Friday, March 18, 2016

17th March 2016 daily global rice e-newsletter by riceplus magazine

Scientists Develop Nutrient-Enriched Rice

BOGOTA – Scientists from Colombia and five other countries have developed a genetically modified variety of rice with high content of iron and zinc, according to Agro-Bio, a Bogota-based association for the promotion of biotechnology.The new variety was a project of the International Rice Research Institute and drew on work by scientists from Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United States, Australia and Japan.

Researchers combined rice and soy-ferritin genes to produce a grain with high content of micronutrients.They implanted the modified genes in the world’s most-cultivated variety of rice, which comes from Southeast Asia, where deficiencies in iron and zinc are common.Due to regulatory requirements, the enriched rice will take a minimum of four years to reach the market, Agro-Bio said in a statement.

“Foods derived from transgenic crops and scientific innovations in agriculture contribute to food security and they can improve the diet of populations who now suffer nutrient deficiencies,” Agro-Bio director Maria Andrea Uscategui said.The new rice “is a step forward in efforts to fight the lack of micronutrients or hidden hunger,” the association said.Agro-Bio says that “hidden hunger” affects roughly 38 percent of pregnant women and 43 percent of toddlers worldwide, with the impact concentrated in developing countries.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2408018&CategoryId=13936

 

Drop in local production will force rice imports


KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is ready to import more rice if local grain production drops as a result of the persisting El Nino phenomenon.
Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said Malaysia imported 30% of rice for the nation’s consumption while the other 70% came from local growers.
“If production falls, we will increase the import to offset the drop in local supply. Of course, that will be a temporary measure,” he said.
Tajuddin said while the hot weather would definitely affect padi production.
Mardi, in a statement, said a 2°C rise in temperature could lead to a 13% reduction in padi yield while drought – or a 15% decrease in seasonal rainfall - could lead to drop in yield up to 80%. Any rice in temperature above 34°C was also certain to affect yield.
Extreme heat could also cause damage to the rice yield and grain quality besides bringing disease, it said.
Tajudin said the Government was flexible in its import policy despite aiming to achieve full self-sufficiency by 2020.
“We are flexible in our policies because we have to think of food security. We don’t want to see people having problems because rice is our staple food.
“If we have to import, then we will import. The basic policy is that we want to protect our local producers,” he added.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/03/18/drop-in-local-production-will-force-rice-imports/



Federation Mulls Supporting Rice Export Price

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) on Thursday met with the Ministry of Commerce to discuss policies for strengthening the country’s ailing rice industry, and unveiled a plan to develop a price-support mechanism to guarantee Cambodia’s rice export price, officials said.
The talks come a week after the CRF announced the formation of a new task force to manage the impact of cheap foreign rice imports and under-funded millers on Cambodia’s rice industry, in response to pressure from its members.In Thursday’s meeting with Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol and other ministry officials, Sok Puthyvuth, CRF president, said those present had agreed on a policy agenda to be discussed by government officials in the coming weeks.

“An inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon will consider a $20 million to $30 million ‘special budget,’” he said. “The meeting will help support the industry facing the illegal imports of rice from Vietnam.”Following the talks, Moul Sarith, CRF secretary-general, said the federation was also developing a long-term strategy to support rice millers and exporters, which included plans to create a consortium of millers and exporters to manage Cambodia’s rice export price.“The biggest members from the CRF will be chosen to be ‘consortium partners’ to manage and set one export price,” Mr. Sarith said, adding that the initiative should be off the ground this year.“Currently, our members compete against each other when foreign buyers come to buy our rice, which forces prices to fall,” he said.The proposed consortium would control the export price of rice by regulating supply, benefiting the country’s entire rice supply chain, Mr. Sarith added.


“If exporters get a good price, rice millers and farmers will benefit too as it will allow them to sell at higher prices.”But Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Commerce Ministry, said it was too early to discuss the viability of the planned consortium.“A report of the meeting this morning is being prepared to send to the prime minister,” he said. “First we have to solve the immediate problems including preventing the inflow of rice from Vietnam and credit support to millers.”Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, was skeptical that the consortium would solve the industry’s problems, adding that price-support could backfire on the entire sector.“It is just an idea, I do not think this is possible to create,” he said.“Foreign buyers look to buy good quality rice at a good price in international markets,” he added. “If the price is set high, they could just buy rice from Thailand, Vietnam or Burma instead.”

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/federation-mulls-supporting-rice-export-price-110081/

 

 

Ludhiana agri varsity to hold 2-day kisan mela

HT Correspondent, Hindustan times, Ludhiana
Updated: Mar 17, 2016 14:57 IST

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) will host the two-day Kisan Mela from Friday on the campus. The university’s centre of communication revealed the contribution of different departments on Wednesday. “All departments will put up stalls where scientist and students will be interacting with the farmers in their preferred language,” said the officials.The department of fruit science and vegetable science would throw light on Punjab Agricultural University fruit fly traps, new techniques of propagation in fruit plants, storage and ripening techniques and recommended varieties of vegetables.The departments of entomology and plant pathology would give field demonstrations on integrated pest management in different crops, control of whitefly in cotton with recommended pesticides, beekeeping as a subsidiary venture, management of yellow and brown rusts in wheat, seed treatment for management of bacterial blight of rice, among.
The department of agronomy and soil science would delve into rice residue management, weed control in wheat and rye, bi-directional sowing of wheat, leaf colour chart technology, soil testing, and recycling of crop residues in fields.The department of microbiology would acquaint the farmers with mushroom cultivation technology, use of bio-fertilizers for various crops and natural vinegar production from sugarcane and grapes.The department of processing and food engineering and food science and technology would apprise farmers of agro- processing, vegetable washing machine, value added and health food products and preparation of fruit and vegetable products.

