14th april ,2017 daily globa regional & local rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

Daily Global Rice

E-Newsletter

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April 14,2017 Vol 8 Issue IV

Today Rice News Headlines...  Iraqi envoy says India deceived importers by sending rotten rice  This Jerk of a Weed is Hiding in Plain Sight in a Huge Amount of the World’s Rice Fields  End in Sight for Colombia's Restrictions on U.S. Paddy  What to do with leftover roast lamb from Easter  Saudi firms sign $469.34m worth of Philippine projects  Jasmine Rice: A Potential Fountain of Youth?  Italy's rice producers threatened by foreign imports  Rice smuggling’s big comeback  Asia Rice-Prices rise in India, stable in Vietnam  China's 'super hybrid' rice expected to yield 17 tons per hectare  Ditch rice policy, gov’t urged

 Cabinet approves rice-assistance programs 

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News Detail...

Iraqi envoy says India deceived importers by sending rotten rice *Karim says Iraq wants to set up gas terminals at Port Qasim and Gwadar

By: Staff ReportWS 14-Apr-17

KARACHI: Ambassador of Iraq in Pakistan Dr Ali Yasin Mohammed Karim has underscored the need of having twin cities agreement between Pakistan and Iraq by either declaring Karachi and Basra or Karachi and Najaf or any other city as 'twin cities' which would not only help in dealing with visa issues but will also pave the way for bringing people more close.

Exchanging views at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the Iraqi ambassador added that declaring any city in Iraq and Karachi as twin cities will be an important step as there will be no visa issue and the people will be able to move freely between the twin cities without visas.

KCCI President Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Senior Vice President KCCI Asif Nisar, Vice President KCCI Muhammad Younus Soomro and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present on the occasion.

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The Iraqi ambassador further said that some factories including 18 cement manufacturing factories were available in Iraq but they were not working properly as compared to Pakistan's advanced industrial units and infrastructure.

"As factories in Iraq need improvements, therefore the private and public sectors of Iraq and Pakistan can undertake joint ventures in all the sectors of the economy. We prefer private sector's joint ventures which are quicker as compared to joint ventures at public sector level," he added.

The Iraqi envoy said that currently Iraq was mostly buying goods from China, India and some other countries whereas Pakistan can also enhance its share and efficiently compete with Chinese and Indian products through quality control.

"Four months ago, Iraq imported hundreds of tons of rice from India and the first shipment of Indian rice was good but the second shipment was 100 percent rotten, which discouraged Iraqi importers. Subsequently, the Iraqi Embassy in Pakistan was asked to find anyone who could export rice to Iraq. This trade inquiry was forwarded from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to all Chambers of Commerce in Pakistan but nobody has answered us yet," he added.

To a query regarding trade opportunities in Iraq, Yasin stressed the need for frequent meetings between Karachi Chamber and Chambers of Commerce in Basra, Baghdad or Najaf in order to explore trade opportunities not just in the fabric market but also in other sectors as Iraq requires almost everything so the business community of Karachi should not confine itself to fabric market only.

Commenting on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Iraqi ambassador said that Iraq was considering to establish gas terminals at Port Qasim and Gwadar worth billions of dollars.

"With CPEC many ports in the region will be paralyzed and Pakistani will be a rich country whereas most of the Pakistanis residing abroad especially in the Gulf region will return to their homes", he added Earlier, KCCI President Shamim Ahmed Firpo, while welcoming the Iraqi Ambassador, said that with improved law and order situation and upon completion of CPEC and Gwadar Port, this region is likely to attract substantial amount of foreign investment from different parts of the world whereas Iraq can also benefit from the situation by investing or undertaking joint ventures in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi http://dailytimes.com.pk/pakistan/13-Apr-17/iraqi-envoy-says-india-deceived-importers-bysending-rotten-rice

This Jerk of a Weed is Hiding in Plain Sight in a Huge Amount of the World‘s Rice Fields

By Dan Nosowitz on April 11, 2017

Ken Olsen

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Rice is the world's second-biggest cereal crop, and it's the most important for human consumption. Yet in a vast majority of rice operations, a harmful copycat sits right in plain sight, sucking up nutrients and infuriating farmers.

This copycat is a weed that‘s extremely difficult to find, has lots of evolutionary protections to ensure its ongoing survival, and has a significant negative effect on rice crops around the world.

Even in the US, where it‘s less of a problem than it is elsewhere, it‘s estimated to cause crop losses of more than $50 million per year. This weed is called weedy rice, and scientists are trying to figure out where it comes from—and how to fight it.

Weedy rice is in fact a form of rice. It comes in a bunch of different species, but they‘re all in the same Oryza genus and therefore authentically rice plants. You can sometimes tell them apart from regular rice by its longer awns (awns are those hairs you see on grasses sometimes), or because it‘s more red in color. But while technically rice, they‘re no good to us: they produce very few seeds (otherwise known as grains of rice), and what they do produce is hard and unpalatable.

