13th april,2015 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

Rice E-Newsletter April 13, 2015 V o l u m e 5, Issue I

Palace denies snubbing Bill Gates, says request for courtesy call withdrawn last year

By AMITA LEGASPI,GMA News April 10, 2015 5:01pm Did President Benigno Aquino III snub Microsoft founder and world's richest man Bill Gates and his wife who reportedly visited the Philippines recently?

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Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that was not the case. ―Hindi naman ganoon ‗yon. I can tell you that the foundation sent a request for a courtesy call sometime in November 2014 but it was withdrawn. So it‘s not that hindi siya pinansin or anything,‖ Valte said at a press briefing Friday.She was referring to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.Valte said that normally, it is the officials or organizations who ask for courtesy call with the President. She said they were not aware that the Bill and Melinda Gates were in the country.―I‘m trying to get verification about Mr. Gates being here in the country. So far, the reports have been replete with sources and the chopper was supposedly sighted somewhere in IRRI (International Rice Research Institute),‖ said Valte.―What we do know is that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the research of IRRI on golden rice, the hybrid that is supposedly infused with beta carotene and other vitamins,‖ she added.

Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration said a certain William Henry Gates arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on April 4 aboard a private US jet. It added that Gates flew aboard a chartered plane en route to Puerto Princesa in Palawan on April 5.A photograph obtained by GMA News showed a helicopter owned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation landed at the IRRI in Los Baños, Laguna. The IRRI management, however, refused to confirm nor deny the visit of their largest benefactor.

The management of an exclusive island resort in Palawan also did not confirm the presence of the Gates. Despite the lack of confirmation, Valte said the visit of the Gates would certainly boost local tourism as she expressed hope the couple had a good time in the Philippines.

Considering that Mr. Gates and his wife are globally known personalities, it would—if true, then it would certainly be a very good boost to Philippine tourism, and I‘m—if, again, if true—I‘m hoping that they enjoyed their stay in the country,‖ she said. — RSJ, GMA News http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/467614/news/nation/palace-denies-snubbing-bill-gatessays-request-for-courtesy-call-withdrawn-last-year

South Asian officials strengthen partnership with IRRI April 09, 2015

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, April 8 (PIA) — His Excellency Arjun Bahadur Thapa, secretary general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and his colleagues are at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) this week to be acquainted with the Institute's research accomplishments and explore opportunities for further collaboration to improve food security in South Asia.―South Asia, an important beneficiary of IRRI‘s work, leads on global rice production, with India being the second largest rice producer and the first largest exporter in the www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine world,‖ says Abdelbagi Ismail, who heads the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project. ―Nonetheless, some areas in the region still host high populations with extreme poverty and food insecurity. "―In fact, about 30% of the 700 million people in absolute poverty or with income of less than USD1.25 per day in all of Asia live in rice-growing areas in South Asia,‖ added Ismail. ―About half of the rice growing areas in the region are rainfed and prone to flooding, drought, and soil salinity. On the other hand, these areas offer great potential for enhancing agricultural productivity in SAARC member countries.‖According to IRRI deputy director general Bruce Tolentino, ―Real challenges with agriculture and continuing hunger occur in the region. While progress has been promising in some SAARC countries, such as India, large population segments in other countries have not been reached in terms of both food and health services.‖ ―We‘ve discovered through STRASA that, in northern India, the benefits of stress-tolerant rice varieties have actually been enjoyed by women and marginalized groups, who have been—up to now—socially excluded,‖ added Tolentino. ―So, there is a real need to speed up the process of making more of these new varieties available across the SAARC region.‖Recently, IRRI facilitated an unprecedented regional seed cooperation agreement that speeds up the release and dissemination of rice varieties to benefit farmers in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. ―Rice varieties released in one country can now be released in other countries. This means that the other countries do not need to undergo the entire research and regulatory processes to benefit from these varieties,‖ says Tolentino.

IRRI officials will share the rationale and progress of this agreement, among many other initiatives and programs, with the SAARC delegation.Tolentino is optimistic that SAARC will see the opportunities of working with IRRI and extend the agreement to its other member countries Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.Julian Lapitan, head of IRRI‘s partnerships office, hopes that ―a more productive and efficient partnership mechanism will contribute to fulfilling regional goals during discussions with SAARC. ―We are glad that the SAARC officials are here,‖ says Tolentino. ―We will give them a sense of the kind of research that we do, not only for stress-tolerant rice but also for other initiatives and rice science in general. We welcome them to take a look of what we do and see how it can benefit all SAARC members.‖SAARC aims to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life. It also targets to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potential. (IRRI) http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2931428631701/south-asian-officials-strengthen-partnership-withirri#sthash.aWA3IYy2.dpuf

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Trade and knowledge sharing in HYV rice seeds Bipul Chatterjee and Suresh P Singh The signing of a protocol on high yielding varieties (HYV) of rice seeds on October 18, 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal, by the agriculture secretaries of Bangladesh, India and Nepal is a much awaited event. It opens up the scope and potential for agricultural cooperation, which can lead to formal trade and knowledge-sharing in HYV rice seeds among the three countries.It is an extension of a similar protocol signed by the agriculture secretaries of the three countries on February 17, 2013.

Facilitated by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), it seeks to enhance cooperation in HYV rice seeds research, particularly among public institutions and IRRI.For Bangladesh and India, trade and knowledge sharing in HYV rice seeds has been constrained for several reasons.

This is despite the fact that in 1983 the two premier agricultural research and development institutes of Bangladesh and India - Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - had entered into an agreement to foster joint research and cooperation in the field of agriculture.

Some of the major areas included were: (a) cross-hosting or exchange of visiting scientists, trainees, graduate scholars and other professionals between ICAR and BARC; (b)exchange of germ plasm and other materials for breeding, testing and propagation of improved lines and varieties of crops; (c) free exchange of scientific information that is of value to research and training; and (d) joint sponsorship of, and participation in research, training seminars/workshops and technology transfer programmes/ projects.

A CUTS (Consumer Utility and Trust Services) study has found that while trade in hybrid rice seeds is allowed, that in HYV seeds is restricted to trial and testing of adaptability. Several reasons are cited for this lack of trade and knowledge sharing. One reason is the lack of mutual recognition of varieties released in India and Bangladesh. In addition, apprehensions regarding external dependence and market capture by other countries and intellectual property rights related issues work as barriers. Because of such barriers and apprehensions, no serious effort was made in the recent past either by the governments or by other stakeholders towards the promotion of trade and knowledge sharing in HYV rice seeds through harmonisation of seed laws and regulations.

Even initiatives such as the SAARC Seed Bank are yet to have any impact on this subject.In the study, it has found that there is the urgent need for cooperation through trade and knowledge sharing in view of the have high demand for HYV seeds and a widening of demand-supply gap.

Seed supplies, in general, through formal sources constitute about one-fifth of the total requirements in Bangladesh. The situation is relatively better in case of rice seeds, where supply is over 40 per cent. In case of India, even though the supply is relatively better, farmers suffer

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine from lack of availability and accessibility to quality HYV rice seeds.Because of lack of trade and knowledge sharing and increasing demand-supply gap (and also less than expected performance of hybrid rice seeds) farmers are availing informal channels to meet their seed requirements.

One estimate by IRRI shows that more than one-fifth of the rice producing area in Bangladesh uses Indian varieties such as Swarna, Parijat, and others. To be more specific, it has been found in the study that in one particular district in Bangladesh (ChapaiNababgunj), out of 48,000 hectares under rice cultivation, 33,000 hectares are covered by Indian varieties.Similarly, Bangladeshi varieties such as BR 11, BRRI 28, BRRI 29 are used in many Indian states, particularly Assam, Tripura and West Bengal. They are either accessed through informal channels, exchange between farmers across the border, or produced locally.The resultant impact of the barriers to promote formal trade and knowledge sharing is low seed replacement rates, causing low yields. Many rice producing states in eastern India are experiencing very low seed replacement rates; for example, 17 per cent in Jharkhand, 22 per cent in Odisha, 33 per cent in West Bengal and 38 per cent in Bihar.

Bangladesh performs relatively better on this count but there exists huge scope for improvement.This situation of food security and livelihood of small farmers is expected to change with this protocol coming into force. It will encourage mutual recognition of HYV seeds released in the three countries. It will also provide joint evaluation of varieties and acceptance of the research and evaluation data generated in one country for release in similar agro-climatic conditions in other countries.Besides, the protocol could be effective in addressing issues relating to intellectual property rights too. In case a particular variety is desired by farmers and if it is found adaptable to a particular location/country beyond the national boundary, the breeder/owner of the variety can license its production. Issues such as royalties could be addressed between the licensee and the one receiving the licence for local production.

Other provisions in the protocol include germ plasm exchange, simplification of the process of evaluation of varieties through the use of technology, allowing pre-release seed multiplication and demonstration of promising varieties which are in advance stages of release and adoption of programmes for collaboration. Overall, this protocol is a step forward towards the integration of rice seed markets of Bangladesh, India and Nepal - the three adjoining countries in eastern South Asia where rice is a key staple. If effectively implemented, it can significantly improve the availability and accessibility of better variety rice seeds and can also lead to faster release of adaptable varieties in these countries.With this historical development, governments of the three countries should come forward with a clear roadmap to facilitate trade and knowledge sharing in HYV rice seeds.

