Palay
prices keep falling
Updated November
13, 2019, 8:55 AM
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
With the start of main crop
season harvest and imports continuously rising, the value of locally produced
unhusked rice in the Philippines has kept falling, with the average farm-gate
price of palay still at its lowest level in eight years for three straight
weeks now.
As this happens, Senator Francis
Pangilinan is calling for higher rice import tariff, a plan that has already
been shut down by the country’s economic managers and the Department of
Agriculture (DA).
During the third week of October,
the average farm-gate price of palay declined to ₱15.49 per kilogram (/kg).
This was a decline of 26.1 percent from its level of ₱20.96/kg in the same week
of the previous year and is still below the lowest palay price of ₱15.91/kg
that was recorded in 2011.
Week-on-week, it continues to
fall by 0.3 percent relative to the price level of ₱15.53/kg.
During the period, some farmers
in Negros Occidental, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, and Bulacan didn’t make any
money and were forced to sold their produce at ₱12/kg and below.
Farmers in Maguindanao, Zamboanga
Sibugay, Negros Oriental, Cavite, on the other hand, settled at prices below
₱13/kg, just a peso above their average production cost of ₱12/kg.
Palay was bought for a higher
price range of ₱17/kg to ₱20/kg in areas like Aklan, Surigao del Sur, Davao del
Sur, Davao Oriental, Misamis Oriental, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Guimaras,
Sorsogon, Rizal, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Aurora, Ilocos Norte, among
others.
Senator Francis Pangilinan said
that with the continuous decline in palay prices, the country is at the risk of
losing its own farmers, who are no longer making money and are constantly
hungry.
“Let’s not wait for the time when
we no longer have farmers… Let us protect our farmers now to protect our food
security. This food insecurity is aggravated by the impact of rice imports on
our farmers,” Pangalinan said.
“Urgent action is demanded.
Provide cash assistance to help our farmers through these lean times. Raise the
tariff for rice imports,” he added.
He also said the country should
all be deeply worried by the report that the Philippines has surpassed China as
the world’s biggest importer of rice.
This was after US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) reiterated its earlier forecast that the Philippines may end
up becoming the world’s largest rice importer this year, beating China, the
world’s most populous country with a population of around 1.4 billion.
Smuggling, hoarding in DOF crosshair amid rice imports
By: Ben O. de Vera - Reporter / @bendeveraINQ
Inquirer Business / 03:15 PM November 13, 2019
The government is shoring up tariff collections from a
surge in rice imports while looking into possible hoarding and smuggling amid
falling retail prices, according to Finance Secretary Carols G. Dominguez III.
In a speech at the 14th World Rice Conference, Dominguez
said that revenues from import tariffs on rice already amounted to P11.4
billion as of end-October.
Republic Act No. 11203, which removed volume restrictions
on rice import and imposed tariffs, would collect 35 percent tax from rice
imported from Asean countries, 40 percent from those not exceeding 350,000 tons
from countries outside Asean and 180 percent if more than 350,000 tons from a
non-Asean country.
Since collections so far in 2019 exceeded P10 billion, or
the amount to be set aside for a program to make local farmers competitive,
Dominguez said the government had “ample means to do even more to make our
agricultural production more efficient.”
The impact of rice importation was felt most by local
farmers as prices of palay, or unhusked rice, fell to some of their lowest
levels in years.
Dominguez said the government was extending help to these
farmers.
Palay prices, Dominguez said citing Philippine Statistics
Authority data, had declined to P15.71 per kilogram in the third week of
September to the second week of October. “This translates to an average loss
for farmers of about P1.52 per kilo,” he said.
“In some provinces, farm gate prices fell by as much as
P5.63 while in others unhusked rice prices actually rose by P3.75 per kilo,”
Dominguez said.
He said the government was deploying “evidence-based and
tightly-targeted” assistance to local farmers.
National government agencies are coordinating with
Congress on giving cash aid to rice farmers and also rice to farming families
hurt by the importation of rice.
The Department of Agriculture, Dominguez said, is
implementing the Survival and Recovery, or Sure, aid program that offers to
rice farmers P15,000 in interest-free loans payable in eight years.
“Complementary programs” are also being put in place. One
of these, the finance chief said, was for local government units to purchase
palay from farmers at “above production costs.”
Local governments could obtain loans for this purpose,
said Dominguez.
He said there’s close monitoring of “possible distortions
in the market, particularly the widening gap between farm gate prices for paddy
and rice retail prices in specific provinces.”
Strike teams had been formed by the Bureau of Internal
Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to crack down on smuggling and hoarding.
A BIR strike team had already raided unregistered
warehouses in Bulacan province and found more than 250,000 sacks of rice
imported from Vietnam and Myanmar.
“The companies involved have not produced legitimate
import documents,” Dominguez said.
“Over the next months, we see anti-smuggling and anti-hoarding
activities to intensify,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, Dominguez added, had “issued
clear instructions to unmask and prosecute those involved in economic sabotage
and bring them to justice.”/TSB
The banality of greed
November
13, 2019
MARLEN V. RONQUILLO
ABOUT
three months ago, outgoing Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol appealed to meat
processors/importers. “Please, please,” he said, “forget your bacons and
hotdogs (the exact phrasing). Stop your planned pork importations. The global
pork market, as you can see, is roiled by the ASF (African swine fever)
epidemic. The local hog industry, the eighth largest in the world, would
definitely suffer should you push through with your foolhardy importations.”
There
would be figurative blood on your hands if you push through with your
importation, Piñol said. The appeal was duly reported and can be easily
downloaded from newspaper archives.
Piñol
knew he could control the legal side of importation, but would be helpless
against outright smuggling, technical smuggling and the many “palusot” at the
Customs zone. Other than the corruption at the Customs zone, ours is a country
of more than 7,000 islands and very porous borders.
Was
there a bit of soul-searching from the end of the meat importers and
processors? And did that appeal about a real and existential threat to the
P250-billion local hog industry lead to the freezing, even temporarily, of pork
importations from the affected countries, then about 10 countries when Mr.
Piñol made that appeal?
No.
In fact, meat importers and processors went on their merry way, importing where
supplies were priced at rock bottom, and this meant the countries with tainted
pork, China specifically.
The
profits from the “bacons and hotdogs,” as graphically described by Mr. Piñol in
his appeal, trumped all or any concern for the local hog industry.
Today,
the chicanery of the meat importers and processors, who had placed primacy of
their hotdogs and bacon over the health — and possible survival — of the local
hog industry is unravelling, along with the validation of what The Manila
Times’ op-ed page has been saying all along — tainted meat from China brought
in by the processors/importers via means fair or foul brought ASF into the
country.
Today,
the eighth biggest hog industry in the world is on its knees, the brutal wages
from the ASF wiping out hog stocks and literally crippling the market for
healthy hogs, plus triggering a long-drawn price drop.
(As
I write this piece, some unaffected farms, certified healthy and ASF-free, in
Pampanga’s hog belt have been selling fatteners at P65 per kilogram (kg) and
culls (sows disposed of after five birthing cycles) at an unbelievable price of
P20 per kg — if there are takers, with shipping permits from the Bureau of
Animal Industry. Farm gate for fatteners used to be P130 to P135 per kg. For
culls, it was P65 to P70 per kg.)
The
ASF-caused crisis dragged down every economic sector whose peg was the hog
industry: yellow corn farmers, soya and other additive suppliers such as salt,
rice bran, D1 and D2. Big farms have laid off workers temporarily. At the wet
markets, the pork sections are the loneliest corners. A term has been coined to
describe the collapse — “Hogmageddon.”
Was
there any expression of remorse, or a simple recitation of a mea culpa after
the unravelling? For the processors of hotdogs, bacon and tocino, it was all
about, and still is, business and serving the market. Never mind the fact that
the tainted importations have been causing immense grief in hog-raising areas
in Central Luzon and Calabarzon (the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Rizal and Quezon), which supply around 70 percent of the pork needs of Luzon.
Impossible
greed, couched in the jargon of the market, therefore vesting the greed with an
air of banality and ordinariness.
What
about the rice importers?
The
country’s actual import requirement is a little shy of 2 million metric tons
(MT) and that volume includes a 90-day buffer stock. The government estimate of
2.4 million metric tons is over the top, with an excess of around 500,000 MT.
Now,
there is a confirmation of what was written about earlier in the op-ed page of
The Times — that the United States Department of Agriculture, which accurately
tracks rice movements into the country via shipping data that is also used by
the United Nations agencies, estimates a total importation of 3 million MT by
the end of December.
As
a newspaper report said, that 3-million volume makes us the biggest rice
importer in the world this year, topping China’s 2.5 million metric ton
importation.
The
rice dumped from overseas will have an extra, or more than 1 million metric
tons over the national requirement.
The
excess importation is not the only story of tragedy. And the utter indifference
to the plight of the three million small rice farmers.
As
the Federation of Free Farmers has documented, the rice imports have been
undervalued to depress the rice tariffs. The rice tariffs, under the rice
import liberalization law, should go to a fund pool that is supposed to
ameliorate the plight of the affected small rice farmers. In a nutshell, this
is the triple whammy on the small rice farmers:
–
A law is passed to liberalize rice imports, a death sentence on 3 million small
rice farmers with zero government support
–
Rice importers who cannot moderate their greed import rice at an excess of 1
million or more metric tons
–
Rice imports are undervalued to depress the tariff that, in theory, would serve
as an amelioration fund for the small rice farmers.
Was
there any expression of remorse? Or a simple statement of mea culpa? From the
government and the importers/cheats who are now dealing the small rice farmers
a second mortal blow?
None,
of course. Our business is our business. Period.
Support 15,000 rice farmers in
PNG towards self-sufficiency
Clifford Faiparik
The National’s senior reporter
CLIFFORD FAIPARIK visited Merauke City on Oct 18 and 19 just across the
PNG-Indonesia border and found that Papua New Guinea (PNG) has much to learn
from the Indonesians on rice production and reducing imports.
Panicle-harvesting of rice, using the limbung palm infloresence
spath as the basket for loading rice panicles. This is a typical group work
carried out by rural rice growers in Maprik, East Sepik.
RICE is the unofficial staple
food for PNG. Although Papua New Guineans consider rice their staple, it is not
produced or cultivated commercially on a large scale nationwide.
Instead, PNG imports up to K700 million annually from Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.
And Prime Minister James Marape has set the Government’s plan and target to stop rice imports by 2030.
He said a business incubation park, costing about K2 million, would be built next year for Papuan New Guineans engaged in Micro Business Small to Medium Enterprise (MBSME’s) to venture agriculture activities, like rice farming, to grow local PNG’s businesses.
After all, PNG has large swampy and flood plain areas to grow rice on large commercial scales.
“PNG can be a supplier of rice to countries like the Philippines where rice is a staple food eaten three times a day. Currently, PNG is importing rice from Australia.
“PNG can reverse the trend and supply rice to Australia. PNG has the potential in rice cultivation. But we have to be committed and work hard,” he added.
A visit to the Merauke Regency (District), just across the PNG-Indonesia border, would be convincing enough for one to truly believe PNG can realise the aim of becoming self-sufficient in rice production.
However, Papua New Guinean rice farmers must learn how to cut costs in rice production or cultivation.
One way to reduce production cost is to focus rice cultivation in swampy and wet terrrains like in the PNG border provinces of Western and Sepik.
Such production is also possible by engaging and encouraging small rice farmers with the Government acquiring land, providing small affordable loans and technical advice.
Such initiatives by the Merauke Local Government some 20 years ago have resulted in a surplus production of cheap organic rice today.
Merauke has more than 200,000 tonnes of rice stored in mills and there is no market.
