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Growers and exporters: REAP demands establishment of ‘rice board’
Published: July 22, 2015
Forum necessary to settle issues
and fix prices in the market. PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMON
ISLAMABAD: Government
authorities should fix and maintain rice prices in the country by establishing
a ‘rice board’, said the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
REAP members said the absence of an
effective rice board was creating problems for exporters and growers, and like
other cash crops, around 6 million tons of rice is lying with growers and
cannot be exported due to high prices in the international market.
“There are numerous problems faced by
exporters to fix the rice price in the market as per their quality, out of
which the absence of a relevant forum is a major one,” said REAP Chairman
Rafique Sulaiman, adding that a board is necessary for growers and exporters to
sit together and settle issues.
He said REAP
had forwarded a proposal to the government for constituting the board but there
has not been any headway so far.Sulaiman said growers do not disclose the exact
cost of production, particularly pertaining to the cost of production in the
heads of land rent and contracts given to the third party.He said the growers
also do not disclose the quantity of the stock and tend to manipulate in a
situation when it’s time for any subsidy or incentive. “They whine for low
prices and high cost when the price of basmati rice is Rs65 and there is the
same hue and cry when the price is Rs150.
“Most
decisions taken by the government cannot be implemented due to the lack of
coordination among stakeholders,” said a senior government officer in the
Ministry of National Food Security and Research. “One such example is the ECC
decision of 2014 when it decided to give Rs5,000 as compensation per acre to small
rice growers on the directives of the Prime Minister, but it could not be
implemented due to non-distinction between growers of basmati and other rice
varieties.The ECC had also decided that the total amount of compensation may be
shared equally between the federal and provincial governments. The compensation
was to be made only to the smaller growers of 25 acres only.
Farmers who
had already received compensation against crop damage in recent floods in
Punjab were not eligible for this additional compensation.The officer held the
provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab responsible for taking least
interest in differentiating the small and big growers and it resulted in
failure of implementation of the package.Besides, Sulaiman also urged that government
must take up the issue with China to import at least one million tons of our
rice as it has started importing rice from Thailand.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd,
2015.
Trade
Policy Will Be Falling Short Without SME Export House
The Union of Small and Medium
Enterprises (UNISAME) invited the attention of federal commerce minister
engineer Khurram Dastagir that the ambitious exports target of $40 billion in
the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2015-18, which is likely to be
announced in next month (August), would not be possible without the
contribution of the SME sector as its inclusion is of prime importance.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said we have appealed to the commerce
minister to strengthen the SME sector by well designed strategy.
The SME sector needs full support of the
government and to invigorate it, it is very important that marketing support is
provided by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) to engineering,
sports and surgical goods, textiles, rice and other commodities. Exports have fallen
considerably and strategy is required to include the SMEs. He lamented that our
demands of SME export house have not been taken seriously. The SME export house
is the need of the hour and a modern export house having all the facilities of
providing information, education, search engines and product galleries is
required to achieve the targets and without the SME sector the government will
never be able to achieve the targets.
Thaver added that we can say with
all emphasis at our command that the SME sector has the potentiality to double
its exports if it gets the support of the Small and Medium Enterprises
Development Authority (SMEDA) and TDAP. It is unfortunate that both the
authorities are unable to comprehend the advantages and merits of the proposed
export house.Although both have done preliminary working on the setting up of
the export house. TDAP even formed a steering committee and SMEDA prepared the
feasibility. It is very important that before the draft of Strategic Trade
Policy Framework (STPF) 2015-18 is submitted which is in the final stages of
its completion includes the setting up of the SME export house for the
sector.and then presented to sub-committee of the Cabinet for further
deliberations.
After incorporating the
recommendations of the sub-committee the draft will be submitted before the
Cabinet for final approval. It is pertinent to note that the government
failed to achieve the targets set in the previous Strategic Trade Policy
Framework 2012-15. The government failed to achieve the exports target of $95
billion in three years, as it remained under $70 billion mainly due to the poor
law and order and energy situation in the country. In the budget estimates for
2014-15, the federal government had earmarked Rs 2 billion towards STPF.
Not a penny was spent under this
head, according to the budgetary documents and as reported by the media.
UNISAME urged the prompt establishment of the Exim Bank and the revamping
of the SME Bank and the SME Leasing, other institutions of prime importance are
the SME insurance, the venture capital fund and the SME technical institute.
The government will fail again if the SME sector is not included as this is the
majority sector and the big investors and industrialist are on the back foot
due to energy crisis and political uncertainty whereas the SME sector is here
to stay and never thinks of migrating and shifting capital to foreign
countries. The government had missed the exports target of $27 billion and
revised target of $24.2 billion during last financial year 2014-15. Pakistan’s
exports had gone down by 4.88 percent to $ 23.885 billion in previous fiscal
year from $25.11 billion of the preceding year. However, imports had enhanced
by two percent to $45.98 billion in FY2015 from $45.07 billion of the FY2014.
Therefore, the trade deficit was registered at $22.095 billion during the
period under review as reported by a leading newspaper.
APEDA RICE News
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"Rice
Self-Sufficiency and Beyond" - Agricultural Field Day begins today
An agricultural field day with the theme "Rice
Self-Sufficiency and Beyond" will be held from July 22 to 24 at Batalegoda Rice Research and
Development Institute as a way to educate farmers about harvesting
techniques in paddy cultivation. 
This
event will include new technologies including recently recommended paddy
varieties, anti-weed campaigns and techniques, demonstrations on weed
management, traditional paddy varieties, the qualitative characters of
traditional and upgraded paddy varieties, manure application,
demonstrations on combined herbicide control methods, the effects of using
various types of herbicides for weed management, a stall that includes various
rice planting techniques, Seed paddy clinic, wet/dry irrigation, production of
various food items using rice etc. and will be very useful especially to
farming community.
http://www.news.lk/news/business/item/8789-rice-self-sufficiency-and-beyond-agricultural-field-day-begins-today
Students
Interning in Asia Share Experiences
July 22, 2015
BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Illinois Wesleyan University biology major
Jenni Chlebek ’16 planted more than 11,000 rice seeds in a lab in the
Philippines to test new varieties. In Hong Kong, nursing major Sana Shafiuddin
’17 has observed differences in the way Chinese and American caregivers
understand dementia. And International Studies major Andrea Fortner ’16 is
helping plan activities for students attending Technos College International Week
in Tokyo. These students and 12 others are interning in
Asia this summer, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Freeman Foundation. Two
more students will be placed in Hong Kong during their study abroad experiences
this fall. The Freeman Foundation grant provides funding for airfare, housing,
living allowances and all internship placement costs.
