11-12 december 2018 Daily Global Regional Local Rice e -newsletter

December 11-12 ,2018 Vol 9 ,Issue 12

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Rice mills‘ dust polluting environment in Larkana

BY PPI , (LAST UPDATED

LARKANA: Dust coming out of rice mills have proved to be hazardous for human health as no action has been taken by the district administration and the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

It has been reported that around 2000 rice mills are operating in Sindh and Balochistan, including Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Kashmore and Larkana districts, where white rice is produced through milling system after removing the husk, bran layers and mud. These particles then fly in the air and have become hazardous for labourers and citizen living in the vicinity.

Rice mills have become a large industry, but the owners have not installed environment protection equipment to prevent infections and make the area environment-friendly.

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Shahdadkot Assistant Commissioner Abdul Karim Sangrasi issued over 100 notices to the rice mill owners in which it has been informed to them that under Section 11 of Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014. The Act stated that ―nobody is allowed to discharge contaminated material which may pollute the environment for which Water Commission has also issued instructions to install treatment plants‖.

In addition to that, ―SEPA Larkana has also written a letter to all Deputy Commissioners of Larkana Division for action,‖ the letter added.

Moreover, it was reported that the mill owners have been warned that if they do not abide by the prevailing laws by 12th December, then stern action will be taken under Section 22 of SEPA Act. This will include a fine of up to five million rupees.

Similarly, Sindh-Balochistan Rice Millers Association President Qamaruddin Gopang said that as of yet no preventive measures have been taken by the rice millers.

He said his own mill is located in Larkana‘s Sindh Small Industries (SSI) area where no equipment has been installed as yet, adding that he ―fully supported the SEPA action and advised all the mill owners to install all safety measures to protect the environment‖. https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/12/10/rice-mills-dust-in-larkana-polluting-environment/

Audio: Southeast Missouri State University designs new variety of rice Farm News December 10, 2018 KTTN News

After about one decade in the making, Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau and the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council have developed a medium grain rice. Agriculture professor Mike Aide says MM17 rice will be available for the 2019 planting season. Aide says MM17 rice is ideal for Asian restaurants making sushi and other

Asian entrees. https://www.kttn.com/audio-southeast-missouri-state-university-designs-new-variety-of-rice/

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Drones may attract youth to rice farming–PhilRice

By Jasper Y. Arcalas December 11, 2018

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is pushing for the adoption of the drone technology in farms to cut production cost and encourage the youth to plant rice.

PhilRice FutureRice Program (FRP) leader Roger F. Barroga said the drone technology is commercially available but has not been applied in rice farming. ―PhilRice and other public and private organizations are already exploring it so that it can finally be brought to the ground, making it less elusive to Filipino rice stakeholders,‖ Barroga said in statement.

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PhilRice said it recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Davao-based drone firm New Hope Corp. to advance research in the rice sector.

The MOA covers the possible use of drone in fertilizer application, seeding and pest management, according to the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Initial testing conducted by PhilRice and New Hope showed that the drone only uses 16 liters of spray per hectare to apply fertilizer compared to the usual 160 liters per hectare applied by farmers using knapsack, according to Barroga. ―This drastic change in volume can make the farmers turn skeptical on its effectiveness for pest management in addition to investment, roughly ranging from P500,000 to a million pesos,‖ Barroga said.

He said further research and farm demonstrations may yield possible reduction in the seeds used per hectare from two to three bags to just one bag through the use of drones.

The promotion of the potential of drone technology in rice farming would cut farmers‘ production costs while luring young people back to farming, according to Barroga. ―By bringing it to the ground, rice stakeholders in awe of this flying technology would cease to feel that it is out of reach,‖ he said. ―Through service providers, drone spraying can be made accessible to farmers at a price roughly ranging from P850 to P1,500 rental fee per hectare,‖ he added.

The DA is promoting the use of drone technology to reduce the cost of producing rice, vegetables and other crops amid the increase in the price of inputs, such as seeds and fuel.

In April, the DA said it would spend at least P7.5 million to pilot test a drone spraying technology in a 5,000-hectare farm in Benguet. ―Five thousand hectares of vegetable farms in Buguias town and other selected towns of Benguet Province will serve as the pilot area of the newest farming technology that the DA is adopting—

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aerial spraying using remote-controlled Drones,‖ Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in a Facebook post in April.

Piñol said he made the commitment following the successful test of drone spraying in vegetable farms in La Trinidad, which was witnessed by Benguet Gov. Crecencio Pacalso and hundreds of vegetable farmers.

The spraying test was conducted by Japanese firm DMM Corp., according to Piñol. ―It took the drone just a few minutes to cover a patch of vegetables and according to the data provided by the Japanese service provider company, it will only take 10 minutes to cover one hectare,‖ he said. ―The drone could be used to spray foliar fertilizer and other biological pest control solutions and is expected to bring down farm operations costs and increase productivity,‖ he added.

With the use of remote-controlled drones, the DA chief said farmers will also avoid getting sick as they ―will no longer have direct contact with the biological or chemical mists emitted by handheld sprayers.‖ Image Credits: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg

https://businessmirror.com.ph/drones-may-attract-youth-to-rice-farming-philrice/

China's record rice yield -- a blessing for global grain consumers 18 tons per hectare shows China remains committed to feeding its 1.4bn people TADANORI YOSHIDA, Nikkei senior staff writerDECEMBER 10,

2018 15:10 JST

Despite an increasingly wealthy population with changing dietary habits, China continues to strive to make its rice paddies

more productive. © AP

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TOKYO -- For a second year in a row China has set a record for rice production, this time with a yield of more than 18 tons on a hectare. This is almost three times the average in neighboring Japan, where farmers favor flavor over quantity and do not have 1.4 billion people to nourish.

The record was set in an experimental paddy in the northern province of Hebei that had been planted with a variety known as Xiangliangyou 900. A team of researchers led by Yuan Longping, China's "father of hybrid rice," developed the varietal.

The new strain is a global blessing. China's experiments with improving rice yields show the country's commitment to food self-sufficiency, which contributes to food security around the world. If the most populous nation were to turn to imports for major grains, it would inevitably push up international market prices.

This would also have consequences in China, whose citizens would find it more difficult to buy their necessary calories.

According to Ruan Wei of Japan's Norinchukin Research Institute, Japan "is lucky in that even if it boosts its dependence on imported food it would not greatly affect the international market."

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The country's population is around 125 million and shrinking.

Since 1978, when it launched its reform and opening-up policy, China has modeled its economy on Japan's two go-go decades through the mid-1970s. It exported its way to explosive growth and is now striving to expand via domestic consumption.

However, China veered off the Japan trail when it came to agriculture policy.

As the Japanese diet westernized, the country increased its reliance on nonrice grain imports, and its food self-sufficiency ratio began to plummet.

As Japan's farmers found themselves suddenly competing against hamburgers, they were also being told to reduce the acreage they devote to rice. So the industry began focusing on engineering better-tasting grain.

Rice farming in Japan hasn't been the same since 1971, when McDonald's opened its first restaurant in the country, in Tokyo's Ginza district.

One factor that pushed farmers to improve the flavor of their rice was a grading system that the Japan Grain Inspection Association introduced in 1971. Coincidentally, McDonald's opened its

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first restaurant in Japan that very same year. Many of Japan's rice-producing regions looked at the ranking as a contest and thus competed for the highest special A rating. That honor is still coveted and, once attained, trumpeted.

Who needs to improve rice yields when Japanese are treating their palates to fancier foods?

Although the same dynamic is now playing out in China, prospects for higher prices have left the government with no choice but to hold strong to a policy of maintaining self-sufficiency in rice, wheat and staples other than soybeans.

For growing more rice, China has two options, according to Ruan of Norinchukin Research Institute: consolidation and mechanization.

As for the trend toward richer foods, it is mostly confined to large cities. Outside big burgs, rice, noodles, dumplings and other foods made from grains that are easy to grow domestically form a core part of the diet. But in more urban areas, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks and other American fast-food chains are ubiquitous.

Xiangliangyou 900 can keep China's low-income masses fed while also serving as a safety net for the wider population, but it is a matter of time before the prevalence of fast food significantly alters the country's eating habits https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/China-s-record-rice-yield-a-blessing-for-global-grainconsumers

Turning ‗agri trash‘ into treasure: Rice straw as a potential energy source

By Kaymart Gimutao December 10, 2018

Rice straw collected from the fields in Victoria, Laguna.

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Benjamin Laviña, a farmer from Laguna, has been planting rice for more than 40 years now.

Come harvest time, Laviña gets only the grains, and burns the stems and leaves—or the rice straw—for disposal.

Laviña is among the farmers who consider rice straw as an agricultural waste that could hinder land preparation for the next planting season.

According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), some 300 million tons of this rice by-product are burned every year. The latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected that burning of crop residue, including rice straw, contributes a fairly good amount of greenhouse-gas emission by the agricultural sector.

The potential for rice straw to become a common biomass resource is huge, given that 3.5 billion people or more than half of the world‘s population rely on rice for their staple food. IRRI estimates that about 6 tons of straw are produced for every 4 tons of rice grain—amounting to more than 700 million tons of rice straw produced every year, and most of them are simply disposed of.

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―For bioenergy experts, scouting the world for whatever biomass you can use without competing with food production is more preferable. There‘s a huge opportunity in rice straw as sustainable source of bioenergy, the fact that it doesn‘t have to be returned to the soil and it‘s being burned while there‘s so much of it,‖ said Craig Jamieson, founder of Straw Innovations Ltd. and part of the ongoing Rice Straw to Biogas (R2B) Project.

R2B project, a collaboration between research institutions (University of Southampton and University of Manchester in the United Kingdom) and industry actors (Straw Innovations Ltd., a start-up company based in Los Baños, Laguna, and QUBE Renewables Ltd.), want to turn rice straws into a viable energy source for agricultural communities and beyond.

The R2B Project seeks to provide energy in rural areas with no or limited access to electricity but where rice straw is abundant.

Initially, the project is targeted to be used as a cooking fuel in Southeast Asian households, where firewood is normally used for cooking. Eventually, the project will explore the possibility of biogas to power agricultural machineries, as well as an energy source for households.

The project hopes to address energy challenges faced by developing countries.

Developing sustainable business models Straw Innovations Ltd. plans to develop biogas from rice straw by using low-cost technology.

Once villages have been tested, the company will scale up its operations. ―Field testing of biogas has to be conducted at the community-scale, a sweet spot between a large-scale power plant, which is expensive and difficult to maintain, and a small- or farm-scale demonstration, which cannot be sustained because farmers are preoccupied with their crops,‖ Jamieson said.

To make the initiative sustainable once the technology is available in the market, Straw Innovations Ltd. has developed a business model that will involve key players other than farmers, such as bioenergy experts, potential investors and agribusiness operators.

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―It‘s going to be an agribusiness so that it can be sustainable and not just relying on public funds forever. It‘s a business model and not a leisure farming type. We need people in business who are serious about this to co-invest with us—they could be anywhere in the supply chain, they could be rice mill owners, they could be dairy farmers or fertilizer companies,‖ Jamieson added.

Meanwhile, the First Quezon Biogas Corp. (FCBC), a cooperative composed of commercial poultry growers in Quezon province, will soon open a biogas powerplant in Candelaria that will incorporate rice straw, chicken manure and other agricultural wastes for energy production.

According to Liborio Cabanilla, professor of Economics from the University of the Philippines Los Baños and one of the consultants in the development of FCBC powerplant, the venture is going to be a win-win situation for both the farmers and FCBC. Cabanilla explained that rice straw and other agricultural residues that are considered as waste by famers will now have added value since they will become one of the main materials for biogas production.

He also shared that the fermented rice straw and manure left after the biogas production can also serve as organic fertilizer, which the company can donate to farmers.

Recognizing the dynamics in farming communities The initiative to convert rice straw into massive energy source, however, could only work if farmers are willing to cooperate.

Based on the findings of the Rice Straw Energy Project, an integrated research from 2013 to 2016 that identified challenges to fulfill the bioenergy potential of rice straw, farmers have different attitudes toward giving away leftover straw.

According to Angela Minas, researcher from Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester and was part of the project, opinions of farmers and local communities need to be recognized during the initiative‘s technology development.

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The research project also revealed that cultural traditions and beliefs play an important role in straw management, as they shape how individual farmers value and use rice straw. ―So far, we have learned from our research in the Philippines and Vietnam that rice-straw management is a social practice—and industry actors need to understand this,‖ Minas added. But according to farmers interviewed in the same research, they were also open to changing their practices.

Researchers from the project were optimistic that suitable business models could optimize prevailing market opportunities relevant at each site, address the needs of the farmers and understand their overall farming system, while more pilot demonstration projects and experiential learning will benefit farmers and increase their confidence to change their rice straw-management practices.