About 250,000 tonnes of rice is produced annually in Merauke but local consumption is only 25,000 tonnes.
The rice in Merauke is organic because cultivation is by traditional rice farming methods that do not use chemicals or pesticides.
Instead, PNG imports up to K700 million annually from Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.
And Prime Minister James Marape has set the Government’s plan and target to stop rice imports by 2030.
He said a business incubation park, costing about K2 million, would be built next year for Papuan New Guineans engaged in Micro Business Small to Medium Enterprise (MBSME’s) to venture agriculture activities, like rice farming, to grow local PNG’s businesses.
After all, PNG has large swampy and flood plain areas to grow rice on large commercial scales.
“PNG can be a supplier of rice to countries like the Philippines where rice is a staple food eaten three times a day. Currently, PNG is importing rice from Australia.
“PNG can reverse the trend and supply rice to Australia. PNG has the potential in rice cultivation. But we have to be committed and work hard,” he added.
A visit to the Merauke Regency (District), just across the PNG-Indonesia border, would be convincing enough for one to truly believe PNG can realise the aim of becoming self-sufficient in rice production.
However, Papua New Guinean rice farmers must learn how to cut costs in rice production or cultivation.
One way to reduce production cost is to focus rice cultivation in swampy and wet terrrains like in the PNG border provinces of Western and Sepik.
Such production is also possible by engaging and encouraging small rice farmers with the Government acquiring land, providing small affordable loans and technical advice.
Such initiatives by the Merauke Local Government some 20 years ago have resulted in a surplus production of cheap organic rice today.
Merauke has more than 200,000 tonnes of rice stored in mills and there is no market.
About 250,000 tonnes of rice is produced annually in Merauke but local consumption is only 25,000 tonnes.
The rice in Merauke is organic because cultivation is by traditional rice farming methods that do not use chemicals or pesticides.
Surtano … has 200 tonnes of rice
to sell
Rice farmer Surtano says he has
200 tonnes of rice stored in a rice mill and “we are looking for buyers”.
“Merauke supplies rice to Papua and West Papua provinces in Indonesia. With the surplus, we are looking at supplying to PNG,” he added.
Surtano said: “I was able to secure this 10ha to cultivate rice with the Government’s assistance. They provided funds to me through a loan scheme and I built my first rice mill for 170 million Rupiahs (about K20,000) 10 years ago.
“I use manual labour to work on my rice fields and also mill it. I have now paid off my first loan and got another loan to buy machinery, like four cars, a truck and a tractor and also paid off that loan within six years.
“I have 13 employees, including a tractor operator. My rice farming is more high technology now. I also buy rice from other farmers and mill them,” he added.
Surtano said each family usually had about five hectares to plant rice paddy, with a hectare producing about three tonnes of rice.
“Famers harvest their rice, sell to the mill at about 500 rupiah (about K1) per kilo. We have two options after milling the rice.
“We sell it to the Government warehouse for 8,000 rupiah (K2) per kilogramme to private warehouses for 10,000 Rupiah (K2.50) per kilogramme.
“The Government buys the rice from the mills and store in warehouses. And the Government also gives rice to public servants,” he added.
Surtano said Government agriculture extension officers conducted regular inspections for quantity and quality.
He added that in one village in Merauke, it had 500 rice farmers because the terrains were ideal for rice cultivation.
“Merauke supplies rice to Papua and West Papua provinces in Indonesia. With the surplus, we are looking at supplying to PNG,” he added.
Surtano said: “I was able to secure this 10ha to cultivate rice with the Government’s assistance. They provided funds to me through a loan scheme and I built my first rice mill for 170 million Rupiahs (about K20,000) 10 years ago.
“I use manual labour to work on my rice fields and also mill it. I have now paid off my first loan and got another loan to buy machinery, like four cars, a truck and a tractor and also paid off that loan within six years.
“I have 13 employees, including a tractor operator. My rice farming is more high technology now. I also buy rice from other farmers and mill them,” he added.
Surtano said each family usually had about five hectares to plant rice paddy, with a hectare producing about three tonnes of rice.
“Famers harvest their rice, sell to the mill at about 500 rupiah (about K1) per kilo. We have two options after milling the rice.
“We sell it to the Government warehouse for 8,000 rupiah (K2) per kilogramme to private warehouses for 10,000 Rupiah (K2.50) per kilogramme.
“The Government buys the rice from the mills and store in warehouses. And the Government also gives rice to public servants,” he added.
Surtano said Government agriculture extension officers conducted regular inspections for quantity and quality.
He added that in one village in Merauke, it had 500 rice farmers because the terrains were ideal for rice cultivation.
Heai Steven Hoko
Hoko … rice farming in PNG
started in the 90s
Drying and storing rice grain in Maprik, East Sepik.
PNG’s Agriculture and Livestock
(DAL) irrigation agronomist Heai Steven Hoko said: “We have been working and
cultivating rice similarly to Merauke.
“But the Government is not supporting us. Currently, the big players in the rice industry are importing rice from Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.
“The rice are repacked into local brand names and reselling to us. But we can be self-sufficient and grow our own rice like what is happening in Merauke.
“We can break the monopoly by encouraging small rice farmers to produce rice. The current major rice importers are very adamant about remaining dominant in the local rice market.
“They don’t allow new investors to come in and develop large-scale commercial rice production in the country.”
Hoko said that small rice farmers started in the 1990s under the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) programme.
“At that time, we were known as special project on security and that DAL was switching its focus according to what is happening in the world.
“Food security is ever changing and evolving globally, changing views regularly. We then changed from a food management branch to food security branch.
“We had technical cooperation assistance and one was rice covering food security in a broader scope. And one of the assistance we got was from the so Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA),” he added.
Hoko said: “We kicked off the project in 2003 on food security by empowering farmers in rice cultivation. The project ended in 2015. Our aim was to increase rice production in the country and to do away with the concept of large commercial rice.
“So we empowered farmers to grow and eat themselves. This, we learnt from the Vietnamese and Japanese who are today leading rice producers.”
Although rice was introduced by early missionaries, it was already cultivated during the colonial days when the Australian colonial government was planting paddy in Bereina, Central Province and Bainik in East Sepik.
“We also started planting paddy in Madang, Morobe, Central, Manus, Milne Bay and East Sepik as encouraged by DAL. Our module is small rice farming systems because we don’t have large mechanised rice farming.
“But we want to focus on subsistence rice farmers. If our people want to grow rice, we use the system that our Government is working on. So our investment is training our agriculture extension officers, giving small tools to the rice farmers rather than pushing for large scale farming. So that’s how we went out to help in provinces that had started rice cultivation,” he added.
Hoko said Maprik in Sepik was one place where farmers were found enthusiastically planting rice.
“They planted paddy in their gardens just like ordinary yams and bananas. So DAL started assisting them. And from working with the farmers, we realised that rice farming was viable although rice is not a traditional food. But then the farmers needed skills and we realised that the district officers also lacked rice farming techniques.
“They needed skills like harvesting, drying, milling and storing unlike our traditional food like growing kaukau, taro, banana that had to be consumed fast before they go bad.
“For rice, we can harvest and store it and you need machines to process rice. So, technical training is required for our enthusiastic rice farmers. This is why we are organising trainings for farmers at the Japanese-funded Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA) centre in Warango, East New Britain where farmers are trained to develop their skills and rice farming culture of sending their harvest to millers,” he added. When the project ended in 2015, we found that the number of paddy farmers had ballooned and production had increased.
“And in Maprik alone, farmers planted rice in normal gardens of about 2,000 sq m. If they go higher, they will need labour to weed the land.
“Such farmers can harvest about 400kg of rice. And a family of six children can produce about 40 bags of 10kg rice from a garden in a year,” he said.
Hoko said the famers don’t eat all the rice at once, so they dry and store it because they also eat other produce like bananas.
“Only when they want to eat rice, they take the grain to the Government mills and pay 50 toea per kg to mill their grain. The rice can last them four months,” he added.
Hoko said the project started with 2,000 famers in East Sepik (Maprik and Angoram) and ended with 8,000 farmers in 2015.
“At one stage, there were 20,000 famers in East Sepik alone. But, overall, we had 15,000 farmers on record in the provinces that we started cultivating paddy (Madang, Morobe, Central, Manus, Milne Bay and East Sepik).
“But rice farming was very successful in East Sepik, especially in Maprik. Unfortunately, after the project ended, we left and did not follow up due to absence of funds.
“The then Government committed to financing the 2017 General Election and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in 2018.
“Today, we still don’t have the money to go out to check on the farmers,” he added.
Hoko said the only way for PNG to go into mass rice production was to empower rice growing in villages.
“Training and funding are needed because we have to cultivate rice farming culture into us. After that we can go into large-scale commercial fully-mechanised irrigated hi-tech rice farming.
“Form the project, we found that it is possible for us to grow rice and be self-sufficient. But the strategy, some senior government officers are thinking, is bringing someone from outside. Bringing in an investor to start producing rice and we meet our goal in rice production domestically. The disadvantage is the investor comes to make big money, reap profits. So, what is there left for our people?
“Our Prime Minister James Marape said that by 2025 we must eat our own rice. So, the Government needs to give us seed money and we invest in Sepik and other plains like Central, Western, Gulf Madang, Oro and Milne Bay.
“We can do it if we have money, knowledge, technical skills at our fingertips. All we need is to work with our people. I have made a submission for the Government to support small rice farmers.
“We also have to empower our agriculture extension district officers through the District Development Authority (DDA).
“The Government put provides the capital, we empower famers by securing rice and water. We cut down on rice imports,” Hoko said.
He estimated an annual rice production of 20,000 tonnes under the project that “we already have a developed mechanism”.
Hoko said: “We have 15,000 paddy farmers nationwide. If each farmer can produce and mill 185kg of rice, it means a saving of about K740 annually on spending K36 on a 10kg rice bag.
“Altogether these famers can save about K11 million annually from cutting down rice imports how massive production will be with full Government support and funding.”
“But the Government is not supporting us. Currently, the big players in the rice industry are importing rice from Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.
“The rice are repacked into local brand names and reselling to us. But we can be self-sufficient and grow our own rice like what is happening in Merauke.
“We can break the monopoly by encouraging small rice farmers to produce rice. The current major rice importers are very adamant about remaining dominant in the local rice market.
“They don’t allow new investors to come in and develop large-scale commercial rice production in the country.”
Hoko said that small rice farmers started in the 1990s under the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) programme.
“At that time, we were known as special project on security and that DAL was switching its focus according to what is happening in the world.
“Food security is ever changing and evolving globally, changing views regularly. We then changed from a food management branch to food security branch.
“We had technical cooperation assistance and one was rice covering food security in a broader scope. And one of the assistance we got was from the so Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA),” he added.
Hoko said: “We kicked off the project in 2003 on food security by empowering farmers in rice cultivation. The project ended in 2015. Our aim was to increase rice production in the country and to do away with the concept of large commercial rice.
“So we empowered farmers to grow and eat themselves. This, we learnt from the Vietnamese and Japanese who are today leading rice producers.”
Although rice was introduced by early missionaries, it was already cultivated during the colonial days when the Australian colonial government was planting paddy in Bereina, Central Province and Bainik in East Sepik.
“We also started planting paddy in Madang, Morobe, Central, Manus, Milne Bay and East Sepik as encouraged by DAL. Our module is small rice farming systems because we don’t have large mechanised rice farming.
“But we want to focus on subsistence rice farmers. If our people want to grow rice, we use the system that our Government is working on. So our investment is training our agriculture extension officers, giving small tools to the rice farmers rather than pushing for large scale farming. So that’s how we went out to help in provinces that had started rice cultivation,” he added.
Hoko said Maprik in Sepik was one place where farmers were found enthusiastically planting rice.
