Monday, June 03, 2019

3rd June,2019 Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter


Aroma in rice has no nutritional value, but a marketing trait

In Summary
• Annual rice consumption is at 650, 000 mts. The rate is at 12 percent compared to four percent in wheat and one percent in maize. 
• Production rate is at a low of three percent compared to the consumption rate. 
Rice breeding Dr John Kimani, a rice breeder from the Kenya Agricultrure and Livestock Research Organisation and Kayode Sanni from the African Agricultural Technology Foundation at a National Performance Trial site for hybrid rice in Mwea. 
Image: AGATHA NGOTHO
Did you know that the aroma in rice has no nutritional value but it is only a marketing trait?
Rice consumers in Kenya prefer the aromatic basmati rice which also has superior cooking qualities compared to the other local and imported varieties.
But according to scientists, the aromatic scent in your favorite dish of rice had no nutritional value.
Kayode Sanni, who heads the rice project at the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, said this is just a marketing trait.
“The aroma is a demand-driven trait even if it does not have the nutritional value. We are however developing news hybrid rice varieties that have some of the preferred traits including the aromatic, slender and long grains,” he said.
John Kimani, a rice breeder from the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation said more Kenyans are consuming rice unlike maize hence the need to breed more hybrid varieties.
He said the national rice production is at 150, 000 metric tonnes against an annual consumption rate of 650, 000 metric tonnes.
“The country’s consumption rate is growing at 13 percent while production growth is at 3.7 percent. The consumption growth rate is attributed to change in lifestyle, urbanization and because it is easy to prepare unlike maize,” Kimani said.
The rice breeder said Kenya has a rice deficit of 500,000 metric tonnes and that 75 percent of rice consumed in the country is imported from India and Pakistan.
Kenya spends about Sh92 billion to import rice annually. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, there has been a dramatic increase in total rice imports for East and Southern Africa.
Kimani said breeders are targeting to increase production to 408, 000 metric tonnes by 2022. Kenya has a potential of about 540,000 ha under irrigation and one million ha under rainfed production.
“With improved water harvesting, storage, underground water resource utilization, and innovative management technologies, the current irrigation potential can be increased by a further 800,000 ha to 1.3 m ha,” the rice breeder said.
The Economic Survey 2018, showed that an additional 7,363 hectares of land were placed under irrigation in 2017, representing a 50.5 percent increase.
This was largely attributable to the expansion of acreage in the out-grower areas within the Mwea irrigation scheme.

Rice imports hurt booming Mwea trade

CSimilarly, the number of plot holders practicing irrigation rose by 25.1 percent to 16,326 in 2017. Despite the increase in the area cropped and the increase in the number of plot holders, the volume of total paddy declined by 20.0 percent from 90.7 thousand tonnes to 81.2 thousand tonnes in 2017. This resulted in a 22.5 percent decrease in gross value of output from all scheme areas to Sh4.4 billion in the review period,” the survey stated.
The hybrid rice is currently undergoing the National Performance Trials at Mwea, Hola, Malindi, Ahero and Bondo in Kisumu.
The new hybrid rice developed by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has significant yield advantage which can enhance food security and improve farmer’s livelihoods.
Sanni said that about five hybrid varieties have been released to companies for seed multiplication but some farmers in Mwea have planted one of the varieties for this cropping season.
“We are in the process of licensing companies that will do seed multiplication and later release them to farmers,” he said.
Eunice Wakiaga, has been a rice farmer for 30 years and is growing the hybrid varieties at Unit H18 in Mwea, Kirinyaga County.
She said during a field visit to rice farmers in Mwea that she is expecting to harvest at least 40 bags of 50kg from her one-acre farm.
“I harvested 20 to 25 bags of rice from the old varieties I was using but this season, I am expecting a better harvest. I have also used fewer seeds when planting the new hybrids, unlike the other varieties. I used to plant 25 kilos of seeds in the same area but this season I only used eight. This is very cost effective for me and I get to save money from seeds,” she said.
Wakiaga said the migration of young energetic people to the urban centers has also rendered labor unavailable and expensive.
“I have been depending on my family for labor to carry out various farm activities partly to reduce on production costs and partly because it is available on demand during labor peaks,” she said.
Sanni said the new hybrids will see small-scale rice farmers in Kenya have access to quality rice seeds that will boost their production.
“The promotion of rice production will improve food security, increase smallholder farmers’ income, contribute to employment creation in rural areas, and help reduce the rice import bill,” said Sanni.
AATF is also working with other partners in developing hybrid rice, with significant yield advantage over the currently exhausted seeds in Kenya.
He explained that the partnership is developing hybrid rice germplasm that is adapted to African conditions using the two-line rice hybrid system technology, which uses only two-breeding lines to produce hybrids.
“We are also developing an information technology tool to predict temperature regimes and manage the hybrid rice production risk. In addition, we are also establishing and training a network of researchers and seed production specialists. The project will develop and distribute hybrids and hybrid parental lines for use by smallholder farmers in selected African countries,” Sanni said.
Major constraints
Benard Gitare, a rice farmer from Mwea said most Kenyans living in the rural areas consume limited quantities of rice, but it forms an important diet for the majority of urban dwellers.
Gitare said constraints and challenges vary with production, cropping and farming systems across the country.
“Like the rest of the world, the trend of rice cultivation is going towards upland rice production where water use efficiency and conservation is emphasized. The kind of infrastructure which goes with six paddy rice production is expensive to most smallholder farmers,” he said.
Sanni noted that mechanization and provision of appropriate technologies suitable for farmers would promote rice production.
“Investment in processing, branding and marketing activities in rural rice growing areas would create employment opportunities to curb the rural to urban migration by the youth,” he said.
Research and extension services were also affected by the liberalization of the rice irrigation schemes.
This according to Sanni, resulted in the loss of genetic purity, poor agronomic practices, low production and inadequate credit services due to limited Public-Private Sector Partnerships.
The high cost of farm inputs and machinery is a disincentive in the increase in rice productivity. In irrigated areas, he said, the main challenge is the supply of adequate water, development, and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure.
“Provision of health care services and land ownership rights and environmental concerns need to be addressed. In rain-fed lowland areas the main challenge is erratic rainfall, inadequate skills for both farmers and extension staff and, infrastructure development including processing mills and road networks,” the researcher said.
“In both regions, provision of high-quality seed, technologies development, and transfer, strengthening of farmer organizations and management structures will need to be addressed. Low soil fertility, diseases especially blast and pests such Quelea birds and rodents are also a problem.”
The release of the 15 new hybrid varieties will help the country boost production of rice, the country’s second staple food after maize.
The new hybrid varieties are said to do well under irrigation as well as under rain-fed agriculture, will be released to farmers after the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service gives them a green light, with most of them expected to be with the farmers by 2020.