As a first step, major stakeholders, especially seed producers, traders and farmers are to be made aware of this path-breaking development. Agriculture extension service is a key to make this happen. This should be a stepping stone for trade and knowledge sharing in other areas of agricultural cooperation among these countries including Bhutan and Myanmar.The writers are www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine respectably Deputy Executive Director and Policy Analyst at CUTS (Consumer Utility and Trust Services) International, a research organisation based in Jaipur, India.

IRRI confirms Bill Gates' agenda in PH: Check out work on climate change-ready rice By: InterAksyon.com April 9, 2015 10:35 PM

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5 MANILA, Philippines – The Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute has confirmed reports that the purpose of Microsoft chairman and American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and his team‘s visit this week to the Philippines was to get updates on IRRI‘s work on climate change-ready rice.

In a statement on Thursday, IRRI said senior officers of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) went to the institute in Los Baños ―to see for themselves the work being done at the world‘s premier research center on rice.‖Mr. Gates was with BMGF leaders, including Agricultural Development Program director Pamela Anderson and senior program officer Gary Atlin ―to tour IRRI‘s research facilities and hear updates on the science and the partnership between the two organizations.‖ IRRI said that during the visit of BMGF leaders, the institute‘s scientists ―gave briefings on key advances, including the latest on climate change-ready rice and healthier varieties that aim to help solve micronutrient deficiencies, which afflict about two billion people globally.‖The climate change-ready rice varieties that have reached millions of farmers in Asia were developed

by IRRI and its partners under the BMGF-funded project, Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia or STRASA, the institute said.―These stress-tolerant varieties hold the promise of improving the livelihoods of some of the world‘s poorest farmers who till lands most vulnerable to climate change—and securing the granaries of many countries—by ensuring a good harvest, for instance, even after over 14 days of flooding. Non-tolerant rice varieties would normally die after four days of submergence,‖ IRRI said. ―We are thankful that the BMGF has come for updates on the food and nutrition security initiatives that they support,‖ said Robert Zeigler, director general of IRRI. ―The foundation is a staunch partner in applying the best of science so that people in the rice-eating world will not go hungry.‖

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Also, IRRI said its scientists showed the BMGF leaders experimental rice plots in which flood or drought tolerance is being studied.It said BMGF officials also visited a facility at the institute that simulates drought conditions year-round

Experts Warn against GM Crops Experts Warn against GM Crops by LARA ADEJORO LARA ADEJORO 2:16 amApril 9, 20150 HEALTH Thirty-seven laureates of the Right Livelihood Award from across the world have endorsed a declaration on the future of nutrition, denouncing Golden Rice and Genetically Modified Bananas as ‗false miracles‘. Genetically modified crops (GM crops) have had their DNA modified by genetic engineering techniques Golden rice is a genetically engineered rice variety offered by GM proponents as a cure for Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD), while GM bananas are proposed to compensate for a lack of Vitamin A and iron.

The declaration, written by 1993 Right Livelihood Award recipients, Vandana Shiva and a coalition of women‘s group in India, comes as controversy escalates over the development of GM crops in Africa. According to a February 2015 report by Friends of Earth International, only four African countries—South Africa, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Sudan— have released GM crops commercially, while others are involved in testing or have placed bans and restrictions on GM crops and commodities.

A GM banana project in Uganda under the National Agricultural Research Institute and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently provoked fierce resistance from local civil society organisations who claim that there are better alternatives to GM. Food sovereignty organisation, GRAIN, recipient of the 2011 Right Livelihood Award and signatory to the declaration, said in an earlier statement, ―Vitamin A deficiency like other problems on malnutrition and hunger is not caused by the lack of Vitamin A in food, but by people‘s inability to access a balanced diet. It is a mistake to turn blindly to Golden Rice, a crop that the International Rice Research Institute itself admits it has not yet determined can actually improve Vitamin A. ―It is clear that the development of Golden Rice, with its avowedly humanitarian mission to solve vitamin A deficiency serves the biotech industry in its efforts to win wider approval for GM foods.

It is a tool to promote GMOs that would pave the way towards control of food and agriculture by agro biotech corporations.‖ Nigerian environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey and recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award, said the move toward GM crops on the continent is driven by profit and heralds a new form of colonisation. ―The modern biotech industry is really going bananas. The so-called golden rice has always been known to be a hoax. The same goes for the so-called golden bananas. The future of African nutrition and access to the right food lies in the preservation of our biodiversity and genetic resources,‖ he said. The declaration states that Golden Rice has not in fact proven to be more nutritious than indigenous varieties and that natural food sources like turmeric provide much more iron than GM bananas.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine As a source of nutrition for the Global South, Golden Rice has no real benefits. But considering the precedents set by soya, corn, canola and cotton, introducing Golden Rice as a way for large companies to gain control over entire food cultures based on rice, makes perfect sense,‖ states the declaration. It also reveals the environmental costs, potentially damaging health impacts and consequences for small-scale farmers of GM crop production, and calls for support for sustainable agro-ecology systems with crop diversity and seed sovereignty. http://dailytimes.com.ng/experts-warn-against-gm-crops/

Rice exporters report slow sales despite drop in price VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese rice exporters have lowered selling prices, but are still finding it difficult to obtain export contracts.

Nguyen Cong Tri, a farmer in Thoi Lai District of Can Tho City, said he has sold all of his winter-spring rice, but at the ―lowest ever price‖. The profit was modest.According to Tri, wet IR50404 was sold at VND4,000 per kilo. When the government began collecting rice for stockpiling, the price moved up to VND4,200-4,300 per kilo. However, farmers did not benefit from the stockpiling program, before they had sold out of their rice. Meanwhile, the price was VND4,600-4,800 per kilo in previous years.―Previously we could pocket VND1,800-2,000 per kilo, but now we can earn VND1,200 only,‖ he said.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine ―I heard the price has fallen because China has shifted to buy high-quality rice and placed smaller orders,‖ he said. ―Meanwhile, Vietnam‘s rice is less competitive than Thailand‘s and Pakistan‘s‖.Nguyen Van Don, director of Viet Hung Company, confirmed that he had not seen such slow sales. Don said Vietnamese rice is selling at the lowest level in the world. The common five percent broken rice is offered at $360-365 per ton, or $35-40 per ton lower than Thai rice of the same kind. Indian and Pakistani rice is $10-20 per ton more expensive.

Vietnam also offers the lowest price for 25 percent broken rice.Don explained that as Thailand, trying to clear its big stocks, has lowered its selling prices, the move has forced India, Pakistan and Vietnam to lower their prices to compete with Thailand. However, despite the price decrease, Vietnam‘s rice cannot be easily sold. Thailand and Pakistan have been trying to conquer Africa, which was once Vietnam‘s key market.According to Don, in previous years, Vietnam relied on commercial contracts on exporting rice to China and government-togovernment contracts with the Philippines and Indonesia.

However, China has changed its import policy, only seeking to buy high-quality long-grain 5 percent broken rice, while refusing 15-25 percent broken rice, which it had bought in previous years.Le Van Banh, head of the Mekong River Delta Rice Institute, said that the world market now demands high quality rice, but Vietnam does not have this kind to export.Banh said IR50404 is the most commonly grown rice in Vietnam, accounting for 50-60 percent of the total winter-spring crop production area in the Mekong River Delta.However, Don is optimistic about rice exports in 2015. China is planning to grant import quotas to its businesses in the second stage, and will still need common cheap rice, he said. Meanwhile, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have to import rice in large quantities because of a shortage of domestic supply

Exploring Pakistani Cuisine April 9, 2015

SPICY – the first word that comes to mind when thinking about Pakistani food. The Pakistani cuisine is a blend of various regional cooking of the Indian subcontinent. Because Pakistan and India used to be one, after partition the Pakistani cuisine became an extension of Indian cuisine.

It also incorporates Afghan, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern influences. However, there are some purely Pakistani foods such as beef Korma and Haleem.

One would expect the food to be similar all over Pakistan, but an interesting fact is that food and the way it is cooked varies greatly from region to region. The variation reflects Pakistan‘s ethnic and cultural diversity, for example food from the Punjab and Sindh are similar and can be very spicy! Punjabi food is very rich in flavor and people from the Punjab region tend to place a lot of emphasis on meals – they eat till they can‘t eat more. Food in other regions has a certain ‗taste‘ to it which reflects the region. It is also interesting to note that international cuisine and fast foods are popular in urban cities of Pakistan. There is also a blend of local and international

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine cuisines, such as Pakistan Chinese – it‘s a spicy desi version of Chinese food, which I prefer more than authentic Chinese food!

