Rice
export surges 74.2 percent in January
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2018 -
9:10:00
Hanoi (VNA) –
An estimated 524,000 tonnes of rice was exported in January, bringing home 249
million USD, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The figures represented rises of 56.5 percent in volume and 74.2 percent in value as compared with the same month in 2017.
A sudden rise in rice export price from 390-395 USD per tonne to 420-430 USD per tonne was attributed to the growing export value of rice in the month.
Rice exporters said the price hike is due to prospects of deals with the Philippines and Indonesia as the two Southeast Asian countries, which are Vietnam’s traditional rice importers, have plans to import a large volume of rice.
The Ministry of Trade of Indonesia has recently approved the import of 500,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand and Vietnam to fix the insufficient rice supply and price hike in the domestic market. The Indonesia Logistics Bureau (BULOG) said that the country only had 950,000 tonnes in stockpile.
Earlier, the National Food Authority of the Philippines also agreed to import 250,000 tonnes of rice and planned to open rice purchase bidding right in January. The country’s rice stock is enough for use in only three days while the minimum amount must satisfy demand for 15 days.
The country shipped abroad about 5.89 million tonnes of rice worth 2.66 billion USD in 2017, a year-on-year increases of 22.4 percent in quality and 23.2 percent in value, the ministry said.
Vietnamese rice is now exported to over 130 markets. However, experts are still calling for quality to be improved, to enhance competitiveness.
In October, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced its rice export strategy for the 2017 to 2020 period, which aims to decrease export volume but increase value.
Accordingly, the country’s average rice export volume was set at 4.5 to 5 million tonnes per year to 2020, at an average value of 2.2 to 2.3 billion USD.
Between 2021 and 2030, Vietnam plans to export 4 million tonnes per year on average, worth around 2.3 USD to 2.5 billion USD. -VNA
The figures represented rises of 56.5 percent in volume and 74.2 percent in value as compared with the same month in 2017.
A sudden rise in rice export price from 390-395 USD per tonne to 420-430 USD per tonne was attributed to the growing export value of rice in the month.
Rice exporters said the price hike is due to prospects of deals with the Philippines and Indonesia as the two Southeast Asian countries, which are Vietnam’s traditional rice importers, have plans to import a large volume of rice.
The Ministry of Trade of Indonesia has recently approved the import of 500,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand and Vietnam to fix the insufficient rice supply and price hike in the domestic market. The Indonesia Logistics Bureau (BULOG) said that the country only had 950,000 tonnes in stockpile.
Earlier, the National Food Authority of the Philippines also agreed to import 250,000 tonnes of rice and planned to open rice purchase bidding right in January. The country’s rice stock is enough for use in only three days while the minimum amount must satisfy demand for 15 days.
The country shipped abroad about 5.89 million tonnes of rice worth 2.66 billion USD in 2017, a year-on-year increases of 22.4 percent in quality and 23.2 percent in value, the ministry said.
Vietnamese rice is now exported to over 130 markets. However, experts are still calling for quality to be improved, to enhance competitiveness.
In October, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced its rice export strategy for the 2017 to 2020 period, which aims to decrease export volume but increase value.
Accordingly, the country’s average rice export volume was set at 4.5 to 5 million tonnes per year to 2020, at an average value of 2.2 to 2.3 billion USD.
Between 2021 and 2030, Vietnam plans to export 4 million tonnes per year on average, worth around 2.3 USD to 2.5 billion USD. -VNA
HOMEF raises concern over companies allegedly importing GMO foods
ON FEBRUARY 1, 20189:49 PMI
N NEWSCOMMENTS By Gabriel Ewepu ABUJA-
THE Health for Mother Health Foundation, HOMEF, has raised concern
over some companies allegedly importing Genetically Modified Organisms, GMO,
foods into the country. The concern was raised by the Director, HOMEF, Nnimmo
Bassey, while speaking on the necessity of reviewing the National Biosafety
Act, for protection of the lives of Nigerians and the agriculture sector.
Bassey who expressed dismay over the manner in which the illegally and
unauthorized importation of genetically modified maize worth about $9.8 million
that was impounded at Lagos sea ports from Argentina, the country of origin was
handled. According to him barely a week after the NBMA announced that together
with the Nigerian Customs Service they would ensure the repatriation of the
illegal GM maize, the same NBMA issued a public advertisement announcing the
application for importation of GM maize by WACOT Ltd, described it as mere
noise and hope dashing.
He also alleged that the
purported application of WACOT Ltd has since been approved by NBMA and the
applicant may have received the green light to take delivery of the impounded
illegal import and to further import genetically modified maize at will into
Nigeria over the next three years. He said: “One of the cases with grave
implications for biosafety administration in Nigeria is the one that hit
headline news in October 2017 that unauthorised genetically modified maize
worth about $9.8 million had been impounded at Lagos sea ports. “Nigerians were
elated by the vigilance of the regulatory agency and officers of the Nigerian
Customs Service to intercept the illegal imports by WACOT Ltd – a firm that is
best known for dealing in cotton and rice. “Another company implicated in the
illegal importation of the GM maize is the Olam Group, a conglomerate that
deals mostly in rice, including the widely sold Mama’s Pride brand.
” However, he called on the National Biosafety Management Agency,
NBMA, to step up and protect the lives of the people based on their mandate, as
there have been biosafety infringements especially by some companies importing
GM foods into the country. According to the HOMEF boss, the Director General,
NBMA, stated at a press conference held in Abuja on September 13, 2017 that the
Agency got notice of the importation through an intelligence report and had set
in motion necessary machineries to track the importers and bring them to book.
He also quoted that according to the NBMA Act 2015, ‘Any person, institution or
body who wishes to import, export, transit or otherwise carry out a contained
field trial, multi-locational trial or commercial release of genetically modified
organism shall apply to the Director General of the Agency not less than 270
days to the date of import, export, transit or the commencement of such
activity’.
“Barely a week after the NBMA announced that together with the
Nigerian Customs Service they would ensure the repatriation of the illegal GM
maize, the same NBMA issued a public advertisement announcing the application
for importation of GM maize by WACOT Ltd. “Some of us have on many occasions
called for a radical review of the NBMA Act 2015. We have also made a
clause-by-clause analysis of the Act and suggested needed changes”, he stated.
More rice, please: 13 rice genomes reveal ways to keep up with
ever-growing population
February 1,
2018, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Top: Geographic distribution of 13 rice varieties
compared in the new study by Ware and colleagues. Dashed red lin shows limits
of rice cultivation. Bottom: A tree showing the evolutionary relationship of 13
rice varieties compared in the …more
Billions of people around the world
rely on rice as a mainstay of their diet. The grain provides about 20 percent
of the calories consumed by humans worldwide. Rice production is critical for
global food security, and demand will only grow as the world's population
expands by an estimated 2-3 billion by 2050. To keep up, farmers will need new
strains of rice that can be grown both efficiently and sustainably, in new
environments and in a changing climate.
A vast new genetic resource created
by a team led by Doreen Ware, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL)
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will accelerate efforts to develop
new rice varieties,
guiding breeders to the genes plants use to resist pests, thrive in
inhospitable environments, and produce abundant amounts of grain.
In research led by Dr. Rod Wing, a
plant scientist at the University of Arizona, and Dr. Joshua Stein, manager of
scientific informatics at CSHL, an international consortium of scientists
sequenced the genomes of seven wild species of rice and two domesticated
cultivars: a drought-tolerant variety called Nagina 22, and IR8, so-called
"miracle rice," a high-yield variety developed in 1967 and pivotal in
the Green Revolution that helped relieve famine in Asia.
Comparing these nine new rice
genome sequences to four previously available wild rice genomes, the team has
generated a telling new view into the plant's 15-million-year evolutionary
history.
Because the newly created genetic
resource is so broad, representing distantly related rice species that have
evolved in habitats throughout Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia, it
enables researchers to zero-in on valuable sequences that have been preserved
as the plants adapted to different growing conditions. "We're able to look
at these wild species, which have been exposed to different diseases or other
challenges. In some cases, these plants have been able to adapt to those
challenges and we can see footprints of that in the genome,"
explains Ware, a CSHL Adjunct Associate Professor.
In a report published January 22,
2018 as part of a cover story in Nature Genetics, the team
highlights one set of valuable tools uncovered in their analysis: thousands of
genes that appear to encode disease resistance. Harnessing these genes to
develop crops that are better equipped to resist infection by fungi, bacteria,
and other pathogens could reduce the need for pesticides and help ensure more
reliable rice harvests around the world.
Stein says the information embedded
in the newly available genomes will accelerate the development of
improved rice strainsthrough traditional breeding
practices as well as with the aid of new genetic technologies. The team's
comparative analysis also offers scientists new clues into the molecular
mechanisms that drive the evolution of new traits, of potential value to
breeders.
More information: Joshua C. Stein et al. Genomes of 13 domesticated and wild
rice relatives highlight genetic conservation, turnover and innovation across
the genus Oryza, Nature Genetics (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-018-0040-0
https://phys.org/news/2018-02-rice-genomes-reveal-ways-ever-growing.html
Fish in the Fields May Reduce Methane
Emissions
The Resource
Renewal Institute (RRI) is moving into the second phase of its
Fish in the Fields control study evaluating the introduction of fish in rice
fields with a goal of reducing methane emissions from rice production.
