PH to boost rice production
The Senate agriculture and food committee
expressed confidence yesterday that the state-of-the art Lloyd Evans Plant
Growth Facility of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los
Baños, Laguna, would help sustain and boost the country’s rice production
despite climate change.“I know that this facility, with its controlled
environment rooms and plant growth chambers, will serve a very important
purpose as a key international resource and venue for biotechnological research
and conservation of genetic diversity,” Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, committee
chairperson, said.
Villar said that once the facility becomes
fully operational it would enable to nurture and study plants, particularly
rice, in a wide range of environment, controlling for temperature, relative
humidity, light intensity, photo period systems, water management systems, and
the precise control of atmospheric gases.She described the entry of Llyod Evans
Plant Growth Facility as a “welcome development” at the latest IRRI
facility.She braces for what the facility can develop that will help sustain
rice production even during difficult climate conditions
Source with thanks: http://www.tempo.com.ph/2015/02/03/ph-to-boost-rice-production/
The ban on forex for rice importation
With the
collapse of world oil prices, it was only a matter of time before Nigeria
tightened up its finances. It was, therefore, no surprise that the
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, announced last
week that the Federal Government would no longer make foreign exchange
available to rice importers in the country. He also rightly deplored the
expenditure of so much foreign exchange on importation of rice and other goods
that could be produced locally. The importation of these products, he
said, puts severe pressure on the Naira and depletes the nation’s scarce forex
reserves.
In
addition to rice, Emefiele lamented Nigeria’s dependence on imported
toothpicks, tomato paste, furniture, fish, sugar, and petroleum products, which
he described as misplaced and a waste of national resources. The apex
bank has already banned the use of dollars purchased at its bi-weekly auctions
for the importation of electronics, telecommunications equipment and
generators. It maintains it would, however, not ban the importation of rice but
would not provide the foreign exchange for it in order to stem the rising tide
of speculative dollar demands.The CBN’s decision restricting access to forex
for certain categories of imports is timely and well thought out. It rhymes
with the Federal Government’s policy on encouragement of investment in domestic
rice production.
The
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has a goal to
achieve self-sufficiency in rice production by the year 2017.The Federal
Government has also been encouraging investors with sweet deals like the
preferential duty rates by which investors with verified domestic rice
production plans would enjoy import duty of 10 per cent and import levy of 20
per cent. Rice traders, on the other hand, would be liable to 60 per cent
levy in addition to the 10 per cent import duty.
Nigeria
spends a whopping N1 billion daily on rice importation. The imports
regime is embroiled in controversy as the Federal Government is now trying to
recover some N36.5 billion from rice importation companies being duty for
excess rice imported in violation of their approved quota. The government had
approved importation of 223,902 metric tons of rice by the companies in order
to bridge the gap between domestic production and national consumer demand but
the companies went ahead to import 732,555 metric tons, which is
508,653.55 metric tons in excess of government allocation.The government is,
indeed, right in its bid to recover the duties that ought to have been paid on
the rice imported in excess of approved allocations.
It is
important to recover this money to send a strong message that there will be
inescapable consequences when government’s policies are flouted with
impunity.We urge the Federal Government to be steadfast on this new rice policy
because it is right. Commodities that can be produced locally ought not
to be allowed to constitute a drain on our foreign exchange. With more
than 82 million hectares of arable land and millions of capable hands, there is
no doubt that the country can grow enough rice to meet local demand and have
some to spare for export.
In
addition to encouraging our local and small-scale farmers to do more, the FMARD
must continue to liaise with the Dangote Group to be sure that there would be
no delay or administrative bottlenecks in the company’s $1 billion rice project
for which it has acquired 150,000 hectares of land across five states for the
commercial production of rice paddy.The Dangote project is clearly the
arrowhead of the country’s drive for self-sufficiency in rice production and
must be encouraged and helped to succeed. Not only is it going to be the
single largest investment made in Africa for rice production, its mill
has a massive 960,000 metric tons capacity or about 46 per cent of rice
imported into the country.It is gratifying to note that investment in rice
production has grown significantly in the last few years. The new rice policy
should engender even greater increase in local production.
Although
it will, in the short term, likely make imported rice more expensive in the
country, the increased local cultivation and processing of the product will
ultimately bring down the price and serve Nigerians better in the long run.We
enjoin the government to remain committed to this policy and ensure that it
achieves the desired objective. The stoppage of access to forex for rice
imports, however, calls for close monitoring of the pricing of the product in
the market by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. This is to ensure that
the cost of rice, which is a local staple, does not go beyond the reach of
ordinary Nigerians. It will also help the government to predict and, if need
be, pre-empt scarcity of the product.
