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Siddaramaiah unveils ambitious rice scheme Story Dated: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 20:12 hrs Bangalore: Karnataka

IST

Government on Wednesday launched its ambitious initiative to supply 30 kg of rice at Re one to nearly one crore poor families across the state that would entail an outgo of Rs 4,200 crore a year. The "Anna Bhagya" scheme was unveiled by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here while in-charge ministers did so in district headquarters, in what the Opposition sees as a bid to woo poor people ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The scheme, which Congress promised in its manifesto ahead of May 5 Assembly elections, was originally planned to be implemented from June 1, but postponed due to problems relating to supply.In view of the huge cost involved, the scheme has come under criticism from some quarters, including Opposition BJP which has dubbed the programme a "hasty decision" without doing home-work.Reacting to this charge, Siddaramaiah in his address at the launch function said to implement any propoor scheme it is necessary that the government shows urgency. "Can the government delay pro-people schemes," he asked.He also refuted the Opposition's claims that the scheme is being implemented in a haste in view of the Lok Sabha polls.

"We haven't taken this decision in view of Lok Sabha polls but in view of Congress tradition of helping the needy," he said.The chief minister also said instead of pondering over the huge sum of money to be spent on the implementation of the scheme, it is important to give food to the poor who struggle even to get two meals in a day. "The government is there for giving justice to the deprived and the hungry," he said.On criticism that the beneficiaries would become lazy, he said "If that is so, have people of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh 1 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

become lazy. Their states also have introduced similar schemes. These are baseless and politically-motivated statements."Eighty-seven lakh BPL cardholders and 11 lakh "Anthyodaya Anna Yojane" beneficiaries are covered under the scheme under which single member cardholders would get 10 kg per month, two-member ones 20 kg and three and above would get a maximum of 30 kg.To meet the huge demand, Karnataka plans to buy rice from Chhattisgarh, India's "rice bowl", at Rs 23.30.

In Photo:Siddaramaiah,Karnataka Chief Minister: (File photo)

NFA says no rice shortage

by Zen Hernandez, ABS-CBN News Posted at 07/11/2013 3:23 PM | Updated as of 07/11/2013 3:23 PM MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority said there is no shortage in the supply of rice, despite rising prices.The price of well milled rice went up from P30 to P32 per kilo. Rice retailers attributed the price increase to higher farm gate prices and a perceived tightness in supply.Retailers in Kamuning said a sack of well milled rice is now at P1,700, which is P50-P100 higher than a week ago. They also claimed that suppliers are not able to satisfy their requirement.

But the NFA said the situation remains normal, noting that July is a lean month and rice prices are expected to move up a little.The NFA will monitor though if prices will continue to rise within the month. If mid-priced rice (P30-32/K) will run out, the NFA may intervene by releasing buffer stocks.The NFA assured they have 616,000 MT of buffer stocks which is good for 21 days. It is also offering to buy smuggled rice confiscated by the Bureau of Customs in Cebu and in Legaspi.The NFA noted that the P27-P28 per kilo iron fortified NFA rice is still available and may serve as an alternative for consumers.

Vietnam rice penetrates Mexico Thursday, July 11,2013,19:59 (GMT+7)-By Pham Thai - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Five enterprises have sold a combined 2,693 tons of rice to Mexico since the year’s beginning, marking great efforts by local exporters to tap the new market, according to the Zone 2 Plant Quarantine Subdepartment.Nguyen Van Nga, head of the sub-department, this year marks the first time Vietnam has shipped rice to this market, albeit with a modest volume.Rice exported to Mexico is mainly the 5% broken category, Nga said.

Nga noted that Mexico was a new market and had strict quarantine requirements on imported rice. To export rice to Mexico, enterprises must have quarantine certificates and clear origins for their shipments, he added.To ensure this, the sub-department has instructed enterprises to sterilize, polish and use machines to remove impurities from rice. Besides, packaging and putting rice into containers must be done in the daytime to avoid insects.The Plant Protection Department last year worked with the Mexican food hygiene agency to study their rice processing requirements and then disseminate the information to Vietnamese enterprises.

