Today Rice News Headlines...
RICE SECTOR: PAKISTAN OPPOSES
INDIA-LED COUNTRIES' PROPOSAL
Stripper front fits no¬-till bill
Turning rice farming waste to
useful silica compounds
Rice numbers may shake out
differently, but result is same: Part II
Gov’t eyes 300-400K MT add’l rice
imports in ’16 amid El Niño
Vietnam exports around 6.55 tons
of rice in 2015: VFA
Mali: rice harvest shoots up by
13% from 2014
Mali produces 2.45 mln T of rice
as 2015/16 harvest nears end
Rice Importers Shun Lagos Ports
Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily
Commodity Report
APEDA Rice commodity News
Agents Back Lifting of Ban on
Rice Importation through Land Borders
LSU AgCenter, LSU College of
Agriculture, Southern Ag Center announce faculty, staff award winners
News Detail...
RICE
SECTOR: PAKISTAN OPPOSES INDIA-LED COUNTRIES' PROPOSAL
December 17, 2015
Pakistan has reportedly opposed India-led countries' proposal to
purchase crops from farmers which can massively hit Pakistani rice sector, well
informed sources told Business Recorder. Commerce Minister, Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan is leading
Pakistani delegation at the 10th World Trade Organisation (WTO) that began on
December 15 in Nairobi (Kenya). "India-led countries are
urging a permanent solution for public stockholding issue that will allow them
to purchase crops from farmers and we fear that this would hurt Pakistan
particularly our rice sector," sources quoted the Minister as stating.
Pakistan, source said, has taken a firm stance that it will
never accept any solution that is harmful to its farmers. The Commerce Minister
held meetings with like-minded countries on this issue and in his speech will
state that Pakistan's Basmati exports have dipped by half during the last five
years. The issue of market access for agricultural goods is an
essential part of the DDA negotiations on agriculture. A substantial
improvement in market access for all agricultural and food products are
politically essential for the success of the agreement on agriculture.
Improvement in market access is by and large the most important of the three
pillars for Pakistan in negotiations.
The fastest growing area in agriculture and food products is the
trade occurring between developing countries. Since Pakistan has already made a
considerable progress in unilaterally liberalising its agriculture trade, it is
in its own interest to push for substantial tariff cuts by other developing
countries. These benefits will come at virtually no cost to Pakistan. Thus
Pakistan is expected to propose limited special and differential treatment for
developing countries, especially for the high income developing countries. Under the existing agreement on agriculture, Pakistan can
introduce virtually any amount of green box programs, such as research and
development, marketing assistance, domestic food aid, infrastructure and input
subsidies.
In addition, Pakistan can
introduce new amber box programs, as long as they do not exceed the 10% de
minimus level. In order to gain policy space, Pakistan can push for large
reductions in domestic support in developed countries; Pakistan would need this
political cover to defend the tariff cuts that it may be forced to accept. The
cuts in domestic support in the EU & US may provide benefits to Pakistani
exports, the sources added. Commenting on export subsidies,
the source said Pakistan expects that an outcome on export competition in
Nairobi should constitute a very significant and meaningful outcome.
Apparently, benefits to Pakistan for their elimination may, in fact, be
negative because of NFIDC status, however, Pakistan is now self sufficient in
staple food supplies, rather "we face issues of competitiveness of
agriculture commodities due to price depressions," sources added.
The Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) allows developing
countries to raise tariffs temporarily to deal with import surges and price
falls. The SSMs are invoked to protect the poor and vulnerable farmers with
smaller triggers and bigger tariff increases. Pakistan has no offensive
interests in SSM, as this can be used against its exports by developing
countries; therefore, Pakistan will not push it too much. Politically, China
and Turkey are pushing for SSM so Pakistan will not come to the forefront to
oppose this decision. Bangladesh, on behalf of the
Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, presented a draft submission that
outlines the group's priorities in negotiations with fellow WTO members ahead
of the organisation's 10th ministerial conference.
