31st july,2014 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

31st July, 2014

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Japan Rice Sold for Animal Feed Eats Into Surplus

By Aya Takada Jul 31, 2014 12:17 PM GMT+0500

Rice stockpiles in Japan declined from an 11-year high after an industry group bought some of the country‘s surplus to sell as livestock feed, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said today.Inventories of Japanese food rice held by local producers and distributors fell to 2.22 million metric tons as of June 30 from 2.24 million tons a year earlier, the ministry said in a report. Volume is expected to drop further to 2.09 million tons at the end of June 2015, the lowest level in three years, according to the report.

Rice Stable Supply Support Mechanism, a group of rice producers and distributors, bought 350,000 tons of the grain for sales to feed makers or processed-food producers, the ministry said. Consumption is forecast to drop 0.9 percent to 7.78 million tons for the year through June 30.Wholesale prices of Japanese food rice averaged 14,328 yen ($139) a bag in June, down 12 percent from a year ago because of the glut, according to the ministry. One bag contains 60 kilograms.Japan grows enough rice to feed itself as the government maintains high import tariffs and subsidizes production.The government lowered its production target for food rice to 7.65 million tons this year, compared with last year‘s harvest of 8.18 million tons, as it tries to reduce its surplus and support prices.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aya Takada in Tokyo at atakada2@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.netJarrett Banks

Rice Rally Seen Cooling by Vietnam as Thailand to India Sell

By Diep Ngoc Pham Jul 31, 2014 4:54 PM GMT+0500 The advance in rice prices is set to cool as India and Thailand increase sales from stockpiles, boosting global supplies, according to the Deputy Trade Minister of Vietnam, the world‘s third-largest exporter.Expanding

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harvests in other major producers will also keep prices stable, Tran Tuan Anh said in an interview in Hanoi on July 29. Prices climbed 5.9 percent this month and reached the highest since March as Thailand‘s military junta halted sales to inspect grain stockpiled under a state purchase program.

World inventories will climb to the most in nine years in 2014 as production increases, the United Nations‘ Food & Agriculture Organization estimates. Stockpiles in Thailand, the biggest shipper afterIndia, are poised to expand to a record 18.5 million metric tons, more than double the average from 2010 to 2012, it says. Rising supplies have helped cut global food costs, which fell for a third month in June.―Both Thailand and India will have to continue selling from their reserves, so we expect supply will become more abundant,‖ Anh said. ―In addition, rice harvests in producing countries will further reduce pressure on supply, so prices will probably stabilize.‖Rates for Thai 5 percent broken white rice, a regional benchmark, surged 13 percent in less than two months to reach $433 a ton on July 23, the Thai Rice Exporters Association said. Prices are 4 percent lower this year, extending a 23 percent slump last year.

Thai Inspection Thailand‘s National Council for Peace and Order began this month an inspection of the quality and quantity of the state reserves accumulated under a program started in 2011 by former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The country plans to sell 18 million tons from the stockpiles over three years, General Prayuth Chan-Ocha, leader of the junta said on July 25.Shipments from Vietnam in 2014 will be similar to last year, Anh said. The country exported 6.6 million tons in 2013, General Statistics Office data show.

Sales will reach 7 million tons and output will increase by 1.5 percent to a record 29.7 million tons, the Romebased FAO said in its July report.The nation will set a ―very high priority‖ to preserve and further develop its market share in thePhilippines and Indonesia, Southeast Asia‘s biggest buyers, Anh said.The Philippines will boost imports from Vietnam to a total of 1 million tons this year, Francis Pangilinan, Secretary for Food Security, said in a statement last month.

Import Demand Indonesia‘s Bulog is considering imports of 250,000 tons to 500,000 tons of rice, Sutarto Alimoeso, president director at the state food company, said July 3. Imports will depend on the condition of domestic production and prices, he said.Exports from India will be 10 million tons and from Thailand 9 million tons in 2014, the FAO estimates. Production declines in both countries because of drier weather may prompt them to draw down inventories, which are estimated at 23 million tons in India, the report said.

While global stockpiles are set to expand 3.4 percent to the highest in nine years, they may drop 0.9 percent in 2015, shrinking for the first time in a decade, the FAO said.Production in Thailand will probably decline 10 percent to about 34 million tons in 2014-2015, a five-year low, as drought hurts yields and farmers curb planting after the end of the subsidy program, the Thai Rice Packers Association said on July 21. India will produce 105 million tons on a milled basis in 2014, 1 percent below the record in 2013, the FAO estimates.