Besides, statistics of the General Department of Customs showed that Mexico imported from Vietnam an amount of goods worth US$308 million in the year’s first five months, with footwear accounting for the highest 2 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

value of US$93.8 million and seafood US$46.2 million, Coffee, computers and electronic devices are also products imported by Mexico in bulk.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), local enterprises delivered nearly 700,000 tons of rice with a value of US$293 million last month, taking the total export volume in January-June to 3.4 million tons worth over US$1.5 billion.Vietnam exported 7.5 million tons of rice last year with an export turnover of US$3.3 billion, and this year’s rice export is forecast to be equivalent to that of last year, according to VFA.

UPDATE 3-Thailand to sell rice from stocks, may need to cut prices Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:26am EDT * Traders say Thailand must cut prices to secure sales * Thai sales would further pressure world grain market * Govt to sell both milled and unmilled rice * Thailand to seek government rice sales (Adds comments from Manila)

By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK, July 10 (Reuters) - Thailand plans to start selling rice from government stockpiles next week, offloading up to 1.5 million tonnes a month for the rest of the year, but traders said it would have to slash prices and accept big losses in order to move the grain.World prices have fallen due to expected bumper crops and high stockpiles and Thai sales would put even more pressure on the market.Global production could rise 1.9 percent to a record 479.2 million tonnes of milled rice in the next 2013/14 crop, the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.

Thai officials estimate stocks at 17 million or 18 million tonnes, or almost double the export volumes of a normal year."It's a good time to start selling stocks, as we see rising demand for several grades of rice," Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan told reporters.He said the government aimed to sell up to 1 million tonnes of milled rice per month and another 500,000 tonnes of paddy. It also planned to sell an unspecified amount on the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (AFET).Last year, the Thai government said it had sold 7.3 million tonnes to foreign governments for delivery over several months into this year, but the purported buyers denied the deals and activity at ports did not suggest such large-scale loading.

Traders said the Thai government would have to accept huge losses if it wanted to release stocks to get fresh funding for its intervention programme, which helped win the votes of millions of farmers and carry it to power in 2011.

"Bidding prices are expected to be really low and the government has no choice, except to cut prices, if it really wants to offload the rice," said Rakesh Sodhia of Fortuna International Ltd in Bangkok.The government has estimated it suffered losses of 136 billion baht ($4.33 billion) from the scheme in 2011/12 but even that was based on getting prices for remaining stocks that now seem wildly unrealistic."Prices will drop as supply is rising everywhere. India, Thailand and Vietnam are about to harvest their 2013/14 crop in the second half of this year but demand is steady," said Sompong Kitireanglarp, president of Thai exporter Ponglarp Co Ltd. THAILAND TO SEEK GOVT SALES Niwatthamrong was appointed in a cabinet reshuffle at the end of June, when his predecessor lost his job over losses that had piled up under the intervention programme and his failure to be open about costs and how much rice was sold.The new minister is to visit several countries that have pacts with Thailand on rice sales, to discuss new deals. "The countries I plan to visit are Indonesia, Iran, the Philippines, Malaysia, China and Singapore," he 3 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

said.Indonesia, a big buyer that is trying to become self-sufficient, said it could import up to 600,000 tonnes of rice this year depending on local output, stocks and prices.

Jakarta normally buys from Vietnam, whose rice is cheaper.The Philippines, which aims to be self-sufficient in rice by the end of 2013, said it had no plan to buy more through the National Food Authority."Thailand has approached the NFA for a government-to-government deal. But for this year the NFA has no plans of buying more after our deal with Vietnam," a spokesman told Reuters. "And we're not sure if we need to import rice for next year."Vietnamese 5 percent broken rice stood at $370 to $385 a tonne on Wednesday against $475 for the same grade from Thailand.

