PINOYAGRIBUSINESS

Philippines, Norway vaults saving rice diversity
By Cecil Morella (AFP) – Oct 23, 2010

LOS BANOS, Philippines — In a greenhouse near the Philippine capital, botanists grow strange grasses that bear tiny seeds which are promptly flown to a doomsday vault under Norway's Arctic permafrost.

The Norway deliveries are just the newest facet of a decades-old effort by more than 100 countries to save the world's many varieties of rice which might otherwise be lost.

A fire-proof, quake-proof, typhoon-proof gene bank set up by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines in 1962 now holds 115,000 varieties of one of the world's most important grains.

"We've got genes stored which could potentially help us increase the yields of rice, improve pest tolerance and disease resistance, and help us address the effects of climate change," IRRI geneticist Fiona Hay said.

The rice varieties are grown at IRRI's sprawling complex at the university town of Los Banos, two hours' drive south of Manila, so that they can be provided -- free of charge -- to farmers or governments around the world.

Yet Hay said that rice varieties were constantly being lost forever, despite the preservation efforts of IRRI, a non-profit organisation funded by governments, multilateral banks and philanthropists.

Such losses are under a global spotlight this week as delegates from more than 190 countries meet at a UN summit in Nagoya, Japan, to map out a strategy to stop the world's rapid loss of biodiversity in all plants and animals.

A rice variety can easily vanish due to pests, disease, drought or other natural disasters like a cyclone, or if for some reason farmers simply stop planting it, Hay said.

Not just urbanisation, but even farming can push wild rice varieties into extinction.

And while some countries run their own gene banks, they are not always successful in preserving seeds. In the tropics, high humidity causes rice seeds to spoil after several years, Hay said.

At the IRRI gene bank in the Philippines, seeds are stored in dry and cool conditions and can remain usable for up to 40 years.

The institute keeps its base collection in tiny, sealed, bar-coded aluminium cans in a room kept at a temperature well below freezing.

They include a Malaysian variety that was collected soon after the gene bank opened in 1962, some reed-like Latin American ones that grow taller than a man, and Indian varieties that look more like crawling weeds.

Duplicates in small foil sachets of about 400 seeds each are stored in a separate vault kept at two degrees Celsius (35.6 Fahrenheit) and low humidity for passing on to those who need them for farming or research.

Given the importance of the collection, extra insurance is always desirable -- hence the rice gene bank being duplicated in Svalbard, Norway, Hay told AFP on a tour last week of the Philippine facility.

Since the Svalbard seed vault opened in February 2008, IRRI has reproduced 70,000 of its own grains and sent them in tiny freeze-dried aluminium cans to northern Norway, in a series of flights that take four days.

One final delivery of about 40,000 varieties is due to be flown out from Manila airport this week to complete the project.

The seeds include those no longer grown by farmers, plus 4,000-odd weeds with genes harnessed by scientists to make the rice plant more aromatic and more resistant to pests and disease, and tolerant of drought and saltwater.

Once completed, the Norway facility will act as a further backup to a US Department of Agriculture vault in Colorado that already holds duplicates of IRRI's seeds.

IRRI has in particular helped Cambodia's farmers to recover from the ravages of war. The Khmer Rouge regime killed millions of people -- many through starvation -- and forced farmers to grow only certain rice varieties in the 1970s.

Flora de Guzman, senior research manager of the gene bank, said she had once processed a request by Cambodia to send back seeds for about 500 of their native rice varieties.

"They lost the materials during the war. We had the collection here, so between 1981 and 1989 we repatriated the varieties that they lost," she said.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Farm Produce Prices Rise on Holiday Demand
CHINA - The prices of Chinese farm produce edged higher last week, boosted by New Year holiday demand, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.


Low temperatures and freezing rain in some parts of China also pushed up prices, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

During the week of 27 December to 2 January, the wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables rose, with the price of balsam pear, cucumber and beans up 8.2 per cent, 6 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.

The price of meat rose slightly, with pork prices up 0.8 per cent. Mutton prices rose 0.8 per cent and chicken prices rose 0.4 per cent.

Peanut and soybean oil prices increased 0.3 per cent. Colza oil prices edged 0.2 per cent higher.

