Laos eyes
increased exports to China, drop in imports
| Publication date 22 April 2019 | 14:45 ICT
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Lao exports to China this year are expected to increase to $1.510
billion, while imports will decline to $985 million. VIENTIANE TIMES/ASIA NEWS
NETWORK
LAO exports to China this year
are expected to increase to $1.510 billion, while imports will decline to $985
million, according to the latest projections from the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce.
Last year, Laos planned to earn
$1.478 billion from exports to China but achieved only $1.406 billion, and
expected to spend $945 million on imports but the final figure was $1.381
billion.
Laos’ main exports to the
northern neighbour are ore sand, rubber and rubber products, copper and copper
products, bananas, corn and fertilisers. In turn, Laos imports electrical
appliances, vehicles and spare parts, mechanical and electronic equipment,
steel and steel equipment.
China is now the biggest foreign
investor in Laos and the country’s second largest trading partner.
In 2016, Laos exported about
$1.133 billion worth of goods to China which rose to $1.233 billion in 2017.
The increasing number of Chinese
investors in Laos and cooperation projects by both governments is a major
reason for the increase in imports from China.
The China-Laos railway, the
launch of Laos’ first satellite, hydropower development and other projects
funded by China have helped to promote connectivity between the two nations.
The government is optimistic that
exports to China will rise this year in view of increasing trade and economic
cooperation.
Agriculture is seen as an
important sector to bolster Lao exports to China especially bananas, rubber,
fertiliser, cassava and sweet corn.
The Lao Ministry of Industry and
Commerce has asked China to consider a rice import quota of 50,000 tonnes along
with accepting other industrial goods as part of efforts to bolster trade.
The ministry also asked China to
consider more quotas for Lao products to Chinese markets this year, especially
rice, rubber and other industrial and agricultural goods.
The call for the increased rice
quota comes after 20,000 tonnes were purchased in 2017 by China’s Xuanye (Lao)
Co Ltd following approval from China’s National Development and Reform
Commission.
The government this year will
strive for imports worth $5.775 billion and total exports of $5.516 billion
after last year achieving $5.848 billion and $5.410 billion respectively.
Thailand is still Laos’ top
trading partner among neighbouring countries and bilateral trade expands
year-on-year. VIENTIANE TIMES/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Food security: FG
plans release of new BT crops
ON APRIL 22, 20197:59
Mulls devt of National Biotech Communication policy By Emmanuel
Elebeke ABUJA—The Federal Government is to release new Genetically Modified
rice, BT rice, BT cassava and other crops soon. File: Tomato sellers at Mile 12
market The Coordinator of Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology in Nigeria,
OFAB Nigeria, Dr. Rose Gidado dropped
the hint, weekend, during a capacity building programme for editors and correspondents
in Abuja. She explained that the plan would be realised through the ongoing
research findings by Nigerian scientists at the National Biotechnology
Development Agency, NABDA in line with federal government’s plan to achieve
food sufficiency in the country. Gidado said NABDA has demonstrated a lot of
capacity in new GM crops with the introduction of BT Cotton and BT Cowpea,
which took about 10 years of intensive research, adding that it would amount to
understatement to say that Nigeria has
capacity in biotechnology. Similarly, the Permanent Secretary, Federal
Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Bitrus Nabasu has said federal
government is taking steps to develop National Biotechnology Communication policy. Nabasu said the policy
when put in place will ensure that the
Nigerian public is adequately informed about the advances on biotechnology. The
Permanent Secretary, who harped on strong collaboration between media and
government said government has embraced modern biotechnology, stating that the
technology is here to stay. “We plan to develop a National Biotechnology
Communication policy in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.”
Spotlight:
Economic cooperation with China under BRI helps Cambodia diversify economy,
strengthen resilience
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-04-21 19:05:51|Editor: Liangyu
By Mao Pengfei, Nguon Sovan
PHNOM PENH, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia, a firm supporter of
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) , has been benefiting in various areas
through comprehensive economic cooperation with China to diversify its economy
and strengthen resilience, Cambodian officials, experts told Xinhua.
"For Cambodia, with Chinese assistance, we can build
mega-infrastructure projects, and those projects are crucial to boosting
economic growth and making communication easier and faster," Cambodian
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said.
According to the recent data the Chinese Embassy to Cambodia
posted in social media, China has built 31 highways and 8 bridges for Cambodia
with the total length of highway up to more than 3,000 km, as well as all the
hydropower stations in Cambodia.
"Our first priority is to boost economic growth and to make
everybody have a fair share of the economic growth," Khieu Kanharith said.
"The BRI can help us through supporting infrastructure projects and human
resources development," he said.
BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE LAYS FOUNDATION FOR FAST GROWTH
Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations
Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said under the Cambodia-China
cooperation within the framework of the BRI, China has invested in many large
projects in Cambodia including hydropower plants, road and bridge projects,
special economic zones, Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway, and a new Siem
Reap international airport.
Kin Phea said that Cambodia has high expectation that China will
help further develop its infrastructure. "Doing so will reduce logistics
cost in the kingdom, enhance economic competitiveness, and diversify sources of
growth," he said.
Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime
Silk Road Research Center, said the infrastructure projects, industrial zones
that China built here will bring a lot of benefits to Cambodia and her people.
"These will help spur the development of Cambodia by assisting Cambodia
from a lower-middle income country to an upper-middle income country by 2030,"
he said.
DIVERSIFY ECONOMY AND STRENGTHEN RESILIENCE
Facing the external uncertainties, Cambodia is strengthening its
economic resilience through cooperation with China in important sectors like
agriculture, tourism, and diversification of manufacture.
The European Union, the traditional big buyer of Cambodia's
rice, imposed earlier this year tariffs on rice from Cambodia in a bid to curb
a surge in rice imports from the country, and as a result, Cambodia only
exported 51,552 tons of milled rice to the European markets during the first
quarter in 2019, down 33 percent.
Agriculture is one of the economic pillars of the country and
millions of farmers rely on the rice export. China, at this time, increased its
import of rice from Cambodia and became the biggest buyer during the
January-March period this year.
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 the report of the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice
Export. Export to China accounted for 44 percent of the country's total rice
export.
In order to promote tourism cooperation, both countries set 2019
as the China-Cambodia culture and tourism year.
Tourism accounts for 12.7 percent of the country's GDP (gross
domestic product) and has created direct and indirect jobs for millions of
people, according to Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon.
"Chinese tourists are the biggest spenders of all foreign
tourists to Cambodia," Thong Khon said, adding that China had been the
biggest source of foreign tourists to Cambodia in 2017 and 2018, and Cambodia
is expected to attract 3 million Chinese tourists in 2020, 5 million in 2025
and up to 8 million in 2030.
Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the Beltei International
University in Phnom Penh, said that Cambodia can put more emphasis on
agro-industries such as cassava and rubber processing which can uplift
Cambodia's production capacity to meet the demand of the Chinese market.
Cassava is Cambodia's second largest agricultural crop after rice.
There have been apprehensions among decision makers in Cambodia
about the possible withdrawal of the European Union (EU)'s preferential trade
arrangement under the Everything But Arms (EBA) in August 2020, Matthews said.
Therefore, more investment in manufacturing, preferably in
electronics and car spare-parts, can create jobs to offset layoffs from the
garment sector due to factories cutting back on production because of decreased
overseas purchase orders, he said.
In Chinese-invested Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ),
the investment diversification has gained momentum, Chen Jiangang, president of
SSEZ said.
"Among all the 153 companies in our zone, 22 are garment
factories and the rest cover a wide range from furniture, travel goods, medical
equipment, to machinery, construction material and etc.," Chen said.
"We had 35 new companies established in our zone in 2018," Chen said.
More investment in those areas will help the Cambodian workers
acquire higher skills and pave the way for Cambodian economy to enter higher
value chain to diversify strategically its future economy, Matthews said.
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Imports decline to US$ 1.65 bn in
January
Monday, April 22, 2019 - 01:00
Expenditure on merchandise imports
declined in January 2019 for the third consecutive month by 17.8 per cent
(year-on-year) to US dollars 1,655 million, reflecting the effect of policy
measures taken by the Central Bank and the government..
All major import categories, namely
intermediate goods, consumer goods and investment goods, contributed to this
decline. Intermediate goods imports largely contributed to the decline in
overall imports, mainly due to lower expenditure incurred on fuel, gold and
fertiliser. Expenditure on fuel imports declined due to lower average import
prices and lower volumes of crude oil and refined petroleum products despite a
higher import volume of coal.
Expenditure on gold imports, which
declined since May 2018, following the imposition of customs duty on gold, remained
at a negligible level in January 2019 as well. Expenditure on fertiliser
imports also declined significantly, led by lower import volumes in all sub
categories, particularly urea.
Meanwhile, expenditure on wheat and
maize, base metals and rubber and articles thereof contributed notably to the
decline in intermediate goods in January 2019. However, import expenditure on
textiles and textile articles increased, driven by fabric imports, while
mineral products and agricultural inputs also increased during the month.
Import expenditure on consumer
goods declined, mainly due to lower expenditure on almost all subsectors under
consumer goods except beverages and spices imports. Continuing the declining
trend observed since November 2018 that reflected the impact of policy measures
taken to curtail imports, expenditure on personal motor vehicle imports showed
a significant decline. Expenditure on almost all non-food consumer goods
imports decreased in January 2019 compared to the corresponding month of the previous
year.
However, considering the revision
of excise duties in the Budget 2019, eased pressure on the exchange rate and
other developments in the external sector, the Central Bank removed the margin
deposit requirement on both vehicle and non-essential consumer goods imports
against letters of credit (LC) effective from 7 March 2019 and on documents
against acceptance (DA) terms effective from 12 March 2019.
Meanwhile, expenditure on rice
imports continued its declining trend in January 2019, with higher supply in
the domestic market. Import expenditure on vegetables and dairy products also
declined.
Expenditure on the importation of
investment goods also declined in January 2019, due to lower imports of all sub
categories classified under investment goods. Lower expenditure on commercial
cabs and auto trishaws categorised under transport equipment, and iron and
steel categorised under building material, mainly led to this decline.
In January 2019, the import volume
and unit value indices decreased by 14.6 per cent and 3.7 per cent,
respectively, indicating that the decline in imports was driven by low volumes
as well as prices of imported goods in comparison to the corresponding period
of 2018.
In January 2019, earnings from
merchandise exports surpassed US dollars 1 billion for the second consecutive
month. Considering the historical pattern of relatively low level of exports
being recorded during the month of January, reaching over US dollars 1 billion
of export earnings in January 2019 is noteworthy. Accordingly, export earnings
increased by 7.5 per cent (year-on-year) to US dollars 1,038 million in January
2019, driven by increased exports from all major sectors.
Industrial exports mainly
contributed to the growth of export earnings, driven by textiles and garments,
rubber products, machinery and mechanical appliances and food, beverages and
tobacco. Textiles and garment exports increased as a result of high demand for
garments from the EU and the USA as well as non-traditional markets such as
India, Japan, Australia, China and Canada. Further, export earnings from rubber
products increased during the month owing to the improved performance in all
sub categories.
Export earnings from machinery and
mechanical appliances also increased with increases in all sub categories,
while earning from food, beverages and tobacco exports increased driven by
manufacturing tobacco.
In addition, animal fodder and
printing industry products also contributed towards the increase in industrial
exports in January 2019. Meanwhile, export earnings from petroleum products
declined significantly in January 2019 for the second consecutive month due to
lower bunkering and aviation fuel exports driven by significantly lower
bunkering quantity, reflecting the intense competition faced by Sri Lankan
ports from regional ports mainly in India and Singapore.
China
to increase imports of corn, but won't change quota
By Wang Yi Source:Global Times Published: 2019/4/21 20:58:39
Nation won’t change quota, or buy
more from US
Photo: IC
China is expected to increase corn imports in the coming years after having reduced stockpiles in recent years, according to a report published on Saturday.
However, the country will not change its import quota and tariffs policy for the crop, and it will not increase imports from the US as the latter has demanded, experts said.
China will increase corn imports in the next decade because domestic supply cannot meet demand, China Central Television reported on Sunday, citing the China Agricultural Outlook (2019-2028).
Corn planting areas and production have both fallen for three years in a row, and the downtrends are expected to continue this year, according to the annual report of the 2019 China Agricultural Outlook Conference, which was released in Beijing on Saturday.
Meanwhile, consumption of animal feed and deep processing will continue to grow, and inventories will continue to drop, the report said.
The declines have been caused by adjustment measures that China adopted in recent years that aimed to reduce corn stockpiles, Jiao Shanwei, editor-in-chief of cngrain.com based in Central China's Henan Province, told the Global Times Sunday.
China's corn inventories hit 260 million tons in 2016, according to media reports. The current corn storage is less than 80 million tons, according to media reports in November 2018.
Measures to reduce planting areas, combined with a temporary program to auction inventories, have had an effect. Destocking made faster progress than expected in 2018 and will be finished this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported in January, citing an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
The area of land devoted to growing corn won't recover until 2020, Xu Shiwei, an expert at the agriculture ministry, said during the conference, CCTV reported.
Corn imports reached 3.52 million tons in 2018 and are expected to reach 3.6 million tons in 2019 and 4 million tons in 2020, Xu added.
China's import quota for corn this year totals 7.2 million tons. China levies a 1 percent tariff on imports within the quota and a 65 percent tariff on imports exceeding the quota, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
But that doesn't mean China will change its tariff rate quota system for corn, according to analysts.
A WTO panel decided on Thursday that the system had violated international trading rules. The case was filed by the administration of former US president Barack Obama in December 2016 before current US President Donald Trump launched the trade war. The Obama administration said the system denied US farmers access to the China market.
China's Ministry of Commerce said Friday that it "regrets" the ruling and will "seriously study" the decision.
China will maintain reasonable quota systems for rice, wheat and corn imports, because these items are related to China's food security, Jiao said.
A higher corn price from a tighter supply and demand balance will encourage more domestic farmers to increase corn production, so the balance will recover, Jiao said.
"Even if China imports up to 7.2 million tons of corn, it still just accounts for no more than 2 percent of the country's total corn consumption," Jiao added.
China imported 312,300 tons of corn from the US in 2018, or 8.9 percent of total corn imports, according to media reports.
Although the WTO's ruling obviously favors the US wish to expand corn exports to China, the latter will retain the quota system and will not increase corn imports from the US as it has demanded, said Mei Xinyu, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
"China will maintain its import policies on special products like rice, wheat and corn," Mei told the Global Times Sunday.
Newspaper headline: China to increase imports of corn
Glory for
consumers, calvary for rice farmers
Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 05:12 AM April 22, 2019
The rice import liberalization law, while
not yet in full effect, is already seeing the benefits—just not without
consequences as farmers continue to wallow in losses.
Based on the Philippine Statistics
Authority’s price monitoring report as of the fifth week of March, a kilo of
regular milled rice was priced at P39.91 and the well-milled variant at P44.07,
slightly lower than P40.02 and P44.22, respectively, in the same period last
year.
The arrival of more rice imports is seen to
cut retail prices in half over the next few years.
And even this early, speculations over
imported rice forcing local supply out of the market have already pushed the
farm-gate price for palay down to P18.80 a kilo, 8.83 percent lower than its
average price of P20.62 a kilo a year ago.
