Annadale zoning is agricultural again

BY DAN McFARLAND

Orange County supervisors have rezoned property once planned as the site of the Annadale retirement community to agricultural at the request of its new owners.

Following the positive recommendations from the Planning Commission and a public hearing Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to approve three actions requested by Philip and Merrill Strange. They included amending the comprehensive plan’s land-use map to return the four affected lots from residential to agricultural conservation designation; removing previous proffers that had never been triggered; and rezoning the property back to agricultural.

“My grandparents bought Annadale in 1928,” Philip Strange explained, “and it stayed in the Strange family until the mid-’90s, when my aunt sold the farm.”

In July 2006, Silver Active Adult Communities, Annadale LLC won approval of its plan to rezone the 244-acre tract on U.S. 33 just west of Gordonsville from agricultural to planned development residential, in exchange for extensive proffers. The proffers, which were staged with phases of the development, included a payment of $25,000 each time a building permit for one of the 290 planned residential units was obtained, and construction of a community and recreational center that would include a swimming pool and tennis court.

No building permits were ever requested or issued, and the property was foreclosed on in 2010.

The land was repurchased in July by Philip Strange and his wife, Merrill, and they proposed to restore it to its original use as a residence and farm.

“My wife and I are not developers,” Strange said, “and we would like to remove the proffers and down-zone the property back to agricultural use. I believe Orange County is better served by putting this parcel back into agricultural zoning.”

Noting that the application had the backing of the town of Gordonsville, as well as the county planning director, Planning Commission and “several constituents who have asked that we support this,” Supervisor Shannon Abbs moved for approval of the requested actions, and the motion passed unanimously.

Following a second public hearing with no speakers present, the supervisors also voted to modify the current county ordinance regarding use of credit cards to pay taxes, fees and charges. The change was needed to update the county ordinance to comply with changes to the state code limiting the amount of credit card fees charged to the exact amount being charged by the credit card company.

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Marine agriculture offers a new solution to the problem of water scarcity

Ricardo Radulovich, professor of water science at the University of Costa Rica, points out that in Africa irrigation is a very limited option, due to lack of water, and rain-fed agriculture is affected by prolonged dry seasons and rainfall variability during the rainy seasons. A case in point is the Sahel in west Africa, where drought has grown increasingly frequent and where emergency aid was needed last year to forestall famine.

Yet Radulovich believes that Africa's lakes can be part of the solution to the continent's agricultural limitations. Several African countries are endowed with lakes, some very large, that occupy a surface of more than 150,000 square kilometres. Why not use that water surface to grow food and aquatic plants, and for fisheries, asks Radulovich, who began his career as an agricultural water scientist 10 years ago.

"The key issue is water," Radulovich said in a telephone interview from Costa Rica. "We have land, but water is the limiting element. You can have agriculture if you have water. If we use that lake surface to produce crops, aquatic plants, we won't waste water."

Radulovich and his team, including Schery Umanzor, have already begun prototype projects on Lake Nicaragua, where they have grown lettuce, tomato, cucumber and cantaloupe melons on floating rafts, a continuation of trials that were undertaken at sea in 2001 at the Gulf of Nicoya, on the Pacific coast. The tomato roots can trail in the water or be potted with a cotton rope dangling in the water from the pot, which draws in water to the plant.

The size of the rafts can vary, going up to six square metres, and can be made simply and cheaply, from plastic bottles, for example. Where the water is polluted by horticulture, an option is to grow flowers. One advantage of growing crops on water is that they are not as vulnerable to insects as they would be on land.

The team's pioneering techniques have earned them a $100,000 (£62,000) grant from Grand Challenges Canada, which is funded by the Canadian government. Targeting innovations for developing countries, Grand Challenges Canada will provide additional funding of $1m for those ideas that prove effective.