As for farmers like Laviña, he sees no problem to changing his practice as long as it will not cost him too much time and additional expenses. ―We are even willing to attend trainings on proper rice-straw management, and it will really be interesting if this can provide us additional income,‖ Laviña added.

Image Credits: Straw Innovations Ltd. https://businessmirror.com.ph/turning-agri-trash-into-treasure-rice-straw-as-a-potential-energy-source/

Small Loans Help Increase Rice Yield In Bangladesh, Study Shows Microfinance institutions have a positive impact on farmers, allowing them to adopt high-yield rice varieties and increase their farming output, researchers say. SHARE SHARE TWEET SHARE AsianScientist (Dec. 10, 2018) – An international research group has found that microfinance schemes could increase rice yields in Bangladesh. They published their findings in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. In the developing world, access to credit can lead to higher productivity and an increase in living standards. However, formal financial institutions are reluctant to finance households with low incomes or which lack collateral. This is where microfinance institutions, or MFIs, play a role. MFIs extend small loans, called

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microcredit, to individual households. While standard microloans tend to be geared toward business and entrepreneurial endeavors, in recent years, Bangladesh has made a name for itself internationally by providing microcredit to tenant farmers.

In the present study, researchers from Bangladesh, Japan and the US have examined the impact of agricultural microcredit on the livelihood of farmers. Led by Dr. Mohammad Abdul Malek of Kyoto University‘s Graduate School of Agriculture, the researchers analyzed various outcomes of microcredit loans, such as the adoption of high-yield or hybrid rice, the overall rice yield, as well as farmers‘ household incomes. ―The agricultural microcredit program Borgachashi Unnayan Prakalpa—BCUP—began in 2009 with a primary objective of increasing the credit access of tenant farmers to formal financial institutions,‖ explains Malek. ―So we conducted two surveys in 2012 and 2014 to see how households receiving this financing changed over time.‖ The Bangladesh Bank started BCUP with a low-interest revolving fund, as part of its financial inclusion strategy. The average loan amount was equal to the production cost of rice for one hectare of land. The team‘s results showed that BCUP helped increase rice yield as well as overall crop farm income.

The researchers also reported that the BCUP helps increase the probability of adopting hybrid and higher yield rice. Furthermore, they noted a positive effect on the cultivation of owned land and livestock ownership. ―BCUP has had a number of positive effects,‖ said Malek. ―While we did not find a change in household income, we noticed that the farmers were able to allocate more time to self-employment activities. ‖ While several studies have examined the role of agricultural credit on the livelihood of farm households, this is the first to examine the impact of a program designed specifically to increase the financial inclusion of tenant farmers, said the researchers. The team hopes to continue their inquiry into the effects of microcredit, seeking to better inform future policy decisions in Bangladesh or elsewhere in Asia. The article can be found at: Hossain et al. (2018) Agricultural Microcredit for Tenant Farmers: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Bangladesh. ——— Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/12/in-thelab/bangladesh-farmer-microcredit-productivity/ https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/12/in-thelab/bangladesh-farmer-microcredit-productivity/

More rice imports arriving Based on the updated list released by the NFA, 90 firms have already applied for the out-quota importation of 572,278 MT of rice to be sourced from Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Taiwan.

Boy Santos

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Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) - December 10, 2018 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines — As the Philippines moves toward the unlimited importation of rice, more than 500,000 metric tons (MT) are expected to enter the country after 90 private traders applied to bring in the commodity under the out-quota scheme.

Based on the updated list released by the NFA, 90 firms have already applied for the out-quota importation of 572,278 MT of rice to be sourced from Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Taiwan.

Last month, the interagency National Food Authority Council (NFAC) allowed the unlimited importation of rice in a bid to further stabilize the market ahead of the bicameral conference committee for the rice tariffication.

The out-quota allocation means traders can apply for any volume of imported rice they would want to bring into the country.

Of the initial volume, the imports will be discharged in Manila, Subic, Cebu, Zamboanga City, Davao, La Union, Tacloban and Cagayan de Oro. The NFA will continuously process and approve applications of private traders.

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Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said importers can only bring in 25 percent brokens, but the latest terms of reference for the out-quota scheme allows traders to import 25 percent brokens or better.

All rice to be imported will be levied with a 35 percent tariff for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and 50 percent for non-ASEAN. Rice import allocation of eligible importers must be loaded upon the approval of the sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance by the Bureau of Plant Industry and payment of the required tentative advance Customs duty.

The out-quota imports would add to the recently bidded out 500,000 MT via open tender and the 203,000 MT government-to-government scheme.

The Agri chief allayed fears that this move would cause the influx of imported rice into the local market. ―I don‘t think that‘s going to happen because when the importers would feel there is so much rice stocks in the market and prices would go down to a level where they cannot make money anymore, then they would not import,‖ Piñol earlier said. ―It will be the absorptive capacity of the market that will set the cap. And no businessman in his right mind will import rice if there is no market,‖ he said.

https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/12/10/1875631/more-rice-imports-arriving

Africa to need 7 bln USD for rice imports annually by 2020: FAO Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-11 03:03:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

ADA, Ghana, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has predicted that Africa would need a whopping 7 billion U.S. dollars for its rice imports annually by 2020.

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Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Officer-In-Charge of the FAO Regional Office for Africa said this in his message on Monday at the opening of the two-day conference on Sustainable Rice Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Ada, about 104 km east of Ghana's capital Accra.

He therefore noted that there was the need for effective leadership and political will coupled with concerted efforts for Africa to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production and also end hunger.

The African Rice Project is under the UN South-South Cooperation program. China is one of the major development partners supporting the South-South Cooperation program especially in Africa and Asia.

Official data by FAO indicated that in 2015 alone African countries have imported about 36 percent of their rice requirements, at the cost of about 4 billion dollars.

"The projection for 2020 do not seem to change that percentage: only that the drain on foreign exchange to foot the import bills are expected to rise to 7 billion dollars annually," the official said.

Haile-Gabriel urged that rice self-sufficiency for Africa should not only target meeting consumption needs locally but also at the multiplier effect through the re-allocation of the much needed foreign exchanges and investing in the rice value chain development initiatives that will create and expand employment opportunities for youth and women.

Represented at the up-scaling conference were delegates from the ministries of food and agriculture of Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, Benin, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Guinea, Kenya and Senegal. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-12/11/c_137664443.htm

Throwing sand in one’s own rice bowl Sok Chan and Sangeetha Amarthalingam / Khmer Times

Workers deliver sacs of rice in Phnom Penh. KT/Mai Vireak

A year ago, the European Union offered Cambodia the option of using a unique Harmonised Systems Code (HS Code) for its Jasmine fragrant rice and white rice to differentiate it from other Indica rice, a move that could have saved the nation from the conundrum it now finds itself in.

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But this did not materialise because of what some have described as a powerful combination of apathy and arrogance that led key players to believe that Cambodia could not be harmed so long as she is shielded by the Everything-but -arms (EBA) privileges rendered to Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Then the ball dropped. EU launched a safeguard inquiry to determine whether imports of semi-milled and milled Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar resulted in ―serious difficulties to EU producers of like or competing products‖.

On Nov 5, the Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission (EC) confirmed that a significant surge of rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar caused economic damage to the rice sector in Europe.

The bloc is also in the midst of classifying semi-milled and milled Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar with commodity codes that are similar to EU Indica rice.

This is already hurting the Cambodian rice sector, and though the local Customs Department is working on its own code, the effort is seen as too little too late as EU presses ahead with the tax regime.

On Tuesday, EU member states failed to unanimously agree on the imposition of a regressive tax that would have started Jan 1, but now the ball is in the EC‘s court to either vote or strike out the tariff.

While criticism is rife that the government and the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) could have scuttled the entire classification process with a forceful and united front against the EU, there is also the long-standing quandary of whether Cambodian rice is of the Indica variety or not.

The truth is that Cambodia produces Jasmine fragrant rice and white rice for the EU market, which fall squarely under the Indica rice classification. ―In the tropics, where Cambodia lies, the type of rice planted – fragrant rice and white rice – is of the traditional Indica rice species. In temperate regions like Japan and Korea, Spain and Italy, it is Japonica rice that is grown. ―However, Spain also has a Mediterranean climate, so it can grow white rice,‖ Buyung Hadi, Cambodia representative of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), told Khmer Times.

White rice is high yielding and matures fast but it is generally of low quality, and is traded at a lower price compared to fragrant rice, which is photosensitive, meaning it takes a longer time to grow and can be planted for a limited period of time. This results in lesser supply, pushing up prices.

According to the UN‘s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), rice production in Cambodia is expected to rise marginally this year to reach 10.7 million tonnes. Exports of milled rice are projected to expand to nearly 1.5 million tonnes from 1.4 million last year.

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75 percent of rice produced in the EU is Japonica and 25 percent Indica (long grain white rice), whereas 55 percent of Cambodia‘s rice exports to EU is fragrant rice, seemingly cancelling out the competition with EU‘s white rice.

Arguing that there is lack of competition with EU‘s rice sector, Mr Buyung is baffled as to why the safeguard targets white rice. ―Within the Indica species, there is a variety of qualities that is relevant to trade. Why is the safeguard targeting the white rice? If that is the case, it is misplaced because most of Cambodia‘s rice exports consist of fragrant rice,‖ he said.

So where does that leave this debate?

Critics opine that Cambodia is ‗crying‘ because not only did the letters sent by major rice exporters Amru Rice and Signatures of Asia lack exposure in the EU and were a tad emotional, but also the entire move to safe the nation from the tariffs was allegedly devoid of a united front.

They also alleged that the cartels in CRF made up of rice exporters were more interested in sustaining a profit margin than fighting for the sake of rice farmers, which they fervently claim to do.

According to a source close to the issue, exporters and millers, who largely make up CRF, are said to buy rice from farmers at low rates, often below market prices. ―It is common knowledge that not a single farmer has a better life in Cambodia because of the EBA privilege status. From EU‘s standpoint, it is exporters who become richer,‖ said the source.

CRF secretary-general Moul Sarith told Khmer Times that discussions with members started in March with documents that were sent to the EU as a response to the bloc‘s proposal submitted to the Directorate General for Trade. ―We were given three weeks from November 5 to submit the documents and evidence to back our argument before negotiations on November 26. Our leaders went to Brussels to speak with the Directorate General for Trade,‖ said Mr Sarith.

At press time, intense negotiations are ongoing at the EU. In the absence of a favourable outcome, the CRF expects to work with its lawyers on the next course of action.

Nevertheless, a source close to the issue pointed out that Cambodia would be able to sustain its rice business on the off-chance the tax system is implemented. ―Cambodian jasmine rice is still $200 cheaper than Thai‘s. If Thailand can market its rice, Cambodia should have no problem doing the same. Vietnam can also be seen as a key market for local rice exports, as claimed by Cambodian exporters,‖ the source said.

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However, Vietnamese millers usually deal directly with rice farmers in paddy to be reprocessed in Vietnam and exported at cheaper prices. Cambodian millers and exporters may end up having less milled rice to export to end buyers, which occurred frequently when the price of paddy was pushed up by Vietnamese or Thai brokers sent to procure paddy from farmers.

Hopefully, the silver lining here is that some nine million Cambodian rice farmers might finally see justice done to their crop and efforts. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50557719/throwing-sand-in-ones-own-rice-bowl/

Ash particles and mud coming out of Rice Mills: Hazardous for human health Jamal Dawoodpoto DECEMBER 10, 2018

LARKANA: Ash particles and mud coming out of Rice Mills have proved to be hazardous for human health for which no action was previously taken by the district administration or the authorities of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). 1500 to 2000 Rice Mills are working in Sindh and Balochistan provinces including Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Kashmore and Larkana districts where white rice is produced through milling system after removing the husk, bran layers and mud which fly in the air and become hazardous for labourers and the people living around such mills for which no environment protection equipment is installed by the owners due to which chest problems including asthma, eye, ENT

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ailments surface among the residents. Rice Mills have become a large industry but the owners have never taken care of human health and have failed to install required equipment to prevent infections and make the area environment-friendly.

In this connection, Assistant Commissioner, Shahdadkot, Abdul Karim Sangrasi, issued over 100 notices to the rice mill owners in which it has been informed to them that under Section 11 of Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014, no body is allowed to discharge contaminated material which may pollute the environment for which Water Commission has also issued instructions to install treatment plants. Rice Mills have not installed such instruments hence they are involved in environmental pollution due to which human health is being badly affected for which SEPA Larkana has also written a letter to all Deputy Commissioners of Larkana Division for action, the letter added. The AC has warned that if mills are not abiding by the prevailing laws by 12th December then stern action will be taken under Section 22 of SEPA Act which include fine up to five million rupees. Despite receipt of notices the mill owners have so far not taken any move to install required equipment to protect the environment.

