21st September,2015 Daily global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

Rice News Headlines...

·         Rouses Proudly Supports America's Rice Farmers

·         National Rice Month Promotional Item of the Week

·         Crop Progress:   2015 Crop 55 Percent Harvested 

·         CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures 

·         Secret Unlocked to Rice Seed Survival When Underwater

·         EAC looking into Ugandan VAT on Tanzanian rice

·         My State Can Supply Nigeria's Rice Needs - Oshiomhole

·         Storms rage on in parts

·         Green Super Rice Project Funded by the Chinese Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Selects Affymetrix Axiom® Genotyping Platform for Developing New Rice Varieties

·         Adani eyes 5 MT sales from agro biz; to expand portfolio

·         Amarinder seeks adequate compensation for Basmati growers

·         Climate change-resilient varieties for VisMin

·         Partnerships, investment key to stronger rice R&D

·         Punjab, Haryana to procure over 17 million tonnes paddy

·         PR evaluates Prime Minister’s Agriculture Relief Package

·         IPR report evaluates PM’s agriculture relief package

·         Punjab all set to start Paddy procurement from October 1

·         September rains improve Rabi outlook

·         Indonesia likely to import rice after El Nino affects harvest

·         September rains improve Rabi outlook

·         Monsoon surge cracks open new front over East, N-E

·         Rice harvest begins across Northern California

·         Indonesia crop failure blamed on El Nino

·         Vietnam aims to export high-end, quality rice

·         Vietnam rice loses to Thailand and Cambodia

·         Drought exposes cracks in Australia's acclaimed water market

·         Government to ease permits required for exports, imports

·         Mekong Delta rice fields hit by heavy rains

·         Vietnamese exporters undercut as global rivals benefit more from currency effects

·         Myanmar lifts temporary rice export ban, claims self-sufficiency

·         Egypt Transfers Expertise in Rice Cultivation Techniques to 15 African States

·         Festive period likely to boost rice prices

·         Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily Commodity Report

·         Trichogramma Wasps Used as Biocontrol Agents in the Greater Mekong Region

·         Cash support won’t help rice, cotton farmers meet losses fully

News Detail...

Rouses Proudly Supports America's Rice Farmers

ARLINGTON, VA -- During September National Rice Month (NRM), USA Rice is partnering with grocery store chain Rouses to inspire people to 'think rice' while shopping and planning meals.  Several customized NRM rice promotions are underway reaching shoppers with key U.S. rice messages before, during, and after their shopping experience at Rouses locations across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  Rouses kicked off NRM with an in-store radio announcement touting America's rice farmers and the benefits of U.S.-grown rice that played every thirty minutes in thirty-seven locations.  Store windows display a healthy eating poster with a prominent image of brown rice, and a full-page NRM advertisement is featured in the September/October issue of My Rouses Everyday, a publication available in stores and online.  "Shoppers also have the opportunity to 'think rice' with Rouses' Chef Nino by taking part in two in-store cooking classes in honor of NRM," said Katie Maher, USA Rice director of domestic promotion.  "The cooking class menu features three U.S. rice recipes:  USA Rice's Curried Chicken Lime Rice Bowl, Wild Rice Mushroom Pilaf, and Ginger Pork Stir-Fry. Each recipe is also accompanied by a rice nutrition fact."  On September 8, Chef Nino made an appearance on This Morning New Orleans, a local TV segment reaching more than 3,000 viewers, where he called out NRM and cooked a recipe featuring U.S.-grown basmati rice.   Rouses is also conducting NRM promotional activities online.  Earlier this month, a promotional e-mail entitled "Eat Local for Labor Day" was sent to more than 17,000 subscribers and highlighted U.S.-grown rice messaging and the NRM logo.  Rouses is planning at least four NRM focused social media posts this month and has already shared USA Rice's recipes and new promotional video.  "Rouses is a great retail partner for U.S. rice and they are clearly demonstrating their commitment to supporting America's rice farmers," said Maher.  "Rouses even expanded on our planned NRM promotions, incorporating bonus activities at many locations.  They are a strong advocate for our industry and we thank them for their support."  Contact:  Amy Doane (703) 236-1454

National Rice Month Promotional Item of the Week

Smart chefs 'Think Rice'  Order this trendy Think Rice apron and other promotional items at the USA Rice Online Store or print and mail the item order form.

Crop Progress:   2015 Crop 55 Percent Harvested

WASHINGTON, DC -- Fifty-five percent of the nation's 2015 rice acreage is harvested, according to today's U.S. Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress Report .

Rice Headed, Selected States  Week Ending State  Sept 20, 2014   Sept 13, 2015  Sept 20, 2015 2010-2014 average Percent Arkansas 42 41 57 56 California 7 10 15 6 Louisiana 92 94 95 95 Mississippi 46 45 59 61 Missouri 24 8 20  38 Texas 95 93 97 97 Six States 45 44 55 54

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures

CME Group (Prelim):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for September 21  Month Price Net Change November 2015 $12.805 - $0.145 January 2016 $13.090 - $0.140 March 2016 $13.310 - $0.130 May 2016 $13.495 - $0.120 July 2016 $13.660 - $0.080 September 2016 $12.905 - $0.040 November 2016 $12.905 - $0.040

 

Secret Unlocked to Rice Seed Survival When Underwater

UC Riverside geneticists are members of international research team that identified AG1, a gene that controls sugar availability

By Iqbal Pittalwala On SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Julia Bailey-Serres is a professor of genetics and the director of the Center for Plant Cell Biology at UC Riverside.PHOTO CREDIT: L. DUKA.

Original draft by Paula Bianca Ferrer, IRRI.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A team of scientists from the University of California, Riverside and theInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Philippines, recently published a study unlocking the secret to just how rice seeds might be able to survive when grown under water.The study, published in the leading scientific journal Nature Plants, identified a gene that controls the availability of sugar to a growing seed shoot—especially when under flooded conditions.“The seed of rice is unusual among crops because it can germinate and grow into a young plant that can capture light energy even when the entire process occurs underwater,” said Julia Bailey-Serres, one of the paper’s authors and a professor of genetics at UC Riverside. “The gene identified—the AG1 gene—helps in this process by allowing energy reserves that are in the seed to be efficiently moved to the growing shoot. The seed planted underwater grows into a seedling that can escape a shallow flood.”

This process regulated by this new gene is opposite of that regulated by the SUB1A gene that was discovered previously to enable rice plants to survive complete submergence due to a seasonable flood. Bailey-Serres, who has worked extensively on the mechanism of submergence tolerance, commented, “Plants with SUB1A essentially hibernate when they are underwater; a situation where energy reserves are safeguarded.”

A surprising find

AG1 creates an ‘all or nothing’ escape mechanism that tricks the seed into thinking that more sugar should be given to its shoot—the plant part that grows into stems and leaves—so that the seed underwater is able to more quickly grow and reach the surface of the water. The mechanism can work up to a water depth of 10 cm and can get ‘activated’ as soon as the seed is sown underwater.“The gene that allows the seed to escape a flood, the AG1 gene, is one of a family of 13 genes in rice,” explained Bailey-Serres, the director of UC Riverside’s Center for Plant Cell Biology. “Other members of this family recently have been shown by a team of university researchers and a plant biotech group at Syngenta, to help the plant to move sugar from leaves to the young developing seed in fertilized flowers. When and where to move and use sugars is important. We think the important gene tells the cell that it does not have enough sugar—keeping the tap open for more to be moved from the seed to the growing shoot.”

Surviving under water

Rice survival under flooding is also important when it comes to direct seeding, where seeds do not have to be pre-germinated and then transplanted. With direct seeding, seeds can be directly sown or broadcasted into the field, rather than painstakingly transplanted into the field. This is highly desired by rice farmers.Moreover, one of the major limiting factors to direct seeding is weeds because these can germinate well under air—although not underwater without air—so if rice can germinate well underwater while none of the weeds do, then rice will be able to out-compete the weeds.

Mystery of the missing gene

“One thing that I’ve noticed is that the Indica varieties, which are the ones mostly grown in the tropical parts of Asia, are very much lacking in the trait or ability to grow under flooded conditions,” said IRRI’s Tobias Kretzschmar, the first author of the research paper. “But in Japonica, grown in the more temperate regions of Asia, Australia or the United States, the trait is present. That’s why these varieties have fewer problems with direct seeding.”

He explained that the missing trait is a problem, especially with modern Indica varieties as traditional ones have it, whereas modern ones do not.

Looking for an answer

“We looked at a third to a half of the IRRI released varieties, but the gene is missing,” Kretzschmar said. “At first, we thought that maybe it was actively bred out, meaning that it has some negative effect so the IRRI breeders selected against it.”IRRI researcher Endang Septiningsih, who initiated and led the project, looked for a yield penalty or negative effect on the yield by AG1 but found none.“We actually think it got lost,” Kretzschmar said. “And we knew where it got lost. The gene got lost at the stage when IR8, the famous miracle rice variety, was bred because one of the parents had the gene, while the other did not.”

Fitting pieces together

“I guess it was just never needed as a trait because almost every time the varieties were transplanted, there was no pressure for it,” Kretzschmar explained. “If they had direct seeded then they probably would have retained that gene from the very beginning. But now that direct seeding is becoming popular, we’ve realized that we need that gene in the breeding program. So basically through the marker-assisted backcrossing approach, as it was done with the SUB1A gene introgression, which significantly reduces the breeding period, you can re-introduce the gene and then fix it within one and a half to two and a half years.”

The way forward

With the unfolding of the ‘AG1 secret’ though, the research team’s work is far from done.

“AG1 works well on moderate stress conditions. When we combined it with the SUB1A gene in the same genetic backgrounds it worked well, although they have opposing mechanisms. In severe stress conditions, however, AG1 alone is not sufficient—additional quantitative trait loci (QTLs) or genes that complement the AG1 mechanism will be needed. IRRI and partner universities are working hard in that direction,” said Septiningsih, who recently joined the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University.

Another important question they are addressing is whether seed that can be directly seeded underwater – requiring the escape strategy – can also carry the SUB1A gene for submergence tolerance. This is a question that Bailey-Serres has been investigating with Septiningsih and Bangladeshi student Rejbana Alam, who contributed to the characterization of the role of AG1 during seed germination.Bailey-Serres received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation for this project. Alam, the recipient of a Beachell Borlaug International Scholar Fellowship, is a graduate student working in her lab . IRRI was funded for this research by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Rice Research Partnership.

http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/31472

EAC looking into Ugandan VAT on Tanzanian rice

BY CORRESPONDENT

22nd September 2015

EAC's Director of Customs and Trade, Peter Kiguta

The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat is investigating allegations that Uganda charges 18 per cent value added (VAT) on rice from Tanzania.EAC’s Director of Customs and Trade, Peter Kiguta, said they are yet to receive a formal complaint from Tanzanian rice exporters but will still carry out investigations on the matter.“We have however contacted Uganda to give us a feedback on whether they are imposing VAT on the rice.

