Tuesday, March 17, 2015

16th March (Monday) , 2015 Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

Balmore Trust’s £60K for Malawi farmers

John Riches and Sue Bond from the Balmore Coach House with bags of Malawi fair trade rice which they are selling in aid education for children in the African country. Friday, Feb. 26 2010.(Photo/Chris Clark)

16:00Sunday 15 March 2015
The Balmore Trust has been awarded £60,000 to help develop a pedal-driven rice threshing machine for Malawi farmers.
Description: John Riches and Sue Bond from the Balmore Coach House with bags of Malawi fair trade rice which they are selling in aid education for children in the African country. Friday, Feb. 26 2010.(Photo/Chris Clark)The trust, which imports fairly traded rice and other produce from a number of African countries, received the funding from the Scottish Government’s Small Grants Fund. It is the largest single award to date.Chairman and founder of the trust, John Riches, said the project was the brainchild of Paul Tofield, from Dumfries.He said: “Two years ago he met Howard Msukwa, one of the farmers whose rice we sell. Paul was deeply impressed by Howard’s determination and the sheer amount of work which his rice farming involved.
When Howard told him that farmers thresh their rice by beating it against a log, Paul told him about the pedal-driven threshing machines they used to have in Orkney. That summer Paul went to Orkney and found an old machine. That was the basis for the three machines which have just reached Malawi.”The grant will help to get the machines manufactured in Malawi, which will in turn provide jobs for locals.Mr Riches added: “It will make low-cost machines available to farmers’ clubs, freeing them from the huge burden of threshing, and allowing them more time to develop their farms.
We think it will make a big difference, increasing productivity without damaging the environment and like to think that this is one of the real advantages of doing fair trade.“By building really close links with farmers you can enlist remarkable support. People buy their products and then help them find innovative solutions.Humza Yousaf, Minister for Europe and International Development in the Scottish Government, said: “These threshing machines will make a huge difference to famers and communities in Malawi by improving crop production. It’s exciting to think that machinery built in Scotland is being used thousands of miles away to help farmers in other nations. We are proud to support the Balmore trust.”
APEDA NEWS


Today's Leads


Market Watch
Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 14-03-2015
Domestic Prices
Unit Price : Rs/Qtl
Product
Market Center
Variety
Min Price
Max Price
Barley (Jau)
1
Dhanera (Gujarat)
Other
1500
1500
2
Deoli (Rajasthan)
Other
1200
1320
3
Satna (Madhya Pradesh)
Other
1180
1301
Maize
1
Amreli (Gujarat)
Other
1350
1350
2
Deoli (Rajasthan)
Other
1350
1400
3
Theni(Tamil Nadu)
Other
1000
1200
Orange
1
Ludhiana (Punjab)
Other
2000
4000
2
Uklana(Haryana)
Other
3500
5000
3
Nagpur(Maharashtra)
Other
1300
2800
Brinjal
1
Surat (Gujarat)
Other
1200
1800
2
Bonai (Orissa)
Other
1500
2000
3
Sirhind(Punjab)
Other
1000
2000
Source: agmarknet
Egg
Rs per 100 No.
Price on 14-03-2015
Product
Market Center
Price
1
Pune
280
2
Chittoor
268
3
Nagapur
250
Source: e2necc.com
International Benchmark Price
Price on: 13-03-2015
Product
Benchmark Indicators Name
Price
Garlic
1
Chinese first grade granules, CFR NW Europe (USD/t)
1800
2
Chinese Grade A dehydrated flakes, CFR NW Europe (USD/t)
2000
3
Chinese powdered, CFR NW Europe (USD/t)
1300
Ginger
1
Chinese sliced, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
4600
2
Chinese whole, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
5100
3
Indian Cochin, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
3000
White Sugar
1
CZCE White Sugar Futures (USD/t)
787
2
Kenya Mumias white sugar, EXW (USD/t)
879
3
Pakistani refined sugar, EXW Akbari Mandi (USD/t)
477
Source:agra-net
Other International Prices
Unit Price : US$ / package
Price on 14-03-2015
Product
Market Center
Origin
Variety
Low
High
Onions Dry
Package: 50 lb sacks
1
Atlanta
Mexico
Yellow
13
14
2
Baltimore
New York
Yellow 
10.50
11
3
Chicago
Nevada
Yellow
9
10.50
Cauliflower
Package: cartons film wrapped
1
Atlanta
Mexico
White
31
31.50
2
Baltimore
California
White
26
26
3
Detroit
California
White
33
34
Grapefruit
Package: 4/5 bushel cartons
1
Atlanta
Florida 
Red
14.50
15

Southern California Water Agencies Look North For Water Sale

March 14, 2015 10:42 AM
SACRAMENTO (AP) — The drought has water agencies in Southern California offering big prices for water belonging to Northern California rice farmers.California’s giant Metropolitan Water District and other Southern California agencies are offering to buy up to $71 million in water from Sacramento Valley farmers, the Sacramento Bee reported Saturday. That’s for enough water to supply between 100,000 and 200,000 households for a year.The Metropolitan agency serves 19 million people in Los Angeles and beyond.Four years of some of the steepest droughts on record have made water increasingly scarce in California, and have led state and federal water projects to limit water deliveries to arid Southern California again this year.

The Metropolitan and Kern County water agencies and other water districts are now offering farmers around Northern California’s Feather River more for their water than farmers would earn if they used the water to grow crops. At $700 an acre foot of water, Sacramento Valley water holders are being offered about 40 percent more for their water this summer than last summer.“That reflects the desperation and the competition from the people down there,” Ted Trimble, general manager of the Western Canal Water District in Richvale, Butte County, one of the participating sellers, told the Sacramento Bee.

Many of the farmers involved are rice farmers. Jim Morris, spokesman for the California Rice Commission, said the commission wasn’t familiar with the tentative sale and couldn’t comment on its impact on this year’s crop. “We’re still looking at what the upcoming season will hold,” Morris said.California’s rice farmers already cut planting by one-fourth in 2014 because of the drought. Trimble says his district won’t idle more than one-sixth of its acres this year to take the water deal, because that would undercut the long-term health of California’s rice industry.

