31st august ,2017 daily global regional & local rice e newsletter

Daily Global Rice

E-Newsletter

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August 31,2017 Vol 8 Issue VIII

Rice News Headlines...  The Delta Is Sinking: Scientists Think Planting Rice Will Help  Chinese hybrid rice to produce 18 tons per hectare record yield  Rice’s bullish bias remains; macro drivers weighing heavy on cotton, grain  Govt may find it tough to recover dues from rice mills  Rice revolution: Officials, farmers flaunt different statistics  Floods won't have much impact on farm output  Chinese hybrid rice to reform production  Pakistan relies on a huge underground reservoir – but it’s polluted with arsenic and will eventually run dry  Rice traders who set higher price to face sanctions: VP  THE TANGY TASTES OF TAJ  Fighting diabetes, one plate of nasi lemak at a time  Chinese hybrid rice to produce 18 tons per hectare record yield

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News Detail...

The Delta Is Sinking: Scientists Think Planting Rice Will Help

The DeltaRice Scientists Planting Help Think Is Sinking: Will Researchers hope to stave off subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with a solution farmers might like: planting rice. But a pilot project has yielded mixed results.

WRITT EN BY Meredith

Rutland Bauer

PUB LISH ED O N 

Aug. 30, 2017

A pumping station on Twitchell Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta works to keep water off the island, which is below sea level, so crops can grow.Meredith Rutland Bauer TWITCHELL ISLAND, CALIFORNIA – Bryan Brock stared out at a rice field on Twitchell Island, nestled between the meandering river paths of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Brock, a senior engineer with California Department of Water Resources‟ West Delta Program, rubbed his goatee and pointed at foot-tall emerald stalks. The plots were drenched in about 4in of water.Medium-grain rice was planted here in 2009 as a research project to see if rice could help the Delta survive the impacts of subsidence. The results have yielded both good and bad news.The Central Valley is no stranger to subsidence. But unlike other areas that are sinking due to overpumping of groundwater, the Delta‟s subsidence is a force of nature. Since most of

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the soil is peat, which contains decomposing vegetation, microbes eat away at the carbon in the dead plants and emit carbon dioxide, shrinking the soil level by about 1in per year, Brock said.The Delta‟s agriculture economy has made the situation worse. Planting crops in the Delta seemed like an obvious decision for newcomers to the region following the Gold Rush.

Pumping out the estuary and throwing up levees alongside nearby rivers left plots with rich soil and bountiful harvests.But generations later, those same plots that were started on unsteady peat soil are sinking further below the waterline, putting the long-term fate of farming in the Delta at risk. Currently there are more than 100 crops grown in the region on 500,000 acres of farmland.

But the threat of massive flooding looms over an area where corn fields now sit 25ft below the water level of the San Joaquin River, held back by dirt-and-rock levees.

A plot of rice on Twitchell Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was planted as part of a pilot project to halt subsidence. (Meredith Rutland Bauer) “In the deep areas where it‟s really subsided, it‟s getting really challenging to farm,” said Bruce Linquist, lead researcher for the rice pilot project and an agronomy researcher at the University of California, Davis. “There‟s a lot of holes out there where you have water constantly coming up.”The Twitchell Island rice pilot program began as an endeavor to find a solution that would help reverse subsidence while offering farmers a moneymaking solution. The results were mixed.Rice fields can capture a significant amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the microbes in peat soil, acting as a carbon sequestration sink, Brock said.

One of the rice fields on Twitchell Island used to grow corn, and during that time the underground microbes gave off 8 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year for each acre. “By flooding it and growing rice, I think we only have an emission of 1 ton per acre per year,” he said. That‟s a climate win.Researchers also found that rice fields slow down – and sometimes completely stop – the microbial feeding that causes subsidence because of the wet environment,

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Brock said. While this halts subsidence, it can‟t reverse it, so rice fields are still seen as a subpar option to wetland restoration, which is usually preferred by environmental groups. By planting cattails and other wetland plants, the plants stop microbial subsidence and can reverse subsidence when the plants die and decompose, creating new soil.

While the pilot project showed some promising benefits, rice was not the panacea researchers had hoped.Despite the ecological benefits, the economics of planting rice in the Delta simply don‟t pencil out for many farmers in the Delta, Brock said. The pilot project‟s rice crop yields paled in comparison to rice grown near Sacramento, and sometimes costs exceeded revenues.Linquist said rice could have its place in the Delta one day, even though the trial crops didn‟t do particularly well. The Sacramento Valley is one of the nation‟s largest producers of rice, according to the United States Department of Agriculture – but usually those fields are in clay soil, Brock said, not the Delta‟s unpredictably sinking soil.

California Department of Water Resources Engineer Bryan Brock inspects a field of rice on Twitchell Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where scientists are experimenting with growing rice to halt subsidence caused by peat soil. (Meredith Rutland Bauer) “Really, the yield potential in the Delta is not bad,” Linquist said. “If you can deal with the elements, you can get a good yield of rice. One of the big issues affecting that is cold temperatures at night.”

Another issue is weeds, and blackbirds that arrive in “the millions” and knock off rice grains when they land on the stalks, Brock said.

But one of the biggest problems is properly managing the water levels. Rice likes to be alternated between wet and dry periods. Because the Delta is sinking, and because it was naturally a flooded estuary, water has to be constantly pumped off fields. That environment keeps the rice wet year round, limiting growth potential.

Rice would be a nice option for ecological reasons, but it‟s tough to convince a farmer to replace corn fields that earn significantly more money than rice. Plus, specialized equipment to harvest and maintain rice is often prohibitively expensive.

Researchers, ecological restoration advocates and state officials are also pursuing other restoration efforts in the Delta. Wetlands restoration (and the added paycheck that comes with carbon sequestration farming) and duck habitat creation for hunting are among the ecological methods that also make more economic sense than rice at the moment, Brock said.

And then there‟s the simple fact that farmers will prefer to plant corn or use their fields for more profitable cattle grazing until the unstable, wet ground forces their hand.