In this connection, President, Sindh-Balochistan Rice Millers Association, Qamaruddin Gopang, confessed while talking to this Scribe on Monday that no preventive measures have been taken by the rice millers as yet including him adding ash particles and mud is coming out which pollute the air. He said his own mill is located in Larkana‘s Sindh Small Industries (SSI) area where no equipment has been installed as yet. He said he fully support the SEPA action and advised all the mill owners to install all safety measures to protect environment. He disclosed that SSI area has come under the city which will be shifted outside within next two years where all precautionary measures will also be taken.

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AC Sangrasi said that after expiry of deadline strict action will be taken against the violators. He said he is happy that civil society is supporting them over this vital issue.

Deputy Director, SEPA, Larkana, Ajmal Tunio, said that he has sent the letter to all the Deputy Commissioners of Larkana Division to get installed environmental protection equipment in all the rice mills located in their respective districts. He said last month Water Commission team also visited Naundero Sugar Mills where it was found that some air pollution control systems were installed but they were issued directions to install waste water treatment plants on scientific lines. https://dailytimes.com.pk/332085/ash-particles-and-mud-coming-out-of-rice-mills-hazardousfor-human-health/

Minister Warns Of Stern Action If Irregularities Found In Paddy Procurement

By OB Bureau December 10, 2018

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Bhubaneswar: Food Supply and Consumer Welfare minister Surya Narayan Patro on Monday warned millers and the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) officials of stern action in case of irregularities in paddy procurement.

Talking to mediapersons here, the minister said the district collectors have been instructed to take stern action against the millers and the PACS officials if they are found guilty of any irregularity during the procurement of paddy. The collectors have been asked to probe into the matter and arrest the millers and PACS officials and if necessary, seize their rice mill. ―Under the rules and provisions, the PACS cannot keep the paddy in its possession for more than 24 hours.‖ Patro added.

The procurement of paddy, which has already started in more than 23 districts, will begin in Ganjam district from December 15, he said, adding that the problems related to paddy procurement in Nuapada and Kalahandi districts have been resolved.

Briefing mediapersons earlier in the day, Congress spokesperson Tara Prasad Bahinipati had alleged that the paddy of the farmers is not being properly procured by the PACS and the millers at several mandis in the state. ―The farmers are harassed by the PACS officials and the millers, who are not paying them the actual price of the paddy at various pleas. We have asked the government to look into the matter in two days failing which the Congress will stage a statewide agitation,‖ he warned. http://www.odishabytes.com/minister-warns-of-stern-action-if-irregularities-found-in-paddyprocurement/

Vanishing Nutrients It‘s a hazard of climate change you probably haven‘t heard of

By Elena Suglia on December 10, 2018 Is it possible to starve yourself of nutrients while simultaneously gaining weight? It turns out the answer is yes. According to a growing body of research, rising carbon dioxide levels are making our food less nutritious, robbing key crops of vitamins essential to human development.

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Studies have shown that crops as varied as wheat, maize, soybeans and field peas contain less protein, zinc, and iron when grown under levels of carbon dioxide expected by 2050. Many crops have already suffered losses in these nutrients; one study compared modern plants with historical herbarium specimens and found that levels of all minerals, including zinc, iron and calcium, closely tracked carbon dioxide levels through time.

The latest paper on the topic, published earlier this year in Science Advances, found that concentrations of essential nutrients decreased in 18 strains of rice after being exposed to increased carbon dioxide levels in an experiment. The study was the first to show that B vitamins like riboflavin, which helps your body break down food to make energy, and folate, which is important for fetal development, dropped by as much as 30 percent.

It seems counterintuitive that more carbon dioxide could harm plants, since it is one of the main ingredients that plants use to grow, but it turns out that too much carbon dioxide is as unhealthy for plants as too many carbohydrates are for humans. Extra carbon dioxide acts like empty calories or ―junk food‖ for the plants, which gorge themselves on it to grow bigger and faster, consequently getting larger but less nutrient-packed. Just like America‘s obesity epidemic, which is partially due to people‘s increased access to an abundance of calorie-rich but nutrient-poor food, more is not always better.

Agricultural scientists have known for some time that our food has been getting less nutritious, but they thought it was only due to a byproduct of modern farming methods: soil overuse which leads to mineral depletion, or breeders favoring high-yield varieties, which sacrifices nutrition for size. Meanwhile, plant researchers working over the last couple of decades were finding something surprising: that elevated carbon dioxide also contributes to lowering mineral content in plants.

The plant and agricultural scientists each had pieces of the puzzle, but no one put two and two together to fully explain the nutrient depletion phenomenon until recently.

In 1998, a scientist named Irakli Loladze learned that zooplankton starve from nutrient deficiency when eating algae that are given extra light and grow faster. He thought the same thing might be happening with plants as a result of excess carbon dioxide, and his instincts proved right. The phenomenon was dubbed the ―great nutrient collapse.‖ The implications of this research are troubling for anyone, but especially people in poor or undeveloped areas of the world where it is more difficult to compensate for the lack of nutrients by supplementing diets with more protein and vitamins.

According to the Global Hunger Index, 2 billion people worldwide already suffer from ―hidden hunger,‖ in which people starve consequent to malnutrition even though they are consuming enough calories. Iron deficiency is the top nutritional disorder in the world, one of every three people are affected by inadequate zinc intake, and millions are deficient in calcium, magnesium or selenium. Diets low in these essential nutrients can lead to impaired cognitive development in children, increased childhood and maternal deaths, reduced growth in infants, and impaired immune function.

In countries in which the majority of people rely on a few staple crops and do not eat diverse foods rich in minerals, nutrient collapse may pose serious threats to nutrition. For example, rice and wheat provide two out of every five calories that people consume. Rice alone provides 70 percent of calorie intake in Bangladesh, the world‘s eighth most populous country, where malnutrition is already an issue.

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One study mapped the geographic distribution of those most susceptible to the impacts of anemia and found that the most vulnerable countries were often the poorest and therefore least able to ―buy‖ their way out of the problem by eating more iron rich fruit, vegetables and meat.

The immediate threat nutrient collapse poses to human health is clear, but other effects are less studied or unknown. For example, it‘s not only humans whose food is becoming less nutritious.

One study showed that because of increasing carbon dioxide levels, the pollen that bees eat as an important source of food late in the summer now contains less protein than it once did. Another found that plants produced less nectar when exposed to more carbon dioxide, which can affect pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds. Scientists know even less about what will happen to herbivores or how that will affect animals higher up the food chain. Will farmed meat from animals like cows and pigs contain fewer nutrients because those animals are eating less nutritious plants? Right now, researchers can only guess.

Interestingly, plants like maize and sugarcane, which use a less common method of photosynthesis, are somewhat less prone to nutrient declines. However, these so-called ―C4 plants‖ make up only about 3 percent of all plant species, and therefore simply relying on more C4 crops for food probably won‘t solve nutrient depletion.

In a final irony, one researcher says nutrient collapse may contribute to the rise in obesity because people are eating more starchy plant-based foods and consuming higher quantities of food to make up for their lower nutrition levels. Similar to how the zooplankton starved while stuffing themselves with ―junk food‖ algae that were given too much light, we may all be headed for a bizarre world in which we are surrounded by food that we can‘t get enough of while, in reality, we‘re starving while simultaneously becoming obese.

Can we mitigate the effects of nutrient collapse? Perhaps, but it won‘t be easy. The world‘s population is growing, increasing global food demands. Even if we dramatically decreased carbon dioxide emissions starting now, atmospheric levels would still be expected to reach 550 parts per million in the next 50 years or so. Scientists have successfully genetically engineered crops with boosted nutrients. Golden rice, for example, provides people with more vitamin A than other varieties, but this process is lengthy, expensive and unlikely to compensate for the plethora of nutrients and vitamins declining as a result of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.

In the meantime, scientists are working to improve our understanding of how nutrient collapse will affect animals and humans worldwide. With their efforts, we can better rise to the challenge of keeping the world fed and healthy under this newly discovered, invisible threat of humancaused environmental change. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/vanishing-nutrients/

Innovation Stage is the conference hub 2018 USA Rice Outlook Conference - the Right Place at the Right Time

By Deborah Willenborg

SAN DIEGO, CA -- With four separate venues to choose from - the Innovation Stage, Sustainability Theater, Farm & Food Forum, and the Business Hall - attendees at Day Two of

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this year's USA Rice Outlook conference could choose from a long list of breakout sessions to customize their educational experience and make the most of every moment at this year's event.

State outlook and research reports, and breakout sessions covering sustainability, estate planning, and a discussion on the Central American market in the early morning made way for two general sessions, one in the morning, and one after lunch, to round out the day-long schedule.

Josh Hankins, USA Rice director for grower relations & rice stewardship partnership, started the morning General Session with an overview of the new USA Rice-developed search tool that helps rice farmers find conservation programs that provide some form of assistance to their operation. Users can search by state, program type, topic, funding authority, or keyword to find the programs that fit individual needs.

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Keynote speaker, Daniel Stone, a writer on environmental science, agriculture, and botany, shared the fascinating story of American food spy David Fairchild who introduced hundreds of crops to Americans including avocados, seedless grapes, soybeans, and other favorites, essentially shaping the way Americans eat today.

USDA's Nathan Childs Tried and true conference headliners, Nathan Childs and Jim Wiesemeyer bookended the afternoon general session. Along with his usual analysis of rice production projections, Senior USDA Economist Nathan Childs talked about the cheap Chinese rice currently being exported into Puerto Rico. According

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to Childs, China is selling at less than half the U.S. price in an effort to deplete their more than 200 million tons of stockpiled rice.

Wiesemeyer closed out the conference with his insights on the new Congress and what it means to agrelated issues, including the farm bill, energy, and trade.

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"This year it was about being in the right place at the right time and all that depended on your personal preferences," said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward. "The wide range of topics and time slots allowed for an individualized approach to scheduling - like putting together a complete meal from an a la carte menu."

USA Rice Daily

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Africa to need 7 bln USD for rice imports annually by 2020: FAO Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-11 03:03:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

ADA, Ghana, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has predicted that Africa would need a whopping 7 billion U.S. dollars for its rice imports annually by 2020.

Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Officer-In-Charge of the FAO Regional Office for Africa said this in his message on Monday at the opening of the two-day conference on Sustainable Rice Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Ada, about 104 km east of Ghana's capital Accra.

He therefore noted that there was the need for effective leadership and political will coupled with concerted efforts for Africa to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production and also end hunger.

The African Rice Project is under the UN South-South Cooperation program. China is one of the major development partners supporting the South-South Cooperation program especially in Africa and Asia.

Official data by FAO indicated that in 2015 alone African countries have imported about 36 percent of their rice requirements, at the cost of about 4 billion dollars.

"The projection for 2020 do not seem to change that percentage: only that the drain on foreign exchange to foot the import bills are expected to rise to 7 billion dollars annually," the official said.

Haile-Gabriel urged that rice self-sufficiency for Africa should not only target meeting consumption needs locally but also at the multiplier effect through the re-allocation of the much needed foreign exchanges and investing in the rice value chain development initiatives that will create and expand employment opportunities for youth and women.

Represented at the up-scaling conference were delegates from the ministries of food and agriculture of Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, Benin, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Guinea, Kenya and Senegal. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-12/11/c_137664443.htm

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South Africa – gateway for Vietnamese rice to Africa VNA TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018 - 10:16:00 PRINT Tran Quoc Toan, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Import and Export Department speaks at the rice export promotion conference. (Photo: VNA)

Pretoria (VNA) – South Africa is a promising market for Vietnamese rice exporters as it consumes about 850,000 tonnes of rice a year, said an official from Vietnam‘s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

South Africa‘s demand for rice is expected to rise in the context that its natural conditions are unfavorable for rice farming while the number of tourists and labourers from Asia, where rice is the main staple, coming to the country is on the rise, Tran Quoc Toan, deputy head of the MoIT‘s Import and Export Department said.

Toan led a delegation to seek export markets for Vietnamese rice in South Africa from December 10-11. The trip is also part of trade promotion activities aiming to realise the target of improving trade between the two countries from present 1 billion USD to 1.5 billion USD in 2020 set by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during his visit to Vietnam in 2016.

At a working session with the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on December 10, Toan said as the locomotive economy in Africa, South Africa serves as a gateway for Vietnamese rice exporters to access the wider African market.

He, therefore, suggested Vietnamese businesses to expand relations with international partners operating in South Africa.

At the meeting, the official briefed South African participants on regulations regarding tax and customs procedures for rice exported to their country and rice distribution channels in the market.

Madileke Ramushu, DTI Director of Asia Bilateral Relations, said South Africa always encourages and stands ready to create the best possible conditions for Vietnamese businesses to increase rice exports to the country.

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It will help them to enter other markets in the continent, especially those in the South African Development Community with a total population of 650 million, he said.