Four elements of interest
to LDCs - namely, duty-free quota-free (DFQF) market access, more favourable
rules of origin, the operationalisation of the services waiver, and cotton -
led to the adoption of decisions during the WTO's last ministerial conference
in Bali, Indonesia two years ago. Since then, the group's focus has mainly
consisted in turning some of these outcomes into legally-binding decisions. According to the draft document, WTO members agreed last month
at a dedicated session of the organisation's Committee for Trade and
Development that the secretariat would complete a study on the implementation
of Hong Kong ministerial decision on DFQF market access by mid-November 2015. This
study will serve as a tool to provide "necessary inputs towards finding
convergence" in implementing DFQF market access "in time" for
the Nairobi conference, the draft submission says.
"Preference granting countries shall make DFQF market
access binding through appropriate scheduling," the document suggests. The
2013 Bali decision on DFQF market access called on developed and developing
country members in a position to do so "to improve" their existing
DFQF coverage if they have not yet provided such market access for at least 97
percent of products originating from LDCs. Last year, some countries - China,
India, and Chile - made announcements in that regard, with Chile submitting a
formal notification. Many LDCs benefit from
non-reciprocal preferences, which are granted primarily by developed countries.
Applying DFQF to all LDCs, however, could effectively result in some of these
countries losing some of the competitive advantages that these preferences have
provided.
With no substantial progress on DFQF in recent years, the debate
has focused largely on potential gains under a 97 percent DFQF scheme versus
full coverage and on related rules of origin. According to some informed
sources, the LDC Group is proposing to resolve the DFQF issue for all LDCs by
conducting a tariff line analysis with regards to clothing. The objective is to
determine which tariff lines should be included under DFQF while preserving
preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Cotonou
Partnership Agreement. These allow the US and the EU, respectively, to provide
trade preferences to specific LDCs. "If the issue surfaces in
Nairobi Ministerial, which is not evident as of now, Pakistan would reiterate
its stance earlier taken in Hong Kong Ministerial and would strongly resist any
decision in this regard," said an official document.
The draft submission also praised the results of indications
made at the high-level meeting held this past February regarding the planned
preferential treatment to LDC services and service suppliers, in line with the
2013 Bali decision on the operationalisation of the services waiver, as well as
the notifications submitted so far. Ahead of the Nairobi ministerial,
the document further encouraged the actual notification of preferences to the
Council for Trade in Services (CTS), including information about
"preferential treatment made available, the sectors or sub-sectors
concerned and the period of time during which the member is intending to
maintain those preferences." Some sources indicated that LDCs
have also been exploring ways of extending the waiver beyond market access.
Though there is a provision in the waiver decision to allow such
an extension, notifications so far - with a few exceptions - have restricted
themselves to Article 16 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS),
which deals with market access. Non-market access measures are not
automatically covered, but can be authorised by the WTO CTS. The LDC Group's draft submission links the definition of
"preferential treatment" in the context of the services' waiver to
"the removal of restrictions, and/or the provision of, special access or
procedures, in favour of LDC suppliers over non-LDC suppliers, unless the
preference is accorded to LDCs drawn from other pre-existing or future
preferential arrangements." In this vein, the document encourages
preference-granting members which have already notified to improve their
notifications.
According to some experts familiar with the draft submission,
the inclusion of a paragraph related to the reduction of administrative
procedures and fees for visas, work permits, resident permits, and licenses in
favour of LDC service suppliers and independent professionals appears to be
important, though is likely to be very sensitive to address. In cases where
preferential treatment was given to LDCs based on existing commitments or from
their applied regimes that contain restrictions, the document stipulates that
WTO members "shall remove such restrictions for LDCs.
" The document also calls for a modification of the
duration of the services waiver so that notified preferences can apply for 15
years from the date of notification. Pakistan has no objection on the services
waiver for LDCs. The draft submission also calls
upon preference-granting countries to streamline and simplify preferential
rules of origin (RoO) so that these are no more barriers to LDCs to fully avail
their non-reciprocal market access opportunities. An informal open-ended
consultation on preferential rules of origin for LDCs held on Tuesday
reportedly examined a formal proposal on the subject from the LDC Group, in the
context of the overall Nairobi ministerial preparations.