In this post I will walk you through Pakistani cuisine. There are so many delicious dishes, so I can‘t pick my top 5. However, here is my list of my favorite traditional foods served at weddings (stay tuned for my favorite foods to eat when it rains, in winter seasons and light Pakistani food): HalwaPoori HalwaPoori is a traditional Pakistani breakfast cuisine. The dish consists of deep fried poori bread (really oily and crispy) with chana masala (seasoned chickpeas) and halwa (sweet dish).Originally an Indian cuisine, Halwapoori is also served at winter weddings. It is very heavy (and super cheap), and is often considered as a celebratory meal – when people get a promotion, when someone gets married, when it is raining outside or when you have a public holiday and get a day off! The food is delicious, and once eaten laziness is guaranteed to follow.

Makai Ki Roti &SarsoonkaSaag Makaiki Roti with Sarsoonkasaag is a famous Punjabi recipe. It involves mustard leaves, makai (corn) flour and spinach. This dish is very popular and mainly eaten during the winter season because it‘s considered a ―hot dish.‖ This item is very popular at winter weddings as well.

Korma Korma originated in South Asia or Central Asia, and is a gravy dish which consists of meat and vegetables and is made in spicy sauce with yogurt, cream, nut or seed paste. Korma is delicious and is usually eaten with Naan, but can also be eaten with rice.

Biryani Biryani is a famous and popular South Asian dish served around the world. It is a mixed rice dish made with spices, rice, meat or chicken and vegetables. Also, sometimes people add pieces of potato in it to make it even more delicious. It is served at almost all weddings and other functions, and is a staple meal throughout Pakistan. Biryani is absolutely delicious and I have it at least once a week.

Kheer Kheer is a sweet dish often served at weddings and other religious functions. It is a South Asian rice pudding made by boiling rice, broken wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli with milk and sugar; it is then flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachios or almonds. I am not a fan of desserts (Eastern, Western or European), but kheeris definitely edible!

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Want to eat all these yummy dishes? They are all available in Pakistan so you should plan a vacation and book your hotels through www.jovago.com at the cheapest hotel price!

Rice exporters face fewer contracts as China changes its rice quotas VietNamNet Bridge - Rice exporters say the “bad crop” in the first quarter of 2015 was the worst sales season ever, but the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) said the difficulties had been anticipated.

Deputy Minister of MOIT Tran Tuan Anh mentioned the unsatisfactory export volume when reporting the modest growth rate in total export turnover in the first quarter.One of the reasons was that China changed its management policy and was slow in granting rice import quotas to Chinese businesses, which affected rice exports to the Chinese market.Professor Academic Tran Dinh Long, chair of the Vietnam Seed Association, once warned that Vietnamese businesses may fall into the Chinese ―trap‖ when trying to sell rice in bulk to China.Also, rice exporters could not get big contracts in the first quarter.

A report from the General Statistics Office showed that only one million tons of rice were exported in the first quarter, worth $450 million, which represented a 26 percent decrease in quantity and 30 percent in value, compared with the same period last year.However, MOIT said rice exporters had been warned about the difficulties of the export markets, and had offered help for exporters to look for new markets and take full advantage of existing and upcoming free trade agreements.Of the world‘s biggest rice exporters, which make up 80 percent of global rice trade, Vietnam is the only one that ―went downhill‖. www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Vietnam fell from third to fourth position following Pakistan. Meanwhile, the other countries all saw sales increasing. Thailand, for example, had sales up by 10 percent, India by 50 percent and Pakistan by 22 percent. Rice exporters say they doubt MOIT‘s promise to help look for new markets.The director of a rice export company in the south noted that Vietnam‘s rice is now ―hard to sell‖ because sales heavily depend on key markets such as China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. Meanwhile, Vietnam has lost the African market to its rivals.An analyst noted that Vietnam‘s largest markets in Asia tend to be choosier amid abundant supply and lower prices from other exporters. Sources said Thai inventory was still high, at over 10 million tons, while Thai companies can make deliveries at any time. Lam Anh Tuan, director of Ben Trebased Thinh Phat Food Company, noted that the Philippines and Indonesia no longer invite exporters for big package deals. They tend to buy rice in small quantities, because they know they can buy Thai rice i emergency cases.Thai exporters are now making every effort to boost sales because the rice inventory has seen quality decreasing as time elapses.

Iran proposes free trade agreement with India:Rajeev Kher Apr 10, 2015, 05.04 PM IST | Source: PTI Iran proposes free trade agreement with India: Rajeev Kher The matter came up for discussion during the recent visit of Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher to Tehran. He was there for the first meeting of the joint working group (JWG) of the two countries. 1 0Google +0 0 Expecting the removal of trade sanctions imposed on it by western nations, Iran has proposed a free trade agreement with India to boost bilateral trade and investment. The matter came up for discussion during the recent visit of Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher to Tehran.

He was there for the first meeting of the joint working group (JWG) of the two countries. "Iran is very keen to enhance its trade relations with India. It wants to increase its share in the global trade and they said that India can play a very major role in fulfilling that ambition," Kher told Media. "Iran has proposed to negotiate a preferential trading agreement with us. I told them that India will consider this proposal very positively and will soon respond after taking the appropriate mandate from the government," he added.

Kher said the pact would be beneficial for India as through Iran, it can get market access to some parts of Europe and Africa. He said he met his Iranian counterpart and members of several industry chambers in Tehran and now the JWG would meet every year as it would institutionalise the framework. Iran is in the process of reaching an understanding with the six world powers on its contentious nuclear programme, which may ultimately lead to lifting of

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine trade sanctions on the Islamic nation. The move would help Iran to enhance its trade ties with its trading partners including India.

On discussions over basmati rice exports to Iran, Kher said India raised the issue of high import duty, declining imports of the commodity from India and stringent standards. "We discussed all the issues on basmati rice. Iran has said that they have adopted the Codex plus standard and they expect all their suppliers to comply with them. Indian exporters would have to comply with that.

We will see how we can do that," he said. Codex is an international standard for food trade for safety, quality of products. Iran, however, assured that it would increase imports of basmati rice from India as "New Delhi is a chosen partner for basmati rice for them", he added.

India's basmati rice exports to that country have declined to USD 600 million from USD 1.4 billion annually. Iran has not being issuing fresh import permits since October 2014. India's overall basmati rice exports declined by over six percent to 2.57 million tonne during AprilDecember 2014 as compared to 2.74 million tonnes in the same period last year. Iran is the largest basmati rice importer, accounting for around 60-65 percent of total basmati rice exports from India. Basmati rice was India's second largest export commodity after buffalo meat to Iran http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/iran-proposes-free-trade-agreementindia-rajeev-kher_1354252.html?utm_source=ref_article

Soho hops on the bunny wagon 10 APR 2015 17:17 SARAH DAWSON

Durban‘s favourite meal has hopped on to a London street but its culinary gentrification may stick in your throat.

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Thirteen years ago, 50 bakers in the English county of Cornwall banded together in what would surely come to be recognised as one of the great moments in history. The year 2002 CE would be remembered for one thing: the inception of that illustrious protector of pastry and eschewer of garage pies, the Cornish Pasty Association.Their raison d‘être? To safeguard the pasty‘s integrity by preventing consumers being hoodwinked by inferior, impostor pasties trading off the value of the Cornish name.

The crusade to defend their culinary heritage was victorious in 2011 when the Cornish pasty was granted the same protected geographical indication status as has been such foodstuffs as champagne and Parma ham.It was deemed that any pasty falsely claiming the Cornish title and comprising anything more or less than potato, swede, onion, and diced or minced beef wrapped in pastry would be seen to be an illegitimate perversion of the real deal.This exemplifies the concept of terroir, an originally oenological term that describes the regionally unique set of environmental characteristics (such as climate, soil, methods) that are expressed in traditional food production, and seeks to preserve the tastes and smells of a cultural landscape for future generations.

Such things are fetishised by fashionable foodies, but the origins of many such foods are humble.

A staple lunch for working men in centuries past, the pasty was cheap and portable, the crimped edge of the D-shape serving as a handle to be discarded after being gripped by a miner‘s grubby hand. This same starchy, pre-polystyrene portability is also said to be responsible for the innovation of the quintessential proletarian food in Durban — the bunny chow.Bunny myths abound, but it is generally agreed that the loaf-as-container probably emerged last century as a substitute for the messily pervious roti in which Indian workers could carry food to their workplaces in the sugar cane fields or golf courses.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine The Bunny Barometer Today, the centrality of the bunny in the gustatory life of the ordinary Durbanite is on show on every street corner, but most ceremonially in September on the Umgeni River banks, when scores compete for the esteemed ―Bunny Barometer‖ title —serious business. Like any treasured staple, the ingredients are simple and inexpensive, the distinguishing markers of quality incredibly subtle, and the battle between artisans fierce.Connoisseurship in such regional delicacies is attainable by the outsider only if they are willing to educate more than just their palate and submit to the nuanced code of local taste. This is more than simply a food; it is the tangible weaving together of threads of history, cherished inherited idiosyncrasy of place and identity.But deference to terroir is certainly not on the table at Bunnychow, a new addition to the rainbow of street food outlets in London‘s painfully hip West End neighbourhood, Soho. After forays into pop-up bunny vending in Brixton and Shoreditch since 2013, they opened permanent premises late last year.

