Japan's 'tourist rice' actually grown in China: report

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-03-03

Stacks of the organic rice in a supermarket in Okinawa. (File photo/ CFP)

Internet users in China are claiming that top quality rice sold to tourists in Japan is actually grown in China, reports the Liaoshen Evening News published in northeastern China's Liaoning province.

The rice is part of a must-buy list for Chinese tourists along with the country's high-grade rice cookers and heated toilet seats. The rice is even crossing the border through e-commerce stores like Taobao as concerns for food safety escalate with encroaching pollution problems.

Some netizens in Liaoning province, a number of whom are farmers, have claimed that the 'Japanese rice' is being grown in the local city of Panjin.

The produce in question is called hitomebore, a premium short grain variety of rice that originated in Japan. According to an official from the local rural economic committee surnamed Han, there are farmers growing hitomebore rice in Panjin to meet orders from Japan.

One of them, a local farmer surnamed Zhang, told the press that the rice fields are strictly managed according to the demands of their Japanese clients.

The fields that grow hitomebore yield half the volume of their neighbors because of the organic process that is strictly implemented, Han said.

China's locally grown hitomebore rice costs 12 to 30 yuan (US$1.90-$4.80) a kilogram. When the grain gets to Japan, it sells for around 300 yuan (US$48) a kg.

According to Zhang, the locally grown rice tastes similar to varieties grown in Japan. The only difference is where it is processed and packaged.

Joko Widodo Lays Out Agricultural Manifesto for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Deti Mega Purnamasari & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Apr 27, 2014

A Balinese farmer threshes rice in Denpasar. (EPA Photo/Made Nahi)

Jakarta. Over a month after officially entering the presidential race, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, nominated as presidential candidate by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, has begun introducing his vision and mission to the voters.

Visiting local farmers at the Tanjungrasa village in Bogor district’s Cariu subdistrict, Joko on Sunday addressed six points in the field of agriculture and food security that would be his focus should he be elected president in the election set to take place on July 9.

Productive agricultural lands, Joko said, should not be converted into other use, such as residential or industrial areas, and should instead be preserved. Additionally, he said farmers would have to be assisted in making sure that even the smallest plots of lands were used productively and that farmers were educated not to use chemically engineered seeds or pesticides.

Joko also emphasized the need to build better infrastructure for farmers, the need to monitor the quality of water in the fields, as well as improved monetary benefits for farmers and better access to capital and financial support.

“I asked farmers, how many tons [of rice] can be produced from one hectare [of land]? Apparently it was six tons, because farmers here are using a good mix,” Joko said during his visit on Sunday.

According to him, the average amount of rice produced on Indonesian farms was between four to five tons for each hectare of land, while the population grew by three million each year.

“Like it or not, we need to prepare more food for this growth. Additionally, in the past five years there has been a significant increase in food imports,” he said, citing hikes in the imports of several staple food items such as rice, corn, soy, flour, sugar, salt, beef, onions and fruits.

“We import fish. We are a maritime nation but our fish imports have spiked,” Joko said “These are issues that need to be sorted out. These things are the reason why inflation on certain basic commodities easily occurs for a long period of time and repeatedly.”

Joko was adamant that the issue would see major risks unfurl in the next five to 10 years should the government fail to take strict and extreme policies. “Without that, we are risking our sovereignty and food security,” he said.

As such, Joko said it was important to ensure the production sector was improved so as to limit imports.

“We have to concentrate the production. Imports have to be cut and eventually eliminated. With some effort and hard work, I think we can achieve this within four or five years,” he said.

A change of mentality

Aside from his vision for the Indonesian agricultural sector, Joko on Sunday also introduced what he called a “mental revolution,” which he cited as one of the main requirements needed to see positive changes in Indonesia in the future.

“A mental revolution, because we have to change ourselves, so that this nation can reach its potential, because we are a big nation. Let’s change our mentality from the negative to the positive,” Joko said on Sunday, emphasizing that the issue would be one of his biggest focuses if elected president and would cover areas such as education, health and agriculture.

“We cannot be stuck in negative thoughts and instead should be positive, we have to be sure that we can do this well and in the right way,” Joko said.

