abroad. Traders have said they were uncertain whether they would become liable to pay the bid bond if there were problems with arranging finance from funds in the frozen bank accounts. Despite Syria's struggle in past months to buy food through government tenders seeking rice, sugar, flour and wheat, some deals struck through middlemen outside of the tender process have been successful in securing food for the country.The Syrian state grain agency Hoboob said earlier this month it concluded a deal to import 500,000 tonnes of wheat of which around 150,000 tonnes had arrived in Syria.The wheat deliveries are a signal that some bank accounts abroad are being freed up, with grain traders detecting a willingness from European governments to allow deals to go ahead on humanitarian grounds.The European Union, United States and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's government over his crackdown on the revolt in the country.While sanctions do not target food, a financing freeze has hindered Syria's ability to import food including grains and sugar. (Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Oliver Holmes; editing by Veronica Brown and Keiron Henderson)
50% jump in basmati paddy rates Basmati farmers are getting better returns despite there being some loss in quality and yield due to untimely rains.
CHANDIGARH, OCT 28: In contrast to paddy farmers getting lower rates due to discoloration, basmati growers have witnessed over 50 per cent jump in price for their produce in the ongoing kharif marketing season in Punjab and Haryana.Aromatic varieties of basmati paddy are fetching Rs 3,200 to 3,900 per quintal as against Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,500 per quintal last year, traders said.―This season, farmers are getting better returns for basmati crop despite there being some loss in quality and yield due to untimely rains,‖ rice exporter Vijay Setia, Director, Chaman Lal Setia Export Limited said today. ―There is an upswing in prices of all kinds of basmati varieties this year on the back of strong demand,‖ he said.Popular basmati varieties like Pusa 1121 and 1509 are commanding price between Rs 3,600 to Rs 3,900 per quintal as against rate of Rs 2,400-2,500 per quintal that prevailed last year.Pusa 1121 variety of paddy constitutes almost 70-80 per cent of area under cultivation in basmati growing areas of Punjab and Haryana because of its rising export demand in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Europe etc.Both Punjab and Haryana account for over 60 per cent in country’s basmati exports. Paddy growers especially in Punjab during this season claimed to have suffered losses as they were forced to sell ordinary varieties of crop at lesser rate than MSP due to high moisture content and crop discoloration.As part of crop diversification programme, area under basmati this season rose in Punjab and Haryana.To boost basmati cultivation, the Punjab government has even decided to waive off Rural Development Fee (RDF) and
Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874