USDA Forecasts Bumper Harvest of Major Crops in Pakistan For 2023/24

[epebble]

I think the report about high incidence of diabetes (one-third of the population) in Pakistan appears suspect. It's not backed up by any credible data.

Here's an earlier report based on real research:

Diabetes in Pakistan: A systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC

The purpose of this study was assess the time trend of the prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes and risk factors associated with diabetes in Pakistan by using a systematic review and meta–analysis. A systematic literature search of Embase, PubMed, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for diabetes in Pakistan using a systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of diabetes was revealed 14.62% (based on 49,418 individuals) which suggest that there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan. Furthermore, the selected studies in this meta-analysis cover almost all geopolitical zones of Pakistan, making it possible to determine regional differences in the prevalence of Diabetes. Diabetes is affecting all around the country, with the highest prevalence seen in the Sindh province and with the lowest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Growing age, family history, hypertension, overweight, are important risk factors for diabetes among Pakistanis. A nationwide diabetes care survey and prevention policy is highly recommended"

Fortuitously, this professor, who seems to be an expert, has written an article today. He states that 25% of adults have diabetes.

Bitter sweet

Diabetes is roaring and our healthcare system is not prepared to deal with the crisis.

www.dawn.com

 

[RiazHaq]

Domino effect: India rice export ban puts market on edge for copycat curbs

Domino effect: India rice export ban puts market on edge for copycat curbs

India's rice export ban has the world market bracing for similar actions by rival suppliers to avoid potential domestic shortages as sellers try to fill the 10 million metric ton gap left by New Delhi, stoking concerns over already high global food inflation.

www.reuters.com

India's rice export ban leaves 10 mln T of world supply gap
Rival rice suppliers could raise exports by 3 mln T
Other producers may limit exports as local prices rally
Tighter global supplies to heighten food inflation worries

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This time, rice exporters will be unable to increase exports by more than 3 million metric tonnes a year as they try to fulfil local demand amid limited surplus, three dealers with global trade houses told Reuters.

Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan, the world's second, third and fourth biggest exporters, respectively, have said they are keen to boost sales since demand for their crops has been rising after India's ban.

Both Thailand and Vietnam emphasised that they will ensure their domestic consumers are not hurt by rising exports.

"It's unacceptable for a rice-exporting country to face tight supplies and high domestic prices," Vietnam Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said last week.

Pakistan, recovering from last year's devastating floods, could export 4.5 million to 5.0 million tons from the current year's 3.6 million tons, according to an official with the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).

But the country is unlikely to allow unrestricted exports amid double-digit inflation, the official said.

The leading importers of non-basmati rice include the Philippines, China, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Bangladesh.

CHAIN REACTION
Global prices have risen by around 20% since India's ban. A further 15% gain could trigger restrictions by Thailand and Vietnam, according to traders at international trading companies.

"The question is not whether they will limit exports, but rather how much they will restrict and when they will take such measures," said a New Delhi-based trader.

This week, rice prices in Thailand and Vietnam soared to 15-year highs as buyers rushed to cover shipments to compensate for the decline in India's exports.

 

[Meengla]

@RiazHaq

Brofessor sb,
Good to hear that. It would seem going by past few years trend that global warming would mean substantial increase in rain in Pakistan. The correct thing to do would be to tap this war by:
Greater water harvesting measures, including building what is called monkey cheek ponds
Drainage channels to allow water to drain into reservoirs.
This could give a heavy boost to Pak agriculture. Fortunately, in the Sharif brothers, Pak has a bunch of people who can make it happen.
Regards

@niaz @Olympus81

Your positive posts about Pakistan are well appreciated by some, including me. You are right about the increased rain in Pakistan have the potential to make a big impact. Even the arid Baluchistan is getting a lot of rain in last some years. Hub Dam near Karachi is so full that it alone can supply Karachi water for the next three years without needing much rain and another Hub Dam could be built which too would likely get filled.
Unfortunately, your and others' message of positive news about Pakistan falls on deaf ears or even derision in this forum because the Forum Messiah is no longer in power. What a bunch of pouty kids!!
But you keep up your good work here.
Regards.

