Horeca signs
distribution deal with GSP Foodstuff
DUBAI
Horeca Trade, a Bidfood company and a leading provider of
international F&B brands in the UAE, has entered into an agreement with GSP
Foodstuff Trading to distribute the rice producer’s Raj Mehak brand in the
UAE’s foodservice channels.
GSP, which has advanced plants in the basmati growing belt of northern India, uses internationally acclaimed Buhler technology to produce a variety of high-quality basmati rice under the Raj Mehak and other brands. Under the terms of the agreement, Horeca Trade will employ its extensive sales, marketing and e-commerce expertise to distribute Raj Mehak basmati rice and products to the country’s complete foodservice markets.
Bidfood Middle East chief commercial officer, Wael Al Jamil, said: “We are delighted to induct the premier rice brand, Raj Mehak, into our wide portfolio of products catering to the needs of the foodservice industry. Our partnership with GSP underlines our commitment to further enhance our product portfolio with brands that meet the highest safety and quality standards.”
The Gulf region is one of the biggest markets for Indian basmati rice, with the UAE being the major growth driver over the years. In addition to a major domestic market, the UAE is the largest re-exporter of rice in the world, accounting for 81 per cent of global rice re-export, according to Dubai Chamber.
GSP, which has advanced plants in the basmati growing belt of northern India, uses internationally acclaimed Buhler technology to produce a variety of high-quality basmati rice under the Raj Mehak and other brands. Under the terms of the agreement, Horeca Trade will employ its extensive sales, marketing and e-commerce expertise to distribute Raj Mehak basmati rice and products to the country’s complete foodservice markets.
Bidfood Middle East chief commercial officer, Wael Al Jamil, said: “We are delighted to induct the premier rice brand, Raj Mehak, into our wide portfolio of products catering to the needs of the foodservice industry. Our partnership with GSP underlines our commitment to further enhance our product portfolio with brands that meet the highest safety and quality standards.”
The Gulf region is one of the biggest markets for Indian basmati rice, with the UAE being the major growth driver over the years. In addition to a major domestic market, the UAE is the largest re-exporter of rice in the world, accounting for 81 per cent of global rice re-export, according to Dubai Chamber.
GSP Foodstuff Trading marketing director, Waris Hasnain, said: “There is a growing demand for premier quality basmati rice in the UAE. Horeca Trade’s extensive and multi-channel foodservice network provides us with a solid opportunity to reach out to a wider consumer base in the country.”
Bidfood Middle East currently operates in five markets via the Bidfood stand-alone commercial entities in every market - Horeca Trade (UAE, Oman, Bahrain), Al Diyafa (Saudi Arabia) and Bidfood (Jordan). Bidfood ME collaborates with major brands such as illy Coffee, Sweet Street Desserts, San Pellegrino Waters, Lamb Weston, Monin, Fonterra, Bridor Bakery, General Mills and several other renowned brands. – TradeArabia News Service
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/MISC_352296.html
Hungry
for biryani? Here are 7 places in the L.A. area to get your fill
By BARBARA HANSEN
APR 22,
2016 | 10:00 AM
Chicken Dum Biryani is served with an egg and raw red
onions at Kabob Corner Indian restaurant in Artesia, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los
Angeles Times)
Toss curry and rice together and you have biryani, right?
Well, not exactly. This is what often passes for the beloved Indian rice dish
at restaurants too pressed for time to make the real thing.
A sumptuous dish once feasted on by Mogul rulers, biryani
consists of ornately seasoned meat (chicken, lamb or goat) or vegetables
layered with rice. For a lamb or goat biryani, the meat is marinated for hours
with spices, then cooked with still more seasonings, such as ground cumin and
coriander and perhaps mint and cilantro. The rice, most often basmati, is as
important as the meat; long, slender grains are prized, and broken grains
indicate careless stirring. The final touch is a decorative sprinkle of saffron
over the top.
The Indian city most known for biryani is Hyderabad, in
the south. There, in the palace of the ruling elite, cooks perfected what is
known as the "dum" style of cooking, steaming the
layers of meat and rice in a pot sealed with dough so no vapors could escape.
Northern India and Pakistan have their own styles of biryani. In Chennai in the
south, meat and rice may be cooked separately, then combined. The favored rice
is short-grain jeera samba, named for its resemblance to cumin
seeds (jeera).
Genuine biryani may be rare in Los Angeles, but it does
exist, mostly in Artesia's Little India — where it's fun to seek out the dish
on the weekends, when large amounts are prepared for the crowds of shoppers who
flock to the local markets, sweet shops and sari boutiques — but also at a few
places on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley. Here are seven places to
try it.
Annapurna Cuisine
Vegetable biryani may sound dull, but at this South
Indian vegetarian restaurant, where chef Bala Murugan is from Chennai, it's
both spicy and rich. A dozen or so spices plus fresh mint, cilantro and green
chiles enhance the mix of carrots, cauliflower, potato, green beans, peas,
basmati rice and fried onions. When the biryani is ready, butter is placed on
top to seep through the layers. If this were India, the biryani would cook with
heat underneath and coals on top of the pot. That's not allowed here, so
Murugan makes do with a container of hot water on the lid. For relief from the
spicy flavors, Annapurna provides raitas made with cucumbers,
pomegranate arils, pineapple and boondi, which are tiny, crisp
chickpea flour balls that soften as they soak in the yogurt. 10200 Venice
Blvd., No. 101, Culver City, (310) 204-5500, www.annapurnacuisine.com
Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biriyani is topped with raw red
onions at Biriyani Factory Indian restaurant. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles
Times)
Biriyani Factory Indian Restaurant
This small restaurant hardly looks like a factory, but it
offers plenty of South Indian biryanis, including three Hyderabadi dum biryanis
and a nizam biryani, named for the former rulers of the Indian
state. Bezawada biryani — named for a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh —
incorporates fiery, fried red chicken. Some of the rice grains are broken, but
the biryani is charmingly presented in a lined copper pot. The accompaniments
are raita and coconut-flavored gravy. On Saturdays and
Sundays, the restaurant offers avakai biryani, based on an
Andhra-style mango pickle. The other is ulavacharu biryani,
made with horse gram; both are vegetarian. 18521 Pioneer Blvd.,
Artesia, (562) 860-6322, and 21510 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills, (818)
883-2345. Also in San Diego.
Muradabadi biryani as served at India's Oven. (Glenn
Koenig/ Los Angeles Times / Los Angeles Times)
India's Oven
Of the four biryanis at this Westside restaurant, the
must-try is the Muradabadi from Uttar Pradesh in northern India, made by
executive chef Dewan Bisht, who is from Muradabadi. He makes it with lamb
marinated for many hours with yogurt, red chiles, garlic, ginger and turmeric.
As the meat cooks, he adds more spices, along with cilantro, mint and fresh
green chiles. Then he layers the meat with partly cooked rice and places the
sealed pot in the oven. The outcome is buttery, tender lamb. The other three
biryanis are prawn, vegetable and Hyderabadi chicken. All the meats are halal,
and Bisht, who has more than 40 years of experience, prepares a different spice
masala for each dish. 11645 Wilshire Blvd., second floor, Los Angeles,
(310) 207-5522, www.indiasovenwilshire.com
Chettinad Chicken Biryani is served at Kabob Corner
Indian restaurant. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Kabob Corner
This South Indian restaurant is the place for classic
Hyderabadi biryani made dum style — and the rice is flawless.
Tender, impressively long grains are piled high, concealing the goat or chicken
beneath. The rice at the top is white, some of it golden with saffron. Below,
the color deepens because the rice has absorbed the rich masalas. The garnishes
are traditional: a hard-boiled egg, a red onion slice and a lemon wedge. The
accompaniments are yogurt-cucumber raita and a chile sauce
thick with ground peanuts, sesame seeds and coconut. On weekends, it's
sometimes possible to try Chettinad chicken biryani, named for a part of the
state of Tamil Nadu known for spicy food. Ranjit Muthu, the chef, is from
Chennai, the state capital, and knows this style of biryani well. The biryanis
are available only in the evening or on the weekend. 18728 Pioneer
Blvd., Artesia, (562) 809-4455
Shrimp Biryani, consisting of basmati rice, red onion,
hard boiled egg, lime, cilantro, and medium breaded shrimp, is on the menu at
Paradise Biryani Pointe. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Paradise Biryani Pointe
This chain, with locations across the U.S., claims to have
the best biryani in the country. That's a big boast, but the rice at the branch
in Artesia is first-rate, with long, unbroken grains. Although chicken dum-style
biryani with meat on the bone looked magnificent, only a few pieces were tucked
under the rice. Other Hyderabadi-style biryanis at Paradise come with boneless
chicken, goat, egg or vegetables, and a branch in Canoga Park has shrimp
biryani. The accompaniments are cumin-scented raitaand a golden
gravy (made with peanuts) with a sourish tang. The chain specializes in
northern Indian Moghlai and tandoor food, so if the biryani seems on the
smaller side, you can always fill up with a side order of chicken tikka
masala. 18158 Pioneer Blvd., Artesia, (562) 666-2334. Also 7231 Topanga
Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park, (818) 348-4454, laparadisebiryani.com
Chicken 65 Biryani is a favorite item at Pickles Indian
Cuisine restaurant. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Pickles Indian Cuisine
There are 18 variations of biryani to choose from here.
