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Cultivating ‘Every Inch of Land’ to ensure food security?
October 26,
2017, 12:53 pm
President Maithripala Sirisena
at the launch of the national food drive.
By Dr Parakrama Waidyanatha
President Maithripala Sirisena,
his ministers and other dignitaries were seen pushing ploughs in paddy fields
wading, knee deep, through the mud and sipping ‘kahata’ with jiggery juggery
for the cameras recently! Slogans such as "Let’ cultivate every inch of
cropland" and "atu kotu purawamu" (Let’s fill the garners and
farmyards) were uttered and the slogans were even printed on their T-shirts. Surprisingly,
there was no reference to "toxin free" farming which the government
was pushing so enthusiastically in the last two years. Has the project died a
natural death?
Paddy farming keeps farmers
poor
Be that as it may, as much as
filling the garners, the need to fill the farmers purses is becoming
increasingly important to keep farmers at their job. Increasing technical
innovations and labour productivity are critically important. Is the government
addressing these issues? Whilst the country has strived relentlessly for over
70 years from the 1940s for attaining food security via rice self sufficiency,
the matter of farmer income has been totally overlooked. Rice being a low
income crop, the farmer has been kept poor, compelling him to supplement his
income via off-farm employment . The bulk of the youth are skipping
"wading in the mud" , preferring other employment, a predominant one
being three-wheel driving which brings on average, a net daily in come no less
than Rs 2000. A comparable income can hardly be achieved from rice farming even
in the high potential paddy districts as seen in the table.
Returns even from irrigated
rice is only about Rs 200,000 per hectare. The average holding size is rarely
that big, there being ill-legal fragmentation among children. By contrast, the
returns in general are much smaller for some of the wet zone districts and in
some seasons, can even be negative, largely because of high labour costs and
low yields. Compare these paddy incomes for example, with that from other crops
(Rs /ha) : black gram: 51,302; cowpea:36,985; kurakkan; 6,350; brinjal:
445,822; Green chillies: 833,432; pumpkin: 127. 127. Although the income from
vegetables can be attractive, marketing risks and the extents cultivable limit
returns. For pulses, the main constraint has been poor yields and research over
the last 50 years has hardly pushed them.
So on the whole revolutionary
changes in farming are needed. This demands new vision from both the
technocrats and politicians being discussed later. Politicians wading in the
mud is no answer although that is where most of them belong! Much has been
spoken about production planning to mitigate overproduction, storage
facilities, and value addition over decades but little has hitherto happened to
help the dry zone farmer to increase his income. Much needs to be done in the
future to keep rice farmers at their task.
Rational land use
On the other hand, the pressure for land
particularly for housing and construction especially in the urban and sub-urban
areas in the wet zone, demands diversification of the paddy and other lands
away from the unproductive agriculture. Dilanka Gamalath in an article in The
Island of the 17th instant titled ‘Shelter vs Food – dangers facing agro-land’
refers to the Minister of Housing and construction, Sajith Premadasa proposing
relaxing regulations under the Agrarian Development Act of 2000 to enable some
of the wet zone uncultivated paddy lands in the urban and suburban areas to be
used for housing. That is a very sensible proposal contrary to Gamalath’s
concern that loss of agricultural land could affect food security. Of about 67,
000 hectares of paddy lands in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara,
Galle and Kandy nearly 17,000 ha remain uncultivated during both seasons, and
there is a need to use this land gainfully. Even in the unlikely scenario of
the entire 67,000 hectares which is less than 10% of the total national rice
cover and producing only about 5% of the countries rice being diversified the
impact on food security should be negligible. There is no argument that the
lands close to townships in particular should be used for housing. Why only
housing ?what about industries? That will generate jobs and household incomes.
Paddy requires very few man-days. There is a need to amend the outdated Act,
which prohibits diverting paddy lands even for other crops without
authorisation of the District Secretary. There has to be equitable distribution
of lands for all human needs. Not only paddy but other lands too need to be
rationally diverted for such needs across the country. There is a housing
backlog and some 100, 000 housing units need to be built annually for which
land has to be found. Food and shelter are both equally important. Apart from
diverting for housing, some of these lands particularly those close to cities,
if drained should be ideal for market gardening and protected agriculture (poly
tunnels, greenhouses). Cattle farming is another alternative as most of the
omit ‘the’ these lands carry Brachiaria grass which is excellent fodder.
Gamalath also refers to a
statement apparently made by the President during the launch of the food
programme in Kekirawa. The President has supposedly said that one of the
threats to agriculture is partitioning of the coconut lands. There is no
argument that haphazard partitioning of coconut lands can affect coconut
production. However, surprisingly he has not been aware that over the last two
decades or so, despite large scale fragmentation of coconut lands, the national
coconut cover has fortunately increased from 390, 000 to some 430, 000 ha! This
is a simple example of response to demand. Coconut is fast turning out to be a
high value crop. Not even the water from mature nuts is thrown away now from
the mills; being value added and transformed to a sports drink much in demand
in the U. S and Europe. And the ‘scary’ oil is now the most widely used
vegetable oil in the dietary and pharmaceutical industries, globally. So people
will continue to grow coconuts, if in demand.
Food security and self
sufficiency
Sri Lanka had achieved rice
self sufficiency by about 2010 through the excellent efforts of our rice
breeders and other rice scientists pushing both yield and production by 700%.
The yields jumped from 0.6 t/ha in the 1940s to 4.5t/ha today; the land extent
under rice increased only by three fold. The research yields are almost double
this figure, so that with proper adoption of technology cutting down the rice
cover even by 20-30% should not be difficult, meaning the country should potentially
be able to feed itself even without the wet zone paddy lands. Moreover, the
population increase is only about 1% per annum and the future agto
agro-technology advances should easily be able to match this with comparable
productivity increases. Chinese rice research yields are already approaching
20t/ha! The case for self –sufficiency is highly justified given the fact that
world rice market is thin and appears to be growing thinner as importing
countries continue to relentlessly pursue productivity enhancing policies
comparatively more than the exporting countries. This is contrary to world
wheat and maize markets because of regular large external supplies such as from
U.S, Canada and Australia. There is no central international market for rice similar
to the Chicago market for maize and wheat. On the other hand food security is
more a function of per capita income or purchasing power. Most of the highly
developed countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium have
food self sufficiency ratios of about 50% but this is no concern because of the
very high per capita incomes.
Labour productivity and
technology
Two of the most disconcerting
factors in our country are low productivity and poor technological innovations
in the agriculture sector. As for labour productivity, I cannot help quote an
example I have seen more than once in the Kandy Municipality area, of two or
three labourers cleaning a drain being supervised by a dainty young lady,
wearing an umbrella and leisurely talking to the workers who were seated and
chewing betel!
We are in an age where labour
is being widely replaced by machinery and equipment. There are effective
weeders, transplanters and seeders. How widely are they used? What are the
constraints to their wider use? Is it purchasing power of the farmers? These
are matters that the government should address vigorously. I was impressed
seeing the farmer in the picture, in the U.K, 80 years old, driving his tiller
far smaller than a 2 wheel tractor. Can such machines be introduced here?
That we are way behind adopting
latest technologies is exemplified by the picture of the high density mango
plantation being now practised for over a decade in many Asian countries. I
haven’t seen a single such plantation locally. The closest is the variety Tom
J.C a selection by a farmer who has grown it extensively in his farm in
Datusenapura. The fruit is yellow in colour, tastes and keeps well , and now
widely grown by many but is over Rs 300/kg in the shop. We need not ourselves generate
all the technology that we need. Much can be copied/adopted from outside.
As for our research and
development (R&D) in the food crop sector, we can only be proud of the
achievements of our past rice scientists who generated high yielding, fertilizer
responsive and pest resistant varieties that has made the country self-
sufficient. The R&D outputs in the other areas have altogether been meagre
leading to small productivity increases. Our subsidiary food crop yields have
hardly increased except perhaps of maize, but average yields of Bangladesh and
China are over 6t/ha, of India 5t/ha and ours 3t/ha! Our green chilli yields
are only 4t/ha an against that of China,22t/ha! The Department of Agriculture’s
(DOA’s) R & D has drastically deteriorated. There are is just one top rice
breeder now as against 6 in the hay days of the 1970s, and this officer is to
retire in a few months. The same is true of soil scientists, there being just
one at the PhD level as against 4 6 would not be an exaggeration in the 1970s,
if my memory is right. Sadly there has been little or no training and
succession planning! This had been pointed out in an exhaustive review of the
DOA in 2009 of which not one word has been implemented! Sadly the DOA has lost
its focus and priorities being more engaged in putting up "Helabojun"
sales points and the like to keep the politicians happy!
Agriculture is now not wading
but wallowing in the mud!! Very good !
