From brittle
to plastic in 1 breath
07-May-2015
Molybdenum disulfide, the object of
study in many labs for its semiconducting properties, interested the Rice lab
because of the characteristics of its grain boundaries. Two-dimensional
materials like graphene are actually flat, atom-thick sheets. But 2-D
molybdenum disulfide is a sandwich, with layers of sulfur above and below the
molybdenum atoms.When two sheets join at different angles during growth in a
furnace, atoms at the boundaries have to compensate by improvising
"defective" arrangements, called dislocations, where they come
together.The researchers determined it may be possible to promote the movement
of those dislocations through environmental control of the gas medium. This
would change the material's properties to give it superplasticity, which allows
it to be deformed beyond its usual breaking point.Plastic materials can be
rearranged and will hold their new shape. For example, a plumber can bend a
metal pipe; that bendable quality is plasticity.
Yakobson noted such materials can become
brittle again with further changes in the environment."Generally, the
coupling of chemistry and mechanics is quite rare and scientifically difficult
to understand," said Yakobson, whose group at Rice analyzes materials by
calculating the energies that bind their atoms. "Corrosion is the best
example of how chemistry affects mechanical behavior, and the science of
corrosion is still in development."For molybdenum disulfide, they found
two mechanisms by which boundaries could overcome activation energy barriers
and lead to superplasticity. In the first, called direct rebonding, only one
molybdenum atom in a dislocation would shift in response to external forces. In
the second, bond rotation, several atoms would shift in opposite directions.
They calculated that the barrier for
direct rebonding, while less dramatic, is much lower than for bond rotation.
"Through the rebonding path, the mobility of this defect changes by
several orders of magnitude," Yakobson said. "We know from the
mechanics of materials that brittle or ductile qualities are defined by the
mobility of these dislocations. What we show is that we can affect the tangible
property, the stretchability, of the material."Yakobson suggested it may
be possible to tune the plasticity of dichalcogenides in general and that it
may also be possible to eliminate the defects from a 2-D dichalcogenide sheet
by treating the dislocations "to allow them to rapidly diffuse away and
vanish or to form interesting aggregated states.
" That would likely open the way
to the easier manufacture of dichalcogenides that need particular electrical or
mechanical properties for applications, he said."We think of these
two-dimensional materials as an open canvas, theoretically speaking," he
said. "You can very quickly read and write changes to them. Bulk materials
don't have this openness, but here, every atom is in immediate proximity to the
environment."
http://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/152751/from-brittle-to-plastic-in-1-breath.html
How Adesina contravened presidential order on
rice importation
We’ll respond later –Minister’s aide
As the crisis surrounding the
Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina deepens; fresh facts have
emerged on how he allegedly contravened a presidential order by granting rice
importation licences to unqualified businessmen and women.An impeccable source
in the Presidency told our correspondent that in May 2014, there was a
presidential directive to give import licences to already existing rice millers
in the country who were qualified and had the capacity to deliver following a
meeting among ministers of Trade and Investment; National Planning; Finance and
Agriculture to that effect. The import licence was to augment the shortfall in
the local rice production capacity.
Consequently, a letter dated July
8, 2014 from the Office of the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating
Minister of the Economy announced the directive to relevant government agencies
and bodies which included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation;
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; Budget Office Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria; Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development; Nigerian Export Promotion Council; Raw
Materials Research and Development Council, Comptroller-General of the Nigerian
Customs Service and Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission.owever, from May
last year when the order was given, nothing was done towards implementation
until December, when Adesina allegedly gave licences to non-existing rice
millers, an action that angered qualified rice millers in the country.
It was also revealed that the
current spat between the minister and major rice millers was as a result of the
breach of the presidential directive, as none of them was granted the import
licence as directed by the Presidency.In fact, the crisis got to its head when
it was discovered that those who got the import licence began seeking the
existing rice millers to sell the licences to them, as they lacked the capacity
to undertake the task.Among other things, it was also disclosed that there was
no inter-ministerial committee formed as instructed by the President to
deliberate on the issue as the quotas were issued unilaterally by Adesina at
the minister’s discretion.
It equally alleged that the total
quota allocation was not as per the supply gap of the rice required by the
nation as major stakeholders were not involved and that the quotas were issued
retrospectively which, as alleged, is against the legal framework of the
nation.When contacted to react to the allegations, Adesina’s aide, Dr Olukayode
Oyeleye, said the minister was going to respond in details in due course,
insisting that no comments could be made on the spot.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=118265
Customs Blacklists Rice Importers Over N20bn Unpaid Tariffs
— May 7, 2015 5:52 am |
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it has
blacklisted some major rice importers allegedly owing the federal government
about N20 billion in unpaid customs duties.The trade facilitating service also
said it was set to initiate criminal proceedings against the affected importers
for their unwillingness to offset the said amount even after the expiration of
two ultimatums, resulting in the advertised publications of their names in some
national dailies on April 14, 2015.
The NCS spokesman, Mr Wale Adeniyi, disclosed this to
journalists in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, at a workshop for officers of
the service.He said, “Management has decided to enforce the Customs Law. It is
not about sanctions yet; it is just about asking them to pay what they owe the
federal government. We recognise that it might take some time to file charges
and so to enable them feel the full impact of the decision, we have also
decided to block them on the PAAR platform.
”
Adeniyi said the service would adopt
every legitimate measure to ensure that every kobo due to the federal
government is paid by the importers.“We have the law that empowers us to
prosecute any person or company that contravenes the Customs Act. This is
clearly an offence against the Customs Law and that is why management is taking
this decisive measures,” he said.He explained that the affected companies, as
far as the service is concerned, already secured themselves concessions to
import, noting that the act of importing in excess of what they obtained approval
for was already an overstretch of the privileges.“Hence, none of them should
think of coming to request for another round of concessions again,” he said.
http://leadership.ng/news/431564/customs-blacklists-rice-importers-over-n20bn-unpaid-tariffs
CARI workers packaging the seed rice
Mr. Marshall: “Our project remains on course.”
CARI Produces 504
Metric Tons Seed Rice
Wed, 05/06/2015 - 23:41 admin
As local farmers plead for support
By: Gloria
T.Tamba
Mr. Aaron
Marshall, team leader at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in
Suakoko, Bong County, has disclosed that 504 metric tons of seed rice was
produced during the Ebola period.Making the disclosure over the weekend in
Gbarnga in an exclusive interview with the Daily Observer he said
following the deadly Ebola outbreak, a lot of work was done at CARI.
He said
that before the outbreak of Ebola, farmers in Lofa, Nimba and in other
counties had produced more rice and other foodstuff.“At CARI, there are several
streams of research going on. We are researching different varieties of
rice that would take only 70 -90 days to germinate to yield more
varieties of rice.“Now that Ebola has drastically reduced, we have increased our
workforce. They were reduced by 250 during the Ebola crisis but
have now been increased to 500 to the extent that the warehouse is producing
500 metric tons of seeds rice, and 50 hectares of cassava, which he described
as the biggest progress CARI has made,” Mr.Marshall said.