“The long-term picture is to stack as many potential moneymaking opportunities as you can,” Brock said of the vision for the Delta‟s future. “And to at least stop subsidence.”

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Chinese hybrid rice to produce 18 tons per hectare record yield P AR V E Z J A B R I

A U G 2 9 T H, 2 0 1 7 1 7 :1 1

LAHORE: Rice growing experts on Tuesday said that the launch of Chinese Hybrid rice in Pakistan would bring revolution in rice production having yield of 18 tons per hectare or more than 150 maunds per acre. Talking to APP the experts said that both China and Pakistan currently sown around 7-8 tons per hectares that is 15 percent more than conventional yield of rice.

Sino-Pakistan Hybrid Rice Research Centre (SPHRRC) director Professor Mohammad Zubair, said that the new rice variety would help to increase per acre yield for Pakistani farmers and increased export of rice to other countries, including China, in future.

He said that both China and Pakistan were currently sowing around 7-8 tons per hectares that is 15 percent more than conventional yield of rice. The amount of the double-cropping rice is equal

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to that produced over three seasons in the past, marking a big breakthrough, he said.

To a question he said that Chinese Professor Yuan, is the father of this hybrid rice. He said his discovery of high- yield hybrid rice would help end the food crisis in the globe, which was highly regarded in China and in the world.

Prominent rice scientist and researcher, Professor Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary said that "father of hybrid rice," Professor Yuan began theoretical research about 50 years ago and continued to set new records in the average yields of hybrid rice plots.

He said that the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the UN World Intellectual Property Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) honoured professor Yuan with different titles and awards during the last four decades. Yuan received World Food Prize 2004 for his landmark achievement for developing the genetic materials and technologies important for breeding hybrid rice varieties, he said. As the first person to discover fast growth with greater yield and stress resistance he is acknowledged highly.

Meanwhile Punjab secretary agriculture Muhammad Mahmud said that Pakistani scientists, earlier had successfully developed a technology that will help farmers sow rice without water. As rice is sown with water in abundance in the field, however, the recent development would be helpful for the farming community facing water shortage problem, he added.

Professor Iqbal said that the only way to safeguard the global food supply is to raise the amount of yield per unit area via advanced technologies, including those that focus on water conservancy, fertilizer optimization, soil cultivation and improved seeds.

He said that Pakistan needed to make a massive investment in science and technology for a long period to entertain the desired progress. Noted environmentalist Dr Maqsood said that the global rice production is likely to fall in coming years due to climate change and its impacts, so it is a high time for Pakistan to avail benefit from the upcoming demand by increasing its rice production through sustainable practices.

To a query he said according to recent studies, climate change and its impacts on extreme weather and temperature swings is projected to reduce the global production of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans by 23 percent. It is pertinent to mention here that rice is the country's largest export crop (3.8 million Metric Tonnes per annum). The country has more than a thousand rice mills catering to the need of farmers growing 5.54 million tonnes per annum on an area of 2.5 million hectares. This important crop accounts for 6.7 percent of value added in the agricultural sector, and 1.6 percent of national GDP. Pakistan enjoys a strong competitive advantage in the export sector due to consumer preference in destination markets for aromatic and long grain rice http://www.brecorder.com/2017/08/29/367180/chinese-hybrid-rice-to-produce-18-tons-perhectare-record-yield/

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Rice’s bullish bias remains; macro drivers weighing heavy on cotton, grain

Bobby Coats | Aug 29, 2017

Globally, governments and Central Banks through their fiscal, monetary, trade, regulatory, exchange rate and geopolitical policies have reasonably stabilized our domestic and global economic setting date.

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey will impact final U.S. long grain rice production figures, but too early for me to speculate.

Economic crosscurrents: The bullish bias remains in the U.S. long grain rice market, even as global economic crosscurrents related to currencies, bonds, equities and commodities are rebalancing markets.

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Government intervention: Globally, governments and Central Banks through their fiscal, monetary, trade, regulatory, exchange rate and geopolitical policies have reasonably stabilized our domestic and global economic setting in 2017 to date.

Domestic and global rice fundamentals coupled with these policy intervention activities have benefitted the U.S. long grain rice sector.

Recession avoided: The U.S. and global economic, market, policy and regulatory events this year have unfolded in a manner that has allowed the U.S. to not only avoid a near-term recession, but through policy intervention pushed a potential U.S. recession and global economic slowdown possibly two-plus years into the future. Given fundamentals, today‟s domestic and global rice market would have not fared well with a significant global deceleration in economic activity.

China’s credit crisis has weighed heavy on global markets in 2017, especially commodity markets, but the crisis now appears to be manageable given aggressive Chinese and global financial engineering. China‟s ability to remain economically stable in 2017 is a major accomplishment of the top Chinese leadership and the Bank of China.

Dollar weakness: Many of the world‟s currencies remain more bullish than bearish, allowing the U.S. and Chinese currencies room to weaken and re-energize their respective economies, which is a plus for U.S. long grain rice exports.

Bond Market: The U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield is presently trading in a range of 2.1 to 2.4, which given domestic and global economic fundamentals is friendly to domestic and global economic growth, and many commodity markets including rice.

Slow Growth: Chronic slow domestic and global growth appear to be ever so slowly fading away due to fiscal and monetary policy intervention activities, which, in turn, provides incentive to expand commodity trade.

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Equities: U.S. and global equity markets have some potential price consolidation or weakness over the next one to two months. The question becomes what‟s the near-term impact on cotton, grain and rice markets? We simply must cautiously work our way through the next couple of months.

Thus, the domestic and global rice fundamentals, including unfolding events associated with Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey, coupled with an array of domestic and global government and Central Bank intervention activities, continue to give rice a bullish bias to date.

