Rice News 21feb22

China plans to feed 80 million people with
‘seawater rice’
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S UB SC R IB ER S C AN LIST E N T O TH IS AR T ICLE
Scientists in China developed new salt-tolerant rice strains
 Scientists in China developed new salt-tolerant rice strains by over-expressing

a gene from selected wild rice that’s more resistant to saline and alkali.
 Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a
yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last year, higher than the national average for
production of standard rice varieties.
 The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food
and energy supplies as global warming and geopolitical tensions make
imports less reliable.
Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located along the coast
of the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of salty, alkaline soil where crops
can’t survive. Yet, last autumn, Jinghai produced 100 hectares of rice.
The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed by Chinese
scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been threatened by rising sea levels,
increasing grain demand and supply chain disruptions.
Known as “seawater rice” because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the strains were
created by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s more resistant to saline
and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a
yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last year, higher than the national average for production of
standard rice varieties.
The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food and energy
supplies as global warming and geopolitical tensions make imports less reliable. The nation
has one-fifth of the world’s population, and that many mouths to feed, with less than 10% of
the Earth’s arable land. Meanwhile, grain consumption is rising quickly as the country grows
more wealthy.
“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture,” said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao Saline-Alkali

Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, drawing a parallel between the crucial
role semiconductors play in the development of new technologies and their role in the
ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Seawater rice could help improve China’s
grain production in the face of an “extremely complicated situation regarding climate change
and global food security,” she said.
China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since at least the 1950s. But the term “seawater
rice” only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years after the late Yuan Longping,
once the nation’s top agricultural scientist, began researching the idea in 2012.
Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice,” is considered a national hero for boosting grain
harvests and saving millions from hunger thanks to his work on high-yielding hybrid rice
varieties in the 1970s. In 2016, he selected six locations across the country with different
soil conditions that were turned into testing fields for salt-tolerant rice. The following year,
China established the research center in Qingdao where Wan works. The institute’s goal is
to harvest 30 million tons of rice using 6.7 million hectares of barren land.
“We could feed 80 million more people” with salt-tolerant rice, Yuan said in
a documentary broadcast in 2020. “Agricultural researchers like us should shoulder the
responsibility to safeguard food security,” he told a local newspaper in 2018.
Climate change has made the task more urgent. China’s coastal waters have risen faster
than the global average over the last 40 years, a worrying trend given the country’s deep
reliance on its long and low eastern coast for grain production. Successfully growing salt-
tolerant rice on a large scale would allow the country to utilize more of the increasingly salty
land in the area.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels around the world
could rise as much as 59 centimeters by the end of the century if the planet warms by 2
degrees Celsius. Oceans surrounding the U.S. will swell faster within the next three
decades than they did in the past century, according to a report this week led by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
President Xi Jinping has stressed in several recent meetings with top government officials
that ensuring the supply of primary goods is a “major strategic issue” given climate and
geopolitical pressures. “The food of the Chinese people must be made by and remain in the
hands of the Chinese,” he said at a gathering of the Politburo Standing Committee meeting
in December.
Chinese scientists are betting that land once dismissed as barren can be turned into
productive grain-producing plots. About 100 million hectares of land in the country, about
the size of Egypt, is high in saline and alkaline. Meanwhile arable land has
decreased 6% from 2009 to 2019 because of urbanization, pollution and overuse of
fertilizers.
To make use of salty soil, farmers traditionally dilute their fields with large amounts of fresh
water. The approach is still commonly used in some coastal regions. But the method
requires vast amounts of water and often doesn’t improve yields enough to make sense
economically.
“China is looking at another method now, to develop grain varieties that can withstand the
soil’s saltiness,” said Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher with China’s agricultural ministry. While
seawater rice has mostly been planted on trial fields so far, Zhang said he believes
commercial cultivation will soon take off with the government’s support.
The research team in Qingdao said last October that it can meet the goal of growing 6.7
million hectares of seawater rice within ten years. In 2021, the group was put in charge of
400,000 hectares of land to expand production of seawater rice.
“If China can be more self-sufficient in staple foods, it would be a contribution to the world's
food security too,” said Zhang. “The less China imports, the more other countries will have.”
https://www.news24.com/fin24/international/china-plans-to-feed-80-million-people-with-seawater-
rice-20220219
https://www.news24.com/fin24/international/china-plans-to-feed-80-million-people-with-seawater-
rice-20220219
RMRDC Establishes Rice

Processing Plant In Niger State
by Agency Report
3 hours ago

in BUSINESS
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
As part of efforts to promote the value chain potentials of Nigeria’s Agro commodities
and commit to food security agenda of the federal government, the Raw Materials
Research and Development Council (RMRDC), has commissioned a high grade Rice
Processing Centre in Kwakuti, Niger state.
Giving a keynote address during the inauguration in Kwakuti, Niger State, the director
general and chief executive officer of the Council, Professor Hussaini Doko Ibrahim said
the Rice processing centre was initiated and built to reduce rural poverty, create
employment and achieve accelerated production and economic growth for women rice
processing group in the community on a sustainable basis.
Ibrahim, who was represented at the occasion by the director Chemical Materials and
Pharmaceuticals Department, RMRDC, Mrs. Hajara Tanko, said the Council had
embarked on this project in partnership with Niger state government through IFAD value
chain development programme and various processors of commodities. He said the
objective was to put up common facilities for the processors across board in Nigeria to
reduce their operational costs even as he maintained that the processors will have to
pay a token for their commodities to be processed.
“The operation of this common facility will entail that the money realized from these
charges shall be used to purchase spare parts, fueling, and payment of electricity and
water bills”, he added.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Speaking further, the RMRDC boss stated that the interest of RMRDC in cluster
arrangements is to promote local raw materials processing for domestic use and export,
saying the deliberate attempt by the Buhari administration to stop the importation of rice
is yielding a lot of dividends.
“This is why we have totally resolved to give our widows mite in the establishment of
rice clusters to promote local production and create employment opportunities for our
teaming youths in Nigeria. And we will also like to appeal to beneficiaries of this project
to continue to cooperate with one another for progress and further development of this
cluster.” Prof Ibrahim concluded.
Also speaking at the commissioning, the Honourable Commissioner of Agriculture and

Rural Development, Niger State Engr. Ibrahim Muhammad Panti acknowledged the
effort and collaboration between the IFAD Value Chain Development Programme
Additional Financing and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council
(RMRDC) which had ensured the successful completion and equipping of the Kwakuti
Rice Processing facility.
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https://leadership.ng/rmrdc-establishes-rice-processing-plant-in-niger-state/
School-on-air boosts 1,900 Negrense

farmers
NEGROS. Some of the farmer-graduates of the School-On-Air on Smart Rice Agriculture Technologies
program of the Department of Agriculture during the Provincial Mass Graduation and Awarding Program held
at Nature's Village in Talisay City on February 17. (Contributed photo)
ERWIN P. NICAVERA
February 20, 2022
- A A +
SOME 1,900 farmers in Negros Occidental have gained boost through the School-On-Air on Smart Rice
Agriculture (SOA-SRA) Technologies program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
It also contributed to the increase in the rice self-sufficiency level of the province, which currently stands
at 87.52 percent.
Aired over DYEZ Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod from June to September 2021, the program seeks to optimize
the yield performance and reduce the production expenses of participating farmers.
As a collaborative endeavor of the agency's Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in Western Visayas,
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, the
SOA-SRA intends to capacitate farmers in resolving the emerging sectoral constraints and making the
rice production industry more resilient and competitive.
It is being implemented nationwide.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1921481/bacolod/business/school-on-air-boosts-1900-negrense-
farmers
Economic Daily: improve the system

and stabilize the energy rice bowl

Technology,Consumer StaplesUpdated 11 hours ago (GMT+8)· EqualOcean
The article of the economic daily pointed out that energy is related to the
national economy, the people's livelihood and national security. We need to
use the system to ensure that "the rice bowl of energy is in our own hands"
and prevent the events of "black swan" and "grey rhinoceros" in the energy
field. Under the "double carbon" goal, China's energy transformation and
development has entered a critical period, and the society lacks confidence in
traditional fossil energy investment. The European energy crisis reveals that it
is difficult to fully rely on the spontaneous regulation of the market to give full
play to the role of fossil energy. It also needs to give better play to the role of
the government and more supporting systems and mechanisms.
This text is a result of machine translation.

https://equalocean.com/briefing/20220221230121475
has helped 500 farmers so far; pesticide usage reduced by 50-60% for several
crops
The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here in association with the
National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) in Cuttack, Odisha, has successfully
implemented the ‘pheromone’ technology in Odisha for protecting crops like maize,
groundnut, cucurbits, col crops like cabbage and cauliflower, and vegetables like
brinjal and tomato.
Pheromone Application Technology (PAT) is when an adult male insect is lured

through a female sex hormone-mimicking scent prepared in the lab and taken to fields
to stop natural mating and thereby, preventing reproduction of next generation of
pests.
“Our pheromone technology has benefited 500 farmers directly and the usage of
pesticides has been reduced by 50-60% in cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal, tomato,
cucurbits, groundnut, vegetables in Odisha,” said IICT chief scientist B.V. Subba
Reddy. PAT will now be popularised of another 1,500 hectares area in other districts
of Odisha during the current year.
The technology was popularised by conducting training programmes and conducting

field demonstrations on farmers’ fields in five villages in Dhenkanal district —
Parjang, Sogor, Hatipada, Saptasajia and Parvathiya — covering about 400 hectares,
he said.
Using the technology has also helped double farmers’ income through reduction of
pesticide usage by half, enhancing the quality of the produce and yield increase of
crops. PAT has received widespread appreciation and acceptance among the farmers,
leading to a lot of demand for the pheromone ‘lures’ or traps. Many local
entrepreneurs have evinced interest in making them, said fellow scientists B.
Nagendra Babu and Rajasekhar.
The Rashriya Krishi Vikas Yojana of the Odisha government has sanctioned a project
to NRRI-Cuttack for promoting pheromone traps to manage fall armyworm and other
insect pests in four other districts besides Dhenkanal like Koraput, Navrangpur,
Gajapati and Phulbani, said the IICT scientists. The same technology was used to deal
with cotton crop pests in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
IICT had already supplied the necessary pheromone lures to NRRI under this project
launched in October last year. The objective is to reduce the usage of harmful
pesticides by utilising PAT for managing major insect pests in rice, maize, vegetables,
oilseeds and fruit crops on the targetted 1,500 hectares, added Mr. Subba Reddy.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1kxY8s1lUocJ:https://www.thehindu.com/
news/national/telangana/iict-pheromone-traps-for-pest-control-in-odisha/
article65068112.ece+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk
Scientists discover how to grow ‘seawater rice’, China

plans to feed 8 crore people
Chinese scientists are betting that land once dismissed as barren can be turned into productive grain-
producing plots (Photo: AFP)4 min read . Updated: 20 Feb 2022, 07:46 PM ISTBloomberg
Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in a bid to ensure food security
as sea levels rise from climate change.
Listen to this article
Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located along the
coast of the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of salty, alkaline soil
where crops can’t survive. Yet, last autumn, Jinghai produced 100 hectares of rice.
The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed by
Chinese scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been threatened by
rising sea levels, increasing grain demand and supply chain disruptions.
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Known as “seawater rice" because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the strains
were created by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s more resistant to
saline and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality that encompasses Jinghai—
recorded a yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last year, higher than the national average
for production of standard rice varieties.
The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food and
energy supplies as global warming and geopolitical tensions make imports less
reliable. The nation has one-fifth of the world’s population, and that many mouths to
feed, with less than 10% of the Earth’s arable land. Meanwhile, grain consumption is
rising quickly as the country grows more wealthy.
“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture," said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao Saline-
Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, drawing a parallel between
the crucial role semiconductors play in the development of new technologies and their
role in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Seawater rice could help
improve China’s grain production in the face of an “extremely complicated situation
regarding climate change and global food security," she said.
China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since at least the 1950s. But the term
“seawater rice" only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years after the late
Yuan Longping, once the nation’s top agricultural scientist, began researching the
idea in 2012.
Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice," is considered a national hero for boosting
grain harvests and saving millions from hunger thanks to his work on high-yielding
hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. In 2016, he selected six locations across the country
with different soil conditions that were turned into testing fields for salt-tolerant rice.
The following year, China established the research center in Qingdao where Wan
works. The institute’s goal is to harvest 30 million tons of rice using 6.7 million
hectares of barren land.
“We could feed 80 million more people" with salt-tolerant rice, Yuan said in a
documentary broadcast in 2020. “Agricultural researchers like us should shoulder the
responsibility to safeguard food security," he told a local newspaper in 2018.
https://www.livemint.com/science/news/scientists-discover-how-to-grow-seawater-rice-china-plans-to-
feed-8-crore-people-11645365957823.html
Rice profits up around 15 pct

