4th August , 2014
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Unisame for incentives to boost rice export to Iran People you should know: Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center scientists Generating a Genome to Feed the World: UA-Led Team Decodes African Rice New machine age for Japan's ageing farmers USA Rice Federation-Ducks Unlimited Conservation Proposal Clears Major Hurdle Record Rice Crop Brings Out Record Crowd at Arkansas Rice Expo Crop Progress: 2014 Crop 60 Percent Headed Arkansas Rice Expo Draws 1K People for Farming, Family, and Food Export rice prices reach two year high U of A Leads International Team In Sequencing African Rice Genome Philippines allots $236 million for extra rice imports Harrell to take over as AgCenter rice specialist Vietnamese rice exporters face risks in US market NCPO to auction 160,000 tonnes of rice Rice exports in July could hit 900,000 tonnes Non-basmati rice up on increased demand Govt aims 30 mn tons rice procurement in 2014-15 Plan to improve basmati seed varieties under way
News Detail.. Unisame for incentives to boost rice export to Iran August 04, 2014
KARACHI - The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) invited immediate attention of the Federal Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir to increase in import duty on Indian rice by Iran and the urgent need now to facilitate Pakistani rice exporters to Iran to receive payment of export bills in rupees. President Unisame Zulfikar Thaver said India benefited a lot by facilitating its exporters to export to Iran and receive payment in Indian rupees and increased its basmati rice exports to Iran substantially as there was no competition
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from Pakistan. He said Iran has raised its import duty on Indian basmati rice from 22pc to 40pc and Indian exporters are now in turmoil. Thaver urged the Minister Khurram Dastagir to act promptly and make arrangements with Iran for receiving payment in Pakistani rupees for all exports to Iran to enable the Pakistani basmati rice exporters regain their lost market as this is an opportunity and every effort must be made to re-enter the Iranian market.The Iranian market likes Pakistani super basmati rice which is aromatic, tasty, elongates on cooking and long in length and good looking. For several years the Pakistani rice has been in great demand in Iran but due to hurdles created by the dollar regime, the Iranian buyers were unable to remit the value. The Unisame chief said although there are no sanctions on food and medicine yet the international agency for money transactions blocked all remittances from Iran and caused tremendous setback to Iran and Pakistani basmati rice exporters to Iran. He said Pakistan tried for currency swap agreement with Iran but it is believed that Pakistan was restrained to enter any such agreement. However Unisame expects the ministry of commerce will take up the matter with the ministry of finance and make the necessary arrangements forthwith.
People you should know: Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center scientists By dteer@stuttgartdailyleader.com Posted Aug.
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STUTTGART — The Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center has been around since 1999, but few people actually know that it‘s there or what it does. The Stuttgart Daily Leader set out to find out more about the DBNRRC. In doing so, it was discovered that this money seems to be well spent with, in some cases, a great return on the investment in savings of money, time and resources, when one considers the economic impact of the work that is done here.According to Dr. Anna McClung, research leader/center director, at the DBNRCC since 2005, ―We want the community to know that we are very cognizant that we work for the taxpayer, and that your tax dollars are well spent. We have some really great people here doing really great work and we will continue to be a resource for teachers and farmers alike. It‘s a shame we have to go out of this country to get people to come here and work with us.‖ Dr. Craig Wilson, director of the USDA/HSINP Future Scientists Program, speaking to a group of teachers, said, ―Ag science is so important. We are losing 6,000 acres per day of land (that could be utilized to feed the world). Only 1/32 of the earth‘s mass feeds the world. With the population of the world looking to hit 7
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billion people, it makes the research we do so important.‖―If we don‘t research agriculture, we can‘t feed the future,‖ research geneticist Dr. Shannon Pinson said. ―We must try to ‗home grow‘ scientists by making science fun and interesting.‖ Linda Gunnell, a sixt- grade science teacher from DeWitt, is working as a STRIVE program participant this summer at the DBNRRC and calls it, ―the hidden jewel.‖―They want to get teachers in this facility to see what is happening here and then take it back to their classroom,‖ Gunnell said.―We will come to your classroom or you can bring your class here,‖ Wilson said. ―We want to be a resource for you.‖Although many rice varieties are actually stored here in Arkansas, not all rice varieties are. Most are stored in Idaho at what is known as the GSOR, the Genetic Stocks Oryza (GSOR) Collection. Rice varieties mean more than just the variety that is desired to plant. What the DBNRRC is interested in as well are the rice accessions. According to Dr. Shannon Pinson, ―...18,000 rice accessions is, for practical purposes, too large to study for each and every trait. So, what we generally do instead is make some ‗best guesses‘ as to what subset of that collection to work with. For example, if we are interested in finding a gene for cold tolerance, we can pretty much not waste our time looking through rice accessions from hot, tropical regions, but instead look first at rice accessions originally from colder parts of the world.‖
