October 01 ,2018 Vol 9 ,Issue 10
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Floating Rice Market: Shandhya abuzz in mornings 12:00 AM, October 01, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 04:08 AM, October 01, 2018
Rice traders gather with their traditional boats at one of the biggest rice markets at the edge of the Sandhya river in Barishal. According to locals, the bi-weekly Banaripara rice market has been set up here for around 200 years. Traders from far-flung places bring their wares to the market, offering many varieties of rice, including the Balam variety, which is considered a heritage of Barishal. Photo: Titu Das Sushanto Ghosh and M Jahirul Islam Jewel Upon visiting the Shandhya river at Banaripara in Barishal, in the early hours, one would see a gathering of around 500 boats carrying large, round open sacks of rice. The boats, both big and small, dotted with these sacks, under the blue sky, can make for a fascinating sight for visitors. For those on the boats, however, it is their livelihood. The biggest rice market in the division, the Banaripara floating rice market sees hundreds of buyers come to the spot from different part of the country for the different varieties of rice it has to offer. The farmers of the upazila earn their daily bread by selling the rice. This rice “haat� (weekly market) sits on the river twice a week -- Saturdays and Tuesdays -from 7:00am to 12:00pm at the west side of Banaripara Bazar and the east side of Shandhya river, around 25 kilometers away from Barishal District Headquarters. The market operates around the year. However, during the seasons when the most amount of rice is harvested -- August to October (Aush rice harvest) and December to March (harvest of all other varieties) -- the market operates four days a week, including Wednesdays and Fridays. According to locals and the district's agriculture office, this market has been operating on the river for about two hundred years and has some special varieties of rice that many farmers proudly flaunt to their customers.
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The Balam rice (a special variety), which is a heritage of Barishal, can be found at the market. It is special for its unique taste, said Belal Hossain, a farmer from Masjid Bari village, adding that the rice, however, was not available in large quantities like before. Apart from the Balam, Godai and Aush are two other special varieties of rice found in the market. Haridas Shikari, deputy director of the Agriculture Extension office in the district, said that most people from the villages in the upazila were running their rice business in the market. “If anyone does not grow their own paddy, he collects it from the market and processes it to make rice, which he can then bring back to the market and sell,� he said. In the past, naval communication was major in the region due to its many canals and rivers. There would be large boats coming from Dhaka to buy rice. To have easier communication with the buyers, the farmers would sell their rice on boats. That is how the market established itself here on Shandhya river, Shikari said.
Photo: Titu Das
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“We are all from different villages scattered across the upazila and this is the only way we make our livelihood,” said one of the farmers who set up the market on Shandhya river, adding, “about 95 percent of the sellers are farmers from Nalejsree, Didihar, Dandyat, Baishari, Masjid Bari, Aura, Kali Bazar, Khodaboksho, Mangol, Chakhar, Bakpur, Jirakathi, Bhaitashar, Chalta Bari, Chaulkathi, Kajlahar, Braman Kathi, Jammu Dip villages.” Amjad Hossain, a farmer from Aura village, said, “We finish all the preparations the night before we set up the market. The women of our families assist us while we load the boats with sacks of rice. In the morning, we leave for the market after breakfast.” He added that the market operates till noon because all the farmers prefer selling off their products to the buyers, who wait on big trawlers on the river, before the sun is at its peak at noon. The profit, however, was higher in the past, said Rafiqul Islam, who processes rice from paddy. “The number of buyers has declined, and the price of the paddy has also increased,” he said, adding that machine-based modern rice processing factories are the main threat to the floating market. Adding to this, Shikari said that the special varieties of rice, that the market was popular for, were also being sold less compared to the rice grown by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). “More farmers prefer selling IRRI and BRRI rice over the special varieties now, since that is what the buyers prefer,” he said. Compared to other rice markets, where rice is sold for Tk 1,800-2,000 per maund, the floating market offers the product at a lower cost-- currently Tk 1,600 per maund. Mamun Hossain, a businessman from Barishal's Aroddar Patti, said, “I come to this market due to the large variety of rice being sold here and also because of the fair price.” https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/floating-rice-market-shandhya-abuzz-mornings-1640965
Indonesia Interested to Import 1 million tons of Rice from Pakistan By Aiman Bilal September 30, 2018
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Indonesia has shown interest to import 1 million tons of rice from Pakistan, as told by Iwan Suyudhie Amri—the Indonesian Ambassador to Pakistan. While conversing with the members of the Multan Chamber of Commerce (MCC) on Friday, Mr Amri said that Jakarta was working to attain an agreeable mechanism for everyone in regard to the import of one million tons of rice from Pakistan, as reported by the local media. He gave an invitation to the local makers, industrialists and exporters for participating in the 33rd Trade Expo which is to be held in Indonesia from the 24th of October until the 28th for enhancing and boosting the business activities. Mr Amri mentioned that it has been decided that a free thirty day-visa would be granted to the traders and visitors from one hundred and seventy-four nations and registered buyers would be greeted well at the Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport.
