Rice millers seek refund of security
Oct 29, 2018, 1:34
AM; last updated: Oct 29, 2018
Our Correspondent
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 28
The Rice Millers
Association Punjab has urged Food and Civil Supply Minister to immediately
direct procurement agencies to release their 10 per cent security worth crores,
deducted from their paddy shelling bills and lying with them from the last four
years.
The association press secretary,
Nakesh Jindal, said, “The government procurement agencies have withheld 10 per
cent of the final paddy bills and cleared rest of the amount despite the fact
that millers have submitted affidavits to the district heads of procurement
agencies regarding payment of any type of recovery that arises. So, securities
should be refunded.”
“According to
instructions of the Commissioner Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs,
Punjab, such securities deducted from custom milling securities final bills can
be kept only for two years. These securities of millers have been lying with
agencies for more than four years,” he added.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/rice-millers-seek-refund-of-security/675334.htmlOct,
No let-up in waste disposal in open by Karnal
rice mills
29, 2018, 1:33 AM; last updated: Oct 29, 2018
Husk ash dumped near the grain market in Karnal. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, October 28
Despite a public outcry, the
authorities concerned have allegedly failed to check pollution emitting from
rice mills in Karnal district. Without any check, the rice mills, which fall
under green, orange and red categories of the Haryana State Pollution Control
Board (HSPCB) as per their discharge, are contributing a lot to air, soil and
water pollution.
Local residents
blame the authorities concerned for not bothering to check the unsystematic
disposal of waste from the mills.
Sources in the HSPCB say that the
millers have to ensure proper handling, storage and transportation of rice
husk, rice husk ash and waste water to check pollution but most of the mills
are not following the norms. For every 100 kg of paddy, 20 kg to 23 kg of husk is
produced and when 100 kg of husk is burnt in boilers, it generates around 25 kg
of ash, say sources.
The Tribune
visited Kutail and Bastara villages, Bajida road and Taraori and found that the
effluent treatment plants (ETPs) of various mills were not working, due to
which untreated waste water was being discharged into the open, while
collection, storage and disposal management of husk ash was also being handled
unscientifically.
The residents
say environment pollution by the mills is not new. “This has been going on for
the past several years. We have raised the issue at several platforms, but in
vain,” says a farmer.
The unscientific
disposal of husk ash is creating problems for residents of the nearby areas, as
it causes eye, respiratory and skin-related diseases.
Dr S Singhal, a
skin specialist at the local civil hospital, says that the exposure to such
pollution causes skin-related diseases such as itching and irritation. People,
who already have any kind of skin problem, should avoid going out.
Meanwhile, Vinod
Goel, state vice-president of the Haryana Rice Millers and Dealers Association,
said that the ETPs of all mills should be in the running condition and the
millers should avoid dumping ash and waste water in the open.
SK Arora, area
engineer of HSPCB, said, “We have asked the mills to ensure scientific
treatment of waste. If any mill is contributing to air or water pollution, I
will get it checked”.
1:34 AM (IST)
Millers allege pressure to buy ‘moist’ paddy
Oct 29, 2018, 1:34 AM; last updated:
Oct 29, 2018,
A woman dries paddy at a grain market in Moga. Tribune photo
A woman dries paddy at a grain market in Moga. Tribune photo
Moga, October 28
High moisture
content is creating a hurdle in the paddy procurement process in the district.
As a result, the arrival of paddy in the grain markets has also turned slow.
The government
has issued specific guidelines to purchase paddy with moisture content up to 17
per cent, but most of the foodgrain arriving in the markets is having a
moisture content of more than 20 per cent.
Rice millers allege that they are
forced to lift paddy from commission agents with high moisture content under
pressure from the district administration and ruling party legislators, while
farmers allege that they are being harassed by the government agencies on the
pretext of high moisture content. Sources said at Charik grain market, the
Markfed authorities were allegedly forcing the millers to lift “moist” paddy.
Buta Singh, district manager, Markfed, said he would look into the issue. — TNS
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/millers-allege-pressure-to-buy-moist-paddy/675255.html
Farmers protest sale of paddy by ‘outsiders’
Oct 29, 2018, 1:34 AM; last updated: Oct 29, 2018
Farmers protest on the Tapa-Pakho Kanchiya road in Barnala district. Tribune photo
Tribune News Service
Barnala, October 28
Farmers of Dhilwan and other
villages, led by the BKU Sidhpur, kept the Tapa-Pakho Kanchiya road blocked for
many hours on Sunday to protest the sale of paddy from other districts in their
area.
They alleged
that trucks loaded with paddy from four districts — Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Moga
and Ferozepur — were openly entering in their areas and unloading paddy in rice
mills, which led to the rejection of their crop.
“Rice millers were openly purchasing
paddy from other districts and rejecting our crop without giving any valid
reasons. We kept the road blocked for many hours and stopped many trucks loaded
with paddy from other districts,” said Roop Singh Dhilwan, district president
of BKU Sidhpur.
Farmers also
raised slogans against the authorities, who they alleged had failed to check
the “smuggling” of paddy to their area.
“Today, the
administration has assured that after Monday, no paddy would arrive from other
districts in our area. We have now lifted the blockade, but we will take to the
streets again if the authorities fail to fulfil their promise,” said Dhilwan.
When contacted,
Food and Civil Supply Officer Harpreet Singh, who met the protesting farmers,
said they had assured farmers that there would be no sale of paddy from other
districts in their area.
Saltwater Rice Successfully Harvested by Chinese Scientists
TEHRAN
(Tasnim) - Alkali-resistant ‘sea rice’ planted in east China’s Shandong
Province was harvested by Chinese scientists.
·
October,
27, 2018 - 11:45
The initial success marks an
ambitious plan to boost the country’s rice production and feed an additional 80
million people.
The new type of rice,
successfully harvested by a group of scientists in the seaside city of Qingdao,
eastern China, was revealed a year ago. Sea rice that is able to grow in tidal
flats or saline-alkali land was developed by crossbreeding different varieties
of rice.
“If there are natural disasters,
as China has a large population, it's difficult to rely on importing food from
abroad as there are logistical barriers. If the Chinese go hungry because of
crop failures caused by natural disasters, there will be social unrest and
destabilizing factors for the world,” Deputy Director of Qingdao Sea Rice
R&D Centre Guodong Zhang told RT's Ruptly video news agency.
According to the scientist,
turning barren land into fertile farmland will enable China to feed the entire
country and will therefore be beneficial to peace and stability.
“Wheat and rice are the staple
food of the Chinese people, and 60 percent of them depend on rice,” he said.
“With the joint efforts of our
team and the whole of society, more than 65,000 square kilometers of salt and
alkali land will be transformed in China,” the deputy director said.
“That can increase food by 30
billion kilograms based on the calculation of at least 300 kilograms per 667
square meters. This can support an additional 80 million people in China.”