If it is established that the VAT imposition is discriminative against Tanzanian rice the relevant provisions of the Customs Union Protocol will be invoked,” said Mr Kiguta in a statement.If found guilty, Uganda will be penalized accordingly, he noted in the statement responding to complaints from local rice producers.And if the VAT is imposed across the board including locally produced rice then the national law will be left to apply since there will be no discrimination,” he noted.The Rice Council of Tanzania (RCT) has been complaining against discrimination by authorities in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda against local rice exported to the three EAC countries under provisions of the Customs Union Protocol.

RCT Vice Chairman, Carter Coleman, said in a recent statement that local rice exports are still facing tariff barriers in the three countries as it is charged VAT and sometimes hiked import duty. Mr Coleman, who is also CEO of Kilombero Plantation Limited, called on the Ugandan authorities to lift the discriminatory taxes.“Please get your government to lift the tariff on Tanzania rice as you are bankrupting local farmers,” Coleman said in the statement also addressed to Ambassador Philip Idro, Chairman of Uganda Rice Millers Association.

Idro has argued that Uganda and the EAC need to protect their markets as cheap Pakistan rice which enters the bloc’s through Kenya threatens rice farmers in the region.“This is important because Africa as a whole wants to make farmers grow more rice,” he argued recently while lobbying EAC governments to impose a 75 per cent duty on rice imports into the region. Idro also wants Kenya to revoke its agreement with Pakistan which allows Kenya to import its rice while exporting tea on barter trade terms approved by the EAC.“Kenya should be importing rice from Uganda or Tanzania and not Pakistan,” he argued. Kenya imports over $1m worth of rice daily from Pakistan.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=84566

My State Can Supply Nigeria's Rice Needs - Oshiomhole

Adams Odunayo 

Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole has boasted that his state can provide the country with all the rice supplies it needs. 

Governor Adams Oshiomhole

The proud governor said that his state is big and enterprising enough to cater for the rice needs of Nigeria only if the federal government could remove waiver on it.Dailypost reports that Governor Oshiomhole said this to the state house correspondents  in Abuja on Friday, September 18. This is coming just against the backdrop of the National Economic Council’s decision to promote local production of food crops in states with comparative advantage on them.“Edo could do a lot if the Federal Government has coherent agricultural policies that do not provide the window for waivers, and expired rice and cheap rice to be dumped on Nigeria,” he stated.Oshiomhole complained about the waiver granted rice importers by Jonathan’s administration, saying it has resulted in the dumping of various goods in the country which has made local producers of food items, including rice, to go out of business.

This is not the first time the governor will throw swipes at the former president as he had earlier blamed Goodluck Jonathan for Edo state’s misery.Governor Oshiomhole said that large scale rice millers in Edo State were already waiting to see if a new policy that favours local production will be implemented before they would return to the farms. He also said that Dangote Group had acquired about 50,000 hectares of land for rice farming in the state and was enthusiastic to go into massive rice farming with the right policies in place.Meanwhile, Elder Godsay Peter Orubebe recently slammed Governor Oshiomhole of for his inciting statement against former president Goodluck Jonathan describing the comrade as a “villa sycophant” who is willing to switch allegiance to anyone is in power.

https://www.naij.com/557638-edo-state-can-feed-whole-nigeria-oshiomhole-blows-hot.html

Storms rage on in parts

Mon, 21 September 2015

Mom Kunthear

Locals contend with rising floodwaters in Pailin province on Friday, as coastal and northwestern provinces were inundated over the weekend. PHOTO SUPPLIED

 Rainstorms

 have battered coastal areas and the Kingdom’s northwest, leaving hundreds of homes flooded and thousands of hectares of crops underwater, a disaster management official said yesterday.Battambang province was the worst hit, with at least one death reported and some roads blocked by floodwaters, according to national and local officials.“The storm hit the four provinces at the coast and four provinces in the northwest,” said Keo Vy, cabinet director and a spokesman for the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM).“The provinces nearby the sea are Koh Kong province, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep province.

 The four provinces in the northwest that also flooded are Battambang, Pailin, Banteay Meanchey and Pursat.”Vy attributed the heavy flooding in Battambang to runoff from across the Thai border.“Rainfall and water that flowed down from Thailand caused 757 houses to be flooded in Kamrieng and Bavel districts,” Vy said. “The authorities moved nine families to a place of safety. There were 9,839 hectares of cassava flooded, which might be damaged, and some roads were cut off.”A teenage girl was also reported to have drowned in Battambang’s Bavel district.“A 13-year-old girl died this morning when she went to swim under her house when her mother was not at home,” said Sar Sary, chief of Bavel district’s Bavel commune.

“Her house flooded until the water came up the stairs.”Sary went on to say that he was optimistic that farmers’ crops now underwater could be saved.“We cannot know if their paddies are damaged because the water started to go down little by little. It would be better if the water went down quickly,” he said. “I think if there is no rain for two days, the water will go down quickly.”In Koh Kong province, 245 houses were damaged and six destroyed completely, while in Kampot province 4,381 families were affected by flooding and 2,291 hectares of rice were submerged.

Three districts and one town were flooded in Preah Sihanouk province, where one home was totally destroyed, 75 houses suffered damage to their roofs and four boats sank.However, according to Ian Thomas, technical adviser to the Mekong River Commission, the heavy rain is unlikely to signal an end to drought conditions, which have blighted crops in large parts of the country since 2014.“Cambodia has to be ready for more extreme weather as a result of the El Niño in the Pacific,” he said. “When El Niño peaks around January, I expect even more severe drought in parts of Cambodia than the previous year.The beginning of next year is going to be very bad for dry-season crops.”

But not every province will be affected.“It’s not a consistent picture,” Thomas said. “Pursat and Battambang are the driest provinces, but Prey Veng and Svay Rieng are OK.”Thomas added that the current El Niño, a climate event that occurs roughly every five years, is the strongest NASA has ever seen and the space agency has nicknamed it “Godzilla”.Extreme weather could soon lead to an increase in the price of rice.“In the drought of 2014, the price of rice fell because of Thai rice subsidies,” Thomas said. “But the IRRI [International Rice Research Institute] has just issued a warning that drought conditions have been so bad across Asia due to El Niño, the price of rice will go up.”The current El Nino is expected to end next year, bringing some relief to farmers.“I am hopeful that in February to March the E.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/storms-rage-parts

Green Super Rice Project Funded by the Chinese Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Selects Affymetrix Axiom^® Genotyping Platform for Developing New Rice Varieties

Axiom Rice Genotyping Array (Photo: Business Wire)

September 21, 2015 06:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) announced today that it has been selected as the genotyping supplier by the Green Super Rice project coordinated by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences as part of their effort to develop, within the next three years, at least fifteen new rice varieties and deliver them to small-hold farmers in 16 countries in Africa and Asia, including China.

“The superior array design, bioinformatics and software capabilities available with the Axiom platform are playing a key role in advancing multiple agriculture projects around the world. Affymetrix is committed to meet the agricultural community’s needs with advanced technologies that are practical, easy to use, and cost effective.”

The Green Super Rice (GSR) project includes building a highly efficient genotyping platform for the large-scale molecular breeding activities within the international rice research community. The Green Super Rice project is supported by the Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and aims to increase the income of resource-limited rice producers by the development and wide-adoption of GSR varieties and corresponding crop management technology. The long-term goal of the project is to benefit at least 20 million resource-limited rice farmers and to boost rice productivity by 20% in the target countries.

“We are excited and very happy to see that the efforts of the rice community in the Green Super Rice project coming to fruition. The Green Super Rice project is the world’s first rice project that is helping lead the scientific and breeding breakthroughs achieved by the efforts of the Chinese rice scientists to release elite cultivars suitable for growth in the target countries,” stated Professor Zhikang Li, project director of GSR, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “We selected the Axiom genotyping platform from Affymetrix due to the platform’s capability to screen millions of markers and accurately transfer them to smaller 384HT format arrays. Such precision and fidelity is not available on any other genotyping platform.”

The genotyping array, specifically designed for the Green Super Rice project, reflects an unprecedented effort by the rice community to leverage over 20 million SNP markers that were discovered in the 3000 Rice Genomes Project. This array uses a novel SNP genotyping marker screening process to screen more than 2 million selected rice SNP markers to identify relevant and valuable markers with high accuracy and precision.A subset of the 2 million markers identified on the rice screening genotyping array will be transferred with 100 percent accuracy onto the Axiom 384HT-format to create the new array. This new Axiom GSR Rice Array, consisting of approximately 55,000 markers, will enable ultra high-throughput processing and analysis of 384 samples simultaneously and will be used to screen thousands of samples in a highly cost-effective manner.

“We are pleased to be able to support the goals of the Green Super Rice Project to help the rice community develop new varieties, address the needs of rice breeders, and to help achieve self-sustainable rice production and food security,” said Laurent Bellon, Ph.D., senior vice president and general manager, Genotyping Business Unit at Affymetrix. “The superior array design, bioinformatics and software capabilities available with the Axiom platform are playing a key role in advancing multiple agriculture projects around the world. Affymetrix is committed to meet the agricultural community’s needs with advanced technologies that are practical, easy to use, and cost effective.”

With Affymetrix’ advanced bioinformatics and innovative design strategies, Axiom genotyping array designs routinely support genome-wide genotyping applications and accurately call the genotypes of both diploid and polyploid species.To learn more about the Axiom genotyping platform, please visit www.affymetrix.com/agrigenotyping for applications in agrigenomics.

About Green Super Rice Project

“Green Super Rice for the Resources-Poor of Africa and Asia” is a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded rice research project with the aim to develop Green Super Rice (GSR) varieties that produce high and stable yields under low-inputs and to transfer corresponding crop management technology to the resources-poor rice farmers in fifteen countries across Africa and Asia and four Southwestern provinces in China. The GSR project’s mission is to help achieve self-sustainable rice production and food security in the target countries and regions. Find out more at http://gsr.org.cn/

About Affymetrix

Affymetrix provides leadership and support, partnering with customers in pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotechnology companies, as well as leading academic, government, and non-profit research institutes in their quest to use biology for a better world. More than 2,300 microarray systems have been shipped around the world and more than 94,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published citing Affymetrix technologies. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has manufacturing facilities in Cleveland, San Diego, Vienna, and Singapore. Affymetrix has about 1,100 employees and maintains sales and distribution operations worldwide. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit www.affymetrix.com

Forward-looking statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as amended, including statements regarding Affymetrix' "expectations," "beliefs," "hopes," "intentions," "strategies," or the like. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially for Affymetrix from those projected. These and other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, and other SEC reports for subsequent quarterly periods.

PLEASE NOTE: Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, and Axiom trademarks are the property of Affymetrix, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Affymetrix, Inc.
Media Contact:
Mindy Lee-Olsen, 408-731-5523
Vice President, Marketing Services
mindy_lee-olsen@affymetrix.com
or
Investor Contact:
Doug Farrell, 408-731-5285
Vice President, Investor Relations
doug_farrell@affymetrix.com

Adani eyes 5 MT sales from agro biz; to expand portfolio

Adani eyes 5 MT sales from agro biz; to expand portfolio The annual turnover of company's agri business is about Rs 20,000 crore at present and it sells wide range of food products which includes apple, various variants of edible oil, basmati rice, gram flour (besan), pulses among others.  3 0Google +0 0 Riding on its strong food products portfolio, Adani Enterprises  is expecting more than 20 percent growth in sale proceeds from the segment, with volumes likely to reach 5 million tonnes.

