COVID-19 has disrupted
fieldwork. Here’s how environmental chemists are coping
The pandemic has delayed environmental
monitoring, but some scientists are finding ways to pivot
June 29, 2020 | APPEARED IN VOLUME 98, ISSUE 25
Credit:
Benjamin Bostick
Cheng Y Seng, a
student at International University in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, tests a Cambodian
well.
Spring and
summer are when many environmental scientists normally head into the field to
collect data. That’s when it’s safe to summit a glacier high in the mountains
to retrieve ice cores. It’s when nutrient runoff and weather patterns combine
to trigger the toxic algal blooms that researchers track. And it’s when the
rice that scientists monitor for arsenic ripens.
But this year
is different. Around the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed countless
lives, caused economic upheaval, and, for scientists who monitor our
environment, thrown research programs into a tailspin. Travel restrictions and
other safety measures shut down programs, delayed trips, and triggered anxiety
among students counting on the data from this season to finish their degrees or
ensure their funding. And the more time researchers are away from their
projects, the more significant the gaps will be in their data. Long-term,
continuous environmental monitoring allows water quality scientists to catch
problems earlier, when they’re easier to address; provides compelling and rich
evidence for arguments about nuances in climate science; and helps researchers
maintain momentum on projects in remote areas that are logistically challenging
to restart.
Amid the
disruption, environmental chemists are searching for ways to limit the damage
to long-term projects, and some are even finding new experimental opportunities
and ways of working. Here’s a look at how four groups of scientists are dealing
with the challenges.
Alison Criscitiello
Arctic expedition deferred
Arctic expedition deferred
Credit: Alison
Criscitiello
Alison
Criscitiello, director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of
Alberta, brandishes an ice-core drill during a previous Arctic expedition.
In 2017, a
freezer at the Canadian Ice Core Lab (CICL) failed, melting 180 ice cores.
These cylindrical samples, collected painstakingly from the Canadian Arctic in
prior years, represented a unique record of climate history from the region.
Among the samples was some of the oldest ice taken from Mount Logan, Canada’s
highest peak, located in Yukon.
Eager to
replace what was lost, Alison Criscitiello had been planning
an expedition to Mount Logan, which was to take place in two stages over two
years, starting in spring 2020. Criscitiello, the director of the CICL, had
been training for the trip for seven months, spending time in an
altitude-simulation chamber to get in good condition. Mount Logan sits at an
elevation of 5,959 m, and she and her team needed to physically prepare to
endure the grueling conditions there.
Ice
cores, taken from ice sheets and glaciers, contain hundreds of thousands of
years’ worth of accumulated snow. Their layers—formed when snow containing a
sample of what was in the atmosphere is compressed into ice—can tell
climatologists about Earth’s historical temperature record, levels of carbon
dioxide and other atmospheric gases, and annual concentrations of pollutants
such as lead. But they’re not easy to acquire: drilling and collecting them
requires complex scientific expeditions that take years to plan.
Criscitiello’s
trip to Mount Logan is now postponed.
Getting an ice
core isn’t just a matter of hauling equipment up the world’s tallest mountains
and starting to drill—it’s far more deliberate than that. To make sure they
would be drilling in the best possible place on Mount Logan, Criscitiello and
her team had planned to spend their spring trip mapping the ice formation by
dragging a radar system across it. The idea was to drill where the annual
layers of ice are as parallel to each other as possible, so that the annual
record is clear. Mapping the ice formation would also enable the researchers to
drill as deep as possible, thereby going as far back in time as possible.
Due to the
pandemic, the spring mapping trip has now been scrapped, and the team will have
to make its best guess about where to drill when the expedition resumes in
2021. “The science takes a real hit,” Criscitiello says. But she didn’t want to
push the entire project to next year and still do it in two stages because that
would mean grad students and postdoctoral scholars who are planning to study
the ice would be delayed a year in their work and careers.
Many
glaciologists are in similar situations. This month, the US and the UK
announced the cancellation of all Antarctic field research for the 2020 season.
These cancellations mean disruptions in the collection of data that are used to
model our rapidly changing climate. And some places—like the Canadian
Arctic—are warming rapidly, which means the record in the ice is at risk of
being damaged.
Like many
scientists with canceled plans in 2020, Criscitiello says the scientists on her
team are “really disappointed, but trying to keep perspective.”
Credit: Shira
Bezalel
Environmental
scientist Donald Yee collects samples during a past research trip on the San
Francisco Bay.
Algae in rivers
and in the ocean thrive on nitrogen and other nutrients that run off from farms
and sewage. But when algae bloom, other organisms in the ecosystem can suffer:
high levels of phytoplankton can suck up oxygen, choking out other creatures,
and can produce toxins harmful to sea lions, people, and other animals.
Phytoplankton
blooms in the San Francisco Bay usually start in March. So the San Francisco
Estuary Institute (SFEI) starts its research cruises at the same time. SFEI
partners with regional and national government agencies, including local water
boards, as well as businesses and nongovernmental organizations, to keep an eye
on the region’s water quality. The institute monitors nutrient concentrations
and provides regional governments with the information they need to address the
blooms, by implementing changes to wastewater treatment, for instance.
But the Bay
Area’s shelter-in-place order went into effect at midnight on March 17, forcing
the institute to halt all research cruises, says Tony Hale, director of the
environmental informatics program at SFEI.
Nutrient
monitoring is just one activity at SFEI. Institute scientists monitor water
quality and ecosystem health in the San Francisco Bay and the large river delta
and estuary whose waters flow into it. The pandemic has disrupted this work.
The
shelter-in-place order has also delayed the institute’s work monitoring
contaminants in fish. Last year, the Regional Monitoring Program for Water
Quality in the San Francisco Bay collected sport fish samples from around the
region, but SFEI scientists haven’t been able to test them because their labs
have been closed. That means Bay Area fishers have yet to receive warnings
about what fish might be unsafe to consume this season.
by Waters
But Hale says
things are changing quickly as California reopens. As its scientists
go back to work, the institute is working on safety protocols to strike
what Hale calls the “delicate balance” between monitoring water quality and
keeping researchers safe. SFEI staff got into the field for the first time in
mid-June.
Moving forward,
Donald Yee, senior environmental
scientist with the institute’s clean water program, expects that some work the
institute normally does—including joining collaborators during sampling trips
to ensure SFEI project scientists understand the context for the data being
submitted by those collaborators—will, for the time being, have to be done over
video calls. However, he notes that the institute’s researchers already wear
some personal protective equipment as a matter of course, which will provide a
good basis for getting back into the field safely. Once they get back out in
the field, Yee says, researchers will have to add additional protective gear,
like masks, to protect themselves from each other.
Joellen Russell
An unexpected global experiment
An unexpected global experiment
Credit: Joellen
Russell/Aaron Putnam
Joellen
Russell, a biogeochemist at the University of Arizona, on a glacier in New
Zealand's Southern Alps in 2018
For some
atmospheric chemists, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unanticipated
research opportunity—though not one anyone would have asked for. Thanks to
movement restrictions and slowed economic activity, anthropogenic emissions of
greenhouse gases and other pollutants have sharply decreased. For example, carbon
dioxide levels fell by as much as 17% worldwide by late April.
“Less burning
of fossil fuels means less aerosols in the air,” says Joellen Russell, a biogeochemist and chair of
integrative science at the University of Arizona. Most aerosols reflect the
sun’s light, so they tend to have a slight cooling effect on Earth’s climate.
The unusually low emissions seen this spring present an opportunity for
climatologists and atmospheric chemists to test their atmospheric models. Will
the low levels of aerosols have the expected regional temperature effects, or
not? Scientists will be able to use the answer to fine-tune their climate
models.
And, Russell
notes, they can ask that question from their desks. Satellites and ground-level
sensors stream data about the chemical composition of the atmosphere to
computer banks, and scientists run their models on remote
supercomputers—business as usual. Russell notes that the US Department of
Energy, for example, has kept these powerful computing systems online during
the pandemic. She says work happening right now also is likely to lead to
fine-tuning of weather models—and better predictions for the future.
This is really
hard on so many people, but it’s also an incredible time to be an earth
scientist.
Joellen
Russell, biogeochemist
and chair of integrative science at the University of Arizona
Russell says
there’s an increasing effort to push these models to be more predictive. “We
don’t just need the weather report, we need to know the likelihood of impacts”
like wildfires, she says.
