30th October, 2014 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine
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Todays News Headlines
Govt to make fresh Golden Rice production bid
Governments rice subsidies benefit foreign buyers only:
survey
South Korea buys 9,742 T of rice for January
Researchers are cream of the crop
GOV. RICK SNYDER SAYS ECONOMIC IMPACT OF
FOOD, AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY SURPASSES $100
BILLION GOAL
Thailand regaining rice crown
Erich Parpart and Petchanet Pratruangkrai
Governments rice subsidies benefit foreign buyers only:
survey
Cambodia rice yields lowest
Concerns Grow Over Severe Slump in Rice Prices
Nepal imported rice worth Rs 2.66 billion from India
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- October 30
Rice extends losses after drop to 4-year low on ample supply
Crop forecasting system
How Sick Chickens and Rice Led Scientists to Vitamin B1
Odisha Government decides to keep default rice millers out
of paddy procurement
Telangana farmers eye AP millers for high prices
USDA Holds 2014 Farm Bill Listening Section
WTO Rules U.S. Is Anything But COOL
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports Reported
Cheap Sushi May Be the California Droughts Next Victim
Japan aims to fill bigger share of global rice bowl
Conserving diversity, conserving options
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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter
30
th
October, 2014
www.ricepluss.com


News Detail.
Govt to make fresh Golden
Rice production bid
Abu Bakar Siddique
The move to obtain fresh permission comes
as officials were not satisfied with the
results of the previous trial
The government has again planned to
produce a rice variety which is rich in
vitamin A, after the first move failed to yield
satisfactory results. The variety is known as
Golden Rice.Jibon Krisna Biswas, director
general of Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute (BRRI), told the Dhaka Tribune on
Tuesday that permission had already been
sought from the National Committee on Bio-
safety to import the genetically modified
rice seed from IRRI.BRRI is trying to
obtain the permission for the second time as
we were not satisfied with the first trial, he
added.
In 2003, the government and the
International Rice Research Institute inked a
deal to produce Golden Rice in Bangladesh
by modifying the gene of the countrys most
popular Boro variety BRRI 29. The
government imported two grams of seed
from IRRI in 2005.
We can initiate the greenhouse trial of the
seed by January next year, provided the
permission is obtained in time, the BRRI
DG said, adding that the same amount of
seed would be imported again.Crop varieties
like Golden Rice, Bt brinjal and potatoes are
transgenic crops, and need special approval
from the bio-safety authorities for use in
research, including field trials.
Solaiman Haider, deputy director of the
Department of Environment and member
secretary of the National Committee on Bio-
safety, told the Dhaka Tribune that the
application would be granted soon.
Golden Rice is reportedly capable of
overcoming Vitamin A deficiency in
pregnant mothers and children. The gene of
the variety is extracted from a gene of maize
that gives the rice grain a bright yellow
colour hence the name Golden Rice.
Jibon Krisna Biswas said producing the final
seed for distribution among farmers would
take another five years because of the
number of processes involved, including
greenhouse trial, confined laboratory trial
and restricted field trial.Similar researches
and procedures to produce the variety are
going on in the Philippines and Indonesia.
The objective to produce genetically
modified crop varieties is to improve crop
protection mechanism by introducing
resistance against plant diseases caused by
insects or viruses or through increased
tolerance towards the use of herbicides.
In October last year, the government
released four varieties of genetically
modified brinjals Bt Uttara, Bt Kajla, Bt
Noyontara and Bt Isd 006 with the
condition of cultivating the crops on a
limited scale.
Of the varieties, Bt Uttara was released in
Rajshahi, Bt Kajla in Barisal, Bt Noyontara
in Rangpur and Dhaka, and Bt Isd 006 in
Pabna and Chittagong in compliance with
bio-safety guidelines.


Governments rice
subsidies benefit foreign
buyers only: survey
VietNamNet Bridge The policy on rice
subsidy does not benefit Vietnamese farmers
and consumers, as rice export prices are
even lower than domestic prices.
A research team from the Agriculture
Alliance has released a report which shows
that subsidies benefit importers and foreign
buyers, but not Vietnamese consumers or
rice producers.Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh from
the Hanoi National University, the head of
the research team, said that some links in the
rice production chain had been supported by
the State, including irrigation or
infrastructure. As such, when Vietnam
exports rice, it unintentionally subsidizes
foreign consumers.
The tax policies are designed to support
irrigation and infrastructure systems. The
financial support is not counted when
calculating the rice prices, Thanh said.If
rice is consumed domestically, the support
will be given back to taxpayers. However,
we cannot take back support from exports,
he said.
Thanh also pointed out that there were
problems existing in the current policies
related to rice production and export. The
subsidies have led to overproduction of
medium- and low-quality rice and to exports
that are sold at low prices. Meanwhile, the
policy on the rice floor price does not bring
stable profits to farmers, but discourages
them to grow high-quality rice varieties.
Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, the most renowned rice
expert in Vietnam, believes that Vietnamese
rice products have been undervalued by
export companies, which offer low prices in
order to compete with Thai exporters. The
problem is that the prices do not reflect the
true production costs.Xuan said the State has
to pay hundreds of millions of dollars every
year for irrigation works, but the expenses
are not counted when calculating rice
production costs.
He said the low prices on exports caused
farmers losses, but also placed high risks for
Vietnamese enterprises. Sources said that
Vietnams rice, like other seafood products,
could face a lawsuit in the US because the
rice is sold at low prices in the market.
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc De from Can Tho
University said that export prices are much
lower than domestic prices.The problem is
that if Vietnam does not make rice exports a
priority, the domestic market would not be
able to consume the entire annual rice
output, De said.The gap between domestic
and export prices is due to an unreasonable
taxation scheme. While the enterprises that
distribute rice in the domestic market bear a
VAT of 5 percent, export companies dont
have to pay the tax.
He has suggested removing the VAT on
domestic rice distribution in order to create a
level playing ground for both domestic
distributors and exporters.


However, opinions about the subsidies vary.
Nguyen Hung Linh, chair of the Vietnam
Food Association (VFA), denied that the
Vietnamese government was subsidizing the
worlds rice consumers. Linh said that
Vietnam could not control rice prices in the
global market and could not unilaterally
establish export prices, adding that the
prices are based on supply and demand.
Thanh Mai
Tags:rice subsidies
South Korea buys 9,742 T
of rice for January
Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:16am GMT
SEOUL, Oct 30 (Reuters) - South Korea
bought 9,742 tonnes of
non-glutinous rice from China for January
arrival via a tender
closed on Oct. 29, the state-run Korea Agro-
Fisheries & Food
Trade said on its website (www.at.or.kr).
Details are as follows:
TONNES GRAIN TYPE SUPPLIER
Price($/T) PORT
9,742 Brown Short Daewoo Int'l
$898 Incheon
(Japonica)
Tenders for the remaining ones issued on
the same day will
be held at a later date after sample
inspection.
* Note: The agency sought U.S. No.3 for
the rice product.
(Reporting By Kahyun Yang; Editing by
Sunil Nair)

