Far Eastern Agriculture Issue 3 2014

Fight banana leaf bug with the right fungicide

Review of FIAAP, VICTAM, GRAPAS Asia

Multiphase feeding is good for pigs

Offshore projects can save marine life

Indian tractor sales to grow 9% in 5 years

Crops

The Philippines braces for El Niño

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FEAG 3 2014 COVER_FEAG_COVER_MASTER_09 05/06/2014 06:08

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Contents

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Bulletin4 A round-up of key developments in the regional market

Agenda6 China meat imports to rise 3.500 per cent by 2015, ‘India can export 10 million tonnes of

wheat in a year’, South Korea’s poultry meat exports to Vietnam rises in April, Cambodia to rear prawns using Japanese technique, Philippines aiding tilapia farmers with free fingerlings, Global aquaculture production hits 158 million tonnes in 2012

Events9 Preview of Indo Livestock 2014, Palmex Thailand, Risks in Agri Trading: Emerging Market

Summit 2014

Review of VICTAM Asia, VIV Europe, CAHE, interpack Germany

Livestock19 Tech can help turn your pig farms into smart farms

20 Edible packaging films can inhibit pathogens in meat

21 Indonesia approves blue swimming crab harvest control rule

Crops27 Green vaccination: Boosting immunity without side-effects

28 IRRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia

Equipment30 The latest innovation in agricultural and livestock technologies

Moreover35 Insects as potential animal feed

Almex b.v. ..................................................................9

AWILA Anlagenbau GmbH........................................13

Compact Seeds and Clones SA..................................7

Eurofeed Technologies S.p.a. ..................................34

Lubing Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG ................36

Omex Agrifluids Ltd. ................................................23

Technical Systems (Pty) Ltd ....................................17

Unipoint AG..............................................................34

Advertisers Index

Ensure ‘cracking’ good eggshells

Scientists decode wheat genomefor increased productivity

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Nuscience expands production capacity in ChinaNUSCIENCE IS BUILDING a brand new factory for the productionand marketing of its premixes, concentrates and specialty feeds inWest TEDA (Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area),China. The new factory will replace the existing facility and triple theproduction capacity to 10,000 metric tonnes per month and isexpected to be operational by mid-2015. Nuscience Group recentlyheld the groundbreaking ceremony to launch its new constructionproject in Tianjin. Patrick Keereman, CEO of Nuscience Group, said,“With this investment we take the next step in guaranteeing ourcustomers an even higher technical performance by providing theChinese market with safe and healthy nutrition.”

CP Indonesia buys Sierad Produce for US$37.05 millionCHAROEN POKPHAND (CP) Indonesia, through its subsidiaryCharoen Pokphand Jaya Farm, has acquired Sierad Produce’spoultry breeding and hatchery assets located in Lebak, Bantenprovince, for US$37.05mn to boost its production. CP Indonesiadirector Eddy Dharmawan said that the newly acquired assetswould add to the company’s output by five per cent, particularly forits Day Old Chicks (DOC) and processed chicken products. CPIndonesia aims to produce around 900mn DOC and 96,000 tonnesof food products this year with a total capital expenditure ofUS$172mn, before purchasing the assets.

Cargill expands its animal feed plant in VietnamCARGILL’S ANIMAL NUTRITION business recently completed aUS$20mn animal feed mill expansion in Vietnam’s Binh Dinhprovince. One of eight compound feed mills in Vietnam, theexpanded facility will enable Cargill to meet growing demand forhigh-performing feed from its customers in the country. With thisexpansion, Cargill has invested more than US$110mn in Vietnam’slivestock and aquaculture industry in the last 10 years. “Ourinvestments demonstrate our confidence and commitment to thegrowth and future of Vietnam’s feed industry,” said Joe Stone,president, Cargill Animal Nutrition’s feed and nutrition business.“Our aim in Vietnam is to create superior value for our customers byproviding comprehensive animal nutrition solutions that leverageour global best practices and local market knowledge. Also, wecontinually invest in our capabilities to ensure our customersalways have unique and proven solutions that help them make theright business decisions.”

Better Pharma sales to hit US$115 million in 2014BETTER PHARMA, ONE of Thailand’s largest animal pharmaceuticalproducers, expects its sales volume to reach US$115mn in 2014. Chayanon Kittayachaweng, senior vice-president of animal healthat Betagro Group, said, “In 2014, the Thai integrated agriculture isnot expected to grow. Recently, the Kasikorn Research Centreforecasted the Thai economy to have decreased in the firstquarter of 2014. In the second quarter, the Thai economy maygrow, but only for one per cent. For the whole year, however, theresearch centre expects a growth of 1.8 per cent.” He added, “In2014, Betagro reorganised the group into five business units:Animal nutrition; swine production; poultry production; food;animal pharmaceuticals.” Better Pharma already expanded itsbusiness in most ASEAN Economic Community markets, exceptSingapore and Brunei as these countries do not have extensivelivestock herds.

Muyang changes brand name to FAMSUNMUYANG COMPANY LIMITED has recently announced changing itsbrand name from Muyang to FAMSUN starting May 2014. Thismove is prompted by the idea of better illustrating the company’sbusiness and the farm-to-table industry chain it serves. Thecompany said that this is consistent with Muyang’s global strategyand its aim of becoming an integrated solution provider in the agro-industry. Meanwhile, the company will continue to operate in itscurrent structure, provide follow-up service based on relevantagreement, and its business contacts will remain unchanged.

DSM opens new animal nutrition centre in ChinaWITH A SPECIAL focus on enzymes, eubiotics and vitamins, DSM’snew research facility will support ongoing market development byenabling the application of DSM products to address the needs oflocal swine and poultry producers. It will also produce scientificdata to support product and application development for use inglobal markets. Consisting of a laboratory, office building andmodern experimental swine and poultry houses, the centre willenable DSM to conduct trials on Chinese livestock and developinnovative solutions using proprietary technologies. It will also offerspace for scientific and technical meetings, as well as customertraining and events.Nathan Bird, vice-president of DSM Nutritional Products China, said,“The China Animal Nutrition Center is one of the first privately-owned research and application centers in China and reinforces ourleading position in the animal nutrition market both in the countryand further afield. ”

Japanese group to acquire Malaysian dairy firmASAHI GROUP HOLDINGS will move into a dairy production byacquiring Malaysia’s Etika Dairies by June 2014.The Japanese company plans to turn Malaysia’s second-rankeddairy company into a wholly-owned unit by buying shares fromEtika’s Singapore-based holding company for about US$243mn.Etika runs seven production sites in Southeast Asia, including thosein Vietnam and Indonesia, and sells products under its own brandsthroughout Southeast Asia as well as in Africa and elsewhere.Asahi intends to develop dairy-based products for health-conscious consumers and other offerings by combining the group’sexpertise in product development and quality management withthat of Etika’s.The Japanese company targets Southeast Asian sales ofUS$980mn in the year ending December 2015, roughly triple theprojection for the current year.

The expanded facility will enable Cargill to meet growing demand forhigh-performing feed in Vietnam

Bulletin

FAR EASTERN AGRICULTURE Issue Three 2014 | www.fareasternagriculture.com


5www.fareasternagriculture.com | FAR EASTERN AGRICULTURE Issue Three 2014

JUNE9-10 4th International Conference on Asia Agriculture and Animal Bangkok, Thailand www.icaaa.org

18-19 Risks in Agri Trading: Emerging Markets 2014 Summit Geneva, Switzerland www.agritradingrisks.com

18-20 9th Indo Livestock Expo & Forum Jakarta, Indonesia www.indolivestock.com

20-21 International Conference of Aquaculture Indonesia Bandung, Indonesia http://icai.aquaculture-mai.org

JULY14-17 I7th Annual International Symposium on Agriculture Athens, Greece www.atiner.gr/agriculture.htm

SEPTEMBER23 -25 VIV China Beijing, China www.viv.net

OCTOBER 14-17 Aquaculture Europe 2014 San Sebastián, Spain www.easonline.org

15-17 VIETSTOCK Expo & Forum 2014 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam www.vietstock.org

NOVEMBER 3-6 7th International Poultry Conference Ain Soukhna, Egypt www.sites.google.com/site/7ipcegypt2014

10-14 16th Asian-Australasian Association of Yogyakarta, Indonesia www.aaap2014.ugm.ac.id Animal Production Societies (AAAP) Congress

11-14 EuroTier 2014 Hanover, Germany www.eurotier.com

12-14 ILDEX Cambodia Phnom Penh, Cambodia www.ildex.com

24-25 International Plantation Industry Conference & Exhibition Sarawak, Malaysia www.ipicex.com

25-27 International Agriculture Congress 2014 Putrajaya, Malaysia www.iac2014.upm.edu.my/iac/home.php

Events 2014

SALES OF CERTIFIED sustainable palm oil (CSPO) in Indonesia isexpected to hit a record high this year due to larger purchasecommitments from main buyer countries, according to the Roundtableon Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a group that promotes theproduction and use of sustainable palm oil.

In Q1 2014, CSPO sales rose 48.7 per cent to 506,586 metrictonnes — a new high on a quarterly basis, according to RSPO.

RSPO secretary-general Darrel Webber said that the groupexpected the upward sales trend seen in January-March 2014 tocontinue throughout this year, resulting in a new sales record. “Thesignificant increase in 2014 will mainly be driven by the foodlabelling regulation in Europe and national commitments frombuyers,” he added.

The European Union implemented this year a food labelling rulethat requires food manufacturers to specify vegetable oils, includingpalm oil, they use in their food products.

Foodstuff containing sustainably produced palm oil will gain acompetitive edge in the 28-member market over similar productsmade with uncertified palm oil. Many countries in Europe, namelyFrance, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the US,have conveyed their commitment to endorsing palm oil productscertified by the RSPO.

Webber further said that the positive outlook for this year mightalso persist throughout next year when big multinational corporations,such as Unilever, P&G and Nestle, would only use CSPO in theirentire supply chain.

CSPO by RSPO growers reaches 9.7mn metric tonnes eachyear, representing almost 16 per cent of global palm oil output. The

volume is generated by 1.97mn hectares of certified productionarea worldwide.

Since 2012, Indonesia has overtaken Malaysia to become thebiggest supplier of CSPO and now contributes around 47.85 per centof CSPO recognised under the RSPO scheme. Its certified plantationareas have risen from covering less than 100,000 hectares in 2009 tomore than one million hectares in 2013.

Desi Kusumadewi, RSPO Indonesia director, said that apart fromboosting exports, the organisation would also encourage theabsorption of CSPO in the domestic market.

Indonesia is the world’s second largest user of palm oil after India.

Indonesia to see the biggest sale of sustainable palm oil in 2014

Indonesia has overtaken Malaysia tobecome the biggest supplier of CSPO

S02 FEAG 3 2014 - Agenda_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:54

Agenda

6

THE FAO FOOD price index averaged 209.3points in April 2014, down 3.5 points, or 1.6per cent, from March and 7.6 points, or 3.5per cent, below April 2013. Last month’sdecline was mostly caused by a sharp dropof dairy prices, although sugar andvegetable oil also fell. By contrast, cerealsand meat prices firmed slightly.

The FAO cereal price index averaged206.9 points in April, up only one point (or0.5 per cent) from March but still 24 points(or 10.3 per cent) below its value in April2013. The monthly increase was lesspronounced than those registered inFebruary and March, as weather conditionsimproved in the United States and tensionsin Ukraine had little effect on the country’space of grain shipments. Rice prices tendedto weaken in the various market segments,with the exception of aromatic rice varieties,where they remained stable.

The FAO vegetable oil price indexaveraged 199 points in April, down six points(or 2.8 per cent) from March. The slide in theindex is driven by palm oil, whose valuesdropped following reports of lower than

anticipated import demand, most notably fromthe European Union. Furthermore, Malaysia’sexports have been hit by the persistentstrength of the country's currency. Soybean oilprices, on the other hand, appreciated slightlyas the market responded to the lingeringtightness in global soybean supplies.

The FAO dairy price index averaged251.5 points in April, a sharp fall of 17 points,or 6.3 per cent, over March. The market of alldairy products has been affected by reducedpurchases by China (the main importer ofwhole milk powder and second largestimporter of skimmed milk powder) and theRussian Federation (the main importer ofbutter). Additionally, an extended season inNew Zealand and a good start to the dairy-year in the northern-hemisphere have meantthat supplies for export have increased.Prices of all dairy commodities subsided, butparticularly butter and milk powder.

The FAO meat price index averaged185.8 points in April, 0.8 points, or 0.4 percent, above March. The marginal increasewas a result of stronger prices for pigmeat, inpart on concerns over the effect of Porcine

Epidemic Diarrhoea virus on export suppliesin the US. Although little changed, bovinemeat prices are close to historic highs, dueto dry weather conditions affectingproduction in Australia and the US. Prices ofpoultry and ovine meat were also stable.

The FAO sugar price index averaged249.9 points in April, down 4.1 points, or 1.6per cent, from March. Prices declined amidreports of large sugar availabilities in the mainproducing regions, including Thailand, India,and Australia. Generally Dry weather in mostproducing countries, which should boost thesucrose level, also weighed on prices.

CHINA’S MEAT IMPORTS are

predicted to skyrocket over 3,500

per cent to US$150bn by 2050 as

consumption of chicken, pork and

beef surges on the back of the rising

affluence of its growing middle class.

The increase in meat imports has

been forecasted by Australian Bureau

of Agriculture and Resources Economics

and Sciences, Australian government’s

agricultural research arm.

“The shift from a rice to meat diet

has already happened in China. Even

small changes in the way China

consumes can have a large impact

overseas,” said Patrick Vizzone, Asia

head of food and agribusiness at

National Australia Bank.

He said that between now and

2050, China would represent more

than 40 per cent of the increase in

world food demand.

For instance, if China switched

just two per cent of its pork

consumption to imports, this would

equal 10 per cent of the US market

and three times Australia’s pork

production, Vizzone said.

China produces nearly all of its

own meat. Its output of pork, poultry,

and beef rose from about 20mn

tonnes in 1986 to more than 70mn

tonnes in 2012, with the fastest

growth from the 1980s into the early

90s, a USDA report said.

It said the USDA was projecting

an increase in China’s pork,

poultry, and beef output to 90mn

tonnes by 2023/24, an increase of

about 30 per cent.

Imports of beef have grownsharply since 2010 and are

expected to rise to over 750,000tonnes by 2023/24

Food Outlook

INDIA CAN EXPORT upto 10mn tonnes of wheat each year if thecountry is able to maintain production level of about 95mn tonnesas exports is the only ideal option to avoid massive wastage ofabout 40 per cent grains worth about US$8.5bn, owing to dearthof adequate scientific wheat storage together with slow pace ofcreating fresh storage space, noted The Associated Chambers ofCommerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) study on wheatproduction in India.

