Cambodia
takes EU to court over rice import tariffs
APRIL 11, 2019 /
FILE PHOTO: A man carries a sack of rice at a warehouse in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Samrang Pring/File Photo
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Cambodia has filed a
challenge at the European Court of Justice against the European Union’s
decision to impose import duties on Cambodian rice.The bloc imposed tariffs for three years in January on rice from Cambodia and Myanmar to curb what it said was a surge in imports as a safeguard to protect EU producers such as Italy.
However, the Cambodian Rice Federation said on Thursday the safeguard measure did not relate to any unfair behavior and was based on broad generalizations and the flawed use of data.
A majority of EU countries had backed the introduction of measures, but not the sufficient “qualified majority” of member states normally required. The European Commission then took the decision to go ahead itself.
Cambodia and Myanmar benefit from the EU’s “Everything But Arms” trade scheme which allows the world’s least developed countries to export most goods to the EU free of duties.
Both already face losing their special access to the world’s largest trading bloc over their human rights records, although that potential sanction is separate from the rice safeguard measures.
Indica rice from the two countries is subject to a duty of 175 euros ($197.31) per ton in the first year, dropping to 150 euros in the second and 125 euros in year three.
The Commission said it had found that imports of Indica rice from the two countries had risen by 89 percent in the past five rice-growing seasons, and a surge in cheap imports had reduced EU producers’ market share in Europe to 29 from 61 percent.
Cambodia’s ministry of commerce has called the EU decision a “weapon to kill Cambodian farmers” and against international trade rules.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-cambodia-rice/cambodia-takes-eu-to-court-over-rice-import-tariffs-idUSKCN1RN17S
RPT-ASIA RICE-INDIA PRICES DIP; DROUGHT FEARS SPUR DOMESTIC BUYING IN THAILAND
4/11/2019
(Repeats story with no changes)
* Overseas demand for Thai rice variety remains flat
* Vietnam prices seen rising over coming weeks
* Bangladeshi summer crop acreage higher than expected - official
By Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU, April 11 (Reuters) - Rice export prices in top exporter India edged lower this week due to sluggish demand, while fears of a drought this year supported up domestic buying in Thailand.
India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety <RI-INBKN5-P1> was quoted around $387-$390 per tonne this week, down from last week's $390-$393.
"Demand is very poor at current price level. The appreciation in the rupee has limited scope to cut prices," said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
A strong rupee dents exporters' returns from overseas sales.
India's rice exports for April-February fell 9.4 percent from a year earlier to 10.57 million tonnes, as major buyer Bangladesh trimmed its purchases due to a bumper local harvest, a government body said.
Farmers in Bangladesh have planted the summer rice variety on 4.9 million hectares of land, exceeding the target of 4.8 million hectors, Mir Nurul Alam, head of the country's Department of Agriculture Extension, told Reuters on Thursday.
The summer-sown crop, also known as Boro, usually contributes more than half of Bangladesh's typical annual rice production of around 35 million tonnes.
Traditionally the world's fourth-biggest rice producer, Bangladesh was forced to increase imports to shore up reserves in 2017 after floods wrought havoc on local crops and pushed domestic rice prices to record highs.
In Thailand, the world's second largest rice exporter, benchmark 5-percent broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> prices rose slightly to $405-$410 a tonne, free on board Bangkok, from $395-$396 last week.
The small price increase was due to higher domestic demand driven by fears of a drought this year, traders said.
Overseas demand for Thai rice has remained flat since the beginning of the year due to the Thai currency's strength versus the U.S. dollar.
"It is mostly speculative buying in the domestic rice market at the moment as mills and buyers are concerned about the supply situation amid the prospect that drought could harm harvest," a Bangkok-based trader said.
In Vietnam, rates for 5 percent broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> were flat for the fourth straight week at $360 a tonne.
"With rising demand, some traders are having trouble purchasing enough rice from farmers to fulfil their export orders," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
"They signed the contracts earlier this year when both domestic and export prices were lower."
Prices are likely to edge up over the coming weeks now that the major winter-spring harvest is over, the trader added.
Vietnam's rice exports in March rose 150
percent from February to 693,742 tonnes, and higher than a government estimate
of 600,000 tonnes, customs data showed. (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in
Bangkok, Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka;
editing by Arpan Varghese and Jane Merriman)
DA to insist on full P10-B rice fund disbursement this year
April
11, 2019 | 10:22 pm
A worker sun
dries rice grain in Pulilan, Bulacan. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it
hopes to fully release in 2019 a P10-billion rice industry support fund
financed by import tariffs which will underwrite efforts to improve the industry’s
competitiveness.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said
that the department has factored in how to disburse the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which is part of its 2019 budget, though the exact
items remain unprogrammed.
The 2019 budget continues to be delayed with
signing possibly taking place after Easter.
“Of course, we will insist that we should be
getting the whole 10 billion because that is the law… Hindi pwedeng
sabihin nila na walang pondo [We can’t say that there are no funds]
because that is part of the law,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“There is simply no way that the government
will not fulfill its commitment because that is what the law says,” he said.
Other government agencies have warned that the
tariffs collected from rice imports may be subject to delay pending the
implementation of the Rice Tariffication law and the arrival of rice shipments
on which duties can be collected.National Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA) Regional Development Office Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla
has said that farmers could end up waiting until the third quarter for fund
disbursements, which are meant to improve planting methods, mechanization, farm
credit and seed material.
Farmers’ groups have also expressed fears that
the releases from the fund could be captured by corrupt officials. — Vincent
Mariel P. Galang
Cambodia Claims EU Rice
Tariffs Are ‘Weapons’ Against Local Farmers
By A.N.
Basil
Apr 12, 2019 01:49 PM
A man carries a sack of rice at a warehouse in Phnom Penh,
Cambodia, January 22, 2019.(Photo: REUTERS/Samrang Pring/File Photo)
Cambodia
has countered the European Union (EU) over import tariffs imposed in January,
with the Asian country challenging the bloc at the European Court of Justice.
The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce has referred to the EU's move as a
"weapon to kill Cambodian farmers."
According
to Reuters, the Cambodian Rice Federation said on
Thursday the EU's statements that the tariffs were imposed to safeguard the
eurozone's local farming industry was not based on questionable activities by
Cambodian exporters.
The federation said the bloc imposed tariffs
based on data that were collected through flawed systems and generalizations of
import issues from other Southeast Asian countries. The EU previously said it
seeks to protect the interests of its local farmers.
Despite inadequate EU countries backing the
rice tariffs, the European Commission decided to push through with its
decision. This has caused a stir among Cambodian farmers and local advocacy
groups.
In its appeal against the tariffs, the CRF
said, "The reintroduction of import duties is detrimental to the Cambodian
economy and its industry, but above all to its people." The federation
added that the move was a "misapplication of EU law."
The bloc
stressed that Indica rice imports from Myanmar and Cambodia
increased significantly in five years. According to the Commission, this
resulted in a decline in revenue among Italian rice producers.
Meanwhile, relations between the EU and
Cambodia continue to fire up as the western bloc kicked off monitoring of the
Asian country due to claims of human rights violations. The engagement started
in February and is expected to last for six months.
The
European Commission said the monitoring periodtargets
to improve labor conditions for Cambodian workers. The issue stemmed from the
emergence of evidence that allegedly involved violation of core labor and human
rights in the Asian country. If further proof of the allegations emerges,
analysts noted that the Cambodian government may lose preferential access under
the Everything-but-Arms (EBA) trade deal that it shares with the EU.
After six months of cooperation with Cambodian
authorities and involved parties, the EU is expected to allow for another three
months to come up with a report based on the monitoring results.
In line with the human rights issue, business
groups in the EU that focus on apparel and footwear have called on the
Cambodian corporate realm and government to improve its labor environments and
enhance support for the workforce.
Cambodia's
Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced a set of economic reforms that
aim to curb potential losses from the impending abortion of the country's trade
deals with the EU. Economic experts noted that the PM's reforms suggest that it
is looking to increase cooperation with China if the EU turns away.
Are Philippine CEOs following Duterte’s pivot toward China?
·
·
ARE PHILIPPINE CEOS FOLLOWING DUTERTE’S PIVOT TOWARD
CHINA?
PATRICK COOKE
AS the Duterte administration ramps up efforts
to secure Chinese backing for its ambitious infrastructure agenda, the results
of the Oxford Business Group’s latest regional CEO survey suggest Philippine
executives are yet to be convinced by the great call of China. 
Just 13 percent of Philippine CEOs who
participated in our OBG in Asean Business Barometer; they cited a slowdown in
Chinese demand as the top external factor likely to impact the domestic economy
in the short to medium term, against 30 percent who opted for commodity price
fluctuations and 24 percent who chose trade protectionism. The results in this
category made the Philippines something of a regional outlier in our survey of
over 400 business leaders across four countries, with Indonesia, Thailand and
Myanmar being the other participants. Indeed, the only other country where a
decline in Chinese demand was not the main external concern was Indonesia,
where marginally more executives chose trade protectionism.
While it may appear odd on the surface that
Philippine executives seem relatively indifferent about declining demand from
their heavyweight neighbor as it attempts a seismic economic shift towards
consumption-led growth, there are several reasons why they are likely to have
more prominent external concerns. First, the Philippines is a
consumption-driven economy itself, which is much less dependent on exports than
some of its Asean peers. Exports of goods and services equate to around 31
percent of GDP in the Philippines, compared to 68 percent in Thailand, where
survey participants were most concerned about a slowdown in China.
In terms of external demand for Philippine
goods and services, the country runs its largest bilateral trade deficit with
China, whereas it maintains a trade surplus with the US. This helps to explain
why Philippine CEOs were more concerned about trade protectionism than Chinese
demand, particularly those from export-oriented firms which must be observing the
protectionist policies of the Trump administration with trepidation. The
Philippines is a beneficiary of the US’ Generalized Scheme of Preferences
(GSP), which allows certain manufactured goods to enter the US tariff-free.
Last year the Trump administration announced it was reviewing the GSP status of
Indonesia and Thailand, and it is perhaps understandable that such moves raise
concern in the Philippines too.
On the other hand, it is reasonable to expect
that Philippine CEOs might have been more concerned about how Chinese investors
are driving demand in the domestic economy. In recent years we have seen a huge
influx of Chinese workers and firms setting up business in the Philippines,
with over 200,000 Chinese citizens applying for work permits in 2018 alone,
almost all of them operating in offshore gaming. I won’t enter the argument on
whether this is positive for social cohesion, but the economic impact is
certainly being felt across several key sectors, notably real estate, tourism
and hospitality.
Meanwhile, the fact that a plurality of
Philippine executives was most concerned about commodity prices reflects the
problems related to high inflation that arose last year, when the survey was
conducted. Indeed, high inflation was one of the biggest economic stories of
2018, averaging 5.2 percent for the year, which far exceeds the central bank’s
target range of 2-4 percent. When we look at commodity prices, the Philippines
suffered from the rise in oil prices through most of the year, which pushed up
the import bill and placed pressure on the peso. The price of agricultural
commodities such as rice also rose considerably due to a catalogue of
supply-side issues. However, the oil price is expected to be more stable this
year, with oil analysts frequently trimming their forecasts on the back of
booming US shale output and slowing economic growth in major markets.
Furthermore, the recently signed Rice Tariffication Law to liberalize rice
imports is already helping to lower rice prices following the publication of
the implementing rules and regulations. Therefore, we would expect Philippine
CEOs to be less concerned about inflation and — by extension — commodity prices
in 2019.
A taxing issue
On a question related to the tax environment, the Philippines was again the main outlier: just 23 percent of Manila-based executives described their domestic tax framework as competitive on a global scale, against 59 percent who chose negative responses. This was in stark contrast to the perception of Thai business leaders, 61 percent of whom described their domestic tax regime as competitive or very competitive.
