KENYA ACCEPTS ACTUAL PRICE OF PAKISTANI RICE
Wednesday, 02 November 2016 12:16
RIZWAN BHATTI
KARACHI: Kenya Revenue Authority
(KRA) has agreed to the valuation of Pakistani long grained white rice at
actual price of $300-350 per metric ton instead of $580 per metric ton
previously. Exporters told Business Recorder on
Tuesday that the KRA has suddenly revised the valuation of several commodities
including Pakistani rice upward side without consultation of stakeholders. The
KRA decision resulted in stuck of hundreds of Pakistan's rice containers at
Kenyan seaport.They informed that the valuation of Pakistani rice, being
calculated by the KRA, was much higher than the actual market price, of which
the importers were unable to get their imported rice consignments. The KRA was
imposing a valuation of $580 per metric ton on Pakistan long grained white rice
as against its actual valuation of $300 to $350 per metric tons. Kenya rice
importers are even ready to pay the taxes on the actual price, however the KRA
was insisting for higher valuation, they mentioned.
"A trade X messaging system of the KRA is calculating higher valuation on all imports from Pakistan, that created panic among the exporters and imports", said Rafique Suleman, Chairman Rice Export Committee (FPCCI) and Convenor East Africa Committee of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
"A trade X messaging system of the KRA is calculating higher valuation on all imports from Pakistan, that created panic among the exporters and imports", said Rafique Suleman, Chairman Rice Export Committee (FPCCI) and Convenor East Africa Committee of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
Hundreds of Pakistani rice containers have been held at Mombasa Port due to valuation issue and importers are worry of increasing the cost of the commodity due to demurrages, he added. He said that now the price valuation issues have almost finalised with the KRA and release of Pakistani rice consignments are likely to start soon. "On request of REAP, Pakistani Commercial Counsellor Zahid Qadeer in Nerobi Keyna held a meeting with the KRA authorities and finally they have been agreed for actual valuation of Pakistani rice," he informed.
Pakistani Commercial Counsellor met the Commissioner Customs of the KRA and discussed the matter of overvaluation by customs authorities on Pakistani rice and Commissioner Customs (Kenya) have been agreed to resolve the matter by valuating Pakistani rice on current market price.
"As per assurance by the Commissioner Customs (KRA) the long grained white Pakistani rice will now be valued at a range of $300-350 per metric ton as against the previous demanded value of $580 per metric ton by the KRA," Suleman said. He said that during the meeting it has also decided that the price will be reviewed quarterly and chances of this problem rising again cannot be ruled out. Customs authorities were also assured that the verified prices of rice (different verities) will be provided to them after devising a mechanism in consultation with Ministry of Commerce (Pakistan) and REAP.
"It was also decided that both Ministry of Commerce and REAP will inform the KRA regarding alleged practices of under invoicing to curb it," he informed. Suleman said that in the light of these meeting, Pakistani Commercial Counsellor, has also requested REAP to co-ordinate with concerned section of ministry of commerce to work out a strategy for addressing the price issue. He said that as per REAP estimates some 600 containers carrying 15,000 metric ton rice cargo have been stuck at Kenyan port from the last one week due to valuation issue. He said that importers are facing huge storage and demurrage bills, which is harmful to Pakistan's potential business to Kenya.
http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/business-a-economy/326047-kenya-accepts-actual-price-of-pakistani-rice.html
11/01/2016 Farm Bureau Market
Report
Rice
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High
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Low
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Long Grain Cash Bids
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- - -
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- - -
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Long Grain New Crop
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- - -
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- - -
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Futures:
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Rice Comment
Rice futures
continued to plummet today, and November looks headed for a retest of the
contract low of $9.40. January has also violated uptrending support over the
past week, and could be headed for a retest of the contract low of $9.60.
Weekly export sales improved last week, with a total of 79,000 tons sold to
foreign buyers. USDA announced yesterday the final marketing year average price
of $11.10/cwt for long grain rice, meaning rice farmers will receive a PLC
payment of $2.90/cwt on their rice. The southern medium/short grain rice
marketing year average price was
PLC Payment Rates for 2015 Rice Crop Announced
WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Department of
Agriculture's National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) has published the
2015/2016 Market Year Average (MYA) price for long grain and Southern
medium/short grain rice varieties. USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) uses the MYA
price to determine whether producers enrolled in the Price Loss Coverage (PLC)
program will receive financial assistance for losses tied to the 2015
crop. The benchmark or reference price is statutorily set at $14.00/cwt
for both long grain and Southern medium/short grain rice. The reference
price used for temperate japonica rice by California producers is set at
$16.10/cwt.
California's MYA price is not published by NASS until the end of January. Yesterday's Agricultural Prices Report announced that with a MYA price of $11.10/cwt long grain rice will again receive a PLC payment rate of $2.90/cwt. Also, for the first time since the farm bill was enacted, Southern medium/short grain rice will receive assistance from PLC with a MYA price of $11.20/cwt, resulting in a $2.80/cwt shortfall for eligible medium/short grain acreage.
Ben Mosely, vice president of government affairs for USA Rice, said, "FSA officials in Washington have confirmed that the process to make payments to eligible growers is underway and that assistance should reach growers over the next few weeks. We encourage growers to follow-up with their local FSA offices if they're experiencing issues or delays and to let us know if they are unable to get problems resolved."
Mosely said, "PLC is working exactly the way that lawmakers intended it to, it's a simple and straightforward program that growers understand and FSA knows how to deliver. Price support is the foundation of the farm safety net and hopefully the modest assistance that PLC provides will help keep folks in rice country in business until prices rebound."
Mosely added, "Today is conveniently the first day that producers can visit their local FSA offices to enroll and sign contracts for PLC and the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs for the 2017 crop year. This sign-up window is open until August 1of next year but folks should get in there soon while it's fresh on their minds."
USA Rice has developed a calculator for producers or financial institutions to incorporate their own data using the MYA price published by NASS to calculate an individual's potential whole-farm payment.
California's MYA price is not published by NASS until the end of January. Yesterday's Agricultural Prices Report announced that with a MYA price of $11.10/cwt long grain rice will again receive a PLC payment rate of $2.90/cwt. Also, for the first time since the farm bill was enacted, Southern medium/short grain rice will receive assistance from PLC with a MYA price of $11.20/cwt, resulting in a $2.80/cwt shortfall for eligible medium/short grain acreage.
Ben Mosely, vice president of government affairs for USA Rice, said, "FSA officials in Washington have confirmed that the process to make payments to eligible growers is underway and that assistance should reach growers over the next few weeks. We encourage growers to follow-up with their local FSA offices if they're experiencing issues or delays and to let us know if they are unable to get problems resolved."
Mosely said, "PLC is working exactly the way that lawmakers intended it to, it's a simple and straightforward program that growers understand and FSA knows how to deliver. Price support is the foundation of the farm safety net and hopefully the modest assistance that PLC provides will help keep folks in rice country in business until prices rebound."
Mosely added, "Today is conveniently the first day that producers can visit their local FSA offices to enroll and sign contracts for PLC and the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs for the 2017 crop year. This sign-up window is open until August 1of next year but folks should get in there soon while it's fresh on their minds."
USA Rice has developed a calculator for producers or financial institutions to incorporate their own data using the MYA price published by NASS to calculate an individual's potential whole-farm payment.