A long-term and stable wheat export policy is the need of thehour as it would go a long way in developing dedicated clientelein the global wheat market thereby helping India in earning muchneeded foreign exchange, thus issues vis-vis storage, domesticconsumption, food security needs, population growth and othersmust be analysed and a pragmatic view should be taken in thisregard, noted the study titled Wheat Economy of India, conductedby ASSOCHAM.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Korea,Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,Thailand, UAE, Yemen, Vietnam and African Countries likeDjibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania and others are majorimporters of wheat from India.

India should formulate a strategy to corner about 10 per centshare in the 100mn tonnes global wheat market provided rightsteps are taken to tap this potential in the long run, said DSRawat, national secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasingthe chamber’s study.

‘India can export 10 milliontonnes of wheat in a year’

China meat imports to rise 3,500per cent by 2015, suggest reports



7

Agenda

CAMBODIAN FARMERS WILL open three prawn farms this summer in the

mountain region using Japanese technique of ‘third water’ for creating

artificial river and seawater.

The artificial water is a blend of fresh water and a carefully measured

mix of minerals, including salts of sodium, potassium and calcium.

The project in the Cambodian province of Takeo will be led by Japan’s

overseas aid organisation — Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Roughly 30,000 giant river prawns are to be reared at each of three farms

from August in 2014. The prawn sells for eight times the price of fish in

Cambodia. JICA will monitor the farms’ efficiency and cost savings.

Kenji Kaneko of JICA’s rural development department, said that the

water is likely to help spur onshore aquaculture technology in

developing countries.

Toshimasa Yamamoto, professor of Okayama University of Science who

developed the technique, said, “This is magic water that enables aqua farming

without chemicals. We can turn a mountain village into a fishing village.”

According to Yamamoto, farmers add about 10gm of minerals to 1 litre

of fresh water — a mixture that produces a slightly salty taste. This produces

a medium suitable for aquaculture that costs 10 per cent the price of

traditional artificial seawater. The technique was patented in 2012.

To date, tiger puffers and eels have been cultivated with the water.

Research has found a reduced incidence of disease because the water

has properties that do not exist in nature and lacks the infectious agents

often found in seawater and fresh water.

SOUTH KOREA’S POULTRYmeat sales to Vietnam haveincreased by 14 per cent inApril 2014 from last year.

The overall exports ofagricultural and food productsrose due on a large increase inshipments to the US andSoutheast Asian nations, thegovernment said.

Shipments of farm goods amounted to US$556.6mn in April, up13.8 per cent from the same month last year, according to the Ministryof Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Exports to Japan, the world’s single-largest importer of SouthKorean farm products, gained 3.4 per cent year-on-year toUS$110.5mn. Shipments to the US spiked 22.7 per cent year-on-yearto US$57mn.

“Overall exports to ASEAN countries rose greatly from the samemonth last year on growing shipments of processed goods, includingtobacco and biscuits, and on increased exports of poultry products toVietnam,” the ministry said.

By product, shipments of fresh foodstuff, such as vegetables andfruits, rose 6.3 per cent year-on-year to US$104.7mn. Shipments ofprocessed goods jumped 15.7 per cent to US$451.9mn.

South Korea’s poultry meat exportsto Vietnam rises in April 2014

Cambodia to rear prawns usingJapanese technique



Agenda

8

CHINA, MONGOLIA AND the FAO have signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) for South-South Cooperation (SSC) tripartiteagreement to implement the National Program for Food Security andthe National Livestock Program

The aim of this agreement is to select and field Chinese expertsand technicians who will make up the SSC team and assist with theimplementation of the SSC programme in Mongolia.

During the course of two years, the Chinese government will closelycollaborate with Mongolia in identifying, designing and implementing anSSC program in support of food security through the implementation ofthe two programmes. According to FAO, technical assistance will beprovided by Chinese experts and technicians in areas like animal feedproduction, horticulture, poultry production, livestock and animalhusbandry, bee farming and aquaculture to Mongolia.

Agricultural inputs and equipment will also be provided asappropriate for demonstration purposes, with the implementation ofcapacity development activities including technical training andexchanges, the UN organisation added.

José Graziano da Silva, FAO director-general, expressed histhanks to the contribution and support provided by China to thesuccess of FAO’s South-South Cooperation initiatives for theimprovement of global food security. ”China has been one of theimportant partners of FAO’s South-South Cooperation Program sinceit was launched in 1996,” da Silva said.

THE PHILIPPINES’ GOVERNMENT, through the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAgrO),

is providing free tilapia fingerlings to fish farmers and communal bodies of water to

sustain fish sufficiency and strengthen its fisheries sector.

Alexander Domingo, acting provincial agriculturist, said the provision of free

tilapia fingerlings is in line with their intention to propagate the abundance of fish

in the province.

“We still need to strengthen our

fishery sector just like our sufficiency

status on rice and this is one way of

increasing our fish supply for food

sufficiency,” he said.

This year, the provincial government

through and the PAgrO has set aside more

than US$3.93mn for aquaculture support

services.

This will be used for extension support services such as technology

demonstrations, trainings, technical assistance, training for deputy fish wardens,

establishment of fish sanctuaries and patrol and surveillance against illegal fishing.

PAgrO also allotted more than US$31,832 for the operation and management

of the polloc freshwater fish farm.

This will be used for fingerling production and dispersal of about one million

pieces of tilapia and production of 600kg of marketable tilapia.

Domingo said they have already distributed 1.45mn pieces of Tilapia fingerlings

to communal bodies of water and backyard fishpond operators.

GLOBAL FISHERIES AND aquacultureproduction totalled 158mn tonnes in 2012 —around 10mn tonnes more than 2010,according to FAO’s latest report.More people than ever before rely on fisheriesand aquaculture for food and as a source ofincome, but harmful practices and poormanagement threaten the sector’ssustainability, The State of World Fisheriesand Aquaculture stated.Since 1990 employment in the sector hasgrown at a faster rate than the world’spopulation and in 2012 provided jobs forsome 60mn people engaged in capturefisheries and aquaculture. Of these, 84 percent were employed in Asia, followed byAfrica with about 10 per cent.The rapid expansion of aquaculture, includingthe activities of small-scale farmers, is drivingthis growth in production, the report added.Fish farming holds tremendous promise inresponding to surging demand for food whichis taking place due to global populationgrowth, the report says.At the same time, the planet’s oceans — ifsustainably managed — have an importantrole to play in providing jobs and feeding theworld.“The health of our planet as well as our ownhealth and future food security all hinge onhow we treat the blue world,” FAO director-

general José Graziano da Silva said. “We need to ensure that environmental well-being is compatible with human well-being inorder to make long-term sustainableprosperity a reality for all. For this reason, FAOis committed to promoting ‘Blue Growth,’which is based on the sustainable andresponsible management of our aquaticresources.”The renewed focus on the so-called ‘Blueworld’ comes as the share of fisheriesproduction used by humans for food hasincreased from about 70 per cent in the 1980sto a record high of more than 85 per cent(136mn tonnes) in 2012.At the same time per capita fish consumptionhas soared from 10kg in the 1960s to morethan 19 kg in 2012.The new report also says fish now accounts

for almost 17 per cent of the globalpopulation’s intake of protein — in somecoastal and island countries it can top 70 percent.FAO estimates that fisheries and aquaculturesupport the livelihoods of 10 to 12 per cent ofthe world’s population.Global marine capture fishery production wasstable at about 80mn tonnes in 2012, the newreport indicates.Currently, under 30 per cent of the wild fishstocks regularly monitored by FAO areoverfished — a reversal in trend observedduring the past few years, a positive sign inthe right direction. Just over 70 per cent are being fished withinbiologically sustainable levels. Of these, fullyfished stocks — meaning those at or veryclose to their maximum sustainableproduction — account for over 60 per centand underfished stocks about 10 per cent.Global aquaculture production marked arecord high of more than 90mn tonnes in2012, including almost 24mn tonnes ofaquatic plants. China accounted for over 60per cent of the total share. However, the report warns that to continue togrow sustainably, aquaculture needs tobecome less dependent on wild fish for feedsand introduce greater diversity in farmedculture species and practices. — FAO

Global aquaculture production marked arecord high of more than 90mn tonnes in2012, including almost 24mn tonnes of

aquatic plants

Philippines aiding tilapia farmers with free fingerlings

China, Mongolia and FAO sign MoU onfood and livestock management

Global aquaculture production hits 158 million tonnes in 2012, FAO promotes ‘Blue Growth’



VICTAM Asia 2014

9

VICTAM ASIA 2014 is, by far, the largest and most dominantexhibition in Southeast Asia for animal feed production technology.The fair concluded recently on 10 April 2014 at BITEC exhibition

centre in Bangkok, Thailand. It was held along with FIAAP and GRAPASAsia under one roof.

Visitors from around the world descended at the three-day event towitness the growing technology for safe and effective production of feedfor animals and aquaculture. VICTAM is also the industry showpiece forbiomass pelleting technology, which is seen as the alternative greenenergy source around the world.

The Thai government has set an ambitious target to have 25 per centof the national energy consumption met with renewable energy sourcesby 2021. Biomass is expected to account for the largest share and bedeveloped in all three sectors, heat, power and transportation fuels.Much of the biomass generated is expected to come from agriculture anddownstream food and feed processing industries. Thailand is the world’slargest exporter of cassava and tapioca products.

Organised by Victam International BV, the event saw more than 220exhibitors and over 6,000 visitors. Innovative awards were presented

companies for accomplishment in their area of expertise.The Aquafeed Innovation Award was won by Norvidan for their

NODS — Norvidan On-line Density System; FUMzyme, a purifiedenzyme from Biomin to detoxify mycotoxins in animals has won theFIAAP Animal Nutrition Award. The runner-up was Kemin with its multi-enzyme product; 4B Braime Elevator Components won the GRAPASAward with their Hazardmon product. Recommended were Morillon forits Super SHG Hydrascrew and Buhler for Combistoner.

The show in Thailand is also looking atcreating a free trade bloc of feed meals andtechnology for Southeast Asian countries

EXPANDER

High capacity extruders and expanders.

EXTRUDER


VICTAM Asia 2014 aimson effective production

S03 FEAG 3 2014 - Victam & VIV_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:52

VICTAM Asia 2014

10

Far Eastern Agriculture spoke withorganising committee member Andrew West,who was upbeat about the whole show. Westsaid that VICTAM Asia 2014 has seen amarked increase in the number of overseasvisitors. “Our objective has been to maintainand increase quality. This event is a precursorto VICTAM International 2015. We havereceived many applications for the show nextyear. This year we have given attention to eachASEAN country for participation.”

The show was also a platform for variousother symposiums like Aquafeed Horizons Asia2014 and FIAAP Conference 2014 by LinxConferences, GRAPAS Asia Conference 2014by Perendale Publishers, etc.

Focusing on the Southeast Asian market,West noted, “It is the aim of the ASEANCommunity to create a Free Trade Bloc (FTB)in the region. He said that FTB is important torice and feed millers and would have a greatimplication on the region. The idea is to lookforward to 2015, the proposed date for theintroduction of the FTB.”

To bring about a greater awareness aboutfeed, rice and related industries, VictamInternational BV had invited senior executivesfrom the ADB, the ASEAN Secretariat and Foodand Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to VICTAMAsia 2014, Mario Sergio Cutait, chairman ofthe International Feed Industry Federation(IFIF) was also present.

The rising number of internationalparticipants brought in lot of new equipmentand knowledge-sharing to the region. Few of

the companies that evoked interest andgrabbed eyeballs are ANDRITZ FeedTechnologies, AWILA Anlagenbau GmbH,Biomin Singapore Pte Ltd, Buhler AG, DSM,Kemin Industries (Asia) Pte. Ltd, Muyang,Ottevanger Milling Engineers B.V, Probatch,SCE - Silo Construction & Engineering,SKIOLD, Unipoint AG, Zheng Chang, etc.

Southeast Asia market is a growing marketand countries like Thailand, Vietnam andMyanmar have the potential to be feed marketleaders, However, West said that it alsodepends on their economies and baseproducts availability.

Talking about VICTAM International 2016vision, the organiser said that they want tomove forward and increase the influence of thefeed market in Asia to adopt International

standards. They also want to focus on teachingfeed technique and maintain quality tomaximise growth in Southeast Asian countries.

The exhibition was supported by differentconferences: FIAAP Conference, whichfocussed on animal feed ingredients andadditives; Petfood Forum Asia, focussing onpetfood production technology andingredients, Aquafeed Horizons Asia, whichfocussed on aquafeed production technologyand ingredients; and GRAPAS Conference,which talked about rice milling technology,grain storage, transportation & preservation.

The event also held the first ASEAN Feed &Rice Symposium. Featuring speakers like TranDong Phuong, director for Finance, Industryand Infrastructure, ASEAN EconomicDepartment, Thamana Lekprichakul,programme coordinator working group onAgriculture Secretariat Asian DevelopmentBank and Vinod Ahuja, livestock policy officer,FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,the conference focussed on securing foodgrains in the region.

With rice being the common staple food inASEAN, the agriculture sector is closely linkedto food security situation in the region. Thishas made ASEAN even more committed tostrengthen its agriculture sector and to producemore food with fewer resources. Phuong saidthat sustainable agriculture with a moresystemic approach will better preserve orrestore natural resources and increase theresilience of farming systems.

He added that from trading side, rice has


“It is the aim of theASEAN Community to

create a Free Trade Bloc(FTB) in the region. He

said that FTB is importantto rice and feed millersand would have a great

implication on theregion.”

— Andrew West, member of VIV

International organising committee


VICTAM Asia 2014

11

been a major commodity for ASEAN. Severalhundred millions of people in the regionbenefit, one way or another, from the valuechain of rice-related economic activities — fromfarmers to millers, to wholesalers, and toexporters. This results in ASEAN being theworld’s largest rice exporting region with annualexport volume constituting approximately 55per cent of the global rice trade.

From the food security standpoint, rice hasalso plays a significant role as the region’sstaple food for the ASEAN countries. This isclearly evident from the fact that rice hasalways been the major source of energy foodfor people in all the ASEAN countries.Moreover, with relatively abundant regional ricesupply as compared to internally-consumedregional demand, ASEAN’s rice is served asthe world food security as well.

Phuong said that ASEAN has madesignificant progress in terms of trade in goodsliberalisation. By end-2013, most of thecommodities scheduled for liberalisation underthe ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA)already reached zero tariffs. Along with thesuccess of tariff liberalisation, significant progresshas also been made in improving and promotingtrade facilitation through customs modernisation,establishment of an ASEAN single window andharmonisation of standards and conformance. Tofurther eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs), workwas exerted to realign the ASEAN Non-TariffMeasures (NTMs) database with the newUNCTAD Classification and to establish aninteragency body at the national level to

complement regional initiatives on NTMs. For the year 2015, the speakers said that

the region needs to strengthen the capacity ofhuman resource of related agencies andregional bodies to compile, monitor andanalyse information related to rice, foodsecurity, and agri-food trade.

Ahuja spoke on the need to fulfil the fooddemand of expected 9.2bn by 2050. He saidthat the percentage of cereals will increase inEast Asia by 2050. He advised more freetrade agreements to secure food supply,establish emergency food reserves andpromote food security partnership underframeworks such as ASEAN.

