Thursday, January 02, 2020

2nd January,2020 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter


Pakistan sought to model after Singapore economy

SINGAPORE: With its vast oceanic resources, Pakistan has the potential to take an economic jump by following in the footsteps of Singapore that has successfully built itself into a global financial hub, making the most of Blue Economy, a lawmaker said.
Amjad Khan Niazi, member of the National Assembly from Mianwali, Chairman Standing Committee on Defence, said that
“Diplomatic officials should play a role in boosting ties with the island-city estate in different economic sectors including maritime trade,” said Amjad Khan Niazi, a member of the National Assembly, while talking to Pakistani High Commissioner Rukhsana Afzal in Singapore.
Niazi said with a population only 5.6 million, Singapore was about two and a half times smaller than Lahore; however its foreign exchange reserves stood around $273 billion, volume of trade about $700 billion, and the annual budget more than $80 billion.
“All these stats serve as an example and model for a developing country like Pakistan,” said the lawmaker, who is also the chairman of standing committee on defence.
Niazi said Prime Minister Imran Khan had a vision that the New Year be made a year of economic development for Pakistan so the whole nation must contribute to the this cause.
Talking about Abdul Lateef Siddiqui, a Pakistan-based global shipping business leader, Niazi said Siddiqui had presented Prime Minister with a great plan for the revival of shipping sector in Pakistan, which was duly appreciated by the premier. “I hope that Abdul Lateef Siddiqui will play his role in the shipping sector of Pakistan in near future,” the lawmaker said. High Commissioner Rukhsana Afzal said, “Singapore is one of the major economies of the world and has been a role model for us, that’s why after assuming charge of this office, she is doing everything possible to improve economic and trade ties between the two countries”. “In this regard we launched an aggressive drive for introducing our agricultural commodities especially fruits and rice with an emphasis on Pakistani brand, as there are reports that our goods are being sold in Singapore as “Made in India”.
Rice exporters present issues to Dawood
By MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN on January 2, 2020
A delegation of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) on Wednesday met with Prime Minister's Advisor on Commerce, Industries and Production and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood and presented issues facing rice exporters.
Chairman REAP, Shah Jahan Malik who led the delegation told Business Recorder that the Association's delegation went to the Ministry of Commerce for follow-up of issues which came under discussion during the last four or five meetings.The Association argues that rice exporters should be facilitated more as compared to other sectors, as rice is exported without any subsidy.
Shah Jahan Malik said that rice exporters faced issues with the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) – a Department of Ministry of National Food Security and Research, adding that sometimes the Department did not have sufficient staff due to which inspection of rice was undertaken on roads.

REAP has also requested the officials of Commerce Ministry to arrange its meeting with the DPP so that inspection issues are resolved.

He further stated that the delegation also shared its presentation to be given to Prime Minister Imran Khan on rice exports and issues, in the next three or four weeks. He said REAP was also taking a delegation to Saudi Arabia which also came under discussion with the Ministry of Commerce. REAP delegation will hold meetings with Saudi buyers.
In reply to another question, he said, the delegation also sought viewpoint of the Ministry and other relevant organisations on barter trade deal with Iran. Pakistan is trying to reach a barter trade deal with Iran since long due to US sanctions but no solution has been found so far as State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) claims that commercial banks do not agree to any suggestion fearing sanctions from US.

Answering another question, he said, Abdul Razak Dawood was a big fan of REAP as rice exporters do not ask for subsidy.

Shah Jahan Malik claimed rice quota for China had increased from 150,000MT to 200,000MT for 2019-20

Shipping Activity At Port Qasim

Description: Shipping activity at Port Qasim

Six ships Mol Gateway, IVS Crimson Creek, Sea Fortress, Everrich-7, Gas Amazon and Methane Jane Elizabeth carrying Containers, Coal, Palm oil, LPG and LNG were arranged berthing at Qasim International Container Terminal, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal, Port Qasim Electric Power Terminal, Liquid Cargo Terminal, Engro Vopak Terminal and Pakistan Gasport Consortium Terminal respectively on Wednesday

