Scientists Develop
Nutrient-Enriched Rice
BOGOTA – Scientists from Colombia and five
other countries have developed a genetically modified variety of rice with high
content of iron and zinc, according to Agro-Bio, a Bogota-based association for
the promotion of biotechnology.The new variety was a project of the
International Rice Research Institute and drew on work by scientists from
Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United States, Australia and Japan.
Researchers combined rice and soy-ferritin
genes to produce a grain with high content of micronutrients.They implanted the
modified genes in the world’s most-cultivated variety of rice, which comes from
Southeast Asia, where deficiencies in iron and zinc are common.Due to
regulatory requirements, the enriched rice will take a minimum of four years to
reach the market, Agro-Bio said in a statement.
“Foods derived from transgenic crops and
scientific innovations in agriculture contribute to food security and they can
improve the diet of populations who now suffer nutrient deficiencies,” Agro-Bio
director Maria Andrea Uscategui said.The new rice “is a step forward in efforts
to fight the lack of micronutrients or hidden hunger,” the association
said.Agro-Bio says that “hidden hunger” affects roughly 38 percent of pregnant
women and 43 percent of toddlers worldwide, with the impact concentrated in
developing countries.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2408018&CategoryId=13936
Drop in local production will force rice
imports
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is ready to import more rice if
local grain production drops as a result of the persisting El Nino phenomenon.
Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri
Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said Malaysia imported 30% of rice for the nation’s consumption
while the other 70% came from local growers.
“If production falls, we will increase the import to offset the
drop in local supply. Of course, that will be a temporary measure,” he said.
Tajuddin said while the hot weather would definitely affect padi
production.
Mardi, in a statement, said a 2°C rise in temperature could lead
to a 13% reduction in padi yield while drought – or a 15% decrease in seasonal
rainfall - could lead to drop in yield up to 80%. Any rice in temperature above
34°C was also certain to affect yield.
Extreme heat could also cause damage to the rice yield and grain
quality besides bringing disease, it said.
Tajudin said the Government was flexible in its import policy
despite aiming to achieve full self-sufficiency by 2020.
“We are flexible in our policies because we have to think of
food security. We don’t want to see people having problems because rice is our
staple food.
“If we have to import, then we will import. The basic policy is
that we want to protect our local producers,” he added.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/03/18/drop-in-local-production-will-force-rice-imports/
Federation Mulls Supporting Rice
Export Price
The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) on Thursday met with the
Ministry of Commerce to discuss policies for strengthening the country’s ailing
rice industry, and unveiled a plan to develop a price-support mechanism to
guarantee Cambodia’s rice export price, officials said.
The talks come a week after the CRF announced the formation of a
new task force to manage the impact of cheap foreign rice imports and
under-funded millers on Cambodia’s rice industry, in response to pressure from
its members.In Thursday’s meeting with Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol and other
ministry officials, Sok Puthyvuth, CRF president, said those present had agreed
on a policy agenda to be discussed by government officials in the coming weeks.
“An inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister
Keat Chhon will consider a $20 million to $30 million ‘special budget,’” he
said. “The meeting will help support the industry facing the illegal imports of
rice from Vietnam.”Following the talks, Moul Sarith, CRF secretary-general,
said the federation was also developing a long-term strategy to support rice
millers and exporters, which included plans to create a consortium of millers
and exporters to manage Cambodia’s rice export price.“The biggest members from
the CRF will be chosen to be ‘consortium partners’ to manage and set one export
price,” Mr. Sarith said, adding that the initiative should be off the ground
this year.“Currently, our members compete against each other when foreign
buyers come to buy our rice, which forces prices to fall,” he said.The proposed
consortium would control the export price of rice by regulating supply, benefiting
the country’s entire rice supply chain, Mr. Sarith added.
“If exporters get a good price, rice millers and farmers will
benefit too as it will allow them to sell at higher prices.”But Mao Thora,
secretary of state at the Commerce Ministry, said it was too early to discuss
the viability of the planned consortium.“A report of the meeting this morning
is being prepared to send to the prime minister,” he said. “First we have to
solve the immediate problems including preventing the inflow of rice from Vietnam
and credit support to millers.”Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, was
skeptical that the consortium would solve the industry’s problems, adding that
price-support could backfire on the entire sector.“It is just an idea, I do not
think this is possible to create,” he said.“Foreign buyers look to buy good
quality rice at a good price in international markets,” he added. “If the price
is set high, they could just buy rice from Thailand, Vietnam or Burma instead.”
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/federation-mulls-supporting-rice-export-price-110081/
Ludhiana agri varsity to hold
2-day kisan mela
HT Correspondent, Hindustan times, Ludhiana
Updated: Mar 17, 2016 14:57 IST
The Punjab
Agricultural University (PAU) will host the two-day Kisan Mela from Friday on
the campus. The university’s centre of communication revealed the contribution
of different departments on Wednesday. “All departments will put up stalls
where scientist and students will be interacting with the farmers in their
preferred language,” said the officials.The department of fruit science and
vegetable science would throw light on Punjab Agricultural University fruit fly
traps, new techniques of propagation in fruit plants, storage and ripening
techniques and recommended varieties of vegetables.The departments of
entomology and plant pathology would give field demonstrations on integrated
pest management in different crops, control of whitefly in cotton with recommended
pesticides, beekeeping as a subsidiary venture, management of yellow and brown
rusts in wheat, seed treatment for management of bacterial blight of rice,
among.