After visiting Durban, the British chief executive of Bunnychow, Atholl Milton, ―discovered‖ the bunny and recognised its potential to be the next big thing in London fast food. Garnering generally positive reviews, it seems to be doing well so far. But as much as I was pleased to sit down to a home-inspired meal, I feel deeply ambivalent about this enterprise.The ―Vegetable Bunny‖ was undeniably tasty. The mild, chickpea and paneer curry with a cinnamon aroma on basmati rice inside an artisanal brioche, with fresh raita and sticky mango chutney, garnished with carrot salad and shards of poppadom, was very reasonably priced for London at £5 (although five times what you‘d pay in Durban). But I was troubled.Other options included the conventional mutton ―Durban Bunny‖ and the chicken ―Chakalaka Bunny‖ but, being vegetarian, these were off the menu, for me.

It‘s flagrantly unorthodox Thankfully, this also saved me having to contemplate such fusion Frankenstein monsters as the ―Piri Piri Pork Bunny‖ (pulled pork and Piri-piri), and the ―Full English Bunny‖ (sausage, black pudding, egg etcetera).

Past menu items, pulled since the restaurant has ―returned to their roots‖ (wait, whose roots?), have included such abominations as the ―Bunnychowder‖ with creamy haddock, sweetcorn and a quails egg.All are available gluten-free and with such sides as stir fried kale. And to wash it down? Fresh juices entitled North Beach, Madiba and Invictus. Despite explicit claims of being South African street food, it is all flagrantly unorthodox. The free movement of cuisine across borders is not in itself problematic — the purity of national cuisines is largely mythical anyway — but the fact that the bunny can hop on to the world food scene only after having undergone major culinary gentrification, while retaining false claim to authenticity, really sticks in my throat.

A South African secret There is something deeply specific about the humbling sloppiness and earthy terracotta hues of a good Durban beans curry served in a mass-baked white loaf. It conjures flavours that precisely

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine complement Durban‘s salty humidity and harbour-bound truck fumes in your nostrils. These markers of terroir are fundamental to the experience of the bunny chow.But as the Cornish pasty is awarded its nostalgic place in the world, the travelling bunny seems destined to become a theme park version of itself, divorced of its origins, an edible interloper set apart as superior to its very source. It‘s imaginable, even, that the tourist seeking authentic South African cuisine might find themselves disappointed with the modest bunny in its natural habitat.Bunnychow‘s audacious handling of a dish rich with, not only flavours, but inimitable ways of being, means that the truth of the beautifully unpretentious bunny chow will, for now, remain a South African secret

2013 National Year of Rice Manila, Philippines – THE year 2013 has been declared National Year of Rice, with the theme ―Sapat na Bigas; Kaya sa Pinas!‖ through Proclamation 494, signed by President Benigno S. Aquino III on October 18, 2012, to focus on the need for a sustained campaign to attain rice selfsufficiency by 2013. The Department of Agriculture (DA) will lead the campaign with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).The Aquino Administration is projecting that the country would not only be rice self-sufficient next year, but could be a net rice exporter. The DA is working to achieve rice self-sufficiency before the end of 2013, by implementing a mediumterm (2011-2016) agricultural and fishery sector mechanization and modernization.

The government is shifting from traditional to mechanized farming to boost agricultural productivity and keep pace with the farm input power of rice-producing Asian nations. Irrigation projects combined with better certified seeds promotion is helping raise the output of rice and other crops.PhilRice research showed that Filipinos waste two tablespoons of cooked rice or nine grams of raw rice every day, which, if not wasted, could feed about two million poor Filipinos in a year. PhilRice, developing high-yielding rice and cost-reducing technologies for farmers, is optimistic that the Philippines could be self-sufficient by end 2013, due to increases in nationwide palay or unmilled rice production over the past 12 years.

We wish Department of Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and Philippine Rice Research Institute Executive Director Dr. Eufemio T. Rasco Jr., all the best and success in their forwardlooking strategies and programs to sustain the growth of the rice sector and make it selfsufficient by 2013. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!

Bill Gates and Irri Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:14 AM | Saturday, April 11th, 2015

Manila‘s political and party crowds must be sore at Bill Gates. The world‘s wealthiest man ($79.2 billion in 2015, up from $76 billion last year, according to Forbes magazine) is said to have flown in on April 4, but without the hoopla usually associated with celebrities and world figures who touch down in this part of the world. Gates‘ visit was devoid of any announcement www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine or even advance word to Malacañang; he did not meet with President Aquino or other political figures, did not hobnob with the usual suspects in local high society, was not seen in the metro‘s default ritzy places where the country‘s elite would have typically feted him, basked in the trails of his oxygen, and claimed him as one of their own.In fact, no photo of him in Philippine surroundings has surfaced; he is reportedly on holiday in the exclusive Amanpulo resort in Palawan with his family, and has made a side trip to the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, Laguna.

But the entire trip has been kept under wraps so well, and his entourage and security personnel drilled to a uniform tight-lipped silence, that all that the media could rely on to confirm the buzz about his visit are the official immigration records and the flight logs of his private plane and helicopter rides.The reticence is understandable.

All that money and the corresponding influence that goes with it make Gates a tempting target for criminal minds or syndicates preying on the wealthy and well-connected. Ensuring his safety and security is paramount, and heaven forbid that anything untoward should happen to the famous billionaire tech visionary while on Philippine soil.On the other hand, the self-effacement also seems typical of the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, who has visibly eschewed the trappings of international celebrity to focus his attention, and the billions of dollars at his disposal, on more urgent, earthbound concerns such as trying to end hunger, disease and illiteracy in many parts of the planet.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he cofounded with his wife in 2000, has an endowment of $42.3 billion as of November 2014, and he himself has donated more than $28 billion so far to the philanthropic organization.Gates‘ visit to the Philippines, and to the Irri in particular, may be explained by the fact that his foundation is said to be the single biggest private donor to it. Some $18 million of the Irri‘s annual budget of $100 million comes from the Gates Foundation.

That annual budget may surprise some: That big? But, unknown to the younger generations of Filipinos, as well as Asians who have grown up on better and healthier varieties of rice developed at the Irri, ―the world‘s premier research organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science‖ (as it describes itself) now has offices in 17 countries. Its headquarters in Los Baños is but the global base of a humanitarian scientific endeavor that has seen the Irri, since its founding in 1960, bring its motto—―Rice Science for a Better World‖—to diverse places where the grain serves as the staple food to billions of people, from Bangladesh in Asia to Burundi in Africa.

Time was when the Philippines had preeminence in Southeast Asia not only in rice research and development but also in production, thanks to the Irri. Scientists from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and other neighboring countries came to study and learn from the institute, and brought home with them new ways of growing the staple crop and creating sustainable ways to improve rice farming and food production in their countries. The Philippines, meanwhile, lost the initiative along the way; by the post-Marcos years it had settled in a most unenviable.position: Once a world leader in rice production, it now had to import rice to feed its population. By 2008 it had become the world‘s largest importer of rice, buying 1.8 million tons from countries it had

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine once mentored on the subject. A cruel irony, and just one more affliction on a country that can‘t seem to get its act together after the ravages of the Marcos dictatorship.Gates‘ staunch support for the Irri should help reboot the government‘s efforts, if any, for national rice sufficiency. The institute jump-started the ―Green Revolution‖ in Asia that saved tens of millions of people from hunger and disease. What are the bright minds in government doing to access that deep, invaluable knowledge to get us out of our chronic rice deficiency? http://opinion.inquirer.net/84003/bill-gates-and-irri#ixzz3XBUpcF4i

Gates Foundation at IRRI for food and nutrition security updates April 10, 2015

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, April 10, (PIA) — Senior officers of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are at the International Rice Research Institute this week to see for themselves the work being done at the world‘s premier research center on rice.Leadership from the BMGF, including Pamela Anderson, Director of the Agricultural Development Program, and Gary Atlin, Senior Program Officer in the Ag Dev team, were at the Institute for a site visit this week to tour IRRI‘s research facilities and hear updates on the science and the partnership between the two organizations. Scientists gave briefings on key advances, including the latest on climate change-ready rice and healthier varieties that aim to help solve micronutrient deficiencies, which afflict about 2 billion people globally. ―We are thankful that the BMGF has come for updates on the food and nutrition security initiatives that they support,‖ said Robert Zeigler, Director General of IRRI. ―The foundation is a staunch partner in applying the best of science so that people in the rice-eating world will not go hungry.‖IRRI scientists showed the BMGF leadership experimental rice plots in which flood or drought tolerance is being studied. The group also visited a facility that simulates drought conditions year-round.

