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For boosting India’s non-basmati
rice exports, the government needs to ensure that a higher pool
of surplus rice is available to exporters by suitably modifying Food
Corporation of India’s (FCI) procurement strategies, a high-powered panel of
experts on agriculture exports said.
The panel was constituted by the 15th Finance Commission (FFC) to
suggest measurable performance incentives for States to encourage agriculture
exports as well as to promote crops that can help in high import substitution.
It comprised of senior representatives from the industry,
academicians and former bureaucrats.
The panel said FCI is the largest buyer of rice in the domestic
market for Public Distribution System (PDS) – approx. 40 million tonnes
annually.
And, with the Minimum Support Price (MSP) increasing year on year
it is leading to smaller export surplus and uncompetitive pricing in the
international market for Indian non-basmati rice.
A reason perhaps why, despite being the world’s second largest
producer of rice, both production and exports have been stagnant over the
years.
The panel seemed to suggest that excess FCI buying and increasing MSP’s
are the major pain points for Indian rice exports which could be addressed
through suitable government policies such as price deficiency payment method
(Bhawantar Scheme).
Rice is among the biggest agriculture exports from India along
with buffalo meat and cotton. It was India’s single largest commodity with $7.3
billion trade surplus followed by shrimp ($4.6 billion) and bovine meat ($3.6
billion), the panel said.
Rice production in India is estimated to be over 115 million
metric tonnes (which includes 6-7 million tonnes of basmati rice).
The panel has identified the crop value chains along with 21
others out of a laundry list of over 340 agriculture and commodities products
that needs to developed to enable India increase its agriculture exports from
the current $40 billion to over $70 billion in the next few years.
This push will enable an estimated investment of around $8-10
billion in inputs, infrastructure, processing and other demand enablers which
will in turn create an estimated 7-10 million additional jobs. Such a boost to
exports will also lead to higher farm productivity and farmer incomes.
The other items identified by the panel for value chain
development includes shrimp, buffalo meat, raw cotton, grapes, pulses, mangoes,
banana, potatoes, honey etc.
The panel also advised creation of a state-led export plan with
the private sector playing an anchor role and the Centre acting as an enabler.
It was of the view that the private sector players had a pivotal
role to play in ensuring demand orientation and focus on value addition;
ensuring project plans are feasible, robust, implementable and appropriately
funded.
Indian
exporters said they have cut shipments to Iran because of delay in payments
linked to the Islamic nation running out of dollars
India’s basmati
rice exports to Iran may
decline 20 per cent this financial year as the West Asian nation fails to make
payment due to US economic sanctions, said a study.
Iran ordered nearly 30 per cent of
India’s total basmati
rice exports in financial year 2019-20, buying 1.3 million
tonnes. The US economic sanctions have paralysed business in Iran, which is
battling the crisis for a year now.
Indian exporters said they have cut shipments to Iran because
of delay in payments linked to the Islamic nation running out of dollars.
“Iran, which imports around 1.3 million tonne annually, is
expected to register 20 per cent lower volume from India as
payment-related issues continue from last fiscal because of US sanctions,” said
a Crisil study.
Data compiled by the Agricultural and Processed Food Export
Development Authority (Apeda) showed India exported
4.45 million tonnes basmati
rice (worth $4.33 billion) in financial year 2019-20 as
compared to 4.41 million tonnes ($4.72 billion) the year before. India recorded
4.01 million tonnes (worth $4.17 billion) for the financial year 2017-18.
“Exports to Iran is currently on halt due to delay in payment
receivables. Owing to economic sanctions, dolalr availability remained scarce.
But, Iran market is set to open very soon,” said Gurnam Arora, Joint Managing
Director of Kohinoor Foods Ltd, the producer and exporter of Kohinoor brand
basmati rice.
Indian rice exporters are exploring opportunities in South East
Asia and South America to compensate for exports to Iran. Demand from European
Union, the Middle East, South East Asia and the South American countries has
increased.
