Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
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Chair
IRRI Board of Trustees
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""In addition to the general questions surrounding the use of genetically modified crops for
human consumption, and how access to seed for such crops is controlled, we do not yet have a
clear picture of how this modification affects rice plants' survival and general function," said
Bodelier.Long-term measurements of methane emissions would be needed to calculate the crop's
potential overall impact on greenhouse gas reduction efforts, he wrote.Also, the reduction of
carbon in soil may have unknown consequences for other types of microorganisms that could aid
or harm the plants.All said, the work should spur scientists worldwide "to conduct experiments
to verify whether this variety will enable more sustainable cultivation of the crop that feeds half
the human population," said Bodelier.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/life/environment/2015/07/25/441537/Scientists-create.htm
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REAP Chairman Rafique Suleman also held the government responsible for the declining
exports. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Recent rains may adversely affect the rice crop and result in a further drop
in exports, stated the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
Pakistans rice exports have already come down from $2 billion to $1.85 billion, and it is
feared that this figure may further decline due to the on-going monsoon rains in the country,
said REAP Chairman Rafique Suleman.On another note, Suleman also held the government
responsible for the declining exports as it is doing very little to support research and
development (R&D) in the sector.Different rice producing governments are focusing on their
R&D including our neighbours like India and Bangladesh. On the other hand, here, authorities
are approving housing schemes on the land of National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC)
Islamabad, he said.
He called the agriculture sector the backbone of the Pakistani economy, and stressed prime
research centres to work actively with full state-of-the-art technologies so that exports may be
increased and maximum foreign exchange earned.
He said such actions would prove detrimental for national agriculture and put the country back
many decades back and affect not only productivity but exports as well.For years, the
government has been giving mnimum attention to the sector and not providing due funds,
noted Suleman, adding that many international research institutes were located inside the
NARC Campus and its closure or relocation would affect Pakistans credibility throughout the
world.REAP urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Minister for Commerce, Minister for
National Food Security and Research to give priority to food security in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2015.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/926040/on-going-rains-to-hinder-rice-exports/
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How A New Type Of Rice Can Fight
Global Warming
After three years of field trials in China, a group of international scientists have developed a new
type of genetically modified rice that could boost food sustainability without adding to global
warming. While some experts hail the findings as an important breakthough, it seems likely to
add new fuel to the heated debate over genetically modified (GM) foods.Today, rice paddies are
one of the largest sources of atmospheric methane, the second most important greenhouse gas
after carbon dioxide. Methane is thought to be responsible for one-fifth of the global warming
effect.The new plant equipped with DNA from barley emits as little as 1% of the
methane,according to Science Magazine. Whats more, the new rice may also boost food security
as it produces significantly higher yield per plant.
Timothy Searchinger, a research scholar at Princeton University who wasnt involved in the
study, described the results as extraordinary in the magazines report.The new rice was created
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by a group led by Chuanxin Sun, a plant biochemist at Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, in collaboration with Chinese and American scientists. The results came after a threeyear field trial in China.These new results represent the first example, to our knowledge, of such
a rice, the team of scientists said in its report. Approaches to increase rice productivity and
reduce methane emissions as seen in SUSIBA2 rice may be particularly beneficial in a future
climate with rising temperatures resulting in increased methane emissions from paddies.
The new rice sounds like a win-win for good yields and reduced climate impact, Paul West,
lead scientist for the Global Landscapes Initiative at the University of Minnesotas Institute on
the Environment, told the Christian Science Monitor.Still, many questions remain. Chuanxin Sun
acknowledged that much work needs to be done to see if it holds up in realistic field trials. The
findings also come with ethical issues to be addressed as people are concerned whether
genetically modified crops are safe for human consumption.Right now, Chinese society is very
sensitive to concerns about GM food, Sun said. China, the worlds largest producer of rice,
hasnt allowed a single genetically modified rice variety into its fields, he added
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jnylander/2015/07/27/how-a-new-type-of-rice-can-fight-global-warming/
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There is a Preferential Trade Agreement between Iran and Pakistan that can be converted into Free Trade Agreement after the ban is
formally lifted. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
A delegation from Iran will arrive in Pakistan next month to address bottlenecks in the
way of trade and investment between the two countries and explore opportunities under
the new scenario following the nuclear deal by Iran and six major world powers.
A senior officer in the Ministry of Commerce told The Express Tribunethat an official
delegation will arrive in Islamabad in the first week of August to explore opportunities. Iran has
recently agreed with world powers to curb its nuclear programme. In return, economic
sanctions placed on the country that have hindered its trade relations will likely be lifted
following an inspection of its compliance with the agreement.The Iranian delegation will meet
Commerce Minister Khuram Dastgir, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Petroleum Minister
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to discuss issues of mutual importance.