Owner Kavita Potla is from Amaravati, the new capital of the state of Andhra
Pradesh, replacing Hyderabad. Thus, Amaravati chicken biryani is on the menu,
as well as Hyderabadi dum biryanis made with lamb, goat or
shrimp. One of the restaurant's specialties is chicken 65 biryani, a spicy mix
of rice and intensely red chicken. (If you're worried about spice, it's wise to
state the desired heat level.) An interesting regional specialty is thalappakattibiryani
from Chennai made with short-grained jeera samba rice, goat or
chicken, mint and curry leaves. The biryanis come with raita, not
pickles, despite the restaurant's name. 11688 South St., Suite 107,
Artesia, (562) 860-3999, www.picklesindiancuisine.com
The Biryani as served at Zam-Zam Market. (Glenn Koenig /
Los Angeles Times)
Zam-Zam Market
Westsiders were bereft when the Pakistani restaurant
Zam-Zam disappeared from Culver City at the end of 2014. A year later, it
reopened in Hawthorne, serving its legendary Karachi-style biryani. Zam-Zam
makes two batches a day, sometimes three, to satisfy the demand. Each batch of
50 servings contains 20 pounds of chicken and 10 to 12 pounds of rice, except
on Saturdays, when the biryani is made with lamb. Marinated with ginger,
garlic, garam masala and other spices, the chicken is layered with parboiled
basmati rice, which, according to Fozia Siddiqui, who runs the front of the
house, holds up better than ordinary basmati in large batches. Her husband,
Fahim Siddiqui, is the chef. Instead instead of the usual raita, he
makes a tangy, lemony, pale green puree of mint, cilantro, jalapeƱos, green
tomatoes and lemon juice. Zam-Zam also has a shop stocked with Indian and
Pakistani basics. The restaurant has just four tables and no printed menu, so
customers can order what's available that day. Or, to be safe, place orders in
advance. 13649 Inglewood Ave, Hawthorne, (310) 978-1927
Assin North to promote rice Cultivation in 2019
Mar 18, 2019
Rice Farm
In fulfilment
of maintaining national food security, the Assin North District has expressed
its commitment to prioritise the cultivation of hybrid rice under the “Special
Rice Initiative” (SRI).
Dubbed “Public
private partnership for competitive and inclusive rice value chain development:
Planting for Food and Jobs – Rice Chapter,” the project is aimed at increasing
rice production, strengthening and expanding access to output markets among
others.
The move is
also intended to adopt a two-tier approach on short, medium and long-term
solutions to enable the government achieve its sub-sector goal of becoming
self-sufficient in rice production to improve the livelihoods of 128,763
farmers by 2020.
Mr Francis
Kwame Freeman, the District Director of Agriculture, who announced this said
the interdependence on rice imports would significantly reduce.
Ghana has
since 2015 spent over a billion dollars on rice imports annually regardless of
the fact that fertile lands were available for the growing rice to feed the
whole of West Africa but it was importing rice to that tune.
The Ministry
of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in November 2018 entered into a 2.5 million euro
Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement to boost rice production of in the
country known as “Ghana Rice Initiative”.
Championed by
the German Government and implemented by AGRA and other partners, the
innovative initiative is expected to last 36 months beginning last November.
It also
intends to adopt a two-tier approach on short, medium and long-term solutions
to enable the government achieve its sub-sector goal of becoming
self-sufficient in rice production to improve the livelihoods of 128,763
farmers by 2020.
Nationally,
the project will be implemented in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Central
and Volta regions with about 130,000 farmers from 110 districts in the
beneficiary regions supplied with subsidised certified seeds under the project.
The District
Director of Agric explained that government has put in place a number of
measures to cause a permanent change in the structure of the sector by halting
the importation of basic commodities, especially rice, and increase export.
He said
government’s interventions in the sector included horticulture development,
perennial crop development, irrigation development, agriculture mechanization
promotion, agriculture financing and private sector investments.
Government,
under the Planting for Food and Jobs, is supporting farmers with certified
seeds, marketing services, e-agriculture, fertilizer and extension services to
boost crop production in the country, the lowest in the sub-region.
Mr Prince Osei
Poku, the District Crops Officer, identified some challenges in the sector to
include the lack of effective extension services to help educate farmers on
improving farming technologies.
He urged
farmers to adopt modern agronomic practices and best farming methods to
increase crop yield.
'RUN!':
NZ shooting victims recount horror, mourn the loss
By AP |
Posted: Sat 7:28 AM, Mar 16, 2019
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) - They had
walked that once innocuous stretch of sidewalk side-by-side so many times.
Every Friday, Yasir Amin and his dad had ambled along the path toward the
mosque where they prayed together in peace, a routine so serene and so ordinary
that Amin was nearly blinded by confusion when the man drove up with the gun.
Amin and his father, Muhammad Amin Nasir, were just 200
meters from the Al Noor mosque on Friday when everything went wrong. They had
no idea that a white supremacist had just slaughtered at least 41 people inside
the mosque’s hallowed halls, or that more people would be killed at a second
mosque soon after. All they knew was that a car that had been driving by had
suddenly stopped. And a man was leaning out the car’s window, pointing a gun at
them.
“RUN!” Amin screamed.
The bullets began to fly. The men began to run. But at
67, Nasir couldn’t keep up with his 35-year-old son. And so he fell behind, by
two or three fateful steps.
Amid the blasts, Amin turned to scream at his father to
get down on the ground. But his father was already falling.
The gunman drove away. A pool of blood poured from
Nasir’s body.
“Daddy!” Amin screamed. “Daddy! DADDY!”
Amin had never seen anyone shot before. He left Pakistan
for Christchurch five years ago, and was embraced by a multicultural city that
felt like the safest place on earth. His father, who farms vegetables, wheat
and rice back in Pakistan, also fell for the leafy green city at the bottom of
the world.
And so Nasir began making routine visits to see his son,
sometimes spending up to six months in New Zealand before returning to Pakistan
to tend to his crops. Nasir had been in town only three weeks for his most
recent visit when he was shot three times on the street of the city he had
adopted as a second home.
From the ground, Nasir stared up at his son, unable to
speak, tears running down his face. Amin ran to his car to grab his phone and
called the police. Officers quickly arrived, and soon the father and son were
in an ambulance racing to the hospital.
Nasir had always been more than just a dad to Amin. When
Amin was just 6, his mother died, leaving Nasir to raise him along with his
four siblings. Nasir became both a father and a mother, a reliable source of
laughter with a huge heart. He embraced Amin’s new community of New Zealand
friends as if they were his own family. And in turn, the community embraced
Nasir — so much so, that it initially confused him.
The elder man was baffled by the constant chipper
greetings of “Hello!” he received whenever he dropped Amin’s children off at
school. Why do they keep saying that to me? he asked his son. Amused, Amin
explained that the locals were simply trying to welcome him, their own version
of the Arabic peace greeting, “As-Salaam-Alaikum.”
Amin chuckled at the memory on Saturday, one day after he
brought his father to the hospital. Nasir remains in an induced coma with
critical injuries, though his condition has stabilized. The bullets pierced his
shoulder, chest and back.
Like many other victims struggling to cope with the
horrific events of Friday that left 49 dead, Amin made his way to Hagley
College near the hospital. The college was serving as a community center for
the grieving, and members of the public poured in with meals and drinks, doling
out hugs and words of support to those in need.
Outside the college, Javed Dadabhai mourned for his
gentle cousin, 35-year-old Junaid Mortara, who is believed to have died in the
first mosque attack. As of Saturday, many families were still waiting to find
out if their loved ones were alive.
“He’s very punctual, so he would’ve been there at a dime.
He would’ve been there at 1:30,” Dadabhai said, a reference to the time of the
attack, which began soon after.
His cousin was the breadwinner of the family, supporting
his mother, his wife and their three children, ages 1 to 5. Mortara had
inherited his father’s convenience store, which was covered in flowers on
Saturday.
Mortara was an avid cricket fan, and would always send a
sparring text with relatives over cricket matches when Canterbury was facing
Auckland.
“The sad thing is he was actually due to come up to
Auckland next weekend for a family wedding,” Dadabhai said. “We were due to
have a catch-up. But I never knew a more shy, soft-spoken kind of person. ...
As cousins, you’d kind of make fun of the fact when someone’s so gentle like
that, but he’s leaving a huge void.”
The long wait for information on the status of the dead
was particularly painful because Muslim tradition calls for burials within 24
hours of a person’s death.
Dadabhai said the community was trying to be patient,
because they understood there was a crime scene involved. “But it’s hard,
because until that happens, the grieving process doesn’t really begin,” he
said.
For some families, patience had worn thin by Saturday,
and frustration erupted as they waited to find out the status of their
relatives.
Ash Mohammed, 32, of Christchurch, pushed through a
police barricade outside the Al Noor mosque Saturday morning, desperate for
information, before police held him back.
“We just want to know if they are alive or dead,” he
could be heard telling an officer at the barricade.
In an interview later, Mohammed said he was desperate for
information about his brothers, Farhaj Ashashan, 30, and Ramazvora Ashashan,
31, and his father, Asif Vora, 56, who were all at the mosque on Friday.
“We just want to know, are they alive or not alive so we
can start the funerals,” he said. “The hospital’s not helping, cops not
helping. Somebody has to help get the answers.”
As Amin waited and worried over the fate of his father,
he was also focused on trying to protect the youngest members of his family. He
and his wife have so far tried to shield their children from hearing about the
attack. But on Friday, Amin’s wife briefly turned on the news and an image of
an ambulance popped onto the screen. Their 5-year-old son immediately dove
under a table, assuming there was an earthquake. Christchurch, no stranger to
disaster, suffered a devastating quake in 2011 that left 185 dead.
Though his relatives back in Pakistan now fret that New
Zealand is too dangerous, Amin believes Christchurch is the safest place in the
world. And he hopes that his funny, fiercely loving father will pull through,
so they can immerse themselves once again in the friendly hellos and the
peaceful Friday prayers they have long cherished.
Like Amin, Farid Ahmed refuses to turn his back on his
adopted home. Ahmed lost his 45-year-old wife, Husna Ahmed, in the Al Noor
mosque attack, when they split up to go to the bathroom. The gunman
livestreamed the massacre on the internet, and Ahmed later saw a video of his
wife being shot dead. A police officer confirmed she had passed away.
Despite the horror, Ahmed — originally from Bangladesh —
still considers New Zealand a great country.
“I believe that some people, purposely, they are trying
to break down the harmony we have in New Zealand with the diversity,” he said.
“But they are not going to win. They are not going to win. We will be
harmonious.”
