Wednesday, February 13, 2019

13th February,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter


Minnesota governor sides with environmentalists on pipeline
By STEVE KARNOWSKI -

2/12/19 3:04 PM
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that his administration will keep pursuing an appeal of an independent regulatory commission’s approval of Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, siding with environmental and tribal groups in his biggest decision since becoming governor last month.
The state Public Utilities Commission approved the project last summer. Then-Gov. Mark Dayton’s Department of Commerce appealed that decision in December, as did several groups opposed to the project. The Minnesota Court of Appeals last week dismissed those appeals as premature and sent the dispute back to the commission for further proceedings. That move forced the Walz administration to take a stand by Tuesday after weeks of studying whether to continue to appeal or let the matter drop.
The Commerce Department argued under Dayton that Enbridge failed to provide legally adequate long-range demand forecasts to establish the need for the project, but the commission concluded the Calgary, Alberta-based company met its requirements. Other groups fighting the project say it threatens oil spills in pristine waters in the Mississippi River headwaters region where Native Americans harvest wild rice and claim treaty rights, and that it would aggravate climate change.
“When it comes to any project that impacts our environment and our economy, we must follow the process, the law, and the science,” Walz said in a statement. “The Dayton administration’s appeal of the PUC’s decision is now a part of this process. By continuing that process, our administration will raise the Department of Commerce’s concerns to the court in hopes of gaining further clarity for all involved.”
While Line 3 opponents applauded Walz for heeding the department’s concerns, Republican legislative leaders said the Democratic governor made a big mistake. Enbridge said it expects to ultimately prevail.
Enbridge wants to replace Line 3, which was built in the 1960s, because it’s increasingly subject to cracking and corrosion, so it can run at only about half its original capacity. It says the replacement will ensure reliable deliveries of Canadian crude to Midwest refineries. It’s already in the process of replacing the Canadian segments and is running the short segment in Wisconsin that ends at its terminal in Superior.
Walz had been under increasing pressure to decide whether to fight Enbridge’s plan. On Friday, faith leaders connected with Interfaith Power and Light gathered in his office to urge an appeal and left gifts of wild rice, while a mostly Republican group of 77 lawmakers sent him a letter urging him to let the project move forward. Last month , a group of scientists went to Walz’s office to say the project would worsen climate change by facilitating further use of fossil fuels.
The appeals court said the next step for opponents was to refile petitions for reconsideration with the commission.
At a news conference with other Republican lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said he was frustrated and surprised that the governor decided to keep up the legal fight. “It only further delays a project that we think will inevitably happen. … The science is sure that this would be environmentally much safer, to replace a 51-year-old pipe with a new pipe,” he said.
Minnesota House Republican Minority Leader Kurt Daudt issued a statement saying Walz is “throwing up unnecessary roadblocks” to a project that will create jobs and generate property tax revenue.
Opponents of Line 3 urged Walz not to buckle.
“This dirty tar sands pipeline would threaten our clean water, communities, and climate, all for the sake of more oil our state does not need. We will continue to urge the administration to do everything in their power to stop Line 3,” Margaret Levin, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Sierra Club, said in a statement.
Enbridge called the decision “unfortunate” but said it will continue working with the administration to secure the necessary permits to begin construction while the challenges proceed. While Walz does not control the independent commission, he does control state agencies that issue the permits Enbridge will need.
“The Commission’s approval came at the end of a thorough review of the facts, spanning four years, thousands of hours of environmental and cultural study, and substantial public comments. Enbridge believes the Commission will deny petitions for reconsideration as they have in the past,” the company said in a statement.

Tax, Rice and Central Bank Bills Are Piling Up on Duterte's Desk

By Siegfrid Alegado  and Andreo Calonzo
February 13, 2019, 3:00 AM GMT+5

Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature is all that’s needed to enact bills that will allow more rice imports, boost the central bank’s capital and grant the first tax amnesty in a decade.
But these economic measures, along with more than two dozen bills, are piling up and awaiting Duterte’s final approval. Under the law, bills that are neither signed nor vetoed by the president will lapse into law 30 days after they were transmitted by Congress.
The bill that will remove import restrictions on rice and is counted on to help damp inflation was transmitted to Duterte’s office on Jan. 16 and will lapse into law on Feb. 15, unless the president vetoes it. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said last month that he had asked the president to make changes on the rice measure.
Senate President Tito Sotto said he doesn’t know what has happened to the rice bill. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said he hasn’t gotten any word on the status of the pending pieces of legislation. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea hasn’t answered calls and text messages seeking comment.
“It’s imperative that the president gets them through to law,” said Nicholas Mapa, a senior economist at ING Groep NV in Manila. “Their passage could send a signal to investors that Duterte is indeed a man of action.”

Key Pending Measures

·       A rice reform bill allowing more imports is seen by policy makers to shave off about one percentage point from annual inflation. In 2018, a rice shortage along with higher taxes and elevated oil prices pushed inflation to the fastest pace in nine years and triggered a 175-basis-point increase in the central bank’s policy rate.
·       Amendments to the central bank’s charter will increase its capital to 200 billion pesos ($3.8 billion) and also expand its regulatory powers to cover payment systems operators and foreign exchange companies.
·       The first tax amnesty since 2007 is estimated to raise about 41 billion pesos in additional revenue.

Duterte Wants to Rename the Philippines in Break From Colonial Past

By Andreo Calonzo
February 12, 2019, 7:58 AM GMT+5 Updated on February 12, 2019, 9:30 AM GMT+5
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is advocating to change the nation’s name one day to “Maharlika” to move away from the country’s colonial links.
Duterte’s call echoes a push by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to call the nation “Maharlika,” which in the local language means nobility. The country, which was under Spanish rule for more than 300 years, derived its name from Spain’s King Philip II.
Rodrigo Duterte
Photographer: Toshifumi Kitamura/Pool via Bloomberg
Senate President Tito Sotto said Duterte’s idea would entail rewriting the Constitution and will require too many changes. Duterte has also been pushing for changes in the nation’s charter and shift to a federal form of government.
“Someday, let’s change it,” Duterte said on Monday after distributing land titles in the Muslim-majority province of Maguindanao. “Marcos was right. He wanted to change it to Maharlika because that’s a Malay word.”
Marcos, who was ousted from power by a peaceful uprising more than three decades ago, first suggested the name change to promote nationalism after he placed the Philippines under military rule.
— With assistance by Ian C Sayson

Butterfly effect: How rice tariffication bill affects everyone

Conversations about rice are a national conversation
Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
Published 10:01 AM, February 13, 2019
Updated 10:01 AM, February 13, 2019
Description: CHAIN REACTION. Other industries which make use of byproducts from the rice industry are also at risk of being affected by the Rice Tariffication bill if passed into law without changes. File photo by Jay Directo/AFP
CHAIN REACTION. Other industries which make use of byproducts from the rice industry are also at risk of being affected by the Rice Tariffication bill if passed into law without changes. File photo by Jay Directo/AFP
MANILA, Philippines – It will be like domino tiles falling one after the other. While the rice tarrification bill will directly affect the rice industry, other businesses which make use of byproducts from rice will inevitably also feel its consequences.
The rice tariffication bill, or Senate Bill 1998, which will allow uninhibited rice importation, is due to be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, February 15. Only a presidential veto can stop the bill from becoming law. (READ: Duterte open to changes in rice tariffication bill)
By removing the quantitative restrictions, imported rice coming from Southeast Asian countries will be slapped with a 35% tariff, while imported rice coming from other countries will be imposed a higher tariff rate. (READ: Higher inflation in 2019 if rice tariffication not passed – Diokno)
While this will result in imported rice becoming more expensive, the flood of imported grains will still threaten local produce.
Orly Manuntag, spokesperson of the Confederation of Grains Retailers Association of the Philippines Incorporated (Grecon), told Rappler that there will undoubtedly be a spillover effect on other sectors if the rice tariffication bill becomes law without amendments.
Grecon, along with other representatives of various sectors in the industry, got an audience with Duterte and other economic managers last week, and was able to air grievances about the bill.
While it has its good points, the lack of government regulation worries stakeholders.
Aside from the obvious displacement of rice farmers, National Food Authority (NFA) employees, and some 90,000 accredited NFA rice retailers nationwide, Manuntag said the deregulation of rice imports goes beyond the industry.
Here are the businesses and industries that will be affected by liberalized rice importation:
Millers
There are around 6,600 registered rice millers all over the country, employing 55,000 workers. Industry stakeholders, in a position paper, said that a complete milling facility costs from P30 million to P50 million. This would place the value of the whole industry itself at P200 billion to P300 billion.
"This whopping amount is primarily sourced from commercial bank borrowings with corresponding interest charges," the position paper read.
However, Manuntag noted that taking out these loans will be meaningless if the mills will not be used at all.
"Where will the millers bring their facilities if they can't buy unhusked rice from the farmers because these farmers refused to plant rice anymore?" he said in Filipino. 


