Subsidy abuse blamed for padi crisis
|
January 31, 2015
Alor Star MP takes minister to task for evading cause of padi
and rice crisis.
ALOR STAR: Blatant abuse, corruption and government mismagement of
the rice subsidy scheme is the reason for over-supply and stockpiling of padi
at government farmers’ centres, Alor Star MP Gooi Hsiao Leung said today.He
lambasted the agriculture minister, Ismail Sabri, for blaming “uncertain
weather” and late planting as being the cause of surplus padi being
stockpiled.“The minister’s explanation is totally illogical and most
ridiculous,” he said.
“The minister is totally evading the real root
cause of why rice millers are not buying paddy.”He said rice millers in Kedah
and Perlis were stockpiling surplus rice because of corruption, abuse and mismanagement
of the government’s ST15% national rice subsidy program.Farmers have complained
recently that millers were refusing to buy padi, causing 800-1000 tonnes of
padi being stockpiled daily. Perlis farmers are also complaining of millers
rejecting padi at rates of up to 32%.Gooi said even with bumper harvests of up
to 650,000 tonnes of padi per season, millers in Kedah and Perlis had the
capacity to process and mill 950,000 tonnes per season.
If the rice and padi crisis persists and padi harvests are damaged
and spoilt because they are not sold, dried and processed, hundreds of millions
spent on subsidies and incentives by the government will be totally squandered,
with farmers being the biggest victims, he said.Each year, the government
budgets around RM2.2 billion on subsidies and incentives: RM480mil in padi
price subsidy to farmers, RM465mil fertilizer subsidy, RM563mil planting
incentive, RM528million rice price subsidy, RM85mil paid seed subsidy and
others.Gooi, a member of PKR’s supreme council, urged the minister to meet
farmers and millers in Perlis and Kedah for long-term solutions to the rice and
padi problem before it becomes a full blown national food security crisis.
Source
with thanks: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/01/31/subsidy-abuse-blamed-for-padi-crisis/2015
Rice Farmer of the Year is Ray Stoesser
Posted: Thursday,
January 29, 2015 8:32 am
By
Carol Skewes, Publisher
Ray Stoesser was recently named the
2015 Rice Farmer of the Year.The 18th annual convention for the National
Conservation Systems Cotton & Rice Conference, Southern Corn & Soybean
Conference and Southern Precision Ag Conference is held each January and
Stoesser is always there. This year’s convention was held in Baton Rouge, La.
He said, “It
was a shock to me. I didn’t know anything about it until I got there.”Stoesser
has been rice farming in Dayton been since 1966, as his father and grandfather
did before him.Stoesser explained, “My father farmed in the 1930’s. We have
seen lots of changes.My dad was born in Dayton and I was too. My grandfather
settled in Dayton in the early part of the century. He died in 1925 when my dad
was 15.”Stoesser plants two crops of rice per year as long as he can harvest
early enough.
He commented, “Right now rice
farming is kind of down. Because of the oversupply of rice the prices
have gone down 25%. Arkansas planted 500,000 additional acres to offset the
drop in price.”Stoesser employs about a dozen people and has his own drying
facility.He has served on the Texas Rice Research Foundation Board, the Texas
Rice Producers Board and is the current President of the Texas Rice
Council. Stoesser identified a sugarcane aphid, not previously seen in
Texas, that attacks sorghum plants, and in doing so saved many rice farmers a
lot of trouble.Stoesser said receiving the Rice Farmer of the Year is quite an
honor. He said, “I don’t particularly like to brag on myself.
The
Lord does most of my work and makes the rice grow. I just manage His
efforts.”“I couldn’t be recognized without mentioning my two sons, Neal, 39,
and Grant, 29, as well as my good crew that works for me. They have been with
me a long time.Stoesser earned his Bachelor Degree from Baylor University. He
is a Deacon of First Baptist Church in Dayton.
Source
with thanks: www.thevindicator.com/.../article_ae8d8524-a7c3-11e4-b74d-173c3eb587
Air Pollution Hits Crops More
Than Climate Change
Black
carbon and ozone may have caused India more than US$5 billion in losses to
wheat and rice crops.
AsianScientist (Jan. 30, 2015) - By
Sandhya Sekar - Atmospheric pollutants may impact India’s major crops like
wheat and rice more than temperature rise, says a new study based on a
‘regression model’ that predicts future events with information on past or
present events. The study by Jennifer Burney and V. Ramanathan, scientists at
the University of California, project that a one degree centigrade rise in
temperature could lead to a crop decline of four percent for wheat and five
percent for rice.
But
losses from pollution could be greater. “For context, the yield loss for wheat
attributable to pollutants alone in 2010 corresponds to over 24 million tons of
wheat: around four times India’s wheat imports before the 2007—2008 food price
crisis and a value greater than $5 billion,” the authors write in a paper on
the study published November in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Most pollutants impact temperature by absorbing incoming radiation from the sun
and reflected heat from the earth. Black carbon aerosols and ozone are of
special concern as they affect crops directly—black carbon changes the amount
of radiation reaching the surface while ozone is toxic to plants.
