Rice prices mark slight fall in Dhaka markets
Published
at 05:05 PM July 07, 2017
Last
updated at 05:13 PM July 07, 2017
Retail and wholesale prices of rice decreased by Tk1 to Tk2 per kg
in Dhaka markets on July 6, 2017Dhaka Tribune
The price will decrease further when the
government-imported rice will hit the market next week, businessmen sayPrices
of different varieties of rice have started going down in Dhaka markets following
the government move to cut the duty on rice import.
City market witnessed a fall in
retail and wholesale prices of rice by Tk1 to Tk2 per kg on Thursday, reports
UNB.On June 20, the government cut down the import duty of rice by 18% to keep
rice price reasonable in retail markets.About 12,000 tonnes of rice reached
wholesale and retail markets in Dhaka before and after Eid-ul Fitr.Businessmen
said the price of the main food grain will decrease further when the
government-imported rice will hit the market next week.
The government has taken the
decision to import rice as its stocks fell short and failing to get expected
supply from mill owners.
To meet the shortfall this year,
the Ministry of Food has invited tenders for importing 15,00,000 tonnes rice.The
first consignment of the imported rice will arrive at Chittagong Port by July
10, sources said.Besides, importers have an opportunity to import rice for easy
import policy.
Coarse rice including Miniket and
Paizam has been sold at Tk54 to Tk56 per kg which was Tk55 to Tk56 a week ago
in Dhaka. Fine rice has been sold between Tk55 and Tk56 per kg which was Tk58
to Tk60 per kg a week ago.
But the prices have remained
unchanged in the wholesale market.City dwellers bought a kg of coarse rice,
including Swarna and China IRRI varieties of rice, between Tk43 and Tk46 this
week, which they had to buy at Tk46 to Tk48 a week ago. Prices of different
varieties of rice have decreased by Tk100 to Tk150 in 50 kgs sack.Rice
importers said they had to pay Tk9,125 for per tonne of rice prior to the cut,
now they have to pay Tk3,225.
They further said when import
duty was cut in Bangladesh, the price of rice increased by $30 to 40 in the
Indian market.According to Bhomra and Hili land ports, importers brought 11,080
tonnes rice between June 23 and July 6.Kawsar Alam Khan, member of Bangladesh
Rice Merchants Association and owner of Messrs Samota Traders, said that though
he bought per kg rice between Tk30 and Tk32, they have to bear extra Tk5 to Tk6
per kg for increased transport cost and delay in release at the land ports.
Shaon, manager of Shuvo Rice
Agency at Badamtoli Wholesale market in the city, said the prices of coarse
variety of rice decreased by Tk2 per kg in the wholesale market.Claiming that
the price of rice has increased in the Indian market, he added that the
varieties of rice they imported from Indian market at $390-400 per tonne some
days ago, are now costing $420-430 per tonne.
M Manjurul Hossain Sajib of
Messrs Sajib Rice Agency at Segunbagicha kitchen market told UNB that there is
no impact on rice prices at retail level though the price has decreased
slightly at the wholesale level.
“But fearing decrease of price,
retailers willingly are selling rice at a reduced price. Price will actually
decrease when new and imported rice will hit the market,” he added.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/commerce/2017/07/07/rice-price-mark-slight-fall-dhaka-markets/
Rice exporters write to Arun
Jaitley seeking change in GST norms
All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA) seek a change in GST
norms to bring all rice brands under the 5% tax net
LATEST
NEWS »
New Delhi: The All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA), the industry
body that lobbies for rice traders and exporters, has written to finance
minister Arun Jaitley, seeking a change in the current goods and services tax
(GST) norms to bring all rice brands under the 5% tax net.
Under the current norms, GST on
staples such as rice, wheat and cereals is zero. But branded ones with
trademark registration will attract GST of 5%.
In a letter to Jaitley, dated 6
July, AIREA president Vijay Setia said that only 10% of the rice brands in
India have a trademark registration. The current norm will benefit the
“companies with Rs 2,000 crore revenue and above as their brands are not
registered with Trade Mark Act 1999 due to some legal and technical issues.”
According to Setia, this will
result in no traders willing to stock the registered branded products as they
would like to stay out of the GST net.
The country’s largest selling rice
brand India Gate, owned by KRBL Ltd, does not have the trademark
registration, Mint reported on 6 July. Three other brands of
KRBL, namely India Farm, Lotus and Unity, are also not trademarked. However,
KRBL uses the trademark sign on the packages of India Gate basmati rice.
LT Foods Ltd, which sells basmati rice
under the Daawat brand, has the trademark registration for only a few variants
of Daawat.
Amritsar-based rice company Amar
Singh Chawal Wala, the seller of Lal Qilla basmati rice, has
also written to Jaitley expressing concern on the same.
However, the finance ministry had
on 5 July issued a clarification stating that “registered brand name” is a
brand name or a trade name “which is registered under the Trade Marks Act,
1999” and should be on “the Register of Trade Marks and remain in force”.
AIREA became vocal after KRBL, on 3
July, wrote to its distributors saying that four of the company’s brands,
including India Gate, are not registered in Class 30 under the Trade Marks Act
1999, hence “nil” GST rate is applicable on them. Before GST kicked in on 1
July, branded rice companies were either exempt from tax or were paying 5%
value-added tax depending on the state where the products were sold.
“We are following the government
norms,” said a KRBL spokesperson. LT Foods declined to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the government is likely
to relook at the current tax structure on rice and other edible commodities as
established brands are taking advantage of the current rules to claim
exemptions from GST, according to a 7 July report in The Economic Times.
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/lbltRpjF6Ev0dnxFlD62TO/Rice-exporters-write-to-Arun-Jaitley-seeking-change-in-GST-n.html
NFA opens bidding for supply of 250,000 MT of
rice
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:14 AM July 07, 2017
The National
Food Authority is finally pushing through with the procurement of 250,000
metric tons of milled rice, this time opening the process to anyone
interested—from here or abroad—instead of the usual foreign suppliers.
The decision
comes after months of uncertainty amid disagreements within the NFA Council,
the agency’s governing body, on when, from where and through whom to source the
buffer stock for domestic emergency—whether man-made or natural.
In a notice
to prospective suppliers, the NFA invited “all interested bidders, whether
foreign or local,” as long as they complied with conditions of eligibility as
spelled out in the implementing rules of the Government Procurement Reform Act
or Republic Act No. 9184.
The agency
has earmarked about P5.64 billion for the entire package, which would be
divided into at least five lots with maximum volume of 50,000 tons each.
In previous
years, NFA auctions for rice were done through a government-to-government
importation regime —to which state-run suppliers from Vietnam, Thailand and
Cambodia were invited to participate.
Last month,
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, who chairs the NFA’s governing body, said the
NFA would continue to import milled rice, but only from private-sector
suppliers, amid efforts to check opportunities for corruption in grains
procurement
http://business.inquirer.net/232653/nfa-opens-bidding-supply-250000-mt-rice
There's enough rice in Leyte
quake-hit areas — NFA
(philstar.com) | Updated July 7, 2017 - 3:37pm
MANILA, Philippines — State-run
National Food Authority maintained that there is enough rice supply in Eastern
Visayas following the magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit the region Thursday.
NFA Administrator Jason Aquino said Eastern Visayas has
close to 400,000 bags or 20,000 metric tons (MT) of rice available in its
warehouses.
"The agency’s rice inventory in the region is currently
equivalent to 13 days of the daily rice consumption requirement," Aquino
said. The prevailing market price of commercial rice in Eastern Visayas
also remains stable, based on monitoring reports.
Prices of regular milled rice remained at P33 to P38 per
kilogram while well-milled rice is at P38 to P45 per kilogram.The agency
continues to deploy market monitoring teams to assess the rice supply and price
situation in the area.
The NFA is inspecting its accredited retail outlets to
ensure that affordable government rice is readily available and accessible to
the public. It has also activated its operations center to provide quick
response to queries and accommodate rice purchases from local government units
and relief institutions.
The NFA has standing memorandum of agreements with various relief
agencies which allow them to withdraw rice on credit from the food agency for
their relief operations during calamities and emergencies.Meanwhile, the
Department of Agriculture said no damage on the farm sector has been reported
yet.
