11 September,2015

All About Rice News

Daily

Vol 5,Issue XIV

Global Rice E-Newsletter

For Blog & News Letter Advertisment contact to write : Mujahid Ali mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
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News Detail...

FCA may review Kharif crop output position by month-end

World Rice Production
Secret unlocked to underwater rice seed survival
CCMB scientists to collaborate to develop multi-resistant varieties of
rice
4 reasons you must drink rice water or kanji every day
Home Remedies For Diarrhea
Joining hands, Cameroons customs and marine prevent 1,000 bags of
rice from being fraudulently exported
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open-Sep 11
Drought improves in Bbang; concerns remain
FAO pegs 2015 global milled Rice production at 500.6 mn tons
Rain effect: Rabi output, not Kharif harvest, will be hurt, says India
Ratings
Vietnam is losing its rice market
Rival on the rise
PH set for rice import negotiations with suppliers
Philippines' rice stocks fall for 3rd straight month in August
Rice exports to resume, says minister
Rice Stocktaking Underway In Thailand
NFA allows private sector to import 602,560 MT of rice
Sowing of Kharif crops rise 1.8 percent, pulses the most
Is Australia the home of rice? Study finds domesticated rice varieties
have ancestry links to Cape York
APEDA Commodity News
Registration for the 2015 USA Rice Outlook Conference Now Open
September Proclaimed Rice Month in Louisiana; Rice Industry's Food
Bank Donation Honors Hunger Action Month
WASDE Report Released
Pack to school: What do professional chefs pack for their kids?

News Detail...

FCA may review Kharif crop output position by month-end

September 10, 2015
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FAZAL SHER
The next meeting of the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) is likely to be held by the end
of this month to review Kharif crop production position and fix Rabi crop targets. An official of
the Ministry of National Food Security and Research MNS&RS told this correspondent that the
FCA will review Kharif crop 2015-16 production position of sugarcane, rice, maize, moong,
mash and chillies as well as supply of inputs for Rabi crops 2016-17 including seeds, fertilizer,
irrigation water, agriculture credit and plant protects.
Recent rains and floods have adversely affected Kharif crops, including cotton sown on 7.31
million acres, sugarcane sown on three million acres and paddy sown on 7.2 million acres due to
which country is unlikely to achieve target of major Kharif crops. He said that in Punjab
sugarcane was sown on area of 1.73 million acres, Sindh 0.8 million acres, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KP) 0.325 million acres and Balochistan 0.2 million acres. In Punjab paddy was sown on an
area of 3.6 million acres, Sindh 1.98 million acres, KP 0.175 acres and in Balochistan paddy was
sown on 0.450 million acres.
The official further revealed that maize was sown on 2.4 million acres across the country of
which 1.25 million acres was sown in Punjab, 10,000 acres in Sindh, 1.25 million acres in KP
and 10,000 acres in Balochistan. The official said that the FCA will discuss production plan for
Rabi crops 2016-17 of wheat, gram, lentil, potatoes, onions, rapeseed, mustard and nonconventional oilseeds. The official said that the FCA would also set the targets for Rabi crops
2016-2017, including wheat, gram, lentil, potatoes and onion.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan will preside
over the meeting. Provincial ministers for agriculture and secretaries, federal secretaries,
representatives from federal and provincial agriculture departments, Indus River System
Authority (IRSA), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Pakistan Agriculture
Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will also attend
the meeting
http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1225681/

World Rice Production

2015/2016
September 2015
This month the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that the World Rice
Production 2015/2016 will be 475.76 million metric tons, around 2.9 million tons less than the
previous month's projection.Rice Production last year (*) was 478.56 million tons. This year's
475.76 estimated million tons could represent a decrease of 2.81 million tons or a 0.59% in rice
production around the globe.
Rice Production by Country
(Values in Metric Tons)
China: 145,500,000
India: 104,000,000
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Others: 39,942,000
Indonesia: 36,300,000
Bangladesh: 35,000,000
Vietnam: 28,200,000
Thailand: 18,000,000
Burma: 12,200,000
Philippines: 12,000,000
Brazil: 8,000,000
Japan: 7,900,000
Pakistan: 6,900,000
United States: 6,017,000
Cambodia: 4,700,000
Korea, South: 4,000,000
Egypt: 4,000,000
Nepal: 3,100,000
Next Update will be October 09, 2015.
https://www.worldriceproduction.com/?Referer=Newsletter

Secret unlocked to underwater rice seed survival

Paula Bianca Ferrer | Sep 11, 2015

A team of scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and theUniversity of
California Riverside recently published a study in Nature Plantsunlocking the secret to how rice
seeds can survive under water.
The cover of Nature Plants September issue, featuring Tobias Kretzschmar and co.s study on rice seed survival underwater.

The study, which appears in the leading scientific journal Nature Plants, identified a gene that
controls the availability of sugar to a growing seed, especially when under flooded
conditions.Basically, the gene that we identified as AG1 (or OsTPP7) works opposite the one
found inscuba rice, in which the SUB1 gene signals the plant to conserve energy while
underwater, allowing it to stay dormant until the floodwater recedes, said Dr. Tobias
Kretzschmar, one of the papers authors and head of IRRIs Genotyping Services Laboratory.
A surprising find
The gene that we found creates an all or nothing escape mechanism that tricks the seed into
thinking that more sugar should be given to its shootthe plant part that grows into stems and
leavesso that the seed under water is able to grow more quickly and reach the surface of the
water, he said.He explained that the mechanism works when the seed is submerged up to a
water depth of 10 cm, and can get activated as soon as the seed is sown.This is the first time
anyone has established that the AG1 gene is responsible for this specific type of mechanism
because it comes from a family of genesand rice has 13 members of this family of genes,
Kretzschmar said.This mechanism is well known on the other end of plant development during
grain filling, but this is the first time its been shown to be important during germination, he
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stressed.

Surviving under water

Field experiments in the wet season of 2013
showed promising resultsIR64 rice containing
the AG1 gene (third from right row inside
flooded plot) can grow even when submerged
during germination.Rice survival under
flooding is important when it comes to direct
seeding, in which seeds do not have to be pregerminated and then transplanted. With direct
seeding, seeds can be directly sown or
broadcast into the field, requiring less time and
energy from farmers.Moreover, one of the
major limiting factors to direct seeding is weeds, because these can germinate well in air
although not under water without air. So, if rice can germinate well under water while none of
the weeds can, then rice will be able to outcompete the weeds.
Mystery of the missing gene
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One thing that Ive noticed is that Indica varieties, which are the ones mostly grown in the
tropical parts of Asia, lack the trait or ability to grow under flooded conditions, said
Kretzschmar.But in Japonica, varieties grown in the more temperate regions of Asia, Australia,
and the United States, the trait is present, he added. Thats why these varieties have fewer
problems with direct seeding.He explained that the missing trait is a problem, especially with
modern Indica varieties, as traditional ones have it.
Looking for an answer
Thanks to the AG1or OsTPP7gene (shown in blue), rice seeds will be able to grow and
survive when submerged in water up to 10 cm. (Photo: Tobias Kretzschmar)
We looked at a third to a half of IRRI released
varieties, but the gene was missing. At first, we
thought that maybe it was actively bred out,
meaning that it could have had some negative
effect, so the IRRI breeders selected against
it, Kretzschmar noted.But, since we couldnt
find any yield penalty or negative effect on
yield, we actually thought the gene got lost
and we know where it got lost.The gene, he
said, got lost during the time IR8, the famous
miracle rice variety, was bred, because one of its parents had the gene, whereas the other didnt.
Fitting pieces together
I guess it was just never needed as a trait because the varieties were transplanted almost every
time so there was no pressure for it. If they were direct seeded, then that gene would have
probably been retained from the very beginning, explained Kretzschmar.Now that direct
seeding is becoming popular, weve realized that we need that gene in the breeding program.
Through the marker-assisted backcrossing approach, which significantly reduces the breeding
period, you can reintroduce the gene and then fix it within one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half
years, he added.
The way forward
With the unfolding of the AG1 secret, the work of rice scientists is far from done. AG1 works
well in moderate stress conditions. In severe stress conditions, however, AG1 alone is not
sufficient; additional quantitative trait loci (QTLs) or genes that complement
the AG1 mechanism will be needed. IRRI and its partner universities are moving in that
direction.
Paula Bianca Ferrer is a communication specialist at IRRI.
http://ricetoday.irri.org/secret-unlocked-to-rice-seed-survival-underwater/