Generating a Genome to Feed the World: UA-Led Team Decodes African Rice
Published on Sunday, 03 August 2014 20:02 Written by Shelley Littin
Tucson, Arizona - The genetic information will enhance scientists' and agriculturalists' understanding of the growing patterns of African rice, as well as enable the development of new rice varieties that are better able to cope with increasing environmental stressors to help solve global hunger challenges.The paper, "The genome sequence of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) and evidence for independent domestication," was published online in Nature Genetics on Sunday. The effort to sequence the African rice genome was led by Rod A. Wing, director of the Arizona Genomics Institute at the UA and the Bud Antle Endowed Chair in the School of Plant Sciences in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with a joint appointment in the UA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology."Rice feeds half the world, making it the most important food crop," Wing said. "Rice will play a key role in helping to solve what we call the 9 billion-people question."The 9 billion-people question refers to predictions that the world's population will increase to more than 9 billion people – many of whom will live in areas where access to food is extremely scarce – by the year 2050. The question lies in how to grow enough
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food to feed the world's population and prevent the host of health, economic and social problems associated with hunger and malnutrition. Now, with the completely sequenced African rice genome, scientists and agriculturalists can search for ways to cross Asian and African species to develop new varieties of rice with the high-yield traits of Asian rice and the hardiness of African rice."African rice is once more at the forefront of cultivation strategies that aim to confront climate change and food availability challenges," said Judith Carney, a professor of geography at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of "Black Rice." The book describes the historical importance of African rice, which was brought to the United States during the period of transatlantic slavery. Carney is also a co-author on the Nature Genetics paper, and her book served as one of the inspirations behind sequencing the African rice genome."We're merging disciplines to solve the 9 billion-people question," Wing said.Although it is currently cultivated in only a handful of locations around the world, African rice is hardier and more resistant to environmental stress in West African environments than Asian varieties, Wing said.African rice already has been crossed with Asian rice to produce new varieties under a group known as NERICA, which stands for New Rice for Africa.The African rice genome is especially important because many of the genes code for traits that make African rice resistant to environmental stress, such as long periods of drought, high salinity in the soils and flooding. "Now that we have a precise knowledge of the genome we can identify these traits more easily and move genes more rapidly through conventional breeding methods, or through genetic modification techniques," noted Wing, who is also a member of the UA's BIO5 Institute and holds the Axa Endowed Chair of Genome Biology and Evolutionary Genomics at the International Rice Research Institute. "The idea is to create a super-rice that will be higher yielding but will have less of an environmental impact – such as varieties that require less water, fertilizer and pesticides."Hardy, high-yield crops will become increasingly vital for human survival as the world faces the environmental effects of climate change and an ever-growing global population, he added. Wing's research group specializes in developing what geneticists call physical maps, a tool that enables scientists to understand the structure of the genome. His group developed the physical maps for Asian rice and donated it to the Rice Genome Project, making sequencing of that complete genome possible.Much of the evolutionary analysis of the genome was performed by Muhua Wang, a UA plant sciences doctoral candidate, and by Carlos Machado of the University of Maryland. Yeisoo Yu, a research associate professor in Wing's research group at the Arizona Genomics Institute, led the sequencing effort. In analyzing the 33,000 genes that make up the African rice genome, the researchers discovered that during the process of domestication, Africans and Asians independently selected for many of the same genetic traits in the two species, such as higher nutrition and traits that make harvesting the crop easier.Additionally, the sequenced genome helps resolve questions about whether African rice originally was domesticated in one region or in several locations across Africa. By comparing the genome with what is known about the genetic structure of wild varieties, Wing and his team found that it's most similar to a population of wild rice species found in one location along the Niger River in Mali.
