ASIA PACIFIC: Herein is a selection of crop and seed industry news headlines and highlights from around the region, covering China, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan and Korea. From early on in the month, agriculture production in many parts across the region has suffered from the onslaught of wet and nasty weather, but there is some positive news to report. Scroll down for all the latest seed leads.
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Increasingly erratic weather is proving costly throughout the region. Photo: Chris Quintana[/caption]
- Asia Pacific: Grape seed extract can help with colon cancer, research suggests; Wet weather suspected for crop virus outbreak in Samoa; Beijing approves American GM soy and corn products for import as American GM-soy pioneer praises China; Seeds from sesame, guava and pineapple packed with healthy benefits; Hemp industry on the rise in Asia, where top fiber and seed suppliers are; Chinese entrepreneur in Iowa bridging bilateral seed, crop trade;
- China & Chinese Taipei: Automated potato and silkworm grow-pod on the moon in 2018; Seeds from 5,000 year old tree sent to space for two months, germinate on earth; Seeds of evergreen seeds high in amino acids; Torrential rains, flooding bring havoc to Taiwan; Insurance coverage increasing for crops; Importing GM potatoes.
- Australia & New Zealand: Cooler than average June threaten growing regions with frost, dry spell; Moratorium on GMOs in Tasmania questioned; GM flowers recalled in Australia, New Zealand; Expanding cropping investment opportunity in the Northern Territory; Horticulture firm looks to solar to protect production facilities; Mice, slugs and snails threaten dampened crops; Grain growing area forecast to mirror last year, productivity to slow; lettuce famine affects fast food offering; Immigration turn away attempted tomato seed smuggler; Deadline announced for GM potato food applications; feijoa crop boom;
- South Asia: Nepalese paddy farmers sourcing illegal Indian seeds to meet demand; Agriculture production suffering from erratic weather; Sesame seed opportunity in Bangladesh; Seed imports in Pakistan down as domestic variety demand rises with vegetable prices; Many going hungry in Pakistan despite wasted food; Seed bombs for Bangalore; Bangladesh to boost hybrid rice production through import of seed from Philippines; Bangladeshi company to partner with Sri Lanka govt in boosting vegetable seed production; Cracking down on spurious seeds in Telangana; Smartphone app developed for seed sowers in Andhra Pradesh; Monsoons arrive early with planting optimism, coinciding with devastating cyclone; cropping seed demand slows in face of lower market prices; hybrid seed prices to be cut by 10%; onion seed subsidy this kharif; procuring sunflower seeds at minimum price; three new machine-friendly chickpea varieties released; GM technology exploitation barrier slashed for Desi companies; Indians should eat more millets, diabetes on the rise;
- Southeast Asia: Food commodity prices published to help monitor Indonesia food security; GM biosafety recommendations; traditional harvest festival insights in East Malaysia; Rooftop herb garden in Kuala Lumpur; Chia seeds to the rescue in Singapore; high-yielding, early maturing palm oil seeds; Floodwaters cause trouble for farmers in Central Thailand; Planting a mango forest in the Philippines with 2,000 seeds; Rice research making progress, conference shows; East West says Philippines needs more share of veg market; Many tariffs on food imports to Philippines reduced; Vietnamese, Myanmar rice demand on the up; Villagers in north Vietnam plant trees to boost population. Mekong seeds poised for quality improvement; Myanmar seeks more international markets for its ag produce;
- Japan: Genome-edited rice being trialed in Tsukuba, October harvest anticipated; traditional seed-grinding mortars rich in history;
- Korean Peninsula: Imports increasing for GM products for research; Cloud seeding pilot tests commence allegedly to offset harmful Chinese dust; Sent off to die in Kazakhstan, Koreans thrive;
The above pages will be continuously updated throughout the month. Please bookmark this page and come back periodically to check for updates.
Asia Pacific
Dozens of Myanmar traders of rice, pulses, maize and sugar were among the owners of 5,000 accounts that the Agricultural Bank of China suspended on suspicions of links to illegal activity. According to an
article by The Myanmar Times, the bank froze 5,000 accounts, starting June 14, to clamp down on what were deemed as illegal banking transactions, reported to be linked to online gambling, illegal transfers, deposits and withdrawals in three Chinese provinces, including Inner Mongolia. The move has had an adverse impact on
Chinese-bound rice exports from Mandalay.
