Ancient algae found deep in tropical glacier
Jun 10, 2015
The remains of tiny creatures found deep inside a mountaintop
glacier in Peru are clues to the local landscape more than a millennium ago,
according to a new study by Rice University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
and Ohio State University. The unexpected discovery of diatoms, a type of
algae, in ice cores pulled from the Quelccaya Summit Dome Glacier demonstrate
that freshwater lakes or wetlands that currently exist at high elevations on or
near the mountain were also there in earlier times. The abundant organisms
would likely have been transported in air currents to the glacier, where they
were deposited on its surface, dead or alive, and ultimately became frozen
within the glacial ice and persisted there for hundreds of years.The study is
the first to show the presence of diatoms in glacial ice from tropical regions.
The diatoms offer useful information about conditions in and around the Andes
when they were deposited on the ice.
The paper is the result of a unique collaboration among Rice
chemists Ed Billups and Bruce Brinson, Ohio State climatologist Lonnie Thompson
and lead author Sherilyn Fritz, a geoscientist at Nebraska. It appears this
week in Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, a journal published by the
University of Colorado-Boulder.Of the four scientists, Billups, Brinson and
even Thompson had something in common with the focus of their study: They were
all, figuratively, fish out of water."I was the lucky latecomer to the group,"
said Fritz, who studies diatoms from cores she and her students drill from
South American lakebeds. "It's only because Bruce was so observant and
curious and did such a nice job on documenting the diatoms that it happened at
all."Over a long and storied career, Thompson has collected ice cores from
many of the world's hard-to-reach locations, including Quelccaya in 2003. The
cores contain a climate record that spans millennia, but Thompson's ability to
pull hard data from his samples was complicated by the sheer number he had
preserved.
Thompson said the first record of diatoms in tropical glaciers
"points to the potential of these archives for investigating how not just
diatoms but other life forms such as ancient microbes survived, thrived and
evolved under extreme conditions and under very different climatic
regimes."The collaboration began when Thompson visited Rice for a
conference and struck up a conversation with Billups, with whom he shares West
Virginia roots. "We got to talking," said Billups of their first
encounter. "He knew we were working on carbon materials and said, 'You
know, sometimes my ice is black, and I think that's carbon.'" Billups,
whose wide-ranging research includes the study of all forms of carbon,
suspected wind currents carried fullerenes from forest fires to the mountaintop
and offered to have a look.Thompson sent ice core filtrates in silica filter
paper that preserved the contents of water from three layers corresponding to
the years 1161 to 1176, 807 to 837 and 460 to 511 A.D.
(The earliest samples tested for the study were from about 540
feet below the surface of the 18,000-foot mountain.) "When I looked at the
samples, I thought, 'Whatever are we going to do with these?'" Billups
recalled."We realized they weren't appropriate for searching for
fullerenes," said Brinson, a Rice research scientist.Brinson looked at the
samples through a Rice electron microscope and quickly recognized their
significance. Rather than fullerenes, they contained what the paper described
as "a serendipitous byproduct": an abundance of diatoms, the study of
which is generally well outside the realm of either chemists or
glaciologists."When we saw the first diatom and realized it possessed
periodic nanoscale structure, we knew we were documenting irreplaceable
snapshots in archeological time and space," Brinson said.
"Thompson was very excited about this," Billups said.
"Diatoms are found in Arctic and Antarctic ice, but he said nobody's ever
found them in equatorial glaciers."Brinson hit the books and identified
many of the diatoms, which ranged in size from a few to 70 microns in length.
"I don't have a biological background, but I knew they were unique,"
he said. He also realized the team needed a specialist.Thompson, who knew of
Fritz's work in South America, suggested they enlist her."There are
diatoms in dust that is transported globally, and people have found them in
glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland, so my first thought was they'd be like
those," Fritz said. "But these are beautifully preserved, and most of
the ecology we know about indicates they're not from global diatom dust
sources.
"Fritz said the diatoms' excellent condition suggested they
hadn't traveled far. Most but not all of them are species you would find in
very dilute freshwater, either lakes or wetlands, and there are lots of those
in the tropical Andes at varied elevations," she said. The presence of
Volvox, green algae found in the two older samples, confirmed the diatoms'
freshwater source.The study has Fritz thinking about gathering diatoms from
lakes near the ice cap to see how diatom populations have changed over the
centuries. "I've contemplated doing some more sampling, just because it's
an interesting question," she said. She does plan to have her students take
a closer look at the original samples, which Brinson sent her, "to do some
quantitative counts, just to get a better sense of the relative abundance of
things."
The researchers wrote that continuing study of diatoms in relation
to other materials found in the ice core record could provide valuable
information about local or even global environmental change."I'm convinced
there's no end to what you can find in these glaciers," Billups
said."One thing is clear," Thompson said. "The greatest
scientific progress going forward will be made with increased collaboration
among many different disciplines. Unfortunately, these valuable ice archives of
our past are rapidly disappearing under the present climate conditions."
By Mike Williams
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/yournews/61487
Pricey Loans to Blame for Slow Rice Exports: National Bank
The high-interest loans that banks offer to rice millers will
likely contribute to the country’s failure to meet its goal of exporting 1
million tons of the crop by the end of the year, the head of the National Bank
of Cambodia said Tuesday.Speaking during an investment luncheon at the Raffles
Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, National Bank Director-General Chea Serey said
the inability of millers to access funds means they cannot buy paddy to process
for export.“A lot of our rice millers face difficulties in getting loans from
the banks because the banks ask the millers to use their land as collateral,”
Ms. Serey said. “But the millers say they don’t have land to use as collateral
because they just rent or lease it.”
Banks, meanwhile, charge exceptionally high interest rates because
they consider lending to millers to be high risk, she said.Lun Yeng,
secretary-general of the Cambodia Rice Federation, which represents the
country’s rice milling and export associations, said banks typically charge
between 10 and 12 percent for loans greater than $50,000 and at least 7 percent
for loans of $1 million or more. For loans of less than $30,000, microfinance
institutions usually charge between 2 and 2.5 percent.“The point is that
millers need revolving funds when they need to buy rice paddy from farmers,
while payments from exporters are generally late and their [millers’]
collateral is placed at banks at the time they borrowed the money,” he
said.Millers also need the money to purchase milling machines and build
warehouses, he added.
According to Mr. Yeng, rice exports increased by 64 percent in the
first five months of the year, compared to the same period last year, totaling
243,025 tons.“The increase in rice exports is because rice was exported to
China a lot after a deal was made for Cambodia to supply 100,000 [tons] to the
country,” he said.
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/pricey-loans-to-blame-for-slow-rice-exports-national-bank-85299/
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- Jun 10
Nagpur, June 10 Gram and tuar prices moved down in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and
Marketing Committee (APMC) here on poor buying support from local millers amid poor quality
arrival. Fresh fall on NCDEX, easy condition in Madhya Pradesh pulses and increased arrival from
producing regions also pushed down prices, according to sources.
* * * *
FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Desi gram raw recovered in open market on renewed demand from local traders. Fresh
enquiries from South-based plants also boosted prices.
TUAR
* Tuar black reported strong in open market here on good demand from local traders
amid weak supply from producing regions.
* Major wheat varieties moved down in open market on lack of demand from local traders
amid increased supply from producing regions like Punjab and Haryana.
