Saturday, October 22, 2016

22nd October,2016 global,regional and local rice e-newsletter by riceplus magazine


Typhoon kills 12, destroys rice fields

Reuters
October 21, 2016 1:31pm
Typhoon Haima, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines in three years, has killed at least 12 people and inundated vast tracts of rice and corn fields before taking aim at Hong Kong.
Philippine authorities said they were assessing the extent of damage to infrastructure and crops, but confirmed that thousands of hectares of farmland were destroyed in northern provinces.
Eight of the victims were from the Cordillera region, said Ricardo Jalad, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, citing reports the agency received from provincial officials.
In Cagayan alone, where the super typhoon made landfall late on Wednesday with destructive 225kph (140 mph) winds and heavy rain, between 50,000-60,000 hectares of rice fields were flattened and flooded, said the provincial governor Manuel Mamba.
"It was like we were hit by another Yolanda," he told a radio station, referring to the 2013 super typhoon known internationally as Haiyan which killed at least 6,000 people and destroyed billions of pesos worth of property.
Hong Kong shut all but essential services in the global financial hub as the storm approached.
"According to the present forecast track, Haima will be closest to Hong Kong around noon, skirting about 100km (62 miles) to the east of the territory," said the observatory on its website.
"This means that winds with mean speeds of 63kph (40 mph) or more are expected from the northwest quarter."
Flights and train services have been cancelled in and out of the city



NFA assures enough rice in typhoon Lawin affected areas

·         October 21, 2016

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MANILA, Oct. 21 - National Food Authority Officer-in-Charge Tomas R. Escarez assured the public that the food agency has properly positioned enough rice stocks in warehouses nationwide particularly in areas directly affected by typhoon Lawin.
“We are closely coordinating with relief agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Regional and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC/PDRRMC), local government units (LGUs), Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), among others. We are ready to issue their rice requirements anytime,” Escarez said. The NFA has a standing memorandum of agreement (MOA) with these relief agencies so they can withdraw rice from NFA during emergencies.
Typhoon Lawin made landfall in Southern Cagayan late Wednesday evening. 
Escarez has instructed his field executives to safeguard NFA offices/installations/unit offices, properties, stocks and personnel against possible danger. “We have activated our operations center (OpCen) nationwide to ensure 24-hour response and regularly monitor weather bulletins,” he said.
As standard procedure, the NFA is also closely monitoring prices of basic commodities, particularly rice, before, during and after the occurrence of natural calamities. (NFA) 



NFA releases 3,325 bags of rice to typhoon Lawin affected areas

 October 22, 2016

MANILA, Oct. 22 - The National Food Authority has already released a total of 3,325 bags of rice to relief agencies in typhoon Lawin affected areas.As of October 19, the food agency has issued 1,420 bags of rice to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its relief operations in areas affected by typhoon Lawin. These include La Union which received 720 bags; Tuguegarao, 300 bags; and Isabela, 400 bags.
The NFA also released the rice requirements of local government units (LGUs) affected by the recent typhoon in La Union, 20 bags; Eastern Pangasinan, 100 bags; Western Pangasinan, 396 bags; Tuguegarao (Cagayan), 320 bags; Allacapan, 291 bags; Isabela, 130 bags; Nueva Vizcaya, 86 bags; Aurora, 250 bags; Tarlac, 35 bags; and Camarines Norte, 6 bags.
The remaining 277 bags were released to other relief agencies in Tuguegarao (Cagayan), 100 bags; and Isabela, 177 bags.
NFA Officer in Charge Tomas R. Escarez said the NFA is in constant coordination with relief agencies for the immediate release of their rice requirement. “We will continue to monitor the situation to assure the stable supply and prices of rice in these areas. We assure the public that the NFA will always be here to immediately respond to the rice needs of calamity victims anywhere in the country,” Escarez said.    
The NFA regularly conducts monitoring of basic commodities in the affected areas. NFA monitoring teams reported that supply and prices of commercial rice and other basic commodities remain stable. Prevailing rice market prices were monitored at P32 to P36 per kilogram.
Before typhoon Lawin made a landfall, the NFA has activated its Operations Center to ensure 24-hour response and regularly monitor weather bulletins. (NFA)
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1141477029653/nfa-releases-3-325-bags-of-rice-to-typhoon-lawin-affected-areas