The Freeman Foundation, a private foundation with offices in New
York and Honolulu, works to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the
United States and countries of east Asia. “All the internships we have arranged
not only fulfill the Freeman Foundation’s goal of having American students work
and interact with Asians in actual work settings, but also give the students
the opportunity to work with people from all over the globe,” said Illinois
Wesleyan Professor of Sociology Teddy Amoloza, who led efforts to secure the
grant.
As Chlebek prepared to leave the United States for her
experience in the Philippines, she wrote about her gratitude for the
opportunity. “I have begun to concentrate in Botany in my undergraduate studies
at Illinois Wesleyan University,” she wrote in her blog. “Oryza sativa is the scientific name for Asian rice.
For the next two months, I will be studying this crop and join [the
International Rice Research Institute’s] mission to help farmers feed the
growing population of the world.“With this scholarship [the Freeman grant] I
can make sure I am one step closer to fulfilling my dream of pursuing a career
in plant biology research while continuing to also make a difference in the
lives of others,” she wrote. “I’m going to arrive with open arms, challenge my
comfort zone, and let down all barriers.” Each student is sharing
observations and travel adventures through a blog, social media posts or
presentations on campus.
https://www.iwu.edu/news/2015/students-share-asia-internship-experiences.html
Quest
for climate-proof farms
Climate change is a major threat to food
production, so researchers are working with farmers to make agriculture more
resilient.
21 July 2015
ChinaFotoPres/Getty
Crops
that endure droughts and floods help farmers adapt to global warming.
When
Frank Untersmayr was growing up near Amstetten, Austria, he saw his father wait
until the soil warmed up at the end of April to plant maize. “But the climate
here has got a lot warmer since, so we can now often begin to sow before
mid-April,” says Untersmayr, now 44 and a farmer himself. “That's good because
it means that maize, which in our climate doesn't fully ripen, has two weeks
longer to grow.”But more changes are coming, which is why Untersmayr and half a
dozen other farmers from the region gathered at the local chamber of
agriculture on a rainy day in May. They met to talk to scientists about how
increasing temperatures and shifts in precipitation might affect agriculture in
their area — and how farmers might need to adapt.
Martin
Schönhart, an agro-economist at the University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences in Vienna, presented preliminary forecasts for average agricultural
yields in 2040. Some crops and fruit benefited from the amount of warming
expected. But the yields of other crops — including maize — decreased by up to
20% because changes in precipitation and extreme weather events wiped out the
benefits brought by warmer temperatures.Hearing such negative projections, some
farmers shook their heads in disbelief. “I would rather trust my own experience
than any such forecast,” said Untersmayr.
His
reaction reveals the communication gap that has long separated scientists from
farmers in planning for climate change. “There is a deep divide between the
science and its supposed end-users,” says Nora Mitterböck, who oversees
climate-change adaptation policies at the Federal Austrian Ministry for
Agriculture and the Environment in Vienna. “There is no lack of climate-impact
research, but very little of it arrives on the farm. It's a sad situation that
must absolutely change.”Around the world, scientists, farmers, agricultural
companies and governments are struggling to make agricultural systems more
'climate smart', which will be necessary if they are to feed the ever-swelling
global population. Some are working in the short term to make today's farms
more resilient. Others are looking further ahead to provide the information
required for making major changes, such as investing in large irrigation
systems.
Schönhart's
work is part of a €14-million (US$15-million) programme called Modelling
European Agriculture with Climate Change for Food Security (MACSUR), which aims
to help European nations to prepare and adapt to climate change. Another
international programme, the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement
Project (AgMIP), is bringing together hundreds of researchers to inform
policy-makers in developing countries, as well as agricultural extension
agencies, which aid farmers.Meetings such as the one in Amstetten are a key
part of this work. For climate-adaptation programmes to succeed, researchers
need to learn from farmers and agricultural officials what kind of information
will help them the most, says Anne-Maree Dowd, a social scientist with the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation in Kenmore, Australia.
“Scientists
tend to think primarily in terms of publications as the main reward for their
work,” she says. “When it comes to climate-change adaptation, they need to
thoroughly switch their mindsets and first think about the overall practical
goal of what they are doing.”
Adapt to survive
Farmers
worldwide produce more than 1 billion tonnes of maize annually, along with some
750 million tonnes of rice, more than 700 million tonnes of wheat and nearly 2
billion tonnes of sugar cane. Despite all this, more than 800 million people go
hungry each year. Even without climate change, agriculture will face enormous
pressure as the global population swells from 7 billion to perhaps 9 billion by
2050.
Changing
rainfall and temperature patterns will cause added stress for farmers,
particularly in poorer countries, if heatwaves, droughts and extreme storms
become more common, as is expected in many areas1. Agricultural forecasts are notoriously
difficult because they face multiple tiers of uncertainty: in how climate will
change regionally, in assumptions about what crops might be planted, in the
availability of fertilizers and in economic projections. But last year, a
comprehensive study2 that
used multiple climate and agriculture models forecast that problems from
climate change would generally outweigh the benefits for wheat and maize
production in low-latitude regions, where developing countries are
concentrated. Another study3 analysed
1,700 simulations and projected that without adaptation efforts, yields of
maize, wheat and rice will decline in both temperate and tropical regions if
temperatures rise by 2 °C.
One of
the first steps towards building the agricultural systems of the future is
helping farmers to deal with today's weather extremes.
