Uganda:
Finance Minister Scraps Tax Incentives On Rice Imports
Photo: Stephen Otage/Daily Monitor
By Jonathan Adengo and Dorothy Nakaweesi
Kampala — Finance minister Matia Kasaija has instructed the
minister of East African Community Affairs, Kirunda Kivejinja, to terminate tax
incentives given to rice importers.The directive, which took effect on January
1, caught the importers unaware with some saying they were not given prior
notice to make necessary adjustments."All of a sudden, the ministry has
decided to increase taxes on husked rice to equal that of already processed
rice which is not fair, this is going to drive up prices of rice in the
market," Mr Geoffrey Adito, the director of operations at Kingdom Rice,
said.
Kingdom Rice is one of the largest importers of husked rice
which is processed and packaged at their 500-tonne milling plant in Namanve.SWT,
which imports half processed rice from Pakistan, says the hike in the tax rate
will drive up prices in the local market.The importers want government to make
distinction between finished and unfinished rice because those who import
unfinished rice cannot compete with those who trade in the finished product.
They say their shipments are in Mombasa, at sea and as such will suffer huge
losses due to the unplanned for directive.
Not enough local capacity
"When we were setting up the factory, Uganda Investment
Authority told us that there was more than enough supply of rice in the local
market. So we mobilised investors, got money and set up a rice mill in three
months," Mr Adito said.However, he says when they went out to buy the
rice, they bought off 50,000 tonnes of rice in two weeks and there was nothing
more to buy in the local market. The 50,000 tonnes could not sustain the plant
beyond a month.
Mr Adito said they then approached government with a proposal to
import husked rice which would then be processed at the factory.
"Government gave us that duty price of $250 per metric tonne (MT) and they
gave us one year to set up a farm and build local capacity. However, after six
months without any notice to us we get directive from ministry of finance that
on January 1, the duty rates were changing," he said.
Mr Adito said with the directive, investors will pull away
causing job losses. Kingdom Rice employs 250 people at their factory directly
and many more in their distribution chain.
The letter
The letter which was sent to the EAC on December 14, is copied
to the Permanent Secretary ministry of Finance, Auditor General's office, the
Accountant General, the Commissioner General Uganda Revenue Authority and the
Uganda Development Bank."This is to request you to notify the East African
Community Gazzette Legal Notice No. EAC/33/2016 where Uganda was granted a duty
to remission to apply the rate of 75 per cent or $250/MT on imported rice which
has been enjoyed by some rice importers,"
The letter is also notifying URA to start to effect the
directive which seek to reinstate the EAC tax rate charged on every tonne of
rice imported from the subsidised rate of $250 (Shs900,000) per MT to $345
(Shs1.2 million) per MT.
"Accordingly all importers will pay the same common
external tariff (CET) of 75 per cent or $345 (Shs1.2m) per metric tonne of
imported rice in accordance with the EAC common external tariff (CET),"
the instructions read in part.Mr Kasaija, in a phone interview with Daily
Monitor confirmed to us that he wrote the letter to Mr Kirunda Kivejinja the
minister of East African Community Affairs. He refused to give any further
comments on the subject matter instead directed us to read the letter that he
wrote to the EAC.
"You read the letter you will find all the answers and
details in it," he said.The letter, which Daily Monitor has seen, is
notifying EAC secretariat that government will from the effect of January 1,
2017 terminate the stay of application on rice.The minister, however, said that
the ministry was going to create a fund for rice commodity development under
Uganda Development Bank Limited to benefit all rice millers.
Trade minister speaks
When contacted, Ms Amelia Kyambadde, the minister of Trade, said
she will have to study the termination letter further and also ascertain how
many people were importing the rice and would be affected by the directive so
as to avoid distorting production and prices of rice in the market."I will
study the issue further however, the termination of importing rice is good for
promotion of local production and encourage local production as opposed to
importing what can be grown here," she said.
