Tuesday, September 03, 2019

3rd September,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter


PARC Recommends 07 New Rice Verities For Commercial Cultivation In Pakistan

 
Description: PARC recommends 07 new rice verities for commercial cultivation in Pakistan

The Variety Evaluation Committee of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) here on Tuesday approved 07 new rice verities for commercial cultivation across the crop sowing areas of the country

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Sep, 2019 ) :The Variety Evaluation Committee of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) here on Tuesday approved 07 new rice verities for commercial cultivation across the crop sowing areas of the country.
The Committee which met with Chairman PARC in the Chair, discussed the characteristics of different verities of rice seeds for commercial cultivation and their impact on per-acre yield.
The National Coordinator on Rice of PARC presented working paper for all thirty three proposals of rice hybrids varieties for recommendation to the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department. The Committee recommended 7 rice hybrid varieties for commercial cultivation in the country. Representatives of seed companies appreciated the role of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council for setting the new bench marks for testing of rice hybrids varieties in Pakistan for the benefits of farmers as well as rice sector in Pakistan.
Addressing the meeting, Chairman PARC Muhammad Ayub Chaudhry appreciated the role of private and public sector for taking interest in research and development of rice in the country.
He briefed about upcoming projects on rice under Prime Minister's National Agriculture Emergency Program and said that he was happy to see foreigners participating in the Committee's meeting.
Meanwhile, Dr Abdul Ghafoor, Member, Plant Sciences Division, PARC emphasized the role of quality seed for the productivity and profitability of farmers and appreciated the role of seed companies and public sector institutes for making efforts to improve the potential of rice hybrids/varieties in Pakistan.
The meeting was attended by by technical members from National Agriculture Research System including the Director General, Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, food Security Commissioner from Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
The representatives of seed companies including Chairman Seed Association of Pakistan also attended the meeting.

Rice exporters for forward exchange rates booking

·      RECORDER REPORT 
·      SEP 3RD, 2019
·      KARACHI
Rice exporters have asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for forward exchange rates booking against import of plant machinery and grain storages and allied equipment for export sector. In a meeting with Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Dr Reza Baqir at Federation House on Friday, Rafique Suleman Convener FPCCI Standing Committee on Rice Exports and former Chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) highlighted the issues being faced by the rice exporters.

He said that SBP has continued to provide incentivised financing schemes for exporters in lieu of BMR and setting up new infrastructures for plant machines and grain storage solutions which definitely helps the export sector immensely, but due highly volatile exchange rates, the planned expansions bring in uncertainty thus the volatility deterring the incentives provided by SBP.

Therefore, he requested governor SBP that exporters particularly rice sector should be allowed forward exchange rates booking against import of plant machinery and grain storages and allied equipment, in order to have sound expansion planning. Suleman mentioned that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced to issue the bonds to rice exporters against their Sales Tax Receivables and accordingly accepted by exporters, however, these are not yet tradable instruments. He requested that since these bonds will be issued in lieu of Payables by the State to exporters, SBP may instruct National Bank of Pakistan to commence purchasing these bonds at face value. This will help the exporters to manage their liquidity.

Convener FPCCI Sanding Committee on Rice also informed that commercial banks are refusing to certify Form-E when product value is higher than the listed Minimum Export Price (MEP). During off season especially for premium varieties such as IRRI-9, PK-386, Basmati, 1121 and similar, the price of rice increases due to premium derived from high cooking results.

"We have received multiple complaints by REAP members that where price per unit is higher than the listed MEP, commercial banks are refusing to certify the Form-E," he added. There is need to be clarified here that the enforcement of Minimum Export Price was implemented on the suggestion of REAP to TDAP to address the menace of under invoicing, but there should be no bar on higher values, on the contrary government should encourage premium value exports by fetching higher value of per unit price, he urged.

Suleman said that exporters are making efforts to enhance rice exports up to $5 billion dollar in next few years, however there is need to address the issues being faced by the rice trade. During the meeting, governor SBP assured to facilitate the rice exporters to earn more foreign exchange for the country.

British Kashmiris Boycott Indian Rice In England

 
Description: British Kashmiris boycott Indian rice in England

British Kashmiris have boycotted the Indian rice in England in reaction to the Indian government's recent step regarding occupied Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Sep, 2019) :British Kashmiris have boycotted the Indian rice in England in reaction to the Indian government's recent step regarding occupied Kashmir.
According to Jammu Kashmir TV, 1.2 million British Kahsmiris have boycotted the Indian product to send a message to India against withdrawal of the special status of occupied Kashmir.
The Indian rice has been put on offer at shops at lower rates due to decrease in demand in England.
On the other hand, the Kashmir valley remains cut off from the rest of the world since August 05 due to the continued blockade and suspension of internetmobile and landline phones and closure of tv channels.


Rice: Produce floods Katsina markets as farmers begin harvest
  Tunde Ososanya - Markets in Katsina are being flooded with rice as farmers begin massive harvest of the produce - Price of rice in Katsina markets has reduced due to the massive harvest by farmers in the state - According to a farmer, Alhaji Umar Osman, the low market price of rice compared to last year’s is nothing to worry about - Oman says the price will not affect the revenue of the farmers As farmers in Katsina begin massive harvest of rice, the produce is currently flooding markets around the state, a development that has made the price of rice to reduce. A large-scale farmer identified as Alhaji Umar Osman said that the low market price of rice compared to last year’s is nothing to worry about. According to him, the price will not affect the revenue of the farmers, Daily Trust reports. Legit.ng notes that Osman said: “The volume of rice produced this year in this state will be higher than that of last year. From Danmusa down to Sabuwa LGA everywhere are rice farms and God so kind blessed us with adequate rainfall this year. 7 popular types of poultry farming in Nigeria “Because of its massive production, what you just saw in the markets is the beginning of rice harvest in the state.” Speaking about the price, Muhammadu Ashiru, a paddy rice dealer at Dandume market, said: “Last year by now, a bag of paddy rice was sold for N8,000 to N10,000 depending on variety. "But now the price starts from N5,000 to N8,000. ‘Farar Jar Naira’ variety was sold at N8,000; ‘Jeap’ variety was sold at N6,000, while the rest were sold at not less than N5,000. The prices notwithstanding do not badly affect the farmers as they are recording bumper harvest.” Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, August 28, explained the reason for the partial closure of Nigeria’s border with Benin Republic. The president said the closure was based on the fact that there were massive smuggling activities, especially of rice, happening at the border. Did you know how important fish farming is for Nigeria? Buhari made this known during his side meeting with the president of Benin, Patrice Talon, at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD7) in Japan. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app The president expressed great grief over the fact that rice smuggling threatens his administration's agricultural policies which have tried to ensure self-sufficiency. He said: “Now that our people in the rural areas are going back to their farms, and the country has saved huge sums of money which would otherwise have been expended on importing rice using our scarce foreign reserves, we cannot allow smuggling of the product at such alarming proportions to continue.” Read more: 