To contact the reporter on this story: Diep Ngoc Pham in Hanoi at dpham5@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net Ovais

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IRRI: PH has highest rice yield in ASEAN region

by Philippines News Agency July 31, 2014 (updated) The Philippines has posted the highest rice yield for the last three to four years in the entire Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) region, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Deputy Director General Bruce Tolentino revealed.―The Philippines is the fastest growing country in terms of yields over the last three to four years. A real record faster than any ASEAN country,‖ Tolentino said during the IRRI‘s & Scidev.net‘s Policy Forum on Rice at the Ascott Hotel in Makati City late Wednesday.In 2010, the Philippines is the 8th largest rice producer in the world, accounting for 2.8 percent of global rice production.As of 2013, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said the average yield was from 3 metric tons (MT) to 4 MT per hectare while introduction of new rice varieties capable of yielding from 7 MT to 10 MT each hectare are expected to boost the country‘s drive for rice self-sufficiency.

IRRI has been giving out technology to the Department of Agriculture (DA) and PhilRice to make crops require less water and fertilizer.―We can actually say that the DA and Phil Rice Research Institute are taking every received high yielding equipment from IRRI and are adamant on giving it to the farmers,‖ Tolentino added.However, the IRRI representative added that the distribution process takes time to cover all municipalities and farmers who are very well educated on the application of fertilizer compared to other countries.

S.Korea buys 94,812 T of rice for Oct-Dec Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:41am GMT

SEOUL, July 31 (Reuters) - South Korea has bought 94,812 tonnes of non-glutinous China origin rice for arrival between October and December via tenders closed on July 24, the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade said on its website (www.at.or.kr).

Details of the purchases are as follows: TONNES SUPPLIER/PRICE($/T) ARRIVAL/PORT 31,230 Daewoo Int'l/$928 Dec. 15/Incheon 24,418 15,580 15,000

Singsong/$928 Singsong/$927 Daewoo Int'l/$1,007

Dec. 15/Gunsan Dec. 15/Gunsan or Busan Nov. 30/Pyeongtaek

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8,584

or Incheon Daewoo Int'l/$997 Oct. 31/Incheon

* Note: The agency bought U.S. No. 3 or better rice products, but U.S. No. 1 for the 15,000 T of rice products.

(Reporting By Kahyun Yang; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Thailand aims to sell 3-4 mln tonnes of rice stocks in 6 months official Reuters – Thu, Jul 31, 2014 * Government eyes sales to China, Malaysia ahead of new crop * A couple of million tonnes could be sold to China - traders * Thai rice among cheapest in world - traders (Adds detail, comment and prices)

By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK, July 31 (Reuters) - The Thai government is aiming to sell 3-4 million tonnes of rice from state warehouses in government deals within six months and plans to hold talks with several buyers in Asia, a senior Commerce Ministry official said on Thursday.Traders said the plan showed Thailand's military junta was taking aggressive steps to cut the country's huge rice stocks ahead of the arrival of the year's major rice crop, which will be harvested in November."This is one of our plans to help cut pressure from rising supply at home at a time when the new crop is coming," said the Commerce Ministry's permanent secretary Chutima Bunyapraphasara.Thailand is forecast to produce 28.5 million tonnes of paddy in the 2014/15 major crop, up from 28.0 million tonnes last year.

The Thai government is estimated to hold about 18 million tonnes of milled rice, which it bought from farmers during a price-support scheme from October 2011 through February 2014.A recent nationwide inspection of the stockpile found that about 80 percent of the rice was still in good condition.Chutima said the Ministry is targeting major Asian rice importing countries including China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.The Ministry has sent officials to Beijing this week to renegotiate with China on a one-million-tonne deal made

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earlier this year and is trying to sell China an additional one million tonnes.The government would also negotiate with the Malaysian government to buy around 300,000 tonnes of Thai rice this year, Chutima said.

Traders said Thailand should easily be able to offload 3-4 million tonnes given export prices were cheaper than Vietnam and in line with India."Selling three to four million tonnes in government-to-government deals will not be an issue as Thai rice is one of cheapest in the world," said a Singapore-based trader with an international trading company. "A couple of million tonnes can easily go to China."Traders said 5 percent common grade Thai white rice was being offered at $425 per tonne, well below the same grade of Vietnam of $460-$470 per tonne.(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Richard Pullin)

August rains hold key to India's summer crops

BY RATNAJYOTI DUTTA NEW DELHI Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:02pm IST

A woman carries her child as she wades through a flooded street with others after heavy monsoon rains in Ahmedabad July 30, 2014.