This is the 13th consecutive week prices
have been on the downward trend.
In some regions, the farm-gate price has
dived to as low as P14 a kilo.
National Food Authority (NFA) acting
Administrator Tomas Escarez said the agency’s high buying price of P20.70 a
kilo had pushed more farmers to sell their produce to the NFA.
In a statement released to the press, the
NFA said it had already breached the 2 million-mark for procurements as
harvests began peaking this month.
Initial reports from its field offices
showed the agency had already secured a total of 2.12 million bags from January
to the first half of April, majority of which came from Nueva Ecija, Occidental
Mindoro, Isabela, Bulacan and Cagayan.
Now that the agency’s mandate is limited to
procuring local palay and providing for emergency stocks, Escarez said they were
now targeting to buy around 15 million to 30 million bags of palay this
year—equivalent to 15 to 30 days of the country’s national rice consumption.
Smugglers
Threatening Local Rice Millers
By ABDULLAHI YAKUBU Kano
The chief executive officer of Golden Star Rice Mill,
Engr Iliyasu Nazifi, has observed that the successes recorded in the last three
years have suffered a setback due to the activities of rice smugglers who
gained unhindred access to the market. Nazifi, who spoke with journalists in
Kano at the weekend, regretted that the smugglers are thriving with the
assistance of some personnel of the authorities concerned who had compromised
at the expense of Nigerian citizens. He, however, commended the fresh efforts
by the officers at some boarders to tame the ugly activities. According to Nazafi,
the success recorded in the last three years recently suffered a setback due to
the activities of rice smugglers that had struck back with full force with the
assistance of some personnel of the authorities concerned who had compromised
at the expense of Nigerian citizens. “No doubt about the fact that we are so
optimistic on the attainment of food security in the nation, we have seen how
the federal government has contributed in promoting agro activities, and also,
we have seen the huge investment being committed by cooperate organisations and
individuals in the sector, especially in rice. But, as I speak to you now, many
small and medium scale rice milling companies are at the verge of folding up
because of the high number of foreign rice being smuggled into the country. Go
into the markets and you will understand what I am talking about,” he said.
Nazifi further revealed that rice smugglers had been having a swell time as
indices showed that some compromising personnel in the Nigerian Customs Service
(NCS) have not been doing their job as expected. Another rice miller, Alhaji
Abba Dantata, said he had to cut down 50 per cent of his work force to be able
to manage and move in the business, and that it was disheartening to see how
foreign rice was being smuggled into the country freely without anything being
done by the authorities concerned, which he said made the market flooded with
foreign rice to an extent that the locally milled rice could not compete with
the foreign. “From January, 2019, to this moment, only God knows how many
tonnes of foreign rice have successfully entered our markets. From our records,
we were told that 50 trucks laden with foreign rice get into the country daily
through smuggling from Abeokuta and other land boarders. That is why foreign
rice now floods our markets to the extent that the local one has to remain
aside because it cannot compete with the foreign. “This is a bad omen and a
threat to all innovations which the federal government has done in the
agricultural sector. Many small and medium rice milling companies have closed
down and many more will close down also if necessary action is not taken to
address the issue. This will in due course affect the mega rice mills,” Dantata
lamented. He further called on stakeholders to as a matter of urgency draw the
attention of the customs to brace up and double its effort in addressing the
smuggling menace to save the country and Nigerians from drowning back to square
one.
Read More at: https://leadership.ng/2019/04/22/smugglers-threatening-local-rice-millers-nazifi/
Read More at: https://leadership.ng/2019/04/22/smugglers-threatening-local-rice-millers-nazifi/
Firm, Lagos
to host rice festival
TESSCOM West Africa in partnership with the Lagos State Ministry
of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives has concluded plans to stage a two day
Nigerian Rice Festival holding from April 25th to 27th, at Adeyemi-Bero
Auditorium, CBD, Alausa, Ikejal.
The Executive Director of Tesscom West Africa, Olukemi Ilori who
made this known at a press conference said that it is a festival that
celebrates Nigeria’s collective cultural identity as a nation in foods like
jollof rice which has gained global acceptability.
She noted that the festival gives us an opportunity to take our
national food brand, Jollof Rice to other Rice festival and create awareness
about Nigeria Jollof Rice, the best in the world as well as other Nigeria Rice
dishes.
Ilori stated that the festival is most importantly designed to
enhance commercial activity in the entire rice value chain. It does so in such
a way that people enjoy it and are happy, adding that we are fast tracking the
development of the brand by hosting two festivals a year: one on the mainland
and another on the island.
AGRIC MINISTER SPEAKS AT ANNUAL RESEARCH REVIEW &
PLANNING MEETING IN ZARIA, HIGHLIGHTS IMPRESSIVE INCREASE IN LOCAL RICE
PRODUCTION
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh on
has expressed satisfaction with Nigeria’s current level of rice production
which accounts for about 90% local consumption.
The Minister, who was represented by the
Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services of the
Ministry, Dr Mrs Karima Babangida, was speaking at the 2019 Annual Research
Review and Planning meeting held at the Institute for Agricultural Research
(IAR), Zaria, Kaduna State.
The Minister maintained that the support of the
present administration triggered a visible shift to eating what we grow rather
than eating imported food.
“One very good example that we see today is the
local homegrown Nigerian rice, hitherto, Nigeria has been a major and largest
importer of rice from Thailand and this implies largest importer in the world”
the minister added.
On the sides of the Annual Meeting, the
Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, Dr Mrs
Babangida also commissioned the new Balarbe Taminu Conference Hall at AR Zaria
on behalf of the Honourable Minister.
Abundant Seeds Of Rice, Maze And
Mung Bean To Be Available For Kharif Season 2019-20
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan
Point News - APP - 21st Apr, 2019 ) :The government has taken steps to
ensure smooth availability of seeds during the Kharif season 2019-20 and
surplus seeds of all major crops including rice
(paddy), maize, cotton, pulses and vegetable would
be available in order to ensure the maximum per acre output to enhance farmers
income during the period under review.
During the current sowing season
about 50,192 metric tons of rice seeds would be available for cultivation,
besides 2,757, metric tons of imported seeds which was comprising on 121.28
percent of total requirements to achieve maximum per acre output during the
season, said an official in the Ministry of National food Security and Research.
Talking to APP, he said that during current season, about 50,192
metric tons of paddy seeds would be available for cultivation across the crop
growing areas in the country as against its total requirements of 41, 385
metric tons.
He said that during Kharif
season Punjab would
have 174.83 percent of the seed as compared the requirements and about 41,975
metric tons of the seed would be available for sowing, where as in Sindh 5,290 metric tons of
rice seeds would be available which was comprising about 39.74 percent of the
requirements and in Balochistan it was estimated
at 170 metric tons making the 5.62 percent of its demand.
Around 112.83 percent quality seed of maize crop would be
available during the season as the total requirements during Kharif 2019-20 was
recorded at 32,599 metric tons including 7,799 metric tons of imported seed as
compared the total local demands of 28,892 metric tons, he said adding that the
maize seed availability, during the last year was recorded at 32,599 metric
tons which was 98 percent of the total demand.
Meanwhile, he said that
availability of maize seed in Punjab would be at 24,567
metric tons, which was comprising on 144.77 percent of province demand, besides
maize seeds in Khyber Pakhunkhwa would be at 234 metric tons comprising the
1.99 percent of the total demand of the province, adding that testing was
in progress to
meet the full demand.
The official said that government was focusing to
promote pulses production and oil seed in the country to
reduce the reliance on the imported commodities, adding that it was taking
steps to ensure smooth supply of seeds and other inputs for the promotions of
these crops during the season and encourage the farmers to bring more areas
under these crops.
He said that about 1,401 metric
tons of mung bean seeds which would be comprising 32 percent of the total
requirement of the season, adding that public and private sector seed agencies
of the Punjab have
procured 1,261 metric tons of mung seed fulfilling about 32.35 percent of its
requirement, where as Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa has 140 metric tons which was 62.25 percent of the
total requirements of the province.
The newly-enacted rice tariffication law mandates the
establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice sector P10 billion in financial
support annually for six years beginning this 2019.
Michael Varcas/File
Rice tariff fund to benefit local machinery sector
Czeriza
Valencia (The Philippine Star) - April 21, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — A large
portion of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be used to
modernize rice farms, boosting demand for local machinery in the process, the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
The newly-enacted rice
tariffication law mandates the establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice
sector P10 billion in financial support annually for six years beginning this
2019.
According to its implementing
rules and regulations, half of the rice fund, amounting to P5 billion annually,
will be used by the government to procure rice farm equipment through the
Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).
Farm machinery as tillers,
tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters, and irrigation pumps
will be given as a grant-in-kind to eligible farmers, rice farmer associations
and registered rice cooperatives.
As a result, the existing outlay
of the DA on farm mechanization for will have an additional P5 billion
allocation from only P1.92 billion in 2018.
“Modernizing the rice industry
has a multiplier effect on the economy. It will not only make our rice farms
more efficient and productive. It will also push the demand for farm equipment
up, thereby boosting the manufacturing industry and creating more jobs for
Filipinos,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.
PhilMech is required to procure
from accredited local manufacturers, when appropriate, to support local
manufacturers of farm machines and equipment.
PhilMech is also tasked to
formulate implementing guidelines on rice farm equipment component consistent
with the Rice Industry Roadmap.
This will include the eligibility
criteria for prospective recipients, modality of selection, and mode of
implementation and the accountability system in the procurement and
distribution of rice farm equipment.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice
Research Institute will receive 30 percent of the RCEF to develop, propagate
and promote inbred rice seeds to rice farmers and organizations of rice
farmers.
The Land Bank of the Philippines
and the Development Bank of the Philippines will be given 10 percent of the
fund for the creation of a credit facility with minimal interest rates and
collateral requirements.
Outdated techniques in the modern world
April 22, 2019
SINDH’S first sugar factory was established in Tando Mohammad Khan
— then part of Hyderabad district — some time in the early sixties. It was
situated on the left bank of the Indus.
Cotton cultivation was allowed on the left bank while rice
cultivation has been banned in this area, at least on paper. The right bank
areas, however, were to produce rice as a matter of policy. And all this land
was fed by the colonial era Sukkur barrage, built in 1932.
The crop-mapping or zoning strategy for Sindh’s agriculture sector
was based on parameters established long ago. Sadly, things are different
today. A major shift is seen in crop cultivation as the government, both
provincial and federal, has turned a blind eye to it.
Crop zoning regulates the farm sector. It determines how and where
a particular crop or is to be cultivated so as to achieve the greatest yield.
Such zones are defined in view of weather conditions, available water flows,
drainage system and soil fertility etc of that area. This method helps ensure
efficient utilisation of resources.
Sindh and Punjab are both bearing the brunt of adverse
implications of this change. Punjab’s southern parts are home to sugar cane
cultivation thanks to the unusual growth of the sugar industry in water
deficient areas that do not suit the crop. Sugar cane is considered Pakistan’s
political crop commanding patronage of all bigwigs.
The crop-mapping or zoning strategy
for Sindh’s agriculture sector was based on parameters established long ago.
Sadly, things are different today. A major shift is seen in crop cultivation as
the government, both provincial and federal, has turned a blind eye to it
Pakistan’s National Food Security Policy was approved for the
first time in 72 years by the outgoing PML-N government. Punjab and Sindh —
Pakistan’s two main grain producing provinces — have also framed their own
agriculture policies.
Besides these two provinces, Balochistan contributes towards the
paddy crop while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa focuses on tobacco, although it also has a
lot of potential for maize production.
The national food security policy, coupled with the two provincial
agriculture policies, cover all policy areas for sustainable agriculture
growth. However, to ensure sustainability, what appears to be missing is
synchronisation at federal and provincial levels.
“The government needs to share information-based knowledge to
convince growers about which crop should be sown in a given season. This
culture needs to be developed if we aim to achieve sustainability in our farm
sector which has a huge potential for growth,” contended Dr Yusuf Zafar, former
chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.
Water, a precious commodity, is becoming scarce. The government
often uses the public’s purse to provide subsidies to first produce a certain
crop, such as sugarcane, and then export the sweetener with rebate, without
benefitting either genuine farmers or consumers. Farmers don’t get the desired
price for their produce while consumers get expensive sugar thanks to
institutional lacunas at the implementation stage.
It is owing to a missing zoning system that Pakistan often has a
bumper sugarcane crop coupled with sugar surpluses, all at the cost of
declining cotton acreage and looming water scarcity. The country has a huge
potential for cotton production and a large textile industry.
To borrow from a Punjab-based agriculture analyst, Ibrahim Mughal,
Pakistan is spending Rs600-700 billion on import of various agro-commodities
especially cotton, edible oil and pulses.
“We can easily produce [these commodities] by ensuring proper
zoning to protect our ecosystem. But we have to protect the natural habitat of
our crops and we must stop tinkering with the natural ecosystem or be ready to
face the consequences,” he observed.
If the country earns foreign exchange on rice exports, it also
spends a huge amount to import edible oil and pulses. And both crops can be
grown domestically, as evident from the experience gained in the 2010 super
floods when sunflower cultivation boomed.
The West Pakistan Rice (Restriction on Cultivation) Ordinance 1959
is often invoked in command (left bank) areas of Ghotki Feeder canal (Guddu
barrage), Nara and Rohri canals (Sukkur barrage) to ban sowing of paddy. This
mirrors the zoning system. But due to weak governmental writ these rules are
not strictly enforced, thus paddy surpluses are seen in banned areas.
Pakistan exports a freshwater resource when rice is exported, says
former chairman Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Dr Mohammad
Ashraf. Out of 8.6 million tonnes of rice produced in 2015-16, 4.2m tonnes
(worth Rs194bn) were exported. These exports required 6.8MAF of freshwater
amounting to Rs8.4bn (at Rs1,233 per acre foot of water)
Due to nonexistent zoning, high delta crops are grown in areas
where surface water is insufficient and groundwater is deep or saline. Edible
oil crops should be introduced which require less water and don’t affect
foreign exchange.
Dr Ashraf underscored the need for crop zoning given depleting
water resources. The focus should be on water conservation and maximization of
per acre productivity to lessen the usage of surface freshwater resources.
Abstraction of groundwater, another important resource, is going unchecked and
is another burden on the ecosystem.
Over the years Pakistan has become largely dependent on cotton
import thanks to declining domestic production of cotton bales. The textile
industry needs around 15m cotton bales while domestic production hovers around
10m, resulting in imports.
The area under cultivation for cotton faces massive encroachment
in Sindh and Punjab by the sugar cane crop which continues to be politically
patronised regardless of which party is in power. This has lead to an unnatural
growth of the sugar industry.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly,
April 22nd, 2019
‘The goal is to curb
import bill’
April 22, 2019
SAHIBZADA Muhammad Sultan, federal
minister for the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, talked to
Dawn from his home town Jhung in Southern Punjab. He expressed confidence that
the PTI government will resolve the long standing issues of the farming
community that have held agriculture growth potential hostage for so long.
The minister was preoccupied with
attending to the post-stormy weather situation that damaged the standing crop
in several areas of the country. Perturbed by losses incurred by growers across
the country owing to harsh rains, he was working on a strategy to contain
losses and ensure that the affected growers get the support they deserve from
the government.