TNAU and IRRI Research Cooperation on Digital Agriculture
16 March, 2019 5:21 PM IST By: Abha Toppo
A team of
researchers from the Philippines visited the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
(TNAU) to find out the possibility of developing a joint research project in
digital agriculture. The prime focus of the scientists visit was to talk about
research cooperation between the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
and the TNAU on Remote Sensing-Based Information and Insurance for Crops in the
Emerging Economies (RIICE) along with other international agriculture research
initiatives.
According to
officials, recently the scientists from various departments in TNAU held a
meeting with Tri D Setiyono, Cluster Leader of Geospatial Science and Modeling,
IRRI and Dr. JS Prasad, Retired IRRI Scientist from Hyderabad.
Mr. Setiyono
had organised a workshop on "Crop monitoring strategies through remote
sensing & crop modelling" and also talked with scientists as well as
students.
The
International Rice Research Institute is the premier research organization in
the world, which is dedicated to reduce poverty along with hunger through rice
science; improve the health & welfare of the rice growers and consumers and
to preserve the rice-growing environment for the future generations. It is an
autonomous, nonprofit, research & educational institute, established in
1960 by the Ford & Rockefeller foundations with help from the Philippine
government. The institute, which is headquartered in Los BaƱos, has branches in
17 rice-growing nations in Asia & Africa.
Philippine water shortage hits more than 6 million people in and
around nation’s capital
Water supplies will be cut for at least six
hours a day for more than a million households until the rainy season fills
dams and reservoirs in May or June
Published: 11:42pm, 14 Mar, 2019
A couple carries empty containers
looking for places to collect water in Mandaluyong, metropolitan Manila. Photo:
AP
More than 6 million people have
been affected by a water shortage in large areas of the Philippine
capital and a nearby
province, with long queues forming for rationed water, and businesses and some
hospitals struggling to cope after taps ran dry.
A spokesman for Manila Water Company, Jeric
Sevilla, said on Thursday that water supplies will be cut for at least six
hours a day for an estimated 6.8 million people in more than a million
households until the rainy season fills dams and reservoirs in May or June.
A man sits beside rows of buckets
as he waits for water trucks in Manila on Thursday. Photo: AP
The company, one of two government-authorised
water suppliers in the densely populated Manila metropolis and nearby Rizal
province, said a spike in demand and reduced water levels in a dam and smaller
reservoirs in the sweltering summer are the culprit, exacerbated by El Nino
weather conditions.
Manila Water, which supplies water to the
eastern half of the capital, initially tried to cope with the limited supply by
reducing pressure but it did not work since some communities in hilly areas
complained of not getting water for long hours. The company then decided to
schedule water supply interruptions starting on Thursday, Sevilla said.
Explained: How climate change will affect Asia
“The concept is for everybody to share the burden,” he said by phone.
“Nobody wants this to happen. The welfare of our customers is foremost in our
mind and we’re taking steps to mitigate the situation.”
Residents in more than a dozen cities and
towns are expected to lose their water supply from six to 21 hours a day
through the summer months, the company said in an advisory notice that appealed
for public understanding.
In the hard-hit city of Mandaluyong,
residents lined up for hours with pails and water jugs to get water from fire
trucks. “We have no water. It has been one week, not a drop in our tap,” said
resident Richie Baloyo. “There are children going to school, people need to
work, how do you expect them to collect water like this?”
A woman cleans empty washing
machines at a laundromat in Manila. Photo: AP
Many water-dependent businesses, such as car
washes and laundry shops, have closed temporarily. Some restaurants have
started using paper plates or porcelain plates covered with disposable plastic
sheets to conserve water.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made an
urgent appeal to relatives of hospital patients to “limit the watchers of your
patients to one” to reduce water use.
Five years on, Canada’s dumped garbage is still causing a
big stink in the Philippines
Congress is to hold inquiries next week into
the cause of the crisis.
The government has been blamed for decades of
delay in constructing another dam and other related infrastructure. Manila
Water has been criticised for not adequately preparing for contingencies.
“El Nino is not really the culprit,” Sevilla
said. “It’s actually supply and demand.”
In the Philippines, importing rice has long been controversial
but food shortages may force the government’s hand
·
Resistance to buying rice abroad has eased in recent
months, following a bout of severe inflation
·
The Philippines is the world’s second-largest importer of
rice after China
Assin
North to prioritize rice cultivation this year
In fulfillment
of maintaining national food security, the Assin North District has expressed
its commitment to prioritize the cultivation of hybrid rice under the “Special
Rice Initiative” (SRI).Dubbed “Public private partnership for competitive and
inclusive rice value chain development: Planting for Food and Jobs – Rice
Chapter,” the project is aimed at increasing rice production, strengthening and
expanding access to output markets among others.
The move is also intended to adopt a two-tier approach on
short, medium and long-term solutions to enable the government achieve its
sub-sector goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice production to improve the
livelihoods of 128,763 farmers by 2020.
Mr Francis Kwame Freeman, the District Director of
Agriculture, who announced this, said the interdependence on rice imports would
significantly reduce.
Ghana has since 2015 spent over a billion dollars on rice
imports annually regardless of the fact that fertile lands are available for
the growing of rice to feed the whole of West Africa but it was importing
rice to that tune.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in November
2018 entered into a 2.5 million euro Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement
to boost rice production of in the country known as “Ghana Rice Initiative”.
Championed by the German Government and implemented by
AGRA and other partners, the innovative initiative is expected to last 36
months beginning last November.
It also intends to adopt a two-tier approach on short,
medium and long-term solutions to enable the government achieve its sub-sector
goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice production to improve the livelihoods
of 128,763 farmers by 2020.
Nationally, the project will be implemented in the
Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Central and Volta regions with about 130,000
farmers from 110 districts in the beneficiary regions supplied with subsidized
certified seeds under the project.
The District Director of Agric explained that government
has put in place a number of measures to cause a permanent change in the
structure of the sector by halting the importation of basic commodities,
especially rice, and increase export.
He said government’s interventions in the sector include
horticulture development, perennial crop development, irrigation development,
agriculture mechanization promotion, agriculture financing and private sector
investments.
Government, under the Planting for Food and Jobs, is
supporting farmers with certified seeds, marketing services, e-agriculture,
fertilizer and extension services to boost crop production in the country, the
lowest in the sub-region.
Mr Prince Osei Poku, the District Crops Officer,
identified some challenges in the sector to include the lack of effective
extension services to help educate farmers on improving farming technologies.
He urged farmers to adopt modern agronomic practices and
best farming methods to increase crop yield.
Source: GNA
Highlights of China's science and technology
news
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-17 18:22:49|Editor: Yang Yi
BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The following
are the highlights of China's science and technology news from the past week:
-- China's Long March carrier rocket series
completed 300 launches, having sent more than 500 spacecraft into space since
1970.
-- China has made significant progress in
developing key technologies of the heavy-lift carrier rocket the Long March-9,
which will help China realize manned lunar exploration, taking samples from
Mars back to Earth, and other deep space explorations.
-- Research findings from China's Tianzhou-1
Space Mission have shown that the microgravity environment in space promotes
heart cell differentiation of mice induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells,
providing new perspectives on future human space travel.
-- China's space-tracking ship Yuanwang-3
sailed to the Pacific Ocean for upcoming monitoring missions.
-- China's lunar rover Yutu-2, or Jade
Rabbit-2, has driven 163 meters on the far side of the moon and is expected to
work longer than its three-month design life.
-- Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China,
developer of China's C919 passenger aircraft, has started construction of its
customer service training base in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang Province.
-- Chinese researchers have found that the
lake water storage in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau increased by 140.8 cubic
kilometers from 1990 to 2013.
-- After using satellites and cameras,
Chinese researchers have managed to use tree ages to accurately record glacier
changes that happened centuries ago in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the world's
Third Pole.
-- A Chinese cat lover and engineer built an
AI-powered shelter for stray animals in winter.
-- Chinese scientists have designed a new
screening method for hepatitis B carriers, to detect early-stage hepatocellular
carcinoma, the most common type of primary liver cancer.
-- Chinese researchers have put forward a new
deployment plan for the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)-based network to
tackle China's shortage of IP addresses.
-- A recent Chinese study has shown that
long-term exposure to PM2.5, a major particle matter pollutant increases the
risk of diabetes.
-- Chinese researchers have found that
perovskite solar cells can retain most of their power conversion efficiency in
near space, providing perspectives on the new solar cells' future application
in space.
-- An international study found that
freshwater aquaculture in ponds converted from rice paddy fields may cause a
significant rise in methane emissions, a major greenhouse gas responsible for
global warming.
How
safe are the red mud reservoirs in the Central Highlands?
VietNamNet Bridge - The tailings dam break at Corrego do
Feijao in Brazil in January has raised the fear that a similar disaster may
occur at the red mud reservoirs in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
A report from Greenpeace about the accident, which killed
more than 120 people, showed that mercury and arsenic content in the red mud on
the site was ‘surprisingly high’.
The accident has once again sparked worry about the
safety of the red mud reservoirs at Nhan Co and Tan Rai bauxite mines, though
Vinacomin, the investor of the projects, has reassured the public that the
reservoirs are safe.
An analyst said Vale, the owner of Feljao mine in Brazil,
is the second largest mining group in the world and the biggest iron exploiter
and pellets processor. Feijao is an open cast mine.
“This means that incidents may occur even when the mining
is carried out by a large corporation.”
Local newspapers reported that in 2018, due to the high
rainfall, deep holes appeared next to the tailings dam at Nhan Co bauxite
project in Dak Nong province, which may lead to subsidence and dam failure.
This once occurred in Hungary in 2010
The
discharge from sorting workshops to iron containing reservoirs includes iron
pieces w smaller than 1 mm, mud and water from sludge settling machines. If
the waste water spills into ponds, lakes and fields, it will kill fish,
microorganisms, rice and crops.
|
In Vietnam, an incident at the bauxite tailings reservoir
occurred at Tan Rai mine in Lam Dong province on October 8, 2014.
