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23rd May, 2014

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IRRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia Climate change producing less-nutritious food, report says Central senior earns internship in China Why rice-eaters are from Venus and others from Mars China Exclusive: China's hybrid rice set for world record yield How Government Policy On Rice Importation Spurred Smuggling, Price Hike Commerce Ministry announces plan for provincial rice trading centres MSU scientists change rice stink bug advice Rice crops replace cattle as Northern Territory pastoralist diversifies Jasmine rice a good rotational crop: expert Top End rice crop returns Rice Water Weevil Management Commerce Ministry announces plan for provincial rice trading centres 'Payment to rice farmers, restoring investor confidence top priorities' California drought will hit cost of rice hardest NFA assures ample rice supply in SurSur Future of Vietnam’s rice production threatened by climate change Wheat declines on increased supply; rice basmati up Rice prices go up News From CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures

New Detail… IRRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2014 10:56pm IRRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia MANILA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on Thursday renewed its call for the establishment of a rice index and commodities exchange in Asia.IRRI Director-General

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Robert Zeigler said a rice futures market will help stabilize rice trade in the region."A well-regulated rice futures market will benefit society and give farmers an opportunity to increase their incomes," said Zeigler on the sidelines of a public session on sustainable agriculture production during the 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia. A well-designed futures market, he said, will allow farmers to sell their produce when prices are favorable. To do this, countries would need to put up enough storage and port facilities to handle large volumes of grain.Socieconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the Philippines welcomes the idea of having a rice futures market in the region."The presence of a futures market, at least for rice, should be beneficial (for the Philippines) and for the world because it would stabilize (prices)," said Balisacan. IRRI initially pitched the idea of a regional rice futures market in 2010, but Zeigler said Asian countries were lukewarm to the idea. Singapore was urged to host a rice futures and a spot exchange, which includes the actual and selling of rice for immediate delivery."My sense is that people fear futures market because they equate it with speculators and obscene profits," he said.Zeigler said participants can put in place mechanisms to minimize speculation.The size of the Asian rice economy has been estimated at 160 billion U.S. dollars.Copyright 2014 Xinhua News Agency.Xinhua is China's state-run news agency.All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Climate change producing less-nutritious food, report says By staff and wire reports

A study from a project co-chaired by former 1st District congressman Doug Bereuter says climate change threatens to undermine not only how much food can be grown but also the quality of that food, as altered weather patterns lead to a less desirable harvest. Crops grown by many of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s farmers have a lower nutritional content than they once did, according to the report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.Research indicates that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reduced the protein content in wheat, for example. And the International Rice Research Institute has warned that the quality of rice available to consumers will decline as temperatures rise, the report noted. The council has been examining the effects of climate change on food for several months as part of a project cochaired by former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and former Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., president emeritus of the Asia Foundation. Others on the advisory group for the project are prominent agribusiness leaders, such as Jose Luis Prado, president of Quaker Foods North America, Paul E. Schickler, president of

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Dupont Pioneer, scientists, academic leaders, former Kansas Gov. John Carlin, now chair of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, and Howard Buffett, a Nebraska farmer and son of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. The U.S. should embrace research into animal biology and plant management with the kind of enthusiasm it did space exploration in the 1960s, the council said, warning that the consequences of inaction could be severe. ―History has shown that with adequate resources and support, agriculture can meet growing production demands and adapt to some changes in climate,‖ Bereuter said in a news release. ―But greater emphasis on adaptation must begin now.‖The report, titled Advancing Global Food Security in the Face of a Changing Climate, was released Thursday at the council‘s Global Food Security Symposium 2014 in Washington, where 500 policymakers and scientists were gathered.―Adaptation must begin now,‖ the report said. ―Developing the necessary scientific breakthroughs and broadly disseminating them will require years, even decades of lead time.‖Climate change initially will produce both winners and losers when it comes to food production, the report said, but research has indicated that growing regions everywhere will eventually suffer from global warming. The report calls on the U.S. government to integrate climate change adaptation into its global food security strategy. Recommendations include:* Passing legislation for a long-term global food and nutrition security strategy.* Increasing spending for agricultural research on climate change adaptation.* Collecting better data and making information on weather more widely available to farmers. There are significant global data gaps right now on weather, water, crop performance, land use and consumer preferences.* Increasing spending for partnerships between U.S. universities and those in low-income countries. * Urging that food security be addressed through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Another conclusion, closer to the soil: Plant and animal germplasm preservation for domesticated and wild species needs to be a priority. ―As temperatures rise, rainfall patterns change and variability increases, farmers will need to figure out what their new normal might become, and, in fact, whether change is the new normal,‖ the report concluded. . Tags:Climate, Atmospheric Science, Food And Drink, Science, Environmental Concerns, Consumer Products And Services, Industries, Business, Environment And Nature, Environment, Earth Science, Lifestyle Image: This Feb. 7, 2014, file photo shows the cracked-dry bed of the Almaden Reservoir in San Jose, Calif., where the state is suffering one of its worst droughts. Climate change demands changes in how America grows food, according to a report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, or it will produce less food that is not as rich nutritionally. (1) More Photos

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Central senior earns internship in China Posted: May 22, 2014 11:50 PM PST LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW)- Central High School senior Sophie Olson is about to begin an adventure of a lifetime. Friday, she'll graduate from Central High School. On June 7, she will begin an internship in China. Olson was awarded one of 23 international internships from the World Food Prize.She will spend eight weeks in Changsha, China at the National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center. She will be studying hybrid rice plants in their growth and development. Her specific project will be working on the construction of special vectors, which will be used for creating an early heading-date line to accelerate the process of rice breeding by transgenic technology. She will also learn some basic molecular biology techniques in the lab as well as learn about sowing, raising seedlings, and transplanting the plants.

The Borlaug-Ruan Internship is a unique program that allows students to participate in projects with distinguished researchers at leading agricultural research centers around the globe. While getting a firsthand view of real and pressing food security issues and nutrition problems in poverty-stricken areas, the students become an integral part of a project, spending time in the lab as well as days or weeks at a time in the field conducting research and interviews, and gathering data.Olson stated, "I want to gain a better understanding of the outside world and a better perspective on what the food crisis is. I also hope to get a little cultural awakening out of it too. I hope to learn a lot more about the scientific technique because I will be working partially in the lab and partially in the field with some rice farmers."Olson returns from China in early August. In the fall, she will attend Wellesley College in Boston.

