18th september,2014 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter

18th September, 2014

Today Rice News Headlines:  Korea Announcement of New Rice Tariff Jumps the Gun  GMO debate grows over golden rice in the Philippines  Using Bacteria To Combat Arsenic In Rice  Rice Month in Louisiana: Eight Tons of Rice Donated to Area Food  Punjab has adequate capacity to lift, shell basmati: milers  South Korea Plans Tariff of Over 500% on Rice Imports  Commerce Ministry to keep rice price from falling below 8,500 baht per ton  Indonesia Rice Production Forecast Slightly Below Last Year’s Record Level  UPDATE 2-S.Korea sets rice import tariff at 513 pct from 2015  Rice exporters must have 500-tonne stockpiles  Monsoon rains weaken as late retreat looms  US$75 million facility to boost rice production  Govt decides to export 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka  India's rice output, exports to climb on revival of monsoon  New panel to look at rice prices  470 KMT of export wheat shipped from the port of Taman in August For Advertisement Specs & Rates: Contact: mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com 92 321 3692874

News Detail‌.

Korea Announcement of New Rice Tariff Jumps the Gun Korea's Minister of Agriculture Lee Dong-phil ARLINGTON, VA -- Korea's Minister of Agriculture reportedly announced Thursday that his country would impose a tariff of approximately 513 percent on imports of rice above a set quota beginning in 2015. The announcement is in connection with Korea's decision earlier this year to move away from a system of rigid import quotas to a tariff-based system."Korea is an important market for U.S. rice, and today's announcement of an extremely high duty without apparent consultation with members of the World Trade Organization is disappointing," said Robert Cummings, USA Rice Federation COO. "The WTO has guidelines for countries moving to a tariff-based import system for rice, and final tariff levels are subject to acceptance by WTO members. Japan held consultations with the United States and other affected WTO members before Japan formally notified a final tariff level to the WTO in the late 1990's when the country moved to rice tariffication. We would expect the Korean government to do the same."Korea was granted 'special treatment for rice under the WTO's Uruguay Round Agreement of 1994 which allowed the Korean government to set an absolute import limit on rice imports in exchange for agreeing to import a set annual quota from WTO members.

WTO members extended special treatment for an additional 10 years in 2004.

Korea announced earlier this year that it would move to tariffication, and USA Rice has been in close

contact with U.S. negotiators to ensure that tariffication at a minimum preserves current market access for U.S. rice.

The 2004 agreement extending special treatment required Korea to import an annually increasing amount of rice, reaching 408,700 metric tons in 2014. A portion of that quota was divided into country specific quotas (CSQ) among Australia, China, Thailand, and the United States. The U.S. CSQ is 50,076 metric tons (MT).The 2004 agreement also requires that a certain percentage of Korea's imports (30 percent in 2014) be made available to the "table rice" or consumer market. The United States has developed a market in Korea, and has found consumer acceptance in the allimportant table rice market. U.S. exports were just under 159,000 MT in 2013, and averaged 131,000 MT in 2011-2013.

Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458

GMO debate grows over golden rice in the Philippines September 17, 2014 at 6:37 PM EDT Vitamin A deficiency is a deadly threat to kids and pregnant mothers in the Third World. In the Philippines, the best nutrient sources are rarely part of the daily diet, so researchers have tried adding vitamin A to rice, a staple food. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien investigates the debate that’s grown up over the development of golden rice, a genetically modified crop. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/gmo-debategrows-golden-rice-philippines/

Using Bacteria To Combat Arsenic In Rice Randall Mayes , Design & Trend

Arsenic is a common contaminant in the fields of India and other Asian countries. Rice plants

microbiome is underway in the lab ofVenkatesan Sundaresan, a professor of plant biology and plant sciences at University of California, Davis. Using DNA sequencing, he has found at least a quarter-million bacterial species in the rice microbiome, and counting.P. agglomerans is the first microbe that has been shown to reduce arsenic in rice.