A member of Joko’s national secretariat team, Eva Kusuma Sundari, said that with the program, Joko would become an icon of transformative leadership bringing new values to be practiced by government.

“[Joko is] a leader who seeks to promote a mental revolution for the sake of transforming Indonesia into becoming a sovereign, independent nation, the embodiment of a 21st-century Trisakti [ideology],” Eva said in Jakarta on Sunday, referring leadership principles espoused by Sukarno.

A mental revolution, she said, was part of an effort to build a fair and prosperous society that adheres to the Pancasila state ideology. “A nation that never leaves behind nation and character building projects,” Eva explained.

She emphasized that Joko had started this mission in Jakarta, with people becoming more aware of their responsibility not to litter in the areas surrounding the Angke river in West Jakarta following the city administration’s revitalization program.

“The Indonesian culture of working together has to be developed and strengthened for it to become the base of our [development],” Eva said, adding that education played a pivotal role in ensuring the strengthening of this culture among Indonesians. “Of course people and human resources are the engine of any public transformation projects and, as such, the spirit of education has to be made the center of character-building efforts.”

PDI-P central executive board chairman Maruar Sirait said Joko was ready to build up the country by focusing on three indicators: Indonesia’s political sovereignty, economic independence and a positive image in the cultural sector.

“It is important for us to move towards a mental revolution, as explained by Joko, because our nation is yet to unite mentally, but it will. We have to be confident with our capabilities,” he said.

Despite having a vast supply of natural resources, such as marine, mineral and energy resources, Indonesia remains hampered by bigger issues such as uneven economic growth, poor law enforcement as well as other leadership and mental issues, he said.

“That is why the mental revolution explained by Joko is very relevant,” Maruar said, adding that the program would inspire optimism throughout the nation’s stakeholders.

Furthermore, Maruar also explained that Indonesia’s diversity has yet to be well understood by the public and that the concept of pluralism remained in tatters as a result of years of colonialism and imperialism by the Dutch, who at the time used divisive rule to prevent the people from uniting against them.

“The mental revolution will have to nurture a mentality of unity, Indonesians have to come together in building a better Indonesia,” he said.

“[It’s called] a mental revolution because we have to change ourselves, so that this nation would have hope. Because we are a great nation.”

Search for a running mate

Maruar also said on Sunday that the mental revolution concept also proved PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri had made the right decision by appointing Joko as the party’s candidate and that she would also elect the right running mate for Joko.

“We are sure Mega will elect the right vice presidential candidate for Joko, one who will not merely be a spare tire,” Maruar said. “Let the decision be based on dialectics and public discussions. They [the public] have proved receptive towards the PDI-P’s presidential candidate, and now we hope they will react in the same way towards the PDI-P’s [appointment of a] vice presidential candidate.”

He added the party wanted to make sure any vice president would work with the president in following through party policies and was not burdened with past misdeeds.

Related Article:

Jokowi Effect Puts Spotlight on Indonesia’s Mayors

Tanzania embraces new system of growing rice

Deutsche Welle, 19 December 2013

Residents of Morogoro,Tanzania,have adapted a new system of growing rice that is weather friendly and cost effective.

Until recently, farmers in this village located 218km (135 miles) from the capital Dar es Salaam, believed it was impossible to grow rice without flooding the field, but due to water shortages, the new technique known as 'System of Rice Intensification' (SRI), reduces the need to supply water to the fields.

With this system seedlings are grown in a non-flooded nursery and replanted, at a shallow depth of only 1-2 cm deep in a paddy field.

The plot is then left to dry until cracks become visible when another thin layer of water is introduced, unlike in the past when large amounts of water were supplied in the field.

As the rice seedlings grow some farmers irrigate every evening, others leave the fields to dry over a 3-8 day period, depending on soil and climate conditions.

With this system farmers have been able to reduce on the use of chemical fertilizers and production costs and as a result, their incomes have greatly improved.

Happy farmers

Mwajuma Ramadhani, a farmer from Kiroka village can now plan for her children's education better than before as she doesn't have to worry about food for her family anymore.

