AM | Last Updated: 16th December 2019 09:16 AM |
Volunteers
oversee supply of quality rice at the doorstep of the beneficiaries as part of
a pilot project in Srikakulam district| Express
VIJAYAWADA:
The State government on Sunday issued orders approving the recommendations made
by the Group of Ministers for the supply of quality rice in the packaged form
under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
In July, the
government constituted the committee consisting of ministers Buggana
Rajendranath Reddy, K Kanna Babu, Cherukuvada Sri Ranganatha Raju and Kodali
Sri Venkateswara Rao to examine various options to improve the quality of rice
including sortex, bagging material and bagging machinery and also to come up
with suitable recommendations needed to improve the quality of rice in the
public distribution system and to start door delivery of rice to eligible
households in packaged form.
In its
recommendations, the committee suggested that the civil supplies department
negotiate with rice millers regarding the charges/incentives to be paid towards
improving quality including sortex, reduction of discoloured/broken grains etc,
finalise appropriate packaging machinery, material and recommend appropriate
measures to encourage small and medium rice mills to install sortex machinery
and participate in the new programme.
In its maiden
meeting held in August, the GOM discussed the issues relating to supply
of quality rice at the doorstep of beneficiaries in tamper-proof and weighment
assured packets through village/ward volunteers and made a few recommendations
that include usage of environment-friendly biodegradable packaging materials
like paper and cloth should be explored for financial and operational
feasibility.
It was finally
agreed upon that an outturn ratio at 92.5 per cent will be fixed for
reprocessing of existing custom milled rice (CMR) stocks. For every 100 kg of
rice supplied by APSCSCL to the rice millers, the latter will provide 92.5 kg
of rice in 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg and 20 kg bags.
Also, APSCSL
will supply the packaging material and bear the transportation charges from
buffer godowns to rice mill and from rice mill to MLS or village level stock
point. The miller is allowed to retain the byproduct to cover its charges for
sortex, grading, packaging, loading and unloading but they have to return the
gunny bags to APSCSCL.
As a pilot
project, the officials already launched the supply of quality rice in
Srikakulam district in September this year. In all other districts, the
distribution of quality rice will be taking place from April 2020. For the
first time, the State government has developed an application like the tracking
system in food delivery apps. Using it, customers can track their ration
supplies through the app.
Note the points
- For every 100 kg of rice supplied by APSCSCL, miller will provide
92.5 kg of rice in 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg and 20 kg bags
- APSCSCL will supply packaging material and will bear the
transportation charges from buffer godown to rice mill and from rice mill
to MLS or village level stock point
- Rice millers will deliver only Swarna and equivalent variety of
rice to APSCSCL without mixture of varieties
- APSCSCL will provide compensation at Rs 600 per metric tonne of CMR
delivered to APSCSCL for sortex charges
- APSCSCL will reimburse Rs 500 against every MT of improved quality
balance CMR equivalent rice supplied by rice millers out of millers own
paddy stocks
- APSCSCL should recollect the used PP bags from the beneficiaries
and arrange for reverse logistics of bags for recycling as a measure to
curtail environmental damage
WATCH: Stop! We’ve been cooking rice
the wrong way all this time
Manisha mentioned three things to prevent your rice
from coming out starchy. Picture: Flickr.com
Cooking rice may seem as one of the
easiest things to do in the world, right? It’s just a matter of filling a
saucepan with some rice and water and leaving it to boil.
But according to one chef, this is
the wrong way to cook rice. On an episode of BBC’s ‘Inside the Factory’,
presenter Cherry Healey asked Chef Manisha Bhardwaj how to make the dinner
table staple that’s been around for decades.
Manisha mentioned three things to
prevent your rice from coming out starchy.
Step 1:
Rinse your rice before cooking it.
This stops the rice grains from clogging together when you boil them.
Step 2:
Select the right
saucepan. “You want to choose a pan that has a heavy bottom and has a
tight fitting lid,” she advised.
Step 3:
Don’t boil it like you do with
pasta. Chef Manisha made sure to cook her grains using the absorption
technique.
What is the absorption
technique?
Measuring out just the right amount
of water, she said this allows the rice to soak it up without going to soggy or
dry.
