July-September

2011

First R , highlights inside &D exhibition

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July-September

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Issue 4

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A Quarterly Magazine
Editorial Board
Chief Editor Managing Editor
Rahmat Ullah

Editorial Associate
Rozeen Shaukat

Business Development Manager

Sarfraz Ahmed

Graphic Designer
Mohammad Zakariya

Marketing Executive(s)
Mujahid Ali Khalid Shabbir (UAE) Shamsahd Ahmad (Saudi Arabia)

Contents Contents

Hamlik

Editorial Rice and Phosphorus Rice Current Issues Rice Revolution on the Way The Rice 1st R&D Exhibition on Food & Agriculture Mystery of Direct Seeded Rice: Opportunities and Constraints Golden Rice Current News

Editorial Advisory Board

1.Admiral (R) Hamid Khalid 2.Javaid Islam Agha 3.Ch. Hamid Malhi 4.Dr. Akhtar Husain 5.Dr. Fayyaz Ahmed Siddique 6.Dr.Abdul Rashid(UAF)

Legal Advisor
Advocate Zaheer Minhas

Rs.100/- per copy inclusive of postage Rs.300/-annually (four issues) inclusive of postage

7.Islam Akhtar Khan

IRP, Suite # 11. Floor # 7.Central Plaza, Barkat Market, Garden Town Lahore, Pakistan. Tel: +92-42-5845551, +92-42-5020200, Fax: +92-42-5853157

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Editorial Note
Welcome to new edition of Rice plus Magazine. There is an element of uncertainty in global rice trade. After three consecutive bullish years, 2011 seems to be bearish and even gloomy. Better production in top importers of rice grains, resulting in, drastic cuts in import volumes (Philippine, Indonesia and Bangladesh) seems to be driving factor of global rice trade. Philippine has announced a drastic cut of nearly 2 million tons of rice import and possible half the quantity of rice import by Bangladesh and Indonesia. Good monsoon consecutively for second year in India may help the South Asian country, resume export of non Basmati after three years of ban. Global prices of non basmati rice may come down by 15-20% from present level in 3rd quarter. In non basmati trade we feel a stiff competition among top 4 exporters, namely Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, US and may be India. In short term rice market will witness more supplies. Production in subcontinent, which highly depends on monsoon, has bright prospects as monsoon in India has arrived two days earlier than schedule rain intensity and geographical distribution is as per requirement. So far all models suggest a normal monsoon season. Pakistan which has a reasonably good quantity of water available during paddy transplanting time of rice (June to July , historically higher pre monsoon rain in rice belt of Pakistan) is expecting a good harvest but less than 6 million tons, as growers in cotton belt have gone back to cotton due to better return. Parboiling rice is going to see a stiff competition from Vietnam, as many parboiling plants are coming up in that country, which traditionally is a white rice market. In Pakistan, parboiling processing capacity is increasing rapidly and now Pakistan is catching up top exporter Thailand. Current year in Pakistan has been a difficult one for millers, who are really struggling to sell their Basmati rice even at breakeven levels as the international prices are under pressure, due to ample supplies and buyers are asking for low rates. Millers purchased the paddy at higher rates due to fear of less production as a result of devastating floods. New season is around the corner and export houses in India are sitting on huge pile of Basmati stocks. High mark up cost is multiplying their difficulties. Millers are wondering what to do with new season. In India there is a mounting pressure on the Government to enhance MSP (minimum support price) of Paddy by 8%, due to higher cost of inputs. Any decision by Indian Government will have an effect in Pakistan. If MSP is increased by 8% in Pakistan, it will be very injurious decision for Pakistani rice millers and exporters. Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Govt of Pakistan has recently recommended that all rice export consignment to USA, Mexico and Russia should be subjected to periodical inspection and exporters warehouses should be cleared by Ministry's official. This step will lead to Govt official's interference in rice export. Tsunami in Japan has opened an opportunity window for growers and exporters of Pakistan for which a lot of spade work needs to be done. Our exporters and scientist must understand that Rice Industry's future shape is going to be changed very rapidly specially the export of instant cooking rice .Consumers are already feeling uncomfortable on rapidly increasing prices of basmati, who are hit by global recession. Current scenario is very difficult, as increase in input costs of rice paddy is getting costly and on the other hand agitation in Middle East is forcing their governments to cap the prices of imported rice. Tail point. Pakistan Rice exporters should Watch the growing market of Nigeria (# 1 rice importers in the world with over 2 million tons), which is heavily dependent (70%) on Thailand. Hamlik Chief Editor riceplus@irp.edu.pk