On a question related to the tax environment, the Philippines was again the main outlier: just 23 percent of Manila-based executives described their domestic tax framework as competitive on a global scale, against 59 percent who chose negative responses. This was in stark contrast to the perception of Thai business leaders, 61 percent of whom described their domestic tax regime as competitive or very competitive.
Philippine CEOs responded at a time of
tremendous disruption in the tax framework, with the government forging ahead
with a comprehensive tax reform agenda designed to raise revenues for its
Build, Build, Build infrastructure drive and the expansion of social services,
such as universal healthcare. While these are worthy aims, critics have —
perhaps unfairly — linked the tax reforms effected at the start of 2018 to the subsequent
spike in inflation. Others are concerned that the proposed rationalization of
investment incentives in economic zones to offset the reduction in the
corporate income tax rate will make the country less appealing for foreign
direct investment.
It is interesting to note that although
Philippine CEOs were the most negative in the region, sentiment has actually
improved since we published our last Asean survey one year ago, when over 73
percent gave negative responses. This suggests that executives may be slowly
warming to the tax reform agenda. After all, the Philippines is not going to
fulfil its considerable economic potential without broadening the tax base and
improving revenue mobilization in a fair and transparent manner. If the
Philippines is to ensure that fast-paced economic growth is also balanced,
inclusive and sustainable, it will naturally require higher tax revenues that
can be channelled into improving infrastructure across the country and
expanding access to quality education and health care.
Brain drain concerns
Another factor that could prevent the country from reaching its full potential is the significant skills gaps in key areas of the economy. When asked which skills are most needed in the domestic workforce, 31 percent of Philippine CEOs chose engineering while 20 percent chose leadership.
Another factor that could prevent the country from reaching its full potential is the significant skills gaps in key areas of the economy. When asked which skills are most needed in the domestic workforce, 31 percent of Philippine CEOs chose engineering while 20 percent chose leadership.
Everyone from President Duterte to trade union
leaders seems to agree that the Philippines needs more engineers and skilled
construction workers to meet rising demand from the Build, Build, Build
pipeline, with poor working conditions and relatively low pay seen as two
significant factors that are driving qualified engineers and construction
workers overseas or into other professions.
In other key sectors, many young, educated
Filipinos still seek opportunities in more developed economies abroad, causing
a dearth of quality midlevel managers. While they still make a significant
contribution to their homeland through remittances, they are not here to raise
the level of performance in Philippine corporations. Poor performance from
middle managers naturally has a negative trickle-down effect across a company,
as junior workers lack direction and guidance.
In the long term, one of the main solutions
lies in education. For example, in China at least 40 percent of university
graduates now study a degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics
– the so-called STEM subjects that are seen as vital for jobseekers and
innovators in emerging industries. In the Philippines, this figure was around
13 percent in the 2015/2016 academic year. So, while the Duterte administration
has made commendable efforts in expanding access to education, it is important
that there continues to be an emphasis on ensuring that a sufficient number of
graduates are leaving university with skills that are actually in demand in a
rapidly evolving economy.
The author can be reached at
pcooke@oxfordbusinessgroup.com
Japan-Liberia
launch scheme for 1,000 smallholder farmers
Published
on 11.04.2019 at 22h21 by APA New 
Japant in collaboration with the FAO and the
government of Liberia has launched an integrated rice development project in
the country.Under the project, which was launched on Wednesday, Japan will help
an estimated 1,000 smallholder farmers to enhance their production
and income generation capacities, according to FAO Country
Representative Mariatou Njie.
She said: “the country imports about 90% of its
rice needs at the cost of about $18m a year”, saying that in 2018 alone,
rice represented 37.8 percent of the total import of food and live animals”.
With a current population growth rate of 2.5
percent per annum, she pointed out that the country is experiencing a
corresponding increase in demand for rice.
This increase, coupled with “low production and
productivity, has led to deficits with huge variance in local production”,
Njie said at the launch of the integrated rice development project in the
Monrovia suburb of Gardnersville.
She added that Liberia’s rice development
sector is not at its full strength and that it is faced with some
challenges.
According to Njie, productivity remains low in
the country despite its favorable agro ecological climate.
Also speaking at the launch of the project was
Agriculture Minister Dr. Mogana S. Flomo, Jr., who urged Liberians to
invest in the soil and make the country self sufficient in food
production.
Two of the topmost priorities of government, he
said, are the economy and food security; and further challenged Liberians to
venture into agricultural activities in order to enhance self-sufficiency
and reduce dependency on food imports.
He reiterated government’s commitment to
producing 40,000 tons of rice this year alone, upon President George
Weah’s mandate.
“Agriculture will help change our economy,
support the common people; the poor people”, he said, adding that one of the
easiest ways to provide jobs is through agriculture.
In remarks, Japanese Ambassador to Liberia
Tsutomu Himeno said his government is committed to improving rice
production in Liberia.
He said Japan, like Liberia, has rice as its
staple and that whenever they hear about rice project, they rise to help.
“Rice production is one area Japan will help
the government and people of Liberia, Amb. Himeno assured.
Liberia remains among the world’s food insecure
countries of the world, sitting at 108 on the global hunger index.
Farmers
To Adopt New Rice Planting Technology - Minister 
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Omar al-Bashir
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Ghana will soon adopt a new technology of rice planting which will
boost the production of rice and reduce Ghana’s import of the staple food, the
Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has revealed.
This new technology, known as the system of rice intensification,
is different from the broadcasting system which is currently adopted by rice
farmers in the country.
This, he stated would increase the “per hectare yield, from about
2.8 metric tonnes, which is the average that we do hear in Ghana when you’re
doing the broadcasting to about 6.5 metric tonnes per hectare.”
He disclosed this to the media after a closed-door meeting with the
United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa
and the Sahel, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas in Accra yesterday.
Ghana currently imports about $1.5 billion worth of rice annually,
a situation which has taken a toll on the strength of the local currency
against its counterparts.
The meeting was therefore initiated to find out what the Ghanaian
government was doing to ensure that Ghana becomes self-sufficient in the
production of rice.
Dr. Akoto stressed that rice farmers would soon be encouraged to
take their farming activities to the valleys around the country, as research
has shown that such areas have the requisite environment to sustain large scale
rice production.
A move which he stressed would make Ghana self-sufficient in rice
production and make it a net exporter of the commodity.
He regretted the inability of Ghanaian farmers to harness the natural
endowment of valleys which the nation has been blessed with.
Dr. Chambas on his part said the issue of food sufficiency in
Africa, particularly in Ghana, is dear to his heart that is why he is bringing
in experts in rice production to help government train local farmers to
increase productivity, efficiency and enhance their productivity.
This, he said, was consistent with the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which seeks to target the poorer segment of populations to see
how their productivity can be enhanced so that they can earn more income and
attain greater prosperity.
He disclosed that his office would be working closely with the
Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB) to adopt these new technologies which
have proven efficacious elsewhere.
Evans Sackey Teye of GRIB told reporters that this new technology
of rice production would reduce the amount of seed which the farmer would have
to use to harvest double the amount of rice he is currently getting from the
broadcasting system.
He explained that with the system of rice intensification, the
farmer would nest the rice seedlings, and would transplant them as is done for
other plants like tomatoes and pepper.
He was optimistic that once this is adopted by smallholder farmers,
they would not need to get more land before they can at least double the yield
of rice in Ghana.
Source: 3news
Most of China's
rice fields suitable for water saving irrigation: research
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-04-11 17:03:20|Editor: mingmei
BEIJING,
April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have disclosed that over 94 percent of
the country's rice fields are suitable for water saving irrigation (WSI).
The
researchers from Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Institute of Agricultural
Resources and Regional Planning of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and
Peking University constructed an index system considering soil, climate
hydrology, terrain, soil fertility and salinity, rainfall and underground water
levels.
They
analyzed water saving, pollutant reducing, and yield increasing effects, based
on multi-site field studies across China. The potential overall effect of WSI
practices at country level was also estimated.
Results
showed that a higher pollutant reduction rate appeared with a higher water
saving rate, while the yield increasing effect would end when the water saving
rate increased to a specific amount.
They
also found that soil structure deterioration and low soil fertility made 5.81
percent of the rice fields unsuitable for WSI.
The
application of WSI in China has noticeable potential to alleviate water
shortage, control the greenhouse gas emissions of rice fields and reduce pest
disease.
China
has four commonly-used WSI methods: shallow-wet irrigation, controlled
irrigation, intermittent irrigation and rain-gathering irrigation, according to
the paper published in the journal Agricultural Water Management.
Navy nabs three suspected rice
smugglers in Akwa Ibom
Patrick
Odey, Uyo
Operatives
of the Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, Ibaka, in the Mbo Local
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have apprehended three suspected smugglers
and seized 416 bags of contraband rice.
The
rice, packaged in 50kg bags, was said to have been smuggled from Cameroon and
intercepted by the operatives in a medium-sized wooden boat along the Mbo River
during a routine operation.
The
Commanding Officer, FOB, Navy Captain Reginald Adoki, who disclosed this while
handing over the suspects and the items to the Nigeria Customs Service at Ibaka
on Wednesday, said it was discovered that the wooden boat, which was fitted
with two 40-horsepower Yamaha outboard engines, was conveying the 416 bags of
rice.
He said,
“The gunboat of the FOB, Ibaka, while conducting routine patrol along the Mbo
River and other adjoining creeks, intercepted a medium-sized wooden boat.
“After
offloading, it was discovered to be conveying 416 bags of 50kg rice and two
40-horsepower Yamaha outboard engines fitted to the wooden boat. Preliminary
investigations revealed that the three suspects were bringing the rice from
Cameroon.”
Adoki
noted that the handover was a way of renewing the commitment of the Nigerian
Navy to ensuring that it rid the area of illegal activities, adding that it had
confidence in the Nigeria Customs Service to deal with all the cases handed
over to it for further investigation and prosecution.
The
Controller, Eastern Marine Command, Nigeria Customs Service, Port Harcourt,
Elton Edorhe, warned smugglers to desist from sabotaging the country’s economy
through their activities.
The
Chief Superintendent of Customs, Mr Ibrahim Adamu, who represented him, said,
“On behalf of the Customs Controller, Eastern Marine Command, Elton Edorhe, I
thank the navy for the seizures.
“I seize
this opportunity to warn all those engaging in illicit trade to consider the
economy of the nation that is being bastardised through smuggling.
“They
should do the needful and desist from this economic sabotage and also save
themselves the pain of losing their money.”
One of
the suspects, Mr Victor Asuquo, who spoke with our correspondent, denied the
charge against him.
Asuquo,
who also denied engaging in smuggling, explained that he was returning home
that fateful day as a passenger in the captured boat after about six months
sojourn in Cameroon.
He said,
“I am not involved in smuggling; I just entered the boat as a passenger. The
boat’s helmsman escaped when the boat was arrested and the three of us are
passengers.
“I left Cameroon because of the crisis there and since I did not
have a passport to board a flying boat, I paid 5,000 franc to board the local
boat.”
Scientists use CRISPR for possible 'bubble boy' therapy
In preclinical trials, Stanford scientists and
their collaborators harnessed the gene-editing system CRISPR-Cas9 to replace
the mutated gene underpinning the devastating immune disease.
Very rarely, a boy is born with a mutation that
renders his immune system barren — devoid of any and all 
immune
cells. The disease, X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID-X1, often
is referred to as the bubble boy disease. It affects only males and is lethal
if not treated in the first year of life.
immune
cells. The disease, X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID-X1, often
is referred to as the bubble boy disease. It affects only males and is lethal
if not treated in the first year of life.
Now, scientists at the School of Medicine and
their collaborators have used the gene-editing system CRISPR-Cas9 to
devise a new treatment to replenish immune cells in mouse models of SCID-X1.
The results are promising, the scientists said, because they believe the
treatment could potentially work in humans, as well.
SCID-X1 affects about 1 in 50,000 male births.
Those with the disease suffer from a debilitating mutation in a single gene,
IL2R gamma. When this gene is defective, the immune system never develops.