Research from Pennsylvania State University has concluded that a combination of resveratrol from grape skins and grape seed extract is effective at killing colon cancer cells,
reports India Dot Com. The researchers, including one of Indian origin, recently published their findings in the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine journal.
Imports of taro from Samoa to American Samoa have been banned as scientists try to determine the cause of a virus outbreak detected in the crop. It is suspected that the outbreak is linked to an increase in wet weather in recent months, but this has yet to be verified,
reports Radio New Zealand.
The Beijing Government has given the tentative green light for importing
two GM-crops, corn and soy varieties developed by Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co,
reports Fox Business. The landmark decision follows an agreement last month for China's National Biosafety Committee to meet and conduct science-based assessments of eight biotechnology products which had been pending approval,
some for many years. A
ccording to Reuters, China has approved 16 GMO crop varieties for import, effective June 12. In total, the approved list covers five GM soybean varieties, four GM corn varieties in addition to three rapeseed, three cotton and one sugar beet product.
American GM-soybean pioneer, Harry Stine has praised China, where he sourced his initial genetic material decades ago, and where he is expanding his business network rapidly. The China Daily reports on the
US seed tycoon's story.
According to an article published by The Mice Times of Asia, eating just 10-20 grams of sesame seed per day can help one regulate their diet, strengthen their teeth enamel and bone tissues, citing the high calcium content of sesame seeds, which was reported as nearly double that of hard cheeses, four times that of almonds and some 10 times more than milk and other cheeses. The article reports India, Mexico and China as the largest producers of the seed.
Unlike poisonous stones (seeds) of many fruits (e.g. applies, pears, cherries and apricot), those of other certain fruits have been touted as being beneficial for human consumption. According to an article published by Fresh Plaza, seeds of the tropical guava fruit, cultivated in Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries, as well as the stones found in pineapple cores have great medicinal and nutritional benefits. Examples cited include pineapple cores, which contain a digestive enzyme, bromelain, and the black seeds of the lychee fruit, which when boiled in a soup can help consumers reduce their blood sugar.
The hemp industry in the Asia and Pacific region is budding rapidly, reports ABC Australia. According to a quote by the director of West Australia based Hemp Corporation, Colin Steddy, China has plans to plant 400,000 hectares of hemp to meet growing industrial demand, and is seeking supplies from Australia, Bangladesh and Africa. Among the main industrial products being developed for the market include biodegradable plastic bags, shipping pallets and fiber to be used in clothing, furniture, mattresses and construction. China is the largest producer of hemp crop in the world, reportedly cultivating 44,000 tonnes annually within its territory, and is the second top supplier of hemp seed, behind only France. South Korea is the second largest producer of hemp fibre with an annual output of about 14,000 tonnes. Australia’s hemp and marijuana industry is currently preparing for a boom following the recent decision to allow suppliers of hemp seed to market their product as safe for human consumption. With the official green light officially given for hemp food products Down Under, four main hemp products have emerged on the market, including hemp seeds, hemp protein powder, hemp oil and hemp flour. Unlike recreational and medical strains of marijuana, which contain the psychoactive compound, THC, industrial hemp is a human-created cultivar of the equatorial strain, Cannabis Sativa, which has been bred to suppress THC content low or untraceable levels.
Facilitating growing seed and crop business between China and the US is one Zhao Li, a Chinese entrepreneur who founded the Iowa China Group in 2010. The story of Zhao Li, a Guangxi native, was featured in the US edition of China Daily, which highlights the many achievements the Chinese Women In Seed has accomplished for Chinese-American trade.
China & Chinese Taipei
Scientists have confirmed the successful germination of at least 28 seeds, reportedly born from a 5,000-year-old cypress tree, and which had spent more than two months in space, reports Xinhua News. The seeds were among a sample of
150 seeds collected in August last year from the ancient tree, and then sent to the Tiangong-2 lab in Earth's orbit, where they were kept from September 15 to November 18, 2016. The seeds began sprouting May 15 this year.
