China, Cambodia sign
cooperation deal on rice trade
Martin
Lowe 丨 CCTV.com
10-14-2016
10:15 BJT
Cooperation
on rice trade is among the various deals signed between China and Cambodia
during President Xi Jinping’s visit. China has also promised to help Cambodia
improve its facilities to harvest and store rice.
One of most important things to come out of Xi’s visit to Cambodia has been
confirmation of a new deal between the two countries over rice. China has
agreed to double the amount of rice it buys from Cambodia each year to 200,000
tonnes.
This is especially welcome news for Cambodia, after a very poor year for rice
production. Heavy rains have seen fields flooded and crops lost. And a glut on
the world market has seen prices fall by as much as a third since August. This
has meant a very low income for rice farmers here.
There have been talks between Chinese and Cambodian officials over possible
further financial aid from China for the rice sector. In particular a loan of
300 million dollars to help Cambodia buy special machines to dry harvested rice
and to build warehouses in which to store it.
Chinese aid would be a big help to farmers in Cambodia. But they have also been
told by the World Bank that they need to improve the way they grow rice to develop
consistent quality and lower their costs
http://english.cctv.com/2016/10/14/VIDEaMl0rzKr5BKoDQ2iBh66161014.shtml
Japan hoping to pressure U.S.
to follow its lead on TPP
Undeterred
by vigorous opposition in the U.S. to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Abe
administration expressed determination Friday to swiftly ratify the free trade
agreement and pressure Washington to follow in its footsteps.
As Diet
deliberations on the multinational deal kicked off, members of Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet reaffirmed their determination to pass a bill to ratify
the pact before this legislative session ends Nov. 30.
“It is
imperative Japan take the lead in approving the deal and create momentum within
the U.S.,” Nobuteru Ishihara, minister in charge of economic revitalization,
told a special Lower House committee on the TPP. “We need to steer America.”
Ishihara
said the TPP will open Japan up to the possibility of new economic growth,
billing it as a much-needed counterbalance to the nation’s rapidly graying
domestic workforce.
The
government estimates the deal will create 800,000 jobs and translate into a 2.5
percent annual rise in gross domestic product, or a whopping ¥14 trillion.
Noting
that he is aware U.S. presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
are both strongly opposed to the pact, Ishihara pre-empted any possible request
for renegotiation, underlining Abe’s position that Japan has “absolutely no
intention” of accepting such a reversal.
“The TPP
is like a delicate set of building blocks that is based on thorough discussions
between the 12 countries involved. Withdraw one piece, and the whole thing will
collapse,” Ishihara said.
Foreign
Minister Fumio Kishida likewise stressed his commitment to winning Diet
approval.
Such a
progressive step by Japan, he said, would provide ammunition to ongoing efforts
by President Barack Obama — who Kishida said has repeatedly proclaimed his
pro-TPP stance in recent high-level international meetings — to convince the
U.S. Congress of the need to ratify it by the end of his final term in January.
“At the
moment, Japan-U.S. relations are very stable,” Kishida said. “Based on such a
relationship of mutual trust, we have confirmed with each other that the swift
entry into force of the pact is important and that we will cooperate to this
end.”
Despite
the lofty pledges, however, the Abe administration expects a tumultuous ride as
it seeks to overcome staunch resistance to the TPP by the opposition bloc.
The
Democratic Party has repeatedly made a point that it has no intention of
accepting the pact, citing the opposition of Clinton and Trump.
“With
two of the U.S. presidential nominees pretty unequivocally opposed to the deal,
I don’t think Japan should hasten its discussion,” Renho, president of the DP,
told reporters last month.
Adding
to this is the recent revelation that some rice importers and wholesalers
participating in a government auction program have engaged in price-rigging,
which critics say will undercut the government’s position that an increase in
rice imports under the TPP won’t adversely affect domestic farmers.
In a
recent agriculture ministry probe into the matter, about 30 percent of 139 rice
importers and wholesalers involved in the auction admitted they had cheated by
exchanging what are euphemistically called “adjustment fees” with each other.
Such a
practice may have allowed wholesalers to sell rice at a lower price than
officially designated, potentially discrediting the government’s assertion that
domestic and foreign rice is traded at equal prices.
The
agricultural ministry, however, concluded in the probe that such shady money
exchanges are unlikely to affect domestic rice prices, citing the scant amount
of rice imported under the auction program that is circulated for commercial
purposes.
The DP
says it doesn’t buy that explanation and questions the veracity of the
investigation.
“We need
a fuller explanation and demand that the ministry disclose more detailed
information,” Renho told reporters Thursday
Customs PRO denies report on reverse of rice
ban
Bag of Rice
The
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has not reversed the ban on rice.
Its
Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Wale Adeniyi, a Deputy-Comptroller, was
reacting to a report which indicated that the Customs had reversed the
ban on rice import through land borders.
Adeniyi,
in a statement in Abuja, denied the reports which allegedly emanated from him,
saying he never issued such a statement.
He said
the reports which were published last weekend were the ones he granted last
October.
Adeniyi
said the service suspected that some forces behind rice smuggling were at work,
recycling old reports under a different circumstance to create confusion.
“It is
necessary to restate the true position in view of the confusion, which these
publications may create in the industry. It is even more expedient to provide
this clarification, given that the service has taken a firm position earlier in
the week through a joint news conference with stakeholders.
“We like
to reiterate the position that importation of rice remains banned through our
land borders and we have the commitment of partner government agencies and
stakeholders to enforce this restriction,” Adeniyi said.
He added
that while the restriction is in force, rice imports through the ports are still
allowed, subject to payment of extant charges.
“The
service will, therefore, advocate a total ban on rice importation into Nigeria
with effect from 2017. It is our belief
that continuous waste of scarce Foreign Exchange (forex) on a commodity that can
be produced locally makes no economic sense, most especially at a period of
recession,” Adeniyi stated.
Nigeria
spends $2 billion yearly on riceimportation.President Muhammadu Buhari, who
made this known recently in Abuja, said to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in
rice and other staples by 2018, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been mobilised to
encourage local production of rice, maize, sorghum, millet and soya beans.
The
president said farmers in 13 out of 36 states were receiving credit support
through the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme.
This
must have encouraged Adeniyi to restate the confidence that customs had in the
ability of Nigerian Rice Producers (NRP) to fill the sufficiency gaps in the
supply of the product.
According
to him, Customs had noted the ongoing rice revolution undertaken by many state
governments and strategic interventions by Federal Government agencies.
He said
the service was convinced that the bumper harvests expected from these efforts
will address the supply gap next year, urging Nigerians to watch out for
similar antics as the stand on rice smuggling would pitch their selfish
interest against national interest.
http://thenationonlineng.net/customs-pro-denies-report-reverse-rice-ban/
International experts convene
to continue the battle against bacterial blight of rice
on 13
October 2016.