Source with thanks: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=102973
Nigeria: 2015 -
Jonathan Has Failed in Agriculture - APC
Tagged:AgribusinessBusinessGovernanceNigeriaWest
Africa
The All
Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, APCPCO, has accused
the President Goodluck Jonathan administration of massive corruption in the
country's agricultural sector."President Jonathan has failed woefully in
the agricultural sector, and all the self-praise of the administration on
agriculture is simply a ruse," the APCPCO said in a statement released on
Sunday, February 1.The statement, signed by Garba Shehu, pointed out that
whereas President Jonathan had promised in 2010 to make Nigeria self-sufficient
in rice and wheat production by 2015, "the grim reality on the ground
today is that Nigeria emerged as the world's highest importer of rice in 2015,
and a whopping $11 billion is spent annually by Nigeria to import rice, wheat,
sugar and fish."
The
statement added that according to the former Acting Governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, Sarah Alade, Nigeria as at 2014 spends $4 billion on rice
importation - that is about N600 billion annually on the importation of 2.1
million metric tonnes of milled rice."This is after the Federal Government
had approached the China Exim Bank for a loan of $1.2 billion for the financing
of 100 large-scale rice processing plants with a total capacity of 2.1 million
metric tonnes."The troubling truth today, is that Nigeria is nothing close
to self-sufficiency in rice production and what we have at hand is a close web
of corruption where government cronies stumble over each other to get import licenses
for rice."The statement also noted that a similar unacceptable situation
pertained to the importation of wheat.
"According
to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina,
Nigeria's wheat consumption as at year 2000 was about two million metric
tonnes. But, by 2010, wheat importation to the country had risen to four
million metric tonnes and Nigeria spends N635 billion annually on wheat
importation."Five years into the Jonathan's administration, Nigeria spends
even more than we did in 2010 to import wheat; yet the government continues to
brandish false achievements in the agricultural sector - a situation that is
completely at variance with what President Jonathan promised Nigerians in 2010,
saying that his government would make Nigeria save N635 billion annually on
rice and wheat importation.
"On
fertilizer accessibility to farmers, the APCPCO faulted the claim by government
that local farmers now have unhindered access to fertilizer through the Growth
Enhancement Scheme.On the contrary, Mr. Shehu says that what gets to each
farmer under the e-wallet arrangement, which he described as, "excessively
laborious and technically difficult for the farmers to work through" are
two bags of fertilizer throughout the entire farming season, "and
government has not come out in one instance to tell Nigerians how much it
receives as grants on fertilizer distribution to farmers from donor
agencies.""The government will want to give us the impression that
fertilizer is being given to farmers free of charge. But we know that what
subsists is a 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertilizer.
Our farmers
are being shortchanged under this so-called e-wallet arrangement because of
lack of transparency."We may be looking at another subsidy scam over fertilizer
unless the Jonathan administration comes out clean to tell us how much it has
received as grants over fertilizer and how it comes about the 50 per cent
subsidy per bag of fertilizer," Shehu said.
The statement dismissed President
Jonathan's claims of achievement in the agricultural sector, pointing out that
"throughout the periods preceding the Jonathan's administration, the
contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 7 per
cent, while under the so-called transformation agenda of President Jonathan,
agriculture's contribution to the GDP has been consistent at 5 per cent - an
all-time low.
"In any case, food commodities are
items Nigerians buy on a daily basis. If the Jonathan administration was
sincere with the statistics it reels out on agriculture, why would the
government buy pages of newspaper advertorials and TV commercials to force
bitter falsehood of its achievements down the throats of Nigerians? The
Jonathan administration has failed woefully in its agricultural policies and
the facts are self-evident out there at those food stalls in our
markets."In 2015, Nigerians know they spend far more to buy food than they
did in 2010. That reality, in itself, is President Jonathan's scorecard in
agriculture," the APCPCO concluded.
Garba Shehu
Directorate of Media & Publicity
APC Presidential Campaign Organisation
Source with thanks: http://allafrica.com/stories/201502020714.html
About 5000
workers left jobless as over 300 rice mills stop operation in Rangpur
Our
Correspondent
RANGPUR,
Feb 2: Around 5000 workers turned jobless as more than 300 rice mills and
boilers have been closed at Mahiganj area under Rangpur city as supply of paddy
to the mills remained suspended due to transport problem amid prolonged
blockade and shutdown enforced by BNP led 20 party alliance.Besides, a good
number of rice mills at different upazilas in the district were also compelled
to stop or lessen production owing to difficulty in sending rice to the capital
city and other parts of the country, leaving thousands of workers
unemployed.According to sources usually during this time the rice mills in the
district remain busy husking paddy and the workers are engaged in boiling and
drying of paddy.
