Monday, July 18, 2016

18th july,2016 daily global,regional and local rice e-newsletter by ricpelus magazine



EU: Seek Other Rice Markets

Cambodia’s rice industry has been advised by the European Union (EU) to seek other markets and not just concentrate its exports to Europe, as it moves from a low-income country in its least developed country (LDC) status to a lower-middle income nation, amid calls to cut its EU tariff-free export quotas.
 
The advice was given last week to the Kingdom’s Ministry of Commerce and the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) by visiting delegations from the Brussels-based European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Directorate-General for Trade.
 
An EU source who did not want to be named told Khmer Times the visiting delegations from Brussels hinted that the EU could limit rice imports from LDCs in the “Everything but Arms” (EBA) trade concessions to about 300,000 to 350,000 tons a year. Both Cambodia and Myanmar are the only LDCs recognized in the EBA trade concessions and rice exports from both countries enter the EU tariff-free.
 
Last year, the total amount of Cambodian milled rice exported reached some 538,396 tons, according to the Cambodian Rice Federation, with 43 percent exported to the EU.
 
“This means Cambodia would need to share these new EU quotas with Myanmar in the very near future,” said the source.
 
On July 1, the World Bank revised Cambodia’s gross national income (GNI) per capita from a low-income country to a lower-middle income status nation. This is based on Cambodia’s GNI per capita reaching $1,020 in 2014. It is expected that the country’s GNI will surpass the World Bank’s threshold of $1,025 for a low-income country this year.
 
According to the EU source, this World Bank revision of Cambodia’s status within the context of an LDC has also given grounds for EU member countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal to press for reducing rice imports from Cambodia.
 
According to Oryza, the daily online markets newsletter, Italy is pushing the EU to cut LDC rice imports from Asia to protect the Italian rice market that seems to be getting bigger.
 
The CRF in a statement said it took note of the suggestions from both European Commission directorate-generals.
 
The rice federation added it was committed to “better diversity Cambodia’s export market by opening new markets outside of the EU, for Cambodia’s rice industry”.
 
There are calls within the industry to diversify the market and concentrate on exports of jasmine and organic rice.
 
“Cambodia has to diversify its rice market and focus on its own niche and strengths which are based on demands for fragrant and jasmine rice varieties. We can also focus on organic rice and other kinds of rice marketed under the fair-trade label,” said an industry source.
 
There are higher profit margins in the export of organic rice, with prices more stable than non-organic rice in the marketplace. The average price per kilogram for organic rice is 1,650 riel ($0.41) which is 50 percent more than the 1,100 riel per kilogram for non-organic varieties.
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27318/eu--seek-other-rice-markets/




THAILAND REMAINS TOP RICE EXPORTER TO HK

July 18, 2016 1:00 am
Thailand is still the top rice exporter to Hong Kong after claiming a 59.5 per cent market share in the first four months of the year.
That was followed by followed by Vietnam with 27.7 per cent and China with 4.8 per cent, according to the latest report by the Commerce Ministry's Department of International Trade Promotion.

In April, Hong Kong imported 30,497 tonnes of rice globally, up 39 per cent on the same period last year. Fragrant rice imports amounted to 29,065 tonnes, up by 38.6 per cent, of which 17,196 tonnes was imported from Thailand, a 59 per cent increase on the 10,828 tonnes from the same period in 2015.

Thailand accounted for 59.6 per cent of Hong Kong's fragrant rice imports, followed by Vietnam at 28.5 per cent, Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraporn said.

TOT expects Bt11.25 bn loss
TOT expects its revenue reach Bt51.5 billion this year for a loss of Bt11.25 billion, according to the management report presented to the board late last week.

TOT posted a loss of Bt6.572 billion during the first five months of the year, an increase of Bt212 million year on year, due to a decline in service revenue of 7 per cent year-on-year to Bt10.336 billion. During that period, its fixed telephone service made revenue of Bt923 million, while its international Internet gateway service made Bt119 million. Its mobile phone service suffered a loss of Bt3.64 billion and its Internet data centre and cloud service lost Bt129 million.

SCG AD CAMPAIGN

Siam Cement Group has launched a new communications campaign to outline the company's business journey in Myanmar and reaffirm its long-term commitment towards the country's development. The "Drawing the Future" campaign started with its first locally produced TV commercial which details the company's association with Myanmar since 1994.

Attapong Sathitmanotham, country director for SCG in Myanmar, said: "The campaign is a celebration of all we experienced alongside its people, and the bright future we see ahead.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/THAILAND-REMAINS-TOP-RICE-EXPORTER-TO-HK-30290825.html





BoI Seeks Commodity-based Industrialisation for Inclusive Growth

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has emphasised  the need for Nigeria to adopt a commodity based industrialisation strategy to achieve inclusive growth.
The development finance institution (DFI) noted that Nigeria must add value to its natural resource endowments, stating that according to the Raw Materials Research Development Council (RMRDC), the 774 local government areas in the country all have natural resource endowments begging to be utilised.
The Acting Managing Director, Mr. Waheed Olagunju, during BOI media parley tagged: ‘Sustaining Nigeria’s Industrial Sector Growth through Impactful Partnerships’, said the major difference between the rich and poor nations of the world is their level of industrialisation, saying that industrialisation is a multidisciplinary process where everybody has a role to play to achieve industrialisation.
He however, commended the present administration’s effort for adopting the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the Nigerian National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) established by the previous administration, maintaining that this move would go a long way to boost a commodity based industrialisation strategy for Nigeria.
“Nigeria must add value to its natural resource endowments. I want to say here that the huge unemployment rate in Nigeria is artificial. If we start adding value to our natural resources, we will not have enough manpower to operate in the Nigerian economy. The 774 local government areas have a natural resource endowments lying fallow. If we start adding value to them, we would stimulate primary production, processing, meet our local needs and even export. We will not be depending on oil prices which we have no control,” he said.He said: “We need to propagate commodity based industrialisation. We need to advocate it a lot. The present administration has also adopted the NIRP and NEDEP to boost commodity based industrialisation strategy by adding value to our natural resource endowments across the country. Unless Nigeria gets it right, Africa cannot make it. Every country is looking on Nigeria for Africa to make it and we must not disappoint ourselves, we must not disappoint Africa and we must not disappoint the black race.”

He added, “We do not need rocket science to transform our economy, other oil producing countries have diversified their economies. There is need to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to double digits. The media has a role to play in economic transformation because it is one of the biggest change agents in all societies. The media has to partner the BoI to achieve this. We need your partnerships, we need your collaborations. The only way we can achieve inclusive growth is if we embark on commodity based industrialisation strategy.”
He said BoI is also collaborating with developmental partners, while encouraging state governments to establish industrial parks to localise industrialisation in order to reduce the start and operating expenses for entrepreneurs.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Director, Corporate Services and Commercials, Mr. Jonathan Tobe, said Africa currently spends $35.4billion annually on food imports where Nigeria accounts for about $11 billion of the staggering figure.
He said rice is a top commodity where Nigeria currently spends huge amount of its foreign exchange to import, saying that BOI has plans to work with the 14 rice producing states in the country to reduce the nation’s import bill for rice.
He stated the need to reverse the trend, commending the federal government’s Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) aimed at linking small holders farmers to integrate rice millers in order to ramp up domestic rice production to replace imported rice.
He said about 78,000 farmers are being trained in Kebbi State by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pointing out that key output from the initiative will bring about proper identification and organisation of farmers in groups, verification of farm holdings and training of farmers by Nigeria

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/07/18/boi-seeks-commodity-based-industrialisation-inclusive-growth/