2017/18 World Rice Supply and Demand World Rice-Cliff Note Version 

2017/18 world rice acreage at 161.8 million hectares is slightly below last month‟s 161.9, but still the highest on record

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World rice yield at 4.4 metric tons per hectare is below 2016/17 period‟s 4.5, but consistent with previous six periods

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World rice rough production at 719.9 million metric tons is 1.8 million metric tons below 2016/17 and the 2nd highest on record

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World rice milled production is the 2nd highest on record at 482.6 million metric tons

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World trade at 43.9 million metric tons is the 3nd highest on record, which, in-part, reflects global uncertainties

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World rice total use at 479.1 million metric tons is the 2nd highest on record only exceeded by the previous marketing period‟s 480.3 million tons

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World rice ending stocks continue to build at 122.9 million metric tons, which is the highest since 2001/02

USDA Long Grain Rice Supply and Demand -- Cliff Note Version:

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The long grain rice season-average farm price range is forecast at $11.50 - $12.50 per cwt or $5.18 $5.63 per bushel

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2017 long grain rice planted acres are estimated at 1.909 million acres or 22 percent below 2016

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5-year average 2,044,400 acres

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10-year average 2,150,600 acres

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15-year average 2,229,267 acres

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2017-18 long grain rice beginning stocks are estimated at 31.3 million cwt.

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Previous 5-year average was 22 million cwt.

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Previous 10-year average was 24 million cwt.

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2017/18 long grain rice production is estimated at 132.4 million cwt

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5 percent below 2016-17

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5-year average 148 million cwt

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10-year average 149 million cwt

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2017-18 long grain rice production is estimated at 132.4 million cwt

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5 percent below 2016-17

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5-year average 148 million cwt

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10-year average 149 million cwt

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2017-18 long grain rice total supply is estimated at 184.7 million cwt.

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12-percent below 2016-17

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5-year average 190 million cwt.

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10-year average 191 million cwt.

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2017/18 long grain rice domestic and residual use is estimated at 90 million cwt,

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9th largest on record

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5-year average 95 million cwt.

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10-year average 94.5 million cwt.

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2017-18 long grain rice total exports is estimated at 77 million cwt,

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1 million cwt. below last year

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5-year average 72

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10-year average 73

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2017-18 long grain rice total use is estimated at 167 million cwt.

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11 million cwt below 2016-17

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5-year average 166.7 million cwt.

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10-year average 167 million cwt.

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2017-18 long grain rice ending stocks are estimated at 17.7 million cwt.

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5-percent below 2016-17, 2nd lowest in the previous 13 marketing periods

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5-year average 23 million cwt.

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10-year average 24 million cwt.

To view the accompanying Rice Outlook U.S. and World Slide Show, click on the download button that follows this article.

1. Bobby Coats is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas System. E-mail: recoats@uark.edu http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/rice-s-bullish-bias-remains-macro-drivers-weighing-heavy-cottongrain

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Govt may find it tough to recover dues from rice mills There are over 3000 rice mills in Punjab. Every paddy harvesting season, the state government‟s procurement agencies supply paddy to these rice mills for milling (making rice from paddy).

Written by Anju Agnihotri Chaba | Jalandhar | Published:August 31, 2017 12:04 am

Despite having announced a one-time settlement scheme, the Punjab government may not get back its dues from “defaulter rice millers”, several of which even sold their machinery years back and shifted to other businesses. (Representational Image/File) Despite having announced a one-time settlement scheme, the Punjab government may not get back its dues from “defaulter rice millers”, several of which even sold their machinery years back and shifted to other businesses. Around 250 to 300 defaulters, most of them from Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Sangrur, Firozpur, collectively owe the state government Rs 2,000-2,400 crore. Most of these mills owe between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore each to the government.

There are over 3000 rice mills in Punjab. Every paddy harvesting season, the state government‟s procurement agencies supply paddy to these rice mills for milling (making rice from paddy).

After the milling, a part of the rice produce is returned to the state government, which is further supplied to the central pool. Millers get milling charges from the government.

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However, for years, these defaulter millers did not return the government quota after milling.

“Instead of returning the government‟s share, they sold it in the open market,” said a senior official in Punjab‟s Food and Civil Supplies department. “Later, the government made a list of these defaulters and stopped supplying paddy to them,” he said.

Punjab Rice Millers Welfare Association president Rakesh Jain said he welcomed the “one-time settlement scheme”, which it was a long-pending demand. “Now, we will motivate millers to pay government dues and avail of opportunity for the closed mills ahead of expected bumper paddy crop this time, which could touch 160 lakh tonnes,” he said http://indianexpress.com/article/india/govt-may-find-it-tough-to-recover-dues-from-rice-mills-4821397/

Rice revolution: Officials, farmers flaunt different statistics

By Vincent A. Yusuf | Publish Date: Aug 31 2017 2:00AM Paddy rice in Olam Farm, Rukui, Nasarawa State …Figures not accurate – Expert …It‟s not good for national planning – Gov Badaru On Tuesday August 15, the Director of Agriculture at the Kano office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Muhammad Adamu, while inaugurating the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) said local rice production in Nigeria has now reached 15 million metric tonnes annually.

He said the development means that the country will now be saving about N300 billion which it hitherto spent annually on importation of the commodity.Alhaji Adamu stated that in Kano alone, 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice was produced in 2016.

With the significant increase in local production he said efforts are being made to make the local variety qualitative and more attractive to Nigerians. He said the country expects to begin exporting rice to West African countries by 2018/2019.Adamu said about 34 states in Nigeria are producing rice, with many now producing three times a year.

However, farmers do not think the country has reached 15 million metric tonnes production level as stated by the director, which is about twice the domestic consumption demand of 7.5 metric tonnes.

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Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, National President of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in an interview with Daily Trust recently said from the record they have of 2016, the production level increased from 3.5 million metric tonnes of 2015 to 6.5 million metric tonnes in 2016.

He noted that the domestic consumption rate is between 6.5 million and 7.5 million metric tonnes maximum per annum. He said 2016 was the year rice farmers witnessed massive production of the staple commodity and that from 2015, the production continued to increase in every production circle.Alhaji Goronyo said the statistics also covered both the registered and unregistered rice farmers in the country.

The leader of rice farmers said their statistics was verifiable, explaining that the production per year was arrived at “through the quantum of paddy sold because RIFAN is structured across the four levels of the rice value chain - production, processing, packaging and marketing.