 

[SD 10]

All of this is temporary if the crops are not sold at good rates. Happened with corn this year, cotton too. there is no one is mandis who is interested in buying cotton. Now rice needed to be exported. Its going to possibly be the highest yield ever but this wont last if the farmers dont get any money for it. Yield is good but at the end of the day what will make it long lasting is if it gets sold at a good rate!

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@Meengla sb

But you keep up your good work here.

Thank you very much. I joined the Indo-Pak circus more than 20 years back on chowk where I was little different from the Indian (or Pakistani) warriors you see aplenty here. My only defence is that I was as you put it "a pouty kid" then. But one learns and grows.

Anyway back to the topic. The basis of my fundamental positivity about Pak is very simple. It is the heir to a 5,000 year old civilisation. Its people know how to feed, house and clothe themselves and they have fed and clothed others as well (some voluntarily, others involuntarily) . It is just a matter of time and getting proper systems in place.

Regards

 

[Meengla]

Anyway back to the topic. The basis of my fundamental positivity about Pak is very simple. It is the heir to a 5,000 year old civilisation. Its people know how to feed, house and clothe themselves and they have fed and clothed others as well (some voluntarily, others involuntarily) . It is just a matter of time and getting proper systems in place.

Absolutely. Even a Pakistan hater like Pervez Hoodbhoy says that Pakistani people are intelligent and hardworking--he actually said that recently!
I believe the biggest worry for Pakistan is managing its water resources. No water, no life. Do that and the rest will fall in place! And the increasing rainfall every Monsoon may just be the help Pakistan needed above everything else.
Even the extra large population will become a huge asset in just a few decades, if not sooner. The world will be hungry for people in an ageing and dying world!

 

[RiazHaq]

Chinese red chilli contract farming opens vistas for development in Pakistan’s agri sector | Pakistan Today

Chinese red chilli contract farming opens vistas for development in Pakistan’s agri sector

KASUR: In a yard brimming with red chillies strewn everywhere on the ground under the blazing summer sun in the Kasur district of Punjab, Maryam Bibi and other women labourers were busy making each pi

www.pakistantoday.com.pk

“We turn them three to four times a day so that they get dry after being soaked in the summer sun, they get fully ripe and dry in five weeks, and when we hear the sound of dried seeds rattling inside the pod, we pack them in bags and put them in storage, Bibi told Xinhuain the remote village of Jamber.

This year, farmers and labourers are happy to get a bumper harvest of Chinese red chillies and expect to get good profits as the yield is double that of other varieties of pepper available in Pakistan.

The project is a part of a large-scale agricultural cooperation between Pakistan and China in the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is currently underway after the success of the first phase focusing on infrastructure and power projects.

Launched in 2013, CPEC is a corridor linking Gwadar Port with Kashgar in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and is touted as a game changer for Pakistan by local experts.

Advancing cooperation in the agricultural sector, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Sichuan Litong Food Group have established a company and carried out a red chilli contract farming project in 2021, with model farms across Punjab.

In talks with Xinhua, Xi Jianlong, the Chinese manager from CMEC at Pakistan-China red chilli contract farming, said that the Chinese variety is compatible with local soil and the overall hot climate of Punjab province conduces to the growth and nourishing of the Chinese chilli variety.

He added that the cooperation benefits numerous individuals, including landowners, farmers, and labourers.

“Last year, we had created more than 2,000 jobs in Pakistan and generated an output value of approximately $770,000,” he said, adding that when the crop is harvested and dried, they directly buy it from the farmer, without involving any middlemen.

He further said that this year, they planted chilli on about 750 acres of land from where about 1,500 tons of chilli were harvested, and during the process of cultivation to harvest, the Chinese company not only transferred knowledge and technology to locals but also utilized the rural labour force.

Talking to Xinhua, Muhammad Ammar Asghar, an agronomist working with the CMEC, said that most of the farmers hired by the landowners are uneducated. In order to help the landowner get a high yield, the Chinese company provided complete assistance and guidance to the farmers through agronomists and agriculture technicians.