In related news, China plans to send a fully-automated and remote-controlled micro-ecosystem growing container to the moon in 2018. According to reports,
a team of researchers from Chongqing University and 28 other Chinese universities have collaborated in the design of a 18-centimeter-long container, which has more than 100 components and weighs three kilograms. The growing container, which will contain potatoes, arabidopsis seeds and silkworm eggs, will be sent to the moon via the Chang'e 4 lunar lander. Insulated, ventilated and powered by batteries, the container will create its own photosynthesis and carbon cycles to ensure the sustenance of living material.
A study carried out by researchers at China’s Jiangnan University has revealed that the seeds of two cultivars of the Chinese evergreen tree (Torreya grandis) contain adequate amino acid balances, meeting requirements from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and and Agriculture Organization (FAO). According to the study, “Physicochemical and functional properties of protein extracts from Torreya grandis seeds”, published in Volume 227 of Food Chemistry, with the results summarized by Food Navigator Asia the researchers extracted proteins from the seeds of the Shengzhou I and Dazinaiyou cultivars by milling the seeds into flour, defatting and mixing them with water before freeze-drying. The defatting process reportedly increased protein content from 12% to 20%, with the final protein content being cited at 74.3% and 73.1%, respectively.
Farmers throughout Taiwan have been devastated by flash floods induced by torrential rains at the start of June, with economic losses expected to be valued at no less than NT$40 million (US$1.33 million) as of June 4. In Yunlin Country, where paddy fields were completely submerged, overall losses were expected to amount to NT$21.69, while New Taipei suffered no less than NT$9.36 million; Chaiyi Country NT4.23mn and Changhua County NT$2.28. Other crops that took a hit included watermelons, peanuts, corn and mushrooms, while inland fisheries was also affected as ponds overflowed, reports Taiwan News. On Tuesday, the news agency was reporting average vegetable prices in Taipei rising by more than 50%. By June 9, a report from Focus Taiwan cited agriculture damages from the torrential rain as reaching NT$270 million or nearly 9 million US$.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) is expanding insurance coverage for key cosh crops, reports Focus Taiwan. To date, the COA has issued 164 insurance policies for pear growers, covering 139 hectares in addition to six policies for mango acreage covering just under five hectares. This is in addition to 92 policies for the ever-vulnerable sugar apple crop, which covers 51 hectares. By this September, the COA plans to offer coverage for rice, and certain aquaculture products and greenhouse facilities, with plans to offer coverage for banana growers next year. Aquaculturists are pressing the COA to offer policies for all aquaculture produce, citing the threat of weather damage brought on by increasingly erratic torrential rain and typhoons.
Chinese Taipei's Health and Welfare Ministry is mulling an application to import GM potatoes from the US. The country currently allows five types of GM crops for import, including soybeans, corn, cotton, rapeseed and sugar beets, reports
Potato Business Dot Com. If permitted, the potatoes are expected to be used to make processed foods, including potato chips and French fries.
Australia & New Zealand
It's been a particularly cool June for parts of New South Wales, with wheat, barley, chickpea and canola crops under increasing threat from frost and dry weather.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the average minimum temperature in central western NSW has been 3.1 degrees Celsius below average, and 2 degree lower than average overnight temperatures logged for growing regions in NSW, South Australia and Victoria. Compounded by reports of drier than usual conditions for the month, one economist warns that the country's winter wheat crop (June is winter month in the Southern Hemisphere) by 40%, which would result in A$4 billion lost earnings.
The government of Tasmania has maintained a moratorium on GMOs since 2001; however pressure from lobbies and promising new breeding techniques is putting the restriction into question. This
article on Slow Food Dot Com gives an informative overview of the situation and challenges.
New Zealand and Australia are among countries who have had to recall illegally-imported seeds suspected to be genetically-modified varieties,
reports the New Zealand Herald. The
news follows reports of GM flowers being discovered in Europe the US and even South Korea, where a flower festival was canceled last month
upon detection. According to the I
ndian News Link in New Zealand, the flowers were thought to be imported from South America, and were scrutinized following a confirmation by the Australian Gene Technology Regulator, who had ordered GM-detected flowers there destroyed.
The Government of The Northern Territory – one of five of Australia’s Federal Territories – has released a prospectus to promote horticulture investments in Central Australia, one of five regions within the territory. The prospectus was drafted following increased intrerest and inquiries from investors who had
approached the Central Australian Development Office, reports ABC Australia. Conventionally famous for mango production, Central Australia is increasingly attractive due to its temperate climate that is reportedly ideal for crops that require a “chill factor”, including table grapes, stone fruits and nuts. The prospectus, which includes regional infrastructure information including road conditions, telephone networks and water access, underlines several crops that would be ideal to be cultivated in the region. This include Chinese dates, loquat, persimmon, legumes and rhubarb.