During this
time a huge number of trucks loaded with rice are sent to Dhaka and other parts
of the country from this region everyday. But the ongoing political turmoil
like blockade and shutdown made the mills idle and as a result the workers are
passing tough time amid uncertainty of income and the mills owners are
incurring huge losses.Owner of Rafiq Rice Mill at Mahiganj area Rifiq said, his
rice mill has been closed for more than a
couple of weeks due to scarcity of paddy which forced the labourers
working in his mills jobless.
He has
already suffered huge losses and if the situation continues for long he will
have to incur more losses, he apprehended.Sakina Begum (38), a worker of the
mill told the Financial Express that she has been passing hard days with her
family in near starvation as presently she has no work. She blamed the
political parties for the situation saying they do not care to think about the
misery of the poor people. "If the situation continues we will have to
die", she lamented
Talking to
The Financial Express a number of rice mills owners expressed their
disappointment over the prevailing situation saying the rice millers of the
region generally procure paddy from
Bogra, Pabna,Sirajganj Joypurthat, and
Dinajpur. After husking the rice in
their mills they supply those to Dhaka and some other districts. But presently both procurement and supply
works are seriously being hampered on account of political turmoil.They also expressed
their apprehension about paying labourers' wages, electricity bills and
interest of bank loans. They urged the political parties to give up tough
political programmes such as shutdown and blockade.
sayedmofidulbabu@gmail.com
Source with thanks: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/02/03/79034
Rice Millers Fail to Meet Centre
Target
By
Published: 03rd February 2015 06:00 AM
Last
Updated: 03rd February 2015 04:28 AM
BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Centre has set a deadline for
delivery of custom milled rice to the Central pool, rice millers of the State
have failed to meet the target due to their low milling capacity.The State
Government has asked district managers of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare
Department to take necessary steps for expeditious delivery of custom milled
rice (CMR) to Food Corporation of India (FCI).The State had set a target for
the millers for delivery of 10.58 lakh tonnes of rice to FCI by January 21.
But the
millers have delivered only 1.45 lakh tonnes to the Central pool and another
25,000 tonnes to Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation for distribution under
PDS.Though the rice delivered to the Government is only 16 per cent of the
target, the performance of the millers is better compared to the corresponding
period of last kharif marketing season (KMS). Only 38,701 tonnes of CMR were
delivered by January 20, 2014.The Government agencies procuring paddy directly
from the farmers had procured 15.60 lakh tonnes of paddy equivalent to 10.58
lakh tonnes of rice till January 21.
As the KMS starts from October 1, delivery of
CMR to FCI should be completed before September 30. The Ministry of Food had
directed FCI not to accept CMR delivered beyond December 31.With limited
storage and milling capacity, the State Government has sought more time from
the Centre to complete the delivery of CMR.
The State Government had set a target to
procure 30 lakh tonnes of rice during 2012-13 KMS. The Government procured over
54 lakh tonnes of paddy which is equivalent to 36 lakh tonnes of rice. It
delivered 33.60 lakh tonnes of rice to the Central pool including 4.11 lakh
tonnes after December 31, 2013.Setting a target to procure 30 lakh tonnes
during the current KMS, the State Government has set an initial target of 17.69
lakh tonnes for the districts. Bargarh district, considered to be rice bowl of
the State, had procured over 5.6 lakh tonnes of paddy equivalent to 3.80 lakh
tonnes of rice. The district has so far delivered about one lakh tonnes of CMR.
Source with thanks: http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/Rice-Millers-Fail-to-Meet-Centre-Target/2015/02/03/article2650387.ece
2014 Farm Bill
Decision Aid Demos in Arkansas This Week
LITTLE ROCK
-- Farmers are racing to beat the clock and learn as much as they can about the
2014 Farm Bill in order to make critical decisions to meet upcoming deadlines.James
Richardson, a co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas
A&M and co-developer of a web-based tool to help farmers make these
critical decisions, will be in Arkansas demonstrating the program on Thursday,
February 5 in Stuttgart and Friday, February 6 in Jonesboro.
"The 2014 Farm Bill provides farmers
three major farm program options:
payment Yield Update, Base Reallocation, and the choice between three
safety net programs," said Robert Coats, extension economist for the
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. "Time is running
out for making these one-time, irrevocable decisions."
Deadline for base acreage and yield decision
is February 27.
