20th February,2018 daily global regional local rice e-newsletter

Three-Rice Varieties From Chhattisgarh Have Cancer Fighting Properties

Three-Rice Varieties From Chhattisgarh Have Cancer Fighting Properties

A research has found anti-cancer properties in three traditional varieties of rice native to Chhattisgarh reports the Hindustan Times. The rice varieties, Gathwan, Maharaji and Laicha are said to fight cancer according the scientist, Deepak Sharma.

THE RESEARCH

The rice were found to have anti-cancer properties during a research conducted at the Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Mumbai. The rice varieties were reportedly taken from the rice germplasm bank preserved in the IGKV and these, according to Sharma have the properties that help in curing lung and breast cancer without harming the normal cells.

Sharma is the principal scientist at the genetics and plant breeding department of the agriculture university and says that Laicha has been found to be the most effective of the three in the prevention of proliferation and destruction of cancer cells. He further told PTI that the three varieties of rice are used for medicinal purposes in Bastar, which is a tribal area. Gathwan helps to cure arthritis and Laicha is used for skin-related problems, he explained.

Now that Gathwan, Maharaji and Laicha have been found to have properties that stop the multiplication of cancer cells, further research will be carried on by the scientists of BARC wherein they will be extracting the anti-cancer elements from the rice varieties and conduct trials. They aim to develop dietary supplements for easy consumption by the people.

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https://www.hungryforever.com/three-rice-varieties-chhattisgarh-cancer-fighting-properties/

Agreement allows Filipino farmers to plant rice in PNG

19.02.2018

 | UkrAgroConsult

An agreement with the Papua New Guinea government allowing Filipino rice farmers to plant rice in the 46-million hectare nation with a population of only 8 million will improve the rice industry in the Philippines, according to Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

“The proposed project will not only ensure the Philippines of stable rice supply but will also employ thousands of rice farmers and agriculture graduates from the Philippines,” Piñol said.

In a bilateral meeting with PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, President Rodrigo Duterte officially informed PNG officials that he will dispatch an agriculture delegation that Piñol will head to establish stronger agricultural and fisheries cooperation between the two countries.

President Duterte will visit PNG in November to attend the APEC Summit and witness a harvest in a rice demonstration farm.Initially, a team of 22 farmers will fly to PNG next month to start the development of a 100-hectare rice demonstration farm within a Seventh Day Adventist College compound in Port Moresby.

Most of the farmers in the first group are Ilocanos and Ilonggos from North Cotabato who will receive an initial salary of P25,000 per month from a private company who will engage them.In line with the project, Piñol asked the International Rice Research Institute to set up a satellite office in PNG and recommended to the PNG government to set up an office, which will serve as the sole administrator for buying rice from local farmers and for setting prices.

According to Piñol, this will be the third engagement between the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of PNG after a bilateral meeting between Duterte and O’Neil during the APEC Summit in Vietnam last year.

 

In initial discussions, the proposed bilateral agreement involves allowing Filipino companies to lease PNG lands to plant rice to supply the national requirement of the country estimated to be 400,000 metric tons.

Any excess production could be shipped back to the Philippines as PNG rice exports or could be exported to other countries in the South Pacific that have already manifested their interest to buy PNG-produced rice.

“I told President Duterte that even if the Philippines will achieve rice sufficiency by 2020 as projected by the DA, population growth will overtake the capacity to produce rice because of limited irrigated farm lands,” Pinol said.

“The President was briefed that to prepare for the future, the Philippines must consider outsourcing its rice supply rather than rely on imports from Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Cambodia and other countries,” he added.

Because of the very close relationship between the two countries and the presence of Filipino investors in the area, including processing and canning of tuna, it was decided, after consultations with top officials of the DA, that PNG is the more ideal country for the rice outsourcing program.

The DA said it is enthusiastic to establish a rice model farm equipped with modern farming technology in PNG to really help develop the country’s rice industry.Papua New Guinea is a country with 46 million hectares of arable land with only an eight million population and imports about 300,000-400,000 metric tons of rice every year, mostly from Australia. http://www.blackseagrain.net/novosti/agreement-allows-filipino-farmers-to-plant-rice-in-png FG distributes 135, 500 bags of rice to displaced persons in North-east

By NAN

19 February 2018   |   1:14 pm

IDPs camp

The Government of People’s Republic of China has donated 135, 500 bags of rice for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east region.

Mr Bashir Garga, National Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), made the disclosure in a statement on Monday in Maiduguri.

Garga said the commodity was donated to the Nigerian Government by the Government of People’s Republic of China, as part of its contribution to the humanitarian challenges in the north-east.

