Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Elsewhere

Over the past few months, there is not much to report on Cambodian affairs, it seems that conform market freedom and lack of incentives for companies, not one seems interested.

Vanuatu
That does not mean that outside of Cambodia the story is the same. China is heavily promoting hybrid rice as it seeks to reward it's friends (but neglects Cambodia). One of the strangest is where China announces to set up shop in Vanuatu. Having worked there myself, a long time ago (it must have been more than 20 years ....), it's odd that China would be willing to invest and that Vanuatu willing to receive.
No rice cultivation takes place and consumption takes place in the urban centers. The urban centers profit from a good supply chain from NZ and Australia which ensure relatively cheap imports. However the rural poor are also interested in consuming rice so one would think that being able to produce themselves would solve this problem. However inter-island transportation fees are often more expensive than those from overseas so if there 1 large scale project no doubt this would fail to provide cheap rice for all.
What would be required is getting farmers to grow rice for their own sustainability, thereby eliminating transport fees. But in such a system there's little need for hybrid, if anything the opposite ...


Tripling income for SL Agritech?
The company SL Agritech (from the Philippines) is becoming more aggressive in acquiring market share. Besides going public and reaping cash for further expansion, they have now announced that they will export seeds to Vietnam, distribution to be undertaken by Dai Thanh Agritech. It seems though that this company may well be a subsidiary of SL Agritech (there were until recently no mentions made of this company according to Google), which despite the company SL going public is not transparent in it's operations.
The SL Agritech CEO (Henry Lim) in
another article while commenting on the Vietnamese exports, claims:
'It has been proven that farmers planting hybrid seeds will not only double or triple their harvest but will also dramatically increase their income compared to their production when they plant the traditional inbred seeds variety'.
Possibly referring to Philippines as research in Vietnam has disproven both claims ..., but heh, how else can you sell hybrids if not by promising heaven and earth?

Superiority
From China news (uncovered by Greenpeace) that companies promoting hybrid have inadvertently also begun to promote GM hybrids as well, a claim denied.
Even Yuan Longping, China's 'father' of hybrid rice, focuses on caution with GM, as any possible consumer adversity still needs to be tested.
'But Huang Dafang, a member of the bio-safety committee affiliated to the MOA, insists GM crops have proven safety in previous animal testing.
"We are technically advantageous in hybrid rice planting. The genetically-modified technology could ensure China's superiority in food production," said Huang'.
Everyone seems in a hurry.

In a separate article a lawyer is reported to have tried to access info on GM rice trials in China. Naturally the courts blocked the request as the info was a 'state secret' ...; that's until the public find out for themselves (see contaminated milk scandal ...).

There goes the profits ...
GM-ed rice gets Bayer in trouble in the US resulting in it having to pay damages of $48 million, which it will fight. They definitely believe that that the product is what consumers want, so they will give it to them without even notifying the customers ... Power to the company!