Deadline
for program election for agricultural risk coverage and price loss coverage is March 31.
The
demonstration schedule this week also includes two webinars on February 5,
starting at 9 a.m. Webinars will last
about 30 minutes and participants can register using this link:
https://uaex.zoom.us/webinar/register/c6ed14053234bd3e4ac87b605f06faf5.
There is no
cost to attend either the in-person workshops or the webinars.
For more information about the Farm Bill
series, contact your county extension office or visit www.uaex.edu/farmbill.
Contact:
Mary Hightower (501) 671-2126
Source with thanks: USA Rice Federation
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
|
Source with thanks: USA Rice Federation
USDA's February
10, 2015, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report to Incorporate
Changes to Rice Table
USDA Office
of Communications sent this bulletin at 02/02/2015 04:00 PM EST
You are
subscribed to USDA Office of Communications.
Release No.
0025.15
Contact:Brenda
Chapin (202) 720-5447
bchapin@oce.usda.gov
USDA's February 10, 2015, World Agricultural
Supply and Demand Estimates Report to Incorporate Changes to Rice Table
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2015 - The Feb. 10 World
Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which will be released
at 12 noon ET, will include two new rice prices in the "Medium &
Short-grain" rice section of the table on page 14. USDA is forecasting
these two new additional rice prices that are part of the program parameters
introduced in the 2014 Farm Bill for the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and
Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
The two new
prices will be located directly under the "Average Farm Price" line
and will include:
California
Other
States
Two lines
have been added at the bottom of the rice table under the sub-heading
"Medium & Short-Grain Rice." The two new prices are a
sub-category of the combined medium- and short-grain average farm price. No
other lines were added or deleted from the table.The first publicly available
information for the 2013/14 "California" and "Other States"
prices became available in the January issue of USDA's National Agricultural
Statistics Service's Agricultural Prices report that was released on January
30, 2015.An example of the change is found on this sample WASDE page (PDF,
46KB).
Background
on USDA's WASDE report and past issues are available at:
www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/.
#
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and
employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence
Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer
Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice
users).
Source with thanks: http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAOC/bulletins/ee2a6e
Educational
seminars highlight 2015 Mid-South Farm & Gin Show
Jan 30, 2015Farm Press Staff | Delta Farm
Press
Attendees
at the 63rd annual Mid-South Farm & Gin Show, scheduled for Feb. 27- 28 at
the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, will have an opportunity to
attend several educational seminars during the two days.Over 400 exhibitors
from more than 40 states will be on hand, showcasing the latest technology and
innovation a in agriculture.
The show is sponsored by the Southern Cotton
Ginners Association and Foundation and Delta Farm Press.Ag Update Seminars are
scheduled for Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in
the convention center’s lobby meeting room. Speakers will include Sledge
Taylor, incoming chairman of the National Cotton Council; Carl Brothers,
Riceland Foods; and Joe Nicosia, of Louis Dreyfus. Richard Brock, of Brock
Associates, will headline the Saturday, Ag Update seminar, providing his unique
perspective on grain marketing, as well as a market outlook.Plans are also
being finalized for the Mid-South Ag Forum, a seminar focusing on successful
technology adoption from research to the farm. Scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Friday
in the convention center mezzanine level meeting room, this seminar will
feature researchers and farmers who will explore irrigation innovations and
technology adoption on the farm.A special rice seminar, What the U.S. Rice Farmer Needs to Know to
Prosper, is set for
Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the mezzanine level meeting room. Milo Hamilton,
Co-founder and senior ag economist of First Grain, Inc., is the featured
speaker.
All this
information, and more, is available on the updated Farm and Gin Show mobile
app, which can be downloaded from iTunes or from the Android app store. The app
features show schedules and updates, speaker biographies, and maps and
exhibitor information, all designed to enhance the showgoing experience. The
app has proven to be very popular. Regular updates to information will be made
to the app during the two days of the show.Those planning to attend the show
are encouraged to pre-register online, which speeds up the process of on-site
printing of name badges.
Go to
the show website (www.farmandginshow.com), click
on the “Attendee Registration” button, complete the form and print out the
confirmation. Bring that form with you to the show and staff on-site will help
you complete the process and get your name badge so you can quickly get onto
the show floor.Anyone who pre-registers for the show by Feb. 16 will be entered
into a drawing for $1,000. The winner will be notified Feb. 17, and must
collect the prize at the Registration Booth at the show.Show hours are 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. More information is
available at www.farmandginshow.com.