The Thai rice cost $520 a tonne at the end of June and fell sharply when the government announced a cut in the intervention price it pays to farmers. The price stuck near the lower levels even when the government did an about-turn and reinstated the original purchase price after protests from farmers.The government pays 15,000 baht ($480) a tonne for rice, a figure traders estimate is 40 percent above the market price. Milling, storage and other costs suggest the government would need to get about $700 a tonne to break even. ($1=31.3050 Thai baht) (Additional reporting by Nguyen Phuong Linh in Hanoi, Michael Taylor in Jakarta and Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Alan Raybould and Clarence Fernandez)

Thailand to see higher rice output this year: FAO The Nation July 11, 2013 7:33 pm

China, India and Thailand would have higher rice production in 2013 compared to 2012, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

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"In the case of Thailand, rice production is expected to grow by about 2 per cent in 2013," said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, at the his monthly media briefing today.World rice production in 2013 is forecast to expand by 2 per cent to 500 million tonnes in milled equivalent.

Konuma was highlighting the rice situation in Asia-Pacific which foresee record first season harvests in Bangladesh and the Philippines, mainly reflecting an estimated expansion in plantings. In Indonesia the output of the main wet season paddy crop is estimated at 68.4 million tonnes, some 4.4 per cent above the previous year's record harvest of the same season, following diverse initiatives launched by the government to achieve selfsufficiency.According to the FAO, the outlook for the harvest of early planted 2012/13 secondary dry season rice in most Asian countries and the main rice crop in the southern countries is favourable thanks to generally beneficial weather, adequate supplies of fertiliser and irrigation water.

The FAO announced that total global cereal production is forecast to increase by about 7 per cent in 2013 compared to 2012, helping to replenish global inventories and raise expectations for more stable markets in 2013/14. The increase would bring world cereal production to 2,479 million tonnes, a new record level which would eventually reverse last year’s supply deficit. Konuma said, that "Asia’s contribution to this global cereals increase is 1.3 per cent and will come largely because of increases in rice production of about 2 per cent. An increase in paddy production is expected, tentatively estimated to reach a record level of 675 million tonnes, some 2 per cent above the 2012 record harvest.

However, given the bulk of the 2013 paddy and coarse grains crops are currently being planted, the situation could change as the season progresses.""Despite the overall anticipated increase in cereal production in most countries of the subregion, the aggregate cereal imports in the 2013/14 marketing years are expected to increase by some 6 per cent compared to 2012/13 and remain 11 per cent above the preceding five-year average level. The increase is mainly attributed to the higher forecast of maize imports from China, almost double from the previous year, following growing demand for feed use. Similarly, total wheat imports of the East Asia are expected to increase by 1.1 million tonnes or 3 per cent above last year's level," Konuma said In Snap: Hiroyuki Konuma

Commerce Ministry finalizes methods for releasing rice in stockpile BANGKOK, 11 July 2013 (NNT

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The Ministry of Commerce has finalized the methods that will be used to release the rice in the government's stockpile, with the measures slated to kick in within this month. The Commerce Ministry's subcommittee overseeing rice stock release, chaired by Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan, has approved 3 guidelines to release the rice pledged under the rice mortgage scheme. The first guideline is to hold general auctions, and price quotes from the private sector are expected to be submitted by next week.

The second one is to release 500,000 to 1 million tons of rice through the Agricultural Futures Exchange (AFET) within 6 months. The last one is to initiate government-to-government rice trading deals, although the quantity or rice to be released by this method has yet to be established. The commerce minister is also slated to visit importers of Thai rice such as Indonesia, Philippines, China, Iran and Malaysia to facilitate such G-2-G deals and to persuade them to buy more rice.

The Commerce Ministry also disclosed that the subcommittee in charge of releasing rice stock would soon ponder the proposal by rice farmers calling for the government to provide them with compensation of 3,000 baht per ton of rice should the government reduce the pledging price to 12,000 baht per ton for next year's rice crop.