We will discuss the issues under the new scenario in the region as trade and commerce
opportunities can be exploited after the sanction lift by the international community following
the nuclear deal, said a senior officer of Ministry of Commerce.Earlier in April this year,
Dastgir had headed a delegation to Iran and both sides had agreed to formulate a five-year
facilitation plan to increase bilateral trade from the current level of $1 billion to $5 billion.
There is a Preferential Trade Agreement between Iran and Pakistan, it can be converted into
Free Trade Agreement after the ban is formally lifted, said the officer.We had already agreed
to form a working group to devise a substantial widening of the 2006 Pak-Iran Preferential
Trade Agreement.
The two sides also reiterated the need for joint investments in agro-food processing and
infrastructure, particularly in the field of establishing an effective rail, road and sea links
between the two countries.Presently, Pakistan exports rice, kinnows, potatoes and meat, edible
meat offal; edible fruits, nuts, melons, cotton, melons; cotton; paper and paperboard, and
articles of pulp to Iran while imports chemicals, plastic products, bitumen, paraffin, iron scrap
and many other chemicals and machinery related products.
The sanctions on Iran as well as indirect/informal trade, smuggling, non-availability of banking
channels, custom duties, non-operational system of barter trade, transportation-related issues
are hindering the volume of bilateral trade.The officer said that there exist a lot of potential to
increase the volume of bilateral trade by curtailing smuggling and increasing direct trade. We
hope that now the volume of trade can be substantially increased after streamlining the
payment mechanism once the ban is lifted by the international community, noted the officer.
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REAP CONDEMNS HOUSING PROJECT ON NARC LAND
Sunday, July 26, 2015 - LahoreRice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has urged the
federal government not to replace National
Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad with a housing scheme. Rafique Suleman,
Chairman REAP showing concern over heavy rains said rains and floods may affect the rice crop
resulting in lower rice export of the country.He said the country has already missed last years
export target due to lack of research and development. Pakistans rice export target of $2 billion
could not be achieved in FY15 as overall exports from Pakistan crossed $1.85 billion at the end
of the last fiscal year. Chairman REAP said the governments across the world focus on
their research and development work and our neighbouring countries, such as India, Bangladesh
are also spending huge amounts of money on R&D work for new seeds of rice as well as
other agricultural commodities. On the other hand, in Pakistan, the authorities are trying to
approvehousing scheme
on
the
land
of
National Agricultural
Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad, REAP strongly protests against this project, he added.
He said agricultural sector is the backbone of our economy and the prime research centre must be
working actively besides having fully equipped state of the art technologies. It is the need of the
hour to take appropriate steps for agricultural sector boost, so that exports of agri commodities
may be increased and maximum foreign exchange could be fetched for the growth of the
countrys economy. He said that NARC conversion into a housing scheme would be detrimental
for thenational agriculture and take country decades back. It will not only affect our productivity
but our exports too, he added.
Many international research institutes are also located in the same campus and their closure or
relocation will badly affect our credibility throughout the world. In fact, for years, the
government has been giving least priority to agricultural researchand does not p release any
resources, Rafique said. The Chairman REAP appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, Ministerfor Commerce and Minister for National Food Security & Research not to
replace NARC with housing society. Theagricultural research centres of various countries of the
world are located in their capital cities, such as Indian Council forAgricultural Research (ICAR)
in New Delhi, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Dhaka and
Nepal Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) in Kathmandu, he maintained.Agencies
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=269018
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REAP urges government not to turn NARC land into
housing scheme
July 25, 2015
RECORDER REPORT
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has urged the federal government not to replace
National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad with a housing scheme. Rafique
Suleman, Chairman REAP showing concern over heavy rains said rains and floods may affect
the rice crop resulting in lower rice export of the country. He said the country has already missed
last year's export target due to lack of research and development. Pakistan's rice export target of
$2 billion could not be achieved in FY15 as overall exports from Pakistan crossed $1.85 billion
at the end of the last fiscal year. Chairman REAP said the governments across the world focus on
their research and development work and our neighbouring countries, such as India, Bangladesh
are also spending huge amounts of money on R&D work for new seeds of rice as well as other
agricultural commodities.