Pakistan’s trade deficit widens to 35-year high in FY16

* SBP states early revival in exports is difficult due to weak demand and subdued commodity prices in global markets
16-Jul-16
KARACHI: Despite continued low commodity prices in the global markets, Pakistan witnessed 35 years-high trade deficit as it surged by 8.14 percent to $23.96 billion during Fiscal Year 2015-16 (FY16) from $22.15 billion in the preceding fiscal year.
Pakistan's trade deficit continued to widen this year, as the decline in exports and a rise in non-oil imports have offset savings from the lower oil import bill.
According to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country's exports remained on lower trajectory, showing 12.1 percent yearly decline to $20.81 billion in FY16, as compared to $23.66 billion in FY15. However, against the anticipations, import bill dipped slightly by 2.32 percent owing to lower global commodity prices, as the total import receipts of the country settled at $44.76 billion in FY16 while it was $45.82 in previous fiscal.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said wbuhile Pakistan was already being affected by weak demand in major export markets, depressed unit prices, and high production costs, the decline in key crops this year (particularly cotton) has further steepened the export fall. This, together with a sharp increase in non-oil imports during the year, has entirely offset the gains from a decline in the oil import bill, it added.
In the month of June 2016, trade deficit surged by 10.04 percent to $2.81 billion as compared to the trade deficit of $2.55 billion in June 2015. The exports from the country to the world witnessed 8.73 percent decline in the month of June 2016 to $1.65 billion as against $1.8 billion of June 2015. Imports in to the country increased by 2.27 percent in June 2015 to $4.46 billion against $4.36 billion in corresponding month of preceding year. Exports have been witnessing a falling trend since July 2014. The government had projected a trade deficit target of $17.2 billion for the FY16.
"Undoubtedly, the continuous decline in exports is a big concern at the moment, which needed immediate attention. An early revival in exports is difficult due to weak demand and subdued commodity prices in the global markets. However, changing market dynamic, particularly the exit of China from textile exports due to rising labour costs, offers Pakistan an opportunity to increase its market share and integrate with global supply chains," the SBP said.
Pakistan's depressing export performance has been a cause of concern for quite some time now, the SBP said, adding that lower commodity prices, subdued demand from China, weak global recovery and high domestic production costs have contributed to this multi-year trend. An additional irritant that surfaced this year is the decline in production of key agriculture products like cotton, rice and sugarcane. Since Pakistan's exports are mainly concentrated in resource-based products, their decline in Jul-Mar FY16 has been much more severe.
In contrast, Pakistan's export of apparel and home textiles to the US and EU markets recovered noticeably, but the continuous drop in unit prices held back values. More specifically, Pakistan has been able to export larger volumes of readymade garments, towels, knitwear and bed wear in FY16 to the EU and the US markets, as the demand in these economies recovered
http://dailytimes.com.pk/business/16-Jul-16/pakistans-trade-deficit-widens-to-35-year-high-in-fy16


Making over the Department of Agriculture

by Dr. Emil Javier
July 16, 2016
I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?’ – Robert Kennedy
Poverty remains as our most urgent national concern. While our fellow members in the ASEAN against whom we usually bench mark ourselves are achieving remarkable progress in reducing poverty among their people, our poverty index has remained stuck at 26 percent.
image: http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/dalogo.jpg

(Photo courtesy of www.pcaf.da.gov.ph)
In comparison, in 2014, the poverty incidences of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia were 18 percent, 17 percent, 11 percent and one percent, respectively.A large part of that poverty is attributed to low farm productivity and lack of gainful employment in the countryside. Again the statistics show very clearly how far we lag behind our ASEAN neighbors.The incidence of rural poverty in the Philippines is at a staggering level of 40 percent. Our neighbors have looked after their rural populations much better than what we have: their comparable numbers are Vietnam, 17 percent; Thailand and Indonesia, 14 percent and Malaysia, eight percent.
Rightfully the Duterte Administration is according agriculture and rural development the highest priority together with eradicating graft in government, maintaining peace and order and eliminating the drug menace.
The mandate for steering and leading the agriculture sector lies heavily with the Department of Agriculture (DA). The agency, therefore, must be given all the means to succeed.
Except for a few outstanding, contentious issues for which we have yet to reach closure, the appropriate legislations, policy directions and budgetary appropriations are largely in place. Congress had dutifully passed the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), the Fisheries Code, the Forestry Code, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and the Local Government Code.
Since 2008, the budget of DA and its agencies has been raised from around P20 billion a year to close to P90 billion.
What’s missing are intelligent program planning and execution by the agencies responsible for agriculture, particularly the DA.
Our new secretary for agriculture, Manny Piñol, is off to a good start. His sincere attempt to reach out to the sector stakeholders, his hands-on experiences as governor of North Cotabato, and his closeness to the President auger well for the sector.
He is obviously very much in a hurry knowing he has only six years to make good on the President’s marching order to produce and provide affordable food to all Filipinos.
One of the biggest question marks is how well the DA and its many agencies can respond and keep up with the pace the new secretary has set for himself.

Time to Re-unify the DA and Create a Separate Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
To relieve an overburdened Secretary of Agriculture, at the middle of the previous administration, four major agencies were carved out of DA to constitute a cabinet-level Presidential Assistant for Agricultural Modernization.
But objectively, how can we hold the DA secretary accountable if the key agencies central to his mandate are beyond his supervision and control.
It is therefore time to return the National Food Authority (NFA), the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and the Fertilizer Pesticide Authority (FPA) to the Department where they properly belong.
Moreover, it is opportune to revisit the demand for a separate Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Fisheries has not received the attention it deserves and always had been in the back burner among the responsibilities of the DA Secretary.
The poorest among the poor in the countryside are the fishermen and the coastal communities. And yet, we have vast fisheries and aquatic resources, second only to Indonesia, which we have not sufficiently tapped.
In 2015, our fish and fish products exports amounted to only US$473 million. For the same year, the fish exports of Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand were USS$4.3 billion, $2.6 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.
We should create a separate Department of Fisheries and Aquatic resources and set a modest target of $2.0 billion worth of fish exports before President Duterte’s term is over.
Reconfigure BPI, BAI and BSWM as Semi-autonomous Research Institutes
Generation of innovations and adoption of modern technologies are keys to productivity, competitiveness and sustainability. In the 1960s and 1970s, many of the country’s leading professionals in plant production, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, soil sciences and agricultural economics were staff of the bureaus of the DA.
After the government reorganization of 1987 when the Bureaus for plants, animals and soils and water ceased to be line agencies with clear research and development functions, and were converted into staff bureaus, their competencies went into sharp decline.
With the loss of in-house capability, DA had to rely on the public universities, and to some extent to the private sector, for inspiration and direction.
The only exceptions were rice and carabao where new stand-alone semi-autonomous research institutes, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), were created by law. The two institutes were left very much on their own to establish their research agenda consistent with the priorities of the DA. They were provided generous operating as well as equipment support and, the Secretaries of Agriculture, to their credit, shielded the organizations from undue political influence in staff recruitment and promotion.
To date, PhilRice and PCC stand out among the best national research organizations for agriculture in the region.
We should do the same for the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM). We should re-configure them as semi-autonomous research units with PhilRice and PCC as institutional models.
Resurrect PHILCORIN, PHILSUGIN and the National Tobacco Research and Training Center
The other casualties in the series of government reorganizations of 1987, were the dissolution of the Philippine Coconut Research Institute (PHILCORIN), the Philippine Sugar Institute (PHILSUGIN) and the National Tobacco Research and Training Center and their incorporation into the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Sugar Regulatory Administration SRA) and the National Tobacco Administration (NTA).
What used to be robust scientific research units were drowned out by the more dominant regulatory and finance functions of the broader entities. Except for what remains of the research department in the PCA, sugar and tobacco at present have very little research support.
The old PHILCORIN, PHILSUGIN and the National Tobacco Research and Training Center should be resurrected into semi-autonomous research entities and together with PhilRice be accountable to the Secretary of Agriculture.
Massive Staff Recruitment, Retraining and Graduate Education
In the past, each year 2,000–3,000 DA personnel undergo in-service training and refresher courses in the crop sciences, animal husbandry and veterinary sciences, food sciences, irrigation and agricultural engineering, agricultural economics as well as rural extension and communication.
A good number enroll in graduate courses for master and doctoral degrees.
Unfortunately, for various reasons, these continuing education and graduate programs have practically been discontinued.
The DA underwent a reorganization program which took 12 years to complete. The original plan was to reduce the bureaucracy compatible with an operating budget of P20 billion. With a current annual appropriation of P90 billion, the DA and its agencies are grossly undermanned.
The DA should therefore seek new plantilla positions from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to recruit young blood to rebuild its organizational capacity to address the needs of the sector.
***
Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a Member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chair of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP).
For any feedback, email eqjavier@yahoo.com.
http://www.mb.com.ph/making-over-the-department-of-agriculture/

Avoid ‘miracle’ rice, just eat a carrot!