KARACHI, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Jan, 2020 ):Six ships Mol Gateway, IVS Crimson Creek, Sea Fortress, Everrich-7, Gas Amazon and Methane Jane Elizabeth carrying Containers, Coal, Palm oil, LPG and LNG were arranged berthing at Qasim International Container Terminal, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal, Port Qasim Electric Power Terminal, Liquid Cargo Terminal, Engro Vopak Terminal and Pakistan Gasport Consortium Terminal respectively on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, two more ships M.V Reemo and M.V Epic Trade scheduled to load/offload 6,800 tonnes Rice and 56,000 tonnes Coal also arrived at Outer anchorage of Port Qasim on Thursday morning.
Berth occupancy remained on high side at the Port where a total of thirteen ships were engaged at PQA berths to load/offload Containers, Rice, LPG, LNG, Palm Kernel, Soya Bean, Palm oil and Diesel oil respectively.
Out of them, four ships Mol Gateway, Maersk Pittsburgh, IVS Oku Dogo and Pacific Legend sailed out to sea from QICT, PIBT and MW-1 on Thursday morning and two more ships gas carrier Gas Amazon and Container vessel MSC Antonella are expected to sail from EVTL and QICT in the afternoon.
A record cargo handling was achieved at the port on Wednesday where a cargo volume of 263,628 tonnes, comprising 213,017 tonnes imports cargo and 50,611 tonnes export cargo, inclusive of containerized cargo carried in 3,956 containers (TEUs), (1,650 TEUs imports and 2,306 TEUs exports) was handled.
Three ships CMA CGM Titus, Hansa America and African Tern carrying containers and General Cargo are expected take berth at QICT and MW-2 respectively on Thursday.

Southeast Asia’s Water Troubles Underscore Climate Threat – Analysis
By RFA
By Dan Southerland*
Description: flood water asia climate changeOver the past year, growing environmental threats in Asia have had much to do with water—most importantly rising seas driven by global warming.
Southeast Asia is proving to be particularly vulnerable.New studies show that climate change and rising sea levels will threaten the lives of tens of millions of people and much of the wildlife in East Asia sooner than had originally been expected.
A recent study referred to by some as a “Doomsday Report” suggests that rising sea levels could flood three times more land than previously predicted.
In Southeast Asia, if the study prepared by a United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued in late September 2019 proves accurate, parts of Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok could be underwater by 2050.
Some scientists caution that these could be “worst case scenarios.”
But nonetheless, millions of people in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta could be forced to flee coastal areas.
The Mekong, Southeast Asia’s longest river, is where everything may go wrong due to the impact of man-made dams, rising sea levels, deforestation, and droughts that alternate with heavy rainfall. And all of this is exacerbated by climate change.
In the meantime, contrary to what might seem common sense, some experts say that due to a combination of these factors the Mekong may someday run dry.
According to scientists, the Mekong’s banks will be increasingly threatened by the loss of sediment now held back by upstream hydropower dams in China and Laos as well as by salt intrusions caused by the rising South China Sea.
Mangrove trees, which once played a vital role in the Mekong Delta in protecting the river banks and rice fields from salt intrusions, have disappeared in some areas.
Mangrove forests consist of small trees that thrive in saline water. In Vietnam, they not only guard against salt intrusions into farm land in the southernmost part of the Mekong Delta but also provide protection for a variety of wildlife.
The Delta is the main food basket of Vietnam, producing more than 50 percent of the nation’s goods, 90 percent of its rice exports, and 75 percent of its fish, which are a main source of protein.
Bu the Delta still suffers from an ill-advised attempt to expand rice production by the new Communist rulers of Vietnam when they came to power in the spring of 1975. In order to grow more rice, they encouraged the destruction of the mangrove swamps which had acted as a buffer to protect farm land from sea-driven salt.
The impact of ice melting in the Arctic
A main source of flooding in places in Southeast Asia is global warming causing the ice to melt in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Ocean currents carry the rising seas more than 6,000 miles from the poles to reach cities such as Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City in Southeast Asia.
In its September issue, the National Geographic magazine explains how the Arctic tundra is thawing in a cover story by Susan Goldberg titled “The Arctic is heating up.”
Goldberg reports that the thawing of the vast, nearly level, treeless plains of the Arctic known as tundra will speed up global warming.