On the other hand, in Pakistan, the authorities are trying to approve housing scheme on the land
of National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad.... REAP strongly protests against
this project, he added. He said agricultural sector is the backbone of our economy and the prime
research centre must be working actively besides having fully equipped state of the art
technologies. It is the need of the hour to take appropriate steps for agricultural sector boost, so
that exports of agri commodities may be increased and maximum foreign exchange could be
fetched for the growth of the country's economy. He said that NARC conversion into a housing
scheme would be detrimental for the national agriculture and take country decades back. It will
not only affect our productivity but our exports too, he added. Many international research
institutes are also located in the same campus and their closure or relocation will badly affect our
credibility throughout the world. In fact, for years, the government has been giving least priority
to agricultural research and does not p release any resources, Rafique said.
The Chairman REAP appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Minister for Commerce and
Minister for National Food Security & Research not to replace NARC with housing society. The
agricultural research centres of various countries of the world are located in their capital cities,
such as Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in New Delhi, Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Center (BARC) in Dhaka and Nepal Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) in
Kathmandu, he maintained.
http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1210521/
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Sohel Parvez
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Unlocking-rice-immune-system-will-benefit-humanityScientists/articleshow/48213814.cms
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Wide gap
The gap is especially wide for irrigated palay, where FSSP hopes to increase the rice-planted
area by an ambitious 4.1 percent a year through new or rehabilitated irrigation systems. One has
to ask if this will ever match the natural advantages of, say, Vietnam and Thailand, the biggest
rice exporters in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), whose large and fertile
plains are watered by the great Mekong River delta. The historical record with our irrigated palay
area is only halfway to the target.
The view through the windshield confirms the perspective from the rear mirror. Figure 1 shows a
range of projections of annual rice imports by the Philippines (in thousand metric tons), based on
the Arkansas Global Rice Model developed by Eric Wailes, professor at the University of
Arkansas, from the experience of 40 rice-exporting and -importing countries.The midpoint of the
projections (the mean) tells us that we will still be importing rice every year till 2022. And below
the lower boundary of the range, there is only a 10 percent likelihood that we will become selfsufficient by 2015 and begin enjoying negative imports (i.e. exports) thereafter. In fact, the
government has already projected nearly 100,000 MT of rice imports by the middle of this year.
Of course, the probability of success is only one reason to do anything and not even the most
important reason at that.
The more important questions are these:
Will this action be worth it?
Will the benefits outweigh the costs?
Will those net benefits conform with and maybe even reinforce other things that are also
considered important?
Not worthwhile if costly
Self-sufficiency in rice is worthwhile to the rice-consuming majority only to the extent that it
provides real rice security: sufficient rice supply at affordable and stable prices.Second, it is
worthwhile to the rice-producing minority to the extent that it sustains its livelihood, assuming
that rice farming is, in fact, the best alternative open to it. And there areas with everything
elseall sorts of costs to think about.
Consider a neighborhood block with 20 families. They all love pan de sal for breakfast. One
family, headed by Mang Panadero, bakes pan de sal in an old-fashioned pugon. Every morning
he sells it to the other 19 families for P150 a dozen.
One day a Vietnamese bakery opens for business down the road. With the latest in baking
technology, they can sell exactly the same quality of pan de sal, but for only P100 a dozen. What
should the neighborhood do?
Status quo: The other families love Mang Panadero, so they continue to buy his pan de sal even
at a premium of P50 a dozen, or 50 percent. That premium, paid by 19 families, totals a tidy sum
of P950 received by Panadero every day. Economists regard it as addition to producer
surplus.Better alternative: Money is tight, so the 19 families shift their business instead to the
Vietnamese newcomer and collectively save P950 a day. Now that it is savings, this amount can
be added to consumer surplus.
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With those savings, the families can choose to buy more than one dozen pan de sal a day, or
butter and eggs to go with the bread. The added consumer surplus is now stimulating additional
demand for pan de sal and other goods from the bakery, the neighborhood grocery and other
producers.
Since the families do still love Mang Panadero, they could set aside, say, P100 a day from their
savings as a charity fund for his family. With that money, at least his family can continue to buy
pan de sal at the same low price as their neighbors.Mang Panadero now faces the challenge of
modernizing his pugon, or looking for other customers outside the neighborhood, if he wants to
stay in the pan de sal business. Alternatively, he could start making something else that his
neighborhood wants to buy but is not yet available. What about pan de coco? Maybe his
neighbors will even agree to pitch in more money to help him transition to a new livelihood.
The simple illustration above can be transferred to the countrys rice sector. (See Table 2.)
Over the four years from 2006 to 2009, the country incurred an average economic cost (a
negative net surplus) of P6.7 billion a year from its rice policies. This increased by three times to
P20.17 billion a year from 2010 to 2012, when the Aquino administration launched its FSSP.
Causes of welfare cost
This economic welfare cost was caused by the following:
Price difference between locally grown and imported rice. In 2012, the average price of local rice
was about 50 percent more expensive than Vietnamese rice.Lower rice consumption due to high
prices of locally grown rice. This is especially true for the poor, whose food budgets are more
limited.