Why China, The World's Largest Rice Producer, Quietly Bought U.S. Rice Last Year

September 2, 20196:36 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
China is the world's biggest rice producer. So why did it agree to buy two shipping containers of rice from the U.S.? Planet Money reporters explain the other trade battle between the two countries.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The world is fixated on the U.S.-China trade war. But there's another tariff fight with China happening behind the scenes with a lot of money at stake, a battle over rice. Planet Money reporters Cardiff Garcia and Sally Herships explain why China agreed to buy two shipping containers of rice from the United States.
SALLY HERSHIPS, BYLINE: Very quietly last winter, China agreed to buy some rice from the U.S. - two shipping containers-full.
JIM GUINN: So that's the first sale of rice to China in recent history.
CARDIFF GARCIA, BYLINE: Jim Guinn is with the USA Rice Federation, a trade association. And I think we should all just pause here for a minute because we are talking about China buying rice from America. China is the world's largest producer of rice - 200 million tons a year it produces.
HERSHIPS: The plan for China to buy rice from America, it has been cooking for a really long time.
GARCIA: Nice.
HERSHIPS: (Laughter). And while administrations were changing, trade policies were shifting, rice importers and exporters on both sides of the ocean were left waiting. So this story really gets its start back in 2001. That is the year China joins the World Trade Organization. The job of the WTO is to oversee trade between different countries. If you join, you get to benefit from all these special trade deals with the other member countries. And for the already established members, when a country as big as China joins, it can mean all these potential new customers. So as part of the deal it cut when it joined the WTO, China agreed to make it easier and cheaper specifically for 5.3 million tons of foreign rice to come into the country.
JOE GLAUBER: In the rice world, that's a lot of rice.
GARCIA: Joe Glauber is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. So this deal happens, and rice farmers are getting psyched. Exporters are getting really excited. But there was a problem. China reneged on its side of the deal. China was not making it easier or cheaper to import foreign rice like it had promised. And if you were a U.S. farmer hoping to sell some of your rice crop to China, things just were not moving.
GLAUBER: China just wasn't importing rice.
GARCIA: At least, not from the United States. China was importing a tiny bit of rice from other countries. So what do you do if you are the United States? Well, you do the same thing that a lot of parties with a grievance do. You litigate at the WTO.
GLAUBER: The U.S., actually, during the last couple of months of the Obama administration took China to the WTO to the settlement body and said, hey, China's not playing by the rules. They're not importing rice.
HERSHIPS: The World Trade Organization has its own kind of court, the Dispute Settlement Body. It lets countries which are upset with other countries about tariffs and import licenses try to work things out.
GARCIA: The case took three years to work out, which, as these things go, is actually pretty quick. But it did eventually get settled. The WTO said that China had to allow the sale, and China agreed to let it go through.
HERSHIPS: And even though the Chinese government may have been a reluctant purchaser of American rice, there are many consumers in China who might want the option to buy rice from America.
GARCIA: So the Chinese finally agreed to start importing more foreign rice, and it placed an order for American rice.
HERSHIPS: And that is the speed of international trade, Cardiff. Some of these deals can take a really long time to cook up.
GARCIA: Cardiff Garcia.
HERSHIPS: Sally Herships.

The ANC Brief: Prison time

ABS-CBN News
 Sep 03 2019 04:00 AM
Nicanor Faeldon said he isn’t leaving the Bureau of Corrections, and the Palace said, he still enjoys the trust and confidence of the president. Here are the big stories making the headlines on ANC today:
Description: https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/news/09/02/20190902-senate-gcta-hearing-md-21.jpg
Not going anywhere
Officials of the Bureau of Corrections led by Nicanor Faeldon were grilled at the Senate over the controversial good conduct time allowance for convicts. Faeldon admitted there was no release order for Antonio Sanchez because he recalled it. He also confirmed 3 of the convicts in the case of the Chiong sisters have been released. Faeldon said he is not stepping down. But the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission is set to conduct a probe into the release of inmates convicted of heinous crimes. The Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee will continue its hearing on the controversy. The House is also scheduled to conduct its probe on the issue.
Rice is life
The Senate will hold a hearing on the Rice Tariffication Law, which has been blamed for the flooding of rice imports and the current difficulties of farmers. Hopefully lawmakers will see a solution and prevent the extinction of the Filipino rice farmer.

No cash transfers, just loans for rice farmers

Farmers hurt by the rice tariffication law may loan up to P15,000 at zero interest, payable in 8 years

Ralf Rivas
Published 2:40 PM, September 03, 2019
Updated 2:40 PM, September 03, 2019
ASSISTANCE. The Department of Agriculture provides zero-interest loans for farmers. File photo by Albert Victoria/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – As palay farmgate prices reportedly drop to as low as P7 per kilo in some areas, small farmers hurt by the rice tariffication law will not be receiving conditional cash transfers from the government.
However, they may avail of zero-interest loans, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The DA launched on Monday, September 2, its Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance Program for Rice Farmers (SURE Aid) in Nueva Ecija.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the distribution of some 1,000 cash cards containing P15,000. The amount is readily available for them to withdraw and is payable in 8 years with no interest.
The DA allocated P1.5 billion under the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) and is administered by the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Senator Cynthia Villar said in a briefing on the matter on Tuesday, September 3, that the payment period for the loan essentially operates like a doleout, since it has no interest and rejects inflation factors.
Dar said in a DZMM interview that the DA does not have the money to shell out conditional cash transfers to farmers tending to small rice fields.
Other Stories

Where's P4 billion for farmers? Villar grills DBM, DA


Think tank Action for Economic Reforms (AER) said that while the loan program will not be enough to cover some 60,000 farmers who own less than one hectare, it is a good start.
"We hope that unconditional cash transfer can be provided for those which will not be covered by the ACPC loan. Let us not forget in the narrative the remaining 500,000 small farm owners who are also suffering from the worsening situation in our market," AER president Jessica Reyes Cantos said.
As stated in the law, P10 billion of the total collection from tariffs will be allocated for seeds, mechanization, and the extension component of the program. P1 billion will be for the credit facility for farmers.
Laurence Go, a researcher of AER, believes that the Department of Social Welfare and Development is the only agency that can implement the proposed unconditional cash transfer.
Meanwhile, Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said that the unconditional cash transfer provision was not put in the rice tariffication law, since the essence of the measure is to liberalize trade and let market forces play out.
"We have been giving loans for decades and it's not effective. With the law, we are doing a different approach to help the agriculture sector," Sombilla said.
Farmers are having a hard time competing with cheap rice imports because producing rice in the Philippines costs around P12 per kilo. The production cost of countries like Vietnam and Thailand is less than half of that. – Rappler.com


Gov’t may raise rice import tariffs to protect farmers – Marcos

By: Neil Arwin Mercado - Reporter / @NAMercadoINQ
INQUIRER.net / 08:01 PM September 02, 2019
MANILA, Philippines — “If South Korea and Japan have imposed import tariffs of 500% to 800% to protect their local farmers, why can’t we?”
Sen. Imee Marcos asked this question Monday as she offered possible solutions to the possibility of a drop in the buying price of palay due to cheap imports.
Marcos said that the government could provide financial support for local farmers by activating Section 7 of the Rice Tariffication Law, which gives the President the ability to increase tariffs on rice imports from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and even non-Asian countries.
Marcos called for the government to bring back the 17-peso support price of palay, citing that farm gate price of palay has plunged to P7 per kilo, lower than the average production cost of P12.
According to her, farmers have lost as much as 41.6% of their investment in the month of August.
Other possible solutions
Marcos debunked the idea that the situation of farmers had become “hopeless” and that “little can be done” to address the problems.
Other possible solutions that Marcos listed include the use of the Department of Agriculture’s Quick Response Fund to buy palay from farmers in addressing the government’s “currently inadequate” rice buffer stock, which will last for only 30 days.
Marcos said Recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s) can also receive rice subsidies instead of cash, with these rice supplies bought from local farmers.
Stricter phytosanitary requirements could also be imposed to slow down the entry of rice imports, as well as distribute rice import supplies in various markets nationwide.
The government could also consider adding rice in a “special products list” to allow for a more flexible trade set-up, especially when livelihood security is at risk, the senator added.
“We can save our rice farmers if we could just be thorough in our tasks, work hard, and get things done ASAP,” Marcos said.
The National Food Authority (NFA) was earlier asked to hasten the sale of more than four million bags of imported rice stocked in its warehouses with the proceeds to be used to purchase palay from local farmers.

For supporting liberalization of rice imports, DOF applauded by mayors

By
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Description: https://39byfk2z09ab1y1bzj1l5r82-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/agri01-020718-696x524.jpgIn File Photo: The National Food Authority stores its buffer rice stock consisting of imports and paddy it purchased from farmers in its warehouses.
THE League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) lauded the Department of Finance (DOF) for pushing the enactment of the law liberalizing rice imports, saying the law provided a “huge benefit” for their respective constituents.
In a manifesto, the umbrella organization of city mayors across the country said that since Republic Act 11203—or the rice liberalization law—took effect last March, the average retail cost of rice has dropped by at least P7 per kilo or 20 percent less than last year’s peak rates.
“We in the [LCP] have seen the huge benefit of this law to our respective constituencies who now enjoy more affordable prices of rice,” the group said in the manifesto signed by the organization’s national chairman, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella.
“In this regard, the efforts of Dominguez, the [DOF], and the rest of the country’s economic team should not go unnoticed,” said the LCP, which has 145 city mayors as members.
The rice liberalization law was approved, signed and implemented at the time when the country’s inflation rate accelerated due to the confluence of higher prices in food and oil prices, as well as the interjection of second round effects.
In 2018, when prices were continuously rising above the government’s 2 percent to 4 percent target range, President Duterte ordered the implementation of nonmonetary measures to ease food supply bottlenecks.
Following the implementation of the rice tariffication law, as well as the decline of prices in other segments, the country’s inflation rate has also fallen significantly last June—from a high of 6.7 percent in September and October 2018 to 2.4 percent in July 2019.
Dominguez has described the rice liberalization law on the shift from quantitative restrictions to tariffs on rice imports as a “proud” accomplishment of the Duterte presidency and the DOF, given that it took more than 30 years under various administrations to get the Congress to approve this game-changing reform. 