Why rice-eaters are from Venus and others from Mars Research suggests that rice-growing communities tend to be more egalitarian and cooperative than wheatgrowing ones Pramit Bhattacharya

A history of cultivating rice, which requires farmers to pool resources and co-operate with each other to improvise irrigation channels, makes people from the rice-growing regions less individualistic and self-centred, the researchers contend. Photo: Mint

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Arecent research paper published in the prestigious Science journal seems to have created a stir by suggesting that people from rice-growing regions tend to be more inter-dependent and less individualistic compared to others.The study, co-authored by social psychologist T. Talhelm of the University of Virginia, with colleagues from the University of Michigan, the Beijing Normal University, and the South China Normal University, found that ‗rice-growing southern China is more interdependent and holistic-thinking than the wheat-growing north‘ (mintne.ws/1k14qwS). A history of cultivating rice, which requires farmers to pool resources and co-operate with each other to improvise irrigation channels, makes people from the rice-growing regions less individualistic and self-centred, the researchers contend. People from wheat-growing regions are less culturally attuned to co-operate with others and hence tend to be more individualistic.The researchers used psychological tests to measure attributes such as individualism and loyalty to friends. For instance, one test of individualism involved asking the people sampled to draw a diagram of their social networks, including them and their friends represented by circles. A prior study found that Americans draw themselves about 6mm bigger than they draw others, Europeans draw themselves 3.5mm bigger, and Japanese draw themselves slightly smaller. In this study, people from ricegrowing regions drew themselves smaller than those from wheat-growing regions. Talhelm and his coresearchers also examined divorce rates to find that rice-growing regions have significantly lower divorce rates compared with their wheat-growing counterparts, even after controlling for other variables such as the level of affluence.―China‘s rice regions have several markers of East Asian culture: more holistic thought, more interdependent selfconstruals, and lower divorce rates,‖ the researchers conclude. ―The wheat-growing north looked more culturally similar to the West (western countries), with more analytic thought, individualism, and divorce. ‖In a similar (unpublished) study conducted in India, Talhelm found even sharper differences between India‘s rice-growing south and wheat-growing north than in China, Mint columnist Samar Halarnkar wrote recently, based on an email interaction with Talhelm. ―People in the wheat parts of India were more likely to think analytically and punish their friends for bad behaviour,‖ Talhelm wrote. ―People in the rice parts of India were more likely to think holistically and not punish their friends for bad behaviour.‖Talhelm is not the first researcher to link deep-rooted socio-cultural traits with historical cropping patterns and cultivation techniques. A long and illustrious line of social scientists has stressed the importance of rice cultivation in particular, and cultivation practices in general, in shaping social outcomes.

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In a 1974 Economic and Political Weekly article, Pranab Bardhan, the California University emeritus professor of economics, first pointed to the possible role of rice cultivation in producing more gender-equal outcomes in the eastern and southern parts of the country compared with the wheat-growing parts -of north-west India. Bardhan argued that the greater skew in sex ratio and lower chances of female survival in the north and west of India were perhaps because women were less valued economically in these parts of the country.―In all the states of East and South India (except Karnataka) the predominant crop is paddy which—unlike wheat and other dryregion crops—tends to be relatively intensive in female labour. Transplantation of paddy is an exclusively female job in the paddy areas; besides, female labour plays a very important role in weeding, harvesting and threshing of paddy,‖ wrote Bardhan.

―By contrast, in dry cultivation and even in wheat cultivation, under irrigation, the work involves more muscle power and less of tedious, often back-breaking, but delicate, operations (of which transplantation is an example). Could it be that, in areas with paddy agriculture, the economic value of a woman is more than in other areas—so that the female child is regarded less of a liability than in, say, North and North-West India?‖.At that time Bardhan had posited his hypothesis as a ‗wild guess‘ but later researchers found merit in his insights. Their research showed that higher female participation in the agrarian economy of East and South India was a key reason for the better status of women in these societies. In an important 1993 research paper published in the American Sociological Review, sociologist Sunita Kishor showed that rice cultivation was a strong predictor of the sex ratio across Indian districts, and that its positive impact on female survival rates was independent of the contemporary female labour force participation rates across the districts. The explanation for this, which other researchers have written about, is perhaps that contemporary values about women in a society are not shaped by how much they work or earn today but by cultural norms shaped over a long stretch of time in that society. As Talhelm notes in his research paper, people from rice-growing regions exhibit traits of a ‗rice culture‘ even when they are not rice cultivators any more.As I had shown in an earlier piece using maps from census 2011, the difference in sex ratios between the North and West on the one hand and the South and the East on the other is quite stark even today. The differences in the child sex ratio between these two halves of the country are even more dramatically different.A few years before Bardhan‘s paper, it was the pioneering feminist economist Ester Boserup who provided substantive links between agricultural production norms and gender inequality. In her seminal 1970 work on women‘s role in economic development, Boserup argued that gender inequality differed widely within the developing world because of historical differences in agricultural practices. Where women had greater role

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in farming activities, such as in Africa, they also enjoyed greater freedom and better life prospects. Boserup observed that societies which practised shifting cultivation and eschewed the use of the plough in the past had fairer gender outcomes. Other researchers have corroborated Boserup‘s thesis in a wide variety of settings since then. Research by the Harvard University economist Alberto Alesina using long time-series data and ethnographic evidence shows that traditional agricultural practices influenced the evolution and persistence of gender norms across societies.―We find that, consistent with existing hypotheses, the descendants of societies that traditionally practised plough agriculture, today have lower rates of female participation in the workplace, in politics, and in entrepreneurial activities, as well as a greater prevalence of attitudes favouring gender inequality,‖ wrote Alesina in a 2011 research paper co-authored with economists Nathan Nunn and Paola Giuliano.To check whether differing agricultural practices influenced gender outcomes by directly shaping cultural attitudes about the role of women or whether they influenced the formation of institutions and market norms which may have been less conducive to the participation of women in those societies, Alesina and his colleagues investigated the trends in female labour participation rates across second-generation immigrants in the US. Even among this group of immigrants in the US who faced the same set of institutions today but whose ancestors practised agriculture differently, the labour-force participation rates for females are significantly lower for immigrant groups with a history of using the plough as against those who practised shifting hoe cultivation, the researchers found.Perhaps gender inequality is a difficult nut to crack precisely because its roots lie so deep in our agrarian past.Talhelm‘s research does not focus specifically on gender but on wider societal norms. Nonetheless, the linkages he identifies are similar to what social scientists engaged in gender research have identified. Agricultural practices in the distant past seem to have a profound impact on contemporary differences in cultural norms and gender attitudes.It is likely that the last word on this subject has not been said yet, but Talhelm‘s fascinating work will perhaps drive greater research into how exactly past-production technologies affect contemporary social outcomes.At the very least, Talhelm‘s provocative findings will provide you some food for thought the next time you are savouring that plate of fried rice! Economics Express runs every Friday, and features interesting reads from the world of economics and finance.