Researchers are cream of the
crop
30 October 2014

Graeme Hammer
University of Queensland researchers will
play a key role in the Queensland node of
the $22 million Australian Research Council
Centre of Excellence for Translational
Photosynthesis. The new centre will explore
how changes to photosynthesis can increase
the yield of important staple crops such as
sorghum.
The photosynthetic process varies among
species and within locally adapted crop
populations, which suggests some plants
have evolved novel ways of converting
sunlight into energy and processing carbon.
Key role for UQ in new ARC centre
The UQ research component will include
major projects on photosynthetic variation in
sorghum and mathematical modelling of
photosynthesis. A UQ project investigating
the mechanisms and genes regulating
photosynthetic performance in sorghum will
be led by Associate Professor David Jordan,


while research on developing a dynamic
crop model linking leaf function and field
performance will be led by Graeme Hammer
(pictured).
"In collaboration with participants from
ANU and CSIRO, we will be linking a
model of a leaf's photosynthetic
biochemistry to canopy growth and crop
yield models for major cereals," Professor
Hammer said.
The centre will bring together world leaders
in photosynthesis research from six
institutions: UQ, the Australian National
University, the University of Sydney, the
University of Western Sydney, CSIRO and
the International Rice Research Institute in
the Philippines. Chief Executive of the
Australian Research Council, Aidan Byrne
said one of the key features of the ARC
Centres of Excellence scheme, in addition to
long-term funding, was that it allowed
relationships to be built nationally and
internationally between universities and
industry. "This is an important research
program at a time when there is
unprecedented demand on food supply and
food security," he said.
GOV. RICK SNYDER SAYS
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF
FOOD, AGRICULTURE
INDUSTRY SURPASSES $100
BILLION GOAL
Agency: Agriculture and Rural Development
MSU Product Center estimate shows
impact now at $101.2 billion
For immediate release: October 29,
2014 Media Contact: Contacts: Sara
Wurfel, wurfels@michigan.gov or Dave
Murray, murrayd1@michigan.gov, 517-335-
6397 Jennifer Holton, 517-284-5724
or holtonj@michigan.gov
LANSING, Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder today
announced that Michigans food and
agriculture system has surpassed its
economic impact goal of $100 billion.
According to an interim estimate by
the Michigan State University Product
Center, Michigans agri-food system has
reached a total annual economic impact of
$101.2 billion. (Infographic below)
Snyder has continually encouraged the
industry to set its sights on topping the $100
billion mark.
Michigans food and agriculture businesses
have helped lay the foundation for our
economic turnaround, Snyder said. They
recognize the value of investing in their
communities and creating hometown jobs.
Lets keep this great momentum going. The
future is exciting for this dynamic
industry.We are known for crop diversity
as well as safe, high-quality products to
meet growing global consumer demand.
Michigan is well-poised to see increased
development in the food and ag arena, said
Jamie Clover Adams, director of the
Michigan Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development. Its a great time to be
in food and agriculture. We are innovators,
and the possibilities for career opportunities,
new business creation and expansion are
bountiful.
The study was first conducted in 2006 using
2004 data. Then, the food and agriculture
system was determined to be valued at $60.1
billion. An interim estimate in 2009 showed


an increase in value to $71.3 billion. In
2012, the study highlighted more growth,
pegging it at $91.4 billion. The newest
estimate shows the food and agriculture
system continues on a consistent growth
trend.
Chris Peterson, director of the MSU Product
Center and the studys lead investigator, said
strong commodity and food prices, along
with growing domestic and global demand,
help drive the increase.The study includes
direct and multiplier effects of numerous
aspects of the agri-food system, he
explained. The impact of production
agriculture alone is nearly $13.6 billion, or
13.4 percent of the overall total.
The MSU Product Center produced the
interim estimate at the request of the
Michigan Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development. The last full report was
issued in 2012 using 2010 data. Data from
2015 will be used to generate the next full
report in 2017.Data from several different
sources are used to create this report,
Peterson said. Unfortunately, full data sets
are only available every five years.
The MSU Product Center provides
coordinated, university-wide assistance to
help Michigan entrepreneurs develop and
commercialize high-value, consumer
responsive products and businesses in the
agriculture, food, natural resources and bio-
processing sectors.
Thailand regaining rice
crown
Eri ch Parpart and Pet chanet
Prat r uangkrai
The Nation
Publ i cat i on Dat e : 29 - 10- 2014
Thailand is set to regain its crown as the
world's No-1 rice exporter, but the
consequences of the populist pledging
policy of the previous government are still
hampering the recovery of the sector, the
country's leading exporter of parboiled rice
told a major international conference
yesterday.Vichai Sriprasert, president of
Riceland International, cited a shortage of
dock workers and relatively high export
prices - due to too many millers competing
for supply from farmers - as problems
holding back the industry's return to its full
export potential.

Speaking at the three-day "Global Rice
Market and Trade Summit", arranged by the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
in Bangkok, he said the rice-pledging
scheme had left the country with 18 million
tonnes of stockpiled rice, which must either
be exported or consumed domestically
before it turned rotten. However, the current
shortage of stevedores, resulting from a
lower volume of rice exports when the
costly scheme was still in effect, has
contributed to recent port delays, he told
delegates.
Vichai expects the Kingdom to ship around 10
million-12 million tonnes of rice this year,
which would make it the world's biggest
exporter of the grain once again, but overseas
shipments could be even higher - but for the
shortage of dock workers.Last month alone,
shipments of around 500,000 tonnes were
delayed, mainly due to this factor, he added.

"Thai rice is selling like crazy since we regained


our price competitiveness, but we cannot
deliver to [meet] demand because of the sins
committed by the previous government in
the past two to three years," he said."We
have exported 30-40 per cent less than what
we can, due to the rice-pledging scheme,
and this has led to a shortage of stevedores,
many of whom previously fled the industry
due to a lack of jobs - and this problem has
resulted in a bottleneck for the export of rice
at the moment," he said.
Meanwhile, Vichai said the price of Thai
rice, which was now cheaper than that of
Vietnam, was still higher than what it should
be due to millers increasingly competing for
supply.This has been caused by the same
populist policy, as more millers entered the
market during the period when the
"disastrous" subsidy scheme was
implemented, he explained.
He said the number of millers had increased
over the past two to three years as they had
been able to profit from and take advantage
of the corruption that surrounded the "price-
distortion scheme", and now there were
three times more millers than needed for the
overall supply of rice.

In other news, Samarendu Mohanty, head of
the Social Sciences Division at the IRRI,
told the summit that cyclone Hudhud had
damaged around 500,000 hectares of rice
fields in India and that this, along with other
effects from drought and flood problems in
the previous growing season, had lowered
the country's rice production to about 100
million tonnes this year. India is also likely
to export less next year, due to the expected
increase in competition from Thailand, he
added.

India produced 106 million tonnes of rice
last year, and normally exports around 10
million tonnes per year. While the export
amount is expected to be in this region this
year, it could fall to around 7-8 million
tonnes in 2015, since Thailand is going to
find a way to offload its 18 million tonnes of
overstock, said Mohanty.
Meanwhile, the effect of the Ebola epidemic
in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will
have damaged India's rice exports more than
Thailand's, since India supplies 70 per cent
of the 900,000 tonnes imported annually by
the three countries, The Commerce
Ministry's third auction for 207,000 tonnes
of rice attracted many traders offering good
prices, encouraging the ministry to continue
with the fourth bidding next month.
Governments rice
subsidies benefit foreign
buyers only: survey
VietNamNet Bridge The policy on rice
subsidy does not benefit Vietnamese farmers
and consumers, as rice export prices are
even lower than domestic prices.



