PHL in the News 
September 29, 2011 Update

The following items have appeared recently in newspapers, blogs, on websites and other media regarding PHL and might be of interest to affiliates of the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss.

Africa

• The Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute launched a five-year project to educate farmers on post-harvest handling, marketing, and the development of a new rice product.
  
  
• Two hundred and seventy-six farmers in Eastern Rwanda received postharvest handling and storage skills training through a US-funded, three-week course. The training helped connect farmers to World Food Programme offices, develop strong connections and facilitate further education within the region.
  
  
• The Kenyan Cereals Board launches a new drive to boost maize harvest by providing farmers with much-needed fertilizer and training on how to improve yields. This process should take about three months and 2.4 million bags of fertilizer, which are expected to save farmers' losses by up to 30 percent.
  
  
• The African Development Bank approved $258 million US in loans and grants to Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Niger.
  These grants focus on the creation of a sound business environment, development of policies, land tenure security, new infrastructure, and other issues.

Asia

• Vietnam's largest rice exporter, Vinafood 2, is the recipient of $144 million from Agribank to help the firm reduce PHL and purchase grain for processing. In the meantime, farmers in the Mekong Delta have harvested 385,000 hectares, or more than 60 percent, of their third rice crop; a small area of the crop is under threat as seasonal floods have risen quickly. Vietnamese exporters have so far contracted to ship more than 6.8 million tons of rice, and they now have stocks of 1.4 million tons, above the 1.1 million tons reserved for loading, the Vietnam Food Association said.

• Another Korean-Filipino joint rice PHL processing facility has been launched at last. This type of partnership has greatly aided both countries since the 1960s, when a Filipino-developed rice variety helped make South Korea self-sufficient in rice. This is the fifth such facility to be constructed between the two countries since 2006.

• The United Nations Industrial Development Organization is working with the Philippine Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade and Industry to implement the Philippine-Traceability (P-Trace) System, which would aid in helping the country's agriculture be more competitive on the global market. The project requires about $5 million for initial implementation, is modeled after the Egyptian-Traceability (E-Trace) model and ultimately works toward cutting PHL and filling in the gaps in the value chain.

• Indian research has found that architecture has an effect on crop growth. The Indian Institute of Pulses Research and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research have identified the importance of crops growing uniformly, with even height, and its significance in avoiding disease, as well as importance in efficient harvesting.

Europe and Middle East

• Iceland and Pakistan in talks about sharing information related to PHL technology and improving quality control services, as a means of strengthening both the political and economical ties of the two countries.