(Reuters) - August rains hold the key to India's major summer crops such as rice, soybean, cane and cotton, after a wet end to July failed to make up fully for a dry start to the four-month monsoon season.The first month of the June-September season was the driest in five years, raising fears of the first drought since 2009, when the monsoon was the weakest in nearly four decades.India's farming sector accounts for around 14 percent of the economy, but two thirds of the nation's 1.2 billion people depend on farming for a livelihood and more than half of its arable land needs the summer rains.In 2009, the weakest monsoon since 1972 cut sugar cane output in India, the world's second-biggest sugar producer after Brazil, and pushed New York sugar price to 30-year highs.By the end of that year, India's food inflation had reached double digits, with summer harvests including rice also falling.After one of the slowest starts in a century, this year's monsoon had a poor run until mid-July, leading farmers to plant less than half of the normal area of most summer crops.A late revival shrank the shortfall in rain to around

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10 percent below average in July, the India Meteorological Department's update showed on Thursday, a sharp improvement from the 43 percent deficit in the first month of the season."Rainfall in August is crucial as plantings for most of the summer crops have already been delayed due to the poor start of the rain season," said J.S. Sandhu, India's farm commissioner.Rains were 22 percent below average during the first half of the monsoon season until July 31."August holds the key as a quarter below average rains would make drought a reality," said a farm official who did not wish to be identified.Officials forecast rains would improve in the cane areas of north India and rice areas of the eastern region in the next week.

A likely slowdown in rains over central region would help finish planting of soybean, the main summer oilseed crop of India, the world's leading importer of vegetable oils.A late arrival of the monsoon on the southern Kerala coast and subsequent slow progress towards the grain bowl northwest region made the first month of the rain season the driest in five years."The second half of monsoon is expected to be better than the first half," said D.S. Pai, lead forecaster of the state-run weather department.India is a major global producer and consumer of commodities such as rice, corn, sugar, soybean, cooking oils and cotton. The summer crops are planted during the monsoon season.

STATE SCENE Farm commissioner Sandhu said a healthy rain spell over rice areas of eastern and north India would improve the planting prospects for rice, the main summer season food crop."Sowing activities in seven districts have been badly hit by poor rains while early sown rice varieties have been destroyed," said Bhartuhari Mahtab, a member of parliament from Odisha, a major rice province of the world's second-biggest producer of the grain.The poor monsoon has given Thailand scope to reclaim the position as the world's leading rice exporter from India after a gap of two years.Mahtab said there had been no reports of a drinking water crisis from the eastern state's thirty districts.Three states - Kerala, Bihar and Punjab - have requested the federal government to lower prices of diesel for irrigation use.These states have also sought improvements in the supply of seeds for short-duration crops and alternative varieties to help cope with the shortage of water.

(Editing by Mark Potter)

Nagpur Foodgrain Prices - APMC & Open Market-July 31 Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:29pm IST Nagpur, July 31 (Reuters) - Gram and tuar prices in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) showed weak tendency on lack of demand from local miller amid good

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arrival from producing belt. Easy condition on NCDEX and downward trend on NCDEX also pulled down prices, according to sources. *

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FOODGRAINS & PULSES GRAM * Gram super best bold and medium best recovered strongly on renewed festival season demand from local traders amid tight supply from millers.

TUAR * Tuar black reported higher in open market on good seasonal demand from local traders amid thin supply from producing regions. * In Akola, Tuar - 4,200-4,400, Tuar dal - 6,000-6,400, Udid at 7,000-7,200, Udid Mogar (clean) - 8,000-8,500, Moong - 7,200-7,600, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,600-9,300, Gram - 2,200-2,600, Gram Super best bold - 3,200-3,400 for 100 kg. * Wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market in thin trading activity, according to sources.

Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close Gram Auction 2,400-2,910 2,440-2,970 Gram Pink Auction n.a.

2,100-2,600 Tuar Auction 3,800-4,550 3,800-4,660 Moong Auction n.a.

4,300-4,600 Udid Auction n.a.

4,300-4,500 Masoor Auction n.a.

2,600-2,800 Gram Super Best Bold 3,700-3,900 3,600-3,800 Gram Super Best n.a.

Gram Medium Best 3,200-3,400 3,100-3,300 Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.

