News Headlines

India's rice output may drop to 100 mn tonnes on poor rains

Iran's hike in basmati rice import duty hurts Punjab
farmers
Rice exports to Iran may resume soon
Aeon Adds Rice Paddies to Farming Ventures
Korea Seed Production project to benefit Iloilo farmers
LSU AgCenter: 2014 rice crop better
50pc rise in global rice output by 50 : DG IRRI
Support key for research scientists
Another rice auction slated this week
N. Korea's rice production to remain at same level as last
year: U.N. report
Farmers stand to profit from Philippines decision to import
rice
Zoning of rice planting areas designed to reduce production
capital
NFA-Kalinga assures enough rice supply until December
Foodgrain stocks at 47.93 mt as on Oct 1
Next week's govt rice auction may be last before main
harvest
Hudhud hits UP: Rainfall likely to benefit paddy crop
Hudhud's Port of Call Takes All By Storm
News in brief

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter
13
th
October, 2014
News Detail.

India's rice output may drop to
100 mn tonnes on poor rains
New Delhi | Updated 10/13/2014 3:16:30
PM IST
New Delhi:
India's rice
production
in the
current
year is
expected to
slip below
the last
year's record 106.54 million tonnes due to
deficient rains, according to the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA).The
country's overall rice output is estimated to
be 100 million tonnes in the ongoing 2014-
15 marketing year (October-September),
over six per cent lower than the last year, it
said in its latest grain report."Continued
deficient rains and 'normal' cyclones in
eastern coast during October-November
could further affect the harvest of kharif rice
and planting prospects for the upcoming rabi
rice," the USDA report said.

The USDA estimates 2014-15 rice
production to include 87 million tonnes of
kharif rice (versus 91.7 million tonnes last
year) and 13 million tonnes of rabi rice
(versus 14.9 million tonnes last year), it
said.Rice is grown in two seasons -- kharif
(summer) and rabi (winter). Currently,
kharif rice is ready for harvest and the
planting of rabi rice is underway in some
places.According to the USDA, the Indian
government's first advance estimate for the
kharif rice production is 88 million tonnes
and recent floods in Assam and adjoining
states, as well as drought like conditions in
Uttar Pradesh, may further pressure the
official kharif production estimate.While
kharif rice planting improved due to good
rains in late August and early September,
overall productivity is likely to be lower
than last year due to delayed planting and
prolonged moisture stress during critical
stages after transplanting, it said.
On rabi rice, the USDA said that deficient
2014 monsoon rains in the southern states of
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as well as
the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and
West Bengal are also likely to affect
planting and production prospects of the rabi
rice.Stating that nearly 42 per cent of the
rice crop in India is unirrigated, with the rest
58 per cent under irrigation, the USDA
report said: "Consequently, rice
transplanting in most of the rice growing
areas was delayed by 3-4 weeks as a result
of the periodic and prolonged dry spells in
2014. This delay will negatively affect yield
prospects in the current year from last year."
Iran's hike in basmati rice
import duty hurts Punjab
farmers
Amaninder Sharma, TNN | Oct 14, 2014,
05.13AM IST
PATIALA: Increase in import duty by Iran on
basmati rice from India to 45% from 10% has
hurt Punjab farmers and exporters alike as it has
led to a drop in the demand for the aromatic
food grain lowering its rates in the domestic
market. Buoyed by last season's prices, Punjab
farmers had increased the area under
basmati considerably who are now getting
lower rates for their produce as compared to
the previous year.Area under basmati is 8.16
lakh hectares (20.40 lakh acres) this year, up
from 5.50 lakh hectares in 2013. Sources
said output of basmati paddy is likely to
touch 40 lakh tonnes this year.
New basmati variety, Pusa 1509, is selling
in the range of Rs 2,300-2,700 per quintal.
Rice millers, traders and exporters say even
the rates of Pusa 1121, arrivals of which will
start in the first week of November, are not
going to cross Rs 3,000 per quintal. Pusa
1121 had touched Rs 4,400 per quintal last
season."Given the sentiment in the
international market and much higher
estimated output of basmati in Punjab, we
are not expecting prices of Pusa 1509 to go
up in the coming weeks.
Same will be the case with the all-time
favourite strain PUSA 1121, which is
unlikely to cross the Rs 3,000 per quintal
mark this year", said Rajeev Dehra, a
Rajpura-based basmati trader.Quizzed about
weak basmati prices, Patran-based trader
Naresh Goyal said, "Iran is the biggest buyer
of Pusa basmati, and a major factor behind
the bearish sentiment is 35% increase in the
import duty it. Indian importers are not
getting bulk orders from Iran due to stiff
hike in the import duty. Hence, prices are
down this year."
Rice exports to Iran may
resume soon