Mekong Delta: Adapt to
saltwater intrusion by using aquaculture
VietNamNet Bridge -
Instead of trying to prevent saltwater invasion and desalinizing, it would be
better to adapt to the new circumstances and think of developing aquaculture in
Mekong Delta, scientists say.
In the Mekong Delta, one of the largest key agriculture production zones in the
country, alkaline soil accounts for 18.6 percent of total area, located along
the East Coast belt and the Gulf of Thailand. In the context of climate change,
desalinizing is an impossible mission, or will be too costly.
Meanwhile, alum land accounts for 40 percent of the zone’s total area, mostly
located in depression areas, where it is very difficult to clear alum.
Scientists have warned that saline intrusion would reach more deeply into the
mainland in the future as a result of climate change.
Le Quoc Anh, head of the team carrying out research on turning challenges in
Mekong Delta into opportunities for development, pointed out that saline
intrusion cannot be prevented, so the best solution is accelerating the
salinization process to serve aquaculture.
He emphasized that adjusting to environmental conditions is the most important
aspect in agricultural production which helps improve productivity and ensures
sustainable development.
Saline intrusion cannot be prevented, so the
best solution is accelerating the salinization process to serve
aquaculture.
In fact, farmers also
prefer hatching shrimp to growing rice because shrimp brings higher profits.
Therefore, despite the ban by local authorities, farmers still deliberately let
their fields get salty to farm shrimp in the fields.
A local newspaper reported that farmers have even sprayed salt into their
fields and ponds to make the water salty for hatching shrimp.
However, Anh stressed that it still needs thorough consideration before
accelerating the saltwater intrusion process and shifting the land use purpose
from rice to shrimp farming.
In the alum infected land, it would be better to have one crop of rice and one
crop of shrimp. Meanwhile, in the areas where alluvium soil accounts for 29.7
percent and grey soil amounts to 3.4 percent of total area, it would be
necessary to preserve the land for rice and fruit farming to ensure food
security.
In other words, Anh said, it is necessary to apply comprehensive measures to
mitigate the influences of climate change and select best solutions
specifically for different areas.
There is a problem that in the saltwater-stricken areas which have just shifted
to aquaculture, the conditions are not favorable enough to farm shrimp. In the
areas, the current is usually low and farmers still don’t have experience.
Therefore, if not applying reasonable scientific solutions, the water in shrimp
ponds will get stuck and shrimp will lack oxygen, while the food leftover and
waste will harm farming, thus causing losses to farmers.
ADDICTED
to bread, pasta and potatoes? Your tastebuds could be to blame.
Deakin
University food scientists have found evidence of a new taste: carbohydrate.
Those
more sensitive to it appear not only to consume more starchy food, like rice
and potatoes, but appear also to have wider waistlines.
Understanding
what drives people to eat too much is vital to addressing epidemic obesity: two
in three Australian adults are now overweight or obese,
increasing their risk of disease.
The
tongue can detect a small number of tastes — salty, sweet, sour, bitter and
umami — but scientists suspect it can also detect a starchy taste.
It had
been assumed the craving for carbohydrates was for the sugar they contained,
and that all else was tasteless.
“They
wouldn’t swallow it, but the solution increased their performance,” he said.
Grace Shepherd and Lucia
Pilcher enjoying a plate of pasta at Bucci Restaurant. Picture: Peter Wallis
“This
indicates that there must be some form of receptor mechanism in the mouth that
signals to the brain that there were carbohydrates present.”
In a
study of 34 adults, published today in the Journal of Nutrition,his team
showed the mouth could sense two common carbohydrates found in bread, pasta and
rice.
They
also looked at how sensitive people were to that taste, their carbohydrate
intake, their energy intake overall, and waist measurements.
“We
found people who are more sensitive to carbohydrates, which means they can
taste it at lower concentrations, consume more starchy food as a percentage of
energy, and they also have larger waist circumferences,” Prof Keast said.
Two
years ago, his team named fat as a taste. But those more sensitive to that
taste consumed fewer fatty foods.
Prof
Keast said that if compounds in carbohydrates to which people were particularly
sensitive could be identified, food could be tailored to help people consume
fewer carbs.
Recent
overseas studies support the case for carbohydrate being classed as a taste,
but to meet the strict criteria the taste receptor in the mouth must still be
identified.
Andrew
Costanzo, 28, was happy to join the study, drinking cups of water with a
bread-like taste.
“I
don’t know how else to describe it, but they tasted ‘carbohydratey’,” he said.
He said
he was more drawn to savoury than sweet flavours.
“I’ve
got an Italian background so I eat a lot of pasta, bread and potatoes,” he
said.
He is
of a healthy weight, and said the study findings wouldn’t change his diet.
Rice-Based Infant Cereals Contain More Mercury Than Other
Types, New Study Finds
Rice
harbors a growing list of heavy metals, prompting experts to question its
safety for infants and young children
By Julia Calderone
October 25, 2017
Certain types of fish are considered to be risky
foods for nursing mothers, infants, and young children because of high levels
of mercury, a heavy metal that can damage developing brains
and nervous systems. But a new studyshows that rice cereal—a food that’s far
more likely to be included in childrens' diets than big-eye tuna or
swordfish—can also be a potential source of mercury.
Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a team
of researchers led by scientists from Florida International University found
that rice-based cereals—which are often the first food given to
infants—contained significantly higher levels of mercury than those made with
other grains.
The team purchased 119 common brands of rice, multigrain, and
non-rice cereals from local grocery stores and online.
About half of the cereals studied came from four large cities across the U.S.
(Miami, New York City, San Jose, and Chicago) and the other half from four
cities in China (Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Qingdao). The researchers then measured
how much mercury was present in each of the cereals, and estimated how much was
getting into infants’ bodies each day after eating them.
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The results showed that rice cereals had on average three times
the amount of methylmercury, the most concerning type, as multigrain cereals,
and 19 times the amount in cereals made with grains other than rice. Other
research has shown that rice plants pick up more methylmercury from their
environment than other grain plants. There were no major differences in mercury
levels between cereals purchased in China and the U.S., nor between major
brands, the researchers reported.
A Growing Concern
Excess mercury can be harmful to adults too, causing loss of peripheral
vision, "pins and needles" feelings in the hands, feet, and mouth, uncoordinated movements, muscle
weakness, and impaired speech and hearing. In 2001, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) set a limit for how much mercury everyone can safely be
exposed to before it’s likely to cause problems, but health experts have
cautioned that these levels may need to be re-evaluated for babies and young
children.
“For infants, we typically think of mercury coming from breast milk, but this study shows that there are other
sources we haven’t considered,” says Yong Cai, Ph.D., chair of the Department
of Chemistry and faculty member of the Biochemistry and the Southeast
Environmental Research Center at Florida International University. He’s also
one of the co-authors of the study.
What Parents Can Do
According to Cai, parents shouldn’t panic. The majority of rice
cereal samples tested were below the EPA’s limit. But he says the results of
this study suggest that public health experts, scientists, and parents need to
pay more attention to unexpected sources of mercury in childrens’ diets.
Limiting rice cereals appears to be a good first step and may also
minimize a child’s exposure to other heavy metals. In 2014, CR testing found that infant rice cereals often contain
worrisome amounts of arsenic, another heavy metal.
“Arsenic in rice has previously raised a lot of concern, and this new
mercury finding is yet another good reason you shouldn’t feed your baby too
much rice cereal,” says Jean Halloran, director of Food Policy Initiatives at
Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization arm of Consumer Reports. “Not only
does it contain arsenic which can cause cancer, but it contains mercury, which
can cause brain damage.”
CR recommends that babies have no more than ¼ cup of rice cereal a
day, assuming that is the only rice product they consume. The Food and Drug Administration suggests that you
should avoid feeding your child rice and rice products as their first food, and
instead incorporate a variety of iron-fortified cereals made with other grains
such as oats or barley.
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I'm a
former scientist, using words and an audio recorder as my new research tools to
untangle the health and food issues that matter most to consumers. I live in
Brooklyn, N.Y., where I cook as much as possible. You can find me in the
grocery aisle scrutinizing the fine print of every food item I put into my
cart. Follow me on Twitter @juliacalderone.
ARLINGTON, VA -- The many
National Rice Month (NRM) activities that occurred this September to increase
awareness and consumption of U.S.-grown rice focused on retail, foodservice,
and consumer outreach. U.S. rice got a boost from promotions with retail
chains and their in-store dietitians, promotional partnerships with P.F.
Chang's and Advanced Fresh Concepts, and the latest farm and mill tour in
California attended by 10 foodservice professionals.
