Flavours of
the Lesser Known
By
Published: 07th February 2015 10:00 PM
Last Updated: 07th February 2015 12:45 PM
Ali Baba, a small cosy eating
place in Frazer Town, Bengaluru, is where you get some Persian and Arabian food
at reasonable prices. But what its USP is that its young and handsome owner,
Shaad Hassan Damudi, is a Bhatkali Muslim and serves up some authentic Bhatkali
food. Bhatkal is a small town in Southern Karwar district of Karnataka and has
a rich and relatively unknown cultural and culinary history. The Muslims there
are called Navayaths or new people. The Navayaths speak a dialect called
Navayathi which is a fusion of Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Marathi, Hindustani
with Konkani as its base.
Traders from the Persian
Gulf—namely Yemen, Iran and Iraq—who traded mainly in horses, textiles, timber,
gemstones and spices, eventually settled on the Konkan coast and contributed to
the cuisine that is a ménage of Indian, Persian and Arabic cultures.Shaad
Hassan DamudiThe most famous dish has got to be the delightful Bhatkali
Biryani, half-cooked in steam. Damudi uses Sella basmati rice which is an aged
rice and is exported to the Middle East and hence not available in India.
“We use a lot of browned onions and tomatoes,
and a red chilli paste which add colour. Our food is moderately spicy and whole
garam masala is added to biryani which is layered with rice and then the onion,
tomato, ginger garlic and garam masala mixture,” says Damudi.Popular TV
foodies—Rocky and Mayur of Highway on my Plate fame—recently visited Ali Baba
and gorged on the Bhatkali food and featured it on one of their shows.The
kadang fry is a must-try for vegetarians, its sweet potatoes with the
ubiquitous red chilli paste, an interesting blend of sweet and spicy flavours.
The boneless chicken tikka cooked
on a barbeque does remind me of tandoori chicken but the red chilli paste gives
it that distinctly Bhatkali flavour. The people here use vinegar made from
sugarcane which is used in salads as well as in finely cut onions as an
accompaniment. The predominant flavour of the Chicken Khurma at Ali Baba is
sweet.True to its Indo-Persian origins, this dish is creamy and smooth,
thickened and enriched with cashew nut paste. However, the addition of one
quintessentially coastal south Indian ingredient—coconut milk—not only sweetens
it, but also stamps it as a Navayathi.Gawa Shaiyo was a pleasant surprise. It
is wheat vermicelli with mutton in it.
The mutton is amazingly tender,
delicately spiced, and enhanced by the nutty flavour of fried wheat vermicelli.
For those who thought vermicelli was used only in vegetarian dishes and to make
kheer, this should come as a delicious revelation.The piece de resistance is
the vermicelli chicken biryani which is simply mouth-watering, surprisingly
light and does not need any accompanying gravy or burhani or raita. “This
biryani is best when made with chicken and not mutton,” says Damudi. The prawn
fry is pretty crunchy being deep fried with a bit of cornflour added, along
with the red chilli paste.
Surprisingly, hardly any coconut
is used in Bhatkali cuisine.Tausha sherbat is made with grated cucumbers to
which a wee bit of sugar is added. The cucumber releases its own water and this
delightfully and refreshing simple drink is ideal on a hot summer’s day. All
you need is a spoon to dig into it.The desserts are pretty exotic. One made
from, hold your breath, dill leaves with condensed milk and eggs reminds one of
good old caramel custard. It is steamed and very tasty, except for its light
green colour!
The ambience is exotic with doors
and other accessories from old homes in Bhatkal innovatively used as table tops
and decorative pieces. Pricing is reasonable and portions pretty generous.
Indian Express News
Teach kids to cook virtuous
whole-grain rice
Feb 6, 2015
I have often declared that I hope
to send my kids into the real world knowing how to cook nourishing food that
can be prepared with few kitchen tools, nominal time and a minimal budget. One
obvious place to begin is rice. I know it sounds boringly basic, but you would
be surprised by how many teenagers and young adults do not know how to cook
rice — and how many more believe it ...
Farmers across country welcome
lower gas prices
Posted: Sunday, February
8, 2015 4:00 am
By Brian Fanney Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Falling energy
prices mean tractors are cheaper to run, water is less expensive to pump and
crops are more economical to ship. Farmers are benefiting from the same forces
that have driven down gasoline prices, though falling gasoline prices take the
cost of ethanol — and the money farmers receive to grow corn — down with
them.“It’s certainly a benefit for one side,” said Matt King, director of
market information and economics for Arkansas Farm Bureau.
“But it hinders the other side.”In
2014, the average Arkansas farmer spent about $61,000 on diesel fuel and other
energy sources to farm 1,000 acres of land. That’s about 16 percent of the
average farmer’s total operating cost.Those numbers could fall substantially
this year.Diesel — which powers irrigation wells, trucks and tractors — has
been slower to decline in price than gasoline. But since December, retail
prices have dropped from $3.61 a gallon to $2.93 a gallon, according to the
U.S. Energy Information Administration.Farmers use mostly off-road diesel,
which they don’t pay state and federal taxes on.