Wal-Mart Model’ could help
advance rice breeding
Oct 31, 2016 | Delta Farm Press
Dr. Susan McCouch says scientists
are discovering a tremendous amount of information about plants, such as rice.
But that pales in comparison with what companies like Wal-Mart are discovering
about their customers.McCouch says programs such as the “Wal-Mart model,” which
collects more data on shopping trends in hours than scientists have collected
about the rice plant in decades, could help channel that information into new
break-throughs in rice breeding.
Her comments in this last of a
three-part series summed up the direction she hopes entities such as the LSU
AgCenter’s H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station can take rice breeding
developments in the coming years. They came at the 100-plus-year-old research
facility’s annual field day near Crowley, La.
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/wal-mart-model-could-help-advance-rice-breeding
Conventional rice varieties
promising in preliminary trials
Oct 31, 2016 | Delta Farm Press
Diamond and Titan, conventional long- and medium-grain rice
varieties developed by the University of Arkansas System Division of
Agriculture, should offer strong yields and other advantages to growers,
according to preliminary data from this year’s rice performance trials.Jarrod
Hardke, Extension rice agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said each
performed well in a difficult growing year.“They both seem to represent further
yield improvement over previous releases,” Hardke said.
Diamond showed appreciable yield increases over currently grown
long-grain varieties including Roy J and LaKast and CL151, he said, adding that
Titan showed particular advantages over other medium-grain varieties such as
Jupiter and CL272.
The preliminary data was drawn from two annual small-plot rice
trial programs — the Arkansas Rice Performance Trials, or ARPT, in which 75
commercial and experimental rice cultivars were planted and closely monitored
by Division of Agriculture researchers at five research locations with varying
soil and climate.Of the 75 entries in ARPT, only the lead 23 commercial and
experimental entries have been summarized to date. (Find past information on
variety testing here: http://www.arkansasvarietytesting.com/home/rice/.)
Rice varieties also go through the Producer Rice Evaluation
Program, known as PREP. This year, 20 cultivars were planted by researchers in
nine counties. The difference is that in PREP, the cultivars grow in fields
managed by a cooperating farmer in the same manner as the rest of the field
surrounding the plot.
According to the preliminary ARPT data, the mean yield for
Diamond long-grain rice was 197 bushels per acre, and 201 bushels per acre for
Titan medium-grain rice. The mean for all cultivars grown at the four research
station locations was 186 bushels per acre.
In the PREP trials, Diamond produced a mean yield of 207 bushels
per acre, and Titan’s mean yield was 205, bushels per acre. The mean for all
cultivars grown at the nine selected private farms was 198 bushels per acre.
“The PREP trials, are all
strictly on-farm, with a more or less ‘plant it and leave it’ approach,” Hardke
said. “I don’t dictate anything — we simply plant it, and the growers manage
the field as they would manage it anyway.
“We can come back and take notes — we learn as much as we can
from it — but the main thing is to come back at harvest and see how all those
cultivars perform under those management conditions, in a particular geography,”
he said.
Hardke said XL753, a RiceTec hybrid cultivar developed and
marketed by RiceTec, continued to set the bar for yield across the board as it
has in recent years, yielding 239 bushels per acre in the ARPT and 242 bushels
per acre in PREP. Other RiceTec hybrids also performed extremely well.
Varying climate, soils a
challenge
Hardke said the variation in soils and growing conditions
throughout Arkansas makes developing reliable recommendations for rice growers
across the state a challenge, but one he readily accepts.
“Probably what makes Arkansas so unique as a rice-producing area
is that we have a very broad range of production conditions,” Hardke said. “We
have production areas similar to the Bootheel of Missouri, the Mississippi
Delta, northeast Louisiana, in addition to many other production areas that are
completely unique to us.
“So when we try to move to these on-farm trials and make sure
we’re capturing all these different areas of the state and different production
practices — there’s a lot of variability to try to capture, from different
environments and production practices.”
Despite the positive data, Hardke cautioned interested growers
to exercise prudence in adopting any new cultivar.
No silver bullets
“These trials give us a lot of information — but we’re cautious
and conservative about making anything out to be a silver bullet.” Hardke said.
“I always remind everyone — you try a new variety,” he said.
“Because whatever information we didn’t know about it, we typically learn in
‘year one,’ once it’s commercially available and planted in large fields, on a
wider acreage, in some environments that we may not have had an opportunity to
test in. And that first year is when we find these things out, so I always
recommend that people don’t get carried away.”
Hardke will continue to release additional preliminary data from
the 2016 trials as it becomes available, until December, when the Division of
Agriculture will publish its final findings from the trials.
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/conventional-rice-varieties-promising-preliminary-trials
The drugs and additives in New
Zealand food products
Last updated 22:20, November 1 2016
Farmed salmon are fed pellets to
make their flesh pink.
Salmon is big business in New
Zealand - but a popular TV show across the Tasman shocked viewers when it
revealed what really gives it an orange colour.The popular Australian show Four Corners revealed farmed salmon
in the country is coloured orange from a diet of pellets that contain
an additive.And manufacturers are not required to declare to
consumers if salmon is farmed or wild, and therefore if it contains
additives. Here's some unexpected ingredients involved in the production
of New Zealand food products.
Salmon
Just like our friends across the
Tasman, salmon farms in New Zealand use pellets containing the
additive astaxanthin to colour the fish pink.
According to Consumer.org, New
Zealand has two major salmon farming players: King Salmon and Sanfords.
Salmon is meant to be a good
source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for human health.
But testing done by Consumer.org
found farmed New Zealand salmon overstated the amounts of Omega-3s claimed in
the nutritional information. King Salmon rejected claims it was misleading consumers in 2013.
Chicken
Hormones and
antibiotics used in chickens is well known around the world.Managing
director of Turks Poultry Ron Turk said earlier this year there were no
hormones in New Zealand chicken and there hadn't been for more than 40
years.
But, antibiotics are mixed into
the daily feed or water of around
85 million chickens raised in factory farms in New Zealand every year.
This creates antibiotic resistant bacteria and superbugs that can
spread to humans.
Chinese food, packet soups,
processed meats
We've all heard of MSG - the
flavour enhancer that makes you over consume Chinese takeaway meals.
Well, it's still out
there. MSG was first added to Western food in 1948, and is commonly found
in Chinese food, packet soups, canned vegetables, and processed meats. Ever
since its introduction, there have been reports of reactions, known as the
"Chinese restaurant syndrome".
The symptoms may include
shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain, or swelling of the lips or
throat.
Although there is little
convincing scientific evidence to link MSG with this type of reaction, many
people have an intolerance to MSG that can result in these symptoms.
Lemon juice
Sodium benzoate is a food
preservative and protects against yeasts, moulds, and types of bacteria. It's
why your lemon juice in the fridge never goes off.
But, sodium benzonate can react with vitamin C - found in most
fruit juices - and form benzene. Benzene has been linked to cancer by the World
Health Organisation. It used to be found in Diet Coke until a
study linking sodium benzoate to Parkinson's disease lead Coca-Cola to phase it
out of its product, according to the Daily Mail.
Rice and spices
A recent investigation by
Australia's SBS Punjabi Radio found imported Indian rice and spice
contained "worrying" levels of chemicals. Including
pesticides, arsenic, lead and even the carcinogen DDT.