The 47-year-old widow is among farmers who can testify on the benefits of the new system. “I am very happy with this technique because since I started using it, my crop yields have gone up, she told DW,” I can now get enough food for my family and sell the surplus.”

From her humble beginnings, Ramadhani hardly got 5 bags of rice per acre when she was still using the old method, but with SRI her yields have remarkably improved.

“I harvested 30 bags of rice last season and that was the highest since I started using this method” she said.

Morogoro Rural Agriculture Field Officer who oversees farming activities in the village, Edith Kija told DW that with SRI paddy seedling can thrive well with minimum soil moisture.

“We tell them to keep a distance of 25cms between paddy seedlings to provide room for the robust growth and redistribution of the stems,” she said.

Every farmer in Morogoro has a positive story to tell about SRI because the new technique has not only enabled them to conserve land but also be mindful about the effects of climate change.

International support

Under the project,' Strengthening the capacity for climate Change Adaptation through Sustainable Land and Water Management', the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has trained 268 farmers with multiple skills to prevent soil erosion, reduce deforestation and manage water and soil fertility.

FAO representative to Tanzania Diana Tempelman, told DW that the agency promotes conservation agriculture in Tanzania with the view to reduce carbon emissions and also to increase carbon sequestration in the soil.

“We are aiming to work together with local populations in Tanzania who can identify crop varieties suitable for drier circumstances,” she said.

Fighting soil erosion

To address soil erosion, farmers in Tanzania have been taught to dig contours bunds locally known in the Swahili language as ‘Fanya Chini' in order to maintain soil fertility.

“We trained them how to align the contours using local tools, we also encouraged them to grow barrier crops including pineapples and bananas to strengthen the bunds,” said Henry Mahoo, a professor of agricultural engineering who supervised the project.

Rajabu Juma is one of the veteran farmers at Kiroka who finds water and soil management skills useful as he applies them on his farm.

“My friends see digging of trenches as an inconvenience, but I have seen the benefit since I am able to retain water and soil fertility,” he said.

The 60-year-old is among Kiroka farmers who have accepted multiple interventions to protect their livelihoods.

Climate change impacts

According to Economics of Climate Change study published in 2011, the country's average temperature has increased over the last 30 years with rainfall becoming erratic.

The government estimates that, without proper adaptation, yields from crops like maize could fall by up to 16% by 2030 which translates into a million tonne per year.

According to Prof. Mahoo, climate change has triggered the dwindling of water resources which have affected irrigation schemes thus causing water conflicts.

“We may not be the major cause of climate change but since it is a global issue we are entangled,” he said.

Prof. Mahoo said rice intensification system has been effective to most farmers in the lowlands who are affected by water shortages.“

Most farmers are better off with this method because rice production can increase up to four folds, last year we had a farmer who produced11.6 tonnes of rice per hectare,” he said.

Related Article:

Roots breakthrough for drought-resistant rice

Roots breakthrough for drought-resistant rice

Google – AFP, 5 Aug 2013

An Indian woman plants paddy saplings in the fields on the outskirts

of Hyderabad on July 20, 2011 (AFP/File, Noah Seelam)

PARIS — Japanese biotechnologists on Sunday said they had developed a rice plant with deeper roots that can sustain high yields in droughts that wipe out conventional rice crops.

It is the third breakthrough in new cereal strains in less than two years, boosting the quest to feed the world's spiralling population at a time of worsening climate change.

Writing in the journal Nature Genetics, a team led by Yusaku Uga of the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences in Tsukuba describe how they found a remarkable gene in a rice plant cultivated in the dry uplands of the Philippines.

This rice strain, also called cultivar, is called Kinandang Patong. Its big characteristic is roots that are deep and grow straight downwards, delving into parched soil for water, as opposed to root systems that are shallow and grow out sideways in typical water-rich paddy fields.

The gene for this, called Deep Rooting -- dubbed DR01 -- was spliced into a cultivar called IR64, a paddy rice plant that is grown around Asia.

The team then put the new plant through its paces, planting it and standard IR64 in upland fields in three kinds of conditions -- no drought, moderate drought and severe drought.