Gram Mill Quality 3,000-3,100 3,000-3,100 Desi gram Raw 2,600-2,800 2,600-2,800 Gram Filter new 2,700-2,900 2,700-2,900 Gram Kabuli 8,000-9,500 8,000-9,500 Gram Pink 7,200-7,400 7,200-7,400 Tuar Fataka Best 6,800-6,950 6,800-6,950 Tuar Fataka Medium 6,500-6,600 6,500-6,600

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Tuar Dal Best Phod 6,100-6,250 6,100-6,250 Tuar Dal Medium phod 5,700-5,950 5,700-5,950 Tuar Gavarani 4,700-4,800 4,700-4,800 Tuar Karnataka 4,650-4,850 4,600-4,800 Tuar Black 8,100-8,400 8,000-8,200 Masoor dal best 6,200-6,450 6,200-6,450 Masoor dal medium 6,000-6,300 6,000-6,300 Masoor n.a. n.a.

Moong Mogar bold 9,600-10,000 9,600-10,000 Moong Mogar Medium best 8,500-8,700 8,400-8,600 Moong dal super best 8,100-8,700 8,000-8,600 Moong dal Chilka 7,900-8,400 7,800-8,300 Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.

Moong Chamki best 8,000-9,100 8,000-9,100 Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 8,300-8,700 8,300-8,700 Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,400-7,600 7,400-7,600 Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 5,800-6,600 5,800-6,600 Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,200-5,000 4,200-5,000 Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,750-2,900 2,750-2,900 Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,300 3,100-3,300 Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,500-3,600 3,500-3,600 Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 4,800-5,200 4,800-5,200 Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,500 1,200-1,500 Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,850 1,600-1,850 Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,400 1,200-1,400 Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 1,900-2,200 1,900-2,200 Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,800 1,600-1,800 Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.

MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-3,300 2,600-3,300 MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,500 2,100-2,500 Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,100-1,300 1,100-1,300 Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,800 1,500-1,800 Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,200 2,900-3,200 Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,800 1,600-1,800 Rice Swarna old (100 INR/KG) 2,700-2,900 2,600-2,800 Rice HMT (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,200 4,000-4,200 Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG) 4,600-5,100 4,600-5,100 Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 10,400-13,000 10,400-13,000 Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,300-10,000 7,300-10,000 Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,600 5,200-5,600 Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,300-1,500 1,300-1,500 Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,700 1,600-1,700

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WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 32.2 degree Celsius (89.9 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.

24.3 degree Celsius (75.7 degree Fahrenheit) Humidity: Highest - 90 per cent, lowest - 69 per cent.

Rainfall : nil FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky. Rains or thunder-showers likely. Maximum and Minimum temperature likely to be around 32 and 24 degree Celsius respectively.

Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)

ATTN : Soyabean mandi, wholesale foodgrain market oil market in Vidarbha will be closed tomorrow, Friday, on the occasion of Nagpanchami.

Commerce ministry to hold new round of rice auction Thursday, 31 July 2014By NNT

BANGKOK, 30 July 2014 - The Ministry of Commerce is preparing to distribute rice with the auction method in August this year. It has confirmed the rice has good quality and meets standards. Permanent Secretary for Commerce Chutima Boonyapraphatson said the ministry would continue with its plan to distribute 200,000500,000 tons of rice in government warehouses from August to September 2014. The rice distribution would be delayed during the period when the produce was abundant in order to prevent effects on rice prices in the market, said Ms Chutima. Ms Chutima stated further that she expected that the Department of Foreign Trade would be able to arrange an action for the rice from the beginning of August to September this year. She also confirmed the rice had passed quality inspection and forecast that Thailand would be able to export ten million tons of rice this year.

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2 Arrested for rice pledging program fraud PATUMTHANI, 31 July 2014, (NNT) - Officials have apprehended 2 men for stealing more than 98,000 sacks of pledged rice. According to Deputy Commissioner General, Police General Ake Angsananont, Patumthani police have arrested Mr. Kittipong and Mr. Teerasak Sanwarangkul for the said offense. The two brothers allegedly leased their warehouse to the Public Warehouse Organization (PWO) to store rice under the pledging program. However, they reportedly stole 98,000 sacks of rice, worth 98.4 million baht, from the warehouse. Both men and other accomplices disappeared before officials discovered their wrongdoings. Both men were among 17 criminals wanted by the Patumthani Court, Police General Ake said, adding that this group is part of a criminal network which operates in a systematic manner. He vowed to bring the criminals now at large to justice.

Rice inspection is nearly completed PICTURE BANGKOK, 31 July 2014 (NNT) - The Prime Minister‘s Office stated the inspection of rice stockpiles nationwide is nearly completed.

According to an online message of Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister‘s Office M.L. Panadda Dissakul, the inspection process is almost done and officials involved are compiling the result to be forwarded to the Rice Policy Committee. He stated the report would focus on the rice quality and the actual quantity of rice in the warehouses.