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Current Rice Issues

Hamid Malhi President Basmati Growers Association ice production estimates for the current 201011 season have yet to be finalized but initial estimates show a 2.0Million Tons decrease in Non Basmati rice production and a normal production of Basmati rice. The devastating floods mainly affected the rice growing area on the West Bank of the River Indus in Sindh and Baluchistan. The floods could damage only a small percentage of the rice area of Punjab and that too was limited to the Non-Basmati districts of Bhakkar, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and D.G Khan. The small decrease in production in Basmati has been due to the low return to farmers during the last season. There has been a healthy growth in the installation of new rice mills during the last few years and some recent additions are of remarkable nature with reference to their production capacity and quality machinery. This investment trend shows the sufficient availability of quality raw material for production and exports. The increase in market players is bound to increase healthy competition in the sector paving the way for encouraging the farmer community towards increase in production through more area or per acre yields. In comparison to stagnant Basmati rice exports for the last 3-4 years, our only competitor India has managed to increase its Basmati exports from 1.2Million Tons to 2.4Million Tons in a span of three year. It is food for thought for our rice exporters. Quality and production has never been an issue while export marketing has always lagged behind. There is a dire need to expand our export market and make efforts to recapture lost markets and explore new areas also. Branding and retail marketing is a costly affair but has long term healthy impacts. This year rice exporters need to give more attention to Basmati exports as availability of Non-Basmati particularly Irri-6 is on the lower side. The country's economy is also undergoing difficult times. Increase in exports of Basmati could counter the reduced availability of Non-Basmati rice so that rice exports earnings rise above 3.0. Billion $. The last ten months have seen some improvements in earnings from rice exports i.e. 2.5 Billion $ but there is a dire need to do a lot more in this context.

Flood Impact in Pakistani Rice

The figures indicate reduction in harvesting area from 2,800 to 2,100 M.H, milled production from 6.5 to 4.4 MT, and total supply is anticipated less than last year. The facts significantly report a less growth in rice due to flood in Pakistan. Source: http://gain.fas.usda.gov

Forecasted figure 2010

Forecasted figure 2011

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Rice and Phosphorus

Dr. Amanullah Assistant Professor Agriculture University Peshawar

ice, an important food and cash crop, is the third largest crop of Pakistan after wheat and cotton. It is planted on an area of over 2.5 million ha (11% of the total cropped area) and accounts for 17% of the total cereals produced annually. The annual production of milled rice is about 6.5 million tonnes sharing 5.5% in agriculture sector and 1.1% in GDP. Pakistan is famous for growing and exporting long grain aromatic Basmati rice. Rice exports hovering around three million tonnes per annum have accounted for 11% of the foreign exchange from merchandize exports. The rice export increased manifold during the recent years and a record export of 3.69 million tonnes of worth about Rs.170 billion was made during 2008-09. The country ranks 14th in terms of rice production and 3rd in rice export in the world (NARC). Phosphorus (P) is the second most important crop nutrient after nitrogen that increases crop productivity and profitability on P-deficient soils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Amanullah et al., 2010). Phosphorus is a macronutrient that plays a number of important roles in plants. Adequate phosphorus results in higher grain production, improved crop quality, greater stalk strength, increased root growth, and earlier crop maturity. Crop phosphorus nutrition depends on the ability of the soil to replenish the soil solution with phosphorus as the crop removes it and on the ability of the plant to produce a healthy and extensive root system that has access to the maximum amount of soil phosphorus. Various inorganic P-fertilizer sources are used to supply P to crops. Application of Pfertilizers must be done in a way to maximize the P availability to crops and to minimize the risk that P might be lost to the environment by runoff or erosion. Excess application with the poor efficiency of P-fertilizers is one of the major problems confronting the sustainable agricultural development. Whereas, loss of N and P from farmlands to surface waters is considered as one of the major sources inducing eutrophication.