Should there be no local unmilled rice left for millers to process, the worst case scenario would be the millers defaulting on their bank loans.
Animal feeds and beer industry
A byproduct of the rice milling process, the rice bran is used for making animal and aquaculture feeds. A shortage in local unhusked rice production would also mean there would be a drop in byproduct.
Manuntag said that if feedmills produce less, it would cause an increase in the prices of pork and chicken.
The latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that livestock production during the months of October to December 2018 alone was worth P91.9 billion, while poultry production during the same time period amounted to P60.7 billion.
Another byproduct which comes from the milling process is the brewer's rice or binlid, which is used in manufacturing alcoholic drinks, particularly beer.
Biomass, construction industry
A drop in local rice output will also mean a decrease in rice hull, which is used as fuel for biomass furnaces used in the provinces to provide electricity. Rice hulls are also used as a binder for cement and land fillers.
"[W]e have a lot of biomass energy facilities all over the Philippines. There are some who depend on biomass and if it fails to provide energy, then the electricity rates will rise," Manuntag said.
What now?
In an ambush interview last Friday, February 8, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol told reporters that while the Department of Agriculture (DA) cannot appeal in behalf of the industry, they were ordered by Duterte to collate the stakeholders' requests.
Other government agencies tasked to simplify the rice industry's request were the Department of Finance, the National Economic and Development Authority, and the Department of Trade and Industry.
But this does not give assurances that there will be changes made in the bill even after all the pleas from the private sector.
"[I]t will [still] be the President’s call. I don’t want to second-guess what action he will take," Piñol said.
"But having said that he’s willing to listen, I would assume that he’s willing to consider some changes as to how those changes will be implemented, that’s up to him."
The position paper, which contains the stakeholders' proposals, was submitted on Monday, February 11.
Both the government and the stakeholders know that the lifting of the quantitative restrictions on rice imports has long been due, but how the law will allow it – and protect the interests of those affected by it – is being contested.
"[Lifting the import restrictions] is our commitment to the [World Trade Organization] but we are just asking for a little more study on the total deregulation…especially for the stability of the buying price of the palay," Piñol said on Tuesday, February 12, during a chance interview after a meeting with sugar industry stakeholders who are also facing possible deregulation in sugar imports.
Piñol was referring to the NFA's possible inability to sustain its function of buying from farmers as it cannot make borrowings anymore for its procurement program.
"Because right now, the buying price for palay dropped at P14 to P15 [per kilo]. You have to understand that if the buying price for palay drops, it is also a headache for DA because the farmers will get mad," he added.
With a few days left before the deadline, there is nothing to do but wait for Duterte's decision.
"We did our best to convey to the President the appeal of the Filipino people. [A]ng pag-uusap sa bigas ang pag-uusap ng sambayanang Pilipino," Manuntag said. (Conversations about rice are a national conversation.)
"We are confident that we will be listened to, but if nothing changes, hindi kami nagkulang (we did not lack in anything). We tried our best." – Rappler.com

Exporters blame EU tariffs for 5 pct drop in rice shipments

Sum Manet / Khmer Times  

Rice exports in January saw a small decline that exporters have blamed on the European Union’s decision last month to impose tariffs on local rice.
Last month, Cambodia exported 59,625 tonnes of rice to international markets, a 5 percent drop compared to January 2018, according to a report issued yesterday by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality.
The same report points out that the EU bought 20,000 tonnes of Cambodian rice in January, which is around 40 percent of all Cambodian rice exports. China bought about the same amount.
. .
In January, the European Commission decided to re-impose tariffs on rice coming from Cambodia and Myanmar to protect farmers in Europe, whom the European Union believed to be at a disadvantage.
During the first year, the EU is levying 175 euros ($199.5) per tonne on imports of Cambodian rice. 150 euros ($171) will be charged in the second year, and 125 euros ($142.5) in the last.
Hun Lak, vice president of Cambodia Rice Federation, said orders of Cambodian rice abroad saw a decline last month because international buyers were busy preparing for holidays like the Chinese New Year and the Vietnamese New Year, but also because the EU tariffs went into effect.
“These factors led to a slight decline in rice exports,” he said, adding that rice exports to the EU remained large because a lot of European buyers had placed their orders before the tariffs kicked in.
Cambodian rice. KT/Chor Sokunthea
He said the real impact of the tariffs will be felt in February and following months, but had some room for optimism.
. .
“Exports to the EU are likely to decrease, but it will really depend on whether consumers continue to choose Cambodian rice despite the price increase. We have to wait and see,” he said.
Mr Lak stressed the need to diversify away from the EU market and to make local rice more competitive internationally by reducing production costs.
Chan Sokheang, chairman and CEO of Signatures of Asia, said the 5 percent decline was not alarming, adding that the worst is still to come.
He estimated that last month only 20 to 25 percent of Cambodian rice shipped to Europe was taxed.
“What really worries us is February and March, when the tariffs will have a bigger impact. We hope the loss in shipments to the EU can be offset by more exports to China.”
. .
Mr Sokheang said his company did not see a drop in sales in January but that it is likely to be a different story this month.
Another rice exporter contacted by Khmer Times and who asked for anonymity said, “Exports decreased last month because the EU is our biggest buyer. Unfortunately, the tariffs are likely to have a much larger impact in upcoming months.
“Our company saw a 3 to 4 percent decline in orders from the EU in January,” the exporter said, adding that some European buyers are now choosing to buy rice from producers in Thailand and Vietnam instead of Cambodia.
Cambodia exported 626,225 tonnes of rice to international markets in 2018, a drop of 1.5 percent compared to 2017.

