Today Rice News Headlines...
·
04/25/2016 Farm Bureau Market
Report
·
Babies Who Eat Rice Cereal Have
Higher Arsenic Levels, Study Finds
·
USA Rice Touts Sustainability
Record at SIAL Canada
·
Is guar gum’s future really
bleak?
·
ARE YOU SERVING YOUR INFANT
ARSENIC-LACED RICE?
·
Small but Powerful
·
APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter -
Volume 1458
·
Thai rice yield shrinks, coffee
crops die in VN
·
Aman rice output hits a new high
·
Thailand plans to sell 11.4 mln T
of stockpiled rice within two months
·
MOAC announces rice farming
strategy to balance supply and demand
·
Thai rice yield shrinks, coffee
crops die in VN
·
Thailand to Sell 11.4 Million
Tons of Stockpiled Rice
·
SunRice promises $400/t in 2017
·
El NiƱo less damaging to rice
than expected
·
Coffee crops die in Vietnam, Thai
rice yield shrinks
·
Drought in delta poses serious
food security threat
·
Navigating Asia’s Troubled Waters
·
Boro Paddy harvesting continues
·
Rice imports from India jump to
Rs13.43 billion
·
APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter -
Volume 1459
·
CBN provides rice farmers with
N4.9bn loan
·
Kebbi 1m metric tonnes of rice
achievable – Emefiele
News Detail...
Restaurant
Review: Bahaar Pakistani is a unique and enlightening dining experience
By Alan Bennett, Samuel Shepherd and Anthony Panciocco
For The Maine Campus
=It seemed to be a lonely night in the Bahaar Pakistani restaurant,
located at 23 Hammond St. in Bangor. As we walked in, the family that ran the
business was enjoying dinner at a table in the back corner, a testament to the
restaurant’s atmosphere. Adorned with traditional Pakistani art, gold trim and
decor and stylized with jars of various spicesFor the table, we ordered a skewer of beef tikka (small meatballs
cooked in a clay oven) and aloo pakora, which are essentially crispy potato
pancakes. The consensus of the appetizers was positive, as we scarfed down our
small basket. The beef tikka managed to stay tender despite having a
significant char. Both appetizers were plated in one basket and served with two
sauces: one a spicy tomato chutney, and the other a cool, creamy yogurt sauce
with fresh herbs. The aloo pakora were crunchy and were well complemented by
both the tomato and yogurt-based sauces, and the yogurt sauce was additionally
tasty with spicy beef.
The server also said that, on Saturdays, people travel hundreds of
miles to eat at Bahaar. He claimed that Bahaar was the only Pakistani
restaurant north of Connecticut. I found the alleged popularity puzzling
because in the 90 minutes we were in the restaurant, no one else came in to
dine. This made our experience all the more intimate and led our server to
engage in a lot of conversation. This is where our experience became about more
than food.
Despite the three of us venturing into a new country’s cuisine,
the most fascinating part of the Bahaar’s experience was speaking with the
waiter. While serving us water, he spent a few minutes speaking to us about
Zagg’s iPhone screen protectors. He says they’re the best.
The man was also very intuitive, sensing that we were having
trouble deciding what to order. When we ordered chapati bread, he quickly
corrected us to naan bread.
“If I’m spending money on bread,” he said as he walked away, “I’m
ordering naan.”
While this would have annoyed us at an Applebee’s, it was welcome
at a restaurant that is unfamiliar with a large, whirling menu.
The server sparked up a conversation about Pakistan, where we grew
up. He said that he rarely goes back because of all of the tension. He spoke of
the recent bombing in a recreational park in Lahore, Pakistan’s capital.
He spoke to us softly, except for when he was forcefully ordering
us dishes. He had some surprising, to us, comments about being “randomly”
selected for airport security checks. He said that he didn’t mind being
checked, because “they don’t know” who could be a terrorist. It was at once
both a humbling and insightful experience.
The lamb vindaloo, served with basmati rice abundant, was a little
bland, but it’s probably the patron’s own fault — spicy food hurts our
news editor, and his philosophy on food is that my food should not leave him in
physical pain. The lamb was ordered as a three on the one-to-ten spicy scale.
The server said it could go to a seven, as it was a cream-based dish, but his
advice was neglected.
Our news editor would like to offer the following on the topic of
basmati rice: “I believe it to be an immaculate vessel for Indian and
Pakistani. As I eat my way through the border from India into Pakistan, I find
myself enamored with the long-grain rice. It’s fragrant, holds up well when
soaked in sauces and compliments every single meat I’ve paired it with. I want
to be buried in a casket filled with basmati rice. I’ll make the casket out of
naan bread.”
On the naan, Bahaar’s is impeccable. Tender and chewy on the
inside with a crisp, slightly oily and salty exterior, it disappeared in
seconds.
The bowl of vindaloo had an inviting aroma, with hints of ginger
hidden in the broth. There were a small handful of tender lamb chunks bathing
in it as well, and there could have been more, considering the amount of both
broth and rice to accompany it. Some members of our party did not enjoy the
lamb for, despite its tender texture, they couldn’t get past its gamey flavor.
An order of beef biryani arrived at the table perfectly sculpted
and as tall as the best sandcastle you’ve ever seen. A dish of seasoned rice,
vegetables and seared beef meatballs, it was a veritable citadel of flavor
waiting to be invaded. The meatballs were dispersed throughout the dish, often
popping up seemingly at random, but to much delight. The rice was seasoned to
perfection, with bright flavors of turmeric, cumin and curry and just enough
heat to provide complexity. Contrasted with the perfectly fatty beef within,
the biryani was hearty, balanced and delicious.
A side sauce of rich broth encompassing brown lentils, carrots and
onions wasn’t quite saucy enough to coat the biryani, but the sauces provided
with our tikka appetizer were perfect complements. Specially, the yogurt sauce
soothed the heat and enrichened the lot. An order of chicken with garlic was
equally as palatable, cooked well and to expectation (the spice was ordered at
a level four).
It’s no surprise Bahaar has been a staple of downtown Bangor for
24 years. In a city just now experiencing an uprising of restaurants, Bahaar
has consistently provided residents and tourists alike with unique dining
experience, both in terms of food and overall humility. Because our waiter
commented this is the only fine dining Pakistani restaurant in the area, it is
expected that such an establishment not only maintain good, loyal customers,
but quality food and service, both of which you’ll find at Bahaar.
Alan Bennett is a fourth-year journalism student at the University
of Maine and Culture Editor at The Maine Campus. His personal interests include
food and dining, music, and health and fitness
http://mainecampus.com/?p=2042
04/25/2016 Farm Bureau Market Report
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Rice Comment
Rice futures were higher across
the board. A decent export total gave the market a boost this week. USDA says
121,300 metric tons for delivery this marketing year. Of course, 90,000 of that
was the previously reported sale to Iraq. The market will be watching crop
progress closely. If farmers plant what they reported to USDA in the survey,
the large crop will limit the upside potential. Currently, USDA says 48% of the
crop in the ground and 19% emerged. In Arkansas, the totals are 55% planted and
11% emerged. Demand is also a key factor. May closed on the 50% retracement
line at $10.83, and now has an upside objective of $11.16, the 62% retracement
level
Babies Who Eat Rice Cereal Have Higher Arsenic Levels,
Study Finds
April 25, 20163:48 PM ET
A new study finds that babies fed rice cereals and other rice-based
snacks have higher concentrations of arsenic in their urine.