* In Akola, Tuar - 7,300-7,700, Tuar dal - 10,100-10,500, Udid at 9,100-9,600,
Udid Mogar (clean) - 10,700-11,100, Moong - 9,000-9,200, Moong Mogar
(clean) 10,700-11,100, Gram - 4,200-4,500, Gram Super best bold - 6,100-6,300
for 100 kg.
* Rice and other commodities remained steady in open market in poor trading
activity, according to sources.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,600-4,480 3,500-4,530
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 6,000-7,390 6,000-7,480
Moong Auction n.a. 6,000-6,300
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Gram Super Best Bold 6,200-6,500 6,200-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.
Gram Mill Quality 5,500-5,650 5,500-5,650
Desi gram Raw 4,550-4,650 4,500-4,600
Gram Filter new 6,000-6,100 6,000-6,100
Gram Kabuli 5,400-6,900 5,400-6,900
Gram Pink 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600
Tuar Fataka Best 10,500-10,800 10,500-10,800
Tuar Fataka Medium 9,900-10,300 9,900-10,300
Tuar Dal Best Phod 9,500-9,700 9,500-9,700
Tuar Dal Medium phod 8,800-9,300 8,800-9,300
Tuar Gavarani New 7,400-7,500 7,400-7,500
Tuar Karnataka 8,000-8,100 8,000-8,100
Tuar Black 11,000-11,300 10,900-11,200
Masoor dal best 8,000-8,200 8,000-8,200
Masoor dal medium 7,500-7,900 7,500-7,900
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold 10,800-11,000 10,800-11,000
Moong Mogar Medium best 10,000-10,500 10,000-10,500
Moong dal Chilka 9,500-9,800 9,500-9,800
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 9,600-9,900 9,600-9,900
Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 11,400-11,700 11,400-11,700
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 10,500-10,800 10,500-10,800
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 8,800-9,100 8,800-9,100
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,200-4,400 4,200-4,400
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 3,300-3,350 3,300-3,350
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,500 3,400-3,500
Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,150 3,100-3,150
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 3,600-4,500 3,600-4,500
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,600 1,400-1,600
Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,550-1,650 1,550-1,750
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,600 1,400-1,600
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,400 2,200-2,450
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,100 1,900-2,150
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,600 3,100-3,700
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-2,900 2,800-3,000
Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,500 1,400-1,500
Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,100 2,000-2,200
Rice BPT New(100 INR/KG) 2,700-2,850 2,700-2,850
Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,200 3,000-3,200
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,850 1,600-1,850
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,450 2,100-2,450
Rice Swarna old (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,800 2,500-2,800
Rice HMT new(100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,600 3,100-3,600
Rice HMT (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,200 3,800-4,200
Rice HMT Shriram New(100 INR/KG) 4,100-4,500 4,100-4,500
Rice HMT Shriram old (100 INR/KG) 4,500-5,000 4,500-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,200-10,200 8,200-10,200
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 6,000-7,200 6,000-7,200
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 4,700-4,900 4,700-4,900
Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,000 5,500-6,000
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,450 2,200-2,450
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,600 2,500-2,600
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 41.0 degree Celsius (105.9 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.
29.4 degree Celsius (84.9 degree Fahrenheit)
Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a.
Rainfall : nil
FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Rains or thunder-showers likely towards evening or night. Maximumand minimum temperature would be around and 43 and 29 degree Celsius respectively.
Note: n.a.--not available
(For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/nagpur-foodgrain-idINL3N0YW3MJ20150610
NFA-2 assures enough rice supply
June 10, 2015 By Merlito G. Edale Jr.
SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela, June 8 (PIA) - - The National Food
Authority (NFA) here has assured the public of stable rice supply for the
coming lean months.Mario Gonzales, regional director, said they have enough
buffer stock of rice amid concerns that price of the staple food will increase
as the lean harvest season starts in July.“Our rice stocks are enough for local
consumers for three months and are enough to stabilize any prize hike in the
market,” he said.He added that NFA accredited rice outlets regionwide have also
enough rice supply, making rice more affordable for consumers at P27 per kilo
for regular milled-rice while P32 per kilo for the well-milled rice.Gonzales
urged the public not to waste food especially rice at this time. (ALM/MGE/PIA-2
Isabela)
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/481433730841/nfa-2-assures-enough-rice-supply#sthash.XvvGrUeC.dpuf
Rice crop takes big hit, down
175K acres
Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 12:10 am | Updated: 9:21 am, Wed Jun 10, 2015.
About 175,000 acres of rice land is going unplanted this year due
to the drought, according to the California Rice Commission.In all, an
estimated 375,000 acres will produce the lowest planting since 1991 for the $1
billion industry. The impact will reverberate through local economies and
wildlife habitat.This year's estimate represents a 31 percent reduction in
acreage, surpassing the 2014 crop that was down 21 percent from the 550,000
acres usually planted in the Sacramento Valley.The estimate is based on a
survey of seed sales and is lower than a U.S. Department of Agriculture
prospective plantings survey from early March, which put the estimated 2015
rice crop at 408,000 acres.
"The crop might be more than 375,000 acres, but it won't be
what it was last year," said Tim Johnson, president and CEO of the Rice
Commission.The reduction in the crop could have an economic impact of up to
$300 million in lost value, said Eric Houk, an agricultural and nature resource
economist and professor at California State University, Chico.The reduction in
acreage also sharpens anxiety regarding the amount of habitat that will be
available to the 5 million to 7 million ducks and geese that migrate into the
Sacramento Valley in the winter."We count on flooded acres of rice for
habitat," said Mark Biddlecomb, executive director of the western region
of Ducks Unlimited. "If we don't have flooded fields, it could lead to
disease outbreaks."
Farmers on ‘pins and needles’ about water supply
Rice farmers along the Sacramento River are suddenly uncertain
about their water supply after the revelation earlier this month that
temperatures in Shasta Lake are higher than expected.
Now, those farmers nervously await word from the State Water
Resources Control Board and the Bureau of Reclamation about how those higher
temperatures, which are harmful to the federally protected winter-run salmon,
could impact their diversions from the river."
We're on pins and needles," said Sean Doherty, a local rice
farmer. "I don't know what will happen, and that's the worst part: We're
just sitting in limbo."The order from Tom Howard, executive director of the
water board, called for a delay in increases to the releases from Keswick Dam
and expires today.But there has been no word of a new operations plan for
releases from Shasta Lake, and farmers are looking at the possibility of
another extension of the order curtailing flows in the Sacramento River, said
Lewis Bair, general manager of Reclamation District 108."We told agency
folks that their decisions could kill crops and prevent water from being
transferred. Let's hope they listen," Bair said.
— Andrew Creasey
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/rice-crop-takes-big-hit-down-k-acres/article_033d7c3e-0f3c-11e5-abba-1f705c077342.html
Sacramento Valley Rice Growers in Survival Mode
SACRAMENTO COUNTY-
Rice growers in the Sacramento Valley just north of
Sacramento say the drought has forced them to cut down the size of their
crops.“I’ve left out 150 acres of rice out of 600 acres…it’s pretty much
survival mode,” said Natomas Basin rice grower Mike Daddow.The California Rice
Commission says about 370,000 acres was planted this year, down from
500,00 acres, which is a 32 percent reduction.“For my employees, it
is a reduction of not only time of employment for part-time people but
over-time, which really affects them,” Daddow said.Chico State Agribusiness
professor Eric Houk says less income not only affects rice related business but
other segments of the economy in the Northern California.