Radulovich and his colleagues also see potential in aquatic plants such as azolla, water hyacinth and alligator weed. Frequently dismissed as weeds that clutter waterways, such plants are seen by Radulovich as enriching biodiversity, and as a source of nutrients and habitat for small fish and snails that attract bigger fish. He believes that hyacinth, for example, can be used as feed for herbivorous fish such as Chinese carp, animals and even humans, in the form of flour.

"Currently, where their blooms are a nuisance and clutter waterways, the new trend is to harvest and use them," Radulovich says. "The next trend must be: cultivate them. All of this without even beginning selection and genetic improvement programmes, which in a few years, with a fraction of what is spent in agricultural improvement, can lead to tremendous advances."

Radulovich is particularly excited at the possibility of growing rice by attaching rice plants to ropes. "Even if the water is low in oxygen, maybe you can produce three rice crops a year, but whether we can do it economically I don't know," he says.

Several countries have expressed interest in the concept of marine agriculture, including Uganda, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Malawi. But Radulovich sees the technological problems as only the start of the challenge, with cultural change, including food habits, posing greater hurdles.

"If people need it, and they do, the water environment must be used intelligently, and even changed, to an extent, without biological or environmental chaos."

Original Article Here

Fisheries/Agriculture Census Will Help Develop the Industry

PHILIPPINES - A regional consultative forum spearheaded by the regional office of the National Statistics Office (NSO) has been conducted to inform stakeholders of issues and concerns on the 2012 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF).

Speaking before the stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, Agusan del Sur Provincial Statistics Officer Jesus Apellado said the objective of the census is to determine the structural characteristics of agriculture and fisheries sectors. 

"It also provides sampling frame for the conduct of census supplementary modules on irrigation and cropping pattern, livestock and poultry, aquaculture and fisheries, and other statistical undertakings," Apellado said. 

Apellado added the activity provides basic data for use in national as well as subnational development planning and services in the barangay. 

The collection of data on agriculture and fisheries establishments was first included in the Census of Establishments in 1903, 1918, 1939, and 1948. However, in 1960, the Census of Agriculture was undertaken separately from Census of Establishments, Apellado said. 

Since 1970, and every 10 years thereafter, the Census of Agriculture has been conducted together with the Census of Fisheries. These two census activities are collectively known as Census of Agriculture and Fisheries. The 2012 CAF will be the sixth of a series of decennial census on agriculture and the fifth on fisheries in the country. 

For the government, Apellado said the statistics derived from the CAF will be used to make more meaningful decisions with respect to the use of the country’s agricultural and fisheries resources. This will also provide framework for the country’s development program, as well as for local area planning, and measure progress in agriculture and fisheries sectors. 

The business and industry sectors will also benefit from this endeavor since the data will be utilized in making projections on productions and planning the quantity and types of commodities that should be produced, Apellado further said. 

The official added that the result of the census will serve as basis in conducting research on agriculture and fisheries as well as to provide frame for the various surveys in agriculture and fisheries. 

The Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) is a large-scale government undertaking geared towards the collection and compilation of basic information in the agriculture and fishery sector in the country. 

The collected data will constitute the bases from which policy makers and planners will evolve plans for the country’s development.

TheFishSite News Desk

MECHANIZING AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD SECURITY

By SENATOR MANNY B. VILLAR

LAST February 27, I urgently called on the government in Senate Resolution No. 731 “to devise strategies that promote modern farming methods and adopt new approaches, including the so-called climate-smart agriculture.”

“Climate-smart agriculture,” according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), means “intensifying production systems to achieve productivity increases, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

I made that same call in this column last March 20, and barely three months after it came out, major newspapers carried reports about the need to increase mechanization of Philippine agriculture.

The reports cited the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) as saying the country has one of the lowest rates of mechanization in Southeast Asia at half a horsepower per hectare (0.5 hp/ha).

Vietnam and Thailand, which are both rice exporters and are the major sources of Philippine rice imports, both have a higher mechanization rate at 0.7 hp/ha. South Korea has an even higher farm mechanization rate of 4 hp/ha, while highly industrialized Japan remains a major rice producer with a mechanization rate of 7 hp/ha.