Meanwhile, the inspection team in Phichit has reported that they found 47,000 tons of rice were missing from silos of KTB Agro Company in Bang Moonnak District. The officials from the Public Warehouse Organization have already filed a lawsuit against the company for breaching of contract.

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Hope revives on paddy output Foodgrain production may drop 5-8 mt compared to 2013, due to a fall in output of pulses & coarse cereals: Ministry official Komal Amit Gera & Sanjeeb Mukherjee | Chandigarh/ New Delhi August 1, 2014 Last Updated at 00:50 IST Adequate rains in most parts of India and a revival in paddysowing has sparked hope that the rice crop will be better than estimated this kharif season.Across the country, the area under paddy is about 44 million hectares, with about 40 million hectares accounted for by kharif paddy. For 2013-14, the kharif paddy output stood at an estimated 92.78 million tonnes (mt).Trilochan Mahapatra, director, Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, said the pace of paddy sowing had improved across Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. He added if the rains continued to be good, the paddy acreage target would be met. ―The monsoon is late; this is July-end. But most farmers had sown seeds in nurseries, and only transplantation of paddy in fields remains to be carried out.‖A senior Union food ministry official said foodgrain production might drop five-eight mt compared to 2013, primarily due to a fall in the output of pulses and coarse cereals. He added the paddy crop wouldn‘t be hit much, as in the North, irrigation and pump sets could help make good the loss. If post-harvest losses were controlled, the impact wouldn‘t be much, he said.―The long-duration paddy crop (non-basmati varieties) needs 140-150 days. Under the current circumstances, we might see a late harvest, but the crop size shouldn‘t be affected.

The situation will be more discernible after two weeks, when the sowing is complete. Any lag in the rainfall might effect sowing,‖ he said.While paddy fields in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are primarily irrigated and, therefore, aren‘t substantially affected by delayed and deficient rains, paddy-growing areas in other parts of the country are hit by a below-average monsoon.An official said though heavy rains in Saurashtra in Gujarat might have some adverse impact on the paddy crop, as states in western India didn‘t contribute substantially to rice production, the situation wasn‘t alarming.

Under the ‗Bring Green Revolution to Eastern India‘ initiative, the Centre has made an annual allocation of Rs 1,000 crore to improve paddy production. The scheme covers Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.Vijay Tayal, secretary-general, Chhattisgarh Rice Millers‘ Association,

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said though paddy sowing in the East had been delayed by a month, the situation had improved. ―There is no draught-like situation and paddy transplantation is on in full swing. The production might be close to that recorded last year if there monsoon rains are sufficient.‖

Farmers affected by climate change could be helped by new resilient rice Thursday, July 31st, 2014 By Jemma Collins

Erratic weather such as droughts and flash floods is affecting agriculture in south Asia, but livelihoods of farmers could be improved with the introduction of new rice seeds that are resilient to changing weather patterns.Climate change is increasingly making farmers think about their future. Changing weather patterns in Nepalare particularly creating problems with rice crops and the problem is expected to continue.

Farmers in Nepal are finding that traditional rice varieties are not sustaining the current climate. Meteorologists in the area say droughts are occurring more often and the monsoon is arriving later and getting shorter, which means less water for crops, while there are often flash floods when it finally arrives.With rice planted on more than half of the arable land in Nepal and agriculture providing jobs for 66% of the population, support is needed to ensure food security.The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) developed new rice seeds with the aim to protect the livelihoods of farmers.

The new rice seeds can withstand the impact of severe droughts and flash floods and were approved by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).“These new varieties can really change the future of the

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country’s farmers,” said Dr Dil Bahadur Gurung, NARC‘s executive director.“The new rice can, in most cases, beat the effects of droughts and floods.”The IRRI developed a project in 2007 to help develop stress-tolerant rice for countries with difficult environments – this has helped many with May seeing 10 million farmers in New Delhi given access to climate resilient rice.“Under the past phases of the project, 16 climate-smart rice varieties tolerant of flood, drought, and salinity were released in various countries in South Asia; about 14 such varieties were released in sub-Saharan Africa. Several more are in the process of being released,” said Abdelbagi Ismail, an IRRI scientist.

Farmers in Nepal are being encouraged to move away from traditional rice varieties and the new seeds also come with a 30% discount.However, uptake hasn‘t been as good as expected, with the National Seed Company blamed for not reaching farmers in remote villages.Climate change is also expected to affect the drinks industry. Coffee production is expected to be impacted this decade and projects are being set up in Kenya to help farmers with the challenges climate change brings to the tea industry.