“As we see lower incomes and less employment
opportunities, those individuals will reduce their spending in the economy, as
well,” Houk said.Surveys show that most Californians believe that farmers use
more than their fair share of water. That may be especially true of rice
growers who must flood their fields to plant their crop.But growers like Sean
Doherty, who farms rice near Knight’s Landing, says the heavy clay soil in the
valley means water doesn’t soak down into the ground.
Instead the water in rice fields, which averages
five inches in depth, can be recycled from field to field. At the end of
the season it drains back into the Sacramento River.“Water that gets used at
the top of the valley will actually be reused three or four times
going down through the river,” Doherty said.He says rice uses less water to
produce than broccoli and carrots. Still growers have fought the perception
battle all during the drought. Right now, they are also treading water
business-wise.“You won’t make any money, hopefully if everything goes right,
you won’t lose any money, and it’s as if the year never happened,” Doherty
said.Daddow does worry that a smaller crop will force buyers to
get rice from other producers, and he says it’s tough to attract customers once
you have lost them.
Vietnam cuts export price floor of 25% broken rice by 2.9% to $340
tonne
HANOI: Vietnam has cut the export price floor for the 25 percent
broken rice by 2.9 percent to $340 a tonne, an industry body said, after the
country submitted the lowest price in a rice tender in the Philippines.The new
floor came into effect on Monday, the Vietnam Food Association said in a
statement seen by Reuters.The Philippines agreed to buy 150,000 tonnes from
Vietnam in a tender on Friday and could import additional volumes to avert a
potential spike in prices of the staple if adverse weather threatens the local
crop.Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rice exporter after India and Thailand,
had raised the price floor to $350 a tonne on June 1 before the tender.
http://www.customstoday.com.pk/vietnam-cuts-export-price-floor-of-25-broken-rice-by-2-9-to-340-tonne-2/
Pricey Loans to Blame for Slow Rice Exports: National Bank
The high-interest loans that banks offer to rice millers will
likely contribute to the country’s failure to meet its goal of exporting 1
million tons of the crop by the end of the year, the head of the National Bank
of Cambodia said Tuesday.Speaking during an investment luncheon at the Raffles
Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, National Bank Director-General Chea Serey said
the inability of millers to access funds means they cannot buy paddy to process
for export.“A lot of our rice millers face difficulties in getting loans from
the banks because the banks ask the millers to use their land as collateral,”
Ms. Serey said.
“But the millers say they
don’t have land to use as collateral because they just rent or lease it.”Banks,
meanwhile, charge exceptionally high interest rates because they consider
lending to millers to be high risk, she said.Lun Yeng, secretary-general of the
Cambodia Rice Federation, which represents the country’s rice milling and
export associations, said banks typically charge between 10 and 12 percent for
loans greater than $50,000 and at least 7 percent for loans of $1 million or
more. For loans of less than $30,000, microfinance institutions usually charge
between 2 and 2.5 percent.
“The point is that millers need revolving funds when they need to
buy rice paddy from farmers, while payments from exporters are generally late
and their [millers’] collateral is placed at banks at the time they borrowed
the money,” he said.Millers also need the money to purchase milling machines
and build warehouses, he added.According to Mr. Yeng, rice exports increased by
64 percent in the first five months of the year, compared to the same period
last year, totaling 243,025 tons.“The increase in rice exports is because rice
was exported to China a lot after a deal was made for Cambodia to supply
100,000 [tons] to the country,” he said.
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/pricey-loans-to-blame-for-slow-rice-exports-national-bank-85299/
FCI still bogged down by excess buffer stocks of
rice, wheat
On June 1,
food grain stocks with the Food Corporation of India usually reach the year’s
peak.
On June 1, food grain stocks with the Food Corporation of India
(FCI) usually reach the year’s peak. This year too they had, but the stocks
were still at their lowest level compared to the corresponding periods in the
last five years.The FCI had more than 61.8 million tonne (mt) of grains
on June 1, mostly consisting of rice and wheat. This was still way
above strategic reserve norm of 41.1 mt.
The FCI’s grain stocks have dropped to the current level from
the record high of 82.4 mt reported in June 2012.After FCI
virtually winded up wheat procurement drive for the current marketing season by
purchasing more than 27 mt from the farmers in the last two months or so, the
stock levels have gone up to more than 40 mt at the start of this month, though
as per buffer norms, it should have a wheat stock of 27.5 mt onJuly 1.Sources
told FE that while the government has continued with the Open Market Sale
Scheme (OMSS) for wheat in non-procuring states after April 1, the
response has not been encouraging so far. Only 14,300 tonne of wheat has been
sold to bulk buyers under OMSS through weekly auctions since April 2015.
In the case of rice, the government agency has stock of
22.6 mt of grain which included rice yet to be received from miller. The buffer
stocks norm for July 1 prescribes a rice of stock of 13.5 mt.For the
first time since the government launched open market sale of rice in April,
only 7,300 tonne of rice has been purchased by grian traders and bulk
buyers so far.The High-Level Committee (HLC) for FCI restructuring chaired by
former food minister Shanta Kumar in its report earlier this year had observed
‘during the last five years, on an average, buffer stocks with FCI have been
more than double the buffer stocking norms, costing the nation thousands of
crores of rupees loss without any worthwhile purpose being served.”HLC had
stated that the current system is extremely ad-hoc, slow and expensive. “A
transparent liquidation policy is the need of hour, which should automatically
kick in when FCI is faced with surplus stocks than buffer norms.Greater flexibility
to FCI with business orientation to operate in OMSS and export markets is
needed,” the committee had observed in its report.
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/markets/commodities/fci-still-bogged-down-by-excess-buffer-stocks-of-rice-wheat/82404/
Lowest rainfall in 30 years prompts RID to tighten reins on Thai
rice cultivation
BANGKOK, 10 June 2015 (NNT) – The Royal Department of Irrigation
(RID) has revealed that the off-season farming has left only 3.8 billion cubic
meters of water for agricultural purposes during the May – October period,
while rainfall hits a 30-year low.A meeting of the RID’s committee to
monitor and analyze the nation’s water management revealed that despite
government warnings, more than six million rai of land was farmed in the Chao
Phraya and Mae Glong river basins. RID Director-General Lertwirot Kowattana
said that agriculture activities during the drought crisis has consumed 1.2
billion cubic meters of water.The four national reservoirs include the Bhumibol
Dam, Sirikit Dam, Pa Sak Jolasid Dam, and the Khaew Noi Bamrung Dan Operation
and Maintenance Project.
They have a combined 3.8 billion cubic meters left for
agricultural use, falling short of the department’s target of five billion
cubic meters.Reservoirs continue to sustain the off-season farmland. However, rainfall
has been unable to replenish water levels. The RID recorded the lowest rainfall
in 30 years.The department has urged farmers of 4.2 million rai that have yet
to begin planting rice to cease water consumption for agricultural use for 40
days, and wait for greater rainfall in mid-July.The Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives has been instructed to inform farmers across 22 provinces in the
Chao Phraya river basin of the government’s water policy.