However, sources familiar with the meeting noted that reactions
to the rules of origin proposal were mixed, with some delegations raising
concerns that the terms were too ambitious given the few weeks remaining before
the ministerial conference. Other questions that were raised included whether
some of the proposal's elements would entail creating legally-binding
obligations, along with whether the terms of the proposal were significantly
different to what is covered in the 2013 Bali decision on the subject. "If any ministerial decision is proposed, Pakistan would
analyse the situation and then decide, however, as of now, no such proposal is
in the pipeline. Generally, Pakistan has no defensive interests in this
proposal," the sources added. The draft submission also refers to the
difficult issue of cotton, calling for a "satisfactory solution" on
the subject as part of the Nairobi decisions.
The document raises four
points related to DFQF market access for cotton and cotton-by products
specifically; the reduction and elimination of domestic support and cotton
export subsidies; as well as technical and financial assistance". Regarding food security, the draft submission calls for a ban on
applying export restrictions by any non-LDC WTO member on foodstuffs imported
by LDCs if the exporting member is a net exporter of the foodstuff concerned.
The text also provides for an exemption of the de minimis calculation for
purchase of food at administered prices by LDCs under public stockholding
schemes for food security purposes. Pakistan has not yet fully committed to
DFQF on cotton; however, we have given positive signals to DFQF on C4 proposal
and have also highlighted Pakistan's efforts to regularise its cotton sector.
http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1256620/
Stripper front fits no-till bill
TOM MCKENNY
Hutcheon and Pearce sales consultant Myles O’Kane said the
fronts were a rice harvesting favourite as they minimise the amount of trash
going through the header which in rice often still sports shades of green.“The
Shelbourne has a combing action with fingers guiding the crop into a keyhole
which strips the head off,” he said.The hydraulically driven rotating stripper
drum has six rows of stainless steel combing fingers that are fitted in
replaceable 60cm sections.Mr O’Kane said the drum was “designed to run as slow
as possible at around 450 to 500 rpm”, was designed for cereal crops and would
suit no-till systems.“It is a cereal front and you look at the machine as a
tool in your cropping system - it is not a direct replacement for a draper
front - it is another purpose built tool.”The demonstration at Streatham saw a
Shelbourne XCV42 (42’ / 12.8 m) designed to suit 12.2/36 metre CTF application,
fitted to an Emmett’s supplied John Deere S680. The demo program has generated
keen interest according to Mr O’Kane.“Everyone has been pretty excited by the
results it is leaving - they like the idea that you are not putting all the
straw through the harvester and throwing it out the backside," he said.
Tom McKenny is the national machinery writer
for Fairfax Agricultural Media
http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/machinery/general-news/stripper-front-fits-notill-bill/2749692.aspx
Turning rice farming waste to useful silica
compounds
The researcher who developed the process says it could save
approximately six tons of carbon emissions per ton of silica compounds
produced. He estimates the cost of the technique to be 90 percent less than the
current process, with virtually no carbon footprint.Developed by Richard Laine,
a professor of materials science and engineering, the new technique is believed
to be the first simple, inexpensive chemical method for producing high-purity
silica compounds from agricultural waste.Much of the world's agricultural waste
contains silica, and the search for a practical way to extract it stretches
back 80 years.
While the new process
could be used to produce silica and silicon-containing chemicals from many
types of agricultural waste, Laine focused on using the hulls left over from
processing rice.The hull is the outermost layer of the rice grain. It's removed
when rice is processed. Hundreds of millions of tons of the hulls are produced
around the world every year. Many are burned to produce electricity, and the
ash that's left over contains high levels of silica. Some of this ash is used
in construction or as insulation, but much of it is dumped in landfills.But
while the world is awash in silica-rich rice hull ash, getting that silica out
has proven to be a major challenge. The difficulty stems mostly from the
incredibly strong chemical bond between silicon and oxygen, one of the
strongest that exists in nature.
Laine found two easy and inexpensive ways to break that bond:
ethylene glycol, or antifreeze, and ethanol, or grain alcohol. The antifreeze
combined with a small amount of sodium hydroxide weakens the chemical bonds
between the silica and the rice hull ash at the beginning of the process,
dissolving the silica into a liquid solution.The solution is then heated to 390
degrees Celsius, forming a polymer of silica and antifreeze. While this stage
does require energy, it's more than offset by the energy produced when the rice
hulls are burned at the beginning of the process. And because the carbon
released when the hulls are burned was previously absorbed by the rice plant,
the process is considered carbon-neutral. The heating produces a
silica-antifreeze polymer that's then filtered to remove the ash.
