22nd august,2014 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine by DAILY RICE NEWS LETTER

22nd August,2014

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China produces slightly less early rice in 2014 - People's Daily Online USA Rice Writes the Book on Rice for Cooking Schools in Mexico Weak monsoon may hike rice & vegetables prices Statistical model predicts performance of hybrid rice China produces slightly less early rice in 2014 Fukushima-grown rice to hit S'pore shelves this week China produces slightly less early rice in 2014 NFA receives Vietnam rice Relief to cane, rice growers: IMD expects less rain in flood-hit areas of the North next week Indian monsoon to display lull as floods ease TABLE-Weekly update on India's summer crop planting Reap accuses government of neglecting R&D sector Mauritius tenders to buy 6,000 tonnes white rice -trade Impact of lower rice production

News Detail… China produces slightly less early rice in 2014 - People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 13:39, August 22, 2014 BEIJING, Aug. 2 China produced 34.01 million tonnes of early rice in 2014, a decreaseof 125,000 tonnes, or 0.4 percent, from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) said Friday in a statement.According to the NBS, China's early rice planting area for 2014 stood at 579.5 millionhectares, 0.2 percent less than last year, with yield per hectare down 0.2 percent to 5.87tonne.Huang Jiacai, a senior statistician with the NBS, said it was still a good harvest year forearly rice given the unit yield is the second highest in history second only to 2013.

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The planting area remained stable thanks to favorable policies implemented in centralChina's provinces of Hunan and Hubei, which led to an increase of planting areas in the tworegions, he said.Hunan is China's largest producer of early rice, with an output of 8.5 million tonnes and aplanting area of 1.45 million hectares in 2014. Neighboring Jiangxi Province ranked thesecond with an output of 8.2 million tonnes, according to the NBS.Early rice is mainly planted in eight central and southern provincial-level regions of China,including Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hubei, Anhui, Fujian and Hainan.China's total grain output consists of three parts -- early rice, summer grain and autumnproduction.

In 2013, China's total grain output expanded 2.1 percent year on year to hit 601.94 milliontonnes, marking 10 years in a row for increased grain production.Based on the data in 2013, early rice accounted for nearly 6 percent of total grain output.The summer grain crops, mainly wheat and early-season rice, account for about 22 percentof China's total grain output. Autumn grain crops, which include corn and middle- and late-season rice, account for the remaining 72 percent.China's grain self-sufficiency rate stood above 97 percent in 2013 and cereal importsreached 14 million tonnes, accounting for less than 2.6 percent of the country's cerealoutput, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

USA Rice Writes the Book on Rice for Cooking Schools in Mexico Excerpt from Mexican cookbook Autoridad Arroz! MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - Following up on past successful cookbook promotions, the USA Rice Federation has published a new special edition cookbook "Cursos de Arroz" (Rice Courses) which is for sale in supermarkets throughout Mexico.The 50page, large format cookbook contains stunning food photography and features a wide variety of rice dishes including appetizers, salads, main dishes, desserts, and a special section dedicated to gluten-free rice recipes."We included a two-page spread on celiac disease and the gluten-free quality of rice because as awareness of the disease and gluten sensitivity grows here in Mexico, we see more and more people being diagnosed.

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Then consumers look to change their diets, and chefs adapt their menus to address the shift," said Gaby Carbajal, USA Rice's contractor in Mexico. "This cookbook will help us continue to position U.S. rice as a healthy, safe, and delicious staple for Mexican consumers, that is naturally gluten-free."The cookbook also makes use of variety-specific icons to help guide users to the correct type of rice (long, parboiled or medium/short) to use for each dish, and offers tips for the proper preparation of the varieties.Carbajal says USA Rice will also distribute the cookbooks to more than 70 culinary schools free of charge, and that the schools will use the book as a manual in their rice courses. She added that recipes from the cookbook will be used in promotional activities, brochures, online, and in demonstrations throughout the year. Contact: Sarah Moran (703) 236-1457