"No significant damages in agriculture and agri
facilities have been reported to us by affected LGUs. Our people from the
region are doing ongoing field validation," DA said.
Rate adjustments may be possible with new Provisia rice technology
Provisia herbicide may offer some flexibility in the rates that
can be applied, LSU AgCenter weed scientist says
Rice can behave quite a bit
differently in a field setting than it does in small plots that are three rows
wide and two feet long.
That’s how Eric Webster, weed
scientist with the LSU AgCenter, began his discussion of reports of crop injury
in some of the seed increase and demonstration plots of the new Provisia rice
system in Louisiana and Arkansas this season.
“Sometimes if you get a little
bit of wind burn in a plot or you get insect movement into it, it can be
difficult to tell what’s going on,” Dr. Webster told rice growers and industry
representatives attending the LSU Rice Research Station Field Day in Crowley,
La.
“A lot of times you don’t really
know what a new product or a new herbicide is going to do until it gets in the
hands of the growers, and you start seeing what’s happening in the field,” noted
Dr. Webster, who has been working with the new Provisia rice almost since the
day Steve Linscombe, the rice breeder at the LSU AgCenter, began placing it in
those small plots.”
Dr. Webster has applied 15.5
ounces of Provisia, formerly known as quizalofop or Assure, in test plots at
the Rice Research Station in Crowley and at its South Farm south of Crowley. He
has also applied 31 ounces per acre, which is, in effect, a 2X rate of the
grass herbicide, which he used for a number of years to control red rice in
soybeans.
Applying a 2X rate
“What we did on the South Farm on
a large area – two 15-acre blocks plus another 15-acre block in the crawfish
area – was actually put 31 ounces out in one application,” he said. “And where
we saw the main issues was where we were overlapping. So we went from a
31-ounce rate to a 62-ounce rate, and we were putting out quite a bit of
Provisia on that rice.”
Dr. Webster said he also believes
the rice has been stressed due to weather conditions this year. “We’ve had a
lot of days just like this,” referring to the cloudy, overcast skies that
dominated during the field day on June 28.
“If you think back to the days
when we first got Whip herbicide, we always had trouble with injury when we got
three or four days of cloudy weather, and even more so if that was coupled with
a fertilizer application,” he said. “So a lot of times with Whip we would back
off the rates a little bit.”
He reminded growers that when
they were applying Assure to control Johnsongrass and red rice in soybeans,
they frequently were applying lower rates of the herbicide – between eight and
12 ounces per acre – rather than the 15.5-ounce recommended rate for Provisia.
“What I like about this 10-ounce
rate,” he said pointing to a plot that had received two 10-ounce applications
of Provisia. “If you look across this plot you can see a height difference
between the applications.
Third application if needed
“Provisia is extremely active on
most grasses, especially the weedy rice. I like it because it gives us a third application.
If you think back to the Newpath days when we first got Clearfield rice we had
two applications of Newpath and that was it. So the first year we started
seeing airplane skips, or place under power lines or in the corners where the
sprayer couldn’t get. We needed that third application.”
Two years later in 2004, he said,
“we got Beyond, which was sort of a cleanup application. The way I look at
these three 10-ounce shots is, if you need it, you have that third application.
Or you may be in a situation, and I think the label will say this, you can use
that third application in your ratoon crop.
“If we had it, we could spread
that out and, basically, buy ourselves an insurance policy for later in the
season.”
For more information on Provisia rice, visit http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/provisia-rice-better-weed-control-higher-quality
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/rate-adjustments-may-be-possible-new-provisia-rice-technology
Vietnam
targets exporting 4 million tonnes of rice by 2030
Vietnam
aims to export 4 million tonnes of rice in 2030 under a 2017-2020 rice export
development strategy with a vision to 2030 recently approved by Prime Minister Nguyen
Xuan Phuc.
Vietnam
aims to export 4 million tonnes of rice in 2030
Per
the plan, fragrant rice and specialty rice will account for 40 percent of the
export volume, glutinous rice 25 percent and white rice roughly 25 percent,
while special rice products such as rice fortified with micronutrients,
parboiled rice and organic rice, rice bran and rice powder will gradually
increase to 10 percent. By 2030, Asia is set to account for half of
Vietnam’s total rice sales abroad, Africa about 25 percent, the Middle East 5
percent, Europe 4 percent, the Americas 10 percent and Oceania 4 percent.
The
strategy aims to maintain Vietnam’s shares in traditional export markets and
develop new ones while increasing connectivity between manufacturing and trade
via value chains, affirming Vietnamese rice’s prestige on international
markets. Vietnam shipped 413,000 tonnes of rice worth 182 million USD
abroad in June, raising the six-month volume and value to 2.8 million tonnes
and 1.2 billion USD, up 6.3 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively. China
remained the top importer of rice from Vietnam.
VNA
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/181574/vietnam-targets-exporting-4-million-tonnes-of-rice-by-2030.html
Cambodia's rice export to China doubles in
first half of 2017
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-07-08 13:23
PHNOM
PENH - Cambodia exported 94,720 tons of milled rice to China in the first six
months of 2017, up 101 percent compared to the same period last year, according
to a government report on Friday. China is the top buyer of Cambodian rice,
followed by France, Poland, Britain and the Netherlands, said the report
compiled by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export. According to the report, Cambodia exported a total of 288,562 tons of milled rice to 56 countries and regions during the January-June period this year, up 7.6 percent over the same period last year. The Southeast Asian country produced over 9 million tons of paddy rice a year. With this amount, it has more than 3 million tons of milled rice left over for annual export, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-07/08/content_30041524.htm
Bangladesh rice prices falling on
supply glut after duty cut
On Thursday, wholesale prices of local rice dropped by Tk 1 to Tk
1.5 per kilogram.
Rice prices have started dropping in Bangladesh as traders are
importing huge consignments on low duty announced in the wake of sudden price
hikes and concerns over shrinking stock.The import in the first four days of
July was 60,000 tonnes, which is nearly half of the total import made last
fiscal year.
On Thursday, wholesale prices of local rice dropped by Tk 1 to Tk
1.5 per kilogram. Imported rice prices were down by Tk 2 to Tk 2.5 a kg.The
fall, however, is yet to have much effect on the retail prices. But the
government’s trading arm, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), claims
coarse rice prices have dropped by Tk 2 to Tk 3 per kg and the fine varieties
by Tk 1 to Tk 2.
Nizam Uddin, General Secretary of the Rice Traders' Association in
the capital's largest wholesale rice market Badamtoli-Babubazar, said the
prices are slipping back to a comforting level following the duty cut.The
government announced the cut in duty on rice import from 28 per cent to 10 per
cent before the Eid-ul-Fitr to rein in the prices and to encourage the private
importers, reports bdnews24.com.
Traders said prices have also dropped in northern district
Dinajpur, one of the largest producers of the staple in Bangladesh.All the
consignments that came in until Wednesday were private imports.Food Minister
Qamrul Islam says the prices will decline more in a blow to the mill owners and
hoarders who had stockpiled to create an artificial crisis in the market,
taking advantage of the floods in Sunamganj.
He expects the market to get normal within a month after the
government's consignments arrive.The government has floated new tenders to
procure 100,000 tonnes of rice. It has also given the green light for a
purchase of another 250,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam under a
government-to-government deal.
Monir Hossain, a trader at Babubazar, said huge consignments are
coming from India every day after the duty cut.The price of coarse rice dropped
by Tk 200 to Tk 250 per sack of 50 kg. Fine variety rice price also fell by Tk
100 to Tk 150 per sack.
Before the Eid, coarse rice varieties -- Swarna and Paijam -- were
on sale at Tk 48-50 per kg and other low-quality coarse rice at Tk 46 in the
kitchen markets of Shewrhaparha, Mohakhali, Rampura, Karwan Bazar, and
Hatirpool.Traders retailed Miniket and Najirshail at Tk 56-62 a kg.
On Thursday, at Shewrhaparha and Hatirpool, coarse rice was being
sold at Tk 45 to Tk 48 per kg while thin grains were priced at Tk 57 to Tk
60.Shewrhaparha rice retailer Shyamal Kundu said, "The Eid mood is still
in the air. Fewer people are coming to the market than usual. Sale hasn't
picked up yet.
