Sentimental
Robert
Zeigler, director-general of International Rice Research Institute
feels free to share his thoughts, most notably on anti-technology
zealots, wow. COSMOS (the science of everything) magazine publishes an interview on it's website (Feb. 3):
'As an intellectual direct descendent of the architects of the Green Revolution it is truly heartbreaking to see their noble endeavours attacked by people claiming to defend the environment and the interests of the poor. I know as much as I know anything at all, that if we continue to listen to the shrill cries of anti-technology zealots we will be distracted from taking on and solving the most serious problems that face us and our grandchildren'.
Aha, yes.
'Sadly, while we were working to make our dreams reality, the strange brew of anti-corporate sentiment, extreme environmentalism, romanticised traditional organic but land-hungry agriculture and fear of new technologies boiled over to create a powerful anti-technology backlash. The extreme regulations for GMO crops demanded by self-proclaimed protectors of the environment, had the perverse result that only the largest multinationals could afford to develop such crops. Predictably, this resulted in the same camp denouncing the growing domination of agriculture by multinationals. As costs for developing crop varieties escalated, the few seed companies that could afford the work focused only on areas with large markets. The marginal farmers were once again excluded.This time, though, who is to blame?'.
That's a cheap shot. IRRI itself is in
the doldrums as they have no direction and seem to research only those
rice growing regimes encouraged by big business, be they seed companies,
fertilizer producers, pesticide producers or end-produce traders /
exporters.
Heavily dependent on donors they are seeking more funds,
preferably bigger funds with less strings attached, especially in
regards to greener technologies. Under Zeigler, IRRI seeks to be more
belligerent on non-significant goals such as Golden Rice or pipe dreams
such as hybridisation / corporatisation of seed inputs while publicly
shunning alternatives presented such as SRI or economics in their purest
form (higher prices = more production).
And though IRRI should be part
of the solution, it seems to be more part of the problem. Soul
searching?
Note also this article from GRAIN (30 April) in which they highlight the resistance to IRRI's Golden Rice, a sugar coated programme which IRRI fails to understand why resistance is mounting.
'Local farmer groups from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao numbering to 200 individuals converged and went to the gates of the Department of Agriculture to call on Secretary Proceso Alcala to disapprove the application for Golden Rice commercialization. They also brought and ate kamote (sweet potato) which contains five times more beta carotene than Golden Rice to show the DA that there are readily available, cheap and natural sources of Vitamin A'.
Recover
The main movement in the market has been the downward price trend as Thailand seeks to clear out stocks while they are rolling up their pledge programme. Not only are prices down, Thai exports are the flavour of the month once more.
Bangkok Post notes (3 April) that the Thai government seeks to double sales. Exports will rise by more than a quarter whereas those from India and Vietnam will drop by 5% and 10% respectively.
The Wall Street Journal (8 May) seems to be getting it wrong, drawing conclusions from two independent facts:
'Thailand’s rice exports are recovering after the government ended its controversial stockpiling policy'.
The fact that Thailand would up its
exports comes independently of the cessation of it's rice pledging
scheme.
A week later (10 April), the same news outlet confirms that Thailand is back from it's sojourn from the world's rice markets. They quote the UN's FAO that estimates that Thailand will estimate 8.7 million tonnes, just 0.8 million tonnes behind current leading exporter India and more than a million ton more than presumed third placing of Vietnam.
Opponents of the Thaksin
regime in Thailand are hoping that the rice pledging scheme would the
sword onto which they will fall, so reports
the Nation (2 May). Not because the scheme failed, no because it might
seem that the PM was too busy to oversee each and every meeting.
The Nation has an extensive article on the supposed end of the love affair between Thailand's rice farmers and government subsidies (6 May).
And though that may be what they set out to do, it's more about the
current unravelling of the rice-pledge scheme. Considering farmers felt
it was such a success there's bound to be more of the same, once a
government can once again rule.
Possibly the Thai PM will face impeachment procedures for her (non?) role in the rice pledging scheme (Nation, 8 May).
No, wait for it, her opponents have found a different stick ...
Scrap
The change in the market is also affecting Cambodia where rice exports have dropped by 10% so reports the Cambodian Daily (11 April). It has also decimated rice exports from Cambodia to Thailand:
'Exports to Thailand for the first quarter of this year were virtually wiped out, falling from 13,000 tons in 2013 to 300 tons this year. Last year, Thailand was the sixth biggest importer of Cambodian rice, buying 23,550 tons'.
There are also wider implications as prices plummet. Cambodia's rice is relatively expensive to the market meaning that with lower prices and fixed (or even rising) costs for storage, transport and marketing, Cambodian is putting itself outside of the market. That's unless farmers are willing to accept lower prices. And with prices in a downward trend, traders are also making losses which will see them less willing / able to buy future stocks.