The
department of agronomy and soil science would delve into rice residue
management, weed control in wheat and rye, bi-directional sowing of wheat, leaf
colour chart technology, soil testing, and recycling of crop residues in
fields.The department of microbiology would acquaint the farmers with mushroom
cultivation technology, use of bio-fertilizers for various crops and natural
vinegar production from sugarcane and grapes.The department of processing and
food engineering and food science and technology would apprise farmers of agro-
processing, vegetable washing machine, value added and health food products and
preparation of fruit and vegetable products.
PROTECTION FROM BIRDS
The department of zoology would give tips for
the protection of crops from harmful birds and methods to control rodent pests
while the department of forestry and natural resources would give marketing
tips for poplar and eucalyptus in Punjab.
The departments of farm machinery and power
engineering and soil and water engineering would explain the raising of a mat
nursery, working of mechanical paddy transplanter and direct seeding rice
machine, use of drip and sprinkler irrigation system, cultivation of vegetables
in poly house and net house and groundwater recharge through rooftop rainwater
harvesting.
AWARENESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The
School of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology would create climate
change awareness among the farmers and inform them about SMS weather alerts.The
School of Energy Studies for Agriculture would explain about biogas generation
from paddy straw and forced circulation solar dryer for turmeric drying.The
College of Home Science would give demonstrations on solar cooker, solar dryer
and hold competition in preparation of paper bags.Director of extension
education PAU RS Sidhu urged the farmers and farm women to participate in the
mela in big number. While talking to the vice chancellor BS Dhillon, he said,
“Kisan Mela/Divas plays an important role in dissemination of latest farm
information and agricultural technologies among the farmers.”
Under
one roof, farmers are acquainted with the new technologies through live
demonstrations, exhibitions and technical sessions, he added.They can interact
with the scientists, share their farm issues, visit live demonstrations,
participate in produce competition and question-answer session and purchase
improved seeds and farm literature, he said. Not only this, Kisan Mela would
also apprise farm women of allied agriculture enterprises and other beneficial
procedures
Rice exports jump as more of last year’s orders
filled
Rice exports have surged in the first two
months as many of last year’s contracts are being executed this year, according
to the Việt Nam Food Association.Workers of HCM City Food and Foodstuff company
load rice for export.The country exported more than 856,219 tonnes for US$347.8
million, a year-on-year increase of 101.89 per cent and 81.73 per cent, and Huỳnh
Minh Huệ, VFA general secretary, indicated there had been too many orders to
handle last year, including some large government contracts with Indonesia and
the Philippines.At a regular meeting of the association last week, he said
exports of common white rice accounted for 32.68 per cent of exports, up almost
five times from the same period last year, and exports of glutinous rice also
surged due to high demand from China.
Exports of fragrant rice continued to grow
steadily thanks to increased exports to China and Africa, he said.VFA
anticipates exports to reach 1.3 million tonnes in the first quarter, 56 per
cent up from the same period last year.Huệ said the number of contracts to be
executed remained high at around 1.4 million tonnes.But with inventories at
export firms 81,140 tonnes lower than at the same time last year -- at one
million tonnes -- they would have to buy rice, he said.Prices are currently
high in the domestic market despite this being the peak harvest season and the
association announcing no plans to stockpile the grain.High demand from
exporters coupled with a forecast of falling output in the Cửu Long (Mekong)
Delta due to drought and saltwater intrusion has pushed up the prices.
The Ministry of Agriculture and rural
Development reported that by March 5 around 139,000ha of the winter-spring rice
crop in nine provinces had been damaged by drought and saltwater, with the loss
estimated at one million tonnes.In previous years the VFA proposed purchasing
one million tonne of rice for temporary storage at the beginning of March to
support domestic prices, but this time farmers can earn reasonable profits at
current prices.According to rice traders in the Mekong Delta, a kilogramme of
IR 50404 paddy in the field costs VNĐ4,600-4,650, VNĐ300 higher than a year
earlier, and high-grade paddies are priced much higher.
The Hindu: "Rice Prices"
New rice auction to be announced
tomorrow, 18 March
BANGKOK: — The National Rice
Policy Committee has approved the auction of a new round of 640,000 tons of
rice stocks.
The auction conditions will be announced
tomorrow.Director-general of the Department of International Trade Mrs
Duangporn Rodphaya revealed yesterday that the National Rice Policy Committee
has endorsed a proposal to organize a new public bidding on rice stocks as
market trends indicate that the demands for white rice and broken-milled rice
is on the rise.The auction will allow the government to reduce costs related to
maintaining and looking after existing stocks, she said.
She however told farmers that this move will in
no way affect local market prices.Yesterday the Public Warehouse Organization
(PWO) invited five successful bidders in the previous government rice auction
to attend a briefing on the criteria for this new round of bidding.The brief
focused on the portion of the auctions for 140,000 tons of rice destined for
industrial purpose (broken-milled rice). These are estimated to be more than
933 million Baht in value.The PWO official said the PWO was willing to approve
a relaxation of certain restrictions such as the possibility of allowing these
rice stocks to be transported after daylight hours.But it maintained that not
all parties will be given this benefit as the merits and past performances of
each will have to be considered before approval is granted.
