Monday, January 04, 2016

4th January 2016 Daily Global Rice News Eletter by Riceplus Magazine

·         Today Rice News Headlines...
·         Three sides to complement a Middle Eastern meal
·         Rice and palm oil risk to mangroves
·         Rice Import Quota
·         Wholesale Basmati Rice Prices in India Decline on Increased Stocks, Sluggish Demand
·         Italian Paddy Rice Quotes Decline or Remain Firm in Third Week of December 2015
·         About 39% of Italy's 2015-16 Paddy Crop Sold as of December 29, 2015; Down 6% from Last Year


News Detail...
Efforts will be made to strengthen Pakistan and Bangladesh ties
03 January, 2016

LARKANA: Efforts will be made to further strengthen the already existing trade ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh, deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh Noor-i-Hilal Saifur Rehman said this while addressing the members of the Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) at the chamber office here on Saturday.He said traders’ delegations from both countries would visit each other’s countries with a view to enhancing the volume of export and import between the countries.“Being self-sufficient in rice production, we stopped importing rice 12 years ago from different countries,” he said.
Bangladesh preferred to purchase fruit and other daily use items from nearer countries, as it arrived at port at cheaper rates, he added.“However we are interested in importing garments, cotton and other items as well while Pakistani entrepreneurs are taking an interest in the textile industry in Bangladesh.”Replying to a question, he said Bangladesh’s cricket team was ready to play a cricket series in Pakistan and there was no issue of security.He said it was the domain of the International Cricket Council to fix the time for the series.He said Bangladesh’s women cricket team was scheduled to visit Pakistan to play a series next week.Welcoming the guest, president of the LCCI Aslam Shaikh, who gave the guest and the members of his entourage Sindhi caps and Ajraks, said that Pakistan imported jute and its accessories to the tune of $38 million.He said the volume of rice export from Pakistan to Bangladesh shrank to just $3 million in 2015. In 2014 it had been $10 million, he recalled.He said Larkana division was a major rice-growing belt and urged the high commissioner to purchase IRRI-6 variety of rice from this area.
http://paktribune.com/news/Efforts-will-be-made-to-strengthen-Pakistan-and-Bangladesh-ties-275396.html

Three sides to complement a Middle Eastern meal

With three locations to better serve our customers, our one-stop butcher shop offers lamb, goat, beef and poultry, as well as other products for the grill, including our signature skewers and spicy merguez sausage.For the chef at home, Almarwa is happy to share the following flavourful recipes for side dishes that complement our meat, and that complete a tasty Middle Eastern meal your family won’t soon forget:
Cumin-Spiced Potatoes

Boil four medium-sized potatoes and cook until they can be lightly penetrated with a fork. In the meantime, while the potatoes cool, place a skillet on medium heat and add four tablespoons olive oil.
Sauté a quarter cup chopped onion until soft. Add potatoes, a teaspoon of cumin, three tablespoons lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until crispy and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.  
Fatoush Salad

Cube tomatoes and cucumber and combine in a bowl. Add finely sliced scallions and minced garlic. Mix in a handful of freshly chopped parsley and a few sprigs of mint and set aside.Rub some pita bread with olive oil and sprinkle with sumac. Toast or grill the bread until crispy. Cut into small pieces and mix into salad. Lightly dress the salad with olive oil and lemon (three parts oil to one part acid), and season with salt and pepper.  
Fragrant Rice

In a skillet, heat one tablespoon black peppercorn, two teaspoons whole allspice and whole cloves, and a stick of cinnamon until fragrant. Set aside to cool before pulverizing the spices into a powder using a grinder. Meanwhile, toast one cup of slivered almonds in a frying pan until golden.In a pot, place two cups of basmati rice with some olive oil and mix in the spice powder to coat. Heat until the rice is slightly toasted. Pour in three and half cups of water and boil. Reduce heat and cover rice until tender and water is absorbed – about 30 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with freshly chopped parsley and almonds.
For more great recipes, visit our stores today! Contact us to find an Almarwa location near you. For updates and promotions follow us on Facebook.
Mississauga the news