New products and technologiesAWILA: Recently completed a 40-tonne feedmeal facility in Nigeria for a private investor. SKIOLD: Introduced world’s first built-in jetfilter for mills.Supertech Agroline: Showcased AgrologTMS5000, a fully automated temperaturemonitoring system with temperature sensorsconnected into a digital network and connectedto a PC.SCE: Innovated modular square bins for betterfeed storage.

Next stopCologne will host the FIAAP/VICTAM/GRAPASin 2015. The shows, along with a series oftechnical conferences, will be held atKoelnmesse from 9 – 11 June 2015. 2015will be the 50th anniversary of the first

VICTAM exhibition which was held from 26 to29 May 1965 in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

This combination of the three showstogether proved highly successful at the lastevent in Cologne in 2011 when almost 300companies, from all over the world, cametogether in what was the largest dedicatedinternational event for the animal feed andgrain processing industries.

VICTAM International also profiles theexpanding and increasingly important sectorof biomass pelleting technology.

The reason for this being thatmanufacturers of feed pelleting technologyoften also produce similar technology forbiomass pellets. Germany and its neighboursconsume large quantities of biomass pellets,both industrially and domestically. nn


For the year 2015,Southeast Asia needs to

strengthen the capacity ofhuman resource of related

agencies and regionalbodies to compile,

monitor and analyseinformation related torice, food security and

agri-food trade


Events

12

AFTER A FOUR year hiatus, VIV Europehighlighted the importance ofsustainable intensification of core

agricultural and farming processes VIV, the trade show for livestock, farming,

animal health and food safety, was held inJaarbeurs Utrecht, The Netherlands.

After four years, the expo returned toEurope, with representation from over 20,000delegates belonging to 140 countries. Morethan half of them were from Asia, Africa,Middle East, South America and Russia.Several others were from Germany, Poland,France and Italy, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

There were 600 exhibitors from 45countries, with their latest products. RuwanBerculo, organiser of VIV Europe said, “Utrechtwill be showing off the latest developments,with the central theme being sustainableintensification.”

Sustainable intensification aims to meet thegrowing demand for better food and develop thatin a sustainable manner, throughout the world.

Keeping in mind this theme, there was aninteresting array of farming solutions at theshow. Some of them included smart-farmingsystems, house heaters, poultry processingequipment for chicken deboning, egg gradingmachinery, even a Vencomatic nest and a bird-friendly perch.

Advanced mechanisation coupled withspeedy techniques increases efficiency andproductivity. VIV Europe saw variousinnovations, which aim to make workingprocesses simpler, hassle-free and faster likebroiler cages poultry computers, live embryo

detection methods and even an aerodynamicair inlet, which helps maintain a constanttemperature inside hatcheries despitefluctuations outside. Wind-compensating sidecabinets for poultry houses was also a much-appreciated product.

Processes like chicken deboning are highlycommon and can be time-consuming. Meyn’sshow time focus on chicken deboningemphasised on a variety of product designs,which were also compact.

Another important aspect of agriculture isquality of produce, and this can be achievedby understanding what is being fed to theanimals. At VIV, an attempt was made tounderstand if the feed conversion rate changedby split feeding different diets in the morningand evening. Trouw Nutrition presented newprecision feeding software linked to its premixprogramme. Intracare demonstrated a differentapproach, where an aerosol was used fortissue protection and wound care, reducing thedependence on antibiotics.

De Heus Animal Nutrition introduced a newpiglet feed programme allowing a smooth andearly transition from a premium starter diet toa less costly second-stage formulation. Sonacelaborated on the benefits of a plasma proteinpowder for pet foods, manufactured from theblood of sheep in order to avoid a possibleallergic reaction by the pet to plasma orporcine or bovine origin.

“We primarily aim to be a platform for all ofthe leading technology and know-how in thefield of animal protein production in growthcountries that currently have the greatest need

for this. In addition, we of course also focusour range of solutions on major Europeancountries and the United States in order toachieve even more innovative and higherquality livestock, meat and egg productionsystems in those countries,” explained Berculo.

The organiser remarked that there has been asignificant increase in awareness towards animalwelfare and food safety. It’s not always aboutbeing bigger and more intensive, said Berculo.The event went to great lengths to explain themeaning of sustainable intensification throughseminars and congresses.

VIV India: A complete feed tomeat showVIV India was held in Indian city of Bangalorefrom 23 to 25 April 2014. In three days,international and Indian suppliers presentedfeed products for the poultry, fish, dairy andpig sectors.

VIV India provided a platform of experiencefor further business transactions,developments, marketing in internationalmarkets. It also created a way to open newavenues for transfer of technologies to themotivated entrepreneurs. Internationalexhibitors included Alltech, Andritz Feed andBiofuel, Buhler Group, Ottevanger, DSM,Biomin, Multivac, Marel Stork, Muyang, Meyn,among others.

The expo highlighted the need forinvestments in crop feed tachnology andprocessing technology from feed to meat chain.

The next VIV event will be VIV China inSeptember 2014. nn

VIV 2014: Bigger, betterand sustainable

VIV Europe provided the platform forvisitor and an exhibitor to network


The event focussed on quality of feed for better produce


13

Events

INDO LIVESTOCK 2014, Indonesia's

key livestock, feed, dairy and

fisheries event, will be held at

Jakarta Convention Centre, from 18

to 20 June.

The expo is likely to have 530

exhibitors from 43 countries,

including seven pavilions from

Indonesia, China, South Korea,

Europe and USA. Taiwan and Holland

are expected to showcase the latest

innovations and developments in

feed, livestock production, animal

health, layer production, egg

handling, feed milling, breeding,

broiler production, meat processing

and meat products.

This year, Indo Livestock will be

held in conjuction with Indo Feed,

Indo Dairy and Indo Fisheries 2014

Expo & Forum.

Eminent members of the industry

are keen to attend this expo for

several reasons — Indo Livestock is

considered a complete biennial

industry event that covers livestock,

feed, dairy and fish industries.

There is a significant

representation from from Indonesia

and the ASEAN region including top

integrators, feed millers, regulators,

farmers, veterinarians and major

industry users. In the past, it has

been host to 14,000 trade buyers and

offers industry support from

Indonesian authorities, institutions

and publications.

Indo Livestock is also expected to

host a series of technical seminars

and presentations, on the latest

trends in the agriculture sector.

Suswono, minister of agriculture

of Indonesia, said, "I have great

pleasure to support Indo Livestock

2014 Expo & Forum in conjunction

with Indo Feed, Indo Dairy and Indo

Fisheries 2014 Expo & Forum. This

event will assure you to provide an

excellent opportunity for the

industry to look at the latest

technology and products which

includes sharing information on the

latest issues of the livestock sectors

and its solution.

The previous edition was held in

2012, and had an impressive

feedback across segments like

exhibitors, visitors and more. The

Indo Livestock Report of 2012

stated that 94 per cent of survey

respondents rated the quality of

visitors as good or excellent and

91.15 per cent of exhibitors

achieved or exceeded their

expectation on participation.

PALMEX THAILAND 2014 is scheduled to be held at MaritimePark and Spa Resort, Krabi in Thailand on 21 and 22 August.

The fourth edition of the country’s largest palm oil exhibitionis a specialised event, which allows international upstream anddownstream palm oil companies and supporting industries toshowcase the latest developments in the industry and focus onupcoming trends.

This year, delegates and exhibitors from Australia,Belgium, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, UK andUSA, stated expo authorities. Targeted exhibitors arecompanies dealing in palm oil products, equipment andservices namely belting, boilers, engineering services, filters,palm kernel oil expeller, palm oil measuring and testinginstrument, palm oil product, pumps, seals, packing andgaskets, valves, waste management.

In 2013, there were 2,312 visitors from Belgium, China,France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan,Korea, Malaysia, Middle East, Netherlands, New Zealand,Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand,UK, US and Vietnam, and this year, organisers are hoping for anequally competent and wide presence.

The main highlights of the two-day show were the Asia PalmOil Conference and technology seminars, which helped garnerinterest in the developments in the palm oil industry.

With Thailand being ranked third globally for CPO, it becomesa potential market for new technologies and spurring newequipment to boost sales and productivity, and organisers arehopeful the emphasis on these areas is just as high this year too.

Indo Livestock 2014 strives to live up to its reputation

Palmex Thailand to showcase newtechnologies for growing market


Indo Livestock has proved itself to be the preferred venue for buyers to source for new technology and equipment

S04 FEAG 3 2014 - Events_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:51

Events

14

THE 12TH EDITION of China Animal Husbandry Expo

(CAHE) was held in Qingdao, China from 18 to 20 May.

There were 152,508 visitors with over 200

exhibitors at the show, making it one of the largest

turnouts in the history of the expo.

Organisers stated that the show has grown a

lot in the past ten years — floor space has

increased from 20,000 square metres to 120,000

square metres, the number of exhibitors has

increased from 400 to 1250. There were 4,973

booths in 2014, and the number of professional

visitors tripled to 152,508.

CAHE is not only a showcase to promote the

domestic livestock industry platform also livestock

industry exchanges and cooperation at home and

abroad window, it is China’s hundreds of millions

of farmers and practitioners annual event.

It was the first time that a separate label

represented the international exhibitors

significantly. Around 13.7 per cent of the exhibitors

were from outside China, and there were ample

country pavilions at the expo. Some of the notable

stalls were put up by The Netherlands, Denmark

and France. The Holland Pavilion, however, was the

largest with companies like Nedap, Pigtek, CID

Lines, Hotraco, Fancom, Nutreco and De Heus

showcasing their latest innovations.

The Dutch Meat & Feed Centre, Orange Pig and

Orange Poultry had a stage where new products

where launched and speeches were held on the

Netherlands and its relation with China.

Day 1 saw the ‘Golden Keppel’ 2014 China

Animal Husbandry Industry, advanced commendation

meeting, hosted by the China Animal Husbandry

Association successfully in Qingdao. Important

dignitaries of the region including those from animal

husbandry industry, the business elite and the mass

media attended the event.

According to organisers China Livestock

Information Network, at present, the domestic and

international economic situation is complicated,

and China’s livestock industry demand for

livestock products in the face of rigid growth,

increasing concern about food safety, growing

resource and environmental constraints, such as

production costs continue to climb the multiple

challenges of the situation. To tackle this situation

and to achieve steady progress, the national

economy has to achieve steady growth, control

prices, adjust the structure and improve people

goals to provide important support, they added.

The event selected 24 outstanding Chinese

livestock industry models.

On the same day, more than 50 farm equipment

manufacturer and supplier co-sponsored the

formation of ‘Chinese pig Engineering Strategic

Alliance’ (China Swine Engineering Strategic

Alliance or CSESA) inaugural ceremony was held in

Qingdao International Exhibition Center, marking

the formal establishment of the alliance.

Exhibitors and visitors were happy with the

turnout, expressing great optimism for the next

edition of CAHE which will be held in May 2015.

CAHE 2014: A truly international show in China


A SELECTION OF leading agri trading expertswill converge at a conference in Geneva in Juneto discuss geopolitical risk and legal frameworkwhen operating in emerging markets, as well aseconomic and supply chain risksThe ‘Risks in Agri Trading: Emerging MarketsSummit 2014’, organised by IRN and

scheduled to take place from 18-19 June2014 in the Swiss city, will look at topicsranging from currency and credit risks, tocountry risk and physical risk.Speakers from a host of major tradingcompanies will be in attendance to offer theiradvice, including experts from Olam, Cargill,

Ecom Trading, Louis Dreyfus and ExportTrading Group.The launch of the event follows threesuccessful editions of the Annual SoftCommodities Trading Summit in Geneva, alsoorganised by IRN. The new platform has beendesign to accommodate general managers,traders, treasurers, supply chain specialists,trade finance managers, risk managementexperts, operations managers and logisticians.The event will feature two workshops, on-stage discussions on topics such as creditrisk and physical risk management, andspecific case studies that will focus on keyemerging regions.According to IRN, a number of emergingmarkets in Africa, Latin America, SoutheastAsia and the Middle East have boomingeconomies and plenty of natural resources.Many of the markets covered during theconference have the potential to becomeagribusiness hubs for products such ascoffee, cocoa, sugar cane, rubber and grains.

Agri trading experts set to discuss emerging markets at Geneva event


Events

15

THIS YEAR’S INTERPACK expo was asuccess, with exhibitors showcasing theirlatest machinery and also brainstorming

with other delegates to find a solution to globalfood loss and wastage

interpack 2014, one of the biggest tradeshows for the packaging industry, was held inDusseldorf from 8 to 15 May 2014.

There were 2,700 exhibitors and 175,000visitors spread across 19 halls of the DusseldorfExhibition Centre — a significant and impressiveturnout, according to the show organisers.

Friedbert Klefenz, president of the interpackexhibitors’ advisory board 2014, said, “We arevery satisfied with the quantity and quality ofvisitors at our stand. The interest taken in ourtechnologies that make a vital contribution toglobal health and nutrition was enormous. Weare pleased with the high number of leadsproduced, including many top executives andpotential new customers.”

The organisers were elated with the numberof visitors too — 75 per cent of the exhibitorswere based out of Germany. There were also alarge number of business deals and sales

conducted during the fair, and it was deemedpositive by many exhibitors.

Ensuring efficiency of resources for plantsand machinery was one of the focal points ofthe show. Maintaining quality and safety toguarantee perfect and counterfeit-proof finishedproducts — especially in segments like foodand beverage, and pharmaceuticals — wasalso widely discussed.

This year’s expo stood out also for heraldinginnovative themes, which are highly relevant tothe food and packaging industry currently. TheSAVE FOOD Congress was one such theme atInterpack — where the initiative is to combatfood loss and wastage.

The dominating themes at interpack 2014were resource efficiency for plant andmachinery as well as for packaging materialusage, quality and safety to guarantee perfectand counterfeit-proof finished products –especially in such touchy segments asFood/Beverage and Pharmaceuticals — as wellas diversity and flexibility for an ever widerrange and shorter product cycles.

In association with organisations like Foodand Agriculture Organisation of United Nations(FAO) and the United Nations EnvironmentalProgramme (UNEP), 110 organisations sharedtheir insights on this topic. The congressparticularly showed how the pressing issue offood loss and wastage can be fought acrossthe value chain as a whole. Senegalese

minister and musician Youssou N’Dour and theformer German federal minister Renate Künastwere present at the congress, along withrepresentatives from FAO, UNEP and 450other delegates.

Commenting on this, however, interpackunderscores its importance not only with thesheer multitude of innovations and breadth ofits exhibitor ranges but also with especiallyinnovative themes, adds Bernd Jablonowski,director of interpack & SAVE FOOD: “For aleading international trade fair it is not enoughjust to rent out exhibition space and offerperfect organisation. Trend themes must beidentified, anchored in the concept and finallyalso driven in a consistent manner. This is theonly way to secure thematic leadership in anindustry. We have succeeded in doing this verywell once again this year. The concepts of bothInnovationparc Packaging and the METALPACKAGING PLAZA were right on target withthe target groups.”

Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, president andCEO of Messe Düsseldorf, said, “interpack hasprovided impressive proof of its leadinginternational role yet again this year. Thissuccess confirms our fundamental philosophyof addressing the international industries intheir respective markets in a very targetedmanner — already in the run-up to the eventthereby bringing them to their most importantevent in Düsseldorf every three years.” nn

interpack 2014: Merging thefuture with the present

The packaging and processtechnology exhibition aimedat not only efficient packagingbut also food safety

In Spring 2017, the motto will once againread “Welcome Home” to Düsseldorf



Poultry

16

THE EDIBLE PART of the egg, i.e., theyolk and the albumen, is subsequentlysurrounded by a ‘dead’ and often

pigmented shell of calcium carbonate. Thisessentially leaves the consumers to judge theinternal quality based on shape, dimensionsand external shell surface characteristics.

However, eggshell quality is usually a goodindicator of egg content. If an egg’s albumen isof poor quality then any sound foundation onwhich to build a thick, strong and qualityeggshell is usually lacking. Consumersselecting eggs according to industry standards,governing external shell appearance, aregenerally rewarded with fresh good-qualityeggs with good nutritional composition.

Ongoing investment by the poultryindustry ensures cost-effective egg collection,handling, grading, packing andtransportation. The achievement in speed andpacking efficiency without compromising eggintegrity and safety requires detailedknowledge of egg shape and shell strength.

Egg shape Egg shape is of interest to consumers but vitalfor poultry producers and marketingcompanies, especially when eggs are packed

in uniform trays for transportation. Abnormally-shaped eggs are easily broken during handling,for the simple reason that they do not fitexactly into the custom-designed trays.

Ideal shape is defined by the relationshipbetween the length and breadth of the egg. Anindex of 75 (calculated as the ratio ofbreadth/length x 100) is considered to be thebest. Egg shape is of less importance when eggsare not packed in containers, and since mosteggs in this category go for processing, thenshape is of no consequence to the purchaser.

Shape is important to consumers of intacteggs. They want the classical egg shape andcertainly not eggs which have an ‘equatorial’bulge that typically occurs in eggs which arebroken in the shell gland and partly repairedbefore lay. Such eggs which incur breakageduring shell formation display a bulge aroundthe centre of the egg. Any single factorresponsible for bird disturbance in the 10-14hour period before the egg is actually laid willincrease the occurrence of this condition.

Shell qualityShell quality can be divided into severalcomponents, including surface characteristics,and shell thickness and composition, which

combine to determine shell strength. Egg shellcomprises three per cent membranes and 97per cent true egg shell, which is largelycomposed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3).

Colour and smoothnessAdditional and excess calcium carbonate canbe deposited on the shell causing a type ofsplashing or a pink/lilac coloured egg andreferred to in the industry as a ‘coated shell’.Such faults are usually the result of eggsstaying in the shell gland for a longer than isnormal and these will occur most frequently inyoung laying hens recently into production.Young hens in particular are very susceptibleto stress, and any disturbance to flocks willencourage the birds to retain eggs.

Two eggs can be in the shell gland at thesame time to cause a specific form of rough shellreferred to as a ‘target’ or ‘thumb-print’ condition.Same occurrence can also result in hens laying‘slab-sided’ eggs. Other types of rough shellcondition are generally caused by health andnutritional problems commonly related to age ofbirds and resulting in shells with ‘pimples’ or avery abrasive ‘sandpaper’ like surfaces.

Shell colour is determined by the presenceor absence of a surface layer of pigment called

A good outer layer is the indicator of the quality of the albumen inside

Ensure ‘cracking’good eggshells

Egg shape is of interest to consumers butvital for poultry producers as abnormal

shaped eggs break easily


S05 FEAG 3 2014 - Poultry_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:50

Ooporphyrin, with darkness (brownness) of eggshells positively correlated with dark featheredbreeds. In some countries such as the UK,there is general assumption that brown eggs aremore nutritious than white eggs, although thereis not a speck of evidence to support this. Thatsaid the shell of some eggs laid by browncoloured laying hens may be very pale colouredor even white and although the effect is purelycosmetic the eggs are inevitably rejected inthese markets where brown eggs are desired.

Incidence of pale shelled eggs laid bybrown feathered birds tends to increase witholder laying birds and with some diseaseconditions. Ironically, there is evidence tosuggest that pale-shell eggs from brown

feathered laying hens are more common whenthe flocks are raised free range. Brown-shellfree-range eggs are considered ‘tops’ fornutritional quality in countries like the UK.

ThicknessShell quality is directly and closely related toshell thickness and eggs with thin shells simplyand inevitably break very easily during transit.This is a particular problem for eggs produced inhot climates where high temperatures in tandemwith high humidity may affect feed intakeresulting in hens laying thinner shelled eggs.Shell thickness can be measured destructively(by breaking the egg) and then using amicrometer or be assessed non-destructively

using specific gravity measurements. Other factors including porosity of the shell

(density of pores), thickness of themembranes, minerals content of the dead shelland thickness of the protein matrix all affectshell strength, but at the end of the day shellthickness is, by far, the most important.

Shell strength does not show linear(proportional) reduction with decrease in shellthickness but actually falls much quicker thanwould be expected. Very few eggs having ashell thickness of 35 µm (micrometres) ormore break during transportation while almostall eggs with a shell thickness of 25 µm or lesswill break during handling and if not then laterduring transit. Shell thickness and strength areboosted by good nutrition and managementbut that is not the whole story because shellthickness is 30 per cent controlled by geneticheritable factors.

Thin and weak shelled eggs are quitecommonly laid by older hens and especiallythose which are approaching the end of theiruseful laying life, having often produced a veryhigh output of eggs in the preceding months.When ‘soft’ shelled eggs appear in youngerflocks they are often associated with ‘coatedshell’ and ‘rough shell’ eggs that haveremained in the shell gland for aninappropriately long time. If an egg stays in theshell gland for a too longer period thensubsequent ovulation will still take place at theusual time but before the previous egg hasbeen laid. The second egg may thereforespend less time than is normal or beneficial inthe shell gland leading to a soft or even ashell-less egg. In such situations a hen may‘miss a day’ then lay two eggs, one coated andone soft-shelled, on the following day.

Shell quality is directly and closely related to shell thickness and eggs with thin shells simply and inevitably break very easily during transit

Poultry

17www.fareasternagriculture.com | FAR EASTERN AGRICULTURE Issue Three 2014


Poultry

18

De-synchronisation of the egg-laying processlasting several days or more can easily happenby not paying sufficient attention to the well-being of hens, even if they just threatened witha single and seemingly mild disturbance thatsubsequently leads to stress. The problem maywell end up to be accumulative causingprolonged effects on egg quality and causing anumber of different egg shell abnormalitiesoccurring over that period of time.

Dietary CalciumNutritional deficiencies are also responsible forpoor shell quality and since egg shells arepredominantly made of calcium carbonate thenadequate supplies of calcium-rich feed areclearly required by laying hens. The calciumrequirement of the laying hen is complicatedby the progress of egg shell formation in theuterus, which relies on temporarysupplementation from the skeletal system.

The egg shell is formed during the 24-hourperiod that the egg is inside the uterus. Almost10 per cent of the shell is secreted around theegg during the first four hours with secretionaccelerating and shell formation completedduring the remaining 16 hours. Hens are onlyable to absorb 50 per cent of the calciumingested in feed and the maximum amountthat can be absorbed in 24-hour period is2.0gm. Egg shells normally contain between1.6gm and 2.4gm of calcium and researchshows that during the final hours of shellformation deposition of calcium exceeds themaximum rate at which calcium can beabsorbed from the intestine.

Any shortfall is made up by mobilisingcalcium from the bones. Hens coming into layshould be offered diets which are high incalcium (three to four per cent) or diets withsupplemental calcium provided by calcium grit,sourced for instance from oyster or musselshells. This extra calcium ideally fed ‘adlibitum’ is deposited in the bones (especiallythe medullary bones), helped by hormonal

changes in the hens at this time. Failure tobuild up this skeletal store of calcium and tomaintain adequate calcium in the feed rationthroughout the laying period will lead topermanent depletion of skeletal calcium.

This strategy is particularly important athigher temperatures (25ºC and above) whentemporary shell thinning may occur due toreduced feed intake caused by heat-inducedstress. But shells will rapidly regain normalthickness when temperature falls and feedintake returns to its normal level. Seriousshortfalls of calcium over a period of time willlead to rapid decline in egg production andeventual cessation of egg lay.

Damaged shellsCracking and damage to eggs post laying islargely governed by poor shell quality,especially in the case of thin shells of lowstrength which is the most common reason fordowngrading. Damage may also be aggravatedby inappropriate handling during collection,

grading, packing or transit, but if the two occurtogether then producers will be literally‘treading on egg shells’.

A trio of egg shell crack types is generallyrecognised within the industry.

The hardest to see and identify are ‘hairlinecracks’ especially when they occur in newly laideggs. Very skilled monitoring and inspection byegg candling is required to pin-point andidentify such damage. This type of damage iscommonly caused by an egg colliding with asurface that has no ‘give’ (is inflexible).

Star cracks, which emanate from a centralpoint of impact, are much more visible than hair-line cracks under normal light conditions andvery easy to identify during inspection using eggcandling procedures. This type of damage is thetypical result of one egg impacting on another.

So called ‘pin-hole’ and ‘toe-hole’ cracks maybe caused by the hens themselves ‘stepping’ onor pecking at eggs, or through egg contact withany sharp point or protrusion. There is evidenceto suggest that a similar type of damage canoccur while the egg is still inside the bird.

Soiled shellsOnce laid, the egg is subject to contaminationwith all sorts of organic and inorganic matterincluding mucous, faeces and blood and dust,mud and litter where birds are not kept incages. A type of soiling which is particularlydifficult to clean from eggs is the so-called‘glazing’ or ‘varnishing’ effect caused when thecontents of broken eggs spill over the shellsurface of adjacent intact eggs. Surfacecontamination not only ruins the appearance ofeggs but also raises the issues of health andhygiene. Surface soiling is an important factorcontributing to the downgrading eggs. nn

— By Dr Terry Mabbett

Shell colour is determined by the presence or absence of a surface layer of pigment called Ooporphyrin


Ideal shape is defined by the relationship between the length and breadth of the egg. An index of 75 (calculated as the ratio of breadth/length x 100) is considered to be the best


Livestock

19

LOW-COST SENSORS AND wireless communication technologieshave enabled moves towards smart homes and smart cars. Usingsimilar technologies, scientists involved in an EU-funded project

called ALL-SMART-PIGS are now developing technologies that turn pigs’farms into smart farms.

“ALL-SMART-PIGS aims to come up with a package of technologiesto make pig farming more profitable while at the same time improvinganimal welfare,” project coordinator Heiner Lehr, who is a partner withthe Barcelona office of Syntesa, in Spain, an international innovationconsultancy, said. “We are using sensors to detect animals’ needs,”Lehr said, adding, “And by satisfying those needs more quickly, thepayback is healthier animals that grow faster, so it’s win-win for theanimals and the farmer.”

The technologies have now been installed on working farms in Spainand Hungary. In the latter case, sound monitoring for coughing has,once, already provided an early indication of respiratory illnesses.Likewise, tracking feed consumption and animal weight gain couldprovide an early warning of health problems. The equipment is designedto generate valuable insight into so-called feed efficiency conversion — akey metric for both farmers and feed companies to evaluate howefficiently animals convert feed to weight gain. Meanwhile, air qualitymonitoring is aimed at helping farmers to optimise animal welfare.

“The big challenge will be in handling a lot of raw data fromdifferent devices,” pointed Sjaak Wolfert, senior scientist in agrifoodinformation management and ICT at LEI, Agricultural EconomicsResearch Institute, in The Hague, the Netherlands. “Many manufacturersare not willing to cooperate with perceived competitors,” Wolfert said.

Wolfert said that the challenge lay over the governance in relation towho owns the data and whether farmers may be reluctant to send herdinformation to the cloud. “There needs to be open innovation throughoutthe business ecosystem — users, developers, everyone needs to begetting added value,” he explained.

Such projects require a high level of coordination. “The big challengehas been getting everything to work together and bringing the entire

supply chain from the feed suppliers to the slaughterhouses on board,”Lehr noted. The project now provides a model to achieve effectivecollaboration. However, it encountered the practical obstacle of poorbroadband quality; not uncommon in rural parts of Europe. “We had toinstall pretty advanced technology on one of the Spanish farms to allowus to upload the image and sound files,” he added.

Talking about investment, Lehr said that sophisticated PLFtechnologies are already being specified in a number of new, large-scalepig production units at the design stage in various locations aroundEurope. However, with smaller farms and retrofitting existing units, hisinstincts are that for the moment, at least, the economic case may haveto be supported by the ‘social argument’.

Consumer pressure for improved animal welfare is another driver. “InGermany, the UK, and the Netherlands, we are seeing major retailerssupporting precision livestock farming as part of a move to quantifyanimal welfare,” Lehr notes. Other experts believe that some investmentin smart technology can be justified on economic grounds alone.“Producers who are really concentrating on improving animal healththrough approaches like PLF have been getting phenomenal results interms of increasing feed conversion efficiency, litter size and so on, somuch so that some are embarking on modest expansion,” Mike Varely,director of The Pig Technology Company in Leeds, UK, said.

“It is now seen as a major driver for improving productivity in the industry.”He agrees that large-scale producers can expect the greatest payback

but insists that “even smaller production units will get a return frominvesting in some smart technologies – if they choose wisely.” As to theadoption of the all-embracing PLF management technologies of the typeenvisaged by project, Varley says: “It’s definitely where things areheaded, but we have still some way to go.”Meanwhile, farmers and engineers have turned a Spanish pig farm intoa big brother camp, where the animals are monitored in every aspect oftheir life. The aim is to optimise farming methods for the benefit of boththe pigs and the farmer.

Internet Surveillance is often associated with names like Facebook,Google or the NSA, but now also pig farmers have started to use newtools to monitor every aspect of a pig’s life. A whole range ofsophisticated technical devices have been installed in a farm in NorthernSpain for a pilot study of the EU project. nn — www.youris.com

Tech can help turn your pigfarms into smart farmsThe system enables farmers to understandbetter the well-being of their pigs and representsa new helpful tool to increase food security

When the system is installed in this ordinary pigsty and connectedto a computer, several cameras, sound monitors, air quality meters,

feed counters and weight sensors deliver a daily report on the statusof individual animals


A whole range of sophisticated technical devices have been installed in afarm in Northern Spain for a pilot study of the EU project

S06 FEAG 3 2014 - Livestock_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:49

Livestock

20

PIGS ARE MONOGASTRIC animals whichare fed with high-quality diets and inindustrial or semi-industrial pork productionsystems feed costs represent then more than60 per cent of the overall production cost.Growing and finishing pigs are housed inlarge size groups/barns and receive thesame feed during long feeding periods, evenif growth potential and therefore nutrientrequirements change overtime. According to a paper in Cambridge Journals,feeding strategies and feed compositionhave important effects on the animals’performance and manure composition. Non-retained dietary nutrients are excreted andthey represent important economic losseswhile, in some cases as with nitrogen andphosphorus, they may contribute to increasethe environmental impact of pork productionsystems. Many large pork-producingcountries are facing the dilemma ofbalancing the economic viability of the porkindustry with the sustainability of the overallagricultural environment.Theoretically, it is possible to feed pigs withdaily feeds formulated to satisfy each daypopulation requirements. These daily feedswill undoubtedly minimise feed ingredientcosts and nutrient excretions, but fortechnical reasons (transport, feed storage),this feeding method is not actually viable.