Source:
http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/155532http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/new-rice-auction-to-be-announced-tomorrow-18-march/135490/
Rice Prices
as on :
17-03-2016 08:10:30 PM
|
Arrivals
|
Price
|
|||||
|
Current
|
%
change |
Season
cumulative |
Modal
|
Prev.
Modal |
Prev.Yr
%change |
|
|
Rice
|
||||||
|
Gadarpur(Utr)
|
3059.00
|
-29.56
|
89370.00
|
2004
|
2099
|
-8.41
|
|
Bareilly(UP)
|
98.00
|
NC
|
6318.00
|
2225
|
2180
|
4.71
|
|
Dhing(ASM)
|
92.00
|
8.24
|
2704.20
|
1800
|
1800
|
-16.28
|
|
Kalipur(WB)
|
90.00
|
-7.22
|
4052.00
|
2050
|
2050
|
NC
|
|
Ghaziabad(UP)
|
70.00
|
16.67
|
2000.00
|
2130
|
2125
|
0.95
|
|
Beldanga(WB)
|
50.00
|
-3.85
|
1359.50
|
2275
|
2275
|
-10.78
|
|
Gazipur(UP)
|
43.00
|
7.5
|
1300.00
|
1940
|
1940
|
-4.90
|
|
Karimganj(ASM)
|
40.00
|
100
|
1320.00
|
2200
|
2200
|
4.76
|
|
Purulia(WB)
|
36.00
|
NC
|
1536.00
|
2200
|
2200
|
-6.78
|
|
Gauripur(ASM)
|
30.00
|
-13.04
|
2262.50
|
4500
|
4500
|
-
|
|
Diamond Harbour(South 24-pgs)(WB)
|
25.00
|
4.17
|
472.00
|
1850
|
1850
|
-17.78
|
|
Lohardaga(Jha)
|
20.00
|
-16.67
|
653.00
|
1750
|
1840
|
-5.41
|
|
Firozabad(UP)
|
17.00
|
6.25
|
470.00
|
2060
|
2080
|
5.64
|
|
Muradabad(UP)
|
12.00
|
140
|
396.50
|
2275
|
2280
|
12.35
|
|
Rampur(UP)
|
12.00
|
20
|
387.50
|
2210
|
2210
|
7.02
|
|
Champadanga(WB)
|
12.00
|
-14.29
|
624.00
|
2350
|
2350
|
-11.32
|
|
Mirzapur(UP)
|
11.00
|
-12
|
1124.00
|
1940
|
1945
|
0.52
|
|
North Lakhimpur(ASM)
|
10.10
|
-64.44
|
1100.00
|
1900
|
1900
|
-
|
|
Alappuzha(Ker)
|
10.00
|
NC
|
70.00
|
3950
|
3900
|
-
|
|
Deogarh(Ori)
|
9.00
|
-5.26
|
324.50
|
2500
|
2500
|
NC
|
|
Cherthalai(Ker)
|
8.50
|
6.25
|
256.00
|
2300
|
2200
|
-11.54
|
|
Nilagiri(Ori)
|
8.00
|
-11.11
|
328.00
|
2300
|
2300
|
NC
|
|
Chengannur(Ker)
|
7.00
|
-12.5
|
411.50
|
2300
|
2300
|
-17.86
|
|
Angul(Ori)
|
4.50
|
-
|
4.50
|
2600
|
-
|
-
|
|
Imphal(Man)
|
3.40
|
NC
|
151.40
|
2900
|
2900
|
NC
|
|
Islampur(WB)
|
3.20
|
NC
|
215.00
|
2150
|
2150
|
-
|
|
Pathapatnam(AP)
|
2.80
|
-6.67
|
7.30
|
2581
|
2857
|
-
|
|
Bonai(Bonai)(Ori)
|
2.00
|
NC
|
79.10
|
2000
|
2000
|
-9.09
|
|
Mohanpur(Tri)
|
2.00
|
-66.67
|
53.00
|
2700
|
2700
|
-
|
|
Kasipur(WB)
|
1.50
|
15.38
|
22.90
|
2150
|
2150
|
-9.28
|
|
Sardhana(UP)
|
1.20
|
20
|
61.30
|
2160
|
2150
|
4.10
|
|
Holenarsipura(Kar)
|
1.00
|
-90
|
33.00
|
2800
|
1800
|
-
|
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/article8365099.ece
Rice exports jump as more of last year’s orders filled
Rice exports have surged in the first two
months as many of last year’s contracts are being executed this year, according
to the Việt Nam Food Association.Workers of HCM City Food and Foodstuff company
load rice for export.The country exported more than 856,219 tonnes for US$347.8
million, a year-on-year increase of 101.89 per cent and 81.73 per cent, and Huỳnh
Minh Huệ, VFA general secretary, indicated there had been too many orders to
handle last year, including some large government contracts with Indonesia and
the Philippines.At a regular meeting of the association last week, he said
exports of common white rice accounted for 32.68 per cent of exports, up almost
five times from the same period last year, and exports of glutinous rice also
surged due to high demand from China.Exports of fragrant rice continued to grow
steadily thanks to increased exports to China and Africa, he said.VFA
anticipates exports to reach 1.3 million tonnes in the first quarter, 56 per
cent up from the same period last year.