The climate change-ready rice varieties that have reached millions of farmers in Asia were developed by IRRI and its partners under the BMGF-funded project, Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia or STRASA.These stress-tolerant varieties hold the promise of improving the livelihoods of some of the world‘s poorest farmers who till lands most vulnerable to climate change—and securing the granaries of many countries—by ensuring a good harvest, for instance, even after over 14 days of flooding. Non-tolerant rice varieties would normally die after four days of submergence. — International Rice Research Institute http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2931428636097/gates-foundation-at-irri-for-food-and-nutrition-securityupdates#sthash.suCLgMoH.dpuf

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

UC Davis grad student who studies ‘rice weevils’ wins award Mohammad-Amir Aghaee, winner of the John Henry Comstock Award, given by the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America. Courtesy

By Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis News Service POSTED: 04/10/15, 4:20 PM PDT |

Mohammad-Amir Aghaee, a doctoral candidate and researcher in the Larry Godfrey lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the recipient of the 2015 John Henry Comstock Graduate Student Award from the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.This is the third consecutive year that a UCD graduate student has won the prestigious award, the highest student award given by PBESA. Kelly Hamby of the Frank Zalom lab, won it in 2013; and Matan Shelomi, a graduate student in the Lynn Kimsey lab, Bohart Museum of Entomology, won it in 2012.Aghaee, a fifth year doctoral candidate working on rice water weevil management in California rice, will receive the award at PBESA‘s 99th annual meeting, set April 12-15 in Coeur d‘Alene, Idaho. He will be among the six Comstock recipients, all winners from their individual branches, honored at the national ESA meeting, Nov. 15-18, in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Pacific Branch of ESA encompasses 11 U.S. states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming); several U.S. territories, including American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands; and parts of Canada and Mexico.―Mohammad took on a very difficult project for his dissertation research,‖ said Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey, who nominated Aghaee for the award. ―His project deals with the most important invertebrate pest of rice in California, the rice water weevil.―The challenges arose not only from working in the rice system — wading through mud for hours — but also from working with this insect that cannot be reared in the laboratory and which has one generation per year. Therefore, all the field studies had to be conducted within the short window of time each year. ‖Active in ESA, Aghaee captained the UCD debate team that won the ESA championship in 2013 and 2014. He anchored the UCD debate and Linnean Games teams for four years, from 2011 to 2014. He served on the UCD Linnaean Team (the Linnaean Games involve answering entomological questions) that won the PBESA championship in 2012.For four years, Aghaee has participated in the ESA‘s student 10-minute paper competitions, covering such topics as Lygus bug movements in bush beans, efficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis spp. galleriae against rice water weevil, and preliminary research on winter flooding effectiveness against rice water weevil. He won a first-place President‘s Award for his winter flood presentation in 2013.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Aghaee received his bachelor‘s degree in environmental sciences, genetics and plant biology in 2010 from UC Berkeley, with high distinction. He obtained his master‘s degree in entomology from UC Davis in 2012, and expects to receive his doctorate in December 2015.In his research, Aghaee seeks to develop alternative management options for rice growers as part of his dissertation.―I have examined the use of Bacillus thuringiensis spp. galleriae as a biopesticide for rice water weevil and explored the mechanisms of winter flooding rice fields as a cultural control against weevil larvae. ‖The most harmful insect pest of rice in the United States, it causes yield losses of up to 25 percent. Adults inflict damage by consuming leaf tissue, and the larvae feed on the roots of rice plants. A native of the southeastern U.S., the rice water weevil invaded Japan in 1976, Korea in 1980, China in 1988, and Italy in 2004.The Comstock award memorializes John Henry Comstock (1849-1931), an American entomologist, researcher and educator known for his studies of scale insects and butterflies and moths, which provided the basis for systematic classification

Indian rice import puts farmers in a pickle 12 Apr, 2015 Paddy prices fall as Boro season goes on Yasir Wardad Indian rice import puts farmers in a pickle

Prices of paddy have started falling in the local market, accelerated by uncontrolled, but 'avoidable' rice import from India, even if Boro harvest is going on, insiders said. Boro is the major cropping period that provides 55 per cent of the rice the country produces and 60 per cent of the country's people including 2.2 million farm households and another 10 million traders are associated with the season, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The farmers across the country are in despair as paddy price has started going down, a trend market players attributed to the uncontrolled import from the neighbouring India.

Traders say Bangladeshi importers bring in roughly 0.11 million tonnes of low-cost Indian rice every month at zero-duty.Price of Brridhan-28 variety of paddy's (old stock) declined to Tk750760 per maund in April, which was Tk880-900 per maund in March, Shahidur Rahman Patwary Mohan, a miller at Dinajpur, said."Most of the varieties of paddy have been decreasing in the last few weeks," said Mohan, also executive member of Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mills Owners Association, the platform of 20,000 rice mills in the country.Meanwhile, Boro harvesting started in few parts of Haor regions last week, the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) region Mymensingh and Sylhet said.

Newly harvested Brridhan-28 was traded at only Tk550-600 per maund in Haor regions in the last few days, which were Tk720-760 per maund (40 kg) during the corresponding period of last

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine year, Nur-e Alam, a farmer at Shohilati village at Tarail upazila in Kishoreganj district told the FE over phone.He said: "I have cultivated Brridhan-28 variety at 5 Ara (1 Ara=160 decimal in the area) of lands. I will start harvesting rice from Monday.""If this price trend continues, most of us will be unable to get return on our investment as production cost is not less than Tk 680 per maund this year in Haor area," he said.He also pointed out that many of his fellow farmers borrowed from local moneylenders at high interest (per month Tk100 for Tk1, 000) rate."We will have no option but to flee from the area if we cannot recover our production cost," he said.

However, the government has fixed a target to procure 1.0 million tonnes of rice at Tk 32 per kg and 0.15 million tonnes of paddy at Tk 22 per kg this year from millers and farmers, which will started from May 1 next, according to the Directorate General of Food (DGoF)."Imports of rice in huge quantity are forcing millers to stop their operation and its consequence is it is squeezing paddy trade between traders and farmers," the association secretary KM Layek Ali said.He said importers can bring in the Indian Swarna variety at Tk24-26 per kg whereas milling cost of the same variety in Bangladesh is not less than Tk 29.50 per kg.He said the Indian rice variety known as Ratna (nearly a close variety to Bangladeshi Brridhan -28) is being imported at Tk2728 per kg whereas milling cost of Brridhan-28 in Bangladesh is minimum Tk35.5 per kg.

He said nearly half of the rice millers across the country have withheld their operation following the unnecessary imports and the political turmoil. The total import in fiscal year 2014 was 0.374 million tonnes from India, which has risen to 1.276 million tonnes until April 7 of the current fiscal, according to the food ministry latest data.Bangladeshi importers brought 0.141 million tonnes per month in the current fiscal year, it showed.An official at the food ministry told the FE that the import helped India become the biggest rice exporter last year, surpassing Thailand.According to the Bangladesh Bank data, the local importers brought rice from India worth US $360 million (settled L/C) in the July-February period of the current financial year, which was $171 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.The parliamentary standing committee on food ministry last month expressed its concern over the "uncontrolled" rice import which has been affecting both rice farmers and millers.The committee, in a statement, said the country has sufficient domestic production now and urged the government to discourage rice import for the time being to safeguard the interests of farmers.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data showed that rice production in the first two rice cropping seasons-Aus and Aman, increased significantly this fiscal year, compared with that of last fiscal.Aman production showed a record 13.19 million tonnes while Aus 2.328 million tonnes in the current fiscal against 13.032 million and 2.32 million tonnes respectively in the last fiscal year.According to the DAE, Boro has been cultivated at 4.84 million hectares this fiscal year which was 4.78 million hectares last year from which the country got a record highest 19.0 million tonnes.

Total rice output of 34.365 million tonnes in the FY'14 was the highest ever recorded in the country against a demand of 31.0 million tonnes, according to the BBS and Directorate General www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine of Food (DGoF) data.Economist Golam Hafiz Kennedy said the government should have "checks and balance" on local production, supply and price trend before it allows traders to import.He said "The recent import from India is unnecessary as local production is showing very good trend.""To keep the rice sector stable is necessary both for social and food security of the country," he said, "The protection of interests of farmers and millers is essential for better production and food safety as well," he said. tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com

Rice prices fall below last year's level An ample supply due to higher domestic production and soaring imports have driven the prices of rice below last year's level and put many millers and farmers into losses.Fine rice yesterday traded at Tk 39-56 per kilogram at the capital's markets, down 2.11 percent year-on-year, according to data from the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.The prices of medium quality rice also declined. Coarse rice traded at Tk 32-37 each kilogram, down 1.43 percent from a year ago.In line with the decline in rice prices, paddy prices have also fallen, raising fears of losses among farmers during the boro harvest, which has already begun in the haor areas in the northeast.

Freshly-harvested boro paddy is trading at Tk 500 each maund (40kg) in the northeast, Bappi Saha, a rice miller in Netrokona district, said yesterday.Abdul Jalil, a rice trader at Ashuganj, said the prices of fresh boro paddy stood at Tk 520 a maund, which is lower than the prices at the beginning of harvest last year.―There is no supply shortfall due to rising imports and stockpiling.‖ If the current market prices of paddy continue, farmers will incur losses, he added.His warning comes after the government estimated that the farmers' production costs to produce one kilogram of paddy would be Tk 20 during the current boro season, meaning growers would break even if they get Tk 800 on average for each maund of paddy.