However, because the needs for the variousnutrients do not evolve in the same mannerduring growth, the preparation of these feedsbecomes a non-linear problem that requiresmore complex resolution algorithms.Mathematical programming was used in thisstudy to formulate optimal feeds andsuccessfully used to implement a daily-phase feeding system for pigs housed ingroups. For example, feeding growing-finishing pigs with the proposed dailymultiphase feeding system can reducewithout affecting growth, feed costs by oneper cent, nitrogen intake by 7.3 per cent andits excretion by 12 per cent in comparisonwith a traditional three-phase feedingsystems.

The simultaneous formulation of the two feedsrequired for blend feeding and theconcomitant adjustment of the dietaryconcentration of nutrients to match theevolving requirements of pig populations canbe an efficient approach to significantly reducefeeding cost and nitrogen and phosphorusexcretion in pig production systems. Thisapproach can also be used in gestating andlactating sows as well as in other farmedanimals (poultry, dairy cattle, beef, etc). Other formulation methods are also understudy and preliminary results indicates thatwhen the two feeds are formulatedsimultaneously at variable energy density andwithout the requirement of being complete,feed costs can be reduced by 5.8 per cent.Furthermore, feeding pigs individually ratherthan in group with diets tailored daily toindividual requirements is also under study.This precision feeding alternative may furthercontribute to reduce feed costs and improvethe efficiency by which nutrients are used bygrowing animals. Preliminary results indicate that individualtailored feeding can require 25 per cent lessnutrients (protein, lysine, etc) than actualfeeding systems while their excretion can bereduced by near 50 per cent. In this situation,feed costs are expected to be reduced bymore than 10 per cent.

ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS INCORPORATEDinto edible films applied to foods to seal inflavour, freshness and colour can improve themicrobiological safety of meats, according toresearchers in Penn State’s College ofAgricultural Sciences in the US.

Using films made of pullulan — an edible,mostly tasteless, transparent polymerproduced by the fungus Aureobasidiumpulluns — researchers evaluated theeffectiveness of coatings containing essentialoils derived from rosemary, oregano andnanoparticles against foodborne pathogensassociated with meat and poultry.

The results demonstrate that the bacterialpathogens were inhibited significantly by theuse of the antimicrobial films, said CatherineCutter, professor of food science. She addedthat the research will lead to the application ofedible, antimicrobial films to meat and poultry,either before packaging or, more likely, as partof the packaging process.

The edible films are an effective way todeliver antimicrobial agents to meats, Cutterexplained, because the bacteria-killing action

is long lasting. The pullulan films adhere to themeat, allowing the incorporated antimicrobialsto slowly dissolve, providing immediate andsustained kill of bacteria. In addition, themicroorganisms do not have the opportunityto regrow.

In the study, which was published online inthe Journal of Food Science, researchersdetermined survivability of bacterialpathogens after treatment with two per centoregano essential oil, two per cent rosemary

essential oil, zinc oxide nanoparticles or silvernanoparticles.

The compounds then were incorporatedinto edible films made from pullulan, and theresearchers determined the antimicrobialactivity of these films against bacterialpathogens inoculated onto petri dishes.

Finally, the researchers inoculated freshand ready-to-eat meat and poultry productswith bacterial pathogens, treated them withthe pullulan films containing the essential oilsand nanoparticles, vacuum packaged, andthen evaluated for bacterial growth followingrefrigerated storage for up to three weeks.

“The results from this study demonstratedthat edible films made from pullulan andincorporated with essential oils ornanoparticles have the potential to improvethe safety of refrigerated, fresh or further-processed meat and poultry products,”Cutter said. “It shows that we can applythese food-grade films and have them dodouble duty — releasing antimicrobials andimparting characteristics to protect andimprove food we eat.”

Edible film is made of a fungus polymer pullulan

Practice multiphase feeding in pigs for better health benefits and reduced costs

Edible packaging films can inhibit pathogens in meat


Daily multiphase feeding can also help reducing phosphorus intake and excretion


A NEW STUDY has suggested that offshore renewable energyprojects such as wind farms can help certain marine species to thrive,offering novel habitats to creatures that would otherwise bethreatened or displaced.

In this partly-EU funded study, researchers developed a new modelto predict how offshore installations, such as wind, wave and tidalenergy developments, would affect the spread of marine species, suchas those off the coasts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, could affectthe lives of marine fauna, in particular pelagic larvae such as barnacles,mussels and limpets.

They found out that in many cases, the infrastructure provided‘stepping stone’ habitats, which could help species to settle in areaswhich they would not otherwise colonise, and can help vulnerable onesrecover from the effects of pollution or climate change.

However, the research warns it might also have negative effects,as it can ease the spread of invasive species. It, therefore, addedthat these sites should be monitored to ensure the ecologicalbalance is preserved.

Offshore infrastructure is not the only way in which clean energy canbenefit wildlife. A recently launched initiative by the BRE National SolarCentre and various wildlife charities outlined guidelines for solardevelopers that would help turn large solar farms into biodiversityspots, to help tackle the decline of British wildlife.

Charles Clover, chairman of the Blue Marine Foundation, said, “Weare already in discussions with wind farm companies around theBritish coast about how they might help with the restoration of native

species. “One of these is the native oyster, which could do with somehelp. It might be possible to enhance oyster reproductionconsiderably by encouraging them to form reefs around the base ofoffshore wind turbines.

“There also seems to be a symbiotic relationship between oystersand bass, which is not understood but would be a worthy subject forexperiment. Obviously one would not want to encourage introducedspecies such as gigas, the Portuguese oyster in the process.”

— Source: Blue & Green Tomorrow

21

Livestock

The study focused on the effects on species which have mobilelarvae that drift in the open ocean before settling

INDONESIA’S BLUE SWIMMING crabstakeholders have approved an adaptiveharvest control rule to ensure a sustainablefishery in the country, an Indonesian BlueSwimming Crab Processing Association (APRI)official said.

The harvest control rule has regulated theminimum harvest size, fishing gear restrictionand habitat protection for nursery andspawning ground, APRI executive director AriePrabawa said.

The minimum harvest size that the tradeassociation, fishermen, the Ministry of MarineAffairs and Fishery, and the marine affairs

and fishery offices had agreed was 10cmwhile the escape vent size applied in fishinggear restriction using crab pot was 5.0cm x3.5cm, he said.

The approval was recently made by theblue swimming crab stakeholders in aworkshop and socialisation of blue swimmingcrab harvest control rule in Kendari, SoutheastSulawesi Province.

Prabawa said the harvest control rule waswidely needed by fishery management strategytoward to sustainability.

“The Marine Stewardship Council, aninternational eco-labelling certification, will

recognise the sustainable fishery throughsustainable fishery stock, fishery habitat andfishery governance,” he said.

In supporting an effective harvest controlrule, the management controls were needed bymaking such efforts as forming fisherymanagement body; conducting publicawareness campaigns, community education,and monitoring and surveillance; pushinggovernment support with budget and creatingalternative livelihood for the fisheries, he said.

About the demand of blue swimming crab —Portunus pelagicus — Prabawa said that it hasbeen increasing significantly in the last twodecades, according to Ankara News.

Quoting the 2013 statistical data, he said thefishery of blue swimming crabs value amountedto over US$360mn or the third position aftershrimp and tuna.

“This fishery is intensively sourced acrossIndonesia by thousands of fishers, andsupported by thousands more women at homeindustries as pickers. It has become the largestartisanal fishery involving most of fisherycommunities in Indonesia,” he said.

In ensuring the fishery sustainability, APRIhas launched a long-term sustainabilityprogramme called Fishery Improvement Project(FIP). The FIP will be conducted by the MarineStewardship Councils indicators and principles.

Offshore renewables projects ‘can save marine wildlife’

Indonesia approves blue swimming crab harvest control rule


Blue swimming crab production comes third after shrimp and tuna in Indonesia


Crops

22

SIGATOKA IS A classic crop debilitating disease causing rapiddestruction of leaf photosynthesis and accompanyingcatastrophic reductions in bunch weight and quality of bananas.

Genomics of the genus Musa (banana) is extremely complex but as ageneral rule desert bananas (AAA genome) are more susceptible thanplantain bananas (AAB genome) and vegetable bananas (ABBgenome). All are essentially susceptible to severe damage byMycosphaerella fijiensis (black Sigatoka).

Copper fungicide has travelled the complete circle in the control ofSigatoka diseases of banana. Yellow Sigatoka (leaf spot) is caused bylonger established Mycosphaerella musicola but the more recent foundblack Sigatoka (black leaf streak) disease caused by M. fijiensis is moreaggressive and damaging.

Yellow Sigatoka was first recorded in Java in 1902, then ten yearslater in Fiji with severe losses incurred in Australia in 1924. By late1930s the disease was widespread in Central America and theCaribbean Islands where chemical control using copper fungicide beganin the 1950s, first with water-based sprays using ground sprayers andlater by aerial application as oil-based sprays.

Black Sigatoka sets the agendaThe major milestone was discovery of the more aggressive blackSigatoka, which was identified in 1963 in Fiji and named so for the darkbrown or black streaks formed on the leaves. Subsequent researchshowed M. fijiensis was already widespread across the Pacific regionlong before its discovery in the island country. This aggressive diseasequickly spread throughout Asia during the 1960s, into Africa and Central

America by the early 1970s and into South America by the early 1980s.In tropical climates, leaf spotting appears eight to 10 days sooner (afterinfection) for black Sigatoka than for yellow Sigatoka. Where blackSigatoka appears or has been introduced, yellow Sigatoka disappearswithin about three years. Black Sigatoka has set the agenda for fungicideapplication throughout the banana growing world.

First symptom appears on the lower (abaxial) leaf surface as a paleyellow streak for yellow Sigatoka or a dark brown streak for blackSigatoka around one mm to two mm long. The latter lesion increases insize and subsequently develops into a dark brown to black advancedstreak up to five mm to 10mm long with an ill-defined border. Advancedstreaks coalesce into so-called young spots with a dark brown to blackcentre surrounded by a yellow halo.

Streaks usually appear within 14-21 days of infection initiallyalong the left hand margin of leaves 3 and 4 (looked at from thebase of the leaf to its tip), but also on leaf 2 (counting down fromthe youngest unfurled leaf) when conditions are particularlyfavourable for leaf infection.

Shape of these necrotic leaf spots varies from almost circular to ovalbut where mass infection happens the dying and dead leaf tissueassumes a greyish/white colouration which makes the outlines ofindividual streaks difficult to see.

Major infection site for both yellow and black Sigatoka is the heartleaf and first completely unfurled leaf but all leaves are essentiallysusceptible to the more aggressive black Sigatoka disease. The stage atwhich leaves are infected will determine the pattern of leaf spotting.This, in turn, is governed by the pattern of leaf unfurling and whether

Research has found that copper can effectively battle the leaf-spot disease in the flowering plants

This aggressive disease quickly spreadthroughout Asia during the 1960s, into Africaand Central America by the early 1970s and

into South America by the early 1980s


Fight banana leaf bugwith the right fungicide

S07 FEAG 3 2014 - Crop 1_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:48

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23

infection is by conidia (asexually produced spores) or ascospores(sexually produced spores). And the particular stage of heart leafunfurling at the time of infection as well as the rainfall patterns and thetiming of fungicide application.

Infection by M. musicola to cause yellow Sigatoka disease is by bothconidia and ascopores the symptoms of which are distinguished as leaf-tip spotting and line spotting respectively. Leaf spotting is more prevalenttowards the apex of the leaf. Conidia of M. musicola are only dispersedby water. Water droplets loaded with conidia falling into the unfurlingheart leaves cause various distinct patterns of line spotting. These in turnare affected by the exact stage of leaf unfurling and the particular part ofthe unfurling leaf surface exposed to the spore laden droplets.

The much fewer conidia produced by M. fijiensis are only dispersedby wind and, therefore, do not result in distinct infection patterns.However, heavy infection by ascospores of the unfurling heart leafproduces a distinct line of spotting along the left edge of the leaf.

Copper comes the complete circleCopper fungicide has a long history and pedigree for control of thesediseases with black Sigatoka now sufficiently serious to actually threatenthe continuation of commercial banana production in some countries.Copper fungicide was first used commercially at the end of the 19thcentury to control downy mildew of grapevine in France and leaf rust ofcoffee in Sri Lanka. First research and development trials with copperfungicide against yellow Sigatoka disease took place in the French WestIndies (Guadeloupe and Martinique) and the Commonwealth Island ofJamaica. This research laid the groundwork for today’s huge worldwideprogramme of fungicide spraying.

First trials used copper fungicides suspended in water and applied byshoulder-mounted low volume mistblowers. The two subsequent bigmilestones in delivery system (spray formulation) and application

technique were the use of copper fungicide suspended in oil-basedformulations instead of water-based formulations and the adoption ofaerial spraying over ground-based spraying. Several reasons were behindthe adoption of aerial spraying. Number one was the ability to cover amuch larger area in a shorter space of time, which was particularlyimportant given the sheer size of many commercial banana plantations.

However, there were other positive factors which soon becameapparent as research and development proceeded. Oil-basedformulations assist with droplet formation by the rotary atomisersmounted on the aircraft while oil as a carrier liquid reduces in flightevaporation of droplets to maintain their size and momentum for targeteddeposition on the banana leaves and minimal spray drift. Furthermore oilspreads easily over the waxy hydrophilic surface of the banana leaf toimprove spray coverage while sticking fungicide deposits to the leafsurface, thus improving tenacity and resistance to wash off by rainfall.

The petroleum oils used turned out to have a fungicidal capabilityall of their own and were eventually commercialised and used in theirown right (without any fungicide added), as banana spray oils tocontrol yellow Sigatoka. However, in areas like the West Indies wherelots of small farmers traditionally grow vegetables in small plotsamongst and near to banana plantations there were reports andcomplaints that oils were causing a wide range phytotoxic effects to acorrespondingly wide range of vegetable crops, including tomato,cucumber, lettuce, sweet pepper, onion and cabbages. These reportswere supported by observations made during laboratory andgreenhouse studies conducted at the St Augustine campus (Trinidad) ofThe University of the West Indies.


