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TOP Contents - Tailored for YOU Latest News Headlines…
Rice likely to become expensive, cautions minister WTO okays extension of Phl rice quantitative restriction Growing pains of China's agricultural water needs Philippines May Loosen Rice-Import Curbs as Prices Soar Palay, corn production sharply higher in 1st half Indonesia Says Bulog Must Be Ready to Import 500,000 Tons of Rice Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- June 24 The New Fall Crop for Rice Farmers: Carbon Offsets Nigeria: The Continuous Rise in Rice Production in Nigeria Agriculture experts say government misled farmer community These Chopsticks Made From Rice Will Separate Perfectly Every Time, Plus Help Save The World
News Detail…
Rice likely to become expensive, cautions minister TNN | Jun 24, 2014, 01.51AM IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hike in railway freight charges would see a spike in price of essential commodities, including rice, in the state.Anoop Jacob, minister for food and civil supplies, on Monday said in the assembly that more than 90% of food products from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are transported through rail network and this would lead to price rise. "Freight rate hike will make rice expensive," said the minister.He said only 15% of the state's requirements are produced in Kerala. The minister said the government would crack down on those who try to hike price of essential commodities citing freight charge increase. "We will tackle price rise through pubic distribution system," he said.
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Chief minister Oommen Chandy said in the assembly that he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the state's concerns in the wake of hike in railway passenger fare and freight rate. Chandy said the state is highly dependent on other states for consumer goods that are transported mainly by rail network.The opposition called for a joint resolution to address price hike of essential commodities.
WTO okays extension of Phl rice quantitative restriction By Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 24, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The World Trade Organization Committee on Trade in Goods (WTO-CTG) has approved the Philippines‟ petition to keep high duties on imported rice, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said yesterday.In a press briefing, he said the WTO-CTG is set to endorse to the WTO General Council in July its approval for the country‟s bid to extend the implementation of the country‟s quantitative (QR) restriction on rice.“Our negotiators have succeeded,” said Alcala. “ This means between now and 2017,we will still have control over rice that will enter the country.”Upon expiration of the QR in June 2012, the Agriculture department sought a five-year extension of its implementation to buy Filipino farmers time to build their production capability to enable them to cope with increased pressure that comes with the enforcement of free trade within Southeast Asia in 2015.Alcala said the approval of the special restriction on rice entails increasing the current minimum access volume (MAV) and the continued imposition of a 40-percent tariff on imports made within the MAV and tariff of 50 percent outside of MAV.In keeping with the ASEAN free trade regime that would be enforced in 2015, all imports that would come from ASEAN member-states would be levied a duty of 35 percent
Growing pains of China's agricultural water needs By Mark KinverEnvironment reporter, BBC News
Northern areas of China have an abundance of arable land, but groundwater resources are scarceChina's scarce water supply is being wasted as crops grown in water-stressed provinces are exported to wet, rainfall-rich areas, a study reports.Farming accounts for about 65% of water use in China and the limited resource is coming under pressure from rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.Officials have called the nation's water
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shortage a "grave situation" and called for strict water controls.The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Water worries "China faces most of the major challenges to sustainable agriculture," wrote an international team of researchers. Dried riverbeds are becoming an increasingly frequent sight in China
"Fast socioeconomic development, rapid urbanisation and climate change, along with very limited water resources and arable land per capita," they added."Because arable land is available mainly in the water-scarce north, irrigation has become widespread, covering 45% of the country's agricultural land and accounting for 65% of national water withdrawal.The study focused on four major food crops - soya, wheat, rice and corn (maize) - and three livestock groups: ruminant, pork and poultry. Together, these products accounted for 93% of China's domestic food supply in 2005, according to figures from the United Nations.The team - involving scientists from the US, Japan and China - assessed the volume of water used by different provinces to produce these crops and livestock, including the volume from rainwater and irrigation systems.They concluded: "China's domestic food trade is efficient in terms of rainwater but inefficient regarding irrigation, meaning that dry, irrigation-intensive provinces tend to export to wetter, less irrigationintensive ones."We (also) identify specific provinces (for example, Inner Mongolia) and products (for example, corn) that show high potential for irrigation productivity improvements.The team added that the paper's findings had important policy implications."They constitute an essential input for designing policies and provide a framework for analysing how these policies might change China's‌ irrigation use in the near future." 'Grave situation' The issue of water scarcity is one that the nation's officials know could undermine efforts to achieve sustainable development.In 2012, China's vice minister of water resources, Hu Siyi, warned: "Because of the grave situation, we must put in place the strictest water resources management system."He said that about two-thirds
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of Chinese cities were "water-needy", nearly 300 million rural residents lacked access to safe drinking water, and 40% of rivers were seriously polluted.Although China has one of the world's largest annual internal renewable water resources (water in rivers and groundwater from rainfall), its population of 1.3bn people means that, per capita, the national average of renewable water supplies is just one third of the global average.Within the country, there is a vast difference. People in northern provinces only have a tiny fraction of water resources available to them compared with residents of southern parts of China.While the north only has about one-fifth of China's water supplies, it accounts for two thirds of the nation's cropland. A report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the intensive use of groundwater resources had resulted in the lowering of water tables by up to 300m and the rapid depletion of groundwater reservoirs.It added that groundwater extraction in northern provinces was unsustainable as water was being consumed faster than it could be replenished.However, in contrast - it added - less than 30% of the known groundwater resources in southern China were being used as a result of having a more plentiful supply of surface water sources.