King said prices are now around $2 a gallon
for that form of fuel.Rabobank, a global financial services company with a
focus on agriculture, said Wednesday that lower oil prices could have a large
enough impact to make a noticeable difference in supermarket prices.“The size
of the drop in oil prices combined with the already significantly lower prices
of agri-commodities will place substantial downward pressure on global food
prices, possibly reaching multi-year lows,” said Clara van der Elst, a Rabobank
analyst, in a news release.Cheaper fuel could have a large impact on rice
growers. The average Arkansas rice farmer spent $127,000 — $93,000 to run
irrigation pumps and another $34,000 on diesel fuel to apply chemicals and
fertilizer — for every 1,000 acres of land.In fact, rice farmers spend more
than 21 percent of their operating costs on energy — far more than other
farmers — because of the amount of water that needs to be pumped from the
ground to grow the crop.
K. Bradley Watkins, research
assistant professor of agricultural economics for the University of Arkansas
Rice Research and Extension Center, said many rice farmers have adapted to high
prices by moving from diesel to electric pumps.“There’s been a sizeable
movement,” he said. “When fuel costs really skyrocketed, especially for diesel,
that’s when the transition really started.”Though lower fuel prices will help
farmers control the cost of growing their crops, other factors could mean
farmers won’t see an increase in profit margins.King said fertilizer costs have
yet to fall, though it is made from natural gas, which has declined in price.
And the dollar is gaining strength while the economies of Canada and Mexico —
the United States’ largest trading partners — are hurting from low oil prices.
“Our dollar has been fairly weak
over the last few years, but we’re starting to see it strengthen,” King said.
“As the dollar gets more expensive, other countries buy less of our product.”
Ranjit rice
productivity increases by 66 per cent
Submitted by Chandan
Kumar Duarah on Mon, 09/02/2015 - 10:32
Ranjit, a high yielding rice variety developed by
Assam Agricultural University (AAU) have shown 66 per cent increase in
productivity. Technology Showcasing Programme on Seed Production of crops was
undertaken recently in five villages of Assam in and around Khetri and Kamrup
districts. Hemchandra Saikia, a subject matter specialist in Agricultural
Economics revealed that Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Kamrup intervened by providing
quality seed of Ranjit along with recommended doses of fertilizers and required
technical helps in the form of advices and training to villagers of Deulguri,
Chitalpur, Khaloibari, Nuwagaon and Bhadarkuchi and the result was an increase
of 65.86 per cent in productivity.
The gross return increases by 148.79 per cent over the previous
level of productivity and gross return (before the intervention of the Krishi
Vigyan Kendra's programme). The concept of the programme of Technology
Showcasing Programme on Seed Production of crops was propounded by Dr. K. M.
Bujarbaruah, the Vice Chancellor of AAU and under his leadership and guidence
the programme was materialised and yielded very encouraging result in other
districts of Assam also.It may be mentioned that the Regional Agricultural
Research Station (RARS) of Assam Agricultural University at Titabor has
developed a submergence resistent gene in rice variety of Ranjit recently which
brings good harvest to flood-hit farmers offering great relief to them.
RARS is a research institute of Assam Agriculture University in
Jorhat and has been devoting for better scientific cultivation and production
for years.Flood-hit farmers have successfully harvested from the
submergence-resistant Suvarna Sub-1(SS-1) variety paddy in 2013. In 2009 for
the first time farmers of the state had harvested the water-resistant variety
SS-1 in the flood prone areas. The successful experimentation with SS-1
encouraged the Agriculture Department to promote the production of the variety
on a wider scale since that year. Scientists, working with drought and water
submergence resistant properties, feel those should be instilled in other
popular rice varities in India like Sambha masuri, IR-64 etc.
The Indian Agricultural Research (ICAR) along with Manila-based
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is planning to come out with
upgraded version of SS-1. The IRRI had released the seed 'Suvarna Sub-1'
developed by India in six countries that include Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia
and Myanmar.
http://www.assamtimes.org/node/12968#sthash.azUBsCyv.dpuf
H1 rice import
on meteoric rise
Yasir Wardad
Rice import surged 440 per cent in the first half (H1) of the current
financial year, traders said, in a peculiar paradox while the government has
opted for and already begun export of the staple.Millers lament that the rice
import on such a large scale is posing a serious threat to local rice mills.
Food Ministry officials said the volume of imports in the July-January
period of the current financial year (FY'15) surpassed the overall import made
in the FY '14.Bangladesh Bank's latest data shows private traders imported rice
worth $248.5 million (settled LCs) in July-December period of the current
fiscal. The figure was only $46.1 million in the corresponding period of the FY
'14.
The overall import of rice amounted to $377.22 million in the FY
'14.The central-bank data shows that private importers brought in rice worth
$60 million just in December.An official at the Directorate-General of Food
(DGoF) said importers brought 0.72 million tonnes of rice in the July-January
period of the FY '15. The overall import in the FY '14 was 0.371 million
tonnes.Local millers have almost trembled down as nearly 60 per cent of mills
were forced to stop their operation in the peak 'rice-milling season' following
the import coupled with the ongoing political turmoil that severely hampered
transportation, said leading mill owners.