Myanmar's rice export to China fetches 123 mln USD in H1

Source: Xinhua   2016-10-21 18:57:32       

                 

YANGON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar exported 335,366 tons of rice to China in the first half of this 2016-2017 fiscal year, earning 123.093 million U.S. dollars, according to statistics of Myanmar's Customs Department Friday.Of the total export volume, 316,033 tons were exported through border trade, fetching 115.929 million U.S. dollars.
Myanmar has four border gates with China - Muse in northern Shan state, Lwejel in Kachin state, Chin Shwehaw in northeastern Shan state and Kanpite Tee in Kachin state.
Of these border trade points, Muse stands the largest trade zone with the maximum trade value between the two neighbors.
Myanmar mostly exports rice to China, while the others are agricultural products, jade and raw materials.
China is the top rice export market of Myanmar, followed by Singapore while the United Arab Emirates remains the third largest.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's total rice export in the first half of this fiscal year reached 401,367 tons valued at 145.158 million U.S. dollars.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/21/c_135772385.ht




1121 variety of rice a boon for farmers: Farm varsity VC


Ashok Kumar Sarial
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, October 20
There is scope for growing the commercial paddy variety of 1121 basmati in the border areas of Himachal. If grown, the variety will supplement the income of farmers. In an interview with The Tribune, Vice-Chancellor of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University (CSKAU), Palampur, Ashok Kumar Sarial lists the benefits that can be reaped from the paddy variety.

Ashok Kumar Sarial, who is credited with the development of 1121 variety of basmati, said it was the highest selling and exported variety from India. He said due to 1121 basmati, India had become the biggest exporter of rice in the world. The variety has been developed after crossing traditional varieties of basmati grown in North India. The plants of 1121 variety are shorter in size due to which they can tolerate adverse weather and give higher yield. “In Himachal, about 30 per cent area under cultivation is irrigated. In these irrigated areas, located close to Punjab, the farmers can increase their income by growing 1121 varieties,” he said.

When asked about the drop in prices of 1121 basmati last year due to which farmers in North India suffered losses, the VC said it was due to the 1509 variety, not the 1121 variety. He said: “The 1509 variety developed from 1121 generally ripens early in September. Last year, many farmers went in for large scale sowing of 1509 variety to reap the benefits of early harvest. The traders also tried to take benefit of it. The Government of India does not allow the export of 1509 basmati variety. However, the traders mixed the 1509 variety of rice with 1121 and exported it to the Middle East.” Due to early harvest, the 1509 variety of rice does not have flavour and its grain also breaks down during milling. Due to the mixing of 1121 with 1509, the export orders from India were rejected and it created a glut in the local market. The prices of 1121 also fell in the domestic market due to same reason.The VC said this year, the people were not sowing the 1509 basmati variety. They are just sowing 1121 and the prices are expected to remain high.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/community/1121-variety-of-rice-a-boon-for-farmers-farm-varsity-vc/312420.html



Market Access an Uphill Climb in EU

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -- Popular opposition to trade agreements and EU protectionism of "sensitive" agricultural products, including rice, are two factors holding back progress on a massive trade deal between the United States and the European Union called the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or T-TIP.  A delegation of USA Rice members and staff traveled here last week to meet with EU officials, private sector agriculture groups, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's office at the U.S. Mission to the EU. 

"The EU imports a large amount of rice - 1.3 million metric tons each year, but the U.S. never recovered the market share lost following the Liberty Link incident ten years ago," said Chris Bonnesen, USA Rice EU Trade Policy Subcommittee chairman and president, ADM Rice, Inc.  "The U.S. exports about 50,000 metric tons of rice to the EU, with at least 90 percent going to the UK, far below our traditional annual sales of nearly 300,000 tons distributed all over the EU.  Unreasonable import duties on U.S. rice are responsible."

