September 15 ,2018 Vol 9 ,Issue 9
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The Price Of Rice In Japan September 13, 20184:03 PM ET SALLY HERSHIPS STACEY VANEK SMITH
NPR The Japanese are eating less rice. Blame TV, the internet, burgers, Italian food, a growing economy. Blame the lunch ladies! Rice consumption in Japan is about half what it was in the 1960s. But guess what? Demand for Japanese rice may be way down, but prices are going up. In fact, prices are now so high that Japanese people are buying imported rice, rather than the home-grown stuff.
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The Price Of Rice In Japan On the face of it, Japanese rice appears to be defying one the basic laws of economics, supply and demand. But look a little closer and a complicated picture emerges--It's a story of tariffs, subsidies, skewed incentives. And rice-eating cows.
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/09/13/647215845/the-price-of-rice-in-japan
Madagascar records best rice output in 15 years Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-14 03:49:05|Editor: yan
ANTANANARIVO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Madagascar recorded its best rice output in 15 years, a government official said here Thursday."Madagascar recorded its best rice production in 2018 compared to the last 15 years," Minister of Agriculture and Livestocks Harrisson Randriarimanana told the opening of an international agricultural fair in the capital. "Madagascar harvested 4.3 million tons of rice in 2018, up from 3.1 million tons in 2017," Randriarimanana said. The minister attributed the bumper yield to better weather. However, he said Madagascar needs better farming infrastructure such as dams and channels, and adequate supply of quality seeds, farming equipment and fertilizers. Rice is the staple food of the country. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/14/c_137466122.htm
Despite monsoon lull, kharif planting increases marginally OUR BUREAUT+ T-
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 14 Monsoon rainfall, which so far reported an 8 per cent cumulative shortfall, does not seem to have affected the ongoing kharif season with planting registering a marginal 0.72 per cent increase over the previous season, according to official sowing data released by the Agriculture Ministry
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on Friday.
Area edges up The sowing has been carried out over an area of 1,053 lakh hectares (lh) as against 1,046 lh covered in the corresponding week last year. Rice, oilseeds and sugarcane have reported a jump in acreage, while the planting of pulses and cotton is marginally lower. Coverage of coarse cereals is down by 3.71 per cent compared to last year. Rice, cane up At 383 lh, rice planting is 2.28 per cent higher than that reported in the same week last year. There is a 4.17 per cent increase in sugarcane cultivation with both Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra — the two major growing States — reporting an additional area of 3.73 lh and 1.82 lh respectively. Among oilseeds, soyabean is inching towards a record cropping area with 112.50 lh covered so far, which 6.37 per cent higher than that in the same period last year. Groundnut cultivation, on the other hand, is down by 2.88 per cent to 40 lh. Increase in arhar/tur and moong area, up by 0.86 per cent and 7.50 per cent respectively, has made up for the 8.8 per cent shortfall in urad cultivation. Cotton sowing has gathered momentum the shortfall has been reduced to a mere 0.35 per cent.
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All major coarse cereals, including bajra and ragi, have reported lesser planting this time, while maize held on to last year‘s acreage. Rain deficit data According to the India Meteorological Department, nearly 39 per cent of districts in the country are reporting deficient to large deficient rainfall during the four-month South-West monsoon season which technically comes to an end by this month. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/despite-monsoon-lull-kharif-plantingincreases-marginally/article24949197.ece
Philippines braces for 'very destructive' typhoon Enrico Dela Cruz
SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine authorities evacuated more areas on Friday and warned an estimated 5.2 million people in the path of a ―very destructive‖ typhoon to stay indoors, as the country braced for heavy rain and damage to infrastructure and crops.Super Typhoon Mangkhut is expected to barrel through the northernmost tip of the Philippines Saturday morning, carrying 205 kph wind speeds, and gusts of up to 255 kph, that it has maintained since it struck Micronesia earlier in the week.More than 9,000 people have been moved to temporary shelters as Mangkhut, locally known as Ompong, makes its way toward the rice- and corn-producing provinces of Cagayan and Isabela where it is forecast to make landfall overnight. Disaster officials warned that tens of thousands more may need to be moved and weather forecasters warned of storm surges as high as six meters in coastal villages in the typhoon‘s path.Second and third contingents of rescue teams were being prepared, in case first-responders get into trouble themselves.―My appeal is that we need to heed the advice of the authorities. Stay indoors,‖ said presidential adviser Francis Tolentino, the government‘s disaster response coordinator.The storm further picked up speed and was about 340 km east of the Philippines late afternoon on Friday. Video posted on social media by Cagayan residents showed trees being whipped by fierce winds under dark gray skies as rain lashed down on buildings.Typhoon Mangkhut IMG: tmsnrt.rs/2oZmnIS Strong winds buffet trees in Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines, September 14, 2018, in this picture obtained from social media. Courtesy of Mark Espiritu Reparejo/via REUTERS
