http://www.star2.com/living/viewpoints/2017/08/27/cut-rice-intake/#k4xUh1oxVxrvm81X.99
Thailand’s
former PM Yingluck fled to Dubai: senior party members
Thailand’s former Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra has fled to Dubai, senior members of her party said on Saturday,
a day after she failed to show up for a negligence ruling in which she faced up
to 10 years in prison.
Puea Thai Party sources said
Yingluck left Thailand last week and flew via Singapore to Dubai where her
brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed
exile to avoid a 2008 jail sentence for corruption, has a home.
“We heard that she went to
Cambodia and then Singapore from where she flew to Dubai. She has arrived
safely and is there now,” said a senior member of the Puea Thai Party who
declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Deputy national police chief
General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said police had no record of Yingluck, 50,
leaving the country and were following developments closely.A Reuters reporter
was stopped by security at the exclusive Emirates Hills community in Dubai,
where Thaksin has a home.
A Taksin spokesperson in Dubai
did not respond to attempts by Reuters to contact Thaksin.Police estimate that
up to 3,000 supporters had gathered outside the court in Bangkok on Friday
where Yingluck was due to hear a verdict in a negligence trial against her
involving a rice buying policy of her administration.But Yingluck did not show
up at the appointed hour and the court quickly issued a statement saying she
had cited an ear problem as the reason for her no-show.
The court rejected the excuse and
moved the verdict reading to September 27. It later issued an arrest warrant
for Yingluck.Immigration police said they would arrest Yingluck on the spot if
she is found.Overthrown in 2014, Yingluck had faced up to 10 years in prison if
found guilty. Her former commerce minister was jailed in a related case for 42
years on Friday.Political parties led or backed by the Shinawatras have dominated
Thai politics, winning every general election since 2001.
The Shinawatras have been accused
of corruption and nepotism by the Bangkok-based establishment who loath
Thaksin. The family command huge support in the poorer, rural north and
northeast.A spokesman for the military government did not respond to a Reuters
request for comment about Yingluck’s whereabouts.The rice buying scheme, a
flagship policy of Yingluck’s administration, proved popular with rural voters
but the military government says it incurred $8 billion in losses.
Yingluck pleaded innocent to the
charges against her and said she was the victim of political persecution.The
military government has used sweeping powers to silence critics, including
supporters of the Shinawatras, since 2014.The mood in the northeast, a
Shinawatra stronghold, was somber on Saturday. Leaders of the red-shirt United
Front For Democracy there said they weren’t surprised Yingluck fled.“Most
people I know feel glad that Yingluck has left the country,” said one red shirt
leader, who declined to be named for safety reasons.“For now there will be less
activity from the red shirts because of military suppression.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/08/26/thailands-former-pm-yingluck-fled-to-dubai-senior-party-members/
Swelling import
has turned the economy upside down: Revenue Secy
August 26, 2017 02:08 AM
KATHMANDU, August 26: Revenue Secretary
Shishir Dhungana on Friday said that swelling import has turned the country's
economy upside down.Responding to a query on the country's current economic
scenario raised by Member of Parliament (MP) Bikash Lamsal, Dhungana painted a
gloomy picture of the economy, stating that import was growing at an alarming
rate, while export continues to growth at a disappointingly slow pace.
Speaking at a discussion on issues
related to revenue at the meeting of the parliament's Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) on Friday, Dhungana said that country's total export earning is
insufficient to finance import of a single import commodity - petroleum
products.Statistics of compiled by government agencies shows that the nation
imported petroleum products worth Rs 118 billion in the last Fiscal Year
2016/17 ending mid-July, while total export earning was only Rs 73 billion.
“Our trade deficit stands at a
whopping Rs 803 billion,” Dhungana said, adding: “Another thing to worry is
that import of agro-products has spiked in recent years.”Trade deficit occurs
when a country is importing more goods than it is exporting. Nepal's total
import was worth around Rs 1 trillion rupees in the last fiscal year, according
to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).“That fact that we imported rice worth Rs 22
billion and coarse rice worth Rs 5 billion in the last fiscal year shows our
growing dependency on imports even for agricultural products. We, the Ministry
of Finance, alone can do nothing in this matter,” added Dhungana.