According to statistics from Ministry of trade, Uganda consumes
about 300,000 tonnes of rice a year and this demand has largely been
supplemented by imported rice.According to Mr Adito, Kingdom Rice enjoys 60 per
cent of the local market and this has been sustained by the plant in Namanve.
They now want government to stay the directive for the remaining six months
which time would enable them finish setting up their $45m (Shs162b) 10,000
acres firm in Kween to build local capacity.
State to
procure 1.2L MT of superfine rice from farmers directly
By Express News
Service | Published: 09th January 2017 04:57
AM |
Last
Updated: 09th January
2017 04:57 AM
He asked the representatives of Telangana
Rice Millers’ Association, to help the government in procuring the 1.2 lakh MT
of super fine variety of rice for the welfare hostels and schools. “The state
government is firm on supplying Sanna Biyyam to the students. All these
students should be provided with nutritious and good quality food. Supply of
superfine rice should continue without interruption,” he said.In fact, the
government had recently given instructions to the education department on
making the distribution and consumption of this superfine quality rice to
schools and hostels more transparent. Commissioner of civil supplies department
ordered the DEO and MEOs concerned in each district to take steps against those
supplying Doddu Biyyam by polishing it in place of Sanna Biyyam.
January 08, 2017
Islamabad
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has
expressed concern over slight increase in price of sugar in the domestic market
after allowing exports of 225,000 metric tons of the commodity and directed the
Ministry of Commerce to take all corrective measures.
The National Price Monitoring Committee
meeting held at Finance Division under the chairmanship of Senator Ishaq Dar,
Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and
Privatisation.
The minister directed Ministry of
Commerce to vigilantly monitor the prices and if there was any erratic
movement, take appropriate remedial action. With regard to prices of beef and
mutton, he directed the Ministry of National Food and Security to take all the
stakeholders on board and take corrective measures to curb smuggling. He advised
provincial governments to be more vigilant to control prices.
The meeting was attended by the
representatives from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhthunkhwa, Islamabad Capital
Territory, ministries of Industries, Law and Justice, Commerce, National Food
Security and Research, Cabinet, Planning, Development and Reforms,
Inter-Provincial Coordination, Statistics Division, Pakistan Bureau of
Statistics, Utility Stores Corporation and Federal Board of Revenue.
The meeting was informed that the
headline inflation measured by CPI increased by 3.7 percent in December 2016
compared to 3.8 percent of previous month and 3.2 percent of December last
year. On average during July-Dec FY 2017 it is recorded at 3.88 percent as
compared to 2.08 percent in corresponding period last year. On monthly basis
the CPI and food inflation remained lowest by -0.7 percent and -1.9 percent
since February 2015. The CPI is tamed down and in control. The other
inflationary indicators have also been contained.
The meeting noted continuous decline
of SPI since last week of November 2016. It recorded continuous six weekly
decline which has brought food inflation to 3.0 percent in December 2016
compared to 3.3 percent of previous month while non-food inflation remained at
same level of previous month at 4.2 percent, whereas core inflation increased
by 5.2 percent compared to 5.3 percent of previous months and SPI and WPI in
December 2016 recorded at 0.5 percent and 3.1 percent respectively, compared to
0.6 percent and 2.6 percent of previous month.
The Sensitive Price Indicator
(SPI) for the week ended on 5th January 2017 decreased by 0.12 percent. Out of
53 items, nine (09) items which recorded decrease in their prices are tomatoes
10.20 percent, potatoes 5.02 percent, chicken 4.63 percent, mash pulse 1.29
percent, onions 0.91 percent, garlic 0.87 percent, moong pulse 0.57 percent,
masoor pulse 0.06 percent and red chilly powdered 0.05 percent. The decrease in
prices of 09 items brought an impact of 0.26 percent in SPI decline. Sixteen
(16) items recorded increase in prices including sugar 1.64 percent, eggs 1.55
percent, bananas 1.51 percent, LPG 1.22 percent, rice Irri-6 0.61 percent, rice
basmati 0.47 percent, mutton 0.38 percent, wheat 0.17 percent, vegetable ghee
tin 0.13 percent, gram pulse 0.10 percent and wheat flour 0.08 percent. The
prices of twenty eight (28) items remained stable which shows that there is
overall price stability in the country.