The annual turnover of company's agri business is about Rs 20,000 crore at present and it sells wide range of food products which includes apple, various variants of edible oil, basmati rice, gram flour (besan), pulses among others. "...the growth has been good from sale of processed food products, our sales was about 4 million tonnes last fiscal. We are expecting 20 percent growth in sales and it will reach 5 million tonnes mark this year," Adani Agri Business CEO Atul Chaturvedi told PTI. When asked, Chaturvedi said, "We certainly would expand our food product portfolio and always look for the opportunities." Chaturvedi added that though chunk of the sales will continue to come from the edible oil, but now they are also relying on basmati rice and gram flour. "Edible oil will continue to remain the largest contributor in terms of sales. But we are witnessing good response to our new products basmati rice and gram flour," he added. The sales of both these commodities are close to 70,000 tonnes per annum each, and it seems that they will register a good growth this fiscal, he said.

In addition to this, the company is aiming to sell 30,000 tonnes of apples this year, compared to about 22,000 tonnes last year. "We are looking to expand our capacity in case of apples, as of now we have capacity constraints," Chaturvedi said. The group has three three main agro verticals - Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL), Adani Agri Logistics Limited (AALL) and Adani Agri Fresh Limited (AAFL). Adani Wilmar is a 50:50 joint venture between Adani Enterprises and Wilmar International. It sells edible oil, pulses, rice, gram flour under the brand Fortune. Whereas Adani Agri Fresh Ltd mainly deals into sales of apples in packed form. Besides this, Adani Agri Logistics is an integrated bulk handling, storage and logistics system for food grains. It provides seamless end-to-end bulk supply chain to Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The company has 13 state-of-the-art silo and besides that it also has its own rail rakes and terminals in major cities. Adani Enterpris stock price On September 22, 2015, at 15:43 hrs Adani Enterprises was quoting at Rs 78.30, down Rs 2.6, or 3.21 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 803.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 65.85. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 4.32 per share as per the quarter ended June 2015. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 18.12. The latest book value of the company is Rs 93.45 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.84.

 http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/adani-eyes-5-mt-salesagro-biz-to-expand-portfolio_3174821.html?utm_source=ref_article

Amarinder seeks adequate compensation for Basmati growers

Source :           PTI

Last Updated: Sun, Sep 20, 2015 19:20 hrs

Senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the Punjab government to provide adequate compensation to Basmati growers who have allegedly been forced to go for distress sale.In a statement issued here, the leader threatened to launch a protest across the state if his demands were not met.Singh noted that last year the Basmati sold for about Rs 3,200 per quintal. But this year the rice variety is not selling for more than Rs 1,200 per quintal."This does not even meet the input costs of the farmers. Moreover, the Basmati yield is less as compared to other varieties of paddy," he said.

The Congress leader lamented that he has been repeatedly reminding Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take up the matter with the central government to address this pressing problem.

"However, he (Badal) only returns after presenting a bouquet to the Prime Minister without asking for anything, for the reasons best known to him," he said.The former Chief Minister also warned that if the farmers do not get adequate prices for their produce it may lead to law and order problem in the state."Better you take serious note of the situation lest it is too late for you and the state as the resentment and anger among farmers is brewing fast," he charged.The leader added that he will personally lead the farmers' protests as this government had failed to address their concerns.Notably, Singh did not attend the 'Kisan Samman rally' by Congress in Delhi today.

                                                                                                  Sify control

Climate change-resilient varieties for VisMin

A study by PhilRice identified two climate change-resilient varieties suitable for irrigated lowlands in the Visayas and Mindanao.  Titled Location-specific irrigated rice varieties resilient to climate change, the study identified NSIC Rc308 (Tubigan 26) and NSIC Rc358 (Tubigan 30) as climate change-resilient varieties with superior performance in irrigated lowland ecosystems.

Thelma Padolina, lead researcher, said that varieties with superior location-specific performance and improved resistance to lodging and biotic stresses must be bred and recommended to help the farmers adapt to climate change.“The two recommended varieties have relatively high yield advantage over their check varieties. The NSIC Rc308 has a yield advantage of 5.5% in the Visayas and 4.0% in Mindanao in contrast with PSB Rc82. NSIC Rc358 outyielded PSB Rc18 by 12%,” Padolina said.NSIC Rc308 and the NSIC Rc358 are 2013 PhilRice-bred varieties. Under favorable irrigated lowland ecosystems, NSIC Rc308 has a maximum average yield of 10.9 t/ha and matures in 11 days if transplanted. When direct-seeded, it matures in 105 days and has a maximum yield of 8.0 t/ha.

Under the same farming condition, NSIC Rc358 can also attain a maximum average yield of 5.4 t/ha to 9.1 t/ha if transplanted.Both varieties are early-maturing. Hence, they can possibly escape stress conditions.  NSIC Rc308 showed superior performance in Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, Eastern Samar, and Aklan. According to Padolina, the variety has intermediate reaction to pests such as stemborer, brown planthopper, and bacterial leaf light.NSIC Rc358 is considered as an all-season variety for Visayas. Padolina said that it is suitable for the transplanting culture in the provinces of Samar, Aklan, and Bohol.Padolina added that the development of location-specific, high-yielding, and climate change-resilient varieties are among the cost-effective strategies to increase rice yields.For more information about climate change-resilient varieties, call or text the PhilRice Text Center 0920 911 1398.

Partnerships, investment key to stronger rice R&D

There is strength in unity.Rice scientists and experts encouraged R&D institutions to foster stronger partnerships as the country prepares to address the effects of trade liberalization and climate change.During the 28^th National Rice R&D Conference at PhilRice, 9 Sept, experts discussed on industry trends to address current issues and emerging problems besetting rice R&D.Dr. Madonna Casimero of IRRI stressed that there is a need to rethink and step-up R&D strategies in order to help the national government in crafting policies and develop the right technologies for the farmers.Casimero also highlighted the message of IRRI’s deputy director general for research Dr. Matthew Morell that “not one institution can provide the solutions to all the issues confronting agriculture.” Hence, cooperation among R&D institutions is needed.

“We need to strengthen ourselves and harness the skills of our partners,” she said.Economics professor Dr. Cesar Quicoy of UPLB emphasized that the national government must invest more in R&D as it plays a major role in making farmers competitive.“Literature will always point out that the reason why we’re always behind in agriculture is because our R&D is very minimal in terms of our GDP,” he said.According to the book titled Securing rice, reducing poverty: challenges and poverty directions written in 2006 by A.M. Balisacan, Leocadio Sebastian and several others, R&D contributes about 25% yield growth in rice.During the conference, experts also suggested that PhilRice, as Ph’s lead institute in rice R&D, must look at the issues in agriculture as an opportunity to prove the relevance of the institute.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.

Punjab, Haryana to procure over 17 million tonnes paddy

By Indo-Asian News Service on September 21, 2015 at 4:57

Chandigarh, Sep 21: Despite a poor monsoon season this year, with rainfall deficiency being 55 to 60 percent, foodgrain states Punjab and Haryana are looking forward to procurement of 17.2 million tonnes of paddy this year. Punjab, where the paddy production and procurement is much higher than neighbouring Haryana, is in fact looking at a much higher procurement than even last year.Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adaish Pratap Singh Kairon, who met department officers in recent days to finalise paddy procurement operations, said Punjab was eyeing to procure 13.7 million tonnes of paddy this year as against 11.8 million tonnes of paddy procured last year (2014).Haryana is expecting to procure over 3.5 million tonnes of paddy from an expected arrival of 3.6 million tonnes this year. The procurement in both the states begins from October 1 officially even though the bulk supplies of paddy are expected to arrive after October 10. 

”All heads of the state procurement agencies are to personally supervise paddy procurement operations across the state beginning from October 1 so as to ensure prompt lifting of paddy as per their allotted share of procurement,” Kairon said here.The higher procurement of paddy this year is being attributed to Punjab farmers preferring non-basmati varieties of paddy instead of basmati, leading to higher productivity. Only last year, the Punjab government had encouraged farmers to shift to growing ‘basmati’ variety of paddy, which is much finer than the common paddy variety and carries a distinct smell and taste, so that the dependence on common paddy variety was minimized.

The state government had targeted procurement of over 14 million tonnes of paddy last year but fell well short of that target owing to lower productivity of the basmati variety. ”The yield of the basmati variety was much lower. The variety needs a lot of care and suitable climatic conditions,” said farmer Kirpal Singh of Rahon near Nawanshahr town.The Punjab government has been actively trying to drastically reduce the area under water-gulping paddy cultivation. Under its agriculture diversification mission to conserve depleting ground water, the Punjab government had announced in May this year that the area under paddy cultivation would be reduced from the present 2.65 million hectares to 1.45 million hectares over the next five years.“The reduced area of 1.2 million hectares will be shifted to alternative crops like maize, sugarcane, cotton, pulses, fruits and vegetables besides agro-forestry in the next five years,” an agriculture department official said. 

The agriculturally successful Malwa belt (south of the river Sutlej) in southwest Punjab has been facing a problem of water-logging in districts like Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar.Agriculture experts have been advising farmers to switch from paddy cultivation as the water table in the state was also depleting fast. Haryana Minister of State for Food and Supplies Karan Dev Kamboj said arrival of about 3.6 million tonnes of paddy is expected in grain markets of the state this season. ”About 3.5 million tonnes of paddy would be procured by government procurement agencies at Minimum Support Price. The remaining one million tonnes of paddy is likely to be procured by private millers,” Kamboj sai

Modified Date: September 21, 2015 4:57 PM

http://www.india.com/news/india/punjab-haryana-to-procure-over-17-million-tonnes-paddy-565573/

PR evaluates Prime Minister’s Agriculture Relief Package

Staff Report

September 20, 2015

 ISLAMABAD: Institute for Policy Reforms (IPR) Managing Director Dr Hafiz Pasha wrote a report titled ‘An Evaluation of the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Relief Package’, which finds that cash support and access to credit would have a positive impact on small farmers.The report questions the timing and adequacy of cash support, as well as its mechanism. There are concerns about the measures to reduce input cost and to provide access to credit. Cost of the package could increase fiscal deficit by an estimated 0.4% of the GDP. The report recommends a number of additional incentives to increase effectiveness of the package like the expansion of the coverage of support prices to rice and cotton, an export subsidy on rice andreduction in price of light diesel oil (LDO).

