Monday, February 13, 2017

13th February,2017 daily global,regional and local rice e-newsletter by riceplus magazine

How to revive Pakistan-Japan relations

Present Japanese leadership must realise the unique features of these bilateral ties on the basis of which diplomats can find out solutions to the on-going frozen political, strategic, and economic ties
Description: http://dailytimes.com.pk/static/uploads/user-picture/dr-ahmad-rashid-malik-8896dbc6fd458a14df3c640ea1e41078.JPGDescription: How to revive Pakistan-Japan relations


11-Feb-17

NEWS
Pakistan and Japan have been facing a sorry tale of affairs lately. Their relations are no longer strong compared to the Indo-Japanese growing ties at the moment. Diplomats at both ends are puzzled as for how to revive the past ties between the two nations. They are now interested in the relationship and often argue to stimulate the past momentum.
They at both ends should know that they are captivated by the win-win ties of the past when both countries strongly needed each other. One was a supplier of raw cotton and jute, and the other as an industrialised nation to with supply technology and credit.
The international environment was in their favour. Both were lucky to have the United States in their favour to promote economic ties and geostrategic cohesion during the divide of the Cold War.
Perhaps it was the sin ofnone. Nowadays, the relations which thrived in the past, face turbulences and jolts. Who changed the policy? Are regional factors and bilateral interestsresponsible? Or is the coming of the new geostrategic balancedrove the two nations apart. How to improve ties between Pakistan and Japan now, is the biggest task in Pakistan’s Foreign Office and Japan’s Gaimusho.
It is assumed that several reasons had changed this relationship by the beginning of the 1990s - once the Soviets were defeated in Afghanistan in 1989. In the 1980s, it was Japan’s tactical and strategic move to assist Pakistan because the Soviet advancement in the warm-water sea via Afghan occupation could have jeopardised Japanese commercial interests in the Indian Ocean from where it used to import over 78percent of its oil requirements in 1978, just before the Soviet adventure in Afghanistan.
Earlier, ties between Pakistan and Japan turned lukewarm in the 1970s for a number of bilateral issues of which the separation of East Pakistan in 1971 caused much trouble between them because several of Japanese actions for East Pakistan displeased it including Japan’s early recognition of Bangladesh. The impact of this crisis on Pakistan-Japan bilateral relations was crucial, and no Japanese or Pakistani leader paid a visit to each other countries in the 1970s. Japan also cut off aid to Pakistan and stopped providing new loans to it.
History of relations between the two countries in the 1950s and 1960s was rather glorious. They were close partners in the development. Pakistan fully pleaded the case of a sovereign and industrialised Japan in all international fora and became the champion for the cause of the end of theAmerican occupation of Japan.
Among Asian countries that had signed the San Francisco Treaty, Pakistan loomed largely, whileIndia and many Asian countries opposed the treaty and much later signed bilateral peace treaties with Japan. Pakistan was one of the countries that also waived-off reparations claims for Japanese aggression during wars. All Asian countries received compensations and reparations from Japan amounting to US$ 1.5 billion, which was a serious burden on a weak Japanese economy at that time.
In 1952 and 1953, Pakistan donated rice (basmati kome) to Japan worth 60,000 tonnes to meet food shortage in Japan after the war. The donation of rice was gifted to His Majesty Showa Emperor Hirohito and the government and people of Japan. It was the first occasion after the war that a Japanese flag was raised on theforeign vessel - a Pakistan salute to Japanese nationalism during its isolation in world’s affairs.
Perhaps most of theJapanese diplomats do not remember this event. They should consult the Imperial Place Office’s archives to find out this truth. The Imperial Office contains such information and photographs of this truth. There are Pakistan-Japan ties. Let’s try to dig out a missing page in our splendid history.
Moreover, Pakistan offered a track of 5000 acres of farmland at the Ghulam Mohammad Barrage in Sindh to 4000 Japanese families of farmers who suffered from atomic razes at Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of war in 1945 to rehabilitate them in 1957.No other Asian country show such a kind gesture.
Even Europe and America did not showsuch a kind empathy. Therefore, the vitality of Pakistan-Japan relationship was emotionally ingrained in the cultural realities and cannotbe sidestepped because of the modem developments and changes.
Another revealing event is the first exchanges of the high-level visits. Prime Minister Hussain Shaheed Suharawardy was the first Asian head of Government who paid an official visit to Japan in 1957 after the war, paving the way for Prime Minister NobusakeKishi to visit Pakistan and other Asian countries next month. This made Japan’s return to Asia soured by wars. Is it an event that could be easily forgotten?
India has its own role in relations with Japan. India is a hugeconsumer market for Japan. Today, Japan supplies India with nuclear technology and builds its bullet trains. There is a close geostrategic partnership between the two nations.
This relationship, however, cannot be replaced by the diplomatic, political, and kind cultural gestures offered by Pakistani leadership to Japan in the past. Present Japanese leadership must realise the unique features of these bilateral tieson the basis of which diplomats can find out solutions to the on-going frozen political, strategic, and economic ties between Pakistan and Japan and bring it to new heights.