California’s rice fields do more than just grow rice; the Nature Conservancy says the rice fields provided more than 13,000 acres of critical wetland for migratory wildfowl this winter through a project with state rice farmers.Sandi Matsumoto of The Nature Conservancy said Saturday that less water will mean less habitat for the birds for a fourth straight winter. Matsumoto said she hopes the impact on wildlife will be considered in the water sales.


Sierra at Tahoe ski resort closes due to lack of snow

Posted: Mar 16, 2015 5:52 AM PDTUpdated: Mar 16, 2015 5:52 AM PDT
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) - The Sierra at Tahoe ski resort is turning off its lifts and closing its trails due to a lack of natural snow.General manager John Rice issued a statement saying the resort has decided, "with a heavy heart," to suspend winter operations starting Monday.The popular ski area on Highway 50 in Twin Bridges is known for its varied terrain and snowmaking ability. But, Rice says, the lack of natural precipitation has left too many bare spots on runs.Rice says Sierra at Tahoe is prepared to resume operations if snow starts falling again.The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1EUzajh ) the announcement comes on the heels of the mid-February closure of Donner Summit for the same reason.The Northstar ski resort, another popular Tahoe destination, remains open.Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com
Japan launches initiative to boost rice exports to Singapore
KYODO
MAR 16, 2015
SINGAPORE – A rice export association has launched an initiative to sell more rice to Singapore, taking advantage of the wealthy city-state’s appetite for Japanese cuisine.The program, titled “This is Japan Quality,” was developed by the Japan Rice and Rice Industry Export Promotion Association in partnership with the agriculture ministry to “expand Japanese culinary culture” by highlighting “the merits of Japanese rice.”It aims to “ultimately increase the amount of rice and rice products exported globally by first focusing on Singapore,” the association’s chairman, Ryo Kimura, said Monday.

In particular it aims to use Singapore as a “strategic springboard” to spread Japanese culinary culture in Southeast Asia and fuel interest in Japanese rice products.The agriculture ministry estimates that Japan exported more than 1,200 tons of rice valued at more than ¥370 million to the tiny city-state last year — about 10 times the amount exported to China.The association has designed a new logo for Japanese rice products and a website with information about Japanese rice. The rice will have QR codes on the packaging that will enable buyers to have easy access to the website.
Akira Karasawa, director general for crop production at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, said at the launch event that the government is trying to promote the export of agriculture and fishery products globally.Japan’s global export value of rice is small at only ¥1.4 billion last year. The government has set a goal of raising the export value of rice and rice products to ¥60 billion by 2020, Karasawa said.He added that one of the reasons for launching the initiative in Singapore is due to the nation’s high income level.
Neda backs moves to lift rice import restrictions

Philippine Daily Inquirer

7:26 AM | Monday, March 16th, 2015
MANILA, Philippines–Keeping the high import duties slapped on rice while allowing the private sector to influence the commodity’s supply would auger well for rice prices, according to the country’s chief economist, amid calls to remove the quantitative restriction (QR) on imports.Also, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters last Friday that the government was looking at the possibility of repealing RA No. 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, which put in place the QR on rice importation.Balisacan, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), noted that the QR puts the burden of rice demand and supply on the government, while market forces are being limited by the quota system.
The Neda chief had partly blamed high rice prices for the higher poverty incidence registered in the first half of last year, as the commodity accounts for a fifth of low income families’ budgets.Since the government imposes a quota on rice imports, domestic prices are vulnerable to shocks resulting from meager supply.The World Trade Organization last year allowed the Philippines to extend its QR on rice until 2017, in a bid to buy more time for local farmers to prepare for free trade in light of the government’s goal of achieving rice self-sufficiency.The extended QR slaps 35-percent duty on imported rice under a minimum access volume (MAV) of 805,200 metric tons.
Importation outside of the MAV limit are levied a higher tariff of 50 percent.For Balisacan, retaining the high duties on rice is already a “very transparent, efficient and market-friendly instrument.”The Philippines’ most favored nation or MFN rate—the additional tariff imposed when imported outside of Asean—on the commodity remains at about 40 percent.Importation, meanwhile, should be the task of the private sector to allow market forces to determine prices, the Neda chief said.Balisacan disclosed that during last Friday’s economic development cluster meeting, various government agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, agreed to draft their proposals geared towards potentially scrapping the QR system.
But while RA 8178 is still in place, and acknowledging that it may take time to repeal the law, Balisacan said the government “needs to be vigilant in monitoring the supply and demand of rice,” adding that “we have to find a way to reduce upward price pressures on food.”Also, the government should focus on initiatives to increase rice farmers’ incomes rather than just increasing their production, Balisacan said. “We must determine if their inputs are expensive. We need to raise farmers’ productivity.”To do so, irrigation systems should be improved, and farmers should also be given access to new agricultural technologies that yield higher harvests, the Neda chief said.

Rice import limits need review—Neda

By Jennifer Ambanta | Mar. 15, 2015 at 11:20pm
The National Economic and Development Authority said over the weekend the government should review quantitative restrictions on rice imports because they tend to increase food prices.Neda director general Arsenio Balisacan told reporters the limit in importing one of the most important commodities was resulting in an upward pressure on prices and eroding the income of most Filipino families. “As we have noted earlier, the gains from increased incomes were unfortunately negated by faster and higher inflation in food prices, especially of rice,” Balisacan said.He noted that the government should weigh the benefits of the quantitative restrictions against the inflationary pressure it put on rice.
“We have to study that because that should not be the case. We have to cure the root of the problem, which is the uncertainty in the... international trade for agricultural commodities,”  Balisacan said. The administration said with quantitative restrictions, farmers were more protected from dumping, or excessive inflow of rice at cheap prices, in the local market which may affect the livelihood of Filipino farmers.The World Trade Organization-Committee on Trade in Goods recently approved the Philippines’ bid to extend the implementation of the quantity restriction on rice up to 2017.“The WTO approved our request for extension of QR up to 2017. So we still have [time] to find a way to achieve what we want to achieve.
Before 2017, we need to push for measures that have been neglected. We also have a law, RA 8178, that placed rice under a QR regime. So until the law is amended, there is still a QR on rice,” Balisacan said.He said the government would create a technical working group to study the benefits and the risks of the quantitative restrictions as well as the measures needed to be  in place by 2017.“We need to make sure that we are putting in measures that will guarantee or enhance our capability to respond to price shocks,” he said.