Major rice producers and exporters saw their after-tax profits last year increase around 15 percent against
the previous year thanks to stronger domestic and overseas sales with higher export prices.
Loc Troi Group JSC reaped the biggest-ever revenues of over VND10.2 trillion ($443.4 million) and after-tax
profits of more than VND420 billion, up 36 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Vietnam National Seed Group JSC (Vinaseed) made revenues of over VND1.93 trillion and after-tax profits of
more than VND225 billion, posting respective year-on-year rises of 18 percent and 16 percent.
Both net revenues and after-tax profits of Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC increased 15 percent to VND3.12
trillion and over VND100 billion.
Vietnam exported over 6.2 million tons of rice totaling nearly $3.3 billion last year, according to the General
Department of Vietnam Customs.
The average export price of Vietnamese rice rose 5.5 percent against 2020 to $526.8 per ton in 2021,
according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Loc Troi exported over 80,000 tons of rice worth over VND1 trillion, quadrupling in both volume and value
against 2020. Vinaseed exported 60 tons of premium fragrant rice to the U.K. for the first time.
Domestic sales also increased last year, partly due to social distancing measures imposed to curb Covid-19.
Hoa Sen Rice told VnExpress its sales surged 45 percent in 2021.
The Vietnam Food Association predicted Vietnam, which exported 505,700 tons of rice worth $246 million in
January, would export over 6 million tons of rice this year. However, a sharp increase in prices of agricultural
materials, especially fertilizers, will increase input costs and lowers farmer incomes.
Author Name: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/industries/rice-profits-up-around-15-pct-44299
21 February,2022
Downloads
Pakistan has potential of $4.5b rice exports
Pakistan has the
potential of $4.5 billion rice exports, but currently, the exports stand at $2.1 billion, WealthPK reported. By
taking pragmatic steps, Pakistan can improve its production and exports, according to Syed Fakhar Imam,
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research. The minister said in a statement that Pakistan’s
total production of rice this season is 9 million tons. Pakistan’s domestic consumption of rice was 3.5 million
tons in FY 2020-21. He said that with a total stock of 2.5 million tons from the previous year, Pakistan now
has an export potential of 8 million tons. Globally, Pakistan is the fourth largest rice exporter and the 11th
largest rice producer, WealthPK reported. Rice yields are 2.56 tons per hectare in Pakistan, but the world
average is 4.7 tonnes per hectare, which shows there is a lot of room for improvement. During pre and post-
harvesting, a large amount of rice is lost, WealthPK reported. Post-harvesting accounts for direct loss of rice
physically and quality-wise that reduces the economic value of crop or makes it unsuitable for human
consumption. Due to over-exposure to fluctuating temperature, a huge quantity of rice is cracked during
threshing, causing rice breakage during processing (milling) and reducing its quality. Journal of Agricultural
Research and Technology states that due to mismanagement, pest attack, and spoilage, almost 25 percent of
rice is lost after harvest in developing countries. Different stages of rice crops and how it is wasted are
described below, WealthPK reported. Technological innovation is an important factor in boosting agricultural
output and reducing wastage. Developing countries like Pakistan lag in the latest/up-to-date technologies.
Weak transportation and crop management system are important factors that increase the probability of rice
wastages. Almost 95 percent of farmers own less than 12.5 acres of land.
Author Name: https://pakobserver.net/pakistan-has-potential-of-4-5b-rice-exports/
Scientists discover how to grow ‘seawater rice’, China plans to
feed 8 crore people
Chi
nese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise
from climate change. Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located along the
coast of the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of salty, alkaline soil where crops can’t survive.
Yet, last autumn, Jinghai produced 100 hectares of rice. The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-
tolerant rice strains developed by Chinese scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been
threatened by rising sea levels, increasing grain demand and supply chain disruptions. Known as “seawater
rice" because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the strains were created by over-expressing a gene from
selected wild rice that’s more resistant to saline and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality that
encompasses Jinghai—recorded a yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last year, higher than the national average
for production of standard rice varieties. The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure
domestic food and energy supplies as global warming and geopolitical tensions make imports less reliable.
The nation has one-fifth of the world’s population, and that many mouths to feed, with less than 10% of the
Earth’s arable land. Meanwhile, grain consumption is rising quickly as the country grows more wealthy.
“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture," said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research
and Development Center, drawing a parallel between the crucial role semiconductors play in the
development of new technologies and their role in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.
Seawater rice could help improve China’s grain production in the face of an “extremely complicated situation
regarding climate change and global food security," she said. China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since
at least the 1950s. But the term “seawater rice" only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years
after the late Yuan Longping, once the nation’s top agricultural scientist, began researching the idea in 2012.
Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice," is considered a national hero for boosting grain harvests and
saving millions from hunger thanks to his work on high-yielding hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. In 2016, he
selected six locations across the country with different soil conditions that were turned into testing fields for
salt-tolerant rice. The following year, China established the research center in Qingdao where Wan works.
The institute’s goal is to harvest 30 million tons of rice using 6.7 million hectares of barren land. “We could
feed 80 million more people" with salt-tolerant rice, Yuan said in a documentary broadcast in 2020.
“Agricultural researchers like us should shoulder the responsibility to safeguard food security," he told a local
newspaper in 2018. Climate change has made the task more urgent. China’s coastal waters have risen faster
than the global average over the last 40 years, a worrying trend given the country’s deep reliance on its long
and low eastern coast for grain production. Successfully growing salt-tolerant rice on a large scale would
allow the country to utilize more of the increasingly salty land in the area. According to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels around the world could rise as much as 59
centimeters by the end of the century if the planet warms by 2 degrees Celsius. Oceans surrounding the U.S.
will swell faster within the next three decades than they did in the past century, according to a report this
week led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. President Xi Jinping has stressed in
several recent meetings with top government officials that ensuring the supply of primary goods is a “major
strategic issue" given climate and geopolitical pressures. “The food of the Chinese people must be made by
and remain in the hands of the Chinese," he said at a gathering of the Politburo Standing Committee meeting
in December. Chinese scientists are betting that land once dismissed as barren can be turned into productive
grain-producing plots. About 100 million hectares of land in the country, about the size of Egypt, is high in
saline and alkaline. Meanwhile arable land has decreased 6% from 2009 to 2019 because of urbanization,
pollution and overuse of fertilizers. To make use of salty soil, farmers traditionally dilute their fields with large
amounts of fresh water. The approach is still commonly used in some coastal regions. But the method
requires vast amounts of water and often doesn’t improve yields enough to make sense economically. “China
is looking at another method now, to develop grain varieties that can withstand the soil’s saltiness," said
Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher with China’s agricultural ministry. While seawater rice has mostly been planted
on trial fields so far, Zhang said he believes commercial cultivation will soon take off with the government’s
support. The research team in Qingdao said last October that it can meet the goal of growing 6.7 million
hectares of seawater rice within ten years. In 2021, the group was put in charge of 400,000 hectares of land
to expand production of seawater rice. “If China can be more self-sufficient in staple foods, it would be a
contribution to the world's food security too," said Zhang. “The less China imports, the more other countries
will have."
Author Name: https://www.livemint.com/science/news/scientists-discover-how-to-grow-seawater-rice-
china-plans-to-feed-8-crore-people-11645365957823.html
Date: 21-Feb-2022
Soil is Rapidly Deteriorating in Europe;
It’s a Warning to Other Nations
Shivani Meena Updated 21 February, 2022 12:52 PM IST Published on 21 February, 2022 12:40 PM IST
Deteriorated Soil Health
According to a recent study, the soil of the Mediterranean region is eroding and
land is turning to desert quicker than any other place in the European
Union. Experts warn that the combined consequences of unsustainable land
practices and climate change have reduced a scarce resource to the point that it is
no longer usable.
Mediterranean region: A region with the greatest rates of

erosion and lowest organic matter
Seawater intrusion, erosion, drought, and wildfires are all regular events in the
shallow soil of the Mediterranean region. In reality, this region has the greatest
rates of erosion and the lowest amounts of soil organic matter in the European
Union. Meanwhile, the dense population of the region has resulted in widespread
concrete or asphalt streets, as well as heavy metal and pesticide contamination of
the ground.
When soil is healthy, it can store and drain water. It also produces 95% of the
food consumed by humans. The essential life-giving activities of soil are
disrupted when it is degraded. The Mediterranean cuisine and economy are
praised for their tomatoes, grapes, and olives, yet they are becoming increasingly
difficult to sustain. Despite this, there has been relatively little study done on the
likely causes of soil deterioration in the region.
Only a few studies focus on Biological deterioration

Many of the research included in the review focused on erosion-related soil
deterioration, while just a few looked at biological degradation. Ants and
earthworms are recognized to aid in the regulation of nutrients below ground,
and their efforts serve to maintain the soil's integrity. Have these underground
communities altered as a result of human influence? And how is this affecting the
environment around them?
RELATED LINKS
IIT Kanpur Develops Rapid Soil Testing Device that Displays Results in Just 90 Seconds
One of the Top Engineering institute of the country, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur
(IIT-K) has invented a portable soil checking…

We don't know the answers, and we're out of time to figure them out.
The risk of desertification
Droughts have been on the rise in the Mediterranean since the 1950s, forcing
some farmers to quit their property and putting the region at risk
of desertification. Wildfires may become more likely as a result of this.
The authors state, "Changes to agricultural systems, together with other land-use
changes, are contributing to critical levels of habitat loss." "This is especially
concerning because the Mediterranean region is known for its amazing
biodiversity, which includes a huge number of endemic species... "
This research, which is the first to assess and evaluate the status of soil in the
European Mediterranean, finds that no special EU regulation exists to safeguard
rural soils from urbanization. Despite a review identifying salinization to be a
substantial threat to the soil, it is not addressed in specific EU policies.
The authors conclude, "Overall, there is a widespread absence of frequent

systematic assessments of Mediterranean soils, as well as a formal authority to
compile and integrate relevant information."
If the EU intends to avoid additional soil degradation, it must cease treating its
soil as dirt.
https://krishijagran.com/agriculture-world/soil-is-rapidly-deteriorating-in-europe-it-s-a-warning-to-
other-nations/
TikTok Trend: Have You This

Viral Vegan Salmon Rice Bowl?
21 hours ago
By Holly Woodbury
Lead Video Source : healthygirlkitchen/TikTok
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This viral salmon rice bowl trend has been all over TikTok recently. With over 5 million
views, Emily Mariko, the original creator of this viral recipe seemed to take over the app
with this recipe. Unfortunately, the original recipe is made with real fish and dairy.
Luckily, some vegan TikTok users saw this as an opportunity to create a veganized
version so everyone can enjoy this recipe and no one ever feels left out! Danielle Brown,
aka @HealthyGirlKitchen shows us step by step how to make this vegan salmon rice
bowl so we can decide for ourselves if it’s worth the hype.
Instead of salmon, this recipe calls for tofu. Sauté your tofu in a pan, and add Teriyaki
sauce and sesame seeds. Once your tofu is crispy. and golden brown, add it over top of
white sushi rice. Break apart the tofu with your fork into small pieces and mix it into the
white rice. This should make the tofu resemble salmon. Add as much soy sauce as you
would like. You can even add sriracha and vegan mayo for an added kick of spice! Mix
everything to combine and add some sliced avocado and vegan kimchi on top. Finally,
take some seaweed or nori wraps, add some of the tofu rice mixture to resemble a taco,
and enjoy!
Advertisement
If you’re skeptical of using tofu instead of salmon in this recipe, don’t be! Even the
biggest tofu skeptics will love this recipe. Not only is this dish so simple and delicious,
but it will satisfy those cravings for fishy flavors on a vegan diet!
Related Content:
 10 Plant-Based Meat Recipes That Went Viral on TikTok!
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Student research points to functional uses of

green banana flour in cat food
Source: ©MARIA - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
02.18.2022
By Jordan Tyler
ATLANTA — How does green banana flour affect texture and color in canned cat food
formulas? Clare Hsu, graduate student at the University of Illinois, answered this
question in her presentation at the American Feed Industry Association’s (AFIC) Pet
Food Conference on Jan. 25, held in conjunction with International Production &
Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Ga.
Hsu was one of three graduate students selected by AFIA to share her research during
the annual conference. Her research was focused on the chemical composition of green
banana flour, how it affects texture and color in canned diets for felines, and digestibility,
metabolic and fecal characteristics related to the study. The study was supported by
Simmons Pet Food.
Clare Hsu, graduate student at the University of Illinois,

studies resistant starch in feline nutrition, hydrolyzed and
plant proteins in canine nutrition, and the effects of extrusion
on protein quality. (Source: LinkedIn)
Green banana flour: composition and

application
Hsu opened by noting the popularity and

accessibility of bananas. Unripe bananas can be
dried into green banana flour, which has been used
in human food applications as a gluten-free
substitute for wheat flour, she explained.
“It is low in sugar and starch and high in fiber –