China Exclusive: China's hybrid rice set for world record yield

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SANYA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The yield of China's new hybrid rice breed has topped 1,000 kg per mu (0.067 hectare), with the country set to break the world record in rice output through large-scale planting, according to a report released on Thursday.After supervised harvesting and weighing 13 days ago, rice breed, Longliangyou 1813, produced a harvest of 937.9 kg per mu in the country's largest southern breeding base in Sanya, Hainan Province. Theoretically, output reached 1081.8 kg per mu as 0.1 mu of rice paddy suffered disease without any output, according to rice researchers in China."If the diseased rice was in normal condition, the yield would have topped 1,000 kg per mu, setting a new world record," said Guo Shoubin, chief breeding instructor of the new breed's development team.The record yield is the achievement of the fourth phase of China's hybrid rice development program and is made possible by a new high-yield breed, advanced cultivation technology and nanotechnology-supported fertilizer, Guo said."Given the situation, the goal of achieving a new super rice strain with an expected yield of 1,000 kg per mu will be achieved before 2015," said Yuan Longping, "father of hybrid rice" and leader of the new breed's development team. The new breed will be planted in large-scale breeding bases in other provinces such as Hunan to test its productivity later this year and is expected to achieve a higher yield as other regions enjoy more favorable environment for rice growth than Hainan, Yuan said.Longliangyou 1813 was developed by Liao Cuimeng, executive president of Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd., a breeding R

How Government Policy On Rice Importation Spurred Smuggling, Price Hike ABAH ADAH â&#x20AC;&#x201D; May 23, 2014

Findings have revealed that against the backdrop of the measures taken by the Federal Government to discourage importation of rice and boost local production, smuggling of the commodity into the country has become the order of the day. It would be recalled that on January 1 this year, the government raised the special levy on imported parboiled rice from 40 per cent to 100 per cent in addition to the 10 per cent statutory duty.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a February 6 circular by its Director, Trade and Exchange, W.D. Gotring, reaffirmed this. He said categorically that ―husked brown rice, semi-milled or wholly milled, whether or not polished or glazed will attract an import duty rate of 10 per cent plus a levy of 100 per cent. This has created a very wide gap between the tariff charged in the neighbouring West African countries, where it remains as low as 10 per cent, and that of Nigeria.The policy also banned importation of rice through the land border areas, thus limiting the legal entry points to the sea ports.According to a source from the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in Sokoto, the Federal Government has restricted rice importation to the sea ports where various agencies can examine the imported rice and declare levies and duties on them as well as determine immediately whether or not they are fit for consumption. It therefore means that importers have to pay a total of 110 percent tariff on imported rice and get cleared at the designated ports to bring the product in. This move has not only led to massive smuggling in the last few months, it has also led to astronomical rise in the price of the product in the country. Another equally disturbing angle to this whole issue is that, to the detriment of the local consumers, it has been discovered that in some cases expired and repackaged rice is smuggled in. The source said the Federal Operation Unit (FOU) Zone B of the NSC had recently arrested smugglers of expired rice, drugs and fabrics mostly at the border areas of Kastina, Sokoto and Jigawa States ―due to intensified surveillance‖. It also noted that the bulk of the smuggled rice use to come through Niger and Republic of Benin. The source also expressed the fear that the prospects of rice cultivation in Nigeria are under serious threat following the increase in the rate of illegal importation of expired rice the bulk of which it noted come from India and Thailand.The source maintained that there is an obvious connection between the local communities around the border areas and smuggling gangs that had at different occasions prevented the Customs officials from arresting smugglers. It also pointed to lack of cooperation on the part of the enforcement officials of neighbouring countries which it said could assist their Nigerian counter-parts if they adhere to the ―International Transit Protocol‖ by escorting and handing over all consignments passing through their territories to Nigerian officials for inspection. The Zone B Comptroller, Ahmed Suleiman Maina, confirmed the arrest and admitted that several seizures were made of expired rice and drugs at the border towns. He maintained that rice that rice importation through the land border areas has been discouraged by government because there are few agencies working at the land borders that could examine and clear goods.―We have the Federal Quarantine Plant and the officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in addition to the Customs officials at the Ports, who could conduct the required tests on imported rice to certify it safe for consumption. These officials are not readily available at the land border areas because of how porous the borders are, and the Customs cannot conduct the necessary tests alone,‖ he said. The price, sources at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said, has risen because importers of bulk cargoes at the sea ports have reduced the volume of imports in reaction to the hike in tariff. In other words, there has been a sharp decline in the number of rice vessels that call at the ports, and thus call to question a recent claim of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, that the country spends over N356 billion on importation annually, translating to an average of 1 billion per day.A statement credited to the Patriotic Rice

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Association of Nigeria (PRAN) in April, 2013, said an estimated 40,000 metric tonnes of rice get imported illegally, thus taking the shine off the businesses of legitimate importers and causing huge losses of revenue, believed to be around N27 billion to the government. As it stands now, Nigeria is said to be getting only about 20 per cent of the levies due on the bulk of rice imported into the country. Some rice dealers who spoke on the issue confirmed that the introduction of new tariff and the ban placed on rice importation through the land borders are responsible for the geometric hike in the price of the commodity. One of them, Ndubisi Silas, who specifically lamented the negative impact of the policy on rice business in the country, said everything should be done to ensure that Nigerians get ―the staple food‖ readily and cheap by reducing the tariff and ensuring that local production is boosted. According to him, a 50-kg bag which now sell for between N12, 000 and N13, 000 depending on the brand, may sell for over 15,000 before the third quarter of this year unless government reviewed the policy. ―The product may ultimately go beyond the reach of the common man if care is not taken,‖ he said.A rice farmer and a member of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria resident in Kano, Malam Aminu Abdulmalik,who also spoke on the issue, said the idea of jacking up the import charges and banning import operations at the land border areas is counter-productive at the moment as they (the farmers) lack the capacity to produce anything close to the quantity of rice needed to feed ―a population of about 170 million‖. A recent report had it that out of the 5.5 metric tonnes of rice required to feed the Nigerian population, local production accounts for just 1.1 million tonnes, meaning the country must rely on importation to the tune of 4.9 metric tonnes.Abdulmalik advocated a sharp cut in the import tariff and the opening of import points at the land border areas with the necessary facilities to carry out the clearance functions, while the government continues to build on other measures that could help boost rice farming in the country. According to him, achieving self-reliance in rice production should be a gradual process. ―We cannot do it in one day,‖ he said. He expressed the hope that at least 80 per cent of those who smuggle the commodity through the land border areas will be encouraged to pay the affordable charges as they may be tired of playing hide and seek games with the Customs. ―Whoever is caught then can be compelled to pay the tariff,‖ he said. He however lamented the threat posed by the activities of insurgents in the northern part of the country. ―Many farmers have been forced to abandon their farming activities due to the insecurity in the area. And this has grave consequence on the output in rice production,‖ he said. However, the recent announcement by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Federal Government‘s decision to reduce import tariff on rice to encourage legal importation, and thus discourage smuggling, if borne out of sincerity and will be implemented immediately, has clearly shown the sensitivity of the government to the plight of the Nigerian people, both the dealers and the consumers of rice. She said, ―We increased the tariff to 110 per cent, and it encouraged some people to go and grow rice, and we grew 1.1 million metric tonnes of the product. But it also encouraged smuggling as the neighbouring countries dropped their own tariff to as low as 10 per cent.‖It is hoped that the issue of opening import points at the land border areas with the necessary facilities will also be looked into as a matter of urgency. A stitch in time, they said, saves nine.

