News Headline...
1. Pakistan exports get more boost
2. Poland keen to strengthen agri-trade ties with India
3. Punjab rice millers threaten to boycott milling this season
4. Rice of an empire
5. Relief now has a different meaning for farmers
6. Punjab rice millers threaten to boycott milling for paddy season
7. Paddy price dips by 60%, Karnal farmers worried
8. Plastic Tubs May Hold Secrets to Producing More Rice for the World
9. China Rice Market to Open Up to U.S. Imports With Trade Accord
10. APEDA COMMODITY NEWS
11. News by USA Rice Daily News
12. Is rice cereal the best food for baby?
13. News by Phil Rice News
14. Cabinet to be asked to completely ban second-crop farming for 2015-16 season
15. Severe Drought Expected In Thailand Early 2016
16. PH to import 750,000 tons of rice
17. Cambodia businesses fret Myanmar
18. Tough blow for Thai rice farmers already in debt
19. U.S. & China to Sign Rice Protocol Agreement
20. Nepal records imports 210,600t of rice worth Rs5.74b in 2014
21. Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open-Sep 14
22. Record rice output doesn’t bring smile for Bangla farmers
23. Rice output hits record, farmers not so happy
24. Flood damage estimated at 736,000 acres
25. Myanmar claims rice sufficiency despite flood
26. Second rice crop to be banned
News Detail...
Pakistan exports get more boost
Mm. Aftab
September 14, 2015 | Last updated on September 14, 2015 at 07.43 am
FDI
inflows were $75 million, compared to $18 million in the two comparable
months.Pakistan has formed a new strategic policy to make a big push in exports
particularly to the booming regions like Middle East, Africa, South East Asia
and China.The new target to boost exports to an all time high of $35 billion a
year means that within three years the amount has to go up by nearly $10
billion, which will require considerable effort by the industry, businesses and
services.The three-year plan called "Strategic Trade Policy Framework
(STPF) - 2015-18 has been okayed by the Cabinet Committee on Production and
Exports. Low-cost finance, reduction in procedures, cheaper cargo and freight
services, regular supply of electricity and gas and greater cooperation between
the government and trade organisations are some of the incentives, which are
required to achieve the results.
The
STPF was planned by Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on the back of
worrisome performance of the export sector.Exports during the June 30-ended
fiscal year 2015 totalled $24.2 billion, against the official target of $27
billion.Fiscal year 2015 was the third consecutive year of declining exports.
Compared to fiscal year 2014, exports in fiscal year 2015 were down 3.5 per
cent. The exports were $25.1 billion in fiscal year 2014. The actual exports in
fiscal year 2015 were only $25.1 billion against the government's target of
$29.9 billion."All steps will be taken to enhance export to the $35
billion level by 2018 by expanding production of all currently exported items
and those with a future potential in the changing global market," said
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who chaired the Cabinet Committee on Production and
Exports.
"The
government is cognisant of Pakistan's declining trend in exports. In view of
this, we will take all possible steps to reverse the trend," Dar
said."While formulating the new strategy for higher exports, we have taken
into account the potential of the industry and the economy, as well as the
hurdles in growth, which restrained the output. These hurdles include the
continued shortage of electricity and gas, rising cost of doing business,
appreciation of the rupee against the dollar and other currencies, as well as
the growing foreign competition, particularly to our textiles," Khurrum
Dastgir said.The STFP has outlined the potential markets, which will be
targeted to enhance exports. The focus for export of high-quality,
"Basmati" rice will be the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and
Iran.
Pakistan
will make a push for export of its fruits, including oranges, mangoes,
vegetables, potatoes, onions and halal meat products to the Middle East, the
UAE and Iran.South East Asia will be the target for export of horticulture
products. India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Africa are identified for export of
cement. Pakistan will offer a freight subsidy for export of cement to Africa.
Items marked for export to China are rice, cotton yarn, fabrics and
ready-to-wear garments. Wheat, rice, meat and cement are identified for export
to Afghanistan. In order to expand trade, border marketing support,
development, expansion of banking facilities, improvement of the rail-link and
infra-structure development will be undertaken.
Products destined for the
Iran market will include provision of warehousing support, product branding,
"halal" certification.The STFP provides Rs20 billion for research and
development to expand and upgrade Pakistani exports and to achieve the targets
set by this plan.The government has also decided to undertake immediate steps
for expanding farm products, further improving the quality and range of
products, especially fruits and vegetables, commodity pricing and to examine
the input cost, which will have to be restrained in order to ensure expansion
of exports and enable the country to counter foreign competition. The
government will have a deeper look at other hurdles being faced by exporters.
These issues relate to R&D, technology problems, moving out of the current
concentration of traditional products, improvement of resources and financing
of the potentially exportable products, upgradation of all products including
those needed to match with the new and developing demands of the consumers in
foreign markets where incomes, living standards and lifestyles are changing and
rising, Commerce Minister Dasgir said.
The
government's Committee on Ease of Doing Business, the State Bank of Pakistan
(SBP), the central bank, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Textiles will
work jointly to achieve these objectives. Pakistani fashion industry is
constantly increasing its exports and arranging fashion show in the UAE, Qatar
and other foreign markets. One has to look at the latest foreign trade
statistics in order to understand the importance of export volumes and values
in the context of the entire external balances. Some improvement is visible in
this sector according to the latest SBP statistics.
SBP says the current account deficit has narrowed down by 80 per
cent to $150 million in July - the first month of fiscal year 2016.Both exports
and imports drop down in July. Exports were down to $1.76 billion from $1.91
billion in the same month last year. Imports declined to $3.5 billion from $4
billion in the two comparable months.FDI inflows were $75 million, compared to
$18 million in the two comparable months.For the whole of fiscal year 2015, the
overall current account deficit was $2.3 billion - 27 per cent lower than the
deficit in FY-14.Fiscal year 2015 also saw the overall imports totalling $41.13
billion as compared to $41.66 billion in fiscal year 2014.
The foreign exchange reserves on September 3 were $18.497 billion,
of which SBP held $13.458 billion, enough to cover imports for three months.
The forex reserves held by commercial banks were $5.050 billion. Analysts and
businesses are also questioning the current rupee-dollar parity. They claim
that devaluing the rupee to a "realistic level" can reduce the
current export slowdown.The open market rate of dollar was Rs104.45/104.65 and
Rs103.80/104 in the inter-bank market over the weekend. Institute for Policy
Reforms, a research group said: "The rupee remains significantly
overvalued which has impaired the competitiveness of our exports." Several
businessmen said the rupee is overvalued up to five percent against the dollar,
and lowering it will help exports to rise. But the government has taken no
decision on such claims.
IMF's continued disbursement out of the $6.2 billion EFF facility,
Pakistan's planned issuance of eurobonds, and ongoing lower prices of imported
oil and commodities are expected to continue support the external
balances," says SBP.This picture of the external balances indicates that
an all out efforts should go on to raise exports. And, now the STFP provides
that road map.Views expressed by the author are his own and do not reflect the
newspaper's policy.
Khaleej Times
Poland keen to strengthen agri-trade ties with India
Last Updated: Mon, Sep 14, 2015 18:20 hrs
Poland is keen to strengthen agricultural trade ties with India and wants to import tea, basmati rice, mangoes and spices, a minister from that country said today. "We have a new strategy to promote our agricultural produce in the global market and India is one of them. We would like to import agri produces like spices, basmati rice, mango, cashew, raisins and tea from India," the European country's Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Urban Development, Zofia Szalczyk, told PTI here. The minister is on a four-day visit to the country, leading a 12-member delegation to promote Polish agricultural sector and food companies.
Szalczyk will also visit Delhi and meet agriculture ministry officials and industry players. She urged Indian companies to achieve European Union standards as there are vast opportunities in Europe. She said Poland too has a lot to offer India, like dairy products, confectionery, sweets, chocolates, fruits and vegetables. "Our environment and natural resources help in producing the best quality produce. We export to other European Union countries with high quality standards like France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Now we want to focus to strengthen our global export market, including India," she added.
She said 11 years ago, Poland was a net importer of food products. However, the country invested close to 40 million euros in new technologies for farmers, which yielded positive results. This year, Poland has exported 22 billion euros worth of food produce to the global market. Bi-lateral trade between India and Poland is about USD 1.69 billion. India mainly exports cotton, textiles, chemical products, electro mechanical appliances, vehicles and vessels to Poland and imports agro products, mineral and chemical products.
www.sify.com
Punjab rice millers threaten to boycott milling this season
Accusing
state-owned procurement agencies of harassing them by demanding “unjustified
dues”, Punjab-based rice millers on Monday threatened to boycott milling for
the upcoming paddy procurement season.Agitating millers under the banner of
Punjab Rice Millers’ Association sought a meeting with state Food and Civil
Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon to resolve their issues on urgent
basis.“State-owned procurement agencies have started harassing us unnecessarily
by demanding unjustified payments from rice millers,” Punjab Rice Millers
Association President Tarsem Saini said.