Replacing old rice varieties
Rice breeders in Kenya are planning to replace rice varieties that have been used by farmers for the last three decades.
Dr John Kimani, a rice breeder and the center director, Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation in Mwea said some rice varieties were developed 32 years ago and farmers are still using them to date.
Some of the rice varieties in line for replacement are ITA 310, BW 196, IR 2793-80-1, Basmati 217 and Basmati 370.
He said the use of old varieties could be attributed to the drop in production over the years.
The national rice production is currently at 150, 000 metric tonnes against an annual consumption of 650, 000 metric tonnes.
Kimani said rice is an important crop in Kenya and it is one of the main focus crops under the Big Four agenda on food and nutrition security.
Other crops include maize, potatoes, sorghum, millet, cassava, sugar, and cotton.
Rice is mainly produced by small-scale farmers in Mwea in Central, Buyala in Western Tana delta at the Coast and Ahero, West Kano, Migori and Kuria in the Nyanza province.
About 300,000 rice farmers provide labor and also earn their livelihood out of the crop’s production.
Kimani said Kalro in partnership Korean Government is developing high yielding rice varieties through introgression of high yielding traits from Korean germplasm to the local varieties.
“We are currently developing product profiles so that we understand why farmers and consumers have been clinging to these varieties for many years. This will help to ensure that the new varieties that will replace the old ones have those traits that preferred by the farmers and consumers,” he explained.
Description: Rice breeders consult on hybrid rice production in Mwea.
Rice breeding Rice breeders consult on hybrid rice production in Mwea. 

Catfish, rice, Navy ships: Cochran spending leaves legacy

Description: https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/OufWLTrAeU2Ou9_9bhOQudYkFSg=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/POXPMXEEQEI6TNMF4NVRNJJRVI.jpg
One of many buildings named for the late Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran is the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center, an 800,000-square-foot former retail space that now houses physicians’ offices, an outpatient cancer treatment center and other medical operations, photographed Friday, May 31, 2019, in Jackson, Miss. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is African-American, said in 2014 that Cochran’s work in securing federal money was vital to developing the medical mall in the mid-1990s. (Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press)
By Emily Wagster Pettus | AP
June 1
JACKSON, Miss. — Former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran was a master of the federal budget process, quietly shrugging off criticism about pork-barrel spending while directing billions of dollars back to his home state of Mississippi.
Cochran died Thursday at age 81. He was the 10th longest-serving senator in U.S. history...
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Faqh-e-Jafria Fitrana Fixed At Rs 150 Per Person

 (@FahadShabbir) 

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 2nd Jun, 2019 ) :The minimum amount of Sadqa-e-Fitr or Fitrana for Faqh-i-Jafria has been fixed at Rs 150 per person, said Allama Zafar Abbas Kazmi.
Talking to APP, he said Sadqae-Fitr is obligatory for every sane member of a family. People must not to forget the needy and deserving in Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations.
Fitrah is to be calculated according to the price of 3kg of one's staple food.
That is, if the staple food is rice then the price of 3kg of rice is to be given to the poor.
The people using rice and flour should pay Rs 315 and those using only rice as their food should each pay Rs 480 as Fitrana.
Giving Zakat at Fitra is obligatory upon the head of households, who are not poor themselves. The time for it, is beforethe Eid Prayer or Zuhr prayer in Eid-ul-Fitr. Paying Zakat at Fitracompletes fasting, secures its acceptance

Catfish, rice, Navy ships: Cochran spending leaves legacy

Description: https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/OufWLTrAeU2Ou9_9bhOQudYkFSg=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/POXPMXEEQEI6TNMF4NVRNJJRVI.jpg
One of many buildings named for the late Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran is the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center, an 800,000-square-foot former retail space that now houses physicians’ offices, an outpatient cancer treatment center and other medical operations, photographed Friday, May 31, 2019, in Jackson, Miss. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is African-American, said in 2014 that Cochran’s work in securing federal money was vital to developing the medical mall in the mid-1990s. (Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press)
By Emily Wagster Pettus | AP
June 1
JACKSON, Miss. — Former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran was a master of the federal budget process, quietly shrugging off criticism about pork-barrel spending while directing billions of dollars back to his home state of Mississippi.