Russell has
also been fortunate that she could continue with her work on carbon cycling in
the Southern Ocean during the pandemic. Since this research relies on
already-positioned robotic
floats loaded with sensors that beam data to satellites, “we’re able to go
pretty cleanly virtual,” she says. The satellites send the data to
supercomputers, which Russell’s team can access remotely.
by Waters
Still, Russell
has not completely escaped fieldwork disruptions. She had planned to travel to
New Zealand in March; she hopes to go next February to begin a collaboration
with the country’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.
Between the
pandemic and climate change, Russell says, “this is really hard on so many
people, but it’s also an incredible time to be an earth scientist.”
Benjamin Bostick and Alexander
Van Geen
Finding new ways of working remotely
Finding new ways of working remotely
Credit:
Benjamin Bostick
Columbia
University geochemist Benjamin Bostick in Cambodia doing fieldwork on arsenic
uptake by rice in January
When reached by
phone in mid-June, Benjamin Bostick,
a geochemist at the Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, was
unwrapping a snack for his daughter on her fifth birthday. “I’m in a small New
York apartment,” he said. “We don’t have an office—we don’t even have a desk.”
Bostick usually
works out of his Columbia office and lab and frequently travels abroad for
fieldwork. This summer, he was supposed to be working with rice farmers in
Vietnam and Cambodia to study the distribution of arsenic in their water supply
and how the toxic metalloid is taken up by the rice. Bostick was
in those two countries setting up experiments in January; due to travel
restrictions, he’s had to temporarily drop the project. “Being frozen in time”
is particularly disruptive for “experiments that have time components, like
growing rice,” he says.
He’s worried
about funding for his graduate students and the future of the project. Funders
are being understanding so far, he says, but it’s not yet clear whether they
will want to keep funding students who can’t work on their research projects
because they don’t have samples. A week or two of fieldwork can feed into a
year or two of analysis back in the lab. Environmental chemists—particularly
those who are currently students—will be feeling the effects of this year’s
cancellations for some time.
Alexander van Geen, a
geochemistry colleague of Bostick’s who also monitors arsenic, has been working
with people in Bangladesh to monitor the metalloid in their water. A third of
the wells in Bangladesh do not meet the World Health Organization’s standards
for arsenic in drinking water. But it’s complicated to keep tabs on the problem
because arsenic levels are extremely variable well to well, and people dig new
wells all the time. So iterative, on-the-ground measurements are key.
Van Geen’s
group has trained people in Bangladesh to use colorimetric tests to assess
levels of arsenic in their water, and the researchers have developed a
smartphone app that can be used to report the results and share them with
neighbors.
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Thanks to their
history of working on the well-monitoring project, when the COVID-19 pandemic
struck, van Geen and his group had already amassed a large database of phone
numbers for people in Bangladesh. He decided to put that bank of phone numbers
to good use. Van Geen and his team secured a US National Science Foundation
rapid grant, which they used to reach 60,000 households in Bangladesh. They
collected data about how many people living in each home died this spring, as
well as last year. Van Geen says this information will help determine excess
mortality attributable to COVID-19 and help track the spread of the disease.
In time, van
Geen expects data from these two projects will make it possible to look for a
link between arsenic exposure and COVID-19 infection rates and mortality.
Arsenic exposure is associated with many health problems, including some
related to the immune system.
Bostick says
the current circumstances present an opportunity for environmental chemists who
do work in other countries to rethink how they go about it. “We can encourage
more active participation by the people in the countries where we work,” he
says. This strategy will have to be applied in the future, though, because
Bostick can’t currently travel to his study sites to teach and equip local
collaborators.
For those lucky
enough to remain healthy, the pause in usual patterns of scientific work
provides an opportunity for reflection. “Field research is incredibly
personalized and individual,” Bostick says. He’s taking the time to pore over
data he gathered before the pandemic, looking for new angles that might broaden
his research.
G2G rice imports no
longer needed, Dar says
June 29, 2020 |
12:04 am
REUTERS
GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT
(G2G) rice imports are no longer necessary, Agriculture Secretary William D.
Dar said, after Vietnam lifted its restrictions on rice exports.
In a statement,
Mr. Dar said he wrote Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on June 24 recommending
that the government no longer pursue the plan to import 300,000 metric tons
(MT) of rice, and will rely on private imports instead.
The Philippine
International Trading Center (PITC), an arm of the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI), was originally tapped to strike a G2G deal with Vietnam, but
announced the abandonment of import plans Friday.
In March, the
Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases
(IATF-EID) approved plans to import 300,000 MT, after Vietnam suspended the
signing of new rice export contracts while it assessed its own requirements in
light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The situation,
however, has been properly addressed with the lifting of the rice export ban by
Vietnam and the rice import arrivals of around 1.3 million MT as of the third
week of June,” Mr. Dar said in the letter to Mr. Lopez.
According to
the DA, the Philippines imports between 7% to 14% of its rice requirements,
with Vietnam accounting for 90% of that total.
The DA
evaluated 10 scenarios for rice supply by the end of the year, with the
best-case scenario leading to a year-end stock equivalent to 100 days’
consumption requirements. The worst case was 78 days.
Mr. Dar said he
is confident that private-sector imports will be sufficient to meet demand in
the last half of the year.
“With the DTI,
through the PITC, no longer proceeding with the planned imports, the government
will be able to generate P8.5 billion in savings, a sum which can be tapped to
support productivity-enhancing activities in agriculture that can assist in
ensuring food security for the country,” Mr. Dar said.
The Rice
Tariffication Law, or Republic Act 11203, had removed the National Food
Authority’s rice import functions and left the international trade in rice to
private firms, who are obliged to pay import duties of 35% on Southeast Asian
grain. The tariffs generate revenue for the government instead of leaving it
with the need to set aside cash for G2G purchases. The tariffs in turn fund
government efforts to make domestic rice production more competitive. — Revin
Mikhael D. Ochave
Rice
tariffication loopholes
Local farmers
are calling for the revamp of the country’s rice import system following the
undervaluation and misdeclaration of rice shipments worth nearly P1 billion
from January to April.
Customs data
showed a total of 766,000 million metric tons of rice were imported from
January to April with tariff collections amounting to P4.8 billion. However, a
study by the Federation of Free Farmers indicates the tariff collections could
have been higher by P890 million had the government made the proper assessment
of rice import values.
Bureau of
Customs assistant commissioner Vincent Maronilla confirmed FFF’s claims and
revealed that importers were required to post bonds when their declared import
prices were lower than the agency’s reference prices. However, the process for
validating cases of undervalued imports and the corresponding forfeiture of
bonds had been delayed amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Aside from
undervaluing free on board prices, which is the price of imports at their point
of origin, the FFF said importers also grossly misdeclared their freight and
insurance costs which are included in the computation of tariffs.
FFF estimates
80 percent of rice imports in 2020 were placed under a tariff heading for
‘broken rice’ which includes a subheading of rice ‘of a kind used for animal
feed.’ Others are classified as ‘brown rice’ even if actually white and
well-milled. Moreover, significant volumes of imports did not indicate any rice
grade, making it impossible to determine their proper tariff classification and
corresponding reference price.
The FFF is
demanding a thorough review and overhaul of the BOC system for handling rice
imports, starting with the full and detailed listing of the bonds posted by
importers and an accounting of collections from the tariff shortfalls so far.
Additionally, the group stressed that the quarantine restrictions cannot excuse
Customs for its inaction on cases dating as far back as March 2019.
The proper
collection of tariffs and taxes on rice importation is crucial in helping the
local rice industry improve its competitiveness and survive. A broken system at
the Bureau of Customs that allows importers to easily misdeclare and undervalue
shipments deprives the Filipino farmers and people of much-needed tax
collections, should never have been allowed to survive if it benefits only
unscrupulous traders and corrupt customs officials. Are there still people in
BOC who are looking after the best interests of the Filipino people?*
Local farmers
are calling for the revamp of the country’s rice import system following the
undervaluation and misdeclaration of rice shipments worth nearly P1 billion
from January to April.
Customs data
showed a total of 766,000 million metric tons of rice were imported from
January to April with tariff collections amounting to P4.8 billion. However, a
study by the Federation of Free Farmers indicates the tariff collections could
have been higher by P890 million had the government made the proper assessment
of rice import values.
Bureau of
Customs assistant commissioner Vincent Maronilla confirmed FFF’s claims and
revealed that importers were required to post bonds when their declared import
prices were lower than the agency’s reference prices. However, the process for
validating cases of undervalued imports and the corresponding forfeiture of
bonds had been delayed amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Aside from
undervaluing free on board prices, which is the price of imports at their point
of origin, the FFF said importers also grossly misdeclared their freight and
insurance costs which are included in the computation of tariffs.