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Also Read: Saudi Arabia to Give $16 million in Grants to Pakistan for Health, Education Sectors Mr Amri while recalling the basis of the bilateral ties between the two nations said that they had been cordial and nice since they started. He further said that serious attempt, are now required to be made for translating these ties into greater economic partnership. The Indonesian Ambassador to Pakistan mentioned the volume of bilateral trade which is $2.18 billion, which is actually very much lesser than the actual present potential. He is of the belief that exports from Pakistan should increase by a good rate. Mr Amri expressed his appreciation for the improved law and order situation in the nation and said that would for sure impact the exports to Indonesia positively. While talking about the CPEC, Mr Amri said that it would be attracting advantageous foreign investment and would provide benefits to all the regional nations. Mr Amri about halal food said that Pakistan was getting the halal food certifications quickly which would help it in increasing these exports to Indonesia. https://www.researchsnipers.com/indonesia-interested-to-import-1-million-tons-of-rice-from-pakistan/
Punjab millers use PDS rice to meet shelling target, recycle paddy Scam exposed after officials see spike in procurement figures Oct 1, 2018, 1:21 AM; last updated: Oct 1, 2018, 1:08 PM (IST)
Illegally stored paddy at a rice mill in Ferozepur. Tribune photo
Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 30 6|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
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The recovery of huge amount of paddy and rice from rice mills in Ferozepur, Zira and Jalalabad during raids by the Punjab Food and Supply Department on Thursday, which continued on Saturday as well, has blown the lid off a multi-crore scam. Some rice millers in Punjab are not shelling the entire stock of paddy procured by the state agencies. Rather, they are stocking most of it each year. And for delivering the out turn ratio of 67 per cent as custom milled rice (CMR), they buy rice (allegedly diverted from public distribution system) from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand at cheaper rates, blend it with some rice shelled from paddy and deliver it to the state procurement agencies. Inquiries made by The Tribune reveal that a consortium of commission agents (arhtiyas) in Punjab, mostly in Ferozepur belt, is allegedly involved in buying PDS rice from Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and parts of UP for supply to rice mills here at Rs 2,200 per quintal, say sources. The millers, in turn, get Rs 2,700 per quintal from government for the CMR. Interestingly, some millers contacted by The Tribune, agreed that they resorted to such practices. But they insisted that this was being done so that the moisture content in the delivered CMR could be lowered (to around 12 per cent from as high as 20). Meanwhile, the unused paddy stock, which is usually shown as the mills’ private purchase, is often first used by most millers as collateral to secure bank loans. And in the next procurement
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season, the stock is brought to the mandis and sold to the procurememt agencies as fresh produce. Anandita Mitra, Director, Food and Supplies, said since rice delivered was 67 per cent of the paddy assigned to the mills, no one was aware of such malpractice until recently. Rakesh Singla, Chief Vigilance Officer, Food and Civil Supplies, who exposed the scam, said: “Though there was a 4 per cent increase in area under paddy, the procurement went up by 51 per cent in the past five years (since 2014-15). As a result, the state was spending almost Rs 1,000 crore extra in procurement. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu had ordered the search operations at rice mills,” he said. Tarsem Saini, president, Punjab Rice Millers Association, said it would be unfair to generalise this practice. “We will request the government to issue a stern warning to erring millers and instruct them not to indulge in any unfair practice,” he said, adding that with the recovery of paddy and rice at four rice mills on Friday, they had pre-empted the re-circulation of paddy back in mandis. The Punjab Mandi Board has been asked to investigate the matter further. Modus operandi Cheap rice, mostly meant for PDS bought from Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and parts of UP is blended in paddy and delivered to the FCI. The unused paddy stock is then resold in the mandis to procurement agencies. Wide disparity Year Area under paddy
Procurement
Yield
2014-15
26.5 lakh hectares
118.4 lakh MT
5.9 MT
2017-18
29.26 lakh hectares
179.34 lakh MT
6.2 MT
Between 2014-15 and 2017-18, area under paddy increased by 2.76 lakh hectares and yield/hectare by around 0.3 metric tonnes (MT), but procurement was up by 60.94 lakh MT. This disparity alerted authorities, leading to unearthing of multi-crore scam.