Crop
developers, for example, are breeding varieties that can tolerate floods,
droughts or increased salinity caused by rising sea levels. Millions of farmers
in low-lying parts of India, Nepal and Bangladesh are now growing a rice
variety developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los
Baños, Philippines, that can survive floodwaters better than traditional types
of rice. Flood-tolerant varieties have raised yields of temporarily submerged
fields by up to 45% and have helped to avert food shortages after major floods
in southeast Asia, according to the IRRI.
Digital
communication tools also provide opportunities to protect yields and safeguard
farmers' incomes. An app developed by the IRRI allows regional agricultural
offices to send farmers recommendations on when to apply fertilizers and when
to harvest, based on weather and local soil conditions. In the first 6 months
of 2015, the app sent 170,000 recommendations. Average yields for those who
used the tool have increased by about half a metric tonne per hectare — almost
10%, says Matthew Morrell, head of research at the IRRI. Customized real-time
advice is expected to become even more important as farmers try to keep up with
new weather patterns.
Successful
adaptation will also require bigger steps over the next few decades. In some
regions, farmers might need to switch from irrigating crops to using semi-arid
techniques, or might even have to abandon some land. Governments might choose
to invest in expensive irrigation systems; in May, for example, Australia
decided to fund projects totalling AUS$65 million (US$48 million) to irrigate
the drought-struck Murray–Darling river basin, which produces one-third of the
nation's food.
“Farmers
seek to be profitable in the very near-term. From their perspective, 2040 is
light years away.”
Most
developed nations have already started planning for the long term by developing
comprehensive adaptation strategies. Austria's scheme lists more than 130
measures to make the country's economy climate-fit. In the agricultural sector,
the proposed measures range from diversifying crops to letting fields go fallow
and reducing tillage of soil to fight erosion. But it has been a struggle to
get farmers to implement some of these recommendations, says Mitterböck.
“Farmers seek to be profitable in the very near-term. From their perspective,
2040 is light years away.” Successful adaptation in agriculture, she says,
requires all relevant stakeholders to be involved in the scientific process so
that farmers can get the information and incentives that they need.
Most
climate impact and adaptation studies so far have failed to take into account
the complexity of modern farming, says Holger Meinke, director of the Tasmanian
Institute of Agriculture in Hobart, Australia. “Adaptation research must be a
cross-cutting affair because hard-nosed decisions are never solely based on
climate-change considerations.”In Amstetten, farmers could not agree more. “We
practise adaption all the time, but we mainly adapt to food prices and subsidy
programmes and to modern machinery,” says Untersmayr. “And of course we must
constantly adapt to the weather, no matter if the climate is changing or not.”Governments
and researchers are starting to listen. In Australia, scientists involved in a
national climate-adaptation initiative are regularly consulting farmers about
their problems with, for example, weed management, and how science might be
able to solve them.
Developing
nations have fewer resources to plan for the future, but AgMIP scientists are
reaching out to farmers and stakeholders in 20 countries in Africa and South
Asia. Launched in 2010, the €15-million programme is combining information
drawn from climate projection and crop and economic models with empirical data
collected in the field by 7 regional teams. To account for disagreements
between models, AgMIP researchers aim to develop an optimistic and a
pessimistic agricultural scenario for future conditions in each region. Over
the next five years, they will advise local planners on how climate change may
affect farmers in their region, and which social groups and farm types are most
vulnerable. That will greatly help adaptation planning in poorer countries,
says Dumisani Mbikwa Nyoni, an agricultural extension officer in Zimbabwe's
Matabeleland North Province who took part in a meeting in June in Victoria
Falls, Zimbabwe, with an AgMIP regional research team.
“Climate
change is causing drought in our country,” he says. “So we need to identify
crop varieties that can stand dryness and inadequate soil moisture, and we need
to know what other options exist that will sustain our farmers. I hope science
will help us do all that.” The information from AgMIP can also help officials
in Zimbabwe decide where to put a planned 15,000 hectares of irrigation systems
over the next 3–5 years, he says.AgMIP is determined to provide the kind of
information that will make a difference, says Cynthia Rosenzweig, a
climate-impact researcher at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in
New York City and a principal investigator of the project.“It is utterly
important that planners in each region and each locality will have all the
knowledge in place that they need,” she says. “There are no dumb farmers, but
farmers focus on present realities. We must leave no stone unturned to help
them plan for a hotter future.”
http://www.nature.com/news/quest-for-climate-proof-farms-1.18015
Scientists
create low-methane rice
By Mariette le Roux
Paris (AFP) - Scientists said Wednesday they had created a rice
variety with starchier grains that emits less methane, a step towards the twin
goals of feeding more people and curbing global warming.The cultivation of
rice, a staple starch for billions of people, is also mankind's major emitter
of methane, a potent climate-altering gas.Methane lives for a shorter time in
the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2), the most abundant greenhouse gas, but
traps far more heat radiated from Earth's surface.Every year, rice paddies pump
out 25 to 100 million tonnes of methane -- the second-most important greenhouse
gas at about 16 percent.This means a high risk for the planet as rice
cultivation expands to feed a growing population, said the paper, published in
the journal Nature."There is an urgent need to establish sustainable
technologies for increasing rice production while reducing methane fluxes from
rice paddies," wrote the team led by Chuanxin Sun of the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences.
Indian labourers plant rice paddy cuttings in a field on
the outskirts of Amritsar on June 16, 2015 …
Already in 2002, scientists reported that the more grain carried
by rice plants, the less methane they emitted.The leaves and stems of rice
plants take up CO2, which is transformed through photosynthesis into sugars
that are used to produce starch in the shoots, roots and grains.Carbon released
from dead plants, or directly into the soil via the roots, is transformed by
microorganisms into methane, which can escape into the atmosphere.
Larger, starchier rice grains mean there is less carbon
transferred to the soil to be turned into methane.But attempts to reduce emissions
from paddies have focused on changes in farming practices, which can be onerous
and expensive.