Earlier this year, the research
team successfully grew and harvested the salt-resistant rice in a Dubai desert.
Reshuffle in diplomatic
assignments at major capitals
October 27, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced on
Friday a major reshuffle in diplomatic assignments abroad, including the
proposed appointments of two career diplomats — Dr Asad Majeed Khan and Nafees
Zakaria — as Pakistan’s new ambassador and high commissioner in Washington and
London, respectively.
Speaking at a press conference, he said the appointment of career
diplomats as new envoys at Washington, London, Ottawa, Riyadh, Doha, Rabat,
Belgrade, Havana and Dubai was aimed at replacing some political appointees
with senior and career diplomats so that they could safeguard Pakistan’s
interests and present the country’s points of view on various issues in a more
effective manner.
He said Raza Bashir Tarar would be appointed high commissioner in
Ottawa, Raja Ali Aijaz ambassador in Riyadh, Syed Ahsan Raza Shah ambassador in
Doha, Hamid Asghar Khan ambassador in Belgrade, Sahibzada Ahmad Khan ambassador
in Havana and Ahmad Amjad Ali consul general in Dubai.
Replying to a question about the coming visit of Prime Minister
Imran Khan to China, the foreign minister said the prime minister would hold
bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in
Beijing, besides visiting Shanghai to represent Pakistan at the International
Expo being hosted by China and attended by various countries.
Mr Qureshi said Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was among the
leaders invited by China as special guests, would deliver a key-note address at
the event.
Talks with UAE
team
The foreign minister also briefed media persons about the
discussions made with the visiting UAE delegation comprising CEOs/senior
officials of major companies — including Mobadla Petroleum, ADIA (Sovereign
Wealth Funds), Etisalat, DP World, Dubai Investment Authority, Emaar Company,
Aldahra Agriculture and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
He said the one-day visit of the delegation headed by Dr Sultan
Aljaber, minister of state and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, was a
follow-up to the prime minister’s official visit to Abu Dhabi on Sept 19 and
his understanding with Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to
forge closer economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries
in all areas of common interest.
During the discussions, the FM said, two sides deliberated on the
ways and means to further broaden and deepen economic relations in diverse
areas of mutual benefit between Pakistan and the UAE. The areas identified for
cooperation are agriculture, agricultural exports, fruit and vegetables, food
processing industry, energy, housing, water etc.
He said as Pakistan’s rice exports to the UAE had decreased over
the past few years, as compared to India, there was a need to correct this
situation and the two sides discussed the ways and means in that respect.
Mr Qureshi said Pakistani fruit and vegetables, particularly
citrus and mango, were available in high quality and quantity and could be
exported. But, these fruits go waste due to short shelf life and inadequate
storage facilities. with the UAE having quality packing expertise, it can
invest in Pakistan’s food processing industry for onward exports of the
country’s perishable food items for mutual benefit of the two countries.
The foreign minister said in the energy sector the UAE side had
expressed interest in the establishment of an oil refinery and a
state-of-the-art energy terminal in Pakistan, which could serve as a hub of
energy in the region.
He said the two sides also discussed how the UAE could facilitate
Pakistan, like Saudi Arabia, in oil supply through a preferential treatment and
help the country to meet its high fiscal needs.
The foreign minister said the two sides also discussed how the UAE
companies could contribute to implementation of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative
of the housing project for the low income groups.
He said since the UAE had modern technology and expertise in
desalination of sea water, the two sides deliberated upon the ways and means
for cooperation in this area, particularly to meet water requirements of
Karachi and Gwadar.
Published in Dawn, October 27th ,
2018
Download the new Dawn mobile app
here:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1441726
A lot of opportunities exist for Pakistani investors in
Kenya
October 27, 2018
Salim Ahmed
Lahore
High Commissioner of Kenya Prof.
Julius Kibet Bitok has said that direct flight from Karachi to Nairobi will
help ease the transportation and will help improve trade activities between the
two countries.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The LCCI Acting President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal, former Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Executive Committee Members Mian Zahid Javaid, Naseem ul Ghani, Atif Ikram, Dr. Muhammad Arshad, and Rana Nisar Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.
High Commissioner said that Pakistan and Kenya have good diplomatic ties and maintain steady trade relations. He said that the government of Kenya, with the collaboration of United Nations, is planning to organize a conference on “Sustainable Blue Economy” during next month. This conference will cover the areas of banking system, fisheries, marines, technology and various others. He urged the LCCI members to participate in the conference and avail the opportunity to have close interaction with their counterparts.
“Pakistan and Kenya has same currency value”, the High Commissioner said and added that Kenya has a stable banking system now. There are no issues of banking channels between the two countries as Pakistani banks are operational in Nairobi. He said that Kenya is also working on digital banking and encouraging its businessmen to use online banking for their transactions.
He said that there are a lot of opportunities for Pakistani investors in Kenya that must be availed as the Kenyan government is ready to support them for establish their businesses. He appreciated the role of LCCI in strengthening the trade and economic ties between both countries.
The LCCI Acting President Khawaja Shehzad Nasir said that Pakistan has been one of the top-10 trading partners of Kenya and consider it as a gateway to whole Africa. He said that the bilateral trade is following increasing trend. From 2016 to 2017, the value of two-way trade has gone up from dollar 669 million to dollar 787 million.
The LCCI Acting President said that Pakistan is having unfavourable balance of trade with Kenya and is interested to enhance Pakistan’s exports to trim down the trade deficit. He said that Pakistan mainly exports rice to Kenya and primarily imports coffee and tea from Kenya. He emphasized the need to identify more tradable items and said that Pakistan can export wide range of textiles items, pharmaceutical products, articles of plastic and chemicals etc. to Kenya.
The LCCI Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal said that regular exchange of sector-specific delegations can help the two countries discover new opportunities of economic cooperation.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The LCCI Acting President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal, former Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Executive Committee Members Mian Zahid Javaid, Naseem ul Ghani, Atif Ikram, Dr. Muhammad Arshad, and Rana Nisar Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.
High Commissioner said that Pakistan and Kenya have good diplomatic ties and maintain steady trade relations. He said that the government of Kenya, with the collaboration of United Nations, is planning to organize a conference on “Sustainable Blue Economy” during next month. This conference will cover the areas of banking system, fisheries, marines, technology and various others. He urged the LCCI members to participate in the conference and avail the opportunity to have close interaction with their counterparts.
“Pakistan and Kenya has same currency value”, the High Commissioner said and added that Kenya has a stable banking system now. There are no issues of banking channels between the two countries as Pakistani banks are operational in Nairobi. He said that Kenya is also working on digital banking and encouraging its businessmen to use online banking for their transactions.
