Friday, December 06, 2019

5th December,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newseltter

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5th December,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter



11 Oct, 2019 | 10:36 PM
DECEMBER 4, 2019 / 5:41 PM / UPDATED
Indonesia aims to export up to 500,000 tonnes of rice next year -minister

JAKARTA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia aims to export 100,000 to 500,000 tonnes of “premium rice” next year under orders from President Joko Widodo to ramp up shipment of the country’s staple, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said on Wednesday.Indonesian rice exports have so far been small. The country exported around 200 tonnes of rice in January-November this year, according to data from the statistics agency.
Limpo said his ministry has been tasked to prepare for exports of “premium rice” to a number of destinations.“For that, starting January we will roll out preparations for exports,” he told reporters after meeting with the president, adding that the ministry will prepare for the seeds and designated plantation for the rice.“Other people export, why can’t we?” he said, without elaborating why the government had now decided to boost exports.
Indonesia regularly imports rice when extra supply is needed to help control its price in local markets.Limpo said the government would not dip into rice stocks held by Indonesia’s state food procurement agency Bulog for the planned exports.Bulog as of Nov. 18 held 2.25 million tonnes of rice, due to large imports in 2018.
The agency aims to lower the stocks to 1.3 million tonnes by the start of 2020 keep it around that level throughout next year.

Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise


Bulog finds 20,000 tons of rotten rice, another 100,000 tons in poor condition

·       Eisya A. Eloksari
The Jakarta Post
 Jakarta   /   Wed, December 4, 2019   /  01:14 pm
Description: The Jakarta Post Image
Workers carry sacks of medium quality rice at a warehouse belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) in Purwasari, Karawang, West Java.(Antara/M Ibnu Chazar)
The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) estimates it has about 20,000 tons of rotten rice in its warehouses, in addition to another 100,000 tons that are in poor condition. Bulog president director Budi Waseso said the rice, which had previously been worth about Rp 160 billion (US$11.3 million), would be first tested by the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) before the agency decided what to do with it. "When the results come out, we will see which of the rice needs to be disposed of and which rice can be processed into other food products," he told the press in Jakarta on Tuesday. In addition to the decayed rice, the other 100,000 tons of Bulog’s existing stocks of 2.3 million tons are in poor condition after being kept in warehouses for more than four months, the agency said. Separately, Bulog operations and public service director Tri Wahyudi Sale...
Description: https://www.thejakartapost.com/img/paywall-banner-2019.png


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Cambodian rice set for export to South Africa

Thou Vireak | Publication date 03 December 2019 | 22:58 ICT

Description: Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Mekong Oryza Trading Co Ltd plans to export 100,000 tonnes of milled rice to China, Africa and Europe in the next three years. Heng Chivoan
Milled rice exporter Mekong Oryza Trading Co Ltd signed an export memorandum of understanding (MoU) with companies from Hong Kong and South Africa in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
The agreement was inked between Mekong Oryza Trading, Hong Kong-based Zhonghui Taifu International Co Ltd and South African-based Green Shield Africa Group. It was witnessed by Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon.
Sakhon said: “The MoU will help boost Cambodia’s milled rice exports to Chinese and European markets, and now South Africa, which is a new market.”
Mekong Oryza Trading president Hun Lak told The Post on Tuesday that the MoU will last for three years, during which the company plans to export some 100,000 tonnes of milled rice to China, Africa and Europe.
He said the firm’s initial shipment of between 3,000 and 5,000 tonnes is planned for the end of this month. The second shipment will be for 70,000 tonnes and the balance will be on the third shipment.
“We will find more new markets besides China and diversify our exports to build our competitiveness,” Lak said.
Cambodian rice exports in the first nine months of the year rose two per cent year-on-year, led by the Chinese market, a Cambodia Rice Federation report said.
Rice exports to China increased more than 44 per cent, the report said, while exports to the EU dropped nearly 30 per cent. Total rice exports during the period reached 398,586 tonnes, a 2.3 per cent year-on-year increase from 389,264 tonnes.
Coarse rice prices down, fine ones up
 Published at 11:43 pm December 4th, 2019
Description: Rice
Various breeds of rice are displayed by traders at Hili Bazar Dhaka Tribune

Throughout last month, prices of different varieties of rice increased by around Tk3-8 a kilogram in Dhaka’s kitchen markets
Prices of some varieties of rice decreased a little in the city’s kitchen markets this week. 
Rice traders said prices decreased a bit as the government took strict measures to control prices of the staple food.
Throughout last month, prices of different varieties of rice increased by around Tk3-8 a kilogram in Dhaka’s kitchen markets. 
Visiting several kitchen markets in the capital on Wednesday (including markets in Rampura, Malibagh, and Panthapath), coarse variety of Sawrna rice was found selling at Tk38-40 a kg; BR-28 was selling at Tk38-40 a kg and Paijam was selling at Tk35a kg, which was earlier at Tk38 a kg.
The prices of Najursail decreased by Tk5-6 a kg, and were selling at Tk50-55a kg. Guti Sawrna, the coarse variety of rice; Shwarna Paijam; and Miniket were selling for Tk32, Tk35 and Tk45-50, respectively, depending on their qualities.
Meanwhile, the prices of some fine rice varieties increased by Tk3-10 a kg. Price of BR 29 increased by Tk3-4 a kg, and was selling at Tk40-42 a kg. The price of chinigura polao rice increased to Tk110 a kg, which was Tk100 a kg a week earlier. Price of Jirashail increased by 2-3 a kg, and was selling at Tk45 a kg in retail markets.
Saiful Islam, a retailer at Malibagh kitchen market said: “We are operating under government pressure. Every day magistrates come to monitor prices of essentials. So, there is no way to sell at higher prices.”
“The rice mill owners increased the price of Miniket, forcing us to sell at a higher price,” he said, while adding: now, prices of some rice decreased by Tk2-5 a kg.
“Deshbandhu Miniket, which we bought at Tk45 a kg earlier, can now be bought at Tk42 a kg and be sold at Tk45 to 48 a kg,” Saiful said.
Arifa Islam, a buyer and a resident of Panthapath area, said: "If the government takes strict measures to monitor prices at the kitchen markets, prices of essentials would remain stable. Since there was no effective market monitoring system in place in the case of onion, retail traders and wholesalers took advantage of the supply situation,”
KM Layek Ali, secretary general at the Bangladesh Auto Major and Husking Mill Owners' Association, said: “Millers increased only the price of Miniket rice by Tk1.5-2 a kg.”