THAILAND PRESS-Officials probed over rice - Bangkok Post

Mon Mar 16, 2015 1:19am GMT
 Almost 30 Thai state officials, politicians and individuals from the private sector will be investigated for alleged involvement in a rice-pledging scheme of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra administration, Bangkok Post reported, citing a source in the finance ministry. (bit.ly/1GTqDOb)
NOTE: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy. (Compiled by Bangkok Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Rice charges
THE NATION March 16, 2015 1:00 am
PUBLIC prosecutors will tomorrow charge former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and 20 others for having allegedly faked government-to-government rice deals so that they could manipulate the government's stockpiles.The prosecutors have informed the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to bring the 21 suspects to the Office of the Attorney General tomorrow for the court arraignment. Sources said prosecutors have submitted a request to the NACC to inform the 21 suspects to meet prosecutors.
It is not yet known if any of the suspects would appear at the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders when prosecutors file the indictment against them.Meanwhile, the court will decide on Thursday over whether to accept the suit filed by the attorney-general against former PM Yingluck Shinawatra for her alleged failure to stop corruption in the rice-pledging scheme.

Japan launches initiative to boost rice exports to Singapore

 

KYODO

MAR 16, 2015

 

SINGAPORE – A rice export association has launched an initiative to sell more rice to Singapore, taking advantage of the wealthy city-state’s appetite for Japanese cuisine.The program, titled “This is Japan Quality,” was developed by the Japan Rice and Rice Industry Export Promotion Association in partnership with the agriculture ministry to “expand Japanese culinary culture” by highlighting “the merits of Japanese rice.”It aims to “ultimately increase the amount of rice and rice products exported globally by first focusing on Singapore,” the association’s chairman, Ryo Kimura, said Monday.

 

In particular it aims to use Singapore as a “strategic springboard” to spread Japanese culinary culture in Southeast Asia and fuel interest in Japanese rice products.The agriculture ministry estimates that Japan exported more than 1,200 tons of rice valued at more than ¥370 million to the tiny city-state last year — about 10 times the amount exported to China.The association has designed a new logo for Japanese rice products and a website with information about Japanese rice. The rice will have QR codes on the packaging that will enable buyers to have easy access to the website.

 

Akira Karasawa, director general for crop production at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, said at the launch event that the government is trying to promote the export of agriculture and fishery products globally.Japan’s global export value of rice is small at only ¥1.4 billion last year. The government has set a goal of raising the export value of rice and rice products to ¥60 billion by 2020, Karasawa said.He added that one of the reasons for launching the initiative in Singapore is due to the nation’s high income level.

 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/16/business/economy-business/japan-launches-initiative-to-boost-rice-exports-to-singapore/#.VQiT-dLF_Jc

 



Drastic fall in paddy cultivation in Karimnagar


Karimnagar district, which emerged as the rice bowl of Telangana, now faces a bleak future as the area under paddy cultivation has declined drastically, causing concern among farmers and others.Severe drought condition, a depleting groundwater table and poor inflows into the irrigation projects are cited as reasons for diminishing area under paddy cultivation in the rabi season. Since 2006, Karimnagar began to find a place on the paddy cultivation map as it registered good production. The area of paddy cultivation increased from 1.38 lakh hectares to 2.98 lakh hectares.But this rabi season, paddy cultivation came down drastically due to deficit rainfall and poor inflows into the major irrigation projects of SRSP and the Lower Manair Dam. In-charge Joint Director (agriculture) Shatru Naik told The Hindu that paddy cultivation came down to 90,850 hectares compared to 1.38 lakh hectares.In the usual course, paddy cultivation would have been taken up in over 2 lakh hectares had the district received good rains. The agriculture official said that poor rainfall would certainly impact production. He said 40 per cent of the paddy produce was meant for producing seed, 20-25 per cent for sale while the remaining is consumed by farmers.S. Komuraiah, a farmer from Chenjarla village of Manakondur mandal, said that he had cultivated paddy only in one acre of land for domestic use as the water in the well had depleted.
He had to leave the remaining four acres idle. He said he was facing hurdles in watering the crop due to depletion of the groundwater table.Annamaneni Sudhakar Rao, director of Karimnagar district rice millers association, said that the drought had cast its shadow on the rice mills as well with several of them having closed down in the district.People who had purchased harvesters to eke out a living are also at the receiving end due to low production of paddy, he added.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/drastic-fall-in-paddy-cultivation-in-karimnagar/article6997770.ece

Existing system of paddy procurement will be continued, says Chandy


SARATH BABU GEORGE

Seeking to allay the concerns of paddy farmers, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has assured that the existing system of paddy procurement will not be discontinued.Launching the harvest of the puncha crop at the Chithira Lake paddy fields in Kainakary on Sunday, Mr. Chandy said that an allocation of Rs. 300 crore has been made in the State budget for paddy procurement that was being undertaken at a rate of Rs. 19 per kg.“While the Centre provided Rs. 13.60 per kg for paddy procured, the remaining amount was disbursed by the State government as subsidy. The burden borne by the State accounted for Rs. 300 crore annually.
 Considering its financial limitations, the government could not afford to extend the subsidy any further. However, the Central government has been requested to hike the price being provided for paddy,” he said.Mr. Chandy added that the promotion of neera production has worked wonders for the coconut sector of the State. According to him, every coconut tree has been bringing huge returns of up to Rs. 3,000 per month for the farmers. Such initiatives are expected to transform agriculture into viable sources of income for the farming community, he said.
He also called for reviving paddy cultivation in the adjacent Rani Lake fields during the current year. The Chief Minister also directed the district administration to pursue options in introducing a collective model of farming in the Chithira fields. The technique, if found successful, could become a model to emulate for the other parts of the State, he said.Presiding over the function, Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan directed the District Collector to convene a meeting to assess the ongoing harvest activities. Speaking on the occasion,
District Collector N. Padmakumar said that the Supplyco will undertake the procurement of paddy harvested from the Chithira fields. The government agency had refused to procure paddy initially. Around 600-700 metric tonne of paddy was expected from the nearly 100 hectares of cultivated field.
In Memory:  Richard Bell 
  Richard E. "Dick" Bell 
The U.S. rice industry is deeply saddened by the passing of Richard E. "Dick" Bell, 81, in Stuttgart, Arkansas on March 13.  Bell was president and CEO of Riceland Foods for more than 23 years.  In 2005, he was named Arkansas's first Secretary of Agriculture, a post he held until he retired in 2012. Bell joined Riceland in 1977 as executive vice president and chief operating officer, and was elevated to the chief executive position in 1981.  He retired from Riceland in 2004.Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, in a statement following Bell's death, said, "His vast knowledge of the entire agricultural landscape, and the respect he earned from everyone in the agri-world, made him the best choice to launch our state's Agriculture Department when it was created."
Bell, a native of Illinois, earned graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois-Urbana, and joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service in 1959 as an agricultural economist.  Bell served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and then as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs from 1973-1977.  Bell also served as president of the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation and Chairman of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. In recognition of his accomplishments in the international trade arena, Bell was awarded the USDA's Distinguished Service Award in 1975.