The products are available from
leading supermarkets in New Zealand. It found the popular Indian spice
brand MDH contains pesticides above the limit specified by Food Standards Australia
New Zealand. It also revealed Kohinoor basmati rice contains the banned
insecticide buprofezin.
"This investigation exposes
potentially harmful contaminants that may be present in foods that Australians
consume on the mistaken assumption that all foods sold in the country comply
with strict quality standards," says SBS Punjabi Radio executive producer
Manpreet Kaur Singh
APEDA
AgriExchange Newsletter - Volume 1588
|
Market Watch
|
||||
|
Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 29-10-2016
|
||||
|
Domestic Prices
|
Unit Price : Rs per Qty
|
|||
|
Product
|
Market Center
|
Variety
|
Min Price
|
Max Price
|
|
Maize
|
||||
|
1
|
Derol (Gujarat)
|
Other
|
1420
|
1430
|
|
2
|
Bichhiya (Madhya Pradesh)
|
Other
|
1365
|
1365
|
|
3
|
Hardoi (Uttar Pradesh)
|
Other
|
1300
|
1380
|
|
Paddy(Dhan)
|
||||
|
1
|
Jajpur (Orissa)
|
Other
|
1410
|
1470
|
|
2
|
Kaithal (Haryana)
|
Other
|
1510
|
1650
|
|
3
|
Memari (West Bengal)
|
Fine
|
1520
|
1570
|
|
Orange
|
||||
|
1
|
Batala (Punjab)
|
Other
|
3000
|
4000
|
|
2
|
Nagpur (Maharashtra)
|
Other
|
1000
|
2500
|
|
3
|
Ratia (Haryana)
|
Other
|
2500
|
2500
|
|
Cabbage
|
||||
|
1
|
Palayam (Kerala)
|
Other
|
950
|
1050
|
|
2
|
Satara (Maharashtra)
|
Other
|
600
|
800
|
|
3
|
Barnala (Pun
|
|||
Thai govt extends new rice scheme
to farmers
BANGKOK, 31 Oct 2016:
Thailand’s rice management committee today said it will offer
loans worth US$1 billion to jasmine rice farmers struggling with falling prices
– on a condition that they store the grain for six months to slow down market
supply.
The new rice harvest season is currently underway in Thailand,
the world’s second-biggest rice exporter, and the Southeast Asian nation
expects output of the grain for the 2016/17 production year to come in at 25
million tonnes.
Prices for jasmine rice, Thailand’s highest quality rice, have
tumbled to their lowest level in years, leaving the military government
scrambling to appease the country’s farmers.
The 35.8 billion baht ($1.02 billion) loan scheme, which will be
implemented by Thailand’s state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural
Cooperatives (BAAC), is aimed at curbing an oversupply of jasmine rice in the
market and stabilising prices, said commerce minister Apiradee Tantraporn.“If
we can push up prices of jasmine rice, prices of other rice varieties will go
up too,” Apiradee said at a news conference in Bangkok on Monday.The loans will
be provided to two million farm households to hold on to their jasmine rice
stocks for six months, said Supat Eawchai, the bank’s assistant manager.
The government will follow up with other measures to help
improve rice prices, Apiradee said.Prices for Thai 100% jasmine rice were
quoted at US$725 per tonne, FOB Bangkok, on Friday. It was the lowest
since hitting US$710 a tonne in January 2008, according to Reuters data.Thai
jasmine rice made up 25% of Thailand’s total rice exports from January to
August this year, according to data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association.The
commerce ministry said this month its rice export push for the last quarter of
2016 will help support Thai rice prices during the annual harvest
period.Bernama reported that the Thai government has agreed to buy rice from
farmers affected by the current low market price of the commodity.
farmers affected by the current low market price of the commodity.
Under a scheme targeted initially at the “Thai Hom Mali”
(Thai Jasmine) rice farmers, Apiradee said the government would buy the
rice at two different prices – 11,525 baht (1 baht=RM0.12) per tonne and
10,995 baht per tonne.
“The price of 11,525 baht a tonne will be for rice farmers who
have silo facilities and 10,995 baht a tonne for those without silo
facilities.”Households with 10-rai (hectares) paddy field are eligible for the
scheme, with the government targeting to purchase up to two million tonnes
of Thai Jasmine rice under the programme, she said.The scheme is effective
tomorrow and will be gradually extended to other types of rice.The Thai Rice
Exporters Association said the country exported 6.86 million tonnes of rice
during the first nine months of the year worth 108 billion baht.President
Charoen Laothamatas said the volume for the period was an increase of 3.7% from
the same corresponding period last year.He said Thailand shipped 790,000 tonnes
of rice in September which was a growth of 9.9% year-on-year, citing
African countries’ resumption of imports to refill their diminishing stock
as the factor behind the increase
http://www.therakyatpost.com/business/2016/10/31/thai-govt-extends-new-rice-scheme-to-farmers/
Conventional rice varieties promising in
preliminary trials
Oct 31, 2016 | Delta
Farm Press
Diamond and Titan, conventional long- and medium-grain rice varieties developed by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, should offer strong yields and other advantages to growers, according to preliminary data from this year’s rice performance trials.
Jarrod Hardke, Extension rice agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said each performed well in a difficult growing year.
“They both seem to represent further yield improvement over previous releases,” Hardke said.
Diamond showed appreciable yield increases over currently grown long-grain varieties including Roy J and LaKast and CL151, he said, adding that Titan showed particular advantages over other medium-grain varieties such as Jupiter and CL272.
The preliminary data was drawn from two annual small-plot rice trial programs — the Arkansas Rice Performance Trials, or ARPT, in which 75 commercial and experimental rice cultivars were planted and closely monitored by Division of Agriculture researchers at five research locations with varying soil and climate.Of the 75 entries in ARPT, only the lead 23 commercial and experimental entries have been summarized to date. (Find past information on variety testing here: http://www.arkansasvarietytesting.com/home/rice/.)
Rice varieties also go through the Producer Rice Evaluation Program, known as PREP. This year, 20 cultivars were planted by researchers in nine counties. The difference is that in PREP, the cultivars grow in fields managed by a cooperating farmer in the same manner as the rest of the field surrounding the plot.
According to the preliminary ARPT data, the mean yield for Diamond long-grain rice was 197 bushels per acre, and 201 bushels per acre for Titan medium-grain rice. The mean for all cultivars grown at the four research station locations was 186 bushels per acre.
In the PREP trials, Diamond produced a mean yield of 207 bushels per acre, and Titan’s mean yield was 205, bushels per acre. The mean for all cultivars grown at the nine selected private farms was 198 bushels per acre.
“The PREP trials, are all strictly on-farm, with a more or less ‘plant it and leave it’ approach,” Hardke said. “I don’t dictate anything — we simply plant it, and the growers manage the field as they would manage it anyway.
“We can come back and take notes — we learn as much as we can from it — but the main thing is to come back at harvest and see how all those cultivars perform under those management conditions, in a particular geography,” he said.
Hardke said XL753, a RiceTec hybrid cultivar developed and marketed by RiceTec, continued to set the bar for yield across the board as it has in recent years, yielding 239 bushels per acre in the ARPT and 242 bushels per acre in PREP. Other RiceTec hybrids also performed extremely well.