‘Pay
charges’
He added
that millers are being asked to pay charges for deviating from the monthly
schedule of rice delivery.“As per usual practice, we were never asked to pay
any charges for any monthly delay in rice delivery once the rice is delivered
at the end of milling season. But now they are asking to pay charges on the
same,” he said, adding that Value Added Tax was also being asked to pay on the
value cut of crop.Rice Millers further pointed out that the procurement
agencies have been asked to pay charges for jute bags used during 2014-15.“We
will not participate in rice milling in the coming paddy procurement season if
such harassment was not stopped,” he said.Millers said instead of demanding
recoveries from them, the agencies should pay them the sum owed.
Transportation
charges
“We are
yet to be paid about Rs 200 crore of transportation charges for rice delivered
to the FCI in 2003-04 despite FCI paying the amount of state agencies to pay
us,” he claimed.They further said that they were not paid the transportation
charges for transporting paddy for the last two seasons.Accusing procurement
agencies of preparing anti-millers policies, Mr Saini said that millers would
not tolerate the “unwarranted” stance of these agencies, asking the state
government to resolve their issues.Paddy procurement usually starts from
October for central pool in Punjab. – PTI
Rice of an empire
Updated:
Monday September 14, 2015 MYT 8:41:22 AM
by zieman
Apart
from selling 21 different brands of rice, SFSB also offers more than 100 other
food products .
A housewife with plenty of energy and ideas in
the 1960s, Faiza Bawumi sold bedsheets, opened a spice shop, then moved into
the rice wholesale business. Today her company, SFSB, moves RM250mil’s worth of
rice a year, writes ZIEMAN.
MOST
people her age would prefer to kick back and take things easy, but not Faiza Bawumi
Sayed Ahmad. At 73, she is still working hard at consolidating her wholesale
rice business.The fact that the founder and managing director of Syarikat Faiza
Sdn Bhd (SFSB) has seven children and more than 30 grandchildren has not slowed
her quest of building a veritable business empire. Not now and not in the last
47 years. Faiza created SFSB almost single-handedly in 1968.
Today,
SFSB is one of the most trusted brands in the region, selling 21 different
brands of rice, while its subsidiaries Faiza Marketing and Faiza Food sell more
than 100 food products including spices, noodles, ketchup, flour, rock salt and
ketupat cubes.
SFSB is also known for establishing a niche market for specialty rice like
Faiza Emas, Basmathi (Moghul), Moghul Parboiled, Taj Mahal, Lagenda, Great
Wall, Mongkut and Mahsuri. The Egypt-born Faiza’s journey to success has been a
long and challenging one.“I’ve learn something new every day since I started my
business. My mission was to build a brand and help the needy. Even today, I
still aspire to strengthen the position of my rice business. There are still
many areas that need to be beefed up,” she says.
Faiza came to Malaysia in 1964 with her
husband, a former kadi (a judge who handles religious legal matters),
and mastered Bahasa Malaysia within three months. She now considers herself a
true Malaysian. A young mother of one at the time in Batu Pahat, Johor, Faiza
found she could not stay idle for long, so she started a small business.
She may
be 73, but rice merchant Faiza is still raring to go.She sewed tablecloths and
sold bed sheets, pillowcases and encyclopaedias. Then she moved on to
spices.Though an Egyptian, Faiza loved the taste of curry and ventured into the
spice business, grinding and selling fresh spices. She mastered the art of
making curries and formulated her own spice mixes by watching spice traders at
work. Her spices were packed in small packages and marketed under the brand
Bunga Raya.“I made all the spices at home, from washing, drying and frying the
spices. The spices came from Arab Street in Singapore. Then, I did my marketing
from house to house. My sales grew and I had doubled my production within six
months.“The only snag was I couldn’t register the Bunga Raya brand. It was
already being used and I had no choice but to use my own name for the brand,”
she remembers.
The
spice business had grown enough by 1968 that she decided to buy grinding
machines and open a shop. Her interest soon turned to rice. She was keen to
import rice, especially long-grained basmati rice from Thailand, Pakistan and
India. Soon, she applied for a wholesaling license to sell various types of
rice, including ponni, basmati and fragrant rice from Thailand.“I shopped for
the right type of rice in India and Pakistan, and after each trip, I would do a
survey by going to a few houses. Getting the license to be a wholesaler for
rice was not easy.
But I finally got it and started selling many
types of rice,” says Faiza.In 2009, she bought her first rice milling machine
from Japan for RM3mil. By then, Faiza was already an expert in rice. According
to SFSB’s head of special marketing projects, Rosli Ahmad, each of the
company’s brands has its loyal customers. “Each rice type has its own special
characteristics in terms of aroma, grain, stickiness. We try to cater to all
the rice needs of Malaysians and will continue to offer value-for-money rice
products. Besides rice imported from Thailand and Cambodia, we are also the
pioneer in importing high-grade rice like basmati and ponni,” says Rosli.Rice
being packaged at the company’s facility.The company’s sale for rice in 2014
was RM257mil, while the sales revenue up to July this year was RM139mil.
“One of
the challenges we face in the rice business is that the company is subject to
the policies of Padiberas Nasional Bhd or Bernas, the sole permit holder for
importing rice into Malaysia. Bernas provides shorter credit terms than we
provide to SFSB’s customers. “Recently, the strength of the US dollar has also
become an issue. Although we have a contract with Bernas, which eliminates
price fluctuation of imported rice, the recent upward trend of the US dollar
could have an impact on future contracts,” explains Rosli. According to Faiza,
their records indicate that Malaysian consumers still prefer the SST (Super
Special Tempatan/Local super special) grades, which is limited in supply and
very competitive. This type of rice sells between RM23 to RM26 per 10kg
(inclusive of 5% broken rice), whereas the basmati retails at RM40 and above
per 5kg.
“There is
a huge difference in the pricing of SST grade and basmati. The current market
is highly competitive, as competitors had also seen the potential of the niche
market of high-grade rice,” Faiza says. “We are still struggling to offer the
best quality products and services. We still continue to educate consumers and
promote our speciality and high-grade rice brands, especially the Taj Mahal for
health-conscious consumers and the premium quality basmati brands like Moghul,
Kohinoor and Parboiled Moghul,” adds Faiza. In 1998, Faiza Marketing was
incorporated with Faiza’s daughter Najwa Abu Bakar at the helm. The company
manufactures and markets a wide range of spices. With more than 20 types of
products, its brands, such as Faiza Raja Curry, Faiza Curry, Faiza Beriani and
Faiza Bukhari, have become household names.
SFSB now
has two facilities, one in Subang Jaya and another in Sri Gading, Batu Pahat,
set up at a cost of RM14mil.
The
40,000 sq ft production plant in Batu Pahat handles SFSB’s rice processing and
packaging. It has a total production capacity of 200 tonnes a day and has
machinery to handle de-stoning, polishing, grading, colour sorting and
packaging. Meanwhile the warehouse facility in Subang Jaya can store 2,000
tonnes of goods and deliver 250 tonnes a day.Faiza, who now oversees a company
with 550 employees, has no intention of slowing down. She wants to give the
best to her customers and is still busy working on a strategy to strengthen
SFSB’s position in various businesses.“I want to be one of the biggest
taxpayers in Malaysia to help more poor people. That has always been my
aspiration,” says Faiza.
Asian News Network
Relief now has a different meaning for farmers
Published:
September 14, 2015
Sector
keenly awaits PM’s word amid falling commodity prices. PHOTO: AYESHA
MIR/EXPRESS
KARACHI:
While it is too early to paint a complete
picture of what is happening in Pakistan’s agricultural sector, one thing is for
sure: the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would have to come to the
rescue of farmers who are feeling the heat of falling commodity prices.
On its
part, Islamabad has come up with a relief package, expected to be announced
this week. Details have been kept under a tight wrap and no one seems to be
sure which crops will be the main beneficiaries.Punjab Finance Minister Ayesha
Ghaus Pasha says that a “significant” package has been worked out, but insisted
it was primarily for small farmers who own land measuring up to 12.5 acres.
“There is genuineness in the claim that farmers have had difficulty in
laying-off stocks. We are also seeing a deflationary trend.
But that
could be countered with timely intervention,” she said.She didn’t share details
of the package, but stated that it was a nationwide programme and only the
premier would announce it.But such words will not be of any comfort for Hamid
Malhi, a farmer from Narowal, who says even someone with a thousand acres has
equally been affected.“This is an unprecedented situation for us. No one was
expecting this to happen and persist for this long,” he says, pointing out that
government intervention had become imperative not just for large crops but
vegetables too.
