Mitigating poverty and undernutrition through social protection: a simulation analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and Myanmar

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe income losses, but little is known about its impacts on diets and nutritional adequacy, or the effectiveness of social protection interventions in mitigating dietary and nutritional impacts. We first assess the likely impacts of COVID-19 shocks in Bangladesh and Myanmar on poverty and food and nutrient consumption gaps. We then analyze the estimated mitigating effects of five hypothetical social protection interventions of a typical monetary value: (1) cash transfers;(2) in-kind transfers of common rice;(3) in-kind transfers of fortified rice enriched with multiple essential micronutrients;(4) vouchers for a diversified basket of rice and non-staple foods;and (5) food vouchers with fortified rice instead of common rice. The simulation results suggest modest effectiveness of the cash transfers for mitigating poverty increases and little effectiveness of all five transfers for preventing increasing food and nutrient consumption gaps among the poorest 40%. Rice fortification is, however, effective at closing key micronutrient consumption gaps and could be a suitable policy instrument for averting 'hidden hunger' during economic crises.

Re-evaluating the precision of yield targets set by MOET app v.2.0

This paper presents the evaluation results of the yield target setting precision of the revised MOET App (v.2.0), following the inclusion of the correction factors generated from rice biomass correlations between MOET and nutrient omission plot setups obtained from 2017 to 2018. The project started with trainings on MOET kit and MOET App use for the seed production personnel across PhilRice stations in Nueva Ecija, Negros, Bukidnon and Agusan in 2018 DS. Included in the trainings were the establishment of MOET kit tests and generation of variety- and site-specific recommendations via the MOET App for several nationally or regionally recommended varieties (NSIC Rc 122, 160, 216, 218, 222, 238, 286, 300, 358, 402, 436, 440, 442, 480, PSB Rc18 and PSB Rc82) that each PhilRice station intended to produce in the succeeding 4 cropping periods from 2019 to 2020. Relative yield advantages and economic benefits from using the MOET App fertilizer recommendations over PhilRice' current fertilizer management in seed production per station were monitored every cropping while the precision evaluation of yield target setting was done after the last cropping of 2020 WS. In 2019, relative yield advantages averaged 0.43t ha-1 in DS and 0.25t ha-1 in WS. In 2020 DS, an average relative yield advantage of 0.63t ha-1 was obtained across stations and 0.93t ha-1 in 2020 WS in Nueva Ecija only due to travel restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic benefits of using the MOET App showed an average of 0.50t ha-1 and 0.65t ha-1 yield increase over the seed production units' fertilizer management in DS and WS, respectively. While savings in fertilizer cost were better realized during the WS at an average of Php 4,126.34 ha-1 season-1 across stations. Results of the precision evaluation of the yield target showed marked improvements with a 95.24% probability of achieving 17% higher grain yields than the target set by MOET App v.2.0. However, the overall normalized Root Mean Square Error (nRMSE) of 38.14% exceeded the range for a fairly acceptable fit with the model due to large gaps between target and actual yields obtained from DS field trials.

Rice as one of antioxidant source for farming family in COVID-19 pandemic: a case study from West Nusa Tenggara Indonesia

The main food consumption of farming families is an important concern during the pandemic. Farmers in West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) survive with the availability of rice to support household health and food security during the pandemic. In addition to its nutritional content, rice also contains phenolic compounds and has antioxidant activity. This study aims are to measure the frequency of rice consumption, food variety, varieties of rice consumed daily during the pandemic in WNT, as well as the antioxidant properties of several rice varieties grown in WNT. This study was conducted from September 2020 to June 2021 in East Lombok, Sumbawa and Bima Regencies, WNT Province, Indonesia using a survey approach. The data collection techniques were observation, Focus Group Discussion, recording, interviews with 74 respondents with a semi-structured questionnaire and study literature related to the nutritional content and bioactive compound of the rice. Quantitative data was tabulated to determine the frequency and average then descriptively analyzed, while qualitative data was thematically analysed. The most consumed rice varieties are seen from the production data of seed breeders in the WNT region, the phenolic content was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu, antioxidant activity was examined using DPPH assay. The result showed that the highest portion of food consumed by farmer households in WNT is rice. The most variety of rice produced by breeders is the Inpari 32 variety. There are about 97% of farmers consume rice for 3 times a day, while 3% of the remaining consume 2 times a day of rice. Food variety includes 7.9% vegetable-rice and 92.1% rice-vegetables-meat protein. The results of the analysis of antioxidant properties and phenolic content in rice is depending on the variety. The antioxidant properties of the Jeliteng, Baroma, Pamelen, Nutrizinc and Inpari 32 rice varieties were 44.85+or-0.51%, 9.87+or-1.55%, 9.96+or-1.22%, 9.75+or-1.09%, and 14.305+or-1.24%, respectively, while the phenolic contents were 9.76+or-0.09, 4.23+or-0.03, 4.48+or-0.02, 4.64+or- 0.07, 4.58+or-0.42 mg GAE/g dryrice extract, respectively. The results of this study indicate that rice has been used as one of antioxidants source for farming families during the pandemic.

