Pesticide applicator training set
for next week in DeWitt
The first
training will be held Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Phillips Community College in
DeWitt starting at 1 p.m. Additional training dates are: Feb. 10, 6:30 p.m. at
the Rice Research and Extension Center; and Feb. 25, 1 p.m. at Phillips
Community College, DeWitt. The trainings will be for those needing
re-certification as well as for those applying for a new license in order to
purchase restricted use pesticides.
By
Arkansas County Extension Service
for
the Daily Leader
Posted
Jan. 20, 2015 @ 3:25 pm
The Arkansas County Extension Service has scheduled educational meetings to assist farmers in getting the training needed and latest production information for the 2015 cropping season.
Pesticide Applicator Training
The Arkansas County Extension Service will hold three
Pesticide Applicator Training meetings in the next few weeks, with different
dates, locations and times so producers may be able to attend the training of
their choice. The first training will be held Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Phillips
Community College in DeWitt starting at 1 p.m. dditional training dates are:
Feb. 10, 6:30 p.m. at the Rice Research and Extension Center; and Feb. 25, 1
p.m. at Phillips Community College, DeWitt.
The trainings
will be for those needing re-certification as well as for those applying for a
new license in order to purchase restricted use pesticides. Producers who
need re-certification should receive a letter from the State Plant Board
informing them of the requirement for re-certification before a 2014 license
can be issued. Because of funding reductions by the EPA for the pesticide
applicator training program, the Cooperative Extension Service must charge
private applicators for certification training.
The fee is $10 per person, payable at the door the
day of the training. This certification registration fee is in addition to the
price you pay the Arkansas State Plant Board for the license. Please remember
that in most cases farmers will need the training only once every five years.
Please make checks payable to: UA, Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas
County
County Crop Production Meeting
The
annual Arkansas County Crop Production Meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb.
5, at the Rice Research and Extension Center, beginning at 8 a.m. The program
will conclude with a catfish lunch at noon. Additional program details
will be provided prior to the meeting. For more information, call
the Arkansas County Extension Service at (870) 946-3231 or (870)
673-2346.
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/article/20150120/NEWS/150129950
DA reduces
aid on light farm gears, ups rice seeds subsidy to Kalinga farmers
January 21, 2015
TABUK CITY, Kalinga, Jan.21 (PIA) - - Farmers of this
rice-producing province will expect less distribution of light farm
machineries from the Department of Agriculture (DA) this year.Joe Casibang,
Rice Program Coordinator of the Office of Provincial Agriculturist
(OPAG), explained that the fund assistance intended for light
machineries will be allocated instead for the increased subsidy on rice seeds
and other inputs to farmers for the period.DA used to distribute light farm
machineries like hand-tractors, threshers and multi-tillers to rice
farmers here under its Rice Production Enhancement Program.This
year, DA will implement 50 percent subsidy on the cost of rice seeds and
will give free bags of urea and other inputs to rice farmers.
The 50% counterpart of farmers on the cost of rice seeds
will be remitted directly to their own organization, not to DA.Any amount
collected for the year shall accrue to the account of the organization and can
be used for the same purpose in the succeeding year, Casibang disclosed.
On farm machinery support, Casibang said the department will continue
with the distribution of heavy farm machineries like double rice harvesters
and mechanical planters.Under this support, DA awards the heavy farm machinery
to farmer organizations. For heavy machineries costing above P50,000, recipient
organization shoulders 15% of the cost as counterpart. (JDP/LL-PIA
CAR,Kalinga)
Getting
to Know the 114th Congress
Rep. Mike Conaway (l) meets
with
Texas rice farmers during 2014 GAC
WASHINGTON, DC
-- The 114thCongress was sworn in earlier this month with 64 brand new Members,
and significant changes on committees, including Republican chairmen in the
Senate and new chairmen on many House Committees. The task at hand now is to educate the new
Members and their staff about the U.S. rice industry and the industry's
priorities."We've already begun our outreach and education efforts, but we
will use our upcoming Government Affairs Conference to make a major advocacy
push with Congress," said USA Rice Federation Vice President of Government
Affairs Ben Mosely. "Having our
members in town creates a perfect opportunity to tell rice's story on the
Hill."
Mosely confirmed speaking invitations had been
extended to Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX), the new chairman of the House
Agriculture Committee, and to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Under
Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse. "The
GAC is a real learning experience for everyone involved," said Dow Brantley,
an Arkansas rice farmer and chairman of the USA Rice Federation. "Our members attend informational
sessions with legislators and government agency officials where they get to
meet face-to-face, talk about the U.S. rice industry, and educate these
decision makers on the areas that are important to us. It's a key component of our strategy."
Contact: Deborah Willenborg (703) 236-1444
|
CCC
Announces Prevailing World Market Prices
|
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|
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit
Corporation today announced the
following prevailing world market prices of milled and rough rice, adjusted
for U.S. milling yields and location, and the resulting marketing loan-gain
(MLG) and loan deficiency payment (LDP) rates applicable to the 2014 crop,
which became effective today at 7:00 a.m., Eastern Time (ET). Prices
are unchanged from the previous announcement.