But, as we've reported, multiple
studies have found that rice-based foods contain traces of arsenic, and sometimes
levels are surprisingly high.Now comes a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics that finds babies who are fed rice
cereals — and other rice-based snacks — have higher concentrations of arsenic
in their urine compared with infants who are not fed rice."The highest
arsenic concentrations were among those who consumed infant rice cereal,"
says researcher Margaret Karagas, an
epidemiologist at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. "Among those
[babies] who ate rice snacks, levels were about double [that of] non-rice
eaters."
The potential health effects of
regularly consuming infant rice cereal — and other rice-based products
—containing traces of arsenic are unclear. But the authors write in their paper
that "emerging epidemiologic evidence suggests that [arsenic] exposure in
utero and during early life may be associated with adverse health effects"
on immune system and brain development.
Earlier this month, the Food and
Drug Administration proposed a
limit of 100 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal. Inorganic arsenic is
the type that public health officials worry about the most.
"Our actions are driven by
our duty to protect the public health and our careful analysis of the data and
the emerging science," Susan Mayne, director of the FDA's Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a statement on
the proposed limit.
The FDA's statement points to
research that links exposure to inorganic arsenic early in life to decreased
performance on certain developmental tests.
The FDA tested 76 samples of
infant rice cereals from retail stores for concentrations of inorganic arsenic.
The agency found that about half of the samples contained levels of inorganic
arsenic that were higher than 100 ppb, but most exceeded the proposed limit
only slightly.
So, what advice does the agency
have for parents? Rice doesn't need to be the only — or first — source of grain
in your baby's diet, the FDA says. Other sources include oats, wheat and
barley.
"For toddlers, provide a
well-balanced diet, which includes a variety of grains," the agency says.
This advice is seconded by the
American Academy of Pediatricians. A wide variety of foods "will decrease
[a] child's exposure to arsenic from rice," concludes the
AAP's advice to parents. And as the AAP notes, other foods — like finely
chopped meats or vegetable purees — "are equally acceptable as a first
food.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/25/475599295/babies-who-eat-rice-cereal-have-higher-arsenic-levels-study-finds
USA
Rice Touts Sustainability Record at SIAL Canada
By Sarah Moran
MONTREAL, CANADA -- The 13th edition of SIAL Canada, the North
American food innovation exhibition, was held here this month attracting more
than 15,000 visitors. USA Rice participated in this trade show that
showcased 850 exhibitors from 60 countries through the U.S. Sustainability
Alliance (USSA). USSA, which featured more than a dozen U.S. commodities,
partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service
and hosted a booth which U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Hayman chose as the
backdrop for the opening ceremony of the USA Pavilion. Ambassador Hayman
later gave a cooking demonstration featuring foods from the U.S. as part of the
promotional program.
USA Rice stocked the booth with sustainability
pamphlets and bags of U.S. rice and also provided a video on rice and
sustainability practices that showed alongside other producer stories from soy
and wheat.
"For the last 100 years, U.S. farmers, fisherman,
and foresters have served as stewards to the environment by participating in
conservation programs that help protect the land's natural resources,"
said USSA's
David Green. "It's time we share our great story
with the many consumers who are demanding greater environmental
responsibility."
Is guar gum’s future really
bleak?
Over the last three years, guar has slowly
lost its lustre due to oversupply, reduced demand on account of oil price
crash, and emergence of substitutes that further reduced its demand. Guar
products enjoyed their dream run for two successive years, 2011-12 and 2012-13,
becoming India’s largest agricultural export item, surpassing the famed basmati
rice. In 2012-13, export of guar products reached a record high of $4 billion
but declined to $1.5 billion in FY2014-15. That fell further to $0.47 billion
in FY2015-16 (till January). However, a careful analysis of the data shows that
guar exports volume remained more or less stable (except in 2015-16), though
prices fell substantially.
India accounts for 80 per cent of the world’s
production of guar, followed by Pakistan. Rajasthan is the leading producer,
contributing 70 per cent of India’s production. India mainly produces guar gum,
or guar splits made from guar seed that are further processed into guar gum
powder. The other guar products are korma and churi, which are used by the
cattle feed industry.
Over 80 per cent of India’s guar products are
exported, mainly to the US, Germany and China. The top consuming industry is
oil & gas, accounting for 60-65 per cent, followed by food (25-30 per cent)
and the rest by pharma. The textile printing industry is the major consumer of
guar domestically.
Guar gum started to play a key role in the
extraction of shale oil and gas through the fracking process, post-2009. It
helped the US to increase shale gas production to 11.3 trillion cubic ft in
2013, almost nine times that in 2005. The shale revolution and speculation of
drought in India, together with expectation of production shortfall, led to
panic stocking by the US. As a result, the US became the top importer of guar,
accounting for 73 per cent of global imports in 2012. However, its share fell
to 57 per cent in 2015.
Endof bull run
An unprecedented rise in prices, especially
after 2009, saw Indian farmers preferring guar over competing kharif crops,
such as cotton, moong, soyabean and bajri. As a result, India’s guar production
has risen to 2.45 million tonnes (MT) in 2015-16 from 0.9 MT in 2005-06. New
guar processing facilities were built in Rajasthan. Cultivation was extended to
non-guar producing States. However, sharp rise in the prices of guar products
prompted importing countries, such as China and Australia, to encourage
indigenous guar cultivation and processing. Also, the food industry’s demand
for guar gum was adversely impacted by extreme volatility and sharp rise in
prices, especially during 2011-12. Higher prices also prompted guar consuming
industries to explore and shift to cheaper substitutes.
All these developments substantially reduced
the demand for gaur with implications for prices, which fell from ₹30,000 a quintal in April 2013 to 7,000 a
quintal in December 2013. Crude oil price declined from $115/barrel in August
2014 to $30/barrel in January 2016.
That gave a big jolt to guar exports in the
form of reduced demand from US shale oil and gas producers. As a result, guar
prices dropped to ₹4,000 a quintal in
2015 from the high of ₹30,000 a quintal in
2012. Current prices stand at ₹6,000 a quintal. Even
if crude oil price hovers around $40/barrel, US shale oil and gas production
will continue to grow, though at a slower rate. China has set a production
target of 300 billion cubic meters of gas by 2020. That would mean steady
demand for guar gum.
Guar gum is used to modify water properties
and acts as a thickener in the food industry. The European food industry
accounts for over 10 per cent of India’s guar gum exports, and is expected to
continue importing from India. Growing awareness towards natural or organic
food and further rise in per capita incomes of developing countries could
likely boost the demand for guar gum from the food industry. All these
developments mean steady demand for guar and make guar an attractive investment
option in the long run.
Crude oil price holds the key to demand for
guar products. Crude oil prices seem to have bottomed out now. However, Iran
seeking to capture its old market share may cause a further fall in crude
prices. If that happens, it may pressurise guar.
Guar price shocks in the past have prompted
international buyers to look for cheaper alternatives, such as tara gum, locust
bean gum and xanthan gum, which are being used in the food industry. Synthetic
polymers are used in the shale oil and gas industry. But nothing has come out
as effective as guar. Nevertheless, guar substitutes will keep guar prices from
shooting up unreasonably.
The writer is VP and
Head, Agriculture, Food and Retail at Biznomics Consulting
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/portfolio/real-assets/is-guar-gums-future-really-bleak/article8516594.ece
ARE
YOU SERVING YOUR INFANT ARSENIC-LACED RICE?