Quantitative restriction on rice imports under a special treatment that the Philippines has enjoyed
from the World Trade Organization since 1994. Among other things, this reduces tariff revenues
that might otherwise be collected from unrestricted imports.Net costs of FSSP, estimated at over
P50 billion over the programs six-year life even if it achieves its self-sufficiency targets.
Cost of National Food Authoritys (NFA) price support, such as its mandate during lean harvest
times to buy palay at above market (high palay procurement price paid to farmers) and sell rice
at below market (low official release price charged to consumers).
To its credit, the Department of Agriculture is now saying that it never targeted total selfsufficiency in rice, only optimum sufficiency. Malaysia, for example, only targets 80-percent
self-sufficiency.
We hope this rethinking by government leads to a repurposing of FSSP: away from the
questionable objective of zero imports toward a more realistic objective of simply improving the
productivity of our rice farmers to make them more competitive within unrestricted Asean and
global markets.
Rice security via trade
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Ironically, the Asean region is home to two of the worlds largest rice importers (the Philippines
and Indonesia) as well as two of the largest rice exporters (Thailand and Vietnam). The
difference in per capita rice production (kilograms per person) between the two groups has been
inexorably widening since the early 90s. (See Figure 2.)
It makes sense for the regions rice exporters to be selling more and more to its rice importers
over time. And yet the Asean region as a whole has been exporting more of its rice to the rest of
the world than to each other since 1980. (See Figure 3.)
Clearly, much remains to be done in order to deepen and stabilize the rice trade between the
regions rice exporters and importers:
Exporters must be able to rely upon importers long-term purchase commitments so that they can
invest in the necessary production capacity.
Importers must be given guaranteed access to export supplies even during episodes of global
market volatility.Broader and more transparent trading arrangements will lead to wider sharing
of market information, reducing the uncertainty and miscalculations that are the real cause of
price volatility.The sharp global rice price hike in 2008, for example, could have been avoided if
Vietnamese rice traders had not hedged against higher export prices by sitting on their rice
stocks, prompting the Philippines to counterhedge by buying excessive amounts of rice abroad.
In the long run, greater rice trade will encourage the emergence of new rice exporters, such as
Myanmar and Cambodia, which share the natural advantages of their bigger neighbors in
Indochina.
The instinct to protect ones rice sector is almost visceral and not just in the Philippines. Rice
(followed by sugar) is mentioned most often on the short lists of tariffable (and almost always
agricultural) items that Asean members are allowed to exempt from intraregional free trade. Any
progress made toward opening up and deepening regional rice trade can only be a collective
achievement.
Repurposing NFA
As the region opens up its rice trade, the Philippines must make difficult choices about the
different ways its rice farmers have been protected by government. In particular, the countrys
grain agency, the NFA, must decide whether it should continue to play two roles from among its
multiple mandates:
Should the NFA continue to be the countrys sole authorized importer of rice?
Should the NFA continue to provide price supportwhether to rice farmers or rice consumers
that piles on ever larger amounts of subsidies and debt?
The first one is a command-and-control role that rarely does well in a market-driven economy.
Consider that the NFA and its Vietnamese counterpart, Vinafood 2, together account for about
half of the regions rice trade. Any miscalculation by one or the other, or both, tends to be
magnified and prolonged, as in 2008.
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Open market
By comparison, in a truly open market, the dynamic interaction between many private importers
and many sellers converges into an equilibrium price that truly reflects the underlying scarcity of
rice. This continuous exchange of information among many players also stabilizes the price and
minimizes its volatility over time.This in turn allows those players to make reasonable and longterm commitments and investments.
The same market pricing dynamic applies to the local production and distribution of rice. As
subsidies are phased out, the NFA can also seek a financial restart by shifting the burden of its
accumulated debt over to government.
With more and cheaper imports, economic surplus will return to our consumers from our
farmers. Some of that surplus can be recycled back to the farmers, e.g. by using some of the
additional tariff revenues from higher imports to fund a conditional-cash-transfer program for the
neediest farmers, or to help finance the redirection of their activity and resources toward nonrice,
higher-value and perhaps, exportable crops.
Smaller NFA role
This leaves the NFA with a potentially smaller set of restricted roles:
Maintain buffer rice stocks (both imported and locally grown) in support of domestic disaster
response and poverty alleviation.Provide logistical services in remote areas with poorly
developed supply chains, while pursuing market upgrading in other areas (e.g. by establishing
negotiable warehouse receipts).Other regulatory oversight, e.g. monitor rice purchase
agreements, enforce rice grades and standards, and license legitimate rice importers (without
applying import ceilings).