“The unexpectedly rapid collapse of ice-rich permafrost, or permanently frozen subsoil” in the Arctic, Goldberg says, “could pump billions of additional tons of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year—a threat that has yet to be fully accounted for in climate models.”
Scientists have found that permafrost that once thawed a few inches a year can now thaw up to 10 feet within days or weeks, “creating wetlands in once frozen regions and accelerating emissions from up to 1,600 gigabytes of carbon still locked underground.”
Fires, once considered rare in the Arctic, are now becoming more common as a warming climate melts the region. When permafrost thaws near a hillside or a stream or river, it can trigger a landslide, thus accelerating the thawing.
Arctic lakes once filled with ice also have begun to melt, allowing microbes to feed on organic material, which releases greenhouse gases.
In short, this sounds like a slow-moving, but accelerating catastrophe of which many around the world are still barely aware.
The greenhouse effect
Gradual increases in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere are attributed to a “greenhouse effect” caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation. Normally, the radiation escapes into space, but now the pollutants can last for years in the atmosphere, trap the heat, and cause the planet to get hotter.
In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels to make electricity is the largest source of heat-trapping pollution. The second largest source of carbon pollution is the transportation sector.
According to The Economist magazine, China was the source of about 27 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2017. But China, the magazine says, has been reluctant to curb emissions unless the United States moves first.
Meanwhile, on the website GlobalAsia, Matthew A. Shapiro cites atmospheric scientists who report that as much as 70 percent of Japan and Korea’s air pollution originates in China.
China’s far-ranging Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), designed to establish land and sea links with nearly 70 nations at a potential cost of $1 trillion, has brought warnings from scientists and environments regarding the environmental impact of its various infrastructure projects.
Following numerous complaints, China’s President Xi Jinping vowed in the spring of 2019 to make the BRI environmentally friendly, but the experts are still waiting for measures to be taken to implement his pledge.
Finally, as noted in previous commentaries, plastic trash piling up in the world’s oceans is causing the death of a number of marine species. Ever since China stopped buying trash for recycling, the U.S., European nations, and Southeast Asian nations have been scrambling to find the best ways of disposing of their plastic trash.
Top-level attention needed in Thailand and Vietnam
When it comes to the rising tides, people in both Thailand and Vietnam appear to be aware that more water is coming.
But several friends in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City recently said via email that the “water problem” isn’t getting the high-level attention that it deserves from Thai and Vietnamese government leaders.
One friend in Bangkok joked that some city dwellers might soon be living on houseboats, with Chinese manufacturers ready to supply them for around $10,000 each.
While this commentary has focused on Southeast Asia, it’s obvious that rising seas will have a huge impact in many parts of the world.
As The Japan Times noted in an editorial published in November 2019, the people hardest hit by rising sea levels will be the millions who live on small islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans that are only a meter or two above sea level. They may also be among those least able to cope.
The good news
To end this commentary on at least one positive note, let’s return to the subject of those threatened mangrove trees that were mentioned earlier.
The website Smithsonian Ocean says that one shouldn’t underestimate the ability of mangroves in many locations to prevail.
In a report on mangrove trees around the world, the Smithsonian says that “mangroves are survivors.”
With their roots submerged in water, it says, mangroves thrive in hot, muddy, salty water conditions that would kill most plants.”
How do they do it? “Through a filtration system that keeps out much of the salt and a complex root system that holds the mangroves upright in the shifting sediments where land and water meet.”
And, the Smithsonian says, “as scientists are discovering, mangrove swamps are extremely important to our own wellbeing and to the health of the planet.”
But the Smithsonian ends with this question: “Will the mangroves be able to survive the impact of human activities?”
*Dan Southerland is RFA’s founding executive editor.