BY ON 4/25/16
AT 5:51 PM
A new study suggests infants who eat cereal and other products
made of rice have higher levels of urinary arsenic.LUCAS JACKSON?REUTER
Rice cereal is one of the first
solid foods an infant tries, because the bland mush is easy on digestion.
However, parents may want to be cautious about how much rice ends up in
their kid’s diet.
A study published April 25 in JAMA Pediatrics found
infants who ate rice and rice-based products had significantly higher urinary
inorganic arsenic concentrations than those who didn’t eat any foods that
contain the grain. Inorganic arsenic, or arsenic in which no carbon is present
in the compound, is highly toxic. It’s on the World Health Organization’s
known carcinogen list, and high exposure is dangerous, especially
for developing infants. In particular, research suggests inorganic arsenic can
have a neurotoxic effect and is harmful to the immune system.
Studies find infant rice cereal can
contain levels of inorganic arsenic at approximately 200 nanograms per gram of
food, which is twice the amount recommended by WHO and allowed by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration. In the U.S., rice is the largest source of human
exposure to arsenic.
They found that 80 percent of the
infants were introduced to rice cereal in the first year of life, and 64
percent of began eating rice cereal starting at 4 to 6 months. At the year
mark, 43 percent had eaten rice cereal or some type of rice product the
previous week.
The researchers also analyzed urine
samples taken from the infants beginning in 2013. In an analysis of 129 urine
samples at the 12-month point, the researchers found arsenic levels were
significantly higher in infants who consumed rice and other rice-based foods
compared with those who didn’t eat any of these products. Infants who ate rice
cereal had the highest level of urinary inorganic arsenic. On average, levels
were 9.53 micrograms per liter in infants who ate rice cereal compared to 2.85
micrograms per liter in infants who didn’t eat any rice-based products.
The researchers say there are some
limitations to their study. The findings are partially based on self-reported
questionnaires, which leave room for inaccuracy. It is also based on a
population in New England where there is an unregulated water system. This may
mean there’s more arsenic in tap water, and, depending on how much water the
infants drank, could account for the higher levels in some urine samples.
Lastly, the study doesn’t account for other common sources of arsenic such as
apple juice, which could also elevate urinary arsenic levels
http://www.newsweek.com/arsenic-infant-rice-food-452351
Small
but Powerful
A new compact rice mill may be a sound investment
Small-scale entrepreneurs in the countryside might as well take a second
look at a compact rice mill that can perform functions of the bigger models.
Being compact, the machine can be installed in a place as small as
nine square meters. And it can be operated by just one man. LH 5001 can mill
five to six cavans of palay in one hour. The investor can install one in a
community where small rice farmers produce small quantities that the big rice
processing complexes will not care to accept.
Malou Bautista, a staff of Fitcorea, says that even if the machine
operates only five hours a day, the operator can gross about p75,000 in fees of
P2 per bag of polished rice. The expenses in electricity and other costs total
only P21,500 per month so there is a profit of P53,500 monthly. That’s not bad
for a small business in the countryside. One LH 5001 only costs P210,000. The
cost can be recovered in just several months.
Usually, small rice farmers sell their palay right after harvest
because they need cash to settle their loans or for some other purposes. If
they can have their harvest milled and sell it as commercial rice, they will
significantly increase their income, as Malou explains it.
Many farmers harvest 120 cavans of palay from one hectare. If they
sell the palay at R17 per kilo, the gross income will be P102,000. But if they
have their harvest milled by LH 5001, they will get a total of 3,900 kilos of
polished rice. Because the rice is high quality, it will sell at P42 per kilo,
with gross value of P163,000. The cost of milling is only P7,800, so there is
an increase in income of P53,200 for the farmer who has his palay milled and
sold as commercial rice.
So, there you are. Why not give the compact rice mill a second
thought?
A technician of Fitcorea poses with the compact rice mill, LH
5001.
http://www.mb.com.ph/small-but-powerful/#rMQhmI5hb3rW3sI0.99
APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter -
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Thai rice yield
shrinks, coffee crops die in VN
Aman rice output hits a
new high
THE STRAITS TIMES
ASIA NEWS NETWORK April 25, 2016 5:58 pm
ACROSS MUCH of central and north-eastern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice bowl, temperatures are soaring into the 40s,
and are likely to stay there until around the middle of next month.A second
year of summer drought has been exacerbated by the El Nino effect. On Friday,
Thailand's meteorological office said a heatwave late this month or early next
month would push temperatures to 43 or 44 degrees Celsius. Vietnam's coffee
growers have suffered, as have Thailand's rice farmers. But while a supply dip
could raise coffee prices, rice prices might not be affected, analysts say.
Scientists say the good news is the El Nino effect will start
fading towards the end of next month and annual monsoon rains will begin.
Meanwhile, in village after village, water tanks are dry, grass has
withered and the ground is baked and cracked underfoot.
In some villages in northeastern Thailand, there has been no
running water for weeks, and local fire brigades have been pressed into service
to bring water from kilometres away. In many places here, for the second year
running, there has been no second rice crop.
How bad the impact of the drought will be on agricultural output -
not just of rice in Vietnam and Thailand but of commodities such as coffee in
Vietnam - is still uncertain.
"This is not stopping here. It's going to get worse and
worse," says Rolan Colieng, 28, as she looks at her coffee farm in
Vietnam's Central Highlands, where the family has had to cut down swathes of
dried-out coffee trees
Thai rice yield shrinks, coffee crops die in VN
THE STRAITS TIMES
ASIA NEWS NETWORK April 25, 2016 5:58 pm
ACROSS MUCH of central and north-eastern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice bowl, temperatures are soaring into the 40s,
and are likely to stay there until around the middle of next month.
A second year of summer drought has been exacerbated by the El Nino
effect. On Friday, Thailand's meteorological office said a heatwave late this
month or early next month would push temperatures to 43 or 44 degrees Celsius.
Vietnam's coffee growers have suffered, as have Thailand's rice
farmers. But while a supply dip could raise coffee prices, rice prices might
not be affected, analysts say.
Scientists say the good news is the El Nino effect will start
fading towards the end of next month and annual monsoon rains will begin.
Meanwhile, in village after village, water tanks are dry, grass has
withered and the ground is baked and cracked underfoot.
In some villages in northeastern Thailand, there has been no
running water for weeks, and local fire brigades have been pressed into service
to bring water from kilometres away. In many places here, for the second year
running, there has been no second rice crop.
How bad the impact of the drought will be on agricultural output -
not just of rice in Vietnam and Thailand but of commodities such as coffee in
Vietnam - is still uncertain.
"This is not stopping here. It's going to get worse and
worse," says Rolan Colieng, 28, as she looks at her coffee farm in
Vietnam's Central Highlands, where the family has had to cut down swathes of
dried-out coffee trees
Aman rice output rose to a new high of nearly
1.35 crore tonnes in the immediate past season owing to increased plantation,
particularly of high-yielding varieties, said officials of Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics.
Farmers planted the monsoon-based crop on 55.90
lakh hectares last season, up from 55.30 lakh hectares a year earlier,
according to preliminary data of the BBS.
Aman accounts for 38 percent of annual rice
production.
With the 2.93 percent spike in aman production,
the total rice output this fiscal year stands at 1.57 crore tonnes.
