11th July, 2014 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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TOP Contents - Tailored for YOU
Latest News Headlines

Korea must scrap rice import caps, switch to tariffs -govt official
Weak monsoon slows down crop sowing in Punjab
TABLE-India's weak monsoon delays sowing of summer crops
Italian risotto rice under threat from cheap Asian imports
Rice production in Mozambique expected to fall in 2014
Working together to achieve rice self-sufficiency
The long march of biofortified GM foods
Nigeria Slashes Levy On Rice Importation To 20%
News Detail
South Korea must scrap rice import caps, switch to tariffs -govt official
SEOUL, July 11 Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:03am IST
(Reuters) - South Korea has no choice but to scrap caps on rice imports from the start of 2015, instead
managing shipments into the country using a system of tariffs, a senior government official said on Friday.Such
a shift has long been expected as a 20-year-old agreement over rice import quotas with the World Trade
Organisation expires at the end of 2014, with the nation under pressure to take greater steps to open its markets
for the staple grain."Implementing tariffs on rice starting in 2015 is an issue that cannot be delayed any further,
and realistically there are no other alternatives," said Yeo In-hong, vice agriculture minister.While the


statement, made at the latest public hearing on the issue, was Yeo's personal opinion, it marks another
indication that a move to tariffs is close.
The step would be unlikely to spark a short-term surge in rice imports as hefty tariffs would deter buyers from
making overseas purchases.But it would represent a key psychological shift in a politically sensitive sector, with
farmers in the country fretting it could pave the way towards lower duty in the future.Government officials and
industry experts have said import duty would likely be around 300-500 percent, bringing prices for imported
rice in line with local grain.Under the current WTO agreement, South Korea must buy 408,700 tonnes of
foreign rice this year, or 9 percent of its demand. The amount that must be purchased abroad has gradually
increased from 51,000 tonnes in 1995.Local media have said that an official policy announcement on rice
imports could come as early as next week. (Reporting by Chris Lee; Editing by Joseph Radford)
Korea to announce rice market opening next week
The Seoul government is set to announce its final plans for opening the rice market as early next week despite
strong objections from farmers as well as ongoing debates about high import duties, a pre-condition for the
market opening. We could no longer delay our decision. We have no other alternative, but to accept the market
opening by imposing tariffs (on rice imports), Yeo In-hong, vice minister of agriculture, food, and rural affairs
said during the last public hearing, held at the National Assembly on Friday.His comments came as the Seoul
government is set to make a decision on opening its rice market with the deadline set by the World Trade
Organization approaching in September.


Farmers take to the streets in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on June 17, to protest against Koreas rice market opening to foreign producers.
(Yonhap)

The vice minister said the ministry concluded that it would be a better choice to open the market by slapping high
tariffs on rice imports instead of putting off liberalization to protect the local farm industry.The ministry will
reportedly announce tentative tariff rates for rice imports as early as next week, with experts predicting that the
import duties will range from 400 to 500 percent. The vice minister said the duty rate had not yet been fixed. Local
farmers are still divided over the market liberalization. The Korean Advanced Farmers Federation, a lobby group of
local farmers, said they can accept the opening of the market if the government keeps tariffs for imported rice as high
as possible. The progressive Korean Peasants League, however, is strongly protesting the market opening, citing
worries about free trade agreements potential threats to the local agricultural industry.
The government is saying there is no other option without even trying to begin negotiations (with WTO), Park
Hyung-dae, an official from the Korean Peasants League said Friday.The progressive farmers group insists that the
government should request a waiver from the WTO to keep its restrictions on imported rice, though it still requires
approval from the members of trade organization.The government said earlier it would make its stance before the
end of June but delayed its decision, citing more time needed to consult with the National Assembly before it notifies
the WTO in September.South Korea must make a decision on the rice market as the current waiver deal with the
WTO ends this year. The country was allowed to delay its rice market liberalization for 10 years under a 1993
agreement with the WTO in which the country agreed to increase its minimum market access import quota by
20,000 tons per year. The government extended the agreement by 10 years in 2004.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)

Bhakra and Pong reservoirs have registered lesser water levels than in the corresponding period last year
Press Trust Of India | Chandigarh
July 11, 2014 Last Updated at 20:43 IST

