Punjab produces two million tons of basmati rice in 2013

Punjab produced two million tons of fine basmati rice this year which is 0.25 million more than the production of previous year, Director General Agriculture Extension Services, Dr Anjum Ali told Business Recorder on Friday.Last year Punjab produced 1.75 million tons of superior basmati rice.

Dr Ali said that paddy crop was planted over 2.9 million acres in the province during Kharif season of 2013-14 which was 0.5 million acres more than the area under rice cultivation last year. He said though paddy crop over 0.15 million was washed away during torrential rains and floods in the rice growing areas of Gujranwala division, yet production of two million tons of superior basmati was quite satisfactory in these circumstances.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2013

Dastgir agrees to abolish rice quality review committee: Reap

Minister of State for Commerce and Privatisation Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan has agreed with Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) proposal for abolishing Quality Review Committee (QRC) inspection procedure and giving free hand to the association members to inspect the consignments. However, he urged the Reap members to ensure quality of rice according to the specifications of the demand.

The Minister further announced and assured for the establishment of Rice Technical Training Centre and for this purpose the financial assistance would be provided by the government from Export Development Fund (EDF). He assured the house, for the issues raised by the Reap representatives would soon be resolved for betterment of the rice export sector in particular and for the industry in general.

Earlier, Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) Chairman Chaudhry Masood Iqbal highlighted various concerns of rice exporters on Quality Review Committee. He said that under the control of TDAP, QRC has become highly conflicting and controversial organisation resulting in discouraging exports of Basmati Rice. It because incapable and controversial organisation that may result in introducing evil practices through blackmailing tactics at the name of quality. As all the quality control mechanism was based on physical inspection, despite availability of modern techniques, that may also lead to misleading and failure of shipments that resulting mutual disputes between Reap members & QRC.

'Unfortunately, QRC that was formed to review quality in order to facilitate the exporters of Quality Basmati Rice has transformed into a sheer ruthless inspection body where there is no concept of facilitation,' Chaudhry Masood observed. He also pointed out to minister that the Chairman QRC (ie DG TDAP Lahore) has no intent to improve the infrastructure rather some TDAP staff is foreseeing it as a golden opportunity to gain power for their own vested interests and in turn subside the efforts taken by government to promote export. Despite, multiple reminders to TDAP officials regarding Declining Exports of Basmati Rice during QRC meeting, the TDAP focused on revenues earned by QRC and has not initiated any measures to revive the declining exports.

The argument is validated by the exports figures of Basmati Rice that has declined over 50 per cent since TDAP has taken charge of QRC. Chairman Reap also highlighted that QRC is a non-accredited agency and, therefore international buyers do not value QRC Certificates, neither have ever demanded nor have trusted such certificates, which are based on total physical characteristic despite availability of latest techniques to ascertain quality. In the presence of foreign accredited Third Party Inspection Agencies like Cotechna, SGS, Intertech, Eurofins, BVAC etc whose certificates are acceptable by foreign buyers, the existence of QRC is illogical and impractical.

Masood Iqbal also threw light on demands including setting up of a rice technical training, research institute, nomination of reap as member export development fund board, enactment of GI laws and arranging currency swap agreement with Iranian government to boost rice trade with Iran, which is considered as a rice eaters nation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2013

Cultivating flowers on rice field edges in Vietnam: the new method in bio-controling rice insect pests

Cultivating flowers on rice yield edges in Vietnam

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an ecosystem approach to crop production and protection that combines different management strategies and practices to grow healthy crops and minimize the use of pesticides.

In the last half decade 1990s and the fisrt half decade 2000s Vietnam had realized the FAO IPM programs with many succeses in controling rice insect pests. When the FAO IPM programs ending,Vietnam has continued to broaden with own National IPM programme.

IPM programs have a significant impact on minimizing the adverse effects of insecticides, and in increasing the profitability of rice production. It has been estimated that the cost savings from research leading to increased insect pest management efficiency on rice in Vietnam with many millions USD in insecticide saving every years in 2000s.

The rice ecosystem, especially in the tropics, is a usually richly endowed with a great diversity of generalist predators and parasitoids, which tend to be more species specific. As the rice habitat is an ephemeral habitat, most pest species that can cause significant damages and yield losses are generally immigrants. 

Many of these pest species are also specific rice feeders, monophagous or oligophagous (limited host range). Such specialization may be constrained by local host availability. But the more successful pest species overcome this by migrating, remaining in the rice habitat for only two or three generations, possessing high genetic diversity to overcome changes in the host plants through adaptation and evolution and reproductive capacities. 

The rice planthoppers are such pests. Under normal undisturbed situations, the high reproductive capacities are kept in check by the huge biodiversity in the natural enemy community. Smart and sustainable pest management strategies would thus focus on maximizing these natural enemy services. Herbivores should thus not be treated as pests unless “proven guilty” that they are indeed causing economic losses (Way and Heong 1994). Prophylactic spraying is thus not smart and not sustainable and should be completely avoided as they do more harm.