The output, which although is a year-on-year
increase of 1.63 percent, fell short of the Department of Agricultural
Extension's target of 1.60 crore tonnes.
The DAE set out to ensure production of 24.75
lakh tonnes of rice during the aus season, 1.35 crore tonnes during aman and
1.90 crore tonnes during boro season.
However, boro production target may not be
achieved as cultivation declined after many farmers switched to other crops
such as wheat and potato, according to agriculture officials and seed sellers.
Farmers grew boro paddy on 46.85 lakh hectares
of land during the current harvesting season, down from last season's 48.40
lakh hectares, according to the DAE.
The latest acreage is the lowest since fiscal
2008-09.
“There is uncertainty,” said a senior official
of the DAE about the achievement of the boro rice production target. He said
harvesting of the rice has begun in the haor areas in the northeast, with many
farmers encountering flash floods in their paddy fields.
“Half the crop in the haor areas has been
harvested. There is a risk of crop damage for submergence,” said the official.
Early this month, the US Department of
Agriculture said total boro output in Bangladesh may be 1.86 crore tonnes in
the current season.
Bangladesh requires more than 3.50 crore tonnes
of rice a year for consumption, according to the USDA
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/aman-rice-output-hits-new-high-1214182
Thailand plans to sell
11.4 mln T of stockpiled rice within two months
BANGKOK, April 25 (Reuters) - Thailand plans to
sell the remaining 11.4 million tonnes of rice in government stockpiles within
two months, the country's rice management board said on Monday, starting next
week.
The world's second-biggest rice exporter after
India has been reducing stocks left over after the end of a rice-buying scheme
under the previous, civilian government.
The military government which took control
following a May 2014 coup has auctioned off 5.05 million tonnes of rice worth
$1.53 billion through several tenders since taking power.
Some traders were skeptical about the
government's ability to sell off remaining stocks in just two months.
The government had previously said it aimed to
clear the stockpile by the end of 2017.
"Auctions will start next week, with one
million tonnes of rice for each lot. We aim to auction it all off within two
months," said commerce ministry permanent secretary Chutima
Bunyapraphasara, who is also secretary of the rice management board.
Chutima said the remaining rice stocks were
worth over 100 billion baht ($2.85 billion).
Supachai Vorraapinyaporn, president of Tanasan
Rice Group, Thailand's third largest rice exporter, said the government's
target of offloading the rice within two months was not possible.
"This is a million percent impossible,
considering that previous auctions were monthly, and only around 400,000
tonnes," said Supachai.
"Perhaps they meant two years, not two
months," he added.
Thailand has about 100,000 tonnes of what the
commerce ministry has called "good grade" rice in state warehouses.
The remaining stocks include 7.5 million tonnes
of "substandard" rice for human consumption, 1.5 million tonnes of
rice earmarked for industrial use, and 2.4 million tonnes of spoiled rice.
($1 = 35.1000 baht) (Reporting by Patpicha
Tanakasempipat, Pracha Hariraksapitak and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Amy
Sawitta Lefevre and Mark Potter)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3557517/Thailand-plans-sell-11-4-mln-T-stockpiled-rice-two-months.html
MOAC announces rice farming strategy to balance supply
and demand
ą¹ąø”่ąø”ีąø£ąø²ąø¢ąøąø²ąø£ąø§ีąøีą¹ąø Date : 25 ą¹ąø”ąø©ąø²ąø¢ąø 2559
BANGKOK, 25 April 2016 (NNT) – The Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives (MOAC) has announced the plan to promote rice farming in 62.12
million rais of land, set to implement the Agri-Map system to determine which
areas are suitable for rice cultivation.
MOAC Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya has revealed the Ministry’s
plan to solve the rice oversupply issue, stating that rice production each year
exceeds demand, while the rice variations do not meet consumer's demand, and
farmers are being taken advantage of from the lack of proper management.
He has said that the MOAC has set the new rice production target at
27.17 million tons for the 2016-2017 cycle, which is slightly higher than the
demand calculated by the Ministry of Commerce, which was at 25.01 million tons.
The extra supply will be reserved to substitute deteriorated rice from pests
and natural disaster.
To ensure that the Kingdom's rice production strikes a balance
between supply and demand, the MOAC will also push forward a complete cycle plan,
which includes the declaration of rice farming promotion areas using the
Agri-Map system, plans for harvesting and post-harvesting seasons, and
marketing strategies for the domestic market which include the revision of Hom
Mali Rice standards, the promotion of rice consumption,
http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5904250010012#sthash.amMm9HLY.dpuf
Thai rice yield
shrinks, coffee crops die in VN
THE STRAITS TIMES
ASIA NEWS NETWORK April 25, 2016 5:58 pm
ACROSS MUCH of central and north-eastern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice bowl, temperatures are soaring into the 40s,
and are likely to stay there until around the middle of next month.
A second year of summer drought has been exacerbated by the El Nino
effect. On Friday, Thailand's meteorological office said a heatwave late this
month or early next month would push temperatures to 43 or 44 degrees Celsius.
Vietnam's coffee growers have suffered, as have Thailand's rice
farmers. But while a supply dip could raise coffee prices, rice prices might
not be affected, analysts say.
Scientists say the good news is the El Nino effect will start
fading towards the end of next month and annual monsoon rains will begin.Meanwhile,
in village after village, water tanks are dry, grass has withered and the
ground is baked and cracked underfoot.
In some villages in northeastern Thailand, there has been no
running water for weeks, and local fire brigades have been pressed into service
to bring water from kilometres away. In many places here, for the second year
running, there has been no second rice crop.
How bad the impact of the drought will be on agricultural output -
not just of rice in Vietnam and Thailand but of commodities such as coffee in
Vietnam - is still uncertain.
"This is not stopping here. It's going to get worse and
worse," says Rolan Colieng, 28, as she looks at her coffee farm in
Vietnam's Central Highlands, where the family has had to cut down swathes of
dried-out coffee trees.
Thai rice yield shrinks, coffee crops die in VN
ACROSS MUCH of central and north-eastern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice bowl, temperatures are soaring into the 40s,
and are likely to stay there until around the middle of next month.A second
year of summer drought has been exacerbated by the El Nino effect. On Friday,
Thailand's meteorological office said a heatwave late this month or early next
month would push temperatures to 43 or 44 degrees Celsius. Vietnam's coffee
growers have suffered, as have Thailand's rice farmers. But while a supply dip
could raise coffee prices, rice prices might not be affected, analysts say.
Scientists say the good news is the El Nino effect will start
fading towards the end of next month and annual monsoon rains will begin.Meanwhile,
in village after village, water tanks are dry, grass has withered and the
ground is baked and cracked underfoot.
In some villages in northeastern Thailand, there has been no
running water for weeks, and local fire brigades have been pressed into service
to bring water from kilometres away. In many places here, for the second year
running, there has been no second rice crop.
How bad the impact of the drought will be on agricultural output -
not just of rice in Vietnam and Thailand but of commodities such as coffee in
Vietnam - is still uncertain.
"This is not stopping here. It's going to get worse and
worse," says Rolan Colieng, 28, as she looks at her coffee farm in
Vietnam's Central Highlands, where the family has had to cut down swathes of
dried-out coffee trees.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Thai-rice-yield-shrinks-coffee-crops-die-in-VN-30284670.html
Thailand to Sell 11.4
Million Tons of Stockpiled Rice
FILE - Soldiers check rice stocks at a warehouse in
Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, July 3, 2014. Thailand plans to
sell the remaining 11.4 million tons of rice in government
stockpiles within two months.