The EU runs a highly complex and discriminatory import regime for rice based on extensive use of tariff rate quotas (TRQ) by country and region, and by type and form of rice.  Least Developed Countries, such as Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma), receive duty free access for rice and imports have surged in recent years while U.S. access is largely constrained by a 38,721-metric-ton TRQ for fully milled rice.

"If we don't ship milled rice under the TRQ, then our customers face an EU import duty of about $194 per metric ton," said Producers' Rice Mill VP and EU Subcommittee member Johnny Sullivan.  "It's very hard to be competitive in Europe with that level of tariff when rice imported from most other origins has little or zero tariffs."

USA Rice is calling for the full elimination of the EU's import duties on all types and forms of U.S. rice. 

"The market in Europe has changed over the past ten years, with buyers more price conscious and less familiar with U.S. rice," said delegation member Terry Harris, vice president at Riceland Foods, Inc.  "This is a new trading environment and yesterday's import policies and tariffs need major reform." 

While the Obama Administration has a goal of completing the T-TIP negotiations this year, the two sides are far apart on key areas and European public opinion is increasingly hostile to the idea of any agreement of this type. 

Bonnesen said in order to make it worthwhile for the entire rice industry to participate in this important and traditional market, USA Rice will continue to advocate for a robust and comprehensive trade agreement with the EU as the vehicle to improve access and the U.S's competitive position in Europe.




National Rice Month Scholarship  Deadline in Ten Days 

Create a video, three minutes or less, telling the story of U.S. grown rice to win one of three scholarship prizes, sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, totaling $8,500. 

The grand-prize winner will receive a $4,000 scholarship and a trip with a chaperone this December to the awards ceremony at the 2016 USA Rice Outlook Conference in Memphis, Tennessee.  The second-place winner will receive a $3,000 scholarship, and third-place $1,500.

Entries are due October 31, and winners will be notified by November 21.

For more information and to submit an entry, visit the NRM scholarship webpage. 

This Cooker Uses Rice Husks as a Cheap, Green Fuel Source

One of the world's big sources of agricultural waste powers Alexis Belonio's cook stoves.
View Images 
Engineer Alexis Belonio tinkers with one of his cooking stoves.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KIRSTEN HOLST, ROLEX AWARDS
By Gary Strauss