A research team from the Agriculture
Alliance has released a report which shows
that subsidies benefit importers and foreign
buyers, but not Vietnamese consumers or
rice producers.Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh from
the Hanoi National University, the head of
the research team, said that some links in the
rice production chain had been supported by
the State, including irrigation or
infrastructure.As such, when Vietnam
exports rice, it unintentionally subsidizes
foreign consumers.The tax policies are
designed to support irrigation and
infrastructure systems. The financial support
is not counted when calculating the rice
prices, Thanh said.

If rice is consumed domestically, the
support will be given back to taxpayers.
However, we cannot take back support from
exports, he said.Thanh also pointed out that
there were problems existing in the current
policies related to rice production and
export.The subsidies have led to
overproduction of medium- and low-quality
rice and to exports that are sold at low
prices.Meanwhile, the policy on the rice
floor price does not bring stable profits to
farmers, but discourages them to grow high-
quality rice varieties.

Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, the most renowned rice
expert in Vietnam, believes that Vietnamese
rice products have been undervalued by
export companies, which offer low prices in
order to compete with Thai exporters.The
problem is that the prices do not reflect the
true production costs.Xuan said the State has
to pay hundreds of millions of dollars every
year for irrigation works, but the expenses
are not counted when calculating rice
production costs.

He said the low prices on exports caused
farmers losses, but also placed high risks for
Vietnamese enterprises.
Sources said that Vietnams rice, like other
seafood products, could face a lawsuit in the
US because the rice is sold at low prices in
the market.Dr. Nguyen Ngoc De from Can
Tho University said that export prices are
much lower than domestic prices.The
problem is that if Vietnam does not make
rice exports a priority, the domestic market
would not be able to consume the entire
annual rice output, De said.

The gap between domestic and export prices
is due to an unreasonable taxation scheme.
While the enterprises that distribute rice in
the domestic market bear a VAT of 5
percent, export companies dont have to pay
the tax.He has suggested removing the VAT
on domestic rice distribution in order to
create a level playing ground for both
domestic distributors and
exporters.However, opinions about the
subsidies vary. Nguyen Hung Linh, chair of
the Vietnam Food Association (VFA),
denied that the Vietnamese government was
subsidizing the worlds rice consumers.

Linh said that Vietnam could not control
rice prices in the global market and could
not unilaterally establish export prices,
adding that the prices are based on supply
and demand.
Thanh M
Tags:rice subsidies,
Cambodia rice yields lowest

Thu, 30 October 2014
Chan Muyhong
Cambodia's rice industry remains hindered
by the size of cultivation land and an
absence of domestic milling facilities as well
as irrigation, according to an Asia


Development Bank (ADB) report launched
this week.The ADBs study, released
Tuesday and titled Improving Rice
Production and Commercialization in
Cambodia, states that Cambodias average
rice yield ranks the lowest among almost all
Southeast Asian nations.
Cambodian rice yields currently stand at 3.3
tonnes per hectare, according to the report,
which took into account survey results from
750 households across 18 communes in
Battambang, Kampong Thom and Takeo
provinces.Meanwhile, Vietnam produces
around 6.2 tonnes per hectare, Indonesia
produces about 5.7 tonnes, the Philippines
4.3 tonnes, Laos 4.1 tonnes, and Thailand
3.5 tonnes per hectare.
Area cultivated by farm/farm size is [the]
most important determinant of improved
production and commercialization, the
report, which was presented in Phnom Penh
by ADB country director Eric Sidgwick on
Tuesday, states.
The study concludes that agricultural
productivity in Cambodia would increase
with strengthened land titling and skills
development efforts from the Cambodian
government, and improved access to
finance, which in turn could prompt
investment in irrigation and domestic
milling.In our meeting just last week with
the private sector, the same issues have been
raised. We cannot solve all the problems at
once, Hean Vann Horn, deputy director
general of the General Directorate of
Agriculture, said yesterday.
But the government has been focusing on a
more long term action plan, of which
increasing rice production has been
prioritised, followed by paddy collection and
processing, simplified rice exporting
processes and finally market planning,
Horn reasoned.
Horn said that the foremost challenge for the
industry is the lack of capital for exporters to
stock paddy rice. As a direct consequence,
paddy flows to neighbouring countries more
rapidly as farmers scramble for finances
during the harvest.
According to the ADB report, 44 per cent of
respondents said they had no access to
irrigation systems. Meanwhile, only 14 per
cent said they had access to high-yield rice
seeds and only five per cent said they were
aware of regional and even domestic market
prices.
Srey Chanthy, independent economist, said
the ADB reports findings were not
surprising and represent the same issues that
have been plaguing Cambodias rice
industry for almost two decades.
If we thought we had all the answers, then
why is the issue still there? We have to ask
how policy is being implemented, Chanthy
said, adding that little domestic revenue is
spent on strengthening the agriculture sector.
Chanthy said improving knowledge and
skills in farming should be the first priority
for the Cambodian government. He called
for commercial banks and microfinance
institutions to increase the amount of credit
available to the fledgling industry from an


estimated $800 million to more than $1
billion.
Image:A rice farmer in Kandal province in
March. An Asian Development Bank report
has found that Cambodias rice industry
remains hindered by the size of cultivation
land and an absence of domestic milling
facilities as well as irrigation. Hong Menea
Concerns Grow Over Severe
Slump in Rice Prices

By KYAW HSU MON / THE
IRRAWADDY| Thursday, October 30, 2014
A farmer plows fields in Dala Township,
Rangoon Division. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)
RANGO
ON
Rice
prices and
exports
have
experienc
ed a sharp drop this year as a result of a
tightening of import restrictions by China,
Myanmar Rice Federation Chairman Chit
Khaing said on Thursday.The slump in rice
prices comes ahead of the start of the main
rice harvest season and could have a serious
impact on the livelihood of Burmas
farmers, already among the countrys
poorest groups.Chit Khaing said prices
currently stood at about US$330 per 100
baskets of paddy (about 1,500 kilogram),
down from about $400 per 100 baskets last
year.
Due to this big drop in prices a lot of
farmers will face problems, he said, adding
that a tightening of Chinese border controls
on the quality of Burmese rice and a
crackdown on the smuggling of rice had
caused the drop in demand and prices.
At the same time, Thailand is increasing its
rice sales on the international market too,
thats why paddy prices here keep falling,
he said, adding that domestic rice demand
had already been met.Until now, China had
been buying up more than half of all
Burmas annual rice export, with much of
the low quality paddy produced in the
Irrawaddy Delta and central regions flowing
across the Burma-China border with few
border checks and through smuggling
routes.
This year, however, China has taken steps to
legalize and control its import of Burmese
rice, demanding that an trade agreement be
signed that guarantees that most rice is
milled and meets certain quality and
hygienic requirements, so-called sanitary
and phytosanitary (SPS) standards.
Chit Khaing said Naypyidaw and Beijing are
discussing a bilateral agreement on SPS
standards that would allow the Myanmar
Rice Federation to legally export some
200,000 tons of milled rice to China.Earlier
this month, the federation reached an
agreement with Indian rice traders to supply
two states in Northeastern India with 20,000
tons of rice per month sold at $400 per ton,
but Burmese traders will have to arrange the
costly transport to the Burma-India border.
Burmas rice exports had been slowly
increasing after President Thein Seins


