PADDY YIELD-INDIAN CLAIM BEING CHALLENGED!

China and India are two of the major rice producing countries and naturally both can be expected to intensify their research efforts to increase paddy productivity to meet the increasing needs of their ever growing populations. The Green Revolution in India during the last millennium achieved quantum jump in productivity which helped to tide over food scarcity for a few years. However further increase in productivity could not be achieved to any significant extent though the agriculture research institutions brought out many new varieties with traits like lesser water requirement, better nutritive value, improved cooking characteristics etc. Against such a background came the news from a Bihar farmer in India that he was able to harvest more than 22 tons from one hectare of land during the year 2011. This claim is now being challenged by China which does not concede that such a yield is possible at all. Here is the expose on this issue as is being debated by the international community. 

China's leading rice scientist has questioned India's claims of a world record harvest, following a report in last week's Observer of astonishing yields achieved by farmers growing the crop in the state of Bihar.
Professor Yuan Longping, known as the "father of rice", said he doubted whether the Indian government had properly verified young Indian farmer Sumant Kumar's claim that he had produced 22.4 tonnes of rice from one hectare of land in Bihar in 2011. Yuan, director-general of China's national rice research centre  and holder of the previous record of 19.4 tonnes a hectare, asked: "How could the Indian government have confirmed the number after the harvesting was already done?" The dispute centres on a controversial method of growing rice that is spreading quickly in Asia. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) uses fewer seeds and less water, but seeks to stimulate the roots of young plants, mainly with organic manures. It can work with all kinds of seeds, including GM, and has the effect of getting plants to grow larger, healthier root systems. Many scientists initially doubted whether yields of this magnitude were possible, but peer-reviewed papers have shown consistent improvements over conventional rice farming methods. Yuan told the Chinese press after seeing the Observer Food Monthlyarticle: "I introduced the intensification method to China myself. It could increase yields by 10-15% in low-yield fields, but it's not possible for fields that are already producing relatively high yields." However, Norman Uphoff, professor of agriculture at Cornell University in the US, defended Kumar and the Indian authorities. "The yield measurements for Kumar and other farmers in the Nalanda district of Bihar, which matched or exceeded the previous record, were at first rejected by Indian scientists, who did not believe such results were possible. "The measurements were made by staking out 10 by 5 metre plots in the centre of one-acre fields, not sampled crop-cuts from small areas. The 50 square metre plots were harvested with hundreds of people watching the cutting, threshing and weighing because everyone anticipated unprecedented yields," he said. "These results were achieved with hybrid varieties which derive from Yuan's own innovation of hybridising rice, considered for decades by most rice scientists to be impossible." The measurements were later acknowledged as valid by both the Indian Council for Agricultural Research and the Ministry of Agriculture.

One can understand the frustration of the Chinese scientist who was instrumental in developing the much acclaimed SIR cultivation technique which is based on stimulating the root of the young paddy plants to grow larger root system enabling them to bear more flowering and fruiting resulting in higher yield per plant. Since the yield figures have been verified more than once through scientific measuring methodology in presence of international experts there is no reason to doubt the claims of the Bihar farmer. While India need not bother about any certificate from Chinese scientist, efforts must be made to spread the technique in all paddy growing regions to achieve huge production jump in the country. The country is not in competition with any other country for getting into the record books but trying hard to provide adequate food to its population. While yield increase is laudable, lesser water requirement for this technology is an added bonus to go by if such efforts succeed on a wider scale.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD QUALITY ASSESSMENT EXPERTISE-A GLOBAL TRAINING CENTER LAUNCHED

Food safety failures leading to hundreds of cases of food related poisoning episodes all over the world are time and again focusing on the inadequacy of the existing vigilance system. While scientists are continuously improving the methodologies involved in detecting and quantifying food contaminants on a continuous basis, the efforts do not seem to be catching up with the emergence of new dangers from newer vectors. E.coli is a classical example and it is amazing how fast it has metamorphosed into more and more virulent stereotypes causing death and misery to thousands of unwary consumers across the world. One of the critical inputs in managing food safety surveillance is the infrastructure and experience needed to monitor these contaminants in time with sufficient reliability. As the Analytical chemistry and electronic instrumentation interfaced with IT are making tremendous advances, the safety enforcement personnel cannot afford to be left behind and will have to be well versed with them. The global food safety lab being promoted for skill upgrade of surveillance personnel through PPP efforts in the US deserves applause. Here are some details about this latest endeavor in the field of analytical pathology .