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION October 13, 2014 1:00 am
THAILAND is expected to export more rice
to Iran soon after that country lifts an import
ban imposed three years ago after a Thai
exporter defaulted on a rice-shipment
contract, the Foreign Trade Department has
said.To ensure the quality of Thai rice and
that it will be shipped as agreed, Iran will
send a team of officials, mainly from the
Ministry of Health and Medical Education
and representatives from private enterprise,
to inspect this country's production
procedures from field to shipment next
month.
Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of
the department, said it was good to see that
Iran seemed ready to resume rice imports
from Thailand."The Thai government has
tried hard to persuade the Iranian
government to import rice from Thailand as
in the past. Iran is a major rice-importing
country - more than a million tonnes a year,"
she said.In total, Iran is expected to import
about 1.3 million tonnes of rice this year
from global sources. After a meeting with
Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya
early this month, the Iranian Chamber of
Commerce said it had more confidence in
the Thai rice sector. As a result, Iran will
send a mission to survey Thai rice
production from upstream to downstream in
November.
Duangporn said Thailand had high
capability to ship rice to Iran. Normally, Iran
only orders long-grain rice, such as 100-per-
cent white rice. It may make some special
requirements for the shipment procedure,
but it will also agree to a higher price.For
the coming order, the Iranian government
may allow private importers to handle about
80 per cent of each shipment, while the Thai
government handles the rest.Duangporn said
Iran was expected to order at least 100,000-
200,000 tonnes for the first shipment from
Thailand early next year.
According to the Commerce Ministry, Iran
imported US$150-million worth of rice from
Thailand in 2011. However, when the export
company defaulted, Tehran lost confidence
in Thailand's reliability. The value of
Thailand's rice shipments to Iran declined to
only $2.1 million in 2012.With more export
opportunities in major markets, Duangporn
said Thailand should be able to export more
rice in 2015 than this year's volume of about
10 million tonnes.The Thai Rice Exporters
Association said that as of September 23,
rice exports had grown significantly so far
this year, by 70.5 per cent to 7.71 million
tonnes. Thailand will this year reclaim its
former status as the world's largest rice
exporter. India is the second-largest so far
this year with shipment volume of 6.84
million tonnes during the same period,
followed by Vietnam at 5.32 million,
Pakistan at 2.49 million, and the United
States at 2.04 million tonnes.