While the microbe appears to keep most arsenic out of the rice's stem and leaves, the

that absorb arsenic and are then exposed to consumers have been linked to heart disease, diabetes and genetic damage associated with elevated risk for cancer, reports The New York Times.When Harsh Bais grows rice plants in trays of water in his greenhouse at the University of Delaware, he can easily spot the ones that have been exposed to arsenic.

They are stunted, with shorter stems and shrunken, yellow-tinged leaves.But instead of

crucial question is how it affects the grain. The researchers hope to find out this growing season, reports The New York Times.The research, funded by the National Science Foundation, has not been published. But in May, the scientists published a study in BMC Palnt Biology on a different bacterium found to suppress a fungal infection called blast, which kills up to 30 percent of the world's rice crop.

Sep, 18, 2014, 10:30 AM

trying to breed new strains of rice or alter its DNA, he is looking at the vast microbial community that lives near the rice's roots.

These bacteria are the botanic equivalent of the human microbiome , the trillions of organisms that live in our guts, many performing beneficial tasks like digesting food and fighting off infection, according to New York Times. "Research on the plant microbiome is very hot because everyone is trying to find things that can increase growth and yield," said Bais, anassociate professor of plant and soil sciences at Delaware. But he added that for him, arsenic in rice was a burning issue."An extensive study of the rice

Rice Month in Louisiana: Eight Tons of Rice Donated to Area Food Bank In good hands BATON ROUGE, LA -- Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain, rice industry leaders, and representatives of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank (GBRFB) gathered at the Capitol Park Museum in view of the state capitol yesterday to proclaim September as Louisiana Rice Month.Dr. Strain also presented Governor Bobby Jindal's official proclamation declaring September as Louisiana Hunger Action Month.

Joining the ceremony was Louisiana

Representative Jack Montoucet of Crowley.Louisiana Rice Promotion Board Chairman Kevin Berken was on hand to make the industry's annual rice donation to the GBRFB."The rice industry has a strong record of support for the needy," said Berken.

"This year's donation of more than 16,000 pounds will provide nearly 200,000 servings of rice to our neighbors in need."Louisiana Rice Mill and Falcon Rice Mill of Crowley, Planters Rice Mill of Abbeville, and Farmers Rice Mill of Lake Charles provided rice for the donation.The GBRFB is a regional food bank that provides food to more than 130 charitable agencies operating food pantries, group homes, shelters, meal sites and special agencies in 11 parishes. In 2013, the GBRFB provided more than 9.6 million meals to those in need.

Contact: Randy Jemison (337) 738-7009

Punjab has adequate capacity to lift, shell basmati: milers HT Correspondent, September 16, 2014

Hindustan

Times

First Published: 22:58 IST(16/9/2014) | Last Updated: 16:32 IST(17/9/2014) The rice millers and exporters association, Punjab, on Tuesday announced that it was geared up to lift and shell the entire basmati paddy produce without the state government’s intervention.The association was reacting to apprehensions raised by the state government and its proposal to take help from millers from neighbouring Haryana for lifting and milling of basmati, the production of which is expected to double this year as compared to last year.Punjab agriculture minister Tota Singh has already invited rice milers from

Haryana, seeking their help for lifting and shelling basmati in Punjab.

The millers clarified that basmati produce from the state did not have to be shelled in Haryana as the arrangements were adequate.

While the state agriculture department says that basmati is sown over 6.5 lakh hectares, rice millers have claimed that area under basmati (Pusa 1121, 1509 and traditional varieties) is 7.8 lakh hectares in the state.―The Punjab basmati rice industry has grown manifold with the policy initiated by the state government to waive market fee and rural development fund (2% each) on the lifting of the crop,‖ said association director Ashok Sethi, adding that as a result, farmers were choosing basmati varieties over the coarse paddy grain.