Rice is an important cereal crop in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Table below). No attention has been devoted to calibrating soil tests for phosphorus (P) in the rice fields in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The information is needed to improve fertilizer P efficiency for recommendations to the rice growers. The current nitrogen based fertilization system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had a negative balance with other nutrients particularly with phosphorus. This low phosphorus to nitrogen ratio shows signs of fatigue and is no longer exhibiting increased rice productivity. Phosphorus (P) deficiency symptoms appear in the lower part of the rice plant and results in (1) decreased leaf number, (2) decreased leaf blade length, (3) reduced panicles per plant, (4) reduced seeds per panicle, and (5) reduced filled seeds per panicle. The reduced tillering capacity of rice planted on P deficient soil is usually the greatest factor responsible for reduced yields.
Crops Statistics Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2009-10)

Rice Leading
Districts in KPK

Area (ha)
6568 6433 6382 6029 4223 42580 11207 53787

Production (t)
12962 13915 10420 12069 9809 85777 16626 102403

Yield (kg/ha)
1974 2163 1633 2002 2323 2014 1484 1904

Dir Upper Malakand Lower Dir DIK Swat All Districts FATA Total

As the land for cultivation is contracting in Pakistan in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular due to increasing population so the future increases in crop production must come from higher yield per unit area. Increased cropping intensity, intensive cropping system removes plant nutrients heavily from the soil, in addition to natural losses of nutrients. Therefore, increased and judicious use of P-fertilizers, to replenish the nutrient supply systems, is a key factor in the rice based system aiming at intensification of crop production on sustainable basis. Proper phosphorus nutrition is therefore critical in the region for improving rice quality and grain yields and maximizing net returns.

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A New Rice Revolution on the Way

Get ready for Green Super Rice- John Berthelsen he world appears to be on the threshold of another green revolution in rice production as a result of an intensive, 12-year partnership between the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing and the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines called "Green Super Rice," it is the result of a project begun in 1998, involving the painstaking crossbreeding of more than 250 different potential varieties and rice hybrids, according to Dr Jauhar Ali, a senior scientist and regional project coordinator for the Development of Green Super Rice at IRRI in Los Banos, south of Manila. The process was developed by Zhi-Kang Li, which involves the efforts of hundreds of researchers in dozens of countries across the world, seeking to isolate the desirable traits from indigenous strains and then backcross breed them to produce hardier varieties. Particularly, the development comes at a time when food security has become a major political issue, not just in Asia but increasingly across the world as the price of commodities skyrocket. Disastrous floods in Pakistan, drought in Australia, fires and drought in Russia, all combined to spur concern that the world could be on the brink of a food crisis to rival that endured in 2007, when the price of rice shot from roughly US$250 to US1,100 per ton before falling back to hover around US$500 today. Imbalances in the demand-supply chain and hoarding by national governments have forced the World Food Program to initiate a number of emergency projects to continue the delivery of food to the world's poor. Rice in particular faces problems from climate change. It has been a long, hard slog to come out with the concept of Green Super Rice, Green Super Rice does not involve genetic modification. Instead, it involves taking hundreds of donor cultivars from dozens of different countries, identifying significant variations in plant response to drought, global warming and other problems, and "backcross" breeding painstakingly crossing a hybrid with one of its parents or with a plant genetically like one of its parents, then screening the backcross bulk populations after one or two backcrosses under severe abiotic and biotic stress conditions to identify transgressive segregants that are doing better than both parents and the checks. This operation is done for all the backcrosses originating from 46 recurrent parents and 500 donors -- a mini-core collection - and reconfirmed before further pooling them across different traits by the use of molecular markers to improve rice tolerance for instance, drought, salinity, submergence, rice blast fungus, bacterial leaf blight and the ability to out-compete weeds, reducing the need for fertilizers. The announcement comes on the 50th anniversary of what has been called the original Green Revolution, when IRRI, established by the Philippine government and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, introduced IR8, the first "miracle rice," as it was called then, to the world, at a time when India especially was on the brink of mass starvation. IR8, a semi-dwarf variety, yielded about 5 metric tons per hectare without fertilizer and as much as 10 tons under optimal conditions about 10 times the yield of traditional rice. IR8 was subject to kernel breakage and other problems. Eventually, its successors revolutionized world food production, driving down the price of rice by more than 50 percent and turning India, Thailand and other countries into some of the world's most successful producers and exporters. Rice is grown on some 142 million hectares in Asia, feeding more than 4 billion people. A semi-aquatic plant species that originated in tropical swamps, rice production typically consumes two to three times as much water as do other cereals. Thus water deficiency drought has been the single biggest limit in rain-fed rice fields, with drought at the early stages of growth causing delayed transplant or delayed germination. Drought at the reproductive stage also slow growth, according to a variety of papers made available by Dr. Ali, resulting in low and unstable rice productivity. IR8's successors used far more fertilizers and pesticides than conventional strains, but produced substantially higher yields. Such efforts are coming under an umbrella organization called the Global Rice Science Partnership, under the acronym GRiSP, launched last November at the third International Rice Congress in Vietnam, which seeks to enable the world to coordinate its approach to rice science so that agencies can pool their resources, apply their expertise and collaborate in the delivery of the improved strains to poor rice farmers across the world. GRiSP is looking for the funds to expand into seven countries across Asia and seven in Africa Some 260 people have been trained from public and private centers, including in Africa, on the use of the Green Super Rice breeding and seed Production technology. Source with thanks to: www.asiasentinel.com