"Dick Bell greatly expanded the economic importance of the rice industry in Arkansas and the United States," said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward. "He combined a deep expertise in agriculture with a keen understanding of farm and food policy that made him an effective advocate."
 Information on services is not yet available.

Courtesy :USA Rice Federation

Growing appetite for Japanese rice in Singapore

Consumption here has doubled to 1,359 tonnes from 2011
PUBLISHED ON MAR 17, 2015 7:36 AM

Description: http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/straitstimes.com/files/imagecache/ST_REVAMP_2014_STORY_PAGE_640X360/20150317/ST_20150317_XRICE172UKO_1151044e.jpgFairPrice saw 50 per cent growth in demand last year from 2013 for its housebrand FairPrice Japonica Rice. Industry players attribute the popularity of Japanese rice to factors such as the growth in the number of Japanese expatriates and restaurants here as well as the rising affluence of Singaporeans. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

BY JESSICA LIM CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT
The short-grained, sticky Japanese rice has become more popular here despite its higher cost, with consumption more than doubling since 2011.Last year, Singaporeans consumed 1,359 tonnes of rice from Japan, up from 602 tonnes in 2011, figures from state trade promotion arm International Enterprise Singapore show.Singapore is the second largest importer of Japanese rice in the world after Hong Kong, going by data from the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Japan (MAFFJ).People here ate eight times as much Japanese rice as the amount exported to China and 26 times that to Malaysia.
Industry players point to increasing affluence, the booming number of Japanese restaurants and the growing number of Japanese expatriates in Singapore as reasons for the increase.Others said the recent surge in the prices of Thai rice, leading to falling demand here, led to more consumers switching sources.India, for instance, overtook Thailand as the biggest rice supplier to Singapore for the first time in 2013.
Thailand, famous for its premium grade of Jasmine rice, has been the top source of the staple here since at least 1998."When prices of Thai rice went up, some consumers switched to Japanese rice and did not switch back," said Mr Andrew Tan, 35, chairman of the Singapore General Rice Importers Association.At Meidi-ya supermarket, a 5kg bag of Royal Umbrella Thai rice costs $18.95; and a 2kg bag of Niigata Uonuma rice from Japan costs $21.However, he also pointed out the fast jump in figures should be taken with a pinch of salt given that they started from a low base.Singapore consumed a total of 325,860 tonnes of rice last year, with Japanese imports not even making up 1 per cent.Mr Akira Karasawa, MAFFJ's director-general of crop production, said the greater consumption of Japanese rice here could be because there are more Japanese expatriates and restaurants here, as well as the affluence of Singaporeans.
The Japanese ministry has launched the This Is Japan Quality logo, which will be tagged onto all Japanese rice products here. It has a QR code that links to a website with information about the merits of Japanese rice.Supermarkets are also seeing brisk sales.At Giant, demand for Japanese rice has grown each year since 2011, with its spokesman reporting "high single-digit percentage growth" year on year.FairPrice saw 50 per cent growth in demand last year from 2013 for its housebrand FairPrice Japonica Rice.Consumers like Ms Jane Wong, 36, started buying more Japanese rice last year to make Japanese meals for her four children to take to school because "it is healthier", she said.However, replacing the Vietnamese rice they eat for their daily meals with Japanese rice is not an option for now. "The price is still too high," she said.
USA Rice Talking Trade Again in Havana
  Marvin Lehrer meets with Yudith Viera Gallardo North American division, ministry foreign trade (l),
and Aniurka Ortiz Marquetti
HAVANA, CUBA -- USA Rice's Marvin Lehrer was here last week for meetings with the Cuban food buying agency, ALIMPORT, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade.  Lehrer also visited several hard currency supermarkets, ration card stores, and public markets to see how rice is currently being sold in Cuba."I was here to re-establish the long-standing close relationships with the government entities charged with rice imports that we've developed over the years, and to take the pulse of trade in general," Lehrer said.
 "There have been many personnel changes throughout the Cuban government, especially at ALIMPORT, and we wanted to exchange ideas with these new people, jump start a close relationship."Lehrer also wanted to check in with people here to learn what they really think about the changing dynamic between the United States and Cuba."We certainly achieved our goals and established a warm dialogue with new people," he said. 
"It will form an excellent foundation moving forward.""We thank USA Rice for their visit," said Aniurka Ortiz Marquetti, General Vice President of ALIMPORT and in charge of U.S. purchases.  "We are well aware of their long history in working to open trade both here in Havana and in the U.S., and we know we can count on their guidance, support, and under new conditions, sales in the future.  We have had a lot of turnover the past couple of years at ALIMPORT, and re-establishing contact face-to-face is very important.
""Cuban rice imports are not as large as a few years ago as they report that local production has increased as a result of technical assistance from Cuba's Asian trading partners, but milled rice imports are still quite significant," Lehrer explained.  "Cubans know about our quality, and logistic advantage, but our ability to break into the market once again will depend upon significant changes to the embargo.  We need genuine two-way trade and some type of credit needs to be extended to the Cuban government."Cuba currently receives credit from main rice supplier Vietnam, as well as credit terms from Spain, Brazil, and some others.
"My sense is that they want U.S. rice, but we cannot be competitive due to restrictive terms imposed by the embargo," said Lehrer.Lehrer also met with several foreign press contacts and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in order to get a better feel for their views on progress towards normalization with the U.S., as well as a sense of any changes in Cuba which might affect future sales of U.S. rice.
Contact:  Michael Klein (703) 236-1458
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures  
CME Group (Prelim):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for March 16
Month
Price
Net Change

