The Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) plans to establish more coconut seed farms in strategic coconut-growing areas for its latest hybrid, the Orgullo Tall SV San Ramon Coconut Variety, otherwise known as the synthetic coconut variety. Ramon L. Rivera, head of the PCA-Zamboanga Research Center said this superior coconut breed developed by scientists at the Research Center, a high-yielding coconut variety, is recognized as the first in the world.

       Mr. Rivera presented the business prospects for technology transfer during an investor?s forum at the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City last month as part of the 5th National Biotechnology Week celebrations. Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office (DA-BPO) outgoing director, Alicia Ilaga, said through the technology transfer, DA-PCA and her office aims to encourage investors to help put up coconut seed farms all over the country to meet the expected increase in the demand for coconut both here and abroad. ?With the increasing demand for coconut because of the biofuels law, the prospects for putting up coconut seed farms are bright,? she said.

       Figures from the Coconut Development Authority in Sri Lanka show the country?s desiccated coconut export plunged by 47.0% in September this year to 2,794 MT from 5,272 MT at the same time a year earlier. The shipment was worth USD3.125 million as against USD9.593 million year-ago. Average traded price during the month at USD1,118/MT FOB dropped by 38.5% from prior year at USD1,819/MT. The cumulative January-September figure at 30,292 MT leaped by 33.7% from year-earlier total in a similar period at 22,658 MT.

       The Indian government is considering setting a maximum allowable limit of 10% on trans fatty acids (TFA) content in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in a bid to reduce the risk of heart disease from intake of foods containing TFAs. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), an autonomous statutory body administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has come up with a draft on this that it has presented to stakeholders. FSSAI plans to introduce the cap by January 2010.

       The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued three advance notices of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in response to the recommendations, developed through consumer research, of its Obesity Working Group (OWG), two in 2005 and one in 2007. FDA is seeking comments on the three ANPRMs and on proposed experimental study to examine consumer reactions to various approaches to Nutrition Facts labeling. The ANPRMs intend to answer whether and how to emphasize calorie counts on Nutrition Facts panels; whether and how to amend the agency?s serving size regulations; and the third asks whether certain nutrients should be added or removed from the Nutrition Facts label.

       The FDA said that calorie count emphasis could entail using a larger font for total calorie information, adding a ?percentage of daily calories? declaration or eliminating the ?calories from fat? declaration. The ?serving size? or ?serving per container? declaration could also see increased font size. The agency then intends to randomly select 3,600 people to review a Nutrition Facts label from a selection of different formats and judge the food on its nutritional attributes and how healthy it is, and will assess their ability to use the panel to calculate calories and serving size to meet objectives.

       Saudi Arabia plans to phase out production of all water intensive crops that have depleted the Kingdom?s scarce water supplies, the Minister of Water and Electricity, Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Husayen said recently. The crops include wheat, soybeans and animal fodder, he said, but declined to comment on when the crops will be phased out.

       A representative from a leading palm oil producer expects that within two years, the premium enjoyed by palm oil from sustainable sources over non-certified sustainable palm oil may be over as he predicted that output of both palm oil products by then will be about equal. Currently, palm oil from producers which attain the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification can charge an extra M$30 (US$8.60) to M$60 a ton for their products, due to the additional costs involved and the benefits of being able to market end products as ?environmentally friendly?.

       The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI) said the country?s vegetable oil imports reached a record high of 8.66 million MT in the 2008/09 November/October season. This is a 37% increase from the 6.31 million MT in the previous year. A rise in per capita consumption of edible oil and low import taxes were the main reasons cited for the rise in imports. Crude edible oil is levied zero import duty and very nominal duty on refined palm olein. The depreciation of the US dollar vs. the rupee also helped boost overseas purchases.

       Indonesia?s Agriculture Minister Ir H Suswono said recently that the ministry had cooperated with the ministries of education, and the association of palm oil producers to develop human resources to support the development of the country?s palm industry. Palm oil is one of the commodities the country relies on for foreign exchange income. In 2007 it earned $8.87 billion and in 2008 boosted revenue by 39.5% to $12.38 billion.

       A research by Mer Harvi and colleagues at the National Research Centre in Cairo suggests that flaxseed oil has beneficial effect on bone mineral density and reduces markers associated with osteoporosis, indicating that this dietary supplement could benefit women with diabetes or older women in reducing their risk of osteoporosis. The findings were published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health.

       The researchers studied 70 female albino rats of which 30 had their ovaries removed (ovx) to simulate the post-menopausal state whereby estrogen is decreased and another group of rodents was rendered diabetic (Type 1) in order to determine the impact of diabetes on the development of osteoporosis. They then classified the rats into seven groups namely, control, sham, diabetic, diabetic received flaxseed oil in the diet, ovx, ovx-diabetic, ovx-diabetic received flaxseed oil in the diet. The authors added that flaxseed oil (rich in omega-3 fatty acids) replaced corn oil (rich in omega-6 fatty acids) in the diet of some of the diabetic and the ovx-diabetic groups with the aim of testing for the impact of this oil on either delaying or preventing the development of osteopenia in ovx rats.