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Drought resistant gene discovery could protect crops against climate change

Scientists have located a gene in barley responsible for drought resistance.
02nd September, 2019 at 11:29
The discovery of a gene in barley responsible for drought resistance will help future-proof crops against some of the effects of climate change, scientists believe.
Researchers spent nearly five years isolating the specific gene – HvMYB1- from the more than 39,000 genes in barley.
Tests proved plants in which the gene is more prominently expressed are better able to survive drought.
The scientists believes this finding will have important implications for the cereals industry as it faces increasing challenges from climate change-related drought.
Peter Morris from Heriot Watt University led the research team.
“By increasing the expression of this particular gene in test plants and simulating drought conditions, we’ve been able to prove that plants in which HvMYB1 is more prominently expressed are able to survive prolonged periods of drought,” he said.
“This is a significant finding that will allow more drought resistance crops to be bred in the future.
“Drought is already impacting yields with the European cereals harvest hit particularly hard in 2018. A prolonged, dry and hot summer significantly impacted yields and quality.
“As climate change gathers pace and we experience more extreme seasons, it is essential we can maintain continuity of supply.
“This is significant for key industries like Scotch whisky, one of the UK’s leading export items.”

Peter Morris and Ross Alexander examine barley plants in the lab (Heriot Watt University/PA)
Mr Morris added: “This also has important implications for the wider cereals industry including the production of wheat, maize and rice.”
The research was funded by the Scotch Whisky Association and Interface, which matches businesses with academic experts.
The findings were published in the Journal of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.


LSU AgCenter partners with GB Sciences to produce medical marijuana

·       Sep 2, 2019 Updated Sep 2, 2019
Marijuana sits in an LSU AgCenter warehouse.
As anyone who has ever been put on hold by the LSU Office of Admissions can tell you, LSU is an award-winning school that participates in ground-breaking research. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that LSU AgCenter is partnering with GB Sciences Louisiana in a historic program researching and producing medical marijuana. 
GB Sciences Louisiana President John B. Davis said the partnership between the AgCenter and GB Sciences is the first of its kind.
“This doesn’t exist anywhere else in the United States or in the world," Davis said. "This is a first." 
The production facility in Baton Rouge began full-scale production of therapeutic cannabis in March 2019 and released their first products in early Aug. 2019. The facility was built by GB Sciences and includes a 6,000 square foot laboratory space the AgCenter will use for research on the cannabis plant, similar to the research it has conducted on rice and wheat crops. 
GB Sciences produces 3 different formulations of therapeutic cannabis. The different formulations contain different concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), and also have different delivery methods. 
The bill that granted LSU AgCenter one of two licenses in Louisiana to grow and research medical marijuana also outlined what medical conditions are eligible for treatment via medical marijuana, as well as the process doctors and pharmacies must go through to become licensed. 
The list of eligible medical conditions is wide-ranging and includes disorders such as HIV and AIDS, cancer, seizure disorders and epilepsy, glaucoma, Parkinson’s disease, and PTSD. 
Davis said therapeutic cannabis is not an appropriate treatment for everyone. He recommends patients with a medical condition eligible for medical marijuana treatment talk to their doctors.
Like any pharmaceutical, there is no blanket dosage that works for every patient. Different patients with different conditions and symptoms will need different concentrations and dosages. 
“In all cases, the suggested recommendation is to start low and stay low until you find your most therapeutic level of medication,” Davis said. 
Davis and AgCenter Vice President Ashley Mullens said the program has not received any backlash so far.
Mullens said many people have a personal connection to someone who has or perhaps could in the future benefit from medical marijuana.
“We all have loved ones that will benefit from this product,” Mullens said. 
Davis believes the program hasn't received any backlash because it isn't providing recreational marijuana, but instead a medication for people in need.
“When we think of medicine, we think of those family members or friends within our circle who have a debilitating medical condition,” Davis said. “And all that we really want is to provide them with improved quality of life.”
Currently, the GB Sciences lab employees 15 people, but Davis predicts the program could grow to employ up to 60 people. The project has drawn interest from Louisiana scientists but had been working in regions with more robust medical marijuana industries, such as Colorado, the West Coast and Washington D.C. 
As for the future of the project, the AgCenter is currently in talks with Pennington Biomedical Research Center and LSU Health Science Center about the possibility of conducting clinical trials.
Currently, no active University students are allowed inside the facility, but Mullens hopes grad students will be able to conduct research there in the future. 

Gene found for drought-resistant crops

Laura Paterson
AAP
Monday, 2 September 2019 4:36 am
UK scientists say a gene found in barley will help to future-proof crops against climate change.Image: EPA
The discovery of a gene in barley responsible for drought resistance will help future-proof crops against some of the effects of climate change, scientists believe.
Researchers spent nearly five years isolating the specific gene - HvMYB1 - from the more than 39,000 genes in barley.
Tests proved plants in which the gene is more prominently expressed are better able to survive drought.
The scientists believes this finding will have important implications for the cereals industry as it faces increasing challenges from climate change-related drought.
Peter Morris from Scotloand's Heriot Watt University led the research team.
"By increasing the expression of this particular gene in test plants and simulating drought conditions, we've been able to prove that plants in which HvMYB1 is more prominently expressed are able to survive prolonged periods of drought," he said.
"This is a significant finding that will allow more drought resistance crops to be bred in the future.
"Drought is already impacting yields with the European cereals harvest hit particularly hard in 2018. A prolonged, dry and hot summer significantly impacted yields and quality.
"As climate change gathers pace and we experience more extreme seasons, it is essential we can maintain continuity of supply.
"This is significant for key industries like Scotch whisky, one of the UK's leading export items."
Mr Morris added: "This also has important implications for the wider cereals industry including the production of wheat, maize and rice."
The research was funded by the Scotch Whisky Association and Interface, which matches businesses with academic experts.
The findings were published in the Journal of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry

Beyond Carolina Gold: Researchers work to revive ancient Southern crops



Rick Boyles, a research scientist at Clemson’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center, talks about how a combination of traditional and advanced plant genetic approaches are being used to determine which grain lines are best adapted to South Carolina and the entire Southeast.
FLORENCE – Clemson researchers are working with the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation to revive heirloom grains in South Carolina and renewal of the university’s Small Grains Breeding and Genetics Program is one asset researchers believe will assist in this effort.
Rick Boyles, a research scientist at the Clemson University Pee Dee Research and Education Center (Pee Dee REC) and a foundation board member spoke about reviving the breeding program when he gave a research update to almost 100 people attending the foundation’s spring meeting held recently at the Pee Dee REC and Carolina Plantation Rice in Darlington. Boyles is in the process of evaluating thousands of grain lines to determine which ones are best adapted to South Carolina, as well as to the entire Southeast.
“We’re evaluating important traits such as disease resistance and grain quality,” Boyles said. “To become more efficient, we are using a combination of traditional and advanced plant genetics approaches to understand the genetic basis of important traits and help to broaden the gene pool that exists in regional breeding populations.”
The Small Grains Breeding and Genetics program has been inactive since 2008. Boyles said revival of the program is desperately needed to help increase the availability of improved plant varieties that have beneficial attributes to increase farmer productivity and profitability in South Carolina.
 “This program is continuing to build where it needs to be so that, as Clemson researchers, we can identify, develop, and release small grains cultivars that are tailored for South Carolina growers and end-users, as well as additional stakeholders across the southeastern United States,” Boyles said.
Boyles annually evaluates local cultivars, also known as landraces, and crop wild relatives to find natural genetic variation that can be exploited for crop improvement. Landraces represent the oldest cultivated varieties that have been handed down in communities to the present age. In comparison, heirlooms are varieties that were carefully selected by growers over generations and distributed across regions as a result of their uniqueness and value.
Boyles earned a doctoral degree in genetics from Clemson and began working at the Pee Dee REC in 2017. He is working with Clemson researchers, Stephen Kresovich and Brian Ward, as well as David Shields, foundation chairman and Carolina distinguished professor for the University of South Carolina, to research and repatriate the landrace grains that once thrived in South Carolina.
Carolina Gold Rice is one of these grains and was introduced to South Carolina in 1685 when a merchant ship damaged by a raging storm hobbled in to the Charleston Harbor. In the ship’s cargo bay was Carolina Gold Rice from Madagascar, Africa. The rice found its way to South Carolina fields and became a major cash crop before a series of mishaps caused it to totally disappear from the state. But, with help from the foundation and some Clemson researchers, Carolina Gold is once again becoming a popular rice for cultivation, owing to its resiliency and versatility.