government in 2011 began to prioritize
agriculture and set a rice export goal of 4
million tons by 2020. But last year exports
began to dip, a trend that is continuing this
year. According to the Myanmar Rice
Exporters Association, total rice exports in
2013-2014 stood at about 1.2 million tons,
down from 1.47 million tons the year
before.Chit Khaing, who also owns Eden
Group conglomerate with interests in
construction, banking, hotels and tourism,
did not provide a detailed figure for the
volume of the rice exports so far.
Burmas main rice harvest season is due to
start in November and will continue until
late December. The agriculture sector is the
countrys largest employer and 70 percent of
all Burmese live in rural areas.Chit Khaing
said the government and the federation were
taking steps to try to boost rice demand and
shield farmers from the impact.He said the
federation would seek government and
private sector help so that farmers could
store rice in warehouses until prices rise and
in the meantime take out a loan with their
rice stocks serving as collateral.Were
going to discuss with farmers, traders and
exporters this week how to increase paddy
prices, Chit Khaing said, adding that the
Burma Army would also buy up a
significant amount rice to feed its troops this
month.
We believe that we can solve this problem
soon, he said, adding that in 2012-2013 rice
prices had dropped even lower to $270 per
100 baskets.Kyaw Naing Oo, a farmer who
owns 15 acres of paddy in Pegu Divisions
Tharrawaddy Township, said, however, that
farmers in the region were deeply concerned
over the drop in rice prices and many feared
they would not be able to repay their loans
this year and sink into debt.Prices had
reached up to 450,000 kyats [$450] per 100
baskets last year.
At that time, we guessed we could get good
prices easily, but this year we have no
hope, he said.Kyaw Naing Oo said farmers
spent between $150 and $200 per acre to
prepare for a rice harvest, but were now
offered farm gate prices by brokers of
between $200 and $250, meaning many
would earn only a small amount of cash this
year.
Kyaw Naing Oo had little hope that a SPS
agreement between Burma and China would
help the farmers, as he heard reports that one
large local company would be granted the
license to control all export to China and so
could dictate low rice prices to supplying
farmers.
Paddy yields in Burma are among the lowest
in Southeast Asia at 2.5 metric tons per
hectare and most rice mills used outdated
machinery that produces rice with a high
percentage of broken grains, making it
unsuitable for high-value foreign export
markets such as the European Union and
Japan.A World Bank report in June said the
government would need to take a range of
measures to improve the quality of rice
through investments in rice mills, while it


should also reduce transport costs and
formulate policies to support rice export and
agricultural production.
Related Posts:
Nepal imported rice worth Rs
2.66 billion from India

KATHMANDU, OCT 30 - Rice imports
from India rose 127.5 percent to Rs 2.66
billion in the first two months of the fiscal
year 2014-15.Despite a rise in paddy
production in the country, rice imports from
the southern neighbour have not come
down. In 2013-14, the country imported rice
worth Rs 12.37 billion, a rise of 46.4 percent
year-on-year, according to the Nepal Rastra
Bank.Paddy production in the country rose
12 percent last fiscal year, while maize
production increased 10 percent.
When it comes the entire cereal imports, the
country imported the products worth
Rs28.62 billion last fiscal year, according to
the Trade and Export Promotion Centre
(TEPC).Increased dependence on imported
products has ballooned the countrys trade
deficit to Rs 111.92 billion as of the second
month of the fiscal year, according to the
NRB. At the end of the last fiscal year, the
trade deficit was at Rs 618.46 billion.
Traders and local mill operators attributed
the rise in rice imports to comparatively
cheaper price of the Indian product. Paddy
production is not increasing in line with the
population growth and farmers are turning to
cash crops, said Chandra Krishna
Karmacharya, president of the Association
of Nepal Rice, Pulses and Oil Industries.
That is why we are becoming dependent on
imports. He added the Nepali rice industry
is facing stiff competition from Indian rice
as the production cost in India is lower due
to government subsidies. Besides, Nepali
farmers are facing problems related to
irrigation, labour and load-shedding.
Normal Indian Jeera Masino rice is available
at Rs 1,400 per 25-kg pack in the domestic
market, but the same type of Nepali rice
costs Rs1,450-1,500, according to traders.
In India, farmers get subsidy on seeds and
fertilisers at larger scales. Thats why Indian
farmers can afford to sell their products at
cheaper prices, making the Nepali
production uncompetitive, said
Karmacharya.
Due to insufficient rain, floods and
landslide, domestic paddy production may
be hit hard this year, experts say. Sudhir
Kumar Roonja, manager of Om Agro
Products, said although the government has
hiked the import duty on agriculture
products to 8 percent from 5 percent, the
move is not sufficient.The rising import of
agriculture products like rice, pulses and oil
has been a very serious issue, so the
government should further increase the
agriculture service tax and encourage
commercial farming in the country, he said,
adding the government has to focus on other
winter crops like wheat, buckwheat, barley
and millet as substitute food products.
Posted on: 2014-10-30 08:07
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices
Open- October 30


Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:28pm IST
Nagpur, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Gram prices in
Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing
Committee (APMC) reported higher on renewed
demand from local millers amid tight supply
from producing regions. Fresh rise on NCDEX,
upward trend in Madhya Pradesh gram prices
and enquiries from South-based millers also
helped to push up prices, according to sources.

* * * *

FOODGRAINS & PULSES
GRAM
* Gram varieties ruled steady in open market
on poor demand from local traders amid
ample stock in ready position.

TUAR
* Tuar fataka best and medium varieties
reported down in open market in absence of
buyers amid good supply from millers.
Reports about increased overseas arrival also
pushed down prices.

* Watana varieties firmed up in open market
on good festival season demand from local
traders amid tight supply from producing
regions.

* In Akola, Tuar - 4,600-4,700, Tuar dal -
7,100-7,400, Udid at 7,000-7,200,
Udid Mogar (clean) - 7,800-8,100, Moong -
6,900-7,300, Moong Mogar
(clean) 8,300-9,000, Gram - 2,600-2,800,
Gram Super best bold - 3,600-3,900
for 100 kg.

* Wheat, rice and other commodities remained
steady in open market
in thin trading activity, according to sources.

Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market
prices in rupees for 100 kg

FOODGRAINS Available prices
Previous close
Gram Auction 2,430-2,830
2,400-2,740
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-
2,600
Tuar Auction n.a. 3,950-
4,200
Moong Auction n.a.
5,200-5,500
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-
4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-
2,800
Gram Super Best Bold 3,850-4,200
3,850-4,200
Gram Super Best n.a.
Gram Medium Best 3,650-3,750
3,650-3,750
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.
Gram Mill Quality 3,450-3,550
3,450-3,550
Desi gram Raw 2,850-2,900
2,850-2,900
Gram Filter new 3,200-3,600
3,200-3,600
Gram Kabuli 8,500-9,800
8,500-9,800
Gram Pink 7,200-7,400 7,200-
7,400
Tuar Fataka Best 7,300-7,500
7,400-7,600
Tuar Fataka Medium 7,050-7,150
7,150-7,250
Tuar Dal Best Phod 7,150-7,250
7,150-7,250
Tuar Dal Medium phod 6,850-7,050
6,850-7,050
Tuar Gavarani 5,150-5,250
5,150-5,250
Tuar Karnataka 5,500-5,600
5,500-5,600
Tuar Black 8,300-8,600
8,300-8,600
Masoor dal best 6,700-6,800
6,700-6,800
Masoor dal medium 6,500-6,600
6,500-6,600
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold 9,500-9,800
9,500-9,800
Moong Mogar Medium best 8,500-9,000
8,500-9,000
Moong dal super best 8,000-8,400
8,000-8,400


Moong dal Chilka 7,600-7,900
7,600-7,900
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 7,500-8,800
7,500-8,800
Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG)
8,000-8,500 8,000-8,500
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,000-
7,500 7,000-7,500
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 6,300-
6,800 6,300-6,800
Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,200-4,800
4,200-4,800
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,900-3,100
2,900-3,100
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,250-3,400
3,200-3,400
Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,300-
3,400 3,250-3,350
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 4,500-
5,200 4,400-5,200
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,500
1,200-1,500
Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,650-
1,700 1,650-1,700
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,400
1,200-1,400
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,100-
2,350 2,100-2,350
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG)
1,800-2,000 1,800-2,000
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a.
n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 2,800-
3,200 2,800-3,200
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 1,950-
2,350 1,950-2,350
Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,300
1,200-1,300
Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,800
1,500-1,800
Rice BPT new (100 INR/KG) 3,000-
3,500 3,000-3,500
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,900
1,700-1,900
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,300-
2,600 2,300-2,600
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 4,000-
4,400 4,000-4,400
Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG) 4,800-
5,800 4,800-5,800
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 10,200-
13,300 10,200-13,300
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG)
7,200-9,800 7,200-9,800
Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,700
5,200-5,700
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,300-
1,500 1,400-1,600
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,800
1,700-1,800

WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 32.6 degree Celsius (90.7
degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.
16.1 degree Celsius (60.9 degree Fahrenheit)
Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a.
Rainfall : n.a.
FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and
minimum temperature would be around and 34
and 16 degree Celsius respectively.

Note: n.a.--not available

(For oils, transport costs are exclude

Rice extends losses after
drop to 4-year low on
ample supply

Rice Extends Losses After Drop to Four-
Year Low on Ample Supply
Oct 29, 2014

Prices for rice, a staple for half the world,
extended losses after reaching the lowest
since 2010 in Chicago as the outlook for a
jump in U.S. production and increased
exports from overseas producers signal
ample supplies.Shipments from Thailand,
vying with India to be the worlds largest
exporter, almost doubled in September, the
government said yesterday. Myanmar
expects output to increase as much as 15
percent annually as it boosts yields. U.S.
rough-rice production will rise to a four-year


high, the Department of Agriculture said
Oct. 10.
Prices have dropped 20 percent this year,
heading for the biggest loss since 2001 and
keeping a lid on global food costs that the
United Nations said fell for a sixth month in
September. The Bloomberg Agriculture
Index of seven commodities slid the most
last quarter since 2008 as the USDA projects
combined global output of rice, corn,
soybeans and wheat will advance to a record
this season.Plunging prices are a signal that
we have plenty of rice, Dwight Roberts,
president of Houston-based U.S. Rice
Producers Association, said in interview at a
conference in Bangkok yesterday. Some
markets are buying hand-to-mouth.
Rough-rice for January delivery fell 0.5
percent to $12.24 for 100 pounds on the
Chicago Board of Trade at 1:50 p.m.
Singapore time. Futures lost by the limit of
$1.10 to $11.375 yesterday, the lowest
intraday price since September
2010.Aggregate trading was more than
double the 100-day average for the day
yesterday, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.An index (BCOMAG) of 55
food items dropped 2.6 percent month-on-
month to 191.5 points, the lowest since
August 2010, the United Nations Rome-
based Food & Agriculture Organization said
in an online report Oct. 9.
Export Demand
U.S. inventories of rice will rise 26 percent
before the 2015 harvest, according to the
USDA. Prices may have to fall further to
make U.S. exports attractive to foreign
buyers, said Dennis DeLaughter, president
of researcher and consultant VantageRM in
Austin, Texas.Iraq, the fifth-biggest
importer, is tendering tomorrow for 90,000
metric tons of milled rice, and U.S. prices are at
least 15 percent above offers expected from
Thailand and Vietnam, according to
DeLaughter.
The U.S. milled-rice price is too high, and we
have a big crop to sell, said DeLaughter, who
has been farming and trading rice since
1977.Rice prices in Texas range from $12 to
$12.75 for 100 pounds, with mills bidding lower
for new high-yielding hybrids that produce
lower-quality finished product, DeLaughter
said.U.S. long-grain exports are completely
uncompetitive, according to Jeremy Zwinger,
president and chief executive officer of The Rice
Trader, a Durham, California-based researcher.
This is because of the problems created by the
lower quality of hybrid varieties, he said.
Prices for 5 percent broken Thai white rice, an
Asian benchmark, was at $426 a ton on Oct. 22,
according to the Thai Rice Exporters
Association.
bloomberg.net
Crop forecasting system

By The Newspaper's Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A new state-of-the-art geo-
spatial system has been introduced at
Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere
Research Commission (Suparco) that will
increase accuracy and decrease costs of data
collection and crop yields each year.
The system, procured and installed by the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) under a US
Department of Agriculture-funded FAO
Pakistan Agriculture Information Systems
project, which improve quality of agricultural


statistics in Pakistan using geospatial
information.The crop reporting services of
Punjab and Sindh, supported by USDA and
FAO, has also been launched at the
University of Agriculture in Faisalabad and
Sindh Agriculture University at Tando Jam,
to improve quality of agricultural statistics
using geospatial information.
With US funding, FAO provided the
software and hardware for crops monitoring
system and trained staff at Suparco, as well
as the crop reporting services of Punjab and
Sindh to support the adoption of satellite
imagery data and for more accurate
forecasting of crop yields.Speaking at an
introductory ceremony, Minister for
National Food Security and Research,
Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that with
the use of the new system, the government
and farmers would also have access to
accurate, timely and informative reports
both at the provincial and federal levels.
FAO Representative in Pakistan, Patrick
Evans stated that crop yield forecasting is
essential for the government to plan the
countrys export targets and ensure food
security, especially for the two major crops,
wheat and rice.Pakistan is a major player in
the global commodities market. However, a
poor year in production of wheat or rice
could have an impact on global food prices
and lead to increased production both
worldwide and in Pakistan, thus reducing
food security in the country.
If the government knows that the yield of
wheat or rice is going to be low, it can take
measures to prevent food
shortages.Similarly, if yield of cotton is
expected to be low, the country can either
import cotton to keep factories running or
adjust export targets and the plants for that
years budget spending accordingly.
Published in Dawn, October 30th , 2014
How Sick Chickens and Rice Led
Scientists to Vitamin B1
The discovery of thiamine began with the search
for a microbe.
SARAH LASKOWOCT 30 2014, 2:05 PM
ET
The discovery of vitamin B1 began with a
search for microbes. In the late 1800s,
microbes were the hot new idea in medical
science: Louis Pasteur had recently linked
disease to germs, and doctors were looking
for microscopic explanations for all kinds of
ailments. Even when those ailments had
nothing to do with germs at all.
Take beriberi for examplea common
disease that could cause nerve damage or
heart failure. Beriberi had already been
linked with diet, but when Dutch scientists
started looking for its cause, they thought
they might be looking for a microbe. To find
that microbe, they tried infecting small