“I intend to go to affected areas
for a realistic damage assessment to put up a case for a relief package for
those who lost their crop and incurred unsustainable losses,” he said.
The three time MNA, following in
his father’s footsteps, entered parliamentary politics in 2002 by winning a
national assembly seat on the PML-Q ticket. In 2008, despite PPP groundswell
after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, he won again from the same platform.
He lost the election in 2013 when
he contested on the PML-N ticket but made a comeback with a bang in the
National Assembly on a PTI ticket in 2018. Many consider him to be a key
politician who turned Jhung into a PTI stronghold by bagging all national and
provincial assembly seats.
The minister, with a landed
background, was confident that the full potential of the rural economy can be
realised by implementing the food security policy with the active support of
the provinces.
Earlier a set of questions were
mailed to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research seeking the
minister’s views. Citing the pressing current situation and a close deadline,
the responses to three out of five questions were mailed back that are
reproduced below:
Is Pakistan food secure? Do we have
sufficient stocks of essentials to brave a sudden drop in production in case of
some calamity?
SMMS: Yes, Pakistan is food secure.
We do have sufficient stocks of essentials in case of any challenge. For major
crops
like wheat, sugar cane, maize and
rice, Pakistan is not only self-sufficient, it produces a surplus.
Do you have a plan to reduce
dependence on imports of edibles, particularly oil and pulses?
SMMS: Yes, the ministry is working
with the provinces to launch various projects in the agriculture sector for its
betterment. One of the goals is to reduce the import bill of oil and pulses. We
want to produce indigenous oilseeds to achieve self-sufficiency.
Post-18th Amendment, how
effectively is your ministry working with the provinces to achieve food
security?
SMMS: For the first time since the
devolution, the ministry is working in collaboration with the provinces to
launch projects worth Rs290 billion of which the federal contribution is around
Rs90bn. These projects will be spread over the next four years. —AS
Published in Dawn, The Business
and Finance Weekly, April 22nd, 2019
No walls on our borders
April 22, 2019
DESPITE being an agri-based
economy, with an import bill of $6 billion in 2018, Pakistan is hardly food
sufficient.
Though we produce enough rice,
dates, wheat, and potatoes for our needs, staples such as edible oil — used to
make ghee — and pulses are imported. And what is grown within the country is
not protected from imported pests.
The composition of food imports as
a percentage of total imports has averaged at 11 per cent since 2003, with
edible oils taking the lion’s share, according to Trade Map data. While in
absolute terms, edible oil imports, mostly palm oil, has increased over the
years, its share has declined from 53pc to 36pc over a decade and a half.
The decrease in share of edible oil
as a percentage of overall imports is in part because of an increase in
oilseeds, namely soybeans. Most oilseeds are mainly crushed for oil, however
soybean seeds are crushed for protein and used in poultry feed.
Increase in soybean imports
actually contributes towards food security, says Shakil Ashfaq, chairman of the
All Pakistan Seed Extractors Association and CEO of Shujabad Agro.
While countries have advanced
systems to detect food items entering their borders, in Pakistan there is no
checking, especially at points such as Torkham and Chamman
Soybean formulation of poultry feed
was introduced by Charoen Pokphand Group, a Thai company, in 2013.
Incorporating soybean in poultry diet has decreased their Feed Conversion Ratio
(FCR).
The FCR indicates the amount of
feed that needs to be given to get one kilogram of meat. Typically, the FCR in
Pakistan used to be 2.5kg but with the introduction of soybean it has been
reduced to 1.6kg because of which the cost of poultry has come down. Simply
put, more nutrition is now packed in a small amount of feed.
While soybean imports may be good
news, the volumetric rise in palm oil imports is not. The key ingredient in
making vegetable ghee is palm oil. Palm oil is also the preferred choice in the
confectionary, baking and frying industries.
An increasing population and the
rise of the fast food culture and snack industry has increased the consumption
of palm oil and made it a staple of the country’s import bill.
At 2.96 million tonnes, as per
Trade Map data, 2018 saw the highest quantum of palm oil import to date. Import
substitution in the form of cultivation of oilseeds leaves a lot to be desired.
Over the last decade, area under
oilseed has decreased from 8.47m hectares to 7.6m hectares despite the
country’s growing population, and hence, need for edible oil.
Other than edible oil, oilseeds,
and tea, pulses are a top food import. Though we grow a variety of pulses,
including gram, lentil, moong bean, mash, red gram, and cowpea, production is
not enough to satisfy domestic demand. At nearly a billion dollars, 2017 saw
the highest import of pulses in the country’s history.
Import dependency aside, lack of
sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards for food imports opens a whole
different can of worms.
A senior official of the Ministry
of National Food Security and Research lamented the lack of agri-protection
from pests, including insects, diseases, bacteria, and viruses.
“Around 60-65pc of pests that
infect our crops are imported because we do not have regulatory checks or a
holistic set of SPS standards,” he said.
Due to insects and disease,
production decreases while production costs increase. In 2012, Pakistan
consumed pesticides in the range of Rs25-30bn. Today this number has increased
to stand at Rs75bn.
The official indicated that the
existence of infections and pests in our crops prevents access to high value
markets.
He narrated the example of dirt
accompanying potato seeds imported from Holland that was infected with Golden
Nematode. This is one of the world’s most damaging potato pest and can remain
present, dormant in the soil, for up to 30 years. As a result of this
infection, Russia stopped importing all agri-products from Pakistan for a
while.
Another example he narrated was of
the weed Parthenium that was imported through food substance from Australia.
This weed is not only capable of destroying 60-80pc of the country’s crop but
can also prove to be deadly to cattle.
While countries have advanced
systems to detect food items entering their borders, in Pakistan there is no
checking, especially at points such as the Torkham and Chamman border. Not only
is the country vulnerable due to import dependency of certain staples, its lack
of biosecurity is a threat to domestic cultivation as well.
Published in Dawn, The Business
and Finance Weekly, April 22nd, 2019
Three proposals for trade with Iran under
study
Pakistan is reportedly considering three proposals for trade
with Iran which include seeking waiver on sanctions from the US, barter trade
and setting up a special bank, well-informed sources told Business
Recorder. On April 12,
2019 Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi presided over an
inter-ministerial meeting in which all outstanding issues concerning Iran
pertaining to the domain of various Ministries, which are likely to come for
discussion during the visit of Prime Minister to Iran, were discussed.
The Prime Minister is undertaking this long-awaited, important visit on the invitation of the President of Iran Seyed Hasan Rouhani on April 21, 2019 (today). According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, over the years, Pakistan''s relations with Iran have remained mired in several layers of mistrust, the most recent being Pakistan''s demand that Iran must take action against training camps of Baloch terror organizations on its soil.
Previously due to security issues along the Pak-Iran border, negative public statements against Pakistan have emanated from Iran, and the government, as part of its principled approach to strengthen its relations with neighbouring countries, is eager to explore all avenues of strengthening bilateral relations with Iran particularly in the economic areas.
The sources said Pakistan has pursued a policy of balanced engagement with Iran vis-Ã -vis Arab countries for the past several years. Given Pakistan''s financial compulsions, recent warming of its relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE has created an impression of a tilt in this balanced approach towards the Arabs, at the expense of Iran.
The sources said Pakistan can apply for waiver on the following grounds: (i) Pakistan''s economy is highly dependent on import of oil while Iran is an oil producing country and can offer oil to Pakistan at a comparatively cheaper price; and (ii) there has always been demand of medical/surgical instruments and Pakistani rice and fruits in Iran. Pakistan is quite capable of meeting Iranian needs of these products by improving the requisite logistics/infrastructure in this regard.
According to sources, in case legal means of trade are not explored between Iran and Pakistan, the population in border areas is likely be involved in exploring illegal means/channels of trading goods, which may ultimately give rise to the greater risks of money laundering and terror financing. Iranian authorities are charging a fee from Pakistani drivers and business community of Rs 3,750 as compared to Pakistan visa fee of Rs 2,750 being charged by Pakistan from Iranian citizens. The visa fee and visa can be cancelled any time by Iranian authorities without assigning any reason.
The export consignments from Pakistan to Iran are required to be attested by the consulate of Iran at Quetta with attestation fees of Rs 100,000 for consignment of Rs 100 million tons of rice and takes around 2-4 days. Pakistan has not imposed any such condition on Iranian imports. Load tax is charged at the rate of 10 per cent of the fare of Transport Company. If a truck is charged Rs 40,000 for travel from Quetta to Zahedan the transporter has to pay Rs 4000 even though the distance from Taftan border to Zahedan is 80 kms.
According to sources, there is a wide difference between trade data released by Iran Customs and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The Iranian customs data shows that the bilateral volume crossed $ 1 billion in 2017 while data reported by FBR shows the total trade of $ 392 million. Pakistan will emphasize the need of reconciliation of trade data. The government of Iran has imposed a ban on import of a number of agricultural goods including fruits and vegetables, seasonal ban on rice and the country specific ban on wheat from Pakistan. The ban on import of kinnows since 2011-12 is seriously affecting Pakistani fruit exporters and Pakistan is losing on average $ 30 million per annum.
Talking about Pak-Iran Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the sources said, in order to finalise the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Iran, three meetings of the Technical Negotiating Committee (NNC) have been held since 2016. The third meeting of the TNC was held in Tehran in 2017. Draft of FTA in goods and Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary have been shared.
The source said, US sanctions on Iran were categorized into primary sanctions and secondary sanctions. The primary sanctions prevented US citizens or entities from engaging in transactions with Iran and its government. The secondary sanctions were applicable were applicable to non-US person and entities. After GCPOA, the USA lifted the secondary sanctions on Iran with effect from January 26, 2016 while primary sanctions remained enforced. However, following US decision to withdraw from JCPOA, the secondary sanctions were re-introduced partly on August 7, 2018 and partly on November 5, 2018. The US issued 180 day waivers for relaxation of some of the sanctions with effect from November 5, 2018.
The secondary sanctions pertain to the following: (i) financial and banking institutions; (ii) insurance related issues; (iii) Iran''s energy and petrochemical sectors; (iv) shipping sector; (v) trade in gold and other previous metals; and (vi) supply of goods and services related to the auto sector.
In order to trade with Iran in the presence of US sanctions, countries have employed different methods. Countries including China, Japan and South Korea have been granted a waiver by the US for import of oil as the economies of these countries are largely dependent on oil imports from Iran. Similarly European countries have devised a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for trade with Iran. SPV facilitates European-Iran trade while reducing the need for transactions between the European and Iranian financial systems. It will do this by allowing European exporters to receive payments for sales to Iran from funds that are already within Europe and vice versa. Further details are being worked out. However, this mechanism will include only trade in food and medicines. Petroleum products will be kept outside this mechanism.
The sources further stated that Pakistan is also considering various options for engaging in trade with Iran. Currently, trade with Iran is conducted mainly through Dubai. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, although, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between SBP and Bank Markazi Jamhouri Islami Iran (BMJII) on April 13, 2017 in Tehran, Pakistani banks are still reluctant to do business with the Iranian banks and have adopted a risk averse approach especially after the recent penalty imposed on Habib Bank Limited by US treasury. Another reason is comparatively low volume of trade with Iran compared with USA.
A committee under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Revenue comprising public and private sector (Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industries) representatives has been constituted. During the meetings of the committee, the SBP stated that since the entire banking sector is under sanctions, it is not possible to open branches of Iranian banks in Pakistan. Following deliberations, the committee has come up with the following proposals to overcome the payment problem with Iran: (i) seek waiver from the US on sanctions; (ii) establish a mechanism for barter trade; and (iii) set up a dedicated bank to do business with Iran.
The source said these proposals are under examination by the relevant Ministries and Departments in the light of their possible economic and political repercussions.
The Prime Minister is undertaking this long-awaited, important visit on the invitation of the President of Iran Seyed Hasan Rouhani on April 21, 2019 (today). According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, over the years, Pakistan''s relations with Iran have remained mired in several layers of mistrust, the most recent being Pakistan''s demand that Iran must take action against training camps of Baloch terror organizations on its soil.
Previously due to security issues along the Pak-Iran border, negative public statements against Pakistan have emanated from Iran, and the government, as part of its principled approach to strengthen its relations with neighbouring countries, is eager to explore all avenues of strengthening bilateral relations with Iran particularly in the economic areas.
The sources said Pakistan has pursued a policy of balanced engagement with Iran vis-Ã -vis Arab countries for the past several years. Given Pakistan''s financial compulsions, recent warming of its relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE has created an impression of a tilt in this balanced approach towards the Arabs, at the expense of Iran.
The sources said Pakistan can apply for waiver on the following grounds: (i) Pakistan''s economy is highly dependent on import of oil while Iran is an oil producing country and can offer oil to Pakistan at a comparatively cheaper price; and (ii) there has always been demand of medical/surgical instruments and Pakistani rice and fruits in Iran. Pakistan is quite capable of meeting Iranian needs of these products by improving the requisite logistics/infrastructure in this regard.
According to sources, in case legal means of trade are not explored between Iran and Pakistan, the population in border areas is likely be involved in exploring illegal means/channels of trading goods, which may ultimately give rise to the greater risks of money laundering and terror financing. Iranian authorities are charging a fee from Pakistani drivers and business community of Rs 3,750 as compared to Pakistan visa fee of Rs 2,750 being charged by Pakistan from Iranian citizens. The visa fee and visa can be cancelled any time by Iranian authorities without assigning any reason.
The export consignments from Pakistan to Iran are required to be attested by the consulate of Iran at Quetta with attestation fees of Rs 100,000 for consignment of Rs 100 million tons of rice and takes around 2-4 days. Pakistan has not imposed any such condition on Iranian imports. Load tax is charged at the rate of 10 per cent of the fare of Transport Company. If a truck is charged Rs 40,000 for travel from Quetta to Zahedan the transporter has to pay Rs 4000 even though the distance from Taftan border to Zahedan is 80 kms.
According to sources, there is a wide difference between trade data released by Iran Customs and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The Iranian customs data shows that the bilateral volume crossed $ 1 billion in 2017 while data reported by FBR shows the total trade of $ 392 million. Pakistan will emphasize the need of reconciliation of trade data. The government of Iran has imposed a ban on import of a number of agricultural goods including fruits and vegetables, seasonal ban on rice and the country specific ban on wheat from Pakistan. The ban on import of kinnows since 2011-12 is seriously affecting Pakistani fruit exporters and Pakistan is losing on average $ 30 million per annum.
Talking about Pak-Iran Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the sources said, in order to finalise the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Iran, three meetings of the Technical Negotiating Committee (NNC) have been held since 2016. The third meeting of the TNC was held in Tehran in 2017. Draft of FTA in goods and Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary have been shared.
The source said, US sanctions on Iran were categorized into primary sanctions and secondary sanctions. The primary sanctions prevented US citizens or entities from engaging in transactions with Iran and its government. The secondary sanctions were applicable were applicable to non-US person and entities. After GCPOA, the USA lifted the secondary sanctions on Iran with effect from January 26, 2016 while primary sanctions remained enforced. However, following US decision to withdraw from JCPOA, the secondary sanctions were re-introduced partly on August 7, 2018 and partly on November 5, 2018. The US issued 180 day waivers for relaxation of some of the sanctions with effect from November 5, 2018.
