Jammu to be hub
for export of quality basmati rice: SKUAST-J
Published at May 30, 2017 11:42 PM
Rising
Kashmir News
Jammu:
Experts on Tuesday said that
Jammu will become a hub for export of quality basmati rice in India.
This was said during a one-day workshop on ‘Quality improvement in production of Basmati rice for export’ at Chatha, wherein about 225 farmers from Basmati rice growing region of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts participated and was attended by the national and state level experts of Basmati rice.
According to a statement, the workshop was organized by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (Jammu), in collaboration with Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF), APEDA, Government of India, organized one day workshop and focused on the production, marketing, utilization and export of Basmati rice in context of development of entrepreneurship.
This was said during a one-day workshop on ‘Quality improvement in production of Basmati rice for export’ at Chatha, wherein about 225 farmers from Basmati rice growing region of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts participated and was attended by the national and state level experts of Basmati rice.
According to a statement, the workshop was organized by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (Jammu), in collaboration with Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF), APEDA, Government of India, organized one day workshop and focused on the production, marketing, utilization and export of Basmati rice in context of development of entrepreneurship.
“A high level exchange of knowledge between the scientists,
farmers and field functionaries to develop the road map for Basmati rice
farming was taken up during the workshop, a spokesman said in the statemnet.
During the programme, the spokesman said, the official website of Society for Integrated Development of Agriculture, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences (SIDAVES) was launched by Prof. P.K. Sharma, Vice Chancellor of SKUAST-J and the chief guest of the workshop.
Prof. Pardeep Kumar Sharma congratulated the farmers for their enthusiastic participation in the workshop and appealed them to maintain the quality of their basmati produce to fetch a good price in the market and double the income of basmati growers.
He advised the farmers to keep in touch with the scientists and experts for any kind of problems in their fields.
He appealed to the basmati growers to be prepared to register themselves with the online portal to be launched shortly by the Government of India. He also congratulated Dr. Jag Paul Sharma, director Research and his team for the launch of the society SIDAVES for the benefit of mother earth and mankind.
Dr. Jag Paul Sharma, Director Research of SKUAST-Jammu, gave a lecture on entrepreneurship in Basmati and its organic cultivation. He advised the farmers to adopt scientific advisories and regulations to obtain optimum yield and quality in basmati entrepreneurship in Jammu province.
He emphasized for further improvement in basmati rice with increased grain length, high aroma, grain yield and resistance to diseases and insects and providing value addition to basmati rice varieties.
Sharma stressed upon the use organic basmati seed for organic production of basmati rice, along with the use of bio-fertilizers and bio control agents. He advised for the development of farmer producers organizations (FPOs) of basmati growers in Jammu province.
Dr. Ritesh Sharma, Principal Scientist (BEDF) interacted with the basmati growers of Jammu district and gave a lecture on strengths and challenges in export of Basmati rice and quality production techniques.
He enlisted Ranbir Basmati and Basmati 370 of Jammu among the top 30 varieties of basmati rice and told that Pusa Basmati 1121 contains the longest grain length and constitutes 80 percent of the total basmati export.
He discussed in detail about the problems, solutions, weaknesses and strengths of basmati growers of Jammu district and told that the pesticide residual effect is very less in Jammu Basmati as compared to other regions.
During the programme, the spokesman said, the official website of Society for Integrated Development of Agriculture, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences (SIDAVES) was launched by Prof. P.K. Sharma, Vice Chancellor of SKUAST-J and the chief guest of the workshop.
Prof. Pardeep Kumar Sharma congratulated the farmers for their enthusiastic participation in the workshop and appealed them to maintain the quality of their basmati produce to fetch a good price in the market and double the income of basmati growers.
He advised the farmers to keep in touch with the scientists and experts for any kind of problems in their fields.
He appealed to the basmati growers to be prepared to register themselves with the online portal to be launched shortly by the Government of India. He also congratulated Dr. Jag Paul Sharma, director Research and his team for the launch of the society SIDAVES for the benefit of mother earth and mankind.