“They planted paddy in their gardens just like ordinary yams and bananas. So DAL started assisting them. And from working with the farmers, we realised that rice farming was viable although rice is not a traditional food. But then the farmers needed skills and we realised that the district officers also lacked rice farming techniques.
“They needed skills like harvesting, drying, milling and storing unlike our traditional food like growing kaukau, taro, banana that had to be consumed fast before they go bad.
“For rice, we can harvest and store it and you need machines to process rice. So, technical training is required for our enthusiastic rice farmers. This is why we are organising trainings for farmers at the Japanese-funded Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA) centre in Warango, East New Britain where farmers are trained to develop their skills and rice farming culture of sending their harvest to millers,” he added. When the project ended in 2015, we found that the number of paddy farmers had ballooned and production had increased.
“And in Maprik alone, farmers planted rice in normal gardens of about 2,000 sq m. If they go higher, they will need labour to weed the land.
“Such farmers can harvest about 400kg of rice. And a family of six children can produce about 40 bags of 10kg rice from a garden in a year,” he said.
Hoko said the famers don’t eat all the rice at once, so they dry and store it because they also eat other produce like bananas.
“Only when they want to eat rice, they take the grain to the Government mills and pay 50 toea per kg to mill their grain. The rice can last them four months,” he added.
Hoko said the project started with 2,000 famers in East Sepik (Maprik and Angoram) and ended with 8,000 farmers in 2015.
“At one stage, there were 20,000 famers in East Sepik alone. But, overall, we had 15,000 farmers on record in the provinces that we started cultivating paddy (Madang, Morobe, Central, Manus, Milne Bay and East Sepik).
“But rice farming was very successful in East Sepik, especially in Maprik. Unfortunately, after the project ended, we left and did not follow up due to absence of funds.
“The then Government committed to financing the 2017 General Election and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in 2018.
“Today, we still don’t have the money to go out to check on the farmers,” he added.
Hoko said the only way for PNG to go into mass rice production was to empower rice growing in villages.
“Training and funding are needed because we have to cultivate rice farming culture into us. After that we can go into large-scale commercial fully-mechanised irrigated hi-tech rice farming.
“Form the project, we found that it is possible for us to grow rice and be self-sufficient. But the strategy, some senior government officers are thinking, is bringing someone from outside. Bringing in an investor to start producing rice and we meet our goal in rice production domestically. The disadvantage is the investor comes to make big money, reap profits. So, what is there left for our people?
“Our Prime Minister James Marape said that by 2025 we must eat our own rice. So, the Government needs to give us seed money and we invest in Sepik and other plains like Central, Western, Gulf Madang, Oro and Milne Bay.
“We can do it if we have money, knowledge, technical skills at our fingertips. All we need is to work with our people. I have made a submission for the Government to support small rice farmers.
“We also have to empower our agriculture extension district officers through the District Development Authority (DDA).
“The Government put provides the capital, we empower famers by securing rice and water. We cut down on rice imports,” Hoko said.
He estimated an annual rice production of 20,000 tonnes under the project that “we already have a developed mechanism”.
Hoko said: “We have 15,000 paddy farmers nationwide. If each farmer can produce and mill 185kg of rice, it means a saving of about K740 annually on spending K36 on a 10kg rice bag.
“Altogether these famers can save about K11 million annually from cutting down rice imports how massive production will be with full Government support and funding.”
Fair
trading of rice urged as imports flood market
Louise
Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) - November 13, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is calling on the rice
industry stakeholders to uphold free and fair trade amid the continued negative
perception on rice importation under the Rice Tariffication Law.
“It
is true that under RTL, we encourage free trade primarily to lower the price of
rice in the market. But let me also emphasize that we operate on the premise of
fair trade, regardless of the volume that we are looking into,” Agriculture
Secretary William Dar said.
This
as the country’s rice imports are expected to reach record-high this year as
Manila opened its floodgates to cheap rice from other countries.
The
Philippines is even expected to surpass the imports of China, the world’s
largest population.
Reports
from the Bureau of Customs showed that rice import volume reached 1.87 million
metric tons from March to October this year.
Meanwhile,
the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry accounted for two million MT in the
application for sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for imported rice.
“We
need to keep rice production profitable and rice prices affordable to a growing
consumer market. It is imperative to make our rice production systems more
efficient, inclusive, and sustainable,” Dar said.
During
his recent visit to Brunei, Dar asked his counterparts from rice exporting
countries Vietnam and Thailand, in particular, to hold the release of export
permits to rice traders without the Philippines-issued SPSIC.
“With
agreement from my counterparts in rice-exporting countries, we hope to arrest
the influx of undocumented imported rice coming in the country. This is our
move as we prepare our local rice industry to produce more with less cost,” Dar
said.
Dar
cited the implementation of the component programs under the Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) aimed at improving the competitiveness
and income of rice farmers amid the liberalization of rice trade.
The
four programs on seeds, mechanization, credit, and extension services are
expected to increase farmers’ yield up to six MT per hectare and reduce their
production cost to P8 per kilogram of palay.
“RCEF
is a major strategy to lessen our rice imports in the coming years. I am
assuring our farmers that we are on schedule when it comes to the rollout of
its component programs,” Dar said.
The
Philippine Rice Research Institute has been distributing certified seeds
throughout the country until next month for the dry season planting of around
one million hectares.
The
Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, on the other
hand, has validated 620 farmer cooperatives and associations as recipients of
farm machines.
The
Development Bank of the Philippines has released P500 million in loan to a
cooperative in Isabela while the Lank Bank of the Philippines has loaned out P5
million to individual farmers and groups.
Extension
services through training programs and scholarships are also ongoing in
collaboration with the DA-Agricultural Training Institute, PhilRice, PhilMech,
and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Golden rice could save children. Until now,
governments have barred it
Plant scientists Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer,
the inventors of golden rice, at the time of the first field trials in 2004 at
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. (Golden Rice Humanitarian Board)
By Ed Regis
November 12, 2019 at 3:46 a.m.
GMT+5
Ed Regis is a
science writer and the author, most recently, of “Golden Rice: The Imperiled Birth of a GMO Superfood.”
By the end of
this week, Bangladesh’s agriculture minister is expected to announce the approval of “golden
rice" for sale and use, making the country the world’s first to embrace a
food that could save hundreds of thousands of children in developing nations
from blindness and death. Golden rice has faced a years-long battle to overcome
misguided hostility from critics of genetically modified foods and from
overcautious bureaucrats. Its introduction in Bangladesh could be a monumental
breakthrough for its acceptance worldwide.
For more than
two decades, researchers have worked to develop a rice that contained higher
levels of beta carotene, which the human body converts into vitamin A. The goal
was to reduce the incidence of vitamin A deficiency — a health problem that is
virtually unknown in rich Western countries but is a leading cause of childhood
blindness and death in the developing world where rice is a staple,
particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. According to the
World Health Organization, “An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 vitamin A-deficient
children become blind every year, half of them dying within 12 months of losing
their sight.” Also according to WHO, millions of pregnant women worldwide
are at risk of
night blindness and other health problems from vitamin A deficiency, which can
harm fetal development, too.
AD
Golden rice’s
efficacy as a source of vitamin A has been shown in experiments going
back to 2009 with human volunteers. But despite its promise, the rice has been
attacked by critics of genetically modified foods ever since it was announced in the
pages of the journal Science in 2000. Indian anti-GMO crusader Vandana
Shiva called golden
rice “a hoax.” As I found in researching a book on golden rice and the struggles
to get it to those who need it, Greenpeace has variously derided the
potentially lifesaving food as “Fools Gold,” “All glitter, no gold,” “More hype
than substance,” “Propaganda for the genetic engineering industry” and a
“Golden Illusion.”
Defenders of
golden rice, including the more than 100 Nobel laureates who in 2016 signed a letter urging
Greenpeace to stop bashing GMOs, and in particular golden rice, tend to blame
activist opposition for preventing the approval and release of this superfood.
But that is only one cause. The greatest impediment to the release and use of
golden rice has been the regulatory apparatus of the health departments and
agriculture ministries in the countries where the research was being done as
well as in the nations where the biofortified rice was most needed.
In short, the
very government agencies that were supposed to protect human lives and health
have instead been inadvertently responsible for years of mass blindness and
death.
AD
The main source
of the problem is the 2003 so-called Cartagena
Protocol, a United Nations-sponsored resolution on “biosafety”
governing the handling, transport and use of GMOs. A key component of the
protocol was its embrace of a precautionary principle stating that “lack of scientific
certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge
regarding the extent of the potential adverse effects” of a GMO on the
environment or human health “shall not prevent” governments from taking action
against the importation of the GMO in question.
That sounds
like a simple “better safe than sorry” proposition, but in practice it became a
bureaucratic doctrine of “guilty until proven innocent.” The worst of it was
that the statement allowed the imposition of restrictions on a given GMO in the
absence of any actual proof that it would cause harm, or even sufficient reason
to believe that it would.
Governments
responded by being not only cautious, but also zealously overcautious, when it
came to GMOs. What this meant in real-world GMO science is illustrated by the
set of rules created by the European Parliament in 2003, based on a directive regarding
“the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified
organisms.”
AD
The landmark
legislation was legally binding on all member states of the European Union, and
it governed virtually all aspects of GMO research, development and field
testing. It provided, for example, that anyone wishing to conduct a field trial
of a given GMO had to compile a technical dossier that furnished a virtually
complete set of data about the plant at the molecular level, how it had been
modified, with what genetic sequences and their origin — all of it in minute
detail.
Ingo Potrykus,
the co-inventor of golden rice, with Peter Beyer, has estimated that adherence
to government regulations on GMOs resulting from the Cartagena Protocol and the
precautionary principle caused a delay of up to 10 years in the development of
the final product. During that decade, countless children in developing
countries continued to go blind and die, and the health of pregnant women was
also harmed. It was a potent illustration of the way erring on the side of
caution can sometimes have fatal consequences.
If Bangladesh
does indeed approve golden rice for release, and if the rice is
consumed by vitamin A-deficient children and ends up saving their sight and
lives, then many regulatory authorities — and GMO critics — will have a lot of
explaining to do.
USA
Rice Hosts Event to "Reintroduce" U.S. Rice to Singapore Market
By Sarah Moran
SINGAPORE -- USA Rice, in partnership with Sphere
Exhibits (the event arm of the national newspaper agency, Singapore Press
Holdings), recently hosted the first in a series of gourmet events targeting
different consumer segments here. The kick-off event, featuring
U.S.-grown rice, is part of the Gourmet Tribe series designed especially for
millennial gourmands who enjoy new food experiences.
Chef Shota Kaneko of YOSHI created a special dinner menu that highlighted U.S. rice. Thirty diners, who all said the rice was excellent, each received samples of the U.S. rice, vegetable oil, and a recipe card. Additionally, 300-gram packs of U.S. rice were provided for Facebook followers who "liked" an event-goer's page.
"USA Rice is utilizing Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program funding to reintroduce all types of U.S. rice to this market," said Jim Guinn, USA Rice director of Asia promotion programs. "Promotions in Singapore were stopped after 2011, due to reduced funding from USDA. The ATP funds are available through 2022 so we plan to continue efforts to boost trade here."
Future promotions will include radio advertising with giveaways donated by rice importers, Facebook ads, ads in Singapore's two major newspapers, and continued trade servicing during the remainder of calendar year 2019.
From January through September 2019, Singapore imported 2,485 MT of rice from the U.S.
Chef Shota Kaneko of YOSHI created a special dinner menu that highlighted U.S. rice. Thirty diners, who all said the rice was excellent, each received samples of the U.S. rice, vegetable oil, and a recipe card. Additionally, 300-gram packs of U.S. rice were provided for Facebook followers who "liked" an event-goer's page.