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https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/millers-use-pds-rice-to-meet-shelling-target-recyclepaddy/661324.html
How Nigeria Can Stop Smuggling Of Rice September 30, 2018 By YUSUF BABALOLA In this interview with YUSUF BABALOLA, the Kebbi State governor, Senator Atiku Bagudu explained how Nigeria can stop smuggling of foreign parboiled rice from Benin Republic and how rice production has increased in the state under his administration. As a rice producing state, how do you contain smuggling from Benin Republic? It is affecting us but at the same time, it is a reflection of what we are doing wrong. If we are smart as a country we should be treating other West Africa countries as part of Nigeria. We should make Benin Republic as the 37th state of Nigeria. We should encourage their farmers so that they can also become rice farmers and I am sure their production is so small that it cannot threaten Nigeria’s production and by so doing, they would participate in helping Nigeria fight smuggling. But, sometimes they are also as much a victim as we are because this smuggling is perpetrated by economic saboteurs that sometimes are transnational in nature. There are foreigners of different nationalities mostly Asians who exploit countries but that is not to say that the national authorities of Benin Republic cannot do something to help, they can and President Buhari has been very critical about it. Some week ago, the President of Benin Republic rushed to Nigeria because Nigeria has been rightly so expressing its anger at the situation. It is not only rice but poultry too are smuggled into the country. Nigeria’s poultry is being threatened by smuggling from Benin Republic. Do you support Nigeria wielding the big stick by closing down the borders? I have called for that before because this will show them that allowing smuggling is a threat to our economic interest and it is even a threat to the ECOWAS protocol because if we cannot support each other to produce domestically, then one of the major objectives of ECOWAS protocol has been defeated. The closure of the border is a yes, if it’s the only thing that can send the right signals. But more than that is for us Nigerians to relate to this country as provided for in the protocol as if they were part of Nigeria because it would help us to also help them boost their domestic trade. If it is the only thing that will draw attention and make other West Africa countries know that we mean business because we do mean business. We want Nigeria and indeed West Africa to be productive because we are competitive. We should be selling to the world, not the other way round. In the aspect of selling to the world, are we producing rice sufficiently to feed ourselves? Indeed, what will happen if you produce and somebody does not buy it from you? What will you do next time? You have borrowed under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and you have produced rice, soya-beans or cassava and nobody is buying from you, what will you do next year if you are a farmer? You will reduce your production. The agric policy is like the unique selling
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point of this administration that a lot of states are now studying. What did you do differently that made you to achieve this success? What we did differently is to appreciate that Nigeria has put itself in many areas particularly agriculture and encouraged by the policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership where he rightly coined the mantra, “let us grow what we eat and eat what we grow.” And I always believe the fact that Nigeria is competitive. With the slightest support Nigerians can produce competitively healthier and that was what we did. We started by forming a partnership with Lagos state and I must thank Governor Ambode, he was very imaginative and appreciative and of the same view that we can do this, we can provide to Nigerians healthier rice, rice that is produced locally, rice that is produced in conditions where you can even go and check than rice that is produced elsewhere where there are industrial pollution and metallic poisoning in the water. If you are not even in the position to know, NAFDAC had complained a lot about the quality of imported rice and the conditions where it is produced with fertilizers that is used in those countries that we don’t even know compared to rice that grows in 36 states of Nigeria including FCT in better climates. So, that was what the Anchor Borrowers Programme did, that our farmers basically are hardworking across the country in all crops but they need support, they need support to buy better seedlings, to buy adequate inputs, to get loans so that they can pay for labour and for those that rely on irrigation by buying the irrigation pumps, buying fuel to power the irrigation pumps and help them with market. Today, rice producers across 36 states are making money. Today, rice consumers across Nigeria are also appreciative that Nigeria rice is better. Today, investors are putting money in creating companies that will compete with international ones. So, what we did differently was to believe in what we are doing, to believe in the potential of our country and to work so that we unleash that potential because no matter how much potential you have, if you don’t believe in it, it will come to waste. Still on the issue of rice, about two months ago, one of your commissioners said, Kebbi will be exporting rice. What are the modalities put in place and when are we expecting this? Already people from Benin, Niger