The meeting noted the price
movement of essential items on month-on-month and year-on-year basis. It was
observed that prices of wheat, wheat flour, chicken, onion, tomatoes, cooking
oil, vegetable ghee, masoor pulse, moong pulse, mash pulse decreased in
December 2016 compared to corresponding month of last year. Prices of cooking
oil, vegetable ghee loose, vegetable ghee (tin), chicken, banana, tomatoes,
rice basmati, rice irri, and mustard oil are much lower than 2013 prices.
The meeting also noted the
increasing trend in prices of eggs, garlic, milk powder (NIDO), beef, mutton,
gram pulse. The minister expressed concerns over increasing trend of these food
commodities and directed the Ministry of National Food and Security and
Competition Commission of Pakistan to closely monitor the situation, control
the undeclared monopoly, take corrective measures and arrest any cartelisation,
particularly in milk and meat products as well as mitigate any expected rise in
prices of pulses. For gram pulse he directed Ministry of National Food and
Security and USC to carry out inter-ministerial consultations with all the
stakeholders in order to address any abnormal spike in prices.
The meeting also reviewed the
essential items’ prices in sasta bazaars and open markets and noted that the
prices were significantly lower in sasta bazaars as compared to open markets. The
minister urged that the people should benefit from these bazaars.
The meeting also noted the change
in prices of selected essential kitchen items in low and combined income group
during current week ending on 5th January 2017 compared to previous week and
corresponding week of the previous year. The meeting noted that in low and
combined income group, the price index declined by 0.29 and 0.24 basis points
respectively.
The meeting also reviewed the
regional price comparison of essential commodities among Islamabad, New Delhi
and Dhaka and observed that the prices of 9 items including wheat, wheat flour,
chicken farm, petrol, diesel, rice basmati, sugar, mash pulse and beef are
lowest in Pakistan as compared to New Delhi and Dhaka and second lowest in nine
items which include onions, masoor pulse, moong pulse, eggs, gram pulse,
vegetable ghee, milk fresh, red chili and tomatoes. The meeting noted that the
prices among the provinces are stable
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/177544-Dar-concerned-about-increase-in-sugar-price
Madhya Pradesh aims to raise pulse
output to help India reach self-sufficiency goal
Last Updated: January 8, 2017 | 15:13 IST
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked me to help achieve
his objective of making India self-reliant in pulses by raising production in
Madhya Pradesh," Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told Reuters in an
interview.
Madhya Pradesh, a top producer of pulses, could raise its output
of crops such as chickpeas, pigeon peas and black gram to 8 or 8.5 million
tonnes in the next three years from about 5 million tonnes now, Chouhan said.
Stung by spiralling prices for pulses, New Delhi last year
signed a long-term deal with Mozambique to import the commodities and has also
been looking to import pulses from Myanmar.Pulses, mostly consumed in curries,
are the primary source for protein, especially for the poor. Any spike in pulses
prices stokes anger against the government.
"We have started encouraging
farmers to grow more pulses by giving them a lot of help and support and expect
the trend to continue until we obviate our import requirements," Chouhan,
who flew to New Delhi from the state capital Bhopal, said.In the 2015/16 fiscal
year, India imported a record 5.8 million tonnes of pulses after domestic
prices more than doubled. Pulses production totalled 16.47 million tonnes,
lower than annual demand of 22 million tonnes, which is steadily rising due to
robust economic growth. Modi aims to make India self-reliant in pulses by 2020.
"The target of the state
government is definitely plausible. But it depends a lot on the amount of
rainfall the state is going to receive over the next few years," said
Pukaraj Chopra, a leading trader of pulses.