Grain alcohol is then added at the end of the process. It's
chemically similar to antifreeze, so it easily swaps in to replace the
antifreeze, which is then recycled. The liquid silica can then be distilled out
of this second solution and used to make a high-purity precipitated silica
product for industrial use.Laine has formed a Michigan company, Mayasil, to
commercialize the technology. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, It's in the process
of building a 'pre-pilot' plant that will be used to develop a scaled up
manufacturing process. If the scale-up is successful, Laine predicts that it
will fundamentally change the way silica products are made and used."I
think eventually, we'll be producing high-purity silica and other silicon compounds
right next to the rice fields," Laine said. "It will be possible to
process rice and produce high-grade silica in a single location with little or
no carbon footprint. It's really very exciting."
###
Laine recently received the 2015 Michigan Green Chemistry
Governor's Award from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for his
work on this. Mayasil is a spinoff of Mayaterials, a company Laine founded in
2003 i
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uom-trf121715.php
Rice numbers may shake out differently, but result is same: Part II
The Rice Outlook Conference typically includes state outlook
reports where Extension economists look at their crystal balls and try to
figure out what growers will plant the following year. Unfortunately, most of
the crystal ball gazing is producing negative numbers for 2016, says Texas
A&M University’s Joe Outlaw. It’s not just rice, but other crops aren’t looking
any better at this juncture, he says
http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/rice-numbers-may-shake-out-differently-result-same-part-ii
Gov’t
eyes 300-400K MT add’l rice imports in ’16 amid El Niño
By: Ben O. de Vera
By: Ben O. de Vera
@BenArnolddeVera
Philippine Daily Inquirer
01:40 AM December 18th, 2015
THE GOVERNMENT may have to
import a lower volume of excess rice ranging between 300,000 and 400,000 metric
tons in the first half of 2016 on improved domestic production prospects, the
country’s chief economist said on Thursday.“We have the results of the latest
survey of the areas or hectares actually planted [with rice] and farmers’
intention to plant. This was done after Typhoon ‘Lando.’ It turned out that the
expected production for the first quarter of next year and even the harvest
this year would be higher than what was initially estimated,” National Economic
and Development Authority (Neda) Director-General and Economic Planning
Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters.
Earlier, Balisacan said the government may have to import up to
1.3 million metric tons of rice on top of the 500,000 metric tons already
ordered for the first half of 2016.“We don’t need that much of rice imports
now. We probably need to import around 300,000 to 400,000 metric tons,”
Balisacan said.This intervention formed part of the Roadmap to Address the
Impact of El Niño (Rain), aimed at mitigating the dry spell’s impact on food
supply, ensuring stability of food prices, as well as providing assistance to
farmers and households in affected areas.
The budget needed to be spent on El Niño mitigation projects may
reach P19 billion, Balisacan said.The Neda chief said President Aquino approved
the budget for Rain last week, of which P6.6 billion was already appropriated
in the 2015 budget while the rest would be sourced from government
savings.Balisacan added that also to be part of Rain are an assistance package
for affected farmers and well as a cash for work program.“There will be
additional sources of income for farmers or rural population who would be
adversely affected by the drought. With these interventions, we would expect to
generate an additional 200,000 or 300,000 metric tons [of rice], so that in
effect reduces substantially the need to import,” he said
http://business.inquirer.net/204284/govt-eyes-300-400k-mt-addl-rice-imports-in-16-amid-el-nino#ixzz3ufFLYZ3o
Vietnam exports
around 6.55 tons of rice in 2015: VFA
The Vietnam Food Administration (VFA), the country's food safety
watchdog, said that Vietnam exported nearly 6.55 tons of rice of all kinds, of
which high-grade white rice and fragrant rice accounted for 47 percent.VFA said
that the country is likely to export around 1.5 million tons of corss-border
rice to China. High-grade and fragrant rice continued keeping high proportion
in export of the agricultural produce.
