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Mindful Chef's healthy recipe of the week: nori wrapped salmon, ginger & spring onion rice

Each week, Myles and Giles, founders of healthy recipe box delivery service Mindful Chef, will be sharing an easy mid-week supper recipe exclusively for the Evening Standard

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We wrap our delicious sustainably sourced salmon in nori seaweed and bake it in the oven to intensify the flavour.

Served on a bed of fragrant ginger and spring onion rice with fresh sesame seeds, cucumber, grated carrot and a drizzle of tamari.

Recipe for two people, halve the ingredients for one person

503 calories • 47g carbs • 20g fat • 38g protein

Ingredients 

1 baby cucumber

200g carrot

250g steamed brown basmati rice

2 spring onions

2 tbsp tamari

2 tsp oil

2 tsp white sesame seeds

2 x 150g salmon fillet (skin off)

2 x nori sheets

4cm fresh ginger

Method


1. Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6.

2. To assemble the nori wrapped salmon; put the nori sheet on a flat surface, place the salmon fillet to one edge of the nori sheet, dampen your finger with a little cold water and lightly rub over the nori sheet to soften, roll up the salmon fillet (to resemble a sausage shape) then run a wet finger along one edge of the nori sheet to seal it.

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Tuck the loose ends underneath and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven for 12-13 mins until cooked through.

3. Peel and finely chop or grate the ginger. Thinly slice the spring onion. Heat a frying pan with 2 tsp oil on a medium heat then add the ginger and spring onion and cook for 1-2 mins, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tbsp cold water and the rice to the pan and cook for 5 mins until piping hot.

4. Peel and grate the carrot, leave to one side.

5. Dice the baby cucumber into small cubes then place into a bowl with half of the sesame seeds.

6. Spoon the rice into two warm bowls. Slice the salmon and place over the rice, then place the sesame cucumber and grated carrot alongside. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the carrot. Place the tamari in a small ramekin as a dipping sauce or, alternatively, pour over the entire dish.

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/wellness/nutrition-gut-health/nori-wrapped-salmon-ginger-spring-onion-rice-recipe-a4211376.html

 

 

Plant protection: The next blockbuster basmati

Breeding for resistance, rather than spraying pesticides, is the way ahead to secure a $ 5-billion export industry.

Written by Anju Agnihotri ChabaHarish Damodaran |Jalandhar, New Delhi |Updated: August 15, 2019 4:25:59 am

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Description: https://images.indianexpress.com/2018/04/punjab-farmer.jpg?w=105

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Farmer Davinder Singh at his basmati field in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. (Express photo by Anju Agnihotri Chaba)

Onkar Singh has been cultivating Pusa-1121 — the basmati variety that, till recently, accounted for nearly three-fourths of India’s exports of the aromatic rice ($ 4.71 billion in 2018-19) — since 2008.

This year, the 53-year-old from Majitha village in the same tehsil of Amritsar district, has slashed his Pusa-1121 acreage to two acres, from 10 acres in 2018. Simultaneously, his area under Pusa-1718, a new improved basmati bred by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi, has expanded five-fold to 10 acres.

“Pusa-1718 is essentially Pusa-1121, which they (scientists) have made more disease-resistant. You don’t need to spray any pesticides now. I tried it out first last year and got an average paddy yield of 23 quintals per acre, against 18-20 quintals from Pusa-1121. Also, the crop tillered better (more side stems produced from the initial parent shoot),” says Onkar, who grows the short-duration Pusa-1509 basmati variety on the remaining 33 acres of his total 45-acre holding.

Onkar Singh farms only basmati paddy, which has no assured government procurement at minimum support prices (MSP). “Pusa-1509 matures in just 115-120 days, from the date of nursery sowing to harvesting. I can transplant it from June 10 to June 25 and harvest between mid-September and early-October. It gives the flexibility, then, to plant matar (pea) in September and potato in October for harvesting by late-November/early-December. There is time to sow wheat, winter maize or ajwain (celery) even after that,” he explains.

Source: APEDA, Ministry of Commerce.

Pusa-1121 is a longer-duration basmati (140-145 days, seed to grain), mostly transplanted during June 10 to July-end for harvesting towards October-end and mid-November. It leaves scope only to sow wheat. “Yields, too, are lower than the 24-28 quintal/acre from Pusa-1509. The only advantage is price. Last year, I got Rs 3,600-4,000 per quintal for Pusa-1121, whereas Pusa-1509 paddy fetched Rs 2,600-3,000,” he adds.

This is where the new variety could make a difference.

“Pusa-1121 was susceptible to bacterial blight. We have basically made it resistant to the pathogen by introducing two genes Xa21 and xa13, derived from a wild rice species (Oryza longistaminata) and a traditional land race (BJ1), respectively. The resultant variety (Pusa-1718) also possesses a non-lodging habit from a strong culm (stem). It is, hence, less prone to falling and can withstand heavy rain or water-logging better than Pusa-1121,” A.K. Singh, head of IARI’s Division of Genetics, tells The Indian Express.

Davinder Singh (30), of Khabba Rajputan village in Tarn Taran district and tehsil, agrees. This farmer has dedicated 20 acres to Pusa-1718 in the current season, from last year’s two acres, while halving it from 40 acres to 20 acres for Pusa-1121.

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“I did it after seeing how the new variety stood tall, despite being submerged under water for a week after incessant rains in September 22-24. And my yield was 27 quintals/acre, compared to 18-19 quintals of Pusa-1121,” states Davinder, whose total 150-acre holding also includes 50 acres each under Pusa-1509 and non-basmati paddy varieties, and 10 acres of other crops (maize, vegetables and pulses).

Onkar and Davinder Singh are both bullish on Pusa-1718, which also matures 10 days earlier than Pusa-1121. “The traders are paying Rs 200-300/quintal lower for the new variety, just as they once tried to beat down the price of Pusa-1509. But the grain quality of Pusa-1121 and Pusa-1718 is just the same,” claims Onkar.

According to Davinder, the economics of basmati cultivation today is superior to non-basmati. A yield of 25 quintals/acre from Pusa-1509 and Pusa-1718, at an average Rs 3,000/quintal rate, gives more return than from non-basmati varieties even at a guaranteed MSP of Rs 1,835/quintal on 34-35 quintals/acre. Progressive farmers like him are able to harvest high yields through practices such as incorporating crop stubble into the soil (rather than burning) and applying farm yard manure, in addition to granular sulphur and other secondary nutrients.

Talwinder Singh of Nauli village in Jalandhar district/tehsil is growing Pusa-1718 on three of his nine acres this time. Amarjit Singh from Viram in Amritsar’s Majitha tehsil has, likewise, halved his Pusa-1121 area to five acres, while planting Pusa-1718 on five and Pusa-1509 on his balance 18 acres. Both have cited the same reasons — better disease resistance, less lodging-prone and more tillering ability.

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Description: https://images.indianexpress.com/2019/08/trump-xi-7.jpg?w=310

Farmers in Punjab have sown a total basmati area of 6.29 lakh hectares (lh) this kharif season, 1.92 lh more than last year, while bringing it down under non-basmati varieties from 26.66 lh to 22.91 lh. They have also stepped up cotton acreage from 2.67 lh to 3.91 lh. The reduced non-basmati area would mean less pressure on government procurement agencies. Within basmati, a significant switch from Pusa-1121 to Pusa-1718 has taken place. G.S. Bal, chief agricultural officer of Amritsar, estimates the new variety to cover 30-35% of the district’s basmati area of 1.39 lh this time.

Increased planting, of course, comes with price risk. Farmer realisations have been good in the last couple of years due to a rebound in basmati exports (see table). The value of shipments have marginally slipped during April-June ($ 1,255 million versus $ 1,285 million in the same quarter of 2018-19), with the payment problems in Iran adding to the uncertainty.

One way to protect the country’s export interests is by preserving basmati’s premium quality attributes — aroma, long kernel length, linear elongation on cooking and fluffiness — and minimising use of chemical pesticides. The Punjab government, last month, issued an advisory to farmers not to spray formulations of five insecticides (acephate, thiamethoxam, triazophos, buprofezin and carbofuran) and four fungicides (tricyclazole, thiophanate-methyl, carbendazim and propiconazole).

An alternative approach to pesticide application is to “breed for disease resistance”. This is what IARI scientists have sought to do through transfer of specific disease-resistance genes, from landrace cultivars and wild relatives of paddy, into existing high-yielding basmati varieties. Pusa-1718 is a result of such marker-assisted backcross breeding, which helps avoid use of streptomycin or tetracycline combinations to control bacterial blight.

A similar variety Pusa-1637 has been bred by incorporating a ‘Pi9’ gene, sourced from Oryza minuta (a wild relative of the normal cultivated Oryza sativa paddy), into the popular Pusa Basmati-1. This gene provides high-to-moderate resistance against leaf and neck blast, obviating the need to spray fungicides such as tricyclazole, azoxystrobin and picoxystrobin.

Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association, feels Pusa-1718 is a “good variety”. But he emphasises that farmers should not put all their eggs in a single variety, while advocating tough action against companies aggressively marketing pesticides. So long as an insect’s population is below the “economic threshold level” — at which the value of the crop destroyed exceeds the cost of controlling the pest — there is no need to spray at all, he points out

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/plant-protection-the-next-blockbuster-basmati-crop-5906430/

 

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Millers to supply rice at reduced price to TTD

Description: https://th.thgim.com/static/theme/default/base/img/author-deafault.pngSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUMALA, AUGUST 18, 2019 00:53 IST

UPDATED: AUGUST 18, 2019 00:53 IST

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Move will help the administration save ₹60 lakh in three months

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Special Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy managed to prevail upon rice millers to supply fine quality of rice to the temple at a reduced price.

At a meeting with leaders of several rice miller associations on Saturday, Mr. Dharma Reddy successfully persuaded them to supply rice at ₹37 per kg, as against the existing price of ₹38, for a period of three months.

The reduction in price of ₹1 per kg of rice is expected to help the TTD save an amount of about ₹60 lakh in the three-month period.

The rice supplied by the millers is used by TTD in the making of anna prasadams at the hill temple as well as in the cooking of free meals under its Nitya Annadanam scheme. About 1,60,000 pilgrims are fed under the scheme, for which the monthly requirement of rice is 750 tonnes.

This apart, about six to eight tonnes of vegetables are required by TTD to meet its daily requirements in the Annadanam scheme.

Detailing the merits of the scheme, Mr. Dharma Reddy urged the millers to supply some quantity of rice free of cost to which they readily agreed and assured him a supply of 275 quintals of rice as a goodwill gesture.

Goodwill gesture

Chairman and General Secretary of All India Rice Millers Association Gummadi Venkateswara Rao and Mohan Rao said that they would discuss the issue of supplying some free rice to TTD on a regular basis with the leaders of various district associations and contribute their bit for the flourishing of the Nitya Annadanam scheme.

He later held a meeting with potu workers at the Vaibhavotsava mandapam and assured to resolve their problems in a phased manner.

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12 August 2019  Last Updated at 11:56 am | Source: IANS

Erosion of Doon Valley''s pride: Basmati rice

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Erosion of Doon Valley''s pride: Basmati rice

Dehradun, Aug 12 (/ 101Reporters) Rice trader Ummed Bora, a resident of Dudhli Ghat in Uttarakhand here, has just started sowing seeds for the Kasturi rice crop, an aromatic variety of rice. While there was hardly any rain during June, steady rainfall in the second week of July has given respite to the farmers in the region.

July is when seeds of Kharif crops are sowed. Bora has also planted a Type-3 paddy crop, which is popularly known as Basmati rice. Known for its aroma, Doon Basmati is slowly losing its place in markets all over the world owing to the increasing urbanisation, pollution and lack of support from the government.

Vinod Bora, a resident of Dehradun, claimed that at one point the fragrance of the crop used to envelop the whole area. When Basmati rice would be prepared, the aroma would reach the adjoining houses as well, he reminiscenced.

While Basmati is still being grown in the area, he mentioned, the area under cultivation and the income generated from the crop have shrunk.

Even other types of Basmati rice -- Haridwar-Saharanpur -- is sold as Doon Basmati rice, he claimed.

Whether it is Dudhli Ghat or Majra, the vast farms growing Basmati rice have transformed into residential complexes and flats. Bora claimed that farmers don''t get proper compensation for their crops, but they get good prices for the land.

The farmers are attracted by the profits the selling of their land garners, asserted Ummed. He said that after selling their land, they move to the towns for a job or child''s education, leaving their farms behind.

In 2017, Bora revealed that he used to export a consignment of Basmati rice worth Rs 1.5 crore to Germany. The next year it came down to Rs 50 lakh. The expected yield this year is only Rs 20-22 lakh.

Chaman Lal, a farmer, said the Basmati rice crop is very fragile and cannot withstand heavy winds. Rains are always playing havoc and it rains at a time when it affects the crop, he claimed.

He also blamed the Suswa river for the low yield. There used to be a time when the water from the river could be consumed without giving it much thought, but now it is unfit for consumption, even for animals, he added.

As a testament to the rising pollution, he informed, the water has also turned black and is being circulated to the farms in Dudhli Ghat through canals for irrigation. The water brings garbage and medical waste to the farms, resulting in the low yield.

The contaminated water from Suswa river has affected the aroma, for which it used to be famous, stated Surya Prakash, another farmer. "The river whose water we used to drink out of our cupped hands has turned into sewer.

"Nature has changed, the weather has changed, rain patterns have changed and thus, the scent of the Doon Basmati has also vanished," he said.

S.S. Rasaily, Member Secretary of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board, informed that a study has been sanctioned to find the reasons behind the decreasing yield of Doon Basmati rice and the report was expected within a few months.

He informed that there was no provision for the storage of Basmati rice seeds and farmers take turns for storage and preparation of the seeds. While this ensures quality control, there is no way for someone to procure the seeds from the market, he stated.

Rasaily said there is no record of how much the yield was 10 years ago, and thus there is no way to find out how much it has declined. He said even the Agriculture Department has no record of the trade.

The Biodiversity Board member even alleged that the Agriculture Department has not been taking any step to save the Doon Basmati.

Vinod Bhatt, a member of Navdanya -- an NGO focusing on agricultural issues -- and part of the study by Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board, said the area where the Basmati rice was being grown has reduced considerably in the last two decades.

Bhatt said the yield of varieties like Kasturi, Pusa, Basmati 1, Pant 4 has also dropped.

In addition, he said, rising temperature, declining fertility of the soil, shortage of water for irrigation, change in rain patterns and usage of chemical fertilizers have affected the taste and production of Doon Basmati.

At one point, the air around Dudhli Ghat and Majar used to be heavy with the fragrance of Basmati that rivalled sandalwood or flowers.

Doon Basmati, which had created a space for itself in the international market, is disappearing from the farms. Urbanisation, lack of awareness, water pollution and lack of support from the government has taken the crop to the verge of losing its place from plates across the globe.

--

 

Vietnam struggles to find new buyers as Chinese demand dwindles

FRI, AUG 16, 2019 - 9:57 AM

Description: BP_VietRice_160819_54.jpg

Export prices of rice from Vietnam fell this week as the country struggled to find new buyers amid waning demand from China, while a drought continued to squeeze supply in Thailand and a weak rupee weighed on rates for the Indian variety. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

[BENGALURU] Export prices of rice from Vietnam fell this week as the country struggled to find new buyers amid waning demand from China, while a drought continued to squeeze supply in Thailand and a weak rupee weighed on rates for the Indian variety.

Prices for Vietnam's 5 per cent broken rice fell to US$335-345 a tonne on Thursday from US$340-350 last week.

"Vietnam is struggling to find new markets to compensate for the sharp decline in shipments to China," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.

Exports to China in the first seven months of this year fell 65.7 per cent from the corresponding period last year, to 318,100 tonnes, Vietnamese customs data showed.

"We heard from Chinese importers that China's demand for rice remains high but the importers cannot buy from Vietnam because of new technical barriers the Chinese government has imposed," the trader said.

SEE ALSO: Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone

Vietnam's Ministry and Industry and Trade said on Wednesday it would organise several trade promotion trips this year to boost rice exports.

Meanwhile, Thailand's benchmark 5 per cent broken rice prices narrowed to US$415-425 a tonne on Thursday from US$406-425 last week, with traders attributing the relatively high prices to concerns over supply as the country grapples with its worst drought in a decade.

"Domestic prices are up due to fears over possible shortage of rice because of the drought," a Bangkok based trader said.

AFRICAN MARKET ACTIVE

Demand, however, remained relatively flat and the strong baht - Asia's best performing currency this year - has kept Thai prices higher than those of other Asian hubs.

"It's hard to find new buyers as the price will likely increase going forward due to the foreign exchange as well as domestic supply situation," another trader said.

Top exporter India saw prices of its 5 per cent broken parboiled variety ease to about US$374-377 per tonne from last week's US$377-381.

"Africa market is again active now," said Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India's rice business.

"Due to the currency depreciation in the last couple of days, prices have corrected."

India's rice exports in April-June dived 28.2 per cent from a year ago to 2.35 million tonnes, a government body said on Monday, due to subdued demand for non-basmati rice from Africa.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, traders demanded cash incentives for rice exports as the country has been unable to secure any deals since a long-standing ban was lifted in May.

"At present, we're not in a position to compete with India or Thailand for parboiled rice. It's almost impossible to export any rice unless the government provides at least 20 per cent cash subsidy on exports," a Dhaka-based trader said.

REUTERS

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/vietnam-struggles-to-find-new-buyers-as-chinese-demand-dwindles

 

Mishtann Foods Reports 22.1% Increase in Q1FY2020 PAT at INR 3.14 Crore


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Mishtann Foods 

14 Aug, 2019, 17:56 IST

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AHMEDABAD, IndiaAug. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Mishtann Foods Limited (MFL), one of the leading agro-product companies with primary focus on Basmati rice, has announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of FY 2020 ended on June 30, 2019.

For Q1 FY2020, MFL reported total revenue of INR 125.93 crore, as against total revenue of INR 130.00 crore reported in Q1 of FY2019 and INR 123.66 crore reported in Q4 FY2019. The company's net profit for Q1 FY 2020 at INR 3.14 crore was up by 22.1% y-o-y.

Ahmedabad-based, MFL is one of the fastest growing branded Basmati rice companies with strong established relationships with farmers, suppliers and customers. During Q1FY20, Basmati rice contributed 95.74% to the total revenue, followed by wheat and pulses contributing 2.29% and 1.97% respectively. MFL's Basmati rice sales volume stood at 14624 MT as against volume of 14704 MT achieved in Q1 FY19. The sales realisation for Basmati rice for Q1 FY20 was INR 82.43 per kg as against INR 88 per kg in Q1 FY 2019. The sales realisation for wheat for Q1 FY 2020 was INR 20.27 per kg as against INR 21.24 per kg in Q1 FY 2019. The sales realisation for pulses for Q1 FY 2020 was INR 48.78 per kg as against INR 65.27 per kg in Q1 FY 2019. The overall sales realisation for Q1 FY 2020 was INR 76.05 per kg as against INR 87.73 per kg in Q1 FY 2019.

Commenting on the financial performance, Mr. Hitesh Patel, Managing Director, Mishtann Foods Limited said, "We are happy to report robust profitability growth for Q1 FY20. We continue to focus on transforming our business, emerging as a growing global branded rice company. We are now pursuing strategies that involve greater differentiation and allow us to create sustainable value for all our stakeholders."

About Mishtann Foods Limited:

Mishtann Foods (BSE: 539594) is India's leading agro-product company with primary focus on Mishtann brand of Basmati rice. The company also has presence in wheat and pulses segment. MFL's 100,000 metric tonne per annum rice processing facility is strategically located at Himatnagar in Gujarat, in a close proximity to port giving the company cost advantage for the export market. Mishtann's wider portfolio of Basmati rice includes Raw, Sella and Steam that cater to wider customer segment in wholesale as well as retail. For more information, please visit www.mishtann.com

DISCLAIMER:

https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/mishtann-foods-reports-22-1-increase-in-q1fy2020-pat-at-inr-3-14-crore-857703994.html

 

Bank loans rose 12% YoY in two weeks to Aug 2: RBI

Bank deposits rose 939.60 billion rupees to 127.45 trillion rupees in the two weeks ended Aug 2.

Reuters|

Aug 16, 2019, 08.03 PM IST

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BENGALURU: Indian banks' loans rose 12.2% in the two weeks ended Aug 2 from a year earlier, while deposits jumped 10.1%, the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement showed on Friday.

Outstanding loans rose 711.3 billion rupees to 97.30 trillion rupees ($1.37 trillion) in the two weeks ended Aug 2.

Non-food credit surged 743.9 billion rupees to 96.67 trillion rupees, while food credit fell 32.50 billion rupees to 627.50 billion rupees.

Bank deposits rose 939.60 billion rupees to 127.45 trillion rupees in the two weeks ended Aug 2.

 

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/bank-loans-rose-12-yoy-in-two-weeks-to-aug-2-rbi/articleshow/70704220.cms

 

 

Plant protection: The next blockbuster basmati

Breeding for resistance, rather than spraying pesticides, is the way ahead to secure a $ 5-billion export industry.

Written by Anju Agnihotri ChabaHarish Damodaran |Jalandhar, New Delhi |Updated: August 15, 2019 4:25:59 am

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Farmer Davinder Singh at his basmati field in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. (Express photo by Anju Agnihotri Chaba)

Onkar Singh has been cultivating Pusa-1121 — the basmati variety that, till recently, accounted for nearly three-fourths of India’s exports of the aromatic rice ($ 4.71 billion in 2018-19) — since 2008.

This year, the 53-year-old from Majitha village in the same tehsil of Amritsar district, has slashed his Pusa-1121 acreage to two acres, from 10 acres in 2018. Simultaneously, his area under Pusa-1718, a new improved basmati bred by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi, has expanded five-fold to 10 acres.

“Pusa-1718 is essentially Pusa-1121, which they (scientists) have made more disease-resistant. You don’t need to spray any pesticides now. I tried it out first last year and got an average paddy yield of 23 quintals per acre, against 18-20 quintals from Pusa-1121. Also, the crop tillered better (more side stems produced from the initial parent shoot),” says Onkar, who grows the short-duration Pusa-1509 basmati variety on the remaining 33 acres of his total 45-acre holding.

Onkar Singh farms only basmati paddy, which has no assured government procurement at minimum support prices (MSP). “Pusa-1509 matures in just 115-120 days, from the date of nursery sowing to harvesting. I can transplant it from June 10 to June 25 and harvest between mid-September and early-October. It gives the flexibility, then, to plant matar (pea) in September and potato in October for harvesting by late-November/early-December. There is time to sow wheat, winter maize or ajwain (celery) even after that,” he explains.

Source: APEDA, Ministry of Commerce.

Pusa-1121 is a longer-duration basmati (140-145 days, seed to grain), mostly transplanted during June 10 to July-end for harvesting towards October-end and mid-November. It leaves scope only to sow wheat. “Yields, too, are lower than the 24-28 quintal/acre from Pusa-1509. The only advantage is price. Last year, I got Rs 3,600-4,000 per quintal for Pusa-1121, whereas Pusa-1509 paddy fetched Rs 2,600-3,000,” he adds.

This is where the new variety could make a difference.

“Pusa-1121 was susceptible to bacterial blight. We have basically made it resistant to the pathogen by introducing two genes Xa21 and xa13, derived from a wild rice species (Oryza longistaminata) and a traditional land race (BJ1), respectively. The resultant variety (Pusa-1718) also possesses a non-lodging habit from a strong culm (stem). It is, hence, less prone to falling and can withstand heavy rain or water-logging better than Pusa-1121,” A.K. Singh, head of IARI’s Division of Genetics, tells The Indian Express.

Davinder Singh (30), of Khabba Rajputan village in Tarn Taran district and tehsil, agrees. This farmer has dedicated 20 acres to Pusa-1718 in the current season, from last year’s two acres, while halving it from 40 acres to 20 acres for Pusa-1121.

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“I did it after seeing how the new variety stood tall, despite being submerged under water for a week after incessant rains in September 22-24. And my yield was 27 quintals/acre, compared to 18-19 quintals of Pusa-1121,” states Davinder, whose total 150-acre holding also includes 50 acres each under Pusa-1509 and non-basmati paddy varieties, and 10 acres of other crops (maize, vegetables and pulses).

Onkar and Davinder Singh are both bullish on Pusa-1718, which also matures 10 days earlier than Pusa-1121. “The traders are paying Rs 200-300/quintal lower for the new variety, just as they once tried to beat down the price of Pusa-1509. But the grain quality of Pusa-1121 and Pusa-1718 is just the same,” claims Onkar.

According to Davinder, the economics of basmati cultivation today is superior to non-basmati. A yield of 25 quintals/acre from Pusa-1509 and Pusa-1718, at an average Rs 3,000/quintal rate, gives more return than from non-basmati varieties even at a guaranteed MSP of Rs 1,835/quintal on 34-35 quintals/acre. Progressive farmers like him are able to harvest high yields through practices such as incorporating crop stubble into the soil (rather than burning) and applying farm yard manure, in addition to granular sulphur and other secondary nutrients.

Talwinder Singh of Nauli village in Jalandhar district/tehsil is growing Pusa-1718 on three of his nine acres this time. Amarjit Singh from Viram in Amritsar’s Majitha tehsil has, likewise, halved his Pusa-1121 area to five acres, while planting Pusa-1718 on five and Pusa-1509 on his balance 18 acres. Both have cited the same reasons — better disease resistance, less lodging-prone and more tillering ability.

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Description: https://images.indianexpress.com/2019/08/trump-xi-7.jpg?w=310

Farmers in Punjab have sown a total basmati area of 6.29 lakh hectares (lh) this kharif season, 1.92 lh more than last year, while bringing it down under non-basmati varieties from 26.66 lh to 22.91 lh. They have also stepped up cotton acreage from 2.67 lh to 3.91 lh. The reduced non-basmati area would mean less pressure on government procurement agencies. Within basmati, a significant switch from Pusa-1121 to Pusa-1718 has taken place. G.S. Bal, chief agricultural officer of Amritsar, estimates the new variety to cover 30-35% of the district’s basmati area of 1.39 lh this time.

Increased planting, of course, comes with price risk. Farmer realisations have been good in the last couple of years due to a rebound in basmati exports (see table). The value of shipments have marginally slipped during April-June ($ 1,255 million versus $ 1,285 million in the same quarter of 2018-19), with the payment problems in Iran adding to the uncertainty.

One way to protect the country’s export interests is by preserving basmati’s premium quality attributes — aroma, long kernel length, linear elongation on cooking and fluffiness — and minimising use of chemical pesticides. The Punjab government, last month, issued an advisory to farmers not to spray formulations of five insecticides (acephate, thiamethoxam, triazophos, buprofezin and carbofuran) and four fungicides (tricyclazole, thiophanate-methyl, carbendazim and propiconazole).

An alternative approach to pesticide application is to “breed for disease resistance”. This is what IARI scientists have sought to do through transfer of specific disease-resistance genes, from landrace cultivars and wild relatives of paddy, into existing high-yielding basmati varieties. Pusa-1718 is a result of such marker-assisted backcross breeding, which helps avoid use of streptomycin or tetracycline combinations to control bacterial blight.

A similar variety Pusa-1637 has been bred by incorporating a ‘Pi9’ gene, sourced from Oryza minuta (a wild relative of the normal cultivated Oryza sativa paddy), into the popular Pusa Basmati-1. This gene provides high-to-moderate resistance against leaf and neck blast, obviating the need to spray fungicides such as tricyclazole, azoxystrobin and picoxystrobin.

Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association, feels Pusa-1718 is a “good variety”. But he emphasises that farmers should not put all their eggs in a single variety, while advocating tough action against companies aggressively marketing pesticides. So long as an insect’s population is below the “economic threshold level” — at which the value of the crop destroyed exceeds the cost of controlling the pest — there is no need to spray at all, he points out.

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Business News of Thursday, 15 August 2019

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Dealing with food fraud: UCC School of Agric develops technology to detect fake rice

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Description: GM Rice  ParliamentFile: Rice producers are excited about the new move

The school of Agriculture at the University of Cape Coast has developed a technology that detects fake rice that is sold on the market.

The technology will among other things deal with fraud that is perpetrated in the production and sale of rice and also authenticate the integrity of food across Africa.

The researchers are upbeat the many fraudulent food-related activities that impede productivity and also have consequential effect on the health of consumers would be put in check courtesy the technology.

The university achieved this feat with the support of the Queen’s University in UK, a pioneer university that researches into food fraud and authenticity.

Lead researcher of the project, Dr. Ernest Teye, revealed after a conference on food fraud and authenticity at the University of Cape Coast, users of mobile phones could easily check the authenticity of the rice they are buying or are in their possession.

“With this technology, it is easier to detect where the rice was produced, whether the rice is a plastic rice or not. The technology makes it possible for each and every rice particle to be sampled and scanned,” he explained.

The market, he reveals is flooded with many substandard and low-quality rice and the technology, he is convinced will help assuage the fears of consumers.
“For instance, you will find Ghana rice packaged as rice from Vietnam and you could also find

Vietnam rice packaged as Ghana rice. These are done to deceive consumers of rice. There is also the emergence of plastic rice that caused a scare in the country few months back. The technology will help deal with them,” he indicated.

Queen’s University’s Prof. Chris Elliot, a stalwart in food fraud and authenticity, believes, the technology is a breakthrough not only for Ghana and Africa but for the world. He is confident the university’s work will help impact society positively.

“The technology works perfectly and that’s good news for rice consumers and consumers of other food stuffs as well. It behooves on state agencies to lend their support to the researchers to make huge impact with this technology,” he said.

Dean of the school of Agric, Prof. Elvis Asare Bediako is hopeful their collaboration with the Queen’s University will see to the establishment of Centre of Excellence for Food Fraud in
Africa.

“The awareness of food fraud is very limited in Ghana and Africa. This has given many people the opportunity to dupe unsuspecting consumers. The centre when established will help provide information and make people aware about food fraud and how to authenticate the food they are buying and the ones in their possession,” he indicated.

Prof. Asare Bediako says the School of Agric at UCC will liaise with the relevant state authorities like the Ghana Standards Authority, the Food and Drugs Authority and other national regulatory bodies that are responsible for assessing the quality and authenticity of food in the country.

Rice producers and other stakeholders in Agric that took part in the conference were expressed their excitement about the breakthrough. They believe it will help sanitize the industry.

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Dealing-with-food-fraud-UCC-School-of-Agric-develops-technology-to-detect-fake-rice-772324

 

 

Local FCCLA students take in national trip

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The GMR FCCLA students who attended the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Calif., held June 30-July 4, pose for a group photo. They are (L-R): Bella Burkel, Honna Westlund, Morgan Reed, Berlyn Burkel, Chance Christian, and Elizabeth Gust. Reed Christian, and Gust advanced to this national conference by virtue of their performances on their individual STAR Event projects at state.(photo by Mara Gust)

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Badger students Amelia Wilt and Ada Lee pose for a photo at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Calif. These two students earned gold at nationals for their video presentation about online catfishing. (photo by Gretchen Lee)

Last month, the first part of the story, “Local FCCLA students taking in national trip” was featured in The Tribune. The first part highlighted the Badger FCCLA students who were attending the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Calif., and the projects some of them did to advance to this national conference. Part two of this story highlights the Greenbush-Middle River (GMR) students who attended the national conference and the projects some of them did to also advance to this national stage. At the end, the awards and recognitions both chapters earned at this event will be provided.

At the Minnesota FCCLA State Conference, held on March 28-30, GMR FCCLA students Elizabeth Gust and Morgan Reed found out both had earned their way to the National FCCLA Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Calif., June 30-July 4. When asked about their reactions to this discover, they first mentioned how they both reacted upon finding out another one of their chapter team members had also advanced: Chance Christian.

“We both burst out in tears (when we heard Chance’s name). We were so happy for him,” Gust said.

They were excited for him, knowing how much this opportunity meant to him.

“Through the whole season, all he (Chance) talked about was, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to go to state. I can’t wait to go to nationals. I can’t wait to do this,’” Reed said. “And I was like, ‘Man, I’m just trying to get past regionals… He was planning the whole (national) trip before we were even going to state. So to actually hear his name get called, Chance is one of the hardest working people on our team. He works the hardest and he definitely cheers everybody else on.”

“It’s the biggest honor to go there (to nationals),” Christian said.

As the GMR FCCLA Advisor, Laura Dahl views her entire chapter’s achievements as even more special, given how much she has seen them put into their projects.

“I could not be more proud of our chapter as a whole. The dedication observed, the skills refined, and the success earned is so rewarding as an advisor,” Dahl said.

Besides the three national advancers, three other students, Berlyn Burkel, Honna Westlund, and Bella Burkel, also attended the FCCLA National Leadership Conference.The three students who did bring their STAR Event projects to the National Conference— Christian, Reed, and Gust– discussed them.

Competing in the topic area of “Entrepreneurship”, Christian did his project on the snow cone business he started during softball and summer baseball games. The first summer he did this business, he did “fairly well,” reeling in $500.

Participating in the topic area of “Food Innovations”, Reed did a project inspired by her sister, who has Celiac Disease, an “immune disease in which people can’t eat gluten because it will damage their small intestine,” according medlineplus.gov. With this inspiration, Reed created a gluten-free appetizer product: krispie pops– a small rice krispie ball on top of a stick. Putting these rice krispie balls on a stick allows for more decoration and customization, Reed said

“At first I decided to do brownies, but gluten-free brownies aren’t very good, and I realized I wasn’t an expert at making them,” Reed said. “And at the time my sister was living in Wyoming, so she couldn’t really help me, but then she moved back to Minnesota and she actually was making rice krispies one day, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s such a better idea.’” So we just took it and made it into rice krispie balls.”

She did add a little extra butter to her rice krispie treats to allow them to stay softer longer. These treats also have corn syrup in them versus malt syrup due to malt syrup having gluten in it. Despite the differences, her treats taste very much like the regular rice krispie bars, Reed explained.

Competing in the topic area of “Career Investigations”, Gust looks to be a musician and decided to look deeper into this career. She did research on this career path, including what one has to do during the high school and college years to reach a career in this field. As part of this project, she also interviewed her aunt Melanie Moos Wilson, a musician with a band in the Twin Cities.

Her presentation focused on both the work to get to a music career and her personal goals.

“To go to a good music conservatory college would be fun, like Juilliard or something,” Gust said. “But I mean if that doesn’t work out, there are lots of other colleges with good music programs, like even BSU (in) Bemidji.”
She also learned of the job opportunities a musician has out there and of a lesson that future musicians should follow.

“Take what you can get as a musician because getting jobs is pretty hard,” Gust said. “… You have to kind of stay true to yourself and keep working at it until you make it.”

Speaking of projects, Dahl talked about how she encourages her members to choose a project topic they have passion for.

“Once they do that, the research and putting their presentation (together) comes naturally,” Dahl said. “The success becomes their own.”

Local FCCLA National Results:

Out of the GMR Chapter, Chance Christian earned a gold, and Morgan Reed a bronze. Elizabeth Gust didn’t actually compete at nationals, but is still considered a national advancer. She would have presented if a finisher above her in her category would have not have been able to compete for some reason.

Out of the Badger Chapter, Ada Lee and Amelia Wit earned gold on their video project about online catfishing. Jordan Davy and Jordan Lee earned silver for their project about promoting and publicizing FCCLA. Kennedy Truscinski also earned silver for her project, “Tackle Breast Cancer for Mrs. Lee,” having organized a pink t-shirt fundraiser for her teacher and advisor Gretchen Lee, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Speaking of Gretchen Lee, she earned the Spirit of Advising Award at this year’s FCCLA National Leadership Conference.

To see the complete story, read the August 14 issue of The Tribune in print or online. To see part one of this story, highlighting the Badger FCCLA students who attended nationals, read the July 3 issue of The Tribune in print or online.

 

Talking without facts: Tax issue or government expenditures?

Dr. Farrukh Saleem discusses in-depth how Pakistan's economic structure is gradually deteriorating and what are the causes behind it. Is it a decline in tax collection or the government's uncontrollable spending?

Dr. Farrukh Saleem

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Dr. Farrukh Saleem |

In 1958, Field Marshall Mohammad Ayub Khan wanted to expand the tax net. In 1969, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan wanted to expand the tax net. In 1976, PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto tried to expand the tax net. In 1986, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq wanted to expand the tax net. In 1997, PM Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif wanted to expand the tax net. In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf tried to expand the tax net. In 2008, President Asif Ali Zardari wanted to expand the tax net. In 2016, PM Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif once again tried to expand the tax net.

Why have the best and the most powerful failed to expand the tax net?

1: According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), there are 101 million women in Pakistan. According to the World Bank, female labor participation (FLFP) hovers around 24 percent. Pakistan’s FLFP would mean that 77 million women are not employed. Surely, unemployed women cannot be expected to pay income tax.

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Why have the best and the most powerful failed to expand the tax net?

2: A few years ago, the Economic Survey revealed that “if the poverty line is $2 per day in line with international standards for middle-income countries, then 60.19 percent of the population fall below poverty line in Pakistan.” Lo and behold, 124 million Pakistanis earn Rs320 or below per day. Surely, 124 million Pakistanis earning Rs320 per day or below cannot be expected to pay income tax.

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Why have the best and the most powerful failed to expand the tax net?

3: Last year, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in a report titled ‘Unleashing the potential of a young Pakistan’, declared: “Pakistan has the largest percentage of young people ever recorded in its history.” The Report states: “64 percent of the total population is below the age of 30.” Lo and behold, 133 million Pakistanis are below the age of 30. How much do 30-year-olds make in Pakistan? Not much, I reckon. Surely, 133 million Pakistanis who are under 30 cannot be expected to pay income tax.

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Why have the best and the most powerful failed to expand the tax net?

4: A little more than 4 percent of our population is 65 or over. That’s 8 million who cannot really be expected to pay income tax.

Why have the best and the most powerful failed to expand the tax net?

5: According to the National Nutritional Survey, nearly 37 percent of us are ‘food insecure’. That’s 77 million Pakistanis who are ‘food insecure’. Can anyone in their right mind expect to collect income tax for them?

To be certain, there must be a few thousand Pakistanis who are not paying their fair share of income tax. Get them all and make them pay their due share of income tax. Yes, the government can probably raise an additional Rs50 billion. Lo and behold, the budgetary deficit is Rs3,200 billion. Surely, the issue is not ‘inadequate taxes.’ Surely, the issue is ‘excessive government spending’. Imagine; current government expenditures have gone up from Rs1.5 trillion in 2008-09 to a whopping Rs7.2 trillion.

Everyone who should be in the tax net must be brought into the tax net. But, doing this will not cure our disease. Doing this will not save the Titanic from sinking.

For the record, in 2008-09, taxpayers deposited Rs1.1 trillion as taxes into the government treasury. By 2018-19, tax revenues had actually gone up to Rs3.8 trillion; an increase of 336 percent. We really need to focus on who is filing the treasury and who is emptying it all out.

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Yes, the government continues to throw away a colossal Rs1.1 trillion into Public Sector Enterprises every year. Yes, the accumulated circular debt now exceeds Rs1.7 trillion. Yes, the government’s commodity operations have taken on Rs734 billion worth of debt (provincial food departments and other government procurement agencies routinely buy wheat and other commodities but are supposed to retire their debts). Yes, a good $2 billion worth of natural gas somehow ‘leaks’ out every year (in Pakistan ‘unaccounted for gas’, a euphemism for ‘stolen gas’ is as high as 20 percent against a global average of under 2 percent). Yes, the government will be paying around Rs1,000 billion this year in ‘capacity payments’ to power plants. Do you still think that the problem is inadequate taxes?

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Yes, every government over the past 4 decades has been talking about FBR reforms. Intriguingly, FBR employs some 21,000 employees but around 90 percent of tax revenues get deposited into the government treasury without any active direction of the FBR.

Did you know that Pakistan only has 1.3 million credit cards? This really is the potential tax pool-no more. Can anyone show me a country where the government’s current expenditures have gone up by 500 percent in just 10 years? This year, the government collected Rs3.8 trillion in taxes. Divide that by around 30 million Pakistani households and on average every household is paying Rs125,000 in taxes.

Read more: PTI forgot Tax lessons they preached to PML-N

Everyone who should be in the tax net must be brought into the tax net. But, doing this will not cure our disease. Doing this will not save the Titanic from sinking. Please focus on who is filing the government treasury-and who is emptying it out. Once again; the issue is not ‘inadequate taxes’. Once again, the real issue is ‘excessive government spending’.

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A Partial List of PSEs

1.    Pakistan International Airlines

2.    Pakistan Steel Mills

3.    Pakistan Electric Power Company

4.    Pakistan Railways

5.    Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Utility Stores Corporation

6.    Tomato Paste Plant

7.    Roti Corporation of Pakistan

8.    Pakistan Stone Development Company

9.    Pakistan Hunting and Sporting Arms Development Company

10. National Institute of Oceanography

11. Pakistan Gems & Jewelry Development Company

12. Technology Commercialization Corporation of Pakistan

13. National Industrial Parks Development & Management Company

14. Technology Up-Gradation and Skill Development Company

15. National Productivity Organization

16. Council for Work and Housing Research

17. National Institute of Electronics

18. Pakistan Council for Science and Technology

19. Pakistan Council of Research in Water Technology

20. Centre for Applied & Molecular Biology

21. National Insurance Corporation, Heavy Electrical Complex,

22. Machine Tool Factory, Services International,

23. National Power Construction Company,

24. National Fertilizers Corporation, State Engineering Corporation,

25. National Construction Limited,

26. Pakistan Steel Fabricating Company Limited,

27. Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation,

28. Ghee Corporation of Pakistan, Republic Motors,

29. Pakistan National Shipping Corporation,

30. State Cement Corporation of Pakistan,

31. State Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals Corporation,

32. Trading Corporation of Pakistan, Cotton Export Corporation of Pakistan,

33. Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan, Pakistan Industrial Technical Training Centre and Pakistan Engineering Company

Dr. Farrukh Saleem, an economist, is a prominent public policy commentator in Pakistan. He has worked extensively with international development organizations and has been associated with Center for Research & Security Studies (CRSS). His columns have appeared in The News and The Dawn and he has been a TV Anchor with 92 News. He did his doctorate from Western Illinois University, United States.

https://www.globalvillagespace.com/talking-without-facts-tax-issue-or-government-expenditures/

 

IRRI introduces interactive crop diagnostic tool

Field testing of Rice Doctor at Sundargarh, Odisha. Photo courtesy of IRRI.

08.15.2019

By Holly Demaree-Saddler

SUNDARGARH, ODISHA, INDIA — The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is working to decrease crop loss from pest and diseases with an interactive crop diagnostic tool.

Rice Doctor is a tool developed to cater to the needs of the extension and advisory service providers and farmers as primary users to identify insect pests, diseases, nutrient deficiencies, toxicities, and agronomy related problems of the crops. It provides information on these problems as well as recommendations to address them. It also can be useful for researchers, students and private input dealers.

IRRI said crop loss is a major threat to farming communities globally, “In the case of rice, up to 37% of economic losses are caused by insect pests and disease infestation. Timely and accurate disease and insect pest diagnosis and management can not only reduce crop losses, but also help protect the environment.”

IRRI’s Rice Doctor is an information and communication technology-based tool that enables farmers to make timely decisions for better pest management. It helps farmers access global knowledge and information to address their challenges.

Rice Doctor is currently available online and as a mobile app that can be downloaded free of cost on smartphones and tablets.

A more localized prevalent version of Rice Doctor for the Odisha region in India is being developed with the help of the local government. The “Increasing Productivity of Rice-based Cropping Systems and Farmer’s Income in Odisha” is being used to facilitate the localization of Rice Doctor in Odisha. It includes user testing and workshops that were conducted with extension intermediaries, farmers, and plant protection specialists from partner institutions.

User testing helped assess the efficiency and accuracy of the Rice Doctor mobile application for mid-season diagnosis and management of insect pests, diseases, abiotic stresses, and agronomic problems. The content is being updated to enhance the usability based on the feedback received.

Activities are being undertaken to enhance the capacities of extension functionaries and farmers to use the tool. Plans also are ongoing to develop business models for provision of advisories to farmers on pest and disease management using Rice Doctor, so its use becomes viable and sustainable.

https://www.world-grain.com/articles/12468-irri-introduces-interactive-crop-diagnostic-tool

Discovery could pave the way for disease-resistant rice crops

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

    

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IMAGE: PROTEIN CRYSTALS AND A RICE PANICLE DEPICTED AGAINST A BACKDROP OF RICE GRAINS REPRESENT THE STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY ASPECTS OF A STUDY BY VARDEN ET AL., WHICH UNVEILED... view more 

CREDIT: MARINA FRANCESHETTI AND PHIL ROBINSON

Researchers have uncovered an unusual protein activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops an edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blast disease, a major threat to rice production around the world.

Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that leads to rice blast disease, creates lesions on rice plants that reduce the yield and quality of grain. The fungus causes a loss of up to a third of the global rice harvest, roughly enough to feed more than 60 million people each year.

Various strategies to ward off the fungus have been employed, but a sustainable approach has not yet been developed. Cost and environmental concerns have limited the success of toxic fungicides. And a phenomena called linkage drag, where undesirable genes are transferred along with desired ones, has made it difficult for breeders to produce varieties of rice that exhibit improved disease resistance but still produce grain at a desired rate.

Gene-editing technologies could eventually be used to precisely insert genes in rice plants, overcoming the issue of linkage drag, but first, genes that boost rice immunity need to be identified or engineered.

A team of researchers in Japan and the U.K. report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that a particular rice immune receptor--from a class of receptors that typically recognize only single pathogenic proteins--pulls double duty by triggering immune reactions in response to two separate fungal proteins. The genes that encode this receptor could become a template for engineering new receptors that can each detect multiple fungal proteins, and thereby improve disease resistance in rice crops.

Rice blast fungus deploys a multitude of proteins, known as effectors, inside of rice cells. In response, rice plants have evolved genes encoding nucleotide binding-leucine-rich repeat proteins, or NLRs, which are intracellular immune receptors that bait specific fungal effectors. After an NLR receptor's specific fungal effector binds to the bait, signaling pathways are initiated that cause cell death.

"(The cells) die in a very localized area so the rest of the plant is able to survive. It's almost like sacrificing your finger to save the rest of your body," said Mark Banfield, professor and group leader at John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, and senior author of the study.

After learning from previous work that the fungal effectors AVR-Pia and AVR-Pik have similar structures, the researchers sought to find out whether any rice NLRs known to bind to one of these effectors could perhaps also bind to the other, Banfield said.

The scientists introduced different combinations of rice NLRs and fungal effectors into tobacco (a model system for studying plant immunity) and also used rice plants to show if any unusual pairs could come together and elicit immune responses. An AVR-Pik-binding rice NLR called Pikp triggered cell-death in response to AVR-Pik as expected, but surprisingly, the experiments showed that plants expressing this NLR also partially reacted to AVR-Pia.

The authors took a close look at the unexpected pairing using X-ray crystallography and noticed that the rice NLR possessed two separate docking sites for AVR-Pia and AVR-Pik.

In its current form, Pikp causes meager immune reactions after binding AVR-Pia, however, the receptor's DNA could be modified to improve its affinity for mismatched effectors, Banfield said.

"If we can find a way to harness that capability, we could produce a super NLR that's able to bind multiple pathogen effectors," Banfield said.

As an ultimate endgame, gene-editing technologies could be used to insert enhanced versions of NLRs--like Pikp--into plants, Banfield said, which could tip the scale in favor of rice crops in the face of rice blast disease.

###

DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.007730

This work was supported by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, grant numbers BB/P012574, BB/M02198X; the ERC (proposal 743165), the John Innes Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and JSPS KAKENHI 15H05779 and 18K05657.

Other authors on this study include Freya A. Varden, Hiromasa Saitoh, Kae Yoshino, Marina Franceschetti, Sophien Kamoun and Ryohei Terauchi.

About the Journal of Biological Chemistry

JBC is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research "motivated by biology, enabled by chemistry" across all areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. The read the latest research in JBC, visit http://www.jbc.org/.

About the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

The ASBMB is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with more than 11,000 members worldwide. Most members teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. Others conduct research in government laboratories, at nonprofit research institutions and in industry. The Society publishes three journals: the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of Lipid Research, and Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. For more information about ASBMB, visit http://www.asbmb.org.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-08/asfb-dcp081519.php

 

Discovery Could Pave the Way for Disease-Resistant Rice Crops

15-Aug-2019 10:00 AM EDT

 

 

 

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Newswise — Researchers have uncovered an unusual protein activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops an edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blast disease, a major threat to rice production around the world.  

Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that leads to rice blast disease, creates lesions on rice plants that reduce the yield and quality of grain. The fungus causes a loss of up to a third of the global rice harvest, roughly enough to feed more than 60 million people each year.

Various strategies to ward off the fungus have been employed, but a sustainable approach has not yet been developed. Cost and environmental concerns have limited the success of toxic fungicides. And a phenomena called linkage drag, where undesirable genes are transferred along with desired ones, has made it difficult for breeders to produce varieties of rice that exhibit improved disease resistance but still produce grain at a desired rate.   

Gene-editing technologies could eventually be used to precisely insert genes in rice plants, overcoming the issue of linkage drag, but first, genes that boost rice immunity need to be identified or engineered. 

A team of researchers in Japan and the U.K. report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that a particular rice immune receptor—from a class of receptors that typically recognize only single pathogenic proteins—pulls double duty by triggering immune reactions in response to two separate fungal proteins. The genes that encode this receptor could become a template for engineering new receptors that can each detect multiple fungal proteins, and thereby improve disease resistance in rice crops.

Rice blast fungus deploys a multitude of proteins, known as effectors, inside of rice cells. In response, rice plants have evolved genes encoding nucleotide binding–leucine-rich repeat proteins, or NLRs, which are intracellular immune receptors that bait specific fungal effectors. After an NLR receptor’s specific fungal effector binds to the bait, signaling pathways are initiated that cause cell death.

“(The cells) die in a very localized area so the rest of the plant is able to survive. It’s almost like sacrificing your finger to save the rest of your body,” said Mark Banfield, professor and group leader at John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, and senior author of the study.

After learning from previous work that the fungal effectors AVR-Pia and AVR-Pik have similar structures, the researchers sought to find out whether any rice NLRs known to bind to one of these effectors could perhaps also bind to the other, Banfield said.

The scientists introduced different combinations of rice NLRs and fungal effectors into tobacco (a model system for studying plant immunity) and also used rice plants to show if any unusual pairs could come together and elicit immune responses. An AVR-Pik-binding rice NLR called Pikp triggered cell-death in response to AVR-Pik as expected, but surprisingly, the experiments showed that plants expressing this NLR also partially reacted to AVR-Pia.

The authors took a close look at the unexpected pairing using X-ray crystallography and noticed that the rice NLR possessed two separate docking sites for AVR-Pia and AVR-Pik. 

In its current form, Pikp causes meager immune reactions after binding AVR-Pia, however, the receptor’s DNA could be modified to improve its affinity for mismatched effectors, Banfield said.

“If we can find a way to harness that capability, we could produce a super NLR that’s able to bind multiple pathogen effectors,” Banfield said.   

As an ultimate endgame, gene-editing technologies could be used to insert enhanced versions of NLRs—like Pikp—into plants, Banfield said, which could tip the scale in favor of rice crops in the face of rice blast disease.

###

DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.007730

This work was supported by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, grant numbers BB/P012574, BB/M02198X; the ERC (proposal 743165), the John Innes Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and JSPS KAKENHI 15H05779 and 18K05657.

Other authors on this study include Freya A. Varden, Hiromasa Saitoh, Kae Yoshino, Marina Franceschetti, Sophien Kamoun and Ryohei Terauchi.

About the Journal of Biological Chemistry

JBC is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research "motivated by biology, enabled by chemistry" across all areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. The read the latest research in JBC, visit http://www.jbc.org/.

About the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

The ASBMB is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with more than 11,000 members worldwide. Most members teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. Others conduct research in government laboratories, at nonprofit research institutions and in industry. The Society publishes three journals: the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of Lipid Research, and Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. For more information about ASBMB, visit www.asbmb.org.

https://www.newswise.com/articles/discovery-could-pave-the-way-for-disease-resistant-rice-crops2

 


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Best supplements for cholesterol: This type of rice could lower ‘bad’ cholesterol

BEST supplements for cholesterol: Having high cholesterol can lead to serious health complications if left untreated, so what can you do to lower it? A certain type of rice could help reduce it.

By Katrina Turrill

PUBLISHED: 20:35, Thu, Aug 15, 2019 | UPDATED: 20:51, Thu, Aug 15, 2019

High cholesterol: Nutritionist reveals top prevention tips

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High cholesterol can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, conditions such as heart disease and stroke. But there are two types of cholesterol found in the body - HDL which is considered good, and LDL which is considered bad. HDL cholesterol is essential in helping the body get rid of excess cholesterol by carrying it from tissues to the liver. LDL cholesterol carries cholesterol from the liver to the cells around the body where it’s needed, but too much LDL can lead to fatty deposits in the arteries.

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Best supplements for eczema: Taking this vitamin may ease symptoms

Research has proven taking supplements could help lower cholesterol, and one to consider is red yeast rice

Experts recommend a number of lifestyle changes to help lower cholesterol, including stopping smoking, eating a healthier diet with more fruit and vegetables and less salt, and doing more exercise.

But alongside these lifestyle changes, research has proven taking supplements could help lower cholesterol, and one to consider is red yeast rice.

Red yeast rice is a type of fermented rice that’s popular in Indonesian cuisine, but is also available as a supplement.

For many years now red yeast rice has been used as a natural remedy to help lower cholesterol levels and to promote heart health.

One study involving 25 people demonstrated how red yeast rice lowered total cholesterol y an average of 15 per cent and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol by 21 per cent over a duration of two months. 

An eight-week long study in 79 people showed similar effects.

Best supplements for cholesterol: A certain type of rice could lower ‘bad’ cholesterol (Image: GETTY)

It found participants taking 600mg of red yeast rice twice daily had significantly reduced ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol levels, compared to a control group. 

Another review of 21 studies found red yeast rice was effective at reducing levels of total and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, as well as blood pressure, when combined with statin drugs. 

When it comes to how much red yeast rice you should take, you should always follow the directions on packaging,

Doses ranging from 200 to 4,800mg have been studied in clinical trials.

What other supplements could lower cholesterol?

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1166269/best-supplements-cholesterol-lower-red-yeast-rice

 

Chinese scientists complete high-resolution 3D genome map of rice

Source: Xinhua| 2019-08-15 19:32:25|Editor: Li Xia

WUHAN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists completed a high-resolution three-dimensional genome map of rice, which is a breakthrough in the crop's genetic improvement, according to the research team.

The team from Huazhong Agricultural University in central China's Hubei Province aimed to investigate the genome architecture and its effects on the growth of rice through the map.

The study will help reveal the genome architecture of rice and promote research on the genetic improvement of rice and other crops, according to the research team.

The study has been published in the international academic journal Nature Communications.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/15/c_138311743.htm

JJ Johnson Has Already Changed the Way You Eat. You Just Didn't Realize It.

The food prophet of Harlem took on the elite food world. Now, he's taking on Shake Shack and Chipotle.

AUG 15, 2019

AARON ARIZPE

Five years ago, in the fall of 2014, this magazine named the Cecil the best new restaurant in America.

Josh Ozersky, the writer who made that pick, raised a toast to the pioneering menu, “primed and loaded with the flavors of the African diaspora—that trail of taste that moved from West Africa to India, the Caribbean to America to China, and then back again.” Meanwhile, Eater, the influential food blog that in recent years has rebooted itself into a bully pulpit for diversity, seemed slightly bewildered that a black-owned restaurant in Harlem might merit the top spot on a national list. JOSH OZERSKY CONFOUNDS EXPECTATIONS, said the Eater headline, while the piece itself quipped that “it sounds like Ozersky is out to stir things up.”

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Esquire's Best Bars in America, 2019

 

Ozersky is gone now. He died the next year. And the Cecil has abandoned its original vision; now it’s a neighborhood steakhouse. But half a decade on, it’s clear that Esquire’s selection of the Cecil was a prescient one. In the intervening years, chefs like Mashama Bailey, Kwame Onwuachi, Edouardo Jordan, Nina Compton, Pierre Thiam, and Eric Adjepong have drawn national attention (and, in several cases, James Beard awards) for exploring the African diaspora through cooking. The long-overdue rise of black chefs is, without a doubt, the most important story in American restaurants right now.

Johnson and his mentor, Alexander Smalls—who coauthored the award-winning Between Harlem and Heaven—visit a market together.

Beatriz Da Costa

People in food media are finally talking about it. Five years ago? “Nobody was,” says JJ Johnson, who was running the kitchen at the Cecil back then. “Nobody even knew how to talk about it.” Innovation be damned, Johnson failed to win the Beard Foundation’s Rising Star prize in 2015. “I still think I was robbed,” he says. “I don’t think anyone was cooking better than me.” But vindication arrived this year when Johnson and Alexander Smalls, the chef, food scholar, and former opera singer who’d mentored him, won a Beard award for Between Harlem and Heaven, a cookbook that’s rooted in the menu they created together at the Cecil.

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All of which is to say that it would be unwise to bet against JJ Johnson. The man can cook, duh, but at 35 he’s also one of the few young chefs in America with the ability to look forward, beyond the burrata-and-avocado-toast clichés that mire so many stateside menus in dullness. And what Johnson sees on the horizon is rice. FieldTrip, his new globe-trotting temple devoted to the greatest grain, is located in a storefront on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, about five minutes on foot from where Johnson used to cook. The voluminous education that went into Between Harlem and Heaven wound up leading him down a rabbit hole of rice-paddy research, and today he can hold forth on the historical pathways and cooking methods connected to black rice, sticky rice, Texas brown rice, Carolina Gold, aged basmati, you name it; he’s looking to source rice from Brazil, Trinidad, Vermont, wherever he can get the best stuff. The idea came to him while “traveling so much and seeing that rice was at the center of the table.”

“I still think I was robbed. I don’t think anyone was cooking better than me.”

The cultural centrality of rice is far from new, of course, but Johnson’s continent-hopping mash-ups (think Texas brown rice with brisket, black beans, and turmeric yogurt) could represent a fast-casual concept that actually has legs. In Harlem he sees his primary competition as Shake Shack and Chipotle. “I don’t want to teach anymore,” he told me when I visited FieldTrip in late spring, before its opening last month. Yet Johnson—whose other restaurant south of midtown, Henry at the Life Hotel, abruptly closed in July—still can’t help but find himself in the position of spreading the gospel.

“Y’all open?” a woman asked him as she passed the front door.

“No,” he said. “Three weeks.”

“It’s a restaurant?” she went on.

“It’s a rice-bowl shop,” he explained. “Global flavors.”

FieldTrip, the new restaurant from chef JJ Johnson, serves up global cuisine with a range of rice bowls.

FieldTrip

Maybe five years from now, as with the Cecil, he won’t have to explain anymore. “I hope this place can expand into other neighborhoods like this,” he told me. “I look to Wolfgang Puck in terms of trajectory. I’m gonna disturb a bunch of markets in different ways.”

As I said, I wouldn’t bet against him. JJ Johnson has a knack for sensing where everything is going, even when the rest of us don’t.

https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a28519608/chef-jj-johnson-fieldtrip-harlem-restaurant-cookbook/

Russian scientists start testing 14 breeds of rice in Uzgen

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AKIPRESS.COM - Scientists from Russia started testing 14 breeds of rice in Uzgen district, Turmush reports...

https://akipress.com/news:623757:Russian_scientists_start_testing_14_breeds_of_rice_in_Uzgen/

 

Discovery could pave the way for disease-resistant rice crops

Date:

August 15, 2019

Source:

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Summary:

Researchers have uncovered an unusual protein activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops an edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blast disease, a major threat to rice production around the world.

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FULL STORY


Researchers have uncovered an unusual protein activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops an edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blast disease, a major threat to rice production around the world.

Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that leads to rice blast disease, creates lesions on rice plants that reduce the yield and quality of grain. The fungus causes a loss of up to a third of the global rice harvest, roughly enough to feed more than 60 million people each year.

Various strategies to ward off the fungus have been employed, but a sustainable approach has not yet been developed. Cost and environmental concerns have limited the success of toxic fungicides. And a phenomena called linkage drag, where undesirable genes are transferred along with desired ones, has made it difficult for breeders to produce varieties of rice that exhibit improved disease resistance but still produce grain at a desired rate.

Gene-editing technologies could eventually be used to precisely insert genes in rice plants, overcoming the issue of linkage drag, but first, genes that boost rice immunity need to be identified or engineered.

A team of researchers in Japan and the U.K. report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that a particular rice immune receptor -- from a class of receptors that typically recognize only single pathogenic proteins -- pulls double duty by triggering immune reactions in response to two separate fungal proteins. The genes that encode this receptor could become a template for engineering new receptors that can each detect multiple fungal proteins, and thereby improve disease resistance in rice crops.

Rice blast fungus deploys a multitude of proteins, known as effectors, inside of rice cells. In response, rice plants have evolved genes encoding nucleotide binding-leucine-rich repeat proteins, or NLRs, which are intracellular immune receptors that bait specific fungal effectors. After an NLR receptor's specific fungal effector binds to the bait, signaling pathways are initiated that cause cell death.

"(The cells) die in a very localized area so the rest of the plant is able to survive. It's almost like sacrificing your finger to save the rest of your body," said Mark Banfield, professor and group leader at John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, and senior author of the study.

After learning from previous work that the fungal effectors AVR-Pia and AVR-Pik have similar structures, the researchers sought to find out whether any rice NLRs known to bind to one of these effectors could perhaps also bind to the other, Banfield said.

The scientists introduced different combinations of rice NLRs and fungal effectors into tobacco (a model system for studying plant immunity) and also used rice plants to show if any unusual pairs could come together and elicit immune responses. An AVR-Pik-binding rice NLR called Pikp triggered cell-death in response to AVR-Pik as expected, but surprisingly, the experiments showed that plants expressing this NLR also partially reacted to AVR-Pia.

The authors took a close look at the unexpected pairing using X-ray crystallography and noticed that the rice NLR possessed two separate docking sites for AVR-Pia and AVR-Pik.

In its current form, Pikp causes meager immune reactions after binding AVR-Pia, however, the receptor's DNA could be modified to improve its affinity for mismatched effectors, Banfield said.

"If we can find a way to harness that capability, we could produce a super NLR that's able to bind multiple pathogen effectors," Banfield said.

As an ultimate endgame, gene-editing technologies could be used to insert enhanced versions of NLRs -- like Pikp -- into plants, Banfield said, which could tip the scale in favor of rice crops in the face of rice blast disease.

This work was supported by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, grant numbers BB/P012574, BB/M02198X; the ERC (proposal 743165), the John Innes Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and JSPS KAKENHI 15H05779 and 18K05657.

Other authors on this study include Freya A. Varden, Hiromasa Saitoh, Kae Yoshino, Marina Franceschetti, Sophien Kamoun and Ryohei Terauchi.


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Materials provided by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyNote: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

1.    Freya A Varden, Hiromasa Saitoh, Kae Yoshino, Marina Franceschetti, Sophien Kamoun, Ryohei Terauchi, Mark J. Banfield. Cross-reactivity of a rice NLR immune receptor to distinct effectors from the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae provides partial disease resistanceJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2019; jbc.RA119.007730 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.007730


Cite This Page:

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. "Discovery could pave the way for disease-resistant rice crops." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 August 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190815113723.htm>.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190815113723.htm

 

Chinese scientists complete high-resolution 3D genome map of rice

Source: Xinhua| 2019-08-15 19:32:25|Editor: Li Xia

WUHAN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists completed a high-resolution three-dimensional genome map of rice, which is a breakthrough in the crop's genetic improvement, according to the research team.

The team from Huazhong Agricultural University in central China's Hubei Province aimed to investigate the genome architecture and its effects on the growth of rice through the map.

The study will help reveal the genome architecture of rice and promote research on the genetic improvement of rice and other crops, according to the research team.

The study has been published in the international academic journal Nature Communications.

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http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/15/c_138311743.htm

 

 

Builsa South farmers to be supported, to increase rice production

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Description: https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/rice-ghana-300x236.jpgPresident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has underlined the government’s determination to support rice farmers in the Builsa South District, to substantially increase production.

He said everything would be done to develop the vast fertile valleys of Fumbisi and Gbedembilisi to cut down on rice imports.

Ghana has been spending millions of dollars to import rice, but he noted that, the country could produce enough of the cereal grain for both local consumption and export, when the area is fully developed.

President Akufo-Addo was addressing chiefs and people of Fumbisi as part of his six-day working visit to the Upper East, Upper west and Northern Regions.

He said agriculture research findings showed that “when the necessary attention and investment is given to the Fumbisi and Gbedembilisi rice valleys, enough rice could be produced from those valleys to feed the nation.”

“It is against this background that government is interested in developing the fertile lands to realize the full agriculture potentials of the area, particularly in the area of rice production to boost food security in the region and Ghana as a whole,” he said.

He added that they were eager to make Fumbisi, the hub of rice production in the whole of West Africa, and promised to establish an Agricultural College in the town, to train students in various fields of agriculture.

“There can be no better place than Fumbisi to have an Agricultural College that has the potential to develop the rice basket not just in Ghana, but West Africa,” he said.

He told the gathering that he is going to do everything within his power, to make sure that this becomes a dream come true.

Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, said everybody who had studied agriculture in Ghana knew of the prospects of the Fumbisi rice valleys which “has about 5,000 hectares of farm land for development.” However, just about 900 hectares of this huge land is being used.

Dr. Akoto spoke of plans to expand the agriculture mechanization centre in the area and build mills, to enable farmers add value to their produce.

Naab Clement Anyaturk Akanko II, appealed to the government, to fix bad roads in the area, including the Wiaga-Fumbisi-Wiesi, Kanjarga-Fumbisi-Uwasi and Fumbisi-Zamsa roads linking the various farms to the market centres, to reduce cost of transport and post-harvest losses.

He also wants the Fumbisi Health Center to be upgraded to the status of a District Hospital and supplied with the needed equipment and facilities to bring down infant and maternal mortality.

The President was also accompanied by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Education, Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health, Mr. Kwasi Amoako Atta, Minister of Roads and Highways, Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Minister of Special Development Initiative, Madam Tangoba Abayage, the Regional Minister and other high ranking public officials

https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2019/08/15/builsa-south-farmers-to-be-supported-to-increase-rice-production/

 

That presidential directive on food import ban!

 August 16, 2019

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CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele

Ayo Oyoze Baje

President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria that it should not grant the much sought after forex to importers of sundry food items has expectedly generated divergent responses from concerned Nigerians. Not left out of the heated debate are top-notch economists and understandably so.

 The new policy appears noble and patriotic on the surface of it, at least to galvanise local food production, enhance food security and generate employment. That Nigeria has been an import dependent nation ever since the oil-boom days is stating the obvious. But it should not be encouraged by any serious administration.

 A country that is supposed to be Africa’s largest economy still imports red palm oil, with which it once controlled 40 % of the global market in the 60s but has since drastically dropped to 1.8% in the New Millennium! Besides, it still imports all manner of fish species, stock fish, canned fish, milk, rice, vegetable oil, tomato paste and even toothpick!  That Nigeria has the capacity to locally produce these is what must have left President Buhari outraged to the point of outright ban of their import.

In fact, he has vowed that the foreign reserves will be used strictly for diversification of the economy. And not for encouraging more dependence on foreign food items. But it goes much deeper than it seems. To begin with, forex comes essentially as a short form for ‘Foreign Exchange’. It means the foreign currency one obtains from the bank in exchange for the hard earned naira. It is the dollar, pound or Yuan, one requires to do business outside of Nigeria’s shores.

READ ALSO: CBN captured politically, says bank’s ex-deputy gov

One’s first response was that of surprise rather than shock, given the antecedents of several anomalous policy posturing by the current administration that have underlining politicking than being people-oriented. The wars waged against the twin evils of corruption and insecurity attest to this. The emerging economic scenario of the ban on forex for food import, laudable as it is  therefore, throws up  some fundamental questions.

For instance, does the CBN have the legal or constitutional authority not to grant forex to food importers? No! As Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the CBN, recently reminded Nigerians: “The Central Bank Act of 2007 makes it clear that the bank is independent. It is not supposed to be taking direct instructions from politicians.” Moghalu is therefore, miffed by such a directive. Said he: “The trajectory in this administration is that we have seen a very clear tendency for the President to direct people. Increasingly, Nigeria’s institutions have lost independence.” Well stated. But as usual, Nigerians may have their say but our President is likely to have his way, again! What manner of democracy is this, you may be wondering?

Should the President give a military-like directive to the CBN when it comes to economic matters? No! But Mr President has ordered the CBN Governor, Godwin Emiefele: “Don’t give a cent to anybody to import food into the country”!

Worried about this, Bismarck Rewane, an economist and the head of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives, also recently reiterated the fact that the apex bank is supposed to be independent. Did this policy emanate from a holistic, cross-pollination of ideas after the rubbing of minds from the relevant stakeholders such as farmers, food processors, marketers, the Customs service as well as the Ministry of Agriculture across the country? It is a vehement nay again! It came up without their credible input. Yet, there is more to worry about.

How would this policy directive work effectively against the dark backdrop of epileptic power supply needed to enhance the capacity of food processing and preservation by the  Small and Medium Scale Enterprises down to the rural areas, where the farm produce come in large amounts? How would it assist the value chain of food processing, preservation and marketing?  As Rewane highlighted, import controls on rice, imposed even as local farmers fail to meet demand, have kept prices artificially high and led to smuggling from neighbouring Benin Republic into Nigeria. What with over 1,000 porous borders, inadequate personnel of the customs service to check the expected upsurge in smuggling? Add these to the flourishing black market for forex and the cloudy economic picture would start  to clear a bit.  As an observer stated: “If you want forex for your palm oil or plastic rice henceforth, you may want to look the way of the Abokis or Mallams down the street corners. The banks, which take orders from the central bank, will no longer listen to you”. Notwithstanding, there are still questions waiting for answers.

How would the policy mitigate the scourge of poverty, pitched against waves of insurgency, banditry and the killing spree of innocent farmers by fully armed Fulani herdsmen?  That such mindless killings affect largely agrarian states in the North-East, and the Middle Belt, that has since snowballed to the North-West states should be worrisome indeed.

Perhaps, the President must be waving the magic wand stick! It is only in Nigeria’s aberrant brand of democracy that we have a centralised economy, where the Federal Government controls resources meant for state governments. In more organised societies, issues such as education, healthcare delivery, agriculture, transport and much of infrastructural development should, ordinarily be the duty of the state governments. There are other implications in the implementation of this directive.

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As Rewane told Reuters,  foreign exchange restrictions for food imports could backfire after Buhari signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in July, 2019. One of  AfCFTA’s modalities is to create a continent-wide free trade zone where tariffs on most goods would be eliminated. “At this point in time, these rules will be manipulated in the interest of smugglers and their accomplices,” Rewane surmised and he is right on point.

So, what is the way forward? The President should, in the national interest and to fast-track a more impactful economic gain for the people, give a nod to the holistic restructuring of this country. That would enthrone true fiscal federalism and stop all the long-winding self-deceit. Even states that he is boastful of,  with huge returns in rice farming such as Kebbi, Ogun, Lagos, Jigawa, Ebonyi and Kano would still do much better if they control their resources, instead of going cap-in-hand every month to collect crumbs from the master’s table.

His policies should emanate from the stakeholders’ input and backed by law instead of command- and- obey structure. Besides, he should be mindful of the impact of such policies on the people, take actions to ensure security and regular power supply instead of putting the cart before the horse!

Baje is a public affairs commentator based in Lagos

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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

https://punchng.com/that-presidential-directive-on-food-import-ban/

 

15/08/19

Subsidies are key to better fertiliser access, study shows

Description: Spraying fertilizer on farmland. Scientists warn there must be a balance between increasing access to fertilisers and preventing overuse.

Spraying fertilizer on farmland. Scientists warn there must be a balance between increasing access to fertilisers and preventing overuse. Copyright: pixel1 from Pixabay

Speed read

·         Farmers in poor countries struggle to afford fertilisers, leading to low yields

·         Better policies and subsidy programmes could bring down prices

·         But governments must limit environmental impact of fertiliser use, say researchers

By: Inga Vesper

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Subsidies for manufacturing companies could help improve access to fertiliser in developing countries without increasing environmental stress, a team of international researchers has proposed.

In an article reviewing scientific evidence, the team presented a strategy to manage global fertiliser use while minimising nitrogen 
pollution — a common side effect. They note that it will be essential to increase access to fertilisers in developing countries in order to provide more food for a growing population.

The 
researchers highlight intergovernmental cooperation and incentives for companies to provide cheap, high-quality fertilisers as essential measures to tackle poor soils and food shortages.

“Restoring soil nutrients with sustainable fertiliser practices is critical to promoting food security and the manifold benefits that this has for society,”

Benjamin Houlton, director, University of California’s John Muir Institute of the Environment

Benjamin Houlton, lead author of the article and director of the University of California’s John Muir Institute of the Environment, said: “In many developing economies, lack of access to commercial fertilisers has resulted in less-than-optimal yields, and highly depleted soils which lack nutrient capital. Restoring soil nutrients with sustainable fertiliser practices is critical to promoting food security and the manifold benefits that this has for society.”

The problem explored in the article is that chemical fertilisers can have negative effects on the environment. Fertiliser is washed off the soil by rain and runs into rivers, where it can pollute drinking water and upset the ecosystem. In addition, powdered nitrogen fertiliser can be carried by wind and cause aerial pollution, with 
health consequences for nearby communities.

Therefore, the researchers say, improving access to chemical fertilisers in developing countries must go along with appropriate education, community work and consideration for local culture and 
farming practices.

However, according to Houlton, affordability remains the biggest barrier for farmers in poorer nations. He advocates 
policies, such as offering subsidies, that encourage companies to invest in developing cheap products.

“This can spur innovation and grow jobs and business opportunities,” he told SciDev.Net. “Subsidies with phase-out provisions can help launch environmental careers and inspire adoption of the most efficient 
agriculturaltechnologies, with a key emphasis on efficient fertiliser technologies.”

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the combined global use of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilisers reached 186.7 million tonnes in 2016. However, demand in Africa was only around 3.6 million tonnes in the same year.

On the other hand, some regions in Asia — in particular India and China — suffered from chemical fertiliser overuse in 2015 due to their farmers’ reliance on monocultures such as rice, according to the study, 
published in Earth’s Future (23 July).

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The researchers admit that a balance needs to be struck between increasing access to fertilisers and preventing overuse. Chemical fertiliser pollution can be reduced by micro-application, where small amounts are placed closely to each plant, and by using organic fertilisers such as farm waste products wherever possible.

If correctly applied, fertiliser can revive depleted soils and thereby reduce the need for farmers to cultivate new land at the expense of 
forests and other habitats, believes Barbara Adolph, principal agro-ecology researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London.

“The generally recognised recommendation [to reduce pollution] is to use organic matter and inorganic fertiliser together,” said Adolph, who has worked in countries including Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi.

However, Adolph told SciDev.Net that many farms in developing countries do not have access to sufficient organic matter. In some countries, waste products such as stalks and leaves are used to fuel fires, feed 
livestock and for fencing and roofing. In addition, traditional farms that have both livestock and crops are in decline as farmers increasingly specialise, meaning some farms may have too much manure, while others have none.

“There are a lot of technical problems in terms of transport and the availability of biomass,” added Adolph. “This is where chemical fertiliser comes in, to complement the use of organic matter. That’s really good practice to avoid land degradation.”

https://www.scidev.net/global/agriculture/news/subsidies-are-key-to-better-fertiliser-access-study-shows.html

 

Weather extremes devastate yields: study

By Margaret Evans

Published: August 15, 2019 
NewsWeather

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Temperature extremes, drought and heavy precipitation account for 18 to 43 percent of variations in global crop yields. | File photo

International researchers have more precisely measured how extreme weather events driven by a changing climate can devastate crop yields.

Hot and cold temperature extremes, drought and heavy precipitation account for 18 to 43 percent of variations in global yields for maize, spring wheat, rice and soybeans.

“Climate extremes such as heat waves or droughts can have devastating effects on agricultural yields,” said lead author Elizabeth Vogel with the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and Climate and Energy College at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

“For example, the millennium drought in Australia from 1997 to 2009 was among the worst droughts in the last several centuries and had severe impacts on agriculture. In southeast Australia, rice production went down by 99 percent between 2002 and 2009 and wheat yields dropped by 12 per cent during the drought.”

The European heat wave and drought in summer 2018 led to widespread harvest failures and shortages of livestock feed.

Similar drought conditions last year challenged farmers and ranchers in Western Canada as hay and livestock feed dwindled.

Driving the fears of global drought is that climate change is triggering more intense variable climate events and also increasing the frequency and severity of climate extremes.

Researchers from Australia, Germany and the United States were involved in the project.

The research team investigated the effects of year-to-year climate variability and extremes on yields of four crops — corn, rice, soybeans and wheat to better understand climate impacts. While they expected climate factors would obviously influence crop yields, they were particularly interested in how these fluctuations were explained specifically by climate extremes. They used a global agricultural database algorithm called Random Forests to show which climate factors played the biggest role in influencing crop yields.

Vogel said a Random Forest algorithm can identify patterns in large datasets and create predictive, statistical models.

Our results showed that 18 percent to 43 percent of the variance in yields is accounted for by climate extremes. For maize, soybeans and rice, this represents more than half of the explained variance.”

They found the most important climate factors for fluctuations in crop yield were related to temperature, not precipitation. Vogel wrote that temperature-related predictors were more strongly correlated with variable crop yields than precipitation-related predictors across all four crops.

The team also identified global hot spots of particular importance for global production yet highly susceptible to the influence of climate, and especially climate extremes, during the growing season.

“As industrialized agricultural regions contribute a large share of world production, many of these regions were among the hot spots … North America, Europe and Oceania still make up most of the hot spots.”

In the study, maize yields in Africa showed one of the strongest relationships with the climate variabilities in the growing season.

“Our results show a particularly strong relationship between climate variations and year-to-year fluctuations in maize yields. These results agree with other previous studies that have shown a strong link between climate variability and extremes, particularly heat extremes, and maize yields. We also see strong effects on spring wheat yields at the global scale and some influences on rice and soybean yields in many regions.”

She said there was no clear answer why the signal was particularly strong for maize, but she suggested that crop-specific temperature and water stress sensitivities, varying management practices and differences in growing seasons between the different crops may play a role.

Production of maize in Africa is particularly critical since a large percentage of the crop is for human consumption, making it an essential source of food security in the region.

“Communities that highly depend on subsistence farming are particularly affected by the effects of climate extremes on crop production,” said Vogel. She said African maize showed one of the strongest associations between climate variations during the growing season and yield anomalies of all the crop-continent combinations. Climate factors explained about 55 percent of maize yield variations in the region.

“Our study highlights the need to adapt food production to climate extremes, not only in major crop producing countries, but also in regions with a strong dependence on subsistence farming or a high share of production for human consumption.”

Some mitigation approaches include shifting the growing season if possible, development of drought or heat-tolerant crop varieties, irrigation, water conservation, and accurate seasonal weather forecasting.

https://www.producer.com/2019/08/weather-extremes-devastate-yields-study/

 

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Business News of Thursday, 15 August 2019

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Dealing with food fraud: UCC School of Agric develops technology to detect fake rice

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Description: GM Rice  ParliamentFile: Rice producers are excited about the new move

The school of Agriculture at the University of Cape Coast has developed a technology that detects fake rice that is sold on the market.

The technology will among other things deal with fraud that is perpetrated in the production and sale of rice and also authenticate the integrity of food across Africa.

The researchers are upbeat the many fraudulent food-related activities that impede productivity and also have consequential effect on the health of consumers would be put in check courtesy the technology.

The university achieved this feat with the support of the Queen’s University in UK, a pioneer university that researches into food fraud and authenticity.

Lead researcher of the project, Dr. Ernest Teye, revealed after a conference on food fraud and authenticity at the University of Cape Coast, users of mobile phones could easily check the authenticity of the rice they are buying or are in their possession.

“With this technology, it is easier to detect where the rice was produced, whether the rice is a plastic rice or not. The technology makes it possible for each and every rice particle to be sampled and scanned,” he explained.

The market, he reveals is flooded with many substandard and low-quality rice and the technology, he is convinced will help assuage the fears of consumers.
“For instance, you will find Ghana rice packaged as rice from Vietnam and you could also find

Vietnam rice packaged as Ghana rice. These are done to deceive consumers of rice. There is also the emergence of plastic rice that caused a scare in the country few months back. The technology will help deal with them,” he indicated.

Queen’s University’s Prof. Chris Elliot, a stalwart in food fraud and authenticity, believes, the technology is a breakthrough not only for Ghana and Africa but for the world. He is confident the university’s work will help impact society positively.

“The technology works perfectly and that’s good news for rice consumers and consumers of other food stuffs as well. It behooves on state agencies to lend their support to the researchers to make huge impact with this technology,” he said.

Dean of the school of Agric, Prof. Elvis Asare Bediako is hopeful their collaboration with the Queen’s University will see to the establishment of Centre of Excellence for Food Fraud in
Africa.

“The awareness of food fraud is very limited in Ghana and Africa. This has given many people the opportunity to dupe unsuspecting consumers. The centre when established will help provide information and make people aware about food fraud and how to authenticate the food they are buying and the ones in their possession,” he indicated.

Prof. Asare Bediako says the School of Agric at UCC will liaise with the relevant state authorities like the Ghana Standards Authority, the Food and Drugs Authority and other national regulatory bodies that are responsible for assessing the quality and authenticity of food in the country.

Rice producers and other stakeholders in Agric that took part in the conference were expressed their excitement about the breakthrough. They believe it will help sanitize the industry.

 

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Dealing-with-food-fraud-UCC-School-of-Agric-develops-technology-to-detect-fake-rice-772324

 

Police Confirm Three Deaths In Khana Fresh Violence …LG Boss, Ex-Youth Leader’s Houses Razed

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The Rivers State Police Command has dispelled ‘fake news’ making the rounds that more than 36 persons were killed by suspected cultists in a raid on two Khana communities of Opuoko and Lumene in Rivers State, yesterday.
In a statement, yesterday, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed that only three persons were actually killed during the attacks on the communities in Khana Local Government Area.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Rivers State Police Command has been drawn to the above ‘caption’ making the rounds on social and traditional media on the state of affairs in Opuoko and Lumene communities in Khana LGA.
“Ordinarily, this distorted news should have been ignored as the command is not given to frivolities and fake news capable of stirring disaffection and causing panic and tension in the state.
“However, in order that the public will not be immediately misinformed and hold erroneous impression resulting from the fake news, we have, therefore, deemed it necessary to put the records straight, and state as follows: That today 18/8/19 at about 0630Hrs, information got to us that a group of cult boys invaded two communities in Khana (Opuoko and Lumene) where they attacked and killed one person in Opuoko and two in Lumene, altogether three persons died.
“The houses of the LGA chairman and the former youth leader came under attack.
“The attackers on sighting the police took to flight but were chased and two of them arrested, while the trail for others is still on.
“The two suspects are Damwua Karagbara, 33 years (alias Spider); and Dinee Prince, 23 years.
“Exhibits recovered from them include: Assorted phones and military camouflage.
“So far, calm has returned in both communities.
“The CP has ordered Investigation into the incident with a view to ascertaining the remote and immediate causes of the attack and to bring perpetrators to justice.
“We are again appealing to the public to help us with useful information that can lead to the arrest of these mindless criminals, via the following security numbers: 08032003514, 08098880134, and 08182157778”, the statement added.

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RSU, IAUOE Join Varsity Workers Strike. Today

 

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RSU, IAUOE Join Varsity Workers Strike. Today

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Workers of Nigerian universities will begin a nationwide “warning” strike today following the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum given the Federal Government to address issues of Earned Allowances, sacked workers of university staff schools and other issues affecting their members and the university system.
President of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Chairman of Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, told newsmen that the strike would be “total and comprehensive”.
Ugwoke pointed out that already, their members have been mobilised, while all the non-teaching staff in the university system across the federation have been directed to stay at home from today.
The SSANU president, however, said it would last for five days, from Monday to Friday, to serve as a warning to the Federal Government.
“Yes, the strike will start on Monday, and it will be comprehensive and total. It will last for five days – Monday to Friday. To ensure its success, we have already mobilised all our members, and they have been directed to stay away from work from Monday,” Ugwoke said.
The unions, under the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU, had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet their demands or face a nationwide strike.
The unions said the strike had become imperative as the government failed to response to their demands.
In a circular issued after the JAC meeting penultimate Thursday, and sent to all branches, the unions warned that at the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum, they would be left with no other option than withdrawing their services and closing down the universities if the government fails to address all their grievances.
Entitled: “Notice of Industrial Action,” the circular, which was signed by Ugwoke and the General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, lamented the non-challant attitude of the Federal Government towards addressing their grievances and obeying court judgment.
The circular read: “That a 14-day ultimatum of industrial action be given to the Federal Government to address the pending issues with effect from Monday, August 5, 2019. During the period of the ultimatum, all branches are hereby directed to carry out peaceful protest on Tuesday, August 6, 2019 and Thursday, August 15, 2019.
“At the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum, Sunday, August 18, 2019, without any positive response from the Federal Government, members shall proceed on a five-day warning strike in all branches from Monday 19 to Friday, August 23, 2019, inclusive.
“You are, therefore, directed to properly mobilise our members for this action. All defaulting branches shall be sanctioned accordingly.”
However, academic and other official activities would be paralysed in the two state-owned universities, the Rivers State University (RSU) and the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE) following the nationwide industrial strike embarked upon by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) under the aegis of Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU, today.
Speaking to The Tide on the decision to join the strike in the state, the Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) at the Rivers State University (RSU), Nkpolu-Oruworukwo, Port Harcourt, Comrade Azuma Cheta said members of the union would join the strike beginning from today because of alleged government’s insensitivity to the plight of their members working at the university staff schools as well as its inability to comply with the national directives of the union.
Cheta disclosed that the state government had refused to pay their members working at the staff schools and the international schools their salaries for the past four years.
The chairman said they would have relaxed the strike but for the interest of those members now languishing in pains over the government’s refusal to pay them salaries since February, 2016.
“We will comply with the directive but for our members at the international schools and staff schools, who the state government has refused to pay salaries for the past four years”, he stated.
Also at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE), the Chairman of SSANU, Comrade Chisa Egwu could not be reached for comments, but a senior staff working at the administration department, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said they held a congress meeting on the proposed strike, last Friday, at the union’s auditorium.

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Lawyer Petitions UK, DSS To Probe Buhari’s Cambridge Documents

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The Department of State Services and the London Metropolitan Police Service have received petitions to investigate the documents said to have been obtained from Cambridge University and tendered by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential election petition tribunal.
Copies of the separate petitions dated August 14, 2019, were signed by a Nigerian lawyer, Kalu Kalu Agu.
It would be recalled that the president’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, had told the tribunal that he obtained the President’s ‘assessment’ documents from Cambridge University.
He was quoted as saying he personally signed for and collected the documents on behalf of the President.
The UK-based examination body oversaw the conduct of final year secondary school examination in Nigeria and placement into foreign universities in the 1960s.
In the two petitions forwarded by Agu, the lawyer questioned the authenticity of the ‘certifying statement’ said to have been obtained from the Cambridge Assessment International Education.
He asked the UK police and the DSS to launch an investigation into the circumstances leading to the procurement.

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http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/2019/08/19/police-confirm-three-deaths-in-khana-fresh-violence-lg-boss-ex-youth-leaders-houses-razed/

 

Earn Money the Rice Way  

By Deborah Willenborg

 

ARLINGTON, VA -- If you're thinking about how to pay for college next year -- Think Rice -- because the National Rice Month (NRM) Scholarship video contest is here.  And it's easy to participate!  

If you're a high school graduating student from Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, or Texas, submit a three-minute video that creates awareness and promotes U.S.-grown rice, September National Rice Month, and the importance of rice to your state.

Entries will be judged on creativity, quality, popularity, and effectiveness in promoting U.S.-grown rice.  Sample topics include:  rice production, nutrition (think about incorporating USDA's MyPlate MyState), sustainability, marketing/promotion ... the list goes on!  

Three scholarship prizes, sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, totaling $8,500 will be awarded.  The grand-prize winner will receive a $4,000 scholarship and a trip with a chaperone this December to the awards ceremony at the 2019 USA Rice Outlook Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.  The second-place winner will receive a $3,000 scholarship, and third-place $1,500.

Last year's grand prize winner, Caroline Benoit, graduated from Louise S. McGehee School in New Orleans, and she's headed to Tulane University this fall.  Her video expounded on her locale's famous Cajun cuisine to tell a broader story about Louisiana rice production. 

"When most people think of rice they think of the most obvious - food - but there's more to rice than that so I wanted to show the positive environmental impact rice production has on my state," said Benoit.  

Entries are due by October 31. 

For more information and tips on making a great video, go to the 
NRM scholarship webpage.

 

INDIA'S APRIL-JUNE RICE EXPORTS DIVE 28.2% Y/Y - GOVT

8/12/2019

MUMBAI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - India's rice exports in April-June dived 28.2% from a year ago to 2.35 million tonnes, a government body said on Monday, as demand for non-basmati rice was subdued from African buyers.