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HELP SOUGHT Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba said he expects widespread damage to crops and infrastructure in his province, and said help would be needed to rebuild.―Last time we had a super typhoon, there were 14,000-plus of totally destroyed houses and about 40,000-plus of partially destroyed houses,‖ he told news channel ANC.―We expect this kind of damage with a super typhoon like this and so we would ask the assistance of the national government and even the private sector.‖ The capital, Manila, and more than three dozen northern and central provinces have been placed under storm warning signals. Classes have been suspended and government offices shut early in more than 600 places, while military, medical and emergency response teams were put on stand by.The coastguard said about 5,000 passengers were stranded at several ports by the impending storm, which will head on towards Hong Kong, China and Vietnam.Mangkhut‘s peak winds are stronger than those of Hurricane Florence, which has left more than 630,000 homes and businesses without power and is expected to drop eight months of rain on the Carolinas in the United States in two or three days. ―The concerns here are landslides and infrastructure being washed away,‖ said Junie Cua, governor of Quirino province on the main island of Luzon.Authorities are taking extra precautions as they draw comparison with Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated central areas of the archipelago in 2013, and killed 6,300 people, many in storm surges that reached as high as eight meters.But weather forecasters said Mangkhut‘s wind speed was unlikely to accelerate further from the current 205 kph and reach Haiyan‘s 240 kph. Northern Luzon is also less densely populated. Mangkhut might slightly weaken after landfall but could still be ―very destructive‖, said Rene Paciente, assistant chief at the weather bureau. Crop damage in a worst-case scenario could reach about 157,000 tonnes of paddy rice and about 257,000 tonnes of corn, worth 13.5 billion pesos ($250 million), the agriculture ministry said. That could result in tightness in the domestic rice supplies at a time when retail prices are already high, compounding worries about inflation. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-storm/philippines-braces-for-very-destructive-typhoonidUSKCN1LU0WF
DTI seeking authorization to buy rice from foreign gov’ts 6|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
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September 14, 2018 | 7:08 pm
PHILSTAR
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is seeking to import an additional 150,000 metric tons of rice under a government-to-government scheme, saying that the process will take less time than an open tender. In a statement Friday, the DTI said one of its agencies, the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), has proposed to ship in up to 150,000 metric tons, equivalent to 3 million bags of rice, to supplement the inventory held by the National Food Authority (NFA). ―DTI is tapping the bulk procurement expertise of PITC, the country‘s premier governmentcontrolled trading corporation, to bring in more rice through government-to-government procurement,‖ the DTI said. Currently, only the NFA is authorized to conduct government-to-government transactions. The DTI and the PITC were asked to comment on how they intend to obtain authorization for such imports, but had not replied at deadline time
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―NFA‘s strategy to flood the market with affordable rice is laudable, but an open tender scheme might take a longer time to implement. PITC, if tapped, will implement strategies that will be effective in bringing down the price of rice even before the imported rice reaches the country,‖ the PITC said. ―By flooding the market with imported rice, hoarders will be left no option but to release their supply in market and eventually stabilize the price of rice,‖ it added. The PITC‘s announcement comes a few days after the interagency NFA Council has approved last week the importation of 250,000 MT to be auctioned under an open tender. The proposed 150,000 MT is expected to arrive in December when prices typically rise due to holiday demand. Over 1.3 million MT has been approved so far for importation — with about 805,200 MT to be brought in by the private sector and 750,000 covered by government-to-government and open tender schemes. The DTI said a decision is pending from the NFA Council. The department said it will be selling the rice at at least P27 per kilo. It said PITC‘s track record includes helping bring down the cost of medicine in the 1900s and 2000s. — Janina C. Lim http://www.bworldonline.com/dti-seeking-authorization-to-buy-rice-from-foreign-govts/
‘Philippines to import 1.2 MT of rice in 2019’ The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said the Philippines would likely import 1.2 million metric tons (MT) of rice in 2019. Michael Varcas
Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) - September 14, 2018 - 12:00amMANILA, Philippines —
The Philippines is expected to import more rice next year as local production will not be enough
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to cover the demand for the country‘s main staple, according to the latest report of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said the Philippines would likely import 1.2 million metric tons (MT) of rice in 2019.