Aeon Adds Rice Paddies to
Farming Ventures
By Aya Takada Oct 13, 2014 10:06 AM
GMT+0500
(Corrects headline of Oct. 8 story to remove
reference to scale of Aeons rice-farming
ambitions, adds cooperative reference in
second graph.)
Aeon Co. (8267), Japans largest
supermarket chain that sells everything from
fresh food to bicycles across 424 stores,
plans to add rice fields to its farming
portfolio, possibly making it the nations
biggest corporate grower of the grain.
Starting with 11 hectares (27 acres) of rice
paddies leased from local farmers, its Aeon
Agri Create Co. farming subsidiary will start
producing the grain north of Tokyo next
year, said Aeon spokesman Norihito Ikkai.
Chiba-based Aeon aims to lease 100
hectares -- almost 50 times the average
farmers plot -- by 2020. That would make it
the biggest rice-producing company in the
country, according to Arihiro Muroya, chief
economist at Norinchukin Research
Institute.
There are larger areas farmed by
cooperatives. Prime Minister Shinzo Abes
government is creating land banks in each of
the 47 prefectures by renting paddies from
farmers and consolidating them into larger
areas for leasing to farming corporations.
The government wants 80 percent of
farmland to be cultivated by large-scale
farms to make it competitive as Japan joined
U.S.-led trade liberalization talks to
revitalize its economy. We want to supply
rice and vegetables to consumers at more
affordable prices and in a stable way, Ikkai
said by phone. As Japanese farmers are
aging and retiring, we can take over
production through our farming subsidiary.
Convenience store chains Lawson Inc.
(2651) and Seven & I Holdings Co. (3382)
are also investing in cropland and training
young people to work the fields as Abe cuts
subsidy payments to food-rice growers and
older farmers put down their plows.
Inefficient Farmers
Abes reform plan is making progress,
said Nobuyuki Chino, the president of
Continental Rice Corp., a grain trader in
Tokyo. As rice prices are falling this year
due to oversupply, the exit of small and
inefficient farmers from rice production will
accelerate, increasing land leasing to
farming corporations. Aeon entered
agricultural production in 2009 through the
subsidiary, and operates 15 farms across the
nation, growing vegetables and fruits on 230
hectares of land. Its entry into rice farming
follows the decision last month by
Sumitomo (4005) Chemical Co., Tokyo-
based maker of agrochemicals, to start rice
production and sales in Japan.
Corporate Farming
The country is the worlds 10th largest rice
producer, according to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. Rice planting has halved
from a record 3.2 million hectares in 1969
and production will be 7.9 million metric
tons this year, according to Japans
agriculture ministry. Japans ruling party is
taking steps to increase corporate
participation in agriculture as pressure
increases from the U.S. and other farm-
exporting countries to cut import tariffs.
Abes Liberal Democratic Party proposed
law revisions to allow non-food companies
to own almost 50 percent stakes in farming
entities from the current 25 percent, and to
streamline approvals of land sales by
individuals to farming corporations. The rule
changes would increase the number of
agricultural ventures between farmers and
companies and reduce the power of JA-
Zenchu, the nations largest farm lobby and
an opponent of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade plan, said Chino at
Continental Rice, who has traded grains for
almost four decades.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aya
Takada in Tokyo at
atakada2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this
story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at
ralrikabi@bloomberg.net
Korea Seed Production project
to benefit Iloilo farmers
BY: LILIBETH A. FRENCH
Thursday 9th of October 2014
ILOILO CITY, Oct. 9 (PIA6) - - The
Sinibaan Farmers Association (SFA) in
Brgy. Sinibaan, Dingle, Iloilo will be the
first recipient of the quality seeds produced
by the Department of Agriculture 6
Western Visayas Integrated Agricultural
Reseach Center (DA 6-WESVIARC) in
Hamungaya, Jaro, Iloilo City.The
production of quality seeds such as PSB Rc
14 and NSIC Rc 214 in the 2.5 hectares
demonstration farm of WESVIARC was
funded by the Korea Project on International
Agriculture (KOPIA) under its collaborative
project with the Philippine Rice Research
Institute entitled Seed Multiplication and
Dissemination of Promising Rice Cultivars
in the Philippines. KOPIA is run by the
Rural Development Administration of South
Korea. DA 6 Regional Technical Director
for Research, Policy Planning and Support
Services Joyce Wendam said some 200 bags
of rice seeds are expected to be harvested
and will be distributed to SFA members and
other organized farmer associations or
cooperatives in the province.
Each member of the Sinibaan Farmers
Association numbering to about 50 will get
one bag of rice seeds and they are obliged to
return the one bag to the association
later.SFA President Marlyn Daquilanea
together with her members and the local
officials of the town attended the KOPIA
Seed Production Project Farmers Field Day
on October 6 in WESVIARC. They were
joined by some 35 member delegation from
South Korea including officers of the RDA
and KOPIA and farmers from the
municipalities of San Miguel, Zarraga,
Cabatuan, Barotac Nuevo and Passi
City.Also during the event, through a deed
of gift, the government of South Korea
turned over a transplanting machine and two
units portable soil analyzer to the SFA.
Wendam urged farmer beneficiaries to take
care of the project because the government
of South Korea also exerted efforts in
bringing these technologies to the
Philippines.According to Wendam the
vision of KOPIA is to share their R& D
technology which is very appropriate as the
ASEAN economic integration will start in
2015 and farmers need resources to develop
their commodities to be globally
competitive.The South Korea RDA
launched KOPIA in 2009 to continue its
agricultural cooperation with developing
nations through technological support and
the co-development of resources. It has
centers in ten countries including the
Philippines located at PhilRice in Nueva
Ecija.
In his message, Dr. Jeong Eung Gi, Senior
Researcher Rice Research Division, NICS
RDA cited the strong bond between the
Philippines and Korea which started after
the Korean War in 1950s.Gi said as part of
the agricultural cooperation, KOPIA and
PhilRice launched the seed production
project intended to increase the productivity
and income of farmers.He hoped that the
project will bring transformation in the lives
of the farmers in the rural areas of the
country. He further hoped that the province
of Iloilo will be able to establish a regional
seeds variety service institution through the
project.The government of Korea
especially KOPIA will be your strong and
everlasting partner in developing and
implementing joint project in agricultural
technology, research and extension so we
could contribute to the regional economy,
said Gi. (JCM/LAF/PIA-Iloilo)
LSU AgCenter: 2014 rice crop
better
By WILLIAM JOHNSON The Daily World
10/12/2014 12:23 PM
10/12/2014 12:23 PM