Filipino farmers, according to PhilMech Executive Director Rex Bingabing, rely heavily on manual labor in land preparation, planting, and harvesting. He estimated production losses at 16 percent of total rice production because of inefficient farming methods.

Less than a week after the report on the state of farm mechanization in the Philippines came out, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced in the Philippine Gazette  the allocation of an initial P6 billion to increase the country’s farm mechanization rate. It quoted Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala as saying, “our target in the medium-term is to increase the current farm mechanization level at 0.57 horsepower per hectare to 0.8 hp/ha.”

For the national rice program alone, Secretary Alcala said the DA had already allotted P3.6 billion (P1 billion in 2011, for the purchase of 2,300 units of postharvest machinery and other equipment; and P2.6 billion for this year, for the purchase of 7,000 agricultural machines that would be distributed to farmers’ groups and local government units.). And  the department is proposing another P2.4 billion for more purchases of farm machinery under the proposed national budget for 2013.

The government expects to reduce rice importation to 500,000 metric tons this year, compared with 850,000 metric tons last year and 2.47 metric tons in 2010. The agriculture department said the country is on track to achieving rice self-sufficiency by 2013, with production in 2012 on track to reaching 18.46 million metric tons, due to the continuing mechanization and good weather.

The mechanization of agriculture program, however, has raised another issue that must be addressed. PhilMech’s Bingabin observed that some farmers are reluctant to mechanize because they fear losing work. He also observed that many farmers allowed much produce to be wasted or to rot because of excess production or because traders were not willing to pay better prices.

In my view, mechanizing our agricultural sector poses a kind of cultural shock among farmers who have long relied on manual farming. The program should not be limited to giving farmers access to modern equipment. It should also include a program to educate them on the benefits of using efficient technology and machinery. In short, an attitude change.

In addition, the government must adopt programs and strategies to establish a ready market for the farmers’ produce, whether local or international. I believe that the success of farm production in Thailand, Vietnam, and other agricultural countries is largely due to the fact that their farmers are assured of domestic and overseas markets for their harvests.

Let us remember the global food crisis that erupted in 2007 and 2008 remains a constant threat because of the growing world population, climate change and even volatile energy supplies and prices.

For the Philippines, food security is a permanent issue of national interest which can be addressed through high and efficient agricultural production.

(For comments/feedback email to: mbv_secretariat@yahoo.com. Readers may view previous columns at www.senatorvillar.com)

Mati cited for agriculture development

By Lualhati Perez

MANILA, Philippines - Mati City, provincial capital of Davao Oriental, was recently awarded by President Aquino as the best performing local government unit in implementing an agricultural development project under the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Rural Development Program.

The city received a P2.5-million grant from DA-MRDP to improve its productivity in agricultural produce such as coconut, banana and corn.

Mati is regarded as a “coconut city” because of the 26,386 hectares of coconut plantations, one of the biggest in the country.

The city envisions itself as one of the centers of the coconut industry with the implementation of an integrated coconut farming system that will include virgin coconut oil, coco sugar and coco coir.

The city is a major producer in Mindanao of dessicated coconut, coconut coir and geotextile which is widely used in road projects to control soil erosion.

Since being declared a component city in 2007, Mati has racked up numerous citations from national government agencies for its quest for excellence in the various fields of governance.

Among them is the Seal of Good Housekeeping in 2011 from the Department of the Interior and Local Government for its faithful compliance with the public disclosure policy of finance documents.

It was also given the Seal of Excellence by the Civil Service Commission in 2010 during the national search for the best local government units in implementing customer satisfaction. It was also named the Best Rural Police Station by the Philippine National Police in 2010.

Mati Mayor Michelle Denise Rabat said that its affirmation as a city by the Supreme Court in 2011 bodes well for the delivery of basic social services because of its increased internal revenue allotment amounting to P492.7 million in 2012, the second biggest in the region.