He said that there are a lot of opportunities for Pakistani investors in Kenya that must be availed as the Kenyan government is ready to support them for establish their businesses. He appreciated the role of LCCI in strengthening the trade and economic ties between both countries.
The LCCI Acting President Khawaja Shehzad Nasir said that Pakistan has been one of the top-10 trading partners of Kenya and consider it as a gateway to whole Africa. He said that the bilateral trade is following increasing trend. From 2016 to 2017, the value of two-way trade has gone up from dollar 669 million to dollar 787 million.
The LCCI Acting President said that Pakistan is having unfavourable balance of trade with Kenya and is interested to enhance Pakistan’s exports to trim down the trade deficit. He said that Pakistan mainly exports rice to Kenya and primarily imports coffee and tea from Kenya. He emphasized the need to identify more tradable items and said that Pakistan can export wide range of textiles items, pharmaceutical products, articles of plastic and chemicals etc. to Kenya.
The LCCI Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Sehgal said that regular exchange of sector-specific delegations can help the two countries discover new opportunities of economic cooperation.
Japanese firm seeks Cambodian
rice supplier
Sok
Chan / Khmer Times
A Japanese firm is now scouring Cambodia for suppliers of
fragrant rice, which it intends to ship home, where demand for Cambodian rice
is on the rise, an official of the Cambodia Rice Federation said.
Moul Sarith, CRF
secretary-general, yesterday told Khmer
Times that representatives of Tanaka Food Industry Corporation
have approached his organisation in search of a partner that will supply them
with Cambodian fragrant rice, whose reputation abroad continues to improve
after a local brand took home this year’s World’s Best Rice award.
Mr Sarith said that it is the first time the Japanese company
looks for rice suppliers in the Kingdom. He said it imports around 100 tonnes
of rice from Thailand a year.
Japonica rice continues to be the most demanded variety in the
Japanese market, but fragrant rice’s share of that demand – 30 percent – is
also significant, he added. He said farmers in the Kingdom are now beginning to
plant Japonica to feed the Chinese, Korean and Japanese markets, but that this
is being done at a small scale.
“The company has not told us how much they are interested in
importing. So far, they just want us to arrange meetings with local suppliers,
which is what we are doing,” Mr Sarith said.
The Japanese government has a rice quota in place that limits
its imports of the product to just 4,000 tonnes a year, Mr Sarith explained.
“If Japan increases its rice quota, the Cambodian government or
CRF would negotiate with Japan to increase our shipments of rice,” Mr Sarith
said.
“We could potentially grow more of the Japonica variety if
demand from Japan were to increase,” he said.
Mr Sarith said Cambodian rice is gaining popularity with
consumers abroad, particularly after Cambodian premium fragrant rice Malys
Angkor won the World’s Best Rice award – the fourth time a Cambodian brand has
taken home the award.
The ceremony took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the World Rice
Conference held on Oct 10-12.
Cambodian brands have been crowned the best in the contest on
four occasions – in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018.
“This recognition boosts our country’s image, adds prestige to
our rice, and gives us more exposure abroad,” Mr Sarith said.
According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Cambodia
exported 389,264 tonnes of rice in the first nine months of 2018, a drop of 8.4
percent. China continues to be Cambodia’s top export market
Hapro signs agricultural contracts worth $2 million
Update: October,
27/2018 - 09:25
|
|
HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội Trade Corporation (Hapro) has
signed contracts for exporting agricultural products worth about US$2 million
at the world’s largest food innovation exhibition SIAL Paris.
The fair, which is taking place in Paris from
Tuesday to today, has an exhibition area of nearly 250,000 sq.m, attracting
about 6,500 businesses from more than 100 countries around the world. It is
also expected to welcome more than 155,000 visitors from more than 190
countries.
Hapro’s booth features traditional exports of
Việt Nam such
as rice, pepper, cashews, cinnamon, processed food, vermicelli, rice noodles,
rice crackers, dried fruits, desicated coconut and spices.
At the exhibition, Hapro welcomed about 100
customers to learn about the opportunities for cooperation. The corporation
also signed export contracts for agricultural products including cashew nuts,
desiccated coconut, pepper and cinnamon.
Hapro is also actively negotiating with clients
to continue signing contracts to export key products such as rice, pepper,
cashew nut, cassava starch, processed vegetables as well as dried fruits.
Prior to this, at the World Rice
Conference held in Hà Nội from October 10 to 12, Hapro inked three contracts to
export rice to Malaysia and
the US worth
nearly $2.5 million.
After the equitisation in June 2018, Hapro’s
business activities have made remarkable changes. The corporation has launched
a number of trade promotion activities, sought new markets, and strengthened
exports.
According to Hapro’s chairman Nguyễn Thị Nga,
in the coming time, Hapro will focus on improving export turnover and making
Hapro brand become the leading international brand in the region.
Besides developing commercial infrastructure in
Hà Nội and other provinces or cities across the country to serve retail
development, Hapro boosts the export of key agricultural products and
foodstuffs of Việt Nam as
well as handicraft products to 80 countries and regions in the world.
In the first nine months of 2018, Hapro’s
export turnover reached $89 million, equaling 122 per cent over the same period
last year. The corporation’s revenue hit over VNĐ3.9 trillion (US$167.24
million), a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent.
Some export items continued to have high growth
rates such as cashew nut with $62 million (up 15 per cent) and rice with $12
million (up 22 per cent) over the same period in 2017.
Hapro strives to achieve total revenue of VNĐ9
trillion by 2020, an increase of 45 per cent compared to 2018 with 80 per cent
of revenue coming from exports, said Hapro’s general director Vũ Thanh Sơn. —
VNS
Bagudu: Without Ambode, Nigeria Couldn’t Have Reduced Rice
Importation by 90%
By Gboyega Akinsanmi
The Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji
Atiku Bagudu, has disclosed that Nigeria could not have been able to reduce
rice importation by 90 per cent without the strategic support of his Lagos
State counterpart, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to the Nigerian Rice Initiative (NRI).
Bagudu, however, lamented that
Ambode had done so much for Lagos in particular and Nigeria in general that he
should be denied an opportunity to seek re-election on the platform of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.
He gave the insight into how the
partnership between Lagos and Kebbi States culminated in the massive production
of Lake Rice at the 18th National Women Conference of the Committee of Wives of
Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island
Thursday.
At the conference, Bagudu
commended Ambode for the Lake Rice initiative, saying apart from rekindling
hope in the ability of Nigerians to achieve a lot for Nigeria, the initiative
led to 90 per cent reduction in rice Importation.
“Ambode spoke about one of the
things I believe is a measure of his greatness which is the partnership between
Lagos and Kebbi. Ambode and I have worked in farms in Kebbi State. Without
Ambode, there would not have been Lake Rice. I repeat again without Ambode,
there would not have been Lake Rice.