But weedy rice is also super frustrating. It grows comfortably amongst regular rice, and it selfpropagates easily—it releases its seeds before regular rice is ready for harvest, which ensures it‘ll

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be present the following year. It can also stay dormant for years, unlike regular rice, and the combination of that seed-release schedule and its dormancy means that weedy rice lingers in the soil of rice farms for quite a long time.

What‘s worse, because weedy rice is such a close relative of regular rice, there are no available pesticides that will kill just weedy rice while leaving regular rice alone. Because it‘s such a worthy adversary, it‘s found in huge percentages of rice fields worldwide: it‘s in up to 75 percent of fields in Europe, more than half in parts of West Africa and Latin America, and up to 80 percent in Cuba. ―Control of weedy rice plants is much more difficult than that carried out on other weeds because of the great morphological variability, particular growth behaviour, and high biological affinity with cultivated varieties,‖ writes Aldo Ferrero for the United Nations‘ Food and Agriculture Organization.

A new study from Washington University in St. Louis attempts to find out more about these pests by conducting what they call ―an ancestry.com-type adventure‖ to see where they come from. What they found out is that two known strains of weedy rice, though they evolved independently, evolved in a similar way.

Weedy rice, the study finds, is a natural and frustrating evolution of regular, domesticated rice.

After looking into the precise changes in the plant‘s DNA, researchers found that it takes comparatively few changes for rice to evolve into weedy rice. ―It‘s different genomic islands in each weed type,‖ said Kenneth Olsen, the lead author of the paper, in a press release. ―So changing a crop into a weed doesn‘t take many genetic changes and it can occur through different genetic mechanisms.‖ In other words, rice just sort of…does this. It has a natural proclivity to becoming an incredibly frustrating weed.

This particular study was aimed at learning more about weedy rice, but that‘s the first step to figuring out how to stop it because at the moment, there‘s really no effective way to fight http://modernfarmer.com/2017/04/jerk-weed-hiding-plain-sight-rice-fields/

End in Sight for Colombia's Restrictions on U.S. Paddy

By Deborah Willenborg

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ARLINGTON, VA -- It's been a long journey with too many delays, but the government of Colombia looks close to removing longstanding import restrictions on U.S. paddy. Colombian plant health officials have acknowledged to their U.S. counterparts that the fungal disease Tilletia Horrida is present in Colombia. The presence of this disease in U.S. rice country has been used as an excuse by Colombia to restrict imports of U.S. rough rice to only the port of Barranquilla and processing in surrounding mills, and to require fumigation of the cargo before shipment.

"This discovery removes the scientific basis for Colombia's current import restrictions," said USA Rice COO Bob Cummings. "Colombian officials should now take this evidence from their own study and move forward to remove the restrictions."

U.S. officials have told USA Rice that Colombia will review and revise the import regulations on U.S. paddy, with estimated completion this summer.

"The U.S. rice industry will continue to support and assist U.S. officials in Washington and Bogota in what we see as the final push to open fully the market in Colombia as soon as possible," concluded Cummings.

Since the enactment of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, Colombia has emerged as a consistent and strong market for, primarily, U.S. long grain milled and paddy rice. Sales in 2016 were 139,985 MT valued at $58.2 million. The trade agreement provides for an increasing amount of U.S. rice to enter Colombia under annual duty-free tariff rate quotas (TRQ) until Colombia's import duties phase out completely in 2030. In 2017, 98,448 MT of U.S. rice can enter duty free; rice imports over that amount pay an 80-percent duty.

As an added benefit, state rice research boards receive one-half of the revenue received from auctioning off import licenses under each year's TRQ. In 2016, more than $13 million was distributed to the six rice states to support research.Meeting

What to do with leftover roast lamb from Easter Second helping: give leftovers a new lease of life CREDIT: STOCKFOOD

Kay Plunkett-Hogge 13 APRIL 2017 • 10:45AM If you‘re serving lamb for Easter lunch you may be looking for inspiration when it comes to any leftovers. Here are two great recipes to try.

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Lamb – it‘s not just the perfect choice for Easter lunch – it‘s a versatile meat that can be easily transformed into a whole range of different dishes.

For a flavoursome lamb curry, gently fry a finely chopped onion over a medium heat in a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Grate in a 2cm piece of peeled fresh ginger and two finely chopped garlic cloves. Stir together and cook until fragrant. Add another tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of curry powder. Gently cook for about a minute, then add 350g roughly diced leftover lamb. Stir to coat the meat, then add 250ml stock and any leftover gravy.