Rabat said among the key projects included in the city’s P1.7-billion budget this year is the construction of a sanitary landfill, a water system, a public library, a double A slaughterhouse, a public cemetery, a juvenile center and road improvements.

She also noted the city government’s subsidy program which pays for the miscellaneous fees in public elementary and secondary schools, thereby arresting the high dropout rate. The city also has 250 college scholars with an annual allocation of P40,000 per student.

Known for its long stretch of fine sand beach, idyllic islands and marine sanctuaries, Mati is acknowledged as the tourist capital of Davao Oriental, and recognized as one of the last frontiers in Mindanao.

Mati has a land area of 791 square kilometers and a population of 126,000.  

Original Article Here

Philippines rice import deal fails to lift prices

Demand from the Philippines failed to lift Asian rice prices which are already weighed down by the prospect of rising supplies from major exporting countries and record high stocks held by the Thai government, traders said on Wednesday.The Philippines's National Food Authority (NFA) said it was seeking government approval to award a 100,000-tonne rice import deal to Vietnam, but traders said the deal was too small to affect the market.

--- Vietnam ups 2012 rice export forecast 16pc on higher output

"The deal has no impact on the rice market. I think it is too small to push up prices and demand elsewhere remains thin," said a Bangkok-based trader.The 5 percent Vietnamese broken rice eased to $420-$425 a tonne, free on board Saigon Port, from $420-$440 last Wednesday.The 25-percent broken grade edged up at $385-$390 a tonne, FOB basis, from $380-$390 a week ago. "Buyers are not around and there have been no transactions on the market to get a benchmark price, so offers are only based on domestic prices," an exporter in Ho Chi Minh City said.Thai rice prices also fell amid thin trade. The benchmark 100 percent B grade Thai white rice was at $610 per tonne on Wednesday, down from last week's $630, traders said.

RISING SUPPLY Supplies of rice in Thailand and Vietnam, the world's biggest and the second-biggest exporters, are expected to rise significantly over the next few weeks, traders said.Thailand was due to harvest an off-season rice crop, which farmers in some well-irrigated areas normally grow after they reap the second crop."We expect to have around 3 million tonnes of extra rice output from the crop, which is due to be harvested in the next few weeks and supply is likely to peak in July," said a senior Agriculture Ministry official.The Thai government is also holding record high rice stocks of 13.9 million tonnes of paddy, which kept prices lower, traders said.

HANOI: Vietnam, the world's second-biggest rice exporter, is forecast to export 6.25 million tonnes of rice this year, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday, an increase of nearly 16 percent from an earlier projection of 5.4 million. Higher domestic output and higher demand are likely to spur the increase in exports, the ministry said in a monthly report released on Wednesday."The import demand for Vietnamese rice from countries such as China, Malaysia, Ivory Coast and Senegal rises from 2011," the report said, without giving any breakdown of the demand.It forecast Vietnam's rice export revenues this year could reach $3 billion, down 17.6 percent from $3.64 billion in 2011.

Last month, China displaced Indonesia from its March position to become the biggest buyer of Vietnamese rice, having bought nearly 680,000 tonnes in the first four months of 2012, the farm ministry said in a separate report, marking a more than three-fold increase from 153,000 tonnes a year ago.Malaysia took second place, with the four-month delivery volume rising nearly 27 percent from a year ago to 258,000 tonnes, the ministry said.

The reports made no reference to comments by Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat on March 15 that Vietnam aimed to match last year's record shipment of 7.2 million tonnes. China is expected to increase rice imports about four-fold to more than 2 million tonnes in 2012, on track to become the world's third-largest buyer after Indonesia and Nigeria.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

Nation wins Philippines rice deal

Workers of Cau Ke Foodstuff Company in
southern Tra Vinh Province's Cau Ke
District prepare rice for exports.
Viet Nam has been selected to supply
100,000 tonnes of rice to the Phillipines.
— VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

HA NOI — Viet Nam has been selected to supply 100,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines because its price is much lower than its competitor Thailand, according to Vietnam News Agency.