In short, rice security through self-sufficiency is a false mantra. The proper policy choices are
to seek rice security on behalf of the majority of consumers; rely on open trade with our riceexporting neighbors to deliver most of that security; maintain buffer stocks against the
unexpected; and support our rice farmers with direct livelihood assistance as well as long-term
productivity improvement through technology and extension programs.
(Roehlano M. Briones, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for
Development Studies. Gary Olivar is a banking and political consultant. They wish to
acknowledge valuable research insights from Ramon Clarete, Ph.D., former dean of the
University of the Philippines School of Economics. All three are fellows of Foundation for
Economic Freedom, an advocacy for free-market reforms supported by good governance.)
http://opinion.inquirer.net/87039/rice-security-or-self-sufficiency
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Philippines to import more rice as El Nino worry persists
July 26, 2015
RECORDER REPORT
The Philippines, one of the world's biggest rice importers, could ship in more to boost buffer
stocks and keep local prices stable because of an El Nino dry weather pattern now forecast to last
until next year, potentially hurting the local harvest. "The economic managers have indicated that
they are reassessing the rice supply-demand conditions for the rest of the year (to see) if there is
a need to do another importation," Zeno Ronald Abenoja, director at the Department of
Economic Research of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said on Thursday.
The central bank is represented in the National Food Authority Council (NFA), which approves
rice imports. Purchases this year have reached 750,000 tonnes - 550,000 tonnes from Vietnam
and the rest from Thailand. The NFA has permission from President Benigno Aquino to import
an additional 250,000 tonnes if drought conditions worsen and hurt local rice production. Timely
imports of the staple have prevented a repeat of last year's spike in rice prices caused by damage
to supply chains from Super Typhoon Haiyan in late 2013.
Food prices have a weighting of 39 percent in the consumer price index. Central bank Governor
Amando Tetangco, in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, said he saw no need to alter
monetary policy settings for now but cited the potential threat of an extended El Nino as one of
the reasons to be careful. Inflation is expected to inch up later in the year, after slowing to a twodecade low in June, due to the potential impact of the worsening dry spell and possible
adjustments to electricity prices. Latest government data shows local rice prices have fallen
around 5 percent from a year earlier.
The expectation now is for the domestic harvest to be "lean" in the third quarter before
rebounding in the final three months, Abenoja said. The Philippines' weather bureau forecasts a
"moderate" El Nino that is likely to intensify and last until early next year. Private rice traders
have also been given permission to import 805,200 tonnes of rice with a tariff of 35 percent,
although so far they have applied to ship in only about 300,000 tonnes.
http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1210908/
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Rice bugs (red flour beetle and rice weevil)
are making life miserable for the villagers
living in the surroundings of rice godowns in
district.Since these bugs in godowns live by
feeding food grains like rice, lentils, wheat
and others, they are also invading the nearby
houses, particularly during the evenings.As
the district is famous for paddy production
and paraboiled rice mills, a huge quantity of
paddy is milled here. While the district alone
produces 7 lakh to 10 lakh metric tonnes of
paddy every season, the millers too purchase
rice from other districts and bring it here for
milling. Apart from that, these godowns also
house rice to be supplied to Food Corporation
of India and to be distributed through the Civil Supplies Department to white ration card
holders.A week ago, villagers of Shilarmiyagudem and Kothagudem villagers staged a protest
near Thipparthy, accusing the godown owners of taking no measures to control the bugs.
Speaking to The Hindu , Sk Usenbi, said spraying of chemicals and covering the rice bags with
tarpaulins would control the menace to a great extent but the godown owners did not act so far
despite lodging several complaints.It is not only the case of these two villages, a host of villages
around Miryalaguda have also lodged complaints with the Revenue Divisional Officer in
Miryalagda seeking action against these erring managements of the godowns.The villagers living
near Bhongir and Bibinagar have also submitted representations to Bhongir Revenue Divisional
Officer and sought action against the owners.Another woman from Kothegudem village,
Gugulothu Sujatha, said they always have to keep their doors and windows closed during the
nights fearing the bugs.
Official blames
godown owners
Kishan Rao, Revenue Divisional Officer of Miryalaguda, observed that there is a visible
negligence on part of godown owners since they did not cover the windows of godowns and fails
to spray chemicals in regular intervals.I have written to the District Civil Supplies Manager
seeking action against them. I have also instructed the local Tehsildars to inspect these godowns
and prepare a report on violations, Mr. Rao said.However, he agreed that the villagers are
suffering from rice bug menace.
