22nd september,2014 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter

22nd September, 2014

Today Rice News Headlines:

Government urged to facilitate basmati rice exporters Quota restrictions limiting rice export potential LCRA action could reduce water impacts to rice growers Gov't to purchase 370,000 tons of rice for stockpile Korean rice market opening Arkansas rice industry donates nearly 129,000 pounds of rice Rice supply and prices remain stable -NFA TABLE-India Grain Prices-Delhi Kharif sowing down 2.5% Farmers told to avoid second crop Rice-scheme case meeting postponed Workshop on major rice pests and diseases held at PAU Heralding the dawn of a new era in rice improvement USA Rice Attends North Carolina Rice Festival Application Deadline for Rice Leadership Program Nears Belville Hosts First-Ever NC Rice Festival Tsunami-stricken town harvests rice for first time in 4 years PHL leads in regional agri biotech research–USDA

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News Detail‌ Government urged to facilitate basmati rice exporters PPI,September 21, 2014

KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has invited the urgent attention of the federal commerce minister engineer Khurram Dastagir to the unnecessary delay in the closure of the Quality Review Committee (QRC) despite the fact that the ministry of commerce (MoC) finally decided to close it after studying all the pros and cons and conveyed the decision in writing to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said It is believed that the Director General TDAP (DG) held meetings in this regard and also some decisions were taken about golden handshake for the QRC and it was also unanimously agreed by all the participants in the meeting that QRC had served its purpose and it is no more useful and needs to be disbanded.

The meeting agreed on the futility of QRC and realized that the pre-shipment inspection (PSI) is the prerogative of the buyer and PSI is always by a third party. The meeting decided wisely but is unwisely delaying the implementation. The basmati export business has changed radically and the buyers are buying either their own brands or they buy the brands of the rice exporters and the quality is known by the brands.There are varieties which are far more expensive than basmati and are in great demand. The recent floods in Punjab have caused huge losses to the rice sector and

the rice sector needs to be facilitated immediately and all hindrances need to be removed immediately.

UNISAME has urged the MoC to recommend exemption of with holding tax on export of rice to the finance ministry to enable the rice exporters to remani competitive.

Thaver also said that the federal commerce minister Khurram Dastagir also assured the rice exporters that the QRC would be closed and the rice exporters would be able to export basmati rice without any impediment. It is very important to remove all hindrances in the export of basmati rice as there is tough competition from India. Most of the basmati rice after value addition is exported by the SMEs as the big exporters are exporting non basmati rice in big quantities.

It is believed that the DG TDAP had demanded the audited reports of QRC accounts from the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) and the meeting convened by him endorsed the requirement but it is presumed that REAP has not yet submitted the audited reports. Perhaps this is the reason for the delay in closure of the QRC but surely it is not a valid reason as non closure after a firm policy decision amounts to willful omission.

The MoC needs to look into this seriously.

UNISAME has requested the MoC to enlighten us on the subject in the best interest of the SME rice exporters who are at a loss to understand the delay in the implementation of the decision and fulfillment of the promise to do away with this hurdle.

Quota restrictions limiting rice export potential September 20, 2014 IQBAL MIRZA

Although there is lot of potential to increase the export of rice from Pakistan to Malaysia, but it is presently limited due to quota restrictions in Malaysia. This issue was raised at a meeting of the directors and members of Pak-Malaysia Business Council (PMBC) of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) held on September 17, at Federation House. The meeting was specially attended by Abu Bakar Mamat, Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi and Mazlan Bin Harun, Consul (Trade) of Malaysia in Pakistan. M Basheer Jan Mohammed, Chairman of the Council chaired the meeting which was also attended

by Zakaria Usman, President FPCCI on special invitation besides Ismail Suttar and Khurram Sayeed, Vice Presidents of the FPCCI and leading businessmen.

The meeting laid emphasis on more export of rice from Pakistan to Malaysia and requested the Malaysian Consul General and Trade Consul to assist in this respect.

Bilateral trade and business relations with Malaysia were also reviewed in detail and the problems being faced by Pakistani exporters to Malaysia and ways and means to resolve were deliberated. Basheer Jan Mohammed appreciated the role played by Abu Bakar Mamat in promoting bilateral trade relation between Malaysia and Pakistan and hoped that with the induction of Mazlan Bin Harun significant improvements would take place in promoting bilateral trade. Abu Bakar also appreciated support of Pakistani businessmen and stated that no branded

Pakistani product is marketed in Malaysia. It was noted that the balance of trade between Pakistan and Malaysia is tilted in favour of Malaysia for a long time and in order to narrow down the trade deficit, there is dire need for increasing export of non-traditional items as well as the existing items being exported to Malaysia.