In 2010,
wheat yields were 36 percent lower and the models show that 90 percent of that
change was due to the pollutants. The impact was most drastic in the state of
Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. Wheat yields in Uttar Pradesh were 50 percent
lower than they would have been without the current climate and pollutant
trends with two-thirds of the decrease attributable to pollutant levels. In the
case of rice, 15 percent of yield decrease in the Gangetic plains could be
attributed to pollutants. The Gangetic plains seem to accumulate surface level
ozone and aerosols before the monsoons. “Previous studies have shown that wheat
is more sensitive to ozone than rice,” Burney tells SciDev.Net. “Also, the dry season
has more pollutants.
” “I am pretty sure, based on other
evidence, that yield declines due to pollution and warming are real, but I
think that they are unlikely to be as large as the headline results in this
paper,” says E Somanathan, professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, New
Delhi. “Whether we believe the estimates of yield losses depends on whether we
believe the regression model. Here, I am sceptical.”The authors acknowledge
limitations in the study, but insist that ozone and black carbon have had
“significant impact on crop yields in India in recent decades”.
China's rice import rises on
market factors: official
Jan
30,2015
EIJING,
Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- China imported more rice last year due to lower prices of
imported rice and a rise in high-end demand, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman
said Thursday.Rice imports were very small compared with China's domestic rice
output, spokesman Shen Danyang told a press conference while responding to a
report claiming that China's rice import surged last year due to consumers'
safety concerns.China imported 2.58 million tonnes of rice in 2014, up 13.6
percent from a year earlier.
The
amount was only about 1.3 percent of China's domestic rice production, Shen
said, citing customs data.Shen attributed the rising import mainly to price
difference between imported and domestic rice and the increase in high-end
demands."Some high-income customers in China and high-end restaurants had
larger demands for Thai fragrant rice and Japanese rice than before," he
said, adding that both reasons were market forces.The Ministry of Agriculture
said more than 96 percent of major Chinese agricultural products passed quality
tests in 2014, a proof of stable and improving quality.
This season’s rice procurement may fall below 30-mt target
Rice procurement by government agencies for the current
marketing season (2014-15) is expected to fall below the target of 30 million
tonne, according to the current trend.As per data till Friday, the Food
Corporation of India (FCI), in collaboration with state government owned
agencies, has purchased more than 19.3 million tonne of rice from farmers since
purchases for the current season began in October 2014. The purchase so far is
more than 1.4 million tonne less than the volume of procurement during the same
period in 2013 -14.
With kharif procurement, which constitutes close to 70% of the
total rice purchases, over in most of the key grain contributing states,
officials say that in the current year rice purchases by agencies would fall
below the target. However the fall would not be significant considering the
deficit monsoon in June which delayed kharif sowing activities in many of the
growing states, the official said.
In Punjab, rice procurement this year has been 7.8 million tonne
against 8.1 million tonne achieved during the 2013-14 marketing year.In
Haryana, the agencies have purchased two million tonne of rice, which is
marginally lower than 2.4 million tonne purchased in the same period last
year.In Chhattisgarh, which contributed more than four million tonne of rice to
the central pool last year, the state agencies have purchased 3.3 million tonne
of rice.
The paddy purchases come to an end on Saturday.As per the latest
data, 1.4 million tonne of rice has been purchased from farmers in Telangana
while close to a million tonne of rice has been lifted in Andhra Pradesh so
far.As part of the decentralised procurement system, state government agencies
in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh have purchased rice to the tune of around 8 lakh
tonne each.At present paddy arrivals are reported from Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh and other eastern states and kharif paddy purchases would be completed
during the next month,” an official said.Rabi rice harvest from Tamil Nadu is
expected by April. Officially, rice procurement for the season is carried out
during October-September.
At
the start of the month, the government agencies had rice stock of 23.5 million
tonne against the strategic reserve norms of only 12 million tonne. However out
of the total rice stock, 11.8 million tonne is still with millers and would be
delivered to FCI in the next couple of months
FCI
and state agencies undertake procurement of rice and wheat to ensure that
farmers get a minimum support price (MSP) and sufficient foodgrain is available
for the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and buffer stock.
Japan to cut beef, pork tariffs,
expand rice access in TPP talks
30 Jan7:07 AM
[TOKYO] Japan is prepared to cut its high import
tariffs on beef and pork and slightly ease tight restrictions on rice imports
for US producers, in a rush to seal an ambitious Pacific trade deal, Japanese
media said on Friday.Tokyo's reported concessions come as talks accelerate with
Washington to strike a bilateral deal as the core of an overdue agreement in
the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
A bilateral agreement between the two economies,
which dominate the TPP, is considered key to a deal among the 12 nations, which
account for 40 per cent of the world economy. Negotiators had hoped to clinch a
deal by late last year.Japan and the United States are working toward an
agreement to cut Japan's 38.5 per cent beef tariff to about 10 per cent over
more than 10 years, the Nikkei newspaper said.The daily, which did not cite any
sources for its information, said top pork duties of 482 yen a kilogramme could
be slashed to tens of yen under a new formula, while Japan would demand
"safeguards" that would protect domestic producers if imports spiked.