PROTECTION FROM BIRDS
The department of zoology would give tips for the protection of crops from harmful birds and methods to control rodent pests while the department of forestry and natural resources would give marketing tips for poplar and eucalyptus in Punjab.
The departments of farm machinery and power engineering and soil and water engineering would explain the raising of a mat nursery, working of mechanical paddy transplanter and direct seeding rice machine, use of drip and sprinkler irrigation system, cultivation of vegetables in poly house and net house and groundwater recharge through rooftop rainwater harvesting.

AWARENESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The School of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology would create climate change awareness among the farmers and inform them about SMS weather alerts.The School of Energy Studies for Agriculture would explain about biogas generation from paddy straw and forced circulation solar dryer for turmeric drying.The College of Home Science would give demonstrations on solar cooker, solar dryer and hold competition in preparation of paper bags.Director of extension education PAU RS Sidhu urged the farmers and farm women to participate in the mela in big number. While talking to the vice chancellor BS Dhillon, he said, “Kisan Mela/Divas plays an important role in dissemination of latest farm information and agricultural technologies among the farmers.”

Under one roof, farmers are acquainted with the new technologies through live demonstrations, exhibitions and technical sessions, he added.They can interact with the scientists, share their farm issues, visit live demonstrations, participate in produce competition and question-answer session and purchase improved seeds and farm literature, he said. Not only this, Kisan Mela would also apprise farm women of allied agriculture enterprises and other beneficial procedures



Rice exports jump as more of last year’s orders filled


Rice exports have surged in the first two months as many of last year’s contracts are being executed this year, according to the Việt Nam Food Association.Workers of HCM City Food and Foodstuff company load rice for export.The country exported more than 856,219 tonnes for US$347.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 101.89 per cent and 81.73 per cent, and Huỳnh Minh Huệ, VFA general secretary, indicated there had been too many orders to handle last year, including some large government contracts with Indonesia and the Philippines.At a regular meeting of the association last week, he said exports of common white rice accounted for 32.68 per cent of exports, up almost five times from the same period last year, and exports of glutinous rice also surged due to high demand from China.

Exports of fragrant rice continued to grow steadily thanks to increased exports to China and Africa, he said.VFA anticipates exports to reach 1.3 million tonnes in the first quarter, 56 per cent up from the same period last year.Huệ said the number of contracts to be executed remained high at around 1.4 million tonnes.But with inventories at export firms 81,140 tonnes lower than at the same time last year -- at one million tonnes -- they would have to buy rice, he said.Prices are currently high in the domestic market despite this being the peak harvest season and the association announcing no plans to stockpile the grain.High demand from exporters coupled with a forecast of falling output in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta due to drought and saltwater intrusion has pushed up the prices.


The Ministry of Agriculture and rural Development reported that by March 5 around 139,000ha of the winter-spring rice crop in nine provinces had been damaged by drought and saltwater, with the loss estimated at one million tonnes.In previous years the VFA proposed purchasing one million tonne of rice for temporary storage at the beginning of March to support domestic prices, but this time farmers can earn reasonable profits at current prices.According to rice traders in the Mekong Delta, a kilogramme of IR 50404 paddy in the field costs VNĐ4,600-4,650, VNĐ300 higher than a year earlier, and high-grade paddies are priced much higher.
The Hindu: "Rice Prices"



New rice auction to be announced tomorrow, 18 March
BY EDITORON 2016-03-17THAILAND
BANGKOK: — The National Rice Policy Committee has approved the auction of a new round of 640,000 tons of rice stocks.

The auction conditions will be announced tomorrow.Director-general of the Department of International Trade Mrs Duangporn Rodphaya revealed yesterday that the National Rice Policy Committee has endorsed a proposal to organize a new public bidding on rice stocks as market trends indicate that the demands for white rice and broken-milled rice is on the rise.The auction will allow the government to reduce costs related to maintaining and looking after existing stocks, she said.

She however told farmers that this move will in no way affect local market prices.Yesterday the Public Warehouse Organization (PWO) invited five successful bidders in the previous government rice auction to attend a briefing on the criteria for this new round of bidding.The brief focused on the portion of the auctions for 140,000 tons of rice destined for industrial purpose (broken-milled rice). These are estimated to be more than 933 million Baht in value.The PWO official said the PWO was willing to approve a relaxation of certain restrictions such as the possibility of allowing these rice stocks to be transported after daylight hours.But it maintained that not all parties will be given this benefit as the merits and past performances of each will have to be considered before approval is granted.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/155532http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/new-rice-auction-to-be-announced-tomorrow-18-march/135490/