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Commerce Ministry announces plan for provincial rice trading centres Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation May 23, 2014 1:00 am With no more government price-support measures on the agenda, the Internal Trade Department said it would soon work with rice millers to open trading centres in each province."The department will not need to spend a huge amount of money to subsidise rice, but only set up facilities to encourage farmers and millers to meet in each province," director-general Somchart Soithong said yesterday before the Army took over the whole government.The Commerce Ministry also decided to cancel the latest sale of 210,000 tonnes of government rice through the Agriculture Futures Exchange of Thailand because the offers were too low. Before the coup, millers in 19 provinces agreed with the department to purchase rice from farmers at the market price. The move is aimed at stabilising rice prices. For the second crop now being grown, farmers in the 19 provinces, mostly in the Central region, were not expected to suffer from bargaining, as the millers had promised to pay them the going price.The department reports that the current market price for white paddy rice is Bt7,000-Bt7,500 per tonne.To prepare for the main crop, which will start to be harvested in October, the department will use the same method to ensure stable rice prices in the market.The department planned to call a meeting soon between millers and provincial officials to draw up plans for the rice-trading centres. Millers would be encouraged to purchase rice at the market price.To ensure low production costs for the new crop, the department said it would try to persuade farmers to switch to natural fertilisers instead of chemicals. Farmers need to cut production costs so that they can control their costs, as rice prices are no longer being propped up by the government.The department also insisted that food and consumer-goods prices were under control by the Commerce Ministry during martial law, although that now is unclear.Somchart said the department was closely monitoring goods price at present. If any traders unfairly raise prices, they could be subject to seven years in jail and/or Bt140,000 fine. If any hoard goods unreasonably, they would also be subject to five years in jail and/or Bt200,000 fine.Only powdered-milk producers want to hike retail prices because they face higher import costs, but the department has not yet allowed them to. It asked them to study carefully their cost structure to ensure a low cost of living for consumers.

MSU scientists change rice stink bug advice By Keri Collins Lewis MSU Ag Communications STONEVILLE -- Mississippi rice producers may need to intensify their treatment of the most important lateseason pest in rice based on new recommendations from researchers at the Delta Research and Extension Center.Jeff Gore is a Mississippi State University Extension Service entomologist at the Stoneville station who conducts research with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. He said past

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recommendations for rice stink bug treatment were based on a time frame rather than a growth stage.―The old recommendation is five stink bugs in 10 sweeps during the first two weeks from panicle emergence and 10 stink bugs in 10 sweeps after that,‖ Gore said. ―The new recommendation is treating at two to three stink bugs in 10 sweeps from panicle emergence through soft dough.‖ Researchers at Mississippi State University use a large cage over multiple rice plants to help them determine when rice stink bugs cause the most damage. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Gore) In addition to field studies using large cages, researchers use a sleeve cage to keep rice stink bugs on individual rice panicles so they can study the insects’ impact on grain quality and yield. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Gore)

The length of time required for vigilance will vary based on the rice variety planted.―This is going to be very important in hybrid rice, because an individual hybrid plant produces so many more panicles than conventional varieties that they don‘t mature at the same rate,‖ Gore said. ―The period of time the hybrid is susceptible to stink bugs is longer than the conventional variety. That‘s why we‘ve gone to a grain stage scale instead of a time frame.‖Gore said growers will likely end up treating more than before based on this recommendation, but the positive impact on yield and grain quality is worth the extra investment.―Pyrethroids are the cheapest option and continue to provide excellent control of rice stink bug in Mississippi,‖ he said. ―Neonicotinoids tend to be more expensive and may not provide additional control.―Based on these changes to the threshold, we may spray rice more often and later in the season than we used to spray. However, as long as growers adhere to seasonal use limits and preharvest intervals on the label, these additional applications should not provide an added risk to consumers of rice,‖ he said.These new recommendations are based on a multi-year research project by George Awuni, a postdoctoral associate at MSU. His doctoral research at MSU focused on the impact of rice stink bugs on grain quality and yield. He also studied the host range and feeding preference, as well as timing and duration of rice stink bug infestations, to see if damage was more critical at any certain growth stage. ―I found that if rice stink bugs are allowed to persist for more than one day on the rice panicle, significant yield losses and damage can occur,‖ Awuni said. ―Based on the existing recommendations, if a crop scout tells a farmer, ‗We have five stink bugs in 10 sweeps,‘ and the grower delays treatment, he could have problems.‖Awuni‘s research differs from much of that conducted in the past. He used the two traditional methods in conjunction with each other: a sleeve cage to keep the insect on an individual rice panicle, and a

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large cage over multiple plants in the field.―With the sleeve cage, the bloom stage was much more vulnerable to the rice stink bug infestation in terms of yield,‖ Awuni said. ―But when you look at grain quality, you also have vulnerability during the milk and soft dough stage. ‖The bloom stage is the beginning of grain formation.―Rice stink bugs cause damage by injecting their needlelike mouth parts into rice kernels at the panicle stage and drawing out all of the watery content from the rice kernels,‖ Awuni said. ―This can produce unfilled kernels, called blanks, which negatively impact yield.‖The stink bugs impact grain quality during the milk and soft dough stages. Quality is reduced by shriveled grain and discoloration, which may take different forms, depending on the duration of the infestation.―Yield affects the bottom line, while grain quality affects marketability,‖ Awuni said. ―The greatest yield loss is in the bloom stage, but growers still get damage in kernel formation during the milk and soft dough stages. That‘s why we now recommend treating for five stink bugs throughout the first three growth stages of rice for the greatest return on the grower‘s investment.‖The Mississippi Rice Promotion Board funded Awuni‘s research. Released: May 23, 2013 Contact: Dr. Jeff Gore, 662-820-9969

