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Tag: agriculture

  • Philippines forges agri deals with Thailand in Duterte visit

    Philippines forges agri deals with Thailand in Duterte visit

    The Philippines on Monday signed agricultural deals with Thailand, three months before it scraps a quantitative restriction on rice imports under an agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

    The agricultural agreement encompasses information exchange concerning best practices in irrigation, livestock and fisheries, and technology for soil and water conservation, said President Rodrigo Duterte in a joint statement with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

    “The Philippines and Thailand have vibrant economic relations with a trade value of almost $8 billion in 2016. We have yet to reach the limit of our potentials. That is why we also recognize the importance of cooperation in agriculture…our agricultural sector should drive national growth,” he said.

    Thailand is one of the Philippines’ primary sources of imported rice. In December, the National Food Authority (NFA) said private traders would import 284,780 tons of rice from Thailand. This is in addition to 250,000 tons that the NFA bought in August last year from Vietnam and Thailand.

    Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said last year that he would need 2 more years to strengthen Filipino rice farmers’ capacity to compete with their peers in Vietnam and Thailand.

    While cheaper imports would bring down retail costs of the country’s staple grain, it would pose a threat to Filipino farmers’ livelihoods, because production costs in those countries are cheaper and output more plentiful.

    The Philippines is set to host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Second Meeting of the Joint Agricultural Working Group in 2019.

    Aside from agriculture, the Philippines also forged agreements with Thailand regarding tourism, and the promotion of exchanges that aim to enhance their capacities for science and technology.

    The two countries also agreed to ensure security and stability in the region, and address issues particularly terrorism, sea piracy, and illegal trafficking of drugs and people.

    They also stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in the region, including the South China Sea.

    “We emphasize the need for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and express determination to complete the Framework of the Code of Conduct in 2017,” Duterte said.

    Duterte visited Myanmar on Sunday, before he flew to Thailand on Monday.

  • Vietnam trials hi-tech agriculture production zones

    Vietnam trials hi-tech agriculture production zones

    Vietnam plans to have at least 10 hi-tech agriculture production zones comprising 200 enterprises by 2020. To date, it has attracted 20 enterprises.

    1. Vietnam-Australia JSC, a foreign invested enterprise with a branch in Bac Lieu province, has pioneered shrimp super-intensive farming in greenhouses. The company has spent VND180 billion to farm shrimp on an area of 50 hectares, which brings a yield of 40-80 tons per hectare each crop, or 300 tons per hectare per annum, 10-15 times higher than traditional farming methods.

    In Vietnam, there are many different shrimp farming models. Under the extensive farming model, there are 3-6 shrimp per square meter. Meanwhile, under the super-intensive model, there are 300-500 shrimp per square meter. High technologies must be applied for super-intensive farming, including Israeli membrane technology, US and German periodic water filtration technology and biotechnology.

    With the investment rate of VND7 billion per hectare, it is 10 times more costly to follow the super-intensive farming model than the traditional model. However, the new model is believed to help Vietnam strengthen competitiveness to overcome technical and trade barriers set up by import markets.

    2. Japan, Dubai, South Korea and the Middle East are markets where FOHLA banana is favored. This banana is being grown by Huy Long An Company on an improved land area on which plants could not grow 20 years ago.According to Vo Quan Huy, director of Huy Long An, the investment rate is up to millions of dollars. There are about 2,500 banana trees on every hectare of land which give 20-30 tons of finished products. With the selling price of VND8,000-10,000 per kilo, the expected profit rate is 25-30 percent in good management conditions.

    With high quality, good taste and more competitive price than Filipino bananas, FOHLA bananas have hit the shelves at Japanese supermarkets

    3. A Vietnamese group of scientists headed by Prof Nguyen Quang Thach has successfully created a high-quality potato variety in aeroponic environment.

    Meanwhile, aeroponics farmed vegetables are now used by many Vietnamese.

    “With farming area of 200 square meters, I can provide 100 kilos of vegetables to the market everyday,” said Duong Minh Trung, director of Rau Sach Ngon.

    Trung said the farming model saves more water than other models, because water is sprayed on vegetables and collected back in water tanks for re-use. Regarding fertilizer, Trung buys waste meat and bone products from fish plants and processes it into fertilizer.

    4. The Dancing Lady Orchid garden of Pham Thi Nhung covers an area of 3 hectares in Lam Dong province. This is a greenhouse equipped with spraying irrigation system and high-capacity fans. The flowers bring nearly VND10 billion a month to Nhung’s family.

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  • Programme for clean agriculture launched in City

    Programme for clean agriculture launched in City

    The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development launched a programme dubbed “Green Connection towards A Clean Agriculture” in HCM City yesterday to strengthen the linkages between various players in the agricultural production chain.

    It is also aimed at strengthening co-operatives and farmers’ ties with businesses, considered an important measure to improve the competitiveness of and add value to Vietnamese farm produce, enabling them to enter the international market, according to Lê Đức Thịnh, deputy director of the ministry’s Rural Development and
    Economic Co-operative Department.

    Amid the increasing international integration, Việt Nam’s agricultural production needs to focus more on quality, meeting international standards, on-time delivery and competitive prices.