Why rice self-sufficiency has such a grip on the Indonesian public imagination

(MENAFN - The Conversation) Being known by the Indonesian public to support importing rice over self-sufficiency can jeopardise a politician's place in Indonesian politics. Recently, supporters of Prabowo Subianto, President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's opponent in the country's upcoming election, tried to attack the incumbent using this issue.
An economist in Prabowo's camp, Dradjad Wibowo, criticised Jokowi for having a ' hobby of importing rice '. Dradjad claimed that Jokowi has imported the largest amount of rice since the New Order regime. The agriculture minister has refuted this.
Interestingly, no officials in Jokowi's administration has appeared to refute an allegation Prabowo made during the televised presidential debate of January 2019 that elements within Jokowi's government were benefiting financially (that is, illegally) from rice imports.
That political insiders have taken advantage of state-controlled rice imports in Indonesia has long been an open secret. So what may have transpired under Jokowi was nothing new.
That both presidential candidates have pledged to achieve self-sufficiency in rice, just as they did during the 2014 election campaign, is also to be expected.
Self-sufficiency: a difficult promise to keep
It is exceedingly difficult to pinpoint why today's politicians in Indonesia cling to a policy of self-sufficiency in the country's primary staple food when the country has so rarely achieved this feat on an annual basis.
The simple answer is because the policy seems to be popular. But why? Why is the idea of reaching rice self-sufficiency so popular among the public? Why is it political suicide for a national politician to support a policy that aims to increase the annual supply of foreign rice?
After all, according to many mainstream (admittedly mostly foreign) economists, doing so would bring many benefits . Since foreign rice, mostly sourced from Vietnam and Thailand, is more cheaply produced, lower rice prices in Indonesia would amount to less household spending on this staple food among the poor.
In turn, the poor could spend more on food with higher nutritional content than white rice, on health care and on their children's education. This does not only apply to the urban poor. Because many rural poor, even small-scale rice farmers, remain net consumers of rice, cheaper foreign rice would reduce rural poverty as well .
Lastly, by suspending expensive rice self-sufficiency efforts – Jokowi oversaw significant state spending to build a few dozen reservoirs to increase rice production – the government would be able to spend public money elsewhere.
For example, the government could use the money to help marginal farmers who might be forced to sell their crop at lower prices. Public funding could be used for income support or for extension services to help growers shift to crops of higher value than rice. Both possibilities, it seems, would make inroads into rural poverty.
The populism of rice self-sufficiency
Several reasons have been proposed for why self-sufficiency in rice remains so popular.
Some suggest the public just does not realise that higher rice prices actually hurt the rural poor since they believe what the government tells them — that higher domestic prices mean the farmer will receive more money for his crop. This might be true for the large-scale farmers, but they are small in number.
Others insist that the rice milling lobby is behind self-sufficiency. Higher domestic production means more milling and therefore more profits.
Officials from the National Food Security Council that I interviewed highlighted the simmering nostalgia for the glory days of the New Order, especially when under Soeharto in the mid-1980s Indonesia last achieved rice self-sufficiency, albeit briefly.
The populism generated by Indonesia's competitive elections may also play a role here.
Yet these factors are also found in regional neighbours that share similarities with Indonesia. Malaysia and the Philippines, for example, also grow rice in abundance yet rely on imports to fulfil national requirements. There, high domestic rice prices hurt the poor as well.
These two countries rely on state agencies to import rice, which leads to considerable rent-seeking. Milling lobbies are robust in the Philippines and Malaysia as well. These two countries also experienced impressive production spurts during the Green Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, and each has competitive electoral regimes that have spurred populist sentiments.
But, significantly, new governments in Malaysia and the Philippines have taken concrete steps toward liberalising their rice trade policies. This means extinguishing dreams of achieving rice self-sufficiency. In short, they have begun serious discussions to revoke the monopoly import licences of their rice parastatals in order to involve more private traders in the buying and selling of imported rice.
While it is uncertain precisely what will come of these policy changes, one thing is sure — neither Jokowi nor Prabowo between now and the April election will make pledges like this. In Indonesia, the rice self-sufficiency dream remains alive.
A legacy of nationalism
Indonesia's current distinctiveness might lie with the legacy of the country's nationalist, anti-colonial movement, and specifically the central role the rice peasant holds as a stirring symbol of independence.
Soekarno, Indonesia's first president, famously espoused an ideology of Marhaenism, where the average, poor Indonesian (read Javanese) peasant embodied the ideals of self-sufficiency and perseverance in the face of aggressive, foreign intrusion.
This belief, ironically carried forth by Soeharto who liked to portray himself as the patron of the Indonesian peasant, continues to resonate powerfully in Indonesia. Idolisation of the rice peasant was absent or less prominent in the ethnically fractured nationalist movement of Malaya/Malaysia, and in the oligarchic, top-down, elite-controlled movement in the Philippines.
In short, it falls on us to consider how specific histories and ideologies continue to shape critical public policies in Indonesia and elsewhere. Liberalisation can be achieved easily with the stroke of a pen. Altering creeds rooted in one's nationalist past cannot be as easily undone.
Rice Election


MENAFN1202201901990000ID1098106945
WORLD
India’s rice export prices higher on African demand
 RECORDER REPORT  FEB 12TH, 2019   MUMBAI
Rice export prices in India edged higher this week on buying from Africa, while a strengthening baht trimmed demand for the Thai variety as activity was muted across most Asian hubs due to the Lunar New Year holiday. Prices for top exporter India's benchmark 5-percent broken parboiled variety rose to $383-$388 per tonne from last week's $381-$386 range.

While there is demand from buyers in Africa, many customers held back on purchases, hoping for lower prices, said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Export prices in India had shot up after the central state of Chhattisgarh, a leading rice producer, raised minimum paddy buying prices to 2,500 rupees ($34.99) per 100 kg from 1,750 rupees.

India's rice exports between April and December dropped 10.2 percent from a year earlier to 8.46 million tonnes, a government body said earlier this week. In Thailand, the second biggest rice exporter, benchmark 5-percent broken rice price were quoted at $390-$402, free on board Bangkok, unchanged from last week.

"Thai rice prices are too high because of the exchange rate, which makes it less competitive to other exporters like India and Vietnam," a Bangkok-based rice trader said.

Traders said they hoped an influx of supply this month will help lower the price. The Thai baht has been the best performing currency in Asia this year, translating into higher export prices in US dollars. "Indonesia demand has been quiet so far, but the Philippines could be the market for Thai rice," another Bangkok-based trader said. "But so far there has been no order."

Trade in Thailand was quiet because of the Lunar new year, while Vietnamese markets were shut for the holiday. Prices for Vietnam's 5-percent broken rice stood around $350 in the week ending February 1. Elsewhere in Asia, Bangladesh saw imports slowing in the July-January period owing to the imposition of a tax on rice imports in June, the country's food ministry data showed.

The south Asian country, which emerged as a major importer in 2017 after floods damaged crops, imposed the 28 percent duty to support its farmers after local production revived. Bangladesh imported a record 3.9 million tonnes of rice in the 2017-2018 financial year that ended in June 2018.
Rice tarrification a commitment to WTO: Piñol
By Lilybeth Ison  February 12, 2019, 8:17 pm
MANILA -- Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol said the proposed rice tariffication measure, which is expected to be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte sometime soon, is a commitment of the country to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"The DA has very clear position to support the rice tariffication. There's no way we cannot support that as it is our commitment to the WTO," said Piñol in an interview at the sidelines of the Sugar Summit held Tuesday at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM).
He, however, stressed that there is a need to study the effect of total deregulation especially on the stability of rice prices.
"We were just asking for a little more study on the indemnification of the total deregulation, especially on the stability of the buying price of palay. Right now, it dropped to PHP14-15," he said.
"If the price of palay decreases, sakit din ng ulo namin sa DA kasi magrereklamo ang mga farmers," he added.
Piñol said the only way to arrest that is "to allow NFA (National Food Authority) to continue buying from the farmers at an indicated support price which we are doing right now."
"The only problem is that NFA might not be able to sustain the procurement of rice given the fact it will no longer be allowed under the proposed bill to make borrowings," he said.
In a statement by the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI), it said that the country's agriculture is at an important crossroads.
"How the rice farmers will be treated will determine how the rest of the sectors will be so treated. Since rice is the most political of commodities, if the government will be seen as having abandoned the rice farmers to the ravages of unfair trade so that consumers can savor the magic of the market (which they haven’t even with the 1995 shock liberalization), then investments in the sector will shrink," it said.
Senator Cynthia Villar earlier said that the President has already certified as urgent the rice tariffication bill to protect Filipino farmers from the influx of imported grains as a result of the removal of quantitative restriction (QR) being imposed by the WTO.
Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said that farmers were being misled by some groups who are against tariffication to protect their own vested interests.
“Unlike claims that tariffication will result to flooding of imported rice to Philippine market, this will make such importation beneficial to local rice producers," she said.
The rice industry, Villar said, is set to be liberalized due to expiration of QR on June 30, 2017.
"Pag nag-liberalize ka nang walang tariff, kawawa ang mga farmers (When you liberalize without tariff, the farmers will suffer)," she said.
Under the Rice Tariffication Bill, a PHP10-billion a year Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be allocated for five years.
This funding will be channeled through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, Philippine Rice Research Institute, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority as well as other agencies tasked to upgrade farmers technology and know-how.
PCAFI, however, said that these are supposedly the safety nets, but "experience teaches that even safety nets provided for by law can be undermined by ideology and poor governance."
"These safety nets seemed to be more for show because up to now the government has no trade data system to determine if an importation is in accordance with the rules of the WTO in terms of valuation and trade remedies, if any," it added. (PNA)