The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. He writes on China, Japan, Koreas, and East Asian affairs


Uncertainties in Transition: Lifting of rice QR to worsen Filipino farmers’ lot
 -
FEBRUARY 12, 2017
Description: http://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/business-mirror/uploads/2017/02/top01-021217-696x508.jpg
The lifting of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice may aggravate the displacement of Filipino farmers, since they would be discouraged to plant the staple with the entry of cheaper rice, according to local experts.
Former Labor Undersecretary and dean of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo said the entry of imported cheap rice in the country might force rice farmers to shift to planting other crops.
“The effect would not be immediate, but, the way I see it, there will be continuing labor erosion. You can imagine the displacement in the farming population. There would be a need for adjustment,” Ofreneo told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of a recent forum on QR on rice.
Ofreneo said even if rice farmers decide to shift to planting high-value crops (HVCs), such an alternative wouldn’t be an assurance that they would stay in the agriculture sector, as they could face problems in terms of planting technicalities.
“The shift from rice farming to HVC is not that easy. It will take time. How do you shift overnight, especially if your areas and systems are meant for planting rice [and not for other crops]?” Ofreneo said.
“You have a lot to consider as a farmer: First, the water infrastructure; second, do you own the land; third, do you have the know-how [in farming HVCs] and use of related planting technologies; fourth, do you have the capital?” Ofreneo added.
He said the government should have a comprehensive program that would help farmers in the post-QR regime should there really be an influx of imported rice in the country.
‘Slow-motion crisis’
“The agriculture [sector] has been sacrificed all along. The sector now is less than 10 percent of the gross domestic product. The intensification of displacement will be slowly felt during the post-QR regime,” he warned.
“The farmers would lose income by the time they harvest due to cheap rice. It’s a slow-motion crisis, if you look at the past 15 years, the contribution of agriculture in the economy has greatly shrunk,” Ofreneo pointed out.
The labor expert recommended that the government lay down programs that would promote and boost research and development in the farm sector, particularly cultivating good plant varieties. Ofreneo added that the government should also look at the agricultural credit woes that hurdle farmers to borrow capital from banks.
“What will happen here during the post-QR, there would be a widespread  contract growing in the country, especially in Mindanao,” he said.
“What’s important here is to build up your community and have a new production culture,” he said.
Repeat of 2008 crisis
For his part, UP Los Baños Crop Science professor Dr. Teodoro Mendoza of the Integrated Rural Development Foundation, a non-governmental organization, said there is a possible repeat of the 2008 rice crisis, when rice price in the global market shot up to more than $1,000 per metric ton (MT), could happen again after the removal of QR on rice.
“It’s a very big possibility because of the decrease in our rice production and the increased volume of our imports. In 2008, when we imported so much rice amounting to more than 2 million MT, it caused an imbalance in the global price. From the usual $500 per MT, it became $1,100 per MT,” Mendoza said.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier warned that the lifting of the QR on rice would discourage farmers from planting the staple and widen the country’s rice-supply shortfall in 2018.
Tight supply
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the Philippines would also be hard-pressed to beef up its stocks by importing rice in 2018 due to the projected tightness in global rice supply. Manila imports an average of 1 MMT of rice annually to boost its stocks, especially during the lean months.
The government has abandoned plans to ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to extend the QR on rice due to lack of time, Piñol said a recent news briefing in Malacañang.
Piñol added this was the result of the discussions in the recent Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) meeting. The CTRM is cochaired by the secretaries of trade and socioeconomic planning.
“In the last meeting of the CTRM, the consensus was against [DA’s position]. The QR will expire and the government cannot do anything about it,” he said.
‘Saving grace’
The DA chief noted that the country’s application for the QR extension was processed over a period of two years. To date, the Philippines is the only country in the world that continues to implement rice-import caps.
Piñol said the “saving grace” for the Philippines would be Republic Act (RA) 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, which has not yet been amended by Congress. RA 8178 needs to be amended to allow the Philippines to replace the QR—a nontariff barrier—with a specific duty.
According to the WTO General Council Ruling in 2014, the Philippines should subject rice imports to ordinary customs duties right after the waiver for special treatment for rice, which allowed the country to continue its QR on rice, expires on June 30 this year.
Earlier, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said it is no longer possible to amend RA 8178 before June 30. Neda Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla said the agency has already prepared a draft bill, but it has yet to be subjected to consultations.
Earlier, an official of the Neda told the BusinessMirror that the agency would recommend to the President a tariff ranging from 40 percent to 50 percent once the country converts the rice-import quota into tariffs.
The QR, a nontariff barrier, has allowed Manila to limit the volume of imported rice that will enter the Philippine market. Under the QR scheme, rice imports within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 805,200 MT  per year are slapped with a lower tariff of 40 percent, while imports in excess of the MAV are slapped a higher tariff of 50 percent.
The Neda and some economists have pushed for the removal of the rice QR to make the staple more affordable to the poor
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/uncertainties-in-transition-lifting-of-rice-qr-to-worsen-filipino-farmers-lot/