K.L.Heong, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippinesand Geoff Gurr, Charles Sturt University, Orange, Australia suggested The three planks for ecological engineering to enhance natural biodiversity as the following:

Plank 1: Moderated insecticide use – especially early in the season

Early season insecticide applications in the first 40 days after sowing are known to have little or no effects on yields. They are generally applied as a prophylactic or to control leaf folders and pyrethroids and insecticides that have high toxicities to hymenopterans are typically used. Such sprays do more harm than good, by destroying natural enemies and the aquatic detritivore prey fauna. It has been shown that early sprays significantly decrease food chain lengths and disorganize predator-prey relationships (Heong and Schoenly 1998). The campaigns in Vietnam to motivate farmers to reduce early spraying contributed significantly to the successes in managing planthopper outbreaks in the Mekong Delta.

Plank 2: Enhancement of generalist natural enemies -predator build up on detritivore prey.

Chinese scientists call the abundance of arthropod species that live in the paddy water “neutral insects”. Settle et al (1996) first suggested the idea that these insects are in fact not neutrals, as they can be alternative prey for predators and many of them predators themselves. Thus at the early crop stages, these neutrals are vitally important and need to be conserved. Insecticide spays at this period of the crop however are detrimental to the aquatic neutrals. In addition most sprayers farmers use do not have adequate spray droplet control and thus most of the active ingredients converge into the paddy water. In IRRI farm when insecticide use decreased by 95%, the aquatic detritivore specuies diversity increased 5 folds (Heong et al 2007).

Plank 3: Enhancement of specialist natural enemies by habitat manipulation – nectar plants on bunds

The third plank targets at providing resources, shelter and food, for natural enemies, especially the specialists. This may be achieved by populating bund and non rice habitats with nectar rich flowering plants. In China when nectar-rich sesame plants are grown on bunds, parasitoid abundance increased.

Parasitoid searching efficiency was enhanced by sesame flowers. In Vietnamflowers on the bunds increased egg parasitism of planthopper eggs. InThailand parasitoid species richness increased when fields were surrounded by flowering plants. The use of herbicides on the bunds to ensure clean cultivation practices may be counter productive. In Hainan, fields with clean bunds had lower spider biodiversity.

Most parasitoids are hymenopterans and thus insecticide toxic to bees and hymenoptera in general will need to be avoided. These will include the neonicotinoids and pyrethroids. Scientists have recently established direct links between neonicotinoids, bees and pollination services. Similar effects on biological control services provided by the parasitoids are to be expected.

The three planks elucidated in the chapter are based on an amalgam of sound ecology, successes in other crop systems and most importantly empirical evidences available from research. Reducing the unnecessary insecticide uses, promoting natural biological control ecosystem services through enhancing organic matter and enriching bunds and other surrounding areas with nectar rich plants can significantly prevent planthopper outbreaks. Such practices that focus on biodiversity conservation, enhancing ecosystem services and avoiding pollution will build resilience in production systems.

Original Article Here

China's rice imports won't endanger world food security: ministry

China's rising rice imports last year will not alter the supply-and-demand balance in the domestic rice market or threaten global food security, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday.

China's rice imports more than quadrupled from the previous year to reach 2.32 million tonnes in 2012, marking the largest amount of such imports since 2000, the latest customs data showed.

Because the imports only accounted for a small share of international rice trade, as well as domestic production and consumption, they will not have an obvious impact on the global grain market or affect the domestic rice market, said a statement issued by the ministry.

China's rice imports accounted for 6.2 percent of global rice trade and 1.6 percent of domestic rice output last year, the ministry's figures showed.

Just 7.7 percent of global rice output was traded last year, according to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Meanwhile, China's grain output rose for the ninth consecutive year last year, with rice output up 1.6 percent year on year, which has contributed toward making rice supplies generally sufficient, according to the statement.

The ministry said China's rice imports, which used to be dominated by Thai rice favored by high-end consumers, increased last year, as domestic flour and wine makers have turned to overseas markets for cheaper rice.

Rice prices in China started to outpace those in Vietnam and Pakistan last year due to a stronger yuan and steady price hikes in the domestic market, it said.

Customs data showed that 66.7 percent of China's rice imports were from Vietnam, 25 percent from Pakistan and 7.6 percent from Thailand last year, respectively.

Original Article Here

Agriculture 'still the best bet' in cutting African poverty levels

Despite the increased focus on new areas such as technology that are fuelling Africa's rapid growth, agriculture remains the best bet to pull millions out of poverty, a new report has found.

Africa's growth needs would be better served by focusing on food staples, the International Food Policy Research Institute says.

The report is based on case studies of 10 African countries that sought to determine how agriculture could better contribute to poverty reduction and improved food security.

The study found that agriculture-led growth has the greatest impact on reducing absolute poverty, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the majority are farmers.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) puts the number of those directly involved in agriculture on the continent at 61 per cent.

Given that most of these are subsistence farmers, encouraging the growing of staple crops such maize, bananas and rice could go a long way in eliminating poverty, it said.

According to the institute, while export crops such as coffee and tea may have higher value than food crops and other staples such as livestock products, they do generate economic growth as effectively.

Tanzania’s livestock sector for example contributes around 12 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product. The vast majority of the livestock, about 99 per cent, belongs to small owners, with a full third of the poor owning livestock.