The institute has been working on strategies to address environmental issues
for over 30 years.
Six years of research have shown
that fallow rice fields allow for the rapid growth of small, freshwater forage
fish. Initial results indicate that modernizing the longstanding and
simple practice of raising fish in rice fields can result in significant
benefits on a global scale. Along with reducing overall methane
emissions, the practice would also support more sustainable and profitable
agricultural practices, along with providing another source of protein for an
expanding population.
On February 1, a group of
scientists from the University of Montana and UC Davis introduced Golden Shiner
minnows into trial rice field ponds near Marysville. The team will be
measuring what kind of effect the small fish have on nutrient levels as well as
methane emissions in the fields. Samples that were taken from flooded
rice fields over the past two months verify an abundance of zooplankton, a
significant source of protein for fish.
The Fish in the Fields research
could prove to be extremely valuable as California continues to focus on and
regulate methane emissions. RRI believes that adopting the methods being
tested could potentially reduce methane emissions from rice by 90
percent. For California growers, employing the program could provide a
secondary crop and income with minor costs for implementation.
Rice is a staple in the diet of
over half of the global population, which continues to grow. According to
RRI, methane emissions from rice cultivation around the world is responsible
for nearly two percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers with RRI
are hopeful that the Fish in the Fields production methods will be adopted on a
global scale.
Debate
on rice strategy continues
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:28 AM February 02,
2018
(Conclusion)
Contrary to the administration’s action
plan and recommendations from economists, industry group Samahang Industriya ng
Agrikultura (Sinag) wants the country to reach its decade-old dream of rice
self-sufficiency and stop relying on imports.
The group maintained that if the government
would subsidize rice farmers in the production to marketing stage, raise the
National Food Authority’s (NFA) farmgate support price for palay and
incentivize local rice millers to modernize operations, producing our own
staple would be more beneficial for the country in the long run.
It cited data from the latest report of the
United States Department of Agriculture where it noted that less than 10
percent of global rice production was tradeable, with 66 percent already
allotted to China.
“Shortage may happen with limited supply of
rice going around the market,” the group said. “The greatest tragedy of our
times is the destruction of our capacity to produce our own staples.”
Food security
But for former Economic Planning Secretary
Cielito Habito, food security does not equate to rice self-sufficiency.
“The most unfortunate irony of all is that
under current circumstances, the more we pursue 100-percent rice
self-sufficiency, the more we make most Filipinos food-insecure. Food security
and food self-sufficiency are two different things. Food security denotes
reliable access to adequate, affordable, safe and nutritious food. Our
self-sufficiency policy has had the perhaps unwitting effect of making rice
much more expensive to Filipino consumers than it needs to be, with the
Filipino poor suffering the most,” he said.
Habito emphasized the need for the present
administration to help farmers diversify their produce accordingly by choosing
crops that are more suitable to their lands, and stop chasing the elusive goal
of rice self-sufficiency, which, over the years, has been proven to be
unsuccessful despite numerous government interventions.
Historically, rice has taken the lion’s
share of the agriculture budget. For 2018, the agency will continue advocating
the use of hybrid rice seeds, and loan and insurance programs are expected to
cater mostly to rice crops.
“Our marginal rice farmers should be
assisted to shift to other more remunerative crops suitable for their lands.
Meanwhile, utmost productivity support must be given to our rice lands that are
inherently competitive in rice, including in Central Luzon and Western
Visayas,” said Habito.
Economist and Ateneo professor Leonardo
Lanzona Jr. agreed, emphasizing that the country must now move away from
prioritizing the production of the staple.
“It would be better to use funds that we
have for producing high-value crops or improving technology. Ever if we move
some of the rice producers to planting high-value crops, our growth would
continue to increase. But, of course, we need to have some agricultural
development program,” he said.
“Lifting the QR will benefit the public in
general, but there should be a social protection for farmers. Subsidize to a
limited extent, but what is more important is to give them incentives to look
for other options,” he added.
Lanzona said that the shift to other crops
from rice would not mean neglecting the agriculture sector. For him, the farm
sector must be developed toward a direction where the Philippines might have a
comparative advantage against other countries. “Right now, we don’t have a comparative
advantage on rice anymore.”
Both economists said they believed that
food security should be best pursued at the regional level, and this is where
Asean plays a crucial role.
“Asean as a region is not only
self-sufficient in rice, it produces a surplus and can continue doing so for a
time,” Habito said. “Food security can be achieved through a stronger regional
buffer stock where the rice-surplus countries can fill the deficits of the
rest. That way, rice could be cheaper for all, and Asean peoples, particularly
in the rice-deficit countries, would generally be much more food-secure. This
is what the Asean Economic Community should be about.”
At present, a food security scheme has been
established among members of Asean along with China, Japan and Korea in 2016,
creating an emergency rice reserve for the region called APTERR or Asean Plus
Three Emergency Rice Reserve.
The program provides an exclusive market
for the countries to buy rice from in case of natural calamities or
emergencies, without distorting the international rice market.
Currently, the total earmarked emergency
rice reserve pledged by APTERR member-countries is placed at 787,000 MT.
According to the NFA, the Philippines has been benefiting from APTERR since
2010. In the wake of Typhoons Ondoy and Juan and the occurrence of La Niña and
flash floods in the country, Thailand donated 520 MT of rice to the country
through APTERR.
“Since 2012, at least 7,200 MT of rice had
been donated through the program to the Philippines for the victims of Typhoons
Pablo, Yolanda and Nona,” the NFA said.
With the nearing influx of imported rice,
policymakers must make sure that the country’s rice requirement is met by all
means. At the same time, local farmers should be well-equipped to survive the
evolving market.
Right now, the challenge is to make sure
that rice farmers can compete at a price 35-percent higher than imported rice,
and give consumers the option to avail themselves of the staple at a more
affordable price.
Don't miss out on the latest news and information.
https://business.inquirer.net/245204/debate-rice-strategy-continues
Madagascar
Supply and Market Outlook, January 2018
REPORT
· Between October and November
2017, a series of market assessments were conducted across Southern Africa by
FEWS NET, in collaboration with key national and international partners. The
findings from the assessment in Madagascar are key inputs to this report, which
provides an update to the May 2017 Supply and Market Outlook report.
· Staple food production in
Madagascar was below average in 2017. This was due to a combination of factors
including Cyclone Enawo in the northeastern parts of the country, atypical
dryness in many northern regions, which reduced crop yields, and relatively
high cash crop prices (vanilla), which affected area planted. Harvests in
southern Madagascar, were near average this year, following consecutive years
of drought. At the national level, rice and maize harvests were each
approximately 20 percent below 2016 levels and 11 to 21 percent below the
five-year average. Cassava harvest saw a modest recovery compared to 2016 but
remained similarly below-average.
· Rice imports continued to play an
important role in staple food supply in 2017. In response to above-average
domestic supply gaps, more than 400,000 metric tons (MT) of rice were imported
during the first ten months of 2017, which is 78 percent above-average and
double the amount imported in 2016.
· Staple food and cash crop prices
are above-average. In main cities like Antananarivo, Toamasina and Antsirabe,
local and imported rice prices have been particularly high since October 2017
peaking over 2,000 Ariary (MGA) per kilogram. Average local harvest and the
availability of imports contribute to relatively stable prices in structurally
deficit southern Madagascar.
· Forecasts predict weather for a
more favorable harvest in MY 2017/18 than MY 2016/17. The intensity of the
cyclone season, which began in November, will likely have a strong impact on
food security outcomes and should continue to be monitored closely.
https://reliefweb.int/report/madagascar/madagascar-supply-and-market-outlook-january-2018
Dependence
on foreign farm goods spinning out of control
- , Kathmandu
Vegetable imports have ballooned despite growing commercial
farming. During the first half of the fiscal year, Nepal bought Rs11.36 billion
worth of foreign veggies
Feb 2, 2018-Imports of agricultural products jumped 16.96 percent
to Rs105.22 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year 2017-18,
widening the country’s trade deficit and raising concerns that dependence on
foreign farm goods was spinning out of control.
According to the Department of Customs, imports of agricultural
products during the six-month period, mid-July 2017 to mid-January 2018, almost
equalled annual imports six years ago. In 2009-10, the agro import bill
totalled Rs44.43 billion.
Annual imports swelled to Rs76.05 billion in 2011-12, and to
Rs99.35 billion in 2012-13. Nepal bought foreign farm products worth Rs196
billion in the last fiscal year, up 11.36 percent from the previous year.
According to the statistics, cereal topped the list of agro
imports followed by edible oil, vegetables, animal fodder and nuts and fruits.
The cereal import bill amounted to Rs22.04 billion in the first
six months of this fiscal year, up 16.09 percent year-on-year.
Among cereal imports, paddy and rice imports came to Rs13.65
billion. Nepal imported 257,009 tonnes of rice worth Rs10.86 billion from India
alone in the first half of 2017-18. Likewise, the country imported 224,511
tonnes of maize worth Rs5.61 billion from India.
Agro experts say that Nepal started importing cereals seven to
eight years ago, and now imports have risen to alarming levels.
Agro expert and scientist Bhola Man Singh Basnet said that
despite being a food surplus country for the last five years, cereal imports
had been growing largely due to an expanding middle-income population with a
preference for quality rice.