An
Afghan farmer separates rice from grain chaff at his farm on the outskirts of
Jalalabad on Januar …
- 'Groundbreaking' work -
Tackling the problem differently, a team from China, the United
States and Sweden added a barley gene to a conventional rice cultivar to create
a variety dubbed SUSIBA2."Three-year field trials in China demonstrated
that the cultivation of SUSIBA2 rice was associated with a significant
reduction in methane emissions," said the study."SUSIBA2 rice offers
a sustainable means of providing increased starch content for food production
while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation."In a
comment also carried by Nature, Paul Bodelier of the Netherlands Institute of
Ecology described the research as "groundbreaking", but cautioned it
also raised several "biological and ethics concerns"."In
addition to the general questions surrounding the use of genetically modified
crops for human consumption, and how access to seed for such crops is
controlled, we do not yet have a clear picture of how this modification affects
rice plants' survival and general function," said Bodelier.Long-term
measurements of methane emissions would be needed to calculate the crop's
potential overall impact on greenhouse gas reduction efforts, he wrote.Also,
the reduction of carbon in soil may have unknown consequences for other types
of microorganisms that could aid or harm the plants.All said, the work should
spur scientists worldwide "to conduct experiments to verify whether this
variety will enable more sustainable cultivation of the crop that feeds half
the human population," said Bodelier.
http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-create-low-methane-rice-173216320.html
Scientists warn of
risk of arsenic in rice
Thursday, July 23, 2015 - 09:03 AM
Scientists at Queens University in
Belfast are warning of the risks of arsenic in rice, in particular for babies
and young children.
They have found that using plenty
of water during cooking can significantly cut the level of arsenic.Coffee
percolators have been found to be particularly good for cooking rice.Inorganic
arsenic is found in all types of rice, where its grown under flooded conditions
which causes soil minerals, including arsenic, to be absorbed by the plant.A
range of health problems including bladder and lung cancer can be caused by
arsenic consumption.Professor Andy Mehang of Queens University said that babies
in particular can be at risk."There's more concern over young
children," he said.He added: "Their exposure to arsenic from rice is
three times higher than adults, so I'd be especially careful to avoid as much
as possible a reliance on rice products for young children - and there are many
of them out there."
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/scientists-warn-of-risk-of-arsenic-in-rice-687798.html
GMO
rice could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, study says
Rice grows in flooded paddies, emitting methane in the process.
A new variety of genetically engineered rice can sharply reduce these
greenhouse gas emissions, a study says. Above, a rice paddy in Nepal.
(NARENDRA
SHRESTHA / EPA)
Over half the people on the planet eat rice as a staple food.
Growing rice emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas — to the tune of 25 million
to 100 million metric tons of methane every year, a notable contribution to
human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
As the world’s population grows
and needs more food, the problem is likely to get worse, but genetic
engineering could help, a new study reports. By transferring a barley gene into
a rice plant, scientists have created a new variety of rice that produces less
methane while still making highly starchy, productive seeds. The development of
the new rice strain is described this week in the journal Nature.
Finding a way to boost rice
production while reducing methane emissions has been a goal for many years,
said Chuanxin Sun, a plant biologist at the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences and the lead author of the study. By
engineering barley genes into the rice plant, “we demonstrated it’s possible to
get these two traits with this technology,” he said.When rice paddies are
flooded, methane-producing bacteria thrive on the carbohydrates secreted by
rice roots in the oxygen-free soils. The rice plant itself acts as a conduit,
transmitting methane from the soil into the atmosphere. 
Methane traps heat in the atmosphere with devastating
efficiency: Over 20 years, it is 84 times stronger than carbon dioxide as a
greenhouse gas, according to the most recent assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
By transferring a gene from barley into rice, scientists were
able to produce a new variety of rice that emitted less methane and grew
starchier seeds than conventional rice.
(Feng
Wang)
Sun and his team transferred barley genes that
cause high-starch production in rice grains and stems. Based on previous
research that proposed that rice plants with smaller root systems could produce
less methane, the researchers hoped that the genetic transfer would cause their
rice plants to allocate less energy toward growing roots and more toward making
robust grains.
Then they planted a handful of their genetically engineered rice
plants alongside conventionally grown Nipponbare rice in the laboratory and in
two field settings in China.
Near the end of the growing season, in summer and fall, the
researchers measured how much methane each plant emitted by covering it with a
sealed plastic cylinder and using a syringe to extract the accumulated gasses
in the trapped air. They also measured how much starch the plants allocated to
their seeds, stems and roots, and how many methane-producing bacteria lived
around the plant roots.As they suspected, the genetically engineered rice grew
smaller root systems and starchier grains than conventional rice. Far fewer
methane-producing bacteria hugged the roots of the new rice. And the new rice
variety emitted less than 10% of the methane of conventional rice, they
reported.
The genetically modified rice variety provides “a tremendous
opportunity for more-sustainable rice cultivation,” Paul Bodelier, a microbial
ecologist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, wrote in an essay that accompanied that research article.
Previous techniques for reducing methane emissions from rice
paddies involve alternating flooding with dry periods, said Bruce Linquist, a plant
scientist at UC Davis who specializes in rice cultivation and was not involved
in the study. Although these techniques can cut methane emissions in half, they
also can reduce the plants’ productivity. Additionally, in a lot of places
where rice is grown, you can’t control when rice paddies are wet or dry because
irrigation is based on seasonal rains and floods, he said.
The research is too preliminary to make solid conclusions about
methane emissions from the genetically engineered rice, Linquist added. More
research about how much methane whole rice paddies (and not just individual
plants) emit over the entire growing season is necessary, he said. In addition,
the new rice plants’ smaller root systems could make it difficult for the crop
to uptake nutrients.“It needs to be tested more in the field,” he said.Even if
the new rice variety does prove to reduce methane emissions on a larger scale,
there are still barriers to it being grown and sold. Genetically engineered
rice isn't commercially cultivated anywhere in the world, in part because of
ethical and biological concerns about the spread of engineered rice pollen,
experts said."There's not a market for it," Linquist said
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-gmo-rice-methane-emissions-20150722-story.html
Can rice give you
cancer? 'Not if you cook it in a coffee percolator'
Rice contains
high levels of arsenic because it is grown in flood plains, but steaming it in
a coffee percolator removes most of the poison
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People who eat a lot of rice are exposed to dangerous levels of
arsenic, according to the research Photo:
© Yuji Kotani
Rice should be cooked in a coffee percolator because it contains dangerous levels of
carcinogenic arsenic, scientists have said.People who eat a lot of rice are
exposed to dangerous levels of arsenic which can cause lung and bladder cancer,
researchers at Queen’s University in Belfast claim.But now they have come up
with a simple solution. Allowing rice to steam in a normal coffee percolator
removes 85 per cent of the arsenic, they found.Rice is the only major crop
grown under the flooded conditions of paddy fields. It is this flooding that
releases inorganic arsenic, normally locked up in soil minerals, which is then
absorbed by the plant.