The USDA increased next year‘s rice imports from the earlier projection of 1.1 million MT following reduced crop estimates.―Global consumption is forecast slightly higher, particularly for India. Global trade is raised slightly with higher imports forecast for Venezuela and the Philippines,‖ it said. The USDA‘s projection is still subject to changes, especially as the Philippine government has yet to finalize the quantitative restrictions on imported rice. Production of milled-rice next year is seen to increase by 0.5 percent to 12.3 million MT from the expected 12.23 million MT this year. The USDA said there may be slight improvements in area planted as rice areas in 2019 will be at 4.87 million hectares, slightly higher than the 4.84 million hectares this year. But the stagnant growth in yield at 4.01 MT per hectare will unlikely hike production next year. The USDA estimates that local rice consumption next year would increase slightly by 1.5 percent to 13.35 million MT, from 13.2 million MT this year.
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In terms of ending stocks, the USDA said the Philippines would likely end 2018 with a carryover volume of 2.5 million MT for 2019. Meanwhile, local corn production may go up by four percent to reach 8.3 million MT from the expected production this year of 7.98 million MT. Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeùa said the delayed issuance of import permits have prevented them from immediately releasing the rice shipments from the ports. He said the Bureau of Customs should not be blamed for the high rice prices. – With Evelyn Macairan
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/09/14/1851412/philippines-import-12-mtrice-2019
Rice, wheat producing countries should be concerned about India's domestic support policy: US Over the last five years, India has exported between USD 5.3 billion and USD8 billion of rice, which is more than any other country in the world. Published: 14th September 2018 12:40 PM | Last Updated: 14th September 2018 12:40 PM By PTI WASHINGTON: The US has alleged that India is providing massive subsidies to its farmers producing rice and wheat and said that other countries need to be concerned about New Delhi's "trade-distorting policy". Chief Agricultural Negotiator Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) Gregory Doud made the comments during a Congressional hearing Thursday. "Every rice- or wheat-producing country around the world should be concerned about the trade effects of India's trade distorting domestic support," Doud told lawmakers. In May, Doud travelled to Geneva to deliver the US' first ever counter notification to the WTO's Committee on Agriculture concerning India's market price support for rice and wheat. "The US estimates that India supports its rice producers ranging from 74 to 84.2 per cent of the value of production and wheat producers ranging between 60.1 to 68.5 per cent of the value of production between 2010 and 2014 when India is only allowed to provide up to 10 per cent of the value of production of a particular commodity," Doud alleged.
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Over the last five years, India has exported between USD 5.3 billion and USD8 billion of rice, which is more than any other country in the world. India's global wheat exports ranged between USD 70 million to USD 1.9 billion during the same time period, he said. Testifying before the same committee, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney told lawmakers that during his recent India visit he met with senior officials to discuss the importance of science-based food safety policies and to promote US exports. Doud said that he was disappointed that in recent months US' trading partners have decided to retaliate against nearly USD 30 billion of its USD 143 billion in agricultural exports following necessary actions were taken under trade laws to defend national security or to respond to unfair trade practices. "During my first six months in this role, I have had over 150 meetings with stakeholders and have met hundreds of farmers, ranchers and agribusiness representatives - all of them have communicated to me the impact of the tariffs and the role of trade for all commodities including row crops, livestock, horticulture, and processed products," he said. The US is taking action at the WTO to counter this unjustified retaliation. The Trump Administration is working to expand market opportunities for US producers, he told lawmakers. McKinney said that America's hard-working agricultural producers have been treated unfairly by China's trading practices and targeted specifically with retaliatory tariffs in a blatant attempt by China to exert political pressure on Congress and the Trump Administration. In response to this unjustified retaliation by China and other countries, the President has directed to craft a short term relief strategy to protect agricultural producers while the Administration works on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals. Specifically, USDA authorised up to USD 12 billion for three mitigation programmes to assist agricultural producers. http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/sep/14/rice-wheat-producing-countries-should-beconcerned-about-indias-domestic-support-policy-us-1871868.html
NFA assures rice supply amid possible onslaught of 'Ompong' BACOLOD. Residents of Barangay Banago in Bacolod line up to buy the P27 per kilogram government rice through the ―tagpuan‖ outlet launched by NFA-Negros Occidental and Grains Retailers Confederation in front of their barangay hall yesterday. (Erwin Nicavera)
