22nd November , 2013
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NUTRITION AWARENESS WALK Tomorrow, November 24, 11:00 AM
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Lahore, Liberty Roundabout, Main Boulevard Gulberg to Auriga Centre, Main Market Gulberg
Nutrition Security is now being given the same importance as Food Security, particularly in the developing countries. Severity of the nutrition deficiency in Pakistan can be gauged from the fact that more than 40% of children less than 5 years of age in the country are underweight due to malnutrition. Deficiencies in nutrition inflict long-term damage to both individuals and society. Nutrition-deficient individuals are more likely to catch infectious diseases in addition to being less productive at work. Although poverty and gender inequality are considered to be vital factors breeding malnutrition, however lack of awareness among masses is a major concern.
Instant rice meals find eager buyers VietNamNet Bridge – A Vietnamese-style fast food industry could develop rapidly in the coming years as instant rice products increase their presence at different kinds of outlets in the country.
And it is not just modern enterprises like VietMac that are involved in selling rice burgers, entire localities are getting in on the act, recognising market demand and potential.— File Photo According to a Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon (Saigon Economic Times) report, it is now easy for consumers to buy instant products made with rice patties including com nam (rice ball), com kep (rice burger) and com cuon (roll rice) at supermarkets, convenience stores and even cafes.The Vietnamese-style rice burgers are much favoured by many locals, particularly students and office goers. Those who have lunch at work are fed with expensive lunch sets, cold food brought from home and fattening fast food.Not wanting to miss the opportunity to exploit this growth potential, many businesses have invested and developed a totally different fast food item – the rice burger.It not only gives workers another choice for their midday meal but also creates an entirely Vietnamese fast food.The enterprises are reporting encouraging initial results.The VietMac Joint Stock Company, which began operations in July 2012, is one of the first businesses to enter this market segment on a large scale.
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Instant rice products can also found at convenience store chains including B'smart and Family Mart. However, these establishments also sell Japanese rice products like sushi in addition to local ones like com nam and com kep.And it is not just modern enterprises like VietMac that are involved in selling rice burgers, entire localities are getting in on the act, recognising market demand and potential.Lac Van Commune in northern Hung Yen Province's Van Lam District is among them. Almost all the families here are engaged in making com nam with the traditional method and selling them in Ha Noi, where the dish has gained in popularity.Some years ago, acknowledging that many people want to use gao luc (brown rice) for treating some diseases, some companies opened shops to sell rice balls made of the brown rice. Taking notice According to general director Ngo Trong Thanh, VietMac was able to achieve a turnover of about VND150 million (US$7,143) in the first few months of operation, and to date, this has risen to VND1 billion ($47,620) per month.In HCM City alone, the company sells nearly 5,000 sets of rice burgers for between VND17,000 and 23,000 each.Meanwhile, each B'smart outlet sells over 1,000 sets of rice burger a day.Thanh said there are signs of increasing competition in the market for Vietnamese fast food and many changes are likely in the coming months and years.He noted that some foreign fast-food companies in Viet Nam have begun paying attention to the Vietnamese products.At Lotteria's stores as well as restaurants and cafes, Vietnamese rice burgers are selling well. Thanh expressed confidence about his company's prospects, saying, "The decisive factor for success in this market is product quality."According to EuroMonitor International, Viet Nam's fast food market recorded around 19.7 million transactions at outlets with better-known brand names, that posted revenues of VND869 billion ($41.38 million).The industry has been growing at 26 per cent per year, it estimated.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade says that the fast food industry's total turnover was VND870 billion ($41.23 million) in 2011, up 30 per cent over 2010.Experts say the fast food market in the country still carries growth potential if investors focus on Vietnamese-specific tastes. Source: VNS 
Tags:Instant rice,fast food industry,VietMac,
Commerce Min to quickly sell more of pledged rice via Agricultural Futures Exchange and G2G deals Date : 22
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BANGKOK, 22 Nov 2013 (NNT) – The Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) has revealed that the Government will quickly sell more pledged rice via the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (AFET), government-togovernment deals and a business matching approach between rice mills and exporters. DFT Director-General Surasak Riengkrue also said a rice auction was conducted on Monday with a view to selling 452,000 tons of stockpiled rice bought during 2011/2012 to 2012/2013 harvesting seasons.