Secretary of Bangladesh Auto Major and Husking Mills Owners'
Association (BAMHMOA), the biggest platform of the country's rice millers, KM
Layek Ali said that the sector was in a big trouble due to the import and the
ongoing blockade.
He pointed out that the government fixed Aman-rice price at Tk 33 per
kilogram while the importers brought rice at prices below Tk 27-28 per kg from
India."The millers are facing an uneven competition which may have a
disastrous impact on market stability in future," he said.He made a
disconcerting disclosure that 60 per cent out of 20,000 mills across the
country stopped their operation. It will, in his assumption, have a serious
impact on the market as prices of the staple may shoot up
significantly.Shahidur Rahman Patwary Mohan, an executive member of BAMHMOA,
said: "Apart from imports, the ongoing political turbulence also has
battered our business.
"He said
in peak seasons like Boro and Aman farming, millers husk nearly 60,000 tonnes
of paddy per day (for three months) which has been reduced to just 15,000
tonnes.The milling crash occurred as orders from Dhaka, Chittagong and
elsewhere in the country are being cancelled in fear of vandalism on highways.
He said truck owners were not willing to run their vehicles and the owners who
were taking risks were charging double fares.
According to
him, in addition to about 22 million farmers, nearly 7.0 million people are
directly involved with rice milling while another 4.0 million indirectly depend
on it.The industry leader said: "The mill owners and the workers are
passing a tough time due to the imports and blockades."Most of the mills
depend on bank loans and count interest of 17-19 per cent which is adjusted on
a three-month basis.
And
"hundreds of millers will turn loan defaulters, if this present trend
continues".Economist Dr Md Enamul Hoque said the government should have
checks and balances on local production, supply and price trend before
initiating a perfect rice import policy. "It is necessary to safeguard the
local rice mills which are the compulsory segment for ensuring food security in
the country."According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, overall
rice production in the last financial year (FY'14) was at an all-time high of
34.35 million tonnes against the local demand for 31.0 million tonnes.
tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com
Apapa Customs generates N301bn despite drop in rice import
BY UCHE USIM
The Apapa Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recorded
an impressive revenue generation in 2014 after raking in a total of
N301,272,187,970.The command, dubbed the flagship of the NCS, was able to beat
its 2013 record of N230,505,251,443 despite the fact that it had literally lost
its major revenue generating artery being duties collected from imported
rice.At a stakeholders meeting held recently in Apapa Lagos, the command was
extolled for having performed well by rapidly strengthening its revenue
generation from other commodities other than rice.
It was also urged to sustain the tempo in the prompt issuance of
the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) after surmounting the initial hiccups
it faced when the service was introduced.It would be recalled that when the
Federal Government announced a 110 per cent hike in rice duties and charges
early last year, the Apapa command appeared to be the worst hit as revenue from
rice hitherto accounted for over 90 per cent of the funds it generated, diminished.According
to the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Apapa Area 1 Command, Charles Edike,
officers and men had to work hard to enhance revenue generated and collected
from other items to make up for the shortfall.
“In 2013, our revenue from rice was N4,075,478,164 representing
1.77 per cent, while other commodities stood at N226,429,777,279 representing
98.2 per cent of the revenue bringing the total to N230,505,251,443. But in
2014, revenue from rice was N36,183,325,725 representing 12.06 per cent, while
revenue from other commodities was N265,088,862,245 representing 87.9 per
cent. The total revenue was N301,272,187,970,” he explained.Aside the improved
revenue, Edike said the command also transferred a total of 55,002 containers
to less busy terminals across the country to avoid congestion in the Lagos
ports and to facilitate trade via swift cargo clearing processes.Bond
containers transferred stood at 12,963, while stemmed containers were
42,039.Among the items transferred during the year under consideration,
according to him, include 1,516,134,417 metric tonnes of crude palm, 478
vehicles, 15,072 coils and 11,095 bundles of various items transferred to 23
terminals/commands across the country.Some of the beneficiary commands were
Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Calabar, Onne, Lilypond, KLT, Tin Can. EMPCO, LFTZ,
Stallion and Fano.In the area of discipline, the Apapa CAC said about four
Assistant Comptrollers of Customs were sent out of the command for indulging in
unprofessional conducts.“Last year in Apapa, about four Assistant Comptrollers
were sent out of the command because they delayed. In terms of trade facilitation;
in Apapa, we have a target to meet every month but we didn’t use that as an
excuse to delay and to keep people’s cargoes. We made efforts to move
containers to less busy terminals.“At the same time, we must also generate
revenue for government. We cannot because of trade facilitation let government
revenue drop,” he stated.