In contrast, big farms and ranches in the country constitute only around one per cent of total livestock ownership, according to FAO data. Focusing on Tanzania’s livestock sector would therefore contribute greatly to reducing the country’s poverty levels, while at the same time stimulating sustainable economic growth, the study noted.

More cost effective

The same can be said of Mozambique’s roots and all staple foods in Zambia and Nigeria. According to the report, in Rwanda, growth driven by maize or pulses is 30-60 per cent more effective at reducing poverty than growth driven by export crops.

There is also good news for Africa’s agricultural policy makers. Investment in staples may be more cost effective in driving growth when compared to investment in non-agricultural sectors.

When quantified, returns achieved from non-agricultural growth (weighed in contribution to total GDP) would have to be significantly higher than those from agricultural growth in order to have better effectiveness at poverty reduction.

African nations should thus look into investing public resources in those agricultural sub-sectors with strong linkages to the poor, and to the overall economy.

Further examples are adduced: in Africa, 40 per cent of all root and tuber crops are produced by Nigeria, which is also the largest cassava producer in the world, with nearly 90 per cent of its production being for domestic consumption.

Cassava farming therefore plays a huge role in the lives of the country's mostly poor farmers and in the overall economy. As such, promoting growth in the root and tuber sub-sector could go a longer way in providing long term solutions to rural poverty.

Despite underscoring the importance of agricultural growth in eliminating poverty in Africa, the report also notes that increased growth in other non-agricultural sectors is necessary for faster urban development.

Original Article Here

DA crafts programs to cushion impacts of typhoons on agri sector

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is crafting a disaster preparedness, response and rehabilitation program to cushion off the adverse and destructive impacts of natural disasters, particularly typhoons and floods, on the country's agriculture and fishery sector, an official said Saturday.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the entire DA family should be prepared to surmount the challenges posed by typhoons and floods, and protect the gains and livelihood of the country’s farmers and fisherfolk, including public investments like irrigation systems, postharvest facilities, and farm-to-market roads.

"Let's harmonize our efforts and resources, as we craft a comprehensive disaster preparedness program to better protect farming and fishing areas against typhoons and floods," he said.

"We hope to come up with a better, more effective scheme that would serve as a template for centralized and organized reporting before, during, and after calamities or disasters. It could serve as a model for our Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors, who are likewise visited by tropical storms and typhoons during monsoon season," said the DA chief.

On the aftermath of Typhoon "Pablo" in Davao region, Alcala commended the DA regional directors in Mindanao and Visayas who took the initiative of providing farm inputs and machinery to enable affected farmers and fisherfolk in Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, del Norte and del Sur, and Davao City recover and start anew.

He said as result of the quick coordination among DA regional directors in five regions (10, 12, 13, 6 and 7), they were able to mobilize an initial 16 4-wheel tractors and deployed them to typhoon affected towns in Davao region.

The DA has initially allotted P235 million for farm inputs assistance and rehabilitation in Compostela Valley, three Davao provinces (Oriental, Del Sur and Del Norte) and Davao City.

The DA has also requested an additional P1.6 billion from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), said DA assistant secretary and national rice program coordinator Dante Delima, who was designated chair of "Task Force Alayon" that oversees and implements the rehabilitation of farming and fishing communities affected by typhoon "Pablo." (SDR/Sunnex)

Original Article Here

PHL in no hurry to import rice — Agriculture Dep't

The Philippines is not in any rush yet to import rice as buffer stock for 2013, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.

“There is no need to import huge volume of rice [this year]. We’re not in a hurry to buy. The latest we could possibly announce if there should be an importation is on the latter part of January or early February," said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala in an interview.

Importation will depend on the third cropping's output in February, said the department.

The government's early cropping scheme encouraged farmers to plant in April, a month earlier than scheduled, for the wet season cropping in August.

The scheme also allowed for the third cropping to bring farmers added income: its harvest is already a bonus yield. The wet season cropping produces 60 percent of the country's total palay harvest. The dry season cropping contributes the remaining 40 percent of the total.

The early cropping scheme also allows farmers avoid the period when strong typhoons usually hit the country.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics forecast a 7.7-percent year-on-year increase in the country's palay output to 17.98 million metric tons (MT) for 2012.

The government imports rice as a buffer against the lean months, usually from July to August. Aiming for sufficiency in rice in 2013, the government is hoping to limit its rice importation to 100,000 MT while reaching its rice production target of 20.04 million MT.

Original Article Here

Agriculture sector roundup: UR Associates

UR Associates has come out with its report on agri sector. According to the research firm, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) will invest Rs 40 billion in next three years to ramp up its urea capacity at Thal plant near Mumbai. The selection process for lumpsum turnkey contractors (LSTK) for main plants has been completed. The project cost is expected to be Rs 40 billion and will be completed in 36 months period from the zero date.

Pulses sowing picking up

For the first time during this monsoon season, the rainfall was 6% above normal for the week August 23rd-29th. The strong rainfall has improved the deficiency situation further and has brought down the overall deficiency for the monsoon season to 12% below normal. Hence, the rainfall deficiency has come down from 19% at the beginning of the month to 12% at the month end. The deficiency in the Northwest region is the highest at 15% followed by East & NorthEast India (14%), South Peninsula (13%) and Central India (10%)

The pulses sowing has picked up quite significantly during the last one week with the gap between normal pulses acreage and pulses acreage this season coming down to 0.36 million hectares compared to 1.11 million hectares at the beginning of the week.