Rice Prices

as on : 17-03-2016 08:10:30 PM

Arrivals
Price
Current
%
change
Season 
cumulative
Modal
Prev.
Modal
Prev.Yr
%change
Rice
Gadarpur(Utr)
3059.00
-29.56
89370.00
2004
2099
-8.41
Bareilly(UP)
98.00
NC
6318.00
2225
2180
4.71
Dhing(ASM)
92.00
8.24
2704.20
1800
1800
-16.28
Kalipur(WB)
90.00
-7.22
4052.00
2050
2050
NC
Ghaziabad(UP)
70.00
16.67
2000.00
2130
2125
0.95
Beldanga(WB)
50.00
-3.85
1359.50
2275
2275
-10.78
Gazipur(UP)
43.00
7.5
1300.00
1940
1940
-4.90
Karimganj(ASM)
40.00
100
1320.00
2200
2200
4.76
Purulia(WB)
36.00
NC
1536.00
2200
2200
-6.78
Gauripur(ASM)
30.00
-13.04
2262.50
4500
4500
-
Diamond Harbour(South 24-pgs)(WB)
25.00
4.17
472.00
1850
1850
-17.78
Lohardaga(Jha)
20.00
-16.67
653.00
1750
1840
-5.41
Firozabad(UP)
17.00
6.25
470.00
2060
2080
5.64
Muradabad(UP)
12.00
140
396.50
2275
2280
12.35
Rampur(UP)
12.00
20
387.50
2210
2210
7.02
Champadanga(WB)
12.00
-14.29
624.00
2350
2350
-11.32
Mirzapur(UP)
11.00
-12
1124.00
1940
1945
0.52
North Lakhimpur(ASM)
10.10
-64.44
1100.00
1900
1900
-
Alappuzha(Ker)
10.00
NC
70.00
3950
3900
-
Deogarh(Ori)
9.00
-5.26
324.50
2500
2500
NC
Cherthalai(Ker)
8.50
6.25
256.00
2300
2200
-11.54
Nilagiri(Ori)
8.00
-11.11
328.00
2300
2300
NC
Chengannur(Ker)
7.00
-12.5
411.50
2300
2300
-17.86
Angul(Ori)
4.50
-
4.50
2600
-
-
Imphal(Man)
3.40
NC
151.40
2900
2900
NC
Islampur(WB)
3.20
NC
215.00
2150
2150
-
Pathapatnam(AP)
2.80
-6.67
7.30
2581
2857
-
Bonai(Bonai)(Ori)
2.00
NC
79.10
2000
2000
-9.09
Mohanpur(Tri)
2.00
-66.67
53.00
2700
2700
-
Kasipur(WB)
1.50
15.38
22.90
2150
2150
-9.28
Sardhana(UP)
1.20
20
61.30
2160
2150
4.10
Holenarsipura(Kar)
1.00
-90
33.00
2800
1800
-
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/article8365099.ece

Rice exports jump as more of last year’s orders filled







Rice exports have surged in the first two months as many of last year’s contracts are being executed this year, according to the Việt Nam Food Association.Workers of HCM City Food and Foodstuff company load rice for export.The country exported more than 856,219 tonnes for US$347.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 101.89 per cent and 81.73 per cent, and Huỳnh Minh Huệ, VFA general secretary, indicated there had been too many orders to handle last year, including some large government contracts with Indonesia and the Philippines.At a regular meeting of the association last week, he said exports of common white rice accounted for 32.68 per cent of exports, up almost five times from the same period last year, and exports of glutinous rice also surged due to high demand from China.Exports of fragrant rice continued to grow steadily thanks to increased exports to China and Africa, he said.VFA anticipates exports to reach 1.3 million tonnes in the first quarter, 56 per cent up from the same period last year.

Huệ said the number of contracts to be executed remained high at around 1.4 million tonnes.But with inventories at export firms 81,140 tonnes lower than at the same time last year -- at one million tonnes -- they would have to buy rice, he said.Prices are currently high in the domestic market despite this being the peak harvest season and the association announcing no plans to stockpile the grain.High demand from exporters coupled with a forecast of falling output in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta due to drought and saltwater intrusion has pushed up the prices.The Ministry of Agriculture and rural Development reported that by March 5 around 139,000ha of the winter-spring rice crop in nine provinces had been damaged by drought and saltwater, with the loss estimated at one million tonnes.In previous years the VFA proposed purchasing one million tonne of rice for temporary storage at the beginning of March to support domestic prices, but this time farmers can earn reasonable profits at current prices.According to rice traders in the Mekong Delta, a kilogramme of IR 50404 paddy in the field costs VNĐ4,600-4,650, VNĐ300 higher than a year earlier, and high-grade paddies are priced much higher.

http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Business/Economy/2016/3/117998/


Federation Mulls Supporting Rice Export Price

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) on Thursday met with the Ministry of Commerce to discuss policies for strengthening the country’s ailing rice industry, and unveiled a plan to develop a price-support mechanism to guarantee Cambodia’s rice export price, officials said.The talks come a week after the CRF announced the formation of a new task force to manage the impact of cheap foreign rice imports and under-funded millers on Cambodia’s rice industry, in response to pressure from its members.In Thursday’s meeting with Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol and other ministry officials, Sok Puthyvuth, CRF president, said those present had agreed on a policy agenda to be discussed by government officials in the coming weeks.“An inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon will consider a $20 million to $30 million ‘special budget,’” he said.