With slow progress of monsoon in the Northern region, the ongoing sowing of major Kharif crops in Punjab has
remained lower compared to the same period last year.Bhakra and Pong reservoirs have registered lesser water
levels than in the corresponding period last year.According to an official, the Punjab State Power Corporation
Limited (PSPCL) has resorted to "heavy" load shedding across the state on all consumer categories in the wake


of "poor monsoon" and less power generation.With rain playing spoilsport this year, Punjab has witnessed 51
per cent lesser rainfall as against normal rainfall this year. The major impact of deficient rains this year in
Punjab has been visible on the Kharif crop sowing especially paddy, maize and cotton.
According to the data provided by the Punjab Agriculture department, paddy sowing is currently trailing in
Punjab with acreage under paddy having reached 22.97 lakh hectares as against 23.80 lakh hectares in the
corresponding period of last season. The official further added that the
paddy crop sowing was lower by 83,000 hectares because of deficient
rainfall. Punjab, which contributes 30-35 per cent of rice to the central
pool, is eyeing at a production of 26.50 lakh hectares under paddy this
season.Similarly, area under maize has reached a mere 1.29 lakh hectares,
with officials fearing it will now be difficult to achieve the target of 2 lakh
hectares under the crop this year.Punjab government is promoting maize as
a major crop as part of its ambitious crop diversification plan.Area under
cotton could also not grow this season and has reached 4.50 lakh hectares
so far as against target of 5.30 lakh hectares, official said.
Punjab government has already sought over Rs 2,300 crore as financial assistance to deal with delayed monsoon
and prolonged dry spell conditions.With deficient rains and slow snow melting this year, the current water level
in Bhakra and Pong dams was lower by 17.33 feet and 27.07 feet, respectively, as against the level in
corresponding period of last year. Water level in Bhakra dam today stood at 1,613.77 feet as against 1,631.10
feet in corresponding period of last year.Similarly, water level in Pong dam was at 1,314.06 feet in comparison
to 1,341.13 feet in corresponding period of last year, an official of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB)
said here.
"The situation this year remains worrisome because of fear of deficient rains while the water level in both
reservoirs -Bhakra and Pong is lesser this year," Chief Engineer in Punjab Irrigation department, Amarjit Singh
Dullet told PTI.Partnering states including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan get water from Bhakra and Pong for
various purposes including irrigation.Meanwhile, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has
resorted to load shedding on all categories of consumers including farmers and domestic category, citing poor
monsoon and less power generation."Due to sudden increase in demand for power, owing to rise in temperature
and poor monsoon combined with less availability of power from the new private thermal plants and lesser
hydel generation, PSPCL is constrained to go for load shedding," said a PSPCL official.Power cuts in the range
of 5-8 hours are being imposed in several parts of Punjab.
Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:16pm IST


NEW DELHI, July 11 (Reuters) - India's weak monsoon rains have delayed sowing of summer-sown crops such as rice,
corn,cotton, pulses and oilseeds, government data showed on Friday. Although weak rains have raised concerns of a
first drought in five years, weather experts are hopeful showers will revive. "Conditions have turned favourable for rains
to occur in many parts of the central and the western region next week,"said a weather official who did not wish to be
named. The table below gives the area sown with various crops between June 1 and July 10, in million hectares.

Figures are provisional.
---------------------------------------
CROP Normal Area 2014 2013
---------------------------------------
* Rice 10.77 8.64 10.49
* Corn 3.72 2.12 5.61

* Pulses 2.46 1.35 4.32
-Tur 0.84 0.41 1.74
-Urd 0.54 0.21 1.12

* Oilseed 6.42 2.22 11.03
-Soybean 4.40 0.79 8.35
-Groundnut 1.61 1.17 2.28

* Cane 4.54 4.60 4.62
* Cotton 7.23 4.52 9.24
---------------------------------------
Source: Agriculture Ministry
----------------------------------------


(Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj)
Rice paddy fields of Italy's northern plains immortalised in 1949 film Riso amaro (Bitter Rice) suffering from
cheap imports from Asia

A rice paddy field in Northern Italy Photo: ALAMY

By Nick Squires, Rome
3:10PM BST 11 Jul 2014
More than 50 years after the hard life endured by northern Italians in the country's rice paddy fields
was immortalised in a classic film, farmers say their livelihood is under threat from cheap imports
from Asia.Italys rice producers, who are mainly based in the plains of the Po valley, say the rice
being imported from countries like Burma and Cambodia is tainted by pesticides and herbicides.It may be a lot
cheaper than Italys home-grown risotto rice but it carries dangerous levels of chemicals, the farmers claim.Italy
may seem an unlikely place to find paddy fields but it has produced rice for decades, with the back-breaking


rigour of the job memorably portrayed in Riso amaro (Bitter Rice), a film made in 1949 starring the buxom
actress Silvana Mangano.

The title contained a play on words riso in Italian means not only rice but also laughter.Ms Mangano played
a voluptuous peasant farm worker who gets mixed up with two petty criminals who, in a bid to evade the police,
find work in the rice fields.Half a century on, the Italian rice industry is suffering badly from foreign
competition.
While Italian farmers sell a tonne of home-grown risotto rice for 322 euros, producers in south-east Asia grow it
for less than 200 euros a tonne.Rice producers in the Po and Ticino valleys will organise a week of protests and
strikes against the cheap imports, starting on Monday.In the first six months of this year, rice coming from
Cambodia has been subject to at least one fine every week because of the presence of unauthorised pesticides or
the absence of the proper food safety certificates, said Roberto Moncalvo, the president of Coldiretti, a national
farmers organisation.