“Basmati rice is imported to feed the people in Kathmandu in
particular,”
he said. Since Nepal doesn’t grow such fine rice in sufficient
quantities, imports have been growing every year, he added.
Rice imports from India amounted to 257,009 tonnes valued at
Rs10.86 billion. “This shows that Nepal has been importing fine rice,” said
Basnet.
Experts point to a direct link between remittance and food
habits in Nepal. “Nepalis have been earning more from the last couple of years,
and demand for basmati rice has grown accordingly.” Meanwhile, maize imports
have been rising due to growing demand for animal and poultry fodder.
According to the figures, the edible oil import bill jumped 20
percent to Rs15.20 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year.
Vegetable imports have ballooned despite growing commercial farming. During the
first half of the fiscal year, Nepal bought Rs11.36 billion worth of foreign
veggies.
Meanwhile, an expanding poultry industry has boosted imports of
animal fodder. Nepal imported animal fodder worth Rs7.91 billion in the first
six months, up 5.99 percent year-on-year.
Imports of chemical fertilisers recorded the strongest growth.
The country imported chemical fertilisers worth Rs6.52 billion in the first
half of this fiscal, a whopping 63 percent growth.
Officials at the Ministry of Agricultural Development said that
they had recorded chemical fertiliser imports in terms of value this year due a
fall in global prices. However, the amount of imports has remained almost the
same.
Published: 02-02-2018 08:37
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-02-02/dependence-on-foreign-farm-goods-spinning-out-of-control.html
Flouting Promise:
Local Importers Marginalized - Pres. Weah Forges Partnership With Foreign Rice
Importers
Monrovia – President George Manneh Weah has begun a dangerous game
with the country’s most political commodity – rice.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, ldodoo@frontpageafricaonline.com
Rice and its demand have left
indelible marks on the Liberian body politic. Some political scientists say
events of the past may come back hunting the future if similar missteps occur.
In 1979, then President William
R. Tolbert increased the price of a bag of rice from $22 to $30 triggering a
riot in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.
The following year, Tolbert was
executed in a coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe.
Today, Liberians still pine for
the days of warlord-turned President Charles Taylor, when a 50kg bag of rice
sold for US$22 a bag - about half the price it sells today (though double its
value on the world market).
Fast track to 2018, President
George Manneh Weah’s administration now faces a compounded task of reducing the
price of rice in an economy massively dominated by foreigners.
On Thursday, February 1st, Mr.
Weah met with the association of rice importers, also dominated by foreign
investors.
The purpose of the meeting,
according to an Executive Mansion release, was to step up efforts to ensure the
price of the nation’s staple food is substantially reduced and made affordable
for ordinary Liberians.
President Weah, according to the
Executive Mansion release, said his government was fully prepared to work with
rice importers in every way possible to reduce the price of rice.
President Weah said it was intolerable
that in the midst of acute hardship and mass unemployment the price of nation’s
staple continues to increase.
“I am ready to work with you and
resolve all the issues that underpin the galloping price of rice so that our
people will afford to buy.”
“If government-imposed tax is an
issue, you can rest assure that my government is more than ready to grant
reasonable adjustments in the tax regime to make the reduction of rice price
possible,” the President said.
But the President’s move is not
all about ensuring affordability of rice, as FrontPageAfrica has gathered that
the move is also part of a payback plan to some major importers including
George Nehme, CEO of Supplying West Africa Trader Inc. (SWAT) and the Harbel
Supermarket Corporation.
Multiple sources have confirmed
to FrontPageAfrica that the businessman was a key financier of President Weah’s
election campaign that led to his massive victory.
Political pundits and some local
importers wanting anonymity are querying the President’s meeting with the giant
importers when they had expected him to be considering empowering Liberians to
match up the foreigners in the import of major commodities.
This, in their view, runs
contrary to his pledge in his inaugural address where he said he would ensure that
Liberians would no longer be spectators in their own economy.
Pres. Weah said in the inaugural
speech: “We will do all that is within our power to provide an environment that
will be conducive for the conduct of honest and transparent business. We will
remove unnecessary regulatory constraints that tend to impede the establishment
and operation of business in a profitable and predictable manner.”
“As we open our doors to
all foreign direct investments, we will not permit Liberian-owned businesses to
be marginalized. We cannot remain spectators in our own economy. My government
will prioritize the interests of Liberian-owned businesses and offer programs
to help them become more competitive and offer services that international
investors seek as partners.”
But the honest and transparent
business spoken of by the President is not what is currently being witnessed in
the rice import sector.
For example, the quality of rice
supplied by Mr. Nehme’s SWAT company supplies is 50% rice and 5% kernel.
The company has stood several
allegations of importing very low grade.
Last year, SWAT faced several
allegations ranging from importing a consignment of contaminated Bella Luna
parboiled long grain rice. Another brand of the rice imported by SWAT – BB Rice
– was widely believed by the public to be synthetic rice (plastic rice).
However, a test conducted by the
National Standards Laboratory proved that BB Rice is indeed real rice, but very
poor in quality.
Currently, there are four
companies licensed to import rice by the vessel load.
They account for about 95% of all
rice imports (SWAT and UCI each bring in over 100,000 metric tons (MT) per year
and the third company, Fouta Corporation, does about 70,000 MT.
K&K is the fourth licensed
importer and does only about two vessels (40,000 MT) per year. Small traders,
who import rice in 20- foot ocean containers, apparently have different
licensing requirements.
“What we had expected of
the President isn’t to continue strengthening these powerful importers. What we
expected from him is to bring all the local importers together and find out our
challenges in maximizing our imports. Foreigners must not feed our people, we
must,” said one local importer.
The Lebanese national, Nehme,
almost has monopoly over the rice market in Liberia and has been solidifying
ties with President Weah in an effort to expand his businesses in Liberia, this
paper has gathered.
https://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/news/6809-flouting-promise-local-importers-marginalized-pres-weah-forges-partnership-with-foreign-rice-importers
Why approved Chinese-developed GMO
rice that boosts yields, reduces pesticide use not available to country's
farmers, consumers
Clement et al. | Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews |
February 1, 2018
In 2009, two insect-resistant
genetically modified rice lines (Huahui-1 and Bt-Shanyou -63) were granted
biosafety certificates by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in China after
nearly 10 years of rigorous and strict biosafety assessments. Most farmers
welcomed the planting of the transgenic rice due to their potential to reduce
pesticide spraying by 50-60%, increase yield by 60-65% and improve the health
of farmers. [However,] these two lines have yet [to be] commercialized ...
largely because of low public acceptance. ... This has created a dilemma.
On the one hand, the government has invested substantial amounts of funding in
GM crop development, but on the other hand, the end users or consumers are not
prepared to accept GM products due to safety reasons.
Public worries still exist simply
because the protocols of the technology remains too technical to be understood.
Consumers often do not have access to appropriate channels providing
science-based and easy-to-understand information. Consequently, they are misled
by activists from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which utilizes the
social media reports to publicize the misconception of GM crops. The outreach
of scientists in educating the public with essential knowledge of transgenic
biotechnology, its benefits derived and biosafety issues is crucially needed in
order to bring notable impact to the public’s acceptance of GM crops.
Bangladesh to scrap rice imports from Thailand
Reuters . Dhaka | Update: 09:31, Feb 02, 2018
Bangladesh will scrap a plan to import 150,000 tonnes of rice from
Thailand, agreed at $465 a tonne in October, head of the state grains buyer
said on Thursday.“They have been taking too much time to finalise the deal.
There is no point to wait for them when we are getting supplies from other
sources, including India, at cheaper rates,” Badrul Hasan, the director general
of Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food, told Reuters.
Traditionally the world’s fourth-biggest rice producer, Bangladesh
emerged as a major importer of the grain in 2017 after floods damaged crops and
sent domestic prices to record highs.
USA Rice Participates in Cancer Prevention Month
Throughout the month, USA Rice will share information across social media platforms using the hashtag #cancerprevention with the hope of engaging and empowering Americans to take daily lifestyle steps to lower cancer risks. USA Rice joins thirty-six other organizational partners in support of AICR's initiative.
"We support every aspect of this awareness campaign," said Michael Klein, USA Rice vice president of marketing and communications. "Research shows that rice and whole grain consumption can play a critical role in maintaining a healthy weight and diet, both of which help to decrease individuals' cancer risks. USA Rice's research and information combined with all of the campaign partners' resources will make this a truly impactful and informative campaign."
"We are so pleased to have USA Rice join us as a partner in this effort," said Deirdre McGinley-Gieser, AICR senior vice president of programs and strategic. "Nutrition and food based partners add another dimension to this campaign, serving as both a resource of information to our network and also increasing the distribution of AICR prevention messaging."
For more information about the Cancer Prevention Month awareness campaign and to view all of the AICR campaign partners, visit www.aicr.org/can-prevent/partners and be sure to use #cancerprevention for your relevant social media posts this month.
Pres.
Weah Meets Rice Importers - Targets Reduction in Price of Staple Food
Monrovia – President George Manneh
Weah has met in audience the importers of rice and stepped up efforts to ensure
the price of the nation’s staple food is substantially reduced and made
affordable for ordinary Liberians.
According
to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader made the comments when he
met with officials of the Association of Rice Importers today in the presence
of Commerce and Industry Minister Designate Prof. Wilson Tarpeh.