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"Our data supports the hypothesis that the domestication of African rice was centric in this region of Africa," Wing said.From 1998 to 2005, Wing led the U.S. effort to help sequence the genome of Asian rice, which is the only other domesticated rice species. Those results were published in the journal Nature in 2005, and have since enabled the discovery of hundreds of agriculturally important genes, including genes that code for faster breeding cycles and the ability for the plant to survive for up to two weeks underwater during periods of flooding.Wing's research group is now focusing on sequencing and analyzing the genomes of the wild relatives of African and Asian rice. "By understanding the entire genus at a genome level we have a whole new pool of genetic variation that can be used to combat pests and plant pathogens," Wing explained. One example, he said, would be adding disease resistance genes from all of the wild rice varieties to a species of cultivated rice, creating a new super-crop that is resistant to diseases and pests.Wing is also working with Quifa Zhang from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China, to create a set of super-crop science and technology centers around the world, where focused and coordinated efforts could help solve the 9 billionpeople question. "We really only have about 25 years to solve this problem, and if we're always competing with each other it's not going to work," he said."After decades of promoting high-yielding Asian varieties, the emphasis now is on developing types that combine the former's higher yields with glaberrima‘s tolerance of environmental stress," Carney noted. In November, Wing and his collaborators will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Asian rice genome and the new completion of the African rice genome at the 12th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics, a conference that will be held in Tucson, Arizona.Sequencing of the African rice genome was made possible by National Science Foundation grants # 0321678, #0638541, #0822284 and #1026200 to the Oryza Map Alignment and Oryza Genome Evolution Projects.
New machine age for Japan's ageing farmers Last updated 08:36, August 4 2014 The Yomiuri Shimbun
ASSISTED HARVESTING: Hisatomo Miyazawa, 72, of Nagano, Japan, thins grape branches wearing a Rakubesuto assist suit, which supports raised arms with leaf springs and a small motor.New types of agricultural machinery with functions and designs that differ from conventional tractors and rice planters are attracting new attention in Japan.They include high-tech machines for assisting elderly farmers whose physical strength is weakened. Machines with designs intended to attract young people are also being released.
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Agricultural machinery makers are trying hard to expand the domestic market for the new styles of products.The average age of farmers in Japan reached 66.2 in 2013. For agricultural machinery makers, how to support farmers with waning physical strength is an important challenge.Hisatomo Miyazawa, a 72-year-old farmer who runs a vineyard in Nagano, habitually uses a Rakubesuto set, an assist-suit attached to the upper half of the user's body. The product was officially released for sale in October last year by Kubota, the nation's largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery.The assist suit supports raised arms with leaf springs and a small motor. A user can easily perform work such as thinning fruit trees and cutting branches with arms raised for a long time. The "Raku" part of the product name means physically easy.Though one set is expensive, at about 130,000 yen (NZ$1500), Miyazawa said, "I can shorten my working time by nearly two hours a day and my physical fatigue doesn't continue."There are some cases in which electronic devices are used to enable anyone to do farming work, without needing to rely on experience or instinct.Iseki & Co, one of the main farming machinery makers, will begin selling measuring equipment products for checking the growth conditions of mass-cultivated plants in greenhouses starting from January next year. The measuring devices automatically move around on rails inside the production facility, scanning plants with special rays, measuring photosynthesis activity and detecting abnormalities in the produce.Models of agricultural machinery, created with particular attention to design to attract young farmers, are also scheduled to be released.Yanmar, another major farm machinery maker, will release a new model of a tractor as early as fiscal 2015. The company asked a designer who had worked on vehicles for Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari to make the basic design for the tractor. A prototype for the tractor has a sporty body that tapers toward the rear. Agricultural machinery makers in Japan are making efforts to develop such high-tech machines and equipment with sophisticated designs because their domestic markets have been sluggish as the number of