While rice, sugarcane and cotton are ahead in terms of acreage, coarse cereals are still lagging behind by 2.89 million hectares compared to normal sowing.

RCF to invest Rs 40 billion to ramp up urea capacity

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) will invest Rs 40 billion in next three years to ramp up its urea capacity at Thal plant near Mumbai. In a communique to the BSE, RCF said: "The Company has plans to expand the capacity of urea at Thal by setting up one single stream ammonia plant of capacity 2,200 TPD (tonnes per day) and one single stream urea plant of capacity 3,850 TPD at the existing site." "The selection process for lumpsum turnkey contractors (LSTK) for main plants has been completed. The project cost is expected to be Rs 40 billion and will be completed in 36 months period from the zero date," it said.

Maharashtra to begin 2012-13 sugarcane crushing season from November 1

Top sugar producer Maharashtra will begin its sugarcane crushing season from November 1. The state government was thinking to advance the crushing season by a month as a measure to make more cane available for crushing, which is being diverted every day for use as fodder in drought areas in the state.

Contingency plan to Tackle Drought like Situation

Ministry of Agriculture has prepared Contingency plans for 353 districts across the country for implementing location specific interventions to sustain agriculture production. Subsidy on seeds has been enhanced to partially recompense the farmers for the expenditure in re-sowing and/or purchasing drought tolerant variety of seeds. In view of deficient rainfall, states such as Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been allocated with additional power from Central Pool. In so far as fertilizer prices are concerned, Urea is provided at a fixed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of Rs. 5310 per metric ton since 01.04.2010. Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Policy is being implemented on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers under which a fixed subsidy is provided based on its nutrient content. MRP is fixed by fertilizer companies. The prices of P&K fertilizers have increased mainly due to increase in international prices of fertilizers and due to depreciation of Indian rupee. However, Government provides subsidy to the extent of 50% to 67% of the delivered cost on these fertilizers.

Deepak fertilisers not to develop $350 mn plant in Australia

Indian fertilisers and petrochem firm DFPCL has abandoned plan to build a $350 million plant at Port Bonython, South Australian Mining minister Tom Koutsantonis has said. Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd has informed the state government of its intention not to go ahead with a proposed technical ammonium nitrate plant near Whyalla, said Koutsantonis, who also holds the Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade portfolio.

Dhanuka Agritech launches new products

Dhanuka Agritech Limited, a provider of crop protection solution, has launched three agrochemical products in Tamil Nadu. According to Abhishek Dhanuka, Director South Zone, one of the new products is an insecticide that can tackle sucking insects in cotton, vegetable, fruits, cashew and tea. The other, Fluid, is to fight larval insecticide in major crops, while the third one, Fuzi Super, is a herbicide for paddy. The Rs 6.5 billion company has tied up with global firms such as Dupont, Syngenta and Dow Agro Sciences to introduce international proven products in the Indian market, according to R.G. Agarwal, Group Chairman.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Original Article  Here

Thailand rice prices fall as government liquidates surplus

By : AHN

Thailand (IRIN) – Almost a year after the government promised Thailand’s farmers a fixed price for their rice harvest, concerns that the system would push up world rice prices may be unwarranted, as experts now forecast lower financial returns.

The government recently announced it was selling 753,000 tons of surplus rice, stockpiled under the programme, in an open bid set to end on 28 August, according to international media.

In an effort to boost farmer incomes, in 2011 the government started paying paddy farmers 15,000 baht (US$420) per ton – a 60 percent increase over 2010. Thailand exported less in 2012 because at the higher price its rice was less competitive.

Since 2005, Thailand’s rice reserves have grown to more than 10 million tons, but the government has committed to paying above-market prices for the 2012 paddy crop to be harvested in October.

“Now that the government is to release part of these stocks, prices may fall, especially if the 753,000-ton tender is followed by [others],” Concepción Calpe, a senior economist with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told IRIN. “When there is a supply surplus, normally, prices have to fall so as to stimulate demand and consumption, and bring the market back into balance.”

A year ago, Samarendu Mohanty, head of the Social Sciences Division at the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), forecast increased global rice prices as a result of Thailand’s scheme, on the assumption that stockpiling would decrease the supply of rice on the market, which would then increase demand and prices. But India lifted its four-year-old rice export restrictions in 2011, which stabilized the amount of rice on the market – and prices – Mohanty said.

In July 2012, FAO reported that international rice prices were “surprisingly stable”. “A drop in international rice prices would be a great relief for the world, especially as maize and wheat supplies have thinned,” Calpe noted.

The US, the world’s largest producer of maize, is expected to bring in its smallest crop since 2006/07, the US Department of Agriculture said in its August forecast. Prices for yellow maize, used mainly as feed for livestock, are already above US$300 per ton, and are now projected to exceed $350 per ton in the coming months and into 2013. Maize prices climbed by 23 percent in July alone, according to FAO. A drought in Kazakhstan and Russia, two of the world’s largest producers and exporters of wheat, threatens to drive up wheat prices.