BANGKOK—
Thailand plans to sell the remaining 11.4 million tons of
rice in government stockpiles within two months, the country's rice
management board said on
Monday, starting next week.
Monday, starting next week.
The world's second-biggest rice exporter after India has been
reducing stocks left over after the end of a rice-buying scheme under the
previous, civilian government.
The military government which took control following a
May 2014 coup has auctioned off 5.05 million tons of rice worth $1.53
billion through several tenders since taking power.
Some traders were skeptical about the government's ability to
sell off remaining stocks in just two months.
The government had previously said it aimed to clear
the stockpile by the end of 2017.
"Auctions will start next week, with one million tons
of rice for each lot. We aim to auction it all off within
two months," said commerce ministry permanent secretary
Chutima Bunyapraphasara, who is also secretary of the rice
management board.
Chutima said the remaining rice stocks were worth over
100 billion baht ($2.85 billion).
Supachai Vorraapinyaporn, president of Tanasan Rice Group,
Thailand's third largest rice exporter, said the government's target of
offloading the rice within two months was not possible.
"This is a million percent impossible, considering
that previous auctions were monthly, and only around 400,000
tons," said Supachai.
"Perhaps they meant two years, not two months," he
added. Thailand has about 100,000 tons of what the commerce ministry
has called "good grade" rice in state warehouses. The remaining
stocks include 7.5 million tons of
"substandard" rice for human consumption, 1.5 million tons of rice earmarked for industrial use, and 2.4 million tons of spoiled rice.
"substandard" rice for human consumption, 1.5 million tons of rice earmarked for industrial use, and 2.4 million tons of spoiled rice.
SunRice promises $400/t
in 2017
ANDREW MARSHALL
26 Apr, 2016 07:43 AM
While this year’s harvest is still underway, the industry processor
and marketer will also pay $380/t for Sherpa crops harvested in 2017 if they
are forward sold into the contract.
As the cotton industry notches up another season of expansion
and expected yield successes in the south, SunRice is trying to limit the loss
of any more precious irrigation water from its traditional grain cropping
heartland in the Murrumbidgee and Murray valleys.
Irrigated nuts and maize crops have also soaked up available
water this past summer.
The 2015-16 Australian crop expected to have slumped to yield
around 300,000 tonnes.
That compares with last year’s 690,000t harvest and is well
below SunRice's annual domestic and export market for at least 1 million
tonnes.
Many ricegrowers sold their limited 2015-16 irrigation
entitlements last spring, rather than planting rice, as water values soared
above $250 a megalitre.
SunRice’s chairman, Laurie Arthur, said on an overall farm
system basis, independent research showed return on capital from planting rice
in the Riverina was “compelling”, particularly when compared with wheat, canola
and maize.
“Rice continues to maintain strong returns while other crops
have experienced significant volatility in recent times,” he said.
“We have significant demand for Australian rice and this
contract is designed to ensure growers are able to make commercial decisions
now to grow rice for harvest in 2017 and participate in premium markets.”
Although traditional pools will also operate next season, the
special contracts will open on May 2, taking a limited volume.
They close when an undisclosed tonnage is reached, with growers
signed up on a “first in, first served” basis.
Meanwhile, SunRice is still trying to finalise plans for a
shareholder vote on the grower-owned company floating part of its capital
structure on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Andrew Marshall
is the national agribusiness
writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media
http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/agribusiness/general-news/sunrice-promises-400t-in-2017/2752358.aspx
El NiƱo less damaging
to rice than expected
THE Department of Agriculture (DA)
has maintained its palay production estimate for 2016 at
just under a million metric tons (MT) over 2015 levels, saying it is confident
that damage from the strongest El NiƱo to ever hit the country will be less
than initially expected.
“We’re still targeting 19 million MT,” Department of Agriculture
Chief Proceso J. Alcala told reporters on the sidelines of the Agri-Pinoy
awards on Tuesday. In 2015, palay production was 18.15-million MT, down
4.31% from a year earlier.
According to Mr. Alcala, the initial proposed budget for 2016 was drafted with a view towardspalay output of about 20-million MT, but not all proposals were approved on review.
On DA’s expectation of a possible contraction in the first quarter, Mr. Alcala said: “What’s possible is that if palay dips big time, it will be only one third of projected damage loss.”
The DA said the forecast, prepared at the tail end of 2015, anticipated palay losses from the El NiƱo at 957,000 MT. “But as of April 14, reports say that lost palay production is just at 233,000 MT,” said Mr. Alcala.
When asked if palay output can recover in the second quarter from the projected dip in the first three months of the year, Mr. Alcala said: “The second quarter marks the beginning of the summer cropping. If it does not dip so much, that would be good enough for us.”
Mr. Alcala also assured that the Philippines prepared for the dry spell by importing 500,000 MT of rice before the first quarter, when official weather forecasters said the dry spell would intensify.
In September, the interagency Food Security Committee allowed the National Food Authority to proceed with procurement of 500,000 MT by the first quarter of 2016 via state-to-state deals as means to top up buffer stocks in anticipation of a severe El NiƱo.
According to the weather agency PAGASA’s El NiƱo advisory last month, “climate models suggest gradual weakening of El NiƱo in the March-April-May 2016 season” but still advised agencies to take precautionary action and intervention measures to mitigate the adverse impact of El NiƱo.
When asked if the country is ready for a disaster on the magnitude of the 2007-2008 rice crisis considering the impact of the El NiƱo that has hit several countries including Vietnam and Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporters, Mr. Alcala said the country, a top importer of rice should depend too heavily on satisfying domestic demand via trade.
During the 2007-2008 rice crisis, global prices shoot up by 300% to $1000 per MT in the span of four months.
Mr. Alcala said the targets set in the 2017 Agriculture budget will revisit the 20-million metric ton level initially contemplated in 2016.
“Currently we’re in the process for budget preparation for 2017... we’re double-checking how to increase production [aims] to more than 19 million MT,” the secretary said. -- Janina C. Lim
According to Mr. Alcala, the initial proposed budget for 2016 was drafted with a view towardspalay output of about 20-million MT, but not all proposals were approved on review.
On DA’s expectation of a possible contraction in the first quarter, Mr. Alcala said: “What’s possible is that if palay dips big time, it will be only one third of projected damage loss.”
The DA said the forecast, prepared at the tail end of 2015, anticipated palay losses from the El NiƱo at 957,000 MT. “But as of April 14, reports say that lost palay production is just at 233,000 MT,” said Mr. Alcala.
When asked if palay output can recover in the second quarter from the projected dip in the first three months of the year, Mr. Alcala said: “The second quarter marks the beginning of the summer cropping. If it does not dip so much, that would be good enough for us.”
Mr. Alcala also assured that the Philippines prepared for the dry spell by importing 500,000 MT of rice before the first quarter, when official weather forecasters said the dry spell would intensify.
In September, the interagency Food Security Committee allowed the National Food Authority to proceed with procurement of 500,000 MT by the first quarter of 2016 via state-to-state deals as means to top up buffer stocks in anticipation of a severe El NiƱo.
According to the weather agency PAGASA’s El NiƱo advisory last month, “climate models suggest gradual weakening of El NiƱo in the March-April-May 2016 season” but still advised agencies to take precautionary action and intervention measures to mitigate the adverse impact of El NiƱo.