Leaf spotting is more prevalent towards the apex of the leaf


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24

Positive profile for copper fungicideCopper fungicides are broad spectrum protectant fungicides. Bordeauxmixture (copper sulphate and slaked lime) was the very first productto be used although the particulate fixed copper fungicides such ascuprous oxide, cupric hydroxide and copper oxychloride are now themainstay in control for copper based fungicides. ‘Particulate’ refers tothe formulation (e.g. wettable powder or wettable granule) of discreteparticles while ‘fixed’ denotes the sparingly soluble nature of thecopper fungicide because the active principle (the divalent copper ion– Cu2+) is firmly fixed in the molecule. This is a crucially importantproperty of the protectant copper fungicide which remains on thesurface of the leaf through heavy tropical rainfall to release Cu2+ions over a period of time.

Copper fungicide destroys the fungal spore as it germinates on theleaf surface and, therefore, prevents pathogen entry into the leaf andestablishment of infection. Effectiveness, therefore, depends on spraytiming and coverage because those leaves or parts of an unfurling leafthat are exposed to infection after spray application are essentiallyunprotected and vulnerable to infection until the next spray application.However, significant amounts of fungicide may be redistributed byrainfall over the leaf and onto leaves below in drips and splashesrunning off of the leaves.

Rise and fall of systemic fungicidesIncreasing interest developed in systemically acting fungicides asthey began to appear in the 1970’s, with the benzimidazole (MBC)group, including benomyl, thiabendazole and thiophanate-methyl,among the first on the market. These were soon followed byfungicides from other chemical groups including the morpholines,pyrimidines, triazoles and strobilurins.

Systemic fungicides with translaminar activity enter a leaf [andremain there] to provide protection from the inside for those parts of theleaf which did not receive spray because they were not exposed to spraydroplets (due to the stage of leaf unfurling) at the time of treatment. Truesystemic fungicides enter a leaf and move around the plant to protectother leaves in addition to the one through which they entered.

Systemic chemicals are ‘single-site’ action fungicides but this highlytargeted and potent fungicidal property has effectively sealed the demiseand fate of many. There is now widespread reported resistance in M.

fijiensis to the benzimidazole, triazole and strobilurin fungicides. For example, triazole fungicides which are ergosterol biosynthesis

inhibitors (steroid demethylation inhibitor’s or DMI’s) target a specificenzyme in the fungal metabolism and stop the synthesis of sterol a vitalcomponent of fungal cell membranes.

Fungicide resistance to single-site action fungicides is controlled by asingle gene (one gene-one enzyme hypothesis). Fungal insensitivity(resistance) to the fungicide will, therefore, develop much more easilyand quickly than will resistance to a broad spectrum fungicide (such ascopper) which hits a wide range of enzymes in the fungal metabolism.

It follows that any resistance to a broad spectrum will therefore becontrolled by a ‘bank’ of genes making it that more difficult to achieve,even for a genetically versatile fungal pathogen like M. fijiensis. Therehave been no reports of resistance to copper fungicides although theyhave been widely and intensively used for over 100 years on mosttropical and temperate crop plants.

Widespread fungicide resistance recorded in M. fijiensis has provokeda major re-assessment in chemical control with increased use of broadspectrum protectant copper fungicides high on the agenda. Cuprousoxide, which has the highest proportion of active copper in the moleculeand which is generally accepted as the most efficacious of theparticulate fixed copper fungicides (on a gram for gram basis), is the oneto watch. nn — By Dr Terry Mabbett


Shape of these necrotic leaf spots varies from almost circular to ovalbut where mass infection happens the dying and dead leaf tissue assumes a greyish/white colouration which makes the outlines of

individual streaks difficult to see

Copper fungicide destroys the fungal spore as it germinates on theleaf surface and, therefore, prevents pathogen entry into the leaf and

establishment of infection


Crops

25

WITH TEMPERATURES RANGINGfrom 35ºC to nearly 40ºC, thePhilippines is certain to experience El

Niño phenomenon this year, according to thePhilippine Atmospheric Geophysical andAstronomical Services Administration(PAGASA), the country’s weather bureau.

El Niño or prolonged dry spell is caused bythe warming of sea surface temperatures in thePacific which affects wind patterns and cantrigger both floods and drought in differentparts of the globe, curbing food supply.

PAGASA predicts that this weatheraberration may start in June and may likelypeak in the last quarter of 2014 until the firstquarter of 2015. El Niño is expected to bringbelow-average rainfall which may disrupt watersupply in some parts of the country. Already,the government has called the public toconserve water due to imminent threat of acontinued dry season which could take as longas nine months or until early next year. In fact,the water level in Angat Dam, where 90 percent of residents in Metro Manila get theirwater supply, including nearby provinces, is

already hitting critical level due to less rainfall.This situation has prompted the National WaterResources Board to issue a warning to‘seriously observe water conservation’ as thewater level in Angat as well as with otherdams may reach critical stage that couldseverely affect the farming sector andeventually the country’s food production.

But more than scarce water supply is theerratic behavior of tropical cyclones caused bythis phenomenon. According to the departmentof Science and Technology, the tropical cyclonetracks are expected to shift northward andintensity could become stronger because of therise of temperature of seas that could triggersevere rains. Strong typhoons Ketsana (localname Ondoy) and Xangsane (Milenyo) —which caused massive casualties in some partsof Luzon — struck the country as it wasexperiencing El Niño in 2009-2010 and2006-2007 respectively. The countryexperienced the worst El Niño in 1997 and1998 which the estimated damage toagriculture reached more than US$68.60mn.

PAGASA says the same number of

typhoons (12-20) will enter the country thisyear but feared to be stronger than the usual.

Mitigating measures Of late, the department of agriculture (DA)estimates El Niño damages have alreadyreached more than US$18.35mn with cornfarms as the most affected, with US$13.34mnin losses, involving 28,105 hectares withforegone harvest 45,729 tonnes of corn. Thedry spell has also taken its toll on rice farmsand vegetable farms at US$5.06mn andUS$421,552, respectively. Some 12,200 tonsof palay from 4,618 hectares of farms havebeen lost, as well as 1,190 tonnes ofvegetables from 242 hectares of land.

According to the DA, the most affectedregion was Cagayan Valley, which accountedfor losses worth US$9.76mn. The Cordillerasreported losses worth US$4.96mn,MIMAROPA (Occidental Mindoro, OrientalMindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan)US$3.86mn and Bicol US$250,973.

Agriculture officials said the government isproviding affected farmers with seeds and other

Philippines bracesfor El Niño

Agriculture experts have suggested ways to minimise crop lossand the government is prepping up rehabilitation methods

The country experienced the worst El Niño in 1997 and 1998, which the estimated damage to agriculture reached more than US$68.60mn



Crops

26

production inputs as well as promoting water-saving measures among rice farmers andpushing for the adoption of modern farmingand fishery technologies to mitigate the effectsof the anticipated long dry spell.

The prolonged dry season could increasecommodity prices, particularly food costs, thisyear. According to the national economic anddevelopment authority, higher food prices of majorcommodities such as rice, corn, meat, fruits,spices, milk and other food items may see someupward price adjustments because of projectedtightness of supply brought about by lowerproduction caused by dry spells in some regions.

To avert possible food crisis, the DA hasimplemented measures to mitigate the impact ofprolonged drought on crops. DA assistantregional director Crispulo Bautista said there arealready 91 units of water pumps set fordistribution to areas vulnerable to drought. Cloudseeding operations are already ongoing in thewatersheds of Angat and Pantabangan dams.Cloud seeding is the process of spreading eitherdry ice, or more commonly, silver iodideaerosols, into the upper part of clouds to try tostimulate precipitation process and form rain.Communications secretary Herminio Colomasays around 15 cloud seeding trips have beenaccomplished in some major crop producingareas and these operations have preventeddamage on some 4,155 hectares of corn farmsacross the province, of which 3,490 hectares arein reproductive stage and 655 hectares invegetative stage. He added that authorities havealso turned to shallow tube wells and drought-tolerant crop varieties to aid farming communitiesthat are most affected by the drought.

On the other hand, Senator Loren Legardahas urged the public and the government’surgent action of Republic Act 7616 which wasenacted in 1989 which mandates the creationof rainwater catchment basins such as theconstruction of water wells, rainwatercollectors, development of springs andrehabilitation of existing water wells particularly

in small communities. Although temperaturesare always hot, Senator Legarda saysoccasional rainshowers and thunderstorms canease possible water shortage by building lowcost local materials such as drums or anycontainers to store rainwater anytime.

The national irrigation administration hasalso received US$13.38mn to fund therehabilitation programme of irrigation systemsnationwide. The added budget is an additionalboost to help the agriculture sector ward off ElNiño’s wrath.

The DA estimates El Niño mitigationprogrammes to reach US$36.87mn, whichwill put in place policy interventions, includingbuffer stocking, provision of seeds, plantingmaterials and other production inputs. DAsecretary Proceso Alcala says they havealready introduced drought-tolerant ricevarieties and other dry weather crops such assorghum, cassava and sweet potato and alongwith it the use of water-saving technologies.

The national government also advisedprovincial governors, town and city mayors touse funds available to bankroll infrastructureprojects in order to alleviate any adverse effects

of the El Niño. Local government units couldacquire to as much as US$340mn to financetheir projects to help build irrigation systems,potable water and even power facilities.

Although all efforts are being done, thegovernment is hoping that the El Niñophenomenon will not bring massivedestruction as it did sixteen years ago just aswhen the local economy is on the rise and isbarely recovering from Haiyan — thestrongest and deadliest cyclone in history toever hit landfall. nn —By Gemma Delmo

The prolonged dry season could increase commodity prices, particularly food costs, this year


FILIPINO FARMERS HAVE to diversify their crops

to make the agricultural sector more resilient to

climate change, World Bank said

This suggestion was made recently by World

Bank after typhoon Haiyan struck the central

Philippines in November 2013 and brought

about losses in agriculture worth US$709mn.

World Bank Group vice-president Rachel

Kyte also asked farmers to use hybrid varieties

of crops that were made to survive floods and

other extreme weather conditions.

Crop diversification and use of technology,

she said, will ensure that farmers still harvest

some crop even after storms hit their area.

The World Bank had loaned the Philippines

nearly US$1bn for reconstruction and

rehabilitation projects for Yolanda-affected

communities.

Kyte also said that the Philippines should

make use of technology and beef up its

irrigation systems. “We have lots of innovation

on how to make irrigation systems more

resilient so that they don’t silt up and then

collapse and they are able to come back to full

use and withstand the storm so that they could

still be productive afterwards,” she added.

World Bank tells Philippines topractice crop diversification

The tropical cyclone tracks are expected to shift northward and intensity could become strongerbecause of the rise of temperature of seas that could trigger severe rains


27

Crops

A TEAM OF international researchers

has uncovered a mechanism by

which plants are able to better

defend themselves against disease

causing pathogens.

The scientists have identified the

key receptor binding a chemical

called BABA ( -aminobutyric acid),

which boosts plant immunity.

The work led by Jurriaan Ton and

Estrella Luna at the University of

Sheffield in the UK and including

scientists from The University of

Western Australia, the University

Jaume I in Spain and Utrecht

University in The Netherlands, has

been published in the international

journal Nature Chemical Biology.

BABA has long been known for

its protective effects against

devastating plant diseases, such as

potato blight, but has so far not

widely been used in crop protection

because of undesirable side effects.

“We have found that the plant

receptor binding BABA is an ‘aspartyl

tRNA synthetase’, which we have

called IBI1. This class of enzymes

play a vital role in primary

metabolism of all cells, but had never

been linked to immune responses in

plants. Binding of the chemical to this

protein triggers a secondary function

that primes the plant immune system

against future attacks by pests and

diseases,” Dr Luna said.

Dr Oliver Berkowitz, research

associate in the ARC Centre for

Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and

the School of Plant Biology at UWA,

was also involved in the research.

“Importantly, our study also

revealed that the undesirable side

effect of this vaccination, a reduction

in growth, can be uncoupled from

the beneficial immune reaction,”

Dr Berkowitz said.

“Since plant immunisation by

BABA is long-lasting, primed crops

would require fewer applications of

fungicides, thereby increasing

sustainability of crop protection.

Furthermore, immune priming

boosts so-called ‘multi-genic’

resistance in plants. Plant immunity

that is controlled by a single

resistance gene, on which most

conventional breeding programmes

are based, is comparably easy to

overcome by a pathogen. By

contrast, priming of multi-genic

immunity by BABA is difficult to

break, thus offering more durable

crop protection,” Dr Ton said.

Although their research has been

performed in a weed called

Arabidopsis thaliana, the work horse

of plant geneticists, the team is

confident that their discovery can be

used for the protection of crops from

their enemies. Proof-of-concept

experiments have already shown

that BABA is detected in a similar

manner by tomato. — Phys.org

BABA has been protecting potato against blight for a long time

Pho

togr

aph:

THE EL NIÑO weather phenomenon that is likely to strike Asia in 2014will bring damage to maize, rice and wheat yields but boost soybeans,according to a study that could help farmers plan what to grow.

The Japanese-led report gave what it called a first global set ofmaps linking yields of major crops to El Niño, a warming of thesurface of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can trigger downpours ordroughts around the globe, Reuters reported.

The maps are meant to help farmers decide which crops orvarieties to plant and may give governments a ‘famine early warningsystem,’ the study in the journal Nature Communications said.

Most forecasts show an El Niño emerging in mid-2014, the UN’sWorld Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in April.

El Niño — Spanish for ‘the boy’ — forms every two to seven years

and warning signs emerge months in advance.The study said that the mean maize yields fell 2.3 per cent in El

Niño years compared to normal in 1984-2004, rice was down 0.4 percent and wheat 1.4 per cent.

Soybean yields rose 3.5 per cent, with rainfall patterns favouringbig US and Brazilian harvests.

Lead author Toshichika Iizumi, of Japan’s National Institute forAgro-Environmental Sciences, said farmers in Australia were amongthose who sometimes switched crop plans based on El Niñoforecasts. And Indonesia, for instance, advised rice farmers to changeplanting dates, based on El Niño phases.

“I hope the finding of this study extends such efforts to nationalgovernments for controlling food storage, building food trade strategy, andearlier application of food aid in food insecure regions,” he told Reuters.

The report, however, found big variations for each crop. Soybeanyields gained overall, for instance, but fell in India and parts of Chinain an El Niño year.

And maize yields, for example, suffered in the US, China, East andWest Africa, Mexico and Indonesia during an El Niño year, but rose inBrazil and Argentina.

Robert Stefanski, chief, WMO Agricultural MeteorologyProgramme, said the regional impacts were most relevant since hesaid there was “high uncertainty” about global numbers.

“It is difficult to develop and use any reliable global impact onglobal crop production due to El Niño,” he said.

“More rain for Indian wheat can be beneficial if it falls during themiddle of its crop cycle but if it falls during harvesting, it can bedetrimental,” he said.

The UN panel of climate scientists said in a report last year thatdownpours linked to El Niño may intensify this century.