Source with thanks: http://deltafarmpress.com/markets/educational-seminars-highlight-2015-mid-south-farm-gin-show
Thai Junta to
Cut Rice Crop to Combat Glut as Reserves Sold
(Bloomberg)
-- Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, plans to cut production to
reduce a local surplus and boost prices, complementing a drive by the
government to sell record stockpiles that are clogging warehouses
nationwide.Rough-rice output may be cut to 33.73 million metric tons by
2016-2017, down from an average of 35.11 million over the past six years,
according to Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, vice farm minister. Growers will be
encouraged with incentives including soft loans to shift from rice to sugar
cane or to mixed farming with livestock, Apichart said in an interview.
Thai
authorities, led by military-leader-turned-prime minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha,
are grappling with the legacy of the previous government’s rice-buying policy.
Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration paid rice growers guaranteed, above-market
prices for their crop, spurring increased production and the buildup of the
country’s biggest ever stockpiles. Prayuth’s government last week offered
almost 1 million tons for sale from the state reserves, which it wants to clear
over the next two years.“We need to restructure our rice production to solve a
surplus problem,” Apichart said in Bangkok on Jan. 30. “We aim to slash
production to be balanced with local consumption and exports. Hopefully, that
will boost prices.”Thai 5 percent broken rice declined 7.1 percent last year,
extending a 23 percent drop in 2013. The Asian benchmark price was at $422 a
ton on Jan. 28, the day before Prayuth’s government offered the 1 million tons
for auction. Rough rice futures fell as much as 0.6 percent to $10.505 per 100
pounds in Chicago on Monday, the lowest since August 2010.
Manage Risk
“The
plan will have more chance of succeeding if there are active extension efforts
to educate farmers about the best techniques for planting alternative crops,”
David Dawe, a Bangkok-based senior economist at the United Nations’ Food &
Agriculture Organization, said in an e-mail. It’ll also be important to provide
ways for growers to manage risk, as most crops are riskier to plant and market
than rice, he said.Over the next two years, about 700,000 rai (112,000
hectares) are targeted to be switched from rice to sugar cane, and a further
1.1 million rai will be switched to mixed farming, said Apichart.
The government also plans to eliminate rice
planting during the dry season across 400,000 rai, he said.Targeted output of
33.73 million tons would return Thai rice production to the same level as it
was in 2009-2010, according to the plan. The projected surplus -- the excess of
output over local demand and export needs -- will drop from about 1.1 million
tons in 2016-2017 to just 200,000 tons in 2019-2020. The policy to shift land
away from rice is subject to approval by a rice-policy committee, Apichart
said.
Record Crop
Under
Yingluck’s rice-buying spree, production climbed to a record in 2011-2012,
while reserves expanded to 17.8 million tons last year. That’s equivalent to
more than 40 percent of global trade.Earlier this month, Thailand’s
junta-appointed legislature impeached Yingluck and banned her from politics for
five years for her role in overseeing the rice-buying program. The Attorney
General’s office said criminal charges will follow.Minister of Agriculture and
Cooperatives Petipong Puengbun Na Ayudhya said in an interview in October that
there would be incentives for growers to switch crops to curb oversupply,
notably from rice to sugar.
To
contact the reporter on this story: Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok atssuwannakij@bloomberg.net
To
contact the editors responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.netJake
Lloyd-Smith, Claudia Carpenter
Source with thanks: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/thai-junta-to-slash-rice-crop-cut-glut-as-stockpiles-sold-off
Declining exports of basmati rice
The domestic market is overwhelmed with a
basmati rice glut; the government is stuck with bigger issues of national
economy and security and is unable to help stabilise the rice trade; and the
prices are sliding. The farmers’ panic, therefore, is understandable.
The basmati variety is currently being traded
at around Rs3,000 per maund, against Rs4,500 last year. More importantly, the
quantum of trade is low. With production at the same level and exports receding
over the last four years, the country now is estimated to have around 1m tonnes
of stock though the actual figures is not known as the stocks are spread over
the entire supply and trade chains.
Firstly, till 2011, exports were over 1m tonnes
and domestic stocks were emptied each year. From then onwards, exports started
dropping for a number of reasons that have been pointed out in the media. In
2012, foreign sales dropped to 968,941 tonnes. Next year, they went down to
630,035 tonnes, leaving a domestic glut of around 350,000 tonnes. Last year,
they sustained the trend and touched 733,860 tonnes, adding over 250,000 tonnes
to the glut.
Till last season, the country was holding a
carry-over of 600,000 tonnes. This season might add at least another 400,000
tonnes, taking the total tally beyond 1m tonnes.Similarly, the price has gone
down by 33pc from last year.