The
history
Pakistan’s
rural economy has seen a boom in the past few years. It started sometime in the
mid-2000s, with a rise in demand for commodities the world over, cash changed
hands like never before.“Things were on our side. Oil price was up but so was
the ethanol demand (which comes from sugarcane), there were sanctions on Iran
but it bought grains from us to build up its stocks,” said Malhi.Times and
circumstances changed swiftly in the past two years. And the most pronounced
affects could be seen in matter of rice, which is the largest commodity the
country exports.
Malhi
said rice traders and millers have been left holding stocks of a million tons,
worth Rs100 billion. “Farmers are even more anxious as to what would happen if
they go bankrupt and no one comes to help lift the crop from them.”A delegation
of farmers met Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal a
couple of days ago and presented its demand, which included a proposal to
subsidise rice export by at least $200 a ton.But it is unlikely that a government,
which has imposed unpopular taxes in recent months to shore up national
reserves, would agree.
Or should it be left to the market forces?
“Maybe
so,” says a leading member of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
“Commodity price did not come down overnight. It was the greed of the trader
who waited month after month instead of booking the loss.”Yet, beyond the
debate of subsidies and relief, the government must look at the cost-related
issues with agriculture. “Hasn’t anyone noticed the kind of money fertiliser
makers have been making on subsidised natural gas?”
While
stocks of wheat has also been rising, the private sector has not yet felt the
heat as most of the excess goes to government go-downs. However, concerns are
now being shared about next season’s crop.Aamer Sarfraz, the founder of
internationally active investment firm Indus Basin Holdings, has another way of
looking at the situation.He agrees that uncertainty remains with regards to the
outlook of commodity price, but at the same time he says there is a lot of
opportunity in Pakistan.
“A new
type of rice is being introduced, which is both drought and flood resistant,”
he says, noting that his ventures deal with small rice farmers who are also
told about which seeds to use.“While farmers still use diesel-run generators to
water the crops, we have seen a general improvement in electricity supply over
the years.”“The problem, even bigger than the plunge in price is the lack of
guidance,” he said.“Most of the seeds sold to farmers in Pakistan are not
classified as basmati. So a grower works hard and grows it and when it reaches
the market, he does not get the right price.”
The writer is a staff correspondent
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th,
2015
Punjab rice millers threaten to
boycott milling for paddy season
Press Trust of India | Chandigarh
September 14, 2015 Last Updated at 17:02 IST
Punjab Youth Cong workers protest against
"misrule" in Punjab Punjab National Bank Q1 net profit nearly halves
Punjab National Bank standalone net profit declines 48.71% in the June 2015
quarter Punjab National Bank standalone net profit declines 61.98% in the March
2015 quarter Punjab National Bank receives capital infusion of Rs 870 crore
from GoI
Accusing state-owned procurement agencies of harassing them by demanding
"unjustified dues", Punjab-based rice millers today threatened to
boycott milling for the upcoming paddy procurement season.Agitating millers
under the banner of Punjab Rice Millers' Association sought a meeting with
state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon to resolve
their issues on urgent basis."State-owned procurement agencies have
started harassing us unnecessarily by demanding unjustified payments from rice
millers," Punjab Rice Millers Association President Tarsem Saini said
today.He added that millers are being asked to pay charges for deviating from
the monthly schedule of rice delivery.
"As per usual practice, we were never asked to pay any charges
for any monthly delay in rice delivery once the rice is delivered at the end of
milling season. But now they are asking to pay charges on the same," he
said, adding that Value Added Tax was also being asked to pay on the value cut
of crop.Rice Millers further pointed out that the procurement agencies have
also been asked to pay charges for jute bags used during 2014-15."We will
not participate in rice milling in the coming paddy procurement season if such
harassment was not stopped," he said.Millers said instead of demanding
recoveries from them, the agencies should pay them the sum owed.
"We are yet to be paid about Rs 200 crore of transportation
charges for rice delivered to the FCI in 2003-04 despite FCI paying the amount
of state agencies to pay us," he claimed.They further said that they were
also not paid the transportation charges for transporting paddy for the last
two seasons.Accusing procurement agencies of preparing anti-millers policies,
Saini said that millers would not tolerate the "unwarranted" stance
of these agencies, asking the state government to resolve their issues.Paddy
procurement usually starts from October for central pool in Punjab.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/pb-rice-millers-threaten-to-boycott-milling-for-paddy-season-115091400661_1.html
Paddy price dips by 60%, Karnal farmers worried
Karnal, September 14
Farmers who planted paddy variety-1509 across the state are a
worried lot as the price has taken a sharp hit due to a fall in prices of the
crop this year by 50 to 60 per cent, compared to last year.
The variety is
being sold at Rs1,200-1,300 per quintal, while it was sold for Rs 2,800-3,400
per quintal last year. Similarly, farmers, who have cultivated other paddy
varieties including hybrid-3325, 834, 222, are also in deep trouble as they too
are not getting a proper price of their produce.Farmers and commission agents
have demanded that the government fix a price of these varieties and to start
government auctioning at the earliest.
They alleged
that with a game plan several rice millers have been purchasing these varieties
at a less price resulting in huge losses to farmers.Surinder, a farmer who came
from Dadupur, with the produce of 1509 variety, said he received only Rs1,281
per quintal of his produce, while he got Rs3,400 per quintal last year. This is
just a monopoly of the rice millers and it should be stopped. The government
should start the auctioning with immediate effect and fix a price for it.Malak
Singh from Jalmana said his produce of 1509 variety was sold for a mere Rs1,250
per quintal. He received Rs 2,700-3,000 per quintal last year.Rajinder Kumar, a
commission agent at the Karnal grain market, said it was a strategy of the rice
sellers and the government should keep a check on such buying.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/
Plastic Tubs May Hold Secrets to Producing More Rice for the World
Newswise
— BEAUMONT — Dozens of plastic tubs stacked in a room may look ordinary, but
they store what could be the secrets to more rice to feed the world.The
containers are the resting place for what’s known by scientists as a “core
collection,” or fraction of all the known varieties of rice on Earth. Yet, even
from their plastic vaults housed at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and
Extension Center in Beaumont, these grains are yielding data scientists say
will help make better varieties for years to come.“Beaumont is the only
location where the full collection has been grown for the purpose of analyzing
the chemical element composition,” said Dr. Lee Tarpley, an AgriLife Research
plant physiologist, who is using the collection extensively in his studies
there.
In all,
thousands of rice varieties made their way into the collection by way of
numerous scientists, who over decades ventured across North and South America,
Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia in search of samples, Tarpley said.The seeds
most recently were used for a massive study to determine which varieties are
most capable of using major nutrients, such as phosphorus or potassium, from
the soil.“The lines that are most capable of using key elements, which are
valued for either plant or human nutrition, could be potentially used in
breeding programs to develop new rice varieties,” Tarpley explained.Because of
the importance of the world’s diversity of rice for farmers and for human
consumption, he teamed with Dr. Shannon Pinson of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in Stuttgart, Arkansas, Dr. David Salt at the University of
Aberdeen in Scotland and Dr. Mary Lou Guerinot at Dartmouth College in Hanover,
New Hampshire, on a National Science Foundation-funded research project to
examine huge numbers of genotypes of rice varieties to find out what elements
they contain.
According
to the International Rice Research Institute, the commodity is a staple for
about 3.5 billion people and is grown on almost 400 million acres worldwide.
U.S. farmers raise the crop on about 3 million acres, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.Over a period of five
years, the 1,700 varieties were grown in the fields around the Beaumont center,
carefully harvested and tagged, then sent to the University of Aberdeen where
Salt has a system for measuring 17 different elements simultaneously, Tarpley
said.“We measured both leaf and grain so that when we saw differences in the
grain, we could start to understand their physiological basis,” Tarpley said.
“We could question, ‘Is that something that shows up as a difference in the
leaf and therefore might actually be a difference in uptake of the roots
changing the level throughout the plant?’ or ‘Is it something that gets
sequestered in the leaves that’s never going to make it to the grain?’”
The team
found some surprising differences in leaf levels of these various minerals, he
said, indicating that some types were taking up higher levels of these elements
compared to an average rice variety.“What we found for most of the elements is
that there are a few extreme lines that are very good at taking up or have very
high levels of one or more of the elements,” he said. “And, it’s easier to find
the ones that take up higher amounts than it is low amounts.”The team already
has started making crosses with the high accumulating lines and a normal
accumulating line. The next step is to screen and evaluate the progeny to
determine the kind of inheritance that resulted.“We are working towards
identifying possible regions of the chromosomes that might have the genes
involved in the results of the progeny,” he said.
