October 05 ,2018 Vol 9 ,Issue 10
1|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers‟ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh meets Suriname counterpart Lekhram Soerdjan, calls for deepening bilateral cooperation in agriculture, allied sectors Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday met Lekhram Soerdjan, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries of the Republic of Suriname in Krishi Bhawan, in New Delhi and called for deepening bilateral cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors for the benefit of the people of Suriname.
ByNewsX Bureau
4 October 2018,
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh meets Suriname counterpart Lekhram Soerdjan Minister of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday met Lekhram Soerdjan, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries of the Republic of Suriname in Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi and called for deepening bilateral cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors for the benefit of the people of Suriname. The Minister averred that the visit adds to the historical and cultural ties going back to 145 years and said relations between the two countries must be further enhanced through people to people and government to government contact. He assured his counterpart from Suriname of full cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors and said that the work plan of Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture for 2017-21 would facilitate training/study visit of the Indian scientists/scholars to Suriname to build capacity of the farmers/agricultural scientists in various areas relating to agriculture and allied sectors such as food processing, animal husbandry and fisheries under the purview of JWG.
2|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
On the request of the Ambassador of Suriname to further rice research in the country in collaboration with ICAR during his recent visit, the Minister directed ICAR to initiate talks with its counterpart in Suriname. He further said that India is ever ready to share its expertise and technological know-how through Line of Credit and as in the past, would like to work closely with Suriname for the benefit of the people of Suriname. The Minister appreciated the efforts of the Government of Suriname for organising the celebration of 145th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in Suriname during May and June 2018 and preserving and propagating the Hindi language by the Hindustani community in the country. He also thanked the Government of the Republic of Suriname for sending a high-level delegation to participate in the International Solar Alliance Conference, an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Key highlights 
Work Plan of Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture for 2017-21 would facilitate in building capacity for the farmers & agricultural scientists in food processing, Animal Husbandry and fisheries. • Directed ICAR to initiate talks with its counterpart in Suriname to further rice research there.
https://www.newsx.com/national/union-minister-of-agriculture-and-farmers-welfare-radha-mohan-singhmeets-suriname-counterpart-lekhram-soerdjan-calls-for-deepening-bilateral-cooperation-in-agricultureallied-sectors
India willing to share its expertise and technological knowhow : Radha Mohan Singh Web Admin
3|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
5 Dariya News New Delhi , 04 Oct 2018 Minister of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh met Lekhram Soerdjan, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries of the Republic of Suriname in Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi today and called for deepening bilateral cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors for the benefit of the people of Suriname.The Minister observed that the visit adds to the historical and cultural ties going back to 145 years and said relations between the two countries must be enhanced further through people to people and government to government contacts. He assured his counterpart from Suriname of full cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors and said that the Work Plan of Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture for 2017-21 would facilitate Training/Study visit of Indian Scientists/scholars to Suriname to build capacity of the farmers/agricultural scientists in various areas relating to agriculture and allied sectors such as food processing, animal husbandry and fisheries under the purview of JWG.On the request of the Ambassador of Suriname to further rice research in the country in collaboration with ICAR, the Minister directed ICAR to initiate talks with its counterpart in Suriname.The Minister appreciated the efforts of the Government of Suriname for organising the celebration of 145th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in Suriname during May & June, 2018 and preserving and propagating the Hindi language by the Hindustani community in the country. He also thanked the Government of the Republic of Suriname for sending a high level delegation to participate in the International Solar Alliance Conference, an initiative of Hon‘ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. http://www.5dariyanews.com/news/248316-India-willing-to-share-its-expertise-and-technologicalknowhow-Radha-Mohan-Singh
Rice mills under scanner after seizure of unaccounted rice Authorities claim seizure indicates a huge scam Jaswant Shetra Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 4 The Food and Civil Supplies Department authorities have increased vigil on rice mills in the state following the seizure of unaccounted rice from some rice mills in Punjab in the past some days. The rice mills have been under the scanner of the vigilance staff of the department after the seizure of unaccounted rice. According to sources in the Food and Civil Supplies Department, unaccounted rice might be stored in some other rice mills so the department officials have been planning more raids on rice mills in coming days. However, the drive launched by the authorities to unearth unaccounted rice has spread a feeling of panic among the rice mill owners.
4|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
It is pertinent to mention that the vigilance staff had seized thousands of bags of unaccounted rice from different rice mills in Jalandhar and Kapurthala. Earlier, the authorities had seized more than one lakh bags of unaccounted rice from some rice mills in Zira, Ferozepur, Jalalabad and Moga. The authorities claim that unaccounted rice seized from rice mills owes its origin to the Public Distribution System (PDS) of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which indicates towards a huge scam. Though the state government has been keeping a strict vigil on godowns and mills, it has been found that people involved in wrongdoings have made a clever change in the modus operandi. Instead of keeping the stock in godowns, they now chose to offload the illegally procured rice in the crude cattle sheds and other such places in the villages. Such a case was unearthed at Ranipur village, near Phagwara, where 750 bags of rice were found stored in an animal shed some time back. Fearing it to be the tip of the iceberg, the authorities said the recovery of thousands of bags belonging to the Public Distribution System was a clear indicator that it was not a small game. A similar scam was unearthed in Haryana some time ago and it is apprehended that it is a big interstate racket with nexus going deep into the procurement and distribution system of the country. Expressing concern over the seizure, Food and Civil Supplies Minister (Punjab) Bharat Bhushan Ashu have warned the rice millers not to indulge in this illegal practice. ―Had the rice miller not been caught, the same rice would have been recycled into the current marketing system. The recycling of previous year‘s rice for poor into the procurement mainstream is not just a deplorable act on humane grounds, but it is also an economic loss to the state exchequer,‖ said the Food and Civil Supplies Minister. He also instructed the authorities of the Food and Civil Supplies Department to maintaining a complete vigil against such attempts.
Fact file
Earlier, the authorities had seized more than one lakh bags of unaccounted rice from some mills in Zira, Ferozepur, Jalalabad and Moga. The authorities claim that unaccounted rice seized from mills owes its origin to the Public Distribution System (PDS) of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which indicates a huge scam.
5|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Modus operandi changed Instead of keeping the stock in godowns, people involved in wrongdoings now chose to offload the illegally procured rice in the crude cattle sheds and other such places in the villages. Such a case was unearthed at Ranipur village, near Phagwara, where 750 bags of rice were found stored in an animal shed some time ago. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ludhiana/rice-mills-under-scanner-after-seizure-ofunaccounted-rice/663351.html
PDS rice from Bihar makes way to Karnal mill, 758 bags seized
The seized bags of rice at a mill in Karnal on Thursday. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed
Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 4 Sacks of rice meant for the poor and bearing the mark of the Bihar State Food and Supplies Department were recovered during a raid at a rice mill in Karnal on Thursday.