The main question now facing the market is how
to clear the trade surplus. If it remains in the country, it is big enough to
rig the domestic and export markets for some years to come, till it is either
sent out or domestic crop fails to eat it away. One certainly cannot wait for
the domestic crop to fail; thus, the only option left with the farmers and,
more importantly, with the government, is to somehow clear it, even if it costs
some money in shape of subsidies.
Picture shows a rice field. The main question
now facing the market is how to clear the trade surplus of basmati following a
fall in the export of the commodity. — Dawn/File
The region
has big buyers like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, all of which import just under
1m tonnes of rice each year, mostly from India. The market is there, if
Pakistan can somehow capture it
The exporters don’t have the capacity (read:
market), or will or incentive to clear such a huge stock.They used to export
over 1m tonnes but then lost a major portion of it to Indian competitors.
Currently, their exporting capacity is down to 600,000 tonnes, which itself now
seems to be an impossible task given the international scenario.Luckily, the
region has some big buyers like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq — all of whom
import just under 1m tonnes of rice each year, mostly from India. This shows
that the market is there, if Pakistan can somehow capture it.The ministries of
food security and research, finance and commerce need to put their heads
together and see how the local glut can be cleared through bilateral or even
barter agreements.The federal government also needs to step in because it
announced compensation package of Rs5bn for basmati growers after last year’s
floods, but seems to have forgotten it. None of the basmati growers have
received the promised Rs5,000 per acre, and they have been left to suffer the
brunt, both of a reduction in yields and a massive reduction in price. The same
money can be used to ensure exports.Besides, the provincial governments, who
now fully own the sector and proudly announce achieving their production
targets, also need to improve their marketing activities. This dichotomy needs
to be taken care of, where provinces ensure production but are unwilling to
play a role in marketing them.
Punjab, which is the only producer of basmati,
is not willing to help clear the glut, and has left the trade to players it has
no control over. These issues must be solved through mutual cooperation, understanding
and policy development, involving all stakeholders.The basmati variety that
fetches almost three times higher price as compared to other coarse varieties
is too important to be left to lesser players. Even in the current recession,
basmati is being traded in the international market at $900-1,000 per tonne,
against $300-350 per tonne for coarse varieties.This basmati variety also has a
huge role to play in poverty alleviation in rural Pakistan. Being mainly an
export variety (with 60pc of its production going overseas at one time), it
also fetches precious foreign exchange. All these factors make it too important
for social and economic reasons to be left too inefficient market forces.
Published in Dawn, Economic & Business,
February 2nd, 2015
Source with thanks: Dawn News Pakistan
Japan on cusp of major compromise on rice with U.S. in TPP talks
January 31, 2015
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Japan appears set to offer key concessions to the United States
over its demands on rice import quotas in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade
talks, a move that is bound to anger farmers at home.According to sources,
Japanese negotiators are ready to offer a counterproposal agreeing to an annual
import ceiling of up to 50,000 tons of U.S. rice with no or low tariffs in
tandem with an offer to lower the levy on imported beef to 9 percent from the
current 38.5 percent over a 10-year-plus period.“Negotiations will collapse if
we do not give an inch to the other party,” said Akira Amari, the state
minister in charge of the TPP talks, on Jan. 30.The new plan emerged after
Tokyo declined to meet Washington’s initial demands that it remove or reduce
its tariff on imported rice.
U.S. negotiators later proposed a quota for 200,000 tons of rice
and processed rice products from the United States.At present, a tariff of 341
yen ($2.90) is imposed on every 1 kilogram of imported rice.Japan imports about
770,000 tons of tariff-free foreign rice annually to fulfill its
"minimum-access" rice-import obligations.Of that total, U.S. rice
amounted to 360,000 tons in fiscal 2013.The new quota for U.S. rice imports, if
it materializes, will be in addition to the minimum access obligation,
according to the sources.Japanese officials initially tried to meet the U.S.
request within the framework for the minimum-access rice-import obligation.But
Washington, seeking even greater access, called on Tokyo to lock in specific
quantities that it will import.
Imported rice is a contentious issue in Japan. Many domestic rice
growers fear that prices of the grain they produce will fall if more foreign
rice enters the market.The government plans to buy the same tonnage of rice
from Japanese growers for its national reserves that it imports in order to
prevent downward pressure on domestic prices, the sources said.Still,
government officials are concerned that Vietnam and other rice-producing
countries participating in the TPP negotiations will make similar demands if
Tokyo and Washington agree on a quota.
(This article was written by Kenji Oyamada, senior staff writer,
and Takuya Sumikawa.)
