10 Jan 2013
SEAP Quarterly Newsletter 2013-01
| In this Issue | IPNI SEAP develops new approaches to communicating research and development results |
| IPNI Program Updates | |
| IPNI SEAP develops new approaches to communicating research and development results Startup workshop on Sustainable Intensification of Oil Palm in West Africa held in Ghana Two new management handbooks from SEAP in 2013 SEAP Publication on Specialty Coffee: Managing Quality- Review SEAP Director Featured in Australia's Premier Coffee Magazine SEAP Staff Updates 4R Plant Nutrition Manual slide set now available to order News From the Region World's second-largest oil palm plantation firm to spend US$550m for expansion, launches forest conservation pilot Philippine government sees food sufficiency this year Other News Developing world takes the lead over GM crops Warning issued for looming data gap from fleet of weather satellites Upcoming Events | During the last few months, the IPNI Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) developed a new approach to communicating research and development results with internal and external stakeholders. The key elements of this communication strategy include different types of publications targeted for different audiences. Some of the publications identified that will cater to the needs of different stakeholder groups include SEAP's quarterly newsletter, policy briefs, pocket guides, and the new SEAP Newsflash. The Newsflash aims to raise the profile and awareness of IPNI SEAP by providing a concise, executive summary of IPNI SEAP research. It is a non-technical description of a particular project with a brief account of major findings, the impact, and future research needs. Some recent activities that were communicated through the Newsflash included Yield Intensification in Oil Palm Plantations, An Approach to Map Suitable Areas for Sustainable Oil Palm Development, and Successfully Implementing Large Scale Experiments. Click on the image below to read the latest SEAP Newsflash. |
| Startup Workshop on Sustainable Intensification of Oil Palm in West Africa Held in Ghana | |
The project, which is jointly implemented by IPNI SEAP and IPNI Africa, aims to investigate the potential to increase yields and profitability of oil palm in West Africa. IPNI and its partners have identified and established 35 BMP plots in selected estates and smallholders in Ghana's oil palm belt to demonstrate the implementation and management of the best practices required to improve the status quo. Through this engagement with the SWAPP, IPNI aims to transfer best management practices from its BMP project sites to other plantations and smallholder systems in the region. | |
| Two New Management Handbooks from SEAP in 2013 | |
| IPNI SEAP has recently signed contracts with authors to write two new nutrition management handbooks in 2013 - one on oil palm and another on coffee. Both handbooks will be using the 4R concept as an overarching framework. The 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework represents an innovative and science-based approach to fertilizer best management practices. The concept is to apply the right source of nutrient, at the right rate, at the right time, and in the right place. The guidelines for the 4R principles are endorsed and supported by IPNI and the fertilizer industry. | |
| SEAP Publication on Specialty Coffee: Managing Quality - Review | |
“The authors have drawn on their long personal experience in quality coffee and their extensive network to create a resource book that covers the basic concepts of a quality market, how to manage crops for better tastes (genetics, agronomic practices, processing practices), how to structure value chains to improve relationships and incentives for quality management, and how to begin to address some of the upcoming challenges to quality coffee such as climate change.” - Don Seville, Co-Director of The Sustainable Food Lab “The book has a solid scientific focus but will appeal to a broad readership. It is a compilation of 15 Chapters, each written by an eminent lead author and edited by an equally eminent team.” - Anthony Marsh, Coffee Consultant “A few critical notes notwithstanding, this book is highly recommended to all stakeholders in the coffee industry as an authoritative and comprehensive source of information on several aspects of the product life cycle of coffee, the specialty arabica coffees from Meso America for the USA market in particular.” - Herbert A. M. van der Vossen, Plant breeding and Seed Consultant, Board Member of the Association for Science and Information in Coffee This publication is neither a blueprint nor a recipe for specialty coffee production. The intention is to provide readers with information and ideas that stimulate and support creative thinking, allowing them to develop and adjust the myriad processes and details of the specialty coffee supply chains that produce a multitude of coffees with distinctive traits from a diverse range of origins. Also included in the book is a chapter on plant nutrition, where the 4R framework was used to summarize the key concepts and considerations for the adequate nutrition of the coffee crop. Click here to order the book. | |
| SEAP Director Featured in Australia's Premier Coffee Magazine | |
In the feature story, Dr. Oberthür described the pivotal moment that started his interest in quality coffee research, and the journey that he took over the past decade, both scientifically and commercially, culminating with the launch of the new SEAP book at the 24th ASIC International Conference on Coffee Science in Costa Rica last year. According to Dr. Oberthür, "This book was generally written for everyone who is really interested in specialty coffee, but especially for roasters, importers and exporters looking at meaningful relationships with farming communities. It's also for academia who are keen to assess and change, if necessary, how the production and trade of quality coffee is being conducted." The book Specialty Coffee: Managing Quality is available from the IPNI Southeast Asia Program. | |
