Rice farmers advised to adopt SRI tech for higher yield

Noticing the falling yield of rice in Pakistan the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) representative has urged the Pakistani rice farmers to adopt the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) prepared by the World Bank Institute (WBI) and widely practiced in several rice growing countries successfully for achieving higher productivity and water savings.
In a statement Zulfikar Thaver member UNGC lauded the efforts of the WBI for preparing and promoting the SRI and said that the SRI is a guide for rice farmers and teaches them rice planting and water management for increase in yield and income. It is based on six key elements and educates the rice farmers in land preparation, seedlings preparation, innovative transplanting, intermittent irrigation, rotary weeding and organic fertilisation.
He said it is a marvelous system which can give remarkable improvement in yield per acre and lowers cost of production scientifically.
After studying the SRI one realises the need to adopt the system without loss of time. It is pertinent to note that no heavy farm machinery is required as it is very simple and its application is based on methods and techniques and simple devices are used in plantation after land preparation and intermittent irrigation under single plantation techniques.
He urged the ministry of agriculture to immediately contact the WBI and plan to introduce the SRI for the next cultivation for all varieties of rice in all the provinces for best results. 

News Source                            News Collated by agrinfobank.com Team
^{Courtesy The Nation}

Rice: Argentina, Chile want to import rice from Pakistan

Buyers from Argentina and Chile have shown keen interest to import Pakistani rice because of its best quality. A foreign delegation of buyers visited the regional office of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) along with Rabia Javeri Agha, Secretary Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) on Thursday.
"We have visited many Rice industries in Karachi and we are satisfied with the quality of rice and the modern technology established in the industries. We are going to import Pakistani rice in near future," said Mariano Senesi, a member of delegation. The delegation was comprised Mariano Senesi M/s Agrosud Argentina, Enrique Bruzzone Copello M/s. CV Trading Chile, Enrique Bruzzone Caste M/S CV Trading Chile. Representatives of SGS Pakistan, Beauro Veritas, and Intertek Pakistan were also present.
On this occasion, Rabia Javeri Agha said, "It is the primary objective of TDAP to facilitate the exporters and resolve the issue. I would address all issues being faced by the rice exporters association and would step up efforts to enhance the export with other nations."
Senior Vice-Chairman Reap, Chela Ram, said they were delighted to have Secretary TDAP first time at their office and hope she would further cooperate with them and would pave the ways for a smooth export.
He further said he was also happy over the providence of quality rice for the buyers across the world, adding that China has become the largest importer of Pakistani rice in last two years.
"We have beaten our competitors including India, Thailand and Vietnam and captured Chinese market in last couple of years," he added.
Regarding the decline in export of Pakistani basmati rice in last few years, he said the price of Pakistani basmati was higher as compared to the competitors due to which the volume of exports came down. It all happened due the poor law and order situation of the country, he added. He urged the government to ensure proper electricity and gas supply to the farmers so that the exports volume could be increased. He said if the present government restore peace and provide energy to this sector that they would cross $4 billion mark in 2016.
Abdul Rahim, ex-chairman Reap, urged the government to take appropriate measures and encourage formers to adopt latest technology to increase rice production so that the sector could earn maximum foreign exchanges for the country.