A week ago, villagers staged a protest near Thipparthy, accusing godown owners of taking no measures to
control the problem
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/rice-bug-menace-haunts-nalgondavillagers/article7466519.ece
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REAP Chairman Rafique Suleman also held the government responsible for the declining
exports. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Recent rains may adversely affect the rice crop and result in a further drop
in exports, stated the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
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Pakistans rice exports have already come down from $2 billion to $1.85 billion, and it is
feared that this figure may further decline due to the on-going monsoon rains in the country,
said REAP Chairman Rafique Suleman.
On another note, Suleman also held the government responsible for the declining exports as it
is doing very little to support research and development (R&D) in the sector.Different rice
producing governments are focusing on their R&D including our neighbours like India and
Bangladesh. On the other hand, here, authorities are approving housing schemes on the land of
National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad, he said.He called the agriculture
sector the backbone of the Pakistani economy, and stressed prime research centres to work
actively with full state-of-the-art technologies so that exports may be increased and maximum
foreign exchange earned.
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He said such actions would prove detrimental for national agriculture and put the country back
many decades back and affect not only productivity but exports as well.For years, the
government has been giving mnimum attention to the sector and not providing due funds,
noted Suleman, adding that many international research institutes were located inside the
NARC Campus and its closure or relocation would affect Pakistans credibility throughout the
world.REAP urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Minister for Commerce, Minister for
National Food Security and Research to give priority to food security in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2015.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/926040/on-going-rains-to-hinder-rice-exports/
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yield and quality.To do so, Saran said, it require the government should provide financing to
boost stocks of paddy for export with low interest, building the warehouse and dryer machines,
reducing cost for farmers in rice farming, accessing the direct market among farmers and rice
millers, and coordinating the cost reduction on transportation among trucking companies and
exporters to explore the cost effective and reduce transportation fee.According to David Vann,
former senior advisor to Cambodia Rice Federation, starting this October the EU will import
10,000 tonnes of rice duty-free from Vietnam.
That is just the start and once the 10,000 tonnes quota is achieved, they would renew and would
add more tonnage subsequently.Given the size of Cambodias exports to the EU which is 60
per cent or 172,000 tonnes according to the Ministry of Agriculture Vann said that it would be
advisable to expedite diversification to other markets.Independent economist Srey Chanthy said
that despite tough competition from Vietnam, Cambodia could increase focus on the niche
market of fragrant rice a variety that is not grown in Vietnam currently.Cambodia should also
double efforts to diversify to other Asian markets, like China and Malaysia, and Africa, which
remains a much untapped destination, he said. That would drive us to be less dependent on the
EU market.
Image:A man unloads a bag of rice at an export warehouse in Phnom Penh earlier this
month.Vireak Mai
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-sector-wary-eu-vietnam-deal
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tsp ghee
1 raw mango, grated (~1 cup after grating)
5-6 curry leaves
2 tbsp peanuts
Salt to taste
Ingredients for spice mix:
1 tsp mustard seeds
tsp asafoetida powder
3 dry red chilies, broken
tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp grated coconut powder
Ingredients for tempering:
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp Bengal gram daal
1 dry red chili, halved
Poppadoms/ papad of your choice
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Method
* Wash and soak rice in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes
* Add ghee and salt to the rice and cook (with the 2 cups of water it was soaked in) in an open
sauce pan, on low flame till the water is over and rice is cooked.
* While the rice is getting cooked; grind together all the ingredients for the spice mix and half of
the grated raw mango in a mortar and pestle to make a coarse paste.
* In a broad non-stick wok, heat 2 tbsps of olive oil and add all the ingredients for tempering
(mustard seeds, Bengal gram daal and dried red chili)
* When the mustard seeds start to sputter, add the peanuts and curry leaves. Saute for a minute
and add the remaining half grated raw mango. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.
* Now add the spice mix and cook for 4-5 minutes, with frequent stirring.
* Remove from heat and stir in the cooked rice a little at a time and mix with a light hand
taking care not to break or mash the rice.
* Serve with roasted papad of your choice.
Food is never just food. I believe its story telling, its conversation. It brings people together
and it speaks a universal language! I love to play around in my kitchen. The thrill of being able
to create something new and sharing it with others is what fuels my passion for cooking. The fact
that dear husband is a foodie and an honest critique helps! I blog about my adventures in the
kitchen athttp://www.myweekendkitchen.in/
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/express-recipes-how-to-make-raw-mangorice/#sthash.tFuz2DGE.dpufa
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fend off bacterial infection, reports a research team led by the University of California,
Davis.Identification of the tiny protein, called RaxX, holds promise for developing more diseaseresistant crop varieties and therapeutic treatments for blocking microbial infections in both plants
and animals, said the researchers, who found particular satisfaction in this discovery, two years
after retracting the announcement of a similar find.Results of the new study are reported July 24
in Science Advances, an open-access journal published by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. The paper is available online from the journal at
http://bit.ly/1OmytAd.