When asked if the country is ready for a disaster on the magnitude of the 2007-2008 rice crisis considering the impact of the El NiƱo that has hit several countries including Vietnam and Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporters, Mr. Alcala said the country, a top importer of rice should depend too heavily on satisfying domestic demand via trade.
During the 2007-2008 rice crisis, global prices shoot up by 300% to $1000 per MT in the span of four months.
Mr. Alcala said the targets set in the 2017 Agriculture budget will revisit the 20-million metric ton level initially contemplated in 2016.
“Currently we’re in the process for budget preparation for 2017... we’re double-checking how to increase production [aims] to more than 19 million MT,” the secretary said. -- Janina C. Lim
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Economy&title=el-ni&241o-less-damaging-to-rice-than-expected&id=126372
Coffee
crops die in Vietnam, Thai rice yield shrinks
02:09 PM April 25th, 2016
This picture taken on March 8,
2016 shows a girl walking along a nearly dry canal in the Long Phu district in
the southern Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. Vietnam is suffering its worst
drought in nearly a century with salinisation hitting farmers especially hard
in the crucial southern Mekong delta, experts said. AFP
Across much of central and north-eastern Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice bowl, temperatures are soaring into
the 40s, and are likely to stay there until around the middle of next month.
Vietnam’s coffee growers have suffered, as have Thailand’s rice
farmers. But while a supply dip could raise coffee prices, rice prices might
not be affected, analysts say.
Scientists say the good news is the El Nino effect will start
fading towards the end of next month and annual monsoon rains will begin.
Meanwhile, in village after village, water tanks are dry, grass
has withered and the ground is baked and cracked underfoot.
In some villages in north-eastern Thailand, there has been no
running water for weeks, and local fire brigades have been pressed into service
to bring water from kilometers away. In many places here, for the second year
running, there has been no second rice crop.
How bad the impact of the drought will be on agricultural output
– not just of rice in Vietnam and Thailand but of commodities such as coffee in
Vietnam – is still uncertain.
“This is not stopping here. It’s going to get worse and worse,”
says Rolan Colieng, 28, as she looks at her coffee farm in Vietnam’s Central
Highlands, where the family has had to cut down swathes of dried-out coffee
trees.
Her family is part of the K’Ho ethnic minority group, which has
grown coffee for four generations, and has culled 500 trees. The community’s
50ha of coffee usually yield 100 tonnes per season but might provide only half
of that this year, she estimates. Blackouts happen twice a week on average
because nearby dams that produce the hydro-power have seen reservoirs dry up.
Down south in the delta, rice output was down by 200,000 tons in
the winter-spring season compared with the same period last year, for a total
of 11 million tons, says Bui Chi Buu, a senior researcher at the Institute of
Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam.
Losses from the drought rose to nearly US$250 million after
coffee, fruit and vegetable and cash crops, as well as 4,500ha of aquaculture
farms, were destroyed, Vietnam’s Central Steering Committee on Natural
Disasters Prevention said this month.
This is the worst drought in a century, Buu tells The Straits
Times. Some 167,000ha of rice and tens of thousands of hectares of coffee have
been affected by drought and salinity, with the Central Highlands – home to
many of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities – being the worst hit.
“Vietnamese people have a proverb: ‘Have a crop failure for one
year, be poor for three years’,” says Buu. “So this will not affect us
immediately, but in the longer term.”
With the drought having killed off coffee trees, and low yields
from older trees, which account for 35 per cent of the total, Vietnam’s coffee
exports could shrink by 25 per cent this year to one million tonnes, Luong Van
Tu, the chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, told Reuters this
month. Tighter supply from Vietnam could see global coffee prices going up.
In Thailand, Vichai Sriprasert, the president and chief
executive of exporter Riceland International, estimates that the second rice
crop could suffer a 30 per cent fall in output.
It is a close estimate, says Dr. Nipon Poapongsakorn, a
distinguished fellow of the Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation,
a local think-tank.
But the second rice crop is only part of Thailand’s output, he
emphasises. Even though there is not yet enough data to conclusively establish
the impact of the drought, the main crop yield last year came to 23.5 million
tons, while the dry season or second crop yield was 5.4 million tons.
This year, the main crop yield is forecast to be up to 25.2
million tons – and the second crop should go down to around 3.9 million tons,
says Dr Nipon.
Thailand is not in danger of experiencing a rice supply
shortage, given that it still has some 13 million tons of old rice in
warehouses, Vichai notes.
The second crop yield has never been this low, he says. Yet,
world rice prices, which have been low, will remain low, he predicts – because
demand is also down, amid an uncertain global economic environment.
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/138909/coffee-crops-die-in-vietnam-thai-rice-yield-shrinks
Drought in
delta poses serious food security threat
VietNamNet Bridge – The worst drought ever
recorded in Viį»t Nam has prompted the government and the public to brainstorm
strategies on using water sources intelligently for food security and poverty
reduction.
|
Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a leading Vietnamese agricultural
expert, talks about his suggestions to adapt to drought and saline intrusion
during the conference. Photo: VNS
|
The historic drought and saline intrusion in
the Mekong Delta caused by upstream hydropower dams and climate change has
brought fears of a reduction in rice output and threatens food security.
Saltwater intrusion in the Delta has destroyed
at least 159,000 hectares of paddy rice, and a further 500,000 hectares are at
risk before the onset of the summer monsoon.
Recently, the government approved US$23.3
million in emergency funds to compensate hard-hit farmers and provide water
tanks and other critical provisions.
Viet Nam has increased rice production fivefold
from 4.5 million metric tonnes in 1975 to 25.5 million metric tonnes last year,
which represents 17 per cent of the world rice market. Viet Nam is the world’s
second-largest exporter of rice.
During the past five years, the world rice
market was at about 40 to 42 million metric tonnes of milled rice per year
while demand for rice is predicted to increase.
Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a leading Vietnamese
agricultural expert, said that saline intrusion affected agricultural
production in the lower Mekong River basin, putting paddy production at risk.
Xuan spoke during a conference titled
“Sustainable Uses of Mekong Water Resources” organised at Can Tho University
yesterday, April 22.
However, he said the challenges should be
turned into opportunities by restructuring agriculture in the country, thereby
improving farmers’ incomes.
Paddy farmers’ per capita income in the
country, which exports seven million tonnes of rice annually, is only about
US$500.
Drought and saline intrusion could be seen a
silver lining in the dark cloud, pushing the country to reorganise its
irrigation system.
“The government needs to restructure its
agricultural and food production in the Mekong Delta to make good use of
limited fresh water and opportunities with marine water,” said Xuan.
“We have been successful in building irrigation
systems bringing fresh water to paddy production for decades. Now, the
government should have a comprehensive plan for farmers using saline water in
shrimp cultivation,” Xuan said.
He said that if farmers were forced to continue
with paddy on saline farmland, they would continue to face poverty.
Areas not affected by marine water such as An
Giang, Dong Thap and others should be arranged for paddy cultivation with
advanced technology, meeting requirements of food security.
He said the government should also develop
irrigation systems for shrimp cultivation.
Areas affected by drought and saline intrusion
should also plant paddy crops during the rainy season. As soon as rice is
harvested at the end of rainy season, with the fields still wet containing
fresh water from rains in the surrounding ditches, saline water would be
allowed to enter and shrimp post-larvae would grow in the ditches, he said.