Bottom of Form

GMO crops set to pass biosafety tests

China Daily, January 2, 2020
A total of 192 genetically modified plant speciesincluding two corn species and a soybean speciesare expected to pass biosafety evaluations by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, opening the way to their commercial use in China.
The ministry released a list of the genetically modified organisms on Monday to solicit public opinion until Jan 20, and will award biosafety certificates for them if no objections are raised during the period.
The GMO soybean species, which is resistant to weedkiller, was developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is suitable to grow in South China. The two GMO corn species feature qualities such as being resistant to insects and weedkillers, according to the ministry.
In a similar move in 2009, the ministry awarded biosafety certificates to a genetically modified corn species and two GMO rice species, but none of them has been approved for commercial production.
However, insect-resistant GMO cotton has been grown on more than 31 million hectares across China, helping to reduce the use of pesticides by more than 70 percent, according to the ministry.
"After passing safety evaluations, GMO researchers and developers must complete some other procedures before the GMO species can be put into commercial use and be available on the market, including gaining different permits for the production of the seeds and production of the species," said Wang Xiping, a professor of life sciences at Beijing Normal University.
Academic opinion generally accepted that GMO products were safe, she said, but safety evaluation standards varied in different countries. GMO crops, such as soybeans, were already grown extensively in countries such as the United States and Brazil, she said.
GMO technology helps improve the quality of crops, such as making them more productive and resistant to insects, and therefore also protects the environment through reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers, Wang said.
Of all agricultural species, only GMO corn and papaya have been approved for commercial planting in China, while some GMO plants, such as soybean and corn, are allowed to be exported to China as material for food processing, according to the ministry.
All GMO products available on the domestic market have passed strict safety evaluations and are safe, the ministry said.
The ministry encourages scientific research and development in GMO technology, but remains cautious in its commercialization. Commercial promotion efforts will first focus on agricultural species that cannot be eaten, such as cotton, and products used as staple food, including rice and soybeans, will come last, it said.
Research into GMO crops in China started in the 1980s, among the earliest in the world, and breakthroughs in the research and development of GMO species, such as insect-resistant rice, drought-resistant wheat and weedkiller-resistant soybeans, have been made in recent years, according to the ministry.
1m rice farmers ready for dry season production
 By Vincent A. Yusuf |
Jan 2, 2020 5:03 AM TwitterFacebookWhatsAppTelegram A dry season farm in Mutum-Biyu, Taraba state …as RIFAN meets CBN, tours producing states …farmers target N650bn income ADVERTISEMENT No fewer than one million rice farmers are currently been mobilised to begin massive rice production for the 2019/2020 dry season programme. ADVERTISEMENT HOW NIGERIAN MEN CAN NOW OVERCOME TERRIBLE BEDROOM PERFORMANCE AND KICK START A WONDERFUL SEXUAL EXPERIENCE IN THE NEW YEAR The momentum for this year’s production is fired by the land border closure and the apparent benefits, among them widening of the internal market. The border shutdown is a turning point for rice farmers across the country, motivating many who hitherto left production to return with greater enthusiasm. National president of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, while speaking with Daily Trust Monday said arrangements have been concluded to motivate one million farmers nationwide under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ scheme. “The major preparation that we started is that the CBN invited RIFAN last week; met with us and gave us the nod to quickly identify the participating farmers and also gave us the go-ahead to do everything possible to achieve more production in the dry season that is already in place. “And he (the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele) has given us the go-ahead to consider at least one million farmers for the dry season which, by extension if we are able to achieve that one million, five million metric tons will be produced,” Alhaji Goronyo stated. Following the directive, the RIFAN president has begun a tour of the major producing areas to motivate and mobilise farmers to meet the five million tons target. “I’m on a tour to all the producing states. I started touring Sokoto, Kebbi, and will be going to Zamfara, Taraba, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ebony and Anambra, virtually all the producing states,” he said, emplaning that the dry season was already in place virtually across the country and the preparation was in top gear to make sure that there are enough paddies for millers to mill for consumers in the country. No shortage of seeds, fertiliser For the dry season, the leader of the rice farmers does not envisage any problem occurring in the areas of availability of quality seeds and fertiliser. “As I’m talking to you, we have more than enough fertiliser in all the production areas that we have already deployed; the seeds also are already there. “In Cross River, we have signed a MoU to work with Governor Ayade who has a seedling factory that has enough to cater for all the farmers that are going to transplant during the cultivation period. So we don’t have problem with fertiliser and seed,” he stated. Aminu Goronyo stressed that the CBN has provided all the necessary support, particularly in those two items, adding that they also have major companies that are supplying agrochemicals for the control of weeds, and also herbicides. If everything goes well and the farmers harvest five million tons on an average of five tons per hectares, they will rake in N650 billion for the dry season alone on an average of N130,000 per metric ton, which is currently the case in some markets across the country.
A piece of advice for farmers The RIFAN president advised farmers that they should give adequate attention to their business because rice production today is a business. “They should know that the president has directed that the entire land border should be closed; it is a big opportunity for those farmers to capitalise on the presidential directive so that what they produce will easily be consumed by millers who will purchase, mill and sell. “They should pay proper attention to continue to harness the opportunities that are available around that initiative of border closure,” he said.