March 2015
$10.525
- $0.055
May 2015
$10.775
- $0.055
July 2015
$10.895
- $0.050
September 2015
$11.065
- $0.040
November 2015
$11.210
- $0.040
January 2016
$11.210
- $0.040
March 2016
$11.210
- $0.040
System of Rice Intensification earns food security prize
By Lucy Fisher
Description: UphoffNorman Uphoff, left, shows the respective heights and root systems of randomly selected rice plants from a regular field in his hand while a farmer from West Nuwagoan village in Tripura state in India holds a plant from an SRI field.The System of Rice Intensification(SRI), an agro-ecological method of growing rice that enhances crop yields and is resilient to the adverse effects of climate change, has been awarded the international Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security. SRI is being recognized for its impact on the availability, affordability, accessibility and adequacy of food.
Norman Uphoff, professor emeritus of government and former director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD), who has been working with SRI for over 20 years, accepted the prize during the third Global Science Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture March 16 in Montpellier, France. The Olam Prize provides $50,000 to support further SRI research.“The main factors that explain the impacts of SRI management are the development of larger, more effective root systems and the promotion of greater abundance and diversity of beneficial soil organisms, which are factors outside the Green Revolution paradigm,” says Uphoff. He noted that SRI concepts and methodologies are being extended to crops such as wheat, millet and sugarcane under the broader System of Crop Intensification.
Uphoff first learned about SRI in Madagascar in 1993 while serving as director of CIIFAD. Farmers there were getting paddy rice yields of 2 tons per hectare from their very poor soils with conventional methods. Using SRI methods, farmers averaged 8 tons. In 1997, after three years of such results, Uphoff began working with researchers in Madagascar and other countries to develop scientific explanations for this unexpected productivity and to get the methods evaluated elsewhere and, if successful, adopted.
SRI methods have been shown to increase crop yields by 20 to 50 percent – often as much as 100 percent and more – with significant reductions in water requirements and seed. SRI began spreading globally after 2000, in large part due to Uphoff’s initiatives and efforts, as the Olam Prize recognizes. The effectiveness of SRI methods has now been demonstrated in more than 50 countries.
In 2010, a gift from Jim Carrey’s Better U Foundation supported establishment of the SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice) at Cornell within CIIFAD. The program now operates within International Programs of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Uphoff serves as a senior adviser for the SRI team, which promotes knowledge and advances research on SRI and SCI as freely and widely as possible.
The SRI-Rice website gives extensive information on the origins, practices, impacts and research evaluations of SRI. SRI-Rice provides online access to global SRI knowledge resources, guidance for researchers, practitioners and farmers, and technical support to a World Bank-funded program to improve and scale up SRI in 13 West African countries.Global agribusiness Olam International partnered with the Agropolis Fondation to launch the Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security in celebration of its 25th anniversary to address global food security through agricultural innovation and the development of sustainable supply chains.Lucy Fisher is the communications director for SRI-Rice.

How space and sensory technology can boost rice production 

EU-funded researchers are developing hi-tech methods for monitoring rice crops in order to increase yields and encourage sustainable farming.

Description: How space and sensory technology can boost rice productionNew ways of monitoring rice crops could provide growers with better information – including early warnings of possible threats – and enable more accurate yield predictions. These are some of the key objectives of the EU-funded ERMES project, which is set to hold its first annual meeting from 26 to 27 March 2015.The event will be held in Valencia, Spain and will give ERMES partners from Italy, Greece, Spain and Switzerland the chance to discuss progress made in developing new hi-tech methods for monitoring crops.
The project aims to compile satellite and sensory data using advance smart applications and technologies.The data collected will be used to develop two new services to improve crop production in Europe. Both of these products will be distributed to local and regional users through two web-based services: a Local Rice Service (LRS) and a Regional Rice Service (RRS).The LRS will be targeted at farmers and the agricultural service sector. This will provide added value information for farmers on yield variability, risk alerts and crop damage at the farm scale. The service will help farmers plan where to spread pesticide, what rice varieties might grow best and what parts of the field might require fertilisation.
To aid the collection of this kind of information, customised smart applications for mobile phones and/or tablets are being developed. These apps will enable farmers and field operators to collect data and automatically upload it to the ERMES database. It will also allow them to send geotagged messages and pictures with information of particular field conditions.The RRS on the other hand will be a customised agro-monitoring resource for crop mapping, yield estimating and risk forecast. This information is meant to be used by regional authority experts to support, for example, the production of digital bulletins on rice crop risks and yield forecasts. The service will allow regional operators to receive, visualise and analyse information at the regional scale.
The three Mediterranean countries responsible for 85 % of Europe’s total rice production have been selected for trials: Italy (51.9 %), Spain (25.4 %) and Greece (7.0 %). Local farmers will provide vital field information, and act as sounding boards throughout the project (which runs from 2014 to 2017). The aims and objectives of the ERMES project were recently presented at the 18th European Weed Research Society (EWRS) scientific conference, held in Crete from 3 to 4 March 2015.

ERMES, coordinated by CNR-IREA (Institute on Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment) in Italy, involves partners from four European countries with strong expertise in different scientific domains such as remote sensing, crop modelling agronomy and IT. In the long run, the project hopes to make a lasting contribution towards sustainable and competitive agriculture in Europe, through reducing production costs, achieving efficiencies and minimising the sector’s environmental impact.For further information please visit:

Root and branch

The prime minister is overhauling the powerful farm co-operatives, with some success