"USA Rice is utilizing Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program funding to reintroduce all types of U.S. rice to this market," said Jim Guinn, USA Rice director of Asia promotion programs. "Promotions in Singapore were stopped after 2011, due to reduced funding from USDA. The ATP funds are available through 2022 so we plan to continue efforts to boost trade here."
Future promotions will include radio advertising with giveaways donated by rice importers, Facebook ads, ads in Singapore's two major newspapers, and continued trade servicing during the remainder of calendar year 2019.
From January through September 2019, Singapore imported 2,485 MT of rice from the U.S.
Diet changes can reduce your exposure to
environmental pollutants
·
Madison County Cooperative Extension Service
·
Nov
12, 2019
Most of us heard the recent news reports about how 95% of baby
foods contain toxic metals. Many adult foods also contain these same hazardous
chemicals as a result of environmental pollution. You can reduce the amount of
the environmental pollutants that you consume by selecting healthier options.
Heavy metals and organic
compounds are found in the air, water, soil, sediments and food. Certain foods
tend to collect these hazardous chemicals easier than others. For example, fish
can be contaminated with mercury or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Fruits
and rice can contain arsenic. Fat in meat and dairy can harbor pesticides.
These foods are part of a well-balanced diet, but you can choose types that
tend to contain less harmful materials.
Fish is a high-quality protein
that contains many essential nutrients including omega-3 fatty acids which are
associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, fish can
contain mercury in different concentrations depending on the type of fish.
Mercury is found in small amounts naturally, but it is also released in the air
through industrial processes. Once airborne, it falls back to the ground and
can accumulate in streams.
Not all fish have the same amount
mercury. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends limiting your fish
consumption to two meals per week and choosing types that have lower mercury
levels such as canned light tuna, catfish, pollock, salmon and shrimp. Fish may
also contain PCBs in their fat. You can reduce your exposure by removing the
fatty parts when cleaning and cooking fish.
Arsenic can form naturally but it
is also found near mining sites, in some pesticides and through smoking.
Research has linked arsenic to an increase risk of skin, lung and bladder
cancers. Rice, fruit and fruit juices can contain arsenic. Some types of rice
and other grains tend to have lower levels of arsenic. These include brown
basmati rice and white rice grown in California, Pakistan and India, sushi rice
from the U.S. and other whole grains such as quinoa, buckwheat and millet have
some of the lower levels of arsenic. Cooking the rice in extra water will
remove about half of the arsenic in the food. Thoroughly washing the skins of
all produce will help remove arsenic.
Pesticides collect in the fatty
parts of meat and dairy products. Choose low-fat meat and dairy products.
Trimming existing fat from meat will help.
(Sources: Dawn Brewer, assistant
professor and Courtney Luecking, assistant extension professor)
Educational programs of the
Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of economic or social
status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national
origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity, gender expressions, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information,
age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.
Madagascar Paddy Farmers Rise Up Against 'new City'
Antananarivo, (APP - UrduPoint /
Pakistan Point News - 12th Nov, 2019 ) :Anger is boiling over in the hills
surrounding Antananarivo over
plans to relocate part of Madagascar's choked capital to
emerald-green farmland.
Hundreds of farmers in Ambohitrimanjaka village are facing off
with the authorities over a presidential scheme that threatens to engulf a
thousand hectares (2,500 acres) of rice fields.
"We will not swap our land
for money and
we will not accept being moved," said Jean Desire Rakotoariamanana, 57,
who took part in protests last month.
"These rice paddies provided
for our ancestors." The unrest has been sparked by a scheme to
unclog Antananarivo,
a polluted city of three million people wedged in the
hills of the central highlands.
If the Tana-Masoandra ("Tana
Sun") project comes to fruition, the area will house all of the government's ministries, the Senate, a university, a conference
centre, hotels and homes for 100,000 people.
Its backers claim that relocation
-- to what is the city's distant outskirts -- will cost the equivalent of
$600 million (542 million Euros)
and create 200,000 jobs -- a major economic boost
in the impoverished Indina Ocean island nation.Construction is scheduled to
be completed by 2024.
Scientists develop biodegradable
plastic from cassava starch
Cassava roots: Bioplastic from cassava starch is as tough as
traditional plastics made of petroleum, researchers say. Copyright: IITA.
(This photo has been cropped).
Speed read
·
Researchers
develop bioplastic using cassava starch and ozone gas
·
Bioplastics
are less harmful to the environment and could help tackle pollution
·
By
2030 the world will have to deal with an estimated 550 million tonnes of
plastics
By: Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade
[SÃO PAULO] A team of scientists in Brazil has
developed a biodegradable plastic that could be used for food packaging
or carrier bags, by applying ozone gas to cassava starch.
The ozone (O3) gas changes the molecular properties of the starch from the root vegetable to produce a bioplastic 30 per cent tougher than those made of the starch of potato, rice or maize, the researchers say.
The world currently produces around 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year — equivalent to the weight of the entire human population — according to UN Environment.
The ozone (O3) gas changes the molecular properties of the starch from the root vegetable to produce a bioplastic 30 per cent tougher than those made of the starch of potato, rice or maize, the researchers say.
The world currently produces around 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year — equivalent to the weight of the entire human population — according to UN Environment.
“Our tests indicate that this new
technique is able to generate a biodegradable plastic as strong as traditional
ones made of petroleum,”
Carla Ivonne La
Fuente Arias, University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture
Carla Ivonne La Fuente Arias, a chemistry engineer at the
University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, told SciDev.Net: “Our tests indicate that this new technique is able to generate
a biodegradable plastic as strong as traditional ones made of petroleum.”
The ozone gas has also enabled them to improve the transparency of the cassava-based plastic, according to Arias, lead author of the study published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.
Arias said she and her team had requested the patent for their invention and were in talks with a number of companies about developing the technology, but production costs remain unclear.
“At the moment it will undoubtedly be higher than the cost of producing traditional plastics,” she said.. “However, it should drop when produced on a large scale.”
Bioplastics are considered less harmful to the environment because they may be decomposed by the action of living organisms, carbon dioxide (CO2), biomass or water.
Arias is confident that the new material has potential to help tackle the rampant consumption of plastics and pollution generated by their improper disposal.
Alexander Turra, a biologist at the University of São Paulo’s Oceanographic Institute believes, however, that the issue of plastic waste is more complex and related to socioeconomic problems.
“The pollution caused by plastics is related to the way the global economy is structured and also the societies’ consumption logic, which is, in turn, related to the way garbage is discarded,” he said.
“It is essential to think about this in order to change consumer behaviours, even if it involves biodegradable waste,” he points out, although he recognises “this new technological solution is important, and it may act as a palliative measure for the environment.”
An estimated 8.9 billion tonnes of virgin plastic (non-recycled) and secondary plastic (produced from recycled products) have been manufactured since the middle of the last century, when plastics began to be produced on an industrial scale.
About two-thirds of this total — 6.3 billion tonnes — has been discarded as waste, while 2.6 billion tonnes is still in use, according to a study published in 2017 in Science Advances.
The ozone gas has also enabled them to improve the transparency of the cassava-based plastic, according to Arias, lead author of the study published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.
Arias said she and her team had requested the patent for their invention and were in talks with a number of companies about developing the technology, but production costs remain unclear.
“At the moment it will undoubtedly be higher than the cost of producing traditional plastics,” she said.. “However, it should drop when produced on a large scale.”
Bioplastics are considered less harmful to the environment because they may be decomposed by the action of living organisms, carbon dioxide (CO2), biomass or water.
Arias is confident that the new material has potential to help tackle the rampant consumption of plastics and pollution generated by their improper disposal.
Alexander Turra, a biologist at the University of São Paulo’s Oceanographic Institute believes, however, that the issue of plastic waste is more complex and related to socioeconomic problems.
“The pollution caused by plastics is related to the way the global economy is structured and also the societies’ consumption logic, which is, in turn, related to the way garbage is discarded,” he said.
“It is essential to think about this in order to change consumer behaviours, even if it involves biodegradable waste,” he points out, although he recognises “this new technological solution is important, and it may act as a palliative measure for the environment.”
An estimated 8.9 billion tonnes of virgin plastic (non-recycled) and secondary plastic (produced from recycled products) have been manufactured since the middle of the last century, when plastics began to be produced on an industrial scale.
About two-thirds of this total — 6.3 billion tonnes — has been discarded as waste, while 2.6 billion tonnes is still in use, according to a study published in 2017 in Science Advances.
The manufacture of virgin plastic so far in the 21st
century is equivalent to the volume produced in the previous 50 years. In 2016,
production reached 396 million tonnes, says a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published
in March this year.
WWF’s projections indicate that if the increase in production is not contained, the world will have to deal with about 550 million tonnes of the material by 2030.
“It is essential to prevent all sorts of waste, biodegradable or not, from reaching the environment,” added Turra.
To do so, he said, governments should invest in reducing social inequality, tackling access to basic sanitation and efficient waste collection systems, and improving environmental education.
The study published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules is supported by FAPESP, a donor of SciDev.Net.
WWF’s projections indicate that if the increase in production is not contained, the world will have to deal with about 550 million tonnes of the material by 2030.
“It is essential to prevent all sorts of waste, biodegradable or not, from reaching the environment,” added Turra.
To do so, he said, governments should invest in reducing social inequality, tackling access to basic sanitation and efficient waste collection systems, and improving environmental education.
The study published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules is supported by FAPESP, a donor of SciDev.Net.
Too much
sugar doesn't put the brakes on turbocharged crops
Date:
November 11, 2019
Source:
ARC Centre of Excellence for
Translational Photosynthesis
Summary:
Plants make sugars to form leaves
to grow and produce grains and fruits through the process of photosynthesis,
but sugar accumulation can also slow down photosynthesis. Researching how
sugars in plants control photosynthesis is therefore an important part of
finding new ways of improving crop production. Recent research into highly
productive turbocharged crops such as maize and sorghum, show the secret to
their productivity could lie in their sugar-sensing responses which regulate
photosynthesis inside their leaves.
Share:
FULL
STORY
Plants
make sugars to form leaves to grow and produce grains and fruits through the
process of photosynthesis, but sugar accumulation can also slow down
photosynthesis. Researching how sugars in plants control photosynthesis is
therefore an important part of finding new ways of improving crop production.
Recent
research into highly productive turbocharged crops such as maize and sorghum,
show the secret to their productivity could lie in their sugar sensing
responses which regulate photosynthesis inside their leaves.
"By
comparing rice and millet we found that crops that use the C4 photosynthesis
path, such as maize, sorghum and millet, regulate photosynthesis using
different sugar signal mechanisms than C3 crops, such as wheat and rice. This
may be part of the reason why they are more productive," said lead
researcher Dr Clemence Henry from the ARC Centre of Excellence for
Translational Photosynthesis (CoETP).
"Plants
can detect how much sugar is being produced and used through a complex set of
sugar sensing mechanisms. These mechanisms can shut photosynthesis down if
sugar accumulation is too high. However, to our surprise, we found out that
unlike previously shown in some C3 plants, C4 plants are not so sensitive to
high levels of sugars, which shows us that the feedback mechanism is not as
simple as we previously thought" Dr Henry says.
"We
are trying to understand how photosynthesis is regulated in C4 plants, which
are some of the most important cereals in global food production. The
regulation mechanisms have been well studied in C3 plants, but until now, we
didn't know what happens in C4 crops and how this is related to their ability
to produce more sugars," says Dr Oula Ghannoum, CoETP Chief investigator
at Western Sydney University.
