ASIA SEED INDUSTRY NEWS, AUGUST 2019: News briefs covering developments, breakthroughs and commentary about the seed, agriculture and farming industries across the Asia Pacific region. News summaries come from Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand. Click country title to expand.
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Dr. Qu of China is the new FAO Director General. See Inter-regional news below for more information. Photo: FAO[/caption]
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Chinese former Ag official takes over helm at FAO: Chinese national and former Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, P.R.C. Dr. Qu Dongyu commenced his new role as the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 1 August. Dr. Qu is slated to hold the position for four years, until 31 July 2023, taking over from Brazilian agronomist, Graziano da Silva. Qu was elected the UN agency's Director-General on 23 June, vying among five nominated candidates, and is its ninth Director-General since the Organization was founded on October 16, 1945. Look out for more details in Asian Seed Q3 issue, published in September.
US-China trade war heats up, seeds caught in cross-fire: More fuel was added to the fire that is US-China trade relations, with many new escalations making headlines in August. The Straits Times on August 5 reported that the Chinese government asked state enterprises to suspend purchases of US agricultural goods. The move was part of the latest series of jabs between the two economic giants sparked at the start of the month when the US threatened -- then later affirmed on August 13 -- it would impose new 10% tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, starting in September and December, which adds to the $250 billion worth of goods already subject to 25% tariffs as previously enforced earlier this year. Beijing responded on August 23 that it would impose its own new tariffs of between 5% and 10% on more than 1,717 US-originating items, estimated to be worth $75 billion, also to be collected in September and December. In the latest response, the US upped the ante even further by increasing the newest proposed tariff on $300 million worth of goods from 10 to 15%, while also proposing to raise the tariff on the previous $250mn worth of goods to 30% from 25%. The latter is slated to be effective from October 1.
Among the affected agricultural products affected by the latest lists of goods include various types of vegetables, fruits and sowing seeds. Stay tuned for a complete list of the types of sowing seeds and planting material from both countries to be affected by new tariffs.
India-Pakistan official trade halts in wake of Kashmir conflict escalation: Official trade relations between the two South Asian countries have officially been suspended in the wake of a decision in early August by the Indian government to revoke Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which gave some autonomous powers to Jammu and Kashmir. Following that decision, Pakistan’s federal cabinet on August 9 endorsed the decision to suspend bilateral trade, which is valued at millions of dollars every month, and covers the movement of a large quantity of raw materials, including fresh and dried fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds -- especially oilseeds and unginned cotton. The decades’ old fracas between the two countries began to escalate rapidly earlier this year when in February, India revoked the Most Favoured Nation trading status which it had granted to Pakistan in 1995, and subsequently imposed 200% import duties on Pakistani goods. Those sanctions were imposed following a suicide bombing on February 14 in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir that claimed 41 lives and which was blamed on a seperatist group with alleged ties to Pakistan. Though Pakistan did not initially reciprocate with its own sanctions, the tussle continued to escalate highlighted by some border skirmishes between the two countries’ militaries. Finally, Pakistan has imposed its own sanctions by officially suspending imports and exports to and from India through notifications SRO927 and SRO928, as reported in detail by Live Mint.
Demand for wheat, grains and flour on the up in SE Asia: A comprehensive report by world-grain.com highlights some interesting grain demand and supply trends in Southeast Asian countries, specifically with regard to raw grain imports, consumption and demand for flour and feed, and increasing activity and competitiveness of local mills -- in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, complete with estimates, forecasts and figures.
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Tasmania extends GM moratorium for another decade: The Weekly Times Australia reports on the August 7 announcement by the Tasmanian Government to extend the island state’s moratorium on genetically-modified (GM) crops for another 10 years. Cited in the news, a spokesperson from CropLife Australia -- representing Bayer, Sygenta, BASF and Corteva AgriScience -- expressed disappointment in the move, calling it a “a significant lost opportunity” that overlooks “30 years of scientific evidence and instead followed misleading, misinformed and outright false activist positions”. The government justified the decision as “an important part of the Tasmanian brand”. Tasmania is among two Australian territories with such a moratorium -- the other being South Australia.