“The
main goal of the overall research project was gene identification — to take
advantage of our knowledge of the rice genome to identify the functions of all
the genes. But ultimately that’s for the purpose of more precise breeding of
plants.“Take phosphorus, for example, which can be limited in various soil
types in Texas,” Tarpley noted. “If we had a line that was better at grabbing
the phosphorus that is in the soil, that could potentially save some money in
terms of not having to apply phosphorus fertilizer. It could be that we would
want a good soil uptake in all the rice we grow, so that it would be more
robust for different growing conditions.
“The
research provides the potential to allow decreased fertilizer use and increased
sustainability in Texas rice production,” he said.Tarpley noted that the
extensive data obtained may allow scientists now to do numerous studies without
having to grow the 1,700 varieties in the field again.“We are finding some
patterns in the grain and leaf material, for example, which seem to indicate
different elements are more common in rice varieties from the same part of the
world,” he said. “Elements such as molybdenum or cobalt have shown up more in
some areas than others. It’s a lot of fun to try and understand why they
might’ve had that adaptation.”
http://newswise.com/articles/plastic-tubs-may-hold-secrets-to-producing-more-rice-for-the-world
China Rice Market to Open Up to U.S. Imports With Trade Accord
September
14, 2015 — 2:58 PM PDT Updated on September 14, 2015 — 9:01
PM PDT
China,
the world’s largest rice market, is poised to open up to U.S. exports with both
countries’ governments due to sign an accord later this month ratifying
American imports.The so-called phytosanitary protocol for rice is expected to
be signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, the
Houston-based U.S. Rice Producers Association said Monday in a statement.“It’s
a significant event that they would buy rice from the western hemisphere,” Milo
Hamilton, president of Austin, Texas-based Firstgrain, a
rice-trading advisory company, said in a telephone interview.
The
accord “does not mean they will buy rice from the U.S. It means they can buy
rice from the U.S.”China is the biggest producer and importer of rice. While it’s still largely
self-sufficient, its imports have gradually climbed in recent years. Inbound
shipments of milled rice are expected to be 4.7 million metric tons in the
2015-16 marketing year, up from 540,000 tons five years earlier, according to
U.S. government data.Most of the imports come from neighboring
Vietnam because of “price, proximity, and quality,” the producers association
said. U.S. sellers haven’t been able to ship to China because rice wasn’t
included in earlier trade negotiations that now allow the annual sale of
millions of tons of other American agricultural commodities including
soybeans.The rice producers group has been lobbying for Chinese market access
for more than 15 years.
“When we
started on this process, China wasn’t involved on the international
marketplace,” Dwight Roberts, the group’s president, said in a telephone
interview. “We’ve learned that things change. We’re at the end of a long
process.”In the short term, China may import 200,000 to 250,000 tons of
high-quality U.S. rice per year, providing a "significant boost" to
the American industry, the group said. In total, the U.S. is expected to export
3.08 million tons in the year that began Aug. 1, down from 3.21 million in the
prior year.The U.S. is forecast to produce 6.02 million tons, equivalent to about 4 percent of
Chinese output.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-14/china-rice-market-to-open-up-to-u-s-imports-with-trade-accord
APEDA
COMMODITY NEWS
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Update: U.S./China Phytosanitary
Agreement
ARLINGTON, VA -- The phytosanitary protocol that
promises to pave the way for export trade with China appears to be tracking
toward a successful resolution, maybe as soon as next week when China's
President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the United States. However, USDA's
Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said this afternoon they are
awaiting agreement on the language of the protocol from AQSIQ, their
counterpart in China, before the deal can be finalized.
USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward said, "USA
Rice has been at the forefront of this process for a very long time. And
while everyone is anxious to complete this deal, it's imperative that the
operational details are in place that are in the best interest of the U.S. rice
industry. We will continue to work with APHIS as they finalize this deal
and with our members on implementation of this unique protocol."
National
Rice Month Issue of Whole Grain Going to Press
ARLINGTON, VA -- The September issue of USA Rice's award-winning
publication, Whole Grain, is in production and should be in subscribers'
mailboxes soon.The special National Rice Month (NRM) edition features a cover
story about the many facets of USA Rice's NRM activities that are designed to
raise awareness, and encourage use, of U.S.-grown rice. Readers will also enjoy a preview of the 2015 USA Rice Outlook
Conference coming to New Orleans this December; a behind-the-scenes look at why
Tariff Rate Quotas - though nobody's first choice when it comes to fair trade -
do often bring great benefits to industry when implemented thoughtfully; as
well as updates on Iraq, and a look at the surprise number one milled rice
market for the U.S., Colombia.All that and more, coming soon.If you do not
receive Whole Grain, would like to order a complimentary subscription for
someone you know, or are interested in advertising in the newspaper, contact
Colleen Klemczewski at (703) 236-1446 or cklem@usarice.com
Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458
Promote
National Rice Month and Earn Scholarship Money
ARLINGTON, VA -- During the month of September, students across the
U.S. will be conducting rice promotional programs for entry in the annual
National Rice Month (NRM) scholarship contest, sponsored by Dow
AgroSciences. Be on the lookout for promotions
going on in your state to support scholarship applicants. Encourage high school seniors to review the
contest application and plan a promotion.
There is still time to compete!
Three scholarship prizes totaling $8,500 will be awarded. The grand prize is a $4,000 scholarship and a
trip to the scholarship presentation in December at the USA Rice Outlook
Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Second place is a $3,000 scholarship and the third-place winner will
receive $1,500. Entries will be judged
on their creativity and impact in promoting U.S.-grown rice, NRM, and the
importance of rice in their state. For more details and the official contest
entry form, visit the scholarship web page. High school graduating students
from rice-growing states -- Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Missouri and Texas -- are eligible.
Entry forms are due October 15.
Contact: Amy Doane (703)
236-1454
Crop Progress: 2015 Crop 44 Percent
Harvested
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WASHINGTON, DC -- Forty-four percent of the nation's
2015 rice acreage is harvested, according to today's U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Crop Progress Report.
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CME Group/Closing Rough Rice
Futures
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CME Group (Preliminary): Closing Rough Rice
Futures for September 14
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Is rice cereal the best food for baby?
Perhaps
one of the most exciting times as a mom is when your pediatrician gives you the
green light to start your baby on solid food, which usually happens around 6
months of age.For years, rice cereal has been the standby first food, likely
because it’s easily digestible. Marketing has a lot to do with it/ too, since
boxed rice cereal is cheap and convenient—just add some breast milk, formula or
water and you’ve got a meal.Yet what may surprise you is that babies at this
age don’t need rice cereal— or grains for that matter. They need complex
carbohydrates like those found in sweet potatoes, which are an excellent source
of energy, said Sara Peternell, a master nutrition therapist in Denver, Colo.
and co-author of “Little Foodie: Baby Food Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with
Taste.
”The
reason is that until around their first birthdays, babies don’t have amylase,
an enzyme which breaks down grains and makes them easily
digestible.Nevertheless, grains are a great source vitamins and minerals,
including B vitamins which provide energy, support the nervous system and help
with metabolism. Grains can also add fiber, protein and variety to your baby’s
diet.This combination of calories, carbohydrates and nutrients are what will
help babies grow at the rate they need to, said Angela Lemond, a registered
dietitian nutritionist in Plano, Texas and spokesperson for the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics (AND).
Rice
cereal might not be the best option
True, rice cereal is fortified with iron, folate and B vitamins, which can help prevent your baby from having nutritional deficiencies. However, since it’s processed in a way that removes all of the nutrients, and then is re-fortified with synthetic vitamins and minerals, it’s not an ideal grain, Peternell said.Another concern that has garnered a lot of attention in recent years is arsenic, which is found in both organic and non-organic rice varieties and has been linked to many types of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. In fact, data released last year from Consumer Reports showed that a serving of rice cereal can have much more arsenic than levels found in 2012.“Arsenic is a particular concern for rice because most rice in the world is grown in flooded fields.
When you flood the fields, that anaerobic
environment seems to encourage the release of arsenic from the ground and the
rice plant readily absorbs it,” said Herman Suhirman, marketing manager for
Mighty Rice.Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to set
a federal limit for the amount of arsenic in rice, last July, Codex, a joint
commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
and the World Health Organization (WHO), set new standards for governments to
allow no more than 200 parts of arsenic per billion in white rice and no more
than 400 parts per billion in brown rice. Although it’s a good start, experts
agree it’s not necessarily a safe limit.Consumer Reports recommends that if you
do feed your baby rice cereal, limit it to one serving a day.
Also,
look for rice from regions with upland rice, or rice grown on dry soil, or rice
grown in California, India and Pakistan, which have less arsenic.Although brown
rice is more nutritious than white, white rice of the same variety will always
have less arsenic.“That outer layer [in brown rice] that contains all of the
nutrients also holds all the chemicals,” Suhirman said.You can eliminate about
30 percent of arsenic from rice if you rinse it well before cooking, using a
ratio of 6 cups of water per 1 cup of rice. Use as much water to cook it as you
would for pasta, and drain the rice halfway through, boil fresh water and
finish cooking.