Sethi said the concessions had attracted new investment worth more than Rs. 500 crore, thereby adding fresh production capacity of 300 metric tonnes per hour, which resulted in 30% growth in the area under basmati crop cultivation this year.―We are alarmed by statements made by some persons, creating a fear psychosis that the existing industry does not have sufficient milling capacity to lift the increased basmati produce this year, and policy-makers were looking at the option of extending benefits of rural development fund and market fee exemption to millers and traders from other states to purchase the bumper crop from Punjab,‖ said association president Arvinder Pal Singh.

Sethi pointed that the Punjab government had imposed 5.5 % as advance tax on the import of paddy from other states, depriving its own industry of purchasing basmati and rice varieties that were not grown in Punjab.―The state government is denying us the opportunity to run our units to full capacity,‖ he said, adding that some states were enjoying zero-VAT regime on foodgrains, whereas in Punjab they were paying 5.5% VAT.

South Korea Plans Tariff of Over 500% on Rice Imports

By KWANWOO JUN CONNECT Sept. 18, 2014 3:48 a.m. ET

South Korea plans to impose a tariff of up to 513% on rice imports to help protect its farmers. A farmer stands near a rice field in Gimje, south of Seoul, in this file photo. Reuters South Korea plans to impose a tariff of up to 513% on rice imports to help protect its farmers, months before the country opens up its rice market to foreign competition. Rice imports are a politically sensitive issue in South Korea because most farmers strongly

oppose opening up the rice-market in fear they will lose out to cheaper imports.South Korea has been allowed to gradually increase its rice import quotas—instead of fully opening its rice market—under an agreement with the World Trade Organization.

The deal expires at the end of 2014. Seoul said in July it would scrap rice-import capsfrom 2015.The South Korean government on Thursday said it would impose a tariff of 513% from early next year on foreign rice shipments that exceeded its annual quota of grain imports.South Korea's annual quota for rice imports totals 408,700 tons this year, or about 9% of national demand, with a 5% tariff imposed on the imported grain.In a televised briefing, Agriculture Minister Lee Dong-phil said the tariff was "the highest possible level that an agriculture agreement with the WTO allows to protect the local rice industry."Government data show the tariff will help domestic producers of the grain stay competitive in the local market. The tariff will make the imported grain six times more expensive than its original price and up to three times more than that of local rice.

"Probably only a handful of Korean people would be willing to pay the exorbitant prices to eat foreign rice," said an agriculture ministry official, who asked not to be named.However, the measure didn't appease a group of about 10 angry local farmers, who briefly broke into a meeting of government officials and ruling party lawmakers discussing the opening of the

local rice market. Television footage showed the protesters sprayed red pepper and threw eggs at the officials.Seoul's latest tariff decision comes amid a decline in the country's per capita rice consumption, which dropped to 67.2 kilograms last year from 80.7 kilograms in 2005.

A recent survey also showed Koreans have little appetite for foreign versions of the grain.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

next week, said the Commerce Minister. The Ministry of Commerce is also looking to implement the same model to oversee issues of other crops.

Indonesia Rice Production Forecast Slightly Below Last Year’s Record Level 18 September 2014

Commerce Ministry to keep rice price from falling below 8,500 baht per ton Date : 18 กันยายน 2557 BANGKOK, 18 September 2014 (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce has agreed to meet with rice growers' representatives every two weeks to ensure stability of rice price is achieved and to address the demands of rice growers. Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikanlaya yesterday met with representatives from five rice growers' organizations to discuss measures to aid rice growers, the appropriate price of rice and the marketing of rice. It was agreed at the meeting that the government would work to keep the rice price from falling below 8,500 baht per ton. easures to ensure this price level would vary according to circumstances.

For the long run, cost of producing rice would be reduced and improvement made to the yield per rai of paddy. The representatives of rice growers and Commerce Ministry officials will meet every two weeks to follow up on these drives, with the first meeting set to take place

INDONESIA - Harvesting of the 2014 main (wet) season paddy crop, which accounts for about 95 per cent of annual production, was completed by June, while that of the 2014 secondary season crop is expected to start in mid-October and continue into December.