“There will be no impact of decline in export volume to Iran on
India’s overall shipment of basmati rice as demand from other markets has
increased,” Ashwini Arora, Director, L T Foods, the producer of Daawat brand
basmati rice, had said in a recent interaction with Business
Standard.
Demand for basmati remained strong in nationwide lockdowns to
contain the coronavirus outbreak, prompting rice companies to accept orders by
seeking higher advances or letters of credit. They plan to use the advance
monies to cut working capital debt. The aromatic rice demand from the US, the
UK and the Middle East (excluding Iran), which account for more than half of
India’s annual basmati export, has increased because these countries are
building food security buffers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Crisil report said the average export realisation at Rs 63 per
kg this fiscal compared with Rs 69 per kg in the last fiscal. Realisation from
the domestic market, accounting for 2 million tonne sales annually, is seen
stable at Rs 52 per kg on strong retail demand.
Telangana to procure 3.62
lakh tonnes rice pending from millers
By AuthorTelanganaToday | Published: 1st Aug 2020 9:30 pm
Hyderabad: Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar instructed the
officials to complete the procurement of about 3.62 lakh tonnes of Custom
Milled Rice (CMR) or raw rice from millers. As against 31.61 lakh tonnes CMR to
be collected from the the millers for Vaanakalam 2019-20 season, about 27.99
lakh tonnes rice has been already received.
The Minister also asked the authorities to procure 9.04 lakh
tonnes of boiled rice pending from the millers as against 43.63 lakh tonnes for
the Yasangi 2020-21 season. He emphasised the need to procure the pending rice
varieties from the millers in the wake of the State governments’ requirements
to meet the supplies to ration card holders. He pointed out that the State
government was supplying double the quantity of ration rice to the
beneficiaries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a review meeting with the officials here on Saturday,
Kamalakar directed the authorities concerned to ensure that there was no
shortage of rice to be supplied to the fair price shops in the State every
month. He asserted that the necessary quantity of rice should supplied in
advance considering Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s decision to double
the ration rice supplies to the ration card holders during the lockdown. He
warned that any laxity will be considered severely. He also discussed on the
Task Force activities and various other departmental activities to ensure
transparency.
Rice leads off series of online research field days in Arkansas
Never Miss A Story
An Extension irrigation engineer demonstrates multiple inlet
irrigation systems and management during a field day near Stuttgart in 2019.
Special to The Commercial
By Special to The Commercial
Posted
Jul 31, 2020 at 2:13 PMUpdated
Jul 31, 2020 at 3:19 PM
Rice will lead off a series of online commodity-based field days
designed to give Arkansans a first look at the latest University of Arkansas
System Division of Agriculture research and extension from the safety of their
homes.
The rice field day will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, and
will be followed at two-week intervals by corn Thursday, Sept. 3, soybeans on
Thursday, Sept. 17 and cotton Thursday, Oct. 1, according to a news release.
Social distancing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic led the
Division of Agriculture to take its annual agricultural field days online, said
Nathan Slaton, associate vice president for agriculture and assistant director
of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.
“Field days are an important activity for the Division of
Agriculture,” Slaton said. “They provide our farmers and other Arkansans an
opportunity to hear directly from our scientists about research and extension
programs that are important to them. Visitors also have an opportunity to ask
questions and speak to us about the agricultural challenges they face and how
we can assist them.
“In keeping with physical distancing precautions during the
COVID-19 pandemic, we are moving our field days online to maintain that
face-to-face interaction without the risk of spreading the virus,” Slaton said.
The rice field day will cover new varieties, the latest research
in hybrid varieties, soil fertility, weed management, and disease and pest
control. The event will open at 6 p.m. with a welcome from Bob Scott, former
director of the Rice Research and Extension Center and new Division of
Agriculture senior associate vice president and director of the Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service.
Roger Pohlner, chairman of the Arkansas Rice Research and
Promotion Board will give an update on the board’s activities.
Online presentations by Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
researchers and Extension Service specialists will include:
Weed Control in Rice — Jason Norsworthy, professor of weed
science;
Hybrid Rice Breeding — Ehsan Shakiba, assistant professor of
hybrid rice breeding;
Managing Potassium in Rice — Trent Roberts, associate professor
and extension soil fertility specialist;
New Rice Varieties — Xueyan Sha, professor and rice breeder.