Dr. Jag Paul Sharma, Director Research of SKUAST-Jammu, gave a lecture on entrepreneurship in Basmati and its organic cultivation. He advised the farmers to adopt scientific advisories and regulations to obtain optimum yield and quality in basmati entrepreneurship in Jammu province.
He emphasized for further improvement in basmati rice with increased grain length, high aroma, grain yield and resistance to diseases and insects and providing value addition to basmati rice varieties.
Sharma stressed upon the use organic basmati seed for organic production of basmati rice, along with the use of bio-fertilizers and bio control agents. He advised for the development of farmer producers organizations (FPOs) of basmati growers in Jammu province.
Dr. Ritesh Sharma, Principal Scientist (BEDF) interacted with the basmati growers of Jammu district and gave a lecture on strengths and challenges in export of Basmati rice and quality production techniques.
He enlisted Ranbir Basmati and Basmati 370 of Jammu among the top 30 varieties of basmati rice and told that Pusa Basmati 1121 contains the longest grain length and constitutes 80 percent of the total basmati export.
He discussed in detail about the problems, solutions, weaknesses and strengths of basmati growers of Jammu district and told that the pesticide residual effect is very less in Jammu Basmati as compared to other regions.
Ravi Aggarwal, Chief Manager, Northern Region, Indian Potash
Limited (IPL) appreciated the efforts of scientists of SKUAST-J in improvement
of production technologies of basmati rice in Jammu province and requested the
farmers for optimum use of fertilizers in their fields. IPL organized a quiz
competition among the participating basmati rice growers wherein five winning
farmers were facilitated with 50 kg bag of potash to each. Dr. S.K. Singh,
Scientist of Organic Farming Research Center- Chatha, elaborated eco-friendly
diseases and insect pest management of Basmati.
Dr. R.K. Salgotra, Coordinator of School of Biotechnology presented welcome address, while, a formal vote of thanks was presented by Dr. R. K. Arora, Associate Director Extension and Incharge of all KVKs of SKUAST-Jammu.
Dr. R.K. Salgotra, Coordinator of School of Biotechnology presented welcome address, while, a formal vote of thanks was presented by Dr. R. K. Arora, Associate Director Extension and Incharge of all KVKs of SKUAST-Jammu.
http://www.risingkashmir.com/news/jammu-to-be-hub-for-export-of-quality-basmati-rice-skuast-j
New report
shares details about the Global Basmati Rice 2016 Market Research Report
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Then, the report focuses on global
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1.1 Definition and Specifications of
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1.1.1 Definition of Basmati Rice
1.1.2 Specifications of Basmati Rice
1.2 Classification of Basmati Rice
1.3 Applications of Basmati Rice
2 Manufacturing Cost Structure
Analysis of Basmati Rice
2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price
Analysis of Basmati Rice
2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price
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3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production
Date of Global Basmati Rice Major Manufacturers in 2015
3.2 Manufacturing Plants
Distribution of Global Basmati Rice Major Manufacturers in 2015
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Source of Global Basmati Rice Major Manufacturers in 2015
Related Reports
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Research Report 2017
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Bangladesh gets lowest
offer of $406.48/T in rice import tender
May 28
Bangladesh received a lowest offer of $406.48 a tonne from Singapore-based
Agrocorp International in a tender that opened on Sunday to import 50,000
tonnes of white rice, officials at the state grains buyer said.