animals (rabbits, monkeys, chickens) with
the disease by exposing them to blood and
urine from animals with beriberi.
When they did that, something strange
happened. The rabbits and the monkeys
never got sick. But the chickens, kept in
coops at a research institute in Indonesia, did
get sick. The problem was, they allgot
sicknot just the chickens that had been
exposed to blood and urine, but the control
groups, too. Christiaan Eijkman, who was
running the experiment, bought more
chickens and tried to infect some; he
separated them from one another; they all
got sick. Then, somehow, they got better.
The reason, he found, was their diet: When
the chickens were fed on white rice alone,
they came down with beriberi. When they
were fed brown rice, they did not. No urine
or blood required.
But even after further experiments had
linked beriberi to a diet of white rice, and
shown how consuming rice husks could
prevent or cure it, scientistsincluding
Eijkmanstill believed the disease came
from a pathogen or toxin, and that whatever
was in the brown rice husks prevented it
from taking hold. It wasn't until 1901 that
Eijkman's successor, Gerrit Grijns,
articulated clearly that it was the absence of
some crucial substance, found in the husks
of brown rice, that caused the disease.
Eijkman didn't come around to that view
until 1906.
A few years later, around 1910, an
American Army captain in the Philippines
started working on treating beriberi, and he
brought in a chemist, Robert R. Williams, to
help. The captain handed over a small bottle
of of rice polish. Williams' task: Isolate and
synthesize whatever it was in this stuff that
was keeping beriberi at bay.
Williams wasn't the only scientists working
on this problem: In 1911, a British scientist,
Casimir Funk, crystallized a rice husk-
derived substance that cured beri-beri. He
called it a "vital-amine." In 1926, Dutch
scientists in the same professional lineage as
Eijkman and Grijns isolated the crucial
factor, but managed to get its formula
wrong. Throughout, Williams kept
working on the task. At one point he
"confiscated his wife's washing machine" to
use as a centrifuge, the American Chemical
Society reported.
With support from Merckand more
professional lab equipmenthe finally
managed to synthesize the substance
thiamine, or vitamin B1in 1936. By this
time, no one was looking for the microbe
that caused beriberi anymore: Vitamins C
and B2 had already been synthesized, and it
was established that it was not exclusively
the presence of unseen forces, like microbes,
in the body but the lack of other tiny factors
that could cause disease. Today, all kinds of
foods are fortified with these vitamins,
including Williams's B1. And beriberi is


rare, but now treatable with a bit
of thiamine.
Odisha Government decides to
keep default rice millers out of
paddy procurement

Thursday, October 30, 2014
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha state government
has decided to disallow defaulting rice
millers from taking part in the next round of
paddy procurement in the state. According
to the new guidelines prepared by the state
government, rice millers can participate in
procurement operation for the Kharif
Marketing Season 2014-15 only if they have
delivered 100% custom milled rice for the
paddy taken by them during the Kharif
Marketing Season (KMS) 2013-14. In order
to implement the decisions, the government
has decided to have a facility to store paddy
on temporary basis.
It has decided to store 10 lakh metric tonne
(MT) of paddy during the Kharif Marketing
Season 2014-15 in CAP (cover and plinth)
storage locations under the open sky. Odisha
State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC)
will manage the CAP storage and
MARKFED would take over the
responsibility from next Kharif Marketing
Season (2015-16), said Food Supplies and
Consumer Welfare secretary Madhusudan
Padhi in a letter to all the district collectors.
Over last few years, the number of
defaulting millers has been increasing with
about 72 millers misappropriating about Rs
150 crores.
Few officers have been arrested on the
ground of misappropriation by millers and
put behind bars in last few months, creating
a lot of resentment in the field among
officers of the Food Supply & Consumer
Welfare Department, said the letter. In
order to store paddy in CAP, the government
has directed the collectors to identify big
market yards of RMCs with
boundary/fencing and office space for
starting CAP storage from
November/December 2014 so as to store the
paddy procured by the societies in the
current KMS.
It is suggested that one CAP location
should have capacity to store minimum of
5000 MT of paddy so that dedicated
manpower for same is efficiently used. A
weigh bridge near the CAP location may be
identified for conducting transactions (both
receipt and issue) at CAP storage point,
said Padhi in the letter.
Telangana farmers eye AP
millers for high prices
DC CORRESPONDENT | October 31, 2014,
05.10 am IST
Telangana government is also in favor of
farmers sellingt their produce to AP men
Nizamabad: Farmers of Telangana districts are
showing interest to sell their paddy to rice-
millers belonging to Andhra Pradesh, instead of
local millers as the former are offering
remunerative price to their produce. In the last
few days, lorries from Krishna, Guntur, East and
West Godavari districts were found lined up in
north Telangana districts, particularly in
Nizamabad district, to purchase paddy from
farmers. Of the estimated 5 lakh metric tonne


yield in kharif season from Nizamabad
district, the Andhra millers had already
purchased around 1 lakh metric tonne from
farmers.
The government declared an MSP
of Rs1,360 and Rs1,400 per quintal paddy of
common variety and Grade A respectively.
But the AP millers are offering more than
MSP something between Rs 1,600
to Rs 1,650 per quintal. Further, they are
buying stocks right from the farmers
doorsteps and making the payment instantly,
without raising issues regarding the moisture
content.
Surprisingly, the Telangana government is
also in favor of farmers sellingt their
produce to AP men. Minister for agriculture
Pocharam Srinivas Reddy directed the civil
supplies officials not to seize lorries
transporting paddy from TS to Andhra
Pradesh. Reportedly, the AP Rice millers
have been offering remunerative prices to
the paddy as they have an opportunity to
export the rice to foreign countries through
ports. They also get more profits than their
Telangana counterparts in byproducts of
paddy.
The millers from AP are buying the
common grade paddy, specially, the 1010
variety. This grain in this variety of paddy is
coarse and it neither eaten by people of TS
or AP. Most of the common variety of rice is
exported to foreign countries. In addition,
boiled rice is exported to Kerala and Gulf
countries from Nizamabad. The AP
government has permitted rice millers to
export 5 lakh metric tonnes rice to foreign
countries and it is for this reason that millers
are thronging TS to procure paddy, as it has
been harvested early, compared to AP. Paddy
arrivals begin in December in AP.
Rice millers association Nizamabad district
secretary V. Mohan Reddy said the state
governments attitude in paddy procurement
would lead to adverse results. Transportation of
paddy from TS to AP would affect PDS.
USDA Holds 2014 Farm Bill
Listening Section
Farm Bill Listening Session
Brandon Willis of the USDA
STONEVILLE, MS - Yesterday, the USA
Rice Federation attended Farm Bill listening
sessions here with staff members from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
and the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Growers were invited to provide feedback
and bring questions for USDA staff about
the implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill.
Among the concerns producers voiced to
Risk Management Agency (RMA) staff
were availability of the Supplemental
Coverage Option (SCO) for 2016 and crop
margin insurance product availability for
rice and other crops.