Green vaccination: Boosting immunity without side-effects

El Niño may be beneficial for some crop like soybeans, study finds


Soybean yields rose 3.5 per cent, with rainfall patterns favouring bigUS and Brazilian harvests


Crops

28

THE PHILIPPINES-BASED INTERNATIONAL Rice

Research Institute (IRRI) has stressed the need for

establishing a rice index and futures exchange in

Asia, in the Agricultural Transformation in East Asia

session at the 23rd World Economic Forum (WEF)

on East Asia recently held in Manila.

The IRRI director-general Robert Zeigler said a

well-regulated rice futures market is needed to

stabilise prices and increase farmers’ incomes in

Asia. He noted that a futures market would allow

farmers to sell their produce when prices are

favourable. But he added that good storage and

port facilities in the region can only support an

effective functioning of a futures market and this

calls for huge investments by all the countries.

The IRRI had proposed for Asia having a rice

futures market in 2010, but was not well-received

by most of the Asian countries as they feared

speculation and obscene profits, said the IRRI DG.

But speculation and market irregularities could be

averted with proper market mechanisms, he adds.

The Philippines National Economic and

Development Authority (NEDA) said that a rice futures

market would act as an insurance against risks and

ensure a certain level of stability in rice prices.

Arsenio Balisacan, NEDA secretary-general, who is

also the Philippines Socio-economic Planning secretary,

said a futures market in the region would benefit the

farming community as well as other stakeholders in

the Asian rice sector, whose size is estimated at

US$160bn. He added that a futures market will help

governments plan ahead and implement long-term

strategies for their respective rice sectors.

Meanwhile, about 10mn Indian rice farmers have

been given access to climate-smart rice varieties,

which includes flood-tolerant ones, IRRI said.

Trilochan Parida, farmer at Indian state of

Odisha, said, “Swarna-Sub1 changed my life.”

Floods ravaged Parida’s rice field every year. In

2008, however, after sowing climate-smart

varieties, the farmer saw his rice rise back to life,

after having been submerged for two weeks.

Swarna-Sub1 is a flood-tolerant rice variety

developed by IRRI. It was bred from a popular

Indian variety, Swarna, which has been upgraded

with SUB1, the gene for flood tolerance.

Climate-smart rice varieties are made to

especially thrive in environments affected by

flooding, drought, cold temperatures, and soils that

are too salty or contain too much iron that leads to

iron toxicity.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has

further said that it will fund the third phase of the

IRRI-led Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South

Asia (STRASA) project with US$32.77mn for five

more years. The STRASA project was initiated in

2007, with its first two phases funded with about

US$20mn each.

SCIENTISTS IN UK have used their loaves tocrack the genetic code of wheat, in abreakthrough that could cut the price of bread.The researchers said that the identification ofalmost 100,000 wheat genes will allow hardierand more productive strains to be bredthrough traditional and GM methods.Knowledge of the crop’s DNA also paves theway for more nutritious flour, as well as wheatthat is resistant to drought, disease and otherpests and problems, and increase availabilitythroughout the world.The project should reduce costs by allowingfarmers to breed crops that produce biggeryields, according to Online Mail.Wheat is the world’s most widely-grown crop,with almost 700mn tonnes produced annually,and is responsible for one in five calorieseaten globally.Drought and floods in countries across theworld in recent years have all contributed tothe rising price of a white sliced loaf. Douglas Kell, at Biotechnology and BiologicalSciences Research Council, which funded thestudy, said: “In the face of this year’s wheatcrop losses, and worries over the impact onprices for consumers, this breakthrough in ourunderstanding of the bread wheat genomecould not have come at a better time. As westruggle to confront the challenges ofpopulation increase, land degradation and

climate change that are contributing towidespread food insecurity, it will be vital tounderstand the underlying genetics of staplecrops like wheat.”

‘Vietnam must make agri more eco-efficient’Eco-efficiency plays a key role in boostingfood security and making agriculture moreresilient to climate change impacts in Vietnam.This was affirmed in a new strategy forboosting agricultural food security and eco-

efficiency in Vietnam and Southeast Asia,launched in Hanoi recently by the InternationalCentre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).Speaking at the launch ceremony, CIATdirector general Ruben Echeverria, said thatagriculture was important in addressing thechallenges of today’s world, includingpopulation growth, rapid urbanisation, soildegradation and climate change.The new strategy will be carried out during the2014-2020 period, focusing on enhancing theeffectiveness of research on technologydevelopment and improved varieties ofcassava and cassava cultivation, improvingforage for livestock and achieving sustainablesoil management towards eco-efficiency.Cassava is the third most important food cropin the tropics after rice and maize, and CIAT-related varieties bred by local partnerinstitutes are now grown on more than 50 percent of the cassava area across the SoutheastAsian region.When managed properly, cassava is a highlyresource-efficient, climate-smart crop, withvast income generation potential for farmers.In Vietnam, exports from cassava and itsproducts generated over US$1.1bn in 2013.Echeverria said the launch of CIAT’s newglobal strategy was a reflection of renewedresearch commitments and collaboration withVietnam’s research organisations.

Drought and floods in countries across theworld in recent years have all contributed to

the rising price of a white sliced loaf

IRRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia

Scientists decode wheat genome for better yields and increased availability


90 per cent of world’s rice is grown and consumed in Asia


Crops

29

TRADITIONAL FARMING SYSTEMS in China, South Korea and Iranknown for their unique characteristics and approaches tosustainability have been designated Globally Important Agricultural

Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by FAO. They include Iran’s Qanat Irrigationsystem, an ancient network of farms that have survived for nearly threemillennia; a 22,000km system of black stone walls built from volcanic rockin Jeju, South Korea; and the traditional Gudeuljang Irrigated rice terraces inCheongsando, South Korea. Also on the list are a trio of sites in China —the unique Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem; Jasmine and Tea Culture Systemof Fuzhou City and the Jiaxian Traditional Chinese Date Gardens.

These new designations bring the number of GIAHS systems to atotal of 31 sites located in 14 countries in Africa, Latin America andAsia. The sites are considered models of innovation, sustainability andadaptability, delivering important benefits to the ecosystem.

The GIAHS Partnership Initiative was launched by FAO in 2002during the World Summit on Sustainable Development inJohannesburg, South Africa.

FAO’s deputy director general-coordinator of natural resources MariaHelena Semedo called for designation of more such sites around theworld and concrete action to improve conservation of, and sharing ofknowledge from, their time-honoured methods.

“GIAHS have been forged over centuries, capitalising on theaccumulated experiences of rural communities and indigenous peoplesacross the world,” Semedo said

Conservation for a more sustainable futureFAO began pilot GIAHS programmes in six countries — Algeria, Chile,China, Peru, the Philippines and Tunisia in 2005. The SteeringCommittee considered new sites for potential inclusion in GIAHS andheld extensive discussions on how to further develop GIAHS’ efforts.They also discussed strengthening and expanding the GIAHS sites andwork programme, in order to ensure the safeguarding and dynamicconservation of unique agricultural systems around the world.

GIAHS’ work with governments and communities is supportedthrough FAO programmes and grants from the Global EnvironmentalFacility (GEF), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD),government of Germany, and other partners.

China: Jasmine and Tea Culture System of Fuzhou CityFuzhou is famous for its jasmine due to its favourable climate and itsinvention of the tea-scenting method. Since jasmine and tea trees grow indifferent environments, the people of Fuzhou have shaped verticallandscapes in which they are able to grow both tea and jasmine on separatelevels and in different microclimates in a vertical landscaping system.

Jiaxian Traditional Chinese Date GardensThe Jujube is a unique date species native to China. Located in theJinshaan Canyon at the middle reach of the Yellow River, the Jia Countis recognized as the place with the longest history of jujube cultivation,

lasting more than one thousand years and including the whole processof domestication of the wild sour jujube to the cultivated plant. JiaCounty is prone to frequent drought, making the jujube trees “life-savingplants” for local families. The fruit trees also play a key environmentalrole, preventing sandstorms and conserving water and soil on thesparsely vegetated plateau.

Xinghua Duotian AgrosystemPeople call Xinghua the “city with a thousand islets,” due to its stunningnetwork of raised, cultivated fields surrounded by water. The Xinghuaarea was located in low-lying land for centuries and suffered frequentfloods from its many lakes. The people of Xinghua built the fields withwooden supports and stacks of mud, turning the ample water supplyinto an irrigation system.

South Korea: CheongsandoIn the 16th century, residents of the Cheongsando group of islandsbegan using local stone to create a system of terraced rice fields that areirrigated by a unique, underground system. Faced with rocky, sandy soiland a scarcity of water, residents built the culverts as aqueducts thatcould both provide and drain away water. The Gudeuljang Irrigated RiceTerraces are found throughout Cheongsando, a group of 14 islandscovering about 43 square kilometres. Farmers from different paddies joinefforts in a cooperative-style system to maintain the infrastructure and tomake decisions about communal water use.

South Korea – JejuThe volcanic island of Jeju is located in the southernmost part of the KoreanPeninsula with sandy, rocky soil from which water tends to drain away.People used the stones in the soil to build a more than 22,000km longseries of fences as windbreaks and to stem the loss of water and soil,preserving local biodiversity in the process.

Protected by the Jeju Batdam walls, agriculture on Jeju Island hassurvived natural disasters for more than one-thousand years, though itnow faces newer challenges like widespread urbanisation. nn

— Source: FAO

Ancient farming techniquecan protect our futureFAO urges further protection of Globally ImportantAgricultural Heritage Systems for sustainability,food security, livelihoods and culture

Fuzhou is famous for its jasmine due to its favourable climate and its invention of the tea-scenting method



Equipment

30

ANALYSTS FORECAST THE globalprecision farming equipment market willgrow at a compound annual growth rate

of 13.07 per cent over the period 2013-2018.One of the key factors contributing to thismarket growth is the improved profitability thatcan be obtained by the adoption of precisionfarming technology. The global precisionfarming equipment market has also beenwitnessing the launch of improved and easier-to-use user interfaces, making the technologyeasier to operate. However, the expensivenature of this product could pose a challengeto the growth of this market.

The key vendors dominating this space areDeere and Co., Precision Planting Inc., RavenIndustries Inc., and Trimble Navigation Ltd.The other vendors mentioned in the report areAgJunction Inc., AGLeader Technology Inc.,IntegriNautics Corp., Schmidt and Sons Inc.,and Spraying Systems Co.

Vendors in the global precision farmingequipment market are increasingly focused onmaking the tools used in the precision farmingprocess easy to use for agriculturists andfarmers. They are focused on providing a betterand easier user-interface and innovative featuresthat will help farmers make critical decisions toimprove crop yield, turn data into decisionenablers, and for environmental protection.

The user-interfaces are also expected toallow agriculturalists to integrate time andactivity management. Despite the fact thatmanufacturers develop and promote productsthat are designed for specific purposes, eachproduct uses a different user-interface. Theyalso provide manuals to users to assist themwhen using this equipment. Manufacturers arealso expected to introduce a better, improved,and easier user-interface in the coming yearsthat will not require the use of a manual.

According to the report, one of the mainfactors driving the market is the improvedprofitability provided to farmers when usingthis scientific method of farming. Precisionfarming uses GNSS, which provides betterinformation to farmers and agriculturists,leading to improved profitability.

Further, the report states that one of themain challenges restricting the growth ofmarket is the expensive nature of precisionfarming methodology. The initial investmentassociated with precision farming is extremelyhigh as it uses advanced technology forfarming and satellite systems such as GNSS fordata collection and analysis.

Mapping eases Oz’s peanut farmingMeanwhile, Australia’s peanut growers aretrialling powerful, smart mapping technology togain accurate yield predictions and deliver amajor advantage at harvest time.

The project also enables farmers to predictcrop disease outbreaks. The programme wasdeveloped by Andrew Robson, University ofNew England research fellow, in partnershipwith the Peanut Company of Australia, whichhas about 200 growers, The Australian said.

Queensland’s peanut capital, Kingaroy, waschosen as the frontline of the precisionagriculture program, which aims torevolutionise farming.

Farmers can access interactive maps thatincorporate satellite imagery and real-timedata, including soil, irrigation, pest andnutrient conditions, to analyse the health andmaturity of their crops; develop and shiftfarming strategies; and submit detailedreports to industry stakeholders fromanywhere on the farm.

“The maps we generate not only providea regional forecast, which is important forPCA, but at the grower levels we convertimagery into yield maps showing thegrowers high/low growth areas,’’ saidRobson, who is part of UNE’s PrecisionAgriculture Research Group.

“They then have the ability to go in duringthe season and do their own sort ofinvestigation of what is driving that, whether itis soil issues, pest or disease, and thenrespond with appropriate action.’’

The tool uses geographic informationsystem technology developed by Esri Australia.

The maps display yield variability layersderived from satellite imagery using specificalgorithms, along with additional spatialinformation.

The technology is being adapted for otherindustries, including sugarcane, avocadoand cotton.

Robson said the Australian peanut industryprovided a good test case for the tool topotentially be exported to overseas marketsincluding the US. “Growers will seek theseyield maps because they have no other way ofknowing that spatial variability or productionwithin their paddocks,’’ he said.

Queensland produces more than 95 per centof Australia’s peanut crop, with the maingrowing areas in the Burnett region, Bundaberg,central Queensland and Atherton Tableland. nn

Analysts predict over 13 percent growth and willingnessof more farmers to adopt tonew methods

Precision farming equipmentmarket is on the rise

One of the main factors driving the market is theimproved profitability provided to farmers when

using this scientific method of farming


S09 FEAG 3 2014 - Equipment_Layout 1 05/06/2014 05:44

TO FURTHER MEET the needs of the main producing areas ofmechanical harvesting of rice and wheat in China, John Deere hasintroduced a new L70 combine harvester machine to harvest rice,wheat, equipped with appropriate features can also harvestsoybeans,canola and other crops. L70 John Deere combine harvester John Deere PowerTech 4045 isequipped with a turbocharged diesel engine, rated at 74kW (101 hp),the engine under different operating condition, to meet the powerneeds of the entire harvester. The engine has excellent reliability and durability, effectively reducingthe cost of engine maintenance services.Feeding capacity combine harvester John Deere L70 reach 4 kg/sec,can be equipped with 2.75 metres and 3.2 metres rigid cuttingplatform, 3.2 metres flexible cutting platform that can adapt to differentconditions and crops. Cutting table and bridge connection for fastarticulated manner, greatly facilitate the users to operate.Tangential flow threshing drum plus horizontal flow separationtechnology, the new drum unit with a unique bi-directionalreciprocating cleaning system to make more thorough threshing andseparating, makes operations more efficient.L70 can be equipped with suitable wheat, soybeans, canola and othercrops easily threshed grain threshing cylinder rod, but also can beequipped with special spiked in rice threshing drum that rubbing a largearea, comb brush strong strike capability. The harvester separates concave field crops according to the needs,

quickly and easily adjusts the gap to get the best performance gains.Inlet and outlet gap threshing drum concave clearance can achieveadjustment, improve harvest adaptability. Rotogravure separation gapadjustment screw to adjust the way, can be adjusted within the rangespecified in any position.The L70 has a maximum travel speed of 24 km/h and a shortertransition time. The harvester equipped with a 235-litre capacity fueltank, can work continuously for more than 10 hours, reducing the fuelsupply frequency, so that a continuous harvest is more durable.