“The meeting will help support the industry facing the illegal imports of rice from Vietnam.”Following the talks, Moul Sarith, CRF secretary-general, said the federation was also developing a long-term strategy to support rice millers and exporters, which included plans to create a consortium of millers and exporters to manage Cambodia’s rice export price.“The biggest members from the CRF will be chosen to be ‘consortium partners’ to manage and set one export price,” Mr. Sarith said, adding that the initiative should be off the ground this year.“Currently, our members compete against each other when foreign buyers come to buy our rice, which forces prices to fall,” he said.The proposed consortium would control the export price of rice by regulating supply, benefiting the country’s entire rice supply chain, Mr. Sarith added.
“If exporters get a good price, rice millers and farmers will benefit too as it will allow them to sell at higher prices.”

But Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Commerce Ministry, said it was too early to discuss the viability of the planned consortium.“A report of the meeting this morning is being prepared to send to the prime minister,” he said. “First we have to solve the immediate problems including preventing the inflow of rice from Vietnam and credit support to millers.”Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, was skeptical that the consortium would solve the industry’s problems, adding that price-support could backfire on the entire sector.“It is just an idea, I do not think this is possible to create,” he said.“Foreign buyers look to buy good quality rice at a good price in international markets,” he added. “If the price is set high, they could just buy rice from Thailand, Vietnam or Burma instead.”

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/federation-mulls-supporting-rice-export-price-110081/



COMMERCIAL BANKS STILL IN THE PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT FOR TRADE WITH IRAN


The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) appreciated the efforts of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for facilitating trade with Iran and giving the commercial banks the go ahead for import and export with Iran.However the delay in resumption of trade activities is due to commercial banks who are still in the process of sharpening their international risk management departments.President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver urged the commercial banks to expedite their process to be ready for facilitating import and export business with Iran as it now appears on the list of countries with which trade is allowed without sanctions.


He said the SME rice exporters to Iran are anxiously waiting for the commercial banks to accept letter of credits from Iranian buyers and the facility of discounting of bills drawn on Iranian buyers.Likewise exporters of several other commodities, textiles need facilities for trading with Iran.Many Pakistani importers also need to import plastic granules, petroleum products and chemicals from Iran and wish to open letter of credits in favour of Iranian exporters. They all are waiting for the commercial banks to give the go ahead. Thaver said the commercial banks of Pakistan are determining the list of Iranian banks with whom they can deal and also determining the credit limits of each bank. The international risk management department is working to ascertain the extent of risk according to the rating of the Iranian banks.He said in the past the trading was done through Dubai banks as intermediary but it proved costly due to cost of finance and bank charges which the trader had to pay to both the banks.It is very important that the commercial banks move fast in the matter because our neighboring countries and competitors have outlined the procedures and are ready for business with Iran whereas our commercial banks are slow and not taking prompt actions in this direction.


It is understandable that there has been a long lapse of time but nevertheless the commercial banks have their list of corresponding banks in Iran who have grown over a period of time into huge banking institutions and deserve higher ratings.Thaver urged the SBP to direct the commercial banks to submit their list of correspondents in Iran and also the limits of Iranian banks approved by the respective banks for both import and exports to and from Iran promptly.

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME)

 

 

03/17/2016 Farm Bureau Market Report

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


Futures:
ROUGH RICE
High
Low
Last
Change
May '16
1069.0
1047.5
1054.5
+6.0
Jul '16
1094.0
1082.0
1081.0
+6.0
Sep '16
1104.0
1103.0
1096.5
+5.0
Nov '16
1111.0
1111.0
1109.0
+3.0
Jan '17
1123.5
+2.0
Mar '17
1124.0
+2.0
May '17
1124.0
+2.0
   

Rice Comment

Rice futures posted gains today but closed well off the day's high. The weekly export total of only 21,300 metric tons was off sharply from last week's 145,800 metric tons. Technically, July posted a bullish reversal in Wednesday's trade while also posting a potential double bottom at the recent low of $10.20. Today's move saw the market challenging downtrending resistance at $10.62. A close below that level would be another indication that the market has put in a bottom for the time being.




In Memory:  Ralph Cowan 

USA Rice was saddened to learn of the passing of Ralph Cowan, a giant in the Louisiana and U.S. rice industries.  Cowan was one of the original organizers of the Louisiana Rice Council and the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board, and served as the first president and first chairman of each organization, respectively.Cowan was born on September 5, 1919 in Midland, Louisiana.  He was married for 67 years to Katharine Jenkins Cowen who preceded him in death, and is survived by four daughters, eleven grandchildren, and sixteen great-grandchildren.Louisiana rice farmer Jimmy Hoppe remembered "Mr. Ralph" as "a genuine gentleman who was a real mentor to farmers in our area, stressing the importance to us of involvement on the state and national levels. 