Revitalization of rice industry underway

Rachael NDescription: https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Rachael-Nath-200x200.jpgathMultimedia Journalistrachael.nath@fbc.com.fj | @RachaelFBCNews
JUNE 2, 2019 5:45 AM
  
Description: https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rice.jpg
The Agriculture Ministry is undertaking various measure to revitalize the rice industry.
Minister Dr. Mahendra Reddy says efforts to improve efficient production through continued research for a self-sufficient and sustainable rice industry are underway.
Reddy adds the introduction of high yielding improved rice varieties in Fiji is also a priority in the pipeline.
The Minister highlighted that China is also assisting Fiji through nine experts to work on the rice development project phase II in the Central and Northern Divisions.
This is aimed at improving production efficiency and to continue research and development in the rice sector.
Reddy says rice farming can be labor intensive, hence the Ministry continues to mechanize many of the husbandry practices.
He adds this includes providing access to various types of rice machines which are available to farmers on subsidized rates and the formation of rice clusters, where possible, to achieve economies of scale which ensure machine optimization.

Helping irrigators associations succeed

Published June 1, 2019, 10:00 PM

Dr. Emil Q. Javier
Description: Dr. Emil Q. JavierThis is third on the series on irrigators associations (IAs) as a systemic, long-term way of addressing the constraints to productivity and competitiveness of Philippine agriculture which for the most part consist of small farms. The Rice Tariffication Act (RTA) provides a fresh opportunity to breathe more life to the irrigators associations by providing additional reasons for our small farmers to band together. Coursing the free farm machines, seeds, subsidized credit and targeted training and extension services provided in the new RTA through the IAs are additional compelling incentives for farmers to join the IAs.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has adopted for its corporate strategy the phased transfer of the operations and maintenance of the irrigation systems they build to the water beneficiaries themselves (Irrigation Management Transfer Program). The institutional instruments are the irrigators associations of which to date 9230 had been organized covering 1.39 million hectares of prime lands and serving 1.12 million beneficiaries. Of this total, 8,634 IAs (93%) had been officially registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However only 44% (4,096) of the IAs had entered into formal management contracts with NIA.
Thus, NIA is barely halfway through in its objective of formally transferring the operations and maintenance (O&M) responsibilities to the water users.
Outsourcing of support
services crucial
The downstream O&M of irrigation systems require expertise in engineering, social mobilization, agronomy, and business management. The mobilization and social preparation of the farmers necessarily take patience and a long time to attain. And beyond that the farmers need to be introduced to modern farming techniques and sound business practices to compete in the market.
NIA does not and most likely will never have enough people in its organization with this wide variety of competencies. In fact, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) thought NIA had too many and reduced by half its plantilla during the last government rationalization exercise.
The institutional strength of NIA is in the design, construction, and major rehabilitation of irrigation systems (civil engineering). Therefore, its better option is to outsource these complementary expertise from other national agencies; from state universities and colleges (SUCs); private professional service providers, and from not-for-profit non-government organizations (NGOs) and corporate foundations.
Fortunately, NIA has more than enough funds to outsource these expertise. For 2018 NIA’s regular budget plus carry-over funds was P45.44 billion. However, its programmed allocation for Irrigation Management Transfer Support Services (IMTSS) was a measly P108 million (0.2%). It is a matter of re-programming for irrigation management transfer at least 2.0% of its annual budget. Since NIA’s annual budget the last few years is at least P30 billion, that will mean P600 million per year, which should be adequate.
For IAs to succeed they need the support of the whole of the Department of Agriculture DA), and more. NIA by itself can only do so much. The key institutional partners are Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), all of which have direct reporting responsibilities with the Secretary of DA. For this reason, we are happy that President Rodrigo Duterte finally rectified this organizational anomaly by returning NIA to the DA.
Moreover, it should be kept in mind that while the publicly-pronounced primary objective of irrigation is to increase and stabilize yields of rice, the larger benefits in fact will be derived by the farmers from multiple cropping and diversification into other high-value crops like vegetables, annual fruits, legumes, and even ornamentals. Hence the need for expertise beyond rice.
More attention to SWISAs
for upland farmers
Less appreciated are the opportunities of higher productivity from upland areas which are beyond the coverage of the major irrigation systems. Our irrigable lands suitable for rice are three million hectares. The balance of our farm lands (seven million hectares) are classified as UPLANDS. Some of these uplands can benefit from irrigation.
Apart from the 9,230 IAs organized by NIA there are a few hundred small water irrigation systems associations (SWISAs) organized under the auspices of the BSWM-DA. The small irrigation systems include the small water impounding projects (SWIPs), small diversion dams (SDDs), and shallow tube wells (STWs).
Since 2001 BSWM has built 114 SWIPs and SDDs and distributed 426 STWs providing water to 8,100 hectares and benefitting 5,500 farmers. These small irrigation units have enabled farmers to grow two crops of rice each year plus a third crop of annual fruits and vegetables. They are also able to raise fish, mainly tilapia. The reservoirs serve as well for recreation and sports and as local tourism destinations. Although the service areas of small irrigation systems are less, they are quicker and cheaper to install.
Congress ought to allot more funds for small irrigation systems (and their SWISAs) for the benefit of upland farmers who are more numerous and even poorer than the lowland rice farmers.
This needed and timely re-direction of attention to irrigation development (and hopefully to the IAs which will manage them), fit well with the initiative of DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol into solar-powered irrigation.