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CCMB scientists to collaborate to develop multi-resistant

varieties of rice
Ch Sushil Rao,TNN | Sep 10, 2015, 08.01 PM IST
HYDERABAD: A project to develop multi-resistant varieties of rice is being undertaken by
scientists here. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Directorate of Rice
Research (DRF) and Agri Biotech Foundation singed an MoU to collaborate on the project titled
"Molecular cross talks between defense pathways in rice: antagonism to synergism". This project
is funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to the extent of about Rs. 1.4 crores.
It may be mentioned here that CCMB with DRR had developed a bacterial blight resistant
Samba Mahsuri rice variety.
Accoridng to CCMB director Dr. Ch. Mohan Rao, during extensive interactions with farmers,
their needs were understood. "One such need is protection from other infections as well for the
variety of rice developed. It is also possible that over the time, resistance of the improved Samba
Mahsuri rice may be overcome by the bacteria. It is necessary to continue to investigate plant
pathogens and host defense systems," he said. The idea now is to incorporate resistance to
different infecting agents simultaneously. "However, if we incorporate multiple genes, they may
work in synergy or they may antagonize each other.
Thus, it is necessary to understand the molecular cross talks between defense pathways to
develop multi-resistant varieties," he said. Dr. Ramesh Sonti, Chief Scientist, CCMB, Dr. J.S.
Bentur, Subject Matter Specialist, Dr. G. Mallikarjuna, Assistant professor, ABF, Dr. M.
Srinivas Prasad, Dr. R. M. Sundaram, Dr. A.P.Padma Kumari, and Dr. G.S. Laha, senior
scientists from DRR, Hyderabad are the collaborators from respective institutes.
The expected outcome of this project would be: Identification of set of genes induced when rice
plant is infested with either BB or blast pathogens or gall midge, either solely, sequentially or
simultaneously, possible synergism of certain combination of genes in conferring non-target pest
resistance, possible antagonism of certain combination of genes and to avoid use of such
combinations and cross resistance against non-target pests/pathogens conferred by gene
pyramids.
Dr M R VishnuPriya, Head, PME and plant molecular biologist, CCMB said that understanding
such gene interactions are indeed essential to develop effective multiple pest resistance in
rice. CCMB director Mohan Rao said that such collaborative efforts would greatly help
developing more multiple pest resistant rice varieties enhancing farmers' revenue. Such
initiatives contribute towards country's economy by the development of disease-resistant rice
varieties, he said.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/CCMB-scientists-to-collaborate-to-develop-multiresistant-varieties-of-rice/articleshow/48902491.cms

4 reasons you must drink rice water or kanji every day

Poorva Chavan Sep 11, 2015 at 11:49 am

You probably have had kanji or rice water as a child or when you were really sick. You
might not have enjoyed the taste, but this humble concoction has various health benefits.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Is a good source of energy: Kanji or rice water is rich in carbohydrates, and hence, an
excellent source of energy. The body can easily derive energy by breaking down
carbohydrates. Drink a glass of rice water in the morning before heading out and you will
never feel dizzy or weak due to lack of energy.
Prevents constipation: It is rich in fibre and facilitates smooth bowel movements. Also, the
starch stimulates the growth of useful bacteria in the stomach promoting healthy bowel
movement.
Prevents dehydration: On a hot sunny day, rice water becomes your go-to-drink. In summer,
the body tends to lose water and salts through sweat and, rice water helps replenish the lost
nutrients and the water, reducing your chances of dehydration.
Home remedy for viral infections: Rice water is widely used as a remedy for fever as it
prevents water loss due to fever and vomiting during an infection. It helps replenish the lost
nutrients and speeds the recovery process [1].
Can manage diarrhoea: Rice water proves to be an excellent home remedy to treat diarrhoea
[2], not only in adults but also infants. Infants are more prone t o diseases like diarrhoea and if
not treated at the right time, can lead to severe dehydration. A study found that rice water was
more effective in controlling diarrhoea by reducing the volume and frequency of stool output
in babies [3].

How to prepare Kanji

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Cook a cup full of rice in three to four cups of water. Once the rice granules are half cooked, strain the liquid. To this liquid, add some salt or sugar to taste. Drink while warm.
For more articles on diseases & conditions, visit our diseases & conditionssection. For
daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. For health related Q&A, click here!
References:
1. Lum L, Ng C, Khoo E. Managing dengue fever in primary care: A practical
approach. Malaysian Family Physician: the Official Journal of the Academy of Family
Physicians of Malaysia. 2014;9(2):2-10.
2. National Research Council (US) Working Group on the Effects of Child Survival and General
Health Programs on Mortality; Ewbank DC, Gribble JN, editors. Effects Of Health Programs
on Child Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US);
1993. 4, Other Interventions Targeted at Single Diseases. Available from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236388/
3. Comparison of rice water, rice electrolyte solution, and glucose electrolyte solution in the
management of infantile diarrhoea. Mehta, MeenakshiN. et al. The Lancet , Volume 327 ,
Issue 8485 , 843 845
http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/health-benefits-of-kanji-po915/

Home Remedies For Diarrhea

Diarrhea is very common now a days due to polluted air and contaminated water, so its a sign
that your body is trying to rid itself. Avoid excessive use of counter medicines and instead try
these natural solutions for relief.
Heres most effective home remedies for Diarrhea. Have a look!

Bind yourself with rice

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Bananas, plain Rice, Applesauce, dry Toast, and tea: These foods are generally safe to eat when
fighting off a bout of diarrhea, and will keep you feeling nourished
www.besthealthmag.ca/best

Joining hands, Cameroons customs and marine prevent 1,000

bags of rice from being fraudulently exported
Friday, 11 September 2015 03:39
(Business in Cameroon) - On September 8, 2015, Cameroons customs in collaboration with the
marine arrested in the countrys Southwest, five ships with onboard 1,000 bags of rice which
were being exported to the neighboring countries. Following the arrest, it was found that the
ships occupants had no export permit for the rice.This catch is the first resulting from the recent
partnership between Cameroons customs and marine, to protect the countrys commercial space.
This collaboration also aims at decreasing, considerably, fraud and contraband whose main
starting point is Cameroons coastline.
It should be recalled that since 2008, rice imports in Cameroon are tax-free. A breach used by
some unscrupulous importers who fraudulently re-export shipments, officially destined for the
Cameroonian market, to Nigeria (with the complicity of Nigerian importers) where prices are
higher, as a consequence of the federal governments decision to raise the tax on imported rice to
110% in order to encourage local production.In 2014, the Seaport Terminal Operators
Association of Nigeria (STOAN) reported that, around 600,000 tons of rice have been rerouted
from neighboring ports such as Benin, Cameroon, Ghana and Togo, because of this tax. The
shipments were later re-imported to Nigeria through contraband, revealed the same report.
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http://www.businessincameroon.com/public-management/1109-5620-joining-hands-cameroon-s-customs-andmarine-prevent-1-000-bags-of-rice-from-being-fraudulently-exported

Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open-Sep 11

Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:03pm IST

Nagpur Foodgrain Prices - APMC & Open Market-September 11

Nagpur, Sept 11 Gram prices reported strong in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and
Marketing Committee (APMC) here on increased buying support from local millers amid weak
supply
from producing regions. Fresh rise on NCDEX, upward trend in Madhya Pradesh gram prices
and
reported demand from South-based millers also helped to jack up prices, according to sources.
*

FOODGRAINS & PULSES

GRAM
* Desi gram raw recovered in open market on good Holi festival demand from local
traders amid thin arrival from producing belts.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties ruled steady here in open market on subdued demand from local traders
amid ample stock in ready segment.
* Wheat Lokwan varieties firmed up in open market on increased seasonal demand from
local traders amid tight supply from producing regions.
* In Akola, Tuar - 9,7900-10,300, Tuar dal - 14,100-14,500, Udid at 9,600-10,000,
Udid Mogar (clean) - 12,100-12,600, Moong - 7,600-7,800, Moong Mogar
(clean) 9,200-9,800, Gram - 4,900-5,050, Gram Super best bold - 6,400-6,600
for 100 kg.
* Other varieties of 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
Gram Auction
Gram Pink Auction
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Available prices Previous close