Rice crops replace cattle as Northern Territory pastoralist diversifies PHOTO: Diversification is seen as crucial if northern Australia is to develop further. (HEI!, file photo: www.flickr.com) MAP: NT

One of the world's staple grains could prove a diversification winner for northern Australia, the Northern Territory Government and growers agree. Pastoralist turned rice grower Bruce White planted seedlings three weeks ago his cattle property, Mt Keppler Station, 100 kilometres south of Darwin, and is already starting to see shoots popping up. He started planting on the flood plain two years ago, and while there were some challenges - like rogue crocodiles and birds - the crop grew well. "We had all this country that was virtually useless for cattle, and not relying totally on the cattle industry on our property," he said. He said he had been selling the rice harvest to a local cubing plant to make nutrient-rich cattle feed.He had then been bringing his own cattle onto the plain to graze on the leftover stubble.The crop has been a valuable secondary income, particularly during tough times with the live export trade."I think it has got a future up here: There's thousands of hectares in this area of this flood plain country which is not very good cattle country," Mr White said.Diversification is seen as crucial if northern Australia is to develop further.It has also been made easier with recent changes by the NT Government to its Pastoral Land Act.

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I think it has got a future up here: There's thousands of hectares in this area of this flood plain country which is not very good cattle country. Bruce White, pastoralist turned rice grower

But rice has had it is share of spectacular failures, going back as far as the 1960s, when an American movie maker with big dreams bought up large tracts of land.The scheme fell over and stigmatised rice-growing as an industry.While some of those big challenges remain, the dry season planting is paying off, with fewer bird plagues, consistent weather and higher yields. Mr White already has companies wanting to buy the harvest, which will take place in four months."We have to make sure we have a suitable variety that will grow in this area," he said."We've had New South Wales farmers, and they've looked at what we're doing, and they say, 'Oh, shivers, this is pretty interesting, lots of problems down there we've got you haven't got'."Mr White does not see Australia's north as the next food bowl, but he does believe rice has a future in this part of the world.

Jasmine rice a good rotational crop: expert Mr White wants to see production expanded, but says there are obstacles that first need to be overcome."We need dams... so we can irrigate large areas get other people interested... it's alright talking about infrastructure and all this stuff, but some money has to be spent," he said.A few hundred metres down the road at the Department of Primary Industries' Tortilla Flats research farm, preliminary trials of jasmine rice are showing great promise.The senior farm research manager, Bruce Sawyer, said he could see rice expanding in production.However, like most agriculture in Australia, to balance out labor, transport and production costs, farmers need to be growing high-yield and high-value rice varieties, he said. To balance out labor, transport and production costs, farmers need to grow high-yield and high-value rice varieties.(Carmen Brown) PHOTO:

"Can't grow these fragrant ones in southern Australia; they need the tropical conditions to grow, so it would be not just for export Australian market," he said."We import all our Australian jasmine rice so some good possibilities there."He said that in the longer term, rice could fit in well as a rotational crop. "There's crops like soybean and others you can rotate with rice and go really well in these conditions," Mr Sawyer said.He said the focus on northern development had helped encourage research for not just rice, but all types of industries. "The good old words of the north, there's potential; rice fits in really well in this district with

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cattle production, and the stations all have a lot of flood plain country, and the flood plains here on duplex soil are poor for grazing," he said."So basically, cattle producers aren't getting anything out of them."If you can add in something like rice, which is ideally suited to the soil and climate, you can get a crash return and really good grazing from the cattle, so it's diversifying the operations and potentially and industry." Topics: livestock, beef-cattle, rice, nt First posted Fri 23 May 2014, 5:25pm AEST

NFA assures ample rice supply in SurSur Tuesday 20th of May 2014 4 0 0 0 0

TANDAG CITY, May 20 (PIA) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The National Food Authority (NFA) Provincial Office in Surigao del Sur headed by Provincial Manager Gleen Echin assured that the province has enough rice supply.According to her assistant, Alvin Balatero, their agency has a buffer stock of up to 70,243 bags of rice in all three warehouses. He broken it down to 18,504 bags of local rice and 51,739 bags of imported ones, adding that consumers have nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, Balatero said that their office has continued to conduct daily price monitoring on commercial rice, noting that some premium variety have already gone up to P50 per kilo.However, he stressed that NFA rice remains to be sold at P27 per kilo in all 21 Bigasan sa Palengke (BSP) outlets set up in public markets several months ago in the entire province. (NGBT/Greg Tataro, Jr., Radyo ng Bayan/PIA-Surigao del Sur)

Top End rice crop returns ABC Rural Kristy O'Brien

Updated Fri 23 May 2014, 5:12pm AEST PHOTO: Rice being trialled under netting at Tortilla Flats near Adelaide River, NT (Matt Brann) MAP: Alice Springs 0870

A commercial rice crop will be grown in the Northern Territory this year.Bruce White from Mt Keppler Station near Adelaide River has just planted a 60 hectare crop of Jasmine rice, that he expects to harvest in about three months.Mr White didn't plant a crop last year because of a lack of water after a poor wet season."We've learnt a lot of lessons, particularly about water depth," he said.Mr White began growing the rice as a feed stock for his cattle.But he says there's plenty of interest in the

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opportunity to grow it as a food crop, particularly from eastern rice growers in New South Wales."They've looked at what we're doing and said 'shivers! This is pretty interesting. We've got lots of problems that you don't have up here,' Mr White said."And there are companies interested in buying our rice at the moment but we haven't got any economies of scale."We'll just poke along for a few years as we are and see if we can develop." Topics: rural, rice, agricultural-crops, alice-springs-0870

Rice Water Weevil Management MAY 22, 2014 By: University News Release

Time to think about rice water weevil management By Jeff Gore, Research and Extension Entomologist, Bobby Golden, Agronomist, Delta REC, Mississippi State University, Jason Bond, Research/Extension Weed Scientist, Tom Allen, Extension Plant Pathologist and Don Cook, Research Entomologist, Mississippi State University A little rice has started to go to flood in Mississippi this week and that means it is time to start thinking about rice water weevil. Overall, the majority of the crop is behind because of all of the rain that we have had across the Delta over the last several weeks. In general, the rice that is currently being flooded was some of the earliest planted. As a result, the early rice has endured a lot of rainfall and adverse conditions.The environmental conditions through March and April, especially the heavy rain between planting and now, were not ideal for performance of insecticide seed treatments. We recently had a graduate student, Mr. Andrew Adams, that finished his research looking at the time from planting to flood and flushes on the performance of seed treatments. He delayed the flood out to 8 weeks after planting and showed that it did not negatively impact rice water weevil control.In contrast, flushing the field at least 2 times reduced rice water weevil control. Basically what his research showed was that the seed treatments did not perform as well when he flushed the field 2 times as they did when he did not flush the field or when he flushed the field 1 time. This was reflected in both weevil numbers and yields. Although flushing is not the same as rain, this does provide an indication that the seed treatments may not perform as well as we would like them to.The bottom line is that it will be important to scout fields closely for feeding by adult weevils, especially in fields that have experienced a lot of rainfall. If excessive adult feeding is observed, a supplemental foliar insecticide may be warranted, even where a seed treatment was used. In fields where a seed treatment was used, a pyrethroid will likely be the most economical option. In fields where no insecticide seed treatment was used, a pyrethroid should do a good job if timed properly.In some situations on untreated rice, Belay may be a better option. We have looked at Belay for the last two years and found that timing is less important than with pyrethroids. We presume that this is the case because clothianidin, the active ingredient in Belay, is systemic.