Huệ said the number of contracts to be executed
remained high at around 1.4 million tonnes.But with inventories at export firms
81,140 tonnes lower than at the same time last year -- at one million tonnes --
they would have to buy rice, he said.Prices are currently high in the domestic
market despite this being the peak harvest season and the association
announcing no plans to stockpile the grain.High demand from exporters coupled
with a forecast of falling output in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta due to drought
and saltwater intrusion has pushed up the prices.The Ministry of Agriculture
and rural Development reported that by March 5 around 139,000ha of the
winter-spring rice crop in nine provinces had been damaged by drought and
saltwater, with the loss estimated at one million tonnes.In previous years the
VFA proposed purchasing one million tonne of rice for temporary storage at the
beginning of March to support domestic prices, but this time farmers can earn
reasonable profits at current prices.According to rice traders in the Mekong
Delta, a kilogramme of IR 50404 paddy in the field costs VNĐ4,600-4,650, VNĐ300
higher than a year earlier, and high-grade paddies are priced much higher.
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Business/Economy/2016/3/117998/
Federation Mulls Supporting Rice
Export Price
The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) on Thursday met with the
Ministry of Commerce to discuss policies for strengthening the country’s ailing
rice industry, and unveiled a plan to develop a price-support mechanism to
guarantee Cambodia’s rice export price, officials said.The talks come a week
after the CRF announced the formation of a new task force to manage the impact
of cheap foreign rice imports and under-funded millers on Cambodia’s rice
industry, in response to pressure from its members.In Thursday’s meeting with
Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol and other ministry officials, Sok Puthyvuth, CRF
president, said those present had agreed on a policy agenda to be discussed by
government officials in the coming weeks.“An inter-ministerial meeting chaired
by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon will consider a $20 million to $30 million ‘special
budget,’” he said.
“The meeting will help support the industry facing the illegal
imports of rice from Vietnam.”Following the talks, Moul Sarith, CRF
secretary-general, said the federation was also developing a long-term strategy
to support rice millers and exporters, which included plans to create a
consortium of millers and exporters to manage Cambodia’s rice export price.“The
biggest members from the CRF will be chosen to be ‘consortium partners’ to
manage and set one export price,” Mr. Sarith said, adding that the initiative
should be off the ground this year.“Currently, our members compete against each
other when foreign buyers come to buy our rice, which forces prices to fall,”
he said.The proposed consortium would control the export price of rice by
regulating supply, benefiting the country’s entire rice supply chain, Mr.
Sarith added.
“If exporters get a good price, rice millers and farmers will
benefit too as it will allow them to sell at higher prices.”
But Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Commerce Ministry, said
it was too early to discuss the viability of the planned consortium.“A report
of the meeting this morning is being prepared to send to the prime minister,”
he said. “First we have to solve the immediate problems including preventing
the inflow of rice from Vietnam and credit support to millers.”Srey Chanthy, an
independent economist, was skeptical that the consortium would solve the
industry’s problems, adding that price-support could backfire on the entire
sector.“It is just an idea, I do not think this is possible to create,” he
said.“Foreign buyers look to buy good quality rice at a good price in
international markets,” he added. “If the price is set high, they could just
buy rice from Thailand, Vietnam or Burma instead.”
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/federation-mulls-supporting-rice-export-price-110081/
COMMERCIAL BANKS
STILL IN THE PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT FOR TRADE WITH IRAN
The Union of Small and Medium
Enterprises (UNISAME) appreciated the efforts of the State Bank of Pakistan
(SBP) for facilitating trade with Iran and giving the commercial banks the go
ahead for import and export with Iran.However the delay in resumption of trade
activities is due to commercial banks who are still in the process of
sharpening their international risk management departments.President UNISAME
Zulfikar Thaver urged the commercial banks to expedite their process to be
ready for facilitating import and export business with Iran as it now appears
on the list of countries with which trade is allowed without sanctions.
He said the SME rice exporters to
Iran are anxiously waiting for the commercial banks to accept letter of credits
from Iranian buyers and the facility of discounting of bills drawn on Iranian
buyers.Likewise exporters of several other commodities, textiles need
facilities for trading with Iran.Many Pakistani importers also need to import
plastic granules, petroleum products and chemicals from Iran and wish to open
letter of credits in favour of Iranian exporters. They all are waiting for the
commercial banks to give the go ahead. Thaver said the commercial banks of
Pakistan are determining the list of Iranian banks with whom they can deal and
also determining the credit limits of each bank. The international risk
management department is working to ascertain the extent of risk according to
the rating of the Iranian banks.He said in the past the trading was done
through Dubai banks as intermediary but it proved costly due to cost of finance
and bank charges which the trader had to pay to both the banks.It is very
important that the commercial banks move fast in the matter because our
neighboring countries and competitors have outlined the procedures and are
ready for business with Iran whereas our commercial banks are slow and not
taking prompt actions in this direction.
It is understandable that there
has been a long lapse of time but nevertheless the commercial banks have their
list of corresponding banks in Iran who have grown over a period of time into
huge banking institutions and deserve higher ratings.Thaver urged the SBP to direct the commercial banks to submit their list
of correspondents in Iran and also the limits of Iranian banks approved by the
respective banks for both import and exports to and from Iran promptly.