Rice and palm oil risk to mangroves


From the sectionScience & Environment
 A growing demand for food and commodities is placing greater pressure on mangrove habitats
The threat posed by the development of rice and palm oil plantations to mangroves in South-East Asia has been underestimated, a study has suggested.
Rice and oil plantations accounted for 38% of mangrove deforestation between 2000 and 2012, the research showed.As well as being important carbon sinks and rich in biodiversity, mangrove forests provide fuel and food for coastal communities.The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."Aquaculture has largely been held responsible for causing mangrove deforestation, particularly in countries like Thailand and the Philippines," explained co-author Daniel Richards from the National University of Singapore.
He told BBC News that a study of eight countries around the world between the 1970s and the early 2000s found that 54% of deforested mangroves were replaced with aquaculture ponds used for fish or shrimp/prawn production."Our study found that aquaculture was still important but we were surprised that in South-East Asia between 2000 and 2012, just 30% of deforested mangroves were replaced with aquaculture."The impact of other drivers, like rice and oil palm agriculture, was greater than we expected."
Image captionMangrove forests provide a key habitat for biodiversity and coastal communities
Mangroves - natural defences
Mangroves are salt-tolerant evergreens that grow along coastlines, rivers and deltas
•Found in more than 120 tropical and subtropical nations
•The plants' root systems have been shown to dissipate wave energy
Dr Richards observed: "Almost 25,000 hectares of Myanmar's mangroves were converted to rice paddy between 2000 and 2012."He added that while there had been a few previous studies that had highlighted the role of oil palm production as a cause for mangrove loss, they had no idea of the scale of the deforestation."Sixteen percent of all deforested mangroves in Southeast Asia were replaced with oil palm plantations during our study period," he said.
"We usually think of oil palm as an issue which affects tropical forests on land but our study shows that demand for oil palm is also driving deforestation in coastal mangrove forests."

'Very threatened'

Dr Richards and his colleague, Daniel Friess, used Google Earth to monitor how land was used once mangrove forests had been felled."We viewed [more than] 3,000 deforested mangrove patches, and recorded the land-use that they were replaced with," Dr Richards said."This study also builds on some great existing data sets that were provided by scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Geological Survey."He warned that mangrove forests in the region were "very threatened":
"Our study focused on quite a recent period of time but mangroves in South-East Asia have experienced widespread deforestation for decades."Previous research suggests that around 90% of Singapore's original mangrove forests have been lost."The region is home to about one third of the world's mangroves, including some of the most biodiverse.The researchers said mangroves were important to people because they provide fish and crabs, wood and charcoal, and can help protect coastlines from erosion.
Mangrove forests also stored very high densities of carbon so had a role in regulating carbon in the atmosphere, they added.In other regions, such as Sri Lanka, the value of intact mangrove forests has been recognised by authorities and measures have been put in place to protect them.

Growing awareness

Dr Richards said that the importance of mangrove forests is becoming better understood, but it was a slow process."It is encouraging that our study found low rates of mangrove deforestation in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei, and this is partly due to stronger protection of mangroves in these countries."There are initiatives to restore mangroves in some countries: the Mangrove Action Project in Thailand, and Blue Forests in Indonesia, are working with governments and local communities to protect and restore mangrove forests.
"But he warned that more needed to be done: "Indonesia has more mangrove forests than any country in the world, and the mangroves in the more remote parts of the country, such as Indonesian Papua, are almost intact."However, these mangroves may be at risk of deforestation [as a result of] recent plans to grant concessions and develop the agriculture industry in this region."If we want to protect Indonesia's remaining mangroves then we need to act quickly."
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35198675

Rice Import Quota

03 Jan 2016
In this era of probes and crackdown on looters, there is nothing we would not hear. Although the dust raised by the move to recover N30 billion lost to the rice import waiver granted by the last administration is yet to settle, the attention of the Senate is being attracted by another allegation of high level fraud in the business.The Senate, it was learnt might set up an ad-hoc committee when it resumes early next month to investigate the rice smuggling allegation believed to have made the country lose huge sums of money amounting to N117 billion.

For those of us following the messy stories of corruption in high places, the news that some entrenched interests including those who had no investment in the rice value chain, manipulated the rice policy initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan to boost local rice production is just one of the dents in the last administration.It is a shame that friends of the government in power at the period were recklessly granted quota, which they in turn sold to other importers.This is why I pity the former Minister of Agriculture, who is now the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.The gentleman was busy speaking Queen’s English, brilliantly explaining the mileage covered in the nation’s agricultural sector through a number of innovations introduced during his tenure.