He also said that the government was
provided different subsidies for purchase of equipment like hand held tractors,
milk chilling machines and machines carrying live fishes for farm
mechanization, as well as on purchase of chemical fertilizers to boost
production of agro products.“What is worrying is even hilly districts of mid
and far-western regions are now dependent on imported vegetables. This is an
alarming situation,” he said and added that the government should encourage
farm mechanization and give more incentive to exporters.
At the meeting, lawmakers questioned
Dhungana why the ministry sets higher target for customs offices compared to
economic activities and income tax within the country.
MP Amrit Lal Rajbanshi said that
higher targets for Department of Customs show that the government was
emphasizing imports.
The government has set revenue
target for the Department of Customs at Rs 336 billion for the current fiscal
year, while revenue target for internal economic activities and income tax has
been set at Rs 300 billion.
Dhungana said that only the growth
in foreign exchange earnings by bringing more foreign tourists and also
substituting import of petroleum products by generating more hydroelectricity
can improve the country's financial health. “Patchworks like putting focus on
export of 19 products under Nepal Trade Integration Strategy won't help much,”
he added.PAC Chairperson Dor Prasad Upadhyaya said that the discussion will
continue in the coming days as well.
http://www.myrepublica.com/news/26308/
Rice worth us107 896mn exported in
july
ISLAMABAD: Rice worth US$ 107.896 million has
been exported during the first month of current financial year. Rice
exports from the country during the month of July, 2017 grew by 34.74 percent
as about 200,995 metric tons of rice worth US$ 107.896 million was exported as
compared the exports of 164,092 metric tons valuing US$ 83.974 million of same
month last year.
During the period under review, exports of basmati rice
increased by 28.49 percent and reached at 30,951 metric tons worth of US$
32.990 million. The exports of basmati rice during July, 2016 was
recorded at 28,725 metric tons valuing US$ 27.731 million, according the data
of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, the country earned US$
74.906 million by exporting about 170,044 metric tons of rice other then
basmati rice, which was recorded at 135,367 metric tons valuing US$ 56.24
million of same period last year.
During first month of current financial year about 32,704
metric tins of vegetables of different kinds worth of US$ 10.330 million
exported as against the exports of 32,791 metric tons valuing 8.147 million of
same period of last year. The food commodities including wheat and
sugar witnessed tremendous increase in their respective exports during first
month of the current financial year by showing 100 percent increase. On
the other hand food group imports into the country during first month of
current financial year swelled by 43.15 percent as compared the imports of same
month last year.
The imports of food commodities into the country was recorded
at US$ 534.693 million as compared the imports of US$ 373.512 million of same
month last year. The major food items which had registered
increasing trend in their respective imports included dry fruits, nuts tea,
spices, soya bean and palm oil.
The food commodities with negative growth in their respective
imports including tea and leguminous vegetables (pluses) and milk cream and
milk food for infantshttp://www.brecorder.com/2017/08/25/366684/rice-worth-us107-896mn-exported-in-july/
Cane Farmers Can Help Reduce Rice
Imports: Waibuta
Deputy
Secretary for Agriculture, Uraia Waibuta.
August 28
by Arieta Vakasukawaqa, NADI
Western Division sugarcane farmers can assist Government reduce
rice imports by using one acre of their land for rice farming: senior official
said.Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Uraia Waibuta said as most farmers in
the area were more focused on sugarcane farmingWhile speaking at the Nadi
Chamber of Commerce and Industry/ HFC business forum at Tanoa Skylodge Hotel on
Saturday.
“Farmers in the West can plant an acre each so that we can
self-sufficient tomorrow. This is something we need to do, we need to get our
message across to farmers to work together to reduce our imports, at least one
acre along the sugarcane belts.”He added that it would reduce Fiji’s import on
rice by 15 per cent.
He also said importing some basic vegetables and produce, Mr
Waibuta said was one of the challenges they currently faced.Adding, that food
security was a going problem in which the Agriculture Ministry is trying its
best to combat.Mr Waibuta said they aimed to reduce rice import by 8000 tonnes.“We
need 60,000 tonnes in order to feed out people,” he said.Mr Waibuta also said
that the demand of dairy products in Fiji had increased over the years.
Adding, that farmers in the West could assist Government in
meeting this demand.“We are encouraging farmers in the West to resort to dairy
farming. The demand on beef, pork and lamb has is also increasing,” he said.Mr
Waibuta said they would work on encouraging in the private sector to invest in
the agriculture sector despite the high risks because the benefits would be
attractive for them.