MANILA,
Philippines—The threatening nature of bacterial blight (BB) on rice production
was recognized only when TN1 and IR8, the first generation of semidwarf,
high-yielding rice varieties, were attacked by the disease. The ensuing BB
epidemics in the 1960s prompted international research efforts to control it.
So, in
this continuing effort, internationally renowned experts will be gathering in
Manila, 17-19 October, to present the latest breakthroughs in reducing the
incidence of this serious rice disease. About 100 participants from 19
countries are expected to attend the
Fifth International Conference on
Bacterial Blight of Rice (ICBB05). They will be welcomed by
Philippine Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo. The
International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is organizing and hosting the 3-day
event.
BB,
caused by the bacteria
Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae or
Xoo,
can spread rapidly via water droplets. Infected plants often develop symptoms
in a matter of days. As the disease progresses, the leaves of infected plants
turn yellow and wilt, causing rice seedlings to dry up and die. The earlier BB
occurs, the higher the resulting yield loss will be. In severe cases, farmers
experience yield losses of up to 60%. The infection is also difficult to
control with appropriate pesticides.
Historically,
since the onset of the Green Revolution, BB has inflicted major economic damage
in India, Bangladesh, China, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Myanmar, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The disease also occurs in
Australia and Africa. This year in Bangladesh, about 13,000 hectares planted to
paddy rice in Gazipur District were afflicted with a severe BB outbreak,
according to the Dhaka
Tribune.
Significant
progress has been made in understanding BB through analysis of the interactions
between Xoo and rice. Through recent advances in new tools and sequencing
resources in both rice and Xoo, a tremendous amount of knowledge has been
generated in a relatively short time. These new innovations will be highlighted
during the ICBB05 as participants plan future management strategies.
Dr. Jan
Leach, distinguished professor at Colorado State University; Dr. Adam Bogdanove
of Cornell University; and Dr. Wolf Frommer from the Carnegie Institution for
Science at Stanford will be keynote speakers. The status and global assessments
of BB will be discussed by Dr. Tom Mew, former head of the Entomology and Plant
Pathology Division at IRRI, and Dr. Casiana Vera Cruz, IRRI plant pathologist.
Dr. Vera Cruz also chairs the local ICBB05 organizing committee.
Also
during the conference, the online resource,
Rice
diseases: their biology and selected management practices, will be
soft launched especially for the ICBB05. Featured, for now, are the Preface and
Introduction (
The Future Impact of Rice Diseases)
and the full section on BB. The latest information on around 70 more rice
diseases will be placed online as it becomes available from the technical
editors.
This
unique resource is being funded by the Global Rice Science Partnership and
published with the assistance of a number of partners, especially IRRI, the
Africa Rice Center,
and the
International
Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
http://irri.org/news/media-releases/international-experts-convene-to-continue-the-battle-against-bacterial-blight-of-rice
Rice Prices
as on :
15-10-2016 01:58:15 PM
Arrivals
in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.
|
Arrivals
|
Price
|
|
Current
|
%
change
|
Season
cumulative
|
Modal
|
Prev.
Modal
|
Prev.Yr
%change
|
|
Rice
|
|
Pilibhit(UP)
|
9000.00
|
462.5
|
34057.50
|
2235
|
2235
|
2.05
|
|
Gadarpur(Utr)
|
4085.00
|
63.2
|
139120.00
|
1934
|
2122
|
-5.89
|
|
Bazpur(Utr)
|
1337.80
|
262.25
|
66568.06
|
1965
|
2010
|
1.39
|
|
Sultanpur(UP)
|
867.50
|
224.3
|
4626.50
|
2280
|
2300
|
6.05
|
|
Gondal(UP)
|
189.00
|
3.56
|
11282.50
|
2000
|
2000
|
-1.23
|
|
Azamgarh(UP)
|
120.00
|
-44.19
|
5896.00
|
2220
|
2175
|
6.99
|
|
Ballia(UP)
|
80.00
|
NC
|
5200.00
|
2100
|
2130
|
6.60
|
|
P.O. Uparhali Guwahati(ASM)
|
77.50
|
-13.89
|
4567.00
|
2230
|
2230
|
6.19
|
|
Devariya(UP)
|
70.00
|
16.67
|
2115.00
|
2195
|
2285
|
8.13
|
|
Barasat(WB)
|
60.00
|
9.09
|
3095.00
|
2550
|
2500
|
10.87
|
|
Beldanga(WB)
|
50.00
|
4.17
|
3400.00
|
2550
|
2550
|
9.68
|
|
Gauripur(ASM)
|
43.00
|
43.33
|
2629.00
|
4500
|
4500
|
NC
|
|
Rampur(UP)
|
41.00
|
70.83
|
1165.00
|
2550
|
2530
|
16.97
|
|
Lanka(ASM)
|
40.00
|
-11.11
|
3030.00
|
2000
|
2000
|
12.68
|
|
Yusufpur(UP)
|
35.00
|
16.67
|
1370.00
|
2140
|
2150
|
6.47
|
|
Gazipur(UP)
|
34.00
|
30.77
|
3067.00
|
2170
|
2170
|
7.96
|
|
Jorhat(ASM)
|
32.00
|
NC
|
1773.00
|
2800
|
2800
|
NC
|
|
North Lakhimpur(ASM)
|
18.00
|
16.13
|
1906.90
|
1900
|
1900
|
NC
|
|
Dhekiajuli(ASM)
|
15.00
|
-6.25
|
1228.10
|
2300
|
2200
|
9.52
|
|
Kasganj(UP)
|
12.00
|
-
|
24.00
|
2265
|
-
|
-
|
|
Fatehpur(UP)
|
11.50
|
NC
|
398.20
|
2200
|
2250
|
-0.90
|
|
Dibrugarh(ASM)
|
9.20
|
21.05
|
1658.20
|
2450
|
2450
|
-
|
|
Buland Shahr(UP)
|
8.00
|
60
|
357.50
|
2240
|
2220
|
10.89
|
|
Shahganj(UP)
|
8.00
|
-46.67
|
126.00
|
1980
|
2120
|
-1.00
|
|
Sheoraphuly(WB)
|
8.00
|
NC
|
439.15
|
2875
|
2875
|
15.00
|
|
Chandoli(UP)
|
7.00
|
-17.65
|
139.50
|
2165
|
2170
|
14.55
|
|
Mirzapur(UP)
|
7.00
|
-12.5
|
1631.10
|
2175
|
2170
|
10.13
|
|
Raiganj(WB)
|
7.00
|
NC
|
893.00
|
2750
|
2750
|
-5.17
|
|
Hailakandi(ASM)
|
5.00
|
25
|
146.00
|
2200
|
2200
|
-18.52
|
|
Bishalgarh(Tri)
|
3.50
|
25
|
36.00
|
3000
|
3000
|
-6.25
|
|
Mangaon(Mah)
|
3.00
|
-25
|
57.00
|
2800
|
1850
|
12.00
|
|
Melaghar(Tri)
|
2.00
|
NC
|
103.00
|
2750
|
2850
|
14.58
|
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/article9224044.ece
How scientists are taking on the global food
crisis
Oct 14, 2016 |
When Amrita Hazra moved to the United States
from India in 2005 to start graduate school, she noticed that grocery stores
were packed with products based mostly on three grains: wheat, corn and rice.