"I haven't brought new (imported) rice...I can't count losses
by selling rice from old consignments at lower prices. That's why I have stuck
to the previous prices," he said.
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/07/07/76180/Prices-of-rice-fall-on-supply-glut
Sri Lanka to import rice to address rice
shortage
Source:
Xinhua| 2017-07-07 19:38:04|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao
COLOMBO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka will import 200,000 metric
tons of rice immediately from India, Pakistan and Myanmar to address the rice
shortfall in its domestic market, a statement from the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce said on Friday.
Due to heavy floods this year, Sri Lanka is facing a severe rice
shortage. Sri Lanka will purchase 100,000 metric tons of rice from India
immediately, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen said, adding
the rice will be purchased from private Indian importers.
The other 100,000 metric tons of rice will come from Pakistan
and Myanmar. A four-member team from Sri Lanka will leave for Pakistan and
Myanmar on Friday evening to pick rice varieties for the Sri Lankan market, and
the purchase with Pakistan and Myanmar will be at government to government
levels, Bathiudeen said.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has also commenced government level talks
on the possibility of purchasing rice from Thailand, Bathiudeen added
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-07/07/c_136426210.htm
Sri Lanka rice call enters phase
II with four countries shortlisted
July 07, 2017 (LBO) – Sri
Lanka has decided to take a closer look at four international rice suppliers to
meet its market needs, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said in a
statement.“A team of technical officials including officials and food
technologists from Sri Lanka are to visit these countries and test rice
samples,” Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen was quoted as
saying.
“We have decided to test rice
samples of Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan.”A team of technical officials
including officials and food technologists from Sri Lanka are to visit these
countries and test rice samples after which the final supplier will be decided
from Colombo.
The island is looking to bring
100,000 MT par-boiled (Nadu) and Samba from the chosen supplier.This will be
Government to Government procurement –a speedy way to get rice for our domestic
market, the statement added.The minister also said that talks are ongoing
regarding importing another 100,000 MT rice, from India
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-rice-call-enters-phase-ii-with-four-countries-shortlisted/
Mexico Ambassador to Guyana touts
Guyana’s rice strands one of the best -optimistic rice market can be made
available before December
The Ambassador singled out the
role of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) in ensuring that all the
necessary paperwork and general requirements of the Mexican market were
finalized with the local producers.
He added that the two country
have started out on what will be a very fruitful relationship. The trade in
paddy and rice could be just a start of a long-range of products that could be
sold on the Mexican market.
Asked about the possibility of
Guyana’s producers selling packaged rice in Mexico, Ambassador Sierra said
plans are already in the pipeline as he has been meeting with local producers
of packaged rice and have provided them with samples of packaged rice sold in
Mexico.
“I have showed them the quality
of packaged rice on our market shelves in Mexico and I have told them that once
the quality matches, that which is sold there, then I see no reason why local
producers cannot access that lucrative market,” he said.
The Mexican Ambassador has just
returned from a trip home during which he facilitated the fast tracking of
paper work with the Panamanian authorities, relative to the next shipment of
rice from Guyana to Panama which was today handed over to the Guyana Rice
Development Board (GRDB).
“The Mexican Embassy takes very
seriously its role as a facilitator, but not only between the Governments of
Guyana and
Mexico’s Ambassador to Guyana,
H.E Ivan Roberto Sierra.
Mexico, but also other partnering
states as is with the case of Panama in the rice trade,” the Ambassador noted.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister,
Hon. Noel Holder has welcomed the comments of the Mexican Ambassador,
especially as it relates to the imminent opening up of the rice trade,
which will be more lucrative than the paddy deal.
He is reminding local producers
that the 150,000 tonne limit gazetted by the Mexican Government is opened
to all paddy producers in the Region on a first come first serve basis. It
therefore means, that if Guyanese producers are the first to apply for the
entire 150,000 tonnes then it is win-win situation for the industry and Guyana
as a whole.
It should be noted that producers
are allowed to apply for three tranches of 10,000 tonnes each. The first
contract signed allows for a total of 60,000 tonnes to be shipped. Of this amount,
a ship carrying 17,000 tonnes has already left for Mexico. Shipments of paddy
will continue to Mexico for the rest of the year.
The start of paddy shipments to
Mexico, comes at a time when Guyana’s rice industry recorded paddy production
of half a million metric tonnes for the first crop this year. The industry
continues to hold strong inspite of the challenges facing rice farmers across
the country
http://gina.gov.gy/mexico-ambassador-to-guyana-touts-guyanas-rice-strands-one-of-the-best-optimistic-rice-market-can-be-made-available-before-december/
Sri
Lanka considers four suppliers to buy 100000 MT rice
Thu,
Jul 6, 2017, 09:47 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sri
Lanka is looking to buy 100,000 MT par-boiled (Nadu) and Samba from the chosen
supplier."This will be Government to Government procurement - a speedy way
to get rice for our domestic market," the Minister said. "If
necessary we are open for private sectors support in the supplier countries as
well," he added.He disclosed that Sri Lanka is also talking for another
100,000 MT rice, from India, the details of which have to be finalized.
The
Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) under the minister will be the focal
point for the effortMinister Bathiudeen last month held discussions with the
envoys of Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan on finding a supplier of rice to Sri
Lanka.
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_17A/Jul06_1499357852CH.php
Govt steps up for rice imports
| Update: 00:27, Jul 07, 2017
In Thailand, benchmark 5-percent broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 was quoted at $420-$430 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok, down from $432-$440 a tonne last week.Weak overseas demand and a falling baht have led traders to quote lower prices to attract buyers, traders said.“Prices have gone down because the baht has weakened,” a trader in Bangkok said.The mass exodus of migrant workers since 23 June following the introduction of new labour regulations by the Thai military government has also hit the Thai rice industry with labour shortages.
“The
shortage of workers at warehouses and at the docks has led to delay in the
loading of shipment and this has hurt exporters’ confidence in their ability to
fulfil shipments,” said another Bangkok-based rice trader.
More
than half of the labour force in the Thai rice industry are migrant workers
from neighbouring Cambodia and about three quarters of this workforce have left
the country, said Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters
Association.
The Thai
government has since delayed parts of the new labour law, but many migrant
workers have yet to return.
“Thai
exporters hesitate to take new order because of the labour shortage and many
potential international buyers are thinking twice about buying Thai rice
because of this uncertainty,” Chookiat said.
The
labour shortage could raise the cost of production of Thai off-season crop, he
said, which is expected to arrive from around August to September.
In
Vietnam, the benchmark 5-percent broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 dropped to $405-$410
a tonne this week, FOB Saigon, down from $410-$415 last week. There were also
concerns over the quality and production of the grain in the harvest period.
“Farmers
said the production and quality of rice this time was not as good as usual due
to earlier rainfall,” a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said, adding the exact
impact had yet to be estimated.
Vietnam’s
new harvest season has begun since late-June, traders said.Thailand and Vietnam
are the world’s second- and third-biggest rice exporters.India’s 5 percent
broken parboiled rice prices RI-INBKN5-P1 eased by $2 per tonne to $419 to $422
on faltering demand from buyers in Africa.
“Demand
from African countries was weak at higher levels. They are postponing purchases
expecting price correction,” said an exporter based in Kakinada in the southern
state of Andhra Pradesh.“Even demand from Bangladesh is weak. It is not buying
as much as industry was anticipating.”
India
raised the minimum purchase price of common grade paddy rice by 5.4 percent to
1,550 rupees ($24.03) per 100 kg for the year starting July 1.But Bangladesh
said it was still stepping up imports due to depleted stocks and record local
prices following flash floods.
A
Bangladeshi delegation is now in Thailand to finalise imports of rice in a
government-to-government deal, officials said.“We don’t have any other option
but to speed up imports,” said a senior food ministry official. “This time we
won’t be able to achieve our local procurement target. We are going for
state-to-state deals even if it is costlier, as importing via tenders is a
lengthy process.”