Golden rice is a false miracle. It is a disease of nutritionally empty monocultures offered as a cure for nutritional deficiency. In fact, golden rice, if successful, will be 400% less efficient in providing Vitamin A...
Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, died on September 9, 2009. Alfred G. Gilman died on December 23, 2015. Both were Nobel laureates and now both dead. Gilman was a signatory to a recent letter condemning Greenpeace and its opposition to genetic engineering. How many Nobel laureates does it take to write a letter? Easily ascertained — the dead Gilman and 106 others were enlisted in “supporting GMOs and golden rice”. Correct answer — 107, dead or alive.The laureates were rounded up by Val Giddings (senior fellow, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Jon Entine (author of Abraham’s Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People) and Jay Byrne (former head of corporate communications, Monsanto). Real people don’t have the luxury of getting Nobel laureates to write 1/107th of a letter, “chosen” folk do. Evidently.
Cornell University is a “chosen” institution — central to genetically modified public relations. The Cornell Alliance of Science is funded by Bill Gates, just like the failed golden rice experiment.The Nobel laureates accuse Greenpeace of killing millions by delaying ghost rice — something the biotech industry accuses me of doing, for the same reason. Unlike golden rice — whose failure to launch is the industry’s own failure, the opposition to genetic engineering (and hence golden rice) is very real and successful. As Glenn Stone, a rice scientist at Washington University, states: “The simple fact is that after 24 years of research and breeding, golden rice is still years away from being ready for release.”
It is Borlaug’s Green Revolution monocultures that contributed to malnutrition by destroying biodiversity, which destroys the diversity of nutrients we need to be healthy. As Navdanya research has shown, biodiversity produces more food and nutrition per acre. Borlaug’s ghost is still shaping the industrial agriculture “miracles” based on monocultures of the mind and spin in place of science.
It is now more than 20 years since the “miracle” golden rice began to be promoted as the excuse to allow patents on life. The last time golden rice was resurrected when Patrick Moore of Allow Golden Rice Now was sent to Asia to push the failed promise. Women of the world organised and responded to Moore — Diverse Women for Diversity issued a declaration on International Women’s Day in 2015 titled Women and Biodiversity Feed the World, not Corporations and GMOs.
Golden rice is genetically engineered rice with two genes from a daffodil and one gene from a bacterium. The resulting GMO rice is said to have a yellow colouring, which is supposed to increase beta-carotene — a precursor of Vitamin A. It has been offered as a potential miracle cure for Vitamin A deficiency for 20 years.
But golden rice is a false miracle. It is a disease of nutritionally empty monocultures offered as a cure for nutritional deficiency. In fact, golden rice, if successful, will be 400 per cent less efficient in providing Vitamin A than the biodiversity alternatives that women have to offer. To get your daily requirement of Vitamin A, all you need to eat is one of the following:
Two tablespoons of spinach or cholai (amaranth) leaves or radish leaves
Four tablespoons of mustard or bathua leaves
One tablespoon of coriander chutney
One-and-a-half tablespoon of mint chutney
One carrot
One mango
So, if you want to be four times more efficient than 107 Nobel laureates, just eat a carrot!
Not only do these indigenous alternatives based on women’s knowledge provide more Vitamin A than golden rice ever will, and at a lower cost, but also provide multiple other nutrients. Our critique of golden rice is that even if it is developed, it will be inferior to the alternatives women have in their hands and minds. Women are being blocked from growing biodiversity and spreading their knowledge to address malnutrition, by rich and powerful men and their corporations who are blind to the richness of the earth and our cultures.
Through their monoculture of the mind, they keep imposing monocultures of failed technologies, blocking the potential of abundance and nourishment. As I wrote in 2000, blindness to biodiversity and women’s knowledge is a blind approach to blindness prevention.
Grain.org concluded in Grains of delusion: Golden rice seen from the ground, way back in 2001: “The best chance of success in fighting Vitamin A deficiency and malnutrition is to better use the inexpensive and nutritious foods already available, and in diversifying food production systems in the fields and in the household. The euphoria created by the Green Revolution greatly stifled research to develop and promote these efforts, and the introduction of golden rice will further compromise them. Golden rice is merely a marketing event. But international and national research agendas will be taken by it.”
The Giddings-Entine-Byrne Nobel PR stunt was timed to coincide with the US Senate vote on the Dark Act — the denial to Americans of the right to know what they eat. With two decades of the GMO experiment failing to control pests and weeds, creating super pests and super weeds instead, there is now an attempt to push through the “next generation” of GMOs — such as “gene drives” for exterminating nutrient-rich species like the amaranth. Amaranth, a weed to the 107 Nobel laureates, is a richer source of Vitamin A than golden rice has promised it will be, when it grows up. The laureates would have us round up all the Vitamin A we already have in abundance, create deficiencies by exterminating it with RoundUp, and provide golden rice to alleviate the absence of Vitamin A.
Mr Gates is also supporting this failed miracle, as well as the failed communication through the Cornell Alliance for Science. He also funds the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and Harvest Plus, the corporate alliance for biofortification.
The corporate-controlled World Food Prize for 2016 has been announced for “Biofortification”. Scientists funded by Mr Gates have been given the prize for inventing an orange sweet potato. But the Maori in New Zealand had developed kumara, orange (beauregard) sweet potato, centuries ago.
Mr Gates is also funding the biopiracy research of James Dale of Queensland, who took the Vitamin A-rich indigenous bananas of Micronesia and declared them to be his invention.
The biopiracy of people’s biodiversity and indigenous knowledge is what Mr Gates is funding. The Gates fortification or Nobel fortification, will not nourish people. Fraud is not food.
The writer is the executive director of the Navdanya Trust
http://www.asianage.com/columnists/avoid-miracle-rice-just-eat-carrot-216

OPA strengthens ‘check system’ to improve rice production

Saturday, July 16, 2016
THE Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) is currently working on strengthening the implementation of Palay Check System Production to help farmers increase rice output which will also contribute to the attainment of rice self-sufficient Negros Occidental.
Senior agriculturist Armando Abaño, crop protection coordinator of OPA, said Palay Check is a dynamic rice crop management system that provides key technology and management practices called “key checks” proven by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to have improved production.
Abaño said the approach is a means of learning, checking, and sharing best farming practice on preparation of land and planting materials, soil and nutrient management, and appropriate integrated pest and post-harvest management.
“Palay Check equips farmers across locations in the province with different agricultural conditions such as low-land irrigated and rain-fed,” he said, adding that the system is also aligned with the province’s agricultural food security and productivity program.
On Wednesday, the OPA and the Municipal Agriculture Office of Isabela launched the Season-Long Farmers Field School on Palay Check System Production at Barangay Mansablay in the said town.
About 30 rice farmers in the area will be trained by agricultural extension workers (AEWs) and local farmer technicians who are serving as DA’s extension arm.
After enhancing the capabilities of these farmers, OPA is planning to make their farms a learning field or framework to be replicated by those in nearby areas.
“Improving the technical capability of local farmers will pave the way to achieve 100 percent rice self-sufficiency rate in two years,” Abaño said.
Currently, OPA has already saturated almost all cities and municipalities in the province in terms of “key checks” implementation.
Abaño, however, pointed out that there are still areas implementing baseline farming practices, especially at community level where season-long trainings were not yet conducted.
“We will continue to conduct these trainings through our extension arms and we will eventually reach all rice production potential areas,” Abaño said.
Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on July 16, 2016.
Latest issues of Sun.Star Bacolod also available on your mobile phones, laptops, and tablets. Subscribe to our digital editions at epaper.sunstar.com.ph and get a free seven-day trial.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/bacolod/business/2016/07/17/opa-strengthens-check-system-improve-rice-production-485645



Bioenergy Consumption Market Share and Key Players Analysis Research Report

ReportsWeb added report on "Global Bioenergy Consumption 2016 Market Research Report”, the report comprises of 151 pages and categorized under Energy
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Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. What's more, the Bioenergy industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered. In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.

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Key Points from Table of Content

3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales and Sale Price Analysis of Bioenergy
3.1 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Bioenergy 2011-2016
3.2 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Regions 2011-2016
3.3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
3.4 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
3.5 Global Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
3.6 Global Sale Price of Bioenergy by Regions 2011-2016
3.7 Global Sale Price of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
3.8 Global Sale Price of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
3.9 Global Sale Price of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016

4 North America Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales, Sale Price and End Users Analysis of Bioenergy
4.1 North America Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Bioenergy 2011-2016
4.2 North America Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
4.3 North America Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
4.4 North America Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
4.5 North America Sale Price of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
4.6 North America Sale Price of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
4.7 North America Sale Price of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
4.8 North America Regional Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Bioenergy 2011-2016
4.9 North America End Users with Contact Information and Consumption Volume of Bioenergy by Applications

5 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales, Sale Price and End Users Analysis of Bioenergy
5.1 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Bioenergy 2011-2016
5.2 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
5.3 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
5.4 Europe Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
5.5 Europe Sale Price of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
5.6 Europe Sale Price of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
5.7 Europe Sale Price of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
5.8 Europe Regional Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Bioenergy 2011-2016
5.9 Europe End Users with Contact Information and Consumption Volume of Bioenergy by Applications

6 Japan Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales, Sale Price and End Users Analysis of Bioenergy
6.1 Japan Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Bioenergy 2011-2016
6.2 Japan Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
6.3 Japan Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
6.4 Japan Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
6.5 Japan Sale Price of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
6.6 Japan Sale Price of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
6.7 Japan Sale Price of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
6.8 Japan Regional Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Bioenergy 2011-2016
6.9 Japan End Users with Contact Information and Consumption Volume of Bioenergy by Applications

7 China Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales, Sale Price and End Users Analysis of Bioenergy
7.1 China Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Bioenergy 2011-2016
7.2 China Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
7.3 China Market Size (Volume and Value) of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
7.4 China Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
7.5 China Sale Price of Bioenergy by Types 2011-2016
7.6 China Sale Price of Bioenergy by Applications 2011-2016
7.7 China Sale Price of Bioenergy by Companies 2011-2016
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8.7 Enerkem Inc.
8.8 Gevo Inc.
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Scientists use Texas rivers for rice names