Growing and promoting S.C. culture

The agenda included a visit to the Carolina Rice Plantation near Darlington where plantation owner Campbell Coxe talked about how rice is grown, milled and sold from the plantation. He has been farming rice for 20 years.
“I was growing cotton and was not doing really well,” Coxe said. “I decided to diversify and grow something that I could sell directly to consumers. This was a rice-growing area in the 1700s and 1800s, so I started growing rice.”
When Coxe started growing rice, he was shipping it 800 miles to be milled. After gasoline reached $4 a gallon he decided he needed to do something, so he built a mill on the family farm. Rice he grows, mills and packages is sold from a small farm store nearby. He grows aromatic rice including: Carolina Plantation Brown Rice, Carolina Plantation Charleston Gold Rice, Carolina Plantation Gold Rice and Carolina Plantation White Rice.
Chefs all over South Carolina are ambassadors for Carolina Gold Rice and South Carolina’s roots, including a group of 4-H’ers from Charleston County who are taking their recipe, which includes Carolina Gold Rice, to the Great American Seafood Cookoff in New Orleans on August 4. The recipe is a modified version of Limpin’ Susan served over a thick fish filet.
“The reason we chose this dish is because it comes from the Gullah culture,” said Ian Adams, one of the 4-H’ers going to the cookoff. “Gullah ties in to South Carolina’s roots and we wanted to do our best to respect that connection and provide some insight to the judges who may not be aware of that part of South Carolina’s history. We chose Carolina Gold Rice because it too is a part of our state history. This rice has a flavor that cannot be replicated with any other rice and it adds to the flavor profile very nicely.”
Legend has it Limpin’ Susan was the wife of Hoppin’ John, a peas and rice dish Gullah cooks have made for generations in the South Carolina Sea Islands and Lowcountry, as well as the Caribbean. While there are several versions of this recipe, depending on whose kitchen it is being prepared, all have one ingredient in common – rice. In fact, rice is a main ingredient in most Gullah dishes.
Joining Adams in New Orleans are team members Joey Camarota and Lydia Potter.

Taking agriculture to new levels

Diversified crop research and development is conducted at Clemson’s Advanced Plant Technology Program. Led by Kresovich, who holds the Robert and Lois Coker Endowed Chair of Genetics, the program is home to an assembly of world-class scientists dedicated to taking agriculture to new levels by developing innovative crop breeding and management systems.
The foundation’s annual meeting usually is held in Charleston, but in an effort to reach more farmers and show diversity among South Carolina heritage crops, this year’s meeting was held in Florence. In addition to farmers from several states, a delegation of rice farmers from the West African country of Guinea-Bissau attended the event. Rice and cashews are Guinea-Bissau’s largest crops. The Guinea-Bissau farmers speak Portuguese and were lucky to have Clemson graduate student Giovanni Caputo translate for them. Caputo is from Brazil and is working on his master’s degree in weed science. Brian Ward, a research scientist at Clemson’s Coastal Research and Education Center, asked Caputo to translate after finding out the farmers were attending the event and just spoke Portuguese.
“This was the first time I’ve ever translated for someone, so I was a little nervous,” Caputo said. “I wanted to be sure I got everything correct, so if I didn’t understand something, I asked someone who knew the topic and what was being said to be sure I was giving the correct translation.”
Other speakers at the meeting include Glenn Roberts, founder of Anson Mills on Folly Beach in Charleston, who said weather conditions have kept him and his workers out of the fields.
“The weather has been very challenging,” Roberts said. “The climate is changing and is presenting problems we haven’t had in the past. We need to breed crops for climate change and we need to move as quickly as we can.”
Also, during the meeting, Shields discussed the history of the American palate and how changes in taste acceptance have influenced plant breeding.
“Growing out a cuisine with the guidance of the historical record gives the most convenient grounds for experimentation with making ingredients as fine as they can be – given the time, place, economy and environmental conditions,” said Shields, who is author of Southern Provisions: The Creation & Revival of a Cuisine.
In addition, Hayden Smith, adjunct professor at the College of Charleston, proposed forming a Rice Institute at the College of Charleston with input from Clemson researchers and others to help promote the growth of rice in South Carolina. Smith said this would be a valuable asset for teaching agricultural and environmental demands associated with growing rice.

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Seaweed extract to help boost rice production, pest resistance

September 2, 2019
RED seaweed extract carrageenan, which is widely used in the food industry as an additive, has now been successfully processed for agricultural use as a foliar fertilizer that is expected to boost rice production and pest resistance.

In fact, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), in a launching over the weekend, is now promoting the use of Carrageenan Plant Growth Promoter (PGP) for farming applications after it was proven to be compatible with different cropping systems.

The DOST had in fact made the technology available to the private sector.

Aside from the recent launching in Central Luzon, the product is currently being launched nationwide by various technology adopters, distributing it through various dealers, cooperatives and other possible arrangements.

The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) had even certified the carrageenan PGP for commercialization in rice, with plans to widen its

coverage to include other crops in the near future. For an optimal amount of nine liters per hectare, farmers could use the PGP along with conventional fertilizers.

Carrageenan PGP

Carrageenan is extracted from seaweeds and is mostly used as a food additive for its gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. Technology developed by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PNRI), led by Dr. Lucille V. Abad, had been able to unlock the other beneficial applications of carrageenan through irradiation technology.

Scientists from DOST-PNRI developed the PGP from carrageenan, a natural polymer extracted from red seaweed. Using the fabricated liquid handling system at PNRI's Electron Beam Irradiation Facility, the carrageenan solution is processed using electron beams into a foliar fertilizer sprayed at certain stages in the plant's life.

The PGP was funded by the DOST-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development and tested in cooperation with the University of the Philippines-Los Baños National Crop Protection Center.

Through radiation processing, carrageenan was modified into an effective plant promoter. The growth promoter had been proven to contain essential micro and macro nutrients that help in the growth of crops like palay, pechay peanut and mungbeans.

Dr. Abad said the technology had been a product of almost 10 years of testing in seven regions that included several verification trials. Pilot tests for the positive effects of the carrageenan were initially carried out in Pulilan town in Bulacan. This later expanded to 5,000 hectares in seven regions for verification trials.

The formula was set for field trials by the Department of Agriculture (DA) from 2015 to 2019 to cover several provinces in Luzon, Panay Island, Zamboanga and Davao, for a total of around 35,000 hectares of farmland.

Farmers can maximize the potential yield of their crops when using PGP in conjunction with more efficient farming methods and proper timing.

Other food crops such as mungbean, peanut, leafy vegetables, corn, sugarcane, and banana are also being subjected to PGP field tests, where results showed an increase in yield by around 35 percent for mungbean and around 40 percent for peanut.

According to Dr. Abad, the formula has been proven to increase rice yields by as much as 30 percent versus the yield from average farmer practices.

She said the growth promoter fits well in the smarter rice production model, which promotes the use of mechanical rice transplanting, hybrid seeds and the use of plant growth promoter.

Carrageenan was also proven to make crops more resistant to blight and infestation caused by tungro virus, and strengthening the crops' extensive root systems, which can better withstand the effects of lodging during typhoons.

The PGP also had the effect of driving away harmful pests without harming insects and arthropods which are naturally beneficial to crops. Not only does the PGP increase the number of cavans, but it also made each cavan heavier and fully-laden with rice. With the PGP, farmers could earn up to an additional P16,000, an increase in income by over 19 percent.