(Rainfall was 25 per centâ&#x20AC;Ś) NEW DELHI: The stalling of the monsoon in northern, central and western India may lead to vegetables prices rising further, cut rice production by 10-15 per cent and affect winter-sown crops by drying up the soil unless rains revive quickly. The weather office forecasts a subdued monsoon in the northern and western states at least up to August 28, pointing to pressure on food inflation, which won't come as good news for the government or the central bank.Rainfall in the past week was 25 per cent below normal, although reservoirs were filled to 65 per cent (88.735 billion cubic metres) of the total capacity of 155.05 billion cubic metres, down from 77 per cent last year, but better than the 10-year average of 62 per cent In Punjab and Haryana, monsoon shortfall over the season is 62 per cent, leading to an impact on productivity even though these regions have irrigation facilities. Rainfall was 51 per cent below normal on Thursday. There was no rain at all in Haryana, Punjab and west Rajasthan.Paddy farmers have been hurt by the poor rainfall, said Krishan Singh Khokhar, vice chancellor, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University. "There will be a drop in production of at least 10 per cent in the rice crop," he said. Production of cotton and pearl millets may also fall with poor rain in the state.On Thursday, the Central Water Commission that monitors the 85 important reservoirs of the country on a weekly basis, said storage levels in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab,

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Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tripura, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are lower than the corresponding period last year. IMPACT ON VEGETABLE PRICES Meanwhile, vegetable prices in most parts of north and west India have seen a slight rise in prices over the past four-five days. "There is slight fluctuation in prices of vegetables by Rs 5-6 a kg in wholesale due to floods and poor rains in north India," said Surinder Kohli, a vegetable trader at Delhi's Azadpur mandi. If it doesn't rain over the next few weeks, it will hit farmers growing seasonal vegetables such as lady finger, bottle gourd, cabbage etc, which will increase retail prices, Kohli said. Most vegetables from bitter gourd, lady finger, brinjal were being quoted at Rs 40 a kg, said Nanku Ram, a vegetable vendor who sells in Sarita Vihar in New Delhi.Sahab Singh Tomar, who grows paddy on eight acres in Palla village in Delhi, said, "The weather is dry but paddy requires humidity. This will impact grain size and lead to loss in yield by over 15 per cent." The farmer, who also grows lady finger, brinjal and spinach, has already seen a loss in yield of over 50 per cent in his vegetable crops over the past fortnight.In Punjab, where 95 per cent of the area is irrigated, agriculturists say that with farmers planting more basmati this season, it can lead to a drop in supplies to various government procurement agencies. Also, farmers and agriculturists are concerned about the winter planting of wheat, mustard and maize."Weak moisture content will definitely put stress on vegetation-crops, agro forestry and horticulture, but we might not see a huge impact in yields. It is only in winter sowing when ground level water is not recharged, that we may see an impact," said Ramesh Chand, director, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi.Deepening wells is the only option for farmers, said PS Rangi, agriculture economist, Punjab's Farmer Commission. "Over 85,000 tubewells will have to be further bored. Also farmers in 7 per cent of the rain-fed area in the submountainous parts of Punjab will have to work on the planting strategy for the winter crop with poor recharge of groundwater," he said.In West Uttar Pradesh, where the seasonal rainfall deficit has been 53 per cent, the impact is visible. "Stress condition due to negligible moisture and rain has led to yellowing of plants. It's totally impossible to get the same yields via tubewell irrigation vis a vis rains," said UP Sahai, professor, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture, Meerut.Given the current scenario, a 10-15 per cent loss in production was likely, Sahai said. Paddy was planted on 57.19 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh, 28 lakh hectares in Punjab and 12 lakh hectares in Haryana.However, even though paddy planting was 3 per cent less than in the previous year, it was to early to quantify production losses, said Uttar Pradesh agriculture director AK Bishnoi. "Ten out of 75 districts have received 40 per cent below-normal rainfall. We have to see the progress of rains before stating anything," he said.