He said that 6, 779 tonnes of rice were supplied to the agency for onward distribution to displaced persons in the six states of the zone.

The zonal coordinator added that the agency had worked out effective modalities to facilitate smooth distribution exercise, expected to be completed by the end of February.

According to him, NEMA as the lead agency under the National Humanitarian Response Plan (NHRP), formally announced the delivery of first consignment of 6, 779 tonnes of rice.

“It is expected that the delivery of the 135, 500 bags to the displaced persons in the region will be completed on or before the end of February,” he said.

Garga, who commended the government`s efforts, added that the support would address the humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram insurgency.

He also said that the Federal Government has been distributing food items to persons displaced by the insurgency under its Emergency Food Intervention in North-East (EFINE) since June, 2017.

“It will be recalled that the government had distributed over 40, 000 tonnes of assorted of grain to displaced persons under the programme in the north-east.

“Food items are being distributed on monthly basis to deserving households at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, liberated and host communities.

https://guardian.ng/news/fg-distributes-135-500-bags-of-rice-to-displaced-persons-in-north-east/

Farmers, fish advocates team up to save the salmon

Jacob Katz, a senior scientist with Cal Trout, holds up a jar teeming with fish food. “The fatter these little fish get from the bugs produced on the rice fields, the better chance they have to survive the treacherous journey to the ocean and come back to the Sacramento Valley in three or four years as big adults,” he says. Courtesy photo

Scientists and Yolo County farmers using rice fields to grow food for endangered fish

By Nina Erlich-Williams

The winter-run Chinook salmon population continues to hover around historic lows in the Sacramento River, but Sacramento Valley farmers are working together with scientists to grow fish food on their rice fields in hopes of reversing this troubling trend.Scientists involved in the project highlighted plans and recent achievements Monday at Davis Ranches in Colusa as part of the annual “Bird Day” event, which celebrates efforts to provide habitat for native wildlife in concert with active rice-growing.

While farmers have been working for decades to aid bird populations, a new “Fins and Feathers” program is now working to create salmon habitat and fish food on these same farm fields.

The project — Fish Food on Floodplain Farm Fields — is a partnership among the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, Cal Trout, California rice farmers and water suppliers in Northern and Southern California. The group is using existing fields to “grow” tons of bugs that fish like salmon love to devour.

“We like to think of these bugs in the water as floating fillet for the salmon,” said Cal Trout senior scientist Jacob Katz. “The fatter these little fish get from the bugs produced on rice fields, the better chance they have to survive the treacherous journey to the ocean and come back to the Sacramento Valley in three or four years as big adults.”

In just its second year, the program is already yielding results that reveal great potential for increasing the amount of food available to fish populations, including endangered salmon and smelt.

“The amount of zooplankton and invertebrates (fish food) produced on the rice fields has far exceeded our expectations,” said Carson Jeffres, a researcher with the Center for Watershed Sciences. “We have great hope that this project will serve as a model that can be implemented at a larger scale in the near future.”

This is the latest effort tied to the Sacramento Valley Salmon Recovery Program, a collaborative effort of farmers, fisherman, conservationists, government agencies and water suppliers that aims to reverse the population decline of the winter-run Chinook salmon.

Recent surveys are startling, revealing that fewer than 2,000 fish are making the journey each winter from the San Francisco Bay to the upper channels of the Sacramento River. In the mid-1970s, those numbers totaled more than 25,000.

This isn’t the first time farmers in the Sacramento Valley have stepped up to implement large-scale conservation measures for wildlife. Starting the 1990s, farms like Davis Ranches and River Garden Farms in Knights Landing began working with bird conservation groups and government agencies to make their fields friendlier to ducks and geese.

That program, which saw farmers managing their lands to create winter wetland habitat by re-flooding their rice fields in fall and winter, helped fuel a recovery in native and migratory bird populations. Now, farmers are finding another use for their fields — feeding salmon.

“Fish food is made on the floodplain,” Katz said. “These farmers are essentially reconnecting this critical wetland energy source to the river channels where fish can make use of it.”

Added Roger Cornwell, manager of River Garden Farms, “By borrowing water from the river for a few weeks, and spreading it out over our fields, we are mimicking how water used to flow through the natural floodplain wetlands that once covered the valley floor. When we return the water to the river, it’s supercharged full of fish food.”

As shallow water sits in agricultural fields, microbes start to breakdown the plants that grew during the previous summer. These broad, shallow puddles also allow algae to flourish. Both the algae and the decomposing plant matter feed the bugs that are a primary food source for fish.