The standard treatment for patients with
SCID-X1 is a bone marrow transplant, which supplies them with stem cells that
will give rise to a working immune system. But the transfer process is tricky
and not guaranteed to work. So, Matthew Porteus, MD,
PhD, professor of pediatrics, came up with a new idea: correct the genes in the
patients’ own cells.
Through CRISPR-Cas9, Porteus and his team have
done just that. Using cell samples that came from people with SCID-X1, the
researchers genetically altered the class of stem cells that give rise to blood
and immune cells. Their approach got the gene working again.
Each mouse that received the edited cells began
generating new immune cells and displayed no detectable adverse side effects.
“To our knowledge, it’s the first time that human SCID-X1 cells edited with
CRISPR-Cas9 have been successfully used to make human immune cells in an animal
model,” said postdoctoral scholar Mara Pavel-Dinu, PhD.
A paper describing
the work was published online April 9 in Nature Communications.
Porteus is the senior author, and Pavel-Dinu is the first author.
Editing in a solution
Gene-based therapy for SCID is not new. In the
1990s, scientists began to dabble in gene therapies that used a virus to
deliver a new, functional IL2R gamma gene. “It was very effective, but about 25
percent of the patients developed a leukemia because the virus integrated into
an erroneous gene,” Porteus said. “It showed both the promise of what gene
therapy could do and highlighted the area that needed to be improved.”
Porteus’
approach uses CRISPR-Cas9 to create a double-stranded break in DNA to insert a
healthy copy of the IL2R gamma gene in the stem cells that create immune cells.
Using the gene-editing system, scientists
tweaked cells from six people with SCID-X1 and then transplanted those cells
into mouse models of SCID-X1. Those mice were then not only able to make their
own immune cells, but many of the edited cells retained something called
“stemness,” meaning that they maintained their ability to continually create
new cells.
“The idea is that these modified stem cells
will give rise to the blood system and the immune system for the entirety of
the patient’s life, which we hope is 90 or more years,” Porteus said. “And we
see evidence for that in our study.”
Popping the bubble
“We’ve showed that this is a novel and
effective strategy to potentially treat this disease, but the other big thing
here is safety,” Porteus said. “We don’t see any abnormalities in the mice that
receive the treatment. More specifically, we also performed genetic analysis to
see if the CRISPR-Cas9 system made DNA breaks at places that it’s not supposed
to, and we see no evidence of that.” That’s crucial, Porteus said, because it
ensures that other healthy genes aren’t being erroneously tampered with.
Translating lab research to a patient
population takes time, Porteus said, but he’s optimistic that if larger mouse
studies are successful, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene therapy could be piloted in human
patients in the next year or two through the Stanford Center for Definitive
and Curative Medicine.
Other Stanford co-authors of the study are
postdoctoral scholars Volker Wiebking, MD, and Camille Sindhu, PhD; research
assistant Beruh Dejene; graduate student Waracharee Srifa; medical student
Sruthi Mantri; lab manager Camencita Nicolas; former flow cytometry research
assistant Nivedita Saxena; and professors of pediatrics Maria
Grazia Roncarolo, MD, and Kenneth
Weinberg, MD.
Researchers from Rice University, the
University of Texas-Dallas, the University of California-Irvine and the
National Institutes of Health contributed to this research.
The study was funded by the California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Health (grant
R01 AI097320-01), the Laurie Kraus Lacob Translational Research Fund, the Amon
Carter Foundation and the Sutardja Family Fund.
Stanford’s Department of Pediatrics also
supported the work.
·
ByHANAE
ARMITAGE
Hanae Armitage is a science writer for the medical school's Office
of Communication & Public Affairs. Email her at harmitag@stanford.edu
CRI develops new rice
varieties to increase local production
| Source: GNA
The Crop Research Institute (CRI), of the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), at Fumesua near Kumasi
is using science and technology innovations to boost commercial production of
local food crops, especially rice in the country.
This is part of CRI's move to execute its mandate
as a research hub for crops, in a bid to position itself at the forefront of
leveraging on scientific and technological innovations, that would ensure
phenomenal increase in the cultivation of rice and other food staples in the
country.
CRI is doing this by increasing the
accessibility and availability to farmers its newly-improved quality, high
yielding and disease resistant crop seeds.
The goal is to support the Planting for Food
and Jobs (PFJ) initiative and other major agricultural interventions, being
pursued by the government to improve food security, as a catalyst for the Ghana
Beyond Aid agenda.
To demonstrate this, crop scientists and
breeders from the Institute have for the first time developed and released six
new rice varieties to scale up the commercial production of quality
rice.
The development of the varieties, four of which
were from local crosses of the CRI, is seen as an unprecedented and a major
milestone for national crop research in Ghana.
It is aimed at boosting food security and
a resultant reduction in rice importation into the country.
The 2017 annual scientific report made
available to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi indicated that the six new
varieties were expected to respond to the industry challenges of low
production, low average yield and poor grain quality and to "satisfy
the strong demand for high-yielding jasmine and conventional US long grain rice
types, the most preferred rice choices in Ghana.
"The six new varieties, which have been
accepted and approved by the National Varietal Release Committee, are
CRI-Dartey, CRI-Kantinka, CRI-Emopa, CRI-Mpuntuo, CRI-Oboafo and CRI-Aunty
Jane," the report indicated.
Ghana's rice import bill is said to be about
$600 million, regardless of the country's potential to produce to meet local
and international demands and according to the report, besides maize, rice is
the second most important cereal and major staple in Ghana.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA)
estimates that the annual per capita consumption of rice is about 40kg per
person and is expected to increase to 63kg by the end of 2019.
The Institute believes that all the six
varieties, suitable for lowland and irrigated ecologies, with their potential
for higher yields, tolerance to Rice Yellow Mottle Virus Disease and Iron
toxicity, will boost acceptability by farmers as they have high raising, easy
cooking and aromatic qualities.
CRI to Complement Local Rice Production with New Varieties
By
Apr
10, 2019
Share
Rice Farm
The Crop Research Institute (CRI), of the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), at Fumesua near Kumasi
is using science and technology innovations to boost commercial production of
local food crops, especially rice in the country. 
This is part of CRI’s move to execute its
mandate as a research hub for crops, in a bid to position itself at the
forefront of leveraging on scientific and technological innovations, that would
ensure phenomenal increase in the cultivation of rice and other food staples in
the country.
CRI is doing this by increasing the
accessibility and availability to farmers its newly-improved quality, high
yielding and disease resistant crop seeds.
The goal is to support the Planting for Food
and Jobs (PFJ) initiative and other major agricultural interventions, being
pursued by the government to improve food security, as a catalyst for the Ghana
Beyond Aid agenda.
To demonstrate this, crop scientists and
breeders from the Institute have for the first time developed and released six
new rice varieties to scale up the commercial production of quality rice.
The development of the varieties, four of which
were from local crosses of the CRI, is seen as an unprecedented and a major
milestone for national crop research in Ghana.
It is aimed at boosting food security and a
resultant reduction in rice importation into the country.
The 2017 annual scientific report made
available to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi indicated that the six new
varieties were expected to respond to the industry challenges of low
production, low average yield and poor grain quality and to “satisfy the strong
demand for high-yielding jasmine and conventional US long grain rice types, the
most preferred rice choices in Ghana.
“The six new varieties, which have been
accepted and approved by the National Varietal Release Committee, are
CRI-Dartey, CRI-Kantinka, CRI-Emopa, CRI-Mpuntuo, CRI-Oboafo and CRI-Aunty
Jane,” the report indicated.
Ghana’s rice import bill is said to be about
$600 million, regardless of the country’s potential to produce to meet local
and international demands and according to the report, besides maize, rice is
the second most important cereal and major staple in Ghana.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA)
estimates that the annual per capita consumption of rice is about 40kg per
person and is expected to increase to 63kg by the end of 2019.
The Institute believes that all the six
varieties, suitable for lowland and irrigated ecologies, with their potential
for higher yields, tolerance to Rice Yellow Mottle Virus Disease and Iron
toxicity, will boost acceptability by farmers as they have high raising, easy
cooking and aromatic qualities.
New Features
Improve Delivery of USDA Tech Tools
By Lesley Dixon
WASHINGTON, DC -- Last week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue
announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched two new
features on farmers.gov to help farmers manage loans and apply for H-2A
visas. The new features streamline two
processes that are spread across multiple agencies and simplify a process that
can be complex for customers.
H-2A visas allow non-immigrant foreign nationals entry into the
United States for the purpose of seasonal or temporary agricultural work, and
provide an important source of labor for farmers who anticipate a shortage of
domestic employees during certain times of the year.
Phase I of the new H-2A release on farmers.gov includes a clear and
accessible overview of the program, as well as an interactive checklist tool
that features application requirements, fees, forms, and timelines tailored to
farmers' hiring needs. Phase II of the
release will be rolled out over the next several months, and will include a
streamlined application form that will seamlessly encompass the multiple
agencies involved in the process.
"Customer service is our top priority at USDA, and these new
features will help our customers as they manage their farm loans and navigate
the H-2A temporary agricultural visa program," said Secretary Perdue. "In my travels across the country, I
have consistently heard people express a desire for greater use of technology
in the way we deliver programs at USDA.
As we adopt new technology, we are introducing simple yet innovative
approaches to support our farmers, ranchers, producers, and foresters as they
support the nation every day."
The new self-service portal on farmers.gov now allows farmers to
log in and view their loan information, history, and payments, giving them
greater autonomy to manage their federal loans.
The portal can be accessed via desktop, tablet, or phone.
Market Information
Photo by Bruce
Schultz/LSU AgCenter
Evangeline
Parish farmer Richard Fontenot loads rice seed into a planter in a field near
Mamou, La. He managed to complete his planting before heavy rainfall started.
Rain hinders
Louisiana rice planting
Rainfall during
the first week of April created an obstacle for farmers who needed to complete
the rest of their rice planting.
Heavy rainfall has been a challenge as
Louisiana rice farmers strive to get their 2019 crop planted.
Farmers were able to get much of their crop
planted during almost three weeks of dry weather, but rainfall during the first
week of April created an obstacle for farmers who needed to complete the rest
of their planting.
Todd Fontenot, LSU AgCenter
agent in Evangeline Parish, said farmers there were nearing completion of
planting before the rains came. He estimated farmers had finished planting up
to 70 percent of their crop.
Drill seeding is the dominant method of
planting, but many farmers still use airplanes for planting. “We had a good bit
of early rice water planted,” he said.
Farmers who want to drill seed the rest of
their crop will have to wait for fields to drain. “It will take several days.”
Fontenot said.
Jeremy Hebert, AgCenter agent in
Acadia Parish, said planting there is about 75 percent to 80 percent finished.
Farmers took advantage of a dry spell after a long stretch of wet weather.
“The last two to three weeks, it’s been full
blast. There’s been a lot of rice put in the ground,” he said.
Before the dry weather, many farmers thought
they would have to water seed. Now with flooded fields from excess rain, some
farmers may choose to water seed the rest of their crop. “The longer they wait,
yields will start to reduce,” he said.
Hebert expects rice acreage in Acadia Parish to
remain about the same as last year, about 80,000 acres.
Evangeline Parish farmer Richard Fontenot
planted his last field by April 3 and said this is the earliest he’s ever
finished. “Usually we’ve finished by the 10th or 15th of April,” he said.
Jimmy Meaux, AgCenter agent in
Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis parishes, said farmers in his area were almost 75
percent planted. “In the last two weeks, they really put a lot in the ground,”
he said.
Rain on April 4 came at a good time, although
it was excessive with some areas reporting as much as 5 inches. “It’s a little
more than they needed to flush the fields. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get the
water off soon,” Meaux said.
Keith Fontenot of the
AgCenter Rice Verification Program said he inspected a field April 8 that had
already drained and had received 7 inches of rain.
Andrew Granger, AgCenter agent
in Vermilion Parish, said the rain will slow down planting for farmers not
finished. He estimated that more than 60 percent of the farmers in Vermilion
Parish are done.