Bangladesh
is buying 200,000 tonnes of Vietnamese white rice at $430 a tonne and 50,000
tonnes of parboiled rice at $470 a tonne in a state-to-state deal - at rates
much higher than in the previous three tenders.
It is
also in talks with India, and private traders have started importing rice from
the neighbour after the government cut import duties late last month.Meanwhile,
Philippines’ state grains buyer on Thursday also issued an international tender
to buy 250,000 tonnes of 25 percent broken long grain white rice, rushing to
boost thinning government stockpile.
http://en.prothom-alo.com/economy/news/153023/Govt-steps-up-for-rice-imports
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- JUL 07, 2017
Reuters | Jul 7, 2017, 01.35 PM IST
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices - APMC/Open Market-July 7 Nagpur, July 7
(Reuters) - Gram prices reported down in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC)
auction on lack of demand from local millers amid good arrival from producing
region. Easy condition in Madhya Pradesh gram prices also affected
sentiment. About 200 of gram and 300 bags of tuar were available for auctions,
according to sources. FOODGRAINS & PULSES GRAM * Desi gram
raw recovered in open market here on good seasonal demand from local traders.
TUAR * Tuar varieties ruled steady in open market here but demand was poor. *
Rice HMT new and Chinnor new varieties firmed
up in open market on good demand from local traders amid thin supply from
producing belts. * In Akola,
Tuar New - 3,900-4,100, Tuar dal (clean)
- 5,700-5,800, Udid Mogar (clean)
- 8,200-9,200, Moong Mogar (clean) 6,800-7,200, Gram - 5,600-5,800, Gram Super
best - 7,800-8,500 * Wheat, other varieties of rice and other commodities moved
in a narrow range in scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity. Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market
prices in rupees for 100 kg FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close Gram
Auction 4,400-5,000 4,300-5,070 Gram Pink Auctionn.a. 2,100-2,600 Tuar Auction n.a.
3,450-3,800 Moong Auction n.a. 3,900-4,200 Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500 Masoor
Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800 Wheat Mill quality Auction n.a. 1,550-1,650 Gram Super
Best Bold 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000 Gram Super Best n.a. n.a. Gram Medium Best
6,600-7,000 6,600-7,000 Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a Gram Mill Quality 5,100-5,200
5,100-5,200 Desi gram Raw 5,450-5,550 5,400-5,500 Gram Yellow 7,100-8,100
7,100-8,100 Gram Kabuli 12,300-13,400 12,300-13,400
Tuar Fataka Best-New 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 5,400-5,600 5,400-5,600
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 5,200-5,400 5,200-5,400 Tuar Dal Medium phod-New
4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000 Tuar Gavarani New 3,500-3,700 3,500-3,700 Tuar Karnataka 3,900-4,100 3,900-4,100 Masoor
dal best 5,000-5,200 5,000-5,200 Masoor dal medium 4,600-4,900 4,700-4,900
Masoor n.a. n.a. Moong Mogar bold (New) 7,000-7,500 7,000-7,500 Moong Mogar
Medium 6,300-6,600 6,300-6,600 Moong dal Chilka 5,200-6,000 5,200-6,000 Moong
Mill quality n.a. n.a. Moong Chamki best 6,600-7,600 6,600-7,600 Udid Mogar
best (100 INR/KG) (New) 8,000-9,000 8,000-9,000 Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG)
7,000-7,500 7,000-7,500 Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,900-5,200 4,900-5,200
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 5,100-5,500 5,100-5,500 Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg)
2,950-3,150 2,950-3,150 Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,500-3,700
3,500-3,700 Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 4,100-4,600
4,100-4,600 Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,950-2,050 1,950-2,050 Wheat Mill quality
(100 INR/KG) 1,750-1,850 1,750-1,850 Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,150-2,350
2,150-2,350 Wheat Lokwan new (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,100 1,900-2,100 Wheat Lokwan
best (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,400 2,200-2,400 Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG)
1,900-2,100 1,900-2,100 Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a. MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,600
3,100-3,600 MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,700 2,200-2,700 Rice BPT
new (100 INR/KG) 2,800-3,400 2,800-3,400 Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,500-4,000
3,500-4,000 Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,200 3,000-3,200 Rice Luchai
(100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,800 2,500-2,800 Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,500
2,300-2,500 Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,800 2,600-2,800 Rice Swarna
medium (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500 Rice HMT New (100 INR/KG)
3,600-4,000 3,500-3,900 Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 4,500-5,000 4,500-5,000 Rice
HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 4,100-4,300 4,100-4,300 Rice Shriram New(100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,200 4,800-5,200 Rice
Shriram best 100 INR/KG) 6,500-6,800 6,500-6,800 Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG)
5,800-6,200 5,800-6,200 Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 9,500-13,500
9,500-13,500 Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500 Rice
Chinnor New(100 INR/KG) 4,600-5,000 4,600-4,800 Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG)
5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000 Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,600
5,400-5,600 Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,200 1,900-2,200 Jowar CH-5 (100
INR/KG) 1,800-1,900 1,800-1,900 WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 35.0 degree
Celsius, minimum temp. 24.8 degree Celsius Rainfall : Nil FORECAST: Partly cloudy
sky. Maximum and minimum temperature would be around and 35 and 25 degree
Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are
excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/nagpur-foodgrain-prices-open-jul-07-2017/articleshow/59487446.cms
Cooking
for a Crowd at Restaurant
Expo in Mexico
By Gaby Carbajal
MEXICO CITY -- Last week, USA Rice
participated in the 17th annual Expo Restaurantes, the foremost trade show for
the restaurant and food service industry in Mexico that attracted more than
17,000 visitors from the surrounding metropolitan area.
USA Rice Chef Gabriel Saucedo served
as a judge for the Expo's main event: a
cooking competition for students from culinary institutions throughout the
area. U.S. rice was included in the
collection of "surprise" ingredients students had to use for their
gastronomic presentations in front of the judges and hundreds of
spectators. Winners received gift
baskets from USA Rice containing U.S. rice products and promotional materials.
"Expo Restaurantes is an
important business platform for the restaurant and foodservice sector,"
said Sarah Moran, USA Rice senior director for international trade and market
development. "Most who attend are
responsible for restaurant purchases, whether they are owners, directors,
managers, or executive chefs and our participation reinforces positive
impressions of U.S.-grown rice and lays the groundwork for additional and
future use of our rice.
Upcoming Rice Field Days
July
11 - RiceTec Texas East Side
Field Day
3:30
p.m. - Field tours, crawfish forage study
presentation, followed by dinner.
Winnie/Stowell Community Building, Winnie, TX
Contact: Mark
Spilman, mspilman@ricetec.com
July
12 -- Northeast Louisiana Rice
Field Day
9:00
a.m. - Vic Jordan III Farm, Tower Drive, Oak Ridge, LA
11:00
a.m. - Program, Rayville Community Center, 817 Louisa
Street, Rayville, LA
Contact: Keith
Collins, kcollins@agctr.lsu.edu
July
13 -- 69th Annual Beaumont Rice
Field Day
8:00 a.m. - Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center, 1509 Aggie Drive, Beaumont, TX
Contact: Dr. Ted Wilson, lt-wilson@aesrg.tamu.edu
8:00 a.m. - Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center, 1509 Aggie Drive, Beaumont, TX
Contact: Dr. Ted Wilson, lt-wilson@aesrg.tamu.edu
July
20 - RiceTec North Louisiana
Field Day
4:00
p.m. - Angelina Plantation, Monterey, LA
Contact: Mark
Spilman, mspilman@ricetec.com
Finance, chit fund
companies should beef up security: Siddipet CP
By Author | Published: 7th Jul 2017 10:37 pm
Siddipet: In the wake of repeated incidents of robberies in finance
companies like Muthoot Finance Corporation in Telangana, Commissioner of
Police, Siddipet, V Shiva Kumar directed all the finance companies and chit
fund owners to step up the security measures by installing CCTV cameras,
security alarms and other technology on the premises of chit fund and finance
companies.
Speaking at a review meeting
organised with the managements of over 65 finance and chit fund companies here
on Friday, the Commissioner set July 27 as the deadline for the managements to improve
the security measures on the premises of finance and chit fund companies.