Five traders
competed for the tender issued by the Directorate General of Food at a time
when local rice prices have reached record highs and state reserves are at
10-year lows. (Reporting by Ruma Paul)
Crop
dusters buzzing in Sacramento Valley after rain delays for 2017 rice crop
Pilot C.J. Garrity plants rice from the air Wednesday at Gorrill
Ranch in Durham. Bill Husa — Enterprise-Record
Durham
>> Wait and worry were the words of the day when rain clouds continued to
appear over rice fields. Now the race is on for farmers trying to fly seeds
over soaked fields.Two crop dusters were in the air over the Gorrill Ranch this
week, one for the ranch and another for the ranch directly next door.“We’re
usually at work the first of May,” to prepare dry fields for planting, said
Gorrill ranch manager Danny Robinson. This year his crew didn’t start until
May.For the crew at the Gorrill Ranch, the rains came often enough that tractors had to wait for the land to dry.Mud is a problem, even for the heavy-duty tires on heavy-duty equipment. Plus, the soil needs to dry out in order for oxygen to reach the right depth for plants to reach. Fields are also leveled, using portable lasers as a guide, so that fields flood and drain evenly.
As crop dusters buzzed overhead at the Gorrill Ranch Wednesday, tractors were still making grooves in the soil. Those slight indentations are important, allowing seed to settle and stay in one place once water is applied.
Off in the distance, a man drove a machine to dig a ditch where water would flow, Robinson said while driving along a road that separated the fields. His goal was to rest his dirty boots by today.
Medium grain rice, the most commonly grown in California’s Central Valley, takes about 145 day to mature. After all the work to plant the fields, another risk of a late planting season is that rains will begin again before harvest. Soggy, mature rice makes for a messy job to clear the fields and a risk that rice kernels will crack.
Some farmers may not be able to plant this year, explained Cass Mutters, University of California Farm Adviser. It’s counter-intuitive that too much water on a rice field can be a bad thing. But land adjacent to Butte Creek was backing up during the heavy rains this year. Further south, the Sutter bypass was swollen, and some of that land may still be soaked.
Some growers need to make a the decision not to plant due to insurance policies that don’t allow planting after June 1, Mutters explained. He also knows of one large farm that received late season flooding. The crew has been working 24 hours a day for 17 days, and will still leave 15 percent of the land unplanted.
Other snags can include slow-downs when everyone needs the same supplies and services, including water supply, at exactly the same time, he continued.
The price of rice is low right now, with a good supply of rice being grown worldwide. Growers who are planting this week may see some increase to their return per pound due to recent flooding along the Mississippi River. Places like Arkansas, normally the greatest supplier of rice in the United States, have been hit with floods after planting season, including damage to berms that hold in water during the growing season. However, the impacts of the devastation in the south won’t be known for months. In the meantime, it’s “full-tilt” for growers in the Sacramento Valley, Mutters said.
Contact reporter Heather Hacking at 896-7758.
Heather Hacking is reporter who focuses on water and agriculture. She has been writing for the Enterprise-Record since 1992. Reach the author at hhacking@chicoer.com or follow Heather on Twitter: @HeatherHacking.
http://www.orovillemr.com/article/NB/20170528/NEWS/170529780
Region 1
provinces named top rice producers
May 28, 2017
Anne Hazel Fajardo-Flores
SAN FERNANDO CITY, May 28 (PIA) –The provinces of La
Union and Pangasinan reaped their gains in the field of agriculture as they
were recently conferred the 2016 Rice Achievers Award at the Philippine
International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay City recently.
A National Screening and Evaluation Team (NSET) from the Department
of Agriculture (DA) screened and assessed the provinces based on the Provincial
Rice Program (PRP) in 2016.The provinces undergone series of panel interviews
and validations and have proven to have contributed and supplied rice to a
total of 72 percent in the entire region.Governor Emmanuel Francisco R. Ortega
III of La Union said, “This national recognition to the province is the fruit
of our teamwork and a re-focused planning and implementation for our
agricultural programs.”“While we are truly proud to have joined the other
outstanding provinces in rice production, we shall sustain and further elevate
our position as the one of the lead provinces in terms of the rice program,” he
added.
Pangasinan Governor Amado I. Espino III earlier said that the
provincial government is doing its best to continuously implement the programs
and projects initiated by the former administration and vowed to launch new
undertakings that could propel their province into becoming an agro-industrial
area in the coming years.Aside from La Union and Pangasinan, other top
rice-producing provinces are Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Compostella Vallley,
Bulacan, and Lanao del Norte.All seven awardees received a trophy and
P4-million cash prize that will be used in different programs to boost
agriculture in their areas.This year, Pangasinan bagged anew the award for the
fourth time while La Union was bestowed with the award for the first time.