Latest official forecasts put this year’s aggregate rice production (including the 2014 main and secondary seasons) at 69.9 million tonnes, slightly below last year’s record level.

The expected decrease is the result of a slight contraction in planted area, reflecting a shift from paddy land to other crops, as well as planting disruptions due to floods from midJanuary to late February, particularly in parts of West Java.Harvesting of the 2014 main (rainy) season maize crop was completed in April and that of the 2014 secondary (dry) season crop will start in mid-October and will be completed in December.The 2014 aggregate maize output is officially forecast at 18.6 million tonnes, similar to last year’s above-average harvest and slightly below the 2012 record output.The probability of

an El Ni単o event in the last quarter of the year has been recently lowered to 60 per cent.

The phenomenon is often associated with belowaverage precipitation and the past moderate El Ni単o events resulted in production declines in the country.Depending on the timing and intensity of an eventual El Ni単o, the 2015 main rainfed paddy crops, which are planted from late October, may be negatively affected by the event.

UPDATE 2-S.Korea sets rice import tariff at 513 pct from 2015 Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:44am IST

the statement said, and the 513 percent would apply to shipments above that level.

Farmers groups had called for a tariff of at least 400 percent and local media had reported it would be at least 500 percent."The tariff to be informed to the WTO has been decided at 513 percent, the highest level possible within the ranges in a WTO agriculture agreement to protect the domestic rice industry," Agriculture Minister Lee Dong-phil said in a televised briefing.Earlier, about 10 people from farmers' groups had briefly disrupted a meeting between the government and the ruling party over the import tariff, saying the

* Seoul is scrapping import quotas but wants to protect farmers * Will inform WTO by end-Sept; WTO to review from Oct * Import tariff above 500 pct had been expected * 513 pct tariff will apply to imports above 409,000 tonnes (Adds agriculture minister's quotes and farmers' reaction)

By Meeyoung Cho SEOUL, Sept 18 (Reuters) - South Korea has

government was opening up the rice market without any preparation.The Korean Peasants League criticised the decision in a statement, saying it was made without consulting

set a rice import tariff at 513 percent from next year as it looks to protect farmers after scrapping a cap on politically sensitive imports of the grain in line with international

the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation, said: "Switching to the tariff scheme is unavoidable. We think protecting the industry by imposing this appropriate level of 513 percent is more what is needed."Son, however, also thought the government should have made more effort to support farmers by raising

trade commitments.The World Trade Organization (WTO) will be officially informed of the level by the end of this month and will start a review of the tariff in October, the agriculture, trade and finance ministries said in a joint statement on Thursday.Imports of 409,000 tonnes a year - the amount shipped in under a WTO quota agreement that ends this year - would attract a tariff of 5 percent,

opposition parties and members of a rice industry development committee.

But not all farmers' groups disagreed with the scheme. Son Jae-beom, secretary general of

subsidies.

South Korea is broadly self-sufficient as regards rice but, under the current WTO agreement, it must buy 408,700 tonnes of foreign rice this year, 9 percent of its demand.

The amount that must be purchased abroad has gradually increased from 51,000 tonnes in 1995.Under the new scheme, Seoul would still be required to import at least 408,700 tonnes a year.U.S. and Chinese rice exporters have been waiting for the Korean government's decision on grain import tariffs since Seoul said in July it would scrap caps on rice imports from 2015.

The 20-year-old quota agreement with the WTO expires at the end of this year.Although the decision potentially opens up the market to more imports, Seoul has said all along that steep tariffs would be used to protect its farmers.A free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States took effect on March 15 last year. Seoul has been in talks with China on a similar deal and also wants to join the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.The tariff level would not be amended as part of any free trade deals with other countries, the joint statement said.