The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME)
03/17/2016 Farm Bureau Market Report
Rice
|
High
|
Low
|
|
|
Long Grain Cash Bids
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- - -
|
- - -
|
|
Long Grain New Crop
|
- - -
|
- - -
|
|
|
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Futures:
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Rice Comment
Rice futures
posted gains today but closed well off the day's high. The weekly export total
of only 21,300 metric tons was off sharply from last week's 145,800 metric
tons. Technically, July posted a bullish reversal in Wednesday's trade while also posting a potential double
bottom at the recent low of $10.20. Today's move saw the market challenging
downtrending resistance at $10.62. A close below that level would be another
indication that the market has put in a bottom for the time being.
In Memory: Ralph
Cowan
I can't say enough about how much he meant to
the rice industry. He was a leader with foresight who knew what needed to
be done from the standpoint of producers to be effective."John Denison, a
former USA Rice Chairman, said, "I grew up about 40 miles from Ralph and
knew him all my life. He was a dear friend and we also had a working
relationship dating back to our time on the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board and
on the organizational committee that created what is now USA Rice. He was
there at the beginning and will be remembered as a rice industry
icon."Visitation will be held today from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00
p.m. at Geesey-Ferguson Funeral Home, 301 North Avenue F in Crowley, LA,
and Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.at First United Methodist Church,
321 East 3rd Street, Crowley. A reception will start at
12:00 p.m. prior to the funeral service Friday, March 18, at 3:00
p.m. at First United Methodist Church. Interment will be in
Woodlawn Cemetery, 124 W. Pine Street, Crowley.USA Rice extends heartfelt
condolences to the family and friends of Ralph Cowan
Food Safety Could Present Key to U.S. Rice's Return to
Switzerland
BERN, SWITZERLAND -- Hartwig Schmidt, regional director of USA
Rice, attended the annual meeting of the Swiss Rice Promotion Board (RISO) here
last week and gave a presentation on the world rice outlook for 2016.
In his report, Schmidt said, "Switzerland used to be an
important market for U.S. long grain rice with a market share of greater than
50 percent before the Liberty Link incident in 2006, when imports fell
substantially. In 2015, U.S. rice exports shrank to 2,000 MT or only 5
percent of all rice imports. At this time, U.S. rice sales appear to be
limited due to the higher price of U.S. rice compared to other
origins."Schmidt said the RISO meeting presents an excellent opportunity
for USA Rice to check in with the industry since all Swiss rice importers and important
retailers and wholesalers are members."We continue to work with the trade
here," Schmidt explained. "And learned this week that Swiss
consumers have a rising interest in traceability and food safety - topics the
U.S. can speak quite effectively to. We will look to bolster U.S. rice
sales here with this information and may resume promotional activities if the
market begins to show promise."
Methane Emissions Are Spiking,
But It Might Be More Cow Than Car
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
Since 2006, atmospheric levels of methane — a greenhouse gas 86
times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period — have steadily been on the rise. For years, scientists weren’t sure what was behind the
rising levels of methane, but they had a few ideas: namely an increase in
fossil fuel-related emissions.Now, a new study is pointing to a different
culprit: agriculture-related methane emissions, especially from livestock and
rice production.
Published last week in the journal Science, researchers from New Zealand’s National Institute of
Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) found that the majority of methane
released into the atmosphere since 2006 was produced by bacteria, pointing to
sources like agriculture — rather than sources like fossil fuel production or
the burning of organic material — as the culprit behind the increase in methane
levels.
A unique
signature for methane
The researchers were able to discern agricultural methane from
other sources of methane by looking at the gas’ isotopic signatures — or the
ratio of various carbon isotopes — using data from atmospheric monitoring
stations around the world. By looking at the distinct isotopic signatures, the
researchers could differentiate between methane produced from fracking, for
instance, and methane produced from agriculture, because they each have
different signatures.
The data also suggested that the increase in methane came from
regions including India, China and Southeast Asia, suggesting that the rise was
due to agriculture, not the growth of fracking in North America.
“That was a real surprise, because [around 2006] the U.S. started
fracking and we also know that the economy in Asia picked up again, and coal
mining increased,” NIWA atmospheric scientist Hinrich Schaefer told Phys.org. “However, that is not reflected in the atmosphere.”
Livestock production in Asia has been expanding rapidly since the middle of the 20th century, and is expected only to
increase as economies in the region become more developed.
Livestock production accounts for about 35 percent of total
anthropogenic methane emissions
Around the world, livestock production has been increasingly under
scrutiny in recent years, as animal agriculture’s carbon footprint has grown
clearer. Ruminants, like cows, produce methane as they digest their food,
through a process known as enteric fermentation. But livestock manure also
produces methane as it decomposes in closed-air containers known as lagoons,
which factory farming operations often use to store the massive amounts of
manure produced by their farms. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture
Organization estimates that livestock production accounts for some 2.2 billion
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases annually, or about 35 percent of total anthropogenic methane
emissions.
But it’s not just livestock production that researchers say is
behind the rise in methane. Rice production is also a methane-intensive
activity, because root systems in rice plants secrete carbohydrates during
photosynthesis. When rice paddies are flooded, the oxygen-devoid environment
creates the perfect place for bacteria to feed off of those carbohydrates,
creating methane as a byproduct. That’s a problem, because rice is one of the
most important staple crops on Earth — more than 3.5 billion people depend on
rice for at least 20 percent of their daily caloric intake. In an effort to
curb rice’s methane production, scientists have actually been working to create
a lower-methane strain of rice (and have had some success).