Discovery unlocks clues to disease protection
In this new study, researchers discovered that the RaxX protein was present in at least eight
species of the disease-causing Xanthamonas bacteria that are known to attack rice the staple
food for half of the worlds population as well as maize, cassava, sugar cane, tomatoes,
peppers, wheat, alfalfa, onions, banana and citrus.Our research team is delighted to announce
the discovery of the RaxX protein, a new class of microbial signaling molecules," said Pamela
Ronald, a professor of plant pathology, who directed the study.
Ronald noted that her laboratory is currently investigating the role of RaxX during bacterial
infection of rice in the absence of the immune receptor.The researchers have noticed that RaxX
closely resembles a class of plant signaling factors that promote growth and modulate the
immune response. They suspect that the bacteria could be mimicking these natural plantsignaling factors to inhibit the plant immune response and thereby enhance the competitiveness
of the bacteria.In the long term, the researchers hope to use this information to develop new
strategies to prevent infection in various crops.
New findings have special significance
Publication of the new study is particularly poignant for Ronald and lead co-authors Rory Pruitt
and Benjamin Schwessinger, because it brings the research team full circle in correcting
unintentional errors that led the Ronald lab in 2009 to misidentify the protein now known to be
RaxX.Pruitt and Schwessinger both worked on the new study as postdoctoral scholars in the
Ronald lab, and Schwessinger is now an independent research fellow at the Australian National
University in Canberra, Australia.
Ronalds laboratory has been studying rice genetics and disease resistance for more than two
decades and in 1995 announced that a gene called Xa21 confers resistance to the bacterial blight
pathogen. Bacterial blight, one of the worst bacterial plant diseases in the world, has been found
in virtually every crop species including rice.The discovery of Xa21 was widely acclaimed by
the scientific community and sparked further research into other key parts of the diseaseresistance puzzle. Researchers were confident that if Xa21 produced a receptor in the plant cell
that was capable of recognizing and thwarting a bacterial invasion, there must be a
complementary protein in the bacteria that triggered that immune response in the plant.In 2009
the Ronald lab announced discovery of a bacterial protein called Ax21, which their research
indicated was the protein that triggers the immune response by the Xa21 plant receptor.
A second related study, based on identification of Ax21, was published in 2011.Then in 2013, as
researchers in the Ronald lab began repeating the earlier experiments in preparation for a new
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study, they discovered that a bacterial strain had been mislabeled in the previous work and that
one of the tests used in the earlier study turned out to be quite variable. These errors had led to
the misidentification of Ax21 as the bacterial protein that sparks an immune response by the
Xa21 receptor in the plant cells.
After finding the errors, Ronald retracted two papers from her laboratory about this research,
published in 2009 and 2011 in the journals PLOS One and Science, respectively. She chronicled
the story of that process in an October 2013 Scientific American blog posting titled, Lab Life:
The Anatomy of a Retraction, which can be found at http://bit.ly/1KdEDli.In tandem with this
weeks announcement of the RaxX protein, Ronald and her laboratory colleagues have prepared
a new posting for the Scientific American blog, which tells the story of the new discovery and
the closure it brings in setting the scientific record straight. It is scheduled for posting on July 24,
concurrent with publication of the new study in Science Advances.
Collaborators and funders
Collaborating with Ronald, Schwessinger and Pruitt on the new study were researchers from UC
Davis; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; University of Tbingen, Germany; University
of Texas at Austin; UC Irvine; and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,
India.Funding for the study was provided by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S.
Department of Energy, the European Molecular Biology Association, the Human Frontiers
Science Program, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India, the Welch
Foundation, and Monsantos Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program.
UC's Global Food Initiative
UC Davis is participating in UCs Global Food Initiative launched by UC President Janet
Napolitano, harnessing the collective power of UC to help feed the world and steer it on the path
to sustainability.
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php/news/california-news/4463-rice-disease-resistancediscovery-closes-the-loop-for-scientific-integrity.html
India Agriculture
An Indian farmer uses a pair of bulls to plough a paddy field as another prepares rice saplings for
replanting during monsoon rains on the outskirts of Mumbai, Maharashtra state, India, Tuesday,
July 21, 2015.