In 2011, she came to UC Berkeley as a
postdoctoral researcher in plant and microbial biology and saw that despite the
drought, California farms still grew those same grains: wheat, corn and even
rice.Hazra remembered eating a wide variety of grains in her homeland,
including many types of millets — gluten-free cereal grains that are
drought-tolerant and highly nutritious. That gave her an idea. She started the
Millet Project to introduce more people in the U.S. to the benefits of millet
to help deal with drought and diversify the food supply locally and globally.
“Diversifying our food and agriculture is
extremely vital today,” Hazra said. “With climate change causing a rise in
temperatures and unpredictable rain patterns and disrupting current crop
patterns, the Millet Project allows us to bring alternate grain crops back into
the food economy.”
From diversifying food to developing new
varieties to adapting crops to a changing climate, the University of California
and its Global Food Initiative are working to help improve food security this
World Food Day. UC’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources alone has
collaborators in more than 130 countries working to help solve agricultural
problems.
Feed the Future labs
The push to end global hunger got a boost this
summer when President Obama signed the Global Food Security Act, which builds
on efforts such as the federal Feed the Future initiative.UC leads six Feed the
Future Innovation Labs — five at UC Davis and one at UC Riverside. The labs
work to develop climate-resilient crops such as chickpea, cowpea and millet,
and also look to improve poultry, produce and increase food access.
Abundant in protein and energy-rich oils,
cowpeas — also known as black-eyed peas — are central to the diets of millions
of people across Africa and Asia. But according to UC Riverside’s Timothy Close
and Philip Roberts, the legume crop is performing at only 20 percent of its
genetic potential. So they’ve set out to breed new cowpea varieties that have
both higher yield and quality, along with disease resistance, pest resistance
and drought tolerance.
To accomplish this, they’re using a genetic
tool called DNA marker-assisted breeding — in essence, a process that uses
genetic analysis to find and select for specific desired traits, vastly
speeding up the traditional hybridization process.“We are no longer confined to
slower, less directed methods of plant breeding, nor must we base all hope on
genetically modified organisms,” Close said. “With marker-assisted breeding we
can, over just a few years, accomplish improvement in cowpea varieties that can
enormously benefit farmers, markets and consumers.”
In its first four years, the UC Davis-led Feed
the Future Horticulture Innovation Lab trained nearly 32,000 people in more
than 30 countries, including more than 9,800 farmers who have improved their
farming practices.
Building on those successes, an international
team led by UC Davis is working to connect 9,000 rural households in Guatemala
with improved water management and climate-smart agriculture strategies to
increase food security and reduce poverty. Called MásRiego (“more irrigation”),
the Feed the Future project aims to increase farmers’ incomes and their use of
climate-smart strategies, including drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting,
reduced tillage, mulch use and diverse crop rotation.
“We’re taking lessons learned from our previous
research — in Guatemala, Honduras and Cambodia — and building a team to help
more small-scale farmers apply our findings and successfully use these
innovative practices,” said Beth Mitcham of UC Davis, who directs the
Horticulture Innovation Lab.Students and recent graduates also are playing an
important part in efforts to address food security on campus and globally.
Several winners of the Global Food Initiative’s 30 Under 30 Awards are tackling
hunger, such as UC Berkeley alum Komal Ahmad, a former Big Ideas @ Berkeley
winner who founded Copia, a food recovery business that connects those with
excess food to those in need of it.
In UC’s systemwide World Food Day Video
Challenge for students, first place went to a UC Davis team working to improve
postharvest produce storage in developing countries, enhancing food safety and
quality.
In addition, UC is partnering with the U.S.
Agency for International Development to expand the Research and Innovation
Fellowship program, which addresses pressing agricultural development
challenges around the globe. The program has grown to four UC campuses —
Berkeley, Davis, Riverside and Santa Cruz — with the possibility of further
expansion, co-sponsored by the UC Global Food Initiative.
The graduate student fellows spend two to six
months helping partner organizations solve scientific, technological,
organizational and business challenges. For example, UC-USAID fellow Sammi Wong
of UC Davis traveled to Colombia to work on a project to help save bananas by
seeking a biocontrol agent to combat a deadly fungus also known as “Panama
disease.”
Sustaining staple crops
The banana is one of the world’s top 10 staple
crops, but it could be wiped out in just five to 10 years by fast-advancing
fungal diseases. UC Davis researchers have discovered how three other fungal
diseases have evolved into a lethal threat to the world’s bananas. The
discovery better equips researchers to develop hardier, disease-resistant
banana plants and more effective disease-prevention treatments.
Rice is another staple food, but a considerable
amount of the global rice crop is grown in regions where seasonal flooding is
extreme and unpredictable, and can cause major crop losses. UC Davis plant
pathology professor Pamela Ronald — working with colleagues from UC Riverside —
developed flood-tolerant rice. Millions of subsistence farmers in South Asia
have now grown Sub1A or “scuba rice.”
Roughly 1 in 9 people on Earth do not have
enough food to eat. And climate change is only making it harder for farmers to
meet the global demand for food. To this end, the new Center for Research On
Plant Transporters at UC San Diego, funded by a $6 million grant from the
National Science Foundation, aims to help develop the molecular tools necessary
to grow the hardier crop varieties that farmers need now and will increasingly
need in coming years — corn, wheat and rice that are more tolerant to heat,
drought, salinity and other adverse conditions.
Increasing crop diversity
UC Berkeley’s Peggy Lemaux, a member of the
Millet Project team, leads a $12.3 million project funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy to examine the role of epigenetics — the study of how
heredity affects gene expression — in allowing plants to survive in drought
conditions. UC Berkeley researchers will partner with scientists at UC ANR, the
Energy Department’s Joint Genome Institute and that agency’s Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory on the five-year project. Researchers will dissect
mechanisms by which sorghum, a close relative of corn, is able to survive water
deprivation.