Generating a Genome to Feed the World: UA-Led Team Decodes African Rice Posted by Marc Mcilhone

Hawa Sanneh holding freshly harvested African rice in Casamance, Senegal, in October 1987. (Image copyright: Judith Carney) An international team of researchers led by the University of Arizona has sequenced the complete genome of African rice.The genetic information will enhance scientists‘ and agriculturalists‘ understanding of the growing patterns of African rice, as well as enable the development of new rice varieties that are better able to cope with increasing environmental stressors to help solve global hunger challenges.The paper, ―The genome sequence of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) and evidence for independent domestication,‖ was published online in Nature Genetics on Sunday.

The effort to sequence the African rice genome was led by Rod A. Wing, director of the Arizona Genomics Institute at the UA and the Bud Antle Endowed Chair in the School of Plant Sciences in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with a joint appointment in the UA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.―Rice feeds half the world, making it the most important food crop,‖ Wing said. ―Rice will play a key role in helping to solve what we call the 9 billion-people question.‖The 9 billion-people question refers to

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predictions that the world‘s population will increase to more than 9 billion people – many of whom will live in areas where access to food is extremely scarce – by the year 2050.

The question lies in how to grow enough food to feed the world‘s population and prevent the host of health, economic and social problems associated with hunger and malnutrition.Now, with the completely sequenced African rice genome, scientists and agriculturalists can search for ways to cross Asian and African species to develop new varieties of rice with the high-yield traits of Asian rice and the hardiness of African rice.―African rice is once more at the forefront of cultivation strategies that aim to confront climate change and food availability challenges,‖ said Judith Carney, a professor of geography at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of ―Black Rice. ‖ The book describes the historical importance of African rice, which was brought to the United States during the period of transatlantic slavery.Carney is also a co-author on the Nature Genetics paper, and her book served as one of the inspirations behind sequencing the African rice genome.―We‘re merging disciplines to solve the 9 billion-people question,‖ Wing said.Although it is currently cultivated in only a handful of locations around the world, African rice is hardier and more resistant to environmental stress in West African environments than Asian varieties, Wing said.African rice already has been crossed with Asian rice to produce new varieties under a group known as NERICA, which stands for New Rice for Africa.

The African rice genome is especially important because many of the genes code for traits that make African rice resistant to environmental stress, such as long periods of drought, high salinity in the soils and flooding.―Now that we have a precise knowledge of the genome we can identify these traits more easily and move genes more rapidly through conventional breeding methods, or through genetic modification techniques,‖ noted Wing, who is also a member of the UA‘s BIO5 Institute and holds the Axa Endowed Chair of Genome Biology and Evolutionary Genomics at the International Rice Research Institute. ―The idea is to create a super-rice that will be higher yielding but will have less of an environmental impact – such as varieties that require less water, fertilizer and pesticides.‖Hardy, high-yield crops will become increasingly vital for human survival as the world faces the environmental effects of climate change and an ever-growing global population, he added.Wing‘s research group specializes in developing what geneticists call physical maps, a tool that enables scientists to understand the structure of the genome.

His group developed the physical maps for Asian rice and donated it to the Rice Genome Project, making sequencing of that complete genome possible.Much of the evolutionary analysis of the genome was performed

by Muhua Wang, a UA plant sciences doctoral candidate, and by Carlos Machado of the University of Maryland. Yeisoo Yu, a research associate professor in Wing‘s research group at the Arizona Genomics Institute, led the sequencing effort.In analyzing the 33,000 genes that make up the African rice genome, the researchers discovered that during the process of domestication, Africans and Asians independently selected for many of the same genetic traits in the two species, such as higher nutrition and traits that make harvesting the crop easier.Additionally, the sequenced genome helps resolve questions about whether African rice originally was domesticated in one region or in several locations across Africa.