Australia’s largest horticulture company, Costa Group, is formulating plans to invest millions of dollars in solar panels and modern battery banks to support its mushroom production and glasshouse facilities in South Australia and New South Wales, reports The Australian. Expensive energy and costly power outages
was cited as the main reason for the proposed investment.
Grain farmers in South Australia and the western part of Victoria are scrambling to obtain limited supplies of mouse bait as part of efforts to mitigate losses from an explosion in mice populations. Citing a wet Australian summer, compounded by a bumper harvest, some farmers have reported the number of mice observed in their fields being “worse than ever” and “unreal”
reports ABC Australia and
AAP. Wet weather was also
cited as the main factor in a surge in slugs, snails, lucerne fleas and red-legged earth mites affecting canola farmers in southern and eastern Australia.
In related news, Farm Weekly Australia is reporting a growing threat from slugs and snails to broad-leaf crops in high rainfall zones in southern Australia. An alert was issued by the Department of Agriculture and Food West Australia following
snail and slug sightings in various locales, including Cuballing, Esperance, Gnowangerup, Mt Barker, Porongurup and Toodyay. The onslaught of the cropping pests poses particular challenges to farmers, since the pests feed at night. Bait can cost between $10 to $40 per hectare. Also, farmers in Victoria have been warned to be on the lookout for growing aphid populations, as
reported in The Weekly Times.
Meanwhile sugar production in the 2017/2018 season is also predicted to fall due to crops
damaged by Cyclone Debbie.
Grain production Down Under is anticipated to drop by more than 30% this coming cropping season,
reports the North Queensland Register, citing forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), who expect wheat production to drop , from 35.11 million tonnes in 2016-2017 to 24.19 mt this coming year. Some industry reps, however, are concerned that the
decline will be even more than the ABARES forecast.
Agribusiness financial institution, Rabobank, forecasts for the winter grain planting area Down Under to mirror that of last year, though expectations for unfavorable weather underlines the probability of lower productivity. Cited by
ABC Australia and
Grain Central the bank forecasts for winter grains to be planted on more than 22 million hectares, despite lower prices.
Citing impacts from what has been dubbed the “lettuce famine of 2017”, a popular Kiwi burger chain, BurgerFuel, has had to
pull one of its low-carb products that substitutes the traditional burger bread bun with lettuce leaves. According to an article by the New Zealand Herald, the wet and wild growing season, and in particular flooding in the North Island in April, has resulted in commercial crop damages leading to a shortage of leafy greens. Until more iceberg lettuce supplies are available, the burger chain is recommending customers to opt for a wholemeal or gluten free bun instead.
Immigration New Zealand have refused entry to a Korean woman, forcing her to return to her country of origin after Ministry for Primary Industries biosecurity officers found tomato seeds concealed in her baggage.
Lacking the required phytosanitary certificate to import the live commodity, the woman told officials she had planned to plant the seeds in her daughter’s garden in Auckland, but due to the risk of importing devastating pests into the country, the New Zealand NPPO did not treat the attempt lightly. In our upcoming print edition of Asian Seed, out the second week of June, we report on various biosecurity threats in the region linked to seed.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand has announced a July 7 deadline for applications to permit food from several lines of genetically modified (GM) potatoes. According to Agropages, FSANZ had assessed and
cleared an undisclosed number of GM potatoes that had been modified using genes from the potatoes themselves, as well as from wild varieties, reportedly developed to reduce susceptibility to bruising and acrylamide when cooked, as well as to be resistance to blight.
The South American feijoa fruit crop is growing in popularity amongst farmers in Australia,
reports ABC Australia. According to estimates, the price of the premium crop is expected to drop from A$15-18 per kg down to $8-10 in the coming five years, and that production could surge, from 80 tonnes a year currently, 10-fold in a decade.