“So we hav e the data for the rice paddy sold. That is where we know the exact quantum of rice produced,” he said.

On its part, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Director of Communications, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, said its Anchor Borrowers Programme, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday November 17, 2015 in Kebbi State has produced 2.1 million metric tonnes of rice

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/rice-revolution-officials-farmers-flaunt-different-statistics.html

Floods won't have much impact on farm output ET Bureau| Updated: Aug 30, 2017, 04.50 PM IST Scientists said if the crop is wiped out, farmers in eastern India would go for an early mustard crop and then late wheat by September.

NEW DELHI / KOLKATA: Fields have been flooded in many states, damaging standing crops, but officials said there would be no major impact on output as farmers can replant rice, castor and pulses after water recedes and the industry expects prices to be unaffected because of adequate food stocks, making rainfall in September critical. "Overall the floods will not make a major impact on production but it will locally impact farmers and livestock," said AK Singh,

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DDG-Agricultural Extension, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

"Farmers are intelligent people and will compensate by going for local crops or taking two crops in winter due to good ground water availability," added Singh, saying they have prepared contingency plans for 623 districts in the country giving farmers options on what to grow depending on the stage of crop loss.

More than 25 lakh hectare area is under water in flood hit states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam according to preliminary reports of these state governments.

Scientists said if the crop is wiped out, farmers in eastern India would go for an early mustard crop and then late wheat by September. Similarly, in the western region, farmers could go for mustard and chana crop due to good moisture available in the soil.

In Assam and eastern Uttar Pradesh region the severity of crop loss was less compared to Bihar where fields were inundated with water. "In 10-12 districts in Bihar, paddy has been hit. In Gujarat, West Bengal and Rajasthan flooded fields are concentrated in one or two districts with water receding, so no major impact on crop production," said Singh.

Considering that till last Friday, total planting had covered 976.3 lakh hectares, as per the agriculture ministry data, the impact would not be huge, ministry officials said. The government has set a target of planting crop on 1058.6 lakh hectare this kharif season.

Floods have wreaked havoc in northern parts of Bihar causing damage to paddy and maize crops.

Sixteen districts of the state namely, Sitamarhi, West Champaran, Katihar, Madhubani, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Madhepura, Supual, Kisanganj, Gopalganj, Purnea, Muzaffarpur, Khagaria, Saran, Saharsa and Sheohar are under flood water.

"Eighty-seven blocks in these 16 districts are under water affecting 49.6% of the crops growing in the region. According to an initial estimate, 6.32 lakh hectares are under water. However, we are yet to gauge the value of crop loss. It will take another week to evaluate the crop loss. Paddy and maize are the major crops grown in these districts," said Himanshu Kumar Rai, agriculture director of Bihar.

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Rai added that the state government has come up with Akashmik Fasal Yojana to tackle this sudden disaster that has happened due to incessant rains in northern Bihar. "The state government has made an allocation of Rs 24.28 crore for buying seeds and distribute to farmers so they can undertake replantation. Once the water recedes we will distribute short duration paddy seeds as well as vegetable seeds to the affected farmers," he said.

Speaking to ET, Gujarat's agriculture minister Chiman Sapariya said that floods had affected 8 lakh hectares land in the state largely in Banaskantha and Patan with cotton, groundnut and pulses.

"Survey is going on and will be completed in next two days. Approximately, out of the 8 lakh hectares, I think 2.5 lakh hectares under various crops have been hit. The state government will ensure financial aid to farmers at the earliest. It is the right time to plant castor and moong," said Sapariya.

Gujarat government officials said more than 6.5 lakh hectares submerged under water accounted for more than 33% damage. Total planting in the state till last week was 80 lakh hectare said officials. Gujarat would be giving Rs 1500 crore relief package for farmers while the centre has announced another Rs 500 crore.

Similarly, in Assam floods covered 60% of the 3.08 lakh hectares have damaged crops, said Assam agriculture commissioner Amlan Baruah. "Consecutive floods for three years this kharif season in the state have hit paddy, vegetable and jute planting. Rice nurseries and fields are inundated and we have to see how much we can retrieve, once the water recedes," he said adding that total planting this season has been 14.6 lakh hectares.

West Bengal, Bihar's neighbouring state, is also facing the wrath of floods. In north Bengal, 5 lakh hectares of crop area is under water. Pradip Mazumdar, agriculture advisor to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said "The total estimated crop loss is to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore. Paddy has been damaged. Paddy saplings are still under water. At this point, we are not sure whether the entire damaged crop will be recovered. However, at the state government level, we are ready with short duration paddy seeds. Once water recedes, we will distribute the seeds among farmers." The state produced 16.2 million of rice in kharif 2016.

In Rajasthan, where 4.5 lakh hectares land largely under bajra, moong and moth, planting has been affected according to Vikas Kumar Bhale commissioner agriculture, Rajasthan.

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'We will soon be claiming 25% of the sum assured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to be disbursed at the earliest to farmers. Most of the fields flooded in the last week of July are still under water. We expect farmers to take advantage of it in planting mustard and chana this winter," Bhale said.

Premchand Meena, agricultural production commissioner of Madhya Pradesh said that there have been floods in southern parts of the state which affected 5% of the kharif crops that include groundnut, soybean, paddy and urad. "However, the northern part of the state is deficient in rain, which is a matter of concern to us," said Meena.

The Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) in its latest report said this year monsoon arrived on time and the sowing of soybean was done during 10th June to 20th July, 2017. "In some areas, re-sowing had to be done because an extended dry spell. It is estimated that area under soybean may decrease by about 6.4% over last year's area estimate of SOPA," the report adds. Over all condition of the soybean crop in most areas is normal. In some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where light soil exists, soybean crop has already been damaged due to moisture stress, which may affect the overall productivity adversely in these areas, SOPA said.

Back in Bengal, rice producers and millers do not see a pressure on rice availability due to wide spread floods in north Bengal that has affected the paddy crop. "There will be no major impact as the damage is not devastating. Moreover, we have surplus paddy and there is enough stock in the state," said Manoj Kumar Modi, owner of Swastika Rice Mill that markets rice under Lion brand name.