6|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
It was learnt that a rice mill in Rishi Nagar, Karnal, had brought a stock of rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS) for recycling into the procurement process. Subsequently, Karnal DC Aditya Dahiya formed a team led by SDM Narinder Malik to raid the mill. During the raid, the team recovered 758 bags of rice with the mark of the Bihar State Food and Supplies Department. These bags were stocked with other bags of rice. Ram Niwas, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, said the mill owner was asked to produce purchase documents of the rice recovered from his mill, but he failed to furnish any. ―The mill owner will be booked. We will write to the Secretary, Food and Supplies Department, Bihar informing him that PDS rice from his state was finding way to rice mills in Haryana,‖ he said. The ACS further said the entire stock of rice stocked in the mill had been seized and a process to blacklist the firm would be initiated on Friday. ―We will not give paddy to the Rishi Nagar mill for custom milling this season,‖ Niwas said. A news report, ―Rice for poor finds way to Haryana mills‖ published in The Tribune on September 20 highlighted that the PDS rice meant for the poor allegedly landed in some rice mills of Haryana, where it was likely to be recycled into the milling process for this year‘s paddy by showing bogus procurement of the produce. The authorities had recovered 1.25 lakh bags of PDS rice from three rice millers of Karnal that time. Sources say the practice of recycling the PDS rice into the procurement process has been underway in Haryana and Punjab for the past several years, denying subsidised rice to the poor and, in the process, inflating the procurement figures. Sources said with an annual production of 40 to 45 lakh MT of paddy, Haryana, on paper, has been procuring 58 to 60 lakh MT because of bogus purchases shown by millers against PDS rice already stored by them ahead of the milling season. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/pds-rice-from-bihar-makes-way-to-karnal-mill-758bags-seized/663316.html
7|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Revamp public procurement An online system can check unscrupulous traders
Mayawati‟s mayajaal
It is extremely deplorable that rice meant to be sold to the poor at highly subsidised rates through the public distribution system (PDS) is being diverted from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to rice mills located in Punjab and Haryana. In a recent raid Punjab Government officials have found more than 36,000 bags of unbilled rice, bearing stamps of UP and Bihar PDS from four mills in Jalandhar and Kapurthala. Could this be the tip of the iceberg? The Tribune had earlier reported that some unscrupulous mills in Haryana had illegally accumulated PDS rice that would be passed as freshly-milled rice from the paddy procured by the government agencies this season under the minimum support price (MSP) scheme. More than 1.25 lakh bags or about 62,500 quintals of rice were found from some millers in Karnal during the raids even before the start of FCI‘s paddy procurement process for the Kharif 2018. This could be the reason why Haryana, which produces about 45 lakh MT of paddy, is forced to procure about 60 lakh MT of the crop every year. It is not just confined to paddy. Other crops such as wheat from western UP and bajra from Rajasthan get mixed in the procurement process of Punjab and Haryana. Corrupt traders found
8|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
opportunity to purchase bajra from Rajasthan at Rs 1,200 per quintal and pass it as the crop growth in Haryana because the state has assured to procure bajra at the officially announced MSP of Rs 1,950 per quintal. Problem lies in the Centre‘s announcement of lucrative MSPs without procurement infrastructure, except for Punjab and Haryana. In want of assured procurement, farmers of other states are forced to sell their produce to traders much below the MSP, which finds its way to Haryana and Punjab. Besides loss to the exchequer, the system is unable to protect the intended beneficiaries — the farmer, who does not get the promised price for the crop, and the poor, who is unable to get the subsidised PDS rice. The solution lies in a strict vigilance on the official procurement process through an online tracking system. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/editorials/revamp-public-procurement/663266.html
USA Rice Heats Up the America's Food and Beverage Show By Asiha Grigsby
MIAMI, FL -- USA Rice attended the 22nd Annual America's Food and Beverage (AFB) Trade Show earlier this week at the Miami Beach Convention Center, with more than 700 exhibitors across food, beverage, and associated industries from every corner of the world. At the USA Rice booth, staff met with industry professionals both within and outside the rice sector, educating them about U.S.-grown rice and garnering more than 100 trade leads. Visitors walked away from the booth with bright green Reach for Ricebags stuffed with infographics and promotional items such as the Think Rice salad shaker, and full color, tri-fold recipe pamphlets. Approximately 550 brochures and promotional items were distributed over the course of the event, Three winning chefs and the judge of the "Cocina Viva" chef competition, co-sponsored by USA Rice, that took place in Bogota, Colombia, earlier this year, took turns manning the USA Rice booth as part of their U.S. culinary tour. They shared the benefits of using U.S.-grown rice in their kitchens, as well as insider tips on how to transform rice into a delectable main attraction for meals.
9|www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
"The Americas Food and Beverage Show is an extraordinary opportunity for USA Rice to initiate valuable connections with trade leaders, partner with importers, and cultivate potential business leads for our members," said Brian King, chair of the USA Rice Western Hemisphere Promotion Subcommittee. "We endeavor to make a lasting impression on our consumers with our valuable quality U.S.-grown rice." Many connections made at the AFB show centered around import opportunities in the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean, which continues to be an important market for U.S. rice. In 2017, U.S. rice exports reached 1.5 million metric tons to Central America and Mexico alone.
How eating rice can help you prepare for daylight savings
Foods high in tryptophan - like rice, tamarind, chickpeas and turkey - help in the production of serotonin, which then helps melatonin production. (Getty Images)
Daylight savings can leave you feeling hangry. Here's a few expert food tips to help you reset your hunger-clock and send you to sleep, naturally. By Yasmin Noone
4 OCT 2018 - 1:38 PM UPDATED YESTERDAY 1:47 PM
0
10 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
This weekend there‘s a good chance you‘ll end up feeling hangry: a confusing but justified blend of hungry and angry.Daylight savings kicks in on Sunday 7 October. For people living in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, that means putting your clock one hour forward. While one hour that doesn‘t feel like a significant threat to your sleeping and eating patterns, it turns out that delaying your lunch or dinner by 60 minutes could cause you bodily chaos.
If we eat one hour earlier than usual, by the time our regular bedtime comes around, we might still be hungry and snack after dinner. ―Every year, it‘s easy to blow off daylight savings thinking it‘s only a one hour time difference,‖ co-founder of Sleepy Starz and sleep consultant, Emily Duffell tells SBS. ―But daylight savings is not a harmless event. Our body clocks work with light and darkness to produce melatonin – a sleep hormone. When we put our clocks forward an hour, our eating patterns change and this causes a problem, as our body clock has [previously] been set to eat at a certain time.‖ If we eat one hour earlier than usual, by the time our regular bedtime comes around, we might still be hungry and snack after dinner. ―After daylight savings, you may end up introducing an extra post-dinner snack into your diet that you wouldn‘t normally have. You may also snack on the wrong kinds of foods and drinks, which are high in sugar or caffeine, that are detrimental to your sleep.‖ Duffell says it could take some adults and children a week to overcome the loss of one hour‘s sleep and return to their normal eating and sleeping patterns.
What you eat determines how you sleep The good news is that by eating foods containing the amino acid, tryptophan, we may be able to induce sleep and counteract the hangry effects of daylight savings. ―Foods high in tryptophan help in the production of serotonin, which then helps melatonin production (also known as the ‗sleepy hormone),‖ she says. Research shows that tryptophan has direct effects on sleep. A 2016 review on the amino acidnotes that consuming tryptophan makes you sleepy and decreases total wakefulness. This improved quality of sleep is associated with improvements in cognition, morning alertness and attention span.
11 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
“As sleep professionals, we‟d be encouraging healthy snacks high in tryptophan and I‟d also certainly encourage people to have rice for dinner.”