Too much arsenic is associated with a range of health
problems.Andy Meharg, Professor of Plant and Soil Sciences at Queen's Institute
for Global Food Security said: “This is a very significant breakthrough as this
offers an immediate solution to decreasing inorganic arsenic in the diet.“In
our research we rethought the method of rice cooking to optimise the removal of
inorganic arsenic and we discovered that by using percolating technology, where
cooking water is continually passed through rice in a constant flow, we could
maximise removal of arsenic.
Cooking rice in a percolator can
decrease the risk of exposure to inorganic arsenic
“Chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause a range of
health problems including developmental problems, heart disease, diabetes and
nervous system damage. However, most worrying are lung and bladder
cancers.”Rice has, typically, ten times more inorganic arsenic than other foods
and according to the European Food Standards Authority, people who eat a lot of
rice, as is the case in many parts of the developing world, are exposed to
worrying concentrations.Children and infants are of particular concern as they
eat, relatively, three times more rice than adults – baby rice being a popular food
for weaning– and their organs are still developing.Queen’s is at
the patent stage for the development of a bespoke rice cooker based on a percolation system which means consumers could
soon have this technology in their own kitchen.What is the official advice on how to avoid the health risks
associated with arsenic in rice?
The FSA says it is the responsibility of manufacturers to ensure
that the food they produce is as low as possible in arsenic
Children under four and a half years of age should not be given
rice milk as a substitute for breast milk, formula or regular milk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11755755/Can-rice-give-you-cancer-Not-if-you-cook-it-in-a-coffee-percolator.html
CCEA eases curbs on
export of edible oil
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 22
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) has eased restrictions on export of edible oil.
The CCEA in a meeting approved the
proposal of the Commerce Ministry to allow unrestricted exports of rice bran
oil in bulk.In addition, it also removed the quantitative limit of 10,000 tonne
per annum on export of organic edible oils subject to contracts being
registered and certified as organic by Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority (APEDA).Justifying the move, a government
statement said that export of edible oils has been banned since 2008 and
certain exemptions have been given from time to time.
It has now been decided to allow
bulk exports of rice bran oil which is premium edible oil and has limited
direct consumption base in India. This will be done without any restrictions of
minimum export price (MEP) or consumer packs.According to the government, this
step would help the country to fully exploit the potential of rice bran oil and
would help small rice millers through better realization of rice bran without
increasing the cost of rice.At present, export of organic edible oils is
allowed subject to quantitative restriction of 10,000 tonne per year. The
government has decided to remove this restriction to send a clear message to
investors and the growers community to invest in organic exports thereby
capturing higher end of the value chain through better realisations.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/business/ccea-eases-curbs-on-export-of-edible-oil/109999.html
Northeast Louisiana Rice
Growers Hold Annual Field Day
USA Rice's Ben Mosely
RAYVILLE, LA -- The Northeast Louisiana Rice Growers' Association
hosted its annual rice and soybean field day yesterday at the Louisiana State
University (LSU) AgCenter's off-station research plots on the Woodsland
Plantation. The field day was coordinated
by LSU AgCenter agricultural agents in the region.
Farmers and allied rice
industry personnel heard reports from researchers on production recommendations
including varietal development, insect and disease control, and fertilizer
management. Growers also received an
update on production issues observed by AgCenter researchers during the current
growing season and the outlook for issues they may face in upcoming seasons.
"Field
days like this are one of the best ways for the LSU rice research team to
showcase their hard work," said Dr. Steve Linscombe, long-time rice
breeder and director of the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station. "We're always excited to share with
growers some of the new varieties on the horizon and how we think they may
impact the rice industry."Following the research demonstrations, attendees
assembled at the Rayville Civic Center for soybean-related pest and disease
updates. The day's program concluded with a policy update from USA Rice's Vice
President of Government Affairs Ben Mosely, with an emphasis on 2014 Farm Bill
provisions that USA Rice aggressively advocated for such as Supplemental
Coverage Option, Price Loss Coverage, and Margin Protection. "As these new
farm bill programs are rolled out, farmers want to know the direct effect on
their operations," said Mosely.
"We're working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
their Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency to ensure that these
programs work to the best benefit of rice farmers."
Mosely also gave an update
on U.S. rice export market conditions, including the Trans Pacific Partnership
negotiations with Japan, irregular market access in Iraq, and the potential
reopening of the Cuban market.
Contact: Randy Jemison (337) 738-7009
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CCC Announces
Prevailing World Market Prices
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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 July 29, 2015. |
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CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
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Rice farming reduction to
make room for livestock feed materials, experts
Rice farming area has exceeded plan resulting in supply redundancy
and low price while breeding industry has depended on import materials causing
high-cost feed products to plague breeders. Therefore, experts have said that
rice area should be reduced to make room for livestock feed material
production, especially corn.An animal feed shop in the northern province of Hai
Duong (Photo: SGGP)
Millions of breeders have purchased import feed products at high
prices for the last several years because Vietnam's breeding industry has
depended on import materials. Breeding is among the weakest industries nearly
without export products.Latest data from the General Department of Vietnam
Customs shows that Vietnam spent US$3 billion on import feed last year. Maize
import hit a record high output of 3.72 million tons and turnover of US$744
million in the first six months this year.The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development reported that Vietnam yielded US$2.95 billion from rice exports but
spent up to US$3 billion on livestock feed and material imports every year. It
touched US$4 billion if calculating maize, soybean and wheat.