South Asia
Rice farmers in the Nepalese district of Kanchanpur are having to source "illegal" imported seeds from India to meet demand, as domestic varieties approved by the government are in short supply,
reports the Kathmandu Post. Farmers in the district reportedly require 2,800 tonnes of paddy seed for the current planting season, however only 40% of that is available domestically.
The FAO and World Food Programme on June 22 warned of a 24% decline in rice harvest in Bangladesh this year, with pulses, chilies and onions also expected to take a hit. Citing last year's drought and devestating flooding through to this,
Reuters reports on food security implications underlined by the UN agencies.
A Bangladeshi company has agreed to import hybrid rice seeds from the Philippines in order to boost local production of seed and crop. The MoU, signed early June between Bangladesh-based EnP Solutions Ltd (EnP) and Philippines-based SL Agritech Corp., will see the latter supply 20 tonnes of of the SL-18H variety of seed, which will be planted on 15 hectares of land in Bangladesh. The planting area is planned to be increased as much as 800 hectares within three years, which would enable the production of 1,600 tonnes of seed,
reports Agro Pages.
Sesame is underlined as an ideal dry season crop to promote in the vast Barind tract outside the city of Rajshahi,
reports the Financial Express. Available varieties of the crop reportedly require less fertile land and resources to cultivate, while it is estimated that 100,000 tonnes of the crop can be produced, which would be worth 3 billion taka, or about $37.2 million.
A leading Bangladeshi seed company will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Sri Lanka's Department of Agriculture to increase vegetable seed production in the latter's country. Lal Teer Seed Limited, which is a research-based vegetable seed company will work with Sri Lanka on the project, which will be based at the Field Crops Research and Development Institute in Mahuilluppallama, while the government will also look to improve its Seed Conservation Unit of the Plant Genetic Resources Centre in Gannoruwa, where it conserves about 14,500 seed samples at present,
reports the Colombo Page.
The import of vegetable seeds over the past 10 months in Pakistan has declined by 5%, reports the Daily Times Pakistan.
Tomato seeds were an exception as traders from July 2016 to May 2017 imported 10% more year-on-year, with consignments of this type of seed during the 10-month period valued at 300 million rupees. According to the All Pakistan Vegetable Seed Merchant Trade Association, the decline in imports of vegetable seeds – mostly from Europe, the US, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and India – was due to an increase in consumption of domestically produced seeds, with consumption of vegetables among certain segments reportedly rising by about 45%. Market prices of vegetables during the period have risen by 15-20%.
Though Pakistan produces enough food to feed its population, it is estimated that 60% of its people go to bed hungry every night, reports The News Pakistan. Another alarming statistic cited in the article is that 40% of the world's wasted food is created in Pakistan, where much food is wasted
during religious festival periods.
Scientists in Bangalore are using drones to bomb forests... with hoards of seed balls in a reforestation effort, reports
Factor Daily Dot Com. The project, which was launched on World Environment Day (June 5) is hoped to last over three years and will cover a barren 10,000-acre patch of land north of Bangalore.
Bombay Hemp Company Pvt Ltd (Boheco) has plans for growth, reports Factor Daily. The
article highlights the challenges facing the hemp industry in India, compared to China, where the industry has been monopolized, while also underlining advantages for the industry in India.
The government of Bihar on June 9 ordered a ban on the sell of non-certified seeds marketed in the name of research. According to a report by the Indian Express, some companies have packaged seeds in the name of research, and have been selling them to farmers at a premium. However, the order claims there are no provisions in the country's seed laws to permit the sell of seeds in the country, which either need to be certified by the government,
or sold under license as "truthfully labeled".
In related news, police in Telangana have joined forces with farmers and officials from the Agriculture Department to crack down on the trade of spurious seeds. Many farmers had reportedly been duped in buying spurious seeds, mostly in the town of Khammam. Police are invoking the Preventive Detention Act, which enables them to detain culprits in detention for six months,
reports The Hans India.
The Andhra Pradesh government has partnered witfh Microsoft Corporation and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to develop a smartphone Sowing Application that will support farmers in achieving optimal harvests. The app, which is localized in Telugu language and under pilot now, advises on the best times to sow their seeds, taking into account data on weather and soil, among other indicators, supplied by local data collection units, as well as from international modelling intelligence sources,
reports Rural Marketing India.