Eat rice to fall asleep So where do we find naturally occurring tryptophan? Raw soybeans, eggs, chickpeas, turkey, tamarind and some types of fish are all high in the amino acid. Yet one of the most versatile and culturally rich foods high in tryptophan is rice. ―As sleep professionals, we‘d be encouraging healthy snacks high in tryptophan and I‘d also certainly encourage people to have rice for dinner.‖ That means tucking into rice-based Indian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese or Malaysian meals at night could be the best sleep strategy around. Or better yet, combine several ingredients rich in tryptophan to form one sleep-inducing meal like tamarind chickpea curry with rice.
“If you are having rice for breakfast, it‟s not a bad thing because the production of melatonin works naturally with your body clock.” Duffell says it‘s okay for people to have the Chinese rice porridge – congee – in the lead up to and after daylight savings, even though this rice dish is most often served at breakfast when we are trying to wake up. ―If you are having rice for breakfast, it‘s not a bad thing because the production of melatonin works naturally with your body clock.‖ 9 reasons to eat rice for breakfast Toast is pedestrian. Eggs are ordinary. And cereal? Well, we always want more! From porridge-like bowls of congee to spiced fried rice, give breakfast the respect it deserves.
A 2007 study from University of Sydney shows that eating a meal of starchy rice four hours before bedtime could help with insomnia. It found that carbohydrates with a high glycemic index, like jasmine rice can help hasten sleep. The researchers tested jasmine rice against long grain rice and found that consuming jasmine rice four hours before bedtime helped study subjects fall asleep after nine minutes.
Start preparing your rice dinners now
12 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Duffell says it‘s a good idea to start eating rice-rich dinners in the days leading up to daylight saving and after to gradually overcome the one hour loss in sleep. ―Start making little changes each day,‖ she says. ―Just bring your bedtime forward 5-10 minutes earlier each night and introduce foods high in tryptophan like rice to help you sleep.‖ https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/10/04/how-eating-rice-can-help-you-prepare-daylight-savings
Back pain and the placebo effect: „I‟ll keep taking the pills‟ By Michael MosleyHorizon
4 October 2018
Share
Image captionPeople thought they were trying out a new painkiller - and in a way, they were... Could taking a placebo, a pill which contains nothing but ground rice, really help cure back pain? Jim Pearce is certainly convinced. When we first met, the 71-year-old was confined to a wheelchair and using morphine because of his back pain. But after he took part in our study, taking our convincingly-labelled blue-and-white-striped "new" painkillers, he seemed like a different person. The only thing was that he'd been taking placebos; dummy pills - they contained nothing but ground rice. But they worked.
13 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
"I just woke up one morning and I thought, hang about, I haven't got a twinge in my back. And it's been going from strength to strength." I asked him which he preferred, my pills or the morphine? "I got rid of the morphine and kept taking your blue pills." Jim was one of 100 people who took part in a trial for our BBC2 Horizon programme: Can my brain cure my body? It was a back pain study - with a twist. The twist being that everyone, unknowingly, was getting placebo? We wanted to see if people taking the pills would get better anyway?
'Keep away from children' The placebo effect is well studied but at the same time something of a mystery. The word placebo comes from the Latin "I shall please" and is associated with images of quack doctors selling dodgy cures. Yet it is also an important part of modern clinical trials, where patients are given either a placebo (sometimes called a dummy pill) or an active drug (without knowing which is which) and researchers then look to see if the drug outperforms the placebo, or vice versa. With the help of Dr Jeremy Howick, an expert on the placebo effect from University of Oxford, we set out to see if we could cure real back pain with fake pills. It would be the largest experiment of its kind ever carried out in the UK, with 100 people from Blackpool taking part. Some were asked to act as a "control" group. The rest were told that they were taking part in a study - where they might receive the placebo or a powerful new painkiller. What they weren't told was that they would all get placebos, capsules containing nothing but ground rice. The pills were authentic looking and based on years of research. They were blue-and-white-striped, because that has been shown to have a greatest painkilling effect. They came in bottles, carefully labelled, warning of potential side effects and sternly reminding patients to keep out of the hands of children. All very convincing. Before the trial, Jim told us: "I'm not looking for miracles. It would be nice even if the pain went away a little bit, to give me more freedom. "I'll try anything and if it works, I'll love you forever!"
'New experiences' We chose Blackpool because one in five people there is blighted by their back. Chronic back pain is both common and hard to treat.
14 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
All our volunteers had suffered for years and felt their current medication wasn't up to the job. When they came to us, they were randomly split into two groups.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionEveryone who took part was taking painkillers for their back pain One group received no more than nine minutes and 22 seconds with the GP to discuss their back before being given a supply of pills and hustled out - that's the length of an average GP consultation The other group was given more than twice as long. We wanted to see whether spending a bit more time with a GP makes a measurable difference. Now, many people believe that the placebo effect is a con and that it only works on the gullible. But that's not what the science shows. A recent small study looking at the characteristics of back pain sufferers who responded best to placebo treatment, found those who were most "aware" and "open to new experiences" had the most benefit. The researchers also carried out brain scans and found anatomical differences in the "responders" and "nonresponders". Among other things they found subtle differences in areas of the brain, like the amygdala, which controls emotion and reward, What exactly this means, no-one quite knows. But University of Oxford's Prof Irene Tracey told us that just because a placebo contains no active chemicals, does not mean the effects of taking it are not real," she said.
15 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
"The average person thinks that placebo is something that's a lie or some fakery, something where the person has been tricked and it isn't real. "But science has told us, particularly over the last two decades, that it is something that is very real, it's something that we can see played out in our physiology and neurochemistry." Among other things, research has shown that taking a placebo can trigger the release of endorphins - natural painkillers that are similar in structure to morphine.
'Haven't felt a twinge' When we returned to Blackpool after three weeks, our volunteers went through another round of tests and questionnaires. And we found half of them had found significant relief from taking the pills - even though they were fake. As well as Jim, we spoke to Joe, who had told me his back sometimes gets so bad, he had to have morphine and ketamine "to get me out of the house". He said he hadn't felt a twinge since he started on the pills. In fact, nearly half of our volunteers reported a medically significant improvement in their back pain. Considering that, between them, they have tried every painkiller from Tramadol to morphine, I think that is pretty amazing. And the time they spent with the doctor had a substantial effect on the outcome, with people benefitting from having a longer consultation with their GP. So where does this leave modern medicine? A recent article in the British Medical Journal suggests that it can be ethical to prescribe placebos, as long as doctors are honest about what they are doing. It pointed out there is mounting evidence, from a number of small trials, that placebos can work even when patients know that they are taking them. That way, you can get the benefits of pain control without the often significant side effects of taking a "real" drug. Watch Horizon - The Placebo https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45721670
Asia Rice: India rates dip, Thai traders eye new deals Eileen Soreng:BENGALURU (Reuters) - Rice export prices in India fell for a second week on sluggish demand, while rates in Thailand were propped up by lower supply and expectations of new orders from Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.