The country's non-basmati rice exports plunged 43% during the period to 1.2 million tonnes, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said in a statement.

India's rice exports in 2019/20 are likely to fall to their lowest level in seven years, industry officials said last month, as weak demand from African countries weighs and shippers absorb the absence of government incentives that supported previous sales.

New Delhi is the world's biggest exporter of rice, buffalo meat and guar gum.

The country's buffalo meat exports during the period eased to 275,398 tonnes from 276,450 tonnes a year ago, it said.

India's guar gum exports dropped 5.5% to 127,700 tonnes on lower demand from the United States, while pulses exports more than halved to 45,344 tonnes, the APEDA said. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/indias-april-june-rice-exports-dive-282-yy-govt

 

Ambassador: SPV for trade between India, Iran fully operational

Description: Ambassador: SPV for trade between India, Iran fully operational

ROUHOLLAH VAHDATI/ISNA

The Bilateral Payment Arrangement for trade between Iran and India, called the special purpose vehicle (SPV), is fully operational, said Indian Ambassador to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ISNA, he added the primary purpose of the SPV is to settle trade transactions between the two states.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

 

Q: Given the close economic relationship between Iran and India, what is the Indian government’s approach toward unilateral US sanctions against Iran?

 

A: Both Iran and India are large, developing economies with solid fundamentals. Both countries are benefiting from their respective demographic advantages. A young and aspirational population in both countries offers enormous market expansion potential and prospects for trade diversification. Today, Iran’s GDP stands at $450 billion while India is a $3 trillion economy. At present, India-Iran bilateral trade stands at more than $17 billion (2018-19). This is an increase of 25 percent. I see our economic partnership as being on a positive trajectory. This has been reinforced by the commitment of both sides at the highest level to further strengthen our age-old, historical relations and to bring these in line with the needs of both countries in the 21st century. I am confident that our bilateral trade will increase to $20 billion. This confidence is founded on our strong people-to-people contacts and burgeoning bilateral relations.

 

Since the implementation of the Chabahar Agreement, how much investment has been done and what are the figures of the volume of cargo traffic?

 

The Indian government has extended a credit line of $150 million for the development of the Chabahar port and $85 million for procurement of necessary port equipment. These commitments are presently in the process of being implemented.

The volume of cargo traffic has been satisfactory. As of July 2019, some 3,300 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) have been handled by the Shahid Beheshti port. Since February 2019, the trade has been mainly between Afghanistan, Iran and India. Both India and Iran are committed to the development of Afghanistan. The main cargo is livestock, food grains and other essential items such as sugar. All three countries are committed to increasing their trade exchanges and trade traffic. I feel that we need to better market the benefits of Chabahar port by disseminating information to users, viz., traders, shippers and others.

 

How much is the volume of trade between Iran and India and what is the perspective for boosting trade in the future? Have sanctions affected the volume of trade between Iran and India?

 

India-Iran trade presently stands at more than $17 billion. We saw a rise of more than 25 percent in bilateral trade as compared to last year. We are working with Iranian entities such as the country’s chambers of commerce to explore ways to further boost our trade. This includes diversification of the commodity basket being transacted between the two countries. There is substantial demand in India for Iranian fruits, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, dates and saffron. For Iranian traders, we wish to attract their interest and get them to consider India’s manufactures, which are obviously highly competitive both in terms of price and quality.

 

To what extent has the rupee-rial mechanism been operationalized and how can India contribute to easing the pressure of US sanctions on Iran?

 

The Bilateral Payment Arrangement is fully operational and its primary purpose is the settlement of trade transactions. Recently, an Iranian banking delegation was in New Delhi to explore ways to make the SPV more effective. Our effort has been to diversify our bilateral trade, with a view to enhancing, diversifying and growing at a faster momentum. We are mindful of the current challenges and hurdles being posed by the current circumstances but we are committed to our bilateral relations with Iran, which is an important neighbor and regional partner.

 

What are the plans to increase non-oil trade?

 

We hold regular bilateral discussions with Iran and explore ways to increase our bilateral trade and rate of investments. These efforts have resulted in an increase in non-oil trade. Commodities like Basmati rice, soybean meal, black tea and cane sugar are seeing an upward trend. Both sides have been engaged in discussions to finalize a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) and a preferential trade agreement (PTA). These discussions remain ongoing.

 

On tourism, what facilities does India provide to Iranian nationals for visiting India? How do people of India view tourism capacities of Iran?

 

The India-Iran millennia-old relationship is founded on strong people-to-people contact, exchange of ideas and traditions, and cultural commonalities. Ties and exchanges between our peoples have been ongoing since time immemorial. These are not some 200-300 years old but date back millennia. If you travel in India, you will find that these relations are extensively documented and reflected in our common culture and shared heritage.

Today, the same urges remain between our people. The introduction of e-Visa facility by both countries has greatly facilitated the objective of deepening these age-old ties. Several thousands of Indians travel to Iran for purposes of tourism and for ziarat (pilgrimage) to Mashhad and Qom.

 

 

 

 

KeyWords

Ambassador

SPV

trade

between

India

IranDaily

 

Resource: ISNA

Related News :

·         Iran-India non-oil trade up

·         Iran, India discuss boosting trade ties

·         Pakistani ambassador says strengthening trade with Iran a priority

·         Indian ambassador hails improved Iran trade in post-JCPOA era

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Business News of Thursday, 15 August 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

UCC School of Agric develops technology to detect fake rice

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Description: GM Rice  ParliamentFile Photo

The school of Agriculture at the University of Cape Coast has developed a technology that detects fake rice on the market.

The technology will among other things deal with the fraud that is perpetrated in the production and sale of rice and also authenticate the integrity of food across Africa.

The researchers are upbeat the many fraudulent food-related activities that impede productivity and also have a consequential effect on the health of consumers would be put in check through their technology.

The university achieved this feat with the support of the Queen’s University in the UK, a pioneer university that researches into food fraud and authenticity.

With the technology, rice particles are placed on a device while the mobile phone that has been installed with an app is used to check the authenticity of the rice. It is able to indicate the source of the rice; the origin, whether it is plastic rice, rice with low quality among others.

Lead researcher of the project, Dr. Ernest Teye, revealed to Joynews after a conference on food fraud and authenticity at the University of Cape Coast, users of mobile phones could easily check the authenticity of the rice they are buying or are in their possession.

“With this technology, it is easier to detect where the rice was produced, whether the rice is plastic rice or not. The technology makes it possible for each and every rice particle to be sampled and scanned,” he explained.

The market, he reveals, is flooded with many substandard and low-quality rice the technology, he is convinced will help assuage the fears of consumers.

“For instance, you will find Ghana rice packaged as rice from Vietnam and you could also find Vietnam rice packaged as Ghana rice. These are done to deceive consumers of rice. There is also the emergence of plastic rice that caused a scare in the country few months back. The technology will help deal with them,” he indicated.

Queen’s University’s Prof. Chris Elliot, a stalwart in food fraud and authenticity, believes, the technology is a breakthrough not only for Ghana and Africa but for the world. He is confident the university’s work will help impact society positively.

“The technology works perfectly and that’s good news for rice consumers and consumers of other foodstuff as well. It behooves on state agencies to lend their support to the researchers to make a huge impact with this technology,” he said.

Dean of the school of Agric, Prof. Elvis Asare Bediako is hopeful their collaboration with the Queen’s University will see to the establishment of Centre of Excellence for Food Fraud in Africa.

“The awareness of food fraud is very limited in Ghana and Africa. This has given many people the opportunity to dupe unsuspecting consumers. The centre when established will help provide information and make people aware about food fraud and how to authenticate the food they are buying and the ones in their possession,” he indicated.

Prof. Asare Bediako says the School of Agric at UCC will liaise with the relevant state authorities like the Ghana Standards Authority, the Food and Drugs Authority and other national regulatory bodies that are responsible for assessing the quality and authenticity of food in the country.

Rice producers and other stakeholders in Agric that took part in the conference were expressed their excitement at the breakthrough. They believe it will help sanitize the industry.

 

 

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/UCC-School-of-Agric-develops-technology-to-detect-fake-rice-772176

 

Govt, PAD reveal agriculture programme worth Rs26bn

By ​ Our Correspondent

Published: August 15, 2019

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Description:  PHOTO: FILE

PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD), in collaboration with the federal government, is embarking upon an ambitious programme to promote mechanisation and seed replacement for three major crops, namely rice, wheat and sugarcane.

PAD Director General Agriculture Extension Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali revealed the programme, worth Rs26 billion, recently, while speaking to a delegation of the Agriculture Journalists Association (AJA). The DG highlighted that the project also includes promoting oilseeds besides research for improving productivity to make the crop sector profitable for public in rural areas.

He added that the programme was aimed at providing all the necessary relief and innovation to farmers to increase per acre yield, bringing down the cost of production and ensuring a suitable return to their hard work.

He continued that the country imports Rs22 billion worth seeds of vegetables, oilseeds, fodders and other minor crops and produce only wheat, cotton, sugarcane and basmati seeds locally. “The loose implementation of Seed Act 1976 is a major hurdle to provide quality seeds to farmers.

Pakistan, Bulgaria to discuss agriculture ties

He lamented that there was almost no implementation of Section 22H of the seed act which guaranteed the provision of certified fruit plants.

The DG explained that the adoption of certified seed was very low and farmers were not paying attention to wheat seed replacement despite the fact that it is our staple food and the biggest crop. “National projects on major crops are addressing this vital issue to supply certified seed at subsidies prices.”

Speaking on the issue of forcefully advocating the idea of promoting the seed replacement concept, he suggested that we should grow vegetables in lawns instead of flowers. “Anyone who has a house over two kanals of land should be recommended to grow food for his own consumption as s/he is occupying almost equal size of the per capita availability of cultivated land left in the province.”

He supported the idea of growing fruit-bearing trees comparable to eco-region instead of simple trees during the tree plantation campaign to target public health along with the target to end malnutrition in the country.

Throwing light on the projects, he said for wheat a comprehensive project of slightly over Rs12.5 billion has been chalked out while another project worth Rs3 billion will be shared by the farmers coming under its umbrella. “It will be a five-year plan in which 60% will be provided by the provincial government and 40% by the federal government.”’

He added that the project is designed to increase the yield and bring down the input cost. “Promotion of the sowing of certified seed and provision of wheat planters and other agricultural implements will be done.”

In rice, the PAD aimed to make paddy a profitable crop for the farmers by enhancing yield under a project worth Rs6.327 billion. It is aimed at promoting mechanization of rice farming. Similarly, there is a project worth Rs2.048 billion for sugarcane with the same objectives.

To decrease country’s dependence on import of edible oil, the department is taking up a project worth Rs5.115 billion to give subsidies to growers on sowing oilseed crops, promoting sesame, sunflower and canola.

Responding to a question, he said all the future development programmes are being devised keeping in view the climatic crisis. He also said all the programmes are being chalked out with the consultation of stakeholders such as Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) and sugar millers. He further said that it would help to carry out market-oriented research. “Providing insurance coverage and ‘Kissan Cards’ to small growers is another revolutionary step taken by the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2019.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2034017/1-govt-pad-reveal-agriculture-programme-worth-rs26bn/

Mangoes make money: Bangladeshi farmers abandon rice

Many are putting their faith in the country’s most popular fruit because it is more profitable and cheaper to produce

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Dr. Dalim Biswas, an agricultural scientist and manager of an agro food company, inspects a mango orchard in the Nachol area of Chapai Nawabganj district on July 29. In parts of northern Bangladesh, mango orchards have replaced traditional rice fields as farmers seek better profits. (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)

Stephan Uttom, Rajshahi, and Rock Ronald Rozario, Dhaka 
Bangladesh 
August 14, 2019

For Ismail Hossain, 45, rice farming twice a year has been a tradition for generations and the only source of income for his family of five.

Two years ago, the Muslim father of three decided to quit traditional rice farming in favor of mangoes, so he planted mango saplings all over his 2.80 acres of agricultural land at Talanda village in the Tanore area of Rajshahi district in northern Bangladesh.

Various reasons forced Hossain into the switch, including high production and harvesting costs, the water crisis and a fall in the price of rice.

“Over the past five to seven years, rice production in my fields has reduced for various reasons: the water shortage, unfavorable weather and a decline in land fertility,” Hossain told ucanews.com. “Also, the price of fertilizer, pesticides and labor doubled. The last time I made a profit from my rice was seven years ago.”

When Hossain cultivated rice, his profit was just 50,000 taka (US$592) a year; his financial burden seems likely to continue — on average, it takes about two years for mango trees to yield fruit, so he will only know how profitable his mango orchard is next summer. He is however, making money by utilizing the spare space to grow lentils and garlic — they are already bringing in a profit of about 90,000 taka a year.

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Hossain believes his orchard will yield good profits as mango is the most popular fruit in Bangladesh and it is less expensive to maintain and produce.

“You don’t need a lot of workers to look after a mango orchard and you don’t need to spend a lot on extensive irrigation and pesticides. Many local farmers like me have already started making the move,” he said.

Dr. Dalim Biswas has been an agricultural scientist and taught in various agricultural universities in the country for years.

He joined T. Islam Agro Food Industries in the Nachol area of Chapai Nawabganj district two years ago as a manager. Under his supervision, the company has planted 13,000 mango, 300 guava and dozens of banana trees on about 25 acres of land.

“Even five years ago, these were rice fields but the company was making losses every year. Now it is making a net profit of about 100,000 taka a year,” Biswas, a Muslim, told ucanews.com.

Biswas started planting mangoes on eight acres of his own land three years ago and this summer made 150,000 taka net profit from them.

“In the current circumstances I think I could barely have made 20,000 taka if I had planted rice in the fields instead,” he said. 

A mango orchard in the Nachol area of Chapai Nawabganj district in northern Bangladesh on July 29. Many farmers in the region are switching from rice farming to more profitable mangoes. (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)

 

A changing agricultural trend

In largely agrarian Bangladesh, rice is the staple food grain for most people.

Bangladesh ranks fourth in the world in rice production after India, China and Indonesia. Occupying about 75 percent of cropland and an estimated 8.57 million hectares of arable land, rice plays a vital role in the Bangladesh economy, according to the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).

Rice farming offers employment for about 48 percent of households or about 13 million rural families, the BRRI says.

Bangladesh produced 36.2 million tons of rice in 2017-18, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), which estimated that rice production hit a new high with an additional 1.3 million tons this year.

However, high production costs and low prices are forcing many farmers to prefer working with such fruit as mangoes, guavas and bananas.

Many farmers have started planting mango trees on their own land, while others have leased out their land for the same purpose.

Some locals have also found renewed interest in fish farming.

The northern districts of Rajshahi, Natore, Naogaon and Chapai Nawabganj are known as being the rice hub of Bangladesh. In the past 10 years, rice cultivation area in the four districts shrank by 200,000 hectares, but over the same period mango orchards have doubled to 70,346 hectares, according to the DAE.

Good or risky?

The scarcity of water for irrigation and financial losses due to low prices are driving away farmers from rice cultivation in the north, says Shamsul Haque, a deputy director of the DAE in Rajshahi district.

“There is no problem with fertility of the land, but water scarcity is a serious headache in many places. Due to low rainfall, farmers need to rely on underground water for irrigation, which is not readily available everywhere. Also, the low price of rice forced many farmers to incur losses and debts,” Haque told ucanews.com.

In the past 10 years, thousands of farmers have switched from rice farming to fruit and vegetables, including potato, onion and garlic, and their production has increased three to four times, he said.

“As long as farmlands are properly utilized, the environment is unhurt and farmers can make a profit; there is no problem in having a diversity of cultivation. This is so far a positive trend,” he added.

People’s interest in horticulture is a direct result of adverse circumstances, noted Sukleash George Costa, regional director of Catholic charity Caritas Rajshahi, which covers northern Bangladesh.

“This region is famous for rice but rice fields require lots of water. As the surface water has not been sufficient, people have relied heavily on groundwater, causing significant depletion. Now water has become even more scarce and people are struggling to cultivate rice,” Costa told ucanews.com.

The decline in the price of rice is also a major factor behind changing agricultural trends, he added.

However, Costa warns that changes in the agricultural cycle poses a risk to food security in Bangladesh.

“Even now, the northern region produces 30-40 percent of total rice cultivated and contributes to the near self-sufficiency in food in a densely populous country like Bangladesh,” he said. “A gradual decline in rice cultivation might result in a food crisis, especially during natural disasters.”

https://www.ucanews.com/news/mangoes-make-money-bangladeshi-farmers-abandon-rice/85823

 

The secret ingredient for making the best horchata

 

Short-grain rice grown in Morelos, Mexico, and sold under the Verde Valle brand, is available at Vallarta supermarkets in Los Angeles.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

BEN MIMS

AUG. 14, 2019

 

7 AM

When it comes to making horchata, you’d think there’s not much to get precious about. And with most of the ingredients, there isn’t. But during my research into the true version of horchata, I found many mentions of the particularly fragrant, short-grain rice grown in Morelos, Mexico, the state directly south of Mexico City.

Description: Morelos rice horchata

FOOD

The best horchata is made with Mexican-grown rice

Aug. 14, 2019

I compared batches of horchata made with Morelos rice and supermarket long-grain white rice. The aromas were distinctly different, with the rice from Morelos smelling and tasting very similar to that of jasmine rice. It’s worth seeking out and not terribly hard to find at Mexican markets. (I found the rice under the house brand name at the Vallarta supermarkets in L.A. and online.)

I loved knowing that this particular rice, whether it’s supposed to be or is ever used to make horchata, could bring a sense of place to this simple agua fresca.


FOODLIFESTYLECOOKING

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Ben Mims

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Ben Mims is the cooking columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He has written three cookbooks and has worked as a food editor and recipe developer for several food media publications, such as Lucky Peach, Food & Wine, Saveur, and Buzzfeed/Tasty. Born and raised in Mississippi, he spends his weekends stocking his freezer with biscuits and making fruit jam.

MORE FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2019-08-10/the-secret-ingredient-for-making-the-best-horchata

 

Nigeria rice straight from farm, nutritious – FCT residents

August 14, 2019 UD News 0

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By Sylvester Thompson

Abuja – Some Federal Capital Territory (FCT) residents say locally produced rice are more nutritious and healthier than the imported one.

The residents agreed that if locally produced rice was properly rebranded, there would be no need for the importation of foreign and stale rice into the country.

They spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Anthony Agbonlahor, a Constitutional lawyer and a foodstuff merchant described locally produced rice as a healthy staple food, which was becoming popular among Nigerians due to many benefits.

“Nigeria rice has a particular allure, delicacy and fragrance that makes people want to savour it with ease and apart from its nutritional benefits but it has to be rebranded for safety.

“Many Nigerians now appreciate locally produced items including our food crops which tend to compete with foreign produce and our local rice is healthy.

“Sincerely, people love rice that will not jeopardise their health condition and Nigerians don’t like wasting time picking debris.

‘`The ease of convenience is the watch word and I implore the private sector to ensure ease of cooking by eliminating the debris from our locally produced rice.

“In fact, if this is done, this rice which our children so much love can never be compared to imported and adulterated rice,’’ Agbonlahor said.

An Agriculturist and Nutritionist, Ms Vera Godwin said she preferred locally produced rice because “it is brought straight from the farm”.

According to her, no chemical or preservatives are added.

Godwin advised Nigerians to consume locally produced rice due to the health benefits.

“Though imported rice is easier to cook but we have to consider the health benefits.

“Foreign rice might be easier to cook but you still need to add ingredients for it to come out well, but our local rice doesn’t need ingredients.

“I usually eat our locally produced rice and due to its rich content, I can stay untill evening without feeling hungry,’’ she said.

The agriculturist urged the government to promote the culture of zero importation of farm produce into the country and rebrand local rice to appeal to the consumers’ taste.

Mr Peter Chinedu, Information Technology Expert and Agriculturist appealed to Nigerian local rice producers, government and stakeholders to rebrand the staple food and assist farmers to produce more to feed the population.

“Our rice is healthy but its common knowledge that oftentimes it’s difficult to pick out the stones.

“Rice producers can get it refined by eliminating those stones and this can be done by giving machinery and equipment to producers to meet international standard.

“With this done, importation of the commodity should be restricted.

“In fact, government should rather increase the price of foreign rice and reduce the cost of our locally produced rice for more appeal,’’ Chinedu said.

(NAN)

https://sundiatapost.com/nigeria-rice-straight-from-farm-nutritious-fct-residents/

 

 

Experts call for improving resource efficiency, productivity of rice sector

Active involvement of the private sector will be impactful and productive for boosting rice export of Pakistan

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Description: Experts call for improving resource efficiency, productivity of rice sector

 

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August 14, 2019

 

LAHORE           -         Speakers at a seminar stressed the need for improving the resource efficiency and the productivity of rice sectors by promoting farm mechanization and utilizing best agricultural management practices.

READ MORE: Sherlock season 5 ‘would have to be really, really special’ to return: Martin Freeman

These views were observed at ‘Khushal Kissan Seminar’, organized by the Galaxy Rice (Pvt.) Ltd. in collaboration with Agriculture Department Sindh at Shikarpur. More than a thousand rice farmers, government officials and rice scientists from Sindh & Baluchistan participated in the seminar.   The main theme of the event was to improve resource efficiency, yield, income, water productivity and food safety through mechanization, resource-efficient techniques and best management practices. Chief guest of the seminar, Sheikh Shakeel Ahmad, additional Secretary Tech. Agri. Sindh, highlighted the unique weather pattern of Sindh for ensuring food safety in rice and emphasized all stakeholders work for the uplifting of the rice sector. Hidayatullah Chhajro, DG Agri. Ext. Sindh elaborated the extension activities of the agriculture department of Sindh and appreciated the private sector for arranging such events in the rice sector. Noor Muhammad Baloch, DG Agri. Research Sindh, briefed the audience about research updates and development projects initiated by the govt in the rice sector. He said that active involvement of the private sector will be impactful and productive for boosting rice export of Pakistan.

During the start of seminar, Imran Sheikh, Project Manager Galaxy Rice, shared Galaxy’s Farmer Connect (GFC) program running successfully in Punjab comprising capacity building on the latest techniques, regular advisory service to the farmers and promoting sustainable rice cultivation as per SRP’s standard.

 Shahid Tarer Director Galaxy Rice Pvt. Ltd. urged the rice farmers for improving crop productivity, farm mechanization and food safety for complying requirements of global markets. He said that our country’s average yield is lowest in the region in addition to the other challenges like water shortage, food safety and increasing the cost of production.

Ayaz Ahmed Abro, Director Upper Sindh SIAPEP highly appreciated the approach and business model of Galaxy Rice. He elucidated the techniques for enhancing yield and income by managing problems like waterlogging, salinity, unavailability of certified seeds, approved pesticides and laser land levelling. Mir Hassan Div. Director Naseerabad shared a snapshot of the rice sector of Baluchistan. Khuda Buksh Kalwar DDA Shikarpur shared that Sindh has untapped potential in the rice sector of Sindh and assured full cooperation to connect Galaxy Rice at the grass-root level. Ashraf Soomro Director RRI Dokri, Larkana shared the rice research activities of his institution and welcome private sector in Sindh. Abdul Majeed Nizamani & Haji Ameer Bukhsh Prhore Sindh Abadgar Board appreciated the seminar and request Galaxy Rice to establish rice purchase centre and a permanent team to provide advisory service and other services like Punjab. Other main speakers were Dr. Nihaluddin Marri, Manzoor Shah, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Asmer Beg Mirza, Syngenta, Abdu Jalil Jarwar FFC, Mumtaz Ahmad Baloch Engro Fertilizer, Abdul Samad Abro Fatima Fert. and Sardar Akber Ali Khan Jaffer Agro addressed the farmers.

https://nation.com.pk/14-Aug-2019/experts-call-for-improving-resource-efficiency-productivity-of-rice-sector

Mississippi River Walk: Immersed in the science of nature

Written By: Shannon M. Geisen | Aug 14th 2019 - 11am.

Visitors wade through the Mississippi River on a biologist-led walk at Itasca State Park.Photos by Shannon Geisen/Enterprise

Itasca State Park’s newest summer program, “Science of Nature,” brings scientists and visitors together to explore Minnesota’s oldest state park.

Benton Fry, a student researcher at the University of Minnesota’s Itasca Biological Station, and Connie Cox, the park’s lead naturalist, recently led a Mississippi River walk to discover the ecology, animals and plants that call this special river home.

Beavers are constantly attempting to dam the important river, building a lodge by the headwaters.

“Every fall, our maintenance crew has to come down every single day and pull out the material,” Cox said. “Who do you think is trying to pull up wild rice and stop the flow of the mighty Mississippi? It’s our industrious beavers, already trying to dam up the rocks for the fall and winter.”

Before venturing into the water, participants touched the soft pelts of beaver, mink and muskrat.

Muskrat, mink, river otter, mice and water shrew live in the river and along its shore. A family of mallard ducks also reside here.

Beginning at the headwaters, participants waded through the Mississippi for an hour, pausing to identify whirligig beetles, wild rice and more.

Wild rice flowers in erratic patterns, that's why it ripens at varying times in August, Cox said. Minnesota has strict guidelines on harvesting wild rice.Shannon Geisen/Enterprise

Fry pointed out the river level dropped considerably over recent weeks. “With the water being down, there are some issues that could happen with the river. This is considered an impaired body of water” because of a lack of oxygen, he explained. “During the day, there’s productivity from the plants. At night, that oxygen gets used up by the animals and bugs. The fish species that can live in here are limited.”

Schools of baby bullheads scurried away from passersby, while small bass and perch hid under aquatic plants.

After guessing how long it takes water from the headwaters to reach the Gulf of Mexico, participants conducted a quick experiment with Fry’s help. By timing how long it took a tennis ball to float 10 feet, they calculated the current’s speed – a mere .74 miles per hour. Therefore, it takes roughly 131 days for water to travel the river’s 2,340 miles.

Prior to wading through the Mississippi, river walk participants calculated the current's speed through an experiment. Shannon Geisen/Enterprise

1 / 8

Flowering arrowleaf is common along the Mississippi. "Arrowleaf is also known as duck potato because it creates a tuber. Its root system is growing in this muck. It likes more stagnant, slow-moving water," explained lead park naturalist Connie Cox. "The ducks will feed on those little tubers when they're migrating."

Shannon Geisen/Enterprise

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It's raining multicolored plastic in the Rocky Mountains, according to scientists

Description: https://static.insider.com/image/5a5e4cc455ac56d5008b45da-750.jpg

The Independent

 

Aug. 14, 2019, 5:33 AM

The Rocky Mountains. Wikimedia Commons

·         Microplastics are found in even the most remote parts of our planet.

·         According to new research from the US Geological Survey, plastic particles are currently being found in the Rocky Mountains.

·         Plastic shards, beads, and fibers were identified in more than 90% of rainwater samples taken from across Colorado, including at more than 3,000 metres high in Rocky Mountain National Park

·         "I think the most important result that we can share with the American public is that there's more plastic out there than meets the eye," Lead US Geologic Survey researcher Gregory Weatherbee told The Guardian. "It's in the rain, it's in the snow. It's a part of our environment now."

·         Microplastics have been described as a significant threat to marine life and have been found in rivers, oceans and Arctic regions.

·         Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

It's raining multicolored plastic in the Rocky Mountains, according to the latest research that suggests microplastics are found in even the most remote parts of our planet.

Plastic shards, beads, and fibers were identified in more than 90% of rainwater samples taken from across Colorado, including at more than 3,000 metres high in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to researchers from the US Geological Survey.

According to the study, scientists say the find suggests "the wet deposition of plastic is ubiquitous and not just an urban condition."

Lead US Geologic Survey researcher Gregory Weatherbee toldThe Guardian: "I think the most important result that we can share with the American public is that there's more plastic out there than meets the eye. It's in the rain, it's in the snow. It's a part of our environment now."

Read moreA whale washed up dead in the Philippines with almost 100 pounds worth of trash in its stomach, including plastic shopping bags and rice sacks

Scientists — who were studying nitrogen pollution at the time — collected rainwater samples across Colorado and analyzed them using microscopes.

They believe rubbish dumped in the environment is the main source of microplastics and plastic fibers released from synthetic clothes is also a significant source.

In April, another group of researchers discovered substantial amounts of plastic waste on a remote catchment in the French Pyrenees mountains. They found 365 particles of microplastics in each square meter, according to the study published in Nature Geoscience.

Using atmospheric simulations, they found plastic waste was transported through the atmosphere from at least 100 kilometers away.

Read moreYou might be consuming a credit card's worth of plastic every week from your food

Microplastics have been described as a significant threat to marine life and have been found in rivers, oceans and Arctic regions.

In June, another study found British rivers are so polluted with waste almost all samples contain microplastics. The study of 13 UK rivers by Greenpeace revealed they all had microplastics in them.

More than four-fifths of the polymers found by Greenpeace were polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene, which are used to make products such as food packaging, milk and water bottles and carrier bags.

The growth in single-use consumer plastics has fueled a surge inplastic pollution around the world. It is estimated there are now 5.25 trillion pieces of ocean plastic debris, and a recent report estimated the quantity of plastic in the sea will treble by 2025.

Around 40% of plastics are thought to enter the waste stream in the same year they are produced.

Read the original article on The Independent. Copyright 2019. Follow The Independent on Twitter.

MORE FROM THE INDEPENDENT:

·         Trump claims 'mental wreck' Scaramucci abused White House staff in extraordinary attack on former aide

·         Black kites set to breed in the UK for first time as climate warms

·         Home sales jump as looming Brexit deadline unleashes pent-up demand

SEE ALSO: Scientists have created magnetic coils thinner than a human hair that could break down plastic in the ocean

NOW WATCH: A company in the Netherlands designed a road made of recycled plastic

https://www.insider.com/multicoloured-microplastic-particles-pollution-rain-falling-in-rocky-mountains-2019-8

 

USDA tried to cast doubt on study about climate effects on nutrients in rice

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·         Aug 15, 2019

 

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Rice grows in a watery field near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley. Flooded soils produce methane, and rice cultivation represents about 10% of human-caused emissions. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

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SEATTLE — U.S. Department of Agriculture officials made a behind-the-scenes effort last year to cast doubt on a study co-authored by two University of Washington researchers about how climate change would affect the nutrients in rice.

The UW scientists were part of an international team that included two federal agricultural scientists. They studied how increased levels of carbon dioxide forecast for the end of the century could diminish the nutritional value of rice, and joined together to co-author a peer-reviewed study accepted by a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In May 2018, weeks before the scheduled publication, findings in the rice study became a source of concern for program leaders of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

“The narrative isn’t supported by the data in the paper,” wrote Sharon Durham, a department public affairs specialist in a May 7, 2018, email to a Jeff Hodson, communications director for the UW School of Public Health.

Durham noted the USDA had decided not to send out a news release to publicize the study. “Please let me know how you will proceed with your own press release.”

A statement Durham released to Politico and later to The Seattle Times said the concerns had nothing to do with the study’s focus on climate change. They came from career scientists, Durham wrote, adding that no political appointees viewed the draft news release before the decision was made not to send it out.

“The nutrition program leaders at ARS disagreed with the implication in the paper that 600 million people are at risk of vitamin deficiency,” the statement said.

But a veteran researcher with a lead role in the study thinks the politics of climate change in the Trump administration’s USDA factored into what he views as an attempt to discredit the findings.

“It was a very bizarre set of circumstances. I had been at USDA, altogether for 26 years, and nothing like that had ever occurred to me,” Lewis Ziska said.

The multiyear study looked at what happens to a range of rice strains when grown under carbon-dioxide concentrations at end-of-the-century levels, which are forecast to be markedly higher due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The study involved eight researchers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and China. In test plots, some rice was grown with the higher levels of carbon dioxide, while control plots received no additional carbon dioxide.

The UW news release noted the study showed how rice grown at the century’s end is expected to have lower levels of four B vitamins as well as less protein, zinc and iron, and it noted that the impacts will have a disproportionate impact on poor countries where rice is a dietary mainstay.

Despite the lack of USDA support for the study, promotional efforts by UW and the editors of Science Advances helped stir media interest, with The Washington Post, The New York Times and other outlets in the U.S. and internationally reporting on the findings.

The USDA did make Ziska available for interviews. But after the splash of publicity for the study faded, Ziska, disillusioned, decided the time had come to leave. Now at Columbia University, he will continue his research on the impacts of a warming world on agriculture.

https://www.nny360.com/news/usda-tried-to-cast-doubt-on-study-about-climate-effects/article_84d0d7ac-e9da-5ef0-9fd9-ac34ab1bea87.html

Nigeria to save $20b from food import ban

Description: Nduka Chiejina and Collins Nweze by Nduka Chiejina and Collins Nweze

 

 August 15, 2019

 

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Description: Nigeria to save $20b from food import ban

 

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THE implementation of the ‘no forex for food import’ directive could save $20 billion for the economy, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data has shown.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday ordered the CBN to exclude importers of food items from accessing forex from official windows.

According to a CBN source, Nigeria saved around $21 billion in 2018 following the restriction of forex on 41 items. “With the addition of cotton, textile and garments, poultry, palm oil and their derivatives and other food/agricultural items imported into the country, it is expected that Nigeria will save more forex from the directive.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its report said “the value of total imports rose 3.39 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, and by 25.84 per cent over the corresponding quarter of 2018. From this figure, Imported Agricultural products were 7.98 per cent higher in value than in the fourth quarter of 2018, and 28.1 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2018.

If these imports that consume forex is checked as directed by the President, an immediate benefit of the directive will be an accretion to the foreign reserve which now stands at over $44 billion. This increase in foreign reserve will help keep the Naira at an appreciable rate to the dollar and the CBN will be better equipped to defend the naira against forex volatilities.

Read Also: I’ll fight insecurity to standstill, Buhari vows

Another positive implication of  the directive is that there will be increased agricultural activities across all food segments to produce the basic needs and also all the value chains associated with every food item will be motivated to expand. In other words, jobs and processes that were exported will now be domiciled in Nigeria. A fall out is more jobs and more food for Nigerians.

While it has been reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will implement the directive in phases in order to manage the impact on prices and inflation, this decision by apex bank will give respite to nursing mothers who rely heavily on imported milk to feed their babies and for Nigerian companies to develop more acceptable infant formula than what currently obtains.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, while delivering the keynote address at the 53rd Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) in Lagos last year, noted that there was 97.3 per cent cumulative reduction in monthly rice import bills, 99.6 per cent in fish, 81.3 per cent in milk, 63.7 per cent in sugar, and 60.5 per cent in wheat.

Emefiele insisted that “If we continue to support the growth of smallholder farmers, as well as help to revive palm oil refineries, rice mills, cassava and tomato processing factories, you can only imagine the amount of wealth and jobs that will be created in the country.

“These could include new set of smallholders farmers that will be engaged in productive activities; new logistics companies that will transport raw materials to factories, and finished goods to the market; new storage centres that will be built to store locally produced goods; additional growth for our banks and financial institutions as they will be able to provide financial services to support these new businesses; and finally, the millions of Nigerians that will be employed in factories to support processing of goods.

Ex AGF hails Buhari

Former   Attorney  General of the  Federation ( AGF) and Minister of Justice Chief Mike Aondoakaa commended Buhari for the ban on food importation into the country. Aondoakaa stated that the directive was coming at the right time when the country had achieved food security.

He urged the people to eat made-in-Nigeria food so that farmers would have value for their products.

The former AGF, who is a rice farmer with one of the biggest rice milling plant in Makurdi, stated that agriculture is a huge employer of Labour and the ban on food importation will increase participation in Agriculture and many will now see it as a Big business.

He urged the youths who are looking for white-collar jobs to embrace farming now.

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Nigeria bans forex for food imports but analysts worried

Description: Nigeria bans forex for food imports but analysts worried

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·          

·          

·          

·          

  14/08 - 11:51

NIGERIA

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has told the central bank to stop providing funding for food imports, his spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday, a move that has raised questions about the bank’s independence.

Nigeria, which has Africa’s biggest economy, is the continent’s top oil producer and relies on crude sales for around 90% of it foreign exchange. Low oil prices led to a recession in 2016 from which the country emerged two years ago.

Since Buhari first took office in 2015, Nigeria’s central bank has presided over policies aimed at stimulating growth in the agricultural sector to reduce dependence on oil. Those policies included a 2015 ban on access to foreign exchange for 41 items that the bank felt could be produced in Nigeria.

“President Muhammadu Buhari … disclosed that he has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food into the country,” Tuesday’s statement said.

“Don’t give a cent to anybody to import food into the country,” Buhari said, according to the statement, which said that the call was in line with efforts to bring about a “steady improvement in agricultural production, and attainment of full food security”.

“The foreign reserve will be conserved and utilised strictly for diversification of the economy, and not for encouraging more dependence on foreign food import bills.”

The latest move comes only weeks after Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele in July said the bank would ban access to foreign exchange to import milk.

Tuesday’s statement prompted many observers to point to the central bank’s status as an independent body.

“The central bank act of 2007 makes it clear that the bank is independent. It is not supposed to be taking direct instructions from politicians,” said Kingsley Moghalu, who served as deputy central bank governor from 2009 to 2014.

“The trajectory in this administration is that we have seen a very clear tendency for the president to direct people. Increasingly Nigeria’s institutions have lost independence,” said Moghalu, who was a contender in February’s presidential election.

Bismarck Rewane, an economist and the head of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives, also said the bank was supposed to be independent.

A central bank spokesman did not immediately respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.

Buhari has been a vocal supporter of such restrictions and one of his first moves after his re-election in February was to reappoint the central bank governor.

Rewane said a curb on foreign exchange for food imports could backfire after Buhari last month signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). That deal seeks to create a continent-wide free trade zone where tariffs on most goods would be eliminated.

“At this point in time these rules will be manipulated in the interest of smugglers and their accomplices,” said Rewane.

Import controls on rice, imposed even as local farmers fail to meet demand, have kept prices artificially high and led to smuggling from neighbouring Benin into Nigeria

https://www.africanews.com/2019/08/14/nigeria-bans-forex-for-food-imports-but-analysts-worried/

GIEWS Country Brief: Indonesia 14-August-2019

REPORT

from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Published on 14 Aug 2019 View Original

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Description: https://reliefweb.int/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.pngDownload PDF (236.93 KB)

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

Paddy production from 2019 second season is forecast at average level

Cereal imports in 2019/20 marketing year are forecast at a level close to average

Prices of rice declined moderately, while prices of wheat flour levelled off

Paddy production from 2019 second season is forecast at an average level

The 2019 first (main) season paddy output, which accounts for about 45 percent of the total output, was harvested by April and production was estimated at a level close to the average.

Harvesting of the 2019 secondary paddy crop, which accounts for about 35 percent of the annual output, is underway. The season started with some delays, due to the below‑average rainfall between March and April, which hampered planting operations in parts of Java, Sumatera and Sulawesi. The average to above‑average precipitation in May alleviated the moisture deficits, allowing plantings to take place and benefitting an early crop development. During June and July, which marks the onset of the dry season, localized parts of the southern Sumatera, west and central Kalimantan and Java have reported a well below‑average rainfall and higher‑than‑normal temperatures. Official reports, as of early August, indicate that in Java, which produces the bulk of the secondary season output, irrigation water availability in the main reservoirs was adequate. This is expected to limit the impact of the dry weather on crop development. As of late July, remote sensing data indicated satisfactory vegetation conditions in most of the country (see ASI map), inferring generally favourable yield prospects for the paddy crop.

In August, farmers began planting the 2019 third season paddy crop, which accounts for about 20 percent of the total annual output. The harvest will take place towards the end of the year.

Harvesting of the 2019 off‑season maize crop recently started, while the 2019 main maize crop was harvested in March. Overall, weather conditions since October 2018 until May 2019 benefitted planting and overall growth of the main and off‑season maize crops. Outbreaks of Fall Armyworm in maize producing areas, including parts of Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan provinces coupled with the ongoing dry weather conditions, could negatively affect yields in localized parts of the country. Overall, the 2019 aggregate maize output is expected to remain close to the previous year’s above‑average level, reflecting an expansion in the planted area for both the main and off‑season crops, driven by strong demand from feed industry.

Cereal imports in 2019/20 marketing year forecast at average level

The country is one of the largest importers of cereals in Southeast Asia. Total cereal import requirements, mainly wheat, in the 2019/20 marketing year (April/March) are forecast at 12.9 million tonnes, close to the five‑year average and about 10 percent below the previous year’s record high.

Regarding wheat, which is not produced in the country, import requirements are forecast at 11.2 million tonnes, close to the previous year’s high level and 14 percent above the five‑year average, on account of sustained demand for food and feed use. Rice imports in the 2019 calendar year are forecast at 850 000 tonnes, well below the five‑year average and the previous year’s high level, on account of adequate domestic supplies from the 2018 bumper output. In 2018, the imported quantity of rice reached a well above‑average level, due to significant purchases by the Government, with the aim to replenish the low public inventories and contain rising domestic prices. For maize, import requirements are estimated at 750 000 tonnes, well below the five‑year average, mostly reflecting domestic ample supplies following two consecutive bumper harvests in 2017 and 2018.

Prices of rice declined seasonally, while prices of wheat flour levelled off

Prices of rice increased moderately in January and February 2019, in line with seasonal trends, and declined between March and June due to the improved availabilities from the main season harvest. Overall, prices of rice in June 2019 were close to the levels of the previous year.

Prices of wheat flour have followed a mild upward trend, increasing by only 3 percent between September 2018 and April 2019. They levelled off in the subsequent two months and in June were slightly higher on a yearly basis, as adequate imports of wheat grain limited stronger price increases.

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August 14, 2019 18:48

Seasonal Ban on Rice Imports Lifted

.....

The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has lifted its seasonal ban on rice imports.

The decision has been communicated to all customs bureaus across the country in a letter signed by Ali Vakili, the director general of Imports and Free Trade Zone Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Fars News Agency reported.

Every year, during the rice harvest season, the government bans rice imports in support of domestic farmers and production.

Referring to the rise in prices of local rice varieties and the importance of meeting domestic needs, Abbas Qobadi, deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, underscored the need for allocating subsidized foreign currency to import rice in a letter to the Central Bank of Iran’s Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati. 

Iranians consume more than 3 million tons of rice per annum. 

“Domestic rice production is expected to reach 2.5 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year [March 19, 2020],” said Director General of the Agriculture Ministry's Grains and Essential Goods Department Faramak Aziz Karimi.

The difference between domestic production and local need is imported from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Iraq.

....

https://financialtribune.com/node/99420

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·         04/07/2015Sugar Industry Threatened by High Imports1

·         05/28/2017Rice Imports Valid Until July 232

·         02/28/2015Proposals to Foster Iran-Afghan Trade3

·         11/03/2017Iran to Buy 30,000 Tons of Indian Rice4

·         10/07/2016Rice Import Ban to Be Lifted in Nov.5

·         11/28/2017Minister Calls for Reinstating Rice Import Ban6

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With adequate support we can compete with mega rice mills By Ibrahim Musa Giginyu, Kano | Published Date Aug 15, 2019 4:25 AM TwitterFacebookWhatsAppTelegram A group of Bunkure Kofar Gari women rice processors displaying sample of their packaged milled rice – Kano women rice millers   ADVERTISEMENT The women rice processors group in Bunkure Local Government Area of Kano State has said that with adequate support and patronage from government and the general public, they can compete with other mega rice mills in the country in terms of quality milled rice production. ADVERTISEMENT Leader of the group, Hajiya Daboyi Ado, stated this when Sasakawa Africa and other agricultural development stakeholders visited the Bunkure Kofar Gari women rice processing and marketing site during a field tour to Sasakawa intervention sites in Kano state. She said with the intervention received from Sasakawa Africa in terms of rice milling machines operating training and providing the association with the milling machines, clustering, modern rice processing techniques among other necessities in effective rice processing, the women rice processing association has recorded tremendous achievement in high quality milled rice delivery to Nigerian markets. The leader added that the group has been registered and has started packaging in small quantity which they supplied to the market. She further revealed that, what they currently need is greater support from other sectors to boost their production capacity to meet the market demand of their product. “As you can see, Description: https://cdn.dailytrust.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/With-adequate-support-we-can-compete-with-mega-rice-mills-600x309.jpg

our qualitative milled rice can compete with any milled rice produced by the mega millers. What we need is additional support to complement what Sasakawa Africa has done to us by providing us with the machine which we are paying in installments and also with the technical skills. “We are ready to make use of such additional support that will enable us effectively compete with any rice milling outlet in the country,” she said. The Sasakawa Executive Director, Fumuko Iseki, revealed that she was in Kano to see the level of Sasakawa’s intervention in enhancing the livelihood of the farmers and also to see areas where Sasakawa will do more in its support towards food security in the nation. She added that, Sasakawa will continue to intervene in the agricultural sector value chain to enhance productivity and income generation of the common farmer.