On this occasion, Madileke called on Vietnamese firms to help their South African partners to raise processed contents of their products delivered to Vietnam in order to improve their values.

He also suggested Vietnamese enterprises invest in the processing sector in South Africa, thus promoting their products in Africa.

While in South Africa, the Vietnamese delegation and the Vietnamese Embassy in the country joined hands with the DTI‘s office in Johannesburg city to organise a workshop on rice export promotion in Vietnam.-VNA https://en.vietnamplus.vn/south-africa-gateway-for-vietnamese-rice-to-africa/143350.vnp

Former Rice execs urge EQT 'course correction' EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) wants to put LED lighting on the top of its building on Liberty Avenue.

By Paul J. Gough – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times Dec 10, 2018, 7:56am EST Updated a day ago

Two former top executives of Rice Energy whose family owns 7 million shares of EQT Corp. stock have sent a letter to EQT's board urging a "course correction," including adding one of them to a key operational position.

Former Rice Energy COO Toby Z. Rice and EVP Exploration/Production Derek A. Rice said in the letter released Monday that EQT's "severely depressed stock price" and its valuation has been a result of its operational performance. EQT (NYSE: EQT) closed Friday at $18.41, up 2 percent, yet down from its 52-week high of $32.48. The last several weeks of trading has been following the company's split.

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"EQT has the potential to unlock significant value for all its shareholders, but to deliver the results this asset base deserves, a course correction is needed," according to the letter published on a website called EQTPathForward.com on Monday. The letter does not include Daniel Rice, the former CEO of Rice Energy (NYSE: RICE), who joined the EQT board when Rice was acquired by EQT in November 2017.

Toby Rice and Derek Rice said in the letter that executives with "experience in large-scale operational planning" needed to be added to the EQT board and senior management ranks. They had met with EQT Chairman Jim Rohr and CEO Rob McNally in recent weeks about the proposal and adding Toby Rice to EQT "with proper authority and support to oversee operations." Derek Rice and Toby Rice said they had a proven business plan that would increase EQT's cash flow by $400 million to $600 million per year with EQT's five-year production goals.

"Unfortunately, given the lack of reciprocal engagement – and EQT pushing forward with establishing its 2019 operational plan and budget – it has become apparent that they are unwilling to make the changes needed," the letter said. EQT announced last week it would hold a conference call Thursday with analysts discussing its 2019 plans.

Derek Rice and Toby Rice said they could nominate candidates for EQT's board at the 2019 annual meeting.

EQT responded with the following statement: "EQT is a refreshed company with a new management team, new operating plan and substantially reconstituted board. The company is focused on achieving profitable growth by driving operational efficiency, solid free cash flow, balance sheet strength, disciplined capital allocation and the realization of synergies. We are confident that EQT is taking the right steps to deliver superior value."

It's been an unusually event-filled year or so for Pittsburgh-based EQT. Months after acquiring Rice, EQT CEO Steve Schlotterbeck quit in a battle with the board. Shareholders urged EQT to split into two companies, exploration/production and midstream, which was accomplished in November 2018. It promoted CFO McNally to the CEO job, and the company dismissed several executives.

California Rice Commission plans annual grower meetings

The California Rice Commission organizes annual grower meetings to update rice farmers on the biggest issues facing the industry each year. Next year‘s meetings will be on the same day in January in Yuba City and Colusa.

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―Farming today involves so much more than what‘s happening in the field. This meeting is a great way for rice industry members to find out the latest on key issues affecting our industry,‖ said Jim Morris, communications manager for the California Rice Commission. ―We will have experts covering water, international trade, the Farm Bill and activities at the state Capitol.‖ Speakers will include Tyson Redpath of The Russel Group and Louie Brown of Kahn, Soares and Conway, who will provide updates from Washington, D.C. and the state Capitol.

There will also be presentations from David Guy, president of the Northern California Water Association, on water issues and Sarah Moran, vice president international for USA Rice, on international promotions opportunities.

Doors will open 30 minutes before each meeting begins.

Rice Recognizes Industry Leaders

By Vicky Boyd Excerpted from Rice Farming Magazine SAN DIEGO, CA - Every year at the Annual Rice Awards Luncheon Rice Farming bestows three awards: Rice Farmer of the Year, the Rice Industry Award, and the Rice Lifetime Achievement Award. These annual recognitions, co-sponsored by Horizon Ag and USA Rice, highlight some of the most positive achievements associated with the U.S. rice industry.

The 2018 Rice Farmer of the Year is Melvin "Skip" Hula, a fourth generation rice farmer from Hazen, Arkansas. Many people describe Hula as having the mind of an engineer and the heart of a farmer. He constantly thinks outside the box for new ways to make farming more efficient, not just for himself, but for the farming community as a whole. He has engineered and built several implements that he uses and sells to other farmers, and created Hula Manufacturing Inc. as a better way to produce those inventions.

Cole Plafcan, with AgHeritage Farm Credit Service, describes Hula as "genuine and kind, a good farmer and a man of high character, integrity, family, and faith."

Earl and Janis Garber

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After farming for 23 years, Rice Industry Award winner Earl Garber became a crop consultant with a keen interest in conservation. Earl says, "As a full-time farmer involved in food production, my strategy was to come up with good management practices, build a system to implement them, and make sure we were profitable in the end."

Earl has been a supervisor on the local Acadia Soil and Water Conservation District board and served as president of the National Association of Conservation Districts. He says he "enjoys being able to assist other farmers and grow my involvement with conservation and my community."

Lifetime Achievement Award winner Marvin Hare farms 6,000 acres of long grain rice, soybeans, and corn, and just completed his 52nd crop. While spending time with his family and tilling the land they have owned for more than 100 years, the Newport, Arkansas producer, innovator, research advocate, businessman, and leader has garnered the respect of the entire U.S. rice industry.

Hare believes "the future of rice farming will be bright and exciting. Researchers are developing better varieties, finding more efficient ways to irrigate, and fine-tuning conservation practices. The technology we have today is mind-boggling."

To learn more about the three recipients, check out the special section included in the December issue of Rice Farming magazine.

Award-winner Marvin Hare and othersMarvin Hare has prepared a lifetime for this

WASDE Report Released WASHINGTON, DC -- This month's outlook for 2018/19 U.S. rice this month is for slightly higher supplies, higher exports, and reduced ending stocks.

Total 2018/19 rice supplies are raised 0.5 million cwt to 276.2 million on higher medium- and short-grain imports. Exports are raised 3.0 million cwt (all medium- and short-grain milled rice) in response to the sharp reduction in Australia's crop. No changes are made this month to the long grain supply and

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demand estimates. Long-grain ending stocks remain at 32.4 million cwt, up nearly 60 percentfrom the previous year. Medium- and short-grain ending stocks are lowered 2.5 million cwt to 10.3 million. The all rice marketing year average price is raised $0.10 per cwt at the midpoint to a range of $11.60 - 12.60. The long-grain price is unchanged but medium- and short-grain prices are raised $0.50 per cwt for California to a midpoint of $18.30 and $0.10 per cwt for other states to a midpoint of $12.20.

Global rice production for 2018/19 is raised 0.4 million tons to 491.1 million led by a 1.0-million-ton increase for Nigeria, which is based on updated government statistics for multiple years. The Nepal crop is raised 0.2 million tons. Partly offsetting is a 0.5-millionton reduction for Thailand on limited water availability for the dry season crop and a 0.3-million-ton decrease for Australia on the severe drought in the Eastern part of the country.

Global exports are lowered 0.8 million tons with Thailand down 0.7 million tons and Australia down 0.2 million, both on the smaller crops. Imports for 2018/19 are lowered 0.6 million tons for Nigeria and 0.4 million tons for Indonesia. Total use is raised 1.2 million tons, led by increases for Nigeria and Thailand, and global ending stocks are raised fractionally to 163.3 million tons.

The full report can be found here.

Importation: ‗Nigeria saves $21bn on food‘ ON DECEMBER 9, 20185:29 PMIN BUSINESS, NEWS10 COMMENTS President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded Nigerians for curbing excessive taste for foreign products, which has positioned the country for food self-sufficiency, and resulted into savings of over $21 billion.

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Buhari The President said the humongous savings will be deployed to other critical areas like infrastructure, education, health care, and many others. President Buhari was reacting to recent disclosures by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who spoke at the 2018 Annual Bankers‘ Dinner, where he said: ―Noticeable declines were steadily recorded in our monthly food import bill from US$665.4 million in January 2015 to US$160.4 million as at October 2018, a cumulative fall of 75.9% and an implied savings of over US$21 billion on food imports alone over that period. Most evident were the 97.3% cumulative reduction in monthly rice import bills, 99.6% in fish, 81.3% in milk, 63.7% in sugar, and 60.5% in wheat. We are glad with the accomplishments recorded so far.‖ Buhari confers 2018 National Merit Award on Prof.

Olufemi Obafemi President Buhari said with the commitment of Nigerian farmers, and the support given by the government, ―in no distant future, food importation will be completely alien to us, and we will even export actively, thus reversing our position as a mono- product economy.‖ The CBN governor equally spoke on the number of jobs created in the agriculture sector: ―In the agriculture sector, the Anchor Borrowers‘ Programme (ABP) has ensured that Nigeria emerged from being a net importer of rice to becoming a major producer, supplying key markets in neighbouring countries. As at October 2018, a total number of 862,069 farmers cultivating about 835,239 hectares, across 16 different commodities, have so far benefited from Anchor Borrowers‘ Programme, which has generated 2,502,675 jobs across the country.‖ 2019: Northern leaders disagree over Buhari‘s re-election Describing the development as ―heartwarming,‖ the President said it was just a matter of time before a significantly positive impact would be made in the statistics of the unemployed in the country, particularly from the agriculture sector. He asserted: ―We are on a productive voyage, which would see the ship of state berthing at the harbour of food self-sufficiency, gainful jobs, peace and prosperity for Nigerians.‖ Related : https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/12/importation-nigeria-saves-21bn-on-food/

Rice initiatives can help save the planet, not just feed it opinion December 12, 2018 01:00

By Devashish Chaubey Rice is close to my heart, as a consumer, as a career choice and as a member of a ―rice community‖ of billions. My own family has been involved in rice farming for more than three generations – and still going!

So I am also deeply aware that rice is at the heart of two of our planet‘s biggest challenges – food security and climate change.

It‘s the staple that half the world‘s population put on their tables each day – but production methods emit huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) more potent than carbon

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dioxide. By 2030, we will have 8.3 billion mouths to feed and by 2050, we could face a 44 per cent shortfall in global rice production.

At last month‘s International Rice Congress in Singapore then, much discussion, unsurprisingly, focused on solutions to this ―rice paradox‖: while rice production currently is a major generator of GHGs it is imperative that we boost production.

What‘s clear is that we must re-imagine the entire rice supply chain – from how it is farmed and financed to how it‘s marketed and sold. Different but converging vested interests are essential parts of a long-term solution, including: – Retailers committing to promote sustainable rice to consumers and choosing the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) as a procurement standard. This would move the needle in developed countries which consume 23 million tonnes of rice each year and where it would be a relatively easy ―environmental‖ choice for shoppers; not so at a market stall in a developing country.

– Financial institutions finding ways to reduce interest cost for sustainable rice producers. Every 0.25 per cent reduction in interest rates potentially translates to US$500 million (Bt16.4 billion) per annum in cost savings for producers; this would help farming households prioritise sustainable rice farming.

– Scientists and innovators developing more resilient production systems to reduce variance in production and prices, offset risk and reduce the draw on natural capital for land and water.

Current methods of more sustainable farming are capital intensive, making it difficult for smallholders focused on their livelihoods to adopt these practices without intervention and investment from others.

– Insurers improving offerings and reducing premiums for more resilient sustainable rice producers. Such offerings remain out of reach for many farming households, and access to insurance is a necessary first step to better credit offerings at farm-level.

– Governments lowering tariffs and taxes for sustainable rice. With the current global tariff for rice weighted by volume at 32 per cent, a 1 per cent reduction in tariffs for sustainable rice could be worth more than $150 million per annum in savings for exporters. This saving could be passed down to producers incentivising them to switch to sustainable rice.

The reality is that because rice is grown under many disparate farming systems, it is difficult for any single body or proponent alone to make the critical difference. This does not mean we stop taking action within our ambit, but it is partnerships that are essential to drive change at scale.

Important collaborations are already underway. The German development agency GIZ and Olam are working with governments in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia to help thousands of rice farmers improve water use, GHG emissions and generate better livelihoods. The landmark fiveyear Thai Rice NAMA project that started in July aims to reduce up to 30 per cent of emissions by the 100,000 participating farmers by its fifth year.

Research and development is also making promising progress, such as Cornell University‘s revolutionary ―System for Rice Intensification‖, which requires 80-90 per cent fewer rice seeds, up to 50 per cent less water and often no fertiliser, while yields are boosted by 20-25 per cent and farmers‘ costs are reduced by 10-20 per cent.