He said
at present CARI is working along with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to
restore the productive assets of farmers and farmers’ groups by building
essential infrastructure to support food production.He indicated that through
the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), Africa Rice and the
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), CARI is now producing
and providing seeds and other improved varieties to small-scale farmers
and in return the farmers after they harvest their farms bring back some
seed rice to CARI.“CARI has in recent years increased its cassava production
from 25 to 50 hectares of 20 improved varieties of cassava that could produce
ten times,” he said.Mr. Marshall said, CARI, as an agriculture institution,
will continue to work with local farmers to enable them grow and sell more food
as well as increase their
livelihoods.
The
institution, he said has over the years, renovated three fish ponds but has now
increased to ten ponds to maintain fingerlings that will be harvested and given
to farmers.CARI team leader disclosed that the institution is not free from
challenges, stating that the issue of funding and capacity remain major
challenges to the institution.He said some ways the Ministry of Agriculture is
solving the problems is by offering scholarships to students to build their
capacity.He said during the heat of the Ebola outbreak, activities at the
center slowed down, and kept functioning.In an interview with a local farmer
Mr. Napoleon Rennie, who is operating on 100 acres of farmland in Zeanzue, he
said he has been farming for the past several years and has not benefitted from
CARI activities.
He said
he hoped to receive support from CARI, including seed rice to improve his
farming activity to boost productivity.Another farmer Madam Faith Flomo told
the Daily Observer, “I plant peppers, okra and rice in Wainsue and I want
support from the government. It’s my hope that CARI will provide me seeds to let
me grow more food.”She also said she would like to have more seeds for improved
farming.Mr. Aaron Marshall, team leader at the Central Agriculture Research
Institute (CARI) in Suakoko, Bong County, has disclosed that 504 metric tons of
seed rice was produced during the Ebola period.
Making
the disclosure over the weekend in Gbarnga in an exclusive interview with the Daily
Observer he said following the deadly Ebola outbreak, a lot of
work was done at CARI.He said that before the outbreak of Ebola, farmers
in Lofa, Nimba and in other counties had produced more rice and other
foodstuff.“At CARI, there are several streams of research going on. We
are researching different varieties of rice that would take only 70 -90 days to
germinate to yield more varieties of rice.“Now that Ebola has
drastically reduced, we have increased our workforce. They were
reduced by 250 during the Ebola crisis but have now been increased to 500 to
the extent that the warehouse is producing 500 metric tons of seeds rice, and
50 hectares of cassava, which he described as the biggest progress CARI has
made,” Mr.Marshall said.
He said
at present CARI is working along with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to
restore the productive assets of farmers and farmers’ groups by building
essential infrastructure to support food production.He indicated that through
the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), Africa Rice and the
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), CARI is now producing
and providing seeds and other improved varieties to small-scale farmers
and in return the farmers after they harvest their farms bring back some
seed rice to CARI.“CARI has in recent years increased its cassava production
from 25 to 50 hectares of 20 improved varieties of cassava that could produce
ten times,” he said.Mr. Marshall said, CARI, as an agriculture institution,
will continue to work with local farmers to enable them grow and sell more food
as well as increase their ivelihoods.
The
institution, he said has over the years, renovated three fish ponds but has now
increased to ten ponds to maintain fingerlings that will be harvested and given
to farmers. CARI team leader disclosed that the institution is not free
from challenges, stating that the issue of funding and capacity remain major
challenges to the institution.He said some ways the Ministry of Agriculture is
solving the problems is by offering scholarships to students to build their
capacity.He said during the heat of the Ebola outbreak, activities at the
center slowed down, and kept functioning.
In an
interview with a local farmer Mr. Napoleon Rennie, who is operating on 100
acres of farmland in Zeanzue, he said he has been farming for the past several
years and has not benefitted from CARI activities.He said he hoped to receive
support from CARI, including seed rice to improve his farming activity to boost
productivity.Another farmer Madam Faith Flomo told the Daily Observer, “I plant
peppers, okra and rice in Wainsue and I want support from the government. It’s
my hope that CARI will provide me seeds to let me grow more food.”She also said
she would like to have more seeds for improved farming.
http://www.liberianobserver.com/agriculture/cari-produces-504-metric-tons-seed-ricehttp://www.liberianobserver.com/agriculture/cari-produces-504-metric-tons-seed-rice
Where is Smokey Mountain's Tony Lambino now?
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted
at 05/06/2015 12:09 PM
MANILA --
Remember singer Tony Lambino, who became famous as part of the singing group
Smokey Mountain?
Lambino, who
along with James Coronel, Geneva Cruz and Jeffrey Hidalgo were the original
members of the group formed by Ryan Cayabyab in the 1990s, is now the head of
communication at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).Appearing on
"Kris TV" on Wednesday, Lambino said he was working in the United
States before joining the IRRI more than a year ago."I was working at the
World Bank in Washington DC and then the opportunity became available and I
applied," Lambino said.Asked if he still gets to sing, Lambino said:
"Sometimes. In church."Aside from being part of Smokey Mountain,
Lambino is the original singer behind the OPM hit "Harana."
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/05/06/15/where-smokey-mountains-tony-lambino-now
National Science Foundation Awards $5.5 Million Grant
for Rice Research
By REBECCA BLAIR
Cornell
researchers received a $5.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation
to use genome editing techniques to improve rice cultivation on Friday.Genome
editing is a process by researchers can alter an organism’s DNA. Cornell
researchers will use this grant to “focus on such quantitative traits in rice
as disease resistance and tolerance to acidic soils,” according to a University
press release.“We have the ability to open the genome like a book, go to a
certain chapter and a specific word and change the word or correct its
spelling,” said lead scientist Adam Bogdanove in the release.
This is
significant because rice is a “staple crop that feeds half the world’s people,”
according to the University. Increasing the quality and reliability of the rice
crop could have profound humanitarian implications.“Scientists are also in a
race against time to double the production of cereal crops on limited arable
land by 2050, when the global population could reach 9.5 billion,” the
University said.Bogdanove said researchers have already identified section of
rice DNA which could present the opportunity for beneficial genome
editing.“Now, we don’t have to do years of breeding; we can just make the
precise changes needed in a few short steps,” he said.
Rice farmers to get coupons for
seed, fertilizer
6 May 2015 at 17:57
3,345 viewed6 comments
WRITER: ONLINE
REPORTERS
Rice growers are about to get
discount coupons from the government to cut their costs. (Photo by Patipat
Janthong)
The
government plans to distribute discount coupons to rice farmers to help them
cut cultivation costs in the coming season.Government spokesman Yongyuth
Mayalarp said economic ministers agreed on Wednesday that rice growers should
have get coupons or cards to claim discounts on the purchase of cultivation
materials, including seed and fertiliser. The discounts will be more effective
than handing out cash subsidies to the farmers, he said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha chaired the economic ministers' meeting
and ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to implement the
assistance programme.For the upcoming crop season, the government also hopes to
convince some rice farmers to switch to sugarcane in order to ensure good
prices for rice, the spokesman said.Sugar futures, meanwhile, plunged to their
lowest prices since 2009 in New York last month as rising output from Thailand
to India exacerbated a global glut.