We are not talking about small quantities in the first three months of the year, imports from Cambodia
increased by 360 per cent, he told La Repubblica, a daily newspaper.If we are not careful, we risk having rice
on our plates with high levels of chemicals that have been banned for decades in our paddy fields.Italys
exports of its prized risotto rice have fallen by 14 per cent in recent years as countries in Europe, including the
Netherlands, Poland and France, turn to the cheaper Asian rice.Gianmaria Melotti, a rice producer from near
Verona, said rice arriving from countries like Cambodia and Burma was devoid of the weevils and grubs that
afflicted Italys output.What are they putting in their rice fields, that they are able to eliminate all these insects?
Saving Italian rice means also safeguarding peoples health, he said.

JULY 11TH, 2014
Production of paddy rice (husked rice) in Mozambique in 2014 is expected to fall to 343,000 tons, a drop of 2.3
percent compared to production of 351,000 tons in 2013, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organisation (FAO).According to the FAO the average retail price for rice in Mozambique in June was similar
to May 25,000 meticals (US$800) per ton but fell by 19 percent against the average price of 30.740 meticals
(US$1,030) recorded a year before.According to the US Department for Agriculture paddy rice production is
expected to total 351,000 tons in the 12-month period between May 2014 and April 2015 and Mozambique will
have to import an estimated 703,000 tons to meet domestic demand. (macauhub/MZ)



Posted by Online on Jul 11th, 2014

It seems our highest officials concerned with agricultural production are not in agreement on the governments
ambitious goal of attaining rice self-sufficiency.The Department of Agriculture is optimistic the goal may be
attained in the next two to three years, according to Assistant Undersecretary for Field Operations and
concurrent National Rice Program Director Edilberto de Luna this week. He said Secretary Proceso Alcala has
ordered the expansion of rice areas and to increase yield per hectare. The specific goal is to produce 59,678, 679
metric tons from 2014 to 2016.On the same day, however, Francisco Pangilinan, newly appointed chief of food
security, said the Philippines has shifted away from setting a target date for rice self-sufficiency. It is thus likely
to keep importing beyond 2016.

The Philippines has long been importing from Vietnam and Thailand and will have to continue its importations
in the forseeable future.The goal of rice sufficiency is an old one for the Philippines. During the Marcos
administration, there was a program called Masagana 99 which increased production through a system of
government assistance to farmers. The current Aquino administration said last year it was close to achieving the
goal of self-sufficiency, that it was, in fact, already exporting the more-expensive high-end rice.Then came this
years spiraling of rice prices. Initially, smugglers were blamed, but it has now been accepted that the
Department of Agricultures program was inadequate and the goal unrealistic. Last month, Pangilinan
announced that the Philippines would import an additional 200,000 tons of rice from Vietnam to boost thin state
stockpiles and stabilize prices.

Before the year ends, a new assessment will be made to determine how much still needs to be imported for
2015.The long-term goal remains: Rice self-sufficiency. But it obviously needs more inputs than what the
Department of Agriculture has provided so far. Our farmers need support in the supply of high-yielding seeds,
fertilizer, irrigation water, farm mechanization, post-harvest facilities, etc. It has long been noted that the
advanced rice technology developed in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Los Baos helped
Vietnam and Thailand boost their rice production, while our own production was left behind.

We can also do what Vietnam and Thailand have done. But first, our top officials have to agree on the basic
issues, including whether we look to 2016 the end of the current administration as our target year for self-
sufficiency, or we should not set any target date at this time while we concentrate on mobilizing and assisting
our farmers increase their production.


Crops engineered for high vitamin yields still face years of testing
AFP-JIJI
JUL 11, 2014

PARIS In 1992, a pair of scientists had a brain wave: How about inserting genes into rice that would boost its
vitamin A content? By doing so, tens of millions of poor people who depend on rice as a staple could get a vital
nutrient, potentially averting hundreds of thousands of cases of blindness each year.The idea for what came to
be called golden rice named for its bright yellow hue was proclaimed as a defining moment for
genetically modified food.Backers said the initiative ushered in an era when GM crops would start to help the
poor and malnourished, rather than benefit only farmers and biotech firms.

Its a humanitarian project, said one of the co-inventors of golden rice, Ingo Potrykus, professor emeritus at
the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), in a recent interview.Yet the rice is still a long way from
appearing in food bowls 2016 has become the latest date sketched for commercialization, provided the novel
product gets the go-ahead.With $30 million invested in it so far, the odyssey speaks tellingly of the technical,
regulatory and commercial hurdles that have beset the dream of biofortified food.