Application of Benford's law in agricultural production statistics

The importance of food supply throughout the world has once again shown its significance in the COVID-19 pandemic period. A continuous food supply is possible with correct agricultural programming. An effective agricultural product programming can only be possible by obtaining precise agricultural data. However, it is very difficult to gather accurate agricultural production statistics from all over the world and confirm their accuracy. In this study, the compatibility of the production statistics of six important agricultural products (wheat, rice, potato, onion, banana, apple) which had been collected from local sources, and had published as opensource by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with Benford's law was examined for the first time. Data for the last two decades are used to ignore the impact of annual fluctuations. The compatibility of theoretically expected and observed data was tested by Chi-square (X2) and Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) tests. Although inconsistencies were found in some data by examining the numbers in the first, second, and first two digits, in general, the MAD test results gave a mostly concordant result.

COVID-19 pandemic: impact of agricultural labour migration on income levels of farmers in Telangana

The present study was undertaken during 25th March 2019 to 25th March 2021 to examine the impact of agricultural labour migration due to COVID-19 pandemic on the income levels of farmers. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study, multistage sampling technique was used in selection of district, mandals and villages. Tools and techniques like tabular analysis, gross returns and net returns were used. Economic impact on farmers in the study area was studied by selecting three major crops viz., Paddy, Cotton and Maize. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the kharif and rabi season, in all the three major crops, the labour availability was increased when compared with the period of before the pandemic. This situation was appeared due to reverse migration during pandemic. The average wage rates received by the agricultural labourers for almost all farm operations in case of paddy, maize and cotton crops were decreased due to increase in labour supply due to reverse migration. The available man days also clearly got increased for almost all the operations except harvesting of paddy and cotton crops. In case of paddy and cotton crops, net returns were found to increase. In case of Maize crop, the gross and net returns were decreased due to increase in total operation costs and decrease in price per quintal during rabi season of the pandemic period respectively.

Paddy stubble burning in Punjab: an architect of breathing woes

Crop residue burning (CRB) is a persistent issue in north India, every year it engulfs the whole of North India in its fumes. CRB results in severe negative aftermaths on both human health and the environment especially now when the Covid-19 pandemic is so rampant to cause respirational distress. The current study was being conducted to assess the state of crop residue burning in Punjab. The research was based on secondary data from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, which spans the years 2016 to 2020. During the season, Kharif the number of stubble-burning cases decreased from 81042 to 71081 (a decrease of about 13 percent) from 2016 to 2020. This dwindling trend in cases is a good sign for environmental conservation. There has been an increase of 25% in stubble burning during the Rabi season from 2016 to 2020, incidences of stubble burning have reached an all-time high in the last five years, even during the widespread Covid 19 outbreak and may be because of labour shortages during Covid-19. The farmers who had previously embraced good crop residue management methods may resort to burning fields in the coming rice harvesting season due to additional challenges which exacerbating the problem. The government should focus on subsidizing crop residue technologies and effective behavior change approaches to tackle the problem unanimously with the help of farmers themselves. The study recommends mandatory diversification of the cropping cycle on a minimum acreage basis, shift to earlymaturing rice varieties as PAU suggested, and making paddy residue management technologies like happy seeder and super seeder widely available. Farmers should be incentivized accordingly for good agricultural practices rather than punished for burning.

