When there
is National crisis, the first victim is truth – never hear rumours, never
spread them – in fact never post anything without checking its veracity and
usefulness. I have become a great fan of
Dr C Vijayabaskar, Health Minister of Tamilnadu. Just follow him on twitter – such factual
updates – he is visiting Hospitals, is found with health-workers and is
virtually everywhere – very positive man, energetic and extremely effective. Appreciate your efforts Sir !
For those at home and
those who are unable to move – first concern other than the spread of virus is
food. For us, the staple food is
rice. It is imperative that people do
not hoard or stockpile food material thereby making lives of others
miserable. See it as a short-term
crisis, this shall pass over in a few days is the hope. Here is some news on rice.
Vietnam’s
rice traders have halted overseas shipments after the customs department
ordered a temporary suspension of exports on Tuesday to ensure food security
during the coronavirus pandemic. The country is the world’s third-largest
exporter, behind India and Thailand.
Back in
Tamilnadu the Govt headed by Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami is taking
lot of measures. The Govt is providing financial
assistance of Rs.1,000 to all ration card holders. The Govt is also providing free rice, cooking
oil, sugar and other essential commodities.
The communique said that these essential items will be issued on a token
basis to avoid the long queue. Those who
could not get the ration items in March can get them in April, the CM added.
Severe restrictive measures are in place across the State - all the district
borders have been sealed. Only vehicles carrying essential commodities are
being allowed.
In Hongkong, two people
were arrested for allegedly stealing
rice from a supermarket amid fears of a food shortage in Hong Kong due to the
coronavirus pandemic and the
government’s social-distancing measures for restaurants. The men, from Nepal
and Bangladesh, were stopped by officers outside Aeon supermarket on Tak Hong
Street, Hung Hom. Six packs of rice,
weighing 12kg in total, were found on them. Officers believed they had been
stolen from the supermarket. The cases came to light as many Hongkongers
thronged supermarkets to stock up on rice, amid worries that Vietnamese
authorities might ban rice exports to ensure domestic food security.
In Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered the suspension of new rice export
contracts through at least March 28. The country is the world’s third-largest
exporter, behind India and Thailand. The department of state reserves will also
stockpile 80,000 tons of paddy rice this year. In 2019, the department put in
storage 200,000 tons of rice and 80,000 tons of paddy rice for the entire year,
he added. Vietnam said on Friday it
planned to stockpile rice and suspend new rice export contracts by the end of
the month to ensure it could feed its own population through the public health
crisis. Thailand’s declaration of a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday to
fight the pandemic also added to fears over rice supply.
The move comes amid
worldwide food security concerns as the virus threat spreads, with some
governments contemplating restricting the flow of staple food out of their
countries. In Russia, the vegetable oils union has called for a restriction on
sunflower seed exports, and Kazakhstan has suspended exports of goods such as
buckwheat, sugar, and sunflower oil until the middle of next month. Reuters reported
that Vietnam’s export ban would have a significant short-term effect on global
rice supply. “If Vietnam maintains the export ban, we will suddenly have about
10-15 per cent less available supply in the world market in the near term,” one
European rice trader was quoted as saying. “Africa especially could face
disruption from this.”
Concerns have been
compounded by India, the top global rice exporter, entering a three-week
lockdown that brought several logistics
channels to a halt, disrupting food supply chains. Some critics stated that
export ban would damage Vietnam’s
credibility as a reliable supplier of rice in International market, an effect
that could outlast the outbreak, undermining Vietnam’s ability to secure
international sales well into the year, if not longer.
In all these, what is
required is not to resort to panic buying and having stockpile of more than
what is necessary. Data from the US
Department of Agriculture shows that combined global production of rice and
wheat is expected be 1.26 billion tonnes this year, which would surpass the
total combined consumption of those crops. But these projections assume normal
crop flows, and prices for rice are already rising due to expectations of a
further squeeze on exports.
Let it be a simple logistics
issue and nothing farther as we sit at home and fight the dreaded virus. Here is a citizen Garima Gupta sharing food
items to the needy – appreciate noble souls like her.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
28.3.2020.
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