Meanwhile, the African Orphan Crops Consortium,
run by UC Davis, Mars Inc., and other global partners, is working to sequence,
assemble and annotate the genomes of 101 African crop species to improve the
nutrition of the African farm families who depend on them for sustenance.At the
consortium’s Plant Breeding Academy, Africa’s top breeders learn how to
incorporate genomic information, statistics and the latest breeding strategies
into their programs. Daniel Adewale, plant breeder with the Ondo State
University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, is using the skills he learned
in the 2014 academy to improve the African yam bean, increasing its essential
amino acid content and reducing its cooking time.“By helping breeders improve
these forgotten crops, I believe the African Orphan Crops Consortium will cure
malnutrition in Africa,” Adewale said.
Turning to the sea
The answers to the global food crisis may also
come from the sea.If projections hold, the global demand for animal protein
will double over the next four decades, rising along with pressure to find
ecologically sustainable food production practices.
Could farmed fish save the day? Just maybe,
says UC Santa Barbara’s Steve Gaines.
“There are some really bad ways to do
aquaculture, but if you look at best practices, they are dramatically better
than any production on land,” Gaines said.
Rediscovering millet
The Millet Project, which began by
collaborating with farmers to conduct small-scale millet cultivation in
different locations in Northern California, is going global.Hazra is now an
assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
in her hometown of Pune, where she finds a renewed need to promote millet as
rice and wheat are overtaking India’s urban grocery stores. Hazra plans to
start a millet patch on campus. She also is collaborating with educators to add
farming to the curriculum of schools in Mumbai and with a brewer in Pune who
wishes to use millet to brew beer.
“By being involved with the project, I wish to
continue growing with it, and along with our team, bring food security and food
and agricultural diversity to people around the world,” Hazra said.
Campaigns opposing genetically
modified food are misguided
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 15 October, 2016, 12:17am
UPDATED :
Saturday, 15 October, 2016, 12:17am
I refer to Alex Lo’s column (“The safety of genetically modified
crops is backed by science”, September 18).
Despite the advancement of genetic engineering in recent decades
with huge potential to solve a variety of problems facing the mankind, we
cannot fully benefit from the technologies unless the public is well informed
about the advantages of GM food.
In June 2016, 113 Nobel prize-winning scientists signed a letter
opposing Greenpeace’s anti-GM campaign and asking governments to grant farmers
around the world access to biotechnology for GM food. The scientists cited
Golden Rice with vitamin A added through genetic modification.
Golden Rice could have benefited over 250 million people in the
developing world suffering from diseases caused by vitamin A deficiency if
Greenpeace did not oppose GM food. In fact, Golden Rice is just one example of
how GM food can solve malnutrition problems in the developing world. Scientists
have been working on improving the nutrient composition of other staple crops
such as vitamin C and E in corn, iron in rice and protein quality in potato.
In addition to treating malnutrition, GM food can also solve
other agricultural and environmental problems on a global scale. GM food can
not only be grown faster and with larger yields , thereby alleviating food
shortages in the developing world and reducing the carbon footprint of farming
– it can also enhance farming in areas with frequent droughts and deficient
soil and significantly improve the livelihood of people living in such areas.
By growing GM variants of crops more resistant to pests and other diseases,
farmers around the world could also reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides
and take a step closer to more environmentally friendly agricultural practices.
Historically speaking, mankind has been genetically modifying
crops for thousands of years since the advent of agriculture through breeding
and crossbreeding different varieties to create plant species with faster
growth, higher yields and sweeter fruits.
Modern genetic engineering merely continues such a tradition
with more advanced technologies for manipulating genes more precisely.
Despite its valuable work in other areas for environment
protection, Greenpeace is on the wrong side of history with regard to GM food.
It should stop exploiting the irrational fear of the public and start playing
more constructive roles in the development and regulation of GM food.
Simon Wang, Kowloon Tong
http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2028138/campaigns-opposing-genetically-modified-food-are-misguided
Black Rice of
Suriname Came with Slave Ships
Gene analysis of the black rice
of Suriname has shown that it is related to West African rice and unrelated to
Asian rice.
Source: New York University,
Wageningen University
A man and a boy till the soil before the sowing of rice,
Casamance, Senegal, July 2008
The black rice grown by the
Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves who live in Suriname and other
countries, is similar to a specific type of black rice from Cote d’Ivoire, new
study revealed. The study is a combination of botanic,
historic and genetic research and can help trace the unwritten migration
history of people and crops.The research focused on the black rice Oryza
glaberrima, which the Maroons grow although they rarely eat. The rice is
typically used for rituals, such as spiritual herb baths, and while historical
documents suggest that the black grains of the Maroons originated from African
rice, it was not known precisely where they came from.
To find out, scientists collected
African rice from a Maroon market in Paramaribo, Suriname, and cultivated the grains into fully grown plants in Amsterdam's garden Hortus
Botanicus. Then they compared the DNA of these plants with genomes of 109
varieties of Oryza glaberrima from West Africa. The tests revealed that the
Suriname sample has no connection to Asian rice and appears sister to a
specific type of black rice derived from the fields of Mande-speaking farmers
in western Cote d’Ivoire.
Although Dutch slave traders
bought most of their African slaves from Ghana, Benin and Central Africa, the
recently digitized log of the Zeeland vessel D'Eenigheid indicates that rice and slaves were also purchased along the Western coast
of Africa, including Cote d’Ivoire.
The slave trade brought people and rice from West Africa to
South America
Wageningen University
Slaves used leftover seeds from
the ships to cultivate rice - and other crops - in their door yard gardens on
the plantations and on forest fields. In this way, the African rice continued
to be cultivated and was available for plantation by the Maroon communities.
The Maroons are witness to the
determination and skill of the slaves to fight for their freedom early on. In
Jamaica, persistent attacks by Maroons on plantations forced the
Dutch colonists in the course of the 18th century to
conclude a series of peace treaties with them, which in
effect recognised the sovereignty of Maroon settlements on the island. In
Surinam, both slave revolts and a guerilla war by Maroons against the
plantation owners similarly forced he Dutch to recognize Maroon
settlements in the country in a number of peace treaties concluded in
1740-60.
Maroon village on the Suriname river, 1955
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except those which are linked to Wikimedia Commons.
http://www.eatglobe.com/news/food/2699-black-rice-of-suriname-came-with-slave-ships.html
Scientist focuses on rice disease
Yeshi Wamishe
Photo courtesy of University of Arkansas Rice Research Extension
Service
Friday
Posted Oct 14, 2016 at 1:31 PM
By Dawn Teer / Stuttgart Daily Leader
Editor's Note: This is the fourth
article in a question and answer series with local scientists and their work at
the University of Arkansas Rice Research Extension Service (UARREC) in
Stuttgart.
Education: PhD in plant pathology
Field of study or expertise: Currently focused on rice diseases
Hometown: Originally from Ethiopia, current Stuttgart resident
Family: Married and have three sons
When did you become interested in rice research?