Shiva Kumar said that they will
also hold meetings with the Chamber of Commerce, Textiles Association, Rice
Millers Association, Medical Shops Association, Goldsmith Pawn Brokers
Association, Kirana and General Stores Association, steel and cement
industries, hotels, bakeries, transport, fertilisers and hospital managements
to improve the security measures as preventive measures to arrest the crime
rate in Siddipet.
He further observed that the CCTV
cameras would also help them to track the movement of criminals and anti-social
elements and announced that they would soon release guidelines for all the
business establishments to follow them to keep their premises secure. Lead Bank
Manager,P. Rajeshwar and others were present at the meeting.
https://telanganatoday.com/finance-chit-fund-companies-should-beef-security-siddipet-cp
Don’t pay prizes for published science
China
and other countries should look again at how they pay bonuses and allocate
grants
that are based on individual research papers.
that are based on individual research papers.
07 July 2017
Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg via Getty
Many universities in China and elsewhere hand
out research cash on the basis of academic publications.
With
great fanfare, Sichuan Agricultural University held a ceremony two weeks ago to
announce that it was awarding a 13.5-million yuan prize (US$2 million) to a
group of its researchers, for a publication in the journal Cell.The
announcement triggered social-media chatter about how much is too much when it
comes to rewarding research success. Li Ping, director of the university’s rice
research institute and a co-author of the published paper, was forced to
clarify in a blogpost that most of the money — 13 million yuan — was actually
for grants towards future research. Only the 0.5 million yuan extra was a
prize, and that is being split among 27 people: no one will retire in
luxury from this. Li further justified the prize by writing that researchers at
small universities in China have difficulty getting stable grants, so funds
such as those provided by the university are crucial for groups like his to
continue their promising research.
The
discovery of a disease-resistant gene by Li and his team could help countries
around the world to secure their food supply. The university has a right to be
excited. But is an instant cash injection — the prize was announced
on Friday 30 June, the day after the manuscript was published — the
right way to celebrate?
Clearly,
most universities in China think so. The custom of rewarding researchers
monetarily for single publications is deeply entrenched at Chinese scientific
institutions. For many, it is an official policy, written in the bylaws.
Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University in Lin’An, for example, pays a
flat rate of 500,000 yuan for a paper published in Cell, Science or Nature.
And it uses a table with equations to help calculate prizes for publications
elsewhere. For any paper in a journal with an impact factor (IF) higher than
10, for example, the prize is IF × 1.5 × 10,000 yuan. According to a People’s
Daily news story last year, some 90% of universities have policies of
rewarding publications. And the practice is far from unique to China.
Scientists in countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia can find themselves
similarly rewarded.
That
might be good for researchers, and it can be a way for universities to
advertise their achievements. Whether it is good for research, in the long
term, is a more difficult question. The answer is probably no.
For one
thing, it creates a culture in which scientists look at their research as a
means to make quick cash. Instead of considering the best way to pursue and
expand on experiments, scientists focus on getting the results published.
The
emphasis on impact factors, as has been discussed repeatedly in these pages, is
greatly overblown. Such metrics already exert undue influence on the evaluation
of grants, on hiring and on promotions. Monetary prizes only further inflate
the importance of impact factors, at the expense of assessing the significance
of what has actually been achieved.
“Handing
out prizes so soon after publication rewards science that is not yet proven.”
Perhaps
more importantly, handing out prizes so soon after publication rewards science that
is not yet proven. There is no reason to think that the Sichuan scientists’
discovery — a gene that confers resistance to the fungal disease rice blast —
won’t stand up to the scrutiny of post-publication peer review. But what if it
doesn’t? Many papers are not necessarily wrong, but their significance might
have been overestimated.
Last
week’s announcement that this is more a grant than a prize makes an important
distinction, but it might point to a more fundamental problem in China, as well
as in other countries — a tendency to base grants on past achievement
rather than future potential. The rice-blast gene has tremendous practical
potential, and the Sichuan scientists might be the right group to exploit it.
Or they might have found, based on their research protocol, a number of other
avenues for investigation that are unrelated to this gene. Whatever the case,
the best way to argue that the group deserves more grant money is through a
grant proposal that lays out where the research is heading, and that is fairly
evaluated against rival proposals.
There,
too, this episode raises a critical question about how research funds are being
spent in China. In his blogpost, Li implies that steady funding gives
scientists at major universities an advantage over more far-flung scientists,
who have to depend on locally distributed monetary awards as a lifebuoy. To be
sure, the concentration of resources at top institutions is a phenomenon, and
to some extent a problem, around the world. It is one that the research
community needs to address. But — centrally or locally — rigorous and fair
review must come first.
http://www.nature.com/news/don-t-pay-prizes-for-published-science-1.22275
Basmati
brands seek parity in GST
ET Bureau | Updated: Jul 07, 2017, 12.20 PM IST
The
opposition to GST is also sparked as top basmati brands like Dawaat and India
Gate fall in exempted list while several small players have come under the ambit
of the tax. CHANDIGARH: Seeking all rice brands to be brought under the 5 per cent
GST, the registered basmati brands are terming the levy
as discriminatory in the current version. The companies claim that distributors
and retailers will prefer unregistered brands to evade GST. The opposition to
GST is also sparked as top basmati brands like Dawaat and India Gate fall in
exempted list while several small players have come under the ambit of the tax.
Under GST rice brands that are registered under Mark Act 1999 have come under 5
per cent GST while unregistered brands have been extended exemption.
In a letter to the union finance minister Arun Jaitely, owners of Amritsar based leading rice brand 'Lal Qila' of Amar Singh Chawal Wala has said that the tax is contrary to 'One Nation One tax'. "It would promote registered companies to float unregistered companies to evade tax," Arvinder Pal Singh, director, Amar Singh Chawal Wala told ET. He maintained that no trader in India is ready to stock and sell registered branded rice products as they would like to be out of GST. "The tax will affect domestic sale and also reflect in exports," Arvinder Pal Singh, director, Amar Singh Chawal Wala told ET.
Many basmati brands with high volumes and sale are still not registered due to infringement issues. Rice major KRBL Limited on 3rd June 2017had maintained that its premium rice brands India Gate, Indian Farm, Unity and Lotus are not registered in class 30, under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 hence nil GST is applicable on it.
All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) has raised the matter with GST Council and sought clarity over ambiguity about the purview of GST on rice companies. "We are expecting more clarity over the purview of GST on registered as well as unregistered rice brands shortly," Rajen Sudershan told ET.
Presently,
less than 10 per cent brands are registered with Trade Mark Act 1999 and some
leading brands are unregistered due to trade mark infringement issues.
"Many unregistered brands fetch high premium and volume but will now get
relaxation under GST," he said. "The tax would look discriminatory in
current version and defeats endeavor to build domestic brands and quality,"
Vijay Sethia former president AIREA. He said that several brands with
comparatively lower volume would also be taxed.
Several
beneficiary will include companies with over turnover of over Rs 2000 Crore as
their brands are not registered with Trade Mark Act 1999 due to some Legal and
Technical issues," Ashok Sethi, past president Rice Millers and Exporters
Association, said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/basmati-brands-seek-parity-in-gst/articleshow/59486180.cms
Civil Supplies Minister
Pulla Rao Threatens Rice Millers To Settle Dues
07 Jul, 2017 07 Jul, 2017
Mr. Rao said that the
millers involved in custom milling rice (CMR) in the 13 districts of AP have to
pay nearly Rs 130 crore to the Government. Since the last two years, there are
as many as 23 millers of Nellore top in the list, with around Rs 70 crore dues.
A surprise check at the Sri Srinivasa Raw and Boiled Rice Mill on the
Podalakuru - Sangam Road, about 30 km from Nellore city, was held by him. He
expressed displeasure over the situation during the review with the food advisory
committee. The Minister, who was accompanied by AP Civil Supplies Corporation
Managing Director Ram Gopal and other officials, went around the premises of
the mill, which was mostly empty, and there was no sign of the CMR paddy being
still stored.
He attributed the dues to the
millers’ failure to supply rice for the Public Distribution System (PDS) even
after collecting paddy from the state. To repay the outstanding dues, a
one-month deadline was set by him. Else, the joint collector would file
criminal cases and auction their properties. He said they are planning to ban
companies selling water and soft drinks at exorbitant rates while claiming that
such firms have already identified.