However, the Philippines National Food Authority was still awaiting for government approval to finalise the deal. Shipments were expected to arrive before the lean months from July.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnamese businesses signed commercial contracts to ship 500,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines this year.

The 100,000 tonnes was part of 120,000 tonnes allotted to the authority, while private traders and farmer groups will import the other 380,000 tonnes.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet Nam shipped 3 million tonnes of rice in the past five months to earn US$1.4 billion. During this period, rice exports to China increased fourfold in volume and value, making it Viet Nam's largest rice consumer.

The ministry said it expected 6.25 million tonnes of rice to be shipped abroad this year, 16 per cent more than its previous 5.4 million tonnes.

To meet the target, the ministry has urged local rice businesses to expand their outlets instead of focusing on traditional markets.

Africa, for example, had offered substantial growth, with major markets such as the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal consuming large amounts of Vietnamese medium-grade rice, it said.

To better streamline the country's rice export, the ministry also recommended restricting the number of domestic rice businesses who qualified to export to less than 100.

According to the ministry, the country exported 7 million tonnes of rice yearly, with more than 200 businesses taking part in the activity. This had caused unhealthy internal competition which had a negative impact on the country's export rice quality and price. — VNS

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Department of Agriculture to build 40 mini hydro power plants

By Michael Punongbayan 

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) will put up 40 mini-hydroelectric power plants in all irrigation systems in the country to help ease the power crisis, particularly in Mindanao, which is now suffering from rotating blackouts.

According to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, over 100,000 houses are expected to benefit from the electricity that will be generated from the power plants by December this year.

The National Irrigation Authority (NIA), a DA agency, said the irrigation system could produce at least 20 megawatts of electricity daily.

“This is the contribution of the DA and NIA to ease the ongoing power crisis in the country,” NIA administrator Antonio Nangel said.

He said his office has identified at least 79 sites or irrigation systems nationwide, including 20 in Luzon, 10 in the Visayas, and 10 in Mindanao.

Nangel said each hydropower plant would only cost P20 million and would be shouldered by local investors.

“The good thing here, we will be able to help the energy crisis and at the same time the government will earn from it,” he said.

By May next year, the DA and NIA are targeting that all the 79 power plants in the irrigation canals will be able to supply electricity in the country.

Alcala said his department is not only serious in solving problems in agriculture, but is also willing to help in the power problem.

“Under President Aquino’s administration, all government agencies are one in helping solve the country’s problems,” he said.

Original Article here

Philippines seeks 100,000 tonnes of Australian feed wheat

Feed millers in the Philippines are seeking 100,000 tonnes of Australian feed wheat, while South Korean buyers were in the market checking prices this week for some 200,000 tonnes of the grain to be shipped in the last quarter.

Asian grain buyers have been actively eyeing corn and wheat cargoes as global grain prices eased this week, hit by risk aversion and slowing demand.

"Most buyers in Southeast Asia are covered up to July," said one Singapore-based grains trader.

"I think half of the positions are still open for August and September while almost everyone is looking for October-December arrival cargoes." The buyers form the Philippines were negotiating deals on Friday to take Australian feed wheat for November and December shipment, after signing contracts to take more than 200,000 tonnes in the last two weeks.

Chicago Board of Trade corn is down 7.6 percent this week after a US Department of Agriculture weekly export sales report came in lower than expected.

The USDA said weekly export sales of corn were 482,100 tonnes (old crop and new crop combined) and below estimates for 1 million to 1.3 million tonnes.

July soyabeans are down 1.6 percent this week, falling for the fourth consecutive week, while wheat is down nearly 4 percent following a rally of nearly 17 percent last week when the market notched up its biggest weekly gains in 16 years.

As a result of last week's rally, millers in the Philippines may have to pay around $295 to $300 a tonne, including cost and freight (C&F), up from around $270 to $285 a tonne paid in earlier deals, traders said.