FFF estimates
80 percent of rice imports in 2020 were placed under a tariff heading for
‘broken rice’ which includes a subheading of rice ‘of a kind used for animal
feed.’ Others are classified as ‘brown rice’ even if actually white and
well-milled. Moreover, significant volumes of imports did not indicate any rice
grade, making it impossible to determine their proper tariff classification and
corresponding reference price.
The FFF is
demanding a thorough review and overhaul of the BOC system for handling rice
imports, starting with the full and detailed listing of the bonds posted by
importers and an accounting of collections from the tariff shortfalls so far.
Additionally, the group stressed that the quarantine restrictions cannot excuse
Customs for its inaction on cases dating as far back as March 2019.
The
proper collection of tariffs and taxes on rice importation is crucial in
helping the local rice industry improve its competitiveness and survive. A
broken system at the Bureau of Customs that allows importers to easily
misdeclare and undervalue shipments deprives the Filipino farmers and people of
much-needed tax collections, should never have been allowed to survive if it
benefits only unscrupulous traders and corrupt customs officials. Are there
still people in BOC who are looking after the best interests of the Filipino
people?*
Vietnam's H1 coffee
exports increase 3.7%, rice up 5.6%
June 29, 2020 /
7:34 AM
HANOI, June 29
(Reuters) - Vietnam’s coffee exports in the first half of this year are
expected to have increased 3.7% from a year earlier to 955,000 tonnes, and rice
exports are seen up 5.6%, government data released on Monday showed. COFFEE
Coffee exports from Vietnam likely increased an estimated 3.7% in the first
half from a year earlier to 955,000 tonnes, equal to 15.9 million 60-kg bags,
the General Statistics Office said in a report on Monday. Coffee export revenue
for Vietnam, the world’s biggest producer of the robusta bean, likely increased
2.5% to $1.61 billion in the six-month period, the report said. The country’s
coffee shipments in June were estimated at 140,000 tonnes valued at $237
million, it said. RICE Rice exports in the first half of this year from Vietnam
were forecast to have increased 5.6% from a year earlier to 3.5 million tonnes.
Revenue from rice exports in the period was expected to show a surge of 19.3%
to $1.73 billion. June rice exports from Vietnam, the world’s third-largest
shipper of the grain, totalled 450,000 tonnes, worth $228 million ENERGY
Vietnam’s first-half crude oil exports were seen rising 24.6% from the same
period last year to an estimated 2.5 million tonnes. Crude oil export revenue
in January to June is expected to show a fall of 30.3% to $621 million. Oil
product imports in the first half were estimated at 6.35 million tonnes, up
46.7% from the same period last year, while the value of product imports fell
0.1% to $2 billion . (Reporting by Phuong Nguyen Editing by Ed Davies)
Philippines halted rice importation due to sufficient supply — Palace
Published
June 29, 2020 3:13pm
By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News
The
Philippines shelved plans to import rice from Vietnam after the government
found there is enough supply of the staple food amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
Malacañang said Monday.“Sapat po ang ating supply ng bigas kaya po hindi na tinuloy ang pag-aangkat,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a televised briefing.
Roque did not give figures.
The country was supposed to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from Vietnam after the Southeast Asian country lifted its ban on rice exportation, but Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said last Friday that this would no longer push through.
Vietnam serves as a major import source of the Philippines, accounting for over 90% of the country’s rice imports, the Department of Trade and Industry said. It also said that the Philippines imports around 7% to 14% of its total rice requirement.
Philippines halted rice importation due to sufficient supply — Palace
Published June 29, 2020 3:13pm
By VIRGIL
LOPEZ, GMA News
The Philippines
shelved plans to import rice from Vietnam after the government found there is
enough supply of the staple food amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Malacañang said
Monday.
“Sapat po ang ating supply ng bigas kaya po
hindi na tinuloy ang pag-aangkat,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said
in a televised briefing.
Roque did not
give figures.
The country was
supposed to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from Vietnam after the
Southeast Asian country lifted its ban on rice exportation, but Trade Secretary
Ramon Lopez said last Friday that this would
no longer push through.
Vietnam serves
as a major import source of the Philippines, accounting for over 90% of the
country’s rice imports, the Department of Trade and Industry said. It also
said that the Philippines imports around 7% to 14% of its total rice
requirement.
Under the
implementing rules and regulations of the Rice Tariffication Law, the
President, in the event of a rice supply shortage, may direct the Secretary of
Trade and Industry and the Philippine International Trading Corporation to
purchase the needed rice supplies from domestic and foreign sources to enhance
market competition and stabilize rice prices.
Effective March
2019, the Philippines allowed the unlimited importation of rice —through the
private sector — as long as traders secure a phytosanitary permit from the
Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the 35% tariff for shipments from neighbors in
Southeast Asia. — RSJ, GMA
PSEi plunges 1.40% on COVID concerns
Published June 29, 2020 2:52pm
By JON VIKTOR
D. CABUENAS, GMA News
Share prices on
the Philippine Stock Exchange closed on the red on Monday, plunging by over 1%
after increasing concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
The local stock
barometer dropped 86.66 points or 1.40% to 6,105.18 at the closing bell. The
broader All Shares index lost 34.29 points or 0.94% to 3,596.86.
According to
Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan, Monday's retreat
came after lockdown restrictions were reintroduced overseas.
"Local
shares closed lower after Texas rolled back some of its reopening measures,
raising concerns about the latest spike in coronavirus cases and its impact on
the economy," he said in a mobile message.
"In
addition, global cases of COVID-19 surged past 10 million and are multiplying
faster than ever — a rebuff to health experts and world leaders who had
hoped the virus would fade away in the summer heat," he elaborated.
More than 1.013
billion shares, valued at P5.554 billion, changed hands. Decliners trumped
advancers, 142 to 63, and 44 issues were unchanged.
Locally, the
Philippines has recorded a total of 35,455 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of
Sunday, June 28, 2020. This includes 9,688 recoveries and 1,244 deaths.
Over the
weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Philippines
has the fastest-growing number of new COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific
Region.
The Palace has disputed
such observation, with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque claiming that the
Philippines only ranked sixth in the Western Pacific region “if we are [going]
to divide the number of cases on a per million population basis.” He said India
topped the list followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Singapore.
Social media
users, however, were quick to point out that India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
Indonesia do not belong to the Western Pacific region. According to the WHO,
India, Bangladesh and Indonesia are part of the WHO South-East Asia region
while Pakistan is classified under the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region. —
RSJ, GMA News
Money Money Philippines halted rice importation
due to sufficient supply — Palace
Published June 29, 2020 3:13pm By VIRGIL
LOPEZ, GMA News The Philippines shelved plans to import rice from Vietnam after
the government found there is enough supply of the staple food amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, Malacañang said Monday. advertisement “Sapat po ang ating
supply ng bigas kaya po hindi na tinuloy ang pag-aangkat,” presidential
spokesperson Harry Roque said in a televised briefing. Roque did not give
figures. The country was supposed to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice
from Vietnam after the Southeast Asian country lifted its ban on rice
exportation, but Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said last Friday that this would
no longer push through. Vietnam serves as a major import source of the
Philippines, accounting for over 90% of the country’s rice imports, the
Department of Trade and Industry said. It also said that the Philippines
imports around 7% to 14% of its total rice requirement.
OTHER STORIES
PSEi plunges 1.40% on COVID concerns Meralco suspends disconnection activities
until August 31 Customs implements online filing at NAIA Under the implementing
rules and regulations of the Rice Tariffication Law, the President, in the
event of a rice supply shortage, may direct the Secretary of Trade and Industry
and the Philippine International Trading Corporation to purchase the needed
rice supplies from domestic and foreign sources to enhance market competition
and stabilize rice prices. Effective March 2019, the Philippines allowed the
unlimited importation of rice —through the private sector — as long as traders
secure a phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the 35%
tariff for shipments from neighbors in Southeast Asia. — RSJ, GMA News Show
comments Filtered By: Money Money PSEi plunges 1.40% on COVID concerns
Published June 29, 2020 2:52pm By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS, GMA News Share prices
on the Philippine Stock Exchange closed on the red on Monday, plunging by over
1% after increasing concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic. The local
stock barometer dropped 86.66 points or 1.40% to 6,105.18 at the closing bell.