Under Chouhan's watch, wheat
output in Madhya Pradesh raced ahead of Punjab and Haryana, India's traditional
grain basket.
"Wheat production has
reached the optimum level, so we're not that keen to raise it further. Other
than pulses, we also aim to raise basmati rice production by doubling the area
under the crop," he said.Currently Madhya Pradesh produces about 500,000
tonnes of basmati rice. India and Pakistan exclusively grow the premium long-grain,
aromatic basmati, largely in the foothills of the Himalayas.New wells and a
focus on micro-irrigation have helped raise farm output in Madhya Pradesh,
Chouhan said. Madhya Pradesh has clocked an annual 18 percent farm growth
against a rather modest 4 percent at the national level.
http://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/agriculture/madhya-pradesh-aims-to-raise-pulse-output-to-help-india-reach-self-sufficiency-goal/story/243721.html
PhilRice, Irri
to craft PHL rice-farming plan
JANUARY 8, 2017
In Photo: The Philippine Rice
Research Institute is encouraging farmers to plant “climate-smart” rice
varieties to help them cope with the ill effects of changing weather
patterns.The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it would bank on the inputs of
the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) and the Philippine Rice
Research Institute (PhilRice) in crafting a national rice farming program.“The
government has plenty of work to do pertaining to rice. We would be very
dependent on Irri and PhilRice in terms of formulating our program,”
Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Operations Federico E. Laciste Jr. said in
a statement issued by Irri over the weekend.
Laciste, who is also the deputy
director of the Philippines’s National Rice Program, said collaboration
in developing a national strategy for rice farming is important to uplift the
lives of Filipino farmers.Irri said Laciste was briefed on the various
collaborative research projects implemented jointly by the research institute
and the PhilRice in support of the National Rice Program.The projects include
Rice Crop Manager, a web-based decision support tool for precision farming;
Philippine Rice Information System, a satellite-based rice forecasting and
monitoring system; and Green Super Rice (GSR), climate-smart varieties
developed under the Next Generation (NextGen) project.
For the country’s rice sector to
be competitive, farmers must produce at least 7 metric tons (MT) of rice per
hectare at P7 per kilogram, according to Irri, citing a benchmarking study of
an ongoing project it is conducting with the DA.
“This is already possible,” said
Dr. Jimmy Quilang, deputy executive director of PhilRice, adding that in one of
their agency’s project, called Palayabangan (rice and pride) challenge, one
farmer produced 10 MT of rice in a hectare at only P5 per kg.“With the
technologies that we have developed with Irri, we already have ways to really
make Filipino farmers more competitive,” Quilang added.
Earlier, Agriculture Secretary
Emmanuel F. Piñol said the DA will plant hybrid-rice seeds in 1 million
hectares of irrigated lands starting this year, in its bid to achieve rice
self-sufficiency by 2019.
Under the program, dubbed as
Masaganang Ani (MA) 6000 program, the government will identify 10 initial areas
with 1,000 hectares of irrigated land.
“The DA is positive that it can
be done. We are now in the process of finalizing the MA 6000 program, which
will initially target 1 million hectares of irrigated areas,” Piñol told
reporters.
“These areas will be supported
with hybrid-rice seeds, sufficient fertilizer, and efficient irrigation system
and mechanization,” he added.
The DA is eyeing to hike the
national average rice production to 6 MT per hectare from the current 3.9 MT
per hectare. Citing farmers’ testimonies, Piñol said they are able to produce
more than the national average yield by planting hybrid-rice seeds in areas
with proper irrigation system and efficient farm machines.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/philrice-irri-to-craft-phl-rice-farming-plan/
ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN RICE TO BE NEUTRALISED
8 January 2017, New Delhi, Ashis Biswas
Researchers in West Bengal have succeeded in
developing a new strain of rice capable of resisting arsenic contamination in
vast areas where the groundwater has been affected by chemical
poisoning.Researchers in West Bengal have succeeded in developing a new strain
of rice capable of resisting arsenic contamination in vast areas where the
groundwater has been affected by chemical poisoning.