Statistical model predicts performance of hybrid rice (8/19/2014)

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Tags:breeding, crops, disease, food, genes, genetics, grain, maize, research, rice, technology, yield Genomic prediction, a new field of quantitative genetics, is a statistical approach to predicting the value of an economically important trait in a plant, such as yield or disease resistance. The method works if the trait is heritable, as many traits tend to be, and can be performed early in the life cycle of the plant, helping reduce costs. Now a research team led by plant geneticists at the University of California, Riverside and Huazhong Agricultural University, China, has used the method to predict the performance of hybrid rice (for example, the yield, growth-rate and disease resistance). The new technology could potentially revolutionize hybrid breeding in agriculture.The study, published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a pilot research project on rice. The technology can be easily extended, however, to other crops such as maize. "Rice and maize are two main crops that depend on hybrid breeding," said Shizhong Xu, a professor of genetics in the UC Riverside Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, who co-led the research project. "If we can identify many high-performance hybrids in these crops and use these hybrids, we can substantially increase grain production to achieve global food security."Genomic prediction uses genome-wide markers to predict future individuals or species. These markers are genes or DNA sequences with known locations on a chromosome. Genomic prediction differs from traditional predictions in that it skips the marker-detection step. The method simply uses all markers of the entire genome to predict a trait."Classical marker-assisted selection only uses markers that have large effects on the trait," Xu explained. "It ignores all markers with small effects. But many economically important traits are controlled by a large number of genes with small effects. Because the genomic prediction model captures all these small-effect genes, predictability is vastly improved."Without genomic prediction, breeders must grow all possible crosses in the field to select the best cross (hybrid). For example, for 1000 inbred parents, the total number of crosses would be 499500."It is impossible to grow these many crosses in the field," Xu said. "However, with the genomic prediction technology, we can grow only, say, 500 crosses, then predict all the 499500 potential crosses, and select the best crosses based on the predicted values of these hybrids. "Xu noted that genomic prediction is particularly useful for predicting hybrids because hybrid DNA sequences are determined by their inbred parents."More cost-saving can be achieved because we do not need to measure the DNA sequences of the hybrids," he said. "Knowing the genotypes of the parents makes it possible to immediately know the genotype of the hybrid. Indeed, there is no need to measure the genotype of the hybrid. It is fully predicted by the model."When the researchers incorporated "dominance" and "epistasis" into their prediction model, they found that predictability was improved. In genetics, dominance describes the joint action of two different alleles (copies) of a gene. For example, if one copy of a gene has a value of 1 and the other copy has a value of 2, the joint effect of the two alleles may be 4, indicating that the two alleles are not additive. In this case, dominance has occurred. Epistasis refers to any type of gene-gene interaction. "By incorporating dominance and epistasis, we took into account all available information for prediction," Xu said. "It led to a more accurate prediction of a trait value."Genomic prediction can be used to predict heritable

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human diseases. For example, many cancers are heritable and genome prediction can be performed to predict disease risk for a person.Xu was joined in the research by Qifa Zhang and his student Dan Zhu at Huazhong Agricultural University, China.Next the research team, led by Xu and Zhang, will design a field experiment to perform hybrid prediction in rice. Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of California - Riverside