Experts said that Vietnam had the advantage in rice farming but
disadvantage in feed material production.American feed provider Bunge Group
predicted that Vietnam’s import demand on maize has increased to 3.5-4 million
tons a year. Besides, the country has imported nearly 950,000 tons of soybeans
worth US$438 million. It is expected to continue increasing in the upcoming
time due to hot and muggy weather.According to chairman of the Vietnam Animal
Feed Association Le Ba Lich, Vietnam needs 12.5 million tons of livestock feed
annually but imports up to 9-10 million tons of materials for production.
He has proposed the Government to reconsider of the plan on
livestock feed material production, rebalance farming areas between rice and
corn--the main feed material.Deputy Head of the Department of Livestock
Production Nguyen Xuan Duong said that feed accounted for 70 percent of
breeding product prices while the breeding industry has been conditional on
import materials. Therefore any fluctuation in the Vietnamese dong to US dollar
exchange rate has greatly affected local breeding industry and food market.In
addition, the agricultural industry has been forced to tighten management over
feed quality as the high import demand has unleashed low quality materials to
enter domestic market, he added.Minister Cao Duc Phat said it unacceptable that
Vietnam’s feed prices are 15-20 percent higher than that in Thailand and other
nations in the world.
Feed material farming development would reduce the dependence and
help farmers lower cost prices to improve competitiveness and profit, he
said.In the breeding development strategy by 2020, the ministry targets to
develop breeding into a main production industry, accounting for 42 percent of
agricultural value structure, he added.Experts said that in order to obtain the
target, the ministry should set up policies, aiming to build and develop feed
material source right now.
Small water flow brings joy
to rice farmers in Thailand
BY EDITOR ON 2015-07-22
THAILAND
BANGKOK: — AS SOON as water began flowing into their paddy fields
again yesterday, farmers in Lop Buri’s Ban Mi district felt like they were on
cloud nine. “I am over the moon. I feel like heaven,” said Surat Rueangroong,
69.He said it had broken his heart to walk around the paddy fields for the past
month and see his rice plants wither from lack of water, day after day.The
Royal Irrigation Department had allowed farmers in Surat’s town to pump water
into their fields.
“We are permitted to do so for just one day. But it’s still better
than nothing and we understand that we have to share water with farmers in
other zones too,” the farmer said.Ayutthaya Governor Apichart Dodilokwej said
the government was trying to support about 100,000 rai of fields where rice had
first started to sprout. “We are prioritising the needs for water in each
zone,” he said.
With supply tight, the government had resolved to cut water for
farms in a bid to ensure people would still have water for their daily
activities until the annual rains start. However, authorities are also trying
to ensure that they can ease farmers’ woes where possible. And some farmers
have already managed to turn the drought crisis into an opportunity.In
Uttaradit’s Laplae district, locals in Ban Pong Kachee are now doing well with
their new livelihood – making mushroom spawn for sale. “Months ago, we were
told to postpone growing rice until adequate rain arrived. So, we started looking
for supplementary jobs. We need to earn money,” farmer Namneung Jeamklin said
yesterday.
Locals in Ban
Pong Kachee looked around their neighbourhood and saw that it had plenty of
sawdust because there were many wood-processing factories nearby.In Sukhothai
province, many farmers decided to grow cassava in place of rice in the face of
the water shortage.“Cassava requires little water. We have to go for it,” said
Jamroon Sukpan, the kamnan of Tambon Nong Chik.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Small-water-flow-brings-joy-to-rice-farmers-30264942.html
Commerce Min inspects
substandard rice stock before auction
Date : 22 กรกฎาคม 2558
BANGKOK, 22 July 2015 (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce is
reexamining the government’s stockpile of low-quality rice before releasing it
to the industrial sector. Ms Jintana Chaiyawonnagal, Chairperson of the Public
Warehouse Organization (PWO), led concerned officials and press members to
conduct another inspection of rice stock at a warehouse in Khlong Sam Wa
district of Bangkok. The objective of the inspection was to collect samples of
rice grains in order for them to be rechecked on quality and grade prior to the
bidding process. It was found that the warehouse was containing 8,911 tons of
off-season white rice from the 2012 crop year. Of the total, 1,430 tons have so
far been confirmed to be in deteriorated condition. Ms Jintana said such an
inspection is being carried out constantly on a random basis. She expected all
findings to be concluded within this week, after which they will be reported to
the Commerce Ministry.
Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikalya disclosed that
bidding conditions will be announced next week for 400,000-500,000 tons of
good-quality rice. Another 1.29 million tons of substandard rice will also be
offered to the industrial sector and there will be a follow-up inspection to
ensure that the low-quality grains are not resold to the general market for
consumption.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/CenterWeb/NewsEN/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5807220010008#sthash.DSsJOeNv.dpuf
Thai
rice sales extending decline on competition
July 22, 2015
RICE exports from Thailand
will probably drop further from a record amid cheaper supplies from Asian
rivals and as the worst drought in almost 30 years parches crops in the world’s
biggest supplier.Thailand is poised to ship 9.5 million metric
tons this year, lower than the 10 million tons forecast in February, the Thai
Rice Exporters Association said in a statement on Tuesday. The country sold a
record 10.97 million tons in 2014.Cheaper shipments from Vietnam, the
third-biggest exporter, spurred a unit of the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) to cut its forecast for Thai exports last month. The USDA’s Foreign
Agricultural Service said on June 30 that Thailand may export 10 million tons
this year, 9 percent less than estimated earlier. Dry weather amid a
strengthening El Niño may cut the main harvest to the lowest in nine years,
data from Thailand’s Office of Agricultural Economics show.
“Competition is high,” Chareon
Laothamatas, president of the association, said at a news briefing in Bangkok.
“Our prices are about $50 a ton above that of Vietnam.”The price of Thai
5-percent broken white rice was quoted at $404 a ton on July 15, higher than
$385 in India, the second-biggest shipper, and $350 in Vietnam, the association
said on its web site. Futures in Chicago traded at $10.90 per 100 pounds on
Tuesday after slumping to $9.25 on May 13, the lowest level since 2006.