This effort is crucial because modern development has turned rivers into food deserts for fish. Since European settlement more than 95 percent of the Central valley’s historic floodplains have been cut off from the river by levees. Today, Central Valley rivers are too swift and deep to create the natural flow patterns that are conducive to producing food for fish.

“We all agree that fish need water. This project acknowledges that they also have to eat,” Katz said.

https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/farmers-fish-advocates-team-up-to-save-the-salmon/

Iraq makes no purchases yet in 30,000 T rice tender- trade

Iraq's state grains board is still considering offers for its international tender to buy at least 30,000 tonnes of rice.

Michael Hogan, Reuters News

HAMBURG- Iraq's state grains board is still considering offers for its international tender to buy at least 30,000 tonnes of rice and no purchase has been made yet, European traders said on Monday. The tender closed on Feb. 18 with offers valid until Feb. 22. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nD5N1N501M

Rice from Thailand was offered at the lowest price of a $464.95 a tonne c&f free out and rice from the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and India was also offered in the tender, traders said.The volume of the lowest offer was unclear but said to be at least 40,000 tonnes. Another offer for 40,000 tonnes of Thai rice was made at $474.50 a tonne c&f free out. One offer was made for 30,000 tonnes of rice from the United States at $739 a tonne c&f free out. Argentine rice was offered at $565 and $595 a tonne free out, each for 30,000 tonnes. Rice from Uruguay was offered at $590 c&f free out by two separate trading houses, both offering 30,000 tonnes and two offers of 30,000 tonnes of rice from Paraguay were offered at $570 and $572 a tonne c&f free out. Two offers were made for Indian rice at $560 and $565 a tonne c&f free out each for 40,000 tonnes. Volumes in Iraq's tenders are nominal and the country can buy more than requested in the tender. In its last reported tender Jan. 7, Iraq purchased around 30,000 tonnes from Argentina.

https://www.zawya.com/mena/en/story/Iraq_makes_no_purchases_yet_in_30000_T_rice_tender_trade-TR20180219nL8N1Q92DDX2/

Cambodian Rice Body Faces Own Shortcomings

February 19, 2018 1:20 AM

·       David Boyle

·       Sopheakpanha Nem

A Cambodian farmer ties a bundle of rice during the rice harvesting season in Trapaing Mean village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

PHNOM PENH — 

In a startlingly frank report last month, The Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) warned the country’s entire export market could be destroyed by the scourge of rice smuggling.The report, which detailed a laundry list of problems within the CRF itself and the sector as a whole, provides a window into the deep dysfunction and fragility of an industry that occupies a fundamentally central place in Cambodia’s society and economy.

The CRF was founded in 2014 to try and turbocharge a Cambodian rice industry that lagged far behind rivals Thailand and Vietnam in output.While exports rose in 2017 by 17.3 percent on the previous year to about 700,000 tons following a years long upward trend they remain far shy of Vietnam, which exported nearly 6 million tons and Thailand, which exported more than 11 million tons in the same period.

The reasons for this chronic inefficiency are myriad and complex, as the CRF report noted.It raised concerns over fake branding, price manipulation, disciplinary issues and conflicts of interest in the CRF board, a lack of credible data, favoritism, mistrust and the impact of “the prevailing pattern of land grabbing,” on farmers.

It also raised the topic of Vietnamese smuggling which, until recently, had been such a taboo subject that when a public spat erupted in 2013 over the scale of the problem, Cambodian officials came out in force to flatly deny the issue existed.In a departure from that tradition, the CRF pointedly raised the threat Vietnamese smuggling posed to WTO and ASEAN trade compliance rules and regulations in its report.

“Smuggling of milled rice from Vietnam hinders efforts to comply with the rules of origin, as there are complaints about re-exporting rice into a third country. This could cost Cambodia the entire export market,” the authors wrote.“After replacing foreign signs with domestic labels, traders distribute the smuggled rice countrywide, distorting competition and prices in the domestic market.”

FILE - Cambodian farmers plant rice on the dry earth in the rice paddy on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Rules of origin regulations vary among trading partners but the biggest concern by far for Cambodia would be if smuggling invalidated their preferential access to the EU market.In 2017, 43.54 percent of Cambodian rice exports went to the EU according to government figures.A European Commission spokesperson told VOA that “any allegations of wrongdoing involving a preferential market access scheme need of course to be taken very seriously.”