John Deere’s new harvester improves harvest efficiency in China

31

Equipment

L70 John Deere

UNDERSTANDING HOW CLIMATE change will affect rangelands is crucial as

millions of people around the world depend on them for food and income.

Now an innovative tool, going by the name G-Range, can help simulate future

changes that, in turn, supports climate adaptation, International Livestock

Research institute said.

Scientists from Colorado State University have just put the final touches

on an interesting tool called: G-Range. It’s a tool that can simulate

generalised changes in rangelands through time, with simulations that may

span a few to thousands of years. More and more people are turning to

computer simulation tools when they want to find out what the future climate

will look like. For rangelands, which are natural landscapes in the form of

grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts, such tools are

either for a specific part of the world or very complex, alternatively too simple.

Seeing as rangelands support the livelihoods of millions of people around the

world and make up about 45 per cent of the world’s surface, there is a definite

need to find ways to simulate how climate change will affect these parts of

the world as well, the CGIAR body said.

“The tool is easy to use, and represents all global rangelands in a single

simulation. It can simulate the growth of herbs, shrubs, and trees, and the

change in the proportions of these plant types. The tool is distributed with

spatial data and settings that let the model simulate global rangelands. Users

will likely want to make changes for their areas of interest, but the files that

come with the tool will serve as a good starting point,” researchers Randall

Boone and Rich Conant said. With G-range you can track changes in carbon

and nitrogen in the soil and plant parts. The death of plant parts and

establishment, as well as deaths of whole plants can also be tracked, and you

can in addition simulate fire in the model.

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food

Security (CCAFS) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

provided support to this tool.

New tool to predict how climatechange will affect rangelands


MASSEY FERGUSON HASreleased the MF400 Seriestractors, reinforcing its standin the Australian mid-powerutility tractor sector.

Two models make up therange at 60kW and 75kW.

“There is a demand in theAustralian market for aversatile and easy-to-maintain utility tractor,”Massey Ferguson tractor product manager Tim Andrew said.

“Many small-sized farms, as well as councils and municipalities,are looking for a tractor to take on additional tasks that would beideally suited to the MF400 Series, due to its practical features andcompetitive price tag.

“These tractors now provide even higher levels of productivity,greater operator comfort and improved durability and are able tocope with the most diverse tasks and harshest environments.”

The MF400 Series tractors have high-torque, fuel efficientPerkins engines and heavy duty transmissions.

They come with the option of Rollover Protection Structures(ROPS) or a fully enclosed cabin. Their mechanical transmissionshave 12 forward and four reverse gears.

The MF400 Series is suitable for front end loader work, withheavy duty rear and front axles and drive units that help get thepower to the ground.

The lift capacity is 3,200 which is suitable for slashing andgrading roads.

Massey Ferguson launches mid-powerutility tractors in Australia


Equipment

32

A NEW STUDY said that the Indian tractor market, the largest in theworld, is expected to see more foreign brands coming in soon becauseof high growth potential and low loyalty factor among consumers.

JD Power Asia Pacific’s maiden pilot study on Indian tractor marketpredicts that tractor sales in the country will grow at a compoundedannual growth rate (CAGR) of eight per cent to nine per cent in the nextfive years due to low penetration levels and positive consumersentiment, according to Economic Times.

As much as 60 per cent of farmers the JD Power survey covered planto buy a new tractor within 12 months, and 74 per cent expect increasedincomes from agriculture in the next three years.

One key finding of the pilot study is that over 80 per cent farmers saidthey will consider buying a different brand of tractor than what theycurrently owned, making India a high-potential market for internationalbrands such as Kubota, Case New Holland, AGCO, Same Deutz Fahrand John Deere.

The survey was conducted among 3,300 farmers from 100 locationsin 10 states.

Mohit Arora, executive director at JD Power Asia Pacific, said, “Thetractor industry today is where automotive industry was 10 years ago.

The market is now getting liberalised and newer players are coming in.The bad news is that the product performance and sensitivity to tractorcustomers in India is a decade behind.”

Arora added that the idea of the survey was to help bridge the gapbetween the way manufacturers envisage a product and whatcustomer expects.

HOTRACO AGRI HAS introduced a new, revolutionary touch screenpoultry computer that sets setting a new standard in design,versatility, computing power and user-friendliness. Named Forticatouch screen computer, Hotraco Agri is now focusing on improving anumber of facets. The fixed controls and proven algorithms of thecurrent generation of poultry computers have been developed to ahigher level and have been added to the software to produce anextremely high degree of reliability. The new software is full of smart

functions and correctivechecks, as a result of whichmany of the currentoperational problems will be athing of the past, even inabnormal circumstances. The fully intuitive touch screenoperation is revolutionary andcan be customised by the userits design and is similar to asmartphone or tablet interface.A 3D overview of the housingcan be compiled with the aidof clear symbols. All texts can

be configured and the computer can be set up in any language,including Chinese. The result is an extremely user-friendly and clearpoultry computer which, thanks to a PC application, can also beaccessed via the Internet any time and place, thus making it possiblefor the user to access and retrieve all the information on the housing. This completely renewed and innovative touch screen poultrycomputer by Hotraco Agri gives the user complete control over allhousing processes such as climate, feed and water, egg flow andanimal weighing. The new PC management programe enables usersto optimise the living conditions of the animals as well as achieveconsiderable cost savings by reducing energy consumption, feedand labour.

Fortica touch screen

Tractor sales in India rose 20 per centto an all-time high of 6,33,656 units infiscal year 2013-14

Indian tractor market to grow at nine per cent in the next five years

Hotraco Agri launches next-gen poultrycomputers


Vostermans Ventilation’s new fansoffer optimal performanceVOSTERMANS VENTILATION HAS launched the complete line ofMultifan Fiberglass Cone Fans, Multifan V-FloFan and the MultifanIntelligent Fan Drive.

With the V-FloFan, Vostermans Ventilation offers the growerspossibilities to obtain high energy savings, while improving theuniformity of the animals and creating dry litter. The air is moved fromthe top of the building by an efficient fan with an aerodynamic shieldtowards the lower part of the building. The vertical flow fan is equippedwith a specially designed hood.

The Fiberglass Cone Fans (pictured) are available in direct drive(18-, 24- and 36-inch) and belt drive (50- and 54-inch).

Through theaerodynamic designof this fan line,V o s t e r m a n sV e n t i l a t i o noffers a conefan line with anoptimal airperformance,fan efficiencyand air flow ratio.

With durabilityand reliability as anasset, the new line ofMultifan Fiberglass ConeFans guarantees highquantities of fresh air at low cost.

The Multifan Intelligent Fan Drive saves extra energy by controllingthe speed of three-phase fans. The patented technology, based onfrequency control, controls the fans with real-time motor data.

At the test farm, significant results were achieved: more than 80 percent energy savings compared to traditional triac controllers.Especially at minimum ventilation the Intelligent Fan Drive performsoutstanding.


A NEW MOBILE app, designed to help farmers and

growers value the nutrients found in manures to

save waste and money, has been launched. The

FarmCrapApp was developed by the SWARM

Knowledge Hub, an online information service, in

collaboration with UK’s Rothamsted Research’s

North Wyke Farm Platform.

The app allows the farming community to

appreciate the nutritive and economic value of

livestock manures. The app provides farmers with

an opportunity to visually assess manure and

slurry application rates and to calculate what is

being provided in terms of available nutrients, as

well as giving an estimate of potential savings in

purchased artificial fertilisers.

Dr Stephen Roderick, manager of the

SWARM Hub project, said, “This is a great new

development from the SWARM team, providing

farmers with a very practical and easy-to-use

tool that could have real benefits, and also

continuing our core work of converting research

and development into practical advice and

information for the farming community.”

The FarmCrapApp has been created using

nutrient values found in Defra’s RB209 Fertiliser

Manual along with the Industry produced

publication Think Manures. The app contains three

features: calculator, an image library and record

sheets. The calculator determines the amount of

crop available nutrients that are found within

manures spread at different rates, helping with

decisions on how much to spread in order to meet

the crop requirements and also what this looks like.

THE ES-2.0 ELECTRONIC Stunner utilises anew method that eliminates the incidence ofinternal bruises, broken bones or incompletebleeding in birds, inconveniences that oftenoccur as a result of inadequate systems ofelectrical discharge. In addition to deliveringan attractive appearance to birds, whichimpresses even the most demanding clients,the ES-2.0 Stunner also speeds upslaughtering tasks. Slaughter plants thatprocess upwards of 40,000 birds daily anddeal with various clients and suppliers willsoon achieve higher levels of productivity byusing the ES-2.0.

The ES-2.0 method is the result of detailedresearch demonstrating that only anadequate combination of high frequency andlow voltage can yield the desired wave form.Working through the new ICAS system, thestunner becomes even more flexible,individually adjusting the current for each bird.Such combination offers improved stunningand does not cause further damage to thebirds other than a disorder of their nervoussystem. The new system featured in the ES—2.0 offers the biggest number of set-upoptions in the market. This allows yourcompany the flexibility to make major or minoradjustments in the system, thus making itpossible to create a specific system toperfectly fit your slaughtering conditions.

When operated accordingly, the ES-2.0system makes deboning easier. Bruise-freemeat is tender, lighter, and does not stick tothe bones, which makes meat removal faster.Users of G.A. stunners have reportedretention of 5 to 10 grams per bird of the meatpreviously lost as a result of bruises andbroken bones, especially in the breast area.

Foodmate’s new electronic stunner makesdeboning poultry birds easier

33

Equipment

The ES-2.0 caters to chickens, turkeys andquails in a single controller box

FarmCrapApp is available on Apple andAndroid devices

New manure app tominimise loss, boost profit


SCOTTISH STUDENT NEIL Stewart hasdesigned a smartphone app with theUnited Nations to help farmers inCambodia by warning on floods andinformation on crop.

‘Attis’ will provides weather forecastsas well as information about crops suchas soil-types, diseases and growingadvice, with a messaging serviceletting farmers connect directly toagricultural experts.

“Basically, it provides farmers withinformation that can help improve theirknowledge and problem-solving abilitieswithin farming. It provides specific,accurate and up to date information that istailored specifically to their needs,” saidStewart, who came to Cambodia inOctober 2013 and more recently in Marchthis year to meet the people who wouldbenefit from using the app.

Ny Sopheak, officer at the departmentof agriculture in Oddar Meanchey whowas given an introduction to the app in

order to test it out, said that it couldresult in Cambodia’s farmers catching upwith the rapid development of the rest ofthe country.

“Farmers must develop as the rest ofthe country and technology progress. Theycan benefit from the internet; they can findout the prices of everything around theworld. Eventually, they’ll be able to startearning more money,” she said.

“We can see now that there’sopportunity, given the wide mobilecoverage and the increasing use of mobilephones, that it won’t be long before there’sa smartphone revolution among thepopulation in general – and farmers aren’texempt from that,” FAO project managerIean Russell said.

The app, which can be used onsmartphones and tablets, is due to betrialled in remote areas of Cambodia. If itproves successful, development workershope the technology can be rolled out inother places.

Android app designed to help farmers in Cambodia


Classifieds

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Moreover

35

INSECTS AS FOOD and feed emerged as anespecially relevant issue in the twenty-firstcentury due to the rising cost of animal

protein, food and feed insecurity,environmental pressures, population growthand increasing demand for protein among themiddle classes.

Insects can provide a sustainable andenvironmentally-friendly option for animal feed,in addition to already being a mainstay ofhuman diets for two billion people worldwide,FAO assistant director-general Eduardo Rojas-Briales told an international gathering ofresearchers in The Netherlands.

Rojas spoke during the opening session ofthe conference, ‘Insects to Feed the World’,jointly organised by Wageningen University andthe UN agency. More than 400 participants from45 countries have gathered for the event thatwas held in May to examine the current statusand future potential of insects as food and feed.

“The time is ripe to think about alternativesources of food in view of a growing worldpopulation, climate change threats andpersisting hunger in many parts of the world,”said Rojas, who oversees FAO’s work in forestryand related food systems and livelihoods.

Wild foods contribute to the food security ofmillions of people living in and around forestsand most of the insects consumed by one-thirdof the world’s people are collected from the wild.

According to the UN body, edible insectshave always been a part of human diets, butin some societies there is a degree of distaste

for their consumption. Although the majority ofedible insects are gathered from forest habitats,innovation in mass-rearing systems has begunin many countries. Insects offer a significantopportunity to merge traditional knowledge andmodern science in both developed anddeveloping countries.

“Certainly insects alone will not solve theworld’s food security challenges but it would beabsurd not to mobilise their full potential in thefight against hunger and malnutrition,” he added

“Raising insects for feed is anenvironmentally-friendly and efficient way ofproducing animal feed,” said Rojas.

“Insects can be fed on bio-waste, compostand animal slurry, and can transform theseinto high-quality protein for animal feed.”

According to the FAO assistant director-general, recognising the global potential ofinsects for food in the conference was not toadvocate a change in the food patterns of theother two-thirds of the global population thatis not used to eating insects, but to ensurethat those who consume insects can continueto do so in the future in a sustainable way,and to highlight the different potentialcontributions insects can make to foodsecurity in the future.

He added that the challenge of feeding aprojected nine billion people in a sustainableway by the year 2050 will never be achievedbased on one single measure, but is onlypossible by a convergence of perseverantmeasures that complement each other.

Insects as animal feedRecent high demand and consequent highprices for fishmeal/soy, together with increasingaquacultural production, is pushing newresearch into the development of insect proteinfor aquaculture and poultry. Insect-based feedproducts could have a similar market tofishmeal and soy, which are presently themajor components used in feed formulae foraquaculture and livestock. Available evidencesuggests that insect-based feeds arecomparable with fishmeal and soy-based feedformulae. Live and dead insects already haveestablished niche markets, mainly as feedgiven to pets and at zoos.

Tiny championsFAO mentioned bees as a prime example of thevariety of ways in which insects contribute tofood security. Bees provide honey but they arealso the predominant and most economicallyimportant group of pollinators in mostgeographical regions of the globe, supportingpollination of 71 of the 100 crop species thatprovide 90 per cent of the world’s food. Also,bees are among the most commonly consumedinsects in some parts of the world.

In addition to raising awareness of thepotential of insects in sustainable diets and foodproduction, conference participants plan todiscuss a variety of related issues, including data-gathering, nutritional analysis, and regulatory andresearch considerations, among others.

Rojas said the international scientificcommunity could make important contributionsby generating the right momentum to overcomethe still-existing bottlenecks and to unlock thefull potential of insects for food and feed. nn

Insects popular choice asfeed for animals and humansA recent FAO meet documented the benefits of insect rearingand consumption that could lead to food security in future

According to FAO, bees are amongthe most commonly consumed insects in some parts of the world



Far Eastern Agriculture Issue 3 2014

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