Vermilion Parish received 4-7 inches of rain on
April 7. “It’s too early to know if young rice will be damaged by the
flooding,” he said
AgCenter rice specialist Dustin Harrell said the
heavy, continuous rains in late February and early March had farmers concerned
that fields would be too wet for drill seeding. “It looked like it was never
going to dry out,” he said.
But after March 17, the weather cooperated and
gave farmers a two and a half week window for planting, he said.
Northeast Louisiana farmers will start planting
rice soon.
“So far,
we’ve been lucky, and there’s a lot of optimism for a good crop,” Harrell said.
Slideshow:
Tracks and tires keep advancing. Here are a few new ideas.
There’s a common denominator on most tractors
and combines — the machine-to-ground interface. These days, that can be tires
or tracks, and there are innovations happening in both areas.
For tires, the rise of high-flex tires also
brings a new look to the tread on those tires. You’ll also find a range of tire
innovations in terms of tread shape and even hybrid looks to provide added
performance.
For tracks, speed is a new goal. Losing speed
on a machine just to get the other benefits of tracks may not be enough for
some producers. Getting better road speeds can boost productivity — especially
on larger machines, where idle time is costly.
Check
out this roundup of new tires and tracks to get a glimpse of the innovations
that are happening in this market segment
Wasim Akram flays Pakistan
team’s diet ahead of World Cup
APRIL 11, 2019
Former
Test captain and fast bowling legend WasimAkram has slammed the Pakistan
cricket team for eating biryani ahead of the World Cup starting on May 30.
Wasim feels the Pakistan players are not concerned about their diet and are
eating junk food before a crucial tournament. The Pakistan cricketers are often
seen attending parties where they are feasted with all kinds of meals,
including biryani – a widely popular Pakistani dish of spicy rice mixed with
beef, mutton or chicken. The World Cup is round the corner and every team are
expected to look after their fitness and diet. The Pakistan team are often
regarded as one of the most unfit team in the cricketing world and Wasim is
worried about that.” Our players are still being served biryani, you cannot
compete against champions by feeding them biryani,” he said. Wasim is not the
only one worried about their fitness, the cricket team was criticised after
they poorly fielded against Australia in a recently-concluded ODI series in the
UAE. The former pacer also added that he sees a future captain in pacer
Mohammad Amir. This comes as a surprising statement as Amir’s place in the team
for the World Cup is under scrutiny after his below average performance with
the ball, particularly from the point of view of the number of wickets the
left-armer has claimed during the last couple of years or so. Pakistan open
their 10-team World Cup campaign with the match against West Indies on May 31
at Nottingham.
Wasim Akram has hammered
Pakistan cricket team for eating biryani ahead of the World Cup
APRIL 10, 2019
Former
Test Captain and fast bowling legend Wasim Akram has hammered Pakistan cricket
group for eating biryani ahead of the World Cup beginning on May 30.
Wasim
feels the Pakistan players are not worried about their eating regimen and are
eating lousy nourishment before a worldcup.
The
Pakistan cricketers are regularly observed going to parties where they are
eating a wide range of suppers, including biryani — a broadly well known
Pakistani dish of fiery rice blended with meat, sheep or chicken. The World Cup
is around the corner and each group is relied upon to take care of their
wellness and diet. Pakistan group is frequently viewed as a standout amongst
the most unfit group in the cricketing scene and Wasim is stressed over that.
FTA
with China to be signed during PM’s visit: envoy
Prime
Minister Imran Khan will visit China in last week of April to sign second phase
of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and China, said Yao Jing,
Ambassador of People's Republic of China.
He was addressing the business community of Faisalabad at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Complex here on Wednesday.
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Railways Mian Farrukh Habib, Chinese Consul General Long Dingbin, Attaché Chen Yongpei, and Liu Zhan were also present on the occasion.
Chinese envoy said that in second phase of FTA, both countries would further extend cooperation in the fields of agriculture, manpower, heath and education in addition to making efforts to eliminate poverty.
"In this connection, a roadmap would be discussed to cover social sector besides evolving a framework for assistance in agro-industrial sector.
He said that FTA will help to remove imbalances in bilateral trade between the two countries.
"China will provide 95 percent market access to Pakistani products at zero rate whereas China will get 68 percent market access in Pakistan", he added.
He further told that during the proposed visit of PM Imran Khan, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) will arrange a B-2-B Forum on April 28 in China. During this event, businessmen of two countries will negotiate feasible projects along with technology transfer.
Yao Jing mentioned previous visit of PM Imran Khan in November last and said that China will import rice, sugar and yarn from Pakistan to bridge its widening import-export gap.
"Though Pakistan has huge quantity of surplus wheat yet its sale in Chinese markets is very low. Therefore, China will procure 3,00,000 tons of rice and in this connection, negotiations have already been started", he added.
Regarding cooperation in industrial sector, the Chinese Ambassador said that Chinese companies have reservations over taxation policy of Pakistan.
He was addressing the business community of Faisalabad at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Complex here on Wednesday.
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Railways Mian Farrukh Habib, Chinese Consul General Long Dingbin, Attaché Chen Yongpei, and Liu Zhan were also present on the occasion.
Chinese envoy said that in second phase of FTA, both countries would further extend cooperation in the fields of agriculture, manpower, heath and education in addition to making efforts to eliminate poverty.
"In this connection, a roadmap would be discussed to cover social sector besides evolving a framework for assistance in agro-industrial sector.
He said that FTA will help to remove imbalances in bilateral trade between the two countries.
"China will provide 95 percent market access to Pakistani products at zero rate whereas China will get 68 percent market access in Pakistan", he added.
He further told that during the proposed visit of PM Imran Khan, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) will arrange a B-2-B Forum on April 28 in China. During this event, businessmen of two countries will negotiate feasible projects along with technology transfer.
Yao Jing mentioned previous visit of PM Imran Khan in November last and said that China will import rice, sugar and yarn from Pakistan to bridge its widening import-export gap.
"Though Pakistan has huge quantity of surplus wheat yet its sale in Chinese markets is very low. Therefore, China will procure 3,00,000 tons of rice and in this connection, negotiations have already been started", he added.
Regarding cooperation in industrial sector, the Chinese Ambassador said that Chinese companies have reservations over taxation policy of Pakistan.
KARACHI: FPCCI
leaders present proposals for 2019-20 budget at a press conference on
Wednesday. — Dawn Newspaper
KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has asked the government to check the highhandedness
of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA) acting against businesses.
The apex trade body also demanded a reduction
of sales tax from the current 17 per cent to 13pc in the next fiscal year’s
budget to boost business confidence. It also sought zero customs duty and sales
tax on the import of plant and machinery to encourage industrialisation.
Unveiling the budget proposals for 2019-20 at a
press conference on Wednesday, FPCCI President Daroo Khan Achakzai said NAB and
FIA must be asked to work within their defined parameters. He said that the
government should create a business-friendly environment to promote
industrialisation and job creation.
He said that despite Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s claim that FIA and NAB should only go after corrupt politicians, the two
institutions were continuously harassing businessmen. “Without a congenial and
business-friendly environment, the government cannot attract local or foreign
investment,” he remarked.
Other FPCCI leaders were apprehensive of the
government’s economic policies saying these have resulted in high inflation and
higher cost of doing business.
Achakzai was highly critical about the
government’s approach towards handling economic issues and complained that so
far no consultation process with stakeholders has been initiated by the
government for the preparation of the next federal budget.
He said that successive governments have
routinely consulted with the business community before the formulation of the
budget. But except for a meeting scheduled by the Minister of State for Revenue
Hammad Azhar next week, the government has not taken the FPCCI on board.
He added that the government has also ignored
the business community with regard to the ongoing
negotiations with the
International Monetary Fund and as of today the country is in dark with regard
to terms and conditions of the agreement being finalised with the fund by
Finance Minister Asad Umar.
The FPCCI president lamented that, contrary to
practices in the past, the government has completely ignored FPCCI in the
process of appointing or re-constituting boards at public sector entities.
He said the Engineering Development Board is
not properly represented as it does not have members from Balochistan and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whereas the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Business
Council and Economic Advisory Council were formed without FPCCI representation.
He said that the budget advisory committee was
set-up under the leadership of former FPCCI president Zubair Tufail has made
extensive consultations with member trade bodies for formulating the proposals
for the 2019-20 budget.
The leaders expressed their concern over low
levels of foreign direct investment and urged the government to immediately
take corrective measures by reducing policy rate which rose from 6pc to 10.75pc
in twelve months.
Similarly, massive devaluation of the rupee —
up to 35pc — in a short period of four months (January- April) has devastated
the economy. Above all, the government also failed to achieve the primary
objective of currency devaluation the exercise did not result in even 1pc
increment in exports.
It was also highlighted that the government’s
move to raise petroleum prices has caused cost-push inflation in the country
and burdened the masses.
The budget document also proposed that, in
order to increase exports to neighbouring countries, warehouses should be
set-up close to borders so that exporters can meet the demand.
Mentioning the Phase-II of the Free Trade
Agreement scheduled to be signed with China on April 28; FPCCI was of the view
that China — which is importing sugar and rice from other countries — should
also allow imports from Pakistan as the country has surplus rice and sugar
stocks.
Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2019
Making
efforts to boost rice exports
|
Wednesday,
2019-04-10 18:11:59
|
|
|
 Illustrative image. |
|
NDO – According to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first quarter of 2019, Vietnam's
rice export volume was estimated at 1.43 million tonnes, worth US$ 593
million, down 3.5% in volume and 20.2% in value over the same period in 2018.
|
|
The average export price of rice in the first
two months of the year only reached US$404 per tonne, down 17.8% compared to
the same period in 2018. Difficulties in exporting rice in the first quarter
have dragged down the price of rice in the Mekong Delta, especially in
February, 2019, when entering the harvest of winter-spring rice.
Part of the reason for the decline in the
volume of exported rice is due to the fact that the first few months of the
year coincide with the Lunar New Year, plus domestic enterprises have not
promoted delivery and traders who buy rice have not begun to trade yet. On
the market side, in the early months of 2019, some countries still have
surplus rice from 2018, so they have no demand for import which in turn makes
the market less active.
In addition, China, one of Vietnam's major
rice import markets for many years, has now reduced their rice purchases,
which has had a relatively large impact. At the same time, measures to
closely control food safety and hygiene for imported rice have been
strengthened and there are more stringent regulations on the supervision and
management of imported goods. Until now, only 21 Vietnamese enterprises are
allowed to export rice to the Chinese market. The reduction of export
indications has led to a sharp decline in rice export volume.
For other traditional markets such as the
Philippines and Indonesia, Vietnam is also facing difficulties in boosting
rice exports to these markets. Specifically, the Philippines is seeking to
expand its rice supply by signing more memorandums of cooperation with
Pakistan and Myanmar. Meanwhile, Indonesia has also restricted imports
because the country's reserved rice is still sufficient until the end of the
second quarter of 2019.
Facing the above situation, it is necessary
to strengthen solutions to maintain traditional markets and penetrate new
markets. Specially, it is necessary to pay attention to exporting high
quality rice and specialty rice instead of white rice as before.
In addition, localities need to accelerate
the effective implementation of the restructuring scheme of the rice
industry, because the competition for rice quality is becoming a real
"war" when the rice of some other countries in the region are
constantly increasing competition for Vietnamese rice in terms of quality,
value and ways of promoting their image. Therefore, in addition to improving
quality, strengthening the promotion of rice trade in markets, and the
promotion and image building for Vietnamese rice also are very important,
therefore businesses and authorities should pay greater attention to these
requirements. After building an image of high quality rice seeds with
competitive prices, the export to fastidious markets will certainly become
more open, creating new markets to stabilise the volume and turnover value.
|
China may give
special $1b market access to Pakistan after June: Dawood
Imran Ali Kundi
April 11, 2019
Pakistan and China
are currently holding parleys in Beijing to finalise second phase of
China-Pakistan free trade agreement
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan hopes to sign second phase
of China-Pakistan free trade agreement by the end of current month during the
visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing. Pakistan and China are currently
holding parleys in Beijing to finalise second phase of China-Pakistan free
trade agreement. “Negotiations are going very well and I am hopeful that FTA
will be signed during Prime Minister’s visit to China on April 28,” said
Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce, Industries and Production and
Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood while addressing a press conference along with
chairman Board of Investment Haroon Sharif.