“When benefiting from the free access to the EU market under 'Everything But Arms' scheme, Cambodia has to ensure that the rice exported to the EU is fully homegrown,” the source said.“In this respect the Commission welcomed the adoption by Cambodia of Code of Conduct aiming at ensuring the integrity of rice exports to the EU.”

Code of conduct

In 2014 the CRF established a Cambodia Code of Conduct which barred firms from exporting rebranded cheap rice from neighboring countries and two years later claimed to be tightening border controls on illegal imports.The effectiveness of the implementation of the code though remains questionable.

CRF deputy president Seu Rany said the CRF did not have any hard statistics on the amount of Vietnamese rice being smuggled into the country but accepted it remained a serious problem.

Farmers collect rice in a rice paddy field in Kandal province, Cambodia, Feb. 11, 2015.

“The criminals who smuggle the rice do not tell us through which gateway they do it through so it’s all secret and shady,” he said.“CRF and related ministries are working on transactions in the rice market. This is a fly in the ointment because there are small-time rice smugglers on top of the bigger ones and this definitely strains the market.”

The rice federation board is dominated by wealthy and political connected tycoons at the top of the industry and is chaired by Sok Puthyvuth, the son of late Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and owner of one of the biggest rice export companies - SOMA group.

“Dominating members are accused of using CRF for their own benefit, discouraging the willingness of other members to pay membership fees or make other contribution or engagements,” was one of the 2017-2021 Strategic Plan’s findings.

“The consequence is that CRF per se is not a representative body for all stakeholders of the rice sector."Chhong Sophal, coordinating officer of an independent national network of farmers associations called Farmer and Nature Net, said one of the most important things the rice board would find rice farmers lacked was simply coordination.“The farmers just follow suit of other farmers. They do not have a contract with any company. Due to this, the merchants can manipulate the price.”

“If the farmers are able to get proper pricing, they will make profits of 2 million riels ($500) per hectare. If they plant on 1 to 1.5 hectares, their income will be even better.”

The report by the rice federation said the CRF secretariat appeared to be “confused between tasks involving the back and front offices,” the board members attended meetings based on whether or not their interests would be affected, and the body made “no clear effort to gather information about issues members are facing.”Rany, the board's deputy chairman, said change would take time.“CRF is a burgeoning institution, but the size of the work is enormous. Hence, our experience is somehow limited.”“It is best to sit down and talk out individual problems and solve them along the way. That way, the farmer will survive and so will the rice millers and exporters.”

https://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-rice-export/4260509.html

Agreement allows Filipino farmers to plant rice in PNG

An agreement with the Papua New Guinea government allowing Filipino rice farmers to plant rice in the 46-million hectare nation with a population of only 8 million will improve the rice industry in the Philippines, according to Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol. “The proposed project will not only ensure the Philippines of stable rice supply but will also employ thousands of rice farmers and agriculture graduates from the Philippines,” Piñol said. In a bilateral meeting with PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, President Rodrigo Duterte officially informed PNG officials that he will dispatch an agriculture delegation that Piñol will head to establish stronger agricultural and fisheries cooperation between the two countries.

President Duterte will visit PNG in November to attend the APEC Summit and witness a harvest in a rice demonstration farm. Initially, a team of 22 farmers will fly to PNG next month to start the development of a 100-hectare rice demonstration farm within a Seventh Day Adventist College compound in Port Moresby. Most of the farmers in the first group are Ilocanos and Ilonggos from North Cotabato who will receive an initial salary of P25,000 per month from a private company who will engage them. In line with the project, Piñol asked the International Rice Research Institute to set up a satellite office in PNG and recommended to the PNG government to set up an office, which will serve as the sole administrator for buying rice from local farmers and for setting prices. According to Piñol, this will be the third engagement between the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of PNG after a bilateral meeting between Duterte and O’Neil during the APEC Summit in Vietnam last year. In initial discussions, the proposed bilateral agreement involves allowing Filipino companies to lease PNG lands to plant rice to supply the national requirement of the country estimated to be 400,000 metric tons.

Any excess production could be shipped back to the Philippines as PNG rice exports or could be exported to other countries in the South Pacific that have already manifested their interest to buy PNG-produced rice. “I told President Duterte that even if the Philippines will achieve rice sufficiency by 2020 as projected by the DA, population growth will overtake the capacity to produce rice because of limited irrigated farm lands,” Pinol said. “The President was briefed that to prepare for the future, the Philippines must consider outsourcing its rice supply rather than rely on imports from Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Cambodia and other countries,” he added. Because of the very close relationship between the two countries and the presence of Filipino investors in the area, including processing and canning of tuna, it was decided, after consultations with top officials of the DA, that PNG is the more ideal country for the rice outsourcing program.