The Representatives of the associations
highlighted the issues such as shortage of fertilizers besides biometric and
ePASS issues. Speaking to reporters at Venkatagiri, he said arrangements are
being made to supply sugar, palm oil and red gram through Fair Price Shop (FPS)
from September this year.
Stating that considerable time was
given to such defiant millers on humanitarian grounds and due to political
pressures, Mr. Pulla Rao said that this kind of attitude would not be tolerated
and the government would take stringent action to protect sanctity of the
programmes like CMR intended for farmers’ welfare.
Sri Lanka to import rice to address rice
shortage
Source:
Xinhua| 2017-07-07 19:38:04|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao
COLOMBO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka will import 200,000 metric
tons of rice immediately from India, Pakistan and Myanmar to address the rice
shortfall in its domestic market, a statement from the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce said on Friday.
Due to heavy floods this year, Sri Lanka is facing a severe rice
shortage. Sri Lanka will purchase 100,000 metric tons of rice from India
immediately, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen said, adding
the rice will be purchased from private Indian importers.The other 100,000 metric
tons of rice will come from Pakistan and Myanmar. A four-member team from Sri
Lanka will leave for Pakistan and Myanmar on Friday evening to pick rice
varieties for the Sri Lankan market, and the purchase with Pakistan and Myanmar
will be at government to government levels, Bathiudeen said.Meanwhile, Sri
Lanka has also commenced government level talks on the possibility of
purchasing rice from Thailand, Bathiudeen added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-07/07/c_136426210.htm
Wholesale rice price drop not yet
reflected at retail markets
Published: 2017-07-08 13:23:20.0 BdST Updated: 2017-07-08 13:23:20.0 BdST
Rising imports have yet to reduce
the price of rice at retail, despite a lower wholesale price.
Though traders
are selling coarse rice imported from India at a lower price, the price of
local varieties like, Swarna, BR-28 and Miniket remains steep.On Friday, three
stores in Mohakhali were selling BR-28 around Tk 50-52 per kg, BR-29 at Tk 54,
Miniket at Tk 58, and Najirshail at Tk 60 per kg.
Traders at the Hajji Haider Ali Store said they had bought a 50 kg sack of
Najirshail at Tk 2,730 and Miniket at Tk 2,680 a sack on Thursday from the
capital's Kachukhet kitchen market.
The store was selling Miniket at Tk 58 per kg and BR-28 and BR-29 at Tk 54.Biplob
Hossain, the manager of Satarkul Rice Agency in Dhaka's Badda, told bdnews24.com
the same day that 50kg Miniket rice sacks had been selling for Tk 70 less for
almost a week. The price of coarse rice, BR-28 and Najirshail has dropped
by nearly Tk 100 a sack.A sack of Miniket rice is now Tk 2,630, BR-28 is Tk
2,350, Najirshail Tk 2,650 and coarse rice Tk 2,050.Hossain said the impact of
imports had now reached the mill level and would decrease the price of all rice
varieties by Tk 2-3.
But, according to Mohakhali rice seller Manik Miah, the price of rice has not
decreased significantly, aside from the coarse Nurjahan Swarna grain, which
comes from India.
The trader was selling Nurjahan Swarna at Tk 47 per kg and Tk 2,200 a sack.
Miniket was priced at Tk 2,700 and was sold at retail at Tk 56 per kg.
Importers at the Mohammad Krishi Market were selling coarse Indian rice at Tk
2,050 a sack, said Mohakhali rice wholesaler Murad. They were selling BR-28
between Tk 2,350 and Tk 2,400 and Miniket at Tk 2,650. The rice market at
Badamtali-Babubazar on Thursday had been selling coarse rice (Guti, Swarna,
BR-28, Parija) between Tk 42 and 44 per kg. The price before Eid was between Tk
43 and 46.
Fine grain rice (Miniket, Najirshail) was being sold at Tk 50-53 per kg. The
price had been between Tk 51-54 before Eid. Flooding in the haor areas of
the north and north-east earlier in the year and the resulting destruction of
Boro crops had led to fluctuations in the rice market. In response the
government lowered import duties on rice from 28 percent to 10 percent before
Eid.
http://bdnews24.com/economy/2017/07/08/wholesale-rice-price-drop-not-yet-reflected-at-retail-markets
Nigeria: UK-Sponsored Study Show
Impact of Nigeria Recession On Agriculture
Photo: Irin News
The Federal Government and international development
organisations must refocus their policies on agriculture to reshape their
interventions to mitigate the negative impact of the recent devaluation of the
Naira on the sector growth, a study by two development groups said.The
Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, PIND, and the UK
Department for International Development, DFID Market Development, MADE
Programme, said on Thursday a study they sponsored found the Naira devaluation
policy impacted the agricultural value chains in the Niger Delta region.
The Executive Secretary of PIND, Dara Akala, said at the
presentation of the findings in Abuja that the study was to examine effects of
devaluation and related government trade restriction policies on four key
agricultural value chains in the Niger Delta region, namely cassava, palm oil,
aquaculture, and poultry.
Mr. Akala said the study also looked at the impact on
agricultural inputs and leather goods as well as market responses across the
value chains to the income and substitution effects that arose from the price
shocks as a result of the devaluation and depreciation policies.Presenting his
findings, the consultant, who conducted the study, Ogho Okiti, said there was
need for the government and its partners to restructure its interventions to
reflect the economic realities of a dynamic situation, especially relating to
the four key commodities in the agricultural value chain."
"As
the global crude oil price fell from above $100 per barrel in early 2014 to
below $30 per barrel by the beginning of 2016, Nigeria's oil revenues and
foreign exchange reserves dropped. The decline in reserves exerted pressure on
the Naira against the dollar, and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was unable
to defend the Naira's peg to the dollar," the report noted.
"To
reduce imports and conserve its diminishing foreign exchange reserves, the CBN
devalued the Naira twice between November 2014 and February 2015 and
implemented a ban on access to foreign exchange at the CBN official window for
a list of 41 items, including rice, poultry and palm oil products.
"The
Federal Government increased import levies on these goods and other
agricultural products, and even banned imports of some entirely. The impact of
this devaluation and the subsequent ban on importation differ from one
agricultural value chain to another," it added.
Mr.
Okiti said one of the findings from the study was the impact of the devaluation
on aquaculture, which resulted in the rise in the price of catfish, as
consumers turned to it as alternative to more expensive imported fish and
poultry, meaning increased revenues to farmers.
Sierra Leone
News: Rice
Sierra Leoneans ate about 1,000,000 tons of milled rice last year;
about the same weight as 8,500 blue whales or 40 Statue of Liberties. My
colleague and I did some quick math and that comes out to about two and a half
50 kg bags of rice per person every year. This mind-boggling amount of rice has
been increasing right along with Sierra Leone’s population, which is expected
to double by the year 2060.
One piece of data that really struck me was that Sierra Leone has
vastly increased the rice production since the end of the war. About 80% of
rice eaten here was grown here. Domestic rice production has increased by about
10% every year since the war. In 2001, 56% of the rice eaten in Sierra Leone
was imported from abroad, but now less than 20% of rice is imported. The World
Bank says that it is entirely plausible for Sierra Leone to start producing
more rice than it produces, maybe even within the next decade.
This would be a massive win for Sierra Leone, not only for the
economy but for sustained food security as well. Becoming a net-exporter of
rice would provide more agriculture jobs, ensure local communities have access
to affordable food, and excess rice can be sold to nearby countries that can’t
produce enough food for their populations. Excess rice could also be stockpiled
as a buffer against natural disasters like drought.
The World Bank outlined several strategies and goals to help the
Ministry of Agriculture work towards this net-exporter future. First off,
increasing the average yield per hectare from 1.5 kg to 2 kg by the year 2020.
If my quick calculations are correct, this increased efficiency would be more
than enough to end the need for any imported rice at the current population
level. Reaching this goal will require better fertilizers, seeds, and farming
technologies, all of which the World Bank says can come from increased
collaboration with the private sector.