State intervention yields positive rice import trend

Sunday, February 12, 2017
Rice production at Dreketi, Macuata in the Northern Division. Picture: FT ONLINE
Description: Rice production at Dreketi, Macuata in the Northern Division. Picture: FT ONLINEUpdate: 5:19PM THE positive trend and turn-around in Fiji's rice import level is a result of the various interventions by Government to boost local production.
Minister for Agriculture Inia Seruiratu highlighted this in Parliament last week while responding to questions from the Opposition last week, saying one such initiative was the premium paddy rice offered by Rewa Rice Ltd, which attracted a lot of rice farmers. 
"This is very much critical in the value chain because they process the paddy that farmers produce," Mr Seruiratu said. 
"That price is very attractive to the farmers who now want to plant more so they can have more in terms of their income.
"The price has to be attractive to the farmers but we are still discussing this with the farmers because they want the grading system to be taken around."Mr Seruiratu added other initiatives included subsidising farm machineries, which assisted farmers in reducing their production costs.
Fiji's annual rice imports have remained at $40million, equivalent to 50,000 tonnes of the commodity, during the past few years
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=389070

Common method of cooking rice can leave traces of arsenic in food'

Description: 'Common method of cooking rice can leave traces of arsenic in food'



12-Feb-17
 OP NEWS
Ministry of Planning and WAPDA not interested in environmental assessment of project