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The Rice

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Dr. Muhammad Tahir Assistant Professor University of Agriculture Faisalabad ice is one of the old species in our crops to variety. Each panicle has 50 to 300 flowers (floret which are domesticated from their wild or spikelets), which form the grains. The small habitat. Today in the world, there are two wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched major rice varieties; Oryza sativa indica and Oryza arching to pendulous inflorescence 3050 cm long sativa japonica which are grown. According to The fruit obtained from rice plant is called caryopsis researchers and historians, rice cultivation began (grain) which is 512 mm long and 23 mm thick. simultaneously in many countries of the world over Nutritional Value of rice: Rice is highly nutritative 6500 years ago. The first rice crops were observed in crop which includes; Energy1,527 kJ (365 kcal), China (Hemu Du region) around 5000 B.C. as well Carbohydrates79 g, Sugars 0.12 g, Dietary fiber 1.3 as in Thailand around 4500 B.C. and later appeared g, Fat 0.66 g, Protein 7.12 g, Water 11.62 g, in Cambodia, Vietnam and southern India. Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.070 mg (5%), Riboflavin (Vit. Historians believe that the earliest remains of B2) 0.049 mg (3%), Niacin (Vit. B3) 1.6 mg (11%), cultivated rice in the sub-continent have been found Pantothenic acid (B5) 1.014 mg (20%), Vitamin B6 0.16 , Folate (Vit. B9) 8 g (2%), Calcium 28 mg in the north and west and date from around 2000 BC (3%), Iron 0.80 mg (6%), Magnesium 25 mg (7%), Rice plant description :Rice plant develops a Manganese 1.088 mg (54%), Phosphorus 115 mg main stem and many tillers and may range from (16%), Potassium 115 mg (2%) and Zinc 1.09 mg 0.6 to 6 meters in height. The tiller bears a (11%)4 mg (13%)*.*Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) ramified panicle that measure between 20 and 30 centimeters wide but also may vary from variety Recommendations for farmers to improve rice production Use pure, healthy and certified seed Seed rate and sowing nursery is pre-requisite for Use of new and resistant varieties the good crop harvest. According to Punjab Timely harvesting agriculture department, the nursery must not be Proper crop protection measures sown before May 20 to prevent multiplication of Use of integrated weed management stem borer mouths. Generally, for basmati 1-1/2 Proper control of rice disease kg/Marla and for IRRI varieties 1-2 kg/ Marla are Use of integrated pest management Appropriate plant population (75,000-80,000 per acre) used. Higher seed rate produce the week seedling due to more competition of crop plants for Irrigation management nutrients while the low seed rate allows the Proper fertilizers and timely application weeds to dominate in the nursery field. Recommended seed rate, in time planting

of nursery and transfer to field Table 1: Recommended varieties of rice with seed rates, sowing dates and transplanting dates. (Punjab)

Varieties
IRRI 6, KS-282, KSK-133, NIAB IRRI-9 Super Basmati Basmati 198, Basmati-370, Basmati-385, Shaheen Basmati

Seed rate (kg/acre)

WM DM RM

Sowing date

Transplanting date

6-7 4.5-5 -Do-Do-

8-10 6-7 -Do-Do-

12-15 10-12 -Do-Do-

20th May to 7th June 20th May to 20th June 1st June to 20th June 15th June to th 30 June

20th June to 7th July 20th June to 20th July 1st July to 20th July 15th July to st 31 July