“One measure of rice and double the
amount of water by volume. That’s crucial.”
If you still haven’t perfected the
art of cooking rice, British chef Gordon Ramsay explains in the video below how
to cook basmati rice – the king of all rices.
Like Manisha, Ramsay also starts
off by rinsing off the dust and starch with cold water which he says “stops the
rice from becoming clumpy in the pan”.
‘The new trend
involves using simple ingredients’
It makes me sad when a proper
recipe is not followed and due to this, consistent results are not
acquired.
Published: 14th December 2019 06:30
AM | Last Updated: 14th December 2019 06:30 AM |
BENGALURU:
When are you happiest at work?
As a chef when I am able to put my thoughts, imagination and flavours on a plate while creating a new signature dish and getting a fabulous feedback from my guest, these make me really happy at work.
As a chef when I am able to put my thoughts, imagination and flavours on a plate while creating a new signature dish and getting a fabulous feedback from my guest, these make me really happy at work.
What is your biggest disappointment as a
chef?
It makes me sad when a proper recipe is not followed and due to this, consistent results are not acquired.
It makes me sad when a proper recipe is not followed and due to this, consistent results are not acquired.
What do you
always avoid ordering on a menu?
I really avoid foods which are not sustainably sourced.
I really avoid foods which are not sustainably sourced.
Of the dishes
you prepare, which one would you never eat yourself? Why?
As a chef of western cuisine, I feel my dishes will never fill my stomach even if it tastes wonderful,
as my mind and my tongue always goes with home food.
As a chef of western cuisine, I feel my dishes will never fill my stomach even if it tastes wonderful,
as my mind and my tongue always goes with home food.
Which is your
favourite restaurant? What would you prefer to eat there?
I visit Thai or Mongolian restaurants often. The dining room in my sweet home is my most favourite restaurant, and my preference goes with desi ghee, basmati rice with one chilly and home style fish with potato.
I visit Thai or Mongolian restaurants often. The dining room in my sweet home is my most favourite restaurant, and my preference goes with desi ghee, basmati rice with one chilly and home style fish with potato.
Describe one
incident when you messed up a recipe really bad.
In my early training days, I was told to take a measurement of white chocolate mousse. When I was chopping the white chocolate, unconsciously I ate some of white chocolate and the 1.5kg measurement became 1 kg, and definitely the product didn’t come perfect. My chef was not able to make out the problem till I revealed the truth with a very innocent face and with a promise of not repeating it again.
In my early training days, I was told to take a measurement of white chocolate mousse. When I was chopping the white chocolate, unconsciously I ate some of white chocolate and the 1.5kg measurement became 1 kg, and definitely the product didn’t come perfect. My chef was not able to make out the problem till I revealed the truth with a very innocent face and with a promise of not repeating it again.
What is the
best recent food trend?
Dishes made with simple and easily available ingredients, which you get in local markets.
Dishes made with simple and easily available ingredients, which you get in local markets.
Chef Debaditya
Chakraborty,Chef De Cuisine, Hyatt Centric MG Road
Stay up to date on all the latest Bengaluru news with The New Indian
Express
Asia Rice-India prices rebound,
Vietnam sees uptick in demand
Karthika Suresh Namboothiri
December 12, 2019
7:04 AM EST
7:04 AM EST
BENGALURU — Indian rice export prices rebounded this week from
three-year lows as exporters increased rates to compensate for a rising rupee,
while low supply and an uptick in demand from Cuba, Iraq and Philippines pushed
up Vietnamese rates.
Top exporter India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted around
$358-$363 per tonne this week, up from last week’s $356-$361, which was the
lowest since January 2017.
The appreciation in the rupee has been forcing traders to raise
prices, but demand is still subdued, said an exporter based at Kakinada in the
southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Indian rupee on Thursday rose to its highest level in more
than a month, trimming exporters’ margin from overseas sales.
India’s rice exports in October fell 42% year-on-year to 485,898
tonnes, government data showed, due to weak demand from African countries for
non-basmati rice.
In Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice were quoted at $350 a tonne
on Thursday, up slightly from $345 last week.
“Supply has run very low now as the harvest has ended while demand
from exporters to fulfill shipments to Cuba and Iraq is still high,” said a
trader in Ho Chi Minh City, adding demand from Philippines had also been
picking up in the past two weeks.