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ERWIN P. NICAVERA September 14, 2018 THE National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental is capable of immediately supplying rice among areas in the province to be affected by the possible onslaught of Typhoon Ompong, its top official said. Frisco Canoy, provincial manager of NFA-Negros Occidental, told SunStar Bacolod on Thursday that supply of P27 per kilogram government rice during calamities is a priority of the agency. Canoy said the NFA plays as "relief agency" during disasters, thus, it should serve affected areas first over market retail outlets regularly receiving allocations. "The mandate among provincial offices of NFA is to have an operation center in cases of calamities," he said, adding that "for Negros Occidental, we already have personnel in place so the center can be activated anytime." The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said on Thursday Ompong, with international name "Mangkhut" is aiming towards the northern tip of Luzon and expected to make landfall on Saturday. The state weather bureau, in a report, said Ompong will be the strongest typhoon this year, peaking at gusts of up to 270 kilometers per hour as of yesterday before easing to still-dangerous velocities as it approaches land. As of Thursday‘s inventory of NFA-Negros Occidental showed that the remaining buffer stocks for the province are almost 16,000 bags from 80,000 bags last July. Canoy said the volume level is still "enough and safe" to supply affected areas if Ompong hits the province. The operation center has personnel serving agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as well as local government units (LGUs), and groups like Philippine Red Cross who will be needing supply anytime, Canoy said. "We are making sure that we will have remaining buffer stocks until the new import allocation arrives especially amid the impending calamity," he said. Canoy added that "with the current situation, we are capable of providing possible needs during relief operation.‖ https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1764291
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Arkansas Rice Industry Donation to Feed Hungry Neighbors By Emily Woodall
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Yesterday, the Arkansas rice industry donated 134,000 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Foodbank in recognition of September Hunger Action Month as well as National Rice Month. The generous donation will provide more than a million servings of rice to help feed families, children, and seniors across the state.
Participating rice mills were Cormier Rice Mill of DeWitt, Windmill Rice Company of Jonesboro, Riceland Foods of Stuttgart, Producers Rice Mill of Stuttgart, Riviana Foods of Carlisle, Golden Ridge of Wynne, and Specialty Rice of Brinkley. "The Arkansas rice industry is committed to being good stewards of our resources and helping to alleviate hunger in our state," said Arkansas Rice Council President Jeff Rutledge. "We take great pride in our partnership with the Arkansas Foodbank and appreciate their efforts to feed our hungry neighbors."
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This rice donation will go into weekend backpacks for children, food boxes for home-bound seniors, and will fill the shelves at food pantries for families in need.
"For so many Arkansans, rice is an important staple item on their dinner table," says Arkansas Foodbank CEO Rhonda Sanders. "With one in six in our state struggling with hunger, today's generous gift from the Arkansas rice community will ensure that our neighbors in need can enjoy many meals to come with their families." The donation followed a ceremony at the State Capitol where Governor Asa Hutchinson delivered a proclamation officially declaring September as "Rice Month."
‘Rice field day’ observed in Kulgam By reader on September 14, 2018
KULGAM: To provide awareness to farmers regarding cultivation of various kinds of rice varieties, researched and developed at Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, Khudwani of
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SKUAST-K, the centre organised a Kisan Mela-cum Rice-Field Day here on Friday. Farmers from various districts participated. The mela aimed to sensitise the farmers about new technology and high yielding variety of seeds being introduced in the agriculture sector to increase productivity and to provide better marketing facilities to the farmers, read an official handout. VC SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad presented a detailed presentation about the progress of the research centre and new initiatives of the institute to improve the productivity of crops. Farmers, on the occasion, interacted with the scientists and discussed various field issues. Various scientists also spoke on the occasion and shared their views and experience regarding the cultivation of the new variety of crops, it read. https://kashmirreader.com/2018/09/14/rice-field-day-observed-in-kulgam/
Cameroon spends 184b on rice imports Published on 14.09.2018 at 16h21 by APA News
Cameroon imported 728,443 tonnes of rice last year (2017) for 183.7 billion CFA francs, according to the National Statistics Institute (INS).These imports increased by 18.6 percent in quantity and 27.9 in value compared with the previous year, when they stood at around 152 billion CFA francs.The rice comes mainly from the Asian continent, notably Thailand, India and Myanmar. ―In recent years, Cameroonian importers have been sourcing mainly from Thailand, as unit prices are more competitive compared to other Asian countries,‖ said the INS.