Beef and pork are among the farm markets that
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to protect under the TPP; the
others are dairy, wheat and sugarcane.Public broadcaster NHK said Japan was
prepared to negotiate expanding "minimum access" quotas for rice, the
nation's staple food, now protected by tariffs of 778 per cent for imports
outside the minimum access framework.Japanese officials were not immediately
available to comment. On Tuesday, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said
bilateral differences were narrowing. Also on Tuesday, US trade representative
Michael Froman said a TPP deal could be reached in a "small number of
months."Senior trade officials Hiroshi Oe and Wendy Cutler are to meet
from Monday in Washington.
Rice
traders to expand sources
HA NOI (VNS) — Rice exporters must build new areas for
sourcing raw material in direct proportion to their export volumes, the
Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a decree issued last week.The decree
talks about a roadmap for the development of areas from where raw material can
be sourced, as well links rice production and consumption between farmers and
traders for the 2015 to 2020 period, which is aimed at restructuring the
farming sector, enhancing rice quality and raising rice exporters'
competitiveness.
Accordingly, rice exporters can develop their raw
material sources in three ways, including building large-scale paddy fields,
signing contracts with farmers or developing their own raw material areas.Rice
traders with an export volume of below 50,000 tonnes per year must develop a
minimum raw material area of 500ha during the first year and widen this area by
300ha each in the following years.For those with an export volume of 50,000 to
100,000 tonnes per year and 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes per year, the minimum raw
material areas needed during the first year will be 800ha, 1,200ha and 2,000ha,
respectively.The Ministry of Industry and Trade is aiming to encourage traders
to develop stable raw material sources for major crops harvested during the
year.Support and incentives, such as agricultural insurance premiums,
preferential loans will be provided to rice traders, who participate in
developing new raw material sources.The regulation will come into effect from
March 1, 2015. — VNS
Latest Iraq Rice Tender All Goes to
Thailand
Thai rice on the cheap
ARLINGTON, VA -- The USA Rice
Federation has learned that despite mounting pressure from the United States,
the latest Iraqi rice tender, 80,000 metric tons, has been completely awarded
to Thailand.The announcement comes just days after a bipartisan group of
lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to help
ensure U.S. rice farmers would be given a fair shot at competing for Iraqi
tenders, (see "USA Rice Promotes Cochran Bipartisan Letter on Iraqi Rice
Purchases," USA Rice Daily, Friday, January 23, 2015)."We're
disappointed to see the U.S. lose out on this tender, but at the end of the
day, they bought the least expensive rice on the market," said Jamie
Warshaw, CEO of Louisiana's Farmers Rice Milling Company and a USA Rice
Federation Board Member. "I hope
the next time they are back out on the market they will give U.S.-origin rice
good consideration."Iraq remains a major importer of rice, purchasing
approximately 1.4 million metric tons annually.
Contact:
Michael Klein (703) 236-1458
Source with thanks:
USA Rice Promotes New Retail Brand in
Japan
Coming to a store near you
TOKYO, JAPAN -- Last fall, the
Nishimoto Trading Company introduced its own brand of U.S. medium grain rice to
the Japanese market. Called
"Sunshine," the brand is available both online and at Nishimoto
stores and also at the Kaldi Coffee Farm grocery store chain.
In February and March, the USA Rice
Federation has plans to conduct two promotions at more than 150 Kaldi Coffee
Farm stores throughout the country.
During the first promotion, customers who purchase more than $10 of
Sunshine rice will receive an additional free sample along with a gumbo rice recipe
card. The second promotion is a "Cal-Bowl"
rice recipe book featuring U.S. medium grain rice that will be given to every
customer who purchases a bag of Sunshine rice.
"Right now, there have not been many
brands of U.S. rice available in the retail market in Japan," said Jim
Guinn, USA Rice vice president of international promotion. "We have worked
extensively with the Japanese foodservice industry since 2008 to offer U.S.
rice on restaurant menus as a way for Japanese consumers to sample U.S.
rice. And now we're excited to support
retail brands as they introduce the Japanese consumer to identified, unblended
U.S. rice for home use." Chris Crutchfield, a rice miller from Williams,
California and chairman of the USA Rice Millers' Association added,
"Thanks to promotions with partner companies like Nishimoto and Kaldi, the
Japanese consumers are much more accepting of U.S. rice than they were a decade
ago. USA Rice has laid the groundwork
for the ready acceptance of U.S. rice by the Japanese people, and we're
prepared to benefit from increased market access in Japan from a successful
Trans Pacific Partnership agreement."