The discharge from sorting workshops to iron containing
reservoirs includes iron pieces w smaller than 1 mm, mud and water from sludge
settling machines. If the waste water spills into ponds, lakes and fields, it
will kill fish, microorganisms, rice and crops.
Scientists said there is a risk of alkaline leaking into
underground and rainwater, which may lead to the spillover at the Tan Rai and
Nhan Co red mud reservoirs.
The waterproofing panels used to line the bottom of the
reservoirs are mostly geotechnical membranes.
Experts advise against using this membrane in an alkaline
environment and for a long time. Studies have found that this membrane is only
suitable for waterproofing chemicals for 50 to 100 years.
HDPE film has very good resistance against chemicals, but
it will crack in the environmental pressure and heat. The Tan Rai project uses
this type of membrane.
Scientists have warned of the possible pollution to the
water underground system.
Designers and contractors of reservoirs in Vietnam all
say they strictly follow technical regulations.
However, accidents still occur. The accident at Na Lung
mine in Cao Bang in 2010 buried hectares of rice fields and houses.
Know how
Chinese agriculture experts help Burundian farmers for more productivity
Devdiscourse News Desk Gitega Burundi
Updated: 16-03-2019 21:02 IST Created:
16-03-2019 21:02 IST
Evrard
Ndayikeje, a Burundian farmer has recently won an award given by the Chinese
Embassy for those who have a high production of Chinese hybrid rice in Ninga
village in northwestern Burundi.
The yield of
Ndayikeje's rice field reached some 11 tons per hectare in the last season. But
before he learned rice-growing techniques from Chinese agricultural experts, he
could only harvest three tons per hectare. The Chinese government has
dispatched four agriculture expert groups to Burundi since 2009. The current group
comprises nine members -- seven agriculture experts and two translators.
They
introduced Chinese hybrid rice to the central African country and started to
grow the species in a roughly 48-hectare field in Ninga village in 2018,
bringing together some 130 families and over 1,000 people to join the program.
"They changed my life in a short time," said Ndayikeje, who was one
of the participants. "Before I met the Chinese experts in 2016, I didn't
have work for two years after graduating from university, and I grew traditional
rice on my family's land, but didn't have much production and didn't have
money," the 29-year-old said.
Chinese
experts hired Ndayikeje as their assistant and taught him how to grow Chinese
hybrid rice. Afterwards, he was able to teach farmers from other villages to do
the same. "I got married one year later and was financed by the money
earned from growing Chinese hybrid rice. I have my own house now," he
said.
Because of his
ability to grow rice, the Burundian government employed him as a member of the
national committee for the development of the environment, agriculture and
livestock in Bubanza province, where Ninga village is located. After reaping a
good harvest in the first season that concluded in February, the village has
started the second season's demonstration production, said Yang Huade, chief of
the Chinese agriculture experts
group. The average production reached 10 tons per hectare in the first season,
increasing from 4 tons per hectare before, Yang said.
To help Burundian farmers become
self-reliant in growing Chinese hybrid rice, the Chinese experts cooperated
with the Burundian government in helping villagers establish a fund which pools
part of farmers' incomes from growing rice to buy seeds, fertilizers and
chemicals for new production. Besides training farmers, the experts also train
government officials, agricultural technicians and researchers in the agricultural
sector to ensure technical support, as reported by Xinhua.
To serve
the Burundian farmers better,
55-year-old Yang and his fellows spend 20 days every month on average in
different fields across the country. "Our farmers have a good production
now. When we can have that production in the whole country, Burundi can be developed," said
Deo-Guide Rurema, Burundian minister of environment, agriculture and livestock.
Burundi wants
to continue its agricultural cooperation with China and promote cooperation in
other fields including vegetable production, the minister said. China will
further push forward the agricultural development of Burundi in line with the needs and the
actual situation of the country, said Chinese Ambassador to BurundiLi Changlin.
A Reversal for
KUBOTA CORP ORDINARY SHARES (OTCMKTS:KUBTF) Is Near. The Stock Has Decrease in
Shorts
Posted by Darrin Black on March
16, 2019 at 6:36 pm
The stock of
KUBOTA CORP ORDINARY SHARES (OTCMKTS:KUBTF) registered a decrease of 51.66% in
short interest. KUBTF’s total short interest was 525,600 shares in March as
published by FINRA. Its down 51.66% from 1.09 million shares, reported
previously. With 2,400 shares average volume, it will take short sellers 219
days to cover their KUBTF’s short positions.
It closed at
$13.75 lastly. It is down 0.00% since March 16, 2018 and is . It has
underperformed by 4.37% the S&P500.
Kubota
Corporation manufactures and sells a range of machinery, and other industrial
and consumer products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and
internationally. The company has market cap of $16.93 billion. The Company’s
Farm & Industrial Machinery segment provides tractors, power tillers,
combine harvesters, rice transplanters, lawn mowers, utility vehicles, other
agricultural machinery, implements, attachments, post-harvest machinery,
vegetable production equipment, and other agricultural equipment; cooperative
drying, rice seedling, and gardening facilities; and rice mill plants. It has a
13.9 P/E ratio. This segment also offers farming, construction, industrial
machinery, and generator engines; mini excavators, wheel loaders, compact track
and skid steer loaders, and other construction machinery related products; and
scales, weighing and measuring control systems, vending machines,
air-conditioning equipment, and air purifiers.
More news for
Kubota Corporation (OTCMKTS:KUBTF) were recently published by: Seekingalpha.com, which
released: “Kubota Has Grown Gangbusters – Seeking Alpha” on June 17,
2015. Seekingalpha.com‘s article
titled: “Motion Control Leader Nabtesco Moves Toward High Margin Service Model
– Seeking Alpha” and published on September 25, 2017 is yet another important article.
PDS rice worth Rs 2.28
lakh seized
| @indiablooms | 16 Mar 2019, 06:58 pm
Eluru, Mar 16
(UNI) The Vigilance and Enforcement department officials seized Rs 2.28 lakh
worth 12,680 Kilograms of rice, meant for Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) and
while being transported illegally in a truck at Sivapuram village in
Chintalapudi Mandal of West Godavari district on Saturday.
According to
Vigilance and Enforcement department officials, on a tip-off, the Vigilance and
Enforcement, Civil Supplies, Revenue officials stopped a truck near Saibaba
temple in the village.
They found PDS
Rice in white plastic bags in the truck.
The officials
said that the rice was being transported from Gurubhatlagudem village in
Chintalapudi Mandal to Tadepalligudem in this district.
The officials
later seized 12,680 Kilograms of PDS Rice worth Rs 2,28,240, a Lorry and a
Motorbike.
A case was
registered under section 6(A) and 7(1) of the Essential Commodities Act 1955,
and AP PDS Control order-2018 against the driver of the lorry P Ramu,
Transporter Vanama Vasu and other person K Radha Krishna.
Bangor
Researchers On Paddy Emissions In China
BY ANNA
RAY ON MARCH 16, 2019ENVIRONMENT, EVERYTHING ELSE
Aquaculture promises to feed an
ever-growing population, replacing the ‘poor-man’s protein’ – rice – with
fish protein. However, the conversion from rice paddies to create aquaculture
environments is having far reaching and unintended consequence for global
warming.
Researchers across the globe have been focusing their efforts towards understanding how anthropogenic actions affect the quantities of GHGs in the atmosphere. Key to understanding the underlying mechanisms of emissions are the microbial interactions inherent in soil processes.
Researchers across the globe have been focusing their efforts towards understanding how anthropogenic actions affect the quantities of GHGs in the atmosphere. Key to understanding the underlying mechanisms of emissions are the microbial interactions inherent in soil processes.
“Paddy fields produce huge
quantities of methane when decaying plant material is broken down by
microbes called methanogens in the oxygen-free waterlogged paddy soils. But in
the aquaculture ponds that are replacing the paddy fields, vast quantities of
food are added to feed the crabs and fish that are being grown in them, and
that massively increases the amount of rotting material for the methanogens to
produce even more methane.”
There are ways of reducing the
amount of Methane produced from these areas, namely aeration of the fields:
this is an aspect of the studies that promises hope . However, applying these
types of technology in rural areas of China can be considered a barrier to
lowering emissions.
“We have known for some time that rice paddies were bad for global
warming. But the realisation that there’s a “hidden” new source of problems is
taking these threats to whole new level.”
Nigeria:
Impact of Anchor Borrowers Programme On the Economy - CBN
By Obinna Ogbonna and Mark
Itsibor
President Muhammadu Buhari had observed that
the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN -initiated Anchor Borrowers' Programme (ABP)
will lift thousands of small farmers out of poverty and generate millions of
jobs for unemployed Nigerians. These words of hope and confidence have
materialized in millions of naira in the pocket of many of Nigeria's peasant
farmers of yesterday.
Indeed, Emefiele has effectively driven CBN's
command room to a stable exchange rate, moderated inflation and reduced import
substitution regime in a period of fluid turf apex banking. Rightly, he
deserves some accolades for keeping faith with the vision of President Buhari
by demonstrating uncommon commitment and patriotism for home-grown products for
the diversification of the productive and revenue base of the country's
economy. He is, unarguably, changing it from one that was hitherto a mono to a
multi-product economy and conserved her foreign reserve by curbing the appetite
for imported goods that can easily be produced locally.
The CBN's Anchor Borrowers' Programme which
has emerged to become the most successful of all government intervention
programmes in recent history was launched by President Buhari in 2015. It is
one of the intervention programmes for sustainable economic growth of the CBN.
In his remarks at the launching of the agricultural programme and flag-off of
the 2015 dry season farming in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, the President frowned
at the huge sums spent by Nigeria on the importation of food items that could
be produced locally, stressing that Nigeria's N1 trillion importation bill at
the time was not sustainable.
Prior to introduction of the ABP, allocation
of foreign exchange to the importation of items such as rice, wheat, milk,
tomato, fish, cotton and fertilizer among others, had contributed greatly to
the depletion of the nation's foreign reserves, especially in the face of low
oil revenue resulting from falling oil prices. The implication was rising
unemployment and escalating food imports. This prompted the CBN, under the leadership
of Emefiele to shift from concentrating only on price, monetary, and financial
system stability to act as a financial catalyst in specific sectors of the
economy particularly agriculture; in a bid to create jobs on a mass scale,
improve local food production, and conserve scarce foreign reserves.