The secondary sanctions pertain to the following: (i) financial and banking institutions; (ii) insurance related issues; (iii) Iran''s energy and petrochemical sectors; (iv) shipping sector; (v) trade in gold and other previous metals; and (vi) supply of goods and services related to the auto sector.
In order to trade with Iran in the presence of US sanctions, countries have employed different methods. Countries including China, Japan and South Korea have been granted a waiver by the US for import of oil as the economies of these countries are largely dependent on oil imports from Iran. Similarly European countries have devised a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for trade with Iran. SPV facilitates European-Iran trade while reducing the need for transactions between the European and Iranian financial systems. It will do this by allowing European exporters to receive payments for sales to Iran from funds that are already within Europe and vice versa. Further details are being worked out. However, this mechanism will include only trade in food and medicines. Petroleum products will be kept outside this mechanism.
The sources further stated that Pakistan is also considering various options for engaging in trade with Iran. Currently, trade with Iran is conducted mainly through Dubai. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, although, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between SBP and Bank Markazi Jamhouri Islami Iran (BMJII) on April 13, 2017 in Tehran, Pakistani banks are still reluctant to do business with the Iranian banks and have adopted a risk averse approach especially after the recent penalty imposed on Habib Bank Limited by US treasury. Another reason is comparatively low volume of trade with Iran compared with USA.
A committee under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Revenue comprising public and private sector (Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industries) representatives has been constituted. During the meetings of the committee, the SBP stated that since the entire banking sector is under sanctions, it is not possible to open branches of Iranian banks in Pakistan. Following deliberations, the committee has come up with the following proposals to overcome the payment problem with Iran: (i) seek waiver from the US on sanctions; (ii) establish a mechanism for barter trade; and (iii) set up a dedicated bank to do business with Iran.
The source said these proposals are under examination by the relevant Ministries and Departments in the light of their possible economic and political repercussions.
Deceptive IRRI
strategy to get Golden Rice approved
Farida Akhter |
Published: 00:00, Apr 21,2019 | Updated: 21:20, Apr 20,2019
ON MARCH 7, 2019 the director general of the International Rice
Research Institute, Dr Matthew Morell visited Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute. He discussed with the director general Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir on ways
and means to strengthen collaboration on some frontier technologies and
projects such as Golden Rice, C4 Rice, Zinc Enriched Rice, and Transforming
Rice Breeding etc.
In the next few days, Dr Morell visited other institutions such as Krishibid Gobeshona Foundation at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and ACI Agribusiness. He also met the prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the prime minister’s office. His visit received wide media coverage mostly in the English dailies of the country. Indeed it was a high level visit by the IRRI chief.
IRRI activities to earth the approval of Golden Rice started in January 2019 as the application for approval was lodged to the ministry of environment in November 2017. On January 30 2019, the agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzak told journalists after a meeting with International Rice Research Institute that ‘Golden rice, a new variety of rice enriched with Vitamin A will be available soon in Bangladesh’. He said, ‘A committee of the environment ministry will give clearance to the rice for production. We will be able to start cultivation in Bangladesh within two to three months upon getting the clearance.’ He further said ‘Golden rice is more important than other varieties as it will help fight Vitamin A deficiency. The rice variety has already got clearance in USA, Canada and Australia.
This visit of Dr Mathew Morell in March was indeed a step forward to push the process of approval of Golden Rice. Since the announcement of the agriculture minister announced about the potential approval in March, there have been protests and concerns by environmental and farmers groups not only in Bangladesh but also at international level.
The Dhaka Tribune published an exclusive interview of Dr Mathew Morell. He said ‘both Bangladesh and the Philippines have taken the vitamin-A enriched ‘Golden Rice’ varietal development to an advanced stage now. Once the last steps of the bio-safety regulatory process are completed, he hoped vitamin-A enriched rice would hit the market and address to a large extent, the acute problem of vitamin-A deficiency.’
In another interview with the Daily Star he said the variety (Golden Rice) has got approval from regulatory agencies from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It is currently going through the regulatory process in Bangladesh and in the Philippines. He also responded on concerns related to Golden Rice, and said ‘the IRRI has very rigorous criteria for releasing the variety. This is why we went to go through the regulation process in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These are some of the toughest regulatory agencies in the world and Golden Rice met the criteria set by them.’
According to the Daily Star report the application for approval for commercial release was lodged to the National Committee of Biosafety in November, 2017. IRRI DG remarked, ‘It’s about 15 months. They are examining the dossier. So, we would hope that they will make their decision in the coming months.’
The agricultural minister expected that the clearance will be given by March, 2019. So far, there has been no media report about the clearance. In March 2019, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association using the Right to Information Act lodged an application to the ministry of environment seeking more information on the issue; the response was that since this is still under experimental stage, the ministry cannot provide any information on the status of the approval.
The IRRI chief, Dr Matthew Morell in his exclusive interview to the Daily Star has made several misleading statements regarding the Golden Rice approval from regulatory agencies in USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Referring to approval from regulatory agencies in the developed countries is irrelevant for Bangladesh and the Philippines. This reference is also meant to influence, rather mislead, the National Committee of Bio-safety of Bangladesh.
Rice producing countries of Asia, such as the Philippines, where International Rice Research Institute is situated could not introduce the field cultivation of this rice because of concerns from the environmental groups, while non-rice producing countries such as USA, Canada and Australia have given the clearance. It is indeed ironic. Bangladesh being a rice producing country with huge population of rice-eaters, known as ‘Bheto Bangalee’ has no relevance to the clearance in the non–rice producing developed countries.
Since there have been protests against the Golden Rice worldwide, particularly in the Philippines and Bangladesh, over last few years and concerns about its safety were expressed, Dr Mathew addressed the issue creating more confusion. He said ‘the IRRI has very rigorous criteria for releasing the variety. This is why we went to go through the regulation process in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These are some of the toughest regulatory agencies in the world and Golden Rice met the criteria set by them.’ It gives an impression that the IRRI went to these agencies seeking approval for cultivation of Golden Rice in these countries. This is far from the truth and is meant to deceive the common people and the policy makers in Bangladesh on the issue that if developed countries like USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada can give regulatory clearance for ‘cultivation/commercial release’ of Golden Rice, why can’t Bangladesh, especially when the country’s National Committee of Biosafety is evaluating the issue of commercial release of golden rice since November 2017. Should the National Committee on Bio-safety decide only on the basis of what the non-rice producing countries are doing, or it should take into consideration the bio-safety issues applicable to Bangladesh? If that is the case, then why did NCB decide to approve Bt Brinjal in 2013, despite the fact that India and the Philippines did not approve it on environmental considerations?
The international organisation, GRAIN has revealed the truth about the regulatory clearance in Australia and New Zealand. IRRI had made an application (A1138) to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand on November 16, 2016 requesting a variation to Schedule 26 in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) to include food from a new genetically modified (GM) rice (Oryza sativa) line, GR2E. According to the approval report dated December 20, 2017, the Golden Rice (GR2E) is not intended for commercialisation in Australia or New Zealand i.e. neither for growing or intentional sale in the food supply. The applicant (IRRI) has however applied for food approval because it is possible the rice could inadvertently enter the food supply via exports from countries that may supply significant quantities of milled rice to Australia or New Zealand. So approving this crop will prevent trade disruption should GR2E be inadvertently present in imported shipments of milled rice. The report further says that the uncooked GR2E paddy or brown rice could not be imported into Australia or New Zealand without an environmental approval from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator in Australia or the Environmental Protection Authority in New Zealand because the presence of the embryo means the rice could be germinated i.e. would be regarded as a viable genetically modified organism.
The FSANZ approval report does not stop here. It further says that the whole rice and unrefined rice products derived from line GR2E would be required to carry the mandatory statement ‘genetically modified’ on the label of the package of food. This labeling requirement will apply to rice sold as a single ingredient food (e.g. a package of rice) and when the rice is used as an ingredient in another food (e.g. rice flour, rice milk).
Similarly, GRAIN also revealed the truth about the United States Food and Drug Administration regulatory approval to Golden Rice. It explicitly states that GR2E rice is not currently intended for cultivation or marketing and not intended for human or animal food uses in the United States. The FDA letter (dated 24 May 2018) to the IRRI clearly indicates that the Manila based International Rice institute submitted its documents to FDA (on November 14, 2016) for a ‘consultation’ on safety and nutritional assessment of GR2E (Golden Rice) with the FDA’s Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Centre for Veterinary Medicine. The FDA says, ‘although GR2E rice is not intended for human or animal food uses in the United States, when present, it would be a producer’s or distributer’s responsibility to ensure that labeling of human and animal foods marketed in the United States, meets applicable legal requirements’. In fact FDA clearance, which Mr. Morell cites, rather questions the nutrient content in Golden Rice when it says, ‘although the concentration of Beta-carotene in GR2E rice is too low to warrant a nutrient content claim, the beta-carotene in GR2E rice results in grain that is yellow-golden in color.’
The so-called ‘clearance by the regulatory agency in Canada’, as boasted by the IRRI Director, is actually just an opinion from the Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada on the ‘food use’ of Provitamin A Biofortified Rice Event GR2E (Golden Rice) because it is possible that raw commodity or food products derived from GR2E rice may unintentionally enter Canada via imports from countries of production. As per the Novel Food Decisions dated March 16 2018, the Health Canada received a submission in 2017 to allow the sale of Golden Rice as food. The technical summary of this case clearly point out that if IRRI, in future, has an interest in selling golden rice in Canada, compliance with the Food and Drug Regulations regarding the addition of vitamins to foods would be required.
Another important point to mention here is that in all these cases where Golden rice has got clearance from the ‘toughest regulatory agencies in the world’, the decisions have been taken based on the data supplied by the IRRI and these foreign agencies have probably not conducted any field study or environmental studies on the golden rice. And it is mainly because the golden rice is not meant for cultivation or use as seeds in any of these countries which granted its approval. And it gets established by the fact that in all these countries the IRRI applied in 2016 and 2017 and within few months of the application, the approval in the forms of an opinion was granted.
It is quite disgraceful that director general of IRRI is using the Bangladesh media to deceive the people and the policy of Bangladesh by presenting a half-truth about the regulatory clearance on golden rice in USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This shows that the IRRI is desperate to get clearance in Bangladesh for commercial cultivation. They do not care about the potential risks it poses for the country and the major crop rice. It is also a threat to all other rice producing countries. Taking advantage of ‘weak’ regulatory agency and influencing of the authorities with misleading facts in unethical.
It is also very surprising that IRRI is showing more interest in getting it approved than the applicant organisation Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. It is IRRI which is trying so hard for the approval using Bangladeshi regulatory agencies on GMOs. Why?
In the next few days, Dr Morell visited other institutions such as Krishibid Gobeshona Foundation at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and ACI Agribusiness. He also met the prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the prime minister’s office. His visit received wide media coverage mostly in the English dailies of the country. Indeed it was a high level visit by the IRRI chief.
IRRI activities to earth the approval of Golden Rice started in January 2019 as the application for approval was lodged to the ministry of environment in November 2017. On January 30 2019, the agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzak told journalists after a meeting with International Rice Research Institute that ‘Golden rice, a new variety of rice enriched with Vitamin A will be available soon in Bangladesh’. He said, ‘A committee of the environment ministry will give clearance to the rice for production. We will be able to start cultivation in Bangladesh within two to three months upon getting the clearance.’ He further said ‘Golden rice is more important than other varieties as it will help fight Vitamin A deficiency. The rice variety has already got clearance in USA, Canada and Australia.
This visit of Dr Mathew Morell in March was indeed a step forward to push the process of approval of Golden Rice. Since the announcement of the agriculture minister announced about the potential approval in March, there have been protests and concerns by environmental and farmers groups not only in Bangladesh but also at international level.
The Dhaka Tribune published an exclusive interview of Dr Mathew Morell. He said ‘both Bangladesh and the Philippines have taken the vitamin-A enriched ‘Golden Rice’ varietal development to an advanced stage now. Once the last steps of the bio-safety regulatory process are completed, he hoped vitamin-A enriched rice would hit the market and address to a large extent, the acute problem of vitamin-A deficiency.’
In another interview with the Daily Star he said the variety (Golden Rice) has got approval from regulatory agencies from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It is currently going through the regulatory process in Bangladesh and in the Philippines. He also responded on concerns related to Golden Rice, and said ‘the IRRI has very rigorous criteria for releasing the variety. This is why we went to go through the regulation process in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These are some of the toughest regulatory agencies in the world and Golden Rice met the criteria set by them.’
According to the Daily Star report the application for approval for commercial release was lodged to the National Committee of Biosafety in November, 2017. IRRI DG remarked, ‘It’s about 15 months. They are examining the dossier. So, we would hope that they will make their decision in the coming months.’
The agricultural minister expected that the clearance will be given by March, 2019. So far, there has been no media report about the clearance. In March 2019, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association using the Right to Information Act lodged an application to the ministry of environment seeking more information on the issue; the response was that since this is still under experimental stage, the ministry cannot provide any information on the status of the approval.
The IRRI chief, Dr Matthew Morell in his exclusive interview to the Daily Star has made several misleading statements regarding the Golden Rice approval from regulatory agencies in USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Referring to approval from regulatory agencies in the developed countries is irrelevant for Bangladesh and the Philippines. This reference is also meant to influence, rather mislead, the National Committee of Bio-safety of Bangladesh.
Rice producing countries of Asia, such as the Philippines, where International Rice Research Institute is situated could not introduce the field cultivation of this rice because of concerns from the environmental groups, while non-rice producing countries such as USA, Canada and Australia have given the clearance. It is indeed ironic. Bangladesh being a rice producing country with huge population of rice-eaters, known as ‘Bheto Bangalee’ has no relevance to the clearance in the non–rice producing developed countries.
Since there have been protests against the Golden Rice worldwide, particularly in the Philippines and Bangladesh, over last few years and concerns about its safety were expressed, Dr Mathew addressed the issue creating more confusion. He said ‘the IRRI has very rigorous criteria for releasing the variety. This is why we went to go through the regulation process in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These are some of the toughest regulatory agencies in the world and Golden Rice met the criteria set by them.’ It gives an impression that the IRRI went to these agencies seeking approval for cultivation of Golden Rice in these countries. This is far from the truth and is meant to deceive the common people and the policy makers in Bangladesh on the issue that if developed countries like USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada can give regulatory clearance for ‘cultivation/commercial release’ of Golden Rice, why can’t Bangladesh, especially when the country’s National Committee of Biosafety is evaluating the issue of commercial release of golden rice since November 2017. Should the National Committee on Bio-safety decide only on the basis of what the non-rice producing countries are doing, or it should take into consideration the bio-safety issues applicable to Bangladesh? If that is the case, then why did NCB decide to approve Bt Brinjal in 2013, despite the fact that India and the Philippines did not approve it on environmental considerations?