(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Additional reporting by Chris Lee; Editing by Richard Pullin and Alan Raybould)

Rice exporters must have 500tonne stockpiles 9/18/2014 The Nation (Thailand) Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation The Commerce Ministry will inspect exporters' rice stockpiles soon to

ensure they have at least the minimum amount required under a new regulation, while it will also encourage traders and farmers to hold on to rice longer during the upcoming harvest season.Boonyarit Kalayanamit, ministry inspector-general and spokesman, yesterday said that under a primary plan to stabilise market prices, Commerce needed to ensure that every exporter had some stockpiled rice.Under the new regulation, exporters are each required to have a minimum of 500 tonnes of rice in their warehouses.

The measure will ensure that exporters have enough stocks and absorb some of the rice supply in the market, he said.Moreover, the ministry will also encourage millers, traders and farmers to keep more rice in their warehouses, so that farmers do not face high pressure to accelerate sales during the harvest season.Under the plan, the government will provide soft loans to traders and farmers so that they can build or expand their warehouses.The plan to inspect exporters' stockpiles and support the holding of more stock is part of the government's measures to prevent rice prices falling, to the detriment of farmers.

Boonyarit said Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya would submit the proposals for the Rice Policy and Management Committee's approval soon.

He pointed out that Chatchai had recently told farmers that the new government would

try to ensure that rice prices in the market would not fall below Bt8,500 for a tonne of white paddy.In addition, so that farmers have better means of voicing their concerns, the ministry has agreed with five farmerrelated associations to set up a bi-weekly discussion group between its officials and farmers' representatives.

Monsoon rains weaken as late retreat looms

BY RATNAJYOTI DUTTA NEW DELHI Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:06pm IST

An ice-cream vendor takes shelter in his cart as it rains in New Delhi September 11, 2014.

(Reuters) - Monsoon is set for a delayed retreat this year as rains weakened last week after a fortnight of heavy downpours over major crop regions. Usually, the monsoon season starts to diminish in early September, and withdraws completely from the grain bowl belt of northwest India by the middle of the month.Monsoon rains strengthened in northwest India, however, earlier this month.

The delayed retreat is likely to aid sowing prospects next month for winter crops such as wheat and rapeseed by improving soil moisture content."Signs of the withdrawal are visible in the western parts," said D.S. Pai, lead forecaster of the Indian weather office.The weather office treats dry weather conditions for five straight days in western

India to be the basic criterion signifying the retreat of the June-September rainy season.Monsoon rains are vital because more than half of India's farmland lacks irrigation, and the farm sector accounts for 14 percent of the national economy.

The monsoon is the main determinant of rural spending on consumer goods ranging from lipstick to cars as two-thirds of India's 1.2 billion people live in villages.

Insufficient rains push up food prices.Rains were a quarter below average in the week to Sept. 17, the weather office said on Thursday, a slide from the previous week's 64 percent surplus, the heaviest rainfall of any week during this monsoon season.As the monsoon retreats, summer crops such as rice, corn, sugarcane, soybeans and cotton

no longer need heavy precipitation, though sporadic rains can aid their growth."Conditions are becoming favourable for the withdrawal of the monsoon from some parts of northwest India during the next three days," Pai said.

(Editing by Dale Hudson)

US$75 million facility to boost rice production Dutch international development outfit SNV Netherland Development Organisation has secured a US$75million funding from the USAID’s Financing Ghanaian Agriculture Project (FinGAP) to boost the capacity of local rice producers in the three northern regions.The facility is expected to allow rice farmers to access the necessary funds and logistics to increase yields and produce quality grain that will meet international standards in order to attract investors, as well as improve the economic lives of farmers in the beneficiary regions.The move affirms the Dutch organisation’s resolve to step up efforts to support agribusiness organisations in the beneficiary communities through financing the rice value chain to boost production under its Local Rice Farmers Can Feed West Africa Project.

FinGAP is a five-year project set up by the USAID to facilitate financial support to boost the maize, rice and soya value chains in the country as a form of intervention in a situation where commercial banks consider the agriculture sector to be a risk area for lending.The Project Manager of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Zakaria Jalil, who disclosed this at a stakeholders’ forum for rice farmers, aggregators and farmer cooperatives in Tamale, urged the farmers to form cooperatives to secure more funds for their activities.The forum enabled the rice farmers, processors and aggregators to discuss their financial needs, and how funding from FinGAP can benefit smallholder farmers when rice is patronised from the farmers.