When I did my postdoctoral research
training under the University of Arkansas working for Dale Bumpers National
Rice Research Center (DBNRRC) scientist Dr. Yulin Jia.
What courses did you take that steered you into the field that
became your career?
Plant pathology courses back in
Ethiopia and here at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
What do you do at UARREC?
I am 100 percent extension rice
pathologist
What are you currently working on or developing? And why?
I am working on the major diseases
of rice such as bacterial panicle blight, sheath blight, blast and autumn
decline among others. My major responsibility is to help Arkansas rice
producers. I conduct applied research that are related to major diseases that
constraint rice production and also assist Arkansas producers on disease
diagnosis and management option recommendations.
What research that you have done has been able to help the average
rice farmer?
The Extension Rice Pathology
Program at RREC in Stuttgart works closely with rice breeders assisting them in
screening for disease resistance, evaluating preliminary and advanced breeding
rice materials for disease resistance both under natural and also creating
artificial disease conditions. We also do a lot of work testing products to
manage rice diseases in collaboration with chemical industries. We work with
scientists in different discipline since diseases are important components in
rice production.
What are some of the research differences between what you do and
the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center?
I am more focused more on the
applied rice pathology and less on basic research.
What are some of the collaborations with DBNRRC?
I do collaborate with scientists in
DBNRRCin the areas wherever basic research is needed to support my applied
research.
What would people be surprised to learn about your job and what
you do?
How much my program focuses and
works hard on increasing crop productivity by decreasing crop disease
pressures.
Do you have a support staff that assist you in your research? Who
are they and what do they do?
Yes, I have four support staff. A
program associate, Tibebu Gebremariam; a technician, Temesgen Mulaw; and two
other technicians who are mostly working on evaluation of breeding rice
material, Christy Kelsey and Scott Belmar. They are all involved in field,
greenhouse and laboratory research activities as a team
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/20161014/scientist-focuses-on-rice-disease
News Agency of Nigeria
The Rice Farmers Association of
Nigeria (RIFAN), on Friday called for proper distribution of locally produced
rice to meet up the country’s need of the commodity.RIFAN’s South-West Zonal
Coordinator, Mr Segun Atho, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that
the development of the sub-sector was a primary step to meeting the rice need.
Atho spoke against the backdrop
of the report that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd),
had on Oct. 6, ordered the immediate lifting of the ban on the importation of
rice.He said that lifting the ban on rice would disrupt the Muhammadu Buhari
administration’s diversification drive and the green alternative initiative of
the agricultural sector.
The zonal coordinator said that
farmers needed to be empowered for self-sufficiency and sustainability rather
than consider importation of rice.“We expect the government to be proactive in
terms of empowering domestic farmers to ensure they grow rice. Banning or no
banning is a secondary issue.
“It is when we say that we have a shortfall
that the government can import to augment, but then, what happens to the rice
harvested in all the states of the nation.“I wonder why government should be
talking about exportation when we are not self-sufficient; it is when we are
sufficient that we can talk about sustainability and exportation.
“Government should look at ways to make home
grown farmers to continue with production otherwise, a lot of farmers will back
out,’’ he said.
The coordinator added that the production of
local rice was progressing gradually across the country with Kebbi producing
about 1.5 million metric tons of rice annually.“If Kebbi can produce 1.5
million metric tons and Zamfara, Niger and other states are making good
production, then what is our problem, we need to put our acts together.’’
NAN reports that the customs Public Relations
Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi, had said that all rice imports through land borders
would attract the current import duty of 10 per cent with 60 per cent
levy.Adeniyi also said rice millers with valid quota allocation would also attract
a duty rate of 10 per cent with 20 per cent levy on rice importation
https://www.today.ng/news/nigeria/197152/rifan-calls-proper-distribution-locally-produced-rice
$3 Billion Nigeria Bound Rice Stuck in Benin
Republic
Posted on Oct 14, 2016 in Business
Eromosele Abiodun
Rice worth over $3 billion meant for the
Nigerian markets are said to be stuck in various warehouses in Benin Republic
due to the federal government’s policy banning importation of the commodity
through land borders and fierce customs anti-smuggling drive, THISDAY
investigation has revealed.THISDAY findings revealed that the annual routine of
importing rice into the neighbouring countries from July to December to make
massive sales in Nigeria during yuletide has hit a brickwall as the Comptroller
General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) has
insisted that his men tighten the borders.
Nigeria shares major borders with Benin
Republic at Seme Border (Lagos), Idiroko (Ogun State), Shaki (Oyo State),Chikanda
(Kwara State) and other smaller openings. Prominent among them is Seme where
the highest volume of trade and largest smuggling opportunity exists because of
its easier access to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital city.Seme border,
which hitherto was a major transit point for foreign rice importation and
smuggling also became a no go area for the commodity as almost daily seizures
of 50kg bags of it have taken a good portion of the government warehouse .
A competent source in Benin told THISDAY that
most of the warehouses where the bagged rice are kept before shipment into the
country are now battling for space.According to the source, who does not want
his name in print, “some consignments of imported rice into the small West
African country that had no space at the usual and popular stores were moved to
makeshift storage areas and are exposed to rains, weevils and other unhygienic
forms of storage.
The source said: “Popular warehouses no longer
receive rice shipments as thousands of bags earlier delivered to them since
July could not be evacuated into Nigeria as planned and as the usual case in
previous years. Popular Cherika warehouse in Akpakpa near Cotonou with a
capacity to hold 25,000 bags is fully loaded with Thailand rice with no hope of
evacuating them into Nigeria except government relaxes its policy disallowing
rice imports through border or customs softening their round the clock
enforcement in Seme.
“Defezi warehouse close to the Cotonou Port
with is filled with over 40,000 units of 50kg bags of Indian and Thailand rice.
Defezi got occupied earlier due to its proximity to the port but was not
evacuated as the owners could not risk entering Nigeria with it. Cica warehouse
in Missebo area of the Cotonou outskirts that suffered lack of patronage in the
past due to distance from Seme border and bad road presently have over 15,000
bags. Some are getting moulded, caked with their bags torn and quantity reduced
while under storage in several odd arrangements endlessly awaiting shipment
into Nigeria.”
THISDAY checks revealed that while hope of
smuggling them into Nigeria gets dim by the day, there is a conscious efforts
at attempting the smuggling of the commodity without using bags.The unwholesome
methods, our findings revealed, require pouring grains of rice into various
compartments of vehicles like the booths, bonnets, inner part of the doors,
under the seats and other spaces meant for spare tyres and tools.
Sources disclosed that attempts to try bringing
in some hundreds of bags failed as the smuggling bags ended up inside the
customs warehouse in Seme and Idiroko as seizures.The seized rice, some of
which are closed to expiring and unwholesome for human consumption have become
bad and unqualified for donation to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps as
was done in the recent past.