“With a year-to-year drop of 13% each in price of rice and cotton, cash support for small farmers was much needed. The government has announced cash support even before full loss has occurred to the new crop. It is not clear how well the announced compensation reflects the actual loss to farmers. For example, if the price were to drop by 15%, support of Rs 5,000 per acre would meet 68% of loss for rice farmers and just 29% for cotton growers,” it added.The experts estimate a price decline of 28% for cotton and 22% for rice in 2016. The report said even within the scale of announced compensation, the amount set aside for the purpose is inadequate. Rs 20 billion provided for rice and cotton each would fall short by 34% and 30% respectively, taking into account the number of small farmers and the acreage.

It said that the targeting of benefits would also be a challenge. It requires estimating cropping patterns at individual farm level. This could lead to leakage during disbursement and the government must take steps to prevent it from happening.“With fertiliser comprising 35% of farm variable input cost, the government is right to target reduction in its price. The estimated 15% reduction in price of potassium and phosphate also has the potential to improve the country’s fertiliser mix. Some questions remain, especially with respect to effect on fiscal operations.The burden of cost to be borne by each province is not clear. The package does not quantify the fiscal effect of withdrawal of price increase on urea.If the reduction comes through reduced GST, the revenue loss would be Rs 10 billion. Similarly, estimate of Rs 7 billion as the fiscal effect of tariff reduction seems incorrect.

 Its true impact is Rs 10 billion or 43% higher. Government estimates GST support by provinces to cost Rs 7 billion, whereas it would cost Rs 11 billion, or 57% higher. Continued load shedding will take away the real impact of reduction in tariff. The government also has overestimated the cost reduction by Rs 500 per bag of fertiliser,” the report highlighted.Through a number of measures, the package attempts to correct the bias in access to credit for agriculture. However, there are questions about its viability when farm profits are falling. ZTBL, the main supplier to small farmers, already has 20% non-performing loans. It is uncertain if it is prudent for ZTBL to take on higher risk. Regardless, the announced measures would likely benefit small farmers.The package provides balanced relief to all farm sizes. Cash support and credit targets small farmers while reduced costs help large and medium sized farms. The package seems to have underestimated by Rs 31 billion its cost to the federal and provincial budgets. Overall, it would increase the fiscal deficit by a half percent of GDP.

This is entirely justified though it may need special advocacy with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The report recommends that rather than reacting, the government may look holistically at its policy in support of agriculture. The commodity prices would likely stay low for some time to come.In addition to measures in force already, the report recommends support price for additional products.Of these, rice and cotton need early inclusion. The government may provide export subsidy for rice to help dispose off present stock as well as stabilise the domestic price.The government may reduce price of LDO, as 90% of all tube wells work on diesel. IPR recommends reduction in GST on LDO from the present 29.5% to 7%.Largely, the success of this relief package depends on commitment by the provincial governments. They must meet a portion of the cost and provide direct executive support.The package does not appear to have consent of the four provincial governments as two of them have questioned its validity.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/20-Sep-2015/ipr-evaluates-prime-minister-s-agriculture-relief-package

IPR report evaluates PM’s agriculture relief package

IPR report evaluates PM’s agriculture relief package

September 20, 2015

Lahore - With a year-to-year drop of 13% in price of rice and cotton, Prime Minister’s recently announced cash support of Rs5000 per acre for small farmers would meet 68% of loss for rice farmers and just 29% for cotton growers.The government has announced cash support even before full loss has occurred to the new crop.It is not clear how well the announced compensation reflects actual loss to farmers.Experts estimate a price decline of 28% for cotton and 22% for rice in 2016.Even within the scale of announced compensation, the amount set aside for the purpose is inadequate.

The twenty billion rupees provided for rice and cotton each would fall short by 34% and 30% respectively taking into account the number of small farmers and the acreage.These views were expressed in a report released by the Institute for Policy Reforms.Dr Hafiz Pasha, the Managing Director IPR, in his report titled ‘An Evaluation of the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Relief Package’ welcomed the Prime Minister’s relief package for farmers, which was announced at a time of falling output prices.He said that the package attempted to extend essential support to agriculture, however, evaluation of the package raises issues about the timing and adequacy of cash support, as well as its mechanism.

Questions remain also about the measures to reduce input cost and to provide access to credit, he added.The cost of Prime Minister’s relief package for farmers could increase fiscal deficit by an estimated 0.4 percent of the GDP, however, the cash support and access to credit would have positive effect on small farmers while other measures may help medium and large farmers.The report also recommended a number of additional measures to increase effectiveness of the package and lack of consultation with provincial governments.The report expresses fear that “Once again good intentions may fail to convert to sound deeds and leave the feeling of unilateral policymaking.This is hardly advisable for strengthening the Federation. 
Targeting of benefits would be a challenge.It requires estimating cropping patterns at individual farm level.This could lead to leakage during disbursement and government must do all to prevent it from happening.With fertilizer comprising 35% of farm variable input cost, government is right to target reduction in its price.

The estimated 15% reduction in price of potassium and phosphate also has the potential to improve the country’s fertilizer mix.Some questions remain, especially with respect to effect on fiscal operations.The burden of cost to be borne by each province is not clear.The package does not quantify the fiscal effect of withdrawal of price increase on Urea.If the reduction comes through reduced GST, the revenue loss would be Rs 10 billion.Similarly, estimate of Rs 7billion as the fiscal effect of tariff reduction seems incorrect.Its true impact is Rs.10 billion or 43% higher.

Government estimates GST support by provinces to cost Rs 7 billion whereas it would cost Rs 11 billion, or 57% higher.Continued load-shedding will take away the real impact of reduction in tariff.Government also has overestimated the cost reduction by Rs.500 per bag of fertilizer.Through a number of measures, the package attempts to correct the bias in access to credit for agriculture.However, there are questions about its viability when farm profits are falling.ZTBL, the main supplier to small farmers, already has 20% non-performing loans.It is uncertain if it is prudent for ZTBL to take on higher risk.Regardless, the announced measures would likely benefit small farmers.

The package provides balanced relief to all farm sizes.Cash support and credit targets small farmers while reduced costs help large and medium sized farms.The package seems to have underestimated by Rs.31 billion its cost to the federal and provincial budgets.Overall, it would increase the fiscal deficit by a half percent of GDP.This is entirely justified though may need special advocacy with the IMF.The report recommends that rather than reacting, government may look holistically at its policy in support of agriculture.Commodity prices would likely stay low for some time to come.In addition to measures in force already, the report recommends support price for additional products.Of these, rice and cotton need early inclusion.Government may provide export subsidy for rice to help dispose off present stock as well as stabilize domestic price.Government may reduce price of Light Diesel Oil, as 90% of all tube wells work on diesel.IPR recommends reduction in GST on LDO from the present 29.5% to 7%.

http://nation.com.pk/business/20-Sep-2015/cash-support-won-t-help-rice-cotton-farmers-meet-losses-fully

Punjab all set to start Paddy procurement from October 1

September 19, 2015

CHANDIGARH: Food and Civil Supplies Minister Mr. Adaish Pratap Singh Kairon has directed all the heads of the state procurements agencies to personally supervise the Paddy procurement operations across the state beginning from October 1 so as to ensure prompt lifting of paddy as per their allotted share of procurement. According to an official spokesman of the government, Punjab was eying to procure 137 MT of paddy this year as against 118 MT of paddy procured last year. 1806 purchase centers have been set up across the state.

Reviewing the arrangements of the Paddy procurement for the Kharif Season 2015-16 in the state, Mr. Kairon said that all out efforts should be made to ensure smooth, hassle free and quick procurement of Paddy on one hand and facilitate the farmers in getting timely payment of their produce on the other. Farmers have preferred non basmati varieties of paddy instead of basmati that is why more Paddy arrival was anticipated in Punjab
He categorically said that farmers of the state should not be put to any inconvenience for the sale of their produce in the mandis. He firmly said that good quality sturdy gunny bags with accurate weight would be ensured while packing the produce. He also said that the officers concerned have been especially asked to visit the mandis during the procurement and ensure smooth lifting. He said the field staff would work day and night to procure the stocks even on Saturdays and Sundays and also on government holidays. The Minister has also asked the officers concerned to ensure that there would be no shortage of gunny bags for storage of grains, he added. The minister has asked Punjab Mandi Board officials to make sure of arrangements in mandis to save produce and to have proper sanitation facilities.

http://punjabexpress.com.au/archives/9459

September rains improve Rabi outlook

TOMOJIT BASU

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 21:  

After prolonged dry spells in July and August, a resurgent monsoon this month is expected to help farmers during the Rabi season.Deficit rainfall is likely to take its toll on Kharif foodgrains (rice, pulses and coarse cereals) output which the Agriculture Ministry expects will contract by 2 per cent to 124.05 million tonnes (mt) this year, according to its early estimates released last week.As of Monday, the rainfall deficit has narrowed to 14 per cent after showers across East and North-East India.The early monsoon withdrawal appears to have slowed with low pressure systems moving toward the North bringing more moisture to parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh over the weekend.

Parched areas of Maharashtra also received much needed precipitation, while Gujarat’s Saurashtra and Kutch areas recorded steady rainfall.The South Peninsula also received significant rainfall in the first two weeks of September. This helped narrow the deficit to 14 per cent from a late-August high of 22 per cent.“The resurgence will improve soil moisture in these areas. Even if Kharif yields fall due to less rain during the monsoon, Rabi prospects appear to be good. Overall, food inflation is unlikely to worsen,” said an Agriculture Ministry official.According to India Meteorological Department data, 16 out of 36 sub-stations have reported deficient rainfall between June 1 and September 21. Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Marathwada and the Konkan coast are largely rain-fed and have been hit the hardest.

The normal area during the Rabi season is 61.43 million hectares and important crops grown include wheat, pulses like chickpea (chana) and gram, mustard and barley. The season accounts for 51 per cent of the country’s foodgrain output.“Rainfall has been forecast for another 10 days. So, this will help crops in the final flowering stage. Moisture retention in the soil and charged reservoir levels is a positive sign for Rabi,” said a senior official from Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Kharif crop sowing, of which 97 per cent has been completed, will end this month.

Rabi conference

The two-day annual ‘Rabi Conference’, which reviews the performance of the preceding Kharif and strategises about the Rabi, will be held here from Tuesday. The conference will see Central and State agriculture officers engaging on preparedness for the season.Six topics, including the promotion of horticulture and organic farming, more cultivation of pulses and oilseeds in rice fallows, and ways to tackle agrarian crisis, will be focused on.

(This article was published on September 21, 2015)

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http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/september-rains-improve-rabi-outlook/article7674441.ece

Indonesia likely to import rice after El Nino affects harvest

However, kharif output may be down by 2% on deficit rains

English.news.cn   2015-09-21 19:52:08

JAKARTA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government is likely to ship rice from overseas as El Nino causes failure in harvests at some areas, Vice President Jusuf Kalla disclosed here on Monday.El Nino has triggered drought and prolonged harvest as well as disturbed cultivation in paddy rice fields.Vice President Kalla said that the country's rice outputs may not be sufficient for the compliance of the demand of most of the country's 250 million populations."Therefore, we are open on possibility for rice importation. We must be open (on import).