Rice Prices

as on : 04-12-2019 03:18:41 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)
4148.00
-42.39
143457.00
2558
2292
-
Pilibhit(UP)
2000.00
11.11
86812.50
2515
2510
10.31
Bangalore(Kar)
1578.00
-40.43
122418.00
4550
4550
5.81
Hardoi(UP)
390.00
5.41
9260.00
2420
2430
-2.42
Kanpur(Grain)(UP)
300.00
15.38
6400.00
2150
2150
-3.37
Siliguri(WB)
235.00
-8.91
9274.00
5400
5400
-
Bharthna(UP)
200.00
-20
4981.00
2550
2550
4.08
Barhaj(UP)
180.00
-2.7
10673.00
2380
2390
4.85
Vadodara(Guj)
161.23
17.79
459.34
2600
2500
-
Mainpuri(UP)
160.00
6.67
4178.00
2530
2550
-8.00
Gondal(UP)
155.00
10.71
7900.50
2435
2460
-2.60
Etawah(UP)
140.00
-46.15
3112.00
2500
2500
2.04
Bindki(UP)
120.00
20
8098.00
2370
2360
8.72
Lucknow(UP)
119.50
-0.42
4056.50
2485
2480
10.44
Naugarh(UP)
97.50
-4.88
4957.50
2530
2525
13.20
Madhoganj(UP)
93.00
-33.57
3730.50
2250
2250
0.90
Muzzafarnagar(UP)
90.00
5.88
5010.00
2660
2655
-1.12
Aligarh(UP)
85.00
6.25
4675.00
2540
2550
1.60
Agra(UP)
80.00
-1.23
4765.00
2570
2560
3.63
Azamgarh(UP)
72.50
3.57
3867.50
2450
2440
8.41
Sahiyapur(UP)
70.00
16.67
1881.50
2470
2470
10.27
Mathura(UP)
60.00
-7.69
1925.50
2570
2560
-4.81
Manvi(Kar)
50.00
150
512.00
1850
1850
-
Saharanpur(UP)
48.00
11.63
2112.50
2650
2650
-1.12
Fatehpur(UP)
45.00
18.42
1475.90
2375
2380
9.45
Faizabad(UP)
44.50
8.54
1050.50
2350
2370
3.98
Cachar(ASM)
40.00
NC
3620.00
2400
2400
NC
Kolar(Kar)
40.00
150
362.00
5086
5349
16.81
Kayamganj(UP)
40.00
-20
1929.00
2760
2750
16.95
Pandua(WB)
40.00
-11.11
2418.00
3100
3100
-1.59
Bareilly(UP)
38.00
46.15
2089.50
2500
2475
8.70
Islampur(WB)
37.00
15.62
686.00
3750
3750
-
Kandi(WB)
37.00
-5.13
1049.00
2620
1850
3.97
Egra/contai(WB)
36.50
2.82
503.00
2300
2500
-8.00
Muradabad(UP)
36.00
20
968.40
2570
2600
11.74
Bankura Sadar(WB)
35.00
-7.89
1335.00
2500
2500
-3.85
Jhargram(WB)
35.00
9.38
1038.00
3000
2900
3.45
Raiganj(WB)
31.00
10.71
608.00
3650
3650
-
Pukhrayan(UP)
30.00
20
724.00
2200
2220
-1.79
Lakhimpur(UP)
30.00
-14.29
2235.00
2380
2370
4.39
Balrampur(UP)
27.00
-22.86
680.00
2150
2150
-4.44
Chhibramau(Kannuj)(UP)
27.00
3.85
673.50
2800
2800
21.74
Lalitpur(UP)
26.00
-7.14
1720.00
2380
2375
-13.45
Karsiyang(Matigara)(WB)
25.50
-3.77
864.60
4000
4000
33.33
Atarra(UP)
25.00
38.89
438.00
2315
2300
7.67
Sitapur(UP)
25.00
-3.85
1046.00
2430
2450
5.65
Devariya(UP)
25.00
25
1278.00
2445
2540
14.79
Partaval(UP)
25.00
19.05
560.50
2400
2400
12.15
Pratapgarh(UP)
24.00
20
245.00
2415
2425
6.39
Firozabad(UP)
24.00
11.63
197.20
2575
2575
-
Bahraich(UP)
23.20
-1.28
2421.10
2450
2450
2.08
Farukhabad(UP)
23.00
NC
1028.50
1900
2800
-19.49
Dhekiajuli(ASM)
22.00
37.5
533.50
2400
2400
NC
Wansi(UP)
22.00
NC
1146.00
2105
2105
-0.24
Indus(Bankura Sadar)(WB)
22.00
-8.33
2219.00
2800
2800
NC
Nalbari(ASM)
20.70
-17.2
719.30
2500
2500
NC
Gauripur(ASM)
20.00
-60
2901.50
4500
4500
NC
Karimganj(ASM)
20.00
NC
1190.00
2450
2450
-
Ghaziabad(UP)
20.00
-60
2480.00
2850
2850
4.59
Jaunpur(UP)
20.00
-33.33
1039.20
2330
2330
2.64
Chorichora(UP)
20.00
-23.08
418.00
2555
2485
14.06
Kaliaganj(WB)
20.00
100
218.00
3550
3650
-
Falakata(WB)
20.00
NC
1080.00
2600
2600
-7.14
Alipurduar(WB)
20.00
NC
740.00
2600
2600
-5.45
Asansol(WB)
20.00
5.26
2205.06
3000
3000
NC
Naanpara(UP)
19.60
6.52
1043.00
2250
2230
-4.26
Mahoba(UP)
19.00
45.04
308.30
2320
2315
-
Durgapur(WB)
17.60
5.07
1596.10
2800
2800
-1.75
Akbarpur(UP)
16.50
-19.51
989.20
2400
2440
8.11
Banda(UP)
16.00
-20
308.50
2280
2300
3.17
Sirsaganj(UP)
16.00
6.67
599.00
2630
2620
-4.36
Safdarganj(UP)
16.00
6.67
771.00
2450
2468
7.46
Sehjanwa(UP)
15.00
87.5
352.00
2450
2430
13.43
Choubepur(UP)
14.40
-14.29
1702.80
2360
2440
0.43
Paliakala(UP)
13.50
-37.21
696.80
2310
2280
0.43
Karvi(UP)
12.00
-14.29
596.50
2325
2310
4.26
Milak(UP)
12.00
140
44.00
2450
2530
-
Badayoun(UP)
11.00
-38.89
898.50
2620
2600
16.44
Lalganj(UP)
11.00
57.14
446.00
2000
2000
18.34
Shamli(UP)
11.00
NC
207.00
2640
2630
-5.71
Kannauj(UP)
11.00
-8.33
513.50
2750
2720
22.22
Raibareilly(UP)
10.50
40
562.00
2360
2375
16.26
Mawana(UP)
10.00
-
20.00
2640
-
-
Vilthararoad(UP)
10.00
NC
941.00
2150
2150
NC
Bijnaur(UP)
9.00
350
98.10
2525
2370
9.78
Tamkuhi Road(UP)
8.80
29.41
701.60
2150
2150
NC
Dibrugarh(ASM)
8.00
81.82
512.20
3100
3100
6.16
Auraiya(UP)
8.00
14.29
455.60
2500
2550
12.11
Khurja(UP)
8.00
-5.88
501.30
2605
2600
0.19
Mirzapur(UP)
7.50
15.38
404.50
2435
2450
7.03
Bishnupur(Bankura)(WB)
6.80
-2.86
558.60
2600
2600
-1.89
Vishalpur(UP)
6.50
-94.58
799.80
2595
2510
14.07
Mangaon(Mah)
6.00
100
120.00
3400
2800
21.43
Puwaha(UP)
6.00
-7.69
416.20
2650
2550
10.42
Nadia(WB)
6.00
-25
516.00
3750
3750
-6.25
Tundla(UP)
5.50
10
279.70
2560
2560
1.39
Fatehabad(UP)
5.20
4
414.30
2320
2320
-0.43
Kasganj(UP)
5.00
-16.67
324.00
2580
2560
1.98
Kosikalan(UP)
5.00
13.64
265.10
2535
2550
-3.24
Achalda(UP)
5.00
25
111.30
2600
2600
36.84
Buland Shahr(UP)
5.00
66.67
195.80
2640
2635
2.13
Ruperdeeha(UP)
5.00
NC
405.00
2250
2260
40.63
Badda(UP)
5.00
-23.08
184.50
2650
2550
10.42
Uluberia(WB)
3.60
9.09
53.00
2900
2900
NC
Anandnagar(UP)
3.20
28
260.20
2475
2485
7.61
Jahangirabad(UP)
3.00
NC
210.50
2550
2550
-0.97
Kalimpong(WB)
3.00
36.36
48.30
3000
2800
-34.78
Perinthalmanna(Ker)
2.90
NC
26.10
3000
3000
-6.25
Khatra(WB)
2.80
-3.45
609.00
2650
2650
NC
Ranaghat(WB)
2.80
-6.67
112.40
3700
3700
4.23
Panichowki(Kumarghat)(Tri)
2.50
56.25
8.20
3000
2950
-
Charra(UP)
2.50
4.17
70.00
2560
2560
2.40
Fatehpur Sikri(UP)
2.40
84.62
60.60
2555
2570
-0.58
Imphal(Man)
2.40
NC
64.40
4900
4900
-
Sonamura(Tri)
1.90
-24
31.20
2600
2600
-
Muskara(UP)
1.70
-34.62
51.60
2300
2270
1.77
Gadaura(UP)
1.50
-11.76
613.10
2200
2300
4.76
Wazirganj(UP)
1.50
87.5
14.60
2530
2540
-
Lamlong Bazaar(Man)
1.20
20
31.40
4800
4800
-
Nandyal(AP)
1.00
NC
58.00
4250
4250
-
Jambusar(Kaavi)(Guj)
1.00
NC
117.00
3200
3100
3.23
Aroor(Ker)
1.00
NC
21.00
11200
11000
23.08
Penugonda(Mah)
1.00
NC
36.00
4090
4090
0.25
Alibagh(Mah)
1.00
NC
130.00
4200
4200
86.67
Murud(Mah)
1.00
NC
131.00
4200
4200
86.67
Bilsi(UP)
1.00
66.67
4.80
2540
2450
3.67
Tikonia(UP)
1.00
25
135.90
2350
2400
-6.00
Achnera(UP)
0.80
NC
43.70
2540
2550
-0.39
Tulsipur(UP)
0.70
-89.23
84.40
2480
2480
-
Published on December 04, 2019