For instance, in the first 11 months of the year, high-grade white
rice accounted for nearly 28.5 percent of the whole amount of rice for export,
an increase of 36.5 percent compared to same period of 2014 and fragrant rice
was 23 percent of total amount of rice for export, an increase of 18.5 percent
compared last year.Major market for Vietnam rice export is nation in Asia with
the percentage of 74 percent. Price of exported rice maintains US$375 per ton,
an increase of US$35 a ton compared to October. VFA predicted it is a difficult
year for the country’s rice export because of low demand in the first two month
of 2016.In addition, it will face fierce competition with Thai’s rice in
stockpile.
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Business/2015/12/116807/
Mali: rice harvest shoots up by 13% from 2014
"The increase this year is generally
explained by good rain, an increase in planted land, new strains like 'Nerica',
the use of more fertiliser especially with the help of subsidies," said
Balla Keia, head the rural development ministry's statistics division.Last
season, the West African country produced 2,166,830 tonnes of paddy rice and
had projected a record 2,599,450 tonne rice crop, with a surplus of 285,000
tonnes above expected domestic consumption.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/world/Mali-rice-harvest-shoots-up-by-13-from-2014-401590
Mali produces 2.45 mln T of rice as 2015/16 harvest nears end
Thu Dec 17, 2015 12:27pm GMT
BAMAKO Dec 17 (Reuters) - Mali has produced 2,451,321 tonnes of rice as
it approaches the end of the 2015/16 harvest, up 13 percent from last season
but short of an initial forecast, government statistics showed on Thursday.The
landlocked country, the second-largest rice producer in Africa behind Nigeria,
will largely finish harvesting this month and continue marketing its production
next year.The remaining harvesting is unlikely to add significantly to the
season's total output.
"The increase this year is generally explained by good rain,
an increase in planted land, new strains like 'Nerica', the use of more
fertiliser especially with the help of subsidies," said Balla Keia, head
the rural development ministry's statistics division.Last season, the West
African country produced 2,166,830 tonnes of paddy rice and had projected a
record 2,599,450 tonne rice crop, with a surplus of 285,000 tonnes above
expected domestic consumption. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; writing by Makini
Brice; editing by Joe Bavier and Jason Neely)
Rice Importers Shun Lagos Ports
17 Dec 2015
Comptroller-General of Customs,
Colonel Hameed Ali (retired)
John Iwori
This followed the decision of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)
to lift the ban on the use of the international land borders to import rice
into the country.Already, NCS has revealed that not less than N1.2 billion has
been raked in as revenue generated from rice imports through the land borders
in October and November 2015.It also said a total quantity of rice imported
through the land borders stood at 17.596 metric tons (MT). The amount generated
has given credence to the decision of the NCS to allow importers and licensed
customs agents to use of Nigeria’s international borders to import the staple
commodity into the country.CS said in a statement that these figures were
disclosed at a strategy session convened by the Comptroller-General of Customs,
Colonel Hameed Ali (retired).
Ali was said to have convened the meeting at NCS Headquarters,
Abuja which was attended by the top echelon of the service to review revenue
performance for 2015.According to the statement, two months ago, the
Comptroller-General of NCS had approved the removal of the restriction placed
on importation of rice through the land borders.“The removal was predicated on
the large scale rice smuggling through the land borders, resulting to huge
revenue loss and distortions in the price of the item in the local markets
.
The huge collection in just two months has vindicated our
position. If we had stuck to our previous directive, this much quantum of rice
would still have been smuggled anyway, and we would have lost over a billion
naira revenue as this critical period of our economic downtown,” NCS
said.Meanwhile, data collated by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and obtained
by THISDAY showed the vessels and various cargoes expected in the country from
now till January 1, 2016.The data popularly called “Shipping Position” showed
that out of the 30 vessels expected within the period under review, none of
them is laden with rice.
The Shipping Position, also revealed that within the period
under review none of the vessels is carrying the staple commodity.According to
the data, three key terminals in Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa known for the
handling of bulk cargo including rice were not any vessel laden with the
commodity. The terminals, ENL, ABTL and GDNL were not expecting to receive rice
in the period under review.The NPA document shows that the ENL Terminals would
receive 12,895 MT of general cargoes, which are not likely to include rice.