His views were also echoed by Anghsu Mallick, chief operating officer, Adani Wilmar. "There is enough foodgrains in the country and therefore, any crop loss will not affect the supply side and jack up prices http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/floods-wont-have-much-impacton-farm-output/articleshow/60292434.cms

Chinese hybrid rice to reform production

By APP Published: August 30, 2017

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PHOTO: APP LAHORE: The launch of Chinese hybrid rice in Pakistan will bring a revolution in production with yield of 18 tons per hectare or more than 150 maunds per acre, said experts on Tuesday.

They said that both China and Pakistan currently sow around 7-8 tons per hectares that is 15% more than conventional yield of rice.

Sino-Pakistan Hybrid Rice Research Centre (SPHRRC) Director Mohammad Zubair said that the new rice variety would help increase per acre yield for Pakistani farmers and increase export of rice to other countries, including China, in the future. Noted environmentalist Dr Maqsood said that the global rice production is likely to fall in coming years due to climate change and its impacts, so it is high time for Pakistan to avail benefit from the upcoming demand.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2017 https://tribune.com.pk/story/1494436/chinese-hybrid-rice-reform-production/

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Pakistan relies on a huge underground reservoir – but it’s polluted with arsenic and will eventually run dry August 29, 2017 11.36pm AEST Author 1. Fazilda Nabeel Doctoral Researcher, Department for International Development, University of Sussex Disclosure statement Fazilda Nabeel receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council UK for her doctoral research on groundwater governance in the Indus Basin Partners

Drilling a groundwater well by hand, near Lahore, July 2017. A_noina / Shutterstock

More than 50m people in Pakistan are at risk of arsenic poisoning from contaminated groundwater. That‟s according to a study recently published in the journal Science Advances, based on samples from 1,200 wells across the country. Arsenic cannot be removed from groundwater through common processes such as boiling or filtration – instead it requires expensive procedures such as reverse osmosis which are beyond the reach of most poor people.

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Contamination is particularly worrying in this case as Pakistan is unusually dependant on a single, vast underground natural reservoir known as the Indus basin aquifer. The aquifer covers an area of 160,000km² – making it slightly larger than England – and spans Pakistan‟s border with India.Arsenic contamination may not even be the most alarming thing about the aquifer, however. At current rates of groundwater mining there is considerable risk the wells will eventually run dry.

Around 95% of Pakistan‟s population lives in the Indus basin. nomi887 / wiki, CC BY-SA Both Pakistan and India have historically subsidised electricity and diesel for running agricultural wells that tap into the aquifer. Groundwater users only pay for the energy used to mine the resource; the water itself is not metered or priced. The aquifer is literally free for anyone to tap into by drilling a well – whether it is for agricultural, industrial or domestic purposes.Both countries are taking out far more water than is being replenished by rain or rivers. In fact, India extracts more groundwater than any other country in the world (not just from the Indus), and Pakistan is fourth in the list. The Indus aquifer is already the second most “overstressed” groundwater basin in the world and, at current rates of use, reserves like this may be “severely depleted” over the next few decades.

Where the water goes More than 300m people live in the largely agricultural and extensively irrigated Indus basin. Of the total water used for irrigation about halfcomes from the aquifer below ground, rather than rainwater or the river itself and its various tributaries. There are irrigation canals, but their flow is concentrated in the summer monsoon period and isn‟t as readily available as groundwater.

Lots of „virtual water‟ at a cattle market in Karachi. Asianet-Pakistan / Despite increased concerns over groundwater use, governments on both sides of the border have been encouraging farmers to produce and export water-intensive food crops and livestock products. Given lots of water from a fast-diminishing aquifer is needed to produce everything from a grain of rice to a slab of beef, this trade amounts to “virtual water” exports. “Virtual water” refers to water embedded in trade products. A country that exports rice is in effect also exporting the water that is used to grow rice. This is why water-starved countries such as Saudia Arabiahave stopped growing products like wheat. Importing food instead essentially means they “import” water rather than using their own scarce reserves.

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Key exports from India and Pakistan including rice, sugar, cotton and textiles all require lots of water to produce. In addition, both governments are incentivising the growth of meat exports through the use of various subsidies, without considering the water footprint. Pakistanâ€&#x;s halal meat export trade has grown more than ten-fold in the past decade, for instance – mainly to water-scarce countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Recently sown paddy fields in Sindh, Pakistan. DFID, CC BY-SA

Growing development pressures and increasing industrialisation in India and Pakistan also contribute to increased groundwater stress and pollution. Though official estimates say industry uses a mere 2% of the groundwater extracted in India, and even less in Pakistan, the reality is likely to be much more. In the Indus region, the aquifer is crucial for water-intensive sectors such as textiles or leather and, in practice, industrial mining of the regionâ€&#x;s groundwater is not metered or priced. Most industrial units also discharge untreated effluents in unlined pits, which eventually seep into the ground and has resulted in severe contamination of the water table.

A finite resource In India, some states where groundwater levels are critical now require a license to drill new wells. In Pakistan, however, unlicensed drilling continues. The current legal framework for groundwater is spread across a variety of instruments both from colonial and post-colonial times, as well as local customs that often conflict with each other. Property rights are largely defined by

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an archaic piece of colonial legislation, the Easements Act of 1882, which allows landowners to effectively collect and dispose of underground water as long as it is not a part of a public irrigation network.

Most of the elaborate state irrigation bureaucracy serves to manage and distribute surface water – not the aquifer. India has recently established a Central Groundwater Board, but in Pakistan monitoring and management still happens in silos, with no particular institution taking responsibility for the conservation of the resource. https://theconversation.com/pakistan-relies-on-a-huge-underground-reservoir-but-its-polluted-witharsenic-and-will-eventually-run-dry-82997

Rice traders who set higher price to face sanctions: VP 29th August 2017 |

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla reiterated that the authority would impose sanctions against rice traders who set medium and premium quality rice price higher than its ceiling price.