RIFAN to start rice milling


Rice Famers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has disclosed that the association would soon be embarking on rice processing and milling.
The National Vice President of RIFAN, Segun Atho, who disclosed this in an interview with The Nation, noted that this action was necessitated as a result of sabotage of some members of rice processors.
“We, the rice farmers have decided to start processing our rice on our own because we have discovered that some of the rice millers have started jeopardizing our efforts.
“We are trying to see how we can make fresh farm rice available for consumers all over the country, starting from the 19 states in the north and the 17 states in the south,” Atho said.
He pointed out that RIFAN had earlier signed an agreement with the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), stressing that the agreement was to ensure that whatever quantity of rice is harvested by the Association RIPAN would be amongst the preferred buyers.
Regrettably, he said RIFAN decided to embark on rice processing in order to avoid further sabotage, adding that it will help the farmers achieve their utmost goal of self-sufficiency as well as export of the produce.
The RIFAN boss noted that part of the Anchor Borrowers’ Fund benefited his members immensely. “The fund has helped all the rice farmers in the whole country to improve and increase production. We have started producing RIFAN rice. All of us are covered by this Anchor Borrowers Fund. We are currently doing the distribution of farm inputs to rice farmers in the country to see that every farmer benefit from this programme.”
RIFAN members, he emphasised, are utilising the funds, “I can tell you categorically that almost all our members are complying and we have increased our output astronomically.”
He stated that the Association recently distributed vehicles to farmers in Abuja and environs to strengthen the monitoring team, adding that it was part of the efforts to ensure monitoring team in all the states of the federation.
“Before 2020, we would flood the Nigerian market with rice produced by Nigerians and the country will no longer have business importing or smuggling rice because our price would be competitive. We are seriously working hard to make sure that we achieve this dream because rice is the only staple food we have in this country,” he said.

Using genes to understand rice blast disease resistance in Indian rice varieties

JUNE 01, 2019 18:20 IST
UPDATED: JUNE 01, 2019 16:21 IST
Description: The rapid changes in pathogen virulence pose a constant challenge to the success of existing blast-resistant rice varieties, says Manoj Kumar Yadav (left).
The rapid changes in pathogen virulence pose a constant challenge to the success of existing blast-resistant rice varieties, says Manoj Kumar Yadav (left).  

From 1980-1987, seven blast endemics have occurred in India causing severe losses

Rice blast, caused by a fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the major diseases of the rice crop. Now, researchers from ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Odisha have mapped out the diverse genes in rice that help in disease resistance.
By characterising over 150 rice varieties from nine States across the country they also identified new markers associated with blast resistance.

Blast endemics

From 1980-1987, seven blast endemics have occurred in India causing severe losses. Fungicides are very expensive, harmful for the environment and inappropriate application can cause health issues. So researchers around the globe have been on a hunt for resistant genes against the pathogen and so far, more than 100 resistance (R) genes in the rice genome have been identified.
“The rapid changes in pathogen virulence pose a constant challenge to the success of existing blast-resistant rice varieties. Therefore, there is always a need to identify new broad-spectrum blast resistant genes/alleles in rice germplasm such as landraces, wild rice, etc,” explained Manoj Kumar Yadav from NRRI and the first author of the paper published in PLOS ONE.
The seeds of landraces grown over nine states were collected from the National Gene Bank, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack. Leaves’ resistance to blast disease was checked by growing the seeds in uniform blast nursery for two wet seasons (2015 and 2016) at the experimental farm of the institute. This farm is considered as the hot spot for leaf blast disease and the disease was recorded 25 days after sowing.
The present study showed that the rice landraces collected from north-eastern states of India had the highest resistance. Dr. Yadav explains that this may be due to co-evolution of resistance genes along with the fungal pathogen over several centuries.

Gene hunt

Specific DNA markers were used for accurate identification of specific resistant genes. The researchers found the presence of 24 previously pin-pointed resistant genes in the 161 rice landraces. The landraces were found to harbour 5-19 resistant genes.
The landraces from Tripura had the highest number of resistant genes, followed by those from Maharashtra. The study also pointed out that rice varieties in the same ecological conditions can have different resistant/susceptible behaviours.
The combination of screening and molecular characterization will help in the identification of potential donors for leaf blast.
“The identified associated marker could be used for the selection of parental materials for the improvement of existing varieties with blast resistance,” adds P.C. Rath, Head Crop Protection Division and co-author of the paper in an email to The Hindu.
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No threat to inflation seen from prolonged El Niño

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:26 AM June 01, 2019
The El Niño phenomenon may linger in the country longer than expected, but the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said this would not have an effect on inflation and put “negligible” pressure in the price of rice.
Bruce Tolentino, a member of the policymaking Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said that even when a much longer drought would persist until 2020 as forecast by the state weather bureau, the affected areas were “not significant for rice,” adding that “rains have already come for Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley” where the bulk of the country’s rice production came from.
This means the impact of the El Niño especially in food production would not be drastic and any effects it would have on rice would be minimal.
The latest climate outlook from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said there was a 70-percent chance that dry and warm conditions would continue until the end of 2019 and persist until 2020 “but with high uncertainty.”
It expected 63 provinces to be hit by El Niño in varying degrees.
During the onset of El Niño, the agriculture sector incurred P7.96 billion in damages and losses—the majority of which were on rice and corn—but Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the figures represented only 1 and 4 percent of the country’s total rice and corn production, respectively.
So far, the effects of the climate pattern were not manifested in the country’s inflation rate during the first quarter, which averaged 3.8 percent.
Tolentino, also a former director of the International Rice Research Institute, said prices of rice in the market should continue to moderate especially with the deregulation of rice trade.
The crucial next item to monitor, he noted, would be the movement of international rice prices and any international supply and price shocks in countries where the Philippines would source its imported rice, including Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan and Myanmar.
Economic managers said the influx of cheap imported rice should bring down the inflation rate by as much as 0.6 percentage point and provide fresh revenue to the national government in the form of import duties. —KARL R. OCAMPO

Govt to issue sales tax refund bonds to claimants


Description: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/15-8-696x418.jpg
In order to facilitate business community and exports, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Friday directed to issue sales tax refund bonds to the claimants through Central Depository Company (CDC), a private media outlet reported.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance in Islamabad, Hafeez Shaikh said that the bonds amounting to Rs7 billion were being issued in the first tranche and this issuance shall benefit 90 claimants.
He said that the Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) was planning another issuance next month.
The advisor asked the claimants to exercise their option for issuance of bonds and provide their CDC accounts to FBR so that they could be accommodated in the next issuance.
The government decided to issue sales tax refund bonds to the claimants so as to resolve the problems of long outstanding refunds.
Earlier on March 4, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had advised the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to make the payment of sales tax refunds amounting to Rs7,236 million to facilitate the exports.
The payment would benefit 898 claimants involved in exports of textile, carpets, leather, sports goods, surgical instruments, rice, food items, machinery and other items, according to an FBR statement.