Other cargoes expected at the bulk terminals include 3,496MT of fish and
27,500MT of bulk fertiliser expected to arrive at ENL Terminals this month.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/rice-importers-shun-lagos-ports/228265/
Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily Commodity Report
Rice
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Long Grain New Crop
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Rice Comment
Rice futures may be attempting to
stabilize after the recent downturn which took over $1.50 off the market in a
matter of a few short days. January is holding just below $11 but could retest
support at the recent low of $10.76. Below that level, support is the contract
low of $10.20. The domestic cash market is quiet and export demand is slow as
well, which is typically the case around the holidays. Global rice stocks are
forecast to decrease for the third year in a row as consumption is expected to
outpace production, which means there could be some upside potential in this
market
APEDA Rice commodity
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Agents Back Lifting of Ban on Rice
Importation through Land Borders
17 Dec 2015
Association of Licensed Customs
Agents
Sandra Ukele
Licensed customs agents in the
country have hailed the decision of the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs
Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd) to lift the ban on rice importation
through the land borders.Describing it as a “welcome development”, the customs
licensed agents said the move would help Nigeria curtail the losses arising
from the old policy.
They, however, stated that rice millers are now importing the staple commodity into the country instead of producing it.
They, however, stated that rice millers are now importing the staple commodity into the country instead of producing it.
The agents, under the auspices of
the Association of Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Seme Chapter told
journalists in Seme that the idea behind the new pronouncement by the CGC
should be encouraged.They argued that the move was a way of creating the needed
job opportunity in the country and boost the nation’s economy through farming
in this sector besides helping to diversify the economy from depending on
oil.According to the agents, the only way to stop smuggling of the product was
to stop the millers of the same staple food from turning themselves into
importers rather than concentrate on their milling business.
One of the agents who did not
want his name in print said: “I think we should not look at this issue from any
sentiment but from logical point of view. My view is that I do not think
anybody will go through the borders to incur extra cost unless there is an
intention to defraud government. I think as of now this process of going
through the land borders does not do that.“We must
support our local farmers. We strongly advise the Customs to
suspend the lifting of ban on rice through land borders and continue to operate
through the sea borders.” Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) PAKRISTO Maritime Company Limited Mr. Patrick Ozobialu said: “When you
talk about rice production in a country, it is not something you start today
and tomorrow you start getting result. It is a gradual thing.
It takes over a ten years
planning."But now you cannot say because you want to stop the importation
of rice through the land border. That means they should be coming in through
the sea. And through the sea you know that it is only one man that is
licensed to bring rice through there So what they are saying is that rice
should not come through any other source except through the sea and we know
that it is only one man that is importing rice through the sea and now he is
using a proxy in the senate to champion this his course.”
Ozobialu added: “I it should not be sold more than N6,000. So you see when one a civil servant collects N18,000 minimum wage, he goes to market to buy a bag of rice at either N9,800 or N11,000 how would the person buy other things needed in the house and does such worker meet up with other necessities of the family? But normally with crayfish and pepper you can prepare this staple food for the family but if we are paid such ridiculous amount as wages and we buy rice at N11,000 then how much would be left for other expenses?”
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/agents-back-lifting-of-ban-on-rice-importation-through-land-borders/228259/
LSU AgCenter, LSU College
of Agriculture, Southern Ag Center announce faculty, staff award winners
By Maddy Williams | mwilliams@ktalnews.tv
Published 12/17 2015 04:47AM
Updated 12/17 2015 04:47AM
Writer: Craig Gautreaux
BATON ROUGE, La.—
The LSU AgCenter, the LSU
College of Agriculture and the Southern University AgCenter announced the
winners of their annual faculty and staff awards at a ceremony held Dec. 16 at
the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden.Jimmy Meaux, Calcasieu Parish county
agent, was the recipient of the Floyd S. Edmiston Award for his exceptional
work with the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service. Meaux spent 20 years
working with youth during the early part of his career but is now primarily
responsible for agricultural and natural resources within his parish, including
work with row crops and animal enterprises such as crawfish and cattle.