Bucking the trend, the price of producer goods fell slightly last week, after rising for three consecutive weeks. The prices of iron ore and copper ore fell 1.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Food prices have a one-third weighting in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI), the major gauge of inflation. China's CPI hit a 28-month high of 5.1 per cent in the year to November.

According to a friend of mine from Panay,seems there is alot of questions being asked about the import order of PL480 and to who and what farm these goats have been sent to.Seems some have gone to members of the goat federation and to some others but the total numbers have not been accounted for.Also called into question is why some areas have not received any of these goats.This whole program is clouded in mystery.

As a person with years of breeding experience and owner of some fine breeding/show investment stock I can tell you one thing forsure.Placing top bloodlines in the hands of unknown breeders with unproven track records is a disaster in the making.I have seen fine bloodlines here in N.America in the hands of unexperienced breeders with poor management practices and the yearlings (12 months old) never reached the 40-45 kg weight that they should be at for that age.Here in N.America the average yearling for a nubian is 40-45kg. in 12 months for the purposes of breeding.I doubt if the RP has reached this weight class so far for a dairy breed.It will be interesting to see how these blodlines pan out,my gut feeling tells me many of these goats will never reach their full potential.I believe even the Govt. has very little experience when it comes to breeding and what it takes to breed superior animals from scratch.

I wonder if these farms will be held accountable for any deaths why under their management or will the taxpayer have to pay for any losses.Will the goat federation hold its members accountable for any losses under their care???Many,many unanswered questions and so much money to be repaid back to the US Govt. with interest.And can the RP compete with the Chinese goat market.China is the largest goat producer in Asia.So many questions and so little time.

The coming hunger: Record food prices put world 'in danger', says UN

Perfect storm of climate and oil puts world into 'danger territory'

By Sean O'Grady, Economics Editor


Thursday, 6 January 2011


Record food prices put world 'in danger', says UN

Food riots, geopolitical tensions, global inflation and increasing hunger among the planet's poorest people are the likely effects of a new surge in world food prices, which have hit an all-time high according to the United Nations.


The UN's index of food prices – an international basket comprising wheat, corn, dairy produce, meat and sugar – stands at its highest since the index started in 1990, surpassing even the peaks seen during the 2008 food crisis, which prompted civil disturbances from Mexico to Indonesia.

"We are entering danger territory," said the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's chief economist, Abdolreza Abbassian.



The trends have already affected the UK where the jump in food prices in November was the highest since 1976. Meat and poultry were up 1 per cent and fruit by 7.5 per cent in one month.

Food producers have been told to expect the wheat price to jump again this month, hitting bakers and the makers of everything from pasta to biscuits.

More is sure to follow and that in turn will add to pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates to control rising prices. Higher mortgage bills by the end of the year will add to the unpleasantness facing "middle England" from a year of tax hikes and below-inflation pay rises.

However, the biggest impact of the food price shock will be felt in countries in the developing world where staple items command a much larger share of household incomes.

Economists warn that "soft commodity" food prices show little sign of stabilising, and that cereals and sugar in particular may surge even higher in coming months. In addition, long-term trends associated with growth in population and climate change may mean higher food costs become a permanent feature of economic life, even though the current spike may end in due course. Speculation, too, may be part of the crisis, as investors climb on to the rising food-price bandwagon.

Mr Abbassian said the UN agency is concerned by the unpredictability of weather activity, which many experts link to climate change. He said: "There is still room for prices to go up much higher, if for example the dry conditions in Argentina tend to become a drought, and if we start having problems with winterkill in the northern hemisphere for the wheat crops."

One concern, especially in Ukraine and Russia, is that the cold winter, following disastrous droughts and summer fires, will have damaged the seeds for next year's crops, leading to an even more acute crisis than seen last year. Government policies, especially the export bans imposed by nervous Indian and Russian governments, have exacerbated such problems in world markets.

Meanwhile, burgeoning consumption in the booming economies of east Asia and the pressure exerted by the demand for crops for biofuels rather than food, especially in the US, is adding to the unprecedented squeeze on world food supplies.

The latest surge in crude oil prices adds to the risk of turmoil. Many experts say oil prices show few signs of abating, and the price of a barrel is set to breach the $100 barrier again soon. Opec officials yesterday said they were happy with such a level. Oil peaked at just under $150 a barrel in 2008; any sign of renewed tension in Iran would see the price exceed that. Higher oil prices add to food price inflation by increasing transportation costs.