News Source: Business Recorder  News Collected: agrinfobank.com  Team

Rice: Why 'dirty' brown is better

By VERONICA PULUMBARIT

When I first saw brown rice as a child, I was told, “Huwag yan, maruming bigas yan.”
Well it turns out not all rice are created equal, with brown rice seeming to have the upper hand. Brown rice is, in fact, not dirty. It is a healthy choice being rich in B vitamins and potent antioxidants that fight cancer.
During the Brown Rice Campaign bloggers night at Sev’s Café in Manila on Tuesday, Jed Alegado of anti-poverty organization Oxfam said the “dirty-looking” feature of brown rice is actually the healthy “bran,” the hard outer layers of the rice grains.
Alegado explained that the Philippines has had brown rice since the 1950s but it has largely been edged out in popularity by white rice, which is generally considered “classy” and of better quality.Oxfam International, together with the non-government organization Dakila, ,launched “The Good Food Project” to promote brown rice this year which is the National Year of Rice.
The Good Food Project cites several reasons for promoting brown rice:
(1)  Good for one’s health – Citing medical experts and nutritionists, the Good Food Project said brown rice is rich in dietary fiber needed to fight diabetes. It is also high in phytic acids that combat cancer and proteins that prevent cardiovascular diseases.
(2)  Good for the environment – Brown rice requires only one milling process unlike white rice which needs two. This means that brown rice requires lesser fuel use. The Good Food Project also noted that the organic means of producing brown rice eliminates the use of insecticides and pesticides.
(3)  Good for the farmers – The Good Food Project said an increase in demand for brown rice will open economic opportunities for farmers. The cost of producing brown rice is also much smaller compared to white rice.
(4)  Good for the country – According to Oxfam, if more Filipinos will shift to brown rice, the country’s problem about over-importation of rice can be solved. Oxfam said the milling recovery of brown rice is 10 percent higher than white rice. This means that if you will mill the same quantities of brown and white rice, you will get 10 percent more sacks of rice from brown rice compared to white rice.
Higher price
While brown rice is seen as “dirty”, it is actually a little more expensive than white rice. While white rice generally sells for P30 per kilo and up, brown rice sells as much as P55 to P90 per kilo.
According to a flyer distributed by the brown rice advocates that night, only two independent distributors sold brown rice at only P40 per kilo: AG Agro-Eco Ventures and PARAGOS-Pilipinas.
The Good Food Project also noted the prices of some organic rice brands sold in supermarkets or groceries:
· Prime Organics P130 (two kilos)
· Jordan Farms P70 (800 grams)
· Farms and Cottages P157.50 (two kilos)
The other Metro Manila organic brown rice distributors cited by The Good Food Project included:
· RR Trade (P55 per kilo)
· Bios Dynamis (P90 per kilo)
· GLOWCORP
· Pecuaria
In an interview with GMA News Online, Atty. Ipat Luna, owner of Sev’s Café and a brown rice advocate, said the way to lower the price of brown rice is to encourage more people to shift from white to brown rice.
“Kailangan dumami tayong kumakain ng brown rice. Kahit man lang gradual o kung gusto ng tao, isang araw isang linggo magsimula, o kaya haluan yung kanilang white rice ng brown,” said Luna (Disclosure: Luna is married to Howie Severino, editor-in-chief of GMA News Online).
The Good Food Project is promoting the transition to brown rice through the hashtags #brb and #BrownRiceBiyernes.
The group is encouraging people to transition to brown rice by consuming it once a week - every Friday.
“Pag hindi tayo dumami [brown rice consumers] novelty item pa rin yan. Kaya mataas pa rin ang presyo. Pero napansin ko, bumababa na siya. Makakahanap ka na ng P45 at P50 pesos sa groceries. Hindi nga lang siya organic pero it’s still better than white rice,” Luna said.
Start early
Luna also encouraged parents to start their children on brown rice at a young age.
“Pag nasanay sila sa brown kahit later on magustuhan nila yung white, it just becomes a choice pero sanay sila sa brown,” Luna stated.
As for the popularity of white over brown rice, Luna said it was generational matter. "Yung nanay ko, ayaw na ayaw niya yung brown kasi yun yung panahon ng Hapon, yun ang palay nung gyera, yung bigas na di mamill dahil na kakainin mo na lang kahit brown. Feeling mo taghirap. May notion siyang ganun.”
However, she noted that brown rice is now seen by many as the “sosyal rice” especially as the food trend right now is toward healthier and organic options.
She noted that many restaurants are offering only brown rice, including her own café. “We want people to get used to it as a rice, as a regular part of their diet.”
Luna explained that eating too much rice in general is not healthy. With brown rice, people tend to consume less rice as it is more filling.
On cooking brown rice to perfection, Luna suggests soaking the rice in water for 30 minutes to an hour before cooking in a rice cooker. — DVM, GMA News

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com

Irradiated Seeds Combat World's Most Serious Wheat Disease

By Francie Diep

In Kenya, two new varieties of wheat are resistant to a fungus that defeated even Norman Borlaug's resistant plants.

Wheat Stem Rust-Resistant Plants Grow at Eldoret University in Kenya Greg Webb / IAEA

Kenyan farmers last week got a first look at two new varieties of wheat that are resistant to the number-one threat to worldwide wheat production. They got to see resistant and non-resistant wheat side by side in fields. The Kenyan government is also giving away the first batch of seeds—six metric tons of it—to seed producers, in hopes their fields will serve as visual persuasion to their neighbors to try the new stuff.

"Wheat stem rust has the ability to turn a healthy-looking crop only one week away from harvest into a tangle of black stems," Liang Qu, the director of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme, tells Popular Science. "They can see the difference."

The story of how that wheat got made is a peek into the constant, worldwide fight against crop diseases. The new plants are designed to combat wheat stem rust, a fungus that used to take out a fifth of the U.S.' wheat crop at once during epidemics through the 1950s. (The rust no longer appears in the U.S.) Norman Borlaug, the so-called "father of the Green Revolution" and the winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, once nearly eradicated wheat stem rust by developing resistant wheat varieties. But a generation later, Borlaug's wheats don't work anymore. The rust has evolved. And as well as the new Kenyan wheats work now, stem rust will evolve again.

Traditional Wheat Variety (Left) versus Rust-Resistant Wheat (right):  IAEA

In 1999, scientists first confirmed there was a new type of wheat stem rust that infected Borlaug's resistant wheats. They called the new rust Ug99, after its confirmation year and country, Uganda. Since then, the rust, which moves through the air, has spread to Africa and the Middle East. It affects 37 percent of all the wheat grown in the world, the International Atomic Energy Agency estimates. Left untreated, it kills 70 percent to 100 percent of a field. Experts worry it may reach the European bread basket, as well as China and India.

Liang's program, a collaboration between the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, supported the Kenyan researcher who developed the new wheats. The International Atomic Energy Agency may be best known for dealing with nuclear disasters such as the Fukushima reactor meltdown, but it also works on crop science techniques that use radiation.

To make rust-resistant wheats, Miriam Kinyua, a researcher at Eldoret University in Kenya, sent wheat seeds popular with Kenyan farmers to the FAO/IAEA joint laboratories. There, the seeds got blasted with a tiny bit of radiation, enough to damage their DNA. That created a pool of seeds with different random mutations, any of which might resist Ug99 just by happenstance. Kinyua then grew and tested the seeds for their Ug99 resistance, ultimately coming up with two types of wheats that worked. The entire process is like a sped-up version of evolution, which works on random mutations that naturally appear in populations. Crop scientists have used this technique, called mutation breeding, since the 1940s.