Philippines May Loosen Rice-Import Curbs as Prices Soar Photographer: Edwin Tuyay/Bloomberg Workers unload sacks of rice from a truck at the National Food Authority warehouse in Manila. By Karl Lester M. Yap Jun 24, 2014 8:03 AM GMT+0500 Photographer: Edwin Tuyay/Bloomberg
Workers unload sacks of rice from a truck at the National Food Authority warehouse in Manila. The Philippines is considering easing rice-import curbs as Asia‟s second-biggest buyer battles record-high domestic prices and seeks to limit losses at a state agency, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said. Policy makers will consider a proposal next month to adopt a free market and allow private traders to import as much rice as they want, Balisacan, 56, said in an interview in his office in Manila yesterday. The government would instead collect tariffs on the imports, he said.“We need to get our trade policy right to address rising rice prices,” Balisacan said. “Our approach in restricting rice imports without an adequate assurance that local rice production would be sufficient to meet demand was the main factor” that led to higher prices, he said.President Benigno Aquino is seeking to
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curb inflation running at the fastest pace since November 2011, boosted by the higher cost of rice, a staple in the Southeast Asian nation. Debt at the National Food Authority, which subsidizes farmers by buying their rice at higher prices, will probably climb to 180 billion pesos ($4.1 billion) by end-2016 without any changes to the program, Aquino said, or twice the nation‟s defense budget this year, according to Bloomberg calculations.“Moving to a free market allows the government to plug its cash leaks stemming from rice subsidies,” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila. “It also provides more market access for people to buy rice.” Record Prices The government had planned to import 1 million metric tons of rice this year, including 200,000 tons secured last year after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck in November. Separately, it allowed private traders in February to buy 163,000 tons of rice from overseas.Consumer prices climbed 4.5 percent in May from a year earlier. Retail prices of well-milled ricerose 20 percent from a year earlier to a record as of the second week of June, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. That‟s in contrast to prices of Thai 5-percent broken white rice, an Asian benchmark, which have tumbled 26 percent in the past year as the Thai government accelerated sales of stockpiles to make payments to farmers. Thai reserves have more than doubled to almost 14 million tons from 5.6 million tons in the 2010-2011 crop year prior to the start of the government‟s rice purchase program, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Better Access “While we want to provide sufficient protection for our rice farmers, we also want to ensure that consumers, particularly the poor, would have access to inexpensive rice,” said Balisacan. “Instead of the government deciding, let the private traders and players decide that.”To help farmers who may be hurt by cheaper imports, the government could take steps to boost irrigation, develop higher-yielding rice varieties, provide better access to credit and improve the supply chain, said Balisacan. The former World Bank economist oversees agencies including the Public-Private Partnership Center and the Philippine Statistics Authority, and is also in charge of approving infrastructure projects. Restrictions on rice imports had encouraged smuggling, and the country‟s Bureau of Customs has stepped up efforts to clamp down on the release of illegal rice shipments since Commissioner Sunny Sevilla took office in December.The Philippines, the largest importer of rice in Southeast Asia and the biggest buyer in Asia afterChina, may import 2 million tons this year and 1.8 million tons in 2015, according to USDA estimates. India, the top shipper, exported 10.48 million tons in 2013, with Thailand at 6.72 million tons and Vietnam at 6.7 million tons, according to USDA data.