 The DA said it is enthusiastic to establish a rice model farm equipped with modern farming technology in PNG to really help develop the country’s rice industry. Papua New Guinea is a country with 46 million hectares of arable land with only an eight million population and imports about 300,000-400,000 metric tons of rice every year, mostly from Australia.

http://www.blackseagrain.net/novosti/agreement-allows-filipino-farmers-to-plant-rice-in-png Rice agriculture in Egypt - Photo by Hussein Tallal

Will reducing cultivated rice areas rationalize water?

By: Rehab Ismail

Sat, Feb. 17, 2018

CAIRO – 16 February 2018: The agricultural sector is considered one of the basic pillars to achieve economic and social development in Egypt, and rice is a key stable foodstuff for millions of Egyptians, but with the government’s new water strategy, thousands of rice feddans will be reduced.

Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty recently decided to reduce the rice agriculture area in Egypt from 1,700,000 feddans to 724,200 feddans (1 feddan = 1.038 acres) in order to rationalize water in Egypt.

The decision identified nine governorates to grow rice according to the relevant studies: Kafr El-Sheikh, Sharqia, Damietta, Dakahlia, Beheira, Alexandria, Ismailia, Port Said and Gharbia. The ministry stressed that those who do not comply with the decisions will be subject to penalties.


Rice agriculture in Egypt – Reuters

Egypt’s fare of water is 114 billion cubic meters from all different sources. There is a national strategy for water resources from 2017 to 2037, and one of its main pillars is to rationalize water use by reducing the water consuming crops, Ministry of Irrigation spokesperson Hossam el-Emam told the “Ra’ay Aam” (Public Opinion) TV show on January 27.

The majority of rice is grown under irrigated conditions in which the fields are flooded from planting to harvest. Because of this flooding, rice is said to use a lot of water, about two and a half times the amount of water needed to grow a crop of wheat or maize, according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

On the other hand, some experts expect that reducing the rice cultivated areas will lead to a decrease in production, decrease the quantities offered in the markets and lead to higher prices and a trend towards imports to cover the needs of the local market to insure food security.


Rice agriculture in Egypt – File photo

The start of determining rice cultivated areas 

This leads us to search for the nature of the laws governing rice cultivation in Egypt. This is what Dr. Mohamed Nasr El Din Allam, professor of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and former minister of irrigation, answers in a book published in 2001 with a group of researchers, titled “Water and Agricultural lands in Egypt past and present”.

Law No. 71 for year 1953 regulates rice cultivation, giving the Ministry of Irrigation the authority to identify rice growing areas and to sign a fine of LE 25-30 ($1.42-1.70) per feddan on the area that violates the decision, Allam said.

Then Law No. 31 for year 1961 was issued, which stipulates that the minister of irrigation shall determine the areas of rice cultivation and determine the percentage of rice cultivation in each area, and to raise the fines paid for violating that law to LE 35-50.
According to Allam, the total area planned for rice cultivation after the construction of the high dam was about 700,000 feddans, and there was no significant increase until 1988, as the planted areas were less than one million feddans. In Egypt, rice used to be planted in coastal areas to reduce sea water intrusion with the underground water stock in the Delta region.

Along with the liberalization of the prices of agricultural crops, rice became one of the most profitable crops for farmers. The cultivated area increased gradually to 1.3 million feddans in 1992 and 1.6 million feddans in 1997, Allam added.


Crop area for rice in Egypt 2002-2015 CC CAPMAS

The highest cropped area for rice was 1.8 million feddans in 2007/2008, and then the area wasn’t stable in the following years, reaching its lowest in 2015 at 1.2 million feddans, according to the Central Agency for Capital Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). The highest rice production through the past 10 years was in in 2007/2008, as it reached 7.3 million tons, while the lowest was in 2010.



Rice production in Egypt cc CAPMAS

The highest rice production through the past 10 years was in 2007/2008, as it reached 7.3 million tons, while the lowest was in 2010, as it reached only 4.3 million tons, and Egypt’s rice self sufficient reaches 100.4%, according to CAPMAS.



Geographical Distribution for Rice Production in Egypt (CAPMAS)

According to CAPMAS, the five highest areas in producing rice in the year 2014/2015 are Dakahlia governorate, producing 1.7 million tons; Kafr el-Sheikh with 1.1 million tons; Sharqia with 0.9 million tons; Beheira with 0.6 million tons; and Gharbia with 0.4 million tons.