 

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/with-adequate-support-we-can-compete-with-mega-rice-mills.html

Sri Lanka to give paddy dryers to help boost farmer incomes

Aug 14, 2019 12:52 PM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)

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WATER ISSUE:  Paddy coming out of a combined harvester like this made by Japan's Kubota, has more moisture than grain threshed through traditional methods.

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka will provide mobile and fixed dryers for paddy farmers , who are now forced to sell their harvest at ad hoc discounts due to moisture content, the state information office said.

The cabinet of ministers had approved the proposal by President Maithripala Sirisena, made on a request of Economic Reform and Public Distribution Minister Harsha de Silva.

Sri Lanka's Department of Agrarian Services will provide 05 farmer organizations dryers in co-operration with an association representing rice millers.

Each organization will get a 02 tonne mobile dryer costing three million rupees and a 05 tonne fixed dryer costing 06 million rupees.

They will be provided tax free. 

The dryers will standardize the moisture content of paddy and help farmers get the set price for paddy.

At the moment paddy from mechanical harvesters which have a high moisture content are being discounted on ad hoc basis, Minister de Silva has said.

You may also read

Sri Lanka looking to counter boothaya, tsunami water on paddy

The government is also working on a formula price based on moisture content he had said.

Sri Lanka has heavy state interference in agriculture which is generally protected. (Colombo/Aug15/2019)

https://economynext.com/Sri_Lanka_to_give_paddy_dryers_to_help_boost_farmer_incomes-3-15482-9.html

 

 

Pangilinan: Farmers worse off after signing of rice tariffication law

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

Posted at Aug 13 2019 11:19 PM | Updated as of Aug 13 2019 11:41 PM

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MANILA - The signing of the Rice Tariffication Law has made things worse for the country’s farmers, one of the poorest sectors, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said Tuesday.

Pangilinan said the law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February this year to address rice supply shortage and soaring inflation, is slowly killing the local farming industry after imported rice flooded the market.

“Pagkaraang ipatupad ang unrestricted rice importation, maraming rice farmers ang nagsusumbong sa atin sa bunga nitong pasakit,” Pangilinan, who served as former President Benigno Aquino III's Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, said in a privilege speech.

(After the unrestricted rice importation started, many farmers have lamented that they are suffering.)

Pangilinan said July farm-gate prices of palay (unhusked rice) was at P17.78 per kilogram, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority or P14.1 in 11 provinces, according to the Department of Agriculture.

These are between 17 percent and 34 percent lower than 2018 prices, he noted.

He said since the country produces about 20 billion kilograms of palay a year, farmers have lost as much as P60 billion since last year.

“If we talk about one farmer who averages 4,000 kilos of palay per harvest, he loses 4,000 pesos for every peso drop in palay prices in one season,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said the P10 billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) provided by the law is not enough.

“Rice farmers all over the country have made the same conclusion: At this point, unrestricted rice imports without the immediate support for the rice farmers is killing them and the industry,” he said.

Rice millers have also opted to just buy lower-priced imported rice instead of sourcing palay from local farmers, he said.

This has resulted in a shortage of darak (rice bran) which is used by poultry and hog raisers as feeds. This threatens to push the prices of chicken and pork products up, Pangilinan warned.

And since imported rice have flooded the market, there is now little incentive for Filipino farmers to continue with their work.

“Nababalewala ang pagod ng Pilipinong magsasaka. Ang nangyayari, binubuhay natin ang mga magsasaka ng ibang bansa na tumatanggap ng malaking tulong sa gobyerno nila, habang ginugutom at namamatay ang kabuhayan ng ating mga magsasaka,” he said.

(The efforts of our farmers are put to waste. What happens is we end up supporting farmers from other countries while ours go hungry and without livelihood.)

Citing PSA data, Pangilinan said retail rice prices inched down by P1.83, lower than the envisioned price cut of P7 to P10.

HELP FARMERS ‘NOW’

Pangilinan said time is of the essence for the government since the wet harvest season is set to begin next month.

“I have to press on the urgency of the situation. The main harvest will start in September. If nothing is done, we are told, the fear is palay prices will plummet to 7 pesos per kilo,” he said.

“This can create social and political problems. We are proposing solutions because criticisms are not going to work and will not help our farmers.”

Pangilinan suggested the use of agriculture special safeguards under Republic Act 8800 that can be triggered by a volume or price threshold of imports.

He said an anti-dumping duty can also be imposed if the export price of a commodity is less than its normal value in the exporting country and is causing or threatening to cause injury to a domestic industry.

“It is a little harder to avail of these remedies, but the remedies are much larger and more effective that what the special safeguard duty can offer. The suggestion could be for the DA to start looking into these options,” he said.

Pangilinan also recommended that farmers be given direct cash assistance which can be sourced from the tariff collections.

He said the provision in the rice tariffication law allowing the sourcing of cash assistance from the excess of the P10 billion tariff collection should be revisited.

He suggested that the P10 billion RCEF, which is unprogrammed in the 2019 budget, be given directly to rice farmers together with the other P10 billion tariff already collected by the government, making available a total of P20 billion for immediate cash assistance to rice farmers.

He added the Department of Trade and Industry must also go after price manipulators, while the Philippine Competition Commission should investigate rice importers for possible exploitative acts.

The DA and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council should also expedite the grant of interest-free loans up to P25,000 to farmers under the Survival and Recovery Loan (SURE) Assistance.

Lastly, he also called for the granting of emergency employment for distressed farmers.

Pangilinan said the suffering of the country’s farmers must end, as the Filipino people would eventually reap the consequences of inaction over their plight.

“We cannot have our food producers going hungry. We cannot hope to be food secure as a nation if we are not farmer secure as a people,” he said.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/13/19/pangilinan-farmers-worse-off-after-signing-of-rice-tariffication-law

 

Bickering over sale of Abakaliki rice

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Crisis has again erupted at the Abakaliki Rice Mill Industry Limited. UCHENNA INYA reports on the tussle between the mill owners/millers and the blenders, which has affected sale of the popular Abakaliki rice.

 

 

Abakaliki rice mill, Ebonyi State is a very large industry where the popular Abakaliki rice are processed, packaged and sold to consumers at various levels. Before the creation of the state on October 1, 1996 by the Late General Sani Abacha, Abakaliki had gained prominence as the city with the highest concentration of rice mills in West Africa. A rice mill industry located in the capital city; the Abakaliki Rice Mill complex had existed for decades before the state’s creation.

The industry, a business enterprise owned by private individuals, today boasts of over 400 mills where farmers, both peasant and consistent process and market rice to buyers who come from all over the country and beyond. People from neighbouring Benue, Kogi, Enugu, Cross River, Abia and other states come to the mill to buy the commodity in different quantity and also process the ones they cultivated and harvested in their farms. Also, people from far away Lagos, Abuja and others often place orders for the commodity because of its special taste which distinguishes it from others.

Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Development, Chief Steve Orogwu, gave reasons why people outside the state rush the commodity. He said: “Ebonyi rice has unique taste that is satisfying; Ebonyi rice is very nutritious, it contains carbohydrate, it contains protein, even some vitamins. Besides, the brand is very nutritious, and is even extracted and packaged for further industrial use.”

But the Abakaliki mill industry, the largest rice processing company in the state has continued to witness various type of crises which is threatening its existence. Three years ago, it was confronted with leadership crisis that nearly collapsed the industry when two factions battling for the leadership of the company severally clashed, leading to the temporal closure of the mill by the government on many occasions.

The crisis was later resolved with normal buying and selling maintained until last week when it was engulfed by new crisis with three injured and the commodity which was displayed for sale destroyed. Two groups; the rice mill owners/ millers and blenders are the actors this time around.

The millers and their supporters had accused the blenders and their own supporters who buy from them(the millers) in large quantity and sell to the consumers of using incomplete bushels(measurement) to sell the commodity, which according to millers has adversely affected the sales as customers no longer come to the mill to buy the commodity.

The millers resolved not to sell to the blenders. But the blenders confronted them and destroyed milled rice packaged by the millers. Innocent Achi, one of the millers said: “The rice millers said they are tired of fraud and want sale of rice. They said they did not want the blenders .

Chinedu Eshi, my brother became angry and started scattering any rice they see because the millers said they will not sell rice to the blenders. If the normal bushel used in selling rice is 40 cups, their own will be 36. They will minus four cups. It is what the rice millers want that we are supporting”. Another miller, Friday Okpoto, said: “The problem is that they are people that are making use of incomplete tin to sell rice. They make use of fraudulent bushels. They are known as blenders. The blenders operate this way. When they buy rice from us, they will use incomplete bushel to sell it.

Therefore, after buying rice, the rice would be incomplete. They millers do not want those people. “Because we say we do not want them, the blenders went to the former Chairman because he is the one that constituted them. When the millers said they will not sell rice to them, they will come to your shop and start forcing you to sell rice to them, even they scattered millers’ rice.

The rice millers are begging the government to intervene.” One of the blenders, Nwali Nwakaego, alleged that the millers don’t want them to survive. She said: “The rice millers do not want us to stay in the rice mill. For over one month, we do not have anything doing. We have approached them, begging them to forgive us, but they refused. That was why we went to the House of Assembly. Some of the rice millers said they should not sell rice to again.

That is why we started rioting. “Since they say we will not sell our rice, we also will not allow them to sell their own as well. We are the one that poured their rice away. We are not using incomplete bushel. We cannot stay at home and allow hunger to kill our children. Our children no longer go to school and are hungry.

We have asked them to bring the bushel they want us to use.” On her part, Chairman of the blenders, Mrs. Ununu Nenna, said despite the intervention by the state House of Assembly committee set up to look into the matter which ordered that they should be allowed to do their businesses in the mill, the millers have refused to sell rice to them, forcing them to resist it.

“When the committee from the house of Assembly came, it directed that we should go ahead with our normal businesses; that from Monday, they would address the problem. Immediately they left, the chairman said that they should not sell rice to these women. That the house of Assembly do not have power to intervene in the matters concerning the rice mill.

“I am also a mill owner but wonder why other rice millers have refused to sell rice to them. So many people were injured and others wounded. We want the government to come to our aid because immediately the committee members from the house left, they started beating the women, saying they would not sell rice to them”, she said.

The blenders, who are majorly women, had staged a peaceful protest to the state House of Assembly, calling on it to intervene into the matter and save them from untold hardship emanating from refusal of rice millers to sell the commodity to them in order to sell to consumers and use the proceeds to carter for their families.

One of their leaders, Mrs. Patricia alleged that for two months now, the caretaker Chairman of the Rice Mill, Mr. Samuel Ogodo and his men chased them out of the mill and has stopped them from working and doing their legitimate business in the area. The protesting women further alleged that Mr. Ogodo asked them to settle him with N50,000 per person before he can allow them stay in the rice Mill. Another woman, Mrs. Juliet Nwaji, added that they could no longer bear the maltreatment, discrimination and extortion, hence their resolve to stage the peaceful protest with the aim of drawing the Lawmakers and the state government’s attention to their plights.

The women numbering over 50 said they will not end the protest until their demands which include compelling the acting Chairman to allow them do their normal business at the rice Mill without harassment, and for government to checkmate the excesses of the rice Mill Chairman were met.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Francis Nwifuru, who wrote on his facebook wall over the protest said: “Ebonyi State House of Assembly was graced by the presence of some concerned women (petty traders) with placards protesting against the Acting Chairman of Rice Mill, Ebonyi State.

“In line with our investigative, regulatory and oversight functions, the House set up a five man committee to investigate the matter by gleaning information from the women, the acting chairman and the masses, to solve the problem and report back to the house.

The committee members include Rt. Hon. Odefa Obasi Odefa (Rt. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Onicha East) Chairman, Hon. Mrs. Lilian Ngozi Eziuloh (Afikpo North East) member, Hon. Mrs. Chinwe Lilian Nwachukwu (Ohaozara East) Member, Hon. Mrs. Franca C. Okpo (Abakaliki North) Member and Hon. Oliver Osi (Ivo) Member. “We enjoin all parties to remain calm and peaceful as the committee gets to work for a lasting solution to the disgruntlement.”

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Rice war in Ebonyi

14th August 2019

 

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Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki

The Rice Millers Association (RMA), Abakaliki, and a group of middlemen called Blanders in the Ebonyi State are at each other’s throat over allegation of selling rice to customers with compromised measurement tin known as bushel.

Although Daily Sun gathered that the two groups have been engaged in a running battle, the friction came to a head on August 7, leaving the whole scene chaotic. About three persons were injured and some quantities of milled rice scattered on the ground when they clashed. Some customers who came for various businesses scampered to safety when the fight broke out.

Rice millers had accused this group of rice marketers of using incomplete bushel to sell rice after buying from them (the millers) with the standard bushel; an allegation refuted by the Blanders. On their part, the Blanders accused the rice millers of using compromised bushel to sell the product to customers. They further accused the millers of unnecessary jealousy and wickedness.

A member of the RMA, Mr Friday Opoke, alleged that the Blanders were engaged in fraudulent business dealings and that they were determined to stop them: “What they do is that they buy rice from us and keep. We sell with bushels of complete size.

“Later on, they resell to other customers with their own bushel which is incomplete in size in order to make gains. So, the mill owners said that they don’t want such people to keep operating in the mill.

“The millers decided that they won’t be selling rice to them again. So, what they did was that, when they come to you and you decline to sell to them, they would break your bag and scatter your rice on the ground, violently.

“The people are calling on the government to come and address this issue before it gets out of hand. The current chairman, Ogodo, does not support that evil and he has been crying to the government to come and help us.”

A former executive member of the RMA who spoke on the condition of anonymity claimed the alleged activities of the Blanders have adversely affected their businesses: “Our bushel is 100 cups (cigarette cups). Now, these people use bushels that measure 70 or 60 something cups and the one that they say is complete is 80 cups.

“Now, when people come from Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos and other parts of the country and buy from them. When they go back, they see a different thing from what they bought. It won’t be complete.

“Not only that. They buy rice of different price ranges and mix them together. When you see this rice, you will feel that it is the best but when you measure it, the bushel will not be complete and the rice will not be what you bought. When you go back, you will be frustrated.

“Two persons are now in prison because of this. They were contracted to supply rice and they patronised these blander people. When they went back to deliver the rice, it was not what they agreed.

“In fact, there were some quantities of rice that were brought back last January and February because of these people. We don’t want these people again because they have succeeded in scaring away all our customers.”

But the Blanders have refuted the allegations describing them as false and baseless. One of them, Mrs Cynthia Obasi, alleged that they were being witch hunted for no justifiable reason: “What I am saying is that the bushel we use to sell is given to us by the chairman. There was an order that nobody should bring bushel from the outside; that it is only the one made available by the chairman that we are all going to use. We agreed and complied.

“Later, he said that he would introduce the use of scale and we agreed. We told him that we would use any one he wants us to make use of. He later changed his mind and said that he won’t bring bushel again; that he wants us to leave the mill.

“So, when we came today, the millers refused to sell rice to us. We begged them and narrated to them what we are passing through and how hunger is dealing with us and our families but they refused. There are some of us whose children are in the hospital.

“Some of us don’t have helpers. I in particular don’t have anyone helping me. I cried and begged them to sell rice to me but they refused. We didn’t vandalise anybody’s bags of rice.”

Another member of the Blanders, Ms Nwali Nwakaego, disclosed that they had taken the matter to the state House of Assembly and begged the millers to forgive and have mercy on them if they had offended them in any way but all pleas fell on deaf ears:

“We have stayed idle for one month without buying and selling. That is why we decided to embark on riot. We vowed that since they said that we would not eat, they themselves would not eat.

“What we did was that after they measured rice for other customers, we will empty it from the bag. We did so. It is not true that we used bushel that is not complete in size. Our bushels are complete.

“When the House members came this morning, they spoke to the two sides and appealed to us to make peace so that everybody will carry on with their businesses. Thereafter, they left but said that they would return. Hunger is dealing with us at home.”

When contacted, chairman of RMA, Mr Samuel Ogodo, neither picked nor returned several calls and messages to his mobile phone. However, some of the mill owners said that he is working hard to sanitise the rice mill.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/rice-war-in-ebonyi/

 

It's raining multicolored plastic in the Rocky Mountains, according to scientists

Description: https://static.insider.com/image/5a5e4cc455ac56d5008b45da-750.jpg

The Independent

 

Aug. 14, 2019, 5:33 AM

The Rocky Mountains. Wikimedia Commons

·         Microplastics are found in even the most remote parts of our planet.

·         According to new research from the US Geological Survey, plastic particles are currently being found in the Rocky Mountains.

·         Plastic shards, beads, and fibers were identified in more than 90% of rainwater samples taken from across Colorado, including at more than 3,000 metres high in Rocky Mountain National Park

·         "I think the most important result that we can share with the American public is that there's more plastic out there than meets the eye," Lead US Geologic Survey researcher Gregory Weatherbee told The Guardian. "It's in the rain, it's in the snow. It's a part of our environment now."

·         Microplastics have been described as a significant threat to marine life and have been found in rivers, oceans and Arctic regions.

·         Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

It's raining multicolored plastic in the Rocky Mountains, according to the latest research that suggests microplastics are found in even the most remote parts of our planet.

Plastic shards, beads, and fibers were identified in more than 90% of rainwater samples taken from across Colorado, including at more than 3,000 metres high in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to researchers from the US Geological Survey.

According to the study, scientists say the find suggests "the wet deposition of plastic is ubiquitous and not just an urban condition."

Lead US Geologic Survey researcher Gregory Weatherbee toldThe Guardian: "I think the most important result that we can share with the American public is that there's more plastic out there than meets the eye. It's in the rain, it's in the snow. It's a part of our environment now."

Read moreA whale washed up dead in the Philippines with almost 100 pounds worth of trash in its stomach, including plastic shopping bags and rice sacks

Scientists — who were studying nitrogen pollution at the time — collected rainwater samples across Colorado and analyzed them using microscopes.

They believe rubbish dumped in the environment is the main source of microplastics and plastic fibers released from synthetic clothes is also a significant source.

In April, another group of researchers discovered substantial amounts of plastic waste on a remote catchment in the French Pyrenees mountains. They found 365 particles of microplastics in each square meter, according to the study published in Nature Geoscience.

Using atmospheric simulations, they found plastic waste was transported through the atmosphere from at least 100 kilometers away.

Read moreYou might be consuming a credit card's worth of plastic every week from your food

Microplastics have been described as a significant threat to marine life and have been found in rivers, oceans and Arctic regions.

In June, another study found British rivers are so polluted with waste almost all samples contain microplastics. The study of 13 UK rivers by Greenpeace revealed they all had microplastics in them.

More than four-fifths of the polymers found by Greenpeace were polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene, which are used to make products such as food packaging, milk and water bottles and carrier bags.

The growth in single-use consumer plastics has fueled a surge inplastic pollution around the world. It is estimated there are now 5.25 trillion pieces of ocean plastic debris, and a recent report estimated the quantity of plastic in the sea will treble by 2025.

Around 40% of plastics are thought to enter the waste stream in the same year they are produced.

Read the original article on The Independent. Copyright 2019. Follow The Independent on Twitter.

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·         Khloé Kardashian criticised for making 'vacation calories don't count' joke with children

https://www.insider.com/multicoloured-microplastic-particles-pollution-rain-falling-in-rocky-mountains-2019-8

 

China Policy Changes Announced Again  

By Jesica Kincaid 

 

WASHINGTON, DC -- In this era of fast-paced trade policy actions, the Trump Administration and the U.S. Trade Representative recently announced a new round of tariffs on Chinese products due to take effect September 1, 2019.  The 10 percent tariff, if imposed, includes rough rice, which joins brown, milled, parboiled, and broken rice which are currently subject to a 25 percent tariff imposed in May.

Yesterday, the Administration announced that the 10 percent tariffs would be delayed until December 15, but only for some products, including cell phones, laptop computers, video game consoles, certain toys, and items of footwear and clothing.  Rough rice remains part of the proposed September 1 tariff implementation.

Explaining the delay, President Trump said, "We're doing this for Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs would have an impact on U.S. customers, which, so far, they've had virtually none." 

It is unclear whether this latest announcement of a delay in implementation for some products will reverse what was a widely reported edict from the Chinese government to stop buying U.S. agricultural products in response to the continued trade tensions.  USA Rice is keeping a close eye on developments, particularly since the first ever private sale of rice between a U.S. mill and a Chinese buyer was successfully completed earlier this summer, signaling the official opening of the Chinese market to U.S.-grown rice.   

 

Where To Go When You’re In Minneapolis’s Calhoun Neighborhood

August 14, 2019 at 10:53 am

Filed Under:CalhounCanteen 3255Darbar India GrillMahalo Nail SpaMinneapolis NewsThe Smitten KittenUp-Down Minneapolis


MINNEAPOLIS (Hoodline) — Visiting Calhoun, or just looking to better appreciate what it has to offer? Get to know this Minneapolis neighborhood by browsing its most popular local businesses, from a coffee shop to an Indian restaurant. Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top places to visit in Calhoun, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of neighborhood businesses. Read on for the results.

1. Canteen 3255

Photo: Devan S./Yelp

Topping the list is bakery Canteen 3255, which offers coffee, tea and more. Located at 3255 Bryant Ave. South, it’s the highest-rated business in the neighborhood, boasting 4.5 stars out of 56 reviews on Yelp.

Canteen 3255 has a toast bar offering toppings that include housemade nut butters and jams, local honey and more. On the menu, look for the hummus toast with provolone and Sriracha aioli or the Canteen Girl with honey cinnamon walnut butter.

2. Up-Down Minneapolis

Description: https://res.cloudinary.com/rppcloud/image/fetch/s--fPFP_urI--/c_fill,e_viesus_correct,g_auto,h_600,w_900/https:/s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/urbIlCPNKoP4OKCnFBhRBA/o.jpgPhoto: Elizabeth R./Yelp

Next up is bar and arcade Up-Down Minneapolis, situated at 3012 Lyndale Ave. South. With 4.5 stars out of 197 reviews on Yelp, it’s proven to be a local favorite.

Up-Down Minneapolis has more than 50 arcade games, pinball machines and classic skee-ball alleys. It offers over 60 craft beers and pizza by the slice.

3. Darbar India Grill

Description: https://res.cloudinary.com/rppcloud/image/fetch/s--PEjiPbEz--/c_fill,e_viesus_correct,g_auto,h_600,w_900/https:/s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/5w_1Y6U8tQhIMpNJGqaL-g/o.jpgPhoto: Kevin B./Yelp

Darbar India Grill is another neighborhood go-to, with four stars out of 266 Yelp reviews. Head over to 1221 W. Lake St., Suite 106, to try it for yourself.

The restaurant specializes in Indian cuisine offering seafood, basmati rice and special breads. On the menu, look for the chicken samosa with peas and spices, the garlic naan with cilantro or the shrimp curry with onion, tomato and spices.

4. The Smitten Kitten

Description: https://res.cloudinary.com/rppcloud/image/fetch/s--CJ3e7WFp--/c_fill,e_viesus_correct,g_auto,h_600,w_900/https:/s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/01hOo8o_8vb7-55YiH8-Hw/o.jpgPhoto: The Smitten Kitten/Yelp

Check out The Smitten Kitten, which has earned 4.5 stars out of 80 reviews on Yelp. You can find the adult store at 3010 Lyndale Ave. South.

The store offers a variety of products and books and was voted the best adult store in 2018 by City Pages.

5. Mahalo Nail Spa

Description: https://res.cloudinary.com/rppcloud/image/fetch/s--fhReLwcA--/c_fill,e_viesus_correct,g_auto,h_600,w_900/https:/s3-media3.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/QAYZv3KIwNZRpQoFKyO-Kg/o.jpgPhoto: Mahalo Nail Spa/Yelp

And then there’s Mahalo Nail Spa, a local favorite with four stars out of 182 reviews. Stop by 1221 W. Lake St., Suite 110, to hit up the salon the next time you’re in the neighborhood.

The nail spa offers professional nail services including manicures, pedicures, gel polish, nail art and more

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/08/14/where-to-go-when-youre-in-minneapoliss-calhoun-neighborhood/

 

INDIA'S APRIL-JUNE RICE EXPORTS DIVE 28.2% Y/Y - GOVT

8/12/2019

MUMBAI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - India's rice exports in April-June dived 28.2% from a year ago to 2.35 million tonnes, a government body said on Monday, as demand for non-basmati rice was subdued from African buyers.

The country's non-basmati rice exports plunged 43% during the period to 1.2 million tonnes, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said in a statement.

India's rice exports in 2019/20 are likely to fall to their lowest level in seven years, industry officials said last month, as weak demand from African countries weighs and shippers absorb the absence of government incentives that supported previous sales.

New Delhi is the world's biggest exporter of rice, buffalo meat and guar gum.

The country's buffalo meat exports during the period eased to 275,398 tonnes from 276,450 tonnes a year ago, it said.

India's guar gum exports dropped 5.5% to 127,700 tonnes on lower demand from the United States, while pulses exports more than halved to 45,344 tonnes, the APEDA said. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

© Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/indias-april-june-rice-exports-dive-282-yy-govt

 

Erosion of Doon Valley''s pride: Basmati rice

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Erosion of Doon Valley''s pride: Basmati rice

Dehradun, Aug 12 (/ 101Reporters) Rice trader Ummed Bora, a resident of Dudhli Ghat in Uttarakhand here, has just started sowing seeds for the Kasturi rice crop, an aromatic variety of rice. While there was hardly any rain during June, steady rainfall in the second week of July has given respite to the farmers in the region.

July is when seeds of Kharif crops are sowed. Bora has also planted a Type-3 paddy crop, which is popularly known as Basmati rice. Known for its aroma, Doon Basmati is slowly losing its place in markets all over the world owing to the increasing urbanisation, pollution and lack of support from the government.

Vinod Bora, a resident of Dehradun, claimed that at one point the fragrance of the crop used to envelop the whole area. When Basmati rice would be prepared, the aroma would reach the adjoining houses as well, he reminiscenced.

While Basmati is still being grown in the area, he mentioned, the area under cultivation and the income generated from the crop have shrunk.

Even other types of Basmati rice -- Haridwar-Saharanpur -- is sold as Doon Basmati rice, he claimed.

Whether it is Dudhli Ghat or Majra, the vast farms growing Basmati rice have transformed into residential complexes and flats. Bora claimed that farmers don''t get proper compensation for their crops, but they get good prices for the land.

The farmers are attracted by the profits the selling of their land garners, asserted Ummed. He said that after selling their land, they move to the towns for a job or child''s education, leaving their farms behind.

In 2017, Bora revealed that he used to export a consignment of Basmati rice worth Rs 1.5 crore to Germany. The next year it came down to Rs 50 lakh. The expected yield this year is only Rs 20-22 lakh.

Chaman Lal, a farmer, said the Basmati rice crop is very fragile and cannot withstand heavy winds. Rains are always playing havoc and it rains at a time when it affects the crop, he claimed.

He also blamed the Suswa river for the low yield. There used to be a time when the water from the river could be consumed without giving it much thought, but now it is unfit for consumption, even for animals, he added.

As a testament to the rising pollution, he informed, the water has also turned black and is being circulated to the farms in Dudhli Ghat through canals for irrigation. The water brings garbage and medical waste to the farms, resulting in the low yield.

The contaminated water from Suswa river has affected the aroma, for which it used to be famous, stated Surya Prakash, another farmer. "The river whose water we used to drink out of our cupped hands has turned into sewer.

"Nature has changed, the weather has changed, rain patterns have changed and thus, the scent of the Doon Basmati has also vanished," he said.

S.S. Rasaily, Member Secretary of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board, informed that a study has been sanctioned to find the reasons behind the decreasing yield of Doon Basmati rice and the report was expected within a few months.

He informed that there was no provision for the storage of Basmati rice seeds and farmers take turns for storage and preparation of the seeds. While this ensures quality control, there is no way for someone to procure the seeds from the market, he stated.

Rasaily said there is no record of how much the yield was 10 years ago, and thus there is no way to find out how much it has declined. He said even the Agriculture Department has no record of the trade.

The Biodiversity Board member even alleged that the Agriculture Department has not been taking any step to save the Doon Basmati.

Vinod Bhatt, a member of Navdanya -- an NGO focusing on agricultural issues -- and part of the study by Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board, said the area where the Basmati rice was being grown has reduced considerably in the last two decades.

Bhatt said the yield of varieties like Kasturi, Pusa, Basmati 1, Pant 4 has also dropped.

In addition, he said, rising temperature, declining fertility of the soil, shortage of water for irrigation, change in rain patterns and usage of chemical fertilizers have affected the taste and production of Doon Basmati.

At one point, the air around Dudhli Ghat and Majar used to be heavy with the fragrance of Basmati that rivalled sandalwood or flowers.

Doon Basmati, which had created a space for itself in the international market, is disappearing from the farms. Urbanisation, lack of awareness, water pollution and lack of support from the government has taken the crop to the verge of losing its place from plates across the globe.

https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/erosion-of-doon-valleys-pride-basmati-rice/1595170

 

Mindful Chef's healthy recipe of the week: nori wrapped salmon, ginger & spring onion rice

Each week, Myles and Giles, founders of healthy recipe box delivery service Mindful Chef, will be sharing an easy mid-week supper recipe exclusively for the Evening Standard

·         Monday 12 August 2019 12:29 

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We wrap our delicious sustainably sourced salmon in nori seaweed and bake it in the oven to intensify the flavour.

Served on a bed of fragrant ginger and spring onion rice with fresh sesame seeds, cucumber, grated carrot and a drizzle of tamari.

Recipe for two people, halve the ingredients for one person

503 calories • 47g carbs • 20g fat • 38g protein

Ingredients 

1 baby cucumber

200g carrot

250g steamed brown basmati rice

2 spring onions

2 tbsp tamari

2 tsp oil

2 tsp white sesame seeds

2 x 150g salmon fillet (skin off)

2 x nori sheets

4cm fresh ginger

Method


1. Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6.

2. To assemble the nori wrapped salmon; put the nori sheet on a flat surface, place the salmon fillet to one edge of the nori sheet, dampen your finger with a little cold water and lightly rub over the nori sheet to soften, roll up the salmon fillet (to resemble a sausage shape) then run a wet finger along one edge of the nori sheet to seal it.

Description: https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2019/08/05/14/steak-with-heritage-tomato-salad-salsa-verde-1.jpg

·         READ MORE

How to make steak with heritage tomato salad & salsa verde

 

Tuck the loose ends underneath and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven for 12-13 mins until cooked through.

3. Peel and finely chop or grate the ginger. Thinly slice the spring onion. Heat a frying pan with 2 tsp oil on a medium heat then add the ginger and spring onion and cook for 1-2 mins, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tbsp cold water and the rice to the pan and cook for 5 mins until piping hot.

4. Peel and grate the carrot, leave to one side.

5. Dice the baby cucumber into small cubes then place into a bowl with half of the sesame seeds.

6. Spoon the rice into two warm bowls. Slice the salmon and place over the rice, then place the sesame cucumber and grated carrot alongside. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the carrot. Place the tamari in a small ramekin as a dipping sauce or, alternatively, pour over the entire dish.

For more recipe ideas follow Mindful Chef on Instagram at@mindfulchefuk and check out the website

More about: | Healthy recipes | Mindful Chef

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/wellness/nutrition-gut-health/nori-wrapped-salmon-ginger-spring-onion-rice-recipe-a4211376.html

 

Experts call for improving resource efficiency, productivity of rice sector

Active involvement of the private sector will be impactful and productive for boosting rice export of Pakistan

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Description: Experts call for improving resource efficiency, productivity of rice sector

 

Agencies

August 14, 2019

 

LAHORE           -         Speakers at a seminar stressed the need for improving the resource efficiency and the productivity of rice sectors by promoting farm mechanization and utilizing best agricultural management practices.

READ MORE: Moscow deplores latest US test of cruise missile banned by INF Treaty

These views were observed at ‘Khushal Kissan Seminar’, organized by the Galaxy Rice (Pvt.) Ltd. in collaboration with Agriculture Department Sindh at Shikarpur. More than a thousand rice farmers, government officials and rice scientists from Sindh & Baluchistan participated in the seminar.   The main theme of the event was to improve resource efficiency, yield, income, water productivity and food safety through mechanization, resource-efficient techniques and best management practices. Chief guest of the seminar, Sheikh Shakeel Ahmad, additional Secretary Tech. Agri. Sindh, highlighted the unique weather pattern of Sindh for ensuring food safety in rice and emphasized all stakeholders work for the uplifting of the rice sector. Hidayatullah Chhajro, DG Agri. Ext. Sindh elaborated the extension activities of the agriculture department of Sindh and appreciated the private sector for arranging such events in the rice sector. Noor Muhammad Baloch, DG Agri. Research Sindh, briefed the audience about research updates and development projects initiated by the govt in the rice sector. He said that active involvement of the private sector will be impactful and productive for boosting rice export of Pakistan.

During the start of seminar, Imran Sheikh, Project Manager Galaxy Rice, shared Galaxy’s Farmer Connect (GFC) program running successfully in Punjab comprising capacity building on the latest techniques, regular advisory service to the farmers and promoting sustainable rice cultivation as per SRP’s standard.

 Shahid Tarer Director Galaxy Rice Pvt. Ltd. urged the rice farmers for improving crop productivity, farm mechanization and food safety for complying requirements of global markets. He said that our country’s average yield is lowest in the region in addition to the other challenges like water shortage, food safety and increasing the cost of production.

Ayaz Ahmed Abro, Director Upper Sindh SIAPEP highly appreciated the approach and business model of Galaxy Rice. He elucidated the techniques for enhancing yield and income by managing problems like waterlogging, salinity, unavailability of certified seeds, approved pesticides and laser land levelling. Mir Hassan Div. Director Naseerabad shared a snapshot of the rice sector of Baluchistan. Khuda Buksh Kalwar DDA Shikarpur shared that Sindh has untapped potential in the rice sector of Sindh and assured full cooperation to connect Galaxy Rice at the grass-root level. Ashraf Soomro Director RRI Dokri, Larkana shared the rice research activities of his institution and welcome private sector in Sindh. Abdul Majeed Nizamani & Haji Ameer Bukhsh Prhore Sindh Abadgar Board appreciated the seminar and request Galaxy Rice to establish rice purchase centre and a permanent team to provide advisory service and other services like Punjab. Other main speakers were Dr. Nihaluddin Marri, Manzoor Shah, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Asmer Beg Mirza, Syngenta, Abdu Jalil Jarwar FFC, Mumtaz Ahmad Baloch Engro Fertilizer, Abdul Samad Abro Fatima Fert. and Sardar Akber Ali Khan Jaffer Agro addressed the farmers

https://nation.com.pk/14-Aug-2019/experts-call-for-improving-resource-efficiency-productivity-of-rice-sector

 

Description: https://www.dailyrepublic.com/files/2017/07/dailyrepublic_21_940.png

Description: https://www.dailyrepublic.com/files/2019/08/US-NEWS-ENV-CLIMATE-USDA-RICE-LA.jpg

Rice grows in a watery field near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley. Flooded soils produce methane, and rice cultivation represents about 10% of human-caused emissions. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/wires/business/usda-tried-to-cast-doubt-on-study-about-climate-effects-on-nutrients-in-rice/ Researchers Find 'Best' Solution for Crop Burning-Linked Air Pollution

By Jyoti Singh | India Science Wire

7 days ago

TWC India

Farmers burning crops in a village area near Rajghat, Delhi in 2017.

(Photo: Rajesh Mehta/BCCL Delhi)

A new study has found that farmers in north India can not only help reduce air pollution, but also improve the productivity of their soil and earn more profits if they stop burning their crop residue, and instead adopt the concept of no-till farming.

The researchers compared the cost and benefits of 10 distinct land preparation and sowing practices for rice-wheat cropping rotations prevalent in north India, spread across more than 4 million hectares. They also collected primary data from 1,015 farmers in Punjab.

Based on this, they have concluded that the direct seeding of wheat into unplowed soil and with rice residues left behind was the best option. It saved on water, labour and use of agro-chemicals, reduced green house gas emissions, and improved soil health and crop yield, thus benefiting both farmers and the society at large. This process, called the 'happy seeder' system, eliminates air pollution from crop burning and reduce GHG emissions from on-farm activities by more than 78% relative to all burning options.

Happy Seeder is a tractor-mounted device. It cuts and lifts the residue of previous crop (in this case the rice straw) and sows a new crop (wheat) in its place. It is a direct sowing machine that is capable of seeding the new wheat crop, even in the presence of the rice straw residues on the soil surface without any tillage. To add to the benefit for the farmers, they can deploy the system immediately after the harvest of the rice crop. It deposited the straw over the sown area as mulch.

The study found that the happy seeder-based systems are on average 20 percent more profitable than the most common ‘burnt’ systems and almost 10 percent more than the most profitable burning options.

"Our study dovetails with the package of policies put in place by the Government of India last year to stop farmers from burning their crop residue. The package includes a US$166 million subsidy to promote mechanization to manage crop residues in fields," said Priya Shyamsundar, Lead Economist, Global Science, of The Nature Conservancy and first author of the study.

“We are working to scale up the happy seeder technology to end rice residue burning for farmers’ prosperity and better public health. We have done a detailed analysis to understand public and private costs and benefits of residue management alternatives, building on our long-term research work,” said M.L. Jat, co-author of the study and Principal Scientist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), while speaking with India Science Wire.

The results of the study have been published in the Journal Science. Researchers from The Nature Conservancy, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and the University of Minnesota conducted the study.

(This story was originally published on India Science Wire.)

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/science/news/2019-08-13-happy-seeder-improve-productivity-reduce-air-pollution-new-study

 

 

Rice revolution: Ondo plans bigger capacity mill

Description: Damisi Ojo by Damisi Ojo

 

 August 14, 2019

 

in News UpdateSouthwest

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Description: akeredolu

 

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Rice is staple food for about four billion of the world’s population. The Asian continent dominates in terms of global rice production, with China and India as topmost leaders.

The top 10 rice producing countries in the world currently are China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Bosnia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Pakistan. They are also among the top 10 consumers.

Rice is the second most important cereal after corn. In 2017, 482 metric tons were produced. Out of this, China produced 210 metric tons.

Nigeria is regarded as one of the highest rice importers globally until recently. In Nigeria, major rice producing states are Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Taraba, Borno, Enugu and Cross River.

The country is currently the leading country in Africa in rice production as well as the highest consumer.

This is as a result of the efforts of the current government to discourage rice importation.

According to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data in 2015, the quantity of rice production was put at 5.5 million metric tons, while in 2017, there was an improvement at 5.7 million metric tons. But consumption rate was put at 7.9 million metric tons in 2017.

The improvement recorded in the production rate was attributed to CBN’s Anchor Borrower’s Programme which  benefitted a total of 12 million rice farmers and four million hectares of FADAMA rice land. This has tremendously reduced import bills of the country and improved job creation.

Food security is one of the current challenges being faced in the country and all tiers of government are taking different measures to see to how this could be surmounted.

With the advent of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu-led administration in Ondo State, different agricultural programmes have been flagged off and the results being recorded so far have been encouraging.

Ondo State is not regarded as a rice producing state. It is known for cocoa, yam, cassava and cashew, among other crops.

Attempts by previous administrations in the state to work with both Thailand and Malaysia on rice production didn’t yield any positive result.

The Akeredolu’s administration seems to be gradually making appreciable progress, using calculated approach to assist rice-producing communities. Over 70 per cent of the rice farmers in the state are members of the Federated FADAMA Community Association.

The present administration has taken rice production to higher level through capacity building, access to input and funds.

It also partners with FADAMA to set up a pilot mill at Alayere in Akure North Local Government Area. The mill is meant to be replicated in all rice-producing communities. Besides, plan is also ongoing to set up a bigger capacity rice mill by the state government before long.

Visiting some of the rice farms in Akure South Local Government Area and one located near Ogbese River at Asolo-Uso in Owo Local Government Area, efforts of the state government in ensuring that the farmers who are empowered record bumper harvest were revealed.

Farmers, who cut across several associations, said their challenges included inadequate tillers to till their farms in preparation for planting. This, they said, delays the pace of work on their farms.

The state government is busy exploring all available low line areas with high aquifer that are suitable for rice cultivation. Some of the places being currently used for rice farms are Aule, Leo and Ogbese, among others.

Rice requires a lot of water to grow; it is the water-logged swamps that were cleared by the state government through the office of the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Agriculture and Agricbusiness, Pastor Akin Olotu.

At first, some of the farmers owned up that they were being dissuaded by some members of their associations not to take part in the programme when it was initiated by the state government as they described it as another deceit from government which would not see the light of the day. But they appreciated Governor Akeredolu for proving them wrong.

While speaking on his farm site at Aule area of Akure, Mr. Kolawole Joseph lamented that cattlemen had attempted severally to enter their farms with their cattle but they warded them off on each occasion.

Mr. Daniel Okpe, who has two separate farms with his wife managing one at Aule, appreciated the governor on his Leo farm for the thresher provided for them which he said helped them a great deal.

He, however, said the powered tiller operators charged N30, 000 per hectare and due to shortfall in rainfall for some time; the machine could not do any work on the farm.

Another rice farmer, Isaac Olude thanked the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Agric and Agricbusiness, Pastor Olotu for making sure the governor’s vision became a success.

He assured the farmers that the government would soon procure some sets of multi-purpose- powered tillers under the Commercial Agric Credit Scheme Loan, which would be distributed to all the rice-producing communities for smooth operation.

He explained that the powered tillers could till the ground when wet or flooded. It can also be used for irrigation and weeding purposes.

On how they maintain the farm, Mr. Sado Evans said: “Different herbicides are applied. When the crops are grown, they use herbicide called selective. The solution has been prepared in such a way that it would not have serious impact on the rice plant, but would dry up the weeds among the rice.

https://thenationonlineng.net/rice-revolution-ondo-plans-bigger-capacity-mill/

 

DOF, DA To Help Farmers Affected By Rice Tariffication Law

By Featuresdesk (ICG) on August 14, 2019

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Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Agriculture Secretary William Dar have mutually agreed over the weekend to implement the assistance program to help rice farmers adjust to low prices of palay (paddy rice) following the passage of Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.

Under the program, an unconditional cash assistance would be allocated and distributed to affected farmers by expanding the ongoing Survival and Recovery (SURE) program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency of the DA.

The expansion of SURE to assist rice farmers will also build on the good experience under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The expanded SURE program is in addition to the programs and projects mandated under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF), the annual PHP10-billion fund established under RA 11203 to be sourced from the Bureau of Custom’s (BOC) collection of tariffs on rice imports by private traders following the enactment of this law.

“This unconditional cash assistance program is meant to help cushion the initial impact of lower palay prices on our farmers as they transition to the new rice tariffication regime,” Dominguez said.

“For the long haul, the RCEF facility under RA 11203 will help sharpen the global competitiveness of our farmers by way of an array of programs providing them with access to farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds, cheap credit and skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques,” he added.

Dominguez expects that tariff revenues from rice imports in 2019 will likely exceed PHP10 billion, a development that will assure full funding of the RCEF.

The annual tariff revenues in excess of PHP10 billion will enable further adjustment assistance for rice farmers for the remainder of the Duterte administration, he said.

Dar, who chairs the ACPC Council, will convene the Council at the soonest time possible to get the SURE assistance started right away.

http://pageone.ph/dof-da-to-help-farmers-affected-by-rice-tariffication-law/

 

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Paddy stubble burning declines 41% in Punjab, Haryana

Description: https://th.thgim.com/static/theme/default/base/img/author-deafault.pngPTI

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13, 2019 18:59 IST

UPDATED: AUGUST 13, 2019 19:19 IST

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More than 4500 villages have been declared zero stubble burning.

Burning of paddy crop residue, one of the major causes of air pollution, declined by 41 per cent last year over 2016-level in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR with the help of a 1,151 crore central scheme, the government said on Tuesday.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Trilochan Mohapatra highlighted the considerable reduction in crop residue burning incidents in 2018 and said the country has demonstrated through coordinated public and private efforts that such challenges can be addressed effectively.

”...through the various efforts under the Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the State of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ the paddy residue burning events have reduced by 15 per cent and 41 per cent in 2018 as compared to that in 2017 and 2016, respectively in all these States as per the satellite data,” Mohapatra said in an official statement.

He expressed confidence that crop burning would further reduce this year.

Mohapatra said more than 4,500 villages in Punjab and Haryana were declared zero stubble burning during 2018 as not a single crop burning incident was reported from these villages during the year.

Crop residue burning in north-west India contributes to air pollution, health hazards, disruption of transportation, school closures and soil degradation.

ICAR said in a statement that 23 million tonnes of rice residue were being burnt in rice-wheat cropping system (around 4.1 million ha) to clear the field for conventional wheat sowing because of the narrow window (about 10-20 days) between rice harvesting and wheat sowing.