Description: Ministry of Planning and WAPDA not interested in environmental assessment of projectMillions of people could be putting themselves at risk by cooking their rice incorrectly, scientists have warned.Recent experiments show a common method of cooking rice - simply boiling it in a pan until the water has steamed out - can be insufficient in preventing exposure to traces of the poison arsenic, which contaminates rice while it is growing as a result of industrial toxins and pesticides.The chemical has been linked to a range of health problems including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, as well as development problems.
While it is generally believed traces of arsenic are expelled when the rice is cooked, it has now been claimed this only takes place adequately when the rice is soaked overnight.Andy Meharg, professor of biological sciences at Queens University Belfast, tested three ways of cooking rice for the BBC programme 'Trust Me, I'm a Doctor', to see whether it altered the levels of arsenic.
In the first method, Professor Meharg used a ratio of two parts water to one part rice, where the water was "steamed out" during cooking - a method commonly used. He found this left most of the arsenic present.
The safest method of cooking rice is therefore to soak it overnight, then wash and rinse it until the water is clear, before draining it well and boiling in a saucepan, with a ratio of five parts water to one part rice.
According to 2014 research from Channel 4's Dispatches and the Institute for Global Food Security, around 58 per cent of rice-based products in the United Kingdom contained high levels of arsenic. However, new legal limits were introduced last year by the European Union (EU) in response to safety concerns.
Separately, a new research has find that increasing fruit and vegetable consumption may improve psychological well-being in as little as 2 weeks.
Study leader Dr Tamlin Conner of the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and colleagues found that young adults who were given extra fruits and vegetables each day for 14 days ate more of the produce and experienced a boost in motivation and vitality.The researchers recently reported their findings in the journal PLOS One.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, adults should aim to consume around two cups of fruits and around two to three cups of vegetables daily.One cup of fruits is the equivalent to half a grapefruit or a large orange, and one cup of vegetables is proportionate to one large red pepper or a large, baked sweet potato.
As part of a healthful diet, fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.
In recent years, studies have suggested that fruit and vegetable intake may also improve mental health. For their study, Dr Conner and team set out to investigate this association further
http://dailytimes.com.pk/punjab/12-Feb-17/common-method-of-cooking-rice-can-leave-traces-of-arsenic-in-food
Description: Filipiniana interiors of Hapag Vicentico’s main branch in Cabanatuan City —PHOTOS BY ROMY HOMILLADA
Filipiniana interiors of Hapag Vicentico’s main branch in Cabanatuan City —PHOTOS BY ROMY HOMILLADA
Hapag Vicentico’s also has a branch in SM Cabanatuan—which in itself was a big surprise because the mall looks as snazzy and posh as the upscale malls in Manila.Uniqlo, Starbucks and other popular foreign brands are present in SM Cabanatuan.
Leticia Breads & Cakes looked interesting, and one couldn’t resist bingeing on the Mini-Round Toasted Breads, bite-size butter-creamy toasts. There are brownies, cheese breads and other tasty treats as well.
The cinemas in SM Cabanatuan are likewise equipped with the latest 3D curved screens. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was showing at the mall’s 3D cinema.
Edna’s Cakeland offers good coffee, breakfast and desserts. The bakeshop’s neat interiors and overall contemporary look resembles a high-end coffee shop. On the menu are tasty chicken sandwiches, cheese rolls, yema cake and mango bars.
The best thing to do after a hearty breakfast is to tour the city including the Old Provincial Capitol, a World War II historical site. The building, designed by famed architect William E. Parsons, resembles many American-period buildings in Manila and Cebu.
Taking the Pangatian Shrine Tour leads you to the spot that marks the end of the Death March.
It also commemorates the legendary Great Raid, which was recently depicted in the film of the same title.
After learning about Nueva Ecija’s place in history, you get hungry again and feel glad that there’s SM Megacenter, the second of Cabanatuan’s two SM malls where traditional Pinoy cuisine is served at Joey’s, more sweets at an Edna’s Cakeland branch, and pork ribs, buffalo wings and Cheesy Baked Penne at NYORK Café.
Description: Facade of NYORK Café in Cabanatuan City
Facade of NYORK Café in Cabanatuan City
Description: Emelita Bales, owner of Hillocks Coffeeshop and Restaurant
Emelita Bales, owner of Hillocks Coffeeshop and Restaurant
Pantabangan Dam
You can’t say you’ve been to Nueva Ecija without having seen the Pantabangan Dam, an emerging tourist destination.
The multipurpose dam provides water for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation while its reservoir, Pantabangan Lake, helps in flood control.
The reservoir is considered one of the largest in Southeast Asia and also one of the cleanest in the Philippines.
Construction on the dam began in 1971 and was completed in 1977.
The dam is also the gateway to Baler, Aurora.
On the way to the dam, one can stop by for lunch at Hillocks Coffeeshop and Restaurant. On a cool day, the weather much like Baguio, Hillocks can whet the appetite. The longganisa was particularly good, while the coffee and hot chocolate were heartwarming.
Reaching the dam through the perilous one-way road, one could suddenly decide to continue the journey all the way to Aurora, and reach the storied town of Baler.
The winding mountain paths are filled with blind corners, sharp turns and thick mists, so it’s best to drive in the daytime. —CONTRIBUTED