Varying climate, soils a challenge
Hardke
said the variation in soils and growing conditions throughout Arkansas makes
developing reliable recommendations for rice growers across the state a
challenge, but one he readily accepts.“Probably what makes Arkansas so unique as a rice-producing area is that we have a very broad range of production conditions,” Hardke said. “We have production areas similar to the Bootheel of Missouri, the Mississippi Delta, northeast Louisiana, in addition to many other production areas that are completely unique to us.
“So when we try to move to these on-farm trials and make sure we’re capturing all these different areas of the state and different production practices — there’s a lot of variability to try to capture, from different environments and production practices.”
Despite the positive data, Hardke cautioned interested growers to exercise prudence in adopting any new cultivar.
No silver bullets
“These
trials give us a lot of information — but we’re cautious and conservative about
making anything out to be a silver bullet.” Hardke said.“I always remind everyone — you try a new variety,” he said. “Because whatever information we didn’t know about it, we typically learn in ‘year one,’ once it’s commercially available and planted in large fields, on a wider acreage, in some environments that we may not have had an opportunity to test in. And that first year is when we find these things out, so I always recommend that people don’t get carried away.”
Hardke will continue to release additional preliminary data from the 2016 trials as it becomes available, until December, when the Division of Agriculture will publish its final findings from the trials
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/conventional-rice-varieties-promising-preliminary-trials
In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, floods mean good news
for farmers (photos)
TUOI TRE NEWS
Updated : 11/01/2016 16:16 GMT + 7
A fisherman net-fishes in a flooded rice field
in An Giang Province, located in southern Vietnam.
Tuoi Tre
Tuoi Tre
PrevNext
Thousands of farmers who earn a living by catching seafood in An Giang and Dong Thap Provinces are happy to see the floods back, as they bring along new sources of marine life.Local residents said there was no flooding this time last year, and they had started to worry that the situation would be no better this year.However, to their surprise, the water levels started to rise around a month ago, with floodwaters overflowing into paddy fields.The flooding spells good news for Mekong Delta farmers as it brings fish, crabs, shrimp and other aquatic animals from upstream, which all become lucrative sources of income.
This year’s flooding was the icing on the cake as it comes after the region was hit by a severe drought.In rice fields across An Giang and Dong Thap these days, people are spotted busily catching seafood, and local markets have also experienced more lively trading.
Tran Ngoc Bich, a farmer in An Giang, said local residents had received poor yields from growing rice in the last few years, so they all looked forward to the flood season when they could draw an income from catching fish and shrimp.
“Now that the rice fields are flooded and full of seafood, we are all excited,” she told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper while selling her newly caught fish at a local market.
Below are some photos of the current flood season in the Mekong Delta taken by Tuoi Tre.
Locals bring their newly caught seafood to sell at makeshift markets along the street.
At a makeshift seafood market in Dong Thap
A boy removes newly caught fish from a net.
Fishermen during a net-fishing trip in An Giang.
Two boys help their parents classify newly caught crabs in An Giang.
A man wears a big smile after a big haul of fish in An Giang.
The flooding also provides an abundant source of food for the this man’s flock of ducks in An Giang.
http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/37804/in-vietnams-mekong-delta-floods-mean-good-news-for-farmers-photos
Indonesia's 2016 rice output
may rise to 79.14 mln-agriculture min
10/31/2016
JAKARTA,
Nov 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia's agriculture ministryofficial said on Tuesday,
unmilled rice production in 2016 mayrise to 79.14 million tonnes, up from 75.40
million tonnes lastyear.
Corn production this year may rise to 23.16 million tonnes,up from 19.61 million tonnes, while soybean output is expectedto fall to 885,580 tonnes in 2016, down from 963,180 tonnes theyear before.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fransiska
Nangoy; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
http://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/indonesias-2016-rice-output-may-rise-to-7914-mln-agriculture-min
BD, Thailand to sign MoU on rice
trade
Dhaka agreed in principle to sign a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) with Bangkok in order to import up to one million metric
tons of standard rice from Thailand per year on government to government basis,
reports BSS. The import of Thai rice would, however, depend on production level
each year in both countries and at the level of international price, said a
handout of the ministry of food here today.Food Minister Advocate Mohammad
Quamrul Islam, now on a four-day visit to Thailand, reached the understanding
when he held a bilateral meeting with Thai Minister for Commerce Apiradi
Tantraporn at her Bangkok office.
"Thailand considers Bangladesh as an
important trade partner in South Asia," said Apiradi at the meeting, where
Advocate Quamrul called for more trade concessions from Thailand as a
reflection of warm relations between the two countries. Bangladesh Ambassador
to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem was present. Advocate Quamrul appreciated
Thailand's announcement of 'Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF)' access of 6998
products from the least developed countries (LDCs) that include Bangladesh and
proposed that Thailand would continue to review more favourable tariff
structure for Bangladesh in near future.
The two ministers also agreed to hold the 4th
meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) in Dhaka at a mutually convenient
time this year. During the meeting the entire gamut of bilateral trade
relations is expected to be reviewed and the proposed MoU on rice trade be
signed. Thai commerce minister indicated that a large private delegation would
accompany her during her visit to Dhaka for the JTC. Both sides also agreed
that it was important to hold the JTC meeting regularly in each year to promote
trade and businesses between the two countries.
Advocate Quamrul Islam held a separate meeting
with Thai Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Monday. They agreed to
enhance bilateral cooperation in agriculture, particularly in food sector
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/01/51515/BD,-Thailand-to-sign-MoU-on-rice-trade
Dry season: RIFAN targets
production of 700,000 tonnes of rice in Kano
The
association said the target will be achieved on the platform of Central Bank of
Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, in collaboration with the Kano State
Government
The Chairman of the association in Kano, Alhaji
Abubakar Haruna, said this on Monday during the inauguration of 2016 rice
harvest in Kadawa village in Kura Local Government Area.Haruna
said more than 9,960 farmers in the state participated in the programme to
achieve the targeted quantity.The chairman said that the association would
monitor and also work closely with officials of CBN, Bank of Agriculture and
state officials to ensure the success of the programme.
Earlier, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who said the state government was committed to boosting
agricultural production, also commended the Federal Government for its efforts in developing agriculture in the country.
The governor also visited rice and wheat farms
in Garum Mallam and Kura Local Government Areas respectively.He added that the
number of combine harvesters would also be increased to boost rice and wheat
farming in the state.A cross section of the farmers expressed determination to
ensure the success of the initiative and solicited for full support from the
government and banks
.http://theeagleonline.com.ng/dry-season-rifan-targets-production-of-700000-tonnes-of-rice-in-kano/
Army to buy rice directly from farmers
Army commander-in-chief Gen Chalermchai
Sitthisat said today that the Army will cooperate with local administration
officials to probe into the problems farmers are currently facing and may buy
rice directly from farmers' cooperatives. He said the Army will look into all
facts related to the farmers’ problems and will seek cooperation from
millers who remain selfish or have hidden motives.He would ask them if they
could sacrifice a bit to help farmers, while the Army may also help to buy rice
directly from mills owned by farmers’ cooperatives.
This
would be discussed in details, he said.He said soldiers might also help farmers
to harvest their crops in areas where there are problems of harvesting.The
government is now trying its best to help farmers, saying he believed national
politicians might not be behind the price drop, but it might be those local
politicians who have conflict of interest.The army chief appealed for all
sides to cooperate, adding that now the country has only one colour or black
and hoped all could cooperate to struggle through the current crisis.