First, it took scientists years to find and insert two genes that modified the metabolic pathway in rice to boost
levels of beta carotene, the precursor to vitamin A.After that came the biosafety phase, to see if the rice was safe
for health and the environment and whether beta carotene levels in lab plants were replicated in field trials in
different soils and climates.There were also bioefficacy experiments to see whether the rice did indeed
overcome vitamin deficiency, and whether volunteers found the taste acceptable.These tests are still unfolding
in the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh, said Bruce Tolentino, deputy director general of the Philippines-
based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).


We have been working on this for a long time, and we would like to have this process completed as soon as
possible, he said. But it depends on the regulatory authorities. That is not under our control.Antonio Alfonso
at the Philippine Rice Research Institute, which partners IRRI in the not-for-profit development of golden rice,
said it will be two or three more years before we can apply for commercialization.The rices yield may also
have to be tweaked to boost its appeal to farmers, he said.Coming on the heels of golden rice is the
superbanana developed by the Queensland University of Technology in Australia with the help of the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation. It too is genetically designed to be enriched with beta carotene.Some bananas were
sent to the United States in June for a six-week trial to measure by how much they lifted vitamin A levels in
humans

.If all goes well, they will start to be grown commercially in Uganda in 2020.Project leader James Dale said the
so-called cooking bananas that are grown as the staple food in East Africa are low in vitamin A and iron.Good
science can make a massive difference here, he said.Other research into biofortified food has looked at
boosting levels of important micronutrients in cassava and corn, also called maize, but progress has also been
faltering.It took 15 years of enclosed research in the lab for British scientists this year to decide to seek
permission for field trials of a plant called false flax (scientific name Camelina sativa). Engineered to create
omega-3 fat, the plant could be used as feed in fish farming. It would spare the worlds fish stocks, which
provide food pellets for captive salmon, trout and other high-value species.
Environmental groups object to GM-fortified foods.
Some have dubbed golden rice fools gold.
Greenpeace, the most vocal and influential of the critics,
says the risks of GM contamination to other plants and
its effects on health may not emerge for years.There are
also suspicions that developing countries are being used
as a technological test bed and contentions that
malnutrition will not be ended by a magic bullet fired
from a gene lab.This whole vitamin A issue is a red
herring, said Janet Cotter, a scientist with Greenpeace
at the University of Exeter, southwestern England.
Access to a better and diverse diet is what people need,
not a technical fix, (not) something based solely on rice or bananas.

Andrea Sonnino, chief of the Research and Extension Unit at the U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), said ensuring food security and a decent diet are very complex. GM crops have a part to play in the


solution, but not exclusively soWe have to go with a set of possible answers to problems that in many cases are
technological and in many cases are not they are social, economic and so on, he said. We have to work in
different ways, and not only on the technological front.Image: 'Golden rice,' proclaimed as a defining moment
for genetically modified food, is still a long way from the dinner table. | AFP
July 10, 2014 Fumnanya Agbugah AgriBusiness, Business
VENTURES AFRICA Nigeria has slashed the 100 percent levy it imposed
on imported rice, in January 2013 to 20 percent and 60 percent for rice mill
owners and traders following persistent pressure from stakeholders, who said
the country was not ripe enough for this move since it has not started
producing enough to meet local demand.Importation of wholly milled rice or
semi-milled rice and Husked Brown rice, whether polished or graze or not by
fully rice traders shall attract a levy of 60 percent plus import duty rate of 10
percent, while a levy of 20 percent and duty of 10 percent has been imposed on
investors with rice milling capacity and verifiable backward integration programme, the Policy stated.
While Nigeria was waiting for the announcement of the new policy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the coordinating
minister for the economy and minister of finance, submitted a letter to the Nigeria Customs Service instructing
the body not charge demurrage to importers with shipload of rice at the ports until the new levies have been
passed.According to industry experts, this new rate remains unfavourable to investors engaging in backward
integration, with neighbouring countries like Cameron, Benin Republic charging zero import duties on rice.
Rather, an increase in levy for wholly traders was advocated for.
This will encourage local production and discourage smuggling through neighbouring countries, experts
explained.It is also expected that this policy will reduce the price of rice in the Nigerian Market. Prior to the
establishment of the levy, a bag of rice sold for an average of N8000 ($50). But since 2013, prices have surged
to N13,000 ($80), a 37 percent jump in less than two years.The countrys ministry of agriculture placed
importation at about 1.9 to 2 million metric tonnes per annum.
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mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com +92 321 369 2874 Korea must scrap rice import caps,
switch to tariffs -govt official

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