The broader All Shares index lost 34.29 points or 0.94% to 3,596.86. According
to Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan, Monday's
retreat came after lockdown restrictions were reintroduced overseas.
"Local shares closed lower after Texas rolled back some of its reopening
measures, raising concerns about the latest spike in coronavirus cases and its
impact on the economy," he said in a mobile message. "In addition,
global cases of COVID-19 surged past 10 million and are multiplying faster than
ever — a rebuff to health experts and world leaders who had hoped the virus
would fade away in the summer heat," he elaborated. More than 1.013 billion
shares, valued at P5.554 billion, changed hands. Decliners trumped advancers,
142 to 63, and 44 issues were unchanged. Locally, the Philippines has recorded
a total of 35,455 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday, June 28, 2020. This
includes 9,688 recoveries and 1,244 deaths. Over the weekend, the World Health
Organization (WHO) reported that the Philippines has the fastest-growing number
of new COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific Region. The Palace has disputed
such observation, with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque claiming that the
Philippines only ranked sixth in the Western Pacific region “if we are [going]
to divide the number of cases on a per million population basis.” He said India
topped the list followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Singapore.
Social media users, however, were quick to point out that India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Indonesia do not belong to the Western Pacific region. According
to the WHO, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia are part of the WHO South-East Asia
region while Pakistan is classified under the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region.
— RSJ, GMA News Show comments Previous Top
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on hold in several areas in the country — Palace MONEY Philippines promises
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repatriated from Germany SCITECH Southwest monsoon to bring rains over Southern
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motion-activated, hands-free alcohol dispenser PHIVOLCS: Kanlaon Volcano
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https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/744638/philippines-halted-rice-importation-due-to-sufficient-supply-palace/story/
DA welcomes DTI’s
decision to drop PITC rice import plan
By DA Published
on June 29, 2020
QUEZON CITY,
June 29 -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) welcomes the decision of
the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Philippine
International Trading Center (PITC), to no longer pursue its planned
government-to-government (G2G) rice importation scheme.
Photo by DA
In a letter to
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez on 24 June 2020, Agriculture Secretary William Dar
said that the G2G importation is “no longer necessary under the current
situation.”
To recall, the
Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases
(IATF-MEID) approved the recommendation to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of
rice, as Vietnam decided to temporarily suspend the signing of new rice export
contracts while it assesses its own rice requirements amid the COVID-19
pandemic.
The
recommendation was based on the DA’s study using 10 different scenarios of the
rice supply and demand situation for the entire 2020.
Under the
study’s best scenario, the country would have an ending stock of 100 days,
while the worst case scenario would have a lower, but still a comfortable stock
of 78 days at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the
Philippines imports around seven to 14 percent (%) of its rice requirements,
with 90% coming from Vietnam.
As the National
Food Authority (NFA) is no longer allowed to import rice under the Rice
Tariffication Law, it was proposed that another government agency, in DTI’s
PITC, be designated to undertake importation to ensure that the Philippine will
not experience a tight rice supply situation during the lean months.
“The situation,
however, has been properly addressed with the lifting of the rice export ban by
Vietnam and the rice import arrivals of around 1.3 million MT as of third week
of June,” said secretary Dar in his letter to DTI Secretary Lopez.
The DA chief is
confident that the remaining import requirement can be secured within the
remaining six months of the year by the private sector.
“With the DTI,
through the PITC, no longer proceeding with the planned imports, the government
will be able to generate P8.5 billion savings, a sum which can be tapped to
support productivity-enhancing activities in agriculture that can assist in
ensuring food security for the country,” Secretary Dar said.
Besides the
savings, the resumption of the private sector-led importation is also expected
to generate greater revenue stream for the government, which can be used to
fund the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program under the Rice Tariffication
Law, the DA chief concluded. ### (DA Strategic
https://pia.gov.ph/press-releases/releases/1046122Nepal celebrates paddy planting day
The rise of rice in Nepal, Krishna Dev Joshi and Santosh Upadhyay
Work for food, Anil Chitrakar
Rice is by far the most important crop of Nepal, the primary source of livelihood and income for more than two-thirds of farm households, contributing more than 7% to the total GDP.
But half of Nepal’s rice-growing farmers harvest just enough paddy for their own needs, and do not sell it in the market. Low agricultural surplus is the key reason for Nepal’s growing food imports since 1990.
In 2019, Nepal imported rice worth $750 million mainly from India (see charts), but with the coronavirus pandemic India has stopped rice exports.
The rice import bill is a major drain on the national budget, and diverts money from food and nutrition security, rural poverty and development.
There is a huge rice yield gap – the difference between attainable yield and potential yield which is between 45-55%. Only about 20% of Nepali farmers use mechanisation.
Back to the future of farming, Editorial
The price of rice, Ramesh Kumar
Yield is also low because average fertiliser use in Nepal for all crops averaged 47kg per hectare, when 100kg of just nitrogen is needed to produce 3 tons of rice per hectare. This year, the paddy planting season coincided with a shortfall in fertiliser imports due to the lockdown.
A rise in rice production and productivity is fundamental to Nepal’s economic development. https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-celebrates-paddy-planting-day/
National Statistics Day: Remembering PC Mahalanobis
Mahalanobis took a leading role in independent India – through establishing various national, state, and district statistical offices for smoother coordination of official statistics. He was also the architect of India’s Second Five Year Plan.
analysis Updated: Jun 29, 2020 11:37 IST
On
his death, the UN Statistical Commission in its resolution in 1972 said:
“Remembering his pioneering efforts on behalf of social statistics, remembering
him as a champion of statistical needs of the developing countries, remembering
the outstanding stimulus he gave to statistical development throughout the
entire world...” (Wikipedia) The ‘salt experiment’ is attributed to JM Sengupta – an associate of Professor Prashanta Chandra Mahalanobis. Did Mahalanobis have any role in developing the idea? I asked many people, but couldn’t get a conclusive answer. However, it’s hard to believe that it was possible to conduct such a non-standard experiment in that era without discussing it with Mahalanobis. However, it illustrates that statistics is beyond data or methodology.
Through decades of tireless effort and leadership, Mahalanobis built a strong statistical culture in India. He did world-class research on statistical theories and methodologies, carried out surveys, spotted and nurtured young scientists, established the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) – “a mighty monument of his handicraft”, founded and nurtured Sankhyā – the Indian Journal of Statistics, organised various statistical conferences, initiated teaching and training in statistics in the country, guided applications of statistics in various policy-decisions, let young talents, including future Nobel and Abel laureates blossom, and hosted world-class foreign scientists for academic interactions. An incredible achievement in one lifetime. Today is National Statistics Day today, the birthday of Professor Mahalanobis.
As the president of the 1950 Science Congress in Pune, Mahalanobis delivered a lecture entitled “Why Statistics?” Statistics was “a new technology for increasing the efficiency of human effort in the wildest sense” to him, and he turned statistics as a key technology for the development of the nation. When the Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi was completed in 1957, Nityananda Kanungo, then chief minister of Orissa, wrote to Mahalanobis paying him a glowing tribute. The reason was that in 1926 when Mahananobis analysed 60 years’ of data related to floods in Orissa, which was the basis of the hydroelectric project on the Mahanadi. In his famous jute survey of Bengal in the 1940s, he exhibited “accuracy and economy” of sample surveys at a tenth of cost and fiftieth of the workforce. Mahalanobis’ large-scale sample survey in famine-hit Bengal during 1944-45 to study the causes and extent of the famine was also remarkable.
It is little surprise that statistics under Mahalanobis would play a leading role in independent India as well – through establishing various national, state, and district offices for smoother coordination of official statistics. He was also the architect of India’s Second Five Year Plan. On his death, the UN Statistical Commission in its resolution in 1972 said: “Remembering his pioneering efforts on behalf of social statistics, remembering him as a champion of statistical needs of the developing countries, remembering the outstanding stimulus he gave to statistical development throughout the entire world...”
In the last two decades, statistics has undergone a change in its style of functioning. As a result of the Internet,there is a flood of data, mostly junk, and much more than statistical technology can leverage. Consequently, a different set of experts – data scientists – has emerged, who primarily run routine software and algorithms for data analyses. However, the theory is still insufficient, and outcomes are often questionable. Someone like Mahalanobis, who had an uncanny knack for perfection and who understood the “dance steps of numbers in the arena of time and space” better than anybody else in this business, would have been the best person to handle such a situation – to guide analyses, or even to discard it was found to be meaningless.