Republic and Libya buy our rice except if you are defining export as selling to the West but we are selling to other countries. In Kebbi, you see rice everywhere and the more we support our farmers to invest, the more they can do. What is the volume of rice trade between Lagos and Kebbi? How much is it really worth? In the last one year, the transaction between Lagos state government and Kebbi state is in the total of about N8 billion but it is just with the Lake rice brand. The millers are selling their rice in their own brands to Lagos markets, Kano markets and elsewhere. We have three major mills in Kebbi and because we know their capacity, we know the amount of paddy rice they purchase and since we know the amount of paddy rice they purchase, we know the value that is generated. Dangote is building in another part of the state and there are many small scale millers
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and even millers outside the state like Umza in Kano and Olam in Nassarawa, Ebonyi states and others, most of them source their paddy rice from Kebbi state. How many farmers are benefiting and how does an ordinary farmer or citizen have access to buy this rice? It is a very straight forward thing. We have registered under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) 200,000 farmers participating. What do I mean by participating farmers, these are farmers whose biometrics have been captured, whose farm is known, whose farm size is known, whose loan and repayment habits are known. And we are able to measure their productivity gain, some at one time were producing one tonne per hectare, now they are producing up to seven tonnes per hectare. So, because of that we can measure their income profit. Rice is available everywhere so local consumers can buy because rice is produced and consumed largely around the world. There are small scale millers particular women millers some of whom you see provide for the local market, then there are the industrial millers who produce and package for bigger markets and for exports. You mentioned Dangote building a mill in another part of the state. In total, how many industrial milling companies do we have in Kebbi state? The big ones are four but we have smaller ones too. Most of the rice is milled by the small millers and you have hundreds of small millers because most of the millings is done by women. Just about two months ago, we bought like 250 small mills to give women because we don’t want them to lose to the bigger millers because there is market for everyone. Going back to the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, how have you been able to resolve the issue of debtors? I think there are two mistakes people are making, the first objective of the programme is to make Nigeria self-sufficient. It involves some risk. So, if you judge a programme by repayment involved you might miss the wider objective because the wider objective is to make Nigeria self-sufficient, to create employment. And then, we try to encourage to make sure that people who borrow are repaying their debt. What tends to happen in the financial system which is why we are saying the financial system is not fair to the value sector, if a company borrows money and they’re unable to pay in the time what tends to happen is that the loan will be re-structured, understanding why they did not perform and encouraging them to perform by restructuring. That was how Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) was created because many bankers were giving loans to big companies and big time individuals who are unable to pay. So, what did we do? We encouraged them by even creating an institution that took the bad loans from the banking sector and working with those debtors in order to have them pay. We should look at agriculture that will give Nigeria self-sufficiency in many crops. We must appreciate that in the initial stage, we may be willing to undertake some risks. I am not justifying lack of payment but what I am saying is if only about N100 billion have been loaned under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and repayment is somewhere between 40 and 60 per cent, I think that is a very good record giving that we are dealing with a programme that is
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just about three years old and it has achieved a major national objective, a self-sufficiency in rice. The goodwill value of that alone, the respect that brings for Nigeria, that when we say we would do something the world will take us serious. When President Buhari met with world leaders, one of the things he told them and proudly so consistent with a fact, was that Nigeria has reduced rice importation by 90 per cent. When he met with President Trump he repeated same thing so that is a statement of respect for our country which does not even have a monetary value. In terms of IGR, how much are you generating from business of rice in the state? Like I said, we have the big millers which are buying paddy, employing people and generating revenue. For us that was the first objective for the state. We want a state with empowered individuals, empowered individuals then can do something as important as what tax collection do, that means they can send their children to school, take care of their children, they can provide medical health care for themselves, they can feed themselves. That is our first objective, that is our first paradigm, we are not thinking about tax revenue. We want people to appreciate government, to appreciate what government can do for them, to believe that they can achieve development, then their