31st january ,2018 daily global regional local rice e newsletter

DailyDRice E-Newsletter G L E aily

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lobal, Regional and

ocal Rice

-Newsletter January 31, 2018

Basmati shipments may rise as Iran recommences rice imports Iran lifts ban on registration for imports of rice 8 factors which point to higher rice prices Timing is key Basmati shipments may rise as Iran recommences rice imports Iran lifts ban on registration for imports of rice Mekong Delta seeks to turn agriculture challenges into opportunities Researchers continue studying ‘fish in the fields’ Genome sequencing of 7 wild rice varieties completed: IRRI Wild' genes open opportunities for healthier, climate-smart rice Rice workshop discusses new breakthroughs in informatics The healthy meal plan you'll be able to stick to: Food blogger Leah Itsines shares her new four-week programme to kickstart your metabolism - and a typical day on her plate USA Rice Wants GM Rice from China to Stay There CHINA TO CUT 2018 RICE ACREAGE BY 2.2 PCT AMID BULGING STOCKS Telangana: Shortage makes fine rice prices shoot up Hike in rice prices slowly creeping in Time and labor savings cited as key advantage for row rice http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/time-and-labor-savings-cited-keyadvantage-row-rice SLAC ties up to quadruple Lanao Sur’s rice yield Agriculture damage due to restive Mayon volcano reaches P165M How The Rice Husk Pellet Making Machine Can Change A Problem Right Into A Profit What’s The Best Milk Alternative? A New Study Found This Non-Dairy Milk Is The Most Nutritious Maharashtra govt machinery responsible for farmer's death: Shiv Sena Dada-seeks-caraga-farmer-partners-for-corn-production-of-proposedrice-corn-blend/ Dada seeks caraga farmer partners for corn pr Southeast, Three Rivers Discontinue Offering Courses at Malden Sites Rice quota bad for PNG families: Opposition Red Yeast Rice Market Emerging Progress 2018-2023 IMPORTING OF RICE HALTED

Volume X | Issue I

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter News Detail…

Basmati shipments may rise as Iran recommences rice imports VISHWANATH KULKARNI Updated on January 30, 2018

Big earner Basmati is the second-largest product in Apeda’s export portfolio, after buffalo meat. KAMAL NARANG In recent years, Iran has been placing temporary curbs to protect its growers BENGALURU, JANUARY 30 The reopening of rice imports by Iran could give a fillip to India’s basmati shipments, which have risen by about a fourth in rupee terms in the first eight months of the current financial year.

Iran is the largest buyer of India’s basmati and accounts for a fourth of India’s annual aromatic rice shipments of around four million tonnes.Iran, which ended the seasonal import ban in November, has started registration for rice imports, which will be from January 21 till June 21.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter In recent years, Iran has been placing temporary curbs on rice imports during the July-January period, mainly to protect its domestic paddy growers and support local prices during the harvest season.

“Based on the current export trend, we expect basmati shipments to be higher than last year,” said DK Singh, Chairman, Apeda (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority).

Basmati is the second largest product in Apeda’s export portfolio after buffalo meat and accounts for over 22 per cent of the total shipment value.In the April-November period this fiscal year, basmati exports grew 29 per cent to $2.61 billion from $2.02 billion in the corresponding period last year.

In rupee terms, basmati exports grew 24 per cent to ₹16,838 crore during the April-November period from ₹13,571 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. In 2016-17, India’s basmati exports stood at 3.98 million tonnes valued at over $3.22 billion.

However, Indian rice exporters are cautiously optimistic over the shipment prospects with Iran, considering the fact that they have been facing issues relating to traces of fungicide in exports to the European Union, another major market.

“We expect basmati shipments this year to be the same as last year or even higher,” said Rajen Sundaresan, Executive Director, All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA).

Sticking points “While Iran has reopened its market, it has stopped extending concessional foreign exchange to its rice importers,” said Vijay Setia, President, AIREA. The move is aimed at discouraging more rice imports into the West Asian country.

Further, Iran has also been raising objections to the digital phyto-sanitary certificates issued by Indian authorities. The issues have been taken up with the Agriculture Ministry and are likely to be resolved soon, sources said. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/basmati-shipments-may-rise-asiran-recommences-rice-imports/article22597639.eceToggle navigation

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Iran lifts ban on registration for imports of rice LONDON (Reuters) - Iran has lifted ban on registration for imports of rice for five months, the customs administration announced in a statement published by the Fars news agency on Tuesday.The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said “the registration for imports of rice is allowed from January 21 until June 21”.The government in November ended its seasonal import ban on rice which was imposed to support local prices during the harvest season. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rice/iran-lifts-ban-on-registration-for-imports-of-rice-

idUSKBN1FJ17Q

Unhusked rice price drops, farmers hit hard The Jakarta Post Banyuasin, South Sumatra | Tue, January 30, 2018 | 07:16 pm

4 People’s Consultative Assembly Speaker Zulkifli Hasan (center, front row), House of Representatives Speaker

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Bambang Soesatyo (second left) and Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman (second right) pose for a photograph after witnessing a rice harvest in Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra on Jan. 29.

While the government is importing rice to help bring down the price, harvest season has begun and farmers have been hit hard by the lower price of unhusked rice.

People’s Consultative Assembly Speaker Zulkifli Hasan, House of Representatives Speaker Bambang Soesatyo and Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman have expressed concern about the drop in price.

Zulkifli, who witnessed a rice harvest in Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra, on Monday, noted that the price of unhusked rice in the area had dropped to Rp 4,200 (31 US cents) per kilogram from Rp 5,500 per kg a few days ago. It means each farmer earns Rp 1,300 less for each kilogram of rice sold, he said.

“While we are waiting for harvests in the coming days, the unhusked rice price has dropped,” he said as reported by tribunnews.com.

The government announced that it would import 500,000 tons of rice to ease prices, which had exceeded the price ceiling, particularly in urban areas. The imported rice will arrive in coming weeks.

“We want to talk to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. We reject rice imports after learning from the field,” he added.

Meanwhile, Amran said that the price of unhusked rice in East and Central Java had decreased Rp 300 to Rp 700 per kg. Therefore, he called on the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to buy 600,000 tons from farmers instead of the usual 150,000 tons. (bbn) http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/01/30/unhusked-rice-price-drops-farmers-hithard.html

8 factors which point to higher rice prices Possibilities exist for rice prices to improve.

Milo Hamilton | Jan 30, 2018

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We are in a farming price depression as I write this. Almost all things grown with a futures market are going down in price. If you were trading ag for profit, why wouldn’t you be short the grain markets?

The trend is your friend. I would not argue with the bears, but rice may be dancing to a different animal. Some of the eight factors and turning points listed below, which point to higher rice prices, apply only to rice, and some apply to all ag products: 1. Stocks in the hands of the five major rice exporters are at their lowest level to world rice trade in the last six decades, and world rice trade is trending higher.

2. Two major rice exporters have disastrously low levels of water resources per capita: India and Pakistan. The U.S. is not a poster child for good water management either, but has seven times more water resources per capital than these two countries that export about 15 million metric tons or one-third of traded rice per year. Their water metrics are dropping by 1 percent to 2 percent per year. That is a dire trend over the next two decades.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter 3. If India cuts back its rice exports as it has its cotton exports, the world rice price would double over night. India would export less of its scarce water to boot.

4. China has 65 percent of the world’s rice stocks now, and apparently has been piling up rice for the last 11 years. I say apparently because technically grain stocks are a military secret there.

Those who know do not tell and those who tell do not really know for sure.

Why is China importing 5 million to 7 million metric tons of rice per year, increasing production and stocks and selling off very little in the world market? One answer is that their price inside the country is about $18 per hundredweight; no one would buy their rice without massive export subsidies in the global market that is $7 (India) to $12 (Vietnam) per hundredweight.

If China drops its domestic rice support price, it must contend with labor costs rising at 15 percent per year, and tiny rice farms with polluted soils and water and not much of that either.

Also, if it dropped its domestic price to farmers to Vietnamese prices — much less Indian rough prices — it would import a huge share of world rice trade that could easily double the world price.

5. The global corn yield is now 30 percent higher than rice yields, and its upward trend could be 50 percent higher in the next five years. Is that bearish on rice, which suffers from a GMO ban?

6. Long-grain rice, like cotton, cannot easily be grown above the Bootheel of Missouri. If you extend that line across the world, most of the world cannot grow rice north of that latitude. You can grow high corn yields in Canada now. You can grow oats, wheat, soybeans, canola, and sunflowers very far north, but not long grain rice. Rice is latitude-challenged.

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6. Our weather consultant, www.commoditywx.com believes we are entering a period of extreme cold winters that could last a decade or longer due to a decline in sunspot activity. If the northern

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter latitude growing season is reduced, what would that mean for rice? Work I have done suggests that global warming is kind to rice; but wet, cold growing seasons decimate rice in North and East Asia.

7. So, exporter stocks are historically very tight. What happens if trade is disrupted by a withdrawal of the U.S. as the world’s oceanic police force? I say the answer is stockpiling.

8. The U.S. dollar went down in value in 2017, making the export price of all grains and cotton, rice included, cheaper to foreign buyers. This trend could continue in 2018. That is good news for demand for U.S. rice on the global market.