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Nursery transplanting: The average nursery age for all varieties is 25-30 days. For dry condition the nursery need 40 days for transplanting and before uprooting the plants the field is filled with water. It will soften the soil and easy to pull out the rice nursery plant without breakage of the plant roots. At the time of transplanting the nursery height should not be higher than 15 cm. It should be dark green in clour and stem should be without branches. Two nursery seedlings per hills are sufficient. The plant population is key element for optimum yield of the rice. If we able to maintain the plant to plant and row to row distance 9 or 23 cm (9 inches x 9inches) then the plant population will be 180000 plants per acres (80000 holes and two plants per hole). In our field the number of holes pre plants is less than 60000 which will ultimately reduce the 25% yield of the framing community. Irrigation management: Rice crop is water loving crop and need judicious amount of water for its good yield and harvest. Total delta of water of rice is 50-60 acre-inches. Thus 12-16 irrigations are required which should be applied according to need of the crop. Fertilizer management: The general recommendation of NPK is given the following table:
Doses per acre Nitrogen (Kg/ha) 55 Phosphorous (Kg/ha) 30 Potash (Kg/ha) 25

Basmati type

IRRI Type

70

40

25

Zinc deficiency: Zinc sulphate (33%) at 6.5 kg/acre or zinc (21%) at 10 kg / acre can be broadcasted in the standing water or nursery before transplanting is dipped at least 5 minutes with Zinc oxides (2% solution). Removal of zinc deficiency can enhance the 10 % yield per acre. Weed management: The weeds are one of the major problem in the rice field which reduce the yield up to 15-20 % and may be up to 56-60% in sever cases. The weeds should be controlled by integrated weed management practices. The major weeds found in our rice field belong to grassy family. Della, Swank, Dhodhan, Bhoain, Khabbal, Naru grass and Mirch booti etc. The critical weed compilation period is first 30-40 days. Management of insect pests: Different kind of insect pests are attacked on the rice plants such as rice stem borer, strip rice borer, yellow stem borer, pink borer, white stem borer, leaf folder, white backed plant hopper, rice grass hoppers and rice hispa. But the stem borer cause the more damage as compare to other insect pests to the rice crop. The borer seriously damage the Basmati varieties while white backed plant hopper, leaf folder, army worm and yellow borer cause damage to IRRI varieties. The integrated pest management techniques should be used. The application of insecticides should be used according to agriculture department recommendation. Management of diseases in rice: The following control measures are helpful in reducing the attack of the diseases; The seed should be treated with some suitable fungicides e.g. Topsim M, thiofinate etc. The disease free nursery is transplanted to the field. The irrigation water from infected field should not be moved to the healthy field. Crop rotation should be used. Suitable fungicides, nematicides and varicides can be used. Harvesting: Huge grain losses occur at the time of early or late harvesting of the rice crop. Early harvesting results in broken kernels and low milling recovery due to more moisture in the seed and incomplete physiological maturity while late harvested crop is prone to more insect, rodent and bird pests in addition to increased risks of lodging and grain shattering due to more dryness of the panicles. Therefore, the best time for harvesting the crop is when the variety has reached the particular date of maturity (usually three months after transplanting of nursery).

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11

1st R&D Exhibition on Food and Agriculture Sector

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXHIBITION nstitute of Research Promotion (IRP) and Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Centre (PASTIC-PSF) in collaboration with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) arranged First Technology Exhibition and Seminar on R&D in Food and Agriculture on Tuesday, May 31, at LCCI.The exhibition purpose was to provide a place to industrialists and researchers across the country to showcase their innovations, technologies, products, services and solutions in food and agriculture sectors. The occasion was also helpful to promote S&T partnership for national sustainable development. The exhibition was inaugurated by Federal Minister for Science & Technology, Mir Changez Khan Jamali. The key highlights of the exhibition seminar are as follows:

Abid H.K.Sherwani: (CEO,IRP) admired the prestigious gathering in exhibition. He said that together we can make possible what is believed to be impossible. He requested to academia and industry to trust each other and make our country proud by innovating and commercializing into enterprise research. Dr. Hamid Malik, Chief Executive, Indus-Pak appreciated our R&D organizations for introducing new varieties in rice, cotton, wheat and other grains as well . He pointed that these results were delivered a decade back, and R&D development is not seen after that. Livestock, which is also very potential area, but the development of this sector is not much appreciable. He stressed that: Increase in per acre productivity of major foreign exchange earning crops. Optimum production per unit with least application of water and pesticides. Develop new varieties with enhanced production to overcome the problem of inbreeding. super basmati is deteriorating in its economical traits, due to inbreeding. A new basmati variety As with 8mm plus AGL, aroma and high milling recovery, is badly needed. collection for true assessment of Sahiwal and Nili Ravi.National Breeding policy should be Data based on better economic trait performance rather than preserving heritage. of embryo transfer, cloning, genetical engineering, pedigree and progeny testing for genetical Use improvement of Sahiwal and Niliravi. Effective and efficient use of Biological waste for animal and poultry feed. Development of vaccines for Live Stock based on prevalent strains of pathogens. Improvement in the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Reduction and elimination of Post harvesting losses in Agro products. Dr. Nawaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, UVAS highlighted that: UVAS is only one veterinary university which is contributing largely in agricultural livestock economy. do not have priority funding for livestock research. We need to do genetic research and produce new breeds of animals. He stressed for long and short We term planning of R&D based projects and emphasized on record keeping for better production. Dr. Fayyaz Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, M/S Bio Food (Pvt.) Ltd highlighted in his speech that: Industry is more progressive in R&D if given opportunity. pace of research commercialization is encouraging. The Industry needs trained researchers for industry driven research, and there is not enough education/ trainings. Industry must be given opportunity to take R&D grants and do research accordingly.

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Prof. Dr. Farid A. Malik, FCCU, highlighted that: have to change our policy framework and procedures to promote R&D. We is no strategic priority regarding R&D in country. There do not have education for development related to industrial R&D. We need to shift from only publication research to problem solving research. We Dr. Mohsin Syed Regional Director (NIP) encouraged the valued efforts of PSF, IRP and LCCI to organize this exhibition and requested the consistent efforts to promote indigenous research. He highlighted that: are living in an agricultural country but here is not much care for our farmers. We Inconsistency in inflation rate destabilized the performance and planning in agriculture sector. have centres, scientists, engineers and land but not supportive and encouraging environment We from government. Youngsters are our strengths if they work with dynamic style. We have to accept that agriculture improvement is the only way that will stabilize our economy and improve our cost of living in the coming years. Concluding Remarks by Dr. Kasur Abdullah Malik, FCCU, highlighted that must be political will for S&T research and development. There sector officers must come out in fields and visit universities. Public are appreciable efforts in R&D but need to increase 50 times more. There spending and budget is very less in Pakistan. R&D

Vote of thanks was delivered by Dr, Manzoor Soomro Chairman (PSF). He appreciated the gathering for their contribution to promote R&D culture in Pakistan. He stressed on politicians and industry people for liaison with scientists. He recommended that we have to look for solutions instead of problems. Participants stressed that propagation of innovative ideas is very necessary. We should try to accept small innovative R&D projects instead of looking for high profiled R&D projects. So that we can monitor R&D outcomCash prizes were also awarded to the best three indigenous technologies in the exhibition. Kold Krafts (Rs-50,000), Veterinary Research Institute Lahore (Rs-30,000) and Life Technologies Pvt. Ltd (Rs20,000). More than thirty innovative indigenous technologies, technological solutions, products and services from R&D organizations and industry were exhibited. The main contributors from industry included Marhaba Industries, Qarshi Industries, Hilal Foods, Agri Biotech Industry, Kold Krafts, Hoest, Life Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, Guard Agricultural Research and Services, Lahore and Agri Biotech/ ECO Foods. The academic institution included Ayub Agricultural Research Institute , Punjab Agricultural Research Board, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Govt. College University, Faisalabad, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, NIBGE Faisalabad, NIFA, Peshawar, PCSIR, Lahore, PARAS Lahore, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, University of Sargodha and Veterinary Research. Institute, Lahore.