resistant starch type two, to be specific,” Hsu said.
“Typically, in green banana flour, there is 30% to
50% of resistant starch. These huge benefits for human health could also be translated
into the companion animal nutrition industry.”
The ingredient can also serve as a natural thickening agent during processing, or as a
color additive for light brown applications, Hsu said.
In the study, Hsu compared three starch sources: green banana flour, rice flour and
potato flour. All three are low in fat and protein. The green banana flour and potato flour
are higher in total dietary fiber compared to rice.
“Because the green banana flour is a more novel ingredient, we wanted to know more
about the carbohydrate content of this ingredient,” Hsu said. “So, we did a resistance
starch analysis and we found out that 40.9% of the green banana flour is resistant
starch.”
With this knowledge of the chemical composition of green banana flour, Hsu and her
team conducted a feline feeding trial. The trial included 40 domestic cats with an
average age of 5.7 years old and an average body weight of 5.3 kgs (11.7 lbs). The cats
were randomly assigned to five treatment groups of eight cats. The first group was fed
the rice flour control diet, the second group was fed the potato flour control diet, and the
other three groups were fed diets with varying percentages of green banana flour.
All diets had similar chemical compositions, and Hsu stated there was no difference
seen in food intake across all three diets.
“We formulated all the diets to be very similar in composition except for the testing
starch [green banana flour],” Hsu said. “For the rice control diet, we had 4% rice flour
[and] the potato control had 4% dehydrated potato. The 1% green banana flour diet had
a 1% substitution of rice flour to green banana flour, the 2% GBF [green banana flour]
diet had a 2% substitution, and the 4% GBF diet had a complete substitution.”
The diets were then analyzed for texture parameters, including hardness, cohesiveness,
springiness, gumminess, and resilience, as well as color based on brightness,
greenness, redness, blueness and yellowness.
The texture analysis showed rice flour and potato flour diets had higher hardness
compared to all three green banana flour diets, while the green banana flour diets had
more cohesiveness compared to the rice flour and potato flour diets. The green banana
flour diets scored similarly to the rice flour diet for resilience, while the potato flour diet
had higher resilience. For gumminess, the rice flour diet scored the highest and the
green banana flour diets scored the lowest.
For the color analysis, Hsu measured parameters before and after retort processing.
After retort, the rice flour diet was the brightest, the potato flour diet was the yellowest,
and the 4% green banana flour diet was the darkest. For digestibility, there was no
notable difference between the three diets, Hsu stated.
“From the approximate analysis we can see that the green banana flour is high in
resistant starch, which is indigestible, so it could be a good source of fiber for
companion animal nutrition and fiber has benefits for gut health,” Hsu said. “From a
more manufacturing standpoint, we can see that from the color and texture analysis that
adding green banana flour affected the texture and color; it had a lower hardness and a
higher cohesiveness. Whether this is beneficial or not really depends on the
manufacturer.
“For the color we saw that adding 4% of green banana flour made the diet a darker
brown, which could be beneficial for some formulas — for example, the ones with red
meat — just to increase the customer appeal,” she said. “From a nutritional standpoint,
there was no difference seen in nutrient digestibility, fecal characteristics and
metabolites, so we can say that the green banana flour is comparable to traditional
starch sources like rice and potato, which could also be formulated into the diet.”
In conclusion, Hsu stated the use of green banana flour does affect texture and color in
a canned food, and the performance of diets containing green banana flour was
comparable to more traditional starch sources. Applications would be discretionary
based on specific target product specifications, but the fact that green banana flour is
more of a “novel ingredient,” according to Hsu, could gain traction with label-conscious
consumers and increase tag appeal.
Scientists’ services vital for production of

quality seed: minister
February 20, 2022
LAHORE : The 121st Board Meeting of Punjab Seed Corporation was held
under the chairmanship of Punjab Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain
Jahania Gardezi here on Saturday. The issues related to farming sector were
reviewed during the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Provincial Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain

Jahania Gardezi said that Punjab Seed Corporation is playing a pivotal role in
providing quality and cheap seeds to the farmers. He stressed that PSC should
utilize the services of research institutions and scientists for increasing the
production of quality seed.
With the approval of the Board members, he directed the Punjab Seed
Corporation to assign responsibility to the farm managers for the losses
incurred on the agricultural farms and issued instructions to the Managing
Director of PSC to resolve the issue of relinquishing the occupied lands of
Punjab Seed Corporation as early as possible.
The provincial minister said that the issue of 17 percent GST levied on local
seeds would be taken up with the federal government. Allowing professional
hiring to improve the management sector, he said that PSC should set
minimum targets and standards for all the departments working under its
supervision so that only hard working and capable employees could get
bonuses and rewards.
Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi further said that Seed Corporation needs to
rationalize all its posts so that the process of recruitment of eligible persons
for important vacancies can be completed. On the occasion, Punjab
Agriculture Secretary Asad Rehman Gilani said that Punjab Seed Corporation
should prepare a workable business plan and present it in the next Board
meeting. He said that employees of PSC could achieve their purpose by
increasing the existing Salary Package instead of purposed pay package.
The Secretary Agriculture said that the Seed Corporation should ensure to sale
out its existing stock of 3400 seed bags on market rate. Furthermore, he
directed to sign an agreement of memorandum of understanding with Kala
Shah Kaku Rice Institute for preparing the Hybrid Seed for rice crop.
Earlier, Managing Director Punjab Seed Corporation Fazlur Rehman gave a

detailed briefing to the participants of meeting about the sale of Wheat Seed,
program for Quality Seed Production and Dissemination, Procurement of
Kharif crops and Multiplication status of Rabi crops, sale rates of Kharif crops
and imposition of sales tax on sales of seeds for the financial year 2021-22. He
further told the meeting about recruitment against vacant critical posts and
up-gradation of Store Clerks from BS-7 to BS-9.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Agriculture Punjab Asad Rehman
Gillani, Managing Director Punjab Seed Corporation Fazlur Rehman, Board
Members Javed Qureshi, Malik Aftab Kachchi, Asif Majeed, Madam Rabia
Sultan and senior officers of P&D, C&W and Finance Department.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/935112-scientists-services-vital-for-production-of-quality-seed-
minister
Low glycemic rice provides

diabetics with an option
 Feb 20, 2022
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Gumbo prepared with Frontiére, a low-glycemic rice variety developed by LSU AgCenter scientists
that is being sold across the state under the Parish Rice brand. This rice is a healthy alternative for
diabetics and those who are pre-diabetic.
 Mandy Armentor, LSU AgCenter
Frontiére, a low-glycemic rice developed by the LSU AgCenter is being sold across the state under
the Parish Rice brand. This rice is a healthy alternative for diabetics and those who are pre-diabetic.
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For people interested in keeping their blood sugar levels in check, they now have a
new tool thanks to rice developed at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station in
Crowley.
AgCenter area nutrition agent Mandy Armentor said Frontiére is a low glycemic rice
variety developed by LSU AgCenter scientists that went to market under the Parish
Rice label late in 2021.
Armentor said in addition to being non-GMO, Frontiére also has 5 grams of protein.
Other rice varieties have only 1 to 2 grams of protein per one-half cup serving when
cooked.
“That is great news for people with diabetes or who have been diagnosed as pre-
diabetic who need to watch the amount and type of carbohydrates they consume,
which affect blood sugar levels,” she said. “A low glycemic food means that when
the food is metabolized by the body, there is a gradual rise in blood sugar levels as
opposed to a food which might be high on the glycemic index that will cause a rapid
rise in blood sugar levels.”
There are three groups of glycemic ratings for food: low with a glycemic index of 55
or less, medium with a glycemic index of 56 to 69 and high with a glycemic index of
70 to 100.
Frontiére has an average rating of 41, which is 14 points lower than other varieties
of rice and is classified in a low-glycemic group. It has the lowest glycemic index
ever reported in commercially viable rice, she said.
This is welcome news for a state where many of the main dishes such as gumbo,
etouffee and jambalaya are served with rice and for people who might shy away
from them for dietary concerns.
Armentor said this low glycemic rice will transform rice from a food shunned
because of health concerns to one that is consumed.
“I actually cooked some over the weekend and tested it on my family,” she said. “We
had it with gumbo and nobody could tell that it was any different from traditional
rice in taste, texture and appearance.”
Armentor said she cooked it with an electric rice cooker and it was not different
from cooking other varieties of long-grain rice.
She said the biggest difference that she noticed is the low glycemic rice was a good
bit stickier than traditional rice.
“Parish Rice is available at all of the Rouses grocery stores in Louisiana and a
number of the local grocery stores,” she said.
Other benefits of consuming low glycemic rice are it’s Louisiana grown with
complete traceability; it has small amounts of sodium, fat and cholesterol; it’s a
good source of energy-providing complex carbohydrates; it’s easy to prepare; and
it’s gluten-free like any other rice variety, she said.
Research has shown that consumption of lower-glycemic foods can help prevent
unnecessary snacking and excessive calorie consumption, thereby making this low
glycemic rice a useful tool in obesity prevention.
“One must remember that just because a food is low glycemic, you still have to
watch out for your portion size, especially those with pre-diabetes or diabetes,” she
said.
Armentor said consuming low glycemic diets has been shown to reduce risks of
cancer, heart disease and other medical conditions in studies.
Frontiére, a low-glycemic rice developed by the LSU AgCenter is being sold across
the state under the Parish Rice brand. This rice is a healthy alternative for diabetics
and those who are pre-diabetic.
Mandy Armentor, LSU AgCenter
Gumbo prepared with Frontiére, a low-glycemic rice variety developed by LSU

AgCenter scientists that is being sold across the state under the Parish Rice brand.
This rice is a healthy alternative for diabetics and those who are pre-diabetic.
Mandy Armentor, LSU AgCenter
http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_business/local_business/article_bcee6a80-9063-11ec-
a79c-0b0b983a1910.html
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AGRO SOLUTIONS: Search
For High Yield: Singapore
Harvests Rice From Vertical
Farm
Rice grown in a vertical farm
By
 ..
Sun, 20 Feb 2022 00:33:03 GMT



Singapore has harvested the first Temasek rice, a hardy and climate-resistant variety
grown in pilot vertical farm.
The variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life Science Laboratory. It is a
dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6 tons per hectare. It is tolerant of drought,
can survive under floodwater for up to 2 weeks, and is highly resistant to bacterial and
fungal diseases.
 Kwankwaso, ministers, others storm Kano as AGF Idris marries off daughter
 NEF’ll only support candidate with will to tackle insecurity – Baba-Ahmed
Although grown commercially in Indonesia, the Temasek rice harvest in Singapore will
only be used for research and development on growing crops in urban farm settings.
Singapore is not usually associated with rice production, much less with the
development of new varieties. So it may come as a surprise that the highly urbanised
city-state is the birthplace of a sturdy high-yielding rice variety designed to cope with
extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change.
Known as Temasek, the variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life
Science Laboratory (TLL) in Singapore. It is a dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6
tons per hectare. In addition, Temasek is a low-input variety and can be grown with
fewer agricultural resources. Although Temasek is a tough plant in the field, its grain is
soft, tasty, and rich in dietary fiber, and it has a good aroma when cooked.
In 2013, the Singapore-based Lee Foundation and the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) launched a scholarship programmeto educate and train a new generation
of young rice scientists and researchers to help feed Asia in the future.
Known as the Lee Foundation Rice Scholarship Programme, it offers South and South-
East Asians in the early stages of their careers a unique opportunity to acquire an
excellent education from leading academic institutions in areas such as gene discovery
and bioinformatics, modern rice breeding, rice systems of the future, and economics and
policy. The programme has already granted six postdoctoral fellowship positions, two
MS degree scholarships, and 30 PhD scholarships to students from nine countries in
South and South-East Asia.
Singapore could play a leading role in regional food security and help stabilise rice
prices if it took up the opportunity to host a rice futures and a spot exchange, which
includes the actual buying and selling of rice for immediate delivery.
In the report, Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia, produced by a
high-level international task force on rice-based food security, the need for a rice futures
market is highlighted.
Source: RiceToday, an international magazine dedicated to the world of rice.
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 AGRO SOLUTIONS: Search for high yield

 Singapore harvests rice
 vertical farm
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/20/in-riverina-rice-fields-farmers-and-
scientists-join-forces-to-save-a-mysterious-waterbird
Chinese Scientists Have Developed Salt-tolerant Strains of

Rice in a Bid to Ensure Food ... - Latest Tweet by Bloomberg

The latest Tweet by Bloomberg states, 'Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of
rice in a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise from climate change ...'

Team LatestlyFeb 20, 2022 12:52 AM IST

 A-
 A+






Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in a bid to ensure food
security as sea levels rise from climate change https://t.co/RrbsN7WGGZ—
Bloomberg (@business) February 19, 2022
(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from
social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is
embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not
have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social
media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any
responsibility or liability for the same.)
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dGAJs0hfkcMJ:https://www.latestly.com/
socially/business/chinese-scientists-have-developed-salt-tolerant-strains-of-rice-in-a-bid-to-ensure-
food-latest-tweet-by-bloomberg-3384708.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk
Bauchi revives fertiliser blending plant

to boost production
February 19, 2022 Kizito Amuchie. News 0
Bauchi State Government says it has rehabilitated the state-owned Fertiliser Blending Company
to enhance farmers’ access to the commodity and encourage agricultural productivity.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Alhaji Dayyabu Chiroma, stated
this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Saturday in Bauchi.
Chiroma said the plant was rehabilitated and upgraded by Gov. Bala Mohammed’s
administration as part of its agriculture transformation programme.
“The administration of Gov. Bala Mohammed, which came on board in May 2019, revived the
Bauchi Fertiliser Blending Company, and its production capacity exceeded the consumption of
farmers in the state.
“The Northeast sub region virtually relied solely on the Bauchi blending plant for production of
fertilisers to be used by farmers across the region.
“In fact, between 60 and 70 per cent of the fertiliser being distributed to the farmers across the
country are produced at the Bauchi Fertiliser Blending Company,” he said.
According to him, the state government, in partnership with the development partners and
other stakeholders, is providing farmers’ support services to encourage productivity, add value
to the produce and enhance farmers’ enterprising skills.
He said that the government had also allocated 15,000 hecetres of land to two indigenous
millers to accelerate paddy rice production in the state.
The commissioner listed the firms to include Tiamin Rice Mill and Umza International Farms
Ltd., adding that the gesture is also to encourage investment, create job opportunities and
provide market for the produce.
On road infrastructure, Chiroma said the state government had executed viable road projects
in Bauchi metropolis under its Urban Renewal Programme in the past two years.
The projects, he said, were designed to provide modern road network and beautify the town as
well as enhance transportation services and link communities with the state capital.
“The administration has completed executing road projects linking Sade-Wahu-Akuyam road in
Darazo Local Government Area of the state. The road has been completed waiting for official
commissioning.
“At Sade town, over seven-kilometer road and drains have been constructed, and in Azare,
similar road project is being constructed in the town.
“In the 20 local government areas, you cannot single one that has no road construction, either
ongoing or completed.”
Chiroma said that the state government had also embarked on the construction of 1,000
housing units across the 20 LGAs, to address housing deficit in the state.
He said the houses which are about 90 per cent completed, would be sold to workers and low-
income earners in the state.
(NAN)
Share this:
https://sundiatapost.com/bauchi-revives-fertiliser-blending-plant-to-boost-production/
China Plans to Feed 80 Million