The international organisation, GRAIN has revealed the truth about the regulatory clearance in Australia and New Zealand. IRRI had made an application (A1138) to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand on November 16, 2016 requesting a variation to Schedule 26 in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) to include food from a new genetically modified (GM) rice (Oryza sativa) line, GR2E. According to the approval report dated December 20, 2017, the Golden Rice (GR2E) is not intended for commercialisation in Australia or New Zealand i.e. neither for growing or intentional sale in the food supply. The applicant (IRRI) has however applied for food approval because it is possible the rice could inadvertently enter the food supply via exports from countries that may supply significant quantities of milled rice to Australia or New Zealand. So approving this crop will prevent trade disruption should GR2E be inadvertently present in imported shipments of milled rice. The report further says that the uncooked GR2E paddy or brown rice could not be imported into Australia or New Zealand without an environmental approval from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator in Australia or the Environmental Protection Authority in New Zealand because the presence of the embryo means the rice could be germinated i.e. would be regarded as a viable genetically modified organism.
The FSANZ approval report does not stop here. It further says that the whole rice and unrefined rice products derived from line GR2E would be required to carry the mandatory statement ‘genetically modified’ on the label of the package of food. This labeling requirement will apply to rice sold as a single ingredient food (e.g. a package of rice) and when the rice is used as an ingredient in another food (e.g. rice flour, rice milk).
Similarly, GRAIN also revealed the truth about the United States Food and Drug Administration regulatory approval to Golden Rice. It explicitly states that GR2E rice is not currently intended for cultivation or marketing and not intended for human or animal food uses in the United States. The FDA letter (dated 24 May 2018) to the IRRI clearly indicates that the Manila based International Rice institute submitted its documents to FDA (on November 14, 2016) for a ‘consultation’ on safety and nutritional assessment of GR2E (Golden Rice) with the FDA’s Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Centre for Veterinary Medicine. The FDA says, ‘although GR2E rice is not intended for human or animal food uses in the United States, when present, it would be a producer’s or distributer’s responsibility to ensure that labeling of human and animal foods marketed in the United States, meets applicable legal requirements’. In fact FDA clearance, which Mr. Morell cites, rather questions the nutrient content in Golden Rice when it says, ‘although the concentration of Beta-carotene in GR2E rice is too low to warrant a nutrient content claim, the beta-carotene in GR2E rice results in grain that is yellow-golden in color.’
The so-called ‘clearance by the regulatory agency in Canada’, as boasted by the IRRI Director, is actually just an opinion from the Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada on the ‘food use’ of Provitamin A Biofortified Rice Event GR2E (Golden Rice) because it is possible that raw commodity or food products derived from GR2E rice may unintentionally enter Canada via imports from countries of production. As per the Novel Food Decisions dated March 16 2018, the Health Canada received a submission in 2017 to allow the sale of Golden Rice as food. The technical summary of this case clearly point out that if IRRI, in future, has an interest in selling golden rice in Canada, compliance with the Food and Drug Regulations regarding the addition of vitamins to foods would be required.
Another important point to mention here is that in all these cases where Golden rice has got clearance from the ‘toughest regulatory agencies in the world’, the decisions have been taken based on the data supplied by the IRRI and these foreign agencies have probably not conducted any field study or environmental studies on the golden rice. And it is mainly because the golden rice is not meant for cultivation or use as seeds in any of these countries which granted its approval. And it gets established by the fact that in all these countries the IRRI applied in 2016 and 2017 and within few months of the application, the approval in the forms of an opinion was granted.
It is quite disgraceful that director general of IRRI is using the Bangladesh media to deceive the people and the policy of Bangladesh by presenting a half-truth about the regulatory clearance on golden rice in USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This shows that the IRRI is desperate to get clearance in Bangladesh for commercial cultivation. They do not care about the potential risks it poses for the country and the major crop rice. It is also a threat to all other rice producing countries. Taking advantage of ‘weak’ regulatory agency and influencing of the authorities with misleading facts in unethical.
It is also very surprising that IRRI is showing more interest in getting it approved than the applicant organisation Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. It is IRRI which is trying so hard for the approval using Bangladeshi regulatory agencies on GMOs. Why?
Farida Akhter is the executive director of UBINIG and organiser
of Nayakrishi Andolon.
The newly-enacted rice tariffication law mandates the
establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice sector P10 billion in financial
support annually for six years beginning this 2019.
Rice tariff fund to benefit local machinery sector
Czeriza
Valencia (The Philippine Star) - April 21, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — A large
portion of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) will be used to
modernize rice farms, boosting demand for local machinery in the process, the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
The newly-enacted rice
tariffication law mandates the establishment of RCEF that guarantees the rice
sector P10 billion in financial support annually for six years beginning this
2019.
According to its implementing
rules and regulations, half of the rice fund, amounting to P5 billion annually,
will be used by the government to procure rice farm equipment through the
Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).
Farm machinery as tillers,
tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters, and irrigation pumps
will be given as a grant-in-kind to eligible farmers, rice farmer associations
and registered rice cooperatives.
As a result, the existing outlay
of the DA on farm mechanization for will have an additional P5 billion
allocation from only P1.92 billion in 2018.
“Modernizing the rice industry
has a multiplier effect on the economy. It will not only make our rice farms
more efficient and productive. It will also push the demand for farm equipment
up, thereby boosting the manufacturing industry and creating more jobs for
Filipinos,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.
PhilMech is required to procure
from accredited local manufacturers, when appropriate, to support local
manufacturers of farm machines and equipment.
PhilMech is also tasked to
formulate implementing guidelines on rice farm equipment component consistent
with the Rice Industry Roadmap.
This will include the eligibility
criteria for prospective recipients, modality of selection, and mode of
implementation and the accountability system in the procurement and
distribution of rice farm equipment.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice
Research Institute will receive 30 percent of the RCEF to develop, propagate
and promote inbred rice seeds to rice farmers and organizations of rice
farmers.
The Land Bank of the Philippines
and the Development Bank of the Philippines will be given 10 percent of the
fund for the creation of a credit facility with minimal interest rates and
collateral requirements
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/04/21/1911156/rice-tariff-fund-benefit-local-machinery-sector#zJ389EtD9S12vell.99https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/04/21/1911156/rice-tariff-fund-benefit-local-machinery-sector
China Focus:
Builders of the Belt and Road
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-04-22 16:17:21|Editor: mingmei
BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Situated on a road less than 2 km
in the Haidian District of Beijing are research institutes and a university
that not only share the same location, but also a same role: builders of the
Belt and Road.
"We have research institutes on railway construction,
agricultural technology, metallurgical research on this road. They are all
making contributions to building the Belt and Road," said Lei Yumei,
deputy Party secretary of the district's Beixiaguan community.
Situated at the road's southernmost end is Beijing Jiaotong
University, which established a railway technology education and service center
in 2013.
In the past six years, the center has carried out 69 training
projects on railway construction in 46 countries and regions, most of which are
participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
"The training covers topics such as railway planning and
construction, railway operation and management and is mainly for senior
managers and mid-level technical personnel," said Zhu Xiaoning, director
of the center.
"The training projects not only help promote the
implementation of the railway construction projects, but also enhance cultural
exchanges between countries," Zhu said.
"Many of the managers and personnel didn't know China well
before the training. But afterward, the earlier prejudice they held against our
railway construction technologies was gone. They gave us a thumbs-up," Zhu
said.
The China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited
(CARS), which neighbors Beijing Jiaotong University, is also carrying out
railway construction projects in Kenya and Indonesia.
"We are responsible for the supervision, consultation and
related technical services of the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung
High-Speed Railway," said Wang Jijun, representative of CARS' office in
Indonesia, who has been working in Indonesia for more than three years.
In 2015, China and Indonesia signed a joint-venture agreement on
the construction of the high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung, the
first such project overseas.
"We are now working hard to make preparations for its
completion in 2021," Wang said.
Apart from railway construction, agricultural technologies have
also been shared along the Belt and Road.
The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), at the
road's northernmost end, has provided more than 70 hybrid rice varieties to
Belt and Road countries including Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines for
variety testing and seed production in recent years.
Joint hybrid rice research centers have also been established in
Indonesia and Pakistan to provide high-quality and high-yielding rice varieties
to local farmers.
"We are very proud that so many from the university and
institutes on this road are builders of the Belt and Road. We will try our best
to provide services for them and do our part in building the Belt and
Road," Lei Yumei said.
Food exports
dip 2.4pc to $3.34bn
ByAPP
April 21, 2019
🔊 Listen to Article
—Imports decline by 7.96pc to $40.755 billion from $44.281
billion recorded during 9 months of current fiscal year
ISLAMABAD: The food exports from Pakistan witnessed a negative growth
of 2.4 per cent after they went down to $3,348.144 million during the first
three quarters of the ongoing fiscal year compared to the exports of $3,430.346
million during the corresponding period of fiscal year 2017-18, Pakistan Bureau
of Statistics (PBS) reported.
The food commodities that contributed in negative growth of food
group trade included rice exports which slipped by 0.48 per cent, from
$1494.667 million during July-March (2017-18) against exports of $1487.510
million during July-March 2018-19.
The exports of fish and fish preparations also decreased from
$315.614 million to $293.887 million, showing a decline of 6.88 per cent during
the period under review while the exports of vegetables decreased by 2.48 per
cent, from $172.623 million to $168.338 million.
Tobacco exports decreased by 24.72 per cent, from $23.745
million to $17.875 million, whereas the exports of sugar also decreased by
68.20 per cent, from $362.043 last year to $115.130 million during the current
fiscal year.
The exports of meat and meat preparations also decreased by 1.42
per cent during the period under review by slipping from $159.166 million to
$156.901 million, the PBS data revealed.
Meanwhile, the food products that witnessed positive growth in
external trade included fruit exports which increased by 8.66 per cent to $369.225
million from $339.814 million, whereas the wheat exports increased by 104.11
percent, from $59.710 million to $121.872 million.
The exports of spices increased from $59.698 million to $68.445
million, an increase of 14.65 per cent while the exports of oil seeds, nuts and
kernels increased by 117.88 per cent, from $31.888 million to $69.479 million.
The exports of all other food items also witnessed positive
growth of 16.56 per cent by going up from $411.378 million last year to
$479.482 million.
Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the food exports from the
country declined by 19.88 per cent from $589.238 million in March 2018 to
$472.083 million.
On a month-on-month basis, the exports from the country
witnessed positive growth of 15.63 per cent in March 2019 when compared to the
exports of $408.263 million in February 2019.
It is pertinent to mention here that overall merchandise trade
deficit decreased by 13.02 per cent during July-March 2018-19 as the deficit
contracted by over $3.544 billion to $23.672 billion in the period under review
against the deficit of $27.216 billion recorded during same period of the
previous year.
The exports during the period under review witnessed an increase
of 0.11% to $17.08 billion from $17.064 billion during July-March 2017-18.
On the other hand, the imports declined by 7.96 per cent to
$40.755 billion from $44.281 billion recorded during the first nine months of
the current fiscal year.
On a year-on-year basis, the imports into the country witnessed
a negative growth of 20.88 per cent during March 2019 when compared to the
imports of the same month of last year. The imports during March 2019 were
recorded at $4.155 billion against the imports of $5.25 billion in March 2018
China Focus:
Chinese scientists use rice straw to desalinate seawater
BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have developed
an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for
clean water production.
Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for
purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute
of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation
device from wasted rice straw.
The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water
pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose
to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are
designed as water pumps.
The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean
water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg
on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with
over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.
Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for
extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats,
wetlands and marshes.
The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials
and Interfaces.
As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global
concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to
increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.
According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great
need to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven
steam generation has attracted wide attention.
“As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be
harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and
sustainable technologies that address the water crisis worldwide,” Liu said.
To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed.
Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials
such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials,
they are not suitable for large-scale applications.
Liu’s team explores new materials and new engineering designs to
improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of
desalination.
Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice
straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it
possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery
capability through its culms.
China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers
traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been
banned in many places.
“If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean
water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology,” Liu
said.
The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous
regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods,
earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining
clean water, according to the team.
Liu’s team is also researching other solar thermal materials,
which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in
three years.
An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from
Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in
using solar energy to desalinate sea water.
“By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for
desalination can be further reduced,” Zhu said.
The market
ramifications of increased rice imports in the Philippines
The Philippines has lifted
restrictions on rice imports
under new legislation aimed at bridging the supply gap and reducing prices.
restrictions on rice imports
under new legislation aimed at bridging the supply gap and reducing prices.
On February 14, President Rodrigo
Duterte ratified the Rice Tariffication Law, which had been passed by
Parliament in November.
The new law, which went into
effect on March 5, lifts quantitative restrictions on rice imports and removes
the importing role of the National Food Authority (NFA), allowing licensed
private operators to ship rice directly from abroad.
In place of the former
restrictions, rice imports from Asean member states are now subject to a 35 per
cent tariff, while non-Asean states will face either a 50 per cent charge or
equivalent tariff in accordance with the World Trade Organisation agreement on
agriculture with the Philippines.
Domestic inflation and pressure
from international partners motivated lawmakers to reform the two-decade-long
policy of capping rice imports to protect Filipino rice farmers.
According to preliminary estimates
from the Department of Finance, the state stands to gain 27 billion pesos
(US$511 million) per year in revenue from the tariffs, as imports are projected
to double to three million tonnes.
Prior to the law’s ratification,
importers moved to gain approval for increased shipments, with the NFA
announcing in late January that it had approved applications from 180 brokers
for the import of 1.2 million tonnes of rice.
Liberalisation set to relieve
inflationary pressures
Last year inflation peaked at 6.7
per cent in September and October – partially due to rising rice prices, which
increased more than 18 per cent year-on-year in late September – before easing
to 5.1 per cent at year’s end and dropping further to 4.4 per cent in January.
Rice price increases were
attributed at least partly to higher operating costs for farmers as a result of
new taxes on products such as gasoline, imposed in the Tax Reform for
Acceleration and Inclusion, which became effective on January 1 last year.
In February the Asean+3 Macroeconomic
Research Office (AMRO) forecast that the Rice Tariffication Law would ease
supply side pressures contributing to inflation.
At the time, AMRO said that if
the new legislation was implemented by March, it could reduce inflation by 0.7
per cent this year, bringing headline inflation down to 3.2 per cent.
Winners and losers from new
rice tariff law
While the liberalisation of the
Philippine rice market is expected to positively impact prices and check
inflation, it has been met with trepidation by domestic producers of the
staple.
“While the rice tariffication law
is intended to help the economy, rice farmers are challenged to compete against
cheaper imports.
“The focus now is to increase
farm productivity so that they may maintain their income while anticipating a
drop in palay prices,” Nicholas Gam, general manager of agricultural products
supplier Yara Philippines, told OBG.
Among other organisations, the
Peasant Movement of the Philippines criticised the new law, saying that it
threatened the livelihoods of 500,000 of the country’s 2.4 million rice
farmers.
Furthermore, the research
foundation Ibon warned in February that the legislation could adversely affect
farmers and may not reduce the price of the grain, given international rice
market volatility and that rice production in neighbouring states is heavily
subsidised.
Accompanying legislation to
boost domestic competitiveness
While local rice growers will
find themselves under pressure following the implementation of the new law,
there is potential for the expansion of the domestic sector if producers move
to higher-value farming by increasing quality and productivity.
Nevertheless, achieving this
objective will require greater action and funding to support the development of
the domestic rice industry.
In order to buffer the impact of
these changes on farmers and support a domestic productivity drive, a 10
billion pesos (US$190.2 million) public, per annum fund has been voted through
in conjunction with the new law to help farmers increase their competitiveness.
The new fund is set to be
capitalised through revenue gained from rice tariffs and will remain in place
until 2025.