So, I watch the charts closely and I see these eight turning points ahead for rice. I am still a grain price bear, but I am not hibernating. I am watching what is going on from the mouth of my dismal economic cave and sniffing the market for a more positive price outlook. http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/8-factors-which-point-higher-rice-pricesopyright © 2018 Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc. | Privacy policy wered by WordPress.com VIP

Timing is key

By BusinessMirror Editorial January 30, 2018 The National Food Authority’s plan to increase its stockpile via importation was put on hold after the interagency National Food Security Committee (NFSC) and the NFA Council recently thumbed down its request to buy 250,000 metric tons of imported rice. The NFAC reasoned out that the country’s total rice stock is good for 90 days, or three months, hence there was no need for the food agency to import the staple. Of the total Philippine rice inventory, the bulk is with households and commercial traders.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter As proof that the current national inventory is enough, the NFAC pointed out that commercial prices remain relatively stable. The highest policy-making body of the NFA also noted that top rice-producing provinces would start harvesting rice in March and that production forecast is “bright.” The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier projected that paddy output from January to March would rise by 5.65 percent to 4.67 million metric tons. The Philippines ended 2017 with a paddy production of 19.28 MMT, nearly 10 percent higher than the 2016 record of 17.36 MMT. These figures appeared to have given the NFAC enough confidence that imports are not needed to ensure the stability of the country’s rice supply.

In terms of its ability to influence the rice market, it would seem that the NFA’s impact is miniscule. In a statement, the NFA said it accounts for only 6 percent to 10 percent of the Philippine rice market. But the NFA’s presence in the market and its mandate to stabilize domestic rice prices have effectively prevented unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of situations when rice supply is tight. There are unconscionable Filipino traders who are not averse to profiting from natural disasters. To keep them in check or correct unwarranted rice prices, all the NFA has to do is channel part of its stockpile into areas where the staple is needed. This and the sale of cheap rice at fixed rates help keep inflation in check.

In keeping with its mandate to stabilize supply and prices, the NFA has to keep a buffer stock of 15 days at any given time, and 30 days during the lean season. The food agency resorts to importation when its procurement program falls short of its target. A few months before the start of the lean season in July last year, the NFA sought the go signal of the NFAC to import rice to boost its dwindling stockpile. The approval was given only last May, after the NFA had complained that it could not compete with traders who paid more for locally produced paddy.

While the decision of the NFAC to reject the food agency’s request to import is lamentable, as the NFA’s rice stock is good for only three days, the council and the NFSC had no choice. The requested volume would arrive sometime in April and May, when farmers in top rice-producing provinces, such as Nueva Ecija, are already harvesting their crop. The arrival of imports would only give traders a reason to slash their buying price.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter If imported rice is no longer a viable option for the NFA, the government must find a way to help the food agency buy more paddy rice from farmers. The NFA buys rice from farmers at P17 per kilogram, lower than the farm-gate price of P18 to P21 per kg last year. It’s time for the NFAC to consider increasing this support price to reduce the NFA’s reliance on rice produced by farmers abroad. https://businessmirror.com.ph/timing-is-key/

Iran lifts ban on registration for imports of rice LONDON (Reuters) - Iran has lifted ban on registration for imports of rice for five months, the customs administration announced in a statement published by the Fars news agency on Tuesday.The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said “the registration for imports of rice is allowed from January 21 until June 21”.

The government in November ended its seasonal import ban on rice which was imposed to support local prices during the harvest season. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rice/iran-lifts-ban-on-registration-for-imports-of-rice-id

Mekong Delta seeks to turn agriculture challenges into opportunities VNA WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018

Farmers use combine harvesters to harvest rice (Photo: VNA)

Can Tho (VNA) – A workshop on new techniques under the Consortium for Unfavourable Rice Environments (CURE) was held in Can Tho city on January 30, highlighting the need to turn challenges into opportunities for Mekong Delta agriculture.

Prof. Bradford Mills from the US’s University of Virginia said saltwater and flood prevention, a

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter

traditional agricultural practice in the Mekong Delta, no longer matches modern agricultural development. Studies show that using farming plant varieties and animal breeds that suit local soil conditions will help turn challenges into opportunities.

Agreeing, CURE expert Jeffrey Alwang said the Mekong Delta needs to plan agricultural activities according to agro-ecological zones, elaborating that in upper river areas, agricultural production should be switched to eight crops per three years, including rice-aquatic farming, rice-lotus farming and luc binh (water hyacinth) farming.

Instead of preventing saline intrusion in the river mouth and coastal areas, farmers should consider saltwater as a natural resource and adopt crops other than rice such as rice-shrimp farming and farming of saltwater aquatic species. Meanwhile, integrated agriculture-forestry like cajuput-aquaculture and cajuput-rice-aquaculture should be promoted in the Ca Mau Peninsula, which has submerged forests.

Nguyen Thi Lang, Director of the Mekong Delta Institute for High Technology Agriculture

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Research, suggested solutions to improve Vietnamese rice quality, aiming to export rice to demanding markets instead of shipping up to one-third of total rice exports to China like at present.

She said scientists need to advise the Government about communication strategies and training to raise farmers’ adaptability to high-tech agriculture. It is also important to develop rice varieties tolerant of harsh natural conditions and climate change.

Lang added her institute is transferring saltwater, flood and drought tolerant varieties which have been successfully piloted in many provinces.-VNA https://en.vietnamplus.vn/mekong-delta-seeks-to-turn-agriculture-challenges-intoopportunities/125854.vnp

Researchers continue studying ‘fish in the fields’ Researchers with the Nigiri project monitor different aspects of water quality and available food in the flooded rice fields on Knaggs Ranch. Daily Democrat file photo

By Democrat staff 01/30/18, 1:04 PM PST

MARYSVILLE >> The Resource Renewal Institute is mounting the second phase of a control study measuring how the introduction of freshwater forage fish into fallow rice fields can reduce methane emissions from rice cultivation.

After six years of work demonstrating that small fish grow rapidly in flooded fallow rice fields, using these small fish to control methane emissions from rice cultivation could be a huge Climate Change breakthrough.

Preliminary results indicate that reviving and modernizing the simple, age-old practice of raising fish in rice fields can reap enormous benefits worldwide, according to spokeswoman Deborah Moskowitz, “dramatically reducing climate-changing methane emissions, protecting our ocean wildlife, supporting more sustainable and profitable agriculture, and providing a new source of protein for the earth’s growing population.”

On Thursday, a team of scientists from the University of Montana and UC Davis will introduce Golden Shiner minnows into experimental rice field ponds near Marysville to measure the effect small fish have on nutrient levels and methane emissions in rice fields.

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Samples taken from the flooded fields over the past two months confirm there is an abundance of protein-rich zooplankton for fish to dine on. Scientists have also noted the presence of methane emissions, a harmful greenhouse gas.

“Understanding why and how these small fish be used to reduce methane emissions may surpass the project’s goals to sustainably produce a second crop of fish, since methane emissions from rice cultivation around the world make up 1.5 to 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (the equivalent of nearly 1.4 billion tons of CO2),” stated Moskowitz.

Since 1985, Resource Renewal Institute has facilitated the creation, development, and implementation of practical strategies to solve environmental problems in a comprehensive framework.

The project is similar to the one undertaken at Yolo County’s Knagg’s Ranch, where salmon have been introduced into rice fields as a means of accelerating their growth before they are released into the Sacramento River. http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20180130/NEWS/180139983

This Type of Non-Dairy Milk is the Healthiest, Study Says www.ricepluss.com / www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com Contact Online Advertisement : mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell: 0321 369 2874

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter

By AMANDA MACMILLAN January 30, 2018 For more, visit TIME Health.

That almond milk latte may be delicious, but a study just published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology suggests that the trendy beverage also has some drawbacks. When researchers compared the nutritional profiles of four popular “alternative” milks, they found that soy milk came out on top—and that almond, rice and coconut “milks” all lacked essential nutrients important for overall health.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Plant-based “milks” are often marketed as wholesome and appropriate substitutes for the real thing. To find out if these claims measured up, scientists at McGill University in Canada studied the nutrition labels of several unsweetened almond, soy and rice milks, plus coconut dairy-free beverages, on grocery-store shelves.

Cow’s milk, the researchers say, is still the most complete and balanced source of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Soy milk, a popular alternative option for more than four decades, was found to be the most comparable to cow’s milk in terms of overall nutrient balance. It’s also the highest in protein of all the alternative milk options studied, with about 7 to 12 grams (and about 95 calories) per 8-ounce serving.

Soy milk also contains phytonutrients known as isoflavones, which have been shown to have cancer-fighting properties. It’s not a perfect substitute, though; some people complain about its “beany flavor,” the authors wrote, and some scientists have expressed concerns about “anti-nutrient” substances naturally found in soy, like phytic acid, which can make it harder for the body to absorb and digest important vitamins and minerals.

Almond milk, on the other hand, is low in calories (about 36 per serving) and rich in monounsaturated fatty acids. Getting more of these healthy fats may be beneficial to weight loss and weight management, the authors wrote, and they have also been shown to reduce LDL—or “bad”—cholesterol. But almond milk is also low in protein and carbohydrates, making it less nutritionally balanced than cow or soy milk.

Meanwhile, dairy-free coconut beverages have no protein. And although it’s low in calories (about 45 per serving), most of that energy comes from saturated fat. On the plus side, the report states, drinking this type of beverage has been associated with increases in HDL—or “good”—cholesterol and reductions in LDL cholesterol.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Sweet-tasting rice milk can serve as an alternative for people with allergies to soybeans and almonds, but it’s high in calories (133 per serving) and relatively low in beneficial nutrients.