Governorates Distribution on Map for rice production –Year 2014/2015 – CAPMAS

The cultivation of rice acres consumes around 6,000 cubic meters of water per year. The area of cultivated rice in Egypt is about 9 billion cubic meters of water per year of Egypt's share of Nile water of 55 billion cubic meters. But rice is not the most water-consuming, as banana uses three times the amount of water consumed by the acres of rice, so more solutions should be seen instead of reducing the areas of rice, which is threatening thousands of farmers in the Delta, said Gamal Syam, professor at the Faculty of Agriculture.


More ways to reduce water consumed by rice 

The Ministry of Agriculture has identified 53 varieties of some varieties of strategic water-saving crops that are adapted to the different environmental and climatic conditions, focusing on breeding during the coming period, which included seven varieties of rice.

These varieties give high productivity, resistance to disease, and adapt to various water and climatic conditions, as well as short life in the soil, to achieve high efficiency in the use of irrigation water and a major rational in consumption, which provides water quantities that can be used for cultivation and other crops.

The head of the farmers syndicate, Hussein Abu Sadam, criticized the way of rationalizing water by reducing the area of cultivated rice, saying, “Egypt is still growing enough quantities of domestic consumption and surplus for export, after wheat, cotton and reed crops have declined. Rice is also the most profitable crop for Delta farmers under the low profitability of vegetables.”

Sadam suggested using modern irrigation methods and cultivating non-irrigated rice strains, also announcing clear policy for the Ministry of Agriculture to determine the land where rice will be grown or not.



A general view of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam, as it undergoes construction, is seen during a media tour along the river Nile in Benishangul Gumuz Region, Guba Woreda, in Ethiopia March 31, 2015. Picture taken March 31, 2015 - REUTER/Tiksa Negeri

At the same time, Egypt is negotiating with the African front to guarantee its rights in Nile water amid establishing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Recently a tripartite summit occurred between Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and resigned Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at Sisi's presidential residence in Addis Ababa during the African Union (AU)’s 30th summit.

The three countries affirmed an agreement on a single vision based on the Declaration of Principles signed in Khartoum and raising the no-harm principle of the three countries’ interests.


Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi (R), Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (C) and Sudanese counterpart, Omar Hassan al-Bashir (L) during a tripartite summit at the AU's 30th summit on January 29, 2018 – Press photo

They agreed to hold a joint meeting between the ministers of irrigation and foreign affairs of the three countries and the National Tripartite Commission, then raise a final report in a month that includes a solution to all pending technical issues. They also agreed to exchange technical information and studies between the three countries.

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/43088/Will-reducing-cultivated-rice-areas-rationalize-water

Iran to restrict rice planting due to water scarcity

Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-18 02:10:43|Editor: yan

TEHRAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian government intends to restrict rice planting in areas where underground water is at alarming levels, Financial Tribune daily reported Saturday.

Water shortage will negatively impact the spring cultivation of agricultural products, the daily cited Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian as saying.

Farmers in some of the northern cities are advised to opt for the cultivation of oilseeds or fodder instead of rice, said Delavar Heydarpour, the head of Jihad Organization Mazandaran Agricultural.

Water reserves behind northern Mazandaran Province's dams have decreased by an average of 40 percent year-on-year since March 21, the beginning of the current Iranian year, he added.

About 92 percent of Iran's water resources are used up by unsustainable and wasteful farming practices, the daily reported.

Located in one of the world's most water-stressed regions, Iran's average precipitation rate has been lower than the global average for at least 10 years. Some 37 million Iranians are said to be living in water-stressed areas.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/18/c_136982280.htm

Azerbaijan to fully provide itself with rice - minister

17 February 2018 17:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijan will be able to fully provide itself with rice by 2025, Agriculture Minister Heydar Asadov said Feb. 17 at an expanded meeting of the ministry’s board.Presently, Azerbaijan’s annual demand in rice is 40,000 tons, he added.

“Last year, we spent $36 million on rice imports,” Asadov said. The harvest of rice is planned to be increased to 40,000 tons per year in Azerbaijan, according to the State Program for Rice-growing Development in Azerbaijan in 2018-2025, recently approved by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

According to the program, the area for rice planting is planned to be increased to 10,000 hectares, and the productivity up to 40 centners per hectare in Azerbaijan.

The program says that in 2016, the planting area for rice was 2,500 hectares and the harvest amounted to 5,600 tons in the country. In 2017, the sown area was increased to 5,100 hectares, and harvesting – to 15,900 tons. The productivity totaled 31.1 centners per hectare.