Finally,
the government is offering 1 million baht in aid to each of about 3,000
sub-districts where rice growers have always suffered from water shortages. The
money will be spent to reduce cultivation costs, Dr Yongyuth said.Get full
Bangkok Post printed newspaper experience on your digital devices with Bangkok
Post e-newspaper. Try it out, it's totally free for 7 days.
Importer charged a 3rd time
Philippine Daily
Inquirer 5:27
AM | Friday, May 8th, 2015
MANILA, Philippines–The Bureau
of Customs on Thursday filed a third set of smuggling cases against the owner
of New Dawn Enterprises for the allegedly illegal importation of 260,000
kilograms of sugar worth some P13 million.The BOC accused the firm’s owner,
Michael Abella, of violations of the Tariff and Customs Code, not having
produced any import permits and for misdeclaring the shipments.The illegal
shipments of 10 container vans of refined sugar arrived in December 2014 at the
Port of Cagayan de Oro.In its import documents, New Dawn allegedly misdeclared
the sugar imports as kitchenware and tiles.A valid import permit is required
for all sugar importations. All sugar importations without an import permit is
unlawful, the BOC said.
New Dawn Enterprises is already
facing separate charges for the illegal importation of rice.The BOC slapped New
Dawn with smuggling charges for the first time in January, for the illegal
importation of glutinous rice worth P28 million. The shipment arrived at the
Cagayan de Oro Port in November 2014, BOC records showed.The second case was
filed two months later in March, again for illegally importing rice worth P15.6
million in December 2014.“We are hoping for the speedy resolution by the
Department of Justice of the case we are filing today, as well as the other
cases we have already filed, if only to send the strong message that we are
really serious in the fight against smuggling,” said Customs Commissioner
Alberto Lina in a statement.–Tina G. Santos
Korea signs FTA
with Vietnam
Minister of Trade, Industry & Energy Yoon Sang-jik and Vietnamese Industry & Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang signed the Korea-Vietnam FTA in Hanoi on May 5 in the presence of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng. According to the agreement, Korea and Vietnam will eliminate 94.7 percent and 92.4 percent of their tariffs based on the amounts of imports, respectively.The rice market is excluded from the agreement, and no further market opening is scheduled for sensitive primary industry items like onions, squid, green tea, and chili pepper. The tariffs on tropical fruit, ginger, garlic, and pork will be removed within 10 years, and those on natural honey and sweet potato starch within 15 years.
According to the Korea International Trade
Association, exports from Korea to Vietnam reached US$6.58 billion in the first
quarter of this year, showing an 18.3 percent increase from a year earlier. In
that quarter, only China and the United States recorded more exports to Vietnam
than Korea did. The increase in the exports is especially eye-catching in that
Korea’s overall exports declined 2.9 percent in Q1 this year, when those to the
ASEAN region, Japan and China fell 17.6 percent, 22.0 percent and 1.5 percent
as well, respectively.
During the same period, Korea’s imports from
Vietnam increased 17.3 percent to US$2.03 billion and the bilateral trade
volume went up 18.1 percent to US$8.61 billion. The latter broke the US$30
billion mark last year, when the volume added up to US$30.34 billion by showing
a 7.4 percent growth. Last year, Korean companies accounted for 14.7 percent of
the imported goods market of Vietnam to be second only to Chine, which took up
29.6 percent of it.
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/139379/Korea-signs-FTA-with-Vietnam
Cornell
gets grant to study, improve rice crop
Staff report12:45 p.m. EDT May 7, 2015
(Photo:
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Cornell University will receive a nearly $5.5 million grant from
the National Science Foundation to use genome editing techniques to study and
improve rice crop sustainability.The funding will be allocated over four years,
according to a news release from U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten
Gillibrand, both D-N.Y.
http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2015/05/07/cornell-nsf-grant-rice-crop/70946842/
Asia Rice-Prices hit multi-month lows but fail
to attract buyers
* Thai
prices hit their lowest since June 2014
*
Vietnamese rice prices are the lowest since February
*
Myanmar aims to boost rice exports to 2 mln tonnes
By Ho
Binh Minh
HANOI, May 6 (Reuters) - Asian rice export prices fell to
multi-month lows this week after holidays in the region and demand remained
thin, traders said on Wednesday.Thailand's 5 percent broken white rice
RI-THBKN5-P1 eased to $385-$387 a tonne, free on board (FOB), the lowest since
June 2014, traders said.The Thai price, which dropped below $400 on April 1, is
still above the price for similar-grade Vietnamese rice, which stood this week
at $355-$360 a tonne, FOB.Vietnam's 25 percent broken rice fell to $330-$335 a
tonne, FOB, the lowest since Feb. 11, after market regulators lowered the
minimum export price for the variety by nearly 3 percent, but that still failed
to tempt buyers, traders said.The indicative quotations this week are below the
floor of $340 a tonne in effect since April 30."Prices are low but there's
still no demand," a trader at a foreign firm in Ho Chi Minh City
said.Thailand, the world's second-biggest rice exporter last year, was on
holiday from May 1 to 5 while Vietnam only reopened its markets on Monday after
a public holiday from April 28 to May 1.
The Thai government will take part in a tender to be held
by the Philippine government later this month for between 200,000 and 300,000
tonnes, Chutima Bunyapraphasara, permanent secretary at the Commerce Ministry
said on Wednesday."The tender in the Philippines is another (Thai)
government effort to push up prices," a Bangkok-based trader said.
"They have to try everything they can."An industry source in Manila
told Reuters there was a plan to tender for 310,000 tonnes.But a spokesman for
the National Food Authority, the Philippines' state grain agency, said its
council, which approves rice imports, had yet to issue any advisory on new
approvals.
Elsewhere in the region, Myanmar plans to raise its rice
exports in the fiscal year that started in April by 10.5 percent to 2 million
tonnes, said Lu Maw Myint Maung, joint secretary of the Myanmar Rice
Federation, citing demand from China and Europe.China bought 1.11 million
tonnes from Myanmar in the fiscal year that ended in March, accounting for
around 60 percent of the country's exports, based on Myanmar Commerce Ministry
data. (Additional reporting by Kaweewit Kaewjinda in BANGKOK; Erik dela Cruz in
MANILA and Aung Hla Tun in YANGON; Editing by Alan Raybould)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/asia-rice-idINL4N0XX2V520150506
Farmers reap gains from new model
Tran Van Quang, a farmer in Hau
Giang Province in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, has increased his profit from
rice farming by at least 18 per cent since he began to apply a new farming
model developed locally.Farmers harvest the winter-spring crop 2014-15 in Hau
Giang Province. Many farmers in the province's Vi Thuy District have adopted a
new farming model to increase productivity and reduce the use of fertilisers
and pesticides. (Photo: VNA/VNS)
Some 88 farmers in Vi Thanh
Commune, Vi Thuy District, had adopted the "3 down-3 up" model to
increase productivity, quality, and economic effectiveness and reduce the use
of fertilisers and pesticides, he said.The model, developed by the province's
Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Centre, had enabled farmers like him to
reduce seed usage by 30-40kg per hectare and nitrogenous fertilisers by 50-70kg
and save 30 per cent on pesticides compared to traditional farming methods, he
said.On the other hand, productivity had reached "an average of 6.1 tonnes
per hectare compared with 5.8 tonnes in nearby fields that did not adopt in the
model," he added.