USA Rice worked with registered dieticians (RD)
at eight grocery store chains across the country: Big Y, Coborn's,
Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, Martin's, Pyramid Foods, Redner's, and Weis. Through these
partnerships NRM and U.S.-grown rice messaging reached 16 million shoppers via
a variety of channels including print and online newsletters, blogs, store
circulars, signage and displays, social media, in-store activities, and community
events.
P.F. Chang's celebrates NRM
For the third year in a row,
USA Rice worked with P.F. Chang's to promote NRM through their social media
network of more than one million followers. The restaurant chain offered
a two-day promotion for a free bowl of fried rice with the purchase of two
entrees at all 210 locations throughout September. Advanced Fresh
Concepts, the largest supermarket sushi distributor in the U.S., promoted NRM
with U.S. rice signage at sushi counters and the addition of two new dishes
featuring U.S.-grown rice.
During the last week of September, USA Rice
invited food writers, RDs, chefs, collegiate and professional sports
nutritionists, and representatives from Aramark out to Arbuckle, California for
a farm and mill tour at Sun Valley Rice Company (see USA Rice Daily, October 6, 2017). This was the second such tour - the
first was last year at Windmill Rice Company in Jonesboro, Arkansas -- to give
foodservice professionals a glimpse of the many facets of the U.S. rice industry.
Once they've seen firsthand how and where U.S. rice is grown and milled, they
feel a real connection to our industry. USA Rice becomes a resource for
recipe and menu collaboration as well as marketing and promotions to tell the
story of U.S. rice and encourage increased use of U.S. rice on menus and at
home.
"These farm and mill tours are a great
opportunity to have our U.S. rice messaging reach key decision makers,"
said Paul Galvani, chairman of the USA Rice Domestic Promotion Committee.
"Whether it be chefs looking to incorporate rice on a menu more or
foodservice providers including U.S. rice in their offerings, our message gets
heard."
Lots to like
As always, September is a big
social media month for USA Rice thanks to a NRM social media campaign that
generated more than 1,494 likes, 270 shares/retweets, and 117 new followers.
Posts for the NRM campaign included farmer features, cooking tips, recipe
videos, nutritional information, and fun facts about U.S. rice.
"A year-over-year comparison of USA Rice's
NRM social media campaign shows trending in the right direction," said
Galvani. "We saw 3 percent growth in Facebook followers, 15 percent
growth for Twitter, and 44 percent growth for Instagram."
Teaching rice's global reach
Often our most popular posts
come from USA Rice members. Facebook followers "liked"
University of Arkansas researcher Jarrod Hardke's suggestion to promote rice
for breakfast using the slogan "Rice and Shine!" Another fan favorite
featured Todd Willis, a third and fourth grade teacher in Mississippi who was
named the 2016 DeSoto County Teacher of the Year for his work on a school rice
planting project that inspired the same project to take place at his former
host school in Japan.
Michael Bosworth, a California grower and member
of the 2015-2017 Rice Leadership Development Class, regularly posts engaging
images and short videos of his rice farming operation on social media to
directly communicate with consumers. His posts help tell the story of U.S.
rice from farm to table, and educate the public about how their food is grown
and the sustainable practices Bosworth and other U.S. rice farmers employ to
produce a top quality crop.
Super sunset wins
#ThinkRice photo contest
For his efforts, Bosworth was chosen as the grand prize winner, for the
second year in a row, of USA Rice's photo contest featuring the hashtag
#ThinkRice. For winning the contest, Bosworth received a complimentary
registration to the 2017 USA Rice Outlook Conference held December
10-11 in San Antonio, Texas.
"We have an incredible opportunity to
engage and educate our customers and the general public about how we grow rice
and the positive impact we make as an industry on the environment and local
economy," said Bosworth. "Ducks, swans, geese, herons, wild
pheasants, turkeys come here to rest and feast, and I never tire of sharing the
conservation practices on rice farms that create a habitat supporting all
manner of wildlife." VFA hikes rice export target on strong demand
The
Việt Nam Food Association (VFA) has decided to raise its rice export target
from 5.2 million tonnes to 5.6 million tones, following an increase in rice
contracts for the last months of the year.
Rice exports have rebounded with an increase in rice contracts since May. The
country’s rice sector has already met 82 per cent of its target for the entire
year.
VFA’s statistics showed that in the first nine months of the year, Việt Nam
shipped around 4.57 million tonnes of rice worth US$2.02 billion, up 20.8 per
cent in quantity and over 18.6 per cent in value from the same period last
year. China was still the largest importer of Vietnamese rice.
August saw the strongest growth for rice exports this year so far with 70 per
cent and 56.8 per cent increases in terms of quantity and value respectively.
The number of contracts registered for exports in August also rose to the
record level of some 842,000 tonnes, increasing 207 per cent from the previous
month and representing a 115 per cent year-on-year increase.
Most of the contracts were with importers in China, and Philippines and Africa.
The VFA attributed the boom to better export performance in traditional markets
including China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
Specifically, Vietnamese rice exporters shipped 150,000 tonnes of rice to
Malaysia; 250,000 tonnes to Bangladesh and 175,000 tonnes to the Philippines.
New export markets such as Australia and West Asia also saw strong growth.
The association forecast that Việt Nam’s rice exports would continue to
increase in the future as Bangladesh solicited bids from exporters for an order
of 50,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice. If Việt Nam wins the bid, its rice
market’s already good year would become even better.
In May, the Việt Nam and Bangladesh governments extended the memorandum of
understanding on rice trading for five years, covering the period from 2017-22.
Under the MoU, Việt Nam will supply some 1 million tonnes of rice a year for
Bangladesh. After the MoU signing, Bangladesh is expected to buy around 500,000
tonnes of Vietnamese rice till the end of this year.
In addition, the Philippines also opened a minimum access volume (MAV)
mechanism in 2017-18. Accordingly, the country will import 293,100 tonnes of
rice from Việt Nam.
China is forecast to continue to maintain strong imports of Vietnamese rice in
the year-end months.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade recently announced Strategy on Việt Nam Rice
Export Market Development for 2017-20 calls for gradually reducing rice export
quantity but maintaining rice export value.
In addition, export and market structures will be adjusted.
http://www.blackseagrain.net/novosti/vfa-hikes-rice-export-target-on-strong-demand12:00 AM,
October 26, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:36 AM, October 26, 2017
The government is set to import
2.5 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice under a state-to-state arrangement and
competitive bidding as part of its aggressive push to boost stocks.
The cabinet committee on
purchase yesterday approved the proposal for import of 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice
for $465 per tonne from Thailand through government arrangement.
The committee also approved
another proposal for importing 1 lakh tonnes of rice through open tender for Tk
43,440 to Tk 44,330 per tonne. The rice will be delivered in 38 lots to 38
government silos across the country.
When converted to dollar, the
per tonne price of rice, including freight to silo, would come to $523 to $534.
As per food ministry calculation, one dollar equals Tk 83.
In recent months, the
government has moved to import rice through competitive bidding, which tends to
be lower than the price obtained under government-to-government arrangements.
But in this case, the price is
about $100 more than the earlier imports made through competitive bidding.
Of the 38 lots, 36 will be
imported by M/s Rabiul Islam, who won another contract on October 11 to supply
50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice through competitive bidding -- for $427 per
tonne.
However, there was no clause in
the earlier contract that the rice would have to be delivered to the silos.
Earlier, the committee gave the
green light to the import of 1 lakh tonnes of rice from India on a
state-to-state basis for $455 per tonne.
It also approved the import of
1 lakh tonnes of white rice from Myanmar early this month for $442 per tonne
under a similar arrangement.
And in June, the government
imported 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice for $470 per tonne from Vietnam under
a government-to-government arrangement.
Since June, the government took
up an aggressive approach to import rice after production was badly struck by
flash floods and fungal attacks.
The flash floods in the six
northeastern haor districts and fungal attacks (rice blast) in 19 districts
during the boro season led to the loss of 20 lakh tonnes of the staple,
according to food ministry.
Subsequently, the government
also decided to import 20 lakh tonnes of food grains -- 15 lakh tonnes of rice
and 5 lakh tonnes of wheat -- this fiscal year.
This is 11 lakh tonnes more
than the government's earlier projected food import volume of 9 lakh tonnes.
Due to food crisis, the import
of rice at both the government and private levels have picked up.
From July 1 to October 4, 10.78
lakh tonnes of rice was imported, of which the government brought in 2.94 lakh
tonnes.
Last fiscal year the government
did not import any rice. However, at the private level 13.30 lakh tonnes of
rice was imported, a major portion of which was towards the end of the year.
Power project
The cabinet committee on
purchase approved another proposal, the construction of Shahjibazar 100 MW
simple cycle power plant for about Tk 827 crore.
Among the three bidders, M/s
HEI-ETERN CCCEJV landed the job by quoting the lowest figure.