This is a problem of drought," he said at Borobudur Hotel.Mr. Kalla argued that the country's rice stockpile is not sufficient to meet with rice demand of the population."The rice stockpile at the national logistic agency is only 1.5 million tons, while the demand of whole of the population is 2.5 to 3 million tons (per year)," he said.The Indonesian government has created artificial rains and distributed hundreds of pumps to water down some areas which have suffered from drought.The prolonged dry season has caused over 200,000 hectares rice field across the country a lack of water and 30,000 hectares of which has failed in harvest, according to agriculture ministry.

Moderate impact of El Nino will hit Indonesia from August to December with the peak in September, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.In 1998, El Nino attacked Indonesia with severe impact, pushing the government to import 5 million tons of foods, said Kalla.El Nino is a warming of the sea's surface in the Pacific that occurs every four to 12 years.

Editor: Hou Qiang

September rains improve Rabi outlook

TOMOJIT BASU

Book Online by 30 September. 2015!

However, kharif output may be down by 2% on deficit rains

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 21:  

After prolonged dry spells in July and August, a resurgent monsoon this month is expected to help farmers during the Rabi season.Deficit rainfall is likely to take its toll on Kharif foodgrains (rice, pulses and coarse cereals) output which the Agriculture Ministry expects will contract by 2 per cent to 124.05 million tonnes (mt) this year, according to its early estimates released last week.As of Monday, the rainfall deficit has narrowed to 14 per cent after showers across East and North-East India.

The early monsoon withdrawal appears to have slowed with low pressure systems moving toward the North bringing more moisture to parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh over the weekend. Parched areas of Maharashtra also received much needed precipitation, while Gujarat’s Saurashtra and Kutch areas recorded steady rainfall.The South Peninsula also received significant rainfall in the first two weeks of September. This helped narrow the deficit to 14 per cent from a late-August high of 22 per cent.“The resurgence will improve soil moisture in these areas. Even if Kharif yields fall due to less rain during the monsoon, Rabi prospects appear to be good.

 Overall, food inflation is unlikely to worsen,” said an Agriculture Ministry official.According to India Meteorological Department data, 16 out of 36 sub-stations have reported deficient rainfall between June 1 and September 21. Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Marathwada and the Konkan coast are largely rain-fed and have been hit the hardest.The normal area during the Rabi season is 61.43 million hectares and important crops grown include wheat, pulses like chickpea (chana) and gram, mustard and barley. The season accounts for 51 per cent of the country’s foodgrain output.“Rainfall has been forecast for another 10 days. So, this will help crops in the final flowering stage. Moisture retention in the soil and charged reservoir levels is a positive sign for Rabi,” said a senior official from Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Kharif crop sowing, of which 97 per cent has been completed, will end this month.

Rabi conference

The two-day annual ‘Rabi Conference’, which reviews the performance of the preceding Kharif and strategises about the Rabi, will be held here from Tuesday. The conference will see Central and State agriculture officers engaging on preparedness for the season.Six topics, including the promotion of horticulture and organic farming, more cultivation of pulses and oilseeds in rice fallows, and ways to tackle agrarian crisis, will be focused on.

(This article was published on September 21, 2015)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/september-rains-improve-rabi-outlook/article7674441.ece

Monsoon surge cracks open new front over East, N-E

VINSON KURIAN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPTEMBER 21:  

With just 10 days to go, the South-West monsoon has opened a new front along the country’s eastern flanks even as it worked its way around the West and North-West overnight on Monday morning.An India Met Department update said that a fresh low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal has curled its way into Jharkhand and neighbourhood, scaling up the monsoon to vigorous mode along the hills.

Rain deficit

The overall rainfall deficit has reduced further to 14 per cent with Central India making major gains from the current spell where the regional deficit stood revised lower to 13 per cent from the high teens.Amongst the four broad geographical regions, North-West India stood worst with 20 per cent. South peninsula too has benefited from the latest spell, bringing down its shortfall to 14 per cent.Over East and North-East India, the deficit remains unchanged at eight per cent from Sunday. The late revival of fortunes was unexpected and in the best traditions of truant nature of the monsoon.IMD has now joined global models to predict that the ongoing spell would sustain in various intensities over many parts of the country right until the end of the month.

Heavy showers

Moderate to heavy showers were reported from the plains and foothills of West Bengal, East Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and the North-eastern States until the morning.Towards the West and Northwest, a prevailing ‘low’ over North Gujarat and adjoining South Rajasthan has been driving rain into Saurashtra and Kutch, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Konkan-Goa.Most parts of the country will remain variously wet over the remaining 10 days of the monsoon, with some heavier showers forecast for the South during the latter part.Early forecasts suggest that the Bay of Bengal, specifically the Andaman Sea, could conjure up a low-pressure area towards the last few days of the month with scope for intensification.

Bay storm?

A storm forecaster model featured by the US Climate Prediction Centre saw this developing into a likely storm and racing away west-northwest towards the Odisha coast during the first week of October.This would blast away the last vestiges of the southwest monsoon and prepare the ground ready for the monsoon-in-reverse, i.e. northeast monsoon or winter monsoon.

But reliable leads on the emerging weather could be had only after the prevailing two ‘low’s sign out from the East and the North-West.El Nino years have in the past coincided with average or even above normal North-East monsoon though there is no direct cause-effect relationship between the two.

(This article was published on September 21, 2015)

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http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/monsoon-surge-cracks-open-new-front-over-east-ne/article7674439.ece

Rice harvest begins across Northern California

 

A harvester plows through a rice field Tuesday, collecting the staple crop at the Gorrill Ranch in Durham.Emily Bertolino — Enterprise-Record

By Heather Hacking, hhacking@chicoer.com, @HeatherHacking on Twitter

POSTED: 09/21/15, 8:55 AM PDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO

Plowing through acres of rice fields. the harvester collects the rice grains and spews then into the bankout wagon as rice harvest gets underway Tuesday at the Gorrill Ranch in Durham.Emily Bertolino —

With blistering weather last week, it was nice for the crew of the Gorrill Ranch to have gray skies for the first day of rice harvest.About 25 days ago, the water was drained from the fields and the plants began to dry. In mid summer, at the height of the growing season, the plants are a vibrant green, a color that stands out against the faded yellow of the valley.Closer to harvest, the colors dim. Stalks holding rice kernels turn a light beige and flop over with weight. The green of the stalks also begins to fade.Yet, it’s not the appearance of the plants that triggers the start of the rice harvesting engines. The kernels themselves let ranch CEO Danny Robinson know when they’re ready.The ranch office is a little building dwarfed by the towering round rice dryers along the Midway.

Close to the door, the ranch workers keep the Motomco moisture meter, a faded and scratched blue/gray machine that sits on the counter. The machine is tested each growing season for accuracy.When the first truckload of rice is delivered to the drying area, a worker scoops up a cup filled with raw rice. The kernels are placed into the Motomco, and a meter gives a reading.Michelle Pisenti runs a calculation, and comes up with the moisture content of the grain.Too wet, the workers will cool their engines and wait for the rice to dry more in the field.Its more cost efficient to let the sun and wind dry the rice than to run the kernels through the dryers multiple times.Plus, if the kernels dry out too quickly, they can crack, which decreases the quality of the rice overall.There’s a lot more that can go wrong during the growing season.This year, availability of water was the primary concern.

The California Rice Commission reports that about 30 percent less rice was planted in the state this year.If you take a back road near Durham and drive west, you’re bound to pass fields where rice was not planted this year. Some of the fields have been worked over by tractors. Others are filled with weeds that have grown so tall they look like bushes.Rice grower Steve Rystrom cut back his acreage by 15 percent to 20 percent this year.He planted rice varieties that looked ready for harvest more than a week ago. But he checked the moisture content and the kernels were still too green.He predicted the combines would really get rolling later this week and then will cut straight through until the end of harvest.Rice could be all done by the second week of October, he guesstimated.That’s about a week and a half earlier than the past few years.So far, the weather looked good for harvest. The little bit of rain this week was so slight it should not harm the rice plants. A heavier rain could cause rice to lodge. This is where the stalks flop over and form a heavy mass. Harvesting machines can have a more difficult time harvesting the rice that is flat to the ground.

What is grown in Butte County, and elsewhere for that matter, is often dictated by the soil type. Rice does best in hard adobe clay, which holds water when the fields are flooded.Most rice is produced using surface water provided through water rights along a river or through irrigation districts.This year, water supply was tight. Some farm water districts received zero water allocation from the Sacramento or Feather rivers. Depending on the strength of the water rights, other water districts were cut back 25 or 50 percent.If growers had access to wells, they pumped groundwater.This year there was much uncertainty about water, and even if a certain amount of water was allocated, growers did not know whether those numbers would be changed mid-season, said rice grower Steve Rystrom.Also, the soil was so dry, growers did not know how much water the land would absorb once fields were flooded.Because of these factors, some growers were conservative and pumped more water earlier in the season.In a normal year, rice farmers can have as much water as they want after Nov. 1, to flood fields for rice straw decomposition.

This year they will have none after October. When the minimal amount of water runs out, growers will pull up the barricades to their fields, which holds the water in during the growing season. When rain falls, the fields will capture and hold that water.Water worries are the year’s biggest concern, but armyworms might be remembered as No. 2.Was it the weather? The lack of water? Whatever the combination, the worms were here en masse.At the recent Rice Experiment Station annual meeting held in Biggs, researchers noted this was the biggest armyworm outbreak in three decades.In areas where the worms were most voracious, all the leaves on the rice plants had been eaten away.More typically, parts of the leaves would have bites taken out.Normally, growers would apply Sevin to the field to knock back the worms, However, thetiming of the arrival was too close to when the herbicide Propanil is applied.Other pesticides were used, but they were not as effective.

Contact reporter Heather Hacking at 896-7758.

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/business/20150921/rice-harvest-begins-across-northern-california

Indonesia crop failure blamed on El Nino

 

As some southern regions experience drought for six months now, farmers rely on government to buy food and water.

Step Vaessen | 21 Sep 2015 09:26 GMT | Weather, Asia Pacific, Indonesia

Wonogiri, Indonesia - Indonesia says some of its southern regions are experiencing drought because of the weather phenomenon known as El Nino.Some areas of the country have not had rain for six months. Wells in Wonigiri, in central Java, have run dry after nearly half a year without rain.Farmers have been hit hard, with monsoon rains expected to start two months later than usual due to El Nino.Nearly 100,000 hectares of rice harvest have failed already. Farmers are now depending on financial support from the government for food, including basic necessities, like drinking water.The Indonesian government insists food stocks are still sufficient, but experts say this is too optimistic.

The agriculture ministry admits the effects of El Nino have yet to be calculated.The government is resorting to drastic measures in an effort to create rain.Planes have been flying over the worst-hit areas, releasing salt into the clouds - a procedure that causes raindrops to become heavy and fall.Authorities have also distributed thousands of water pumps. But without any water sources, farmers are struggling.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/indonesia-crop-failure-blamed-el-nino-150921062759431.html

Vietnam aims to export high-end, quality rice

VietNamNet Bridge - Experts have urged changing the rice export strategy: instead of growing high-yield rice and exporting rice in large quantities, it should focus on exporting high-quality products at high prices and building a national brand.