(JNPD/AHFF/PIA-1)
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/3381495762467/
Customs
impound 941 bags of rice
By yole samuel
May 30, 2017
The Nigeria Customs Service, Western Marine Command, (WMC), on Tuesday said its officers seized 941 bags
of rice estimated at N6, 830,791 being smuggled into the country.The new
Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Sarkin Kebbi, told the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Lagos that the seizure was barely a month after he assumed duty at the
command.“As you are aware, I took over the helm of affairs in this command on
Tuesday, 25th April, 2017.
“My first official assignment was on
the 27th April, 2017 where I led a team of inspectors from the Federal Ministry
of Agriculture delegated by the Office of the National Security Adviser to
inspect a vessel, MV TEAM TANGO, that was arrested.“The visit was embarked upon
to take samples of cargo on board, PRILLED UREA, presumed to be used by
terrorists to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDS).
“The Western Marine Command is an
enforcement unit and its main function is to protect the water-ways, fight
insecurity and combat smuggling.“ We have been able to make unprecedented
seizures within 30 days in office across the South Western states and right up
to Kebbi State in the Northern part of the country at different dates and
times,’’ Kebbi said.The CAC said that the achievement was borne out of the new
approach to duty in the command by the officers and men.He said that the goal
of the command was to ensure that the waterways were safe from unscrupulous
businessmen and women, whose activities endanger national security.
Kebbi said that realising the
enormity of the task ahead, he intends to visit states, institutions and
organisations within the command, in order to familiarise himself with the
terrain and gather intelligence necessary for effective administration.
“ This commenced on Tuesday, 16th of
May, 2017 in company of my principal officers to Badagry and Yekemeh Stations.
“ The tour extended to the paramount
ruler of Badagry, Oba Akran of Badagry, as well as the Baale of Pashi, the head
of Pashi community.“ Both monarchs received us warmly and I expressed my
gratitude to them for their fatherly love and care for the officers,’’ he told
NAN.Kebbi said that the task of nation building was a call to service, and
therefore implored smugglers to change their business to legitimate ones.According
to him, there will be no hiding place for them any longer. (NAN)
https://nationalaccordnewspaper.com/customs-impound-941-bags-rice/
Domesticated rice dated back 9,400
years in China
May 30, 2017 by Bob Yirka
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers
affiliated with several institutions in China has dated rice material excavated
from a dig site in South China's Zhejiang province back to approximately 9,400
years ago. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, the group describes where they
found the evidence of early rice, their testing and dating techniques, and what
they found.
In this new effort, the researchers worked at a dig site near the
Yangtze River called Shangshan—prior work there had uncovered some ancient
pottery artifacts. The team found numerous samples of phytoliths, which are
tiny bits of silica that some plants fashion to protect themselves against
pests. Rice plants create fan-shaped phytoliths—they are made of silica, and
thus do not digest, burn or decay over time.
Specific patterns on the surface of
the phytoliths offer evidence of the history of rice as it evolved from wild
rice to today's domesticated rice.To date the phytoliths, the researchers
collected enough samples from soil in areas where they found the ancient pottery shards and then sifted, cleaned and heated them to create a powder
which could be carbon dated. Such testing showed the phytoliths to be
approximately 9,400 years old.
The team also studied the
phytoliths under a microscope to note the patterns on their surfaces, which
they report is neither like wild ricenor modern domesticated rice—instead, it was
from a time period somewhere between the two. To add more credence to their
discovery, the researchers also carbon dated other materials in the same area
and depth, including seeds and charcoal, and found them to be roughly the same
age.