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By comparing the genome with what is known about the genetic structure of wild varieties, Wing and his team found that it‘s most similar to a population of wild rice species found in one location along the Niger River in Mali. ―Our data supports the hypothesis that the domestication of African rice was centric in this region of Africa,‖ Wing said.From 1998 to 2005, Wing led the U.S. effort to help sequence the genome of Asian rice, which is the only other domesticated rice species. Those results were published in the journal Nature in 2005, and have since enabled the discovery of hundreds of agriculturally important genes, including genes that code for faster breeding cycles and the ability for the plant to survive for up to two weeks underwater during periods of flooding.Wing‘s research group is now focusing on sequencing and analyzing the genomes of the wild relatives of African and Asian rice. ―By understanding the entire genus at a genome level we have a whole new pool of genetic variation that can be used to combat pests and plant pathogens,‖ Wing explained.One example, he said, would be adding disease resistance genes from all of the wild rice varieties to a species of cultivated rice, creating a new super-crop that is resistant to diseases and pests.Wing is also working with Quifa Zhang from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China, to create a set of super-crop science and technology centers around the world, where focused and coordinated efforts could help solve the 9 billion-people question. ―We really only have about 25 years to solve this problem, and if we‘re always competing with each other it‘s not going to work,‖ he said.―After decades of promoting high-yielding Asian varieties, the emphasis now is on developing types that combine the former‘s higher yields with glaberrima‘s tolerance of environmental stress,‖ Carney noted.In November, Wing and his collaborators will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Asian rice genome and the new completion of the African rice genome at the 12th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics, a conference that will be held in Tucson, Arizona.

Sequencing of the African rice genome was made possible by National Science Foundation grants # 0321678, #0638541, #0822284 and #1026200 to the Oryza Map Alignment and Oryza Genome Evolution Projects.

140 House Members Signal Deep Concern to President about TPP Negotiations Congressman Devin Nunes The Chairman expects more WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A bipartisan group of nearly one third of House Members sent a letter to President Obama late yesterday stating their concern over Japan's market access offer for U.S. agricultural exports in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY) were joined by other Members of the Ways and Means and Agriculture Committees in highlighting the significant gap between Japan's commitment to providing market access when the country became a TPP partner in 2011, and Japan's lack of progress on this commitment in the current negotiations.Japan is seeking to exempt large sections of agricultural imports from tariff liberalization, including rice and several other sensitive commodity groups.

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"If accepted, this unprecedented and objectionable offer would significantly limit access for U.S. farmers and ranchers to the Japanese market, and most likely, to other TPP countries as well," reads the letter. The letter concludes with a call for the President to pursue the TPP negotiations without countries that are unwilling to open markets in accordance with the high standards set when the original TPP countries launched negotiations."USA Rice appreciates and applauds the wide support in Congress for U.S. agriculture in TPP," said USA Rice COO Bob Cummings. "The U.S. rice industry recognizes that rice is politically sensitive in Japan, but Japan's reported offer for U.S. rice fails to meet our pragmatic goal of a significant improvement in the quantity and quality of access for U.S. rice.

More work needs to be done and our hope is that this letter will help to focus the attention of negotiators."Many rice-state Members are signatories including Rick Crawford and Tim Griffin from Arkansas; Devin Nunes, Mike Thompson, John Garamendi, and Doug LaMalfa from California; William Enyart of Illinois; Charles Boustany of Louisiana; Alan Nunnelee of Mississippi; Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler, Jason Smith, and Ann Wagner from Missouri; and Texans Blake Farenthold, Randy Neugebauer, Ted Poe, and Henry Cuellar.Japan is the second largest export destination for U.S. rice. Exports in 2013 were just under 295,000 metric tons, valued at $204.2 million. Japan traditionally imports medium and short grain varieties from California.

Fluctuating U.S. Rice Prices Frustrating Foodservice in Ghana When prices are stable, put U.S.-grown rice on the table.TAKORADI, GHANA -- Price volatility for U.S.grown rice dominated discussions at a USA Rice Federation foodservice seminar here last week. More than two hundred participants, drawn from major towns in the western and central regions of the country, took part in the one-day seminar to learn about the unique attributes of U.S.-grown rice as tasty, healthy, and nutritious, and were urged to use U.S. rice for their businesses.

Foodservice in Ghana accounts for approximately 64 percent of all rice use in the country and the commercial cooks attested to the uniqueness of U.S.-grown rice, however, many raised concerns about the daily increase in the price of the commodity. They said rice from other sources has comparatively stable pricing, whereas U.S. rice is suffering from unprecedented price hikes on the Ghanaian market, thus compelling them to purchase rice from other origins.

Olam Ghana Limited, local importers of U.S. rice, partnered with USA Rice to organize the seminar and donated rice samples for the event, and assured participants that price cutbacks will occur as soon as Ghana's economic outlook changed for the better."Ghana is going through economic difficulties which have been aggravated by the removal of government subsidies on utilities, high tariffs on imports, escalating fuel costs, and a weakening local currency (cedi)," said USA Rice Regional Director Hartwig Schmidt.

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"The cedi to U.S. dollar ratio now stands at nearly 4:1, making imports from the U.S. very expensive.