Kenyan Farmers View Rust-Resistant Wheat at Eldoret University in Kenya:  Greg Webb / IAEA

Mutation breeding is not considered genetic engineering, which puts genes from one species into another species. Genetic engineering can be a quick and targeted way to come up with new crops, but the FAO/IAEA Joint Programme doesn't use it because the IAEA focuses on radiation technologies. "We're not saying countries should not take advantage of GMO techniques also," IAEA spokesman Greg Webb says. "Our job here is to help countries take advantage of nuclear techniques."

Mutation breeding is quick, easy and cheap to do, Liang adds. The entire Ug99 resistance breeding program took four years.

For small-scale Kenyan farmers, planting new varieties of wheat is a better strategy than using fungicides, which are prohibitively expensive. With these seeds, farmers only have to purchase or trade for them once. After their first plantings, they may keep some of the grains to plant as next year's crops.

The FAO and the IAEA are pretty excited about these new wheats. They've put out press releases. They're working on spreading the word in Kenya. From Kenya, other countries may get the seeds through trade. But researchers aren't resting yet—nor can they ever. That's because they expect that wheat stem rust will eventually evolve resistance to these new wheats, at which point they'll have to create a whole new wheat variety to combat that rust. The new wheats likely will work for three to five years, Liang estimates. "We have to keep an eye out," he says.

Source:http://www.popsci.com

Increasing rice output, exports

Friday, 26 July 2013 ZAHID BAIG

The Punjab government has decided to constitute a 'working group' comprising stakeholders to make efforts for increase in production and exports of rice. It is also decided that presence of all the stakeholders of rice production and export should be ensured in the control room to be set up in Rice Research Institute (RRI) Kala Shah Kaku.
The Institute is being upgraded at a cost of Rs 79.39 million under which, new research laboratories will also be set up in the institute. A control room will also be set up for discussing important issues and problems being faced by rice and for recommending immediate remedial measures. Stakeholders will be on the panel of this control room. This was disclosed in a meeting convened by the Punjab government for increasing rice production from Punjab. The meeting held in the provincial agriculture house was chaired by the Punjab Minister for Agriculture Dr Farrukh Javed.
The Minister informed the meeting that the government has also decided to set up a rice training institute in Farooqabad in which rice growers and exporters will be imparted training about latest techniques of production technology, storage and processing of rice. Director Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku Dr Muhammad Akhtar informed the participants of the meeting that total global production of rice is 483 million tons out of which Pakistan produces 6.16 million tons. Around 3.75 million tons of rice is exported from Pakistan. The meeting was informed that during 2012-13 an area of 4.29 million acres was brought under rice sowing and production of 3.478 million tons was produced.

Source: Business Recorder

India’s move on rice to hurt Pakistan

Wednesday, July-17-2013  Mubarak Zeb Khan

Ahead of the next World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting, India has begun aggressive lobbying to get legal shelter for subsidy on rice exports to the world market, a move likely to affect Pakistan’s rice exports.

The issue of seeking more protection for Indian rice exports came up during the G-33 countries recent consultations in Geneva as part of the proposals on agriculture reforms for Bali meeting to be held in December.

“Pakistan is in the middle ground with China and Indonesia, which are in favour of enlarging the green box subsidies — non-prohibited subsidies — but no exemption to trade distorting support”, a trade official told Dawn.

India is seeking huge flexibility to distort rice production and trade in the name of food security, but trade experts says it will take away food security of rest of the small countries whose farmers depend on the production and export of rice.

As a result of trade distorting subsidies in India, Pakistan has already lost its market share in rice exports to India in the last couple of years owing to subsidised Indian exports to the world market.

Pakistan lost its position because of the aggressive exports from the stocks maintained by Food Corporation of India, a state-owned organisation.

Pakistan exported rice worth $1.756 billion in July-May period in 2012-13 as against $1.908bn over the corresponding period last year, reflecting a decline of over seven percent.

The impact of the trade distorting subsidy was not limited to Pakistan’s exports of rice because Thailand and Vietnam were also no more the first two exporters of the world as this position was taken over by India. India has already taken number one position in exports by releasing stocks which are highly subsidised.

“Indian stocks are much higher than what they need. The result is that government warehouses were over utilised and finally the stocks are exported at subsidised prices,” the source further said.

Contrary to this, government of Pakistan came out of the business of rice export two decades ago and the rice exports have become a steady source of foreign exchange for the country and the whole business was carried out the private sector.

Experts says it was a need of the time, that Islamabad should uphold WTO disciplines to protect Pakistan rice exports worth 2bn dollars and invest in research, pest eradication, storage, improvement in yield and develop varieties which consume less water.

G-33 proposal is demanding exemption from domestic support (aggregate measurement of support) on this assumption that it is minimally trade distorting and it is linked with the food security of the country. The objective of stock holding programs is to ensure food security of your own population.

India has recently passed an ordinance on food security which is nothing short of a government takeover of the two major commodities (wheat and rice).

India is already a big exporter of these commodities; they have had bumper crops and are seeking additional flexibility from the WTO to subsidise these commodities in the name of food security.