The work by the team offers more evidence to bolster prior claims
that Shangshan was one of the first places to cultivate rice, if not the first
outright. More information: "Dating rice remains through
phytolith carbon-14 study reveals domestication at the beginning of the
Holocene," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1704304114
Abstract
Phytolith remains of rice (Oryza sativa L.) recovered from the Shangshan site in the Lower Yangtze of China have previously been recognized as the earliest examples of rice cultivation. However, because of the poor preservation of macroplant fossils, many radiocarbon dates were derived from undifferentiated organic materials in pottery sherds. These materials remain a source of debate because of potential contamination by old carbon. Direct dating of the rice remains might serve to clarify their age. Here, we first validate the reliability of phytolith dating in the study region through a comparison with dates obtained from other material from the same layer or context. Our phytolith data indicate that rice remains retrieved from early stages of the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites have ages of approximately 9,400 and 9,000 calibrated years before the present, respectively. The morphology of rice bulliform phytoliths indicates they are closer to modern domesticated species than to wild species, suggesting that rice domestication may have begun at Shangshan during the beginning of the Holocene.
Phytolith remains of rice (Oryza sativa L.) recovered from the Shangshan site in the Lower Yangtze of China have previously been recognized as the earliest examples of rice cultivation. However, because of the poor preservation of macroplant fossils, many radiocarbon dates were derived from undifferentiated organic materials in pottery sherds. These materials remain a source of debate because of potential contamination by old carbon. Direct dating of the rice remains might serve to clarify their age. Here, we first validate the reliability of phytolith dating in the study region through a comparison with dates obtained from other material from the same layer or context. Our phytolith data indicate that rice remains retrieved from early stages of the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites have ages of approximately 9,400 and 9,000 calibrated years before the present, respectively. The morphology of rice bulliform phytoliths indicates they are closer to modern domesticated species than to wild species, suggesting that rice domestication may have begun at Shangshan during the beginning of the Holocene.
https://phys.org/news/2017-05-domesticated-rice-dated-years-china.html#jCp
Phase transitions of rice farmers may offer insight into managing
natural resources
May 30, 2017 by Lisa Zyga feature
(Phys.org)—The Balinese subak is a
self-organized agrarian society on the island of Bali in Indonesia, whose
members must share a limited amount of water for irrigation and rice
production. Some of the farmers share the water fairly, and some don't. As in
many societies, the members of the Balinese subak are segregated into different
communities.
The researchers, H. S. Sugiarto et al., from Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore, the National University of Singapore, and other
institutions, have published their results in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.
In their study, the researchers developed a model of social
cooperation in self-organized societies that lack central governance, in which
individuals are free to choose whether to abide by the rules or not. Their
model shows that, as a shared resource becomes more abundant, more individuals
may shift from being cooperators (who follow the rules) to being defectors (who
violate the rules). At some point, the resource becomes so abundant that all
individuals become defectors and social cooperation vanishes.
Then the researchers looked at the same scenario, but this time
they allowed the society to self-segregate into smaller communities. They found
that the downside of the segregation is that it increases the social disharmony
throughout the society as a whole. The upside, however, is that the social
disharmony within each community becomes very low. In some communities,
individuals are more likely to keep cooperating with each other—using the
shared resource fairly—compared to the situation without segregation. These
results were very similar to what the researchers observed in the segregated
society of the Balinese subak.
As the researchers explained, the results can be understood in
terms of phase transitions.
While phase transitions are common in many areas of physics, their role in
complex systems, such as human societies, is a newer area of research. In the
current study, the shift from cooperators to defectors in a society without
segregation as the resource becomes more abundant represents an abrupt phase
transition. The researchers explain that segregation "softens" this
transition by replacing it with multiple intermediate phases, which arise
because some communities are full of cooperators while others are full of
defectors.
"The greatest significance of our work is in the revelation
that stable phases of social and ecological regimes do exist in real-world
systems," coauthor Lock Yue Chew, an associate professor at Nanyang
Technological University, told Phys.org. "Our work has also developed mechanistic insights that
address a vital question in social science through a more fine-grained and
realistic application of ideas from physics."