In Thanh Dong A Commune, Kien
Giang Province, many rice farmers have adopted a technique called
"alternate wetting and drying", or AWD, and benefited.Do Ngoc Kim,
one of them, said that the new farming method had helped his family reduce
fertiliser and pesticide use while increasing rice yields by 10 per cent and
profits significantly.At his co-operative, where members had applied the new
farming method on 270ha a year ago, the figure had increased to 500ha now, he
said.
Phan Huy Thong, director of the
National Agriculture Extension Centre, said with its more than 1.8 million
hectares under rice, the delta contributed more than half of the country's rice
output and 92 per cent of exports.
The overuse of chemical
fertilisers and burning straw after harvest following traditional farming
methods caused greenhouse gas emissions, he said.In 2000, CO2 emissions in Viet
Nam had been over 150 million tonnes of which the agricultural sector accounted
for 65.09 million tonnes, with emissions from rice farming accounting for well
over half.To reduce the emissions and improve economic efficiency in rice
production, many new and advanced farming models have been adopted in the
country, especially the delta.They include the System of Rice Intensification
(SRI), "3 down-3 up", AWD, and the "1 must-5 decrease"
(Must use certified seeds, reduce sowed seeds, crop protection chemicals,
nitrogenous fertilisers, water use, and post-harvest losses).
Huynh Quang Tin of the Mekong
Delta Research Development Institute said after four years of piloting the AWD
model in five places in the delta, productivity had increased by 10 per cent
and profits by 17 per cent compared to traditional methods.Furthermore,
efficient irrigation methods helped effectively reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, he said.Hoang Van Hong of the National Agriculture Extension Centre
said last year the centre had implemented the "3 down-3 up" and SRI
models in 13 places in the delta.
This models helped farmers not
only save seeds, agricultural inputs, and irrigation costs, but also make
optimal profits, improve soil quality and reduce green house gas emissions, he
added.Thong said despite their benefits, the new farming models were expanding
very slowly since farmers were not provided with sufficient information, and
this should be improved.The agricultural sector would consider expanding the
low-carbon farming model to produce high-quality rice to meet consumer demands
and make agriculture sustainable, he said.Local authorities and farmers should
consider their land conditions to adopt a suitable new farming method, he
added.Organised by the centre and the Hau Giang Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development, the forum attracted more than 400 delegates, including 250
farmers from the delta.
Source: VNS
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/National/2015/5/113657/
DA to provide additional rice
storage facilities
May 7, 2015
Written by Joel dela Torre
THE Department of
Agriculture yesterday announced its plan to establish more rice storage
facilities and upgrade existing ones through public-private
partnership.Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the target of these rice
mills will be near production areas to lessen both transportation time and
cost.“In areas where the private sector is reluctant to invest, we will take
the lead,” he said.Alcala added that the they are also eyeing collapsible
drying facilities for distribution to farmer cooperatives.
The DA is bent to
improve the postharvest stage in rice production to address cost issues while
promoting new cost-effective technologies to increase the milling recovery rate
of rice. Alcala said in some areas, milling facilities are
obsolete resulting in as low as 50 percent milling recovery (50 kgs of rice for
every 100 kgs of palay).“Escalating the milling recovery rate to at least 65%
could lessen the cost of rice to consumers by about P1 per kilogram,” Alcala
said.The DA aims to harvest 20 million metric tons of rice for 2015.“Hindi
natin mapapalaki ang ating supply kung hindi naman natin mapapaganda ang kita
ng ating mga magsasaka,” Alcala stressed.
http://www.journal.com.ph/news/nation/da-to-provide-additional-rice-storage-facilities
Asia Rice-Prices hit multi-month
lows but fail to attract buyers
* Thai prices hit
their lowest since June 2014
* Vietnamese rice
prices are the lowest since February
* Myanmar aims to
boost rice exports to 2 mln tonnes
By Ho Binh Minh
HANOI, May 6 (Reuters)
- Asian rice export prices fell to multi-month lows this week after holidays in
the region and demand remained thin, traders said on Wednesday.Thailand's 5
percent broken white rice RI-THBKN5-P1 eased to $385-$387 a tonne, free on
board (FOB), the lowest since June 2014, traders said.The Thai price, which
dropped below $400 on April 1, is still above the price for similar-grade
Vietnamese rice, which stood this week at $355-$360 a tonne, FOB.Vietnam's 25
percent broken rice fell to $330-$335 a tonne, FOB, the lowest since Feb. 11,
after market regulators lowered the minimum export price for the variety by
nearly 3 percent, but that still failed to tempt buyers, traders said.
The indicative
quotations this week are below the floor of $340 a tonne in effect since April
30."Prices are low but there's still no demand," a trader at a
foreign firm in Ho Chi Minh City said.Thailand, the world's second-biggest rice
exporter last year, was on holiday from May 1 to 5 while Vietnam only reopened
its markets on Monday after a public holiday from April 28 to May 1.The Thai
government will take part in a tender to be held by the Philippine government
later this month for between 200,000 and 300,000 tonnes, Chutima
Bunyapraphasara, permanent secretary at the Commerce Ministry said on
Wednesday."The tender in the Philippines is another (Thai) government
effort to push up prices," a Bangkok-based trader said. "They have to
try everything they can.
"An industry
source in Manila told Reuters there was a plan to tender for 310,000 tonnes.But
a spokesman for the National Food Authority, the Philippines' state grain
agency, said its council, which approves rice imports, had yet to issue any
advisory on new approvals.Elsewhere in the region, Myanmar plans to raise its
rice exports in the fiscal year that started in April by 10.5 percent to 2
million tonnes, said Lu Maw Myint Maung, joint secretary of the Myanmar Rice
Federation, citing demand from China and Europe.China bought 1.11 million
tonnes from Myanmar in the fiscal year that ended in March, accounting for
around 60 percent of the country's exports, based on Myanmar Commerce Ministry
data. (Additional reporting by Kaweewit Kaewjinda in BANGKOK; Erik dela Cruz in
MANILA and Aung Hla Tun in YANGON; Editing by Alan Raybould)
Police told to speed up probe into
1.75 million tonnes of rotten and adulterated rice
BANGKOK: — The National Police
Office has been told to speed up investigation into the 1.75 million tonnes of
adulterated and rotten rice stored at 186 warehouses throughout the country.