Lamb can be easily transformed into a whole range of different dishes

Add a tablespoon of tomato purée and a handful of Tesco finest* Piccolo Cherry Tomatoes, and cook gently until the liquid reduces and you have a thick curry. Stir in a tablespoon of Tesco finest* Greek Yogurt and a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh coriander, and serve with Tesco finest* Basmati Rice.Or for lamb tacos, heat a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and stir-fry your diced lamb leftovers until slightly crisp. Remove from the pan and shred the meat using two forks. Make a salsa by chopping up a handful of Tesco finest* Piccolo Cherry Tomatoes and mixing with chopped fresh coriander and half a red onion. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of Tabasco. Set aside.

To make guacamole, roughly mash one or two avocados with a splash of lime juice, a pinch of salt and a clove of crushed or chopped garlic. Add chopped coriander to taste.

Pile the lamb into some tacos (or warm corn or flour tortillas). Top with the salsa and the guacamole, add a little sour cream and serve with pickled jalapeno chillies.

Easter lamb wrap tip

Stir 1-2tsp harissa paste into 4-6tbsp mayonnaise. Warm up some wraps. Pile on leftover lamb, harissa mayonnaise, dill pickles sliced lengthways, shredded lettuce and plenty of chopped flatleaf parsley. Drizzle with a little tahini. Season. Serve with Tesco finest* Pomegranate Tabbouleh.

Enjoy the finest Easter

Easter is almost here and with it four lovely days of relaxing, food and fun.

To help you make the most of the holiday, the Telegraph has partnered with Tesco finest* to help you have your best Easter yet.

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For simple and delicious recipes, clever Easter food hacks, and brilliant ideas for days out and

p://welegraph.co.uk/food-anddrink/finest-easter/leftover-lamb-recipes/ indoors, visit tgr.ph/tescofinest

Jamaican ‗must-have‘ goat stew

ELLEN BEARDMORE 07:00Thursday 13 April 2017

For those of you who have never tried goat, it’s a must-have Jamaican recipe.

When cooked right, you‘ll find it more tender and flavoursome than any beef stew you ever had.

This recipe from Beeches of Walkley features in the Sheffield Cookbook: Second Helpings and the ingredients are all available from Beeches of Walkley.

Preparation time is 30 minutes, plus eight hours marinating. Cooking time is a minimum of five hours and this serves four people.

METHOD

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The evening before you want the curry, wash the meat in cold water. Pat the meat dry with kitchen roll and place in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, four tablespoons of the curry powder, the finely chopped garlic and ginger, sliced large onion, Scotch Bonnet pepper, salt and pepper.

Use your hands and rub the mixture into the meat. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge to marinate overnight.

At least five hours before you want to serve, heat the oil in large frying pan so it‘s hot but not smoking.

Remove the sliced onion and Scotch Bonnet from the bowl of marinated goat meat and set aside.

Add the marinated meat to the frying pan and fry until lightly browned on all sides; around 2-3 minutes. Add any marinade juices that are left and the plain flour. Fry for another minute or so.

Transfer the meat to a slow cooker.

Add the medium chopped onion along with the reserved sliced onion and Scotch Bonnet. Add the potatoes, remaining 1-2 tablespoons of curry powder, thyme, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk.

Turn the slow cooker onto a high setting for five hours or low setting if you plan to leave it over six hours or all day.

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It can‘t be overdone, so eight hours or more is no problem, but it will need five hours minimum for the meat to get really juicy and soft.

This dish can be adapted very easily to a casserole or substitute/add vegetables of your choice.

Serve this with fluffy basmati rice or Jamaican rice and peas.

It is also good with jacket potatoes or mash, or with some thick sliced bread.

This will also be great reheated the next day so put leftovers in the fridge.

As long as you used fresh and not previously frozen meat you can freeze this for later too, especially if you double the quantities.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE WHOLE DISH 1.4kg goat meat (or mutton) on the bone, chopped into cubes 1 lemon, juice 5-6 tbsp curry powder 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2.5-cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped 1 large onion, sliced 1 Scotch bonnet chilli pepper, sliced and seeds discarded (handle with care) 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 2 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil 1 tbsp plain flour 1 medium onion, chopped 3 medium potatoes, each cut into 3 pieces 1 large sprig thyme 400g chopped tomatoes 400ml tin coconut milk

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Saudi firms sign $469.34m worth of Philippine projects Deals signed during Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte‘s visit to Saudi Arabia Published: 15:17 April 13, 2017

By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Correspondent Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte witnessed in Saudi Arabia the signing of memoranda of understanding for seven projects worth $469.34 million (Dh1.7 billion), which can generate 15,950 jobs in several areas managed by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), sources said.

Shaikh Al Waleed Tuwaijri, owner of Small Investment Group, pledged $133.34 million in projects to establish an academy, hotel and a medical centre in a tourism complex, which will generate 6,650 workers, according to data from Saudi Arabia obtained by PEZA‘s Manila office.