“If we see marine water as the enemy, it will
be our true failure,” Xuan added.
Kenichi Yamamoto, deputy chief representative
of JICA Viet Nam, who helped establish the Centre of Excellence in Can Tho
University, where information related to the Mekong River is exchanged between
related countries, said that drought and saline intrusion not only affected
food production in Viet Nam, but other riparian countries along the Mekong
River.
Helping the delta’s farmers realise the
adaptation plan, the World Bank announced that it would provide a concessionary
loan of US$300 million in mid-2016 to Viet Nam for the Mekong Delta Climate
Resiliency and Sustainable Livelihoods Project.
Iain Menzies, senior water specialist of World
Bank, who attended the conference, said that the World Bank’s financial and
technical assistance to the Mekong basin countries could be effectively used if
there was a strong civil society which openly, and in good faith, debated
development alternatives and helped guide governments to make well-informed
decisions based on sound science.
The project enhances the capacity to manage and
adapt to climate change by improving planning, promoting resilient rural
livelihoods, and constructing climate smart infrastructure in selected
provinces in the Mekong Delta.
Nguyen Huu Thien, who has more than 20 years of
experience working on issues of climate change and natural resource management,
said Viet Nam had received almost no benefits from hydropower dams. But it has
had to suffer huge consequences from the construction of such dams.
Besides threatening the livelihoods of
millions, climate change is also threatening the shape of the Mekong Delta,
which may disappear in the future, according to the researcher.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/155438/drought-in-delta-poses-serious-food-se
Navigating
Asia’s Troubled Waters
Brahma Chellaney
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Asia’s water woes are worsening. Already the world’s driest
continent in per capita terms, Asia now faces a severe drought that has parched
a vast region extending from southern Vietnam to central India.
This has exacerbated political tensions, because it has
highlighted the impact of China’s dam-building policy on the environment and on
water flows to the dozen countries located downstream.
Today’s drought in parts of Southeast and South Asia is the
worst in decades. Among the hardest-hit areas are Vietnam’s Mekong Delta (a
rice bowl of Asia) and central highlands; 27 of Thailand’s 76 provinces; large
parts of Cambodia; Myanmar’s largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay; and areas of
India that are home to more than a quarter of the country’s massive population.
Droughts may not knock down buildings, but they carry high
social and economic costs. Millions of Asians now confront severe water
shortages and some have been forced to relocate.
Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia have had to scale back
traditional water festivals marking their New Year. The High Court of Bombay
moved the world’s biggest and wealthiest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier
League, out of the state of Maharashtra. In one Maharashtra county, the local
authorities, fearing violence, temporarily banned gatherings of more than five
people around water storage and supply facilities.
Meanwhile, the mounting drought-related losses in some of the
world’s top rice-producing countries – Thailand, Vietnam and India – threaten
to roil the world’s already tight rice market. Barely 7 percent of global rice
output is traded internationally, because much of it is consumed where it is
produced – in Asia.
Rice losses have been particularly significant in Thailand and
Vietnam, which account for half of all rice exports and almost three-quarters
of this decade’s projected export growth. Some 230,000 hectares of paddy rice
cultivation has been destroyed just in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, where depleted
river flows have led to saltwater intrusion from the South China Sea, rendering
nearly 10 percent of the rice farms potentially infertile.
This drought may be unprecedented, but it is not an anomaly. On
the contrary, environmental challenges in Asia, such as ecosystem degradation,
groundwater depletion, the contamination of water resources, the El NiƱo
tropical weather pattern and the effects of global warming are causing droughts
to become increasingly frequent – and increasingly severe.
Even without droughts, Asia would be facing formidable water
constraints. The annual amount of available fresh water per capita in the
region (2,816 cubic meters) already is less than half the global average (6,079
cubic meters). As the region pursues rapid economic development, characterized
by massive increases in resource consumption and serious environmental damage,
its water constraints are tightening further.
The challenge is compounded by Asians’ changing dietary
preferences, particularly higher consumption of meat, the production of which
is notoriously water-intensive.
While Asia’s resource-hungry economies can secure fossil fuels
and mineral ores from distant lands, they cannot import water, which is
prohibitively expensive to transport. So they have been overexploiting local
resources instead – a practice that has spurred an environmental crisis,
advancing regional climate change and intensifying natural disasters like
droughts.
As a result Asia, which accounts for 72 percent of the world’s
total irrigated acreage, now faces a dilemma: It must grow enough food to meet
rising demand, while reducing the amount of water that goes toward irrigation.
Unless Asia resolves it, economic development will be imperiled, with major
consequences for the entire global economy.
Yet the continent’s water crisis is only worsening. According to
a recent MIT study, there is a “high risk” that Asia’s water stress could
worsen to water scarcity by 2050. Water-sharing disputes between countries or
provinces already are increasingly frequent, owing to the proliferation of dam
projects that can adversely affect downstream flows – an approach that
represents a continuing preference for supply-side approaches over smart water
management.
The main culprit in this regard is China, which has heavily
dammed the Mekong, Southeast Asia’s lifeline. In the current lean season, which
will last until the monsoon rains arrive in June, the lower Mekong is,
according to a recent United Nations report, running at “its lowest level since
records began nearly 100 years ago.”
China is now trying to play savior, by releasing an unspecified
quantity of water from one of its six upstream mega-dams to “accommodate the
concerns” of drought-stricken countries.
China’s rulers have touted the move as underscoring the
effectiveness of upstream “water facilities” in addressing droughts and
containing floods.
Of course, in reality, all of this simply highlights the
newfound reliance of downriver countries on Chinese goodwill – a dependence
that is set to deepen as China builds 14 more dams on the Mekong. The
environmental impact of these projects is sure to exacerbate further the
ecological challenges, including drought, already facing Asia.
This competitive approach is putting Asia on a dangerous path,
which can lead only to more environmental degradation, slower economic
development and even water wars. It is time to change course and embark on the
path of rules-based cooperation, based on water-sharing accords, the free flow
of hydrological data and dispute-settlement mechanisms.
Asian countries must work together to ensure greater efficiency
in water consumption, increase the use of recycled and desalinated water and
promote innovative solutions that advance conservation and adaptation efforts.
To this end, governments must phase out state subsidies that
have encouraged profligate water use, such as in agriculture, and focus on
building new market mechanisms and effective public-private partnerships.
None of this will be possible without China’s cooperation.
Indeed, if China does not abandon its current approach – from its “water grab”
in the Mekong and other international rivers to its “territorial grab” in the
South China Sea – the prospects for a rules-based order in Asia could perish
forever. Copyright: – Project Syndicate (Mr. Chellaney, Professor of Strategic
Studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and Fellow at the
Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books.
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24148/navigating-asia---s-troubled-waters/curity-threat.html
Boro Paddy
harvesting continues
Harvesting of Boro paddy has been continuing in full swing in all
the eight upazilas of in Jessore district during the current month.The upazilas
are Monirampur, Keshabpur, Abhaynagar, Bagherpara, Sharsha, Chaugacha,
Jhikargacha and in Jessore Sadar.Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE)
office sources said the Boro cultivators of the district finally cultivated the
Boro paddy on 0.15 million hectares of land with the target of producing 0.60
million tonnes of rice.