It was advised by the Malaysian Trade Consul that some new commodities are being included in Free Trade Agreement (FTA), for which both the governments are working and hoped to finalise a concrete list

by December 2014, which would bring incentive to Pakistan's exporters as well. Zakaria Usman appreciated the significant contribution of Basheer Jan Mohammed in promoting bilateral trade with Malaysia and for bringing Foreign Direct Investment to Pakistan. He further assured full support of FPCCI to PakMalaysia Business Council and emphasised on more person-to-person contact between Pakistani and Malaysian businessmen which is necessary for promoting bilateral trade. He also emphasised to explore possibility of export of Halal food from Pakistan. The President FPCCI suggested to open office in Kuala Lumpur in near future (as already done by the Federation in China and Brussels), which will be instrumental in promoting bilateral trade, particularly exports of Pakistani commodities to Malaysia. He assured the PMBC that FPCCI will support fully in this respect.

LCRA action could reduce water impacts to rice growers Sep 19, 2014Logan Hawkes LCRA action could reduce water impacts to rice growers

With more normal rainfall amounts and a slight drop in drought intensity in recent weeks, the LCRA Board has proposed changes in its Water Management Plan that should see reduced impacts to rice farmers and slightly increased flows to Matagorda Bay—if TCEQ approves the measure.

revisions of the LCRA water plan over the past month.

“The changes mean slightly fewer water cutoffs for rice farmers and a little more water for the environment. Work by staff through a robust stakeholder process assured the best product possible under the constraints of this historic drought.”

It has been a tough three years or more for

For the latest on southwest agriculture, please check out Southwest Farm Press Daily and receive the latest news right to your inbox.

environment, and the rural communities that

Gov't to purchase 370,000 tons of rice for stockpile

dot the landscape of the Lower Colorado

2014/09/22 11:00

River after the Lower Colorado River

SEJONG, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government said Monday it will purchase 370,000 tons of locally produced rice as part of a national stockpile, a move also aimed at controlling local prices.The amount of fresh crop to be purchased remains unchanged from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.However, the purchase, starting Tuesday, comes shortly after the government announced plans to liberalize the country's rice market for the first time in its history.

Texas rice

farmers, the

fragile coastal

Authority (LCRA) was granted emergency drought status in recent years from the Texas Commission

on

Environmental

Quality

(TCEQ), resulting in decreased water flows that left rice fields dry, communities short on water and a bay system dangerously close to an environmental disaster.

With more normal rainfall amounts and a slight drop in drought intensity in recent weeks, the LCRA Board has proposed changes in its Water Management Plan that should see reduced impacts to rice farmers and slightly increased flows to Matagorda Bay—if TCEQ approves the measure.It is a better plan than a month ago,” said Kirby Brown, cochair of the Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB) Coalition, which participated in the LCRA stakeholder process to help with

Apart from preventing an inflow of cheap rice imports, keeping the price of locally produced grain from falling has long been a part of government efforts to protect local farmers.Under its plans, announced last week, the government seeks to impose a 513 percent tariff on rice imports from next year, which it said will make imports more expensive than locally produced rice.The ministry said it plans to purchase an additional 30,000 tons of newly harvested

rice this year to be used as international aid under the so-called ASEAN plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR).

ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"The farmers will have an additional demand for their new harvest this year as the government plans to purchase 30,000 tons for international aid in addition to 370,000 tons for the government stockpile," the ministry said in a press release.Under the APTERR program, the 10 member countries of ASEAN, together with South Korea, Japan and China, seek to stockpile and use 787,000 tons of rice each year to help stabilize the price of the staple grain in the region.South Korea has agreed to earmark up to 150,000 tons of rice each year for the purpose.

bdk@yna.co.kr

Korean rice market opening The Korea Herald/Asia News NetworkSunday, Sep 21, 2014

A farmer holds a sickle on a rice field in Gimje, south of Seoul in this file photo.

KOREA'S rice market will open fully to foreign imports starting next year, ending 20 years of rice import caps.On Thursday the government announced that it would seek a 513 per cent tariff on rice imports as it fully

liberalises the rice market, explaining that the high tariff will protect Korea's rice farmers. Under an agreement with the World Trade Organisation, Korea gradually increased its rice import quotas for 20 years instead of fully opening its rice market.