BASF to enter Australia market with canola and wheat seeds, crop protection: Grain Central reports that leading seed, chemical and crop protection firm plans to launch new seed and crop production products to the Australian starting next year. The move, which culminates many years of localized R&D by BASF Australia and New Zealand, will see the roll out of Invigor hybrid canola varieties by next year, followed by the launch of main season spring wheat seeds for growers in New South Wales and Victoria by 2021. According to the article BASF is planning to introduce a total of 25 new crop protection products in Australia in the coming five years.
Spice trade eyed as govt carries out trials for five crops: Aiming to transform from a spice importer to exporter, Australia’s Federal government is backing research on the cultivation of five key spice crops -- cumin, caraway, black sesme, fennel and kalonji -- in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Australia 7 News and Xinhua report on the A$1.2 million project funded over three year period by the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia and led by researchers from Central Queensland University. The trials will be carried out in Katherine and Darwin in the Northern Territory, as well as Rockhampton, Biloela, Burdekin and Tully in Queensland. The global spice trade is estimated to be worth between 8 and 12 billion dollars, according to the articles.
Northern Territory legalizes industrial hemp: A bill proposed in May and passed into law in August, will make it legal to grow and process industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) “for food, fibre and seed production purposes”, reports Hemp Gazette. However, the new law forbits the extraction of cannabidiol from hemp crops, while THC concentration in leaves and flowering heads must not exceed 1%, or 0.5% for seeds. Legislation for cannabis in Australia varies by state, as covered recently by Asian Seed here.
Pests as pollinators: Concerned about a lack of pollinators in the garden/farm? Try throwing last night's raunchy leftovers near your crops. Addressing concerns of declining bee populations, researchers in Australia have validated the notion that pests such as flies and beatles can be a viable alternative to honeybees as pollinators for certain crops, such as blueberries, and even onion seeds. The researchers have experimented with simple yet effect ways to attract the pollinators, such as using smelly fish carcass that attract the pest-cum-pollinators, reports ABC Australia.
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Cambodia: 30,000 palm tree seeds planted at border with Laos: The Phonom Penh Post on August 13 reported on efforts in August by hundreds of soldiers, students and government officials to plant 30,000 seeds of palm trees along a 10km stretch of national road in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province near the border with Laos. The planting is the latest in efforts by Cambodia’s side to plant more trees at the recently-demarked border which spans three Cambodian provinces (Preah Vihear, Stung Treng and Ratanakiri) and two provinces of Laos (Attapeu and Champasak). Stung Treng is where the Mekong River flows south from Laos into Cambodia.
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Jiuquan is China’s flower, vegetable seed hub: ChinaSeed114.com reports on the “2nd Jiuquan Modern Seed Industry Expo” which was jointly organized by the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Department of Gansu Province, and the Jiuquan Municipal People's Government. The expo shocased some 437 new registered varieties of vegetables, including watermelons melons, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers from 22 provinces and 89 companies. According to the artical, the greater city of Jiuquan is one of China’s main seed production and breeding base hubs, with some 450,000 mu off area allocated to seed production, and annual see output of estimated to be 100 million kilograms. Production of flower seeds there reportedly accounts for about 30% of the country's total while the base is credited for supplying about half of the national seed export market. The greater Gansu Province is important for seed production, especially for hybrid corn, melon, and flower seed. The area of hybrid corn seed production stands at about 1.2 million mu, while that for melons and flowers spanning about 350,000 mu. The article also reveals some recent PVP registration trend figures: As of the end of July, the number of applications for registration of 29 crop varieties nationwide reached 24,593. Among them, 16,643 varieties of vegetables.
Seeds distributed in wake of typhoon: Hangzhou state officials have distributed maize, soya and vegetable seeds to farmers in Qingliangfeng town who were affected by the super typhoon “Lekima” which wreaked havoc in eastern China in August, with tens of thousand of hectares of farmland flooded and damaged, and no less than 54.432 million yuan in damages cited in the Qingliangfeng alone, reports Hangzhou news source.