"One
of the most exciting outcomes of this research is that if we understand how
sugar signalling works in C4 crops, in the future when we transfer turbocharged
photosynthesis mechanisms to crops like wheat and rice we will ensure we
improve their yield," says Dr Ghannoum.
Improving
photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight, water and CO2
into organic matter, is recognised as one of the best ways to increase crop
production.
"The
tricky part is to translate the results found at the molecular level to the
crop level. For improved photosynthesis to give more yield we need to
"take the brakes off" the crop. This is an essential piece of the
puzzle to achieve improved yield through increased photosynthesis," says
CoETP Director Professor Robert Furbank, one of the authors of this study.
During
the study, published recently in the Journal of Experimental Botany,
the scientists used light intensity as a means to increase sugar production and
identify the genes responsible for photosynthesis regulation. This is one of
the few studies that are focusing on the source of sugar production where
photosynthesis happens, rather than in the sinks where sugars are used by the
plant. This is one of the few studies that are focusing on the source (leaves)
where sugar production and photosynthesis take place, rather than in the sinks
(grains, fruits) where sugars are used.
"We
still have a lot of unanswered questions about how these sugar sensors work.
Our next steps are to manipulate these sensors, which will help us to gather
essential information we need to transfer them to C3 crops in the future,"
Dr Ghannoum says.
make a difference: sponsored opportunity
Story
Source:
Materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence for
Translational Photosynthesis. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.
Journal
Reference:
1.
Clémence Henry, Alexander
Watson-Lazowski, Maria Oszvald, Cara Griffiths, Matthew J Paul, Robert T
Furbank, Oula Ghannoum. Sugar sensing responses to low and high light
in leaves of the C4 model grass Setaria viridis. Journal of
Experimental Botany, 2019; DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz495
Cite
This Page:
·
MLA
·
APA
·
Chicago
ARC
Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis. "Too much sugar
doesn't put the brakes on turbocharged crops." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily,
11 November 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191111100935.htm>.
As
climate change hits crops, debate heats up over use of plant gene data
News - International | 2019-11-12
As climate change hits crops,
debate heats up over use of plant gene data
ROME —
Rich and poor countries are at loggerheads over how to share benefits from
genetic plant data that could help breed crops better able to withstand climate
change, as negotiations to revise a global treaty were set to resume in Rome
yesterday.
The
little-known agreement is seen as crucial for agricultural research and
development on a planet suffering rising hunger, malnutrition and the impacts
of climate change.
“We need all the 'genetics' around the world to be able to breed crops that will adapt to global warming,” said Sylvain Aubry, a plant biologist who advises the Swiss government.
Rising temperatures, water shortages and creeping deserts could reduce both the quantity and quality of food production, including staple crops such as wheat and rice, scientists have warned. The debate over “digital sequence information” (DSI) has erupted as the cost of sequencing genomes falls, boosting the availability of genetic plant data, Aubry said.
“A lot of modern crop breeding relies on these data today,” he added.
At the same time, the capability of machines to process vast amounts of that data to identify special crop traits such as disease resistance or heat tolerance has grown.
Pierre du Plessis, an African technical adviser on treaty issues, said companies and breeders can use DSI to identify the genetic sequence of a desired plant trait and send it by email to a gene foundry that prints and mails back a strand of DNA.
“Then you use gene-editing technology to incorporate that strand into a plant. So you have created a new variety without accessing the trait in biological form,” he said.
That process could enable businesses to circumvent the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture which stipulates that the benefits derived from using material from species it covers – including money and new technology – must be shared.
Developing states, which are home to many plant species such as maize and legumes used in breeding, hope to add digital sequence information to the treaty's scope. This would force companies and breeders that develop new commercial crops from that data to pay a percentage of their sales or profits into a fund now managed by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The fund's resources are used to conserve and develop plant genetic resources – the basis of the foods humans eat – so that farmers, particularly in the developing world, can cope better with a warming climate.
Most wealthy nations, which are generally more active in seed production, argue digital information on plant genetics should be available to use without an obligation to share benefits.
“There's almost no one still doing the old-fashioned, 'let's try it and see' breeding. It's all based on the understanding of genome and a lot of CRISPR gene editing creeping in,” said Du Plessis.
CRISPR is a technology that allows genome editing in plant and animal cells. Scientists say it could lead to cures for diseases driven by genetic mutations or abnormalities, and help create crops resilient to climate extremes. But developing nations and civil society groups such as the Malaysia-based Third World Network say companies that develop new crop varieties using this information could lock access to their critical traits using intellectual property rights.
The treaty row emerged in late October when representatives of governments, the seed industry, research organisations and civil society attended a meeting at FAO headquarters in Rome.
Negotiations have been going on for more than six years to update the treaty, which came into force in 2004 and governs access to 64 crops and forage plants judged as key to feeding the world.
Last month, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Germany rejected a proposal from the co-chairs of the talks to include “information, including genetic sequence data” in the treaty's provisions on benefit-sharing.
Africa, India, Latin America and the Caribbean pushed back but the meeting ended without a compromise, which negotiators now hope to secure before the treaty's governing body meets on 11 November. The International Seed Federation, a body representing the US$42-billion seed industry, says plant breeding still requires the use of physical material and it is too early to set the rules on genetic data.
“Developing policy based on speculation and on things that are bordering on scientific fiction doesn't seem wise,” said Thomas Nickson, who attended the Rome talks for the federation.
“It is critical to have the information publicly available, especially for small companies in developing countries,” he added.
But Edward Hammond, an adviser to Third World Network, said small farmers needed support, and open access to plant data should not mean a “no-strings-attached free-for-all”.
“Resilience to climate change is being grown in the fields,” he said. “Interesting and new varieties are appearing in the fields as they adapt. This is not coming from companies using new seeds.”
Kent Nnadozie, secretary of the treaty, said if it were agreed, the genetic data should be freely available; it would be mostly developed countries that had the capacity, resources and technology to put it to use. “The fear is that (this) perpetuates and reinforces an unfair system or... amplifies it,” he said. Concerns over increasing privatisation and monopolisation of food crops – which experts say threaten agricultural biodiversity – played a role in the treaty's origins.
Its aim was to build a multilateral approach to access and exchange plant resources, with “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their use” as a means to address historical imbalances between farmers and seed companies.
While breeders and seed firms rarely pay for the knowledge and genetic resources they source from farmers and indigenous peoples, farmers usually have to buy the seeds of the improved crop varieties businesses produce and sell.
– Thomson Reuters Foundation
“We need all the 'genetics' around the world to be able to breed crops that will adapt to global warming,” said Sylvain Aubry, a plant biologist who advises the Swiss government.
Rising temperatures, water shortages and creeping deserts could reduce both the quantity and quality of food production, including staple crops such as wheat and rice, scientists have warned. The debate over “digital sequence information” (DSI) has erupted as the cost of sequencing genomes falls, boosting the availability of genetic plant data, Aubry said.
“A lot of modern crop breeding relies on these data today,” he added.
At the same time, the capability of machines to process vast amounts of that data to identify special crop traits such as disease resistance or heat tolerance has grown.
Pierre du Plessis, an African technical adviser on treaty issues, said companies and breeders can use DSI to identify the genetic sequence of a desired plant trait and send it by email to a gene foundry that prints and mails back a strand of DNA.
“Then you use gene-editing technology to incorporate that strand into a plant. So you have created a new variety without accessing the trait in biological form,” he said.
That process could enable businesses to circumvent the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture which stipulates that the benefits derived from using material from species it covers – including money and new technology – must be shared.
Developing states, which are home to many plant species such as maize and legumes used in breeding, hope to add digital sequence information to the treaty's scope. This would force companies and breeders that develop new commercial crops from that data to pay a percentage of their sales or profits into a fund now managed by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The fund's resources are used to conserve and develop plant genetic resources – the basis of the foods humans eat – so that farmers, particularly in the developing world, can cope better with a warming climate.
Most wealthy nations, which are generally more active in seed production, argue digital information on plant genetics should be available to use without an obligation to share benefits.
“There's almost no one still doing the old-fashioned, 'let's try it and see' breeding. It's all based on the understanding of genome and a lot of CRISPR gene editing creeping in,” said Du Plessis.
CRISPR is a technology that allows genome editing in plant and animal cells. Scientists say it could lead to cures for diseases driven by genetic mutations or abnormalities, and help create crops resilient to climate extremes. But developing nations and civil society groups such as the Malaysia-based Third World Network say companies that develop new crop varieties using this information could lock access to their critical traits using intellectual property rights.
The treaty row emerged in late October when representatives of governments, the seed industry, research organisations and civil society attended a meeting at FAO headquarters in Rome.
Negotiations have been going on for more than six years to update the treaty, which came into force in 2004 and governs access to 64 crops and forage plants judged as key to feeding the world.
Last month, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Germany rejected a proposal from the co-chairs of the talks to include “information, including genetic sequence data” in the treaty's provisions on benefit-sharing.
Africa, India, Latin America and the Caribbean pushed back but the meeting ended without a compromise, which negotiators now hope to secure before the treaty's governing body meets on 11 November. The International Seed Federation, a body representing the US$42-billion seed industry, says plant breeding still requires the use of physical material and it is too early to set the rules on genetic data.
“Developing policy based on speculation and on things that are bordering on scientific fiction doesn't seem wise,” said Thomas Nickson, who attended the Rome talks for the federation.
“It is critical to have the information publicly available, especially for small companies in developing countries,” he added.
But Edward Hammond, an adviser to Third World Network, said small farmers needed support, and open access to plant data should not mean a “no-strings-attached free-for-all”.
“Resilience to climate change is being grown in the fields,” he said. “Interesting and new varieties are appearing in the fields as they adapt. This is not coming from companies using new seeds.”
Kent Nnadozie, secretary of the treaty, said if it were agreed, the genetic data should be freely available; it would be mostly developed countries that had the capacity, resources and technology to put it to use. “The fear is that (this) perpetuates and reinforces an unfair system or... amplifies it,” he said. Concerns over increasing privatisation and monopolisation of food crops – which experts say threaten agricultural biodiversity – played a role in the treaty's origins.
Its aim was to build a multilateral approach to access and exchange plant resources, with “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their use” as a means to address historical imbalances between farmers and seed companies.
While breeders and seed firms rarely pay for the knowledge and genetic resources they source from farmers and indigenous peoples, farmers usually have to buy the seeds of the improved crop varieties businesses produce and sell.
– Thomson Reuters Foundation
NRRI, Cuttack Organises ‘Rice Walk: Walk With Rice,
Know Your Rice’ Pragramme
Cuttack: ICAR-National Rice Research
Institute (NRRI), Cuttack is organizing a “Rice Walk: Walk with Rice, Know
Your Rice” programme on Wednesday.
NRRI
officials said that the programme is being organized to expose the students,
teachers, farmers, scientists, policymakers and general public about the
development of rice varieties and other technologies.
“The Rice
Walk will provide an opportunity for all, particularly the students, to
visit the institute research farm of about 200 acres area, to see the crops of
newly developed high yielding rice varieties in full grown stage, and to
understand all the related agro-technologies in rice production, protection,
physiology, micro-environment, mechanization, bio-fortification, and climate
resilience in addition to visiting the rice museum, rice gene bank and rice
labs,” said an official.
The institute has invited students
from over 40 schools and junior colleges in and around the twin cities of
Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. “We are expecting participation of over 2000 students,
teachers, farmers, scientists, and general public. The students and other
visitors will be guided by a group of scientists during the walk,” added the
official.
As Lagos empowers
youth through agriculture
13th November 2019 in Letters
Some of the challenges that have persisted
across Nigeria’s agricultural landscape,over the decades, include the lack of
connection between the set of peasant, smallholder farmers and the policy
makers as well as lack of requisite
knowledge on the application of modern technology to farming. Also, there is
little or no access to loans to upgrade their performance.