The plan also provides funds to increase agricultural land use,
partially for rice farms. The local World Bank Country Manager, Parminder Brar,
said in a press conference that only about 8% of the arable land in Sierra
Leone is currently being used for agriculture, so there is a vast potential for
growth. The proposal also points out the government’s current policy of waiving
the 15% tax on imported rice. This policy makes a lot of sense because it keeps
importers from passing that cost onto the customer and making imported rice
really expensive. But now that domestic production has increased to almost meet
local demand, the World Bank is calling for the government to enforce this tax
to encourage people to prioritize domestic rice farmers.
I know rice is kind of boring; that’s why we smother it in meats
and sauces. But after looking at the numbers, rice is more important to Sierra
Leone’s future than I ever realized.
TK/6/7/17
Timothy’s Take
Friday July 07,2017.
Sri Lanka to
immediately import rice to meet rice shortage
MENAFN - NewsIn.Asia - 07/07/2017
This year the failure of crops from
the Yala season and the floods created a severe rice shortage in the island
country."We have picked Myanmar, #Pakistan and #India to import rice,'
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen, said."The Sri Lankan
team, after checking both the Pakistani and #Myanmar markets, will decide
whether to choose #Pakistan or #Myanmar (or both) to purchase he 100,000 metric
tonnes of rice. Whether it is finally supplied by one or both countries, the
purchase shall be at government to government levels," Bathiudeen
said.#SriLanka will also purchase another 100,000 metric tonnes of rice from
#India immediately. Bathiudeen said the rice will be purchased from private
Indian importers and tenders are currently being received for this.An Indian
supplier is expected to be picked by July 17.
Meanwhile, #SriLanka has also
commenced government level talks on the possibility of purchasing rice from
Thailand, Bathiudeen said.These talks are conducted to procure rice stocks for
any future emergencies and not for immediate use.A Sri Lankan team will visit
Bangkok next week to meet Thai officials and decide on varieties, possibly
around 100,000 metric tonnes of rice.
http://www.menafn.com/1095605802/Sri-Lanka-to-immediately-import-rice-to-meet-rice-shortage
Don’t pay prizes for published science
China
and other countries should look again at how they pay bonuses and allocate
grants
that are based on individual research papers.
that are based on individual research papers.
07 July 2017
Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg via Getty
Many universities in China and elsewhere hand
out research cash on the basis of academic publications.
With
great fanfare, Sichuan Agricultural University held a ceremony two weeks ago to
announce that it was awarding a 13.5-million yuan prize (US$2 million) to a
group of its researchers, for a publication in the journal Cell.The
announcement triggered social-media chatter about how much is too much when it
comes to rewarding research success. Li Ping, director of the university’s rice
research institute and a co-author of the published paper, was forced to clarify
in a blogpost that most of the money — 13 million yuan — was actually for
grants towards future research. Only the 0.5 million yuan extra was a prize,
and that is being split among 27 people: no one will retire in luxury from
this. Li further justified the prize by writing that researchers at small
universities in China have difficulty getting stable grants, so funds such as
those provided by the university are crucial for groups like his to continue
their promising research.
The
discovery of a disease-resistant gene by Li and his team could help countries
around the world to secure their food supply. The university has a right to be
excited. But is an instant cash injection — the prize was announced
on Friday 30 June, the day after the manuscript was published — the
right way to celebrate?
Clearly,
most universities in China think so. The custom of rewarding researchers
monetarily for single publications is deeply entrenched at Chinese scientific
institutions. For many, it is an official policy, written in the bylaws.
Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University in Lin’An, for example, pays a
flat rate of 500,000 yuan for a paper published in Cell, Science or Nature.
And it uses a table with equations to help calculate prizes for publications
elsewhere. For any paper in a journal with an impact factor (IF) higher than
10, for example, the prize is IF × 1.5 × 10,000 yuan. According to a People’s
Daily news story last year, some 90% of universities have policies of
rewarding publications. And the practice is far from unique to China.
Scientists in countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia can find themselves
similarly rewarded.
That
might be good for researchers, and it can be a way for universities to
advertise their achievements. Whether it is good for research, in the long
term, is a more difficult question. The answer is probably no. For one
thing, it creates a culture in which scientists look at their research as a
means to make quick cash. Instead of considering the best way to pursue and
expand on experiments, scientists focus on getting the results published.
The
emphasis on impact factors, as has been discussed repeatedly in these pages, is
greatly overblown. Such metrics already exert undue influence on the evaluation
of grants, on hiring and on promotions. Monetary prizes only further inflate
the importance of impact factors, at the expense of assessing the significance
of what has actually been achieved.
“Handing
out prizes so soon after publication rewards science that is not yet proven.”
Perhaps
more importantly, handing out prizes so soon after publication rewards science that
is not yet proven. There is no reason to think that the Sichuan scientists’
discovery — a gene that confers resistance to the fungal disease rice blast —
won’t stand up to the scrutiny of post-publication peer review. But what if it
doesn’t? Many papers are not necessarily wrong, but their significance might
have been overestimated.
Last
week’s announcement that this is more a grant than a prize makes an important
distinction, but it might point to a more fundamental problem in China, as well
as in other countries — a tendency to base grants on past achievement
rather than future potential. The rice-blast gene has tremendous practical
potential, and the Sichuan scientists might be the right group to exploit it.
Or they might have found, based on their research protocol, a number of other
avenues for investigation that are unrelated to this gene. Whatever the case,
the best way to argue that the group deserves more grant money is through a
grant proposal that lays out where the research is heading, and that is fairly
evaluated against rival proposals.
There,
too, this episode raises a critical question about how research funds are being
spent in China. In his blogpost, Li implies that steady funding gives
scientists at major universities an advantage over more far-flung scientists,
who have to depend on locally distributed monetary awards as a lifebuoy. To be
sure, the concentration of resources at top institutions is a phenomenon, and
to some extent a problem, around the world. It is one that the research
community needs to address. But — centrally or locally — rigorous and fair
review must come first.
http://www.nature.com/news/don-t-pay-prizes-for-published-science-1.22275
NIPGR
develops Genetically Modified rice that can reduce phosphorus fertilizer usage
Rapid fire:
- New GM rice has improved
Phosphorus utilization efficiency
- Gene called OsPAP21b from
traditional rice introduced
- Improved natural phosphorus
utilization capacity can reduce use of fertilizers
- Important to increase the
phosphate utilization efficiency of rice, a major consumer of phosphate
fertilizers
New
GM rice developed by the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR)
can improve uptake of natural Phosphorus from the soil, cutting down the use of
artificial phosphorus fertilizers.
This
GM rice has been produced by introducing a gene called OsPAP21b taken
out from a traditional rice genotype called Dular, found in states like West
Bengal, Bihar and Assam.
Supported
by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the study showed that OsPAP21b plays
important role in improving growth on organic phosphorus substrate through
better phosphate uptake and utilization.
The
paper published in Plant Biotechnology Journal demonstrated that introduction
of the gene produces an enzyme, which when secreted into the soil through the
roots of the rice plant helps in absorption of organic phosphorus available in
the soil.
This
enzyme increases organic phosphorus absorption by ~50% under controlled
experimental conditions and hence can help reduce the cost of fertilizer use
for the farmer.
The
team led by Dr. Jitender Giri and consisting of Ph.D. students, Poonam Mehra
and Bipin K. Pandey has proposed OsPAP21b as a useful candidate for improving
phosphate acquisition and utilization in rice.
Deficiency
of plant available phosphorus is a limiting factor for cultivation of rice
crops in various kind of soil on earth. Application of phosphatic fertilizers
can compensate soil phosphorus deficiency but it is hazardous both to our
environment and health.
Phosphorus
is an important mineral in the metabolism, growth and development of plants in
general and rice in particular. About 20 mha of upland area under rice
cultivation is phosphate deficient. In major rice producing areas like India,
more than 60% soils suffer from low to medium phosphate availability. This is
compensated by application of phosphatic fertilizers.
Unfortunately,
the source of such fertilizers, rock phosphate is finite, rapidly depleting and
concentrated only in few regions worldwide. India imports almost 90% of its
phosphate fertilizer requirement. Further, applied phosphate is quickly fixed
into insoluble inorganic or organic forms due to its high reactivity and
microbial action.