Dawood said that rice shipments to China had
already begun as part of the deal which was agreed during Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s four-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai in the first week of November
last year. China had already provided market access to Pakistan in sugar, rice
and yarn amounting to $1 billion. Following this market access, China may also
give special $1 billion market access to Pakistan after June this year.
Haroon Sharif said that inflow of foreign
investment is around $1.441 billion during eight months (July to February) of
the ongoing fiscal year as against $573 million investment during same time of
the PML-N government. He further said that volume of investment would remain at
around $3 billion during current fiscal year. However, it would significantly
increase from the next fiscal year mainly due to the reforms introduced by the
incumbent government to improve ease of doing business.
Inflow of foreign investment around $1.441b
during eight months
Razak Dawood and Haroon Sharif highlighted that
Pakistan is aggressively pursuing reforms to create ease of doing business in
the country. The country had improved its ranking by 11 points and moved from
to 136/190 from 147/190 in Doing Business Report 2019. Dawood said that the
task is to ensure Pakistan carries on with the improvement trend. He
appreciated World Bank for continued assistance and appreciated the efforts of
all federal and provincial government departments.
Chairman Board of Investment informed that a
new company can now be registered in just four hours with the SECP on its
online platform. The government integrated SECP with Punjab and Sindh business
registration portal. This has helped in reducing the time and process for
registering a company and providing one platform where businesses are started.
The SECP had registered more than 8,000 new companies in six months period due
to the reforms process.
Sharif informed that number of tax payment had
reduced to 10 from 47. Online payment of federal and provincial taxes,
contributions and duties would be considered as one since now there is one
online interaction. Online payments will help Pakistan to improve its ranking
in paying taxes indicator. He hoped that number tax payment would reduce to
single digit from next year.
Chairman informed that time for giving
construction had also reduced. In Lahore, the Lahore Development Authority has
started its one window operation where all departments involved in the process
of issuing a construction permit are present. Similarly, in Karachi a
one-window solution is in its development phase. Government of Sindh will be
launching it soon. After the introduction of one window the process has been
made efficient from 8 months to 2 months in Lahore and expected to be reduced
to 3 months in Karachi.
Sharif said that there is complete automation
of property registration in Punjab. Property registration through online mode
has reduced the time drastically for this process and is one of the key areas
of reforms. It improves transparency and quality of land administration.
Other areas of reforms are integration of key
departments with WeBOC (online Platform of Pakistan Customs).To help
importers/exporters and reduce the time and cost of compliance with
departments, key departments have been integrated in WeBOC (Web Based One
Customs Platform). The reforms also included automation of electricity
connection process by K-Electric. K-Electric has made the process of getting a
commercial electricity connection easier by making it online where the customer
can track the application as well. Establishment of Collateral registry has
also been started for unincorporated entities and registry has become
operational with the appointment of registrar. This will help the small
businesses to use their moveable assets as collateral for getting credit.
Sharif explained that it is a priority of the
government to make business entry and operations easier, faster and cheaper. He
added that the next step is to cut out the redundant regulations and remove
unnecessary permissions/NOCs and inspections. He reiterated that the Board of
Investment, as the secretariat of PM’s Steering Committee on Doing Business
Reforms, is keen to improve the business climate.
Pakistan, US enjoying
sustained relations
FAISALABAD:
Pakistan and America are enjoying sustained and mutually beneficial relations
despite of temporary political recession and a visible improvement will be
witnessed in coming days, said Ann Mason, Chief of Political and Economic
Section US Consulate General Lahore.
Addressing
the business community of Faisalabad in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (FCCI) here Wednesday, she said that America was investing in many
countries including Pakistan and she was happy to know that Pakistan cherished
from trade with the USA.
She
termed agriculture as an integral and major part of Pak economy and said that
America would continue to assist Pakistan within the given circumstances.
However,
some seed manufacturing companies have some reservations and business community
must take measures to redress their genuine grievances to take benefit from
latest American technology of high yielding American seeds.
She
termed M-3 Industrial Estate as an opportunity for investors to contribute
their role in the overall development of Faisalabad and said that she would
also convince Americans to invest in it.
She also
assured to provide cooperation in human resource development in Pakistan.
Earlier,
in his address of welcome President FCCI Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain said that
FCCI has 7,000 members within its folds and it trying to raise their issues
with a clear objective to resolve the same at federal, provincial and local
levels for the last 44 year.
He said
that textile was the real economic strength of this metropolis, however, it has
witnessed a phenomenal diversification with the addition of many new sectors.
Regarding
textile, he said that Faisalabad has Asia’s biggest socks manufacturing unit by
the name of Interlard.
Crescent
and Nishat groups are manufacturing yarn while it has state-of-the-art edible
oil unit Rafhan.
Similarly,
Iqbal Rice is also a member of FCCI which is continuously winning president’s
trophy of best exporter.
He
further said that the colonization of M-3 Industrial Estate had been kicked off
vigorously and we are also acquiring additional 3300 acres of land on the other
side of motorway for its expansion.
He said
that a Hyundai Car Assembling Plant is also under completion while other industries
are also passing through different stages of completion.
Regarding
American investment in oil and gas fields, he stressed that America should also
invest in Pakistan.
He
particularly mentioned an oil refinery at Gwardar or Karachi which will not only
trim the import bill of Pakistan but also encourage ancillary industry on
permanent basis.
He was
appreciative of latest American technology and said that Pakistan was still
using reliable American and European machinery.
However,
America should manufacture textile machinery in Pakistan to further cut down
the cost of American machinery.
He also
indicated other sectors in which American investment was required and these
include manufacturing of solar panels, etc.
Later,
FCCI shield was presented to Ann Mason, Chief of Political and Economic Section
US Consulate General Lahore while Christopher Elms, Economic Officer, Nasir
Rao, Economic Specialist, US Embassy, Hassan Raza, Commercial Specialist, Amna
Anis, Economic Assistant, Us Consulate General Lahore, Kashif Zia, Sarjat
Siddique, Hajji Muhammad Rafi, Hajji Saleem and Engineer Asim Muneer were also
present during the meeting.
Most Of China's Rice Fields
Suitable For Water Saving Irrigation: Research
Chinese
researchers have disclosed that over 94 percent of the country's rice fields
are suitable for water saving irrigation (WSI)
BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP
- 11th Apr, 2019 ) :Chinese researchers
have disclosed that over 94 percent of the country's rice fields are suitable
for water saving
irrigation (WSI).
The researchers from Institute
of Geodesy and Geophysics, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional
Planning of Chinese academy of Agricultural Sciences and Peking
University constructed an index system considering soil, climate hydrology,
terrain, soil fertility and salinity, rainfall and underground water levels.
They analyzed water saving,
pollutant reducing, and yield increasing effects, based on multi-site field
studies across China. The
potential overall effect of WSI practices at country level was also estimated.
Results showed that a higher pollutant
reduction rate appeared with a higher water saving
rate, while the yield increasing effect would end when the water saving
rate increased to a specific amount.
They
also found that soil structure deterioration and low soil fertility made 5.81
percent of the rice fields unsuitable for WSI.
The application of WSI in China has
noticeable potential to alleviate water shortage,
control the greenhouse gas emissions
of rice fields and reduce pest disease.
China has four commonly-used WSI methods:
shallow-wet irrigation, controlled irrigation, intermittent irrigation and
rain-gathering irrigation, according to the paper published in the journal
Agricultural Water Management.
Việt Nam to develop new
markets for rice
Update: April, 11/2019 - 09:11
Trần Thanh Hải, Deputy Director of
MoIT’s Import and Export Department
To boost the export of rice as per the
direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has
many solutions to help businesses find export markets.Trần Thanh Hải, Deputy Director of MoIT’s Import and Export Department, speaks to bnews.vn about the issue.
What has the department done to support rice businesses find export markets?
The Prime Minister asked the ministry to come up with solutions on developing export markets for local rice products with the goal of maintaining and strengthening traditional markets as well as expanding into new ones.
The ministry has coordinated with relevant ministries, sectors, the Việt Nam Food Association and rice exporters to implement solutions, such as reviewing the demand and import policies of foreign markets. The ministry then proposed agreements with foreign partners to facilitate Việt Nam's rice exports.
While negotiating bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and other kinds of agreements, the ministry has actively discussed with foreign partners on expanding rice export markets, including tax reductions and removal of trade and technical barriers that are not suitable for Vietnamese rice products.
The ministry has also updated information for local enterprises and associations about regulations on food hygiene and safety, quality control and traceability.
The ministry has implemented many programmes on trade promotion and brand development, including the organisation of trade fairs in mainland China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as France, the Netherlands, Ghana, Ivory Coast and the US.
To assist businesses in studying customer demand and promoting exports, the ministry has cooperated with localities with high outputs of rice, such as An Giang, Long An, and Kiên Giang provinces, Cần Thơ City, and HCM City.
So far, Việt Nam's rice products have been exported to 150 countries and territories, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, mainland China, Cuba, Hong Kong, Singapore, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mozambique.
What will the department and local businesses do to build the Vietnamese rice business?
The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to co-ordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to organise the Vietnam International Rice Conference every two years. The event is expected to introduce Vietnamese rice products to the global market.
Currently, under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Việt Nam Food Association, local rice export enterprises have used the national brand of “Vietnam Rice” together with the businesses’ own rice brands.
At the same time, MARD collaborated with relevant ministries and agencies to register the national brand of “Vietnam Rice” in some export markets of Vietnamese rice such as the Philippines, China and Europe.
Businesses, ministries and sectors will support enterprises in building and registering brand protection for local rice products at home and abroad based on Decision 706/QĐ-TTg and Decree 107/2018/NĐ-CP.
What is the department doing to seek new export markets?
The Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have a policy to encourage enterprises diversifying export and import markets, avoiding dependence on a certain market, including agricultural products.
To find export markets for agricultural products, the ministry has implemented many measures to improve production capacity and quality of goods, implement trade promotion and build legal framework for exports through negotiation of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. — VNS
Rice
millers seek Vigilance probe against FCI official
Apr
12, 2019, 7:06 AM; last updated: Apr 12, 2019, 7:06 AM (IST)
Rice millers stage a dharna at the FCI depot in Sirhind on Thursday. Tribune photo
Our Correspondent
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 11
The Punjab Rice Millers Association led by Tarsem Saini,
national president, and Inderjeet Sandhu, district president, sat on a dharna
at the FCI depot, Sirhind, today protesting against the area manager of the FCI
of the Chandigarh zone.
They alleged that he had been
demanding bribe and harassing rice millers in lieu of providing special rail
wagons for the movement of rice to other states. They raised slogans against
the area manager as well as the FCI management and demanded a Vigilance inquiry
against him.
Addressing mediapersons, Saini claimed that the regional
office, FCI, Punjab, on February 29 arranged a special train for the movement
of rice to other states for loading 50 per cent rice from the Chanarthal centre
and 50 per cent from the Sirhind centre, but the area manager got loaded the
rice stocks of Chanarthal centre only, thereby leaving 39 millers of Sirhind as
he wanted bribe.
He said had the rice been
lifted, there would have been enough space to store it, but now godowns were
full and there was no space. He said again on April 1 special train wagons were
allotted for the movement of rice from the Sirhind centre, but he did not allow
it. His action caused loss to the millers. He warned if the management did not
take action against the “erring” official, the millers would protest.
However, Vinay Kumar, AGM,
FCI, refuted the allegations of bribe. He claimed that it was all pressure
tactics and nothing else as loading was a systematic process. “There is space
problem, but I can’t do anything,” he added.