Contact:
Bill Farmer (832) 302-6710
Source
with thanks: USA Rice Federation
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
|
CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice Futures for January 30
|
March 2015
|
$10.570
|
- $0.290
|
|
May 2015
|
$10.840
|
- $0.290
|
|
July 2015
|
$11.070
|
- $0.285
|
|
September 2015
|
$10.795
|
- $0.260
|
|
November 2015
|
$10.965
|
- $0.190
|
|
January 2016
|
$11.055
|
- $0.190
|
|
March 2016
|
$11.055
|
- $0.190
|
|
Source
with thanks:USA Rice Federation
New biotech hub aims to nurture more rice
researchers
Image credit: Flickr / IRRI
The Lloyd T. Evans Plant Growth Facility can mimic environmental
conditions
Studying agriculture under conditions induced by climate change
is critical
The number of agriculture researchers in Asia is falling by 1.2
per cent a year
[MANILA] A new research
facility is being put up by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to
attract more young researchers in Asia and other countries to study how rice
can grow sustainably in the face of climate change. IRRI officials led groundbreaking
rites last 27 January for the Lloyd T. Evans Plant Growth Facility, a biotech
hub with eight environmentally controlled chambers to study climate change
impacts on agriculture.
Set to open by yearend at the IRRI complex in the
Philippines, the hub allows precise control of elements such as carbon dioxide
and greenhouse gas levels, light intensity, water management, night-time
temperature and relative humidity, while sensors will monitor plants to
generate more accurate data. Through
the facility, named after an Australian plant physiologist and IRRI board
member, scientists can mimic environmental conditions as general trends of
climate change point to increasing temperature and prolonged dry spells in
drier regions. “Studying
agriculture under conditions induced by climate change is critical,” Matthew
Morell, IRRI deputy director general for research, tells SciDev.Net.
He cites the worsening risks from super typhoons like Haiyan
which caused major agriculture losses in the Philippines in late 2013. Part of the solution to this challenge
is enticing more young researchers to pursue long-term career prospects in
agriculture and providing easier access to facilities and equipment, Morell
says. “Globally, we have a
challenge with how young people [negatively] see agricultural research and
farming as careers. With climate change, the world needs more scientists like
we have never done before,” Morell notes.About 3.5 billion people worldwide
consume rice as their staple food. By 2050, to meet growing consumption
demands, farmers should produce 830 million tonnes of rice to feed the world,
up by 180 million tonnes from present production.
However, the number of agriculture researchers in Asia has been
declining by 1.2 per cent each year, excluding outlier data of 60,000
researchers from China, according to a 2008 report by the International Food
Policy Research Institute. Senior
IRRI plant breeder and geneticist Glenn Gregorio, who works on saline-resistant
rice in Africa and Asia, hopes that the facility will nurture top quality
researchers. “I hope through this facility, we can inspire our youth to see
that agriculture is an innovative field and one that can directly benefit and
feed our people,” says Gregorio. The
facility’s US$15 million construction budget came from the Australian
government through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural
Research.
This
article has been produced by SciDev.Net's South-East Asia & Pacific desk.
Source with thanks: http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/farming/news/new-biotech-hub-aims-to-nurture-more-rice-researchers.html
|
USA Rice Inspires Young Minds to 'Think Rice'
|
|
ARLINGTON, VA -- This week, teachers at more than
2,800 elementary schools in rice producing counties across the six states
will receive the new
Think Rice
educational lesson plan. Developed with the award-winning curriculum
experts at Young Minds Inspired (YMI), this education kit is all about
U.S.-grown rice and meets national standards for 3rd - 6th grade students in social studies,
science, and nutrition.
"From the focus groups, we learned that many people assume
rice comes from Asia and they're unaware of the connection between rice
growing and conservation," said Byron Holmes, an Arkansas rice farmer
and USA Rice Federation Nutrition Subcommittee chairman. "The
lesson plans address these areas and also reinforce how U.S. rice can help
families meet MyPlate healthy eating guidelines."The Think Rice kit
contains three student activities, a classroom poster, and a teacher's
guide. Students will learn how rice growing has contributed to American
history since colonial times, and how today's U.S. rice farmers not only help
sustain wetland habitats, but also help reduce carbon emissions by providing
a close-to-home source of good nutrition.
There is also a recipe-building activity to demonstrate the
versatility of U.S. rice and its role in a balanced diet."The education
programs we do across the rice states are great events with encouraging
results, and we will continue to invest in them," said Holmes.
"This program amplifies our reach to thousands of students who will in
turn go home and teach their families about U.S.-grown rice."
Teachers are encouraged to use the Think Rice education kit
during March National Nutrition Month and complete a survey to measure use,
effectiveness, and appeal of the program. The materials will be
available indefinitely on YMI's website ( http://ymiclassroom.com/lesson-plans/usarice/) so teachers from all around the country can download and use
the activities.
pamphlet are available
for USA Rice members to use in their own student outreach as well.