Another trader said local supplies would increase from late next
month when the winter-spring harvest begins.
Meanwhile, prices of 5% broken Thai rice were little changed at
$397-$411 a tonne on Thursday versus $397-$410 the week before.
“We were expecting the price to drop with new supply this month
but prices have not changed much,” a Bangkok-based trader said.
Prices for the Thai variety have been high relative to competitors
throughout the year, largely due to the strength of the local currency.
“I have not been able to sell any for more than two months now
because of the high prices,” another trader in Bangkok said. “My usual
customers say they have been buying from Vietnam and Myanmar. Rice from those
countries are of similar quality to ours and more importantly, their rice is
cheaper.”
Bangladesh, the world’s fourth largest rice producer, could face
severe damage to its growth in agricultural output due to climate change and
rising sea-levels, the World Bank said in a report this week.
The country produces around 35 million tonnes of rice annually.
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Phuong Nguyen in
Hanoi and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok; editing by Arpan Varghese and Jane
Merriman)
Rice farmers to get P5,000 from gov’t
starting Dec. 23
December 16, 2019 4:42pm
By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS, GMA News
Farmers affected the most by low palay prices due to the Rice
Tariffication Law can expect a P5,000 cash grant by next week, the Department
of Agriculture said Monday.
The government, through the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP)
and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will start releasing the cash
grant through the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program on December
23, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a press conference in Manila
City.
“To ensure that we efficiently do it, we meticulously crafted a
guideline in selecting the first 33 rice-producing provinces and qualified
farmers as beneficiaries,” he said.
“We conducted a comparative price analysis and considered the
average marketable surplus and profit gains and losses in those provinces,” Dar
added.
The guidelines were signed by officials of the DA, LandBank, and
DBP in Manila City on Monday.
Dar said Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija are the priority areas as
farmers there were the hardest hit by low palay prices after the law was enacted
earlier this year. The government has identified 33 rice-producing areas that
will be covered under the initial rollout of the program.
It mandated a P10-billion Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund,
which includes P5 billion for farm mechanization, and P3 billion for seedlings
procurement, to ensure that rice imports won’t drown out the agriculture sector
and rob farmers of their livelihood.
“Unahin natin itong badly affected areas. We will have it
relooked whether the same provinces (will be given cash assistance in the next
batch),” said Dar.
This year, Dar said the program will be financed by the national
government’s excess revenue.
“We understand the plight of our rice farmers, particularly the
marginal ones who are experiencing the challenge of a liberalized rice trade,”
said Dar.
“The RFFA is one way to help them cope with the rough
competition they are facing in the market today,” he added.
LandBank and the DBP will each disburse P1.5 billion to 300,000
farmers nationwide.
“LandBank remains steadfast in fulfilling its mandate to our
farmers. Together with the DA and DBP, we are committed to strengthening our
partnership to provide as much financial support as we can to ease the challenges
our farmers are currently experiencing,” said LandBank President Cecilia
Borromeo. —VDS, GMA News
Adams, Williams
help Rice rally past S Mississippi 73-65
HOUSTON (AP) — Ako Adams and Jack
Williams combined for 22 of their 28 points in the second half and Rice rallied
to defeat Southern Mississippi 73-65 on Thursday.
Williams, who also had 10
rebounds, scored all 12 of his points after halftime to help the Owls (6-9, 1-1
Conference USA) erase a 42-33 deficit. Adams, who had four 3-pointers, had 10
after the break. Chris Mullins and Trey Murphy III also had 12 points.
Tyree Griffin led the Golden
Eagles (5-10, 0-2) with 17 points, 15 in the first half, and LaDavius Draine
added 12.
Tim Rowe, who finished with 10
points, opened the second half with a jumper that put Southern Miss up 44-33.
After Mullins answered for the Owls, Drew Peterson and Adams knocked down
3-pointers to cut the deficit to three. Rowe scored again but then Rice ran off
11 straight, capped by a Williams 3, for a 52-46 lead. Twice with less than
seven minutes to play the Golden Eagles got within one but each time William
answered, the second time with a 3 that started a 7-0 game-saving burst.