Climate-ready varieties of rice can help provide additional resilience to farmers, expert says
Feb 11, 2017, 10.04 PM IST
CHENNAI: The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has 'climate-ready varieties' of rice that can help provide additional resilience to the farmers, according to Matthew Morell, director general of the IRRI, Los Banos in the Philippines."The climate-ready varieties could face adverse conditions of stress such as salinity, drought, flooding and heat," said Morell, while delivering the millennium lecture at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation on Friday.

IRRI has more than 127,000 accessions of wild rice in its gene-bank but only 5% of them have been used for breeding, he said.
Description: (Representative image)
Referring to rice as the 'engine of food security', he said it feeds four billion people and supports over 144 million farm families across the world and will continue to be important in the future as well.Morell said it was important to focus on disadvantaged areas where it is a challenge to increase yields and improve farmers' livelihoods. "The world needs collaborative efforts between institutions in rice research education," he said.


Speaking on the occasion, M S Swaminathan referred to the central government's announcement that it would double farmers' income in five years."Apart from productivity and sustainability small and marginal land holding farmers can greatly benefit from using every part of rice biomass in farming practices. The MSSRF has set up a Rice Bio Park in Myanmar that will help utilise every part of the plant", he said

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/climate-ready-varieties-of-rice-can-help-provide-additional-resilience-to-farmers-expert-says/articleshow/57101278.cms

Description: http://static.dailymirror.lk/media/images/image_1486869526-242fb6344f.jpgFive firms in Myanmar to export rice to Sri Lanka

2017-02-12 08:46:34

     
Five companies have won contracts for the export of 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka by June, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation.Commerce minister Dr Than Myint held talks with a delegation led by the Sri Lanka ambassador to Myanmar, KWND Karunaratne, at his office in Nay Pyi Taw on January 23 and signed a memorandum of understanding on rice exports.An MRF official said: “We invited companies to submit bids for rice exports to Sri Lanka. Only 10 companies applied. Of them, we have selected five companies.”
Sri Lanka’s rice production has declined by about 200,000 tonnes after a drought last year. Sri Lanka is reducing rising rice prices and the control of rice millers by reducing import tariffs.Since April, Myanmar has exported 1.15 million tonnes of rice and broken rice, down nearly 150,000 tonnes from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.With more countries offering to buy rice from Myanmar, exports are expected to reach last year’s level, said Khin Maung Lwin, assistant permanent secretary of the ministry.
In 2015-16, the country exported 1.5 million tonnes of rice.(ElevenMyanmar)
- See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Five-firms-in-Myanmar-to-export-rice-to-Sri-Lanka-123683.html#sthash.0bUQkahi.dpuf


http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Five-firms-in-Myanmar-to-export-rice-to-Sri-Lanka-123683.html

Poor response from listed millers slows rice procurement drive in Sylhet div
Our Correspondent
 SYLHET, Feb 11: The rice procurement drive is going on in Sylhet division slowly due to poor response from the suppliers. Higher market rate than the price the government is offering is another main reason for the sluggish movement.Earlier, the Food Department set a target to procure 16,420 tonnes of rice, 15,000 tonnes of Atap (non-boiled) and 1,420 tonnes of boiled, from the four districts this season.