"The IFSTL ( www.ifstl.org ) is the world's only permanent food safety lab that provides hands-on lab training on detection methods and classroom lessons on regulatory standards, educating governments and food exporters so they can ensure food is safe before it reaches the table. This will enable food safety standards to rise globally. Food producers across the globe face an increasing challenge to ensure safe food supplies. As global food trade grows to nearly $1 trillion this year, triple what it was just 20 years ago, food safety regulations and technologies are evolving and consumer demand for safe, high-quality food continues to grow. Governments and food manufacturers around the world have sought the training the IFSTL provides, believing it is essential if we are to meet today's food safety challenge. Said Waters® Executive Vice President Art Caputo: "Waters is committed to improving the availability, quality and consistency of food safety testing capacity. We learned from our customers that there is a real need for help and support in understanding the diverse food safety technologies and standards that exist around the globe. Serving as a bridge between governments and industry, Waters approached the FDA and the university with the solution: a powerful public-private partnership that leverages the best expertise and resources to help build trust, collaboration and ensure the safety of our food." As a U.S.-based global company that delivers analytical solutions for governments and name brand companies in 150 countries, Waters understands the challenges that governments around the world face to ensure safe food supplies. The FDA has publicly identified the need for government and private industry to work together. The IFSTL will provide critical support to helping the FDA and foreign food producers meet requirements, such as the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act signed into law earlier this year. Said Michael Landa, Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA: "FDA looks forward to this opportunity to build global laboratory capacity. The International Food Safety Training laboratory will help to address food safety challenges world-wide through training and technical assistance." U.S. government scientists from FDA and USDA, along with university experts, will lead intensive trainings focused on detecting both chemical and microbiological contaminants, preparing and testing samples according fit-for-purpose methods that allow scientists to validate and use results to make the right decisions about whether food is safe and meets regulations. Trainees can sign up for courses that address specific issue of concern to the U.S. and global communities. The IFSTL will have the ability to teach 200 professionals per year and will be operated by JIFSAN".

Though one of the partners is a "for profit" organization, its strong expertise and experience cannot be belittled and with the fervor and commitment shown so far the project for global training can be expected to make an impact especially in third world countries where the need is felt to be highest. Though FDA regulations and product specifications mostly apply to domestic US situation, the methodologies and analytical equipment cannot be much different. Of course when products are pre-prepared for analysis, interference from the ingredients can be troublesome and assessing many ethnic food samples with complex composition may need some modification of the methodology for which adequate scope for R & D must be available, if the Global label for this unique Lab is to be justified.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR "INFECTION" ASSESSMENT

There is good news for the food industry which is locked in a fight against pathogens during the manufacture of processed foods to assure the consumer that their finished products are safe for consumption. Large scale food processing involves safety assessment of raw materials used and the finished goods coming out of the processing line. In between, on-line process monitoring is also important to avoid shop floor contamination that will call for higher process parameters than the one designed. It is a tribute to the pharmaceutical industry that
rapid techniques are being evolved for fighting infectious diseases and food industry is one of the beneficiaries as it can gainfully use these methods for safety assessment in foods without waiting for long time.

"Technology developments and changes have initiated sweeping changes in the market for automated and rapid microbiological tests. With probe tests threatening the survival of immunoassay based rapid tests and with advances in automated microbiological testing systems promising potential opportunities, the landscape is fraught with a unique mixture of opportunities and related threats. The new methods offer greater speed, accuracy, specificity and sensitivity than can be achieved with conventional culturing or immunoassay methods. Molecular diagnostics is the new enabling technology of numerous next generation rapid microbiology test kits".

While such rapid strides are being made elsewhere in the world, most of the food industry players in India do not have even the basic lab facility for culturing a microorganism let alone go through reliable safety assessment protocol. There are many industrial units enjoying the ISO and HACCP certication, not having such facilities. It is a tragedy that industry does not consider investment on microbiological assay facilities and experienced microbiologists as a priority, probably because of lack of product liability and accountability regime in the country and a lax system of monitoring and enforcement that allows culprits to go scotfree.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com