A rice mill survey covering diverse rice processing companies in terms of their milling output, type of technology and year of establishment was conducted to understand the current situation of the rice milling indust...A rice mill survey covering diverse rice processing companies in terms of their milling output, type of technology and year of establishment was conducted to understand the current situation of the rice milling industry and to identify enablers and barriers to its growth in Nepal. Coarse rice varieties dominate Nepal’s rice processing industry, with a 42% share by total weight, followed by medium rice (34%) and fine varieties (less than 7%). Polished white rice (<em>Arwa</em>) was the dominant rice type in Nepal in the survey, followed by parboiled and steamed rice. The price and profit margins increased from coarse to fine rice varieties and from <em>Arwa</em> to parboiled and steamed rice. The cost of milling also followed a similar trend. The rice milling industry in Nepal largely influences the adoption or non-adoption of any specific type of rice variety by dictating specific brands in the market and this has important implications for rice research and development. The rice processing industry of Nepal was unable to compete with the Indian rice milling industry because of: 1) low profit margins due to the high cost of rice production and procurement, 2) a lack of economies of scale, 3) a lack of milling technologies for long and extra-long and steamed rice in the country and a lack of investment to modernize rice milling technology, and 4) unavailability of paddy throughout the year locally. Millers were willing to upgrade their rice milling technology to include high throughput parboiling, steamed rice as well as long and extra-long grain rice. This will be a strategic decision in counteracting the ever-increasing rice imports in Nepal. We believe that the findings of the study will be vital for formulating an appropriate rice research, development and rice processing strategy for Nepal to achieve food and nutritional security and the Sustainable Development Goals.展开更多
Wheat is a strategic crop for food security in Pakistan with predominance of smallholder farmers. Farmer-saved seed （FSS） is used nearly by 75% of farmers for wheat production. Frequent variety or seed replacement i...Wheat is a strategic crop for food security in Pakistan with predominance of smallholder farmers. Farmer-saved seed （FSS） is used nearly by 75% of farmers for wheat production. Frequent variety or seed replacement is uncommon even among large-scale farmers, and certified seed （CS） is mostly bought to verify the value of new varieties. Replacing old and obsolete varieties by new high yielding disease resistant varieties is key to transferring new genetic gains to farmers. For the first time in Pakistan, on-farm factorial experiments involving seven new and five old wheat varieties and their corresponding CS and FSS were conducted. A total of 49 farmers representing major wheat cropping patterns throughout the country participated in these trials in the 2014 and 2015 wheat growing seasons. Analysis of variance revealed that there was highly significant difference between wheat varieties and between seed classes. New variety ＋ CS gave 33.8% more grain yield as well as higher marginal return over farmers＇ variety ＋ FSS. Grain yield and returns from new variety ＋ FSS and farmers＇ variety ＋ CS were at par. Scientific knowledge generated in this research demonstrated that use of CS ＆new wheat varieties is best option, while growing new varieties with FSS is a second choice for the advantages accruing from their built-in genetic traits of economic importance over growing CS of old and obsolete varieties. Having more flexible seed system will help accelerate the delivery of new genetic gains to farmers＇ fields.展开更多
A study was conducted on reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina with foliar application of fungicides during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 growing seasons at the Wheat Research In...A study was conducted on reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina with foliar application of fungicides during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 growing seasons at the Wheat Research Institute in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Three fungicides： Folicur （tebuconazole） at 300 mL/ha, Nativo （tebuconazole ＋ trifloxystrobin） at 300 g/ha and Tilt （propiconazole） at 500 mL/ha were applied single or two times to Morocco and Sehar-06 wheat varieties used in the trial. The trial plots were first sprayed at the Zadok＇s scale （ZS） 3 stage and second sprayed between ZS 4.3 and 5.4 stages. The greenness of the trial crop was measured using GreenSeeker. Foliar application of fungicides significantly reduced the loss of grain yield and 1,000-grain weight （TGW） of wheat due to leaf rust in comparison to the control without fungicides application. Of the three fungicides, two times spray of Nativo reduced the grain yield loss of leaf rust susceptible mega wheat variety Sehar-06 by 45%-56% and the loss of TGW by 42%, also giving the highest marginal return in the trial. Single application of Nativo was equally effective as two times spray of Folicur in reducing the loss of wheat grain yield. Two times spray of Folicur was found to be the second choice of fungicide for reducing the yield loss of wheat. The research identified suitable fungicides for reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust and also generated important scientific knowledge required to manage a sudden outbreak of leaf rust to ensure food security.展开更多