Published 11:56 am, Sunday, July 17, 2016

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor
Farmers, investors and biologists tour fields during Rice Day at the Texas AgriLife Extension in Beaumont on Thursday. The annual event allows for industry workers from several countries to meet and share ... more
The green stalks all in a tidy row poked above irrigation water in the July heat, awaiting harvest.
The grains of rice inside, which are headed to seven unidentified millers for an opinion of their quality, are the culmination of more than six years of seed cultivation by Rodante Tadien, an assistant professor and rice breeder at the Texas A&M University Agri-Life Center on U.S. 90.
A plaque in front of the plot of rice is labeled "TXEL001."If the rice succeeds in its milling and is accepted, Tadien will have the honor of naming it.
It's been his practice to name a new rice variety for a river in Texas, though this one won't be revealed until the milling evaluation is done later this year.
There already is a "Neches," which was named by Anna McClung, a former A&M rice scientist who worked at the Beaumont station. She now leads a similar operation in Stuttgart, Arkansas, another major rice-growing area.
"Sabine" also is taken, as are "Brazos" and "Presidio" and "Jacinto," named for the San Jacinto River.
"We will not run out of names," Tadien said.
How about "Trinity?"
"It's on my list," he said.
A rice breeder deals in growing seasons, one after the other, to learn the traits of the seed he is trying to cultivate and to encourage the traits he wants. It's not for people seeking instant gratification.
By contrast, "the farmers are" impatient, said Mo Way, the Beaumont station's entomologist, who studies the pests that endanger crops.
"I wish I had a magic wand," Tadien said. "We're working for the farmers. We love our jobs."On Thursday, Tadien and Way sat in metal folding chairs waiting for tourists on trailers pulled by the station's pickup trucks.
As the trucks pulled up to each stop, the scientists explained what was in back of them.
Way spoke of a pest that migrated from Central and South America and attacked rice crops in the Texas southern rice belt around Brazoria County.
The pests didn't damage the main crop but infested the second, or ratoon, crop, which grows from the stubble of the first-cut harvest.
The pests might not have had enough mass to damage the main crop but wielded sufficient power to destroy 25 percent of the ratoon crop, Way said. The pest hasn't been spotted in Southeast Texas.
"I just want to alert, not alarm," Way told a trailer of tourists. "It was here for one or two years in the late 1950s, early 1960s and then disappeared."
Rice, like wheat, is not a grain crop that is typically genetically modified, mostly because of market resistance, Way said.
The rice breeders prefer "mutation" breeding to produce the results they want, which is a disease-resistant, high-yield grain that also defeats its relative weed known as red rice, which mimics a rice plant, but has no grain within the head of the plant.
Just down the way from Tadien's TXEL001 are stands of other named rices, like Jupiter, from Arkansas.
Louisiana breeders also contribute Cajun names to creations that emanate from research at Louisiana State University.
LSU created a variety called "Jazzman" because New Orleans is famous for jazz. The rice is an aromatic variety. Think "jasmine."
DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/dwallach
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Scientists-use-Texas-rivers-for-rice-names-8383049.php

'Dum' it like awadhi royals

Published: 16th July 2016 06:00 AM
Last Updated: 16th July 2016 06:00 AM
BENGALURU: Biranj Food Fest, organised by My Fortune at its My Indian Oven restaurant, is catching the attention of many food lovers. One reason is that it’s a biriyani food festival.
Inspired by Mughlai, Awadhi and Hyderabadi traditions, this festival is a connoisseur’s delight. At the restaurant, near Hosmat Hospital, they serve from the traditional Indian cuisine along with contemporary dishes.
You can start with the masala pappad, from the starters section, served along with mint and tomato chutneys. Spice of the pappad goes perfectly with the tang of the tomato chutney. All the traditional biriyanis are cooked in ‘dum’ style, in a sealed vessel. Rice and the masala cook in the meat or vegetable juices.
Vegetarians should start with Nimona biriyani. In Nimona, for green peas, salan mirchi (large chillis) are stuffed with a  spicy green-peas mixture and then cooked with basmati rice in a dum. This is mildly spicy but all the flavours balance out, especially when had with the raitha. It is a must-try for all vegetarians.
For non-vegetarians, there is the Awadhi Murgh Biriyani. It is a princely dish, cooked the royal Awadhi style!
Prime cuts of chicken are cooked with basmati rice in a dum. This is a very aromatic biriyani from the Lucknow region of Uttar Pradesh. This tilts towards the bland though there is a mild sourness because curd is used for its preparation.
If you want to try something different, go for Kofteeh biriyani. Kofteeh or kofta are meat balls that originated in south Asian, middle-eastern and central Asian countries.
The deep-fried mutton kheema balls, with lamb that is spiced just-right, are cooked with aromatic basmati rice in a dum. These balls are made from minced mutton, so it’s not recommended for those who like to tear meat off its bones.
In Motia biriyani, motia (for small pearls or marbles) are made from mashed cottage cheese. Basmati rice is cooked with Indian cottage cheese, green peas and mushroom in a dum, and then garnished with motia. It is mild on the palate.
The food fest will conclude tonight but, fret not, all these biriyanis will now be on the restaurant’s regular menu.
Average cost per head is Rs 600 to 700
The انڈین ایکسپریس




Modern Rice Machine Unveiled in Bong

Created: Monday, 18 July 2016 00:30
Written by Papa Morris from Gbarnga, Bong County
Agriculture Minister Dr. Moses Zinnah has officially unveiled Liberia’s first modern rice threshers built in Gbarnga, Bong County. The Minister unveiled the threshers, constructed by about twenty local machine fabricators from across the country as they concluded twenty one days of workshop on agricultural machinery fabrication.
During the program, Dr. Zinnah commended partners of the government for making it possible, through their support, to ensure that such was achieved. He added that the production was a step to mechanized farming, stressing that all of these were not happening by chances, but due to the high importance President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has attached to agriculture.
Dr. Zinnah indicated that President Sirleaf has always maintained that no country can develop without an improved agricultural system, even when iron ores, diamonds and other natural resources are in the country, adding that it is difficult for any country to move ahead when it cannot handle its food situation.
Africa Rice Country Dr. Innousa Akintayo commended President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for visiting the trainees on two separate occasions,which according to him, was a huge motivation. Dr Akintayo said the absence of mechanization has affected and continue to affect agricultural production not just in Liberia, but the entire Africa.
According to the Africa Rice Country Representative, as part of an effort to alleviate such constraint, Africa Rice, in its new strategic plan, has put mechanization as its new priority, especially the fabrication of locally produced machines.
He said the production of local agricultural machinery has been successful in many Africa Rice Countries, including Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast Chad, etc. Dr. Akintayo added that the importation of machinery from western countries cannot solve the problems of mechanization considering the challenges in maintenance.
He said in the coming days, there will be another training conducted on other areas of agricultural machinery, including rice mill, cleaners and planters. The artisans, who were trained, are people who own workshops in their counties and in the production of machines.
Participants of the training called on the government and partners not to allow their efforts to be wasted, urging them for more support.
The training was initiated by Africa Rice. Many of the speakers at the gathering described the production of the machines as a giant step to gravitating to mechanized farming. The program was graced by several international guests from USAID, World Bank, World Food Program and high profile government officials from other ministries and agencies, as well as a representative from the National Legislature.
Citizens gathered in their numbers to see how the machine operates as it was switched on for testing while threshing rice.-Edited by George Barpeen
http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/news/10964-modern-rice-machine-unveiled-in-bong


Farmers told to be role model

Published: 18 July 2016
LOCAL farmers who attended the week long Farm Mechanization Training (FMT) that ended over the weekend (Friday)  in Honiara are being encouraged to be role model and utilize the knowledge and skills acquired.
This was after about 13 local farmers from Isabel and Western Province undertook an intense training on FMT at the Taiwan Technical Mission, near King George, East Honiara under the project on enhancing productivity of land and labour through small scale mechanization for subsistence farmers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands.

Farm Mechanisation Training is aimed to equip rice farmers and other technical staff to appreciate the development and adoption of small-scale low cost and energy efficient machinery for use by subsistence farmers in PNG and Solomon Islands and also to equip local farmers with knowledge and skills on production of manual rice milling machine, solar grain drier and peanut shelling machine.

“I must encourage you farmers to utilize the ideas learned and seek assistance from the government or responsible authorities when necessary,” project engineer from NARI-PNG and the facilitator of the training told participants at the official closing of the programme at Jina’s Restaurant, Friday.

 Mr Joe Someng said, it is encouraging to see local farmers display much interest in such training which is good.

“I must encourage you to utilize the knowledge and seek responsible authorities (government) whenever you need support,” he said.

 He said that such training is important as it impart farmers with knowledge to improve their farming production thus improve livelihood of individual families.

Someng also used the occasion to thank the Solomon Islands government for its continuous support and commitment towards the project and appeal to responsible authorities to assist local farmers in order to excel in their agricultural development.