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Our research showed that it provided similar control to the pyrethroids, but was much more consistent in terms of control and yield protection on rice that did not have a seed treatment at planting.Our results over the last several years have shown that yield losses are directly correlated with rice water weevil larval numbers. Regardless of whether a seed treatment was used or not, it is important to maximize rice water weevil control as fields are flooded to prevent yield losses.

Commerce Ministry announces plan for provincial rice trading centres Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation May 23, 2014 1:00 am With no more government price-support measures on the agenda, the Internal Trade Department said it would soon work with rice millers to open trading centres in each province."The department will not need to spend a huge amount of money to subsidise rice, but only set up facilities to encourage farmers and millers to meet in each province," director-general Somchart Soithong said yesterday before the Army took over the whole government. The Commerce Ministry also decided to cancel the latest sale of 210,000 tonnes of government rice through the Agriculture Futures Exchange of Thailand because the offers were too low. Before the coup, millers in 19 provinces agreed with the department to purchase rice from farmers at the market price. The move is aimed at stabilising rice prices.For the second crop now being grown, farmers in the 19 provinces, mostly in the Central region, were not expected to suffer from bargaining, as the millers had promised to pay them the going price.The department reports that the current market price for white paddy rice is Bt7,000-Bt7,500 per tonne.To prepare for the main crop, which will start to be harvested in October, the department will use the same method to ensure stable rice prices in the market. The department planned to call a meeting soon between millers and provincial officials to draw up plans for the ricetrading centres. Millers would be encouraged to purchase rice at the market price.To ensure low production costs for the new crop, the department said it would try to persuade farmers to switch to natural fertilisers instead of chemicals.Farmers need to cut production costs so that they can control their costs, as rice prices are no longer being propped up by the government. The department also insisted that food and consumer-goods prices were under control by the Commerce Ministry during martial law, although that now is unclear.Somchart said the department was closely monitoring goods price at present. If any traders unfairly raise prices, they could be subject to seven years in jail and/or Bt140,000 fine. If any hoard goods unreasonably, they would also be subject to five years in jail and/or Bt200,000 fine.Only powdered-milk producers want to hike retail prices because they face higher import costs, but the department has not yet allowed them to. It asked them to study carefully their cost structure to ensure a low cost of living for consumers.

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'Payment to rice farmers, restoring investor confidence top priorities' Sucheera Pinijparakarn, Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation May 24, 2014 1:00 am The central bank and members of the private sector have urged the junta to help speed up payment of huge debts owed to farmers under the rice-pledging scheme and also to restore foreigners' confidence in the country after Thursday's power seizure.They said these should be the top priorities of the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council before embarking on a road map for economic reform."The government must secure funding to pay farmers while explaining to the public the reasons for the military coup, so as to restore foreigners' confidence and the image of Thailand," said Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul. Prasarn, reportedly a candidate to become a post-coup prime minister, noted that providing a clear reason for the takeover would help protect the country's credit being downgraded by rating agencies. A downgrade would lead to higher financial costs. Standard & Poor's on Thursday affirmed the country's credit ratings while Fitch Ratings yesterday said the military takeover was not in itself a negative sovereign-ratings trigger.Businesses have voiced concerns of a possible recession for the Thai economy after the contraction in the first quarter. Many research houses have lowered their forecasts for Thai economic growth for 2014 to a range of 1.5-2.5 per cent from the previous forecasts of between 3 and 4 per cent. Bangkok Bank executive chairman Kosit Panpiemras agreed with Prasarn that the top priority for the junta was to help the farmers .Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said the new government should immediately launch strategies to boost the confidence of foreign traders and investors as first priority, as well as promote Thai shipments.He called on the new government to have a clear road map for the rice sector by ensuring that politicians would not be able to intervene in rice trading and farming. Meanwhile, Thai National Shippers Council chairman Nopporn Thepsithar said the private sector planned to propose to the new government to set up a national export strategy to promote Thailand as a trading nation. The private sector would also like to encourage the new government to have a long-term development plan for integrating farming, manufacturing and the trading sector, as well as to enhance research and development in each industry. Tourism operators said a new government should be formed as soon as possible. The Tourism Council of Thailand has lowered the tourist arrival target from 29.92 million to 26.84 million.Chatchai Tuangrattanapan, director of the Thai Retailers' Association, said a fully authorised government must be formed as soon as possible with solid policies to solve the current conflicts as well as plans to promote the Thai economy in the short term.

California drought will hit cost of rice hardest By Debbie Arrington darrington@sacbee.com Published: Thursday, May. 22, 2014 - 3:28 pm

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How will California‘s epic drought hit our grocery bills? Probably not as hard as we might have feared.That was the consensus of a panel of food and farming experts assembled for the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce‘s second annual ―Perspectives on Agriculture‖ luncheon, held Thursday at the Hyatt Regency.―(Price increases) really won‘t be that huge for the average consumer,‖ said Dan Sumner, director of the University of CaliforniaAgricultural Issues Center at UC Davis. ―At the supermarket, you may see a few things that are more expensive, but overall the bill won‘t be that much different than before the drought. ‖The reason: Farmers are squeezing the most out of what water they do have.About 700 business people and farmers assembled for the ―Farm-to-Fork‖-themed lunch at which the main course was locally sourced chicken and asparagus salad. But water was the underlying topic of all discussion.―We‘ve started a statewide debate in regards towater supply,‖ said Roger Niello, the chamber‘s president. ―Drought is a fleeting thing, but it really puts a spotlight on the water debate.‖According to estimates by UC Davis, the drought will cost about 14,500 agriculture-related jobs in the Central Valley this year. Most of those jobs are in planting and harvesting.About 6 percent of irrigated farmland in the Valley will be left fallow this year. Since fewer acres were planted, fewer will need to be harvested. The ripple effect adds up to a $1.7 billion economic impact.One crop that will see a noticeable price spike: California rice. ―It‘s the exception,‖ said Sumner, noting the international demand for the state‘s short-grained ―sushi rice.‖ ―It‘s a unique product and a major export crop. You can‘t have a 20 or 25 percent reduction and not see an increase in price.‖―In the Sacramento Valley, we (rice growers) usually grow 500,000 acres of rice,‖ added Nicole Montna Van Vleck of Montna Farms in Yuba City. ―This year, we‘ve reduced our acreage (at Montna Farms) by 25, 30 percent. In some communities, rice accounts for 30 to 50 percent of all economic activity. It not only affects farmers, but suppliers. ‖Agriculture and business need to work together to increase awareness of their interdependency as well as water conservation, said Tim Johnson, president of the California Rice Commission. Water links everyone in the Sacramento Valley, and so does the need to conserve.―We estimated that the amount of water it takes to irrigate the lawn at the state Capitol was enough to produce 1 million servings of rice,‖ Johnson quipped. ―When we finally got that point across, the governor agreed to let the lawn go brown.‖