3,850-4,900
3,850-4,760
n.a.
2,100-2,600

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Tuar Auction
n.a.
8,000-9,375
Moong Auction
n.a.
6,000-6,400
Udid Auction
n.a.
4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction
n.a.
2,600-2,800
Gram Super Best Bold
6,500-6,800
6,500-6,800
Gram Super Best
n.a.
Gram Medium Best
5,900-6,100
5,900-6,100
Gram Dal Medium
n.a.
n.a.
Gram Mill Quality
5,800-5,900
5,800-5,900
Desi gram Raw
5,200-5,250
5,150-5,200
Gram Filter new
6,200-6,400
6,200-6,400
Gram Kabuli
6,400-7,500
6,400-7,500
Gram Pink
6,800-7,000
6,800-7,000
Tuar Fataka Best
14,500-14,800
14,500-14,800
Tuar Fataka Medium
13,300-13,900
13,300-13,900
Tuar Dal Best Phod
12,900-13,100
12,900-13,100
Tuar Dal Medium phod
12,300-12,800
12,300-12,800
Tuar Gavarani New
10,300-10,500
10,300-10,500
Tuar Karnataka
10,400-10,800
10,400-10,800
Tuar Black
12,100-12,300
12,100-12,300
Masoor dal best
8,500-8,700
8,500-8,700
Masoor dal medium
8,200-8,400
8,200-8,400
Masoor
n.a.
n.a.
Moong Mogar bold
9,900-10,300
9,900-10,300
Moong Mogar Medium best
8,800-9,500
8,800-9,500
Moong dal Chilka
8,700-8,900
8,700-8,900
Moong Mill quality
n.a.
n.a.
Moong Chamki best
8,400-9,200
8,400-9,200
Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 12,500-13,700
12,500-13,700
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 11,500-12,000
11,500-12,000
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG)
10,200-10,400
10,200-10,400
Batri dal (100 INR/KG)
5,200-5,600
5,200-5,600
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg)
4,000-4,200
4,000-4,200
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG)
3,200-3,450
3,200-3,450
Watana White (100 INR/KG)
3,000-3,200
3,000-3,200
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 3,300-3,600
3,300-3,600
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG)
1,400-1,500
1,400-1,500
Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,650-1,750
1,650-1,750
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG)
1,350-1,550
1,350-1,550
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400
2,250-2,400
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,200
1,950-2,100
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a.
n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,700
3,400-3,700
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,750-2,800
2,750-2,800
Rice BPT best(100 INR/KG)
3,100-3,300
3,100-3,300
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Rice BPT medium(100 INR/KG)
2,800-3,000
2,800-3,000
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG)
1,700-1,900
1,700-1,900
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG)
2,000-2,300
2,000-2,300
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG)
1,900-2,000
1,900-2,000
Rice HMT best(100 INR/KG)
3,500-3,900
3,500-3,900
Rice HMT medium(100 INR/KG)
3,200-3,300
3,200-3,300
Rice HMT Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,100
4,800-5,100
Rice HMT Shriram med.(100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,500
4,000-4,500
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,000-10,000
8,000-10,000
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,000-7,500
7,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,400
4,900-5,100
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,000
4,400-4,800
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG)
2,100-2,350
2,100-2,350
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG)
2,400-2,500
2,400-2,500
WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 34.3 degree Celsius (93.7 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.
23.4 degree Celsius (74.1 degree Fahrenheit)
Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a.
Rainfall : nil
FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and minimum temperature would be around and 35
and 23 degree Celsius respectively.
Note: n.a.--not available
(For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/09/11/nagpur-foodgrain-idINL4N11H32F20150911

Drought improves in Bbang; concerns remain

Fri, 11 September 2015
Sor Chandara
Despite improving drought-like conditions in Battambang province, farmers and rice millers
alike are still concerned about yield and quality levels of rice in one of the country's leading riceproducing regions.In last months report on the drought situation from the Agriculture Ministry,
Battambang, along with Banteay Meanchey, accounted for around two-thirds of drought-affected
areas, totalling 124,300 hectares out of 182,870 hectares of affected rice plants.However, Chhim
Vichra, director of the Provincial Agriculture Department in Battambang, said the province had
seen some rain in the last few days and that the situation was improving.
If the rain continues for the next few months, I think it will be better. Its difficult to help the
areas that are far from the main source of water if there is no rain.The impacted area dropped
from 56,780 hectares in Battambang last month to 37,420 hectares as of Tuesday, according to
Vichra, who added that some areas were still not seeing much rain.Kann Kunthy, CEO of rice
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miller Brico in Battambang, said a drought-like situation could affect the quality of the rice being
produced, and that shortages will lead to higher prices an issue Cambodia is already having to
deal with in the international market.The higher price doesnt mean the farmer gets more
benefits, because they get less income as they are spending more on water pumps and
pesticides, Kunthy said.
Millers also get impacted by low-quality rice because it is difficult to sell.Phan Saing, a 54year-old farmer in Battambang provinces Borel district, said that his 10-hectare rice field did not
have water for a month and 50 per cent of his rice field was damaged, given that his farm is away
from any irrigation system.We do not have any water system, even a canal or pond, he said
This years figures mark a sharp uptick from the 116,129 hectares hurt by a lack of rain during
the 2014 wet season.In Pursat the third worst affected province Lay Viseth, director of
Pursats Agriculture Department, said the province was still facing issues of drought.We have
two irrigation systems. It helps some areas but they cannot reach so much because we lack the
source of water, Viseth said.The Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday that while the drought
situation hasnt changed much from the last report, released on August 26, an updated national
report on the current situation is yet to be released.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/drought-improves-bbang-concerns-remain

FAO pegs 2015 global milled Rice production at 500.6 mn tons

Sep 11, 2015 05:13 PM
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated 2015 global milled rice
production at 500.6 million tons, advanced 0.7% from 497 million tons in 2014-15 and slightly
above its previous estimate of 499.3 million tons.The rise in production is attributed to India,
where plantings are progressing in line with last season in spite of the prevailing El Nino, FAO
said.The UN agency estimates 2015-16 global rice utilizations at around 509.7 million tons
(basis milled), up about 8.4 million tons from last year. It expects the rice consumption is around
422 million tons, up about 1.7% from last year.FAO estimates 2015-16 global rice stocks at
169.6 million tons, down about 5% from last year due to offloading of inventories in the five
major exporting countries
http://www.commodityonline.com/fundamentals/fao-pegs-2015-global-milled-rice-production-at-5006-mntons/5221/

Rain effect: Rabi output, not Kharif harvest, will be hurt,

says India Ratings
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NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 10:
The deficient monsoon can hurt the Rabi crop even if overall Kharif crop production is unlikely
to be affected and will be higher than the previous fiscal, said a report published by India Ratings
and Research (Ind-Ra) on Thursday.The report titled Monsoon Gazing Ends comes a day
after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported a 15 per cent deficiency in rainfall
across the country.In view of the total area sown under Kharif crops reaching 99.87 million
hectares (mh) on September 4, 2015, which is 1.93 mh higher than last years, Ind-Ra expects the
overall Kharif output this fiscal to be still better than in the last fiscal, the report said.The
inference deviates from a mid-August study done by Crisil Research which highlighted the
pressure on profitability of farm output and identified 5 crops jowar, soyabean, tur dal, maize
and cotton as particularly at risk.
Water storage levels
Kharif output, according to Ind-Ra, was likely to be higher due to increased acreage and better
water storage levels (as on September 2) than last year in major foodgrain producing States such
as Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.Reservoir levels in southern
India, which recorded a 17 per cent deficit in rainfall as of September 9, had fallen to 33.2 per
cent, it noted. According to the Central Water Commission, total storage levels are pegged at
92.92 billion cubic metres (bcm), 59 per cent of capacity, as of September 3.Devendra Kumar
Pant, Chief Economist and Senior Director of Public Finance at Ind-Ra, said that States which
had received sufficient rainfall will make up any shortfall in output from other States.
Karnataka, as a whole, has recorded deficient rainfall and coarse cereals production is likely to
be lower. But Rajasthan has received excess rain, particularly in the western part. So total output
should be the same if not more, he said.
Pulses inflation
While the impact of the sub-par monsoon is likely to be muted in terms of rural spending due to
the rising share of non-agricultural income in rural earnings, food inflation needed to be
monitored.Wholesale pulses inflation in July 2015 was 35.8 per cent. Although higher acreage
under pulses this fiscal would help in containing inflation, weakening of the rupee will make
import of pulses costlier, the report said.On an average, India imports between three and four
million tonnes (mt) of pulses every year to augment domestic production of 18-19 mt.
(This article was published on September 10, 2015)
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/rain-effect-rabi-output-not-kharif-harvest-will-behurt-says-india-ratings/article7637893.ece