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UPDATE 1-Iraq outlines 2020 wheat import goal, says protests not disrupting cargoes
DECEMBER 4, 2019 / 2:56 PM
BAGHDAD, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Iraq, a major Middle East grain importer, said on Wednesday it planned to purchase 750,000 tonnes of wheat from abroad in 2020 and said nationwide protests that have extended to a key port were not disrupting shipments so far.Iraq needs between 4.5 million and 5 million tonnes of wheat a year to supply its food rationing programme. It mixes local wheat with grain from Australia, Canada and the United States.

“This is within our planning budget,” Hassanein al-Zubaidi, the new head of the Iraq Grain Board, told Reuters, referring to the target of importing 750,000 tonnes of wheat next year.

Zubaidi, who took up the post as head of the state grain buyer in October, said Iraq had 1.2 million tonnes of strategic wheat reserves, enough to last three months.

Zubaidi replaced Naeem al-Maksousi a week after the eruption of protests against the government and demanding an end to corruption. Protests, in which nearly 400 demonstrators have been killed, have spread to the Gulf port of Umm Qasr.

But Zubaidi said on Wednesday shipments were offloading normally. “We don’t currently have problems in discharging rice and wheat from vessels in Iraqi ports,” he said. Umm Qasr receives imports of grain, vegetable oils and sugar shipments to a nation largely dependent on imported food.