Commerce Min. to sell stocked rice to low income
earners
ไม่มีรายการภาพ
ไม่มีรายการวีดีโอ Date : 10 มิถุนายน 2558
BANGKOK, 10
June 2015, (NNT) - The Ministry of Commerce plans to sell rice in the government's
stockpile at affordable prices to low income earners, following Prime Minister
General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s instruction. According to General Chatchai, the
proposed plan was given the nod by the Cabinet during yesterday’s session,
adding that the details of the program would be discussed with the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperative, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Council
for Peace and Order on Friday. Initially, the Commerce Ministry would be tasked
with selecting quality grain from the government warehouses before sending it
to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to find manufacturers to
process the rice. Then, the Ministry of Interior will be in charge of selling
the packed rice, with priority being given to low income earners , said Gen.
Chatchai.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5806100010004#sthash.CGhanIkd.dpuf
Pakistan wheat surplus to cool imports this year - trader
* Oilseed imports expected to rise-Bombi's Group
* Pakistan looking to Iran market for its rice
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - A wheat surplus in Pakistan is
likely to mean little appetite for imports this year, although it will purchase
more oilseeds due lower crop prospects, a leading local trader said.In November
last year, Pakistan imposed a 20 percent import duty on wheat to help protect
local farmers from imports, leading to the cancellation of some of the import
deals.
Anis Majeed, chairman of Karachi-based food commodities firm
Bombi's Group, said Pakistan was estimated to produce 25 million tonnes of
wheat this year versus around 24 million tonnes last year. Domestic wheat
consumption was pegged around 22-23 million tonnes, he said."This year,
Pakistan will not make big imports because we have the crop and there is a
surplus," Majeed said on a visit to London this week.The International
Grains Council estimated Pakistan's wheat production in the 2015-16 year at
25.0 million tonnes, versus 25.5 million tonnes in 2014-15.In contrast,
Pakistan was expected to import higher quantities of oilseeds including canola,
said Majeed, who is also chairman of the wholesale grocers' association of
Karachi, which is Pakistan's mercantile capital."If you calculate
(oilseeds) ... altogether this year, we are expecting to import about 1.5 to
1.6 million tonnes," he said.
"Last year was a little less - about 1.2 million tonnes and
our crop was better than this year."Majeed said Pakistan expected a good
rice crop although exports were likely to be tempered by slower
demand."Pakistan's production is around 6.5 million tonnes annually - out
of which 3.5 million tonnes we export," he said."Prices have come down
as the international market has come down," he added. "Therefore,
there could be a little less (exports) this year."Majeed said rice
exporters were looking to boost sales to Iran, a major consumer of Basmati
grade rice.Iran and six world powers are seeking to overcome remaining
differences with a looming self-imposed June 30 deadline to reach a deal over
Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. The timing of sanctions relief for Iran
are among the disputes holding up a nuclear accord.
Majeed said there was already a border trade between Pakistan
and Iran for rice - with the business handled by local merchants along the
border. A nuclear deal could enable other exporters in Pakistani cities such as
Karachi and Lahore expanding business."Iran can be good partner of Pakistani
rice and trade can be increased. But there are few difficulties of the
embargoes," he said.Majeed said a proposed wheat barter deal between
Pakistan and Iran was still being discussed.The deal, initially agreed in 2012,
was to involve Tehran exporting fertiliser and iron ore to Pakistan in exchange
for wheat."The swapping ... has not been decided as yet," he said.
"They are working on it.
(Editing by William
Hardy)
‘Negros has rice oversupply'
BY PEACE S. FLORES
“We have an oversupply of rice in Negros,” Jesus Jimenez of the
Negros Occidental Farmers and Rice Millers Multi-purpose Cooperative, said
yesterday.Due to the rice oversupply in the province, the wholesale and retail
prices of rice have gone down this year compared to 2014, said Jimenez, who
chairs the rice millers division of NOFARIMCO.Wholesale prices per sack went
down by P200 to P400 and retail prices by P2 to P4 per kilo, Jimenez
said.Jimenez said that the main reason for the oversupply was the rise in rice
production in this year's third crop, NFA's importation, and the abundance of
imported rice entering the market through private retailers.
Prices of palay have also dropped resulting in cheaper rice,
Jimenez said.Consumers may benefit from this oversupply, but local rice farmers
are suffering from lower profits, Jimenez added.The NFA should minimize the
release of its rice stocks during harvest time, and regulate importation of
rice from other countries and provinces, he added.*PSF
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2015/June/11/businessnews2.htm
Won’t sell basmati rice at low rates, says millers’ body
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, June 10
Basmati rice millers today jointly
decided that they would not sell “steamed” basmati rice at a rate lesser than
Rs 6,500 per quintal and “sella” basmati rice lesser than Rs 5,200 per quintal.The
rice millers said earlier, they were selling steamed basmati rice at Rs 4,350
per quintal and sella basmati rice at Rs 4,300 per quintal but suffering huge
losses.They have also decided to meet Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adaish
Partap Singh Kairon tomorrow to seek a strategy for basmati sowing and its
consumption.
Ashish Kathuria, a spokesperson for
Punjab Basmati Rice Manufacturers’ Association, said, “It has been observed
that the area under the basmati cultivation has increased in the state in the
recent past. However, the decline in price has been proving to be a huge threat
to the millers. Farmers as well as the major importers and exporters are
exploiting the millers by buying the shelled rice at Rs 4,000 per quintal.
However, last year, the price remained Rs 8,500 per quintal.”He added, “We do
not want to decrease the area under this crop but if we do not take some
measures, the price of basmati paddy 1121 will go even lower than Rs 1,800 per
quintal and this will affect farmers adversely.”Meanwhile, the Punjab Basmati
Rice Manufacturers’ Association also decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to seek interest-free loan to the industry for its survival.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/won-t-sell-basmati-rice-at-low-rates-says-millers-body/92387.html
A Nobel laureate's sexist remark sparks a conversation about
bias against women in the sciences
A scientist prepares to scan a root inside a laboratory at the
International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.
Credit:
Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters
A sexist remark by Nobel laureate Tim Hunt provoked a
swift reaction from scientists — men and women alike — around the globe.
This story is based on a radio interview.Listen to the full
interview.
Later Hunt offered an apology, but by then the discussion had taken off, and it was no
longer just about the 72-year-old self-described chauvinist. "Of
course, I was disappointed that even today we're still seeing these sorts of
entrenched biases toward women," says Dr. Heather
Metcalf, director of research and analysis with the Association for Women
in Science. "His comments show
that even with the best of intentions, that people carry around
biases that influence their attitudes and behaviors towards one
another." Metcalf — who directs, coordinates and performs research
and analysis surrounding gender and the science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) workforce — says there is a large body of research that
shows the impact of unconscious bias on the sciences.
"There are many examples, from hiring to promotion and
tenure, to awards allocations, to individual behaviors towards one
another, to the culture and climate within our workplaces, to resource
allocation and writing of recommendation letters, evaluation and analysis of
CVs and other kinds of materials, and teaching evaluations — how students
evaluate professors in the classroom. Bias is pretty pervasive."But
Metcalf sees some progress in overcoming bias in the sciences. "For
example, through our awards project that we've been engaging with at AWIS,
we see that women are receiving more awards. owever, the way that bias works
is that we have expectations of people about gender, and what kinds of
roles they should be satisfying, and then also [expectations] about scientists,
and what kinds of things are valued when we think of scientists.