This week's prevailing world market prices and MLG/LDP rates are based on the following U.S. milling yields and the corresponding loan rates:
The next program announcement is scheduled for January 28. |
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CME
Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
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CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice Futures for January 21
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Big firms to go for rice milling
Sohel Parvez
Some
local conglomerates plan to go for rice milling and marketing as the staple has
a constant demand in the country of 16 crore people. ACI and City Group are
preparing to set up automatic rice mills, while Bashundhara Group is planning
to go for processing and marketing of parboiled rice.“Our rice will hit the
market by the yearend,” said Syed Alamgir, executive director of consumer
brands of ACI Ltd that has business in sectors such as retail, agribusiness,
food items and pharmaceuticals.The mill will be set up at an investment of Tk
39 crore, ACI said in a web posting on the stock exchanges.Alamgir said they
will bring "high quality" rice under the brand -- ACI Pure.These
large businesses, having good distribution networks, will debut in the market
following some food processing giants such as Pran, Square and Deshbandhu Group
to tap the growing demand for branded fine rice.Currently, around 500 automatic
and semi-automatic rice mills along with 17,000 husking mills are engaged in
parboiling, drying and crushing paddy bought from farmers.
Of the mills, more than 350
operators market rice under their own brands mainly in the fine rice segment,
said Md Layek Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking
Mills Association, which has around 17,000 members.These mills process and
market at least 60 percent or three crore tonnes of the five crore tonnes of
paddy produced a year in the country. Farmers keep the rest of the produce for
their own consumption, according to analysts and millers.
The market for milling and processing of rice
stands at around Tk 50,000 crore a year.Pran is engaged in retailing its
branded rice in smaller packs but it is not present in the branded bulk segment
catered mainly by automatic millers operating from the northwest region.“We
want to mill and market all types of rice -- from aromatic to coarse ones,”
said Biswajit Saha, general manager of City Group.“Presently we process and
sell flour, cooking oil and sugar. That's why, we want to go for rice so that
we can fulfil all the needs of a kitchen,” Saha said.City plans to market in
urban areas, mainly in Dhaka city, he said, adding: “There is no big rice mill
in Dhaka.
So there are prospects.”He said
City is now in talks with a European machinery company to set up the mill,
which is going to be one of the biggest rice mills in Bangladesh.“Discussion is
going on regarding rice milling. This is now at the planning stage,” said
Indrojit Kumar Mahalanabish, head of division, plants of Bashundhara Food and
Beverage Ltd, a concern of Bashundhara Group.“Bangladesh is a country of 16
crore people.
As rice is a staple food, there
are business prospects,” said Mahalanabish. Layek Ali of the mills'
association, however, expressed worries that the milling capacity might exceed
the annual production of paddy.“The market will be saturated and competition
will intensify. As a result, many small and medium husking mills will not
survive making workers jobless,” Ali said.
Published: 12:00 am Thursday, January 22,
2015
Last modified: 12:24 am Thursday, January 22,
2015
TAGS: Bashundhara Group Syed Alamgir automatic rice mills parboiled
rice executive director of consumer brands
Agreement between rice farmers and millers
is not private
JANUARY 21, 2015 · BY ·
Dear Editor,
I was really amused reading an article in the Guyana Chronicle
of January 14, ‘APNU Councillor says farmers should take millers to court to
get their payments -AFC says farmers are afraid to do so, calls for delinquent
miller’s licence to be revoked.’ This I assumed happened in a meeting at the
RDC Boardroom of Region Two over millers still owing farmers their paddy money,
although there was a bail-out lately by government.
The argument by the two opposition councillors was valid in my
opinion, according to the Rice Factories Act 2002. What makes me laugh is when
the Regional Chairman was reported as saying that the agreement between the
rice farmer and a miller is a private one. I wish to make it clear that the
Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is empowered to enforce the Rice Factories
Act when breached by the millers, and there is no private arrangement when it
comes to the farmers’ livelihoods.
The board is even empowered in the prosecution of offences and
recovery of penalties. It has the power to enter and inspect a factory and
examine books, revoke licences and most of all witness the record for the sale
of paddy by the producer (farmer) to the manufacturer (miller). Under the sixth
schedule of the act the miller is bound to sign for the total sum of money,
quantity of paddy received, price per bag with the day and year he did the
transaction with the farmer, along with two witnesses, one being the GRDB
representative at the mill and the RPA representative present.
The Rice Factories Act was passed in an effort to protect the
rice farmers and to improve their quality of life, thereby promoting
standardization by millers. During my tenure there were induction seminars held
by the GRDB at the Burma Research Station. The aim was to sensitize field officers
and grading officers about the operations, administration and integration of
quality control, marketing/export, research and development, payments to
farmers by millers according to the act and extension services. These seminars
were conducted by Brian Greenidge, and were fruitful because they provided
officers with insightful information about the organization and the rice
industry.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
Rice exports may hit 900,000 T in Q1 -
Vietnam Economic Times
21.01.2015
Vietnam is projected to export
900,000 tonnes of rice in the first quarter of 2015, of which 500,000 tonnes
have already been contracted, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper reported,
citing the Vietnam Food Association.Importers could sign more deals when
Vietnam begins harvesting the winter-spring crop while export prices may not be
as high as in 2014, the report quoted the association's chairman as saying. The
association has projected Vietnam's rice exports for this year at more than 7
million tonnes. Last year, 6.32 million tonnes were exported via official trade
and another 2 million tonnes via unofficial trade to China.