Numbers made available by the NCS revealed that
over 37,000 bags of rice have so far been seized in Seme and Idiroko between
January and September 2016 with a recent clamp down on 13 vehicles at a go in
the Ogun State area all laden with smuggled rice.Nigeria Customs had in an
October 2016 press statement reiterated government’s ban on rice importation
through the borders. The statement signed by customs spokesman, Wale Adeniyi,
reinforced its resolve to protect government’s attempt to improve local rice
capacity.
According to him, ”We like to reiterate the
position that importation of Rice remains banned through our Land Borders, and
we have the commitment of Partner Government Agencies and Stakeholders to
enforce this restriction. While this restriction is in force, Rice imports
through the Ports are still allowed subject to payment of extant charges.”
http://www.nigeriatoday.ng/2016/10/3-billion-nigeria-bound-rice-stuck-in-benin-republic/
Food imports balloon
as local output stalls
- THAKUR SINGH THARU, BANKE
Oct 15, 2016- Imports of vegetables and other
farm products through Nepalgunj Customs have soared as local production has
fallen amid swelling demand, local stakeholders said.Banke’s fertile farmlands
used to produce sufficient vegetables and other agriculture commodities to
fulfill the requirement of the Mid-Western Region, but a drop in productivity
has forced traders to resort to large-scale imports from India.
According to the District Agriculture Office
Nepalgunj, shipments of vegetables and other food items through the border
point amounted to Rs4.06 billion in the last fiscal year. Rice imports stood at
Rs1.46 billion.
Similarly, corn and wheat imports totalled
Rs970 million. As per office records, imports of potato and onion stood at
Rs440 million and Rs101.5 million respectively.
Vegetable, potato and onion imports, in
particular, surge during the festival season. According to the office, traders
have been importing seven to eight truckloads of vegetables daily through the
customs point.
“As the start of the planting season coincides
with the festival season, demand for these farm products has surged recently,”
said Krishna Bahadur Basnet, chief of the office. The imported vegetables are
shipped mainly to the hill districts in the Mid-Western Region besides
Kathmandu and Pokhara.
Hirminiya, Kamdi, Udharapur, Paraspur,
Udayapur, Nauwasta and Bageshwori are the largest producers of vegetables in
Banke district. However, soaring demand has outstripped output.As per the Plant
Quarantine Office in Nepalgunj, imports of eggplant and beans amounted to
Rs15.2 million in the last fiscal year. Similarly, fruit imports through the
border point stood at Rs195.2 million.Meanwhile, goat imports for Dashain through
the border point totalled Rs150 million. As per traders, the figure could
double by the end of Tihar.Hari Lal Jaisi, an official at the Animal Quarantine
Office in Nepalgunj, said traders had imported 22,622 goats till date. “The
trend will continue till Tihar,” he said.
Last year, traders imported 163,000 goats
through the customs point. “Low livestock production in the region has led to
growing dependency on imports from India,” Jaisi said. According to him,
traders import goats from Maharashtra, Kanpur, Lakhimpur, Gorakhpur and Lucknow
in India
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-10-15/food-imports-balloon-as-local-output-stalls.html
De Guzman Appointed Agriculture Research Fellow
October 14, 2016 |
Dr. Christian De Guzman, graduate research assistant with the
Louisiana State University (LSU) Department of Agronomy, has been named the new
rice breeder with the Southeast Missouri State University Department of
Agriculture and the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council.De Guzman
began his new role Oct. 10 and will be based at Southeast Missouri State
University-Malden, 10 miles east of the Missouri Research Farm in Glennonville,
Missouri.“Dr. DeGuzman is an experienced international rice breeder who will
provide superior leadership towards rice breeding and rice improvement,” said
Dr. Mike Aide, chair of the Department of Agriculture at Southeast. “Dr.
eGuzman will also be collaborating with rice researchers from around the globe
to bring their experience to promote Missouri rice production.”De Guzman will
be responsible for conducting rice research that supports the Missouri rice
industry, coordinating rice research activities involving other researchers
with the Missouri Rice Research & Merchandising Council, and managing the
rice laboratory at Southeast’s Malden campus. His work also will include grant
writing and research reporting, and supervising staff.
“The farmers and staff at the
Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council are very excited to have
someone of Dr. De Guzman’s background and knowledge of rice breeding, and we
welcome him and his family to Southeast Missouri,” said Greg Yielding, Missouri
representative for the U.S. Rice Producers Association. “The Missouri Rice
Council looks forward to continuing its more than 20-year cooperation with
Southeast Missouri State University to develop new rice varieties and improve
the agronomics of rice farming in Missouri and throughout the U.S.”
At LSU, De Guzman has been responsible for generating long and
medium grain experimental two-line hybrids for the LSU rice hybrid breeding
program. He has performed marker genotyping for grain quality traits in rice,
developed molecular markers for early heading and wide compatibility and
implemented disease screening and selection for sheath blight resistance.
He previously has served as a visiting research associate at the
LSU Agcenter at Louisiana State University, the junior plat breeder of sweet
corn with East-West Seed Company in the Philippines, research farm supervisor
with the Linda Vista Research Farm, East-West Seed Company in the Philippines;
research farm foreman with the Hortanova research Farm, East-West Seed Company
in the Philippines; and technical assistant-poultry breeding with Tyson-Agro
Ventures in the Philippines.
He brings to the position a wealth of expertise in field
management and breeding, and molecular genetics. He holds a doctoral degree in
agronomy, plant breeding and genetics from Louisiana State University, where
his dissertation was on genetic analyses of male sterility and wide
compatibility in U.S. hybrid rice breeding lines. He holds a Bachelor of
Science in agriculture from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos,
Laguna, Philippines.
He is a member of the Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society in
Agriculture (LSU Chapter), Crop Science Society of America, Agronomy Society of
America and Soil Science Society of America
http://news.semo.edu/de-guzman-appointed-agriculture-research-fellow/
10/14/2016 Farm Bureau Market Report
Rice
|
High
|
Low
|
|
Long
Grain Cash Bids
|
- - -
|
- - -
|
|
Long
Grain New Crop
|
- - -
|
- - -
|
|
|
|
Futures:
|
|
|
ROUGH RICE
|
|
|
High
|
Low
|
Last
|
Change
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nov '16
|
1037.0
|
1016.0
|
1016.0
|
-7.0
|
|
Jan '17
|
1059.0
|
1036.5
|
1036.5
|
-9.0
|
|
Mar '17
|
1075.0
|
1060.0
|
1058.0
|
-10.5
|
|
May '17
|
|
|
1080.0
|
-9.0
|
|
Jul '17
|
|
|
1097.5
|
-10.5
|
|
Sep '17
|
|
|
1105.0
|
-10.5
|
|
Nov '17
|
|
|
1105.0
|
-10.5
|
|
|
Rice Comment
Rice futures were lower across the board. The
monthly supply/demand report showed increased beginning stocks, and production
resulting in a net increase in ending stocks for the 16/27 marketing year.