"Here's how it plays out. "Women receive disproportionate
numbers of teaching, service, sort-of 'helping' awards," observes Metcalf, "because that's more in
line with the gender role expectations that we have for women." At the
same time, Metcalf notes, women receive lower numbers of scholarly
and research awards. "They're not being valued as much for their
intelligences, and instead are being recognized for their communal work,
or the 'helping' work that they are doing."Sir Tim Hunt's
remarks, and his apology, provided a teaching moment. "While he owns that
he may be a chauvinist or engaging in chauvinistic attitudes," says
Metcalf, "he doesn't really see why that's problematic. And that's why I'm
saying that it's important to focus on the larger system and see how that has a
broader impact on the kinds of work that can be done, and the kinds of people
that can be doing that work."
http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-06-10/nobel-laureates-sexist-remark-sparks-conversation-about-bias-against-women
World Rice Production
2015/2016
June 2015
This month the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that the World Rice Production 2015/2016 will be 481.74 million metric tons, around 0.36 million tons
less than the previous month's projection.
Rice Production last year (*) was
476.13 million tons. This year's 481.74 estimated million tons could represent
an increase of 5.62 million tons or a 1.18% in rice production around the globe.
Rice Production by Country
(Values in Metric Tons)
China: 146,000,000
India: 104,000,000
Others: 40,440,000
Indonesia: 36,650,000
Bangladesh: 35,000,000
Vietnam: 28,200,000
Thailand: 19,800,000
Burma: 12,800,000
Philippines: 12,400,000
Brazil: 8,000,000
Japan: 7,900,000
United States: 6,954,000
Pakistan: 6,900,000
Cambodia: 4,900,000
Egypt: 4,600,000
Korea, South: 4,100,000
Nepal: 3,100,000
Next Update will be July 10, 2015.
https://www.worldriceproduction.com/?Referer=Newsletter
USA
Rice and Coalition Urge COOL Reform
OTTAWA, CANADA - USA Rice joined 108 other
agriculture and food businesses on a letter to Member of Congress today urging
support for H.R. 2393, a bipartisan bill to reform the controversial Country of
Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has
consistently ruled against the United States on the COOL regulation, most
recently on May 29, paving the way for legal tariff retaliation by Canada,
Mexico, and other countries. 
The
Canadian government here issued a preliminary list of targeted commodities and
foods, and rice is at the top with a 100 percent tariff threatened."If
Congress doesn't fix COOL to bring it into compliance with our international
obligations, the cost to American business will be staggering, and the rice
industry could take a significant hit," said Betsy Ward, President &
CEO of USA Rice. According to the coalition letter, retaliatory tariffs could
total more than $3.5 billion in just the first year. A vote on the bill, the
Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015 is expected in the House this
week. The Senate is yet to act on the
issue.Canada is the fourth largest market for U.S. rice, with imports last year
valued at $185 million.
Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458
USA
Rice takes messages to the sky
50,000 Foot View of Rice from 35,000 Feet!
FORT WORTH, TX - Passengers on American Airlines and Frontier
Airlines will be able to learn a lot about rice this summer thanks to a unique
partnership between USA Rice and the airlines.The U.S. rice industry is being
highlighted by Talk Business 360, the service that produces original
programming for the airlines. The two and a half minute video gives viewers a
quick primer on the rice industry - including where rice is grown, how much is
exported, and how efficient and environmentally responsible U.S. rice farmers
are.
The
video also includes interviews with Arkansas growers Jennifer James and Joe
Rennicke and Louisiana's Kevin Berken.The video will air on American Airlines
on demand in First and Business Class, and be available online as well. With
only one cabin class on Frontier, the video will be one of several playing for
all passengers prior to take-off, and then be available to passengers on demand
in flight. The USA Rice video is expected to reach more than 750,000 passengers
this summer.
Contact: Michael Klein (703)
236-1458
WASDE
Report Released
 WASHINGTON, DC-- U.S. rice 2015/16 supply and use balance sheets
are little changed from last month. All rice beginning stocks are raised 2.5
million cwt with long-grain rice stocks raised 0.5 million, and medium- and
short-grain stocks raised 2.0 million. All rice imports are raised 0.5
million cwt to 25.0 million (all long-grain), up 2 percent from revised
2014/15. Medium- and shortgrain exports are raised 2.0 million cwt to 34.0
million as a large outstanding sales balance to Northeast Asia in 2014/15
will likely be shipped in 2015/16. The large balance was caused in part due
to work slowdowns and stoppages at ports along the West Coast earlier this
year. This labor dispute has since been resolved, but a large backlog at the
ports still exists.
Additionally, Turkey has not accepted some U.S. medium-grain
rice shipments in 2014/15 for phytosanitary reasons in recent months. The long-grain export projection is unchanged at 76.0
million cwt, but up 4 percent from the previous year. Long-grain ending
stocks for 2015/16 are raised 1.0 million cwt to 35.1 million, up 23 percent
from 2014/15, and the largest since WASDE-542-3 2010/11. Medium- and
short-grain ending stocks are forecast at 11.0 million cwt, unchanged from
last month, but 24 percent below the previous year's revised estimate. The U.S. 2015/16 long-grain rice season-average farm
price is projected at $10.00 to $11.00 per cwt, unchanged from last month
compared to $11.90 to $12.10 for the previous year. The combined medium- and
short-grain price is unchanged at $17.80 to $18.80 per cwt compared to $17.80
to $18.20 for the year earlier. The 2015/16 all rice price is projected at
$12.30 to $13.30 per cwt, compared to $13.20 to $13.60 per cwt for 2014/15.
The California and Other States medium-and short-grain prices
are unchanged from last month. Global 2015/16 rice supply and use is little changed
from a month ago. Global rice production is projected at a record 481.7
million tons, 0.4 million below a month ago. Brazil's rice crop is forecast
at 8.0 million tons, down 0.3 million from last month, a result of a
reduction in area. This crop will not be planted until October-December 2015.
The change is based mostly on a reduction in the 2014/15 rice crop based on
recent estimates from the government of Brazil. Global consumption is nearly
unchanged at a record 489.0 million tons. Global 2015/16 trade (imports and
exports) are also nearly unchanged from a month ago. World export projections
are raised slightly for Guyana and the United States. Global ending stocks
are forecast at 91.4 million tons, down slightly from last month, down 7.2
million from the previous year, and the smallest stocks since 2007/08. The
global stocks-to-use ratio at 18.7 percent is unchanged from a month ago, but
down 1.7 points from the previous year, and the lowest since 2006/07.
|
CCC
Announces Prevailing World Market Prices
WASHINGTON, DC --The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit
Corporationtoday announced the following prevailing world market
prices of milled and rough rice, adjusted for U.S. milling yields and
location, and the resulting marketing loan gain (MLG) and loan deficiency
payment (LDP) rates applicable to the 2014 crop, which will become effective
today at 7:00 a.m.,
Eastern Time (ET). Prices are unchanged from the previous announcement.