Vietnam is losing its rice market

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VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam's agricultural sector still has an opportunity to change in order to
compete with foreign rivals when Vietnam participates in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), said
experts at a forum on strengthening the competitiveness of the rice and animal husbandry market
of Vietnam, held in HCM City on September 8.
Doan Xuan Truc, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Livestock
Association, emphasized that in the context of integration, the
livestock sector has to reform, particularly feed production
enterprises. Feed accounts for 60% -70% of the production
cost of the livestock industry.The Chairman of the Vietnam
Feed Association, Le Ba Lich, said that the production cost of
animal feed of Vietnam was still higher than that of countries
with a developed livestock industry in the region, such as
Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.Lich said Thailand sets the
ceiling profit for this product of about 5%, but in Vietnam, nobody controls it. Profits of
Vietnam's animal feed companies are up to 10% -15%.
He added that information about the cost price of feed enterprises are not accessible and
proposed to fix the ceiling profit for animal feed.Vietnamese animal feed businesses said they
could not fix the prices themselves, but have to base the prices of foreign-invested feed firms and
this makes the price for feed high.To help Vietnamese livestock products compete with foreign
imports, Lich said the government should have preferential credit for agriculture and livestock in
particular because the interest rate for agriculture is currently at 7%, which is still high in
comparison with 5% in China and 3% in Thailand.
Lich also suggested raising technical barriers to protect domestic producers.Another problem is
cumbersome administrative procedures. Some feed companies said to import one ton of feed,
they had to get the approval of the Department of Livestock, and then the technical council, and
the Ministry of Agriculture. This process lasts for six months to 1 year.For Vietnamese rice, the
situation is not better. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director of the Institute for the Vietnam Economic
Research and Policy (VERP), said the rice market of Vietnam is increasingly dependent on
China.Vietnam is losing its traditional markets. Meanwhile, Thailand is diversifying the market
with quality products so it takes footsteps in every market, from picky ones like the US, Japan,
Europe, and China to less choosy markets like Africa.
"The problems of the Vietnamese rice market are: difficulty seeking markets for high quality
rice; unable to build rice brands for Vietnam; rice price in the domestic market dependent on
export prices; and lack of cooperation among local rice traders and exporters, Thanh
said.Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a senior expert in agriculture, said that while Vietnams rice
exports fell in both volume and value, Cambodia's rice exports in the last eight months of 2015
increased by 50% compared to the same period of 2014. Cambodian rice is exported to picky
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markets like China, France and some European countries.To promote its rice, Cambodia
launched a large-scale marketing program. It participated in all international rice fairs held in
Thailand while Vietnam was absent.
They not only brought rice samples for customers to see and taste but also offered a price and
signed contracts on the spot.Nguyen Duc Thanh, from VERP, said that to enhance the
competitiveness of Vietnamese rice, it is a must to have transparency of export market
information, to remove the floor price for rice exports and to ease conditions to become rice
exporters.
Compiled by Nam Nguyen
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/141144/vietnam-is-losing-its-rice-market.html

Rival on the rise

Sat, 12 September 2015
Ananth Baliga

Sat, 12 September 2015

Ananth Baliga
Structural reform in ASEAN neighbour means more competition for Cambodias key export
industries
While Cambodias economic development is often compared to that of neighbouring Vietnam
and Thailands, industry insiders say the Kingdom needs to keep a close eye on the steady
progress being made in Myanmar, which is predicted to eat into Cambodias exports in the long
term.After decades of isolation, Myanmar has in the last four years seen structural reforms.An
improved business environment propelled its gross domestic product growth to 7.7 per cent in
2014, and it is expected to reach 8.3 per cent for 2015, according to the Asian Development
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Bank.While Myanmar may not pose an immediate threat to Cambodia, Jayant Menon, lead
economist at the Asian Development Banks office of regional economic integration, said the
Kingdom will need to improve its productivity and increase its pool of skilled labour.Trade costs
in Myanmar are still high, given the dearth of investment and infrastructure development, but as
economic reforms begin to kick in, the country will increasingly grow its presence on the
ASEAN stage, Menon added.
In the longer term, Cambodia may have to lift its productivity if it is to compete with the welleducated workforce available at relatively low cost in Myanmar.On the rice export front,
Cambodia is already facing steep competition from Myanmar. Rice shipments leaving the
Kingdom last year totalled a little more than 387,000 tonnes, compared to Myanmars 1.7
million tonnes a large amount of it going to China.Cambodia may currently have the edge in
exporting higher-quality fragrant rice, said Song Saran, CEO of leading rice exporter Amru Rice,
but Myanmar is fast catching up and moving beyond its export of lower quality broken rice and
parboiled rice.In the long term, Myanmar will be a big threat to Cambodia, because they have
started to improve their facilities, Saran said. And in the next 4 to 5 years there will be more
stress for Cambodian rice in the European market.

Cambodias rice industry benefits from favourable trade agreements that may soon be
revoked. Vireak Mai
Saran said that when Cambodia graduates to a low-middle income economy and loses its
European Union-granted Everything But Arms (EBA) status giving least developed countries
duty free exports to the economic bloc Myanmar, which also enjoys the preferential treatment,
could extend its advantage given that its exports will be cheaper than the Kingdoms.When
EBA is off, we are going to have more hardship and the possibility of losing market share to
Myanmar, he said.But with jasmine rice, I am still optimistic that we can maintain our market
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share even if EBA is off.On the economic front, both countries are using similar sectors,
including rice and garments to fuel growth.However, Myanmar also has to deal with the
overhang of the elections in November, as well as ethnic and religious tensions, said Grant
Knuckey, CEO of ANZ Royal Bank, who is also the head of Myanmar operations for ANZ.
Despite that, Myanmar is a genuine threat based on both potential and clear intent, Knuckey
said, referring to economic reforms that are focused on increasing commodity
exports.Infrastructure and logistical capacities are two key issues holding back both nations, but,
according to Knuckey, investments made in deep sea ports and a better special economic zone
policy can help Myanmar leapfrog the progress made by Cambodia in the past few
years.Myanmar will soon have a real edge, with deep sea capacity at both Thilawa and later
Dawei, he said.Myanmar has also moved very aggressively on the SEZ framework, where
Thilawa is more of a special administrative zone than an industrial park, which is the current
Cambodia model.
Srey Chanthy, an independent economist, said that as Myanmar grapples with the same
pitfalls that Cambodia has had to address, such as low productivity, it will have to make good
use of its young and well-educated population to accelerate its ascent up the ASEAN pecking
order.If the Myanmar government can significantly improve the domestic business-enabling
environment to attract direct foreign investment, these things can be done in the short to medium
terms, they need not wait for the long term.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/rival-rise