Indian farmers carry young rice plants on

 their heads in Canning village, south of

 Kolkata on July 29, 2012 (AFP/File,

Dibyangshu Sarkar)

Moderate drought reduced yield from IR64 to just 42 percent of no-drought conditions. Severe drought destroyed it totally.

But IR64 with the DR01 gene was almost unaffected by moderate drought. In severe drought, yield fell -- but not catastrophically -- by around 30 percent.

"Based on our results, this variety can be adapted to upland (agriculture) without irrigation," Uga said in an email exchange with AFP.

"We are also evaluating the DRO1 performance under rain-fed lowland with the International Rice Research Institute," he said. "If we can get positive results in farmer's fields, we hope to release the variety for Asian countries. We are also going to introduce the DRO1 into leading varieties in Latin America with CIAT," the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, he said.

Without genetic technology, it would have been extraordinarily hard to have pinpointed, and then inserted, the right gene, said Uga.

"Development of GM rice plants is... one of (the) useful strategies to improve drought resistance," he said.

In January 2012, scientists in Britain and Japan said they had developed a fast-track technique, called MutMat, that identifies useful genetic variants, or mutations, in rice plants. They used it to derive a strain from Japan's Hitomebore wild rice that is resistant to salinity -- a boon for farmers whose fields have high salt content through irrigation.

In March 2012, researchers in Australia said they had bred durum wheat with a salt-loving gene whose yields were up to 25 percent greater than ordinary counterparts when grown on saline fields.

The world's population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by mid-century, from 7.2 billion today, according to UN estimates. By 2100, the tally could be 10.9 billion.

To feed this rising number at a time of worsening drought and flood will require a campaign against food waste, smarter use of land, water, fertiliser and pesticides and agricultural innovation to select higher-yield or climate-resistant strains of cereals, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and France's National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA).

Improvements in rice strains -- leading to a short, stubby "semi-dwarf" plant with a full head of grain -- unleashed the Green Revolution of the 1960s, boosting harvests in China and other rice-dependent countries that used to teeter perpetually on the brink of famine.

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Salt-tolerant rice bred at Philippines institute

First hamburger made from lab-grown meat to be served at press conference

"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”

Salt-tolerant rice bred at Philippines institute

Google – AFP, 16 April 2013 

A farmer plows his rice paddy in Tayabas in Quezon Province south of

Manila on November 15, 2012 (AFP/File, Jay Directo)

MANILA — Scientists have successfully bred a rice variety that is salt-tolerant, which could enable farmers to reclaim coastal areas rendered useless by sea water, a Philippine-based institute said Tuesday.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) near Manila said its researchers are in the process of perfecting the variety of rice that would be the most salt-tolerant ever developed before field testing it widely.

"They hope to have the new variety available to farmers to grow within four to five years," the institute said in a statement.

IRRI's media office said the new variety would offer twice the salt-tolerance as previous attempts to breed such a variety.

India and Bangladesh could potentially be the biggest beneficiaries, the IRRI said, remarking that about 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of rice farms worldwide have been affected by salinity.

The new variety was bred by crossing an exotic wild rice species found in brackish water with one cultivated at the institute.

The result is a "new rice line that can expel salt it takes from the soil into the air through salt glands it has on its leaves", the statement said.

"This will make saline stricken rice farms in coastal areas usable to farmers," said lead scientist Kshirod Jena.

"These farmlands are usually abandoned by coastal farmers because the encroaching seawater has rendered the soil useless."

Incidents such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan which flooded thousands of hectares of rice farms with sea water have spurred the development around the world of new varieties of rice that can grow in such areas.

Rice is considered one of three major domesticated crops that feed the world, along with wheat and corn, and scientists have been continuously looking to develop new varieties to increase production.