New crop arrivals put pressure on rice Karnal, July 11:

Rice market may continue to rule in a tight range for the next few days, said trade sources.With not much trading taking place in the market, aromatic and non-basmati varieties remained unchanged on Thursday.Tara Chand Sharma, proprietor of Tara Chand and Sons, told Business Line that the market may continue to rule in a tight range with marginal fluctuations even in the coming days. New paddy crop arrivals have started from the Uttar Pradesh and the quality of the stock is very good.New crop arrivals are also putting some pressure on the market. However, currently there are no buyers for the PR and Sharbati variety, while rice millers have shown some interest in buying of Pusa-1121. Traders expect that buying may pickup within a week and then the arrivals of PR variety will also increase.

In the physical market, Pusa-1121 (steam) sold at Rs 7,500-7,600, while Pusa-1121 (sela) quoted at Rs 7,030 a quintal.

Pure basmati (raw) quoted at Rs 8,800-8,820. Duplicate basmati (steam) sold at Rs 6,700.

For the brokens of Pusa-1121, Dubar quoted at Rs 3,900, Tibar sold at Rs 4,400 while Mongra was at Rs 3,050.

In the non-basmati section, Sharbati (Steam) sold at Rs 4,750-4,770 while Sharbati (Sela) quoted at Rs 4,400.

Permal (raw) sold at Rs 2,300-2,350 while Permal (sela) went for Rs 2,300. PR-11 (sela) sold at Rs 3,000 while PR-11 (Raw) quoted at Rs 2,750. PR14 (steam) sold at Rs 3,300.

Paddy arrivals

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Around 4,000 bags of different paddy varieties arrived at the Karnal Grain Market Terminal on Thursday from Uttar Pradesh. About 1,000 bags of Pusa-1121 arrived and quoted at Rs 3,100-3,200 a quintal. Around 2,500 bags of PR and 500 bags Sharbati arrived and both the varieties remained unsold.

(This article was published on July 11, 2013)

Keywords: Rice market, tight range, aromatic, non-basmati varieties

Government rice contract under scrutiny Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission NACC on Wednesday said irregularities have been found in a government-to-government rice contract as the payment figure was unusually low.NACC commissioner Vicha Mahakhun, as a member of a sub-committee examining corruption in the rice pledging scheme, said his agency is seeking details from six banks which issued 1,460 cashier’s cheques for the government-to-government rice release contract.Mr Vicha said the agency will seek court intervention to get the key information in case the banks refuse to cooperate.The NACC commissioner however noted that some cheques were worth only 80,000 baht, a number which he said was unusual given the scale of G-to-G contracts.

He said it was unusual for any state to pay an amount as small as Bt80,000 at the level of G-to-G rice purchases.Mr Vicha added deputy permanent secretary for finance Supa Piyajitti, heading a Finance Ministry team assessing rice scheme accounts, has given clear information on their contents to the sub-committee.Ms Supa earlier testified before a Senate committee that the rice-pledging scheme is plagued with corruption. The Finance Ministry then set up a committee to probe her testimony.The NACC commissioner said Ms Supa could ask for NACC protection under the witness-protection law if she felt she was intimidated. MCOT online news via Anti-graft agency finds irregularities in govt-to-govt rice contract | MCOT.net | MCOT.net.

In Chennai, prices of fruits and rice shoot up TOPICS

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Tamil Nadu ,Chennai

The next time you reach out for those Washington apples or Australian oranges, you may want to think twice. The price of imported fruits has shot up, thanks to the weakening rupee. Imports have become more expensive, and fruit-sellers said, sales have dropped. Compared to last month, the price of imported fruits including apples, oranges and kiwis is up by 20-30 per cent. If the rupee continues to fall, importers said they would be severely affected. Ravi, a resident of Perambur, said that several fruits had become more expensive than they were last month and some of them were not even of good quality. “I have started buying local varieties of fruits that are slightly cheaper to stay within my budget,” he said.