That agreement expires at the end of this year.

The country's annual quota for rice imports for this year is 408,708 tonnes, or about 9 per cent of the national demand, with a 5 per cent tariff on the imported grain.Rice market liberalisation is a politically sensitive matter and the announcement was immediately met with vehement protests by farmers, who vowed to fight the government on the issue.At the end of September, the WTO will be notified of the proposed tariff rate, which has been touted by the government as the highest possible allowed to protect the local rice industry under the WTO agreement.

The WTO review and approval could take several months.Whether the WTO will approve the proposed tariff remains to be P such as the US seen as large rice producers are likely to oppose such a high tariff rate.Also worrying the farmers is the question of whether the government will be able to maintain the 513 per cent tariff rate in the future as the country negotiates free trade agreements with various countries, despite the government's pledge that rice market liberaliSation will be excluded from any future trade agreements.

After the full market opening, Korea is obligated to continue to import 409,000 tonNEs of rice per year at a 5 per cent tariff

rate to meet the minimum market access (MMA) volume.Faced with declining rice consumption, the rice farming industry would like to see the MMA purchase channeled elsewhere, as food aid to North Korea or elsewhere, for example. Rice consumption in the country has steadily declined, sinking to 67.2 kg per person last year from 80.7 kg in 2005.Full liberaliSation of the rice market is an unavoidable event that has been delayed for 20 years. The government and the rice farming industry have had ample time to prepare for it.To soften the blow to the rice farmers, the government has earmarked 14.1 billion won in next year's budget to cover direct subsidies to farmers. The interest rate on 11 different policy loans for rice farmers will be lowered by 0.5 per cent to around 2 per cent.

Farmers are a conservative group by nature; however, they must seek innovations to boost the competitiveness of their products.Improving the quality of rice grains, boosting productivity and planting alternative crops are ways to boost the competitiveness of Korea's agricultural sector.

Rather than viewing liberaliSation of the rice market as a doomsday, farmers should seek ways to take advantage of the new conditions that they face. Market liberalisation and global competition are now a fact of life and the rice farming industry is no exception.

Arkansas rice industry donates nearly 129,000 pounds of rice Governor to make Rice Month proclamation Sep 19, 2014 | Delta Farm Press

In honor of National Rice Month, the Arkansas rice industry has donated 128,500 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Rice Depot to help feed hungry families in Arkansas.

Participating rice mills are Cormier Rice Mill of DeWitt, Windmill Rice Company of Jonesboro, Riceland Foods, Inc. of Stuttgart, Producers Rice Mill of Stuttgart, Riviana Foods of Carlisle and Specialty Rice, Inc. of Brinkley.

The Arkansas Rice Council also presented a $2,500 check to the Arkansas Rice Depot. The donation was made at the Arkansas Rice Depot, a statewide food bank that works with 600

Arkansas

hunger

relief

programs

including food pantries, school food programs, disaster relief organizations, and a statewide hunger hotline. The donation followed Gov. Mike Beebe's Rice Month proclamation event held at the State Capitol in the Governor's Conference Room.Arkansas is the number one rice-producing state in the nation. This year,

Arkansas family farmers will produce over 50 percent of the nation's rice for the first time in history. The Arkansas rice industry contributes over $6 billion annually to the state's economy and employs nearly 25,000 Arkansans.

Rice supply and prices remain stable -NFA

by Ellalyn De Vera September 22, 2014 Prices of rice in storm-affected areas in Luzon remain “stable” in the wake of tropical storm “Mario,” according to the National Food Authority (NFA).NFA said rice supply and prices remained stable in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol Region, and Metro Manila between P39 and P43 per kilogram for regular-milled rice (RMR).Well-milled rice (WMR) is being sold in these areas at P41 to P44.RMR in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) is being sold at P38 to P41 per kilogram and WMR at P40P44 per kilogram.

In Region 3 (Central Luzon), RMR is sold at P39 to P41 per kilogram and WMR at P40 to P44 per kilogram; Region 4 (Southern Tagalog) had RMR at P40 to P41 per kilogram and WMR at P42 to P45 kilogram; Region 5 had RMR at P40 to P42 per kilogram and WMR at P43-P45 per kilogram; and Metro Manila had RMR at P37-P42 per kilogram and WMR at P40-P45 per kilogram.At the height of heavy rains and flooding, the NFA deployed a rolling store in Pasig City and sold 300 bags of NFA rice.The agency said that its monitoring teams have scoured the markets in affected areas to ensure that rice is available to consumers and prices remain stable.