Zubaidi said Iraq, which had a two-month strategic reserve of rice, signed a contract to import 120,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice last week.
The country’s rice purchases from local farmers were expected to reach 667,000 tonnes this season, he said.The grain board, which falls under the Trade Ministry, holds regular international tenders to import wheat and rice for the rationing programme that covers flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk formula.
The programme was first created in 1991 to combat U.N. economic sanctions. (Reporting by Moayed Kenany; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Mark Potter and Edmund Blair) https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL8N28E1RX



Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- December 04, 2019

DECEMBER 4, 2019 / 3:29 PM


* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-December 4, 2019 Nagpur, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Gram prices reported strong again in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Company (APMC) here on good buying support from local millers amid weak supply from producing regions. Notable rise on NCDEX, upward trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses and repeated enquiries from South-based millers also jacked up prices. About 150 bags of gram reported for auction, according to sources.
GRAM
* Desi gram prices recovered in open market here on renewed buying support from local
traders.
TUAR * Tuar varieties ruled steady in open market here on subdued demand from local
traders amid ample stock in ready position.
* Wheat Lokwan variety repored down in open market here on poor demand from local
traders amid good supply from producing belts.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,600-5,800, Tuar dal (clean) – 8,400-8,600, Udid Mogar (clean)
– 9,200-10,700, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,600-9,500, Gram – 4,350-4,400, Gram Super best
– 6,200-6,400 * Other varieties of wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,710-4,175 3,550-4,080
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction n.a. 4,750-5,200
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,000-2,125 2,000-2,120
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 5,900-6,100 5,900-6,100
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,350-4,400 4,350-4,400
Desi gram Raw 4,350-4,400 4,300-4,350
Gram Kabuli 8,500-10,000 8,500-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,400-8,600 8,400-8,600
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 8,000-8,200 8,000-8,200
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,600-7,800 7,600-7,800
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,000-7,400 7,000-7,400
Tuar Gavarani New 5,500-5,600 5,500-5,600
Tuar Karnataka 6,000-6,100 6,000-6,100
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Masoor dal medium 5,300-5,400 5,300-5,400
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 9,000-9,800 9,000-10,000
Moong Mogar Medium 8,000-8,500 8,000-8,700
Moong dal Chilka New 7,500-8,500 7,600-8,500
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,500-9,500 8,500-9,500
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 9,500-11,000 9,500-11,000
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 8,500-9,200 8,500-9,200
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 6,600-7,200 6,600-7,200
Mot (100 INR/KG) 6,400-7,500 6,400-7,500
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 8,800-10,000 8,800-10,000
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,450 2,350-2,450
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,250-2,350 2,250-2,350
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,700-2,800 2,700-2,800
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,650-2,750 2,700-2,850
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,600 2,400-2,650
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,400-4,200 3,400-4,200
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,800-3,200 2,800-3,200
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice BPT best new (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,600 3,000-3,600
Rice BPT medium new(100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,000 2,700-3,000
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,100 3,000-3,100
Rice Swarna best new (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,800 2,600-2,800
Rice Swarna medium new (100 INR/KG)2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice HMT best new (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,000 3,800-4,000
Rice HMT medium new (100 INR/KG) 3,600-3,800 3,600-3,800
Rice Shriram best new(100 INR/KG) 4,500-5,000 4,500-5,000
Rice Shriram med new (100 INR/KG) 4,200-4,400 4,200-4,400
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best new 100 INR/KG) 5,300-5,500 5,300-5,500
Rice Chinnor medium new(100 INR/KG)5,000-5,200 5,000-5,200
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 30.9 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 16.1 degree Celsius Rainfall : Nil FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 30 degree Celsius and 15 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)

From All Corners of the World

Dec 04, 2019
Researchers are scouring the globe to sample the wild relatives of modern crops in a bid to protect genetic diversity, NPR reports.
So far, the Crop Trust — which includes about a hundred scientists from more than two dozen countries — has gathered some 4,600 seed samples from 371 wild relatives of key crops, according to NPR. These crops include lentils, potatoes, chickpeas, and rice, it adds. NPR also notes that collecting these samples can be treacherous, as many of these plants are found in remote regions, including spots that are also home to leeches or tigers.
But the researchers note that these wild relatives could help domesticated crops survive. For instance, the University of Costa Rica's Griselda Arrieta Espinoza, who was part of the team that collected samples of the wild rice Oryza glumaepatula from a river where crocodiles live, tells NPR that O. glumaepatula is resistant to a fungus that has plagued domesticated rice and could be crossed with those crop breeds. 
This "natural reservoir of diversity ... has allowed plant breeding to attempt to keep pace with the demands of the growing human population," Steven Tanksley, a professor emeritus of plant breeding at Cornell University who is not part of the project, tells NPR. But he notes that this took millions of years to evolve and "when you lose it, you really can't repeat that process."

Scientists hunt wild relatives of food crops to bolster defences

Author: AFP|Update: 04.12.2019 00:01
Description: https://stock.rtl.lu/rtl/768/rtl2008.lu/nt/p/2019/12/04/00/f35e099397ed39069fad5fd06d744cf2.jpeg
Humans have domesticated wild plants for some 10,000 years to provide food but in doing so they have bred out many of their natural defences, leaving them -- and us -- potentially exposed / © AFP/File
Scientists have been on a global search for the wild relatives of our food crops, hoping to bolster their defences against disease and climate change, a study showed Tuesday.
Humans have domesticated wild plants for some 10,000 years to provide food but in doing so they have bred out many of their natural defences, leaving them -- and us -- potentially exposed.
"We live in an interdependent world. No single country or region harbors all of the diversity that we need," said Chris Cockel, coordinator of the Crop Wild Relatives project at the Kew Gardens Millennium Seed Bank.
"A wild relative of one of these crops, in the Americas, Africa or Asia, cold be the source of say, pest resistance, which can benefit all of us in the future," Cockel said in the report.
The high yields sought by humans have come at the cost of less genetic diversity which typically makes plants more susceptible to pests, diseases and the sort of extreme climatic conditions brought about by global warming and development.
By going back to the original source plants of some 28 foods -- for example, of rice, potatos, oats, groundnuts -- researchers collected as wide a variety of seeds as possible in 25 countries to fill in the gaps in existing gene banks.
"We are looking to capture as much diversity as possible... populations separated by even a few kilometres (miles) may be genetically quite different," said Luigi Guarino, Director of Science with the Crop Trust, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting crop diversity.
The MSB at Kew Gardens, home to the Royal Botanic Society, has so far distributed nearly 3,300 samples of 165 species as a result of the project.
"Many countries have now realised how important crop wild relatives are -- and what an invaluable source they are for breeders," Cockel said.
The most well known seed storage project is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault where nearly a million samples are now stored deep within the ice some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) from the North Pole.
It aims to house a collection of as many seeds as possible as an insurance against the loss of other seed banks around the world.