NFA assures ample rice supply in SurSur Tuesday 20th of May 2014

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TANDAG CITY, May 20 (PIA) – The National Food Authority (NFA) Provincial Office in Surigao del Sur headed by Provincial Manager Gleen Echin assured that the province has enough rice supply. According to her assistant, Alvin Balatero, their agency has a buffer stock of up to 70,243 bags of rice in all three warehouses. He broken it down to 18,504 bags of local rice and 51,739 bags of imported ones, adding that consumers have nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, Balatero said that their office has continued to conduct daily price monitoring on commercial rice, noting that some premium variety have already gone up to P50 per kilo. However, he stressed that NFA rice remains to be sold at P27 per kilo in all 21 Bigasan sa Palengke (BSP) outlets set up in public markets several months ago in the entire province. (NGBT/Greg Tataro, Jr., Radyo ng Bayan/PIA-Surigao del Sur)

Future of Vietnam’s rice production threatened by climate change VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of rice and 80 per cent of it is grown in the Mekong Delta, a vast flood plain and one of Asia’s most fertile agricultural zones. But farmers here say the future of rice production is now threatened because of rising sea levels and temperature increases attributed to climate change. Standing on a beach strewn with bits of plastic and wood, farmer Cung Pham says like many here that he‘s already lost the fight.Pham lives in Tra Vinh province on the Mekong Delta‘s seacoast. He used to grow a variety of crops, but today his fields are under water. ―We grew watermelon, peanuts and sweet potatoes,‖ he says. ―Then we couldn‘t do it anymore because the sea water began flooding our land.‖Joined by other farmers, Pham planted rows of trees and helped build cement dykes but eventually these too gave way to the rising sea. ―I kept moving inland gradually but over the last three years the whole area has been flooded and it is impossible to farm,‖ he says.

Like Pham, thousands of coastal people have lost their land and incomes but now provincial officials say salt water from sea level rise is travelling further inland, threatening more than 220,000 hectares of rice production in just one province.―Climate change has had a severe impact on the economy of the province and on rice production in particular,‖ says Truyan Minh Pham, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural

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Development in Tra Vinh, one of the Delta‘s 13 provinces. ―Saline water now comes every year to the inland areas, which results in reduced production.‖Sixty kilometers from the coast, rice farmer Binh Thach never imagined sea water would be killing his rice crop. He says during the dry season when rivers are low, sea water now moves easily upstream and contaminates the canals he uses for irrigation. This season he expects his harvest will be half of what it was just a few years ago.―I test the water by tasting it and decide whether it‘s good to pump into my rice field or not,‖ Thach says. ―Of course it‘s not reliable, we know it‘s salty but we don‘t know exactly how salty it is.‖

Farmers like Thach are in desperate need of information and ideas that will help them adapt to climate change.Starting this month, a new project co-financed by the UN‘s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Vietnamese government aims to tackle some of the challenges.Over the next six years, 'Adaptation in the Mekong Delta' is investing US$50 million in activities meant to strengthen farmers‘ ability to adapt to the changing environment. "It's hitting the poorest people and ethnic minorities disproportionately," says Roshan Cooke, IFAD‘s Regional Climate and Environment Specialist.The goal of the IFAD-supported project is to create local centers to monitor and forecast salinity and improve irrigation canals and dykes, and help farmers find income alternatives that might include growing something other than rice. The project should directly benefit some 125,000 people in the Mekong Delta rice-growing zone, IFAD estimates.As part of the project, researchers at Tra Vinh University look for fish species that are more tolerant to salt water and could provide a good income for farmers.Thuy Pham, Vice-Dean of the university‘s AquaAgriculture Faculty, says alternatives like fish farming will become more important as temperatures continue to rise. Rice flower pollen becomes sterile at 36 degrees Celsius and higher, temperatures that are increasingly common in the Mekong Delta and other rice-growing regions of Asia. This direct consequence of climate change potentially threatens not only Vietnam's rice crop, but food supplies worldwide."If we fail to do the necessary research quickly, food security will be compromised," she says. "If farmers can't grow rice, they will shift to other crops because it's not a good business for them. So in the long run Vietnam may not be a big exporter anymore." Tags:mekong delta,rice production,climate change,

Wheat declines on increased supply; rice basmati up By PTI | 23 May, 2014, 04.01PM IST Wheat prices declined by Rs 5 per quintal on the wholesale grains market today on increased supplies against reduced offtake by flour mills.NEW DELHI: Wheat prices declined by Rs 5 per quintal on the wholesale grains market today on increased supplies against reduced offtake by flour mills, traders said. However, rice basmati on the back of fresh buying support,ended higher.

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Rice prices go up Posted : 24 May, 2014 09:39:18 The prices of all varieties of rice have increased by 13 to 19 per cent, says a Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) survey. Price of medium-coarse rice has risen the most, followed by the prices of fine and coarse rice. According to the TCB, prices of rice were 17pc higher this May 23 than what it was on the same day last year. Najirshile and Miniket are among the finer varieties of the grain.

A year back, these fine varieties could be had for anything between Tk 34 to Tk 48 a kilogram. Now they are selling for Tk 40-56. The price of medium-quality has risen steeply by 18.57 pc. Last year this time they used cost Tk 34-36 per kg. This year they are selling at Tk 39-44. The price of coarse rice has risen by 12.90pc. The prices are have shown no sign of falling, although fresh Boro harvest, the rice most extensively cultivated in the country, has already hit the market. The selling price of rice has risen sharply but production costs have not shown a similar increase, agriculture officials have said. Abdur Rashid, Managing Director of Kushtia‘s Rashid Agro, said several factors were behind the price rise. ‗Aman production has been low and there is not much coarse rice in Boro paddy. Besides, businessmen passed through a difficult phase. These factors have influenced the prices,‘ he added, according to bdnews24.com.