China produces slightly less early rice in 2014 Aug 22,2014

BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- China produced 34.01 million tonnes of early rice in 2014, a decrease of 125,000 tonnes, or 0.4 percent, from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday in a statement.According to the NBS, China's early rice planting area for 2014 stood at 579.5 million hectares, 0.2 percent less than last year, with yield per hectare down 0.2 percent to 5.87 tonne.Huang Jiacai, a senior statistician with the NBS, said it was still a good harvest year for early rice given the unit yield is the second highest in history second only to 2013.The planting area remained stable thanks to favorable policies implemented in central China's provinces of Hunan and Hubei, which led to an increase of planting areas in the two regions, he said. Hunan is China's largest producer of early rice, with an output of 8.5 million tonnes and a planting area of 1.45 million hectares in 2014. Neighboring Jiangxi Province ranked the second with an output of 8.2 million tonnes, according to the NBS.Early rice is mainly planted in eight central and southern provincial-level regions of China, including Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hubei, Anhui, Fujian and Hainan.China's total grain output consists of three parts -- early rice, summer grain and autumn production.In 2013, China's total grain output expanded 2.1 percent year on year to hit 601.94 million tonnes, marking 10 years in a row for increased grain production.Based on the data in 2013, early rice accounted for nearly 6 percent of total grain output.The summer grain crops, mainly wheat and early-season rice, account for about 22 percent of China's total grain output. Autumn grain crops, which include corn and middle- and late-season rice, account for the remaining 72 percent. China's grain self-sufficiency rate stood above 97 percent in 2013 and cereal imports reached 14 million tonnes, accounting for less than 2.6 percent of the country's cereal output, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Fukushima-grown rice to hit S'pore shelves this week Hoe Pei ShanThe Straits TimesFriday, Aug 22, 2014

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SINGAPORE - The first exports of rice grown in Fukushima prefecture since the 2011 nuclear disaster will make their way to Singapore this week, according to Japanese officials.The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh), a major wholesaler of Japanese agricultural products, said it will send 300kg of the grain here, where it has an office.The provenance of the rice will be marked and it will not be mixed with other produce, an AFP report quoted an unnamed official as saying. He added that the rice was grown some 60km to 80km west of the nuclear plant that melted down three years ago, after being hit by a tsunami. Following the disaster, several countries, including Singapore, placed restrictions on food and produce from Japan.In late May this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Singapore will immediately lift its ban on some Fukushima food imports.The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) said then that the food and produce from Fukushima allowed here included fruits, vegetables, milk products and rice. But the first imports of rice are reportedly set to arrive here this week and will go on sale on Friday, some three months after the ban was lifted."Despite our efforts at explaining the safety of Fukushima-made farm products, up until now we have not been able to find retailers who wished to trade rice grown in Fukushima," said Zen-Noh in the AFP report. "From now on, we aim to export more Fukushima rice, including to Singapore."When queried about the food safety of the rice, AVA referred The Straits Times to a July advisory in which it assured the public that food allowed here is safe for consumption. Since January last year, AVA has not detected any radioactive contaminants in food from Japan, read the advisory.The Japanese authorities also have to show that the products are free from radioactive contaminants before exporting them here.Demand for Japanese rice has risen over the years, with about 1,000 tonnes imported last year, up from some 700 tonnes the year before. Import data here is not broken down by Japanese prefecture. This rising demand, said rice importers who spoke to The Straits Times, is partly due to the dipping prices as Japan struggles with international contamination of its agricultural brand.But they noted that consumers here remain wary. Said Mr Sato Yuichi, who runs wholesaler Tawaraya: "I'm sure that as AVA has said it's okay, it's

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very safe to import, but it's very hard to sell and, even with the ban lifted, we are not buying rice from Fukushima." hpeishan@sph.com.sg This article was first published on MONTH DAY, 2014. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Research and Markets: Global Rice Seed Treatment Market Report Growth, Trends And Forecasts 2014-2020 August 21, 2014