South Korean buyers were seeking offers from private traders for 200,000 tonnes of feed wheat for October-December delivery, but no deal has been signed.

"I think they were just checking prices and not really keen at the current prices," said another Singapore trader.

"They will have to pay close to $300 a tonne, which is not very comfortable after having bought feed wheat below $270 a tonne in recent deals." Taiwan's Breakfast Soyabean Procurement Association has purchased 115,000 tonnes of soyabeans from Brazil in a tender for 120,000 tonnes which closed on Friday.

The market is also closely watching India, which is trying to sell wheat from its burdensome stocks after the arrival of a new crop has worsened storage problems.

Six companies, including global traders, bid for wheat from India's stocks to sell overseas at prices between $150 and $230 per tonne, trade sources said, prices that might tempt the world's second-biggest producer as it tries to cut its huge stockpiles.

The tender was floated by State Trading Corp to test the waters for potential exports to countries including sanctions-hit Iran.

"Indian wheat can be attractive only if the government offers subsidies," said the first trader.

"It is still expensive as compared to the international market despite US prices going up last week." India is trying to export some of its stocks to make room for a record harvest of 90.23 million tonnes this year.

Wheat stocks at government warehouses on May 1 were 38.2 million tonnes, more than nine times the official target.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

Basmati rice risk losing its global position

BY GHULAM ABBAS

In the absence of a Geographical Indication (GI) law, the superior quality Pakistani Basmati rice may lose its position in the international market after the Philippines and Bangladesh moved to introduce their rice varieties.

Exporters said that the country's traditional exports, especially the Basmati rice, hitting the demand for the aromatic agricultural product abroad.

The existing Trade Marks Ordinance also does not fully encompass all issues covered by a comprehensive Geographical Indication law.

India has already adopted the GI Act in accordance with sections 22, 23 and 24 of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Right to protect its exceptional and traditional export-oriented products.

Pakistan, exporters believe, should also immediately approve the draft of the law still pending with the Ministry of Law to protect a number of agricultural and other Pakistan-specific products.

Although the aromatic rice known as Basmati are traditionally produced in Pakistan and India, but the Philippines also claimed to have produced the same variety and plans to export it to the Middle East by next year.

According to exporters, Bangladesh-based traders recently urged their government to register the Basmati variety as the common heritage of the subcontinent along with India and Pakistan under the GI Act.

Bangladesh is expecting to restart export of Basmati rice or 'Banglamotti' as the variety is being marketed abroad, within a few years in view of the frequent bumper crops.

Talking to Business Recorder on Saturday, Chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Javed Aslam said that despite persistent appeals of the association, the draft of GI Act was yet to be approved by the government.

He said that the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) had been given the task to formulate a draft of the act proposed in the Strategic Trade Policy Framework of 2009-2012.

The authority, he claimed, had reportedly forwarded the act to the Ministry of Law and the ministry was yet to finalise it before submitting it for the cabinet's approval.

He said that exporters raised the issue in a recent meeting with the Commerce Ministry and TDAP, adding that the GI Act had only been implemented in India, Pakistan's sole competitor for Basmati exports.

Terming the situation alarming, he said that his association had also informed the Secretary Commerce and TDAP chief about the development in the Philippines.

"The best quality Super Basmati, which is our legacy, should be at least protected through taking the required legislative measures, including the implementation of GI laws".

He was doubtful that the quality of the unique crop grown on the soil of Pakistan and India could be replaced by other rice varieties grown elsewhere, steps should be taken for the unique product's value addition and promotion abroad.

According to him, the country had limited options other than promulgation of a new law in this regard, as foreign traders preferred trade with countries which had intact laws.

The Chairman of REAP, however, rejected the impression that Bangladesh's intent to get the joint GI Act of the subcontinent would affect Pakistan's exports of Basmati rice, saying that Dhaka's variety was not of the same quality.