‘Slump in rice farm-gate prices not due to import liberalization’
Friday,
April 12, 2019
NEDA assistant
secretary Mercy Sombilla said on Tuesday that based on data from the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA), there were some areas where farm-gate prices of
rice had fallen to P13 or P14 per kilo. ABS-CBN NEWS
MANILA – An official of the National Economic
and Development Authority (NEDA) said it was “too early to say” if the entry of
imported rice was causing a slump in rice farm-gate prices.
NEDA assistant secretary Mercy Sombilla said on
Tuesday that based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),
there were some areas where farm-gate prices of rice had fallen to P13 or P14
per kilo.
Some farmers also complained that millers were
no longer buying their harvest amid the slump in prices.
But, on the average, Sombilla said, farm-gate
prices were still at a healthy level of P18.50 per kilo.
“We really don’t know if it really is, it’s too
early to say if it’s really the law impacting this,” Sombilla said referring to
the Rice Trade Liberalization law, which removes import quotas on rice and
replaces them with tariffs.
“We take the observation of farmers with
concern, but we’re really trying to determine if that’s the case, or if there’s
reluctance of millers to be going to the farmers to buy their produce,”
Sombilla said.
Several farmers groups had been protesting the
law, saying the entry of cheap imported rice may kill the local rice industry.
The NEDA official, meanwhile, urged the
National Food Authority (NFA) to help farmers by buying harvests in areas where
farm-gate prices were slumping.
“We’re trying to push NFA, this is the time the
farmers need them. You need to go to these places where they are experiencing
these kinds of problems and buy already because you need to beef up your buffer
stocks. Especially with PAGASA’s projection of El Niño being extended beyond
May or June.”
She said the NFA can still buy rice from local
farmers at P20 per kilo.
The NEDA is also proposing to have a cash
transfer program for rice farmers, to protect them in case prices plunge to
very low levels. (ABS-CBN News)
Basmati
exporter GRM now plans to tap domestic market
TV Jayan New Delhi
| Updated on April 10, 2019 Published
on April 10, 2019
India produces roughly 20 million tonnes (mt) of basmati rice
annually, of which nearly 5mt are exported.
To start selling branded rice from current fiscal
GRM Overseas Ltd, the third largest exporter of
basmati rice from India, has drawn up plans to enter the domestic market as
there is an increasing potential for branded basmati, Managing Director Atul
Garg said on Wednesday.
“In the first five years we are looking at a
turnover of ₹ 1,000
crore. In the first year, we intend to generate a revenue of ₹150-₹200
crore,” said Garg, adding that the firm hopes to clock a turnover of ₹1,100
crore from its export business in the just concluded year.
India produces roughly 20 million tonnes (mt)
of basmati rice annually, of which nearly 5mt are exported. With growth being
sluggish in the export front, the company wants to focus on the domestic market
for topline growth. The 30-year-old listed company, with headquarters in
Panipat, currently sells its branded basmati rice in 1,800 departmental stores
in 30 countries. Europe and the Middle-East have been its major markets,
followed by the US.
As part of its expansion plan, GRM recently
acquired a plant with a capacity of 400 tonnes per day at Gandhidham, close to
Mundra port in Gujarat, for ₹13
crore. “This facility would take care of our export requirements, while Panipat
facility will focus on the domestic market,” Garg told BusinessLine.
Currently the domestic basmati market is a
little more than ₹45,000
crore. But the branded basmati market is just around ₹13,500-₹14,000
crore. GRM sees an opportunity to get into this branded segment of the Indian
market, currently led by brands like India Gate and Dawat. “We see a lot of
space in this segment,” he said.
Till a few years ago, basmati rice sold was
mainly in the range of ₹25-₹40 a kg.
Now, it has shifted to ₹50-₹70
and ₹50-₹120 a kg
range.
Garg said while the domestic basmati market is
more or less stagnant, an opportunity is there as a few players have vacated
this space. GRM, he said, is planning to tap this. The company plans to get
into an aggressive campaign to promote its brand within the country.
GRM is also planning to market speciality rice
varieties like Govindbhog and Masuri in the international market as premium
brands. It also plans to tap the overseas market for organic rice too, Garg
said.
Published
on April 10, 2019
Venezuela
reports collapse in oil supply, tightening global market
Reuters LONDON
| Updated on April 10, 2019 Published
on April 10, 2019
The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries - Reuters
Venezuela told OPEC that the country's oil
output sank to a new long-term low last month due to U.S. sanctions and blackouts,
deepening the impact of a global production curb and further tightening
supplies.
Supply cuts by OPEC and partners led by Russia,
plus involuntary curbs in Venezuela and Iran, have helped drive a 32 percent
rally in crude prices this year, prompting pressure from U.S. President Donald
Trump for the group to ease its market-supporting efforts.
In a monthly report, the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries said Venezuela told the group that it pumped
960,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, a drop of almost 500,000 bpd from
February.
The figures could add to a debate within the
so-called OPEC+ group of producers on whether to maintain oil supply cuts
beyond June. A Russian official indicated this week Moscow wanted to pump more,
although OPEC has been saying the curbs must remain.
OPEC, Russia and other non-member producers are
reducing output by 1.2 million bpd from Jan. 1 for six months. The producers
are due to meet on June 25-26 to decide whether to extend the pact.
One of the key Russian officials to foster the
pact with OPEC, Kirill Dmitriev, signalled on Monday that Russia wanted to
raise output when it meets OPEC in June because of improving market conditions
and falling stockpiles.
In a development that will ease OPEC concern
about a new supply glut, the report on Wednesday said oil inventories in
developed economies fell in February, after rising in January.
Published
on April 10, 2019
Brent and WTI crude oil futures have risen by around 40 per
cent and 30 per cent, respectively, since the start of the year
Oil prices crept higher on Wednesday, supported
by supply cuts by producer club Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) and United States (US). sanctions against oil exporters Iran and
Venezuela, but restricted by expectations that an economic slowdown could soon
dent fuel consumption.
International benchmark Brent futures were at
$70.66 per barrel at 0158 GMT, up five cents from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil
futures were at $64.10 per barrel, up 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, above their
last settlement.
Both benchmarks hit five-month highs on
Tuesday, before easing on global growth worries.
Overall, oil markets have been tightened this
year by US sanctions on oil exporters Iran and Venezuela, as well as supply
cuts by the producer club of the OPEC and some non-affiliated producers, a
group known as OPEC+.
As a result, Brent and WTI crude oil futures
have risen by around 40 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, since the start
of the year.
“The global oil market is clearly moving back
towards balance thanks to OPEC+ production cuts. OPEC production has fallen
1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) from October levels,” ING bank said in a
note.
The Dutch bank said the reduction was not only
down to voluntary supply cuts, which the group started this year to prop up
prices.
“Venezuelan oil output is estimated to have
fallen from 1.19 million bpd in October to 890,000 bpd in March, while output
from Iran has fallen from 3.33 million bpd to 2.71 million bpd due to
sanctions. Declines from these two exempt countries account for almost 47
percent of the reduction seen from OPEC,” ING said.
Despite the OPEC-led cuts, not all regions are
in tight supply.
Oil production <C-OUT-T-EIA> in the US
has risen by more than 2 million barrels per day since early 2018, to a record
12.2 million bpd.
“WTI has not seen the same strength (as Brent)
given the relatively more bearish fundamentals in the US market,” said ING
bank.
“US crude oil inventories remain stubbornly
high,” it added.
US crude stocks rose by 4.1 million barrels in
the week to April 5, to 455.8 million barrels, data from industry group the
American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.
On the demand side, there are concerns that an
economic slowdown will soon hit fuel consumption.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on
Tuesday that the global economy was slowing more than expected and that a sharp
downturn may be looming.
In its third downgrade since October, the IMF
said the global economy will likely grow 3.3 per cent this year, the slowest
expansion since 2016. The forecast cut 0.2 percentage point from the IMF's
outlook in January.
Published
on April 10, 2019
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Farmers
seek more subsidies under rice tariff law
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:02
AM April 11, 2019
A farmer in Pangasinan Willie Lomibao
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Philippines — In the wake of the
passage of the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 11203, or the rice
tariffication law, Cordillera farmers have sought for amendments to include
subsidy on farm inputs.
Half of the rice competitiveness enhancement fund focuses
on farm mechanization, but there is no direct mention of aid for farm inputs
such as seeds and fertilizers, said Remy Albano, president of Cordillera
Federation of Irrigators Associations (FIA-CAR).
Under the new law, the rice fund has an annual allocation
of P10 billion for six years and 30 percent of this will go to the development,
propagation, and promotion of inbred rice by the Philippine Rice Research
Institute.
“Even if farms are mechanized but input prices continue
to rise, we remain losers in the trade,” said Albano, who is also vice governor
of Apayao.
He said farmers in Cordillera need to shift to hybrid
rice to be at par with other rice-producing regions and increase yield per
hectare since they can no longer expand their farms.
Hybrid rice varieties produce higher yield and are more
resistant to diseases and insects. However, they are more expensive than the
commonly used inbred variety.
Albano said farmers cannot use hybrid rice seeds
harvested from the previous season because these have already lost vigor, a
genetic characteristic which results in lower yield.
“This means farmers need to allocate money to buy seeds
every season,” Albano said.
In recent years, prices of fertilizers have also
significantly increased along with other farming commodities, he said, adding
that this has forced many farmers to resort to “credit-for-harvest” offers from
rice traders or pawn their fields for immediate cash need
Việt Nam to develop new
markets for rice
Update: April, 11/2019 - 09:11
Trần Thanh Hải, Deputy Director of
MoIT’s Import and Export Department
To boost the export of rice as per the
direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has
many solutions to help businesses find export markets.Trần Thanh Hải, Deputy Director of MoIT’s Import and Export Department, speaks to bnews.vn about the issue.
What has the department done to support rice businesses find export markets?
The Prime Minister asked the ministry to come up with solutions on developing export markets for local rice products with the goal of maintaining and strengthening traditional markets as well as expanding into new ones.
The ministry has coordinated with relevant ministries, sectors, the Việt Nam Food Association and rice exporters to implement solutions, such as reviewing the demand and import policies of foreign markets. The ministry then proposed agreements with foreign partners to facilitate Việt Nam's rice exports.
While negotiating bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and other kinds of agreements, the ministry has actively discussed with foreign partners on expanding rice export markets, including tax reductions and removal of trade and technical barriers that are not suitable for Vietnamese rice products.
The ministry has also updated information for local enterprises and associations about regulations on food hygiene and safety, quality control and traceability.
The ministry has implemented many programmes on trade promotion and brand development, including the organisation of trade fairs in mainland China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as France, the Netherlands, Ghana, Ivory Coast and the US.
To assist businesses in studying customer demand and promoting exports, the ministry has cooperated with localities with high outputs of rice, such as An Giang, Long An, and Kiên Giang provinces, Cần Thơ City, and HCM City.
So far, Việt Nam's rice products have been exported to 150 countries and territories, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, mainland China, Cuba, Hong Kong, Singapore, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mozambique.
What will the department and local businesses do to build the Vietnamese rice business?
The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to co-ordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to organise the Vietnam International Rice Conference every two years. The event is expected to introduce Vietnamese rice products to the global market.
Currently, under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Việt Nam Food Association, local rice export enterprises have used the national brand of “Vietnam Rice” together with the businesses’ own rice brands.
At the same time, MARD collaborated with relevant ministries and agencies to register the national brand of “Vietnam Rice” in some export markets of Vietnamese rice such as the Philippines, China and Europe.
Businesses, ministries and sectors will support enterprises in building and registering brand protection for local rice products at home and abroad based on Decision 706/QĐ-TTg and Decree 107/2018/NĐ-CP.
What is the department doing to seek new export markets?
The Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have a policy to encourage enterprises diversifying export and import markets, avoiding dependence on a certain market, including agricultural products.