PH set for rice import negotiations with suppliers

September 11, 2015 9:40 pm
by James Konstantin Galvez
The National Food Authority (NFA) Council said the government is set to start negotiating now
with countries that have existing executive agreements with the Philippines over its approved
import of 250,000 MT of rice intended for the last quarter of 2015 and 500,000 MT for the first
quarter of 2016.NFA Administrator Renan Dalisay said the government will try to take
advantage of the currently low and stable rice prices in the world market. Rice prices could jump
once global demand surges at the height of the El Nio dry spell, he added.Only three countries
Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have existing rice purchase agreements with Manila.Dalisay
explained that the Food Security Committee (FSC), which has authorized the imports, initially
approved the standby authority to import 250,000 MT of rice to preposition its food security
stock before the yearend.
But upon recommendation by the El Nino Task Force, the interagency body raised the amount by
a further 500,000 MT to meet the projected deficit in production at the start of 2016.Drought due
to El Nio is expected to intensify beginning October this year and last until May 2016. DOSTPAGASA in its forecast likened the severe impact of the current drought to what happened in
1997-1998, when it caused a 24 percent drop in the countrys local palay production.According
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to the forecasts, the countrys traditional rice granaries such as Isabela, Mindoro, Quezon, Albay,
Aklan, Antique, Iloilo, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga are among the provinces
that will be hardest hit by El Nio.The NFA chief said deliveries of the grains will be done on a
staggered basis. For the 250,000 MT standby authority, shipment will be split into 125,000 MT
by end of November and 125,000 MT by end of December this year.
Meanwhile, shipment of the 500,000 MT intended as part of the countrys rice supply for 2016,
will be scheduled as follows: 175,000 MT by end of January, 175,000 MT by end of February
and 150,000 MT by end of March next year.Dalisay said invitations to bid have been sent to
Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for the supply of 250,000 MT well-milled rice intended for
this year and 500,000 MT well-milled rice for 2016 under a government-to-government
procurement scheme.For this year, the FSC and the NFA have arranged for the importation of
1.8 million MT including 500,000 MT contracted in February; 150,000 MT and 100,000 MT
contracted in June; 187,000 MT MAV-Omnibus Origin private import and the 600,000 MT
allocated volume for the MAV-Country Specific Quota opened in July; and the 250,000 MT to
be contracted this month.
Dalisay said the total volume of rice import is within the estimated deficit in the countrys palay
production of 18.86 MMT, or 12.26 MMT rice equivalent, and the countrys consumption
requirement with 30-day mandated buffer stock at the start of the lean month season.The
Philippines, the former worlds biggest rice importer, allowed importation of a record 2.4 million
MT of rice in 2010. The order was reduced to 860,000 MT in 2011, and trimmed further to
500,000 MT in 2012.In 2013, Manila approved 205,700 MT of rice imports under the omnibus
minimum access volume for rice, plus 500,000 MT of rice from Vietnam. Last year, the
Philippines imported more than 1.7 million MT of rice.
For this year, the government has approved a total of 1.8 million MT of rice imports, including
the 500,000 MT rice awarded to Thailand and Vietnam in February; 500,000 MT approved for
the lean season and reserve volume; and 805,200 MT private sector imports under the so-called
minimum access volume. It was also the biggest under the Aquino Administration, and roughly
the same level as 1.8 million MT rice imported in 2009.The NFA Council is chaired by Secretary
Francis Pangilinan of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural
Modernization (OPAFSAM).Members include the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Department
of Finance (DOF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), National Economic Development
Authority (NEDA), National Food Authority (NFA) and a farmers representative.
http://www.manilatimes.net/ph-set-for-rice-import-negotiations-with-suppliers/218243/

Philippines' rice stocks fall for 3rd straight month in August

Reuters
Posted at 09/11/2015 11:49 AM
MANILA - Rice stocks in the Philippines, one of the world's top importers, shrank for a third
straight month in August, government data showed on Friday, following a decline in the
domestic harvest due to El Nino-induced dry weather.Total stocks as of Aug. 1 stood at 2.24
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million tonnes, down 12.6 percent from the July inventory and this year's peak of about 3.2
million tonnes in May, despite the arrival of imports from Vietnam and Thailand.The latest
inventory, which includes stocks held by the state food security agency, National Food Authority
(NFA), was still up 30 percent on the same time last year and is sufficient to cover 66 days of the
country's total requirement, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in a report.
The Southeast Asian country has suffered crop losses in recent months due to below normal
rainfall and is set to miss its 2015 target for rice output because of an El Nino dry weather
pattern that is forecast to be among the strongest since 1950.The staple food, which led a
contraction in crop output in the second quarter, has a nearly 10 percent weighting in the
Philippines' consumer price index.On Wednesday, the NFA said it would import an additional
750,000 tonnes of the grain to boost buffer stocks, seeking delivery of the first 250,000 tonnes
between November and December.Import approvals by the NFA for delivery this year have
reached nearly 1.8 million tonnes, including 937,000 tonnes already shipped in by the agency
and purchases by private traders totalling 600,000 tonnes. That compares with last year's
purchases of about 1.7 million tonnes.The NFA has sought supply offers from Thailand, Vietnam
and Cambodia for the 750,000-tonne volume, with the balance of 500,000 tonnes to be shipped
in within the first quarter of next year.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/11/15/philippines-rice-stocks-fall-3rd-straight-monthaugust

Rice exports to resume, says minister

Frontier Myanmar 11 Sep 2015
The government has given the green light for the resumption of rice exports, six weeks after they
were suspended following price rises on the domestic market amid concern over shortages
caused by widespread flooding.
By Ko Ko Aung

A rice shop in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. Photo by Ann Wang

The decision to resume exports was announced by Commerce Minister U Win Myint at the
annual meeting of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Industry in Yangons
National Theatre on September 9.The decision to resume exports had followed an evaluation of
the recovery from flood damage in growing areas, said U Win Myint, who stressed the
importance of rice as a strategic crop.Rice has been re-planted in some areas and after we
calculated the effect of the flooding, we decided to re-open the market to exports, he said.The
deputy director of the ministrys Department of Trade Promotion, U Aung Soe, said the decision
to permit the resumption of exports in mid-September had taken into consideration the need to
avoid price volatility on the domestic market.
Exports were halted in early August amid concern about domestic shortages leading to increases
in the cost of the nations most important staple.The temporary suspension of exports and the
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impact of the floods would mean that the amount sold abroad this year would be down by more
than 400,000 tons on 2014-2015, said Dr Soe Tun, the vice chairman of the Myanmar Rice
Federation.The federation says figures for the fiscal year beginning on April 1 show that more
than 400,000 tons had been exported to August and applications have been made for export
licences involving 600,000 tons.Before the flood crisis began, the federation had been expecting
exports of nearly two million tons, up from more than 1.7 million tons that Commerce Ministry
figures show was exported in 2014-2014.
http://www.frontiermyanmar.net/rice-exports-to-resume-says-minister/

Rice Stocktaking Underway In Thailand

BANGKOK, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha Thursday ordered a
nationwide rice inventory compiled within 30 days, reports Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
Under the 2011-2014 subsidy scheme, 13.5 million tonnes of rice had been purchased and
reserved across 1,800 warehouses across the country's 51 provinces.The new order means that
local authorities need to present the exact quantity of good and decayed produce, helping set a
more suitable price for rice biding.

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Currently, 14 units won the bid to buy 246,793 tonnes of in-stock rice at 9,460 THB
(US$266.50) per tonne.According to Chookiat Ophaswongse, Honorary President of the Thai
Rice Exporters Association, the rice sale allows the government to collect under 10 THB
(US$0.27) per kilogramme while the production cost, excluding preservation fees, is estimated at
24 THB (US$0.66).Despite Thai rice becoming less competitive in the global market, the weaker
national currency helped rice export volume reach 6 million tonnes in the past eight months.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/wn/newsworld.php?id=1170294

NFA allows private sector to import 602,560 MT of rice

by Mary Grace Padin - September 11, 2015
THE National Food Authority (NFA) said on Friday that it has approved the private sectors
importation of as much as 602,560 metric tons (MT) of rice under the minimum access volume
(MAV) scheme to beef up the countrys rice stocks.Based on the list of final rice import
allocation released by the NFA, the food agency has approved the application of 95 farmers
groups and companies to import 439,300 MT. These applicants, the NFA said, have already
accomplished all the requirements set by its prequalification team.The NFA said another 31
applicantswith a total allocation of 163,260 MTare still awaiting the agencys final approval
since they have not yet received their authentication certification from the Bureau of Internal
Revenue.The bulk of imported rice, or 343,100 MT, will come from Thailand.
Vietnamanother major supplier of the Philippinesaccounts for 258,900 MT. Some farmers
groups and companies will import 500 MT of rice from India and 60 MT from China.Under the
2015 MAV rice importation program, all rice imported shall be levied a 35-percent tariff to be
paid to the Land Bank of the Philippines.NFA Administrator Renan B. Dalisay told the
BusinessMirror the food agency is already releasing the import permits to all the eligible
applicants.The importers will ship well-milled rice with a quality not lower than 25-percent
brokens and any special rice variety. All shipments should arrive in the Philippines on or before
November 30.The government has earlier approved the importation of 750,000 MT of rice to
ensure that the country will have enough rice despite the onslaught of El Nio, which is expected
to persist until 2016.
The NFA said the purchase of imported rice will be done under a government-to-government
scheme. Of the total volume, 250,000 MT will be delivered in the last quarter of the year. The
remaining 500,000 MT will arrive in the Philippines in the first quarter of 2016.Dalisay said the
NFA has already contracted 1.787 million metric tons (MMT) of rice for 2015, of which 937,000
MT has already entered the country.El Nio, which is expected to intensify next month and last
until May next year, could slash local paddy rice output. The data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority showed that the countrys total palay production for 2015 may decline by 0.6 percent
to 18.86 MMT from last years 18.97 MMT due to the dry spell.
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http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/nfa-allows-private-sector-to-import-602560-mt-of-rice/