farmers has been on the decline. Sales in the domestic agricultural machinery market in 2012 amounted to 292.9 billion yen, about a 20 percent fall from the figure in 2005.Given the situation, the government has implemented a subsidy plan for purchases of high-tech agricultural machinery products as part of its reforms of agriculture. Some economists forecast that there will be domestic demand worth 60 billion yen annually for these kinds of products. Agricultural machinery makers intend to revitalise the domestic market.However, some say it cannot be known whether the high-tech products will be successful unless they can actually be used for several years.For the products to take root, it is likely necessary for lower-priced and more user-friendly versions to appear. - The Washington Post
USA Rice Federation-Ducks Unlimited Conservation Proposal Clears Major Hurdle
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ARLINGTON, VA -- The USA Rice Federation moved one step closer to securing a vital conservation program for the industry with the news that their pre-proposal had been selected by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to advance to the next stage.NRCS received nearly 600 preproposals under the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) that is intended to promote coordination between the agency and its partners to deliver conservation assistance to producers and landowners. USA Rice partnered with Ducks Unlimited (DU) on their application that capitalizes on the unique link between rice production and wildlife habitat. The pre-proposal's three priority-resource concerns in order are: water quantity, water quality, and wildlife habitat. "Rice and waterfowl are intrinsically linked," said Jeff Durand, a Louisiana rice farmer and co-chairman of the USA Rice-DU Stewardship Partnership Committee. "We've shown that nationally, waterfowl depend on rice fields for almost 50% of their food energy, and that the habitat we provide as rice farmers is critical to many species - and not just birds.""Ducks Unlimited recently completed a study that showed the cost of replacing rice fields with managed wetland habitat would exceed $3.5 billion," said USA Rice President and CEO Betsy Ward. "Rice farmers also provide about $70 million in annual maintenance costs to provide this habitat, and the RCPP may be a means of recognizing that sacrifice in some small way." Created by the Farm Bill, the RCPPs will make $394 million available this year to conservation partners who can increase the restoration and sustainable use of soil, water, wildlife, and related natural resources on regional or watershed scales. NRCS says there are 230 proposals advancing to the next round and that the total requested is almost $2.8 billion."We're going to make our case as best we can that rice farmers are providing an excellent and important resource that benefits everyone," said Durand. "The next phase for us is to come up with industry funds in support of the proposal." Full proposals are due to the agency in October. Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458
Record Rice Crop Brings Out Record Crowd at Arkansas Rice Expo
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The In Crowd STUTTGART, AR -- More than 1,000 people came out for Friday's fourth annual Arkansas Rice Expo to celebrate the rice industry and the fact that, for the first time, Arkansas is expected to produce more than fifty percent of the rice grown in the United States. Attendees toured research plots, heard various agriculture promotion board reports, observed cooking demonstrations, tasted rice samples, and participated in a myriad of family-friendly activities. In addition to attending the Rice Expo, USA Rice Federation President and CEO Betsy Ward gave an update on domestic and international promotion activities at Friday's meeting of the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board. Domestic promotion highlights included efforts to increase rice use in school meals, boosting use of social media, making sure rice is featured as a food choice in the government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and working with supermarket retail dietitians during the upcoming National Rice Month and beyond. Ward also reviewed marketing activities in Mexico, Haiti, and Iraq, and discussed the International Trade Commission's study on the global rice industry which is just getting underway."I commend the University of Arkansas's Division of Agriculture for organizing this excellent event," said Ward. "Our job is to make sure there is demand both here and abroad for this new crop and I am excited about the new initiatives we are working on to help promote U.S.-grown rice, expand existing markets, and open new ones." Contact: Chuck Wilson (870) 673-7541
Crop Progress: 2014 Crop 60 Percent Headed WASHINGTON, DC -- Sixty percent of the nation's 2014 rice acreage has headed, according to today's U.S. Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress Report. Seventy-one percent of this year's crop is rated good to excellent.