OPELOUSAS, La.
The 2014 Louisiana rice crop is better than
expected, "but not as good as last year," said
Johnny Saichuk, LSU AgCenter rice
specialist.LSU AgCenter County Agent
Vince Deshotel said that assessment was
true for St. Landry Parish as well. "It was
not a tremendous crop, but it will be better
than our typical average," he said.Deshotel
said this year's cool spring and a wet, muddy
harvest were problems for local rice
producers.
"Our harvest was kind of strung out because
of all the precipitation, but it came off in a
timely fashion," he said.Although the
weather was a challenge, he said a bigger
problem is the price farmers are getting for
their crops this year."Prices are off
considerably. Our farmers could certainly
use a better price with input costs constantly
increasing," he said of the price of
everything from fertilizer and insecticides to
fuel.
Rice remains an important crop in St.
Landry Parish, second only to soybeans.
"We had 26,000 acres devoted to rice this
year. Eunice is a major rice-producing area,
but we have rice fields throughout the
parish," Deshotel said.Keith Fontenot, LSU
AgCenter county agent in Evangeline
Parish, said the crop in his area was also
good.
"We have had some producers who
exceeded last year's crop," Fontenot said.
Still, he said most fields are yielding slightly
less than last year's re-crop by as much as
four to five barrels 14-18
bushels.Fontenot said rutted fields make it
difficult to judge how well a second crop is
faring. He estimated that a third of the
acreage in Evangeline Parish will have a
second crop this year.Steve Linscombe,
director of the LSU AgCenter Rice Research
Station in Crowley, said a large amount of
south Louisiana acreage will be producing a
second crop this year.Linscombe said the
cool spring and wet, muddy harvest were
problems, but the summer nights were not
excessively hot and that probably resulted in
good yields and outstanding grain quality.
He said the usual decline in yields toward
the late part of the harvest in south
Louisiana was not as striking as usual. "The
rice we were cutting in late August and early
September was still yielding well. In the first
week of September, we still had farmers
cutting more than 60 barrels with good
quality," he said.Disease was also not bad
this year even with all the heavy rainfall.
The research station recorded 33.6 inches of
rain between May and August, compared to
13.2 inches for the same time period last
year.Andrew Granger, LSU AgCenter
county agent in Vermilion Parish, said the
crop there resulted in above-average yields,
but not quite as good as last year. But, he
said, the wet harvest conditions have
reduced the second crop for many farmers.
Granger estimated a ratoon crop will be
grown on 25 percent of the parish's 51,000
acres, compared to 40-50 percent in most
years.Linscombe said this year also saw an
increase in medium-grain rice as farmers
sought to make up for the 150,000-acre
reduction in California where drought
resulted in water shortages.Barrett Courville,
LSU AgCenter county agent in Acadia and
Jefferson Davis parishes, said the average in
both parishes will be just under 50 barrels
180 bushels with Acadia Parish having
slightly better results."With the weather we
had, it really turned out to be a good year,"
Courville said.

50pc rise in global rice
output by 50 : DG IRRI
RANGPUR, Oct 13: Director General (DG)
of International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) Dr Robert S. Zeigler has said
comprehensive efforts have been
progressing successfully to attain 50 per cent
increase in global rice production by 2050.
Dr Zeigler said this in an exclusive
interview taken by BSS reporter, at his
office at IRRI headquarters in Los Banos
city of the Philippines recently. Regarding
the tremendous success achieved by
Bangladesh in agriculture sector despite
climate change, Dr Zeigler said Bangladesh
has made a revolution in increasing rice
production sustainably to feed its people
after attaining self-sufficiency. BSS
Support key for research
scientists
Each of the scientists has various research
projects in their chosen fields and
projects. So each scientist has different
needs for support staff.
As the series on the Dale Bumpers National
Rice Research Center scientists comes to an
end, one thing became clear. Scientists
depend on their support staff. Each of the
scientists has various research projects in
their chosen fields and projects. So each
scientist has different needs for support
staff. Technical support personnel are
critical to our success! A good technician is
like a black pearl, rare and precious, and
their luster and value can be either increased
or lost depending on how they are handled
and cared for, Dr. Shannon Pinson said.A
good technician is an extension of the
supervising scientist, she continued.
Their eyes, ears, hands and mind become
an extension of me, allowing me to see
whats happening in the field, greenhouse
and laboratory while I am also busy writing
manuscripts to publish the results of already
completed research studies. A supervising
scientist designs the research plan, but it is
up to the technician to carefully document
even the unexpected effects they see in
response to the treatments they have
carefully applied according to the
supervisors plan.
And they have to keep an eye out for
unplanned happenings, like diseases or
insect pests or clogged water lines that can
alter the plants and research. Sometimes we
can deal with unplanned changes by using
statistical tricks, or by explaining limits to
the data interpretation when we publish the
results, but other times it is best to just throw
out data from problematic trials. And
sometimes, it is a chance observation by a
technician that opens up ideas and
opportunity for new research. For example,
as my technician was rating some gene-
mapping research plots for the expected trait
(plant height), he noticed that some of the
plots had a particular disease while other
plots did not.
By collecting data on the disease as well
as plant height, we now have the
opportunity to find genes for disease
resistance as well as plant height!.So, a
good technician reports observations to the
supervising scientist, enhancing the
scientists ability to do their job; but a really,
really good technician has skills and
knowledge the scientist supervisor does not
have. For example, they might be able to
drive a tractor straighter or fix machines or
be more precise at mixing chemicals or
better able to diagnose diseases and insects
in the field.
Pinsons technician, Eric Grunden, has
worked for USDA in Stuttgart for seven
years. I value him immensely,Pinson
said. He is self-motivated, observant and
detail oriented, precise, fast when he can be
and slow and careful when he should
be. We are a team, and only together does
our (my) research project produce useful
data that contributes new knowledge,
thereby advancing science.
Another rice auction slated
this week