Extreme weather could wipe out crucial food crops. So 100 scientists spent 6 years hunting for the plants' hardier wild cousins.

Members of the International Potato Center (CIP) gene bank show a selection of recently collected fruit from four different potato wild relatives. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
  • As carbon emissions rise and the planet warms, domesticated crops like rice and wheat are losing nutritional value, and climate disasters are putting harvests and farmland at risk.
  • Scientists keep seeds from important crops locked in seed vaults, but most vaults lack seeds from the wild relatives of important crops.
  • Those wild cousin plants may be more adaptable to changing climates and could one day be used to mitigate food insecurity around the world.
  • So an international non-profit called the Crop Trust scoured 25 countries to find 371 wild relatives of plant species like potatoes, rice, and carrots.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
In case a catastrophe hits, seeds from most plant species are locked safely in vaults deep within the Earth — a kind of agricultural insurance policy.
But a group of researchers is convinced this insurance doesn't quite cover all our bases.
According to an international non-profit called the Crop Trust, many seed vaults lack seeds from the wild cousins of domesticated crops, including some species of wild rice, lentils, potatoes, and carrots.
These wild crop relatives could be crucial in the effort to make the world's food system more resilient to climate change. Already, some domesticated crops are faltering in the face of extreme temperatures and drought. Those crops' wild cousins, however, could hold the genetic key to increasing their hardiness.
So for the last six years, more than 100 Crop Trust scientists have been scouring the planet for seeds.
The scientists traveled to 25 countries to find these species, according to a report the non-profit released on Tuesday.
All told, the scientists collected more than 4,600 seed samples from 371 species of plants — many of which are endangered— related to 28 globally important crops.
"We have made incredible progress tracking down crop wild relatives that could hold the key to food's survival," Marie Haga, the outgoing executive director of the Crop Trust, said in a press release. "But there is more to be done, and as threats to the world's biodiversity mount, this work is more urgent than ever."
Here's what the six-year quest looked like.

Seeds vaults and seed banks around the world store back-up seeds for all major food crops.

A researcher puts away a jar of seeds in in the Millennium Seed Bank vault, an international conservation project coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England. Crop Trust
These vaults are the most important agricultural safeguard in the world.

The largest seed vault in the world, the Global Seed Vault, holds more than 983,500 seed samples.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway. AP Photo/John McConnico
The Crop Trust oversees the vault in partnership with the Norwegian government. According to the non-profit, seeds from almost every country in the world are housed there, and the vault is the "ultimate insurance policy for the world's food supply."  

The idea is that in the event of a global disaster, people from anywhere in the world should be able to withdraw seeds for crops that they'd need to re-grow.

Two researchers in the Millennium Seed Bank vault. Crop Trust
Seed vaults also preserve the genetic diversity of available food crops, storing as many plant varieties as we can find. 
But according to Crop Trust researcher Nora Castañeda-Álvarez, some of these seed banks lack crucial samples.
"We found chinks in the armor of the global food system: Many important species were entirely absent from these collections or were seriously underrepresented in them," she said in a release. "We needed an urgent rescue mission to find and safeguard as many crop wild relatives as possible."

The problem is that as climate change alters precipitation patterns and increases the frequency and intensity of severe weather, it will become more challenging to grow enough food for the world's population.

A collection of domesticated, wild, and "intermediate" (a genetic combination of wild and domesticated) eggplants on display at the Universitat Politècnica in Valencia, Spain. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
Extreme weather events like storms and heat waves act as "triggers or stress-multipliers" on food prices and food security, Cynthia Rosenzweig, a co-author of a recent report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said.

What's more, increased carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere lower the nutritional value of food staples like rice and wheat.

Samples of recently collected wild relatives of the potato plant are displayed at the Embrapa Clima Temperado headquarters in Brazil, June 8, 2018. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
Research has shown that growing these crops in environments with higher levels of carbon dioxide decreases their concentrations of protein, zinc, and iron.
That's a dire threat for the 821 million people who are already undernourished worldwide.
Currently, 76% of the world's population derives most of its daily protein from plants, which is why researchers expect climate change to catalyze a global food crisis.

A recent report warned that global agricultural production will drop by one-third if farmers do not immediately start planting crops that are resilient to climate change.

A seed collector looks at the fruit of a wild potato relative in Ecuador's Llanganates National Park on November 10, 2017. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
According to the Crop Trust, domesticated crops — which are often the result of genetic tweaking — lack the genetic make-up necessary to stand up to severe conditions like heatwaves, temperature extremes, and wildfires.

The wild relatives of staple crops are generally hardier than their domesticated counterparts.

A plant conservation practitioner collects wild seeds in Uganda. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
"If we are to feed a growing population, we need to make our food crops more resilient. And crop wild relatives can help breeders develop new 'climate-proof' varieties," Haga said.

Some wild varieties of staple crops have developed tolerance to heat and drought, and defense systems that protect them from pests and diseases.

A sample of wild and hybrid alfalfa plants collected in Inner Mongolia, China, July 10, 2018. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
"These wild plants ... hold the genetic diversity which breeders will need to improve those crops so we can feed 9 billion people with nutritious food," Hannes Dempewolf, senior scientist and the head of global initiatives at the Crop Trust, said in a press release.

So Haga, Dempewolf, and more than 100 other scientists from the Crop Trust spread out across the globe in search of wild crop relatives.