The committee also approved
another power project under the Private Sector Power Generation Policy. A 530
to 590 MW duel fuel combined cycle power plant will be set up at Meghna Ghat in
Narayanganj.
A consortium of Summit
Corporation and GE will set up the power plant under a Build-Own-Operate basis.
The government will purchase
electricity from the 22-year tenure power plant at three different rates.
If it is gas based, the price
will be Tk 2.9546 per kW/h. In case of LNG-based, the price will be Tk 5.4487
per kW/h, and if it is diesel based the price would be Tk 12.6051 per kW/h
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/govt-import-another-25-lakh-tonnes-rice-1481824Labor
and Immigration
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2017 - The House Judiciary Committee
narrowly approved a proposed new agricultural guestworker program after
two days of heated debate that saw Democrats take a page from President
Trump's campaign playbook and argue that the plan would undercut U.S. wages by
importing low-cost labor.
The Cambodia Rice Federation
put out a call yesterday seeking applications from millers who hope to join
this year’s coveted World’s Best Rice competition, according to an
announcement.
Millers have until November 1
to submit their best samples of premium fragrant rice, fragrant rice and long
grain white rice for the competition.
Cambodia’s Phka Rumdoul variety
of fragrant rice won the World’s Best Rice award for three consecutive years
from 2012 to 2014, but lost last year when the competition was held in
Thailand.
This year’s competition will be
held in Macau and begins on November 6.
Scientists
may have finally found the cause of your love-affair with carbs – they are now
calling carbohydrates the seventh ‘taste’.
Essentially, it means we’re drawn to foods like
bread and pasta in a similar way as we’re drawn to sweet treats.
Lead researcher Professor Russell Keast said, “it is typically sugar, with its
hedonically pleasing sweet taste, that is the most sought after carbohydrate,”
Professor Keast said.
“But our research has shown that there is a perceivable taste quality elicited
by other carbohydrates independent of sweet taste.”
The most common starchy foods are bread, pasta and rice and scientists focused
on varieties of carbohydrates which are found in all three: maltodextrin and
oligofructose.
Early on in the study, Dr Julia Low, an academic in Deakin’s School of Exercise
and Nutrition Sciences, observed that our mouths can sense these particular
carbohydrates.
Further investigations revealed that “those who were most sensitive to the
carbohydrate taste ate more of these foods and had a larger waist,” Dr Low said.
“We specifically looked at waist measurements as they are a good measure of the
risk of dietary related diseases.”
Professor Keast hopes this research will help tackle the ever-increasing battle
with obesity in Australia, and around the world.
“Increased energy intake, in particular greater intakes of energy-dense foods,
is thought to be one of the major contributors to the global rise of overweight
and obesity, and carbohydrates represent a major source of energy in our diet,”
Professor Keast said.
But more research is required to figure out why our subconscious obsession with
carbohydrates increases alongside our sensitivity to this seventh ‘taste’
https://tenplay.com.au/news/national/october-2017/discovery-of-a-seventh-taste-could-help-tackle-obesityScientists
find arsenic in most baby foods
Mothers
and fathers should be more cautious when buying food for their babies.
Scientists announced on Wednesday terrible news: a big part of products that most parents buy for their babies consumption contain significant levels of arsenic, a chemical element that produces several short and long-term health
illnesses on
humans.
To make matters worse, the result suggests that around 80 percent of infant
formulas contain this toxic metalloid.
The
study found most baby food products contain considerable amounts of arsenic.
Image credit: What To Expect
To determine how many dangerous components
there were in baby food, The Clean Label Project — a nonprofit advocating for
transparent labeling — tasted
all kind of products used on babies’ diets: infant formulas, toddler drinks,
and popular snacks.
The investigation
included everything from the most recognized brands in the markets to the
emerging national brands.
In the end, the
researchers felt surprised when they realized the few amount of products that
did not contain any toxic compound.
Brands selling contaminated food for
babies
The scientists spent
five months testing the products to make sure they were not committing any
mistake, and to see if their process and result were accurate. While testing,
scientists compared each infant product to a Nielson data. This led them to a
critical finding.
From a total of 350
different products usually bought for infant consumption, the testing suggested
that 65 percent of them contained arsenic. Thirty-five percent were positive
for lead, 58 percent for cadmium, and 10 percent for acrylamide.
The US Food and Drug
Administration prohibited brands from distributing infant rice cereal with more
than 100 parts per billion of arsenic. Rice that grows in contaminated soil
often tends to absorb the contaminant.
Unfortunately, after
this study, it seems that companies are not taking this limit very seriously.
“It is important for
consumers to understand that some contaminants, such as heavy metals like lead or
arsenic, are in the environment and cannot simply be removed from food,” Peter
Cassell, an FDA spokesperson, said.
Thousands of doctors
around the world agree that all of these chemicals come with severe
consequences for anyone who’s consuming them in great amounts. Often, people do
it unconsciously and realize when it’s too late. However, the results for
babies could be even worse than for adults. Unlike them, infants don’t have all
their systems developed. When talking specifically about arsenic, it can
potentially produce infants cerebral damages.
Despite the fact that
Jennifer Lowry was not involved in the research, she expressed that people
should carefully watch what they’re buying for their kids. According to the
pediatrician and toxicologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.,
these dangerous chemicals can affect motor skills and cognition.
Jaclyn Bowen, a food safety scientist from
the Clean Label Project, said that she was very concerned about the study — which also revealed that the food
that has the highest levels of arsenic is the rice-based baby food, such as
snack puffs. She asked the “baby industry” to be very alert on what they’re
putting on their products.
“The baby industry needs
to do a better job in protecting America’s most vulnerable population,” said
Jaclyn Bowen, the executive director of Clean Label Project.
Many renowned brands
were also found to make products full of the dangerous chemicals. The Clean
Label Project’s discovered that Gerber, Enfamil, Plum Organics, and Sprout were
among the worst. Two of them scored in the Project’s report card for toxic
metals.
In fact, 60 percent of products that are known for being
completely BPA free — it’s
even marked on their envelopes — ended
not being “totally free” of the industrial chemical Bisphenol A, at all.
Of course, some
unhealthy compounds vary depending on the product. But some of them tested
positive for up to 600 parts of arsenic per billion. Scientists can’t even
trace that vast amounts.
Arsenic can produce cancer on people
The World Health Organization warns people of
consuming these contaminants, which are commonly found in groundwater and can
lead to cancer.
Arsenic, which was the
most commonly found element in babies’ food, tends to be consumed by many
people in the world. As the contaminant is naturally presented at high levels
in the groundwater of a series of countries, and many companies don’t properly clean
the water before distributing it, most of its consumers don’t know they’re
ingesting the compound.
People who consume
arsenic can instantly suffer from vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
According to WHO, people can even die in extreme cases.
The long-term effects are different — and worse, for sure. Those under low
exposures of arsenic for around five years tend to experience “pigmentation
changes, skin lesions and hard patches” on the hands and feet. However, this is
are the best of cases. Even worse, people can develop skin cancer or cancers of
the bladder and lungs.
https://www.pulseheadlines.com/scientists-arsenic-baby-foods/68318/Nigerian local governments partner firms in
move to harness country’s agricultural potential
Nigeria’s
774 local governments under the auspices of the All Local Governments
Association of Nigeria (ALGON), is hosting an international seminar on
developing agricultural assets of their respective areas.
The
multi-stakeholder event, which is bringing together international experts in
the area, will kick off on Thursday in Abuja.
Tagged
“International Seminar on Comprehensive Local Agriculture Plan, C-PLAN” the
event will be co-hosted by a number of local companies and international
institutions and agro-allied companies.
Among key
partners for the event are Accelerated Building Technologies Limited,
International Rice Research Institute, Manilla, among others.
The event
will engage stakeholders into building Comprehensive Local Agriculture Plan,
C-PLAN as a blueprint for agricultural revolution in Nigeria using the top to
up approach.
The
document will aid local governments to explore the hidden potentials of their
areas and how to leverage on those resources for economic development.
The
seminar will therefore bring together stakeholders in the agricultural value
chains from all over the world and the country to brainstorm on how to help
local governments to benefit from their agricultural advantages.
According
to the organisers of the event, “the project envisages an increased emphasis on
participation and on partnerships between the public and private sector.
“The main
thrust of the experts and policy makers of C-LAP will be to consider
agricultural growth as the key to poverty reduction and the need to diversify
agricultural production on the basis of geographical location and
commercialization of agro-products”.
The project will also “evolve an action plan for achieving sustainable
agricultural growth with food security and cropping system that will improve
farmer’s income”.
Also, the promoters of the new scheme envision the
establishment of demonstration farms of between five and 20 hectares each in
each of the 774 local governments of the country.