In the future, the researchers plan to investigate how these
results can help improve cooperative behavior in the real world, in order to
better manage natural resources.
"Our results are relevant to applications where the induction
of cooperative social behavior is the primary approach to managing the
sustainable use of limited natural resources in the context of coupled
human-natural systems," Chew said. "Potential systems of interest
include the forest system, fisheries system, and many others, in addition to
the rice production system of Bali in our paper."
Building on these results, in an upcoming paper the researchers
report on how stress from pest infestation can affect rice growth, and how it
can lead to an optimality in the farmers' payoff. This work is scheduled to
appear in the June 2017 issue of PNAS.
More information: H. S. Sugiarto et al. "Social
Cooperation and Disharmony in Communities Mediated through Common Pool Resource
Exploitation." Physical Review Letters. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.208301
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-05-phase-transitions-rice-farmers-insight.html#jCp https://phys.org/news/2017-05-phase-transitions-rice-farmers-insight.html
Iraq Makes First Purchase of U.S. Rice Under the U.S.-Iraq
Memorandum of Understanding
By Michael Klein
ARLINGTON, VA -- With help from a last minute,
full-court press by USA Rice involving Congress, the U.S. Embassy, and
high-level State Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
officials, Iraq made its first-ever purchase of U.S. rice under the U.S. - Iraq
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This
sale will help U.S. rice exporters gain a foothold in the Iraqi market, and
heightens prospects for new sales in the future.
Iraq's precedent-setting purchase of
30,000 MT of U.S. long grain milled rice comes after more than 16 months
without any Iraqi purchases of U.S. rice.
"We are very pleased to see that Iraq has stepped up to meet its
commitment to purchase U.S. rice under this agreement," said USA Rice
President & CEO Betsy Ward.
"This could not have come at a better time for the U.S. rice
industry, and we are grateful for the cooperation of the Iraqi Grain Board
(IGB) and the Ministry of Trade (MOT), and are confident that this transaction
will mean more Iraqi purchases of U.S. rice in the near future."
The 30,000 MT sale for July delivery
was awarded to ADM, and comes almost a full year since the MOU was negotiated
between the MOT and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "The USA Rice team, including our local
office in Iraq, worked hand-in-glove with Congress, the State Department, and
USDA over the last year to keep the pressure on, ensuring that Iraq follows
through on its commitment to purchase competitively-priced U.S. grown rice
under this MOU," said Hugh Maginnis, USA Rice vice president
international. "We appreciate the
teamwork and persistence of so many people who contributed to this successful
sale. This gives our rice farmers a very
welcome shot in the arm."
Rice Was First Grown At Least 9,400
Years Ago
Archaeologists have unearthed bits of rice from when it was first
domesticated in China.
MAY 29, 2017
Around 10,000 years ago, as the
Pleistocene gave way to our current geological epoch, a group of hunter-gathers
near China’s Yangtze River began changing their way of life. They started to
grow rice.Remarkably, archaeologists have now unearthed
bits of this rice at a
site called Shangshan. The grains, of course, were eaten long ago and the plant
stalks have long been rotten, but one tiny part of rice remains even thousands
of years later: phytoliths, or hard, microscopic pieces of silica made by plant
cells for self-defense. Rice leaves have fan-shaped phytoliths that don't burn,
digest, or decompose. It’s specific patterns on these phytoliths that suggest
people in Shangshan were not just gathering rice, but actually cultivating it
10,000 years ago—a transition that would profoundly shift the human diet to the
point where half of the world relies on the staple crop today.
Chinese archaeologists began
excavating Shangshan in the early 2000s. They quickly found evidence of a
rice-dependent diet: rice husks buried in pottery shards and stone tools that
looked like they were used for milling. But far more abundant than artifacts
are phytoliths, which are ubiquitous, if microscopic, in soil. Less than a tenth
of an ounce of soil might yield thousands of phytoliths, says Dolores
Piperno, a phytolith expert at the Smithsonian who was not involved
in the study.