Seed collector Lenin Rosero from Ecuador searches for Solanum colombianum, a potato wild relative, in the country's Cayambe-Coca National Park. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
Over the course of six years, the researchers visited 25 countries.

They tracked down 371 wild relatives of 28 staple crops.

A staff at Embrapa Clima Temperado in Brazil examines a wild potato relative. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
These crops included wild bananas, lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, sorghum, and carrots.

They collected 4,644 seed samples.

A collection of sorghum seeds that were collected by Sudan's Agricultural Research Corporation. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
All told, the scientists spent a collective 2,973 days in the field.
After the collected seeds are dried, scientists clean them to remove unwanted dust and debris.
''Cleaning is what takes the longest. Then, there's the x-raying, the counting, the banking, and the germination testing," Janet Terry, seed collection manager at the Millennium Seed Bank, said.  
 In Nepal, seed collectors had to travel by elephant to ward off Bengal tigers and aggressive rhinos.
Seed collectors from the Nepal Agricultural Research Council ride an elephant's back to cross a muddy stream in Nepal. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
"The expeditions were not a walk in the park," Dempewolf said. "They were perilous at times, and physically demanding, with heat, dust, sweat and danger from wild animals — from blood-sucking leeches to tigers."

The seed collectors' stories from the field often sounded like scenes from an Indiana Jones movie, Dempewolf added.

Members of the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícolas collecting team search the slopes of Guatemala's Huehuetenango forest for wild potatoes. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
In Ecuador, during a group's fourth attempt to find an elusive type of wild rice, they had to wear shin-high plastic boots with metal tips to protect their legs from venomous snakes.

In Central America, collectors tracked down wild potatoes, beans, and rice.

Seed collector Lenin Rosero searches for a rice wild relative, on the banks of Ecuador's Napo River. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
In total, researcher collected 332 samples of wild rice from 12 countries.

They also collected 131 samples of nine different banana species found deep in the forests of Malaysia, Nepal, and Vietnam.

Plant conservationists at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute headquarters in Kuala Lumpur extract seeds from banana wild relatives collected in the field. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
In the past, collectors could easily find wild bananas. Now, they have to venture deeper into the disappearing rainforests of southeast Asia and collect them before monkeys eat them.

The bananas we eat today are particularly vulnerable to disease outbreaks.Seed collectors from Malaysia, Pakistan, and Vietnam hunt for banana wild relatives. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust

Since the 1940s, a fungus called Panama disease has destroyed countless banana plantations. In August, Colombian authorities declared a state of emergency after a strain of the disease arrived in the country.
According to Crop Trust scientists, the banana's wild cousins could help breeders develop varieties resistant to this fungus and other diseases, as well as drought. 

But some of the wild species that the scientists hoped to find are already gone.

Seed collectors hunt for a wild relative of barley high in the Chilean Andes. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
Despite crop relatives' resilience, deforestation and urban development are cutting into wild plant species' habitats, causing extinctions.

In some Costa Rican fields, seed collectors had once found wild rice. Now those areas hold tilapia ponds or have been razed to make room for sugarcane plantations.

In Costa Rica's Guanacaste province, researchers Marcela Turcios (left) and Griselda Arrieta from the University of Costa Rica collect a rice wild relative that is considered a weed by farmers. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
In the Maule region of Chile, a fire destroyed 4,000 hectares, including the habitat of a wild form of barley. Determined collectors only managed to collect one sample from that species.

But for the most part, the Crop Trust team succeeded in its quest.

Plant conservationists from eight African countries met in Uganda in 2014 to learn how to properly extract seeds from fleshy fruit collected in the field. LM Salazar for the Crop Trust
The 4,644 samples collected include a carrot relative that grows well in salty water, an oat wild relative resistant to mildew, and the difficult-to-find wild variety of the Bambara groundnut.

The collected seed samples have been added to multiple banks around the world.

Rows of boxes containing seed samples sit inside the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. AP Photo/David Keyton
They are also now available to breeders and farmers everywhere.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis and other institutions are now working to cross-breed wild and domestic species.

At a University of California, Davis greenhouse, scientists are cross-breeding wild and cultivated chickpeas. Doug Cook
Crossing wild relatives with their domesticated counterparts may help breeders develop new, resilient crop varieties that are better able to adapt to temperature extremes and climate unpredictability.

UPDATE 1-IRAQ OUTLINES 2020 WHEAT IMPORT GOAL, SAYS PROTESTS NOT DISRUPTING CARGOES

12/4/2019
(Adds details, background)
BAGHDAD, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Iraq, a major Middle East grain importer, said on Wednesday it planned to purchase 750,000 tonnes of wheat from abroad in 2020 and said nationwide protests that have extended to a key port were not disrupting shipments so far.
Iraq needs between 4.5 million and 5 million tonnes of wheat a year to supply its food rationing programme. It mixes local wheat with grain from Australia, Canada and the United States.
"This is within our planning budget," Hassanein al-Zubaidi, the new head of the Iraq Grain Board, told Reuters, referring to the target of importing 750,000 tonnes of wheat next year.
Zubaidi, who took up the post as head of the state grain buyer in October, said Iraq had 1.2 million tonnes of strategic wheat reserves, enough to last three months.
Zubaidi replaced Naeem al-Maksousi a week after the eruption of protests against the government and demanding an end to corruption. Protests, in which nearly 400 demonstrators have been killed, have spread to the Gulf port of Umm Qasr.
But Zubaidi said on Wednesday shipments were offloading normally. "We don't currently have problems in discharging rice and wheat from vessels in Iraqi ports," he said. Umm Qasr receives imports of grain, vegetable oils and sugar shipments to a nation largely dependent on imported food.
Zubaidi said Iraq, which had a two-month strategic reserve of rice, signed a contract to import 120,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice last week.
The country's rice purchases from local farmers were expected to reach 667,000 tonnes this season, he said.
The grain board, which falls under the Trade Ministry, holds regular international tenders to import wheat and rice for the rationing programme that covers flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk formula.
The programme was first created in 1991 to combat U.N. economic sanctions. (Reporting by Moayed Kenany; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Mark Potter and Edmund Blair)

Peasant Farmers urge gov’t to be committed to 2022 ban on imported rice
Rice Being imported

Description: Rice Being importedThe Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has asked government to exhibit ample commitment if it really wants to ban rice importation by 2022.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, which made the announcement in November just when a national conversation about local rice production was underway, says the move is aimed at strengthening local rice farmers to produce for domestic consumption and export.