The apex bank had set aside a portion of the
N220billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund to finance
agricultural projects at a single-digit interest rate of nine per cent. Chiefly
among the aims was to create economic linkages between over 600,000 smallholder
farmers and reputable large-scale processors with a view to increasing
agricultural output and significantly improving capacity utilization of
integrated mills.
Noticeably, the gap between the levels of
local rice production and domestic consumption has been reduced within a space
of three years. Perhaps more than any other institution in Nigeria, the CBN has
demonstrated a passionate commitment to the support of Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) in the Agribusiness value chain through its various development finance
interventions and schemes.
Other areas the bank has distinguished itself
also include: Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural
Lending (NIRSAL); Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF); The Nigeria Electricity
Market Stabilization Facility (NEMSF); Entrepreneurship Development Centres
(EDCs); Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP); Export Stimulation
Facility (ESF); Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme
(AGSMEIS), Paddy Aggregation Scheme (PAS); Accelerated Agricultural Development
Scheme (AADS); and the very successful Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) which
has recorded an outstanding success in terms of reducing the nation's food
import bills and boosting the income levels and financial capacity of local
farmers.
At the last count, 200,000 smallholder
farmers from 29 states of the federation are already benefitting from the
N43.92 billion released through the CBN and 13 participating financial
institutions to fund the agricultural programme.
As at October 2018, 2.5 million direct jobs
had been created through implementation of the Anchor Borrowers' scheme,
according to President Buhari. About 1 million more indirect jobs are
believably created also. A total number of 862,069 farmers cultivating about
835,239 hectares of land, cultivating 16 different commodities including Rice,
Wheat, Maize, Cotton, soya-beans, Poultry, Cassava and Groundnuts, tomato, in
addition to fish farming had already benefited from the programme. The
initiatives were undertaken in close collaboration with the states.
On the brag list of the current federal
government today is the fact that the administration has produced over seven
million 50Kg bags of fertilizer through the CBN intervention programme.
"Eleven blending plants with a capacity of 2.1 million metric tons have
been reactivated. We have saved $150 million in foreign exchange and N60
billion in subsidy. Fertilizer prices have dropped from N13, 000 per 50Kg bag
to N5, 500," President Buhari had disclosed while pointing to some of the
achievements of the ABP.
Another revolution, similar to what was
recorded in the production of rice has started in Nigeria as the CBN has made
good its promise to support massive tomato production in commercial quantity in
the country.
Already, tomato processing plants have
started springing up in parts of the country that would soon make Nigeria
self-sufficient in the commodity, thanks to the support programme of the CBN.
During a facility tour of Dangote Tomato Processing Factory and farms in
Kadawa, Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State recently, Mr. Emefiele
enthused that Nigeria now has a major Tomato processing Plant in Dangote farms,
which he said has the capacity to meet nationwide demand of tomatoes in the
country.
The good news is that the initial challenges
encountered by the project have been overcome with the acquisition of
greenhouses for the production of high yield seedlings with the collaboration
of the CBN. Mr Emefiele therefore, expressed delight that "with the
initial daily production of a million tomato nurseries alone, more people would
be encouraged to embrace farming thereby creating jobs for our people along the
entire value chain and reverse the exportation of jobs".
Apart from that, another N2 billion Gino
Tomato processing plant and farm has sprung up in Kaduna State, owing to the
support of the CBN's agricultural support Anchor Borrowers' Programme.
The plant has the capacity to mill 30 tons of
fresh tomatoes a day. According to the Director, Corporate Affairs department
of GBfoods, Dr. Teddy Ngu the whole land is about 100 hectares, while the farm
area is about 30 hectares. He said about 16 hectares have already been
cultivated, while the plan is to plant the entire area. "We plant in
phases so that we can harvest in phases," he stated, explaining that the
idea is to keep the factory running continuously. "In the long run, we are
going to move to 3,000 hectares," he added.
The ban on 44 items from accessing forex from
official windows, and deliberate standardization of agricultural products in
Nigeria largely through the support of the Anchor Borrowers' scheme has long
started making significant impacts on both home and external fronts. For
example, the fourth quarter (Q4 2018) report on Nigeria's provisional Balance
of Payments (BoP) estimates that was released a few days ago indicates a
significant improvement as the country recorded a surplus of $2.80 million,
compared to the huge deficit of $4.542 billion recorded the preceding quarter.
It had also recorded a surplus of $6.180
billion in the corresponding period of 2017, according to a "Brief on
Balance of Payments Statistics for Fourth Quarter 2018," released by the
Central Bank. A balance of payments surplus meant that Nigeria exported more
than it imported during the period under review. What that means is that
Nigeria is up again to play its role in global trade.
Furthermore, it is pertinent to mention here
that so far, the overall impact of these interventions is the enhanced
operational capacity of the SMEs that has translated into a reflation of
Nigeria's economy with attendant growth and development.
From Kebbi, Ebonyi, Anambra and Cross Rivers
to Kano States - among other parts of the federation, the ABP has given a good
boost to local rice production, creating jobs and empowering many across the
country.
Why It Started In Kebbi
President Buhari was in Kebbi to flag off the
2015/2016 Dry Season Rice and Wheat Farming as well as the CBN Anchor
Borrowers' programme in 2015 which is a financing model assistance for small
holder farmers in the country. The Anchor Borrower programme of the Central
Bank of Nigeria was kick started to develop rice production in the country with
Kebbi State as starting point and model. The CBN programme launched by
president Buhari in Kebbi, provides a flat form for a tripartite collaboration
between rice farmers, rice millers as up -takers and commercial banks. Under
the programme, CBN provide loans to the farmers which will be accessed through
commercial banks and rice processors. The selection of Kebbi for the programme
was not by accident but for the fact the land of equity is in the forefront of
the production of rice in the country and the prospect of other crops like
Wheat, Sorghum, Millet, Sugarcane, Groundnuts and other arable crops are
promising as acknowledged by President, the CBN, and other stakeholders in the
farming sector. Kebbi State is blessed with rich agricultural potentials, large
water bodies and favourable climate conditions for diverse agricultural
production which employs more than 80 per cent of our people.
An investigation carried out by LEADERSHIP
revealed that large chunk of the farming communities engaged predominantly in rice
and wheat farming taking advantage of only 36.46 per cent of the estimated land
area out of 37,698.69km. This indicates that the there is still large expanse
of land that can be converted to agricultural use. According to 1968 FAO survey
, the state is endowed with 420,000 hectares of Fadama land out of which 170
,000 hectares have shallow extractable aquifers suitable for year round
irrigation. Kebbi has also sizable water bodies which support irrigation and
fisheries activities with 50 per cent of the total Fadama land on the banks of
Rima River, 34.7 per cent on river Niger, 4.1 on Zamfara River while remaining
11.2 per cent are on minor tributaries. These endowments have made the state a
major supplier of rice, fish, groundnuts oil and vegetables especially onions.
Perhaps also Kebbi's promising position in agriculture especially rice farming
attracted President Buhari's attention to use Kebbi as a model of his
administration's agricultural policy and economic diversification agenda
largely because the international or global oil market is no longer dependable.
President Buhari spearheaded the zeal of federal government in agricultural
production and transformation when he led the campaign for rice production in
Kebbi. The CBN Governor, at the event, said that the programme was designed to
create economic linkages between farmers and processors, not only to ensure
agricultural output of rice and wheat but also close the gap between production
and consumption. The CBN boss further explained that over 200,000 rice and
wheat farmers will benefit from the scheme ranging from N150, 000 to N250, 000
and to assist in procuring necessary agricultural input. The CBN's Anchor
Borrowers Programme, according to Mr Emefiele, which kicked started in Kebbi
was also targeting to change Nigeria from a major importer to a major exporting
country as well as provide food security for the nation.
Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu assured that
the state has the capacity and potential to produce rice and wheat for both
domestic and external consumption. Kebbi State has demonstrated full commitment
in helping farmers to achieve maximum production of food especially rice within
the last four years. Bagudu has demonstrated a lot of political commitment and
support for the overall success of the programme by also supporting farmers
with input, fertilizer, financial assistance to flood ravaged farming
communities and aerial spray against birds and insects which runs into millions
of naira.
The success story of the Anchor Borrowers
programme in Kebbi State is glaring in spite of some challenges it faced. It
has recorded an achievement that surpasses the one million tonne of rice
production target in the second year of introducing the scheme. This was as a
result of many people including civil servants, women and youths who went back
to the farms and engaged in rice production.
Another major achievement was the springing
of private rice mills in the state paving the way for more investment flow.
Both Big and mini rice mills have been established in the state all owned by
private investors. The state can boast of two large modern rice mills now, the
Labana Rice Mills and Wacot .This is apart from many mini rice mills being
established by private individual farmers across the state. It will recalled
that the state witnessed the commissioning of Labana Rice Mills Limited by the
Hon Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh. The rice mill
provides high quality parboiled rice for not only Kebbi but Nigerian populace.
It was specially designed with sophisticated machinery from Switzerland.
The massive rice farming under the CBN Anchor
Borrowers programme has turned around the lives of many farmers to becoming
rich. In fact, in the second year of the programme, majority of the Muslim faithful
who went to Saudi Arabia on Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca were farmers who got their
money from the sale of their rice. Apart from that, many other farmers got
married or boost their businesses with the proceeds they got from their rice.
All these are clear testimony of how many farmers in Kebbi became millionaires
from the rice farming venture. Nafiu Bashar (32) is a young farmer in Birnin
Kebbi which used the fortune he got from his rice farm to marry a second wife
" Yes it is obvious that young men like me who took this advantage of
growing rice,really reaped the benefit because it is from my rice sells that I
got the money to marry a second and now I am planning to go to the holy
pilgrimage. You can call me a young millionaire. " Women too are not left
out of the success story, Hajiya Suwaiba Aliyu although a widow with three
children said she picked up from what her husband left before he died some four
years ago " I used to prepare food for him and take it to the farm and I
watched how he worked in the farm. So when he died I took up the challenge and
obtained the "Anchor Borrowers loan package. Initially in my first harvest
I didn't record much from my two hectares of land but in the second season it
kept on multiplying", she said.