Research suggests that “consumption of rice milk as an alternative to cow’s milk without proper care can result in malnutrition,” the authors wrote, “especially in the case of infants.”

Cow’s milk, by comparison to the dairy alternatives, contains about 158 calories per 8ounce serving, along with 8 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat (5.5 of it saturated fat), and 11.5 grams of carbohydrates. That’s the “perfect composition of nutrients” for baby cows, the authors wrote in their paper, and it’s similar to the composition of human breast milk.

Milk is also an important source of vitamins and minerals—including calcium, which the body needs for bone health, especially during childhood and adolescence. Most milk substitutes are fortified with calcium to mimic the levels in cow’s milk, although the authors point out that “further research is needed to establish the consequences of added calcium in the human body.”

So why the need for alternatives? For one, dairy is one of the most common allergens among infants and children. Between 2% and 4% of children have a milk allergy (that’s more than peanuts or tree nuts), although as many as 80% may outgrow them by age 16.

Plus, milk has been linked to outbreaks of pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli around the world, suggesting that it’s not always the safest beverage for children or for adults.

Then there’s the issue of lactose intolerance. Somewhere between 15% and 75% of adults — depending on race, food habits and gut health—lack sufficient amounts of the enzyme needed to properly digest dairy products, according to the report. It’s even been estimated that up to 80% of people of African origin, and up to 100% of people of Asian and Indigenous American origin, are lactose intolerant.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Finally, while studies suggest that dairy products—even full-fat versions—can be a healthy part of a balanced diet, some people may not want to overdo it on high-calorie, high-fat cow’s milk. For all of these reasons, the authors say, consumers should know how popular milk substitutes compare.

“It is quite clear that nutritionally soy milk is the best alternative for replacing cow’s milk in human diet,” they concluded in their paper. They acknowledge, though, that more people may enjoy the flavor of almond milk. Those who choose the latter should make sure they’re getting enough essential nutrients, like carbs and protein, through other sources in their diet, they write.

That should be easy enough for adults, says lead author Sai Kranthi Kumar Vanga, a PhD candidate in McGill’s department of bioresource engineering, since they can also get protein from meats, nuts and beans, and healthy fats from sources such as olive oil. It can be more difficult, he adds, for babies and young children with dairy allergies. “Parents have to monitor their diet and provide them with appropriate alternatives for the lost nutrients, which is not easy,” he wrote in an email.

And while swapping out a few tablespoons of milk in your coffee every day won’t make a big difference in overall nutrition, Vanga says there could be implications for adults who consume considerably more milk—like every morning with their cereal. “Just replacing your cow’s milk with one of the plant-based milks and assuming it’s fulfilling the nutritional requirement could lead to health complications in the long run,” he says.http://time.com/5125580/soy-milk-healthiest-plant-based/

Genome sequencing of 7 wild rice varieties completed: IRRI Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-30 17:33:44|Editor: pengying

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MANILA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines announced on Tuesday that the genome sequencing of seven wild rice varieties has finally been completed, claiming it will open opportunities for healthier and climate-smart rice.

"This breakthrough is expected to provide opportunities for breeders worldwide in developing better rice varieties that will respond to the changing needs of farmers and consumers," said the IRRI, an international agricultural research and training organization with headquarters in Los Banos, a town in Laguna province south of Manila.

This work is published by Nature Genetics, which is a scientific journal publishing high-quality researches in genetics, the IRRI said in a statement.

The study, which started in 2003, details the generation of seven wild and two cultivated genomes, the IRRI said.

Because the wild relatives of rice are adapted to different biogeographic ranges and can tolerate many biotic and abiotic stresses, the study says they constitute an important reservoir for crop improvement. "Strategies to harness such traits for the crop improvement show clear promise," it says.

Rod Wing, a professor in genetics at the University of Arizona, is one of the lead scientists in the study. He said: "Rice breeders urgently need to develop new and sustainable rice varieties with higher yield, healthier grains and reduced environmental footprints."

"The completed sequencing of the seven wild rice varieties is a significant progress to drive further genome evolution and domestication," said Wing.

Ruaraidh Hamilton, IRRI lead scientist for genetic diversity, added the breakthrough opens the door for rice breeders to harness genes from the wild relatives of rice, "allowing us to improve crops with traits that are preferred by farmers and consumers."

"It will also bring us steps closer to our goal of ensuring global food and nutrition security through sustainable rice production," Hamilton said.

The cultivation of rice, the staple food of more than half of the world's population, faces challenges including the threat of climate change and the onslaught of pests and diseases. The

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter IRRI said the genetic traits that allow crops to overcome most, if not all, of these stresses can frequently be found in the wild relatives of rice.

"This research could significantly improve the rice breeding scenario, allowing shorter periods for genetic discovery and varietal improvements that would normally take years to develop," the IRRI said.

Wild' genes open opportunities for healthier, climate-smart rice January 30, 2018 - by Holly Demaree-Saddler

The wild relatives of rice are repositories of important traits that help breeders improve rice. Photo courtesy of IRRI.

LOS BAÑOS, THE PHILIPPINES — The genome sequencing of seven wild rice varieties has finally been completed.

According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), this breakthrough is expected to provide opportunities for breeders worldwide in developing better rice varieties that will respond to the changing needs of the farmers and the consumers.

This discovery is outlined in the article genomes of 13 domesticated and wild rice relatives highlight genetic conservation, turnover and innovation across the genus Oryzapublished by Nature Genetics. The study details the generation of seven wild and two cultivated genomes (IR8 and N22). The IR8, popularly known as “miracle rice,” was developed by rice scientists from the IRRI. IR8 was one of the rice varieties that ushered in the Green Revolution in Asia during the 1960s and prevented worldwide starvation and famine.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter “As the global population is projected to increase by almost 3 billion by 2050, rice breeders urgently need to develop new and sustainable rice varieties with higher yield, healthier grains and reduced environmental footprints,” said Rod Wing, Ph.D., leader of the International Oryza Map Alignment Project (IOMAP), an AXA chair holder at the International Rice Research Institute, professor at the University of Arizona, and one of the lead scientists in the study. “The completed sequencing of the seven wild rice varieties is a significant progress to drive further genome evolution and domestication.

“Because the wild relatives of rice are adapted to different biogeographic ranges and can tolerate many biotic and abiotic stresses, they continue to be an important reservoir for crop improvement. Strategies to harness such traits show clear promise to meet the future consumption demand,” he continued.

Ruaraidh Hamilton, Ph.D., IRRI lead scientist for genetic diversity and head of IRRI Genebank, welcomed the breakthrough.

“This opens the doors for rice breeders to harness genes from the wild relatives of rice, allowing us to improve crops with traits that are preferred by farmers and consumers,” Hamilton said. “It will also bring us steps closer to our goal of ensuring global food and nutrition security through sustainable rice production.”

The cultivation of rice, the staple food of more than half of the world’s population, faces challenges, including the threat of climate change and the onslaught of pests and diseases. The genetic traits that allow crops to overcome most, if not all, of these stresses can frequently be found in the wild relatives of rice. This research could significantly improve the rice breeding scenario, allowing shorter periods for genetic discovery and varietal improvements that would normally take years to develop.

This scientific breakthrough was a product of close collaborative research work with multiple institutes across the globe throughout the years. It all started in 2003 when Wing and Scott Jackson, Ph.D., a professor, GRE Eminent Scholar, and director of the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies at the University of Georgia, initiated a collaboration with Darshan Brar, Ph.D, former IRRI plant breeder and head of the Plant Breeding and Genetics Division during a visit to IRRI headquarters in Los Baños, the Philippines. Having isolated DNA for a number of wild species, Wing and Jackson took the samples back to their laboratories to produce the genome libraries used for sequencing. http://www.worldgrain.com/articles/news_home/World_Grain_News/2018/01/Wild_genes_open_opportunities.as px?ID={6B2425AA-3332-4631-B13E-832A5C79B8ED}&cck=1

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter

Rice workshop discusses new breakthroughs in informatics January 29, 2018 - by Holly Demaree-Saddler

LOS BAÑOS, THE PHILIPPINES — The International Rice Informatics Consortium (IRIC) conducted its annual workshop that aims to provide researchers who share a common vision for rice informatics, a platform to exchange their ideas and innovations. The workshop also seeks to further the interest of stakeholders in the consortium.IRIC is an organization that aims to give stakeholders access to comprehensive information about rice, and facilitate collaboration in the rice community.

The workshop featured scientific talks that highlighted the achievements of IRIC, as well as new products and technologies that are expected to help achieve progress in the agricultural sector.

Attended by genetic scientists and researchers in plant and animal research, the workshop was an effective platform to update stakeholders about innovations in their fields of specialization.

Nickolai Alexandrov, IRRI senior scientist and IRIC coordinator, deliberated on topics such as the support of IRIC to Rice Data Interoperability, improvements in the SNP-Seek database, and the results of large structural variation analyses of the 3K rice genomes. Other presenters in the workshop talked about new technologies being applied in agriculture, which, when utilized, could help farmers increase yield.

Ryan Poplin, Machine Learning Technical Lead at Google Research, presented DeepVariant — a genome variant discovery program that uses deep neural networks and its application to the 3000 rice genomes dataset.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Zhang Zhang, director of the Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) Data Center, talked about the re-annotation of the rice genome using new experimental evidence from high quality RNA-seq data.