Published: 14 Oct 2014 at 07.25
Newspaper section: Business
Writer: Phusadee Arunmas
The government is scheduled to put another
200,000 tonnes of its rice stocks on auction
this week, mainly white and broken rice. A
source from the working panel that handles
the government's rice stock sales said
yesterday's meeting, chaired by the Foreign
Trade Department's director-general, agreed
to auction off 200,000 tonnes of rice, of
which 80,000 tonnes is 5% white rice and
120,00 tonnes is broken rice.The terms of
reference for the new auction will be
unveiled this week and interested bidders
will be allowed to submit their purchase
interest on Oct 22.Duangporn Rodphaya,
director-general of the department, said the
new rice auction should be speeded up and
held before the end of this month, as the new
harvest from the main crop will hit the
market by mid-November.
The Commerce Ministry sold 140,000
tonnes of rice in the first two auctions,
raising 1.6 billion baht.After halting rice
sales to carry out nationwide inspections, the
military regime resumed sales of 167,000
tonnes on Aug 7 from stockpiles
the Yingluck Shinawatra government
collected under its failed rice pledging
scheme.In July the junta vowed to sell an
average of 500,000 tonnes a month from
state stocks, disposing of the existing 18-
million-tonne surplus over three years
through four channels: general auctions,
government-to-government sales, direct
sales and the Agricultural Futures Exchange
of Thailand.
Manat Kitprasert, president of the Thai Rice
Millers Association, said a massive main
crop was anticipated, piling pressure on
domestic rice prices.The Agriculture
Ministry forecasts Thailand's rice supply for
2015-16 at 37 million tonnes of paddy, with
27 million from the main crop and 10
million from the second crop.This translates
to white rice of 25-26 million tonnes,
beating the 21 million tonnes of white rice
projected by the US Agriculture Department
from 32 million tonnes of paddy.
The government holds an estimated 15-16
million tonnes in stock, a large dip from the
previous regime.Chookiat Ophaswongse,
honorary president of the Thai Rice
Exporters Association, urged
the government to continue auctioning off
its rice stocks in limited amounts to mute
any impact on prices for the coming
harvest.Thailand could lose out to India and
Pakistan if the government halts or delays
the sale of rice from the coming harvest to
prop up prices, as demand is skyrocketing in
East African countries that want to buy old
rice at cheap prices, he said.
N. Korea's rice production to remain
at same level as last year: U.N. report
2014/10/12 11:21
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's
rice production this year is expected to be
about the same as last year, a U.N. report
said Sunday, reinforcing forecasts that grain
production will not fall despite a severe
drought in the country.Rice production this
year is estimated at 1.9 million tons, the
same level as last year, while maize and
pork production are expected to increase
slightly to 2.3 million and 114,000 tons,
respectively, according to the October
edition of Food Outlook, a biannual
publication of the U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO).In May, the
FAO estimated the same production levels
for North Korea, with the exception of pork,
which was forecast at 113,000 tons.
With this year's rice production, each North
Korean is expected to eat 67.8 kilograms of
rice between this fall and next summer,
according to the report.North Korea has long
been a recipient of international food aid due
to shortages caused by droughts, flooding
and poor economic management.However,
the FAO representative in North Korea
recently said in an interview that the country
is projected to produce 6 million tons of
grain this year and attain self-sufficiency in
food within three to four years.
hague@yna.co.kr
Farmers stand to profit from
Philippines decision to import
rice
VietNamNet Bridge The Philippines plans to import 1.7
million tons of rice this year and even more next year,
giving Vietnamese exporters a chance to bid on big
contracts, the Vietnam New Agency quoted Francis
Pangilinan, advisor to President Benigno Aquino, as
saying.