"RMA is working to expand the
Supplemental Coverage Option to additional
crops and counties for 2016," said Brandon
Willis, Risk Management Agency
Administrator. "For rice, RMA hopes to
include all counties that currently have a rice
crop insurance policy."Recently, the Federal
Crop Insurance Corporation Board approved
a margin protection pilot program that will
be available for rice producers.
Questions were also raised regarding the
rulemaking process to define "significant
contribution of active personal
management" which would further define
which producers are eligible to participate in
Farm Service Agency (FSA) commodity
programs.
FSA staff stated that once the Secretary's
proposed rule is published there will be
ample time for public comment. The final
rule, they added, will not be implemented
mid-crop year and could possibly be delayed
until the 2016 crop year to ensure public
comments are considered, and FSA staff
have time to correctly implement the rule.
Contact: Ben Mosely (703) 236-1471

WTO Rules
U.S. Is
Anything But
COOL
WASHINGTO
N, DC - Last
week, the World
Trade
Organization
(WTO) released a report concluding that the
United States' Country of Origin Labeling
(COOL) rule is not WTO compliant, paving
the way for Canada and Mexico to proceed
with retaliatory measures against U.S.
products. Canada has published a lengthy
retaliation list that includes import duties of
100 percent on U.S. rice.
Canada and Mexico claim COOL, which
requires cuts of meat be labelled according
to where the animal was born, raised, and
processed, discriminates against meat
originating within their borders, because
providing this information consistently
would be too onerous for the countries'
industries.
The WTO agreed.
"The WTO process permitting member
countries to impose retaliation is lengthy, so
the earliest date when Canada and Mexico
could retaliate if the issue is not settled is
likely December 2015," explained Bob
Cummings, USA Rice Federation's
COO.Cummings said USA Rice is an active
member of the COOL Coalition, a group of
companies and associations that advocate
for the U.S. to come into compliance with
our WTO obligations.


This morning, the COOL Coalition sent a
letter to Congress urging them to grant the
U.S. Department of Agriculture authority to
rescind noncompliant elements of the COOL
rule. The letter was signed by USA Rice and
108 other members of the coalition.On its
website, the COOL Coalition has an
interactive map of the U.S. exports on that
would be affected by a 100 percent duty.
Contact: Kristen Dayton (703) 236-1464

Weekly Rice Sales, Exports
Reported
WASHINGTON, DC -- Net rice sales of
93,700 MT for 2014/2015 were up 19
percent from the previous week and 53
percent from the prior four week average,
according to today's Export Sales Highlights
report.
Increases were reported for Turkey (40,000
MT), Haiti (25,600 MT), Japan (12,000
MT), El Salvador (6,200 MT), and Canada
(3,400 MT). Exports of 61,500 MT were up
7 percent from the previous week and 53
percent from the prior 4-week average. The
primary destinations were Mexico (28,600
MT), El Salvador (8,500 MT)Haiti (6,600
MT), Guatemala (4,500 MT), and Canada
(4,400 MT).
This summary is based on reports from
exporters from the period October 17-23.
Cheap Sushi May Be the
California Droughts Next
Victim
By Clint Rainey Follow @clintrainey
Say sayonara, affordable salmon
roll. Photo: Shutterstock
Add Sacramento Valley sticky rice to the list
of things like artichokes andbeer that doesn't
taste like baking soda that are being
threatened by California's drought. The idea
of less sticky rice may not stir strong
feelings until you realize that the majority of
American sushi restaurants depend on it.
And now they're getting nervous.
According to the Califor
nia Rice Commission's numbers, rice
farmers planted 25 percent fewer acres than
they did last year, and while they typically
flood between 250,000 and 300,000 acres
every winter, it may be as few as 50,000 this
year because of the drought. (The fields also
provide a habitat for lots of spectacular
migratory birds, too, so there's that too.)
Because Sacramento Valley rice "makes or
breaks sushi" nationwide, restaurants are
reluctant to buy from elsewhere, even
though owners already report an 8 percent
spike in prices. Expect that to climb higher
in coming months, and perhaps a lot more
sashimi.
Related: California's Drought May Result in
Nasty-Tasting Beer
[AP]


Japan aims to fill bigger
share of global rice bowl

TOKYO -- Exports of high-quality Japanese rice
are increasing to meet surging global demand. In
2013, exports reached a record high of over
3,000 tons. Those shipments look set to grow
even more, if barriers that limit Japan's rice
exports can be overcome. Rice grown in
Japan already has a worldwide reputation for
quality. Takaya Ishizuka, head chef at Nadaman,
a Japanese restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel in
Singapore, gets many requests from customers
who want to buy the rice he serves. According to
Ishizuka, the rice used by Nadaman's restaurants
in Hong Kong and Singapore tastes far better
now that they are buying from Kubota, a
Japanese manufacturer of agricultural
equipment.

Matters of taste

Some Chinese rice producers claim their rice is
as tasty as that grown in Japan.
According to Gen Takahashi, Kubota's senior
manager in charge of strategic planning, the
secret to the flavor of the rice they sell is
freshness. Previously, chefs at Nadaman in
Singapore cooked older rice that had been milled
in Japan and sent on a long, slow journey by
ship.

Since the company set up Kubota Rice
Industry (Singapore) to import, mill and sell
Japanese rice in Singapore, Shangri-La
customers have been able to enjoy rice
processed just days earlier. Kubota only buys
from the best contract rice farmers.

With more restaurants buying rice from
Kubota, the company expects to export 2,000
tons of rice in 2014, twice as much as last year.

Exports of high-quality rice are growing and
the trend is expected to continue. Japan hopes to
double exports of agricultural products to 1
trillion yen ($9.24 billion) by 2020, with rice
and related products such as sake and
confectionery forecast to reach 60 billion yen.
The government is confident the solid reputation
of Japanese rice will help it achieve its export
goal.

Still, 3,000 tons represent less than 0.01% of
the global rice export market. Japan's minuscule
share is usually attributed to the high price of the
product. But this does not tell the whole story.
Exporting to China, for example, is extremely
difficult. Authorities require all rice imported
into the country to be milled in facilities that
meet safety standards specified by China's
Inspection and Quarantine Services.

At the moment, there is only one mill in
Japan able to do this. That limited exports to
China to just 46 tons in 2013. Makoto Hirayama,
president of major rice wholesaler Kitoku
Shinryo, said Chinese inspectors will not travel
to Japan to certify mills, even if they are built.

And the characteristics of the Japanese
variety do not suit every palate. Rice grown in


Japan is soft and sticky. An official with Oedo
Food Services, operator of the Tori Q yakitori
grilled chicken chain in Singapore, said Japanese
rice goes well with dishes from that country, but
is not as good when served with other Asian
cuisines that are served with sauces or soups.

Plying their trade

That doesn't matter to some companies. Mitsui
& Co., for example, in 2011 began exporting
rice from Myanmar.