Half of this fund will be used to
provide aid to farmers’ associations, cooperatives and local government units.
Rather than a monetary subsidy, the five billion pesos (US$95.1 million) will
be paid in kind as farm equipment to improve mechanisation.
The remaining balance will be
used to provide low-cost loans to producers, support agricultural education
programmes and provide seeds.
According to the International
Rice Research Institute, hybrid seeds produce 10-15 per cent higher yields and
are more resistant to disease than those sown by domestic farmers.
Yet despite this, only 10 per
cent of Philippine rice producers currently use hybrid seeds.
Therefore, there have been
increasing calls from Philippine stakeholders to remove tariffs on hybrid seed
varieties to increase usage of these strains by domestic producers.
This Philippines economic update
was produced by Oxford Business Group.
The House deputy majority leader maintained that
establishing the Rice Stock Market could be among the first items of the Rice
Industry Roadmap as mandated by the law and its implementing rules and
regulations.
Creation of ‘Rice Stock Exchange’ pushed
Delon
Porcalla (The Philippine Star) - April 21, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — With the
implementation of the Rice Tariffication law, the national government should
also establish an industry counterpart of the Philippine Stock Exchange to
prevent price manipulation and supply shortages in the future.
Rep. Ron Salo of
party-list Kabayan urged implementors of Republic Act 11203 to
execute the “long-delayed plans for a Rice Stock Market” especially since
“modern rice trading mechanism should both have physical location
and internet and mobile application access.”
“This is necessary for
transparent and open market trading of rice between buyers and sellers, with
the regulators and the public keeping a watchful eye on trades made, to thwart
attempts at price manipulation, oversupply and shortages,” he pointed out.
He added that the “identities of
all rice buyers, sellers and brokers should be open for all to see. Location
information on all their bonded warehouses and other warehouses must be
available on the Rice Stock Exchange.”
The House deputy majority leader
maintained that establishing the Rice Stock Market could be among the first
items of the Rice Industry Roadmap as mandated by the law and its implementing
rules and regulations.
Salo said other rice-producing
countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia and elsewhere in the world have long had
mercantile exchanges where rice has been traded along with other major
agricultural commodities.
“We have really been left behind.
We are actually centuries behind. Grains have been traded in the mercantile
exchanges of the US and Europe since the 19th century. Here in Asia, modern
farm commodities trading began in the 1990s,” he disclosed.
“It is only through Rice Stock
Exchange that we will be able to know the exact supply status of the staple as
well as the demand for rice in the whole country. We will also
see palay buying price for Filipino farmers, and the cost of imported
rice shipments,” he added.
Meanwhile, a party-list group
that represents the poor and marginalized farmers in the House of
Representatives has called on the government to achieve self-sufficiency in
producing the rice staple instead of depending heavily on imports from other countries.
“If there is a lesson that could
be learned from the current Philippine drought, it is the ‘untenability’ of
anchoring the rice and food security needs of our country on importation,” said
Rep. Cecil Chavez of party-list Butil.
She added that a drought in the
world’s top rice-producing countries, like giants China and India, “could wipe
out the global rice surplus overnight and plunge the rice-consuming countries
into a mad scramble for available rice at skyrocketing prices.”
Chavez said a dry spell in these
countries, touted as the “world’s top rice producers,” will definitely be more
than enough to “radically bring down global rice production and instantly wipe
out the 50 million metric tons of rice surplus that is traded on the global
market.”
“If the rice production in China
and India falters, no amount of bountiful yields from Vietnam, Thailand and
Bangladesh could offset the production loss from the two big countries,” she
asserted.
She also said that the global
rice surplus of about 50 million metric tons is enough during normal times but
could disappear overnight once China or India ramp up their rice
importation.
China, despite its record as the
top rice producer, imports rice regularly, around six million metric tons
annually, she added.
The drop in the volume of
globally traded rice would bring a worst-case scenario to the Philippines,
which has abandoned the pursuit of rice self-sufficiency in favor of unlimited
rice importation, Chavez maintained.
In 2008, the Philippines imported
more than two million metric tons of rice to offset the drought-induced short
supply, a world record. If that scenario will take place in either China
and or India, there surely will be panic and confusion in the rice-consuming
countries.
Chavez said there is “no
alternative to rice self-sufficiency, which the Philippine government can
pursue on the basis on moderate costs and sound economics.”
“If the Philippine government
will just give half of the support that the governments of Vietnam and Thailand
currently give to their rice farmers, we will be on our road to rice
self-sufficiency,” she claimed.
She said that the basis of the
policy to end the quantitative restriction on rice imports and open up the
country to unlimited rice importation was based on “voodoo economics” and was
peddled by the economic managers of the Duterte administration.
Chavez asked for a reset on the
policy and the pursuit of the more tenable and stable option of producing rice
that is enough for the national requirements.
Dilemma over rice
export
Published: April
20, 2019 22:08:02
The reported
strong pleas from the rice traders to lift ban on rice export has again brought
to the fore the issue whether the country has exportable surplus of the cereal.
Traders during a meeting held late last week requested the commerce minister to
reconsider the ban that has been in place in the case of common varieties of
rice for more than a decade. The latter, however, refrained from making any
commitment and assured the traders of discussing the issue at appropriate
levels.
When
Bangladesh exported 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka under a
government-to-government special deal struck in 2014, there was a raging debate
whether the former has an exportable surplus of the food item. The truth is the
country has been a net importer of rice for many decades. The volume of import
of the main staple depended on its domestic production. In 2017, import
of rice by both private and public sectors reached a record level--- nearly 3.2
million tonnes--- when two consecutive floods wrought havoc on boro rice
production.
The government
also then had cut the duty rates from 28 per cent to only 2.0 per cent on rice
import to help tame soaring rice prices in the local market. The domestic food
stocks, however, have greatly improved since then due to good harvest in
consecutive seasons. The government has raised the import tariff to the
previous level and the volume of import of the item has come down to a very low
level. The food department's silos do also have sufficient food reserves---
more than 1.2 million tonnes-now.
Against the
backdrop of fluctuations in food production, a couple of issues have emerged.
Firstly, whether the country is really self-sufficient in food production and,
secondly, whether it has exportable surplus. There is no denying that a country
where rice remains the main staple does need to meet the domestic consumption
need first before considering export of the item. In the case of good harvests,
the country does have enough rice to feed its population. But, it has always
remained dependent on import for building the food reserve.
The volume of
rice import goes up substantially in the event of any crop failure, a very
likely development because of the country's high vulnerability to natural
calamities such as floods and cyclones. Amidst such uncertainty, the relevant
policymakers should take into cognizance the ground realities before allowing
export of common rice varieties in what maybe perceived to gain a false sense
of pride for the country as a rice exporter.
Besides, there
exists a potential danger in the rice export move. As soon as the government
allows export of common varieties of rice, the possibility of local market
reacting adversely cannot be ruled out. The rice prices that have been
otherwise stable in recent months could become volatile again. Under the
circumstances, the government might consider allowing the traders to export a
limited quantity of aromatic rice. As far as export of other common varieties
of rice is concerned, the country should ensure the best agricultural prices to
help raise food production that would leave truly exportable surplus. A country
that has more than tripled its food production over a period of four decades
does surely have the latent capacity to achieve that milestone.
Nellore: Paddy
growers in a fix over low market price
DECCAN CHRONICLE.
| PATHRI
RAJASEKHAR
PublishedApr 21, 2019, 6:40 am IST
UpdatedApr 21, 2019, 6:40 am IST
Millers not very keen on procuring produce from
farmers.
The growers want to supply paddy to PPCs that are
offering Rs 1,770 per quintal rice of ‘A’ grade with market rate being Rs
1,500.
Nellore: Paddy growers in a fix over where to sell
their produce because of the tantrums being thrown by rice millers in procuring
paddy.
Though the government had opened around
98 paddy purchase centres (PPCs) across SPSR Nellore district, the procurement
is too slow.
The growers want to supply paddy to PPCs that
are offering Rs 1,770 per quintal rice of ‘A’ grade with market rate being Rs
1,500.
Market price, which is less than the
procurement price, is the main reason for lack of interest being shown by
millers to collect the paddy from growers.
The government is treating the widely
cultivated ‘Nellore Masoori’ variety as A grade when it is in the shape of
paddy. The same, however, becomes ‘B’ grade after converting as rice.
This way, millers tend to lose `630 per
tonne tonnne of paddy after conversion.
Last year, the state government had compensated
this loss in Nellore district at the instance of agriculture minister Somireddy
Chandramohan Reddy.
The state also paid `210 as bonus for ‘A’ grade
variety of rice to compensate for broken (virugullu in Telugu) paddy, which was
rampant in Nellore last year, at the instance of the minister.
There is no such initiative because of election
code this time. The only solace for farmers is that the Central government has
hiked minimum support price by `200 this time though it is no match to what the
state government offered last year.
Telangana: Harvest-ready papaya damaged in Khammam
He, along with
Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Ch Priyanka, visited Chimmapudi village
of Raghunathapalem mandal to take stock of the situation. He interacted with
papaya growers whose standing crop suffered damage.
By Author | Published: 20th Apr 2019 10:15 pmUpdated: 21st Apr 2019 12:48 am
Khammam: Collector RV Karnan on Saturday directed officials of the
Agriculture and Horticulture departments to submit reports on the crop loss
caused by recent unseasonal rains in the district. He, along with Zilla
Parishad Chief Executive Officer Ch Priyanka, visited Chimmapudi village of
Raghunathapalem mandal to take stock of the situation. He interacted with
papaya growers whose standing crop suffered damage.
The farmers informed the Collector
that at the papaya was cultivated on an extent of around 45 acres. Fifteen
famers invested Rs 3 lakh each and they were scheduled to harvest the crop in
the next two days, but the rain damaged it.
The Collector assured the farmers
that a report on crop loss would be submitted to the State government and all
possible help would be extended to them at the earliest. He also suggested that
they take up alternative crop cultivation to overcome the loss.
Karnan directed transport
contractors to provide sufficient number of vehicles for the transportation of
paddy from procurement centres to warehouses. He held a meeting with the
officials of Civil Supplies Department, DRDA, paddy procurement centres
in-charges, transport contractors and rice millers at the Collectorate to
review paddy procurement.
He wanted the all departments and
officials to make coordinated efforts for speedy and smooth procurement of
paddy. He cautioned against stocking the yield at markets, IKP centres and
fields situated in low-lying areas. District Agriculture Officer Jhansi Lakshmi
Kumari, ADAs G Saritha and Srinivas Rao, ZPTC Veeru Naik and others accompanied
the Collector to Chimmapudi village.
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Govt to show zero tolerance
against irregularities, says food minister
Boro rice procurement
ANISUR RAHMAN KHAN, Dhaka
The government will not tolerate
any irregularities in the procurement of Boro rice, and if any official or
employee is found guilty during procurement, he or she would have to face legal
action. The ministry will also file divisional cases against any corrupt
official or employee found guilty during Boro procurement, and they would lose
their jobs as well.
Food minister Shadhan Chandra
Majumder made these statements while talking to The Independent yesterday
(Saturday). Earlier, the government decided to procure 12.50 lakh tonnes of
Boro rice this Boro season to increase its buffer stocks. It will also procure
50,000 tonnes of wheat.
“The government has set the Boro
production target at 1.96 crore metric tonnes this year,” said Md. Mizanur
Rahman, deputy director (monitoring), field services wing, Department of
Agricultural Extension (DAE), adding that the farmers have cultivated a total
of 49.33 lakh hectares of Boro. The figure was 49 lakh hectares last year.
“We want to ensure proper
interest on the part of the Boro farmers. Boro rice will be procured from
farmers directly this year. Only card-holder farmers can supply their products
to local food offices and their payments will be made to their bank accounts,”
Majumder said.
At a recent meeting, the minister
warned the regional controller of food (RCF) to maintain transparency during
Boro procurement, which is scheduled to begin from April 25.
“We won’t tolerate any
irregularities during procurement. If anyone is found guilty, he or she would
have to face the music,” the food minister warned the RCF.
The food minister also said
committees have been formed, headed by upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs),
comprising agricultural officers and local representatives, so that real
farmers get proper prices for the crops they have grown.
While the food ministry was
planning to buy local Boro rice from farmers at Tk. 39 per kg this year, the
FPMC eventually decided to buy the rice for Tk. 36 a kg, maintaining similarity
with the Aman procurement price, after estimating the production cost of Boro
at Tk. 34 a kg.
The agriculture ministry
estimated the production costs of paddy and rice at Tk. 23.50 and Tk. 34 a kg,
respectively, the food minister said.
“The directorate-general of food
(DG Food) will start buying Boro rice and paddy from April 25 from local
farmers and rice millers. We will buy 11 lakh metric tonnes of rice, both
boiled and Atap varieties, and 1.50 lakh tonnes of paddy,” Majumder said.
According to the estimation, 1.50
lakh tonnes of paddy are equivalent to 1 lakh tonnes of rice. The price of
paddy was fixed at Tk. 26 per kg this year, estimating its production cost at
Tk. 23.50 per kg, the food minister said. He also said the
authorities would buy boiled rice
for Tk. 36 a kg, while Atap rice would be bought for Tk. 35 a kg.
According to the food minister,
the department concerned under the food ministry had bought nine lakh tonnes of
rice and 1.5 lakh tonnes of paddy last year.
Rahman added that the government
has set the rice production target at 3.64 crore tonnes for the current fiscal
year (2018–19), with an emphasis on the high-yielding variety (HYV).
The target has been set to
produce 2.98 crore tonnes of HYV in the current year against last year’s
production of nearly 3 crore tonnes, he added. The DAE official said of the
total targeted rice output, 46.64 lakh tonnes are hybrid, almost 2.98 crore
tonnes are of the high-yielding variety and the remaining 16 lakh tonnes are of
the local variety of rice.
The easy decision for Indonesian
farmers between palm oil and rice production
20 April 2019
Authors: Palmira Permata Bachtiar and Asep
Suryahadi, SMERU Research Institute
Many Indonesians remember a time of rice paddy
fields with rows of women applying traditional cold powder on their face to
avoid sunburn. This portrait is slowly disappearing. Agricultural household
heads — who never noticed how much a kilo of rice costs thanks to their
self-sufficiency — are now aware of it. Many in recent years have stopped
cultivating their paddy fields and now buy rice in the market. At the same
time, many farmers have shifted from rice to palm oil production. What factors
are driving this shift and what are the implications?
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows
that rice production surpassed its consumption,
rendering a surplus of about 2.85 million tonnes in 2018. Wholesale data has
shown a 10 per cent increase in the last three years from 10,915 Indonesian
rupiah (US$0.78) per kilogram in 2015 to 12,054 Indonesian rupiah (US$0.86) in
2018. This steady hike reflects a growing dependency on rice sold in the
market.
Disruption in the subsistence system of rice at
the household level consequently brings more problems to food security. Many paddy fields in Jambi
province, for instance, are left abandoned. This is also where palm oil is
gaining increasing popularity among farmers. The choice of producing palm oil
is not without reason.
At the micro-level, households continuing to
plant rice are encountering labour constraints. Farmers used to apply a
communal rotating system, where households worked together to plant one plot
before moving to another, ensuring planting was done before the rainy season’s
end. This system of reciprocal and mutual assistance gradually disappeared as
community obligation loosened and households increasingly worked independently.