Vietnam
to export 900,000 tons of rice in Q1: association
HO CHI MINH CITY, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam planned to export
900,000 tons of rice in the first quarter of this year, the lowest level for
the quarter compared with past several years, Vietnam Food Association reported
on its website Wednesday.Accordingly, local businesses have only signed
contracts to ship around 500,000 tons of rice and they must export an
additional 400,000 tons to meet the set plan, said VFA Chairman Nguyen Hung
Linh, adding that currently the domestic price is competitive as it is lower
than, or as same as other rice exporters at 380 U.S. dollars per ton for
5-percent-broken rice.
VFA also forecast that rice supply and demand for 2015 will remain
unchanged from 2014, but the local market will continue to face challenges with
sustainability and a lot need to be done to speed up the industry. The
association expected to export more than 7 million tons of rice this year.In
2014, Vietnam exported 6.316 million tons of rice, worth 2. 789 billion U.S.
dollars, a decrease of 5.47 percent in volume and 3.59 percent in value.The
association attributed the slump to the sharp decline in demand for rice in the
African markets, overproduction by Thailand and India along with lack of growth
in Asian markets.The country ranked third among the world's largest rice
exporters in 2014 after Thailand (10.5 million tons) and India (10 million
tons), according to VFA.
Are we missing lessons
from the rice-pledging fiasco?
Attayuth
Bootsripoom
January 22, 2015 1:00 am
Tomorrow
is "judgement day" for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's
political future. She is accused by the National Anti-Corruption Commission
(NACC) of negligence of duty leading to corruption, in connection with her
government's rice-pledging scheme. That project is part of her Pheu Thai
Party's campaign promise in the run-up to the 2011 general election.After Pheu
Thai won a landslide victory, the Yingluck-led government went ahead with the
rice-pledging scheme, despite protests that it was fraught with flaws open to
irregularities and losses.
Yingluck's
administration ignored the critics, arguing that they had to continue with the
project because it was part of the ruling party's campaign promise to the
voters. They explained the project was aimed at providing state subsidies to
farmers and therefore concerns of possible loss should not be taken into
account.As time went by, the "wound" stemming from the rice scheme
became "infected" and the "pain" could be felt. Many people
pointed out that the project had problems. Yingluck's government appeared to
agree that was the case and started to make some adjustments to the scheme.
However,
before the rice scheme's "abscess" would explode, there came a
political crisis and chaos before the coup took place in May last year. The
NACC went full steam in dealing with the case. It requested that the Senate
impeach Yingluck for negligence in connection with the corruption-plagued and
loss-making rice scheme.The unusual speed of the case led to a question as to
whether the case was politically motivated. There are many other cases in the
NACC's care that have failed to progress so rapidly.
The
NACC came up with the accusation that Yingluck was negligent about
irregularities involving the rice scheme even before the anti-graft agency
indicted anyone of corruption. This fact led to an assertion that "when
nobody has been found to be corrupt, how can Yingluck be accused of being
negligent?"
When
Yingluck's case was referred to the post-coup National Legislative Assembly for
an impeachment process, there came a question as to whether the NLA actually
had the authority to impeach her. Some people asked if there existed a law for
impeachment of public office holders, as the constitution of 2007, which cited
this matter, had already been scrapped after the coup.However, this argument
was countered by the fact that the anti-corruption law, which empowered the
NACC to seek impeachment of public-office holders, still existed after the
coup. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has also supported the view that the
NACC had the power to seek impeachment.
During
the NLA's inquiry session involving the impeachment process against Yingluck,
she opted not to show up. And the NLA resolved not to allow her representatives
to answer the questions from the assembly's members on her behalf, although the
meeting regulations did not forbid that. Finally, the session became a
one-sided attack against the ex-PM.Although Yingluck may finally be impeached
by the NLA, this society will end up having learned nothing from the rice
scheme scandal. It is because the justice process has been rushed and has
become incomplete.
Some
politicians will not miss the chance to point out to their supporters that a
decision to impeach Yingluck is politically motivated. However, under its
political shroud, the rice scheme really was flawed with loss and damage.Because
the rice scheme's "abscess" was not allowed to burst naturally, Thai
society has missed the chance to learn some lessons about the bane of expensive
populist policies.
If
society and voters were allowed to learn the lesson by themselves, we might in
the future come up with some kind of penalty for political parties that cause
severe damage to the country in exchange for popular support. Such a penalty
also would teach politicians that they should avoid expensive populist policies
like this in the future. Source www.nationmultimedia.com