Efforts continue in search of development opportunities for the country

Government visits to different regions of the country, led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, have been invigorating work days and included lively conversations with workers and residents
may 31, 2019 09:05:23
Description: http://en.granma.cu/file/img/2019/05/medium/f0024969.jpg
Photo: Estudios Revolución
HOLGUÍN.– The government visits to different regions of the country, led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, have been invigorating work days and included lively conversations with workers and residents.
This was reaffirmed during the summary meeting concluding the President’s second government visit to Holguín, when he expressed satisfaction with his tour of the sugar cane harvester factory “60 Aniversario de la Revolución de Octubre,” popularly known as the KTP, where productive chains have been developed that contribute to the Azcuba state enterprise group and other companies affiliated with the Ministries of Agriculture and Construction.
Regarding the development of the new cane harvester CCA 5500, he noted the need to produce this machinery for the country and the export market, while proposing evaluation of possible foreign investment options, to give the project a wider scope and greater sustainability.He likewise called for extension of the experience gained here to the design and production of harvesters for rice and other crops, also mentioning the possibility of manufacturing a machine to clean beaches and remove sea weed.Díaz-Canel also recognized the potential of the “26 de Julio” Agricultural Implements Factory, which provides another example of developing productive chains and the potential to supply both the domestic and foreign markets.He highlighted the work done at this factory to develop a wide range of equipment for rice production, and said that instructions have been given to design and manufacture - independently or in conjunction with others - machines required by the rice processing industry, including mills and dryers, to avoid importing these, as is currently the case.

VBago City is top rice producer for 2nd year

By Nanette Guadalquiver  May 31, 2019, 7:06 pm
Description: https://files.pna.gov.ph/category-list/2019/05/31/bago-city-2018-rice-achievers-awards.jpg
PRODUCTIVE. Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo (center),  City Agriculturist Carlito Indencia (2nd from right), and DA-Western Visayas Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter (right) receive the trophy and the symbolic check for PHP1 million from Senator Cynthia Villar (2nd from left) and other officials during the 2018 Rice Achievers Awards held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Thursday (May 30, 2018).  The southern Negros city’s average yield per hectare increased from 4.3 metric tons in 2017 to 4.45 metric tons in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit-6)
BACOLOD CITY -- For the second straight year, Bago City has been recognized as one of the top rice-producing local government units in the country during the 2018 Rice Achievers Awards.
Known as the rice bowl of Negros Occidental, Bago was among the 15 municipalities and cities awarded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in a ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Thursday.
The top rice-producing city of Western Visayas (Region 6) has a total 119,528.36 metric tons of palay production in 2018 from a harvested area of 11,879.29 hectares.
Mayor Nicholas Yulo was joined by city agriculturist Carlito Indencia and DA-6 regional executive director Remelyn Recoter in receiving the award, which included a trophy and a check worth PHP1 million, from Senator Cynthia Villar.
In a statement on Friday, Yulo attributed the award to the improving efficiency of rice farmers in Bago.
The southern Negros city’s average yield per hectare increased from 4.3 metric tons in 2017 to 4.45 metric tons in 2018.
Yulo also acknowledged the assistance of the DA and Negros Occidental’s provincial government in terms of rice seed subsidies, technology transfer, and farm machinery.
Last year, rice farmers in Bago received 19,571 bags of high-quality palay seeds, as well as seven units of shallow tube well and water pump engines, and 10 units of farm machinery and equipment from the DA and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
The DA also distributed 80 bags of fertilizer to 22 farmers under the Rice Crop Manager and Philippine Rice Information System programs; established two rice model farms for inbred and hybrid rice; put up a biocontrol agent lab; and conducted farmers field schools and pest management training in Bago.
In December last year, the provincial government piloted the farm mechanization program in the city’s 200-hectare rice farm in Barangay Taloc.
Bago contributes about 20 percent to Negros Occidental’s total rice production.
Meanwhile, Recoter encouraged other rice-producing areas in Western Visayas to boost their yield.
“(The) DA is here to give interventions, such as production support, training and extension services, provision of small-scale irrigation projects, farm machinery and facilities,” she said. (PNA)

Hafeez Shaikh directs to issue sales tax refund bonds to claimants

Web Desk On May 31, 2019
Description: Hafeez Sheikh
ISLAMABAD: In order to facilitate business community and export, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh here on Friday directed to issue sales tax refund bonds to the claimants through Central Depository Company (CDC).
Speaking at a ceremony held at Ministry of Finance in Islamabad, Hafeez Shaikh said that the bonds amounting to Rs.7 bn were being issued in the first tranche and this issuance shall benefit 90 claimants.
He said that Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) was planning another issuance next month. The advisor asked the claimants to exercise their option for issuance of bonds and provide their CDC accounts to FBR so that they can be accommodated in the next issuance.
The government decided to issue sales tax refund bonds to the claimants so as to resolve the problems of long outstanding refunds.
Earlier on March 4, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had issued an advice to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for making payment of sales tax refunds amounting to Rs. 7,236 million to facilitate the exports.
The payment would benefit 898 claimants involved in exports of textile, carpets, leather, sports goods, surgical instruments, rice, food items, machinery and other items, said FBR statement. The refund had been paid against 2,637 refund payment orders issued up 30 th January, 2019, it had added