Styles of major statistical activities such as censuses and surveys are also changing dramatically. India’s 2021 Census will be a digital exercise. Countries like Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Estonia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States are now conducting or planning to conduct decennial censuses by combining registers of jobs, fiscal administration, social security, pension, school admission, hospital records and tax. The objective is to improve accuracy and simultaneously save time and money. The dynamics of other surveys will also change in the world of the coronavirus pandemic. The leadership of an expert like Mahalanobis is needed at this defining moment of changing statistical perspectives.
Atanu Biswas is professor, Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
The views expressed are personal
https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/national-statistics-day-remembering-pc-mahalanobis/story-YuxqIJuoJu5tubCrZ2FEWI.html
Labour Ministry kicks against police intervention over rice mill workers in Kano
Company denies using workers to do forced labour
The
Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity has said the reported 300 workers
of Popular Farms rice mill at Challawa, Kano State, who were said to have been
rescued by the Nigerian Police command were not forced but agreed willingly to
work in the company during the lockdown period.
This
was just as the administrative manager of the company, Mr. Saks Kareem, stated
that the report was false and was being peddled around by some enemies of the
Popular farms to defame the name of the company.
According
to a senior officer in the Kano office of the ministry, Abdullahi Ali, the
issue was not a police matter and that the company had treated the workers
fairly.
The
officer of the ministry however disclosed that “we visited the organisation, we
were conducted round, we interviewed workers and they confirmed to us that they
were in the company willingly.
“As
far as we saw with our own eyes, the workers were treated well by the
management. They were given feeding allowance and even allowed to periodically
visit their homes.”
It
would be recalled that the police had said 300 workers were rescued by the
command after they had been detained in the Popular Farms rice mill at
Challawa, Kano for about three months.
Mr.
Kareem noted that “If there is any case of forced, compulsory or slave labour,
the ministry of labour’s attention should have been drawn and every agency has
its own role to play.
Remaining
Time -9:53
However,
while addressing journalists on Sunday, the administrative manager of the mill
said “it is sad to see such abuse of media by some with ulterior motives and
undermining the good work done by the organisation to alleviate the
circumstance of COVID-19 in Kano.”
Mr.
Kareem further disclosed that all workers living in the company were provided
with tolleteries, feeding allowances and monthly appreciation bonus in addition
to the agreed contractual payments.
He
added that staff who had not been able to come to work due to pandemic or due
to adherence to the guidelines were paid due salaries while at home.
“The
workers who were are alleged to have been rescued from the rice mill are
presently and still working in the Rice Mill and pleading with the company to
be allowed to still stay within the premises,” he said.https://tribuneonlineng.com/labour-ministry-kicks-against-police-intervention-over-rice-mill-workers-in-kano/
Uttarakhand rice millers favor Japanese machines over its Chinese counterparts after Galwan Valley clash
Despite the Japanese machines costing Rs 5 lakh more that its Chinese counterparts, rice millers decided to make the switch.
Published: 28th June 2020 09:23
PM |
Last
Updated: 28th June 2020 11:13 PM |
For representational purposes
Express News Service
DEHRADUN: In a step to boycott Chinese
products, rice millers of Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand have
cancelled the purchase order of Chinese rice sorting machines in favor of
Japanese ones amidst the ongoing Indo-China standoff.
The US
Nagar district has around 257 rice mills. Out of the total 257 mills, 174 have
already installed the rice sorting machines. Rajesh Bansal, a rice Miller from Rudrapur town of the district said, "Chinese machines have been more in demand due to their low prices in comparison to the Japanese variants. But now, after the Galwan Valley clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, we decided to not use the Chinese machines and chose the Japanese ones over those."
This is despite difference of Rs 5 lakh between the Chinese and the Japanese one. The Chinese machines cost about Rs 18 lakh while the Japanese ones cost about Rs 23 lakh.
ADVERTISEMENT
These
machines are used for sorting out fine grains from the discoloured and broken
ones before packaging.Over 100 rice millers from the district have cancelled their order of the Chinese machines following the clash and the call for boycott of Chinese products.
The district is also known as 'Chawal ki Nagari' (Ricebowl) of the state. The crop requires standing water in the fields for its growth, and a high water table and bright sunshine during the zaid (March- June) and kharif (June –October) cycle of crops makes the area fit for the rice production.
Grown in two seasons, the productivity of summer rice remains higher than the kharif rice.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical industry owners in Uttarakhand claimed that prices of raw material for production of medicines have increased by up to 30 per cent, which could result in costlier medicines.
At present, there are over 100 pharmaceutical manufacturers operating from State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) areas in Haridwar and Rudrapur.
Most of the raw material for the pharmaceutical industry is imported from China because of the lower cost than locally available salts, say industrialists.
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Dual threats imperil Pakistan's agriculture sector
Locust swarm, Covid-19 puts food
security at risk in Pakistan
Salman Siddiqui
June 28, 2020
A Reuters file image
KARACHI:
The
small locust swarm - which can consume the same amount of food in one-day as
35,000 people - coupled with the Covid-19 crisis have put food security at risk
in Pakistan as the federal and provincial governments are less focused on the
agriculture sector.
The latest findings of the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggest a small swarm (on an area of one square kilometre) may contain up to 80 million locusts. They can consume the same amount of food in one-day as 35,000 people, while a large swarm can eat up to 1.8 million metric tons of green vegetation, equivalent to food enough to feed 81 million people.
“Pakistan has only one to two months to win the war against local swarms. After that more locust swarms may migrate to Pakistan from Africa,” Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) Vice President Syed Mahmood Nawaz Shah said while talking to The Express Tribune.
The United Nations’ (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has estimated agriculture losses of Rs500 billion to Pakistan from the locust attack. “The losses could be higher than the one estimated by the organisation (FAO),” he said.
The federal and provincial government should work together to win the war against the locust swarms attack, he said. Besides, delay in implementation of the announced subsidy of Rs37 billion on fertilisers is likely to further reduce per acre outputs during summer (Kharif) season.
“The uptake of fertiliser has reduced by 70% which may have a detrimental impact on Kharif production, as farmers are in final stages of sowing major crops of the season like cotton, sugarcane and rice season,” he said.
The government had announced the subsidy as part of its relief package worth Rs1.2 trillion to help people and business to fight against Covid-19 in April. Market talks suggest the subsidy was to implement through budget 2020-21. However, farmers are still waiting for the subsidy, he said.
He said the global health crisis has also contributed to the significant losses of farmers due to non-availability of transport to dispatch agricultural produces from fields to markets during the recent lockdown. The situation caused decaying of perishable items including vegetable and fruits. Farmers also sold major wheat outputs at a discounted price to avoid larger losses.
“Covid-19 caused a loss of around Rs15 billion on wheat sale in three months in Sindh alone. Majority of the wheat stocks was sold at an average of Rs1,320 per 40kg against the market rate of Rs1,580,” he said. Now, this is peak mango season and market talks suggest the export of the products is likely to fall by 50% this year. This will be another loss of farmers due to Covid-19, he lamented.
At an online meeting arranged by the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) earlier this week, a farmer has expressed locust attack and Covid-19 as the two largest threats to the food security in the country, he said.
Shah added that the federal and provincial governments have ignored the agriculture sector in the budget for FY21, as they avoided allocation of funds and measures to fight against the two single largest threats. He also urged upon the federal government to announce allocations for the second consecutive year.
The government had launched some 16 major projects under the five-year programme including increasing per acre agri outputs, increasing availability of water through increasing efficiency as 95% of the country’s water goes to the agriculture sector, creating import substitute of oilseeds, increasing food processing and storage capacity and fishing. It has been time and again presented to federal and provincial governments about import substitution of edible oil where Pakistan spends more than $3.2 billion. The import of edible oil and its seed has doubled since 2014-15. “In Sindh, the cultivated area of oils seed has declined from 260,000 hectares to 80,000 hectares,” he said.
No measures have been announced to arrest the decline in cotton production from 14.8 million bales five to six years ago to around nine million bales this year in Pakistan, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2020.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2251857/2-dual-threats-imperil-pakistans-agriculture-sectorThe latest findings of the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggest a small swarm (on an area of one square kilometre) may contain up to 80 million locusts. They can consume the same amount of food in one-day as 35,000 people, while a large swarm can eat up to 1.8 million metric tons of green vegetation, equivalent to food enough to feed 81 million people.