Duterte was in Saudi Arabia from April 10 to 12. He went to Bahrain on April 12 and was expected to be there until April 14. He will be in Qatar from April 14 to 16.

In Saudi Arabia, Amir M.Q. Siddiqui, business development director of Advanced Electronic Systems International (AESI), signed a memorandum of understanding with PEZA for a $150 million airport and hotel project that will be undertaken by a Middle Eastern and a Philippine company.

Faud Abdul Rahman Al Rasheed, president of Future Formation Holdings (FFH), an investment holding company, pledged a $100 million project for the development of logistics facilities, ports, power generation, and warehouses, all of which will generate 5,000 jobs.

Abdul Aziz Abdullah Abanmi, president of Eradh and Reyadhd Development and Commercial Investment, pledged a $50 million project for a 2,000 square metre fine-diningrestaurant chain which will employ 2,500 workers.

Halal food processing Mohammad Abdullah Albesher, chairman of Basha‘er Addawa Trading Company, chose a $30 million project on a one-hectare area for manufacturing of generic drugs for export to the Middle East, a move expected to generate 1,500 jobs.

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Engineer Mortaz G. Hawary, manager of Arabian Bugshan Group, pledged a $5 million project for halal food processing and the establishment of halal tourism city in Mindanao, southern Philippines, turf of an estimated five million Filipino-Muslims. Arabian has been providing engineering works for Saudi Aramco‘s oil and gas refinery operation for 30 years.

Sultan Z. Alhussain, president and CEO of Zaid Alhussain and Brothers Group, pledged a $1 million project for the production and processing of a special variety of basmati rice for export to the Middle East. It will employ 50 workers.

PEZA-controlled areas are initially leased for 75 or 50 years, renewable for 25 years. PEZA incentives include tax holiday of four to eight years; five per cent tax of gross income (21 per cent of which goes to local governments where zones are based); free importation; tax-free custom duties for spare parts; and foreign investors‘ multiple visa, The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) and the Asset Privatisation Trust have finalised an inventory of the country‘s 7,500 islands, including a PEZAcontrolled map for foreign investors.

Right now, PEZA has 73 companies in manufacturing economic zone; 243 in information technology parks; 21 in agro-industrial economic zone; 19 in tourism economic zones; and two in medical tourism parks http://gulfnews.com/business/sectors/investment/saudi-firms-sign-469-34m-worth-of-philippineprojects-1.2010885ste

Jasmine Rice: A Potential Fountain of Youth?

April 13, 2017

Ladies and gentlemen, if you‘re looking for a new, natural skin-care product, you might want to seek out a product made from jasmine rice. A Thailand-based study from 2015 suggests that creams constituted with the product ML can help the skin retain moisture, assist with its firming, enhance smoothness and help prevent wrinkles and lighten dark spots.Prior to the current study, researchers had little scientific evidence backing up claims based on traditional Asian, or folk medicines hailing rice extracts, for having beneficial effects when treating skin ailments, among a host of other maladies.

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Initially, scientists extracted panicles from jasmine rice to yield ML, formally known as Khao Dawk Mali 105. Panicles are tiny, loose, irregularly patterned flowerets protruding from a swollen rice grain.The scientists chose jasmine rice due to its phenolic composition. Phenolics, defined as innate substances with great levels of similar chemical structures and compositions, are abundant in it.Once harvested, the panicles were cleaned, dried and pulverized into a powder.

Then, various cosmetic-grade chemical compounds were added to it for a total of three titration episodes to yield 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% ML extracts.

In this novel study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, researchers recruited healthy Thai individuals aged 25 to 50 years. Those selected qualified as being allergy free and without extreme skin sensitivities, not dieting, pregnant or lactating.In one test, 20 people were monitored for 24 hours after having applied either a skin-patch sample of either 0.1% or 0.2% ML cream, or water, or another water-soluble chemical cream. The people then reported their respective levels of skin irritation.

In the double-blind placebo test lasting 84 days, 24 healthy females were separated into two groups of 12 each, with one group applying the aforementioned samples and the other provided

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only with placebos. They placed uniform samples on the underside of a forearm in the morning and the evening.

Among the 24 healthy females, all attested to not having used steroids for four weeks before trial enrollment and for having been allergy-free for one week. During the trial, all were prohibited from smoking or drinking alcoholic beverages; and their respective treated areas were protected from ultraviolet ray and sunlight exposures throughout the trial.

The scientists assessed each treated area at the study start and at 14, 28, 56 and 84 days.A third test came in the form of a questionnaire in which 30 female volunteers –20 to 60 years old – provided their preferences concerning the ML creams.Results showed that the jasmine-ricepanicles cream – the ML creams — showed increases in skin firmness, hydration, smoothness, and lightening while reducing skin wrinkling at the 56th day and to a greater extent at the 84th day of measurement.