Colombia could lose 60% of land for rice production by the 2050s because of climate change

Description: https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ee5a0a39118e4422d1abfd772514c458?s=39&d=blank&r=g Published May 31, 2019 at 22:25 PM GMT
According to a new study, Colombia could lose 60% of land suitable for rice production by the 2050s as a result of climate change.
The study, conducted by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), was published in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change.
Colombia currently has 4.4 million hectares of land suitable for rice production, but that could drop to as low as 1.8 million hectares in around thirty years because of increased temperatures and decreased rainfall.
The study’s scenario for 2049-2060 is based on Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5, a greenhouse gas concentration trajectory in which emissions continue to rise throughout the 21st century.
The researchers project that many low-altitude rice-growing regions of the country will become environmentally incompatible with rice production as climate conditions change. Other areas, with higher elevations, will become more suitable.
According to the abstract of the study,  “Low-lying rice production regions could be the most susceptible to changing environmental conditions, while mid-altitude valleys could see improvements in rice-growing conditions.”
The authors say that the impacts can be avoided by preparing farmers and cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.
“Many of these impacts can be avoided if we act on time by facilitating strategies so that our farmers are better prepared, and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture and other sectors,” said Fabio Castro, the study’s lead author and researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia.
Rice production can move to higher latitudes in countries such as China. However, adaption in Colombia “will favor higher elevations”.
“India, which is a little bit closer to the equator, doesn’t have as much flexibility as China does, but they still have some flexibility, as do some Southeast Asian countries,” said Glenn Hyman, a co-author at the Spatial Informatics Group. “Indonesia, Western Africa, Peru, Ecuador and Central America are similar to Colombia but may lack land at cooler, higher altitudes.”
“Areas that are projected to be less suitable for rice may need to switch to other crops or otherwise develop new livelihood strategies. In other areas where rice production is projected to thrive, land-use changes need to be considered carefully in the light of sustainability and profitability,” the authors wrote. “Food security and food sovereignty issues may also be important considerations in land-use planning in these regions. Planning efforts will require more research on the economic and social aspects of agricultural production in the country.”
Citation
“Climate change favors rice production at higher elevations in Colombia”
Castro-Llanos, F., Hyman, G., Rubiano, J. et al. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09852-x