The crops specialists of the DAE said the yielding rate of high
yielding variety (HYV) of the Boro rice was found on average 3.82 tonnes per
hectare, the yielding rate of hybrid variety of the Boro rice was found on
average 4.75 tonnes per hectare in most of the areas of the district.Deputy
Director of the DAE in the district Nitto Ranjan Biswas said the farmers are
now expecting a bumper production of the Boro paddy after seeing the better
yielding rate, according to a news agency report
Rice
imports from India jump to Rs13.43 billion
Apr 24, 2016- Nepal’s rice imports from India jumped to a
staggering Rs13.43 billion in the first eight months of this fiscal year,
according to a Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) report.In the same period last year,
rice and paddy imports bills stood at Rs9.91 billion. Agro experts said the
figure represents a significant imbalance in what Nepal grows and eat.
“Irrigation, inputs and manpower are extremely important for food
production. We lack of all these resources. Hence, the imbalance between production
and consumption has been growing every year,” said Hem Raj Regmi, deputy
director general at the Central Bureau of Statistics.
This fiscal year, even as the imports of most of the commodities
from India have dropped due to a six-month-long trade embargo since September
last year, rice imports continued to rise.
“Imports of food grains are expected to rise further as the winter
crop harvest, particularly wheat output, has been projected to be dismal,” he
said. “Already, Nepal’s paddy output last summer had dropped by more than 10
percent and deficit has been visible in the market with such an alarming
imports bill.”
According to Regmi, rice-culture is still a general food habit in
Nepal and if the paddy production drops, the deficit is offset by imports from
India.
Food Imports bill has also been spurred by increasing disposable
incomes of the Nepalis. “Obviously, rising income means, people prefer to eat
imported foods,” he said, adding for instance, the import of basmati rice has
been increasing in a dramatic way.
The central bank’s statistics show along with rice and paddy,
imports of other agricultural commodities like vegetables and fruits have also
jumped sharply. However, despite the jump in the imports, it has not affected
prices in the market.
Looming Indian export ban
According to reports, about 330 million people in India are
affected by drought, as the country reels under severe water shortages and
desperately poor farmers suffer crop losses.
The impact of drought in India is likely to affect Nepal, said
Bhola Man Singh Basnet, an agro scientist. “As Nepal will be facing food
deficit due to poor summer harvest and projected drop in winter crops, we need
to be extra cautious about the increasing concerns of India’s agricultural
sector this year.”
For example, when the world suffered a worst food crisis during
2007-08, India had enforced a trade ban on several key food items to Nepal.
“The episode could repeat again amid reports that farmers in India are likely
to suffer crop losses due to drought and water shortage,” Basnet said. “The
government should be proactive to maintain sufficient food stock so that
India’s food exports ban will not affect Nepal.”
Indian metrological officials have forecast an above-average
monsoon this year, offering hope for the struggling farmers. The same trend is
reflected in Nepal and if it happens, food pressure will be eased from the next
year, Basnet said.
The Agriculture Ministry has projected the country might face food
deficit of 800,000 tonnes this year if wheat production drops sharply. The
agriculture sector employs about 66 percent of the population and contributes
33 percent to the GDP.
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-04-24/rice-imports-from-india-jump-to-rs1343-billion.html
APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter -
Volume 1459
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CBN
provides rice farmers with N4.9bn loan
April 24, 2016
Godwin Emefiele, CBN
Governor
Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria said on Sunday that a total of N4.9bn
has been provided as loans to rice farmers under its anchor borrower program.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele stated this while speaking
during a tour of the farmlands in Kebbi state cultivated under the intervention
program of the apex bank.
Under the programme, the CBN has set aside N40bn out of the N220bn
Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund to be given to farmers at
single digit interest rate of nine per cent per annum.
Under the scheme, smallholder farmers are entitled to loans ranging
from N150,000 to N250,000 to assist them in procuring necessary agricultural
inputs like seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, among others, to help boost
agricultural outputs and productivity.
Emefiele said through the intervention, a total of 78,581 farmers
were mobilized in Kebbi State under the intitiaive, with a total of 570,000
direct jobs created in the process.
The farmers,according to him would be producing about one million
metric tonnes of rice for the country this year.
The governor according to statement issued by the apex bank on
Sunday described the current scarcity of foreign exchange confronting the
country as a blessing in disguise as local production of various essential
products are now being given top priority.
The statement reads in part, “The Governor stated that the success
recorded by the rice farmers in Kebbi state has rekindled hope in the ability
of Nigeria to be self sufficient in rice and wheat production.
“He noted that with the sum of N210,000 granted to each farmer,
they are able to cultivate a hectre of rice.
“He disclosed that a total
of 78,581 farmers were mobilized in Kebbi state under the Anchor Borrowers
Programme. The farmers are already looking forward to a total of one million
metric tons rice this year.
“The CBN Governor stated that with the disbursement of N4.9bn as
loans to the farmers, over N570,000 direct jobs have been created and saved.”
Apart from the number of jobs created, Emefiele stated that 70,871
rural farmers now own and operate bank accounts and are also captured under the
Bank Verification Number biometric project.
The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh according to the
statement said that with Kebbi State alone targeting one million tons of rice
out of the projected seven million tons required by the entire country, the
country was on its way to self sufficiency in rice production.
He commended the efforts of the CBN for its intervention in the
agricultural sector adding that deliberate efforts are being put in place at
opening up other rural areas for agricultural purposes.
http://www.punchng.com/cbn-provides-rice-farmers-with-n4-9bn-loan/
Kebbi 1m
metric tonnes of rice achievable – Emefiele
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh leads the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele; Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and other officials to inspect rice farms under the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Suru Local Government Area of Kebbi State yesterday Photo: NAN
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefile
and Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, have said that with the
commitment of Kebbi State government and that of the 70,000 farmers under the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers programme, its projection of one
million metric tonnes of rice by the end of this year is achievable. During the
assessment tour to some rice and wheat farms in Kebbi State by the CBN governor
and the Minister of Agriculture, Emefile said “If Kebbi State can commit itself
to one million metric tonnes of rice by the end of this year, I am very
optimistic that we have seen the green light on growing rice locally”.
The Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank was flagged-off
by President Muhammadu Buhari in November last year at Zauro, near Birnin Kebbi
for dry season rice farming in the state.Speaking to journalists, the CBN
governor said “we have gone round the farms; we got to a place called Suru
local government where over 12, 000 farmers were registered under the Anchor
Borrowers
Programme
and over 40,000 kilometers of rice farms have been cultivated. We also stopped
somewhere close to Suru where wheat is being harvested. Now we are seeing the
reality in Kebbi, that wheat can be cultivated and grown in Nigeria”.He said so
far, 78,000 farmers have benefitted from the Anchor Borrowers Programme, noting
that the CBN only gave them a minimum of N210,000 to cultivate a hectare of
land. “Thirteen states would be involved in the rice programme particularly
during the rainy season. We would begin from the South-east states of Anambra,
Ebonyi, Cross -River, Benue and Plateau. We would also engage northern states
of Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina”, he said.
On his part, Chief Ogbe said there was no way Nigeria’s economy
could grow if they do not start this kind of agricultural programme in the
rural areas.
“In his remarks, Governor
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who conducted the federal government team round about
eight rice and wheat farms in Suru, Augie and Argungu local government areas of
the state, said “we were able to go this far due to our commitment, that of
President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, the CBN
Governor, those of the policy makers and farmers who have confidence in us”.
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/kebbi-1m-metric-tonnes-of-rice-achievable-emefiele/143805.html#g9guxgQtvZKRoX1o.99