India and Pakistan were producing the same quality of Basmati rice because of the proximity of cultivable lands in Punjab.

He requested growers to enhance and improve the production Super Basmati to save Pakistan's rice markets abroad, which has over $3 billion share in the country's total exports.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012

Department of Agriculture team off to China over fruit shipments

By Louella Desiderio

MANILA, Philippines - A team from the Department of Agriculture (DA) will be meeting with Chinese authorities this week to discuss measures being undertaken to ensure that exported fruits comply with quarantine protocol amid China’s tighter restrictions on fruit shipments from the Philippines.

“We will be going there this week to show them that we follow quarantine protocol for our fruit exports,” Bureau of Plant Industry director Clarito Barron said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Barron said that the DA decided in a meeting last week to send a team to China after it imposed tighter regulations by requiring full inspection of Philippine fruit shipments.

China tightened requirements for the entry of fruits after it claimed that it found pests in bananas coming from the Philippines.

Barron said the pests, which Chinese authorities claimed were found on Philippine banana exports, are those that usually affect coconuts.

He said Chinese authorities now require a 100 percent inspection of fruit shipments from the Philippines by opening packages and conducting tests on samples.

Prior to this, Chinese quarantine officials just check the phytosanitary clearance issued by quarantine officials here for the products.

A phytosanitary clearance is issued by the country of origin of the commodity to indicate that such commodity meets import requirements.

Barron said that in order to assure Chinese authorities that the quarantine protocol is being followed here, they will provide a list of accredited growers and packing facilities of fruits.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala yesterday said that the team will also be in China to conduct the inspection with Chinese quarantine officials of fruit shipments coming from the Philippines.

“We will also be inviting them to visit the country so that they can check how the quarantine protocol is implemented,” he said.

He said quarantine officials here in the country have also been instructed to closely inspect containers of fruits to be exported overseas before these are given clearance.

Barron said the Philippines is working to assure Chinese authorities of the quality of fruits being shipped out of the country as China is a major market of banana exports.

China, he said, also purchases pineapples and papaya from the Philippines.

In the event that China would decide not to buy fruits from the Philippines, Barron said the DA will look at existing markets like Iran, Korea, Japan and Europe.

Philippine banana growers and exporters said earlier that they have lost at least P1.44 billion since China imposed tighter restrictions more than two months ago.

China’s restriction on Philippine fruit exports has become controversial amid the ongoing standoff at Scarborough shoal.

 Original Article Here

Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards goes to Zamboanga City

David Isaac Buenaventura, the Bright Leaf Agriculture Secretariat Project Manager, gestures during a press briefing Sunday, May 13, 2012 in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 13, 2012) – The Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards on Sunday announced the search for best works of journalists on most agricultural issues and best farming practices in the Philippines.

David Isaac Buenaventura, the Bright Leaf Agriculture Secretariat Project Manager, invited local journalists, who through their stories on newspapers, radio segments, and television features and photographs have promoted agriculture development and sustainability in the Philippines. 

Last year, the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards received an overwhelming participation from the best of the press - writers, editors, television reporters, producers, and photographers - all of them with a keen sense of how important agriculture is, he said during a briefing in Zamboanga City.

“The new year signals a new season. The second Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards is bigger, better and brighter,” Buenaventura said.

It was the first time that Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards invited local journalists to join the prestigious contest.

He said the categories for Bright Leaf Awards include Agriculture Story of the Year, Tobacco Story of the Year, Best Television Program or Segment, Best Radio Program or Segment, Agriculture Photo of the Year, Tobacco Photo of the Year, Best Regional News story, Best National News Story, Best Regional Feature News Story, Best National Feature Story, and a special Oriental Leaf Awards that honors constant contributors and winners through the years. The award will be given to those who won for 3 consecutive years. 

Buenaventura said the submission of entries begins on May 21 until August 31 this year and Bright Leaf Awards now accepts entries written in any Filipino dialects. (Mindanao Examiner)

Original Article Here