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While 99.8 percent of rice imports come from Asia, Thailand with 85 percent is by far the highest, followed by India 7 percent and Myanmar 2 percent. https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/cameroon-spends-184b-on-rice-imports/
Import more food to reduce inflation? Despite the increase, Cameroon is still far from the peak of rice imports in 2013, which amounted to 212.6 billion CFA francs, according to the INS.
AT GROUND LEVEL - Satur C. Ocampo (The Philippine Star) - September 15, 2018 12:00am Just as the rice harvesting season begins, Super Typhoon Ompong is predicted to hit food-basket Cagayan Valley today. Rather belatedly, the Duterte Cabinet economic development cluster has been scrambling to finish drafting an executive order to deal with the prolonged crisis involving the supply and price of rice, and to mitigate the surging inflation which hit a nine-year high in August. The EO will order the immediate release to local markets of the existing rice stock held by the National Food Authority (NFA) – 4.6 million sacks. More than half, or 2.7 million sacks, will go to the southernmost provinces of Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. But the available NFA stock is good only for seven days, short of the 15-day standard reserve requirement. This situation has raised fears that the crisis may worsen during the immediate post-typhoon period. Already on Thursday local governments of Batanes and Catanduanes, both isolated islands in Luzon, appealed for additional shipments of NFA rice and other food supplies. The issuance of the EO, agreed on by the Cabinet in its meeting Tuesday, is aimed at removing the administrative constraints and nontariff barriers on importing rice, fish, meat, sugar, and vegetables. In a bid to lower their domestic prices, the administration is betting on the easy importation of these prime food items – which together accounted for 2.4 percentage points of the August 6.4% inflation rate, per the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). While massive importation of these items may abate the inflation surge, however, it will also have an adverse impact: Primarily it will benefit foreign producers and definitely will prejudice the livelihood of our local farmers and fishers, particularly the marginal ones. As the first short-term policy recommendation, Duterte‘s economic managers urged that, aside from the two million sacks of imported rice due for delivery before the end of September, five million sacks more should be imported to arrive in mid-November and another five million sacks in early 2019.
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That‘s altogether 12 million sacks of imported rice pouring into the local markets to compete with domestic rice produced by our farmers during the current harvest season (September 2018 to January 2019). And – take note -- there‘s no Cabinet cluster recommendation for the NFA to procure Philippine palay during this season. A P10-billion supplemental budget must be given to the NFA so that it can raise its support buying price from P17 per kilo to P20 per kilo and procure more palay from our farmers. A resolution in this regard (Joint Resolution 28), has been filed by the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives. Seeking to top that, appropriations committee chair Rep. Karlo Nograles of Davao City‘s own idea is to urge the NFA Council to convene at once and raise the agency‘s palay buying price to P22 per kilo. But President Duterte, when interviewed on television by his chief legal adviser Tuesday, vowed to recommend to Congress the abolition of the NFA Council, saying ―it has no purpose.‖ Now consider these other short-term policy recommendations by the Cabinet cluster: • Simplify and streamline the licensing procedures for rice imports by the NFA, form monitoring teams – to be composed of personnel from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the NFA, Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and farmer groups – for surveillance of imported rice from the ports of entry to the NFA warehouses and outlets; • Urge the Senate to immediately pass (within September) the rice tariffication bill. The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill last month (HB 7735), ending quantitative restrictions on rice importation and replacing these with a 35% tariff (in accordance with the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture, signed in 1995); • Allow imported fish to be distributed in public markets in Metro Manila and in other parts of the country; • Convene the poultry producers to decisively address the problem behind the gap between farmgate and retail prices for chicken (to be tackled by the Department of Agriculture and DTI); • Set up public markets where primary food producers can sell directly to the end customers, and provide cold storage facilities for this purpose; • Simplify procedures set by the Sugar Regulatory Administration in order to allow direct users to import sugar as a means of moderating its cost to consumers; • Prioritize the release by the Bureau of Customs of essential food items arriving in the ports. • Improve logistics, transport, distribution, and storage of vegetables. It remains to be seen, after the issuance of the EO, how fast these short-term measures could be implemented.
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As medium-to-long-term measures for agriculture, the Cabinet cluster has suggested 1) facilitating better access by farmers to farming technologies; 2) promoting research and development; 3) developing resilient and high-yielding varieties of rice; 4) reassessing the country‘s planting season and crop viability in each region; and 5) aggressively imposing the idle land tax. Question: Shouldn‘t these measures – all aimed at improving and maximizing agricultural productivity – have been assiduously carried out in the past decades? Why haven‘t they? I recall that when I was in Congress during the Arroyo government and, at the appropriations committee hearings on the budget of the Department of Agriculture, I batted for increased funding for irrigation facilities to enhance our farmers‘ rice production. The reply from the DA resource person stunned me. He said that it was better to import lowpriced rice from Asian neighboring countries rather than to try boosting local palay output because the production cost had already become too high.