Meanwhile, he said that dalo farming had grown substantively
over the years but the problem sometimes was it could get rejected from overseas
because it didn’t meet the required quarantine standards.Dalo, he added was one
of the lucrative product not only in the region but the world as well.“Dalo is
the number one crop now around the world and people are going for it, a lot of
people who love our dalo, the prices are increasing and so as the demands from
around the world,” Mr Waibuta said.In the Western Division, he added that few
farmers in Sigatoka and Nadi had resorted to dalo as their basic produce apart
from tomatoes and lettuce.With the changes within Fiji’s agriculture sector, Mr
Waibuta said it was important that they started modernising the structure.
arieta.vakasukawaqa@fijisun.com.fj
Reasons most
consumers prefer foreign rice
28 August,2017
There
have been many write ups on why the majority of consumers prefer foreign rice
to our locally manufactured rice. I have also walked into arguments on why
consumers shun the local rice and reasons why they should embrace it.
One
of our problems in this country is that most times we do not admit the truth,
not even to ourselves. We know the truth but we shy away from it. We try to
politicise and even tribalise it. If we do not admit our errors, it will never
be corrected. We must come to terms with our mistakes and short comings before
we can seek ways to rectify them. For months now, I have been struggling to
finish a bag of locally grown rice I bought.
Despite
the fact that rice meals are my favourite, I am struggling to go through the
bag of rice because it is fraught with stones and sand. At the beginning, it’s
not obvious, but as one gets to the middle of the bag of rice, one starts
seeing stones. When cooked, the texture is good, with the colour okay and it
does not come out sticky. But there is nothing as bad as unexpectedly biting
stone or sand when you are enjoying a great meal. It completely turns one off.
The said rice, ‘Mama’s Pride’ from the stables of Olam Rice, is cultivated in
Nassarawa State. From the prints on the rice bag, it was processed by Agro and
Technical Processing Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Olam Nigeria Ltd, Olam Rice
farm, Rukubi, Doma LGA Nassarawa State. Ironically displayed on the rice bag
also is the picture of an award for global quality excellence given to the
company sometime ago.
Also
displayed on the bag is the logo of quality (NIS) from the Standards
Organisation of Nigeria (SON). Printed neatly below the logo is ‘Nigerian Mark
of Quality’ and ‘FT-1663’. Of course, as can be seen from the rice bag, the
company has also been issued with ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 certificates by SON,
mocking everything the government regulatory body for excellence and quality
stands for. I am not here to disparage locally grown rice but we need to call a
spade a spade in order to move forward. What brought about the popularity of
imported long grain rice is because it comes par boiled, completely sorted of
debris, stones, sand and chaff. It is a lot easier and more convenient to cook
even when cooking for large crowd. Before the entrance of foreign rice, you had
to pick stones etcetera from rice. As kids then, on Saturdays, we were made to
pick stones and dirt from rice in preparation for the Sunday lunch. No matter
how thorough one is, some stones and grains of sand still go into the supposedly
sorted rice unnoticed.
However,
there are Nigerian rice brands that are completely de-stoned. Long grain Ebonyi
Gold is so good that it can compare favourably with any imported rice. There
are many other local brands like that. The Nigerian rice industry has really
come a long way. We have recorded a lot of improvement. The past administration
with its Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, updated agriculture in
Nigeria more than any other government in our recent history. More than eight
modern rice mills are currently producing rice in Nigeria but we need to
identify our areas of challenges and weaknesses and work to improve on them. So
many locally produced rice brands still contain stones and sand. In an
interview with a staff of Olam Rice at their Iganmu Lagos office, he said that
Olam Rice is usually stone-free as the company uses mechanised farming system.
The
staff who pleaded anonymity explained that “I am not exonerating the company,
neither am I saying that the consumer is right. We will carry out
investigations. If it is an internal problem then the consumer will be
compensated.” Requesting for the batch number, he promised that investigations
will be carried out.
Explaining
further, he said the company carry out random sampling of their products to
ascertain the quality, adding that “one of the reasons we have batch numbers is
in order to trace problem when such arises.” However, when the reporter
demanded for the contact of the official spokesperson of the company, he
declined, insisting that he was too busy to attend to the media. “In fact, at
the moment, (24th August 24, 2017), he is in Abuja with the senators,” he
declared. He equally declined to pass the reporter’s contact details to the
said official spokesperson for the company.