Farmers along India’s southwest coast have reason to be optimistic about this year’s cropping season after southwesterly monsoons in late May, early June lashed the region surrounding Kerala,
reports the Times of India. The early onset of the monsoons reportedly marks the earliest start for the Kharif (wet season) cropping since 2011. The first of the rains typically don’t come until July. While the early rains are viewed as a boon by farmers who depend on the monsoon in contributing some 15% of the economy, wild and wet weather has meant havoc for others in the region, particularly through Cyclone Mora, which at the end of May killed hundreds in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and northeastern India, displacing tens of thousands more and likely having significant
economic impacts on the agriculture dependent region.
Despite the early onset of the wet season, seed demand is reportedly sluggish in India this year, reports the Business Standard, citing low commodity prices as the main deterrent for demand, with many crop quotes in wholesale markets being lower than the government’s Minimum Support Prices. For example, maize has been quoted as 1,300 rupees per quintal, while the MSP is set at INR1,365; soybean quoted at INR2,693 compared to INR2,775 MSP.
Seed industry representatives attending a meeting on June 19 agreed to reduce the price of hybrid seeds by 10%,
reports Telegraph India. Attending the meeting were reps from both the National Seed Industry of India (NSAI) and the recently formed Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII). The hybrid seed market is reportedly worth 60 billion rupees. The price reduction, which is effective for the coming Kharif or wet season, will not apply to cotton seed, but other hybrid seed crops, such as corn, rice, bajra, mustard and vegetables.
The government of Haryana has announced a new subsidy for onion seeds so as to promote planting of the crop this kharif season. The subsidy was set at 500 ruppees per kilogram, or 50% of the purchase price – whichever is less, with some farmers to be given
12.5 kilograms of seed per hectare, reports India.com.
The Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED) has been authorized to procure 50% of the state's sunflower seed production this season at the Minimum Support Price,
reports India Dot Com. HAFED will reportedly procur the seeds on behalf of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) which had already procurred 25% of the state's sunflower seeds.
Two new chickpea varieties – developed to easily be harvested by machinery – have been released in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The release of the ICCV 08102 and ICCV 08108 varieties follows the release of the ICCV 05106 variety in Andhra Pradesh last year. Developed in a partnership among the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and State Agricultural Universities, reports ICRISAT, the he three varieties were bred in response to farmers demand for varieties that could depend on machine harvesting, citing the challenge of existing varieties having inadequate height and low-lying branches.
Some 350 small and medium sized cotton seed entities in India now have one less regulative barrier to exploit GM-cotton technology following the decision by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority waiving the requirement for seed companies to obtain a no-objection certificate (NoC) from technology license providers, Business Standard reports. The decision is the latest in an ongoing squal between local and multinational companies over GM technology rights and regulation, which in India has been centered around cotton and mustard seed.
Consumers in North India are eating up a new product from jackfruit seeds: pickles. The new product was introduced at a jackfruit festival in the city of Kavoor,
reports The Hindu dot com, and the entrepreneur has already made 60 varieties of seed pickle.
In a campaign to curb an emerging diabetes endemic in India, traditional, fiber-rich Indian staples like millets are being promoted over refined carbohydrate-rich foods such as wheat, rice and fried bread. According to a report by
Bloomberg, Type-2 diabetes is on the rise in India, having spiked by 442% from 1980 to 2014.
Southeast Asia
As part of national efforts to maintain food security, the Bank of Indonesia has relaunched its food price online database. The website provides updated prices of "21 variants of 10 major food commodities" including beef, rice and garlic. Offered in Bahasa Indonesia, the data is sourced from 164 traditional
markets in 82 cities nationwide.
Some farmers in Indonesia who have adopted "conservative agriculture" methods are able to thrive in times of extreme drought, reports Thomson Reuters Foundation News. The methods, which include keeping soil
disturbance to a minimum, inter-cropping, crop rotation and mulching, ensure minimal soil erosion and chemical application.
Though GM soybeans and corn have been approved for human consumption in Malaysia, where most of the animal feed is also GM, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in the country have highlighted several areas of biosafety that could be improved, reports the
Sun Daily Malaysia. Namely, labeling and disclosure, employing a full-time committee, increasing consumer input and looking into alternatives.