Mrs Chintana
Chaiwannakarn, board chairwoman of Public Warehouse Organisation, said
Wednesday that she was ordered by commerce permanent secretary Ms Chutima
Booyaprapat to coordinate with the Marketing Organisation for Farmers to notify
the National Police Office to try to wrap up their investigation into the 1.75
million tonnes of rotten rice and adulterated rice within June.
The
1.75 million tonnes of rice are made up of 54,000 tonnes of adulterated rice,
653,000 tonnes of rotten rice and one million tonnes of C-grade grains.Both
criminal and civil lawsuits will be taken against the warehouse owners and rice
surveyors.As for the adulterated and C-grade rice, they are to be sold by
auction whereas the rotten rice are to be sold to ethanol producers.
(Photo : Thai PBS File)
http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/police-told-to-speed-up-probe-into-1-75-million-tonnes-of-rotten-and-adulterated-rice/59153/
Nigeria: Alleged N21 Billion Rice
Import Duty Evasion - I Don't Have Power to Give Waivers - Adesina
By Emman Ovuakporie and Gabriel Ewepu
Minister of Agriculture,
Dr Akinwunmi Adesina Tuesday said as a minister he does not give waivers to
importers and that it was a case of the hunter being hunted by those that
should be hunted.Adesina who appeared before the adhoc-committee on 'Rice
Imports Quota And Duty Payments' said "I was the first to raise the alarm
via press release issued on January 2 alerting the nation that rice importers
were not paying import duty"." As it is now, it is a situation where
the hunter is being hunted as I clearly stated in the release that about
N36billion is being owed by importers and those owing must pay back to the
treasury"
http://allafrica.com/stories/201505061159.html
Making rice
cultivation more eco-friendly
POSTED ON 05/07/2015 11:17 AM | UPDATED 05/07/2015 6:07 PM
MANILA, Philippines – Producing Juan’s meal-time favorite
– a cup of steaming, freshly cooked rice – is a complicated task.There’s the
constant problem of meeting the daily demand for it, what with rice being the most consumed food product by Filipinos.The Food and Agriculture Organization said that while the Philippines is an agricultural country, it
has “begun to develop an untenable dependence on imported rice to ensure
sufficient national stocks.”More recently, a report by the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) showed that rice cultivation is extremely vulnerable to
the effects of climate change.Ironically, however, agriculture is also one of
the significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions globally. The
US Environmental Protection Agency reported that 29% of the Philippines’ emissions come from the
agricultural sector.How then should the Philippines solve this problem?
According to the UNDP, it’s through the proposed
Adaptation and Mitigation Initiatives in Agriculture (AMIA), a holistic
approach that will hopefully address the issues of climate change, food
security, water saving, and poverty eradication.It involves the creation of a
policy providing farmers with economic incentives to switch from continuous
flooding to Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and to sustain its use in the
long run.To diversify the country’s agricultural transformation, farmers will
also be offered technical training under a support package.
The AMIA will target a total of 750,000 hectares of
irrigated rice fields nationwide to potentially bring about a 12,151-kiloton
carbon dioxide emission reductions by 2020.This sector-specific climate change
instrument was reviewed by the following: UNDP, Department of Agriculture (DA),
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Asian Development Bank,
Philippine Statistics Authority, Bureau of Soils and Water Management, Climate
Change Commission, Department of Environment and Natural Resources,
International Rice Research Institute, and National Irrigation Administration.
Alternative irrigation technology
The widespread practice of continuously flooding rice
fields up until the harvest season contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions
of the Philippines.
As a replacement, the AMIA will promote the use of AWD,
also called controlled or intermittent irrigation, in rice cultivation.In AWD, a perforated field water tube is inserted into the ground so farmers can monitor the depth of water table in the
field.This modified water management and methane mitigation scheme leads to a
shorter period for rice field flooding and better soil aeration.AWD also has
the following benefits: More rice grains, higher zinc availability and lodging
resistance, better root anchorage, improved equity, and reduced pest
infestation and upstream-downstream conflicts in canal irrigation systems.
More rice, less conflict
The implementation of the AMIA
is expected to positively contribute to food security in the Philippines.The
use of AWD will increase the total irrigated area, as more water will be
available for irrigation, especially during the dry season.Several research and
pilot projects also showed that AWD can increase rice yields up to 5%.A PhilRice
report on a pilot project showed that AWD use can potentially decrease conflict
in farming communities. According to the report, farmers working around the
downstream irrigation network receive less water than those working
upstream.AWD allows for a more even distribution of irrigation water among
farmers.
Hindrances
The UNDP noted that “there is
no concrete action plan” presently in place to support the adoption of more
efficient irrigation systems in the country.The report also said that farmers
are likely to revert back to continuous flooding after trying AWD. This is
because the new irrigation scheme has “no particular gains” on water
management, as farmers pay for irrigation fees based on land area size and not
on amount of water used.
AWD is also more
labor-intensive because farmers will have to attend to the fields more often to
follow a set irrigation calendar.Since 2005, several attempts have been made to
implement AWD in big irrigation systems in the country such as in the Upper
Pampanga and Magat River Integrated Irrigation Systems.On September 11, 2009,
the DA also issued DA Administrative Order 25 or the “Guidelines on the
Adoption of Water Saving Technologies (WST) in Irrigated Rice Production
Systems in the Philippines.”The
UNDP report said it is the only existing policy that supports the AWD, but it
has not been fully implemented yet.
Four years later, Agriculture
Secretary Proceso Alcala released a memorandum to mainstream climate change in
DA’s programs, policies and budget, which includes the AMIA.According to the
UNDP report, AMIA’s 5-year implementation plan will begin through the creation
of an inter-agency Rice Sector AMIA Supervisory Board by September 2015. – Rappler.com
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/hunger/92423-making-rice-cultivation-more-eco-friendly
WATCH: Rice black bugs
infest Iloilo community
Posted
at 05/07/2015 11:58 AM
JARO, Iloilo – Residents of
Barangay Bito-on are complaining about black rice bugs infestation in their
community.The black rice bugs emit foul odor and can also cause itchiness when
it comes in contact with the skin.The International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) said the insect is common in rainfed and irrigated wetland environments
and prefers continuously cropped irrigated rice areas and poorly drained
fields.IRRI explained that black bug flight patterns are affected by the lunar
cycle.''On full moon nights, large numbers of adults swarm to light sources,''
IRRI said.The Department of Agriculture (DA) has offered to give biological
agents to control the spread of the bugs, which were also cited in Dumangas,
Zarraga, Leganes, and Santa Barbara in Iloilo.
Umagang Kay Ganda, 7 May 2015
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/regions/05/07/15/watch-rice-black-bugs-infest-iloilo-community
GenSan council may soon require
‘half-rice’ on menus in city eateries
May 7, 2015 9:29pm
It may soon be
easier to order just half a cup of rice at eateries in General Santos City,
once a proposed measure is passed by the city council. The city council is now
taking up the proposal with food establishment owners, GMA News TV's
"Balita Pilipinas Ngayon" reported Thursday. The report said the
proposal is in support of the Philippine Rice Research Institute's "Be
Rice-ponsible" campaign, to prevent wastage of rice.Once it is passed, the
measure will require eateries such as carinderias, restaurants and fast-food
outlets and catering services to allow "half-rice" on their menus.