Source with thanks: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201501310052
S. Korea faces possible oversupply of
rice on record output, imports
Published
: 2015-02-02 10:38
Updated : 2015-02-02 10:38South Korea may face an oversupply of
rice this year as its output reached a five-year high while rice consumption
continues to shrink, government officials said Monday.According to the
officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the
country's self-sufficiency rate for rice is expected to reach 97 percent in
2015.The country's overall output of rice inched up 0.3 percent on-year to some
4.24 million tons in 2014.South Korea is also required to import at least
408,700 tons of rice every year under a special agreement with the World Trade
Organization, which had allowed the country to postpone opening its rice market
over the past 20 years.South Korea liberalized its rice market through
tarrification at the start of this year.
The oversupply problem will likely be further accelerated by a drop
in the country's rice consumption, the ministry officials noted.n 2014, the
country's annual intake of rice per person dipped 3.1 percent on-year to a
record low of 65.1 kilograms.The per capita consumption is again expected to
shrink this year, continuing its steady decline over the past 40 odd years
since 1970 when it hit a record high of 136.4 kg, officials said. (Yonhap)
Source with thanks: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150202000462
Korea faces oversupply of rice
Published:
2015-02-02 20:52
Updated: 2015-02-02 20:52
Updated: 2015-02-02 20:52
Korea is expected to see an oversupply of rice this year due to a
five-year high in output and a continued fall in demand, officials said
Monday.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said the
self-sufficiency rate for rice would likely reach 97 percent in 2015.
The ministry data showed that the
country’s overall output of rice jumped 0.3 percent from a year ago, to some
4.24 million tons in 2014. The nation also has to import at least 408,700 tons
of rice every year under a special agreement with the World Trade
Organization.In contrast to the high output of rice, the nation’s rice demand
has rapidly dwindled, amid increased consumption of foreign food.Last year’s
annual consumption of rice per capita fell 3.1 percent on-year to a record low of
65.1 kilograms. Ministry
officials expected that the problem would worsen as consumption of rice
continues to drop.
Image:South Korean workers stack bags of rice. (Yonhap)
Source with thanks: http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150202001068&ntn=0
NFA partners with group to help
curb rice anomalies
POSTED ON 02/02/2015 3:32 PM | UPDATED 02/02/2015 9:10 PM
|
|
VULNERABLE.
Rice and corn farmers are among the country's poorest, despite being at the
forefront of feeding the nation. File photo by Jay Directo/Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines – The National Food
Authority (NFA) is collaborating with Kaya Natin! (KN), a civil society
organization, to help monitor anomalies in the rice industry and thus help
government in ensuring food security.The NFA has been confronted by the problems of
rice shortage, alleged corruption in rice imports,smuggling, price manipulation by private sectors, hoarding
and repacking, all resulting to “false shortage," among many others.
(READ: PH agriculture, why is it important?)
Around
74% of NFA rice are smuggled, while only 26% of its supplies reach the poor,
NFA reported. (READ: PH road to rice self-sufficiency)
Called
"Bantay Bigas," the campaign will involve KN volunteers to monitor
rice movements in their localities.NFA admits it cannot do the job alone to
totally eradicate anomalies in the rice industry. This led newly appointed NFA Administrator Renan Dalisay and
his council to seek help from a non-governmental organization like KN to
complement the agency's work on the ground. – Rappler.com
Jean
Carla Sapallo is a Rappler intern. She is a 4th
year journalism student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Source with thanks: http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/hunger/82689-nfa-kaya-natin-curb-rice-anomalies
Vietnam to sell 240,000 T rice to Malaysia
-sources
By
Reuters / Reuters | February 2, 2015 : 12:26 PM MYT
HANOI
(Feb 2): Vietnam has reached an agreement to sell 240,000 tonnes of rice to
Malaysia, although the small volume and an eight-month loading schedule mean
grain export prices will stay near multi-month lows, a state-run newspaper and
traders said on Monday.The country will ship the 5-percent broken rice to
Malaysia over April to November, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper said,
coinciding with the peak for Vietnam's main winter-spring crop harvest that is
expected to provide more than 5 million tonnes of unhusked rice mostly for
export.
An
official at the Vietnam Food Association, which
oversees the country's rice exports, declined to comment on the deal with
Malaysia, the third-biggest buyer of Vietnamese rice after China and the
Philippines.While the report did not give any detail on the deal price, a
Vietnamese private trader estimated that both sides may have agreed to a price
of $385 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB)."Vietnam has yet to publish the price
of the deal as it is still eyeing a demand from the Philippines," another
rice exporter said.The Philippines plans to import up to 500,000 tonnes for
delivery between March and May to boost stockpiles and might go for a
government-to-government deal, government and trade sources said last week.