On his part, the Chairman of Rice Farmers
Association Kebbi State chapter, Alhaji Muhammad Sahabi opined that the Anchor
Borrowers Programme in Kebbi is very successful as it assisted farmers to
enhance their businesses since it was introduced four years ago. "The Anchor
Borrowers Programme has largely been a success in Kebbi State, we have more
people who were not rice farmers before now venturing into the activity and
that has gone along away in contributing to the overall rice production in
Nigeria. As you know Kebbi State is the largest rice producer in Nigeria",
he said. The Chairman also suggested how the programme can be improved to
accommodate more people as well as enhance the quality of the product. He made
a passionate request to CBN and all the stakeholders involved in the system.
"Expand the programme to increase the number of farmers who can actually
benefit from the scheme, I know that in the first year, we covered over 75,000
farmers in Kebbi. Efforts should be geared towards expanding the programme so that
it will accommodate more farmers especially large scale farmers, because Anchor
Borrowers as it is designed now is meant only for small scale farmers with
about 1 to 5 hectares in the maximum .In Kebbi State we have more farmers who
have lands as large as 100 hectares or more and these farmers want to be
included. I also want the programme to include simple farm machineries to do
away with issues of drudgery in rice farming. As at now most of the work is
done manually using hands and I know our technology can address such issues of
manual labour. We have small machines that can transplant rice, harvest and
even thresh rice. So I want it to be introduced to small scale farmers to use
them as alternative to manual labour", he said.
The Anchor Borrowers Programme was
established by the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN to fast track the development of
the Nigerian economy by providing credit facilities to commercial agricultural
enterprises at a single digit interest rate. It is a programme that aims at
enhancing national food security, increasing output, and generating employment
as well as diversify the revenue base of the economy. It has recorded
tremendous success in Ebonyi State.
According to the Ebonyi State Commissioner
for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Ogodo Ali Nome, in 2016, the state
accessed N2billion, another N3billion in 2017 while in 2018 another N5billion
was accessed adding that with the funds released, the state now produces over
1.2 million tonnes of rice annually.
Chief Nome noted that currently, the state
has over 72,000 hectares of rice plantation with a target of six tonnes per
hectare production and added that the loan was judiciously used to support
farmers, especially, those involved in rice production.
The Commissioner noted that the N2 billion
loan secured in 2016 went a long way in giving thousands of Ebonyi farmers the
enablement to scale up their participation in the rice revolution.
He pointed out that the loan, in no small
measure, assisted in lifting many families from abject poverty and became a
source of empowerment to many of the youths who would otherwise have remained
jobless and a threat to the society.
In one of the Agriculture summit held at the
Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki where hundreds of farmers
who benefited from the CBN/Ebonyi State Anchor Borrowers programme converged to
narrate their success story, Governor Dave Umahi said:"We want to
domesticate rice production in Ebonyi State and we are going beyond individual
production. We are now beginning to see how we can institute what we call rice
mega cities in each local government area where by we have 5,000 hectares of
land dedicated for rice production in each of our local government areas.
"Already, we have four rice mills that
are in operation and you also see private people that are milling with their
traditional machines. We are planning to cultivate 100,000 hectares of land to
produce 400,000 tonnes of rice in the next two years.
"On behalf of the good people of Ebonyi
State, let me express my most profound gratitude to the Governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele;, the Governor of Kebbi State, His
Excellency, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and to the Honourable Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, for the friendly
cooperation and professional partnership that you have extended to the farmers
of Ebonyi State".
I must also express deep appreciation to the
very professional and competent staff of the CBN, particularly those who have
been connected in one way or other with the Ebonyi rice revolution. The
evolving partnership between our farmers and the apex bank, especially in
respect of the Anchor Borrowers scheme, could not have gained traction but for
the professionalism and dedication of the staff of the Bank who have tirelessly
and patiently engaged our farmers at every turn in the laborious process.
The significant progress that we have made in
our determination to raise the quantum of rice produced in Ebonyi State from a
modest annual average to a projected 190,000 metric tons of rice paddy could
not have been possible without the financial support of the CBN".
"It has, above all, made our dream of
food security a realistic one. The Bank filled a major gap for us. Although we
needed and still need more, but what we got was precisely what has made it
possible for our farmers to cultivate more than 30,000 hectares of land during
the wet season of 2016".
According to the Commissioner, in 2016, the
State government accessed the sum of N2billion and procured farm input which
include, Rice seedlings, Cassava stem, fertilizer for rice and cassava
production and urea. In 2016, the state according to the commissioner through
the scheme procured 40 tractor machines which were given out to farmers on hire
basis. He stated also that in 2016, a total of 14, 662 rice and cassava farmers
benefitted from the scheme. He further disclosed that in 2017, the state
government accessed another N3billion from the CBN scheme while in 2018,
another N5billion was also accessed adding that between 2017 and 2018, 30,000
farmers benefitted also from the farm inputs.
The Commissioner said that apart from the
farm inputs which was distributed to the farmers through their associations and
cooperative societies, each of the farmers was also given the sum of N25, 000
for land preparation.
In an interview with some of the
beneficiaries of the Anchor Borrowers scheme in Ebonyi state, the State
Chairman, Cassava Growers Association, Mr. Paul Njoku said that the group
joined the programme in 2018 and expressed the confidence that they will record
bumper harvests in cassava cultivation and attributed the development to the
pragmatic agricultural policies put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria in
collaboration with the Governor David Umahi- led administration in the state.
Mr. Njoku said that before the inception of
the present administration, such scheme existed but regretted that the funds
usually end up in the pockets of politicians and their cronies and added that
the present administration through the Agricultural summit convened by the
state government identified genuine farmers and cooperative societies and dealt
directly with them instead of allowing politicians to embezzle the funds.
He said that there has been tremendous
increase in the number of farmers cultivating cassava in the state pointing out
that the number of farmers who have indicated interest to join the programme
for the 2019 scheme has already tripled. He stated that many youths in the
state are now self-employed and are no longer looking for white collar job in
the cities of Nigeria.
The Ebonyi State Chairman of Farmers
Co-operative Society, Mr. Godwin Aka who was a signatory to the procurement of
the loan scheme for government in 2016 said that rice farmers, millers and rice
distributors in the state since 2016 have been counting their gains and could
not have wished for a better programme.
Mr. Aka who commended the Federal government
for the ban on importation of foreign rice said that apart from the enhanced
patronage of local rice, which had boosted the economic status of rice farmers,
the price of the product has stabilised and might even fall drastically due to
massive production in the state.
According to him: "since the
commencement of the scheme and the sincerity of purpose on the part of the
state government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, there has been a tremendous
improvement in the production of rice and other commodities in the state. Apart
from Rice production, many farmers have ventured into Cassava cultivation, Yam,
palm seedlings and even livestock.
The scheme, in no small measure, has prompted
the stability of price of rice in the state without fluctuating. There is no
gainsaying it that the ban on importation of foreign rice into the country has
also provoked an increase in the consumption of local rice, thereby triggering
massive production. A visit to the Abakaliki Rice Mill will convince anyone
that both the rich and the poor now testify to the natural taste of the locally
produced rice". Before now, consumption of foreign rice is seen as a
luxury, even those who cannot afford it go as far as borrowing to buy foreign
rice but today the Federal government initiative with the encouragement of the
CBN loan scheme has changed the narrative. The increased patronage has made us
to produce more rice," he said.
As the Chairman of Farmers Co-operative
Society, we meet at different fora to brainstorm on the way forward and from
our observation, the story has been the same in other parts of the country, as
there has been dramatic increase in quantity of rice produced by rice farmers
across the country".
The Chairman of Ebonyi State Rice Farmers
Association, Mr. Uchenna Mbam said that the state government met the target of
producing 350,000 tonnes of rice, which it set for the 2016 farming season
adding that in 2017 and 2018, 500, 000 tonnes of rice are projected.
He stated that the state was able to achieve
that feat because the state government invested massively in rice production in
2016, 2017 and in 2018 farming season. The Chairman Rice Farmers further
pointed out that the government's determination to revolutionise rice
production in the state was because of its comparative advantage over other
states in the area of rice farming adding that efforts were underway to ensure
that Ebonyi reclaimed its position as the highest rice producing state in West
Africa.
Assin North to
prioritise rice cultivation in 2019
Sunday 17th March, 2019
By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Assin-Fosu (C/R), March 17, GNA -
In fulfilment of maintaining national food security, the Assin North District
has expressed its commitment to prioritise the cultivation of hybrid rice under
the "Special Rice Initiative" (SRI).
Dubbed “Public private partnership
for competitive and inclusive rice value chain development: Planting for Food
and Jobs – Rice Chapter,” the project is aimed at increasing rice production,
strengthening and expanding access to output markets among others.
The move is also intended to adopt
a two-tier approach on short, medium and long-term solutions to enable the
government achieve its sub-sector goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice
production to improve the livelihoods of 128,763 farmers by 2020.
Mr Francis Kwame Freeman, the
District Director of Agriculture, who announced this said the interdependence
on rice imports would significantly reduce.
Ghana has since 2015 spent over a
billion dollars on rice imports annually regardless of the fact that fertile
lands were available for the growing rice to feed the whole of West
Africa but it was importing rice to that tune.
The Ministry of Food and
Agriculture (MoFA) in November 2018 entered into a 2.5 million euro Public
Private Partnership (PPP) agreement to boost rice production of in the country
known as “Ghana Rice Initiative”.
Championed by the German
Government and implemented by AGRA and other partners, the innovative
initiative is expected to last 36 months beginning last November.
It also intends to adopt a
two-tier approach on short, medium and long-term solutions to enable the
government achieve its sub-sector goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice
production to improve the livelihoods of 128,763 farmers by 2020.