Max Troukhan spoke about Persephone, a next-generation web-based genome browser that can efficiently render images quickly and as needed. This innovation is helpful in viewing multiple genomes from different species and varieties and their annotations at the same time.

Another innovation is Knetminer, a web tool that uses knowledge graphs to integrate public and experimental data to discover genes potentially causative to traits of interest. This was discussed

by Keywan Hassani-Pak of Rothamsted Research.

Finally, Matthieu Conte of Syngenta presented the Gene Information Network, an infrastructure that allows discovery of candidate genes from GWAS and QTL data that helps in prioritizing targets for use in rice breeding. http://www.worldgrain.com/articles/news_home/World_Grain_News/2018/01/Rice_workshop_discusses_new_br. aspx?ID={2109C036-087B-49CB-89F7-DCC50DBD35D9}

The healthy meal plan you'll be able to stick to: Food blogger Leah Itsines shares her new four-week programme to kickstart your metabolism - and a typical day on her plate    

Food blogger, Leah Itsines, 22, spoke to FEMAIL about her new foodie e-book The 22-year-old sister of Kayla follows a balanced and realistic eating approach Leah revealed her day on a plate - which consists of burrito bowls and Pita pizza She also shared an exclusive recipe from her new four-week meal plan

By SOPHIE HASLETT FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA 04:42 GMT, 30 January 2018 | UPDATED: 04:42 GMT, 30 January 2018 She's the little sister of global fitness star, Kayla, with a rather big following of her own.And now, Adelaide-based food blogger, Leah Itsines, has launched a healthy eating plan and e-book BARE - which stands for Balanced And Realistic Eating.

Speaking to FEMAIL as the book launches, Leah exclusively revealed one of the recipes from the book - as well as her own approach to food and diet and a typical day on her plate.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Adelaide-based food blogger, Leah Itsines (pictured), has launched a healthy eating plan and e-book - BARE - which stands for Balanced And Realistic Eating

Speaking to FEMAIL, Leah (pictured with Kayla) exclusively revealed one of the recipes from the book - as well as her own approach to food and diet and a typical day on her plate

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5327575/Food-blogger-Leah-Itsines-healthy-balancedeating-plan.html#ixzz55kvGJQ6N

USA Rice Wants GM Rice from China to Stay There

By Michael Klein

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - Last week, Chinese news agencies excitedly reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granting approval to an experimental genetically modified rice strain, Huahui-1. USA Rice does not share their excitement and does not want the GM rice to enter the United States."'Approval' is not quite the correct word anyway," explained Betsy Ward, USA Rice president and CEO. "The agency simply joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in letting the rice developers at Huazhong Agricultural University know that based on the information the university submitted, they had no follow-up concerns or questions regarding human or animal food that could be derived from this rice."

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The rice strain is still banned in China and cannot be cultivated there, and if researchers are looking to grow these GM cultivars here, even in test plots, they should look elsewhere, according to Ward.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter "Our position on GM rice has not changed," she said. "While we do not object to sound science, the public overwhelmingly does not want GM rice. Until that changes, we see no need to introduce GM rice into the food supply here."U.S.-grown rice is proudly marketed here and around the world as GMO free and this presents a clear marketing advantage.

"While GMOs are perfectly safe, the fact that there is no GMO rice in commercial production in the U.S. resonates very strongly with customers, dietitians, and importers around the world," said Cameron Jacobs, USA Rice manager of domestic promotion. "When I'm at a trade show talking with consumers or chefs and I tell them the crop is completely GMO free, their eyes light up. Why would we change that?"

Ward said now that it is clear FDA and EPA have no objections to this rice, it could conceivably be grown somewhere and milled and imported into the U.S. She hopes importers will reject it as potentially damaging to the image of U.S.-grown rice, but admits there is little her organization can do at this point.

"It is Huazhong's continuing responsibility to ensure that foods marketed by Huazhong are safe, wholesome, and in compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements," the FDA letter to the university warns. "The marketplace does not want GM rice, so neither do we," Ward said. "Consumers can be sure they are getting a GMO-free rice product by purchasing rice that is grown in the USA." This is taking place against the backdrop of more than a decade of phytosanitary negotiations between the U.S. and China to clear the way for U.S. rice to be exported to China. Those negotiations appeared to be successfully concluded last summer, but continue to drag on.

"It's ironic that that our government has just opened the door to Chinese GMO rice that nobody wants here, while we still cannot send a single grain of healthy, safe, delicious rice to China despite significant interest in the product there," said Ward USA Rice Daily

CHINA TO CUT 2018 RICE ACREAGE BY 2.2 PCT AMID BULGING STOCKS 1/30/2018 BEIJING, Jan 30 (Reuters) - China will curb planting ofrice, its most important food grain, the agriculture ministrysaid on Tuesday, in a major step towards reducing a growingmountain of unsold stocks.The world's second-largest rice grower will aim to slash theacreage planted by

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter over 10 million mu or about 670,000 hectares, it said, around 2.2 percent of its plantings for 2017.

It is the first time China has sought to curb plantingacreage of its most important food, underlining its worry overstock levels. "It is a major policy shift. It will be the first time thestate aimed to cut rice acreage. The government policy has always been increasing and stabilizing rice production," saidChen Xiaoshan, an analyst with commodities consultancyZhuochuang based in Shandong.

The reduction will be focused on the north-east where cold weather limits japonica rice yields, and on production of indicarice in the Yangtze river basin."According to changes in market demand, we willappropriately reduce the rice area," said the document publishedon the agriculture ministry's website.

The plan follows steps that were taken to curb production ofcorn, after state purchasing policies encouraged farmers toincrease planting even as demand showed little change. That ledto huge stockpiles of ageing corn, which Beijing has been forcedto sell off at bargain prices.

Rice stocks are around 200 million tonnes, similar to the volumes corn stocks had grown to when the government tookaction, but getting rid of the rice could be more challenging,since much less processing capacity is installed in the majorrice-growing provinces of the south, said analysts."China has huge rice stocks. But unlike corn, there is not aseries of processing industries for rice. Rice destocking canmostly rely only on eating," said Cherry Zhang, an analyst withShanghai JC Intelligence. China has also stepped up exports of rice in a bid to reducethe surplus.

The ministry document also called for a continued focus onreducing corn planting in nonsignificant production areas. Wheat planting will also be reduced in regions contaminatedby fertilizers as well as in places facing depletedgroundwater in North China and Xinjiang. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Soy milk most nutritionally valuable among plantbased milks 26

A study looking into the relative merits of different plant based milk to the lactose intolerant has found soy to be the most nutritious.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter

DREAM BEAN: Soy was the best replacement for the nutritional value in cow's milk Researchers at the McGill University in Montreal looked at the four most-commonly consumed types of milk beverages from plant sources around the world – almond, soy, rice and coconut.

They compared their nutritional value with that of cow’s milk, which the scientists said remained the ‘most nutritious’, in the search for the one which offered the most benefits to the lactose intolerant.

Soy emerged as a clear winner, with a “balanced nutritional profile”. The milk substitute, which has been used for four decades, offered a range of health benefits, including the anticarcinogenic properties of phytonutrients present in the milk known as isoflavones.

However, there remained, as with all the tested ‘substitutes’ and the cow’s milk, a range of drawbacks. In the case of soy, these were the ‘beany flavor‘ and the presence of anti-nutrients (substances that reduce nutrient intake and digestion).

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Widely consumed in Asia and South America, coconut milk was found to have no protein and few calories, and most of those came from fat. But consumption can help reduce levels of harmful low-density lipoproteins (bad cholesterol) that are associated with cardiovascular diseases.

A flowchart illustrating the pros and cons of various milk alternatives Rice milk was found to be relatively low in nutritional value. One of the pros of rice milk is that it can act as an alternative for people with allergies caused by soybeans or almonds. Concerns, apart from the high carbohydrate count, is that consumption of rice milk without proper care can result in malnutrition, especially in infants.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Finally, almond milk had benefits like a high content of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) that are considered helpful in weight loss and weight management. MUFA also helps in reduction of low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol). The scientists noted a need for consumers to seek complementary sources of food to provide essential nutrients.

The study also points out that there are drawbacks to cow’s milk even among the non-lactose intolerant. These included the presence of various pathogens like Salmonella spp and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in milk have been associated with disease outbreaks around the world.

Researchers described cow’s milk as a “wholesome, complete food, providing all major nutrients like fat, carbohydrates and protein” adding that it “can help humans by providing a wide range of host-defence proteins because various beneficial anti-microbial effects are found in both human and bovine milks. (E.g., a study shows that in the case of infants, consumption of cow’s milk has considerably reduced risk of fever and respiratory infections)”.

They said that more work will need to be done to understand the effects of various conventional and novel processing methods on the nutritional profile, flavour and texture of these alternative milks.

The review was written by PhD Candidate Sai Kranthi Vanga and his supervisor Vijaya Raghavan of the Department of Bioresource Engineering at McGill and was recently published in Journal of Food Science Technology. https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/news/64321/soy-nutritionally-valuable-plant-based/

Telangana: Shortage makes fine rice prices shoot up DECCAN CHRONICLE. | L VENKAT RAM REDDY PublishedJan 31, 2018, 1:59 am IST UpdatedJan 31, 2018, 1:59 am IST

Neighbouring states are buying fine rice from TS.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter

One reason for this is that the state government does not pay the minimum support price (MSP) to procure fine rice varieties that were sown in the kharif season.