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But to understand how much more needs to be done, we need to establish clear measurement systems that can be a bellwether of progress and we need to do so soon.

For example, UN Environment and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have cochaired a platform where government, NGOs and business can create a framework for assessing whether new systems improve or degrade environmental, economic and social impacts of rice farming. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is working with the corporate sector, GIZ, IRRI, UN Environment and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to further develop metrics through the Global Environment Facility.

Rice production is a global imperative facing a global problem. It needs global solutions. ―Feed the World‖ and ―Save the Planet‖ have become two of the most recognisable and laudable mantras of our time. The global rice community must move forward with a foot planted firmly in each of those camps.

Devashish Chaubey is global head of Rice at Olam International. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30360233

'Pest-controlling' bats could help save rainforests Date: December 11, 2018 Source: University of Cambridge Summary: A new study shows that several species of bats are giving Madagascar's rice farmers a vital pest control service by feasting on plagues of insects. And this, a zoologist believes, can ease the financial pressure on farmers to turn forest into fields.

Share: FULL STORY

This is a Peters' wrinkle-lipped bat in flight over rice fields in Madagascar.

Credit: Adrià López-Baucells A new study shows that several species of bats are giving Madagascar's rice farmers a vital pest control service by feasting on plagues of insects. And this, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge believes, can ease the financial pressure on farmers to turn forest into fields.

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There are few places in the world where relations between agriculture and conservation are more strained. Madagascar's forests are being converted to agricultural land at a rate of one per cent every year and much of this destruction is fuelled by the cultivation of the country's main staple crop: rice.

A key reason for this is that insect pests are destroying vast quantities of rice, leading local subsistence farmers to destroy even more forest to create new paddies. The result is devastating habitat and biodiversity loss on the island. But not all species are suffering. In fact, some of the island's insectivorous bats are thriving, and this has important implications for farmers and conservationists alike.

Co-leading an international team of scientists, Ricardo Rocha from the University of Cambridge's Zoology department Conservation Science Group, found that several species of indigenous bats are taking advantage of habitat modification to hunt insects swarming above the country's rice fields. They include the Malagasy mouse-eared bat, Major's long-fingered bat, the Malagasy white-bellied free-tailed bat, and Peters' wrinkle-lipped bat.

"These winner species are providing a valuable free service to Madagascar as biological pest suppressors," Rocha said. "We found that six species of bat are preying on rice pests such as the paddy swarming caterpillar and grass webworm. The damage that these insects cause puts the island's farmers under huge financial pressure and that encourages deforestation."

The study, published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, used state-of-theart ultrasonic recorders and molecular analysis to investigate the feeding activity of insectivorous bats in the farmland bordering the Ranomafana National Park in the southeast of the country.

The researchers recorded over a thousand bat 'feeding buzzes' (echolocation sequences used by bats to target their prey) at 54 sites, to identify their favourite feeding spots. This revealed that bat activity over rice fields was much higher than it was in continuous forest -- seven times higher over irrigated rice fields, and sixteen times higher over hillside fields -- which clearly shows that the animals are preferentially foraging in these human-made ecosystems. The researchers suggest that the bats favour hillside fields most because lack of water and nutrient run-off make these crops more susceptible to insect pest infestations.

The team next used DNA barcoding techniques to analyse droppings collected from bats captured within the rice plantations and nearby forest. All six species of bats were found to have fed on economically important insect pests. While the findings indicated that rice farming benefits most from the bats, the scientists also found pests of other crops, including the black twig borer (a pest of coffee), the sugarcane cicada, the macadamia nut-borer, and the sober tabby (a pest of citrus fruits).

"The effectiveness of bats as pest controllers has already been proven in the USA and Catalonia," said co-author James Kemp, from the University of Lisbon. "But our study is the first to show this happening in Madagascar, where the stakes for both farmers and conservationists are very high."

The researchers argue that maximising bat populations has the potential to boost crop yields and promote sustainable livelihoods. They are now calling for further research to quantify this

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contribution because Madagascar's bats currently fall under game species legislation and are not actively protected in the country.

Bats comprise roughly one-fifth of all Malagasy mammal species and thirty-six recorded bat species are endemic to the island, making Madagascar one of the most important regions for conservation of this animal group anywhere in the world.

"Bats have a bad reputation in Madagascar because they are seen as a nuisance when they roost in buildings," Rocha said. "The problem is that while these bats are benefiting from farming, deforestation is also denying them places to roost. With the right help, we hope that farmers can promote this mutually beneficial relationship by installing bat houses."

Local people may have a further reason to be grateful to the animals. While bats are often associated with spreading disease, Rocha and his team found evidence that Malagasy bats feed not just on crop pests but also on mosquitos -- vectors of malaria, Rift Valley fever virus and elephantiasis -- as well as blackflies, which spread river blindness.

Story Source: Materials provided by University of Cambridge. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference: 1. James Kemp, Adrià López-Baucells, Ricardo Rocha, Owen S. Wangensteen, Zo Andriatafika, Abhilash Nair, Mar Cabeza. Bats as potential suppressors of multiple agricultural pests: A case study from Madagascar. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2019; 269: 88 DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2018.09.027

Cite This Page: 

MLA

 

APA Chicago University of Cambridge. "'Pest-controlling' bats could help save rainforests." ScienceDaily.

ScienceDaily, 11 December 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181211091926.htm>. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181211091926.htm

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Research: ‗Pest-controlling‘ bats could help save rainforests

By Janet R. Aguilar December 11, 2018

A new study shows that several species of bats are giving Madagascar‘s rice farmers a vital pest control service by feasting on plagues of insects. And this, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge believes, can ease the financial pressure on farmers to turn forest into fields.

There are few places in the world where relations between agriculture and conservation are more strained. Madagascar‘s forests are being converted to agricultural land at a rate of one per cent every year and much of this destruction is fuelled by the cultivation of the country‘s main staple crop: rice.

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A key reason for this is that insect pests are destroying vast quantities of rice, leading local subsistence farmers to destroy even more forest to create new paddies. The result is devastating habitat and biodiversity loss on the island. But not all species are suffering. In fact, some of the island‘s insectivorous bats are thriving, and this has important implications for farmers and conservationists alike.

Co-leading an international team of scientists, Ricardo Rocha from the University of Cambridge‘s Zoology department Conservation Science Group, found that several species of indigenous bats are taking advantage of habitat modification to hunt insects swarming above the country‘s rice fields. They include the Malagasy mouse-eared bat, Major‘s long-fingered bat, the Malagasy white-bellied free-tailed bat, and Peters‘ wrinkle-lipped bat. ―These winner species are providing a valuable free service to Madagascar as biological pest suppressors,‖ Rocha said. ―We found that six species of bat are preying on rice pests such as the paddy swarming caterpillar and grass webworm. The damage that these insects cause puts the island‘s farmers under huge financial pressure and that encourages deforestation.‖ The study, published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, used state-of-theart ultrasonic recorders and molecular analysis to investigate the feeding activity of insectivorous bats in the farmland bordering the Ranomafana National Park in the southeast of the country.

The researchers recorded over a thousand bat ‗feeding buzzes‘ (echolocation sequences used by bats to target their prey) at 54 sites, to identify their favourite feeding spots. This revealed that bat activity over rice fields was much higher than it was in continuous forest — seven times higher over irrigated rice fields, and sixteen times higher over hillside fields — which clearly shows that the animals are preferentially foraging in these human-made ecosystems. The researchers suggest that the bats favour hillside fields most because lack of water and nutrient run-off make these crops more susceptible to insect pest infestations.The team next used DNA barcoding techniques to analyse droppings collected from bats captured within the rice plantations and nearby forest. All six species of bats were found to have fed on economically important insect pests. While the findings indicated that rice farming benefits most from the bats,

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the scientists also found pests of other crops, including the black twig borer (a pest of coffee), the sugarcane cicada, the macadamia nut-borer, and the sober tabby (a pest of citrus fruits). ―The effectiveness of bats as pest controllers has already been proven in the USA and Catalonia,‖ said co-author James Kemp, from the University of Lisbon. ―But our study is the first to show this happening in Madagascar, where the stakes for both farmers and conservationists are very high.‖ The researchers argue that maximising bat populations has the potential to boost crop yields and promote sustainable livelihoods. They are now calling for further research to quantify this contribution because Madagascar‘s bats currently fall under game species legislation and are not actively protected in the country.

Bats comprise roughly one-fifth of all Malagasy mammal species and thirty-six recorded bat species are endemic to the island, making Madagascar one of the most important regions for conservation of this animal group anywhere in the world. ―Bats have a bad reputation in Madagascar because they are seen as a nuisance when they roost in buildings,‖ Rocha said. ―The problem is that while these bats are benefiting from farming, deforestation is also denying them places to roost. With the right help, we hope that farmers can promote this mutually beneficial relationship by installing bat houses.‖ Local people may have a further reason to be grateful to the animals. While bats are often associated with spreading disease, Rocha and his team found evidence that Malagasy bats feed not just on crop pests but also on mosquitos — vectors of malaria, Rift Valley fever virus and elephantiasis — as well as blackflies, which spread river blindness.

Source:University of Cambridge. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. .http://www.tunisiesoir.com/science/research-pest-controlling-bats-could-help-saverainforests-11068-2018/

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California Rice Commission plans annual grower meetings

By Jake Abbott / jabbott@appealdemocrat.com

The California Rice Commission organizes annual grower meetings to update rice farmers on the biggest issues facing the industry each year. Next year‘s meetings will be on the same day in January in Yuba City and Colusa. ―Farming today involves so much more than what‘s happening in the field. This meeting is a great way for rice industry members to find out the latest on key issues affecting our industry,‖ said Jim Morris, communications manager for the California Rice Commission. ―We will have experts covering water, international trade, the Farm Bill and activities at the state Capitol.‖ The meetings will be on Jan. 24. The first meeting will be at the Colusa Casino Resort Community Center in Colusa from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. The second meeting will be at Hillcrest Plaza Room (201 Julie Drive, Yuba City) from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

Speakers will include Tyson Redpath of The Russel Group and Louie Brown of Kahn, Soares and Conway, who will provide updates from Washington, D.C. and the state Capitol.

There will also be presentations from David Guy, president of the Northern California Water Association, on water issues and Sarah Moran, vice president international for USA Rice, on international promotions opportunities.Doors will open 30 minutes before each meeting begins. https://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/california-rice-commission-plans-annual-growermeetings/article_c8e76de0-fd0a-11e8-945d-7784a2641570.html

Paddy Farmers In Odisha Allege Harassment By Rice Millers Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena | By Sanjeev Kumar Pradhan On Dec 11, 2018 - 22:31:40

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Sonepur/Malkangiri: Farmers in various districts of Odisha are facing a tough time in the paddy procurement process owing to a dispute over fair average quality (FAQ) norms with rice millers.

According to sources, farmers in Sonepur are in distress over fair average quality (FAQ) norms even after a week of opening of the mandis.

Farmers alleged that rice millers are seeking concession during procurement and even complained that they are not being paid requisite reimbursement for transporting paddy from the mandis to the rice mills.

Reportedly, the farmers have denied supplying paddy to the millers after the millers demanded concessions on the actual weight of the paddy. The farmers have also complained of being harassed during procurement process.

―The millers are not willing to lift paddy from mandis as a result of which large quantity paddy lying at Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS),‖ rued a farmer.

Meanwhile, discussions between the farmers and the district sub-collector and officials of the Supply department have yielded no results so far.

In Malkangiri, the administration has set up 62 mandis this year but there has been no improvement in the procurement process. Chitrokonda MLA Dambaru Sisa reviewed the situation and said that necessary steps will be taken to sort out the problem. ―Good quality paddy should be provided by the farmers and millers should not demand cuts/compensation for procuring paddy. If any such instance comes to our notice, necessary actions will be taken,‖ said the MLA. https://odishatv.in/odisha/paddy-farmers-in-odisha-allege-harassment-by-rice-millers339116

California Rice Commission plans annual grower meetings 

By Jake Abbott / jabbott@appealdemocrat.com

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

Dec 10, 2018The California Rice Commission organizes annual grower meetings to update rice

farmers on the biggest issues facing the industry each year. Next year‘s meetings will be on the same day in January in Yuba City and Colusa. ―Farming today involves so much more than what‘s happening in the field. This meeting is a great way for rice industry members to find out the latest on key issues affecting our industry,‖ said Jim Morris, communications manager for the California Rice Commission. ―We will have experts covering water, international trade, the Farm Bill and activities at the state Capitol.‖ The meetings will be on Jan. 24. The first meeting will be at the Colusa Casino Resort Community Center in Colusa from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. The second meeting will be at Hillcrest Plaza Room (201 Julie Drive, Yuba City) from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

Speakers will include Tyson Redpath of The Russel Group and Louie Brown of Kahn, Soares and Conway, who will provide updates from Washington, D.C. and the state Capitol.