Penalties include P1,000 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second offense,
and P3,000 plus cancellation of business permit for the third offense. — Joel
Locsin/JDS, GMA News
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Rice lovers beware,
your favorite food may be poisoning you
Don't panic. Not yet, at least.(Reuters/Kham)
Researchers have known for
some time that the food and drink we allconsume contains arsenic.Should
we be concerned? Aren’t we protected by federal regulations? Actually, no—we
are not. In the US, as in many countries, the government regulates the
concentration of arsenic in drinking water, but does not regulate the
concentration of arsenic in any other drink or food. We have a mercury-in-food
regulation; why don’t we have an arsenic-in-food regulation?
One important difference
is that all of the compounds of mercury we find in food are equally toxic. This
is not the case for arsenic. Although we normally think of arsenic compounds as
potentially harmful, most of the arsenic we eat is harmless. Seafood, which
contains by far the highest concentrations of arsenic, delivers it as
arsenobetaine, an organic chemical containing arsenic that is innocuous to us
humans.How then should arsenic in food be regulated? To do that well, we need
to develop better ways to determine the amounts of arsenic and other chemicals
in our foods.
Focus on riceScientists are still in the early days of collecting
data on the arsenic content of food. So far, we think the only widely consumed
foodstuffs with the potential for long-term health problems due to the arsenic
content are rice and all rice-derived products, such as flour, cakes, crackers
and infant formulas.
Chemical analyses show that regardless of the origin of the rice, four
arsenic-containing compounds account for about 95% of the arsenic that is released
from rice on cooking. Two of the compounds, together known as inorganic
arsenic, are known human carcinogens, and two (monomethyl and dimethylated
arsenic) are possibly carcinogenic to humans, according the International Agency for Research on Cancer. If an in-food safety limit set
based solely on concentration level, it would designate all food from the
aquatic environment to be unfit for human consumption.
Some researchers consider
that to keep the risk of getting an arsenic-induced cancer to an acceptable
level, daily adult intake should not exceed a quarter cup of uncooked rice,
containing no more than 50 parts per billion (ppb), stipulating that
children should consume even less in proportion to their body weight.The
results for the analysis of a large number of rice and rice products presented
by both Consumer Reports and
the US Food and Drug Administration show
almost all rice tested contained concentrations in excess–sometimes well in
excess—of this 50 ppb limit. Brown rice has, in general, concentrations of
arsenic higher than those in white rice.
Recent science
A staple of diets the world over,
rice may also be putting some at risk.(Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski/Files)
We do not know how long we
have been exposed. Only relatively recently have advances in chemical
measurement technology made it possible to detect arsenic compounds at relevant
concentrations in foodstuffs.The first results for the measurement of arsenic in
rice were made in 1998. The
global extent of the contamination was not apparent until 2005, when it was
realized that some of the highest concentrations of both inorganic and methylated
arsenic compounds are found in rice grown in the US. Results so far show that
all rice, regardless of variety and origin, contains easily measurable
concentrations of arsenic compounds.
Why is there arsenic in
rice? Rice is often grown in fields formerly used for cotton, whose production
involved spraying with cacodylic acid (the dimethyl arsenic compound) to kill
boll weevil pests, and then with arsenic acid to kill and desiccate the plant
prior to mechanical harvesting. Rice also assimilates arsenic to a greater
extent than other crops, such as wheat
and barley. Groups within the population
whose diet consists of largely of rice, such as sufferers from celiac disease,
infants, and Asian Americans, should be hoping for action sooner rather than
later.
Many of the
arsenic-containing compounds that we eat and drink also come from processes
involving naturally occurring arsenic, which is widely distributed on the
Earth’s crust. All lifeforms, ranging from bacteria to primates, are capable of
transforming the inorganic arsenic compounds derived from the minerals that get
into the food web into a series of organic compounds, rendering them less
toxic.
Since 2012, advocacy
group Consumers Union has
been calling for an arsenic-in-food standard and the implementation of arsenic
reduction strategies, such as phasing out the use of arsenic-containing
pesticides. However, the FDA is still working on a study of the long-term
risks and will not consider taking any action until this is complete.Those of
us who do not eat more than the amounts recommended by Consumer Reports can
probably afford to wait. But groups within the population whose diet consists
of largely of rice, such as sufferers from celiac disease, infants, and Asian
Americans, should be hoping for action sooner rather than later. Asian
Americans are the only US racial/ethnic population for whom cancer is the leading cause of death and a diet heavy on rice could contribute to this.
Better methods needed
Not all scientists agree
on how to assess the health risks of consuming inorganic and methylated arsenic
compounds. But no matter what the basis, at the very least, a meaningful
arsenic-in-rice regulation has to be supported by reliable information on the
inorganic arsenic concentration. Unfortunately, the chemical measurement
community is making slow progress towards this capability.A recent
round-robin proficiency test, in which
almost 100 expert laboratories spread across 35 countries participated,
involved the determination of the total arsenic and the inorganic arsenic in a
carefully prepared rice flour reference material. No matter what the basis, at
the very least, a meaningful arsenic-in-rice regulation has to be supported by
reliable information on the inorganic arsenic concentration.
Depending on how stringent
the evaluation criteria applied were, between 23% and 41% of the participants
did not get a satisfactory result for the determination of total arsenic, and
between 25% and 43% did not get a satisfactory result for the determination of
inorganic arsenic. Furthermore, only a third of the participants actually
submitted a result for the inorganic arsenic content, which probably means they
were unable to determine the concentration of the most-harmful form.
We
know enough to be concerned and consumers should be demanding more information.
Incentives are needed not only to get rice suppliers to implement
arsenic-reduction strategies but also to get analytical chemists to collaborate
on the development of reliable methods.A
hard-to-meet inorganic arsenic-in-rice standard of less than 100 parts per
billion would be a good start. In the meantime, choose white rice (basmati or
sushi), rinse it in cold water, and cook it in excess water—arsenic-free, of
course.
http://qz.com/400329/rice-lovers-beware-your-favorite-food-may-be-poisoning-you/
Thailand: Thai rice occupy over 60 pct of Hong Kong market
5/7/2015
Thai News Service
Thai News Service
The Hong Kong Trade and Industry
Department imported49,900
tons of rice from Thailand in the first quarter of 2015, a 48.9 percent
increase compared to the same period last year.The higher rice exports to Hong Kong (China) brought
Thailand's rice exports to all markets to 62.2 percent in the
first quarter 2015.Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce Duangkamon Chiambut
said the Hong Kong Trade and Industryimported 80,400 tons of rice during the first
three months this year, increasing by 0.75 percent.