People With ‘Seawater Rice’
Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in
a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise from climate
change.
Bloomberg News
February 19, 2022, 4:00 PM GMT+5
5:13
Share this article
In this article
RR1
Generic 1st 'RR' Future
15.16
USD/cwt
-0.02-0.13%
CNY
China Renminbi Spot
6.3345
CNY
+0.0089+0.1407%
000681
VISUAL CHINA-A
16.87
CNY
+0.16+0.96%
Open
Green Data Dash
+0.84° C
Dec. 2021 increase in global temperature vs. 1900s average
0
7
6
5
4
3
0
7
6
5
4
3
0
0
9
8
7
6
Soccer pitches of forest lost this hour, most recent data
-4.47%
Today's arctic ice area vs. historic average
Lahore, Pakistan
Most polluted air today, in sensor range
$69.9B
Renewable power investment worldwide in Q2 2020
75%
Carbon-free net power in Germany, most recent data
0
6
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4
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2
0
4
3
2
1
0
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3
0
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8
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0
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4
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1
0
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1
0
9
8
Parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere
52,000
Million metric tons of greenhouse emissions, most recent annual data
Open
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Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located

along the coast of the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of
salty, alkaline soil where crops can’t survive. Yet, last autumn, Jinghai
produced 100 hectares of rice.
The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed
by Chinese scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been
threatened by rising sea levels, increasing grain demand and supply chain
disruptions.
More from
BloombergGreen
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Known as “seawater rice” because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the
strains were created by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s
more resistant to saline and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality
that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last
year, higher than the national average for production of standard rice
varieties.
The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food
imports less reliable. The nation has one-fifth of the world’s population, and
that many mouths to feed, with less than 10% of the Earth’s arable land.
Meanwhile, grain consumption is rising quickly as the country grows more
wealthy.
Workers plant sea rice seedlings in a test field at Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and
Development Center in Qingdao in 2017.
Photographer: Zhang Xiaopeng/Visual China Group/Getty Images

“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture,” said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao
Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, drawing a
parallel between the crucial role semiconductors play in the development of
new technologies and their role in the ongoing trade war between the U.S.
and China. Seawater rice could help improve China’s grain production in the
face of an “extremely complicated situation regarding climate change and
global food security,” she said.
China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since at least the 1950s. But the
term “seawater rice” only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years
after the late Yuan Longping, once the nation’s top agricultural scientist,
began researching the idea in 2012.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-19/chinese-scientists-discover-how-to-grow-
seawater-rice

Farm
By
 ..
Sun, 20 Feb 2022 05:33:03 GMT



The variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life Science Laboratory. It is a dwarf
type with a yield potential of up to 6 tons per hectare. It is tolerant of drought, can survive under
floodwater for up to 2 weeks, and is highly resistant to bacterial and fungal diseases.
Although grown commercially in Indonesia, the Temasek rice harvest in Singapore will only be
used for research and development on growing crops in urban farm settings.
Singapore is not usually associated with rice production, much less with the development of new
varieties. So it may come as a surprise that the highly urbanised city-state is the birthplace of a
sturdy high-yielding rice variety designed to cope with extreme weather conditions brought on
by climate change.
Known as Temasek, the variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life Science
Laboratory (TLL) in Singapore. It is a dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6 tons per
hectare. In addition, Temasek is a low-input variety and can be grown with fewer agricultural
resources. Although Temasek is a tough plant in the field, its grain is soft, tasty, and rich in
dietary fiber, and it has a good aroma when cooked.
In 2013, the Singapore-based Lee Foundation and the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) launched a scholarship programmeto educate and train a new generation of young rice
scientists and researchers to help feed Asia in the future.
Known as the Lee Foundation Rice Scholarship Programme, it offers South and South-East
Asians in the early stages of their careers a unique opportunity to acquire an excellent education
from leading academic institutions in areas such as gene discovery and bioinformatics, modern
rice breeding, rice systems of the future, and economics and policy. The programme has already
granted six postdoctoral fellowship positions, two MS degree scholarships, and 30 PhD
scholarships to students from nine countries in South and South-East Asia.
Singapore could play a leading role in regional food security and help stabilise rice prices if it
took up the opportunity to host a rice futures and a spot exchange, which includes the actual
buying and selling of rice for immediate delivery.
In the report, Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia, produced by a high-level
international task force on rice-based food security, the need for a rice futures market is
highlighted.

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Low glycemic rice provides

diabetics with an option
 Feb 20, 2022
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1 of 2
Gumbo prepared with Frontiére, a low-glycemic rice variety developed by LSU AgCenter scientists
that is being sold across the state under the Parish Rice brand. This rice is a healthy alternative for
diabetics and those who are pre-diabetic.
Frontiére, a low-glycemic rice developed by the LSU AgCenter is being sold across the state under
the Parish Rice brand. This rice is a healthy alternative for diabetics and those who are pre-diabetic.
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For people interested in keeping their blood sugar levels in check, they now have a
new tool thanks to rice developed at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station in
Crowley.
AgCenter area nutrition agent Mandy Armentor said Frontiére is a low glycemic rice
variety developed by LSU AgCenter scientists that went to market under the Parish
Rice label late in 2021.
Armentor said in addition to being non-GMO, Frontiére also has 5 grams of protein.
Other rice varieties have only 1 to 2 grams of protein per one-half cup serving when
cooked.
“That is great news for people with diabetes or who have been diagnosed as pre-
diabetic who need to watch the amount and type of carbohydrates they consume,
which affect blood sugar levels,” she said. “A low glycemic food means that when
the food is metabolized by the body, there is a gradual rise in blood sugar levels as
opposed to a food which might be high on the glycemic index that will cause a rapid
rise in blood sugar levels.”
There are three groups of glycemic ratings for food: low with a glycemic index of 55
or less, medium with a glycemic index of 56 to 69 and high with a glycemic index of
70 to 100.
Frontiére has an average rating of 41, which is 14 points lower than other varieties
of rice and is classified in a low-glycemic group. It has the lowest glycemic index
ever reported in commercially viable rice, she said.
This is welcome news for a state where many of the main dishes such as gumbo,
etouffee and jambalaya are served with rice and for people who might shy away
from them for dietary concerns.
Armentor said this low glycemic rice will transform rice from a food shunned
because of health concerns to one that is consumed.
“I actually cooked some over the weekend and tested it on my family,” she said. “We
had it with gumbo and nobody could tell that it was any different from traditional
rice in taste, texture and appearance.”
Armentor said she cooked it with an electric rice cooker and it was not different
from cooking other varieties of long-grain rice.
http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_business/local_business/article_bcee6a80-9063-11ec-
a79c-0b0b983a1910.html
Chinese Scientists Have Developed Salt-tolerant Strains of

Rice in a Bid to Ensure Food ... - Latest Tweet by Bloomberg

The latest Tweet by Bloomberg states, 'Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of
rice in a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise from climate change ...'

Team LatestlyFeb 20, 2022 12:52 AM IST
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




Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in a bid to ensure food
security as sea levels rise from climate change https://t.co/RrbsN7WGGZ—
Bloomberg (@business) February 19, 2022
(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from
social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is
embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not
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The variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life Science Laboratory. It is
a dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6 tons per hectare. It is tolerant of drought,
can survive under floodwater for up to 2 weeks, and is highly resistant to bacterial and
fungal diseases.
Although grown commercially in Indonesia, the Temasek rice harvest in Singapore will
only be used for research and development on growing crops in urban farm settings.
Singapore is not usually associated with rice production, much less with the
development of new varieties. So it may come as a surprise that the highly urbanised
city-state is the birthplace of a sturdy high-yielding rice variety designed to cope with
extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change.
Known as Temasek, the variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life
Science Laboratory (TLL) in Singapore. It is a dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6
tons per hectare. In addition, Temasek is a low-input variety and can be grown with
fewer agricultural resources. Although Temasek is a tough plant in the field, its grain is
soft, tasty, and rich in dietary fiber, and it has a good aroma when cooked.
In 2013, the Singapore-based Lee Foundation and the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) launched a scholarship programmeto educate and train a new
generation of young rice scientists and researchers to help feed Asia in the future.
Known as the Lee Foundation Rice Scholarship Programme, it offers South and South-
East Asians in the early stages of their careers a unique opportunity to acquire an
excellent education from leading academic institutions in areas such as gene discovery
and bioinformatics, modern rice breeding, rice systems of the future, and economics
and policy. The programme has already granted six postdoctoral fellowship positions,
two MS degree scholarships, and 30 PhD scholarships to students from nine countries
in South and South-East Asia.
Singapore could play a leading role in regional food security and help stabilise rice
prices if it took up the opportunity to host a rice futures and a spot exchange, which
includes the actual buying and selling of rice for immediate delivery.
In the report, Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia, produced by a
high-level international task force on rice-based food security, the need for a rice futures
market is highlighted.
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https://dailytrust.com/agro-solutions-search-for-high-yield-singapore-harvests-rice-from-vertical-farm
Rice exports go up 11.16pc

APPPublished February 19, 2022 - Updated 2 days ago

ISLAMABAD: Rice exports from the country increased by 11.16 per cent
to 2.179 million tonnes in the first seven months of current financial year
(7MFY22) from 2.179m tonnes in the same period last year, trade data
shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.
During July-January 2021-22, over 2.179m tonnes of rice valuing $1.286 billion
was exported as against the exports of 2.179m tonnes valuing $1.157bn in
7MFY21.
Exports of Basmati rice also increased by 28.58pc in 7MFY22. A total 414,190

tonnes of Basmati rice valuing $362.183m was exported in the period against
exports of 293,761 tonnes worth $281.675m in 7MFY21.
The country earned $924.668m by exporting about 2.138m tonnes of rice

other then Basmati in 7MFY22 as against the exports of 1.886m tonnes worth
$875.959m of same period last year.
On year-on-year basis, rice exports witnessed significant growth of 13.30pc as
434,382 tonnes of rice valuing $220.078m was exported in January as
compared the exports of 329,999 tonnes worth $194.245m of same period last
year.
The exports of Basmati rice also grew by 08.97pc in month of January as

62,734 tonnes of above mentioned commodity valuing $58.086m exported as
against the exports of 60,609 tonnes costing $53.305m of same month of last
year.
It is worth mentioning here that food group exports from the country during
7MFY22 increased by 20.87pc as compared to the exports of the
corresponding period of last year. Commodities worth $2.952bn were
exported in the period as against the exports of $2.444bn in 7MFY21.
The exports of food group from the country witnessed about 14.31pc growth
on year on year basis in January as compared to same month last year.
During the period under review, exports of all major food items recorded
positive growth as exports of rice grew by 11.16pc, fish and fish preparation
5.08pc, fruits 11.60pc, vegetables 11.36pc spices 22.94pc, meat and meat
preparation 1.68pc, respectively.
Meanwhile, food group imports into the country also recorded an increase of
about 21.32pc during July-Jan FY22 as food commodities costing $5.629bn
imported as against the import of $4.639bn of same period last year.
The food group imports into the country on year on basis also recorded about
13.05pc growth in January as against the imports in the same month in 2021.
During month of January different food commodities valuing $830.844m

imported as compared the import of $734.953m of same period last year.
In 7MFY22 imports of soyabean oil increased by 34.70pc, palm oil 55.75pc,

sugar 49.84pc, pulses 14.94pc, tea imports into the country grew by 5.48pc as
corresponding period of last year.
Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2022

https://www.dawn.com/news/1675862/rice-exports-go-up-1116pc
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Pakistan has potential of $4.5b

rice exports
By
News desk
-
February 20, 2022

Pakistan has the potential of $4.5 billion rice exports, but currently, the exports stand at
$2.1 billion, WealthPK reported.
By taking pragmatic steps, Pakistan can improve its production and exports, according to
Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research.
The minister said in a statement that Pakistan’s total production of rice this season is 9
million tons. Pakistan’s domestic consumption of rice was 3.5 million tons in FY 2020-21.
He said that with a total stock of 2.5 million tons from the previous year, Pakistan now has
an export potential of 8 million tons.
Globally, Pakistan is the fourth largest rice exporter and the 11th largest rice producer,
WealthPK reported.
Rice yields are 2.56 tons per hectare in Pakistan, but the world average is 4.7 tonnes per
hectare, which shows there is a lot of room for improvement.
During pre and post-harvesting, a large amount of rice is lost, WealthPK reported. Post-
harvesting accounts for direct loss of rice physically and quality-wise that reduces the
economic value of crop or makes it unsuitable for human consumption.
Due to over-exposure to fluctuating temperature, a huge quantity of rice is cracked during

threshing, causing rice breakage during processing (milling) and reducing its quality.
Journal of Agricultural Research and Technology states that due to mismanagement, pest
attack, and spoilage, almost 25 percent of rice is lost after harvest in developing countries.
Different stages of rice crops and how it is wasted are described below, WealthPK reported.
Technological innovation is an important factor in boosting agricultural output and