The
Liberian Chief Executive said his government was fully prepared to work with
rice importers in every way possible to reduce the price of rice, which is also
referred to as a political commodity.
President
Weah said it was intolerable that in the midst of acute hardship and mass
unemployment the price of rice continues to increase, adding: “I am ready to
work with you and resolve all the issues that underpin the galloping price of
rice so that our people will afford to buy.”
“If
government-imposed tax is an issue, you can rest assure that my government is
more than ready to grant reasonable adjustments in the tax regime to make the
reduction of rice price possible,” the President said.
The
President averred that the reduction of the prices of essential commodities is
inextricably integral to his administration’s pro-poor governance agenda.
Speaking
earlier, the rice importers told President Weah that they were willing to
dialogue with government to ensure that the price of rice is reduced.
https://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/news/6808-pres-weah-meets-rice-importers-targets-reduction-in-the-price-of-stable-food
Nigerian govt bans Customs from seizing rice
in markets
February 1, 2018
By
The Federal Government has asked
the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to stop raiding markets to seize imported
rice.
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi
Adeosun, made the disclosure yesterday in a chat with State House
correspondents after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
She disclosed that government has
approved N1.12 billion for the purchase of 50 operational “anti-rice smuggling”
vehicles to check the persistent smuggling of the commodity into the country”.
Her words: “We felt that it is
important we don’t want customs going to seize rice in the markets.
“Customs should actually act to
stop rice coming in at the border posts and customs indicated that they need
additional vehicles, additional resources as well as of course other more
information-driven strategies to stop it.”
Adeosun explained that the
procurement of the operational vehicles was also meant to stop customs
officials from invading markets to seize smuggled rice and harassing traders.
“The second approval was for the
purchase of 50 vehicles and they are going to be deployed for an anti-rice
smuggling task force that is being put together which customs will be leading,”
she added.
http://dailypost.ng/2018/02/01/nigerian-govt-bans-customs-seizing-rice-markets/
Hoarding: A catalyst
for the rice crisis
·
Published
at 12:34 AM February 02, 2018
Rice sacks have been stockpiled at a depotDhaka
Tribune
2017 was a year
of soaring rice prices. Millers and traders, who have been blamed for the price
anomaly, pointed fingers at natural disasters. The government could do little
to curb the hoarding situation. The Dhaka Tribune’s Bilkis Irani travelled across
three northern districts - Naogaon, Dinajpur, and Panchagarh to track the
change in price from paddy to rice. This is the second in a three-part series
on the crisis in rice prices
Farmers in the majority of the
northern districts faced crop loss during the recent Aman growing season
because of severe flooding and pest attacks.
But a Dhaka Tribune investigation
has also revealed that a significant portion of the last season’s Boro paddy
still remains with the speculators among the traders and millers.
There are two types of
speculation going on in the rice market. When there is a hint of short supply
in the market, comparatively wealthier farmers and traders can wait for about
15 days to one month for the price to rise a bit more.
On the other hand, big traders
and millers, who have huge storage capacities, can store either paddy or rice
for several months and create an artificial shortfall to reap the benefits.
Md Ashraful, a small paddy trader
at Boda upazila of Panchagarh, told Dhaka Tribune that sometimes he holds back
one to two truckloads of paddy for a couple of weeks. “About 200-250 sacks
(75kg sack) can be loaded on a truck. I store the paddy to sell it later at a
higher price.”
Mojibur Rahman, a paddy trader at
Mohabbatpur under Dinajpur Sadar upazila, mentioned that the small traders like
them cannot afford to hold back huge amounts of paddy or rice for long like the
millers.
Mojibur also noted that the
large-scale millers were able to store a huge quantity of paddy during the Boro
season. “They have stored the lot as paddy instead of processing it. It’s a
ploy they’re using to get around the laws. When the time will be ripe, they
will process the paddy and sell the rice.”
Meet the rice
syndicate
Small traders in Dinajpur,
Panchagarh and Naogaon were almost equivocal to claim that dishonest
wholesalers and millers have formed syndicates to hoard rice.
When there is space in the warehouse
of a miller, it is utilized by the miller’s cohorts who have surplus stocks of
paddy, according to the small traders.
This Dhaka Tribune correspondent
visited some of the auto rice mills based on the allegations. She had to pose
as a researcher because no journalist was welcome to visit the storage
facilities.
At the warehouse of Sarwar
Automatic Rice Mill in Mahmudpur area under Dinajpur Sadar, the stack of paddy
sacks were found to be above the declared capacity of the mill, which is 50
metric tons.
Admitting the fact, the mill’s
owner Sarwar Syed Sohel said he did not own any of the stock of paddy stored in
the warehouse at that time.
He claimed another rice miller
kept the paddy in his warehouse to be processed there within one month.
During a conversation, the
workers of Mousumi Auto Rice Mill at Mataji Road in Mohadebpur upazila, Naogoon
claiming to have worked on piles of paddy round the year.
“We work here on daily wage
basis. But we work here at a stretch, seven days a week. We can’t even afford
to take a day off in a month. We only get a vacation the month of Kartik
(between October-November) in the year. It is just before the Aman harvest,”
said a female worker, preferring not to be named.
“This year, the operation at the
mill was halted for eight to ten days more in the month of Ashwin (between
September-October) because of the floods. The supply of paddy during the rest
of the time has been normal. We don’t find a respite from the work,” she added.
However, an overseer of the mill
workers, who was present during the conversation, mentioned that the stock of
paddy existing in their warehouse was actually imported from Panchagarh.
The correspondent later visited
the rice producing areas of Panchagarh. The traders and millers there brushed
aside the claim of that their paddy was being transported to Naogaon.
“The price of paddy doesn’t vary
much from Panchagarh to Naogaon. It will not be cost-effective for the millers
to buy the rice from here. Besides, Panchagarh doesn’t produce much rice to be
exported to another district,” said Hafizur Rahman, a wholesaler in Sakhoa
Bazar of Boda upazila in Panchagarh.
Outrageous
capacity of the rice mills
While some rice millers and their
employees were very reluctant to give information about the rice stocks in
their mill, some of them, on the other hand, expressed quite candidly that they
have to store the paddy for months to keep the mills operational.
Anisur Rahmn, owner of Tasiron
Automatic Rice Mill at Rambhadrapur in Naogaon town, said the paddy production
in Aman season is generally much lower compared to that of the Boro season, and
the rice mills have to store paddy from the Boro harvest to keep the mills
operational all the year round.
Toufiqul Islam, owner of Mofiz
Uddin Auto Rice Mills in Raninagar upazila of the district, admitted that he
had a stock of Boro paddy collected about six months ago.
This correspondent found some
stock of Chinigura rice processed at Rajia Semi-Auto Rice Mill of the same
area. Chinigura is fragrant non-boiled rice variety that is cultivated only in
Aman season. During the visit, the paddy of that variety was yet to be harvested.
Workers at the mill said the rice
was collected in December of 2016. During the floods of August-September, the
rice stock was shifted in a godown elsewhere. But the same rice stock returned
to the mill to be processed further so that the rice gives a glow and looks
fresh.
Naogaon District Controller of
Food, Abdus Salam, however, argued that they had not found any undue rice stock
in the mills. “The millers can store paddy up to five times of the capacity for
30 days, and rice up to twice the capacity for 15 days.”
Does regulation
equal anarchy?
Officials of the Directorate of
Food in Dinajpur also informed that they were unable to trace undue stocks of
rice during their inspection. They also noted that there is a direction from
the high ups of the ministry not to create panic for the millers while the
directorate also lacks the manpower to carry out the inspection in all the
mills of the district.
Dr Asaduzzaman, professorial
fellow at state-run think tank Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies
(BIDS), observed that the rice milling sector has expanded in Bangladesh
without much regulation being put into effect.
“The number of large-capacity
automatic rice mills established over the last decade is superfluous. About 40%
of the capacity of those automatic rice mills remains unutilized. So a bulk of
the rice produced throughout the year ends up in the hands of the millers. They
do have the ability to influence the rice price,” Asaduzzaman said.
There are about 20,000 rice mills
across the country that process and market at least 60% of the paddy produced
in the country.
There were only 200
semi-automatic and automatic rice mills in the country in 2005. But the number
has now crossed 800, said AKM Khorshed Alam Khan, president of Bangladesh Auto
Rice Mills Owners’ Association.
When contacted over phone,
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said: “They (millers) tend to hoard. There
are dishonest quarters among them. Some of them cut the coarse rice and turn it
into Miniket (fine rice). They stock the rice. We are monitoring it as best as
we can. Would you advise me to send police to each and every mill and end up
creating anarchy?”
Debate
on rice strategy continues
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:28 AM February 02,
2018
(Conclusion)
Contrary to the administration’s action
plan and recommendations from economists, industry group Samahang Industriya ng
Agrikultura (Sinag) wants the country to reach its decade-old dream of rice
self-sufficiency and stop relying on imports.
The group maintained that if the government
would subsidize rice farmers in the production to marketing stage, raise the National
Food Authority’s (NFA) farmgate support price for palay and incentivize local
rice millers to modernize operations, producing our own staple would be more
beneficial for the country in the long run.
It cited data from the latest report of the
United States Department of Agriculture where it noted that less than 10
percent of global rice production was tradeable, with 66 percent already
allotted to China.