There will also be presentations from David Guy, president of the Northern California Water Association, on water issues and Sarah Moran, vice president international for USA Rice, on international promotions opportunities.

Doors will open 30 minutes before each meeting begins https://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/california-rice-

South Africa – gateway for Vietnamese rice to Africa VNA TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018 - 10:16:00 PRINT

Tran Quoc Toan, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Import and Export Department speaks at the rice export promotion conference. (Photo: VNA)

Pretoria (VNA) – South Africa is a promising market for Vietnamese rice exporters as it consumes about 850,000 tonnes of rice a year, said an official from Vietnam‘s Ministry of

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Industry and Trade (MoIT).

South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s demand for rice is expected to rise in the context that its natural conditions are unfavorable for rice farming while the number of tourists and labourers from Asia, where rice is the main staple, coming to the country is on the rise, Tran Quoc Toan, deputy head of the MoITâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Import and Export Department said.

Toan led a delegation to seek export markets for Vietnamese rice in South Africa from December 10-11. The trip is also part of trade promotion activities aiming to realise the target of improving trade between the two countries from present 1 billion USD to 1.5 billion USD in 2020 set by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during his visit to Vietnam in 2016.

At a working session with the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on December 10, Toan said as the locomotive economy in Africa, South Africa serves as a gateway for Vietnamese rice exporters to access the wider African market.

He, therefore, suggested Vietnamese businesses to expand relations with international partners

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operating in South Africa.

At the meeting, the official briefed South African participants on regulations regarding tax and customs procedures for rice exported to their country and rice distribution channels in the market.

Madileke Ramushu, DTI Director of Asia Bilateral Relations, said South Africa always encourages and stands ready to create the best possible conditions for Vietnamese businesses to increase rice exports to the country.

It will help them to enter other markets in the continent, especially those in the South African Development Community with a total population of 650 million, he said.

On this occasion, Madileke called on Vietnamese firms to help their South African partners to raise processed contents of their products delivered to Vietnam in order to improve their values.

He also suggested Vietnamese enterprises invest in the processing sector in South Africa, thus promoting their products in Africa.

While in South Africa, the Vietnamese delegation and the Vietnamese Embassy in the country joined hands with the DTIâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s office in Johannesburg city to organise a workshop on rice export promotion in Vietnam.-VNA https://en.vietnamplus.vn/south-africa-gateway-for-vietnamese-rice-to-africa/143350.vnp

NA Standing Committee approves 20 million USD for rice aid Tuesday, December 11, 2018 | 19:07:37 (VOVWORLD) - The National Assembly Standing Committee has approved an additional 20 million USD taken from the central contingency budget to buy 43,000 tons of national reserved rice used for aid activities from last July to this May. The decision was made at a session on Tuesday, in which the Committee also proposed an additional 6.7 billion USD to purchase national reserved veterinary drugs used for animal disease prevention and treatment. The law makers discussed preparations for the next NA session which will adopt a draft resolution and six draft laws http://vovworld.vn/en-US/news/na-standing-committee-approves-20million-usd-for-rice-aid-707056.vov

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Rice Prices as on : 11-12-2018 11:53:14 AM Arrivals in tonnes;prices in Rs/quintal in domestic market.

Arrivals Current

Price % change

Season cumulative

Modal

Prev.

Modal

Prev.Yr %change

Rice Barhaj(UP)

110.00

-8.33

5094.00

2280

2280

-

Kalipur(WB)

80.00

NC

4221.00

2450

2400

6.52

Lakhimpur(UP)

45.00

18.42

1384.00

2250

2270

3.69

Sahiyapur(UP)

37.50

2.74

2818.50

2225

2210

-

Fatehpur(UP)

14.00

-36.36

1224.30

2230

2200

1.36

Champadanga(WB)

14.00

16.67

768.00

3000

3000

9.09

Anandnagar(UP)

10.00

400

142.80

2230

2220

-

Unnao(UP)

7.80

20

197.20

2250

2275

9.76

Ruperdeeha(UP)

6.00

-25

530.00

1600

1600

-

Mirzapur(UP)

4.00

-20

1026.00

2285

2290

-

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Mau(Chitrakut)(UP)

3.20

-8.57

107.60

1775

1800

-

Sehjanwa(UP)

2.50

-28.57

256.70

2160

2160

-

Doharighat(UP)

1.50

NC

69.00

2000

2000

-

Nautnava(UP)

1.00

NC

68.50

2250

2200

10.29

Published on December 11, 2018

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/rice-prices/article25716659.ece

Africa to need 7 bln USD for rice imports annually by 2020: FAO Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-11 03:03:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

ADA, Ghana, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has predicted that Africa would need a whopping 7 billion U.S. dollars for its rice imports annually by 2020.

Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Officer-In-Charge of the FAO Regional Office for Africa said this in his message on Monday at the opening of the two-day conference on Sustainable Rice Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Ada, about 104 km east of Ghana's capital Accra.

He therefore noted that there was the need for effective leadership and political will coupled with concerted efforts for Africa to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production and also end hunger.

The African Rice Project is under the UN South-South Cooperation program. China is one of the major development partners supporting the South-South Cooperation program especially in Africa and Asia.

Official data by FAO indicated that in 2015 alone African countries have imported about 36 percent of their rice requirements, at the cost of about 4 billion dollars.

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"The projection for 2020 do not seem to change that percentage: only that the drain on foreign exchange to foot the import bills are expected to rise to 7 billion dollars annually," the official said.

Haile-Gabriel urged that rice self-sufficiency for Africa should not only target meeting consumption needs locally but also at the multiplier effect through the re-allocation of the much needed foreign exchanges and investing in the rice value chain development initiatives that will create and expand employment opportunities for youth and women.

Represented at the up-scaling conference were delegates from the ministries of food and agriculture of Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, Benin, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Guinea, Kenya and Senegal. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-12/11/c_137664443.htm

Cambodia's rice export down 13 pct in 11 months Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-11 19:47:39|Editor: xuxin

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 497,240 tons of milled rice in the first 11 months of 2018, down 13 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest report on Tuesday.

Some 78 firms have brokered the country's rice for 61 countries and regions across the world, said the report from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export.

China is still the top buyer of Cambodian rice, followed by France, the Netherlands, Poland and Britain, it said.

Cambodia produced about 10.5 million tons of paddy rice in 2017, up 5.7 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-12/11/c_137666475.htm

Indian rice export prices fall; rupee at two weeks low Rice export prices fell a the second consecutive week in India on a weakening rupee and slow demand, while strict inspections from top consumer China muted exports from Vietnam. India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $364-$368 per tonne this week, from $366-$370 the last week. "Prices are down as traders are adjusting to the drop in the rupee.

Demand is still weak," said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The Indian rupee fell nearly 1 percent on Thursday to the lowest level in two weeks, increasing exporters margin from the overseas sales. In an attempt to accelerate exports, the

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Indian government last month said it will give a 5 percent subsidy for non-basmati rice shipments for the four months to March 25, 2019. In neighbouring Bangladesh, rice imports in July-November stood at 106,640 tonnes, the country's food ministry data showed, after the government imposed a 28 percent tax on shipments to support its farmers after local production revived. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, rates for 5 percent broken rice dipped to $400 a tonne from $408 last week as exports to China fell on stricter inspections and conditions on Vietnamese rice, traders said. "Exports to China are almost frozen, no one dares to buy or sell. Some people who had their rice ready at the port now have to take them back because they fear the Chinese side will not take them," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. However, the fall in prices was limited due to tight supply at the end of a small crop season in Vietnam and orders from rice-scarce Philippines. The next major crop harvest in the southeast-Asian nation, the winter-spring crop, is due next March. In Thailand, benchmark 5 percent broken rice prices narrowed to $390-$393, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, from $380-$397 last week. "Apart from the recent order from the Philippines, Thai rice exporters are not expecting any large order until early 2019," a Bangkokbased rice trader said. Traders attributed this week's fluctuation in rice prices to the exchange rate. The Thai baht shed more than a quarter of a percent on Thursday, after rising for four previous sessions. "Some exporters are still talking about a possible deal to markets like Japan and Indonesia, but so far things are quiet and will likely remain this way until January," said another Bangkok-based trader. https://fp.brecorder.com/2018/12/20181211430252/

Rice initiatives can help save the planet, not just feed it Rice is close to my heart, as a consumer, as a career choice and as a member of a ―rice community‖ of billions. My own family has been involved in rice farming for more than three generations – and still going!

So I am also deeply aware that rice is at the heart of two of our planet‘s biggest challenges – food security and climate change.

It‘s the staple that half the world‘s population put on their tables each day – but production methods emit huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) more potent than carbon dioxide. By 2030, we will have 8.3 billion mouths to feed and by 2050, we could face a 44 per cent shortfall in global rice production. At last month‘s International Rice Congress in Singapore then, much discussion, unsurprisingly, focused on solutions to this ―rice paradox‖: while rice production currently is a major generator of GHGs it is imperative that we boost production. : http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30360233

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Pres. Weah Launches ―Pro-Poor Rice‖ Distribution

By Webmaster Admin December 10, 2018

Pro-poor rice recently imported to Liberia

Says “Agriculture is Key,” President George Weah says agriculture has got no substitute in national efforts to obtaining food security and maintaining a healthy population, an Executive Mansion release has said.

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Food production towards self-sufficiency, the President said, is a centerpiece of his government‘s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development, and he would leave no stone unturned to achieve this goal.

According to the release, the President spoke on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, when he officially launched the distribution of over 200 metric tons of rice, totaling 80,000 bags at the Freeport of Liberia.

Though the public is yet to know the source of the ―Pro-Poor rice,‖ the President said his administration is giving ample attention to support and encourage investment in the agriculture sector, particularly the production of food, to reduce reliance on the importation of the country‘s staple food.

A Liberian-owned company, TRH Trading, in partnership with the government through the Ministry of Commerce, imported an initial consignment of the Pro-Poor rice that will be sold wholesale to Liberian businesses through the Commerce Ministry. The local businesses will in turn do the retail sale.

President Weah said making rice, which is regarded in Liberia as a ―political commodity‖, available and affordable for Liberians, is the preoccupation of his government, and this will be achieved to help reduce the high cost of the country‘s staple. ―I am very happy that we can begin to distribute this low-cost rice at a time our people need it most in the wake of the festive season,‖ Weah said, adding, ―Pro-poor rice, as we call it, is a dream come true. While working to meet the needs of our people; it is important to stress that returning to the soil is the best way forward and we will support this effort as much as possible,‖ the President said.

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President Weah and officials looking at the quality of the Pro-Poor Rice The President noted that the importation of rice has always been a major concern to him and his administration, promising that he would work around the clock to make sure that Liberian businesses play an integral part in food production and other activities that will benefit the citizens and the country. ―I am happy for the supply of the Pro-Poor rice on the market,‖ he said, noting, ―We all know rice is very important for our people as it is the staple food. We will do our best to always have it on the market and sold for a price that our people can afford.‖ He continued, ―I know whatever I do, I often do to the best of my ability, aware of the challenges that require focus and practice. And by the grace of God, the best always comes out of whatever I try to do.‖ President Weah thanked Commerce Minister Wilson Tarpeh and his team for leading the right effort that has stimulated the involvement of Liberian-owned companies in the importation of rice on the market.

This, the President said, has helped in buttressing the supply of rice on the Liberian market. https://www.liberianobserver.com/news/pres-weah-launches-pro-poor-rice-distribution/ http://fmcgmarketresearch.com/rice-milling-machines-market-global-industry-analysis-andopportunity-assessment-2018-2025/

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Satake Manufacturing marks 20th anniversary in China Satake Suzhou factory. Photo courtesy of Satake.

12.11.2018

By Susan Reidy BEIJING, CHINA — Satake Manufacturing (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. marked its 20th anniversary in Suzhou, China, on Nov. 12.

Satake established the facility in 1997 to manufacture and sell rice and flour milling machinery along with optical sorters.

The factory was extended in 2004 to expand the export to Asia, Europe, the United States and Africa, and now acts as the core factory among the Satake group. Sales offices were established in Harbin, Jiamusi, Changchun, Shenyang, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Xian, Wuhan in addition to Suzhou to expand sales in China. ―The circumstances surrounding us and demand from our customers have significantly changed but we celebrate our anniversary due to the support of our customers and administrative agencies,‖ said Chen Kefei, general manager. ―Our original aims remain undiminished."