“Pakistan has only one to two months to win the war against local swarms. After that more locust swarms may migrate to Pakistan from Africa,” Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) Vice President Syed Mahmood Nawaz Shah said while talking to The Express Tribune.
The United Nations’ (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has estimated agriculture losses of Rs500 billion to Pakistan from the locust attack. “The losses could be higher than the one estimated by the organisation (FAO),” he said.
The federal and provincial government should work together to win the war against the locust swarms attack, he said. Besides, delay in implementation of the announced subsidy of Rs37 billion on fertilisers is likely to further reduce per acre outputs during summer (Kharif) season.
“The uptake of fertiliser has reduced by 70% which may have a detrimental impact on Kharif production, as farmers are in final stages of sowing major crops of the season like cotton, sugarcane and rice season,” he said.
The government had announced the subsidy as part of its relief package worth Rs1.2 trillion to help people and business to fight against Covid-19 in April. Market talks suggest the subsidy was to implement through budget 2020-21. However, farmers are still waiting for the subsidy, he said.
He said the global health crisis has also contributed to the significant losses of farmers due to non-availability of transport to dispatch agricultural produces from fields to markets during the recent lockdown. The situation caused decaying of perishable items including vegetable and fruits. Farmers also sold major wheat outputs at a discounted price to avoid larger losses.
“Covid-19 caused a loss of around Rs15 billion on wheat sale in three months in Sindh alone. Majority of the wheat stocks was sold at an average of Rs1,320 per 40kg against the market rate of Rs1,580,” he said. Now, this is peak mango season and market talks suggest the export of the products is likely to fall by 50% this year. This will be another loss of farmers due to Covid-19, he lamented.
At an online meeting arranged by the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) earlier this week, a farmer has expressed locust attack and Covid-19 as the two largest threats to the food security in the country, he said.
Shah added that the federal and provincial governments have ignored the agriculture sector in the budget for FY21, as they avoided allocation of funds and measures to fight against the two single largest threats. He also urged upon the federal government to announce allocations for the second consecutive year.
The government had launched some 16 major projects under the five-year programme including increasing per acre agri outputs, increasing availability of water through increasing efficiency as 95% of the country’s water goes to the agriculture sector, creating import substitute of oilseeds, increasing food processing and storage capacity and fishing. It has been time and again presented to federal and provincial governments about import substitution of edible oil where Pakistan spends more than $3.2 billion. The import of edible oil and its seed has doubled since 2014-15. “In Sindh, the cultivated area of oils seed has declined from 260,000 hectares to 80,000 hectares,” he said.
No measures have been announced to arrest the decline in cotton production from 14.8 million bales five to six years ago to around nine million bales this year in Pakistan, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2020.
Store seeds properly to
maintain quality – PhilRice
By DA-PhilRice
Published on June 28, 2020
QUEZON CITY,
June 28 -- As seed distribution continues under the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF)- Seed Program, Philippine Rice Research Institute of
the Department of Agriculture (DA-PhilRice) advises recipients to have good
storage should they plant the seeds next season.
According to
Julian Macadamia, project development officer of the RCEF-Project Management
Office, unexpected typhoon or insufficient water may cause delay in planting,
which causes seeds to accumulate moisture and eventually, reduces quality.
“The certified
inbred seeds given to the beneficiaries must be immediately planted. However,
should farmers be unable to plant the seeds right away, they must ensure proper
storage to maintain its quality,” he said.
Macadamia, also
an agriculturist, said seeds can be stored 6-8 months or until a year, if
farmers have good seed storage facility.
Based on
PhilRice’s PalayCheck System, seed storage should be waterproof, has proper
aeration, and free from pests such as rats, birds, and insects.
The storage
area must also be clean and tidy inside and outside to prevent re-entry of
moisture, and that area temperature can also be monitored by lifting the top
bag and feeling the bag below.
The RCEF personnel
also urged the farmers to inspect the stocks at least once a week to detect
pest infestation, physical damage, or staining caused by water, which indicates
re-wetting.
The certified
inbred seeds, he said, should not also be stored with agricultural chemicals,
fertilizers, or cement in the same storage area
“Although
farmers may have good storage area, they must note that very long storage also
lowers seed germination rate. If farmers or local government units won’t be
able to immediately plant the seeds, we encourage them to inform our office so
we can allocate the seeds in other areas with more immediate need for seeds,”
Macadamia added.
The RCEF-Seed
Program, which is a component of Republic Act 11203 or Rice Tariffication Law
signed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, allots P10 billion fund every year for the
rice farmers.
Sponsored by
Sen. Cynthia Villar, the program is a six-year government initiative to help
the farmers compete in the international rice market. The local government
units and lawmakers assist in its implementation.
PhilRice leads
the RCEF-Seed Program and is the government’s lead agency on rice research and
development mandated to help ensure a rice-secure Philippines. With eight
stations across the country, its programs and projects are in line with the
DA’s “Masaganang Ani, Mataas na Kita” battlecry. For more information about the
Institute’s program, queries can be sent thru PhilRice Text Center (0917 111
7423) or email prri.mail@philrice.gov.ph. ## # (DA-PhilRice)
https://pia.gov.ph/press-releases/releases/1046052In a prostrate sector, vileness does not rest
June 28, 2020 The
time of the virus is, in the ideal world, the time to end the assault on
the country’s small farmers. Small farmers in the country are the country’s
wretched: invisible to government, prey to repressive laws like the Rice
Tariffication Law, avoided like a plague by the banking mainstream — and
voiceless and cowed. The average age of the Filipino farmer is 57 years as the
young generally shy away from the heartbreaks those small-scale farming
deals on the young. I come from a long, uninterrupted line of small farmers.
The current reality is this: I may be the last of the hardscrabble
Ronquillo males foolish enough to sustain the small-farming tradition.Put simply, this is our status: the small Filipino farmer is prostrate, hopeless and screwed by official policies. But then we have this hope that the virus season may give pause to the sustained assault on the country’s small farmers. Parang awa nyo na. Have pity. We, small farmers, have suffered enough. Then, our wretched world came tumbling, crashing down a little more as we woke up to the harsh reality of our times. The virus season woke up to the harsh reality of our times. The virus season has only intensified the vileness of the crooks that traditionally screw the small farmers. A resolution filed by members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives tells a heart-rending story. And the tragic thing is that the DA, the agency with the legal and moral mandate to help the small farmers, allegedly is behind a massive fertilizer overprice. Here is the gist of House Resolution 992.
Fertilizer, the main inorganic input to shore up rice production (organic fertilizer won’t do for massive paddy programs), was procured by the DA under its Rice Resiliency Program.
Nothing wrong about this, but then again we have yet to come to the bidding and official procurement part.
A bidding process ensued. And that was the allegedly rigged part, according to the Makabayan bloc.
A total 1.8 billion bags of urea fertilizer (we rice farmers call this 46 percent, as opposed to “complete” or 14-14-14) was initially put up for public bidding. The total acquisition cost was P1.8 billion, or P1,000 per bag.
When the Makabayan bloc asked their farmer-members to check the prices of fertilizer in their areas — and the starting point had to be the small farmers in the country’s rice granary (Central Luzon) — this was what the small farmers reported. The average price of urea in Nueva Ecija , the prolific rice producer, has been P840 per bag. When you talk of the prices of basic farm inputs, you have to reckon with the prices in Nueva Ecija. It is, historically, the biggest rice producer in the country and you have farmers there so prodigious that they produce an average of 200 bags of palay per hectare using routine and time-tested rice farming methods.
In Tarlac, another part of the rice granary, the average price was P830 per bag. It was P810 per bag in Pangasinan, according to the Makabayan bloc. Pangasinan, under the old map, used to be part of Central Luzon, a part of the country’s rice granary.
The Makabayan bloc, after looking at the average prices of urea dealers, made a conservative estimate. The initial DA urea purchase of 1.8 million bags was overpriced by at least P271.66 million.
Moreover, the bid winner, according to the Makabayan bloc, had two major failures.
Allegedly, it does not have a ready 1.8 billion bags of urea to supply what it won. Second, according to the bloc, the bid winner failed to show a bill of lading that such a big fertilizer shipment was forthcoming. The alleged overpriced, the alleged grand failure of the winning bidder are the main points raised in the call of the Makabayan bloc for a congressional investigation of the issue.
The two committees with the mandate to look deeper into the explosive allegations, agriculture and food and good government and public accountability, now have the resolution. Small farmers hope that the two committees will do their job and conduct an impartial, in-depth inquiry into the allegations of the Makabayan bloc.