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Arkansas Rice Expo Draws 1K People for Farming, Family, and Food For the first time, Arkansas‘ rice production will represent more than half the nation‘s output of the grain, attendees at the fourth Arkansas Rice Expo heard Friday ―For the first time, Arkansas is expected to produce more than half the rice in America,‖ Keith Glover, president and chief executive officer of Producers Rice Mill told a crowd during a panel discussion on the 2014 Farm Bill.About 1,000 people took part in a half-day of activities including tours of research plots, cooking demonstrations and rice tastings at the fourth annual Arkansas Rice Expo on Friday. Among the attendees was Ethan Vasquez from Sikeston, Missouri. He came to Arkansas just to visit his first-ever Rice ExpoIt‘s a great day so far, very informational, the new things coming out of the pipeline as far as the chemistries and the new varieties into bringing to the table,‖ he said.He heard about the Rice Expo from his counterpart in Arkansas and from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.He especially wanted to learn about new production technology and varieties of rice.He intended to bring back the knowledge he learned at the Rice Expo to his growers in Missouri.Karen Moldenhauer discusses rice breeding research with visitors to the Arkansas Rice Expo. The 2014 Rice Expo, the fourth annual, is an outgrowth of a traditional field day, in which researchers showed crop producers the results of their work in the demonstration fields.―‖Rice is a critical part of Arkansas‘ $20 billion agriculture industry and the Rice Expo is a celebration, not only of that role, but also of Arkansas farms, food and families,‖ said Mark Cochran, head of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. ―The expo not only showcases the crop for which Arkansas is the top grower, but also the work that the faculty and staff of the Division of Agriculture is doing to help Arkansans from money management to farm production,‖ he said.―I know absolutely nothing about raw crops and I‘m kind of doing this to get the ground knowledge,‖ said Emily Kaufman, a daughter of livestock farmer from Morrilton.―It‘s good to know that Arkansas is big in rice,‖ she said about her first experience coming to the Rice Expo.This is the second Rice Expo that a rice farmer, Doug Lancaster from Poinsett County, has attended.―I want to see the new varieties and I‘m interested in their new technology on pigweed control and soybeans,‖ he said. Complex issues
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During the panel discussion, Extension Economist Brad Watkins called the 2014 Farm Bill the most complex ever.―What are we going to do with all these decisions and how are we going to make them?‖ Watkins said. ―Fortunately, you‘re going to have some help.‖Watkins said USDA had provided funds for the development of decision aids for help producers. One of the decision aids was being developed by the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M jointly with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri and the other was being developed by the University of Illinois. Recipe contest Tiffany Aaron of Cleburne County earned $200 for her winning entry in the Rice Expo Recipe Contest: Grilled Rice and Black Bean Burritos with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce.―I don‘t know if I like judging food like that just because everybody has worked so hard and everybody has put a lot of effort,‖ said Matt Bell, executive chef of South on Main restaurant in Little Rock. ―I definitely had my favorite,‖ he said. ―I found more than what I was looking for. There was a huge variety and dessert in there was kind of a surprise.‖Lee Hogan, writer for Little Rock Soiree and Arkansasbusiness.com said he ―was really excited to come today and it was a lot of fun to be a part of it. All the dishes that we got to taste you could tell they really spent a lot of time to put these together.‖―We had a good time, all the recipe were really unique and tasty,‖ said Emily Van Zandt, food writer for Sync and Arkansas Life Magazine. She said it wasn‘t easy to find the winning dishes.―In the first round we can only judge the appearance so it was hard to not taste them,‖ Van Zandt said. Tags: arkansas, Arkansas Rice Expo, Missouri, Rice, rice management, rice news, rice production, rice research, rice varieties
Export rice prices reach two year high Over the last two weeks, businesses have sped up purchase of summer autumn rice in the Mekong Delta sending export prices to highest level in the last two years.Sunday, Aug 03, 2014, Posted at: 15:59(GMT+7)Export prices (FASFree alongside Ship) have escalated to VND8,250-9,300 a kilogram (US$389438 per ton) of 5-25 percent broken rice in Ho Chi Minh City.These price are found up VND1,000 over the last two months.The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) increased the export price of 25 percent broken rice to US$410 per ton in FOB (Free on Board) term at the end of July, up US$35 over the early month.Farmers are rushing to harvest summer autumn rice in the Mekong Delta. They are very eager to stock their harvest because the price is expected to continue raising in the next couple of weeks.