UNESCO Urges Bali to Pass Bylaw Protecting Subak Rice Fields

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, November 26, 2012

A tourist walks past a paddy rice field in Jatiluwih, Bali, in May. The Balinese
 traditional irrigation and farming system, also known as Subak, was officially
 named as a UNESCO world heritage site during a meeting of the UN's cultural
agency in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (EPA Photo/Made Nagi)

               

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Bali’s terraced “subak” rice fields need to be protected from encroaching development, the United Nation’s cultural agency UNESCO urged on Monday, warning that the world heritage sites faced similar threats as Sumatra's disappearing rain forests.

The agency pushed for Bali administration to issue a bylaw preventing the conversion of subak rice paddies for the construction of hotels or other tourism-focused facilities. UNESCO named the island’s subak rice paddies a world heritage site in May.

“We’ve visited four districts whose subak fields have been named a world heritage and asked the district heads to issue a bylaw in line with [UNESCO’s] global guidelines [for world heritage sites],” Arief Rachman, chairman of the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO, told the Antara News Agency.

The cooperatively managed canal system dates back to the Ninth Century and reflects the philosophical concept Tri Hita Karana, which focuses on bringing together the spirit, human and natural worlds. There are some 303 hectares of subak rice paddies still in existence, according to tourism officials.

“The subak system of democratic and egalitarian farming practices has enabled the Balinese to become the most prolific rice growers in the archipelago despite the challenge of supporting a dense population,” UNESCO explained on its website.

The island’s administration has drafted the conservation bylaw, but is still waiting for public officials to endorse it, Bali Tourism Agency head Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu said.

Bali’s large tourism industry has taken a toll on the subak rice fields as local residents choose to work in the hotel and restaurant industries instead of farming rice, he said. The farms themselves are being sold off to hotel developers eager to build on new land.

“The number of farmers is also getting low because more residents choose to work at hotels now,” Subhiksu said. “According to a survey we did, many farmers’ children did not want to be farmers when they grow up.”

UNESCO named Sumatra’s rain forests as a world heritage site in 2004, citing the once-lush forests’ biodiversity. But after years of deforestation, the cultural agency was forced to place the forests on its “Danger List.”

“Tropical rainforests in Sumatra are facing a threat to be removed from the world heritage list because of development activities, which have led to forest clearings,” Arief said.

Philippine Hybrid Rice Gains Int’l Acceptance; Indonesia Plants Big Area

MB.com, by Melody Aguiba, June 3, 2012

The locally developed SL-8 hybrid rice has become a popular international rice variety with 32,000 hectares now planted in Indonesia and is expanding rapidly in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa.

Hybrid Rice

A total of 105,000 hectares is aimed to be planted with SL AGritech Corp.’s (SLAC) hybrid rice varieties in Indonesia.

The company’s agreement with the Indonesian government has led to a plan to expand the hybrid area which consists of 40,000 hectares in East Kalimantan, 21,000 hectares in South Kalimantan, 34,000 hectares in South Sulawesi, and 10,000 hectares in Southeast Sulawesi.

SLAC is also shipping this year 1,000 metric tons (MT) of seeds to Bangladesh in an agreement with the government and another 1,000 MT to Vietnam.

"The Philippines is now famous among Bangladesh farmers because Bangladesh traditionally uses Chinese hybrid. But it’s only SL that has become a government-supported hybrid, so they’re always talking about SL-8 as a government hybrid," SLAC President Henry Lim Bon Liong said in a press briefing.

It will beef up seed shipment volume to Myanmar, Brunei, India, and Nigeria.

But the aim of the company is to partner with foreign governments so that the hybrid rice seeds may be grown abroad rather than exported from the Philippines.

"We want to do seed production in their land because we have limited land," said Lim.

In Myanmar, SLAC initially shipped 10 to 11 MT of parental seeds worth $35,000 which has since been showing favorable results.

"During the harvest of the seeds, even the president of Myanmar was there because it their highest yield (so far) in Myanmar," he said.

A yield of up to 17 MT per hectare has already been achieved in the country from these hybrid rice seeds since the government adopted a hybrid rice program 10 years ago.

Among the highest yielders were Severino Payumo, 17.28 MT per hectare in Nueva Ecija; Aida Badong, 17.2 MT, Camarines Sur; Fernando Gabuyo, 16.75 MT, Nueva Ecija; and Eduardo Policarpio, 15.8 MT, Nueva Ecija.