So it comes as no surprise that Phnom Penh Post reports (8 April) the following:
'The government-backed Rural Development Bank (RDB) will lend $64 million to Cambodia’s agriculture sector in 2014, the bank’s top official said yesterday.Sun Kunthor, president of RDB, said most of the funding would be used to support growth in Cambodia’s rice sector as it strives to meet the government’s export target of one million tonnes by 2015.“The rice sector needs more than $300 million to reach its full potential,” Kunthor said'.
But doomed to fail?
Dry season rice farm output in Cambodia is said to drop by 1.9%? So reports the Phnom Penh Post (7 April):
'The government commended the farmers’ efforts, citing a 2.5 per cent drop in producing land, due to the effects of flooding. On average, farmers actually increased their average tonnage per hectare from 4.1 tonnes in 2013 to 4.3 tonnes this year, according to the ministry'.
The
FAO also suggests that Cambodia's total annual rice output would equal last years
output, 9.4 million tonnes. So reports the Cambodia Daily (15 April):
'In its April rice market monitor report, issued quarterly, the FAO said as long as the industry does not encounter any major setbacks—such as floods between September and November—Cambodia will produce 9.4 million tons of rice paddy, slightly up from last year'.
It would
certainly be interesting to see if the lower prices and the expected
lower leakage to Thailand will have any effect on the output.
Other initiatives to stimulate rice exports. Custom fees are to disappear in Cambodia in an effort to assist rice exports, so reports the Phnom Penh Post (18 April):
'The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) will scrap customs fees for rice exporters from May 1 in an effort to reduce production costs and boost Cambodia’s competitiveness in the sector, according to a letter obtained by the Post.“[The ministry] has agreed to eliminate charges relating to customs processing fees for exporters of rice in order to boost the rice export industry,” said the letter, signed by Department of Customs and Excise officials.The letter goes on to say that the fee changes will become effective on May 1, in less than two weeks time.The government’s changes to the customs tariff scheme have been welcomed by rice industry officials and economists.Kim Savuth, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters (FCRE), said the government’s move will help cut production and export costs by at least $15 per shipping container'.
Indeed 15 $US per container so no huge incentive. The Cambodian Daily (29 April) adds:
'Lim Bunheng, chairman of both the Loran Import-Export Co. Ltd. and Cambodian Rice Exporter Association, said the directive would allow his company to save at least $15 per container.Mr. Bunheng added that the tax change will help increase his milled rice exports, which last year amounted to 23,000 tons of milled rice.“I plan to increase my rice exports by 50 percent more than last year,” he said.Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, said although the tariff removal will be a boon to the industry, there still needs to be a greater focus on rice milling capacity and quality to ensure that Cambodian rice meets international standards.“[The tax break] will speed up the rice export process, and rice exporters will be able to sell more milled rice and make prices competitive in the international market,” he said'.
Up and down
With prospects for rice fading, there seems to be more attention for other crops.
Mangoes picture are a more rosy picture. Phnom Penh Post (4 April) has an interview with
'Mong Chanthol, the youngest son of agriculture business tycoon Mong Reththy. As the manager of Mong Reththy Group’s mango plantation and soon-to-be built mango packaging plant in Preah Sihanouk province, Chanthol says Cambodia is on its way to becoming the home of one of the world’s most luxuriously priced fruits – the Irwin mango'.
And what the future will bring:
'When we start to export the Irwin mango, we envisage it will be sold for $20 per kilo. Our farm currently has about 80,000 trees of Irwin mango and we will add another 50,000 trees by the end of this year....Tell us about the Mong Reththy Group’s businesses here in Preah Sihanouk.Over the 30,000-hectare estate, we have a pig farm, palm oil, rubber and now mango plantations. About 60 people are employed in the mango business already. Maybe 250 people are employed in our pig farming operation and more than 5,000 in the palm oil operations during the high season.This interview has been edited for length and clarity'.
And then a week later the same newsoutlet adds:
'Agriculture tycoon Mong Reththy yesterday confirmed a second shipment of Koe Romeat mangoes, twice the size of the first, will be headed for China this week from his Preah Sihanouk plantation'.
Rubber. The Phnom Penh Post (8 May) sees fit to repeat a Ministry of Commerce release on the national rubber market: exports are up, prices are down.
'The latest figures from the Ministry of Commerce show natural rubber exports grew 26 per cent during the first quarter of 2014, compared with the same period last year.Meanwhile, overall revenue from natural rubber sales fell 28 per cent.“Last year, rubber was selling at about $2,800 per tonne, but early this year, surprisingly, the price has dropped to as low as $1,980 per tonne,” Heng Sarath, deputy director of the General Directorate of Rubber, said, adding that prices had been on the decline since 2011'.