Hyderabad: Fine rice varieties (sanna biyyam) from Telangana state are making their way into Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat, leading to severe shortage of stocks and steep escalation of prices in the state.

One reason for this is that the state government does not pay the minimum support price (MSP) to procure fine rice varieties that were sown in the kharif season. It procured only thick rice varieties at MSP from farmers for the public distribution system. The production of fine rice varieties fell sharply throughout the country last year due to an attack of brown plant hopper.

There were several instances of farmers setting their pest-infected crops on fire in November last in TS to prevent the pest from spreading to the next season’s crop.

Traders from other states vied to purchase the limited stocks of fine rice available only in Telangana state by offering higher prices to farmers, resulting in a huge demand-supply gap and leading to escalation of prices.

The price of top fine rice brands increased by upto Rs 1,600 per quintal over the past year, taking it beyond the reach of many families.

The undivided Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts are famous for producing fine rice varieties.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter In Karimnagar, these rice varieties were sown on nearly one lakh acres. Normally, each acre produces 25 quintals of paddy, which fell to 15 quintals due to the pest attack. While 2.5 lakh quintals was expected to be harvested, only 1.5 lakh quintals was realised.

Traders from other states offered up to `2,200 per quintal, which is the highest in recent times.

Traders get up to 70 kg of rice per quintal after milling.

There is yet another problem: traders are not passing on the GST benefit to consumers. There used to be a five per cent VAT on rice. The GST placed rice in the zero tax category, but traders continue to collect the old tax.

The price of rice should come down by `400 to `500 per quintal under GST, but has increased.

Civil supplies commissioner C.V. Anand said special teams have been formed to raid rice millers and traders, and to check GST violations and price rise.

“Rice millers and traders have to pass on zero tax benefit to consumers but we have received complaints that they continue to levy 5 per cent tax that prevailed in VAT due to which consumers are ending up paying a higher price. Hoarding of stocks by millers and traders to create artificial storage is also leading to price rise,” Mr Anand said.

Special teams have been formed to conduct raids on millers and traders to check these irregularities.” Mr Anand said.

He added that if GST benefit is passed on to consumers, and hoarding is checked, the price of rice will come down to some extent. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/310118/telangana-shortage-makes-finerice-prices-shoot-up.html

Hike in rice prices slowly creeping in

By Jed Macapagal January 31, 2018 The National Food Authority (NFA) has instructed all its field offices to conduct a more intensive market monitoring and augment existing teams to ensure there are no unreasonable increases in rice prices.The order comes as the price of the grain has gone up since last month as the country entered the lean months.The increases, though minimal, have yet to incorporate if any, the impact of higher fuel excise taxes on the transportation cost of the commodity.

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“I have instructed our market monitoring teams to quickly spot any unwarranted increase in rice prices. Overpricing, profiteering and hoarding are grains trading violations punishable by law,

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter

and we assure the public that the culprits will be dealt with accordingly,� Jason Aquino, the agency’s administrator, said in a statement.The official is set to meet with leaders in the grains business to solicit their support in policing their ranks,so rice remains affordable to all as it is the basic staple food in the country.

NFA said based on records, rice prices slightly increased during the lean months between December and February, the period when farmers have fully harvested their main crop and await the summer crop harvest which starts in March. It is also the period when traders are selling newly-milled stocks bought at higher prices from the preceding harvest season.

The agency added on a review of the monthly and annual trend in prices from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), prices of regular-milled and well-milled rice tend to increase by P1 to P2 per kilogram between December and February.

The price of well-milled rice in the first two weeks of January this year were recorded at P42.37 per kg nationwide and P41 per kg in Metro Manila, lower than prices during the same period in 2015 at P43.11 and P43 per kg, respectively.

The same trend was also noted for regular-milled rice, at an average of P38.24 per kg on the national level and P37.50 per kg in Metro Manila during the first half of January 2018, compared to the P38.81 and P40 per kg during the same period in 2015.

In 2016 and 2017, prices of well-milled and regular-milled rice followed the same trend of higher averages in the months of January and February, and settling down to slightly lower prices during the rest of the year.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Aquino said between December 2017 and January 2018, the retail price of well-milled rice increased by only about P0.11 per kg, from an average of P42.26 to P42.37 per kg on the national level and P1 per kg in Metro Manila, from P40 to P41 per kg.

For regular-milled rice, the price increase was about P0.19 per kg, from P38.05 to P38.24 per kg on the national average and higher by P0.50 per kg for Metro Manila, from P37 to P37.50 per kg. “The PSA records clearly show that the slight increase in rice prices at this time happens each year, during this same period, not because of external influences such as tax measures but as a natural consequence of the lack of harvest and the sale of newly-milled stocks bought at higher prices,� Aquino said. http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/business/hike-rice-prices-slowly-creeping

Time and labor savings cited as key advantage for row rice Furrow-irrigated row rice provides time and labor savings for Arkansas farm.

Forrest Laws | Jan 30, 2018 Yield comparison between furrow-irrigated or row rice and traditional flood-irrigated rice was statistically the same, for Mississippi County, Arkansas farmers Mike and Ryan Sullivan.

But with fewer trips across the field to prepare land for the next soybean crop saved time, labor and money, said Ryan during a presentation at the January national Conservation Systems Cotton and rice Conference in Memphis.

Pulling levees was one of the reasons Ryan decided to try furrow-irrigated rice. Although he’s a recent graduate of Arkansas State University, Ryan has spent his whole life on the fifthgeneration rice-soybean farm.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter “Every fall we would go in with a field cultivator and a Kelly Diamond to get the soybean fields ready so we could plant rice flat,” he said in his presentation. “We drilled into the old soybean beds from last year. We planted at an angle because we couldn’t get good down pressure in the middles.”

Planting on the old soybean beds meant the Sullivans didn’t have to put up levees in their rice, a practice that on their heavy gumbo soils could require five or six trips with a tractor and a levee plow. The lack of levees means the fields are also less likely to become rutted during harvest.

Sullivan said the furrow-irrigated fields that were grown in side-by-side comparisons with conventionally-planted rice produced an average of 4.6-bushels-per-acre less rice than the fields of levee rice. (The 477.2 acres of furrow rice produced an average of 196.5 bushels vs. 201.1 bushels per acre on 539 acres of flooded rice.) http://www.deltafarmpress.com/rice/time-and-labor-savings-cited-key-advantage-row-rice

SLAC ties up to quadruple Lanao Sur’s rice yield

By BusinessMirror January 30, 2018 HYBRID-RICE firm SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) on Wednesday inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the provincial government of Lanao del Sur for the establishment of a 50-hectare techno- demo farm that seeks to more than quadruple the province’s average rice yield.

“We usually do techno-demo farms in about 2 to 3 hectares; this is the biggest we will have. And we are spending for the labor, inputs, rice seeds, chemicals and everything,” SLAC Chairman and CEO Henry Lim Bon Liong said in a news briefing on January 30.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter “As part of Go Negosyo, we are doing our part to help the people of Marawi to recover,” Lim added.

SLAC Senior Technical and Promotion Consultant Dr. Frisco M. Malabanan said the firm is spending around P1.65 million for the establishment of the 50-hectare techno-demo farm in Bubong, a municipality near war-torn Marawi City. The project costs around P30,000 to P35,000 per hectare, Malabanan said.

The average rice yield in the area is around 3 metric tons (MT) to 3.5 MT, way below the 7 MT to 14 MT per hectare average yield of SLAC’s hybrid-rice varieties.

“This is a 50-hectare model farm so the farmers of Marawi and surrounding areas of Lanao del Sur will benefit from hybrid-rice technology,” Malabanan said.

“We already conducted a technical briefing to around 55 farmers from the Marawi area and we started already the seed sowing in the area using our varieties SL8 and SL18,” Malabanan added.

Lim said they are planning to set a harvest festival in the 50-hectare techno-demo farm by April, where they would invite President Duterte as a special guest.

Provincial Agriculturist Engr. Mohamadali D. Macaraya of Lanao del Sur said the establishment of a techno-demo farm in their province would encourage farmers in their area to adapt to modern rice-farming technologies. This, Macaraya noted, would allow the province to improve their rice output and reduce their reliance for food supply from other nearby rice-producing provinces.“This is a big help for Marawi and Lanao del Sur. You know Lanao del Sur has been using traditional methods of farming and now, we have a new technology from the SLAC, who contributed this 50 hectares to our people,” he said.

“This will be replicated to nearby barangays and municipalities of Lanao del Sur. Lanao del Sur has a potential of 40,319 hectares of irrigable areas and only 3,000 hectares are irrigated. Much of of food consumption are bought from nearby provinces,” he added.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Macaraya said they are eyeing to plant hybrid rice to at least 1,000 hectares this year in the municipalities of Bubong, Ramain and Buadiposo-Buntong. https://businessmirror.com.ph/slac-ties-up-to-quadruple-lanao-surs-rice-yield/

Agriculture damage due to restive Mayon volcano reaches P165M Affected commodities include rice, corn, high value crops, and fiber crops Jee Y. Geronimo @jeegeronimo Published 7:00 PM, January 30, 2018

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Updated 8:50 AM, January 31, 2018

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter MAYON. High school students in Guinobatan, Albay pass through a rice paddy as they run away from cascading volcanic materials from the slopes of Mount Mayon. File photo by Rhaydz B. Barcia/Rappler MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the damage and losses to the agriculture sector caused by the activity of the Mayon volcano had reached P165.54 million as of noon on Tuesday, January 30.