The pain of not planning ahead

By
 -
Last updated on February 13th, 2019 at 12:12 am
‘Bahala na” is a popular expression in the Philippines, reflecting the propensity of Filipinos to take risks or take leaps of faith, never mind the consequences. Filipinos believe that all it takes is “lakas ng loob” or courage. Be it a new business venture or a career move, Filipinos will say bahala na. This bahala na mentality is also pervasive among our bureaucrats. And nowhere is this more evident than in the way the government is currently handling the country’s shift to an open rice market.
This shift is not something that is happening overnight; it is inevitable because this is the commitment of the Philippine government to the World Trade Organization. The quantitative restriction (QR) on rice, which has allowed Manila to limit the volume of rice that the Philippines can import, will be removed 24 years after the country joined the WTO. With the removal of the rice QR, farmers and consumers will be at the mercy of the international market.
The government should have rolled out the necessary interventions to help farmers cope with the removal of a nontariff measure that has protected them for decades. And these interventions should have been put in place right after the Philippines became a member of the WTO on January 1, 1995. But a comprehensive strategy, one that would enable rice farmers to compete with their foreign counterparts, is yet to be crafted.
The rice QR, or the import cap, would be converted into tariffs after President Duterte signs the bill mandating its removal. The bill, which was approved by the bicameral conference committee, would automatically lapse into law on February 15 if the President will not act on it. As expected, those affected by the measure—farmers, rice millers and retailers—are up in arms against it.
The significance of the proposed Rice Tariffication Act may have been lost on many of our bureaucrats. Take for example the crafting of a road map that details strategies to assist rice farmers. It is mind-boggling, to say the least, that the road map will only be rolled out after the enactment of the rice tariff bill.
We hope the government has a good reason for not crafting the road map, and pray this is not a case of bahala na mentality.
Also, pronouncements that the government did not study the impact of the provisions of the bill, such as the exit of the National Food Authority from the domestic rice market, won’t placate stakeholders or put them at ease. (See, “No rice price spikes despite NFA power removal, says Neda,” in the BusinessMirror, February 11, 2019.) Opening up a market that sustains 2.4 million Filipino farmers and thousands of millers and retailers sans a plan in place to ease the transition will likely kill their livelihood. Rice millers had warned that the bill would even hurt banks, as the projected decline in palay output will cause them to go out of business and may eventually default on their commercial loans. (See, “Banks to feel more pain from rice tariff bill than default of Hanjin,” in the BusinessMirror, February 5, 2019).
The government had 24 years to prepare for the day when the Philippines would finally give up the rice QR. And the full impact of the removal of the nontariff measure will only be felt later. We hope the road map and the rules that will implement the proposed rice tariffication act will mitigate its adverse impact on a sector that has anchored the performance of Philippine agriculture for decades.
·      
Indigenous researchers plant seeds of hope for health and climate
February 13, 2019 9.48am AEDT
Three sisters (winter squash, maize and climbing beans) summer garden at the University of Guelph. (Hannah Tait Neufeld)Author provided
As we learn more about climate change, this knowledge can be paralyzing, especially for young people who are contemplating life pathways.
Indigenous land-based learning offers an avenue for hope, embedded in action. This approach has been taken up in recent years by a number of post-secondary institutions in Canada and internationally.
This is the focus of our work — as mixed ancestry (Hannah), Anishinaabe (Brittany) and Metis (Kim) scholars at the University of Guelph in Ontario. According to Indigenous ways of knowing, we are only as healthy as our environments. And so our research addresses sustainable food practices that feed the well-being of “all our relations:” human, land, spirit.
Using food as a starting point for action, we have launched a community-based research program — to promote conversations and opportunities across geographic and social spaces that forge and rekindle relationships focused on traditional foodways.
This work starts with relationships, and it involves labour — both of which are critical to Indigenous pedagogy. With Indigenous community partners, we engage social science, nutrition and engineering students in hands-on work in Indigenous food and medicine gardens and in manomin (wild rice) fields.
This enables us to focus on time-honoured relationships in our homelands and university lands while preparing for the future.

‘Green shoots that grow after a fire’

The relationship that Indigenous peoples have with the land encourages practices and traditions that perpetuate healthy families and communities. On- and off-reserve, momentum is building and communities want to be involved in building opportunities for learning and social interactions around food.
In collaboration with other Indigenous faculty, students and a growing urban network, we have been working to expand gardens in the wider Grand River Territory and at the University of Guelph — on the ancestral lands of the Attawandaron people and the treaty lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We work together to strengthen land-based relationships and local food sovereignty.
In an effort to address community needs in southwestern Ontario, our on-going research is designed to engage a diverse group of partners, collaborators and knowledge users. Garden sites have been established with the assistance of the local Indigenous community at the University of Guelph Arboretum — to address food access and knowledge barriers and explore innovative land-based education and practices.
Since the spring of 2018, a group of committed community members, faculty and students have planted and nurtured edible and medicinal plants. The gardens are known collectively as Wisahkotewinowak, which means “green shoots that grow after a fire.”
The garden brings together community agencies such as: the Grand River Métis CouncilWhite Owl Native Ancestry Association and Global Youth Volunteer Network. Elder-led workshops on medicinal plants, and preservation methods have taken place throughout the four seasons.
This project has strengthened inter-generational and inter-regional relationships. Using food as a starting point, conversations and opportunities for sharing allow people to share their knowledge and to forge relationships with the land and each other.

Histories of loss offer clues for regrowth

In some cases, however, environmental change has limited the ability of Elders to pass on traditional knowledge through hands-on activities such as planting and harvesting foods.
Such is the case at Dalles 38C Indian Reserve from which Brittany’s Anishinaabe ancestors originate. Upstream and downstream damscontrol the flows into and out of the Winnipeg River which runs through the reserve.
Water depths within manomin (wild rice) habitats have been altered by hydroelectric development and continue to be subject to fluctuations during the growing season that do not resemble the natural patterns to which manomin adapted.
Discharges from upstream sources have also affected sediment and water quality. These sources include the community of Kenora and a pulp and paper mill which ceased operation in the 2000s.
Researchers at the University of Guelph have partnered with the Economic Development Committee at Dalles 38C Indian Reserve to determine which factors are limiting the growth of manomin and to develop management strategies to control these factors.
The traditional knowledge of Elders — shared through interviews and river tours — aids in understanding the historical relationship between water fluctuations, urban discharge and the growth of manomin.
By combining traditional knowledge of manomin with more recent observations about riverine change, youth involved in the research can begin to understand that histories of loss may, indeed, provide clues for regrowth. This changed lens results in a future-oriented view of the Winnipeg River that challenges the nature and duration of settler-industrial landscapes.
Elder knowledge allows youth to envision compromised fields as productive Anishinaabe spaces.

All our Relations

University research and teaching through projects like the Wisaktowinowak gardens and the manomin/wild rice project create new opportunities for youth and Elders to interact, both on campus — by planting seeds — and in Anishinaabe homelands through the revival of traditional harvesting.
It’s the land that brings us together, the land that teaches relationship-based ways of knowing about the natural world and its food systems.
And with the increasing uptake of post-secondary land-based education, we may just change the way upcoming generations envision our environment and shape the future that unfolds on it.

News From the Past
·       by NEWS-MONITOR STAFF 
·       Feb 11, 2019 Updated Feb 11, 201930 YEARS AGO - Feb. 2, 1989
The Fairmount Pheasants boys basketball team is in seventh place out of 10 teams in the Wild Rice Conference standings as of Saturday, Jan. 21. With two conference wins and three losses, Fairmount tops eighth place Wyndmere (0-3), ninth place North Sargent (0-3) and 10th place Richland (0-4).
A North Dakota Centennial picture is now hanging in the school hallway near the office. It was given by the Richland County Vocational Center. The large framed picture shows a vacated rural one room school with a Dist. #54 over the doorway, which may bring back memories for many who attended rural schools.