The World Bank has noted that although food prices are higher, they are nowhere near the record levels of 2007/08.

Where prices will go from August 2012 onward is still uncertain, according to FAO, and depends in part on whether the Indian government reinstates export restrictions. The agency noted that such restrictions contributed to the 2008 price hike.

rg/pt/he

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Rice industry official touts agriculture FDI in Malaysia

By Zaw Win Than 

A SENIOR rice industry official has called for greater encouragement of foreign investment in the agriculture sector in a bid to spur national development.

U Ye Min Aung, secretary general of Myanmar Rice Industry Association (MRIA), said agricultural development should be prioritised over industrial development as the sector employs about two-thirds of Myanmar’s workforce.

“Agriculture is very important [but] our rural infrastructure is very, very weak. Our previous government did not pay much attention to rural infrastructure but our present government has highlighted significance of rural infrastructure and of course the interests of farmers, who make up nearly 70 percent of our population,” he said at a roundtable program in Malaysia earlier this month.

“We should promote investment in the agricultural sector. For the time being most of the investment coming into Myanmar is resources based, mainly in oil and gas and hydropower. I think we have less than 1pc of foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector,” he said.

Agriculture contributes 35pc of gross domestic product, employs 66pc of the workforce and has strong potential to support poverty alleviation because 70pc of the country’s population live in rural areas, he said. Of Myanmar’s 43,239 registered private enterprises, food companies make up 35,827, predominantly rice mills, bean processing mills and oil mills, he said, adding that most of these were small family-run operations.

“Myanmar can be considered one of the main food sources for ASEAN … If we can exploit our potential in the agriculture sector, we can successfully set up agro-based industry,” said U Ye Min Aung, who is also a central executive committee member of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“[There’s] no need to [prioritise industrialisation] in the short term because industrialisation requires a lot of investment, technology transfer and time to set up. So we have a lot of potential in agriculture and agro-based sectors and we need to utilise and optimise [this potential],” he said.

Other speakers at the one-day program included Dr Bridget Welsh, an associate professor of political science from Singapore Management University, U Ko Ko Lay, a deputy director in the Ministry of Commerce, Dr Tin Htut, rector of Yezin Agricultural University and U Than Htut, a director of Eden Group of Companies.

Titled “Understand the changes, realising the opportunities”, the July 9 event was held in Kuala Lumpur and organised by Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia to highlight recent political, economic and business developments in Myanmar, touching on current trends and future directions as well as challenges and responses.

The event had a strong economic focus, with U Ko Ko Lay, deputy director of the Directorate of Trade’s International Trade Promotion Department, touting Myanmar as “a virgin land with abundant natural resources, highly literate population and huge workable labour force”.

“The [foreign] investment law will be amended and more reform measures will continuously take place in the future to build a democratic country. We also hope to receive all kinds of assistance, in all possible ways, such as financial assistance, technology transfer and technical assistance and capacity building activities to enable … the development of the country,” he said.

ISIS Malaysia chief executive Dr Mahani Zainal Abidin said recent developments in Myanmar had been “very much welcomed” by regional and international observers.

“The president has also announced the ‘second wave’ of reform and democratic processes further. The international communities have responded quickly,” she said, adding that the business community had “reacted equally fast”.

“Consequently, Myanmar is now on the radar screen of many governments and businesses,” she said.

U Ye Min Aung said that while Myanmar was “moving towards broader economic reforms and liberalisation” it needed more international support.

“We have no option but to develop our capacity and capability,” he said. “If we fail to do so we will become even more neglected and marginalised than we are at present.

“Myanmar has not yet entered the community of vibrant business environments in ASEAN, but there is much potential and opportunities for us to join the club of wealthy ASEAN nations before too long.”

 Original article here

World rice output rises to record 480 million tonnes in 2011

NEW DELHI: Helped by record rice production in India, world output of the key staple rose by 2.6 per cent to all-time high of 480.1 million tonnes (MT) in 2011, United Nation's body Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said.

Global rice production stood at 468.1 MT in 2010. "With the rice season virtually completed, the latest estimate of 2011 world rice production has been lowered slightly to 480.1 MT, still pointing to a 2.6 per cent or 12 MT, increase from 2010 and to an all time high," FAO said in its latest Food Outlook report.

The downward revision in the 2011 world estimate resulted from adjustments in the output especially in Bangladesh, Mali, Pakistan, Senegal and Venezuela, it added.

"... the increase in world output in 2011 was principally fostered by outstanding results in India, which on the back of a favourable monsoon, experienced a 7.4 MT expansion to 103.4 MT, breaking the 100 MT landmark for the first time," it noted.

According to the India's Agriculture Ministry estimates, the country is pegged to have harvested a record 103.41 MT of rice in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June) as against 95.98 MT in the previous crop year.

The global organisation on the farm sector also noted the contribution by Asian countries in increasing rice production.

"Considerably more rice was also harvested in Asia by China, Pakistan and Vietnam. Further sizable gains were achieved by Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal and the Philippines," it said.

However, a series of setbacks including floods, excessive rains and diseases depressed output in Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, FAO pointed out.