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Mr. Surasak said that the subcommittee on pledged rice clearance chaired by himself, would soon ask Minister of Commerce Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan to sell 200,000 tons of the aforementioned batch of rice to the four bidders. The companies are Royal Richie Rice, Asia Golden Rice, Capital Cereals, and CP Rice. The DFT will also ask the Commerce Ministry to sell 3 to 400,000 tons of Jasmine rice to be harvested from the 2013/2014 season to exporters who join the rice mill - exporters matching program. The sale is expected to bring in approximately 8 billion baht.
Agri Dept. says 'Don't Panic' as Yolanda damaged only 2% of rice lands By DANESSA O. RIVERA, GMA NewsNovember 22, 2013 6:42pm
While Central Philippines produces up to a third of total rice output, the Department of Agriculture on Friday said there's no basis for the populace to panic as only a a fraction of rice lands were damaged by killer typhoon Yolanda which raked through the country on Nov. 8.According to the department, 77,476 hectares of rice land were affected by Yolanda, of which 54 percent or 41,438 hectares have no chance of recovery while 46 percent or 36,038 hectares could still be revived.Those 77,476 hectares account for only 2 percent of the 3 million hectares of rice lands in the country."There is no cause for panic... Hindi aabot ng one-third ang nasira," Agriculture Undersecretary Dante Delima told GMA News Online on Friday.On Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) called for urgent assistance to farmers who need to sow new seeds by the December planting season as the areas worst hit by typhoon Yolanda grow a third of Philippine rice.FAO plans to supply rice and corn seeds as well as tools, fertilizer and irrigation equipment, citing that Yolanda struck at the start of the main planting season.The strongest to make landfall on record, Yolanda was packing sustained winds of 315 kilometers per hour and up to 378 kph gusts that induced up to 5-meter storm surges when it raked through the Visayas, data from weather bureau PAGASA showed.
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In a separate statement Thursday, international agency Oxfam warned that millions of Filipinos are at risk of severe hunger if rice farmers in Central Philippines do not receive seeds in time for the next planting season in December."Time is fast running out to get the assistance to poor farmers they so urgently need," Oxfam country director Justin Morgan said in a statement.The anti-poverty group said it also supporting farmers in Samar and Leyte by clearing debris from rice paddies. Delima, who is also the National Rice Program Coordinator, said the department already talked to the UN FAO on seed distribution to farmers with Oxfam helping to meet the specific needs of Yolanda-hit Regions 6, 7 and 8. Clearing farm lands The department earlier said it will be distributing rice, corn an vegetable seeds under the government's Early Recovery Program.Delima, however, noted they only have enough seeds for distribution to farmers whose crops can no longer be revived."Ang DA, may seeds pero may kakulangan. We have enough seeds for those lands without a chance of recovery, pero kailangan ng seeds para dun sa may chance of recovery," he said.Before farmers can start planting next month, clearing heavily-damaged rice lands to must first be cleared, the sooner the better. "Ang kelangan natin agapan ay ang clearing ng farm lands. Makakaabot ang farmers sa December planting season pero hindi lahat," said Delima.The department is working on a plan to provide farm tools and put in place a fuel subsidy and a cash-for-work program, and tractors to hasten the clearing operations and allow farmers to plant when the season starts."Sa cash-for-work program, kasama dito ang pagggawa ng dikes, canals. We are also working on fuel subsidy para sa ipinadala ng DA na 4-by-4 tractors, kaso apat lang ang kaya namin kada rehiyon, kulang iyon," the Agriculture official noted. Rice self-sufficiency stopped As killer typhoon Yolanda stopped the Philippines from achieving rice self-sufficiency, Delima said they will review the cropping pattern of farmers for resiliency and to avoid huge amount of losses in terms of value and volume due to storms.“We are re-strategizing dahil sa climate change... dahil 'di namin na-anticipate ang effect ni Yolanda... Dalawang taon na tayong tinatamaan ng malakas na bagyo,� he said.On Thursday, the department said total rice production is expected to reach only 18.03 million metric tons this year after the rice subsector