However, the prospects of getting such a price look dim in the backdrop of increasing supply, said traders.Private imports of rice have so far exceeded last year's total imports, as traders find the foreign produce cheaper.Between July 1 last year and April 7 this year, rice imports stood at 12.76 lakh tonnes against 3.74 lakh tonnes in the same period last fiscal year, according to food ministry data.Traders and millers blamed it on the zero-duty benefits for rice import and higher production of medium-quality rice in India.Apart from import, domestic production also rose this fiscal year. Farmers bagged 1.319 crore tonnes of aman rice in the immediate harvest, up 1.28 percent year-on-year.Aus output also edged up slightly after record boro production last year, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

As a result of increasing supply, paddy prices have fallen by up to Tk 200 each maund since the aman harvest, said Saha, adding that millers are reluctant to buy paddy fearing further losses.The prices of paddy are likely to fall further because of increased supply, Md Layek Ali, general www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine secretary of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mills Association, said.―Many farmers including some of my relatives are yet to clear their aman paddy. There are stocks also at millers' end, as increasing imports from India have made things worse.‖ Md Abdur Rashid, president of the association, said the millers have been calling for measures to discourage imports for the last several months.―We have submitted memoranda to nearly two dozen deputy commissioners, appealed to food and commerce ministries for steps to impose duty on imports to protect millers and farmers from losses. But the government is yet to pay heed to our pleas.‖Ali said the farmers' costs of production increased compared to last year. ―One should consider what the farmers will be left with if they are to sell their produce below production cost. ‖Economist Mahabub Hossain, who closely follows agriculture and rural economy, said the price decline will hurt poor farmers more than the relatively large ones.The government should buy higher quantity of rice from the domestic market to support farmers, he said, adding that it should also consider imposition of duty on rice imports to provide a cushion to farmers.Hossain, also a former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said the imposition of import duty might lead to a spiral in the prices of rice in the local market.Duty should be imposed in a way that farmers get fair prices for their produce and consumers do not find rice beyond their purchasing capacity, he said. Asked, Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon said his ministry is assessing the whole situation.―The issue of rice is under discussion at the higher level -- we will take appropriate measures after reviewing the pros and cons.‖

Nigeria to import 2.9 million tonnes of rice APRIL 12, 2015 : OYETUNJI ABIOYE

Bags of rice Nigeria‘s rice import will drop by 3.3 per cent to 2.9 million tonnes this year, a report released on Friday by the Food and Agricultural Organisation has said.China, which was the world‘s biggest importer of rice last year along with Nigeria, would raise its import volume by 5.2 per cent to 3.2 million tonnes in 2015 due to higher demand in the mainland, the FAO said in its rice market monitor report for April.Last year, China and Nigeria each bought three million tonnes of rice from abroad.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine According to the United Nations food agency, the global milled rice trade this year is forecast to drop by 2.5 per cent from 2014 to 41.3 million tonnes, due mainly to good stockpiles or higher production in Asia.Global paddy output in 2015 is forecast to edge up 1.1 per cent from last year to 749.8 million tonnes, the UN agency said.Thailand is expected to be the world‘s largest rice exporter this year with shipments of 11.2 million tonnes, followed by 9.3 million tonnes from India and 6.5 million tonnes from Vietnam.As such, the three Asian nations would account for a combined 65 per cent of the world‘s rice trade, down slightly from 68 per cent last year.The FAO revised up India‘s rice exports last year to 11.3 million tonnes from 8.2 million tonnes estimated earlier, making it the world‘s largest exporter in 2014, followed by Thailand with 11 million tonnes and Vietnam with 6.5 million tonnes.

Nigeria‘s purchases abroad are forecast to drop by 3.3 per cent to 2.9 million tonnes in 2015.Rice output in China, also the world‘s top producer, had been forecast to edge up 0.2 per cent to 208.5 million tonnes this year, the FAO said.President Goodluck Jonathan had in January this year said rice farmers across the country had a new lease of life due to the transformation taking place in the sector.He said over six million rice farmers had received improved rice seed varieties, boosting domestic rice production by an additional seven million metric tonnes.He had said, ―The rice revolution is taking place across the country, from Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe, Niger, Kogi, Ogun, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Edo to Bayelsa State. High quality Nigerian rice is now competing favourably with imported rice in the markets. ―Our rice millers have taken advantage of these new opportunities, and the number of integrated rice mills has expanded from one at the beginning of this administration, to 24 today.‖The President also read the Riot Act to rice importers, saying all those owing the nation rice import duties must pay, no matter how highly placed.He said under no circumstance would he allow rice importers to hold the nation to ransom.―Nigeria our dear country will not be held hostage by rice importers. There will be no sacred cows under my watch. All those owing Nigeria on rice import duties must pay,‖ Jonathan said.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

Country unlikely to achieve agriculture growth target April 12, 2015 FAZAL SHER & TAHIR AMIN

The country is unlikely to achieve 3.3 percent agriculture growth rate target set for the current fiscal year following negative growth rate in major crops including cotton and sugarcane, it is learnt. The country has achieved growth target of rice and is also expecting positive growth of wheat crop but would fail to meet the target of cotton and sugarcane, a senior official of Ministry of National Food Security and Research told Business Recorder. The government's projected 3.3 percent agriculture growth target envisaged 1.5 percent contribution from important crops, 4.5

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine percent other crops, 5.0 percent cotton ginned, 3.8 percent livestock, 2.0 percent fishery and two percent forestry.

He said that country is expected to achieve wheat production target fixed for the current financial year despite some partial damage caused by the recent rains. Sikandar Hayat Bosan, Federal Minister for Ministry of National Food Security and Research while speaking at Board of Governor (BoG) of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) also stated that although untimely rains in the country have created issues at some locations, yet he expressed confidence that wheat target will be achieved. According to the official, the government has set 26.3 million ton wheat target, cotton 15 million bales, and rice 6.789 million tons. The 65.5 million tons sugarcane production target fixed for 2014-15 would witness shortfall of 2.3 percent, he added.

He said that the country has achieved the revised cotton target of 13.48 million bales set for the outgoing season 2014-15, but will fall short of the original target of 15.1 million bales. The country will not achieve the original cotton target due to multiple issues including water shortage, rains/floods, and shortage of certified seed, he added. He said that the production of minor crops including gram and maize will remain positive this year. However, livestock sector is not performing satisfactorily, he said. Gram is the largest Rabi pulse crop accounting for 76 percent of the total production of pulses in the country and it occupies about five percent of the cropped area.

Punjab produces more than 80 percent of overall production in the country. Maize is an important cereal crop of the country and is grown on an area of 1.17 million hectares with annual production of 5.04 million tons. The average productivity of maize achieved in Pakistan is 4316.8 kg which is the highest among all the cereals in the country. In Pakistan maize is the third most important cereal crop after wheat and rice. Agri Forum Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal while talking to Business Recorder has said that the growth of major as well as minor crops in the country is positive but achievement of 3.3 percent growth will depend upon the achievement of wheat production target.

"If we are able to achieve wheat production target, then there is a strong possibility of achieving the growth rate target fixed for the current fiscal year", he said. According to the IMF staff report on "Sixth review under the extended arrangement and modification of performance criteria," the macroeconomic picture of Pakistan is improving. Real GDP is projected to grow by some 4.3 percent in fiscal year 2014-15, driven mainly by the agriculture and construction sectors. The government budgeted 5.1 percent GDP growth rate for 2014-15 with contributions from agriculture (3.3pc), industry (6.8pc) and services (5.2pc).

However later Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform reportedly revised downward the GDP growth rate of 2014-15 to 4.5 percent due to impediments in agriculture and industrial sectors besides energy shortfalls and law and order. The ministry maintained agriculture sector experienced several obstacles in commodity production as the prices for Kharif crop dipped.

Farmers reportedly reduced the area used for sugarcane cultivation due to lower income last year which caused a decline in its production

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International rice meet in Hyderabad tomorrow K V KURMANATH HYDERABAD, APRIL 11:

The Indian Institute of Rice Research (formerly Directorate of Rice Research) is organising the 50th annual group meeting here on Sunday. Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya will inaugurate the meeting at the IIRR auditorium at Rajendranagar.Over 500 rice scientists from different national institutes and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, the Philippines) would discuss various issues related to rice research.―The workshop is being held to review the work done across the country in the field of rice research during 201415. It will prepare an action plan for 2015-16,‖ V Ravindra Babu, Project Director of IIRR, has said.

The IIRR coordinates multi-disciplinary and multi-location testing of seed varieties, crop management and crop protection technologies in different ecosystems for increasing and stabilising rice production. About 50 funded centres are involved in the process.The coordinated research efforts resulted in the development of 1,100 varieties, including 75 hybrids, during the 50-year-journey.―The five-day event will bring together hundreds of rice scientists in the public and private sector, farmers and other stakeholders to discuss issues related to rice research,‖ he said.