It also provided a platform to the participants to network to support each other in the production and marketing of rice as each participant is unique in the service along the rice value chain.

Mr. Jalil said the forum was to provide the platform for players in the rice value chain to discuss funding constraints that militate against high rice yields, needed to feed the nation and also export to generate revenue for other developmental projects.

The project, he said, was also to seek opportunities to support processors and aggregators to purchase rice from farmers and encourage more production in the subsequent years.He stressed that the aggregators and farmer cooperatives have standing MoUs with AVNASH rice mills to supply rice this season, but funding challenges do not allow speedy mobilisation of rice to AVNASH as farmers demand cash before rice is off-taken.He said FinGAP is therefore a worthy partner in leveraging funding to support the rice value chain projects and urged beneficiaries to take the opportunities to put their houses in order to access the funds and thus contribute their quota to enhancing the economy.Since the inception of the SNV rice project, about 1,700 farmers and processors have benefitted from business brokering services -- leading to beneficiaries gaining access to tractor services, fertiliser, seeds, working capital and extension services; resulting in the production of 1,400 acres of rice to boost rice projects in the Northern Region.

Mr. Dominic Ansah of FinGAP noted that his organisation is working with 21 financial institutions to provide financial support to farmers.He said FinGAP in its first year facilitated US$4million credit to small-, medium- and large-scale enterprises.FinGAP provides capacity building and prepare small-, medium- and large-scale rice, maize and soya

farmers, processors, input dealers and other actors to access credit easily to support their activities he added.The participants thanked SNV for the funding opportunity and indicated that although the SNV does not give direct financial support, its actions have facilitated opportunities that seek to connect capacities in the rice value chain.

India's rice output, exports to climb on revival of monsoon Last Updated: Thursday, September 18, 2014, 14:10

Tags: India's rice output, India's rice exports, Monsoon, Monsoon rains, Rice global prices, Basmati rice

Govt decides to export 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka Staff Correspondent, bdnews24.com Published: 2014-09-18 17:23:57.0 BdST Updated: 2014-09-18 17:25:01.0 BdST The government will export 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka, the finance minister has said.Bangladesh had exported some amount

of aromatic rice before, but such a large quantity would be exported for the first time.This was decided at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Purchase Affairs held on Thursday."The amount of rice stocked in Bangladesh now is 1.1 million tonnes. Sri Lanka is a friendly country. We are treating this as a test case," AMA Muhith told reporters after the meeting.He said government-level talks would fix the price in accordance with international prices.

The export would not create a crisis since the country had 'adequate' stock, added Muhith.According to the food ministry, Bangladesh’s rice stock was 1.1 million tonnes until August this year.However, the export would require an amendment to the statutory regulatory order (SRO).The SRO bars the export of all varieties of rice except aromatic ones until June 30, 2015.

Mumbai/New Delhi: India`s summer-sown rice output is likely to cross the previous year`s level due to a pick up in monsoon rains, raising prospects for higher overseas sales in 2015 by the world`s biggest exporter of the grain, trade officials said.Robust exports from India could keep a lid on global prices that have surged 12 percent in the past three months and help cut bulging government stockpiles built as a result of bumper harvests over the past several years.

"There were concerns over production due to poor rainfall in June. The pick-up in rains from mid-July changed the situation. Now, the crop is in good shape," said B.V. Krishna Rao, managing director of Pattabhi Agro Foods Pvt Ltd, a leading exporter.In June, monsoon rains were 43 percent lower than the 50-year average, raising concerns about output of the rice crop that guzzles a lot of water. But rains picked up in the past

few weeks, narrowing the rainfall deficit to 11 percent.