 I can't say enough about how much he meant to the rice industry.  He was a leader with foresight who knew what needed to be done from the standpoint of producers to be effective."John Denison, a former USA Rice Chairman, said, "I grew up about 40 miles from Ralph and knew him all my life.  He was a dear friend and we also had a working relationship dating back to our time on the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board and on the organizational committee that created what is now USA Rice.  He was there at the beginning and will be remembered as a rice industry icon."Visitation will be held today from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Geesey-Ferguson Funeral Home, 301 North Avenue F in Crowley, LA, and Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.at First United Methodist Church, 321 East 3rd Street, Crowley.  A reception will start at 12:00 p.m. prior to the funeral service Friday, March 18, at 3:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church.   Interment will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, 124 W. Pine Street, Crowley.USA Rice extends heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ralph Cowan



Food Safety Could Present Key to U.S. Rice's Return to Switzerland  

BERN, SWITZERLAND -- Hartwig Schmidt, regional director of USA Rice, attended the annual meeting of the Swiss Rice Promotion Board (RISO) here last week and gave a presentation on the world rice outlook for 2016.   In his report, Schmidt said, "Switzerland used to be an important market for U.S. long grain rice with a market share of greater than 50 percent before the Liberty Link incident in 2006, when imports fell substantially.  In 2015, U.S. rice exports shrank to 2,000 MT or only 5 percent of all rice imports.  At this time, U.S. rice sales appear to be limited due to the higher price of U.S. rice compared to other origins."Schmidt said the RISO meeting presents an excellent opportunity for USA Rice to check in with the industry since all Swiss rice importers and important retailers and wholesalers are members."We continue to work with the trade here," Schmidt explained.  "And learned this week that Swiss consumers have a rising interest in traceability and food safety - topics the U.S. can speak quite effectively to.  We will look to bolster U.S. rice sales here with this information and may resume promotional activities if the market begins to show promise." 


Methane Emissions Are Spiking, But It Might Be More Cow Than Car

BY NATASHA GEILING  MAR 17, 2016 8:00 AM
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
Since 2006, atmospheric levels of methane — a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period — have steadily been on the rise. For years, scientists weren’t sure what was behind the rising levels of methane, but they had a few ideas: namely an increase in fossil fuel-related emissions.Now, a new study is pointing to a different culprit: agriculture-related methane emissions, especially from livestock and rice production.
Published last week in the journal Science, researchers from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) found that the majority of methane released into the atmosphere since 2006 was produced by bacteria, pointing to sources like agriculture — rather than sources like fossil fuel production or the burning of organic material — as the culprit behind the increase in methane levels.

A unique signature for methane

The researchers were able to discern agricultural methane from other sources of methane by looking at the gas’ isotopic signatures — or the ratio of various carbon isotopes — using data from atmospheric monitoring stations around the world. By looking at the distinct isotopic signatures, the researchers could differentiate between methane produced from fracking, for instance, and methane produced from agriculture, because they each have different signatures.
The data also suggested that the increase in methane came from regions including India, China and Southeast Asia, suggesting that the rise was due to agriculture, not the growth of fracking in North America.
“That was a real surprise, because [around 2006] the U.S. started fracking and we also know that the economy in Asia picked up again, and coal mining increased,” NIWA atmospheric scientist Hinrich Schaefer told Phys.org. “However, that is not reflected in the atmosphere.”
Livestock production in Asia has been expanding rapidly since the middle of the 20th century, and is expected only to increase as economies in the region become more developed.
Livestock production accounts for about 35 percent of total anthropogenic methane emissions
Around the world, livestock production has been increasingly under scrutiny in recent years, as animal agriculture’s carbon footprint has grown clearer. Ruminants, like cows, produce methane as they digest their food, through a process known as enteric fermentation. But livestock manure also produces methane as it decomposes in closed-air containers known as lagoons, which factory farming operations often use to store the massive amounts of manure produced by their farms. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that livestock production accounts for some 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases annually, or about 35 percent of total anthropogenic methane emissions.
But it’s not just livestock production that researchers say is behind the rise in methane. Rice production is also a methane-intensive activity, because root systems in rice plants secrete carbohydrates during photosynthesis. When rice paddies are flooded, the oxygen-devoid environment creates the perfect place for bacteria to feed off of those carbohydrates, creating methane as a byproduct. That’s a problem, because rice is one of the most important staple crops on Earth — more than 3.5 billion people depend on rice for at least 20 percent of their daily caloric intake. In an effort to curb rice’s methane production, scientists have actually been working to create a lower-methane strain of rice (and have had some success).

But what about fossil fuels?

Still, not everyone is convinced by NIWA’s analysis. Speaking with InsideClimate News, Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor who studies methane emissions, said that the isotopic ratios in methane are too broad to confidently attribute to a single source.
“When you have eight or nine or 10 different sources of methane, each with a range of ratios, there is no way to calculate where it is coming from,” he said. “If you had a little bit of melting of permafrost and a big increase in natural gas production, you could get a pattern that these people are interpreting as cows in India.”
Many other studies point to an increase in fossil fuel production, especially oil and gas production in the United States, as another key factor behind the recent increase in methane production. A recent study conducted by climate scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) found that as much as 40 percent of the recent increase in methane could be due to fossil fuel production.
In a press release, the KIT scientists said that their findings were actually congruent with the NIWA study, stressing that “increasing emissions from the oil and natural gas sector, combined with emissions from wetlands and maybe animal husbandry increasingly appear to have caused the renewed increase in methane concentration in the last decade.”