Agricultural experts have warned that Vietnam might be overtaken by newly emerging rice exporters such as Myanmar and Cambodia. Myanmar has two scented rice varieties well known in the world market, Lone Thwal Hmwe and Paw San. Paw San, considered the most delicious variety now, exported at $900 per ton. Cambodia has Phka Romduol. Meanwhile, Vietnam still does not have any strong brand.Nguyen Phuoc Tuyen from the Dong Thap provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, warned that Vietnam will be under pressure as Myanmar and Iran have lifted rice export bans. The Indonesian government is also considering a self-supply policy, and plans to stop importing rice in coming years.

 The country plans to have an output of 36.3 million tons of rice in 2015 and will only import 1.25 million tons.Meanwhile, other rice exporters have been growing rapidly. Cambodia has positioned its rice products in the world market with scented varieties such as Phka Romdeng, Phka Romeat and Phka Rumduol. The country reportedly plans to export 1.1 million tons of high-quality rice this year at high prices.Vietnamese rice exports find it more difficult to compete with other exporters also because of the cheap yuan. With the yuan devaluation, the rice imported from Vietnam has become 4 percent more expensive in US dollar payments. A report showed that the cross-border rice export to China has decreased by VND300 per kilo in price. Meanwhile, China is a big rice buyer, consuming 38 percent of 3.72 million tons of rice Vietnam has exported.

Rice varieties

Dr. Le Van Banh, former head of the Mekong River Delta Rice Institute, Vietnam mostly exports long-grain white rice priced at $350-360 per ton. However, many other countries also export this product. Vietnam has to compete with India and Pakistan, which are trying to lower export prices.International press on September 8 reported that the Thai government plans to put 732,806 tons out of 14 million tons in stocks into auction. Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice is priced at $325-335 per ton, while 25 percent broken rice at $320-330 per ton, which is $15-20 per ton lower than Thai rice of the same kind.  “If Vietnam still focuses on exporting long-grain white rice, it will suffer,” Banh said, adding that Vietnam should try to earn more money by selling high-end products instead of making modest money by exporting high-yield rice.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/141395/vietnam-aims-to-export-high-end--quality-rice.html

Vietnam rice loses to Thailand and Cambodia

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese rice has lower quality compared to rice of Thailand and Cambodia because Vietnamese farmers are using short day varieties, while Thai and Cambodian farmers mainly plant only one rice crop/year, with higher quality, safety and more competitive prices.

To get a deeper look inside the existing problems and find solutions to the problem of Vietnamese rice, VietNamNet talks with Dr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the Vietnam Institute for Policy and Strategy of Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD).

Q: How has the policy on limiting agricultural land allocation influenced the development of agriculture and rice in general in the context of international integration, as Vietnam is about to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)?

A: The process of international economic integration in general and TPP and AEC in particular, with the reduction of tariff barriers, create competitive pressures for Vietnam’s agriculture. Instead, countries will focus on using technical barriers and standards in the trade relationship. Vietnam’s agricultural products currently have low quality and food safety standards, failing to meet the requirements of picky markets.One of the main causes of this situation is that the scale of agricultural land in Vietnam is too small, averaging less than 0.5 hectares per household. The small-scale production makes difficulties for organization of production and value chain links, quality management, food safety, disease control. And application of science and technology and also makes the increase of costs of production and transaction costs.

Land concentration is a major policy of the Party and the State to advance to modern agriculture. The 2013 Land Law also expands the limits of agricultural land used by households compared to the previous regulations. However, the process of land consolidation is taking place very slowly. The main reason is the weak operation of the agricultural land market, because of the following factors:

- The ability to attract workers to the industrial and service sectors is still weak. According to the General Statistics Office, last year 66.9% of the population and 69.6 percent of the labor force were still concentrated in rural areas - of which the labor force employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector was 46.3%. This figure has been falling very slowly in recent years. Most of the new workforce generated annually is in rural areas.- The majority of the labor force from rural areas participates in the informal labor force (accounting for 77% of the workforce) because the rural workforce is largely unskilled labor (accounting for 47.6 % of workers with jobs). Facing the risk of social security, poor housing conditions and living standards, most migrant workers still remain in the countryside.

The role of land as the "means of production" has become "risk insurance." Labor withdrawing from the agricultural sector but still keeping land has affected investment in agricultural land. As a result, land is not concentrated in the hands of the best farmers.- Meanwhile, small farmer households do not have enough financial conditions, production and management skills, information and social connections in order to have land. Also, procedures for land transfer is complex which makes it very difficult for farmers.Small-scale production makes it is difficult for Vietnam to manage quality, control disease and apply new science and technology in agriculture.

Q: Could you analyze the competitiveness of Vietnamese rice and farmers in comparison with other emerging countries like Myanmar, India... especially when Vietnam is more deeply integrating into the world market?

A: As income rises, consumers tend to prefer high quality products in general and high-quality rice in particular. Vietnam rice has lower quality than that of Thailand and Cambodia because farmers use short-term varieties (3 month/season) and grow 2-3 crops/year to take advantage of the limited land, the short growth cycle. Meanwhile, rice of the two other countries is mainly one crop/year, with good quality, safety and more competitive prices.

After the world food crisis in 2007 - 2008, rice exporting and importing countries have been boosting rice production to ensure food security and avoid dependence on rice imports. This has led to an oversupply of rice. Consumers in the major rice importing countries like China also require high-quality rice.

Therefore, even before integration, Vietnamese rice has had to face fierce competition. When Vietnam opens its market under bilateral and multilateral commitments, Vietnamese rice will face more difficulties. To enhance competitiveness, Vietnam should promote rice restructuring towards focusing on the improvement of product quality and diversification of export markets.

Q: In the context of fierce regional competition, should Vietnam loosen conditions on rice exports (Decree 109)?

A: To compete amid rice oversupply and consumers preferring to use high-quality rice, the rice sector must improve the quality of rice to participate in niche markets which are small but have high value.

However, Decree 109/ND-CP/2010 and Decision 6139/QD-BCT in 2013 stipulate that to become a rice exporting firm, an enterprise must meet the following conditions: (i) have at least one warehouse with a minimum capacity of 5,000 tons of rice and (ii) at least a rice husking factory with a minimum capacity of 10 tons of paddy per hour.Because of these conditions, the market only has big and powerful ones and rejects small businesses that don’t meet conditions on warehouses and rice husking factories, although they can produce rice of good quality for export.

Therefore, it is necessary to create conditions to encourage enterprises with vast fields, with stable raw material areas, large warehouses and husking factories and quality rice to export rice.

In the long term, it is necessary to promote value chain links, support businesses to renew equipment, build brands, and switch from hand-to-hand contracts to investment partnership contracts with the importers.

Hoang Huong

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/special-reports/141623/vietnam-rice-loses-to-thailand-and-cambodia.html

Drought exposes cracks in Australia's acclaimed water market

SYDNEY | BY COLIN PACKHAM

A farmer walks past a mobile irrigation boom on a dying oat crop on his farm in the heart of Australia's Murray-Darling river basin outside Moulamein, west of Canberra, in this August 24, 2007 file photo.

REUTERS/TIM WIMBORNE/FILES

A pioneering Australian scheme to improve the management of water in the world's driest inhabited continent is facing its first real test as an intensifying El Nino threatens crops and builds tensions between farmers and environmentalists.The three-year old management plan for the Murray-Darling basin, an area twice the size of Spain and home to 40 percent of Australia's agricultural output, has been lauded internationally and suggested as a guide for drought-hit California.Forged in the wake of a ruinous 14-year drought, the scheme set up a market-based water trading system, improved cooperation across state borders and focused on efficient water usage.

"All of these lessons are appropriate to the United States," said water policy expert Professor David Feldman of the University of California, Irvine, where the state is suffering from a four-year dry spell that has threatened agriculture and helped fan severe wildfires this summer.Australia's Murray-Darling basin encompasses two major river systems in Australia's southeast, but years of siphoning off water to irrigate crops has devastated waterways, creating dried-out wetlands and acidic soils, toxic algal blooms that threaten animal and human health, and high levels of salinity.A 2012 water management plan instituted a raft of water-saving measures, and set up a market-based system where farmers who have been allocated water rights under decades-old systems can trade their entitlements.Under the scheme, the government buys water to keep the river healthy, farmers can buy water to irrigate crops in lean years or during the hot summer season, and investors are also welcome.

DROUGHT PRESSURE

But changes to the Australian plan amid a resurgent El Nino weather pattern have worried environmentalists who say its reputation and credibility are now at risk.The plan initially met little resistance in rural areas, but dry weather this year has depleted some dams that store river water, forcing farmers to accept big cuts in their water entitlements.The loss is particularly hard for summer crops that rely heavily on irrigation like cotton, rice and sorghum. Australia is the world's fourth-largest exporter of cotton.Cotton accounts for about A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) in export earnings, or about 7 percent of total crop earnings, and production is forecast to fall nearly 10 percent in the year to end-June 2016 from last year's five-year low.While the dry weather is hastening a shift from water-intensive crops like cotton and rice, it has also sparked calls for changes to the management plan as farmers say too much water is being used for the environment.While farmers can buy water on market, prices have jumped sharply to more than A$200 ($145) a megalitre in some regions - well in excess of viable limits for many, who argue that having to compete with the government has driven up prices.

CAPS AND OVERSIGHT

Australian lawmakers last week nearly halved the amount of water the government can buy from local farmers, instead giving farmers subsidies to save water that would then be available for sale.Environmentalists and some academics question the changes, which the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says will cost up to five times the market rate of buying water, while there is also a physical limit on how much can be saved.This week, the government transferred management of Australia's water resources from the Department of the Environment to the Department of Agriculture, a move long sought by rural bodies."It introduces a remarkable conflict of interest between a minister whose job it is to promote the agricultural industry and now under this arrangement, a minister who will be responsible for securing the health of water resources that are used by that industry," said ACF campaigner Jonathan La Nauze.

Academics say the scheme has had some success in improving the health of the river system, and will survive in its basic form given the importance of the basin to all water users."Any tinkering will be at the edges and not the core," said Willem Vervoort, associate professor in hydrology and catchment management, the University of Sydney. "If the water quality keeps deteriorating then the irrigators are out of business. In the end, the irrigators have a stake in the environment too."The University of California's Feldman said legal and political differences would make it difficult to implement parts of the Australian system in the United States, where water rights remain linked to property rights.However, the lessons for California included overcoming the fragmented authority for water management and getting public buy-in on how to best save and use water, he said.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Richard Pullin)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/20/us-australia-water-basin-idUSKCN0RK03K20150920

 

Government to ease permits required for exports, imports 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Sat, September 19 2015, 5:42 PM

Business News

In following up on the issuance of the government’s economic policy package last week, the Trade Ministry will ease export and import regulations to improve the business climate and ensure national stocks of basic commodities, an official has said. The ministry’s deregulation team head Arlinda Imbang Jaya said at least 32 regulations, mostly ministerial regulations, would be amended by the ministry through October this year.The ministry will also cut at least 38 export and import permits from the total of 121 permits under the ministry, including four registered exporter (ET) permits, 21 registered importer (IT) permits and 13 producing importer (IP) permits. “We hope the measure will increase the flow of goods for imports, exports and domestic trade, as well as ensure the supply of the commodities in the market and therefore stabilize prices,” Arlinda said at a press briefing on Friday.