Speaking to Citi Business News ahead of Friday’s Farmers’ Day Celebration, the Head of Programmes and Advocacy of the Peasant Farmers Association, Charles Nyaaba, said even though the Association would have preferred an immediate ban on rice imports, it wants to see practical steps being taken to implement the 2022 ban.

Farmers’ Day: ‘There is nothing to celebrate’ – Farmers' association jabs ahead of ‘big day’
Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | george.nyavor@myjoyonline.com
Date: 04-12-2019 Time: 10:12:45:am
Description: http://photos.myjoyonline.com/photos/news/201910/8774473672370_4817099008812.jpg
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has said it would be ridiculous for its members to observe this year’s Farmers’ Day celebrations when most of them are battling with post-harvest losses and lack of market.
For PFAG, “there is nothing to celebrate when some members are still counting on their losses,” the association that represents the majority of smallholder farmers in Ghana said in a press release issued on Wednesday.
PFAG, however, commended government for setting aside a day to appreciate farmers’ role in the growth and development of the country.  
In the press release issued on Wednesday ahead of this year’s Farmers’ Day celebrations on December 6, 2019, PFAG also congratulated all smallholder farmers, especially those who will be awarded prizes at the local lev
This year’s Farmers’ Day celebrations is themed: “Enhancing Small Scale Agriculture towards Agribusiness Development.”
PFAG said while it fully supports the government’s ban on the importation of rice by 2022 and other food crops that can be produced in Ghana, it wants government to remain committed to the plan.
“Adopting Nigeria’s food importation ban concept [immediate ban] will not only help to reduce Ghana’s import bill but create employment opportunities in Ghana and stabilize the cedi would as well as put smiles on the faces of smallholder rice farmers. Concrete measures need, therefore, to be put in place to commence a ban on imports such as a reduction in 2020 rice imports,” said PFAG.
Read the full PFAG release below.
Press Release by Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana on the 35th Farmers Day Celebration
Accra,
Date: 4th December, 2019
 Message of Solidarity to Smallholder Farmers in Ghana
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) on the occasion of the 35th Farmers’ Day Celebration wishes to once more commend the government of Ghana for setting aside a day to appreciate the contribution of farmers to the growth and development of the country.   
As the nation celebrates its 35th edition of farmers’ day under the theme: “Enhancing Small Scale Agriculture towards Agribusiness Development”, PFAG congratulates all smallholder farmers especially those who will be awarded prices at the local level.
Unfortunately, however, critical issues on the eve of this celebration have taken the spirit off the year’s theme. Smallholder rice farmers who are keen in agribusiness are apprehensive and despondent as the rice they produced during the last crop season lies waste and possibly to the vagaries of harmattan bush fires.


Farmers are confronted with a lack of access to combine harvesters, lack of storage and exploitation by traders who have taken advantage of the desperate situation. The National Food Buffer Stock is on record in November 2019 to have publicly announced plans to mop up the surplus rice by providing minimum guarantee prices to farmers which never materialized leaving the rice farmers to their fate.
It is worrying and would be ridiculous to members of PFAG who represent a majority of smallholder farmers in Ghana to observe the nations’ holidaying and rejoicing in celebrating of farmers when most of PFAG members are suffering from postharvest losses and lack of market. For PFAG, “there is nothing to celebrate when some members are still counting on their losses”
Ghanaian farmers have proven their ability to produce enough rice to meet domestic consumption. This is manifested by the drastic increase in rice production in 2019 of which greater quantities still remain unharvested due to lack of harvesting equipment and guaranteed market. Unfortunately, only 34 per cent of Ghanaians consume Ghana rice while 680, 000 tonnes of rice costing $500 million is imported annually.
The PFAG believes that the high appetite for imported rice has significantly contributed to rice millers lacking market for Ghana rice leading to the current rice glut in Northern Ghana. This phenomenon if not addressed with the urgency it deserves, could worsen the poverty situation of smallholder farmers and a majority of rural people who still rank as the poorest in the country and thereby negatively impacting on the successes the nation chalked in recent times on the campaign against poverty and food insecurity.
PFAG RECOMMENDATIONS TO GOVERNMENT
1 While PFAG fully supports the pronouncement by government to ban the importation of rice by 2022 and other food crops that can be produced in Ghana, PFAG calls for a show of commitment of the pronouncement by stringent concrete steps to be put in place as PFAG would rather wish for an immediate ban and not wait until 2022. Adopting Nigeria’s food importation ban concept will not only help to reduce Ghana’s import bill but create employment opportunities in Ghana and stabilize the cedi would as well as put smiles on the faces of smallholder rice farmers. Concrete measures need, therefore, to be put in place to commence a ban on imports such as the reduction in 2020 rice imports.
2 Institutional purchase of local rice by all government institutions such as the school feeding programme, free SHS, the military and para institutions.
3 Government should mandate all banks to increase their loan portfolio with low-interest rate on agriculture. There should be flexible procedures for smallholder farmers to be able to access these loans.
4 Increase budget allocation and subsidies for combine harvesters, rice mills and rice packaging materials.
5 Explore new technologies to address aflatoxin and other post-harvest challenges in rice production.
6 Bring storage facilities closer to rice farming areas by first completing the One District One Warehouse programme, commission the completed ones and set up temporary cocoons in the communities.
7 Ensure timely release and distribution of good quality fertilizer and seeds to rice farmers as well as ensuring that, stringent measures are taken to curb smuggling of same. 
Finally, PFAG thanks His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his commitment to developing Ghana through agricultural modernization by introducing the “Planting for Food and Jobs” which supports farmers with fertilizer and seeds and reduce the burden on access to inputs. PFAG is highly optimistic that the above concerns raised would be given the urgent attention they deserve.
Long live Ghana, long live the peasant farmer who continues to toil to put food on the table of Ghanaians.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), is an apex membership base and Non-partisan organization in Ghana with the mandate to advocate for pro-poor agriculture and trade policies that affect the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
For any clarification, contact the following numbers:
Signed by: Abdul- Rahman Mohammed (National President and Board Chairman of PFAG)
CC: The Minister, MoFA