A live question-and-answer session following the presentations
will give participants an opportunity to interact with scientists and learn
more about how the research applies to their crops and operations.
The field days are free, but registration is required to
connect. Register for the rice field day at https://bit.ly/ArkRiceOnline.
For more information about the online field days and to register
for the later commodity events, visit the 2020 virtual field day website: https://aaes.uark.edu/field-days. A
recording of the field day will be available on demand from the website after the
live broadcast on Aug. 20.
To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uark.edu. Follow the agency
on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and Instagram at
ArkAgResearch.
To learn about Extension Programs in Arkansas, contact a local
Cooperative Extension Service agent, visit www.uaex.edu or follow the agency on
Twitter at @UAEX_edu.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers
all its Extension and Research programs and services without discrimination.
Presentations for the virtual
northeast Louisiana row rice field day were released July 27, providing farmers
with the latest information from LSU AgCenter researchers. The complete event
is available online at https://bit.ly/LSURowRice(link
is external).
Melissa Cater, director of the AgCenter Northeast Region, credited AgCenter
agents Keith Collins and Bruce Garner for their work on the virtual field day.
The video presentations can be viewed at any time for future reference.
Mike Salassi, AgCenter vice president for plant and animal sciences, said the
AgCenter is committed to rice research and extension work, and an emphasis is
being placed on the practice of row rice that is being used more in northeast
Louisiana.
In the videos, Garner and farmer Jason Waller, of Morehouse Parish, made a
presentation from a 48-acre field on Waller’s farm where five conventional rice
varieties and three rice hybrids are being tested.
The stand was ideal, and “the stand counts were just phenomenal,” Garner said.
The field was irrigated after four to five days of no pumping.
Waller, who’s been growing row rice for five years, said he has learned to
irrigate a field by looking at the soil.
“If we look at it and it’s wet, we’ll wait a day,” Waller said. “But if we look
at it and it’s starting to get that dryness to the top of it, we’ll cut the
pumps on, water it for just a little bit, wet it up and then back off again.”
Water had to be released from the field after a heavy rain, he said.
Waller said rice plants sometimes turn yellow near the irrigation pipe, and he
suspects that’s a sign of nitrogen loss from colder water that can be remedied
with additional nitrogen applications.
An application of herbicides Command, Sharpen and glyphosate was made
immediately after planting on May 23, Garner said. And Waller said Ricebeaux
and Facet were applied later to get an overlap of residual herbicides.
AgCenter rice specialist Dustin Harrell talked about the increased use of the
row rice practice in northeast Louisiana. Louisiana rice acreage grown with the
row rice practice was only 2,500 acres just three years ago. That has jumped to
an estimated 30,000 acres this year compared with the 75,000 total acres of
rice in northeast Louisiana.
Fertilization of a row rice crop is different from conventionally flooded rice,
and it’s likely that nitrogen losses could be higher with row rice, Harrell
said.
It’s believed that a row rice crop requires an additional 100 pounds of
nitrogen per acre. “We need more research to make sure that’s the case,” he
said.
Harrell showed his various research projects at the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse
Caffey Rice Research Station, and the AgCenter Northeast Research Station at
St. Joseph studying fertilizer rates and timing. “We’re going to find out what
the optimum rate of nitrogen is,” he said.
In addition, he is studying different fertilizer treatments aimed at preventing
nitrogen losses in row rice.
AgCenter entomologist Sebe Brown said billbugs are found more often in row rice.
Brown is conducting research to see what seed treatments will offer the best
protection against the pest.
Brown said stink bugs are also becoming more of an issue in row rice.
Problem insects, including loopers, stink bugs and caterpillars, are showing up
in soybeans. “Everything is earlier this year,” he said.
AgCenter plant pathologist Don Groth said the row rice practice that has become
popular in north Louisiana is susceptible to blast disease due to rice is much
more susceptible under upland conditions.