This week's prevailing world market prices and MLG/LDP rates are based on the following U.S. milling yields and the corresponding loan rates:
The next program announcement is scheduled for June 17, 2015. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CME
Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
|
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|
Loss of international rice market
June
10, 2015
RECORDER REPORT
It is somewhat odd to highlight the
dwindling exports of the country and moan about their trend when the government
is bent upon taking credit for the increase in foreign exchange reserves and
stability in the exchange rate without a proper analysis of the factors behind
such positive developments. However, some exporters, of late, seem to be
voicing their concerns about the prevailing unsatisfactory conditions.
President, Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid
Hussain, for instance, has demanded of the government to bail out the sinking
rice sector otherwise the country may
lose export market to India. Pakistan exports rice, worth over two billion
dollars per annum, but has been losing the export market for the last two
years, landing over one thousand rice mills into serious problems and risking
millions of jobs in this critical sector. Highlighting problems of rice growers
and rice mills in the country, President, Pakistan Rice Mills Association,
Mukhtar Baloch also reiterated that the situation is turning against Pakistan
and in favour of India which has introduced its own brands.
He revealed that 3,000 rice mills
are facing problems and more than 1000 mills are on the verge of collapse that
have failed to sell rice during the past two years. 0.35 million of rice bags
are lying unsold in only one district and mills are unable to repay loans,
adding to increased interest on past loans. During the current Kharif season,
farmers are reluctant to sow rice as they are not getting a fair price of their
produce which would put the future of rice industry and agriculture sector at
stake. The observations of
traders associated with rice exports would seem to be a very fair commentary on
the current market conditions of an important export item of the country which
has the potential to raise the value of overall exports significantly and
contribute a lot to the expansion of economic activity and job creation.
However, most of the recent
developments indicate very clearly that Pakistan has failed to avail the
opportunity and missed the chances of expanding rice
exports for one reason or the other. Rice accounted for 11.3
percent of the total exports of the country in 2009-10 but its share fell to
only 7.6 percent by FY14. The situation in FY15 is also not likely to be much
different due mainly to a negative price effect in the international market. In
fact, overall exports of the country are also performing very poorly this year.
Value of exports were targeted to grow by 5.8 percent to reach dollar 27.0
billion during 2014-15 due mainly to the grant of GSP Plus status, a likely
improvement in the energy supplies and an increase in trade with regional
partners. However, exports have already declined by as much as 5.0 percent
during July-April, 2015 compared to the corresponding period last year and such
a dismal trend should give sleepless nights to policymakers of the country who
still remain unfazed about the emerging situation.
The report of trading charges
between the Finance Minister and the Minister of Water and Power in this
newspaper on 8th June, 2015 over the impact of energy supplies on the
industrial sector in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister is of course
unfortunate. The entire government machinery, in our view, should jointly
devote its energies towards enhancing energy supplies, spurring industrial
growth and accelerating exports so that the country could generate its own
resources to pay for the imports and eliminate its dependence on the IMF. However, while the exporters are right
in asking the government to re-evaluate its export policy framework, the
businesspeople are also required to improve their performance to compete in a
highly complex international market.
Of course, energy supplies and law
and order situation have to be improved, a conducive taxation and customs
regime has to be provided and overvaluation of the Pak rupee should be
corrected but there is no reason for exporters to be complacent about the
developments in the world markets and always look to the government for
support. It is hard to understand, for instance, why Pakistani exporters cannot
compete effectively and have an edge over Indian exporters, when Pakistani rice
and mangoes are rated relatively superior in quality in the international
market. Latest market technologies and imaginative ways could make a difference
in attracting foreign buyers and raising the sales of exportable items. A decline
in exports this year is such a bad news that all the relative stakeholders need
to ponder over this unfortunate development at the earliest.
http://www.brecorder.com/editorials/0:/1194537:loss-of-international-rice-market/?date=2015-06-10
Balochistan CM inaugurates
Pakistan-Iran cargo train
* Dr Abdul Malik says business community of
Balochistan would be major beneficiary of goods train
June 10, 2015
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief
Minister Abdul Malik Baloch on Tuesday inaugurated Pak-Iran goods train.The
train would ply between Quetta and Iranian city of Zahidan once a week.Pakistan
Railways Chairwoman Parveen Agha, Balochistan ministers Sardar Raza Baraich,
Abdul Raheem Ziaratwal, Nawab Muhammad Khan Shahwani, Home Secretary
Balochistan Akbar Hussain Durrani, CCPO Abdul Razzaq Cheema and senior PR
officials were present.
The CM said that business
community of Balochistan would be major beneficiary of Quetta-Zahidan goods
train.“We request Federal Minister for Pakistan Railways Saad Rafique to make
Quetta-Taftan railway track fast by making it enable for increasing train speed
from 40 km per hour to 120 km per hour,” he said.He said that the provincial
government has already submitted a proposal to the federal government to
restore Sibi-Harnai railway track.
He recalled that he himself has
travelled by train for several times when he was a student. “Twenty to thirty
years back, travelling by train was very enjoyable but later, decline started
to be reported in Pakistan Railways,” he said.Paying tributes to the federal
minister for railways, he said, “Saad Rafique is captain of Pakistan Railways
who made hectic efforts to bring improvement in railways system”. He said that
Balochistan needed a better Railways transport system.Earlier, Parveen Agha said
that train was operational between Quetta and Taftan once a month to provide
ration, water and salaries to the employees and carrying out postal service.“On
the directives of the federal government, we decided to start good train
between Quetta and Zahidan once a week in order to promote trade between
Pakistan and Iran,” she said adding that more trains would also be run on this
route.
Railways Quetta Division DS Mir
Faiz Bugti said there were several problems on Quetta-Taftan route, adding that
the PR Ministry, however, took a better decision to start goods train on this
route to meet the demand made by traders community.He further said, “We welcome
the Federal Minster for Railways’ decision to give Hard Area Allowance to
railways employees.”On Monday, Federal Minister for Railways Saad Rafique had
said that the train composition would consist of 24 freight vans which would be
extended up to 40 vans in the future and the train would transport rice and
other goods from Pakistan to Iran while it would bring sulphur, coal and other
chemicals from Iran to Pakistan.
He had said the train would bring
2,000 litres of oil from Iran initially which would be increased up to 5,000
litres in future as the price of oil was about Rs14 to 15 per litre in Iran,
adding the train would be able to manage its expenses through this fuel.The
minister had also said Pakistan had informed Iran and Turkey that PR was ready
to operate the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) train as soon as it
receives green signal from these countries.He informed media that the PR was
now out of “ICU” and it was running purely on Pakistan Railways model.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/10-Jun-2015/balochistan-cm-inaugurates-pakistan-iran-cargo-train
Supplements and fine-tuning your child’s diet can cure allergy
Analysis show the infants who were having less commercially
produced foods were less likely to develop an allergy by age two. PHOTO |
FILE
In Summary
·
An extreme elimination
diet, especially for a child, is gruelling, but that is the route we needed to
go in Melissa’s case. In addition to a few supplements to heal her gut, we
started Melissa on a diet of bone soup, stewed vegetables and brown rice (the
bone soup was made by boiling goat bones for 72 hours and extracting the
marrow). Tiny Melissa was just eight when she came to see me. I say tiny
because she was: not just in stature (she was painfully skinny), but in her
demeanour too (she was like a small mouse).