Indonesia recorded US$6.22 billion in trade surplus in the January-August period of this year, with total exports and imports slumping by 12.7 percent and 18.96 percent year-on-year (yoy), respectively. The declining exports and imports have indicated that many industries in the country are still facing a slowdown. The ease for exports and imports will also be applied on so-called strategic commodities, such as rice, sugar, salt and plantation products, with the removal of requirements for recommendations from other ministries and agencies for the import and export of the products.“We have finished talking with the ministries that usually give the recommendations, such as the Industry Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and others.

 There are some policies that need relaxation from their side to remove the recommendation requirements,” she said.Arlinda added that through the import relaxation, the ministry hoped that the industry could better utilize raw materials.Imports of raw materials increased by 18.7 percent month-to-month (mtm) to $9.15 billion in August, a reverse from the 21.4 percent drop a month before, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data.Under the new regulation, the government would make a decision on local production, national demand and import volume of the commodities in a limited coordination meeting (Rakortas), involving related ministries.Regarding rice imports, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) previously said that the national stock of subsidized rice would be close to running out by the year’s end, as the stock stood at 62,000 tons while it needed 1.5 to 2 million tons to meet next year’s demand. The impact of El Niño on production also loomed, though Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman has stated his confidence on not importing rice this year.

With regard to salt imports, Arlinda said the ministry would scrap requirements for IT and IP, saying the requirement would only be applied to producing importers’ identification numbers (API).Similar ease on imports would also be applied to other commodities, such as steel, with the scrapping of tax identification number (NPWP) and business permit (SIUP) document requirements. According to Arlinda, the export-import process would also be available online starting October.

With the easing, the ministry would also still manage the flow of imports by obliging importers to uphold the policy to label imported product in Indonesian prior to selling them. (fsu)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/09/19/government-ease-permits-required-exports-imports.html#sthash.ExAZSxjh.dpuf

Mekong Delta rice fields hit by heavy rains

Thousands of hectares of rice in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta were flattened after heavy rains and strong winds hit the region this week.

In Dong Thap Province, more than 3,000ha of rice ready for harvest in three districts were flattened, causing an estimated yield reduction of 10-20 per cent.Despite public pumps being operated around the clock, rice fields are still inundated and harvest machines cannot be used.At least 90 per cent of Tran Van Thom's 3ha of OM 4900 rice fields in Tam Nong's Phu Tho Commune were flattened by severe weather caused partly by Storm Vamco that hit the central region this week.Thom said that farmers in the area had never experienced three consecutive days of severely inundated rice fields.Traders are now offering to buy fresh paddy directly at fields for a price of VND4,300 a kilo.Farmer Thom said he would sell rice paddy at a loss because he had been unable to find a dryer to dry the paddy.

Flattened rice has lost some of its quality, contributing to a drop in price.The Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has instructed districts and agriculture co-operatives to speed up the pumping of water out of rice fields and prepare machines to harvest rice when the weather improves.Farmer Phan Thanh Duc in An Giang Province's Thoai Son District said the water level in rice fields had increased since Sunday, submerging 100 ha in rice-zoning areas. "If the inundation lasts a long time, farmers will lose everything," he said.Nguyen Duc Ky, deputy chairman of the Vinh Thanh Commune People's Committee, said the rice zoning area No1 had seen the most damage.The rice zoning area No1 had 268ha of rice. The commune had speeded up pumping water out of rice fields to mitigate damages, Ky said.

In Tan Chau Town's Phu Loc Commune, soldiers in Tan Chau Town's Phu Loc Commune have been helping farmers harvest the rice submerged under water since Wednesday.About 10,000ha of rice ready for harvest in An Giang Province are still under water.In Ca Mau Province, rain and winds flattened more than 3,400ha of rice in Tran Van Thoi and U Minh districts, according to the province's Irrigation Sub-department.The yield at the rice fields is expected to fall by 30 per cent, according to the sub-department.Ca Mau's agriculture officials have instructed affected districts to open sluice gates to release water from rice fields. Local farmers have also been encouraged to use pumps at rice fields. 

 Vietnamese exporters undercut as global rivals benefit more from currency effects

Thanh Nien News

HANOI - Saturday, September 19, 2015 14:36

Arabica coffee beans sit in a container inside coffee store in Hanoi. Photo: Bloomberg

Export earnings from Vietnamese farm commodities have fallen after many countries let their currencies depreciate significantly, giving their exporters more ability to undercut rivals. ietnam's farm exports dropped 7.7 percent year-on-year to around US$9.2 billion in the January-August period, and experts warn that further declines should be expected. They made the gloomy forecast at a conference held by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday in Hanoi, news website Saigon Times Online reported.Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, chief of the institute, better known as Ipsard, said since China, which buys 20 percent of Vietnam's agricultural exports, depreciated the yuan last month, Vietnamese exporters have been under pressure to reduce their prices to be able to compete with Chinese products. Some other major competitors such as Brazil, India and Thailand have also let their currencies declined, he said.

Over the past year, the Brazilian real has fallen 72 percent against the US dollar and the Thai baht, 18 percent, he said. Nguyen Trung Kien, a researcher with Ipsard, was quoted as saying that in 2013, Vietnamese rice accounted for 66 percent of China's rice imports. But the ratio fell to 47 percent in the first four months this year, after China sourced more rice from Thailand and Cambodia. Sales of robusta coffee beans could also shrink, now that arabica beans produced by Brazil and Columbia, which are preferred by roasters, have become almost just as cheap. Vietnam's seafood products are too facing difficulties, considering that its shrimp is now more expensive than similar products from India, Indonesia and Thailand, Kien said. Ipsard researchers urged local exporters to boost shipments to the US, as the US dollar has remained strong, especially for products that "have advantages" in that market such as seafood, coffee, pepper, cashew, and wood, the news website reported.For a mid- and long-term solution, the government should help local businesses diversify their markets, for instance by exporting rice to Ghana and the US, and coffee to Australia and South Korea, Kien said

Myanmar lifts temporary rice export ban, claims self-sufficiency

Created: Monday, 21 September 2015 05:50

Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce has claimed self-sufficiency of rice, following floods that wrecked several paddy fields and livestock establishments earlier this month 

Myanmar Rice Federation doesn't want to lose out on the rice export market this season and is working with organisations to ensure exports take place smoothly this year. (Image source: Zuki/Flickr)

More than 500,000 tonnes of rice are in stock for the months of October, November and December, said the ministry. Even though several rice fields were affected or destroyed, the Ayeyawaddy region, which is a key rice producing belt, wasn’t affected too badly. The country’s harvest season is expected to begin in October. The floods affected more than 1.4mn acres of fields, said local reports. However, the ministry revealed that around 800,000 acres of paddy fields were destroyed in Myanmar. Several key roads were also badly damaged as a result. 

Due to the widespread destruction, the Myanmar Rice Federation had imposed a temporary ban on rice exports until 15 September. However, after assessing the situation, the federation decided to lift the ban. Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce permanent secretary Toe Aung Myint said they didn’t wish to lose the stronghold over the export market and was working with several departments to ensure rice exports were not affected. 

http://www.fareasternagriculture.com/crops/agriculture/myanmar-lifts-temporary-rice-export-ban-claims-self-sufficiency

Egypt Transfers Expertise in Rice Cultivation Techniques to 15 African States

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation announced the end of the special session on activating joint cooperation between Egypt and other African countries to apply the state-of-the-art techniques in rice cultivation in a number of African states.Minister of irrigation Hossam Moghazi said that this agreement comes within the framework of joint cooperation between the Ministry of Irrigation and the Egyptian Agency of Partnerships for Development as well as Japan International Cooperation Agency.Moghazi noted that the session, which was held from 20 April to 17 September 2015, was attended by 19 experts from 15 African countries including the Nile Basin member-states.

He stressed the importance of joint cooperation between Egypt and other African countries to find solutions to current problems.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201509200071.html

Festive period likely to boost rice prices

21 Sep 2015 at 08:02

NEWSPAPER SECTION: BUSINESS | WRITER: PHUSADEE ARUNMAS

Rice prices are forecast to increase by as much as 10% late this year and early next year thanks to year-end festive celebrations and lower supply.Chookiat Ophaswongse, an honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said rice prices were likely to rise by 8-10% in December and January, the period that sees most active shipments induced by high demand for Christmas and New Year celebrations.Nigeria, for instance, will start actively buying parboiled rice from November.More importantly, he said, Thailand would come up with lower rice production in the main crop of 23 million tonnes from an earlier forecast of 27-28 million tonnes of paddy due to drought. "Thai 5% white rice now quoted at US$355-$360 a tonne is considered low and has possibly reached its bottom," Mr Chookiat said, citing the baht's fall against the US dollar as another factor behind low rice prices.

He said rice traders mostly agreed that price prospects from now on will become positive, as indicated by the rice purchase by the Philippines this month.The Philippines' National Food Authority will buy 750,000 tonnes of 25% broken rice under government-to-government deals at cost, insurance and freight prices of $426.6 baht a tonne.Of the total, Thailand through the Foreign Trade Department will supply 300,000 tonnes, while Vietnam will provide 450,000 tonnes. Delivery is due from November until January.Mr Chookiat said purchase demand of about 500,000 tonnes from Indonesia was expected late this year even though Indonesia has adopted a rice self-sufficiency policy.He said Indonesia was still failing to produce enough rice for domestic consumption.Mr Chookiat forecast Thailand could ship about 9 million tonnes of rice this year but said it was difficult to predict whether the country would reclaim its title as the world's largest rice exporter.

Thailand lost its No.1 rice exporter status to India in 2012, while Vietnam rose to second place.

Despite a late surge by Thailand, India held onto the title last year, selling 11.3 million tonnes compared with 10.8 million tonnes for Thailand."We still have to wait for the performance of India's rice shipments for the remaining months," Mr Chookiat said.As of Aug 17, Thailand had shipped 6 million tonnes of rice, while India had 5.7 million tonnes. According to Mr Chookiat, Vietnam is expected to ship only 6.1-6.2 million tonnes this year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/700388/festive-period-likely-to-boost-rice-prices

Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily Commodity Report

A comprehensive daily commodity market report for Arkansas agricultural commodities with cash markets, futures and insightful analysis and commentary from Arkansas Farm Bureau commodity analysts.

Noteworthy benchmark price levels of interest to farmers and ranchers, as well as long-term commodity market trends which are developing. Daily fundamental market influences and technical factors are noted and discussed.