DUBLIN â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Research and Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/l765sd/global_rice_seed) has announced the addition of the "Global Rice Seed Treatment Market - Growth, Trends And Forecasts (20142020)"report to their offering.The global market for seed treatment in rice is likely to post a relatively modest CAGR of 6.1% during the 2014-2020 analysis period. While North America is and would remain the largest market for seed treatment in rice, Asia-Pacific's demand is slated to exceed all other regions in terms of recording a CAGR of 8.5% between 2014 and 2020. The market for seed treatment gains in significance due to a number of factors, prominent among which are agronomic trends that comprise development of high quality seeds through the enhanced potential offered by genetically modified organisms (GMOs), changes in climatic conditions, increasing rates of crop rotation, flexibility in sowing approaches and greater pressure from regulatory requirements. Primary requirements of seed treatment include capability of offering good protection during the germination period, supporting early plant development and enhancing stress tolerance at an early stage. These can be achieved by improving the quality of seed treatment products that offer ease of application at low rates. In short, it may be summed up that the foundation for the future lies in the concept of innovation in seed treatment. Key Topics Covered: 1. Global Market Overview 2. Introduction, Application Segment and Crop Type 3. Market Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities

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4. Regional Market Analysis for Rice Seed Treatment 5. Market Share Analysis 6. Company Profiles 7. Regulatory Environment 8. Appendix Companies Mentioned 

Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd  Advanced Biological Marketing Inc  BASF SE  Bayer CropScience AG  BioWorks Inc  BrettYoung Limited  Chemtura AgroSolutions  DuPont  Germains Seed Technology  INCOTEC Group BV  INTX Microbials LLC  Monsanto Company  Novozymes A/S  Nufarm Ltd  Plant Health Care  Precision Laboratories LLC  Syngenta International AG  Valent USA Corporation  Wolf Trax Inc For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/l765sd/global_rice_seed

China produces slightly less early rice in 2014 (Xinhua) 13:39, August 22, 2014

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BEIJING, Aug. 22 -China produced 34.01 million tonnes of early rice in 2014, a decreaseof 125,000 tonnes, or 0.4 percent, from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) said Friday in a statement. According to the NBS, China's early rice planting area for 2014 stood at 579.5 millionhectares, 0.2 percent less than last year, with yield per hectare down 0.2 percent to 5.87tonne.Huang Jiacai, a senior statis tician with the NBS, said it was still a good harvest year forearly rice given the unit yield is the second highest i n history second only to 2013.The planting area remained stable thanks to favorable policies implemented in ce ntralChina's provinces of Hunan and Hubei, which led to an increase of planting areas in the tworegions, he said .Hunan is China's largest producer of early rice, with an output of 8.5 million tonnes and aplanting area of 1.45 million hectares in 2014. Neighboring Jiangxi Province ranked thesecond with an output of 8.2 million tonnes, a ccording to the NBS.Early rice is mainly planted in eight central and southern provinciallevel regions of China,including Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hubei, Anhui, Fujian and Hainan. China's total grain output consists of three parts -early rice, summer grain and autumnproduction.In 2013, China's total grain output expanded 2.1 percent year o n year to hit 601.94 milliontonnes, marking 10 years in a row for increased grain production.Based on the data i n 2013, early rice accounted for nearly 6 percent of total grain output.The summer grain crops, mainly wheat an d earlyeason rice, account for about 22 percentof China's total grain output. Autumn grain crops, which include corn an d middle- and late-season rice, account for the remaining 72 percent. China's grain selfsufficiency rate stood above 97 percent in 2013 and cereal importsreached 14 million tonnes, accounting for les s than 2.6 percent of the country's cerealoutput, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. (Editor:Kong Defang縲？uang Jin)

NFA receives Vietnam rice Friday, August 22, 2014

A TOP official of the National Food Authority (NFA) announced the arrival of 156,000 bags of 50 kilos each of imported rice from Vietnam.NFA Provincial Manager Gaudencio Nuega said the shipment of rice arrived Tuesday at the local port aboard M/V Bimaru Pearl, a Vietnamese cargo vessel.He said the imported rice will be sold at P32 per kilo, citing it is of good quality although it is 15 percent broken. He said the rice that arrived Tuesday is the second to the last shipment of rice for his office for this year.Nuega said the last batch of rice shipment consisting of 54,000 sacks is scheduled to arrive next month.At least 30,000 of the 156,000 sacks of rice will be shipped to the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa) while the remaining 126,000 will be for Zamboanga City, according to Nuega.He said rice allocation for BaSulTa this