“The significance of Lake Rice is
that it encouraged a revival in the ‘we can do spirit’ and Mr. President
captured it adequately when he said at least now when we tell the world we are
going to do something they better take us seriously.
“Those Nigerians, Africans and
well wishers who saw Mr. President when he visited Prime Minister Theresa May
and President Trump and announced enthusiastically that Nigeria has reduced its
rice importation by 90 per cent can humbly say that without Ambode we wouldn’t
have achieved that.
“Ambode supported the NRI.
Without her Excellency, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode and COWLSO, who encouraged and
supported the Lake Rice and the Nigerian Rice Project that would not have been
possible. I thank you all for what you have done for Nigeria and what we have
done to show that it is possible,” he said.
Bagudu, however, lamented
Ambode’s botched second-term aspiration, which according to him, might have
been due to the fact that the governor might have offended some political
leaders and interests in the state.
Despite his botched aspiration to
seek re-election, Bagudu commended Ambode for the high sense of maturity
displayed in the wake of the political developments, saying he demonstrated
grace which had united the APC ahead of the 2019 elections.
In his remarks, Ambode said the
Lake Rice initiative had significantly impacted on the economic fortunes of not
only Lagos and Kebbi States, but also the entire nation, saying Bagudu also
deserved commendation for the success of the partnership.
Ambode congratulated executives
and members of COWLSO for another very successful conference, saying it was on
record that Mrs. Ambode, along with other hardworking and committed members,
had succeeded in taking the association and the annual conference to a higher
level.
He said from testimonies, the
conference was yet another rewarding two days of networking, eye-opening,
educative and inspiring experiences, adding that it now behooves participants
to spread the knowledge gained.
He said the opportunity to be
part of a conference such as this is a privilege which also comes with a
corresponding responsibility, noting that women “have a responsibility to share
this experience with other women and men around you.
“This is the only way that the
impact of the knowledge gained at this conference can be widened and deepened.
It is a burden each and everyone has to discharge to the best of your
abilities. The government, no doubt, also has its own responsibility in terms
of giving due and deserving consideration to the recommendations contained in
your communiqué”.
In a communiqué for the
conference, COWLSO said it was time for women to rise against the menace of
children becoming mothers, especially by putting machinery in place for
continuous sensitisation and advocacy to address and eliminate the root causes
and consequences.
The communiqué, which was read by
Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, said government “must put structures and policies
in place to address the issues of children having children”.
“The government at all levels,
policy makers in health sector both at state and local levels, family, society,
NGOs and so on, must all rise and resolve to eliminate the menace by enacting a
policy for a reduction in the minimum age in rendering family planning services
from 13 to 15 years,” she said.
Women rice processors in Jigawa seek funding
support
BY
The Chairperson of the group, Malama Ladidi Haruna, made the
call on behalf of the women on Saturday when the Country Director of Sasakawa
Global 2000, Prof. Sani Ahmed-Miko visited the rice processing plant in the
area.
“With additional support from Sasakawa, the association will
diversify its business which will go a long way in enhancing the socio-economic
status of our members,” she said.
She described Kafingana as one of the major rice producing areas
in the state, saying that with additional support, the association will produce
more of the commodity.
Also speaking, the Private Service Provider (PSP) in charge of
maintaining the plant, Alhaji Sadiqu Abdu, said he had so far trained six
mechanics and three operators to ensure effective maintenance of the two rice
processing machines.
The machines, he said, were donated to the women rice processors
by SG 2000 and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
According to him, no fewer than 1,000 tonnes of paddy rice are
being produced in the plant.
He, however, promised to link the rice processors with markets
as the two processing plants had the capacity to process one tonne of paddy
rice hourly.
Earlier in his remarks, the District Head of Kafingana, Alhaji
Nasiru Munkaila, had advised the women to make the best use of the opportunity
provided by SG 2000 to improve the living standard of their families.
On his part, Ahmed-Miko urged the women to be more committed to
promoting the business in view of the fact that women were among the most
vulnerable in the society.
He assured the women farmers group that the organisation would
continue to support them as long as they remained focused on achieving the
desired objective.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SG 2000 team
was in Jigawa in continuation of its media field day tour aimed at meeting with
beneficiaries of its various intervention programmes.
The visit was also organised to enable SG 2000 to assess the
success or otherwise of its various intervention programmes. (NAN)
UP signs
MoC with Japan; Israel to help set up centres of excellence
The
Uttar Pradesh government on Friday signed a five-year memorandum of cooperation
(MoC) with Japan on the opening day of the three-day ‘Krishi Kumbh’ paving the
way for Japanese companies to make investments in the state’s agriculture
sector.
LUCKNOW Updated: Oct 27, 2018 15:37 IST
HT Correspondent
Hindustan Times, Lucknow
Hindustan Times, Lucknow
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath
looking at some of the exhibits at Krishi Kumbh 2018 in Lucknow.(HT Photo)
The
Uttar Pradesh government on Friday signed a five-year memorandum of cooperation
(MoC) with Japan on the opening day of the three-day ‘Krishi Kumbh’ paving the
way for Japanese companies to make investments in the state’s agriculture
sector.
Japan
and Israel are UP’s partners in Krishi Kumbh, a congregation of around 50,000
farmers, investors and experts. It is a first-of-its-kind event in the state to
find ways to double farmers’ income by 2022.
Israel
will help Uttar Pradesh in setting up centres of excellence, one each in
Kannauj (vegetable) and Basti (fruits) besides extending cooperation in drip
irrigation.
agriculture
minister Surya Pratap Shahi said: “We have signed an MoC with Japan for five
years with the understanding that Japanese companies will help UP in giving a
push to its agri industry and developing food chain to benefit farmers.”
Two
dozen companies from Japan and Israel are participating in the event.
Agriculture
director Souraj Singh said International Crop Research Institute for Arid Tropics,
International Rice Research Institute, International Food Policy Research
Institute, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, and many
institutes and delegates representing policy-makers in Japan and Israel were
also participating in the Krishi Kumbh.
A
representative of a Japanese company that has put up a stall said the company
was interested in producing honey in UP.
The
summit has 12 expert sessions and three to four sessions will be held every day
to help farmers decrease their input cost and increase income by using latest
modern means of farming.
Getting
exposed to a luxurious venue with air-conditioned pandals having stalls of
different products, and seeing live shows on modern ways of sowing was a new
experience for farmers.
“Water
shortage in our district can be taken care of if the government helps us in
buying this technology,” Ram Ratan, a farmer from Jorai village in Sonbhadra
district said, referring to drip irrigation technology.
In
drip irrigation, water and nutrient are directly delivered to the plant’s roots
in the right amount so that it may grow optimally.