reducing wastage. Developing countries like Pakistan lag in the latest/up-to-date
technologies.
Weak transportation and crop management system are important factors that increase the
probability of rice wastages. Almost 95 percent of farmers own less than 12.5 acres of land.
https://pakobserver.net/pakistan-has-potential-of-4-5b-rice-
exports/
https://pakobserver.net/pakistan-has-potential-of-4-5b-rice-
exports/
Rice exports increased by 11.16 per cent
 19 Feb 2022
ISLAMABAD: Rice exports from the country increased by 11.16 per cent to 2.179 million tonnes in
the first seven months of current financial year (7MFY22) from 2.179m tonnes in the same period
last year, trade data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.
During July-January 2021-22, over 2.179m tonnes of rice valuing $1.286 billion was exported as
against the exports of 2.179m tonnes valuing $1.157bn in 7MFY21.
Exports of Basmati rice also increased by 28.58pc in 7MFY22. A total 414,190 tonnes of Basmati
rice valuing $362.183m was exported in the period against exports of 293,761 tonnes worth
$281.675m in 7MFY21.
The country earned $924.668m by exporting about 2.138m tonnes of rice other then Basmati in
7MFY22 as against the exports of 1.886m tonnes worth $875.959m of same period last year.
On year-on-year basis, rice exports witnessed significant growth of 13.30pc as 434,382 tonnes of
rice valuing $220.078m was exported in January as compared the exports of 329,999 tonnes worth
$194.245m of same period last year.
The exports of Basmati rice also grew by 08.97pc in month of January as 62,734 tonnes of above
mentioned commodity valuing $58.086m exported as against the exports of 60,609 tonnes costing
$53.305m of same month of last year.
It is worth mentioning here that food group exports from the country during 7MFY22 increased by
20.87pc as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year. Commodities worth
$2.952bn were exported in the period as against the exports of $2.444bn in 7MFY21.
The exports of food group from the country witnessed about 14.31pc growth on year on year basis in
January as compared to same month last year.
During the period under review, exports of all major food items recorded positive growth as exports
of rice grew by 11.16pc, fish and fish preparation 5.08pc, fruits 11.60pc, vegetables 11.36pc spices
22.94pc, meat and meat preparation 1.68pc, respectively.
Meanwhile, food group imports into the country also recorded an increase of about 21.32pc during
July-Jan FY22 as food commodities costing $5.629bn imported as against the import of $4.639bn of
same period last year.
The food group imports into the country on year on basis also recorded about 13.05pc growth in
January as against the imports in the same month in 2021.
During month of January different food commodities valuing $830.844m imported as compared the
import of $734.953m of same period last year.
https://www.paktribune.com/news-details/rice-exports-
increased-by-11-16-per-cent
Basmati: A prestige for Indo-Gangetic plains India, which secured GI tag for Basmati rice after
battling with the US over patents, is the largest producer worldwide but its claim of sole ownership is
challenged by countries like Pakistan and Nepal in the Indo-Gangetic plain Sanjeev Chopra20 Feb
2022 12:22 AM In September 1997, the US-based RiceTec Corporation, which had been producing
and marketing Texmati and Kasmati rice in the US as a trademark for over two decades as
'American-style Basmati rice' and 'Indian-style Basmati rice' respectively, applied for, and obtained a
patent for these commodities. This touched a raw nerve in India, as well as stirred a brief diplomatic
crisis between India and the US. India threatened to take the matter to the WTO as a violation of
TRIPS. Both voluntarily agreed to review the decision through the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Meanwhile, facing flak from anti-globalisation protestors everywhere against what was termed 'a
piracy of emerging nation's indigenous products', RiceTec withdrew most of the claims of the patent,
including, most importantly, the right to call their rice products 'Basmati'. However, this also spurred
the Government of India to take cognisance of issues like Geographical Indicators, and the Indian GI
legislation was drawn up soon thereafter. Also Read - First-Five Year Plan: Buttressing primary
pillars The roots of the word 'Basmati' in Sanskrit are 'vas' (aroma) and 'mayup' (ingrained). The
origin and reputation of Basmati rice as a 'long-grain, aromatic rice' from the Ganga Jamuna and
Punjab belt is found in tradition, folklore, scientific and culinary literature, and political-historical
records. Each micro clime had its own unique Basmati: Amritsari, Ranbir (Jammu), Karnal
(Tarawari), Kasturi, Moradabadi, Muschal (Pusa) are some of the popular names for Basmati. The
initiative for registering the GI for Basmati was heralded by the Agricultural and Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). In 2008, it filed an application for grant of the GI
tag for Basmati rice grown in the foothills of the Himalayas, spread across 77 districts of seven states
— Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. It also
established the Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF) – a stakeholder-driven
organisation including exporters, farmers, agriculture scientists and directors of agriculture of the
Basmati rice-growing states. APEDA also laid down the norms that a rice variety is eligible to be
called Basmati only if its (pre-cooked) grain had a length of 6.61 mm (0.260 inch) and breadth of up
to 2 mm (0.079 inch), among other parameters. To meet the globally accepted SPS standards, it took
innovative steps to sensitise farmers involved in the cultivation of Basmati regarding the adoption of
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Also Read - The premium leaves of Darjeeling However, unlike
the case of Darjeeling tea, there was no consensus on the extent of the geographical area for Basmati.
Madhya Pradesh raised an objection stating that 13 of its districts had also been growing Basmati
traditionally for hundreds of years. This was not accepted by APEDA or BEDF, and the legal battle
for inclusion of MP as the eighth state reached the apex court which advised the Madras High court
to revisit its earlier order excluding MP districts on 'merit'. The matter is currently 'sub-judice.' After
APEDA received the certificate of registration of Basmati Rice as a GI product in 2016, India applied
to the European Union (EU) claiming sole ownership of the commodity, in September 2019.
However, this was challenged by Pakistan as it argued that 18 districts of Pakistan Punjab – between
Ravi and Chenab — had also been traditional producers of the Chenab variety of Basmati. Pakistan
too enacted its own GI Act in 2020, as international laws require that before applying for registration
of any product in the international market, it must be protected under the geographical indication
laws of that country. Also Read - Economic planning series: Roots of Five-Year Plans Meanwhile,
Nepal has also put forward its claim of being traditional grower of Basmati in its Terai belt and the
Kathmandu valley, especially as Basmati is preferred not only in the HORECA (hotel, restaurant, and
catering) segment, but also by the growing middle-class families living in the urban centres of
Kathmandu and Pokhara. It is learnt that Egypt is also claiming to have grown these rice varieties in
the Nile region – but there is no official confirmation yet. Global market for Basmati India is the
largest producer of basmati rice, accounting for over 70 per cent of output in the global basmati rice
market. The annual production exceeds 50 lakh MT, and the export of the Basmati variety was
around Rs 30,000 crore in FY 2020. In Pakistan, Punjab province is the largest producer of the paddy
crop. Also Read - Anchoring a cultural reformation GCC countries are the major importers of the
Basmati variety and more than one-third of their paddy consumption is of the Basmati variety. The
other major importers are the EU, the UK, the US, Iran, and Kenya. In 2021, India exported 4.63
million tonnes of Basmati rice, valued at Rs 29,849 crore (USD 4,019 million). A bridge or a wedge
While Basmati's geographical association with the Indo-Gangetic plains has not been challenged,
what Pakistan and Nepal are arguing is that India cannot claim exclusive rights on Basmati. There is
merit in their argument and, therefore, rather than quibble over legalities, Basmati also offers an
opportunity for the three countries to sit together to improve production, productivity and returns to
their farmers and exporters. Can the fragrance of Basmati be a bridge rather than a wedge? Views
expressed are personal
http://www.millenniumpost.in/sundaypost/beacon/basmati-a-prestige-for-indo-gangetic-plains-
468866
State Bank of Pakistan to launch warehouse funding for farmers

The Newspaper's Staff ReporterPublished February 20, 2022 - Updated a day
ago

1
LAHORE: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is launching the Electronic

Warehouse Receipt Financing (EWRF) at a roadshow for maize crop in
Kasur’s Chunian tehsil on Tuesday.
This will formally kick-off the short-term action plan for the uptake of EWRF.
The central bank is holding such events to promote the agriculture sector in
collaboration with commercial banks.
Last year the SBP’s initiative helped to improve substantially the country’s
agriculture besides tackling food insecurity through EWRF.
The EWRF was launched in March last year on rice and paddy stocks in
Hafizabad district.
The Electronic Warehouse Receipt (EWR) is issued by a private SECP-registered

entity that is, through an electronic system is linked with all commercial banks
across the country.
“The company installs its system in the warehouse of farmers. After

installation, its representative issues a receipt to the farmer regarding stock
(quantity, quality and price) available in the warehouse.
On having EWR, the farmer becomes eligible of getting finance/loan (70 per
cent of the value of the total stock) from any bank,” said an SBP official while
talking to Dawn on Saturday.
“After the Electronic Warehouse Receipt is appended with the loan

applications, banks can process and approve such cases,” he added.
Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022
https://www.dawn.com/news/1676071/state-bank-of-
pakistan-to-launch-warehouse-funding-for-farmers
Jiangxi: prepare agricultural machinery
to prepare sufficient strength for spring
farming production

IndustrialsFeb 19, 2022 04:50 PM (GMT+8)· EqualOcean
Xinhua news agency, Nanchang, February 19 According to statistics, the intended

sowing area of early rice in Jiangxi Province was 18.3 million mu, an increase of
18000 Mu year-on-year. In order to meet the needs of spring farming production,
Jiangxi has prepared 613200 sets of agricultural machines and tools for spring farming
and guided farmers to carry out the maintenance of 73000 sets of agricultural
machines and tools. In addition, Jiangxi comprehensively promotes the cultivation of
idle fields in winter, further improves the soil structure of cultivated land, reduces
diseases and pests, and improves the output level of cultivated land. By the end of
January, the province had ploughed about 11 million mu of winter fallow farmland. In
terms of mechanized agricultural services, 163 mechanized rice seedling raising
centers have been built in Jiangxi, with a single season seedling raising capacity of 1
million mu; 38 full mechanized comprehensive agricultural service centers have been
built, which can serve and drive more than 3500 small farmers to carry out full
mechanized rice production, covering an area of nearly 1 million mu. (Shanghai
Securities News) WebView? url= https://news.cnstock.com/news ,bwkx-202202-
4830024. htm
https://equalocean.com/briefing/20220219230121348
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Green
Climate Adaptation
China Plans to Feed 80 Million

People With ‘Seawater Rice’
Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in
a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise from climate
change.
Bloomberg News
February 19, 2022, 4:00 PM GMT+5
5:13
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+0.84° C
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Parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere
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Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located

along the coast of the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of
salty, alkaline soil where crops can’t survive. Yet, last autumn, Jinghai
produced 100 hectares of rice.
The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed
by Chinese scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been
threatened by rising sea levels, increasing grain demand and supply chain
disruptions.
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Known as “seawater rice” because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the
strains were created by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s
more resistant to saline and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality
that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last
year, higher than the national average for production of standard rice
varieties.
The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food
imports less reliable. The nation has one-fifth of the world’s population, and
that many mouths to feed, with less than 10% of the Earth’s arable land.
Meanwhile, grain consumption is rising quickly as the country grows more
wealthy.
Workers plant sea rice seedlings in a test field at Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and
Development Center in Qingdao in 2017.
Photographer: Zhang Xiaopeng/Visual China Group/Getty Images
“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture,” said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao

Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, drawing a
parallel between the crucial role semiconductors play in the development of
new technologies and their role in the ongoing trade war between the U.S.
and China. Seawater rice could help improve China’s grain production in the
face of an “extremely complicated situation regarding climate change and
global food security,” she said.
China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since at least the 1950s. But the
term “seawater rice” only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years
after the late Yuan Longping, once the nation’s top agricultural scientist,
began researching the idea in 2012.
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Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice,” is considered a national hero for
boosting grain harvests and saving millions from hunger thanks to his work
on high-yielding hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. In 2016, he selected six
locations across the country with different soil conditions that were turned
into testing fields for salt-tolerant rice. The following year, China established
the research center in Qingdao where Wan works. The institute’s goal is to
harvest 30 million tons of rice using 6.7 million hectares of barren land.
Yuan Longping at a super hybrid rice field in Guangxi Zhuang in 2017.
Source: VCG/Visual China Group
“We could feed 80 million more people” with salt-tolerant rice, Yuan said in
a documentary broadcast in 2020. “Agricultural researchers like us should
shoulder the responsibility to safeguard food security,” he told a local
newspaper in 2018.
Climate change has made the task more urgent. China’s coastal waters have
risen faster than the global average over the last 40 years, a worrying trend
given the country’s deep reliance on its long and low eastern coast for grain
production. Successfully growing salt-tolerant rice on a large scale would
allow the country to utilize more of the increasingly salty land in the area.
Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now
and where it's going next.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels
around the world could rise as much as 59 centimeters by the end of the
century if the planet warms by 2 degrees Celsius. Oceans surrounding the
U.S. will swell faster within the next three decades than they did in the past
century, according to a report this week led by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
President Xi Jinping has stressed in several recent meetings with top
government officials that ensuring the supply of primary goods is a “major
strategic issue” given climate and geopolitical pressures. “The food of the
Chinese people must be made by and remain in the hands of the Chinese,” he
said at a gathering of the Politburo Standing Committee meeting in
December.
Saline-alkali tolerant rice for output estimate is harvested at a demonstration base in Shandong
Province in 2020.
Photographer: Guo Xulei/Xinhua/Getty Images
Chinese scientists are betting that land once dismissed as barren can be
turned into productive grain-producing plots. About 100 million hectares of
land in the country, about the size of Egypt, is high in saline and alkaline.
Meanwhile arable land has decreased 6% from 2009 to 2019 because of
urbanization, pollution and overuse of fertilizers.
To make use of salty soil, farmers traditionally dilute their fields with large
amounts of fresh water. The approach is still commonly used in some coastal
regions. But the method requires vast amounts of water and often doesn’t
improve yields enough to make sense economically.
“China is looking at another method now, to develop grain varieties that can
withstand the soil’s saltiness,” said Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher with China’s
agricultural ministry. While seawater rice has mostly been planted on trial
fields so far, Zhang said he believes commercial cultivation will soon take off
with the government’s support.
The research team in Qingdao said last October that it can meet the goal of
growing 6.7 million hectares of seawater rice within ten years. In 2021, the
group was put in charge of 400,000 hectares of land to expand production of
seawater rice.
“If China can be more self-sufficient in staple foods, it would be a

contribution to the world's food security too,” said Zhang. “The less China
imports, the more other countries will have.”
--With assistance from John Liu and Karoline Kan