Source with thanks: USA Rice Federation
|
First 2015 rice auction draws strong
interest from traders
PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE
NATION January 30, 2015 1:00 am
THE Commerce Ministry's first rice
auction of the year drew great interest yesterday, with 100 traders bidding on
nearly a million tonnes of rice from the government's stockpiles. This auction
attracted many traders because the ministry relaxed the regulations to allow
bidders to purchase the entire content of a warehouse, instead of only small
lots.Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said
the ministry was highly confident of being able to release a large proportion
of the 999,763 tonnes of rice that was up for bid since many traders were
interested, reflecting high demand in the market. The ministry will soon
finalise the amount to be released and the bids accepted, after which the Rice
Policy and Management Committee will decide whether to sell this lot of rice at
the offered prices, she said.If this auction sells out, the government could
generate Bt11.68 billion or more, depending on the bargaining process.
Of the 100 traders participating in
yesterday's auction, 95 met the qualifications after checking by the ministry.
Four traders were disqualified after document checks, while one called Siam
Indica was barred because the firm has been accused of involvement with an
allegedly shady government-to-government rice deal under investigation by the
National Anti-Corruption Commission.Duangporn said the ministry would continue
to release rice from the stockpiles as demand is high and supplies low in the
world market. The next auction will be held around the middle of next month. In
an effort to release about 10 million tonnes this year, Duangporn said the
government would also sell rice under G2G contracts to many countries such as
Iran and China, and to private enterprises.Throughout the year, the ministry
plans to auction off good-quality rice gradually, and in August, bids will be
accepted for about 3 million to 4 million tonnes of rice that degraded while
sitting in the government's warehouses.
Friday, 30 January 2015 15:26
Written by GREGORY NWAKUNOR and DANIEL ANAZIA
The gospel of economic salvation cannot be preached without due
regard to agricultural development, as the sector is the major and most certain
path to economic growth and sustainability. Blessed with abundant landmass and
water resources, Nigeria’s agricultural sector is said to have a high potential
for growth, but this was not being realised until recent time when the present
Federal Government devoted its energy and resources to the sector.
As part of the strategy to realise its Agricultural Transformation
Agenda (ATA), the Federal Government recently held the Agriculture Festival,
tagged AGRIFEST 2015, to pinpoint the gains of the Jonathan administration in
the agriculture sector; the giant strides of the Agriculture Minister, Dr.
Akinwunmi Adesina and a celebration of the resilience of Nigerian farmers.
GREGORY NWAKUNOR and DANIEL ANAZIA captured
the exciting carnival-like atmosphere that held at Eagle Square, Federal
Capital Territory Abuja and write. A PACKAGE of new highly
productive varieties of rice and wheat and chemical fertilizers introduced to
farmers in India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries in the mid to late 60s
led to a doubling and tripling of yield of those crops and has been rightly
termed the ‘green revolution’. In response to these high yielding varieties and
chemical fertilizer, Asian cereal production grew by 3.6 percent a year between
1967 and 1982, doubling between 1970 and 1995 from 313 to 650 million MT per
year. The same package of improved seed of rice, maize, wheat,
soybean, sorghum - 174,000MT, and of fertilizer, 1.3million MT, was distributed
to 14.5 million farmers between 2012 and 2014, under the auspices of the Growth
Enhancement Scheme (GES) of President Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation
Agenda (ATA).
This has led to the doubling of rice production in the country, a
tripling of wheat production, and 60 per cent increase in maize production.
In all, an additional 21 million MT of food with a net value of N778
billion was produced and Nigeria’s own ‘green revolution’ was born.
The recently concluded Agriculture Festival 2015 (AGRIFEST 2015)
held at Eagle’s square, Abuja on Friday, January 23, celebrated the amazing
advances made in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. In testimonials, young
and old farmers who produce rice, maize, sorghum etc, described the new dawn of
agriculture in the country.
Armed with no more than their cell phones, one farmer after another farmer told
the audience of how they each receive every season two bags (three bags in the
dry season) of fertilizer, seeds, stems, and other inputs via an electronic
voucher sent to their phones – the electronic wallet of the Growth Enhancement
Scheme (GES). In the past, they could barely secure
improved seeds and fertilizer for their farms – when they got it, fertilizer
was doled out in ‘mudus’; the rest of the fertilizer ‘walked’ across the
borders to Niger and Cameroun. They sang the praises of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), being ably executed by the
Honorable Minister of Agriculture. Statistics of the
impact of ATA on each of the individual crop and livestock value chains has
been astounding. Over six million rice farmers received improved
rice seed varieties and fertilizer, boosting domestic rice production by an
additional seven million metric tons.
The rice revolution is taking place across the
country, from Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe,
Niger, Kogi, Ogun, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Edo to Bayelsa
State. Rice millers have taken advantage of these new
opportunities, and the number of integrated rice mills has expanded from one at
the beginning of this administration, to 24 today. High quality Nigerian rice
is now competing favourably with imported rice in the markets. Nigeria’s
comparative advantage in crops such as cassava – we are the world’s largest
producer of cassava, is also being used to aggressively substitute imported
wheat flour, starch, and ethanol. During the period
2012-2014, processing capacity for cassava grew astronomically, 520 per cent of
installed processing capacity, from three medium-sized starch and High Quality
Cassava Flour (HQCF) and three functional small HQCF mills to eight
medium-sized starch, HQCF, and ethanol mills, and 40 small HQCF mills.