Scientists develop transgenic rice
that can grow under high salinity, drought
A team of Indian and international scientists hit upon the
idea while studying a wild rice variety, Pokkali, grown in coastal regions of
Kerala
By Sunderarajan
Padmanabhan
Last Updated: Friday 26 October 2018
Tests showed that the plant expressed the gene, OsIF, four
times more than in traditional plants. Credit: Getty Images
A group of researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and
University of Illinois have developed
transgenic rice that promises to generate
high yields even under conditions of high salinity, high temperature and
drought.
The scientists hit upon the idea while studying a wild rice
variety, Pokkali, grown in coastal regions of Kerala. When they tried to figure
out its ability to survive and thrive in highly saline environment, it emerged
that it had very high level of a gene, OsIF. Tests showed that the plant
expressed the gene four times more than in traditional plants.
Using this insight, researchers raised another rice plant, IR
64, with OsIF over-expressed in it. They did so by using a promoter derived
from cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV). It was found that over-expression of OsIF
improved the growth and yield of this plant significantlyin adverse conditions
of high salinity, high temperature and drought. This plant had a yield of 20
per cent more than a normal one. Further studies showed that over-expression
helped by stabilising the process of photosynthesis in the plant.
The OsIF gene encodes a protein in rice for cell components
called intermediate filaments (IFs). These filaments protect cells from
external forces, besides participating in cell adhesion and tissue integrity.
They also act as a molecular scaffold that controls intracellular organisation
and contribute to signalling events in response to cell stress.
The research group has been engaged in understanding biochemical
and molecular basis of salinity tolerance of the Pokkali rice for the past two
decades. “Pokkali is a beautiful example for how new stress tolerant genotypes
have evolved under natural selection pressure. It posed a challenge before us
to find out as to how it is able to survive and set seeds under salinity
stress, through relatively less in number,” said AshwaniPareek, research team
leader at JNU, while speaking to India
Science Wire.
Besides OsIF, he said, “We have identified and functionally
validated over one dozen stress responsive genes from the plant. Our study has
shown unique involvement of intermediate filaments in cellular protection
against abiotic stress in rice.”
Besides Pareek, the research team included Neelam Soda, Khalid
Anwar, Ashutosh Sharan (School of Life Sciences, JNU); Brijesh K Gupta and Sneh
Lata Singla-Pareek (ICGEB); and Govindjee(University of Illinois). The research
results have been published journal Scientific
Reports. (India Science Wire)
IRRI and Crop Trust Team Up to Protect the Future of Rice.
Two organizations, Crop Trust and The International Rice Research Institute,
announced their agreement providing US$1.4 million a year, in perpetuity,
funding the world’s largest rice collection. This agreement, set to be signed
on World Food Day, is intended to finance “the conservation and sharing of
136,000 varieties of the staple crop that feeds more than three billion people
worldwide,” says Crop Trust. The funding of this gene bank is provided by
Crop Trust’s endowment fund and will go through five-year phases.
Climate change is increasingly putting
pressure on farmers and the global food systems, according to
researchers from the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI), the Consultative Group for International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the
transdisciplinary International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food
Systems (IPES). Scientists at IRRI’s facility in Los Baños are
currently working toward developing varieties of rice that can survive climate
change using the stored seeds.
“Our work to conserve rice has a proven track record in bringing
benefits to the world,” says IRRI evolutionary biologist Ruaraidh
Sackville-Hamilton. “With this collection safely conserved, we can continue to
use it to develop improved rice varieties that farmers can use to respond to
the challenges in rice production, and to adapt to the changing tastes and
preferences of consumers everywhere.”
The collection houses a variety of rice species used to create
strains resistant to extreme climate. One variety to assist farmers across Asia
is called scuba rice. Scuba Rice is designed to tolerate up to two weeks of
flooding. Other developments include varieties developed to withstand drought,
pests, diseases, and iron toxicity.
Not only is the IRRI one of 11 genebanks of the CGIAR, but
it is spearheading a new permanently funded conservation effort that Crop Trust
hopes to replicate in the future according to Marie Haga, Executive Director of
the Crop Trust. The agreement also ensures that other conservation efforts
benefit from the funding, asking IRRI to provide advice to five other
genebanks.
The lasting effects of this agreement could be significant,
impacting the ability of farmers to successfully farm the staple crop for years
to come. “Rice is and will continue to be a vital crop for rural development,
for improving the economic fortunes status of millions of people and for establishing
sustainable, resilient food systems,” says Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive
Director of the CGIAR System Organization.
Paddy procured is double the produce
Oct 27, 2018, 2:21 AM; last updated: Oct 27, 2018,
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, October 26
Tribune News Service
Karnal, October 26
Procurement
agencies in Karnal have already purchased more than double the total paddy
produced in the district and the harvesting season is not yet over.
The Tribune has
learnt that due to a nexus between procurement agencies, marketing board
officials, millers and traders, PDS rice from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is being
pushed into the procurement stream by showing it as rice delivered against
custom milling of paddy.
Since no paddy against this rice is
needed by millers, its procurement is shown only on paper by procuring fake
gate passes, etc.
Paddy from UP is
being brought to the state much to the detriment of local farmers, who allege
that their crop is being rejected on one pretext or the other.
“I brought paddy to this grain
market on Wednesday and have been asked to wait as the moisture content is
high. I have been informed that it will be sold for anything between Rs 1,500
and Rs 1,550 per quintal,” alleged a farmer in the Karnal grain market.
According to the
data available with the state Agriculture Department, paddy is grown on 1.72
lakh hectare in the district. With 40 per cent of it under basmati cultivation,
grade A paddy was grown on around 1.03 lakh hectare.
With average
yield in the district being 6 tonne per hectare, the total paddy production in
the district should be around 6.19 lakh tonne. However, the procurement
agencies have already procured 13.53 lakh tonne of paddy and the
procurement is not yet over.
Karnal Arhtiyas
Association president Rajnish Chaudhary admitted that paddy was being brought
from UP and other states to Karnal district. The administration should increase
vigil at inter-state ‘nakas’ to check the arrival of paddy from other states.
He, however, evaded a reply on allegations of PDS or other cheaper quality rice
being pushed into the procurement stream.
Haryana Rice
Millers and Dealers Association vice-president Vinod Goel said farmers from
Haryana, who owned land in UP, could bring paddy to the Karnal grain market.
There was no ban on trade of paddy from other states, he said.
How it happens?
·
Paddy crop purchased by state procurement agencies on behalf
of FCI
·
Sent to millers for milling (leave it to the millers to
procure on their behalf)
·
Millers have to deliver 67 kg of rice against 100 kg of paddy
to FCI
·
Millers who already have ‘PDS’ rice or other cheaper rice
stored with them make procurement only on paper by procuring gate pass, Form J
and other documents in collusion with the officials of procurement agencies and
marketing board
·
Through a bogus procurement, the millers not only take away
price of their inferior rice as per MSP of the paddy, but also get milling
charges and other benefits without actually purchasing any crop
PM Narendra Modi bats for new technology in
agriculture sector as he inaugurates ‘Krishi Kumbh’ in Lucknow
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi Friday inaugurated the 'Krishi Kumbh' in Lucknow as he
expressed hope that the event will pave the way for new technology to be
imbibed in the agriculture sector.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi Friday expressed confidence that farmers would pave the
way for new technology to be imbibed and hoped better opportunities would be
created in the agriculture sector.