Impact on the fight vs climate change, seaweed production

More than just improving the yield and agronomic traits of plants, scientists are also pushing the limits of the carrageenan PGP's beneficial effects, particularly whether it can help crops survive in adverse conditions, which become increasingly likely due to climate change as well as natural disasters.

The use of carrageenan as a component for agricultural fertilizer has a positive impact on the country's already thriving seaweed industry. The country is in fact the largest producer of industrial carrageenan where cultivated seaweed produces about 80 percent of the world supply. As of 2011 alone, global sales of carrageenan were estimated at $640 million.

The environmental benefits of seaweed production is also significant as it leaves only minimal environmental impact and even lessens the growing competition for access to land and freshwater. Seaweed, as it grows, breaks down environmental pollutants. Seaweed farms also provide a safe haven and nursery grounds for young fish and crustaceans which proves that fact that growing seaweed is environmentally friendly. And with the newest application of the use of seaweed extract for agriculture use, seaweed production may yet experience another boost with positive effects on mainstream agriculture and the environment.




NFA administrator Judy Dansal said NFA’s procurement operations is a year-round activity and that the grains agency is ready to receive palay deliveries from farmers across the country.
NFA continues buying more palay
Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) - September 1, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The National Food Authority (NFA) maintained that it has never stopped buying palay (unhusked rice) from local farmers.
NFA administrator Judy Dansal said NFA’s procurement operations is a year-round activity and that the grains agency is ready to receive palay deliveries from farmers across the country.
“This early, NFA is already preparing for aggressive palay buying starting October, although we continue to entertain farmers selling their stocks from sporadic harvests in between the summer and main cropping seasons,” she said.
NFA’s current stock is about eight million bags of rice, including the four million bags of  imported rice, 400,000 bags of local rice and 6.3 million bags of palay for milling.
Dansal said the volume stock is good for 13 days of national daily consumption requirement which means that NFA is compliant with the provisions of the rice tariffication law.
The rice tariffication law passed early this year requires NFA to maintain a 15 to 30 day buffer stock of rice based on the daily consumption requirement of 651,860 bags.
“With these data, it is impossible for NFA to stop buying palay as we haven’t even reached yet the maximum volume of buffer stock required of us to maintain on a regular basis,” she said.
For January to August, NFA had bought 5.9 million bags of palay, exceeding its target of 5.3 million. The total volume is also 41 percent of the agency’s 14.46 million bags target for the whole year.
Based on the country’s palay harvest calendar, 30 percent of total annual production comes from the summer harvest between March and May while 70 percent comes from the main harvest from October to December.
“Even during the lean months period, NFA is still able to buy palay because more farmers are selling to the agency to take advantage of its higher buying price and incentives,” Dansal said.
NFA currently buys palay at P17 per kilogram support price plus P3 per kilo buffer stocking incentive.
This brings NFA’s maximum buying price for clean and dry palay to P20.70 per kilo for farmer cooperatives and P20.40 per kilo for individual farmers.

Border closure: Price of rice soars to N18,500 a 50kg bag


 

rice of the staple food rice has soared higher again in the Nigerian  markets, as the current restrictions on the Nigerian -Seme and Idiroko borders that started last week continues.


The ongoing security exercise which is said to be a move by the Federal Government to tackle terrorism, banditry, smuggling and illegalities in Nigeria by securing land borders has to a very large extent reduced the cross-border smuggling of rice and other items from Cotonu, Benin to Nigeria.


The exercise code-named, ‘Ex-Swift Response, jointly conducted by the Customs, Immigration, Police and military, National Drug Law Agency, NSCDC, is coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser.


A rice dealer in Oke-Oba area of Lagos Johnson Eric said since the border closure order started this week (last Tuesday), the price of rice has continued to increase by the day.


“Before this time, we were selling a bag of 50 kilogrammes of parboiled rice between N14, 000 and N15, 000 today, the story has changed.


“A bag of rice both the Nigerian and the foreign parboiled are now between N18, 500 and N19, 500 depending on your source of supply,” he said.


Another dealer John Okemba said the commodity is now scarce owing to the fact the commodity is no longer coming from Cotonu, that with this development, it has starred the country in the face that all the noise about rice sufficiency are all false


“If we have enough and affordable rice in this country, we would not be relying on import or smuggled rice. As the case may be, all that the impoverished Nigerian masses are interested in having food on their table.


“The landing cost of rice today is between N18, 000 and N18, 500 per 50kg bag depending on your location. Unlike in the past, there is no disparity in the price of local and foreign rice anymore; the prices are the same today.


He said the country’s rice production is low contrary to the claim made by the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audi Ogbe that Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent.


A bus driver on the Idiroko Lagos route Wasiu said the situation has affected their business drastically; he was blunt to say that it would be difficult to stop rice smuggling into Nigeria.




“So long as rice continues to be cheaper in West African neighouring countries with Nigeria, smuggling of rice would never stop,’ he said

Gov’t may raise rice import tariffs to protect farmers – Marcos

By: Neil Arwin Mercado - Reporter / @NAMercadoINQ
INQUIRER.net / 08:01 PM September 02, 2019
MANILA, Philippines — “If South Korea and Japan have imposed import tariffs of 500% to 800% to protect their local farmers, why can’t we?”
Sen. Imee Marcos asked this question Monday as she offered possible solutions to the possibility of a drop in the buying price of palay due to cheap imports.
Marcos said that the government could provide financial support for local farmers by activating Section 7 of the Rice Tariffication Law, which gives the President the ability to increase tariffs on rice imports from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and even non-Asian countries.
Marcos called for the government to bring back the 17-peso support price of palay, citing that farm gate price of palay has plunged to P7 per kilo, lower than the average production cost of P12.
According to her, farmers have lost as much as 41.6% of their investment in the month of August.
Other possible solutions
Marcos debunked the idea that the situation of farmers had become “hopeless” and that “little can be done” to address the problems.
Other possible solutions that Marcos listed include the use of the Department of Agriculture’s Quick Response Fund to buy palay from farmers in addressing the government’s “currently inadequate” rice buffer stock, which will last for only 30 days.
Marcos said Recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s) can also receive rice subsidies instead of cash, with these rice supplies bought from local farmers.
Stricter phytosanitary requirements could also be imposed to slow down the entry of rice imports, as well as distribute rice import supplies in various markets nationwide.
The government could also consider adding rice in a “special products list” to allow for a more flexible trade set-up, especially when livelihood security is at risk, the senator added.
“We can save our rice farmers if we could just be thorough in our tasks, work hard, and get things done ASAP,” Marcos said.
The National Food Authority (NFA) was earlier asked to hasten the sale of more than four million bags of imported rice stocked in its warehouses with the proceeds to be used to purchase palay from local farmers.

Loans for 100,000 rice farmers suffering from low palay prices readied


Published September 2, 2019, 10:00 PM
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has resolved to address, albeit slowly, the fast declining price of palay – forging a P1.5-billion deal with state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) that targets to provide loans to 100,000 of 2.4 million rice farmers in the country.
On Monday, LandBank and the DA, through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), have formally turned over the aforementioned credit facility, which will serve as an emergency assistance program to ease the impact of the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to local rice production.
More than 100,000 farmers are expected to initially benefit from it.
To recall, the country’s more than two million rice farmers are now suffering from the declining price of palay amid the surge of imported supply in the local market. In some areas, palay prices already went down to as low as P8 per kilogram (kg).
Under the LandBank-DA deal, the government will implement the Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance Program (SURE Aid) for Rice Farmers, which will provide an immediate one-time loan assistance of P15,000, payable in eight years, to rice farmers who are tilling one hectare of land and below, and whose incomes were affected by the drop of prices of palay this year.
“We are trying to appraise the very predicament of the rice farmers affected by a complex set of issues, including the Rice Tariffication Law. But because of the falling prices of palay, we thought it necessary to look at every opportunity that is available for us,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.
“There are many more measures and this is one of them. We would like to get more ideas – measures that we need to implement right away,” he added.
LandBank will be the one to distribute the SURE Aid program by releasing the loans either through direct lending to farmers or through service conduits, while DA will provide the bank with the validated list of farmers eligible for the loan assistance as well as the list of DA-identified service conduits.
A data from Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the average farmgate price of palay from January to June 2019 stood at P18.87/kg, which was 7.4 percent lower than the previous year’s average price of P20.38/kg.
As of the second week of August, in particular, the average farmgate price of palay dropped to P17.62/kg, falling by 20.9 percent from the P22.28 per kilogram price recorded in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Action for Economic Reforms (AER) President Jessica Reyes-Canto said that while the P1.5-billion credit facility “will not be enough to cover some 600,000 plus farmers who own one hectare and below, it is a good start”.
“We hope that Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) can be provided for those which will not be covered by the ACPC loan. Let us not forget in the narrative the remaining 500,000 small farm owners who are also suffering from the worsening situation in our market,” Cantos said.
“In our dialogue with DA, we found out that a P5,000 per cropping cash transfer is being contemplated to be given to 1.7 million farmers owning 2 hectares and below. This is a generous amount especially given that there will be other interventions to make,” she added.
Filomeno Sta. Ana, co-convener of AER, said that a cash transfer of P5,000, which sums up to P8.5 billion, is just “a small price to pay for the reform.”
Implemented last March, the Rice Taffication Law reformed the local rice sector by letting go of the Quantitative Restrictions (QR) and allowing the entry of more imported rice into the country with a corresponding tariff.