In a memorandum dated January 30, the agriculture department said the situation in Albay affected a total of 8,138 hectares of agricultural areas, and 8,294 farmers.

Christopher Morales, chief of the DA Field Programs Operational Planning Division, said the estimated volume of production loss was at 36,023 metric tons, and the affected commodities were rice, corn, high value crops, and fiber crops.

Rice suffered the largest share of production losses at P139.79 million (82.45%), covering 6,380 hectares, which is equivalent to 61.35% of the total standing crop of 10,399 hectares.

"The losses were due to the effect of ashfall [on] the leaves and tillers of newly planted rice crops," the memorandum reads.

Nine areas in Albay were affected: Santo Domingo, Malilipot, Legazpi City, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao City, Polangui, and Oas. Below is a summary of damage and losses per commodity as of noon on Tuesday: COMMODITY

NO. OF FARMERS AFFECTED

TOTAL AREA AFFECTED (HA)

VOLUME (MT)

TOTAL (PHP)

Rice

4,253

6,380

-

139,794,637

Corn

773

708

2

4,378,793

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter High value crops

3,268

1,049

36,023

20,890,320

Fiber crops

-

99

6

478,000

*Data from the Department of Agriculture According to the memorandum, the proposed rehabilitation plan from different banner programs for rice, corn, high value crops, organic agriculture, as well as livestock and poultry totaled P48.076 million.

Alert Level 4 remains in effect over the Mayon volcano. Recent reports said the threat of catastrophic mudflows is building on the slopes of the volcano. – Rappler.com https://www.rappler.com/business/194851-agriculture-damage-mayon-volcano-albay-january30-2018

How The Rice Husk Pellet Making Machine Can Change A Problem Right Into A Profit January 31, 2018 Pellet Machine Beston Machinery, a professional pellet making machine manufacturer.

It has been said many times over that way too much of anything, even natural products, in one location is hazardous waste. The problem with plenty of farms and their processing plants is the fact there exists almost always some form of waste leftover. Wheat has the straw, corn has stalks and husks, rice has husks, peaches have pits, and olives have pits at the same time. Do you want to use rice husk to earn money? You can invest a rice husk pellet mill.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter While you possibly will not imagine tiny olive pits becoming a problem, once you have 100 a great deal of them, that’s a tremendous pile. Recently farmers are already paying higher and higher fees to possess these agricultural wastes hauled away, many times on the local landfills.

The landfills are reaching capacities and want to slice back, increase prices, and reduce costs in any manner they are able to. Now, because of modern technology, you will find answers to handling most of these different waste elements, safely, economically, and environmentally friendly. If you have other raw materials, like straws, you can select a straw pellet mill for sale.

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Now There Are Pellet Mills For Pretty Much Anything Manufactured From Cellulose

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter As you may have often heard, one man’s garbage is yet another man’s treasure and so it complements cellulose waste nowadays. You will find stoves and furnaces that could be created to are powered by nearly just about any pelletized cellulose waste. These stoves may be used to heat barns, factories, homes, or found in other manufacturing processes.

The pellets burn clean and leave almost no ash and considering they are created from biomass, their CO2, or carbon dioxide, is an element of a renewable cycle. Because of this it doesn’t add or subtract from the normal quantities of co2 from the atmosphere. Also there is a unique 40

biomass machine, which can turn wastes into biofuel, you can choose from numerous biomass pellet machine manufacturers.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter What a rice husk pellet making machine is capable of doing to the rice farmer is take a huge problem, one that costs many thousands of dollars in hauling and dump fees, and transform it into a profitable business. The pellets can be utilized in the farm, in your house, or sold wholesale to some pellet stove company for heating homes. A sizable expense is changed into revenue for your farmer.

The Rice Husk Pellet Making Machines Can Be Found In Several Sizes You can tailor how big your machine to the tonnage of rice husks you want to process at the farm. Checking just one maker online implies that machines can easily be bought that may

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter process husks from 250 lbs. per hour all the way up upto 1,000 lbs. each hour. While that might appear to be a lot, there are rice fields who have very much waste and much more.

Before selecting a particular machine, it’s best to spend some time researching to determine if the equipment has got the right specifications you require. You’ll want to make certain that parts can be found quickly coming from a local supplier. There shouldn’t be any flaws within the design and you may check online customer reviews to discover how many other buyers have experienced together with the machine you’d prefer to buy. Therefore, you need to do a survey and make a comparison from many suppliers, and choose a reliable pellet machine manufacturer, and put your money on their machine, you can get high returns.

It should are available having an excellent warranty and possess great customer satisfaction at the same time. This is an excellent instance of how technologies have found a problem with excess waste and turned it into a profitable venture that earns money and is also eco-friendly too. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-rice-husk-pellet-making-machine-can-change-problem-pellet-machine/

What’s The Best Milk Alternative? A New Study Found This Non-Dairy Milk Is The Most Nutritious ByJAMES LOKE HALE

At some point in our history, someone looked at a calf nursing from its mother and was like, "Heck yeah, let's put that in coffee." But in the last few years, the popularity of non-dairy milks has grown 61 percent, reaching an estimated $2.11 billion in sales, according to research from market intelligence agency Mintel, which means a whole lot of people are looking at things like soybeans and almonds and going, "Heck yeah, let's put that in coffee." With more and more people drinking milk alternatives, it's no surprise people are wondering which non-dairy milk is the most nutritious.

Luckily, McGill University is here to answer that question. A new study from the university looked at four of the most commonly consumed non-dairy milks — almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, and coconut milk — to see if their health benefits stack up. "Though they are popularly advertised as healthy and wholesome, little research has been done in understanding

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the nutritional implications of consuming these milk beverages in short term and long term," the team wrote in the study's report.

The nutritional value of each non-dairy milk was weighed against the nutritional value of regular ol' cow's milk, and according to researchers, soy milk is "a clear winner," said a press release from McGill. Don't worry, though — you can still "Heck yeah" any of the four milks. According to the McGill University researchers, it turns out all four non-dairy milks do have their own benefits aside from giving folks who are lactose-intolerant or who simply don't like dairy milk another option.

Giphy

The study concluded that soy milk, which "has been a substitute for cow's milk for 4 decades," according to the press release, has the most balanced nutritional profile, and also has "health benefits linked to the anti-carcinogenic properties of phytonutrients present [...] known as isoflavones."

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According to Oregon State University, observational studies of soy isoflavones "suggest that higher intakes of soy foods early in life may decrease the risk of breast cancer in adulthood," but

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter "[t]here is currently little clinical evidence that taking soy isoflavone supplements decreases the risk of incident and recurrent breast cancer."

McGill university researchers did mention in the study's press release that they have concerns about soy milk's "beany flavor," which, fair. They also expressed concerns about "the presence of anti-nutrients (substances that reduce nutrient intake and digestion)" in soy milk, but still concluded that of the four milks, it comes the closest to meeting dairy milk's nutritional profile.

Rice milk turned out to be almost the exact opposite of soy milk, according to the researchers.

No "beany flavor" was present; instead rice milk was reviewed as being "sweet" but having "relatively little nutrition." The McGill University team suggested rice milk as a good alternative for consumers who can't ingest soy milk or almond milk because of allergies, and that it's high in carbohydrates. That aside, though, "consumption of rice milk without proper care can result in malnutrition, especially in infants."

Coconut milk received a "no protein and few calories" tag from the researchers, who added that the calories are mostly from fat. Coconuts also "help reduce levels of harmful low-density lipoproteins (bad cholesterol) that are associated with cardiovascular diseases," the researchers added, but the benefits of coconut milk go down if it's stored for more than two months.it’s not fair that I have to pay extra for non-dairy milk in my drinks. I didn’t choose to be lactose intolerant but now I’m 50 cents broker than my regular lactose tolerant counterparts. #EqualityForMilk Almond milk received a not-quite-positive review, with McGill researchers stating there's a "need for complementary sources of food to provide essential nutrients." However, researchers asserted that almonds also have fatty acids that are helpful when it comes to reducing the same "bad cholesterol" coconut milk helps lessen.

In contrast to all four non-dairy milks, cow's milk was called "a wholesome, complete food," by the researchers, who said it can provide us with all the major nutrients we require, like "fat, carbohydrates, and proteins." Cow's milk also provides "a wide range of host-defence [sic] proteins because various beneficial anti-microbial effects are found in both human and bovine milks," and research has shown that "in the case of infants, consumption of cow's milk has considerably reduced risk of fever and respiratory infections."

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Researchers did point out that lactose intolerance is widespread, affecting between 15 and 75 percent of all adults "depending on race, food habits, and gut health," and said that future

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter research on "alternative milk" is required to fully understand the effects soy, rice, coconut, and almond milk have on us.

In the case of all non-dairy milks, though, if you're committed to staying away from cow's milk, the smart thing to do seems to be to raise a glass of your favorite non-dairy milk, but also watch your intake and make sure you're compensating for what soybeans or rice or almonds can't give you on their own. Cheers, y'all.

Maharashtra govt machinery responsible for farmer's death: Shiv Sena Jan 30, 2018 12:42 PM IST | Source: PTI

The Shiv Sena today held the Maharashtra government machinery responsible for the death of an elderly farmer, who consumed poison over inadequate compensation for his land, and said ministers and officials concerned should be booked for culpable homicide.