Outside Asia, the 2011 season concluded positively in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt and Uruguay, while poor growing conditions were partly behind disappointing crop results in Madagascar and in countries of West Africa, especially Mali and Senegal, it said.

For the current year, FAO has pegged world rice output at 488 MT.

"Under expectations of normal weather and with the advancement of ambitious sectoral development programmes, it is foreseen to grow by a further 1.7 per cent in 2012 to 488 MT (milled rice basis), notwithstanding some disappointing crop results in South America," it said.

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

Farmers ignore warnings, plant low-quality rice

CUU LONG DELTA — Farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are planting large quantities of low-quality rice, despite warnings from the agriculture sector about restricting its use in the summer-autumn crop.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has warned farmers in the Delta, the country's rice granary, that the high-yield and short-grain IR 50404 must be planted on less than 20 per cent of the total area.

This kind of rice was told not easy to sell, but it is currently bringing high prices.

Farmers in Hau Giang Province have planted 76,000 ha of the summer-autumn crop and the variety IR 50404 accounted for more than 20 per cent.

In Hau Giang, farmer Nguyen Quoc Viet in Chau Thanh A District, who is now planting one ha of IR 50404, said that if the price was a little lower than or equal to long-grain rice varieties at the crop end, farmers would still have high profits.

"So farmers grow IR 50404 not only for the winter-spring crop when the weather is fine, but also with other crops because of its high profits," he said.

The average yield of IR 50404 is often one to two tonnes per ha higher than other rice varieties, while the cost of fertiliser and pesticide is much lower than that used for other rice varieties.

Farmer Nguyen Van Hoa in Dong Thap District in Dong Thap Province said he was planting 1.2 ha of the IR 50404 rice.

In the last winter-spring crop, IR 50404 had a good harvest and its price was high, so many farmers chose to plant it for the summer-autumn crop because its yield and profit were higher than long-grain rice varieties, according to Hoa.

"Over the past few years, the agriculture sector had warned farmers not to plant this variety because of its low quality. It was also difficult to sell," he said.

However, farmers earn profits from planting IR 50404, so they plant it although they know the high risk of difficulty in selling it, he said.

For another reason, farmers in Thap Muoi, Cao Lanh and Tam Nong districts chose to plant IR 50404 because it has a short gestation period of 87 to 90 days.

If farmers plant IR 50404 in the summer-autumn crop, they can continue planting the autumn-winter crop before the flooding season begins.

In Kien Giang Province, farmers have planted 200,000 ha of the summer-autumn and IR 50404, which accounts for up to 32 per cent of all rice planted.

Tran Quang Cui, deputy director of the Kien Giang Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said farmers were aware of the high price of IR 50404, so they planted it despite the warning.

The quality of IR 50404 paddy is often low in the summer-autumn crop because of unfavourable weather conditions.

When farmers began planting the summer-autumn rice crop, the price of IR 50504 had increased to VND5,300-5,600 a kg, nearly equal to the price of high-quality and long-grain rice varieties.

Nguyen Thanh Hong, a trader who buys rice in Hau Giang and Kien Giang provinces, said that the price of IR 50404 rice had recently gone up because processors had bought more of the rice for export.

However, farmers in Mekong Delta provinces have planted more than 20 per cent of the total rice area with IR 50404.

Farmers have rushed to plant this rice because of high prices offered by rice companies.

The Delta is expected to plant about 1.63 million ha of rice for the summer-autumn crop. — VNS

 Original Article Here

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

Original Article Here

GM debate between Take the Flour Back and Rothamsted Research

Dear Take the Flour Back,

We are glad that you have decided to enter into a dialogue with us and hope we can still resolve the situation before it is too late. Rothamsted is not a profit-making multinational company and has a 168-year tradition of providing agricultural research for public good. The chemical ecology group has expertise recognon ised across the globe for environmentally friendly agriculture and has many peer-reviewed publications in this field. We are seeking non-toxic biological solutions to protect crops from aphids (greenfly) for real environmental benefit. We imagine that reducing pesticide dependency is something we can all agree on. We are dismayed that you plan to destroy our crop before we can find out whether it works or not.

Our new wheat plants contain genes copied from nature and are planted in a highly controlled field trial that has been thoroughly evaluated, inspected and risk-assessed by independent scientists and government. The risk of cross-pollination was judged negligible. All experts agree wheat is self-pollinated not wind or insect pollinated. Wheat flowers fertilise themselves before they open. The pollen, which is heavy, only lives for a few hours and falls to the ground around the plant. Furthermore, this is a very small scale trial eight 6m x 6m plots. The smell the new plants make already occurs naturally in the aroma of more than 400 plant species including apples, hops and mint.

Our approach is fully compatible with agro-ecological farming and biocontrol because the smell we engineered into wheat attracts natural enemies of pests to fields instead of killing them with broad spectrum pesticides. It could work well with field margins and conservation biocontrol.

This is public research for the public and the results would made freely available. We find it sad that our chemical ecology research on insect repellent wheat is being targeted for destruction by you when it is actually part of an alternative vision for sustainable agriculture. We ask you to call off your plans to destroy our publically funded research, and instead come and protest peacefully.