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/09/15/1851569/import-more-food-reduceinflation
Let them eat cake! Dominguez belittles surge in price of rice as a ‘serious problem only for some people’ Sep 15, 2018
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Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III is adamant that the Philippines is not in a crisis and that the inflation spurt to a nine-year high should be seen from a long term perspective. ―You have to really take a long view. When you take a long view you will realize that we are the second lowest inflation of the administration since (former president) Cory (Aquino),‖ he said. Inflation rose to a 6.4 percent last August, its highest since 2009. Average inflation rate in the first eight months this year stood at 4.8 percent, way above than the government‘s 2 percent to 4 percent target band until 2020.
The acceleration of domestic inflation was due to, among others, the faster rate of price increases of the food and non-alcoholic beverages index due to supply issues of fish, rice, meat and vegetables; and the alcoholic beverages and tobacco index due to hikes of excise tax on sin products. Dominguez, one of the richest members of the Cabinet, explained that in 2014 alone, rice inflation rose to about 14 percent, twice the current level, which, he said, clearly does not place the country in crisis now. ―It may be a serious problem for some people but for the nation, in general, it‘s not a major crisis,‖ said Dominguez who was a major contributor to President Rodrigo Duterte‘s 2016 campaign. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) has submitted to the Office of the President a draft Executive Order (EO) that identified nine measures to address supply issues on fish, rice, meat and vegetables. These measures include the following: the release of about 4.6 million sacks of rice currently available in National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses; replicating of issuance of certificates of necessity to allow fish imports to be distributed in wet markets around Metro Manila and other parts of the country; issuance of an Executive Order (EO) that will simplify and streamline licensing procedures for NFA‘s rice imports; reduction of gap between farm gate and retail price of chicken; importation of sugar to direct users; and for the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to prioritize the release of essential food items in the ports. These measures are intended to address the rise of inflation, which authorities said is supply sidedriven. ―I‘m not even counting the potential monetary tools. It was decided that there will be no off-cycle (decisions),‖ said Dominguez, who sits as an ex-officio member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas‘ (BSP) policy-making Monetary Board (MB).Some analysts expect another increase in the central bank‘s key rates before the rate setting meet of the MB on September 27. To date, the Board has increased the BSP‘s key rates by a total of 100 basis points as inflation continue to rise. http://politics.com.ph/anong-crisis-dominguez-belittles-surge-in-price-of-rice-as-a-seriousproblem-only-for-some-people/
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Agriculture chief says 'Ompong' may damage 1.2M hectares of rice, corn fields By CNN Philippines Staff Updated 00:40 AM PHT Fri, September 14, 2018 1073
(File photo) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 13) — The agriculture sector may suffer further from the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong. In a command conference in Malacañang Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said that Ompong is expected to affect 1,220,000 hectares of rice and corn fields. "On a matter of moderate basis, rice will suffer losses amounting to about ₱3.6 billion. Worst case scenario, ₱7.9 billion," Piñol said. According to the estimates made by the Department of Agriculture, this would translate to 74,000 to 176,000 metric tons of damage. "For corn, moderate scenario our estimated damage is ₱2.7 billion. Our worst case scenario is ₱3.1 billion," Pinol added.
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Marikina Representative Miro Quimbo, in an interview with CNN Philippines On the Record, said that this could lead to higher prices down the line. "The thing with rice and corn is you can not harvest it unless it's ripe, and [farmers are] 15 percent away from harvesting time," Quimbo said. "What would happen next month is inflation will be pushed higher."
According to government data, prices of staple food like rice, meat and fish contributed 2.4 percent to last month's 6.4 inflation rate, a nine-year high. To combat inflation, the economic development cluster of the Cabinet submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte a proposed executive order that would remove administrative and non-tariff barriers to food imports. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, in an interview on the same episode of CNN Philippines On the Record said that the administration is focused on dealing with food inflation. "We are focusing on food items because these are the ones we have a handle on in terms of reforms and measures, to deal with logistical bottlenecks and shortage. These shortages are most likely due to distribution rather than availability," Pernia said.Pernia reiterated that the shortage of rice was due to alleged mismanagement in the National Food Authority. http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/09/14/manny-pinol-agriculture-typhoon-ompong-rice-cornfields.html
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Following rains, Arkansas rice crop ‘largely okay’ Will next Gulf weather system sweep in?