An extreme elimination
diet, especially for a child, is gruelling, but that is the route we needed to
go in Melissa’s case. In addition to a few supplements to heal her gut, we
started Melissa on a diet of bone soup, stewed vegetables and brown rice (the
bone soup was made by boiling goat bones for 72 hours and extracting the
marrow). Tiny Melissa was just eight when she came to see me. I say tiny
because she was: not just in stature (she was painfully skinny), but in her
demeanour too (she was like a small mouse).
Melissa suffered from various allergies.Generally, allergies are
not life-threatening. For Melissa though, they were. The last time she had a
little peanut, her throat swelled up and she had to be rushed to hospital,
otherwise she would have chocked to death. Her last encounter with eggs left
her covered with fluid-filled boils all over her body.However, her parents
didn’t’ bring her to see me because of these reactions; rather, they brought
her because there was little that Melissa could eat.In addition to her egg and
peanut allergy, Melissa also couldn’t tolerate beef, beans, peas or lentils.This
meant that her daily diet was restricted to chapatti, rice, chicken, potatoes,
cabbage and bananas.Even with larger quantities of food, Melissa simply was not
putting on weight. What was going on?
EXTREME ELIMINATION
The first thing that we discovered during the course of the
consultation was that Melissa often suffered from diarrhoea – she went three or
four times a day and passed a fairly watery consistency.This meant that
something in the short list of foods she had been eating was irritating her
gut. This helped to explain why she found it difficult to absorb nutrients from
her food and put on weight.An extreme elimination diet, especially for a child,
is gruelling, but that is the route we needed to go in Melissa’s case. In
addition to a few supplements to heal her gut, we started Melissa on a diet of
bone soup, stewed vegetables and brown rice (the bone soup was made by boiling
goat bones for 72 hours and extracting the marrow).Over the course of the next
few weeks, her stool began to firm up, and she started going only once a day.
Her energy also increased.As the weeks went by, we added cooked
green grams (soaked overnight) with basmati rice and ghee, all of which Melissa
was able to tolerate.To replenish her gut bacteria, we added a little whey (the
water that separates when you make yoghurt). Next, we added a little
well-boiled liver.Six weeks after starting the treatment, Melissa was invited
for a birthday party, where she ate a piece of the birthday cake. Her mother
was prepared for the worst, but the only reaction was her face swelling up
slightly. Recovery was well underway.
Next came the introduction of egg. We started with a little egg
yolk (this is less allergenic than egg white), then the whole egg yolk, and
then after a couple of weeks, we tried the egg white.Now, Melissa is able to
handle proteins much better than she used to. Her mother has also noted that a
stubborn ringworm on Melissa’s scalp is also starting to clear up.Beef is next
on our list, followed by tiny amounts of peanuts. While peanuts can be mostly
avoided, our goal is to ensure that Melissa doesn’t have an adverse reaction
should some of her food contain peanuts.
Daily Nation
Rice Leadership Program accepting
applications
The Rice Leadership Development
Program provides a comprehensive understanding of the rice industry, with an
emphasis on personal development and communication skills.
By USA Rice Federation
Posted Jun. 9, 2015 at 3:27 PM
STUTTGART —
The Rice Foundation is accepting applications for the
2016 Rice Leadership Development Program. Rice producers or industry-related
professionals between the ages of 25 and 45 are eligible to apply for the
program. The application deadline is Oct. 3.The Rice Leadership Development
Program provides a comprehensive understanding of the rice industry, with an
emphasis on personal development and communication skills. During a two-year
period, class members attend four one-week sessions designed to strengthen
leadership skills through studies of all aspects of the rice industry.
The class is comprised of five rice producers and two
industry-related professionals chosen by a committee of agribusiness leaders.
The committee evaluates the applications of all candidates, reviews letters of
recommendation, and conducts personal interviews with the finalists. Interviews
will be conducted at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana,
in December.Additional information on the Rice Leadership Development Program
and an application form can be found on the USA Rice website.
Amira Nature Foods - Friend Or
Foe?
Jun. 9, 2015 4:49 AM ET |
Summary
A growing company in a growing market with growing
demographics and a low PE of 7.9.
Price growth same as for competitor KRBL (from 24.05
to 178.9 INR in 2 years).
Also expanding in premium markets like US and UK.When
you see a company with revenue CAGR of 28.3%, EBITDA CAGR 36.6% and EPS CAGR of 61.5% in
the last 2 years and attach to it a PE ratio
of 7.9, you immediately ask yourself
what is the catch. The goal of this article is to uncover the catch and make an
estimation of the possible effects of this catch on Amira Nature Foods Ltd
(NYSE:ANFI) in the long term.
About Amira
ANFI is a major
international producer of packaged food, Indian
specialty Basmati rice with sales in over 60 countries. It generates the
majority of its revenue through the sale of Basmati rice, a long-grain rice
grown only in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent, selling its products,
primarily in emerging markets, through a distribution network.Looking at what
the CEO Mr. Karan A. Chanana has to say about Amira's successes and failures,
it is clear that he has delivered on most of his statements in the past. In
January 2013, when Amira's brand was selling in 40 countries, he estimated that
it will sell in 70 countries by 2017.
Today, the brand has already
reached sales in 60 countries. There have been some delays in certain projects
like the debt issue where the attempted offering of $225 million Senior Secured
Second Lien Notes due in 2020 failed because of a short-selling attack by Prescience
point research. Consequently, the
building of the new processing factory that would have enabled even faster
future growth was delayed. But the business model of Amira as it is now is
working pretty well and the earnings are growing. The company is expanding
globally and last year increased its revenue by 35%. Also a development that
has worked was the increase of up to 15 distribution centers in India to
exploit the promising demographics and economic development in India. If we
estimate future projections like the goal of reaching 1 billion in revenues
through the analysis of past projections, we can be very confident in the current
management team.
Possible
catches - the cheapness of the Amira stock
As it is not an US company,
investors find it difficult to trust a business from another part of the world.
It is very difficult to call your mate from college and ask about the building
of some distribution centre in north India. On the other hand, we can simply
walk into department stores and see the rice they sell. For me, those are
stores like Tesco, Asda, Waitrose
and Morrison in the UK and for US readers it should be Costco (NASDAQ:COST) with new additions
coming month by month. This research aims to show that unfamiliarity can be a
great play for investors.
The second issue is the financing
problem that arose after missing the bond issue because of a short-seller
attack a few months ago.
This was quite unfortunate for
Amira because of the relatively high interest rates in India, but nothing that
deteriorated the current situation that is very positive by itself. The way
Amira does business now by financing operations through a consortium of Indian
banks works pretty well, so a future possible lowering of the interest rate
would only be beneficial.The third issue that is also related to the second one
is the continuous delays in finishing the new factory because of lack of
financing. The CEO promises updates on finishing factory in the next quarterly
presentation. The new factory would only improve the growth possibilities and
future outlook for Amira.The forth possible issue is the expected growth of the
rice crop 2015 that will impact volume, thus lower prices.
Also not such a bad thing because the consumer
will get a better price and Amira will have the opportunity to increase the
margins and pass some of the price decreases to its customers.The fifth issue
is that the organic product is still not on US shelves. Here it has to be said
that the business model of Amira involves an aging process of more than 12
months, so it takes time for the new product lines to reach its customers. It
is understandable that Wall Street would like everything immediately, but this
gives the opportunity to more patient investors to buy a gem in the making, and
let it age to grasp all the flavors by letting it become older and better (the
rice and also the stock).