Mobile phones lead in trade of counterfeit goods - new study

Feb. 12, 2019, 12:00 am
By ELIZABETH KIVUVA @elizabethkivuva
Description: Anti-Counterfeit Agency chief executive, Elema Halake during a media briefing at Crowne Plaza hHotel on February 11, 2019 /EZEKIEL AMING’AAnti-Counterfeit Agency chief executive, Elema Halake during a media briefing at Crowne Plaza hHotel on February 11, 2019 /EZEKIEL AMING’A
Nearly three quarters of Kenyans use counterfeit goods, according to a research by Anti-Counterfeits Agency.
Out of the 70 per cent above, only 19 per cent purchase counterfeit goods knowingly, 49.6 per cent claim they bought the goods because they were cheap, 17.3 per cent were looking for original items but couldn’t find and 18.3 per cent were not aware of the risks.
The most counterfeited goods in the market are mobile phones at 51.8 per cent, alcohol at 30.8 per cent, DVD players at 26.4 per cent while bottled water is at 24 per cent.
Other goods include lubricants recently seized in Industrial Area, computer software, accessories and toners.
ACA chair Flora Mutahi attributed counterfeiting to branding and trademark manipulation, mis-spelling of names and colouring.
“Whereas there is a market for cheap counterfeit goods, it is not easy for consumers to notice majority of these goods. Again, most are not displayed in shops but stored at home or in washrooms becoming a challenge for the agency to counter it.”
“You find cases of Pakistan rice packaged as Mwea rice, or even pesticides and chemicals sold without use- instructions becoming a challenge for even us as the agency,” Mutahi said.
The agency blames the long and porous borders and the East Africa integration as the key impediment to its efforts to fight counterfeits, with majority of importers ordering goods destined for Uganda and South Sudan.
ACA chief executive Elema Halake said the efforts of multi-agency team in the fight against illicit trade at the airport, sea ports and the Inland Container Depot Nairobi (ICDC) extensions is bearing fruit.
The team comprises of ACA, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Kenya Revenue Authority, the Immigration Department, the Office of the Attorney-General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Inspector-General of Police, Financial Reporting Centre and the Kenya Revenue Authority.
The report shows efforts by the multi-agency saw a decline in percentage of counterfeit electronics in the market to 66.61 per cent in 2014 from 79.7 per cent in 2010.
Fake pharmaceuticals and cosmetics have also declined by 9.63 per cent from 64.1 per cent, while alcohol, beverages and cigarettes declined by 8.14 per cent from 62.5 per cent over the period. Stationery was the least imitated with 2.16 per cent counterfeits in the market as at 2014 compared to 2.7 per cent in 2010.
“Kenya is indeed ahead of its counterparts in the fight against counterfeits but manned land borders open the country to illicit trade. We hope to strengthen collaboration with county governments to ensure border control,” Halake said.
The agency announced a pending anti-counterfeiting bill to the East Africa Legislative Authority to prevent goods being imported back from the region.
It is also plans to have an anti-counterfeiting mark for locally manufactured goods that will allow recording of an Intellectual Property Right that can be scanned with a smartphone.

More than 70% of Kenyans Use Counterfeit Goods – Smartphones Lead

By Korir Isaac / February 12, 2019
More than 70 percent of Kenyans use counterfeit goods, says a new study presented by Anti-Counterfeits Agency.
The report reveals that of the total number of those using these goods, 19 percent buy them knowingly, 49.6 percent purchased them for being cheap.
Another 17.3 percent who were looking for genuine products but couldn’t find them opted for the counterfeits whereas 18.3 percent bought the goods unknowingly.
Leading with the highest percentage of counterfeit goods are mobile phones with 51.8 percent. Alcohol comes in second with 30.8 percent, DVD players at 26.4 percent, and bottled water at 24 percent.
Lubricants, computer software, accessories, and toners are other goods highly counterfeited.
According to the ACA chair Flora Mutahi, counterfeiting has risen as a result of branding, trademark manipulation, mis-spelling of names and coloring.
“Whereas there is a market for cheap counterfeit goods, it is not easy for consumers to notice the majority of these goods. Again, most are not displayed in shops but stored at home or in washrooms becoming a challenge for the agency to counter it,” she said.
She noted the case of Pakistan rice packaged as Mwea rice, and pesticides as well as other chemicals sold without conclusive instructions for use as some of the things that are becoming a challenge in the industry.
ACA claims that the easy entry of goods from outside Kenya and the East Africa integration move have rendered their efforts of fighting the vice almost fruitless. The agency says that the majority of traders are intercepting goods destined for Uganda and South Sudan.
Elema Halake, the ACA chief executive, however, noted that the fight against illicit trade at the airport, seaports, and the Inland Container Depot Nairobi (ICDC) extensions are bearing fruit.
The agency fights such cases together with the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the Office of the Attorney-General, Financial Reporting Centre, Kenya Revenue Authority, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Immigration Department, Inspector-General of Police, and the Kenya Revenue Authority.
According to the research, due to the improved efforts in the fight against counterfeit goods by the multi-agency, there was a significant drop in counterfeit electronics in the industry to 66.61 percent in 2014 from 79.7 percent in 2010.
Among other goods that have experienced a drop in counterfeiting are pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, which declined by 9.63 percent from 64.1 percent.

Exporters blame EU tariffs for 5 pct drop in rice shipments
 Rice exports in January saw a small decline that exporters have blamed on the European Union’s decision last month to impose tariffs on local rice. Last month, Cambodia exported 59,625 tonnes of rice to international markets, a 5 percent drop compared to January 2018, according to a report issued yesterday by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality. The same report points out that the EU bought 20,000 tonnes of Cambodian rice in January, which is around 40 percent of all Cambodian rice exports. China bought about the same amount.
In January, the European Commission decided to re-impose tariffs on rice coming from Cambodia and Myanmar to protect farmers in Europe, whom the European Union believed to be at a disadvantage.
During the first year, the EU is levying 175 euros ($199.5) per tonne on imports of Cambodian rice. 150 euros ($171) will be charged in the second year, and 125 euros ($142.5) in the last. Hun Lak, vice president of Cambodia Rice Federation, said orders of Cambodian rice abroad saw a decline last month because international buyers were busy preparing for holidays like the Chinese New Year and the Vietnamese New Year, but also because the EU tariffs went into effect. “These factors led to a slight decline in rice exports,” he said, adding that rice exports to the EU remained large because a lot of European buyers had placed their orders before the tariffs kicked in.

Cambodian rice. KT/Chor Sokunthea
He said the real impact of the tariffs will be felt in February and following months, but had some room for optimism.
Exports to the EU are likely to decrease, but it will really depend on whether consumers continue to choose Cambodian rice despite the price increase. We have to wait and see,” he said.
Mr Lak stressed the need to diversify away from the EU market and to make local rice more competitive internationally by reducing production costs. Chan Sokheang, chairman and CEO of Signatures of Asia, said the 5 percent decline was not alarming, adding that the worst is still to come. He estimated that last month only 20 to 25 percent of Cambodian rice shipped to Europe was taxed. “What really worries us is February and March, when the tariffs will have a bigger impact. We hope the loss in shipments to the EU can be offset by more exports to China.”
Mr Sokheang said his company did not see a drop in sales in January but that it is likely to be a different story this month.
Another rice exporter contacted by Khmer Times and who asked for anonymity said, “Exports decreased last month because the EU is our biggest buyer. Unfortunately, the tariffs are likely to have a much larger impact in upcoming months. “Our company saw a 3 to 4 percent decline in orders from the EU in January,” the exporter said, adding that some European buyers are now choosing to buy rice from producers in Thailand and Vietnam instead of Cambodia. Cambodia exported 626,225 tonnes of rice to international markets in 2018, a drop of 1.5 percent compared to 2017.