“Shortage may happen with limited supply of
rice going around the market,” the group said. “The greatest tragedy of our
times is the destruction of our capacity to produce our own staples.”
Food security
But for former Economic Planning Secretary
Cielito Habito, food security does not equate to rice self-sufficiency.
“The most unfortunate irony of all is that
under current circumstances, the more we pursue 100-percent rice
self-sufficiency, the more we make most Filipinos food-insecure. Food security
and food self-sufficiency are two different things. Food security denotes
reliable access to adequate, affordable, safe and nutritious food. Our
self-sufficiency policy has had the perhaps unwitting effect of making rice
much more expensive to Filipino consumers than it needs to be, with the
Filipino poor suffering the most,” he said.
Habito emphasized the need for the present
administration to help farmers diversify their produce accordingly by choosing
crops that are more suitable to their lands, and stop chasing the elusive goal
of rice self-sufficiency, which, over the years, has been proven to be unsuccessful
despite numerous government interventions.
Historically, rice has taken the lion’s
share of the agriculture budget. For 2018, the agency will continue advocating
the use of hybrid rice seeds, and loan and insurance programs are expected to
cater mostly to rice crops.
“Our marginal rice farmers should be
assisted to shift to other more remunerative crops suitable for their lands.
Meanwhile, utmost productivity support must be given to our rice lands that are
inherently competitive in rice, including in Central Luzon and Western
Visayas,” said Habito.
Economist and Ateneo professor Leonardo
Lanzona Jr. agreed, emphasizing that the country must now move away from
prioritizing the production of the staple.
“It would be better to use funds that we
have for producing high-value crops or improving technology. Ever if we move
some of the rice producers to planting high-value crops, our growth would
continue to increase. But, of course, we need to have some agricultural
development program,” he said.
“Lifting the QR will benefit the public in
general, but there should be a social protection for farmers. Subsidize to a
limited extent, but what is more important is to give them incentives to look
for other options,” he added.
Lanzona said that the shift to other crops
from rice would not mean neglecting the agriculture sector. For him, the farm
sector must be developed toward a direction where the Philippines might have a
comparative advantage against other countries. “Right now, we don’t have a
comparative advantage on rice anymore.”
Both economists said they believed that
food security should be best pursued at the regional level, and this is where
Asean plays a crucial role.
“Asean as a region is not only
self-sufficient in rice, it produces a surplus and can continue doing so for a
time,” Habito said. “Food security can be achieved through a stronger regional
buffer stock where the rice-surplus countries can fill the deficits of the
rest. That way, rice could be cheaper for all, and Asean peoples, particularly in
the rice-deficit countries, would generally be much more food-secure. This is
what the Asean Economic Community should be about.”
At present, a food security scheme has been
established among members of Asean along with China, Japan and Korea in 2016,
creating an emergency rice reserve for the region called APTERR or Asean Plus
Three Emergency Rice Reserve.
The program provides an exclusive market
for the countries to buy rice from in case of natural calamities or
emergencies, without distorting the international rice market.
Currently, the total earmarked emergency
rice reserve pledged by APTERR member-countries is placed at 787,000 MT.
According to the NFA, the Philippines has been benefiting from APTERR since
2010. In the wake of Typhoons Ondoy and Juan and the occurrence of La Niña and
flash floods in the country, Thailand donated 520 MT of rice to the country
through APTERR.
“Since 2012, at least 7,200 MT of rice had
been donated through the program to the Philippines for the victims of Typhoons
Pablo, Yolanda and Nona,” the NFA said.
With the nearing influx of imported rice,
policymakers must make sure that the country’s rice requirement is met by all
means. At the same time, local farmers should be well-equipped to survive the
evolving market.
Right now, the challenge is to make sure
that rice farmers can compete at a price 35-percent higher than imported rice,
and give consumers the option to avail themselves of the staple at a more
affordable price.
India Expects Rise in
Basmati Exports as Iran Resumes Rice Imports
The resumption of rice imports by Iran could give a fillip to
India’s basmati shipments that have risen by about a fourth in rupee terms in
the first eight months of the current fiscal year (started March 21, 2017), the
Indian newspaper Hindu Business Line reported. Iran is the largest buyer of
India’s basmati and accounts for a fourth of India’s annual aromatic rice
shipments of around four million tons. The country restarted rice import
registration this year from Jan. 21 till June 21. The permission was
communicated by Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati in a letter to Minister of
Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari.
According to the letter, the order registrations will be valid for
a three-month period and are extendable by a further one month. Hojjati noted
that any rice shipments as per the new orders need to be cleared through
Iranian customs by July 22, after which all imports will be banned. Every year
and during the rice harvest season (July-January), the Iranian government bans
rice imports in support of local farmers and domestic production. “Based on the
current export trend, we expect basmati shipments to be higher than last year,”
said DK Singh, chairman of India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority. Basmati is the second largest product in Apeda’s
export portfolio after buffalo meat and accounts for over 22% of the total
shipment value. In the April-November period of this fiscal year, basmati
exports grew 29% to $2.61 billion from $2.02 billion in the corresponding
period of last year.
In rupee terms, basmati exports grew 24% to Rs.16,838 crore (1
crore=10 million) during the April-November period from Rs.13,571 crore in the
corresponding year-ago period. In 2016-17, India’s basmati exports stood at
3.98 million tons valued at over $3.22 billion. However, Indian rice exporters
are cautiously optimistic over the shipment prospects with Iran, considering
the fact that they have been facing issues related to traces of fungicide in
exports to the European Union, another major market. “We expect basmati
shipments this year to be the same as last year or even higher,” said Rajen
Sundaresan, executive director of All-India Rice Exporters Association. Sticking Points “While Iran has reopened its
market, it has stopped extending concessional foreign exchange (set at lower
rates compared to market prices) to its rice importers,” said Vijay Setia,
president of AIREA.
The move is aimed at
discouraging more rice imports into the West Asian country. Furthermore, Iran
has also been raising objections to the digital phyto-sanitary certificates
issued by Indian authorities. The issues have been taken up with India’s
Agriculture Ministry and are likely to be resolved soon, sources said. Iranians
consume 3.2 million tons of rice a year while domestic production stands at 2.2
million tons. “We need imports, but imports that are limited and controlled,”
Hojjati has been quoted as saying. More than 1.05 million tons of semi- and
wholly-milled rice worth close to $996 million were imported into Iran during
the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22), registering an
84.4% and 108.4% surge in weight and value respectively compared with the
corresponding period of last year. Rice imports accounted for 6% and 4.2% of
the volume and value of Iran’s overall imports respectively during the
six-month period. Imports are made mainly from the UAE, India, Pakistan,
Thailand, Turkey and Iraq. The two northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran
are home to a majority of Iran’s paddy fields. A total of 81% and 70% of rice
harvest in the two provinces respectively were mechanized in the last Iranian
year.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-business-and-markets/81179/india-expects-rise-in-basmati-exports-as-iran-resumes
China’s rice, soybean imports top
the world in 2017
(People's
Daily Online) 17:30, February 01, 2018
China’s rice and soybean imports continued to top the world in
2017, according to the General Administration of Customs. Experts say food
safety is still guaranteed, as the self-sufficiency rate of grain remained over
95 percent, Science and Technology Daily reported.
Statistics by the administration show that China’s total cereals
imports in 2017 reached 130.62 million tons, up 13.9 percent than 2016. The
imports of soybeans, rice, wheat, and corn were 95.53 million tons, 4.03
million tons, 4.42 million tons, and 2.83 million tons, respectively.
Although China’s total import of cereals surpassed 130 million
tons, exceeding one fifth the country’s total grain output, the country’s food
safety can still be ensured as the self-sufficiency rate of grain still
remained over 95 percent, said Xiao Guoying, a researcher with the Institute of
Subtropical Agriculture under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Xiao explained that Chinese people’s food resources depend on
rice and wheat, while the imported soybeans and corn are mainly used as
oil-bearing crops and fodder.
China’s large import of soybeans in the past decade reflects
China’s high demand of imported protein sources to improve Chinese people’s
living standard.
The imported transgenic soybeans provide Chinese with 80 percent
of edible oil, and are also used as fodder. It ensures the fodder supply of China’s
breeding industry and people’s relatively high living standard, Xiao noted.
Chinese scientist Wang Dayuan also stressed that China should
have a response plan for the case that soybean imports are influenced by the
international situation.
Commodities Buzz: Chinas Rice Plantation To
Down 2.2 In 2017
capital market | Mumbai | February 01, 2018
10:02 IST
Commodities
Buzz: Chinas Rice Plantation To Down 2.2 In 2017
As per latest data release by Agriculture Ministry China,
there will be curb in planting of rice, its most important food grain, in a
major step towards reducing a growing mountain of unsold stocks.
The worlds second-largest
rice grower will aim to slash the acreage planted by over 10 million mu or
about 670,000 hectares, it said, around 2.2 percent of its plantings for 2017.