The questionnaire responses indicated a preference for the 0.1% ML cream for its particular traits: Its color, odor, viscosity and greasiness, along with its spreadability, absorption, and moisturizing elements.The results established a positive link between the beneficial properties of jasmine rice on dermatological effects, noted in traditional Asian folk medicine, and modern scientific data to back up those claims. The current research ranks as one of the few to attempt such a study.

A limitation stems from the fact that majority of the study population were Thai females. Adding men different nationalities could potentially alter the findings. In addition, a different study using other rice varieties could generate a greater range of extracts that could have been compounded into the study‘s cosmetic creams.

Written By: Susan Mercer Hinrichs, MA, MBA, CP https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/jasmine-rice-potential-fountain-youth/w-1

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Italy's rice producers threatened by foreign imports AFP news@thelocal.it 13 April 2017 16:57 CEST+02:00

File photo of a rice farmer near Vercelli, northern Italy.

Italy's rice producers sounded the alarm on Thursday over competition from Asia, saying the national industry was in crisis and consumers were unwittingly buying pesticidecontaminated grains harvested by exploited children.

Italian farmers' association Coldiretti said imports of rice from Asia was driving the price of the home-grown staple into the ground, while lax labelling laws meant families could not trace the origins of products on supermarket shelves.

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"Over the last year, the sale price of rice has halved and the number of imports has quadrupled from southeast Asia," said Coldiretti head Roberto Moncalvo, as producers rallied in protest outside the agriculture ministry in Rome.

He said rice grown in southeast Asia was "dangerous, grown using pesticides and by exploiting underage labour".

"One in four packets of rice sold in Italy come from abroad, but the consumer does not know because the origin is not on the label".

The group said Italy was Europe's largest producer of rice and could be "more than selfsufficient" if limited to home-grown grains.

More than 4,200 farms in the Mediterranean country produce 1.6 million tons of rice a year.

"Farmers have to sell three kilos of unrefined rice to pay for a simple coffee because of speculation and swindling which has hit national rice fields and is harming consumers," Coldiretti said in a statement https://www.thelocal.it/20170413/italys-rice-producers-threatened-by-foreign-imports

Rice smuggling’s big comeback

By Daily Trust | Publish Date: Apr 13 2017 2:00AM

Customs Area Controller, Mr Tolutope Ogunkua shows a bullion van used in smuggling rice during a press briefing in Ibadan yesterday Central Bank of Nigeria‘s [CBN] Anchor Borrowers‘ Programme (ABP) was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari late in 2015 and it quickly spurred thousands of people to debut as rice growers. At the launch, Buhari said Nigeria was spending not less than one trillion naira annually on the importation of food items that could be produced locally, thus contributing to the depletion of the nation‘s foreign reserves.

Governors Akinwunmi Ambode and Atiku Bagudu of Lagos and Kebbi states also forged ahead with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that eventually produced the now famous Lake [for Lagos-Kebbi] rice. In April last year, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Colonel Hameed Ali announced a ban on the importation of rice through the land borders.

Together these measures were meant to spur local rice production and oust the consumption of

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imported rice. However, barely one year after, producers and farmers have raised an alarm that smuggling of imported rice is on the rise.

Chairman of the Association of Rice Processors Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar Maifata recently said all the gains being recorded in local rice production are being rubbished by smuggling.

Maifata, who is also the chairman of Umza Farms Rice Mill, said Nigeria has not recorded as much rice smuggling since 2012. He said over one million metric tonnes of rice have been smuggled into Nigeria since February this year, which local rice millers couldn‘t compete with.

Rice smuggling is so lucrative to smugglers that they now use bullion vans and every other means to smuggle it. The danger is real that two billion naira worth of investments made by farmers who borrowed the CBN funds will not be recouped. We are even yet to optimise local rice production through the provision of vast irrigation facilities to achieve year-round rice farming. Rice farming in Nigeria also needs higher yielding seed varieties to ensure higher yields per hectare. The current national yield per hectare is between 1.3 and 1.8 tonnes. Highly improved varieties like Faro 44, C90, C20 and L34 are said to be effective in this regard. The varieties are at present yielding between 4.2 and 4.5 tonnes per hectare at the Olam Rice Farm in Nasarawa State.

There is the additional need for mechanization of rice farming instead of the current heavy use of manual labour. Tractors, planters, sprayer machines as well as combined harvesters are all required to accelerate rice production. Availability of other inputs like fertilisers and herbicides are also crucial in growing rice. All categories of farmers in Nigeria have a problem of access to fertiliser which contributes to the current low yields. Herbicides are also needed to control weeds in rice farms, though farmers must be trained in handling pesticides.