Posted: Saturday, July 25, 2015 10:09 pm
By Sasha Harris-Lovett/Los Angeles Times (TNS)
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More than half of the people on the planet eat
rice as a staple food. Growing rice emits
methane, a potent greenhouse gas to the
tune of 25 million to 100 million metric tons of
methane every year, a notable contribution to
human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.As
the world's population grows and needs more
food, the problem is likely to get worse, but
genetic engineering could help, a new study
reports. By transferring a barley gene into a rice
plant, scientists have created a new variety of
rice that produces less methane while still
making highly starchy, productive seeds. The development of the new rice strain is described this
week in the journal Nature.Finding a way to boost rice production while reducing methane
emissions has been a goal for many years, said Chuanxin Sun, a plant biologist at the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences and the lead author of the study. By engineering barley genes
into the rice plant, "we demonstrated it's possible to get these two traits with this technology," he
said.When rice paddies are flooded, methane-producing bacteria thrive on the carbohydrates
secreted by rice roots in the oxygen-free soils. The rice plant itself acts as a conduit, transmitting
methane from the soil into the atmosphere.
Methane traps heat in the atmosphere with devastating efficiency: Over 20 years, it is 84 times
stronger than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, according to the most recent assessment from
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Sun and his team transferred barley genes that
cause high-starch production in rice grains and stems. Based on previous research that proposed
that rice plants with smaller root systems could produce less methane, the researchers hoped that
the genetic transfer would cause their rice plants to allocate less energy toward growing roots
and more toward making robust grains.
Then they planted a handful of their genetically engineered rice plants alongside conventionally
grown Nipponbare rice in the laboratory and in two field settings in China.Near the end of the
growing season, in summer and fall, the researchers measured how much methane each plant
emitted by covering it with a sealed plastic cylinder and using a syringe to extract the
accumulated gasses in the trapped air. They also measured how much starch the plants allocated
to their seeds, stems and roots, and how many methane-producing bacteria lived around the plant
roots.As they suspected, the genetically engineered rice grew smaller root systems and starchier
grains than conventional rice. Far fewer methane-producing bacteria hugged the roots of the new
rice. And the new rice variety emitted less than 10 percent of the methane of conventional rice,
they reported.
The genetically modified rice variety provides "a tremendous opportunity for more-sustainable
rice cultivation," Paul Bodelier, a microbial ecologist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology,
wrote in an essay that accompanied that research article.Previous techniques for reducing
methane emissions from rice paddies involve alternating flooding with dry periods, said Bruce
Linquist, a plant scientist at the University of California, Davis, who specializes in rice
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cultivation and was not involved in the study.Although these techniques can cut methane
emissions in half, they also can reduce the plants' productivity. Additionally, in a lot of places
where rice is grown, you can't control when rice paddies are wet or dry because irrigation is
based on seasonal rains and floods, he said.
The research is too preliminary to make solid conclusions about methane emissions from the
genetically engineered rice, Linquist added. More research about how much methane whole rice
paddies (and not just individual plants) emit over the entire growing season is necessary, he said.
In addition, the new rice plants' smaller root systems could make it difficult for the crop to
uptake nutrients."It needs to be tested more in the field," he said.Even if the new rice variety
does prove to reduce methane emissions on a larger scale, there are still barriers to it being
grown and sold. Genetically engineered rice isn't commercially cultivated anywhere in the world,
in part because of ethical and biological concerns about the spread of engineered rice pollen,
experts said."There's not a market for it," Linquist said.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/business/study-gmo-rice-could-reduce-greenhouse-gasemissions/article_8bac75f2-3354-11e5-80f8-6f83e06ff721.html
THE City Council of Bacolod passed a resolution urging the City Agriculture Office and the City
Health Office to encourage food establishments in Bacolod City to offer brown rice as part of their
regular menu.Authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor, the resolution cited Section 15, Article II of
the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which provides that, the state shall protect and promote the right
to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.Cognizant and supportive to the
rice self-sufficiency program of the national government, the city of Bacolod is exploring viable
means that would facilitate the attainment of the said program.
The government is desirous of improving the nutritional value of rice as a staple food. Brown rice or
unpolished rice is the whole grain form of rice and is therefore nutritionally superior than white rice
in terms of protein, dietary fiber, B1, B2 and B9 vitamins, and Vitamin E, minerals and
antioxidants.According to some researches, brown rice or unpolished rice could help reduce the
incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, and could lower blood pressure.Brown rice or
unpolished rice has higher milling recovery than white rice and therefore could help in the attainment
of rice self-sufficiency.The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DAPhilRice) is spearheading a campaign called Be RICEponsible to promote better health and at the
same time help in the achievement of rice self-sufficiency through the promotion of brown rice.
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Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on July 27, 2015.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/bacolod/local-news/2015/07/27/bacolod-food-establishments-urged-servebrown-rice-421212
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