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year is 90,000 sacks.â&#x20AC;&#x153;We already distributed 60,000 sacks of rice (to BaSulTa),â&#x20AC;? he added.Meanwhile, Nuega said they will flood the market with NFA rice to cushion the effect of the continued increase in the prices of rice of commercial varieties.Nuega also warned unscrupulous rice merchants to refrain from selling NFA rice as commercial rice by mixing it with another variety. (Bong Garcia)

Relief to cane, rice growers: IMD expects less rain in flood-hit areas of the North next week India's monsoon rains will be weak next week, weather officials said on Thursday, giving relief to cane- and rice-growing areas of northern and eastern regions that were recently hit by floods.The annual rains are vital, because over half of India's farmlands lack irrigation, and the farm sector accounts for 14 percent of the national economy.The monsoon is the leading determinant of rural spending on consumer goods ranging from lipstick to cars as two-thirds of its 1.2 billion people live in villages.In India, the monsoon has been weak for the past two weeks, but that is unlikely to cut output prospects for summer crops such as rice, corn, soybean, cane and cotton, because these crops have entered the germination stage, when less rain is required. "Soybean has entered the initial growth stage when it does not need heavy rains, but requires intermittent rains for a healthy growth," S.K. Srivastava, head of the state-run Directorate of Soybean Research, told Reuters over the phone from Indore.Soybean-growing areas of central India now need rain at intervals."A prolonged dry spell until next week would be harmful for the planted soybean crop," Srivastava said.Most of the summer crops, except late-sown rice varieties in some parts of the northwest region, have entered the growing stage and need moderate rain to ensure good yields."Cane is still in good condition in Maharashtra despite the weak monsoon, except Marathwada belt where the crop has been hit by drought," said Raju Shetti, head of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, a farmers' lobby group from Maharashtra, the leading sugar producing state of India.

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WEAK PHASE Weather officials forecast less rain in flood-hit areas of North India next week, while the monsoon is expected to be poor over the cotton and oilseed belts of western region."The weak phase is expected to spill over to the next week," said D.S. Pai, the lead forecaster of the India Meteorological Department (IMD)."We expect a wet run from late August to early September," Pai said from Pune. FLOODS EASE Floods are expected to ease as the weather office forecast poor rain over the northern region until the middle of next week.Last week's heavy showers in the Himalayas inundated nearly 1,500 villages in northern India, killing 80 people and leaving thousands homeless, according to the latest official updates.An official at the National Disaster Management Authority said there had been 10 deaths in Bihar due to floods, caused by overflowing rivers in Nepal. On Friday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will make an aerial review of the flood situation in the worst affected areas of Uttar Pradesh, the top producer of cane in India, the world's second-biggest producer after Brazil.Experts said last week's flash floods over northern Uttar Pradesh state could affect growth of rice and cane crops in the Himalayan foothills.But sugar output is unlikely to decline drastically despite floods in the north and drought in western regions as production is expected to improve in South India. Reuters

Indian monsoon to display lull as floods ease BY RATNAJYOTI DUTTA NEW DELHI Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:29am IST

(Reuters) - India's monsoon rains will be weak next week, weather officials said on Thursday, giving relief to cane- and rice-growing areas of northern and eastern regions that were recently hit by floods.The annual rains are vital, because over half of India's farmlands lack irrigation, and the farm sector accounts for 14 percent of the national economy.The monsoon is the leading determinant of rural spending on consumer