"There will be monitoring and sanctions and, at least, revocation of the license for those who sell rice above the ceiling price," Kalla said here on Tuesday.

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The government has formulated sanctions against traders who violate the regulation, while waiting for the imposition of rice ceiling price on Sept 1.

Previously, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita noted that national rice traders have agreed on the imposition of ceiling price for medium and premium quality rice, which would take effect on Sept 1.

The ceiling price would be imposed in both traditional and modern markets. It was set at Rp9,450 per kilogram for medium quality and Rp12.8 thousand per kilogram for premium quality rice in Java, Lampung, South Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi.

In Sumatra region, apart from South Sumatra and Lampung, East Nusa Tenggara and Kalimantan, the ceiling price for medium quality rice was set at Rp9,950 per kilogram and Rp13.3 thousand per kilogram for premium quality.

For Maluku, including North Maluku and Papua, the ceiling price for medium and premium quality rice was set at Rp10,250 per kilogram and Rp13.6 thousand per kilogram, respectively.

The government has categorized rice into three types, namely first category, which includes medium rice with minimum milling degree of 95 percent, maximum moisture content of 14 percent, and maximum broken rice of 25 percent.

The medium quality rice could be sold in bulk or in packages, but it must enclose the medium label and its ceiling price in the package.The second category includes premium rice with 95 percent of milling degree, maximum moisture content of 14 percent, and maximum broken rice of 15 percent. Premium quality rice is sold in packages and must enclose the premium label and its ceiling price as well.

Another category is special rice quality that would be managed separately by the Agriculture Ministry. This will include Thai Hom Mali, Japonica, Basmati, sticky rice, organic rice, and GI (geographical indication) certified rice.

"For this special rice category, we are yet to set (the ceiling price)," Enggartiasto explained.(*) http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/112423/rice-traders-who-set-higher-price-to-face-sanctions-vp

THE TANGY TASTES OF TAJ BYGLORIA DEUTSCH

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AUGUST 30, 2017 17:49

This authentic Indian restaurant lights up Or Akiva.

Taj Kosher . (photo credit:Courtesy)

Diners in Israel who want both a kosher and Indian meal do not have a great many choices, especially if they live in the center of the country.When we were invited to sample the food at Taj in Or Akiva – not, as it happens, by the owner but by good friends who share our love of Indian food – we were delighted to accept.Taj is the brainchild of 36–yearold Moshe Solomon, who opened the restaurant a year ago. It‟s situated on a shopping promenade in the seaside town

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that is located next door to Caesarea.

The restaurant a second culinary venture for Solomon, who tried running a shakshouka place in Alfei Menashe for a while. It didn‟t prosper but, undeterred, he decided to offer food he knows from home and enlisted his mother to do all the cooking.

His parents came to Israel from Mumbai in 1973, and he was raised on good Indian home cooking, which is what he now offers in his restaurant. His mother does the cooking, and his father also helps out. During the day, Solomon‟s wife works elsewhere but helps in the evenings.

She is also Indian, although born in Dimona. So the whole enterprise is strictly a family business.

And so to the food. We began our meal with two distinctly Indian starters. Batata vada (NIS 22) is a very popular street food in Mumbai that consists of a ball of mashed potato flavored with crushed mustard seed and various herbs and spices. It‟s coated in chickpea flour and is deep fried.

The second starter was Punjabi samosa (NIS 27), a pyramid of short crust pastry filled with a mixture of potatoes, green peas and multiple spices. Both were delicious and got the taste buds tingling.

All the main courses were chicken-based or vegetarian, which was fine with us. I chose the chicken tikka (NIS 59), which came in the form of brightly colored chicken chunks on skewers with a marvelous flavor of spices I was unfamiliar with. The meat was tender and juicy and lacked nothing for being made without the traditional yogurt.

Two of our party had chicken curry (NIS 59), a very generous quarter of chicken in a pungent sauce. And the fourth dish was chicken biryani – long-grain rice with flavorful chunks of chicken and dried fruits. All the food was good, freshly made and had just the right degree of spiciness

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for our palates.

Basmati rice accompanied the meal, and crispy homemade poppadums added another interesting texture.As the restaurant has no liquor license, diners are free to bring their own beverages.

Quantities of whiskey and wine were imbibed and went surprisingly well with the Indian tastes.

Taj does not offer desserts.“Most Indian desserts are dairy,” explains Solomon, “and I don‟t want to use milk substitutes and lower my standards.”

The restaurant has a kashrut certificate from the Or Akiva rabbinate. There are several vegetarian options, and it is veganfriendly.Prices are extremely reasonable.A meal for two shouldn‟t cost more than NIS 200. For a quick curry fix, Taj is definitely the place.

Taj Kosher 3 Rothschild St., Or Akiva Tel: (04) 838-8440 Open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/The-tangy-tastes-of-Taj-503793

Fighting diabetes, one plate of nasi lemak at a time Dr Elly made a healthy version of nasi lemak, featuring air-fried condiments, pan-fried fish, and more vegetables. (Photo: Howard Law)

By Jalelah Abu Baker @JalelahCNA 30 Aug 2017 11:51AM (Updated: 30 Aug 2017 10:14PM) SINGAPORE: At Dr Elly Sabrina Ismail‟s home off Bukit Batok, a punching bag hangs from the ceiling in stark contrast to an otherwise elegant room.She is awaiting guests and has prepared glasses of mint tea, with no sugar of course. You see, Dr Elly, in her own way, is fighting what has been described by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as a health crisis in the Malay and Indian communities - diabetes.

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The 47-year-old general practitioner focuses on eating right and exercise. Her modest collection of exercise equipment, like kettle bells, a battling rope, a cable machine and a squat rack - a birthday gift from her husband - was built over time.

“Others get rings, I get exercise machines,” she said with a laugh.Dr Elly‟s lifestyle, however, may not be representative of her community‟s.Dr Vivien Lim, an endocrinologist at Gleneagles Hospital, said national health surveys through the years show that the prevalence of obesity among Malays has doubled from 13.4 per cent in 1992 to 24 per cent in 2010.