However, considering the market position and poor response from the listed millers, it was reduced later to 1,218 tonnes of boiled and 8,177 tonnes of non-boiled rice, an official informed.
Contracts had been signed with the listed millers for supplying at 44 purchasing centres in the division, the official added.  Tk 32 is being paid for Atap and Tk 33 for per kg boiled rice.Only about 300 tonnes of rice were procured in five weeks from December, 1 in Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj districts.
The revised target includes 3,361 tonnes of Atap and 291 tonnes of boiled rice to be collected from Sylhet, 825 tonnes of Atap and 247 tonnes of boiled rice from Moulvibazar. 2,718 tonnes of Atap and only 24 tonnes of boiled rice would be procured from Sunamganj and the procurement target for Habiganj is 1273 tonnes of Atap and 684 tonnes of boiled rice. Regional Controller of Food, Sylhet Division, Md Anisuzzaman said the department had contracted over 200 millers to supply the rice. They would have to supply the quantity by March 15.
"We are hopeful of getting a good response, as the yield was good due to favourable weather", he added.The procurement drive was failed in the last year's Boro season due to short supply after repeated flash floods, lack of initiatives by the rice mill owners, absence of marketable surplus of rice or paddy, officials added.However, some traders said, it is hard to supply rice to the government godowns since the market price is comparatively up this time.
    iqbal1527@hotmail.com
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/02/11/61587/Poor-response-from-listed-millers-slows-rice-procurement-drive-in-Sylhet-div




Phou Puy, CEO of Thaneakea Srov, the firm behind the Cambodia Rice Bank, speaks at his office last week in Battambang province. Heng Chivoan

Rice finds space for growth

Mon, 13 February 2017
Description: Phou Puy, CEO of Thaneakea Srov, the firm behind the Cambodia Rice Bank, speaks at his office last week in Battambang province. Just over two years since Thaneakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc launched the Cambodia Rice Bank, the Kingdom’s first private large-scale rice storage facility aimed at centralising rice paddy harvested in Battambang province, the company has won a new $15 million government-backed loan to build a new facility. The Post’s Cheng Sokhorng sat down with the company’s CEO, Phou Puy, to discuss the importance of having a centralised storage depot to help alleviate a struggling sector mired by logistical hurdles.
How did Thaneakea Srov win the bid for the $15 million loan from the Rural Development Bank (RDB) and what is its importance of expanding the facility? 
We received approval for the budget package by the RDB because we followed government policy and they saw that expanding the storage facility would help address a lot of the challenges the rice industry faces.
The main criteria for winning the bid were that we needed at least 10 hectares to develop storage and drying facilities, had experience in operating a large facility and had formed good relationships with farming cooperatives in handling their export volumes. While we have yet to receive the $15 million and don’t know when we can withdraw the money and at what interest rate it needs to be paid back at, we are 80 percent ready to build a 200,000-tonne silo with an attached mill.
What will the facility’s capacity be and when will it be ready?
The silo and mill are expected to be operational by 2018. The mill will be capable of processing 3,000 tonnes of paddy rice a day.
How will this new facility expand the rice bank’s current storage capacity?
Right now we can store 40,000 tonnes of wet paddy rice and mill 850 tonnes of rice per day with a 5,000-tonne facility for processed rice. This is the largest capacity for any rice mill in Cambodia, but it still does not meet the demands of the industry. So the new facility will give more options for rice millers, allowing them to place paddy for storage as collateral to withdraw money, while they can also rent storage space for drying.
This should help relieve some of the constraints on farmers and millers who lack capacity for drying, which has caused prices to stall because they have to sell to brokers in neighbouring countries at much lower value. It will help small farmers and medium-sized millers the most because it should help guarantee paddy rice prices and help promote sustainable contract farming. We aim for our storage facility to be used by contract farmers in the provinces of Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Pursat.
Why have millers who called for emergency loans not used the funds the government made available through the RDB? 
Some millers have already accessed the $27 million in loans to buy paddy from farmers, but a lot have not been able to apply for loans because they have not had the storage facilities to qualify. Because the rice loans are linked to storage collateral, they have been really slow to be used, because everybody has the same constraints.
Still though, I believe this is the right government policy and we will see more loan disbursement in the next two months. The government has a role to play in making sure the industry survives, especially as production capacity increases every year.
Does the current model of small shareholder farming still work, or does Cambodia need to adopt giant super-farms like what Thailand is planning?
Transforming our current small shareholder model of farming to large-scale industrial farming is impossible right now because our economic development is limited. Currently, the majority of our farmers plant on less than 1 hectare while others have up to 10 hectares. It is difficult to plant more than this because farmers lack irrigation technology and access to water. If we could increase irrigation by 50 to 60 percent, we could see large-scale operations by investors like what we see in Thailand and Vietnam.While we are not close to those countries’ capabilities, we are on our way and in the future it could happen with the unified support of farming cooperatives.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.