Mwea rice farmers say heavy downpour a relief for their crop
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2019
    
Description: Rice paddies at Mwea Irrigation Scheme
Rice paddies at Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga County. Farmers whose rice had started drying up due to an acute water shortage that had hit the giant scheme are a relieved lot following a heavy downpour. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 
In Summary
·       The rains come at time when the farmers expressed fears of a possible low production of rice in the area.
·       Levels in major rivers in Kirinyaga which supply water for irrigation to the scheme had gone down.
·       For rice to do well, water flowing in rivers should be at least 11.3 cubic metres.
Description: GEORGE MUNENEBy GEORGE MUNENE
More by this Author
Farmers in Kirinyaga County whose rice had started drying up due to an acute water shortage that had hit the giant Mwea Irrigation Scheme are a relieved lot following a heavy downpour.
The rains come at time when the farmers expressed fears of a possible low production of rice in the area.
Jubilant farmers Monday told the Nation that the rains that flooded the dry rice fields took them by surprise, giving them hope of getting good harvests.
HARVEST
"If the rains continue pounding the area our crop will mature and we will harvest it," said Mr Simon Njogu.
There has been inadequate supply of water for irrigation following a prolonged dry spell and farmers had expressed fears that production would fall drastically this season.

Rice prices could trigger unrest, senior official says
HTOO THANT 02 SEP 2019
Setting a new floor price for rice could have repercussions in the 2020 general elections and trigger unrest, a senior Commerce Ministry official said.
U Aung Htoo, deputy minister of Commerce, said a higher paddy price could boost support for government candidates among the country’s millions of rural voters but could also have an adverse effect on urban voters. 
“A rice floor price is a very sensitive issue,” he said.  “A higher (price) is good but if it is lower there will be political consequences that may lead to demonstrations.”
U Aung Htoo added, “The price must be beneficial for both merchants and farmers.” Rice is a staple in Myanmar.
He said that in determining the floor price of rice, the government must factor in the production costs of farmers. 
U Aung Htoo added that the government has consulted with farmers and the Myanmar Rice Federation, an organisation of rice traders, on the price range, price controls and need for market intervention.
In 2018, the government set a floor price of K500,000 (US$328.54) per 100 baskets (one basket is roughly 21 kilograms).
The federation and farmers cooperatives said that at present the prices have fallen to K450,000 per 100 baskets in some areas of the country.
“We had to sell our rice for only K480,000 the other day,” said Ko Myo Win, a farmer in Lewe township, Nay Pyi Taw. 
The government has allocated K15 billion to stabilise the price of paddy in 2020, said U Aung Htoo.
A farmer from Ayeyarwady Region, which is one of the “rice bowls” of the country, lamented that traders were buying a basket of rice weighing 22 or 23 kilos at the current price, which is as low as K450,000 per 100 baskets.
The farmers are calling on the government to fix not only the floor price of paddy but also define how much a basket of rice must weigh.
A government committee has organised talks on the problem between farmers, traders and other stakeholders. 
About one third of the country’s cultivated area is planted in rice, with nearly three-quarters of farm household income derived from rice farming.

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Minister says change of base price of rice paddy must not affect 2020 elections
Description: https://www.bnionline.net/sites/bnionline.net/files/styles/bni-detail-image/public/news-images/minister-says-change-of-base-price-of-rice-paddy-must-not-affect-2020-elections.jpg?itok=HIubycDt
Saturday, August 31, 2019

·       Mizzima
Deputy Commerce Minister Aung Htoo said that they were changing the base price of rice paddy and it was important that this should not affect the forthcoming 2020 general elections.
He said these words at the opening address delivered at the Rice Market and Price Reviewing Advisory Working Committee meeting held at the commerce ministry office on August 30.
“The fixing of the paddy base price is a very sensitive matter. We must fix a probable and practical price.
Overpricing is good but underpricing will have implications in politics as we had had seen protest demonstrations last summer over this matter. We must take utmost care in fixing the paddy base price as next year is the year of the general elections,” Aung Htoo said.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation will fix the paddy base price based on production costs, and a survey conducted by asking questions of experienced traders and millers, farmers, experts and academics.
Dy. Minister Aung Htoo added that demand and supply of paddy in the market should also be taken into consideration in fixing the new paddy base price.
“The new base paddy price must be win-win situation for both producers and traders. The new price must be calculated correctly and we must give assurance to this new base price. For doing this we must submit our new base price calculated by this committee and production costs to the leading committee to obtain their guidance,” the deputy minister said.
The last paddy base price for 2018 was 500,000 kyats for 100 baskets of paddy. (1 basket = 46 lbs)
The Federation of Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders issued a press statement which says rice mills and rice traders from this federation will buy the paddy at the base price when the regional market price is below this base price.
Deputy Minister Aung Htoo said that his commerce ministry would hold a price support fund of 15 billion kyats withdrawn from the State until the end of the 2029 financial year as the paddy price for this year is above the production costs.
The fixing and approval of this new paddy base price is being done to be completed at the end of coming October and it is not yet known how much it will be.

Examining our food policy

Published September 3, 2019, 12:12 AM
#MINDANAO­
By JOHN TRIA
Description: John Tria
John Tria
Last week, analysts from both government and the private sector gave us some good news: a further drop in commodity prices or the inflation rate to below 2% until November.In particular, Security Bank Corp. chief economist Robert Dan Roces, said that August inflation may go down to 1.8%. (MB, Aug 31)
The main reasons being seen by analysts are stable oil prices, a faster drop in retail food prices due to the acceleration of the distribution of cheaper imported rice stocks entering the market via the rice tarrification law. Others noted are the lowering of  electricity costs by December with increased generating capacity and the expansion  of the wholesale electricity spot market.
Lowered inflation projections are a good time to examine of our food policy, because keeping food prices low for consumers is what keeps inflation low, and will ensure long term growth and poverty reduction.
Food accounts for more than half the daily expense of our 20 million or so poor Filipinos, or the 21% below poverty, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Of this figure, rice accounts for half of the daily food consumption costs.
For added reference, the PSA notes that of the 40 million or so workers in the country, more than half of which (22 million) are in the service sector, 9 million in industry. The trend shows that the figures for industry and services are increasing as a proportion, due to the increase in investments. Only 11 million are in agriculture, more than a third of which are considered poor farmers and fisherfolk.
When we look at other estimates per agriculture subsector, about 2 million plant and harvest rice and a million are coconut farmers.
Now what does this all mean?
The bigger number who live in cities therefore have to buy this food with cash. Raising minimum wages alone do not lift people out of poverty. Expenditures, particularly food costs must go down or remain stable for added income to bear an effect on their quality of life. Simply put, the lower their food costs, the faster their incomes rise up.
Thus, access to affordable food is something the state must continually ensure. Therefore, to allow more affordable rice to reach their tables is and must be a priority if we want poverty levels to decrease and growth to remain inclusive and robust.
This is all the more important as the country heads for upper middle income status. A PNA report notes that according to the World Bank, upper middle-income economies are those with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of USD3,996 to USD12,375. Our GNI per capita reached USD3,830 in 2018.  If inflation goes down further, this growth will be felt by a larger number.
Thus, how to do it will require a “smart” food policy that prioritizes the food needs of this majority while enabling our farmers to maintain sufficient levels of income and continue producing food that we need.
Given that our food production costs for many commodities are higher than our neighbors Thailand and Vietnam (Bordey, et al 2013), for example, policy choices include subsidizing their production of commodities (like rice) or to get our farmers planting, producing (and possibly, exporting) other commodities apart from rice that fetch higher value but have lower production costs, like certain vegetables.
Implementing this food policy will require reservoirs of political will to break decades of policies that have failed to strengthen our food supply, or remove the obstacles to make them competitive, particularly logistics.
Of our neighboring countries that are not rice exporters, Malaysia in particular has managed to keep rice prices within reach of majority of Malaysians, keeping their poverty levels at about 1%. They import more than 30% of their rice needs, allowing cheaper imported rice to be sold to their citizens. (https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/04/13/where-does-malaysias-paddy-and-rice-industry-stand)
Lets hope that as inflation levels decrease, more food is available.
References:
Bordey FH, Moya PF, Beltran JC, Dawe DC, editors. 2016. Competitiveness of Philippine Rice in Asia. Science City of Muñoz (Philippines): Philippine Rice Research Institute and Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 172 p.

