An international body for gathering and promoting knowledge about underused crops is to be established in Malaysia. The new body, Crops for the Future, could have major benefits for improved food security and the ability of food systems to adapt to climate change.

“There are thousands of crops that poor people rely on but are not commercialized,” said Ms. Hannah Jaenicke, Director of the International Centre for Underutilized Crops (ICUC), which is merging with the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU) to create the new body. ICUC, currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, says that Crops for the Future will be hosted by a joint venture between Biodiversity International and the Malaysia campus of United Kingdombased Nottingham University.

Topics that might be handled by the new body include studies of the market chain and niche markets to determine what risks producers of low volume high value crops face; promoting extended shelf life, for example by dehydrating jackfruit; and encouraging dual use of crops such as making juice from marula fruit and using the oil from its nut for cosmetics.

Source: www.scidev.net

Mr. Subodh Kant Sahai, India’s Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, has released a guidebook titled “14-point check on Food Safety for Street-vended Foods” brought out jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. He also released, at the opening of the 2nd International Food Regulatory Summit, another guidebook on “Food Safety Tips for Housewives”. The two-day summit was organized by CII and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

On the occasion, the Minister called upon developed nations to share technology related to food safety and regulations to help harmonize global trade and standards in the processed food sector. Pointing out that only 7-10 per cent of food is processed in India, the Minister stressed upon the need to increase this to 20 per cent by 2015, and eventually to 70 per cent, as in the developed world. This, he said, means that the farmers would need to be trained and made aware of good agricultural practices.

Mr. Ashok Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, underlined the need to increase awareness among consumers about food safety regulations. He also stressed on the need for food safety audits of mass feeding programmes in the country. Speaking on India’s stake in the global food processing market, Mr. Rajeshwara Rao, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, emphasized the need to increase by many times India’s share of the global trade from the current 1.6 per cent.

Mr. Kazuaki Miyagishima, Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, said access to safe and healthy food is possible only when effective national food safety control systems are in place. He described food safety as “the shared responsibility of a nation’s regulatory authority, the food industry and the consumers”. Mr. Gautham Mukkavilli, Chairman CII National Committee on Food Regulatory Affairs, said in his welcome address that having food and safety regulations in place is becoming increasingly important “given the rapid internationalization of taste and commerce”. Ensuring food safety will also help us address nutritional challenges caused by rapidly changing lifestyles and diets, he said.

Source: www.commodityonline.com

All eggs imported from China found contaminated with melamine will be destroyed, said Mr. Cao Minh Quang, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Viet Nam. According to information received from Hong Kong health and food authorities, eggs may contain melamine because of poultry eating cattle feed contaminated with melamine. MoH would work with the Ministries of Agriculture & Rural Development, Industry & Trade and Science & Technology, and to strengthen quality checks of imported food products. Sale of products of unclear origin, such as illegally imported eggs, would not be permitted, Mr. Quang said. High-risk food products must be certified as free of melamine contamination before being imported into Viet Nam, he added.

Health inspectors have found melamine content in imported cattle feed, used as poultry feed by some farms, and have decided to zone off the region and destroy all tainted products. Chickens that eat food containing melamine are likely to be affected by the substance and may lay melamine contaminated eggs, so the production and trade of cattle feed would also be placed under strict control, Mr. Quang said. However, the majority of eggs were illegally imported into Viet Nam from China, making it difficult for authorities to control it.

Source : www.nhandan.com.vn

The Philippines may miss its target of increasing coconut oil (CNO) exports by 12 per cent this year, owing to declining demand and buyers’ shift to other commodities. Ms. Yvonne Agustin, Executive Director of the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines, said export growth rate might not reach double digits. She identified buyers’ shift to cheaper oil substitute like palm kernel oil as the reason for the decline in CNO demand.

CNO shipments in July totalled 69,000 metric tonnes (MT), but went down by more than 50 per cent to 36,000 MT in August. The decline continued in September, as shipments reached only 34,000 MT. However, Mr. Arturo Liquete, Deputy Administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), said that exports for January-September 2008 was 10 per cent more than the 579,000 MT exported in the same period in 2007. “Exporters should be shipping out more than 100,000 MT every month from October to December if they are to export more than 1 million tonnes this year,” said Mr. Liquete. Ms. Agustin, for her part, said the industry is not so optimistic about more CNO purchases during the last quarter of 2008.

Source: www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Government of Bangladesh has decided to set up a regulatory body specific to checking adulteration of food items, the Health and Food Adviser Mr. A.M.M. Shawkat Ali said recently. The decision will be implemented over the following two years and in the interim, two committees will help ensure quality and contain the use of impurities in food, he said. Of the committees, one will be high-powered and formed under the Ministry of Health. It will draw representatives from the Ministries of Commerce, Home and Local Government and the National Board of Revenue.

The other committee will be a technical one. Mr. Ali said many experts have suggested setting up an agency modelled on the United States Food and Drug Administration. The decision to form such a regulatory body was taken because it is difficult for Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) to ensure food safety, as it has to deal with a lot of non-food products as well.

BSTI has little capacity in terms of work force and logistics to handle so many food and nonfood items. Besides, it tests only the first-batch products.

Source: www.thedailystar.net

To save the precious foreign exchange being spent on the import of tea, the Government of Pakistan has initiated a scheme on ‘Commercialization of Tea Production through Public Private Partnership’ worth PRs 5.272 billion (US$66.2 million) to boost domestic tea production. This programme will be implemented in key tea growing areas with the help of private sector. About 4,200 acres of land would be brought under tea production.

At the completion of the scheme in 2011, the country would be producing about 1,000 kg of tea per acre per annum, said an official in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL). The per capita consumption of tea in Pakistan is 1 kg, almost all of which is being imported. Last year, the government imported about 102,000 metric tonnes (MT) of black tea at the cost of Rs 13.73 billion (US$172 million) and 1,260 MT of green tea at the cost of Rs 104 million (US$1.3 million). Pakistan imports its black tea from 21 different tea-producing countries with the major share of 63 per cent from Kenya. Green tea is imported from China, Viet Nam and Indonesia.

Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk

The Sri Lankan government has decided to set up a Tea Price Stabilization Fund with an initial investment of SL Rs 1.5 billion (US$13.13 million) to safeguard the industry ailing from the sharp decline of demand. Tea Board Chairman Mr. Lalith Hettiarachchi said the Fund will be set up with initial treasury funding. Commercial banks have also been directed to cut interest rates on loans offered for purchasing
tea by six per cent, while the existing grace period of one week for settlement of these loans is to be extended to four weeks. (Source: www.colombo
page.com)

Source : www.abs-cbnnews.com

In India, the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) and Coconut Development Board (CDB) propose to jointly set up an industrial park in Thrissur, Kerala, to facilitate value addition in coconut. The park is expected to bring together farmers, processors and retailers to link agricultural production to the market.

The proposed “Kera Park” will be a well-defined processing and value addition zone, containing state-of-the-art processing facilities with support infrastructure and well-established supply chain. The primary objective of the project is to facilitate establishment of an integrated value chain that will put to full commercial use all parts of the coconut tree, thus ensuring the zero wastage and enabling farmers to realise better earnings. Farmers would be organized into clusters, with all the clusters in turn forming a “special purpose vehicle,” which will co-ordinate exclusive coconut farming for the industries at Kera Park. It will also be engaged in primary processing.

A separate special purpose vehicle that includes potential investors as well as farmers’ clusters will manage the park. Setting up processing units for edible and non-edible products and common facility centres would be a priority, sources said. The project, to be developed in the public-private participation model, would be completed in three years.

Website: www.financialexpress.com