The state program’s implementation will increase the rice harvest by more than 2.5 times by 2025.

https://www.azernews.az/business/127379.html

No cheap rice in local market

NFA says imports will start arriving in June or JulyBy Karl R. Ocampo

Philippine Daily Inquirer

February 19, 2018 at 5:08 am

Despite receiving the go-ahead to import, the state-owned National Food Authority (NFA) said consumers have to buy commercial rice in the next few months as the shipments of the low-priced staple were expected to arrive by June or July.
The grains agency also decried accusations that it was in collusion with a syndicate or the so-called “rice cartel,” causing the NFA’s buffer stock shortage.
“The NFA’s buffer stock is on the road to depletion and that means our poor countrymen won’t be able to enjoy the availability and affordability of NFA rice in the next few months,” NFA Administrator Jason Aquino said.
“It is highly lamentable that some individuals or groups would rather find fault elsewhere, rather than help in finding solutions to the problem of low government food security stocks so we could immediately bring back to the markets affordable NFA rice for the masses,” he added.
According to Aquino, the possibility of an NFA shortage had been anticipated by the agency’s management as early as the last quarter of 2017, “that’s why a request for rice importation was submitted to the [policy-making] NFA Council in October to immediately replenish dwindling government buffer stocks.”
For 2017, the NFA Council allowed 250,000 metric tons (MT) of rice importation, the balance of the 500,000 MT earlier approved for 2016. The volume was good to last for seven to eight days based on the national daily consumption requirement of 32,000 MT, or still below the required 15-day buffer stock.
“NFA’s local palay procurement was likewise very low given the big difference in the agency’s palay support price of P17 per kilo versus private traders’ price of P18 to P22 per kilo,” NFA said in a statement.
The Department of Agriculture, the NFA, President Duterte and other industry groups have been calling for an increase in the grains agency’s buying price for palay.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol suggested an increase of P3 while the NFA had wanted it raised by P5 a kilo.
With the NFA’s low buying price, it is forced to resort to importation to maintain its required inventory and ensure stable supply and prices of the staple despite the local rice sector’s record harvest last year.

http://m.inquirer.net/business/246198

On Rice Import Polemic, President Asked to Evaluate Performance of Agriculture Ministry

Monday, 19 February 2018 | 09:48 WIB

 

Illustration: Rice production.

JAKARTA, NNC - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was asked to evaluate the performance of the Ministry of Agriculture related to polemic on rice import which must be done due to the absence of adequate production data.

"In fact, we need accurate and valid information related to the availability of rice. It must be accurate, otherwise, the performance is poor," said Director of Center for Budget Analysis Uchok Sky Khadafi in a statement in Jakarta on Monday (2/19/2018).

The issue of rice import is also followed by self-sufficiency claims and the procurement of land and seeds that are not as expected because of inadequate coordination.

Uchok saw there is no program from Ministry of Agriculture that goes well, because it is not realized in accordance with the target and goal to prosper farmers. "The Agriculture Ministry also needs to clarify the issue of procurement of seeds, land and pesticides in accordance to the audit of BPK [Supreme Audit Agency]. BPK should take [the matter] to legal domain if not addressed," Uchok said.

The government has decided to import rice in the beginning of this year by 500 thousand tons. The rice will be used as government reserve as well as for stabilizing the price in the market. Imports are carried out by Logistics Agency (Bulog).

http://www.en.netralnews.com/news/business/read/18543/on.rice.import.polemic..president.asked.to.evaluate.performance.of.agriculture.ministry

Thai government advises farmers not to raise rice production

VNA MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2018 - 16:33:00

A Thai farmer harvests rice (Photo: Thai Visa)

Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai government has recommended farmers not to increase rice production despite rising prices.

Data from the Thai Ministry of Commerce show that prices of Thai rice have risen significantly, especially Hom Mali rice which is now sold at 17,000 THB (543 USD) per tonne – the highest in five year.The increase in rice prices can be attributed to a lower supply, following recent natural disasters, amid increasing export demand.

The country shipped 1.2 million tonnes of milled rice, up 16.5 percent year on year, worth 578 million USD in January.The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) forecasts the export volume at 9.5 million tonnes of milled rice this year, easing from a record high of 11.6 million tonnes in 2017 due to the strong THB.

TREA President Charoen Laothammatas also attributed the prediction to low rice stockpiles and a decline in the Hom Mali rice output due to unfavourable weather conditions.The Agriculture Ministry forecasts rice production for the 2018 season at 30 million tonnes of paddy rice or 22-23 million tonnes of milled rice, similar to last season. Milled Hom Mali rice output is forecast at about 7 million tonnes.-VNA

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/thai-government-advises-farmers-not-to-raise-rice-production/126701.vnp

Rice Prices

as on : 19-02-2018 12:08:50 PM

Arrivals in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.