Hiring labourers means more working capital has
to be made ready in addition to seed, fertiliser and pesticide capital. This is
less of a problem with palm oil, as farmers can easily borrow from palm fruit
traders to be paid after harvest time.
At the macro-level, the expansion of big
plantations and processing industries near villages further intensifies the
labour constraints faced by household producers. Labour allocation becomes more
complicated as labourers prefer working in industrial plantations rather than
village or household paddy fields.
Avoiding risk, these farmers enjoy secured
incomes as employees. Proximity to these processing industries brings further
security to palm oil farmers. This is why it is not easy for farmers to switch
to other crops, such as durian, whose markets are more uncertain, even when the
President encourages them to.
A further attraction for farmers from the
macro-level perspective is that palm oil prices tended to be stable,
particularly relative to other estate crops like rubber and coconut. Meanwhile
the price of rice is intentionally kept affordable for consumers. Consequently
the incentives to be rice consumers, rather than rice producers, are greater.
At the global level, climate change has complicated matters further
by taking a toll on rice production. Farmers are observing more frequent and
more severe weather events, such as prolonged droughts and floods. These lead
increased humidity, causing more pests and diseases. Climate change also adds
difficulty in predicting the beginning of the rainy season and causes
disruptions to planting patterns.
Estate crops are relatively less susceptible to
climate change in contrast to food crops, palm oil harvests are less affected
by prolonged droughts and floods. Palm oil farmers do not have to worry about
minor seasonal shifts. Meanwhile rice production is highly sensitive, often
costing total losses and failed harvests. This, added with the micro-level and
macro-level issues, explains why rice production is no longer attractive, even
at the subsistence level.
The total area of palm oil household-level
smallholders has grown significantly, almost 27 per cent in the last three
years, from 4.42 million hectares in 2014 to 5.61 million in 2017. This is more
than three times greater than the increase in private estate farms. In
September 2018 a Presidential Decreetemporarily froze the permit of
new private estates. But this moratorium will not affect the expansion of
smallholders — they are not the target of the decree. Yet events at the global
level would certainly have an effect on them, directly or indirectly, including
the EU plan to ban biofuel palm oil imports.
Three policy issues are on the table: food
security, failed harvests, and future price slumps as palm oil farmer numbers
continue to rise. The government has contemplated constructing new paddy fields for
extensification — instead of intensification — to strengthen food security. But
unless the growing failed harvests problem is addressed, the construction of
more paddy fields is ineffective.
Following the 2014 Suryana report, the optimal policy option to counter
climate change-burdened harvests is to invest in resistant seeds and to educate
farmers in efficient water management.
The agricultural industry also has to empower
farmers by eliciting their critical thinking. While the price of palm oil has
been more attractive compared to rice, what happens if they all plant it?
Farmers must protect their livelihoods by
putting their eggs in different baskets.
Palmira Permata Bachtiar is a Senior
Researcher for the SMERU Research Institute, Jakarta.
Asep Suryahadi is the Director of the SMERU
Research Institute, Jakarta. He also sits on the Editorial Board for the
Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies (BIES) and the Advisory Board of the
Indonesia Project, The Australian National University.
China Focus:
Chinese scientists use rice straw to desalinate seawater
BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have developed
an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for
clean water production.
Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for
purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute
of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation
device from wasted rice straw.
The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water
pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose
to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are
designed as water pumps.
The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean
water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg
on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with
over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.
Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for
extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats,
wetlands and marshes.
The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials
and Interfaces.
As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global
concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to
increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.
According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great need
to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven steam
generation has attracted wide attention.
“As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be
harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and sustainable
technologies that address the water crisis worldwide,” Liu said.
To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed.
Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials
such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials,
they are not suitable for large-scale applications.
Liu’s team explores new materials and new engineering designs to
improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of
desalination.
Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice
straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it
possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery
capability through its culms.
China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers
traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been
banned in many places.
“If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean
water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology,” Liu
said.
The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous
regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods,
earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining
clean water, according to the team.
Liu’s team is also researching other solar thermal materials,
which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in
three years.
An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from
Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in
using solar energy to desalinate sea water.
“By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for
desalination can be further reduced,” Zhu said.
HAU gets Rs
4.62 crore for research projects
Tribune News Service
Hisar, April 19
The Union Human
Resource Development Ministry had sanctioned six research projects worth Rs
4.62 crore to Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) to
work with foreign institutes.
Prof KP Singh, Vice Chancellor, HAU, said the
projects had been sanctioned under the ‘SPARC’ (Scheme for Promotion of
Academic and Research Collaboration) scheme. “The SPARC scheme launched in October
last year aims to improve the research ecosystem of higher education institutes
of the country. It also includes the facilitation of academic and research
cooperation, in which top ranked Indian institutions and globally ranked
foreign institutions will work together on joint research projects. Under the
scheme, research projects were invited from the researchers who have
collaboration with world famous foreign universities,” he said.
On these
projects, the HAU faculty would work in collaboration with scientists the
University of Massachusetts; Washington State University, USA; Laval
University, Canada; University of British Columbia, Canada; Massey University,
New Zealand; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Switzerland; and University of
Sydney, Australia, he said.
The Vice Chancellor said according to a
communiqué received from Dr A Goswami, national convener of SPARC, the project
granted to the university by the Human Resource Development Ministry included
development of low silicon rice for the management of paddy straw (Rs 96.55
lakh), stress tolerance and yield in soybean (Rs 78.32 lakh),
techno-economically viable technologies for crop residue management (Rs 74.73
lakh) and standardization of seed testing procedures and storability for medicinal
plants (Rs 62.88 lakh). It also includes promoting smart farming through
agro-meteorological techniques (Rs 75 lakh) and research on wheat to achieve
food security (Rs 75 lakh).
'Pakistan must shift to high
value-added exports'
By Shahram Haq
Published: April 20, 2019
Due to capital and high
value-added imports, the import bill surpasses export revenues, resulting in an
unsustainable current account deficit. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE: Economic researchers have said that
Pakistan’s balance of payments crisis is a result of less sophisticated, low
value-added exports, which have led to a lower economic growth.
They ask whether Pakistan will be able to
break out of this cycle of balance of payments crisis if it changed the nature
of goods it exported.
A research conducted by the Lahore School of
Economics concluded that a shift towards higher value-added exports,
characterised by high income and price elasticities, was the only realistic way
for Pakistan to realise sustained levels of higher economic growth.
It pointed out that Pakistan was again faced
with an unsustainable balance of payments crisis and was on the brink of taking
another stabilisation programme. While there is a tendency to blame different
policy-makers, the actual problem is the structural issue in the economy which,
if left unaddressed, will lead to continuation of the cycle of balance of
payments crisis.
More specifically, owing to a narrow export
base (concentrated in low value-added textile exports) and a relatively
inelastic import base, the value of imports rises to unsustainable levels while
exports increase only marginally.
“This leads to a balance of payments crisis
which is addressed by the usual troika of policies – devaluation, monetary
contraction and fiscal contraction,” the research added.
Exports are mainly concentrated in textile
and agricultural sectors. According to the United Nations Commodity Trade
Statistics (UN Comtrade), Pakistan is the most effective exporter of rice,
fruits, fish, cotton, leather apparel, cotton fabrics, linen, suits and
ensembles and collector pieces and antiques. These products are included in low
value-added categories and basic manufactured items.
In contrast to that, the main imports of
Pakistan comprise petroleum products, power generating machinery, electrical
machinery and apparatus, palm oil, iron and steel, plastic material, LNG and
raw cotton. Naturally, due to capital and high value-added imports, the import
bill surpasses export revenues, resulting in an unsustainable current account
deficit, it said.
Given the low value-added exports and
capital imports, any attempt to uplift GDP sparks fears of a balance of
payments crisis.
“This is because, if GDP growth surpasses a
certain level, in order to produce more goods and services to maintain or
further increase that rate, the imports of essential products increase
exponentially,” the research said.
Since the export structure remains the same
and export quantities are largely determined by foreign markets, the revenues
from exports stay stagnant. As a result, the current account deficit soars and
since it is not possible to finance it for an indefinite time period, it
eventually leads to the balance of payments crisis.
It was found that average real economic
growth in Pakistan from 1980 to 2017 was 4.61% whereas the balance of payments
constrained growth rate for the same time period was 4.5%.
“This suggests that Pakistan has been
growing at approximately the same level of its balance of payments constrained
growth rate, hence, to simultaneously increase the GDP growth rate and avoid the
balance of payments crisis, it is imperative to broaden the export base.”
The research also simulated the outcome in
the current account as a result of devaluation under three scenarios based on
estimated export and import demand functions.
It incorporated a conservative estimate for
domestic GDP growth, IMF forecasts for international GDP growth and three
different exchange rates, ie Rs140, Rs150 and Rs160 against the dollar.
In each of these scenarios, the results
showed that while the current account deficit improves, it was due to the
reduction in imports and not due to any significant increase in exports.
“Ultimately, the policy of devaluing the
rupee does little to boost exports and eventually restricts economic growth at
or below 4.5%,” it added.
Published in The Express
Tribune, April 20th, 2019.
Food exports dip 2.4pc in nine months FY19
ByAPP
April 19, 2019
ISLAMABAD: The food exports from the country witnessed a negative growth of
2.4 per cent, as it went down to $3.34 billion during the first three quarters
of the ongoing fiscal year (FY19) as compared to the exports of $3.43 billion
during the corresponding period of FY18, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)
reported.
The food commodities that
contributed in the negative growth during the period under review included rice
(0.48pc), fish and fish preparations (6.88pc), vegetables (2.48pc), tobacco
(24.72pc), sugar (68.20pc), and meat (1.42pc).
On the other hand, the food
products that witnessed a positive growth in external trade included fruits
(8.66pc), wheat (104pc) and spices (14.65pc), while the export of oilseeds,
nuts and kernels increased by 117pc.
The exports of all other food
items also witnessed a positive growth of 16.56pc, as it went up from $411.378
million during the first nine months of FY18 to $479.482 million.
On a year-on-year basis, the food
exports from the country declined by 19.88pc, from $589.238 million in March
2018 to $472.083 million in March 2019.
On a month-on-month basis, the
exports from the country witnessed a positive growth of 15.63pc in March 2019
as compared to February 2019.
It is pertinent to mention that
the overall merchandise trade deficit decreased by 13.02pc during July-March
2018-19 as the deficit contracted by over $3.544 billion to $23.672 billion in
the period under review against the deficit of $27.216 billion recorded during
the same period of the previous year.
The exports during the period
under review witnessed an increase of 0.11pc to $17.08 billion from $17.064
billion during July-March (2017-18).
On the other hand, the imports
declined by 7.96pc to $40.755 billion from $44.281 billion recorded during the
first nine months of the previous fiscal year.
On a year-on-year basis, the
imports into the country witnessed a negative growth of 20.88pc during March
2019 as compared to March 2018. The imports during March 2019 were recorded at
$4.155 billion as against the imports of $5.25 billion in March 2018.
Rising CO2
on declining nutrition in food is big issue, TED talk hears
The phenomenon starts with declining protein
and nutrients in plants and continues up the food chain, research shows.
Updated: April 19, 2019
Epidemiologist Kristie Ebi told
a Thursday audience at the TED talks in Vancouver that rising carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere are going to have profound implications for the future
of agriculture and public health.
Carbon dioxide is fuel that helps
the plants humans require for food to grow, but researchers are learning that
too much of it actually hurts the nutritional quality of rice, wheat and other
crops so much of the planet depends on.
Rising carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere are going to have profound implications for the future of
agriculture and public health, epidemiologist Kristie Ebi told a Thursday
audience at the TED Talks in Vancouver.
Field studies have revealed that
rice crops grown in conditions with carbon dioxide levels expected mid-century
have 10 per cent less protein, 15 per cent fewer B1 and B2 vitamins, and 30 per
cent less folate, Ebi said.
“These are very serious potential
consequences for health as carbon dioxide continues to rise,” Ebi said.
Those B vitamins are important in
physiological functions of the body and folate critical for pregnant mothers
and child development.
For wealthier people, who can
afford to compensate for the faltering nutrition of plants, the trend isn’t
that big a deal, Ebi said.
“When you start thinking about the
poor in every country who rely on starch, this will put people on the edge over
the edge and into deficiencies that create all sorts of health problems,” she
said.
Ebi, who is the Rohm & Haas
professor in public health at the University of Washington, added the impact
will move up the food chain as the forage crops for livestock also declines in
nutritional value.
“This is true in Vancouver, the
state of Washington and everywhere else,” Ebi said in an interview following
her talk.
And she is just looking at the
effects of rising CO2 on plant nutrition, never mind the impacts of climate
change — extremes of flooding, temperature and drought — that will also alter
agriculture.
TED is an acronym that stands for
technology entertainment and design and the idea of TED Talks is to expose
ideas deemed worth spreading. Ebi was keen to make sure this science becomes
more widely known.
To date, although studies are being
published, Ebi said it isn’t on the radar of government agencies.
“I came here primarily to raise
awareness,” Ebi said of her TED talk. “This is an issue people should know
about, should be paying attention to.
“And many of the people who come to
TED invest in companies, invest in new technologies and invest in lots of
different ways.”
So the talk was also a nudge to get
people thinking about making investments in the additional research needed for
a more complete understanding of the phenomenon.
For instance, the studies that have
been done project the potential for nutritional decline into the future.
Ebi said what researchers don’t
know is how much the nutrition in food has already declined as CO2 has risen in
the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
is the ultimate solution, Ebi said, but it will take decades for even dramatic
reductions to make a difference.
“The lifetime of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere is about 1,000 years,” Ebi said. “So, yes we need to reduce our
emissions and yes, (the modelling) shows that the most effective route is to
reduce our emissions (but) that’s not enough.”
Is there more to this story?
We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should
know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com
Highlights of
China's science news
Source:
Xinhua| 2019-04-20 16:24:32|Editor: Li Xia
BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights
of China's science news from the past week:
ANTARCTIC SEA ICE
-- A team led by Chinese researchers has revealed the fine-scale
surface features of the Antarctic sea ice by using drones to acquire
high-resolution images and data.
Using the unmanned aerial vehicle "Polar Hawk-III,"
Chinese researchers obtained remote sensing data of sea ice in the east
Antarctic in China's 33rd Antarctic expedition in 2016 and 2017.
This is the first time that Chinese researchers used drone
technology in surveying and mapping large areas of Antarctic sea ice.
CHANG'E-6 MISSION
-- China announced the cooperation plan for its future Chang'e-6
mission, offering to carry a total of 20 kg of solicited payloads, according to
the China National Space Administration on Thursday.
The orbiter and lander of the Chang'e-6 mission will each
reserve 10 kg for payloads, which will be selected from both domestic colleges,
universities, private enterprises and foreign scientific research institutions.
ASTEROID EXPLORATION
-- China on Thursday unveiled its plan to explore an asteroid
and a comet, inviting scientists around the world to participate in the
program.
The mission will involve exploring a near-Earth asteroid, named
2016HO3, and a main-belt comet, named 133P, according to the Lunar Exploration
and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.