To find export markets for agricultural products, the ministry has implemented many measures to improve production capacity and quality of goods, implement trade promotion and build legal framework for exports through negotiation of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. — VNS
Most of China's rice fields
suitable for water saving irrigation: research
Source:Xinhua
Published: 2019/4/11 17:17:33
Chinese
researchers have disclosed that over 94 percent of the country's rice fields
are suitable for water saving irrigation (WSI).
The researchers from Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Peking University constructed an index system considering soil, climate hydrology, terrain, soil fertility and salinity, rainfall and underground water levels.
They analyzed water saving, pollutant reducing, and yield increasing effects, based on multi-site field studies across China. The potential overall effect of WSI practices at country level was also estimated.
Results showed that a higher pollutant reduction rate appeared with a higher water saving rate, while the yield increasing effect would end when the water saving rate increased to a specific amount.
They also found that soil structure deterioration and low soil fertility made 5.81 percent of the rice fields unsuitable for WSI.
The application of WSI in China has noticeable potential to alleviate water shortage, control the greenhouse gas emissions of rice fields and reduce pest disease.
China has four commonly-used WSI methods: shallow-wet irrigation, controlled irrigation, intermittent irrigation and rain-gathering irrigation, according to the paper published in the journal Agricultural Water Management.
The researchers from Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Peking University constructed an index system considering soil, climate hydrology, terrain, soil fertility and salinity, rainfall and underground water levels.
They analyzed water saving, pollutant reducing, and yield increasing effects, based on multi-site field studies across China. The potential overall effect of WSI practices at country level was also estimated.
Results showed that a higher pollutant reduction rate appeared with a higher water saving rate, while the yield increasing effect would end when the water saving rate increased to a specific amount.
They also found that soil structure deterioration and low soil fertility made 5.81 percent of the rice fields unsuitable for WSI.
The application of WSI in China has noticeable potential to alleviate water shortage, control the greenhouse gas emissions of rice fields and reduce pest disease.
China has four commonly-used WSI methods: shallow-wet irrigation, controlled irrigation, intermittent irrigation and rain-gathering irrigation, according to the paper published in the journal Agricultural Water Management.
Rice inventory up 30.8% in March
RICE INVENTORY UP 30.8% IN MARCH
THE country’s rice inventory rose by 30.87
percent to 2.221 million metric tons (MT) at the start of March from its
year-ago level, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
It was also up by 3.75 percent compared to
month-ago figure, the PSA said in its monthly inventory report.
Latest figures from the PSA said rice stocks
were at 1.697 million MT in the same period in 2018 and 2.141 million MT in
February this year.
Year-on-year (yoy), a 1,030.17 percent jump was
noted in NFA depositories. Rice stocks in commercial warehouses were also up by
25.75 percent. Stocks inhouseholds fell by 6.08 percent though.
Month-on-month, stocks in households and NFA
depositories grew by 0.12 percent and 65.29 percent, respectively but those in
commercial houses dropped by 14.22 percent.
Of the total rice inventories, 46.53 percent
were from households, 31.32 percent from the commercial warehouses and 22.15
percent from NFA depositories.
The total rice inventory is seen to increase in
the coming months as the country opens its market to cheap imported rice under
a new rice regime. Philippine rice imports may hit a record-high 2.6 million MT
this year. It may further increase as the Rice Import Liberalization Act takes
full effect, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
Meanwhile, total corn stocks rose by 42.68
percent to 397,120 MT in March from 278,340 MT a year ago, but fell by 49.19
percent from 781.52 MT in the previous month.
Inventory from households and commercial
warehouses climbed yoy by 55.36 percent and 38.25 percent, respectively. On a
monthly basis, stocks in households and commercial warehouses fell by 23.01
percent and 55.19 percent, respectively.
Some 71.71 percent of the total corn inventory
was held by commercial warehouses while the remaining 28.29 percent consisted
of inventory from households.
Cambodia's
rice export to China up 59 pct in Q1
Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-11
09:27:08|Editor: Liangyu
PHNOM
PENH, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia had exported 75,214 metric tons of milled
rice to China in the first quarter of 2019, a 59 percent rise over the same
period last year, according to an official report released on Wednesday.
China is
the biggest buyer of Cambodian rice during the January-March period this year,
said the report of the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export,
adding that export to China accounted for 44 percent of the country's total
rice export.
According
to the report, the Southeast Asian country exported a total of 170,821 tons of
milled rice in the first three months of this year, up 6 percent over the same
period last year.
It
showed that the kingdom exported 51,552 tons of milled rice to the European
markets during the period, down 33 percent because the European Union imposed
earlier this year tariffs on rice going from Cambodia in a bid to curb a surge
in rice imports from the kingdom.
Cambodia
produces 10.8 million tons of paddy rice last year, up 3.3 percent
year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
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Reducing
losses postharvest rice
·
Kadir
Ruslan
-
Jakarta / Thu, April 11,
2019 / 10:37 am
A resident carrying buckets of water passes through a dry paddy
field in Cibarusah, Bekasi, West Java. (The Jakarta Post/P.J. Leo)
In a visit to Sragen, Central Java, as part of
his campaign for reelection, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stressed the
importance of improving the quality of paddy drying and milling processes.
Preventing or minimizing the loss of postharvest rice is crucial to increasing
supply. According to the World Food Program (WFP), around 30 percent of the
total food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted, which is
equivalent to 1.3 billion tons. Losses of rice could happen at every stage of
the supply chain, mainly when the paddy is harvested, dried and milled. In this
regard, modernizing our rice milling practices, particularly during the paddy
drying process, can significantly reduce losses. Statistics Indonesia (BPS), in
collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry, has conducted the Paddy to Rice
Conversion Rate Survey (SKGB) several times. As reflected...
USDA
announces 2019 loan rates for wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, rice and pulse
crops
· Apr
11, 2019 Updated 20 hrs ago
On April 10 USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation
announced the 2019 marketing assistance loan rates by:
- County for wheat, corn, grain sorghum,
barley, oats, soybeans and each “other oilseed” (canola, crambe, flaxseed,
mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, sesame seed and sunflower seed);
- Region for pulses (dry peas, lentils,
large chickpeas and small chickpeas); and
- State for rough rice.
Rice
rebounds in 2018 after 2017 flooding woes
Thursday,
April 11th 2019
After a brutal
2017 in which spring flooding cost Arkansas growers an estimated $175 million
in lost production and damaged acreage, rice growers saw higher production in
2018 than in any of the three previous years, according to an April 4 report
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Photo: Talk Business and Politics)
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — After a
brutal 2017 in which spring flooding cost Arkansas growers an estimated $175
million in lost production and damaged acreage, rice growers saw higher
production in 2018 than in any of the three previous years, according to an
April 4 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the report, produced by the USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service, rice growers harvested more acres, and yield
and production throughout the state were higher. Most of the largest increases
in yield, percentage-wise, were seen in eastern Arkansas counties that suffered
flooding losses most acutely in 2017.
Phillips County, which suffered between
$400,000 and $1 million in crop loss in 2017, saw its rice production more than
double from 1 million hundredweight to about 2.13 million hundredweight.
Increases of similar proportions were reported in Lawrence, St. Francis, Ashley
and Desha counties, according to the report.
To read more from Talk Business & Politics,
click here.
Figures
confirm higher rice production in 2018
·
Apr 11, 2019
Rice
Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart pulling out all available combines
to harvest foundation seed ahead of Tropical Storm Gordon in 2018.
After a bruising 2017, in which substantial
spring flooding cost growers in Arkansas an estimated $175 million in lost
production and damaged acreage, rice growers saw higher production in 2018 than
in any of the three previous years, according to an April 4 report from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the report, produced by the USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service, rice growers saw clear improvements in
harvested acres, yield and production throughout the state. Most of the largest
increases in yield, percentagewise, were seen in eastern Arkansas counties that
suffered flooding losses most acutely in 2017.
Phillips County, which suffered between
$400,000 and $1 million in crop loss in 2017, saw its rice production more than
double from 1 million hundredweight to about 2.13 million hundredweight.
Increases of similar proportions were reported in Lawrence, St. Francis, Ashley
and Desha counties.
While the county-by-county acreage estimates
provided in the NASS report often differ from those estimates provided by the
Farm Service Agency, also part of the USDA, the statewide numbers are typically
very similar.
Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for
the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that while the
higher production numbers were a welcome sight, the higher rice acreage in 2018
wasn’t necessarily a surprise, as it followed the natural cycle of shifting
acreage, crop rotation and prospective planting in response to relative
commodity prices.
Looking forward, Hardke said that with the
window for much of the state’s planned early planted rice closing for 2019,
shifts in acreage are an open question.
“Until a week ago, I’d maintained my expectation
that we’ll remain close to flat, at 1.4 million acres of rice,” Hardke said.
“But we’ve seen what’s happened with this spring. After a week of dry weather,
we saw rains again over the weekend, with more pointed our way.
“1.4 million acres is still the target, but if
this pattern doesn’t give, we’ll possibly head down toward 1.2 million acres,”
he said. “At this point, we’re staring at a downward trend, but we have a while
to go yet before we start losing rice acres.”
India rice
prices dip; drought fears spur domestic buying in Thailand
· APRIL 11, 2019
BENGALURU
(Reuters) - Rice export prices in top exporter India edged lower this week due
to sluggish demand, while fears of a drought this year supported up domestic
buying in Thailand.
A woman spreads paddy crop for drying at a rice mill on the
occasion of International Women's Day, on the outskirts of Agartala, India
March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jayanta Dey/File Photo
India’s
5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $387-$390 per tonne this
week, down from last week’s $390-$393.
“Demand
is very poor at current price level. The appreciation in the rupee has limited
scope to cut prices,” said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state
of Andhra Pradesh.
A strong
rupee dents exporters’ returns from overseas sales.
India’s
rice exports for April-February fell 9.4 percent from a year earlier to 10.57
million tonnes, as major buyer Bangladesh trimmed its purchases due to a bumper
local harvest, a government body said.
Farmers
in Bangladesh have planted the summer rice variety on 4.9 million hectares of
land, exceeding the target of 4.8 million hectors, Mir Nurul Alam, head of the
country’s Department of Agriculture Extension, told Reuters on Thursday.
The
summer-sown crop, also known as Boro, usually contributes more than half of
Bangladesh’s typical annual rice production of around 35 million tonnes.
Traditionally
the world’s fourth-biggest rice producer, Bangladesh was forced to increase
imports to shore up reserves in 2017 after floods wrought havoc on local crops
and pushed domestic rice prices to record highs.
In
Thailand, the world’s second largest rice exporter, benchmark 5-percent broken
rice prices rose slightly to $405-$410 a tonne, free on board Bangkok, from
$395-$396 last week.
The
small price increase was due to higher domestic demand driven by fears of a
drought this year, traders said.
Overseas
demand for Thai rice has remained flat since the beginning of the year due to
the Thai currency’s strength versus the U.S. dollar.
“It is
mostly speculative buying in the domestic rice market at the moment as mills
and buyers are concerned about the supply situation amid the prospect that
drought could harm harvest,” a Bangkok-based trader said.
In
Vietnam, rates for 5 percent broken rice were flat for the fourth straight week
at $360 a tonne.
“With
rising demand, some traders are having trouble purchasing enough rice from farmers
to fulfil their export orders,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
“They
signed the contracts earlier this year when both domestic and export prices
were lower.”
Prices
are likely to edge up over the coming weeks now that the major winter-spring harvest
is over, the trader added.
Vietnam’s
rice exports in March rose 150 percent from February to 693,742 tonnes, and
higher than a government estimate of 600,000 tonnes, customs data showed.
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Khanh
Vu in Hanoi, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka; editing by Arpan
Varghese and Jane Merriman
IRRI, partners to transform Asean rice-fish systems
Source: IRRI FB
The International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI), WorldFish and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
signed a five-year tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday,
providing the framework for cooperation on research for development (R4D)
initiatives focused on the sustainable intensification and management of rice-fish
production systems in irrigated landscapes and wetlands in Southeast Asia.