A week later (16 May) the Cambodia Daily is a lot more pessimistic:
'Cambodia’s steadily declining rubber prices have hit critically low levels that are destined to only get worse as Thailand prepares to offload huge rubber stocks, the secretary-general of the Association for Rubber Development of Cambodia said Thursday.As the price of natural rubber has paralleled a global price drop, tumbling to $1,500 per ton, down 31 percent since the start of the year when rubber was selling at $2,200 per ton, Men Sopheak said the industry has been thrown into disarray.“Falling prices have led to processing factories pausing operations because they are struggling to cover labor costs,” Mr. Sopheak said. “The farmers are getting very little profit and if the price drops further they will be making a loss.”Approximately 30 to 40 percent of the 60 factories in Cambodia that process raw rubber have suspended operations and farmers are working with narrowing profit margins, he said'.
The culprit is yet again Thailand as the rubber scheme is now unravelling.
The World Banks is scrutinizing it's portfolio. Maybe the postponement of planting is a blessing in disguise. The Phnom Penh Post (8 May) notes:
'Controversial Vietnamese rubber giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) has suspended part of its operations in Ratanakkiri province amid an investigation by the World Bank’s investment arm into claims of land grabbing, a company memorandum reveals....Last year, UK-based NGO Global Witness published a report accusing HAGL of illegally logging outside concession areas and being in possession of at least 47,000 hectares of economic land concessions – almost five times the legal limit.The IFC, Deutsche Bank and, later, Credit Suisse were all singled out for investing in HAGL. Deutsche Bank subsequently divested, while Credit Suisse claimed that its holdings predated the Global Witness report'.
Longan growing another alternative? The Phnom Penh Post (16 May) notes:
'The amount of land used to grow longans has doubled in the past two years, but a lack of supply-chain infrastructure is hampering farmers’ ability to get top dollar for their product, the fruit’s body says.Sreng Sreang, deputy director of the Pailin Longan Farmers’ Community (PLFC), said the fruit growers are in desperate need of storage facilities to hold large amounts of their stock in order to avoid being left with an oversupply at the end of the harvest season between January and March, which in turn brings prices down'.
Away from rice, palm oil looks set to be in for a hard time. The Nation (11 May) reports that weather patterns will affect Southeast Asian output, meaning higher prices for consumers. And one would believe higher prices for farmers?
It's the dry season, so no wonder news is about the drought. Drought affecting production. Bangkok Post (12 April):
'Rice, sugar and rubber output in Thailand is at risk because of prolonged drought, according to the government forecaster, which warned that the dry conditions may be aggravated by the development of an El Nino this year'.
(Too) small fry?
Local initiatives taking off, this time in Laos. The Vientiane Times reports (12 April):
'Overseas customers are showing keen interest in buying Khao Kataven (‘Sun' brand rice) after it gained Lao government ‘One District, One Product' (ODOP) approval at the end of last year.The product is produced by the Khamphengphet Chengsawang Export and Import Co. Ltd. in Nasiew village, Naxaithong district, Vientiane.“Companies from Korea, China and Thailand are currently studying the quality of the rice; we are still in negations and it will take time for us to complete export contract negotiations,” company director, Mr Khampheng Sengthavy told Vientiane Times on Tuesday.“The markets in these countries need good quality rice, especially organic rice, for selling within their country,” he said'.
The article though fails to mention how much is sold over the Lao borders, out of their total produce of 7,000 tons.
An interesting research was reported in the Oryzae.com website (15 April). Apparently bats are a common enemy of plant hoppers. Thailand -wide savings are nearly 3,000 tons which can be increased with the use of so-called bat roosting boxes.
More local iniatives, that of Ibis Rice. The Phnom Penh Post (5 May) reports:
'The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says its Ibis Rice project has recorded a production surplus for the first time in its five-year history, prompting a bid to export the boutique product overseas.Concentrated in Preah Vihear province, Ibis Rice farmers produced more than 435 tonnes of organically grown, fragrant Malis rice during the 2013-14 harvest season, up 54 per cent from the previous season, according to a WCS report.The Ibis Rice project is operated by NGO Sansom Mlup Prey (SMP) and pays farmers a premium of up to 150 riel ($0.03) per kilogram more than other local buyers. In return, farmers commit to strict regulations barring them from additional land clearances, thereby protecting surrounding wildlife areas including the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary....David Van, deputy general secretary of the Alliance of Rice Producers & Exporters of Cambodia, commended the Ibis Rice project’s design; however, he warned that it is
a tough export market for small producers.“I would honestly say an annual production of . . . less than 500 tonnes is negligible,” Van said in an email.“Ibis’ format/approach is far too small in cultivated surface area and tonnage produced to be at anytime commercially viable,” he added, citing the project’s premium buying stance as a potential
set back'.