The Suzhou factory to build on its technical and service advantages by offering rice processing machinery from rice field to table. https://www.world-grain.com/articles/11351-satake-manufacturing-marks-20th-anniversary-inchina

Usapang Bigas: FOI Practice on Availability, Price Stability, and Importation of Rice

by Action for Economic Reforms, Focus on the Global South, SocialWatch Philippines, Rice Watch and Action Network, and Rural Poor Institute for Land and Human Rights Services

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11TH, 2018 I. Organizational Profile The Right to Know, Right Now! (R2KRN) Coalition has been a staunch advocate for the passage of the FOI Law since it was convened in 2002, initially as the Access to Information Network (ATIN), before expanding into R2KRN in 2009.

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It is the main civil-society network that engages both the executive and legislative fronts.

R2KRN has adopted a systematic approach for documenting cases of FOI practice to build public demand for FOI and nurture a community of practice whereby citizens can claim their rights to information. Thus far, three rounds of coordinated FOI Practice had been completed by the Coalition members. In the second half of 2018, the Right to Know Coalition focused on how FOI affects the appreciation and discussion of the most pressing economic and political issues that are emblematic of the state of governance, transparency and accountability, and the delivery of public services in the country. The Coalition‘s FOI Practice Round 4 specifically focused on the following: ● The implementation of Package 1 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law) of the Duterte administration. The Action for Economic Reforms is lead researcher for this project. ● The Memoranda of Agreement, contracts, and relevant documents covering mining operations and companies in the Philippines. Bantay Kita, a coalition of CSOs monitoring mining and extractive industries is lead researcher. ● Contracts, projects, and issues surrounding the ―Build, Build, Build‖ program or the massive infrastructure and civil-works program of the Duterte administration. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, ANSA-EAP, Ateneo Policy Center, and the Makati Business Club are the parallel research teams.

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An audit of the provisions and implementation of FOI Manuals, and action taken on citizen requests, by various agencies of the Executive Branch, under EO No. 2 or the Duterte administration‘s FOI policy. ● The crisis in the supply and distribution of rice. A common-concern project of the Right to Know Coalition, Action for Economic Reforms, Focus on the Global South, Rural Poor Institute for Land and Human Rights Services, Social Watch, and Rice Watch Action Network.

In the 4th round, the coalition decided to take on a common FOI Practice project, where different coalition members do coordinated work on a single issue and/or agency. It chose the rice issue, specifically the questions of how the country came to a point of a rice-supply crunch and how this was managed by the government, as its initial joint project. A group of five member organizations, with established campaigns and advocacies on agrarian reform, rural development, the right to food, social reform and fiscal policy, was formed to reconstruct the story of rice through FOI Practice.

The core team includes the following R2KRN Members: Action for Economic Reforms (AER), a public-interest organization that conducts policy analysis and advocacy on key economic issues, is a co-convenor of R2KRN. It considers access to relevant and timely data critical to judicious research and analysis.

Focus on Global South is an activist think tank that works with social movements, progressive individuals and organizations, academics, policy makers and legislators in challenging neoliberalism, market capitalism, militarism, and corporate-driven globalization, while strengthening just and equitable alternatives. Its Philippines Program focuses on development policy research, advocacy campaigning, and grassroots capacity building on socio-economic issues, trade and investment agreements, the commons (land, water, freedom of information, public services), climate and environmental justice, and power and democracy.

Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) is a network committed to push the following agenda: (a) Promoting sustainable rice farming; (b) Strengthening community and farmers‘ rights over seeds; (c) Retaining quantitative restrictions (QRs) on rice; and (d) Increasing domestic support for the rice industry.

Rural Poor Institute for Land and Human Rights Services (Rights! Network) supports the struggle of landless and near-landless rural poor communities, including indigenous peoples and informal rural settlers, for agrarian reform, rural development, and rural democratization in agrarian flashpoint provinces. It is a polycentric network of independent and autonomous member-NGOs/CSOs based in different provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao islands.

Social Watch Philippines is part of an international network of citizens‘ organizations struggling to eradicate poverty and the causes of poverty, to ensure an equitable distribution of wealth and the realization of human rights. It puts forward a strategy of advocacy, awareness-building, monitoring, organizational development, and networking to promote social development

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concerns, through increasing social participation and awareness. The network counts as members around 100 CSOs and individuals.

Download (PDF, 213KB) II. Context for the Information Requests As a food staple, rice is among, if not the, most important commodities in the country. Its availability and affordability affect millions, particularly those who are struggling against hunger and poverty. While the government has declared commitment to achieve rice self-sufficiency since 2010, and despite billions of pesos allotted for the rice self-sufficiency bid, local outputs have been unable to meet national demand, much less compete with other Southeast Asian countries in the trade arena.

In 2016, the Duterte administration adopted rice self-sufficiency as a goal, extending key programs to enhance local production until 2020. Such strategy, however, was challenged by economic advisers/experts, arguing that food security through importation might make better use of public funds allocated for the agriculture sector. In 2018, the Duterte administration pronounced that it will instead focus on enhancing local competitiveness and now views â&#x20AC;&#x2022;selfsufficiency as impossible.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; A critical context to the rice issue is the matter of quantitative restriction (QR), or the limits imposed on the importation of rice. When the Philippines acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, it negotiated for special treatment in rice, exempting it from tariffication for 10 years. In exchange for the exemption, the Philippines committed to import a minimum quantity of rice (minimum access volumes). Internally, it has likewise committed to prepare the sector so that it can face open competition when the time comes. It has since negotiated two extensions, from 2005 to 2012, and then again from 2012 to 2017. In 2017, the Philippines gave formal notice that it will lift the QR on rice, and move toward tariffication.

By September 2018, the calls for rice tariffication had been amplified in light of the steep increases in rice prices. This came at a time when national inflation reached 6.7 percent, with regional inflation hitting as high as 12 percent. The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law was blamed for the surge in prices, but a closer look at the data also pointed to the contribution of food prices, especially rice.

Rice prices have gone up since 2017. The highest price increase was recorded in September 2018, when average retail price for well-milled rice reached PhP48.98 per kilogram. Economic managers, who placed the direct inflationary impact of TRAIN at around 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points, failed to take into account TRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s speculative effect. Nonetheless, it could not be denied that critically low levels of rice stocks, delayed arrival of rice imported by the private sector, hoarding by traders, and farm devastation due to typhoons, all contributed to increases in rice prices. Abetting worries about rice were news reports of the National Food Authority importing weevil-infested rice from Thailand.

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Clearly, rice is a complicated issue. Through FOI Practice, R2KRN hopes to reconstruct the story of rice, and shed light on the following questions: ● What happened to the rice industry under a WTO-exempt status? ● How does NFA perform its mandate of rice price and supply stabilization? ● Who are the actors engaged in and benefiting from the business of rice? ● Special topics: o Why did the weevil infestation of a batch of rice imports happen, who was responsible for it, and what was done to remedy the situation? o How big a problem is rice smuggling and hoarding?

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Ultimately, answers to these questions will also give a picture of how government manages the rice situation which has teremendous impact on the people‘s welfare.

This FOI Practice is meant to underscore the importance of the following: ● Access to information is access to services: information on government action tracks how it fulfills its mandate for securing the availability and affordability of rice. ● Information is accountability: information shows who benefit from government regulation (licensing) and programs (distribution). ● Information is crucial for policy development: accurate information is crucial for timely decisions and trouble-shooting; it signals policy and implementation gaps, and the need to update or establish new rules. ● Information as policy history: it is important for the government to have proper data standards, including in data archiving, to preserve critical documents of historical significance.

Target Government Institutions and Documents/Information Requested The FOI Practice Team contacted the following agencies to request for specific information related to the issues above.

Department of Agriculture (DA). Executive Order (EO) No. 116 series of 1987, reorganized the Ministry of Agriculture and renamed it the Department of Agriculture. The DA is the frontline agency for agriculture and fisheries, takes charge of the agricultural policy framework, directs public investments in the agricultural sector, and provides support services necessary to make the industry profitable and to spread the benefits of development to the rural poor. In 2016, the DA declared the continuation of the rice self-sufficiency program. For 2018, DA had a budget of PhP53 billion, and a renewed focus on enhancing the productivity of small-scale and community-based food-farming.

The Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) is a loan and grant facility implemented by the DA. It provides loans or income generating project grants for food producers in the agriculture and fisheries sector. ACEF was created by Republic Act (RA) No. 8178 in 1996 from proceeds of the importation of the minimum access volumes of agricultural products tarrified under the WTO, with a life of nine years. It was extended by RA9496 (2007) until 2015, and by RA 10848 (2015) until 2022.

Under the Rice Tariffication Bill, which was approved by the bicameral conference committee in late November 2018, a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) was created, with an annual appropriation of PhP10 billion for six years after its signing. DA is the agency primarily responsible and accountable for RCEF. The requesters asked for the following documents from DA:

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● Documents on the importation and distribution of rice and Reports related to the weevilinfested rice from Vietnam and Thailand (similar to the requests made to NFA, see below); ● Documents related to the government‘s request to extend the quantitative restrictions (QRs) on rice and the concessions that were given as compensation for these extensions (similar to the requests made to DTI, see below); and ● Documents related to ACEF and RCEF o Annual reports (narrative and audit/expenditure) 2000 to 2007 and its succeeding extension from 2007 to 2015 o Available pertinent and related documents on RCEF. National Food Authority (NFA). The NFA is mandated to ensure food security and the stability of supply and price of rice. It is responsible for the procurement of paddy from bonafide farmers and their organizations, buffer stocking, processing activities, dispersal of paddy and milled rice to strategic locations, and distribution of the staple grain to various marketing outlets at appropriate times of the year.

The following documents were requested from NFA: • Documents on the importation and distribution of rice o Official documents on the mechanisms for the allocation of Minimum Access Volume (MAV), as well as the General Guidelines for Importation by the NFA from 1995 to the present; o List of institutions/corporations with import licenses for rice from 1995 to present, as well as the status of such licenses; o Minutes of all the NFA Rice Council‘s regular and special meetings held from January 2016 to the present; o Documentation and related documents regarding the concessions for extending the QRs on rice

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with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005, 2012, and 2017; o Reports related to the weevil-infested rice imported from Vietnam and Thailand; o Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures for rice imports from 2014 to 2018; o Agency level reports detailing the ―weevil infested‖ rice imports from Thailand and Vietnam that arrived in Subic Bay Freeport and Tabaco City, Albay this year; and o Reports showing the markets to which the weevil-infested rice have been distributed.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). DTI also plays a pivotal part in the rice crisis primarily because of its central role in the trade of agricultural products. Under EO 133, dated February 27, 1987, the DTI is mandated to coordinate, promote, and facilitate the country‘s trade, industry, and investment activities, with the end in view of accelerating and sustaining economic growth.

Through its international trade office, DTI exercises responsibility over all matters pertaining to foreign-trade relations, including the implementation of the country‘s commitments to the WTO. Among these commitments is the tariffication of rice after the expiration of the special treatment on rice.

From DTI, the following documents were requested: ● Request letters submitted by the Philippine government to the WTO in 2007 and 2012 seeking to extend the QRs on rice o WTO response to the government‘s request to extend QRs on rice o Official documents reflecting the concessions given in return for these extensions; ● Official documents/statements issued by the government that (1) declare the extension of the concessions on lower tariffs to certain agricultural products, and (2) grant such concessions to interested WTO parties, as compensation for the government‘s extension of the QRs on rice; ● Official document/s submitted by the government to WTO in March 2017 declaring that it will tariffy the QRs on rice once the waiver on the special treatment on rice expires on June 30, 2017; and ● Letters received from WTO/WTO members in reaction to the government‘s extension of the QRs on rice, as well as the government‘s responses to these letters (2017).

Bureau of Customs (BOC). Created by Republic Act No. 1937 in 1957, the BOC has the principal mandate to implement an effective revenue-collection method, and to prevent and suppress smuggling and the entry of prohibited imported goods into the country. BOC supervises and controls the entrance and clearance of vessels and aircrafts engaged in foreign commerce.

The requesters asked for the following documents: • Official report on smuggled rice intercepted at designated ports of entry containing the following details: o Registered name of importer o Source country of smuggled rice o Volume and value of smuggled rice; and ● Official report on the disposal of intercepted smuggled rice.

Download (PDF, 117KB)

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III. RESULTS In total, we filed FOI requests with four agencies, covering 19 classes of documents (with some documents requested from multiple agencies). We made eight calls, sent 21 email and three fax messages, logged in to the eFOI portal once, and made two hand deliveries. Agency response time took one to 21 days (as of December 6, 2018). We received three referrals or redirection, and three denials, two of which were for the same documents requested separately by different team members. An appeal for these documents was filed, and has been pending for 18 days. Of the 19 documents, we obtained the following: five complete, four incomplete (data do not cover earlier years); while 10 documents have either been denied or have yet to be released.

Annexes I and II provide details of the documents requested and the agency response.

Below are notes of the team‘s experience with the four agencies.