Please could you explain why it is justifiable to proceed to destroy crops when you have declined our offer of a public debate on neutral ground? We would have preferred to have met you face-to-face, rather than this debate by correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

John Pickett and team

Dear John Pickett and team,

It's evident from your own application for this trial that you recognise open-air planting of a crop which can cross-pollinate with common couch grass does present a contamination risk. The example of Bayer's 2006 rice trial in America shows that low-pollination risk crops on a supposedly secure small trial site can escape and widely contaminate the food chain. British farmers must be protected from this.

Concerns about the health implications of GM in the food chain are too readily dismissed and we believe they should be thoroughly assessed before any open field trials are approved. In this case they were dismissed in a cavalier manner. We must look at the real problems caused by GM crops already grown, not try to create more.

You claim your experiment represents "part of an alternative vision for sustainable agriculture". In which case the very first question should be, is this particular intervention/input needed? As no one, anywhere in the world, currently buys GM wheat – or seems likely to; and effective long term non-GM methods and non-pecticide methods for dealing with aphids already exist, the answer is no.

So why is Rothamsted determined to run this trial? Because it is the best way to achieve sustainable farming? Or is it connected to the fact that it is committed to a biotech, patent and high technological product driven vision that puts the food system, farmers and citizens even firmly in the hands of multi-national agri-business.

We too have a vision of sustainable agriculture. It is shared by Via Campsina, the world wide union of smaller farmers, which numbers some 20 million members, and the IAASTD (A major UN-funded study, produced by 400 scientific and agricultural experts and endorsed by 58 governments) as well as citizens throughout the world who do not want their food subject to GM and its associated corporate control.

Our vision is for an agro-ecology based farming involving using appropriate technology available to even the poorest farmers. On a food system that is not contaminated by GM or pesticides.

From Brazil to India small farmers have risked their freedom to defend their crops against GM contamination. The time for public debate was before this crop went in the ground. The concerns of scientists, public bodies and the general public were ignored then - and so we are left with our protest action.

Yours,

Take the Flour Back

[after a planned attack on the crop was prevented by police]

Dear Take the Flour Back

We are pleased that your protest passed peacefully although we would welcome you removing your continuing threat to "decontaminate" our experiment.

We must emphasise again, Rothamsted Research is an independent charitable company providing the science to develop more environmentally sustainable solutions for farming. We are not a large corporation, this work has no commercial sponsor and the results will be given away freely. Illegally destroying this publically funded research will push this science towards the big multinational companies and therefore promote the very problems you seek to avoid.

We have already tried to address your many concerns extensively in public, eg through live online Q&A, numerous interviews and articles, including a magazine edited by an associate of Jyoti Fernandes (your BBC Newsnight representative). If you still feel safety is an issue, please note that another independent inspection of our experiment, by the Food and Environment Research Agency on 17 May 2012, concluded they "did not identify any risks to human health or the environment".

We have spoken extensively with many different people about our work, including groups unsupportive of the trial, an offer extended to you in early April. It's unfortunate that you declined this offer as well as the offer for a public debate, which you asked for and we arranged (details on our website). Seven days' notice was unfortunately not enough time for you to find 2-3 speakers. It's a shame that you have chosen thisword-limited, debate-by-correspondence instead.

The views you expressed at Sunday's protest included large corporate ownership, farming systems, other socio-political dimensions, concerns over GM potatoes and GM rice. We therefore conclude that focusing on scientists conducting a small-scale field trial of wheat will not address all of your expressed concerns.

As we have said to you previously, there needs to be bigger wide-ranging debate on GM with a chance to present factual evidence and take questions and contributions from a public audience from many backgrounds. Recent surveys suggest the public is largely neutral on GM issues, possibly because they are open to learning more. Scientific research can help that process, a view shared by the 6,000+ people who have signed a petition supporting our research over the last four weeks, also strong support from the "largest farming organisation in the UK", the NFU.

We now offer you the last word in this exchange.

Yours sincerely

John Pickett and the team at Rothamsted Research.

Dear John Pickett and team,

We are glad that you also recognise that the wider socio-political implications of GM are questions that cannot be addressed by scientists alone, or indeed by ourselves as growers. However, we are baffled that in this forum you present your research as the abstract pursuit of knowledge, despite repeated discussions of its commercial application in the farming press. Why will you not address the inevitable consequences of such a process? Empirical evidence shows that GM crops simply cannot co-exist with non-GM crops, so the choices we are making now have vital implications for future generations. Even the very limited growing of GM maize in Spain demonstrates this graphically - their organic sweetcorn market having imploded as a result of cross contamination.

As we are sure you are also aware, science does not operate in a vacuum. The decision to fund this trial, was made by an administration which has declared it's intention to be the most pro-GM government ever. A policy position which was challenged just a few weeks ago by a cross party group of MPs - the Environmental Audit Committee. Your own chief executive, Maurice Maloney, (himself the owner of over 300 biotechnology patents) stated on BBC news that if the trial is successful there would be corporate interest from around the world.

We disagree that the public is neutral on GM issues, all recent polls both in the UK and Europe continue to show that serious concern remains around the technology, as the lack of GM ingredients in UK supermarkets testifies. But this concern is also global, it is a shame you were not able to come and listen to these concerns on Sunday. Gathuru Mburu director of the African Biodiversity network, responded to your claims that GM was needed to feed Africa: "we need a diversity of genetic traits in food crops in order to survive worsening climates. Above all, people need to have control over their seeds".