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Living Costs
Officials around the region have come under pressure to control rising food prices and curb the cost of living. India will offload 5 million tons of rice, about a quarter of its state stockpiles, at subsidized rates to check price gains, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said last week.Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is the first central bank this year among Southeast Asia‟s biggest economies to move toward tightening monetary policy as inflation quickens. Last week it increased the rate on special deposit accounts a quarter of a percentage point after raising the reserve ratio twice earlier.The monetary authority last week also raised its inflation forecasts for 2014 and 2015, citing risks including El Nino and food costs. Food prices surged 6.7 percent in May from a year earlier, the fastest pace since April 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Food and non-alcoholic beverages have a weightage of about 40 percent in the consumer price basket. To contact the reporter on this story: Karl Lester M. Yap in Manila at kyap5@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.netRina Chandran, Thomas Kutty Abraham
Palay, corn production sharply higher in 1st half By Anna Leah G. Estrada | Jun. 24, 2014 at 12:01am Palay and corn production likely increased 6.8 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, in the first six months of the year on good weather conditions, the Department of Agriculture said Monday.Assistant Agriculture Secretary and National Rice Program coordinator Edilberto de Luna said unmilled rice production likely reached 8.541 million metric tons from 7.997 million MT year-on-year. Palay output in the second quarter was expected to reach 4.015 million metric tons, up 4.9 percent from 3.827 million metric tons last year, he said. “The probable increases in production is due to improvement in yield, particularly in major rice production areas of Nueva Ecija, Davao del Norte and Kalinga as a result of sufficient water supply during the period,” De Luna said.The more robust rice and corn production in the second quarter is expected to lift agricultural output in the six-month period, after an anemic growth in the first quarter.Agriculture, which accounts for a fifth of the gross domestic product, slowed to a 0.7-percent growth in the first three months from 3.1 percent a year ago, after three strong typhoons destroyed farms and fish ponds in the last quarter of 2013, the Philippine Statistics Authority said earlier.
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“The damage caused by typhoons Santi, Vinta and Yolanda that visited the country in the last quarter of last year translated to a decelerated growth in crop production,” the government said earlier.Palay production grew 3.3 percent to 4.3 million MT in the first quarter from 4.2 million MT a year earlier, while corn harvest increased 1.3 percent to 2.3 million MT from 2.2 million MT.De Luna said corn output in the first half likely reached 3.482 million MT from 3.323 million MT on year.He said second-quarter output might have risen 12 percent to 1.203 million MT from 1.075 million MT on year due to an expanded harvest area. Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said a recent report by the US Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service showed the Philippines had the highest percentage increase in milled rice production.The report showed Philippine milled rice production grew by an average of 5.05 percent from 2009 to 2014.The country‟s milled rice production growth is followed by Egypt at 4.85 percent; India, 4.29 percent; Cambodia, 3.94 percent; and Bangladesh at 2.80 percent.“We may not achieved the rice sufficiency status last year but we will make sure that we will achieve this before the end of the Aquino administration,” Alcala said.
Indonesia Says Bulog Must Be Ready to Import 500,000 Tons of Rice By Reuters on 04:43 pm Jun 24, 2014 Category Business, Commodities Tags: Bulog, rice
Farmers hold bundles of paddy at a rice paddy field near Subang, in West Java province on May 27, 2014. Indonesia‟s state rice buyer must purchase more rice to accommodate a pick-up in demand. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta).Jakarta. Indonesia‟s state buyer Bulog must prepare to import 500,000 metric tons of rice, deputy agriculture minister Rusman Heriawan said on Tuesday, to accommodate a surge in demand linked to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and a likely El Nino weather pattern.The Southeast Asian nation could more than double rice imports to up to 1.5 million tons this year, industry officials and analysts have said, and Bulog says the government may decide by early July.“To anticipate El Nino and increasing demand during Ramadan and Lebaran, the government has ordered Bulog to prepare itself for rice import,” Rusman Heriawan told reporters, in a reference to the Eid holiday at the end of the fasting month, adding that no rice import permit had been issued as yet.“It does not mean that Bulog has to execute the import contracts if domestic rice supply and output is good.”Indonesia, which typically buys rice from Thailand and Vietnam, and the Philippines are among the Asian countries facing the gravest threat from El Nino, analysts say.