Investors
eye Myanmar's rich potential for rice growing
PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION February 9, 2015 1:00 am
MYANMAR may go back to being one of the world's major rice
exporters in five to 10 years, as many Thai and foreign investors are looking
to expand in rice mills and farms in the country.Thai traders and experts all
believe that Myanmar has great potential to become a major rice producer in the
near future because it has plenty of land with good quality soil for raising
rice, abundant water and a strategic location for distributing rice.
ichai Sriprasert, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters
Association, said last week that some rice millers and exporters have started
exploring Myanmar to establish mills and parboiled rice processing plants after
realising the country's potential to produce large quantities of the commodity
for export. "Thai investors are studying Myanmar's investment laws and
regulations. Once all issues are clarified, they can start investing in a few
years," he said. Most investors are considering setting up large-scale
rice mills to make their investment worthwhile.
To build a large mill that processes up to 500 tonnes of rice a
year, an investment of up to Bt300 million is required, not including the cost
of land. The areas that Thai rice traders are eyeing are around Yangon and in
rice-growing areas along major rivers in Myanmar, such as the Ayeyarwaddy River
and Bago, which flows through the central region, the Thanlwin or Salween
River, which connects to Thailand, and the Sittaung River, which lies in the
east-central part of the country. Besides the existing rice growing areas, 40
million to 50 million rai of land in the country could be developed and
promoted for growing rice.Other foreign investors that are also keen on investing
in the farming industry, including rice, come from mainland China, Japan and
Korea, and from the Middle East.
Myanmar used to be the world's largest rice supplier before the
1980s. However, after the military government closed the country, local farmers
shunned rice, as the returns became less attractive. However, to invest in rice
or other farming businesses, Thai companies need to form a joint venture with
local operators, as local farming businesses are restricted to only Myanmar
citizens.
Chareon Laothammatas, president of the association, said that with
the food security policy of many foreign governments, many rice importing
countries are looking to expand to developing countries including Myanmar and
other countries in Asean.According to the US Department of Agriculture, Myanmar
is projected to export 1.3 million-1.5 million tonnes of rice this year, up
from about 1.3 million tonnes last year.
In 2014-15, rice production in Myanmar is forecast to increase by 1
per cent to 12.16 million tonnes in anticipation of continued expansion of the
growing area. The construction of eight dams, which were targeted to be
completed last year, and the renovation of drainage canals in flood zones and
deep-water areas in the Ayeyarwaddy region, are likely to increase the planting
acreage for dry season rice.Aat Pisanwanich, director of the Centre for
International Trade Studies, said Myanmar is one of the high-potential
countries that have attracted the interest of many Thai investors and rice is
one of the potential businesses.
Rice production in Myanmar is cheaper than in Thailand, while
Myanmar has many positive factors including plenty of space, water supply and a
location to support rice growing and exporting.The study found the cost of rice
production in Myanmar is about Bt7,122 per rai, and could be lower after state
dams are built and operating.The centre's study also forecast that Thailand
would lose a total of Bt87.5 billion (or Bt8.7 billion per year) in rice
exports to 2022 if a serious effort is not made to develop the industry.
The Thai share of the world market is tipped to drop to 2.3 per
cent from 2.5 per cent last year. The lost market share will go to neighbouring
countries - Vietnam and Myanmar. Thailand's market share in Asia would slump from
1.3 per cent in 2013 to just 0.3 per cent in 10 years because other
rice-exporting nations - mainly Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar - will play a
more significant role in supplying the continental market.
ICAR- Central Rice Research Institute recruitment: walk-in
interview
ICAR-CRRI recruitment 2015
ICAR- Central Rice Research
Institute is conducting walk-in interviews for the recruitment against the post
of Senior Research Fellow. The candidates will be serving on temporary basis.
The interview is scheduled to be held on February 18, 2015 at 10 am. The
project to work on is 'All India Network Project on Soil Biodiversity-
Biofertilisers.'Post details
Total post: 1
Name of the post: Senior Research Fellow
Pay scale: The candidates will be paid Rs 16,000-18,000 per month.
Eligibility Criteria
Educational Quailification
Must possess M.sc in Agriculture or Botany with specialisation
in Plant Pathology/Microbiology from a recognised university or institute.
Other Qualification
Research search in root endophytes and working knowledge of computers are desirable.
Age
The age of the candidate should not have exceeded 35 years. Relaxation will be given as per the rules.
Selection Procedure
The candidates will be selected based on their performance in the interview.
How to apply
Candidates have to appear for the walk-in interview scheduled on February 18, 2015 at 10 am at CRURRS, Hazaribag 825301, Jharkhand.
Candidates have to bring four copies of resume with original certificates and attested photocopies of certificates and documents and passport size photograph.
Important Date
Walk-in interview is on February 18, 2015 at 10 am.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/icar-central-rice-research-institute-is-hiring/1/417585.html
Goals of rice subsidy plan not
achieved’
The
Star/Asia News NetworkSaturday, Feb 07, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR - The rice subsidy programme, which is aimed at
benefiting the lower income group, has failed to achieve its intended
objectives, said Malaysia Rice Wholesalers' Association president Ng Chee Len.
He said the 15 per cent broken rice, which is sold at a controlled price of
RM1.65 (S$0.62) per kg, could hardly be found in the market nowadays."The
poor people have not managed to buy the subsidised rice any more," he
added.