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-19/chinese-scientists-discover-how-to-grow-
seawater-rice
abourers women busy in

separating quality chilies at
Subzi Mandi
Sat, 19 Feb 2022, 8:25 PM
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APP27-190222 HYDERABAD: February 19 – Labourers women busy in
separating quality chilies at Subzi Mandi. APP Photo by Farhan Khan
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Pakistan ranked least costly

country worldwide: Tarin
Pakistan has been ranked least costly country. Source: Online.
February 20, 2022
Web Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked least costly country among 139
countries of the world according to the latest Numbeo’s cost of living
index.
Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin shared the screenshot of the
latest Numbeo’s cost of living index said Pakistan was the cheapest country
among the 139 countries of the world.
According to the index, the world’s largest cost of living database, on
average, the family of four people in Pakistan costs around Rs 171,783.24 per
month (without rent) while a single person’s estimated monthly costs are Rs
51,798.76 (without rent).
The database has estimated that the cost of living in Pakistan is, on average,
71.52% lower than in the United States. Similarly, it said the residence rent in
Pakistan is, on average, 90.64% lower than in the United States.
According to the Numbeo database, the average price of milk per liter in
Pakistan is Rs 122.56, that of rice per kg is Rs 159.07, and eggs per dozen is
Rs 175.04.
Likewise, the price of chicken meat per kg in Pakistan is Rs 393.45 per kg,
beef Rs 645.1 per kg, apples Rs 170 per kg, oranges Rs 115.29 per kg,
tomatoes Rs 77.86 per kg, potatoes Rs 55.16 per kg, onion Rs 52 per kg,
water (1.5-liter bottle) Rs 61.01, and cigarettes 20 pack (Marlboro) Rs 250.
In transportation, the Numbeo database has estimated the average price of the
one-way tickets (local transport) at Rs 40, taxi start (normal tariff) Rs 150,
taxi per km (normal tariff) Rs 36.61, and Toyota Corolla sedan new car at Rs
3.24 million.
Similarly, the price of basic utilities (electricity, heating, cooling, water,
garbage) for an 85 m2 apartment is around Rs 11,425,43 per month, price of
one minute of prepaid mobile tariff local is Rs 2.67, that of the internet
(unlimited monthly data) Rs 3,596.98, one pair of jeans (levis or similar) Rs
2,527, Summer dress in chain store Rs 3,980, pair of Nike running shoes
(mid-range) Rs 8,412, and one pair of men leather business shoes Rs 5,628.
Similarly, according to the Numbeo database, the rate of the apartment (1
bedroom) in the city center in Pakistan, on average is Rs 20,341, apartment (1
bedroom) outside of center Rs 12,999.81, apartment (3 bedrooms) in city
center Rs 45,441, and apartment (3 bedrooms) outside of the center is Rs
28,861.
The per square meter to buy an apartment in the city centre costs around Rs
131,744 while the average cost per square meter apartment outside the city
center is Rs 73,749.
Numbeo says it received around 10285 entries in the past 12 months from
794 different contributors. It added the data for each country are based on all
entries from all cities in that country and was last updated in the current
month.
https://mmnews.tv/pakistan-ranked-least-costly-country-worldwide-tarin/
Holistic approach for sustainable
agriculture growth bearing fruit
Sun, 20 Feb 2022, 12:49 PM
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Holistic approach for sustainable agriculture growth bearing fruit
By Imran Nazir Abbasi
ISLAMABAD, Feb 20 (APP): In view of the increasing population and food

items demand, the government is embarking on a holistic approach for
sustainable agriculture growth to improve output of all major cash crops and
save precious foreign exchange being incurred on their import.
With special focus on enhancing per-acre yield of major crops like wheat,
rice, sugarcane, cotton, maize, oil seeds and pulses; modern and innovative
cultivation technologies are being introduced to maintain eco-system and
depleting water and soil resources.
The government has started the Prime Minister’s National Agriculture

Emergency Program (NAEP) worth Rs. 309 billion on cost sharing basis
between the federal and provincial governments. It would transform
agriculture sector with revitalizing farmers and help meet domestic food
demand.
“Under this program, the government has provided Rs1,514.855 million for
wheat productivity enhancement, Rs313.763 million for sugarcane and
Rs1,073.542 million for rice,” said Javed Hammayun, Senior Joint Secretary
Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
“The government has also provided Rs. 482.665 million for national oil seeds
enhancement program, Rs156.56 million for cage cluster development
project, Rs. 486.151 million for promotion of trout farming in Northern Areas
and Rs15.197 billion for different agriculture sector projects initiated under
the PM NAEP,” Hammayun told APP.
The government also provided 210,400 bags of certified rice seeds to

growers across the country on subsidized rates during last year besides
establishing 1,820 wheat seeds demonstration plots for enhancing output of
wheat.
Javed Hammayun said about 59,141 tons of certified wheat seeds were
distributed among farmers on 50 percent subsidy besides provision of
subsidized weedicides for 2.964 million hectares.
“Significant progress is being made to transform agriculture sector and

enhance per acre yield to local meet the food requirements,” Hammayun
said.
National uniform yield testing trails were conducted across 48 locations

across the country also conducting 90 mega gathering and farmers days to
mobilize farming communities to achieve the maximum productivity targets.
Under the NAEP, 353 field implements were provided to farmers on subsidy
to promote better cultivation techniques and farm management while
10,131 farmers have been trained to participate in wheat competition and
other project activities like calf, lamb Feedlot Fattening.
Hammayun said 46,466 calves and 49,150 lambs were registered so far
under the “Calf Feedlot Fattening in Pakistan Project” with an aim of
enhancing local output of milk and meat.
Over 5,011 water courses were maintained and developed to conserve water
for irrigation and bringing more land under cultivation. Moreover, 1,200
water tanks were also constructed to harvest rains water for irrigation
purposes.
After successful experience of providing Sehat Cards for the people, Kisan
card is another flagship program of the government to ensure easy access to
credit and subsidies for small scale farmers enabling them to timely
purchase inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
“More or less 780,000 Kissan Cards were provided to farmers in Punjab and
100,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Hammayun said. “The government
desires to extend Kissan Card to one million farmers by end of the current
financial year as Rs 4.1 billion has been paid to farmers in Punjab under this
scheme and over 5.5 million transactions have been made to directly pay
them subsidies.”
The KPK government has also disbursed Rs. 475 million under this scheme
as it was also keen for providing 50,000 loans by the mid of this year. So far
over Rs 650 billion has been paid through Agriculture Credit Facility.
Out of the total amount, almost Rs500 billion interest free loans have been
paid to farmers in Punjab and Rs100 billion in Sindh with around 3.4 million
borrowers taking benefit of this credit facility.
“Provision of quality seeds to farmers alongside better knowhow and

collaboration with Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences can prove to be
a game changer in this arena,” Hammayun said.
The government has also paid special attention on research and

development with sufficient funds allocation to develop high-yielding seeds
varieties of major and minor crops.
“Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) had launched five years

project under Public Sector Development Program to achieve sufficiency in
pulses production,” said Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali Chairman PARC.
“Scope of this project was to increase average production of pulses including

chickpea, mung been, mash, lentils and beans by 30 percent, reduce
production gap and increase farmers profit,” he added and mentioned to
holding training workshops and seminars for promotion of pulses and
increase production capacity.
Meanwhile, Dr Mohammad Mansoor, National Coordinator (Pulses) said

another achievement of this project was to promote bean cultivation and six
varieties of beans have been developed for general cultivation in the
country.
“Availability of 4,000 local and foreign lines of different pulses will be

ensured for development of high-yielding variety. With our efforts mung
production has already improved and we hope the same in other cases,” he
said.
Dr Shahid Riaz Malik, Program Leader, Department of Pulses said that

expansion of area in Balochistan for cultivation of pulses was one of our
main objectives and area under mash cultivation had increased by 1,482
acres, chickpea by 2,717 acres and lentils by 247 acres.
Olive cultivation is another area of special focus of the government to reduce

reliance on imported edible oil and save foreign exchange.
“The government in very keen to promote oil seeds cultivation and provided
special incentives to farmers in this area,” said National Project Director
(olive) PARC Dr Muhammad Tariq.
“So far 4,130,000 olive plants had been cultivated so far over 34,359 acres
across the country under different projects,” he said. During current season,
5,300 acre had been brought under olive cultivations besides holding 26
workshops and training over 2,147 farmers and stakeholders.”
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Home Lifestyle Food
The great Indian cuisine fest

Hyderabadis are embracing Bohri Thaal, Parsi Bhonu, Kashmiri Wazwan and other community
lunches in intimate home-style meals, one weekend at a time

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Published: 20th February 2022 05:00 AM | Last Updated: 19th February 2022 06:53
PM | A+A A-
Guests at a Bohri sit-down meal
By Manju Latha Kalanidhi
Express News Service
Hyderabad’s community plates are getting hotter to epicureans’ delight. And they are dropping
their usual Sunday brunch routine and warming up to a smorgasbord of options. A Parsi Bhonu,
Bohri Thal or a Kashmiri Wazwan meal... take your pick. Experiential travel companies such as
Offbeat Tracks, apps such as AuthentiCook besides enthusiasts of cuisine cultures have started
offering bookings for community lunches in the city of Nizams.
Says Vandana Vijay, the CEO and Founder of experiential travel portal Offbeat Tracks, “These
are small, intimate home-style gatherings, not more than eight to 10 guests per meal. For
example, on the last weekend of January, we organised a lunch hosted by a Bohri family in
Kharkhana in Secunderabad. Unlike a walk-in or order-in meal, community meals are both
personalised and pre-booked. Over lunch, the host families throw light on their community ,
origins and the cultural factors that influence their food.” They will arrange Burmese meals too
in future.
The Kashmiri Wazwan platter
“It’s not potato. It’s not batata. It’s papeta. Don’t argue. All 1,20,000 Parsis cannot be wrong.”
This cute one-liner about Parsis is often used to drive home the point about the community’s
distinct food culture. The twin cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad have a small community of
about 1,000 Parsis. They love meat, eggs and potatoes. Their meat dishes have potatoes in the
form of ‘sali’ (matchstick-fried potatoes, similar to French fries).
Catering to the fans of Parsi cuisine is Sonnu Irani from Sainikpuri, Secunderabad. She started
hosting lunches during the pandemic in 2020 and restarted in January this year. The Dhansak,
Patrani Machchi (fish steamed in a banana leaf with green chutney), Sali Marghi (chicken with
potato strips), kababs, chicken/mutton pulav besides full roast chicken and pork are her
specialities. Her lunches begin with Dhansak, and end with how the Chenoys were the first lot of
Parsis who came to Secunderabad around 1803 and the story behind them earning titles such as
‘Khan Bahadur,’ ‘Khan Saheb,’ and ‘Nawab’. Irani serves tidbits of history of the community
and cuisine.
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The Saproos—Purnima and Anubhuti (daughter-in-law)—in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills brought

along with them the taste of Kashmir when they left Srinagar during the mass exodus of Pandits
in 1990s. They settled here when Purnima’s son got employed in a city firm. “Most Hyderabadis,
who grow up eating their onion and garlic-rich cuisine, are astounded to know that Kashmiri
cuisine is devoid of onion or garlic.
Not even in non-vegetarian food. I treat my guests to a thali meal comprising Rogan Josh (slow-
cooked red meat delicacy), Mince Kheema (similar to the Hyderabad variety, but made of
Kashmiri chilies), Yellow Paneer (cottage cheese in turmeric and milk gravy) and Palak Nadru
(Spinach and lotus stem speciality) etc.” The thali is served in stainless steel katoris with Basmati
rice and naan. Although the Saproos started treating guests at home a year before the 2020
lockdown, with the third wave of the pandemic receding, they are looking forward to hosting an
authentic Kashmiri Wazwan at their home. The cost is `1,500 per head for a mutton-based meal.
Lovers of Bohri food are pampered too. Khadija Kaukawala hosts at least three Bohri Thal
lunches in a typical month. She occasionally threw such meals even before Covid struck. News
spread through word of mouth about the Bohri biryani and fig halwa she would prepare. The
trend has been growing among the 7,000-odd Bohra Muslims in the twin cities since July last
year.
The Bohri cuisine is unique both in taste and culinary rituals. During a typical lunch session,
Kaukawala greets her guests, seats them in her well-appointed carpeted drawing-room. A
stainless-steel circular structure, known as tarana, becomes the make-shift dining table for this
sit-down meal. A round stainless-steel plate big enough for four eaters is placed on the tarana.
She offers them a welcome drink of lemon, jaggery and sabza (basil) seed in a khullad (earthen
cups). “Few people are familiar with the Bohri culture here, so it is interesting to explain the
nuances to them. For instance, our meals start and end by offering a pinch of salt to everyone.
We believe that salt, just a pinch, of course, keeps 92 diseases at bay. It is also a good palate
cleanser,” says Kaukawala, who moved to Hyderabad from Kolkata along with her husband four
years ago.
Bohris believe to begin with dessert since life is short. “We start our meal with kulfi,” she
explains. Now come the mithaas (sweet) and kharaas (savoury) in sequence. After the kulfi,
arrive anjeer (fig) and badam (almond) halwa, kheema (minced meat) samosa for the non-
vegetarians and dal na samosa for the vegetarians. Samosas here are served with a deep-fried
green chilli or chutney and have a smoky flavour. Reason: each piece is heated on charcoal,
infused with ghee.
To end the kharaas loop, there is boondi raita. The main course consists of Dal Puri, Mutton
Nahari and Dal Chawal Palida. Palida is made using the water in which the lentil has been
boiled. The rice is light, flavoured with spring onion and toor dal. The Nahari is a refreshing
departure from the popular spicy Hyderabadi variant.
For Hyderabadis who are loyal to their biryanis, you should be warned that the Bohri variety
offered here has dried apricots and plums. Hope you are ready for all this and a lot more
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HG9lXQjPFLUJ:https://
www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/food/2022/feb/20/the-great-indian-cuisine-fest-
2420772.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk
This Saucy Skillet Butter Chicken With
Spinach Is As Easy as It Is Delicious
FEBRUARY 18, 2022 – 5:00 AM – 0 COMMENTS
15
By ALISON ASHTON @ContentKitchn
(Alison Ashton)
This Indian-style chicken gets a tasty head start from jarred butter masala sauce for a
meal that’s on the table in about 20 minutes. Premade sauces, available at many
grocery stores or online, are a fun way to sample different ethnic flavors.
Butter chicken is a popular Indian dish that features a mild tomato-based sauce
enriched with butter. Serve over cooked basmati rice or with naan bread. The sauce is
just as good on shrimp, tofu, cauliflower or paneer cheese (Indian cheese available in
some grocery stores or online). It’s also good as a marinade, on pizza or tossed
with pasta.
Sauce it up
Simmer sauces, also called skillet sauces or sauce starters, have been around for
decades (hello, marinara!). But these days they bring a whole world of cuisines to
your kitchen faster than ordering takeout.
 For under-30-minute Asian dishes, Omsom offers a wide range of