However, while Adesina was putting policies in place to reposition the industry, some portfolio contractors who were friends of the government were sneaking into corridors of power in the middle of the night to get allocations for a job they did not have the wherewithal to execute.However, some of us are monitoring the activity of the Senate especially on the probe of the controversial quota and see how it intends to ensure those involved make adequate refund. The Senate leadership, last month, had urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); to immediately take steps to ensure that the N30 billion lost to waiver on rice importation by the last administration was recovered.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who gave this advice during an interactive session between the Senate leadership and the CBN management, lamented that money that was supposed to get into government’s coffers was allowed to be wasted in the name of waivers.Now that the era of ‘paddy paddy’ government is gone, Nigerians are waiting and watching how those who frittered away the chance to develop our agric industry are brought to book.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/rice-import-quota/229363/

Wholesale Basmati Rice Prices in India Decline on Increased Stocks, Sluggish Demand

Jan 04, 2016
Wholesale basmati rice prices have declined last week due to sluggish demand from traders and sufficient stocks, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
On January 2, 2016, prices of Pusa 1121 declined to around Rs.4,000 - 4,700 per quintal (around $605 - $711 per ton) from previous quotes of around Rs.4,100 - 4,700 per quintal (around $620 - $711 per ton).
However, prices of common basmati rice on the same day declined to around Rs.5,300 - 5,400 per quintal (around $802 - $817 per ton) from the previous level of around Rs.5,400 - Rs.5,500 per quintal (around $817 - $832 per ton).
"Subdued demand against sufficient stocks position led to the decline in rice basmati prices," traders were quoted as saying.                                                                               Oryza.com

Italian Paddy Rice Quotes Decline or Remain Firm in Third Week of December 2015

Jan 04, 2016
Italian paddy rice prices declined or remained unchanged as of December 22, 2015, compared to those on December 15, 2015, according to local sources.
Below are farm gate paddy quotes from the Milan grain exchange, as of December 22:     
Arborio-Volano rice is quoted 675-700 euros (about $ 734-761) per ton, up from 650-675 euros (about $ 704-734) per ton of the previous week;
Balilla, Centauro and similar paddies are out at 355-385 euros (about $ 386-419) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Lido, Crono, Flipper and similar varieties are out at 300-320 euros (about $ 326-348) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Padano, Argo is out at 385-430 euros (about $ 419-467) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Vialone Nano is quoted 560-600 euros (about $ 609-653) per ton, down from 590-630 euros (about $ 642-685) per ton of December 15;
Carnaroli is quoted 637-692 euros (about $ 693-753) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Thaibonnet and similar varieties are quoted 305-325 euros (about $ 331-353) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Sant'Andrea is quoted 380-410 euros (about $ 413-446) per ton, down from 390-420 euros (about $ 424-457) per ton;
Luna Cl, Dardo and similar varieties are out at 300-320 euros (about $  326-348) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Baldo is quoted 350-370 euros (about $ 380-402) per ton, down from 360-380 euros (about $ 391-413) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Roma is quoted 420-450 euros (about $ 457-489) per ton, up from 410-440 euros (about $ 446-522) per ton of the previous week;
Selenio is quoted 335-385 euros (about $ 364-419) per ton, unchanged from the previous week;
Augusto is out at 335-355 euros (about $ 364-386) per ton, down from 345-365 euros (about $ 375-397) per ton of December 15.
Loto and Nembo are quoted 330-360 euros (about $ 359-391) per ton, unchanged from the previous week.
                                                                                                                                                     Oryza.com

About 39% of Italy's 2015-16 Paddy Crop Sold as of December 29, 2015; Down 6% from Last Year

Jan 04, 2016
About 587,976 tons, or about 38.9% of total Italian 2015-16 (September 2015 - August 2016) paddy crop has been sold out as of December 29, 2015, down about 6% from around 625,642 tons sold during the same period last year, according to data from the Ente Nazionale Risi, the National Agency for Rice.
Year-on-year, sales of round varieties increased by about 5,428 tons to around 161,720 tons, sales of medium varieties increased by about 2,344 tons to around 16,728, sales of Long A varieties increased by about 16,171 tons to around 293,3018 tons and sales of Long B varieties declined by about 61,609 tons to around 116,220 tons.
During the week December 22-29, 2015, a total of around 293,308 tons of paddy were sold. The week's sales included about 4,715 tons of Long A, about 1,627 tons of Long B, about 3,194 tons of round paddy and 579 tons of medium paddy. Loto-Ariete, with 2,549 tons and Carnaroli, with 833 tons remained the best sold varieties during the week.
A total of around 1.510 million tons of paddy (including carryover stocks), are available as beginning stocks for 2015-16, up about 4% from around 1.45 million tons available last year.
                                                                                                               Oryza.com
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