“This is a new area of development within the Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock (MAL) with the objective of this project to develop and adopt small-scale low cost energy efficient machines for use by subsistence farmers in PNG and SI.”

It is understood, the continuity and expansion of this project should enable MAL to produce efficient low cost subsistence small machines for our farmers in the rural areas.

The week long training has seen participants involved in production of manual rice milling machine and training on how to use the solar grain drier and peanut shelling machine.

FMT is jointly funded by the European Union and Solomon Islands government
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/11116-farmers-told-to-be-role-model

4 July-10 July 2016 Rice News during Eid Fitr In Pakistan Daily Global regional and local rice enewsletter

 4 July-10 July  2016 Rice News during Eid Fitr In Pakistan Daily Global regional and local rice enewsletter

Just click the link to read/view the News/or download

Saturday, July 16, 2016

16th july,2016 daily global regional and local rice e-newsletter by riceplus magazine



Farm mechanization training ends today

Published: 15 July 2016
THE weeklong Farm Mechanization Training (FMT) that aims to equip local farmers with knowledge and skills on production of manual rice milling machine, solar grain drier and peanut shelling machine will conclude today.
The FMT is being held at the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) farm near King George, East Honiara with about 13 participants from Western and Isabel provinces in attendance.

The training was opened on Monday by the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL), Jimmy Saelea.

Saelea said “this training is to equip rice farmers and other technical staff to appreciate the development and adoption of small-scale low cost and energy efficient machinery for use by subsistence farmers in PNG and Solomon Islands.

“I encourage all trainees to gain as much knowledge as possible from the training.

“You are the few lucky ones to be given the opportunity to be the first for this subject matter training,” he said.

Saelea said that processing, preservation and quality improvement of agricultural crops for the benefit of local population will always be assured of any government of the day’s support, including the current DCC government which recognizes and is committed to encouraging and supporting rural development.

Director of Extension and project sub coordinator Michael Ho’ota also said, “this is a new area of development within the Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock (MAL) with the objective of this project to develop and adopt small-scale low cost energy efficient machines for use by subsistence farmers in PNG and SI.

“The continuity and expansion of this project should enable MAL to produce efficient low cost subsistence small machines for our farmers in the rural areas,” he said.

The week long training involves production of manual rice milling machine and training on how to use the solar grain drier and peanut shelling machine.

FMT is jointly funded by the European Union and Solomon Islands government of Solomon Islands project on enhancing productivity of land and labour through small scale mechanization for subsistence farmers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands.

Training is facilitated by a trainer from NARI -PNG and his Solomon Islands counterpart.

http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/11044-farm-mechanization-training-ends-today

Congress just passed a bill that could change the way you buy food


A scientist shows "Golden Rice" (R) and ordinary rice at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, Laguna south of Manila, August 14, 2013. Erik De Castro / Reuters
The US House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would change the way companies label genetically-engineered (GE) foods sold in this country, often referred to as GMOs. The bill directs the Department of Agriculture to write rules establishing a national standard for how GE products are labeled. Companies will be allowed to use text, symbols or a QR code to let consumers know about GE ingredients in their products. A federal labeling law would nullify Vermont's existing GMO labeling law, which is seen as more stringent than the rules proposed by the current bill, and prevent individual states from writing their own laws regulating the labels on genetically engineered foods.
There is no evidence that genetically-modified foods pose any particular danger to people. And the case against them relies heavily on disinformation.
Representatives passed the bill with a 306 to 117 vote. Since it already cleared the Senate last week, it will become law pending President Barack Obama's signature. Obama is not expected to veto the law.
Some Democrats and consumer advocates argue that the law does not go far enough in requiring companies to disclose GE ingredients. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts), ranking member on the House Agriculture Nutrition Subcommittee, made this case on the House floor.
"The debate about GMO labeling is about transparency and the right of every American to know what's in the food they eat," he said. "It's very simple. The best approach would be a clear and easy-to-understand label or symbol, not some crazy QR code that only creates more hassle and confusion." (Many Americans do not own smartphones, which are needed to scan and understand QR codes.)
Republicans, for their part, have argued that a national labeling standard falls in line with science and best practices for government regulation. Consumer Reports notes that the bill has also received support from industry groups, like the National Corn Growers Association.
Employees stock shelves near a sign supporting non genetically modified organisms (GMO) at the Central Co-op in Seattle, Washington. Thomson Reuters
In remarks emailed to Tech Insider, William Hallman, chair of the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University, noted that the bill as written only applies to particular "recombinant forms of genetic engineering, and might exclude products with genes edited using CRISPR or other methods." He also noted that products that don't include DNA, like sugar or olive oil, might not require labeling.
It remains unclear, he wrote, how exactly this law will impact consumer attitudes toward GE foods:
It is interesting that this proposed solution would theoretically give consumers the ability to know whether their food is 'bioengineered', for which 'right to know' advocates have been actively pushing. On the other hand, packages would not have to bear special labels such as those required by the Vermont law (Act 120). Our data and that of others suggests that a label saying that a product was 'produced with genetic engineering', as the Vermont law requires, is likely to be seen by consumers as an indication that the product is undesirable.
In other words, a national labeling standard might be a blessing for companies worried that existing state labels make their products look dangerous to customers.
http://www.techinsider.io/congress-passes-gmo-labeling-bill-2016-7



APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter - Volume 1516


APEDA AgriExchange Newsletter - Volume 1516


agriexchange@apeda.gov.in











International Benchmark Price
Price on: 13-07-2016
Product
Benchmark Indicators Name
Price
Honey
1
Argentine 85mm, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
2140
2
Argentine 50mm, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
2160
3
Argentine 34mm, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
2180
White Sugar
1
CZCE White Sugar Futures (USD/t)
868
2
Kenya Mumias white sugar, EXW (USD/t)
691
3
Pakistani refined sugar, EXW Akbari Mandi (USD/t)
615
Sultanas
1
Australian 5 Crown, CIF UK (USD/t)
2990
2
South African Orange River, CIF UK (USD/t)
2978
3
Turkish No 9 standard, FOB Izmir (USD/t)
1500
Source: oryza, agra-net
Market Watch
Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 12-07-2016
Domestic Prices
Unit Price : Rs per Qty
Product
Market Center
Variety
Min Price
Max Price
Maize
1
Haveri (Karnataka)
Local
1715
1715
2
Dhekiajuli (Assam)
Other
1400
1600
3
Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh)
Other
1592
1801
Paddy(Dhan)
1
Kasargod (Kerala)
Other
1500
1600
2
Kalol (Gujarat)
Other
1725
1925
3
Savali (Maharashtra)
Other
2200
2300
Mousambi
1
Sirhind (Punjab)
Other
2000
2800
2
Barara (Haryana)
Other
2500
3500
3
Mechua (West Bengal)
Other
3400
3500
Onion
1
Kannur (Kerala)
Other
1700
1800
2
Jatni (Orissa)
Other
1050
1150
3
Jagraon (Punjab)
Other
800
900

SNA Conference: Thinking Rice in the School Cafeteria and Beyond   



 
May the best rice bowl recipe win! 
SAN ANTONIO, TX- Nearly 7,000 school nutrition professionals from across the nation descended upon the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center here this week for the School Nutrition Association's (SNA) Annual National Conference to learn about the latest and greatest in food, beverage, supply equipment, and service solutions. The 3 day conference featured lengthy dedicated exhibit hall hours, where USA Rice hosted a popular, interactive booth.

Attendees lined up to spin USA Rice's famous prize wheel that tested their knowledge of U.S. rice. Every prize wheel contestant walked away with a rice crispy cake made using U.S.-grown rice and educational information about the many benefits that rice brings to the table. While they were waiting in line to spin the wheel and answer some rice trivia, attendees picked up packets of kid-friendly rice recipes and a Rice 101 Cooking Guide that contained rice preparation information for foodservice professionals.

A new feature this year at the USA Rice booth was a recipe contest that asked participants to submit a creative rice bowl concept for use as a standardized K-12 recipe. Several hundred people entered the contest for a chance to win a cash prize and serve as a consultant during the development of their winning recipe.

"We are really excited about the level of participation for this new healthy rice bowl recipe contest," said Katie Maher, USA Rice's director of domestic promotion. "It was an engaging element of our booth that encouraged attendees to think of rice as a versatile ingredient that can be paired with many other nutritious foods. The menu options really are endless when it comes to rice."

During this year's conference, USA Rice staff also met with key school nutrition influencers from Iowa, Kansas, and Louisiana to discuss new opportunities for incorporating rice onto school menus and to learn how USA Rice can continue providing useful resources to schools.

"It's crucial for us to take time to make these connections with people who are responsible for menu planning and food purchasing decisions," said Maher. "It affords us the opportunity to share our resources with them and to reiterate our message that rice is a central component of a healthy, well-balanced diet in school lunchrooms and at home."