Sowing of Kharif crops rise 1.8 percent, pulses the most

New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS): A surge of 1.8 percent was recorded in sowing of Kharif crops
which stood at 1,012.01 lakh hectares as on September 11, an official said on Friday.An area of
994.49 lakh hectares was sown for the Kharif crops, grown during the rainy season, during the
same time last year."The total area sown under Kharif crops as on September 11 has reached to
1,012.01 lakh hectares," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.The maximum growth of 11
percent was witnessed in sowing of pulses, whose shortage the country is facing of, to 110.08
lakh hectares.
It was followed by coarse cereals (5.7 percent) and oil seeds (3.2 percent).Rice, widely
consumed in India, was sown on 368.41 lakh hectares this season as compared to 366.51 lakh
hectares during 2014-15.Coarse cereals and oil seeds were sown on 180.95 lakh hectares and
181.19 lakh hectares, respectively, during the monsoon this year, the statement said.The sowing
of sugarcane remained almost flat at 48.84 lakh hectares.However, crops like 'jute and mesta' and
cotton registered declines in sowing area.Jute and mesta crop, together known as raw jute, was
sown on 7.80 lakh hectares this season against 8.13 lakh hectares during the previous
monsoon.Cotton was sown on 114.75 lakh hectares in 2015-16 as compared to 125.29 lakh
hectares in 2014-15.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=352952

Is Australia the home of rice? Study finds domesticated rice

varieties have ancestry links to Cape York
ABC Rural
By Marty McCarthy
Updated Thu at 9:11pm
PHOTO: Native rice yet to be harvested (Supplied: QAAFI)
MAP: Brisbane 4000

A team of plant biologists believes that common rice varieties, domesticated over thousands
of years and now grown around the world, may have their ancestry in northern Australia.
Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
00:00
00:00
AUDIO: Dr Robert Henry says wild rice from Cape York has links to varieties domesticated in
Asia, and could help to establish new rice growing regions in Australia's north(ABC Rural)

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The findings have been published in the journalScientific Reports, in an article
titled 'Relationships of wild and domesticated rices (Oryza AA genome species) based upon
whole chloroplast genome sequences'.

The report concludes that the varieties of rice grown today have genetics that can be traced back
to "uncontaminated" wild rice from Australia's remote Cape York.Co-author professor Robert
Henry, the director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI),
said his team's study found rice varieties developed in Asia over thousands of years may have
originated in Australia."We are reporting in Scientific Reports on the relationship between wild
and domesticated rice species, including the species we grow in northern Australia, particularly
Cape York," Mr Henry said."
We are confirming that these Australian populations are important relatives of domesticated rice.
It is quite possible that these have an ancestral relationship."The analysis we are doing shows
that the rice populations in northern Australia are very diverse genetically, with much more
variation than those we find further north in Asia."This suggests that maybe the origins are in
northern Australia, it's a centre of diversity and a possibly also the centre of origin of these
important species."

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PHOTO: Freshly harvested native rice (Supplied: QAAFI)

Mr Henry said his team analysed the evolutionary relationships of rice to reach the conclusion.
"The complication we have is that rice has been grown in Asia for thousands of years and the
wild and domesticated populations have inbred, but it's only in northern Australia that is likely to
be uncontaminated by the impact of human domestication," he said."We believe the populations
of rice in the north represent what rice might have looked like before human intervention 7,000
years ago when rice was first domesticated."
These represent the gene pools from which we can breed the rices of the future. It is how we
access the diversity we need to adapt rice products to climate change and new diseases in future
Dr Robert Henry, QAAFI
Researchers hope that understanding the genetic history of rice, and its ancestral links to
Australian wild rice, can help to boost world rice production to feed a growing global population.
"We don't have the increases in rice productivity that we need to keep pace with the projected
demand out to the middle of the century," Mr Henry said."So this resource will help us fill that
gap in terms of the productivity we need in rice globally."Mr Henry said the breeding qualities
inherent in native rice from Cape York were invaluable."These represent the gene pools from
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which we can breed the rices of the future, it's how we access the diversity we need to adapt rice
product to climate change and new diseases in future," he said.
"Knowing where to find the genetic variation is very important if we are to have food security
and be able to access the diversity we need to continue to produce rice into the future."These
wild populations have characteristics that are important for rice. They are inter-fertile with
domesticated rice, so we can readily cross breed them."We can introduce pest and disease
resistances from Australian material that will provide for greater food security anywhere in the
world."
Wild rice could help unlock the secret to building large rice industries in northern
Australia
Despite vast supplies of water and an ideal climate, northern Australia has struggled to establish
itself as a rice growing region.Attempts to build a rice industry on the Adelaide River at Humpty
Doo, near Darwin in the Northern Territory, failed in the 1950s.The Burdekin, south of
Townsville, is now making the slow transition from cane to aerobic rice, but quantities grown
there are in the thousands of tonnes, compared to the millions grown in the southern Riverina
region.Global rice producer SunRice recently completed a takeover of a local Burdekin mill,
owned by Blue Ribbon Rice, and is encouraging cane farmers to try planting rice instead.
Professor Robert Henry said the emerging industry could be given a boost by wild rice, which is
naturally suited to local conditions."We have had a small amount of rice production in northern
Australia, but wild rice emphasises the potential of this area because it is a native plant," he
said."I think it indicates there is a real potential to explore producing rice varieties that are very
specifically adapted to production in northern Australia, and they could provide an opportunity to
do that quickly."
PHOTO: Robert Henry says northern Australia contains a diverse range of uncontaminated
native rice that could be used to help boost rice production around the world (Supplied: QAAFI)
Mr Henry said rice types being grown in the Burdekin at the moment had not been bred with
wild rice, but he said there was the potential for that to happen in the not too distant
future."Commercial production in the north is using material from conventional sources, rices
originally bred for production in southern Australia or elsewhere," he said."We have not begun
to introduce local genetic resources into the varieties being grown."Rather than cross breeding,
Dr Henry said another option for the Burdekin was to begin growing commercial quantities of
wild rice, and marketing it as a purely local and native Australian rice.
We could produce novel rices that could be regarded as an indigenous product, something
originating from northern Australia which would have particular appeal to consumers
Dr Robert Henry, QAAFI
"We could produce novel rices that could be regarded as an Indigenous product, something
originating from northern Australia which would have particular appeal to consumers," he said.
"It is a distinct and additional possibility to using wild rice as a source of breeding material to
assist mainstream or conventional rices."Native rice could be a potential gold mine, with the rare
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commodity capable of fetching as high as $120 per kilogram.Mr Henry said breeding elements
of wild rice into existing varieties, as well as starting up a native rice industry, was possible
within a decade.

"I don't believe it will be difficult to work with this [wild rice] material, it seems to be close
genetically to domesticated rice," he said."These things could happen in a relatively short period
of time, relative to the timescale we normally see for these sorts of innovations in
agriculture."Certainly within five to 10 years we could see both of these things happening.
"QAAFI is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the University of
Queensland, with a focus on developing sustainable and competitive tropical and sub-tropical
food, fibre and agribusiness industries.