Similarly YHNews reports on the distribution of 150kg of vegetable seeds, 6,000 packets, to farmers in Longxi whose crops were destroyed by typhoon. Seeds of rape, Chinese cabbage, spinach, corn, also distributed plant protection chemicals. 123,000 mu affected in this town? Check Xiaofeng exactly where.
And yet another reference: the director of the provincial seed Management station, Shi Junsheng, sent a batch of 680 kilograms of seeds, including those of vegetables, radishes, and soybeans, as well as other disaster relief items, in Pinghu City in Zhejiang province affected, replanting of vegetables 888 mu, carry out the pest control area of 78,300 mu; repair the collapsed livestock and poultry farm 1150 square meters, disinfect the livestock and poultry house 570,000 square meters; repair 2,253 damaged greenhouses, an area of 1,742 mu. The city has recovered a total of 5.783 million yuan in direct economic losses.
China gets big on genome editing: American Association for the Advancement of Science reports that Chinese scientists are leading the way with crop-improvement research utilizing genome-editing tools such as CRISPR.
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Mandatory certification, barcodes and heftier fines in proposed seed law revisions: The Indian Cabinet later this year will be asked to approve a revised seed law, reports The Hindu.com. According to the August 11 article, the existing 1966 Seed Act is outdated; proposed revisions include measures aimed at ensuring all seeds traded commercially will require laboratory-backed certification processes, and not just self-certification based on the “truthful label” practice that is the status quo for more than half of the country’s seeds at present. Moreover, the article mentions collaboration between the National Informatics Centre and the Agriculture Ministry to develop software for barcoding seed package units in a bid to improve traceability.
New high-yielding, disease-resistant basmati variety has promise: India Express reports on the optimistic prospects of one 53-year-old farmer in Punjab’s Amritsar district this year decided to grow the Pusa-1718 variety of basmati aromatic rice instead of the Pusa-1121 that he usually grows on a portion of his farm. The latter is said to be susceptible to bacteria blight, and prone to lodging in heavy rains. The blight-resistant, strong-culm Pusa-1718 variety was developed by breeders at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) who introduced genes wild rice species and another traditional landrace.
Sustainable novelty paper from seeds: Making paper for boxes, flags and cards using viable vegetable seeds as an ingredient is sustainable solution to waste being employed in India. The Times of India reports on initiatives of some entrepreneurs who sell seed paper products such as flags and greeting cards, which can be discarded into a planting pot after use, the discarded seeds germinating into wildflowers or tomatoes. The seed paper is made with seed, recycled cotton and reused paper pulp.
Above average rain in July saves some crops, spells doom for others: Bloomberg reports that ‘disaster was averted’ for Indian oilseed croppers when monsson season rains finally came back in full force in July following a dry month of June. According to the reort, rains in July were 4.6% ‘above normal’ across the country, compared to being 33% under par in June. The oilseed belt in the central region got 8.5% more rain than usual, compared to a 31% shortage in June.
- Krishna river overflows, >10,000 acres damaged in Telangana: Excess rain in the first part of August caused the Krishna river to breech its banks, with crop damage reported in Telengana’s Mahbubnagar, Narayanpet, Jogulamba Gadwal and Wanaparthy districts. No less than 10,000 acres of crops -- mostly paddy -- had been inundated, reports the New Indian Express.
- Hundreds of villages flooded in Odesha: The New Indian Express reports that rains raised water levels of the Tel, Utei and Rahul rivers, causing various parts of Kalahandi district to flood on August 15. According to preliminary assessments, no less than 10,000 acres of farmland had been damaged from flooding.