The
price for Vietnam's 5-percent broken rice fell to $358-$360 a tonne on Monday,
FOB, from $360-$370 last week. The lower end of the range is the weakest price
for the grain since mid-September, 2013, Reuters data shows.Traders in Ho Chi
Minh City said they do not see any upside to Vietnamese rice export prices from
the deal with Malaysia given its long loading duration. Malaysia took 470,000
tonnes of Vietnamese rice in 2014, up 1.5 percent on year."With some
30,000 tonnes to be shipped per month (April-Nov 2015), this small volume will
not affect the market supply and prices," said a trader at a foreign firm
in Ho Chi Minh City.
Source with thanks: http://www.theedgemarkets.com/my/article/vietnam-sell-240000-t-rice-malaysia-sources
Government to slash rice crop,
sell stockpiles to cut glut
Writer: Bangkok
Post and Bloomberg News
Thailand,
the world’s biggest rice exporter, plans to cut production to reduce its
surplus and boost prices, complementing a drive by the government to sell
record stockpiles that are clogging warehouses nationwide. Rough-rice
output may be cut to 33.73 million tonnes by 2016-17, down from an average of
35.11 million over the past six years, according to Apichart Pongsrihadulchai,
vice agriculture minister. Growers will be encouraged with incentives including
soft loans to shift from rice to sugar cane or to mixed farming with livestock,
Mr Apichart said in an interview.A Suphan Buri rice farmer tends to his crop in
this October 2014 photo. The government plans to cut production to reduce a
local surplus and boost prices as it tries to sell record stockpiles that are
clogging warehouses nationwide. (Bangkok Post photo)
Thai authorities, led by
military-leader-turned-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, are grappling with the
legacy of the previous government's rice-buying policy. Yingluck Shinawatra's
administration paid rice growers guaranteed, above-market prices for their
crop, spurring increased production and the build-up of the country's biggest
ever stockpiles.
The government last week offered almost one
million tonnes for sale from the state reserves, which it wants to clear over
the next two years."We need to restructure our rice production to solve a
surplus problem," Mr Apichart said in Bangkok on Jan 30. "We aim to
slash production to be balanced with local consumption and exports. Hopefully,
that will boost prices."Thai 5% broken rice declined 7.1% last year,
extending a 23% drop in 2013. The Asian benchmark price was at $422 a tonne on
Jan 28, the day before the government offered the one million tonnes for
auction.Over the next two years, about 700,000 rai are targeted to be switched
from rice to sugar cane, and a further 1.1 million rai will be switched to
mixed farming, said Mr Apichart.
The
government also plans to eliminate rice planting during the dry season across
400,000 rai, he said.Speaking after Monday's meeting of the National Rice
Police Committee in Nakhon Ratchasima, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said
the government and farmers need to work together to grow crops suitable for
their land."Farmers should focus on growing quality rice that matches the
amount of (available) water in order to fetch high prices. If some locations
cannot produce quality rice, farmers should be supported to grow other
crops," he said.A buyer looks at a sample of rice as he walks past stacks
of the grain during a pre-auction rice inspection at the warehouse of the
Boonnapa rice mill in Chok Chai, Nakhon Ratchasima province on Jan 26. (Bloomberg
photo)
Smaller harvests
Targeted output of 33.73 million tonnes would
return Thai rice production to the same level as it was in 2009-10, according
to the plan. The projected surplus — the excess of output over local demand and
export needs — will drop from about 1.1 million tonnes in 2016-2017 to just
200,000 tonnes in 2019-2020. The policy to shift land away from rice is subject
to approval by a rice-policy committee, Mr Apichart said.Under Ms Yingluck's
rice-buying spree, production climbed to a record in 2011-2012, while reserves
expanded to 17.8 million tonnes last year. That's equivalent to more than 40%
of global trade.
Last month, the National Legislative Assembly
impeached Ms Yingluck and banned her from politics for five years for her role
in overseeing the rice-buying programme. The Attorney General's office said
criminal charges will follow.Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Pitipong
Phuengboon Na Ayudhaya said in an interview in October that there would be
incentives for growers to switch crops to curb oversupply, notably from rice to
sugar.At the Phimai Agricultural Cooperative Monday, Gen Prayut said he had
instructed the Interior Ministry to take the lead in developing a database
containing Thai farmers' incomes, careers and other identifying information ib
their agricultural products in order to facilitate the government's assistance
programmes.
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