Ng said that although it was a good plan implemented by the
Government in 2008, it had somehow become less effective in fulfilling its aims
due to poor administration.He claimed that the Agriculture and Agro-based
Industry Ministry had granted much of the quota to "the people outside the
industry", who would then resell the rice at a higher price, since three
years ago.According to Sin Chew Daily, a report was lodged with the Malaysian
Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday over alleged corruption in the subsidy
policy.
The Malay Rice Millers' Association vice-president Marzukhi
Othman has urged the Government to come out with a comprehensive mechanism to
ensure that the subsidised rice goes to the deserving group.Asked on the MACC
report lodged earlier, he said he was not aware of it or whether it involved
its members. However, he called on the commission to conduct a thorough
investigation into the report.The subsidy programme in aid of the lower income
group, in which the Government subsidises 60,000 tonnes of rice monthly at a
cost of RM750 per tonne, costs some RM500mil a year.
http://business.asiaone.com/personal-finance/%E2%80%98goals-rice-subsidy-plan-not-achieved%E2%80%99#sthash.3Y43ofCI.dpuf
Conviron Part of New State-of-Art Rice Research Facility in
Philippines
LAGUNA, Philippines, January 27,
2015 – A groundbreaking ceremony at the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) compound was conducted to signal the beginning of construction of a
$10-million modern research facility to help scientists prepare rice for
climate change.A major section of this state-of-art facility will house several
controlled environments including the installation of 18 Conviron plant growth
chambers and rooms. In addition to these units, the building will also include
glasshouses, storage facilities, plant processing and potting laboratories.
This equipment will be integral in providing rice scientists and producers with
the information to enhance rice production and ensure environmental
sustainability.
About Conviron
Conviron is the world’s largest
designer and supplier of plant growth chambers and rooms. Leading universities,
government agencies and agricultural biotech companies around the globe use the
highly engineered products to solve many of today’s challenges in food
production and safety. Headquartered with design and manufacturing facilities
in Winnipeg, Canada, it employs a global sales and distribution network with
offices in the US, Europe, Australia and China.
For more information, contact:
Michael Robbie
Director of Marketing
mrobbie@conviron.com
P 204.786.6451
www.conviron.com
Climate-ready rice lab to rise in
Laguna
Poised to become one of the most
modern research facilities in the world, it will help scientists prepare rice
for climate change
Pia Ranada
Published 6:02 PM, Jan 27, 2015
Updated 6:02 PM, Jan 27, 2015
NEW FACILITY. The Lloyd T Evans
Plant Growth Facility will feature the latest technology to help scientists
make rice ready for the worst of climate change. Pia Ranada/Rappler
LAGUNA, Philippines – Scientists and government officials led
the groundbreaking ceremony for a new research facility that will be devoted to
studying the impacts of climate change on agriculture.The ceremony took place
on Tuesday, January 27, inside the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
compound where the building will rise.Named the Lloyd T. Evans Plant Growth
Facility, it is set to become a "state-of-the-art" building with 8
controlled-environment glasshouses, plant growth chambers, and plant processing
and potting laboratories. But the facility's most dominant feature will be a
large seed processing and storage facility.The construction of the $10-million
facility, named after a world-renowned Australian plant physiologist, was
funded by the Australian government. It is expected to be operational by the
end of 2015, said IRRI Deputy Director General for Research Matthew Morell.
Although there are similar controlled-environment laboratories
in Australia and Europe, this new IRRI facility "will be one of the most
modern," said Morell.What sets it apart are the latest in sensor
technology, computing power for collecting data and more precise controls for
changing environmental parameters. It is also one of the few facilities to be
fine-tuned for rice research.Equipped with such technology, the facility will
allow scientists to study how rice is affected by changes in the environment.
"It's important for us to predict future climates and prepare plants or
rice crops so they can flourish in those environments," said Morell.
Predicting nature
The controlled-environment glasshouses and plant growth chambers
will enable researchers to manipulate temperature, relative humidity, light
intensity, photoperiod systems, water management systems, and precise control
of atmospheric gases.This would give them a more accurate picture of how rice
plants would be affected by wide-ranging environments, even the extreme
environments that may become the norm in a world with a rapidly changing
climate.
Top PH
biologist: Tech, data help us understand species better
New York University dean for science Michael Purugganan talks
about mapping genes and genomes and shares insights about evolution and how it
helps us understand the world
Shaira Panela
Published 10:55 AM, Feb 04, 2015
Updated 10:55 AM, Feb 04, 2015
MANILA, Philippines – The marriage of sophisticated computing
technology and the abundance of data in genomics is now allowing us to rethink
how species – even our own – have evolved, a top Filipino scientist said.
http://www.conviron.com/new-state-of-art-rice-research-facility-in-philippines
New York University (NYU) dean for science Michael Purugganan.
File photo by Shaira Panela
In his brief visit to the
Philippines, New York University (NYU) dean for science Michael Purugganan
still found time to talk to Filipino students about mapping genes and genomes
and share his insights about evolution and how it helps us understand the
world."In 20 years, we've gone from getting data from single genes to now
looking at whole genomes in trying to understand the same question.