Many Malaysians have recently returned to their homes to take part in the traditional Harvest Festival, known locally as Pesta Kaamatan. The annual festival, which was marked on the last two days, traditionally marks the rice harvest in the Eastern Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and
this article in The Borneo Post offers an interesting cultural insight into the festival and tradition to honor the people’s agriculture roots.
One Japanese American Chef in Kulala Lumpur is ensuring his restaurant stands out from the competition by making use of his rooftop to grow fresh herbs. After setting up Bane in Kuala Lumpur in 2015, the Michelin star chef worked with the urban edible gardening social enterprise known as “Eats, Shoots & Roots” yo set up an herb and vegetable garden. While his initial plan was to grow exotic and premium varieties of plants and vegetables, he has since
reverted to indigenous varieties, citing the need for Japanese varieties to adapt to the local clime and conditions over generations. The full interview with the Chef can be viewed here on Star2.com
One Malay Singaporean entrepreneur swears by the life-changing effects of chia seeds, which he imports, processes and markets to an increasingly health-conscious consumers. After suffering from health problems linked to unhealthy junk food diet, Freddy Yap took a sabbatical from his food-packaging business and returned to stay with relatives in Malaysia’s Pahang. While there he improved his life consuming bird's nest soup and chia seeds, and decided to return to Singapore to get back to business. The Strait Times
interviews him here.
Singapore stock exchange listed company, Golden Agri Resources, has developed two new varieties of palm oil seed that will increase crude palm oil yields by as much as 73%, reports Eco-Business.com. The two new varieties, Eka 1 and Eka 2, can
reportedly yield between 10.8 and 13 tonnes of CPO per hectare of prime aged trees, compared to conventional optimal yields of 7.5-8 t per ha. This is compared to average yields of only 3.6-3.8 t of cpo per ha in Indonesia. The new seeds also reportedly yield quicker-maturing trees, which may produce fruit within 24 months compared to other varieties that typically require at least 30 months.
Farmers in Central Thailand’s main river basins are scrambling to pump out floodwaters that have inundated their crops following a stream of torrential rains the past few weeks. The Agriculture and Cooperatives Deputy Minister, Ms Chutima Bunyaprapatsorn on June 1 assured the press that despite floods in the low lying areas of Sukhothai, Suphanburi, Lopburi and Saraburi, that the situation was under control as the Chao Phraya River level had
reportedly subsided to manageable levels. In the Tha Chin River Basin of Central Thailand Suphanburi province, some 5,000 rai or 800 hectares of paddy fields were reported to be submerged, while in Surin province in the Northeast, water in the Huay Lampok reservoir breached the spillway, prompting road closures.
The creative initiative of a Japanese volunteer decades ago on the northern tip of the Philippines island of Panay has been lauded for the conversion of a barren mountainside into a mango tree forest. The Inquirer.Net reports on the story of Osamu Nakagaki, who
came to the Philippines in the early 1970s to work with the Japan Overseas Volunteer Cooperation under the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Nakagaki, along with fellow volunteers and locals got things rolling by eating some 2,000 mangos down to the core, so as to plant the forest.
Rice research in the Philippines is realizing much progress, as indicated at the 47th Federation of Crop Science Societies of the Philippines Scientific Conference held 13-16 June in Iloilo City. At the event, eight teams from the Philippine Rice Research Institute bagged awards,
story here.
Philippines is not realizing its full agriculture potential, accounting for only $240 million of the Asia-Pacific vegetable market, which is worth $240 million, reports Interaksyon. Citing East West Philippines General Manager, Mary Ann Sayoc, who is a past APSA president, the article suggests that the country
should expand in exports, as it currently depends heavily on imports.
Effective June 17, Executive Order No. 20 of the Philippines Government slashes the duty on frozen french fries to duty-free, from 10% previously, while also reducing tariffs on various other products, including rice, butter, buttermilk, grated cheese, rapeeseed meal, mechanically separated meat,
reveals the USDA GAIN Report.
The 5th Seeds Exhibition in Vietnam opened at the Biotechnology Centre in District 12 of Ho Chi Minh City on June 22, and will welcome visitors through to June 26. With the event organization board headed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the event features over 350 booths showcasing crops, seeds, materials and equipment,
reports Vietnam News.