PTI@moneycontrolcom A farmer spreads fertilizers on his rice plants in Patra village in the northern Indian state of Punjab August 4, 2007. REUTERS/Ajay Verma (INDIA) - GM1DVVWDZSAA

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter The Shiv Sena today held the Maharashtra government machinery responsible for the death of an elderly farmer, who consumed poison over inadequate compensation for his land, and said ministers and officials concerned should be booked for culpable homicide.

Taunting the Devendra Fadnavis-led dispensation, the BJP's warring ally said problems like food, clothing and shelter are not solved merely by giving speeches.

Dharma Patil, 84, died at a government hospital on January 28, six days after he consumed poison at Mantralaya, the state secretariat, here on January 22. The farmer was protesting inadequate compensation for a plot of land acquired by the government for a project.

"When Dharma Patil reached Mantralaya, the chief minister was in Davos seeking investment for the state. What is the use of such investment when farmers back home are ending their lives?

"Problems like food, clothing and shelter are not solved merely by giving speeches. 'Bhashan (speech) mafia' has killed this farmer. The chief minister should run the government and not the BJP," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

The death of Dharma Patil, it added, is not a sign of good administration.

"Those who have been going around painting a rosy picture saying 'acche din' have arrived in peoples' lives are the ones responsible for his death. The compensation of only Rs 4 lakh for his land was a cruel joke played on him by the government," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

The saffron party alleged that the government has appointed agents to acquire lands in the name of development and schemes. These agents, it said, ensure that farmers like Dharma Patil are only given Rs 4 lakh instead of the right amount of compensation.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter "The state administration is responsible for Dharma Patil's death. Therefore, those demanding that the ministers and officials concerned should be booked for culpable homicide are not wrong," the Sena said.

Opposition parties are also making a similar demand. But they themselves were in power in the state for 15 long years, the party said.

During their tenure, as many as 15,000 farmers from Vidarbha-Marathwada regions committed suicide. Hence, those who were in power at that time should also be booked for culpable homicide, it added. http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/maharashtra-govt-machineryresponsible-for-farmers-death-shiv-sena-2494593.html 30, 2018

DA seeks Caraga farmer-partners for corn production of proposed rice-corn blend DAVAO CITY—The Depart-ment of Agriculture (DA) is offering incentives to farmers in the Caraga region in Northeastern Mindanao to put up demonstration or model farms in raising corn for the government’s rice-corn blend.

The DA Caraga office has coordinated with the local government units across the region to help it look for areas suitable for the establishment of white-corn production as a model farm “that would showcase to the farmers the viability of flint-type white-corn production.”

The flint type, one of six major types that also include dent, flour, pod, pop and sweet corn, is suitable for the production of the corn cereals needed in the blending with rice to produce a healthier and cheaper staple for Filipinos.

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Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Pinol launched it here last December.The DA Caraga said it would prefer model farms that are cluster areas with strong farmer associations.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter “Other areas can also be tapped, as long as they have potential for flint-type corn production,” Caraga Regional Corn Coordinator Melody M. Guimary said. The preferred sites “should be compact and not less than 50 hectares.”

“The farmers qualified to participate in the model farm will be assisted with interventions, such as technical training, inputs and farm machinery and equipment,” she added.

The DA Caraga and the local governments have begun to benchmark the local demand of the flint-type white corn in the region “to ascertain local marketing opportunities.”

This white-corn variety is distinguished by its hard outer covering likened to flint stone, hence its name, which serves as natural protection for the usually soft interior of the kernels.

Although it has been commonly used with processed d, industrial food and feeds, it has been recently tapped as a good source for the rice-corn blend initiated by the DA “to lessen the dependence of Filipinos on rice as their staple food.”

When it was launched here, the Philippine Maize Federation, a federation of corn-farmer associations signed a memorandum of agreement with the DA and the National Food Authority for the processing and marketing of the product.

“The rice-corn blend is also a business opportunity for cooperatives, associations or private individuals who would like to invest in processing and marketing of the rice-corn blend,” Guimary added.

Provincial Corn Coordinator Oscar Tuyor of Agusan del Norte said the blending of rice and corn is not entirely new for Filipinos, with many in the Visayas and Mindanao already eating corn as a regular staple.

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“Rice can be blended with corn either on a ratio of 70:30 or 50:50, or depending on the preference of the consumer,” he said.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Lydia Apatan, an agricultural extension worker of Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, said the rice-corn blend was a welcome initiative. “Aside from helping lessen the dependence on rice among Filipinos, it is a healthy alternative since corn has a low glycemic index and is high in fiber.”

Glycemic index is a number associated with the carbohydrates in a particular food that indicates the effect of these carbohydrates on a person’s blood glucose, commonly called blood sugar.

Under the National Corn Staple Development Plan, the DA would increase production of quality flint corn for nutrition and food security and to increase the income of farmers, specifically to increase production of flint corn, from 1.952 million metric tons in 2017 to 4.91 MMT by 2022.

The DA information office said the flint-type white corn serves as a staple food of about 15 percent of the total population, mostly in the islands of the Visayas and Mindanao, in the form of corn grits. https://businessmirror.com.ph/da-seeks-caraga-farmer-partners-for-corn-production-of-proposedrice-corn-blend/

Southeast, Three Rivers discontinue offering courses at Malden sites Tuesday, January 30, 2018 Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers College has announced they are discontinuing offering courses at their Malden campuses as the two institutions shift their efforts to align with current trends in student learning.

Southeast President Carlos Vargas and Three Rivers College President Wesley Payne cited budgetary needs, declining enrollments and a decrease in demand for face-to-face and interactive television (ITV) course offerings at their Malden facilities for their decision to cease face-to-face and ITV coursework there, effective at the end of the spring 2018 semester.

The presidents said the two institutions will shift their delivery to online offerings while also encouraging Malden area students to continue their coursework at their nearby locations. Vargas emphasized that face-to-face and ITV educational offerings will remain readily available at

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Southeast’s regional campuses in Sikeston and Kennett. Payne added that Three Rivers students in the Malden area will be able to continue face-to-face and ITV instruction at their locations in Dexter, Kennett, Sikeston and Piedmont, Missouri, and at the main campus in Poplar Bluff.

Although Southeast Missouri State University-Malden has served thousands of students over the years, Vargas said Southeast’s total headcount at its Malden campus has steadily declined. In fall 2010, fall unduplicated headcount at the Malden campus was 248. By fall 2017, total unduplicated headcount had dropped to 106. This spring, just 91 students are enrolled in at least one course at Southeast’s Malden campus, he said.

Three Rivers’ Malden facility has experienced similar enrollment declines. In fall 2010, Three Rivers students were enrolled in 1,380 credit hours of coursework, accounting for 92 full-time equivalencies. That number dropped to 620 credit hours, or 41 full-time equivalencies, by fall 2017, Payne said.

Vargas and Payne also referenced the popularity of online coursework, which allows students with busy lives to stay on target with their academic goals while balancing the demands of family and work. Vargas said there are more Southeast students today enrolled as online students from Stoddard and neighboring counties than those enrolled at the Malden campus.

He also cited the growing number of high school students earning dual credit, which has more than doubled since 2012, as a contributing factor to declining numbers who attend Southeast’s Malden campus.

“While this has been a very difficult decision, it also has been an opportunity to evaluate shifts in technology and reorganize our instructional offerings consistent with the needs of today’s students,” he said.

Vargas said Southeast has been strategic in its budget reduction decisions in an effort to minimize the impact on students and faculty. Of the 91 students currently enrolled at Southeast’s Malden campus, 48 are taking coursework only in Malden. He said he is encouraged knowing nearly half of them already take coursework both at Malden and at another Southeast location. In addition, 86 percent of the students currently enrolled at Southeast’s Malden campus reside in Dunklin, New Madrid and Stoddard counties, making travel to Southeast’s regional campuses in Kennett or Sikeston accessible to continue their education.

“I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation to the Crisp Bootheel Education Center Advisory Board, the citizens, and the city of Malden who for more than 30 years have offered their unwavering commitment, both financially and with their steadfast dedication to and support of our campus here,” Vargas said. “While the magnitude of the University’s budget needs necessitates this refocusing of our instructional efforts, I am

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encouraged that Malden students will still be able to pursue their educational goals close to home.

“While this is an announcement I regret having to make, I take some comfort in knowing our regional campuses in Sikeston and in Kennett, and Southeast Online, will continue to serve the needs of the many first-time, first-generation and non-traditional students in the Malden area who wish to pursue their educational dreams in the Bootheel without traveling to Cape Girardeau,” he added.

Student Informational Session Coursework at Southeast’s Malden location will end with the close of spring 2018 final exams on May 11. Southeast’s Malden campus will continue its normal operating hours through June 29. An informational session for Southeast Malden students is planned for 4-6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Malden campus. Administrators and academic advisors will be on hand to answer questions and explain the timeline for changes in instruction and other options to continue coursework.

Students may come and go any time during the session as it is convenient for them.

Coursework at Three Rivers-Malden will end with the close of spring 2018 final exams on May 17. Normal operations will continue through May 25. College staff will be available during normal hours of operation to answer questions and assist students in planning future coursework.

Future Plans for Southeast Missouri State University-Malden

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Moving forward, Southeast will continue to operate its Malden facility for non-credit events, including career development workshops. Online course advisement for Malden area students will continue to be available through Southeast Online as is currently the practice. Operation of the Bootheel Youth Museum will continue as well, Vargas said.