Based on its monitoring, NFA said rice stock inventories remained within more than enough levels in the storm-affected areas.As of September 21, the NFA in Regions 1 to 5 had more than sufficient rice inventories to last for 17 to 59 days, based on the agency‟s daily average sales in these areas.NFA has also released a total of 3,570 bags of rice to various relief agencies for distribution to storm victims.The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received the bulk of the NFA rice with a total of 2,060 bags, as of September 21.Other NFA rice recipients were local government units with 854 bags; nongovernment organizations with 481 bags; and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council with 175 bags.

TABLE-India Grain Prices-Delhi- Sep 20 Sat Sep 20, 2014 4:29pm IST Rates by Asian News International, New Delhi Tel: 011 2619 1464 Indicative Previous Grains opening close (in rupees per 100 kg unless stated) Wheat Desi 2,200-3,000 2,2003,000.

Wheat Dara 1,800-2,400 1,800-2,400 #N/A Roller Mill (per bag) 1,700-2,000 1,800-2,100.

Maida (per bag) 1,400-1,700 1,400-1,700.

Sooji (per bag) 1,750-2,000 1,750-2,000.

Rice Basmati(Sri Lal Mahal) 13,000-14,000 13,000-14,000.

Rice Basmati(Lal Quila) 13,000-15,000 13,000-15,000.

Rice Basmati(Common) 8,700-9,300 8,700-9,300.

Rice Permal 2,050-2,450 2,0502,450.

Rice Sela 2,300-2,600 2,3002,600.

I.R.-8 2,000-2,400 2,1002,500.

Gram 3,400-3,600 3,4003,600.

Peas Green 2,400-2,700 2,4002,700.

Peas White 2,500-2,900 2,6003,000.

Bajra 1,500-1,900 1,5001,900.

Jowar white 1,400-1,600 1,5001,700.

Maize 1,400-1,600 1,4001,600.

Barley 1,350-1,750 1,3501,750. #N/A Source: Delhi grain market traders.

Kharif sowing down 2.5% OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 22:

The area under rice and cotton has exceeded last yearâ€&#x;s level during the current kharif

stood at 1,015.18 lakh hectares (lh) as on September 19.During the same period a year ago, sowing was 1,040.85 lh, down 2.5 per cent.Rice has been sown on over 373.6 lh (373.15 lh), while cotton acreage is up 10.7 per cent at 125.75 lh.Pulses acreage has declined to 100.05 lh against 107.71 lh last year, while coarse cereals sowing has slipped to 182.07 lh (195.25 lh).

Oilseed coverage, too, is lower at 176.82 lh (192.49 lh).

Cash crops

Sugarcane acreage has been reduced to 48.74 lh (50.32 lh).

The area under jute and mesta is down marginally from 8.33 lh last season to 8.15 lh.

(This article was published on September 22, 2014)

Farmers told to avoid second crop Published: 20 Sep 2014 at 17.30 | Viewed: 3,565 | Comments: 8 Rice farmers in Chai Nat have been Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya (standing left) and Agriculture Minister Pitipong Phuengboon Na Ayudhaya (standing right) talk to farmers in Muang district, Chai Nat province, on Sept 20, 2014. (Photo by Chudate Seehawong)

sowing season with the revival of the SouthWest monsoon.

Overall coverage

According to data from the Agriculture Ministry, overall sowing of kharif crops

Commerce Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya and Agriculture Minister Pitipong Phuengboon Na

Ayudhaya visited farmers in the central province on Saturday to learn about their problems.The farmers there are not getting enough water for their fields because the irrigation equipment is too old, said governor Sutthipong Julcharoen.As well, the breed of rice they grow has a short shelf life, forcing them to sell to millers at low prices soon after they harvest it.Gen Chatchai said the government had a clear policy on farm products.

"We won't use price guarantees or pledging schemes," he said. "Instead, we'll focus on lowering production costs and adding value to produce for more price sustainability in the long term."For its part, the government will set up a panel with a target price for 5% paddy set at 8,500 baht a tonne, he said. He advised farmers to adjust by lowering the costs and planning their crops carefully. They can choose the right breeds and harvest at appropriate times so the grain does not contain high moisture.Organic farming should also be considered to add value, Gen Chatchai said, citing the example of the rice berry project in Ban Dak Kanon in Muang Chai Nat. The deep purple-coloured rice berry strain is a crossbreed between Hom Nil and Dok Mali 105.