- Banana plantations washed out in Kerala: The New Indian Express reports on the woes of banana farmers in Kerala, southwest India, whose banana crops have been affected by downpours and flooding in August. Affected farmers include those in Wayanad district and at Kochi city, where 1.5 million bunches were reported damaged, in addition to some 300,000 unbunched crops. Moreover, spice crops (nutmeg and pepper) as well as rice and aquaculture farms have been affected.
Govt to to cut out grain middle men in Punjab, Haryana : The Economic Times India reports that the Indian government plans to reform the Minimum Support Price payment system in the two northern Indian states so that farmers are paid directly for their grain, and not through agents known as arthiyas. Even so, the report says that the arthiyas will still be paid a commission.
Cash crop farmers switch to herbs to counter hungry monkeys: VOA News reports that farmers in Himachal Pradesh, in northern India, have opted to grow herbs instead of the usual crops of rice, wheat and corn, citing the fact that hungry red-faced rhesus macaques that have been feeding off their field crops don’t like the herbs.
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Biotechnology workshop, inspection of GM sugarcane trials: Some 170 regulators, scientists, government officers and private sector representatives attended a workshop in July that focused on the merits of biotechnology for agriculture and food security, reports the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). The workshop concluded with a visit to a laboratory and field trials of GM sugarcane that has sugar output and is resistant to sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV).
Palm oil planting, exports swelling despite tariffs: According to Indonesian government data, as reported by a USDA GAIN report, the area planted with palm oil this year is between 14.3 and 17.9 million hectares, while forecasts for production and exports for the industry are optimistic despite tarrif-induced decline in exports to the key markets of the EU and India. Reasons cited include increase in demand from China and ASEAN countries, as well as the planned roll-out nationwide of B30 biofuel (a blend of 30% Crude Palm Oil with petrolium). Meanwhile, soybean demand is on the rise in Indonesia in the face of unstable corn production trends. Consumption is reported to be about 3 million tons-- 510,000 tons of which is produced locally.
Min of Ag urges for intercropping at drought-risk corn, rice and soy farms: The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, through the Directorate General of Food Crops is urging for farmers to plant alongside their mainstay field crops with other types of crops such as beans, tomatoes, chili peppers and eggplants, to diversify theirr income and mitigate potential losses in the face of dry conditions.
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Scientists pinpoint rice gene for herbicide resistance: The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) reports that Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) have isolated a gene that confers broad-spectrum resistance to β-triketone herbicides, citing the research which was published in Science late July.
Toyota brings efficiency to farming: Hosaku Keikaku is a program Toyota Motors has implemented to improve efficiency at farms since 2014, now benefiting operations at some 90 farms, reports Nikkei. By applying smartphone data collection at fields, farm business management and things as simple as equipment clutter tidying, the program has allowed farmers to work five-day work weeks with little to no unnecessary overtime.
USDA report on F&B trends in Japan: According to a July 2019 USDA Foreign Agricultural Serrvice GAIN Report, China, Thailand and Australia were Japan’s largest suppliers of consumer oriented food imports, as well as agricultural products, last year. Among the highlights in the report, processed vegetables are listed number 3 in the top 10 growth food products.
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Native seeds of Gyeonggi: As part of official seed conservation initiatives, plans are in action to open a new seed bank in South Korea’s most populous province of Gyeonggi. The seed bank, which will span 2,373 square meters, is slated to open in November, and will include some 1,700 seed samples collected from seven municipalities in the province, reports here and here.
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Landowners ordered to plant cash crops as fire breakers: The Borneo Post reports that the Sarawak government is mandating for landowners to clear their land of bushes and plant cash crops to function a “fire breakers”, to mitigate the threat of land fires catching and spreading. Suggested crops include pineapples, corn and fruit trees.