Now we much have a larger set of data to
answer the questions we've had," Purugganan said during his talk at the
auditorium of Institute of Biology in the University of the Philippines in
Diliman (UP Diliman) on January 30.He added, "Science is not only
progressing in technology but in our expectations on what it takes to advance
science."Purugganan is one of the world's leading biologists in plant
genomics, a discipline in genetics that deals with the sequencing, assembling,
and analysis of the complete set of DNA within a single cell of an organism.
The complete set of DNA refers to the genome.A major part of Purugganan's
research is on rice, a staple food eaten by at least half of the world's
population, including Filipinos."I am interested in the diversification of
rice species in different land types and how these things evolve," said
Purugganan. Among his current research interests is studying the evolutionary
forces that act in plant adaptation.Purugganan was asked about the relevance or
relation of his studies to efforts to develop climate-resistant rice varieties
at the International Rice Research Institute (IRR) in Los Baños, Laguna, and
other rice-producing countries.
He replied: "What we're
trying to do is to study rice adaptation in different ecological areas. What we
want to do is try to understand that. In trying to understand the genes, then
we'll understand how to make rice to adapt in different environments."Purugganan
also shared his fascination with the Banaue Rice Terraces and on growing upland
rice.He briefly mentioned some heirloom rice varieties in Banaue which they
included in some of their genome mapping projects such as tinawon and pinidwa.Tinawon is a variety of rice that thrives in a
higher elevation, takes a long time to flower, and could only be planted and
harvested once a year. Meanwhile, pinidwa could be planted and harvested twice a
year.
Purugganan, his colleagues at his
laboratory, and his other collaborators have mapped over a hundred varieties of
rice grown in different parts of the world.In 2011, a study he was a part of
was published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). His team found that rice varieties might have originated from the Yangtze
Valley in China, contrary to previous studies indicating two origins: India and
China.Meanwhile, one of his most recent works on rice was published in August 2014 in the journalNature
Genetics.
It tackles mainly the cultivation
(domestication) of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) and how its
evolution is parallel to the Asian rice species Oryza sativa.Purugganan also
touched on other evolution-related topics such as agriculture, especially plant
domestication, and how it could be studied using genomics, as well as his
laboratory's researches on date palms and rafflesia. Purugganan obtained his
bachelor's degree from the University of the Philippines in 1985, and has moved
to the United States since to pursue graduate studies.He is part of the
international scientific advisory board of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC),
a multi-disciplinary research unit of UP Diliman, which organized the UP
Diliman event. – Rappler.com
Take Sierra Club's agriculture policy off the menu
It’s no secret that the Sierra Club has long-since
moved from worshipping the conservationist vision of the organization’s
founder, John Muir, to bowing before the altar of green druids. Reading the
Sierra Club Agriculture and Food Policy Task Force’s recommendations for
updating the group’s agriculture policy only reinforces this fact.The new
agenda looks more PETA-lite than conservation-minded. According to the Task
Force, “minimizing the production and consumption of domestic animals” is
necessary to stop global warming. The claim is questionable: An oft-cited U.N.
report claiming animal agriculture produced more greenhouse gases than
transportation conflicts with U.S. government statistics. (It seems that U.S.
farmers are much more efficient than their Third World counterparts. Who
would’ve thought?)
The Task Force may have called for winding down of meat and
cheese production and consumption, but what of the group’s patron saint?
According to an article on Sierra Club’s website entitled “John Muir’s Menu,”
Muir did not shy away from eating meat. Quite the contrary: On an expedition to
Mt. Whitney, Muir and his companions brought “a block of beef about four inches
in diameter,” he enjoyed eating “veritable feast[s] of clam chowder, fired
porpoise, bacon and beans, [and] savory meat,” and grew up enjoying “mutton for
lunch.”Sierra Club’s Task Force goes on to “call for a ban on the planting of
all transgenic crops (whether or not currently approved by the FDA).
” In other words, Sierra Club is advocating for a ban of all
genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This despite the fact that these
genetically improved foods can allow farmers to drastically decrease their use
of pesticides and help stave off the starvation and malnutrition that so often
plague the developing world.Take for example the case of Golden Rice. Golden
Rice, developed by the nonprofit International Rice Research Institute, is a
type of rice being grown in the Philippines and endowed with genes from corn
and a bacterium that allow it to produce vitamin A.Well, in the Philippines,
like many other areas of the world, a lack of vitamin A causes blindness in up
to a half-million children each year.
By genetically improving rice, a product eaten daily by half the
world’s population, the welfare of countless people will be increased.If
malnourishing millions isn’t bad enough, prohibiting GMOs might actually raise
carbon emissions. A recent survey by the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) found that in 2011, GMO
cultivation reduced greenhouse emissions by the equivalent of 23 billion
kilograms of carbon dioxide.It’s clear that Sierra Club’s Agriculture and Food
Policy Task Force is little more than one more example of the organization
embracing an ever-more radical agenda.