Since
rice is a major consumer of such fertilizers it is pertinent to increase the
absorption efficiency of phosphate in rice varieties. The study is a
significant move towards that end.
http://www.dbtindia.nic.in/rice_phosphorus-fertilizer-usage/
Sri Lankan team
leaves for Islamabad to procure rice tranche
Acting
High Commissioner of Pakistan Dr. Sarfraz Ahmad Khan Sipra (second from left),
Ambassador Designate of Thailand to Sri Lanka Chulamanee Chartsuwan (fifth from
left), and Ambassador of Indonesia to Sri Lanka Gusti Ngurah Ardiyasa (sixth
from left) in discussion with Commerce
Rishad Bathiudeen Sri Lanka has
picked three countries to supply 200,000 MT rice immediately to meet the
shortfall in its domestic market.
A
four-member team of Lankan officials left for Pakistan yesterday to select rice
varieties for the domestic rice market. The team will head to Myanmar from
Islamabad to test Burmese rice varieties for the Lankan market on July 12.
“Yala season’s failure and the floods created this rice shortage. We have
picked Myanmar, Pakistan and India and the country that did not get in was
Indonesia,” said Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, during his
progress review with his officials this week and added: “The officials of the team, after checking
both Pakistani and Myanmar markets, will decide whether to choose Pakistan or
Myanmar (or both) to purchase the 100,000 MT rice.
Whether
it is finally supplied by one or both countries, the purchase shall be at
government-to-government levels.” The
team of officials that left for Pakistan was led by Secretary of Ministry of
Industry and Commerce Chinthana Lokuhetti, and two officials from the Finance
Ministry and a food technologist from ITI. More than 50 percent of this 100,000
MT rice would be par-boiled (Nadu) variety with the rest in white raw, and samba.
Sri Lanka is also purchasing another 100,000 MT rice from India immediately.
This
is not at Government to Government levels but from the Indian private sector
(Government to private sector). Tenders from Indian private suppliers are being
received and the winning Indian supplier is expected to be picked by July 17.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has also commenced Government to Government rice purchase
talks with Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce this week. These talks are conducted
to procure ‘stand-by’ buffer rice stocks for any future emergencies and not for
immediate use (as done with India, Pakistan and Myanmar).
A Sri Lankan team of officials is scheduled to
fly to Bangkok next week to meet Thai officials and decide on varieties,
possibly around 100,000 MT of rice which will include par-boiled (Nadu), white
raw, and samba. On June 22nd, joined by
Secretary of Ministry of Industry and Commerce Chinthana Lokuhetti and Director
General of Finance Ministry PMB Atapattu, Minister Bathiudeen met Ambassador
Designate of Thailand to Sri Lanka Chulamanee Chartsuwan, Ambassador of
Indonesia to Sri Lanka Gusti Ngurah
Ardiyasa and Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan Dr. Sarfraz Ahmad Khan Sipra
at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to call for government to government
rice supplies to Sri Lanka.
All
the ambassadors present pledged immediate support to Minister Bathiudeen and
President Maithripala Sirisena’s efforts to procure the rice tranche. The
Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) under the Commerce Ministry has been
roped in for the local distribution work of imported rice.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Sri-Lankan-team-leaves-for-Islamabad-to-procure-rice-tranche-132391.html
Farmers
warned against basmati rot
Experts
from Punjab Agricultural University have cautioned farmers against the blast
(problem caused due to fungus) and foot rot diseases in basmati. A Tribune
photograph Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 7 The experts of Plant Pathology
Department, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), have cautioned the farmers of
Punjab against the blast and foot rot diseases of basmati.Expressing their
concern over these serious diseases, they urged the farmers to follow timely
management practices, which if not adopted can cause significant yield losses.
The
Head, Department of Plant Pathology, Dr Parvinder Singh Sekhon, advised the
farmers to not cultivate susceptible un-recommended varieties such as Pusa
1401, Mushal etc. He said farmers should apply only recommended dose of
nitrogen fertiliser as blast increases with high dose of nitrogen, he
observed.Dr Sekhon also stressed upon the farmers to not grow basmati in those
fields where blast during last year. Instead of basmati, cultivate rice
varieties, he suggested.
The
right time of application of recommended fungicides such as Amistar Top or Indofil
Z-78 is boot stage of the crop, he said.Dr Sekhon urged the farmers to not
adopt late sprays which are not effective and also pose a problem of residue in
grains. The residue of un-recommended fungicides in grain lots also creates
hurdles for export of basmati, he added. With respect to foot rot in basmati,
Dr Sekhon said the disease spreads through the seed and infected seedling in
the nursery. So, seed treatment as well as seed root dip treatment in solution
of Bavistin (0.2 %) for six hours is very effective to check this disease, he
advised. Former Prof nominated Dr JS Bal, former Prof, Department of Fruit
Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has been nominated as a
member of the scientific committee of the IV International Jujube (Ber)
Symposium, under the aegis of the 30th International Horticultural Congress
(IHC), organised by the International Society of Horticultural Science to be
held at Istanbul, Turkey, from August 12 to 16, 2018.A 10-member committee has
been constituted by the IHC 2018 to conduct the IV International Jujube
Symposium.
Bal
has been inducted as the third senior most member of the committee which
includes two scientists each from China and India and one each from USA,
Australia, Romania, Italy, Turkey and Kuwait.Experts discuss effective delivery
of knowledge to farmersPunjab Agricultural Management and Extension Training
Institute (PAMETI) organised a training programme on ‘Information and
communication technologies (ICT) for effective knowledge delivery’ from July 3
to 7, in which 27 members of Agriculture Departments, Agricultural Technology
Management Agency and the PAU participated.
During
the inaugural session, Dr H S Dhaliwal, Director PAMETI, said there was lack of
extension staff as compared to the number of farmers they were supposed to
address. So, there was a need to use the information technology for reaching
out to more farmers in less time.Bharti Madan, Deputy Director (IT), PAMETI,
introduced the concept of knowledge management and how information &
communication technologies (ICTs) can help in the management process. She said
Agricultural Knowledge Management was the process of retrieving, gathering,
understanding, organising, sharing and effectively using the agricultural
knowledge.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ludhiana/farmers-warned-against-basmati-rot/433353.html
Adding new modes of action to
boost rice weed control
Rice
weed control arsenal could expand by two more products in 2018 and 2019, weed
scientist says.
In the five years, he’s been studying as a graduate student with
Dr. Eric Webster at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station, they have tested
between eight and 11 new experimental compounds each year.
What’s even better news for rice growers is that two of those
are likely to be introduced in 2018 and 2019. Dr. McKnight, who received his
Ph. D. in weed science a month ago, talked about the two products during a stop
at the LSU Rice Research Station Field Day in Crowley, La.
The new herbicides are Loyant, which Dow AgroSciences expects to
receive registration for in 2018 and Butte, a mixture of benzobicyclon and
halosulfuron, which is being developed by Gowan Company for possible
introduction in 2019.
To learn about other new developments in rice
weed control, visit http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/rate-adjustments-may-be-possible-new-provisia-rice-technology.
http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/adding-new-modes-action-boost-rice-weed-control
iceBran Technologies (NASDAQ:RIBT) Receives Daily News Impact
Score of 0.44
RiceBran Technologies (NASDAQ RIBT)
opened at 0.96 on Friday. RiceBran Technologies has a 12 month low of $0.69 and
a 12 month high of $1.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $0.88
and a 200 day moving average price of $0.90. The stock’s market capitalization
is $10.49 million.
A
number of research firms have issued reports on RIBT. Maxim Group reissued a
“hold” rating on shares of RiceBran Technologies in a research report on
Friday, May 12th. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on RiceBran
Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. They issued a “buy”
rating and a $2.00 price target for the company. About
RiceBran Technologies
RiceBran
Technologies is a human food ingredient, functional food ingredient, packaged
functional food and animal nutrition company. The Company is focused on
processing and marketing of nutrient dense products derived from raw rice, an
underutilized by-product of the rice milling industry. The Company has two
operating segments
.
https://sportsperspectives.com/2017/07/08/ricebran-technologies-ribt-given-media-sentiment-rating-of-0-44-updated-updated-updated.html