It is the first time China
has sought to curb planting acreage of its most important food, underlining its
worry over stock levels.
https://www.indiainfoline.com/article/capital-market-commodity-futures-pre-session-commentary/commodities-buzz-chinas-rice-plantation-to-down-2-2-in-2017-118020100466_1.html
Consumers
to gain from new rice policy
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:22 AM February 01,
2018
(First of 2 parts)
Myrna Panaguiton, a 56-year-old on-call
helper in Caloocan City, was doubtful about the prospect of cheaper rice in the
market before the end of the year. With a family of nine, rice makes up a huge
chunk in the Panaguiton household’s budget. In a week, the family consumes 10
kilos of rice at an average of P37 a kilo. This is about P370 in a week.
“Of course cheaper rice is good for us, but
I don’t want to say anything unless it really happens,” she said in Filipino.
“Imagine our expenses with the new tax law, everything is getting expensive.
For what I know, prices of rice will rise, too.”
As an on-call helper, Panaguiton earns
P3,000 a week from cleaning houses and washing clothes. Meanwhile, her niece is
set to work overseas in the Middle East next month as a househelp. The other
members of the family are either too old or too young to work.
The Panaguiton family is only one of the
hundreds of thousands of families in the country that rely heavily on rice. For
this year, a new policy direction being taken by the Duterte administration is
predicted to lower the retail price of rice by as much as P6.97 a kilo.
With current retail prices, this means
regular milled rice and well-milled rice will be priced at P31.08 and P35.34 a
kilo, respectively. In a study made by the Southeast Asian Regional Center in
2010, a Filipino’s average consumption of rice per year was at 119 kilos while
annual household consumption was at 568 kilos.
For a family of nine that consumes 10 kilos
of regular milled rice in a week, this would translate to P69.70 in
savings—more than enough to buy two more kilos of rice.
However, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel
Piñol is less optimistic with the rosy forecast, along with rice retailers and
distributors on the ground. The administration’s decision to stop regulating
the entry of imported rice in the country by lifting the limit it imposes under
the so-called quantitative restriction (QR) scheme is not bound to make any
difference, he claimed.
Import restriction
In exchange for lower tariff rates and more
flexible trade pacts, the Philippines allows rice to be imported in the country
as part of its obligation to the World Trade Organization under a so-called
quantitative restriction (QR) scheme.
The QR, which puts a cap on the volume of
rice to be imported, is meant to protect local rice producers from being
stifled by competition in the market.
Back during the Ramos administration, the
government decided to set the country’s import quota at 350,000 metric tons
(MT) with a tariff rate of 35 percent on rice that would come from other WTO
member-countries. Rice that would be coming from non-WTO members would have to
pay a higher tariff of 50 percent.
The country later on extended this scheme
up to 2012, and then again to 2017, during the Aquino administration. While
these extensions were approved, they came with a price in the form of
concessions. These concessions were a compromise for other member-countries
that wanted to take advantage of free trade. To further protect rice farmers,
the government agreed to lower its tariff rates for the entry of processed
pork, dairy, oil seeds and frozen potatoes while also increasing the limit of
imported rice to 850,000 MT.
But the country could not hide under the
blanket protection of QR forever. The administration of President Duterte is
finally seeking to amend the decade-old law that put in place the rice import
quota in line with its economic managers’ decision to scrap the QR for good
this year.
“Removal of the QR will increase imports
and depress palay prices,” economist Roehlano Briones said in a study published
by the state-run think tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS).
“Rice imports are cheaper than domestically produced rice. Under a free market,
the market price of rice will decline with the influx of cheaper rice imports.”
Most consumers are unaware that rice from
abroad is cheaper than domestically produced rice. Data from the United
Nations’ agriculture arm showed that since the 1990s, the price of rice in the
world market has remained cheaper compared to the price of rice in the
Philippines. This was due, in part, to higher cost of production since the
country has very limited land suitable for rice production as compared to other
Asean countries.
PIDS noted that “as a result, production
cost goes up before enough rice is produced to meet domestic demand.”
Nonetheless, Piñol said he believed the
lifting of QR would not make any difference in current rice prices. “There are
statements that the lifting of QR will reduce the price of rice in the market
by P7. It’s a flawed assumption,” he argued.
“Let’s not kid ourselves. For how many
years have we been importing rice? Those imported by the private sector, do we
see any of those being sold in the commercial market? No. Even the imported
rice are mixed in the local rice so consumers don’t feel the effect of importation
and even the lifting of the QR,” he added.
Rice distributors have the same sentiment.
“I don’t think that is going to happen,”
said Jun Aguilar, a wholesale and retail distributor in Cagayan Valley. He and
other traders sell rice in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon,
Calabarzon, Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila. “With no limits to importation,
traders will blend rice again maybe at a 70-30 ratio of local and imported.
Expenses in producing rice is huge right now.”
But whether or not rice prices would be
affected or remain at its current level, Aguilar said that as traders, they
could always change their selling price according to movements in the market.
“It’s really the consumers and especially
the farmers, who will be greatly affected by this,” he said.
For industry group Samahang Industriya ng
Agrikultura (Sinag), lifting QRs would not automatically reduce the retail
price of rice.
“The liberalization of the agriculture
sector since the mid-’90s saw the dumping of agriculture imports in the country,
but it did not help in lowering the prices of most agriculture products,” it
said. The sorry state of the garlic industry could be the exception. With
almost 85-90 percent of the country’s garlic supply sourced from outside in the
last 10 years, it did result in the lowering of the retail prices of garlic.
For the agriculture chief, the only way for
consumers to feel the change in policy was if the government would decide to
set a benchmark for the price of imported rice—a mandate that only the National
Food Authority has the power to impose.
“Unless they allow private traders to
import rice with a condition that they can only sell these imports at a certain
price, it can work. But until then, nothing is going to change.”
With nothing to stop the deluge of rice
imports that are about to enter the country, stakeholders in the agriculture
sector as well as economic managers are banking on one thing: A better
safeguard for local farmers against tighter competition.
The Duterte administration has decided to
remove its quota on importation under the QR scheme, which was meant to work as
a protection for our own rice producers.
Faced to compete with cheaper rice imports,
many are worried that this scheme would aggravate the plight of local farmers
who are mostly caught up in poverty.
“What we need is a comprehensive government
program that would significantly increase public spending in the strategic
areas of the rice sector,” Sinag said.
“These government programs must be anchored
on the development of our capacity to produce our staple and food
requirements,” the group added.
http://business.inquirer.net/245111/consumers-gain-new-rice-policy#ixzz55wZRWlUE
NFA-Bohol rice stocks dip due to late boat
d February 1, 2018, 10:00 PM
By Dandan A. Bantugan
Tagbilaran City – The National
Food Authority (NFA) in Bohol has suspended the selling of its rice to its
outlets because the chartered boat that brings rice stocks from Cebu has been
delayed.
NFA-Bohol Manager Maria Fe Evasco
said the boat was expected to arrive in Tagbilaran today, February 2, but it
will be delayed by about two days.
Meanwhile, the NFA is running out
of rice to distribute to its outlets. That’s because it is reserving its
remaining stock for emergencies and calamities and for feeding jail inmates.
Evasco said the stock from the
Cebu depot of NFA regional office is shipped through a private shipping line
which could only deliver 500 bags a day.
This is why the supply of NFA
rice in Bohol is limited and the accredited outlets sell only commercial rice,
Evasco said.
The remaining stock at the
NFA-Bohol warehouse is reserved for Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the local
units of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC),
she said.
It means the current stock is
only sufficient for the food security requirement in times of emergencies and
calamities that would be attended to by the DSWD and the food requirement of
jails which is attended to by the BJMP and for relief operations of the
disaster risk reduction and management units, Evasco said.
She said the supply of NFA rice
has to be conserved to meet the requirements of these agencies.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/02/01/nfa-bohol-rice-stocks-dip-due-to-late-boat/
Rice storage facilities ready next
month
Chea Vannak / Khmer Times
The rice storage facilities
funded by the government under a lending scheme will be ready within a month,
with sector insiders claiming they will be key in helping the ailing rice
industry recover.
The government has disbursed more
than $30 million in loans to build silos, depots and warehouses in four
rice-growing provinces – Battambang, Kampong Thom, Prey Veng and Takeo.
Loans are repaid at a five
percent interest rate over a period of 10 years.
The silos and depots will be
finished by late February and warehouses are expected to be ready by April,
said Kao Thach, director-general of state-owned Rural Development Bank (RDB),
the institution that disbursed and manages the loans.
These storage facilities will
help avert a crisis in the rice industry like the one experienced in 2016, Mr
Thach said.
“I hope the new facilities will
help us avoid another crisis,” he said. “Their capacity is huge; big enough to
store all paddy produced during the harvest season in those provinces.”
“The 2016 crisis came about,
mostly, because of a lack of storage infrastructure. When all the storage
facilities are operational, we can fend off another crisis. The government has
done a good job in this regard,” Mr Thach said.
Each silo can store up to 1,500
tonnes of paddy, while the warehouses have a capacity of 5,000 tonnes.
“The new infrastructure will
allow us to expand the amount of rice we process for export,” said Song Saran,
CEO of Amru Rice, one of four beneficiaries of the lending scheme.
The great capacity of the storage
facilities will help curb the outflow of paddy to neighboring countries, said
Mr Saran, adding that millers will have at their disposal a year’s worth of
rice.
For the period 2017-2018, the
government gave an extra $50 million in emergency loans to the sector.
Mr Thach said he expected even
more money to become available as the year progresses given that the rice
season lasts until April.