Production of these two commodities is highly subsidised in India, further policy space would mean that it will have adverse impact on the food security of other smaller developing countries, which may not be very big exporters but will lose their market share due to subsidised Indian exports to the world market.

Such an exemption is possible for a product which has shortage in the country and food security needs of the population are heavily dependent on that product.

In case of rice, India is the largest exporter of rice therefore any exemption of rice will always be trade distorting.

It will have huge impact on the food security of other countries whose farmers earn money through exports or by selling to domestic market.

“If WTO provides any flexibility to India for distorting market it will be a huge mistake and will have very negative impact on food security of the world,” the experts suggested, adding: “We should go for sustainable production. They must fix their policy and follow market mechanism. WTO is about markets, it cannot support government takeover of the whole production, distribution, warehousing, exports etc.”

An official of the commerce ministry said Pakistan is a member of G-33 and supports food security for all. “We encourage countries to invest in research and rely on investment and agrarian reforms rather than trade distorting subsidies for food security,” the official commented.

These are green box subsidies and ensure level playing field for every one, the official added.

“We will lose our competitiveness if additional flexibilities are given for distorting trade and production of rice. Such an undermining of the WTO rules would have a severe impact on the livelihood of poor farmers in Pakistan,” the official added.

Source: Dawn News

Rice varieties of Irri 6, 9 washed away

The districts on right canal known as the rice belt in Sindh has suffered the most due to flood, as the rice varieties of Irri 6 and 9 have been washed away.
This was stated by the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) in a statement issued on Friday. It said in spite of this damage the country is in a position to export limited quantities of non basmati rice and as such Ministry should not ban export of non basmati rice. Rather it should allow export of value-added non-basmati rice in consumer packing only to encourage value addition, it added.
Thawer invited the attention of Amin Fahim to the fact that exporters have obtained export refinance against export orders and any hasty decision of the govt without consulting the SME rice processors and exporters would cause setback to rice industry and huge amounts of banks would be blocked.

Source: The Nation

Two new rice varieties introduced

Rice Research Institute (RRI) Kala Shah Kaku has introduced two new varieties of rice and got them approved from Punjab Seed Council for cultivation. Experts told APP on Saturday the two varieties include PS-2 and KSK-434. They said that the institute had also introduced modern technology of direct cultivation of rice with seed. The technology would help in increasing the production of rice upto six to eight maund per acre of land besides reducing expenses of growers upto Rs 14,000 per acre of land, they added. They said the technology produced good results in less time and also saved water up to 30 to 35 percent. The experts said the technology has entered into a commercialisation process.

Source: The Nation

Paddy plantation in full swing in Punjab

Friday, July-12-2013

The paddy plantation is in full swing in the rice growing districts of the province after recent rains in the central Punjab, Director General Punjab Agriculture Extension Services Dr Anjum Ali told Business Recorder.

He said climate was conducive, water supplies were adequate and there were positive indications that rice crop would be sown over the target area of 4.2 million acres well in time and Punjab would achieve production target of 4.3 million tons of various varieties of rice this season.

Sialkot, Narowal, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, and Hafizabad districts produce best varieties of rice including Basmati 370, Super Basmati, Super Kernal, Basmati 386, Basmati 385 and Basmati 198. Pakistan earns around two billion dollars in foreign exchange by export of rice every year.

About the impact of recent rains on other crops, Dr Ali said the timely rains had been very beneficial to the sugarcane, vegetables and fodder crops in the rain-fed Barani areas and canal irrigated Central Punjab. He further said since there had been no rains in the cotton growing belt of South Punjab, therefore cotton crop was safe from the rain-related pest / virus attacks. 