Yet, more than 80 per cent of the
total farming population are rural smallholder farmers. But for how long would
they be neglected if indeed, they are the pillars of the agricultural sector
and have the potential to influence its sustainabledevelopment?
Another significant issue of course,
is how to encourage job-seeking youth, especially graduates to get interested and actively engaged in
agriculture.
This becomes even more difficult in
urban settings where the drive and desire is for white-collar jobs. That is
precisely where the Lagos state government comes in with its laudable
initiatives to lure and empower the youth into modern and productive
agricultural practices.
To bridge this inexcusable gap, BATN
Foundation in partnership with the Lagos State Government recently organized an
annual Farm Fair.The aim is to create market linkage for smallholder farmers.
The Fair comes as a business
platform to expose farmers to opportunities in urban areas without any
financial burden or risks.
So good the initiative has become
that the Lagos State government has an
on- going partnership with Bank of Agriculture, Stanbic IBTC,
Standard Chartered Bank and NYSCon annual basis to assist the farmers.
The objectives of the fair include
the promotion of small enterprises for business growth. It is to provide market
access and linkage, create platform to network and explore business
opportunities. It is also to enable them
to provide fresh and healthy farm produce to the public and to promote
Agri-business among urban youths
During the event held recently the
activities includedfamers market, exhibition,Master Class,Pop- up restaurants,
parade and it was rounded up with an award ceremony. This is a commendable way
to bring in the youth back into farming.
It would be recalled that
during the unveiling of a 32
tonnes-per-hour rice mill in the state the Commissioner of Agriculture who was
represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, DrOlayiwolaOnasanya,
explained that the mill will conveniently employ 250, 000 people, directly as
rice millers. And indirectly as rice growers, marketers and transporters.Such
actions would benefit not onlyfarmers in Lagos state but across the South-West
geo-political zone.
Similarly, the state is buoyed to
employ 400 women and youths according to the State Project Coordinator of the
World Ban-assisted Project, APPEALS, Mrs. OlurantiOviebo. Through it, small and
medium scale farmers will be actively employed in poultry farming, aquaculture
and rice milling to improve on agriculture’s value chain.
Ayo Oyoze Baje
Lagos
The aim is to use modern technology
towards increased food production.
It would be recalled that back in
November 2013 the Lagos State Agricultural Development Project held an
Implementation Support Supervision/ Staple Crop Processing Zone (SCPZ) Mission
in the state. The participants included
small and medium scale rice, poultry and aquaculture farmers, processors
and marketers. Others were financial institutions, community leaders and
non-governmental organizations, state policy makers, representatives of the
World Bank, and members of the House Committee on Agriculture.
The mission was to review and align
with the federal and state government agricultural policies, especially the
Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) to aid the smooth project
implementation. That was then-some six years ago. But this is now.
The piece of good news is that
continuity in government has stabilized the activities of the Lagos State
Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) in helping to achieve the
World Bank’s twin goals of ending poverty and boosting prosperity by creating
new agric entrepreneurs. Its aim is to
strengthen agricultural production systems and facilitate access to markets.
that is, for participating small and medium scale commercial farmers.
It also supports the
commercialization of agriculture production, processing, marketing output
amongst agric-based SMEs and agro-processors.
Ayo Oyoze Baje
Lagos
Interestingly, Lagos state
government has also benefitted from its partnership with the Centre for Values
in Leadership(CVL) initiated a youth
entrepreneurship, agro-processing and vocational skills acquisition programme.
It offers sustainable livelihood support and employment opportunities for
youths in Nigeria over a 12 months period under the CVL Young Entrepreneurship
Training Programme (YETP) – a national youth intervention programme. To be part
of this youth empowerment scheme, the applicant must be a resident of the
selected community and must be within the age brackets (18-to-40 inclusive). An
applicant with a minimum of School Certificate or ability to read and write may
be considered.
The main goal of this project is to
combat violent extremism and youth unemployment through youth entrepreneurship,
agriculture, and Information, Communication and Technological engagement with
the youths in Nigeria.Its Specific Objectivespromise that within 12 months it
enhances theentrepreneurship skills of young people through entrepreneurship
training, mentoring, and business internship.
Within a year YETP empowers young entrepreneurs with start-up capitals to
enable them establish, run and manage sustainable enterprises.It also increases
access to financial support for young people, through linkages to investors,
credit banks, and other micro-finance houses for start-up capital and business
growth/expansion purpose. Eventually,within the same one-year period it reduces
youth restiveness and unemployment by creating job opportunities for young
people.
This is in tandem with the position
of the #Wealthishere, youth empowerment scheme. According to the online
platform: “with poor access to infrastructure, inputs and markets, the
smallholder farmers are one of the most vulnerable groups in the value chain
system.” Considering the low scale and
archaic methods of farming they apply it is difficult for these farmers to have
access to credit facilities to upscale their production.
It is therefore a commendable move
on the part of Lagos state government to identify areas of youth development,
especially agriculture; train, empower and assess the performance of
beneficiaries to keep the unemployed ones of the violent street. Other states
should take a cue, not only to enhance job and wealth creation but food
security.
Rice Prices
as on :
13-11-2019 03:05:47 PM
Arrivals in tonnes;prices in
Rs/quintal in domestic market.
|
Arrivals
|
Price
|
|||||
|
Current
|
%
change |
Season
cumulative |
Modal
|
Prev.
Modal |
Prev.Yr
%change |
|
|
Rice
|
||||||
|
Gadarpur(Utr)
|
4319.00
|
365.91
|
79893.00
|
2312
|
2397
|
-
|
|
Pilibhit(UP)
|
4000.00
|
NC
|
53212.50
|
2545
|
2600
|
11.14
|
|
Bangalore(Kar)
|
2050.00
|
-28.17
|
97238.00
|
4650
|
4650
|
8.14
|
|
Puranpur(UP)
|
200.00
|
1233.33
|
3810.00
|
2560
|
2550
|
9.40
|
|
Bindki(UP)
|
200.00
|
-28.57
|
7078.00
|
2350
|
2350
|
4.91
|
|
Barhaj(UP)
|
200.00
|
11.11
|
8443.00
|
2390
|
2400
|
5.99
|
|
Muzzafarnagar(UP)
|
180.00
|
16.13
|
3180.00
|
2695
|
2690
|
2.47
|
|
Hardoi(UP)
|
180.00
|
-10
|
5900.00
|
2480
|
2450
|
NC
|
|
Gondal(UP)
|
145.00
|
-3.33
|
6778.50
|
2460
|
2460
|
-0.40
|
|
Dhing(ASM)
|
130.00
|
-8.45
|
2748.00
|
2750
|
2770
|
4.96
|
|
Mainpuri(UP)
|
124.00
|
5.08
|
3010.00
|
2500
|
2500
|
-10.07
|
|
Roorkee(Utr)
|
118.00
|
180.95
|
1829.00
|
2500
|
2300
|
-
|
|
Kanpur(Grain)(UP)
|
115.00
|
-11.54
|
4920.00
|
2110
|
2100
|
-5.17
|
|
Agra(UP)
|
90.00
|
5.88
|
3877.00
|
2570
|
2570
|
3.21
|
|
Naugarh(UP)
|
77.50
|
3.33
|
3221.50
|
2490
|
2475
|
10.42
|
|
Thodupuzha(Ker)
|
70.00
|
NC
|
2590.00
|
2900
|
2900
|
-7.94
|
|
Aligarh(UP)
|
70.00
|
-6.67
|
3575.00
|
2550
|
2550
|
2.00
|
|
Mathura(UP)
|
70.00
|
16.67
|
1295.50
|
2570
|
2550
|
-1.15
|
|
Saharanpur(UP)
|
67.00
|
8.06
|
1418.50
|
2620
|
2770
|
NC
|
|
Jorhat(ASM)
|
65.00
|
44.44
|
2070.50
|
3400
|
3400
|
6.25
|
|
Azamgarh(UP)
|
61.50
|
43.02
|
2972.50
|
2480
|
2475
|
9.73
|
|
Bazpur(Utr)
|
60.10
|
-64.75
|
4100.50
|
2200
|
2200
|
-10.20
|
|
Kalipur(WB)
|
58.00
|
31.82
|
2182.00
|
2400
|
2400
|
-
|
|
Gauripur(ASM)
|
54.00
|
20
|
2101.50
|
4500
|
4500
|
NC
|
|
Kayamganj(UP)
|
50.00
|
25
|
1389.00
|
2690
|
2700
|
13.98
|
|
Honnali(Kar)
|
49.00
|
25.64
|
781.00
|
1850
|
1856
|
6.94
|
|
Allahabad(UP)
|
45.00
|
12.5
|
1465.50
|
2600
|
2650
|
13.04
|
|
Karimpur(WB)
|
45.00
|
NC
|
1100.00
|
3260
|
3270
|
-8.17
|
|
Cachar(ASM)
|
40.00
|
NC
|
3180.00
|
2400
|
2400
|
NC
|
|
Karimganj(ASM)
|
40.00
|
-20
|
400.00
|
3500
|
3500
|
NC
|
|
Lakhimpur(UP)
|
40.00
|
5.26
|
1925.00
|
2360
|
2370
|
5.83
|
|
Beldanga(WB)
|
40.00
|
NC
|
1785.00
|
2700
|
2700
|
3.85
|
|
Lalitpur(UP)
|
38.00
|
-5
|
1292.00
|
2345
|
2335
|
-9.81
|
|
Vasai(Mah)
|
37.00
|
-2.63
|
1327.00
|
3425
|
3430
|
5.38
|
|
Pandua(WB)
|
36.00
|
-18.18
|
1924.00
|
3050
|
3100
|
1.67
|
|
Basti(UP)
|
35.00
|
NC
|
1352.50
|
2470
|
2475
|
9.78
|
|
Madhoganj(UP)
|
35.00
|
-53.33
|
2232.50
|
2350
|
2250
|
4.91
|
|
Jhargram(WB)
|
35.00
|
NC
|
834.00
|
2900
|
2900
|
-3.33
|
|
Bankura Sadar(WB)
|
32.00
|
6.67
|
527.00
|
2500
|
2500
|
-3.85
|
|
Muradabad(UP)
|
30.00
|
NC
|
602.40
|
2560
|
2560
|
6.67
|
|
Sahiyapur(UP)
|
30.00
|
NC
|
1201.50
|
2470
|
2470
|
9.78
|
|
Kopaganj(UP)
|
29.00
|
-25.64
|
1207.00
|
2470
|
2475
|
9.05
|
|
Bareilly(UP)
|
27.50
|
-50.89
|
1701.50
|
2540
|
2550
|
10.43
|
|
Howly(ASM)
|
26.00
|
-27.78
|
583.00
|
2500
|
2500
|
6.38
|
|
Chhibramau(Kannuj)(UP)
|
26.00
|
8.33
|
405.50
|
2700
|
2740
|
17.39
|
|
Safdarganj(UP)
|
25.00
|
19.05
|
569.00
|
2430
|
2510
|
6.58
|
|
Sitapur(UP)
|
23.00
|
4.55
|
791.00
|
2410
|
2415
|
5.56
|
|
Devariya(UP)
|
21.50
|
-4.44
|
1069.00
|
2480
|
2480
|
9.73
|
|
Nalbari(ASM)
|
21.00
|
44.83
|
559.90
|
2500
|
2500
|
NC
|
|
Firozabad(UP)
|
21.00
|
250
|
68.20
|
2570
|
2560
|
-
|
|
Shamli(UP)
|
20.00
|
150
|
109.00
|
2680
|
2790
|
-4.29
|
|
Wansi(UP)
|
20.00
|
-9.09
|
842.00
|
2110
|
2110
|
NC
|
|
Falakata(WB)
|
20.00
|
NC
|
840.00
|
2600
|
2600
|
-7.14
|
|
Alipurduar(WB)
|
20.00
|
NC
|
580.00
|
2600
|
2600
|
-7.14
|
|
Chorichora(UP)
|
19.00
|
-17.39
|
326.00
|
2510
|
2475
|
12.30
|