16 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Women plant rice saplings at a paddy field in a village in Nagaon district, in the northeastern state of Assam, India, July 3, 2018. Picture taken July 3, 2018. REUTERS/Anuwar Hazarika Top exporter India‘s 5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $367-$373 per tonne this week, down from $370-$374 last week. ―Some demand is there, but not much ... Millers are now waiting for new crop arrivals to offer,‖ said Nitin Gupta, business head of rice at Olam India. Supplies from summer-sown crop will become available for exports from next month, dealers said.Indian production of summer-sown rice is estimated to grow 1.8 percent to 99.24 million tonnes.―The falling rupee is (however) making Indian exports more competitive than Thailand and Vietnam,‖ said M. Adishankar, executive director at Sri Lalitha, a leading rice exporter in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The rupee plumbed record lows on Thursday, having shed more than 13 percent this year, allowing exporters to lower their offers.In neighbouring Bangladesh, merchants are refraining from making any new import deal, a trader said.―Importing rice is not profitable anymore, given the huge tax.‖In June, Bangladesh, which had emerged as a major importer in 2017 after floods damaged crops, imposed a 28 percent tax on rice imports to support its farmers after local production revived. In Thailand, benchmark 5 percent broken rice prices were quoted at $390–$403 per tonne, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, versus $395–$398 last week. The marginal change in prices, especially at the higher end, was driven by speculation about deals with countries including Philippines and disaster-hit Indonesia and Japan, traders said. Lower supplies, with new harvests expected only in November and December, are also propping up prices, another rice trader said. ―There are talks of a major deal from the Philippines, so many exporters are buying and storing rice.‖ In Vietnam, prices of the 5 percent broken rice were unchanged at $400-$405 a tonne, as weak demand due to a week-long Chinese holiday offset any impact from a fall in supply after the country‘s two major crops ended, traders said. Cheaper Thai rice also hurt commercial demand for the Vietnamese variety, traders said, but buying could pick up next week, especially due to deals with Philippines.
17 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
The Philippines‘ state agency National Food Authority has issued a new international tender to purchase up to 250,000 tonnes of rice, European traders said last week. Vietnam is expected to undergo a mini harvest later this month and in November, but output is seen half of the major harvests earlier this year.
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Mai Nguyen in Hanoi and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai and Ruma Paul in Dhaka; editing by David Evans Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. https://in.reuters.com/article/asia-rice/asia-rice-india-rates-dip-thai-traders-eye-new-dealsidINKCN1ME1MP
NFA Council approves three rice importations at 2-week intervals October 3, 2018 | 10:12 pm
The NFA rice stored at a warehouse in Quezon City. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS THE National Food Authority (NFA) Council has decided to authorize private-sector imports of 750,000 metric tons (MT) of rice in three batches of 250,000 MT each, arriving every two weeks starting Nov. 30.―Based on the instruction of the NFA Council instead of G2G (government-togovernment deals), we will divide the 750,000 metric tons into three. An initial importation of 250,000 MT will be followed two weeks after by another 250,000, then two weeks after another
18 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
250,000,‖ NFA Spokesperson Rex C. Estoperez told reporters in a chance interview at the PICC on Wednesday. According to Mr. Estoperez, bidding for the first shipment will be on Oct. 18, with subsequent auctions every two weeks after. He said the main issue is the ability to deliver the shipments, with the first of the deadlines on Nov. 30. This means the imports will ―spill over until next year, but that can be part of our beginning inventory for 2019.‖ The target for NFA domestic procurement is 389,000 MT next year, he added. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has said that the NFA Council provided standby authority to import 1 million MT of rice for 2019. Former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said a 1 million MT import level is ―normal‖ but the timing and ports of entry for the shipments need to be planned in detail. ―The shipments need to be planned by month and by port. It should not be all in Metro Manila. Metro Manila is always a key area but there are deficit areas in other parts of the country,‖ Mr. Dar added. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio https://www.bworldonline.com/nfa-council-approves-three-rice-importations-at-2-week-intervals/
Bidding for importation of 750,000MT of rice set By: Karl R. Ocampo - @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:30 AM October 04, 2018 The bidding for the importation of 750,000 metric tons of rice under the National Food Authority (NFA) can finally be held soon after disagreements between its management body and policymaking council were ironed out.
19 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
NFA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said the grains agency was now focusing on increasing its presence in the market to about 20 percent, and the bidding was seen to pave the way for the achievement of this goal. He said the agency had decided to stop measuring its inventory by the number of days it could fill the country‘s daily requirement. He, however, said NFA‘s stocks were currently about 5 million bags—enough to last until the end of the month assuming that 128,000 bags will be distributed daily. Based on the instruction of the NFA Council, the 750,000 MT of imported rice would be divided into three tranches of 250,000 MT each, and would be auctioned off every after two weeks starting Oct. 18. Initial shipments are expected to arrive no later than the end of November, while the rest may arrive by early next year. Stakeholders and economists said that the way to bring down rice prices was to flood the market with affordable rice.
https://business.inquirer.net/258378/bidding-importation-750000mt-riceset#ixzz5T3Oqk8BF
Rice farmers pinched by flooding Pav Suy / Khmer Times
Farmers ride a boat along their flooded rice fields in Ek Phnom district. KT/Mai Vireak In Prek Norin commune, the majority of residents are rice farmers and flood water can be seen covering their fields as far as the eye can see. Ek Phnom District, Battambang province – As farmers here steered a boat through flooded rice fields, they took the opportunity to also do some fishing as they spoke of their crop losses. Any chance to buttress their livelihoods and put food on the table must be taken advantage of as the floods this year have been worse than usual.
20 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Slinging a lure into the water, Phy Sokun, 31, says half of his rice fields were recently flooded and he knows he will be incurring big losses.
―I have six hectares and three of them were flooded, while the three others were fine because they are in a different location,‖ he says. ―Eighty percent of the three hectares were destroyed and I only got about 20 percent of the rice because the water keeps rising very quickly and we cannot collect the yield in time.‖ More than two thousand hectares of rice fields and farmland in Ek Phnom district have been inundated by water overflowing from the Tonle Sap; rice farmers are feeling the effects. In Prek Norin commune, the majority of residents are rice farmers and floodwater can be seen covering their fields as far as the eye can see. Navigating the boat through the fields, the farmers point to places where the water is at least one to two meters deep, with just the tip of plants protruding. Several houses are flooded and trees litter the ground after being ripped from their roots due to strong winds during thunderstorms. Mr Sokun says the water level this week is lower than a month ago, but the floods are receding very slowly, leaving farmers anxious and wondering why authorities have not stepped in to help. ―We cannot do anything about the water because it seems like there is no way to release it,‖ he says. ―We have no choice but to incur losses.‖ ―It is hard for us to harvest. Last year, we suffered from a drought and there was no water source nearby, but this year it is flooded from Tonle Sap,‖ he adds. Farmer Yang Leap, 42, says that her house is flooded along with her rice crops. A flooded home in Ek Phnom district. KT/Mai Vireak ―I have six hectares and almost all of them were destroyed,‖ she says. ―I could not harvest on time when the flood came. I got only about four tonnes and it is still green actually; if we did not harvest, they would have been lost. Every year, I usually get about 18 tonnes from the six hectares.‖ Ms Leap adds that farmers in the district are scrambling to hire labourers and rice-harvesting machinery to secure any possible harvest from crops not yet lost. ―All the rice farmers are in need of machine operators to harvest,‖ she says. ―If we do not hire them quickly, others will do so first and we will be at a loss. Sometimes, the machine owners do not even want the work because they know the farmers will not harvest much and will struggle to pay their fees.‖
21 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Ms Leap says she usually earns about $2,500 from all of her crops, which include rice, zucchinis and beans. However, she has only managed to pocket about $500 this year. ―It is a big loss for me,‖ she says. ―I borrowed money from the bank to operate my farm and we need to keep paying it on a regular basis. But we don‘t have money now.‖ ―There is no one coming to help us,‖ she adds. ―If authorities cannot do anything, they should at least give us some rice seeds.‖ Ms Leap may be in luck, as the Agriculture Ministry has plans to distribute about 3,000 tonnes of rice seeds to farmers affected by floods, according to Ngin Chhay, director of the general department of agriculture. Mr Chhay says the seeds could arrive in Battambang soon. Chhim Vorchirea, director of the Battambang agricultural department, says the damages to crops from floods are not too severe.