News Source: Business Recorder
News Collected by agrinfobank.com Team

Improved method for raising rice nursery

By Dr Shahzad M. A. Basra, Dr M. Farooq & Hafeez ur Rehman

RICE is grown here under diverse climatic and edaphic conditions. Basmati predominates in traditional rice tracts of Punjab. Temperate Japonica rice is grown in Swat at high altitude in the mountainous valleys. IRRI type long grain heat-tolerant variety of tropical rice is grown in the south of NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan.
Transplanting is the major method of growing rice. In this method rice is grown in a nursery, pulled and transplanted into well puddle and prepared field. Rice seedlings can either be transplanted manually or by mechanically. In transplanted rice, spacing between hills varies with variety and seedling age. A spacing of 20 x 20 cm is recommended. A hill should be transplanted with two healthy seedlings.
For transplanted seedlings, age is a major factor in determining yield. Transplanting shock, this is a setback to growth due to uprooting and replanting of seedling, increases with increased age of seedling. In general, the effect of transplanting on yield increases with the decreasing age. Seedling age also varies with environmental conditions and the type of nursery. The physical and bio-chemical factors set a minimum and maximum age for a particular nursery. Minimum age of a seedling for transplanting is about 15-20 days. However, ideal seedling age is about 30 days; tilling capacity is reduced if older seedlings are transplanted.
Nursery seedlings: Rice which is to be transplanted into puddle soil must first be nursed on seed beds. The main reason for rising nursery is to provide seedlings a substantial head-start on weeds. Rice nursery is raised by four methods in world, viz. the wet-bed nursery, the dry-bed nursery, the dapog and mat type in trays. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Dapog method originated in the Philippines and is now fairly common in South East Asia, but not practised in Pakistan. Mat type is being introduced in the country. Wet-bed and dry-bed methods are common here depending on the soil and water availability.
The wet-bed method is popular worldwide. It is used in areas where water is adequate. In our country, it is commonly followed in Punjab and the NWFP. The area selected for nursery is watered for about 30 days before sowing. It helps in eradication weeds. When weeds germinate after a week, the field is thoroughly puddled and levelled. Clean seed is shifted into gunny bags and soaked in water for 24 hours. After soaking it is placed under shade and covered with gunny bags. Water is sprinkled over seed after intervals and turned with hands about three times in a day for proper aeration and avoiding damage by heat due to suffocation. After about 36-48 hours, the seed sprouts and is ready for sowing. Pre-germinated seeds are then broadcast in seedbed. Once the seedlings are established, the nursery is impounded with water. Water level is then raised gradually. Some decomposed organic manures and small amount of inorganic fertiliser as basal dose may also be added in the nursery. Remember to flood the beds while uprooting. Uproot seedlings by holding at a few times between thumb and forefinger at the base of culms and pulling sideway.
The dry-bed method of nursery is practised in dry soil conditions. The fields are prepared under dry conditions. Seeds beds of convenient dimensions are prepared by raising soil to a height of about 5-10 cm. A thin layer of farmyard manure or half burnt paddy husk could be spread over nursery bed mainly to facilitate uprooting. In this method, soaked seed are spread over seedbed and then irrigated. In some areas of Punjab rab method of nursery raising is also practised.
Nursery raised by soaking seeds and then broadcasting pre-germinated seeds may be ready for transplanting within 40-45 days under both system of nursery growing. For decades, our farmers are using pre-germinated seeds for rice nursery raising that result in poor and delayed germination. Not only it is very difficult to handle the pre-germinated seeds but it also makes the nursery sowing a tedious job. Nursery seedlings thus raised can be transplanted when they are 40-45 days old, while, 30-day-old seedlings are considered ideal for transplanting. Older seedlings result in lower tilling capacity thus reducing the final yield. Sub-optimum plant population and uneven crop stand resulting from poor nursery seedlings are the most important yield limiting factors in the traditional rice production system which ultimately results in low paddy yield. Success in raising healthy rice seedlings depends mainly on planting high quality seeds with increased vigour. Seeds with enhanced vigour have high percentages for germination and vigorous seedling growth than seeds low in vigour generally produce weak seedlings that are susceptible to environmental stresses. Seeds high in vigour generally provide for early and uniform stands that give seedlings a competitive advantage against environmental stresses. Improved seed invigoration techniques like seed priming are being used to reduce the germination time, to get synchronised germination, improve germination rate, and better seedling stand in many field crops like wheat, maize including rice.
These seed priming techniques including hydro priming, osmo-conditioning, osmo-hardening and hardening has been successfully employed for earlier and better nursery stand establishment, which result in improved performance of traditional rice production system.
Recently, after a series of trials at farmer’s field of districts of Sialkot, Sheikhupura and Faisalabad, researchers at the Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, have successfully established an improved method of nursery raising by using primed seeds instead of pre-germinated seeds as in case of traditional method of nursery raising. The seed priming techniques like osmo-hardening with CaCl2, followed by hardening and osmo-hardening KCl are found the most effective and promising seed priming techniques in both coarse and fine rice varieties for raising healthy and vigorous nursery seedlings growth.
These seed priming techniques not only improve nursery seedlings and performance of improved nursery seedlings, increased growth, yield and quality of transplanted rice production system are also reported. Rapid and more uniform germination and seedling growth, younger seedlings are able to be transplanted after 25-30 days which result in higher tilling that ultimately lead to improved kernel yield of the transplanted rice.
Transplanted rice raised by improved nursery method is also resistant to lodging due to natural calamities such as windstorm having healthy and vigorous seedling growth of main culms and secondary branches and deeper, more vigorous and fibrous root system development.
It should always be kept in mind that it is really very easy to raise healthy seedlings by primed seeds if one is prepared to take enough time to do the job properly. Success in raising healthy rice seedlings depends mainly on the constant supervision and proper management. 
Courtesy:  The Dawn