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incurred P2.33 billion worth of damage from Yolanda, which destroyed rice lands in Regions 6, 7 and 8.“Naabot na natin ang yearly consumption level pero di lang aabot sa 90 days ang buffer, around 60 to 70 days lang,” Delima said.“Sa ngayon, 97 percent na tayo sa self-sufficiency... malaking improvement sa 82 percent noong 2010. Sa importation, nag-improve tayo from 2.4 million MT to 800,000 MT dahil malaki ang inangat ng production,” he added.The Agriculture official also said the department will push farmers to buy insurance for their crops.“Kelangan din mas paigtingin ang pagpapatupad ng crop insurance. May crop insurance tayo, pero 'di aabot sa 10 percent sa mga na-apektuhan ni Yolanda ang may insurance dahil hindi popular o practice ng mga magsasaka,” Delima said. Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., a government owned and controlled corporation, offers rice crop insurance to farmers to protect against losses in times of natural calamities as well as plant pests and diseases. VS, GMA News
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- Nov 22 Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:23pm IST Nagpur, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Gram prices in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) reported higher on good buying support from local millers amid weak supply from producing belts. Fresh rise on NCDEX, upward trend in Madhya Pradesh gram prices and reported demand from South-based millers also boosted prices, according to sources. *
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FOODGRAINS & PULSES GRAM * Gram super best bold and medium best recovered in open market on renewed demand from local traders amid weak supply from local crushing plants. TUAR * Tuar varieties ruled steady in open market in absence of buyers amid availability of ample stock in ready position. * Batri dal quoted strong in open market on good demand from local traders amid tight supply from producing belts.
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* In Akola, Tuar - 4,300-4,450, Tuar dal - 6,500-6,700, Udid at 4,800-5,100, Udid Mogar (clean) - 5,700-6,000, Moong - 6,200-6,600, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,400-7,600, Gram - 3,300-3,500, Gram Super best bold - 4,400-4,600 for 100 kg. * Wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market in thin trading activity, according to sources. Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close Gram Auction 2,540-2,660 2,500-2,600 Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600 Tuar Auction n.a. 3,950-4,050 Moong Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500 Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500 Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800 Gram Super Best Bold 4,500-4,800 4,400-4,800 Gram Super Best n.a. Gram Medium Best 4,100-4,300 4,000-4,300 Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a. Gram Mill Quality 3,700-3,750 3,700-3,750 Desi gram Raw 3,450-3,500 3,450-3,500 Gram Filter Yellow n.a. n.a. Gram Kabuli 7,700-9,900 7,700-9,900 Gram Pink 7,700-8,100 7,700-8,100 Tuar Fataka Best 6,900-7,100 6,900-7,100 Tuar Fataka Medium 6,600-6,700 6,600-6,700 Tuar Dal Best Phod 6,300-6,400 6,200-6,300 Tuar Dal Medium phod 6,100-6,200 6,100-6,200 Tuar Gavarani 4,400-4,500 4,400-4,500 Tuar Karnataka 4,650-4,750 4,650-4,750 Tuar Black 7,000-7,100 7,000-7,100 Masoor dal best 5,200-5,300 5,200-5,300 Masoor dal medium 4,800-4,900 4,800-4,900 Masoor n.a. n.a.
