Producers, extension workers and nineteen rice researchers from Brunei Darussalam are in the Philippines for their training and capacity enhancement activities recommended by the PhilRice (Philippines Research Institute). This is to introduce the country’s rice production to Brunei.
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, his majesty, said the rice price crisis in early 2008 and the looming threat of food insecurity worldwide prompted him to strengthen his kingdom’s domestic agricultural production, especially rice, and to make food security a long term policy priority of his government,
Brunei hopes that the Philippines will increased the production of rice in 2010 by 20% and in 2015 it will increase to 60% to reduce its reliance on rice importation. It imported 29, 5252 tons of rice in 2007, which was almost 100% of its domestic requirement and buffer stock.
Arthur C. Yap , the Agriculture Secretary , was in Brunei on March 3-4 to firm up the Philippine government’s technical assistance. Recommended areas of assistance are varietal improvement, demonstration and promotion of rice production technologies, capacity building, dispatch of rice technical experts and skilled workers, and promotion of rice machinery.
The first batch of PhilRice’s skilled workers and technical experts, one of these technical experts is an engineer of the National Irrigation Administration, are now in Brunei. They will stay there until April 18 to establish a 10-hectare of rice technology cum seed production demonstration farm and set up screen house trials of 220 breeding lines.
The multidisciplinary team is also a part of the training. It is to train Brunei’s Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources-Department of Agriculture personnel on land preparation, crop establishment, water management, and use of rice machinery. PhilRice will also showcase a rice farm with at least 4.0 t/ha yield. More rice technical experts, skilled workers, and farmers are to be dispatched to Brunei.

PhilRice was established in 1985 as the national lead agency for the planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of all rice research and development activities in the Philippines. It has received about 50 awards and recognitions.

“Young people are increasingly interested in getting their serve of fruit in a processed form and quickly turning away from whole fruits” – Julian Mellentin.
The New Zealand – based New Nutrition Business editor said super fruits were cashing in on changing consumer preferences, particularly among young people who seek convenience and so choose an acai juice over eating an apple an apple a pear.

Convenience was one aspect in increase of superfruits. Along with sensory appeal, originality, control of supply, health benefits and price. Mellentin noted that superfruit juices presented fruits in their most convenient structure, a reality that allowed heavy price premiums to be charged due to the appeal to increasingly time-starved consumers.

These same consumers were drawn to a juice product over a particular whole fruit such as pomegranate that can be time-consuming, messy and difficult to eat in its whole form.

Superfruit juices offered cost savings for growers and producers as end-product appearance concerns were dispensed with. Superfruit extract-based food supplements such as bilberry, cranberry, acerola and pomegranate were also performing strongly, and bilberry had become the world’s most expensive fruit.

Japanese food and beverage makers were increasingly focusing research and development on superfruits with health benefits ranging from the eyes, to skin to metabolic syndrome and general immunity.

The other five factors

Mellentin observed a defining factor in the success of superfruits is the fact they sell at low volumes but command high premiums. This situation is being driven by:

• Sensory appeal. It s a formulators that can improve on unpleasant taste that may exist in the whole fruit.
• Novelty. It highlights the point that superfruit success lays not so much in the fruit, but the format in which it is presented.
• Control of supply. Without this differentiation of product offering may be lost so securing ownership of Plant Variety Rights becomes important.
• Health benefit. A positive relationship between the quantity of science and a superfruit’s status with cranberry, blueberry and pomegranate leading the way.
• Marketing. The success of a pomegranate which employed grassroots marketing such as sampling and a cassis campaign that created a cartoon character.

The Dupont which is the world’s second largest chemical company in terms of market capitalization and fourth in revenue is now a partner of International Rice Research Institute or IRRI. IRRI is a non-profit agricultural research and training organization with offices in more than ten nations. Its main goal is to find sustainable ways to improve the well being of present and future generations of poor rice farmers and consumers while at the same time protecting the natural environment. There main headquarters are built in the Philippines. The partnership of the Dupont and IRRI are announced March 3 2009 to boost the rice yields.

“This innovative and novel partnership will enable the leading public research institution in rice breeding and genetics to collaborate with the global leader in advanced plant genetics, breeding and product development to increase global rice productivity,” said Bill Niebur, vice president of DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development.

Mr. Niebur states that the partnership with IRRI is to strengthen and accelerated hybrid rice breeding efforts. They will enhance the commercialization of the yielding hybrids in Asia to help meet the global demand.

The goal of this collaboration is to increase the rate of yield gains and boost the quality and diversity of hybrid rice. Collaborating scientist will further develop hybrids with better resistance to brown planthopper a key insect pest. The aspects of this work will be shared publicity and will contribute to making better advanced breeding lines and hybrids available to rice breeders and farmers in Asia.
The project will complement the IRRI-led Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium.

“Yield growth rates have slowed to less than 1 percent per year since 2000.
“If this trend isn’t reversed soon, future rice supplies will tighten and prices will rise,” said Achim Dobermann, IRRI deputy director general for research.
“A turnaround can only come through accelerated investment in rice research, including innovative, public-private sector partnerships such as this one between IRRI and DuPont.

The new program establishes a scholarship program to support continued interest in agriculture research. The Dupot business Pioneer Hi-Bred will fund a doctorate scholarship to educate a new generation of highly qualified rice scientist for the public and private sectors in Asia.

In the north central North Dakota of United States where the Minot city is located has develop a processing plant to explore the feasibility and create a market as well as to research the impact Superfeeds would have on the beef, dairy and swine industries.

Superfeeds , known as co – products, are produced from the wheat milling, ethanol production, crushing oilseeds, malting barley and processing sugar beets. It includes wheat midds, beet pulp, sunflower, soybean, corn and canola meal, distiller grains and pea products among others.
The idea of Superfeeds is to find the right combination of two or more co-products to improve the protein and energy content as well as the safety and shelf-life of conventional feed.
It is high in fiber and protein and low in starch, but their nutritional content can be inconsistent. They can use as a protein supplement for gazing animals or formulated to be a complete feed for young animals. The common for this is the pellet or cake which is the concept of mixes different of Superfeeds and types of livestock feeds.

There are numerous research reports that suggest several positive benefits using co-products or superfeed. The following are the benefits of a Superfeed for the producers.
 It increases the animal performance.
 It improves shipping and handling, convenience, ease to use, shelf life and safety of feed that is in a pellet form.
 It palatability and digestibility can be increased with specific formulations.
 And it increased economic returns.
Due to the increase of corn, barley, peas and oilseed production in the state, co-products are becoming more readily available and more research is being con ducted to find ways to utilize these products by overcoming these obstacles.

An animal scientist at North Dakota State University Vern Anderson lead the research study, it find out that the majority of agricultural processing of facilities spread across the state produce one or more of the co-products that are available for livestock feed.

This study has been carried out with the Carrington Research Extension Center, Animal Sciences Department on the NDSU Campus and Carrington-area business/Rural Economic Area Partnership Zone community agencies as well as individual communities and business throughout the state.

The funding is being provided by grants from the Agriculture Product Utilization Commission, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development under a REAP set-aside program, N.D. Department of Agriculture, various commodity organizations and the Carrington Research Center and Animal Science Dept at NDSU.