Mar 13th 2015 |
Description: http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2015/03/articles/main/20150314_asp501.jpg TOKYO | AsiaONE reason to take seriously recent moves by Japan’s government to reform the country’s vast, quasi-statist system of agricultural co-operatives is a personal story. The politician pushing hardest for reform—alongside Shinzo Abe, the prime minister—is Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary and Mr Abe’s consigliere. Mr Suga’s late father was a struggling farmer from Akita prefecture, among the poorest, who in middle age gave up trying to make a living from growing rice. He switched to strawberries, starting a growers’ union outside the dominant co-operative system, Japan Agriculture (JA).
Mr Suga has described how he watched his father free himself from JA’s tentacles. He is not alone in his dislike: JA is popular with few outside its 240,000 employees, and many farmers criticise it. It was set up in 1947, when land reform under the American occupation meant that many peasants suddenly became landowners. But even as the farming sector declined, JA mushroomed into a vast bureaucracy. More than half of the 10m members who use its many services, ranging from banking and insurance to funerals and wedding halls, are not even farmers. Yet JA-Zenchu, the lobbying group that sits at the heart of JA, wields disproportionate clout in setting Japan’s agricultural policy.
Mr Abe is now mounting a serious challenge to its influence. Last month his government announced that JA-Zenchu would lose its privileged, semi-public status. It will also forgo its right to audit and guide Japan’s 700 local farm co-operatives, which will be prodded towards greater independence. A local JA co-operative in Echizen, in Fukui prefecture, has already broken business ties with its parent organisation. The government sees it as a model for the rest.The government also says it would like to overhaul JA’s monopolistic marketing division, JA Zen-Noh—which charges farmers above-market prices for fertiliser and other products—into an ordinary public company. The organisation is currently exempt from an anti-monopoly act. But the government appears to have backed down from removing the exemption.
The current plan merely urges local co-operatives not to force farmers to buy from JA.JA-Zenchu’s chairman, Akira Banzai, plays down the impact of the government’s assault on it. And indeed the government’s reforms stop short of reining in the group’s financial services or fully freeing regional co-operatives from its grip. Initial and more radical proposals, via a reform committee, had included abolishing JA-Zenchu outright. In the end, concessions were made to JA’s many friends in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).Even so, Mr Abe deserves credit.
JA-Zenchu was once thought untouchable because of its ties to the LDP. A precipitous decline in productive farming (the average age of a Japanese farmer is 66) has underlined the chronic failure of its policies, which have kept most Japanese farms tiny and inefficient. Behind the scenes, the government’s reformers won over local agricultural co-operatives, as well as Diet members who might otherwise have sought to block any change. JA-Zenchu found itself rather isolated.Takeshi Niinami, an expert on agricultural reform who sits on a key economic-policy council, argues that Mr Abe’s methods compare favourably to those of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister from 2001 to 2006. Mr Koizumi pushed through the bold reform of privatising the postal system, a vast collector of household savings. Yet postal reform was largely undone after Mr Koizumi left office.
 By seeking broader support, including from the local co-ops, Mr Niinami says, Mr Abe can expect his changes not to suffer the same fate.Another key test of resolve may come soon with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-country free-trade agreement. Negotiations are coming to a head. In Japan, JA-Zenchu has stubbornly opposed lowering Japan’s high tariffs on rice, beef and other foods. It has whipped up other industries in Japan, including the medical business, to oppose the agreement. Weakening the organisation is one way for Mr Abe to speed up TPP negotiations. If a deal is struck, deeper agricultural reform must follow if Japanese farmers are to compete. The most significant would be allowing companies to own farmland, a move currently blocked by JA as well as by farmers. A diminished JA-Zenchu would help.

Officials probed over rice

Two investigative panels to be set up
16 Mar 2015 at 07:12
NEWSPAPER SECTION: BUSINESS | WRITER: WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI
A file photo shows a National Legislative Assembly member in January voting to impeach former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, charging her with dereliction of duty in running the rice-pledging scheme. The Supreme Court is set to decide on Thursday on whether to accept the case for trial. CHANAT KATANYU
Description: http://www.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20150316/c1_497608_150316070430_620x413.jpgAlmost 30 state officials, politicians and individuals from the private sector will be investigated for alleged involvement in the Yingluck Shinawatra administration's rice-pledging scheme, says a Finance Ministry source.Compensation may be sought against them if they are found guilty of deliberate or serious reckless acts as stipulated in the Act on Liability for Wrongful Acts of Officials, and their acts aimed at illegally taking advantage for their own and others' benefits as stated in the Criminal Code's Section 1.If the examining panel finds no grounds of corruption, the state officials need not take responsibility for financial damages, the source said.The case will mark the first time that state officers could face damage claims from carrying out government policy, the source said.This would cause a climate of fear among state officials in executing the policies of future governments, the source said.
The Yingluck government's rice-pledging scheme, which set the price pledged to farmers at 40-50% higher than the market price, caused an estimated 536 billion baht in losses, while the administration stockpiled 17.5 million tonnes of pledged rice. The Office of the Attorney-General last month indicted Ms Yingluck for alleged dereliction of duty related to the losses incurred and corruption in the scheme.Two investigation panels will be established. One is attached to the Finance Ministry, which will carry out the probe related to Ms Yingluck, and the other panel, overseen by the Commerce Ministry, will investigate the case linked to former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom.The two panels will base their probes on the allegations filed by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The two committees could be set up within 10 days and the investigation would be wrapped up by Sept 1.The findings will be sent to another committee, which will decide on compensation.However, another source said that state officials had to act cautiously in proceeding with the rice-pledging policy as the project had been warned twice by the anti-graft commission, and frequently by academics.If any of the state officials have evidence that they were opposed to the project after learning that it had problems, they can submit it for deliberation. Legal action against the state officials will be taken in three ways — criminal charges if corruption or neglect of duties have been found, sacking as a disciplinary punishment, and demand for compensation.Get full Bangkok Post printed newspaper experience on your digital devices with Bangkok Post e-newspaper. Try it out, it's totally free for 7 days.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/497608/officials-probed-over-rice


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Monday, March 16, 2015

Rice R&D (Technology & Innovation) News 16th March,2015

Local researchers find anti-obesity properties in rice bran

 Updated: 2015-03-16 16:26:26 KST

About 500,000 tons of rice bran is produced every year in Korea after rice is polished.
Thirty percent of the residue is used in cosmetics or livestock feed, while the rest is discarded.
But a group of local researchers has recently discovered evidence that special properties in rice bran could be beneficial in preventing obesity.They released the results early this month.The researchers conducted a test in which a control group of mice was fed high-fat foods, while an experimental group was fed high-fat foods and given an injection of rice bran extract.After six weeks, the mice in the control group gained 44 percent more weight, but the group that was given the rice bran injections showed a significant difference in weight gain of only 33 percent.( , Korean)

"The mice given the rice bran extract injections gained significantly less weight and there was a reduction in the amount of fat in the liver cells."The difference was also noticeable in the size of fatty tissues and cells. The mice in the high-fat control group had enlarged cells, but the mice in the rice bran group saw no change in their fatty tissues.The researchers discovered that certain bioactive components in rice bran helped decrease the proportion of fat in the body.( , Korean)

"Through animal testing, we've proven that rice bran is effective in fighting obesity. It could be used to make health-functional food or medicine."After confirming the effectiveness and safety of rice bran in humans, the researchers anticipate the results will transform the unused raw material into a high-value product while tackling the oversupply of rice in the country.
Sohn Jung-in, Arirang News.