The agreement aligns with the CGIAR 2030 Plan
that calls for transformations of its research programs to usher in a “food
systems revolution” to tackle challenges related to sustainability, nutrition,
genetics, socioeconomics and information, and to contribute to the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through greater cooperation
between the centers.
“This agreement exemplifies a food systems
approach to transforming the global rice sector. The combined global research
expertise and influence of IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI in the core elements of
diets such as rice and fish, as well as land and water systems make this
strategic collaboration essential to a food systems revolution,” said IRRI
Director General Matthew Morell.
Previous individual and joint program
partnerships involving IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI have yielded positive results.
These include the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (2004), and an
earlier project on fish-rice between IRRI and WorldFish with Bangladesh
research and nonprofit agencies.
More recently, WorldFish, IRRI and IWMI came
together for the Australian Center for International Agricultural
Research-funded Development of Rice Fish Systems (RFS) in the Ayeyarwady Delta
project. The project aims to improve the productivity and profitability of
rice-fish systems in Myanmar and seeks to benefit small-scale rice farming
households, and fisherfolk by diversifying production in rice-based farming
systems and landscapes, enhancing resilience of rice-based farming systems.
WorldFish Director General Gareth Johnstone
said the multi-agency partnership provides a strategic push for wider research,
promotion and implementation of integrated rice-fish systems, and builds on
previous successes of WorldFish and its partners.
“This partnership helps create better synergies
for leveraging our individual research expertise and network strengths to
accelerate the sustainable supply of nutritious fish and rice into national,
regional and global food systems. Together, we will also be able to better
support regional cooperation by increasing awareness, disseminating knowledge
and scaling critical solutions for this intensification to be truly
sustainable,” Johnstone said.
IMWI’s work on sustainable water and land use
converges well with IRRI’s work on landscape-level water management and
environmental sustainability.
“What we aim to achieve as individual
organizations is interconnected and geared toward the fulfillment of almost the
same SDGs. We envision a sustainable food, nutrition and water secure world and
this strategic partnership gets us closer to that goal,” said IMWI Deputy
Director General for Research for Development Mark Smith.
Under the MoU, IRRI, WorldFish and IWMI will
co-develop and implement R4D activities to discover the impact of rice-fish
production systems on environmental, socioeconomic and cultural values on land
and waterways. The R4D projects will be developed based on themes, including constructed
water bodies, rice-fish landscapes, climate resilience and water, trade-offs
and foresight analysis, and information and communications technology and big
data
Rice
industry revitalization priority for Fijian government: minister
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-04-12 13:52:48|Editor: Xiaoxia
SUVA,
April 12 (Xinhua) -- The revitalization of the rice industry in Fiji is a
priority for the Ministry of Agriculture in its effort to improve efficient
production through continued research for a self-sufficient and sustainable
industry.
Fiji's
Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development, Waterways and
Environment Mahendra Reddy made the comment while addressing the Naselai Rice
Farmers Group in Tailevu, one of Fiji's 14 provinces during his tour around
farms on Friday.
Reddy
said strategies to ensure a revived and strengthened rice industry is in
progress by the Ministry.
He added
that some of this included the introduction of high yielding improved rice
varieties in Fiji, increasing the capacity of the ministry's Research Division
and continued production and supply of more certified seed and planting
materials to farmers.
Reddy
also highlighted planned strategies for the commercialization of the rice
industry, which would require close collaboration between the Ministry, rice
farmers and stakeholders.
"Rice
farming can be labor intensive so the ministry continues to mechanize many of
the husbandry practices, including providing access to various types of rice
machines which were available to farmers on subsidized rates and the formation
of rice clusters where it is possible to achieve economies of scale which
ensures machine optimization," said Reddy.
"The
ministry will also consolidate rice development in areas where land improvement
and irrigation work is carried out and will focus on rice breeding and
promotion programs which involves research and seed production of quality rice
seeds which will be supplied to the farmers for better yields."
A total
of over 30,000 tonnes with a total value of around 40 million Fiji dollars
(about 18 million U.S. dollars) is imported annually by Fiji as rice is now
considered a staple food on the islands like cassava and taro.
Catriona rises from rice paddy
Published April
12, 2019, 5:45 PM
By MB Online
Miss Universe Catriona Gray has inspired so
many people that many of them go to great lengths to express their appreciation
for what she has achieved for the country.
(Benjamin
Sotto via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
You can now count the people behind the
Philippine Rice Research Institute among them as they have created a rice paddy
art depicting Queen Cat’s face on a rice field in Nueva Ecija.
A netizen, Benjamin Sotto posted a picture of
the rice paddy art on Facebook which has now created quite a buzz online.
Pamela Carbungco, of the FutureRice Project,
said that the larger than life depiction of the face of the 2018 Miss Universe
with the words “Rice UP PH” is a combination of two varieties of rice that is
grown in the country.
“We used two kinds of rice to form the image:
the ordinary green-leafed rice varieties and what we call purple rice (its
leaves turn into dark purple as the rice plant ages). We pixelated a two-tone
image of Catriona according to the size of our rice paddy and rice planting
distance,” Carbungco said in an interview over FB messenger for MB Online.
“We planted it on March 14 and since last week
mas visible na yung image. The image will be visible until May before we
harvest the rice,” she said explaining how they were able to form the image.
She also revealed that the idea of making rice
paddy art started in 2015 and they have continued doing so since then.
Since 2015 she said they have already made
depictions of AlDub, Ang Probinsyano, PRRD and VP Leni, KathNiel, rice
ambassador Piolo Pascual, Manny Pacquiao, and even Jose Rizal.
Carbungco said that they started this project
to make “non-farmers”, especially the youth more aware of rice farming and farm
tourism as well as boost overall interest in farming.
She explained further that the paddy art is
like cross-stitching but it will only last until May when they actually harvest
the rice.
Related
Posts
What’s in a name? The
battle over alternative meat, milk and rice labeling rages on.
April 11 at
10:00 AM
If you’ve had
any “almond drink” lately, you might have noticed that there’s a semantics
battle happening among America’s food producers, politicians and public. At its
heart are the questions: How should we label products that imitate other
products? Who has the right to use certain words? What do those words truly
mean?
Culinary
innovation and the lightening of the American diet has given us an abundance of
options. If we’re cutting carbohydrates, we can have cauliflower rice instead
of regular rice. Folks with dairy allergies can opt for soy milk instead of
dairy milk. And vegans and vegetarians — as well as people trying to scale back
their meat consumption for health or the environment — have been delighted by
the arrival of plant-based burgers that more closely replicate meat than veggie
burgers.
But legislation
around the country and world aims to block newcomers from being able to use
some of those words to describe their products. It’s all in service of reducing
consumer confusion and protecting their businesses, say proponents of the milk
and meat industries — and recently, the rice industry has joined the fight. The
people who make and advocate for plant-based meats and milks, and veggie-based
rices, counter that consumers aren’t buying these products because they’re
confused and think they’re something else; they’re buying them because they
know the products are alternatives, and these consumers want them.
Here’s a
briefing on the latest in the linguistic fight for your dinner plate.
Rice
Non-rice
“rices” have proliferated in recent years, thanks to the Paleo diet, which
popularized cauliflower rice. Other vegetables soon followed: Now, if you walk
down the frozen aisle of a grocery store, you can buy rices made of broccoli,
sweet potato, beets and butternut squash. A new form of alternative rices has
popped up in recent months, too: Legume and chickpea rices are a high-protein
alternative rice, from the companies Banza and RightRice. They’re made in a similar manner as chickpea
pasta but cut to be rice-shaped — so they’re very similar to orzo.
But in
Arkansas, beginning in August, these products can no longer be called “rice.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a bill last month that aims to protect
the state’s meat and rice producers. Most
of America’s domestically grown rice comes from Arkansas, and producers fear that
rice alternatives will harm their businesses.
“This law only
affects people who want to deceive the public about how their food originated,”
Arkansas state Rep. David Hillman, who introduced the legislation, told
the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “And if you’re not trying to deceive the
public, this will not affect you or any of the outlets who sell these
products.”
However,
“ricing” is also a verb — “to reduce to a form resembling rice” — and the
products are permitted to be labeled in this way. So Arkansans won’t be buying
cauliflower rice, but they can purchase “riced cauliflower.” Many large
companies, such as Green Giant, already label their vegetable rices this way.
Manufacturers selling “cauliflower rice” after the deadline will be fined
$1,000 for each mislabeled product. Restaurant labeling was not included in the
bill.
Dairy
The dairy
industry has long fought against plant-based beverage producers calling their
drinks “milk.” As the number of alternative milks continues to proliferate —
beyond soy and almond, we’re now seeing oat, hemp, flax, pea, hazelnut, buckwheat, tiger nut and peanut
milk — more states have adopted “truth in labeling” requirements that prevent
these products from calling themselves milk. Last month, Sens. Tammy Baldwin
(D-Wis.) and James E. Risch (R-Idaho) reintroduced labeling legislation called
the Dairy
Pride Act, which failed
to advance in 2017. A common slogan among supporters of these bills: “Almonds
don’t lactate.” But producers of nondairy milks say that customers know the
difference between dairy and nondairy products. Nondairy milk sales increased 61
percent between 2012
and 2017.
Louisiana is
considering such a bill. Shreveport, La.’s KSLA
News reported that
the state used to have more than 1,000 dairies, but there are now fewer than
100. “If we don’t protect our industry, we won’t have an industry to protect,”
Louisiana state Sen. Francis Thompson told the station.
The Maryland
Senate recently gave
its approval for the state
to join North Carolina in a compact to enforce nondairy labeling standards. The
legislation still needs to be approved by the governor and House of Delegates —
and even then, it won’t be enforceable until other states sign on.
Proposed dairy
labeling legislation is “good old-fashioned protectionism,” wrote Paul
Shapiro, the author of “Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will
Revolutionize Dinner and the World,” in an opinion
piece for The Post.
The Impossible Whopper is now on menus at St. Louis-area Burger Kings. (Photo Illustration by Michael Thomas/Getty Images)
Meat
Meat producers
aren’t too happy with the Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger. The two
plant-based burgers are famous for how well they can substitute for meat — they
even “bleed” thanks to ingredients such as beets, which replicate the color of
a burger’s juices. But industry lobbyists are ramping up their efforts to
prevent these companies from being able to use the word “burger.” Last year,
Missouri passed a law that penalizes
companies that label plant-based products with certain animal meat descriptions, such as
“ground beef style,” with fines or jail time. Vegetarian protein companies sued
the state, which settled. In February, the New
York Times reported that
“beef and farming industry groups have persuaded legislators in more than a
dozen states to introduce laws that would make it illegal to use the word meat
to describe burgers and sausages that are created from plant-based ingredients
or are grown in labs.”
“Five or 10
years from now, fake meat will have a product that is viable from a cost
standpoint,” Kevin Kester, the former president of the National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association, told
The Post. “We have to
make sure that everyone plays by the same rules.”
It’s not just
an American thing. Last week, a committee in the European Parliament passed an
amendment prohibiting plant-based products from being labeled as steak,
sausage, escalope, burger and hamburger. The measure will be voted on by
the full Parliament after its elections, before being put to member states and
the European Commission, the Guardian
reports. The measure
was opposed by environmental groups, who feared it could discourage plant-based
eating.
“We felt that
steak should be kept for real steak with meat and come up with a new moniker
for all these new products. There is a lot to be done in this front, a lot of
creativity will be needed,” Eric Andrieu, a French member of the European
Parliament, told the Guardian.
It’s led to a lot
of jokes this week about what plant-based burgers in Europe will be called.
“Veggie discs” has become the running gag, and it does have a certain ring to
it.
Most Read Food
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/04/11/whats-in-a-name-the-battle-over-alternative-meat-milk-and-rice-labeling-rages-on/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2b8ce238d732
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