For sustainability and improvements on the value chain, the
774 farms will be linked to national retain chain, wholesale markets and mega
food parks.
Expected at the two-day seminar are crème de la crème of the
sector at all levels including policy makers, top executives, farmers
associations, agricultural entrepreneurs, finance experts, channel
distributors, among other stakeholders.
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/247266-nigerian-local-governments-partner-firms-move-harness-countrys-agricultural-potential.htmlSome infant rice cereals contain elevated levels of
methylmercury
Eating
large amounts of certain fish can expose consumers to methylmercury, which can
potentially cause health problems. But recent research has shown that rice
grown in polluted conditions can also have raised levels. Now, a study
appearing in ACS' Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry reports that some types of infant rice
cereal could also contain amounts of methylmercury that could potentially pose
a health risk.
For
years, elevated methylmercury levels in certain fish such as albacore tuna have
led some people, particularly pregnant women, to limit their consumption of
these species to reduce their potential exposure. Methylmercury is a form of
mercury that, in high enough amounts, can cause neurological and reproductive
problems in adults, and developmental issues in infants and young children.
Within the past 10 years, rice has emerged as another potential source of
mercury exposure. Studies have detected methylmercury in the grain when it is
grown in polluted areas, potentially posing a health risk to people who rely on
the crop as a daily staple. Given these results, Yong Cai and colleagues wanted
to find out whether commercial rice cereal for infants also contain the
substance.
The
researchers tested 119 infant cereal samples made with a variety of grains. The
products were purchased from different regions in the U.S. and China.
Rice-based cereals had much higher levels of methylmercury than products with
no rice, suggesting that the grain is a likely source of mercury. Rice cereal
samples from the U.S. and China had similar levels, with a mean concentration
of 2.28 micrograms of methylmercury per kilogram of product. Based on these
results, the researchers estimated that infants who consume these products
could ingest between 0.004 to 0.123 micrograms of methylmercury per kilogram of
body weight daily. The potential health effects of this amount of mercury are
hard to pin down. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a 0.1
microgram/kg/day reference daily dose (RfD) for methylmercury. However, the
standard was calculated using factors that might not be relevant to baby
cereal, the researchers say. For example, the RfD is based on a pregnant
woman's intake of mercury and its transfer to the fetus. The researchers
conclude that more studies are needed to more precisely understand how mercury
in food might affect infants.
The
American Chemical Society is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the
U.S. Congress. ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global
leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple
databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not
conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific
studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To
automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Disclaimer: AAAS
and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to
EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information
through the EurekAlert system.
We have one week left to make our voice heard on an issue that
has the potential to hurt our community.
After six years of public meetings, studies, and debate, the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is recommending a sulfate water quality
standard that does not consider all the facts. The rule they are considering is
not scientifically proven to protect wild rice, and it would have a devastating
financial impact across Minnesota, and result in major job losses across the
Iron Range.
We are asking that the MPCA’s rulemaking be science-based and
inclusive of all available research. The current standard of 10 milligrams per
liter (mg/L) was enacted in 1973 and based on observations from the 1940s. The
new standard that the MPCA is proposing has an error rate of 16 percent. Our
families, businesses and municipalities deserve better. We deserve a reasonable
standard that both protects the environment and allows for our communities to
prosper.
Complying with this new standard would cost taconite facilities
tens – if not hundreds – of millions of dollars for a single discharge at a
single facility. In 2017 legislative testimony, it was shared that compliance
could cost the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District $500 million. It is
unacceptable for the MPCA to expect investments of these magnitudes based on a
standard that is wrong up to one in five times. The cost of complying with the
proposed standard would cripple Northeastern Minnesota communities.
We cannot afford to get this wrong. Thousands of jobs hang in
the balance should the MPCA choose to ignore science-based research and the
consequences of their proposed rule. We cherish and protect our environment,
including wild rice. However, the potential for Minnesota businesses and
communities to suffer economic hardship because of a regulation not supported
by science is deeply concerning.
Please join us in sending a message to the MPCA that the mining
community of Minnesota wants a reasonable sulfate water quality standard that
is rooted in science. There is still time to attend a public hearing, submit a
comment online, or mail a letter. Please visit ironorealliance.com/science to
learn how you can make your voice be heard. The public comment period ends on
November 9 and the MPCA needs to know just how harmful enforcing this
ill-informed standard would be for Minnesotans.
Chris Masciantonio, United States Steel Corporation,
and John Rebrovich, United Steelworkers, are co-chairs of the Iron Ore
Alliance.
http://www.virginiamn.com/mine/wild-rice-sulfate-standard-too-important-to-get-wrong/article_f682c384-b996-11e7-a52a-1f13c188377f.htmlnd BPA in new study
Ashley May,
USA TODAY , KUSA8:33 AM. MDT October 25, 2017
CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINGOOGLE+PINTEREST
USA
TODAY - An alarming study released Wednesday found many baby food products
test positive for arsenic, including 80% of infant formulas. And, that's not
the only dangerous contaminate found.
The Clean Label Project, a nonprofit advocating for transparent
labeling, tested baby food, infant formulas, toddler drinks and snacks
purchased within the past 5 months. The group looked at top-selling formulas
and baby food usingNielsondata, and also
included emerging national brands. After about 530 baby
food products were
tested, researchers found 65% of products tested positive for arsenic, 36%
for lead, 58% for cadmium and 10% for acrylamide. All of these chemicals pose
potential dangers to developing infants.
Jennifer
Lowry, a pediatrician, and toxicologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas
City, Mo., who is not affiliated with the research, said these chemicals can
affect fine motor skills and cognition.
Mainstream
brands including Gerber, Enfamil, Plum Organics, and Sprout were among the
worst offenders — scoring two out of five in the Clean Label Project's report
card for toxic metals. Plus, 60% of products claiming to be "BPA
free" tested positive for the industrial chemical bisphenol
A. The quantities of contaminates range, but some products tested positive
for up to 600 parts of arsenic per billion. That's far more than just trace
amounts.
Arsenic was the most common contaminate spotted in the Clean
Label Project study. Nearly 80% of infant formula samples tested positive for
arsenic. The toxin is associated with developmental defects,
cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity, diabetes and even cancer, according to the World Health Organization.
Jaclyn
Bowen, executive director of Clean Label Project and a food safety scientist,
said rice-based baby food such as snack puffs had some of the highest levels of
arsenic.
In
2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a limit of 100
parts per billion of arsenic in infant rice cereal but isn't enforcing that
limit. Rice often absorbs arsenic from the contaminated soil as it grows
in the environment.
"It
is important for consumers to understand that some contaminants, such
as heavy metals like lead or arsenic, are in the environment and
cannot simply be removed from food," Peter Cassell, an FDA spokesperson.
Low
levels of lead in children's blood have been connected to lower IQs, slowed
growth, behavioral problems, hearing issues and anemia, according to the Environmental Protection
Agency.
The
Clean Label Project posted a list of products it tested, along with a
star-rating grade informed by the California Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, on its website. Bowen
said she hopes the data helps parents become better advocates for their
children's health and creates change in the baby food business.
"The
baby industry needs to do a better job of protecting America’s most vulnerable
population," Bowen said.
Tracy Loew, (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal contributed to this
report.
http://www.9news.com/news/health/these-baby-foods-and-formulas-tested-positive-for-arsenic-lead-and-bpa-in-new-study/485924737Nigeria Customs impound 1440 bags of rice, vehicles and used
tyres
The Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service on Wednesday said that
in the past three weeks, its men had seized 1440 bags of smuggled rice, 14
vehicles, clothing and 800 used tyres.
During
a press conference at the command’s headquarters in Ibadan, the comptroller,
Elisha David, said that some of the bags of rice and clothing were concealed in
some cars and trucks. He said 100 bags of rice were discovered hidden under
sand, cement and gravel in some trucks.
He
said, “A Nissan Almera car was impounded with 20 bags of rice while a Mazda car
was seized with 50 bags of rice. We also arrested a Volvo Tipper with 100 bags
of rice while a Mercedes Benz truck was seized with 200 bags of rice. Eight
hundred used tyres were also smuggled into the country in a truck but we were
able to seize the vehicle.
- Advertisement -
“Most of the seizures were effected along the Oyo/Ibadan road while the
vehicles that were smuggled into the country were arrested within the Saki
border axis, notably at Aleniboro village in Atisbo council area of Oyo State.
“The drivers of the arrested trucks had used the vehicles to
convey contrabands while deceiving our men to believe that the trucks were
conveying cement, gravel and sands.”