Addressing the three-day ‘Krishi Kumbh’ on
its opening day here via video conferencing, Modi appreciated the UP government
for its efforts in augmenting substantially, the procurement of foodgrains. He
asserted that farmers are the ones who take the country forward.
The prime minister reiterated the Centre’s
commitment to double the income of farmers by 2022. In this context, he
mentioned the series of steps that the government is pursuing to reduce farm
input costs and raise profits.
He also mentioned that a large number of
solar pumps will be installed in farms across the country in the near future.
“The Government is working to deliver the
benefits of science to agriculture,” he said.
Modi also said that the Rice Research Centre
being set up in Varanasi, is a step in this direction.
The Prime Minister spoke of the importance of
value addition in farming and mentioned the steps being taken in the food
processing sector.
He said that after the Green Revolution,
emphasis now is on milk production, honey production and also on poultry and fisheries.
The PM called for discussions on matters such
as judicious use of water resources, better technology for storage and use of
latest technology in farming, during the Krishi Kumbh.
Amid concerns over rising level of air
pollution in the national capital, Modi emphasised on the need to evolve new
technologies and ways that will help eliminate the need for farmers to burn
crop stubble.
Speaking on the occasion Union Agriculture
minister Radhmohan Singh said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, the country is transforming at a fast pace. With doubling of their income
by 2022, the farmers of the country will be strengthened.”
The three-day Krishi Kumbh is a high profile
conglomeration of farmers, scientists, industrialists, research institutions
and policy makers to generate awareness among farmers, to define latest
technologies and to showcase the business opportunities in agro processing for
business houses.
The event is spread in an area of over 13
hectares for showcasing the best agro practices in the country. It will provide
an opportunity to the stakeholders to understand the requirements of each other
for investment benefits.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “The
production potential of our soil is that it can fulfill the food requirements
of the entire world. However, it could not be realised primarily due to lack of
techniques and awareness. If the farmers who have assembled at the Krishi Kumbh
can gain knowledge from international experts, and implement them, then there
is no doubt that the income of the farmers will be doubled by 2022.”
UP Agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi
said nearly 2.5 crore farmers from UP are likely to be benfitted from the Krishi
Kumbh.
“Development of farmers in UP, will
eventually result in development of farmers in the country,” he said.
Reschke appointed to wild rice task force
Reschke appointed to wild rice task force
Natural Resources Research
Institute Aquatic Vegetation Scientist Carol Reschke has been appointed to
Governor Dayton's Wild Rice Task Force. Her expertise will help the group of
experts and stakeholders find a compromise solution to wild rice restoration
and protection in Minnesota.
Reschke is currently researching
the microbial communities of wild rice and competing emergent plants that often
displace wild rice.
The Governor appointed Task Force
is comprised of representatives from Tribal Nations, industry, environmental
advocacy groups, scientists, state government agencies and others.
NRRIs is to deliver research
solutions to balance our economy, resources and environment for resilient
communities.
Rice import lib draws support from solon
CAMARINES
Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte is urging the Senate to quickly approve the rice
tariffication bill to stabilize the retail prices of rice and ease the
galloping inflation.
He
said President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of the import liberalization bill
as an urgent measure should prod the Senate to act on it with dispatch as soon
as Congress resumed session on Nov. 12.
“The
prompt approval of the rice tariffication bill is the fastest way for both
chambers of Congress to help President Duterte tame inflation and ease
its impact on consumers, most especially this coming holiday season given that
food expenses account for 9.7 percent of the consumer price index,” Villafuerte
said.
He
said the measure’s swift passage would go a long way toward boosting rice
production, a long-term approach to stabilizing the supply and price of the
staple.
Under
the bill, import tariffs are to go to the rice competitiveness enhancement
fund, which the
Agriculture
department would use to provide for easy-to-access loans to farmers for
production, inputs for fertilizers, post-harvest facilities and research and
development.
Villafuerte
is the co-author of the House of Representatives’ version of the rice
tariffication bill that was approved in August.
In
certifying the rice tariffication bill as urgent, Duterte cited the “urgent
need to improve the availability of rice, prevent artificial rice shortages,
reduce the prices of rice, and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel
domination in the rice industry.
The
rice tariffication bill would be a “win-win” situation for consumers and
farmers amid the high inflation, Villafuerte said.
Consumers
would benefit from the bill as the lifting of the quantitative restriction on
rice imports would reduce the inflation rate by .07 percentage point, the
central bank says.
“Lower
prices would benefit farmers too as they are also rice consumers,” Villafuerte
said.
Why farmers want rice imports stopped
By Otiato Guguyu | Published Sun, October 28th
2018 at 00:00,
Updated
October 27th 2018 at 23:07 GMT +3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Twitter Farmers at rice farms in Mwea. Mwea
rice farmers want the Government to control imports to keep prices stable as
they wait to harvest in a month’s time. The demand could be hard to implement
given that about 90 per cent of the rice consumed locally is imported, a good
chunk from Pakistan - Kenya’s main tea market. The farmers say to break even on
leased land, they need to make Sh52 per kilo and Sh30 per kilo on own farm.
Mwea Irrigation Scheme covers 20,000 acres with an additional 6,000 acres by
private outgrowers. Last year, they sold rice between Sh62 and Sh72 a kilo
after demand picked up. Chairman of Irrigation Water Users Association Moris
Mutugi said imports flooding the market will hurt earnings if not controlled.
“We are expecting a bumper harvest and we foresee struggle to get market. If
imports must come, then they should not be brought here to compete with ours,”
he said. Your opinion is valuable. Take this quick survey to help us improve
the website and content Kenya imported 625,000 tonnes of rice last year
compared to 507,999 in 2016. Production Rice production is estimated at 160,000
tonnes against a consumption of 450,000 tonnes. Irrigation Principal Secretary
Fred Segor said while the Government could not clamp down on imports, it would
ensure importers paid requisite duty that would make Kenyan rice competitive.
“One important issue is when farmers produce they spend money and have to get
money so marketing is important,” he said. “We are in a free market so you
cannot stop but there is mechanism for duties which should make rice
competitive.” He blamed the cheap imports on loopholes where the Government is
not able to tax the rice, and counterfeits. He also challenged farmers to
increase productivity to bridge the deficit. Mwea farmers are currently producing
are expecting to reap 90,000 tonnes this year.