The
Extension Excellence award went to Terrebonne Parish county agent Barton
Joffrion. He has spent his entire 39-year career in the parish. He started as a
4-H agent, served as a fisheries agent and now is primarily doing horticultural
work. Joffrion played an instrumental role in establishing an urban forestry
board in Houma and is working on a research project with area Master Gardeners
pertaining to the crape myrtle bark scale.Dustin Harrell, the LSU AgCenter rice
specialist stationed at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station in Crowley,
received the G&H Seed Company Inc. Research Award. Harrell helped identify
a nutrient deficiency problem in Louisiana rice fields that was causing
significant yield loss and came up with recommendations to rectify the problem.
He has also done extensive work in ratoon stubble management leading to higher yields
on ratoon or second-growth rice crops.
The recipient of the Doyle Chambers Research
Award was Eric Webster, a weed scientist with the AgCenter. He is responsible
for developing rice weed management strategies, which in Louisiana are unique
because of the abundance of fields that are used for both rice and crawfish
production. Webster is also responsible for testing new rice varieties and
their susceptibility to damage from herbicides.The Denver T. and Ferne Loupe
Extension Team Award was presented to the Louisiana Master Farmer Program
group. Team members are Ernest Girouard, Master Farmer coordinator; James
Hendrix, northeast region Master Farmer agent; Allen Hogan, southern region
Master Farmer agent; and Donna Morgan, central region Master Farmer agent. The
Louisiana Master Farmer program was established by an act of the Louisiana
legislature, and more than 200 farmers have completed the program and are
certified Master Farmers.
The
Rice Sheath Blight Resistance Team was named the Tipton Team Research Team
Award winners. Members of the team are plant pathologists Don Groth and Jong
Ham, rice breeder Steve Linscombe and agronomist Jim Oard. The group is
responsible for developing new rice varieties that are resistant the sheath
blight, the most common and prevalent disease found in rice produced throughout
the southern U.S. The team also makes recommendations on rice growing methods
that can reduce the incidences of sheath blight.
Vermilion Parish 4-H agents Shannan Waits and
Hilton Waits received the 4-H Youth Development Faculty Award. The two were
instrumental in the development of a new service-learning project called
Keeping Louisiana on the Map. The project focuses on raising environmental
awareness of coastal erosion and includes activities such as beach sweeps,
wetlands planting and field trips to important coastal research centers.
Two staff members were recognized for their
efforts. Carol LeDoux, administrative program specialist for the H. Rouse
Caffey Rice Research Station and Southwest Region in Crowley, received the
Ganelle Bullock Outstanding Service Award. Gerry Romero, a research associate
at the Central Research Station in Baton Rouge, was named the winner of the
Outstanding Service Award for Associates.
Richard Keim, associate professor in the
AgCenter’s School of Renewable Natural Resources, was the winner of the 2015
Article of the Year for Louisiana Agriculture magazine with his article on
water management on Catahoula Lake and the implications of woody vegetation.
Also, service awards were presented to two faculty members for their three
years of service on the magazine’s editorial board. They are Dustin Harrell,
agronomist and state rice specialist, and Michael Blazier, a forestry associate
professor at the Hill Farm Research Station in Homer.
For the Southern University Ag Center, Fatemah
Malekian, professor in nutrition and food science, was named the winner of the
Chancellor’s Outstanding Research Scientist Award. Kenyetta Nelson-Smith,
associate specialist in community and economic development received the
Chancellor’s Outstanding Specialist Award. The winner of the Chancellor’s
Outstanding Faculty Award was Andra Johnson, assistant director of research in
the School of Agriculture, Research, Extension and Applied Sciences at Alcorn
State University.
Receiving the LSU College of Agriculture
Teaching Awards were Kayanush Aryana, professor in the School of Animal
Sciences; Jeff Beasley, associate professor in the School of Plant,
Environmental and Soil Sciences; Brian Marx, professor in the Department of
Experimental Statistics; Georgianna Turri, associate professor in the School of
Nutrition and Food Sciences; and Maud Walsh, a professor in the School of
Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences.
http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/lsu-agcenter-lsu-college-of-agriculture-southern-ag-center-announce-faculty-staff-award-winners