Dull sales Traders at the Koyambedu wholesale market said that the market has had dull sales over the past few days as the cost of several fruits has gone up. S. Srinivasan, a wholesale fruit trader said that the cost of bananas had gone up due to fewer yields in the Tuticorin and Cuddalore regions.E. Loganathan, who imports apples, said that Chennai gets its fruits from Australia, USA, Chile and China.“We have to shell out Rs. 300-Rs. 400 for every box containing 18 kg of apples. Our importing and storage costs have escalated considerably. We take a cut in our profits, as we just cannot pass on these costs to traders,” he said.

The toll on imports, he said, was evident as up until June about 30 containers were imported to Chennai every week, but this has now dropped to a barely a few a week.Ramakrishnan, another importer, said that importers had taken to selling fruits at lower rates to traders in order to clear their stock.Another blow to household budgets has come from rising rice prices. Traders said that over the past 15 days, the price of first quality rice has gone up to Rs. 56 per kg.

“The reason we are given by suppliers is that there is demand in Karnataka from where we get a considerable quantity of rice and therefore, prices here have gone up. The lowest quality rice is Rs. 34 per kg but that is not soft when cooked,” said G. Rajesh, owner of Rajeshwari Stores in Velachery.M. Krishnakumar, a resident of Ashok Nagar said that he was shocked to see that the rates of rice had gone up again. “I have some old stock left so I am not going to buy any rice immediately. But if this trend continues, rice might touch Rs. 60 per kg by the time I buy it,” he said.

Pulses also hit The prices of pulses, which began increasing in January, seem to have reached a plateau over the past few weeks.“The rates have been increasing due to a reduction in the yield of dhals. Erratic power supply has also caused dhal mills to rely on diesel for generators, which also pushes up costs,” said A. M. Vikramaraja of the Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peravai.The increase in rates of dhal has led to consumers cutting down on consumption.“I don’t have time to go to the wholesale market and have to depend on the local store. So my family has cut down on dhal consumption. Instead of buying 4 kg of thoor dhal a month, I buy 3 kg and don’t make sambar as frequently as I used to,” said Shyamala Ravi, a resident of Thiruvanmiyur.

Keywords: fruits prices, rice prices, food grain prices

Wheat, rice basmati rises on fresh buying

By PTI | 11 Jul, 2013, 03.28PM IST NEW DELHI: Prices of wheat and rice basmati rose up to Rs 100 per quintal on the wholesale grains market today on increased buying by flour mills and stockists.However, bajra and maize dropped on lack of demand against adequate 8 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

stocks position.Traders said fresh buying by flour mills and stockists mainly led to rise in wheat and rice basmati prices.

In the national capital, wheat dara (for mills) rose by Rs 20 to Rs 1,570-1,575 per quintal. Atta chakki delivery followed suit and traded higher by the same margin to Rs 1,575-1,580 per 90 kg.

Atta flour mills, maida and sooji were also traded higher at Rs 860-880, Rs 920-940 and Rs 960-1,000 from previous levels of Rs 840-870, Rs 900-925 and Rs 940-970 per 50 kg respectively.

In the rice section, rice basmati common and Pusa-1121 variety moved up by Rs 100 each to Rs 7,300-7,400 both per quintal.

On the other hand, bajra and maize fell by Rs 50 each to Rs 1,430-1,440 and Rs 1,415-1,420 per quintal, respectively.

The following were today's quotations per quintal: Wheat MP (deshi) 2,050-2,250, Wheat dara (for mills) 1,570-1,575, Chakki atta (delivery) 1,575-1,580 Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) 220, Shakti bhog (10 kg) 220, Roller flour mill 860-880 (50 kg), Maida 920-940 (50 kg) and Sooji 960-1,000 (50kg).