National Food Authority (NFA) ● Response time was quick at two days, with some documents released, and an update on the remaining requests. For statistical data, NFA referred us to the archive in their website. We got the general guidelines on rice importation, but there are data for MAV allocation only from 2014 to 2018, and nothing from before that until 1995. ● Two team members (AER and Focus) both requested for the minutes of the NFA Council‘s meetings. Both were denied on the basis of confidentiality. The AER appeal is still pending at the time of this writing. ● The request for the documents related to the Philippine government‘s communication with the WTO on the extension of the QRs on rice was ignored. ● Reports on the weevil-infested rice was released only after some back-and-forth with NFA. Prior to release, the NFA contact only said that the rice from Thailand was distributed in Regions III and V, but no official report was give. ● In the frequent communication with NFA, the team had to explain the request several times, and was asked to provide information on the requester‘s organization. Several requests had to be sent to different offices, and the team even had to be asked to file an eFOI request for documents the NFA could not release (e.g. data related to rice import licenses). ● For referral to its website, NFA gave exact links only to some documents, while some requests were left hanging (no data for all the years covered by the requests).

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) ● Requests to DTI were filed with different offices, and sent by email and fax. ● Response was quick at six days. ● DTI through a different email address (NCR@dti.gov.ph) responded through email to clarify that DA is the more appropriate agency to handle our request (for WTO-related documents).

Department of Agriculture (DA) ● We sent several requests to DA, some of which we also filed with NFA (reports on the weevilinfested rice) or DTI (documents related to the extension of QR on rice, communications with the WTO). ● Requests were sent to different offices by email, one was hand-delivered, and followed up with

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phone calls. ● Some of the difficulties encountered when following up requests were the unavailability of the contact person, calls not being received/answered, and long/complicated request rerouting process. ● No document was obtained from DA as of this writing. For information on the extension of QR on rice, the team was sent the following link: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/markacc_e/qr_e.htm.

Bureau of Customs (BOC) ● BOC has no information (name, contact details) for its FRO. The person who received the call at the BOC did not know what an FRO meant, and the team was referred to the Public Information and Assistance Division and the Office of the Commissioner. The FRO who responded to our request did not provide his/her name and/or contact information. ● The team was asked to file a request through the eFOI. After one working day, BOC denied our request citing confidentiality and suggested that we provide a duly signed request letter addressed to the Management Information System and Technology Group.

The FOI Practice experience showed sluggish, although positive responses from two out of four agencies, particularly the DA and the NFA through their FROs. We observed that processing FOI requests requires a handful of approvals before data/information can reach the requester.

It is also important to note that the FOI request process for NFA is not clear. Although we followed the instructions indicated in its manual on sending information requests through email, the FRO instructed us to file our request under the Electronic Freedom of Information (e-FOI) Portal — a procedure that is not specified in the NFA manual when sending requests through email.

It is unclear to some agencies how the request process should go. The BOC request might have gone more smoothly had the request been filed with the Department of Finance, but we were also interested in how attached agencies would respond to FOI requests.

All agencies have either denied access, rerouted the requests to other offices that cannot disclose information out of ―confidentiality.‖ None of the agencies specified which exception/s the requested documents fall under. Several offices did not respond despite follow-ups, or may have deliberately ignored requests since it was out of their jurisdiction. Most offices justified their non-release of data/information due to: (a) inconsistencies between requested data and actual data sets available; (b) confidentiality of the requested information; (c) no actual data/information was available specific to the request; or (d) the data/information is already available in website external to the agency.

IV. INSIGHTS The most critical issues we noted in this FOI Practice are: (1) agency knowledge of documents in its possession, and which units should requests be properly referred to; and (2) the question of where older records and data can be located.

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Referrals, rerouting, and redirection are understandable, especially if requests are complicated and/or involve older documents, as long as the request is eventually successful. Non-responsive units, incomplete data, and dead ends are frustrating for requesters.

In the end, we were not able to get all the data and documents we need. Based only on what we obtained through the FOI Practice, supplemented by data procured from the agency websites or news reports, it is difficult to paint a full picture of the rice industry. Particularly, the request for the minutes of the NFA council meetings, which could have shed light upon how the council might have possibly discussed their plans of action on responding to the different issues concerning the rice sector, was denied. Another important document that we were not given access to is the BOC‘s reports on smuggled rice intercepted at ports of entry. Such information could have allowed us to better understand the factors that contributed to the ongoing rice crisis.

Since we were deprived access to such documents, we have been likewise deprived access to the information that can identify the possible root cause(s) of the problem and consequently have also been deprived of the ability to come up with appropriate recommendations. Further, this poses issues on the agency‘s accountability measures.

With regard to the actual data that were retrieved, here are our observations: ● The general guidelines on the importation of rice and MAV allocation contain pertinent information that allow us to create a comprehensive picture of the private sector‘s rice importation process — from the application process of institutions interested to import rice to the post-importation process. However, while the guidelines on rice importation could have served as a useful benchmark in identifying possible noncompliance of NFA, which may have contributed to the rice crisis, this document is difficult to optimize since we were not provided with the minutes of the NFA Council‘s meetings on rice importation that reflect what actions the agency actually took or what decisions it made. ● BOC denied the request for details on rice smuggling, citing confidentiality issues. While the request was broad, it asked for names of the importers of the smuggled rice, as well as for less personal details like the volume of rice smuggled into the country. There had been numerous criticisms about the failure of BOC to curb smuggling in rice, and there had been news reports on smuggled rice being intercepted or disposed. If at least some information is being released to the media, why is it not also released to researchers? Smuggling is among the concerns of farmers who, already burdened by high input costs and hit by natural calamities, become even less competitive in the face of cheaper smuggled rice. On a related note, if huge quantities of rice are being smuggled into the country, yet prices continue to be high, what then are the greater contributing factors to the rice problem? ● Some information on increases on the country‘s MAV for rice as a result of the extensions of the QR in rice, from news reports or documents submitted to legislative bodies. There are no information, however, on other concessions made on non-rice commodities. Without this, the real costs and benefits of retaining the QRs or tariffication cannot be estimated with accuracy. ● The ACEF was supposed to be a mechanism to assist farmers affected by the liberalization of agriculture trade. It is the inspiration for the RCEF proposed under the Rice Tariffication Bill. A

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close evaluation of ACEF‘s performance would go a long way in ensuring that RCEF will indeed be able to respond to the needs of affected rice farmers.

The FOI Practice Team on Rice tried to piece together the information gathered, and made more detailed notes on the rice issue. See Box –Usapang Bigas: Notes on the Story of Rice V. RECOMMENDATIONS Based from our experience on this practice round, we recommend the following measures: ● There should be dedicated personnel to manage not only information requests, but to maintain information and data-management systems. Such personnel should have full knowledge of where documents originate and where they are kept, to help expedite request routing. The approval system should also be streamlined, and should be reflected in an FOI request flowchart. ● Each agency should have a comprehensive information map, clearly identifying the documents that are publicly available and documents with restructed access, and marking information comanaged with other agencies. ● There should be stricter implementation of basic manual requirements: o As an exercise of due diligence, the receipt of a request (even those not delivered personally) should be communicated to the requester, preferably through a written response. The same goes for denials where the reason for the non-release of data/information is provided in written form to the requester. o Names and contact details of FOI receiving officers should be clearly indicated in agency websites and directories, and distributed to all offices for reference. o Agencies have to be more conscious about the prescribed 15-day response period and the 20day extension period. ● Data format issues: As far as practicable, documents for release should also be in soft copies and/or machine-readable format. ● Data storage and archiving issues: Agency websites do not always carry the historical data and documents. In such cases, FROs should be able to direct requesters to libraries or other relevant offices for physical copies of the documents. Needless to say, the storage and archiving policies should be clear to FROs and other personnel responsible for record management. — Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, December 2018

Posted in: Access to Information, Business and Economy, Databox, Featured Stories, Governance, Health and Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Justice and Rule of Law, Latest Stories, Peace and Public Security, Politics, Rodrigo R. Duterte, Special Interest, Stories, What's New, Women and Children, Youth and Education http://pcij.org/stories/usapang-bigas-foi-practice-on-availability-price-stability-and-importationof-rice/

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Udupi: Diversion of 'Anna Bhagya' rice - accused succeeds in getting bail ď&#x201A;ˇ

Wed, Dec 12 2018 12:51:05 PM

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Dec 12: A person who was facing the allegation of illegally buying rice meant for distribution through public distribution system and misappropriating it for commercial purpose, secured conditional bail from the single judge bench of the high court.

Under the instructions of deputy commissioner of the district, food inspector, Parvathama, had raided Vijaya Rice Mill at Kota here. The raid was conducted on September 8, 2017, based on information about ration card rice being bought for low rate and diverting it for other purposes. The raiding team had seized 5,144 kg of rice during the operation. Owner of the mill, Umanath Pai, had fled during the raid.

Kota police who registered the case under Essential Commodities Act 1955, had kept the seized rice in the APMC yard under the instructions of food inspector. Udupi district and sessions court had refused bail, treating this as a serious case of misusing government facility. Bail application was then moved in the stat high court. Presiding officer of the single judge bench of the high court, Justice Nigajagannavar, who heard prolonged arguments on behalf of the prosecution and the accused, granted bail to the accused with the condition to furnish bond of one lac rupees and two sureties.. In addition, the accused has to present himself at Kota police station on the last day of every month.

Special public prosecutor, Chandramouli, argued on behalf of the prosecution in the case, while high court advocate, H Pavanchandra Shetty, had appeared on behalf of the accused.

Rice millers facing problems due to FCI staff strike TNN | Dec 12, 2018, 07:37 IST Bathinda: Delivery of custom milling rice in the central pool suffered with employees of Food Corporation of India (FCI) going on strike to press their demand for wage revision.

Nearly 3,000 FCI employees working in Punjab went on strike on Monday, bringing movement of rice from mills to godowns to a standstill.

Rice is not being transported out of Punjab as no special trains are being loaded. FCI authorities fear that if the strike is drawn out longer, millers and the central procurement agency could face

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problems.

Millers started delivering rice on November 22. More than 170 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been procured in Punjab and is stacked in rice mills. After every 100 kilograms, millers return 67% rice to the FCI after custom milling of paddy.

Rice millers in Punjab say they are finding it difficult to deliver rice in the central pool after custom milling because of the strike. Cold weather and space constraint are also making storage difficult, they said.

FCI workers association member Anand Kumar said, ―employees have been raising the demand for wage revision for a long time but no one paid heed. We started ‗work to rule‘ from November 8, meaning working up to 5pm. On December 10, we went on a complete strike. If our demands are not met, we will intensify the protest and make all operations come to a standstill.‖ Association member Satish Kumar said if the strike continues, millers may have to face financial losses as rice would have to be stored in moist conditions after custom milling, which could lessen its weight. ―We want FCI management to make alternative arrangements for movement of rice from mills,‖ he said.

Manager, procurement, Bathinda Siddarth Chakkerpani said millers approached them for making alternative arrangements, but they are helpless.

ICOUR to increase rice production after rehabilitation of Tono Dam

Fatima Anafu- Astanga, GNANavrongo (UE) Dec. 11, GNA – Mr Sebastian Bagina, the Acting Manager of the Irrigation Company of Upper East Region (ICOUR), has said rice cultivation at the Tono irrigation site is expected to increase from next year. This he said will be possible when the dam is fully put into use after the on- going rehabilitation work is complete.Mr Bagina said prior to the rehabilitation of the Irrigation facility, ICOUR in collaboration with USAID and International Fertilizer Company, introduced technological innovations to the farmers to improve rice production.

He said the newly introduced technologies which were Urea Deep Placement and row transplanting were very efficient and helped the farmers increase their yield from 4 tonnes to 5.5 tonnes per hectare.The irrigation scheme produces 12 metric tonnes of rice annually.According to the Manager, it was a departure from random transplanting and broadcast of fertilizer by farmers which usually led to loss due to leaching but row transplanting and urea deep placement in the form of briquettes was helping the farmers to improve rice cultivation.

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He said only 1,400 hectares was presently under cultivation due to the breakdown of the system but the total developed area of the Irrigation scheme was 2,490 hectares and that would be available for farming after the rehabilitation, thereby increase rice and vegetable production next year. He said the rehabilitation would enhance water transportation and distribution and improve the control of the system which would enable larger coverage of irrigable land. A visit to the silos in Navrongo witnessed brisk business of business persons buying rice from farmers at various sites of the scheme.Speaking with Kofi Kawuponi, a farmer in Navrongo, he said a 165 kg bag of paddy rice was sold at GH¢230.00,Meanwhile Government, in the recent 2019 budget statement, promised to reduce and replace a significant fraction of food imports with domestic production.

The Country is said to spend 2million dollars every year on the importation of rice alone, $320 million on Sugar and $374 on poultry.

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