The interplay of rising fuel prices, the growing use of biofuels, bad weather and soaring futures markets drove up the price of food dramatically in 2008, prompting violent protests in Mexico, Indonesia, Egypt, Cameroon and Haiti. Last year's spike was provoked mainly by the freakish weather conditions in Russia and Ukraine, but one of the underlying trends is the growing and changing appetites of east Asia.

As more Chinese enter the middle classes they tend to consume more poultry and meat, just as Westerners did at a similar stage in their economic progress. However, meat and poultry husbandry consumes at least three times the resources that grains do, while the drift towards the cities in China is reducing the yields of its farms. Similar trends are visible in the other fast-growing, populous nations such as Brazil, India and Indonesia.

Countries that are poor and produce relatively little of their own food are most vulnerable to the food price shock – Bangladesh, Morocco and Nigeria top the "at risk" list, according to research by Nomura economists, who also identify growing shortages of water as a critical factor restraining any growth in agricultural productivity.

Owen Job, strategist at Nomura, said: "The economists' model of increasing supply as demand grows may be breaking down. Supply cannot keep up with factors such as biofuels and the urbanisation of China. Some 30 per cent of all water used in agriculture comes from unsustainable sources."

* David Cameron has disclosed that the Treasury was considering introducing a "fuel stabiliser". Under the move, tax paid
 by motorists would be cut when the cost of oil surged worldwide and rise when it dropped. He said: "We are looking at it. It's not simple but I would like to try and find some way of sharing the risk of higher fuel prices with the consumer."

Pork Producers Consider First MBM Plant
PHILIPPINES - The country’s pork producers are weighing up the establishment of a meat and bone meal (MBM) processing plant to reduce dependence on imported feed ingredients.


Bonemeal refers to crushed or ground bones used as animal feed or soil fertilizer.

“We’re asking the government to render assistance in drafting a roadmap for the swine sector which is an important aspect in the creation of an MBM plant," Pork Producers Federation of the Phils. Inc. President Edwin Chen said in an interview yesterday.

He noted that the Philippines imports a lot of meat and bonemeal from Europe and the US but the Bureau of Animal Industry said it has no ready data on the volume of imported MBM for 2009 and 2010 although prices range between $350 (P15,320) to $400 (P17,508) per metric ton.

The Federation is looking at a timeframe of 4 to 5 years to construct the first plant, reports GMA News.

“We’re still on the planning stage. We need to get the roadmap drafted and going before we implement the programme that requires massive logistics like the MBM plant," said Mr Chen.

For hog feed, the Federation will formulate a poultry-based MBM and vice versa for poultry feed.

“This is to prevent diseases from spreading and mutating. The practice of feeding porcine MBM to hogs or swine can be categorized as cannibalism. Take the case of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or ‘mad-cow’ disease, where cows eat their own kind via bovine MBM," Chen explained.

MBM is a by-product of the rendering of animal carcasses and animal waste material from slaughterhouses. It is usually sold as high-protein meal additive or animal stockfeed and pet food.

Meanwhile, the federation will also try to enforce a multi-site system in raising hogs. The multi-site system will have separate locations for breeding, nurseries and grow-out stages.

“We can arrange with the backyard hog-raisers what stage they would want to go into. I suggest they can produce piglets and then we, the commercial raisers, will produce the finishers," said Mr Chen.

He added that the system will be self-sustaining for designated pork zones in the three major islands of the country.

It will also help keep tabs on parasites and viral infections that afflict hogs through the all-in, all-out system.

“This means that, we grow the pigs all at the same time and sell them all at the same time. So there will come a time that the building will be left with no occupants. There’s no host, so the parasites will die a natural death, leaving the structure clean and fit for the next season," Mr Chen explained.

Earlier, hog raisers raised alarm over the proliferation of imported frozen and 'botcha' or “double-dead’ meat in the wet markets.

Hog raisers alleged that frozen meat are being sold as fresh meat in wet markets and can be easily mistaken for 'botcha'.

mustang sally farm is mikey and all future postings will now be under mustang sally farm.