Even though CBN‘s Anchor Borrower Programme has made a big impact in the area of access to finance for rice farmers, there is still a long way to go before all desiring farmers get easy access to agricultural financing. Then also, there is the need for modern milling machines all across the country for processing the paddies. This will address the stone problem usually associated with our local rice and will allow more patronage and enable our local rice compete with the foreign ones.

At present, however, our concern is how to preserve even the little gains that have been made in local rice production. Smugglers are threatening to wipe out even the small gains that have been made and all the plans now underway to improve local rice production through all the additional inputs mentioned above could be jeopardised. This is a major challenge for Col Hameed Ali and the NCS Command and they must rise up and prove their mettle. A major national economic project is unravelling under their eyes while they were busy with plans to collect duty from vehicles that slipped through the borders in the past ten years or more. Smugglers should be halted in their tracks at the borders https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/editorial/rice-smuggling-s-big-comeback/193336.html

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Scientists Use Flooded Rice Fields in California to Raise Juvenile For the past five years, scientists with the advocacy group California Trout, have used flooded rice fields to raise juvenile salmon. Joe Rosato Jr. reports.

(Published Thursday, April 13, 2017) Amid the agricultural fields in Sacramento‘s Yolo bypass where rice, tomatoes and other crops are planted each year, Jacob Katz strolled over to a crop no one would imagine growing in any field.He waded out into a flooded field where a string of large boxes sat — and dipped a green fish net inside producing a handful of squirming tiny chinook salmon. Katz quickly dumped the fish back into the pen moving on to the next box.

A pair of salmon being raised in pens on the Sacramento River are measured each week to chart their growth.

Photo credit: Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area ―These pens are full of young juvenile salmon,‖ Katz said slushing through the water.For the past five years, Katz, who is senior scientist for the advocacy group California Trout, has used flooded rice fields to raise juvenile salmon. The experiment, known as Project Nigiri set out to demonstrate that the Yolo Bypass‘ abundant flood plains can also make perfect habitat for fish in the winter. Better even than a river.

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―What we‘ve been showing out here,‖ Katz said, ―is that these rice fields in the bypass can grow food for people in the summer, and food for fish in the winter.‖Katz believes the rice fields make a better habitat for than their native rivers — which he calls deserts for the salmon‘s key food source — bugs.

Researchers Rosa Cox and Eric Holmes from the Watershed Center For Sciences examine salmon stored in pens on the Sacramento River. Project Nigiri is comparing fish raised on the river versus the flood plains to see which turn out bigger and heartier.

Photo credit: Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area To illustrate the theory behind raising fish where few fish have ventured, Katz dipped a small aquarium net in the water and dumped it into a white plastic tray. The tray came alive with thousands of tiny bugs writhing around like specks in a dust storm. ―This represents a bug buffet where these fish can get large, they can get strong,‖ Katz said. ―Those are like a filet mignon if you‘re a baby salmon.‖During some years, Katz has released the tiny fish directly into the water-soaked rice fields. This year he‘s experimenting with pens to keep track of specific fish. The salmon will later be released into the river to continue their journey to the ocean.

A couple miles away, another phase of Project Nigiri is underway, where a research team from U.C. Davis‘ Center for Watershed Sciences is monitoring three more pens of salmon floating

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in the Sacramento River. Each week the researchers collect the tiny fish and weigh and photograph them.

Scientist Jacob Katz holds up a tank holding chinook salmon raised on the flood plains of the Yolo Bypass in the Sacramento Valley.

Photo credit: Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area ―We have caged fish in the river,‖ said researcher Eric Holmes, ―and we‘re looking at growth rates in the river compared to the flood plain.‖ Katz said in the five years of the project, the fish raised in the flood plain rice fields have grown larger and more robust than their river counterparts. He explained that‘s because rivers run cold and swift and accumulate fewer insects for the fish to eat than the sedentary flooded fields. ―Fish grow much more quickly out here on the flood plain because this is where the food is,‖ Katz said.

Fishing interests have blamed the decline of chinook salmon in the Sacramento River on upstream dams and the construction of levies which Katz said have walled off the rivers from the abundant food source on the flood plains.

The project poses the theory that reattaching the flood plains to the rivers would improve the chances of the salmon as they head to the ocean.

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―We‘re trying to improve conditions for the fish before they leave their natal waters,‖ Holmes said.

To punctuate the dire situation on the rivers, California fishery managers recommended canceling most of this year‘s commercial and recreational salmon fishing season because of low returns on the Sacramento River. The news forecasts a bleak summer for struggling fishermen.

Katz said his vision is to refocus California‘s water systems which he thinks are antiquated. ―What we‘re talking about is gates put in these levies that allow fish and water out into very specific areas at specific times of year,‖ Katz said.