State stockpiles
“We’re concerned that Vietnam
could take more of our share in the white-rice market,” said Chookiat
Ophaswongse, honorary president of the association. It can offer supplies at
cheaper rates because of lower production costs and as its crops have been less
impacted by drought, he said on Tuesday.El Niño, which can bake parts of Asia
and disrupt harvests worldwide, has further strengthened and may persist into
2016, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said on its web site on Tuesday.
Thailand’s main harvest, which accounts for about 70 percent of annual
production, may slump 14 percent to 23.3 million tons, according to Office of
Agricultural Economics data.
A decline in production could
help the military government accelerate sales of state reserves accumulated
after the administration of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
introduced a purchase program in 2011 to support farmers. Stockpiles in
Thailand are poised to fall to 6.2 million tons this season, the lowest since
2010-2011, according to the USDA.“Drought may reduce output of white rice by 15
percent to 20 percent,” Chareon said. That should provide the government an
opportunity to sell more of the stockpiled rice, he said.The inventory at the end
of June totaled 15.11 million tons of which 9.15 million tons was food grade,
Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said last week.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/thai-rice-sales-extending-decline-on-competition/
Nagpur
Foodgrain Prices Open-July 22
Nagpur, July 22 Gram and tuar prices firmed up in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and
Marketing Committee (APMC) here on increased demand from local millers amid tight supply from
producing regions. Poor monsoon session, downward trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses and enquiries
from South-based plants also jacked up prices, according to sources.
* * * *
FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Deshi gram raw and gram filter reported higher on good demand from local traders
amid thin arrival from producing regions.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties ruled steady in open market here on subdued demand from local traders
amid ample stock in ready position.
* Watana dal recovered strongly in open market here on increased buying support
from local traders amid weak arrival from producing regions.
* In Akola, Tuar - 7,100-7,200, Tuar dal - 10,100-10,300, Udid at 9,500-9,900,
Udid Mogar (clean) - 11,000-11,400, Moong - 7,000-8,000, Moong Mogar
(clean) 9,800-10,100, Gram - 4,100-4,200, Gram Super best bold - 5,700-5,900
for 100 kg.
* Wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market
in thin trading activity, according to sources.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,800-4,540 3,770-4,520
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 6,700-7,460 6,600-7,460
Moong Auction n.a. 6,000-6,400
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Gram Super Best Bold 6,000-6,200 6,000-6,200
Gram Super Best n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,700-5,800 5,700-5,800
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.
Gram Mill Quality 5,350-5,550 5,350-5,550
Desi gram Raw 4,550-4,650 4,500-4,600
Gram Filter new 5,950-6,150 5,900-6,100
Gram Kabuli 5,600-7,100 5,600-7,100
Gram Pink 6,500-6,700 6,500-6,700
Tuar Fataka Best 10,600-10,850 10,600-10,850
Tuar Fataka Medium 10,200-10,500 10,200-10,500
Tuar Dal Best Phod 9,700-9,900 9,700-9,900
Tuar Dal Medium phod 9,200-9,500 9,200-9,500
Tuar Gavarani New 7,650-7,750 7,650-7,750
Tuar Karnataka 8,100-8,300 8,100-8,300
Tuar Black 11,000-11,300 11,000-11,300
Masoor dal best 8,000-8,300 8,000-8,300
Masoor dal medium 7,700-7,900 7,700-7,900
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold 9,500-10,500 9,500-10,500
Moong Mogar Medium best 8,800-9,200 8,800-9,200
Moong dal Chilka 8,800-9,200 8,800-9,800
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) 11,200-11,800 11,200-11,800
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 10,600-11,000 10,600-11,000
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 9,200-9,600 9,200-9,600
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,500-5,000 4,400-4,800
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 3,250-3,350 3,250-3,350
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,300-3,400 3,100-3,350
Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,200 3,100-3,200
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,500 1,400-1,500
Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,550-1,700 1,550-1,700
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,300-1,500 1,300-1,500
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,400 2,200-2,400
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,100 1,900-2,100
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,700 3,200-3,700
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,550-2,850 2,550-2,850
Rice BPT New(100 INR/KG) 2,750-2,900 2,750-2,900
Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 3,050-3,300 3,050-3,300
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,750 1,600-1,750
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,450 2,200-2,450
Rice Swarna old (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,700 2,500-2,700
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) 4,200-4,500 4,200-4,500
Rice HMT Shriram old (100 INR/KG) 4,500-5,100 4,500-5,100
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,000-10,000 8,000-10,000
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,000-7,500 7,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,100-5,500 5,100-5,500
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,350 2,100-2,350
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 31.0 degree Celsius (87.8 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.
25.4 degree Celsius (77.7 degree Fahrenheit)
Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a.
Rainfall : nil
FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky. Rains or thunder-showers likely. Maximum and minimum temperature
would be around and 32 and 24 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/2015/07/22/nagpur-foodgrain-idINL3N10232K20150722
Venezuelan
farmers ordered to hand over produce to state
As Venezuela's
food shortages worsen, the president of the country's Food Industry Chamber has
said that authorities ordered producers of milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar and
flour to supply their products to the state stores
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People queue up outside a
supermarket in Caracas earlier this year Photo:
AFP
6:32PM BST 21 Jul 2015
Venezuela's
embattled government has taken the drastic step of forcing food producers to
sell their produce to the state, in a bid to counter the ever-worsening
shortages.Farmers and manufacturers who produce milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar
and flour have been told to supply between 30 per cent and 100 per cent of
their products to the state stores. Shortages, rationing and queues
outside supermarkets have
become a way of life for Venezuelans, as their isolated country battles against
rigid currency controls and a shortage of US dollars – making it difficult for
Venezuelans to find imported goods. 
Pablo Baraybar, president of the Venezuelan Food Industry
Chamber, said that the order was illogical, and damaging to Venezuelan
consumers."Taking products from the supermarkets and shops to hand them
over to the state network doesn't help in any way," he said. "And
problems like speculating will only get worse, because the foods will be
concentrated precisely in the areas where the resellers go.He pointed to
statistics showing that two thirds of hoarders – or "bachaqueros",
giant ants, as they are nicknamed in Venezuela – buy their goods from the three
state-owned chains, to resell at a profit.