文摘A rice mill survey covering diverse rice processing companies in terms of their milling output, type of technology and year of establishment was conducted to understand the current situation of the rice milling industry and to identify enablers and barriers to its growth in Nepal. Coarse rice varieties dominate Nepal’s rice processing industry, with a 42% share by total weight, followed by medium rice (34%) and fine varieties (less than 7%). Polished white rice (<em>Arwa</em>) was the dominant rice type in Nepal in the survey, followed by parboiled and steamed rice. The price and profit margins increased from coarse to fine rice varieties and from <em>Arwa</em> to parboiled and steamed rice. The cost of milling also followed a similar trend. The rice milling industry in Nepal largely influences the adoption or non-adoption of any specific type of rice variety by dictating specific brands in the market and this has important implications for rice research and development. The rice processing industry of Nepal was unable to compete with the Indian rice milling industry because of: 1) low profit margins due to the high cost of rice production and procurement, 2) a lack of economies of scale, 3) a lack of milling technologies for long and extra-long and steamed rice in the country and a lack of investment to modernize rice milling technology, and 4) unavailability of paddy throughout the year locally. Millers were willing to upgrade their rice milling technology to include high throughput parboiling, steamed rice as well as long and extra-long grain rice. This will be a strategic decision in counteracting the ever-increasing rice imports in Nepal. We believe that the findings of the study will be vital for formulating an appropriate rice research, development and rice processing strategy for Nepal to achieve food and nutritional security and the Sustainable Development Goals.
文摘Wheat is a strategic crop for food security in Pakistan with predominance of smallholder farmers. Farmer-saved seed （FSS） is used nearly by 75% of farmers for wheat production. Frequent variety or seed replacement is uncommon even among large-scale farmers, and certified seed （CS） is mostly bought to verify the value of new varieties. Replacing old and obsolete varieties by new high yielding disease resistant varieties is key to transferring new genetic gains to farmers. For the first time in Pakistan, on-farm factorial experiments involving seven new and five old wheat varieties and their corresponding CS and FSS were conducted. A total of 49 farmers representing major wheat cropping patterns throughout the country participated in these trials in the 2014 and 2015 wheat growing seasons. Analysis of variance revealed that there was highly significant difference between wheat varieties and between seed classes. New variety ＋ CS gave 33.8% more grain yield as well as higher marginal return over farmers＇ variety ＋ FSS. Grain yield and returns from new variety ＋ FSS and farmers＇ variety ＋ CS were at par. Scientific knowledge generated in this research demonstrated that use of CS ＆new wheat varieties is best option, while growing new varieties with FSS is a second choice for the advantages accruing from their built-in genetic traits of economic importance over growing CS of old and obsolete varieties. Having more flexible seed system will help accelerate the delivery of new genetic gains to farmers＇ fields.
文摘A study was conducted on reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina with foliar application of fungicides during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 growing seasons at the Wheat Research Institute in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Three fungicides： Folicur （tebuconazole） at 300 mL/ha, Nativo （tebuconazole ＋ trifloxystrobin） at 300 g/ha and Tilt （propiconazole） at 500 mL/ha were applied single or two times to Morocco and Sehar-06 wheat varieties used in the trial. The trial plots were first sprayed at the Zadok＇s scale （ZS） 3 stage and second sprayed between ZS 4.3 and 5.4 stages. The greenness of the trial crop was measured using GreenSeeker. Foliar application of fungicides significantly reduced the loss of grain yield and 1,000-grain weight （TGW） of wheat due to leaf rust in comparison to the control without fungicides application. Of the three fungicides, two times spray of Nativo reduced the grain yield loss of leaf rust susceptible mega wheat variety Sehar-06 by 45%-56% and the loss of TGW by 42%, also giving the highest marginal return in the trial. Single application of Nativo was equally effective as two times spray of Folicur in reducing the loss of wheat grain yield. Two times spray of Folicur was found to be the second choice of fungicide for reducing the yield loss of wheat. The research identified suitable fungicides for reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust and also generated important scientific knowledge required to manage a sudden outbreak of leaf rust to ensure food security.