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goods ranging from lipstick to cars as two-thirds of its 1.2 billion people live in villages. In India, the monsoon has been weak for the past two weeks, but that is unlikely to cut output prospects for summer crops such as rice, corn, soybean, cane and cotton, because these crops have entered the germination stage, when less rain is required."Soybean has entered the initial growth stage when it does not need heavy rains, but requires intermittent rains for a healthy growth," S.K. Srivastava, head of the state-run Directorate of Soybean Research, told Reuters over the phone from Indore in central India.Soybean-growing areas of central India now need rain at intervals. "A prolonged dry spell until next week would be harmful for the planted soybean crop," Srivastava said.Most of the summer crops, except late-sown rice varieties in some parts of the northwest region, have entered the growing stage and need moderate rain to ensure good yields."Cane is still in good condition in Maharashtra despite the weak monsoon, except Marathwada belt where the crop has been hit by drought," said Raju Shetti, head of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, a farmers' lobby group from Maharashtra, the leading sugar producing state of India. WEAK PHASE Weather officials forecast less rain in flood-hit areas of North India next week, while the monsoon is expected to be poor over the cotton and oilseed belts of western region."The weak phase is expected to spill over to the next week," said D.S. Pai, the lead forecaster of the India Meteorological Department (IMD)."We expect a wet run from late August to early September," Pai said from the western city of Pune. FLOODS EASE Floods are expected to ease as the weather office forecast poor rain over the northern region until the middle of next week.Last week's heavy showers in the Himalayas inundated nearly 1,500 villages in northern India, killing 80 people and leaving thousands homeless, according to the latest official updates.An official at the National Disaster Management Authority said there had been 10 deaths in the eastern state of Bihar due to floods, caused by overflowing rivers in Nepal.On Friday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will make an aerial review of the flood situation in the worst affected areas of Uttar Pradesh, the top producer of cane in India, the world's second-biggest producer after Brazil.Experts said last week's flash floods over northern Uttar Pradesh state could affect growth of rice and cane crops in the Himalayan foothills.But sugar output is unlikely to decline drastically despite floods in the north and drought in western regions as production is expected to improve in South India.

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(Additional reporting by Sharat Pradhan in LUCKNOW; editing by Jane Baird) Image: A man pulls a cycle rickshaw through a flooded street during a heavy monsoon rain shower in Agartala, capital of Tripura August 14, 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/JAYANTA DEY

TABLE-Weekly update on India's summer crop planting Fri Jun 27, 2014 6:51pm IST June 27 (Reuters) - Plantings of India's major summer crops such as rice, corn, soybean, cane and cotton were lower from a year earlier as well as from normal levels, government data showed on Friday. A poor start to this year's monsoon season, a week to 10 days behind scheduled progress towards mainland India, slowed the overall pace of plantings. Farm officials expect summer sowing to speed up after the first week of July with a revival of the monsoon. The gap in monsoon rains shrank in the third week of the June-September season, although the monsoon continued to display weakness. Monsoon rains are expected to gain momentum early next month over rice growing areas of east and north India, said J.S.Sandhu, the country's farm commissioner. He also said soybean growing areas of central India would receive heavy showers after July 6. The Indian weather office forecast a normal rainfall spread early next month over cotton areas on the west coast. The table below gives the area under sowing for major crops for the week ended June 26 against the year-ago period, in million hectares. It also contains normal areas for the week. All figures are provisional and are subject to revision as updates arrive with the progress of the monsoon rains. --------------------------------------CROP 2014 Normal 2013 Area --------------------------------------Rice 2.191 3.544 3.577 Corn 1.075 0.847 2.184 Oilseeds 0.479 0.704 0.901 -Soybean 0.101 0.106 0.177 -Groundnut 0.258 0.426 0.587 Cane 4.392 4.452 4.520 Cotton 2.907 3.586 5.577 --------------------------------------Source: Farm Ministry (Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta in New Delhi; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)