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001300608/farmers-want-rice-imports-stopped
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001300608/farmers-want-rice-imports-stopped
Tiny gyroscope the size of a grain of rice
could help shrink gadgets even further
October 28th, 2018
This optical gyroscope is 500 times smaller than existing models(Credit: Caltech)
How small? Well, smaller than a grain of rice
in fact. If you're hoping your next phone is going to be an easier fit inside
your pocket – or even small enough to clip to your wrist – then this is one of
the innovations that might help.
"The proof-of-concept device is capable of
detecting phase shifts 30 times smaller than state-of-the-art miniature
fibre-optic gyroscopes, despite being 500 times smaller in size," explains
the team behind the work.
Today's wearables, smartphones,
and drones use microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensors as gyroscopes, to work out
how they are being rotated: it's how your phone knows to switch from portrait
to landscape mode when you turn it around.
These electronic gyroscopes are much smaller
than the rotating, nested wheels that made up the first models, but they're not
always as accurate as they could be. That's led to the development of optical
gyroscopes that use a split beam of light to get their bearings – what's known
as the Sagnac effect.
While optical gyroscopes improve accuracy, up until now they haven't been any
smaller than a golf ball. That brings us to the new research from scientists
from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), who have used a
technique they call "reciprocal sensitivity enhancement" to make
optical gyroscopes substantially smaller.
The Sagnac effect works by detecting very
slight variations in the two beams of light split from a single source: those
differences can be decoded by the gyroscope to judge rotation and orientation.
The trick that the researchers have pulled off is to weed out some of the noise
from these signals while maintaining the variations essential to the Sagnac
effect (so "reciprocal" in affecting both light beams together).
That reduced noise – or "sensitivity
enhancement" – means the whole system can work with weaker signals, and
that means everything can be shrunk right down. The work has been published in Nature Photonics.
As is the case with any research of this type,
it's going to take a long time for the technology to make its way from the
laboratory to a gadget being sold on the shelves of your local electronics
store, but now you know what's in the pipeline: super-small gyroscopes that are
more accurate than ever before.
Source: Caltech
https://newatlas.com/tiny-optical-gyroscope-grain-of-rice/56976/
Economic
sabotage
By Panay News
Monday, October 29, 2018
SOME
unscrupulous rice traders are hoarding rice to the detriment of our poor
countrymen who must struggle to eat three square meals a day. They should be
held liable for violating Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling
Act of 2016.
Also,
the Department of Agriculture should charge with economic sabotage the owners
of warehouses stockpiling and repacking National Food Authority (NFA) rice and
passing them off as expensive commercial rice.
We
shouldn’t buy the excuse of traders that this is merely inventory management.
This is clearly a case of economic sabotage. Hoarding rice to create a scenario
wherein rice is scarce results in skyrocketing rice prices. This is the very
definition of price manipulation and economic sabotage.
By
manipulating supply and demand, unscrupulous rice traders are able to increase
rice prices while providing the NFA officials with justifications to import
rice from Vietnam and other countries. This is an old trick repeatedly used by
these unscrupulous rice cartels. They suppress the supply of rice and create an
artificial rice shortage thereby leaving our consumers with no choice but to
buy expensive commercial rice.
Relative to rice importation, there must be full disclosure and
transparency – keys to dismantling rice cartel.
Replacement of import quotas with tariffs would not dismantle the
rice cartels. The government rosters of rice importers and traders must be
purged of smugglers, economic saboteurs, hoarders, and tax evaders.
It is still business as usual for rice cartels because they control
the underlying system and internal architecture of rice importation and
distribution. Their control of that system is not addressed by any of the bills
on rice tariffication. But revoking their licenses and permits to import rice
will deal a serious blow to the rice cartels.
Rice cartel members are able to operate with impunity because their
identities are hidden from public view. Isn’t it curious that the lists or
registries of licensed or accredited rice importers and traders are not front
page material on the websites of the NFA, the Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau
of Customs, Department of Trade and Industry, and Bureau of Internal Revenue —
the five agencies which are supposed to have those lists and supporting
documents?
It is time to bring those names out of the shadows through
transparent and verifiable full disclosure on the website of the Department of
Agriculture of the names, executives, and contact numbers and electronic
records of all transaction details of all rice importers and traders, as well
as their freight forwarders and warehouses.
There must be a rigorous vetting process, with the crucial
involvement of civil society watchdog organizations, that will purge of the
lists of rice importers and traders. Yes, there must be a detailed audit and
forensic examination of all the processes and documents in the rice importation
cycle.
Sowing
innovation
Rice farmers in Asia-Pacific are facing
numerous challenges from labour shortages to climate change but innovation can
help save the day and even make farming 'sexy' again
- 29 Oct 2018 at 04:30
- NEWSPAPER
SECTION: ASIA
FOCUS | WRITER: TANYATORN
TONGWARANAN
In a village called Chari,
located in the eastern state of Jharkhand in India, Prativa Devi got married at
the age of 13 to a man whose family earned a living mainly by farming.
The four-acre farmland became her family's main source of income where they grew rice crops as Ms Devi fulfilled her role as a mother of three, a wife and a provider for the family.
She remembers the time when she grew indigenous
rice crops which were solely dependent on rains and a local pond for
irrigation, but those days are long gone.
The year 2008 was a major turning point when a training camp was held in her
village to educate her and other villagers about hybrid rice."I learned about the benefits of growing hybrid rice and applying modern agricultural techniques. I decided to try it out and we started growing in 2010," she recalls.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) defines hybrid rice as "a type of rice that has been bred from two very different parents". Compared to traditional inbred rice, of which seed and subsequent crops have the same genetic makeup as the parent crop, commercial hybrid rice can generate up to 30% higher yields than the high-yielding inbred rice when grown under the same conditions, it says.
The training has proven to be highly beneficial for Ms Devi's family.
"Our profits doubled," she says. "We bought a two-wheeler, a tractor and a pickup four-wheeler. We built a permanent house and all my children now study in good schools. My entire family are very happy.
"We owe our existence to farming. It has transformed our lives and has brought tremendous change and holds great significance for all of us," said Ms Devi with a smile.
Ms Devi is one of 70 million rice farmers across Asia-Pacific whose life is dependent on the productivity of their farms.
These farmers are facing considerable challenges, from land and water scarcity, labour shortages, unpredictable climate change and a lack of access to knowledge and technical expertise.
Rice is already one of the world's most important staple food, with Asians the main consumers. As the population increases across the region, Asia's rice consumption is projected to account for about two-thirds of the total demand by 2050.
"There's a combination of things that have worked against rice farmers. Over the next 25 years, we will need to increase rice production by 25% to 550 million tonnes per year to ensure sufficient food supply for the world," Peter Ford, president, Asia Pacific, Corteva Agriscience, an agricultural division of DowDuPont, told Asia Focus on the sideline of the fifth International Rice Congress held recently in Singapore.