	Arrivals			Price
	Current	% change	Season cumulative	Modal	Prev. Modal	Prev.Yr %change
Rice
Bindki(UP)	900.00	28.57	13108.00	2220	2220	-
Ballia(UP)	180.00	12.5	2380.00	2130	2150	NC
Gondal(UP)	135.00	-16.15	3309.50	2150	2170	-2.27
Asansol(WB)	130.00	NC	3803.00	2550	2550	-4.85
Durgapur(WB)	130.00	NC	3817.00	2550	2550	-4.49
Akbarpur(UP)	65.00	-16.13	1865.50	2180	2190	-0.23
Gauripur(ASM)	50.00	11.11	874.00	4500	4500	NC
Kaliaganj(WB)	30.00	NC	120.00	3250	3200	27.45
Kayamganj(UP)	14.00	-6.67	279.00	2290	2250	-
Paliakala(UP)	13.00	44.44	687.80	2180	2170	-
Mirzapur(UP)	11.50	-4.17	103.50	2130	2135	-
Vilthararoad(UP)	10.00	NC	510.00	2080	2080	-
North Lakhimpur(ASM)	5.30	10.42	198.90	2600	2600	36.84
Tundla(UP)	3.80	111.11	42.40	2510	2515	-
Bonai(Bonai)(Ori)	2.50	-16.67	35.40	2800	2800	12.00
Dibrugarh(ASM)	2.20	-58.49	202.50	2400	2400	6.67
Darjeeling(WB)	1.20	20	25.70	2950	2950	NC

Published on February 19, 2018

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/rice-prices/article22795301.ece

7,400-year-old rice grains discovered in central China

    1

2018-02-19 16:06XinhuaEditor: Li YahuiECNS App Download

New archaeological discoveries show that people in central China were already eating rice more than 7,000 years ago.Three carbonized rice grains have been identified at the Gaomiao relics site in a village near Hongjiang in central China's Hunan Province.The grains were discovered in a stratum that dates back as early as 7,400 years ago, and a starch granule were also found on the millstone from the same time, said He Gang, a researcher with the Hunan Institute of Archaeology.

"Rice had become a major food source for local residents. We believe it is the earliest rice cultural remains known in western Hunan," He said.The Gaomiao relics site was found in 1986. Three archaeological excavations were carried out in 1991, 2004, and 2005.X A large amount of freshwater snails, shells, bones of dozens of animals including deer, pigs, cattle, bears, elephants, and rhinoceros were excavated, along with China's oldest white pottery, decorated with the patterns of phoenix and eight-pointed stars.

Iraq makes no purchases yet in 30,000 T rice tender- trade

 19 FEBRUARY, 2018

Iraq's state grains board is still considering offers for its international tender to buy at least 30,000 tonnes of rice.

Michael Hogan, Reuters News

HAMBURG- Iraq's state grains board is still considering offers for its international tender to buy at least 30,000 tonnes of rice and no purchase has been made yet, European traders said on Monday.

The tender closed on Feb. 18 with offers valid until Feb. 22. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nD5N1N501M

Rice from Thailand was offered at the lowest price of a $464.95 a tonne c&f free out and rice from the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and India was also offered in the tender, traders said.The volume of the lowest offer was unclear but said to be at least 40,000 tonnes. Another offer for 40,000 tonnes of Thai rice was made at $474.50 a tonne c&f free out.

One offer was made for 30,000 tonnes of rice from the United States at $739 a tonne c&f free out.

Argentine rice was offered at $565 and $595 a tonne free out, each for 30,000 tonnes.

Rice from Uruguay was offered at $590 c&f free out by two separate trading houses, both offering 30,000 tonnes and two offers of 30,000 tonnes of rice from Paraguay were offered at $570 and $572 a tonne c&f free out.Two offers were made for Indian rice at $560 and $565 a tonne c&f free out each for 40,000 tonnes.

Volumes in Iraq's tenders are nominal and the country can buy more than requested in the tender. In its last reported tender Jan. 7, Iraq purchased around 30,000 tonnes from Argentina. 

(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by Jane Merriman) ((michael.j.hogan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 40 419 03 4275; Reuters Messaging: michael.hogan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

https://www.zawya.com/mena/en/story/Iraq_makes_no_purchases_yet_in_30000_T_rice_tender_trade-TR20180219nL8N1Q92DDX2/