According to Agriculture department sources,
scientists working on the project for over a decade have reported their findings
to the central Government, which asked for certain clarifications. Responses
have been sent. It is hoped that the centre will give its permission towards
the promotion of the arsenic–resistance strain of rice, to be called
‘Muktosree’, shortly.
Bangladesh authorities are already in touch
with officials in West Bengal to explore possibilities of introducing this
variety in their country. The person being credited with making this
breakthrough is Dr Bijan Adhikari, who has been carrying out his research in
the Chisurah Rice Research Centre in West Bengal and at Lucknow’s Botanical
Research Institute, for some years. Experts are hopeful that the use of the new
variety will bring major relief to agriculturists as well as common people in
most countries which have reported the presence of arsenic in their groundwater
resources. These include Australia, Chile, the US, China, Mexico, Peru,
Hungary, Thailand and Viet Nam.
In India, the problem first came to light in
1976, at a time when manually operated pumps and spring water were being used
in cultivation, along with tubewells. Later the problem of groundwater
contamination was also reported from parts of Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh as
well. In West Bengal, arsenic contamination was first reported in 1983. The
first survey showed that 22 villages in 5 districts were affected. However,
this turned out to be an underestimation. It was found that 3417 villages in
111 blocks were affected, shortly afterwards.
Latest studies put the figure of people
suffering from medical problems related to prolonged exposure to arsenic
poisoning to be around 50.4 million, or just over 50% of the state’s
population. No fewer than nine districts were affected. In neighbouring
Bangladesh, the same problem was noticed in a more virulent form, if anything.
Here, many provinces in the country had reported the problem and no fewer than
80 million people were found acutely vulnerable. The scale of the contamination
and the magnitude of the medical emergency made it clear that in the
Bangladesh/West Bengal belt, the problem of mass poisoning by arsenic
contamination of groundwater as well as in water used for irrigation, had
emerged as the world’s most critical medical challenge.
As experts point out, even the more celebrated
and better researched medical disasters like the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 or
the Chernobyl( in Ukraine) nuclear reactor explosion of 1996 , pale into
insignificance in terms of negative long term damage and impact. For a long
time it was suspected that uncontrolled use of groundwater resources, causing a
continual fall in the water table, was the prime cause of sub soil arsenic
coming in touch with the groundwater and mixing with it.
While symptoms of arsenic poisoning among
persons affected began with skin sores that seemed incurable, the problems
mounted exponentially in the absence of an agreed systematic, sustained
treatment. As large scale areas were affected in both countries, the problem
became critical as the main rice crop grown in both countries was found to be
full of arsenic! The permissible limit of arsenic in the human body is around
50 ppb( parts per billion). But in the West Bengal/Bangladesh areas, levels as high
as 150 to 200 were common in most places.
The results for consumers of local rice was a
rapid growth of cancerous tumours or infections on the skin eventually
affecting their lungs, liver , bladder and pancreas, bringing an early death
for most victims. Economic factors also played a role. It was seen that better
off people enjoying a more substantial and balanced diet in contrast to the
normal fare for the poor, tended to escape with only minor physical damage.
Medical research continued throughout the 1990s
to the present times. The United Nations and other agencies earmarked a $52
million special medical programme and assistance to Bangladesh. A interesting
way to reduce the extent of arsenic affliction was found by local and
international experts. Experiments in Bangladesh demonstrated that iron plaque
deposited at the roots of rice plants at irrigated fields through a chemical
process could significantly bring down the levels of arsenic traces or
presence. This phenomenon was most noticeable during the last month of the
4–month rice production cycle. Also, widespread floods caused by heavy monsoon
showers ,by washing away quantities of arsenic, could help the situation
improve.