The CEO announced the organic
product line on US shelves by the end of this year.The sixth issue could be the
possible diminishing demand from Middle East countries because of lower oil
prices and thus lower purchasing power. Amira wants to be a global player, and
partly already is one, so geographical diversification lowers specific
geographical risks.The seventh reason can be the very extensive global growth
plans that might be overstretching the possibilities of Amira and putting more
risk, but 27 million of cash with 20 million more of available financing plus
negotiations for more finances should help, and a low debt-to-equity ratio
makes this an unlikely risk (Total debt/LTM adj. EBITDA = 2.0x).
A financial crisis that would hit
the eastern markets might shake a little bit its financial position, but again,
with the growth going on in Asia, it is something unlikely to happen. The
competitor KRBL expects rice market volume to grow at a CAGR of 7% in India for
the coming years.The eighth reason can be that Amira is developing a brand
strategy. You probably know of places where the atmosphere is nicer, the coffee
is better and much cheaper than at Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), but the brand is
what attracts people to it. Amira is trying to create that feeling in the
premium Basmati rice growing segment. If it succeeds, we have in our hands a
stock that might be the one that we will be telling stories to our
grandchildren. If it does not succeed in creating a worldwide famous rice
brand, it will probably be bought out by a large corporation at a nice premium.
So for the long-term investors, there is a win-win situation with low possible
downside risks at the current pricing.
Comparison with
KRBL
KRBL is the world's largest rice
miller and Basmati rice exporter. The company is quoted on the NSE (Indian National
stock exchange) and BSE (Bombay stock exchange). It operates in the same market
as Amira but without the global focus. The growth of the two companies has been
almost the same that can be seen in the following table. Here we have also to
take into account that the accounting currency for KRBL is the Indian Rupee and
for ANFI the US dollar. The depreciation of 18.9% in the period from January 2011 till December 2014 of the Indian
Rupee in relation to the US dollar makes ANFI's numbers look even more
impressive.
Table 1. Growth comparison ANFI
and KRBL
Source: ANFI and KRBL investor presentations. Data for KRBL is in thousands of Lacs and
data for ANFI in million USD.
But looking at the graph that
compares the stock prices of ANFI and KRBL since the quotation of ANFI on the
NYSE, we can see the same pattern up to February 17, 2014 which was the high
point of ANFI. After that, with only good news from the company, beating
estimates with growing revenues and earnings, the stock has not been the
investors' favorite on the NYSE. For KRBL, which is an Indian company quoted in
India, the story is completely different where the stock price has followed the
developments in the business. It can be assumed that the same will happen for
ANFI, so now is a great opportunity to buy at this bargain prices.
Graph 1. Comparison of stock
price movement ANFI and KRBL
Source: yahoo.com/finance
Conclusion
It is our opinion that all the
possible risks are already calculated in the price and also overestimated. Thus
for now, we expect
Farmers urged to delay crops
Rice
planting would 'deplete water supply'
10 Jun 2015 at 03:30
NEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS
| WRITER: APINYA
WIPATAYOTIN
The government "urges" rice growers
not to plant for at least six weeks because of what it claims is unusually low
rainfall in the Chao Phraya River basin. (File photo by Chanat Katanyu)
The
Department of Royal Irrigation has urged rice farmers in the Chao Phraya River
basin to delay planting their crops due to water shortages. The department
said crop plantations should be delayed until the middle of next month due to
unusually low rainfall.The department says water reserves are sufficient for
only the next 40 days.It also called on consumers to conserve water to prevent
more serious shortages.
Department
chief Lertviroj Kowattana said experts have tweaked the water management plan
along the basin by reducing the amount of discharge from 57 million cubic
metres per day to 30 million to 35 million cubic metres, due to lower than
expected water storage levels in the four main dams − Bhumibol dam in Tak
province, Sirikit dam in Uttaradit, Kwae Noi Bamrung Dan dam in Phitsanulok,
and Pasak Jolasid dam in Lop Buri.He also insisted there was enough water
stored for the public's daily consumption, meeting the ecological system's
needs, agriculture and industrial activity.But it would not be enough if the
agricultural zone increased more than 2.8 million rai in the rainy season."There
is only enough water for the current plantation zone. We can not supply more
water if there are more plantations," Mr Lertviroj said."We want
farmers to cooperate with us by helping conserve water. They should avoid
increasing crop zones as we only have enough water for use for 40 days,"
he said, adding he would ask for cooperation from the military to help farmers
better understand the situation.
Mr
Lertviroj said the dams will not discharge any more water after 40 days as they
need to keep water at sensible levels.However, Mr Lertviroj believed normal
levels of rain would start falling in the middle of next month.According to the
department, the amount of rainfall last month, when the rainy season started,
was 260 millimetres, or 30% lower than the 30-year average amount of 396.6mm in
the same period. Meanwhile, rainfall in the North last month was 47%
lower compared with the same period last year and rainfall in the Central
Plains was 45% lower.This has resulted in less water reserves in the four dams,
particularly Bhumibol and Sirikit.
When
officials checked Tuesday, usable water storage in Bhumibol dam was 457 million
cubic metres, or only 3% of usable capacity, and water storage in Sirikit dam
was 831 million cubic metres or only 9% of usable capacity."We will have
no secondary plan if there is no rain after the 40 days expire but we are
confident rain will return to normal levels after July," Mr Lertviroj
said.Department of Meteorology spokesman Boonthum Tanglumlert said the full
extent of the rainy season is expected to be known next month and August.He
said there might be only one storm this year, compared with an average of three
monsoon storms annually during the rainy season in previous years.
NCPO orders cheap rice for the poor
10
Jun 2015 at 08:00 947 viewed1 commentsNEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS | WRITER: POST REPORTERS
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)
has ordered the sale of cheap rice to low-income people nationwide to help cut
their cost of living.The order came at a joint meeting between the NCPO and the
cabinet on Tuesday, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, NCPO spokesman
Winthai Suvaree said.The NCPO instructed state agencies to arrange the sale of
cheap rice possibly at community cooperative shops and military camps, he said.
Prayut:
Concerns over political activities
Aside from helping low-income earners, the sale
of cheap rice could also help strengthen the community-level economy, Col
Winthai said.Col Winthai was also asked about predictions of a water crisis,
with many dams and reservoirs storing lower-than-usual levels of water.The NCPO
would launch a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of using water
sparingly, he said.Col Winthai said Gen Prayut had also expressed his concerns
over students carry¬ing out political activities.Security authorities had tried
to avoid taking legal action against the activists because they are young
people whose future might be affected if they are prosecuted.The students have
been warned and released previously without facing any legal action, he said.But
since they appeared to ignore the authorities' "good intention" and
continue to repeat their misconduct, Gen Prayut said more "suitable"
measures would have to be taken against them instead, Col Winthai said.The NCPO
spokesman also relayed Gen Prayut's message to the parents, saying if they
again fail to improve their children's understanding about obeying the law, the
authorities would be left with no choice but to take legal action.Get full
Bangkok Post printed newspaper experience on your digital devices with Bangkok
Post e-newspaper. Try it out, it's totally free for 7 days.
APEDA NEWS (India)
International
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