David Bennett | Sep 13, 2018 It is Sept. 11 and having already watched the rains generated by Hurricane Gordon sweep over the Arkansas‘ roce crop, Jarrod Hardke stands beneath gray skies and misting clouds. The Arkansas Extension rice specialist sums up the last few weeks of the growing season: ―The weather has been weird." ―For the most part, growers were just getting back to normal yesterday. Then, shockingly, today there‘s bad weather coming up from the south. It‘s sprinkling right now. Where did that come from? It wasn‘t on any forecast I saw. Yet, it‘s overcast and rain is falling in scattered areas from Memphis south. We thought this week would give us a break and we‘d have a mix of cloudy mornings and sunshine.‖
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Even after the Gordon rains ―our rice still largely looks okay. Obviously, the ground is wet and growers are just diving in to make harvest progress. The grain moisture level is not perfect, but it‘s good enough to do that. So, we‘re having to mud the crop out a bit more and that‘s slowing things down. ―Some of the rice may not be down, but it‘s sinking in places. There are some flattened spots in fields – mostly in the Prairie and south where some of the heavier rainfall was. Those spots weren‘t caused by wind but are strictly due to the rain that just kept coming and weighed the plants down.‖ Harvest
Overall, all of that means the state‘s rice harvest is behind schedule. ―Mainly, that‘s because of the weather,‖ says Hardke. ―The crop hasn‘t dried out, matured and cured out as fast as it should have because August was ‗flip-flopped.' By that I mean normally the first two weeks of August along with the last two weeks of July are the hottest 30 days of the year. ―This year, while it was still warm, we kind of got a cool down during that period. The last two weeks of August were the typical low-90s, very hot and humid weather that usually happens the first two weeks of the month. It worked in reverse.‖ A dry spell would do wonders for morale. ―We‘re doing okay but we need a good run of seven to 10 days of dry weather to really put a dent in harvest. Of course, now we‘ve got more storms brewing and potentially headed our way. (Tropical Storm) Isaac is supposed to come into the Gulf of Mexico. Will it hit somewhere that‘ll impact the Mid-South?
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―With all that‘s happening we really need to make some progress. We‘re probably between 30 to 40 percent harvested.‖ Yields and nights
What about yields? ―So far, yields have been very good and people are happy. This season was one of the grassiest crops most folks can remember. I kept hearing ‗there‘s so much grass this crop isn‘t going to cut that well.‘ But I was thinking ‗I don‘t know what rice field you‘re talking about because the one I just walked out of looks like it‘s going to cut a bunch of rice. I‘m not saying there‘s no drag from the grass, but there‘s a lot of rice out here.‘‖ The rice crop looks to be strong but don‘t expect too much. ―I don‘t think it‘ll be record-setting but I wasn‘t expecting that anyway with the acreage we have this year. Setting records is extremely difficult anytime we get over 1.4 million acres. Once you get to that level, rice starts going onto okay ground but you‘re moving off the prime, high-yield production fields.‖ How has Provisia done in this year‘s weedy conditions? ―One thing I can say is I haven‘t had to look at much Provisia rice because it‘s done a good job. Extension specialists usually get to talk about problems. The conversations this year have usually been me talking to someone about a problem and at the end they‘ll tag on ‗oh, by the way, my Provisia looks good.‘ ―Folks have also been happy with the cost of control – not only of weedy rice but barnyardgrass populations resistant to other modes of action.‖ Hardke says this season‘s nighttime temperatures teetered on the razor‘s edge. 24 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m , mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
―For a while, we toed the line on nighttime temperatures around the 75 degree mark for a low. From there and up is the zone of concern. We hung around that level in early July and then caught a break with some rains that took some of the edge off the heat. That was a great thing for the remainder of our flowering, pollination and grain-fill. ―The overall milling quality numbers I‘m hearing so far are very good.‖ https://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/following-rains-arkansas-rice-crop-largely-okay
Agri scientists upbeat about pulse revolution in Northeast | SMITA BHATTACHARYYA | JORHAT | September 14, 2018 9:50 pm
Pulse revolution is silently taking place in the fields of the country.