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Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- June 24 Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:33pm IST Nagpur, June 24 (Reuters) - Gram and tuar prices in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) showed weak tendency on poor demand from local traders amid poor quality arrival. Fresh fall on NCDEX, easy condition in Madhya Pradesh pulses and release of stock from stockists also pushed down prices, according to sources. * * * * FOODGRAINS & PULSES GRAM * Gram varieties ruled steady in open market here matching the demand and supply position. TUAR * Tuar black recovered in open market on good demand from local traders amid weak supply from producing belts. * Wheat mill quality showed upward trend in open market on good seasonal demand from local traders amid weak supply from producing belts like Punjab and Haryana. * In Akola, Tuar - 3,800-4,100, Tuar dal - 5,700-6,000, Udid at 6,500-6,800, Udid Mogar (clean) - 7,600-8,100, Moong - 7,200-7,600, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,600-9,300, Gram - 2,000-2,200, Gram Super best bold - 3,000-3,300 for 100 kg. * Other varieties of wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market in thin trading activity, according to sources. Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close Gram Auction 2,000-2,480 2,040-2,520 Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600 Tuar Auction 3,800-4,100 3,800-4,200 Moong Auction n.a. 4,400-4,700 Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500 Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800 Gram Super Best Bold 3,600-3,700 3,600-3,700 Gram Super Best n.a. Gram Medium Best 3,200-3,400 3,200-3,400 Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.
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Gram Mill Quality 2,850-2,950 2,850-2,950 Desi gram Raw 2,300-2,800 2,300-2,800 Gram Filter new 3,000-3,200 3,000-3,200 Gram Kabuli 8,000-9,700 8,000-9,700 Gram Pink 7,300-7,500 7,300-7,500 Tuar Fataka Best 6,200-6,500 6,200-6,500 Tuar Fataka Medium 6,000-6,200 6,000-6,200 Tuar Dal Best Phod 5,600-5,850 5,600-5,850 Tuar Dal Medium phod 5,300-5,600 5,300-5,600 Tuar Gavarani 4,300-4,400 4,300-4,400 Tuar Karnataka 4,100-4,200 4,100-4,200 Tuar Black 7,500-7,800 7,400-7,700 Masoor dal best 6,000-6,200 6,000-6,200 Masoor dal medium 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000 Masoor n.a. n.a. Moong Mogar bold 8,800-9,500 8,800-9,500 Moong Mogar Medium best 8,200-8,600 8,200-8,600 Moong dal super best 7,600-8,000 7,600-8,000 Moong dal Chilka 7,700-8,300 7,700-8,300 Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a. Moong Chamki best 7,800-9,000 7,800-9,000 Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 8,200-8,500 8,200-8,500 Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 6,800-7,600 6,800-7,600 Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 5,700-6,000 5,700-6,000 Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,800 3,800-4,800 Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000 Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,200 2,900-3,200 Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,700-3,800 3,700-3,800 Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 5,100-5,700 5,100-5,700 Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,500 1,200-1,500 Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,750 1,500-1,600 Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,400 1,200-1,400 Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,200 1,900-2,200 Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,800 1,600-1,800 Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a. MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 2,500-3,200 2,500-3,200 MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,400 2,000-2,400 Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,100-1,300 1,100-1,300 Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,800 1,500-1,800 Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,200 2,900-3,200 Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,800 1,600-1,800 Rice Swarna old (100 INR/KG) 2,700-2,900 2,600-2,800
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Rice HMT (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,200 3,800-4,200 Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG) 4,400-5,200 4,400-5,200 Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 10,400-13,900 10,400-13,900 Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,300-10,000 7,300-10,500 Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,400 4,800-5,400 Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,300-1,500 1,300-1,500 Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,700 1,600-1,700 WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 38.8 degree Celsius (101.8 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp. 28.3 degree Celsius (82.9 degree Fahrenheit) Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a. Rainfall : nil FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and Minimum temperature likely to be around 39 and 28 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