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Flooding in Bago Region: More than 45,000 acres of paddy fields spanning land around 10 townships have been damaged from flooding. 20,000 villagers affected, and govt distributed 14,000 buckets of paddy seeds as relief
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Woman deported for seed smuggling attempt: A women carrying a Fiji passport was reportedly deported after an inspection by Biosecurity New Zealand officers revealed undeclared seeds in the woman’s possession. According to Stuff New Zealand, the elderly woman ‘s luggage was inspected at Aukland International airport, where biosecurity officers discovered she had concealed fresh chili peppers, as well as seeds of basil and pigeon pea, among other items. The woman subsequently admitted she had planned to plant the seeds in her daughter’s garden in New Zealand, but was finally referred to Immigration, who refused entry and immediately processed her deportation. The story was also picked up by Chinese language media here and here . In 2017, New Zealand Immigration at Aukland International Airport in 2017 also deported a Korean woman who had attempted to smuggle in tomato seeds into the country, also revealing plans to plant the seeds in her daughter’s garden. Considering such incidents, Asian Seed strongly urges anyone travelling to New Zealand to think twice before trying to smuggle vegetable seeds, and to review declaration rules of Biosecurity New Zealand of the Ministry of Primary Industries.
‘Heirloom’ seed smuggler evades jail term after violating Biosecurity Act: A New Zealand man found guilty on four counts in violation of the Biosecurity Act on August 14 was sentenced at a Christchurch District Court to six months of community detention and 100 hours of community work. According to reports by Stuff New Zealand as well as New Zealand Herald, the 30-year-old defendant was found guilty of smuggling/attempting to smuggle in no less than 364 viable seeds, corms and seedlings, and selling some of these items. Importing seeds or other live plant material is subject to strict declaration, phytosanitary and quarantine requirements; failure to comply is a direct violation of the Biosecurity Act and can impose up to five years of prison and NZ$100,000 fine. However, the judge in this case was lenient on the suspect citing his apparent pure motives in trying to promote food security through “non GMO” or “heirloom” seeds from abroad. Nonetheless, in doing so, the law views the offense a serious risk of introducing phytosanitary pests.
Seed-hungry rat infestation in Auckland: Rat populations in Auckland’s Waitakere district are bulging, reports the New Zealand Herald. The news follows an earlier report of a rat infestation in nearby Titrangi. The Waitakere infestation is being blamed on the so called “mega mast” in which trees are yielding a large quantity of seeds that rats feed on. The rats not only feed on seeds, but are predators that feed on birds.
Brides bouquets spreading noxious weeds through seeds of imitation: In New Zealand wedding bouquets are reported to be made from flowers of the native toetoe plant; however, the New Zealand Herald reports that some are mistakenly making the bouquets from flower heads of a noxious weed, pampas grass, which has seeds that can spread uncontrollably via wind and water. The weed thrives in New Zealand, and is quite a nuisance.
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Govt seed lab gets ISTA accreditation: The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) announced on August 5 via its LinkedIn feed the recent accreditation of a seed testing labratory administered by the Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research: According to the appendix to the Certificate of Accreditation, the lab’s scope of accreditation includes manual seed lot sampling (cereals, pulses, vegetables and other agricultural crops); purity and identification of other seeds (cereals, pulses, other agricultural crops); germination (cereals, pulses, other agricultural crops); as well as weight determination (cereals, pulses, other agricultural crops). The labs accreditation validity period is July 9, 2019 to December 20, 2021.
Quality seed provisions at core of crop productivity boosting program: The News International Pakistan reports that the federal and provincial governments will jointly implement a number of projects in the coming years aimed at bolstering yields for wheat, rice, sugarcane and oilcrops. A total of 26 billion rupees ($164.5 million) has been earmarked for the projects, which will include the provision of quality, “true to type” certified seeds, as well as the implimentation of mechanized machinery.
SAARC rolls out S Asia drought monitoring tool: The South Asia and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Agriculture Centre has teamed up with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), and the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) to develop and launch a regional agriculture and drought outlook system, focused on the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) and the greater South Asian region. ICIMOD reported on July 30 that the web-based system, dubbed SAARC Regional Training on Earth Observation and Climate Data Analysis for Agricultural Drought Monitoring in South Asia “focuses on data development and analysis techniques tailored for use in drought monitoring to understand drought and its implications better, and minimize the impacts of drought in the region,” and was “developed in collaboration with regional partners and global technical institutions, including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT),” and “...can help agricultural sector professionals understand existing agro-climatic conditions by observing indicators and crop calendars,” helping to “identify forthcoming droughts and plan short- and long-term mitigation measures.”