The Olam
staff requested the reporter to forward the batch number found on the rice bag
to him. Responding through a text message, he said, “I checked, but this is not
matching our batch format. This is not our rice. Since we have multi screening
system, stones are not possible in our finished product.” We need to focus on
how to get rid of stones and sand from our rice. The issue of pricing also must
be tackled. It must be made pocket friendly if we want consumers to patronise
them.
Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, even
admitted in May this year that locally produced rice is more expensive than the
imported ones. While responding to
questions at a Town Hall meeting in Abuja, Ogbe pointed out that one of the major
reasons was that most of the imported rice was subsided by the foreign
governments. He disclosed that most of the imported rice are from Vietnam,
India and Thailand. He further explained that the imported rice arrive at about
9,000 per bag, and are then sold at about N13,000 per bag to consumers unlike
the local rice sold at about N16,000 per bag.
Though market research reveals that currently
50kg imported rice like ‘Caprice’ sells for about N16,500 while the same size
of Abakaliki rice sells for about N18,000. Ogbeh also decried the interest rates
for farming loans. He said: “Our interest rates in this country are higher than
the interest rate in most parts of the world.” He also revealed another reason
for the high cost of local rice as the high cost of diesel to run generators in
the farms, noting that “diesel went from N180 per litre to N300.
” As
the popular saying goes, ‘Rome was not built in a day’. If rice is not
de-stoned, we appeal to producers to just notify consumers by printing it on
the bag and if it is free of stones, they should also visibly print it on the
bag. Already, some local rice producers do that. The ones free of stones
usually are more expensive. Consumers have a right to that information.
India, China
jointly propose removal of US, EU farm subsidies
28-Aug-2017
India
and China joint proposal on elimination of $160 billion of trade-distorting
farm subsidies in the US and EU has come as a game changer in global farm trade
negotiations at the WTO
China
and India have called for the elimination of what is called the Aggregate
Measurement of Support (AMS) or ‘the most trade distorting element in the
global trade in agriculture’. Photo: Bloomberg
Geneva:
China and India have jointly proposed the elimination of $160 billion of
trade-distorting farm subsidies in the US, European Union and other wealthy
nations, a move that has come as a game changer in global farm trade
negotiations at the World Trade Organization, say trade envoys familiar with
the development.
As
the WTO’s 164 members prepare for the crucial eleventh ministerial meeting in
Buenos Aires starting on 10 December, China and India have turned the tables by
calling for the elimination of what is called the Aggregate Measurement of
Support (AMS) or “the most trade distorting element in the global trade in
agriculture.” The US which has consistently blocked reforms in global farm
subsidies during the current Doha Round of trade negotiations, particularly
since 2008, wants to eliminate the special and differential flexibilities
availed by developing countries in agriculture, particularly investment and
input subsidies made available to hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest
farmers, according to a trade envoy who asked not to be quoted.
In
the proposal, floated last month, the two largest developing countries argued
that AMS have to be eliminated before any other reform in the global farm trade
can be taken up for consideration. The proposal suggested that the US, the EU,
Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and Norway continued to distort global farm trade
by safeguarding their exclusive entitlements on AMS which they had secured in
the previous Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. The six industrialized
countries (the EU is regarded as a single unit, although it is made up of 28
countries) are entitled to providing farm support through de minimis.
In
addition the US and EU provide more than $150 billion through what are called
the green box subsidies that are also found to be trade-distorting. “In
contrast most developing Members have access only to de minimis [support]
resulting in a major asymmetry in the rules on agricultural trade,” China and
India argued in their proposal, and reviewed by Mint. While most developing
countries, including China and India, cannot provide product-specific amber box
(most trade-distorting) subsidies, the industrialized countries are able to
provide product-specific subsidies on any product as high as their scheduled
AMS commitment.
“This
provides significant flexibilities to these six industrialized] members to
provide support to their agriculture, thereby distorting production and trade.”