07/15/2016 Farm Bureau Market Report

Rice

High
Low
Long Grain Cash Bids
- - -
- - -
Long Grain New Crop
- - -
- - -


Futures:

ROUGH RICE


High
Low
Last
Change





Sep '16
1065.0
1052.0
1052.0
-7.5
Nov '16
1086.0
1080.0
1080.0
-7.5
Jan '17
1112.5
1112.5
1105.5
-7.0
Mar '17


1125.0
-7.0
May '17


1144.0
-7.0
Jul '17


1158.0
-7.0
Sep '17


1158.0
-7.0

Rice Comment

Rice futures ended the week on a negative note. The WASDE report showed mostly offsetting changes, but 16-17 ending stocks are projected at their highest level since 85-86 thanks to large increases in California medium grain stocks. The all rice on farm average price was lowered, again a result of lower prices in California. September has bounced off support near $10.25, with the next upside target at last weeks high of $10.94 ½.


California Rice Harvest Expected To Be Near Normal

Thursday, July 14, 2016 | Sacramento, CA | Permalink
Rice field in the Sacramento Valley.
Photo / California Rice Commission
California farmers are growing about 545,000 acres of rice this year, about 100,000 acres more than each of the last two years.
Jim Morris with the California Rice Commission says this year is an average planting, but it’s welcome news to rice farmers who have had to idle fields during the drought.
“Rice was one of the most impacted crops in all of California from the drought and that impact not only affects the farmers directly it affects our economy," says Morris. "It also hurts the wildlife habitat that the rice fields provide.”
Harvest gets underway in September. California is the nation’s second largest rice producing state. Almost all of the sushi rice in the nation is grown in the Sacramento Valley.
Morris says California rice contributes $5 billion to the state’s economy and flooded fields help provide habitat for migrating birds.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/07/14/california-rice-harvest-expected-to-be-near-normal/

CreekSpeak looks at salmon grown in rice fields

Deo Ferrer – Daily Democrat File Photograph Nigiri Project researcher Dr. Jacob Katz pulls a sample of zooplankton from the water. Katz will be speaking at CreekSpeak later this month.
Posted: 07/14/16, 8:48 AM PDT | Updated: 1 day ago
Putah Creek Council’s third CreekSpeak presentation of 2016, on Thursday, July 21, will feature Dr. Jacob Katz speaking about how an ongoing research project in the Yolo Bypass is changing the relationship between productive farmland and wildlife conservation.
In the last four years, researchers have worked with landowners to grow salmon in rice fields and recreate some of the seasonal floodplains that once covered California’s Central Valley.
Called the “Nigiri Project,” this effort demonstrates the potential to create fish and bird habitat while maintaining agricultural production on those same lands.
Katz is the director for California Trout’s Central California region. He focuses on integrating biologic science and natural history into the management and operation of California’s water infrastructure. Through the Nigiri Project, he is developing ways to get greater fish and wildlife benefit out of working agricultural landscapes while ensuring that California is always home to self-sustaining runs of wild salmon.
The CreekSpeak presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Margaret Parsons Room of the Winters Community Library, 708 Railroad Ave, Winters.
All CreekSpeak events are on the third Thursday of the month, and alternate locations between the Davis Veterans Memorial Center Club Room (203 E. 14th St.) and the Winters Community Library. CreekSpeak talks are free to Putah Creek Council members and open to the public. A $5 donation is requested from those who have not yet joined the Council.
More information about these presentations is available at www.putahcreekcouncil.org, or by calling Putah Creek Council at 795-3006
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20160714/FEATURES/160719955





Avoid ‘miracle’ rice, just eat a carrot!

Published Jul 16, 2016, 12:48 am IST
Updated Jul 16, 2016, 12:48 am IST
Golden rice is a false miracle.
 Representational image
Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, died on September 9, 2009. Alfred G. Gilman died on December 23, 2015. Both were Nobel laureates and now both dead. Gilman was a signatory to a recent letter condemning Greenpeace and its opposition to genetic engineering. How many Nobel laureates does it take to write a letter? Easily ascertained — the dead Gilman and 106 others were enlisted in “supporting GMOs and golden rice”. Correct answer — 107, dead or alive. The laureates were rounded up by Val Giddings (senior fellow, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Jon Entine (author of Abraham’s Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People) and Jay Byrne (former head of corporate communications, Monsanto). Real people don’t have the luxury of getting Nobel laureates to write 1/107th of a letter, “chosen” folk do. Evidently. Cornell University is a “chosen” institution — central to genetically modified public relations. The Cornell Alliance of Science is funded by Bill Gates, just like the failed golden rice experiment.
The Nobel laureates accuse Greenpeace of killing millions by delaying ghost rice — something the biotech industry accuses me of doing, for the same reason. Unlike golden rice — whose failure to launch is the industry’s own failure, the opposition to genetic engineering (and hence golden rice) is very real and successful. As Glenn Stone, a rice scientist at Washington University, states: “The simple fact is that after 24 years of research and breeding, golden rice is still years away from being ready for release.” It is Borlaug’s Green Revolution monocultures that contributed to malnutrition by destroying biodiversity, which destroys the diversity of nutrients we need to be healthy. As Navdanya research has shown, biodiversity produces more food and nutrition per acre. Borlaug’s ghost is still shaping the industrial agriculture “miracles” based on monocultures of the mind and spin in place of science.
It is now more than 20 years since the “miracle” golden rice began to be promoted as the excuse to allow patents on life. The last time golden rice was resurrected when Patrick Moore of Allow Golden Rice Now was sent to Asia to push the failed promise. Women of the world organised and responded to Moore — Diverse Women for Diversity issued a declaration on International Women’s Day in 2015 titled Women and Biodiversity Feed the World, not Corporations and GMOs. Golden rice is genetically engineered rice with two genes from a daffodil and one gene from a bacterium. The resulting GMO rice is said to have a yellow colouring, which is supposed to increase beta-carotene — a precursor of Vitamin A. It has been offered as a potential miracle cure for Vitamin A deficiency for 20 years. But golden rice is a false miracle. It is a disease of nutritionally empty monocultures offered as a cure for nutritional deficiency. In fact, golden rice, if successful, will be 400 per cent less efficient in providing Vitamin A than the biodiversity alternatives that women have to offer. To get your daily requirement of Vitamin A, all you need to eat is one of the following:
Two tablespoons of spinach or cholai (amaranth) leaves or radish leaves
Four tablespoons of mustard or bathua leaves
One tablespoon of coriander chutney
One-and-a-half tablespoon of mint chutney
One carrot
One mango
So, if you want to be four times more efficient than 107 Nobel laureates, just eat a carrot!
Not only do these indigenous alternatives based on women’s knowledge provide more Vitamin A than golden rice ever will, and at a lower cost, but also provide multiple other nutrients. Our critique of golden rice is that even if it is developed, it will be inferior to the alternatives women have in their hands and minds. Women are being blocked from growing biodiversity and spreading their knowledge to address malnutrition, by rich and powerful men and their corporations who are blind to the richness of the earth and our cultures. Through their monoculture of the mind, they keep imposing monocultures of failed technologies, blocking the potential of abundance and nourishment. As I wrote in 2000, blindness to biodiversity and women’s knowledge is a blind approach to blindness prevention.
Grain.org concluded in Grains of delusion: Golden rice seen from the ground, way back in 2001: “The best chance of success in fighting Vitamin A deficiency and malnutrition is to better use the inexpensive and nutritious foods already available, and in diversifying food production systems in the fields and in the household. The euphoria created by the Green Revolution greatly stifled research to develop and promote these efforts, and the introduction of golden rice will further compromise them. Golden rice is merely a marketing event. But international and national research agendas will be taken by it.”
The Giddings-Entine-Byrne Nobel PR stunt was timed to coincide with the US Senate vote on the Dark Act — the denial to Americans of the right to know what they eat. With two decades of the GMO experiment failing to control pests and weeds, creating super pests and super weeds instead, there is now an attempt to push through the “next generation” of GMOs — such as “gene drives” for exterminating nutrient-rich species like the amaranth. Amaranth, a weed to the 107 Nobel laureates, is a richer source of Vitamin A than golden rice has promised it will be, when it grows up. The laureates would have us round up all the Vitamin A we already have in abundance, create deficiencies by exterminating it with RoundUp, and provide golden rice to alleviate the absence of Vitamin A.
Mr Gates is also supporting this failed miracle, as well as the failed communication through the Cornell Alliance for Science. He also funds the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and Harvest Plus, the corporate alliance for biofortification. The corporate-controlled World Food Prize for 2016 has been announced for “Biofortification”. Scientists funded by Mr Gates have been given the prize for inventing an orange sweet potato. But the Maori in New Zealand had developed kumara, orange (beauregard) sweet potato, centuries ago. Mr Gates is also funding the biopiracy research of James Dale of Queensland, who took the Vitamin A-rich indigenous bananas of Micronesia and declared them to be his invention. The biopiracy of people’s biodiversity and indigenous knowledge is what Mr Gates is funding. The Gates fortification or Nobel fortification, will not nourish people. Fraud is not food
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/160716/avoid-miracle-rice-just-eat-a-carrot.html