Two of Nigeria’s largest wheat millers, that together account for 70 per
cent of wheat milling capacity, launched 10 per cent cassava composite flour
for bread. Forty industrial and Master now produce cassava bread, effectively
raising the inclusion level to 20 per cent, and 2,200 Master bakers have been
trained. The bakers were present at AGRIFEST exhibiting their 20 per cent
cassava bread products and extolling Mr. President’s cassava bread
policy. To ensure that the country produces enough cassava
for the new industrial products as well as traditional foods, 130 million stems
of improved cassava have been distributed to farmers. The 2013 NAERLS
west season survey revealed the huge impact of reaching farmers with improved
stems; the study estimated that cassava production in the country is currently
as 65million MT, much higher than FAO estimates of 55million MT. In addition,
29,500 Ha of small-sized (1-10Ha) mechanized cassava farms and 5,500Ha of
medium-sized mechanized farms (100-500Ha) were established in
2014.
AGRIFEST 2015 also revealed over N45
billion in private sector investments in new oil palm plantations are on-going.
The GES has also provided nine million sprouted nuts of high yielding oil palm
seedlings for farmers, all across the South-East, South-West, South-South and
North-Central parts of Nigeria to establish nearly 100,000Ha of improved oil
palm estates. A total of 45.5 million seedlings of improved cocoa hybrids
have been given to cocoa farmers under GES to plant another 450,000Ha of
cassava and push Nigeria to the ‘one million MT/year’ club of cocoa producing
nations. A chocolate factory and chocolate academy is being established in Ondo
State by SPAGVOLA Chocolatiers, a chocolate company from Gaithersburg,
Maryland, USA.
A truly revolutionary trend that is changing the face of
Nigeria’s new agriculture is the story of agribusinesses that link small
holders to urban markers. L and Z Commercial Farms in Kano buys milk from thousands
of Fulani cattle herders on a daily basis, processes, and supplies fresh dairy
products to major supermarkets across the country. This is a model that it is
hoped would establish for all our small holders; having an agribusiness
processing centre within reasonable reach of them offering them fair prices and
linking them to distant markets. Positive changes are
also happening in the fisheries sector. For the first time, fish farmers - from
artisanal fishermen to aquaculture producers - are being provided across the
country with subsidized fish farming inputs, including fishing nets, subsidized
fishing boats and outboard engines, fish feed and other inputs.
Fish production from aquaculture rose 40 per cent - from 200,000MT
in 2011 to 278,000MT in 2014. For artisanal fisheries, production grew 21 per
cent from 616,000MT in 2011 to 744,000MT in 2014. The future
of the agriculture sector will depend on creating opportunities for our youth.
A Youth Employment in Agriculture Program (YEAP), to develop a new
generation of 750,000 young commercial farmers and agribusiness leaders for
Nigeria, has also been established. A N50 billion fund has been
provided to support the establishment of 1,200 Agricultural Equipment Hiring
Enterprises across the country, to remove the drudgery out of agriculture.
President Jonathan in his speech at the occasion said
that under the ATA, agriculture is now treated as a business and not as a
development programme, adding that agriculture is no longer a sector for managing
poverty but one for the creation of wealth.
“We now focus on developing the agricultural
value chains, from the farm to processing and value addition; and we now focus
on the private sector driving the agricultural sector with investments,” he said.
But the impact on of ATA on the Nation is more revealing. A total of 3.5million
jobs have been added to the agricultural sector in the last three years.
Agriculture is now the lifeline for Nigeria.
Economic rise of Pakistan matter
of time: Morgan
ISLAMABAD (APP): With over 100 million people below the age of
30 aspiring to change their lives, the rise of Pakistan is just a matter of
time, Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Strategist David M Darst said during a
university lecture.He said Pakistan is located in a region that will bring
major changes in the world economy in coming decades primarily due to its
demographics.
“Demographics will play a major role in coming decades. Pakistan is among those
nine countries in Asia that will add another China in the next 35 years and the
impact of this change will be phenomenal on the world economy,” he said in a
lecture on “The World Economic Environment: Where’s the Global Capital Going”.I
t was part of a special series of lectures that was organised by
The Aga Khan University in Karachi.With a young population of an average age of
22 years, “I believe the opportunities that the young entrepreneurs from
Pakistan have are going to make an exceptional contribution to the economy of
the region,” he added.Darst, an author of 11 books who has a PhD in Economics
from Yale, said it is wrong to believe that Pakistan is lagging behind due to
its proximity with Afghanistan, Iran and India.