Tasty
alternatives for your baby
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents offer their babies a variety of foods such as oats, wheat and barley to avoid arsenic.In fact, feeding your baby too many whole grains— which also equals too much fiber— could be problematic. Since fiber slows down gastric emptying and aids with weight loss, it could slow down your baby’s growth as well, Lemond said.Another thing to consider is that since a baby’s digestive system is still developing, gluten-free grains are a good idea. Peternell says many babies who have tummy troubles after introducing wheat are told by the pediatrician that they’re allergic to wheat, when it might just be that their immature GI tracts are not ready for it.“Often times food sensitivities can arise when we give babies first-year foods with too many of the larger protein molecules,” she said.
All
grains have similar nutrient profiles but some are standouts. Oats are
naturally gluten-free but be sure to check the label since they’re often grown
in fields that are cross-contaminated with wheat. Quinoa is another gluten-free
grain but because it’s also a high source of protein, you may want to introduce
it slowly and in small amounts. Other grains to try include millet, amaranth,
buckwheat and kamut.Soaking and sprouting grains can also help to break down the
enzymes that inhibit absorption, Peternell said. Simmering grains for an hour
or cooking them in the slow cooker will also ensure they’re the right
consistency for your baby.Regardless of whether you offer grains from the
get-go or hold off for a while, when it comes to feeding your baby, nutrition,
variety and balance should always be the goal.“You want to get that flavor in
so when they get older and can handle more fiber and whole grains, they’re
going to choose that for themselves,” Lemond said.
Julie Revelant is a health journalist and a
consultant who provides content marketing and copywriting services for the
healthcare industry. She’s also a mom of two. Learn more about Julie at revelantwriting.com.
Phil Rice News
PhilRice’s scientific publications up by 74%
Researchers from the Philippine Rice Research Institute
(PhilRice) produced over 40 research papers published by major science journals
in 2014, 74% higher than the total publications in 2010.In the past 4 years,
the Institute has continued to increase the number of refereed scientific
papers published in the Thomson Reuters/ Institute for Scientific Information
(ISI) Web of Science-listed journals. Of
40 published, 24 came out in ISI journals. From 2010-2014, the Institute
published over 140 publications. With a pool of 57 PhD and 266 master’s degree
holders, PhilRice has managed to publish in some well-respected journals here
and abroad.
Some of them are the Journal of Food Agriculture and
Environment, International Journal of Ecology and Conservation, Philippine
Journal of Crop Science, and the Philippine Agricultural Scientist.
“The
painstaking efforts of PhilRice R&D staff members in carrying out rice
science and technology-based knowledge dissemination are indeed commendable. We
are not only doing our mandated functions but we are also enriching the body of
scientific knowledge on rice through research, publication, training, and
other information dissemination activities,” said Dr. Manuel Jose C. Regalado,
PhilRice deputy executive director for research.Regalado hopes the number of
scientific publications will steadily increase given the proper training of young
and budding scientists and researchers of the Institute.This year alone,
PhilRice has already published 29 refereed papers.The Institute’s publications
were also recognized in national and international scientific conferences.Eight
studies were recipients of best paper awards and four studies received best
poster award.
Researchers of the Institute also received major
awards in their respective fields of specialization. Among them were
Thelma F. Padolina (International Senadhira Rice Research Award), Gina D.
Balleras (Outstanding Filipino Research Leader), and Engr. Noel G. Ganotisi
(Outstanding Agricultural Engineer in the Field of Soil and Water
Management).“We hope that our researchers will generate more scientific outputs
that will not only usher them in the scientific career path, but will also
provide our rice farmers the information and technologies they need which have
been rigorously developed and tested using scientific R&D methods and
passed through the crucible of scientific peer review and critique,” Regalado
said.
Policy
reforms needed for climate change resiliency – expert
The agriculture sector needs policy reforms in order
to be resilient, a prominent climate change expert said. During the
opening of the 28th National Rice Research and Development Conference at
PhilRice, 9 Sept, Dennis Dela Torre of the UP National College of Public
Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and House of Representatives Special
Committee on Climate Change, said that there are many challenges that hinder the
agriculture sector to become a key development investment area.
Policy reforms
Dele Torre called for policy reforms that would
direct the focus of government institutions, the private sector, and even
foreign funders to agriculture.The Agriculture and Fisheries
Modernization Act of 1997 and the Agri-Agra Act of 2009 which have
provisions on finance mobilization also needs to be reviewed.He said that under
the Agri-Agra law, the bank sector should devote 25% of loanable amounts to
agriculture but studies reveal that banks are just willing to pay the fines.“We
should look at our farmers as potential targets for investment in human
capital,” Dela Torre argued.Meanwhile, he encouraged the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD) that skills in agriculture must be one of the
conditions in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a
conditional cash transfer scheme of the government to address poverty.
Climate lens and planning
Data from PAGASA on the annual mean temperature in
the Philippines projects that there would be a widespread warming in most parts
of the country by 2020 and 2050. Dela Torre then emphasized the importance of
careful planning based on historical and projected data.According to him,
efforts against climate change must look both at the past and what will happen
in the future to plan properly.Recently, there have been a growing concern on
saline intrusion and the projected sea level rise that affects coastal
integrity. This serves as a threat to agricultural production areas near the
coastlines.
Hence, research institutions such as PhilRice must
continuously develop saline-tolerant crop varieties to address this
challenge.Among the saline-tolerant varieties developed by PhilRice are NSIC
Rc184 (6.3 t/ha maximum yield), NSIC Rc186 (4.2 t/ha maximum yield), NSIC Rc188
(3.8 t/ha maximum yield), NSIC Rc190 (5.1 t/ha maximum yield), and NSIC Rc290
(5.7 t/ha maximum yield).Dela Torre also cited that if irrigation
infrastructures failed to resist environmental threats, its quality would
definitely be compromised. As a result, implementing agencies would then
reinstitute innovations which would lead to a pain point in funding.The former
Chief on Research and Policy Development of CCC said that projection and
planning are important keys to withstand all environmental threats.
“That’s what climate change is forcing us to do ― to think
better, to design, and plan better,” he reiterated.The 28th National Rice
Research and Development Conference is annually hosted by PhilRice that gathers
around 500 researchers, academicians, students, farmers, and extension workers
from all over the country.
Cabinet to be asked to completely ban second-crop farming for 2015-16 season
Cabinet to be asked to completely ban
second-crop farming for 2015-16 season
BANGKOK: — The Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives will ask the cabinet at a meeting next Tuesday to completely ban
second rice crop cultivation covering 15 million rai of farmland during the
November 1, 2015-April 30, 2016 crop year due to anticipated serious water
shortage.
Agriculture
Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikalya pointed out that by the end of the rainy season
at the end of October, it was anticipated that the country’s main dams would be
able to store a total of 3,600 million cubic metres of water which is hardly
enough for agricultural purpose. The minister admitted that the anticipated
water crisis was beyond the ability of the Agriculture Ministry to handle and,
therefore, he would propose the cabinet to completely ban the second crop
cultivation which is due to start in November and, at the same time, set up a
crisis committee to mobilize all available sources to help the farmers when
they cannot cultivate.
Due to
water shortage this year, main croup cultivation covering 870,000 rai of
farmland was not possible as the Irrigation Department substantially cut down
the amount of water released into the Chao Phraya river basin, said the
minister.But despite the water cutback, he said farmers defied the warning and
cultivated second crop in 6 million rai of farmland.Although water shortage is
expected to be serious at the end of this year and next year, General Chatchai
noted that the situation would not warrant the invocation of Section 44 of the
interim charter.
Source:
http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/cabinet-to-be-asked-to-completely-ban-second-crop-farming-for-2015-16-season
Severe Drought Expected In Thailand Early 2016
BANGKOK, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- Farmers are asked not to grow rice
during off-season in 2016 after the state-run Royal Irrigation Department (RID)
made a forecast that Thailand would face severe drought, Thai News Agency (TNA)
reported.Meanwhile, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai
Sarikulya plans to propose to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha to assist
the farmers, the news agency said.Although several areas in the country are
experiencing heavy rainfalls, the amount of rain was still less compared to
previous years, said Suthep Noipairoj, deputy director-general of the RID,
adding that water stored at major dams was not sufficient to grow off-season
rice.
He said that a meeting was held recently with relevant government
agencies, and that the Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister has assigned
several departments to find ways in assisting farmers who would be affected by
the expected severe drought.Suthep said that Gen Chatchai would propose to the
prime minister to direct ministries to help farmers in providing temporary
jobs.This would enable them to get income to feed their families as they could
not grow rice during the off-season, he said.