A drop in Thai Hom Mali rice price and importers' higher confidence in Thai rice were important factors which led to the first quarter
growth, the spokesperson added.The strengthening of relations between the Thai
government and Hong Kong rice importers also helped Thai rice exports achieved a growth target of higher
than 60 percent, she said.In 2013, Thailand exported 6.6 million tonnes of rice, worth 4.42
billion USD, worldwide. In 2014, Thai rice exportswere
10.9 million tons or 5.34 billion USD.-VNA
http://www.world-grain.com/news/news%20home/LexisNexisArticle.aspx?articleid=2358418064
Rice Import Duty Waiver: Reps
Threaten To Sanction Adesina
Posted: 8:05 am, May 7, 2015 by
admin
Akinwumi Adesina, Minister for
Agriculture
ABUJA- The House of
Representatives has threatened to sanction the Minister of Agriculture, Dr
Akinwumi Adesina over failure to appear before its Ad hoc Committee
investigating alleged fraud in the ministry.Specifically, the committee is
probing alleged evasion of payment of rice import duties and levies by importer
and investors.The Chairman of the committee and Deputy Leader of the House, Leo
Ogor, made the threat at the public hearing in Abuja to uncover fraud in
importation of rice.
In his address, Ogor said, “this
hearing is sequel to a resolution of the House mandating the Ad hoc Committee
to investigate alleged fraud abuses, evasion of import duties by rice
importers.“The aim is to uncover fraud and expose the endemic corruption in the
importation of rice with a view to stemming the tide and boost employment
generation as well as strengthen the nation’s depleting foreign reserve.
“The minister has no reason not
to be here because the ministry was duly served the invitation.
“I see no reason why people would
be invited to a hearing that’s for the benefit of the people and will not turn
up.“You are a servant of the people just like we all are,’’ he said.According
to Ogor, what we are doing here is for the benefit of our nation’s economy; so,
before the end of the hearing, we are hoping to see people from the ministry.He
threatened that if the ministry’s officials failed to appear before the
committee, it might be forced ‘’to make some very strong pronouncement.
”The administration of quota and
duty payable on excess importation indicated that the minister gave certain
concessions to some importers, who allegedly exceeded their quotas and did not
pay liable indemnity.The committee, therefore, questioned the powers of the
minister to grant such waiver on the basis of encouraging investment and job
creation.According to it, the practice is discouraging local investors who
don’t even have the capacity to utilise their allotted quoten done.
http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/2015/05/07/rice-import-duty-waiver-reps-threaten-to-sanction-adesina/#sthash.a0IyNheA.dpuf
Rice importers to pay
36 Billion Naira into FG account
Inside
AfricaNigeria May 7, 2015 0
Victoria Ayuwei, Per Second
News—-The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina
Thursday revealed that the alleged rice importation duty scam reported to be 21
Billion Naira is actually 36 Billion Naira, which is to be paid into the
Federal Government account by rice importers.
However, Mr. Adesina in response to the alleged scam
said that he never granted waiver to any rice importing company contrary to
allegations that a foreign rice investor enjoyed the minister’s relief in duty
payment bills.” I have to be transparent and no company is above the law
therefore,any company owing the Nigerian Government must pay” he added.Per
Second News Thursday obtained a document showing the unethical practice of rice
investors in the country.
Source:
Per Second News
Iraq Grain Tender Canceled, USA Rice to Meet with U.S. Ambassador
ARLINGTON, VA --
Earlier this week, in a move that was only mildly surprising, the Iraqi
Not U.S. so not the
best
Grain Board canceled their
current tender request without explanation or fanfare."The only thing we
can predict with any accuracy in this market is the total unpredictability of
this market," said Betsy Ward, president & CEO of USA Rice.Ward said
that although the U.S. bids are very competitive, and despite regular contact
between the government of Iraq, the U.S. government, and USA Rice, she thinks
it could be a long time before U.S. rice is sold with any consistency in this
country unless something changes dramatically."Frankly, we're disheartened
by the lack of progress we're able to make with the Iraqi Grain Board,"
she added.
"We know our quality and
logistics are better, and our prices are lower than South American origins, so
one can only speculate as to why they aren't buying U.S. rice."Ward will
raise these concerns in what promises to be a frank meeting in Washington
tomorrow with the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Stuart Jones. "We're going to
share with the Ambassador what we're experiencing here, and we look forward to
hearing his take on events and market realities in-country and maybe get a
clearer picture of what we can expect in the near term," Ward added.
Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458
USDA Announces $235 Million in
Funding for RCPP
WASHINGTON, DC --
Earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced an
Bird sanctuary
investment of $235 million in
funding to be applied towards the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
(RCPP). The RCPP, created by the 2014 Farm Bill, is a conservation initiative
administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that
enables local leaders across the country to implement programs that will
preserve natural resources in their region.The first round of projects funded
through the RCPP was announced earlier this year. USDA awarded $394 million to
the first round of RCPP participants in all 50 states that helped fund 115
projects.The rice industry will benefit significantly from the first round of
RCPP funding. RCPP grants were awarded to California and Louisiana in addition
to a $10 million national grant to USA Rice and Ducks Unlimited.
"These funds are
specifically set aside for rice producers and will be used to help them install
NRCS approved conservation practices. The initial Rice RCPP was the first of
its kind and that got attention at NRCS," said USA Rice's Vice President
of Government Affairs Ben Mosely. Mosely
added, "We're in the process of implementing the first award and hope to
have growers signing up late summer or early fall, and we're already working on
a new proposal for this second phase of the RCPP. We plan to build on that
platform of the rice industry's commitment to on-farm management practices that
address water quantity, water quality and wildlife habitat."USDA plans to
invest $1.2 billion in conservation projects through 2018. The deadline to submit
an RCPP proposal is July 8, 2015.
Contact: Colleen Klemczewski (703) 236-1446
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports
Reported
WASHINGTON, DC -- Net rice sales
of 62,500 MT for 2014/2015 were down 45 percent from the previous week and 9
percent from the prior four-week average, according to today's Export Sales
Highlights report. Increases were
reported for South Korea (20,000 MT), Mexico (17,000 MT), Honduras (16,000 MT,
including 8,500 MT switched from unknown destinations), Colombia (15,400 MT),
and Libya (12,500 MT). Decreases were
reported for Turkey (28,500 MT) and unknown destinations (6,000 MT).
Exports of 78,700 MT were up 36 percent from the
previous week and 13 percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were Mexico (19,600
MT), Colombia (15,500 MT), Honduras (12,300 MT), Japan (12,200 MT), and Haiti
(7,100 MT). This summary is based on
reports from exporters from the period April 24-30.
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Mr. Xi, and others, tear down these walls
By Former
Rep. Larry Combest (R-Texas), contributor
It is not often
when we can so objectively fact-check a claim made in Washington.We are deluged
with a cacophony of voices during debates on legislation, each claiming to be
authoritative. But when the debate is over, everyone forgets the claims
made.One claim during the farm bill debate was that, by unilaterally ending or
sharply cutting U.S. farm policy, the United States would achieve credibility
on global trade such that it would cause other countries to follow.