Traders
eye deals at Gulfood 2015
Five-day show attracts 4,800 companies from across the world
By Sarah Algethami, Staff ReporterPublished: 14:44 February 8,
2015Gulf News
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Image Credit: Zarina Fernandes/ Gulf
News
Shaikh Hamdan
Bin Rashid Al Maktoum inaugurated Gulfood 2015 yesterday. Many exhibitors are
looking for distributors — not just from the UAE, but from other countries in
the region.Dubai: Professionals from the food and hospitality industries
gathered at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on Sunday as Gulfood 2015
kicked off. The food and hospitality trade show, which runs until Thursday, has
attracted 4,800 companies from across the world, including Saudi Arabia, India,
Pakistan, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and France, among
other countries.
The
event was opened by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai
and Minister of Finance.Some of the exhibiting companies include IFFCO, Al
Ghurair Foods, Al Maya Trading, and Aujan Industries. They displayed a range of
products, such as meat, fruits and vegetables, chocolates, ice cream, juice and
kitchen equipment.Many exhibitors attended the show to look for distributors —
not just from the UAE, but from regional countries.The UAE is a hub for
re-exports, which makes it attractive for international companies that want to
extend their operations in regional countries, beyond the UAE, said Hemen Shah,
partner at Shah Brothers, an Indian tea exporter.
“The
[re-export] process is so mechanised and fast due to the support of the
government and the port infrastructure,” he said.Shah said that he is looking
for buyers at Gulfood that want to buy his company’s tea in bulk. His company
exports between “25 and 30 million kilograms” of tea annually to countries
including the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Iran and Lebanon, among others.Echoing Shah’s
views, M.A. Basit, export manager at Pakistan-based Basmati rice exporter,
Guard, said he is looking for local and regional distributors.Basit, who
exports packaged rice, said that the drop in the price of rice has brought
challenges for his business.“Rice prices are going down. We are a little bit
affected because India is more competitive with its prices. akistani Basmati
rice is priced at an average of $1,000 [Dh3,670] per tonne, but in India, it is
$100-$150 less,” he said. The company’s top importers are the Gulf countries,
Europe and North America, he said.
Adding to portfolio
In a
nearby hall, Hussain Abdullah, executive manager at Habtoor International, a
Dubai-based catering equipment company, said that he is looking to add new
brands and products to his company’s portfolio.Habtoor International, which
sells equipment to fast food and casual dining restaurants, saw a 15 per cent
growth in sales in 2014 over the previous year, helped by the opening of new
restaurants in the UAE. Abdullah said that this was supported by the rising
number of tourists in the country.
Aside
from the exhibition, Gulfood will host a variety of conferences, starting
Monday.The Halal Investment Conference, for one, will discuss business
opportunities in the global halal market and the role of halal in Dubai’s
vision to be the capital of the Islamic economy.Meanwhile, the World Food
Security Summit will highlight food security concerns in the region.Also, the
Food Franchising Forum will discuss ways companies can create a successful
franchise.Gulfood is expected to attract 80,000 visitors.
Sánchez
Overpopulation and poverty
By Benedicto Q Sánchez
Monday, February 9, 2015
WITH the age of the Internet and social media, we can add to the
environmental slogan, “Think globally, act locally” we can add “connect” so
that what’s local can become global. I received an email addressed to Sun.Star
Davao and cc’d to me from a Rowland “Slow” Lane Anderson, a Davao-based
American permaculturist and a disabled veteran and senior from Santa Barbara,
California.He wrote: “Thank you for the articles (referring to the Pope’s
climate-change stand deepens conservatives’ distrust on the Pope’s position on
climate change that SSD published). I agree absolutely that it is man-made and
a result of a “culture of waste.’”
Mr. Anderson shared his experiences going around the country. “As I
traveled the country pitching integrated rice duck farming (IRDF) to priests,
educators and government officials, I was impressed with the farmers, who have
increased food production every year both in total and by hectare, despite
typhoons and disasters according to the International Rice Research Institute.”
He admitted that “My own demonstration of IRDF at the Eco Farm of
the Divine Word College of Mindoro was less than successful due to my own
ignorance of rice and ducks but many farmers are having success throughout the
Philippines and the world.”I can connect with Mr. Anderson’s experience. My
learning curve on organic agriculture came not just from theories but based on
the successes – and failures – in working with mountain organic farmers.
However, the meat of his email to Sun.Star Davao and to me was to
express his agreement with Pope Francis on his upcoming encyclical that will
touch on the UN talks in Paris and should “include working for population
stability. This should be key in safeguarding creation and ensuring less
poverty.”Mr. Anderson went on: “The Philippines recently celebrated exceeding
one hundred million population. With a land mass about half the size of the US
state of Montana (population one million), it has the fastest growing population
in Asia.”
That would be partially correct. According to Honolulu-based
East-West Center’s Population, Natural Resources, and Environment report,
between 2000 and 2050, populations are expected to “double or nearly double in
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Laos. Growth rates will
also be particularly high in India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam.”