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News From Rice Growers Association-Australia

The ―Bitterns in rice – A pilot study of the endangered Bittern‖ publication is now available on the Rural Industries Research and Development website. Please click here to view and download.

Riverina Community Advisory Groups - Apply now.

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Riverina Community Advisory Groups – Apply now. Riverina LLS is now calling for Expressions of Interest to join any of the four Riverina Community Advisory Groups. These groups are:  Irrigation Advisory Group  Rangelands Advisory group  Mixed Farming Advisory Group  Highlands Advisory Group

Each of these groups will be a valuable conduit between the community and the LLS Board on the services offered by Riverina Local Land Services, and any issues or trends that are important to their landscape, or the producers that rely on it. Nominations close Friday 6th June, 2014.

Riverina Local Land Services Newsletter If you are interested in the latest news on agriculture, biosecurity, natural resource management and emergency management across the Riverina – Local Lands Services Riverina have launched their new newsletter. Click here to go to the LLS – Riverina and subscribe.

Taste Coleambally Food and Farm Festival The best of Coleambally‘s food and farming heritage will be showcased on Sunday 1st June 2014.The festival showcases and increases awareness of local agriculture

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and sustainable food production while promoting the Riverina as a water efficient and high quality ‗food bowl‘ which is vital to Australian consumers. Click here to view more information about the festival.

Survey results will provide evidence that will assist in identifying the potential leadership challenges that exist in regional, rural and remote Australia and particularly help to determine the types of stories that need to be told that are currently missing. Your assistance in completing this survey and sharing it amongst your network would be most appreciated. Any questions about the survey can be directed to Liz on 6953 0433 or 0488 071 165

The Rural Career Guide

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Rural Skills Australia announces the launch of the new web-based Rural Career Guide, designed to consolidate and advance the breadth of available information about the prospects for a fulfilling career in one of dozens of Australia‘s flourishing rural industries. ―The Rural Career Guide is a comprehensive new product and it has far wider scope and reach than anything previously produced in Australia.‖ The guide covers career pathways in some 40 separate rural industries, from mainstream agricultural industries like beef, sheep and grain production to horticulture, land management and animal care and management. It also highlights the many related rural careers, in thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing, aquaculture, environment and conservation and forest and wood products. The Rural Career Guide is a result of considerable research over several years and has been produced with support from the Australian Government‘s Australian Apprenticeships Advisers program. Click here to go to the Rural Career Guide website.

Rural Crime The School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England is conducting a survey of crime on farms in New South Wales and Queensland. This study was conducted in NSW ten years ago but is being run again because of concerns raised by landholders about persistent crime on farms. This is one of the most difficult types of crime to prevent and detect. As crime is continually changing, the ways to address crime must change. The findings of this survey will continue to raise awareness of farm crime and identify measures that might be taken by farmers, governments, police, courts and other agencies to reduce the incidence of farm crime. The study is supported by police in both states, and Agforce and New South Wales Farmers although this is independent research conducted through the University of New England. Producers are invited to complete an online survey which will take between 15 and 30 minutes to complete, depending on experiences of crime. It will

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also important to hear from landholders that have never been a victim of crime to ensure that the study produces an accurate measure of farm crime. No identifying information is required on the survey, so responses will remain strictly confidential. The survey can be accessed at : https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WZJ9PJS More information about the study or requests for hard copies of the survey can email Dr Elaine Barclay (ebarclay@une.edu.au) or call 0412053415.

The ―Bitterns in rice – A pilot study of the endangered Bittern‖ publication is now available on the Rural Industries Research and Development website. Please click here to view and download.

Riverina Community Advisory Groups - Apply now.

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Taste Coleambally Food and Farm Festival

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The best of Coleambally‘s food and farming heritage will be showcased on Sunday 1st June 2014. The festival showcases and increases awareness of local agriculture and sustainable food production while promoting the Riverina as a water efficient and high quality ‗food bowl‘ which is vital to Australian consumers. Click here to view more information about the festival.

Australian Rural Leadership Project Survey Through her involvement in Course 20 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, RGA‘s Through her involvement in Course 20 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, RGA‘s Communications and Policy Officer, Liz Stott, is undertaking a group project designed to examine perceptions of rural, regional and remote Australia. Their project group, ―The Kelpies‖, has partnered with Get Up to develop a survey to better understand current thoughts and perceptions about regional Australia and identify key issues, challenges and opportunities faced by individuals and communities. This information will be used to develop a profile of regional Australia as seen by ourselves and others. The survey takes approximately 10 mins and can be accessed at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1643557/Kelpies-helping-round-up-regionalAustralia Survey results will provide evidence that will assist in identifying the potential leadership challenges that exist in regional, rural and remote Australia and particularly help to determine the types of stories that need to be told that are currently missing. Your assistance in completing this survey and sharing it amongst your network would be most appreciated. Any questions about the survey can be directed to Liz on 6953 0433 or 0488 071 165

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The Rural Career Guide Rural Skills Australia announces the launch of the new web-based Rural Career Guide, designed to consolidate and advance the breadth of available information about the prospects for a fulfilling career in one of dozens of Australia‘s flourishing rural industries. ―The Rural Career Guide is a comprehensive new product and it has far wider scope and reach than anything previously produced in Australia.‖ The guide covers career pathways in some 40 separate rural industries, from mainstream agricultural industries like beef, sheep and grain production to horticulture, land management and animal care and management. It also highlights the many related rural careers, in thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing, aquaculture, environment and conservation and forest and wood products. The Rural Career Guide is a result of considerable research over several years and has been produced with support from the Australian Government‘s Australian Apprenticeships Advisers program. Click here to go to the Rural Career Guide website.

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New England. Producers are invited to complete an online survey which will take between 15 and 30 minutes to complete, depending on experiences of crime. It will also important to hear from landholders that have never been a victim of crime to ensure that the study produces an accurate measure of farm crime. No identifying information is required on the survey, so responses will remain strictly confidential. The survey can be accessed at : https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WZJ9PJS More information about the study or requests for hard copies of the survey can email Dr Elaine Barclay (ebarclay@une.edu.au) or call 0412053415.

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice Futures for May 23

Month

Price

Net Change

July 2014

$15.245

- $0.075

September 2014

$14.480

- $0.020

November 2014

$14.585

- $0.005

January 2015

$14.740

+ $0.005

March 2015

$14.815

- $0.025

May 2015

$14.815

- $0.025

July 2015

$14.815

- $0.025

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mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com

Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874