Piñol aims rice security, but critics are skeptical

July 15, 2016 9:23 pm
by  James Konstantin Galvez Reporter

Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol
The Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, reiterated on Friday three ambitious goals: attain rice self-sufficiency, limit rice imports to the minimum access volume, and establish a buffer stock to feed the population for six months in times of a crisis.To achieve these goals, he is aiming to increase rice production by at least one metric ton per hectare each harvest and instructed the National Food Authority to increase rice inventory to more than 600 percent above what is required by law, which is 30 days’ supply in the lean months and15 days supply in other times.
Piñol had earlier presented to the Cabinet the preparations his department is making to tackle the impact of La Niña that is expected to hit the country by the coming November or December.Meanwhile, his plan for rice buffer stocks met with skepticism at the National Food Authority. An official of the agency pointed out that a higher inventory of buffer stock would only result in rice rotting in warehouses because of NFA’s inability to dispose old rice stocks in storage. Even worse, the source said, a massive rice inventory would also create depressed farm gate prices of palay.
The official also said that it would be problematic for the Duterte government to institutionalize a 6-month buffer stock, noting the financial and logistical restrictions facing the agency.
“Where would they put the rice stocks? Are they going to build or rent new warehouses? Where would they get the budget?” he said.
“Let’s say we have the funding and that they can buy more palay, the NFA’s capacity to dry and mill the grain were very limited,” he added.
The official also said that it is “incumbent to remind the good secretary” of the NFA’s mandate.
“Our mandate is to ensure availability of rice. At the same time, we must also ensure that the price of rice is low enough to remain affordable to low-income consumers. We are not here to compete with commercial rice traders,” the official said.
NFA, the source said, can keep rice stocks in good condition for only six months and palay for nine months. “A considerable volume of rice in NFA warehouses were more than six months old, while daily withdrawal at government depositories were at its lowest due to the substantial presence of commercial rice in the market at competitive prices,” the official said.
At the beginning of last month (June), the Philippine Statistics Authority data showed that the country’s total rice stock inventory was good for three months—with stocks in the households sufficient for 34 days, those in NFA depositories for 32 days, and those in commercial warehouses for 29 days.
Rice stocks was pegged at 3.24 million metric tons, or 7.15 percent higher than the 3.02 million metric tons level in June 2015, but 12.31 percent lower than the previous month’s inventory level of 3.69 million metric tons.
Of this month’s total rice, 36.13 percent were with the households, 30.74 percent in commercial warehouses, and 33.13 percent were in NFA depositories. The latter comprised 85.39 percent of the rice imported.
The NFA was created with the intention of protecting the interests of both rice producers and consumers. As such, the agency’s two primary mandates are to stabilize the price of rice and to ensure food security.
The price stabilization mandate means that the NFA tries to influence prices on two fronts. At one front, it must support the palay farm despite the reforms undertaken in the past gate price at a level that is enough to ensure a reasonable return for rice farmers.
A well-placed source in the Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, questioned Piñol’s target to increase rice productivity and areas, saying that Philippines remained heavily reliant to the availability of rain with 60 percent of harvest attributed to rain-fed areas.
The source added that increasing productivity by one metric ton per hectare per harvest would entail massive funding support from the government.
“Piñol’s statement is very general. In specific areas, were irrigation is not yet available, this is possible. However, increasing productivity in majority of irrigated areas, where utilization of hybrid seeds and farm mechanization are relatively high, this in no long viable,” the sources.
“This will also be possible if Piñol will subsidize everything from fertilizers to seeds to mechanization, not just irrigation,” he said.
Piñol earlier said that new areas for planting rice would be opened during his term which will increase production by 4.8 million metric tons of rice, more than enough to cover the 1.8 million MT annual rice shortage.
Piñol also said that he has employed the service of Project NOAH for identifying suitable lands, noting that more than 2.5 million hectares showed potential as new rice areas.
Studies are also being made to determine the viability of low-cost communal irrigation projects, instead of maintaining irrigation facilities that have become rundown, to reduce production cost and help farmers become more competitive. Rice production cost in the Philippines is higher than in Thailand, Vietnam and India.
Critics said that rice sufficiency in the Philippines is unlikely within the next 10 years, citing geographical conditions, lack of agriculture infrastructure and failed implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The Philippines has less comparative advantage in rice production compared with major rice exporters like India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam—all blessed with the world’s large rivers. Besides, the Philippines is a calamity prone nation with an average of 20 typhoons hitting the country annually
http://www.manilatimes.net/pinol-aims-rice-security-but-critics-are-skeptical/273989/


Enrollment period for 2016 USDA safety net coverage ends Aug. 1

  • Jul 15, 2016
Producers who chose coverage from the safety net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, can visit Woodward FSA County office through August 1, 2016, to sign contracts to enroll in coverage for 2016.
The choice between ARC and PLC has already been made by producers but a contract to participate must be signed each year for the farm to be eligible for program benefits. Please do not wait until the last week to request an appointment as “ALL” signatures for “ALL” producers on the contract and supporting documents MUST be in the county office by Aug 1, 2016.
The two programs were authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and offer a safety net to agricultural producers when there is a substantial drop in prices or revenues for covered commodities. Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity. For more details regarding these programs, go to www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.
Call the Woodward office at 580-256-7882 Ext. 2 for more information or to sign up for the program.
http://www.woodwardnews.net/news/enrollment-period-for-usda-safety-net-coverage-ends-aug/article_c5f50f80-4a6e-11e6-bdb0-d3499f292520.ht

California Rice Harvest Expected To Be Near Normal

Thursday, July 14, 2016 | Sacramento, CA | Permalink
Rice field in the Sacramento Valley.
Photo / California Rice Commission
California farmers are growing about 545,000 acres of rice this year, about 100,000 acres more than each of the last two years.
Jim Morris with the California Rice Commission says this year is an average planting, but it’s welcome news to rice farmers who have had to idle fields during the drought.
“Rice was one of the most impacted crops in all of California from the drought and that impact not only affects the farmers directly it affects our economy," says Morris. "It also hurts the wildlife habitat that the rice fields provide.”
Harvest gets underway in September. California is the nation’s second largest rice producing state. Almost all of the sushi rice in the nation is grown in the Sacramento Valley.
Morris says California rice contributes $5 billion to the state’s economy and flooded fields help provide habitat for migrating birds
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/07/14/california-rice-harvest-expected-to-be-near-normal/




5,000 rice farmers to benefit from CBN anchor borrower programme in Kogi

Lokoja, July 15, 2016 (NAN) No fewer than 5, 000 registered rice farmers in Kogi will benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) anchor borrower programme.
The state’s Chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Mrs Rabi Emaiku, made this known in a town hall meeting of Rice Value Chain Farmers and stakeholders on Friday in Lokoja.
Emaiku said that over 5,000 farmers in the state had registered and completed the necessary documentations required by the CBN to qualify them to access the rice fund.
Emaiku urged stakeholders involved in rice production to harmonise ways to boost and ensure adequate rice production in the state.
She advised farmers in the state to make good use of the opportunity provided them by the Federal Government through the CBN to boost production.
"Our associations are ready to give our trust and support to the CBN, Federal and State governments, and all other stakeholders to ensure the success of the programme in Kogi," she said.
The chairman also commended the State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello for his efforts and total support to farmers in making the programme a reality in Kogi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state governor was represented at the meeting by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Tim Dichie.
The governor restated the strong commitment of the state government in making sure that food security is given priority attention in the state.
The CBN representative, Mr Idris Usman, who is the Head of Development Finance Office of CBN, Lokoja, said he was there to witness the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would be signed by all stakeholders for onward transmission to the CBN for implementation.
Usman noted that 50 per cent guarantee of any amount agreed on in the meeting would be taken over by the CBN, while 40 per cent by State Government and 5 to 10 per cent by individual participants.
The stakeholders present at the meeting were: CBN, ADP, UNDP, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, RIFAN, Kogi State Ministry of Agriculture, Off takers from Kano, Edo and Anambra States.
Others were Seed Suppliers, Tractorization Company, Sterling Bank, AFAN, SWOFON, KSARPFUL and various farmers' associations in the state. (NAN)
ASA/YMU/AFA

http://nannewsnigeria.com/5000-rice-farmers-benefit-cbn-anchor-borrower-programme-kogi






Rice: 25,000 MT of Long Grain Rice Sold to the Ivory Coast


By Rebecca Bratter, USA Rice DailyJuly 14, 2016
USDA’s Food Assistance Division has approved the sale of 25,000 MT of long grain rice to the Ivory Coast as part of their Food For Progress Program (FFPr).  FFPr allows for U.S. commodities in key food assistance markets to be sold by humanitarian groups who then invest the proceeds in the development of a critical agricultural value chain.  It is commonly referred to as “monetization.”  In the case of Ivory Coast, the sale of long grain rice will be invested in the development of the poultry value chain.
 