    The food safety situation in the domestic market has become worrying, with many products failing to meet hygiene and safety standards still being sold in the market.

    Deputy Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development Trần Thanh Nam said, “Through the programme, we want to build a connecting chain for safe products, from production to consumption, produced based on VietGap, or GlobalGap or even organic standards.”

    Consumers should know where safe products meeting quality standards are produced and sold, he said.

    The programme also aimed to create confidence in foreign importers by showing them that Việt Nam has co-operatives and businesses producing products not only meeting Vietnamese standards but also the regulations of importing countries, he said.

    The programme, together with others, also aimed to raise awareness among producers about the need for following good agricultural practices to provide safe products to the market, he said.

    As part of the programme a fair titled “Green Address, Clean Products Of Agricultural Co-Operatives” is being held at the Co.opmart Foodcosa supermarket in HCM City’s Gò Vấp District on December 27 and 28.

    The fair has attracted 35 co-operatives who have set up 40 booths displaying a wide range of agricultural, forestry and seafood products meeting VietGap standards or with quality certification.

    They expect the fair to promote their products and enable them to enter into tie-ups.

    Speaking at a seminar on the real situation and measures to develop production and consumption of safe farm produce held yesterday in the city as part of the programme, Thịnh said 1-5 per cent of products obtained quality certifications from local and foreign organisations.

    Farmers should join hands through co-operatives or co-operative groups to meet the quality standards required by the market, he said.

    The co-operation would also help expand production and prevent traders from deflating prices, he said.

    The representatives of many co-operatives, including the Xuân Định Fruits Co-operative in Đồng Nai, Giồng Trôm Green Skin Co-operative, and Lộc Khê Safe Vegetables Co-operative, told the seminar that they faced difficulties in finding outlets for their safe products and expected to find distributors through the programme.

    Saigon Co.op, Việt Nam Farms and Agricultural Enterprises Association, the crop production and rural development and
    economic co-operative departments and others signed up for the programme.

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  • CropLife Asia Signs Partnership with Asian Apiculture Association

    CropLife Asia Signs Partnership with Asian Apiculture Association

    CropLife Asia announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Asian Apicultural Association (AAA) to support a research initiative to catalogue and study the bee species and populations in Asia. CropLife Asia Executive Director Dr. Siang Hee Tan and AAA President Dr. Siriwat Wongsiri signed the agreement at Singapore’s M Hotel.

    It is estimated that at least 87 out 115 global primary food crops require some form of animal pollination, and insect pollination occupies a high value in the production of daily produce including vegetables, fruits, edible oil and spices.

    Comprehensive data on pollinators in Asia is scarce and much of the information that does exist has been derived using an array of different methods, making it difficult to draw comparisons across geographies and time. To better understand the state of Asia’s pollinators, a first step in protecting them and promoting their use in agriculture, CropLife Asia and AAA have agreed to collaborate in developing a harmonized method to survey the pollinators in key Asian countries.

    “When it comes to pollinators in Asia, there is a general lack of both awareness as to the important role they play in agriculture as well as reliable data reflecting their overall health,” said Dr. Tan. “Our industry has a responsibility to work with chief stakeholders who have unique perspective and expertise in this area, and our partnership with AAA is an important and impactful step forward on this front.”

    A key component of the MoU is developing a universally-applicable, harmonized method to capture the state of bee health in particular in key countries across the region. Specifically, this will entail surveying bee species in order to identify major pollinators (including indigenous subspecies) and their relative abundance.

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  • India may import pulses from Myanmar, African nations

    India may import pulses from Myanmar, African nations

    Faced with the highest-ever surge in food prices in the past two years, the NDA government did some brainstorming on Wednesday to devise steps to check prices, especially of pulses.

    At a review meeting convened by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here, it was decided to boost supply by increasing buffer stocks and imports.

    The Centre may look to Myanmar and Africa to import lentils and pulses, it is learnt. India has already submitted a draft agreement for import of tur from Myanmar via the government route.

    Many African nations have also evinced interest in supplying lentils to India.

    “The Finance Minister said imports via public and private agencies should be strengthened to meet the deficit,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told newspersons after the meeting. He added that the demand-supply gap of about 7.6 million tonnes of pulses was being met by imports and local procurement to create a buffer stock of 1.5 lakh tonnes this year.

    It is not only the runaway increase in prices of pulses, which have soared to as much as ₹170/kg, that has hurt the aam aadmi; even vegetable prices have shot up in recent weeks.

    Tomato prices in most retail markets have doubled to ₹80-100/kg in the last fortnight due to sluggish supply owing to crop damage. Potato prices have also been on the rise.

    Besides Paswan, the high-level meeting was attended by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu.

    Discussions involved releasing more pulses from the buffer stock whenever there is a demand from the States. However, Paswan passed some of the blame for high prices to the States.

    “If prices rise despite this move, the Centre is not responsible. In a federal structure, States have equal responsibility in controlling prices,” he said, adding that the Centre had created a buffer stock, but “not many States had shown interest.”

    Against this year’s procurement target of 1.5 lakh tonnes of pulses for buffer stocks, 1.15 lakh tonnes has been purchased, he added.

     

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