“Considering the findings of the SCIENCE article as well as reports from thousands of participatory validation trials by KVKs, our efforts have resulted in an additional direct farmer benefit of 900 crore compared to a burning option, ICAR said.

Mohapatra informed that the central sector scheme was launched with a total outgo of 1,151.80 crore for the period from 2018-19 to 2019-20 to tackle air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and national capital territory of Delhi.

Within one year of its implementation utilising an amount of 500 crore, the happy seeder/zero tillage technology was adopted in 8 lakh hectares of land in the north-western India.

“During 2018-19, the funds amounting to 269.38 crores, 137.84 crores and 148.60 crore have been released to the Governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, for distribution of in-situ crop residue management machinery to the farmers on subsidy, establishment of Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) of in-situ crop residue management machinery and undertaking Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities for creating awareness among farmers,” it said.

During 2019-20, funds amounting to 273.80 crore, 192.06 crore and 105.29 crore have also been released so far to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

ICAR is implementing the scheme through 60 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of Punjab (22), Haryana (14), Delhi (1) and UP (23).

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Pangilinan: Farmers worse off after signing of rice tariffication law

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

Posted at Aug 13 2019 11:19 PM | Updated as of Aug 13 2019 11:41 PM

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MANILA - The signing of the Rice Tariffication Law has made things worse for the country’s farmers, one of the poorest sectors, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said Tuesday.

Pangilinan said the law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February this year to address rice supply shortage and soaring inflation, is slowly killing the local farming industry after imported rice flooded the market.

“Pagkaraang ipatupad ang unrestricted rice importation, maraming rice farmers ang nagsusumbong sa atin sa bunga nitong pasakit,” Pangilinan, who served as former President Benigno Aquino III's Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, said in a privilege speech.

(After the unrestricted rice importation started, many farmers have lamented that they are suffering.)

Pangilinan said July farm-gate prices of palay (unhusked rice) was at P17.78 per kilogram, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority or P14.1 in 11 provinces, according to the Department of Agriculture.

These are between 17 percent and 34 percent lower than 2018 prices, he noted.

He said since the country produces about 20 billion kilograms of palay a year, farmers have lost as much as P60 billion since last year.

“If we talk about one farmer who averages 4,000 kilos of palay per harvest, he loses 4,000 pesos for every peso drop in palay prices in one season,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said the P10 billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) provided by the law is not enough.

“Rice farmers all over the country have made the same conclusion: At this point, unrestricted rice imports without the immediate support for the rice farmers is killing them and the industry,” he said.

Rice millers have also opted to just buy lower-priced imported rice instead of sourcing palay from local farmers, he said.

This has resulted in a shortage of darak (rice bran) which is used by poultry and hog raisers as feeds. This threatens to push the prices of chicken and pork products up, Pangilinan warned.

And since imported rice have flooded the market, there is now little incentive for Filipino farmers to continue with their work.

“Nababalewala ang pagod ng Pilipinong magsasaka. Ang nangyayari, binubuhay natin ang mga magsasaka ng ibang bansa na tumatanggap ng malaking tulong sa gobyerno nila, habang ginugutom at namamatay ang kabuhayan ng ating mga magsasaka,” he said.

(The efforts of our farmers are put to waste. What happens is we end up supporting farmers from other countries while ours go hungry and without livelihood.)

Citing PSA data, Pangilinan said retail rice prices inched down by P1.83, lower than the envisioned price cut of P7 to P10.

HELP FARMERS ‘NOW’

Pangilinan said time is of the essence for the government since the wet harvest season is set to begin next month.

“I have to press on the urgency of the situation. The main harvest will start in September. If nothing is done, we are told, the fear is palay prices will plummet to 7 pesos per kilo,” he said.

“This can create social and political problems. We are proposing solutions because criticisms are not going to work and will not help our farmers.”

Pangilinan suggested the use of agriculture special safeguards under Republic Act 8800 that can be triggered by a volume or price threshold of imports.

He said an anti-dumping duty can also be imposed if the export price of a commodity is less than its normal value in the exporting country and is causing or threatening to cause injury to a domestic industry.

“It is a little harder to avail of these remedies, but the remedies are much larger and more effective that what the special safeguard duty can offer. The suggestion could be for the DA to start looking into these options,” he said.

Pangilinan also recommended that farmers be given direct cash assistance which can be sourced from the tariff collections.

He said the provision in the rice tariffication law allowing the sourcing of cash assistance from the excess of the P10 billion tariff collection should be revisited.

He suggested that the P10 billion RCEF, which is unprogrammed in the 2019 budget, be given directly to rice farmers together with the other P10 billion tariff already collected by the government, making available a total of P20 billion for immediate cash assistance to rice farmers.

He added the Department of Trade and Industry must also go after price manipulators, while the Philippine Competition Commission should investigate rice importers for possible exploitative acts.

The DA and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council should also expedite the grant of interest-free loans up to P25,000 to farmers under the Survival and Recovery Loan (SURE) Assistance.

Lastly, he also called for the granting of emergency employment for distressed farmers.

Pangilinan said the suffering of the country’s farmers must end, as the Filipino people would eventually reap the consequences of inaction over their plight.

“We cannot have our food producers going hungry. We cannot hope to be food secure as a nation if we are not farmer secure as a people,” he said

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/13/19/pangilinan-farmers-worse-off-after-signing-of-rice-tariffication-law

 

One-time cash subsidy to farmers readied

By: Karl R. Ocampo - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:07 AM August 14, 2019

The government has decided to implement a one-off cash transfer to rice farmers affected by the continuous drop in the buying price of palay following the passage of the rice import liberalization law.

In a statement, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it had obtained the approval of the Department of Finance (DOF) to give additional assistance to rice farmers by expanding the scope of the DA’s Survival and Recovery (SURE) credit program.

The SURE program provides credit to farmers and fisherfolk affected by calamities, both natural and man-made. It offers zero interest and a maximum loanable amount of P25,000.

Under the DA’s proposal, its coverage will be expanded to cover rice farmers suffering from the continuing drop in palay prices. According to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, current rates are barely enough to cover production cost of P12 a kilo.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in an interview on Tuesday that the agencies were set to meet on Thursday to craft the implementing guidelines for the proposed cash subsidy.

“We don’t have any range yet (for the cash assistance)… We’re still planning and discussing it, but this has already been approved,” Dar said.

The agency added that the expansion of SURE would be built “on the good experience” under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Dar also noted that the subsidy would only be temporary and might be given out only once in lieu of the dropping prices of palay.

As of the fourth week of July, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the average farm-gate price of palay inched up by 2 centavos from a week ago to P17.76 from P17.74 a kilo.

From year-ago rates, however, this was lower by 18.6 percent.

The provinces of Cavite, Surigao del Sur and Davao recorded the lowest average rates at P13.38, P14.35 and P14.99 a kilo, respectively, while the highest rates were reported from the provinces of Bulacan and Guimaras at P22 and P21 a kilo, respectively.

“I will not call it a band-aid solution. This is temporary just to alleviate (the plight of the) affected farmers. We’ll be going for a long-term solution. RCEF (rice competitiveness enhancement fund) is a long-term solution,” Dar said.

Funding for the cash subsidy will come from the Bureau of Customs’s rice tariff collections. The DA said in a statement that Finance Secretary Carlos Domingez III expected the agency’s collections from rice imports to exceed P10 billion, which would assure full funding of the RCEF.

Tariff revenues in excess would be funneled to give further assistance to farmers for the remainder of the Duterte administration, Dominguez added.

Under the rice import liberalization law, a P10-billion annual subsidy would be directed to rice farmers to ensure their competitiveness against the influx of imported rice through the provision of equipment, seeds, credit and training.

However, due to budget delays, rice farmers are expected to benefit from it early next year at the earliest.



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GDP growth 2019 – factors to consider

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image: https://www.philstar.com/images/authors/1336383.jpg

CROSSROADS (Toward Philippine Economic and Social Progress) - Gerardo P. Sicat (The Philippine Star) - August 14, 2019 - 12:00am

Last week, the national income estimates for the first semester were released. The growth rate of output or GDP was 5.5 percent based on year-on-year estimates.

A lingering question for the whole year is whether the year’s growth target of around six percent for 2019 is achievable.

Under-performance. This was a disappointing result as the expectations were closer to six percent per year.

The foremost reason cited by NEDA for the lower growth rate was the delayed approval of the budget by the House. This forced the government to operate on the lower budget figures of the previous year.

Government budget data on actual capital outlays for the first semester this year was underspent by P101 billion as a result of the four-month budget delay.

Yet, the total increase in revenues for the same period as a result of the tax reforms under TRAIN and other administrative measures had brought in an addition P137 billion.

The government, therefore, is flush with resources to finance the capital investment programs, as well as other new spending to support in the economy.

A second factor that was cited was the prohibition of government infrastructure spending during the election campaign period.

Even as this was the case, however, the election period often meant a surge in overall aggregate demand. Thus, campaign spending would have substituted effectively for any government underspending.

A structural factor that might have affected current economic performance were the inflationary problems that occurred in the previous year. Initially, the inflationary concerns of the year caused the Bangko Sentral to dampen credit with measures to raise the bank interest rate.

At the more basic level, the government undertook the adoption of structural policy reforms that removed NFA’s monopoly over rice imports and its new policy of a freer flow of rice imports under a tariff trade regime.

The inflation expectations of the previous year, therefore, were thus tamed even during a time of elections. This also enabled the Bangko Sentral to undertake defensive monetary policy along with other central banks to reduce the interest the bank rate.

There is another important factor that led to the reduced growth rate phenomenon. It is the most unsettling factor.

Uncertain climate for world trade and industry. The external economic conditions during this period have been worsening. They have brought a degree of uncertainty and caution in the world economy.

I refer to the US-China trade war. Uncertainty has reduced trade opportunities and has affected the growth of the international economy.

The changes that are happening are not bringing good news for the Philippines because we are not fully positioned to take advantage of the changing trade realignments, as other countries with strongly open policies to take advantage of the changes happening.

Some third countries have made major gains from these transfers of manufacturing sites. (See “Winners from the US-China Trade war,” this column, Philippine Star, July).

The US-China trade war has not stalled, but has become more dangerous as the stakes between the main protagonists have risen. Some weeks back, there were hopes the two countries were close to an agreement as the bilateral official talks resumed.

But they could not come to a satisfactory deal. The result was that President Trump raised the stakes by subjecting all imports from China to an additional 10 percent tariff. A corresponding Chinese response were undertaken to target its own imports from the US, mainly of agricultural farm products.

The economic pain for both participants is clear. US prices have risen as their imports from China have become more expensive from tariff increases on Chinese imports.

In the meantime, China’s domestic industries are suffering contraction to the extent that their exports to the US had fallen and domestic manufacturing investments in China have transfered to third countries.

But the general impact of the trade war is to create greater uncertainty for trade and investments in the world economy.

Germany, the engine of the EU’s growth over the decades, has been in an economic slump. The overall impact on the EU, the second most important bloc in the world economy, has been to slow down overall growth.

The Brexit problem in the United Kingdom has caused a recession in the UK economy. As the Brexit problem enters closure by October this year, the EU and the UK are locked in continued uncertainty. It could bring a downturn to both economies in the short run if Brexit happens.

That has ripple effects too on the world economy.

Philippine status as the world turns messy with a continuing trade war. In general, even with these uncertain world events, the Philippine economy continues to be on a fairly good swing. Its sovereign credit ratings remain sound.

There is nothing that is generally unsettling, since all engines of growth continue to function well for the economy. However, a lot of its economic relations with the world remains an open book.

What could harm it is any development that worsens the international economy from its rather uncertain directions of the moment.

We trade with all these countries and our investments are also part of the chain of world investments that link every country.

Philippine trade today is highly linked to China and East Asia, its BPO services to the US and its OFW incomes derived mostly from the rest of the world. The US is also a major trading partner.

What policy-makers need to do. Philippine policy makers need to get Congress to speed up the work on tax and investment reforms under the TRABAHO bills.

Effort must be made to pass impending priority bills to improve the climate for foreign direct investments through amendment of restrictive policies.

We have lost precious time in failing to cash in on the positive changes we could achieve in a changing world because our economic policies are not flexible enough. The country could make gains out of the current mess in the US-China trade war.

My email is: gpsicat@gmail.com. For archives of previous Crossroads essays, go to: https://www.philstar.com/authors/1336383/gerardo-p-sicat. Visit this site for more information, feedback and commentary: http://econ.upd.edu.p h/gpsicat/


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Wed, Aug 14, 2019waltaAfrica News

Description: http://www.waltainfo.com/project/public/vendor/laravel-filemanager/images/buharaiii.jpgPresident Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to block food importers' requests for foreign currency in a bid to boost local agriculture.

He said the country's foreign reserve should be conserved and used strictly for diversifying the economy not "encouraging more dependence on foreign food import bills."

"Don't give a cent to anybody to import food into the country," his spokesman tweeted him as saying.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy but relies on food imports to feed its nearly 200 million inhabitants.

Mr Buhari, who won an election earlier this year for a second term, campaigned on the promise of boosting the local economy, which went into a recession in his first term.

Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and the tax and export revenue from the oil industry are vital to its economy, but most of that is spent on importing food, basic items and heavy machinery.

In the first quarter of 2018, the country spent $503m (£416m) on agricultural imports, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. That figure rose by 25.84% in the first quarter of 2019.

In his first term, Mr Buhari also blocked importers of rice, a staple in the country that is grown in several regions, from getting foreign exchange.

The move was to encourage local production but led to tonnes of smuggled rice coming in through its porous borders, mainly from neighbouring Benin.

Two weeks ago, the central bank stopped importers of milk from getting foreign currency, arguing that local production should be encouraged.

The bank is independent and it is not clear how it will would take the president's directive.

If it goes ahead with it, the move is likely to lead to an increase in food prices as importers look for alternative sources of foreign exchange, mostly from the black market which sells at much higher rates.

Many Nigerians blame similar monetary policies and a clampdown on black market traders for the economic downturn and “hardship” that characterised Mr Buhari’s first term./BBC news

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/news/african/detail?cid=49772

 

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/news/african/detail?cid=49772

 

Nigeria's president tells central bank not to fund food imports

The Nigerian leader says the directive is meant to bring about 'full food security' for Africa's largest economy.

14 Aug 2019

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Description: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has raised concerns over the central bank's independence after he issued a call for the bank to stop providing foreign exchange for the importation of food [Sunday Alamba/File/The Associated Press]

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has raised concerns over the central bank's independence after he issued a call for the bank to stop providing foreign exchange for the importation of food [Sunday Alamba/File/The Associated Press]

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Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has told his country's central bank to stop providing funding for food imports, his spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday - a move that has raised questions about the central bank's independence.

Nigeria, which has the largest economy in Africa, is the continent's top oil producer and relies on crude sales for about 90 percent of its foreign exchange. Low oil prices led to a 2016 recession from which the country emerged two years ago.

Since Buhari first took office in 2015, Nigeria's central bank has presided over policies aimed at stimulating growth in the agricultural sector to reduce dependence on oil. Those policies included a 2015 ban on access to foreign exchange for 41 items that the bank felt could be produced in Nigeria.

"President Muhammadu Buhari ... disclosed that he has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food into the country," Tuesday's statement said.

"Don't give a cent to anybody to import food into the country," Buhari is quoted as saying in the statement, which noted that the call was in line with efforts to bring about a "steady improvement in agricultural production, and attainment of full food security".

"The foreign reserve will be conserved and utilised strictly for diversification of the economy, and not for encouraging more dependence on foreign food import bills," the statement added.

The move comes only weeks after Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele in July said the bank would ban access to foreign exchange for the importation of milk.

Tuesday's statement prompted many observers to point to the central bank's status as an independent body.

"The Central Bank Act of 2007 makes it clear that the bank is independent. It is not supposed to be taking direct instructions from politicians," said Kingsley Moghalu, who served as deputy central bank governor from 2009 to 2014.

"The trajectory in this administration is that we have seen a very clear tendency for the president to direct people. Increasingly Nigeria's institutions have lost independence," said Moghalu, who was a contender in February's presidential election.

Bismarck Rewane, an economist and the head of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives, also said the bank was supposed to be independent.

A central bank spokesman did not immediately respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.

Buhari has been a vocal supporter of such restrictions and one of his first moves after his re-election in February was to reappoint the central bank governor.

Rewane said a curb on foreign exchange for food imports could backfire after Buhari last month signed on to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). That deal seeks to create a continent-wide free trade zone where tariffs on most goods would be eliminated.

"At this point in time, these rules will be manipulated in the interest of smugglers and their accomplices," said Rewane.

Import controls on rice - imposed even as local farmers fail to meet demand - have kept prices artificially high and led to smuggling from neighbouring Benin into Nigeria.

SOURCE: REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/nigeria-president-tells-central-bank-fund-food-imports-190813212702263.html

 

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PDOIS Reiterates Call For System Change

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August 13, 2019

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By Yankuba Jallow

People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has reiterated its call for system change in The Gambia.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Halifa Sallah, the Secretary General of the party said The Gambia requires a change in the system that will eradicate poverty. Sallah said the system change should address many issues including building the productive base of the economy such that the Gambia will be able to produce things that it currently imports including rice, tomato paste, juice, among others.

“We are importing what we can produce. Most of the things we are importing we can produce them,” the 66 – year – old advocate for system change told the press.

He said with a PDOIS leadership, they will ensure that the productive base of the economy is built such that the country will not import what it could produce, instead the Government will enhance the capacity of the people so that The Gambia will produce those products. Using juice as an example, the system change advocate said the fruits could be processed into the juices and thereby impact on the economy and create job opportunities for people. He said most of the products The Gambia imports can be produced locally.

“We are importing tomato paste when we can produce it. We are importing onion when we can produce it,” Sallah said, adding that The Gambia is yet to see a change in the system as he indicated that PDOIS has not seen any political party that has articulated precisely what it has expressed.

He said: “We are saying, the processing of our materials can ensure value addition and it can generate employment, foreign exchange and will ensure import substitution – what you are importing instead you will export it. That will enhance the value of your currency. This is how a State should function and this is what PDOIS intends to bring to The Gambia.”

He pointed out that The Gambia produces 67,000 tonnes of rice annually while the country needs 200,000 tonnes, adding that the current bill on rice is over 2 billion dalasis.

“We are capable of producing rice. It means that if we produce the rice that we are importing, we will be putting 2 billion annually in the hands of our producers. This is the fact but how do we enhance production, that is a question of system change,” Sallah said.

“We will ensure that those family farmers are still given the capacity to produce what is necessary for us to consume so that the two billion will be in their hands. That is what PDOIS policy is all about,” Sallah said in response to whether land should be given to a few to produce what the people need or The Gambia should engage in large scale agriculture or where there will be a system where the farmers will continue on the farms and still enhance production.

In his deliberation to the press, the deputy for Serrekunda said a State that has 28 billion in a year should be able to build its productive base.

“The state must ensure that those farmers will have the resources they need to promote their products in large scale,” the PDOIS Secretary General said, adding that “we are saying, therefore, that there must be State-owned enterprises. We are saying we need a cooperative bank where sovereign national wealth will be invested so that they will be able to give the fertilizers, the seeds, the farm implements that the family farms need in order to be able to  produce what we need. So in that respect, our country will begin to eradicate poverty.”

Honourable Sallah said for over 50 years, The Gambia still issues licences to foreign companies to harness her resources and consequently making Gambians consumers instead of producers. He cited the recent move by the Government of The Gambia when it issued license to the European Union to catch fish in The Gambia.

“This system cannot sustain the country. What is stopping us from processing our resources and selling it as our own,” Sallah said.

For Sallah, in order to end this, he said there must be a Fisheries Corporation that is publicly owned and will invest resources to buy vessels – trawlers that will go into the seas to ensure that Gambians become captains and sailors. Sallah contended that with this, it will ensure that the Gambian people feed themselves as well as process and export their own resources.

He said it is a PDOIS policy that each village should have a consolidated fund to be able to carry out their activities. He added that the needs of the communities including their needs in terms of medication will be calculated and provided to them.
“We will ensure that every village has labour saving devices to eradicate poverty,” Sallah said.

The Press Conference was attended by party supporters, members of the PDOIS Central Committee including the Chairperson Sidia Jatta, the head of the Bureau on Women and Child Affairs Amie Sillah-Sarr, Honourable Suwaibou Touray, Honourable Ousman Sillah and Saikou Nyassi among other dignitaries.

Founded in 1986, the party has been advocating for a stop to dependence of the state on domestic and foreign borrowing by the country such that it only increases debt and poverty.

Read Foroyaa on Friday for detail report on the Press Conference, the speech of Honourable Sidia Jatta and the questions and answers with the press

Stubble burning down by 41% in the North

TV Jayan  New Delhi | Updated on August 13, 2019  Published on August 13, 2019

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Description: https://bl.thgim.com/economy/agri-business/gg2tb0/article29039568.ece/alternates/WIDE_435/BL13-BURNINGRICE1

The root of the problem Crop residue burning continues because of lax implementation of regulations   -  NARINDER NANU

There was 41 per cent reduction in crop residue burning in North India in 2018 compared with that in 2016. As many as 4,500 villages in Haryana and Punjab were declared zero stubble burning villages in 2018, said Trilochan Mahapatra, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Under a central government scheme for promoting agricultural mechanisation for in-situ management of crop residue in North India between 2018-19 and 2019-20, an amount of 1,151.80 crore has been allocated. Within the first year of implementation, the Happy Seeder/zero tillage technology was adopted in 8 lakh hectares of land in these States, Mahapatra told a press conference here.

Under the scheme, financial assistance of 50 per cent of the cost is provided to farmers for purchase of in-situ crop residue management machines on individual ownership basis. The financial assistance for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) of in-situ crop residue management machinery is at 80 per cent of the project cost, he said. During 2018-19, 269.38 crore, 137.84 crore and 148.60 crore have been released to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments, respectively

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/study-lists-alternatives-to-straw-burning/article29039569.ece

 

High-yield rice seen as savior to Japan's rising food costs

Aug. 13  06:00 am JST  Comment

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Scientists: We need to take feral hogs and vampire elephants seriously

by Colm Gorey

6 DAYS AGO2.85K VIEWS

Description: Group of black feral hogs in a field against a blurred forest background.

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Image: © pascal/Stock.adobe.com

In conflicts between humans and wildlife, non-traditional culprits are often overlooked, including feral hogs.

Because of rapid urbanisation, wildlife and humans are coming into conflict more often than ever. As a result, researchers are now studying how different types of animals react to encroaching humans.

However, a pair of researchers from Clemson University in South Carolina have pointed out that some animals are being left out of the conversation.

In a paper published to PLOS Biology, Shari Rodriguez and Christie Sampson pointed to two non-traditional culprits: ‘vampire elephants’ and feral hogs. The reason these creatures have largely been left out of the conversation is because they are not carnivores and therefore not traditionally associated with a loss of livestock.

While not directly targeting farmers’ animals for food, they can often kill young and small livestock as well as damage farming infrastructure. This damage to livelihoods may also affect local communities’ perception of the species, which in the case of species with conservation concern, such as elephants, could reduce people’s willingness to support conservation initiatives.

Explaining the origin of the vampire elephant name, Sampson said it was coined after a research trip to Myanmar when she saw first-hand an incident where an elderly woman put her store of rice in a tree before sleeping beside it.

“She didn’t use a tree limb high enough so that, unfortunately, the elephant could reach it,” Sampson said. “So the elephant goes to get the rice, takes down the branch, takes her down with it and ends up killing her. When they found the body the next morning, there was no blood because she had been badly injured during the event and lost a great deal into the sandy ground.”

No, vampire elephants don’t drink your blood

With no evidence of blood, an urban legend spread claiming the elephant had drained it from her because it was a vampire.

“We tried to tell people, ‘They don’t eat meat, and they don’t drink your blood’,” Sampson said. “Part of our job is to understand those missing pieces of information for people. Fundamentally, that’s not our charge; our charge is the research.”

Rodriguez added: “If we can mitigate the conflict to begin with then we don’t have issues of ‘vampire elephants’ or (the belief in) elephants that eat people.”

Meanwhile, in the south-east US, feral hogs were also found to be a major issue, as one of the most prominent memes of recent weeks has shown.

Rodriguez has called feral hogs “ecological zombies” because “they will eat anything”, often preying on wildlife and livestock.

In their paper, the researchers wrote: “Though feral hogs may not be of conservation concern, these animals contribute significant losses to farmers’ livelihoods.

“We advocate for the inclusion of non-carnivore species in policies that promote livestock protection because it will allow for better communication regarding effective strategies and more application in the field.”

Description: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/colm-gorey.jpg

Colm Gorey is a journalist with Siliconrepublic.com

editorial@siliconrepublic.com

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Brookhaven Lab and University of Delaware begin joint initiative

UPTON, NY--The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Delaware (UD) have begun a two-year joint initiative to promote collaborative research in new areas of complementary strength and strategic importance. Though Brookhaven Lab and UD already have a tradition of collaboration, especially in catalysis, this initiative encourages partnerships in strategic areas where that tradition does not yet exist. After considering several potential areas, a committee from Brookhaven and UD selected two projects--one on rice soil chemistry and the other on quantum materials--for the new initiative. For each project, one graduate student based at Brookhaven and one graduate student from UD will work with and be supervised by a principal investigator from each respective institution. The research, to start in October 2019, is funded separately by the two institutions. Brookhaven funding is provided through its Laboratory-Directed Research and Development program, which promotes highly innovative and exploratory research that supports the Lab's mission and areas for growth.

The rice soil chemistry project, "The rice of the future: How growing practices can decrease human exposure to toxins," is co-led by Ryan Tappero, lead scientist at the X-ray Fluorescence Microprobe (XFM) beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)--a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven--and Angelia Seyfferth, an associate professor of biogeochemistry and plant-soil interactions in UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The quantum materials project, "Growth and characterization of quantized antimony-based topological insulators," is co-led by Peter Johnson, group leader of the Electron Spectroscopy Group in Brookhaven's Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, and Stephanie Law, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Materials Science in UD's College of Engineering.

"Our existing collaborations with UD are producing exceptional results, and we hope that we can expand this success to other strategic areas of research through the joint initiative," said Priscilla Antunez, assistant director for strategic partnerships at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)--another DOE Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven--and coordinator of the Brookhaven-UD relationship.

"The University of Delaware is pleased and excited to expand research collaborations with Brookhaven National Laboratory," said Charlie Riordan, vice president for research, scholarship and innovation, and professor of chemistry and biochemistry. "Our work together is destined to have positive and far-reaching impacts, of benefit to our students and to society."

Understanding the distribution of toxic and nutrient metals in rice grain

Rice is a staple food consumed throughout the world, so it is critical to ensure that rice is safe for human consumption. Most rice is grown under flooded soil conditions, which mobilize the toxic and cancer-causing element arsenic (As) that gets absorbed by the roots of rice plants. Moreover, the amount of mobilized As increases at higher temperatures, posing food safety concerns related to climate change. Though approaches to reduce soil flooding (and thus As mobilization) have been proposed, they result in the uptake of a different but also toxic element: cadmium (Cd).

Seyfferth has been pioneering research on the impact of incorporating silicon (Si)--a rice nutrient--into the soil to reduce both As and Cd accumulation in the rice grain.

"Silicon is a critical nutrient for rice and protects the plant against stress," said Seyfferth. "It also turns out that the common form of arsenic present in flooded rice paddies is chemically similar to dissolved silicon and they both are taken up by roots via the same pathway. By increasing silicon, we can limit arsenic uptake by roots. This leads to less arsenic in the rice grain and higher yield even under flooded conditions that already minimize cadmium uptake. Silicon also causes plants to grow larger, which decreases plant concentrations of toxic elements."

Now, Seyfferth will collaborate with Tappero and NSLS-II scientific associate Randy Smith to understand how rice-growing practices and conditions influence the distribution of As and Cd, as well as the important micronutrients zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe).

At UD, the scientists will use laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry--an analytical chemistry technique to map elemental composition--as a screening tool to identify rice tissue samples for high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy at NSLS-II's XFM beamline. At NSLS-II, they will perform micro-focused x-ray fluorescence imaging and x-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments. In both techniques, x-rays are directed at the sample to induce a response that is characteristic of the sample's elemental composition (fluorescence emission) or its local chemical states and electronic structure (absorption spectra). The scientists will grow the samples under a variety of environmental conditions, including elevated Si concentrations, flooding levels, and temperatures. These studies also will help optimize rhizosphere microcosms--imaging devices with a window into the region of soil directly near plant roots (rhizosphere)--that Tappero is developing to visualize As release and uptake by rice roots.

"Custom sample environments developed as part of this project with UD Plant and Soil Sciences will benefit other XFM users that aim to image trace elements in situ at the soil-root interface," said Tappero.

Growing and characterizing novel quantum materials

When materials have nanoscale (billionths of a meter) dimensions, their electrons can only occupy specific (discrete) energy levels. This phenomenon, called quantum confinement, occurs when the nanostructures--for example, wires or dots--are smaller than a critical length scale. The unique properties of such nanostructures are of interest for many applications, including quantum computers.

To date, much of the research on quantum confinement has focused on semiconductor materials, which have an electrical conductivity in between that of conductors (high conductivity) and insulators (low conductivity). But recently, scientists have been turning their attention toward a new class of materials that behave as insulators internally but conductors on the surface (i.e., electrons can only move along the surface). The surfaces of these topological insulators are special because they are protected from backscattering, which occurs when electrons hit atomic defects or other imperfections in a crystal structure or move in response to vibrations of the atoms. The scattering of electrons is problematic because it interferes with the flow of electric current, causing energy dissipation and thus loss.

Some scientists have theoretically proposed that the surfaces of topological insulators should also have electrons of discrete energy levels that are "topologically" protected. Law and Johnson will test this theory by growing self-assembled quantum dots from a topological insulator made of the elements bismuth, antimony, and telluride and measuring the dots' energy level spectrum.

"Topological insulators are already known to be interesting materials from both a physics and an engineering perspective," said Law. "What isn't known is how they behave when confined to extremely small scales. The collaboration between UD and Brookhaven will allow us to address these questions directly, and in so doing, uncover new physics and discover new applications for these materials."

At UD, Law will grow samples of varying size and chemical composition with a thin-film deposition technique called molecular beam epitaxy and characterize the structure of the samples using x-ray diffraction and microscopy techniques. Then, at Brookhaven, Johnson and team member Dario Stacchiola--group leader of the CFN Interface Science and Catalysis Group--will measure the samples' energy spectra through scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In STS, a voltage is applied between a sharp metallic tip and a sample, allowing electrons to tunnel between the two. The amount of electrical current is proportional to the density of states--the number of electrons per unit volume over a given energy level. In ARPES, x-ray or ultraviolet light is directed on the sample, and the energy and momentum of the emitted electrons are measured.

"This study will allow us to understand the electronic structure of topological insulators at the nanoscale, by measuring their quantized energy level spectrum," said Johnson. "Our research could help us answer fundamental questions about the physics of topological systems. It could also be used as the foundation to develop qubits--the counterpart to the binary bits used in today's computers--that operate at room temperature over extended distances for more efficient computing."

###

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.

Follow @BrookhavenLab on Twitter or find us on Facebook.

The University of Delaware traces its beginnings to a small private academy established in 1743. Today, UD is a research-intensive, technologically advanced institution offering more than 150 academic majors across eight colleges, serving more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Our distinguished faculty includes internationally renowned authors, scientists and artists. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies UD as a research university having very high research activity--a designation accorded fewer than 3 percent of U.S. colleges and universities. UD also is classified as a community engaged university.



This story has been published on: 2019-08-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

http://7thspace.com/headlines/933916/brookhaven_lab_and_university_of_delaware_begin_joint_initiative.html

 

More August Rice Field Days  

 

August 15 - Greene County Rice Field Day

Wall Farm (GPS 36.069195, -90.759445)

Highway 412, Light, AR

Programming begins at 8:30 a.m., and lunch follows the last stop at Delaplaine Seed Company.

Contact: Dave Freeze at dfreeze@uaex.edu

 

August 22 - Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council Field Day

Missouri Rice Research Farm

40130 Freddie Tanner Drive, Campbell, MO

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.; program begins at 8 a.m. Lunch at noon.

Contact: Mitchell Thomas at mitchells.thomas@yahoo.com

 

August 23 - Woodruff County Rice Field Day

Highway 33 N, 1.7 miles north of traffic light in Augusta (GPS 35.3173, -91.3577)

Augusta, AR

Registration begins at 10 a.m., tours start at 10:30 a.m. CEUs available. Lunch will be provided.

Contact: Brent Gordon at bgordon@uaex.edu at (870) 34702556

 

August 28 -- California Rice Field Day

Rice Experiment Station

955 Butte City Highway, Biggs, CA

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.; general session at 8:30 a.m.; and, field tours from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Lunch will be provided.

Contact: wbrimdeforest@ucanr.edu

 

August 30 - Fisher Delta Research Center Field Day

Rone Exhibit Hall

County Road 308, Portageville, MO

Registration begins at 6 a.m.; program begins at 7 a.m.; and, field tours begin at 9 a.m. Meeting concludes with lunch at noon.

Contact: Tina Clark or (573) 379-5431

 

 

Market Information

K

hanewal: Seven hospitalized after eating poisonous rice

  Last Updated On 13 August,2019 03:14 am

Description: https://img.dunyanews.tv/news/2019/August/08-13-19/news_big_images/504832_53547987.jpg

Rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the effected persons to hospital.

KHANEWAL (Dunya News) – Seven persons of the same family were hospitalized after consuming poisonous rice in Khanewal on Monday night, Dunya News reported.

According to details, condition of seven persons, including women and children, deteriorated after eating rice. The family sources said that a lizard was found in the bowl of rice eaten by the family.

Rescue teams reached the spot after getting information and shifted the effected persons to hospital. Rescue sources said that all the patients are in stable condition.

 

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/504832-Khanewal:-Seven-hospitalized-after-eating-poisonous-rice

 


Description: img

Iran awaits domestic rice sale before rice imports distribution



 

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(MENAFN - Trend News Agency) Tehran, Iran, Aug.12
Trend:

The head of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization has indicated the country will import rice to create balance in the market; however, it will be distributed after the harvest season.

"The distribution of imported rice will not started before harvest season, so that the farmers can sell their products completely," said Mohammad Bagher Nobakht,Trendreports citing ISNA.

"Farmers should not be concerned over rice imports, as part of our responsibilities in economic resilience plan is to support the farmers," he added.

"Creating 26,000 jobs in Gilan Province is on the agenda as part of the industry and agriculture sectors' development," he noted.



Iran annually consumes three million tons of rice. About one million tons is imported, mainly from India and Pakistan.

Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news

https://menafn.com/1098872877/Iran-awaits-domestic-rice-sale-before-rice-imports-distribution

 

Energy crunch hits Pakistan’s farm productivity

Description: Alternative and renewable sources of energy can help address the power issues in Pakistan's agricultural sector.

Alternative and renewable sources of energy can help address the power issues in Pakistan's agricultural sector. Copyright: ESMAP World BankCC BY 2.0

Speed read

·         Uninterrupted power supply vital for farm productivity in rural areas

·         Lowered crop production affects food security and poverty reduction

·         Renewable energy and off-grid solutions can help meet energy gap

By: Saleem Shaikh

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[ISLAMABAD] Uninterrupted energy and power supplies are critical farming inputs and their denial can affect efforts to meet the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) to reduce poverty and food insecurity, says a new study by a team of Mexican and Pakistani researchers.

Published this month (August) in Utilities Policy, the 
study is based on 2014 data collected from 950 farming households in Pakistan’s four main agro-ecological zones where cotton, wheat and rice, or a mix of these crops, are grown.

“Disruption in energy supply to the farm sector can hold back efforts to achieve poverty, hunger, health and education and energy-related SDGs in the rural farming areas”

Akhter Ali, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

The Pakistan study follows an FAO report, released in July, that pointed to farmers in developing countries facing disproportionate challenges in accessing critical inputs and services, seriously affecting crop productivity and incomes.  

Energy, now recognised as a major input in modern farming, is needed at all stages of agricultural production — to power farm machinery, watermanagement, irrigation, harvest and post-harvest activities and for food processing, storage and transportation of produce to markets.

“Disruption in energy supply to the farm sector can hold back efforts to achieve poverty, hunger, 
health and education and energy-related SDGs  in the rural farming areas,” Akhter Ali, corresponding author of the study and agricultural economist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Islamabad, tells SciDev.Net.

Overall household income is 13–20 per cent lower for farmers affected by the energy crisis compared to those who suffer no power outages, according to the study. Yields in kilograms per hectare went down for wheat (46-62 kilograms), rice (51-67 kilograms) and maize (53-117 kilograms) in areas affected by power outages during 2014.   

Sugarcane and cotton, Pakistan’s main cash crops, were also significantly affected by the energy disruptions, according to the study.

“Because wheat and rice are major cereal crops and vital to rural household sustenance and overall national 
food security, any decline in their yield has direct impact. Maize yields are central for industrial uses, especially poultryfeed and edible corn oil production,” Akhter Ali tells SciDev.Net.

Khalid Mahmood Chaudhry, associate professor at the 
Institute of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development,  says energy shortages can adversely affect living, lifestyle, nutrition, health, education and employment-related SDGs for agriculture-dependent rural communities.

“Increasing rural communities’ dependence on clean, reliable and 
sustainableenergy sources away from fossil fuels sources is key for agricultural sustainability and rural growth,” Chaudhry tells SciDev.Net.

You might also like

·         Increasing aridity threatens food security in Pakistan

·         Tax reforms can help fund SDGs in Asia Pacific

·         Powering up the ‘last mile’ in renewable energy rollout

·         Pakistan can meet SDGs by tapping wind, solar energy

·         ASEAN countries lag on renewable energy

·         Q&A: Nutrition solutions lie beyond health

·         Q&A: ‘Sustainable energy makes people bankable’

Baqer Raza, director-general of the Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies, says the use of solar-powered irrigation systems, solar tube wells, wind pumps, solar dryers and water wheels for processing agricultural products could help bridge the energy gap in rural areas where 65 per cent of people lack access to power supplies.

Pakistan can generate 2.9 million megawatts from solar, 340,000 megawatts from wind and 100,000 megawatts from hydropower, according to officials at the government-owned 
Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB). “But the potential remains unharnessed due to paucity of funds and lack of political will,” says Sajjad Ahmed, former chief executive officer of AEDB.

Amjad Hussain Sial, secretary general of the 
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Energy Centre, tells SciDev.Net that “introducing alternative models such as renewable energy-based off-grid and distributed generation solutions, such as  1—5 megawatt off-grid village or community-based solar and wind systems, can significantly help mitigate rural energy woes in South Asia”.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Asia & Pacific desk.

https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/energy/news/energy-crunch-hits-pakistan-s-farm-productivity.html

 

Arkansas, Rice to meet for first time in 20 years

Arkansas will renew an old Southwest Conference rivalry when it hosts Rice in 2021.Aug. 10 2019 @ 2:50am

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http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/sports/college/story/2019/aug/10/arkansas-rice-meet-first-time-20-years/790037/

 

 

Violation of midday- meal scheme 

Last updated Aug 13, 2019

Editor,

Through your esteemed daily, I  would like to draw the attention of the concerned authorities  about illegal collection of money  by the Secretary,  Ramkrishna Upper Primary School, Umsohsun, Shillong  from the parents of the  students while distributing rice and lentil (both uncooked) to the students under mid-day meal scheme. On August 9, 2019 the school management distributed rice and lentils to the students and collected Rs. 50 from each student as transportation cost without issuing any receipt/acknowledgement. This is in  gross violation of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. As per the guidelines, Central assistance is provided for management, monitoring, evaluation, transport (subsidy) and cooking to implement the scheme. It has been revealed on enquiry by the parents that the amount was collected on the direction of Secretary of the School Managing Committee. When transport subsidy is being provided by the Central Government, under what authority is the Secretary collecting money for transportation? Such action on the part of the Secretary is a blatant violation of Midday Meals Rules 2015 and needs urgent intervention by State Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee (SSMC) for Mid-Day Meal Scheme which is mandated to supervise implementation of the scheme at State level as per Rule 6 of Midday Meals Rules 2015.

We would therefore, urge the authorities particularly the SSMC to immediately look into the issue and take appropriate steps against the errant persons.

Yours etc.,

Abbas Khan

Shillong -2

Why is HM avoiding Kerala?

Editor,

Is the BJP indulging in politics of favouritism, partisanship even while distributing funds to flood-affected states? The answer seems to be in the affirmative going by the BJP’s recent approach to the flood-affected states. Last year the Centre released Rs 3,000 crore as relief package to Kerala, which witnessed Rs.10,000 crore losses due to floods, whereas Uttar Pradesh  where there were no floods, was given Rs 200 crore  last year as flood related funds while Assam got just Rs.250 crore even though  it is affected by floods year after year.

Presently, nine states of the country-Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and Punjab are under the grip of heavy and consistent rainfall and are affected by floods. Kerala and Karnataka are facing a grim situation and death toll in Kerala alone stood at 76 as on August 12, 2019.

What compounds the grief of the Keralites is that Union Home Minster Amit Shah had carried out an aerial survey in Karnataka and in Maharashtra on Sunday leaving out Kerala where casualties due to flood were severe. Yet, all is not lost. Rahul Gandhi had just flown in from Delhi and is now camping in Wayanad and coordinating relief operations. His presence in Wayanad has provided much moral strength to the people who are going through trials and tribulations at this time of natural calamity.

What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If Union Home Minister carried out aerial survey in the neighbouring Karnataka, he should have visited the most flood-hit Kerala too especially in Wayanad and Malappuram where many people were buried alive in the landslides. Unfortunately, what justification or explanation does the Union Home Minister has in this regard even while he is curiously watched by millions of people.

Yours etc.,

TK Nandanan,

Via email

 A defiant Pakistan

Editor,

As expected, Pakistan is again poking its ugly nose unnecessarily in the internal affairs of India. They have not learnt any lesson so far even after suffering so many defeats in the hands of India. In fact, instead of Kashmir which is an integral part of the Indian Union it is high time for Pakistan that as a substitute of flaunting on Kashmir and drawing unwarranted attention of the world it should better divert its attention from Kashmir towards its own province of Balochistan and the areas of Baltistan and Gilgit. If they are still sluggish and not showing sincere concern for the area and the people, as above, then it may prove to be perilous. One fine morning they might find to their surprise that those regions are no more part of Pakistan.

Indifference and lack of concern has a limit and thus there are chances that the people concerned may raise their voices louder and come out of the clutches of cruelty and unresponsiveness exhibited by the national leaders of Pakistan towards them and that too for decades. The advice here for the Pakistanis is that they stop worrying about Kashmir and go and save their own nation which is suffering from instability.

Yours etc.,

Bibhash Dhar,

Via email

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http://www.theshillongtimes.com/2019/08/13/violation-of-midday-meal-scheme/

 

 

Senate body recommends study before signing FTAs

Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Afghanistan was worth $2,119 million in 2013-14 but now it has reduced to $1,879.7 million There is no hiccup in export office but problems are being faced in yarn export

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Imran Ali Kundi

August 10, 2019

 

ISLAMABAD     -    Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile has recommended to conducting a thorough study as to what are Pakistan’s requirements from the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), which countries fulfil our requirements best and then sign FTAs with those countries.

READ MORE: Pakistan, Russia discuss defense cooperation in Moscow

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi at the Parliament House and was attended by Senators Aurangzeb Khan, Nauman Wazir Khattak and officials from the ministry.

Senators were given briefing on order worth $1 Billion received from China for import of sugar, yarn and rice.

Members of the Committee were of the view that whenever those in position of making policy decisions are in consultations with foreign delegations on the matters of exports and imports all commitments should be based on informed opinions and they should not give statements off the cuff and should give consideration to consulting the stakeholders first. The Committee was told that there is no hiccup in export office but some problems are being faced in yarn export.

The Committee was also given a briefing on the draft e-commerce policy of Pakistan which is aimed at making payment settlements for small entrepreneurs of the country.

READ MORE: Moscow deplores latest US test of cruise missile banned by INF Treaty

The meeting was told that freelancers working in different parts of the country and providing services to clients globally are facing issues in receiving their payments against their work because there is no registered e-commerce mechanism.

This policy framework will serve the purpose and a close coordination with Pakistan Post will take it beyond just payments but will process delivery of orders as well.

The Committee while holding a briefing on trade with Afghanistan was told that Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Afghanistan in 2013-14 was of $2119.22 million but today it has reduced to $1879.68 million.

Country’s exports in 2013-14 was $1760.17 million and in 2018-19 it is $1322 million with imports increasing to $557.68 million in 2018-19 from $359.05 million in 2013-14.