Yield in Bangladesh has been reaching to 12 MT per hectare.

While India is also a hybrid rice seed producing country, SLAC has an opportunity to expand in India, said Lim, while it is likewise expanding in Nigeria.

"Nigeria is a top importer of rice. Before they were the largest importer until we overtook them as the largest rice importer. They’re very sincere in expanding hybrid rice area. That’s why we’ll send technicians over to them, he said.

"Before they used to eat just corn and sorghum. But rice is easy to prepare, is tender, and has the aroma which they got to like so consumption went up. A lot of African countries will eat more rice in the future. The market is going to be bigger and bigger."

Lim said that while the Department of Agriculture aims to export rice, the government may do better by targeting to export high yielding hybrid rice which can make exporting more globally competitive.

"We can never be competitive at the $400 price of rice in the market. The production cost of Vietnam is only P8 per kilo. Maybe our cost of production is P11 cost per kilo."

Harvesting only three to four MT per hectare will not make the country export-competitive, but hybrid rice’s higher yield that can reach 11 to 12 MT per hectare will bring costs down, he said.

PLN ready to build Jatigede hydro power plant

Antara News, Thu, December 15 2011

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State electricity company PT PLN is planning to build a hydro power plant with a capacity of 2x25 megawatts in Jatigede, Sumedang district, West Java province.

The plan would soon be realized following an agreement between PLN and the Directorate General of Water Resources at the Public Works Ministry, PLN senior corporate communication manager Bambang Dwiyanto said here on Thursday.

Under the agreement, the Public Works Ministry will develop and manage a dam needed to operate the power plant, while PLN will build and manage the power plant.

The construction of Jatigede hydro power plant will cover a power house, along with water ways, surge tank, penstock, tailrace, transformer yard and switch yard, transmission line and other supporting facilities.

"The electrical power produced by the Jatigede power plant will be incorporated to the Java-Bali 150 kV transmission system," Bambang said.

The construction of the dam is designed not only to generate electricity but also to irrigate 90 hectares of rice field and control floods in West Java`s northern coastal areas, particularly between Cirebon and Indramayu.

The construction of the hydro power plant will cost an estimated US$224.4 million.

Bambang said PLN was in the process of preparing a tender for the construction of the 2x25 megawatt-capacity power plant. "We hope that the Jatigede power plant will be able to supply electrical power to the Java-Bali transmission system as early as in 2015," he said.

Editor: Heru

Fungi could protect rice against climate change, researchers say

Inoculating rice seeds with fungi makes the plants tolerant of conditions which may become common as the climate changes

guardian.co.uk, SciDev.Net, part of the Guardian Environment Network, Wednesday 27 July 2011

A farmer works at a rice planting field. Photograph: Guang Niu/Getty Images

Inoculating rice seeds with fungi makes the plants more tolerant of salt, drought and cold — all of which may become more common as the climate changes, according to researchers.

The researchers obtained two types of endophytic fungi, which have symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationships with plants. One was from coastal dunegrass, and the other from a variety of wild strawberry that thrives in geothermal soils even in below-freezing winter temperatures.

When seeds of two commercial rice varieties were inoculated with the fungi, the resulting plants, grown in greenhouses, had increased growth and grain production, and were more tolerant of drought.

In addition, plants inoculated with fungi from coastal plants thrived under saline conditions, and those receiving fungi from wild strawberries grew well in low temperatures, according to the research published this month (5 July) in PLoS One.

"The fungus pretty much does all the work," said Russell J. Rodriguez, co-author of the research and a microbiologist with the US Geological Survey. "Within 24 hours, we saw the benefits. [Inoculated] plants were growing up to five times faster."

The technique does not change the rice plant's genetic material — its DNA — he said. "But the expression [switching on and off] of genes is modified and the plant now has the ability to resist environmental stress," he told SciDev.Net.

The researchers do not understand the mechanism but suggest that the fungi could be producing a substance that regulates plant growth.

In their symbiotic relationship with the plants, the fungi confer stress tolerance in exchange for nutrients, a phenomenon known as 'symbiogenics' because one symbiotic partner influences the expression of the other's genes.