Dr Lim, who is also president of the Endocrine and Metabolic Society of Singapore, said obesity is the main "driving force" of diabetes.The increasing prevalence of obesity in the community could be due more to inadequate physical activity than the quantity of food eaten, she said, although national surveys show an increase in the percentage of Malays taking part in leisuretime regular exercise.

The statistics for Malays over the age of 60 is grim - half have diabetes - but Mr Johar Anuar, a shipping coordinator, is intent on bucking the trend.

The 70-year-old starts his day with planking, light weights and exercises with a stretch band, even before breakfast.

Mr Johar Anuar, 70, exercising in Istanbul while on holiday two years ago. (Photo: Johar Anuar) While he has mild hypertension, he does not have diabetes. As chairman of the Bukit Gombak Malay Activity Executive Committee, he also worked with the National Kidney Foundation and community-led exercise group Geng Sihat to introduce a weekly exercise stretching and toning programme - a low-impact activity that is suitable to most older people who have joint aches.

Many Malays are active when they are young - in athletics, football and all. But once they work and have a family, they neglect all these, they don’t bother about proper eating.

But for him and his wife, exercise and eating right are part of their lives.

“It‟s an excuse that it is hereditary. We try to break away from the trend. There‟s always time for exercise,” he said.

DIABETES A SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEM While diabetes is a national issue, the Prime Minister said the disease is a “health crisis” for the Indian and Malay communities during the National Day Rally on Aug 20, given the statistics.

Among those above 60 years old, 60 per cent of Indians and 50 per cent of Malays have the disease.

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Last year, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong declared war on diabetes. One in three Singaporeans has a lifetime risk of getting the disease and the number of those with the condition is projected to reach 1 million by 2050, his ministry said.

The ethnic differences are mainly for Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, which has risk factors that include family history and ethnicity, age and environmental influences, and obesity, said Dr Kevin Tan, consultant diabetologist and endocrinologist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

He said that the situation is “very serious”, enough for public health authorities on a national level and doctors on the ground to use ethnicity as a diabetes risk marker for individuals.

It is not just diabetes, but the Indian ethnic group also has the highest risk for heart attacks.

"On a national level, inroads are being made into the individual communities to educate on early diabetes detection and prevention, as well as to identify unhealthy cooking practices and food choices and to encourage change,” he said.

The prevalence of obesity among Indians has increased from 11.5 per cent in 1992 to 16.9 per cent in 2010.

On the ground, doctors may manage an Indian person with diabetes more strictly in terms of managing his other heart-attack risk factors given his higher risk, Dr Tan said.

A higher prevalence of diabetes in these ethnic groups translate to a heavier healthcare burden for individuals, families, the community and the nation, he added.

“It is not just a healthcare burden of coping and living with diabetes and struggling to manage it by changing ingrained lifestyle practices, but also the socio-economic impact of complications when they arise,” he said.

COOKING METHODS, PORTIONS, PART OF THE PROBLEM On the whole, healthy food is not as readily accessible and available as unhealthy food, Dr Elly said. Most people go to hawker centres and food courts for their meals, places near their homes and offices, and all they want to do is buy food quickly, she said.

And while healthy eateries sprout regularly in the city, it is less common in the heartlands.

"Not everyone works in the city. If they want to grab food before work, they might get a muffin or curry puff at the MRT station."

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Zooming in on Malay food, she said that portion size, method of preparation, and the proportion of carbohydrates to protein and vegetables matter. Dishes laden with coconut milk, oil and sugar, like rendang, lodeh, and goreng pisang, are eaten frequently, she said.

We are eating lavishly every day. We are not reserving certain dishes for special occasions like celebrations. Every day is Hari Raya.

Indian food also has similar issues, said Dr Kalpana Bhaskaran, domain lead for applied nutrition and glycaemic index research at Temasek Polytechnic. Eating healthy Indian food at hawker centres or food courts may prove difficult, as some of the stalls have very limited vegetable dishes, she said.

“If available, they are mostly stir-fried with lots of oil, and are overcooked. Overcooking vegetables completely destroys most of the B vitamins,” she added.

She added that crowd favourite biryani rice is made with lots of oil, and that stalls typically offer white rice, and too much of it, in comparison to the amount of vegetables and meat.

When it comes to Western food, pasta dishes sometimes come with a side of french fries, which makes the dish too carbohydrate-heavy, she said.

To cook healthier, she suggested using spices and herbs to flavour food instead of salt and sauces, and cutting down the use of mock meat as it is high in starch and sodium and the quality of the protein is poor.

Dr Kalpana also said she tries to cook at least one meal a day.

“Preparing most meals at home helps train our palate towards healthier fare,” she said.

Dr Elly's version of roti john using wholemeal bread, lean minced beef, chopped parsley , onions and chillies added to egg batter and panfried with little oil, with a side of bean salad.

(Photo: Elly Sabrina) Ethnic food may not be the only culprit in driving obesity up. For Malays, healthy halal options in other cuisines are few and far between, Dr Elly said.

She added that going by the Geylang Serai bazaar earlier in the year, demand for halal hipster food like rainbow bagels was up, but such food is high in calories and low in nutrition.

Even where there is healthy food available, cost becomes a factor. She said that for those who are not able to afford pricey healthy food, cutting back on white rice portions, and getting energy from protein like eggs and tofu will help. She also suggested "lots of fresh vegetables and fruits".

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Her solution is to have home-cooked food except for two meals - lunch on Saturday and dinner on Sunday. It is a far cry from seven to eight years ago, she said, when she would skip breakfast and “eat anything” that is laid on the table at lunch time because she would be so hungry by then.

She puts up recipes of home-cooked, healthier alternatives on her Facebook and Instagram pages, and showed Channel NewsAsia that even the much-maligned nasi lemak can be cooked healthier.

The trick is to use basmati rice, low-fat coconut milk, less sugar, less salt, pan-fried fish, boiled eggs instead of fried, air-fried condiments like peanuts and ikan bilis, and an additional vegetable side dish to add to the fibre content of the meal.