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 19, 2016
To many, "biofuels" is just a buzzword, holding more promise than practicality.
But not to Alexis Belonio, the Philippines-based inventor who developed an innovative, clean-burning cooking stove fueled by rice husks.
Rice-husk stove technology has been around for decades. It allows users to transform inedible husks—normally dumped or burned after rice is milled—into fuel. But early stoves didn't generate sufficient heat to quickly cook food, and they spewed too much sooty smoke, making inside use unhealthy and dangerous.
Belonio, an engineer, scientist, and tinkerer who had previously designed water pumps and rice paddy dryers, became obsessed with creating a gasified stove in 2003, when the Philippines, which relies heavily on oil and gas imports, was hit with sharply higher energy prices.View Images 
Belonio and agricultural engineering students at Central Philippine University weigh rice husks before they're fed into a gasifier stove.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KIRSTEN HOLST, ROLEX AWARDS
Drawing upon wood gasification technology, Belonio spent three years designing a simple albeit revolutionary cooker. It's powered by a small electric or battery-powered base fan that drives air through the husks, converting them into a gaseous blend of methane, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. A metal tube pushes the mixture to a top burner that produces a hot blue flame, similar to natural gas. A pound of rice husks generates about 20 minutes of cooking time, and the greenhouse emissions are about half those of fossil-fueled stoves, Belonio says.
Early rice-husk gas stoves made in the Philippines cost around a hundred dollars, too much for low-income farming families. By simplifying the design and materials, Belonio, a Rolex Laureate, eventually got the price down to about $20. As a primary fuel source, rice husks can save about $150 a year in gas or kerosene costs, or about 10 percent of an improverished family's annual income, Belonio says.
Belonio, who chairs the Agricultural Engineering and Environmental Management department at Central Philippine University, shares his technology in technical manuals and over the Internet, free of charge, enabling people to design and build stoves using their own tools and materials, such as scrap metal.
View Images 
Belonio shows farmer Sabina Mendoza how to use a rice-husk gas stove.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KIRSTEN HOLST, ROLEX AWARDS
“To me, there’s such a joy in sharing technology that will benefit others,’’ says Belonio, 56. “I received the knowledge of this stove from God for free, and I must give it away for free.”
Over 40 companies, NGOs, and aid organizations have adopted Belonio's rice-husk stove designs, and they're now used by people in over a dozen countries.
Belonio is still perfecting several designs, including longer burning stoves, commercial variations for restaurants and bakeries, and models where containers of rice husks are burned and swapped out, like propane tanks on gas grills. He’d like to see rice-husk power used widely in heating systems, agricultural equipment, and other devices in rural, off-the-grid regions where fuel remains expensive and not readily available.
Belonio also hopes to design a small, husk-fueled power generator that could be a lifesaver in areas without access to electricity.
“If you can have a device that can provide power for lighting so children can study at night, to charge a cell phone battery or run a motorbike, you have no idea what that could mean to some people,’’ Belonio says. “That is my dream.”
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1115996/yingluck-gets-b35bn-fine-order-pledges-to-fight


Rice Festival celebrates this years harvest, farmers recovering after flood

By Carly LaingPublished: October 20, 2016, 11:02 pm
CROWLEY, La. (KLFY) – Crowley is home to over 80 thousand acres of rice, making the crop a major part of the economy and the culture.
“The best part is being able to represent and pay tribute to the rice farmers who work diligently every year to feed half of the actual world,” said the 80th Miss Crowley, Kathryn Shea Duncan.
Rice Festival co-chairman Chad Monceaux said the farmers’ hard work and dedication is why residents have been celebrating the International Rice Festival for 80 years.
“We really look up to our farmers and that’s what this festival is all about. It’s celebrating the end of the harvest season.”
But this year the harvest was interrupted by the devastating flood of 2016.
“Since there was about 20% of the rice that was still in the fields, we figured that was about 16,500 acres that was still left and hadn’t been cut yet,” Jeremy Hebert.
LSU Ag Center County Agent Jeremy Hebert said the flood caused many farmer’s crops to take a hit.
“If we put a number on that 16,500 acres its about 2.5 million dollars that’s still left out in the field.”
But Hebert said despite the recent flood, there is still plenty to be proud of and celebrate.
“They have to bounce back and they always do but we’re still fortunate that farmers were able to still get rice out of the fields and i guess that’s why we’re here to celebrate.”
Hebert said farmers will begin planting next year’s crop in late February to mid-March.
For a list of schedule events at the 80th Annual International Rice Festival- Click Here
http://klfy.com/2016/10/20/rice-festival-celebrates-this-years-harvest-farmers-recovering-after-flood/






Enough rice supply in Lawin-hit areas

 (The Philippine Star) | 
NFA assured the public that the food agency has properly positioned enough rice stocks in warehouses nationwide particularly in areas directly affected by the typhoon. File photo

MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) has maintained that there is enough rice supply for Typhoon Lawin-affected areas after the agency released more than 3,000 bags of rice.The NFA has released 3,325 bags of rice to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units for distribution to typhoon victims.NFA assured the public that the food agency has properly positioned enough rice stocks in warehouses nationwide particularly in areas directly affected by the typhoon.
The agency has issued the rice requirements of LGUs in La Union, Eastern and Western Pangasinan, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Aurora, Tarlac, and Camarines Norte.
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NFA said it is closely coordinating with relief agencies and LGUs for continuous rice releases as part of its standing memorandum of agreement.
As standard procedure, the NFA is also monitoring prices of basic commodities, particularly rice after the occurrence of the typhoon. NFA reported that supply and prices of commercial rice and other basic commodities remain stable.
Prevailing rice market prices were monitored at P32 to P36 per kilogram.
“We will continue to monitor the situation to assure the stable supply and prices of rice in these areas,” NFA officer-in-charge Tomas Escarez said.Lawin made landfall in Southern Cagayan late Wednesday evening.