Mr. Anderson went on: “The number of jobs available and the number
of educated Filipinos have also increased every year but so does the number of
poor people. More Filipinos live in poverty today than ever before. With GDP,
food production and jobs all increasing every year, why the increase in
poverty? The answer of course is over population, the numbers born exceed the
increases in jobs, food and revenue.”That is an assertion, unfortunately not
backed with facts. I came from a family of six, large by today’s standards. My
maternal cousins grew up with nine or twelve siblings. Yet none of us grew up
poor. My sister Rorie has six kids who are professionals or are studying in the
best Metro Manila schools.
On a macro level, countries with the biggest populations include
China (1), India (2), the USA (3), Brazil (5), and Japan (10). These are also
countries with the highest economic growth.What countries have the highest
population density? The Southeast countries or cities with the densest
population as of 2007 are Macau at 18,534 people per square kilometer; second
is Singapore, with 7,148; third, Hong Kong at 6,349; South Korea, ranked at
23rd, at 487. The Philippines ranked at 45th.
These countries became prosperous because of sound economic
policies on industrialization and trade. And yes, good governance. Population
policy played a supporting role.In 2025, more than half of national populations
will be urban in Brunei, China, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia,
Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and
Turkmenistan. Can increasing urbanization lessen poverty as experienced by
countries (China, Japan, Malaysia, and yes, the Philippines) in this list?
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Mounting threats from climate change
The year 2014 was the hottest ever
since humans started monitoring weather conditions in the year 1880, according
to four international agencies monitoring global temperature trends.These four
agencies are: two US (NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration), one Japanese (Japan Meteorological Agency) and Australian
Bureau of Meteorology.The year has surpassed all previous scorchers — 1998,
2005, and 2010. More worryingly, except for 1998, as per NASA’s claim, all 10
hottest years recorded in human history came in the first 14 years of the
current century.
Fortunately, the major rise in temperature was occasional, and
soil, by and large, escaped the impact. However, it was fourth hottest year for
the land as well. For scientists, another concern was the absence of El Niño
(which usually accelerates the already up-trend in global average temperature)
in 2014. This year (2015), El Niño is part of meteorological forecast, which
may improve the heat record further this year.
The report complicates things for agri-businesses around the globe.
The US Security and Exchange Commission has told big food and agri chains to
regularly furnish reports of global warming impact on their businesses to their
investors on stock exchanges. If the agri-businesses start suffering, as fears
are — the extent of impact is though still being debated between companies and
investors — the farmers and farming would be first to feel the heat, and it
would be especially true for countries like Pakistan.
________________________________________
These extreme weather events could cause a direct loss of 2-30pc in
agricultural yields — depending on the severity of the event in a particular
year, say researchers
________________________________________
The report has not come in a vacuum for Pakistan. Its own official
agencies have also been studying the trend (variations in temperature and
frequency and severity of weather-related events) and have drawn almost similar
conclusion that organisations around the world are warning of.
Two years ago, the Federal Ministry for Environment, in its report
— vulnerability to climate change threats — identified a series of such
pressures that farming in Pakistan would face due to changing weather patterns.
It identified nine areas, where they would impact human life in the country.
Out of the nine areas, where, according to report, threat
perception was increasing, six were directly related to agriculture. They
included considerable rise in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events
(droughts, floods, un-timely and heavy rains); recession of glaciers due to
global warming and carbon soot deposits from trans-boundary pollution;
increased silt in dams caused by frequent, flash and intense floods; increased
temperature resulting in enhanced heat- and water-stressed conditions, particularly
in arid and semi-arid regions; intrusion of saline water in the Indus delta,
threatening coastal agriculture and mangroves and tension between upper and
lower riparian in water stress periods. These were on the top of carbonaceous
filth that, it warned, has started mixing into Indus water, pouring in from
glaciers, and would have hazardous consequences for life of every kind in the
water ways. The activity was noted on all three mountain ranges — the
Hindukush, the Karakoram and the Himalaya — that feed Pakistani rivers.
According to researchers, these extreme weather events could cause
a direct loss of two to 30pc in agricultural yields — depending on the severity
of the event in a particular year — and it would be especially true for cereals
(wheat, rice and maize). Given Pakistan’s increasing population at almost
unknown rate, the country needs an annual increase of 5-10pc in those cereals
for its own food security, leave alone exploring exports potential. This would
be a herculean task, given Pakistan’s archaic technological and farming
practices. In the last ten years, the frequency of flash floods, extreme rains,
severe droughts, shifting of monsoon season, which gives Pakistan 80pc of its
irrigation water and matures water-loving crops like rice, is increasing and
threatening crops like never before.
All the climatic changes documented by different federal,
provincial and academic agencies need to form basis of planning for agriculture
for the next few decades. The agriculture pattern and practices, as we know
them for the last few millenniums, are bound to undergo changes because of
weather factors.The world is trying to adjust to these new realities by
measuring the rate of change, and then developing policy and technological
responses to those changes. Pakistan cannot be an exception. The scientists
insist that rice is already suffering in quality and quantity due to
temperature variations, along with other factors.
Published
in Dawn, Economic & Business, February 9th, 2015
http://www.dawn.com/news/1162333/mounting-threats-from-climate-change