We regret that the 24 hours we were given to agree to your "public debate" was not sufficient to confirm speakers - we feel that voices from around the world are essential in giving the practical experience of GM crops. We hope we can both bring independent experts to the table once your trial is no longer in the ground, enabling people to raise concerns without being vilified as "nazis" or "zealots". As always, we welcome further dialogue.

Yours sincerely,

Take the flour back

Japan Assists Sub Saharan Africa To Develop New Rice Varieties

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has signed a license agreement with Japan Tobacco (JT) for access to technologies that will address rice productivity constraints affecting smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The agreement involves the application of JT’s transformation technology to develop new rice varieties for use by smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda.

The initiative, known as the Nitrogen Use Efficient Water Use Efficient and Salt Tolerant (NEWEST) Rice Project, seeks to address some of the major constraints that face rice production in SSA.

The goal of the project is to develop and disseminate farmer preferred and locally adapted rice varieties with enhanced nitrogen-use efficiency, water-use efficiency and salt tolerance. JT will offer the technology free of charge to the AATF with an aim of supporting humanitarian aid projects.

“The slow growth in domestic rice production has been attributed to low yields being achieved by rice farmers in SSA,” said Dr Denis Kyetere, the Executive Director of AATF.

“Several factors are responsible for the low rice production. However, nitrogen deficiency and drought have been cited as leading constraints to upland rice production, while high salinity is increasingly becoming a major problem in many rice growing areas of Africa,” he continued.

Rice is an important staple food and a commodity of strategic significance across much of Africa. Driven by changing food preferences in the urban and rural areas and compounded by high population growth rates and rapid urbanisation, rice consumption in SSA has been growing by 6 percent per annum over the years, more than double the rate of population growth.

However, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the area under rice production in SSA has stagnated at about 8 million hectares, producing about 14.5 million tonnes per year against an annual consumption of 21 million tonnes. These production and consumption trends imply a production deficit of about 6.5 million tonnes per year valued at US$ 1.7 billion that is imported annually. Insufficient rice production affects the wellbeing of over 20 million smallholder farmers in SSA who depend on rice as their main food.

“The license will enable the project to utilise our plant transformation technology for monocot species, PureIntro®, developing and deploying the nitrogen efficient, water efficient, and salt tolerant rice products, free of royalties,” said Mr Masamichi Terabatake, JT’s Chief Strategy Officer.

JT’s plant biotechnology is independently managed from its core businesses including its tobacco business and food business, and is not applied to its product development conducted within those businesses.

PureIntro is an agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation technology that is recognised worldwide as de facto standard for monocot transformation. The technology reduces development costs and time. PureIntro has been licensed by JT to more than 50 private and public entities worldwide for numerous monocots including maize, rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, sugarcane, switchgrass, miscanthus, forage and turf.

“The agreement will also allow AATF to sub-license the transformed materials to other public institutions working on the project. This will enable them to field test the materials in different ecologies in SSA,” Mr. Terabatake continued. The institutions will have the freedom to breed new rice varieties, using the transformed materials as the source of the desired traits.

The NEWEST Rice for Africa Project was launched by AATF in 2008. The initiative aims to transform some varieties of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) to improve their productivity in nitrogen-poor soils, drought prone regions and in fields that have become excessively salty over time. The goal is to provide smallholder rice farmers with higher yielding varieties that are well adapted to the upland and lowland rice-growing areas in Africa.

Other partners in this private public partnership include Arcadia Biosciences who are providing access to traits that confer nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency and salt tolerance. The University of California is donating required plant transformation technologies. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the national agricultural research institutes of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda will conduct the necessary field trials to test the performance of the new varieties. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), and will initially be implemented over a 10-year period.

The new varieties developed under the NEWEST Rice Project are anticipated to increase rice yields, improve food security and household income for up to 20 million smallholder farmers and their families in SSA and reduce Africa’s dependence upon imported rice.

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is a not-for-profit organisation that facilitates and promotes public/private partnerships for the access and delivery of appropriate proprietary agricultural technologies for use by resource-poor smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

AATF currently works in ten countries in SSA and facilitates access and delivery of affordable agricultural technologies for use by smallholder farmers. Priority areas for the Foundation include addressing targeted agricultural constraints facing these farmers which include the impact of climate change on agriculture; pest management; soil management; nutrient enhancement in foods; improved breeding methods; and mechanisation. These are addressed through the access, development and deployment of accessible, transferable, adaptable and proven technologies.

In addition to the NEWEST Rice Project, other projects that AATF participates in include Striga control in maize, development of insect resistant cowpea, improvement of banana for resistance to banana bacterial wilt, biological control of aflatoxin, and drought tolerance and insect resistance in maize, for use by smallholder farmers in SSA.

Japan Tobacco Inc. is a leading international tobacco product company. Its products are sold in over 120 countries and its internationally recognized cigarette brands include Winston, Camel, Mild Seven and Benson & Hedges. With diversified operations, JT is also actively present in pharmaceuticals and foods.

Source: Samuel Hinneh