THAI CABINET NOD TO ASSISTANCE FOR RICE FARMERS
BANGKOK (NNT) - The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved budget of more than 275 million baht to help rice farmers and maintain the quality of Jasmine rice.   Apart from a 275 million-baht budget, the Cabinet approved a project to maintain the quantity and quality of Thai Jasmine rice for the 2019/2020 production year. The budget will be spent on rice grain for the farmers whose rice was damaged during the 2018-2019 production year. Five kilos of rice grain/rai will be given to the farmers.  
The Cabinet approved the 4th road safety master plan which focuses on developing a road safety system and promoting a safety culture. The plan also seeks to reduce the number of road accident fatalities among at-risk groups. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha instructed relevant units to use technology to manage traffic with a focus on areas with traffic congestion.   As for public health, the meeting approved 19.1 billion baht for the national health security fund for the fiscal year 2020 to ensure the availability of more medical treatments for people in need.   Regarding the establishment of the Rail Department, the Cabinet approved drafts of ministerial regulations for the department. The ministerial regulations are expected to be enforced mid April 2019. The law authorizing the department’s establishment has been submitted to His Majesty the King to be signed.

Rice tarrification a commitment to WTO: Piñol
By Lilybeth Ison  February 12, 2019, 8:17 pm
MANILA -- Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol said the proposed rice tariffication measure, which is expected to be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte sometime soon, is a commitment of the country to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"The DA has very clear position to support the rice tariffication. There's no way we cannot support that as it is our commitment to the WTO," said Piñol in an interview at the sidelines of the Sugar Summit held Tuesday at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM).
He, however, stressed that there is a need to study the effect of total deregulation especially on the stability of rice prices.
"We were just asking for a little more study on the indemnification of the total deregulation, especially on the stability of the buying price of palay. Right now, it dropped to PHP14-15," he said.
"If the price of palay decreases, sakit din ng ulo namin sa DA kasi magrereklamo ang mga farmers," he added.
Piñol said the only way to arrest that is "to allow NFA (National Food Authority) to continue buying from the farmers at an indicated support price which we are doing right now."
"The only problem is that NFA might not be able to sustain the procurement of rice given the fact it will no longer be allowed under the proposed bill to make borrowings," he said.
In a statement by the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI), it said that the country's agriculture is at an important crossroads.
"How the rice farmers will be treated will determine how the rest of the sectors will be so treated. Since rice is the most political of commodities, if the government will be seen as having abandoned the rice farmers to the ravages of unfair trade so that consumers can savor the magic of the market (which they haven’t even with the 1995 shock liberalization), then investments in the sector will shrink," it said.
Senator Cynthia Villar earlier said that the President has already certified as urgent the rice tariffication bill to protect Filipino farmers from the influx of imported grains as a result of the removal of quantitative restriction (QR) being imposed by the WTO.
Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said that farmers were being misled by some groups who are against tariffication to protect their own vested interests.
“Unlike claims that tariffication will result to flooding of imported rice to Philippine market, this will make such importation beneficial to local rice producers," she said.
The rice industry, Villar said, is set to be liberalized due to expiration of QR on June 30, 2017.
"Pag nag-liberalize ka nang walang tariff, kawawa ang mga farmers (When you liberalize without tariff, the farmers will suffer)," she said.
Under the Rice Tariffication Bill, a PHP10-billion a year Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be allocated for five years.
This funding will be channeled through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, Philippine Rice Research Institute, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority as well as other agencies tasked to upgrade farmers technology and know-how.
PCAFI, however, said that these are supposedly the safety nets, but "experience teaches that even safety nets provided for by law can be undermined by ideology and poor governance."
"These safety nets seemed to be more for show because up to now the government has no trade data system to determine if an importation is in accordance with the rules of the WTO in terms of valuation and trade remedies, if any," it added. (PNA)
Ex-technocrats push Duterte to sign rice tariffication bill
February 12, 2019 | 10:15 pm
Description: rice farmersPHILSTAR
THE Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) urged President Rodrigo R. Duterte to sign the rice tariffication bill to help resolve various issues afflicting the rice industry, including smuggling, uncompetitive production costs, and corruption.
“We, the Foundation for Economic Freedom, urge President Duterte to sign the bill on rice tariffication immediately. The bill… will be the most far-reaching reform in the history of rice policy. For decades, the interventionist strategy has been tried, tested, and has repeatedly failed,” the FEF said in a statement issued on Monday.
The FEF’s members consist of retired technocrats. Its chairman is former Finance Secretary Roberto F. de Ocampo.
Business groups also made a similar call to the President in January.
The rice tariffication bill has been passed by both chambers of Congress — Aug. 13 in the House of Representatives and Nov. 14 in the Senate. It was transmitted to Malacañang on Jan. 15. It is expected to lapse into law by Feb. 17 unless signed or vetoed by the President.
The bill amends Republic Act No. 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act, removing the government from the role of importing rice and allowing the staple to be imported more freely by the private sector while implementing a minimum tariff rate of 35% for rice shipped in from elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
The legislation proposes a 35% duty on imports from within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and higher rates for imports from non-ASEAN countries.
The FEF said the proposed measure would solve the root cause of the problems besetting the rice industry, which they said was “unwarranted government intervention.”
“By liberalizing the industry the syndicate controlling the value chain will now be nullified by free entry and competition — including entry and competition from foreign rice suppliers,” the group said.
“By leaving trading and storage in the hands of traders, competing actively in a free market, investors can best judge when to buy low and sell high — curing the problem of gluts during harvest, and releasing stocks during lean periods,” they added.
FEF also allayed concerns of those who are against the bill, saying that the proposed measure has put in place safeguards to manage the effects of the new tariffication system.
The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) has warned that the government will be left “practically powerless” when rice prices turn volatile with the passage of the rice tariffication bill, because it removes the National Food Authority’s (NFA) importing role and restricts it to maintaining a minimum rice inventory.
FEF said the proposed tariff rates would afford protection for the industry and the proposed rice competitiveness fund of P10 billion offers safety nets for farmers.
The FEF also noted that the task of dealing with anti-competitive practices will be left to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
“The time for timid half-measures is over. It is now time for bold and confident steps. Change is coming for the rice industry, Mr. President. The sooner you make it happen, the better,” the FEF said.
Malacañang said last week that the signing of the measure is “forthcoming.”
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on the other hand has said that Mr. Duterte is open to changes to the bill following concerns raised by farmers.
The government’s economic team has also noted that they are preparing for a “quick and smooth transition” to the new import tariff regime with the expected enactment of the bill. The bill is touted as among the measures that will help reduce inflation, which hit 4.4% in January. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
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Legal action if anyone tries to raise rice price: Minister

Prothom Alo English Desk | Update: 23:05, Feb 12, 2019
Commerce minister Tipu Munshi on Tuesday told parliament that the government has asked local administrations to take legal action against those trying to raise rice price through creating an artificial crisis of the staple, reports UNB.
"The prices of daily essentials, including that of rice, are stable due to intensive monitoring by the government," he said.
The minister came up with the remarks while replying to a question from Awami League MP Selim Altaf George (Kushtia-4).
Munshi instructed all the divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners to take legal action and prevent the evil efforts by unscrupulous businessmen to hike the rice price by creating an artificial crisis despite having its adequate stocks.
Replying to a starred question from the treasury bench member Waresat Hossain Belal, food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder told the House that the country's current food grain stock is 15,30,317 metric tonnes.
Of the stock, he said, 1,349 tonnes are paddy while 13,53,442 tonnes rice and 1,75,526 tonnes wheat.
"We've 2,722 silos for food grain storage and seven for wheat across the country," the minister said.
He also said the warehouses can preserve 2,118,822 tonnes of grains at a time.