|
Sirsaganj(UP)
|
17.00
|
54.55
|
401.00
|
2620
|
2600
|
-5.07
|
|
Akbarpur(UP)
|
17.00
|
17.24
|
859.60
|
2430
|
2430
|
8.48
|
|
Fatehpur(UP)
|
16.50
|
-11.76
|
925.90
|
2370
|
2370
|
9.72
|
|
Jhijhank(UP)
|
16.00
|
-
|
32.00
|
2440
|
-
|
-
|
|
Champadanga(WB)
|
15.00
|
NC
|
493.00
|
3150
|
3150
|
NC
|
|
Indus(Bankura Sadar)(WB)
|
15.00
|
7.14
|
1751.00
|
2800
|
2800
|
NC
|
|
Chintamani(Kar)
|
13.00
|
NC
|
324.00
|
2700
|
2700
|
20.00
|
|
Panchpedwa(UP)
|
13.00
|
-48
|
409.90
|
1990
|
1990
|
-9.95
|
|
Karvi(UP)
|
12.50
|
13.64
|
483.50
|
2370
|
2375
|
6.28
|
|
Bhivandi(Mah)
|
12.00
|
-42.86
|
891.00
|
2300
|
2400
|
-0.86
|
|
Mahoba(UP)
|
10.80
|
-34.55
|
209.90
|
2280
|
2250
|
-
|
|
Sheoraphuly(WB)
|
10.60
|
3.92
|
186.00
|
3200
|
3200
|
-5.88
|
|
Nawabganj(UP)
|
10.00
|
-16.67
|
399.25
|
2470
|
2460
|
14.35
|
|
Vilthararoad(UP)
|
10.00
|
NC
|
801.00
|
2150
|
2150
|
7.50
|
|
Kannauj(UP)
|
10.00
|
11.11
|
395.50
|
2750
|
2750
|
19.57
|
|
Badayoun(UP)
|
9.00
|
NC
|
636.50
|
2650
|
2660
|
17.78
|
|
Nadia(WB)
|
9.00
|
50
|
442.00
|
3800
|
3800
|
-5.00
|
|
Tamkuhi Road(UP)
|
8.00
|
-11.11
|
571.40
|
2250
|
2250
|
4.65
|
|
Khurja(UP)
|
7.00
|
-17.65
|
427.30
|
2575
|
2665
|
-0.96
|
|
Puwaha(UP)
|
7.00
|
-41.67
|
361.20
|
2500
|
2500
|
-0.79
|
|
Atarra(UP)
|
6.00
|
20
|
294.00
|
2350
|
2380
|
6.82
|
|
Etah(UP)
|
6.00
|
-25
|
262.50
|
2570
|
2560
|
1.18
|
|
Jhansi(UP)
|
6.00
|
-52
|
130.10
|
2265
|
2275
|
-0.22
|
|
Sehjanwa(UP)
|
6.00
|
NC
|
264.00
|
2480
|
2460
|
14.81
|
|
Mugrabaadshahpur(UP)
|
6.00
|
20
|
272.50
|
2260
|
2270
|
-
|
|
Bishnupur(Bankura)(WB)
|
6.00
|
-20
|
479.00
|
2600
|
2600
|
-1.89
|
|
Unnao(UP)
|
5.80
|
-3.33
|
127.50
|
2675
|
2700
|
12.87
|
|
Dibrugarh(ASM)
|
5.70
|
29.55
|
383.00
|
3100
|
3100
|
6.16
|
|
Fatehabad(UP)
|
5.50
|
-63.33
|
393.90
|
2320
|
2350
|
3.11
|
|
Anandnagar(UP)
|
5.00
|
177.78
|
217.60
|
2445
|
2460
|
11.14
|
|
Kasganj(UP)
|
5.00
|
25
|
220.00
|
2610
|
2600
|
3.16
|
|
Kosikalan(UP)
|
5.00
|
28.21
|
204.10
|
2550
|
2535
|
2.00
|
|
Jahangirabad(UP)
|
4.00
|
NC
|
162.50
|
2575
|
2575
|
0.98
|
|
Achalda(UP)
|
4.00
|
566.67
|
31.30
|
2500
|
2500
|
31.58
|
|
Muskara(UP)
|
3.90
|
50
|
35.20
|
2240
|
2360
|
-0.88
|
|
Badda(UP)
|
3.60
|
-14.29
|
133.10
|
2500
|
2500
|
-
|
|
Kalyani(WB)
|
3.50
|
-12.5
|
163.00
|
3450
|
3450
|
1.47
|
|
Ranaghat(WB)
|
3.20
|
-3.03
|
75.20
|
3700
|
3700
|
1.37
|
|
Mangaon(Mah)
|
3.00
|
-40
|
76.00
|
2800
|
3200
|
-20.00
|
|
Sonamura(Tri)
|
3.00
|
20
|
20.00
|
2700
|
2700
|
-
|
|
Gadaura(UP)
|
3.00
|
-57.14
|
581.50
|
2300
|
2300
|
9.52
|
|
Khatra(WB)
|
2.70
|
-10
|
576.80
|
2650
|
2650
|
1.92
|
|
Fatehpur Sikri(UP)
|
1.80
|
5.88
|
46.40
|
2560
|
2595
|
-4.30
|
|
Charra(UP)
|
1.50
|
-25
|
49.80
|
2550
|
2550
|
2.00
|
|
Nandyal(AP)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
42.00
|
4250
|
3900
|
-
|
|
Jambusar(Kaavi)(Guj)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
97.00
|
3200
|
3000
|
18.52
|
|
Aroor(Ker)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
19.00
|
11000
|
10000
|
20.88
|
|
Penugonda(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
30.00
|
4090
|
4090
|
0.25
|
|
Alibagh(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
110.00
|
4200
|
4200
|
-16.00
|
|
Murud(Mah)
|
1.00
|
NC
|
111.00
|
4200
|
4200
|
5.00
|
|
Achnera(UP)
|
0.70
|
NC
|
33.70
|
2550
|
2550
|
-0.39
|
Published on November 13, 2019
TOPICS
Vietnamese rice yet to
be exported under national brand
By Trung Chanh
Tuesday, Nov 12, 2019,18:50
(GMT+7)
Purple rice is displayed at the third Rice Festival in Long An Province.
Vietnamese rice has yet to be exported under the national brand - PHOTO: TRUNG
CHANH
CAN THO – Nearly a year after the logo for Vietnamese rice was
introduced, no local rice shipments have been exported under the national
brand.
At a press briefing today, November 12, to introduce the fourth
Rice Festival in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, Nguyen Anh Dung from
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Farm Produce Processing and
Market Development Department told the Saigon Times that before introducing the
logo in December last year, the ministry had held a contest to choose the logo.
The ministry later registered the logo with the Madrid System, a
system for the registration of worldwide trademarks.
However, the process is complicated. The ministry and the Vietnam
Food Association are still preparing the paperwork, so the logo has yet to be
used.
The fourth Rice Festival was scheduled to take place from December
1
3 to 19 in Vinh Long Province. The event is expected to feature 800
booths. By November 10, exhibitors had registered for 443 booths.At the
festival, the organizer will also host specialized seminars on the legal
framework and policies for developing cooperatives; conditions needed to
develop the agriculture sector, focusing on rice; policies that support rice
growers; and rural development.The event will also include rice and rice-based
dish cooking contests.
https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/72732/vietnamese-rice-yet-to-be-exported-under-national-brand.html
House greenlights tapping of P6-B rice
subsidy to buy palay
By: Daphne
Galvez - Reporter / @DYGalvezINQ
INQUIRER.net /
04:23 PM November 12, 2019
MANILA,
Philippines — The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and
final reading a joint resolution allowing the use of the remaining
P6.97-billion rice subsidy fund to buy palay (unhusked rice) from local farmers.
Voting
206-0-0, the House approved House Joint Resolution No. 22, which authorizes the
government to tap the subsidy fund under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program (4Ps) for the purchase of palay.
The joint
resolution seeks to transfer to the National Food Authority (NFA) the unused
P6.97-billion rice subsidy fund, which is under the 2019 budget of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The NFA will then buy
palay from local farmers at P19 per kilo.
The
resolution also aims to replace the P600 per month rice subsidy to 4Ps
beneficiaries with actual rice.
Farmgate
prices reportedly plummeted to as low as P7 per kilo in some areas, with some
blaming Republic Act No. 11023 or the Rice Tariffication Law, which replaced
quantitative restrictions on imported rice with tariffs or taxes.
The law was
signed in February this year.
Last Nov. 4,
the Senate approved on third reading its version of the resolution.
Both houses of Congress will convene a
bicameral conference committee to reconcile disagreeing provisions on the
resolution. After this, the measure will be transmitted to the President for
his signature.
S. Korean
trade minister says rice excluded from RCEP concessions
Posted on : Nov.12,2019 16:56 KST Modified on : Nov.12,2019
16:56 KST
Announcement
comes amid talks on Seoul’s forfeiting developing country status in WTO
Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee
South Korea’s top trade official said on Nov. 11 that rice was
excluded from the concessions in the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP).Recently, a sense of crisis has been spreading through the
Korean farming sector because of major progress in RCEP negotiations and
Seoul’s decision to abandon developing country status at the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
Against that backdrop, Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee added that
Seoul is “taking part in market liberalization negotiations while doing
everything it can to account for the sensitivity of the agricultural sector.”
“We’re nearing the finishing line in negotiations about market
liberalization between the various member states. In the ministerial meeting,
we agreed to wrap up negotiations on individual items by the end of the year,
but the timing of the final signing has been pushed back to next year,” Yoo
said during a press conference at the Government Complex Sejong on Monday
afternoon.
“Since we’re currently linked to each country through separate
free trade agreements, companies have to abide by rules that vary with each
separate place of origin. Once place-of-origin regulations are integrated
through multilateral negotiations, however, exports and trade for will become
much easier for SMEs,” the official said.
In regard to whether the US will slap tariffs on automobiles
under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act by the deadline of Nov. 13, Yoo
showed reluctance to assume that South Korea would be exempted from the
tariffs. “We’ve repeatedly indicated to the Americans that we shouldn’t be
included in the tariffs because we’ve been faithfully carrying out the promises
we made in our negotiations about revising the KORUS FTA [South Korea-US Free
Trade Agreement]. When I visited the US last month, both the US Trade
Representative and [Larry] Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council,
expressed positive viewpoints about bilateral trade and investment after the KORUS
FTA revision,” she said.
Yoo declined to speak in detail about the government’s position
and negotiating strategies about the second round of bilateral deliberations
with Japan, scheduled for Nov. 19, about a complaint that South Korea has
lodged with the WTO over Japan’s export controls. “All that I can tell you is
that we’ll do our best in the bilateral deliberations on Nov. 19. Since the
next step depends on the outcome of the bilateral deliberations, I’ll be able
to tell you about the timeframe for a solution after seeing how the
negotiations turn out,” she said.
But Yoo emphasized that the only way the bilateral deliberations
wouldn’t lead to the establishment of a panel of experts would be if Japan
fully reverses its export controls. If bilateral deliberations break down after
a complaint is lodged with the WTO, a panel of experts is convened to initiate
the actual trial phase of the complaint. The government is under considerable
pressure to avoid that step, which often delays the final outcome. Expert
review typically takes one or two years, though in recent years that review has
sometimes lasted more than three years.