Rice industry leadership program - 2017-2020. Extended to 2021 due to COVID-19

What the report is about: The Rice Industry Leadership Program 2017-2020 was extended due to COVID-19. This report outlines all the programs that have been completed. Who is the report targeted at?: The AgriFutures Rice Advisory Panel. Where are the relevant industries located in Australia?: The rice-growing regions of southern NSW. Background: For the past decade, the rice industry has been evolving and growing to understand the importance of strong leadership. It does this through becoming an industry that truly believes in its people and their ability to innovate, grow and adjust to changes brought about by water reform, pressure from other crops and permanent horticulture, climate variability and market pressures. Our leaders are not only seen as leaders in the rice industry, but also as leaders within their communities, of which the rice industry is very proud. It hopes these leaders continue to influence not only industry but also regional communities. Recognising the opportunity to continue the great work in leadership, the Ricegrowers' Association (RGA) applied for and received $367,960 in funding from the Australian Government's $5 million Leadership in Agricultural Industries Fund. In addition to federal funding, the RGA was also supported by key organisations in the rice industry: AgriFutures Australia, SunRice, the Rice Marketing Board of the State of NSW, and Rice Extension. This $662,760 funding enabled the Rice Industry Leadership Program 2017-2020 to be established. Aim/objectives: The RGA believes that developing leaders is an investment in the future of our industry. The objective of the Rice Industry Leadership Program 2017-2020 was to provide an opportunity for potential leaders of our industry to undertake training to develop their leadership skills. The development of strong and effective industry leaders helps the rice industry to structurally adjust to the many drivers of change influencing the industry, and to continue its economic, environmental and innovation success. Through strong leadership, the industry is better positioned to embrace the opportunities and challenges facing the industry. Methods used: Methods used through the Rice Leadership Program consisted of residential training workshops, short face-to-face workshops, online learning opportunities, and social networking events. Results/findings: Over the duration of the program, 163 people completed leadership programs. The key findings for this project illustrated a need for professional development opportunities across the rice industry, the broad agricultural sector and, in particular, our regional communities. Because people working in agriculture often find it to be isolating, the social interaction and networking in this program was a key to its success. A limited number of people in the industry are willing to take on leadership roles outside their own business. This finding will affect industry stakeholders because there is a risk of not having the right people to lead the businesses and industry in the future. Implications for relevant stakeholders: Through this program's strong commitment to investing in future leaders, we were able to improve the industry's ability to pursue initiatives in the public interest, and to deliver direct and indirect benefits for community. Throughout the leadership program, a common value that has been reinforced is the important role the rice industry plays economically, socially and environmentally for local businesses, communities, and the broader agricultural and irrigation industries. The Rice Industry Leadership Program has made progress towards addressing the leadership needs of those respective organisations and communities. Recommendations: We strongly believe the Rice Industry Leadership Program has helped to ensure the future success of the rice industry by delivering high-quality leadership development opportunities for growers and industry associates. The RGA has built a strong brand over the past 10 years for delivering leadership programs. We recommend that the RGA continue t

Molecular farming using transgenic rice endosperm.

Plant expression platforms are low-cost, scalable, safe, and environmentally friendly systems for the production of recombinant proteins and bioactive metabolites. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) endosperm is an ideal bioreactor for the production and storage of high-value active substances, including pharmaceutical proteins, oral vaccines, vitamins, and nutraceuticals such as flavonoids and carotenoids. Here, we explore the use of molecular farming from producing medicines to developing functional food crops (biofortification). We review recent progress in producing pharmaceutical proteins and bioactive substances in rice endosperm and compare this platform with other plant expression systems. We describe how rice endosperm could be modified to design metabolic pathways and express and store stable products and discuss the factors restricting the commercialization of transgenic rice products and future prospects.

Transmission of rice prices in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic

The pandemic Covid-19 has impacted global economy, including Indonesia. In response to dealing with the spread of Covid-19 cases, Indonesian government has imposed social restrictions which directly impacts people's economic activities including food sector. Considering rice as the main food product for most Indonesian people, this study aimed to analyze the transmission of rice prices from the producer level to the consumer level during the Covid-19 pandemic. Price transmission describes the impact of changes in the price of an item at one market level on changes in the price of the item at another market level. The data used is daily time series data from March 2020 to March 2021. The data analyzed using the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) approach. The VAR estimation results show that producer prices and consumer prices do not affect each other. The absence of price transmission between producers and consumers may indicate that government intervention to maintain rice prices during the Covid-19 pandemic has been effective.

Influence of COVID-19 epidemic on China's grain industry

The COVID-19 epidemic has caused different effects on China's grain production and people's lives. In order to promote the orderly development of grain production and ensure food security, this paper studied the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on China's grain industry. It was found that under the epidemic situation, agricultural employment was difficult, the supply of agricultural materials was tight, traditional technology services to the countryside stagnated, and cross regional farming was blocked. In addition, diseases and insect pests were reappearing, and the international situation was more complex and changeable in this year. The pressure and challenge to stabilize grain production increased. Therefore, this paper suggested that food security should be taken as the top priority. In order to further ensure China's food security, we showed recover spring tillage production and area double cropping rice, ensure the smooth passage of important materials, provide multiform agricultural science and technology services, improve the early warning mechanisms of domestic and international markets, and build a new support system for grain production.