| 4R Plant Nutrition Manual Slide Set Now Available to Order | |
| Norcross, Georgia – The International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) is releasing its newest educational resource in support of 4R Nutrient Stewardship …our 4R Plant Nutrition Slide Set on PowerPoint. The slide set is fully integrated for use with our 4R Plant Nutrition Manual and is comprised of nine individual presentations (over 250 slides in total) that correspond to each chapter within the manual and include detailed speaker’s notes. The set is currently available in CD format for USD 50.00. To order, please contact the IPNI Circulation Department at e-mail: circulation@ipni.net; phone: (770) 825-8082 or 825-8084. On-line store orders will be accepted soon. Also, keep checking our 4R web portal at http://www.ipni.net/4R for more details on this and other 4R resources. Additional contacts: Dr. Terry Roberts, IPNI President; phone: 1.770.447.0335; e-mail: info@ipni.net Or contact Gavin Sulewski, IPNI Editor; phone: 1.770.825.8080; e-mail: gsulewski@ipni.net | |
| SEAP Staff Updates | |
Mira can be reached by phone at 63.2.580.5600 extension 2808. Her IPNI email address remains unchanged. | |
| News from the Region | |
| World’s second-largest oil palm plantation firm to spend US$550m for expansion, launches forest conservation pilot | |
| Golden Agri-Resources Ltd. (GAR), part of the Sinar Mas Group conglomerate and the world’s second-largest oil palm plantation firm, is earmarking US$550 million for capital expenditure this year as it plans to acquire more concession areas and increase the capacity of its refineries. GAR plans to acquire between 35,000 and 40,000 hectares of new concession areas, mostly located in Kalimantan. By year-end, it hopes to have up to 503,400 hectares of plantation areas, including plasma, 8.6% higher than in 2012. In its downstream division, the firm is expanding the capacity of its North Sumatra refineries and expects to produce 2.6 million tons of refined products in 2013, up 30% from the previous year. Meanwhile, PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, a GAR subsidiary, is planning to build a new oleo-chemical plant this year in an effort to diversify its business. According to Sinar Mas Group managing director G. Sulistiyanto, the $245 million plant will be located in Dumai, Riau province. Sinar Mas Agro, along with GAR, has also launched a forest conservation pilot project, which focuses on preserving high carbon stock (HCS) forests. Sinar Mas Agro president director Daud Dharsono said that the project was expected to help Indonesia, as the world’s largest palm oil producer, cope with the growing demands for HCS forest conservation. Source: The Jakarta Post, March 14, 2013, http://www.thejakartapost.com | |
| Philippine government sees food sufficiency this year | |
| The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) is anticipating a new record rice harvest this year of about 20 million tons from the record 18.3 million tons output in 2012. The country is 97 to 98 percent self-sufficient in palay. However, since food sufficiency involves other farm products, DA Secretary Proceso Alcala said expansion was also expected from a range of subsectors from corn to coconut. Among the reforms already underway, the National Food Authority is increasingly stocking up in terms of palay or rough rice, which can be stored for longer periods, rather than white or milled rice. It is also importing less, estimated at only 187,000 tons this year (for buffer stock only) from the record 2.4 million tons in 2010. The Sikat Saka program paved the way for a P400-million loan facility of the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines for rice propagation. The program, which enables individual farmers to borrow funds using an ATM card, was launched in four provinces and will be expanded to cover all of the top 20 rice-producing areas all over the Philippines. Beyond reforms, the DA is also encouraging foreign and domestic investors, as well as OFWs, to invest in farm production, postharvest facilities and processing, Alcala said. Anticipating the impact of Asean economic integration by 2015 on local rice production and trade, the DA is also spending P26 million (US$ 700,000) on a baseline study on the Philippines’ rice sector in comparison with those of other rice-producing countries. In 2012, Philippine agriculture comprised only 11.89% of economic expansion (measured in terms of gross domestic product) although it is the biggest employer in the country. Including agribusiness, the sector’s contribution is estimated at 30-35%. Source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 24, 2013, http://business.inquirer.net | |
| Other News | |
| Developing world takes the lead over GM crops | |