Scientists employ algae as biofuel, to mop up pollutants

By Chukwuma Muanya on April 12, 2015 A conical flask of ―green‖ jet fuel made from algae

SCIENTISTS have expanded the frontiers in the use of microorganisms such as bacteria and algae for biofuel and in bioremediation with the utilization of wastewater algae.Scientists, in one of the first studies to examine the potential for using municipal wastewater as a feedstock for algae-based biofuels, found they could grow high-value strains of oil-rich algae while

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine simultaneously removing more than 90 percent of nitrates and more than 50 percent of phosphorous from wastewater.

A co-author of the study published in Algae said wastewater treatment facilities currently have no cost-effective means of removing large volumes of nitrates or phosphorus from treated water, so algae production with wastewater has the potential of solving two problems at once.Rice University, United States, scientists found they could easily grow high-value strains of oil-rich algae while simultaneously removing more than 90 percent of nitrates and more than 50 percent of phosphorus from wastewater.The findings, which are based on a five-month study at a wastewater treatment facility in Houston, United States, are available online in the journal Algae.The study is titled ―Low algal diversity systems are a promising method for biodiesel production in wastewater fed open reactors.‖According to Wikipedia, algae fuel or algal biofuel is an alternative to fossil fuel that uses algae as its source of natural deposits. Several companies and government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make algae fuel production commercially viable.

Like fossil fuel, algae fuel releases carbondioxide (CO2) when burnt, but unlike fossil fuel, algae fuel and other biofuels only release CO2 recently removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis as the algae or plant grew. The energy crisis and the world food crisis have ignited interest in algaculture (farming algae) for making biodiesel and other biofuels using land unsuitable for agriculture.Several studies have shown that among algal fuels‘ attractive characteristics are that they can be grown with minimal impact on fresh water resources, can be produced using saline and wastewater, have a high flash point, and are biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Algae cost more per unit mass than other second-generation biofuel crops due to high capital and operating costs, but are claimed to yield between 10 and 100 times more fuel per unit area.

Recently, there has been increasing interest on using bacteria, fungi, plants and algae to remove, degrade, or render harmless organic pollutants in aquatic systems.The algae play an important role in controlling and biomonitoring of organic pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. The use of higher plants and bacteria for bio-extraction and bioremediation of heavy metals and organic pollutants have been extensively studied.A study published International Research Journal of Public and Environmental Health concluded: ―From this review, we can conclude that the application of microalgae in biomoniroring and restoration of aquatic systems favour the phytoextraction and biodegradation of many organic pollutants; however there are still some persistent organic pollutants that are difficult to break down by the microalgae.

The genetic engineering can solve this problem and offers a promising tool to improve the absorption and bioremediation of many organic pollutants and increase microalgal tolerance to these pollutants. It is also necessary to study and to control different parameters of aquatic ecosystems such as temperature, pH, nutrient availability and other environmental parameters to increase the absorption, accumulation and biodegradation of different pollutants by microalgae, thus accelerating the bioremediation process and reducing the time of decontamination of an aquatic ecosystem. ‖Lead author of the Algae study Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, a 28-year veteran of algal research who joined Rice‘s biosciences faculty in June, said: ―Biofuels were the hot topic in algaculture

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine five years ago, but interest cooled as the algae industry moved toward producing higher-value, lower-volume products for pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, cosmetics and other products.―The move to high-value products has allowed the algaculture industry to become firmly established, but producers remain heavily dependent on chemical fertilizers. Moving forward, they must address sustainability if they are to progress toward producing higher-volume products, ‗green‘ petrochemical substitutes and fuels.‖Bhattacharjee said the algae industry‘s reliance on chemical fertilizers is a double whammy for algae producers because it both reduces profit margins and puts them in competition with food producers for fertilizers.

A 2012 National Research Council report found that ―with current technologies, scaling up production of algal biofuels to meet even five percent of U.S. transportation fuel needs could create unsustainable demands for energy, water and nutrient resources.‖The 2012 report also pointed to wastewater-based cultivation as a potential way to make algae production sustainable.

An added appeal is that the method could potentially address a looming environmental problem: nutrient pollution in U.S. waterways. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nutrient pollution from excess nitrogen and phosphorus — the two primary components of chemical fertilizers — is ―one of America‘s most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems.‖Wastewater treatment facilities currently have no cost-effective means of removing large volumes of nitrates or phosphorus from treated water, so algae production with wastewater has the potential of solving two problems at once, said study co-author Evan Siemann, Rice‘s Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of BioSciences. ―The idea has been on the books for quite a while, but there are questions, including whether it can be done in open tanks and whether it will be adaptable for monoculture — a preferred process where producers grow one algal strain that‘s optimized to yield particular products,‖ he said. ―We were surprised at how little had been done to test these questions. There are a number of laboratory studies, but we found only one previous large-scale study, which was conducted at a wastewater facility in Kansas. ‖Siemann said the Rice study was made possible by the participation of the Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering, which helped Rice‘s research team set up a test involving 12 open-topped 600-gallon tanks at one of the city‘s satellite wastewater treatment plants in July 2013. The tanks were fed with filtered wastewater from the plant‘s clarifiers, which remove suspended solids from sewage. Various formulations of algae were tested in each tank. Some were monocultures of oil-rich algal strains and others contained mixed cultures, including some with local algal strains from Houston bayous. Some tanks contained fish that preyed upon algaeeating zooplankton.―Prior research had suggested that diverse assemblages of algal species might perform better in open tanks and that fish might keep algae-eating zooplankton from adversely affecting yields,‖ Siemann said. ―We recorded prolific algal growth in all 12 tanks,‖ he said. ―Our results are likely to be very encouraging to algae producers because the case they would prefer — monocultures with no fish and no cross-contamination — was the case where we saw optimal performance.‖Bhattacharjee said more research is needed to determine whether wastewater-based algaculture will be costeffective and under what circumstances.For instance, the algae in the Rice study was four times more effective at removing phosphorus than were the algae in the Kansas study. She said that

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine could be because the Houston test was performed in summer and fall, and the tanks were about 30 degrees warmer on average than the tanks in Kansas.―Using wastewater would be one of the best solutions to make algaculture sustainable,‖ she said. ―If temperature is key, then cultivation may be more economical in the Southeast and Southwest.‖ She noted that other factors, like starting levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, might have caused a rate-limiting effect. ―These are the kinds of questions future studies would need to address to optimize this process and make it more attractive for investors,‖ she said.Siemann said he hopes to partner with the city for future studies to further investigate the use of wastewater for algaculture.―We are excited to be collaborating with Rice to develop innovative, sustainable approaches that remove excess nutrients from wastewater while producing algae-based biofuels, all to the benefit of Houston‘s bayous,‖ said Carol La Breche, supervising engineering of wastewater operations at the Beltway Lab of the Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering

Event-TS-Rice Group Hyderabad | Friday, Apr 10 2015 IST

Indian Institute of Rice Research (Formerly Directorate of Rice Research - DRR), Hyderabad, a constituent institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, is organising 50th annual Group Meetings of Rice Workers here from April 12-15.The workshop will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya, DRR Project Director V.Ravindra Babu said in a release here today. More than 500 rice scientists of different national institutes, including 25 scientists from International Rice Research institute (IRRI), Philippines will participate in the workshop which is the largest researchers gathering int eh country.

The meeting will be chaired by DARE Secretary and ICAR director General S Ayyappan while Telangana Agriculture Minsiter P.Srinivas Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao will be the guest special guests on this occasion, the release said.Guest of honour will be Dr Rober Zeigler , Director General, International Rice Research Institute, Philippines and Dr Gurbachan singh, Chairman, Agriculture Scientists Recruitment Board, new Delhi. During the four-day deliberations, it is expected that many rice varieties/hybrids suitable to various rice growing regions will be identitifed. National and International initiatives will be reviewed for improving the strategies for enhancing rice production and productivity, the release added.UNI KNR GM 2010 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0159-73460.Xml

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Paddy Breeding Station attached to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Institute has been recognised as the best All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (AICRIP) institution.According to a press release from the institution, Robert Zeigler, Director General, International Rice Research Institute, presented the award to the Station‘s head S. Robin at a ceremony held in Hyderabad on the eve of the golden jubilee of the AICRIP. Improving ricevarieties The release said that the Station had contributed to improving rice varieties in the last 50 years.TNAU Vice-Chancellor K. Ramasamy congratulated the team of scientists, researchers and workers in the Station.

Editorial: Knowing rice Sunday, April 12, 2015

(Sun.Star file photo) CELEBRITY-sighting may serve some public good. Last April 8, the Internet was abuzz with reports that Bill Gates visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna.Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is considered as the world‘s richest man in 2015, reported Rappler.com on Apr. 9. IRRI officials neither confirmed nor denied Gate‘s visit.A team from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), though, was verified as visiting the www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine country last weekend to ―get updates on the food and nutrition security programs‖ it supports, ―with an annual commitment of $18 million,‖ reported Rappler.com.