Rice crisis
back to haunt govt
Rice crisis back to haunt junta
By The Nation
By The Nation
The current govt has failed to learn lessons from disastrous
short-term, politically motivated policies of its predecessors
BANGKOK: — The government has launched a plan
to help out rice farmers with Bt35.9 billion in “soft” loans at a lowly 3 per
cent interest.The market price for Hom Mali (Jasmine) paddy has now dropped to
Bt9,700 per tonne, from Bt12,000 previously.Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha
has sought to alleviate pressure on his government by accusing local
politicians and rice millers of collaborating to suppress the price.
He went
as far as to suggest that collaboration was motivated by a political desire to
damage ties between the government and farmers, and proposed that a law be
enacted to punish the “evil” middlemen.http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/thai-editorial-rice-crisis-back-to-haunt-govt/158171/
PTT Plc to open
petrol stations for farmers to sell rice directly to consumers
By Thai PBS
November 2, 2016
PTT Public Company will open all its petrol
stations throughout the country to allow rice farmers to sell their crops
directly to the consumers free of charge, said CEO and president Mr Thewin
Wongwanich on Tuesday.He said that PTT Plc was ready to support the
government’s effort to help rice farmers to tackle the problem of rice price
slump.
Farmers, farmer groups, farmer’s cooperatives
or community rice millers who are interested to sell rice at PTT’s petrol
stations can contact petrol stations in their respective provinces.Mr Thewin
further said that PTT would coordinate with its business networks and farmer’s
groups to bring rice to PTT’s head office to be sold to staff members,
officials and members of the public.Also, PTT will buy rice from farmers to be
given as New Year’s gifts.
http://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/ptt-plc-open-petrol-stations-farmers-sell-rice-directly-consumers-153794
Government tries to stem
declining rice prices
Submitted by Eleven on Tue,
11/01/2016 - 15:41
Writer: Nilar
Workers unloading rice bags at Wardan in Yangon.
In a bid to solve declining rice prices, the government
plans to buy rice from farmers at an inflated price, according to the Myanmar
Rice Federation.The committee which was formed under the Law of Protection and
Promotion of Farmers Interests will implement the plan in cooperation with the
commerce ministry and state and regional governments, said Dr Soe Tun, vice
president of the MRF.The price of monsoon rice per 100 baskets has declined
from Ks 500,000 to Ks 350,000 after the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
Rice exports have also declined this year. The falling prices
are linked to surplus and lower demand. The commerce ministry is making efforts
to obtain rice export contracts with other nations.Myanmar Agribusiness Public
Corporation, formed by the MRF, plans to import dryers in order to provide
dryer services at rice mills. Under this plan, members of the MRF,
exporters, and rice millers will buy rice from farmers, and the government will
increase its rice export volume. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the
country earned over US$145 million from rice exports to 33 countries, of which,
85 percent went to China, according to customs department figures. Myanmar
generated over $123 million in rice exports to China, $7.164 million via a sea
routes and over $115 million over land.
http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/business/6398
Grain processing facilities launched in Jinja,
Masindi
If Uganda continues at this pace, there is no
doubt that we shall become a middle income country."
Agriculture state minister Christopher
Kibazanga (right) took a tour of Upland Rice Millers. (Credit: Prossy Nandudu)
The Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and
Fisheries (MAAIF) with support from the South Korean government has launched
two pilot model grain processing facilities in the districts of Masindi and
Jinja.
These will work with farmer groups to increase
production, add value to it and earn an income hence reduce poverty and food
insecurity at household level.While launching the facilities, minister of at
state for agriculture Christopher Kibanzanga said the projects are part of
government's efforts to add value to agriculture commodities to increase
incomes and achieve a middle-income status.
"If Uganda continues at this pace, there
is no doubt that we shall become a middle-income country. This will be possible
if people make use of such projects in their localities," he
said.According to the minister, farmers still face challenges of post-harvest
losses due to lack of equipment, capacity and storage facilities and
markets."These are being addressed through the pilot models where farmers
are linked to processors, to add value, and also help in finding market in addition
to trainings on how to make their products better.”
Farmers look at the finished product at Upland.
(Credit: Prossy Nandudu)
Jun Young-Suk is the resident representative of
Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), through which the money was channeled.
He said Jinja should serve as a success story to other rice growing regions for
the model to spread and benefit all farmers."The future of rice production
in Uganda will be determined by the success of this establishment. I urge the
farmers to work together to produce enough for the establishments," he
said.
The maizemill in Masindi is located at AgroVet,
a local maize processor, while in Jinja the machinery is at Upland Rice
Millers, to take care of surrounding districts into rice production.The project
will see farmers working with centers get equipment such as maize shellers,
tarpaulins, threshers and moisture meters to boost quality. AgroVet processes
four tons of maize per hour. 65% of the grain comes from the three farmer
groups.
At Upland the machine processes 120 tons of
rice in a day, coming from 30,000 farmers
Vietnam: Rice exports hit 4.2 million tonnes
11/1/2016
Thai News Service
Thai News Service
Vietnam's rice exports in the first ten months of 2016 reached 4.2
million tonnes, earning 1.9 billion USD in revenue, a year-on-year decrease of
21.2 percent in volume and 16.9 percent in value.In October alone, the country
earned 164 million USD from shipping 368,000 tonnes of rice abroad.China
remained the leading importer of Vietnamese rice in the first three quarters of
2016, accounting for 35.4 percent of market share. Vietnam exported 1.35 million tonnes of rice worth 613.8 million
USD to China during the period, down 23 percent in volume and 13.9 percent in
value from a year earlier.
A decline has seen in rice exports to other markets like Philippines, Malaysia,
Singapore, the United States, Ivory Coast and Hong Kong.
However, Vietnam's rice export to Ghana and Indonesia increased strongly. Ghana
became Vietnam's second largest rice importer in the first nine months with 387,000 tonnes
worth 189.6 million USD, up 41.8 percent in volume and 36.2 percent in value
compared to the same period last year.
By the end of September, Indonesia spent 142.5
million USD buying 359,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam, a 21.5-fold rise in
volume and a 22.5-fold increase in value.
Vietnam's rice export to Angola increased 4.4-fold and 3.5-fold in
volume and value, respectively.
According to the Vietnam Food Association,
domestic businesses have a chance to boost rice exports as the Philippines plans to import 293,100 tonnes of rice from Vietnam to meet food
demand during the 2017 between-crop period.-VNA
http://www.world-grain.com/news/news%20home/LexisNexisArticle.aspx?articleid=2671572251
China: Rice market anomaly
Tuesday
Posted
Nov 1, 2016 at 12:13 PM
That is the global situation, now let's focus on the anomaly
that is China's rice market. Production is forecasted to rise one percent to
146.5 million tons while consumption remains flat at 144 million tons. Add
imports to the equation and ending stocks are set to rise by 7.2 million tons
to 71 million tons or the equivalent of 60 percent of global ending stocks. In
other words supplies in the market, not counting carry-in stocks, will exceed
consumption by 7.2 million tons, or nearly the size of the 2016 U.S rice crop.
By Jim Guinn / USA Rice Federation
According to data from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), global rice production declined by 6.65
million tons in 2015/2016, which USDA reports led to reduced consumption of
rice in animal feeds and to some extent in food — particularly in India and
Thailand. That situation was reversed in the latest USDA forecast with
production forecasted to rebound by 11.17 million tons in 2016/2017 to a new
record of 482.26 million tons. Ending stocks are forecasted to rise 5.1 million
tons to 120.7 million tons or a little more than 25 percent of consumption.