The Philippines last year said they would
begin a self-sufficiency drive to produce rice
at home, but fllods and typhoons have
hindered that effort. The Philippines, during
the 2008 global food crisis, imported 2.34
million tons of rice, a record which has yet
to be broken by another country.The rice
supply decreased sharply in late 2013,
forcing the government to import more
rice.This year, between June and October,
the rice price went up by 20 percent in the
months.
As a result, the government decided to
subsidize rice to stabilize price.sAbout 20
percent of the rice now available in the
Philippines is subsidized by the government,
while self-sufficiency remains a top priority
for Manila.Prior to that, the Philippines
vowed to begin the self-sufficiency policy in
2013. However, the plan has been
delayed.Vietnamese agricultural experts
commented that Filipino high demand and
short domestic supply would give Vietnam
more opportunities to sell rice to the
market.However, an analyst, who declined
to be named, said he was not sure if Vietnam
could grab the opportunities because of the
low-pricing policy pursued by Vietnamese
exporters.
In August 2014, Vietnam did not win the bid
to provide 500,000 tons of 25 percent
broken long-grain white rice to the
Philippines, even though Vinafood 1 and
Vinafood 2, the two most powerful rice
export corporations offered low prices.The
Vietnamese companies then offered an
export price of $460 per ton, the lowest level
among the countries attending the bid, but
they still failed to obtain the export contract.
The price was still higher than the ceiling
price set by a Philippines government
agency at $456.6 per ton.
Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, the most respected rice
expert in Vietnam, believes that the Filipino
government set low ceiling prices because it
realized that Vietnamese exporters always
tried to sell rice at low prices.They know
that Vietnamese exporters try to win the bids
at any cost by offering a bid that is $28-32
lower per ton lower than other exporters.
Therefore, they set up a very low ceiling
price, he noted.If they continue to sell rice
cheaply, Vietnamese exporters may face
anti-dumping lawsuits in the US, and
Vietnamese farmers could incur losses,
Xuan said.
Dat Viet
Tags:rice export, philippines,
Zoning of rice planting
areas designed to reduce
production capital
Date : 13 2557
AYUTTHAYA, 13 October 2014 (NNT) - The
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives office
in Ayutthaya province has designated
agricultural zones across 16 districts for rice
planting with a combined area of 2 million rai.
Apichart Sutikha, chief of the provincial
Agriculture Office, revealed that the zoning
was carried out to help farmers obtain higher
produce and reduce their production costs.
The zones have been divided into different
categories based on the soil quality and
conditions for planting crops.
According to the official, a total of 1.09
million rai of land have been designated as
the most suitable area for planting rice,
whereas other portions of 10,000 rai and
34,000 rai of land have been classified as
moderately suitable and least suitable to
grow rice respectively. Farmers have been
advised to grow crops according to the
market demands. Mr. Apichart said that the
zoning was carried out to boost rice
productivity for farmers.
NFA-Kalinga assures enough
rice supply until December

BY: LARRY LOPEZ
Monday 13th of October 2014
TABUK CITY, Kalinga, Oct. 13 (PIA)
Despite its low palay procurement, the
National Food Authority (NFA) provincial
station assures sufficient buffer stock in the
province until the end of the year.NFA-
Kalinga Asst. Provincial Manager Ric
Baliang reported their last inventory of
20,000 bags of rice is enough to supply the
rice requirement of the province until
December.Over this, Baliang said NFA
provincial office expects the remaining rice
delivery of 30,000 bags for 2014 to arrive in
January 2015.Government is forced to
import rice from Vietnam after the countrys
rice industry is affected by calamities
coupled by NFAs low palay procurement
due to high price of traders.
NFA buys dry and good palay at P17/kg
while traders buy at P18.50-19/kg, here, he
explained.To assure that NFA quality cheap
rice reaches consumers in the grass roots,
NFA-accredited rice retailers are closely
monitored by teams from the provincial
station for regular supply.NFA rice is sold at
P27-32/kg but far flung NFA rice outlets are
allowed to add reasonable rate to defray
transportation cost, Baliang noted.
ommercial rice is sold at P42-45/kg,
here.Under NFAs mandate, supply and
price of the Filipinos buffer is stabilized
especially in times when the countrys rice
production is affected by natural causes.
(JDP/LL-PIA CAR,Kalinga)
Foodgrain stocks at 47.93 mt as
on Oct 1
Bangalore, October 13:
Foodgrain stocks in the Central Pool stood
at 47.93 million tonnes as on October 1,
more than twice the buffer norms and
strategic reserves for the period. The stocks
included 32.85 mt of wheat and 15.08 mt of
rice, according to provisional estimates by
the Food Corporation of India. Stocks with
FCI were estimated at 26.23 mt, while State
agencies held the rest.
The high and comfortable Central Pool
foodgrain stocks, ahead of the
commencement of the kharif harvest season,
should augur well for the Government as the
country faced the weakest monsoon this year
since 2009. The erratic monsoon is expected
to impact the productivity and production of
most of the kharif crops including rice this
year.According to the first advance
estimates, foodgrain production during
kharif this year is expected to be lower by
about 8.97 mt at around 120.27 mt. Rice
output is estimated at 88.02 mt, lower by
3.67 mt as compared with last kharifs
record production of 91.69 mt.The delayed
recovery in monsoon that has enhanced soil
moisture levels should boost the prospects
for rabi or winter sowings.
(This article was published on October 13,
2014)