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Golden Rice

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Khawar Jabran Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Faisalabad genetically modified variety of rice having grains rich of vitamin A has been named as golden rice. Beta-carotene (a precursor of vitamin A) and other carotenoids in the grain give it a golden color hence named as 'golden rice'. Upon ingestion, many of these carotenoids especially the beta-carotene, are converted into vitamin A in the human body. These carotenoids not only protect the human body from a number of diseases but also possess nutritional benefits. Professor Ingo Potrykus (Switzerland) and Professor Peter Beyer (Germany) were the scientists who developed golden rice. The objective of the golden rice was to protect the children victim of blindness and xerophthalmia caused by vitamin A deficiency. Millions of people in the world including pregnant women especially the ones belonging to Africa are deficient of vitamin A. This vitamin A deficiency either results in blindness or death in children as well as adults. On the other hand, vitamin A deficiency may aggravate the chances of HIVAIDS and measles in the children. According to UNICEF, 124 million children are deficient of vitamin A worldwide. The conventional method of vitamin A provision in the deficient people is either oral or injection which is very costly and unaffordable especially for the poor people. The project of golden rice was started in 1982 by Swiss scientists who finally gave golden rice in 2000. Golden rice II was produced in 2005 by the team of Syngenta Company which had 23 times higher viatmain A than the golden rice I. It is hoped that the golden rice will be finally available in the market by 2012. Recently Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have funded to improve availability of vitamin A, E, Fe and Zn. Currently the work is in progress in IRRI on golden rice. Most of the countries with vitamin A deficiency use rice as food. Golden rice was intended to generate betacarotene which is a precursor of vitamin A, in the rice grain. Although rice naturally produces beta-carotene but that is confined in the leaves for the purpose of photosynthesis, however, the endosperm is without carotenoid. Two beta-carotene synthesizing genes, one (psy) from daffodil and other (crt1) from bacteria were inserted in the rice. Under controlled environment, the golden rice produces 1.6 g/g of carotenoids while higher amounts were noted when it was grown under field conditions. The countries like Philippines, USA and Taiwan etc. have bred Golden rice with their indigenous varieties to improve the nutritional status of their cultivars. As the conventional varieties all over the world are deficient in vitamin A, so the golden rice was an effort to make vitamin A fortified rice which would be a low cost alternative of artificial vitamin provision to the human body. The suggested amount of golden rice to supplement vitamin A is 75 g per person per day. One important concern about the golden rice is the stability of vitamin A in cooked rice. Experiments proved that sufficient amount of vitamin A was present in the cooked rice.

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Mystery of Direct Seeded Rice: Opportunities and Constraints

Amar Matloob and Dr.Abdul Khaliq, University of Agriculture - Faisalabad ice holds a conspicuous position in the -3000 liter of fresh water to produce 1 kilogram of agro-based economy of Pakistan. It is a paddy. One can undoubtedly conclude that it is not high value cash crop, accounting for 6.4 the paddy but our fresh water that is being exported. percent of the value added in agriculture and 1.4 Transplanted rice usually demands surplus water at a percent in gross domestic product. Rice is the largest moment in time when the reservoirs are already agricultural export commodity of Pakistan only petite of water. Late onset of monsoon and drudgery after cotton. Transplanting in puddled soil (wet of operations often delay rice transplanting, which leads to late vacation of fields, forcing the sowing tillage) with continuous flooding is common of wheat past the optimum time, and hence reducing method of rice production. Water standing in the wheat yields enormously. Increasing water scarcity field offers effective weed control in transplanted in the country has threatened the sustainability of rice cultures. On the other hand, transplanting of rice transplanted rice production. is laborious, cumbersome, expensive and time To overcome problems associated with traditional consuming. Nursery transplanting is usually rice cultivation, direct seeding of rice seems only delayed due to lack of labor and all fields are not viable alternative in rescuing farmers. Direct transplanted simultaneously. This usually results in seeding has potential for attaining high water above-optimal age of rice seedling that produces productivity and eliminating the edaphic conflict in lesser number of productive tillers per plant. Also rice-wheat cropping system of Punjab. Direct seeded transplanting shock, a set-back of growth due to crop generally flowers earlier leading to reduction in uprooting and replanting of seedlings, increases crop duration. It is an easy and economical technique with increase in age of seedling. Late nursery and can also put aside time and labor. Fairly good transplanting reduces growing period of the crop yields can be obtained if crop is properly managed. that deteriorates the kernel quality as well as its Poor stand establishment, and heavy weed yield. Transplanting also decreases rice plants infestation early in the season is major obstacle in ability to withstand moisture stress. Similarly, large scale adoption of direct seeding of rice. careless transplanting by hired labor results in Recently, a number of seed invigoration techniques improper planting densities in farmer's field so that -l have been standardized that can provide better required plant population (250,000 plants ha ) is germination and even crop stand but weed r a r e l y a c h i e v e d . management in direct seeded rice still remains a key In rice-wheat cropping system, wheat crop issue with many of the growers. Carpet weed (Itsit), following rice requires well drained and pulverized and jungle rice (Swanki) are the most competitive soil. This reflects an edaphic conflict in this system. weeds in direct seeded rice fields. Direct seeded crop Soil management practices for rice render generally lacks a head start over weeds as compared consequent venomous effects on the soil with a 25-30-day-old transplanted seedling. The environment due to the dispersion of soil particles, proper time and method of weed control are, soil compactness and result in considerable energy therefore, a complex phenomenon in direct seeded inputs for tillage operations for the following wheat rice crop. Lack of suitable genotype, proper sowing and other upland crops. On the basis of a diagnostic equipment, technical know-how, increased blast survey conducted in several rice-wheat areas, it was incidence and unavailability of a selective post observed that low wheat yields in a rice-wheat emergence herbicide for direct seeded rice are the system can be attributed to poor physical condition key elements in its large scale adoption. Moreover, of soil including deterioration in soil structure and Basmati (fine) varieties are seldom being used for the development of subsurface hardpans. direct seeding across the globe. Most of the rice Transplanted rice is also gigantic user of water. growing and consuming nations have coarse rice Current production system consumes about 2500