In a time where environmental interests often collide with farming in the struggle for water, Katz said the project might demonstrate the two can work together. In some areas, barren winter fields could become habitat for fish, before returning to agriculture in the Spring. ―What we‘d really like to see is the flood plain and the river channel reconnected,‖ Katz said, eyeing the floating pens, ―So that the natural food productivity of the Central Valley can once again flow towards the river channel where fish can once again take advantage of it.‖

Published at 1:31 PM PDT on Apr 13, 2017 | Updated at 9:47 PM PDT on Apr 13, 2017

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Scientists-Use-California-Flooded-RiceFields-to-Raise-Juvenile-Salmon-419416334.html

Asia Rice-Prices rise in India, stable in Vietnam

By My Pham and Rajendra Jadhav | HANOI/MUMBAI/BANGKOK, APRIL 13 Rice export prices extended its upward trend in India on a stronger rupee, while Vietnam rates were stable amid a subtle market on low demand, traders said on Thursday.

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India's 5 percent broken parboiled rice prices RI-INBKN5-P1 rose by $7 per tonne to between $382 and $387 a tonne this week, as gains in the rupee forced exporters to raise prices despite sluggish demand.

"Export demand is very weak, but we have to raise prices to offset the impact of a strong rupee," said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The rupee has risen 5.6 percent so far this year, and is trading near its highest level in 20 months.

A strong rupee trims returns of exporters.

"In local market, paddy supplies are falling from summer-sown crop. In the next few weeks, winter crop will start arriving and local prices may soften," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

India, the world's biggest rice exporter, mainly exports non-basmati rice to African countries and premier basmati rice to the Middle East. Its rice output could rise by 4.3 percent to a record high of 108.86 million tonnes in 2016/17.

Meanwhile in Vietnam, the world's third-largest rice exporter, market was quiet on low demand and unattractive rice prices amid worries over rainfall affecting grain quality.

"Abnormal rain in some harvesting areas has affected rice quality, but not too seriously," said a Ho Chi Minh-based trader.Prices of the 5 percent broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 stayed nearly unchanged at $350-$355 a tonne free-on-board (FOB) Saigon, which was less competitive than Thai prices, traders said.

Vietnam's rice exports are expected to plunge 23.9 percent annually to 1.19 million tonnes in the first quarter, after the grain shipments dropped 26.5 percent in 2016 due to lower output caused by climate changes, the government said.Thai benchmark 5-percent broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 was quoted at $350-$365 a tonne free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok on Wednesday.

Thai's rice market is closed for a national holiday on Thursday. (Reporting by My Pham in Hanoi and Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI; Additional reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat in BANGKOK; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips http://in.reuters.com/article/asia-rice-idINL3N1HL3IL

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China's 'super hybrid' rice expected to yield 17 tons per hectare

By Li Yan (People's Daily Online) 15:57, April 13, 2017

Yuan Longping

The annual output of China's "super hybrid" rice may reach 17 tons per hectare, according to renowned rice scientist Yuan Longping, known as China's father of hybrid rice."This year, we are striving for a new yield of 1,130 kilograms per mu [about 0.07 hectares], or 17 tons per hectare," Yuan said on April 12 at the First International Forum on Rice in Sanya, Hainan province. "Our chance of reaching the target is 90 percent," he added.

The Ministry of Agriculture launched a super hybrid rice breeding project in 1996. The previous target of 16 tons per hectare was realized in 2015, Yuan said.At the forum, experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences discussed innovations in rice breeding and the development of the rice industry. Over 500 new varieties of rice were on display at the forum. http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0413/c90000-9202532.html

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Ditch rice policy, gov’t urged Group says int’l trade should guarantee PH food security By: Ronnel W. Domingo - @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer / 12:36 AM April 13, 2017 The government‘s policy on rice continues to be stuck on self-sufficiency and a conflicted practice on importation despite recommendations from local economic experts from the government, private sector and the academe as well as international bodies to ditch what is described as ―not practical.‖ ―Rice self-sufficiency is neither a desirable nor a practical objective for the Philippines, which is an archipelagic country,‖ the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) said in a statement.

The FEF—whose members include former and present Cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, leading figures in the academe and prominent members in the business and finance community— noted that the Philippines should instead rely on international trade to guarantee the country‘s food security just as Malaysia and Singapore have done. ―Furthermore, we can forge a rice security pact with our fellow Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members such as Vietnam and Thailand to guarantee rice supply in case of a global shortage,‖ it added.

The FEF also disagreed with calls to disallow private-sector importation and let the National Food Authority (NFA) be the sole importer, or stopping all importation altogether. ―Stopping rice imports even during rice harvest season will put upward pressure on rice prices and lead to significant hikes in rice prices, worsening hunger and poverty in the country,‖ the FEF said. ―If the NFA will go on a government-to-government purchase of rice, then there will be no transparent and competitive bidding, which could lead to rampant graft and overprice,‖ it added.