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Moong Mogar bold 8,100-8,500 8,100-8,500 Moong Mogar Medium best 7,800-8,000 7,800-8,000 Moong dal super best 7,000-7,200 7,000-7,200 Moong dal Chilka 6,400-6,750 6,400-6,750 Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a. Moong Chamki best 7,200-7,400 7,200-7,400 Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 6,500-6,800 6,500-6,800 Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,900-6,300 5,900-6,300 Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,700 5,400-5,700 Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 3,900-4,100 3,800-4,000 Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000 Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,250-3,350 3,250-3,300 Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,200 3,100-3,200 Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,000 5,500-6,000 Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,700 1,600-1,700 Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,750-1,800 1,750-1,800 Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,900 1,600-1,800 Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 1,850-2,300 1,850-2,300 Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,900 1,700-1,900 Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a. MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,600 3,100-3,600 MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,900 2,600-2,900 Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,500 1,400-1,500 Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,600 1,500-1,600 Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,300 3,000-3,2300 Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,500 2,200-2,500 Rice Swarna Best (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,500 2,300-2,500 Rice Swarna Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,200 2,000-2,200 Rice HMT (100 INR/KG) 4,100-4,400 4,100-4,400 Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000 4,700-5,000 Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 9,000-13,500 9,000-13,500 Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 6,100-7,600 6,100-7,600 Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,000-5,400 5,000-5,400 Rice Chinnor Medium (100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000 Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,650 1,500-1,650 Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,800-1,900 1,800-1,900
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WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 29.8 degree Celsius (85.6 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp. 12.8 degree Celsius (55.0 degree Fahrenheit) Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a. Rainfall : nil FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum temperature likely to be around 30 and 12 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
TABLE-India Grain Prices-Delhi- Nov 22 Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:23pm IST 0 COMMENTS Rates by Asian News International, New Delhi Tel: 011 2619 1464 Indicative Previous Grains opening close (in rupees per 100 kg unless stated) ---------------------------------------------------------Wheat Desi 2,400-2,700 2,400-2,700. Wheat Dara 1,850-1,950 1,800-1,900. Atta Chakki (per 10 Kg) 215-240 215-240. Roller Mill (per bag) 1,800-1,900 1,800-1,900. Maida (per bag) 1,950-2,000 1,900-1,950. Sooji (per bag) 1,800-1,900 1,800-1,900. Rice Basmati(Sri Lal Mahal) 12,000 12,000. Rice Basmati(Lal Quila) 11,500 11,500. Rice Basmati(Common) 7,350-7,850 7,350-7,850. Rice Permal 2,400-2,550 2,450-2,600. Rice Sela 3,200-3,300 3,200-3,300. I.R.-8 2,350-2,450 2,350-2,450. Gram 3,500-4,000 3,500-4,000.
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Peas Green Peas White Bajra Jowar white Maize Barley Guwar
3,450-3,600 2,600-2,700 3,100-3,300 2,475-2,675 1,600-1,650 1,325-1,455 3,325-3,900
3,400-3,550. 2,600-2,700. 3,150-3,350. 2,475-2,675. 1,600-1,650. 1,325-1,455. 3,325-3,900.
Source: Delhi grain market traders.
Ghanaian rice growers cultivate a food security solution: case studies Four insights into agriculture in GhanaJames Wan theguardian.com, Friday 22 November 2013 10.07 GMT
Kwesi Korboe is a director for NGO ACDI/VOCA
Rising demand: how rice became a staple food From roadside food vendors to local restaurants to international fast-food outlets, the offer of rice – often with fried chicken – is never far away in Ghana's towns and cities. Indeed, chicken and rice seems to be fast becoming Ghana's national dish, though rice hasn't always been top of the menu."When I was growing up, we only ate rice once a week", says Kwesi Korboe, country director for Ghana at the agriculture-focused NGO ACDI/VOCA, "but not because we couldn't afford it. Those days, we could only get local rice which had stones in it because it was dried on the streets. Every Sunday, the family would all sit and pick out the stones."Korboe admits that today he's not much of a fan of rice.