No threat to inflation seen from prolonged El Niño

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:26 AM June 01, 2019
The El Niño phenomenon may linger in the country longer than expected, but the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said this would not have an effect on inflation and put “negligible” pressure in the price of rice.
Bruce Tolentino, a member of the policymaking Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said that even when a much longer drought would persist until 2020 as forecast by the state weather bureau, the affected areas were “not significant for rice,” adding that “rains have already come for Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley” where the bulk of the country’s rice production came from.
This means the impact of the El Niño especially in food production would not be drastic and any effects it would have on rice would be minimal.
The latest climate outlook from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said there was a 70-percent chance that dry and warm conditions would continue until the end of 2019 and persist until 2020 “but with high uncertainty.”
It expected 63 provinces to be hit by El Niño in varying degrees.
During the onset of El Niño, the agriculture sector incurred P7.96 billion in damages and losses—the majority of which were on rice and corn—but Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the figures represented only 1 and 4 percent of the country’s total rice and corn production, respectively.
So far, the effects of the climate pattern were not manifested in the country’s inflation rate during the first quarter, which averaged 3.8 percent.
Tolentino, also a former director of the International Rice Research Institute, said prices of rice in the market should continue to moderate especially with the deregulation of rice trade.
The crucial next item to monitor, he noted, would be the movement of international rice prices and any international supply and price shocks in countries where the Philippines would source its imported rice, including Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan and Myanmar.
Economic managers said the influx of cheap imported rice should bring down the inflation rate by as much as 0.6 percentage point and provide fresh revenue to the national government in the form of import duties. —KARL R. OCAMPO
Multiple taxations: commodity corridors underway for farm produce movements
NNCMC boss By Hussein Yahaya | Published Date Jun 2, 2019 7:56 AM
TwitterFacebookWhatsAppTelegram Alhaji Abubakar Musa is the pioneer Managing Director of the New Nigeria Commodity Marketing Company (NNCMC), a private sector-led business vehicle for wholesale trading quality farm produce. In this interview with our Agric Editor, the MD explains, among other issues, why farmers are not getting best prices for their produce and what must be done to put an end to that. Excerpt: Let me start by asking you how the idea of New Nigeria Commodity Marketing Company Limited (NNCMC) came about?  ADVERTISEMENT The company came on board basically to enable farmers get best prices for their produce, which will encourage them to do more. We have the 19 northern states holding the stake and the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC), which is the financial investment company for northern Nigeria also holding parts of the stake and of course, there are spirited individuals and institutions in the private sector that are also holding stake in the company. ADVERTISEMENT So the idea is that 65 percent of the stakes goes to the private sector, which made up of individuals and institutions while the remaining 35 percent is held by the 19 northern governments. This is deliberate to make sure that the company operates as a private company so that the financial and operation disciplines come into play. So, basically this is the share structure and the funding structure is in two ways; we intend to draw funds from the equity contributions from the shareholders and then funds from the commercial and financial institutions but we will only take those ones that are cheap and flexible. How is your mode of production going to be, that is how do you intend to be buying the produce from the farmers? Our mode of production will be centered around the farmers, the ordinary farmers will be our central focus point. Although you will agree with me that it is not going to be easy dealing with individual farmers and that is why we will embrace the existing farmers’ cooperatives and associations. In fact, all the production lines have the farmers’ associations, we have the primary association, the secondary association and the apex associations, so we will work with them accordingly by making them our central focal points. We will appoint them as our local buying agents, in other words, we will take them into full capacity by providing aggregation centres and they will now be buying produce in bags from their member famers. We will provide the grading system for them to grade their produce and buy from them and also by doing that, we have made them active members of sourcing commodity from the markets. We will be doing that to ensure that we give these farmers the final prices for the commodity. The issue of price fluctuation has been the major problem for farmers, how do you intend to stablise this? Price stability has always been the issue but as a commodity marketing company we will interface with the end users, which are manufacturing, processing companies, edible oil, flours and what have you. We are also interfacing with livestock mills where livestock feeds are produced, so also with the export markets to find out their needs, requirements and specifications. With all these at our disposal, we will now get the final prices for the produce. We will also be linking these farmers to the end users instead of using the middlemen because the price has always been affected by the middlemen.  If a bag of maize is sold at N10,000 at the mills, the farmers hardly get N5,500 because of the activities of the middlemen. What we will do through the aggregation programme and the local buying agents  is to make sure that the price at the end users get to the farmers and with this we will make our margin and the farmers will also make benefits. So this is how the farmers will benefit from our activities from this season on. Alhaji Abubakar Musa is the pioneer Managing Director of the New Nigeria Commodity Marketing Company (NNCMC) Farmers are already going into planting for the season, when are you starting full operation? This farming season, we are going into full operation but in the last 12 months that we have existed, we have what we call a pilot operation. Let me give you example, during the last dry and wet seasons, we procured paddy rice and supplied to major rice millers in Nigeria. We procured them from our local farmers in Kebbi, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa and Jigawa states. We have also supplied them in best standard to major rice millers in Kano. The idea is to make sure that we get the market test and we have done that, we have leant our lessons from the dry season activities, we also leant our lesson from the wet season activities. The issues are there, lots of issues in terms of logistic, for example, there are issues of multiple taxations, issue of logistics, the issue that has to do with quality and even standard grading system. There is complete absence of measurement in our markets. All the grains I have seen in the markets are priced per bag while we sell in weighs, so we will have to balance that and at the end of the day, we will be buying in weighs and  sell in weighs, that is what will make economic sense. This means there are lots of works that need to be done; we have started sensitizing the farmers on the need to take measurement, which will also benefit them. Are you confidence that some of these noticed challenges will be fully addressed before you go into full operation this farming season? O yes, why I am confident that we will overcome them is that we have already done some kinds of relationship buildings, some issues will be resolved from the government side, some will be resolved from the market end through the interface between us and some other stakeholders, so we will get through over them. For example, we advocate for the establishment of commodity corridors in this country and we have been able to work with the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to identify some commodity routes notably from Description: https://cdn.dailytrust.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/New-Nigeria-Commodity-Marketing-Company-NNCMC-489x367.jpg Description: Alhaji Abubakar Musa is the pioneer Managing Director of the New Nigeria Commodity Marketing Company (NNCMC)Benue, Kebbi up to Lagos. On these commodity corridors, we have interfaced with key stakeholders like FRSC, the Nigeria police, army, civil defence to make sure that these corridors work. We have defined strategies for it to work like having special number plates for produce vehicles, special paints for the trucks that will move round the produce. We will ensure with tax agencies that only the relevant taxes are paid to avoid multiple taxes. If you take commodity from Benue you get to Lagos without multiple taxes, take from Kebbi get to Lagos without multiple taxes, similarly to Kano and the rest. So cooperation with stakeholders will help to resolve these challenges we have seen. Harvest of some produce will begin in few months, what is your advice for them to come out with acceptable produce? My advice to farmers is that there are some best practices for every commodity at the point of harvest. Farmers should embrace technology; farmers should embrace best practices in terms of harvest, in term of handling these commodities and in term of storing them. This is where they lose values; you can harvest maize, rice but if you don’t handle them well, it can lose some substantial parts as part of post- harvest loses. If they don’t store the produce well, weevils and some other parasites can enter and damage the quality.


Revitalising Fiji’s rice industry still a priority: Reddy

Rice farmers in Dreketi plant rice. Picture: FT FILE
THE revitalisation of the rice industry continues to be a priority of the Ministry of Agriculture in its ongoing efforts to improve efficient production through continued research for a self-sufficient and sustainable rice industry. Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy made this comment to rice farmers of Nabouwalu Village in Bua during his Northern Division […]

Continue reading this article with a Fiji Times online membership.https://www.fijitimes.com/revitalising-fijis-rice-industry-still-a-priority-reddy/