Basmati rice (Lal Quila) 10,400, Shri Lal Mahal 10,000, Super Basmati Rice, 9,500, Basmati common new 7,300-7,400, Rice Pusa-(1121) new 7,300-7,400, Permal raw 2,250-2,300, Permal wand 2,400-2,500, Sela 3,250-3,300 and Rice IR-81,900-1,950, Bajra 1,430-1,440, Jowar yellow 1,600-1,650, white 2,400-2,650, Maize 1,415-1,420, Barley 1,270-1,275, Rajasthan 1,080-1,090.

Rice is cheap, but other things are not’ Spirits were high at the launch of the Re.1-a-kg rice scheme on Wednesday. But beneficiaries also said cheap rice would not solve all their problems.Sundhil, a labourer from Banashankari Second Stage, said: “Every month, I spend approximately a third of my income, Rs. 2000, on rice. Now I will spend much less.” However, she said there were other major expenses. “I still have to pay a high rent, and I spend a lot on other things. For instance, my cell phone bill is Rs. 240 a month,” he added. Bal Gopal Rao, from Seshadripuram, was excited about the scheme, but said he was yet to get a BPL card. “Although this programme is good for the poor, I am waiting for my BPL card for which I have already applied,” he said.

Keywords: rice scheme, BPL card

G-to-G rice deals take fire 1,460 cashier's cheques come under scrutiny Published: 11 Jul 2013-Newspaper section: News

A graft panel looking into alleged mismanagement of the rice-pledging scheme has indicated there are irregularities in what the government claims are rice sale contracts with other countries.Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), said a sub-committee investigating the government-to-government (G-to-G) rice deals is examining 1,460 cashier's cheques, some of which involve payments of less than 100,000 baht.Mr Vicha, who is member of the sub-committee, said the panel has asked 9 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

commercial banks that issued the cheques to provide more information.The sub-panel received copies of the cheques from the Commerce Ministry."Several of these cheques involve tens of thousands of baht.

"If you ask me if there are irregularities, well, do you think a G-to-G contract will involve a transaction of 80,000 baht?" he said.Mr Vicha said some of the commercial banks seemed to need "a little push" to supply the information. The NACC may have to seek a court order if they fail to cooperate, he added.He also said deputy permanent secretary for finance Supa Piyajitti has confirmed with the panel the extent of losses arising from the rice-pledging scheme.He said Ms Supa can seek NACC protection if she believes she is being intimidated by the state after testifying the scheme is rife with graft.He said the NACC can also ask the prime minister not to transfer Ms Supa from her current post.However, he said, Ms Supa has not sought any guidance or action from the anti-graft agency.

Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan said yesterday a sub-committee in charge of releasing rice stocks has approved three guidelines for sales.The guidelines involve general auction sales, G-to-G deals and sales through the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (AFET).The minister said the ministry plans to release between 500,000 to one million tonnes of all kinds of milled rice for local distribution and exports within this year.He said rice bids are expected to be called twice a month throughout the second half of the year.Mr Niwatthamrong said the terms of reference for the first auction are likely to be announced tomorrow.He also said the ministry plans to release about 400,000 tonnes of paddy rice stocks for export as steamed rice.

However, he added the ministry will not sell the rice if the prices offered by bidders are below the reference prices.He said orders for G-to-G contracts currently stand at 10 million tonnes.Of this amount, 7.3 million tonnes are from last year.He said he and his deputy, Yanyong Phuangrach, will travel to countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and China to conclude the rice sale agreements.These countries have signed memoranda of understanding to buy rice under G-to-G contracts, he said.Mr Niwatthamrong said sales through the AFET will involve around 500,000 to one million tonnes of rice.He said the ministry will make sure the sales will not affect this year's rice crop which will be on the market in October.

Mr Yanyong said the ministry has a plan to promote Thai rice as a "souvenir" among foreign tourists, with Hom Mali fragrant rice being the highlight."It won't help much in terms of quantity but it will help increase the value of Thai grain," he said.Pranee Siriphand, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the government recently signed an agreement to sell 5 million tonnes of rice to China and will try to speed up delivery.She said the government recently scrapped its rice deal with the Ivory Coast following the change of government in that country.