Kiko Pangilinan calls for focus on climate crisis, food security in 2020
Franco Luna (Philstar.com) - January 1, 2020 - 11:42am
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Pangilinan called for a sharpened focus in the areas of climate change and food security, citing higher prices triggered by TRAIN Law, low farmers' incomes and the natural disasters that came at 2019's end.
"Produksyon ng pagkain o ang pagsasaka at pangingisda ang mga unang naaapektuhan nito," the senator said in a statement on Tuesday night, referring to the global climate crisis. 
"Sundin natin ang mga panawagan ng mga scientists na ibaba ang ating tinatawag na carbon footprint at bawasan ang polusyon."
(Food production or farming and fishing are the first things that this climate crisis affects. We should heed the calls of scientists to lower what we call our carbon footprint and lessen pollution.) 
He also pointed to the Rice Tarriffication Law, which he said only doubled the existing burdens of rice farmers. 
As of the fourth week of November 2019, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded the average farmgate price of palay at P15.57 per kilo. 
But farmers themselves have said that the actual price, particularly in far-flung areas, plunge to as low as P7 per kilo, much lower than their production cost of around P12.
Data from the US Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service showed that the Philippines imported the most rice in the world even over China whose population is over a billion.
And according to a statement by the PSA in December, the Philippines is steadily relying more and more on food imports to ensure sufficient supply and to stabilize prices. Economists, too, have said that the top-importer status was only an indication of the country stocking up and said that it should even out eventually. 
The senator also called for stricter policy in a number of areas, namely single-use plastic, rainwater management, urban agriculture, organic farming, solid waste importation, food waste reduction, electric and hybrid vehicles incentives, national mangrove forest protection, expanded crop insurance, post-harvest facilities, among others. 
A 2015 report by the Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment on plastic pollution ranked the Philippines as the third-biggest source of plastic waste in the oceans just after China and Indonesia.
Pangilinan has filed a bill to ban single-use plastics.
The Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill bans food establishments, stores, markets, and retailers from issuing single-use plastic items. 
On the front of solid waste management, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2019 penned a policy looking to temporarily ban all waste imports entering the country. 
This, while the National Mangrove Forest Protection and Preservation Act of 2019 is listed as pending in the committee level as of July 24, 2019. 
Typhoon Tisoy (international name Kammuri) which came in the first week of December 2019, brought with it agricultural damages amounting to P2.097 billion, while those of Typhoon Ursula (international name Phanfone) stood at over P1 billion. 
Farmers affected by the Rice Tarriffication Law say that the law's Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and related programs from the government did litte to alleviate their circumstances. 
Last August, Bantay Bigas spokesperson and Amihan Secretary-General Cathy Estavillo said that the fund seemed to only exist "[t]o show that there is government support to affected rice farmers."
Sen. Risa Hontiveros last December also urged the administration to include rice infrastructure initiatives in the Build, Build, Build flagship program to ease strains on the agriculture sector. 
"Nawa'y maging 20-20 ang pagtingin ng taumbayan sa katotohanan sa 2020," Pangilinan said. 


In Odisha district, scientists team up to give farmers a new future
The farming is being supervised by top scientists from the Lucknow-based Central Institute of Medicine and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), while the roses are being monitored by scientists from National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI).
Written by Sampad Patnaik | Nabarangpur |Updated: December 22, 2019 8:40:06 am
In one of India’s poorest districts, a team of scientists from premier central government institutes have joined hands to help farmers find new life — and hope.
“They are helping me improve farming,” says Krishna Chandra Nayak, 35, standing amidst his seven acres in Saruguda village. And his calculations on a writing pad tell a story of economic revolution through scientific inputs in agriculture.
Nayak is one of 5,000 farmers in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district, chosen and mentored under a project called ‘Farm-Based S&T Interventions for Socioeconomic Development’ being jointly implemented by 12 central R&D institutes and an 18-member district-level committee of the state government.
The project is being run under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) on a budget of over Rs 6.5 crore over two years. The farmers were chosen through rigorous field visits across the district to select those who could take the risk of switching from traditional crops to high-value crops — and were willing to accept new methods.
In 2015, Nabarangpur was the focus of a year-long assigment by The Indian Express to track progress and poverty, following which the state government initiated a number of welfare and governance initiatives in the district.
With top institutes involved in the farm project since August, Nayak is growing lemon grass, turmeric, palmarosa (a grass species) and tulsi. He has started a fish pond and a rose garden, while his fields are fenced by mango, sapota and litchi trees.
“This is a dry and hilly area, where the soil does not hold moisture. It makes more sense to grow these high-value crops than paddy, which is comparatively water- and labour-intensive, and yields lower profits,” he says.
The farming is being supervised by top scientists from the Lucknow-based Central Institute of Medicine and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), while the roses are being monitored by scientists from National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI).
Today, Nayak is confident of a profit of Rs 20,000 from just one crop of lemon grass in two acres. The turmeric will yield a profit of Rs 25,000 per acre, he hopes. The diversification of production basket, he says, over seven acres will give him upwards of Rs 3 lakh in profit.
He contrasts this with the “zero income” that much of the land used to yield because it was “unsuitable for paddy”. “Most of the land was uncultivated and a small portion was used for paddy for mostly domestic consumption,” he says.
Former Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi, who proposed the project and brought the Centre and state together to work on it, is convinced that science and technology is of more value to the district’s nearly two lakh farmers than loan waivers, money transfers, and subsidies.
“In the plateau area of Nabarangpur, people hardly eat root and green vegetables. There was no high intensity fishery, either. At 250 kg/ha, Nabarangpur’s fertiliser consumption, especially in corn cultivation, was staggering against a state average of 50kg/ha. To earn a decent income from agriculture and consume quality produce, one has to understand and apply science and technology and practice alternative farming (high-value crops over paddy),” says Majhi.
The institutes involved are mentoring a diverse group of farmers. For instance, Bhubaneswar’s Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) is training in pisciculture and poultry rearing around 173 ST, 17 SC and 28 OBC families. CIMAP will mentor 60 women Self Help Groups in making incense sticks out of tulsi leaves.
Farmers are also being helped to grow Citronella, which yields an essential oil that is used in insect and especially mosquito repellents, while palmarosa oil is an ingredient in soaps and cosmetics, says CIMAP senior scientist Prashant Rout.
“The state government will package and brand these (citronella and palmarosa) products and sell them directly to stores, as well as put up stalls in government fairs held across 30 districts of Odisha,” says Uma Maheshwar, who heads the Nabarangpur district wing of Odisha Rural Marketing Society.
Irfan Khan owns over seven hectares of water stretch (ponds) in which he is practising pisciculture under guidance of Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA). “To get Rs 12,000 worth brood stock of fish I used to travel up to Sambalpur and spend another Rs 10,000 on fuel, food and lodgings. Even then, the quality (of fingerlings) was not great,” says Irfan. “Now CIFA has stocked my ponds with top notch breeds like Jayanti Rohi, improved catla.”
CIFA’s Principal Scientist S S Mishra lands at Irfan’s property to inspect and advise. “Nabarangpur is a low alkaline area so we must add limestone powder and maintain pH. The fish feed must be given correctly. The fish have to be protected against fish lice, skin fluke,” says Mishra.
In Papadahandi block, Dhansingh Batra, who owns only two acres, is elated to be advised by Dr K Lakshminarayana of Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) on how to plant his sweet potato crop so that the vines don’t retain moisture and rot.
“Earlier this year, I made a profit of Rs 15,000 on five quintals of sweet potato grown on only 0.2 acres of land,” says Batra. “I have kept another quintal for consumption by family and friends. I used to grow corn that gave me a profit of only Rs 20,000 from one acre.”