That is the global situation, now
let's focus on the anomaly that is China's rice market. Production is
forecasted to rise one percent to 146.5 million tons while consumption remains
flat at 144 million tons. Add imports to the equation and ending stocks are set
to rise by 7.2 million tons to 71 million tons or the equivalent of 60 percent
of global ending stocks. In other words supplies in the market, not counting
carry-in stocks, will exceed consumption by 7.2 million tons, or nearly the
size of the 2016 U.S rice crop.
You need look no further than the
recently announced U.S. challenge to rice production subsidy policy in China to
understand how this anomaly has arisen. The domestic price guaranteed to the
farmer set by the government is significantly higher than the price of rice in
nearby countries with exportable supplies of rice. As a result, China has
become by a wide margin the largest importer of rice in the world, even though
self-sufficient in rice production. In fact, in previous years the
"official" import numbers have understated imports by probably a
million tons or more that crossed the border from Vietnam unaccounted for and
paying no import duty.
Can this trend continue? Simply
put, it cannot. China has essentially capped imports at 5.3 million tons, the
level agreed to when China joined the World Trade Organization. This Tariff
Rate Quota allows this level of imports at a tariff of 1 percent and a 13
percent value added tax (VAT). Continually growing stocks is not sustainable.
Either of three things must happen to alleviate the oversupply situation: No. 1
The production subsidies will be reduced to lower the incentive for local
production; No. 2 Imports will decline; or No. 3 Rice will be used for
industrial processes such as animal feed — a policy adopted by Japan — ethanol
or other industrial use.
USA Rice continues to monitor
progress toward market access, but at the same time is preparing ground for
entering the market by identifying and building relationships with major rice
importers through trade servicing activities. USA Rice is also building
interest in U.S. rice in China by participating in food shows demonstrating the
variety of rice types available from the U.S.
USA Rice is planning trade seminars
in China to coincide with when market access is gained, and is also planning to
bring major importers to the U.S. for them to get a better understanding of the
U.S. rice industry to build confidence in the U.S. as a reliable trading
partner with high quality rice to sell.
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/20161101/china-rice-market-anomaly
BSP backs
removal of QR on rice
The Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas is backing up moves to remove the import quota on rice.
“It will
benefit consumers if you do that. Remove the QR (quantitative restriction) so
everyone could import, but we should slap tariff,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C.
Guinigundo told reporters recently.Guinigundo said proceeds from the tariff
protection could be spent on improving agricultural infrastructure such as
irrigation and drying facilities, and providing better seeding varieties.
“It could also help improve farm-to-market
roads, instead of [the government] just subsidizing farm-gate prices,”
Guinigundo added.State-run think tank Philippine Institute of Development
Studies was urging a shift from the current import quota regime to tariff
protection, pushing a 35-percent tariff on rice when the QR lapses in July next
year.The Department of Finance also expressed support for the removal of import
restrictions on rice and transferring rice importation to the private sector.
The
Department of Agriculture, however, is seeking a grace period of two more years
before the QR on rice is removed to give farmers more time to adjust to an
expected influx of imports under an open market setup.State planning agency
National Economic and Development Authority earlier disclosed the decision of
the majority of the country’s economic managers to remove the quota on rice
importation, as the government moves to lower the prices of the staple food.
Economic
managers were proposing amendments to the decade-old Republic Act No. 8178 or
the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, which had put the rice import quota
in place.In 2014, the World Trade Organization (WTO) allowed the Philippines to
extend its QR on rice until June 30, 2017, in a bid to buy more time for local
farmers to prepare for free trade in light of the government’s goal of
achieving rice self-sufficiency.Since the government imposes a quota on rice
imports, domestic prices are vulnerable to shocks arising from meager
supply.The QR puts the burden of rice supply and demand to the government,
whereas the market forces are being limited by the quota system.
Pundits say
importation should be done by the private sector in order to allow market
forces to determine prices.The extended QR slaps a 35-percent duty on imported
rice under a minimum access volume (MAV) of 805,200 metric tons. Importation
outside of the MAV limit are slapped 50 percent.The Philippines’ most favored
nation rate—the additional tariff imposed when imported outside of Asean—on the
commodity remains at about 40 percent.
http://business.inquirer.net/218113/bsp-backs-removal-of-qr-on-rice
·
Developing,
promoting ‘adlai’ as alternative staple food
Looking like grass, the adlai plant is
easily overlooked in the wild. PhilRice is promoting rice-adlai blend (left
photo) as an alternative staple food.
PHOTOS BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Filipinos
may go crazy if rice suddenly becomes unavailable, but they might not go hungry
as the country is blessed with many alternatives for staple food.
Of course,
there is corn and root crops like the many varieties of camote (sweet potato).
But there is also adlai, a grain-producing perennial plant that is native to
Southeast Asia.
The plant is
known as Job’s tears in the United States, and also called coixseed, tear
grass. Some Catholics may recognize the grain as these are used in making
rosaries or prayer beads.
ADVERTISEMENT
Herbal
supplement
Grown and
consumed mainly in provinces like Zamboanga del Sur, Isabela, Batangas, Romblon
and the Bicol region, adlai is also known to Filipinos as an herbal supplement
used to address inflammation, allergies and even diabetes.
But the
Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), which has a research and development
program for adlai which is now on its fifth year, is pushing the
commercialization of the grain as food.
BAR director
Nicomedes P. Eleazar says the agency is pushing for the strengthening of adlai
product development initiatives, value-adding activities and other promotional
undertakings.
“(We
continue the work) to further intensify the development and promotion of adlai
projects, activities, and technologies to help ignite the passion of our
farmers in planting adlai, not only for economic reasons but health causes as
well,” Eleazar says.
BAR has been
coordinating 49 adlay projects implemented through the Department of
Agriculture’s regional field offices, state universities and colleges,
and Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, and with
the Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura.
Across the
regions, various adlay products have been developed and are now available to be
tapped by the private sector for the mainstream market.
Among these
products are the adsoy, gourmix, champorado, 3-in-1 coffee, nutrimeal, herbal
coffee mix, breakfast cereal, wine, adlai pop, cracker, cereal bar, and
polvoron.
Versatile
grain
Since 2010,
the DA has been promoting adlay as a staple food under its food security
blueprint called the Food Staples Sufficiency Program.
Based on
adaptability trials in strategic locations nationwide, the following adlay
varieties were identified: the commonly grown gulian, kinampay (ginampay) and pulot
(or tapol), as well as the linay, mataslai, agle gestakyan, NOMIARC dwarf,
jalayhay, and ag-gey.
Mature adlai
grains can be processed, cooked and served steamed just like rice—and as
versatile as well. It has a pleasant mild flavor making it a good ingredient in
soups and broths.
Also, the
adlai grain can be ground into flour and used to make breads, pastas and
porridge.
Ground
grains can also be roasted and turned into coffee or tea and further processed
and fermented into wine.
Feasibility,
acceptability
In the
meantime, at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), researchers are
exploring the feasibility and consumer acceptability of adlai mixed with rice
or rice-adlai blend.“We chose adlai owing to its very similar characteristics
with rice,” PhilRice researcher Henry Mamucod said. “True enough, our sensory
evaluation showed that rice eaters find rice-adlai blend acceptable.”