Delta to flood market with locally produced rice soon – Commissioner Gov Emmanuel Uduaghan In furtherance of its ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ vision, the government of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has promised that high quality rice produced in the state will flood the market in the next six months .Disclosing this at Ebu in Oshimili North Local Government Area, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Barr. Misan Ukubeyinje revealed that the state government has been deploying more resources and efforts towards harnessing the agricultural potentials of the State It would be recalled that the ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ vision is a strategy whereby Governor Uduaghan plans to leverage the revenue from oil to diversify the economy of Delta State to ensure that in the absence of oil, the state will remain self-sufficient and 10 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

able to cater for the needs of its people.Barr. Ukubeyinje, who was represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Solomon Ashe Sajere, told Ebu people that their community was selected alongside two other sites in Central and South Senatorial districts of the state for the mass production of rice, adding that ecological factors like climate, landscape, fertility of land and optimum supply of water have made government to choose these places for the rice production project.

He assured the community and Rice Growers Association (RGA) that government will continue to provide the enabling environment and equipment as well as early maturing and highest yielding seedlings to guarantee maximum production.Ukubeyinje said that the government will equally supervise the project to ensure that standards are maintained in terms of production processes and produce handling to ensure the high quality seeds are produced in each of the farms.Responding on behalf of the Ebu Community, His Royal Highness, the Regent, Chief Sunday Ofune and his counterpart for Ekpechor, Chief Solomon Achije, the Akpala of Ekpechor assured the government of their willingness and cooperation to actualise the project in their community.The Commissioner had remarked earlier that Ewu in Ughelli North Local Government Area and Jakpa in Warri North Local Government Area had also been chosen for the same purpose.Apart from oil, Delta State is blessed with agricultural and other mineral resources. About 60 per cent of Deltans are engaged in agriculture and the government is already expanding the agriculture value chain to ensure that it moves to processing and manufacturing levels, the Commissioner said.

Also, in harnessing the agricultural and other mineral and human resources into economic benefits, the government is utilising Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and industrial clusters model. There is equally the utilisation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, engaging in institutional reforms, capacity building, vocational skill training, support schemes to students among others, he added

Rice Husks Recycled For Use In High-Capacity Lithium Batteries

By Tang Yew Chung | Featured Research July 10, 2013

Korean researchers have demonstrated that rice husks can be recycled to produce nano-porous silicon for use in high-capacity lithium batteries. Asian Scientist (Jul. 10, 2013) – Korean researchers have demonstrated that rice husks, a major by-product in rice harvest, can be used to produce nano-porous silicon for use in high-capacity lithium-ion batteries. The rice husk is the outer covering of a rice kernel that protects it from attack by insects and bacteria. Because it is removed during the harvesting of rice, over 100 million tons of rice husks are produced annually worldwide. Although efforts have been made to recycle rice husks for other uses, these have been limited to low-value agricultural applications.

Now, in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Korean researchers have described how they took advantage of the unique characteristics of rice husks to produce high-capacity anodes for lithium-ion batteries.The researchers found that rice husks have unique 11 Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874

nano-porous silica (silicon dioxide) layers. These layers, found in the outer shell of the husk, likely evolved because of the need to protect the inner ingredients of the rice kernel while allowing air and moisture to pass through.

Because silicon has high electrical capacity, it is thought to be an ideal material for making lithium-ion battery anodes. An anode is an electrode through which electric current flows into a polarized electrical device like a battery. Silicon has a theoretical capacity that is 10 times higher than that of conventional graphite anodes.In their study, the researchers found a way to convert the silica in the rice husks to silicon while retaining its unique nano-porous structure. They then tested this nano-porous silicon material and found that it exhibits excellent electrochemical performance as a lithium battery anode.