On the other hand, the practice of resorting to
boring tubewells or even the random digging of ponds to store water, could
cause problems. In ponds. carbon settled at the bottom , steadily seeping
underground, where microbes metabolised it , resulting in a mobilisation of sub
soil arsenic into the soil. In rice, traces of both organic and inorganic
arsenic can be found. In India the contamination of the inorganic variety is
more common.
Mr Purnendu Bose, Minister for Agriculture,
appreciating the breakthrough, said the state Government would arrange to
provide farmers with the seeds of the special Muktosree strain of rice as soon
as the centre sent its approval. Eventually it could be sold in the open
market, he said. http://millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=351161
Sebree, Wells to be in Hall of Fame
Friday
Posted Jan 6, 2017 at 10:59 AM
Sebree began farming 53 years ago with his father and says that
farming has really never been a job to him. That is not to say it doesn't take
hard work, but it is work he enjoys.
By Dawn Teer / Stuttgart Daily Leader
Gary Sebree, a third generation
Arkansas County farmer, and Bobby R. Wells, a former Stuttgart-area scientist,
are set to be inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in
March.Sebree began farming 53 years ago with his father and says that farming has
really never been a job to him. That is not to say it doesn't take hard work,
but it is work he enjoys.
Over the years, Sebree has served
the rice industry by being the chairman of several committees and boards
including the Arkansas Rice Farmers, Producers Rice Mill Board of Directors,
Arkansas Rice Federation and the USA Rice Federation. He was also a member of
the USA Rice Producers Group (USRPG) Conservation committee. Sebree spent 43
years as a farmer representative on the Producers Rice Mill board of directors,
24 of those as chairman (1990-2014), a time of growth for Producers and the
Arkansas rice industry.
Producers Rice Mill, a
farmer-owned cooperative, grew from 956 members in 1971 when Sebree first
joined the board, to a high of 2,637 members in 2013. During that span, member
receipts increased more than tenfold from 6.2 million bushels in 1971 to 65.5
million bushels in 2011, while sales grew from $17.5 million in 1971 to a high
of $568.5 million. He was on the first Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion
Board (1979-86), chairman of the USA Rice Producers Group (2000-2002) and
chairman of the USA Rice Federation (2002-2004). He also was named Arkansas
Rice Farmer of the Year in 1998.
Sebree was recently awarded the
2016 Lifetime Achievement award at the USA Rice Outlook Conference held in
Memphis.
Wells was a world-renowned expert on rice production, with
special emphasis on rice nutrition and soil fertility. He was active in
cooperative interdisciplinary research in rice production and worked closely
with others in the rice cultivar improvement program in Arkansas and adjoining
states.
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After receiving his Ph.D. from
the University of Arkansas in 1964, he worked for two years as an assistant
professor at Murray State University in Kentucky. Wells then came to the
University of Arkansas Rice Research Station in Stuttgart, where he spent 16
years before moving to the Fayetteville campus in 1982.
Wells received the outstanding
faculty award for the University of Arkansas Department of Agronomy in 1981,
the Distinguished Rice Research and Education Award from the Rice Technical
Working Group in 1988 and the Outstanding Research Award from the Arkansas
Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists in 1992. Wells passed away on
Dec. 22, 1996.
In addition to Sebree and Wells,
Allen Beedle, of Hot Springs; former state senator Neely Cassidy, of Nashville;
and poultry company executive Mark Simmons, of Siloam Springs will be inducted
at the 29th annual luncheon, which begins at 11:30 a.m. on March 3 in Little
Rock at the Embassy Suites Hotel.
"What a great cross-section
of Arkansas agriculture to be selected for the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of
Fame," Butch Calhoun, of Des Arc, chairman of the Arkansas Agriculture
Hall of Fame committee and former Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture, said.
"The collective impact of these five are felt in every part of our
state."
Other locals who have been
inducted recently include Arkansas County Rep. David Hillman and former United
States Rep. Marion Berry
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/20170106/sebree-wells-to-be-in-hall-of-fame