Soybeans

	High	Low
Cash Bids	902	812
New Crop	897	812

Riceland Foods

Cash Bids	Stuttgart: - - -	Pendleton: - - -
New Crop	Stuttgart: - - -	Pendleton: - - -

Futures:

High Low Last Change Nov '15 877.25 865.00 874.25 +7.00 Jan '16 881.50 869.25 878.75 +7.25 Mar '16 884.75 872.50 882.25 +7.50 May '16 887.25 876.00 885.00 +7.00 Jul '16 892.00 881.00 889.75 +7.00 Aug '16 891.25 884.25 889.00 +7.00 Sep '16 881.50 880.00 880.75 +7.50 Nov '16 879.50 869.75 878.00 +8.25 Jan '17 883.75 +7.75

Arkansas Daily Grain Report

FOB Memphis Elevator Crops

Soybean Comment

Soybeans closed higher today. A positive inspections report combined with another large export sale gave soybeans some much needed support as prices try to hold support near $8.65. Soybeans continue to trade in a sideways pattern as continued forecast of large crop in the U.S. prospects for another record in South America remain a negative for prices. While todays export reports are positive overall sales remain well below previous years and will remain a drag on prices.

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Wheat

	High	Low
Cash Bids	393	393
New Crop	494	469

Futures:

High Low Last Change Dec '15 499.25 480.50 496.75 +10.00 Mar '16 506.00 487.00 504.00 +10.50 May '16 510.25 494.50 508.75 +10.50 Jul '16 514.00 497.00 512.75 +10.50 Sep '16 522.00 508.00 521.25 +10.25 Dec '16 536.00 517.50 534.50 +10.00 Mar '17 544.75 +9.75 May '17 543.50 +9.75 Jul '17 525.00 +0.25

Arkansas Daily Grain Report

FOB Memphis Elevator Crops

Wheat Comment

Wheat prices closed higher today, and December wheat is within a few cents of resistance near $5. While today's export report showed exports still well behind previous year, strength in outside markets helped wheat take advantage of its oversold position. Wheat prices will continue to have difficulty maintaining strength without some help given the weak fundamental situation.

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Grain Sorghum

	High	Low
Cash Bids	399	345
New Crop	397	345

Arkansas Daily Grain Report

FOB Memphis Elevator Crops

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Corn

	High	Low
Cash Bids	362	332
New Crop	387	337

Futures:

High Low Last Change Dec '15 385.50 375.00 384.50 +7.25 Mar '16 396.75 386.50 396.00 +7.50 May '16 404.00 393.75 403.50 +7.50 Jul '16 409.50 399.50 409.00 +7.25 Sep '16 404.25 395.25 403.75 +7.50 Dec '16 410.00 401.50 409.50 +6.75 Mar '17 419.25 411.75 419.50 +6.75 May '17 425.50 +6.50 Jul '17 429.25 422.50 429.25 +6.25

Arkansas Daily Grain Report

FOB Memphis Elevator Crops

Corn Comment

Corn prices started the week on a positive note. The market received some much needed support from USDA reports of a larges sale to Mexico. This combined with weekly inspections meeting trade expectations provided support for prices, moving the focus from improving harvest expectations. While prices remain under pressure, the market seems to have established strong support at lows left after the August USDA report. Prices are within a dime of last week’s highs and have support near $3.80.

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Cotton

Futures:

High Low Last Change Oct '15 60.41 59.16 59.75 -0.1 Dec '15 60.92 60.1 60.79 0.24 Mar '16 60.9 60 60.63 0.11

Memphis, TN Cotton and Tobacco Programs

Cotton Comment

Cotton futures moved to new lows again today before turning around to closed mixed. General economic concerns continue to pressure prices. With the ending stocks estimate continuing to climb thanks to higher production, weaker demand will only make the balance sheet worse for cotton prices. December is testing the water at 60 cents.

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Rice

	High	Low
Long Grain Cash Bids	- - -	- - -
Long Grain New Crop	- - -	- - -

Futures:

High Low Last Change Nov '15 1291.5 1275.0 1280.5 -14.5 Jan '16 1314.5 1306.0 1309.0 -14.0 Mar '16 1334.0 1334.0 1331.0 -13.0 May '16 1349.5 -12.0 Jul '16 1366.0 -8.0 Sep '16 1290.5 -4.0 Nov '16 1290.5 -4.0

Rice Comment

Rice futures were lower across the board, but the uptrend remains intact for now. Reports of disappointing yields across the south coupled with smaller acreage has fueled the recent rally. November continues to have resistance at $13, while January has resistance at $13.34.

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Cattle

Futures:
Live Cattle:	High Low Last Change Oct '15 137.750 136.600 136.725 +0.725 Dec '15 140.400 139.300 139.425 +1.050 Feb '16 141.075 140.000 140.000 +0.850 Apr '16 139.675 138.675 138.675 +0.625 Jun '16 131.200 130.175 130.175 +0.375 Aug '16 129.250 128.225 128.225 +0.250 Oct '16 131.850 131.100 131.325 +0.275 Dec '16 133.200 132.525 132.675 +0.400 Feb '17 133.350 132.375 132.375 -1.100
Feeders:	High Low Last Change Sep '15 195.825 194.325 194.725 +1.925 Oct '15 188.950 186.750 187.225 +1.400 Nov '15 186.400 184.175 184.550 +0.925 Jan '16 180.675 178.500 178.650 +0.400 Mar '16 178.650 176.450 176.450 +0.175 Apr '16 179.075 176.800 176.800 +0.050 May '16 178.625 176.575 176.575 +0.400 Aug '16 179.525 177.500 177.500 +0.400

Arkansas Prices
Ash Flat Livestock Auction
Ola Livestock Auction
Springdale Livestock Auction

Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City - Feeder Cattle Auction Weighted Average Report

Cattle Comment

While cattle prices saw sharp gains during this session, prices ended well off of intraday highs. The market found support from last week's cattle on feed report which showed placements well below trade estimates. While this is supportive of prices, cattle will need some positive demand news to help prices maintain gains.

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Hogs

Futures:

High Low Last Change Oct '15 72.150 71.050 71.675 +0.625 Dec '15 65.200 64.175 65.075 +0.925 Feb '16 69.275 68.500 69.200 +0.825 Apr '16 72.825 72.100 72.650 +0.550 May '16 77.575 77.250 77.500 +0.350 Jun '16 80.750 80.100 80.550 +0.425 Jul '16 79.950 79.450 79.800 +0.350 Aug '16 79.175 78.725 78.975 +0.300 Oct '16 67.750 67.700 67.750 +0.450

Hog Comment

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Shell Eggs

Daily Midwest Regional Eggs
Daily New York Eggs

National Turkeys

Weekly Weighted Average Prices for Whole Young Turkeys

Delmarva Broilers

Daily Southern Broiler/Fryers

http://www.arfb.com/ag-markets-statistics/report/

Trichogramma Wasps Used as Biocontrol Agents in the Greater Mekong Region

September 21, 2015 by Entomology Today

Wasps in the genus Trichogramma are tiny beneficial wasps that feed on the eggs of several insect pests. To help rice farmers in the Greater Mekong Region, a project was launched in 2011 to promote the establishment of Trichogramma mass-production facilities and affordable and practical pest control methods. Rice is culture and a way of […]

http://entomologytoday.org/tag/international-rice-research-institute/

Cash support won’t help rice, cotton farmers meet losses fully

Cash support won’t help rice, cotton farmers meet losses fully

IPR report evaluates PM’s agriculture relief package

September 20, 2015

Lahore - With a year-to-year drop of 13% in price of rice and cotton, Prime Minister’s recently announced cash support of Rs5000 per acre for small farmers would meet 68% of loss for rice farmers and just 29% for cotton growers.The government has announced cash support even before full loss has occurred to the new crop.It is not clear how well the announced compensation reflects actual loss to farmers.Experts estimate a price decline of 28% for cotton and 22% for rice in 2016.Even within the scale of announced compensation, the amount set aside for the purpose is inadequate.The twenty billion rupees provided for rice and cotton each would fall short by 34% and 30% respectively taking into account the number of small farmers and the acreage.These views were expressed in a report released by the Institute for Policy Reforms.

Dr Hafiz Pasha, the Managing Director IPR, in his report titled ‘An Evaluation of the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Relief Package’ welcomed the Prime Minister’s relief package for farmers, which was announced at a time of falling output prices.He said that the package attempted to extend essential support to agriculture, however, evaluation of the package raises issues about the timing and adequacy of cash support, as well as its mechanism.Questions remain also about the measures to reduce input cost and to provide access to credit, he added.The cost of Prime Minister’s relief package for farmers could increase fiscal deficit by an estimated 0.4 percent of the GDP, however, the cash support and access to credit would have positive effect on small farmers while other measures may help medium and large farmers.

The report also recommended a number of additional measures to increase effectiveness of the package and lack of consultation with provincial governments.The report expresses fear that “Once again good intentions may fail to convert to sound deeds and leave the feeling of unilateral policymaking.This is hardly advisable for strengthening the Federation.” Targeting of benefits would be a challenge.It requires estimating cropping patterns at individual farm level.This could lead to leakage during disbursement and government must do all to prevent it from happening.With fertilizer comprising 35% of farm variable input cost, government is right to target reduction in its price.The estimated 15% reduction in price of potassium and phosphate also has the potential to improve the country’s fertilizer mix.Some questions remain, especially with respect to effect on fiscal operations.The burden of cost to be borne by each province is not clear.The package does not quantify the fiscal effect of withdrawal of price increase on Urea.If the reduction comes through reduced GST, the revenue loss would be Rs 10 billion.Similarly, estimate of Rs 7billion as the fiscal effect of tariff reduction seems incorrect.

Its true impact is Rs.10 billion or 43% higher.Government estimates GST support by provinces to cost Rs 7 billion whereas it would cost Rs 11 billion, or 57% higher.Continued load-shedding will take away the real impact of reduction in tariff.Government also has overestimated the cost reduction by Rs.500 per bag of fertilizer.Through a number of measures, the package attempts to correct the bias in access to credit for agriculture.However, there are questions about its viability when farm profits are falling.ZTBL, the main supplier to small farmers, already has 20% non-performing loans.It is uncertain if it is prudent for ZTBL to take on higher risk.Regardless, the announced measures would likely benefit small farmers.

The package provides balanced relief to all farm sizes.Cash support and credit targets small farmers while reduced costs help large and medium sized farms.The package seems to have underestimated by Rs.31 billion its cost to the federal and provincial budgets.Overall, it would increase the fiscal deficit by a half percent of GDP.This is entirely justified though may need special advocacy with the IMF.The report recommends that rather than reacting, government may look holistically at its policy in support of agriculture.Commodity prices would likely stay low for some time to come.In addition to measures in force already, the report recommends support price for additional products.

Of these, rice and cotton need early inclusion.Government may provide export subsidy for rice to help dispose off present stock as well as stabilize domestic price.Government may reduce price of Light Diesel Oil, as 90% of all tube wells work on diesel.IPR recommends reduction in GST on LDO from the present 29.5% to 7%.Largely, success of this relief package depends on commitment by provincial governments.

http://nation.com.pk/business/20-Sep-2015/cash-support-won-t-help-rice-cotton-farmers-meet-losses-fully

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