READ MORE: Govt committed towards women welfare: Dr Sania Nishter

The meeting was told that in sugar, sugar confectionaries, exports to Afghanistan have increased but in cement, rice, animal vegetable fats, citrus fruit, potatoes, rods, exports have declined.

The Committee noted that documentation of data is important for this reason because it shows the changing patterns of the world which is important in today’s competitive market to see what improvements and changes are needed in your products to hold on to a market.

Regarding wire saw cutting project in Buner by TDAP with PASDEC, the Committee was told that an amount of 5 crores was given to PASDEC for the project and the remaining 6 crore 66 lacs was made conditional with proper detail of how the previous money was utilised.

However, the officials from PASDEC could not give a satisfactory response as to what has been the efficiency of the work if conducted any.

READ MORE: AC reserves verdict on Zardari, Talpur's pleas for A-class jail facilities

The Committee sought details of PC-1,2,3,4 and all the requisite information on the said project along with audit of the funds by the next meeting.

https://nation.com.pk/10-Aug-2019/senate-body-recommends-study-before-signing-ftas Description: Burning of rice residues in southeast Punjab, India, prior to the wheat season. Credit ©Neil Palmer/CIAT

Burning of rice residues in southeast Punjab, India, prior to the wheat season. Credit: ©Neil Palmer/CIAT

1 Business Environment 

Alternatives To Burning Can Increase Indian Farmers’ Profits And Cut Pollution

 August 10, 2019  Eurasia Review  0 Comments

By Eurasia Review

A new economic study in the journal Science shows that thousands of farmers in northern India could increase their profits if they stop burning their rice straw and adopt no-till practices to grow wheat. Alternative farming practices could also cut farmers’ greenhouse gas emissions from on-farm activities by as much as 78% and help lower air pollution in cities like New Delhi.

The new study compares the costs and benefits of 10 distinct land preparation and sowing practices for northern India’s rice-wheat cropping rotations, which are spread across more than 4 million hectares. The direct seeding of wheat into unplowed soil and shredded rice residues was the best option — it raises farmers’ profits through higher yields and savings in labor, fuel, and machinery costs.

The study, conducted by a global team of eminent agriculture and environmental scientists, was led by researchers from The Nature Conservancy, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and the University of Minnesota.

A burning issue

To quickly and cheaply clear their fields to sow wheat each year, farmers in northern India burn an estimated 23 million tons of straw from their rice harvests. That enormous mass of straw, if packed into 20-kilogram 38-centimeter-high bales and piled on top of each other, would reach a height of over 430,000 kilometers — about 1.1 times the distance to the moon.

Regulations are in place in India to reduce agricultural fires but burning continues because of implementation challenges and lack of clarity about the profitability of alternate, no-burn farming. Farmers have alternatives, the study shows. To sow wheat directly without plowing or burning rice straw, farmers need to purchase or rent a tractor-mounted implement known as the “Happy Seeder,” as well as attach straw shedders to their rice harvesters. Leaving straw on the soil as a mulch helps capture and retain moisture and also improves soil quality, according to M.L. Jat, CIMMYT Principal Scientist, cropping systems specialist and a co-author of the study.

Win-win

The Science study demonstrates that it is possible to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is profitable to farmers and scalable.

The paper shows that Happy Seeder-based systems are on average 10%-20% more profitable than straw burning options.

“Our study dovetails with 2018 policies put in place by the government of India to stop farmers from burning, which includes a US$166 million subsidy to promote mechanization to manage crop residues within fields,” said Priya Shyamsundar, Lead Economist, Global Science, of The Nature Conservancy and first author of the study.

Shyamsundar noted that relatively few Indian farmers currently sow their wheat using the Happy Seeder but manufacturing of the Seeder had increased in recent years.

“Less than a quarter of the total subsidy would pay for widespread adoption of the Happy Seeder, if aided by government and NGO support to build farmer awareness and impede burning.”

“With a rising population of 1.6 billion people, South Asia hosts 40% of the world’s poor and malnourished on just 2.4% of its land,” said Jat, who recently received India’s prestigious Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for outstanding and impact-oriented research contributions in natural resource management and agricultural engineering. “Better practices can help farmers adapt to warmer winters and extreme, erratic weather events such as droughts and floods, which are having a terrible impact on agriculture and livelihoods. In addition, India’s efforts to transition to more sustainable, less polluting farming practices can provide lessons for other countries facing similar risks and challenges.”

In November 2017, more than 4,000 schools closed in Delhi due to seasonal smog. This smog increases during October and November when fields are burned. It causes major transportation disruptions and poses health risks across northern India, including Delhi, a city of more than 18 million people. Some of these problems can be resolved by the use of direct sowing technologies in northwestern India.

“Within one year of our dedicated action using about US$75 million under the Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of agriculture mechanization for in-situ management of crop residue in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi,’ we could reach 0.8 million hectares of adoption of Happy Seeder/zero tillage technology in the northwestern states of India,” said Trilochan Mohapatra, director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

“Considering the findings of the Science article as well as reports from thousands of participatory validation trials, our efforts have resulted in an additional direct farmer benefit of US$131 million, compared to a burning option,” explained Mohapatra, who is also secretary of India’s Department of Agricultural Research and Education.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/10082019-alternatives-to-burning-can-increase-indian-farmers-profits-and-cut-pollution/

 

Valuable anti-diabetic compounds found in Quang Tri organic white rice

NEWS

Description: https://elevenmyanmar.com/sites/news-eleven.com/files/styles/news_detail_image/public/news-images/rice_14.jpg?itok=zARxRbrb

PUBLISHED 10 AUGUST 2019

by News Desk

HANOI (Viet Nam News/ANN) - Two chemical compounds, Momilactone A and Momilactone B (MA and MB), that can prevent diabetes, obesity and gout through their ability to inhibit enzymes relating to the diseases, have been found in white rice grown in the central province of Quang Tri, scientists have announced.

Research by Associate Professor and Dr Tran Dang Xuan, head of the Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry in Japan’s Hiroshima University, found the MA and MB compounds in Ong Bien organic rice grown in Quang Tri Province under schemes and technology provided by Dai Nam Ong Bien Group Joint Stock Company based in the south-central province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The content of the two compounds in Ong Bien organic rice is 100 times higher than those found in other varieties of rice.

Their study revealed that the compounds played an active role in the diabetes inhibitory potential of rice bran.

MA and MB compounds are very rare and have not been fully studied for biological and pharmacological activities. The compound was sold at US$125 per 0.1 mg on carbosynth.com, a company that sells famous biochemical products.

Xuân said that the MA and MB compounds were about as 30,000 times more precious than gold and that “the discovery of the two compounds in white rice created a breakthrough in the world’s plant physiology, especially rice.”

Some studies have previously found rice to have compounds that inhibit diabetes, but only in brown or red rice, which are often of poor quality and difficult to consume.

“Today, people tend to have less rice in their diet because rice contains starch which causes obesity and diabetes. However, with high content of MA and MB, Ong Bien organic rice can help prevent the disease,” Xuân said.

Several recent reports indicate that there are more than 3 million people in Vietnam suffering from or at risk of diabetes, so the results of this study are particularly significant.

Vietnam's Health Ministry and relevant agencies have not yet commented or verified the claims – including the rice's nutrition values, its content of MA and MB and its anti-diabetics ability.

Tran Ngoc Nam, Director General of Đại Nam Trade and Production Ltd Company said that since 2016, the company co-operated with Quang Tri Province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department to grow the variety.

Under their co-operation programme, rice was watered and fertilised with only organic fertilisers made by the company. No other plant protection product or chemical fertiliser was used for the rice.

The rice is now grown on a total area of about 200 ha in Quang Tri Province, generating stable income of VND30-40 million per hectare for farmers, according to Nam.

The rice is available in supermarkets across Vietnam branded Ong Bien Organic rice or Quang Tri organic rice.

https://elevenmyanmar.com/news/valuable-anti-diabetic-compounds-found-in-quang-tri-organic-white-rice

 

Scientists Find Out How Leaping Maggots Leap

Nell Greenfieldboyce

LISTEN3:15

Description: https://wamu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/curl_wide-096a0f4d4d059bd6b1db64b62786df0269e04fc6-900x506.jpg

A goldenrod midge maggot begins to form a loop.

Journal of Experimental Biology, Farley et al

Scientists have discovered how a tiny worm-like creature with no arms, legs or wings nonetheless manages to perform stupendous leaps through the air.

The acrobatic feats of these larvae were first noticed by Mike Wise of Roanoke College a few years ago, and now, in the Journal of Experimental Biology, he and some colleagues explain this critter’s unusual trick.

Wise studies how plants defend themselves from hungry insects, and one day he was dissecting tumor-like swellings on goldenrod that form around the maggot-like larvae of developing flies.

“The larvae get as big, when they’re full grown, as, say, a small grain of rice,” says Wise, who adds that the maggot-like creatures are bright orange. “Generally I take the larvae out, and put them in a little dish next to my microscope. And they barely move. They may wiggle around just a little bit.”

One day, after he’d spent about an hour removing a dozen or so, he looked down at the dish and they were gone.

“I was wondering what was going on,” recalls Wise. “And then I caught out of the corner of my eye a little bit of motion, a little orange larva jumping across my table.”

All around him, the larvae were leaping. “I looked on the floor and there had been some that had jumped all the way to the wall,” says Wise.

To understand how they were doing this, he brought bouquets of infested goldenrod to the lab of Sheila Patek, a biologist at Duke University who studies small, extremely fast things — like the deadly strike of the mantis shrimp or the snapping bite of trap-jaw ants.

“I know that sounds super quirky,” says Patek. “But it turns out that this arena of biology is a very interesting one,” because these creatures do stuff that engineers can only dream of.

Her lab filmed Wise’s leaping larvae with some of the world’s best high-speed cameras.

What they found is that these wormy guys start by curling up into a loop. Lab member Grace Farley found that the creatures have a special patch of hair on their heads that sticks to a patch of hair on their rear ends.

“They’re using essentially dry adhesion with microscopic hairs that they touch together between their head and their tail,” says Patek.

Then the critters squeeze fluid through their soft bodies to stiffen up the part that’s against the ground. They keep doing that until they’ve generated enough force that it suddenly unsticks the hairs and launches them up into the air.

Sarah Bergbreiter, a mechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University, was impressed.

“One of the really cool things about it is that these are soft-bodied jumpers. That means they’re squishy and they can jump over 30 body lengths, which is pretty incredible,” says Bergbreiter, adding, “It’s comparable to fleas which we think of as great jumpers.”

She and other researchers are interested in developing robots that are soft instead of rigid and clunky.

“Robots can be far more robust if they have these softer materials as part of them,” says Bergbreiter. “They have incredible advantages in that you can step on them and they can still move, but they typically have these very awkward and inefficient gaits.”

These soft-bodied creatures, however, jump around by effectively creating a sort of temporary leg.

“The idea that a soft robot could kind of develop this appendage that’s useful for the moment and then reconfigure it into something else,” she says, “is pretty cool.”

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Agri policy needs better execution

BY BEN KRITZ, TMT

AUGUST 11, 2019

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Description: Agri policy needs better execution 1BEN KRITZ

IN spite of the weather that had most reasonable people scurrying for the comfort of their homes, I had an opportunity to sit down with Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez 3rd on Friday. It was a conversation about which much more will be written in the next couple of days, and among the topics that were discussed was the state of Philippine agriculture, or rather, agriculture in the context of the somewhat contentious Rice Tariffication Act, and the not-at-all contentious appointment of Dr. William Dar as acting Agriculture secretary.

Outside of the offices of the Department of Finance (DoF), there is a sense that whatever good intentions there were behind the liberalization of rice imports have gone astray, and the scheme should be reexamined. This paper has editorialized to that effect, and so have a couple of others, and depending on what currents of thought one swims in on social media, dissent against it among rice farmers and their advocates is shrill.

The problem, of course, is that liberalization has worked as it logically should: the rice supply has stabilized and retail prices have moderated to a tolerable level, but farmgate prices have tumbled. Farm incomes have dropped to worrisome levels, and it has been reported that about 40 percent of the country’s millers have stopped or suspended their operations, finding it unprofitable at current wholesale prices.

There is no way around this conundrum — short of avoiding it altogether by reimposing a protectionist scheme — so one of two compensating solutions can be applied. The simplest one is to simply subsidize farmgate prices. That is being done to a modest extent in an indirect way through the fixed price at which the National Food Authority (NFA) buys rice for strategic stockpiles. The NFA, however, is of greatly diminished importance in the liberalization environment, so this does not have a significant impact. Subsidizing prices directly on a larger scale is not under consideration, but it is hypothetically possible. As the experience of countries such as Thailand has shown, however, subsidies can be a trap; modifying or removing them is politically risky.

The second way to counteract the ill effects of import liberalization is to provide support to growers in ways that help boost their productivity and improve their product. If domestic farmers can produce more, the increase in more accessible supply obviates the need for imports.

Likewise, if their products are of superior quality than what is available in the import market, they will benefit from higher demand. This solution is a market-driven approach, and is the one written into the Rice Tariffication Act — the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) paid for by the tariff receipts from imported rice and earmarked for various types of support to domestic farmers, such as seed, fertilizer, equipment and low-cost financing.

Secretary Dominguez has in the recent past publicly stated that the Rice Tariffication Act does not need to be reviewed in spite of its evident shortcomings, and he is actually correct. That agriculture policy should be market-based is a core perspective, not only his (he was at one time the country’s Agriculture secretary, so has a credible basis for his views), but of the Duterte administration generally. That makes the Rice Tariffication Act, or something very much like it, a necessity, one backed by 100 years or so of economic history that demonstrates performance and market liberalization have a directly proportional relationship.

The problem is not that rice liberalization isn’t working or can’t work; it is that the tool devised to carry it out is not being fully utilized. The P10-billion RCEF for this year was jump-started by a P5-billion deposit to the Department of Agriculture (DA), since the domestic farmers would obviously feel the impact of imports before the revenue was collected and made its way through bureaucratic channels. Unfortunately, only about P1 billion of that initial fund was spent, so most of the farmers it was supposed to help have been left out on a limb. Without fully utilizing the RCEF, no judgment can be made as to its efficacy, so calls to scrap or at least modify the liberalization scheme are premature.

With the change in management at the DA (which the DoF chief was instrumental in bringing about), agricultural policy will likely become a great deal more empirical and will certainly be more efficiently carried out. Straightening out the mess rice import liberalization has become for the domestic rice sector will be a good test of Dr. Dar’s leadership, and will provide some insights into how effective further needed reforms — such as liberalization of the sugar industry — might be.

ben.kritz@www.manilatimes.net
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General News of Sunday, 11 August 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Farouk Aliu Mahama donates rice to Muslims at Yendi

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Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama, through his social intervention vehicle, Partnership for Poverty Reduction (PPR), has donated 600 bags of rice to the Muslim community at Yendi in the Northern Region to support them in their Eid-ul-Adha celebrations.

The donation was made at Yendi to needy Muslims to celebrate the Eid-ul-Adha, the second of two Islamic holidays, which honours the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God's command.

Alhaji Farouk, who is the son of the late Former Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, urged Muslims to endeavour to share the little they had to support the under-privileged to enjoy the important Islamic festival, which falls on Sunday, August 11.

He also urged Muslim celebrants, particularly those at Yendi to continue to use the blessings of the Eid to pray for continued peace and tranquility in the area especially at a time the Dagbon chieftaincy conflict had ended.

The beneficiaries thanked Alhaji Farouk for his continued support to them wishing him well in his endeavours.

 

 

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Farouk-Aliu-Mahama-donates-rice-to-Muslims-at-Yendi-771066

 

Direct sowing tech can boost profits, cut pollution, scientists tell farmers

Direct sowing technologies could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions

Description: PTI By PTI August 10, 2019 10:51 IST

Description: tractor-with-mounted-seeder-direct-seeding-of-crops-direct-sowing-tech-shutTractor with mounted seeder performing direct seeding of crops on plowed agricultural field | Shutterstock

Alternative farming practices such as direct sowing technologies could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from on-farm activities in Northern India by nearly 80 per cent and help lower air pollution in cities like New Delhi, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Science, shows that the farmers could also increase their profits if they stop burning their rice straw and adopt no-till practices to grow wheat.

Researchers, including those from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, compared the costs and benefits of 10 distinct land preparation and sowing practices for northern India's rice-wheat cropping rotations, which are spread across over four million hectares.

The direct seeding of wheat into unplowed soil and shredded rice residues was the best option—it raises farmers' profits through higher yields and savings in labour, fuel, and machinery costs.

To quickly and cheaply clear their fields to sow wheat each year, farmers in northern India burn an estimated 23 million tonnes of straw from their rice harvests, according to researchers, including those from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Regulations are in place in India to reduce agricultural fires but burning continues because of implementation challenges and lack of clarity about the profitability of alternate, no-burn farming, they noted.

To sow wheat directly without plowing or burning rice straw, farmers need to purchase or rent a tractor-mounted implement known as the "Happy Seeder," as well as attach straw shedders to their rice harvesters.

Leaving straw on the soil as a mulch helps capture and retain moisture and also improves soil quality, according to ML Jat, CIMMYT Principal Scientist, a co-author of the study.

The study demonstrates that it is possible to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is profitable to farmers and scalable.

It shows that Happy Seeder-based systems are on average 10-20 per cent more profitable than straw burning options.

"Our study dovetails with 2018 policies put in place by the government of India to stop farmers from burning, which includes a USD166 million subsidy to promote mechanisation to manage crop residues within fields," said Priya Shyamsundar from US-based charity The Nature Conservancy.

Shyamsundar, first author of the study, noted that relatively few Indian farmers currently sow their wheat using the Happy Seeder but manufacturing of the Seeder had increased in recent years.

"Less than a quarter of the total subsidy would pay for widespread adoption of the Happy Seeder, if aided by government and NGO support to build farmer awareness and impede burning," she said.

"With a rising population of 1.6 billion people, South Asia hosts 40 per cent of the world's poor and malnourished on just 2.4 per cent of its land," said Jat.

"Better practices can help farmers adapt to warmer winters and extreme, erratic weather events such as droughts and floods, which are having a terrible impact on agriculture and livelihoods.

"In addition, India's efforts to transition to more sustainable, less polluting farming practices can provide lessons for other countries facing similar risks and challenges," he said.

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·         Chief ministers' panel on agriculture discusses doubling of farmers' income

Researchers noted that in November 2017, more than 4,000 schools closed in Delhi due to seasonal smog.

This smog increases during October and November when fields are burned.

It causes major transportation disruptions and poses health risks across northern India, including Delhi, a city of more than 18 million people.

Some of these problems can be resolved by the use of direct sowing technologies in northwestern India, researchers said. 

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LIX

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EDITORIAL - Focus on science

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(The Philippine Star) - August 11, 2019 - 12:00am

They work away from the limelight, but what they do often give society lifelong benefits. Scientists make life easier, healthier, more comfortable and enjoyable. So when they are given official recognition for their life’s work, the country applauds.

Such is the case with agronomist and geneticist Emil Javier. The 17th president of the University of the Philippines has been conferred the title of National Scientist by President Duterte.

“Emil Javier, in the pursuit of his lifelong mission to look after the needs of the poor by capitalizing on the resources of modern science, played an active role in the efforts to inform the public about the nature of science and its potential to improve people’s access to food and health, and to emphasize the need for high safety standards in both research and production of biotechnological innovations,” part of the proclamation declared.

The honor was conferred this month amid ongoing moves to set up a Philippine Space Agency as well as efforts to encourage more Filipinos to consider careers in the sciences, technology and mathematics or STEM.

In the 1960s, Filipinos helped develop the so-called miracle rice at the International Rice Research Institute in UP Los Baños that tripled rice yields and helped ease global hunger and malnutrition. For a long time, however, Filipino interest in the sciences has taken a backseat to headline-hogging matters such as politics and entertainment. With globalization, Filipinos pursued skills and professions that were in demand overseas.

Today the government is trying to rekindle interest in STEM. Thanks to recent developments, such as the launch of micro satellites by Filipino scientists and the discovery of a new species of ancient human in a cave in Cagayan, confirmed and announced last April, young Filipinos may be inspired to pursue STEM careers.

There are only 18 Filipinos with doctorates in Archeology, among them Armand Mijares and Eusebio Dizon, who excavated the remains of Homo luzonensis in Callao Cave. There are only three astrophysicists, one of them Rogel Mari Sese, leader of the National Space Development Program.

The microsatellites Diwata 1 and 2 and nanosatellite Maya 1 have improved several aspects of life in the country, including weather monitoring, disaster mitigation, agricultural production and telecommunications. Imagine the benefits from more scientific and technological innovations, and even from pure research. More effort is needed to encourage Filipinos to pursue careers in science.


Read more at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/08/11/1942281/editorial-focus-science#CBdlSpeAEslOQlb1.99
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/08/11/1942281/editorial-focus-science

 

Stop burning fields to cut smog and boost profits, scientists tell Indian farmers

Published 1 week ago on 10 August 2019

Description: A man rides his bicycle in front of the India Gate shrouded in smog in New Delhi December 26, 2018. — Reuters picA man rides his bicycle in front of the India Gate shrouded in smog in New Delhi December 26, 2018. — Reuters pic

ROME, Aug 9 — Every year, a choking smog descends on northwest India as the region’s farmers burn their fields following the rice harvest — a phenomenon that has helped make New Delhi one of the world’s most polluted cities.

Now, scientists have come up with a method that would allow farmers to sow their winter crop, usually wheat, without burning off the stubble left behind after the rice harvest.

Researchers tested 10 alternatives to burning, finding the biggest profits could be achieved with a machine called the Happy Seeder.

The new method would allow farmers to produce more food, boost profits by up to 20 per cent, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 78 per cent, according to a study published yesterday.

“Our analysis suggests that it is possible to reduce air pollution and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in a way that is profitable to farmers and scalable,” said the study, by a group of scientists from India and other countries.

“Our analysis strongly suggests that India has an opportunity, through coordinated public and private actions, to reduce burning, increase incomes, and transition to more sustainable agriculture while addressing the urgent problem of seasonal air pollution.”

The Happy Seeder is already being used on about 800,000 hectares of farmland used to grow wheat in winter and rice in summer — but that represents a tiny proportion of the 4 million hectares in northwest India known as the country’s breadbasket.

“The plan next year is to reach close to 2 million hectares. We’re hopeful,” said co-author M.L. Jat, principal scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT).

With a Happy Seeder costing US$2,000 (RM8,371), cost remains a major barrier, but farmers can hire a contractor to plant their crops with the machine, Jat told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The study’s authors are urging the government and private sector to promote the machine’s use through subsidies.

Every year, farmers in northwest India burn an estimated 23 million tonnes of rice straw to clear the land quickly and cheaply in time to grow wheat, the study said.

If piled on top of each other, the amount would cover 1.1 times the distance to the moon.

India officially restricts the use of crop burning, but the practice persists and bans are rarely enforced.

The resulting seasonal smog disrupts transportation and threatens public health, said the paper, published hours after a major UN report called for big changes to farming to curtail global warming. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/08/10/stop-burning-fields-to-cut-smog-and-boost-profits-scientists-tell-indian-fa/1779200

 

Kenya launches research on dwindling rice harvests amid growing demand

INTERNATIONAL / 19 AUGUST 2019, 6:00PM / EJIDIAH WANGUI

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INTERNATIONAL – Mercy Nyokabi wades through a swampy ground trying to chase away a flock of birds having a field day on her farm in rice growing region of Mwea in Central Kenya.

 

Nyokabi who inherited the rice farm from her parents, said dwindling harvests have been her biggest nightmare. She partly blames the birds but she believes that erratic weather also contributes to the woe.

 

"The last two years have been the hardest, I barely get a ton from an acre piece of land yet a few years ago we used to get over 30 tons from the same piece of land. This area is suitable for rice farming which makes it hard for us to switch to other crops," said Nyokabi.

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Her woes are likely to be eased as Yara, a global fertilizer manufacturer together with the Kenya's Irrigation Board have commissioned a research to establish the cause of the declining rice harvests.

 

The investigations are aimed at finding out the amount of damage caused by fertilizers and farm chemicals in the rice growing regions. For instance, Nyokabi still follows the same script her parents used decades ago which Kefa Maranga, an agronomist with Yara attributes to the prevailing situation.

 

"All what the rice growers are complaining about is as a result of rising soil acidity due to continued use of fertilizers and general poor farming ethic," said Maranga.

 

He pointed out that continued use of farm chemicals erodes soil of some of the crucial nutrients that plants need for growth and maximum production.

 

"When crops are starved of this nutrients they tend to stunt and the few that mature produce poorly which is evident in most of the farms here in Mwea. Most crops have a yellowish look which is a clear sign of unhealthy soils, we hope the investigations will lead us to a solution soon," he added.

 

Notably, most rice farmers in the region use ammonium-based fertilizers that also have high amounts of sulphur which acidifies the soil after continued use for a long time.

 

"Most fertilizers the farmers use have as high as 24 per cent of sulphur compared to the required 5.5 per cent. These chemicals have been piling up in the soil which I think is the greatest threat to the farmers right now," said Maranga.

 

Despite Kenya having the capacity to produce enough rice to meet the current demand, the country relies heavily on imports from Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand and India.

 

Notably, rice is Kenya's third staple food after maize and wheat and production is estimated at between 33,000 and 50,000 metric tons, while consumption is between 180,000 and 250,000 tons.

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/international/kenya-launches-research-on-dwindling-rice-harvests-amid-growing-demand-30982486

USDA tried to cast doubt on study about climate effects on nutrients in rice

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SEATTLE — U.S. Department of Agriculture officials made a behind-the-scenes effort last year to cast doubt on a study co-authored by two University of Washington researchers about how climate change would affect the nutrients in rice.

The UW scientists were part of an international team that included two federal agricultural scientists. They studied how increased levels of carbon dioxide forecast for the end of the century could diminish the nutritional value of rice, and joined together to co-author a peer-reviewed study accepted by a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In May 2018, weeks before the scheduled publication, findings in the rice study became a source of concern for program leaders of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

“The narrative isn’t supported by the data in the paper,” wrote Sharon Durham, a department public affairs specialist in a May 7, 2018, email to a Jeff Hodson, communications director for the UW School of Public Health.

Durham noted the USDA had decided not to send out a news release to publicize the study. “Please let me know how you will proceed with your own press release.”

A statement Durham released to Politico and later to The Seattle Times said the concerns had nothing to do with the study’s focus on climate change. They came from career scientists, Durham wrote, adding that no political appointees viewed the draft news release before the decision was made not to send it out.

“The nutrition program leaders at ARS disagreed with the implication in the paper that 600 million people are at risk of vitamin deficiency,” the statement said.

But a veteran researcher with a lead role in the study thinks the politics of climate change in the Trump administration’s USDA factored into what he views as an attempt to discredit the findings.

“It was a very bizarre set of circumstances. I had been at USDA, altogether for 26 years, and nothing like that had ever occurred to me,” Lewis Ziska said.

The Agricultural Research Service where Ziska worked — and recently resigned from — has a long history of high-quality science that stretches back through decades of Democratic and Republican administrations.

But under President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the science linking fossil-fuel pollution to rising global temperatures, Ziska said researchers who focus on sensitive topics such as climate change have become more cautious. Some worry their funding may get cut or they could get reassigned if their work comes to the attention of higher-level officials.

“There is basically a miasma of fear,” Ziska said.

The USDA 2018 criticism of the rice study, first reported by Politico, did spur a response at the UW, which receives grants from the agency. The interim dean of the School of Public Health at that time was Joel Kaufman. He reviewed the study and reached out to the two UW researchers — Kristie Ebi and Adam Drewnowski.

In a May 15, 2018, email to Vice Provost Mary Lidstrom, Kaufman wrote that the methods and results seem straightforward, and the UW researchers involved in the study “stand behind the scientific content … I’m bringing you into the conversation on the possibility that you would be concerned about the potential risk of irritating the USDA or other potential funders. Do you want or need to be involved in considering this issue?”

“For academic freedom aspects, if the authors are supporting the press release, the university will not interfere,” Lidstrom wrote back.

One week later, the UW sent out its news release.

The multiyear study looked at what happens to a range of rice strains when grown under carbon-dioxide concentrations at end-of-the-century levels, which are forecast to be markedly higher due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The study involved eight researchers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and China. In test plots, some rice was grown with the higher levels of carbon dioxide, while control plots received no additional carbon dioxide.

The UW news release noted the study showed how rice grown at the century’s end is expected to have lower levels of four B vitamins as well as less protein, zinc and iron, and it noted that the impacts will have a disproportionate impact on poor countries where rice is a dietary mainstay.

The study had a much rockier path through the USDA bureaucracy.

Initially, Ziska said, the study appeared to be moving smoothly through an internal department review in the early months of 2018.

The paper also completed an independent peer review organized by editors of Science Advances that involved scrutiny from at least two independent experts, according to a statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

But in early May, shortly before the scheduled publication, Ziska said, he unexpectedly received a fresh round of questions from within the department’s Agricultural Research Service and he then found that a USDA news release he had helped to prepare about the study had been spiked.

Durham, in a statement to The Seattle Times, said all research service papers follow the same review and clearance process. “This paper was no exception.”

Despite the lack of USDA support for the study, promotional efforts by UW and the editors of Science Advances helped stir media interest, with The Washington Post, The New York Times and other outlets in the U.S. and internationally reporting on the findings.

The USDA did make Ziska available for interviews. But after the splash of publicity for the study faded, Ziska, disillusioned, decided the time had come to leave. Now at Columbia University, he will continue his research on the impacts of a warming world on agriculture.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Ebi, his UW colleague, said Ziska’s departure is a significant loss for the department at a time when it’s important to follow through on research to determine what can be done to counteract the impacts of the declining nutritional values of rice on the global poor who depend on this food.

“We need to understand the breadth and depth of these problems, and what the solutions are,” Ebi said. “It is critically important science, and USDA should be involved.”

———

©2019 The Seattle Times

Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

—————

PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): ENV-CLIMATE-USDA-RICE

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ap_news/usda-tried-to-cast-doubt-on-study-about-climate-effects/article_53fad666-282a-50c1-83e7-7f10d2b19013.html

 



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·         Solon files ‘half rice’ bill in House

Solon files ‘half rice’ bill in House

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Published August 13, 2019, 4:19 PM

By Ben Rosario 

The legislative proposal requiring all restaurants and other food establishments to include half cup of cooked rice as a menu option has been revived in the House of Representatives.

Description: Davao Oriental 2nd district Rep. Joel Mayo Almario (CONGRESS / MANILA BULLETIN)

Davao Oriental 2nd district Rep. Joel Mayo Almario (CONGRESS / MANILA BULLETIN)

Rep. Joel Mayo Almario (PDP-Laban, Davao Oriental) filed House Bill 2513 or the Half Cup Rice Act of 2019 as he aired the optimism that the measure will help government achieve the “four-fold goal of reducing food wastage, establishing rice production self-sufficiency, lessening consumer expenses and promoting health and balanced eating.”

The bill proposes that all commercial establishments serving food to the public should include an option to order a half cup, or one hundred grams, of cooked rice to their customers.

Violators shall face a P5,000 fine for the first offense, then P10,000 and P15,000 in the second and third offense.

Establishments found to have committed the offense thrice will be closed by the government for a period of 30 days with its license to operate suspended during the period.

“Primary in the list of goals is preventing wastage in rice consumption in order to realize rice production autonomy by our local farmers,” said Almario.

He noted that the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has revealed that each Filipino wastes an average of two tablespoons of cooked rice daily.

“This is the equivalent to 13 percent of the country’s annual rice imports, costing the country roughly P7.2 billion annually – an amount that can feed 2.5 million Filipinos for an entire year,” said Almario.

Almario said the bill will allow consumers to reduce expenses when eating in food establishments because they will now have an option to order half a cup instead of the usual additional whole cup.

The senior administration lawmaker filed a similar bill during the 17th Congress when rice shortage gripped the country.

He urged colleagues in the House to support the measure as he pointed out that the bill will promote health awareness.

“It provides customers who are trying to limit their rice consumption the choice to order only the amount of rice they can actually consume, effectively discouraging over-eating,” Almario pointed out.

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AUGUST 12, 2019

USDA tried to cast doubt on study about climate effects on nutrients in rice

Description: riceCredit: CC0 Public Domain

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials made a behind-the-scenes effort last year to cast doubt on a study co-authored by two University of Washington researchers about how climate change would affect the nutrients in rice.

The UW scientists were part of an international team that included two federal agricultural scientists. They studied how increased levels of carbon dioxide forecast for the end of the century could diminish the nutritional value of rice, and joined together to co-author a peer-reviewed study accepted by a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In May 2018, weeks before the scheduled publication, findings in the rice study became a source of concern for program leaders of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

"The narrative isn't supported by the data in the paper," wrote Sharon Durham, a department public affairs specialist in a May 7, 2018, email to a Jeff Hodson, communications director for the UW School of Public Health.

Durham noted the USDA had decided not to send out a news release to publicize the study. "Please let me know how you will proceed with your own press release."

A statement Durham released to Politico and later to The Seattle Times said the concerns had nothing to do with the study's focus on climate change. They came from career scientists, Durham wrote, adding that no political appointees viewed the draft news release before the decision was made not to send it out.

"The nutrition program leaders at ARS disagreed with the implication in the paper that 600 million people are at risk of vitamin deficiency," the statement said.

But a veteran researcher with a lead role in the study thinks the politics of climate change in the Trump administration's USDA factored into what he views as an attempt to discredit the findings.

"It was a very bizarre set of circumstances. I had been at USDA, altogether for 26 years, and nothing like that had ever occurred to me," Lewis Ziska said.

The Agricultural Research Service where Ziska worked—and recently resigned from—has a long history of high-quality science that stretches back through decades of Democratic and Republican administrations.

But under President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the science linking fossil-fuel pollution to rising global temperatures, Ziska said researchers who focus on sensitive topics such as climate change have become more cautious. Some worry their funding may get cut or they could get reassigned if their work comes to the attention of higher-level officials.

"There is basically a miasma of fear," Ziska said.

The USDA 2018 criticism of the rice study, first reported by Politico, did spur a response at the UW, which receives grants from the agency. The interim dean of the School of Public Health at that time was Joel Kaufman. He reviewed the study and reached out to the two UW researchers—Kristie Ebi and Adam Drewnowski.

In a May 15, 2018, email to Vice Provost Mary Lidstrom, Kaufman wrote that the methods and results seem straightforward, and the UW researchers involved in the study "stand behind the scientific content ... I'm bringing you into the conversation on the possibility that you would be concerned about the potential risk of irritating the USDA or other potential funders. Do you want or need to be involved in considering this issue?"

"For academic freedom aspects, if the authors are supporting the press release, the university will not interfere," Lidstrom wrote back.

One week later, the UW sent out its news release.

The multiyear study looked at what happens to a range of rice strains when grown under carbon-dioxide concentrations at end-of-the-century levels, which are forecast to be markedly higher due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The study involved eight researchers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and China. In test plots, some rice was grown with the higher levels of carbon dioxide, while control plots received no additional carbon dioxide.

The UW news release noted the study showed how rice grown at the century's end is expected to have lower levels of four B vitamins as well as less protein, zinc and iron, and it noted that the impacts will have a disproportionate impact on poor countries where rice is a dietary mainstay.

The study had a much rockier path through the USDA bureaucracy.

Initially, Ziska said, the study appeared to be moving smoothly through an internal department review in the early months of 2018.

The paper also completed an independent peer review organized by editors of Science Advances that involved scrutiny from at least two independent experts, according to a statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

But in early May, shortly before the scheduled publication, Ziska said, he unexpectedly received a fresh round of questions from within the department's Agricultural Research Service and he then found that a USDA news release he had helped to prepare about the study had been spiked.

Durham, in a statement to The Seattle Times, said all research service papers follow the same review and clearance process. "This paper was no exception."

Despite the lack of USDA support for the study, promotional efforts by UW and the editors of Science Advances helped stir media interest, with The Washington Post, The New York Timesand other outlets in the U.S. and internationally reporting on the findings.

The USDA did make Ziska available for interviews. But after the splash of publicity for the study faded, Ziska, disillusioned, decided the time had come to leave. Now at Columbia University, he will continue his research on the impacts of a warming world on agriculture.

Ebi, his UW colleague, said Ziska's departure is a significant loss for the department at a time when it's important to follow through on research to determine what can be done to counteract the impacts of the declining nutritional values of rice on the global poor who depend on this food.

"We need to understand the breadth and depth of these problems, and what the solutions are," Ebi said. "It is critically important science, and USDA should be involved."

https://phys.org/news/2019-08-usda-climate-effects-nutrients-rice.html

 

High-yield rice seen as savior to Japan's rising food costs

Aug. 13  06:00 am JST  Comment

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https://japantoday.com/category/national/high-yield-rice-seen-as-savior-to-japan%27s-rising-food-costs

 

Stubble burning down by 41% in the North

TV Jayan  New Delhi | Updated on August 13, 2019  Published on August 13, 2019

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The root of the problem Crop residue burning continues because of lax implementation of regulations   -  NARINDER NANU

There was 41 per cent reduction in crop residue burning in North India in 2018 compared with that in 2016. As many as 4,500 villages in Haryana and Punjab were declared zero stubble burning villages in 2018, said Trilochan Mahapatra, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Under a central government scheme for promoting agricultural mechanisation for in-situ management of crop residue in North India between 2018-19 and 2019-20, an amount of 1,151.80 crore has been allocated. Within the first year of implementation, the Happy Seeder/zero tillage technology was adopted in 8 lakh hectares of land in these States, Mahapatra told a press conference here.

Under the scheme, financial assistance of 50 per cent of the cost is provided to farmers for purchase of in-situ crop residue management machines on individual ownership basis. The financial assistance for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) of in-situ crop residue management machinery is at 80 per cent of the project cost, he said. During 2018-19, 269.38 crore, 137.84 crore and 148.60 crore have been released to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments, respectively.

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/study-lists-alternatives-to-straw-burning/article29039569.ece

 

Researcher Looks At Effects Of Sulfide Mining On Wild Rice Beds

KEN KRALL  AUG 12, 2019

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Sarah Dance

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Ken Krall and Sarah Dance

A UW-Madison graduate student is researching the relationship between the upper Midwest rice beds and increased sulfate in the surface water.

Wild rice, or “manoomin” to the Native American nations is more than a food crop. It represents their connection to nature and holds profound spiritual significance. The Menominee Tribe’s name literally translates to “wild rice people.”

PH.D.  candidate Sarah Dance says she found that many researchers didn't have detailed data on wild rice. She says the traditional beds across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois have seen a 30 percent reduction in size.

She says the threat of additional mining across the region also poses a threat...

"...There is a potential for sulfide mining to make a return to the area. That will increase the level of sulfate in the overlying surface waters. It has been proven in many studies done in Minnesota that elevated sulfide conditions in the sediment poor water is the primary controller for wild rice..."

She says wild rice is very nutritious, gluten-free, and if preserved correctly, can be stored for a long time.

Dance says she's watching the permitting of what's known as the "Back 40" mine near Stephenson, Michigan, adjacent to the Menominee River which forms a border with Wisconsin.

"Open pit sulfide mining, regardless of the precautions that we take is incredibly toxic. It will increase the amount of sulfate we see going into the surface water. While levels of sulfate in our surface waters is relatively low, we will see those increases similar to how open pit sulfide mining has increased those levels in Minnesota..."

The Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin has objected to the opening of the mine.

Dance's work is part of an effort to form a stronger connection with the state's Native American tribes and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We have a longer interview in the first segment of WXPR Saturday Edition on our website.

https://www.wxpr.org/post/researcher-looks-effects-sulfide-mining-wild-rice-beds#stream/0

 

August 12, 2019 | 10:11 pm

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Description: https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/sugar-wet-market-081319.jpgThe sugar producers are seeking to impose some measure of control on imports. -- BW FILE PHOTO

THE Confederation of Sugar Producers (CONFED) is lobbying for a bigger role in moderating sugar imports, saying volumes should be based on projected domestic production shortfalls relative to demand.

The sugar producers are seeking to impose some measure of control on imports after economic managers cited the example of freeing up the rice import market as a possible model for sugar.

“CONFED reiterates its position is no longer avoidable due to the industry’s inability to meet domestic demand, these imports must henceforth be calibrated on the basis of a careful analysis of projected production versus demand, and in consultation with industry stakeholders in which the SRA (Sugar Regulatory Administration) would be the lead agency,” Raymond V. Montinola, spokesperson of CONFED, told BusinessWorld in a text message.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in July that the government is taking a close look at sugar import liberalization because price of the domestic product is double the world market price, weighing on the competitiveness of the food processing industry.

Mr. Montinola said the process of making accurate supply and demand projections will require updating industry data on area under cultivation and production estimates from various sugarcane-growing districts, as well as demand estimates from industrial users, food exporters, and domestic consumers.

He also called for better utilization of funding under the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA).




Asked to comment, Rolando T. Dy, executive director of Center for Food and Agribusiness of University of Asia and the Pacific, said sugar planters and food processors should first reach a “happy compromise” on the possible liberalization of sugar imports given their different needs.

“The former employs hundreds of thousand workers in Negros with no immediate alternative; the latter needs properly priced sugar to compete,” he said in a text message.

He also noted other considerations, such as “1) How competitive are our sugar-based products… like dried mango and banana chips?; 2) How competitive are our local sugar-based products compared to imports like biscuits from Malaysia?; 3) How much sugar is needed (for import) out of total demand?”

Eliseo R. Ponce, an international consultant specializing in Agriculture and Rural Development, said only sugar liberalization can drive the industry to become more competitive.

“We are so far behind… Sugar productivity is not at par with countries like Colombia or even Thailand, so dapat i-angat natin ‘yung (we need to improve) sugar productivity, to improve our production system, the varieties we plant,” Mr. Ponce said.

Mr. Ponce is a former director of the Bureau of Agricultural Research.

“Also the cost of production. We are not as mechanized as Thailand. We are still depending on manual labor,” he added. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

https://www.bworldonline.com/sugar-stakeholders-seek-bigger-role-in-moderating-imports/

 

 

Agri export in fiscal 2018-19 11.76%; Lowest in three years, says DGCI&S

Tuesday, 13 August, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

The agricultural export in the last fiscal was lowest in last three years. With a share of about 11.76 per cent share of the country's overall exports, agri export witnessed a decline during the year 2018-19, which stood at about 12.66 per cent in 2017-18 and 12.07 per cent in 2016-17, according to the data published by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S).

Amongst the commodities exported by India, non-basmati rice also witnessed decline during the previous two years. 88,18,533 MT (metric tonne) of non-basmati rice worth $3,636.60 million was exported during 2017-18, while a sharp decline was witnessed during 2018-19, wherein 75,99,749 MT of non-basmati rice was exported worth $3040.22 million.

According to the available statistics during April-May of the current fiscal 2019-20, 71,183 MT of non-basmati rice was exported worth $293.82 million.

According to the ministry of commerce's statement in Parliament, as export and import of agricultural products depend on several factors, such as international and domestic demand and supply situation, international and domestic prices, quality concerns and food security concerns, no targets for exports or imports are fixed.

Bangladesh, which was a major non-basmati rice importer from India, imported just 4,80,556 MT of rice in 2018-19, vis-a-vis the previous year’s import of 20,37,980 MT.

Although, the export of basmati rice has increased from $3,208.60 million in 2016-17 to $4,712.44 million in 2018-19.

In a statement, the Ministry of Commerce stated, “Promotion of exports of agricultural products like basmati rice is a continuous process. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), an autonomous organisation under the administrative control of Department of Commerce, has been mandated with the export promotion of rice, including basmati rice.”

“APEDA has been able to register Basmati rice as a Geographical Indication (GI) in February 2016. APEDA, in collaboration with the trade, has also established Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF), which undertakes various activities for development and export promotion of Basmati rice,” it added.

“Moreover, APEDA has also been providing assistance to the Basmati rice exporters under various components of its export promotion scheme,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, some of the major commodities, which registered a decline in exports were buffalo meat (-4.07 per cent), non-basmati rice (-7.75 per cent) and cotton (-16.38 per cent).

The Ministry of Commerce has stated that there are several reasons for the decline, viz lower prices and demand in the international market, unfavourable currency movements and international developments like sanctions against Iran and Russia.

“Further, no study has been conducted to assess the long term impact of exports on the agricultural and horticultural sector by the Department of Commerce. However, it is expected that exports not only provide better market opportunities to the growers but also generally help in increasing their income,” it added in the statement.

http://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/agri-export-in-fiscal-201819-1176-lowest-in-three-years-says-dgcis-51484

 

Fiji: Poor Nutrition and Agricultural Decline has Caused Food Security Slump

13 AUGUST 2019 Phoebe Sleet, Research Analyst, Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme Download PDF

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Key Points

·         Food is widely available in Fiji, especially compared to many other Pacific islands. In contrast, rates of obesity and micronutrient deficiencies are high.