A new method of rice farming

In Kerala, where paddy cultivation is going out of favour because of labour problems and high costs, the novel System of Rice Intensification’ (SRI) has shown the potential to rehabilitate this crop.
This innovative technique ensures substantially higher productivity and lower input use. The SRI system has, in fact, proved its utility in many other regions as well, spanning Sikkim in the north-east to Tamil Nadu in the south.
The environment-friendly SRI method of growing rice involves transplanting relatively young paddy seedlings (eight to 10 days old instead of usual 20 days or more), along with the soil that contains their roots. The spacing between plants and rows is kept relatively wide at around 25 cms to provide room for the robust growth of both root and plant.
Plant nutrients are supplied largely through farm-yard manure, supplemented with need-based fertiliser applications. The most significant aspect of SRI is that the fields are not kept submerged under water all the time, as is usual in rice farming, but are allowed to remain just wet without flooding.
The success of SRI technology in most places where it has been tried in the past few years has led to its promotion in a big way by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs or agricultural science centres) and other farm research bodies under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). What makes the SRI method an instant hit with paddy growers is the saving of almost all key inputs (water, seed, fertilisers, pesticides and labour), and a perceptible spurt in crop productivity, which has, of late, tended to stagnate at many places.
The saving on water, which is rapidly turning scarce in most paddy-growing tracts, can be 30 to 40 per cent or more; that of costly seeds over 50 per cent. The reduction in the requirement of other inputs varies according to field conditions.
Higher crop yields in SRI fields are attributed to several factors. Since the seedlings are planted along with the soil in which these are growing, it helps the undisturbed roots to develop more profusely and enables it to tap more nutrients from the soil. This, in turn, facilitates a larger number of tillers (shoots) per root-system, vigorous plant growth and, more importantly, longer panicles (ear-heads) to accommodate more grain per plant.
Moreover, the fact that the seedlings are planted in wide-apart rows makes it easier for farmer to remove weed and other rogue plants that normally compete with the main crop for extracting nutrition from soil.
SRI fields also have a lower incidence of pests and diseases, mainly on account of lower humidity because the fields are not kept inundated. Overall crop yields have been found to surge by anywhere between 20 and 100 per cent over those obtained with normal cultivation practices.
The introduction of the SRI technique in different states has shown that it works well with both high-yielding varieties and local varieties of paddy. In east Sikkim, for instance, where farmers tend to grow only traditional varieties, such as Attey, Krishnabhog and Dudhetulsi, the new method enabled farmers to bag, on average, over 23 quintals of grain per hectare, against 19.6 quintals with conventional method, in kharif 2009-10. Farmers earned an average net return of around Rs 25,550 per hectare, more than double the production cost of Rs 10,950, according to sources in the KVK run by the ICAR Research Complex for the north-eastern hilly region, located in East Sikkim district.
In the Nellanad area of Thiruvananthapuram, where the SRI technology has been introduced by the local KVK in collaboration with the Coimbatore-based Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, farmers have reportedly reaped a paddy harvest of nearly 7 tonnes per hectare, against the state’s average crop productivity of 3 to 3.5 tonnes a hectare. This has spurred the state government to include the promotion of SRI in its overall agricultural development policy. Kerala’s example can surely be emulated elsewhere.
Similar encouraging results have been reported from Tamil Nadu’s key paddy belt in the Mettur dam command area where the uncertainty over the release of canal water from this dam has been posing problems for paddy growers. With the SRI technique, farmers can manage comfortably with whatever water is available. 
Courtesy: Business Standard

Dry seeded rice technology

ASIAN rice growing systems are undergoing changes in response to economic factors and technological advancement in farming.

Dry seed rice cultivation on the mechanical lines is the linkage of past practice with throughput technology, becoming indispensable to address problems like drudgery, high production cost, low quality, low crop intensity and above all water and labour scarcity.

    












 The sowing of dry seeds into dry or moist, non-puddled soil has many advantages over traditional transplanting and is a principal method of rice growing in many parts of the world including Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, America, Japan and the sub-Saharan Africa.

In Pakistan traditional dry seeding in rice is reported only in few acres across Punjab and a big space exist for both research and extension wing of the agriculture department for its standardisation, popularisation and adaptation. With the recent developments in rice production technology across the globe, there should be flexibility in opting for the prevailing patterns and latest trends to achieve self-sufficiency and resource conservation.

Dry seeded rice, a simple approach, is beneficial for farmer. The foremost principal underlying this theory is water saving, cost benefit ratio, efficient land utilisation and better management practices. Water situation in the country and its scarcity need not be elaborated. In dry seeding of rice 30 per cent of water can be saved by eliminating puddling and if
intermittent irrigation (alternate wetting and drying concept), a new method of irrigation, is used additional 15-30 per cent of water can be saved and that can be a big achievement.

Beside, about 40 per cent of labour cost can be saved by dry seeding method. Dry seeding also implies time saving, quicker land preparation in effective manner, and maximised yield.

Going ahead, if one more step is taken by clubbing the dry seeding rice cultivation with mechanised farming, it can reward the farmers more by generating the idea of intensification, higher yield with low input, reduced tillage and efficient utilisation of nutrients (proper placement and time).

Mechanisation will lead the growers to resource use efficiency and sustainable agriculture while muting the voice of environmental pollution.

The biggest challenge to this practice is weed manifestation. Various pre- and post-emergence chemicals have been introduced to fix it. Besides this, research is going worldwide over this system of cultivation for best management practices under innovative ideas by agronomists in regards to response of new breeding lines, adaptation to different soils and climatic conditions, and effective use of mechanisation concept.

Finally, this change in sowing pattern is expected to have a big impact on Asian rice production efforts and on the region’s economies. This is because one of the main forces driving such changes has been shrinking resources in the region, especially available land and water.

Pakistan should be a part of knowledge sharing and applied research centers working round the world. This way one can succeed in the achievement of mutually agreed benefits such as serving humanity, coping food security and fighting for the cause of hunger.

Effort in the direction of increasing output at the least cost is more important as the world population is going to increase to nine billion by 2050, which will require more than doubling the current food production. Asia grows 90 per cent of rice of the world which is mostly consumed by its population.

Each hectare of rice-producing land at present is providing food for 27 people. By 2050, because of growth in population and increasing urbanisation, each hectare will have to feed at least 43 people. This means that yields must be enhanced by at least 50 per cent over the next 40 years to prevent mass malnutrition among the 700 million Asians.