Ending stocks are now forecast to be 120.7 million metric tons. Export sales
were 43,100 tons for the week, down slightly from a week ago and certainly not
enough to spark buying interest. November is hovering above support at $10,
with resistance below $10.50
Chinese scientist plans mass
production of sea-rice
Source:
Xinhua 2016-10-15 14:32:29
QINGDAO,
Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's "father of hybrid rice" is planning to
expand its production of sea-rice at a newly founded research center in
Qingdao, a port city in the eastern province of Shandong, local sources said
Saturday.
Within
three years, the sea-rice research and development center, headed by scientist
Yuan Longping, is expected to expand the yield of sea-rice to 200 kilograms on
each "mu," the Chinese unit equivalent to 666 square meters,
according to local authorities in Qingdao's Licang District, where the new
research body is located.
Wild
sea-rice is sometimes found in saline-alkaline soil at the junctures where
rivers join the sea. The plant is resistant to pests, diseases, salt and alkali
and does not need fertilizer. But its unit output is only around 75 kg.
The
Qingdao research center will use gene sequencing to cultivate new strains of
sea-rice that will yield more rice and grow with saline water.
With
start-up funding of 100 million yuan (14.86 million U.S. dollars), scientists
will start their experiment on a 2-hectare saline-alkaline marsh land just
north of the Jiaozhou Bay in April. The project will eventually draw an
investment of 2 billion yuan.
Over
the past decades, Chinese scientists, led by Yuan, have worked out new
approaches to significantly increase the yield of rice, a staple food for 65
percent of the Chinese.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/15/c_135756365.htm
Concern
over farmers losing interest in sugarcane
Issues
confronting sugarcane cultivation was the focus of a two-day meeting of
sugarcane research and development workers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry which
opened here on Friday.It was organised by ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, and Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Sugars (VV
Sugars) to discuss issues in sugarcane cultivation such as low productivity,
wild boar and rodent menace, mechanisation, besides new cane varieties and seed
nursery programme. An exhibition displaying recent and popular sugarcane
varieties, farm machines, drip irrigation technologies and a bio-acoustic
device to ward off wild boars was also organised, according to a release from
Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Sugars.
Inaugurating
the meet, A. Ramamourti, Director of Agriculture, Puducherry, said farmers were
losing interest in raising sugarcane owing to drought, shortage of labour,
incidence of pest and diseases and high cost of cultivation. Research
institutes, in collaboration with sugar factories, should identify reasons for
low yield and declining sugar recovery in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Introducing short-duration varieties, encouraging community farming and custom
hiring of machineries, including harvesters, could improve and sustain
sugarcane productivity, he said.
Bakshi
Ram, Director of ICAR-SBI, said sugarcane yield and sugar production in Tamil
Nadu and Puducherry remained low owing to adverse climatic conditions and water
shortage. There had been a marginal improvement this season.
Chenthil
Rajan, Managing Director, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Sugars, said sugarcane yield
had not improved significantly in the past 40 years unlike rice and other
crops.P. Chandran, Joint Director of Agriculture, S.Suresh, Tamil Nadu Rice
Research Institute, and N. Chinnappan, Executive Director, Dhanalakshmi
Srinivasan Sugars, spoke.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/concern-over-farmers-losing-interest-in-sugarcane/article9222124.ece
Texas Rice Festival Celebrates Harvest
By Katie Maher
WINNIE, TX -- There was something for everyone
who attended the 47th annual Texas Rice Festival here late last month as the
four-day event offers a myriad of activities including: educational booths, carnival rides, parades,
pageants, craft shows, cooking contests, music performances, local food, and
much more.
Visitors
to the Rice Education Tent received recipe brochures, educational information,
rice crispy treats, and colored pencils for kids, all provided by USA
Rice. Attendees also had the chance to
spin the rice wheel to test their knowledge about U.S.-grown rice.
"My great-grandfather, grandfather, and
father were all rice farmers, and my husband, Charlie, and our son, Will, are
still farming rice today," said Karen Reneau, Texas Rice Festival
volunteer stationed at the Rice Education Tent.
"I'm a retired teacher and elementary school principal, so
education is a passion of mine, and the rice festival gives me the opportunity
to teach people of all ages about the locally-grown rice - another passion of
mine."
Reneau adds that since her retirement as an
educator, she's been helping out on the farm - driving tractors, working at the
rice dryers, and in the crawfish fields.
"I guess I'm not retired after all, but I don't really look at the
farming work as a job, because I get to work with my family each day."
The festival was created in 1969 to honor rice
farming, a major economic contributor to the economy of southeast Texas
Asa Hutchinson, Mike Preston and Wes Ward. (Lance Turner)
Gov. Asa
Hutchinson on Thursday said he will travel to China to meet with existing and
prospective business contacts and with government officials about opening the
country to Arkansas rice and poultry.
Mike
Preston, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development
Commission, and Mark Hamer, AEDC director of business development for
Asia, will accompany the governor on the six-day tour, which will include
stops in Shanghai, Beijing, Yanzhou District, Jinan, Jining and Suzhou.
The group
leaves Saturday and will return Oct. 21.
Hutchinson
said China has barriers to rice and poultry from the U.S. and that he wants to
meet directly with government officials about changing that. The country still
an avian flu ban on poultry, and an agreement to allow U.S. rice into China has
yet to be approved by its government.
Hutchinson's
group plans to meet with China's vice minister of agriculture and its secretary
general of foreign affairs.
"Not
only will be calling on prospective businesses that we hope to recruit to
Arkansas over time, but we'll also be meeting with Arkansas businesses there,
and also taking the case for Arkansas to the Chinese government," he said.
Preston
said maintaining relationships with companies is important for recruitment and
other economic development efforts.
"When
you're doing economic development, relationships matter, and this governor has
proven that — that building these relationships are imperative to us doing
business here in the United States but obviously also overseas," Preston
said. "What we learned last time with China is that we have to have a
presence there — we continue to have our office in Shanghai — and it's
important for myself and the governor to make sure that Arkansas is known over
there."
Preston said the state aims to continue momentum generated by
the Sun Paper agreement. He said AEDC has seen an uptick in calls from Chinese
companies interested in the state, which is giving Arkansas more reason to go
and share its story there.Preston said the Chinese are looking for new places
to invest."They're looking for markets outside of China to invest in, and
they look at the United States as the most stable market in the world in which
to invest," he said. "So that tells us that Arkansas has an
opportunity to be one of the first states there that can build those
relationships to look for investments. So I think that's where you see a
company like Sun Paper looking to invest in new markets and looking to the
United States."