It sells for more than 100,000 baht a tonne. The commerce minister also asked farmers to cooperate by refraining from growing a second crop in order to avoid damage caused by droughts, as suggested by the Royal Irrigation Department.Mr Pitipong also asked farmers to grow crops in a manner that matches their plots.

If their fields are at high elevations, they should not grow a second crop, he said.For fields with limited access to water, other crops might be considered.He also warned that drought was a major threat this year and next, given the low levels of water at major dams.He therefore urged farmers to use water carefully and cooperate with authorities.

Rice-scheme case meeting postponed Published: 22 Sep 2014 at 13.52 Online news: Local News Writer: Online Reporters

The meeting of a joint committee of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) scheduled for Sept 23 to reinvestigate the case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra for alleged dereliction of duty in the rice-pledging scheme has been postponed to Oct 10, NACC secretary-general Sansern Poljiak said on Monday. Mr Sansern said the postponement of tomorrow's meeting was at the request of the OAG. Deputy attorney general Wuthipong Wiboonwong said he requested the delay because some of the OAG members assigned to the joint committee were committed to other engagements tomorrow.The joint NACC-OAG committee was set up to re-investigate the case after the OAG rejected the NACC's case supporting its request for the indictment of Ms Yingluck for failing to halt or review the scheme despite evidence of corruption in its implementation.The joint committee comprises 10 members from the NACC led

by Mr Sansern and the other 10 from the OAG led by Mr Wuthipong.

Workshop on major rice pests and diseases held at PAU Shariq Majeed,TNN | Sep 22, 2014, 05.43 PM IST

LUDHIANA: A two-day review and planning workshop on 'Major rice pest and diseases in South Asia' under collaborative project 'Stress Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA)'was held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). It was jointly organized by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Philippines and PAU, Ludhiana.Scientists from IRRI, Philippines; Bangladesh, Nepal and different states of India participated in this workshop.S S Gosal, Director of Research, PAU observed that climate change is posing a great threat to rice production.

"The incidence of diseases such as sheath blight, false smut and brown spot in rice, foot rot and neck blast in Basmati rice, and insect brown plant hopper is increasing over the years", Gosal said. He appealed to the group to chalk out the strategies to identify resistant donors against these pests, and breed resistant varieties which could prove beneficial to the farmers of India and its neighboring countries.

The group discussed the current status of diseases and insect pests and chalked out future plan for their management through different approaches.

Heralding the dawn of a new era in rice improvement Category: Agri-Commodities 22 Sep 2014

TRADITIONAL rice varieties encompass a huge range of potentially valuable genes. These can be used to develop superior varieties for farmers to take part in the uphill battle of feeding an ever-increasing world population (estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050).The genes linked to valuable traits can help breeders create new rice varieties that have improved yield potential, higher nutritional quality, better ability to grow in problem soils, and improved tolerance of pests, diseases and the stresses, such as flood and drought, that will be inevitable with future climate change.

Much of this diversity is conserved within the International Rice Genebank Collection (IRGC) at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, head of IRRI‟s T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Center (TTC GRC), said the IRGC now holds a global collection of more than 121,000 types or accessions of rice. Yet, breeders have harnessed only less than 5 percent of the germplasm collection there in active breeding efforts. “But all that is changing with a very exciting development to make the IRGC useful beyond our wildest dreams,” he exclaims.A single genome cannot reveal the large stockpile of genetic diversity in rice and, hence, many potentially important genes are not present in the handful of lines that have been sequenced over the last decade.

So, to drastically change this dynamic, IRRI “in collaboration with BGI in Shenzhen, China and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)” has completed the sequencing of 3,000 rice genomes of varieties and lines representing 89 countries (see figure) now housed in the IRGC (82 percent) and CAAS‟s genebank (18 percent). “This is an unparalleled development in plant science for a major food crop,” says Ken McNally, senior scientist in the TTC GRC and a project team

member.On top of that, the open-access, opendata journal GigaScience (produced by BGI and BioMed Central) published, on World Hunger Day 2014, a data note and commentary on the 3,000 Rice Genomes Project (3K RGP).