Food Poisoning Looms: Expired Rice Flood Nigerian Markets

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There are strong indications that expired foreign rice smuggled into the country may have flooded Nigerian markets, LEADERSHIP can report.The commodity, according to LEADERSHIP investigation are being imported from neighboring Benin Republic into Nigeria.Nigeria shares major borders with Benin Republic at Seme Border (Lagos), Idiroko (Ogun State), Shaki (Oyo State) and Chikanda (Kwara State).It was gathered that a larger percentage of rice imported into the Francophone country were meant for sale in Nigeria. The rice has been exposed to poor storage facilities, rain, weevils and other unhygienic forms of storage, thereby making the commodity toxic and not fit for human consumption anymore.

However, the unwholesome commodity is also smuggled into the country through methods that include pouring grains of rice into various crevices of vehicles.The product are also believed to be conveyed in open wooden canoes across creeks and waterways with large quantity of unhygienic waters splashing on them.It was gathered that despite the very obvious activities of the Federal Operation Unit (FOU) A, Ikeja to stem smuggling, border commands of  Seme, Idiroko, Oyo/Oshun – have not been able to check smuggling of these toxic commodities from getting into Nigeria in large quantities.Recall that FOU A had seized over 29,750 bags of 50kg of smuggled rice with Duty Paid Value of N193m and arrested over 163 suspects from January to September 2016. The same cannot be said of Seme, Idiroko and Oyo/Oshun Command who had the primary responsibility of policing the borders.

LEADERSHIP investigation further showed that the business of rice smuggling is growing and appearing increasingly unabated at the land borders thereby putting Nigeria at risk of consuming the expired rice.
For instance, last week two trucks load of frozen chicken estimated to be over 2062 cartons valued at over N11million were intercepted at Ijebu-Ode enroute Sango, a suburb in Ogun by Comptroller General Compliance team, South West Zone after it had escaped Ogun border Command.It was reported that articulated vehicles, cars and canoes loaded with rice crossed through the waters and creeks of Badagry and Agbara, Idiroko and Saki to land in Sango, Kuto, Iyana ipaja, Iddo, Badagry, Mile 2, Daleko markets.

Early morning visits to some of these markets showed vehicles in large quantities offloading their smuggled wares.In the case of Sango market, opposite the Divisional Police Station, LEADERSHIP reporter saw smuggled vehicles used to move the commodities with the connivance of some security operatives, thereby Police causing early morning traffic as they take turns to discharge their smuggled consignments into the Sango market for onward distribution to other parts of Lagos.The buyers of the expired products are already at hand buying the products and moving them in large quantities into commercial buses to their various destinations.Reacting to the LEADERSHIP inquiry, the Customs Public Relations Officer, Wale Adeniyi said the service is aware of the availability of expired rice in Nigeria markets.

“We have raised the alarm of expired rice because they have stored the rice in neighbouring countries and they cannot bring them into the country.“The rice have been there for a long time and it got expired because they cannot bring them in and that was why Customs raised the alarm that Nigerians should be careful with the kind of rice they buy in the market,” he told our correspondent.The Customs Area Controller, Oyo/Oshun Command, Tope Ogunkua also confirmed the existence of expired rice in various markets across the country.“The public Nigeria should be vigilant when they want to purchase rice in the market to ensure that they do not consume expired rice.  There was the need to inform the  public again because of the increase in the rate at which smugglers have attempted to import expired rice to the country.”