HUMIDITY-RESPONSIVE SMART TEXTILE
-- A new study published in the international journal Advanced
Functional Materials said that scientists using silkworm silk have developed a
smart textile that can automatically contract and stretch with humidity
changes.
According to the study, the sleeves made from such smart textile
can shrink as much as 45 percent in the vertical direction when exposed to
moisture or sweat and then recover to its initial length when the environment
becomes dry.
DESALINATION WITH RICE STRAW
-- Chinese scientists have developed an innovative desalination
technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for clean water production.
Solar steam generation is considered to be a promising strategy
for purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo
Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
have developed a solar steam-generation device from wasted rice straw.
China Focus: Chinese scientists use rice
straw to desalinate seawater
BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have developed
an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for
clean water production.
Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for
purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute
of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation
device from wasted rice straw.
The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water
pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose
to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are
designed as water pumps.
The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean
water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg
on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with
over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.
Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for
extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats,
wetlands and marshes.
The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials
and Interfaces.
As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global
concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to
increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.
According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great
need to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven
steam generation has attracted wide attention.
“As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be
harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and
sustainable technologies that address the water crisis worldwide,” Liu said.
To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed.
Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials
such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials,
they are not suitable for large-scale applications.
Liu’s team explores new materials and new engineering designs to
improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of
desalination.
Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice
straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it
possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery
capability through its culms.
China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers
traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been
banned in many places.
“If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean
water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology,” Liu
said.
The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous
regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods,
earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining
clean water, according to the team.
Liu’s team is also researching other solar thermal materials,
which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in
three years.
An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from
Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in
using solar energy to desalinate sea water.
“By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for
desalination can be further reduced,” Zhu said
DOF: NFA must strengthen logistics ops with rice tariffication
in place
(Philstar.com) - April 20, 2019 - 2:08pm
MANILA, Philippines — After the
agency’s role in rice imports was removed following the enactment of the Rice
Tariffication Law, the National Food Authority needs to strengthen
its logistics capacity to ensure that the government has enough buffer
stocks of the staple grain at all times, the Department of Finance said.
Finance Assistant Secretary
Antonio Joselito Lambino II said that starting March 5 when Republic Act 11203
or the Rice Tariffication Act took effect, the NFA’s import
licensing and other regulatory functions ceased, although
the crucial role of emergency buffer stocking remains.
Lambino said the NFA’s task of
regulating the rice sector was removed owing to the agency’s
"inefficiencies" resulting from a controlled import
system, and which left the agency saddled in debt amounting
to about P145 billion.
With the rice tariffication law
in place, imports from ASEAN countries will be charged a tariff of 35% of
its value, while imports from non-ASEAN countries within the minimum access
volume (MAV) initially set at 350,000 metric tons will be taxed 40%. A tariff
of 180% will be collected for imports above the MAV from non-ASEAN
countries.
The collected tariffs will be
used to fund mass irrigation, warehousing and rice research.
Based on the central bank’s
estimate, scrapping import caps on rice could reduce annual inflation by 0.7
percentage points in 2019.
While the measure is expected to
give households reeling from soaring prices a reprieve, farmer groups said
replacing rice import limits with a system of tariffs would drive down prices
for their produce and hurt their business. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
DOF says NFA must strengthen
logistics ops amid rice tariff law
Published April 20, 2019 3:14pm
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
The National Food Authority needs to strengthen its logistics
capability to ensure that the government has enough buffer stocks of the staple
grain with nationwide reach at all times, the Department of Finance (DOF) said
Saturday.
In a statement, Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito
Lambino II said this becomes more imperative after the NFA was stripped off of
its function in rice importation as a result of the Rice Tariffication law
taking effect last March.
The NFA’s import licensing and other regulatory functions ceased
when Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Act took effect last
March 5, although the crucial role of emergency buffer stocking remains with
the agency and has been emphasized.
Lambino said the NFA’s task of regulating the rice sector was
removed owing to the agency’s "inefficiencies" resulting from a
controlled import system, and which left the agency saddled in debt amounting
to about P145 billion.
Under the law imposing tariffs on rice imports in lieu of
quantitative restrictions, private traders would now be allowed to import rice
so long as they comply with basic requirements set by the Department of
Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) for food safety and protection of
farming areas, Lambino said at a recent media forum in Quezon City.
With the rice tariffication law in place, imports from ASEAN
countries will be charged a tariff of 35 percent of its value, while imports
from non-ASEAN countries within the minimum access volume (MAV) initially set
at 350,000 metric tons (MT) will be taxed 40 percent. A tariff of 180 percent
will be collected for imports above the MAV from non-ASEAN countries.
On top of paying tariffs, rice importers will be required to
secure sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSIC) from the BPI, which
assumed the food safety regulation function of the NFA under the rice
tariffication law.
This requirement will ensure that rice imports are free from
pests and diseases that could affect public health and local farm production,
he said.
Lambino said that aside from lowering rice prices and providing
direct assistance to farmers, the law will also be an effective deterrent to
smuggling because rice imports would now be liberalized.
"The tariffication law is the most important weapon against
smuggling. The incentive to smuggle would almost be nil because anyone can now
import rice so long as they comply with the requirements,” Lambino said.
He said that with imports now hewing closer to prices in the
global or regional markets, traders would be discouraged from smuggling or even
hoarding their stocks.
“Who would be encouraged to hold on to their stocks when there
is enough supply in the market and anyone can import if the supply
declines?” he stressed.
Lambino said that as earlier projected by economic managers,
liberalizing rice imports would further lower inflation by 0.5 to 0.7
percentage point this year, ensuring that the rate remains within the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)'s 2 to 4 percent target for 2019. — MDM,
GMA News
Liberia: Rice
Importers Refute Media Report
Tagged:
The managements of UCI and SWAT will like to inform the public
that the story in the April 17, 2019 edition of the New Democrat newspaper
about a "cartel" of rice importers is nothing less than rubbish
intended to confuse the general public and create a bewildering environment for
the rice business community and the consumers.
The story was based on mare speculations intended to push an
agenda for unserious people. We would like to state that the price of a bag of
rice is 13 usd/bag, and not 20 usd/bag as reported. Secondly, to own a
warehouse at the free port is not a condition for importing rice in the
country.
The paper also referred to rice importers as cartel, which is a
pure manifestation of a tabloid weaseling for relevance. When President Weah
came to power, the first thing he did was to ask the rice importers to reduce
the price of rice. That was done without hesitation, regardless the losses the
importers underwent.
Storage facilities at the port of Monrovia are leased by the
relevant government agency. It is not restricted or reserved for any special
person. Whichever company or individual that affords the lease price, is given
it.
It is very unfortunate that this paper which was, once, one of
the best media organs of this country will go down the drain probably because
it slid in the hands of someone who does not care about professional writing,
but innuendos that are acrid of yellow journalism, image tainting and
blackmailing.
)
Indian rice
fetches low price as demand wanes
Posted at: Apr 20, 2019, 7:16 AM; last
updated: Apr 20, 2019, 12:40 PM (IST 
Bengaluru, April 19
Asian rice
exporting hubs saw tepid activity this week, with prices for the staple from
top exporter India dipping on lower demand, while Bangladesh mulled a review of
its ban on exports of the grain.
India’s 5%
broken parboiled variety was quoted around $377-$380 per tonne, down from last
week’s $387-$390.
Demand from African buyers was weak as they
have ample inventories, said Nitin Gupta, vice-president, rice business at Olam
India.
Aggressive
selling of old inventories by China at lower prices has also weighing on
prices, he added.
The country’s rice exports for April-February
dropped 9.4% from a year earlier to 10.57 million tonnes, as leading buyer
Bangladesh trimmed its purchases due to a bumper local harvest, a government
body said.
On Thursday,
Bangladesh’s commerce minister said a long-standing ban on rice exports will be
discussed after strong pleas from traders to lift the restriction.
“If we have
surplus, we can allow rice exports,” Tipu Munshi told reporters after a meeting
with the rice traders association.
Bangladesh,
traditionally the world’s fourth biggest rice producer, banned overseas
shipments of some common rice varieties in May 2008 following a spike in
domestic prices. It banned all rice exports a year later.
In 2017, the
country was forced to massively increase imports to shore up domestic reserves
after floods wrought havoc on local crops and pushed domestic rice prices to
record highs, but domestic stocks have since greatly improved.
In Thailand, the
world’s second-largest exporter, the benchmark 5% broken rice prices eased
slightly to $393-$411 a tonne, free on board Bangkok, from $405-$410 last week.
“Overseas buyers
have turned to rice from India and Vietnam because their prices have been more
competitive compared to ours,” a trader said.
However,
concerns over domestic supply in the country have kept prices steady recently,
traders said.
“The harvest of
the last crop was completed last month and there is no new supply except unsold
rice from the mills, this meant prices remain stable with a tendency to rise
even though there is no demand,” a Bangkok-based rice trader said. — Reuters
Exports decline
9.4% in April-February
·
The country’s rice exports for April-February dropped 9.4%
from a year earlier to 10.57 million tonnes, as leading buyer Bangladesh
trimmed its purchases due to a bumper local harvest
Aggressive selling of old inventories by China
at lower prices has also weighing on prices
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/business/indian-rice-fetches-low-price-as-demand-wanes/760804.html
Audu Ogbeh’s declaration on rice is far from
the reality
The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh’s declaration
that 90% of the rice Nigeria consumes is produced in the country is wishful
thinking at best. Image credit: Daily Trust
Currently,
Nigeria remains the largest importer of rice in Africa, taking billions of
Naira out to other countries that could have been used to improve the lives of
its citizens. It is in recognition of this problem that the government promised in 2016 that it
would be self-sufficient in the production of rice, maize, and soybeans by 2018. 
On the 17th of
April, the minister of Agriculture,
Audu Ogbeh, announced that 90% of the rice Nigeria consumes is produced here in
the country. While we desperately want this assertion to be true,
all reports indicate that this is far from reality.
Granted, there have been marked
improvements in rice production in the country. In addition to Lake rice, we
now have Anambra rice, Mama happy rice and some other brands whose names are
not known.
And the fact
that we do not know the names of the rice we produce as a nation shows that
there is a problem. Till date, in spite of the funds the government has pumped
into the production of rice, demand continues to outweigh supply. According to
this PWC report, Nigeria in 2017 was producing
3.7million tonnes which was not enough to cover her consumption of 6.4million.
In 2018, the
situation did not improve. A US Department of Agriculture report predicted that we would be importing
3.4million tonnes by this year based on our production and consumption rate at
the time.
According to this infographic from PWC,
in 2017, consumption of rice in Nigeria far outweighs production. Sadly, in
2019, the situation has not improved.
And we cannot say they are lying. The
famous Lake rice has not even gotten to every household in Ikorodu, never mind
Lagos. Anambra rice may not even be eaten outside Onitsha. The only type of
rice that remains popular till date is Ofada rice, which has been with us for
as long as I can remember.
Why would
Audu Ogbeh boldly claim that 90% of the rice we consume is produced here in the
country? Perhaps he meant to say that we consume 90% of the rice produced here,
which sounds more like it considering the fact that our rice does not get to
every household. What exactly might be his reason for tying, vainly, to present
the world with a different reality?
It is doubtful that Lake Rice is eaten outside
the West of Nigeria
Of course,
we know that this is a rhetorical question since no credible answer would ever
be gotten. However, instead of indulging in wishful thinking, maybe the
Minister of Agriculture should try to improve rice production in the country,
and the government making the importation of rice illegal without increasing
the volume produced here in the country is not the solution.
Incentivizing
the production of rice and making it transparent to possible investors while
actively seeking their contribution is the first place to start from. The
government cannot on its own fund rice production to the level where it becomes
available to all Nigerians, but it will not get the investors it desperately
needs if they do not see any gain in leaving rice importation for production.
Making false and bogus promises of what they stand to gain will not cut it
either.
Qwenu! publishes opinions, reflections, and
experiences of Africans on contemporary issues. Click here to read articles from Africans at
home and in the diaspora. Email submissions to editor@qwenu.com Follow
us @qwenu_media
Sreedevi is churning profits
using local flavours
Food processing industry is a sector that
generates a number of opportunities. Riding on this potential, a businesswoman
from Thrissur is reaping huge profits with minimum investment.
What's her business line? Products that can be
used for cooking and some ready-to-eat dishes.
'Thiruvonam Mills' is managed by Sreedevi and
her husband Suresh Nath as a family business at Edakulam in Thrissur district,
and its products in two categories – ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat – hit
the market with the brand name 'Mrs Nalans.'
The main products are steamed 'puttu podi' and
'ragi podi,' 'idli and 'dosa' podi,' 'avulosu podi,' coconut 'chammanthi podi,'
prawns 'chammanthi podi,' 'idli-dosa chammanthi podi', and various curry mixes,
among others. Easy-to-prepare 'sambar' mix is a special item from the stable of
'Thiruvonam Mills.' Apart from these, the firm is also marketing rice flour,
chilli, coriander, semolina (rava) and 'maida.' The delicacies made of 'Nalans'
rice flour would be very soft and tasty as rice is washed, dry-fried and
pestled properly.
Sreedevi has been running the business for the
past three years. She got the inspiration to become an entrepreneur from her
father, who had a flour mill. Sreedevi's training stints with Kozhikode NIT and
Mannuthy Agriculture University in Thrissur in processing of fruits gave her
the confidence to make products having local flavour.
Investment of Rs 20 lakh
The couple bought a piece of land near to their
home and built a unit there and installed requisite machinery. The main
machines are rice washer, steamer, pulverizer, roaster and, continuous and hand
sealers. Seven people are working in the unit, which is open on Sundays too.
Traditional foodstuffs such as 'puttu,' 'neyyappam,' 'ada,' 'appam,' and 'vada'
are made as per orders from customers. While Sreedevi is a draftsman (civil),
Suresh is a diploma holder in mechanical engineering. Their son Ashith has
completed graduation in food technology and daughter Anjali has an MSc in food
technology.
Sale through shops
Majority of the sale is generated through
shops, and the products are supplied after directly taking orders from the shop
owners. Supermarkets are not points of sale for 'Thiruvonam Mills,' but there
is spot selling of products. The food items are sold on cash-and carry concept
and the couple don’t encourage credit sales. Sreedevi is planning to appoint
some good distributors. There is pretty good competition in this field but
there are opportunities too.
Logs 30% profit
The average sale is worth around Rs 3 lakh to
Rs 4 lakh, and the net profit is about 30%. Sreedevi has plans to supply
traditional breakfast food items, and scale up the daily production capacity
from 500 kg to 2,000 kg. She is also planning to step into export market.
Main features
Stress on increasing and maintaining quality
Raw materials are subjected to a three-step
cleaning process for quality assurance
Makes it a point to not buy sticky rice
In-house processing
Food items will be soft even when they are not
warm
Dosa-idli batter will not ferment too much
'The trade secret will not be revealed'
Local flavour is maintained
All products are fresh
Address
Sreedevi/Suresh Nath,
Thiruvonam Mills
Edakulam PO,
Thrissur – 680 688.
Phone: 9447442347, 7559942347
Read more at: https://english.manoramaonline.com/women/shebusiness/2019/04/19/sreedevi-local-flavour-food-items-kerala.html
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