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Image:Farmers stock dried rice for further price hike in Mekong Delta (Photo: SGGP)
U of A Leads International Team In Sequencing African Rice Genome By Andrew Bernier
Rice is not known to grow in Arizona, but a research team based in Tucson has cleared a huge hurdle to help make the food more accessible across the world.An international research team led by the University of Arizona successfully mapped the genome sequence of African Rice, known for hardiness and drought resistance. The genome, or chemical DNA sequence, determines every characteristic of the rice species. Rod Wing, Ph.D, Director of the Arizona Genomics Institute at U of A describes the sequencing process started in 2003.―There are four bases, A, C, T, G and then what we do is that the rice genome has 350 million of these four letters and we essentially sequence them one base at a time. But, we do that in 150,000 chunks and we do that over and over and over again," Wing said. The hope is to cross-breed African rice with Asian rice, which was sequenced in 2005 and known for high yields. By selecting desirable traits from each species, researchers intend to cross-breed the strands to produce a crop that can flourish in areas hard hit by climate change. It also might help answer what they call the ―Nine Billion People‖ question, or how will nine billion people stay fed, many of who are in areas of food scarcity. The next research step will be testing the nearly 2,000 rice successions, or ―races‖ of African Rice, in various areas affected by climate change. ―Then you would plant them out in a whole variety of environments and conditions," Wing said. "Like under salty conditions, under high heat, under flooding conditions.‖From there, the successions that grow the best would be identified for further research
Philippines allots $236 million for extra rice imports by Reuters August 4, 2014
The Philippine government has allotted a budget of 10.3 billion pesos ($236 million) to import half a million tonnes of rice via a tender rescheduled for later this month, according to a bid invitation published over the weekend.The state grains procurement agency National Food Authority (NFA) reset the tender date to Aug. 27 from Aug. 12 due to time constraint, NFA Spokesman
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Rex Estoperez told Reuters.
Workers unload rice imported from Vietnam from a ship docked at a port in Manila January 23, 2014.Credit: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco Seeking to boost thin stockpiles following recent typhoons and spikes in local retail prices of the grain, the government decided to import more rice with purchases in the second half of the year, possibly reaching as much as 1 million tonnes.Total rice purchases this year by the Philippines could exceed 2 million tonnes, its biggest in four years. President Benigno Aquino announced on July 28 that the NFA has been authorized to import an additional 500,000 tonnes for emergency needs later this year.With the buying spree, the Philippines is on track to become the world‘s third biggest buyer of rice, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from the No. 8 spot it held last year. The tender later this month is open to all rice brokers, dealers and exporters, Estoperez said, including those in Vietnam, the country‘s traditional supplier, and Thailand.The Thai government, which aims to sell 3 to 4 million tonnes of rice from state warehouse in government deals within six months, plans to hold talks with several buyers in Asia, including the Philippines.Vietnamese rice jumped last week to the highest price level in 2-1/2 years on demand from China, making it uncompetitive with Thai grades which were set to fall as the government continued to offload state stocks on the world market.The NFA is seeking to import 25 percent broken, long grain, well milled white rice variety for delivery in three batches between September and November. The first shipment of 200,000 tonnes should arrive not later than Sept. 30, followed by another batch of the same volume not later than Oct. 31. The final shipment of 100,000 tonnes should arrive not later than Nov. 30.Bidders will be offered five lots of 100,000 tonnes each.The Southeast Asia country has shifted away from setting a target date for its plan to be completely self-sufficient in the production of rice, after missing its end2013 goal, keeping its doors open to imports in the coming years.
Harrell to take over as AgCenter rice specialist By Hope Ford - email
Lafayette Consolidated Building now have to check-in. It's something new, but not unusual. The system includes camera monitoring, a sign-in protocol and an armed guard. LSU AgCenter agronomist Dustin Harrell has been appointed Louisiana rice extension specialist.Harrell will start work in January after current specialist Johnny Saichuk retires.LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station director Steve Linscombe says Harrell will maintain a research program at the station and take on additional responsibility for the extension service's rice industry education program in Louisiana.