Golden controversy The BMGF is the IRRI‘s biggest philanthropic donor, confirmed a spokesperson for the research institute. The foundation supports the IRRI studies on Golden Rice, a genetically modified variety that, infused with Vitamin A, may be a solution to disease and hunger in developing countries when its testing phase is completed and distribution to farmers and consumers may commence.

However, Golden Rice is hardly perceived by everyone as the absolute miracle to end many Third World woes. Farmers, environmentalists and consumer rights groups oppose its entry into the Philippine market.The National Rice Farmers Council and Greenpeace question the safety of introducing a GMO like Golden Rice into Filipinos‘ diet. Critics argue that disseminating the GMO will threaten biodiversity and erode the opportunities of Filipino farmers seeking to create a niche in the export of organic or specialty rice.

According to IRRI, research is aimed at producing a variety of Golden Rice that will be an affordable and sufficient source of Vitamin A. Many residents of developing countries have Vitamin A-deprived diets, which weaken the immune system, cause night blindness, and end in death.Officials of IRRI and the government are optimistic that Golden Rice will be approved for commercial production in 2016.With this timeline, why is there no campaign waged by proponents and opponents to educate the public about issues concerning Golden Rice‘s safety for humans and the environment? IRRI should publicly release the results of its field trials and tests determining the GMO‘s safety for consumption and propagation. Public education about GMOs should also be mounted by anti-GMO advocates and other health specialists commenting on existing and effective government programs supplementing Vitamin A in diets.

Lack and excess For many Filipinos, the controversy over GMOs is superseded by a more basic concern: deprivation of rice.A slight shift in the price of rice causes reverberations in the market because many Filipinos need rice to get through a day. The joke that one has a laborer‘s appetite for rice is based on reality.It is ironic that the country figures prominently in the international arena due to the GMO debate when it has not yet achieved self-sufficiency in producing this crop.

Summer months often means a spike in the prices of rice varieties, making both farmers and housewives vulnerable.This mystifying trend in the retail prices of the grain persists despite increasing rice production from 2010 to 2013, according to the Philippine Rice Research

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Institute. Rappler.com also reported last Jan. 2015 that rice supply will be sufficient for the country due to bulk importation from Vietnam and Thailand.

Government monitoring of the retail markets should help bridge the gap between the rice haves and have-nots.Self-regulation, though, is needed to address the wastage of rice. Every Filipino wastes about three tablespoons per day. With 100 million Filipinos, this waste reaches 510,000 metric tons, which can feed about 4.2 million people for a year, Rappler.com quoted the Impact Assessment Policy Research and Advocacy of the Philippine Rice Research Institute.That‘s a sobering message to bring with us every time we sit down for a meal or overfill a plate at an eat-allyou-can buffet.

Nutrient-rich varieties of rice in the making OUR BUREAU Six-yard unity Robert S Zeigler (centre), Director-General, IRRI, with officials of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Hyderabad on Sunday SURESH KRISHNAMOORTHY

HYDERABAD, APRIL 12:

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is developing nutrient-rich varieties of rice, according to its Deputy Director-General, JS Sandhu.He was speaking at the inaugural session of the Golden Jubilee Annual Rice Research Group Meeting at the Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) here on Sunday. ―The process has already started and we have identified two varieties of rice,‖ he said while adding that objective was to move from food security to nutritional security.The present varieties

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine of

rice

were

not

rich

in

protein

content.

They were mainly having carbohydrate and hence zinc-rich rice varieties were bring developed, he added.―We have 44 million hectare (area) in rice cultivation. There is no increase in area in the last 15 years. The task has become tough, but the only option is to improve the productivity through science led technology,‖ Sandhu said.India‘s foodgrains production was estimated to slightly decline to 257 million tonnes this year. It was at 265.57 million tonnes during 2013-14.

Out of this, 106.65 million tonnes was rice.According to ICAR Director-General S Ayyappan, new technology should be used to enhance rice productivity.

For a country of 125 crore people, rice production also had to grow accordingly.IIRR Project Director V Ravindra Babu said 1,100 rice varieties including 75 hybrids and several other technologies have been developed till date and made available to the rice farming community.Robert Zeigler, Director-General International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines and other experts participated in the one-day meet.

Pakistan exporters want NFA to honor 2013 rice agreement

by Recto Mercene - April 12, 2015

THE Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) urged the National Food Authority (NFA) to honor an agreement which calls for the state-run food agency to buy 50,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from them.REAP Chairman Rafique Suleman told the BusinessMirror that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed between his group and the NFA on July 14, www.ricepluss.com R&D Section: Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine 2013, but they have yet to receive a signed copy of the document.Suleman came to the country last Wednesday as head of a 15-man trade delegation. The group met with officials of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and some NFA officials. They also visited the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) in Los Baños, Laguna, and had discussions with executives there.He said he talked with NFA Administrator Renan B. Dalisay, who told him that the MOA would be ―expedited, completed and signed‖ so as to push the deal.

Pending the release of the document, REAP said it could not yet export rice to the Philippines.―Nobody said when they‘re going to send us the document. We‘re losing 150,000 MT of rice from the deal,‖ Suleman said.He claimed that the NFA ―practically begged‖ to be sold rice from Pakistan, and that the request was coursed through REAP, a private organization.Suleman said that in 2008, when there was a ―food crisis in the country,‖ Pakistan exported 200,000 MT of rice to the Philippines to stabilize rice supply.―REAP exported rice to the Philippines without our government‘s intervention,‖ he said.He claimed that during the 2008 rice shortage, regular suppliers of the staple, like Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, ―refused‖ to export rice to the country.

To show that there are ―no hard feelings,‖ Suleman said Pakistan would ―open its arms‖ and welcome any visiting NFA official to his country. He added that the same welcome mat is being extended to the PCCI and Irri.According to Suleman, they visited Irri to express their gratitude to the institute for gifting them with the IRRI-6 high-yield rice variety in 1974.Prior to that, he said Pakistan was using the Chinese rice in-hybrid variety with low yield.

Suleman said IRRI-6 gives them a yield of 6 tons per hectare. Suleman said IRRI researcher Jauhar Ali, its top scientists and senior plant breeder, gave them their newest rice variety, the Grand Super Rice. This variety, he said, promised to produce 11 tons per hectare.―Irri and the Pakistan research departments are launching seeds into the market that would be readily available to rice farmers,‖ Suleman said.Although it is considered one of the top producers of rice in the world, Suleman said Pakistan‘s staple food is wheat.Out of the 6.8 million metric tons (MMT) of rice it produces every year, Pakistan consumes only 2.2 MMT, while the rest are exported to 116 countries

APEDA NEWS International Benchmark Price Price on: 10-04-2015

Product

Benchmark Indicators Name

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Apricots 1

Turkish No. 2 whole pitted, CIF UK (USD/t)

5650

2

Turkish No. 4 whole pitted, CIF UK (USD/t)

4125

3

Turkish size 8, CIF UK (USD/t)

3425

1

Californian Thompson seedless raisins, CIF UK (USD/t)

2415

2

South African Thompson seedless raisins, CIF UK (USD/t)

2222

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Iranian natural sultanas (Gouchan), CIF UK (USD/t)

1634

2

Turkish No 9 standard, FOB Izmir (USD/t)

1650

3

Australian 5 Crown, CIF UK (USD/t)

2828

Raisins

Sultanas

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Market Watch Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 11-04-2015 Domestic Prices

Unit Price : Rs per Qty

Product

Market Center

Variety

Min Price

Max Price

1

Jhagadiya (Gujarat)

Other

1980

3100

2

Bonai (Orissa)

Other

2000

2200

3

Gumla (Jharkhand)

Other

2525

2900

1

Amirgadh (Gujarat)

Other

1250

1855

2

Bonai (Orissa )

Other

1450

1600

3

Gumla(Jharkhand)

Other

2100

2500

Rice

Wheat

Mousambi

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Nabha (Punjab)

Other

2500

3500

2

Asandh(Haryana)

Other

2400

2600

3

Mechua(West Bengal)

Other

2200

2700

1

Banki (Orissa)

Other

2800

3000

2

Kharupetia (Assam)

Other

1500

1700

3

Asandh(Haryana)

Other

1200

1400

Brinjal

Source:agra-net

For more info

Egg

Rs per 100 No Price on 11-04-2015 Product

Market Center

Price

1

Pune

273

2

Chittoor

284

3

Hyderabad

233

Source: e2necc.com

Other International Prices

Unit Price : US$ per package Price on 10-04-2015

Product

Market Center

Origin

Variety

Low

Package:50 lb cartons

Potatoes 1

Atlanta

2

Baltimore

3

Detroit

Colorado Idaho Wisconsin

Russet

21

21.50

Russet

19

20

Russet

18

18.50 Package: 50 lb cartons

Cabbage 1

High

Atlanta

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Florida

Round Green Type

Page 36

8.50

11.50

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine 2

Chicago

3

Detroit

Texas Florida

Round Green Type

12

14

Round Green Type

13

13.50 Package: 4/5 bushel cartons

Grapefruit 1

Atlanta

2

Baltimore

3

Chicago

Florida

13

16

Red

16

17

Red

15

16.50

Red

Florida Florida

Source:USDA

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