The trip
will cost $45,000, according to the governor's office. It will be the
governor's fifth international trade mission since taking office and his second
to China. In July, Hutchinson and
Preston led a contingent to Europe to explore
opportunities in the aerospace and defense industries and open an AEDC office
in Berlin.
In
November, the governor traveled to China
and Japan. In 2015, he was the first governor to visit Cuba since
the country re-established formal diplomatic relations with the United States.
The Cuba missions also focused on promoting the state's rice and poultry
industries
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/113513/asa-hutchinson-to-promote-rice-poultry-on-china-trip
Sacramento
Valley rice farmers push to harvest before fields become mud
Ranch dog
"Butch" is ready to get busy during rice harvest at Gorrill Ranch in
Nelson, Calif. Wed. Oct. 12, 2013. (Bill Husa -- Enterprise-Record)
PHOTOS: Rice
Harvest at Gorrill Ranch 10-12-2016
A
bankout wagon can be seen coming up in the
mirror as a combine gets ready to unload during rice harvest at Gorrill Ranch
in Nelson on Wednesday. Bill Husa —
Enterprise-Record
Nelson
>> Rice growers at the Gorrill Ranch were pushing their crews to the
limit this week, working into the twilight hours to harvest as much rice as
possible before the wet weekend.Four drivers climbed into rice combines
Wednesday morning, planning for a long day. The big machines can move faster
than the rice will allow. By starting as soon as the morning dew evaporated,
the men and their machines had the best chance of covering the most ground.
Ranch
manager Daniel Robinson explained that rice is normally harvested at a certain
level of moisture content. Because of the predicted rain, the decision was made
to harvest the rice on the wet side. This will mean an increased cost for
energy to dry the rice kernels. Yet, that’s better than spending the extra time
to slog through muddy fields after the rain.“Having our own dryer helps,” with
the decision, Robinson said.
OTHER RUSHED FARMERS
Gorrill
Ranch is just one farm of the many making the same decisions in the Central
Valley.Carl Hoff, president of Butte County Rice Growers Association,
BUCRA, said the
cooperative has extended business hours to receive rice from members. This week
they’ve been open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m., and 9 p.m. Wednesday.Some rice dryers
could experience delays with more farmers ready to deposit a load than capacity
to process the grain. However, BUCRA expanded recently and has not had to slow
down the process, Hoff explained.Similar to the Gorrill Ranch, some farmers are
choosing to cut the rice a little on the wet side, knowing it will be more
costly to dry.
Most of
the rice harvesters in the valley are being worked overtime this week, and Hoff
had the numbers to prove it. Last week the cooperative received 120 million
pounds of raw rice, he said.
MUDDY MESS
If the
rains
arrive as
predicted, rice fields will soon be a muddy mess. The harvesting machines are
heavy to start. Add about 8,000 pounds of rice kernels, you’re really talking
deep ruts in wet soil.
If a
harvester gets stuck, hauling it back to a gravel road is no easy maneuver. The
same goes for the tractors hauling the bankout wagons, where the rice is
transferred before being taken to the mill for drying.
FLAT RICE
The
other major setback after rain is rice that flops over. This is called lodging
and it’s a big pain for farmers.
Even
before the rains, some fields on the Gorrill Ranch included lodging. Ranch
manager Robinson said the weather patterns that make rice tip over are an inexact
science. Most people who live around open land have watched dust-devils off in
the distance. Winds will whip up for no particular reason, and a mini twister
of dust will skip across open land.
The
invisible factors that make rice flop over are similarly mysterious.
Some
might view the toppling of rice stalks as a good sign for a heavy yield.
What is
known is that harvesting rice after it has lodged is more work for the farmer.
For
starters, the header, at the front of the combine, can get clogged by a heavy
stack of wet, matted rice.
On a
normal day of rice harvest, when things are running smooth and easy, the rice
combines can travel about three miles an hour. If the rice is lodged, the
operator travels about 1 mph and probably needs to stop the operation to pull
clogged rice straw from the rice header.
INSIDE
THE CAB
Nate
Enos was one of half a dozen men ready for a long day at the Gorrill Ranch
Wednesday.
The cab
of the rice harvester has windows with a great view, almost like a tourist
helicopter. The side windows help when it’s time to transfer the rice from the
harvester to a bankout wagon, which is hauled by a tractor.
A giant
pipe, called an auger, extends from the harvester and over the opening of the
wagon. Meanwhile, both vehicles continue to travel across the rice field at the
same pace.
When the
wagon is full, the driver heads off for the dryer and the rice harvester
continues to cut and gather the rice.
As Enos
was clipping along, a window behind the driver’s seat showed how much grain had
collected in the “hopper.”
For this
part of the job, it seems like Enos could have been on autopilot. However, he
needed to pay attention in case the rice straw starts to clump. Many times
during harvest he’ll jump out and clear the cylindrical stripping mechanism
until he is ready to roll again.
The
harvesting equipment cuts the rice about five inches from the soil. The kernels
are then stripped from the plants. Seed is funneled in one direction and the
rice stra ہے۔“w blows out the back and back into the field.
Later,
the straw will be cut again, this time closer to the soil. The straw will be
chopped and pressed into the soil before the land is flooded.
Invariably,
rice spills onto the fields without being captured in the harvester. The grain,
plus bugs in the soil, plus flooded fields, are a big treat for migratory and
resident birds in the valley.
HARVEST
PLANS
The
Gorrill Ranch is one of the largest farms in the area, operated by a family
board of directors, now in the fourth generation. Yet, even with its size there
is not enough equipment to harvest all of the rice before the rain.
Robinson
said he plans out the production carefully. Some fields, for example, are closer
to the road. His plan includes harvesting this land later in the season. If the
rains continue, and he needs to harvest when the soil is muddy, at least the
transport trucks can park on solid ground, he said.
This
week, many of the fields had already been harvested. Some were being processed
before flooding. Others were already wet with water for rice straw
decomposition.
OTHER
CROPS
Meanwhile,
walnut harvest is still underway and pecan harvest will follow.The rain isn’t
great for walnuts because the longer they are on the ground the more chances
for mold and a darker color, Robinson explained.As for the pecans, these have a
very hard shell and the nuts will not be damaged by wet weather. Harvest could
be delayed as late as February, if there are weather delays.
For
pecans, farmers may use two shakes, one that nets about 80 percent of the nuts
earlier in the season, and another shake for the remaining 20 percent.
Contact
reporter Heather Hacking at 896-7758.
http://www.chicoer.com/article/NA/20161013/NEWS/161019848