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New old Ag Chief to address stagnant growth in face of rice price crisis: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Dr. William Dollente Dar as the Philippines acting Agriculturally Secretary. Official press statement of his policies here. Initially reported by Politics Philippines blog and also relayed on August 4 by Agri Info Davao Facebook. The news was confirmed by the Palace, reports ABS SIN on August 5. Dr. Dar is a former longtime director-general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and also was Philippines agriculture chief from 1998 to 1999. The change in leadership comes amid plummeting palay (rice) prices, which is widely reported to be linked to the implementation earlier this year of a Rice Tarrification Bill, which prompted a mass influx of cheap foreign rice. Quoted in an article by the Phil Star, Outgoing Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol blamed economic policies for the rice price crisis. The article notes that farmgate prices of rice have dropped from PHP20 to between PHP 12 and 14l / kg, directly impacting the work of some 200,000 farmers, the closing of 4,000 rice mills and anticipated economic losses of PHP114 billion this year. The Rappler reported on the new acting secretary's first press conference, noting Dr. Dar’s ambitions to see agriculture growth rise to as much as 4% annually, up from a mere 1% currently, proposing an 8-point strategy that involves reform, modernization, consolidation and export promotion, among other things.
Filipino farmers’ cacao beans selected as among world’s best: Paris event.
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Gain Report: According to a July 29 USDA Foreign Agricultural Service GAIN Report, Singapore agriculture product imports in 2018 were valued at $9 billion, while food industry output (processed foods) was at about $8 billion. The largest supplier of fresh vegetables to Singapore (market = $457 million) was Malaysia (38%), followed by China (24%); Australia (10%) and Thailand (5%). As for processed vegetables, the import market was worth $203 million; 29% came from United States; 25% from. China; 10% from Malaysia and 5% from Japan. The report als covers processed and fresh fruit, nuts and dairy.
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Herbicide import permits halted as Dept of Ag mulls ban: Thai PBS reports that the Department of Agriculture’s recently-appointed Deputy Minister, Manunya Thaiseth has ordered a suspension on issuing new permits to import paraquat, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate. The department is mulling a decision an ouright ban on the popular herbicides following pressure from civic groups, media and the Public Health Ministry, which has continued to mount pressure in the past few years; when the ban was proposed previously, a committee of experts and stakeholders reached a compromise that emphasised the need to educate farmers on proper use of the chemicals.
Thai FDA drafts new GMO regulations: According to Food Navigator Asia, Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration has notified the World Trade Organization about new regulations drafted that concern food or food products containing genetically modified organisms. The new regulations will require such GM foods (GMF) imported or intended to be sold in Thailand to undergo food safety assessments by a Thai FDA approved agency. The new regulation will also specifically prohibit food products that contain GMOs which are “capable of multiplication or of transferring genes” Feedback about the new regulations can be submitted to the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards until Setemer 3, 2019.
Key Korat reservoir drying up: The Bangok Post on August 17 reported that Nakhon Ratchasima’s Lam Sae reservoir had reached critically low levels, and was at only 21% capacity, or about 60 million cubic meters of its maximum 275 million cubic meters. The news is of great concern to local industry, residents and especially paddy farmers, who normally would require some one million cubic meters per day. The report cites rain being 70% below normal at the time of press.
Thai Dept of Ag certifying fruit plantations in GMP and GAP scheme for export to China, reports The Nation, that as of July 30, 425 of 461 fruit-packing plants had been certified in the scheme focusing on durian and mangosteen. “Based on agreed practices, fruit exports to the Thai and Chinese markets must clarify the registration number of the fruit packing plant’s Phytosanitary Certificate, together with mentioning the registration number of the plant and garden on all pieces of packaging. The agreement was reached on July 1 this year.”
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