“What is important is to identify unhealthy cooking practices, methods and food choices, as well as lifestyle choices, that all races should pay heed to and modify. This is especially important as there is a cultural blend in Singapore and all the different ethnic groups indulge in each other's cuisine,” said Dr Tan. Even as Singapore tries to adopt healthier cooking and eating habits, there is a lack of understanding on what exactly is healthy, said Mr Alex Bauduin, founder of an eatery in Tanjong Pagar called Yolo.

"Healthy food doesn‟t have to be boring, doesn‟t have to be tasteless, doesn‟t have to be just salads, and that‟s a very important thing," he said.

To ensure that he was serving the right kind of food, Mr Bauduin worked with a nutritionist in coming up with dishes. He also tied up with healthcare provider HealthQuay Medical which provides chronic disease management, physiotherapy and dietetics services.

Patients can opt for a meal programme designed by Yolo to manage, for example, diabetes.

His eatery, which in March turned halal in order to cater to more people, serves regular Asian and Western dishes with a healthy spin.

For example, his meatball spaghetti is made with wholewheat pasta, and the meatballs are made with vegetables like zucchini. For his Peranakan veggie curry, brown rice is served, and the curry, cooked with trim coconut milk, contains kale.“Just like parents do with their children, we have to trick adults into eating more vegetables,” he said

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/fighting-diabetes-oneplate-of-nasi-lemak-at-a-time-9164560?cid=cna_flip_070214

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Chinese hybrid rice to produce 18 tons per hectare record yield

LAHORE: Rice growing experts on Tuesday said that the launch of Chinese Hybrid rice in Pakistan would bring revolution in rice production having yield of 18 tons per hectare or more than 150 maunds per acre. Talking to APP the experts said that both China and Pakistan currently sown around 7-8 tons per hectares that is 15 percent more than conventional yield of rice. Sino-Pakistan Hybrid Rice Research Centre (SPHRRC) director Professor Mohammad Zubair, said that the new rice variety would help to increase per acre yield for Pakistani farmers and increased export of rice to other countries, including China, in future.

He said that both China and Pakistan were currently sowing around 7-8 tons per hectares that is 15 percent more than conventional yield of rice. The amount of the double-cropping rice is equal to that produced over three seasons in the past, marking a big breakthrough, he said. To a question he said that Chinese Professor Yuan, is the father of this hybrid rice. He said his discovery of high- yield hybrid rice would help end the food crisis in the globe, which was highly regarded in China and in the world.

Prominent rice scientist and researcher, Professor Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary said that "father of hybrid rice," Professor Yuan began theoretical research about 50 years ago and

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continued to set new records in the average yields of hybrid rice plots. He said that the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the UN World Intellectual Property Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) honoured professor Yuan with different titles and awards during the last four decades. Yuan received World Food Prize 2004 for his landmark achievement for developing the genetic materials and technologies important for breeding hybrid rice varieties, he said.

As the first person to discover fast growth with greater yield and stress resistance he is acknowledged highly. Meanwhile Punjab secretary agriculture Muhammad Mahmud said that Pakistani scientists, earlier had successfully developed a technology that will help farmers sow rice without water. As rice is sown with water in abundance in the field, however, the recent development would be helpful for the farming community facing water shortage problem, he added. Professor Iqbal said that the only way to safeguard the global food supply is to raise the amount of yield per unit area via advanced technologies, including those that focus on water conservancy, fertilizer optimization, soil cultivation and improved seeds.

He said that Pakistan needed to make a massive investment in science and technology for a long period to entertain the desired progress. Noted environmentalist Dr Maqsood said that the global rice production is likely to fall in coming years due to climate change and its impacts, so it is a high time for Pakistan to avail benefit from the upcoming demand by increasing its rice production through sustainable practices. To a query he said according to recent studies, climate change and its impacts on extreme weather and temperature swings is projected to reduce the global production of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans by 23 percent. It is pertinent to mention here that rice is the country's largest export crop (3.8 million Metric Tonnes per annum). The country has more than a thousand rice mills catering to the need of farmers growing 5.54 million tonnes per annum on an area of 2.5 million hectares.

This important crop accounts for 6.7 percent of value added in the agricultural sector, and 1.6 percent of national GDP. Pakistan enjoys a strong competitive advantage in the export sector due to consumer preference in destination markets for aromatic and long grain rice. http://www.brecorder.com/2017/08/29/367180/chinese-hybrid-rice-to-produce-18-tons-perhectare-record-yield/

Sustainability Matters – Fly Your Flag with the USA Rice Sustainability Award Aug 30, 2017

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ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – Earlier this year, Unilever, one of the largest food and consumer companies in the world, and a user of U.S.-grown rice in their Knorr Brand, conducted a survey of 20,000 adults in five countries to l earn how their views on sustainability impact consumer purchasing decisions. The answer was, “quite a bit.”Seventy-eight percent of U.S. shoppers said they feel better when they buy products that are sustainably produced, and 21 percent of all shoppers surveyed said they would actively choose brands that make their sustainability credentials clear on packaging and marketing materials.

“Doing the right thing with regard to sustainability is obviously important, but just as important in the marketplace is letting people know you‟re doing it,” said Jennifer James, an Arkansas rice farmer and chair of the USA Rice Sustainability Committee. “We created the USA Rice Sustainability Award to flush out those stories, those good actors, who will help lift the entire industry by sharing what they are doing.”

The award is open to individuals or entities with significant involvement in the U.S. rice industry and with a history of promoting and advancing sustainability through innovative practices and demonstrated leadership in the sustainability community.

“If you or your neighbor, or someone you know is elevating the already excellent sustainability record of the U.S. rice industry, please take a few minutes to share your story with us, so we can share it with the world,” James said.

The nomination form and process is quite simple and James‟ committee is accepting nominations through September 29, 2017. The award will be presented at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in San Antonio, Texas on December 10, 2017.

The application form can be found here. https://www.usarice.com/news-resources/daily/usa-ricedaily/2017/08/30/sustainability-matters-fly-your-flag-with-the-usa-ricesustainability-award Online Advertisement:mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 0321 369 2874 www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com www.ricepluss.com