Nationally, the project will be
implemented in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Central and Volta regions
with about 130,000 farmers from 110 districts in the beneficiary regions
supplied with subsidised certified seeds under the project.
The District Director of Agric
explained that government has put in place a number of measures to cause a
permanent change in the structure of the sector by halting the importation of
basic commodities, especially rice, and increase export.
He said government’s interventions
in the sector included horticulture development, perennial crop development,
irrigation development, agriculture mechanization promotion, agriculture
financing and private sector investments.
Government, under the Planting for
Food and Jobs, is supporting farmers with certified seeds, marketing services,
e-agriculture, fertilizer and extension services to boost crop production in
the country, the lowest in the sub-region.
Mr Prince Osei Poku, the District
Crops Officer, identified some challenges in the sector to include the lack of
effective extension services to help educate farmers on improving farming
technologies.
He urged farmers to adopt modern
agronomic practices and best farming methods to increase crop yield.
GNA
Cedi Depreciation: Injection Of $800 Million
A Lazy Man's Approach—Former Minister
By Azure Imoro Abdulai
The current
depreciation of the Ghana cedi currency has raised anxiety among importers and
the business community. This has generated public discussion lately for which
many are calling on the government to arrest further depreciation of the cedi.The finance ministry of Ghana, has,
therefore, been compelled to announce measures targeted at stabilising the cedi
and halt its further depreciation.
One of such
measures as announced by the finance minister is the injection of some 800
million dollars into the economy.
This approach,
an outspoken former Deputy Minister of Trade and former MP Murtala Mohammed
Ibrahim, has described as a lazy man's approach in dealing with the issue.
Comrade
Mohammed Murtala Ibrahim said the approach is just a temporary measure and that
within two to three months the problem will resurface again.
Hon. Murtala
Ibrahim made these comments on radio gold news analysis programme- Alhaji and
Alhaji on Saturday.
“If you don’t
deal with the basic fundamentals affecting imports and export, you can inject
millions of dollars into the economy, the problem will simply not go away” the
deputy minister alluded. Hon. Murtala said under the previous regime under his
Excellency John Dramani Mahama measures were taken to reduce the importation of
some essential commodities such as rice, sugar, and pharmaceuticals.
For example,
the former deputy minister said rice importation had reduced significantly up
to 40% with a corresponding increased in the local production of rice close to
60%.
"While
the NDC was spending an insignificant amount of 500 million dollars on general
importation, the NPP is spending a whopping amount of 1billion dollars in the
importation of rice alone”
Again, the
former deputy minister has alluded to the fact that Ghana was heavily importing
pharmaceuticals and sugars Which was exerting so much pressure on the cedi,
hence the depreciation of the cedi, so as part of permanent measure to arrest
the cedi, the then government gave support to pharmaceuticals companies in the
country to expand and able to manufacture and produce more drugs locally than
importing. This he said have contributed in stabilising the local currency
under the NDC administration.
The Komenda
Sugar Factory was another practical demonstration of the Mahama administration
in dealing with the depreciation of the cedi. “His Excellency John Dramani
Mahama having realised that the huge importation of sugar into the country have
affected the performance of the cedi, initiated the establishment of a sugar
factory in Komenda from a facility from the Indian Exim bank”
If the NPP
government had ensured that the sugar factory is up and running our country
will not have to spend so much in importing sugar thereby putting undue
pressure on the cedi. The former MP said.
Hon Murtala
Ibrahim concluded by calling on Ghanaians not to throw their hands in despair
and that they have an option to put the country back on track by voting out the
NPP government since they do not have practical solutions in dealing with the
many challenges that the Ghanaian people are confronted with.
He called on
the finance minister to come out with a practical and more sustainable way of
stabilising the cedi.
PH to lose right to impose safeguard measures on imports of agri
products
Published March 16, 2019, 10:00 PM
By Madelaine
B. Miraflor
The
Philippines will soon lose its right to impose safeguard measures on imported
agriculture products, a top agriculture official said.
Agriculture
Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano said the Rice Tariffication Law, which was
signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last month, will not only remove volume
restrictions on rice importation. It also amended Republic Act (RA) No. 8800 or
the ‘Safeguard Measures Act’.
RA 8800 is an
act protecting local industries by providing safeguard measures to be
undertaken in response to increased imports and providing penalties for
violation.
Under the law,
Philippines shall apply a general safeguard measure upon a positive final
determination of the Tariff Commission that a product is being imported into
the country in increased quantities, whether absolute or relative to the
domestic production.
“If you invoke
RA 8800, you have the option to impose a temporary or a tenured QR
[quantitative restriction] to stem prejudice or damage to the industry. It is a
very effective measure,” Serrano said.
“Now, that
[kind of security] wouldn’t be available to all agriculture products. That’s
the biggest whammy on the agriculture sector. There would be no safeguards for
rice imports, technically,” he added.
Other
commodities to be affected by this measure include pork and chicken.
Serrano referred to these commodities as “collateral damage” just so the government can finally implement the Rice Tariffication Law.
Serrano referred to these commodities as “collateral damage” just so the government can finally implement the Rice Tariffication Law.
To be
specific, the Rice Tariffication Law seeks to replace the QRs on rice imports
with tariff as required by the country’s commitment to the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
Serrano said
the removal of the safeguard measure is one of the reasons why the Department
of Agriculture (DA) initially opposed the law’s implementation.
“[We made oppositions to these] but to no avail. Now that the President already signed it, we decided to keep our mouth shut. Now we just want the IRR [Implementing Rules and Regulations] of the law to at least see to it that the law’s effect to other sectors will be alleviated,” Serrano said.
“[We made oppositions to these] but to no avail. Now that the President already signed it, we decided to keep our mouth shut. Now we just want the IRR [Implementing Rules and Regulations] of the law to at least see to it that the law’s effect to other sectors will be alleviated,” Serrano said.
The
government’s target to release the IRR of the Rice Tariffication Law last March
5 was not met. The new target would either be this week or next week.
During the
meeting of the National Food Authority (NFA) Council last week, the Council was
only able to approve the draft IRR of the law and did not release anything.
“It’s in the
hands of NEDA [National Economic and Development Authority] now. The Council
already agreed to approve the resolution ad referendum. As soon as it is done
the three secretaries — NEDA, Department of Agriculture, and Department of
Budget and Management —will sign the IRR,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel PiƱol
said earlier.
PiƱol said
since the draft IRR only needed “simple amendments”, he doesn’t think it will
take NEDA take too much time to come up with the IRR’s final version.
The release of
the IRR of the Rice Tariffication Law will pave the way for the law’s actual
implementation.
Samahang
Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said in an
earlier interview that under a liberalized scheme, the Philippine government
can always impose import ban depending on the season and on the amount of rice
that is available in the market.
“It is within
the power of the government to impose import ban. All the countries do that. It
should be included in the IRR [the Implementing Rules and Regulations] of the
law. As long as the government can prove that the amount of imported rice that
entered the could already injure the local rice sector, it should be okay to
impose the ban,” Cainglet said.
This was later
on backed by PiƱol, saying that technically, it is part of the law.
Based on the
Rice Tariffication Law, the tariff rate for imported rice coming from member
countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) like Thailand
and Vietnam is about 35 percent. Outside ASEAN, the tariff rate will be higher
at 50 percent.
The law also
says that tariff rate could go as high as 180 percent, but it didn’t cite
specific scenarios that will trigger such.
PiƱol said a
supply glut could push the tariff rate this high or when the local farmers are
already suffering from the oversupply.
“When you
increase the tariff to 180 percent, who else will import? That is technically
an import ban,” PiƱol said.
Source: citinewsroom.com
Aveyime rice factory abandoned
over lack of funds
The Aveyime
Rice factory
According to the Minister of Food and
Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, since 2015, Ghana has been spending over
a billion dollars to import rice into the country.However, industry players say
this figure could be an underestimation of the true picture on the ground.The
Deputy Minister for the sector, Robert Ahomka Lindsay speaking at a Ghana-Vietnam
trade and investment promotion forum held in Accra last year, said Ghana
imported rice worth 1.1 billion dollars in 2017 alone; adding that rice
importation into the country takes 82% of all imports into the country.
Interestingly, although the country spends such a huge amount on rice importation into the country, government continues to pay lip service to the local rice industry which analysts say has great potential.
Peasant and commercial rice farmers as well as investors in the country are unhappy with how successive governments have failed the sector.
Quality Grain Company, now Prarie Volta Limited, popularly called the Aveyime rice farm has been left dormant.
It is no secret however, that from the farm to the dining tables, Rice is a staple food consumed across the world.
According to statistics, the total global consumption of milled rice amounted to approximately 477.77 million metric tons in 2016/2017 alone.
Countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India, USA and Brazil, have become wealthy and food sufficient through the commercial production of rice.But Ghana’s story is different, as the sector is virtually dead. One of such typical examples is the Aveyime Rice Farm.Successive governments have for years attempted to bridge the widening gap in rice imports by investing in commercial rice production, but all these efforts did not see the light of day.
In an attempt to sustain the dream of commercialized rice production in the country, the government of Ghana on 16th May 2007, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an American based Investor, Prairie Texas Incorporated (PTI) to provide a framework for investment, management and governance of rice production through the defunct Quality Grains Company Limited under a new name, Prairie Volta Limited PVL.
According to the investment agreement, PTI owned an initial 70 percent shares valued at 2.5 million Dollars ($2.5,000,000), while the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture MoFA, owned 30 percent shares also valued at One million dollars ($1,000,000) which was donated through the assets of the defunct Quality Grains project.In addition to its equity contribution, PTI was further obliged per the agreement to secure from external sources all financing and capital needed for development works and services of the project estimated at Three Million US Dollars (US $ 3,000,000) at the time.