―There is no big damage to the rice fields and the water is getting back to normal conditions,‖ he says. ―This problem is nothing new to Battambang because it is not far from the Tonle Sap lake and Sangke river. The people need to change their rice seedlings according to the water condition.‖ Provincial Hall spokesman Soeum Bunrith says farmers do not thoroughly study weather conditions to adapt their farming techniques and seedling timing. ―The farmers take the risk of changing the type of rice seedling. Because they saw other farmers using the dry-season rice seedling, they changed to grow it,‖ he says. ―They are supposed to grow the rice seedling that is resistant to water and floods right now.‖ ―However, the water is now starting to recede,‖ he adds. ―The water here is not controllable because the farms are close to the Tonle Sap.‖ Floods have wreaked havoc across the Kingdom this year, with the National Committee for Disaster Management reporting that more than 50 people have died during floods in the past few months. The NCDM also reported that the floods have affected more than 100,000 families, with thousands of residents in multiple provinces forced to evacuate their homes and seek shelter on higher ground. In response, the Cambodian Red Cross has been visiting victims and offering provisions and China also stepped in, pledging $1 million worth of jasmine rice to aid those affected by the floods. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50539239/rice-farmers-pinched-by-flooding/
22 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Foods to lull you to sleep By Henrylito D. Tacio October 4, 2018
Does it often take you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep at night? Or do you wake up frequently during the night—or too early in the morning—and have a hard time going back to sleep? When you awaken, do you feel groggy and lethargic? Do you feel drowsy during the day particularly during monotonous situations? If you answered ―yes‖ to any of these questions, you may have a ―sleep debt‖ that is affecting you in ways you don‘t even realize. Until the 1950s, most people thought of sleep as a passive, dormant part of our daily lives. We now know that our brains are very active during sleep. Moreover, sleep affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health in many ways that we are just beginning to understand.
23 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
―To sleep—perchance to dream,‖ wrote William Shakespeare in his masterpiece play, Hamlet. It‘s a nice concept. However for many men, women and children, the elusive road to slumberland is anything but a dream. If you have a hard time getting a good night‘s sleep, perhaps a little help from foods may do the trick. Consider the following: Banana: ―In one form or another, raw or cooked, more bananas are consumed daily than perhaps any other fruit in the world.‖ That‘s what the bookTropical and Subtropical Agriculture said.
Unknowingly, banana is one of the most healthful fruits the world has known. Alexander the Great was so fascinated by the virtues of this fruit that he described it as ―the heavenly fruit that tasted like nectar sweetened in honey.‖ The fruit is fully packed with magnesium and potassium. According to Michael Breus, author of The Sleep Doctor‘s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep, magnesium helps relax muscles and nerves and promotes healthy circulation and digestion. Potassium, on the other hand, calms restless legs and helps prevent nighttime leg cramps. Not only that, it also contains the sleep-inducing amino acid tryptophan, which ultimately turns into serotonin and melatonin in the brain. ―Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that promotes
24 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
relaxation; melatonin is a hormone that promotes sleepiness,‖ explained Angela Haupt in an article which appeared in US News and World Report. ―It takes about an hour for tryptophan to reach the brain, so plan your snack accordingly.‖ Pineapple: Like most fruits, pineapples are loaded with vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. It is also rich in fiber and calories. On top of it all, this fruit is low in fat and cholesterol. Dr. Martin D. Fried, a nutrition specialist, wrote about researchers‘ findings that the levels of melatonin increase by more than 266 percent after eating pineapple. Seaweed: Unknown to many, seaweed possesses some medicinal values. They are used to treat or prevent goiter, glandular troubles, stomach disorders, intestinal and bladder difficulties, unusually profuse menstrual flow, high blood pressure and high plasma-cholesterol level. Some studies have found that seaweed can promote weight loss. For this reason, seaweed extract is used in some diet pills. But what most people don‘t know is that seaweed is also a sleep inducer. In an article which appeared in seniorsite.com, seaweed has been described as having a ―chock-a-block full of melatonin.‖ Milk: Dairy products like yogurt are rich in melatonin-boosting calcium, and a number of studies have found that calcium deficiencies are due to poor sleep quality. ―Drinking milk before bedtime also evokes memories of mom‘s love and warmth when we were young, which make us fall asleep faster,‖ wrote Teresita Tanalas-Balbuena, a registered nutrition dietitian. Downing a warm glass will encourage sweet dreams, points out Dr. Donald Hensrud, a preventive medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. ―If you can‘t sleep or if you‘re waking up in the middle of the night, get out of bed and have some milk,‖ he suggested. Fish: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish—notably DHA—have been linked to all kinds of mellowing health benefits. And now new research shows they might also affect the quality of your sleep. In an article which appeared in Prevention, it was found that ―higher levels of omega-
25 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
3s are associated with fewer sleep problems in children and adults.‖ In addition, DHA has also been linked to reduced severity of sleep apnea. According to Dr. Paul Montgomery, professor of psychosocial intervention at University of Oxford, DHA helps release melatonin. ―In turn, that helped with the onset of sleep and the stabilization of it,‖ he was quoted as saying. Eggs: Eggs also contain protein, vitamins and minerals. ―Eggs are considered to be one of the best sources of protein available,‖ reported James McIntosh in an article which appeared in Medical News Today. ―One medium-sized egg weighing 44 grams typically contains 5.53 grams of protein. Around 12.6 percent of the edible portion of an egg is protein.‖ So eating eggs before bedtime may be a good thing. ―Eggs are a high-protein snack that can help keep your blood sugar levels stable so you can sleep through the night,‖ one American scribe wrote. Rice: Not just any kind of rice but Jasmine rice. In a study done in Australia, it was found that Jasmine rice is a good sleeping aid. The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said that ―people who ate a meal that included Jasmine rice fell asleep faster than when they ate other rice types.‖ Honey: ―This sweet stuff is the bee‘s knees when it comes to helping you get to sleep,‖ wrote Michelle Ullman. ―Honey‘s sugar raises insulin slightly, allowing tryptophan to more easily enter the brain where it works its magic in helping induce restful sleep.‖ The Greek philosopher Sophocles once remarked that ―sleep is the only medicine that gives ease.‖ So, have a good night‘s sleep after eating those aforementioned foods. https://businessmirror.com.ph/foods-to-lull-you-to-sleep/
Emphasis on agriculture is survival call BIZLINKS - Rey Gamboa (The Philippine Star) - October 4, 2018 - 12:00am When putting emphasis on the role of agriculture in the survival of the Philippines in the coming years, this often comes across as a challenge against the principles of free trade, or the free flow of food products among countries.