"Given the current growth rate, the global population is expected to reach about 10 billion by 2050. Much of this growth will occur in poor, densely populated regions in Asia and Africa that are already highly dependent on rice for food, nutrition, and livelihoods," said Matthew Morell, IRRI's director general and CEO.
"These populations will be further challenged by the realities of climate change and we as a community must provide the innovations and innovative thinking to meet and overcome these challenges," he told the forum.
Farra Siregar, managing director of Corteva's Asean, said about 60% of farmers in Asia are smallholders whose agricultural activity is carried out on small and marginal farms in areas of two hectares or below.
"For small holding farms, every challenge got amplified, especially in labour constraints, ageing farmers, weed control issue and illiteracy," she told Asia Focus.
According to the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture, farm holdings in Asia-Pacific are the smallest in the world, averaging only one hectare compared with the average of 5.5 hectares for 114 countries covered by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
To deal with the labour constraints, Ms Siregar explained that small farmers would need the best technology and agronomy knowledge about seeds, crop protection and mechanisation in order to improve their yield. Due to their size, these issues have proven to be more difficult for them.
Mr Ford added that bringing technology to the market can help make a difference. The technology is there to help rice farmers but access to knowledge is by far the limitation.
INNOVATIVE
ECOSYSTEM
Similar
to other industries, small farmers are facing a rapidly changing world, said
Gilbert Houngbo, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD), the United Nation's international financial institution dedicated to
eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries."They need to simultaneously adapt to climate change and increase output and must be at the heart of an emerging agricultural 'innovation ecosystem'," he said.
Through the innovation ecosystem, collaboration and contribution of a range of actors in the broader ecosystem -- from scientists and academics to financiers, small businesses and industries -- is needed to turn new ideas into better ways of doing things, he told the forum.
To analyse the problems faced by rural communities, for instance, one needs to look at all the aspects of the value chain, with small farmers playing a key role, and search for innovative ideas that can solve them by involving all key stakeholders.
"Creating a rural innovation ecosystem that works well is difficult because every locality has a different set of challenges," he added.
An example of the IFAD value chain project can be seen in eastern Indonesia under the Smallholder Livelihood Development project (SOLID), which brought together multiple innovation across the value chain in nutrition, dietary habits, crop science, fishing techniques, technology, food loss and market access.
"Farming in the 21st century means connecting to rapidly modernising value chains and meeting quality standards, accessing information technology, taking advantage of new seeds and diversifying production and coping with the effects of climate change," Mr Houngbo said.
Another prominent example could also be seen through Corteva's farmer network, education outreach programme and large plot demonstration or education farms, which are actual fields experience trials conducted on farmers' fields.
"For the farmers, seeing is believing and farmers trust other farmers. The best way is for them to see that it works on their peers' plots. This can help overcome the adoption challenge. Sometimes farmers are not only ageing but also illiterate. The way that we educate them has to also be simple," Ms Siregar said.
She added that Corteva currently has direct engagement with over 7 million farmers, with 1-1.5 million addition every year.
"We want to demystify the misconception. We take [the farmers] through the whole value chain through farm schools or education-farms where they can learn how to sow the seed, how to fertilise. We hold their hands and walk them through all the way to harvest," noted Mr Ford.
Interestingly, he says, many farmers in this part of the world overuse fertilisers, thereby wasting money and causing damage to their crops. The programme helps walk them through how to protect the crops against pests and diseases with different practices.
"The biggest step change for rice farmers is the adoption of hybrids versus the traditional practice of self-sowing seed or open pollinated varieties (OPV)," he added.
OPV seeds are produced from cross-pollinating two of the same variety of a plant, usually by wind, birds or insects, resulting in plants that are very similar, but naturally varied.
"We see a 15-20% yield increase just from taking that one step of adopting hybrid seeds. The limiting factor is knowledge -- replacing the seed they traditionally use. Through other agronomic intervention or other farm practices, the yield could go up to 30%," he said.
In terms of pricing, Mr Ford said although hybrid seeds are generally more expensive than self-sowing or inbred varieties, he doesn't see the cost or price of inputs a major problem as the programme monitors and measure the output and return on investment (ROI) rigorously.
"If we can keep the farmers profitable and get them to value and understand the full picture, not just cost but the whole entire picture, the more profitable, the more sustainable," said Ms Siregar.
"We want to make farming sexy again. It is high-risk, high-tech, and it's beautiful. There is no reason why future generation would not want to be a successful farmer. It's the backbone in any kind of progress if we see historically.
"What we need to do is showcase farming as an entrepreneurship -- an 'agripreneur' looks at it as a small business. There is a lot of science behind it and there is a lot of digitalisation coming on stream. We need to demystify it and don't see farming as traditional farming and show how modern farmers are like," she added.
THE
THREE Cs
Rajan
Gajaria, executive vice-president for business platforms at Corteva
Agriscience, highlighted the importance of the "3Cs" in driving
innovation in rice farming: convergence, collaboration and consumers."Innovation is usually overrated," he said, "What is underrated is hand-in-hand discussion, conversation and education. All of these factors will make innovation comes to life."
He pointed out that there is no one single technology that can solve the problem. It is how different technologies converge together to fix basic fundamental of good agronomic practices.
"There has been a lot of progress being made on seed, chemistry, physics, mathematics, big data and the way we make use of layers and layers of information. However, this information will not be useful unless you can educate and share the practices with the farmers," he explained.
This brings him to the next point on collaboration.
"The key part of innovation is collaboration. I don't think there is any company, university, or academia in the world who can make a difference all by themselves. If all of us are working together in a collaborative spirit, there could be a fundamental difference in how we can approach rice productivity across Southeast Asia," he said.
He added all stakeholders must work in conjunction to find the way to improve rice productivity.
"If misinformation is preventing a small farmer from realising his or her full potential, shame on us. This is the opportunity for us to partner to see what we can do and at the end of the day, let them unleash their full potential."
Lastly, ensuring the trust among the consumers is another key area to complete the value chain of efficient and sustainable rice production.
For instance, there is still a perception that rice farming uses a lot of water and intensifying the global environmental challenge.
"Innovation is important, but it alone is not enough. You cannot keep banking on innovation when a basic issue of rice farmer education, policymaking, regulatory and consumer trusts is still there," said Mr Gajaria.
"Unless we complete this whole value chain -- from technology innovation, laboratories, fields and education for farmers to trust among consumers -- we are not going to be able to reap the benefits of any innovation," he added.
"Rice is not only a crop. It is a way of life. It's livelihood. There are a lot of socio-economic values associated with it. It can make or break countries in this part of the world, depending on how successful the rice crop is."
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1566374/sowing-innovation