A worker arranges sacks of NFA rice at a warehouse in Quezon City yesterday.
Palace releases P5 billion for rice farmers amid imports
Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) - September 3, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has released P5 billion to help millions of rice farmers affected by the law allowing unrestricted importation of rice.
Agriculture officials told the House of Representatives committee on agriculture that of the P5 billion, P2 billion has been released to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and P2 billion to the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (Philmec).
During the hearing yesterday, leaders of farmers’ organizations and the agriculture sector complained that palay prices have been falling and are now at the P8 to P10 per kilo level, or P2 to P4 less than their production cost of P12 per kilo.
Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan said PhilRice would be in charge of developing and procuring certified seeds while Philmec would produce or buy machineries and equipment.
The seeds and machineries would be distributed to farmers and their cooperatives between December and early next year, Cayanan said.
He said the remaining P1 billion of the fund would be allotted to training and extension services.
Cayanan added that P166 million has been released to Land Bank and P109 million to the Development Bank of the Philippines for lending to farmers.
The P5 billion is half of the P10-billion rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF) the law mandates to be set aside to help rice farmers.
Yesterday’s hearing by the committee on agriculture chaired by Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga is its first on the implementation of the law.
Rep. Florencio Noel of party-list group An Waray, Enverga’s senior vice chairman, lamented that newly appointed Agriculture Secretary William Dar did not show up, contrary to the promise he conveyed to the committee last week.
Cayanan said Dar was attending to the launching of the lending program under RCEF that would make production loans of up to P15,000 available to farmers.
Farmers’ leaders complained that they would not immediately benefit from the P5 billion that is supposedly allocated for them.
Former congressman Rafael Mariano, who heads the leftist group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, said the low prices of palay make the situation worse for them.
“We are losing money because the buying price is less than our production cost,” he said.
Other leaders of the agriculture sector confirmed that palay prices have indeed fallen.
Rosendo So of Samahang Sinag ng Magsasaka said rice importations last year and this year totaling 3.9 million metric tons (78 million bags) caused rice and palay prices to go down.
So said if rice prices are down, traders would naturally offer low prices for palay.
He said imports should have been calibrated to keep a balance in rice and palay prices.
Elias Inciong, who heads the United Broilers Association, said he attended the hearing to warn farmers and consumers that rice import liberalization would not benefit them.
“That is our experience with broilers and poultry products,” he said.

P15 billion for NFA sought

Lawmakers are pushing for an additional P15-billion budget for the National Food Authority (NFA) to procure more palay from local farmers amid the drop in farmgate prices as a result of the deluge of cheap imported rice.
During the House hearing on the effects of the rice tariffication law, Enverga heeded the calls of farmers to augment the NFA’s procurement budget.
“I support the move to increase the NFA budget. I think we do not have the capabilities yet to compete with the liberalization of rice in the country,” Enverga told reporters.
“They will have difficulty in the open market to sell their produce. At least with the NFA, they are assured that majority of their produce will be bought by the government at a high price,” he added. – With Louise Maureen Simeon

Happy Seeders reduce air pollution, boost farm incomes

Instead of burning farm residue that leads to massive air pollution in northern India every autumn, farmers in the country’s breadbasket can boost profits by 20% by using the mechanised farming technique 

A farmer uses a tractor fitted with a Happy Seeder (Photo by Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam / CIMMYT)
A mechanised technique to get rid of farm residue without burning it and sow the next crop can boost agricultural income in India’s breadbasket, new research has found. More widespread us of this technique will also help reduce the suffocating air pollution that northern parts of the country suffer every autumn, the study said.
The burning of crop residue in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, responsible for severe air pollution in Delhi and northern India in October and November, is declining, but farmers need cheap and effective alternatives for it to stop altogether. See: North India chokes as farmers set stubble ablaze
Latest research indicates that using the Happy Seeder agriculture technology to manage rice residue has the potential of increasing profits by INR 6000-11,500 (USD 84-160) per hectare for the average farmer. The Happy Seeder is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch.
The paper — Fields on fire: Alternatives to crop residue burning in India — published in the August 9 issue of the Science journal, evaluated public and private costs and benefits of 10 alternate farming practices to manage rice residue, including burning and non-burning options. The Happy Seeder-based systems emerged as the most profitable and scalable residue management practice as they are, on average, 10-20% more profitable than burning.
Reducing carbon footprint
This option also has the largest potential to reduce the environmental footprint of farm activities, as it would eliminate air pollution and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions per hectare by more than 78%, relative to all burning options, the researchers said. The study was undertaken by 29 Indian and international researchers from the Nature Conservancy, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), the University of Minnesota, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), besides others.
The burning of crop stubble is a matter of serious concern because it is a significant source of atmospheric particulate matter and greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and methane, which have short- and long-term impacts on global climate systems, according to a NASA report on biomass burning.
The government of India’s 2018 operational guidelines for on-site farm residue management for Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh says that an estimated 23 million tonnes of paddy straw is burnt in these states every year, shooting up the levels of carbon dioxide by 70%, carbon monoxide by 7% and nitrogen dioxide by 2.1%. It also says that burning of one tonne of rice straw releases 3 kg of particulate matter, 60 kg of carbon monoxide, 1,460 kg of carbon dioxide, 199 kg of ash and 2 kg of sulphur dioxide.
A farmer in Punjab’s Sangrur district torching his 4-acre field covered with rice stubble in 2018 (Photo by Prasanna Mohanty)
The residue burning started in the 1980s for both wheat and rice stalks with mechanisation of harvesting. Harvesting machines leave taller stubbles of 1-2 ft compared with less than 6 inches when the crops are manually harvested. In the national capital region, about half the air pollution in autumn is attributed to farm fires, when air quality level is 20 times higher than the safe threshold defined by WHO. Residue burning has enormous impacts on human health, soil health, the economy and climate change.
Although the current concern of policymakers and the media over air pollution due to the annual burning in autumn is focussed on New Delhi and the NCR, a study released in June 2018 said the threat is spreading to other parts of India as well.
Using NASA images and evidence on the ground, the study says there’s “an increasing impact of CRB over the eastern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Basin and also over parts of central and southern India.” The increasing trends of finer black carbon particles and greenhouse gases have also accelerated since 2010, it said. See: Air quality worsens in India, Delhi improves
“Despite its drawbacks, a key reason why burning continues in northwest India is the perception that profitable alternatives do not exist. Our analysis demonstrates that the Happy Seeder is a profitable solution that could be scaled up for adoption among the 2.5 million farmers involved in the rice-wheat cropping cycle in northwest India, thereby completely eliminating the need to burn,” said Priya Shyamsundar, Lead Economist at Nature Conservancy and one of the authors of the paper. “It can also lower agriculture’s contribution to India’s GHG emissions, while adding to the goal of doubling farmers income.”
Emergency response
The Indian government has been aggressively promoting the use of this technique in the past few years in an emergency response to the heavy air pollution during the crop burning season that starts in October and continues for about two months. “Within one year of our dedicated action using about USD 75 million under the central sector scheme…, we could reach 0.8 million hectares of adoption of Happy Seeder and zero tillage technology in the north western states of India,” said Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General of ICAR. “Considering the findings of the Science article as well as reports from thousands of participatory validation trials, our efforts have resulted in an additional direct farmer benefit of USD 131 million, compared to a burning option.”
The federal government’s 2018 subsidy for in-situ rice residue management has partly addressed a major financial barrier for farmers, which has resulted in an increase in the use of Happy Seeders. However, the study found that other barriers still exist, such as lack of knowledge of profitable no-burn solutions and impacts of burning, uncertainty about new technologies and burning ban implementation, and constraints in the supply-chain and rental markets.
The paper states that NGOs, research organisations and universities can support the government in addressing these barriers through farmer communication campaigns, social nudging through trusted networks and demonstration and training. The private sector also has a critical role to play in increasing manufacturing and machinery rentals.