Bangladesh to scrap planned
rice imports from Thailand
FEBRUARY 1, 2018 / 1:09 PM /
Reuters Staff
1 MIN READ
DHAKA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will scrap a plan to import
150,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand, agreed at $465 a tonne in October, head
of the state grains buyer said on Thursday.
“They have been taking too much time to finalise the deal. There is
no point to wait for them when we are getting supplies from other sources,
including India, at cheaper rates,” Badrul Hasan, the director general of
Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food, told Reuters.
Traditionally the world’s fourth-biggest rice producer, Bangladesh
emerged as a major importer of the grain in 2017 after floods damaged crops and
sent domestic prices to record highs.
Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL4N1PR2VS
Rice production in Ukraine will increase
01.02.2018
According to the Kherson regional administration, rice plantings
and yields in the region increase from year to year. This may shortly result in
full self-sufficiency of Ukraine with this cereal crop.
A drastic improvement of the rice sector is expected in the
region, but it will improve in line with up-to-date practices for growing this
cereal, reports UkrAgroConsult.
Rice planted areas totaled 7.5 Th ha in 2016 and 7.8 Th ha in
2017. The yields equaled 5.4 MT/ha in 2016 and 5.7 MT/ha in 2017.
Import substitution is now one of the main tasks for the region.
Kherson region is Ukraine’s top grower of rice.
Noteworthy is that Ukraine annually imports some 50-80 KMT of
rice, mostly from Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Indian rice prices surge to
over six-year high on steady demand, strong rupee
Koustav Samanta
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Rice prices in India, the world’s biggest
exporter of the staple, extended a recent rally this week to reach their
highest in 6-1/2 years on robust overseas demand and limited supply amid a
stronger local currency.
People transport sacks of rice through a boat at a flooded village
in Morigaon district in Assam, India August 20, 2017. REUTERS/Anuwar
Hazarika/File Photo
“Inquiries have risen from Asian and African buyers but supplies
are limited. The recent upside in the rupee is also forcing us to raise
prices,” said an exporter based in Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh.
India’s 5 percent broken parboiled rice prices rose by $3 per tonne
to $447-$451, the maximum since September 2011, when India lifted a
four-year-old ban on non-basmati rice shipments.
The Indian rupee was trading near its highest in 32 months,
slashing exporters’ returns from overseas sales.
India’s rice exports likely jumped 22 percent in 2017 to a record
12.3 million tonnes as Bangladesh ramped up purchases.
Bangladesh has emerged as a major importer of the grain since last
year after floods damaged its crops.
On Thursday, the head of the state grains buyer in Bangladesh said
the country will scrap a plan to import 150,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand,
agreed at $465 a tonne in October.
In Thailand, benchmark 5 percent broken rice narrowed to $443-$446
per tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok, after hitting a peak since June 2017
last week at $440-$448.
The Thai Rice Exporters
Association on Wednesday urged the government to temper a rise in the baht to
protect exports, after the local currency soared to over four-year highs
against the dollar.
Exporters were concerned
that a stronger baht, which translates to higher export prices in U.S. dollars,
could affect the competitiveness of Thai rice globally.
“Everything depends on
the exchange rate. My business has gone quiet, because clients say it’s too
expensive now,” said a Bangkok-based trader.
Meanwhile, high prices prevailed in Vietnam on depleted stocks,
with benchmark 5 percent broken rice trading at $440-$450, FOB Saigon. Prices
hit a more than three-year high of $450 a tonne last week.
Traders said, however, there would be enough supply for the deal
with Indonesia, whose purchase of about 346,000 tonnes from four exporting
countries including Vietnam had boosted prices.
Traders expect prices to ease around the end of February, when the
harvest for the winter-spring paddy is complete.
“Prices might drop but it depends on demand at the time of
harvest,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh city said.
Another trader said the new crop has been collected from some
150,000 hectares (370,600 acres) of rice so far, a small part in the country’s
1.65 million hectares of growing area.
Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok, Rajendra Jadhav in
Mumbai, Mi Nguyen in Hanoi, and Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Editing by David Evans
Thai rice export to fall this year
TNA on Wed,
01/31/2018 - 10:27
BANGKOK, Jan 31 (TNA) -- The Thai
Rice Exporters Association predicts Thailand will export 9.5 million tons of
rice this year, a smaller amount than the figure of last year, due to strong
baht.
Charoen Laothamatas, president of
the association, said the export value was estimated at US$4.3 billion and
demand for Thai rice continued from Iran, the Philippines, Indonesia and China
(through a government-to-government contract) among other countries.
Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary
president of the association, said baht was stronger than the currencies of
other rice-exporting competitors and could result in expensive Thai rice in
global markets. He asked the government to supervise the baht value.
He also said that Thailand lacked
some kinds of rice demanded by some particular countries including long-stocked
rice that Africa favoured. Besides, many rice-importing countries were trying
to produce rice locally and block rice from exporting countries, Mr Chookiat
said.
He assured that this year’s rice
export would be lower than the all-time high export of 11.6 million tons last
year. (TNA
India Expects Rise in Basmati Exports as Iran Resumes Rice Imports
Thursday, February 01, 2018
The resumption of rice imports by
Iran could give a fillip to India’s basmati shipments that have risen by about
a fourth in rupee terms in the first eight months of the current fiscal year
(started March 21, 2017), the Indian newspaper Hindu Business Line reported.
Iran is the largest buyer of
India’s basmati and accounts for a fourth of India’s annual aromatic rice
shipments of around four million tons.
The country restarted rice import
registration this year from Jan. 21 till June 21. The permission was
communicated by Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati in a letter to Minister of
Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari.
According to the letter, the
order registrations will be valid for a three-month period and are extendable
by a further one month.
Hojjati noted that any rice
shipments as per the new orders need to be cleared through Iranian customs by
July 22, after which all imports will be banned.
Every year and during the rice
harvest season (July-January), the Iranian government bans rice imports in
support of local farmers and domestic production.
“Based on the current export
trend, we expect basmati shipments to be higher than last year,” said DK Singh,
chairman of India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority.
Basmati is the second largest
product in Apeda’s export portfolio after buffalo meat and accounts for over
22% of the total shipment value.
In the April-November period of
this fiscal year, basmati exports grew 29% to $2.61 billion from $2.02 billion
in the corresponding period of last year.
In rupee terms, basmati exports
grew 24% to Rs.16,838 crore (1 crore=10 million) during the April-November
period from Rs.13,571 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. In 2016-17,
India’s basmati exports stood at 3.98 million tons valued at over $3.22
billion.
However, Indian rice exporters
are cautiously optimistic over the shipment prospects with Iran, considering
the fact that they have been facing issues related to traces of fungicide in
exports to the European Union, another major market.
“We expect basmati shipments this
year to be the same as last year or even higher,” said Rajen Sundaresan,
executive director of All-India Rice Exporters Association.
Sticking Points
“While Iran has reopened its
market, it has stopped extending concessional foreign exchange (set at lower
rates compared to market prices) to its rice importers,” said Vijay Setia,
president of AIREA.
The move is aimed at discouraging
more rice imports into the West Asian country.
Furthermore, Iran has also been
raising objections to the digital phyto-sanitary certificates issued by Indian
authorities. The issues have been taken up with India’s Agriculture Ministry
and are likely to be resolved soon, sources said.
Iranians consume 3.2 million tons
of rice a year while domestic production stands at 2.2 million tons.
“We need imports, but imports
that are limited and controlled,” Hojjati has been quoted as saying.
More than 1.05 million tons of
semi- and wholly-milled rice worth close to $996 million were imported into
Iran during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22),
registering an 84.4% and 108.4% surge in weight and value respectively compared
with the corresponding period of last year.
Rice imports accounted for 6% and
4.2% of the volume and value of Iran’s overall imports respectively during the
six-month period.
Imports are made mainly from the
UAE, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Iraq.
The two northern provinces of
Gilan and Mazandaran are home to a majority of Iran’s paddy fields.
A total of 81% and 70% of rice
harvest in the two provinces respectively were mechanized in the last Iranian
year.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-business-and-markets/81179/india-expects-rise-in-basmati-exports-as-iran-resumes
Sokoto has good climate for rice farming —
Expert
By Nasiru Bello, Sokoto | Publish Date: Feb 1 2018
2:00AM
Irrigation farming system has been identified as one of the sure
methods for all year round rice production, the Executive Director, National
Cereals Research Institute, Dr Samuel Agboire, has observed.
Dr Agboire, who disclosed this in Sokoto while delivering the
keynote address at a two-day sensitisation workshop organised by AfricaRice
with theme ‘Applying Innovation System Approach in Rice Value Chain Analysis
and Development for Competitive Markets in Nigeria’, said Ttransforming
Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) was conceived to increase
competitive advantage through collaboration in a venture that links producers,
millers and marketers.
The executive director, who was represented by, Dr. Aliyu Umar,
said Nigeria can produce high quality rice and rice based products that can
withstand the test of time.
In his remarks, an official of the AfricaRice, Dr. Salim
Ndindeng, said Sokoto State has less risk climate, which according to him, is
suitable for rice farming.