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Within Ghana, this makes him a bit of an exception. Rice consumption is booming. In 2005, per capita consumption is estimated to have been just over 22 kg; just ten years later, in 2015, it is expected to exceed 60 kg. This dramatic shift has so far been made possible by high and rising quantities of high-quality imports from Asia, and fuelled by Ghana's rising incomes and changing ways of life. Rice is not only associated with more urban and modern lifestyles, but is quick and easy to prepare."My children say they don't like all the things I used to eat like yams, kenkey [boiled maize dough] and plantains, so they eat rice every day", says Korboe. "But this isn't a problem like in my day with all the stones. Cooking rice is so fast and simple. If you want, you can even get rice cookers to do it for you." Community partnerships: the scientist who gained a farmer's friendship
Vishnuvardhan Banda, left, monitors a paddy field with the help of farmer Eric Glate. Photograph: George Osodi small rice Banda, colleagues as down the paddy. Eric farmer, is an came to years ago to Copa study, he was officer and farmer."I met through the Vish. "He so I told him to get his land ready, and that I'd be back on Thursday.
In the shadow of a mill, Vishnuvardhan known by his Dr Vish, is jotting weights of bags of Glate, a local rice helping him.Dr Vish, agricultural scientist, Ghana from India two conduct the very first Connect trial. In that the only extension Glate the only Eric and talked him programme", says Dr said he was interested
But when I returned, he was nowhere. So many people had come and talked to him before but then never come back."In the course of the season, however, Dr Vish – whose own father was a small-scale rice farmer – managed to gain the trust of Glate, then his respect, and then his friendship. "At first, I think he thought 'who is this young guy telling me what to do?' But after a while, he realised his crop was doing well and started showing it off to other farmers. And now, whenever I'm doing studies, he'll come and see what he can do to help me."Dr Vish thinks scaling up Copa Connect will lead to some teething problems, but believes these can be sorted out so long as the kind of relationship he established with Glate can be emulated. "Everything rests on trust", he says. "If you can maintain that, I believe it will work."
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Popular choices: the farmer who led the way
Farmer have nearly doubled since he joined Copa Connect. Photograph: George Osodi
Eric Glate's rice yields
Eric Glate's phone keeps interrupting him as he tries to explain how his rice yields have nearly doubled since he joined Copa Connect. "It's other farmers who want to be part of the programme calling me, you know," he says with a chuckle.Glate was the first farmer to trial the Copa Connect programme and is delighted his crop has impressed other farmers in region. But when it comes to catching people's eyes, he is quietly hopeful his recent success has also made an impression back home. Glate was the only one of his siblings to follow in his father's footsteps and go into farming, and he admits there is a good chance none of his own three young children will follow in his.
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"Farming is a very good occupation for someone to take control of their future", he says. "But at the moment, all the youth want whitecollar jobs. None of them are prepared to come to the field because they think farming is tedious and difficult."Glate partly blames the government for not doing more to support agriculture and believes that if the current trend away from farming continues, the country will suffer. "Ghana needs farmers," he says. "Without farmers, the economy cannot grow and the people cannot eat."However, when it comes to his own children, Glate is also aware that his power as a father only goes so far. "You can't change a child's destiny and I'm not going to tell them what to do", he says, before adding, with a glint in his eye, "but if one of them chose farming as their future career, I would be very happy."Past problems: the projects that have ground to a halt Farm machinery lies idle in Ghana as a result of failed rice crops. Photograph: George Osodi In Aveyime, just a few hundred yards down the road from lush paddy fields being tended by small-scale farmers, an enormous rice mill – along with the array of vehicles, machinery and giant silos around it – sits idle behind a padlocked metal gate. Beyond it stretches hundreds of hectares of land, much of it neglected and covered in weeds.West Africa has been host to a multitude of failed rice projects, and Aveyime has the dubious honour of being able to boast more than one high-profile disappointment on the same spot.The first attempt to establish a flagship large-scale rice farm collapsed in 2003 in a scandal that saw its owner as well as Ghana's former finance and agriculture ministers go to jail for fraud and money laundering.The second began in 2008, when the company Prairie Volta Limited, led by Texan rice farmer Everett Anderson, acquired the farm. Backed by the Ghanaian government and Ghana Commercial Bank, each of which owns a 30% stake in the company, Anderson vowed that this time the farm would thrive and remarked that "nothing could go wrong".Yet five years down the line, only a small fraction of the several thousand hectares planned for use have been cultivated, expensive machinery lies around surplus to requirements, disputes over land have flared up and the project has virtually come to a standstill following a drying up of funds."We are in the situation we are now with rice because previous projects, many with impressive foreign backing and big government funding, have not been successful," says John Manful from AfricaRice. "And there have been a lot of them."