GMO crops set to pass biosafety tests

2020-01-02 08:46:23China DailyEditor : Cheng ZizhuoECNS App Download

Soybeans are harvested in Heilongjiang province. (Xinhua/LU WENXIANG)
Move would clear way for 192 plants to be grown commercially in China
Description: Soybeans are harvested in Heilongjiang province. (Xinhua/LU WENXIANG)A total of 192 genetically modified plant speciesincluding two corn species and a soybean speciesare expected to pass biosafety evaluations by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, opening the way to their commercial use in China.
The ministry released a list of the genetically modified organisms on Monday to solicit public opinion until Jan 20, and will award biosafety certificates for them if no objections are raised during the period.
The GMO soybean species, which is resistant to weedkiller, was developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is suitable to grow in South China. The two GMO corn species feature qualities such as being resistant to insects and weedkillers, according to the ministry.
In a similar move in 2009, the ministry awarded biosafety certificates to a genetically modified corn species and two GMO rice species, but none of them has been approved for commercial production.
However, insect-resistant GMO cotton has been grown on more than 31 million hectares across China, helping to reduce the use of pesticides by more than 70 percent, according to the ministry.
"After passing safety evaluations, GMO researchers and developers must complete some other procedures before the GMO species can be put into commercial use and be available on the market, including gaining different permits for the production of the seeds and production of the species," said Wang Xiping, a professor of life sciences at Beijing Normal University.
Academic opinion generally accepted that GMO products were safe, she said, but safety evaluation standards varied in different countries. GMO crops, such as soybeans, were already grown extensively in countries such as the United States and Brazil, she said.
GMO technology helps improve the quality of crops, such as making them more productive and resistant to insects, and therefore also protects the environment through reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers, Wang said.
Of all agricultural species, only GMO corn and papaya have been approved for commercial planting in China, while some GMO plants, such as soybean and corn, are allowed to be exported to China as material for food processing, according to the ministry.
All GMO products available on the domestic market have passed strict safety evaluations and are safe, the ministry said.
The ministry encourages scientific research and development in GMO technology, but remains cautious in its commercialization. Commercial promotion efforts will first focus on agricultural species that cannot be eaten, such as cotton, and products used as staple food, including rice and soybeans, will come last, it said.
Research into GMO crops in China started in the 1980s, among the earliest in the world, and breakthroughs in the research and development of GMO species, such as insect-resistant rice, drought-resistant wheat and weedkiller-resistant soybeans, have been made in recent years, according to the ministry.