But what about
fossil fuels?
Still, not everyone is convinced by NIWA’s analysis. Speaking with InsideClimate News, Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor who
studies methane emissions, said that the isotopic ratios in methane are too
broad to confidently attribute to a single source.
“When you have eight or nine or 10 different sources of methane,
each with a range of ratios, there is no way to calculate where it is coming
from,” he said. “If you had a little bit of melting of permafrost and a big
increase in natural gas production, you could get a pattern that these people
are interpreting as cows in India.”
Many other studies point to an increase in fossil fuel production, especially oil and
gas production in the United States, as another key factor behind the recent
increase in methane production. A recent study conducted by climate scientists
of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) found that as much as 40 percent of
the recent increase in methane could be due to fossil fuel production.
In a press release, the KIT scientists said that their findings
were actually congruent with the NIWA study, stressing that “increasing emissions from the oil and natural gas sector,
combined with emissions from wetlands and maybe animal husbandry increasingly
appear to have caused the renewed increase in methane concentration in the last
decade.”
An unregulated
industry
The Obama administration has taken some unprecedented steps in the recent months to regulate methane from oil and gas
production. Most recently, the EPA announced that it would begin regulating methane from existing oil and gas
facilities, with the ultimate goal of cutting methane from the oil and gas
sector by 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025.
But methane from the agricultural sector is still largely
unregulated, despite the fact that greenhouse gas-related emissions from
livestock manure management systems grew 54 percentbetween 1990 and 2013.
Quite the opposite of imposing regulations on livestock producers
in the United States, Congress has actually explicitly forbidden the EPA from
collecting greenhouse gas emission data from livestock producers, making it the
only major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States that enjoys such an exemption.
“The EPA’s methane strategy is completely ignoring agriculture,”
Tarah Heinzen, an attorney with Food & Water Watch, told ThinkProgress.
“We’re not dealing with it as a regulatory issue as we are with other sources
of methane.”
Decarbonizing what we eat is just as important as decarbonizing
what we drive or what we use to heat our homes
California, which is one of the most livestock-heavy states in the
country, has made moves to begin regulating short-lived climate pollutants,
like methane. According to Brent Newell, legal director for the Center on Race,
Poverty & the Environment, methane from livestock accounts for about 5
percent of California’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The state’s Global
Warming Solutions Act, passed in 2006, mandates that the state reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent — and yet agriculture is the only sector
not subject to regulation.
In 2014, the California Senate mandated that the state’s Air
Resources Board (ARB) come up with a plan to regulate methane from livestock
operations. But thus far, the ARB has decided to achieve reductions only
through voluntary measures, which Newell argues allows the livestock industry to
effectively continue with a business-as-usual approach to methane
production.“It’s acting like it’s doing something, it’s pretending like it’s
doing something, but voluntary controls for a massive greenhouse gas emitter is
a crazy regulatory response and it exemplifies the political power that the
dairy industry has over the Air Resources Board,” Newell said.The plan is
expected to be finalized later this month, when it will be seen whether
environmental groups’ calls for mandatory regulations for the California
livestock industry have been heard by the ARB, or whether such calls have
fallen on deaf ears.
“It is really shameful that this industry continues to enjoy an
exemption, while others are forced to comply,” Newell said. “Decarbonizing what
we eat is just as important as decarbonizing what we drive or what we use to
heat our homes.”
Purple bread:
A new superfood?
Updated 0721 GMT (1521 HKT) March 18, 2016
Purple bread.
Story
highlights
Purple bread is made by adding
anthocyanin extract from black rice
It is digested 20% slower than normal white bread, and is rich
in antioxidants that fight cancer
Singapore (CNN)"For the past 10 years, bread has been under attack."
Professor Zhou Weibiao, a food
scientist at the National University of Singapore, isn't wrong.
According to current nutritional
thinking, white bread is digested too fast, spikes blood sugar levels and is
linked to obesity. In short, it's the enemy of healthy eaters.
Zhou's answer to this problem?
He's invented a purple bread.
Rich in cancer-fighting
antioxidants, digested 20% slower than regular white bread, and made entirely
of natural compounds, it could be the first superfood of the baked goods world.
The great bake
off
A long-time staple food, bread's
big problem is its high glycemic index: its sugar content speedily gets into
the blood stream, causing blood sugar levels to peak and crash.
Furthermore, its rapidly
digestible starch content means people often eat more of it than they should.
"The challenge was to see if we could change the formula of
bread, without changing the smooth texture of white bread that people really
love," says Zhou.
The color purple
Calorie count
Purple bread might be healthier
than white bread, but does it have a lower calorie count?
"You are eating the same
amount of starch and wheat flour, so the nutritional value is the same. The key
idea here is slowing down the energy release, so you use those calories over a
longer period of time," says Zhou.While the purple bread is not yet
commercially available, Zhou has been approached by major food manufacturers
about bringing it to market.He has also inspired some blue (or should that be
purple?) sky thinking."A man in South Africa called me, very excited. He
wanted to know if putting anthocyanins in chocolate would have the same effect."I
told him, 'You can obtain the antioxidant function, but you don't have the same
starch in chocolate, so it won't have the same reaction'."