“In fact, I believe Pakistan is in the centre of Asian countries
like Iran, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia that will significantly contribute
in the world economy in coming decades.”Speaking about the strong fundamentals
of Pakistan’s stocks, he said, with 31% returns in dollar terms Pakistan led
the world markets in 2014.What is important is that the stocks in Pakistan are
still very cheap compared to the markets in the industrialised world and they
are performing better than many markets in terms of returns,” he added.“I am
surprised to see low number of investors in the bourses of Pakistan. This must
change considering the strong fundamentals of Pakistani stocks.”
Darst said women in the world are playing an important role in today’s world
economy. The rise of the entrepreneurs from the developing world, especially
women entrepreneurs, will also bring significant positive changes in this
century.Listing down the challenges to the global economy, he said though
Pakistan and India have benefitted from the current sharp decline in oil
prices, sudden fall in oil prices has rejuvenated fears of deflation in many
countries.He said Europe is redefining itself and the sharp changes in Europe
can surprise the world at large.
Speaking about the challenges facing Europe in relation to Greece, he said the
new elected prime minister of Greece could take decisions that may not go well
with the euro and the overall economy of the continent.
United Continental : Upgrades In-flight Meal Service
01/30/2015
| 01:59am US/Eastern
Beginning February
1, United Airlines will upgrade dining for North American
premium cabin customers and expand North
Americapremium-cabin meal service to include flights of at least 800 miles or 2
hours and 20 minutes during mealtimes.The airline will also offer an enhanced
menu with menu items such as cage-free scrambled eggs prepared skillet style
with pepper-jack cheese, sauteed pepper mix, sliced New Mexico sausage, potato gratin and
fire-roasted pepper sauce; lobster macaroni and cheese with a baked crumb
topping and side of broccoli rabe; and chicken and sausage jambalaya with white
rice and green onions.
In addition,
short flights that offer lighter refreshments will be enhanced with new
breakfast breads in the morning and a rotation of 25 new premium snacks in the
afternoon and evening.On meal flights lasting less than four hours, a variety
of enhanced breakfast choices such as French toast souffle or steel-cut
oatmeal, both paired with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, will be offered, while
new dinner selections will include tandoori chicken with basmati rice and
paneer in place of the current premium sandwich options.An expanded
mid-continental meal service on flights of four hours to five hours and 19
minutes will expand entree options from two to three, including such new
additions as creole shrimp served with Carolina grits, and a dessert of sorbet
with mint-leaf topping during lunch or gelato or ice cream for dinner.
New multi-course
meal service on transcontinental and Hawaii flights will feature heartier entrees
such as tamale-stuffed chicken wrapped in a corn husk and served with creamy
corn sauce, roasted red and yellow tomatoes and yucca sticks, followed by
sorbet during lunch or gelato or ice cream for dinner.Finally, signature
bake-on-board cookies in customer-chosen flavors like triple-chocolate chunk
will be served for dessert on short- and medium-haul flights that offer meals,
or as an afternoon or evening pre-arrival treat on transcontinental flights and
flights that link Hawaii with Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Houston.United
will also continue to offer premium-cabin customers Prosecco sparkling wine
and, on lunch and dinner flights, the airline's signature warmed nuts.
"Our
customers tell us they want greater options and fresh, savory dining choices
when they fly with us," says Lynda
Coffman, United's vice president of food services. "With these latest
enhancements, we will offer restaurant-quality cuisine that enriches their
in-flight experience."
Beginning in
March, the company plans to...
• upgrade
premium-cabin meal service on United Express flights, replacing snack boxes
with freshly prepared food served on chinaware on flights of at least 800 miles
or lasting at least two hours and 20 minutes, and a selection of premium
packaged snacks on flights of less than 800 miles;
•
significantly enhance United Economy meals and beverages on long-haul
international flights, including adding multi-course meal service;
• refresh its Choice Menu Bistro on Board selection, which offers fresh food
for sale in United Economy on most flights scheduled for more than
three-and-a-half hours within North
America, to Central and northernSouth America and
between Honolulu and Guam;
and
• launch new premium-cabin menu choices on its p.s. Premium Service between New
York JFK and Los Angeles and New York JFK and San Francisco.
Source with thanks: Penton Media
Basmati exports likely to drop,
buffalo meat gains
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29:
While the share of Basmati rice in India’s agri-export basket is
likely to fall this fiscal, beef exports will continue to post healthy returns,
according to statistics provided by the Agricultural and Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
The authority, under the Ministry
of Commerce with 22 scheduled products under its purview, undertook trade worth
$22 billion in 2013-14 and expects a slight decline this fiscal. India exported
about Rs. 87,553 crore worth of agri-goods
between April-November 2014 and had seen exports hit Rs. 1.37 lakh crore overall last fiscal.
Basmati rice, among the key drivers for export earnings, has been hit as Iran
is not allowing imports due to sufficient stocks. India exported 3.7-3.8
million tonnes (mt) of Basmati rice worth Rs. 29,291
crore last fiscal, with Iran importing about 1.4 mt.