Next week's govt rice auction
may be last before main
harvest
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation October 14, 2014 1:00 am
The Commerce Ministry plans to hold
another round of bidding for 200,000 tonnes
of rice next week, which could be the last
before the main harvest season starts rolling
early next month.After a meeting of the rice
stock-releasing committee, a ministry source
said yesterday that the auction for general
traders should be opened on October 22. The
ministry will ask for approval from the
chairman of the Rice Policy and
Management Committee and publish the
terms of reference tomorrow.The source said
this could be the last general bidding for this
year. After that the ministry might suspend
further rounds to prevent pressure on rice
prices in the market during the harvest.
However, the ministry will proceed with rice
releasing via other methods such as
government-to-government and
government-to-private sales.Of the 200,000
tonnes on offer, about 80,000 tonnes will be
5-per-cent white rice and 120,000 tonnes
will be broken rice.Duangporn Rodphaya,
director-general of the Foreign Trade
Department, said the rice price had been
falling for a couple weeks because of the
rain. Shippers could not transport rice as
they were afraid of high humidity.According
to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, 5-
per-cent white rice was quoted at US$428 a
tonne on October 8, compared with $433 on
October 1.
Thai rice is fairly cheap compared with 5-
per-cent Vietnamese rice, which is traded at
$445 a tonne.The ministry has succeeded in
disposing of about 140,000 tonnes of
government rice via two auctions worth
Bt1.7 billion this year.A rice trader noted
that the next auction would interest only
exporters, as only 5-per-cent white rice and
broken rice were available. Normally, the
domestic market consumes 100-per-cent
white rice.
Hudhud hits UP: Rainfall
likely to benefit paddy crop
Several districts of the state woke up to a
cloudy sky, which was followed by strong
wind and downpour
Virendra Singh Rawat | Lucknow
October 13, 2014 Last Updated at 20:40 IST
The paddy crop in Uttar Pradesh is likely to
benefit from the rainfall caused by the
cyclone Hud hud, which hit eastern and
central districts of the state on Monday with
strong winds and downpour.Hud hud, which
ravaged the coastal regions of Andhra
Pradesh and Odisha with high velocity
winds of almost 195 km an hour (kmph) on
Sunday, made its way to Uttar Pradesh.
The state capital of Lucknow woke up to a
cloudy sky, which was followed by strong
wind and downpour. Several other districts
in east and central Uttar Pradesh witnessed a
similar wet climate.
Hud hud is not estimated to have any
adverse impact on agricultural crops in UP.
In fact, the rainfall would benefit the late
maturing variety of paddy and save the
irrigation cost of farmers to some extent,
Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Director A K
Bishnoi told Business Standard.Like most
parts of India, the state had received a
deficient rainfall this year due to the El Nino
effect. The withdrawal of monsoon was also
largely dry and humid, which had added to
the irrigation overheads of farmers due to
higher outlay for diesel pump-
sets.According to the regional Metrological
Department Director J P Gupta, the effect of
Hudhud would persist till Tuesday in UP
and the extent of impact in terms of rainfall
and winds could be analysed only after that.
Hud hud had weakened after it reached the
state with wind velocity slowing down to
about 60 kmph, he said. "Its effect would
also be felt in western UP districts to some
extent.
Uttar Pradesh has clocked 13 per cent
increase in paddy acreage compared to the
target set for current season. Against paddy
acreage target of 6.045 million hectares
(mh), the state has achieved acreage of 6.85
mh.During 2013, the state paddy acreage
and production had stood at 5.9 mh and 15.3
million tones, respectively.
Hudhud's Port of Call Takes
All By Storm
By Express News Service
Published: 13th October 2014 06:01 AM
Last Updated: 13th October 2014 06:01 AM
VISAKHA
PATNAM:
Trees
uprooted,
roofs blown
away,
electric
cables snapped and power supply cut --
Visakhapatnam resembled a ghost city just
hours after Cyclone Hudhud struck on
Sunday. Gusty winds battered
Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and
Vizianagaram districts, bringing down weak
structures. Several people were injured as
bus shelters gave way. Students who took
shelter at a high school in Srikakulam
suffered injuries in a roof collapse.