contribution to the state will come later. How have you been able to overcome challenge to achieve success? The biggest challenge is that we Nigerians are yet to appreciate fully that agriculture is the most discussed in the international trade and because of that most of our obligations is not been realised and we don’t have enough stakeholder mobilization in order to confront that bigger challenge. Why are we importing meat from abroad, why are importing milk, why are we importing wheat, because those countries have setup barriers by subsidizing their farmers enormously so that rather than buying from us, we are the ones buying from them. This is the biggest challenge of agriculture whether it is rice, cassava, milk, poultry. Why are we here talking about Benin Republic, somebody is selling chicken to Nigeria, what a shame. Most of us grew up in families where chickens run around easily. So if we empower our own farmers, not only can they produce enough chickens and egg for Nigerians but they can also export. The biggest challenge has been that as a nation we haven’t had a collective appreciation but recently and luckily, President Muhammadu Buhari has defined it correctly and with the ample assistance of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as chairman of NEC and many initiatives. We are the ones that should be selling to Europe rather than buying from Europe. Today, Lake rice is very popular because the good people of Lagos which is a critical market have appreciated that, we have been wasting our time eating imported rice of less quality, so we can better for ourselves. How do you think we can disabuse Nigerian minds on patronising foreign rice? That was why I spoke about stakeholders, the media is a stakeholder. They should push stories particularly because it is true, they should show that what we are importing whether it is rice or poultry is not as good as what Nigerian produce is. The more we do that the more we trust ourselves. https://leadership.ng/2018/09/30/how-nigeria-can-stop-smuggling-of-rice-bagudu/
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Govt saved Rs 1,000 cr by streamlining PDS, says Etela Rajender There is potential of saving another Rs 500 crore, says Etela By AuthorTelanganaToday | Published: 30th Sep 2018 8:26 pm Finance and Civil Supplies Minister Etela Rajender addresses a ration dealers meeting held in Huzurabad on Sunday. Karimnagar: Finance and Civil Supplies Minister Etela Rajender on Sunday said the government had saved Rs 1,000 crore by streamlining the Public Distribution System in the State. There was potential of saving another Rs 500 crore if more reforms were introduced in the department, he said, addressing a ration dealers meeting held in Huzurabad on Sunday. Illegal transportation of PDS rice has come to a complete stop following various measures initiated by the government including booking of cases under PD Act against illegal transporters. Except some people of nomadic tribes, nobody was doing illegal rice business. Earlier, people used to export rice to other places even in trains. However, all the illegal activities have been stopped in last four and half years. More number of people have became eligible for ration cards as the government has increased the upper income limit to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 60,000 in rural areas and Rs 2 lakh from Rs 75,000 in urban areas. Earlier, even owners of 30 acres land and well-paid private employees were taking rice from Fair Price Shops and selling off them to middlemen who were supplying them to rice millers. Referring to the comments of an opposition party leader that he has amassed Rs 4,000 crore, Rajender said he was shocked after seeing the statement in newspapers. He never troubled anybody neither in Huzurabad constituency or other areas. Earlier, the Minister inaugurated Shivaji statue at Jammikunta town. After the inauguration, he said golden days were ahead for farmers, who were already being provided Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, round-the-clock power supply and other facilities. The Minister promised to supply water to agriculture sector for 365 days.
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Talking about Shivaji, he said Shivaji personified courage and sacrifice. Besides an acre land in Hyderabad to construct community bhavan, Rs 1 crore was also sanctioned for Aare community people. Pervaram Ramulu, Kishan Rao and Nagurla Venkanna were honoured with dignified posts, he said and promised to support for OBC status at national level https://telanganatoday.com/govt-saved-rs-1000-cr-by-streamlining-pds-says-etela-rajender
23,500 bags of rice found illegally stored at rice mills Press Trust of India | Chandigarh Last Updated at September 29, 2018 20:40 IST Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department conducted a raid Saturday at rice mills in Fazilka and Ferozepur districts and found 23,500 lakh bags of rice illegally stored there. An official spokesperson of the department said the chief vigilance officer of the department along with his team conducted raids at the rice mills in Jalalabad and Zira areas of the two districts and unearthed 23,500 bags of rice illegally stacked there. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said the involvement of substantial number of millers in the case shows that the "malice is deep rooted". "We are conducting raids to clean the system," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/23-500-bags-of-rice-found-illegally-storedat-rice-mills-118092900641_1.html
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