While commending the officers and men of the Headquarters Compliance
Team, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A and the Customs Intelligence Unit, David
said the command would double its effort to ensure that the activities of
smugglers were checked in order to protect the economy.
https://www.today.ng/news/nigeria/26020/nigeria-customs-impound-1440-bags-rice-vehicles-tyresBangladesh
to import 150,000 tons parboiled rice from Thailand
File
photo: A Bangladesh rice vendor waits for customers at a market in Dhaka |AFP
150,000 tons will be imported from Thailand and rest will be supplied
by local traders
31
31SHARES
The government has decided to import 150,000 tons of parboiled
rice from Thailand, and procure another 100,000 tons from local traders at a
total cost of Tk1017.14cr to boost domestic food grain reserves.
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase approved two Food
Ministry proposals on the purchases on Wednesday, at a meeting chaired by
Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
After the meeting, Additional Secretary of Cabinet Division
Mostafizur Rahman said: “A total of 150,000 tons of rice will be imported from
Thailand at a cost of Tk578.92 crore.
“The remaining 100,000 tons will be supplied at a cost of
Tk438.22 crore by local traders, who import rice from India, Thailand, Pakistan
and Vietnam.
He added that traders Rabiul Islam and Mahmmand Aynul Haque
would deliver the rice to 38 warehouses across the country.
Bangladesh is the fourth biggest producer of rice. It moved to import
rice to replenish its depleted stocks and cool local market, after flash floods
cut domestic production and pushed up rice prices in local market earlier this
year.
The government slashed taxes on rice imports to 2% from 28% to
replenish supplies and cool the soaring prices.
According to the Food Ministry proposals, the negotiations
between Bangladesh and Thailand ended successfully with the Thai government
agreeing to sell rice at $465 per ton.
Thailand had initially asked for $516 per ton under a government
to government deal.
The Prime Minister’s Office had directed the Food Ministry to
import 1.15 million tons of rice under G2G agreement and also through
international and domestic tenders within the next month.
Last week, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase approved
another proposal of the ministry to purchase 100,000 tons of rice from India at
Tk377.65 crore, with each ton costing $455 (Tk37, 487).
The rice will be imported under a G2G agreeent.
As of October 18, Bangladesh had a reserve of 499,000 tons of
food grains, including 396,000 tons of rice
The elections are over in Japan.
The country’s parliament – Diet – is flooded with incumbent 312 members of
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition. Not only is
the 63-year-old emerging as the longest serving post-WWII chief executive but
he is also turning out to be the most hawkish one. Though the North Korean
nuclear threat is the prime facie reason for his alliance’s win, Tokyo’s eyes
are affixed at Beijing’s financial, diplomatic and military prowess.
Article
continues after the advertisement
After surviving graft scandals
and extremely low approval ratings, the premier aims to leave a lasting imprint
on the future of the land of Rising Sun. He is shunning the pacifist
constitution for a more hawkish one, reviving the country’s geostrategic outreach
and lessening American dependence. With 75 percent of parliament subscribing to
his vision, Japan can chart the course for any length: from partnering in
alliances to exporting sophisticated military hardware, and from maintaining
aircraft carriers and submarine fleets to hypersonic ballistic missiles and
nuclear weapons. Like Erdogan’s Turkey or Modi’s India, Abe’s rival camp too is
in disarray. Yuriko Koike, Abe’s former Defense Minister, had no chance to
prepare for the surprise elections. By reassigning the mandate to Washington’s
favorite man in Tokyo, the Japanese people have made two robust statements:
America must fulfill its commitments while respecting the public opinion, and,
the post-WWII security architecture is archaic as is the resultant pacifist
doctrine.
The political rise of Shinzo Abe
and the surge in the country’s craving to undo pacifist principles are deeply
interlinked. North Korean nuclear ambitions and Chinese naval power only helped
his clique justify their stratagem. The conservative leader, who does not match
with the monarch in popularity but is his equal in terms of executive
authority, has been a proponent of pro-active diplomacy aimed at building
alliance than reaching out to the rivals. In his quest for allies, Japan chose
India due to its size, population and geographical disputes with China. Tokyo
chose to overlook Delhi’s often detrimental policies since her independence in
1947. Since 2014, summit level visits between India and Japan happen on an
alternative basis each year. Besides, the leaders also interacted once more
time on the sidelines of G-20. Though the island nation is reaching out
steadfastly to Russia to resolve the Kuril Island dispute, it has adopted a
tangibly confrontational approach towards the China. [Please refer to my last
two articles for the Daily Pakistan Global on the dynamics of India-Japan
relations.]
Beyond the obvious, Japan’s
muscular military policy has implications beyond its immediate neighborhood.
Any strategic bonding with India gives her an active role not only in the Bay
of Bengal but also in the Arabian Sea. Like Modi, Abe believes himself to be
destiny’s child. Both conservative leaders have developed a cozy bromance.
While Tokyo is committing to plug India’s gaps in infrastructure and
technological sectors, it’s the bilateral strategic cooperation that dwarfs
everything else. Consequently, Abe’s tight Modi embrace isolates Tokyo from its
erstwhile friends.
Some bits of forgotten recent
history
The isolated post-War Japan was
a ruin of national ego, devastated families and terrified cities with little
semblance of economic activity. The food shortages were an everyday concern. It
was Pakistan that readily offered every possible assistance to revive the
Japanese economy despite its own odds. The Supreme Commander for the Allied
Powers (SCAP) in Japan dispatched its maiden trade delegation to Pakistan in
May 1948, resulting in the signing of an agreement two months later. Tokyo
debuted its post-war trade deal with any country in the world. Japan had little
cash and Pakistan had surplus cotton and jute. The Islamic Republic agreed to
trade on the basis of deferred payments. Soon, the Japanese textile industry
made its way to the world’s largest Muslim country. After operating trade
office in both the capitals for about four years, April 18, 1952, marked formal
ties after the ratification of the San Francisco Treaty that was signed on
September 8, 1951. At the time, India opposed the treaty while Pakistan was
amongst the very first to sign it. Unlike almost every other Asian or European
nation, the Islamic Republic did not claim war reparations. Tokyo had to pay
war damages worth $1.5 billion, crushing the humiliated nation with more
encumbrances.
Original caption: Second Treaty For the Japanese. San Francisco,
California: Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan, signs the Bilateral
Security Treaty with the United States in the San Francisco Presidio. The
Security Treaty, which was signed shortly after the signing of the Japanese
Peace Treaty, permits American land, sea and air forces to remain in and around
Japan after the Peace Treaty becomes effective. September 8, 1951. September 8,
1951 San Francisco, California, USA
Within months after the treaty, severe food shortages hit Japan.
For two years, Pakistan shipped 60,000 tons of rice along with other grains for
the friendly nation in the Pacific. In April 1957, Prime Minister Hussain
Shaheed Suharawardy paid an official visit to Japan, another first by an Asian
country. The very next month, his Japanese counterpart reciprocated, marking
the country’s leadership maiden high-level visit after the San Francisco Treaty.
In another unparalleled gesture
of compassion, over 5,000 acres of agricultural land in Sindh was offered to
the victims of US atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
General Ayub Khan paid a
week-long visit to Tokyo in December 1960 on the invitation of Japanese Emperor
Hirohito. The Pakistan leader particularly stopped over in US base at Okinawa,
becoming the first Asian head of state to set foot on the soil. It was seen as
Pakistan’s expression of commitment with the western bloc at the peak of the
Cold War.
KARACHI, PAKISTAN – JANUARY 29: Crown Prince Akihito of Japan
and Crown Princess Michiko at a reception in their honour with President Ayub
Khan during their official visit to Pakistan on January 29, 1962 in Karachi,
Pakistan. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Though part of Tokyo’s Asian diplomacy in 1962, the visit of
Japanese Crown Prince Akihito – coroneted as emperor in 1990 – and Princess
Michiko to Pakistan was marked with power symbolism and solid partnership.
Overcoming its war-related deficiencies, the Asian powerhouse had revived its
economy. Now Pakistan was on the receiving end of the aid. The significant
inflow of Japanese Official Development Assistance lasted from 1961 to 71. By
then, the relations had matured and so did policy differences.
Due to intense domestic
political pressure, the consulate in Dhaka was shut down. Japan overtly
expressed sympathy with Bengalis nationalists in the wake of Pakistan
military’s operations and resulting migration to Calcutta and other Indian
cities. It extended emergency aid to the displaced taking refuges across the
border. Evidently, Islamabad’s diplomacy was the weakest as the military
campaigned to avert the inevitable breakup. It was amongst the countries, which
recognized Bangladesh pretty early (February 1972 to be exact).