The writer is a PhD research scholar at The International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines.
z.hasnain@irri.org

Source: Dawn.com

Manila restricts rice imports from Pakistan to five years

February 15, 2013 GHULAM ABBAS

While taking a waiver from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Philippine has fixed quota of rice imports from Pakistan to 25,000 tons for two years, restricting the imports to five years. The quota of imports from Pakistan for another three years has been fixed at 50,000 tons each year. A mutual agreement has been signed during a recently held meeting at Ministry of Commerce, sources told Business Recorder.

Philippine had already entered into agreements with China and India to get restricted import of rice on the same pattern. According to the sources, representatives of Agricultural Ministry and National Food Authority of Philippine who attended the meeting also agreed to reduce customs duty from 50 percent to 40 percent during the first two years while the duty could be further relaxed to 35 percent in the remaining three years.

The meeting was attended by representatives of MoC, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) on the part of Pakistan. Philippine was going into country-specific deals for controlling the import of rice to save its own production and local market. It has also obtained special waiver from WTO in this regard.

Earlier, Pakistan was exporting around 0.2 million Non-Basmati rice Irri to the country openly. Talking to Business Recorder, Javed Ali Ghoary Chairman Reap said China and Sri Lanka have emerged as important market for Pakistani rice as 6,000 tons of rice quota tendered by TDAP on February 3, has been used by exporters by February 13 while the demands for the country's commodity in the foreign market still existed.

Keeping further demands for Pakistani Basmati rice in view, he said, the Reap through a letter has demanded of the MoC and TDAP to enhance the quota from 6,000 tons to 12,000 tons to facilitate the country's rice exports. The same letter has also been forwarded to the Consul General of Sri Lanka in Karachi. According to Javed, a record export of 72,623 tons worth $30 million Non-Basmati rice to China was made in January 2013 which would definitely support the country's total exports.  
Source: http://www.brecorder.com/

Iran frees rice exporter on bail

January 25, 2013

RECORDER REPORT 

After remaining jailed for over 50 days, Iran has finally released Pakistani rice exporter on bail. According to sources, a Pakistani rice merchant Haji Abdul Bahadur was in jail in Mashhad on charges of hoarding of rice imported into Iran. He remained imprisoned for around two months despite diplomatic struggles made by Pakistani Consulate General in Iran.

However, the Quetta based exporter, who was arrested by authorities in Mashhad in the first week of November 2012, got bail from Iranian court recently. This incident had increased the fear and concerns of Pakistani exporters about the foreign market where they were already facing payment issues and devaluation of Iranian currency against dollar.

Hamidullah Khan, a Quetta based Pakistani exporter, confirmed that the exporter who was charged against hoarding of approximately 400 m/tone rice, valuing 500,000 dollars in the godown in Mashhad was released by the neighbouring country's court. According to him, the accused Pakistani exporter had hired a lawyer in Mashhad to contest his case in Iranian court as diplomatic efforts had not been fruitful to resolve the issue.  

Courtesy Business Recoder

Malik Muhammad
(Author)

About Admin Author:

Malik Muhammad Working in an Agro Based Industries, and Part Time Author at Agriculture Information Bank

China eyes five percent broken rice from Pakistan, Vietnam

January 22, 2013

RECORDER REPORT

Chinese demand looks likely to act as a partial safety valve for an amply supplied rice market for a second year running, as the world''s top consumer of the grain takes advantage of global prices around 25-30 percent below record domestic levels.

Still, Chinese demand looks unlikely to bail out Thailand - where a government rice buying scheme has built up stocks equal to half of global annual trade - as cheaper Vietnamese and Pakistani grain snatch the lion''s share of business. China''s rice imports jumped five-fold in 2012 to 2.6 million tonnes, making it the world''s second largest buyer after Nigeria. While it might import a bit less this year, the country will still tap bumper global supplies to ease record-high domestic prices and top up stockpiles. Global rice prices, which have fallen on Thai stocks and India''s booming exports, could find a floor on the back of this demand.

"Domestic prices are high so there is motivation for trading companies to increase imports," said an analyst with official think-tank China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC). "Bumper rice harvests in most Asian countries will keep global rice prices far below domestic prices."

The price of 5 percent broken rice in Vietnam has fallen 14 percent from its 2012 peak, with the market on track for a third consecutive month of decline. The 100 percent B grade Thai white rice is trading about 10 percent below last year''s high. At the same time, long-grain milled rice in China''s largest growing province of Hunan was quoted at a record 3,820 yuan per tonne in December, up 6 percent from the beginning of the year. China''s rice prices rose in 2012 for a third year in a row. The CNGOIC forecasts China''s rice imports in 2012/13 at 2 million tonnes, down from 2.85 million tonnes shipped a year earlier but enough keep the nation among top importers in the world.

Last year the market was dominated by Vietnam and Pakistan, and the two look likely to emerge on top again this year. China bought around 2 million tonnes of Vietnamese rice in 2012, a surge of more than six-fold from around 310,000 tonnes in 2011, according to Vietnam Customs data. The balance came from Pakistan. Vietnamese and Pakistani 5 percent broken rice in the Chinese market is quoted around $420-$425 a tonne, including cost and freight, compared with domestic price of similar variety being offered around $600 a tonne.  