Commitment to reduce rice imports

Filipe Naigulevu
Monday, February 13, 2017
Rice farmer in the Northern Division.Agriculture Minister Inia Seruiratu says rice imports started to drop with the several initiatives and assistance put in place to strengthen local rice production in a bid to reduce rice imports
GOVERNMENT remains commited to revitalise the local rice industry in order to reduce Fiji's rice import level.
Description: Rice farmer in the Northern Division.Agriculture Minister Inia Seruiratu says rice imports started to drop with the several initiatives and assistance put in place to strengthen local rice production in a bid to reduce rice imports And Minister for Agriculture Inia Seruiratu has stated that our rice imports had started to drop with the several initiatives put in place to strengthen local rice production.Responding to questions from the Opposition in Parliament last week, Mr Seruiratu highlighted the initiatives that were put in place which assisted their stakeholders, most particularly rice farmers in Fiji.He said one such initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Public Enterprises through Rewa Rice Ltd assisted farmers in the processing of paddy rice."This is very much critical in the value chain because they process the paddy that farmers produce," he said.
Mr Seruiratu said the premium price for paddy rice, which ranged from $650 to $750 per tonne, was attractive to rice farmers."That price, when you compare it with other rice producing companies particularly in the Asia Pacific region, Fiji's price for paddy is among the highest in the region," he said."That price is very attractive to the farmers who now want to plant more so they can have more in terms of their income."The price has to be attractive to the farmers, but we are still discussing this with the farmers because they want the grading system to be taken around."
Mr Seruiratu, who officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Rewa Rice Ltd complex in Dreketi last month, said most farmers there were now adjusting and meeting the requirements, particularly because growth was essential.He said another initiative was the subsidised farm machineries which assisted farmers in reducing their production costs.Mr Seruiratu also said the free transportation of paddy by Rewa Rice Ltd was enjoyed by many rice farmers in certain rice-producing areas."We've also installed new electrical dryers because the rice mill in Dreketi, it's a 1970 technology. We are talking about dryers that are filled by kerosene that has been replaced and has assisted the farmers to get the moisture to the right level."Another added boost to farmers, Mr Seruiratu said, was the extended operating hours of Rewa Rice Ltd to facilitate paddy rice being transported from long distances.
He said the instant payment system where farmers were paid immediately was a welcomed move along with the free water given to rice farmers to assist with irrigation.
"We all know the history of Rewa Rice. It was struggling in terms of their cash flow, but with the new management and new board, they have had a positive turnaround as well so farmers are given a big incentive," he said.Mr Seruiratu also stressed that modernisation was critical, and because of this, Government sent farmers for training abroad to rice-growing regions such as Indonesia, China and Thailand.He further acknowledged the effort undertaken by all the stakeholders in reducing rice imports over the years."This shows and confirms the positive trend and turnaround as a result of the various interventions in the industry," Mr Seruiratu added