An unregulated industry

The Obama administration has taken some unprecedented steps in the recent months to regulate methane from oil and gas production. Most recently, the EPA announced that it would begin regulating methane from existing oil and gas facilities, with the ultimate goal of cutting methane from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025.
But methane from the agricultural sector is still largely unregulated, despite the fact that greenhouse gas-related emissions from livestock manure management systems grew 54 percentbetween 1990 and 2013.
Quite the opposite of imposing regulations on livestock producers in the United States, Congress has actually explicitly forbidden the EPA from collecting greenhouse gas emission data from livestock producers, making it the only major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States that enjoys such an exemption.
“The EPA’s methane strategy is completely ignoring agriculture,” Tarah Heinzen, an attorney with Food & Water Watch, told ThinkProgress. “We’re not dealing with it as a regulatory issue as we are with other sources of methane.”
Decarbonizing what we eat is just as important as decarbonizing what we drive or what we use to heat our homes
California, which is one of the most livestock-heavy states in the country, has made moves to begin regulating short-lived climate pollutants, like methane. According to Brent Newell, legal director for the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, methane from livestock accounts for about 5 percent of California’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The state’s Global Warming Solutions Act, passed in 2006, mandates that the state reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent — and yet agriculture is the only sector not subject to regulation.

In 2014, the California Senate mandated that the state’s Air Resources Board (ARB) come up with a plan to regulate methane from livestock operations. But thus far, the ARB has decided to achieve reductions only through voluntary measures, which Newell argues allows the livestock industry to effectively continue with a business-as-usual approach to methane production.“It’s acting like it’s doing something, it’s pretending like it’s doing something, but voluntary controls for a massive greenhouse gas emitter is a crazy regulatory response and it exemplifies the political power that the dairy industry has over the Air Resources Board,” Newell said.The plan is expected to be finalized later this month, when it will be seen whether environmental groups’ calls for mandatory regulations for the California livestock industry have been heard by the ARB, or whether such calls have fallen on deaf ears.
“It is really shameful that this industry continues to enjoy an exemption, while others are forced to comply,” Newell said. “Decarbonizing what we eat is just as important as decarbonizing what we drive or what we use to heat our homes.”

 

 

 

Purple bread: A new superfood?

By Jenni Marsh, CNN
Updated 0721 GMT (1521 HKT) March 18, 2016

Purple bread.

Story highlights

 

Purple bread is made by adding anthocyanin extract from black rice


It is digested 20% slower than normal white bread, and is rich in antioxidants that fight cancer
Singapore (CNN)"For the past 10 years, bread has been under attack."
Professor Zhou Weibiao, a food scientist at the National University of Singapore, isn't wrong.
According to current nutritional thinking, white bread is digested too fast, spikes blood sugar levels and is linked to obesity. In short, it's the enemy of healthy eaters.
Zhou's answer to this problem? He's invented a purple bread.
Rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants, digested 20% slower than regular white bread, and made entirely of natural compounds, it could be the first superfood of the baked goods world.

The great bake off

A long-time staple food, bread's big problem is its high glycemic index: its sugar content speedily gets into the blood stream, causing blood sugar levels to peak and crash.
Furthermore, its rapidly digestible starch content means people often eat more of it than they should.
"The challenge was to see if we could change the formula of bread, without changing the smooth texture of white bread that people really love," says Zhou.

He decided to extract anthocyanins from black rice -- which give the grain its much trumpeted antioxidant qualities -- and infuse it in his bread. Zhou left behind the rice's starch properties."Despite its antioxidant capacity and associated health benefits, the knowledge of using anthocyanins as an ingredient in food products is very limited."Adding anthocyanins to the bread not only turns it purple: due to a chemical reaction with the starch enzymes, it slows the digestion rate by 20%.What is more, 80% of the antioxidant qualities are preserved in the breadcrust and crumbs when baked at 200 degrees Celsius."If you want to enjoy the texture of white bread and slow down digestion, this is probably the best formula," says Zhou."And the color isn't bad, either."

The color purple

Anthocyanin is a natural pigment that occurs in fruits and vegetables such as grapes, blueberries, and sweet potatoes, and is responsible for their vibrant hue."Although, not all purple fruits are superfoods," cautions Zhou, citing purple dragon fruit as an example.Studies have shown that anthocyanins can help prevent cardiovascular and neurological diseases and cancer, and play a role in controlling obesity and diabetes, as they can inhibit digestive enzymes and reduce glucose levels.

Calorie count

Purple bread might be healthier than white bread, but does it have a lower calorie count?

"You are eating the same amount of starch and wheat flour, so the nutritional value is the same. The key idea here is slowing down the energy release, so you use those calories over a longer period of time," says Zhou.While the purple bread is not yet commercially available, Zhou has been approached by major food manufacturers about bringing it to market.He has also inspired some blue (or should that be purple?) sky thinking."A man in South Africa called me, very excited. He wanted to know if putting anthocyanins in chocolate would have the same effect."I told him, 'You can obtain the antioxidant function, but you don't have the same starch in chocolate, so it won't have the same reaction'."
Here's hoping.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/17/health/purple-bread/index.html






EATING: Where to get Mardi Gras dishes in Central Jersey

Sarah Griesemer, @sarahegriesemer2:15 p.m. EST February 3, 2016
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There are plenty of amazing things about living in Central Jersey, but this time of year, we are reminded of one that is not so great: We are more than 1,000 miles away from next week’s Mardi Gras celebrations down South. ♦ On Feb. 9 – and in the days before and after – the population of New Orleans will triple as revelers make their way to The Big Easy for a celebration that dates back thousands of years. Mardi Gras began as a Roman celebration of spring, and an indulgent prelude to Lent.