·         Consumption of cheap imported food is increasing rapidly, while consumption of nutrient-dense traditional food has decreased, especially among urban Fijians.

·         Agriculture is a key sector of the economy and is vital to rural food security.

·         Despite that, the sector has declined over several decades, as a result of agricultural, trade and land policy, as well as climate change.

 

Summary

Food availability in Fiji is generally good, especially when compared to other Pacific islands. While this has led to lower food security concerns, Fiji suffers from a double burden of over- and under-nutrition. Adult obesity affects nearly a third of Fijians and rates of non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, are correspondingly high. Meanwhile, micronutrient deficiencies are common, with many nutrients consumed below recommended levels among all age groups. Much of Fiji’s poor nutrition rate stems from an increasing dependence on cheap imported food and a decreased intake of traditional food. Not only are nutritionally inadequate imported foods cheap, but many traditional foods are now grown for export, which has increased prices, especially for urban Fijians.

Agriculture has seen a steady decline in the last several decades, which has been compounded by Fiji’s vulnerability to climate change. Fiji experiences frequent storms, cyclones, floods and drought, which can be devastating to agriculture, while trade policies, such as reducing tariffs on agricultural exports, have also weakened the sector.

 

Analysis

The Republic of Fiji is an upper-middle income country, consisting of over 300 islands in the Pacific. The country claims the second-largest economy in the region (after Papua New Guinea) and levels of extreme poverty are low. Food poverty is also particularly low, at 2.5%. Despite those advantages, frequent natural disasters often leave people vulnerable to periods of heightened food and water insecurity. In 2016, for instance, Cyclone Wilson caused significant economic damage, with costs totalling around 2 billion Fijian Dollars ($1.36 billion), or 20 per cent of Fiji’s Gross Domestic Product. While Fiji is generally better off than other Melanesian states, it still suffers from many of the difficulties that are typical of small island economies. In particular, it is vulnerable to fluctuations in international markets and its geographic isolation from major international markets can make imports and exports expensive.

Description: http://www.futuredirections.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Fiji-Map.png

Nutrition

Most Fijians have access to energy-dense food and the country’s energy supply adequacy is above the global average. While that situation ensures that most people have enough nutrition to meet their base energy needs on a day-to-day basis, heavy consumption of energy-dense processed food has led the country to experience high levels of over-nutrition and non-communicable disease (NCD). There has been a steady rise in calorie availability over the last several years. By 2009, an average of 3,421 kilocalories (kcal) was available per person, per day, compared to 2,819 kcal in 1985 and 3,298 kcal in 2006. Rising food energy availability has caused a spike in obesity rates and associated NCDs. In 1993, the recorded adult obesity rate was 9.8%. The most recently available statistics, from 2011, indicate that the adult obesity rate is now around 32.1% and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has more than doubled since 1980. It is estimated that NCDs are responsible for between 70 and 75 per cent of all deaths in the region. In Fiji, NCDs that were the leading causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system (44 per cent), endocrinal, nutritional or metabolic disease (13 per cent) and cancer (ten per cent). Obesity is a contributing factor to all of the listed conditions.

Other nutritional indicators are relatively poor in Fiji. While rates of childhood stunting (low height for age, caused by malnutrition) are fairly good for the region (eight per cent compared to 12 per cent across the Pacific and East Asia), the rate of childhood wasting (low weight for height, caused by acute malnutrition) is six per cent, which is higher than the regional average. Rates of anaemia in children are also high, affecting between 37 and 50 per cent of children under five (competing sources give different estimates) and between 33 and 42 per cent in women aged 12 to 44. The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in under-fives was around 14 per cent, while the prevalence of zinc deficiency was 14.5% in children aged six months to two years. Among all ages, nutrients are consumed at levels below (fibre, iron and zinc) or significantly below (vitamin A and calcium) recommended levels.

The Fijian diet has changed rapidly over the last several decades and many of the changes have contributed to increasingly poor nutritional outcomes. Traditional diets consisted of fish, seafood, root crops, fruit, wild plants and legumes. By 2014, however, the typical Fijian diet was quite different, with 50 per cent eating rice daily, 43 per cent eating roti daily and 15 per cent eating instant noodles daily. Consumption of processed snack foods such as crisps is also rising rapidly. In total, discretionary foods and drinks (which are not necessary for nutrition and are often energy dense and high in saturated fat, sugars and/or salt) account for 26 per cent of the average Fijian diet, while 58 per cent of calories and 60 per cent of protein is derived from nutritionally inadequate sources, the highest rate in Melanesia. In contrast, fruit and vegetable consumption tends to be low, with only 15 per cent of adults consuming the recommended five or more servings a day and ten per cent consuming no fruits or vegetables. Consumption of fresh fish has also fallen, as tinned fish is generally cheaper.

While traditional foods are more nutrient-dense than their modern replacements, they are often expensive or not available to purchase at all. The cultivation of many traditional root crops, for instance, has been superseded by the cultivation of taro hybrids for export. As a result, many traditional crops are now more expensive. Similarly, a decline in the agricultural sector has made much of the population increasingly dependent on cheap, imported food. That is particularly true in urban areas, where home food production is low – urban Fijians grow five per cent of the food they consume, compared to 35 per cent for rural residents. As a result, urban Fijians are particularly sensitive to the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables. Although extreme poverty is fairly rare in Fiji, per capita purchasing power parity is significantly below the global average, which indicates impaired access to food. The poor are particularly affected, with poor households spending 29 per cent of their income on food, compared to 18 per cent for those above the poverty line.

Description: http://www.futuredirections.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Fiji-Market.png

Agriculture

Agriculture is a key pillar of the Fijian economy: 65 per cent of Fijians derive at least part of their income from agriculture and the agriculture sector employs 45 per cent of the population. More than 50 per cent of low-income households live in rural areas and agriculture is the main source of food, income and employment for these households. While sugarcane once dominated Fijian agriculture, the importance of the crop has diminished (as has subsistence agriculture) and other crops, horticulture and livestock are now increasingly important to the sector. The share of other crops to Fiji’s agricultural GDP has doubled since 2001, surpassing sugarcane as the primary agricultural product. The ‘other’ crop subsector is dominated by root crops and horticulture, particularly dalo (taro), ginger, papaya, pineapples and cassava, among other crops. Fiji also possesses one of the larger commercial pork and chicken industries in the region (along with Papua New Guinea), as well as significant dairy and goat industries.

Although agriculture plays an important role in the economy, the sector has contracted in recent decades, due to the continuing decline of the sugar industry. While other crops have grown in importance, they have not been able to offset the sector’s troubles. The country’s rice industry has also become increasingly irrelevant. In the 1980s, Fiji was 70 per cent self-sufficient in rice production, but must now import more than 80 per cent of its rice needs each year. This is especially disappointing, as the country has exceptionally good conditions for rice cultivation. As a result of these losses, the share of agriculture in Fiji’s GDP is the lowest in Melanesia, at 13 per cent. Low agricultural growth (and a number of coups) is also partly responsible for slow economic growth, which is also the lowest in Melanesia. Additionally, an over-reliance on food imports also makes it vulnerable to external shocks, as happened during the 2008 food crisis.

A number of factors have put pressure on Fijian agriculture. Climate change, in particular, has brought long-term changes that will continue to cause problems for the agricultural sector, as Fiji’s location makes it especially vulnerable. The intensity of cyclones  is expected to increase as a result of climate change, which is likely to negatively impact agriculture. In 2016, Tropical Cyclone Winston caused significant levels of damage across Fiji. Agriculture was the worst-hit part of the economy, with losses of F$542 million ($368 million). Additionally losses in income and food caused significant hardships, especially in rural areas. In total, cyclones cause an estimated F$152 million ($103 million) in damage each year.Description: http://www.futuredirections.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Fijian-Farmer.png

Tropical cyclones are also the main driver of extreme sea levels and flooding in Fiji and rising sea levels are also expected to worsen flood risk. Not only will cyclones and floods have direct impacts on food security, through the destruction of crops and infrastructure, but will also have indirect consequences for food security. The destruction caused by floods and cyclones also causes increases in poverty, further limiting access to food. In Fiji, 25,700 peopleare pushed into poverty by floods and cyclones each year and disasters such as Cyclone Winston, albeit rare, have an even more devastating impact. Fiji is also exposed to other natural hazards including drought and extreme temperatures, which pose their own threats to agricultural production and incomes.

While climate change is likely to have a significant impact on Fijian agriculture, other issues have also put pressure on the sector. Decreasing soil productivity and land degradation has led to declining yields of both staple and cash crops due to shifting cultivation patterns. Agricultural policies have also led to a gradual decline in the agricultural sector. Agricultural deregulation began in the late 1980s, with the withdrawal of supports for domestic rice farmers. Tariffs on rice imports were cut between 1990 and 2010, leading to a significant increase in rice imports over this period. Domestic rice and sugarcane farming has also been made more difficult by Fiji’s system of land leases (tenure), which have stifled production and investment in agriculture. Most land in Fiji is native-owned, with most sugarcane and rice farms leased to Indo-Fijian farmers, usually on a 30-year basis. Many of the leases began to expire in the late 1990s and a refusal to renew the leases led many experienced farmers to leave for urban areas. Leases continue to expire each year and will continue to do so for the next decade.

Fiji is more food secure than many of its neighbours in the Pacific, but problems persist even with its relatively high level of development. In order to combat poor nutrition, natural disasters and agricultural stagnation, Fiji will need to invest in climate-resilient agriculture and promote native crops, as well as foster inclusive economic development that would allow its population to afford to eat healthy food.

Any opinions or views expressed in this paper are those of the individual author, unless stated to be those of Future Directions International.

 

Published by Future Directions International Pty Ltd.

Suite 5, 202 Hampden Road, Nedlands WA 6009, Australia.

Tel:+61 8 6389 0211

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PH to enjoy low inflation until 2021, BSP predicts

By: Daxim L. Lucas - Reporter / @daxinq

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:07 AM August 13, 2019

The central bank expects the rest of 2019 and the next two years to be a period of benign consumer prices as the benefits of the law liberalizing rice imports take greater hold, combined with the effects of an expected downtrend in international crude oil prices.

In a press briefing, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila Jr. said the monetary authority now saw the inflation rate for this year averaging at 2.6 percent—a reduction from the 2.7-percent average announced last month.

The downward adjustment was approved by the Monetary Board last week after reviewing the latest economic data and forecasts, he explained.

“The main factors that contributed to this benign inflation outlook are the continuing relaxation of constraints to food prices, in particular the tariffication of rice,” Dakila said. “We can expect further deceleration of inflation for key commodity items in the next few months.”

The official also announced that the central bank now expected the inflation rate for 2020 to average 2.9 percent (down from the previous forecast of 3 percent) and for 2021 to maintain this 2.9-percent average.

“For 2019 and 2020, the risks are evenly balanced,” Dakila said, but added that for 2021, the risks “tilt somewhat to the downside because of the prospect of slower global growth.”

Helping the benign local inflation outlook will be the tame price regime for crude oil in the global market expected to take hold over the next couple of years.

Dakila said the central bank also now saw the average prices for Dubai crude declining to $63.88 a barrel this year, down from the forecast average of $64.56 announced last month.

For 2020, the outlook for Dubai crude stood at $61.35 a barrel, but this had now been revised downward by the Monetary Board to $60.39 based on the latest available forecasts.

Last Thursday, the Monetary Board decided to cut the interest rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase facility by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent “based on the assessment that price pressures have continued to ease since the previous meeting.”

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno later said in a television interview that he foresaw more monetary easing over the near term, including the possibility of another 25-bp rate cut next month as well as further reductions in banks’ reserve requirements by 100 bps.

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DoF highlights H1 accomplishments

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AUGUST 13, 2019

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Revenue, policy gains made in less-than-ideal conditions, but challenges remain

IN spite of a budget impasse which virtually halted progress toward the government’s objectives for the first six months of the year, the Department of Finance (DoF) was able to record some notable achievements, summary data released to the media last week revealed. But although public spending is now “firing on all cylinders,” as Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said, significant obstacles remain, and may dampen efforts to catch up to expectations for 2019 through the rest of the year.

Description: DoF highlights H1 accomplishments 1Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE

In an interview on Friday, Dominguez detailed the extreme extent to which the delay in enacting the 2019 General Appropriations Act — the result of congressional resistance to the change to a cash-based, rather than obligation-based, budget system — slowed public spending: whereas the normal pace of spending under this year’s budget would have amounted to about P10 billion a day, the government was spending less than P1 billion a day until after the May 13 midterm elections.

The slow pace of government spending pulled gross domestic product (GDP) growth down to 5.6 percent and 5.5 percent in the first and second quarters, respectively, well below the government’s target range of 6.0 percent to 7.0 percent for the year.

Revenue, dividends higher in first half

While spending may have been paralyzed, government income in the form of taxes, customs duties and dividend collections from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) improved across the board in the first half. Taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) rose 11 percent year-on-year to reach P1.1 trillion, while the Bureau of Customs (BoC) improved its collection efforts by 8.0 percent to P303 billion.

Meanwhile, dividends remitted by 53 GOCCs reached P61.3 billion, the highest level ever recorded for a half-year period. Of that total, P15.6 billion was retained by the two government-owned banks, Land Bank (LandBank) of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, to boost their capital.

There are two conclusions that can be drawn from the first-half revenue performance. First, since some spending in the time-shortened 2019 budget obviously cannot be carried out by year-end, the government is likely to have at least a small surplus. This should reduce debt funding requirements moving forward, and offset some of next year’s proposed P4.1-trillion budget.

Second, the increase in bank capitalization, particularly at LandBank, is a potential trouble spot. The bank came under fire during President Rodrigo Durterte’s recent State of the Nation Address for diversifying from a purely agricultural focus to more commercial banking activities; adding capital may encourage the bank to expand those activities to prevent an accumulation of unused resources, which may be practical, but has already been deemed politically unacceptable.

Rice import liberalization

Rice imports, and the corresponding customs duties collected from them, have performed well above expectations since the full implementation of the Rice Tariffication Act in early March, the DoF said. Through July 15, the BoC had collected P6.5 billion, all of which is earmarked for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to finance agriculture modernization.

As Dominguez explained, the only part of the import liberalization scheme that has not quite worked as designed has been the RCEF. An initial allocation of P5 billion was provided for the fund even before the Rice Tariffication Act was passed, but disbursement of the money — even though it has already been more than covered by import duties — has been slow. That is expected to improve rapidly with the change in leadership at the Department of Agriculture, but whether it does will not be known until the latter part of the year.

Tax reform

In terms of progress toward the government’s overarching Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), the DoF noted one success and one pending bit of progress in the first half of the year. The clear success was the passage of RA 11346, or the “Tobacco Tax Law of 2019,” which significantly increases excise taxes on tobacco and vaping products. The extent of the progressive tax increase was less than what the DoF actually sought, but the signing of the law on July 25 at least got the ball rolling.

The one slightly worrisome pending objective is the passage of the second package of the CTRP, which has hung on disagreement with the bill’s rationalization and reduction of corporate fiscal incentives. Dominguez expressed confidence that this package would advance relatively quickly in the new Congress, and in fact has made it one of two broad priorities (the other being the timely passage of the 2020 budget) for the administration for the remainder of the year.

Second-half prospects

Taken altogether, the first-half accomplishments of the DoF and the broad objectives it has set out for the remainder of the year — budget and tax reform passage, maximized government spending, and continuous improvement in revenue collection — present a reassuring picture of a holistic, measured approach guided by carefully developed priorities. Whether that will be enough, however, to make up for the time lost to the budget impasse is doubtful; while the DoF leadership are confident in their ability to achieve results, they are circumspect in quantifying those in terms of indicators like GDP growth.

That may be to the country’s benefit. Since the guiding philosophy is to make sure that what is accomplished is substantial and complete, regardless if it meets original aspirations, more may actually be achieved than by focusing on specific targets, which may in any event still be missed.


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Solon files ‘half rice’ bill in House

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Published August 13, 2019, 4:19 PM

By Ben Rosario 

The legislative proposal requiring all restaurants and other food establishments to include half cup of cooked rice as a menu option has been revived in the House of Representatives.

Description: Davao Oriental 2nd district Rep. Joel Mayo Almario (CONGRESS / MANILA BULLETIN)

Davao Oriental 2nd district Rep. Joel Mayo Almario (CONGRESS / MANILA BULLETIN)

Rep. Joel Mayo Almario (PDP-Laban, Davao Oriental) filed House Bill 2513 or the Half Cup Rice Act of 2019 as he aired the optimism that the measure will help government achieve the “four-fold goal of reducing food wastage, establishing rice production self-sufficiency, lessening consumer expenses and promoting health and balanced eating.”

The bill proposes that all commercial establishments serving food to the public should include an option to order a half cup, or one hundred grams, of cooked rice to their customers.

Violators shall face a P5,000 fine for the first offense, then P10,000 and P15,000 in the second and third offense.

Establishments found to have committed the offense thrice will be closed by the government for a period of 30 days with its license to operate suspended during the period.

“Primary in the list of goals is preventing wastage in rice consumption in order to realize rice production autonomy by our local farmers,” said Almario.

He noted that the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has revealed that each Filipino wastes an average of two tablespoons of cooked rice daily.

“This is the equivalent to 13 percent of the country’s annual rice imports, costing the country roughly P7.2 billion annually – an amount that can feed 2.5 million Filipinos for an entire year,” said Almario.

Almario said the bill will allow consumers to reduce expenses when eating in food establishments because they will now have an option to order half a cup instead of the usual additional whole cup.

The senior administration lawmaker filed a similar bill during the 17th Congress when rice shortage gripped the country.

He urged colleagues in the House to support the measure as he pointed out that the bill will promote health awareness.

“It provides customers who are trying to limit their rice consumption the choice to order only the amount of rice they can actually consume, effectively discouraging over-eating,” Almario pointed out.

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Over 40 businessmen licenced to export rice following new decree

VNA MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2019 - 18:48:00 PRINT

Description: https://cdnimgen.vietnamplus.vn/t660/uploaded/wbxx/2019_08_12/vietnams_rice_exports_1.jpgIllustrative image (Photo: VNA)


Hanoi (VNA) – A total of 42 businessmen have been licenced to export rice after the Government’s Decree 107 issued on August 15 last year on rice export took effect.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the decree enables wholesalers to export rice, while loosening the conditions for enterprises to become wholesalers. 

Accordingly, the elimination of the condition on owning rice mills and warehouses has allowed firms to lease such facilities to reduce costs and make use of other businesses’ available ones. 

Enterprises also do not have to register their export contracts as previously.

Vietnam exported 4.01 million tonnes of rice worth 1.73 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, up 2.1 percent in volume but down 14.3 percent in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The figures include 651,000 tonnes worth 285 million USD in July.

In the year’s first half, the Philippines was the biggest buyer that purchased 33.7 percent of Vietnam’s rice exports.

Meanwhile, markets with strong growth in rice imports from Vietnam included Ivory Coast (up 67 percent), China’s Hong Kong (60 percent) and Saudi Arabia (38 percent).-VNA

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/over-40-businessmen-licenced-to-export-rice-following-new-decree/157693.vnp

 

 

PH rice stocks swell due to imports

By: Karl R. Ocampo - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:06 AM August 13, 2019

The country’s rice stocks inventory for July increased by more than 31 percent from year-ago levels as more imports came in following the passage of the rice tariffication law.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s latest monthly report, the country’s rice buffer during the period reached 2.62 million metric tons (MT), exceeding the previous year’s level of 1.99 million MT and enough to meet the country’s daily requirement for 81 days.

Of the total inventory, 41.9 percent came from commercial warehouses while 38.4 percent were in the households. NFA depositories contributed 19.7 percent of the total stocks, a majority of which were imports commissioned by the agency last year.

A total of 967,000 MT of rice had passed through the Bureau of Customs since the passage of the rice tariffication law, generating about P5.89 billion in taxes. That number is expected to swell as the country enters the lean months when local rice harvest is almost nil.

Stakeholders see no shortfall happening in the country’s rice supply anytime soon, while palay and rice prices continue their downtrend.

As of the third week of July, the average buying price of palay decreased by 0.06 percent and 17.55 percent from month-ago and year-ago levels, respectively, to P17.80 a kilo.

Similarly, a kilo of regular milled and well-milled rice was sold at an average of P38.35 and P42.86 during the period, respectively—down 7 percent and 4.9 percent from the same period last year.



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Contract farming schemes on the rise: Ministry

Chea Vannak / Khmer Times Share:    

Description: Cambodian farmer

A Cambodian farmer in the field in Kampong Speu’s Oudong district. KT/Chor Sokunthea

 

The Ministry of Agriculture said the number of contract farming schemes has increased this year as farmers and traders are more aware of the benefits of such agreements.

For in depth analysis of Cambodian Business, visit Capital Cambodia
.

Kong Pheach, director of agroindustry at the Ministry of Agriculture, said from January to July almost 60 contract farming schemes were signed in the rice sector, 20 more than during the same period last year.

In contract farming, buyers sign agreements with farmers for the production and supply of crops to be delivered at a future date, usually at predetermined volumes, qualities and prices.

Speaking yesterday at the agreement-signing ceremony for yet another contract farming scheme, Mr Pheach said so far this year rice millers have signed agreements with agricultural cooperatives from 10 provinces.

“Our priority is to increase the number of contract farming schemes in each province. Once such agreements are in place, farmers will be able to increase their production because they have guaranteed markets,” Mr Pheach said. “Establishing contract farming schemes is how we help small farmers increase production.”

Six big rice millers have already entered contract farming schemes with agricultural cooperatives, according to Mr Pheach, who added that once the contract farming model is more widely understood by farmers and rice millers, the number of such agreements will skyrocket.

Song Saran, the newly-elected president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, said CRF’s also aims to increase the number of contract farming schemes.

“We will keep up our work linking markets to farmers, particularly farmers who produce agricultural goods of great potential. We will continue connecting farmers to companies, particularly rice millers that are members of CRF,” Mr Saran said.

“Contract farming schemes enables market expansion through innovation. It also helps agricultural cooperatives maintain existing markets,” Mr Saran added.

Kann Kunthy, representative of the Cambodian Agriculture Cooperative Cooperation, shakes hands with the representative of an agricultural cooperative during a ceremony in Phnom Penh yesterday. Amru Rice

Him Sothea, a farmer from an agricultural cooperative in Kampong Chhnang province, said that through contract farming schemes they have been able to find new buyers and sell their rice at a good price.

“Before we entered contract farming schemes, the price they offered us for our paddy was much lower; lower than the market price,” she said.

Ms Sothea’s cooperative supplies organic rice to Cambodian Agriculture Cooperative Cooperation through contract farming.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50633015/contract-farming-schemes-on-the-rise-ministry/

 

New Myanmar-China barter trade offers rice producers a rough deal

TOPICS:Barter DealBelt And Road ForumMandalay Rice Development CompanyMyanmarRice ExportsRice Farmers

Photo: Myanmar Ministry of Information

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Rice merchants in Myanmar are struggling to adapt to a new barter trade deal with China. The barter deal aims to stabilise border trade but risks depriving Myanmar’s rice industry of much-needed income.

By Skylar Lindsay

Myanmar recently signed a trade deal with China to increase rice exports across its northern border fourfold to 400,000 tonnes per year. But under the new trade agreement, Chinese traders will pay for a quarter of the sum with bartered goods.

The barter deal offers a boost to farmers and traders in Myanmar by regulating trade and reducing costly border closures and unpredictable tariffs on the Chinese side. But the terms of the deal also impose a burden for everyone along Myanmar’s supply chains.

Myanmar and China signed the agreement on agricultural trade at the Belt and Road Forum in April. Mandalay Rice Development Company (MRDC) agreed to export 100,000 tonnes of rice to Kunming Green Color Trade Co in exchange for construction materials, appliances, fertilizers and agricultural machinery. But many merchants in Myanmar find they’re unable to sell the bartered goods.

U Htay Lwin, chair of the Rice Millers Association in Mandalay, has advocated for a barter system, saying that it would help reduce the power imbalance between the trading partners. But the current agreement may fall short of this goal.

Rice farmers in Myanmar.
Photo: 
Myanmar Ministry of Information

To succeed, the barter element of the new agreement will need to take its cues from Myanmar’s rice farmers, processors and merchants. If the bartered goods from China can’t be easily sold in Myanmar, traders will continue to turn to smugglers and illegal deals to sell their wares across the border, which could result in more border closures and disruption. 

The new rice deal expands opportunities for merchants in an attempt to reduce smuggling

The deal is a major step towards formalising agricultural trade along the border of China’s Yunnan province and has the potential to increase the income of Myanmar rice farmers and processors.

Annual exports across the border to China amount to over US$2 billion per year or 33% of Myanmar’s total exports, but rice merchants have been pushing to increase their export quota to China since a 2016 agreement capped exports at 100,000 tonnes.

The new agreement expands formal rice exports to China to 400,000 tonnes and also addresses long-standing instabilities in trade along the border. In recent years Chinese officials have often imposed unpredictable tariffs on incoming trade from Muse and merchants in Myanmar have turned to smuggling goods into China in order to skirt regulations.

If fully implemented, the barter deal will account for about one-fifth of Myanmar’s total rice exports. The deal also helps Myanmar to export varieties of long-grain rice that are difficult to sell in European markets.

Photo: Myanmar Ministry of Information

Most rice exported at the border is traded illegally – Myanmar merchants sold about 2.5 million tonnes across the border in the 2017-18 fiscal year, or over six times the new legal quota. Authorities have responded by arresting smugglers, shutting down Myanmarese bank accounts in China and sometimes closing the trade route at the border, forcing rice mills in Myanmar to temporarily close. In 2018, China imposed a month-long ban on imports of rice, maize and sugar. Workers in Myanmar who process and transport these crops for a living were cut off from much-needed income.

Standardised trade will provide workers and merchants with a more stable income that isn’t subject to border closures and the volatility of smuggling. The barter system allows Myanmar’s rice exporters to mitigate the impact of Chinese import taxes on profits.

Barter trade may end up burdening Myanmar’s rice industry

While formal barter deals may be more secure than informal smuggling, the current arrangement doesn’t support Myanmar’s rice producers as well as it might. Merchants working with the MRDC are struggling to sell the goods from China to secure much-needed income.

Myanmar used to have an agreement with India facilitating barter trade between the two countries until India pushed to end the deal in 2015. The two countries formally legalised barter trade at the border for exports up to US$20,000 in 1997

The agreement functioned because the governments left the specifics of barter arrangements up to local traders. However, the new China-Myanmar deal dictates which goods will be exchanged for rice. The central bank of India eventually called for an end to barter trade because banking services along the border had sufficiently expanded to meet traders’ needs. 

Though Myanmar’s cross-border trade with China is many times larger than that with India, the idea of letting merchants in Myanmar determine which goods are appropriate for barter would make the arrangement more sustainable.

Over the past 15 years, tractors imported from China have helped many farmers reduce labour costs. But according to Ministry of Commerce Permanent Secretary U Aung Soe, many Myanmar farmers object to the deal because they say Chinese agricultural equipment is low quality.

To succeed, the agreement will need to address the concerns of Myanmar’s producers who are being repaid in goods that are hard to sell and that may be low-quality. If Yunnan traders can offer Myanmar producers more in-demand goods, such as household products, it would do more to offer a guaranteed income, deter smuggling and provide better-regulated and formalised cross-border trade.

Companies and government officials on both sides of the border need to turn to Myanmar’s rice producers and the agricultural sector at large to determine what goods are valuable and formalise an agreement around these products. If not, the new agreement offers Myanmar little income stability and smuggling will reign once again.

Related


https://www.aseantoday.com/2019/08/new-myanmar-china-barter-trade-offers-rice-producers-a-rough-deal/

 

Comparing Notes - A California Farmer in Arkansas Rice Country 

By Emily Woodall

 

LITTLE ROCK, AR -- USA Rice Board of Directors Chair Charley Mathews, Jr., visited Arkansas rice country last week to meet with growers, merchants, and millers to discuss issues impacting the rice industry.  Mathews has been growing rice in California since 1991 and last had an extensive tour of Arkansas rice country as a member of the 1993 Rice Foundation Leadership class.

One of the highlights of Mathews' trip was attending the Mississippi County Rice Irrigation Field Day hosted by Mike Sullivan and his family on their farm in Burdette.  More than 200 people attended the field day to tour Florenden Farms and hear the latest results from on-farm studies being conducted regarding nitrogen rates in row rice and greenhouse gas emissions. 

Following the field day, Mathews held a meeting in Jonesboro with board members of the Arkansas Rice Federation to talk about their programs in the state and the challenging crop year farmers faced in the mid-South.

In Stuttgart the next day, Mathews met with leadership at Producers Rice Mill and Riceland Foods, had a meeting with local farmers, and capped off the trip with a visit to Dow Brantley's farm.  Brantley, also a leadership graduate, was also the chair of USA Rice from 2014 to 2016.

"I appreciate the great hospitality from all the people I met with on this visit," said Mathews.  "We're all aware of the differences between California and the South when it comes to how crops are grown and how the weather impacts those crops, but we have so much in common as rice growers, and processors, and volunteer leaders at USA Rice.  That shared experience and the time spent talking and comparing notes about the challenges we face each year makes you realize how much stronger we are as an industry when we stand together."

USA rice daily

 

 

 

WASDE Report Released   


WASHINGTON, DC -- The outlook for 2019/20 U.S. rice this month is for lower supplies, reduced domestic use, and lower ending stocks.  Supplies are reduced on a combination of lower beginning stocks and smaller production.  The first survey-based forecast for the 2019/20 crop year lowered all rice U.S. production by 3.3 million cwt to 205.4 million with all of the reduction on a lower yield forecast.  Long grain production is reduced 3 million cwt, while combined medium and short grain is lowered 300,000.  The all rice yield forecast is lowered 121 pounds per acre from the previous forecast to 7,577 pounds.  Rice yields in all states are unchanged or below last year with the exception of California.  All rice domestic and residual use is reduced 1 million cwt to 137 million on the lower production while exports are unchanged at 101 million.  Projected 2019/20 all rice ending stocks are lowered 3.3 million cwt to 47.2 million, down 7 percent from last year's revised 50.6 million.  The projected 2019/20 all rice season-average farm price is raised by $0.40 per cwt to $12.20 with increases for both long grain and combined medium and short grain prices. 

Global 2019/20 rice supplies are raised by 400,000 tons to 669.2 million on a combination of higher beginning stocks and increased production.  Global production is higher as increases for Iraq and Vietnam more than offset reductions for Thailand, the United States, and the EU.  Worsening drought conditions in Thailand are expected to reduce rice production by 400,000 tons to 20.5 million.  World 2019/20 consumption is lowered to 494.5 million tons, mainly on reduced expected use in China for rice feeding and less availability of rice from domestic auctions of stocks.  Global 2019/20 trade is lowered 300,000 tons to 46.6 million, largely on reduced exports by Thailand as its exports are expected to be less competitive compared to other Asian suppliers.  Projected world ending stocks are up 2 million tons to a record 174.7 million with China accounting for virtually all of the increase.  China now comprises 68 percent of 2019/20 global rice stocks.

Go 
here to read the complete report.

 

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A Threat to Louisiana Rice – Action Needed An important message from The Louisiana Rice Grower’s Association and The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Rice Advisory Committee Louisiana rice growers, land owners, and stakeholders have received notices informing them that they are automatically a participant in a class action lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the state’s rice research and promotion boards. This lawsuit could threaten the very future of our rice industry, and don’t let anyone tell you anything different. If you want Louisiana to continue to be a world leader in rice production and innovation, you need to opt out of the lawsuit today. Instructions about how to do this are below, as is a more detailed explanation of why it is the right thing to do. At a time when American agriculture faces so many challenges outside of our control: regulations, trade wars, rising interest rates and production costs, and weather to name a few, it is unconscionable that we would sue ourselves – dividing our communities, wasting valuable and limited resources, and jeopardizing the very future of our industry. If successful, this lawsuit could severely impact the research and promotion boards – rejecting the unprecedented advancements the boards have already brought us, while endangering Louisiana’s share of rice markets here and around the world and imperiling the LSU AgCenter. Since their inception in 1972, the Louisiana Rice Research and Promotion Boards have strived to advance the interests and innovations of our industry. Comprised completely of volunteers, these boards work tirelessly, year-round for the good of Louisiana rice farmers, with no compensation for their time and efforts. Today, we can look back with pride on the successes and massive accomplishments of those boards. Since the 1980’s, Louisiana rice farmers have more than doubled their statewide production and doubled statewide average per acre yields. These yield increases have occurred without compromising the quality of Louisiana rice, considered a worldwide standard. The LSU Ag Center and the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station has led, and continues to lead, the entire world in rice breeding and variety development. The innovations of new varieties in the early 2000’s have provided a revolutionary solution to red rice, which benefited not only Louisiana farmers, but the entire U.S. rice industry. Recent research has led to an extension of that technology so future generations of rice growers can control red and weedy rice problems, ensuring the viability of rice production in areas where crop rotation is nearly impossible. We now efficiently control virtually all rice diseases and pests with relative ease, while leaving a thriving crawfish industry unharmed from pesticide use, thanks to the brilliant research and science funded by you and your fellow growers and directed by the boards now being sued. Louisiana rice is recognized around the world as a healthy and delicious staple of the American diet. In less than 20 years, we have increased average household consumption of rice by nearly 90%, and the promotion board played a pivotal role in developing the “Grown in the USA” label, which is proudly displayed on the majority of domestic packaged rice and even used in foreign markets. By working with industry partners like USA Rice, every Louisiana rice promotion dollar is magnified 24 times and put to work here in the US, along with two dozen countries around the world. This has not only expanded existing markets, but has been successful in opening new ones. The Louisiana rice industry led the charge with allies in Congress, at USDA, and at the Department of State to apply pressure on Iraq to purchase U.S. rice that has resulted in the sale of 120,000 metric tons (MT) of milled rice in 2017, 120,000 MT in 2018, and 180,000 MT thus far in 2019. Our boards were crucial in the negotiation of the free trade agreement with Colombia, which took that country from our 51st ranked market to our 7th, and has poured more than $9 million back into Louisiana for rice research since 2012. These are but a few examples of how the farmer’s investment in the Louisiana Rice Research and Promotion Boards have not only kept our industry viable, but pointed us towards an extremely bright future; even in uncertain times for American agriculture. None of these accomplishments would be possible without your contributions as producers through the state check-off program, but now it is all jeopardized by the potential consequences of this lawsuit. Please consider removing yourself from this effort. Since the inception of the check-off refund option in 2014, only a fraction of growers have requested their check-off be refunded, totaling around 6% of all check-off funds received. This means more than 90% of rice stakeholders recognize the value the research and promotion boards bring for the Louisiana rice farmer. We urge you to continue in this solidarity of support (including all parties with a shared risk in your operation such as water and landlords), as it is the only way to insure these boards continue to provide a promising future for all of Louisiana’s rice industry. Please join us in showing your support for our industry by opting out today! The Board of Directors, The Rice Advisory Committee, Attached is a form letter that addresses the opt-out requirements as specified by the class notice. You may be required to send an opt-out letter such as this for each person/entity. *Please send your opt out letter to Rice Class Counsel by August 26, 2019* https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55f2e952e4b0ef7e0849a5a3/t/5d43cc6a3f6884000119b6bd/1564724332461/A+Threat+to+Louisiana+Rice.LARGA.LAFBF.pdf

 

USDA tried to cast doubt on study about climate effects on nutrients in rice

Description: riceCredit: CC0 Public Domain

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials made a behind-the-scenes effort last year to cast doubt on a study co-authored by two University of Washington researchers about how climate change would affect the nutrients in rice.

The UW scientists were part of an international team that included two federal agricultural scientists. They studied how increased levels of carbon dioxide forecast for the end of the century could diminish the nutritional value of rice, and joined together to co-author a peer-reviewed study accepted by a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In May 2018, weeks before the scheduled publication, findings in the rice study became a source of concern for program leaders of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

"The narrative isn't supported by the data in the paper," wrote Sharon Durham, a department public affairs specialist in a May 7, 2018, email to a Jeff Hodson, communications director for the UW School of Public Health.

Durham noted the USDA had decided not to send out a news release to publicize the study. "Please let me know how you will proceed with your own press release."

A statement Durham released to Politico and later to The Seattle Times said the concerns had nothing to do with the study's focus on climate change. They came from career scientists, Durham wrote, adding that no political appointees viewed the draft news release before the decision was made not to send it out.

"The nutrition program leaders at ARS disagreed with the implication in the paper that 600 million people are at risk of vitamin deficiency," the statement said.

But a veteran researcher with a lead role in the study thinks the politics of climate change in the Trump administration's USDA factored into what he views as an attempt to discredit the findings.

"It was a very bizarre set of circumstances. I had been at USDA, altogether for 26 years, and nothing like that had ever occurred to me," Lewis Ziska said.

The Agricultural Research Service where Ziska worked—and recently resigned from—has a long history of high-quality science that stretches back through decades of Democratic and Republican administrations.

But under President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the science linking fossil-fuel pollution to rising global temperatures, Ziska said researchers who focus on sensitive topics such as climate change have become more cautious. Some worry their funding may get cut or they could get reassigned if their work comes to the attention of higher-level officials.

"There is basically a miasma of fear," Ziska said.

The USDA 2018 criticism of the rice study, first reported by Politico, did spur a response at the UW, which receives grants from the agency. The interim dean of the School of Public Health at that time was Joel Kaufman. He reviewed the study and reached out to the two UW researchers—Kristie Ebi and Adam Drewnowski.

In a May 15, 2018, email to Vice Provost Mary Lidstrom, Kaufman wrote that the methods and results seem straightforward, and the UW researchers involved in the study "stand behind the scientific content ... I'm bringing you into the conversation on the possibility that you would be concerned about the potential risk of irritating the USDA or other potential funders. Do you want or need to be involved in considering this issue?"

"For academic freedom aspects, if the authors are supporting the press release, the university will not interfere," Lidstrom wrote back.

One week later, the UW sent out its news release.

The multiyear study looked at what happens to a range of rice strains when grown under carbon-dioxide concentrations at end-of-the-century levels, which are forecast to be markedly higher due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The study involved eight researchers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and China. In test plots, some rice was grown with the higher levels of carbon dioxide, while control plots received no additional carbon dioxide.

The UW news release noted the study showed how rice grown at the century's end is expected to have lower levels of four B vitamins as well as less protein, zinc and iron, and it noted that the impacts will have a disproportionate impact on poor countries where rice is a dietary mainstay.

The study had a much rockier path through the USDA bureaucracy.

Initially, Ziska said, the study appeared to be moving smoothly through an internal department review in the early months of 2018.

The paper also completed an independent peer review organized by editors of Science Advances that involved scrutiny from at least two independent experts, according to a statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

But in early May, shortly before the scheduled publication, Ziska said, he unexpectedly received a fresh round of questions from within the department's Agricultural Research Service and he then found that a USDA news release he had helped to prepare about the study had been spiked.

Durham, in a statement to The Seattle Times, said all research service papers follow the same review and clearance process. "This paper was no exception."

Despite the lack of USDA support for the study, promotional efforts by UW and the editors of Science Advances helped stir media interest, with The Washington Post, The New York Timesand other outlets in the U.S. and internationally reporting on the findings.

The USDA did make Ziska available for interviews. But after the splash of publicity for the study faded, Ziska, disillusioned, decided the time had come to leave. Now at Columbia University, he will continue his research on the impacts of a warming world on agriculture.

Ebi, his UW colleague, said Ziska's departure is a significant loss for the department at a time when it's important to follow through on research to determine what can be done to counteract the impacts of the declining nutritional values of rice on the global poor who depend on this food.

"We need to understand the breadth and depth of these problems, and what the solutions are," Ebi said. "It is critically important science, and USDA should be involved."


Explore further

Increasing CO2 levels reduce rice's nutritional value


Journal information: Science Advances 

https://phys.org/news/2019-08-usda-climate-effects-nutrients-rice.html

 

DBM thumbs down CCT program for farmers

By

 Jasper Y. Arcalas

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The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) thumbed down a P24-billion conditional cash transfer (CCT) program which will help 4 million farmers cope with rising production costs and plunging farm-gate prices.

The BusinessMirror learned that under the proposed CCT program, dubbed “Pantawid Saka,” planters with a 1-hectare farm will get at least P500 a month so they can Purchase inputs, such as seeds, fertilizer and diesel. Those with a 2-hectare farm or bigger are not eligible for a cash assistance of at least P6,000 a year.

However, “Pantawid Saka” did not make the cut in the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) proposed budget for 2020, as the government prioritized other banner programs, such as universal health care program, according to Field Operations Service (FOS) Director Roy M. Abaya said.

“The proposal [Pantawid Saka] was crafted because of the impact of the TRAIN [Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion] law on fuel prices,” Abaya told the BusinessMirror in an interview over the weekend. “It also sought to help farmers purchase farm inputs, like seeds and fertilizers, which have become more expensive.”

Of the 4 million farmers nationwide who were supposed to benefit from the program, half are rice planters.

The CCT program was crafted following a series of endorsements of various regional  agricultural and fishery councils (RAFCs) for a fuel subsidy program for farmers.

The Pantawid Saka program was endorsed and approved by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) two months ago.

Due to the increase in fuel prices, farmers had to shell out an additional P249 to P2,014 per hectare, depending on the type of irrigation facilities they use, according to a Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) study published last year. One of the recommendations of the PhilRice study is for the government to provide fuel subsidy to farmers.

Fallback

But Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said he and Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez have “mutually” agreed to implement an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program for rice farmers who incurred losses due to low palay prices.

The Federation of Free Farmers said rice planters have lost some P40 billion in the first half as cheaper imports that entered the country following the effectivity of the rice trade liberalization law pulled down farm-gate prices.

The UCT program will be implemented through the expanded Survival and Recovery (SURE) program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency of the DA.

The proposed UCT program is on top of the interventions that will be bankrolled by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which was created by Republic Act 11203.

The UCT program has been identified by Dar as one of the immediate short-term solutions to ease the drop in farm-gate prices.

“This unconditional cash assistance program is meant to help cushion the initial impact of lower palay prices on our farmers as they transition to the new rice tariffication regime,” Dominguez said in a statement released on Sunday.

The RCEF allows the government to provide direct cash assistance to rice farmers using tariff collections that exceed P10 billion.

DA officials and rice stakeholders warned that it would be too late to help farmers recover their losses if the government would wait for excess tariff collections.

“Our problem is time. The money for cash transfers has not been allocated yet for this year’s budget,” Action for Economic Reforms (AER) President Jessica Reyes-Cantos said in a statement.

“The RCEF subsidy is rigid: the possibility of a UCT solely depends on how much tariff will be collected since only the amount in excess of P10 billion can be used for cash transfers. But this has to be done now to tide over farmers in the transition to RCEF going full blast,” Cantos added.

Revision

PCAF Staples Committee Chairman Raul Q. Montemayor told the BusinessMirror that the proposed Pantawid Saka program would be revised and would become a UCT program. The revised program would cost more than P24 billion.

Despite the scrapping of the Pantawid Saka program in the DA’s proposed budget for 2020, Montemayor said the committee will still push for its institutionalization.

“We will revise the guidelines. There won’t be any exclusion as to which farmers would be eligible to receive the cash assistance,” he said.

“And instead of the DA handling the program, it would be the Department of Social Welfare and Development that would oversee it since they have the experience with the 4Ps [Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program],” Montemayor added.

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Jasper Y. Arcalas

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas is a graduate of the UST Journalism School (Batch 2016). He currently covers agribusiness for the BusinessMirror. He joined the news outfit in August 2016.

related articlesmore from author

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/08/12/dbm-thumbs-down-cct-program-for-farmers/

 

DOF, DA to help farmers affected by Rice Tariffication Law

 August 12, 2019, 9:46 am

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Description: https://files.pna.gov.ph/category-list/2019/08/11/img-9fdb47b1c6ca71d49e32573e940e5768-v-1.jpg

MANILA -- Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Agriculture Secretary William Dar have mutually agreed over the weekend to implement the assistance program to help rice farmers adjust to low prices of palay (paddy rice) following the passage of Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.

Under the program, an unconditional cash assistance would be allocated and distributed to affected farmers by expanding the ongoing Survival and Recovery (SURE) program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency of the DA.

The expansion of SURE to assist rice farmers will also build on the good experience under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The expanded SURE program is in addition to the programs and projects mandated under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF), the annual PHP10-billion fund established under RA 11203 to be sourced from the Bureau of Custom's (BOC) collection of tariffs on rice imports by private traders following the enactment of this law.

"This unconditional cash assistance program is meant to help cushion the initial impact of lower palay prices on our farmers as they transition to the new rice tariffication regime," Dominguez said.