Earlier this month, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said the Philippine government‘s support to agriculture was best adjusted away from efforts to attain food self-sufficiency, particularly in rice, toward measures that strengthen productivity and farm profitability on a sustainable basis.

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The OECD‘s report titled ―Agricultural Policies in the Philippines‖ found that, in the Philippines, government support to agriculture was higher than in other countries in the region and the highest among all emerging countries that the OECD monitored. However, such support ―often failed to meet policy objectives.‖ ―Refocusing this support away from specific commodities would encourage diversification toward higher value commodities, which would raise rural incomes and improve food security,‖ the OECD said.

Last month, state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Study (PIDS) said the Aquino administration‘s approach to food self-sufficiency drove up food prices, noting that barriers to imports triggered increases in rice prices.

PIDS senior research fellow Roehlano Briones said the policy employed a two-pronged strategy of supporting domestic production and maintaining protectionist barriers that shielded local producers from foreign competition

http://business.inquirer.net/227762/ditch-rice-policy-govt-urged

Cabinet approves rice-assistance programs BANGKOK, 13 April 2017, (NNT) The cabinet has approved three programs aimed at developing rice production output, with a budget totaling over 25 billion baht.

Vice Minister for Commerce, Nattaporn Jatusripitak revealed that the three programs will be operational from 2017 to 2021, during which the Rice Department will distribute high-quality jasmine rice at 10 baht per kilogram to participating farmers who qualify for up to 5 Rai (or 8,000 square meters), at 15 kilogram per Rai. The second program encourages joint management and production efforts in order to reduce costs by supporting the use of certain strands, agricultural machinery, land cultivation, and organic fertilizer.

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The third program encourages organic rice production by subsidizing qualifying farmers with up to 15 Rai (or 24,000 square meters), at 9,000 baht per Rai. The funds will be distributed over the course of three years in order to monitor the quality of the organic crops. https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/978310-thai-cabinet-approves-rice-assistance-programs/

Research, scholarship recognized at LATMC meeting Forrest Laws | Apr 13, 2017

Louisiana ag consultants recognize scholars, researchers and Extension during annual technology conference.Between them, Ray Young and Grady Coburn have more than 100 years of experience working as crop consultants in Louisiana. They could be resting on their laurels, but both are focused on the future.

Young, who began working as a consultant in northeast Louisiana not long after he served in the Korean War, and Coburn, who has worked in central Louisiana nearly as long, and their wives, Dorothy and Barbara, are funding multiple scholarships for deserving graduate students.They and others presented their latest educational grants during an awards ceremony at the Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference held annually by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association. This year‘s event was in Marksville, La. Johnny Saichuk, retired LSU AgCenter rice specialist, and Jim Griffin, retired LSU AgCenter weed scientist, were also honored as the two new members of the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association Hall of Fame during the ceremony. ―It is exciting to see what these young people are doing as they begin their research careers,‖ said Young, who himself was recently inducted into the Louisiana Agricultural Hall of Distinction during a ceremony in Baton Rouge.During the LATMC meeting, Ray and Dorothy Young, who live in Wisner, presented a scholarship to Jorge Pineda on behalf of themselves, RiceTec and

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Crop Production Services. Originally from Honduras, Pineda is working on his master‘s degree at Louisiana State University, studying the fungus that causes aflatoxin in corn.

Grady and Barbara Coburn and their company, Pest Management Enterprises, based in Cheneyville, La., presented a scholarship to Myra Purvis. She is working on her master‘s degree in plant pathology, studying soybean taproot decline, while working as a research associate at the LSU AgCenter Macon Ridge Research Station in Winnsboro, La.Lina Bernaola received a scholarship from the Louisiana Land Bank. Bernaola, from Peru, is working on her doctoral degree in entomology, studying the effects of a fungi on rice resistance to insects and pathogens.

Emily Kraus received a scholarship from AgBiTech. She is working on her doctoral degree in entomology, studying rice water weevils and armyworms. She has received 20 scholarships, honors and awards, and she has worked in Africa.LACA members heard a presentation by Bradley Sartain, a graduate research assistant in the LSU AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, who received the 2016 Young Endowed Assistantship for Row Crop Integrated Pest Management.

Recipients are required to make a presentation on their work. Sartain is studying control measures for giant salvinia, an invasive species that has choked waterways throughout the state.

He warned that another aquatic weed, crested floating heart, now found in Texas, could be a bigger problem than giant salvinia.

Dr. Saichuk, who was based at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station in Crowley, La., said teaching had been the most rewarding aspect of his career in agriculture. ―It took me a long time to learn my gift was to teach,‖ he said.Dr. Griffin, who worked at both the Crowley Station and on the main LSU Campus in Baton Rouge, said he enjoyed working with students. ―They are the reason I was as productive as I was.‖ http://www.deltafarmpress.com/crop-protection/research-scholarship-recognized-latmc-meeting

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