26 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Proponents of free trade like to think that allowing the entry of cheaper food items is helping Filipinos because it allows households to lower their spending for food and, therefore, leaves more money for other expenses that can uplift their standard of living. The other side of the coin, mainly of those affected by free trade, are farmers, fisher folks, livestock raisers, and even local food manufacturers. They argue that free trade will ultimately kill them even if tariff barriers, mainly taxes on imports, are erected. But future-proofing the Philippines through agriculture need not mean a blanket vote against free trade. Our objective is always to have adequate and affordable food for this generation and those who will be born in the future, more so in more challenging times, climate-wise. The present reality is that we have to feed an over-100-million-population today, and more people in the future. Local production is sometimes not enough, and may even be more expensive than imports. On the other hand, there are also supply security issues from relying mainly on food imports. It may seem a simplistic approach, but the context of national need and food security pushes us to adopt a more opportunistic view of free trade, i.e., using its advantages to bolster our ability to be self-reliant in food production.
Learning from past mistakes The issue of rice is a less complicated way of illustrating this. We all know that a vast majority of Filipinos cannot survive without rice, and that the so-called comforts of modern living are useless if there will be no rice during mealtime. Being discussed in Congress now is the proposed tariffication on rice, a move that basically means we will allow the free importation of rice as long as the right duties are paid by importers. The tariff collected on imported rice, on the other hand, will go to modernizing our rice farming. We‘ve heard this line of reasoning before when our lawmakers decided to set up tariffs on all agricultural imports except rice and sugar in 1995, thus setting up of a mechanism from collected tariffs called the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF). Unfortunately, the next two decades would see a decline in agricultural productivity despite the billions of pesos collected under ACEF and the Agriculture and Food Modernization Act (AFMA) that created it. There was good intention with the law, but somehow, things did not work out as intended. We should learn from this, and make sure that the same sad story will not happen, if the proposed law to impose tariffs on rice and set up a rice fund is passed.
Revolutionizing food self-sufficiency We have to be clear that the tariffication on rice, in the same way that tariffs on other agricultural produce were intended, will ensure funds that will be channeled to promoting food self-sufficiency, and making the cost of food production from our farms at equal or even lower prices than other countries. The risks of food insecurity, especially of rice in a world where total production against demand does not insure sufficient buffer stocks in the global market, is too great, even more so considering the rising risks posed by devastating natural calamities on land.
27 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
That said, future-proofing our agriculture does not only involve this long to-do list that will revolutionize rice farming in the Philippines, including increasing rice acreage to lower the cost of harvested palay, and also preparing against super typhoons, tsunamis, and earthquakes. This also means a firm government resolution to set aside an even larger share of investments in agriculture to ensure the continued stability of future food supplies come hell or high water, and this means even in the very literal sense.
Tweaking BBB The current list of priority projects under the current government‘s Build Build Build infrastructure push may need to be tweaked to provide more agricultural support to farm-to-market roads, bridges, and ports that will ease the flow of agricultural products across the archipelago — at least within the next few years. Irrigation for fields need to be secured and upgraded, just as water sources have to be protected through new and better-fortified dams. Water supply is integral to a healthy agricultural sector, and putting tax money on this should ultimately find its way to lowering food prices. Just as farm productivity is important after lowering the cost of agricultural implements, so is the food chain infrastructure integral to further bringing down the cost of produce when it reaches the market. Ice plants, granaries, mills, slaughter houses, cold storages, and an efficient land and sea transportation system for agricultural produce will all play an important role in ensuring that there will be sufficient food at lower prices for Filipinos.
All-important first step Putting emphasis on agriculture is not a backward step that conjures a regression away from manufacturing or other export-generated activities. Rather, it should be seen as a survival call that many other countries — from economic powers like the United States and China, to developing economies like Thailand and India — have adopted, and even continue to support. Food security and sovereignty is an all-important first step that we need to accept and work on before we can think of doing anything else.
Facebook and Twitter We are actively using two social networking websites to reach out more often and even interact with and engage our readers, friends and colleagues in the various areas of interest that I tackle in my column. Please like us at www.facebook.com and follow us at www.twitter.com/ReyGamboa. Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at . For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/10/04/1856955/emphasis-agriculture-survival-call
Government to ban fancy rice imports By Triciah Terada, CNN Philippines
28 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Updated 08:30 AM PHT Thu, October 4, 2018 … 60%
The Agriculture Department believes there may be too much fancy rice in the market that's driving up prices of the staple and it plans to do something about it. http://cnnphilippines.com/videos/2018/10/03/Government-to-ban-fancy-rice-imports.html
U.S. could ship more rice in 2018-19 — if prices decline Prices of all classes of U.S. rice are expected to decline in 2018-19.
Forrest Laws | Oct 03, 2018 U.S. exporters are expected to ship more milled and rough rice in 2018-19, according to analysts with USDA‘s Economic Research Service. Exports of long-grain and medium- and short-grain rice are both forecast to rise about 13 percent. That‘s the good news. The not-so-good news is that despite the higher sales, all-rice ending stocks are expected to be up 53 percent and long-grain ending stocks 54 percent. Prices of all classes of U.S. rice are expected to decline. ―None of these numbers are anywhere near a record,‖ says Dr. Nathan Childs, senior agricultural rice economist with the USDA Economic Research Service, referring to the latest USDA rice supply and demand projections. ―And even to achieve these growth rates, the U.S. has to be more competitive.‖ Childs was the speaker for a University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Food and Agribusiness webinar (https://youtu.be/KzndmYUInvs.) The series is moderated by Dr. Bobby Coats, professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at the university.
29 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
It was the second Food and Agribusiness Webinar presentation by Childs in about a month. The earlier event came just before USDA‘s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Board gave its September forecast. ―I believe I was here about 30 days ago,‖ he said. ―We‘ve had a new lockup, a new WASDE report and we‘re going to spend the next 45 minutes talking about these changes and their implications.‖ U.S. producers account for a very small portion — 1 to 1.5 percent — of the world‘s rice production, Child‘s noted. Nevertheless, U.S. exporters typically are responsible for 6 to 7 percent of the world‘s rice trade. Global market important
―The global market is very important for the U.S., and changes in world production resonate with U.S. producers,‖ he said. ―World rice production for 2018-19 is projected at 487.2 million metric tons or almost 4.5 million below the 2017-18 record. But global rice supplies are projected to be record high.‖ In part, that‘s because China and India — the world‘s largest rice producers — each had record crops in 2017-18. Both will be down somewhat in 2018-19, but a number of other countries, including the United States, are expected to harvest larger crops in the current marketing year. India, which has continued to emphasize becoming more self-sufficient in all crops, produced 113 million metrics tons in 2017-18, while China‘s farmers harvested almost 146 million metric tons. Both are expected to be down in 2018-19 due to decreases in planted area. Normally that would be positive for world rice prices, but larger crops are forecast for at least 15 countries, some of which have not traditionally been players in the world rice markets. Besides the United States, all are in Asia or Africa.