The Southeast Asian country was the biggest
rice exporter to Japan from the 1950s through
the mid-1960s. But then Japan achieved self-
sufficiency in rice production. Myanmar's rice
exports subsequently slumped for other reasons
too. Production efficiency and product quality
suffered as the military junta maintained an iron
grip on the country.
Now Mitsui workers, who have been
assigned to Myanmar, train local farmers at rice
paddies to help them cultivate quality rice.
Employees of the Japanese trading house are
also traveling to Africa and elsewhere to
promote sales of rice from Myanmar. As a result
of the efforts by Mitsui and others, annual rice
exports from Myanmar, which once stood at 500
tons, have surged to tens of thousands of tons.
The country is now shipping rice to Japan again.
"Myanmar was the same as Japan in that it
had hardly been exporting rice until recently,"
said Satoru Shimoishikawa, a Mitsui official in
charge of global grains trade. "But countries can
export rice if they try to meet customer needs
and improve the way rice is grown."

Promising Africa

Rice demand is on the increase across the world.
Global rice trade volume by fiscal 2023 is
estimated to rise to 47.09 million tons, up 20%
from fiscal 2013, according to a study by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The rise in consumption is expected to be
driven in particular by African nations with high
birthrates.

Most Africans cook their rice in pots today. If
they can be convinced of the merits of instead
using electric rice cookers, which are said to
improve the taste of the staple, then demand on
the continent is likely to grow further.

Generating more demand in places such as
Africa will be key.
(Nikkei)
Conserving diversity,
conserving options

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Marie Haga,
executive director of
the Global Crop
Diversity
Trust (GCDT), said
that rescuing and
conserving crop
genetic diversity means giving our generation,


and the next, the means to protect our sources of
food.Genetic diversity is the prerequisite to
food security. It is where the traits that help
agriculture adapt to challenges of the future will
be coming from, said Haga.Haga was the first
plenary speaker at the ongoing 4th International
Rice Congress, which has gathered 1,500
participants from 69 countries, in Bangkok,
Thailand.Haga also said that China and India
have lost 90% of their rice varieties since the
1950s and 1900s, respectively. On this note, she
talked about her organization's efforts to help
national and regional research systems conserve
genetic diversity through genebanks.Every crop
variety lost to extinction means one less option
for humanity, she said.GCDT has successfully
provided an "ultimate backup" to the crop
genetic diversity conserved in thousands of
genebanks all over the world. The Global Seed
Vault located in Svalbard, Norway, now
conserves in trust around 835,000crop varieties.
The Svalbard collection includes a duplicate of a
huge part of the collection at the IRRI
Genebank. Haga also talked about the GCDT's
platform for sharing phenotypic and genotypic
data from conserved germsplasm through a
database called DivSeek.

Research and Markets:
Vietnam Seed Industry
Outlook to 2018 - Rice Seed
and Hybridization to Drive
Future Growth

October 30, 2014

DUBLIN Research and
Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.co
m/research/ddxgj7/vietnam_seed) has
announced the addition of the "Vietnam
Seed Industry Outlook to 2018 - Rice Seed
and Hybridization to Drive Future
Growth" report to their offering.

The report titled Vietnam Seed Industry
Outlook to 2018 - Rice Seed and
Hybridization to Drive Future Growth
provides a comprehensive analysis of the
seed market in Vietnam such as market size
of major crop seeds, market segmentation on
the basis of hybrid and non hybrid seeds, by
types of seeds (Rice, Corn and Other seeds)
and by formal and informal market
structure.

The publication discusses several parameters
related to acreage, seed demand and
replacement rate, price trends and
hybridization rate in the country. The report
also entails recent trends and developments,
SWOT analysis, market share of major
players in rice and corn seed market in
Vietnam and future outlook and projections
by hybrid and non hybrid seeds and by types
of seeds in the country.

Key Topics Covered:
1. Vietnam Seed Industry Introduction
2. Vietnam Seed Industry Value Chain
3. Vietnam Seed Market Size, 2008-2013
4. Vietnam Seed Market Segmentation,
2008-2013
5. Import of Major Seeds in Vietnam
6. Vietnam Rice Seed Industry Introduction
7. Vietnam Corn Seed Industry Introduction
8. Trends and Developments in Vietnam
Seeds Industry
9. SWOT Analysis of Vietnam Seed
Industry
10. Government Policies and Regulations in
Vietnam Seed Industry
11. Major Research and Development
Institutes for Seed Production in Vietnam
12. Competitive Landscape of Major Players
in Vietnam Seed Industry
13. Vietnam Seed Industry Future Outlook
and Projections, 2014-2018


14. Macroeconomic Factors of Vietnam
Seed Industry
15. Appendix
Companies Mentioned
- An Giang Plant Protection Joint Stock
Company
- Bao Tam company limited
- Bioseed and SSC
- CP Seeds
- Maize research institute
- Monsanto
- NSC
- Phuong Quan company limited
- Syngenta
- Vinaseed

For more information
visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/re
search/ddxgj7/vietnam_seed

Rwanda: Rab Launches New
Initiative to Enhance Rice
Production

By Michel Nkurunziza
A new initiative that seeks to increase rice
production, ensure quality along the value
chain; and ease access to agro-inputs has
been unveiled by Rwanda Agriculture Board
(Rab).Chantal Ingabire, the in-charge of
research and rice farmers welfare at Rab,
said the Rice Sector Development Hub will
bring together stakeholders, including
farmers, dealers, private sector and
researchers to share information and look for
ways on how to improve production, quality
and help farmers get quality seeds and
market.
Rice is one of the main staple foods in
Rwanda and has been identified as a priority
crop by government.The crop is grown in
many parts of the country by farmers in co-
operatives and individuals on both
commercial and subsistence basis.Ingabire
also said efforts are underway to increase
acreage under rice from 15,000 hectares to
65,000 hectares by 2018 to ensure the
country becomes a net rice producer.
"Rab will help farmers access quality seeds,
fertilisers and pesticides. We will also train
farmers in post-harvest handling to reduce
the incidence of broken rice; and support
them to get irrigation equipment," she
added.Innocent Musabyimana, the Ministry
of Agriculture permanent secretary, said last
week the new centre will help farmers
access improved seeds and market.
Statistics indicate that the average yield per
hectare is at 5.5 tonnes of rice currently.
Rwanda produces about 55,000 tonnes of
milled rice per season, which is two thirds of
the present market demand. the country
imported over 126,931 tonnes of rice
between 2011 and June 2013.
Meanwhile, farmers who talked to The New
Times say they still face a lot of challenges
despite earlier Rab interventions, especially
accessing water for irrigation and improved
seeds. They also complain of poor prices.
Ignace Gahutu from Korika Co-operative in
Jabana sector, Gasabo District, said the
group sells the cereal in Rwamagana District
at Rwf245 per kilogramme (of unprocessed
rice). Processed rice costs Rwf700 a kilo,
which farmers say is too low considering the
time and money invested in.Farmers in
Rusizi sector sell a kilo of unprocessed rice
at Rwf235, according to Kampire Rusiya
from Imbanzabigwi Co-operative.
business@newtimes.co.rw

30th October, 2014 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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