The New Fall Crop for Rice Farmers: Carbon Offsets By ROBERT PARKHURST | BIO | Published: JUNE 23, 2014
This September, a new crop will be made available to rice producers: carbon offsets.The California Air Resources Board (ARB) took another important step forward last week when it published the latest draft standard for the development of carbon offsets. The standard lays out the steps a producer needs to take in order to sell his new crop. Once it is approved, producers will be able grow and sell it as a new revenue stream. So how does this work? Rice fields are flooded as a part of growing this worldwide staple. Itâ€&#x;s necessary for its growth. However, when water comes in contact with organic matter, the organic matter decomposes, generating methane – a strong greenhouse gas. By reducing the amount of methane generated through rice
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cultivation, a farmer can generate a carbon credit that can be sold to companies to offset their carbon emissions. What are the practices that produce credits? The carbon offset standard includes three practices: dry seeding, alternate wetting and drying, and early drainage. “Drill seeding” or “dry seeding” refers to the practice of sowing dry seeds rather than sowing pre-germinated seed onto puddled soil. Alternate wetting and drying is the practice of periodically flooding and then drying down a field throughout the growing season. Finally early drainage refers to drying the field seven to 10 days early. All three of these practices reduce the generation of methane at specific times during the growing season. A producer who implements one or more of these practices can hire a company to calculate and audit the reductions in methane generated by the practice. The exact yield of carbon offsets is highly influenced by the soil type and weather from the growing season, much the same way that soil type and weather influences the yield of rice. What can farmers do to prepare for this new “crop?” Contact your local farm advisor and ask them about carbon offsets from rice cultivation. You may be able to participate in one of the existing pilot projects taking place in California and Arkansas.So when rice producers take to the field this fall, they could be harvesting two crops – rice and carbon.
Nigeria: The Continuous Rise in Rice Production in Nigeria BY OLUKAYODE OYELEYE, 24 JUNE 2014
OPINION
Nigeria is beginning to break the jinx of decades of dependence on imported food. Compatriots should therefore arise and resist those who want to give false impression that no change is happening.It is time to shake off the disappointment of many years of unfulfilled promises from past governments and embrace the prospects of one which has made significant impacts within two years, changing the outlook of food production in such a short time.In the past one week, I have been confronted with barrage of questions from the media on rice importation, insinuations that rice transformation agenda may have been dropped and unfounded anxieties over a possibility that Nigeria may experience supply shortage in rice.
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I saw reasons to believe that those business people involved in rice importation were at work, and might be up to a spin, trying to use falsehood and scaremongering to rally Nigerians behind them. Their timing was clearly wrong and it appears they are insensitive to the silent revolution going on in the fields of rice cultivation.Under the on-going agricultural transformation agenda (ATA), the tremendous achievement in rice production goes beyond what can be wished away as millions of additional metric tons of food are added to local supplies and rice plays big in this increase.The blessing in disguise was the flood disaster of 2012 that expedited federal government's intervention in local production of food when the panicky, populist and ephemeral macho style of responding to emergencies was avoided.The political will of President Goodluck Jonathan and his support for the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, led the way for the successful dry season rice production that is fast becoming a norm in Nigeria's agricultural calendar and rapidly improving the nation's food balance sheet. The year 2012 marked a watershed and proved Nigeria's capability to produce two crops of rice per year as demonstrated in ten northern states of Niger, Kebbi, Kogi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Jigawa, Katsina, Bauchi, Kano and Gombe.For the 2012 wet season and 2012/2013 dry season, a total of 20,161MT of improved seeds, 40,322 MT of NPK fertiliser and 20,161 MT of urea fertiliser given to 403, 222 farmers became increased six times in 2013 wet season and 2013/2014 dry season to 2,598,113 as inputs redeemed doubled to 40,105MT of improved seeds, 160,422 MT of NPK, and 129,906MT of urea, with added benefits of 358,993 rural jobs in the 2012 wet season and 2012/2013 dry season.