Agricultural rice research conducted in the Rice Research Greenhouse at the campus will continue in partnership with the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council and Southeast’s Department of Agriculture. The 1,500-square-foot greenhouse, which opened on the east side of the building last spring, provides laboratory and research space for producing new high-yielding, public domain rice varieties in southeast Missouri. A USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant helped support construction of the greenhouse which is within close proximity to the Missouri Rice Research Farm on Highway J between Malden and Glennonville, Missouri.

Vargas said Southeast may also use the vacated instructional space for events, workshops and satellite space for the University’s Economic and Business Engagement Center (EBEC) activities, specifically its Agriculture Technology Virtual Incubation program. This initiative encourages innovation and offers support to the agriculture industry, a sector vitally important to the Bootheel economy. Incorporating technology advancements in agriculture operations, including the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), are playing an increasing role in the region’s agriculture industry. The Incubation Program assists small businesses, including those in the agriculture industry, with capitalizing on these opportunities by providing additional services and expertise.

Future Plans for Three Rivers College-Malden Three Rivers currently operates in leased facilities, and while the closing of the location means that there will no longer be a physical presence in the city, students will be served at locations in Dexter and Kennett. Students will also continue to have the opportunity to enroll in online classes as they currently do.

Three Rivers remains committed to serving the area through its Dual-Credit program and plans to continue to offer the Patrons of the Arts shows in the Malden elementary and middle schools. merous vacant positions have been either eliminated or remain unfilled in an effort to maintain a balanced budget.

In spite of the reduction in state support and the ensuing budget challenges, Three Rivers remains committed to continuing to serve the region with accessible affordable education. Even as enrollment has declined at its other external locations, they have remained fiscally healthy and continue to provide a robust selection of coursework where it is needed.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter “While this decision has been very difficult and is the type of decision that no college wants to make, we will continue to serve students through our online offerings and continue to provide face-to-face and ITV classes in Dexter, Kennett and Sikeston,” said Payne.

Despite the reductions in state support last year and the proposed further reduction for the coming year, Three Rivers has been able to continue to provide high quality instruction while minimizing the impact on tuition. Payne stated that “while it is regrettable that we will no longer be able to offer face-to-face classes in Malden, Three Rivers remains committed to its mission and will continue to provide high-quality opportunities that are both affordable and accessible.

Anyone who is seeking a better future will find Three Rivers College ready to help them reach their goals.” http://www.dddnews.com/story/2480615.html

Rice quota bad for PNG families: Opposition BY: Loop Business 10:23, January 30, 2018 There will be a massive increase in rice prices for PNG families if there is monopoly of the rice market.“There were disturbing reports in mainstream media on 26 January that Agriculture and Livestock Minister, Benny Allan, had stated that foreign-controlled Naima would take control of the rice market in PNG once the state solicitor had cleared the 80 percent quota and 10-year tax holiday,” said the Shadow Minister for Treasury and Finance, Ian Ling-Stuckey.

“Surely these are not issues for the State Solicitor to resolve. These are fundamental issues of public policy, of choices that should be given to parliamentarians to balance the needs of PNG’s consumers, the future of their children and an obscure foreign firm with its ministerial besties.”

The shadow minister questioned why Naima rice should be given a 10 year tax holiday when poor PNG workers are struggling with high levels of tax.

“This rice plan is a really bad deal for PNG,” said Ling-Stuckey.

“If the government really understood the needs of its PNG people, they would immediately cancel this arrangement. Instead, the government should do more to invest in smallholder extension activities, research and development and improved transport and storage systems.”

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter He said when this proposal was floated, there was near universal condemnation of this outrageous, protectionist proposal.

Furthermore, the National Research Institute put out a spotlight paper stating “PNG’s experiences of monopolies in the delivery of crucial goods and services have been dreadful. A monopoly trader emerging in the rice industry is therefore a dangerous prospect especially with rice fast becoming a staple food throughout the country; the cost of survival for many households will increase.”

“The PNG Independent Consumer and Competition Commission condemned the proposal, saying it could have ‘major negative effects upon consumers and competition’ and ‘it is essential that no domestic rice monopoly is created by the issuing of pioneer status to only one rice grower’,” stated Ling-Stuckey.

Outside experts like Professor Stephen Howes at the ANU have also criticised the proposal.

Prof Howes was reported as saying: “As any economist will tell you, a quota, especially a quota to a monopoly, will push up prices and profits.”

Ling-Stuckey pointed out that researchers from the 1960s have highlighted that in most areas in PNG, there are other crop options with much higher returns to our farmers.

“Rice was a low return crop relative to potatoes, oil palm, cocoa, coffee and vanilla. Why force our farmers into these high labour, risky areas under a massive subsidy that will hurt PNG families with increases in prices?

“Why are we ignoring the advice of these experts?

“Economists are clear that the worst protectionist policy is quotas, then tariffs, then direct subsidies, then competition under a properly regulated market.

“Why is the government going for an option that is the worst of all the protectionist policy options? This is the one with the greatest risk to consumers.

“Current price monitoring arrangements with weak enforcement provisions mean that Naima could effectively start asking almost any price it wants for rice.

“Of course, we know that there will be the normal political rhetoric of good noises made that rice prices will decrease, but the people of PNG are just too wise to believe those stories yet again,” stressed the shadow treasurer.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter “Another major loser from this proposal are the people of PNG through the budget. It is one thing to give Naima a license to print money through this scheme, but then to give them a tenyear tax holiday?

“I do hope the PNG Treasurer, Charles Abel, will fiercely oppose this suggestion as the budget desperately needs budget repair. How on earth could the government support a 10-year tax holiday when our debt levels are already blowing out of control?” s Ling-Stuckey said there are much better ways to build up our agriculture sector than this type of dangerous and destructive proposal.

“In the spirit of APEC and trade integration, we should invest our time and funds instead into ways that PNG smallholders can grow products both for our own markets as well for the supermarkets of Asia.

“The APEC meeting is an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of PNG, and we can invite firms with much greater expertise to make investments in our agriculture sector. Setting up a rice monopoly absolutely undermines the ideals of APEC and puts our role as host to shame.

“The O’Neill/Abel government should cancel the Naima proposal.

“There are better ways to build up our agriculture sector and lift the incomes and job opportunities for our people,” said the shadow treasurer.

ttp://ibnservice.com/20

Red Yeast Rice Market Emerging Progress 2018-2023 BySamuel Roberts January 31, 2018

Global market study ” Red Yeast Rice Market ” in-depth Research of the Red Yeast Rice market state and the competitive landscape globally. Analyses the important factors of the Red Yeast Rice market based on present industry situations, market demands, business strategies utilized by Red Yeast Rice market players and the future prospects from various angles in detail. The report also presents forecasts for Red Yeast Rice Market from 2018 till 2023.In this report, the Red Yeast Rice market worth

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter about X billion USD in 2018 and it is expected to reach XX billion USD in 2023 with an average growth rate of X%. United States is the largest production of Red Yeast Rice Market and consumption region in the world, while China is fastest growing region.

Geographically, Red Yeast Rice market report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue. The major regions involved in Red Yeast Rice Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).

Get Sample Here – http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-red-yeast-rice-market-outlook2016-2021/#request_for_sample Top Companies Analysis Mentioned 1.

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Hangzhou

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Jiangr

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Nanping

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Gutian

Diyuan

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Shandong

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8. Fuzhou Longlixin The Red Yeast Rice research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Red Yeast Rice market revenue worldwide.

Do Inquiry Here: http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-red-yeast-rice-market-outlook2016-2021/#enquiry_for_buying 57

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Geographically, Red Yeast Rice market report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and Red Yeast Rice market share and growth rate in these regions, from 2013 to 2025 (forecast), covering regions be Market Segment by Regions

2013

2017

2025

Share (%)

CAGR (2017-2025)

United States

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx%

China

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx %

EU

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx%

Japan

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx %

Korea

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx%

Taiwan

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx%

Total

xx

xx

xx

xx%

xx%

Key Highlights of the Red Yeast Rice Market: • The fundamental details related to Red Yeast Rice industry like the product definition, cost, variety of applications, Red Yeast Rice market demand and supply statistics are covered in this report.

• Competitive study of the major Red Yeast Rice players will help all the market players in analyzing the latest trends and Red Yeast Rice business strategies.

• The deep research study of Red Yeast Rice market based on development opportunities, growth limiting factors and feasibility of investment will forecast the Red Yeast Rice market growth.

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Daily Global, Regional and Local Rice E-Newsletter Finally, Red Yeast Rice market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.

18/01/31/red-yeast-rice-market-emerging-progress-2018-2023/

IMPORTING OF RICE HALTED WEDNESDAY, 31 JANUARY 2018 - 10:18

President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the cabinet to stop importing rice since the Maha Season paddy harvest has begun.President gave the directive following detailed facts regarding the matter being put forward at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon(Jan.30).

Responding to an enquiry, a senior government minister said that accordingly, a cabinet subcommittee was set up to look into rice stocks currently available in the market.

The committee includes the ministers of Agriculture, Industries and Commerce as well as the minister of Rural Economy.

In addition, reports state that discussions relating to a proposal to import 100,000 metric tonnes of rice, has been postponed.

Meanwhile, the cabinet approval was granted to set up a special High Court bench of three judges to expedite the hearing of the cases regarding bribes or corruption charges.The cabinet also approved the suggested amendment for revising the court organization act.It was decided to have this special high court in addition to the high court currently in operation. http://www.hirunews.lk/182497/importing-rice-halted

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