It turns out that that the interconnected nano-porous structure of rice husks is instrumental for this excellent performance as an anode: anodes made of silicon are unstable and are prone to deterioration after repeated charging, but the unique structure of silicon anodes made from rice husks allow them to avoid such problems.Since rice husks can be recycled to make lithium-ion battery anodes with excellent cycling and power performance, the researchers hope that rice husk ‘waste’ can become a resource that helps meet the everincreasing demands for silicon in advanced batteries.

The article can be found at: Jung et al. (2013) Recycling Rice Husks For High-Capacity Lithium Battery Anodes.

Building a better battery from rice Scientists convert a natural silica nanostructure into high efficiency anode.

by Kate Prengaman - July 9 2013, 11:10pm PST Next-generation high-capacity lithium-ion batteries could open doors to better electric vehicles and a multitude of other energy storage applications. To increase battery capacity, many researchers want to replace the carbon anode in today’s technology with a silicon anode that has the potential for ten times the capacity.So far, attempts to design silicon anodes have struggled. Capacity drops off quickly with each battery cycle because the silicon swells as it charges and shrinks as it discharges, which can cause fracturing. Many researchers are seeking nano-structural solutions that will accommodate the material’s expansion, but a team of Korean scientists turned to what may be the most surprising source for high-tech electronics components—rice.

The husks of the rice grains, which are discarded as waste after harvest, are about 20 percent silica. The silica forms a layer that prevents attack from insects and bacteria but is porous enough to allow the transfer of air and water. Dae Soo Junga and team wanted to see if that naturally occurring nanostructure could solve the capacity fade problems that plague silicon anodes.After acid and heat treatments that remove organic compounds and metals, the rice husks are more than 99.9 percent silica. The natural nanostructure of the silica survives these treatments intact.So far, so good. The tricky part is converting the rice’s porous silica structure into silicon.

Silica is silicon bonded to two oxygen atoms, which need to be removed if the material could be used as an anode. The researchers tried a reduction technique to remove the oxygen using magnesium and really high heat.

They found that this process alters the nanostructure slightly, creating silicon walls but retaining the pores.

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Before testing the new silicon structure as an anode, they coated it in carbon layers to increase conductivity. The scientists found that this new material retained its full capacity after 200 cycles and showed stronger performance than carbon-coated silicon nanoparticles, suggesting that the porous structure gives the silicon the space it needs to expand and contract without deforming.The authors suggest that rice husks could be recycled in the future to create these anodes at a production scale. Whether this process could be scaled up in a cost-effective manner is still an open question, but as an example of what engineers can learn from nature’s highly evolved nanostructures, it’s pretty cool.

PNAS, 2013. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1305025110 (About DOIs.)

Rice crop for 2013 meeting expectations It's an average harvest, and that's good, official says Jul. 10, 2013 1:19 AM

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This year’s rice crop will likely be an average one, Steve Linscombe, director of the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station, said Tuesday. But average is not bad.“In general, the crop looks pretty good,” he said. “We have the potential to have a pretty good crop.”Linscombe said rice this year suffered from cold in April and May — the coldest he said he’s seen in three decades in Acadiana — and weathered heat in June.

He said the crop has largely avoided disease, although sheath blight, a fungal-caused disease, is present.“We are not seeing much blast disease; last year was extremely severe. Hopefully, it will not be an excessive blast year,” he said.

Two months ago, rice growers may have feared the worst because of the cold. Although spring weather may have slowed the crop, it has not ruined it, he said.Speaking at the Louisiana State University AgCenter’s Rice Research Station’s 104th annual Field Day in late June, Linscombe said a late June heat wave could impair the crop. That did not happen.“Overall, the crop is 10 days to two weeks behind,” Linscombe said.

Harvest may come within two weeks in some fields where planting came early, the end of July and early August in others.Linscombe said planting in the Southeast was down, especially in Arkansas, where many farmers switched to soybeans, which can be planted later, this year.In Louisiana, farmers planted about 400,000 acres of rice, about 80 percent of that in Acadiana.

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