The tradition made its way to Louisiana with French explorers in the late 1600s, according to historical accounts, and street parties, masked balls and opulent dinners soon followed.While we may be unlucky to live so far from the festivities, we are lucky to have a handful of restaurants where Southern, Cajun and Creole food reign supreme. Here is a look at places in the Garden State where you can join in the fun.
Verve Bistro

THE FESTIVITIES: Owner Rick St. Pierre and his staff go big for Mardi Gras. The five-day celebration, which begins Feb. 4, features food and drink specials that honor New Orleans, Venice and Brazil, a true Carnavale-style party, St. Pierre said. “That’s how we do it, we focus on the Carnavale feel of it.” The restaurant partners with Matheny School, a Somerset County center for children with developmental disabilities: Its students and art teachers create Mardi Gras masks to be auctioned off during the celebration. “It’s all for a great cause,” he said, adding that the restaurant usually raises between $2,500 and $3,500.

GET COOKING: On Feb. 7, the restaurant will host a gumbo cook-off. “We’ll have different chefs from the area, and customers,” St. Pierre said. “Some guys will put anything into a gumbo – pork and crab and shrimp and alligator. People order stuff from all over the country to beat the others.” The restaurant will cook up complementary sides – including black-eyed peas and cornbread – and once the judging has concluded and a winner declared, “everyone just eats.”

WHAT TO ORDER: A special menu will be served from Feb. 4 to 9: okra beignets, gumbo made with crawfish, shrimp, chicken and crab; crawfish étouffée over basmati rice; Brazilian feijoada, a stew of braised beef, pork and black beans; and blackened Creole catfish with lump crab meat ($8 to $28). And don’t forget to order a drink; Verve is known for them: Try the five-rum Hurricane; the coconut caipirinha, made with coconut rum, Brazilian rum, lime juice and sugar; and the Boulevardier, made with bourbon, campari and Punt e Mes, an Italian vermouth.

WHERE: 18 E Main St. in Somerville, Somerset County; call 908-707-8655 or visithttp://vervestyle.com.


Jambalaya will be served during the Mardi Gras celebration at The Old Bay Restaurant in New Brunswick. (Photo: COURTESY OF THE OLD BAY RESTAURANT)
The Old Bay Restaurant
THE FESTIVITIES: The Fat Tuesday party begins at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 and goes until the restaurant closes at 2 a.m. Live music from The New Brunswick Jazz Project and Old Number 7 will be performed from 4 p.m. to closing, and there will be beads, masks, a giveaway of a trip to Magic Hat Brewing Company in Vermont, and a New Orleans-style buffet. Dinner will be served from 5 to 10 p.m. Admission, which includes the buffet, is $20.
WHAT TO ORDER: The buffet menu includes Southern fried chicken, which chef and manager Joe Donlan says is marinated for three days in a mixture of buttermilk and hot sauce, “so it has a nice spice to it.” It is breaded with flour spiked with Cajun seasoning, a secret recipe, before being fried. There will be chicken and sausage jambalaya, macaroni and cheese made with tasso, a smoked Southern ham, corn bread, red beans and rice, and a vegetarian Creole dish. “It’s almost like an eggplant lasagna,” Donlan said of the latter, which also is gluten free. “Instead of noodles, we use sliced eggplant that is quick seared, and layer it with ricotta cheese and mozzarella. Instead of using tomato sauce, it’s our Creole sauce, one of our signature sauces made with peppers, onions and celery.”
WHERE: 61 Church St, in New Brunswick, Middlesex County; call 732-246-3111 or visit www.oldbayrest.com.
F-Cove Restaurant
THE RESTAURANT: For Scarlett Dell and Jesse Dedreux, Mardi Gras is a time to unite the past with the present. Dell, who is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Dedreux, who was born in New Jersey but spent six years living and working in New Orleans, have been cooking up Cajun and Creole dishes since opening their Brick restaurant in 2013. And there is a difference between the two styles of cooking: “Creole’s a little more rich, more butter-based,” Dedreux said. “Cajun stuff is more (about) the ingredients: smoked hot sausage, more oil as opposed to butter. But we try not to stick too strictly to it; we try to do more of what we were exposed to.”
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Jesse Dedreux and Scarlett Dell own F-Cove Restaurant in Brick, which specializes in Cajun and Creole dishes. (Photo: FILE PHOTO)
In the South, Dell said, Mardi Gras is celebrated in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. The festivities and parades begin on Kings Day in early January, and Dell remembers parades where children clamored for trinkets thrown from extravagant floats and collected doubloons from the krewes, the groups that created the floats.
As for the food, Dell said Mardi Gras is more about indulging in decadent dishes before Lenten fasting begins than it is about any dishes in particular. “Whatever you want to eat, you eat too much,” she said. “And whatever you want to drink, you drink too much.”
WHAT TO ORDER: The restaurant offers a three-course prix fixe dinner each Tuesday night, and Fat Tuesday will be no different. For $18.03 – a price that represents the year of the Louisiana Purchase – diners can enjoy a cup of chicken and sausage gumbo, a choice of shrimp Creole, shrimp étouffée, and jambalaya, with Creole bread pudding for dessert. Dedreux also may cook up a blackened chicken pasta, crawfish and shrimp pasta with spicy cream sauce, and a hanger steak with bourbon bacon jam.
Étouffée, for those not familiar with the classic New Orleans dish, gets its name from the French word for smother or to stew. Dedreux makes his version with shrimp stock, Creole seasonings and the restaurant’s own cayenne-based hot sauce. “It’s pretty simple,” he said of the dish, which is served with a mound of steamed white rice “that soaks everything up. It’s not too spicy, but it’s layered with flavor.”
The Creole bread pudding is named because of how it is prepared, not because it is spicy, Dedreux said. The dessert is made with French bread soaked for hours in a mixture of vanilla, milk and heavy cream spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and the Creole part comes from the creamy, buttery and rich flavors. “It’s pretty standard, but it does have a little extra sweetness” he said of the bread pudding, which is topped with bourbon cream sauce.
WHERE: 2140 Route 88 in Brick; call 732-202-6807 or visit www.fcoverestaurant.com.