| For the first time since the introduction of biotech/ genetically modified (GM) crops almost twenty years ago, developing countries have grown more hectares of them than industrialized countries. Developing nations planted 52% of the global GM crops in 2012, up from 50% a year earlier, according to a report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). Last year also marked an unprecedented 100-fold rise in the area planted, with GM crops now accounting for 170 million hectares up from 1.7 million in 1996, when GM crops were first commercialized. "This makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent history," said Clive James, veteran author of the annual report and founder and chairman of ISAAA. "This growth is contrary to the prediction of critics, who, prior to the commercialisation of the technology in 1996, prematurely declared biotech crops were only for industrial countries and would never be accepted and adopted by developing countries," he added. A record 17.3 million farmers grew GM crops globally in 2012, up 600,000 from a year earlier. Over 90% of these farmers – more than 15 million – were small-scale, resource-poor farmers in developing countries. China, India, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa grew 78.2 million hectares, or 46%, of global GM crops in 2012. For the fourth consecutive year, Brazil was the engine of growth globally in 2012. Brazil ranks second only to the US in worldwide GM crop planting, growing at a year-to-year record 6.3 million hectares, or a substantial 21%, to reach 36.6 million hectares in 2012 compared to 30.3m in 2011. The US continued to be the lead country with 69.5 million hectares, with an average 90% adoption across all crops. Source: The Herald, 22 February 2013, http://www.heraldscotland.com | |
| Warning issued for looming data gap from fleet of weather satellites | |
| U.S. policy makers are becoming alarmed about an expected gap in critical weather forecasting data, with no easy solutions in sight. A new report estimates that the looming gap in critical weather forecasting data collected by the nation's satellites could extend for 17 to 53 months, and begin as soon as late 2014 under a worst-case scenario. The gap is the product of a messy, nearly 20-year-old effort to improve the nation's fleet of polar-orbiting satellites, which provide the majority of the data used to develop weather forecasts extending out 3 to 10 days. Data to go missing include cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, fire detection, ozone layer mapping, radiant energy, and solar irradiance. Source: Science, 22 February 2013, http://www.sciencemag.org | |
| Books received and latest additions to the SEAP Reference Database | |
| Here is a listing of books received by IPNI SEAP during the 1st Quarter of 2013: | |
| We have also updated our SEAP Reference Database with 85 additional references dealing mainly with the following topics: oil palm, biofuels, yield gaps and yield gap analysis, risk assessment and uncertainty in agricultural production, and nutrient and fertilizer management. For a complete listing of these references, please click on the attachment below. References for some major agricultural crops in the SEAP library can also be found here. | |
| Upcoming Events | |
| 5th Annual SCAA Symposium 10-11 April 2013 Boston, Massachusetts, USA 25th Annual SCAA Exposition 11-14 April 2013 Boston, Massachusetts, USA 4th International Conference and Exhibition of Palm Oil (ICEPO) 2013 7 - 9 May 2013 Jakarta Convention Centre Jakarta, Indonesia The Future of Smallholder Farming in Agribusiness 13-15 May 2013 Krabi, Thailand 10th ISP National Seminar 2013 (NATSEM 2013) 24-26 June 2013 Kingwood Hotel, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia Theme: Confronting Management Challenges in the Oil Palm Industry Palembang Industrial Expo 2013 27-29 June 2013 Arya Duta Hotel Palembang, Indonesia Indonesia International Palm Oil, Machinery and Technology Exhibition & Conference 2013 02 – 04 July 2013 Labersa Convention Centre Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatera, Indonesia PALMEX Thailand 2013 29-30 August 2013 Maritime Park and Spa Resort, Krabi, Thailand 5th PALMEX Indonesia 2013 2 - 4 October 2013 Santika Premiere Dyandra Hotel & Convention Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC 2013) 19-21 November 2013 Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | |
| Subscribe to the SEAP Newsletter | |
| The SEAP Quarterly Newsletter aims to provide information on recent activities of our program and selected news on regional developments.
If you would like be on our mailing list, please send us an email. To access previous issues of our newsletter, please click here. Quick Links to other IPNI websites IPNI Crop Portals Oil Palm Agronomy IPNI Crop Portals Oil Palm Training SEAP Information Services The Southeast Asia Program office of IPNI has an intensive collection of papers, books, articles, newsletters, and slides categorized into a searchable information database. A list of the latest additions to our reference database is attached. We can also provide search lists of the resources available in our physical library. Click here for more information on our Information Services. | |
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| Disclaimer: News from the Region is a selection of regional agriculture-related articles extracted from internet sources. IPNI does not verify, endorse, or take responsibility for the accuracy, currency, completeness or quality of the content in these sites. Due to the nature of this service, IPNI cannot always verify every single news item. Be sure to check with the official websites of the companies, universities, research centers, and government agencies before using any information in the SEAP newsletters or webpages, as IPNI cannot vouch for news items submitted by the public. Links to external websites are included for the sole purpose of providing easy access to the source. The inclusion of external hyperlinks does not constitute IPNI’s endorsement of the views expressed by these websites. IPNI shall not be responsible for any damages caused directly or indirectly by the use of any information or content from within linked websites. | |
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