"Consumers will be forced to spend more time in queues,
given that the goods will be available in fewer stores."The state owns
7,245 stores, compared to more than 113,000 in private hands. Mr Baraybar said
that many of the private shops were in densely-populated areas, meaning that
people will now be forced to make longer journeys to the state stores.The
Chamber has asked the government for a meeting to discuss the plan, which they
say they were not informed of."This does absolutely nothing to help with
the shortages," he said, adding that the solution was for the government to increase national production.
In March, Venezuelans were so worried about food shortages and
dimininshing stocks of basic goods, fingerprint scanners were installed in
supermarkets in an attempt to crack down on hoarding.Venezuela’s official rate
of inflation hit 64 per cent last year – the highest in the world. The
government hides the scale of shortages, but angry consumers regularly post
photos of empty shelves on social media.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/11754156/Venezuelan-farmers-ordered-to-hand-over-produce-to-state.html
Water
reserves improve slightly after rain
22 Jul 2015 at
12:43
WRITER: POST
REPORTERS
Buddhist
monks and novices lead local farmers in a ceremonial planting of rice in Phu
Phiang district of Nan province on Wednesday, in the wake of heavy rain. (Photo
by Rarinthorn Petcharoen)
Recent
rain has slightly increased water reserves in the North, the Northeast and the
Central Plain and rice farmers in some provinces have taken a chance and begun
planting their long delayed main crop. Heavy rain was reported in Nakhon
Ratchasima, Nan, Phetchabun, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Sakon Nakhon, Sukhothai, Tak
and Uttaradit provinces over the past few days.On Wednesday morning, the Pa Sak
River overflowed into nearby communities in Lom Kao district of Phetchabun. In
Mae Sot district of Tak, heavy rain caused landslides that toppled big
trees along Highway 12 (Tak-Mae Sot).Ekasit Sakdeethanaporn, director of
the Chao Phraya dam in Chai Nat province, said the level of the Chao Phraya
River just above the dam in Sapphaya district continued to rise above its
critical level of 14 metres above mean sea level for the second day on Wednesday.
It rose by 15 centimetres in 24 hours to 14.21m above sea level after
being below 14m for five weeks.He attributed the increase to rainfall upstream
from the dam in Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan and Uthai Thani provinces, and
farmers' cooperation with the government's request to stop pumping
water to their fields for the time being to save water for general
use.Mr Ekasit said the Chao Phraya dam increased its discharge rate to 95 cubic
metres per second to supply freshwater to the Sam Lae water intake station of
the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority in Pathum Thani province, to
maintain the standard of tap water in Bangkok and nearby provinces.
The Chao
Phraya dam increases its discharge rate in Chai Nat province on Wednesday.
(Photo by Chudate Seehawong)
Rain
also raised water levels at Nam Un and Nam Phung dams and in Nong Han lake in
Sakon Nakhon province. Their water reserves amounted to 373.55 million cu/m, or
39% of their total capacity. They had been at 63% at the same time last
year.Sakon Nakhon governor Boonsong Techawanit said the water would be kept for
general consumption first, not agriculture.However, the rains prompted farmers
to start planting rice in Nan and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces. In Nan, monks
and novices ceremonially planted rice in a paddy field to boost the morale of
local farmers who had long waited for rain.In Nakhon Ratchasima, farmers said
although they doubted the rain would continue, they had to take a gamble and
plant their crops because they might not have another chance this year. They
had already postponed planting for three weeks and local canals remained
dry.The Meteorological Department has forecast rainfall would decrease
from Thursday to Saturday, but return in the North and Northeast on Sunday
and Monday.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/631108/water-reserves-improve-slightly-after-rain
U.S. Rice Recognized
at Food for Peace Celebration
USA Rice's
Sarah Moran (l) and USAID Acting Assistant Administrator Thomas Staal
WASHINGTON, DC
-- USA Rice was one of the selected exhibitors at a Capitol Hill celebration
yesterday on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Food for Peace
program. Food for Peace has provided
life-saving food assistance through the use of in-kind food donations including
rice, to more than three billion people in vulnerable communities around the
world. The event was hosted by the
Chairmen of the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Agriculture. House
Committee on Agriculture Chair Mike Conaway (R-TX) thanked USA Rice, other
attendees, and the American people for their willingness and desire to feed the
world's hungry.
"This was an important opportunity for
USA Rice to showcase longstanding participation in, and commitment to, the U.S.
global feeding programs and to provide information to Congress, USAID, and
Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) on the introduction of a new fortified
rice product to address hidden hunger," said Jim Guinn, USA Rice's vice
president of international promotion.While the U.S. has made progress in
addressing overall hunger, hidden hunger -- in the form of severe micronutrient
deficiencies -- remains a major impediment to proper development in many
vulnerable communities. Statistics from
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) note that more
than two billion people still suffer from hidden hunger. Fortified rice is the
first new product introduced to U.S. global feeding programs as a result of
research and testing conducted under the auspices of both USAID and USDA. Extensive studies have shown that fortified
rice is widely accepted by communities worldwide and is effective in addressing
some of the most severe deficiencies such as vitamin A and anemia.
Fortified rice contains levels of iron,
thiamin, zinc, vitamin A, folic acid, and other B vitamins, formulated in a way
that allows for maximum nutrient uptake.
"The look and taste of fortified rice is just like regular milled
rice," says Dr. Yi Wu, Chief Innovation Director of the Wright Group, a
company that produces fortified rice.
"Recent trials in Cambodia and the historical (in some cases
mandatory) use of fortified rice in the Philippines and Costa Rica, have shown
both wide scale acceptance of the product and efficiency in nutrient
bioavailability to address hidden hunger.
Rice is one of the most consumed foods in the world and through
fortification, the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations will be met in
an appetizing, culturally-appropriate way."
Fortified rice
is now part of USAID's Master List of commodities and it is expected that
several PVOs will begin to specify this product in feeding rations in both
USDA's McGovern Dole school feeding programs and USAID's Food for Peace
programs as a cost effective and culturally appropriate way to address the
persistent challenge of hidden hunger.
Contact:
Sarah Moran (703) 236-1457
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