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PHOTO: Aerobic rice is being grown in the Burdekin region, south of Townsville, in increasing
amounts (Carmen Brown)
Topics: rice, agricultural-crops, rural, brisbane-4000, townsville-4810, cairns-4870
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-11/wild-rice-australia-linked-to-main-varities-developedin-asia/6764924

APEDA Commodity News

International Benchmark Price
Price on: 10-09-2015
Product
Rice
1
2
3
Daily Global

Benchmark Indicators Name

Price

CZCE Early Rice Futures (USD/t)

Pakistani 100%, FOB Karachi (USD/t)
Pakistani 25% Broken (USD/t)

430
318
383

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Wheat
1
2
3
Honey
1

CZCE Wheat Futures (USD/t)

NYSE Liffe Feed Wheat Futures (USD/t)
NYSE Liffe Milling Wheat Futures (USD/t)

Argentine 85mm, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)

Australian extra light/light amber, CIF NW Europe
2
(USD/t)
3
Argentine 34mm, CIF NW Europe (USD/t)
Source:agra-net

358
169
166
3190
4785
3685
For more info

Market Watch
Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 10-09-2015
Domestic Prices
Unit Price : Rs per Qty
Product
Market Center
Variety
Min Price
Max Price
Bajra(Pearl Millet)
1
Amreli (Gujarat)
Other
1075
1560
2
Loharu (Haryana)
Deshi
1275
1275
3
Nira (Maharashtra)
Other
1550
1825
Rice
1
Gauripur (Assam)
Other
1800
3000
2
Kondotty (Kerala)
Other
7000
7200
3
Aroor (Kerala)
Other
2900
3100
Apple
1
Ateli (Haryana)
Other
5200
5200
2
Nagpur (Maharashtra)
Other
4000
7000
3
Karanjia (Orissa)
Other
5000
6000
Onion
1
Howly (Assam)
Onion
5000
5500
2
Muzaffarpur (Bihar)
Other
4400
4580
3
Barwala (Haryana)
Onion
3000
4000
Source:agmarknet.nic.in
For more info
Egg
Product
1
Daily Global

Market Center
Ahmedabad

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Rs per 100 No
Price on 10-09-2015
Price
316

All About Rice News

2
3
Source: e2necc.com

Chittoor
Pune

316
315

Other International Prices

Product
Market Center
Onions Dry
1
Atlanta
2
Baltimore
3
Detroit
Carrots
1
Atlanta
2
Dallas
3
Detroit
Apples

Origin

Variety

Georgia
Peru
California

Yellow
Yellow
Yellow

California
Arizona
California

Baby Peeled
Baby Peeled
Baby Peeled

Atlanta

Washington

Dallas

Washington

Chicago

Washington

Red
Delicious
Red
Delicious
Red
Delicious

Unit Price : US$ per

package
Price on 04-09-2015
Low
High
Package: 40 lb cartons
27
30
28
28
28
28.50
Package: 20 1-lb film bags
19
20.75
16.75
17
17
17.50
Package: cartons tray pack
18

20

22

22

13.50

14.50

Source:USDA

Registration for the 2015 USA Rice Outlook Conference

Now Open
Mike Lee
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Early registration is now open for the
upcoming 2015 USA Rice Outlook Conference that will be held here
December 9-11. The conference is the largest rice industry annual
meeting, and this year's expanded programming will feature
presentations from industry experts, an extensive exhibit hall, and
offsite interactive learning sessions.In addition to keynote speakers
Mary Matalin and James Carville, attendees will hear from the cofounder of the Commodity Weather Group, Joel Widenor; farm
management expert Dick Wittman; economist Dr. David Kohl; and
ag policy guru Jim Wiesemeyer.Feature programming also includes
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"A Conversation with Louisiana Congressman Dr. Ralph Abraham," and an exciting panel
discussion on "The Future of Food and What it Means for Rice," with futurist Mike Lee, founder
and CEO of Studio Industries, and rice end users.
Rep. Ralph Abraham
The Annual USA Rice Awards Luncheon and state rice outlooks and
research reports round out the packed program.The hotel room block
at the Sheraton New Orleans is also open and rooms are going fast,
as are exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities. Registration rates
will increase on November 6, so anyone interested in attending is
encouraged to act quickly.More information on all aspects of the
2015 USA Rice Outlook Conference, and registration materials, can
be found on USA Rice's new website, here.
Contact: Colleen Klemczewski (703) 236-1446

September Proclaimed Rice Month in Louisiana; Rice Industry's

Food Bank Donation Honors Hunger Action Month
Kevin Berken announces donation of 15K pounds of rice to help feed hungry
BATON ROUGE, LA -- Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Dr.
Mike Strain, rice industry leaders, and representatives of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank
(GBRFB) gathered at the Capitol Park Museum in view of the state capitol yesterday to proclaim
September as Louisiana Rice Month and Louisiana Hunger Action Month and to make the
annual rice donation to the GBRFB.Dr. Strain presented Gov. Bobby Jindal's official
proclamations declaring September as Louisiana Rice Month and Hunger Action Month.In
making the donation to the GBRFB, Louisiana Rice Promotion Board Chairman Kevin Berken
stressed the industry's strong record of support for the needy, noting that this year's donation of
more than 15,000 pounds will provide more than 180,000 servings of rice to neighbors in
need.Louisiana Rice Mill and Falcon Rice Mill of Crowley, Planters Rice Mill of Abbeville, and
Farmers Rice Mill of Lake Charles provided rice for the donation. Blue Runner Foods of
Gonzales, Louisiana joined the effort to feed the hungry by donating twelve cases of their
signature dry beans.
Network television affiliates from CBS, NBC and Fox covered
the event as well as Louisiana Farm Bureau's weekly television
program, This Week in Louisiana Agriculture.The GBRFB is a
regional food bank that provides food to more than 114
charitable agencies operating food pantries, group homes,
shelters, meal sites and special agencies in 11 parishes. In
2014, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank provided
approximately 8.9 million meals to those in need.
Contact: Randy Jemison (337) 738-7009

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WASDE Report Released

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. 2015/16 rice supplies are lowered 14.9
million cwt from last month resulting from a decrease in production that
is partially offset by a slight increase in beginning stocks. Imports are
unchanged. U.S. rice production for 2015/16 is forecast at 189.5 million
cwt, down 15.5 million from last month due to a decrease in both area
harvested and yield. Harvested area is estimated at 2.57 million acres,
down 174,000 from last month. Harvested area estimates are lowered for
all states except California. The average all rice yield is estimated at
7,374 pounds per acre, down 98 pounds per acre from last month, with decreases in all states
except Mississippi.
Long-grain rice production is forecast at 131.5 million cwt, down 17.5 million from last month,
and combined medium- and short-grain production is forecast at 58 million cwt, up 2 million. All
rice beginning stocks for 2014/15 are raised 700,000 cwt from last month to 48.5 million (roughequivalent basis) based on USDA's August Rice Stocks report. All rice 2015/16 domestic
consumption and residual is lowered 4 million cwt to 125 million due mainly to lower supplies.
Exports are forecast at 97 million cwt, down 10 million from last month with long-grain exports
down 10 million, but medium- and short-grain unchanged. All rice ending stocks are lowered
900,000 cwt to 41.5 million.
The 2015/16 long-grain season-average farm price range is projected at $12.80 to $13.80 per
cwt, up $1.30 per cwt on both ends of the range from last month compared to $11.90 per cwt for
2014/15. The all medium- and short-grain farm price range is projected at $17.50 to $18.50 per
cwt, down 30 cents per cwt on both ends of the range from last month compared to $17.90 per
cwt for 2014/15. The California medium- and short-grain rice price, at a midpoint of $21.00 per
cwt, is unchanged from last month. The Other States medium-and short-grain rice price, at a
midpoint of $14.50 per cwt, is lowered 30 cents per cwt. The all rice season-average farm price
is forecast at $14.20 to $15.20 per cwt, up 80 cents per cwt from a month ago compared to a
revised $13.20 per cwt for 2014/15.
Projected global 2015/16 rice ending stocks are reduced on lower supplies. Global rice
production is projected at 475.8 million tons, down 2.9 million from last month, primarily due to
smaller crops forecast for Burma, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Philippines, and the United States.
This is the first year-to-year decrease in production since 2009/10. Burma's crop is lowered due
to significant widespread flooding in late July through mid-August. China's crop is lowered
based mostly on early rice crop production data released by the government of China. Egypt's
rice crop is lowered due to prolonged excessive heat during the growing season. Indonesia's crop
is lowered due to a downward adjustment in expected yield.
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The Philippines crop is lowered due to a decrease in area and expected yield. Global beginning
stocks are raised 1.8 million tons, due mostly to an increase in India. India's 2014/15 rice crop is
raised 2.3 million tons based on data released by the government of India. India's exports for
2015/16 are raised 500,000 tons to 9 million, partially offset by a reduction of 400,000 for
Burma to 1.8 million. Global 2015/16 rice consumption is lowered slightly from last month.
Global 2015/16 ending stocks are projected at 90.2 million tons, down 700,000 from last month,
and a decline of 11.7 million from the previous year. Endingstocks are lowered for Burma,
China, Egypt, Indonesia, and the Philippines; and raised for India and Vietnam.

The complete report can be read here.

Pack to school: What do professional chefs pack for their kids?