‘‘Sokoto State is blessed with very good soil, a maximum of
eight to nine metric tonnes can be gotten from a hectare. So, Sokoto is less
risk farming state,’’ he said.
dtonline@dailytrust.com
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sokoto-has-good-climate-for-rice-farming-expert.html
FG
approves ₦1.1bn for Anti-Rice Smuggling Vehicles
The Federal Government has approved ₦1.12 billion for the purchase of 50 operational “anti-rice smuggling” vehicles to check the persistent smuggling of rice into the country, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun has disclosed
The minister spoke to State House correspondents alongside Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, and the Minister of Mines and Steel Development Kayode Fayemi, on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
Adeosun stated that the procurement of the operational vehicles, which would be deployed to the anti-rice smuggling Task Force, was also meant to stop custom officials from invading markets to seize smuggled rice and harassing traders.
“The second approval was for the purchase of 50 vehicles and they are going to be deployed for an anti-rice smuggling Task Force that is being put together which Customs will be leading.
“As you know, our efforts to become major rice producers had resulted to the revival of local rice growers. But what we found was although that there was 90 per cent reduction in the official import of rice, smuggling has increased and of course our borders are very porous.
“We believe that to protect our farmers and to protect the investments that the people had made and gone back to the farm government must really act to stem the tide of illegal rice importation via smuggling.
“We felt that it is important we don’t want Customs going to seize rice in the markets. Customs should actually act to stop rice coming in at the border posts and Customs indicated that they need additional vehicles, additional resources as well as of course other more information-driven strategies to stop it,’’ she said.
According to her, the multi-agency task force on anti-rice smuggling which has been in operation since July 2017 had been gathering information on how to check smuggling of rice into the country.
Watch her speak below:
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices
Open- February 02, 2018
Reuters Staff
FEBRUARY 2, 2018 / 1:16 PM
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-February 2, 2018
Nagpur, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Gram and Tuar prices showed weak tendency
in Nagpur Agriculture
Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) on poor buying support from
local millers amid increased
supply from producing belts. Easy condition on NCDEX, downward
trend in Madhya Pradesh pulses
and high moisture content arrival also pulled down prices.
About 500 bags of gram and 1,400 bags of tuar reported for auction
in Nagpur APMC, according to
sources.
FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Gram varieties ruled
steady in open market here on but demand was poor.
TUAR
* Tuar gavarani declined
in open market here on poor demand from local
traders amid good supply
from producing belts.
* Batri dal moved down in
open market here lack of demand from local
traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New –
4,100-4,300, Tuar dal (clean) – 6,400-6,600, Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,600-8,700, Moong
Mogar (clean) 7,300-7,600, Gram – 3,500-3,600, Gram Super best
– 5,200-5,700
* Wheat, rice and other
foodgrain items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels
in weak trading activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC
auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,100-3,844 3,100-3,925
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 3,800-4,500 3,960-4,500
Moong Auction n.a. 3,900-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Wheat Mill quality
Auction 1,600-1,704 1,690-1,706
Gram Super Best
Bold 6,000-6,500 6,000-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 3,800-3,900 3,800-3,900
Desi gram Raw 3,750-3,800 3,750-3,850
Gram Kabuli 12,500-13,100 12,500-13,100
Tuar Fataka
Best-New 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600
Tuar Fataka
Medium-New 6,100-6,300 6,100-6,300
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Tuar Dal Medium
phod-New 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Tuar Gavarani New 4,200-4,500 4,250-4,550
Tuar Karnataka 4,550-4,750 4,550-4,750
Masoor dal best 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Masoor dal medium 4,500-4,700 4,500-4,700
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold
(New) 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000
Moong Mogar Medium 6,500-7,000 6,500-7,000
Moong dal Chilka 5,800-6,500 5,800-6,500
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000
Udid Mogar best (100
INR/KG) (New) 7,200-7,700
7,200-7,700
Udid Mogar Medium (100
INR/KG) 5,600-7,000 5,600-7,000
Udid Dal Black (100
INR/KG) 5,800-6,200 5,800-6,200
Batri dal (100
INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,800-5,000
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,550-2,650 2,550-2,650
Watana Dal (100
INR/KG) 3,100-3,200 3,100-3,200
Watana Green Best (100
INR/KG) 4,200-4,300 4,200-4,300
Wheat 308 (100
INR/KG) 1,900-2,000 1,900-2,000
Wheat Mill quality (100
INR/KG) 1,750-1,850 1,750-1,850
Wheat Filter (100
INR/KG) 2,150-2,350 2,150-2,350
Wheat Lokwan best (100
INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,200-2,400
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,200
Lokwan Hath Binar (100
INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100
INR/KG) 3,200-3,700 3,200-3,700
MP Sharbati Medium (100
INR/KG) 2,400-2,700 2,400-2,700
Rice BPT best (100
INR/KG) 3,500-4,000 3,500-4,000
Rice BPT medium (100
INR/KG) 3,000-3,200 3,000-3,200
Rice BPT new (100
INR/KG) 3,300-3,500 3,300-3,500
Rice Luchai (100
INR/KG) 2,500-2,700 2,500-2,700
Rice Swarna best (100
INR/KG) 2,600-2,800 2,600-2,800
Rice Swarna medium (100
INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice Swarna new (100
INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice HMT best (100
INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice HMT medium (100
INR/KG) 3,900-4,300 3,900-4,300
Rice HMT new (100
INR/KG) 4,000-4,400 4,000-4,400
Rice Shriram best(100
INR/KG) 5,200-5,600 5,200-5,600
Rice Shriram med (100
INR/KG) 4,700-4,900 4,700-4,900
Rice Shriram new (100
INR/KG) 4,800-5,200 4,800-5,200
Rice Basmati best (100
INR/KG) 9,500-14,000 9,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100
INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best 100
INR/KG) 6,100-6,300 6,100-6,300
Rice Chinnor medium (100
INR/KG) 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Rice Chinnor new (100
INR/KG) 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Jowar Gavarani (100
INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,100
Jowar CH-5 (100
INR/KG) 1,800-2,000 1,700-2,000
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 33.4 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 10.6 degree
Celsius
Rainfall : Nil
FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and minimum temperature would
be around and 33 and 11 degreeCelsius respectively.
Note: n.a.--not available
(For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices,
but included in market prices)
Nagpur Foodgrain
Prices Open- February 01, 2018
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-February 1, 2018
Nagpur, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Gram and Tuar prices moved down in Nagpur Agriculture Produce
Marketing Committee (APMC) on lack of demand from local millers amid good supply from producing
belts. Easy condition in Madhya Pradesh pulses also affected sentiment in limited deals.
About 200 bags of gram and 1,200 bags of tuar reported for auction in Nagpur APMC, according to
sources.
FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Gram mill quality and desi gram raw recovered in open market on good buying support
from local traders.
TUAR
* Tuar Karnataka reported weak in open market here on lack of demand from local
traders amid increased arrival from producing regions.
* Moong dal Chilka quoted down in open market here poor buying support from local
traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 4,100-4,300, Tuar dal (clean) – 6,400-6,600, Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,600-8,700, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,300-7,600, Gram – 3,500-3,600, Gram Super best
– 5,200-5,700
* Wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in weak trading activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,100-3,925 3,100-3,800
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 3,940-4,500 3,990-4,500
Moong Auction n.a. 3,900-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800
Wheat Mill quality Auction 1,600-1,704 1,690-1,706
Gram Super Best Bold 6,000-6,500 6,000-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 3,800-3,900 3,750-3,850
Desi gram Raw 3,750-3,800 3,700-3,800
Gram Kabuli 12,500-13,100 12,500-13,100
Tuar Fataka Best-New 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 6,100-6,300 6,100-6,300
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Tuar Gavarani New 4,250-4,550 4,250-4,550
Tuar Karnataka 4,550-4,750 4,600-4,800
Masoor dal best 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Masoor dal medium 4,500-4,700 4,500-4,700
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000
Moong Mogar Medium 6,500-7,000 6,500-7,000
Moong dal Chilka 5,800-6,500 5,900-6,600
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,200-7,700 7,200-7,700
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,600-7,000 5,600-7,000
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 5,800-6,200 5,800-6,200
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,550-2,650 2,550-2,650
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,200 3,100-3,200
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 4,200-4,300 4,200-4,300
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,000 1,900-2,000
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 1,750-1,850 1,750-1,850
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,150-2,350 2,150-2,350
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,200-2,400
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,200
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,700 3,200-3,700
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,700 2,400-2,700
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,500-4,000 3,500-4,000
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,200 3,000-3,200
Rice BPT new (100 INR/KG) 3,300-3,500 3,300-3,500
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,700 2,500-2,700
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,800 2,600-2,800
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,500 2,400-2,500
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,900-4,300 3,900-4,300
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,400 4,000-4,400
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,600 5,200-5,600
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,700-4,900 4,700-4,900
Rice Shriram new (100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,200 4,800-5,200
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 9,500-14,000 9,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,100-6,300 6,100-6,300
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 5,500-5,700 5,500-5,700
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,800 5,600-5,800
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,100
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,800-2,000 1,700-2,000
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 33.9 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 10.7 degree Celsius
Rainfall : Nil
FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and minimum temperature would be around and 32 and 11 degree
Celsius respectively.
Note: n.a.--not available
(For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, butincluded in market prices)
https://in.reuters.com/article/nagpur-foodgrain/nagpur-foodgrain-prices-open-february-01-2018-idINL4N1PR3G4