Rice is not bad after all, says study

Eating rice may do more good and less harm if you watch your portions, suggests a new campaign that aims to promote guilt-free rice consumption. Best Foods Limited, which owns the label ‘Best Rice’, seeks to reinstate rice as staple diet as part of its ‘I Love Rice’ campaign. The company engaged market research firm TNS India to discern new-age myths surrounding rice consumption. The findings showed thatHyderabadi s love rice dishes, but a majority (73 per cent respondents), fear the cereal is fattening.
City-based nutritionist B. Janaki, who sought to bust myths on Friday, said rice’s high glycemic index, which has earned it the reputation of being a fattening food, is actually lowered by its combination with other components of an Indian meal. Glycemic index is the effect of a food on blood glucose level.“Rice is seldom taken by itself. Though it has a high index, when mixed with dal, vegetable or meat, it does not dramatically influence blood glucose levels. Most importantly, unlike wheat, rice does not contain any gluten. So it does not cause stomach bloating. If consumed in moderate quantities as required by the body, it becomes the main source of nutrients,” Dr. Janaki said.
Myths
Description: http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/02341/13HYRPL01-Rice__hy_2341025e.jpgOther myths that discourage people from eating rice, the research revealed, included rice having low-fibre content and being bad for diabetics.Dr. Janaki said eating brown rice and less polished rice could make available higher fibre content and also stressed that diabetics could consume rice if they adhere to regular eating hours and restricted portions.The research found that people from the city regularly cooked an average of 12 rice dishes, higher than other metros where the research was conducted.Best Foods CEO Ayushman Gupta said rice was the only food that could change form easily even after cooking.The respondents were married women aged 25 to 45, and hailed from higher income families. Two hundred and fifteen of them were from Hyderabad.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/rice-is-not-bad-after-all-says-study/article6992702.ece

 

Red Yeast Rice as Alternative to Diabetes-Causing Statins?

Mar 13, 2015
A new study by researchers in Finland shows that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may significantly increase a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes – in fact, it may increase a person’s risk by as much as 50%!
What’s a person to do when faced with a choice between high cholesterol or increased risk of type 2 diabetes?
Rice to the rescue once again!  Red yeast rice has been a controversial product – especially in the West.  In fact, Switzerland doesn’t even allow its sale in the country.  However, it’s popularly used in Asia for a variety of health benefits, including lowering cholesterol and improving blood circulation.On the back of a study showing that statins, which millions of people around the world (and especially in the West) take daily, can increase the risk of another chronic disease, perhaps scientists should consider investing research into red yeast rice so that we can finally reach a conclusion about its efficacy in treating cholesterol.  If it is found to be scientifically effective, it could prevent millions of people from developing type 2 diabetes every year.
ORYZA Rice.com

Int’l Centre for Chemical & Biological Sciences, China institute sign MoU on rice research

KARACHI: An MoU on rice research was signed between International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences and China National Rice Research Institute (CNRRI) of Hangzhou, China.
The objective of the agreement is to conduct research for developing new high yielding and disease resistant varieties of rice and such other areas as the two parties may agree upon.

The MoU was signed in an official ceremony held at Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), University of Karachi.Prof Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, on behalf of ICCBS and Deputy Director General CNRRI Dr Peisong Hu on behalf of his institute signed the agreement.Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman said that this was the positive sign that Pakistani and Chinese scientists were jointly carrying out research on rice.

Dr Iqbal Choudhary informed that the Chinese institution will train the scholars from ICCBS in the field of rice breeding and production of high quality hybrid rice seed.As per the agreement, both the institutions have agreed to enhance relations between the two institutions and to develop academic exchange in the area of research,” he said.Dr Peisong Hu said that CNRRI focused on basic and applied researches with priority on solving significant scientific and technical problems in rice production.
ICCBS, Chinese institute to work on rice research
 our correspondent
Saturday, March 14, 2015
From Print Edition
Karachi 
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for rice research was signed between the KU’s) of Hangzhou on Thursday.The objective of the agreement is to conduct research for developing new high-yielding and disease resistant varieties of rice and any such other areas the two parties may agree upon.

Description: Int’l Centre for Chemical & Biological Sciences, China institute sign MoU on rice researchThe MoU was signed at a ceremony held at Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), said a spokesperson of the ICCBS.Chinese officials, including CNRRI Deputy Director General Dr Peisong Hu, Dr Liyong Cao, Dr Xinhua Wei, Aijuan Ge, ICCBS Patron-in-Chief Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, ICCBS Director Professor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary and other faculty members attended the ceremony.Prof Dr Rahman said the agreement would further promote collaborative research between the two countries and termed the MoU a positive sign for research on rice.Dr Choudhary said the centre was engaged in research and development of various fields of chemical, biological, biomedical and genomic research.