Food inflation in Brazil in the COVID-19 pandemic period, continuity and change

Since 2007, food prices have risen more sharply than the set of consumer prices in Brazil. The objective of the work is to compare food inflation in the first half of 2020 with that of 2007 and 2019, checking if there have been changes in its characteristics and reasons. Information from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE) is used to analyze the Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) at different levels of aggregation. Between 2007 and 2019, prices of food outside the home expanded more than that of food at home. Among the components of this, the prices of the least processed increased more than those of the most processed, indicating that the origin of food inflation was agricultural, with meat having a great contribution to the fact. In turn, in the first half of 2020, non-tradable products, beans, rice and fruits, vegetables and greens, were the ones that put the most pressure on inflation. Throughout the period, conditions of foreign trade, international price and exchange rate, had a strong influence on food inflation. In the first half of 2020, among the causes, increased demand for food in supermarkets gained relevance, apparently not accompanied by the expansion of supply.

Special issue on microbiome. (Special issue on microbiome.)

This special issue includes 13 articles focusing on innate lymphoid cells and gastrointestinal disease;microbiota-gut-brain axis in autism spectrum disorder;characteristic dysbiosis in gout and the impact of a uric acid-lowering treatment, febuxostat on the gut microbiota;gut microbiota, inflammation, and molecular signatures of host response to infection;the rice histone methylation regulates hub species of the root microbiota;a powerful adaptive microbiome-based association test for microbial association signals with diverse sparsity levels;an efficient metatranscriptomic approach for capturing RNA virome and its application to SARS-CoV-2;easy to create repeatable and editable Venn diagrams and Venn networks online.

Farmer's field evaluation of direct seeded rice vis-a-vis puddled transplanted rice in Kapurthala, Punjab

The direct seeded rice (DSR) has emerged as an economically viable and sustainable option for timely rice establishment due to labor shortage amid Covid-19 pandemics. The crop production practices differ greatly among puddled transplanted rice (PTR) and DSR. Therefore, we compared the performance of different rice varieties viz. PR-121, PR-126 and Pusa-44 under two contrasting establishment methods (PTR vs. DSR). The study highlights that of the total area under rice, the highest area under DSR was in Sultanpur Lodhi block (about 68.2%), while the lowest area in Dhilwan block (about 41.9%). Results revealed higher benefit-cost ratio of rice establishment under DSR technology, compared with the PTR technology, regardless of the rice variety due to reduced (about 23.9%) cost of cultivation associated with rice establishment under DSR technology. About 68.9 per cent of the respondents perceived PTR as low cost effective, while about 4.7 per cent perceived PTR as highly cost effective. Conversely, about 16.0 per cent of respondents perceived DSR as low cost effective, while a large proportion (about 55.7%) perceived DSR as highly cost effective. About 14.1, 76.4 and 10.4 per cent of PTR farmers, while about 10.4, 69.8 and 14.1 per cent of DSR farmers perceived it as low, medium and highly profitable.

Impact of COVID-19 on the rice value chain (RVC) in Asia

COVID-19 induced lockdowns have disrupted input supply, production, processing, marketing, and consumption segments of the rice value chain. The rice value chain is facing adverse impacts of constraints on mobility, access to inputs and services, markets, finance, labour, trade and services, demand and income. The rural-urban disconnect has increased price differences between producers and consumers, decreased cash flows and hampered businesses in the value chain. To mitigate impacts of COVID-19 on the rice value chain, ensuring access to input & output markets, minimizing supply chain disruptions, promoting digital services, financial support, social safety nets, open trade, and investing in rice research will be key.

IRRI annual report 2020 - unprecedented

This annual report provides information on the negative effects brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to global agriculture and food systems and the various strategies applied by the International Rice Research Institute to tackle and overcome these negative effects. The success of various activities in partnership with respective partner agencies, such as a regional training workshop with Vietnam to introduce tools that support planning and decision-making for mitigation projects in rice farming, a webinar on laser land-leveling for Filipino farmers as well as the launching of the Rice Crop Manager Philippines, a blended virtual training for agricultural extension workers on delivering advisories to rice farmers through a weather-rice-nutrient integrated decision support system, and a blended workshop on digital data collection in Myanmar, among others, are discussed. The importance of strengthening collaboration and building more inclusive and robust partnerships with various governments despite the COVID-19 disruption is also pointed out.