Here's hoping.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/17/health/purple-bread/index.html
EATING: Where to get Mardi Gras
dishes in Central Jersey
(Photo: FILE PHOTO)
There are plenty of amazing things about living in Central
Jersey, but this time of year, we are reminded of one that is not so great: We
are more than 1,000 miles away from next week’s Mardi Gras celebrations down
South. ♦ On Feb. 9 – and in the days before and after – the population of New
Orleans will triple as revelers make their way to The Big Easy for a
celebration that dates back thousands of years. Mardi Gras began as a Roman
celebration of spring, and an indulgent prelude to Lent.
The tradition made its way to Louisiana with French explorers in
the late 1600s, according to historical accounts, and street parties, masked
balls and opulent dinners soon followed.While we may be unlucky to live so far
from the festivities, we are lucky to have a handful of restaurants where Southern, Cajun and
Creole food reign supreme. Here is a look at places in the Garden State where
you can join in the fun.
Verve Bistro
THE FESTIVITIES: Owner Rick St. Pierre and his staff go big for Mardi Gras. The
five-day celebration, which begins Feb. 4, features food and drink specials
that honor New Orleans, Venice and Brazil, a true Carnavale-style party, St.
Pierre said. “That’s how we do it, we focus on the Carnavale feel of it.” The
restaurant partners with Matheny School, a Somerset County center for children
with developmental disabilities: Its students and art teachers create Mardi
Gras masks to be auctioned off during the celebration. “It’s all for a great
cause,” he said, adding that the restaurant usually raises between $2,500 and
$3,500.
GET COOKING: On Feb. 7, the restaurant will host a gumbo cook-off. “We’ll
have different chefs from the area, and customers,” St. Pierre said. “Some guys
will put anything into a gumbo – pork and crab and shrimp and alligator. People
order stuff from all over the country to beat the others.” The restaurant will
cook up complementary sides – including black-eyed peas and cornbread – and
once the judging has concluded and a winner declared, “everyone just eats.”
WHAT TO ORDER: A special menu will be served from Feb. 4 to 9: okra beignets,
gumbo made with crawfish, shrimp, chicken and crab; crawfish étouffée over
basmati rice; Brazilian feijoada, a stew of braised beef, pork and black beans;
and blackened Creole catfish with lump crab meat ($8 to $28). And don’t forget
to order a drink; Verve is known for them: Try the five-rum Hurricane; the
coconut caipirinha, made with coconut rum, Brazilian rum, lime juice and sugar;
and the Boulevardier, made with bourbon, campari and Punt e Mes, an Italian
vermouth.
WHERE: 18 E Main St. in Somerville, Somerset County; call 908-707-8655
or visithttp://vervestyle.com.
Jambalaya will be served during
the Mardi Gras celebration at The Old Bay Restaurant in New Brunswick. (Photo: COURTESY OF THE OLD BAY RESTAURANT)
The Old Bay Restaurant
THE FESTIVITIES: The Fat Tuesday party begins at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 and goes until the
restaurant closes at 2 a.m. Live music from The New Brunswick Jazz Project and
Old Number 7 will be performed from 4 p.m. to closing, and there will be beads,
masks, a giveaway of a trip to Magic Hat Brewing Company in Vermont, and a New
Orleans-style buffet. Dinner will be served from 5 to 10 p.m. Admission, which
includes the buffet, is $20.
WHAT TO ORDER: The buffet menu includes Southern fried chicken, which chef
and manager Joe Donlan says is marinated for three days in a mixture of
buttermilk and hot sauce, “so it has a nice spice to it.” It is breaded with
flour spiked with Cajun seasoning, a secret recipe, before being fried. There
will be chicken and sausage jambalaya, macaroni and cheese made with tasso, a
smoked Southern ham, corn bread, red beans and rice, and a vegetarian Creole
dish. “It’s almost like an eggplant lasagna,” Donlan said of the latter, which
also is gluten free. “Instead of noodles, we use sliced eggplant that is quick
seared, and layer it with ricotta cheese and mozzarella. Instead of using
tomato sauce, it’s our Creole sauce, one of our signature sauces made with
peppers, onions and celery.”
WHERE: 61 Church St, in New Brunswick, Middlesex County; call
732-246-3111 or visit www.oldbayrest.com.
F-Cove Restaurant
THE RESTAURANT: For Scarlett Dell and Jesse Dedreux, Mardi Gras is a time to
unite the past with the present. Dell, who is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and
Dedreux, who was born in New Jersey but spent six years living and working in
New Orleans, have been cooking up Cajun and Creole dishes since opening their
Brick restaurant in 2013. And there is a difference between the two styles of
cooking: “Creole’s a little more rich, more butter-based,” Dedreux said. “Cajun
stuff is more (about) the ingredients: smoked hot sausage, more oil as opposed
to butter. But we try not to stick too strictly to it; we try to do more of
what we were exposed to.”
Buy Photo
Jesse Dedreux and Scarlett Dell
own F-Cove Restaurant in Brick, which specializes in Cajun and Creole
dishes. (Photo: FILE PHOTO)
In the South, Dell said, Mardi
Gras is celebrated in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. The festivities and
parades begin on Kings Day in early January, and Dell remembers parades where
children clamored for trinkets thrown from extravagant floats and collected
doubloons from the krewes, the groups that created the floats.