sauces (from $12 per 3-pack, omsom.com), including Thai krapow and
Korean bulgogi.
 La Tortilla Factory’s Sauce Starters ($4 in stores) help you get classic

Mexican dishes, like al pastor chicken or Baja-style seafood tacos, ready in 15
minutes.
 Indian flavors come home with Maya Kaimal’s Simmer Sauces ($5–$6 in

stores and on amazon.com), including butter masala, coconut korma and
spicy vindaloo.
Related: 12 Simple Skillet Dinners for Busy Weeknights
Butter Chicken with Spinach
By ALISON ASHTON
Rate it:


3.4 from 5 Votes
 SERVES
4
 PRINT
INGREDIENTS
 2 Tbsp canola oil
 1½ lb skinless, boneless chicken (breast and/or thighs), cut into bite-size pieces
 Salt and black pepper, to taste
 1 (12.5-oz) jar butter masala simmer sauce (such as Maya Kaimal)
 1 (5-oz) pkg baby spinach
 ¼ cup plain yogurt
 Lemon wedges, for garnish (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. In a skillet over medium-high, heat oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add
chicken to pan; cook 5–7 minutes or until browned on all sides.
2. Set aside 1 Tbsp butter masala sauce. Stir remaining sauce into chicken. Cover and
reduce heat to medium-low; cook 10 minutes or until chicken is done.
3. Increase heat to medium. Stir in spinach; simmer until wilted. Transfer to a serving
dish. In a small bowl, whisk yogurt and reserved butter masala sauce. Drizzle over
chicken. If desired, serve with lemon wedges.
https://parade.com/1336198/alison-ashton/butter-masala-chicken-recipe/
Pakistani Squad Felicitates China

On Successful Winter Games
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published February 21, 2022 | 10:59 AM
BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Feb, 2022 ) :The members
of Pakistani delegation have expressed their appreciation of China's efforts in
organizing a successful Winter Olympic games in Beijing.
"I have been doing skiing for the last 18 years, and I have been to so many places.
But, I would say the it is the best infrastructure available here
in China," Pakistan's Coach, Muhammad Qamar Mirza said in an interview.
Expressing his excitement to be in China and being a part of the
Winter Olympic Games, the remarked that the management of
the Beijing Olympics was very good.
He said that despite the ongoing pandemic situation, they had been doing an
excellent job and we have really enjoyed a lot in the Olympic Village.
Qamar Mirza also appreciated the love received from Chinese people during their stay
and mentioned the warm welcome accorded to the Pakistani contingent by
the Chinese audience at the opening ceremony of the games.
He said it showcased that the ironclad friendship was deeply rooted in the hearts of
the people of the two countries.
"As we all know, Pakistan and China are good friends. We received a very warm

welcoming response from Chinese brethren when they see us, they requested
an exchange of Flags and Pins," he added.
About the food, he said that the food was really good especially fish and noodles in
a Chinese recipe were marvelous. Moreover, Chinese rice prepared with vegetables,
eggs, and meat was different from the traditional Pakistani food.
Qamar Mirza emphasized that the experience gained during the winter games would
be utilized in Pakistan and could help improve Pakistani players' skills.
"By interacting with top-level skiers and professionals here, we have learned a lot and
we will share our experience with our athletes in Pakistan," he mentioned.
He stressed that there was a need to improve infrastructure to compete with world-
class athletes and added, "We have a lot of talent in our country, especially in the
Northern areas. We only need a good infrastructure for winter sports in our country.
We can train our athletes if we have better facilities." Muhammad Karim, who
participated in the skiing competition also highly lauded the arrangements and was
amazed by the snow on the slopes.
"The method of snow marking was perfect and was perfectly at par standard of
the world. And it was touching top line,' he added.
The top Pakistani skier, who has participated in the past two Winter Olympics held
in South Korea and Russia, appreciated the food and accommodation at
the Olympic Village.
"Everything was perfect. The volunteers and all the Chinese people are welcoming
and warm hearted. So I feel comfortable here than the last Winter Olympics because it
was amazing for me," he added.
Muhammad Karim, from Naltar, a village in Gilgit-Baltistan, was the
only Pakistani skier participated in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/miscellaneous/pakistani-squad-felicitates-china-on-successf-
1473362.html
Prices of essential commodities continue to

rise
Various daily use items including pulses, cooking oil in short supply at utility stores
Our CorrespondentFebruary 21, 2022

Tarin directed PBS to present a detailed variance analysis vis-a-vis weekly SPI highlighting food prices prevailing
across mainstream cities and districts for real-time comparison. PHOTO: FILE
RAWALPINDI:
The skyrocketing prices of petroleum products have started to have
a negative impact in the shape of a hike in the prices of food items,
transport fares, milk, flour, ghee, oil, pulses, rice, sugar, chicken,
tomato and meat in the open market and Sunday, Sasta and
Sahoolat bazaars.
In the open market, poultry live is being sold between Rs 235 and Rs240 per
kg, chicken meat between Rs 352 and Rs360 per kg, eggs Rs140 per dozen,
Ghee Rs 460 per kg, oil Rs470 per kg, sugar Rs105 per kg and flour between
Rs80 and Rs90 per kg.
Similarly, mutton is being sold at Rs1,400 per kg, beef at Rs700 per kg, milk
between Rs130 Rs 140 per kg, yoghurt at Rs 40 per kg, red beans Rs 200 per
kg, white gram between Rs190 and Rs200 per kg, potatoes between Rs90 and
Rs140 per kg, onion between Rs22 and Rs 35 per kg, lemon between Rs 60
and Rs 70 per kg, garlic Rs400 per kg, ginger between Rs 200 and Rs250.
Similarly, peas are being sold between Rs 70 Rs80, green chillies between
Rs140 and Rs150, capsicum between Rs150 and Rs170 per kg, pumpkin
between Rs100 and Rs110, eggplant between Rs85 and Rs90, okra between Rs
180 and Rs200 per kg fresh bean between Rs120 and Rs120, turnip between
25 and Rs30 apple between Rs70 and Rs200, malta and kinnow between
Rs100 and Rs 230 per dozen.
With the huge increase in petroleum products, the national and multinational
companies have also increased the prices of their products including surf
shampoo, soap and baby milk powder between 20 and 30 per cent. Beverage
companies have also increased the price of drinks
Around 60 price control magistrates across the district have failed to stabilize
prices. Meanwhile, sugar, ghee, oil, basin and pulses have run out in all
government utility stores in Cantonment areas and in the Rawalpindi city,
which has caused great inconvenience to consumers who purchase from utility
stores.
Sugar, pulses, basin, ghee and oil have run out of stock in utility stores on
Murree Road, Chandni Chowk, Rashid Minhas Road, Tipu Road, Sadiqabad,
Satellite Town, Tench Bhatta, Westridge, Rawalpindi.
Utility store management is sending back citizens empty-handed.
In the open market, pulses are prices have been increased between Rs 20 and
Rs30 per kg, oil and ghee between Rs50 and Rs60 per kg and sugar Rs 10 per
kg.
The price of flour has increased between Rs10 and Rs12 per kg
The Grocery Merchant Association has stopped selling pulses, sugar and flour
at official rates due to increased wholesale prices.
Grocery Merchant Association President Saleem Pervaiz Butt said that the
wholesale supply of pulses has gone up by Rs20 per kg and they cannot buy
expensive pulses and sell them cheaply.
He said that an urgent price control committee meeting should be convened
by the deputy commissioner to set up new prices.
Consumer Mehmood Khan said he has been visiting a utility store on Tipu
Road for the last two days but sugar, pulses, ghee and oil was not available
there.
Another citizen Arjand Hussain Shah said that ghee and oil were missing for
the last three at the utility store at Chandni Chowk.
Fayyaz Hashmi said that there is a rush of consumers visiting the Tench Bhata
utility store but return empty-handed as ghee, oil and pulses were missing
there.
The management of the Tipu Road utility store said that they have informed
the high-ups about the unavailability of stock.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2344495/prices-of-essential-commodities-continue-to-rise
Pakistan least expensive among

139 countries of world:
Shaukat Tarin
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin. Photo: AFP
 Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin claims Pakistan is the cheapest among

139 countries in the world.
 Minister shares screenshots of latest cost of living index on official
Twitter handle.
 Cost of living in Pakistan is 71.52% lower on average than in the United
States, stated database.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin claimed Sunday that Pakistan is the cheapest
among 139 countries in the world, however, the opposition leaders rejected the
claim and severely criticised the government over the unprecedented inflation
inflicted on people during the past three-and-a-half years, The News reported.
Taking to Twitter, the minister shared the screenshots of a latest cost of living
index on his official Twitter handle. He said Pakistan was the cheapest country
among the 139 countries in the world.
In response to the finance minister's statement, President of the Pakistan
Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman questioned how the
government could claim that Pakistan was a cheap country to live in when people
were committing suicide as a result of price hikes, joblessness, and the country's
extremely high cost of living.
He said that such assertions contradict the reality on ground, and that the
'selected' government will be deposed soon with the help of the people.
According to the finance minister, Numbeo's — the world's largest cost of living

database — deemed Pakistan the least expensive country among 139 countries,
and it is not the "government's claims." According to the Numbeo index, a family
of four in Pakistan spends roughly Rs171,783.24 per month (without rent),
whereas a single person spends around Rs51,798.76 per month (without rent).
According to the database, the cost of living in Pakistan is 71.52% lower on

average than in the United States. The rent for a home in Pakistan is said to be
90.64% less than in the United States.
According to the Numbeo database, milk costs Rs122.56 per litre in Pakistan, rice
costs Rs159.07 per kg, and eggs cost Rs175.04 each dozen. In Pakistan, chicken
meat costs Rs393.45 per kg, beef costs Rs645.1 per kg, apples cost Rs170 per kg,
oranges cost Rs115.29 per kg, tomatoes cost Rs77.86 per kg, potatoes cost
Rs55.16 per kg, onions cost Rs52 per kg, water (1.5-litre bottle) costs Rs61.01,
and cigarettes 20 pack (Marlboro) costs Rs250.
The Numbeo database says that one-way tickets (local transportation) cost about
Rs40, taxis start at Rs150, taxi per km costs about Rs36.61, and a new Toyota
Corolla sedan costs about Rs3.24 million.
Similarly, basic utilities (electricity, heating, cooling, water, garbage) for an 85

m2 apartment cost around Rs11,425,43 per month, one minute of prepaid mobile
tariff local costs Rs2.67, the internet (unlimited monthly data) costs Rs3,596.98,
one pair of jeans (Levis or similar) costs Rs2,527, a summer dress in a chain store
costs Rs3,980, a pair of Nike running shoes (mid-range) costs Rs8,412.
Similarly, according to the Numbeo database, the average price of a one-bedroom
apartment in Pakistan's city centre is Rs20,341, a one-bedroom apartment outside
of the city centre is Rs12,999.81, a three-bedroom apartment in the city centre is
Rs45,441, and a three-bedroom apartment outside of the city centre is Rs28,861.
An apartment in the city core costs roughly Rs131,744 per square metre, whereas
an apartment outside the city centre costs around Rs73,749 per square metre.
According to the Numbeo website, 794 distinct contributors submitted 1,0285

entries in the last year. It also stated that the data was last updated this month.
Separately, Shaukat Tarin, speaking on Radio Pakistan's current affairs show, said
Prime Minister Imran Khan was implementing his vision of empowering
Pakistanis on the Riyasat-e-Madina model. According to him, a lot of initiatives
for the ordinary man have been launched, including the health card, the Ehsaas
portal, and other schemes. "Unlike previous rulers who made money through
unethical activities, the Prime Minister is an upright and transparent person," he
asserted.
On the other hand, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad
Hussain expressed his displeasure with the task of holding the so-called power
show against the government in Rawalpindi at an inappropriate time, when the
Australian cricket team would be playing the first test match of their tour against
Pakistan.
In a tweet, he announced that the Australians and green shirts would play the first
cricket test series in Pakistan in 23 years.
The whole country was excited to see this kind of cricket again, but only the
"hodgepodge" opposition was worried and planning a "rent-a-power show," he
said.
On Sunday, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said
the government had come up with a plan that would help every low-income family
build their own homes. He said the PTI government had done a lot of things to
help people.
He was speaking at the Jhang Press Club during the oath-taking ceremony for
newly elected members of the Jhang Union of Journalists. He added that
the Kamyab Jawan programme was related to the House Project, which allows
low-income people to acquire housing loans for 3 to 7 years. He claimed that
previous governments simply handed people lollipops, but that the PTI
government was making concrete efforts for the welfare and betterment of the
citizens.
He said that as part of the "Skill for All" initiative, the government was giving
children hi-tech certifications so that they could start their own businesses instead
of relying on government jobs.
People will have to face fuel price adjustments, according to Minister of Energy
Hammad Azhar, because the prices of furnace oil, coal, and LNG are higher.
Speaking at a ceremony in Lahore, he said that the PTI would win local
bodies elections in Punjab. "PTI is not the political party of thieves," he added.
Hammad Azhar said that the Prime Minister constructed shelter homes. "The
world is affected due to the storm of inflation. When there is less inflation on
international level, we will give relief to people," he added.
He said that the fuel price adjustment on electricity bills is because of previous
governments' policies. "They have implanted costly projects for LNG and coal.
Today, we have to purchase LNG and coal at higher prices, "he maintained.
The minister said the national economy was progressing rapidly. "Prime Minister
Imran Khan’s visit to Russia has historic value," he added.
However, the opposition leaders didn’t buy the minister’s claims. PMLN leader
Marriyum Aurangzeb said the country was suffering from the highest inflation in
the country’s history and the lowest growth rate.
Separately, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on