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Vietnamese rice exporters face risks in US market VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam rice exporters face a risk of being sued because of their low selling prices in the US market Local newspapers have quoted Lawyer Ngo Quang Thuy as reporting that the US House of Representatives‘ Finance & Tax Committee, unofficially representing USRPA (the US Rice Producers‘ Association), on May 15 filed a petition to the International Trade Commission (ITC) requesting an investigation of the competitiveness of rice imports against domestic rice.On June 17, the commission released a decision to begin an investigation. It is preparing a report on the risks for US domestic rice production from major rice exporters in the world, including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Uruguay and Vietnam.After the investigation ends, the US may consider imposing an anti-dumping and countervailing duty lawsuit, slated for 2015. Thuy said he can see some worrying problems when considering the rice import prices from Vietnam in the period from 2009 to 2013. ITC documents show that the average import price from Vietnam in 2013 was about half of the import prices from Thailand, India and Pakistan, the three biggest rice exporters to the US in the year.Nguyen Van Don, director of Viet Hung Company Ltd, said he is concerned that the US may file a lawsuit against Vietnam rice imports.According to Don, Vietnam mostly exports fragrant rice, a high quality rice, to the US, but the price of exports is only half of the Thai rice price.Professor Vo Tong Xuan, the best-known rice expert in Vietnam, noted that Vietnamese rice exporters should pay more attention to conquer the US market. In 2013, Vietnam was the third biggest rice exporter in the US, following Thailand and India. Xuan stressed that this is a market with high potential because of a high percentage of Asians live in the US. The attractiveness of the US market has prompted Cambodia to invest millions of dollars on a program to upgrade its rice export quality to boost exports to the US.Analysts commented that by selling rice cheaply, Vietnam not only loses big money, but also faces high risks of being sued in the US market. Most recently, Vietnam won a bid to provide 800,000 tons of rice to the Philippines. And the reason behind the ―victory‖ was the low bidding price Vietnam offered. The average price Vietnam offered was $439 per ton CIF (cost, insurance, freight in the Philippines), which was $30 per ton lower than the prices offered by its rivals. Cambodia, for example, offered the price of $469 per ton, and Thailand offered $474 per ton.Xuan noted that Vietnamese enterprises should not try to sell rice cheaply to attract more buyers. In fact, this policy has done more harm than good. Dat Viet
NCPO to auction 160,000 tonnes of rice BANGKOK, 4 August 2014 (NNT)- The National Council to maintain Peace and Order‘s economic chief, has announced that the NCPO will auction off 160,000 tonnes of rice by next week, while the new rice deal with China will allow a two phase delivery of rice to China by this September. After the talks with China to sell 1 million tonnes of rice through a government-to-government (G-to-G) deal, Thailand has delivered 100,000 tones to China while the rest will be
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delivered following the revised deal. The deal with China is being revised to ensure that the price, quality and prospects of future sales, are to the benefit of both countries . The regime will closely monitor and supervise the sales process to ensure transparency and quality of the grain. The second and subsequent deliveries of 100,000 tonnes of rice will resume from this September
Rice exports in July could hit 900,000 tonnes The Nation August 2, 2014 1:00 am After surging 59.2 per cent in the first half of this year, Thailand's rice exports may have touched 900,000 tonnes in July, given its lower prices than rivals' and tightening rice supply in Vietnam, said the Thai Rice Exporters Association.As of July 30, in FOB (free-on-board) terms, the Thai export price of 5 per cent broken white rice was lower than competitors' at US$432 per tonne. Based on oryza.com data on the same date, the Vietnamese export price of 5 per cent broken white rice was $465-$475 per tonne. India's and Pakistan's export prices of the same quality rice were in the range of $435-$445 per tonne.According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, this country's export prices last month might have been higher than in June because of a tighter supply after a slowdown of the government's rice sales and appreciation of the baht. Foreign buyers, including in Africa and the Middle East, purchased more Thai white and parboiled rice, it said. First-half During the first half of this year, Thai rice exports totalled 4.68 million tonnes valued at Bt76.35 billion. Export volume jumped 59.2 per cent year on year, while export value increased 23.2 per cent.Benin was the top importer, buying 510,016 tonnes of Thai rice in the first six months, followed by China's 328,894 tonnes and Ivory Coast's 257,581 tonnes.In June, Thai rice exports fell slightly from the prior month because of a 13-per-cent drop in white-rice shipments to 407,577 tonnes. Most white rice was exported to Cameroon, China, Japan, Mozambique, Angola and Malaysia.June's jasmine-rice exports totalled 146,780 tonnes, up 14.6 per cent from May. Most jasmine rice was exported to the United States, Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore.Parboiled-rice exports inched up 2 per cent to 262,099 tonnes. Of that total, 130,422 tonnes of parboiled rice was exported to Benin, while 38,950 tonnes was shipped to Nigeria