"Overall rice production will definitely be higher than last year but it is a little early to quantify by how much," said Rajen Sundareshan, executive director of the All India Rice Exporters Association.Indian farmers do the bulk of the rice planting in the rainy months of June and July, with harvests from October. The summer-sown variety accounts for the bulk of India`s total rice output.Farmers harvested a record 106.54 million tonnes of rice in the 2013/14 crop year, including an output of 91.69 million tonnes from the summer-sown crop.Buoyed by attractive prices in the export market, farmers have planted more areas with aromatic basmati rice, as it needs less water and is more sturdy, said Rajeev Setia, executive director of Chaman Lal Setia Exports Ltd.India and Pakistan exclusively grow the premium long-grain, aromatic basmati in the foothills of the Himalayas. Increasingly farmers are growing it in the northern plains.

The superior variety carries a premium over non-basmati, or common grades of rice.

Basmati rice accounts for a tenth of India`s total rice production.India toppled Thailand two years ago to become the world`s top rice exporter as a government intervention scheme priced Thai rice out of the export market and as Delhi lifted a four-year ban on non-basmati rice sales in 2011 to trim stocks.But Indian exports slowed down from April as local prices hardened amid a cut in export rates by Thailand to trim its

inventory. A bumper Indian harvest will moderate prices and make its grain competitive in the world market, exporter Rao said.

CHINESE APPETITE Indian rice exporters are lobbying the government to persuade China to import non-basmati rice from India during the three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.China is the world`s biggest producer of the grain, but rising demand is forcing it to ramp up imports from Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan."China has signed protocols with other rice exporters like Vietnam and Pakistan.

During Chinese president`s visit we could sign the protocol with China," Rao said.India had already signed a protocol with China for basmati rice export in 2006.Traders believe India can export more than 1 million tonnes of non-basmati rice to China. "It has freight advantages over Pakistan," said an exporter, who did not wish to be identified.

New panel to look at rice prices Published: 18 Sep 2014 at 08.22 | Viewed: 2,170 | Comments: 1 Newspaper section: Business Writer: Phusadee Arunmas

A panel that includes representatives from the Commerce Ministry and farmers will be set up to address low paddy prices and work out strategies to handle rice issues. Boonyarit Kalayanamit, inspectorgeneral of the Commerce Ministry and

spokesman for Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya, said the panel would meet every two weeks starting from next week to discuss rice prices and how to stabilise them, with a goal of shoring them up at a minimum of 8,500 baht a tonne.The minister called a meeting yesterday with five farmer groups — the Thai Farmers Association, the Thai Agriculturists Association, the Thai Farmer Support Association, a network of Thai farmers, and the Community Rice Center.

They all agreed the new panel would play a vital role in sorting out farmers' problems.Mr Boonyarit said the ministry pledged to work closer with the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to offer soft loans to farmers in the Northeast and Upper North, where rice barn owners have delayed rice sales.The ministry is also committed to working out ways to improve the grains' quality, cutting production costs and raising productivity.The ministry will also establish "Mr Rice", a new unit to coordinate with other rice-related agencies and monitor the industry and related issues.

accelerating sales of state rice stocks but noted a key stumbling block was rice quality inspections, which took time.Rawee Rungruang, who leads a network of farmers, hailed the new panel.It will allow the government and state authorities to hear and see their real problems so they could work out accurate measures demanded by farmers, he said.Mr Rawee urged authorities to monitor paddy prices closely, saying the market was expected to feel the pinch in November and December, when the new harvest from the main crop would be churned out.

470 KMT of export wheat shipped from the port of Taman in August 19.09.2014 This amount far exceeds monthly shipments observed since the port’s opening in August 2011. 33 KMT of wheat was shipped abroad that month, 215 KMT in August 2012, and 286 KMT in August 2013.

Internal Trade Department figures show as of Tuesday, paddy prices this year with moisture of less than 15% were quoted at 7,500 to 8,200 baht a tonne. In related news, Mr Boonyarit said the ministry had been

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