Sri Lanka expects near record rice output in 2019

Feb 12, 2019 07:40 AM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)

Description: https://economynext.com/newsimages/2019_Maha_crop_lg.jpg

  

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka is expected to produce 2.85 million tonnes of paddy (rough rice) in the current Maha major cultivation season, indicating a full recovery from two years of drought and almost reaching records set in 2015 and 2016, an official forecast said.

Sri Lanka's Department of Agriculture revised up the 2018/2019 Maha area cultivated to 743,000 in the current season based on December data out of a target of 828,455 hectares.

In the 2017/2018 Maha season, Sri Lanka's paddy farmers cultivated 643,000 hectares of paddy as the country gradually recovered from drought which saw the sown extend falling to just 543,000 hectares.

About 42,000 hectares of rice paddies had been damaged due to floods in the North and the East.

The paddy forecast for 2019 is up 18.8 percent from a year earlier.

The Department of Agriculture said after adjusting for seed paddy and wastage, 2.64 million tonnes of paddy will be available for milling, which will produce about 1.8 million metric tonnes of milled rice.
This may be enough for 9.19 months of consumption.

Sri Lanka has produced about 1.4 million tonnes of paddy in the Yala minor season in 2018, lower than records of 1.9 million tonnes seen in some years. (Colombo/Feb11/2019 - SB)
 
Riverina rice growers to receive extra cash
AMELIA PEPE, The Weekly Times
February 12, 2019 6:00pm
Description: Cash bonus: Riverina rice growers are set to receive an extra $25 per rice paddy tonne from SunRice for crops delivered in 2018. Picture: Yuri KouzminRIVERINA rice growers are set to receive an extra $25 per rice paddy tonne from SunRice for all varieties delivered in the 2018 crop year.
SunRice chairman Laurie Arthur said positive trading conditions in December, paired with ongoing cost saving measures, meant SunRice was in a position to adjust the price range for medium grain Reiziq to between $385 to $410 a tonne.
The timing of the payment will assist growers who have planted a crop this year following a season marred by difficult milling conditions, heat, and low humidity.
“I am aware that those growers who have planted a crop would be using more water than predicted and facing the need to purchase additional water at extremely high prices to carry their crop through to harvest,” Mr Arthur said.
“For those who have planted a rice crop, hopefully this additional payment will provide a useful injection of funds to ease the pressures.”
Mr Arthur, a rice grower himself with a crop in this year, said SunRice was acutely aware of the tough drought conditions across the Riverina, and hoped the extra payment would help this year’s growers.
He said SunRice had been closely monitoring the drought and its implications for water allocations and prices.
Despite this, the Rice Pool continued to benefit from the geographical sales mix of Australian rice exports into markets such as Japan and the Middle East.
“With a continuation of the positive movements in global markets this trend may continue,” Mr Arthur said.
“However, any softening in markets and a further strengthening of the Australia dollar will naturally influence the final pool result.”
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- FEB 13, 2019
Commodities1 hour ago (Feb 13, 2019 14:40)

Description: © Reuters.  Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- FEB 13, 2019© Reuters. Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- FEB 13, 2019
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-February 13, 2019 Nagpur, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices declined in Nagpur Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) here poor demand from local millers amid release of stock from stockists. Weak trend on NCDEX, fresh fall in Madhya Pradesh tuar prices and high moisture content arrival also pulled down prices in limited deals. About 2,500 bags of tuar and 1,600 bags of gram reported for auctions in Nagpur APMC, according to sources.
FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Desi gram raw reported down in open market here on poor demand from local traders.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties ruled steady in open market here on subdued demand from local
traders amid ample stock in ready position.
* Moong Chamki moved down in open market here on lack of demand from
local traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,450-5,550, Tuar dal (clean) – 7,900-8,200, Udid Mogar (clean)
– 6,500-7,500, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,600-8,500, Gram – 4,200-4,300, Gram Super best
– 6,300-6,500
* Wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in weak trading activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS
Available prices
Previous close
Gram Auction
3,700-4,330
3,800-4,380
Gram Pink Auction
n.a.
2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction
4,600-5,196
4,700-5,260
Moong Auction
n.a.
3,950-4,200
Udid Auction
n.a.
4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction
n.a.
2,600-2,800
Wheat Lokwan Auction
1,970-2,040
2,000-2,035
Wheat Sharbati Auction
n.a.
2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold
6,400-6,600
6,400-6,600
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
4,300-4,400
4,300-4,400
Desi gram Raw
4,300-4,400
4,250-4,350
Gram Kabuli
8,300-10,000
8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New
8,100-8,200
8,100-8,200
Tuar Fataka Medium-New
7,600-7,800
7,600-7,800
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New
7,300-7,500
7,300-7,500
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New
6,800-7,200
6,800-7,200
Tuar Gavarani New
5,400-5,500
5,400-5,500
Tuar Karnataka
5,550-5,750
5,550-5,750
Masoor dal best
5,600-5,800
5,600-5,800
Masoor dal medium
5,200-5,400
5,200-5,400
Masoor
n.a.
n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New)
8,000-8,800
8,000-8,800
Moong Mogar Medium
6,500-7,400
6,500-7,400
Moong dal Chilka New
6,500-7,800
6,500-7,800
Moong Mill quality
n.a.
n.a.
Moong Chamki best
7,500-8,500
7,700-8,700
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,500-8,200
7,500-8,200
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG)
5,500-6,800
5,500-6,800
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG)
4,000-4,400
4,000-4,400
Batri dal (100 INR/KG)
5,600-5,700
5,650-5,750
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg)
4,850-5,050
4,850-5,050
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG)
5,600-5,700
5,500-5,600
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG)
6,600-6,800
6,600-6,800
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG)
2,200-2,300
2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG)
2,100-2,200
2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG)
2,500-2,600
2,500-2,600
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG)
2,600-2,700
2,600-2,700
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,500
2,300-2,500
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG)
n.a.
n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG)
3,600-4,000
3,600-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG)
2,800-3,200
2,800-3,200
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG)
2,100-2,200
2,100-2,200
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG)
3,200-3,800
3,200-3,800
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG)
2,500-3,000
2,500-3,000
Rice BPT new (100 INR/KG)
2,900-3,200
2,900-3,200
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG)
2,900-3,000
2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG)
2,600-2,700
2,600-2,700
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG)
2,500-2,600
2,500-2,600
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG)
4,000-4,400
4,000-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG)
3,500-3,900
3,500-3,900
Rice HMT New (100 INR/KG)
3,600-3,800
3,600-3,800
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG)
5,400-5,600
5,400-5,600
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG)
4,700-5,000
4,700-5,000
Rice Shriram New (100 INR/KG)
4,000-4,600
4,000-4,600
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG)
8,000-13,500
8,000-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG)
4,800-7,000
4,800-7,000
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG)
6,600-7,000
6,600-7,000
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG)
6,200-6,500
6,200-6,500
Rice Chinnor New (100 INR/KG)
4,700-5,000
4,700-5,000
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. 32.5 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 12.0 degree Celsius Rainfall : Nil FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 33 degree Celsius and 12 degree Celsius. Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)



Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- FEB 12, 2019
FEBRUARY 12, 2019 / 2:23 PM
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-February 12, 2019 Nagpur, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices moved down in Nagpur Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) here lack of demand from local millers amid high moisture content arrival. Easy condition on NCDEX, downward trend in Madhya Pradesh tuar prices and increased supply from producing regions also pushed down prices. About 2,400 bags of tuar and 1,500 bags of gram reported for auctions in Nagpur APMC, according to sources.

GRAM
* Gram varieties ruled steady in open market here but demand was poor.

TUAR
* Tuar gavarani reported weak in open market here on poor buying support from local

traders amid good supply from producing belts.

* Batri dal declined in open market here on lack of demand from

local traders.

* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,450-5,550, Tuar dal (clean) – 7,900-8,200, Udid Mogar (clean)

– 6,500-7,500, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,600-8,500, Gram – 4,200-4,300, Gram Super best

– 6,300-6,500 * Wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow range in

scattered deals and settled at last levels in weak trading activity.

Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg

FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close

Gram Auction 3,800-4,380 3,875-4,380

Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600

Tuar Auction 4,700-5,260 4,700-5,350

Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200

Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500

Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800

Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,000-2,035 2,000-2,050

Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000

Gram Super Best Bold 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600

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 4,300-4,400 4,300-4,400

Desi gram Raw 4,300-4,400 4,250-4,350

Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000

Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,100-8,200 8,100-8,200

Tuar Fataka Medium-New 7,600-7,800 7,600-7,800

Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,300-7,500 7,300-7,500

Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 6,800-7,200 6,800-7,200

Tuar Gavarani New 5,400-5,500 5,450-5,550

Tuar Karnataka 5,550-5,750 5,550-5,750

Masoor dal best 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800

Masoor dal medium 5,200-5,400 5,200-5,400

Masoor n.a. n.a.

Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,000-8,800 8,000-8,800

Moong Mogar Medium 6,500-7,400 6,500-7,400

Moong dal Chilka New 6,500-7,800 6,500-7,800

Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.

Moong Chamki best 8,000-9,000 8,000-9,000

Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,500-8,200 7,500-8,200

Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,800 5,500-6,800

Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,400 4,000-4,400

Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,700 5,650-5,750

Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,850-5,050 4,850-5,050

Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,700 5,500-5,600

Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 6,600-6,800 6,600-6,800

Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300

Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200

Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,600 2,500-2,600

Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700

Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,500 2,300-2,500

Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.

MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,600-4,000 3,600-4,000

MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,800-3,200 2,800-3,200

Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200

Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800

Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,500-3,000 2,500-3,000

Rice BPT new (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,200 2,900-3,200

Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000

Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700

Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,600 2,500-2,600

Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,400 4,000-4,400

Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,500-3,900 3,500-3,900

Rice HMT New (100 INR/KG) 3,600-3,800 3,600-3,800

Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,600 5,400-5,600

Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,700-5,000

Rice Shriram New (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,600 4,000-4,600

Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,000-13,500 8,000-13,500

Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 4,800-7,000 4,800-7,000

Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,600-7,000 6,600-7,000

Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,500 6,200-6,500

Rice Chinnor New (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,700-5,000

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. 31.4 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 11.0 degree Celsius Rainfall : Nil FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 31 degree Celsius and 11 degree Celsius. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)

Experts hope of bumper crops due to rain spells


Description: https://i1.wp.com/www.pakissan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Rain1.jpg?fit=375%2C251&ssl=1rains good for crops
The agricultural experts have expressed hope that the consecutive rain spells that started in January and have been continuing in the second month of the year with some intervals, would be a blessing for all seasonal crops, fruit orchids and vegetables.
Due to a paradigm shift in weather pattern owing to global warming, these rain spells, persisting on average for 2 to 3 days, have also helped in overcoming the water shortage, improving the ground-water level and strengthening the swiftly depleting water reservoirs of the country.
Although the rains were slow in intensity, these were persistent and helped in absorbing the rainwater and retaining the moisture, which is helpful for the cultivation of upcoming Kharif crops.
These blessed rain spells had also created a new ray of hope among the farming communities all across the country as bumper production of various crops cultivated during the season including wheat, mustard and gram were forecast during current Rabbi season.
Commenting on the impacts of rains on Rabbi crops particularly wheat, Food Security Commissioner in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Dr Imtiaz Ahmad Gopang said that due to favourable weather conditions the bumper wheat output of over 25.5 million tons was expected during the current season.
He said that wheat sowing targets were achieved by 99.23 per cent as the crop had been cultivated over 8.76 million hectares of land across the crop producing areas of the country.
He said that the wheat cultivation targets for crop season 2018-19 was set at 8.765 million hectares which was kept slightly down by 100,000 hectares as compared to the last season due to excessive domestic stocks.

Dr Imtiaz Ahmad Gopang said that current spell of rains would bring about a positive impact on wheat as the crop was at the vegetative growth and showers at this stage would help in enhancing of tillering which would boost the output of the crop.
The Food Security Commissioner further informed that rain spells would be largely beneficial for oil seeds and pulses that had been cultivated over thousands of hectares to fulfill the domestic requirements of these commodities, he added.
He said that a significant increase in gram production was also expected during the current season owing to a reduction in frost and favourable weather conditions.—INP

Local farmers rice ending up as pet food

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat says he was shocked by a recent revelation by the National Flour Mills (NFM) that 95 per cent of the rice paddy it buys from local rice farmers ends up as pet food and not on the plates of taxpayers.
“Could you imagine that the taxpayers of the country support rice by providing sometimes the seeds that are required; support rice by making the water that is required available; support rice by making the land that is required available; support rice by guaranteeing a fixed price; support rice by paying the NFM $4.8 million a year to mill that rice and the taxpayers that I represent in this country finding out that that rice does not end up on their plates, but ends up in the (dog) kennels around the country. That is something that has me very, very concerned,” Rambharat said yesterday.
His comments came during the Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament’s meeting with the NFM and the Ministry yesterday, held at the Parliament building, International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain.
It was the NFM’s third time before the JSC in two months.
The Committee, chaired by Anthony Vieira, specifically examined NFM’s purchase of rice paddy from local farmers.
Rambharat said when he assumed office he made it clear to the NFM and rice farmers that if taxpayers had to be in the business of rice, they must be able to have rice on their plates.
“When I came in as Minister I said I am not prepared to use taxpayer’s funds to take rice and give it to dogs,” he said.
“I am not sold on that argument that we should put the whole country at risk because we wish to grow rice in every nook and cranny of this country, but I will accept there is a valid argument that we should be able to provide a portion of our carbohydrates need and I support a component of our rice being local rice,” he stressed.
Rambharat disputed figures presented by NFM last month that rice production fell from 21,200 metric tonnes in 1992 to 585 metric tonnes in 2018, due in part to the removal of farmers the Nariva Swamp.
He explained that Caroni (1975) Limited was heavily invested in rice production and that the company’s closure resulted in a decline in production.
“Surprisingly, while Caroni was not an efficient sugar producer, Caroni was an efficient rice producer and those lands yielded on average every year of 10,000 metric tonnes of rice,” he said.
He said after the company closed, about 65 small rice farmers were left to produce an average of 9000 metric tonnes of rice per year.
Rambharat said part of the reason for the decline in rice production was the lack of interest by private farmers and private land owners.
He said private land owners found it was more efficient to use their land for commercial purposes instead of rice cultivation.
He said around 1300 metric tonnes of rice is now produced on 3000 acres of land, with 16 persons involved, 14 of which are connected to the Akaloo family.
He said the Akaloo family was a significant player in the current and future production of rice in T&T.Rambharat said in order to push rice production to 5000 metric tonnes per year and additional 1200 acres of land was need.He said he was prepared to help farmers with the land.
The JSC proceedings became heated at one point after Committee member Wade Mark questioned NFM about it loans over the last three years.
When NFM chief executive officer Kelvin Mahabir pointed out that the loans were sourced from Eximbank, NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) and Republic Bank, Mark questioned NCB’s relationship with JMMB and pointed out that Romano was “CEO of JMMB”.
“I have raised these questions in the public interest. (I want to) ask the chairman (Romano) whether NCB has a 25 to 30 per cent shareholding in JMMB and whether the chairman of NFM is not the CEO of JMMB,” Mark asked.
Romano pointed out that he was CEO of JMMB Bank (Trinidad and Tobago) Limited and that NCB no longer had shareholding in JMMB.Asked if this development took place before or after the NCB loan to NFM, Romano responded that “one has nothing to do with the other”.
“If you are trying to imply that as chairman of NFM I was influenced by the relationship between NCB and the JMMB Group, I take serious offense to that. I have not influenced in any way, shape or form the relationship between NCB and NFM,” a visibly upset Romano said.Vieira sought to quell the tension between the two by moving on to other questions.
https://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/local/local-farmers-rice-ending-up-as-pet-food/article_0a41fb02-2ed9-11e9-a826-7f04ff9f389a.html

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