The technique should work for different rice varieties and other crops, such as corn and peas, said Rodriguez, adding that the researchers are now trying to make rice plants heat tolerant, too.

Glenn Gregorio, who studies stress-tolerant plants at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, said the experiment on salt tolerance was "impressive and very promising".

But further experiments are needed to see if the rice thrives under field conditions, he said, because fungi usually require specific habitats, such as geothermal soils, to survive.

"In field conditions, the soil and the overall environment [are] 'contaminated' with other organisms, which may also interact with the plant and, in essence, compete with the fungi," Gregorio said.

Rodriguez said his team has been collaborating with African and Korean scientists to test the findings in the field.

Crop Circle at Berbah, Yogyakarta: Stand Back Rod Rice

DiBalikBerita, 3 Feb 2011 (Google Translation)

"Whatever the word LAPAN (National Institute of Aeronautics and Space) or reporters. They say this (crop circles ) man-made, please, that's their right. But for residents, this may not manmade. With this registration form, and time (the construction) that while, at night, no way. When meeting with the police in dukuh, citizens have declared their stance, in our opinion this is not a man-made, "said Suhari, one resident told DiBalikBerita.

(Fig 2.) Sticks on the side showing the "swelling" in
ruasnya and 1 normal stem from outside the CC

The same thing also disclosed Ayu, a resident whose house is about 25 meters from the crop circle(CC), the nearest house with CC. "Saturday night, residents hang out in front of my house, patrolling, came home at 3 am. There was no sign of anything. The next morning (01/23/2011) was found at 7.Keep how to make it? I even suspected journalists. He said, 'This is perhaps the make of people whose homes were closest. " If you can make , I mean these people smart . I am really tired of facing these questions. She thought that people make - make . "He said.

Several other residents also recalled their disappointment against LAPAN and journalists. LAPAN team just arrived on Tuesday, after 2 days in advance, through the media, was "sure" that the CC in Berbah is manmade. They also assume that some reporters already have their own conclusions, which refer to the official source statement (LAPAN) alone, and do not seriously explore the facts on the ground.

"The team of LAPAN coming, enter (tip) umbrella to the axis (center of the circle CC). When the umbrellas go easily, they conclude this because it is definitely man-made hole former stick (man made tool of CC with a stick and rope). Lha, it's rice fields fertile, friable soil, trampled or anything inserted would easily fit. They also say there are human footprints. This trail must exist because it was 2 days and have trampled the visitors, "added Kardi.

In addition, the central point of CC is indeed hollow. According to residents, on the first day was found, there is a visitor came and pulled a handful of rice stalks are still standing in the shaft, so there is a hole there. "I do not know what purpose," said Suhari. In fact, there is still the central point that rice can be shown that there is no hole there.

LAPAN attitude that has taken the decision even before looking into the location it can be "understood". Aviation and aerospace official institutions of any country would do the same when faced with this kind of phenomenon. Therefore, in England, where CC is most prevalent, serious study of CC is only done by private institutions (at least the results are published).

When DiBalikBerita visited the location and managed to get into CC, rice stalks fall down "swelling" in ruasnya and forming an angle of about 45 degrees, but not broken.

Figure 2 sticks on the side showing the "swelling" in ruasnya and 1 normal stem from outside the CC.

It has a similarity with corn stalks in the CC in Southern England (see picture corn stalks in "Scientific Facts about Crop Circle").

Meanwhile, rice stalks outside the CC does not show this - trunk segments straight.When the rice patang demolished with pressed or stepped on, no segment of "swell" or "explode" like that, but just broken.

All of rice straw in the CC there is nothing broken. The proof, which collapsed rods that are now starting to come back to his feet. Link to a video that shows it (02/03/2011).

Indonesia Space Agency Pooh-Poohs Idea that Aliens Behind Crop Circle

Jakarta Globe, Candra Malik | January 24, 2011

Hundreds of curious visitors have flocked to a small rice field in central Java to witness
what could be Indonesia’s first documented crop circle, an occurrence attributed by some
to close encounters of the Alien kind. (JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

Yogyakarta. Hundreds of curious visitors have flocked to a small rice field in central Java to witness what could be Indonesia’s first documented crop circle, an occurrence attributed by some to close encounters of the Alien kind.

(JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

Ngadiran, one of six farmers who owns the land in Slemen where the crop circle measuring 70 meters in diameter was found on Sunday afternoon, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that he had not seen what had caused the distinctive pattern but others may have.

“According to several residents, they saw a tornado on Saturday evening. On Sunday afternoon, we saw the footprint in our fields,” Ngadiran said.

He would not say if he believed that an unidentified flying object (UFO) was behind the crop circle, which contains a number of symbols.

The farmers have fenced off the area to prevent their fields from being trampled by sightseers, while police have set up cordons.

Thomas Djamaluddin, the head of atmospheric sciences and chief of astronomy research at the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan), doubted, however, that the Slemen crop circles were an indication that humankind had been visited by aliens.

(JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

“We will not send investigators to the scene because we suspect the crop circle involves human invention, not natural phenomena, nor scientific phenomena associated with outer space creatures commonly referred to as aliens,” Thomas said.

Budi Waluyo, head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geology Agency (BMKG) in Yogyakarta, said the agency had no records of a tornado in the special province or its surrounding areas on Saturday and Sunday.

He said even if a tornado did occur, it would leave a distinctive snaking trail, not a crop circle.

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UFO-related "crop circle" found In Yogyakarta rice field

Antara News, Senin, 24 Januari 2011 02:33 WIB

Photo crop circle in rice cultivation areas Berbah, Sleman, DI Yogyakarta,
the alleged UFO landing site. (TRIBUNJOGJA.COM / Hendi Kurniawan)

Sleman, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - A unique "crop circle", popularly believed to be the footprint of an unidentified flying object (UFO) was discovered in Rejosari village, Jogotirto, Berbah subdistrict, Sleman district, Yogyakarta province, on Sunday.

Crop circle in Yogyakarta

Kompas.com quoted a Rejosari villager named Basori as saying that he had heard a strange noise like that of a helicopter on Saturday at 10.30 PM West Indonesia Time landing on a rice field near his house.

Basori, whose house was located on the northern part of the crop circle-marked rice field said he heard the flying object`s sound for thirty minutes.

"The sound was heard for thirty minutes but at the moment I didn`t think much of it I thought it was only the sound of a passing helicopter," said the 41-year-old Basori.

The man`s confession was confirmed by Ayu Rukini, 32. "I also heard the sound. At the time, I and my husband were wathing TV. I thought it was an air force helicopter on a training flight," said Basori`s wife.

The crop circle at the rice field that certain people in the world frequently associated with UFOs was first observed by Yudi, 20.

Yudi was quoted by Kompas.com as saying that he first saw the crop circle when passing the rice field on his way to work on Sunday at 05.00 AM local time.

"When passing the rice field, I saw the paddies fall down but they formed a neat, orderly pattern," he said adding that he had not heard the sound Basori and his wife, Ayu Rukini, had claimed on Saturday night.

Yudi said he sat near Basori`s house from Saturday evening to early Sunday at 03.00 AM but he heard nothing. "During the night, there was no rainfall... But on Sunday morning, there was this pattern (crop circle) in the middle of the rice field," Yudi said.

This crop circle could clearly be seen from the peak of a hill on the northern part of the rice field. Locals called the hill "Mount Suru", he said.

Tens of people who were eager to see the unprecedented phenomenon climbed the slippery hill, including Syamsul Bahri, 37. Bahri said the crop circle was a sign of Almighty God`s greatness.

"Whether a UFO has indeed landed here, I don`t know precisely. What is clear is that this is a sign of God`s greatness. Maybe Almighty Allah (God) wants to warn mankind here to take care of His creation, nature," said the resident of Beloran village, Madurejo, Prambanan, Sleman district.

UFO trace?: A large circle and geometric pattern local residents say were created by a UFO
have been found in a rice field in Krasakan hamlet in Sleman, Yogyakarta..(Tribun Jogja)

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