Policy Picks: Regulatory stories from China, Japan, India and more feature in our round-up

By Pearly Neo
02-Jan-2020 - Last updated on 02-Jan-2020 at 02:07 GMT
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Description: Regulatory stories from China, Japan, India and more feature in this edition of Policy Picks. ©Getty ImagesRegulatory stories from China, Japan, India and more feature in this edition of Policy Picks. ©Getty Images
Regulatory stories from China, Japan, India and more feature in this edition of Policy Picks.

China registration rules: Foreign food companies must now pass ‘expert panel’ reviews

Foreign food companies seeking registration approval for both plant and animal products in China​ will need to pass the review of two ‘expert panels’ formed by selected customs officers, as recently emphasised by an updated set of regulations published on the country’s customs website.
These updated rules are under the purview of the Department of Animals and Plants of the General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China, and apply to all companies dealing with the production, processing and storage of animals, plants and the related products who wish to apply for the registration of these in the country.
In the updated regulatory document as published by GAC on November 29, after an application is received from any foreign company that fits the above criteria, an initial documentation review will take place before the application is accepted.
After acceptance, the department will then take steps to form an expert panel to review the application.

Premium protection: Japan plans to strengthen IPs for high-end fruit and veggies

Japan is looking to strengthen intellectual property (IP) control over its premium fruits and vegetables​ being sold overseas in an effort to stop its high-end agricultural crops from being grown, and ultimately sold as the produce of other countries.
According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), amongst the crops that have been impacted by failure to properly implement IP control overseas have included the high-end Shine Muscat grapes which have been grown by other countries such as China and Korea.
FoodNavigator-Asia​  has confirmed with MAFF that one of the proposed initiatives for this is for the ministry to appoint a private organisation next year to work on the IP protection of new Japan-cultivated fruits and vegetables.

Milking it? Indian regulator puts onus on industry for self-testing and monitoring

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has just released its new Action Plan for Safe and Quality Milk and Milk Products, with the majority of actions targeted at self-testing or self-monitoring​ by dairy companies, farmers and consumers.
The  plan comprised of 12 points of action, and was based on the previously-released National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018, the results of which have previously been disputed by various parties despite the agency’s insistence that these had successfully ‘dispelled wide-spread perception that liquid milk in the country is largely adulterated​’​.
“The outcome of the survey is a myth buster. The survey results indicate clearly that milk being sold in India is largely safe for consumption. [Let] the fears associated with consumption of milk vanish,”​ FSSAI said previously.
In a new statement on this latest action plan, FSSAI continued to claim that ‘only 7% [of] milk samples had contaminants or adulterants that rendered such milk unsafe’​, and that the 12-point action plan would ‘ensure the safety and quality of milk and milk products in the country’.
“These actions are broadly in three areas, namely – Testing and continued surveillance, Preventive and corrective action for implementation and monitoring, and Consumer engagement,”​ said the agency.
Closer scrutiny of the 12 points of action in the ‘Action Plan on site’​ which FoodNavigator-​ Asia has viewed courtesy of FSSAI has revealed that many of these are very heavily reliant on self-testing and self-monitoring, whether by dairy companies, farmers or consumers.

Philippines rice saga: Government confirms stricter import controls despite President’s pledge to ban them

The Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) has opted to control rice imports and prices​, even though President Rodrigo Duterte previously said all imports would be halted.
This is the latest development in a long line of confusing and seemingly contradictory statements and policies. 
Duterte originally signed the rice tariffication law and removed import caps earlier this year in February in an attempt to bring down rice shortages and severe price hikes in the Philippines.
A huge amount of rice entered the country after this was passed, easing the then-precarious situation.
However, nine months on, Duterte announced at a press conference earlier this month that he had ordered Agriculture Secretary William Dar to suspend all imports of rice in order to help local farmers suffering as a result of rice importation, and called on the government to buy local rice at farmgate prices instead.
The DA later said that this could not be done without amending the rice tariffication law, and Duterte said he had been misunderstood'.