Colorful characters greet Mardi Gras revelers along the popular New Orleans parade route in celebration of Fat Tuesday. Jillian Kitchener reports.
Simply Southern
THE RESTAURANT: At Rasheed and Rita Simmons’ Belmar restaurant, the menu is centered around the dishes of the South – specifically Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida. But for Mardi Gras, they will serve up a little bit of Louisiana.
WHAT TO ORDER: From Feb. 6 to 9, mother and son will cook up chicken gumbo filled with corn, tomatoes and “all types of veggies,” Rasheed said, “as well as shrimp and grits, and we’ll also be doing a Creole dirty rice. The rice, which is made with a base of brown gravy, has “celery, different veggies, different sausages, different types of pork. We’ve got a little bit of everything in it,” he said. The dishes cost between $8 and $21.
For dessert, there will be beignets, New Orleans’s famous powdered sugar-coated fried dough.
WHERE: 817 Belmar Plaza in Belmar; call 732-243-9259 or visitwww.simplysoutherncomfortfood.com.
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Jesse Dedreux and Scarlett Dell own F-Cove Restaurant in Brick, which specializes in Cajun and Creole dishes. (Photo: FILE PHOTO)
Drew’s Bayshore Bistro:
WHAT TO ORDER: Chef and owner Drew Araneo is known for food that brings the South – specifically the Gulf coast and New Orleans – to the Shore. His menu includes his signature dish and most popular appetizer, Voodoo shrimp, made from sauteed Gulf shrimp over jalapeno cornbread with spicy Worcestershire cream; littleneck clams with andouille sausage in garlic-tomato broth; crawfish étouffée, shrimp with bacon over cheese grits, and jambalaya with chicken, andouille, tasso, which is a smoked Southern ham, Creole sauce and the holy trinity of Creole and Cajun cooking – onions, celery and peppers. The latter is not for the faint of heart; the menu reads “It is spicy, and we are not kidding – no crying.” ($13 to $26).
WHERE: 25 Church St. in Keyport; call 732-739-9219 or visitwww.bayshorebistro.com.
Velo Eatery
WHAT TO ORDER: Crab cake with Creole macaroni and cheese and sweet potato confit ($22). The macaroni and cheese gets its Creole flavor from peppers, onions, sausage and okra, “with a little Cajun spice in there, too,” co-owner Matthew Grote said.
WHERE: 1616 Route 9 in Toms River; call 732-569-6153 or visithttp://veloeaterynj.com.




PAKISTAN WANTS ENHANCED TRADE WITH IRAN: KHURRAM

Wednesday, 16 March 2016 21:37
Posted by Imaduddin
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan wants to enhance its export basket to Iran by exporting home appliances light engineering products and value-added textile.He stated this while presiding over a meeting here in the Ministry of Commerce to prepare proposals and comprehensive strategy to enhance trade cooperation with Iran in the wake of the forthcoming visit of the Iranian President to Pakistan.The meeting was attended by officials from Ministry of National Food Security and Research, State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, representatives of traders exporting to Iran, representatives of rice and kinnow associations.

Two officials of the Iranian Ministry of Trade visiting Pakistan also attended the meeting on the special request of the Minister for Commerce.The meeting was informed by the Collector Customs Quetta that there is a three-fold increase in revenue at Pak-Iran border as a result of better border management which discouraged illicit trade.The representative of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) informed the meeting that there is no restriction on the trading through formal banking channels with Iranian companies in Euro and SBP is encouraging Pakistani private sector to commence trade with Iran.The Minister informed the Iranian officials that Pakistan is interested in holding massive exhibitions in Iran to present the range of exportable Pakistani products and is in consultation with the concerned Iranian authorities regarding the required approvals.

The exporters of rice, kinnow, fruits, vegetables and local exporters of Baluchistan briefed the Iranian officials in detail about the difficulties confronted by them in exporting their products to Iran.The Iranian officials ensured them to bring the issues to the notice of the relevant authorities.The meeting was informed that there is high demand for food items in Iran and Pakistan has secured an export order of 100 metric ton of meat to Iran. This would open doors for more export contracts in the food sector in near future.Dastgir said that relevant authorities in the Ministry of Health of Iran will be persuaded to fast track the process of authorization of licenses to Pakistani rice mills and rice exporters in order to regain the share of rice market in Iran which was lost during the sanctions


http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/world/285473-pakistan-wants-enhanced-trade-with-iran-khurram.html

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