Sunday said the ‘selected’ and ‘puppet" governments had plunged people into
poverty.
The remarks came on World Social Justice Day, when he stated that ensuring
social justice was the "key to making the country peaceful, progressive, and
prosperous".
He said the PPP would begin its planned long march against rampant inflation on
February 27, adding that social justice was the cornerstone of the PPP’s ideology
and struggle.
It's a goal of the PPP to "empower the weaker parts of society, including women."
He said the PPP government's decisions had made it possible for the weak and
vulnerable to dream of a better future.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/400495-pakistan-is-cheapest-among-139-countries-of-world-shaukat-tarin
Sri Lanka likely to receive Pakistan’s

US$200mn credit line after top level visit –
sources
BY SHIHAR ANEEZ
Monday February 21, 2022 7:22 am
ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is likely to receive a 200 million US

dollar credit line from Pakistan for essential food, rice, and cement,
sources who are aware of the deal said as the island nation is
grappling with a severe foreign exchange crisis.
“It is likely to be signed when a Sri Lankan leader visits Pakistan

possibly before the end of this year,” a source who is aware of the
progress of the deal told EconomyNext.
Sri Lanka has already borrowed 1.5 billion US dollars from People’s
Bank of China, 400 million US dollars from Reserve Bank of India
(RBI), and 250 million US dollars from Bangladesh Central Bank
via swap arrangements to boost its reserves and avoid a possible
sovereign debt default.
Pakistan’s credit line talks come as Sri Lanka’s rice crop may fall 30
percent or more after an overnight ban on fertilizer to save foreign
exchange and stop agro-chemical use.
A source from Pakistan who is aware of the ongoing discussion over

the credit line said the original request, which came in September
last year, was only focusing on a credit line for rice and cement.
However, when Sri Lanka’s Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena

visited Islamabad in January, Pakistan was asked to extend the deal
also for essential commodities as well.
“In principle, the Pakistan Prime Minister has approved this and it is
in process,” he said.
“The deal will be signed when a Sri Lankan leader visits Pakistan.”
Sri Lanka is trying to finance imports of essential commodities

including food and medicines through credit lines for this year amid
forex shortages as it is facing risk of sovereign debt default.
Sri Lanka has a habit of going for credit lines every time money
printing trigger forex shortages. Credit lines allows imports and
consumption to take place on credit or a financial account inflow.
Central bankers and other policy makers then complain that the
external current account has widened.
The island nation has already signed a 500 million credit line with
India to buy fuel from India and Sri Lanka expects to start using this
credit line from the first week of April.
India also has agreed for a 1 billion US dollar credit line for Sri
Lanka to buy foods and medicines.
Sri Lanka also has been in discussion with Australia for another 200
million credit line to buy lentils and essential foods, local media has
reported. (Colombo/Feb21/2022)
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https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-likely-to-receive-pakistans-us200mn-credit-line-after-top-level-visit-
sources-90675/
In Riverina rice fields, farmers and scientists

join forces to save a mysterious waterbird
A Bittern nesting in the grass. Photograph: Matt Herring/Supplied
With fewer than 2,000 Australasian bitterns left in the wild, the endangered bird relies on the wet
rice fields to fledge their young
 Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter

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by Kat Vella
Supported by
About this content
Sat 19 Feb 2022 19.00 GMT
Last modified on Mon 21 Feb 2022 10.51 GMT



R ice farmers and ecologists in south-west New South Wales are weaving new
partnerships between agriculture and wildlife conservation in efforts to rescue a little-known

waterbird with a mysterious story.
But pressure from the water market, crop competition and, ironically, increasing water
efficiency, could pose a threat to their efforts.
Third generation rice farmer Wayne Andreazza remembers when he first started hearing the
foghorn-like call of the “bunyip” bird in the early mornings and evenings at his property in
Griffith, NSW.
“I didn’t really know what it was,” he said.
“I’d be doing my watering and I’d hear this loud booming sound – it was amazing. I always
wondered what it was.”
Rice property owner Wayne Andreazza is working with scientists to protect waterbirds on his farm.
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Andreazza has been part of the Bitterns in Rice project for three years. The program’s aim is to
ensure the survival of the Australasian bittern and is funded by the Riverina Local Land Services
(LLS) through the National Landcare Program.
“Male bitterns make deep, booming calls when searching for mates,” project ecologist Matt
Herring said.
“It’s believed Aboriginal Australians heard the calls and connected them to the myths of the
bunyip, which is how it got the nickname.”
00:27
Australasian bittern: Listen to the call of the 'bunyip' bird. Images of bitterns by Matt Herring
The mythical bunyip was said to lurk in swamps, marshlands and riverbeds waiting to pounce
and eat wandering children or oblivious adults.
There are differing stories of the origins of the bunyip. Some say it was a punisher of evil against
the environment and wildlife. Others say it was a blood-thirsty killer.
But the reports of the booming or roaring calls of the bunyip right before it would attack were
most likely those of the stealthy bittern hiding in the grass.
The Australasian bittern is found in the south-east and south-west of mainland Australia and Tasmania.
With fewer than 2000 birds left across Australia, New Zealand and parts of New Caledonia,
about 750 of these endangered waterbirds call the rice fields of the Riverina home.
Twelve years ago, with the help of Herring, farmers began to investigate how the elusive birds
were using rice fields as nesting grounds to fledge their young.
Herring began approaching individual farmers who were willing to make their land inviting for
bitterns to nest.
This meant conserving grassy banks for the birds to hide in, controlling predators and putting on
early season permanent water.
Ecologist Matt Herring uses drones with infrared technology to search for bittern nests on the rice farms.
Traditionally farmed rice fields can mimic a wetland which suits the Australasian bittern. Photograph:
Mike Bowers/The Guardian
“We developed an incentive program to bring together all the rice farmers who already had a
rapport with the bitterns,” senior land services officer Anna Wilson said.
“What we ask is a few simple things to do to tweak the environment to suit bitterns. The main
thing is early permanent water, because without it the whole program falls apart. The bitterns
need 140 days of water [a year].”
While many rice growers have now moved away from permanent ponding to grow rice,
Andreazza and his family continue to farm traditionally. In October they flood their rice with
water for roughly five months to accommodate the bitterns nesting and fledging period.
“You are basically mimicking a wetland,” he said. “We grow 1500 acres of rice and we do it on
all the farms.”
Thanks to farmer enthusiasm and good rains from La Niña, the past three years have been the
most successful for the project to date, with 1885ha of land made available for bitterns to nest in
the 2021-22 season.
But Herring said while this is good news for bitterns now, external pressures on growers to
transition to less water-intensive methods of farming threaten the long-term survival of the birds.
It was twelve years ago that farmers started investigating how bitterns were using the rice fields as
nesting grounds. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
“Water-saving growing methods have an insufficient ponding period for the bitterns to breed
successfully,” he said.
“This is a real threat to the species.
“We are doing everything we can to at least maintain some proportion of the rice area having
early ponding … but to expect the entire rice growing area to farm in a bittern-friendly way now
is unrealistic.
“The water is worth just too much money and there is too much competition with cotton and
almonds and other crops.”
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Herring said the bitterns project is proof that agriculture and conservation can work together for
mutual benefit, and people should be open to supporting it with their hip pocket.
“In the long term, it’s the consumer that ought to pay for bittern-friendly rice,” he said.
“I like the idea of the public voting with their spending. If we want to see conservation efforts in
farming, we need to pay for it. People do it with coffee and tuna so why not the bittern?”
Andreazza says the collaboration has not only been beneficial to the bitterns.
“Every kind of duck and bird and frog comes in and it’s hard to put into words how it feels …
Unless you experience it for yourself, it’s just unbelievable.”
00:46
NSW rice farmers save the Australasian bittern - video
 Kat Vella is a Griffith-based freelance journalist.
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 Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community
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China Plans to Feed 80 Million People With

‘Seawater Rice’
 Bloomberg News
4:30 PM IST, 19 Feb 20229:09 AM IST, 21 Feb 20224:30 PM IST, 19 Feb 20229:09 AM IST, 21 Feb
2022
Save
(Bloomberg) --
Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located along the coast of
the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of salty, alkaline soil where crops can’t
survive. Yet, last autumn, Jinghai produced 100 hectares of rice.
The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed by Chinese
scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been threatened by rising sea levels,
increasing grain demand and supply chain disruptions.
Known as “seawater rice” because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the strains were created
by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s more resistant to saline and alkali. Test
fields in Tianjin—the municipality that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a yield of 4.6 metric
tons per acre last year, higher than the national average for production of standard rice varieties.
The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food and energy supplies
as global warming and geopolitical tensions make imports less reliable. The nation has one-fifth
of the world’s population, and that many mouths to feed, with less than 10% of the Earth’s arable
land. Meanwhile, grain consumption is rising quickly as the country grows more wealthy.
“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture,” said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao Saline-Alkali
Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, drawing a parallel between the crucial role
semiconductors play in the development of new technologies and their role in the ongoing trade
war between the U.S. and China. Seawater rice could help improve China’s grain production in
the face of an “extremely complicated situation regarding climate change and global food
security,” she said.
China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since at least the 1950s. But the term “seawater rice”
only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years after the late Yuan Longping, once the
nation’s top agricultural scientist, began researching the idea in 2012.
Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice,” is considered a national hero for boosting grain
harvests and saving millions from hunger thanks to his work on high-yielding hybrid rice
varieties in the 1970s. In 2016, he selected six locations across the country with different soil
conditions that were turned into testing fields for salt-tolerant rice. The following year, China
established the research center in Qingdao where Wan works. The institute’s goal is to harvest 30
million tons of rice using 6.7 million hectares of barren land.
“We could feed 80 million more people” with salt-tolerant rice, Yuan said in a documentary
broadcast in 2020. “Agricultural researchers like us should shoulder the responsibility to
safeguard food security,” he told a local newspaper in 2018.
Climate change has made the task more urgent. China’s coastal waters have risen faster than the
global average over the last 40 years, a worrying trend given the country’s deep reliance on its
long and low eastern coast for grain production. Successfully growing salt-tolerant rice on a
large scale would allow the country to utilize more of the increasingly salty land in the area.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels around the world could
rise as much as 59 centimeters by the end of the century if the planet warms by 2 degrees
Celsius. Oceans surrounding the U.S. will swell faster within the next three decades than they did
in the past century, according to a report this week led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
President Xi Jinping has stressed in several recent meetings with top government officials that
ensuring the supply of primary goods is a “major strategic issue” given climate and geopolitical
pressures. “The food of the Chinese people must be made by and remain in the hands of the
Chinese,” he said at a gathering of the Politburo Standing Committee meeting in December.
Chinese scientists are betting that land once dismissed as barren can be turned into productive
grain-producing plots. About 100 million hectares of land in the country, about the size of Egypt,
is high in saline and alkaline. Meanwhile arable land has decreased 6% from 2009 to 2019
because of urbanization, pollution and overuse of fertilizers.
To make use of salty soil, farmers traditionally dilute their fields with large amounts of fresh
water. The approach is still commonly used in some coastal regions. But the method requires
vast amounts of water and often doesn’t improve yields enough to make sense economically.
“China is looking at another method now, to develop grain varieties that can withstand the soil’s
saltiness,” said Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher with China’s agricultural ministry. While seawater
rice has mostly been planted on trial fields so far, Zhang said he believes commercial cultivation
will soon take off with the government’s support.
The research team in Qingdao said last October that it can meet the goal of growing 6.7 million
hectares of seawater rice within ten years. In 2021, the group was put in charge of 400,000
hectares of land to expand production of seawater rice.
“If China can be more self-sufficient in staple foods, it would be a contribution to the world's
food security too,” said Zhang. “The less China imports, the more other countries will have.”

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