BERNAMA
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/wn/newsworld.php?id=1170698
PH to import 750,000 tons of rice
By | Sep. 09, 2015 at 11:50pm
The
Philippines will import an additional 250,000 metric tons of rice this year and
another 500,000 MT next year under a government-to-government procurement
arrangement to prepare for a prolonged El Niño dry spell, state-run National
Food Authority said Wednesday.NFA said in a statement the inter-agency Food
Security Committee on Rice allowed the NFA Council to proceed with the importation
of the volume to beef up the country’s rice stock.The FSC, which is chaired by
the National Economic and Development Authority, earlier approved the
importation of 250,000 MT.NFA said the importation of 500,000 MT of rice was
approved by FSC to cover the projected production deficit in 2016. The shipment
would be delivered early next year.
More to
come. A worker carries a sack of rice at a store in Manila
on Wednesday Sept. 9. The Aquino administration says it will import
additional 750,000 tons of rice to boost stocks and keep local prices stable
because of El Niño. DANNY PATA
Weather
forecasters said the drought was predicted to intensify beginning October this
year and would last until May 2016.NFA administrator Renan Dalisay said an invitation
was sent to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to participate in the supply of
250,000 MT well-milled rice with 25 percent brokens intended for the year and
500,000 MT well-milled rice with 25 percent brokens in 2016.Dalisay assured the
food agency would have sufficient stock until the end of the year and that
prices would remain stable.
He said the government-to-government bidding
for the 250,000 MT would be held on
Sept. 17, with the first shipment of 125,000 MT expected to arrived by end-November
and 125,000 MT by end-December.Dalisay said of the 2016 imports of 500,000 MT,
the first shipment of 175,000 MT would arrived by end of January, 175,000 MT by
end of February and 150,000 MT by end of March next year.NFA said the total
volume of rice that entered the country this year already reached 937,000
MT.Weather forecasters said traditional rice granaries including the provinces
of Isabela, Mindoro, Quezon, Albay, Aklan, Antique, Iloilo, South Cotabato,
Sultan Kudarat and Zamboanga were among the provinces that would be hardly hit
by El Niño.
Rice
harvest is expected to drop this year, because of the impact of the El Niño dry
spell that delayed planting and reduced the farm area, the Philippine
Statistics Authority said in an earlier report.PSA said in its rice and corn
outlook palay (unmilled rice) production in 2015 could decline 0.6 percent to
18.86 million MT from 18.97 million MT in 2014.Rice production in the
first half fell 0.7 percent to 8.32 million MT
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/09/09/ph-to-import-750-000-tons-of-rice/
Cambodia businesses fret Myanmar
By The
Phnom Penh Post | Monday, 14 September 2015
While Cambodia’s economic development is often
compared to that of neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand’s, industry insiders say
the Cambodia needs to keep a close eye on the steady progress being made in
Myanmar, which is predicted to eat into Cambodia’s exports in the long term.
Cambodian farmers work on a rice field in
Kandal province. The country’s rice production faces competition from Myanmar.
Photo: EPA
An
improved business environment in Myanmar propelled its gross domestic product
growth to 7.7 percent in 2014, and it is expected to reach 8.3pc for 2015,
according to the Asian Development Bank.While Myanmar may not pose an immediate
threat to Cambodia, Jayant Menon, lead economist at the Asian Development
Bank’s office of regional economic integration, said Cambodia will need to
improve its productivity and increase its pool of skilled labour.Trade costs in
Myanmar are still high, given the dearth of investment and infrastructure
development, but as economic reforms begin to kick in the country will
increasingly grow its presence on the ASEAN stage, Mr Menon added.
“In the
longer term, Cambodia may have to lift its productivity if it is to compete
with the well-educated workforce available at relatively low cost in
Myanmar.”On the rice export front, Cambodia is already facing steep competition
from Myanmar. Rice shipments leaving the Kingdom last year totalled a little
more than 387,000 tonnes, compared to Myanmar’s 1.7 million tonnes – a large
amount of it going to China.Cambodia may currently have the edge in exporting
higher-quality fragrant rice, said Song Saran, CEO of leading rice exporter
Amru Rice, but Myanmar is fast catching up and moving beyond its export of
lower quality broken rice and parboiled rice.“In the long term, Myanmar will be
a big threat to Cambodia, because they have started to improve their
facilities,” Mr Saran said.
“And in
the next four to five years there will be more stress for Cambodian rice in the
European market.”Mr Saran said that when Cambodia graduates to a low-middle
income economy and loses its European Union-granted Everything But Arms (EBA)
status – giving least developed countries duty free exports to the economic
bloc – Myanmar, which also enjoys the preferential treatment, could extend its
advantage given that its exports will be cheaper than the Kingdom’s.“When EBA
is off, we are going to have more hardship and the possibility of losing market
share to Myanmar,” he said.“But with jasmine rice, I am still optimistic that
we can maintain our market share even if EBA is off.”On the economic front,
both countries are using similar sectors, including rice and garments to fuel growth.
However,
Myanmar also has to deal with the “overhang of the elections” in November, as
well as ethnic and religious tensions, said Grant Knuckey, CEO of ANZ Royal
Bank, who is also the head of Myanmar operations for ANZ.“Despite that, Myanmar
is a genuine threat based on both potential and clear intent,” Mr Knuckey said,
referring to economic reforms that are focused on increasing commodity
exports.Infrastructure and logistical capacities are two key issues holding
back both nations, but, according to Mr Knuckey, investments made in deep sea
ports and a better special economic zone policy can help Myanmar leapfrog the
progress made by Cambodia in the past few years.“Myanmar will soon have a real
edge, with deep sea capacity at both Thilawa and later Dawei,” he said.
“Myanmar
has also moved very aggressively on the SEZ framework, where Thilawa is more of
a special administrative zone than an industrial park, which is the current
Cambodia model.”Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, said that as Myanmar
grapples with the same “pitfalls” that Cambodia has had to address, such as low
productivity, it will have to make good use of its young and well-educated
population to accelerate its ascent up the ASEAN pecking order.“If the Myanmar
government can significantly improve the domestic business-enabling environment
to attract direct foreign investment, these things can be done in the short to
medium terms, they need not wait for the long term.”
– The
Phnom Penh Post http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/16458-cambodia-businesses-fret-myanmar.html
Tough blow for Thai rice farmers already in debt
FARMING
Tough blow for rice farmers already in debt
VISARUT SANKHAM
THE NATION
Tough blow for rice farmers already in debt
VISARUT SANKHAM
THE NATION
If cabinet decides to block water for
off-season crop ‘it would hit us hard’
BANGKOK: — IF THE Cabinet resolves tomorrow to
turn off irrigated water for people seeking to grow off-season rice it would
deal another serious blow to farmers already drowning in debt.
“We
haven’t planted any paddy three times already (for two off-season crops and one
main crop), and now the government tells us not to plant any rice again. Now we
have nothing,” Ubolsak Bualuang-ngam, chairman of the central agricultural
committee, said last week.“Most rice farmers in Lop Buri have Bt350,000 in debt
and some farmers even hung themselves on a tree to avoid debt,” said Ubolsak,
who also leads the Lop Buri Farmers Assembly.This central province and the
Pasak River basin have already suffered from a severe shortage of water for
farming.The idea to suspend the planting of off-season crop on 15 million rai
of paddy fields will be proposed to the Cabinet by Agriculture Minister
Chatchai Sarikalya because of an estimate that by the end of the wet season
next month, stored water would amount to 3.6 billion cubic metres – which is
not enough for farming.
“This
crisis is more severe than the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry can handle
alone, so we have to ask the Cabinet to set up a committee to solve it at the
national level,” Chatchai said.“We also have to gather projects under various
agencies to hire farmers. This is to let the farmers earn some money to replace
the missed income from past rice growing sessions this year (which affected
87,000 rai) and the off-season rice growing at 15 million |rai of
irrigation-zoned rice fields from November 1 to April 30,” he said.
The
order, to be strictly followed and enforced, would not need to be announced
under Section 44 of the provisional charter, he said.Pasak Jolasid Dam, which
receives 1.23 million cubic metres of water daily, now has 73 million cu m and
was releasing five cu m per second or 1.3 million cu m a day, Irrigation Office
10 director Attaporn Panyachom said.Most dams in Lop Buri were also at less
than 50 per cent of capacity, he said. The Kut Ta Phet Reservoir in Lam Sonthi
district was down to 23 per cent, Sap Takhian Reservoir in the same district
down to 7 per cent and Huai Hin Reservoir in Chai Badan district to 24 per
cent, he said.