On its part, Japan never
supported Pakistan’s stance on Jammu & Kashmir but sought plebiscite. The
policy further changed later and it is seen as a bilateral dispute between
India and Pakistan. While Afghanistan and India remained competitively hostile
towards the Islamic Republic, it sought peace in the north. China wanted its
concerns to be addressed and Pakistan obliged. The settlement of the boundary
with Beijing resulted in opening bigger avenues. Not only did Pakistan
International Airlines become the first non-communist air service to fly to
China, but US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also quietly boarded its
flight. His visit led to a major breakthrough for the western bloc. Islamabad
adopted one-China policy. Japan was not amused. Tokyo still saw Beijing with
animosity and suspicion. It made Pakistan pay the cost. Notwithstanding the
many out-of-the-way favors, the island nation expressed displeasure. By the
1970s, the ice had melted and China and Japan relations were improving. Not
only did Pakistan pay the price of its foresighted outreach to Beijing but also
earned no dividends for standing by Tokyo in its hard times. Since the
1970s marked a thaw in relations between the USSR and the West, the reduction
of communist threat had a detrimental impact on Pakistan’s compulsions. Japan,
the US and the UK might have been less supportive of Bengali aspiration had the
Soviet peril not weathered away, albeit temporarily.
Though diplomatic ties with
Japan worsened tremendously, commercial relations received marginal fallout
until Bhutto’s nationalization which raised foreign investor and business
concerns in Pakistan. Owing to a multitude of factors, the golden period in
Japan-Pakistan relations collapsed in the 1970s.
[The
article is the first in a two-part series on dynamics of Pakistan-Japan
relations. The next part will deliberate on the prospective course of the
bilateral relation in view of the China-Pakistan partnership.]
The writer
is a Pakistani investigative journalist and academic with extensive reporting
experience in the Middle East and North Africa. Based in Doha and Istanbul, he
specializes in matters concerning security, diplomacy and governance.
Opinions expressed by the author do not represent the opinions of the
publication
Fertility researchers have found that rice that is not properly
cooked contains arsenic metals which interferes with reproductive systems and
causes cancer. PHOTO| FILE| NMG
In
Summary
·Fertility
researchers have found that rice that is not properly cooked contains arsenic
metals which interferes with reproductive systems and causes cancer
·Arsenic
metal lowers progesterone levels but increases oestrogen, impairs ovulation and
lowers thyroid function which are all causes for fibroids and infertility.
·He
advised that people should avoid the normal ratio of one to two, whereby one
glass of rice goes with two glasses of water, the method is very dangerous
since all the water soak in.
Rice may be a common delicacy on our tables. But new findings
show eating poorly cooked rice may cause fibroids and cancer.
Fertility researchers have found that rice that is not properly
cooked contains arsenic metals which interferes with reproductive systems and
causes cancer.
Prof Oladapo Ashiru, President of Africa Fertility Society said
despite rice being one of the world’s most important grains, eaten by the
majority of the world’s population, few know how to prepare it.
“I am worried at the rate at which this commodity is being
prepared. Most people are not even aware that they are endangering their lives
so long as they are full, that is it,” he said
He said the high consumption of improperly cooked rice in Africa
has led to high incidences of fibroids.
‘CAUSES FOR FIBROIDS AND INFERTILITY’
Speaking on Tuesday during a meeting organised by Merck
Foundation, and dubbed Merck Africa Asia Luminary meeting in Cairo, Egypt, the
experts argued rice picks up these arsenic metals which are naturally found in
the soil and in groundwater often used to irrigate the grain in the dry season.
This makes the metal in the soil more readily available, making
easier to be absorbed by humans when they eat the grain.
“Arsenic metal lowers progesterone levels but increases
oestrogen, impairs ovulation and lowers thyroid function which are all causes
for fibroids and infertility,” he said.
Fibroids are non-cancerous tumours that appear in the tissues
around the uterus, it also grows from the muscle layers of the womb.
Fibroid affects 25 per cent of females especially those in the
reproductive age.
The growths vary from the size of a bean to being as large as a
melon.
‘ONLY THING I CAN EQUATE TO IS SMOKING’
Prof Andy Meharg of Queen’s University Belfast who has been
studying arsenic for years said the problem looked big though it has an easy
solution, ways of cooking rice will reduce arsenic content in our food.
“The only thing I can really equate arsenic consumption to is smoking.
If you take one or two cigarettes per day, your risks are going to be a lot
less than if you’re smoking 30 or 40 cigarettes a day. It’s dose-dependent the
more you eat, the higher your risk is.” he said.
Prof Meharg said the technique of reducing the content was to
soak rice overnight before cooking it in a 5:1 water-to-rice ratio.
This cuts the level by over 80 per cent.
He advised that people should avoid the normal ratio of one to
two, whereby one glass of rice goes with two glasses of water, the method is
very dangerous since all the water soak in.
“I know the soaking method is boring but for your health, it is
necessary since the one to two ratios is very dangerous,” he said
According to data from the National Irrigation Board, the
consumption of rice is increasing at about 12 per cent since 2008 while maize
stands at one per cent and wheat at three per cent respectively.
Kenya produces less than 200,000 metric tonnes of rice against a
demand of over 540,000 to 600,000 metric tonnes per year. The deficit of 75 per
cent is imported from neighbouring countries, and mostly from Pakistan, who
grows it using the same irrigation method.
According to Prof Ashiru, boiling and pouring out the water and
boiling again also reduces arsenic content by huge percentage.
“Alternatively without having to boil, the water ratio to rice
ratio should be increased to five to one,” he said.
Research carried out by Professor Jörg Feldmann of the
University of Aberdeen has explored the amount and type of arsenic that can be
found in rice and rice products and reasons for its occurrence.
According to the study mentioned by speakers states that arsenic
found in rice can be subcategorised further one of these categories is
inorganic arsenic which is a class I carcinogen which means it can cause
cancer.
The research has been identified as fundamental by food
standards agencies in the USA, the UK, and the European Union
With an eye on global market, millers
are privately purchasing non-basmati with renewed vigour this season in Punjab
that contributes almost half of rice for public distribution system. Eying
prospects of higher margins in export of non-basmati, private millers in Punjab
this season have purchased more than double compared to corresponding period in
the last kharif marketing season. This year millers have already bought
around 2 lakh tonnes of paddy compared to 1.5 lakh tonnes in th ..
New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) Prices of
rice basmati rose by up to Rs 200 per quintal at the wholesale grains market
today following increased buying by stockists. However, other grains moved in a
narrow range in scattered deals and pegged at last levels. Traders said
stockists buying due to pick-up in demand from retailers mainly led to rise in
rice basmati prices. In the national capital, rice basmati common and Pusa-
1121 variety advanced to trade at Rs 7,500-7,600 and Rs 6,100-6,200 from
previous levels of Rs 7,300-7,400 and Rs 6,000-6,100 per quintal respectively.
Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal): Wheat MP (desi) Rs
2,100-2,350, Wheat dara (for mills) Rs 1,790-1,795, Chakki atta (delivery) Rs
1,800-1,805, Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) Rs 260-300, Shakti Bhog (10 kg) Rs 255-290,
Roller flour mill Rs 960-970 (50 kg), Maida Rs 990-1,000 (50 kg)and Sooji Rs
1,060-1,080 (50 kg). Basmati rice (Lal Quila) Rs 10,700, Shri Lal Mahal Rs
11,300, Super Basmati Rice Rs 9,800, Basmati common new Rs 7,500-7,600, Rice
Pusa (1121) Rs 6,100-6,200, Permal raw Rs 2,200-2,225, Permal wand Rs
2,250-2,275, Sela Rs 2,300-2,400 and Rice IR-8 Rs 1,850-1,875, Bajra Rs
1,180-1,185, Jowar yellow Rs 1,400-1,450, white Rs 2,800-2,900, Maize Rs 1,280-
1,285, Barley Rs 1,440-1,450. PTI SUN KPS ANU .
The
government is working to reduce people’s dependency on rice by promoting other
sources of carbohydrates because rice consumption per capita is still much
higher than in other Asian countries.
The head of the Agriculture Ministry’s
Food Sovereignty Agency, Agung Hendriadi, said the government would promote the
planting of various kinds of tubers such as yam (gembili), arrowroot (garut),
cassava as well as corn and sago as alternative sources of carbohydrate.
“This diversification program is part
of our effort to reduce people’s dependency on rice,” said Agung in Jakarta as
reported by kompas.comon Wednesday.
The Agriculture Ministry shows that
Indonesia's rice consumption per capita is estimated to be still at 124
kilograms this year, compared to South Korean people, who consume 40 kg, Japan
(50 kg), Thailand (70 kg) and Malaysia (80 kg).
Although rice consumption per capita is
still high, Indonesia has managed to reduce people's dependency because in
2010, per capita rice consumption was at 130 kg per year in 2016 and 124 kg in
2014.