Moving forward, Prairie Texas Incorporated PTI invested one million dollars ($1,000,000) cash as its initial equity contribution. However, in a bid to raise some more capital for the project, PTI sold 30 percent of its 70 percent shares to Development Finance and Holdings Limited (DFHL), a subsidiary of the Ghana Commercial Bank.As a result of the transaction, a capital of $1,500,000 was realized from the sale of the 30% shares bringing the total equity contribution of PTI to 2.5 million dollars.
This transaction, however, changed the shareholding structure of the company with PTI holding 40% shares, DFHL of GCB also holding 30% shares and the government of Ghana through Ministry of Food and Agriculture also holding 30% shares.
With this arrangement, the farm was opened to business in 2009 to 2015 when operations came to a halt.According to the foreign investors, this was as a result of several factors which had to do with finance.According to the Finance Manager of Prarie Volta, Richard Amoasi, one of the factors had to do with “government pegging the value of the asset at 8.2 million dollars when it was purchased by Prarie Volta. Meanwhile, these assets have been sitting down for ten years without usage.”
“The said amount was sitting on our balance sheet as a debt which was a major challenge which prevented the investors from securing any funds elsewhere in the world including the World Bank which was ready to provide us with some funding. One other challenge that worked against us had to do with land compensation. There were times we go to the farm to work and the chiefs prevented us because they have not been compensated.”
“The third challenge that also worked against us had to do with the interest rate at the time. The interest rate was so so high that it was not feasible to run a rice farm in Ghana with an interest rate of 37%. The fourth challenge had to do with the equipment as the equipment we inherited were old and outmoded and most of which had lied idle for long and looked rusty,” he lamented.
According to a board member representing PTI, Eric Addo Mensah, one key challenge had to do with the equipment as the company had to spend huge sums of money to make them usable.
“When we took over, the equipment had been lying down for over ten years so a number of them were faulty and no longer in production,” he said.According to Deputy MD of GCB Bank, Socrates Affram, who also doubles as a board member of PVL, he mentioned multiplicity of challenges as factors that worked against the company which largely had to do with equipment and finance.
But the Legal Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Seth Dumoga who was also a board member of the defunct PVL Company, the collapse of the project was because the investor, PTI failed to bring in the needed capital to run the project as expected.
“Prarie Texas had the management and they had to bring in the needed working capital but they run out of working capital to keep the project running and this has brought the project to a halt. The foreign partners were supposed to bring in three million dollars as working capital and they failed to bring in that money. So the company suffered from lack of working capital.”
However, Vandyke Mensah, the American based Investor on his part accused Mr Dumoga and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of lacking the understanding of the project with regards to financial issues; a situation he said was one of the problems the project suffered.
“I am surprised at Mr Dumoga’s claims as he has no clue what he was talking about. My partner and I spent about 1.5 million dollars on feasibility studies which include paying for agronomists, surveyors among others. The sad part of the whole transaction is that MOFA officials don’t seem to understand finance. They don’t realise that when you represent your asset, it affects your balance sheet. That singular act by MOFA affected us and made it difficult to access external source of funding.”
“Apart from that, the equipment we inherited were all obsolete and outmoded. The dryer, for instance, was not meant for rice and rather it was a corn dryer. All other equipment had not been put to use for over ten years.”While the project is struggling to find its feet, GCB Bank has gone to court to seek an order to sell part of the assets of the company to defray a 1.5 million dollars debt the company owed it.
Meanwhile, the town folks are expecting government to revamp the project to enable them have access to employment as the project has the capacity of employing about five hundred direct workers and about two thousand indirect workers.
Interestingly, although the country spends such a huge amount on rice importation into the country, government continues to pay lip service to the local rice industry which analysts say has great potential.
Peasant and commercial rice farmers as well as investors in the country are unhappy with how successive governments have failed the sector.
Quality Grain Company, now Prarie Volta Limited, popularly called the Aveyime rice farm has been left dormant.
It is no secret however, that from the farm to the dining tables, Rice is a staple food consumed across the world.
According to statistics, the total global consumption of milled rice amounted to approximately 477.77 million metric tons in 2016/2017 alone.
Countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India, USA and Brazil, have become wealthy and food sufficient through the commercial production of rice.But Ghana’s story is different, as the sector is virtually dead. One of such typical examples is the Aveyime Rice Farm.Successive governments have for years attempted to bridge the widening gap in rice imports by investing in commercial rice production, but all these efforts did not see the light of day.
In an attempt to sustain the dream of commercialized rice production in the country, the government of Ghana on 16th May 2007, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an American based Investor, Prairie Texas Incorporated (PTI) to provide a framework for investment, management and governance of rice production through the defunct Quality Grains Company Limited under a new name, Prairie Volta Limited PVL.
According to the investment agreement, PTI owned an initial 70 percent shares valued at 2.5 million Dollars ($2.5,000,000), while the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture MoFA, owned 30 percent shares also valued at One million dollars ($1,000,000) which was donated through the assets of the defunct Quality Grains project.In addition to its equity contribution, PTI was further obliged per the agreement to secure from external sources all financing and capital needed for development works and services of the project estimated at Three Million US Dollars (US $ 3,000,000) at the time.
Moving forward, Prairie Texas Incorporated PTI invested one million dollars ($1,000,000) cash as its initial equity contribution. However, in a bid to raise some more capital for the project, PTI sold 30 percent of its 70 percent shares to Development Finance and Holdings Limited (DFHL), a subsidiary of the Ghana Commercial Bank.As a result of the transaction, a capital of $1,500,000 was realized from the sale of the 30% shares bringing the total equity contribution of PTI to 2.5 million dollars.
This transaction, however, changed the shareholding structure of the company with PTI holding 40% shares, DFHL of GCB also holding 30% shares and the government of Ghana through Ministry of Food and Agriculture also holding 30% shares.
With this arrangement, the farm was opened to business in 2009 to 2015 when operations came to a halt.According to the foreign investors, this was as a result of several factors which had to do with finance.According to the Finance Manager of Prarie Volta, Richard Amoasi, one of the factors had to do with “government pegging the value of the asset at 8.2 million dollars when it was purchased by Prarie Volta. Meanwhile, these assets have been sitting down for ten years without usage.”
“The said amount was sitting on our balance sheet as a debt which was a major challenge which prevented the investors from securing any funds elsewhere in the world including the World Bank which was ready to provide us with some funding. One other challenge that worked against us had to do with land compensation. There were times we go to the farm to work and the chiefs prevented us because they have not been compensated.”
“The third challenge that also worked against us had to do with the interest rate at the time. The interest rate was so so high that it was not feasible to run a rice farm in Ghana with an interest rate of 37%. The fourth challenge had to do with the equipment as the equipment we inherited were old and outmoded and most of which had lied idle for long and looked rusty,” he lamented.
According to a board member representing PTI, Eric Addo Mensah, one key challenge had to do with the equipment as the company had to spend huge sums of money to make them usable.
“When we took over, the equipment had been lying down for over ten years so a number of them were faulty and no longer in production,” he said.According to Deputy MD of GCB Bank, Socrates Affram, who also doubles as a board member of PVL, he mentioned multiplicity of challenges as factors that worked against the company which largely had to do with equipment and finance.
But the Legal Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Seth Dumoga who was also a board member of the defunct PVL Company, the collapse of the project was because the investor, PTI failed to bring in the needed capital to run the project as expected.
“Prarie Texas had the management and they had to bring in the needed working capital but they run out of working capital to keep the project running and this has brought the project to a halt. The foreign partners were supposed to bring in three million dollars as working capital and they failed to bring in that money. So the company suffered from lack of working capital.”
However, Vandyke Mensah, the American based Investor on his part accused Mr Dumoga and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of lacking the understanding of the project with regards to financial issues; a situation he said was one of the problems the project suffered.
“I am surprised at Mr Dumoga’s claims as he has no clue what he was talking about. My partner and I spent about 1.5 million dollars on feasibility studies which include paying for agronomists, surveyors among others. The sad part of the whole transaction is that MOFA officials don’t seem to understand finance. They don’t realise that when you represent your asset, it affects your balance sheet. That singular act by MOFA affected us and made it difficult to access external source of funding.”
“Apart from that, the equipment we inherited were all obsolete and outmoded. The dryer, for instance, was not meant for rice and rather it was a corn dryer. All other equipment had not been put to use for over ten years.”While the project is struggling to find its feet, GCB Bank has gone to court to seek an order to sell part of the assets of the company to defray a 1.5 million dollars debt the company owed it.
Meanwhile, the town folks are expecting government to revamp the project to enable them have access to employment as the project has the capacity of employing about five hundred direct workers and about two thousand indirect workers.
In the Philippines, importing rice has long been controversial
but food shortages may force the government’s hand
·
Resistance to buying rice abroad has eased in recent
months, following a bout of severe inflation
·
The Philippines is the world’s second-largest importer of
rice after China
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3001762/philippine-water-shortage-hits-more-6-million-people-and
India may
push exports via G2G trade for food products
Worried over a slowdown in
exports, the government is looking to use India’s good relations with other
countries to push up exports through governmentto-government (G2G) trading
arrangements for food products.
Updated: Mar
17, 2019, 11.38 PM IST
Worried over a slowdown in
exports, the government is looking to use India’s good relations with other
countries to push up exports through governmentto-government (G2G) trading arrangements for food products.
The commerce department is exploring export of non-Basmati rice to the Philippines and Indonesia, and sugar to Egypt under this mechanism to boost exports that have been hit by rising protectionism globally and slowdown in trade.
The department sent a proposal to Egypt last week to participate in its sugar tender.
“We want to increase total exports and G2G trade is one such arrangement. This was a common way to trade a decade ago and is being revived now because many countries float tenders to procure food,” said one official aware of the details. “We want to be part of that procurement.”
The commerce department is exploring export of non-Basmati rice to the Philippines and Indonesia, and sugar to Egypt under this mechanism to boost exports that have been hit by rising protectionism globally and slowdown in trade.
The department sent a proposal to Egypt last week to participate in its sugar tender.
“We want to increase total exports and G2G trade is one such arrangement. This was a common way to trade a decade ago and is being revived now because many countries float tenders to procure food,” said one official aware of the details. “We want to be part of that procurement.”