The two committees, according to the bloc, should also ask the DA to hold in abeyance further fertilizer purchases under the program. The lame contention of the DA, that the P1,000 per bag price was based on the monitoring of the fertilizer and pesticide authorities and that other costs had been inputted in the bid award, does not wash.
Fair is fair. An allegation of an overprice, for a rice production program in particular, is tragic as tragic can be. This is a program where every peso counts, there is no room for malice and vileness. Boosting rice inventory is a very critical thing in the time of the virus.
Remember that we had a brief scare in March, when Vietnam temporarily decided to restrict rice exports. Last year, we imported 2.1 million metric tons from Vietnam, our main rice supplier.
What if local rice inventory is depleted and Vietnam says it has suspended all rice exports? What if that same decision is adopted by Laos and Cambodia?
The other tragic story involves, again, rice importation. A farming group has alleged that rice imports from January to April this year have been grossly undervalued to reduce the tariff payments. Under the rice tariff law, the rice tariff collections will go to a small-farmers amelioration fund. With the rice imports undervalued, with the valuation manipulated at the ports, very little in amelioration fund would go to the small rice farmers savaged by the Rice Tariffication Law.
Just like kicking the dying. I will deal with this issue in a future column.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/06/28/opinion/columnists/topanalysis/in-a-prostrate-sector-vileness-does-not-rest/736049/
India’s UCO Bank Eyes Non-Oil Import From Iran to Sustain Rupee-Rial Trade
June 27, 2020 20:03
W ith India no longer importing oil from Iran,
UCO Bank is looking at other avenues to keep the rupee payment mechanism with
Iran alive.According to A K Goel, CEO of UCO Bank, the lender is in talks with importers to use the mechanism for other imports, Business Standard reported. “In the last few months, there has been no fresh inflow into the payments account. We are exploring the opportunity to import other commodities, such as fresh fruits, under the mechanism. Our role here is not only settlement, but also to facilitate trade between India and Iran,” said Goel.
In the wake of US sanctions on Iran, India cannot engage in dollar-denominated trade with Iran. Hence, a special rupee-rial trade mechanism has been put in place.
Under this, oil refineries from India deposit funds into designated banks to import oil from Iran. These rupee funds are then used to clear dues of traders that export from India to Iran.
UCO Bank and IDBI Bank are the two banks that support this payment mechanism, and such deposits make up for a bulk of low-cost deposits for the lenders.
The banks were chosen because of their limited international presence, which made it less vulnerable to any repercussions from its involvement in trade with Iran.
However, even as oil imports have dried up, exports have not fallen as much.
According to government data, imports from Iran stood at nearly $13 billion in 2018-19, which came down to nearly $1.35 billion between April and January in 2019-20.
In contrast, the fall in exports was much less. Exports to Iran stood at $3.5 billion in 2018-19, which fell to $2.80 billion between April and January of this financial year.
Rice, tea, sugar and pharmaceuticals are key items India exports to Iran, with rice accounting for the largest share.
The so-called Rupee Payment Channel between India and Iran was first set up in 2011, by opening special rupee Vostro accounts for Iranian banks with UCO Bank in India. The channel became fully operational in December 2018 following reimposition of US sanctions against Iran.
Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran in May 2018 and reimposed harshest ever economic sanctions against Iran, threatening that he would also boycott all transactions involving the country.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/business-and-markets/104037/india-s-uco-bank-eyes-non-oil-import-from-iran-to-sustain-rupee
Finally, food security
is heating up agendas
A revised
emphasis will forever alter trade dynamics for leading food staples exporters
Published:
June 28, 2020 08:58 Abdulnasser
Alshaali, Special to Gulf News
COVID-19 has revived the discussion around
domestic production and self-sufficiency in food, which may now be pursued
irrespective of financial and other costs. Image Credit: Ramachandra Babu/©Gulf
News
Also in this package
Unlike in 2008,
fewer countries opted for restrictions on food exports as a result of the
spread of COVID-19. Even for those who did, their restrictions were not outright
ones, with countries restricting quantities instead of a complete ban on rice
and wheat exports.
Russia, for
instance, set temporary quotas on wheat contracts, while Vietnam restricted
rice exports for a brief period. Expectedly, this was done to secure the
latter’s production for domestic consumption, as Vietnam started offering rice
to citizens via rice-dispensing ATMs.
Vietnam is the
world’s third largest exporter of rice, both by quantity and by value,
according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) latest data.
Therefore, an ongoing export restriction would have caused a spike in price of
rice. That would have been detrimental to rice importing countries, assuming
that these countries are able to secure rice imports to begin with.
Price support
Thailand, which
is the world’s second largest rice exporter according to FAO data, did not ban
its rice exports. In fact, Thailand seemed to be better positioned to export
and sell its rice to countries keen on importing it. Thailand has a robust rice
farming support mechanism in place, through which the government pays its
farmers a set price for their produce.
This is done to
protect farmers from market fluctuations, which could risk putting them out of
business.
Now, that does
not mean that the programme is cost-efficient, neither that it has been
effective. However, the main take here is that the country was ready to supply
the world with rice when COVID-19 caused all sorts of disruptions in the global
supply chain.
COVID-19 may
have also presented Thai farmers with an opportunity to sell their produce at
market prices, disposing of their accumulating rice stocks.
What is
important to note from those two examples is how major exporters have acted
differently with regard to COVID-19. First, and if it was not for the varying
reactions, the price of rice may have spun out of control, resulting in a
higher price like in 2008. If such a scenario was to take place, rice importing
countries would have suffered from COVID-19-related economic ramifications in
addition to higher rice import bills.
Need to hoard
Secondly, and
because of the disruption in the global supply chain for food, countries
realised how dependant they have become on certain food imports and on a
handful of import sources. Such overdependence was exacerbated not only by the
disruption in the supply chain caused by the virus, but also because of
whatever bans on food exports that were introduced, even if temporarily.
As traditional
food import sources became unavailable, countries that rely on food imports for
their food security started looking elsewhere to supplement their food supply.
For instance, Singapore started importing eggs from Thailand when imports of
eggs from Malaysia became unfeasible because of COVID-19-related border
closure.
Remarkably too,
diversification in import sources have extended to the mode of transport, with
a disruption in flights exposing the risk of relying on air freight for food
imports versus receiving food via sea and land ports. In Singapore’s case, eggs
from Thailand were airlifted, unlike eggs from Malaysia that are transported
via the land border.
Changed emphasis
Whereas the
current shift from usual to alternative food import sources may have been
improvised and hastily executed, a future shift to alternative import sources
will be better planned and executed. COVID-19 has also revived the discussion
around domestic production and self-sufficiency, which may now be pursued
irrespective of financial and other costs.
This will
naturally mean more emphasis on FAO’s Self-Sufficiency Ratio (SSR) as a base
point for future food security analyses, weighing domestic production versus a
diversification in food import sources. That being said, the search for
alternative import sources will necessitate the establishment of new, and
perhaps unconventional, trade links that may extend to other segments of the
relationship between trading partners.
Needless to
say, an overhaul of the global food trade system is taking place because of the
disruption caused by COVID-19. Once the crisis abates, countries will be
inclined towards self-sufficiency and diversification in their food import
sources. Although this seems inevitable, striking a balance between what to
produce and what to import from abroad would be nothing short of perplexing.
The last
thought that I want to leave you with: How can a country decide between what to
produce and what to import?
- Abdulnasser
Alshaali is a UAE based economist.
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Trending
https://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/finally-food-security-is-heating-up-agendas-1.72264715PITC gives up rice G2G import plan
Published June 27, 2020, 10:00 PM
By
BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILATThe Philippine International Trading Center (PITC), the government trading arm attached with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is no longer proceeding with the planned government-to-government (G2G) importation of 300,000 metric ton (MT) of rice that was initially targeted to arrive during the lean months of July and August.
DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said since there is no longer a threat to the food security of the country following Vietnam’s lifting of its policy to impose a ban on rice exports, there is no need for PITC to pursue the planned rice importation.
It will be recalled that the initial decision for the G2G importation plan was a result of the potential threat to maintaining a good buffer supply of rice for the country. Earlier computations from DA showed a threat to the targeted level of buffer stock following the imposed ban of rice exportation of Vietnam in April.
Historically, Vietnam serves as a major import source of the Philippines, accounting for over 90 percent of our country’s rice imports. The Philippines imports around 7-14% of total rice requirement.