“Overall, we’re looking at lesser export volumes this fiscal,
about 3.5 mt. The ban in Iran and downturn in the global economy, particularly
in the European Union, has resulted in lower demand for Basmati rice,” said Santosh
Sarangi, Director, APEDA.
Beef exports
Buffalo meat exports, which posted significant growth over the
last few years touching 1.5 mt worth Rs.26,458 crore in 2013-14, have continued an upward
trajectory. India exported 817,844 tonnes of buffalo meat worth Rs. 16,083 crore between
April-October.Sarangi, however, did state that growth was flattening and
competition from Brazilian beef exports, which were costlier by about
$400-500/tonne prior to their currency, real, depreciating about 18 per cent
against the US dollar over the last two months, would post challenges for
Indian exporters in the Gulf countries and China, which imports 45 per cent of
Indian buffalo meat that is routed through Vietnam.
“Growth this year in beef has been about 15 per cent, it was 30
per cent last year. This is expected after continuous high growth over the last
few years. Our market penetration and new destinations, such as Russia were
added this year,” he said.
Growth potential
Grapes, processed foods and biscuits and confectionaries hold
considerable potential for growth and APEDA would be undertaking efforts to
promote these categories in 2015-16. “Our grapes have the advantage of being
harvested in a window when others do not, it’s an advantage and our penetration
in key markets like China, Taiwan and the US has been low. Processed foods,
particularly mango pulp, juices and juice concentrates, are another area
holding promise,” said Sarangi.Biscuits and confectionaries’ exports,
particularly to African countries, have grown from a base of $100 million in
2011-12 to about $170 million last fiscal. Sarangi believes this could hit
$350-400 million soon.
(This article was published on January 29, 2015)
Source with thanks: Business
Line
Import curbs in Iran adds to woes
of Basmati rice traders
Sutanuka Ghosal, ET Bureau Jan 29, 2015, 06.20AM IST
(Basmati demand in the domestic…)
KOLKATA: Basmati demand in the domestic market has not
picked up despite a price fall in the last six months following Iran's decision
to put a ban on imports. Retailers and branded players say that consumers are
anticipating a further fall in prices, which are around 30-40% lower now.
Exporters are the worst sufferers in the current fiscal year as they will have
to book losses since they are unable to clear the inventory."Iran's ban on basmati rice imports has affected our exports.
And the domestic market is also down. We will have to book losses this fiscal
year," said Bal Krishan Mittal, managing director of Punjab-based
Gurdaspur Overseas, a basmati rice exporting firm. The branded players are
offering 20% to 30% discounts to beef up sales in the domestic market and to
liquidate stocks.
"We are running trade
schemes in which we are offering discounts. Earlier, consumers used to stock
basmati rice if they had got it at a lower price. But now they are purchasing
basmati according to their requirement. There is a general sentiment in the market
that prices may fall further," said Uday Nayak, business head (domestic
market), Shri Lal Mahal, a 108-year-old basmati rice player.The
company sells basmati rice under the brand name Empire, Heena, Royale, Mughlai,
Supreme and Neelam. In the local mom-n-pop shops, basmati offtake has not
surged and the movement is also slow in the organised retail space, said MP
Jindal, president of All India Rice Exporters' Association.
"It is a bad year for
exporters. However, a delegation is going to Iran by the end of this month to
find out how long will this ban continue and when will the fresh orders be
placed by Iran. Traders are currently shipping only rice consignments with
permits of last year to Iran," Jindal said.A section of the industry fears
that farmers may bring down acreage under basmati rice next kharif season if
this price fall continues. India's basmati crop output has been around 81 lakh
tonne last kharif, or summer, season, compared with 66 lakh tonne in 2013.
Incidentally, Iran has barred rice from other countries as its local crop is
reported to be good this year.
Source with thanks: The
Business Line India
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Muhammad Suhail 
My fears have now been
confirmed with widespread news coverage in the past 3 days concerning farmers
complaints of rice millers refusing to buy their paddy, causing 800 to 1000 m/t
of paddy to be stockpiled daily in paddy purchasing centers’ of the Farmers
Organization Authority (Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang (LPP)) since the a week ago
(22.1.2015). Perlis farmers are also complaining of steep rejection rates of up
to 32% imposed by rice millers on paddy sold by the farmers.Shockingly, the
Agricultural Minister blamed the “weather” as the cause for the paddy stockpile
crisis, citing that “uncertain weather” had caused the farmers to plant late
this season, and as such, he has instructed BERNAS to buy up all the excess
stockpile paddy.
The
Minister’s explanation in blaming the weather for the paddy stockpile problem
is totally illogical and most ridiculous.The weather or late planting and
harvesting of paddy does not cause paddy stockpile currently faced in Perlis.
Even during the best harvesting seasons where Kedah and Perlis can together
harvest up to 650k m/t of paddy per season, Kedah and Perlis rice millers have
the capacity to process and mill 950k m/t of paddy each season.