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Reap accuses government of neglecting R&D sector August 22, 2014 RECORDER REPORT Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) on Thursday said that the production and exports of rice decreased significantly in the last two years due to the government's act of neglecting research and development (R&D) sector. Speaking at a luncheon ceremony hosted in honour of Citizens-Police Liaison Committee's chief Ahmed Chinoy, the Reap's former chairman Abdurl Raheem Jano, said that the Reap was the second largest association after All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and the rice industry had been playing a vital role in strengthening country's economy. Elaborating, he said that though the present volume of rice exports was Rs 2.28 billion, it could be increased by Rs 4billion within a couple of years provided government took serious measures in value addition and introduced new varieties of seeds through advanced scientific research. "The government has neglected the R&D sector in the last two years, causing a significant decrease in production of rice and its exports," he added. In his welcome address, the Reap's Senior Vice Chairman, Chella Ram, voiced serious concerns over the prevailing law and order situation, saying that the rice traders in Karachi were being threatened by different groups. He said that though "some containers of rice go missing while going to and from godowns and ports, we don't know who are behind this crime as we are unable to trace those elements," he added. He also complained that many traders have recently been deprived of cash, mobiles and other valuables on their way to Port Qasim and Gadap area. He, however, appreciated the efforts of CPLC in tracing the missing valuables of traders. CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy on this occasion claimed that the crime rate in Karachi, this year, has been reduced by 50 per cent as compared to last year. He said that the law-enforcement agencies, including police and rangers, are working diligently to curb crime. He said that some 200 officials of LEAs have sacrificed their lives while protecting the lives and properties of the citizens last year, while some 150 officials have, so far, been killed by criminals, this year. He said that the CPLC would open its offices in 29 districts of Sindh in the next two years and hopped that these offices would help in bringing an end to the menace of crime from the country. Copyright Business Recorder, 2014

Mauritius tenders to buy 6,000 tonnes white rice -trade Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:19am GMT

HAMBURG (Reuters) - Mauritius' state purchasing agency has issued an international tender to buy up to 6,000 tonnes of long grain white rice from optional origins, European traders said on Friday.Long grain white rice was sought for delivery in containers

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between Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. Tender deadline is Sept. 1, traders said. Mauritius previously tendered for 6,000 tonnes of rice on May 26.

Impact of lower rice production S. A. Sabur The USDA (US Department of Agriculture) has forecast global rice production for August, 2014 at 477 million MT, down by 2.1 million MT from the last month's forecast, but still 1.5 million MT up from a year earlier. India accounts for almost half of this month's downward revision in global rice production. Its rice production forecast was lowered by 1 million MT to 103 million MT based on a delayed and weaker-than-normal monsoon that has reduced expected plantings, especially in Pascimbango and Bihar.In 2014-15 India's rice production is projected to be 3 per cent below the previous year's, a result of lower yield and smaller crop area. In Bangladesh, the 2014-15 production forecast in August was lowered by 0.2 million MT to 34.6 million MT based on recommendations from the US Agricultural Office in Dhaka indicating smaller Boro crop area because of high irrigation costs, which is expected to encourage farmers to switch over to more profitable crops such as maize, wheat, potatoes, pulses, and oilseeds. Despite this month's downward revision, Bangladesh's 2014-15 total rice production is still projected to be the highest on record, as a result of both record plantings and higher yield.For the whole calendar year 2015, global rice trade is forecast at a record 41.2 million MT, down by 0.4 million MT from the previous forecast, but 1 per cent higher than in 2014. India's 2015 export forecast was lowered 0.3 million MT to 8.7 million MT, 13 per cent down from a year earlier and the smallest in volume since 2011, which came as a result of a smaller crop and higher domestic use. Thailand is projected to replace India as the largest rice exporter with10 million MT export, an increase of 11 per cent from 2014. The projected increase in 2015 is based on more competitive prices and abundant supplies. Vietnam is projected to ship 6.7 million MT of rice in 2015, a 3 per cent increase from a year earlier.Bangladesh's 2015 import forecast was raised by 0.3 million MT to 0.5 million MT based on recommendations coming from the US Agricultural Office in Dhaka. The conclusion is that crop diversification is accelerating in Bangladesh, which is a good sign. However, the gloomy picture is that the possibility of importing rice from India is decreasing because of its lower rice production.

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