A section of slums in Seethammadhara here
was blown away. Initial reports put the
number of damaged buildings at 70.Roads
were deserted as the government had
appealed to the people to remain
indoors. The impact of the gale was most
severe in Visakhapatnam. Bank employee K
Kiran Kumar, who got injured when a tree
branch fell on him, could not be shifted to a
hospital as debris blocked the
roads.Vehicular traffic on NH 16 from
Icchapuram to Kakinada was stopped on
Saturday itself. The Railways too had
cancelled or re-routed many services.Crop
loss in all the three districts could be
extensive.
The standing crops of paddy, maize,
sugarcane and cotton in thousands of acres
were inundated. Power supply remained cut
off at some places since Saturday night and
the problem intensified on Sunday with
more areas plunging into darkness. To
restore supply, 40,000 electric poles would
be needed. Orders have been placed for their
procurement and 1,000 poles were being
transported to Visakhapatnam, said Parakala
Prabhakar, adviser (Communications),
Andhra Pradesh Government, on Sunday.
Around 350 ground staff and 50 engineers
have reached Visakhapatnam and 200 more
are on their way, Prabhakar said.

The AP Government would provide diesel to
restore operations of mobile towers, which
are running out of fuel. About 1,50,000
people are sheltered at rehabilitation centres
and enough supply of water, food and
medicines has been ensured, said Prabhakar.
High resolution images from satellites,
including from those of other nations, would
be used to assess the extent of damage.
News in brief

October 11, 2014
PETRONS P10-B PREFERRED
SHARES
Petron Corp., the countrys largest oil
refinery, can now proceed with its issuance
of as much as P10-billion preferred shares
after securing the approval of Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC). In an
interview, SEC Director Vicente Graciano
Felizmenio said the commission has already
approved the application of Petron Corp. for
the said issuance during the en banc session
held on Friday. Specifically, Petron intends
to sell up 7 million worth of preferred shares
for P1,000 apiece with an oversubscription
of 3 million shares. The preferred shares are
non-participating and non-convertible to
common shares. The offer may likely
happen soon since the company already
disclosed the plan in the Philippine Stock
Exchange. BDO Capital and Investments
Corp., ChinaBank, RCBC Capital Corp., SB
Capital and Standard Chartered Bank are the
joint lead managers for the transaction.
Petron has earlier embarked US$2 billion for
its Refinery Master Plan Phase 2 (RMP-2)
project, which is targeted to be fully
operation by early 2015. RMP-2 will allow
Petrons Bataan refinery to run at full
capacity, converting current negative margin
fuel oil into higher value fuels such as
gasoline, diesel, and petrochemicals. In an
earlier report, Petron said it is now in its
finishing stages for the project and pre-
commissioning activities are already
ongoing. (MBM)
SEC OPENING 6 SATELLITE
OFFICES
The Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) is finally pushing through with its
plan to put up satellite offices across Metro
Manila, targeting to build its first six
branches within the year. The satellite office
will function as an outpost where the public
can file their registration statements, submit
corporate updates, and pay charges, among
other services that the regulatory agency
does in its main building. So instead of
going to the main SEC building, which is
currently located in Ortigas, the public can
just go to the nearest satellite office to do
their corporate dealings. In November 11,
the SEC will open its first satellite office
which will be located in Ali Mall in Cubao,
the next one will be located in SM Manila
although the agency has not yet identified
any particular date for its opening. SEC
Chairperson Teresita Herbosa said in an
interview that the target for this year alone is
to put up at least six branches all within
Metro Manila. She said the agency has
received invitation from the SM Group to
locate some of the satellite office within its
malls. (MBM)
DRYING FACILITY FOR CROPS
LAUNCHED
GrainPro Inc., an American company that
manufactures grain storage and drying
systems in Subic Freeport, recently launched
its patented Solar Bubble Dryer (SBD) that
provides a solution to challenges faced by
farmers throughout the world. GrainPros
development of the SBD was in partnership
with the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) and Germanys Hohenheim
University. The SBD is a collapsible drying
facility for such commodities as coffee,
cocoa, rice, wheat, corn, millet, and beans;
and can hold up to one metric ton in one
drying cycle while protecting commodities
from rain and ultraviolet (UV)
rays. According to Dr. Pat Borlagdan, the
firms manager for research and
development, the drying facility is made
from durable materials.
For Advertising SPECS & RATES
Contact: Advertising Department

Mujahid Ali

mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com

+92 321 369 2874