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Thai govt sells 300,000 tonnes rice stocks through tender NOVEMBER 22, 2013 The Thai government sold 300,000 tonnes of rice this week, a senior official said, two thirds of the amount tendered from stocks and the latest disappointing result as it seeks to raise funds to support a rice subsidy scheme.The government is scrambling to find money for the scheme that has not paid out to farmers since Oct 1, a delay that risks alienating key supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The sale price to four companies was not disclosed but traders said the rice was likely to have been sold below market rates as it has been held in storage, where its condition would have deteriorated."No one would have offered to buy rice that's been kept in stocks for two years at market prices," said a Bangkok-based trader.The rice was likely sold at around 2,000-3,000 baht below market price, with common grade 5% broken white rice currently being offered in the domestic market at 13,000 baht (RM1,314.46) per tonne, traders said.The Thai government had offered 450,000 tonnes for sale at a tender held on Nov 19."The committee agreed to sell 300,000 tonnes and the Commerce Minister will sign an order to sell officially next week," Surasak Riangkrul, head of the Commerce Ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, told Reuters.The result was in line with earlier tenders. The Thai government sold just 240,000 tonnes of rice in three tenders in July and August out of the 660,000 tonnes offered and another 53,000 tonnes out of the 300,339 tonnes offered in October.Surasek declined to detail the sale prices in the latest tender.The exact size of the Thai government's stocks is unclear.The Commerce Ministry has put the stockpile at 7 million tonnes, but industry officials have estimated the stocks at 13-15 million tonnes.The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said reserves could total 15.5 million tonnes next year.The stockpile is more than Thailand's total rice exports in 2012 of 6.9 million tonnes and has been blamed for putting downward pressure on prices, along with rising supplies from major rice growing countries. - Reuters, November 22, 2013.
RGA - Ricegrowers Association of Australia : Single desk delivers for Riverina rice growers 11/22/2013 | 06:57am US/Eastern
22 Nov 2013 4:52 PM -
The Ricegrowers' Association of Australia (RGA) has welcomed new evidence from the Rice Marketing Board (RMB) of NSW confirming the $80 million benefit of single desk rice marketing arrangements to the state's rice growers.RGA President, Les Gordon, said that the recently released RMB annual report to NSW rice growers demonstrates the positive difference the current system makes to grower returns."This report from the RMB, independently audited by Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, makes a crystal clear statement. The best possible return for exporting Australian rice comes from the RMB being able to vest the sole and exclusive licence to export rice from NSW in SunRice," said Mr Gordon.
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"The RMB found this arrangement brought growers a $65.9m export price premium for the 2012-13 crop year. On top of this, growers also saved $13.5m in freight costs due to the freight scale advantage single desk marketing brings. "This means higher prices to growers than would be the case if the single desk for rice were dismantled. It also means an additional $80 million stays within the Riverina's rice growing communities."Mr Gordon again expressed his thanks to the NSW Government for the decision to maintain the single desk."At the time of the NSW Government's decision to continue vesting, I said it was a decision made in the best interests of growers and our communities. This report confirms that fact, and I thank the government for its continued support of these arrangements.
Cambodian Jasmine rice wins world's best The Cambodia Herald:Asia News Network November 22, 2013 11:09 am. Cambodian Jasmine rice wins the award for world's best rice at the 2013 Rice Traders World Rice Conference held in Hong Kong.Heang Kimsour, Managing Director of Eang Heang Import Export Co. Ltd, said that the competition,which ended Thursday, awarded Cambodian jasmine rice as best in the world.The Cambodian delegation that attended the conference, brought more than six different kinds of rice along to be judged.This is the second time that Cambodian rice had been awarded world's best rice, the first award came last year in Bali, Indonesia.
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