The
government claims that it has arranged income-generating projects to help
farmers, but Ong-art Suwanphong from the Farmers’ School in Ang Thong’s Chaiyo
district said that he didn’t see any such scheme being implemented. Farmers
would actually prefer water supply to compensation, but if the government must
stop the water supply for rice, they should make sure the compensation for
farmers is sufficient, he said. “Farmers are disheartened. Many of those with
five to 10 rai of paddy fields gave up.“Last year they suffered from a rat
outbreak and this year saw their hope of regaining rice-growing income
shattered by the lack of water supplies – so they turned to doing odd jobs,” he
said.
http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/tough-blow-for-thai-rice-farmers-already-in-debt/114136/
U.S. & China to Sign Rice Protocol Agreement
HOUSTON, Sept.
14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Officials from the United States and the Peoples' Republic of China will
sign a phytosanitary protocol during the week of September
21st when Chinese President Xi Jinping leads a
delegation on an official visit to Washington,
DC. Culminating an effort that reaches back more than 15 years, the US Rice
Producers Association (USRPA) has been pushing to open the Chinese market to
U.S. rice. In those intervening ten years, China has
switched from being a rice exporter to (in recent years) importing two million
tons or more of long grain rice. Vietnam has
been the origin of most of the Chinese imports, due to a combination of price,
proximity, and quality. The U.S. has not been permitted to ship to China because rice was not included in the original
negotiations that resulted in the sale of millions of tons of soybeans and
cotton and other grains.
That now changes with the new phytosanitary
protocol.USRPA applied for funding from USDA/FAS under their Emerging Markets
Program to travel to China to determine if there would be demand for U.S.
long grain milled rice should it ever be permitted. Over the years, consumer
preferences were recorded and analyzed, and the conclusion was obvious — rice
milled in the United States would
be considered a preferred product deserving of a premium price in the opinion
of the growing consumer class in China. In
recent years, medium grain rice from both the South and California has been included in these consumer surveys,
and the result is the same: "When can we buy it?"
A number
of importers and distributors in China have been
identified, and it is likely that the newly-permitted trade will get off to a
fast start. It is not clear how large the trade could become once the logistics
and the commercial terms are perfected, but China could
represent a significant boost to the U.S. rice market, which recently has been
slammed by the loss of markets and low-priced subsidized foreign competition.
"This has been a long and exhaustive process and sometimes that's the
nature of international market development, while I must compliment the USRPA
staff and its board members including past Chairmen, B.J.
Campbell of Missouri and Ray Stoesser
of Texas, who along with officials of the Foreign
Agricultural Service and Animal Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA,
have not hesitated in pursuing this effort that is so important to our rice
farming and milling industry," says Dwight Roberts,
President & CEO of the organization. "Our analysis of the China market goes back to 1998 when at the time no
one thought China would ever be a significant importer,"
added Roberts.
Recently
elected Chairman, Tommy Turner from El Campo, Texas who has
plans to travel next month to China is
excited about the outlook saying, "our focus has already turned towards
working with the identified Chinese buyers and importers while continuing to
conduct additional promotional surveys of Chinese consumers," while
adding, "this is great news for our farmers and is a shot in the arm for
the market that is so sorely needed."The US Rice Producers Association,
representing rice producers in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas, is the
only national rice producers' organization comprised by producers, elected by
producers and representing producers in all six rice-producing states.
SOURCE US Rice Producers Association
Nepal records imports 210,600t of rice worth Rs5.74b in 2014
KATHMANDU:
Rice mills in the Bara-Parsa area are having a hard time staying afloat as they
can’t compete with cheaper Indian products. In the past four years, 250 out of
the 300 rice mills there have closed down. Half of the remaining 50 are also in
the red, said traders.Domestic rice producers started facing hard times after
India withdrew restrictions on rice exports in September 2011. The Indian
government has cancelled the ban on the export of almost all types of rice
except Basmati. This led to Nepali markets being flooded with cheap Indian
products.Last year, Nepal imported 210,600 tonnes of rice worth Rs5.74 billion
through Birgunj Customs alone, its records show. In fiscal 2013-14, rice
imports through this customs point amounted to Rs3.54 billion.
http://www.customstoday.com.pk/nepal-records-imports-210600t-of-rice-worth-rs5-74b-in-2014/
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open-Sep 14
Nagpur, Sept 14 Gram prices firmed up again in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and
Marketing Committee (APMC) here on good festival season demand from local millers amid thin
supply from producing regions. Healthy rise in Madhya Pradesh gram prices, reported demand from
South-based millers and notable hike on NCDEX also boosted prices, according to sources.
* * * *
FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Gram varieties reported strong in open market on increased seasonal buying support
from local traders amid weak supply from millers.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties recovered strongly in open market on renewed demand from local
traders. Reports about weak overseas arrival also pushed up prices.
* Batri dal zoomed up in open market on good buying support from local traders amid
tight supply from producing regions.
* In Akola, Tuar - 9,7900-10,300, Tuar dal - 14,100-14,500, Udid at 9,600-10,000,
Udid Mogar (clean) - 12,100-12,600, Moong - 7,600-7,800, Moong Mogar
(clean) 9,200-9,800, Gram - 4,900-5,050, Gram Super best bold - 6,400-6,600
for 100 kg.
* Wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market
in thin trading activity, according to sources.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,850-4,900 3,850-4,760
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction n.a. 8,000-9,375
Moong Auction n.a. 6,000-6,400
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Gram Super Best Bold 6,600-6,900 6,500-6,800
Gram Super Best n.a.
Gram Medium Best 6,000-6,200 5,900-6,100
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.
Gram Mill Quality 5,900-6,000 5,800-5,900
Desi gram Raw 5,300-5,350 5,200-5,250
Gram Filter new 6,300-6,500 6,200-6,400
Gram Kabuli 6,600-7,600 6,400-7,500
Gram Pink 7,000-7,200 6,800-7,000
Tuar Fataka Best 14,600-14,900 14,500-14,800
Tuar Fataka Medium 13,400-14,000 13,300-13,900
Tuar Dal Best Phod 13,000-13,200 12,900-13,100
Tuar Dal Medium phod 12,400-12,900 12,300-12,800
Tuar Gavarani New 10,400-10,600 10,300-10,500
Tuar Karnataka 10,500-10,900 10,400-10,800
Tuar Black 12,200-12,400 12,100-12,300
Masoor dal best 8,500-8,700 8,500-8,700
Masoor dal medium 8,200-8,400 8,200-8,400
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold 9,900-10,300 9,900-10,300
Moong Mogar Medium best 8,800-9,500 8,800-9,500
Moong dal Chilka 8,700-8,900 8,700-8,900
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,400-9,200 8,400-9,200
Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 12,500-13,700 12,500-13,700
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 11,500-12,000 11,500-12,000
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 10,200-10,400 10,200-10,400
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 5,300-5,650 5,200-5,600
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,000-4,200 4,000-4,200
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,450 3,200-3,450
Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,200 3,000-3,200
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 3,300-3,600 3,300-3,600
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,500 1,400-1,500
Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,650-1,750 1,650-1,750
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,350-1,550 1,350-1,550
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,200
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,700 3,400-3,700
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,750-2,800 2,750-2,800
Rice BPT best(100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,300 3,100-3,300
Rice BPT medium(100 INR/KG) 2,800-3,000 2,800-3,000
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,900 1,700-1,900
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,300 2,000-2,300
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,000 1,900-2,000
Rice HMT best(100 INR/KG) 3,500-3,900 3,500-3,900
Rice HMT medium(100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,300 3,200-3,300
Rice HMT Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,100 4,800-5,100
Rice HMT Shriram med.(100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,500 4,000-4,500
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,000-10,000 8,000-10,000
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,000-7,500 7,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,400 4,900-5,100
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,400-4,800
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,350 2,100-2,350
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 35.4 degree Celsius (95.7 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.
24.0 degree Celsius (75.2 degree Fahrenheit)
Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a.
Rainfall : nil
FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky. Maximum and minimum temperature would be around and 34 and 24 degree Celsius respectively.
Note: n.a.--not available
(For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
Record rice output doesn’t bring
smile for Bangla farmers
ANN/ The Daily Star/ Sohel Parvez
| 14 September, 2015
(Photo: Getty Images)
Farmers
in Bangladesh bagged a record 19.1 million tonnes of boro rice last season,
enabling the country to log in its highest rice output and attain
self-sufficiency in staple food.Overall, rice output stood at a total of 34.7
million tonnes in fiscal 2014-15, up 1 per cent year-on-year, according to
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.The increased production though has not brought
smiles to the farmers' faces: many had to accept prices lower than their
production costs.“It felt good to have higher crops, but ultimately it did not
benefit me,” said Rafiqul Islam, a farmer in Lalmonirhat, a bordering district
in the north.His production costs were higher than the prices he was compelled
to accept.Islam grew the hybrid and high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice on
one acre of land in the last boro season, which started in April and ended in May.