Agriculture experts say government misled farmer community Bushra Baseerat,TNN | Jun 24, 2014, 07.25 PM IST
HYDERABAD: With rains continuing to stay away, scientists and agriculture experts say governments in the two states misled the farmer community by assuring a timely monsoon, while in reality, there has been an enormous delay that is likely to hit crop production severely. Such is the crisis that scientists fear that if the states do not receive good rainfall within the next one week, agricultural production will fall by a massive 30%. And if the dry spell further extends to a fortnight, production is likely to drop by a staggering 50 %, scientists rue. The Met department, under pressure from the government, declared the onset of southwest monsoon across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana last week, despite there being no rains in sight. Thanks to such predictions, farmers who were told that the skies would open up in two to three days, in the first week of June, have not stopped looking at the sky ever since. So much so that many have even invoked the Gods by praying at temples. "Any delay beyond the third week of June will lead to decline in the yield. Sowing cannot be done if there is just one spell of rain. There must be six centimeters of rainfall to sow any crop and the rainfall should continue for two to three days. As of now, the soil profile is completely dry and it has to be saturated," said L Jalapathi Rao, a retired agricultural scientist.
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According to Rao, if sowing of rain-fed crops such as maize and soya bean extends beyond July 2, the decline in the yield will be a substantial 40 kg per day. Sowing of cotton, which is grown in most of the districts, cannot be delayed, he added. Experts said farmers working in areas where there is abundant groundwater, could have relied on that water source, but with the grim power situation, there are several villages without power, leaving them with no choice but to wait for the rains. Promises made to waive off farm loans has not happened either, compounding problems further. "Banks are not willing to give fresh loans leaving the farmers to depend on private loans at high interest rates. Farmers are in a dire situation. Weather prediction system today is as unpredictable as it was four decades ago," said D Narasimha Reddy, an agriculture policy expert. Sounding a word of caution, he further added: "Timing is important for certain crops. If within the fortnight, there is no improvement in the situation, there could be a 50% reduction in the agricultural production." Jalapathi Rao who is closely working with farmers too confessed that if the respective state governments did not show any concern in a week's time, the situation is likely to flare up into a major issue. "Rice is one crop which has got more time to sow but officials are concentrating on paddy only but 50% of area is rain fed and rain fed contingency plan is not there," said Rao.
These Chopsticks Made From Rice Will Separate Perfectly Every Time, Plus Help Save The World 17 hours ago by Dina Hashem
Meet the chopsticks to which the phrase „you are what you eat‟ applies perfectly. The Solit Riceit Kickstarter project aims to raise money for an innovative new material used to make environmentally friendly chopsticks. The material? A bio-composite made of polymer, and rice husks! That‟s right, you could be eating your rice with rice. Sorry, pencil chopsticks andsauce-dispensing chopsticks, you‟ve met your match.You probably didn‟t know there was a need for an environmentally friendly chopstick recipe, but if you‟re an avid sushi eater like me, you‟ve probably thrown out some odd hundred pairs of chopsticks already. And that‟s just you! Multiply that by the amount of people who enjoy indulging Asian cuisine (everybody), and that‟s a lot of wasted wood. In fact, the Solit Riceit team reports that 200 football fields of aspen and bamboo trees are harvested every day to make 136 million chopsticks, which end up being tossed in the trash anyway. ubstitutes
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made from materials like plastic and ceramic pose their own problems, as plastic isn‟t very eco-friendly, and ceramic is more expensive to produce. So what‟s a sushi lover to do? Cue Solit Riceit! The project was born when two engineers from Barcelona were researching new ways of using biodegradable materials in industrial processes. After working with rice husks, a by-product of rice production, they realized they could combine it with polymers to create a wood-like material, and decided to use it for an environmentally-friendly twist on an age-old utensil. The process of manufacturing them also has less environmental impact, reducing CO2 emissions by 80%.As a further improvement on the wooden chopstick, the Solit Riceits are completely reusable and dishwasher safe. Perhaps best of all, they include an „auto-click‟ base which allows for perfect chopstick separation every time, and provides a clean resting surface for your sticks when your tummy needs a break from shoveling pad thai into it. Plus they come in a bunch of fun neon colors!Solit Riceit made their prototypes using handmade molds, which only allowed them to make a small number of products. And that‟s where you and Kickstarter come in. The team needs funding to buy a new aluminum mold to allow for increased production, so if you‟ve been looking to save the environment one sushi roll at a time, this could be your big break. (Image: Rissy Story/Shutterstock)
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Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874