Blast is much worse than the common sheath blight disease that can reduce yield
by 15% to 20%. “Under the worst case with blast, you might be left with 15 to
20 percent,” he said.
Blast is more of a problem with late-planted rice and high nitrogen rates. He
said farmers should favor varieties with good blast resistance and avoid
varieties with higher blast susceptibility.
Leaf blast occurs in young plants, but a fungicide application should only be
made if rice plants are dying. Usually the rice will become resistant to leaf
blast as it enters the reproductive stages. The next phase of blast is neck
blast, and it can be treated with fungicides.
The most effective against blast are strobilurin fungicides, which include
Quadris, Quilt, Amistar Top, Gem and Stratego. These fungicides should be
applied at 50% to 70% heading to get good control.
The fungicide Stratego won’t be available next year, so farmers will have to
mix fungicides Gem and Flint to get the effectiveness of Stratego, Groth said.
A very susceptible or susceptible variety with heavy leaf blast should be
treated with a fungicide application at the boot stage followed by an
application at heading.
Smut disease should be treated with an application at the boot stage because a
heading application will not control smuts, Groth said.
AgCenter rice breeder Adam Famoso talked about his work to develop new
varieties.
More seed of a new Provisia variety, PVL02, will be available in 2021. It
offers increased yield over PVL01 by as much as 15%, he said.
Four lines are being considered for PVL03, and a decision on one of those
candidates will be made this year.
Famoso also is working on new conventional lines. The line LA2140 is similar to
the Cheniere variety with good grain quality and a yield increase of 5% to 10%
over Cheniere.
Another line, LA2207, has good yield potential and grain quality along with a
blast-resistance gene. “This line has maintained its yield very well compared
to the other lines,” Famoso said.
Work continues on a medium-grain line, LA2227, with high-yield potential and
good grain quality.
A new Clearfield offering, CLL17, will be available in 2021 from Horizon Ag,
Famoso said.
AgCenter soybean specialist David Moseley spoke from a core block study in West
Carroll Parish where 21 varieties are being grown, all in maturity group IV.
The soybean crop statewide appears to be progressing well. “It looks to be a
really good year,” he said.
Two-thirds of the crop was rated good to excellent by mid-June. “Since then,
the condition has improved every week,” Moseley said.
AgCenter plant pathologist Trey Price urged farmers to scout soybean fields
weekly, and it’s possible that a fungicide application can be avoided. “If the
weather cooperates, you can make the season without that input cost,” he said.
Price covered aerial blight, taproot decline, brown spot, target spot and
frogeye leaf spot soybean diseases, along with Southern root knot nematode.
Fungicide research for row rice and flooded rice is being studied at the Macon
Ridge Research Station near Winnsboro, and salt tolerance of different lines of
rice is being studied along with breeding line evaluations. The Louisiana Rice
Research Board is partially funding the work, Price said.
Scott Franklin, president of the Northeast Rice Growers Association, said the
Louisiana Rice Promotion Board and Louisiana Rice Research Board keep the
state’s rice industry afloat. “Without them, I’m afraid we’d be in very big
trouble,” he said.
Franklin said farmers’ checkoff funds help pay for research for Clearfield and
Provisia rice development and for furrow-irrigated rice.
The big jump in acreage of furrow-irrigated rice in north Louisiana was the
result of a positive policy development, Franklin said.
Betsy Ward, president of USA Rice, is among presenters in the videos. She said
Bobby Hanks, chief executive officer of the Supreme Rice Mill in Crowley, is
the new USA Rice chairman.
Rice sales have increased during the ongoing pandemic. “We’re hoping to launch
a new program to capitalize on that,” she said.
Kane Webb, USA Rice field representative in Louisiana, said the membership
directory for the Louisiana Rice Growers Association has an online directory to
replace the printed version. The directory is available to association members
only at https://laricegrowers.com(link
is external).
Steve Linscombe, director of The Rice Foundation, said the foundation funded
four research projects that include one with Famoso, two in Texas and one in
Arkansas.
The Rice Leadership Program will not select a new class this year. Linscombe
explained that sessions for the current class are not being held because of the
pandemic.