"For the long haul, the RCEF facility under RA 11203 will help sharpen the global competitiveness of our farmers by way of an array of programs providing them with access to farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds, cheap credit and skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques,” he added.

Dominguez expects that tariff revenues from rice imports in 2019 will likely exceed PHP10 billion, a development that will assure full funding of the RCEF.

The annual tariff revenues in excess of PHP10 billion will enable further adjustment assistance for rice farmers for the remainder of the Duterte administration, he said.

Dar, who chairs the ACPC Council, will convene the Council at the soonest time possible to get the SURE assistance started right away.

Dominguez is a member of the ACPC Council. (PR)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077545

 

Iran awaits domestic rice sale before rice imports distribution

12 August 2019 12:45 (UTC+04:00)

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Description: https://www.azernews.az/media/pictures/Rice_141212.jpg

By Trend

The head of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization has indicated the country will import rice to create balance in the market; however, it will be distributed after the harvest season.

"The distribution of imported rice will not started before harvest season, so that the farmers can sell their products completely," said Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, Trend reports citing ISNA.

"Farmers should not be concerned over rice imports, as part of our responsibilities in economic resilience plan is to support the farmers," he added.

"Creating 26,000 jobs in Gilan Province is on the agenda as part of the industry and agriculture sectors' development," he noted.

Iran annually consumes three million tons of rice. About one million tons is imported, mainly from India and Pakistan.

https://www.azernews.az/region/154738.html

 

Trade between Ukraine and Pakistan can be increased manifold, believes Ambassador Zahid Mubashir Sheikh

By

 admin2

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Kyiv, Ukraine, The Ambassador of Pakistan in Ukraine Major General (retd) Zahid Mubashir Sheikh has said that trade between Ukraine and Pakistan is less than expectations and can be increased manifold.

Addressing at a lecture of a senior journalist from Pakistan Agha Iqrar Haroon arranged by National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NSJU) here Press Centre, Ambassador Sheikh said that Ukrainian products like sun flower oil can have a market of over 220 million population of Pakistan but trade between the two countries is still less than $200 million.

Important points of his speech are hereunder:

My dream is to rejuvenate the relations of Pakistan and Ukraine we must have lot of business we can complement each other, we have lot of things that we can export to your country and you have lot of things that we need in our country.

I and His Excellency Mr Volodymyr Lakomov, the Ambassador of Ukraine in Pakistan  both are trying to enhance trade between Ukraine and Pakistan.

And I find lot of people who want to have business with Pakistan from here and I am approached by a lot of people from Pakistan who want to have business in Ukraine but unfortunately I would hold the two states responsible for not providing facilities to do business with each other.

Description: https://cdn.dnd.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ambassador.jpgChairman of National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NSJU) Sergiy Tomilenko, Ambassador of Pakistan in Ukraine Zahid Mubashir Sheikh and senior journalist from Pakistan and Chief Editor of DND News Agency Agha Iqrar Haroon

The mission that I have given myself is that by the time I leave this country we must have more business between Ukraine and Pakistan. You will be surprised to know that today the volume of business is so low it is just about 50 million dollars that we export to Ukraine and it is about 100 million dollars that you export to Pakistan.

READ  NA 246 poll election results

 

Description: Zahid Mubashir SheikhZahid Mubashir Sheikh

Whereas there is a lot of potential I think we can have billions of dollars import and export from both the countries from your country we are having lot of housing projects we need lot of steel from you your country we need a lot of wood from your country. You produce so much of sunflower oil about 50% of the whole world and we are one of the biggest buyers of this oil but somehow the oil doesn’t come from Ukraine to Pakistan

We have a huge market of 220 million people, so you can well imagine how much they must be buying and selling so sky is the limit if you can find a market in Pakistan I think your business will flourish

Similarly, in Pakistan we produce one of the best cottons in the world we have a bit textile industry we export to lot of countries like United States, UK, Germany, Italy but unfortunately export to Ukraine is very little

Some of my Ukrainian friends tell me that the clothes that they have bought from Pakistan they haven’t seen such clothes anywhere else.

So it is just a matter of exploiting this opportunity I think somebody from your country must import textile from Pakistan.

You must have heard the basmati rice, it is a very fragrant rice that we produce in Pakistan, it has a beautiful unique fragrance so this is only produced in Pakistan and I see a bit of import here but not as much as it should be.

And you are quite familiar with football, the last football world cup that was played the ball was from Pakistan the team was not there but the ball was from Pakistan

READ  US concerned over release of Hafiz Saeed

 

We almost meet the 70% needs of football of the entire world

So I find no reason that way Ukraine should not import football from Pakistan.

We also make excellent medical instruments and beauty instruments and they can be imported very cheaply here and sold on expensive price and somebody can make a lot of money from this business.

https://dnd.com.pk/trade-between-ukraine-and-pakistan-can-be-increased-manifold-believes-ambassador-zahid-mubashir-sheikh/170049

 

 

USDA tried to cast doubt on UW-linked study about climate effects on nutrients in rice

Aug. 11, 2019 at 6:00 am Updated Aug. 11, 2019 at 7:29 pm

Description: Rice grown within this octagon field was part of an experiment by a University of Tokyo professor to understand the impacts of increased carbon dioxide levels resulting from fossil fuel pollution on the nutritional content of rice. The international research team also included two University of Washington scientists. (Toshihiro Hasegawa / National Agriculture and Food Research Organization of Japan. )

Description: University of Washington School of Public Health researcher Kristie Ebi was part of an eight-person international  team that produced a  study published in Science Advances that found lower nutritional values for rice grown with increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.   (University of Washington)

1 of 2 | Rice grown within this octagon field was part of an experiment by a... (Toshihiro Hasegawa / National Agriculture and Food Research Organization of Japan. ) More

Description: Hal Bernton

Hal Bernton

Seattle Times staff reporter

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials made a behind-the-scenes effort last year to cast doubt on a study co-authored by two University of Washington researchers about how climate change would affect the nutrients in rice.

The UW scientists were part of an international team that included two federal agricultural scientists. They studied how increased levels of carbon dioxide forecast for the end of the century could diminish the nutritional value of rice, and joined together to co-author a peer-reviewed study accepted by a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In May 2018, weeks before the scheduled publication, findings in the rice study became a source of concern for program leaders of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

“The narrative isn’t supported by the data in the paper,” wrote Sharon Durham, a department public affairs specialist in a May 7, 2018, email to a Jeff Hodson, communications director for the UW School of Public Health.

Durham noted the USDA had decided not to send out a news release to publicize the study. “Please let me know how you will proceed with your own press release.”

A statement Durham released to Politico and later to The Seattle Times said the concerns had nothing to do with the study’s focus on climate change. They came from career scientists, Durham wrote, adding that no political appointees viewed the draft news release before the decision was made not to send it out.

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“The nutrition program leaders at ARS disagreed with the implication in the paper that 600 million people are at risk of vitamin deficiency,” the statement said.

But a veteran researcher with a lead role in the study thinks the politics of climate change in the Trump administration’s USDA factored into what he views as an attempt to discredit the findings.

“It was a very bizarre set of circumstances. I had been at USDA, altogether for 26 years, and nothing like that had ever occurred to me,” Lewis Ziska said.

The Agricultural Research Service where Ziska worked — and recently resigned from — has a long history of high-quality science that stretches back through decades of Democratic and Republican administrations.

But under President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the science linking fossil-fuel pollution to rising global temperatures, Ziska said researchers who focus on sensitive topics such as climate change have become more cautious. Some worry their funding may get cut or they could get reassigned if their work comes to the attention of higher-level officials.

“There is basically a miasma of fear,” Ziska said.

Academic freedom

The USDA 2018 criticism of the rice study, first reported by Politico, did spur a response at the UW, which receives grants from the agency. The interim dean of the School of Public Health at that time was Joel Kaufman. He reviewed the study and reached out to the two UW researchers — Kristie Ebi and Adam Drewnowski.

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In a May 15, 2018, email to Vice Provost Mary Lidstrom, Kaufman wrote that the methods and results seem straightforward, and the UW researchers involved in the study “stand behind the scientific content…I’m bringing you into the conversation on the possibility that you would be concerned about the potential risk of irritating the USDA or other potential funders. Do you want or need to be involved in considering this issue?”

“For academic freedom aspects, if the authors are supporting the press release, the university will not interfere,” Lidstrom wrote back.

One week later, the UW sent out its news release.

The multiyear study looked at what happens to a range of rice strains when grown under carbon-dioxide concentrations at end-of-the-century levels, which are forecast to be markedly higher due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The study involved eight researchers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and China. In test plots, some rice was grown with the higher levels of carbon dioxide, while control plots received no additional carbon dioxide.

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The UW news release noted the study showed how rice grown at the century’s end is expected to have lower levels of four B vitamins as well as less protein, zinc and iron, and it noted that the impacts will have a disproportionate impact on poor countries where rice is a dietary mainstay.

The study had a much rockier path through the USDA bureaucracy.

Initially, Ziska said, the study appeared to be moving smoothly through an internal department review in the early months of 2018.

The paper also completed an independent peer review organized by editors of Science Advances that involved scrutiny from at least two independent experts, according to a statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

But in early May, shortly before the scheduled publication, Ziska said, he unexpectedly received a fresh round of questions from within the department’s Agricultural Research Service and he then found that a USDA news release he had helped to prepare about the study had been spiked.

Durham, in a statement to The Seattle Times, said all research service papers follow the same review and clearance process. “This paper was no exception.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/usda-made-behind-the-scenes-effort-to-discredit-uw-assisted-study-looking-at-climate-change-impacts-on-rice/

 

Erosion of Doon Valley’s pride: Basmati rice

August 12, 2019

Author: CanIndia New Wire Service

Views: 28

Dehradun, Aug 12 (IANS/ 101Reporters) Rice trader Ummed Bora, a resident of Dudhli Ghat in Uttarakhand here, has just started sowing seeds for the Kasturi rice crop, an aromatic variety of rice. While there was hardly any rain during June, steady rainfall in the second week of July has given respite to the farmers in the region.

July is when seeds of Kharif crops are sowed. Bora has also planted a Type-3 paddy crop, which is popularly known as Basmati rice. Known for its aroma, Doon Basmati is slowly losing its place in markets all over the world owing to the increasing urbanisation, pollution and lack of support from the government.

Vinod Bora, a resident of Dehradun, claimed that at one point the fragrance of the crop used to envelop the whole area. When Basmati rice would be prepared, the aroma would reach the adjoining houses as well, he reminiscenced.

While Basmati is still being grown in the area, he mentioned, the area under cultivation and the income generated from the crop have shrunk.

Even other types of Basmati rice — Haridwar-Saharanpur — is sold as Doon Basmati rice, he claimed.

Whether it is Dudhli Ghat or Majra, the vast farms growing Basmati rice have transformed into residential complexes and flats. Bora claimed that farmers don’t get proper compensation for their crops, but they get good prices for the land.

The farmers are attracted by the profits the selling of their land garners, asserted Ummed. He said that after selling their land, they move to the towns for a job or child’s education, leaving their farms behind.

In 2017, Bora revealed that he used to export a consignment of Basmati rice worth Rs 1.5 crore to Germany. The next year it came down to Rs 50 lakh. The expected yield this year is only Rs 20-22 lakh.

Chaman Lal, a farmer, said the Basmati rice crop is very fragile and cannot withstand heavy winds. Rains are always playing havoc and it rains at a time when it affects the crop, he claimed.

He also blamed the Suswa river for the low yield. There used to be a time when the water from the river could be consumed without giving it much thought, but now it is unfit for consumption, even for animals, he added.

As a testament to the rising pollution, he informed, the water has also turned black and is being circulated to the farms in Dudhli Ghat through canals for irrigation. The water brings garbage and medical waste to the farms, resulting in the low yield.

The contaminated water from Suswa river has affected the aroma, for which it used to be famous, stated Surya Prakash, another farmer. “The river whose water we used to drink out of our cupped hands has turned into sewer.

“Nature has changed, the weather has changed, rain patterns have changed and thus, the scent of the Doon Basmati has also vanished,” he said.

S.S. Rasaily, Member Secretary of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board, informed that a study has been sanctioned to find the reasons behind the decreasing yield of Doon Basmati rice and the report was expected within a few months.

He informed that there was no provision for the storage of Basmati rice seeds and farmers take turns for storage and preparation of the seeds. While this ensures quality control, there is no way for someone to procure the seeds from the market, he stated.

Rasaily said there is no record of how much the yield was 10 years ago, and thus there is no way to find out how much it has declined. He said even the Agriculture Department has no record of the trade.

The Biodiversity Board member even alleged that the Agriculture Department has not been taking any step to save the Doon Basmati.

Vinod Bhatt, a member of Navdanya — an NGO focusing on agricultural issues — and part of the study by Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board, said the area where the Basmati rice was being grown has reduced considerably in the last two decades.

Bhatt said the yield of varieties like Kasturi, Pusa, Basmati 1, Pant 4 has also dropped.

In addition, he said, rising temperature, declining fertility of the soil, shortage of water for irrigation, change in rain patterns and usage of chemical fertilizers have affected the taste and production of Doon Basmati.

At one point, the air around Dudhli Ghat and Majar used to be heavy with the fragrance of Basmati that rivalled sandalwood or flowers.

Doon Basmati, which had created a space for itself in the international market, is disappearing from the farms. Urbanisation, lack of awareness, water pollution and lack of support from the government has taken the crop to the verge of losing its place from plates across the globe.

–IANS

https://www.canindia.com/erosion-of-doon-valleys-pride-basmati-rice/

 

INDIA'S APRIL-JUNE RICE EXPORTS DIVE 28.2% Y/Y - GOVT

8/12/2019

MUMBAI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - India's rice exports in April-June dived 28.2% from a year ago to 2.35 million tonnes, a government body said on Monday, as demand for non-basmati rice was subdued from African buyers.

The country's non-basmati rice exports plunged 43% during the period to 1.2 million tonnes, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said in a statement.

India's rice exports in 2019/20 are likely to fall to their lowest level in seven years, industry officials said last month, as weak demand from African countries weighs and shippers absorb the absence of government incentives that supported previous sales.

New Delhi is the world's biggest exporter of rice, buffalo meat and guar gum.

The country's buffalo meat exports during the period eased to 275,398 tonnes from 276,450 tonnes a year ago, it said.

India's guar gum exports dropped 5.5% to 127,700 tonnes on lower demand from the United States, while pulses exports more than halved to 45,344 tonnes, the APEDA said. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/indias-april-june-rice-exports-dive-282-yy-govt

 

DOF, DA to help farmers affected by Rice Tariffication Law

 August 12, 2019, 9:46 am

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Description: https://files.pna.gov.ph/category-list/2019/08/11/img-9fdb47b1c6ca71d49e32573e940e5768-v-1.jpg

MANILA -- Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Agriculture Secretary William Dar have mutually agreed over the weekend to implement the assistance program to help rice farmers adjust to low prices of palay (paddy rice) following the passage of Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.

Under the program, an unconditional cash assistance would be allocated and distributed to affected farmers by expanding the ongoing Survival and Recovery (SURE) program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency of the DA.

The expansion of SURE to assist rice farmers will also build on the good experience under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The expanded SURE program is in addition to the programs and projects mandated under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF), the annual PHP10-billion fund established under RA 11203 to be sourced from the Bureau of Custom's (BOC) collection of tariffs on rice imports by private traders following the enactment of this law.

"This unconditional cash assistance program is meant to help cushion the initial impact of lower palay prices on our farmers as they transition to the new rice tariffication regime," Dominguez said.

"For the long haul, the RCEF facility under RA 11203 will help sharpen the global competitiveness of our farmers by way of an array of programs providing them with access to farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds, cheap credit and skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques,” he added.

Dominguez expects that tariff revenues from rice imports in 2019 will likely exceed PHP10 billion, a development that will assure full funding of the RCEF.

The annual tariff revenues in excess of PHP10 billion will enable further adjustment assistance for rice farmers for the remainder of the Duterte administration, he said.

Dar, who chairs the ACPC Council, will convene the Council at the soonest time possible to get the SURE assistance started right away.

Dominguez is a member of the ACPC Council. (PR)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077545

 

‘Govt firing on all cylinders’

BY BEN KRITZ, TMT

AUGUST 12, 2019

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Public spending near normal – Dominguez
GOVERNMENT spending is finally “firing on all cylinders” after being hamstrung by a five-and-a-half month delay in enacting the 2019 budget, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd told The Manila Times.

In an exclusive interview on Friday, Dominguez said government spending through the first half of the year was slashed to about 10 percent of its normal rate because of the delayed passage of the P3.7-trillion 2019 budget, coupled with the pre-election spending ban ahead of the May 13 midterm polls.

“We were not even spending P1 billion per day,” Dominguez said. If the budget had been implemented for the full year, government spending would have averaged about P10.14 billion per day.

The slow pace of government spending was identified as the primary cause of decelerating economic growth through the first half of the year. The Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by just 5.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 6.2-percent growth rate in the same period in 2018, and a 5.6-percent expansion in the first three months of 2019.

Due to bureaucratic processes and “normal bottlenecks,” even after the budget’s passage in mid-April, “there was a lag of about two months” before spending returned to near nominal levels, Dominguez explained.

“We saw some improvement in June, July was much better, and by August, this month, we’re back up to 80-90 percent,” Dominguez said. “So, we’re finally firing on all cylinders.”

Excellent debt position
Constrained government spending in the first half of the year ironically proved a boon to the country’s already sound debt position, Dominguez said.

“We are actually priced higher than BBB+,” he noted, referring to recent bond sales in which demand has pushed prices higher than what would ordinarily correspond to the country’s investment-grade credit rating. Even so, there is no need to take advantage of the positive situation. In the recent “samurai bond” sale of yen-denominated Philippine tenors in Japan, “we deliberately dialed down the market, because our spending for the first half was way below what we had anticipated,” the Finance chief explained.

The Treasury sold 92 billion yen ($859 million) worth of three-, five-, seven- and 10-year Philippine bonds in Japan at the beginning of this month, scaling back from a planned issue of more than $1 billion.

Due to the underspending, the government has amassed considerable cash reserves.

“The cash horde that we have is huge,” Dominguez said. Because of this, government spending can be accelerated without taking on more debt, even though the government is following a “very conservative” funding model of 20 percent equity, and 80 percent debt for funding infrastructure and other projects.

Description: ‘Govt firing on all cylinders’ 1Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd

Inflation in focus
Among the achievements of the administration’s economic team that Dominguez seems most proud of, the relatively rapid reduction of price inflation is near the top of the list. The Department of Finance (DoF) chief attributes that mainly to the successful passage and implementation of liberalized imports under the Rice Tariffication Act, which took effect at the beginning of the year.

“The risks for inflation come down to one thing: Fuel,” Dominguez said. “Fuel for human beings, fuel for power. Fuel for human beings is food.”

That means, he continued, that the main drivers of inflation are rice prices, which can be controlled by policy, and international petroleum prices, which cannot. Due to a lack of growth in the agriculture sector and subsequent shortages, “from rice contributing about one percent of inflation, it became 10 percent” in the second half of last year. Liberalizing rice imports “essentially took out rice as an inflation factor,” he said, allowing the government to reduce inflation from a ten-year high to its current level in less than 11 months.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that July inflation dropped to 2.4 percent, the lowest level in two years.

Second half outlook
Dominguez expressed guarded optimism for the country’s prospects for the rest of the year, highlighting the Finance department’s work to plug gaps in revenue collection, and the government’s solid financial footing. However, even though government spending has returned to near-normal levels, he cautioned there were still potential constraints.

“We have the money, but the spending rate is the problem,” Dominguez said. “The weather may also be a factor,” he added, ruefully noting the near-typhoon conditions outside his office window.

To help eliminate bottlenecks and maximize the pace of spending, particularly for infrastructure projects, the DoF has been in constant communication with other departments. “I’ve been meeting with the infrastructure boys, the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) and DoTr (Department of Transportation) every week,” Dominguez said.

He was emphatic on what he sees as the key priorities for the administration for the rest of the year.

“Get the budget passed!” Dominguez said, referring to the P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2020 that the administration has sent to Congress. “That’s number one. Number two, get the tax reform passed,” he added.

The second package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, known as the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities (Trabaho) Bill, has been stalled in Congress since last year over resistance to the bill’s rationalization of fiscal incentives to businesses, which would see many existing tax perks reduced or removed.

“Nobody talks about the most important part of that bill,” Dominguez observed, referring to the reform measure’s main feature, the progressive reduction of corporate income taxes from 30 to 20 percent. That part of the proposed law has not met with any dissent, while only a small minority of Philippine firms will actually be affected by the fiscal incentives provisions.

“We’re talking about 3,000 companies out of almost a million” businesses in the Philippines, Dominguez said. Nevertheless, with the new Congress settled into office, Dominguez expressed confidence that the Trabaho Bill would “move quickly” toward passage

https://www.manilatimes.net/govt-firing-on-all-cylinders/598786/

 

Rice price decline blamed on cartel

posted August 12, 2019 at 01:05 am by Rio N. Araja

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Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo wants the Philippine Competition Commission to speed up its probe of the rice cartel triggering the fall in the prices of unmilled rice or palay prices.

She told Super Balita over dzBB that despite inflation easing further to a 31-month low at 2.4 percent in July and the price of rice going down by 2.9 percent, the farm-gate price of palay remained down by 17 percent.

Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Villar said about 947 rice producing-towns will be adversely affected by the failure to return the P4 billion of the P5 billion allocation to the Philippine Post-harvest Development and Mechanization  under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. 

Villar, head of the Senate agriculture and food committee, said this would  hamper the procurement of farm equipment to be distributed to those towns. 

This was the reason she asked the newly-designated Agriculture Secretary William Dar to ensure the return of funds intended for the programs to help farmers after the expiration of the quantitative restriction on rice imports.

Quimbo attributed the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act 11203 to the fall in the price of palay.

“Since imported rice is much cheaper, on the average it is cheaper than the [locally] produced rice. When imported rice comes in from Thailand, the farmer would bring down their palay price from P19 to P17,” Quimbo said.

“If I am the farmer with a stocked palay in my house, I will get anxious if there is a coming importation of rice from Thailand. How can I compete? I will be forced to sell from P19 to P17 only.”

She said the burden of competition must be shared among the farmers, rice millers and even traders.

“Why should the farmers sacrifice? The rice millers and traders should also sacrifice. The question is, why do the farmers have to bear the brunt alone?” Quimbo said.

Quimbo, wife of the three-term representative Miro Quimbo, is an economist, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ School of Economics and a former PCC commissioner.

She raised concern over the alleged abuses of rice millers and traders to the detriment of farmers.

“If there is this so-called rice cartel, it only means there is conspiracy among the millers and traders to mount pressure on the palay farmers,” Quimbo said.

“We hope the PCC would pursue this. This is under its jurisdiction.”

Quimbo said there was an ongoing investigation into rice cartels, particularly into the “anti-competitive agreements” between millers and traders.

“We call on the PCC to resolve this so we would know what are its findings about cartel,” she said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

 

 

Rice stocks up in start of July

BY EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

AUGUST 12, 2019

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The country’s total rice inventory as of July 1 this year increased to 2.625 million metric tons (MT) mainly due to the entry of imported rice under the government’s liberalization program, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

In its latest “Rice and Corn Stocks Inventory” report, the PSA said the figure was 31.9 percent higher than the 1.990 million MT in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, the volume went up by 1 percent from 2.598 MMT in June.

Rice stocks inventory from all sectors increased—households (1.6 percent), commercial warehouses (16.4 percent), and National Food Authority (NFA) depositories (869.8 percent)—compared to last year’s level.

Of the total rice stocks, about 38.4 percent were with households, 41.9 percent were held by commercial warehouses and 19.7 percent were in NFA depositories.

The total volume of rice held by the households reached 1.008 million MT, while that found in commercial warehouses was 1.099 million MT. NFA depositories, meanwhile, had 516,920 MT.

Since the passage of Republic Act 11203 in February, there has been a tremendous increase in the volume of rice imported by the Philippines. From March to July, about 1.5 million MT of imported rice have already entered the country, according to the Bureau of Customs.

The Philippines is seen to become the second largest importer in the world this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Philippine rice imports are expected to reach an all-time high of 3 million MT, just 500,000 MT short of China’s rice importation requirement.

Meanwhile, the PSA also said total corn-stock inventory as of July 1 also rose to 822,700 MT, more than double or a 71.1-percent increase compared to last year’s 480,860 MT.

Month-on-month, however, it declined by 4.3 percent from 859,770 MT.

Compared to their levels a year ago, corn stocks inventory level in household and commercial warehouses rose by 1.5 percent and 81.1 percent, respectively, PSA said, noting there were no corn stocks in NFA depositories during the month.

Bulk the of corn-stock inventory as of the start of July, or 92.6 percent, was in commercial warehouses, while households accounted for the remaining 7.4 percent.

Corn stocks in commercial warehouses totaled 761,520 MT, while 61,180 MT were in households.

https://www.manilatimes.net/rice-stocks-up-in-start-of-july/598868/

 

Rice tariffication problems and measures to deal with them

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Description: Ramon L. Clarete

Introspective

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Calls for the review of the rice tariffication law at this point are premature as it has been less than a year since it started being implemented. Farmers have yet to receive the assistance which the rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF) offers. Agriculture secretary William D. Dar had just assumed his post, pledging to implement the law effectively. I don’t see any evidence at this point that the lawmakers of the 17th Congress made a big mistake passing this law.

Problems have emerged, the effects of liberalizing rice imports in the country’s largest agricultural industry. Farmgate prices of palay or unhusked rice plummeted this quarter by 17%, while rice consumers’ savings have not been as large as expected. Observers point to the traders/importers who may be the biggest winners of the rice law. Retail prices only fell by 4% according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Millers have stopped milling, and feed millers are short of darak (rice bran) because of that.

It is expected that the members of the local rice value chain — i.e. farmers with significant marketable surplus, seed traders, and millers, traders who have yet to learn the business of importing rice — find the net value they received from the industry are significantly lower.

It is the rice consumers and the government who are better off. Rice prices had gone down and the tariff revenues which will go to the RCEF had accumulated to at least P6 billion, based on a casual read of reports coming from the Department of Finance.

I add to the list of winners the importers who have shifted to importing rice, particularly higher value rice, whose local demand is significant thanks to a growing middle class. Although they pay the 35% import tariff, the local rice market is still far from competitive, and these initial players are still at liberty to earn margins higher than the taxes they pay the government. Such net incomes can be made even higher if importers undervalue rice imports, as some observers claim. But if Customs does its work well, its post-entry audit can take this illegal trade margins from importers.

The direction of these changes is expected, and validated by the statistics that we read at this point. Calls to revert to restrictions on imported rice and the role of the National Food Authority (NFA) in the rice industry are, in my view, misinformed, because short-term measures can be taken to mitigate the adverse effects without losing sight of the fundamental goal of rice tariffication.




One short-term measure is supporting palay prices: let the NFA, which continues to have a commercial role in the industry by procuring local rice for buffer stocks, procure more rice and at a higher price. The sharp fall of palay prices may indicate a significant withdrawal of commercial rice traders and millers from the local palaymarket. While the private sector is finding its commercial bearings in the local rice and palay markets, the public sector may come in significantly to create a market for our rice farmers, temporarily.

We are approaching the start of the main planting season and I share with all observers the view that low farm prices can discourage rice farmers from planting rice. The rice tariffication law wants farmers to continue growing rice and not drive them out — only now, because of RCEF, the farmers should grow their rice more productively. However, RCEF is not ready yet, and certainly the productivity gains it can potentially help generate have not been not realized yet. The situation calls for immediate measures to keep rice farming going, while long term measures to make rice farming more productive have yet to be taken. By design, the government can only use RCEF starting next year.

Incentives to rice farmers may also be provided through conditional cash transfers for beneficiaries staying in the rice industry. The program however, is not ready yet. We need to properly identify rice farmers and adopt rules to ensure effective implementation and prevent abuse. Special safeguards may also be used following a provision in the rice tariffication law, but safeguards raise taxes on imports and make less affordable to rice consumers.

Description: https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/NFA-rice-warehouse-071219.jpgPHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAELVARCAS

The NFA has to be reimbursed appropriately for the subsidy implied by the contingent short-term measure, and for the procurement service it is doing for the national government.

But the government’s winning move is the long-term effective use of RCEF. Secretary Dar, who has yet to warm his seat at the Department of Agriculture (DA), has to think beyond what several past administrations in the DA had been doing to deliver development funds to improve the productivity of our rice sector. For example, the performance of past DA administrations when it came to the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act was disappointing.

It may be time to think of alternative delivery mechanisms of the assistance to be funded from RCEF. I have advocated for consolidated management of our rice farms. There is simply very little productivity gain that can be realized in small rice farms. The application of improved technologies and farming practices, access to required farm inputs and credit, and effective access to final markets of rice, all these can be facilitated and likely if several small rice farmers bind themselves together to jointly manage their combined rice farms. One can think of several organizational forms for this. But in this way, the benefits of RCEF can be delivered at a lower cost, and upstream inputs like farm machinery put to better use.

The government can also start now to design a conditional cash transfer for rice farmers, which can be ready in a year or two.

Another group of players in the value chain are the millers. The frontier milling conversion rates (palay to milled rice) these days is 65%, but to my recollection we still have many rice mills with 60% conversion rates. The government can negotiate with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) private sector support office to finance a fund for modernizing the rice mills in our country. A local development bank, like the Development Bank of the Philippines, can retail the loan to millers. If on average we can push milling conversion rates to 65%, that would give millers more space to compete effectively with rice imports which are taxed at 35%.

On the import side, the risk remains that exporting countries may restrict rice exports for one reason or another such as what transpired in 2008. I had worked on this type of risk while doing some work for the ADB for the ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board (AFSRB). ASEAN cooperation is important to provide us with an effective early warning system for this type of risk or to avoid it. Perhaps, the DA can check on the progress of the ASEAN rice forum.

The features of the rice tariffication law has the potential of becoming an inclusive trade liberalization reform. Consumers benefit from the reform, and are partly taxed for it with the 35% import tariff. Its revenues go to RCEF, which can accumulate at least P10 billion a year to give rice farmers the opportunity to retool and make rice farming in the country more productive, or even to assist them to shift to other farming businesses. With the fund, adjustment costs of rice farmers can be lowered, resulting in fewer farmers exiting the agriculture sector.

The design for an inclusive trade reform is in the law. The rest is with Secretary Dar, with all our support.

https://www.bworldonline.com/rice-tariffication-problems-and-measures-to-deal-with-them/

 

 

Stop burning fields to cut smog and boost profits, scientists tell Indian farmers

12 August 2019

THIN LEI WIN

Rome, Italy
Thomson Reuters Foundation

Every year, a choking smog descends on north-west India as the region's farmers burn their fields following the rice harvest - a phenomenon that has helped make New Delhi one of the world's most polluted cities.

Now, scientists have come up with a method that would allow farmers to sow their winter crop, usually wheat, without burning off the stubble left behind after the rice harvest.

Researchers tested 10 alternatives to burning, finding the biggest profits could be achieved with a machine called the Happy Seeder.

The new method would allow farmers to produce more food, boost profits by up to 20 per cent, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 78 per cent, according to a study published on Thursday.

"Our analysis suggests that it is possible to reduce air pollution and GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions in a way that is profitable to farmers and scalable," said the study, by a group of scientists from India and other countries.

"Our analysis strongly suggests that India has an opportunity, through coordinated public and private actions, to reduce burning, increase incomes, and transition to more sustainable agriculture while addressing the urgent problem of seasonal air pollution."

The Happy Seeder is already being used on about 800,000 hectares of farmland used to grow wheat in winter and rice in summer - but that represents a tiny proportion of the four million hectares in northwest India known as the country's breadbasket.

"The plan next year is to reach close to two million hectares. We're hopeful," said co-author ML Jat, principal scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.

With a Happy Seeder costing $US2,000, cost remains a major barrier, but farmers can hire a contractor to plant their crops with the machine, Jat told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The study's authors are urging the government and private sector to promote the machine's use through subsidies.

Every year, farmers in northwest India burn an estimated 23 million tonnes of rice straw to clear the land quickly and cheaply in time to grow wheat, the study said.

If piled on top of each other, the amount would cover 1.1 times the distance to the moon.

India officially restricts the use of crop burning, but the practice persists and bans are rarely enforced.

The resulting seasonal smog disrupts transportation and threatens public health, said the paper, published hours after a major U.N. report called for big changes to farming to curtail global warming.

 

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/news/13019-stop-burning-fields-to-cut-smog-and-boost-profits-scientists-tell-indian-farmers Cambodian rice to achieve worldwide fame, new CRF president promises

Chea Vannak / Khmer Times Share:    

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Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly (centre) at CRF’s annual meeting and election ceremony. CRF

 

Cambodian rice will be recognised around the world for its quality and sustainability, the newly-elected president of the Cambodia Rice Federation has promised.

For in depth analysis of Cambodian Business, visit Capital Cambodia
.

Song Saran, CEO of Amru Rice and now also president of CRF, said last week during CRF’s annual meeting and election ceremony that he aims to turn the rice sector into a sustainable and competitive industry that improves the lives of all involved.

Mr Saran, who will hold the new position until 2022, said the federation should be run as a public-private-producer partnership, and that modernising the industry, diversifying markets and enhancing access to finance will be prioritised.

“In the decade ahead, I believe the most important challenges for the sector will be globalisation, digitalisation, populism, and protectionism. These have the potential to negatively impact low-income producers and farmers as well as the competitiveness of the sector,” Mr Saran said.

“[To overcome these challenges], we must work closely with all stakeholders, including government agencies, non-government agencies, local and international institutions, agriculture cooperatives, and the private sector, particularly rice millers, to improve the competitiveness of the value chain, from the farm to the market, and create innovation, extra value and new products,” he said.

The Cambodian Rice Federation was established in 2014 with 213 member representing exporters, farmers and millers. The number of members has now reached 292.

The association’s establishment followed the government’s pledge to reach one million tonnes in rice exports. Although the Kingdom is now an important rice exporter, it has yet to reach that goal.

The association’s first president was Sok Puthivuth, who held the position until Mr Saran took over last week.

Mr Saran said the federation must work to overturn a system that exploits farmers and produce chemical-doused goods that may harm consumer health.

“We will promote partnerships between private actors and low-income producers that address inefficiencies in rice production and trade and nurture innovation, sustainability, fair trade, and competitiveness.

“These business initiatives promote inclusion as well as innovation and market growth,” Mr Saran added.

Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon praised the sector for its achievements in recent years but called for greater cooperation among all actors to continue developing the industry.

“The Ministry of Agriculture has been working to reform policies, modernise the sector and promote public-private-producer partnerships that focus on increasing quality and competitiveness through contract farming schemes,” Mr Sakhon said.

The country’s exports of milled rice rose 3.7 percent during the first seven months of the year to reach 308,013 tonnes. China continues to be the Kingdom’s biggest market, purchasing 123,361 tonnes from January to July, a 40 percent increase.

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https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50632528/cambodian-rice-to-achieve-worldwide-fame-new-crf-president-promises/

 

Not burning would be a win-win for Indian farmers


Study highlights economic benefits of alternative approach.


The high cost of no progress. Indian farmers burn millions of tonnes of rice residue every year. 

NEIL PALMER/CIAT

Embracing alternative farming practices would allow some Indian farmers to make more money while also cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 78%, research suggests.

The findings, by an international team of economists and agricultural specialists, add weight to an Indian Government campaign to reduce reliance on traditional burning.

To quickly and cheaply clear their fields to sow wheat each year, farmers in India’s northwest burn an estimated 23 million tonnes of straw from their rice harvests.

Regulations are in place to reduce agricultural fires but burning continues because of implementation challenges and lack of clarity about the profitability of alternate, no-burn farming.

The new study – led by researchers from The Nature Conservancy, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, and the University of Minnesota, US – suggests that the alternatives make economic sense.

The team compared the costs and benefits of 10 distinct land preparation and sowing practices for northern India's rice-wheat cropping rotations, which are spread across more than four million hectares.

The direct seeding of wheat into unploughed soil and shredded rice residues was found to be the best option. It raises farmers' profits through higher yields and savings in labour, fuel, and machinery costs.

Using a simple tractor-mounted implement known as the Happy Seeder is, on average, 10-20% more profitable than straw burning options.

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India’s dual battle with diseases of affluence and poverty

 

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“Often, there are difficult trade-offs between environmental improvement and profitable economic opportunities,” the researchers write in the journal Science

“The case of crop residue management in northwestern India does not appear to fit this pattern and provides lessons that may be useful elsewhere.”

Crop residue burning contributes to nearly a quarter of Delhi’s air pollution in the winter months. In November 2017, more than 4000 schools in the city closed due to seasonal smog.

Report co-author ML Jat notes that, with a population of 1.6 billion and rising, South Asia hosts 40% of the world's poor and malnourished on just 2.4% of its land.

"Better practices can help farmers adapt to warmer winters and extreme, erratic weather events such as droughts and floods, which are having a terrible impact on agriculture and livelihoods.,” he says.

“In addition, India's efforts to transition to more sustainable, less polluting farming practices can provide lessons for other countries facing similar risks and challenges."

https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/not-burning-would-be-a-win-win-for-indian-farmers

Rice price decline blamed on cartel

posted August 12, 2019 at 01:05 am by Rio N. Araja

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Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo wants the Philippine Competition Commission to speed up its probe of the rice cartel triggering the fall in the prices of unmilled rice or palay prices.

She told Super Balita over dzBB that despite inflation easing further to a 31-month low at 2.4 percent in July and the price of rice going down by 2.9 percent, the farm-gate price of palay remained down by 17 percent.

Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Villar said about 947 rice producing-towns will be adversely affected by the failure to return the P4 billion of the P5 billion allocation to the Philippine Post-harvest Development and Mechanization  under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. 

Villar, head of the Senate agriculture and food committee, said this would  hamper the procurement of farm equipment to be distributed to those towns. 

This was the reason she asked the newly-designated Agriculture Secretary William Dar to ensure the return of funds intended for the programs to help farmers after the expiration of the quantitative restriction on rice imports.

Quimbo attributed the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act 11203 to the fall in the price of palay.

“Since imported rice is much cheaper, on the average it is cheaper than the [locally] produced rice. When imported rice comes in from Thailand, the farmer would bring down their palay price from P19 to P17,” Quimbo said.

“If I am the farmer with a stocked palay in my house, I will get anxious if there is a coming importation of rice from Thailand. How can I compete? I will be forced to sell from P19 to P17 only.”

She said the burden of competition must be shared among the farmers, rice millers and even traders.

“Why should the farmers sacrifice? The rice millers and traders should also sacrifice. The question is, why do the farmers have to bear the brunt alone?” Quimbo said.

Quimbo, wife of the three-term representative Miro Quimbo, is an economist, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ School of Economics and a former PCC commissioner.

She raised concern over the alleged abuses of rice millers and traders to the detriment of farmers.

“If there is this so-called rice cartel, it only means there is conspiracy among the millers and traders to mount pressure on the palay farmers,” Quimbo said.

“We hope the PCC would pursue this. This is under its jurisdiction.”

Quimbo said there was an ongoing investigation into rice cartels, particularly into the “anti-competitive agreements” between millers and traders.

“We call on the PCC to resolve this so we would know what are its findings about cartel,” she said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

http://www.manilastandard.net/news/national/302143/rice-price-decline-blamed-on-cartel.html

 

New rice federation president says he will make export push

Hin Pisei | Publication date 11 August 2019 | 21:52 ICT

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Saran said he is committed to push exports to China to meet their quota. Heng Chivoan

Cambodia's rice exports have seemingly reached their peak, as annual exports have failed to reach government targets for the last few years.

Last week, the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), one of the leading institutions for promoting the industry, elected Song Saran, the CEO of Amru Rice (Cambodia) Co Ltd – a major rice processing and export company – as its new president.

Saran has been involved in the industry since 2011, through the establishment of Amru Rice.

In an interview with The Post on Sunday, Saran said one of the first things he will do as president is to train farmers, whom he called “the foundation” of the industry.

“The first thing I would like to do is promote market connectivity for farmers through contract farming, and reduce production costs by encouraging the use of seeds.

“We want to implement a principle [for millers] on using their cash flow to buy rice [directly] from farmers during the harvest season.

“We’ll explain to millers how to manage their cash flow and expenditure, and prepare their taxes and other paperwork to develop into standard [institutions], which will simplify [the process] when they need loans for investments,” said Saran.

He said issues facing the Kingdom’s warehouses and drying silos cannot be overlooked and logistics development needs to be improved for competitiveness.

Cambodia exported 281,538 tonnes of rice in the first half of this year – up 3.7 per cent year-on-year.

The Kingdom has been seeking additional markets outside of Europe, as tariffs on rice exports to the EU were imposed earlier this year. China agreed in January to increase its import quota for Cambodian rice to 400,000 tonnes this year from a previous 300,000 tonnes.

As the new president, Saran is committed to pushing exports to China to meet the quota provided to Cambodia.

“Since tariffs were imposed on Cambodian rice to the European market, we have seen our exports to Europe drop by about 20 per cent. We have to plan our market better through diversification,” he said.

The government unveiled its plans to export one million tonnes of milled rice in 2015, but rice exports only reached just over 620,000 tonnes last year.

Saran claimed that Cambodia could achieve the one million tonne target over the next three years.

“We will work hard to re-shape the plan through all relevant sectors, both the private sector and the state, with the strong expectation of achieving the target of exporting one million tonnes of rice by 2022-2023,” said Saran.

He said participation from the financial sector would be crucial in boosting the rice sector. Financial institutions should provide more loans to millers and rice-producing communities, while large investors should consider investing in processing.

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/new-rice-federation-president-says-he-will-make-export-push

 

Pepe's Piri piri spreads its wings in Pakistan

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Description: Pepe's Piri piri spreads its wings in Pakistan

 

Web Lifestyle Desk

9:08 PM | August 10, 2019

 

Pepe’s Piri Piri is a casual fast food dine-in chain and very soon the inhabitants of Karachi will be able to taste the delicious menu that is being offered. Pepe’s is originally from the UK and currently has nearly 100 stores in the UK and Ireland. Last year Pepe’s launched in Pakistan with their first restaurant opening in Giga Mall Islamabad and a second one opening in Lahore. Following it’s success in Islamabad and Lahore where it has built an extremely loyal fan-base, Pepe’s is now all set to conquer Karachi as it opens it’s first branch in Karachi and third in Pakistan, in North Nazimabad - launching on 14th August and opening doors to public on the 15th of August. Pepe’s is also set to open further branches in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Jhelum in the next few months.

READ MORE: FIA arrests 33 Pakistanis deported from Turkey  

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Besides Pakistan Pepe’s is opening branches in UAE, US and Morocco very soon as well. Pepe’s Piri Piri is set to revolutionize the concept of grilled food as they offer 6 flavors that include: Mango & Lime, Lemon & Herb, Mild, Hot, Extra Hot and Extreme, (for the more daring ones!) Not only can customers choose any of the flavors based on the spice level they prefer, but they can also choose to mix any two flavors! Not just that, but Pepe’s prides itself for serving only fresh chicken as opposed to using frozen chicken which most other brands in Pakistan do.

Description: https://nation.com.pk/digital_images/large/2019-08-10/pepes-piri-piri-spreads-its-wing-in-pakistan-1565453182-3087.jpg

Pepe’s aims to bring quality and healthy food with exotic flavoring for their customers. Instead of overtly fried artery clogging food, Pepe’s grilled chicken will tantalize your taste buds without the guilt factor of carrying excessive calories. The outlet has a very chilled out vibe where students, friends and family can congregate for delectable food that will surely keep them coming back for more! There is a little something for everyone on the menu, from grilled chicken & beef burgers, to rice based meals such as ‘Chicken & Rice’ and ‘Chicken Espetada’, to the classic grilled chicken and salads! And for kids who want nothing more but fries and nuggets, that’s there too! So lock the dates and keep an eye out for the new store because Pepe’s guarantees to bring you fresh flavours and great taste that will keep you hooked and coming back for more!

https://nation.com.pk/10-Aug-2019/pepes-piri-piri-spreads-its-wing-in-pakistan

 

Bank deposits rose 939.60 billion rupees to 127.45 trillion rupees in the two weeks ended Aug 2.

Reuters|

Aug 16, 2019, 08.03 PM IST

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BENGALURU: Indian banks' loans rose 12.2% in the two weeks ended Aug 2 from a year earlier, while deposits jumped 10.1%, the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement showed on Friday.

Outstanding loans rose 711.3 billion rupees to 97.30 trillion rupees ($1.37 trillion) in the two weeks ended Aug 2.

Non-food credit surged 743.9 billion rupees to 96.67 trillion rupees, while food credit fell 32.50 billion rupees to 627.50 billion rupees.

Bank deposits rose 939.60 billion rupees to 127.45 trillion rupees in the two weeks ended Aug 2.