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varieties which perform better in direct seeding culture. The problem of sacrificing our fine rice to coarse rice to adopt direct seeding is too bitter to swallow as fine rice is the main export commodity and fetches a major share of foreign earnings in g l o b a l m a r k e t . Direct seeding can be broadly categorized into drydirect seeding, wet-seeding and water-seeding. Considering the recent water crises in the country, dry-direct seeding of rice seems the most striking one. It involves drilling of dry or primed seed in 22.5 cm apart rows or broadcasting the same just like an ordinary wheat crop. Land should be prepared with a principal aim of achieving a weed free seed bed of fine tilth. Seed priming provides good stand establishment and early seeding vigor that imparts competitiveness against weeds. Priming can be done with water or calcium chloride and/or p o t a s s i u m c h l o r i d e . Next crucial factor is the optimum field capacity at the time of sowing. Lack of moisture at this stage can be fatal. Sowing seed at appropriate moisture level at optimum rate and depth should be the ultimate goal. -1 A seed rate of 50 kg ha and depth of 3-4 cm is fairly adequate. Lower seed rate would yield less number of productive tillers while increasing seed rate would lead to intra-specific competition for resources and mutual shading resulting in unhealthy stand. Sowing of crop in narrow rows (15 cm apart) could also reduce the space available for weeds to thrive. Fertilization should be carried out in such a way that end beneficiaries are crop plants and not the weeds. Nitrogen should be applied in two or three splits as crop's initial requirement is low and most of the applied pool goes to build weed biomass. Side or band placement beside or below the seed has been found better than broadcasting. Micronutrients like zinc and boron are important as they help to increase metabolic efficiency of crop plants and result in better seed set and quality of the produce. Sustainability of direct seeded rice is greatly determined by the presence or absence of weeds, and hence weed control should be started as early as possible. Weed management for dry seeded paddy crop should start from the land preparation. Stale seed bed/ suicidal germination technique, locally called dab method, followed by application

of a non-selective herbicide can reduce the weed burden by half. Under field conditions, dry seeded paddy yields are directly proportional to the duration of weed-free period. A weed competition up to 20 days after sowing could drastically reduce the number of panicle bearing tillers. In this context, pre-plant incorporation or pre-emergence application of an appropriate herbicide could serve the purpose. This, later on must be followed by a selective post emergence herbicide to tackle weeds that emerge later with subsequent irrigations. For direct seeded rice, a post emergence herbicide providing season long weed control is currently lacking. Some products are under preliminary testing and are at various stages of evaluation. The combination of pre and post emergence herbicide is even more effective in controlling weeds than the sole application of either of these. Hand hoeing twice at 25 and 45 days after sowing can benefit crop by effectively controlling weeds and can be practiced wherever cheap farm labor is available. Mechanical weed control with tractor drawn implement can be practiced provided the crop is drilled with a seed drill. Certain crops when included in rotation have the potential to reduce weed load in the coming crop. Dry seeded rice crop can be grown after wheat, sunflower, sorghum and brassica to avail the allelopathic benefits of these crops. Use of allelopathic rice varieties having weed suppressing potential and competitive ability against weeds is also crucial.Considering the acute agricultural water shortage that country is facing at the moment, we have to look beyond the conventional production practices. Resource conservation technologies like direct seeded rice can help a lot in sustaining ricewheat cropping system. This necessitates the realization and development of the improved direct seeded rice production technology through joint venture of public and private research organizations based on farmer feedback and field related problems. The agricultural policy makers should take into account this aspect and allocate grants and projects to researchers to fix issues related to direct seeding and subsidies to farmer by providing pesticides free of cost to encourage its field scale a d o p t i o n b y t h e f a r m i n g c o m m u n i t y.

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