As for the food, Dell said Mardi
Gras is more about indulging in decadent dishes before Lenten fasting begins
than it is about any dishes in particular. “Whatever you want to eat, you eat
too much,” she said. “And whatever you want to drink, you drink too much.”
WHAT TO ORDER: The restaurant offers a three-course prix fixe dinner each
Tuesday night, and Fat Tuesday will be no different. For $18.03 – a price that
represents the year of the Louisiana Purchase – diners can enjoy a cup of
chicken and sausage gumbo, a choice of shrimp Creole, shrimp étouffée, and
jambalaya, with Creole bread pudding for dessert. Dedreux also may cook up a
blackened chicken pasta, crawfish and shrimp pasta with spicy cream sauce, and
a hanger steak with bourbon bacon jam.
Étouffée, for those not familiar
with the classic New Orleans dish, gets its name from the French word for
smother or to stew. Dedreux makes his version with shrimp stock, Creole
seasonings and the restaurant’s own cayenne-based hot sauce. “It’s pretty
simple,” he said of the dish, which is served with a mound of steamed white
rice “that soaks everything up. It’s not too spicy, but it’s layered with
flavor.”
The Creole bread pudding is named
because of how it is prepared, not because it is spicy, Dedreux said. The
dessert is made with French bread soaked for hours in a mixture of vanilla,
milk and heavy cream spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and the Creole part comes
from the creamy, buttery and rich flavors. “It’s pretty standard, but it does
have a little extra sweetness” he said of the bread pudding, which is topped
with bourbon cream sauce.
WHERE: 2140 Route 88 in Brick; call 732-202-6807 or visit
www.fcoverestaurant.com.
Simply Southern
THE RESTAURANT: At Rasheed and Rita Simmons’ Belmar restaurant, the menu is
centered around the dishes of the South – specifically Georgia, the Carolinas
and Florida. But for Mardi Gras, they will serve up a little bit of Louisiana.
WHAT TO ORDER: From Feb. 6 to 9, mother and son will cook up chicken gumbo
filled with corn, tomatoes and “all types of veggies,” Rasheed said, “as well
as shrimp and grits, and we’ll also be doing a Creole dirty rice. The rice,
which is made with a base of brown gravy, has “celery, different veggies,
different sausages, different types of pork. We’ve got a little bit of
everything in it,” he said. The dishes cost between $8 and $21.
For dessert, there will be
beignets, New Orleans’s famous powdered sugar-coated fried dough.
Jesse Dedreux and Scarlett Dell
own F-Cove Restaurant in Brick, which specializes in Cajun and Creole
dishes. (Photo: FILE PHOTO)
Drew’s Bayshore Bistro:
WHAT TO ORDER: Chef and owner Drew Araneo is known for food that brings the
South – specifically the Gulf coast and New Orleans – to the Shore. His menu
includes his signature dish and most popular appetizer, Voodoo shrimp, made
from sauteed Gulf shrimp over jalapeno cornbread with spicy Worcestershire
cream; littleneck clams with andouille sausage in garlic-tomato broth; crawfish
étouffée, shrimp with bacon over cheese grits, and jambalaya with chicken,
andouille, tasso, which is a smoked Southern ham, Creole sauce and the holy
trinity of Creole and Cajun cooking – onions, celery and peppers. The latter is
not for the faint of heart; the menu reads “It is spicy, and we are not kidding
– no crying.” ($13 to $26).
Velo Eatery
WHAT TO ORDER: Crab cake with Creole macaroni and cheese and sweet potato
confit ($22). The macaroni and cheese gets its Creole flavor from peppers,
onions, sausage and okra, “with a little Cajun spice in there, too,” co-owner
Matthew Grote said.
PAKISTAN
WANTS ENHANCED TRADE WITH IRAN: KHURRAM
Wednesday, 16 March 2016 21:37
Two officials of the Iranian
Ministry of Trade visiting Pakistan also attended the meeting on the special
request of the Minister for Commerce.The meeting was informed by the Collector
Customs Quetta that there is a three-fold increase in revenue at Pak-Iran
border as a result of better border management which discouraged illicit trade.The
representative of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) informed the meeting that
there is no restriction on the trading through formal banking channels with
Iranian companies in Euro and SBP is encouraging Pakistani private sector to
commence trade with Iran.The Minister informed the Iranian officials that
Pakistan is interested in holding massive exhibitions in Iran to present the
range of exportable Pakistani products and is in consultation with the
concerned Iranian authorities regarding the required approvals.
The exporters of rice, kinnow,
fruits, vegetables and local exporters of Baluchistan briefed the Iranian
officials in detail about the difficulties confronted by them in exporting
their products to Iran.The Iranian officials ensured them to bring the issues
to the notice of the relevant authorities.The meeting was informed that there
is high demand for food items in Iran and Pakistan has secured an export order
of 100 metric ton of meat to Iran. This would open doors for more export
contracts in the food sector in near future.Dastgir said that relevant
authorities in the Ministry of Health of Iran will be persuaded to fast track
the process of authorization of licenses to Pakistani rice mills and rice
exporters in order to regain the share of rice market in Iran which was lost
during the sanctions
http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/world/285473-pakistan-wants-enhanced-trade-with-iran-khurram.html