Most significantly, released at the same time was the project‟s entire 13.4-terabyte dataset in a citable format in the journal‟s affiliated openaccess database, GigaDB, which instantly quadrupled the previous amount of publicly available rice sequence data. The 3K RGP is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.Zhikang Li, project director at CAAS, said the 3K RGP is part of an ongoing effort to provide resources, specifically for poverty stricken farmers in Asia and Africa.

“We are aiming to reach at least 20 million rice farmers in 16 target countries (eight on each continent),” he says. “With decreasing water and land resources, food security is— and will be— the most challenging issue in these countries. ” Echoing Sackville Hamilton, Li says, “As a scientist in rice genetics, breeding, and genomics, it is a dream come true for me to help solve this problem.”“The population boom and the worsening climate crisis have presented big challenges on global food shortage and safety,” adds Jun Wang, BGI director. “BGI is dedicated to applying genomics technologies to make a fast, controllable and highly efficient molecular breeding model possible.

The 3K RGP opens a new way to carry out agricultural breeding. Joining forces with CAAS, IRRI and BMGF, we have made a step forward in big-data-based crop research and digitalized breeding. We believe this will get us closer to the ultimate goal of improving the well-being of the human race.”Robert Zeigler, IRRI director general, says access to the sequence data of these 3,000 rice genomes will

tremendously accelerate the progress of breeding programs. “The collaborative 3K RGP,” he says, “will add an immense amount of knowledge to rice genetics and enable detailed analysis by the global research community to ultimately benefit the poorest farmers who grow rice under the most difficult conditions. ”To reach their goals, the three institutes have not only released the large volume of data, they are also making available through the IRGC seeds for each rice accession that has been sequenced. “Having available banked seeds is essential to make full use of this germplasm and the data about it,” Dr. Sackville Hamilton says.A major part of the project is to directly link the genetic information (genotype) to the physical traits (phenotype) of these different accessions.

This will require careful assessment and curation of each accession for the agriculturally important traits mentioned earlier, which breeders can then link to genetic markers in the now available genome sequences.Current breeding practices, which have essentially remained the same since the development of agriculture, typically employ the observation of apparent physical traits to guide parent selection for making crosses with the hope that the offspring will show a new combination and an improvement of the desired traits. However, the underlying genetic makeup of the offspring can often confound breeders‟ expectations. So, they often have to resort to time-consuming trial and error involving multiple successive generations.

The 3K RGP data will provide a major step forward by helping breeders to take advantage of the natural trait variation that is found across the select genebank accessions in the project.

Knowing fully the genetic makeup of a particular rice accession will allow researchers to identify genetic markers related to specific traits, and better understand how different genetic interactions affect plant phenotypes.

With this information, breeders will be able to make more intelligent choices in accession selection for making crosses, resulting in more rapid development of rice varieties for deploying in poor and environmentally stressed locations around the world.Hei Leung, IRRI principal scientist and team member, says the IRRI 3K RGP team is committed to moving quickly to take the sequence data and make detailed analyses.

“Through the Global Rice Science Partnership, IRRI is leading the development of an informal global effort—the International Rice Phenotyping Network—to systematically evaluate the 3K RGP sequenced lines and to connect plant performance to specific genes,” he says. “By closely integrating these resources into breeding programs based on modern molecular breeding and selection strategies, varietal development in hundreds of rice breeding programs will be accelerated over the next five years, delivering improved varieties to farmers and consumers at a faster pace than before.” **** The article was first published in IRRI Rice Today.

USA Rice Attends North Carolina Rice Festival A first time for everything

BELVILLE, NC -- A small town in Brunswick County North Carolina embraced its agricultural roots this weekend by hosting its first ever rice festival. Although North Carolina no longer produces rice, local civic leaders feel the rich history of the crop in this part of the state is worth celebrating - and hundreds of area residents agreed. Deborah Willenborg, USA Rice Federation's communications manager, attended the event, distributing informational handouts, recipe cards, and giveaways such as hats, pens, and bumper stickers from a USA Rice booth.

Willenborg was also asked to serve as a judge during the festival's rice recipe contest. "Rice production in this area may have waned but the culinary talent certainly hasn't," she said. "The recipes were creative and delicious, with U.S.grown rice at the center. People were thrilled to learn how much rice we still produce in the U.S., and I think they went away from the festival thinking about rice more than they did before."More than 60 rice plantations once dotted the waterways of the Cape Fear and Brunswick Rivers and by 1860, Brunswick County produced 7.6 million pounds of the 8 million pounds of rice harvested in the state.

Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458

Application Deadline for Rice Leadership Program Nears STUTTGART, AR -- The deadline for submitting applications for the Rice Leadership Development program is October 4. Rice producers and other industry-related professionals are encouraged to apply for the next class,

which will be announced in December at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in Little Rock, AR. The Rice Leadership Development Program gives young men and women a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. rice industry, with an emphasis on personal development and communication skills training. During a two-year period, class members attend four one-week sessions that are designed to strengthen their leadership skills.The class is comprised of five rice producers and two industry-related professionals chosen by a committee of agribusiness leaders evaluating their applications, reviewing letters of recommendation, and conducting personal interviews with the finalists. Candidates must be 25-45 at the time of application and derive their primary livelihood from some aspect of the rice industry.The program is sponsored by John Deere Company, RiceTec, Inc., and American Commodity Company through The Rice Foundation and managed by the USA Rice Federation.

Contact: Chuck Wilson (870) 673-7541

Belville Hosts First-Ever NC Rice Festival By: Carly Swanson 09/21/2014 04:26 PM BELVILLE, N.C. — September marks National Rice Month, and the town of Belville decided to celebrate this weekend.The town hosted the first ever N.C. Rice Festival, bringing together rich food and history. USA Rice Federation‟s Deborah Willenborg was in attendance.“We were excited to be invited to learn more about the heritage of the crop in the United States,”

she said.It‟s a crop that many North Carolinians don‟t realize was dominant in the 1700‟s.

“A lot of people don‟t know that in the early 1700‟s and 1800‟s that rice was the main crop in the state of North Carolina, they exported more than 300 tons of rice,” Belville Mayor Mike Allen said.Allen said the festival‟s location is on the original Belville Plantation and that there were 62 rice plantations along the Brunswick River. He also said "Carolina Gold Rice" was a major crop for the colonists and was even shipped to England.

This rich rice history along the river was news to Willenborg.

“It was nice to learn more about the history of rice being grown in the coastal part of the United states, because it‟s not really now,” she said.

While rice isn‟t a dominant crop in North Carolina, Willenborg says it still is across the U.S. “We have a label that says „Grown in the USA.‟ It‟s red, white and blue and it‟s on the packages in the grocery store,” she said.The USA Rice Federation said Anheuser-Busch is the largest single rice buyer in the country, buying 6-10 percent of the annual U.S. rice crop.

Tsunami-stricken town harvests rice for first time in 4 years September 22, 2014

By KAZUMASA SUGIMURA/ Staff Writer RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--As the Tohoku region enters harvest season, rice is being gathered here for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.Farmers were seen operating combines for harvesting rice stalks in the city's Otomo district on Sept.

20."I was worried whether the earth would be rich enough to grow our rice," said Tsuyoshi Murakami, a 43-year-old farmer who harvested rice on the day.

"But it has grown firmly."The rice fields were inundated by the massive tsunami unleashed by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and left covered in debris.The loss of the fields, as well as equipment, was almost the final blow to local farming businesses, which were already facing an aging population of about 400 farmers and a lack of successors.However, determined to grow rice again, the farmers formed the Sun Farm Otomo juridical agricultural union in March. The group reorganized 87 hectares of farmland and restarted farming businesses by planting such rice strains as Takata no Yume, which was developed locally following the disaster. The harvesting will continue until early October.

that “the Philippine government recently cited the successful propagation of GE corn over the past decade, with no environmental or health issues whatsoever, as the reason the country is now self-sufficient in the [said] grain.”Early in July, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced that the country has produced enough corn last year, for the country‟s own consumption particularly for feedlot.

DA Assistant Secretary and concurrent National Corn Program Director Edilberto de Luna said local corn production reached self-sufficiency last year based on market demand, noting that “[the country] actually met the self-sufficiency levels for corn of the local feed and livestock industry,” but added that the real test for selfsufficiency also requires a one month buffer stock and “this small margin [the country] hopes to achieve very soon.”Corn production has grown from 3.4 metric ton (MT) per hectare to 4.2 MT per hectare in the past few years, “mainly to better, more high-yielding seeds and new technology,” said de Luna, adding that the Philippines saved more than P60 billion on corn imports between 2010 and 2013.