Seed industry policy makers from Mekong River countries, as well as Myanmar, emphasized the need for quality seed and technology at a workshop in Hanaoi on June 27. Attendees to the World Bank supported workshop, entitled "International Best Practices in Seed Governance", represented Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, voiced the need for seeds that are climate resilient and pest resistance,
reports Vietnam News.
Villagers in northern Vietnam have planted more than 1,100 seedlings of the critically endangered, Magnolia grandis. In a bid to boost the population of the species, which has reportedly been reduced to just 150 adult trees, the trees were planted in three villages in the Ha Giang province, and are hoped to also support cardomom farmers by providing them a needed layer of canopy,
reports Phys.org.
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade says demand for its country's rice is on the rise, with prices rising by as much as 8.3% in the period between late May and early June, from $360 to $390 per tonne, reports Eleven Myanmar. Increased demand for Vietnamese rice in Bangladesh and the Philippines was
cited as the main reason.
Similar optimistic export figures are being reported in Myanmar, which in May had exported 180,000 tonnes of the
staple grain, worth $59 million. The top buyers of Myanmar rice were Bangladesh, Russia, Madagascar, Andorra, Toga, Singapore, the EU and Sri Lanka.
Villagers in the Ngaputaw were reportedly paid 50 kyats (three cents US) for each dead rat they could collect in an effort to manage an infestation that has put many crops under threat. The surge in rat populations was believed to be linked to blossoming bamboo colonies,
reports Eleven Myanmar.
Despite a surplus of rain signalling a potentially hearty rice season, sowing and transplanting of paddy crop in Ayeyawady has been delayed due to a shortage of labor, reports
Eleven Myanmar.
Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation is aiming to increase exports of agriculture products to new lucrative markets. Having mostly supplied rice, beans and lentils to neighboring countries such as India, China and Thailand, the country is looking to export more to countries like Japan, Korea, the US and EU, but many challenges remain. In 2016-2017, Myanmar exported
6.49 million tonnes of agriculture products, which were worth ner $3 billion, reports the Myanmar Times.
Japan
A genome-edited rice variety is being trialed in Tsukuba, Japan, reports the Mainichi. Differentiating the latest breeding technique from dated genetic-modification (GM) methods, savvy scientists and seed companies are pushing for genome-edited crops to be viewed by legislators differently from GM crops, arguing that gene editing is among the latest techniques used in in plant breeding innovation, in which breeders have more control over the variables and outcomes. In the Japanese rice trials, being carried out by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, genes were manipulated on the molecular level to alter the variety’s hormonal balance, enabling the crop, in theory, to increase the number of husks in its ears, while increasing the size of its grain. Planted on May 23, the rice is expected to be harvested in October, when scientists will assess the results. In the upcoming edition of Asian Seed, out in the second week of June, we speak to the International Seed Federation to learn more about plant breeding innovation and the latest in breeding techniques.
The surikogi (pestle) and suribachi (mortar) have been a mainstay for food prep in the Japanese kitchen for centuries, reportedly introduced by the Chinese some 1,500 years ago, and developed uniquely into their Japanese form several hundred years ago,
reports The Japan Times.
Korean Peninsula
Imports of genetically-modified (GM) products intended for "examination and research" have risen by 65% in a year, reports the Korean Herald. At the same time the import of GM products intended for food and feed purposes has declined by 5%.
Citing numbers from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology's Korea Biosafety Clearing House, in the last two years the country has imported 9.7 million and 12.4 million tons, respectively, which would equate to a 21.7% decline year-on-year.
The Gyeonnggi provincial government has announced that it will hold a pilot cloud seeding test in cooperation with the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences,
reports the Korea Times. Justifying the move by citing the need to reduce "increasing volumes of harmful micro particles drifting in from deserts and industrial plants in China", the pilot test will involve the disbursement of reactive compounds into clouds in order to "find a correlation between cloud seeding and fine dust reduction". While the mass media continues to focus on the combustion of fossil fuels as the main catalyst to "man-made" climate change, a
premise which is widely debated in climate science circles, relatively little attention has been given to weather modification, which humans have actively been involved in for more than six decades, as comprehensively covered in our
2017 Climate Change Report.
Sent off to die in the barren wilderness of Kazakhstan in 1937, a group of ethnic-Koreans persisted through tough conditions and went on to make a lasting agricultural legacy in their new found home.
This article by The Korean Herald recalls their struggle and story of triumph.