Ogunkua disclosed that the Command has continued to discover so many bags of expired rice out of the many lorry loads of the commodity which it has  impounded  saying that it was an indication that the smugglers have continued in their attempts to bring  expired rice into Nigeria.‘’In some of our dealings with the smugglers, we discover that some of the bags of rice are expired, that is why we are telling the public to be mindful of what they consume. If those rice was to get into the market, they would just put  them  in another set of bags or in basins and retail them to the unsuspecting public,’’ he said.

FOU A, Comptroller Mohammed Dahiru said rice importation through the land borders was banned by the Federal government in other to control whatis being brought into the country.He said the FOU A has done enough to curb smuggling of rice through the land border.“I believe we have been able to achieve greater percentage of suppressing smuggling and if somebody is to be objective and fair to customs FOU A, I believe it will be a pass mark because what is in the FOU A warehouse, both open and other warehouse is a good testimony that FOU is working. It is full to the brim with rice.

Getting the National Agency of Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to comment on how Nigerians can identify expired rice in the markets and what they are doing to mop up such commodity from Lagos market was not fruitful as calls placed to the agency’s spokesperson in Lagos, Mrs Christy Obiazikwor were not answered and series of text messages sent to her phone were also not replied.

http://leadership.ng/news/555556/food-poisoning-looms-expired-rice-flood-nigerian-markets

10/20/2016 Farm Bureau Market Report


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


Futures:
ROUGH RICE
High
Low
Last
Change
Nov '16
1040.0
1025.0
1032.5
-8.0
Jan '17
1064.0
1051.0
1057.5
-8.5
Mar '17
1082.5
1077.0
1082.5
-8.5
May '17
1104.0
-8.0
Jul '17
1122.5
-8.0
Sep '17
1131.5
-5.0
Nov '17
1131.5
-5.0
   

Rice Comment


Rice futures were lower as November continues to fail at resistance at $10.50. Weekly export sales of 69,600 metric tons was an improvement from last week, but not enough to spark buying interest.




APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter - Volume 1581

Market Watch
Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 19-10-2016
Domestic Prices
Unit Price : Rs per Qty
Product
Market Center
Variety
Min Price
Max Price
Rice
1
Dibrugarh (Assam)
Other
2000
2900
2
Hassan (Karnataka)
Other
2100
2410
3
Sainthia (West Bengal)
Common
1840
1860
Wheat
1
Kadi (Gujarat)
Other
1725
2065
2
Nagpur (Maharashtra)
Other
2200
2600
3
Satna (Madhya Pradesh)
Other
1500
1760
Papaya
1
Jagraon (Kerala)
Other
2400
2500
2
Taura (Haryana)
Other
2500
2500
3
Jajpur (Orissa)
Other
800
1000
Brinjal
1
Chala (Kerala)
Other
2200
2257
2
Bargarh (Orissa)
Other
1400
1500
3
Shillong (Meghalaya)
Other
1800
2200
l
 i