Results
showed ginampay as the most acceptable variety. Blending it with rice at 50:50
ratio increased the protein composition and the healthy fat content of the
blend.While adlai naturally contains lower amount of carbohydrates, the 50:50
ratio of rice-ginampay provided the same amount of energy with that of pure
rice. For better aroma, gloss, tenderness, smoothness, and taste without
off-odor, PhilRice recommends the rice variety NSIC Rc160 for blending with
ginampay.“Combined with NSIC Rc160, ginampay provided the consumer the same
eating satisfaction as pure white rice, Mamucod says. “Aside from being an
excellent source of carbohydrates, the blend also provides higher nutritional
value.
http://business.inquirer.net/218105/developing-promoting-adlai-as-alternative-staple-food
How Blue Moon
Acres Farm became a field-grown rice pioneer
By Pat
Tanner
November 1, 2016
for growing rice in an environmentally friendly way. (Photo by Ashley Lyons Putman.)
Growing rice in New Jersey
sounds, on the face of it, impossible. Even more so when the rice is certified
organic and comes in five varieties that pretty much cover the entire spectrum
that we cook with, including white, brown, and black; short, medium, and long
grain; and specialized for risotto and sushi. But that is exactly what Jim and
Kathy Lyons have accomplished at Blue Moon Acres Farm in Pennington.
The first rice crop was harvested
in 2014; this fall, Jim Lyons says he just finished harvesting 12,000 pounds
from the three acres he planted. One-pound bags of Blue Moon Acres rice are
sold at the farm’s own markets in Pennington and Buckingham, Bucks County, and online. But customers can also find them at the
Stockton Market, all three McCaffrey’s markets, the Whole Earth Center, and
Lucy’s Kitchen & Market. In fact, the rice and other Blue Moon Acres
products are also stocked at New York City’s Dean and Deluca and Philadelphia’s
Di Bruno Brothers.
Blue Moon Acres first gained
notice as a pioneer in the production of microgreens starting back in 1993,
soon after the Lyonses had purchased their first farm, in Buckingham. The tiny
gourmet greens quickly became the darling of top-tier chefs in New York City
and elsewhere. Even decades later, when the rice was introduced, the first
customer was the renowned Gramercy Tavern.
Blue Moon Acres rice is
field-grown, not in paddies flooded with water. When asked what possessed him
to think he could grow premium rice in central New Jersey, Jim Lyons starts at
the very beginning of his personal and professional path. “There are a couple
of different ways of looking at this. I had an interest in agriculture after I
graduated from college,” he says.
After graduating from Lafayette
College in Easton, PA, where he had majored in psychology, he went up to
Boston. “I was studying Oriental healing and was very close to the point of
studying acupuncture, but decided instead to go in the direction of
agriculture,” despite, he says a complete lack of background in that area. “I
was working in the natural foods industry for a time and I realized, looking at
Oriental healing, how important food is.”
That led him ultimately to care
about how food is produced. “And a big part of healthy diets seemed to me to
include good-quality whole grains. Rice, in particular, is kind of fascinating
in that it doesn’t require any additional processes other than cooking. You
have to grind wheat into a flour, so in that sense there’s more processing
required. With rice, you just husk it and cook it.” Lyons also notes that
people who have issues with gluten do not seems to have similar digestive
issues with rice.
THE HANDFUL OF RICE GROWERS IN THE
NORTHEAST, INCLUDING JIM AND KATHY LYONS, ARE EACH DEVISING THEIR OWN
FIELD-GROWN METHOD — ALMOST NEVER PADDY STYLE.
Jim Lyons began experimenting
with growing rice 30 years ago, when he and Kathy founded the Buckingham farm.
“I got a variety from a friend, Chris Elwell, who’s up in South River Miso
Company in Massachusetts. I thought, well if he can grow it up there I should
be able to grow it here. It did well, but of course 30 years ago I had no way
of husking it or doing anything other than growing it. Kathy was trying to
figure out why I was wasting my time messing around growing rice.”
Fast forward to 2007 and the
couple added the Pennington farm to their holdings: 63 acres on Willow Creek
Road that received its organic certification three years later. Jim was in the
process of deciding what crops to grow there when one day he was browsing at
Essene, the natural foods market and cafe in Philadelphia. “A magazine cover
caught my eye. The story was about Chris Elwell! I was intrigued, contacted
him, and asked him if I could get some seed from him. He said, sure, so we
started seeding it and each year kept refining our process.” Through Elwell,
Lyons connected with rice researchers at Cornell University and other New
England rice growers. “I got a sense of, maybe this isn’t such a crazy idea,
maybe it can work. So that’s one angle.”
The other angle, Lyons says, has
everything to do with Michael Pollan’s 2001 book, “The Botany of Desire.” “What
intrigues me is he talks about corn using us to take over the planet and I
wondered if rice is interested in taking over the planet, too,” he says. The
handful of rice growers in the Northeast, including Lyons, are each devising
their own method — almost never paddy style. “While paddy growing has some
advantages in rice yield,” he says, “it seems to create conditions for greater
absorption of arsenic.”
Alarming levels of arsenic in
rice grown both in the U.S. and around the world came to public attention in
part when the FDA proposed action to limit the harmful amounts routinely found
in infant rice cereal. “Because here we grow dry-land style, we don’t have that
issue,” Lyons says. “Our levels have been tested and are very, very low — in
some cases undetectable. On the down side, it’s a lot more work.”
Rice, it turns out, is not an
aquatic plant. “It merely tolerates the paddy; it doesn’t necessarily thrive in
it,” Lyon explains. “The thing with the flooding — aside from issues like what
it does to the pH and how nitrogen behaves in soil, etc. — mainly it’s for
convenience. But I’m not interested in growing paddy style, I’m trying to
figure out how we can do this more efficiently.”
He and his crew have ideas in
that regard and are developing equipment for growing and harvesting more
efficiently. “If our ideas work, then we might have something of more
significance here,” he says.
Despite its price tag of $10 per
pound, sales of all Blue Moon Acres rice varieties are brisk. “I was curious to
see how the rice would sell when we started at the Stockton Market last year,”
Lyons confesses. Turns out, he worried needlessly. Customers — especially, he
notes, female customers — immediately began noticing the difference. “Our rice
is so fresh! No one really thinks in terms of fresh grain, but I started
noticing early on that our brown rice didn’t have a smell attached to it, and I
was used to a smell. So I bought a bag of California rice and, sure enough,
there’s that smell — and it’s not really a good smell.
People, mainly women, Lyons says,
with finely tuned noses noticed that rice often smells bad, like rancid oil.
“Come to learn,” says Lyons, “those lipids in the grain are very volatile.
Given one humid day, rice can grow rancid — that’s all it takes. Rice is like
wheat: you have to remove its protective husk, the rice potentially starts
oxidizing, and those oils can start to turn.”
‘PEOPLE ASK WHAT’S IN THE MIX BESIDES THE
RICE AND I SAY, WELL, IT’S JUST THE RICE. THEY ARE JUST THAT PLEASANTLY
SURPRISED AT THE FLAVOR.’