Yoo also spoke about the trade prospects for next year.
“Protectionism and unilateralism are likely to expand and intensify. Whereas
protectionist measures have previously been limited to anti-dumping measures
and other import controls, they will likely expand in atypical directions, such
as cutting off various privileges in imports, exports, and other areas. We’ll
be striving to take preemptive and swift measures, through market expansion and
diversification and institutional innovation, for example, in order to overcome
those challenges,” she said.
By Kim Eun-hyoung, staff reporter
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
S.Korea's rice output hits 39-year low in
2019
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-11-12 16:07:46|Editor: xuxin
SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's rice output hit a
39-year low this year, keeping a downward trend for four straight years,
statistical office data showed Tuesday.
Rice production was 3,744,000 tons in 2019, down 3.2 percent
from last year's output of 3,868,000 tons, according to Statistics Korea.
It was the lowest since 1980, continuing to decline for the
fourth consecutive year amid the bad weather conditions and the reduced
cultivation areas.
The cultivation area for rice fell 1.1 percent over the year to
729,814 hectares this year.
Typhoon Lingling hit the local farms in September when rice
begins to ripen, negatively influencing the rice output, the agency noted.
Meanwhile, per-capita annual rice consumption reached a record
low of 61 kilograms last year.
Rice, a main staple food for South Koreans, has been on a steady
decline for decades due to the change in eating habits.
The economic
inefficacy of border closure
Temple EzebuikE
In September, Nigeria’s borders
were closed. In a meeting with stakeholders, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria
Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali, stated that the closure was undertaken to
strengthen the nation’s security, protect its economic interests– by preventing
smuggling. He further stated that a lot of things had gone wrong with transit
of goods; that the border closure was to ensure that things were streamlined
for all stakeholders.
The general idea of a border
closure is to ensure that the protocol involved in transit of goods and trade
facilitation is adhered to, such that there is better trade complement between
countries. The closure as ordered by the Federal Government (FG) is thus to
prevent importers in Ghana, Benin Republic, and Niger Republic from routing
imports from Europe, illegally through local borders to Nigeria, thereby
disrupting the local market. The protectionist policy of border closure,
although valid only in the Nigerian infant agricultural context, is like
placing the cart before the horse. The struggling local rice producers are not
disadvantaged because of smuggling. Nigeria’s economic viability will not be
advanced by border closure. Nations utilize closure as a last protective
measure to momentarily guard a robust infant industry.
The FG’s complaints about
smuggling are self-defeating. There would not be any smuggling if the custom
officials maintained local trade and immigration laws. In 2017, The Nationwide
Survey on Corruption in Nigeria by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Custom
officials solicited the most bribes, ahead of Immigration officials and elected
State and Local representatives. Recently, an undercover investigation
brought light to a massive corruption ring in the Nigeria Customs Service. The
reports brought to fore the ineptitude and corruption in the Nigeria Customs
Service. The border closure merely papers over the smuggling problem; it does
not address a root cause: corrupt Custom officials. The FG has extended the
closure to January 2020, although they have reported that about three trillion
naira smuggled goods have been seized since closure, it pans to reason that,
without a thorough re-organization and re-orientation of Nigeria’s Customs and
Immigration officials, the border will be reopened in January 2020 back to the
same corrupt officials who facilitated goods smuggling. Then another round of
complaints about illegal disruption of local market, then repetitive closing
and reopening of borders while a root cause is left unattended.
The border closure was fuelled by
rice smuggling. Nigeria’s population of 200 million people (with almost 100
million people living on less than a $1 (N360) a day) is fed by a retinue of
subsistence rural farmers, who account for 80% of locally produced rice, the
remainder 20% being cultivated by commercial farmers. Local rice production
stands at about 4.7 million tonnes; local consumption stood at 6.4 million
tonnes in 2017. The shortfall was usually balanced by imports (in 2016, 2.6
million tonnes were imported), which, per economic competition drives down
prices. Given the CBN’s Foreign Exchange restriction on rice, the border
closure combines to substantially limit rice importation, resultantly creating
a scarcity-sized hole. Since local supply cannot meet local consumption, the
rice prices have soared– consumer-inflation rose to 11.51% in September, up by
0.08% from 11.17% recorded in August. Ninety million Nigerians live below the
poverty line, and where about 60% of income is spent on food, rising inflation
will leave Nigerians with less disposable income, placing more and more of the
people below the poverty line.
Any policy, notwithstanding
sincerity of intent, which tends to leave the masses with deflating disposable
income, is not well-thought. It is an economic hara-kiri that should be
advocated against. Besides the fact that local consumption outstrips local
supply, the business environment is not supportive to local producers. The FG
cannot will the economy to food sufficiency in a dilapidated system.
Access to farm mechanization
remains low due to bad roads. Some rice farmers trek as far as 30 kilometers to
the nearest rice mill. After milling, channels to transport their produce to
local markets are also abysmally poor. Corruption also trails mechanized
farming: to ease access to rice mills and boost local production, in 2017, the
government reported procurement of 100 rice milling machines in different
states, but the exact locations of the machines have remained a mystery.
Rice farmers are also
disincentivized due to lack of access to credit facilities. Before the
commencement, in 2018, of the Central Bank’s initiative to increase credit
access in agriculture, commercial banks advanced facilities to farmers at 18%
to 30% interest rates. The Central Bank’s initiative to finance agriculture at
9% interest rate is commendable, although, it should be noted that it is lower
than the 5% rate farmers had called for due to self-provision of power and
transportation.
Power as a stated cost is also a
major concern to farmers. For a bustling population of 200 million, Nigeria
needs 180,000MW of power, but generates less than 5000MW. South Africa, with 58
million people, generates 48,000MW and is working towards increasing generation
to 79,000MW. Eighty percent (80%) of
rice cultivation is done by local farmers. Rural Nigeria has electricity
penetration of 36%, South Africa has 80%
in comparison. Such limited access to power substantially restricts
farmers’ and millers’ efficiency across value chains in rice production.
Border closure will not address
the problem of corruption in Nigeria Customs Service, neither will it improve
accessibility to credit facility, nor increase local production to attain a
semblance of sufficiency. The FG should leave the border and attend to more pressing
industrial challenges: address forthwith the corruption in the Customs that
facilitated smuggling (and will still facilitate smuggling) after reopening of
border; address the power crisis; better roads, rails, to channel produce to
local markets; increase accessibility to low-interest loans and machinery, et
c.
Protectionist policies are not on
the whole, bad. However, there has to be a robust industry to be protected.
Where the preliminaries are prominently positioned, there will be an inflow of
investments to agriculture, towards increased local production to balance
consumption. Where borders are closed in this instance, it will be to protect
the local industry from high-tech foreign competition, albeit momentarily,
until they become competitive. The FG should not prance over preliminaries–
laying the cart before the horse– driving up inflation that will hurt
legitimate cross-border businesses, local producers and the populace.Ezebuike,
a Lagos-based legal practitioner, with focus on Energy, Finance and Real
Estate, writes via templeezebuike@gmail.com.
Rice producers to support border closure with price slash
By Joke
Falaju, Abuja
13 November 2019
| 4:46 am
In
response to the Federal Government’s plea for farmers not to take advantage of
the current border closure, producers of the Ogoja Rice have disclosed plans to
slash the price of the grain ahead of the Yuletide season.
Chairman
of the Santuscom Agro-Hub Investment Nigeria Limited, producers of Ogoja Rice,
Paul Santus, told journalists yesterday, in Abuja, that the company
had scaled up production of the brand locally produced in Yala Local
Government Area of Cross River State, to meet demand for the grain.
He told
Nigerians not to panic ahead of the festive period, as the company is willing
to crash the price of its 50kg bag to N14,000, saying all is set to meet
rice demand in-country despite the skyrocketing price of the commodity in the
market, following the border closure.
Recall
that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had appealed to
rice farmers, millers and marketers not to increase the price of the grain,
saying it would impact negatively on government’s aim on closing the borders.
However,
operators along the value chain cashed in on the situation to the extent that
local rice, which sold at N16,000 for 50kg bag rose to N20,000 while foreign
rice is sold at N22,000.
The
Minister of State Agriculture and Rural Development, Baba Shehuri, had said the
closure of Nigerian borders has energised rice farmers, who now smile to the
banks with the impressive sales, with attendant job opportunities created.
But Santus expressed concern over the high price, saying: “We want Nigerians to understand the action by the government, and notwithstanding, we want to assure Nigerians that as a company we will do everything possible before the Christmas and New Year celebrations to crash the prevailing and current market price of rice. We will be selling at N14,000 per 50-kilogram bag of rice anytime from now.”
But Santus expressed concern over the high price, saying: “We want Nigerians to understand the action by the government, and notwithstanding, we want to assure Nigerians that as a company we will do everything possible before the Christmas and New Year celebrations to crash the prevailing and current market price of rice. We will be selling at N14,000 per 50-kilogram bag of rice anytime from now.”
He
disclosed that they have produced about 1,000 hectares of rice farm ready for
harvest soon to add to the current production of the commodity assuring that
they would soon flood the market.
PH becomes world’s biggest rice importer, according to USDA data
12 November 2019
The Philippines is the world’s
number one importer of rice, surpassing even China, according to a new report
released by the United States’ Department of Agriculture.
The USDA-Foreign Agricultural
Services (USDA-FAS) report, released on Nov. 8, shows that 3.1 million metric tons of rice were
imported by the Philippines this year, compared to China’s 2.5 million metric
tons.
The Philippines’ record-setting
amount of import is all the more staggering given the fact that the country’s
population stands at just 100 million, while China’s is around 1.4 billion.
The USDA study notes that in just
a few years, “the Philippines has emerged as one of the top global importers of
rice, nearly on a par with China.” It added that the Philippines’s rice imports
have quadrupled from 800,000 metric tons in 2016 to an anticipated 3.1 million
in 2019, accounting for some 7 percent of total global rice imports.
The annual study was conducted
between October 2018 and October 2019.
In March this year, the
government implemented the Rice Tarrification Law, or Republic Act 11203.
The law removed import restrictions, leading to a greater amount of rice bought
from overseas flooding the market. This move, according to experts,
prompted local rice prices to plunge to PHP38 (US$0.75)
per kilogram as of the end of September, 17 percent lower than last year’s
price of PHP46 (US$0.90) per kilogram. However, prices failed to hit the government’s promised
low of PHP27 (US$0.5o).
The Philippines is also a major
grower of rice, producing some 20 million tons a year, raising questions as to
the impact of imports on prices for local growers.
But Agriculture Department
spokesman Noel Reyes dismissed the USDA-FAS study, saying that the increase in
importation was just a short-term effect of the Rice Tariffication Law. He also
maintained that the increase in imports wouldn’t cause prices of locally grown
rice to drop quickly — although they eventually will.
“We expect that the prices will
go down, rice as well as palay [unhusked rice]. But with rice,
we don’t expect [prices] to fall that quickly,” Reyes said. “Every time there’s
a harvest, the prices go down.”
In September, farmers complained
that they were having a hard time competing with cheap imports, and were forced to sell unhusked rice to traders for as
low as PHP7 (US$0.13) per kilo, even though production costs were PHP8
(US$0.15) per kilo.
As of October, the country’s
national rice inventory was at 2.28 million metric tons, with some 1.9
million metric tons coming from imports, according to the Bureau of Customs.
The share of imports is 43.4 percent higher than the previous year’s
record of 1.59 million metric tons, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/ph-becomes-world-biggest-rice-034613537.html