This program is an important component of the U.S. government’s desire to invest in helping critical markets achieve agricultural sustainability and eventually transition to commercial markets.The Ivory Coast, traditionally a commercial market for USA Rice has descended into food insecurity after years of civil unrest and economic instability.  USA Rice worked closely with industry, monetization agents on the ground in the Ivory Coast, and the USDA to determine the appropriateness of this sale to a former commercial market.  After concluding the sale would not create any market distortion and that it made sense to conduct food assistance activities in a formerly commercial market, USA Rice encouraged and supported the sale of rice for food assistance purposes.USA Rice has been working closely with both USAID and USDA to emphasize both the availability and advantageous prices of U.S. origin rice.  As rice is the most consumed commodity in the world, it is easily accepted by the target population of food assistance programs, making it a highly effective tool to combat hunger.“This is the first of what we believe will be multiple new sales of U.S. rice to the U.S. government for use in food assistance programs in the coming year,” said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward.  “We are continuing our close collaboration with government agencies to increase rice use to help vulnerable communities around the world.

Monsoon covers entire country two days before its normal date: IMD

PTI

New Delhi, July 14:  
The Southwest Monsoon has covered the entire country two days ahead of its normal date after reaching the last frontiers of Kutch and Western Rajasthan.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country has so far received four per cent more rainfall than normal.
All sub-regions have been receiving good rainfall except the North-East and east region of the country, where the deficiency has reached 23 per cent.
“The Southwest Monsoon has advanced to remaining parts of north Arabian Sea, Kutch and West Rajasthan. Thus, it has covered the entire country on July 13,” the IMD said in its latest bulletin.
The monsoon hit Kerala on June 8, seven days after its normal onset date, which marks the start of the rainy season in the country. In mid-June its progress had reduced considerably due to lack of traction near Karwar.
However, after that it has made rapid progress. It usually covers the last frontiers of Kutch and West Rajasthan on July 15. This marks the monsoon covering the entire country.
The IMD has forecast “above normal” rainfall this season.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/monsoon-covers-entire-country-two-days-before-its-normal-date-imd/article8848853.ece

Rajkot Foodgrain Prices- Jul 15


Rajkot Foodgrain Prices Open- July 15     
  Jul 15 Market delivery prices of food grains and pulses at
Rajkot in India's western state of Gujarat opened on a mixed trend,
traders said Friday.  
        *              *
    FOOD GRAINS & PULSES
    * Gram prices firmed up due to short supply.  
    * Udid prices dropped due to lack of buying enquiries from mills.
            
            
                                                                                
                      
     Prices of food grains and pulses in rupees per 20 kilograms, and deliveries
in 100-kilogram bags:     
                      Delivery        Auction price     Previous price
    FOOD GRAIN
    Wheat Lokwan      00,320           340-405            345-392 
    Wheat Tukda       00,625           342-422            343-415 
    Jowar White          055           275-510            280-540 
    Bajra              0,020           280-340            290-345
 
    PULSES
    Gram               00,115        1,605-1,690        1,640-1,721
    Udid                0,070        1,800-2,250        1,750-2,272 
    Moong               0,465        1,000-1,315        1,031-1,300 
    Tuar                0,035        1,450-1,724        1,475-1,734 
    Maize                 005          305-370            305-350  
    Vaal Dsshi            010        1,175-1,650        1,250-1,450   
    Choli               0,010        1,750-2,000        1,750-2,050 
  
    Rajkot market delivery prices in rupees per 100 kilograms:.
                            Today's Price      Previous close 
    FOOD GRAINS
    Wheat Mill quality      1,830-1,840         1,830-1,840 
    Wheat (medium)          2,100-2,125         2,100-2,125
    Wheat (superior best)   2,250-2,275         2,250-2,275    
    Bajra                   1,890-1,900         1,890-1,900
    Jowar                   2,650-2,700         2,650-2,700    
    PULSES
    Gram                    8,800-8,850         8,700-8,750 
    Gram dal               10,700-10,800       10,700-10,800
    Besan (65-kg bag)       7,650-7,700         7,650-7,700
    Tuar                   09,000-09,100       09,000-09,100
    Tuardal                13,600-13,700       13,600-13,700
    Moong                   6,500-6,550         6,500-6,550
    Moongdal                7,100-7,150         7,100-7,150
    Udid                   12,000-12,100       12,300-12,400
 
    RICE 
    IR-8                    2,200-2,250         2,200-2,250                     
                                Basmati  Best           7,700-7,800      
07,700-07,800
    Parimal                 2,250-2,300         2,250-2,300
    Punjab Parimal          2,550-2,600         2,550-2,600
    Basmati Medium          5,300-5,400         5,300-5,400
http://in.reuters.com/article/rajkot-foodgrain-idINL4N1A135T

Lounge review: Tamarind, Bengaluru

A north Indian restaurant at the airport sounds like a bad idea, but Tamarind is neither boring nor over-the-top. The focus is on delicious food cooked with knowledge and restraint

The restaurant interiors.
A north Indian restaurant at the airport? That, too, one called Tamarind? I have to confess, enthusiasm levels were rather low for this one. Still, needs must, so off we went to the brand new Taj Bangalore, located within the greater area of the Kempegowda International Airport, on a Saturday evening. Bad idea. We spent close to 2 hours on the road, most of it on the stretch between MG Road and the highway. It was 10pm when we reached, an hour-and-a-half after our booking.
The good stuff
No one turned a hair at our late arrival or frazzled appearance. Instead, with well-trained finesse, we were escorted to the restaurant, ensconced at a table we wanted, offered a choice of waters (still, sparkling, clove-flavoured regular) and presented with the menus. Then our server discreetly disappeared while we took a deep breath and pulled ourselves together.
When we looked up, there was an amuse-bouche (a tiny, spicy dal-vada lookalike with a hung-curd and mint garnish) and a “bread basket”—flaky “pastry sticks” with four chutneys, including a very moreish one of spring onions. To wet the throat, we asked for a lemon iced tea (Rs.300) and a spiced beet-and-apple martini (Rs.750). The cocktail was more apple than beet though and the spicing levels were mild. Still, a smooth, well-mixed drink.
The food menu itself is a fair balance of old favourites and oddball quirks. We zoomed in unanimously on the Sheermal Tart Mein Galouti (Rs.1,000), albeit apprehensively, still scarred by our last encounter with “fusion” Indian. The misgivings turned out to be misplaced because what arrived at our table were six small kebabs balanced in pastry shells, delicately spiced and utterly coherent, the base—though it didn’t quite have the traditional mildly sweet taste—rescuing the tender galouti from complete collapse as one bit into it. Thus encouraged, for mains we asked for the Nalli-e-Khas (Rs.1,100), a Lehsooni Khada Palak (Rs.900) and Laal Moth Ki Dal (Rs.700) with Phulkas (two for Rs.150; not on the menu) and Khushka (Rs.300), steamed basmati rice. Alongside, we got a Kuti Mirch Jaituni Naan (Rs.150)—naan sprinkled with olives and red chillies—gratis, as our server insisted it was a house speciality.
That the food will be of a certain quality at a five-star hotel is a given; all too frequently, though, dishes slip into a safe mediocrity. To stay within the inoffensive limits—for this is “royal” north Indian, arguably the version of the country’s cuisines most familiar to foreigner guests—and not be boring, to push classics yet be respectful of their integrity, is a tricky act. That’s where Tamarind scores. Be it the stir-fried spinach dish with whole garlic cloves or the perfectly done lamb shanks, or even the simple dal, the dishes indicated knowledge and restraint: The white butter underlined the dishes without coating the tongue, the spices were assertive without being overwhelming. The takeaway is a wholesome, satisfying comfort meal: just what you need before boarding that long flight away from the motherland.
For dessert, we tried the Tamarind Ice-cream (Rs.400) simply because it wasn’t something we’re likely to get anywhere else. The cold tartness takes some getting used to, but the taste grows on you.
The not-so-good
Why can’t chefs resist the urge to dress up lamb shanks like phallic symbols? As balanced as the Nalli-e-Khas was, the leaves and gilded trimmings sprouting from an upright piece struck the only jarring note of the evening.
Two, as much of a work in progress as the area is, better signage is an absolute necessity. After driving for hours, we spent another 15 minutes trying to figure out how to access the hotel.
Talk plastic
A meal for two, with one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic drink, one starter, phulkas, rice, two mains, a dal and a dessert cost Rs.5,837, including taxes.
Tamarind, Taj Bangalore, near Kempegowda International Airport, Devanahalli, Bengaluru (66003300). Open from 7.30-11.30pm, only for dinner at present.
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/brjIyA18QDSPAp1oSdtw5K/Lounge-review-Tamarind-Bengaluru.html