Agung said the government's target next
year was to reduce rice consumption per capita to 90 kg per year. “Ideally, we
have to reduce rice consumption per capita to 50 kg per year, but it’s already
good if we can reduce it to 90 kg,” he added. (bbn)
HÀ
NỘI — The Việt Nam Food Association (VFA) has decided to raise its rice
export target from 5.2 million tonnes to 5.6 million tones, following an
increase in rice contracts for the last months of the year.
Rice exports have rebounded with
an increase in rice contracts since May. The country’s rice sector has
already met 82 per cent of its target for the entire year.
VFA’s statistics showed that in the
first nine months of the year, Việt Nam shipped around 4.57 million tonnes of
rice worth US$2.02 billion, up 20.8 per cent in quantity and over 18.6 per
cent in value from the same period last year. China was still the largest
importer of Vietnamese rice.
August saw the strongest growth for
rice exports this year so far with 70 per cent and 56.8 per cent increases in
terms of quantity and value respectively.
The number of contracts registered for
exports in August also rose to the record level of some 842,000 tonnes,
increasing 207 per cent from the previous month and representing a 115 per cent
year-on-year increase.
Most of the contracts were with
importers in China, and Philippines and Africa.
The VFA attributed the boom to better
export performance in traditional markets including China, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Bangladesh.
Specifically, Vietnamese rice
exporters shipped 150,000 tonnes of rice to Malaysia; 250,000 tonnes to
Bangladesh and 175,000 tonnes to the Philippines. New export markets such as
Australia and West Asia also saw strong growth.
The association forecast that Việt
Nam’s rice exports would continue to increase in the future as Bangladesh
solicited bids from exporters for an order of 50,000 tonnes of non-basmati
rice. If Việt Nam wins the bid, its rice market’s already good year would
become even better.
In May, the Việt Nam and Bangladesh
governments extended the memorandum of understanding on rice trading for five
years, covering the period from 2017-22.
Under the MoU, Việt Nam will supply
some 1 million tonnes of rice a year for Bangladesh. After the MoU signing,
Bangladesh is expected to buy around 500,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice till the
end of this year.
In addition, the Philippines also
opened a minimum access volume (MAV) mechanism in 2017-18. Accordingly, the
country will import 293,100 tonnes of rice from Việt Nam.
China is forecast to continue to
maintain strong imports of Vietnamese rice in the year-end months.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade
recently announced Strategy on Việt Nam Rice Export Market Development for
2017-20 calls for gradually reducing rice export quantity but maintaining rice
export value.
In addition, export and market
structures will be adjusted. — VNS
Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/416179/vfa-hikes-rice-export-target-on-strong-demand.html#wGsOlWRMIhP7TLVr.99
Rice
Worth US$ 320.242 Mln Exported In First Quarter
1 day ago
14 Views
ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP):Rice exports from the
country during first three months of current financial year grew by 31.91
percent as compared the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from July-September, 2017-18 around 621,094 metric tons rice
exported as compared the exports of 482,445 metric tons of the same period last
year, according the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
During the period under review, rice worth US$ 320.242 million exported as
compared the exports of US$ 242.694 million of same period last year.
Meanwhile, exports of “Basmati” rice grew by 2.43 percent and reached at 86,672
tons valuing of US$ 90.31 million in last three months as against 92,321 metric
tons worth US$ 88.772 million tons of same period last year, it added.
In first quarter of current financial year, about 534,442 metric tons of rice
other then basmati worth US$ 299.321 million exported as against the exports of
390,124 metric tons valuing US$ 153,922 million of same period last year,
During the period under review, seafood exports from the country registered an
increase of 17.64 percent as about 28,488 metric tons of fish and fish products
valuing US$ 75.370 million exported as compared the exports of 21,959 metric
tons worth of US$ 64.06 million of same period last year.
However, the exports of fruit, vegetable reduced by 24.37 percent and 0.99
percent respectively during the period under review, where as no quantity of
pulses exported in first quarter of current financial year, the data reveled.
It may be recalled that food group exports from the country during first
quarter of current financial year increased by 17.52 percent as compared the
exports of the corresponding period of last year.
Food commodities worth US$ 742.391 million were exported during the period from
July-September, 2017-18 as compared the exports US$ 631.731 million of same
period of last year.
Wheat exports grew by 100 percent and about 1088 metric tons of wheat valuing
US$ 344,000 exported, where as 91,916 metric tons of sugar worth of US$ 41.99
million exported which was also up by 100 percent as compared the exports of
same period last year, it added.
During the period under review, all other food commodities worth US$ 140.299
million exported as against the exports of US$ 132.216 million of same period
last year, hence showing an increase of 16.11 percent
http://pakchinanews.pk/rcie-worth-us-320-242-mln-exported-first-quarter/ Oct 25, 2017 10:52 AM IST | Source: PTI
Prudent
hike in MSP to keep food price inflation contained: Report
The government yesterday
hiked the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by Rs 110 to Rs 1,735 a quintal
and of pulses by up to Rs 400 per quintal to encourage farmers to boost area
and production of these crops.
ByPTI
The hike in minimum support prices of rabi crops is a prudent
policy response and should keep food price inflation contained in the near
term, says a Nomura report.
The government yesterday hiked the minimum support price (MSP)
of wheat by Rs 110 to Rs 1,735 a quintal and of pulses by up to Rs 400 per
quintal to encourage farmers to boost area and production of these crops.
MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers.
According to the Japanese financial services major, the MSP increase is largely
similar to the hike announced last year, although larger than the rise during
2013-14 to 2015-16.
"In the context of the upcoming elections and reports of farm
distress, we view these hikes as a prudent policy response," Nomura said.
It further said that "this (MSP price hike) should keep
food price inflation contained in the near term as MSPs typically set the floor
for market prices, especially for cereals (rice and wheat)".
In percentage terms, wheat MSP has been hiked by 6.8 per cent,
gram 10 per cent, masoor 7.6 per cent, mustard 8.1 per cent, barley 6.4 per
cent and safflower seed 10.8 per cent. Wheat is the main rabi crop, sowing of
which will begin from this month.
The crop will be marketed from next year April
onwards. "MSP for main winter crop – wheat – has been increased by 6.8 per
cent year-on-year after rising 6.6 per cent in 2016- 17," the report said
adding for pulses, where lower market prices led to a reduction in area sown
for summer (kharif) pulses, the hike is in the 5-10 per cent range.
New Delhi, Oct 25 Prices of rice basmati rose by up to Rs 200 per quintal at
the wholesale grains market today following increased buying by stockists.
However, other grains moved in a narrow range in scattered deals
and pegged at last levels.
Traders said stockists buying due to pick-up in demand from
retailers mainly led to rise in rice basmati prices.
In the national capital, rice basmati common and Pusa- 1121
variety advanced to trade at Rs 7,500-7,600 and Rs 6,100-6,200 from previous
levels of Rs 7,300-7,400 and Rs 6,000-6,100 per quintal respectively.
Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal):
On the other hand, the pressure for land
particularly for housing and construction especially in the urban and sub-urban
areas in the wet zone, demands diversification of the paddy and other lands
away from the unproductive agriculture. Dilanka Gamalath in an article in The
Island of the 17th instant titled ‘Shelter vs Food – dangers facing agro-land’
refers to the Minister of Housing and construction, Sajith Premadasa proposing
relaxing regulations under the Agrarian Development Act of 2000 to enable some
of the wet zone uncultivated paddy lands in the urban and suburban areas to be
used for housing. That is a very sensible proposal contrary to Gamalath’s
concern that loss of agricultural land could affect food security. Of about 67,
000 hectares of paddy lands in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara,
Galle and Kandy nearly 17,000 ha remain uncultivated during both seasons, and
there is a need to use this land gainfully. Even in the unlikely scenario of
the entire 67,000 hectares which is less than 10% of the total national rice
cover and producing only about 5% of the countries rice being diversified the
impact on food security should be negligible. There is no argument that the
lands close to townships in particular should be used for housing. Why only
housing ?what about industries? That will generate jobs and household incomes.
Paddy requires very few man-days. There is a need to amend the outdated Act,
which prohibits diverting paddy lands even for other crops without
authorisation of the District Secretary. There has to be equitable distribution
of lands for all human needs. Not only paddy but other lands too need to be
rationally diverted for such needs across the country. There is a housing
backlog and some 100, 000 housing units need to be built annually for which
land has to be found. Food and shelter are both equally important. Apart from
diverting for housing, some of these lands particularly those close to cities,
if drained should be ideal for market gardening and protected agriculture (poly
tunnels, greenhouses). Cattle farming is another alternative as most of the
omit ‘the’ these lands carry Brachiaria grass which is excellent fodder.
Grace Shepherd and Lucia
Pilcher enjoying a plate of pasta at Bucci Restaurant. Picture: Peter Wallis
A typical Indonesian meal has a large portion of rice, served
with fried side dishes and a few vegetables. (Shutterstock/File)