Analysis of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prices of basic food sold in traditional markets: the case of Jakarta province, Indonesia

The purpose of this study was to analyze the development and fluctuation of basic food prices in traditional markets in Jakarta before and during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The study used performance reports from the Indonesian Central Statistical Institute (BPS), National Center for Food Price Information (PHPI), various government agencies, the latest news from reliable online media, and similar studies. The scope of the research focused on the development of basic food prices in traditional markets from January 2019 to May 2021 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The basic food prices discussed in this study were shallots, rice, red chili, and garlic. Results showed that, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the price fluctuations of shallots in the traditional markets of Jakarta was not significant. During the COVID-19 pandemic, rice prices remained stable due to the government's welfare program. The price of red chili in traditional markets tended to decrease due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic caused fluctuations in garlic prices in traditional markets in Jakarta, and this was because garlic imports from China faced logistical difficulties.

The pattern of changes in prices and marketing margins for foodstuffs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Food products are the main concern for the government and people of Indonesia. Changes in food prices have significant effects on the welfare of the population. Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected community activities and the food agribusiness system. This study analyzes patterns of changes in prices and marketing margins of seven main food products in Indonesian food consumption i.e. rice, shallots, garlic, red chillies, cayenne pepper, cooking oil, and sugar, after the Covid-19 pandemic by presenting descriptive statistics of daily food prices data from the National Strategic Food Price Information Center (PIHPSN). Based on empirical results, except for shallots and cooking oil, most food prices at various market levels have fallen during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the risk of food prices at various levels of the market has been increasing. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the magnitude and variability of marketing margins along the marketing chain also have been increasing. These findings imply the urgency of Institutional policies that can increase market transparency and competition appears to be more effective in the long term at reducing the price shocks caused by Covid-19 at various levels of the market than price interventions.

Combination of bonding, bridging and linking social capital in a livelihood system: nomadic duck herders amid the COVID-19 pandemic in south Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Special Section: Land, livelihoods, and change amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia.)

Livelihood systems of nomadic duck herders make a unique study subject due to the livelihood assets, strategies, and outcomes they manage, which involve interactions with various actors that keep moving around. Social capital the duck herders build in their interaction with other actors, namely rice farmers, play an important role to face different vulnerability context, including those brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. This study aims to characterize components of bonding, bridging and linking social capital in the context of relationships between duck herders and other actors, and seeks to find the essential role of the combination of the three types of social capital for livelihood outcomes, particularly in facing vulnerabilities due to the pandemic. The method of grounded theory research was applied for its ability to allow researchers to reveal processual relationships between duck herders and other actors. Data were collected through semi structured interviews, analyzed by open, axial, and selective coding. The duck herders combine components of bonding, bridging, and linking social capital selectively depending on the interests behind each interaction with different actors. The bridging and linking role that social capital plays in herders' interactions with farmers and irrigation officials is undertaken in order to gain access to natural capital (rice fields and irrigated water), while in their interaction with egg traders, they utilize bridging social capital to gain access to financial capital (in the form of cash and loans). The vulnerability context due to the pandemic has shaken the livelihood system of the duck herders by upsetting the egg supply chain due to social restriction policies. Social capital therefore plays an important role in facing vulnerability, in the context of forming good will among egg traders that continued to buy eggs from the duck herders, which served as a kind of pay back for the loyalty of the duck herders. The researchers find that social capital plays a vital role in a livelihood system, within which the access to livelihood assets depend on social relations. This study also explored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as it resonates more on supply chains than production processes.

Increased rice production strengthens national food security

The National Administrative Department of Statistics and the National Federation of Rice Growers (Fedearroz) - National Rice Fund carry out, as part of the agreement between the two entities, the National Survey of Mechanized Rice, which allows optimizing technical and financial resources, generating statistical information in a timely manner, with the quality and reliability that this sector requires in the Republic of Colombia. For the first semester of 2020, given the operational difficulties of carrying out information collection process through direct interviews with the producers due to the health situation decreed by the presidency of the Republic of Colombia, and as a consequence of the pandemic generated by COVID-19 and in order to maintain continuity in the delivery of information from ENAM, it was necessary to make some changes in the information collection methodology. Some of these changes corresponds to the process carried out to estimate the area cultivated in mechanized rice in the Llanos zone. A new methodology was applied based on the processing of optical and radar satellite images with classification algorithms. The other change was the use of a telephone interview instead of direct interview with the producers. This paper presents the estimates of planted area, harvested area, production and yield for the first half of 2020.