30 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
―Production is expected to be larger for Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Côte d‘Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Laos, Madagascar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United States and a slight increase in Vietnam,‖ he said. USDA made major revisions in its September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, according to Childs. The September report provides the year-end estimates for the rice marketing year, which runs from August to July for U.S. growers. Imports lowered
All rice and long-grain imports were lowered fractionally based on year-end census trade data, he said. Medium-grain and short-grain supplies were increased slightly. ―Those numbers had little impact on overall supply,‖ Childs noted. ―But ending stocks were not a small adjustment — this was large. Ending stocks of all rice were lowered by 5.4 million hundredweight to 29.4 million, based on the August NASS Rice Stocks report. Long-grain was lowered 3 million hundredweight; medium-grain, under 200,000; and brokens, 2.1 million. ―Total exports for 2017-18 were increased 500,000 hundredweight to 87 million after the census data came in a little higher. Long-grain increased 300,000 hundredweight; medium-grain, 100,000 hundredweight. But that wasn‘t much.‖ Domestic and residual use of all rice was increased 4.8 million hundredweight with long-grain raised 2.6 million hundredweight and medium-grain and short-grain rice 2.2 million hundredweight. USDA is forecasting the 2018-19 U.S. rice crop will be 4 percent bigger at 219.5 million hundredweight ―due to a larger area estimate reported by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service that incorporated Farm Service Agency sign-up data.‖
31 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
The department reduced carry-in stocks by 5.4 million hundredweight based on NASS stocks data, he noted. Domestic and residual use of all rice was increased 2 million hundredweight to 133 million hundredweight. Ending stocks of all rice were increased 3 percent to 44.9 million hundredweight, which would be up 53 percent from 2017-18. ―That (219 million hundredweight) is a big crop,‖ he said. ―The national average prices were lowered due to the larger supplies. There‘s plenty of rice out there, a lot of rice in the global market.‖ Questions remain
Questions remain about where the U.S. can increase its export shipments. ―South American exporters continue to gain market share in Mexico,‖ he said. ―The U.S. now accounts for really less than 70 percent of Mexico‘s rice imports. Ten years ago, it was close to 99 percent. ―Export opportunities and concerns, lower and more competitive prices, which I showed earlier, will allow the U.S. to regain some lost market share in Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela,‖ he said. Other questions include whether Asian exporters will ship milled rice into South America, Central America, and Mexico? And whether the U.S. can increase its sales from the current 30,000 tons to Iraq, compared to 94,000 tons in 2017-18? Analysts are also asking if the U.S. can make sales of medium-grain rice to North Africa, one of the fastest-growing rice markets in the world, and the Middle East? ―Will the U.S. pick up some of Egypt‘s former market or could it sell rice to Egypt?‖ he said. ―If it did, what type of class?‖ https://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/us-could-ship-more-rice-2018-19-if-prices-decline
NFA Council awaits DTI plan on rice importation By Jasper Y. Arcalas
32 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
October 5, 2018
This April 12, 2017 file photo shows different varieties of rice being sold at a local market in Manila. THE National Food Authority Council (NFAC) is awaiting the formal proposal of the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) to allow the private sector to import rice that will be sold in government-owned stores at a fixed affordable price. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, who is also the NFAC chairman, said the interagency body has not received the DTI‘s written proposal to allow supermarkets to import 350,000 metric tons (MT) of rice. ―Not yet. We have yet to receive their proposal,‖ Piñol said in an interview with reporters recently when asked if the DTI has submitted to NFAC its import proposal.
33 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
―My suggestion to Secretary [Ramon M.] Lopez is that they should partner with a private trader or importer who will pledge to them that the rice that will be imported will be used to supply the suki stores,‖ he added. Piñol said he suggested to Lopez that the rice to be imported should be sold at P36 per kilogram to ensure that it would have an impact on the market. Furthermore, he added that the rice to be sold must be packaged already in 5-kilogram and 10-kilogram packs with a label of ―DTI Suki Store.‖ ―Secretary Lopez liked my idea. So, I told him to find a partner,‖ Piñol said. ―We are still waiting for their proposal. I hope they can submit it on Monday,‖ Piñol added. The agriculture chief has called for an NFAC meeting on Monday to assess and address the country‘s current rice situation. ―Once we receive their proposal, we will discuss it right away on Monday,‖ Piñol said. Earlier this week, Lopez disclosed that the government is considering allowing major retailers, as well as traders, to import rice at a fixed price. ―This way, we don‘t need to worry about layers of traders who will just make margins in the process. With this scheme, we allow retailers who will undertake to sell all their imported stock at the set price,‖ Lopez said in a statement. Lopez explained that the sales of the sellers will be audited to verify if the import stocks are really sold at the committed prices. Lopez said he would request the interested parties to write an undertaking to sell rice at P38 per kilogram. https://businessmirror.com.ph/nfa-council-awaits-dti-plan-on-rice-importation/
ASIA RICE-INDIA RATES DIP, THAI TRADERS EYE NEW DEALS 10/4/2018 * Traders in Bangladesh refrain from new import deals due to tax
34 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
* Rates for Vietnamese unchanged, Chinese holiday weighs By Eileen Soreng BENGALURU, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Rice export prices in India fell for a second week on sluggish demand, while rates in Thailand were propped up by lower supply and expectations of new orders from Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. Top exporter India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety <RI-INBKN5-P1> was quoted around $367-$373 per tonne this week, down from $370-$374 last week. "Some demand is there, but not much ... Millers are now waiting for new crop arrivals to offer," said Nitin Gupta, business head of rice at Olam India. Supplies from summer-sown crop will become available for exports from next month, dealers said. Indian production of summer-sown rice is estimated to grow 1.8 percent to 99.24 million tonnes. "The falling rupee is (however) making Indian exports more competitive than Thailand and Vietnam," said M. Adishankar, executive director at Sri Lalitha, a leading rice exporter in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The rupee plumbed record lows on Thursday, having shed more than 13 percent this year, allowing exporters to lower their offers. In neighbouring Bangladesh, merchants are refraining from making any new import deal, a trader said. "Importing rice is not profitable anymore, given the huge tax." In June, Bangladesh, which had emerged as a major importer in 2017 after floods damaged crops, imposed a 28 percent tax on rice imports to support its farmers after local production revived. In Thailand, benchmark 5 percent broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> prices were quoted at $390â&#x20AC;&#x201C; $403 per tonne, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, versus $395â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$398 last week. The marginal change in prices, especially at the higher end, was driven by speculation about deals with countries including Philippines and disaster-hit Indonesia and Japan, traders said. Lower supplies, with new harvests expected only in November and December, are also propping up prices, another rice trader said.
35 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
"There are talks of a major deal from the Philippines, so many exporters are buying and storing rice." In Vietnam, prices of the 5 percent broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> were unchanged at $400$405 a tonne, as weak demand due to a week-long Chinese holiday offset any impact from a fall in supply after the country's two major crops ended, traders said. Cheaper Thai rice also hurt commercial demand for the Vietnamese variety, traders said, but buying could pick up next week, especially due to deals with Philippines. The Philippines' state agency National Food Authority has issued a new international tender to purchase up to 250,000 tonnes of rice, European traders said last week. Vietnam is expected to undergo a mini harvest later this month and in November, but output is seen half of the major harvests earlier this year. (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Mai Nguyen in Hanoi and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai and Ruma Paul in Dhaka; editing by David Evans) https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/asia-rice-india-rates-dip-thai-traders-eye-newdeals
SMC to replace coal with rice husks as fuel for 2 coal plants posted October 03, 2018 at 07:45 pm by Alena Mae S. Flores
Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. said Wednesday its energy unit will replace coal with rice husks as fuel for two new circulating fluidized bed power plants to help boost farmers‘ income. SMC Global Power Holdings Inc. said it would convert existing power plants using CFB clean coal technology into biomass power facilities. SMC Global operates two new clean coal power facilities in Limay, Bataan (600 megawatts) and Malita, Davao (300 MW). ―Instead of burning or dumping rice husks, we want to fully utilize this agricultural waste product both as energy source for our power plants and income source for our rice farmers,‖ SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in a statement. ―This way, we reduce our emission further, encourage more farmers to increase rice production, make their lives better and help address a perennial food security challenge,‖ Ang said. SMC‘s new clean coal plants in Bataan and Davao utilize the circulating fluidized bed combustion technology. It is among the world‘s most advanced pollution-mitigating technologies for power plants, yielding significantly lower emissions.