Agri-Commodities 21 Sep 2014 Written by Alladin S. Diega / Correspondent

The USDA also reported that “with Golden Rice and Bt [Bacillus thuringiensis] eggplant, the Philippines is poised to be the first Southeast Asian country to commercialize locally developed GE crops,” adding that the country‟s success in these food security efforts has attracted attacks from domestic and international anti-GE groups. This culminated in a widely criticized 2012 lawsuit postponing final commercial approval of the already completed Bt eggplant field trials, as well as the destruction of a Golden Rice field trial in 2013 by activist groups.

THE Philippines continues to be a regional leader in biotech research and commercialization, as well as a model for science-based and thorough genetic engineering (GE) regulatory policy, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a recent report.According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GE corn has been on sale in the country since 2003 and comprised 28 percent of planted corn area last year, adding

The decision of the Court of Appeals, which ordered a halt to field tests, has been widely criticized by prominent Philippine scientists, farmers and student groups, the report also said that “although many analysts have labeled the ruling „toothless‟ because the field trials had already been completed, and because the court did not criticize the existing regulations or block commercialization, the decision appears to have slowed the final approval process,” and that the

By KAZUMAS

PHL leads in regional agri biotech research–USDA

2012 ruling on Bt eggplant likely encouraged anti-biotech activists to file additional suits and destroy a Golden Rice field trial in 2013.

Citing an assessment of the local academic community, industry and local government units, the USDA said the Bt eggplant case and “the vandalism of the Golden Rice tests have galvanized local stakeholders to coordinate educational outreach activities to promote the safe and responsible use of biotechnology.”Currently, the development of the fruit and shoot borer-resistant eggplant is being led by the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (IPB-UPLB), while the Bt eggplant technology was donated by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Co. to UPLB through a royalty-free sublicense agreement.The USDA also cited report from the DA, as of April 14, which says that analysis of data generated from the field trials indicate that Bt eggplant provides higher marketable yield potential and lower percentage eggplant fruit and shoot borer-damaged produce compared with the hybrid variety.

The results “suggest that Bt eggplant presents a potentially more environmentally benign alternative to the current excessive use of chemical insecticide in local eggplant production,” the DA was quoted as saying.For the betacarotene-enriched rice or Golden Rice (GR) project, the DA report maintained a careful tone, saying “while the level of betacarotene was reported to be high and stable across seasons and locations, more research is necessary to increase yield to a level that is comparable to popular rice varieties, adding that only after the nutritional evaluations are satisfied will approval for commercial propagation will proceed.

The GR project is being developed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute, and is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through a grant to the International Rice Research Institute, including a support from the Rockefeller Foundation, US Agency for International Development and the DA Biotechnology Program.Bt cotton trials, on the other hand, were completed in the second half of 2011, and since it is not a food crop, it received

minimal resistance. Field evaluation of agronomic performance, adaptability and bioefficacy were conducted in five locations in Luzon and Mindanao last year, and in May, the bio-efficacy of the Bt cotton hybrids against the cotton bollworm was reaffirmed, according to the USDA document.Bt cotton is being developed by the Fiber Development Administration, formerly the Cotton Development Administration, an attached agency of the DA. Also in May of this year, the IPB-UPLB project on the ring spot virus-resistant papaya with a delayed ripening trait completed its first field test and preparations for the second field test and varietal registration are underway.The USDA report also said overall corn [GE] production and area harvested last year declined by 0.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, compared with the previous year‟s levels, saying “aggregate GE corn area declined marginally [0.2 percent] from 729,000 hectares in 2012 to 728,000 hectares in 2013.”Last year, GE corn accounted for over 28.4 percent, or 728,000 hectares of all Philippine corn-planted areas, which is estimated at 2.6 million hectares, higher than 28.12-percent ratio in 2012.

The decline in overall corn production and area last year, as well as the area harvested for GE corn, the USDA said, is largely attributed to several devastating typhoons that passed through the Philippines during the year, but noted that despite the decline, 2013 corn yields were slightly higher at 2.88 tons per hectare, compared to the 2012 average yield of 2.86 tons per hectare.As of April, there were six (up from five in the previous annual report) GE approved for commercial production in the Philippines, and “all approved GE crops are in 10 yellow corn varieties approved for feed and food use,” the report also said.According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, the Philippines was the 12th-largest country globally in terms of area planted to GE crops last year, and since its introduction in 2003, “GE corn has been planted in over 4 million hectares in the Philippines,” it said.