Upon intervention of President Duterte, the Vietnamese government, through Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, agreed to lift its rice export ban policy making a commitment to the Philippine President that
Vietnam will contribute to securing a stable supply of food in the country.
Lopez explained that under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), PITC is the agency tasked to merely implement any directive from DA to import rice under a G2G arrangement. The provisions of the RTL basically opens up rice importation to any private group.
“With the lifting of the rice export ban of Vietnam, we can expect more comfortable buffer stock levels moving forward,” the trade chief said.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar also noted with the rice imports handled by the private sector traders as stipulated by the RTL, their purchase of rice imports will mean generating greater tariff revenues for the government which, under the RTL, will be used to fund the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). RCEF is meant to boost productivity and income of the country’s rice farmers.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2020/06/27/pitc-gives-up-rice-g2g-import-plan/
Philippines drops multinational rice purchase as Vietnam resumes exports
6/27/2020
MANILA,
June 28 (Reuters) - The Philippine government has dropped a plan to import up
to 300,000 tonnes of rice from various governments as its traditional main
supplier, Vietnam, has resumed selling grains, the agriculture department said
late on Saturday.The Philippines, the world's biggest rice buyer, had planned to import under a government-to-government scheme to ensure sufficient supply during its lean harvest season in the third quarter.
State agency Philippine International Trading Corp (PITC) had issued a tender to import 25% broken, well-milled long grain white rice, with bids from India, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar opened on June 8.
Based on the ranking of qualified bids, Myanmar was on top with an offer of $489.25 a tonne for a volume of 33,000 tonnes and $494.25 a tonne for a separate volume of 42,000 tonnes.
Vietnam's Vinafood 1 would have also won a supply contract for 30,000 tonnes at $497.30 a tonne.
Other bids were rejected, including those from India and Thailand.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the rice import plan had been dropped as it was "no longer necessary under the current situation".
Vietnam resumed its rice exports from May after a brief suspension to assess its local supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Philippines imports around 7% to 14% of its rice requirements, with 90% coming from its Southeast Asia neighbour.
Potential tightness in domestic supply "has been properly addressed with the lifting of the rice export ban by Vietnam and the rice import arrivals of around 1.3 million metric tonnes as of the third week of June," Dar said.
He expressed optimism that the country's remaining import requirement can be secured within the remaining six months of the year by the private sector. (Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by William Mallard)
© Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/philippines-drops-multinational-rice-purchase-as-vietnam-resumes-exports
Uttarakhand rice millers dump Chinese sorting machines, opt for Japanese
Although the Japanese machines are costlier than the Chinese ones, rice millers opted for them because of the sentiments to boycott Chinese products.
india Updated: Jun 27, 2020 19:40 IST
Hindustan Times, Rudrapur
Rice
sorting machines are used for sorting out fine grains from the discoloured and
broken ones before packaging. (representative image/HT PHOTO) US Nagar has around 257 rice mills out of which 174 have already installed the rice sorting machines. The machines installed in the mills usually used to be the Chinese ones and were delivered through an Indian company.
They were more in demand due to their low prices in comparison to the Japanese variants. However, after the Galwan Valley clash, the rice millers voluntarily decided not to use the Chinese machines and opted for Japanese ones. These machines are used for sorting out fine grains from the discoloured and broken ones before packaging.
“I had given order to a Chinese company through its Indian agent for purchasing and procuring rice sorting machines, but following the standoff and a call of boycotting of Chinese products, I have cancelled the order. I have now placed an order to a Japanese company for the supply of the machine,” said Rajesh Bansal, a rice miller in Rudrapur area.
Ghanshyam Mittal, another rice miller of Rudrapur, said, “At least 12 rice millers had placed an order with a Chinese company. Now, they have changed their mind and placed the order with a Japanese company.”
Mittal added, “We have cancelled the order despite knowing that the Japanese ones are costly.
On the difference in the price between the two variants of the machine Bansal said, “The Chinese machines cost about Rs 18 lakh while the Japanese ones cost about Rs 23 lakh. There is a difference of Rs 5 lakh but we’ll bear the additional cost for the nation.”
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/uttarakhand-rice-millers-dump-chinese-sorting-machines-opt-for-japanese/story-6yQAAXlGPMXQwnYJvdeXYP.html
Despite pandemic, 55%
kharif sowing complete in Punjab
This is 5 per cent more than on the same date
last year despite the labour shortage; experts attribute it to mechanisation,
good pre-monsoon showers.
Written by Anju
Agnihotri Chaba | Jalandhar | Published: June 27, 2020 9:21:48 am
X
There is over
41 lakh hectares of cultivable area in the state — including both agriculture
and horticulture. (Express File)
DESPITE THE
labour shortage amid the Covid-19
pandemic,
around 55 per cent of sowing of kharif crops has been completed in Punjab, 5
per cent more than last year. The state agriculture department attributed this
to mechanisation and good pre-monsoon showers.
There is over
41 lakh hectares of cultivable area in the state — including both agriculture
and horticulture.
The state
agriculture department had targeted sowing kharif crops in 36 lakh hectares
area, which included 27 lakh hectares under paddy (including seven lakh
hectares basmati rice), 5 lakh hectares under cotton, 3 lakh hectares under
maize, 1 lakh hectares under sugarcane, and around 40,000-50,000 hectares under
pulses, groundnut, and sesame, etc.
Data sourced
from the state agriculture department showed that till June 22, Punjab had
completed kharif sowing on 19.72 lakh hectares, which is nearly 55 per cent of
the total sowing, against the 17.90 lakh hectares on the same date last year.
Paddy, pulses (moong, mash, and arhar), maize, sugarcane, cotton, groundnut,
and sesame are the main crops sown during kharif season.
Among kharif
crops, maize has shown an upward trend in sowing as 1.29 lakh hectares have
already been brought under the crop — 37,000 hectares more than last year. Till
June 22 last year, 92,000 hectares was under maize.
In Hoshiarpur,
maize has been sown on 52,000 hectares against 43,000 hectares last year till
June 22 and in Ropar, maize sowing on 22,000 hectares has been down against
13,000 hectares last year.
Cotton too had
shown an upward trend as 5.01 lakh hectares had been sown against 3.92 lakh
hectares last year, over one lakh hectares more.
Pulses too
recorded over 6,000 hectares against 5,000 hectares sowing last year.
Paddy sowing
was completed on 12.39 lakh hectares against 12.04 lakh hectares sown during
this period in 2019. It also implies that Punjab has already completed paddy
sowing on 46 per cent of the targeted area.
Sugarcane
however has been sown on fewer hectares — 9,5001 — as compared to last year,
95,009.
In
cotton-sowing, Bathinda district topped with 1.72 lakh hectares sowing against
1.39 lakh hectares last year. Fazilka came second with 1.22 lakh hectares
against 92,000 hectares last year. Muktsar and Mansa have also shown a big
increase in cotton area with 1.01 lakh hectares and 93,700 hectares, respectively,
against 71,000 hectares and 73,000 hectares last year respectively.
An agriculture
official said, “Punjab is a highly farmed mechanised state as most of the crops
here are sown through tractor-mounted farm machinery. Cotton, maize etc. all
are sown through machines. Even paddy has been sown this time through DSR and
paddy transplanters on a large scale.
According to
the Indian Meteorological Department’s Chandigarh
office, Punjab has received 22 per cent more pre-monsoon showers in June. Out
of 22 districts, only six had less rain in the pre-monsoon period, which
included Muktsar (94 per cent less), Bathinda (84 per cent less), Faridkot (69
per cent), Mansa (61 per cent), Ferozepur (59 per cent) and Tarn Taran (31 per
cent), while Fateh Garh Sahib (330 per cent surplus), Kapurthala (319 per cent
surplus) and Moga (119 per cent surplus) recorded excess rain.
Punjab
Agriculture University (PAU) officials said that despite less rain in Bathinda,
Muktsar and Mansa, there was no very heavy toll on groundwater because in these
districts, more area was dedicated under cotton crop which needs less water
than paddy and even canal water was provided here.
Director, agriculture
department, Dr Sutantra Airi said that this time, the department has targeted
to sow more area under cotton and maize. “While we have almost met our cotton
target and hoping to reach our maize target too, which is 3 lakh hectares as we
are already ahead in maize sowing than last year, which is happening because of
good pre-monsoon rains and enough machinery,” he added.
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/despite-pandemic-55-kharif-sowing-complete-in-punjab-6478572/