Two months after harvest, he sold each maund of hybrid rice at 460
taka (US$5.9), which is 20 per cent lower than his average production cost, he
told The Daily Star by phone last week.Farmers in other growing regions too are
having similar experiences.The prices of rice have remained lower than last
year's level since April as a result of a supply glut in the market caused by
higher output and soaring imports mainly from India.Rice imports by private
traders soared nearly four times last fiscal year to 1.49 million tonnes,
according to data from the food ministry.
As a result, the total rice availability ended up being higher than
Bangladesh's requirement.The country's annual demand for the food grain is 30
million tonnes, according to the Bangladesh Institute of Development
Studies.The research organisation estimated that the daily per capita food
grain consumption is 509 grams, including rice at 462 grams.There is an ample
supply of imported rice, so the demand for locally grown rice is low, said Nirod
Boron Saha, a paddy and rice wholesaler in northern Naogaon district, one of
the main hubs for rice and paddy trade.Traders and millers earlier blamed the
soaring rice imports for the price fall.
Coarse rice, which was 32-37 taka each kilogram in Dhaka city in
the second week of April, traded at 30-34 taka per kilogram yesterday. On the
same day last year, it traded at 35-38 taka.The superior quality rice prices
are also lower than last year's, according to Trading Corporation of
Bangladesh.Amid repeated calls from farm stakeholders, the government imposed a
10 per cent duty on rice imports, which many found too late a move.Saha said
the prices of paddy rose after the government slapped duty on rice imports. But
the spike was temporary.
The prices declined later as Indian suppliers came up with lower
rates, he said.However, paddy prices have started rising recently, upon news of
crop damage from recent floods, he said.Floods, resulting from heavy rainfall,
have damaged more than 260,000 hectares of aman crop land, according to the
Department of Agricultural Extension.Islam, the farmer from Lalmonirhat
district, said he planted aman rice on four acres of land but floods destroyed
crops on 1.20 acres of it. “Floods have just eaten up the land. I cannot grow
paddy here this aman season anymore. I will have to go for potato,” he
added.Mohammad Zahidul Haque, a farmer in Kurigram district, also suffered
losses for low prices of boro. And the floods have also damaged part of his
aman crop.“All my recently planted seedlings have gone under the water -- it is
going to deepen my losses.”
Rice output hits record, farmers not so happy
Photo:
Star/File
Farmers
bagged a record 1.91 crore tonnes of boro rice last season, enabling the
country to log in its highest rice output and attain self-sufficiency in staple
food.Overall, rice output stood at a total of 3.47 crore tonnes in fiscal
2014-15, up 1 percent year-on-year, according to Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics.The increased production though has not brought smiles to the
farmers' faces: many had to accept prices lower than their production costs.“It
felt good to have higher crops, but ultimately it did not benefit me,” said
Rafiqul Islam, a farmer in Lalmonirhat, a bordering district in the north.His
production costs were higher than the prices he was compelled to accept.Islam
grew the hybrid and high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice on one acre of land
in the last boro season, which started in April and ended in May.Two months
after harvest, he sold each maund of hybrid rice at Tk 460, which is 20 percent
lower than his average production cost, he told The Daily Star by phone last
week.
Farmers
in other growing regions too are having similar experiences.The prices of rice
have remained lower than last year's level since April as a result of a supply
glut in the market caused by higher output and soaring imports mainly from
India.Rice imports by private traders soared nearly four times last fiscal year
to 14.90 lakh tonnes, according to data from the food ministry. As a result,
the total rice availability ended up being higher than Bangladesh's
requirement.The country's annual demand for the food grain is three crore
tonnes, according to the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.The
research organisation estimated that the daily per capita food grain
consumption is 509 grams, including rice at 462 grams.
There is
an ample supply of imported rice, so the demand for locally grown rice is low,
said Nirod Boron Saha, a paddy and rice wholesaler in Naogaon, one of the main
hubs for rice and paddy trade.Traders and millers earlier blamed the soaring
rice imports for the price fall.Coarse rice, which was Tk 32-37 each kilogram
in Dhaka city in the second week of April, traded at Tk 30-34 per kilogram
yesterday. On the same day last year, it traded at Tk 35-38. The superior quality rice prices are also
lower than last year's, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Amid repeated calls from farm stakeholders, the government imposed
a 10 percent duty on rice imports, which many found too late a move.Saha said
the prices of paddy rose after the government slapped duty on rice imports. But
the spike was temporary.The prices declined later as Indian suppliers came up
with lower rates, he said.However, paddy prices have started rising recently,
upon news of crop damage from recent floods, he said.Floods, resulting from
heavy rainfall, have damaged more than 2.6 lakh hectares of aman crop land,
according to the Department of Agricultural Extension.
Islam, the farmer from Lalmonirhat, said he planted aman rice on
four acres of land but floods destroyed crops on 1.20 acres of it. “Floods have
just eaten up the land. I cannot grow paddy here this aman season anymore. I
will have to go for potato,” he added.Mohammad Zahidul Haque, a farmer in
Kurigram, also suffered losses for low prices of boro. And the floods have also
damaged part of his aman crop.“All my recently planted seedlings have gone
under the water -- it is going to deepen my losses.
”http://www.thedailystar.net/business/rice-output-hits-record-farmers-not-so-happy-142351
Flood damage estimated at 736,000 acres
Farmers
re-grow in flood-damaged farms in Rakhine State. (Photo-Min Thein Naing/EMG)
The
rain-triggered floods destroyed more than 736,000 acres (283,300 hectares) of
monsoon paddy across the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and
Irrigation.Cyclone Komen flooded more than 1.4 million acres of farmland in
July and August. Of them, 736,000
acres
were damaged, the ministry said on September 11.Around 414,000 acres of monsoon
paddy have reportedly been re-grown. The damage is estimated at Ks174 billion
(US$135 million). Rakhine and Chin states are the worst affected areas,
according to the National Natural Disaster Management Committee.The committee’s
report says 1,447,000 acres of farmland were flooded. Of them, 842,000 acres
were totally ruined. Myanmar usually grows around 15 million acres
of monsoon paddy and three million acres of summer paddy, producing around
1,350 million baskets of rice a year, much of which is exported.The ministry
urges farmers to re-grow using short-term strains and direct seeding methods.
Myanmar claims rice sufficiency despite flood
Myanmar claims rice sufficiency despite flood
YANGON,
Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has claimed sufficiency of rice supply until the
end of this year despite recent flood which slowed down rice production,
according to an official report Sunday.Over 500,000 tons of rice are still in
stock for the next three months, the Ministry of Commerce was quoted as
saying.Flood has affected more than 1.4 million acres (567,000 hectares) of paddy
field and destroyed more than 800,000 acres, it said.However, Ayeyawaddy
region, the country's prime source of rice, was not affected by the flooding as
severely as other regions thanks to the quick recession of flood, it added.
Myanmar's
harvest season for rice planted in rain-fed field will start in October.Deadly
flood, triggered by heavy rainfall since June, has affected 12 regions and
states out of 14 in Myanmar, destroying houses, farmland, railway lines,
bridges and roads.The Myanmar government declared on July 31 four disaster
zones, namely Rakhine, Chin, Sagaing and Magway, among which Rakhine state was
the worst-hit.Nationwide death toll of the severe flooding rose to more than
121 so far, while more than 1.6 million people across the country have been
affected.
http://www.globalpost.com/article/6648118/2015/09/12/myanmar-claims-rice-sufficiency-despite-flood
Second rice crop to be banned
12 Sep 2015 at 14:34 5,268
Agriculture
Minister Chatchai Sarikulya will propose to the cabinet on Tuesday a ban on the
second crop of rice totalling 15 million rai as water shortages have become
more serious than previously estimated.Water reserves are expected to total 3.6
million cubic metres at the end of the rainy season on Oct 31, an inadequate
amount for farming, said Gen Chatchai.The Agriculture Ministry will also
propose that the cabinet set up a national committee to manage the situation.
Ministries in charge of government projects must also be instructed to hire
farmers so they have some income.
The ban means rice farmers will not be able to
grow rice for most part of the 2015 crop year. This involves 870,000 rai that
have not been farmed and the 15 million rai on which planting will be banned.
Some farmers have ignored the order and continued to farm on 6 million rai
anyway."This time it's critical. All farming must be totally banned. All
ministries must also try to help farmers," said Gen Chatchai.However, he
dismissed the need for the junta chief to use Section 44 of the interim
constitution to enforce the ban."The ministry must tell farmers now what
they are supposed to do if they can't farm and what relief measures they can
expect from the government. We may promote raising animals and find extra jobs
for them," he added.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/690620/second-rice-crop-ban-sought
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On-Line the above News in pdf format,just click the following link
Look no further than a healthy plate of best brown rice! Because rice has low amounts of sodium, fat, and cholesterol, it is a great aid in reducing obesity. It's rich in nutrients and has no significant negative impacts on a person's health. Of course, its high-levels in fiber also help to reduce obesity.
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