3 min read Even as India basks in the warmth of the green (rice) revolution and eyes with expectancy the white (milk) revolution, silently in the fields of the country another revolution is taking place, the pulse revolution. This was revealed on Friday at the inaugural session of 24th annual group MULLaRP meet of All India Coordinated Research Project on MULLaRP ( mungbean, urdbean, lentil, lathyrus,
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rajma and peas) Rabi Crop, held at the Assam Agricultural University here. Addressing the meeting Assistant Director General, Plant Protection, Indian Council of Agricultural Research P K Chakrabarty said that there had been a quantum leap in production of pulses and the country was nearing self sufficiency. The reasons for this he said was increase in production due to the government supplying was supplying good quality breeder seeds to the farmers and increase in area if cultivation of pulses including the use of rice fallow land, that is land left fallow after rice is harvested. Chakrabarty said that self sufficiency would be achieved after if this growth was sustained and in order to do this improved varieties had to be researched and given to farmers and pests and disease kept under control. He asked the 60 odd scientists gathered from across the country to formulate a package of practices for herbicides and pesticides otherwise without certification, the application of these would be illegal. He stressed on biofortified pulses which would help to reduce malnutrition in children and lactating mothers.In this regard Assam had produced a lentil fortified with iron and zinc and was looking to infuse foliate. Sanjeev Gupta, project coordinator, MULLaRP from Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur said that pulses in the country had achieved highest production upto 25.23 million tonnes (MT) in 2017 which had stagnated at 14 MT continuously for two decades, this was short of about 3 to 4 MT required for the country to be self sufficient. ―While chickpea is a major pulse in the winter season, there is much scope for area expansion for lentil, field pea, lathyrus and rajma. He said that the government of India had launched a programme Targetting Rice Fallow Areas (TRFA) in six states including Assam with an outlay of Rs 200 crore. He said that about 3 to 3.5 million hectare could be brought under rice fallow cultivation whereas at present only about 1-1.5 hectare is under cultivation in the eastern states. ―Assam is deficit in pulses by 25 percent and all the Northeastern states by 60 per cent. So these areas need to be targeted for pulse production programmes, ―he said. As new pulse varieties are produced taking into consideration different farming zones, soil, climate and other factors, field pea variety TRCP9 had been released for Tripura which could cater to the needs of other North Eastern States. Assam has also developed two varieties of black gram Rupohi and Buroi. https://nenow.in/north-east-news/agri-scientists-upbeat-pulse-revolution-northeast.html
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Rice basmati softens on sluggish demand PTI | Sep 14, 2018, 15:14 IST New Delhi, Sep 14 () Rice basmati prices slipped by Rs 100 per quintal at the wholesale grains market Friday owing to slackened demand against sufficient stocks position. However, wheat strengthened on increased offtake by flour mills. Traders said easing demand from stockists against ample stocks position on increased arrivals from growing regions, mainly weighed on rice basmati prices. In the national capital, rice basmati common and Pusa-1121 variety moved down by Rs 100 each to Rs 7,700-7,800 and Rs 6,650-6,750 per quintal, respectively. On the other hand, wheat MP (desi) and wheat dara (for mills) looked up by Rs 15 each to Rs 2,350-2,500 and Rs 2,030-2,035 per quintal, respectively. Atta chakki delivery followed suit and traded higher by a similar margin to Rs 2,040-2,045 per 90 kg. Atta flour mills and maida also enquired higher by Rs 10 each to Rs 1,080-1,100 and Rs 1,180-1,190 per 50 kg, respectively. Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal): Wheat MP (desi) Rs 2,350-2,450, Wheat dara (for mills) Rs 2,030-2,035, Atta Chakki(delivery) Rs 2,040-2,045, Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) Rs 250-280, Shakti Bhog (10 kg) Rs 275-310, Roller flour mill Rs 1,080-1,100 (50 kg), Maida Rs 1,180-1,190 (50 kg) and Sooji Rs 1,220-1,230 (50 kg). Basmati rice (Lal Quila) Rs 10,700, Shri Lal Mahal Rs 11,300, Super Basmati rice Rs 9,900, Basmati common new Rs 7,700-7,800, Rice Pusa (1121) Rs 6,650-6,750, Permal raw Rs 2,3752,400, Permal wand Rs 2,500-2,550, Sela Rs 3,000-3,100 and rice IR-8 Rs 2,000-2,050. Bajra Rs 1,360-1,365, Jowar yellow Rs 1,650-1,700, white Rs 2,850-2,900, Maize Rs 1,4201,425, Barley Rs 1,590-1,600. SUN KPS SHW ADI ADI
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/rice-basmati-softens-on-sluggishdemand/articleshow/65808505.cms
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