Analysts see inflation easing below 3% in May

JUNE 03, 2019
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·       ANALYSTS SEE INFLATION EASING BELOW 3% IN MAY
INFLATION likely eased below 3 percent last month because of lower food prices, according to analysts polled by The Manila Times.
Forecasts on the rate of the increase in the prices of goods and services for the month ranged from 2.7 percent to 3.1 percent with a 2.9 percent average, down from the 3.0 percent posted in April and 4.6 percent in May last year.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier projected inflation to ease to as low as 2.8 percent or pick up to 3.6 percent, while London-based economic research firm Capital Economics saw it settling at 2.5 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is set to release official May inflation data on June 5.
HSBC Global Research offered the highest inflation projection of 3.1 percent, attributing it to higher prices of oil and the continued increase in vegetable and fruit prices.
“All things considered, however, inflationary pressures remain benign and headline prices are likely to hover around the midpoint of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2-4 percent target,” HSBC said in a report.
It expects full-year inflation to average 3.1 percent, which it said would allow the BSP to further loosen monetary policy in the fourth quarter.
“We believe the BSP has scope for another 100 basis points of RRR (reserve requirement ratio) cuts and a 25-bps policy rate cut by yearend,” HSBC said.
Analysts from the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Philstocks Financial Inc. both forecast inflation to remain steady at 3 percent.
According to Philstocks research associate Japhet Louis Tantiango, inflation could fall within 2.8 to 3.2 percent, with a 3.0 percent average, due to upside pressures that include base effects, elevated oil prices and the depreciated peso.
“Downward pressures include lower rice prices and electricity rates,” Tantiangco said.
Michael Ricafort, head of RCBC’s economics and industry research division, explained that inflation could remain steady at 3 percent, but may ease further to 2-percent levels in the remaining months of 2019 due to reduced food and global oil prices.
“Food prices, especially [of] rice, have continued to go down in recent months amid the harvest season and partly due to the government’s non-monetary measures since the latter part of 2018 to increase food/rice supply, even before the full effects of the Rice Tariffication Law (Republic Act 11203) have taken place,” he said.
“Prices of most agricultural prices, such as vegetables and other produce, have remained relatively lower, compared to [those in] recent months amid the harvest season and improved local supply conditions,” he added.
According to Ricafort, global crude oil prices also went down by more than $13 since late April.
The RCBC analyst also said the relatively stronger and stable peso exchange rate could also pull down inflation, as a stronger Philippine currency “helps lower prices of imports, such as oil, rice, capital goods, other consumer goods.”
“The government’s non-monetary measures to better manage inflation since the latter part of 2018 has been effective in lowering the price of food items, effectively offsetting any adverse effects of the mild El Niño drought on prices of agricultural products,” he added.
Analysts from Moody’s Analytics and Union Bank of the Philippines, meanwhile, both see inflation hitting 2.9 percent.
“Subdued rice prices are an important contributor to the deceleration,” Moody’s Analytics Economist Katrina Ell said.
UnionBank chief economist Carlo Asuncion also believed the lower inflation could be due to the lower prices of commodities.
“The slowdown [may be] slower, but it is still expected to ease further as price levels continue to ease, as well,” he said.
Eagle Equities Inc. head of research Christopher Mangun, offered the lowest forecast of 2.7 percent.
“The surge in rice imports have drastically lowered prices, and oil prices also came down toward the end of May,” Mangun said.

Analysts see inflation easing below 3% in May

JUNE 03, 2019
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·       ANALYSTS SEE INFLATION EASING BELOW 3% IN MAY
INFLATION likely eased below 3 percent last month because of lower food prices, according to analysts polled by The Manila Times.
Forecasts on the rate of the increase in the prices of goods and services for the month ranged from 2.7 percent to 3.1 percent with a 2.9 percent average, down from the 3.0 percent posted in April and 4.6 percent in May last year.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier projected inflation to ease to as low as 2.8 percent or pick up to 3.6 percent, while London-based economic research firm Capital Economics saw it settling at 2.5 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is set to release official May inflation data on June 5.
HSBC Global Research offered the highest inflation projection of 3.1 percent, attributing it to higher prices of oil and the continued increase in vegetable and fruit prices.
“All things considered, however, inflationary pressures remain benign and headline prices are likely to hover around the midpoint of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2-4 percent target,” HSBC said in a report.
It expects full-year inflation to average 3.1 percent, which it said would allow the BSP to further loosen monetary policy in the fourth quarter.
“We believe the BSP has scope for another 100 basis points of RRR (reserve requirement ratio) cuts and a 25-bps policy rate cut by yearend,” HSBC said.
Analysts from the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Philstocks Financial Inc. both forecast inflation to remain steady at 3 percent.
According to Philstocks research associate Japhet Louis Tantiango, inflation could fall within 2.8 to 3.2 percent, with a 3.0 percent average, due to upside pressures that include base effects, elevated oil prices and the depreciated peso.
“Downward pressures include lower rice prices and electricity rates,” Tantiangco said.
Michael Ricafort, head of RCBC’s economics and industry research division, explained that inflation could remain steady at 3 percent, but may ease further to 2-percent levels in the remaining months of 2019 due to reduced food and global oil prices.
“Food prices, especially [of] rice, have continued to go down in recent months amid the harvest season and partly due to the government’s non-monetary measures since the latter part of 2018 to increase food/rice supply, even before the full effects of the Rice Tariffication Law (Republic Act 11203) have taken place,” he said.
“Prices of most agricultural prices, such as vegetables and other produce, have remained relatively lower, compared to [those in] recent months amid the harvest season and improved local supply conditions,” he added.
According to Ricafort, global crude oil prices also went down by more than $13 since late April.
The RCBC analyst also said the relatively stronger and stable peso exchange rate could also pull down inflation, as a stronger Philippine currency “helps lower prices of imports, such as oil, rice, capital goods, other consumer goods.”
“The government’s non-monetary measures to better manage inflation since the latter part of 2018 has been effective in lowering the price of food items, effectively offsetting any adverse effects of the mild El Niño drought on prices of agricultural products,” he added.
Analysts from Moody’s Analytics and Union Bank of the Philippines, meanwhile, both see inflation hitting 2.9 percent.
“Subdued rice prices are an important contributor to the deceleration,” Moody’s Analytics Economist Katrina Ell said.
UnionBank chief economist Carlo Asuncion also believed the lower inflation could be due to the lower prices of commodities.
“The slowdown [may be] slower, but it is still expected to ease further as price levels continue to ease, as well,” he said.
Eagle Equities Inc. head of research Christopher Mangun, offered the lowest forecast of 2.7 percent.
“The surge in rice imports have drastically lowered prices, and oil prices also came down toward the end of May,” Mangun said.