“We mill our rice every week,
sometimes twice a week so it’s always fresh. Every bag has a date on it,” he
says. As for storage, “Keep it cool and dry. If you’re going to be hanging onto
your rice for a while, put it in a glass jar in your fridge. If you have a warm
pantry, sure, basmati moths or grain moths can be flying around and land on it
and start laying eggs. So put it in your refrigerator. But really our thinking
is, hey, we’re here milling our rice every week, just come and get it as you
need it.”
Blue Moon Acres’ certified
black-and-tan rice is one of his big sellers. A blend of aromatic brown and
black rice, it turns purple when cooked. “It has exceptional texture and
flavor,” Lyons says. “People ask what’s in the mix besides the rice and I say,
well, it’s just the rice. They are just that pleasantly surprised at the
flavor.”
His personal go-to rice is the
medium grain brown rice. (Blue Moon Acres also offers long-grain brown rice).
“When I sit down for a meal where there’s just rice, beans, and vegetables, or
maybe rice with a tofu stir-fry if it’s vegetarian night, it holds its own as
the centerpiece of the meal,” he says.
Lyons sampled many rice suitable
for risotto and settled on Martelli, a medium-size risotto rice that he says
holds onto its firm texture while cooking up to creamy consistency. Lyons, who
cooks often, swears it also maintains the perfect texture longer out of the pan
than the more widely known arborio, carnaroli, or vialone nano. This past
season he also grew and harvested not only sushi rice, but also sweet
(glutinous) rice, which is most commonly used to make mochi. He is
contemplating growing bomba rice, used for paella, next season.
Jim and Kathy, who have three
grown children (the eldest, Ashley Lyons Putman, heads up Blue Moon Acre’s
sales and marketing department) met when they were both studying at the Kushi
Institute, the educational center for macrobiotics based in Becket,
Massachusetts. “Kathy was living down here; I was kind of free floating,
wanting to really sink my teeth into something. At the time, I was just trying
to figure out what I was doing on the planet and how I can help.”
Asked what led him to his
philosophy of farming this way, Lyons, 61, cringes, saying he has worked with
so many talented people. (His enterprise currently employs about 60.) But he
does credit one of his early teachers with planting the seed. “He said ‘Are you
choosing the food you eat or is the food choosing you?’”
Among the other inspirations this
widely read farmer cites are: a TED talk titled “Stroke of Insight,” by Jill
Bolte Taylor, a neuro-anatomist at Harvard who had a brain hemorrhage and was
forced to rely on one side of her brain; the spiritual teacher and author
Eckhardt Tolle (“The Power of Now and A New Earth”); David Brooks, the New York
Times columnist, for his book “The Road to Character”; and Paul Hawken, the
environmentalist.
Lyons points out that his farm
equipment uses bio-diesel, that all the farm buildings, including the market,
are geothermally heated and cooled, and he is most proud of the new array of
solar panels, which went online in October. His dream is that agriculture can
wean itself off fossil fuels. “The guys at John Deere are working on electric
tractors and Elon Musk is working on electric pickup trucks,” he says by way of
example.
“There are people out there who
define conventional agriculture as use of land to convert fossil fuels into
food. When you stop and think about it, that’s a fairly accurate statement.” He
speaks extensively about how chemical fertilizers that feed nitrogen into the
soil are destroying the soil’s microbiology. “Unless,” he points out, “you have
an organic farm like ours, where you’re relying on soil microbiology to work
your nitrogen.” He is hoping to preserve that natural microbiology by “working
toward lessening the amount of tillage that we do.”
All the rice is harvested using a
small, simple combine. “We either dry it or clean it for use as seed,” he says.
“We then clean it further to remove dust, chaff, and sometimes stems and
stalks. Then the rice gets dried down to between 12 and 14 percent moisture so
that it stores well. Anything more than that you have mold issues.” The rice is
then hermetically sealed in bags, where it stays until it’s ready for milling
and packaging.
“We’re fortunate in that we have
this simple technology,” Lyons says. “We’ve visited rice paddies in Italy and
this past summer we visited a farm in the Camargue region of southern France,”
he says. “Down the street were massive rice silos The whole area is having salt
problems, with brackish water. The water is falling out of the paddies back
into the roads. We’re looking to see if we can create something here that
environmentally is much less problematic. I’m hopeful!”
http://mercerspace.com/2016/11/01/how-blue-moon-acres-farm-became-a-field-grown-rice-pioneer/
Research delivers insight into
the global organic rice industry forecast to 2021 with key companies profile,
supply, demand, cost structure, and SWOT analysis
Published: 02 November 2016
Submitted by The Market Reports
Global Organic Rice Industry 2016
Market Research Report provide the details about Industry Overview and analysis
about Manufacturing Cost Structure, Revenue, Gross Margin, Consumption Value
and Sale Price, Major Manufacturers, Distributors, Industry Chain Structure,
New Project SWOT Analysis with Development Trends and Forecasts 2021.
The Global Organic Rice Industry 2016 Market Research Report is
a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Organic Rice
industry. With around 150 tables and figures this report provides key
statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance
and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.
Development policies and plans are discussed as well as
manufacturing processes and Bill of Materials cost structures are also
analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand
Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.
Complete Report Available at:www.themarketreports.com/report/global-organic-rice-market-research-report-2016
Companies like Doguet’s Rice, Randallorganic, Sanjeevani Organics, Kahang
Organic Rice, Riceselect, Texas Best Organics, Capital Rice, Yinchuan, Urmatt,
Vien Phu, Sunrise Foodstuff Jsc, Khaokho Talaypu, Beidahuang, Yanbiangaoli,
Jinjian, Huichun Filed Rice, Dingxiang, Heilongjiang Taifeng, Heilongjiang
Julong and more are profiled in the terms of product picture,
specification, capacity, production, price, cost, gross, revenue, and contact
information.
Global Organic Rice Market report provides a basic overview of
the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry
chain structure. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand
analysis is also carried out.
The Organic Rice industry development trends and marketing
channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are
assessed and overall research conclusions offered.
Table of Contents:
1 Industry Overview of Organic Rice
2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Organic Rice
3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Organic
Rice
4 Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Organic Rice by
Regions, Types and Manufacturers
5 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Organic Rice
by Regions, Types and Manufacturers
6 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis
of Organic Rice by Regions, Types and Applications
7 Supply, Import, Export and Consumption Analysis of Organic
Rice
8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Organic Rice
9 Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Organic Rice
10 Industry Chain Analysis of Organic Rice
11 Development Trend of Analysis of Organic Rice
12 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Organic Rice
13 Conclusion of the Global Organic Rice Industry 2016 Market
Research Report
The Market Reports
Category: Market Research ReportsCompany profile: The Market Reports aims to provide the best industry and market reports to a seeker. We are looking forward to a place where we are the one stop destination for all the report seekers irrespective of any country, category, domain, etc. We are always open on call and email (24*7) to your queries and very clean with the business methodology. Since we are dealing with so many Publishers, we can actually give you what suits best in accordance to your requirements.
Category: Market Research ReportsCompany profile: The Market Reports aims to provide the best industry and market reports to a seeker. We are looking forward to a place where we are the one stop destination for all the report seekers irrespective of any country, category, domain, etc. We are always open on call and email (24*7) to your queries and very clean with the business methodology. Since we are dealing with so many Publishers, we can actually give you what suits best in accordance to your requirements.
For more information:
https://www.whatech.com/market-research/industrial/222741-global-organic-rice-industry-forecast-to-2021-with-key-companies-profile-supply-demand-cost-structure-and-swot-analysis