Better late than never? New Zealand government finally responds to industry’s anti-obesity plan

The New Zealand government has finally responded to the country’s Food and Beverage Industry Taskforce on Addressing Factors Contributing to Obesity’s report​ and its list of 51 recommendations.
The taskforce’s report and recommendations had been submitted to the Ministry of Health and Food Safety in December 2018.
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Minister of Food Safety Damien O’Connor responded to taskforce secretariat representative Katherine Rich in November 2019, making it almost a full year before the taskforce received a response.
In the letter, which FoodNavigator-Asia​  has viewed courtesy of Rich, the ministers apologised for the delay in response and commended the taskforce for its efforts, then expressed support for the ‘principles underlying the report’s recommendations’​.
They also proceeded to urge that 14 of the 51 recommendations be prioritised in alignment with the WHO’s Essential Nutrition Actions workstreams that surround reformulation, nutritional quality of foods, labelling and information, as well as marketing foods and non-alcoholic drinks to children.

Deserve No Leniency: Prime Minister
   Wed 01st January 2020 | 10:58 PM

Description: Those indulged in food adulteration deserve no leniency: Prime Minister 
Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said the adulterators of the foodstuff did not deserve any leniency as they had been amassing money at the cost of public health and by inflicting harms on the lives of consumers
ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Jan, 2020 ) :Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said the adulterators of the foodstuff did not deserve any leniency as they had been amassing money at the cost of public health and by inflicting harms on the lives of consumers.
He directed continuation of strict action against such elements and observed that provision of relief to the common man was among the top priorities of the government.
The prime minister made the observations while chairing a high level meeting to review prices of daily use commodities, including flour, rice, ghee, sugar, pulses and vegetables etc.
He also stressed upon the need for taking further effective steps to bring down the prices of daily use commodities through an effective strategy.
He observed that in the past, need to take comprehensive steps along with framing of a mechanism to keep check on adulteration and difference between the demand and supply, had been neglected, but the present government had been paying due attention to those issues.
Expressing his deep concerns over the ratio of adulteration in the daily use commodities, he termed it an inhuman cruelty, which was also a cause of increase in fatal diseases. Such aspects had been altogether ignored the past, he added.
The prime minister emphasized upon the use of modern technology to discourage the practice and also directed for ending the issue of hoarding as well.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Dr Kazim apprised the meeting that the provincial government had been continuing the drive against adulteration under a sustained strategy ensuring collaboration among all the departments concerned.
He said so far about 20,000 inspections were made under which 3,500 notices had been issued, besides imposition of about Rs 7 million as fine. About 200,000 kilograms / liters goods were destroyed and 400 spots were sealed.
The overall stability was witnessed among the prices of different commodities, and due to certain steps, the price of Basmati rice witnessed a reduction of Rs16 per kg, of local tomato Rs 55 per kg and of Daal Mash Rs 2 per kg, he added.
For the purpose, the chief secretary said an advertisement campaign was launched for the public awareness while special classes had been started in the educational institutes.
The KP chief secretary further said utilization of modern technology and geo-tagging were also being made, whereas special attention was paid on the standard of those items.
The prime minister was further apprised that 73 Kissan markets had been established in 28 districts of the province where the farmers sold their produce directly.
Punjab Chief Secretary Major (Retd) Azam Suleman apprised that a committee had been constituted under the direction of prime minister to take stock of the demand and supply and for making of certain estimates.
He said the Punjab Food Authority had inspected 29,500 places. From the previous month's figures, reduction in the prices of tomato, onion and potato was witnessed whereas stability in the prices of flour, rice, edible oil, pulses and sugar was observed. He linked the hike in prices of chicken with the weather conditions and increase in its demand.
The chief secretary, giving further figures, said tomato price was reduced by Rs 40 per kg, potato Rs 12, and those of flour and rice reduced by Rs 2 to 3.
He said "Qeemat" application had been launched in Rawalpindi to control price hike and so far 600,000 residents had downloaded it. The resolution of complaints through that application had been achieved by 99 per cent. With that facility, any complaint could be redressed within two hours, he added.
Suleman said for provision of daily-use commodities at the doorsteps of residents, an online home delivery system had been formally launched in Rawalpindi. A total of 32 model bazaars had been set up in 19 districts of Punjab province whereas places for establishment of such bazaars had been identified in 95 tehsils.
The food and vegetable grading system, he apprised, had commenced in Lahore and Faisalabad which would be gradually expanded to the whole province.
He further said through the Radio Frequency Identification (RID System), CCTVs and price magistrates, continuous monitoring of the fruits and vegetables markets was being made.
The chief secretary said complete record of the edible commodities was maintained and so far 82 Kissan markets had been established.
The Sindh chief secretary and Balochistan secretary industries also apprised the meeting about the steps taken to control adulteration in the foodstuff and presented comparative figures of the prices of the daily use items in the rural and urban areas.
The prime minister said he would review the measures through video conference every week. He noted that interaction with the provincial governments regarding their experiences over public related issues was conducive, hinting that the practice would continue regularly.