Why China, The World's Largest Rice Producer, Quietly Bought U.S. Rice Last Year

September 2, 20196:36 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
China is the world's biggest rice producer. So why did it agree to buy two shipping containers of rice from the U.S.? Planet Money reporters explain the other trade battle between the two countries.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The world is fixated on the U.S.-China trade war. But there's another tariff fight with China happening behind the scenes with a lot of money at stake, a battle over rice. Planet Money reporters Cardiff Garcia and Sally Herships explain why China agreed to buy two shipping containers of rice from the United States.
SALLY HERSHIPS, BYLINE: Very quietly last winter, China agreed to buy some rice from the U.S. - two shipping containers-full.
JIM GUINN: So that's the first sale of rice to China in recent history.
CARDIFF GARCIA, BYLINE: Jim Guinn is with the USA Rice Federation, a trade association. And I think we should all just pause here for a minute because we are talking about China buying rice from America. China is the world's largest producer of rice - 200 million tons a year it produces.
HERSHIPS: The plan for China to buy rice from America, it has been cooking for a really long time.
GARCIA: Nice.
HERSHIPS: (Laughter). And while administrations were changing, trade policies were shifting, rice importers and exporters on both sides of the ocean were left waiting. So this story really gets its start back in 2001. That is the year China joins the World Trade Organization. The job of the WTO is to oversee trade between different countries. If you join, you get to benefit from all these special trade deals with the other member countries. And for the already established members, when a country as big as China joins, it can mean all these potential new customers. So as part of the deal it cut when it joined the WTO, China agreed to make it easier and cheaper specifically for 5.3 million tons of foreign rice to come into the country.
JOE GLAUBER: In the rice world, that's a lot of rice.
GARCIA: Joe Glauber is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. So this deal happens, and rice farmers are getting psyched. Exporters are getting really excited. But there was a problem. China reneged on its side of the deal. China was not making it easier or cheaper to import foreign rice like it had promised. And if you were a U.S. farmer hoping to sell some of your rice crop to China, things just were not moving.
GLAUBER: China just wasn't importing rice.
GARCIA: At least, not from the United States. China was importing a tiny bit of rice from other countries. So what do you do if you are the United States? Well, you do the same thing that a lot of parties with a grievance do. You litigate at the WTO.
GLAUBER: The U.S., actually, during the last couple of months of the Obama administration took China to the WTO to the settlement body and said, hey, China's not playing by the rules. They're not importing rice.
HERSHIPS: The World Trade Organization has its own kind of court, the Dispute Settlement Body. It lets countries which are upset with other countries about tariffs and import licenses try to work things out.
GARCIA: The case took three years to work out, which, as these things go, is actually pretty quick. But it did eventually get settled. The WTO said that China had to allow the sale, and China agreed to let it go through.
HERSHIPS: And even though the Chinese government may have been a reluctant purchaser of American rice, there are many consumers in China who might want the option to buy rice from America.
GARCIA: So the Chinese finally agreed to start importing more foreign rice, and it placed an order for American rice.
HERSHIPS: And that is the speed of international trade, Cardiff. Some of these deals can take a really long time to cook up.
GARCIA: Cardiff Garcia.
HERSHIPS: Sally Herships.
GARCIA: NPR News.

Grain millers urge govt to reduce power tariffs

03Sep 2019
Beatrice Philemon
Dar es Salaam
The Guardian
Grain millers urge govt to reduce power tariffs
GRAIN millers want the government to reduce power tariffs and abolish a number of nuisance charges imposed on their factories which balloons production costs and render their goods expensive.
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Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Japhet Hasunga.Presenting recommendations on behalf of grain processors at a meeting of stakeholders which was presided over by Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Japhet Hasunga, Chairman of Maize Flour Milling Machine Owners and Manufactures, Oscar Mnisi said they are struggling to compete because of high costs of production in the local market.
Mnisi said among other nuisance charges which they pay include service levy, fire extinguishing equipment fees, storage charges for maize flour, value added tax and hiked transport costs blamed on taxes.
“We want to have better storage facilities charging reasonable fees because currently, most warehouse facilities available in the country lack the required standards for maize and rice storage while charging highly,” he noted.
He said their main goal is produce high quality maize flour and rice that meets international standards so that the products sell anywhere in Southern African Development Community (SADC) market, East African Community and globally.
Mnisi requested Hasunga to convince his Treasury peer, Dr Philip Mpango to abolish 18 VAT charged on imported industrial machinery and equipment which the millers use to add value to maize and paddy rice before supplying markets.
“18 percent VAT charged on imported irrigation equipments including water pumps, spraying machines, weeding machines  and milling machines is frustrating us,” he added while noting that packaging materials are also charged VAT.
He also urged the government to employ and deploy more extension officers to assist smallholder farmers improve quality and quantity of their commodities used by millers as raw materials because currently the quality is very poor.
“Please help us to train farmers on how to produce high quality maize, paddy rice to so that the quality of the finished products is also high hence capable of penetrating any market,” he argued.
Responding to the numerous observation made by the private sector, Minister Hasunga promised action on a number of issues raised which directly fall under his jurisdiction while lobbying his peers in matters relating to other ministries.
“I will sit down with my ministry’s experts and see how we can convince Treasury to waive VAT on imported industrial machinery and equipments as well as fees charged on flour and rice from factories so that we can lower the cost of doing business,” he said. He said his ministry will continue supporting grain millers and traders who work with smallholder farmers to find reliable markets for commodities which get value added

Rice exporters get 4-month breather from Saudi norms

Saudi Food and Drug Authority has sought test reports on minimum residue levels.

By Madhvi Sally, ET Bureau|
Sep 02, 2019, 08.39 AM IST
“We have assured the SFDA that if a consignment has 93 per cent or 85 per cent Basmati rice, we will label it accordingly,” he said.
New Delhi: Indian rice exporters can heave a sigh of relief, for now.

They have got a breather till December 31 from stricter rules on shipment of basmati rice to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority had earlier sought test reports on minimum residue levels (MRL), along with Certificate of Conformity from Indian exporters. This was to be effective September 1. That has now been deferred.

Saudi’s food authority had also sought DNA testing to prove the authenticity of the basmati rice variety, and asked Indian rice exporters to source rice from good agriculture practices (GAP)-certified farms, approved by it.

“All consignments of Basmati rice shipped from India and arriving in Saudi Arabia by December 31, 2019 shall be exempt from the new requirement proposed by SFDA,” said Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association.

Setia said that exporters would brand the different blends of basmati rice according to quality, to bring in more transparency.

“We have assured the SFDA that if a consignment has 93 per cent or 85 per cent Basmati rice, we will label it accordingly,” he said.

Saudi Arabia is a major export market for Indian basmati rice and accounts for 20 per cent of the country’s annual exports of 4-4.5 million tonnes.

Indian authorities have proposed that rice mills having BIS certification, ISO 22000 and BRC standards should also be able to export basmati rice, Setia said.

However, hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) is the major criterion that Saudi Arabia will take into account to source rice from Indian establishments, he said The deferment in the stringent rules comes after a government and trade delegation led by AK Gupta, director, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) held discussions with the Saudi food body on August 29.

Setia said discussions on MRL will take place in the coming months.

Indian rice exports have been hurt by various non-tariff barriers, mainly over MRLs in the past few years. Indian companies have been working with farmers to reduce the use of pesticides.