The US has continued to provide product-specific support to the tune of 10% of
the value of product for 30 products for at least one year during the period
1995-2014. It provided subsidies exceeding 50% of value of production for dry
peas (57%), rice (82%), canola (61%), flaxseed (69%), sunflower (65%) , sugar
(66%), cotton (74%), mohair (141%), and wool (215%). The EU provided more than
50% of product-specific support for several products. Dairy producers in the US
received more than 50% of the product-specific support in seven out of 20 years
(1995-2014).
The
US also provided more than 90% for dairy and sugar products in certain years,
China and India maintained. The products for which the EU concentrated its
trade-distorting support include butter (71%), skimmed milk powder (67%),
apples (68%), courgettes (51%), cucumber (86%), lemon (60%), pear for
processing (82%), tinned pineapples (108%), tomatoes for processing (61%), rice
(66%), olive oil (76%), white sugar (120%), tobacco (155%), and silkworms
(167%).
“Barley
(ten years), common wheat (9 years), and tobacco (9 years) are products that
have consistently benefited from very high level of subsidies as a percentage
of value of production” in the European Union, according to China and India.
Canada, which is also mentioned in the joint proposal, provided 10% of the
value of production to seven products during the period 1995-2013. Canada’s farm
subsidies are mostly concentrated for products such as milk (14 years), sheep
meat (nine years) and corn (five years). In effect, “the imbalances in the
existing Agreement on Agriculture where only some Members [the US, the EU,
Canada, Japan, Norway, and Switzerland] have access to bound AMS [entitlements]
allows them much more policy space,” the two Asian giants argued. Despite
availing these entitlements for the past 20 years and continuing to insulate
them from any further reform, the US along with the EU and other industrialized
countries are working hard to cap/reduce the de minimis support for developing
countries, including China and India, according to the joint proposal. Brazil,
which created the G20 group of developing countries along with India and China
for bringing development-friendly reforms in global agriculture, has now joined
hands with the European Union for demanding the capping/reduction of the de
minimis rather than elimination.
Against this backdrop and “in order to achieve
the long outstanding reforms in agricultural subsidies, the AMS entitlements of
developed members must be eliminated as prerequisite for consideration of other
reforms in domestic support negotiations,” China and India argued. “Only in
this way will it help reduce some of the inequities built into the WTO rules in
favour of developed members.”
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/XSZUqh4PKXUGOuZhMJ1RcK/India-China-jointly-propose-removal-of-US-EU-farm-subsidie.html
Bumper crop of
rice expected in Sindh
RICE growers in Sindh expect a
bumper crop this season as the province has surpassed the sowing target by up
to 80,000 hectares thanks to timely supplies of irrigation water in early May.The
increase in acreage has been witnessed in the upper Sindh, mainly in districts
located on the right bank of the Indus river.These areas are fed by
non-perennial off-taking canals of Sukkur and Guddu barrages, which supply
water only in the summer.Growers say such water supplies are unusual in the
right-bank districts, which normally get water flows in late May or early June.
However, while water was available
in the irrigation channels emanating from the right side of the Sukkur barrage
in May, tail-end farmers of these canals are still facing water shortage,
irrigation officials say.This is primarily due to the fact that these canals
have become heavily silted over the years, and with no massive desilting drive
in sight the situation is only going to get worse.
Moreover, while flows in each canal
are at the maximum level, actual discharges remain inadequate, hence shortage
in tail-end reaches.The provincial government fixed the sowing target for rice
at 750,000 hectares this season, the same level compared to a year ago.Significant
increase in acreage has been witnessed in Badin, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur
and Larkana
Significant increase in acreage has
been witnessed in Badin, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur and Larkana. All these
districts except Badin are located on the right bank of the Indus river.
Rice has been sown on 155,000
hectares in Badin and on 114,000 hectares in Jacobabad.However, some farmers
are not happy about the price they get. Fahad Panhwar, a rice grower from
Jacobabad, says the cost of production varies between Rs25,000 and Rs30,000 per
acre while the yield comes to around 75 maunds for irri-6. Farmers then sell it
for Rs900 per 40kg, he says.
Mahmood Molvi, chairman of the Rice
Exporters Association of Pakistan, points out that hybrid seeds give higher
per-acre yields. Some seeds categorised as F1 and F2 led to drop in yields last
year, but the crop’s outlook has improved this year, he says. “I myself have
grown rice on 400 acres in Shikarpur.”
A farmer from upper region’s
Qambar-Shahdadkot district says growers are also sowing late hybrid varieties,
therefore the transplantation of crop from nurseries is still under way.