Non-basmati rice up on increased demand By Press Trust of India @indiacom | August 04, 2014 3:05 PM | comment Tags: Basmati, New Delhi, news, Permal
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New Delhi, Aug 4 : Prices of non-basmati rose by Rs 100 per quintal at the wholesale grains market today on increased demand.However, wheat and other grains continued to move in a narrow range in limited deals and settled around previous levels. Traders said besides increased demand, tight supplies on restricted arrivals from producing regions, led to the rise non-basmati rice prices.In the national capital, non-basmati rice sela and IR-8 quality were up by Rs 100 each to Rs 2,700-2,800 and Rs 1,900-1,950 per quintal, respectively. Following are today‘s quotations (in Rs per quintal): Wheat MP (deshi) 2,245-2,445, Wheat dara (for mills) 1,565-1,570, Chakki atta (delivery) 1,570-1,575, Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) 220, Shakti bhog (10 kg) 220, Roller flour mill 830-840 (50 kg), Maida 935-945 (50 kg) and Sooji 990-1,000 (50 kg).Basmati rice (Lal Quila) 10,400, Shri Lal Mahal 10,000, Super Basmati Rice 9,500, Basmati common new 9,40010,600, Rice Pusa- (1121) new 8,000-11,000, Permal raw 2,150-2,200, Permal wand 2,200-2,300, Sela 2,700-2,800 and Rice IR-8-1,900-1,950, Bajra 1,230-1,235, Jowar yellow 1,400-1,420, white 2,325-2,525, Maize 1,250-1,255, Barley 1,330-1,340. Modified Date: August 04, 2014 3:23 PM
Govt aims 30 mn tons rice procurement in 2014-15 Press Trust of India | New Delhi August 4, 2014 Last Updated at 19:52 IST
The Centre has set a target of procuring 30 million tonnes of rice for 2014-15 marketing year starting October, and directed state governments to open adequate number of purchasing centers. Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for foodgrain procurement and distribution, has purchased 26.64 million tonnes (MT) so far in 2013-14 marketing year (October- September). Annual procurement target for this year is 32 MT. Procurement stood at a record 35.06 MT in 2011-12. "The procurement target for kharif 2014-15 has been finalised as 30 million tonnes," an official statement said. Despite deficit monsoon and delayed sowing, the rice procurement target exceeds the actual procurement of last year's kharif crop, it added. The rice procurement target was fixed at the meeting of the state food secretaries chaired by Union Food Secretary, Sudhir Kumar. The meeting also reviewed arrangements for procurement of paddy and coarse grains for 2014-15. To ensure smooth procurement operation, the states have been asked to open adequate purchase centers and deploy sufficient manpower. They have also been advised to make arrangements to publicise about minimum support price (MSP) as well as about procurement centers both in print and audio-visual media and pamphlets in local languages. On storage front, the state governments have also been asked to give details of storage plan for the ensuing kharif marketing season and should have an action plan to meet the deficit in storage requirement, it said. Regarding packaging material, states were requested to place indents for purchase of jute bags in time to avoid last minute shortage of packaging material. States have also been asked to evolve an online procurement monitoring system (OPMS) for reporting and monitoring of procurement operations for wheat, paddy and
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coarse grains in the country on a daily basis. They have been asked to ensure that all state agencies feed the data of procurement into the system at revenue district level, the statement added.
Plan to improve basmati seed varieties under way August 04, 2014 RECORDER REPORT Punjab Agricultural Research Board, Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku; National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering; Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and biology; basmati rice farmers; private service providers; and the International Rice Research Institute are actively preparing a plan to improve basmati seed varieties and to improve rice farming and post harvest practices. According to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council sources, these institutions are also preparing a plan for improvement of research and service capabilities for higher incomes of basmati rice farmers in Punjab and higher export earnings from basmati Overcoming the major problems affecting Punjab's basmati rice is urgently needed for Pakistan to regain and sustain its competitiveness in the world market, improve the sub-sector's foreign exchange earnings, and ensure higher incomes for basmati farmers and other stakeholders in the value chain. The ADB financial assistance will focus on measures that meet the following criteria (i) tangible results achievable within 2-3 years; (ii) complementing and adding value to ongoing activities of public and private sector stakeholders; and (iii) having the potential to significantly increase the yields of basmati rice, improve the efficiency of the upstream segment of the basmati value chain, and integrate the upstream more effectively with the midstream and downstream segments of the value chain, sources added. Source: Iran Raises Import Duty on Indian Rice – Tasnim News Agency
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