Palayan City holds answers for farmers’ woes amid deluge of imports

INQUIRER.net / 07:51 PM December 04, 2019
Description: Palayan solution to rice preoblem
SUSTAINING AGRICULTURE. For five years now, the city government of Palayan brings farmers together for an annual congress where they interact with government officials and experts. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Officials seeking solutions to the impact of falling prices of palay, or unhusked rice, on farmers’ incomes amid a deluge of imports may find answers in a city in Nueva Ecija that has been helping improve farmers’ lives by making agriculture work for people instead of the other way around.
Relief for farmers reeling from the impact of open importation of rice is emerging from Palayan City, which has recently received a P152 million grant from the World Bank, through the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), which is being overseen by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The grant was part of more than P25 billion that the World Bank allotted in loans and grants for the PDRP and is now seeing results in Palayan, which is now constructing the city’s first onion cold-storage facility worth P190 million after putting in an equity of more than P19 million and getting another P19 million from the national government.
While the programs and campaign being carried out by the city government would directly benefit only farmers in Palayan, what the city is doing may well serve as a national template for a government in search of a way to keep the balance between low rice prices for consumers and sufficient income for Philippine farmers.
For city officials, led by Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas, the answer lies not in wave after wave of financial or material aid but where answers could provide lifetime solutions—in the minds of farmers.
Description: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/2019/12/farmers1-620x465.jpg
HANDS ON. Palayan City Mayor Adrianne May Cuevas (second from right) discusses ways to help farmers skirt middlemen with agriculture technicians at a crop storage facility built by the city government for farmers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Mindsets are the fields on which these solutions are going to bear fruit. First, to make farmers believe they can do better not only with their most basic tasks in the farm but also with their lives. Second, to give these farmers the invisible tool of knowledge to perform tasks not only in their paddies but also out in the market where their produce need to have value.
“We tell farmers not to belittle themselves,” said the mayor in an online chat with INQUIRER.net. “They’re not just farmers,” she said.
The cold-storage facility, to be operational next year, would free onion farmers from being forced to sell all their produce at depressed prices for fear of spoilage.
With more than 80 percent of funds coming in the form of grants, all the city government has to worry about are funds to maintain the facility once it is completed.
Farmers in Palayan also plant rice and corn but they’re learning now that their paddies are good not only for those traditional crops.
At the fifth Palayan City Farmers’ Congress held at the Farmers’ Plaza at Singalat village in Palayan recently, officials of different government agencies joined the city government in offering farmers two ways to achieve long-term financial stability.
One is to learn how technology could help in farming. While the national government thrust is to equip farmers with implements and mechanize farms, the Palayan City government is adding new knowledge about other crops and the technology to plant and nurture these.
Farmers in Palayan plant rice, corn and onions and are idle in between harvests of these crops. During that pause, the mayor said the farmers could plant other high-value crops that would bring them additional income.
The idea is to make the farms productive all-year-round.
It is doing so with the help of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which was a prominent presence at the fifth farmers’ congress in Palayan.
In a report from Philippine News Agency (PNA) Orlando Anselmo, director of DOST in Pampanga, said his office has been giving scientific support to Palayan farmers giving them access to technology that they can apply to farming.
One is access to solar-powered water pumps for irrigation.
Backyard growers of chicken, pigs, ducks and other commercial animals that produce manure now have the knowhow in turning these animal wastes into energy, according to Anselmo.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), according to the PNA report, was also at the farmers’ congress, offering lessons on entrepreneurship to farmers, not to turn them into sellers of used clothes, or ukay-ukay, or other items but for them to be the direct sellers of their produce to end-users.
The cold storage facility under construction with World Bank funding would be central to that objective.
The biggest headache of farmers now is falling prices of their rice harvests. Although it could be considered a band-aid solution, the Palayan City government started buying palay from farmers at prices higher than standard market rates. This would force traders wanting to buy the farmers’ rice harvest to compete for supply by offering higher prices, the mayor said. 
This measure, however, is only a short-term solution. Mayor Cuevas knows that for farmers’ lives to improve not only from harvest to harvest but for good, they have to learn new things.
It’s not to wean them away from farming, but to make farming technology-driven and not dependent on guesswork.
Brigida Pili, head of the DTI office in Nueva Ecija, said in a PNA report that Go Negosyo Centers had been established on the ground floor of the Palayan City Hall to provide information and training to farmers, and anyone interested, on starting and running a business.
Pili said that in Palayan, several farmers had already improved their lives by becoming entrepreneurs.
While the number of farmers that can undergo training on the application of technology to agriculture may be limited, the mayor said that over time, their ranks would grow and turn farming not only as a source of daily income but also a career and enterprise for farmers.
“If 40 farmers train now and acquire this new knowledge, that’s a good start,” said the mayor in the online chat. “Forty now, forty next year, forty in the succeeding year and so on, and you’ll have an army of tech-savvy farmers,” the mayor said.
The idea is contained in the theme chosen by the mayor for the fifth farmers’ congress in the city, originally in Filipino—“Sa Makabagong Agrikultura, Agripreneur Linangin at Palakasin Now Na” which roughly translates to “For A Modern Agriculture, Agripreneur Strengthen Now”, agripreneur being the shortcut for agriculture entrepreneur.
At the fifth farmers’ congress were other agencies of government like the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
State learning institutions, such as the Central Luzon State University and Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, also shared studies on agriculture development.
Cows, a carabao, farm equipment and machinery and appliances were raffled off to farmer participants.
City agriculturist Esmonia Lulu said the annual congress was a brainchild of Cuevas to advance the agriculture sector in the city. But while just concerning farmers of Palayan, the city government’s agriculture improvement programs offer the elusive solution to declining farmers’ income and their inability to compete with cheaper imports—a paradigm shift in mindsets.
 https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1198129/palayan-city-holds-answers-for-farmers-woes-amid-deluge-of-imports-2#ixzz67EYne0XY