Luckily, areas fed by distributaries
like Noorpur, Dhori, Patoja, Shahhan of the Saifullah Magsi canal in Shahdadkot
district and adjoining areas started getting adequate water flows as early as
April 28 which helped farmers prepare nurseries, he adds. “We are better off in
terms of water supplies this year after a long time.”
Another reason for increased rice
cultivation is a decline in the acreage of sunflower crop in upper Sindh. In
Shikarpur district, rice sowing has increased due to a World Bank-funded
agriculture project under which growers are getting implements to improve
per-acre productivity.
Similarly, the rice acreage in lower
Sindh’s Badin district, which is fed by Kotri barrage canals, increased by up
to 40,000 hectares as farmers who could not grow cotton and chilli in early
Kharif due to the unavailability of water switched over to rice. Early Kharif
sowing for cotton begins in March and April in lower Sindh.
Sindh Chamber of Agriculture’s
general secretary says pest attacks are frequently being reported and cloudy
weather remains unfavourable for crop as it affects grain formation.
In the December-January period, rice
millers bought the irri-6 variety for Rs750 to Rs850 per 40kg and basmati for
Rs1,600 per 40kg, he says. However, basmati’s rate increased to Rs2,400 per
40kg later on due to better export demand.
Figures for the actual rice acreage
will still be higher if its cultivation in prohibited areas of Sindh is taken
into account.
Though cultivation is banned in
areas fed by left bank’s perennial canals of Sukkur and Guddu barrages like
Rohri, Nara and Ghotki feeder canal, influential landowners still cultivate
crops on these lands.While the crop sown on this area does not reflect in
official estimates, it eventually finds its way to the market.Published in
Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 28th, 2017
Floods destroy
90,000 acres of paddy field
Bago, Ayeyarwady, Magwe and Yangon
regions have been the areas most affected by flooding during the rainy season.
Aung Htay Hlaing/The Myanmar Times
SOME
90,000 acres of riceland have been destroyed due to flooding as of August 18, a
huge decline compared to 300,000 acres of paddy washed out in 2015, the
government said.
The Ministry of Agriculture,
Livestock and Irrigation said that of the estimated 15 million acres of
rainy-season rice crop for this fiscal year, some 10.5 million acres had been
cultivated before the rainy season peaked in late July, submerging 400,000
acres of rice. “We cannot say that all of the submerged paddy has been
destroyed. Only around 90,000 acres have been destroyed,” U Myo Tint Htun,
deputy secretary at the ministry’s office, said, but he added that the figure
can increase because the rainy season has not yet ended.
Bago, Ayeyarwady, Magwe and Yangon regions
have been the most affected by the floods, with more than 400,000 acres of
farmland under water up to August 18, but water levels have almost receded in
those areas, said U Myo Tint Htun. U Myo
Tint Htun said the irrigation department has prepared for this year’s flooding
season more intensively, building canals that drain the paddies fast, and this
was a factor in the decline of damage to the crop. U Thein Aung, president of the Freedom of
Farmer League, said Ayeyarwady has not been affected much in the cultivation of
rainy-season paddy this fiscal year because there was not much heavy rain at
the time of the planting season in early June.
“Some areas of the cultivation are
under water, but loss is not much worth saying compared to the last three years,”
he said. U Nay Lin Zin, joint secretary general of Myanmar Rice Federation,
said Myanmar can meet the export goal as the floods did not significantly
affect the cultivation of crops. “In the
last fiscal year we could only export 1.8 million tonnes. I think 200,000
tonnes was lost because of the floods,” he said.
The government export target is 4
million tonnes of rice by 2020, double the 2 million tonnes export target for
fiscal 2017-2018. The ministry has
access to more than 50,000 buckets of seed which can be immediately distributed
around the country to those in need to ensure this year’s target would be met.
https://www.mmtimes.com/news/floods-destroy-90000-acres-paddy-field.html
Rice company
set for $40 million profit
By Grain Central, 28 August 2017
SunRice, the consumer brand and trading name of Ricegrowers Limited
and one of Australia’s largest exporters of processed branded foods,
anticipates its FY18 Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) will be around $40 million.
https://www.graincentral.com/news/agribusiness/rice-company-set-for-40-million-profit/
Date: 28-Aug-2017