Courtesy Business Recoder

A. M. Awan (Author)

About Guest Author:

A M Awan Currently working as Marketing Executive at Oasis Agro Industries Pakistan, and hobbies to read about agriculture, share latest information with others

19 rice varieties introduced

January 23, 2013

RECORDER REPORT

Rice Research Institute (RRI) Kalashah Kaku has introduced 19 different rice varieties out of which nine varieties are being sown in the province on a large scale. This was claimed in a briefing given to the Punjab Secretary for Agriculture Azmat Ali Ranjha in the RRI Kalashah Kaku here on Tuesday. He was chairing a meeting to review the research activities of the institution.

It was disclosed that the RRI Kalashah Kaku introduced three new paddy varieties during for the year 2013 including PS-2, PK-386 and KSK-434 and these are with the Punjab Seed Council in different phases of approval. Secretary Agriculture Azmat Ali Ranjha called upon the agricultural scientists to develop their research on latest scientific lines to ensure food security for increasing domestic population.

The meeting was also informed that total global production of rice was 483 million tons while in Pakistan it was around 6.16 million tons out of which 3.75 million tons was exported. It was also informed that during the year 2012-13 rice was sown over an area of 4.198 million acres of land and a production of 3.46 million ton was achieved. RRI management also threw light on the increase in area under cultivation, enhancement in production and per acre yield during the last sixty years due to the efforts of the institute.

It was also informed that the institute was working on preparation of pre-basic seed while it has also developed latest technology of direct sowing of rice seed which not only increase per acre yield by six to eight maund per acre but also save water by 30 to 35 percent. Secretary Agriculture speaking on this occasion said that the provincial government was providing funds, infrastructure and manpower to bring the agricultural research at par with international standards. 

Courtesy Business Recoder

New Agri-Technology

A new method of rice farming

New Delhi: In Kerala, where paddy cultivation is going out of favour because of labour problems and high costs, the novel System of Rice Intensification’ (SRI) has shown the potential to rehabilitate this crop.

This innovative technique ensures substantially higher productivity and lower input use. The SRI system has, in fact, proved its utility in many other regions as well, spanning Sikkim in the north-east to Tamil Nadu in the south.

The environment-friendly SRI method of growing rice involves transplanting relatively young paddy seedlings (eight to 10 days old instead of usual 20 days or more), along with the soil that contains their roots. The spacing between plants and rows is kept relatively wide at around 25 cms to provide room for the robust growth of both root and plant.

Plant nutrients are supplied largely through farm-yard manure, supplemented with need-based fertiliser applications. The most significant aspect of SRI is that the fields are not kept submerged under water all the time, as is usual in rice farming, but are allowed to remain just wet without flooding.

The success of SRI technology in most places where it has been tried in the past few years has led to its promotion in a big way by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs or agricultural science centres) and other farm research bodies under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). What makes the SRI method an instant hit with paddy growers is the saving of almost all key inputs (water, seed, fertilisers, pesticides and labour), and a perceptible spurt in crop productivity, which has, of late, tended to stagnate at many places.

The saving on water, which is rapidly turning scarce in most paddy-growing tracts, can be 30 to 40 per cent or more; that of costly seeds over 50 per cent. The reduction in the requirement of other inputs varies according to field conditions.

Higher crop yields in SRI fields are attributed to several factors. Since the seedlings are planted along with the soil in which these are growing, it helps the undisturbed roots to develop more profusely and enables it to tap more nutrients from the soil. This, in turn, facilitates a larger number of tillers (shoots) per root-system, vigorous plant growth and, more importantly, longer panicles (ear-heads) to accommodate more grain per plant.

Moreover, the fact that the seedlings are planted in wide-apart rows makes it easier for farmer to remove weed and other rogue plants that normally compete with the main crop for extracting nutrition from soil.

SRI fields also have a lower incidence of pests and diseases, mainly on account of lower humidity because the fields are not kept inundated. Overall crop yields have been found to surge by anywhere between 20 and 100 per cent over those obtained with normal cultivation practices.

The introduction of the SRI technique in different states has shown that it works well with both high-yielding varieties and local varieties of paddy. In east Sikkim, for instance, where farmers tend to grow only traditional varieties, such as Attey, Krishnabhog and Dudhetulsi, the new method enabled farmers to bag, on average, over 23 quintals of grain per hectare, against 19.6 quintals with conventional method, in kharif 2009-10. Farmers earned an average net return of around Rs 25,550 per hectare, more than double the production cost of Rs 10,950, according to sources in the KVK run by the ICAR Research Complex for the north-eastern hilly region, located in East Sikkim district.

In the Nellanad area of Thiruvananthapuram, where the SRI technology has been introduced by the local KVK in collaboration with the Coimbatore-based Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, farmers have reportedly reaped a paddy harvest of nearly 7 tonnes per hectare, against the state’s average crop productivity of 3 to 3.5 tonnes a hectare. This has spurred the state government to include the promotion of SRI in its overall agricultural development policy. Kerala’s example can surely be emulated elsewhere.

Similar encouraging results have been reported from Tamil Nadu’s key paddy belt in the Mettur dam command area where the uncertainty over the release of canal water from this dam has been posing problems for paddy growers. With the SRI technique, farmers can manage comfortably with whatever water is available.
Courtesy: Business Standard