Sial Food Fair concludes  



21-Oct-16
POPULAR
KARACHI: As many as 26 leading companies participated in the SIAL Food Fair 2016, under the parentage of Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), which concluded on Thursday.The event was inaugurated on 16 October. The companies mainly showcased rice and processed food products during the event. Most of leading names of rice exporters of Pakistan were included in the Pakistan pavilion. Ambassador Moinul Haque visited Pakistan pavilion on the 1st day of the exhibition and met all companies individually at their stall and sought briefing about the event and facilitation. He appreciated the efforts of TDAP and its commercial section. The business community has shown great interest in Pakistani rice.
Daily TimesYingluck gets B35bn fine order, pledges to fight
21 Oct 2016 at 15:03 9,719 viewed9 comments
Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is greeted by her as she arrives at the Supreme Court for a witness hearing in the rice-pledge scheme on Oct 7, 2016.
Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the junta had fined her 35.7 billion baht over the rice pledging scheme.She said outside a Bangkok court on Friday that she had received a notice two days ago ordering her assets to be seized."Such an order has violated my rights and is not fair," she said as supporters greeted her outside the Bangkok courthouse.
"I affirm that I will exercise all my rights to deny this allegation and the civil charges," she said.The order, signed by Deputy Finance Minister Wisudhi Srisuphan and permanent secretary Somchai Sujjapongse on Oct 13, and received by Yingluck on Wednesday, details allegations and losses to the government which occurred from the scheme.It demands Yingluck pay the money to the ministry within 30 days, and allows her the right to appeal within 90 days if she does not agree with the order.The ex-premier added that she would not comment further as the country is still grieving the death last week of its revered monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej.
But she has previously called on the junta to file civil claims in court instead of ordering the 35.7-billion-baht fine, 66 times the 579-million-baht assets she declared in June 2015.Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as the junta chief, in mid-September issued an order by his absolute power under Section 44 of the 2014 interim constitution to have the Legal Execution Department seize the assets of state officials liable to pay civil damages under the scheme. The executors will have immunity in doing their duties.
Before the order, the Finance Ministry and Commerce Ministry were supposed to seize assets by themselves, a time-consuming process since, unlike the Legal Execution Department, they are not experts on the issue.  Ms Yingluck was charged with criminal negligence over the rice subsidy scheme and is now fighting the charges in court. Her lawyers had earlier asked the junta to put off imposing the fine until the court rules.In addition to cases against Yingluck and senior members of her former cabinet, the junta is investigating some 850 cases related to the rice scheme for graft, government spokesman General Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters.
Many of the cases involve lower-ranking public officials and members of the private sector, he said.The scheme, which was launched in October 2011 as part of a Pheu Thai party election promise, allegedly resulted in 554 billion in losses for the country. Critics say farmers were paid overly high rates for their rice. Ms Yingluck said in her defence it was "a public policy, which aimed to help farmers".Shortly after the 2014 coup, she was retroactively impeached and, as a result, she was banned from politics for five years.
Rice harvest prompts wary sales

21 Oct 2016 at 07:48

NEWSPAPER SECTION: BUSINESS | WRITER: PHUSADEE ARUNMAS

The government will pause its efforts to dispose of state rice stocks to curb any adverse impact on domestic rice prices as the latest harvest enters the market.According to Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, with the annual rice harvest season beginning earlier, rice sales must be held cautiously."Authorities are now studying proper periods and types of grains for disposal, and adjusting criteria to comply with changing conditions," she said.
Mrs Duangporn said the government now controls 8.4 million tonnes, of which half is good-quality rice and the rest is suitable for industrial use.The quantity of state rice stocks has fallen from 18.7 million tonnes accumulated through various rice-pledging schemes in 2011-14.Earlier last month, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told relevant authorities to closely monitor rice prices before calling for a new round of rice auctions.
The premier said accelerated sales of rice in large amounts could hurt domestic prices, while the global market is likely to be nonreactive to higher production.Thailand is forecast to produce 23 million tonnes of paddy in the main harvest season, which will gradually enter the market from late September onward.

Since the May 2014 coup, 8.6 million tonnes of rice has been sold in 18 auctions, fetching 89 billion baht. Government-to-government rice deals have unloaded an estimated 3.8 million tonnes worth 50 billion baht.The government-to-government rice deals exclude August's winning bid to supply the Philippines with 100,000 tonnes, 25% of which are due for delivery this month or early November.The National Rice Policy Committee, chaired by the premier, last month also approved measures to prod farmers to delay rice sales.

The measures include 1,000 baht per rai in cash handouts to rice farmers, plus a 4% interest rate subsidy worth a combined 1.24 billion baht to millers and agricultural cooperatives that agree to hold rice in their warehouses for six months.According to Mrs Duangporn, Thailand, as of Oct 18, has shipped 7.9 million tonnes, down 8.1% year-on-year from the same period last year, with an export value of 126 billion baht, down 8.4%.In a bid to stimulate year-end rice sales, the Foreign Trade Department is scheduled to lead Thai public and private delegations to visit key rice potential buyers such as Indonesia and Malaysia in November.