36 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
SMC said while emissions of these power plants were way below the limits set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and even the standards set by the World Bank, ―emissions from rice-husk based fuel are expected be even lower. ―This way, we reduce our emission further, encourage more farmers to increase rice production, make their lives better and help address a perennial food security challenge,‖ Ang said. Ang said using rice husks as fuel could also boost rice farming in the country. ―If we encourage more farmers to plant rice by providing them additional sources of income, our rice sufficiency and food security improves. At the same time, we use palay husks to generate more environment-friendly energy,‖ he said. Ang said SMC was willing to invest and put up the necessary infrastructure and facilities needed to support rice farmers to collect husks that would be acquired from them. Ang earlier said SMC could go into rice importation to help address the current rice shortage if a proposed scheme that imposes tariffs on imports but lifts quantity limits was passed. SMC operates grains terminals and silos nationwide which could be used to stockpile rice to help ensure the country‘s food supply and provide Filipinos with high-quality rice at low prices. SMC said the tariffs to be imposed on importing rice could be used to support local farmers and boost the agriculture sector. ―Ultimately, what we want is for our farmers to get the support they need; for farming to be a viable option again for many Filipinos and, maybe someday, for our country to be able to produce what we need and more,‖ Ang said. Ang said he expected ―fuel‖ supply for power facilities using rice husks would be steady with rice being a staple food of Filipinos. ―This can even bring down electricity prices, as we will no longer be subject to price fluctuations and other cost and supply pressures associated with coal,‖ he said. http://manilastandard.net/business/power-technology/277046/smc-to-replace-coal-with-ricehusks-as-fuel-for-2-coal-plants.html
Project leads countries to food security 2018-10-04 08:45:50China DailyEditor : Liang Meichen
Green Super Rice initiative bringing African, Asian nations high-yield crops Chinese agricultural researchers have helped plant more than 2 million hectares of superior rice species in more than a dozen Asian and African countries, yielding harvest increases of up to 30 percent per hectare in some, in an international cooperative project over the past 10 years.
37 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
The Green Super Rice project, geared at alleviating poverty through cultivation and promotion of a drought and disease resistant rice species, covers 16 Asian and African countries where rice is a staple, said Li Zhikang, a professor and researcher of rice breeding at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and a leading member of the project. Working with authorities in the 16 countries, which include the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa and Uganda, researchers have developed and introduced about 70 superior quality rice species, and dozens more are expected to be planted, he said. In both the Philippines and Vietnam, about 700,000 hectares of new rice species have been planted. The new species, compared with those originally cultivated, have increased yields by 20 to 30 percent in both countries, Li said. "Due to superior characteristics of the new species, such as being insect resistant, they require either no or less synthetic fertilizers, and that helps protect the environment," Li said. "With the planting of the new species, the concept of 'green rice' is also being promoted and gradually accepted." The project, launched in 2008 and sponsored by the Chinese government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It is China's largest international agri-technology cooperative project in recent years, Li said. Chinese and international institutes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including the International Rice Research Institute in Manila, the Philippines; Africa Rice, in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire; and Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, Hubei province â&#x20AC;&#x201D; participated in the project, Li said. "Many of the countries involved rely on imports because of insufficient agricultural production," Li said. "For example, the Philippines imports about 1 million metric tons of rice every year. By increasing harvest yields, the project can improve food security in these countries." Li said the project is also beneficial to China, the world's biggest importer of grains, including rice. Last year, China imported 4 million metric tons and exported 1.2 metric tons of rice, according to the General Administration of Customs. "Increased rice production in these countries can leave them with surpluses for export, which help to diversify China's rice imports and improves food security in China," he said. Li said the project, which is due to end in March 2019, may be extended to cover more countries. "Some other countries, like India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, have contacted us about taking part in the project," Li said.
38 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
"We hope for continued support for the project from the Chinese government in order to benefit more countries, including China," he said. http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/2018-10-04/detail-ifyyqtvy2868683.shtml
NFA Council approves three rice importations at 2-week intervals October 3, 2018 | 10:12 pm
The NFA rice stored at a warehouse in Quezon City. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS THE National Food Authority (NFA) Council has decided to authorize private-sector imports of 750,000 metric tons (MT) of rice in three batches of 250,000 MT each, arriving every two weeks starting Nov. 30.―Based on the instruction of the NFA Council instead of G2G (government-to-government deals), we will divide the 750,000 metric tons into three. An initial importation of 250,000 MT will be followed two weeks after by another 250,000, then two weeks after another 250,000,‖ NFA Spokesperson Rex C. Estoperez told reporters in a chance interview at the PICC on Wednesday.
According to Mr. Estoperez, bidding for the first shipment will be on Oct. 18, with subsequent auctions every two weeks after.
He said the main issue is the ability to deliver the shipments, with the first of the deadlines on Nov. 30. This means the imports will ―spill over until next year, but that can be part of our beginning inventory for 2019.‖ The target for NFA domestic procurement is 389,000 MT next year, he added.
39 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has said that the NFA Council provided standby authority to import 1 million MT of rice for 2019. Former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said a 1 million MT import level is ―normal‖ but the timing and ports of entry for the shipments need to be planned in detail. ―The shipments need to be planned by month and by port. It should not be all in Metro Manila. Metro Manila is always a key area but there are deficit areas in other parts of the country,‖ Mr. Dar added. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
https://www.bworldonline.com/nfa-council-approves-three-rice-importations-at-2-weekintervals/
NFA to bid 750,000 MT rice import in November Published October 4, 2018, 10:00 PM
By Madelaine B. Miraflor The government will squeeze in three bidding process in the span of more than a month for the importation of additional 750,000 metric tons (MT) of rice, a move that should force the National Food Authority (NFA) to release billions worth of fund for the said overseas purchases amid its ballooning debt. NFA Spokesman
Rex Estoperez said the agency hopes to finish all the bidding process for the importation of 750,000 MT of rice by the first week of November so that supply could start coming in weeks before December.It was just more than a week since the NFA Council, the highest policy making body of NFA, has given the green light for the importation of additional 500,000 MT of rice, which will be on top of the recently approved importation of 250,000 MT of rice through an open tender scheme. These additional imports were supposed to help temper the non-stop increase in the price of local rice as well as replenish the stocks of NFA, which was recently forced to release a lot of NFA rice to the areas that were badly hit by Typhoon Ompong, the strongest typhoon to hit the country in years as far as the farm sector is concerned.―We will slice the 750,000 MT into three [bidding]. On October 18, we will bid out the first 250,000 MT. Then two weeks after that, we will bid out the next 250,000 MT. After that, we will bid out another 250,000 MT,‖ Estoperez said on Wednesday.What is important, according to Estoperez, is that stocks would also start arriving by November.NFA‘s debt as of now stands at more than P130 billion. This is expected to increase amid all the pending importation.For the importation of the first 250,000 MT of rice, which will be done through an open tender scheme, NFA allotted a budget of nearly P6 billion. The pre-bid conference for this is scheduled today. https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/10/04/nfa-to-bid-750000-mt-rice-import-in-november/
40 | w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o g s p o t . c o m mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
,