“The Chinese institution will train scientists from ICCBS in the field of rice breeding and production of high quality hybrid rice seed,” he added.As per the MoU, both institutions will work together in the field of agricultural biotechnology and both have agreed to enhance relations and develop academic exchange in the area of research.Dr Hu said the CNRRI focused on basic and applied researches with priority on solving significant scientific and technical problems in rice production.http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-306708-ICCBS,-Chinese-institute-to-work-on-rice-researchHome / Science & Technology / Science / Int’l Centre for Chemical & Biological Sciences, China institute sign MoU on rice research

Dr Swaminathan wants special package for state

MS Swaminathan in Chandigarh. Tribune photo: S Chandan
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 13
Former Director-General of International Rice Research Institute and one of the pioneers of the Green Revolution, Dr MS Swaminathan today said that Punjab should be declared a special agriculture zone and should be given a special package to maintain food security.Regarding amendments in the Land Acquisition Act, he said without specifying the objective, agriculture land should not be acquired by the government. “A sizeable chunk of land was acquired for special economic zones, many of which failed to take off and have now become real estate sites,” he said.
No land should be acquired without consulting farmers and without declaring the need for acquiring the land, he said. “While acquiring land, three factors—food security, security of farmers and purpose for which land is to be acquired—should be kept in mind. Preserving land is a must as 90 per cent of food for humanity comes from the soil and only 10 per cent comes from other resources such as the ocean,” he said.
Cropping pattern
On the crisis in the farm sector, he said Punjab farmers should adopt a three-year cropping pattern. In the first two years, they should grow wheat and in the third, leguminous crops or green fodder to invigorate the soil.Description: Dr Swaminathan wants special package for stateLikewise, farmers should grow paddy (rice), especially basmati, for two years and shift to pulses the third year, he said. Dr Swaminathan said that it would be in the national interest if farmers in Punjab continued to grow paddy and wheat. He said there was a need to move to “evergreen revolution” which meant making farming viable for small and marginal farmers, ecological sustainability and maintaining soil health.
On the Shanta Kumar committee report regarding FCI restructuring, he said before taking a decision, there should be an informed debate on the issue among all stakeholders. He said the policy of MSP and grain procurement could not be abandoned. “Implementing the report without a debate could pose a threat to the country’s food security,” he claimed.“ I have only recommended a 50 per cent margin for the farmers whereas some pharmaceutical companies earn profit up to 500 per cent,” he said.
On need for MSP
There has been a hue and cry across the country over the non-implementation of Dr Swaminathan’s recommendations regarding the MSP. The BJP, that had promised to implement the recommendations on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, has backed off. Dr Swaminathan suggested that this could be done in phases — announcing a 10 per cent increase in the first year, a 20 per cent increase the second year and ultimately a 50 per cent rise in the third year. “Saving small and marginal farmers is a must to save the farm sector as the survival of 60 per cent of the population depends on it,” Dr Swaminathan said.
Value addition in the farm produce and starting allied ventures was the need of the hour, said Dr Swaminathan. He said he was for a single agriculture market in the country. Along with technical upgradation of technology, there was a need to improve the labour efficiency to ensure inclusive growth in the farm sector.
On climate change
On climate change, he said there was a need for anticipatory research to counter the effect of climate change. More money needed to be pumped into agriculture research for coming out with weather-resistant varieties of wheat. With the increase in temperature (up to 2 degree Celsius) there could be a huge fall in food production in Punjab, he warned. He said soil health cards would not serve any purpose if the panchayats were given help in maintaining soil health. He said after ensuring food security, there was a need to raise the nutritional value of foodgrain.
Need for insurance

There is a need to introduce insurance for the farm sector, said Dr MS Swaminathan. This would ensure stability in the farm sector and ensure food security. He said there was no harm in growing genetically modified crops. He said foreign direct investment (FDI) could prove beneficial for the farm sector. It would be a win-win situation for farmers as well as investors, he said.

Drought Might 'Make It Rain' for California Rice Farmers

Mar 13, 2015
Rice farmers in drought-stricken California might finally have something to look forward to: the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has offered up to $71 million for farmers to ship their water to the Los Angeles area in southern California.  As much as 115,000 acre-feet of water, or more than 37 billion gallons, could be sold.According to the Sacramento Bee, some farmers may actually make more cash from selling their water than they would from selling their rice!  Last year, when Sacramento Valley water districts shipped their water down south they were getting $500 an acre-foot.  This year prices are around $700 an acre-foot.  (An acre foot is 326,000 gallons and will supply roughly two Southern California households for about a year.)
So far, nine irrigation districts have made tentative deals with the Water District to ship some of their water.This news might decrease rice acreage in California even further; in 2014 rice acres in California decreased by 140,000 acres due to drought, and about one-fourth of the crop didn’t get planted.  Most rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley region make around $1,000 to $1,500 an acre profit when they plant rice.  Idling an acre of rice would save about 3 acre-feet of water, or more than $2,100 at this year’s rates.  However, many growers take a long-term approach and recognize the importance of supporting the rice industry as a whole; most farmers will likely still grow some rice – the question is how much?

VN plans greener rice cultivation

Viet Nam plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rice cultivation alone by 14 per cent by 2030.

This was announced in Ha Noi on Tuesday by an official from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment at a conference.Pham Hoang Yen, an expert involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, said in the last few years, the country had chased the goal of a 20 per cent reduction in GHG in the overall cultivation sector by 2020.What the country has been doing includes preparation for National Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) and other policies developing countries adopted to control global GHG at a UNFCC conference in Bali eight years ago.In addition, Viet Nam has also carried out a programme of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).In June last year, the country had 253 CDM projects and had registered 11 programmes of activities.

This move earned it 10.7 million certified emission reduction (CEF) credits granted by CDM Executive Board through CDM activities, Yen said.The total GHG emissions reduction from the 253 CDM projects was 137 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.Viet Nam ranks fourth in the world in term of the number of CDM projects and ninth in terms of granted CEF certificates.In the near future, many projects would be started to lower methane emissions in rice cultivation in a number of localities, Yen said.The agricultural sector also applied Good Agricultural Practices and cultivation methods that economise the use of fertiliser, pesticide and water in order to limit methane emission on rice fields, she said.According to the 2010 National Greenhouse gas inventory, there will be an increase in emissions on both livestock and farm land.

In livestock breeding sector, GHG emissions are expected to grow from 18.03 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2010 to 24.95 million tonnes in 2020 and 29.32 tonnes in 2030.In agriculture, GHG emissions are expected to increase from 23.81 million tones of carbon dioxide in 2010 to 33.94 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2020 and 37.4 tonnes in 2030.The industrial process had an GHG emission growth, but it was still small compared with the total of emissions, Yen said.It is predicted that Land use, Land use Change and Forestry activities in Viet Nam will absorb 42.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020, and 45.3 million tonnes in 2030. The main source of emissions and absorption will be forest and cultivated land.The workshop was organised by the Research Programme on Climate change, Agriculture and Food Security and its partners.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/125513/vn-plans-greener-rice-cultivation.html