By Arthi Subramaniam Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)
Restaurant chefs are like every other parent when it comes to wanting to give their children
specially prepared, tasty and healthy school-box lunches. But they have an advantage because of
their professional background and access to a variety of foods, and can almost pull off anything
when it comes to pleasing their childs palate.Heres how they think outside the box for the backto-school days.
SONJA FINN
Sonja Finn, chef and owner of Dinette in Pittsburghs East Liberty, does not favor sugared foods
for her 3-year-old son, Miles, but insists on some sort of fruit.What she packs: A pasta with
walnut-basil pesto. Sometimes she would pack baked spinach rice, which she makes with
basmati rice, onion, spinach and vegetable or chicken stock; or a roasted chicken breast; or some
version of a peanut butter sandwich made with no-sugar peanut butter and low-sugar wheat
bread. A banana is a must, and so is some sort of a cut-fruit like watermelon, strawberries or
apricots.
Miles favorite is matzo balls made by his nana.Her prep technique: I make pesto ahead of time
and keep it in the freezer. On Sunday night, I cook a pound of pasta and then add the frozen
pesto to the hot pasta. I keep stirring until the pesto melts completely, coating the pasta and at the
same time cooling it. That way I dont need to wait for it to cool to pack it away (waiting isnt an
option anyway since its already midnight by the time I get around to making the school lunch). I
can immediately pack it into individually covered containers and put it in the fridge, and Im set
for the week. Frozen walnuts will ensure that the pesto will be green, she says.What she wont
pack: No juice boxes and no yogurt shooters.
From Dinettes menu: Dinette doesnt have a lunch menu, and so sometimes Miles gets a slice
of cheese pizza that was made the night before. A lot of Miles lunches are prepared at
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Dinette.Her school lunch: I didnt take lunch from home. I did school lunch the whole
time.Changes in lunch-box fare: The convenience foods and prepackaged foods have gotten
worse. There is more sugar, more salt and the sizes have gotten bigger.
BILL FULLER
Bill Fuller is the corporate chef at Big Burrito. He has
an 11 and 14 year old and packs their lunches every
day.What he packs: Either a sandwich, milk (I pack
the milk with a small ice pack together in a baggie
because my kids hate warm milk), fruit and snack
(crackers, chips, etc.) or a thermos of soup or leftovers
instead of the sandwich. Occasionally two slices of
leftover pizza in place of the thermos of
soup/sandwich. If they are sweet, Ill drop a piece of
leftover Halloween candy or some cookies in there.What he wont pack: Nothing that wont be
temperature safe through the course of the day. Not very many sweets. Never soda.From
Casbahs menu: I always sent leftover pastas from Casbah (his restaurant in Pittsburghs
Shadyside), especially the Ricotta Cavatelli. Both my kids devour that.
His school lunch: We rarely packed lunches but when we did it was a sandwich, chips/snack,
fruit. We usually ate school lunch because my grandmother cooked in the cafeteria. In those
days, they actually cooked, so it was my grandmother cooking for us every day in grade school.
Also, we got free or reduced lunches throughout school too, and that was hard to pass up.His
lunch box: I had an Adam-12 box when I was a little kid. Also a Spider-Man one, I think. I
remember the Adam-12 one best because I hit Eddie Krauch in the face with it once and got in
trouble. We were friends, mostly, but got in a fight that day.Changes in the lunch-box fare: Not
much in my world. I guess I can afford fresh fruit and my mother couldnt. A lot of kids bring
pre-packaged stuff. My older kid likes to take Ramen noodles occasionally since the middle
school cafeteria has a microwave. We never had a microwave!
LING ROBINSON
Ling Robinson, executive chef and owner of Asiatique Thai Bistro in Larimers Bakery Square,
who has four children and two grandchildren, says its important to prepare a different lunch
everyday for children as they will remember it. Its a gift from childhood that creates special
memories of how much their mother or father loved them, she says.What she will pack: Fresh,
healthy, non-processed food. I always include a protein, fruit and vegetable. I grill chicken or
beef or salmon, steam vegetables, thinly slice apples, cut up some carrots, and put it all together
in one container with a light dressing using olive oil.
For my older boys, who require more calories, I would make a sandwich containing salmon, beef
or chicken.What she wont pack: Chips, soft drinks or prepackaged meats.From Asiatiques
menu: I would pack foods such as our Summer Roll, which is quick and easy to make, and
contains fresh leaf lettuce, cilantro, mint, avocado, tomato and tapioca skin. She wraps it with
chicken or salmon and rice noodles.Her school lunch: Growing up in Thailand, I would take
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rice with mixed vegetables and seafood. She says she was fortunate because her parents insisted
on those foods along with fruit. All kinds of fruits.
Her lunch box: My lunch box was a vertical stack of containers the bottom one had rice, the
middle one had steamed vegetables and the top held fresh fruit. I also carried one metal spoon
no plastic spoons. If you had brothers and sisters at the same school, you also carried their
lunches in your lunch box. You just added more containers to your stack. It was usually the older
child who had to carry it to school.Changes in the lunch-box fare: Back then, our lunch boxes
featured these three different compartments for three food groups. It was easy to open and was
safe and secure. Today, everything is taken in Ziploc bags, which are sometimes not so easy for
the children to open without spilling on themselves. Also, its all about processed fruits and
puddings in plastic containers. I do use the safe plastic box containers that are easier to open. My
boys and grandchildren would have a hard time carrying the stacked lunch boxes today, so its
the next best thing.
SIMPLE PESTO
Any pasta will work for this pesto, but the more fanciful the shape, the better. I recommend
having the child pick it out.
1 1/2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 medium cloves garlic
2 1/2 ounces frozen walnuts
6 ounces basil leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound pasta, cooked
In a food processor, pulse cheese, garlic, walnuts, basil, salt and 1/4 cup olive oil until a little
chunky. Scrape down sides.
Then running the processor, drizzle in the rest of the oil.
If making ahead of time, pack into a plastic bag or container and freeze.
Add pesto to cooked pasta.
Makes approximately 1 cup.
Sonja Finn
FRESH RICOTTA CAVATELLI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE, RAPINI AND TOMATO
You could freeze the Ricotta Cavatelli before adding the sausage and tomatoes.
2 Ricotta Cavatelli (see recipe below)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus oil for pasta water
2 loose Italian sausages (spicy or mild)
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 bunch rapini, thinly sliced
1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)
3 cups whole Italian canned plum tomatoes with juice
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups fresh ricotta (room temperature)
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Make Ricotta Cavatelli.

In a 4-quart pot, add salt and oil to water. Bring water to boil before cooking sausage.
Heat a large skillet and add olive oil. Crumble sausage into oil and let it brown, breaking up large
chunks with a spatula.
When sausage is browned, add garlic and rapini. Add red pepper flakes, if desired. Stir until
rapini is tender.
Roughly crush tomatoes with your hands and add with juice to rapini-sausage mixture.
Put cavatelli in boiling water. Let cook until it floats and then just a minute more.
Strain pasta and add to sausage mixture. Add fresh oregano and toss together. Add seasonings.
Place in a large, shallow pasta bowl. Arrange dabs of ricotta across the surface.
Serve immediately.
For Ricotta Cavatelli
1 pound Lamagna ricotta
3 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
Combine ricotta and eggs in mixer fitted with dough hook. Mix well.
Add flour; mix for about 5 minutes. If dough is sticky, add a little more flour and mix again.
Place dough onto counter. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest at least 30 minutes.
Roll dough out to 1/2-inch thick. Then cut into 3/4-inch strips.
Roll through cavatelli maker onto lightly floured tray. Freeze extra pasta.
Bill Fuller
CHICKEN SUMMER ROLLIt is quick and easy to make.
1 to 2 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/2 ounce olive oil
1 tapioca skin
1 ounce baby spinach
1 ounce brown rice
2 sprigs cilantro
1 ounce shredded carrots
2 slices of cucumber
Thinly slice meat. Wash in salt water; thoroughly rinse.
Pour olive oil in nonstick pan and saut chicken on both sides until done. Let cool; side slice the
meat and keep ready for use in summer roll.
Wet tapioca skin and lay flat on clean surface.
Spread spinach on top of tapioca skin. Then top with brown rice, cilantro, carrots, cucumber and
sliced chicken.
Tightly roll up tapioca skin.
Slice roll to desired thickness.
Makes approximately 5 pieces.
Ling Robinson
Tags: Restaurants, Chefs, Cooking, Food And Drink, Lifestyle, Agriculture, Industries, Business
Image: Steve Mellon,A summer roll by chef Ling Robinson. (Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)

http://www.post-gazette.com/life/food/2015/08/19/Pack-to-school/stories/201508190007
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