Well, since
passage of the farm bill — when lawmakers agreed to cut $23 billion, mainly
from agriculture — four reports have been published illustrating that the
opposite is happening.As support for U.S. farmers and ranchers declines,
already high foreign subsidies and tariffs that far exceed U.S. support are
reaching record levels.On April 1, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman
released a report on foreign trade barriers outlining in more than 400 pages
the trade infractions of trading partners, with communist China's list reading
like a mob boss's rap sheet.On April 15, J. Wesley Burnett of the College of
Charleston prepared a report on behalf of the Americans for Limited Government,
citing the bad behavior of our trading partners (as well as some bad U.S.
behavior on tax and environmental policies) and concluded that the United
States cannot unilaterally disarm because it would put our producers at a
competitive disadvantage. Instead, Burnett called on the U.S. to take a hard
line to ensure foreign competitors do not continue to violate their trade
commitments and prevent the world from moving closer to a free market.
A month earlier, Texas Tech University
updated its Foreign Subsidies Database. And, in November of last year, DTB
Associates issued its foreign subsidies update. Each of these reports confirmed
the findings of the other two, documenting sharply rising foreign subsidies and
tariffs, with DTB observing that many countries, including communist China, are
exceeding permissible support levels under their trade commitments and are delinquent
in complying with annual reporting requirements.
In short, our trading partners are not
following America's example; they are cheating.So, a claim was made and now the
verdict is in. We know that the United States cannot unilaterally disarm
America's farmers and ranchers and expect the world to simply
follow.Unfortunately, "I told you so" is not gratifying. In
Washington political circles, winning an argument is everything. And, in the
policy realm, in a town up to its eyeballs in reports, these are just four
more.But to American farmers and ranchers, the statistics hit home in the form
of a 43 percent drop in net farm income, and the victory feels hollow.
Regarding cotton, China amassed 50 million
bales into a reserve over four years. Fourteen to 24 million bales came from
the global market, rallying global prices. But recently, China changed gears,
shorting imports while encouraging domestic overproduction with a price
guarantee for its producers at around $1.40 cent per pound, causing global
prices to plummet to the 60 cents range. This has wreaked havoc on U.S. cotton
farmers operating under a new policy largely predicated on the promise of a
free market. Many of these producers are also contending with multiple years of
severe drought.
Meanwhile, two years ago, Mexico overproduced
sugar by about 1 million tons, but kept Mexican sugar prices up by dumping that
surplus, plus some, onto the U.S. market. U.S. sugar prices nosedived. The U.S.
government ruled that Mexico, which owns one-fifth of its sugar industry and
subsidizes all of its industry, was illegally subsidizing and dumping, and by
huge margins. And Mexico is not alone in its rich subsidies, with rivals on the
world stage like Brazil, Thailand and India.According to DTB Associates, these
last three countries, plus China and Turkey, have all exceeded their
permissible World Trade Organization (WTO) support limits, while four of the five
are also illegally subsidizing their exports of wheat, sugar, corn, rice and
wheat flour. China's and India's rice policies alone are distorting global
markets and whipsawing U.S. rice producers.
The
study goes on to note that most of these countries are delinquent in reporting
their subsidies to the WTO and are using bogus methodologies to understate
support when they do report. China has apparently not made good on its annual
report in four years and, even then, covered subsidies in effect three to six
years prior to when the report was made.The upshot is that while Washington was
busy working on a farm bill containing reforms and savings, our trading
partners have been busy, too — erecting a full range of barriers, from the
sanitary and phytosanitary kind erected to lock out U.S. beef, poultry and pork
to nonsense biotech objections and heavy (and apparently illegal) subsidies.For
the sake of not putting America's farmers and ranchers at an unfair competitive
disadvantage, Burnett called on the U.S. not to unilaterally disarm America's
farmers and ranchers but to take a hard line in enforcing our existing trade
agreements with foreign countries that cheat.Maintaining a modest response to
the cheaters by preserving U.S. farm policy is not only the right thing to do,
it is also an essential means of maintaining support for trade and the only
leverage the United States has in getting our trading partners to one day tear
down the walls they have been so busy building.
Combest represented the 19th Congressional District of Texas from 1985
to 2002 and chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Agriculture
Committee. He is now a principal at Combest Sell & Associates.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/240904-mr-xi-and-others-tear-down-these-walls?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+May+7%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
Government subsidies distort rice exports overseas?
Five countries - Thailand, India, Vietnam,
Pakistan and the United States - account for 80 percent of all the rice traded
in the world.That means market distorting subsidy programs by any of
those countries can have a major impact on the rice exports of the others, says
Carl Brothers, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Riceland
Foods in Stuttgart, Ark.Speaking at the annual Ag Update Meeting at the opening
of the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis, Tenn., Brothers said Riceland
Foods has lessened the impact of the competition for exports by helping
increase U.S. consumption of its products from 50 percent some years ago to 75
percent to 80 percent today.
But exports continue to be important for the
U.S. rice industry and for producers. That's why the USA Rice Federation has
asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to begin an investigation of
subsidy programs operated in rice-exporting countries, including the United
States."Thailand has been the No. 1 rice exporting country for most of my
career at Riceland Foods," said Brothers. "But Thailand began a new
subsidy program two years ago that paid producers the equivalent of about $10
per bushel to grow rice."As a result of the way they operated the program,
their exports dropped from around 11 million metric tons to 7.8 million metric
tons in 2013/14, dropping them to No. 3 among exporters.
The program cost the country more than $21
billion. It nearly broke the country. The prime minister who initiated the
program is under indictment and the military has taken over the
country."India has also been subsidizing its rice production with the
result that its exports jumped from 2.8 million metric tons to 10 million
metric tons at the same time Thailand's exports were declining, he said.
India's exports are expected to decline in 2015/16, however, due to shortages
of water for irrigation.
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/government-subsidies-distort-rice-exports-overseas?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+May+7%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
Arkansas crop planting makes quick progress
May 6, 2015Ryan McGeeney, University of Arkansas
Extension | Delta Farm Press
·
Five major crops now
nearly caught up with five-year average in state
·
Growers working overtime
to take advantage of available planting window
·
Agronomists urge
growers to plant variety of cultivars
After weeks of lagging well behind the state’s
five-year average in planting progress, Arkansas growers have finally pulled
within a few percentage points of historic averages, according to a crop
progress and condition report published May 4 by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.According to the report, planted corn, cotton, rice, sorghum and
soybeans are each within 1 to 5 percent of their respective five-year averages
for progress as of May 3, with all five crops surpassing the progress made by
this time last year.
“We’ve very quickly turned that corner from
‘so wet we can’t get in’ to ‘so dry we have to inject moisture to get a stand
up,’” he said. “It’s like the old adage: you’re never more than two weeks away
from a drought.”Hardke said he and other agronomists with the Division of
Agriculture were encouraging growers to plant a variety of cultivars and
maturities in order to avoid having “large blocks of the same things all coming
ready for harvest at the same time,” which could lead to issues with timely
harvest resulting in yield and quality losses
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/arkansas-crop-planting-makes-quick-progress?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+May+7%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
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