Inflation currently is at a ten-year high, about 15 percent. At the same time last year, inflation was in the single digits, around 8.5 percent."There have been virtual no sales of U.S. rice into Ghana in the first half of calendar year 2014 because of the price disparity. Between 2010 and 2013, on average, Ghana imported a little less than 102,000 MT per year of U.S. rice valued at $58 million per year. Schmidt is hopeful he will see sales resume in the second half of 2014 in conjunction with stabilizing prices and promotional activities being undertaken, including the foodservice seminar.

Contact: Jim Guinn, (703) 236-1474

Weekly Rice Sales, Exports Reported WASHINGTON, DC -- Net sales of 19,100 MT for 2013/2014 were up noticeably from the previous week, but down 52 percent from the prior 4-week average, according to today's Export Sales Highlights report. Increases were reported for Haiti (15,000 MT), unknown destination (2,000 MT), Honduras (1,600 MT), Canada (800 MT), and Mexico (500 MT). Decreases were reported for Guatemala (1,100 MT) and Jordan (500 MT). Net sales of 41,100 MT for 2014/2015 were reported for Venezuela (30,000 MT), Mexico (5,600 MT), Honduras (1,800 MT), and El Salvador (1,300 MT).

Exports of 44,100 MT were up 13 percent from the previous week, but down 8 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were Mexico (26,500 MT), El Salvador (5,200 MT), Guatemala (3,600 MT), Jordan (2,800 MT), and Canada (2,000 MT).

This summary is based on reports from exporters from the period July 18-24.

Generating A Genome To Feed The World July 30, 2014

By Shelley Littin, University of Arizona An international team of scientists led by the UA has sequenced the genome of African rice.The genetic information will enhance scientists‘ and agriculturalists‘ understanding of the growing patterns of African rice, as well as enable the development of new rice varieties that are better able to cope with increasing environmental stressors to help solve global hunger

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challenges.The paper, ―The genome sequence of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) and evidence for independent domestication,‖ was published online in Nature Genetics on Sunday.

The effort to sequence the African rice genome was led by Rod A. Wing, director of the Arizona Genomics Institute at the UA and the Bud Antle Endowed Chair in the School of Plant Sciences in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with a joint appointment in the UA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.―Rice feeds half the world, making it the most important food crop,‖ Wing said. ―Rice will play a key role in helping to solve what we call the 9 billion-people question.‖ The 9 billion-people question refers to predictions that the world‘s population will increase to more than 9 billion people – many of whom will live in areas where access to food is extremely scarce – by the year 2050.

The question lies in how to grow enough food to feed the world‘s population and prevent the host of health, economic and social problems associated with hunger and malnutrition.Now, with the completely sequenced African rice genome, scientists and agriculturalists can search for ways to cross Asian and African species to develop new varieties of rice with the high-yield traits of Asian rice and the hardiness of African rice.―African rice is once more at the forefront of cultivation strategies that aim to confront climate change and food availability challenges,‖ said Judith Carney, a professor in the Department of Geography and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of ―Black Rice.‖ The book describes the historical importance of African rice, which was brought to the United States during the period of transatlantic slavery.

Carney is also a co-author on the Nature Genetics paper, and her book served as one of the inspirations behind sequencing the African rice genome.―We‘re merging disciplines to solve the 9 billion-people question,‖ Wing said.Although it is currently cultivated in only a handful of locations around the world, African rice is hardier and more resistant to environmental stress in West African environments than Asian varieties, Wing said.African rice already has been crossed with Asian rice to produce new varieties under a group known as NERICA, which stands for New Rice for Africa.The African rice genome is especially important because many of the genes code for traits that make African rice resistant to environmental stress, such as long periods of drought, high salinity in the soils and flooding.―Now that we have a precise knowledge of the genome we can identify these traits more easily and move genes more rapidly through conventional breeding methods, or through genetic modification techniques,‖ noted Wing, who is also a member of the UA‘s BIO5 Institute and holds the Axa Endowed Chair of Genome Biology and Evolutionary Genomics at the International Rice Research Institute. ―The idea is to create a super-rice that will be higher yielding but will have less of an environmental impact – such as varieties that require less water, fertilizer and pesticides.‖ Hardy, high-yield crops will become increasingly vital for human survival as the world faces the environmental effects of climate change and an ever-growing global population, he added.Wing‘s research group specializes in developing what geneticists call physical maps, a tool that enables scientists to understand the structure of the genome. His group developed the physical maps for Asian rice and donated it to the Rice Genome Project, making sequencing of that complete genome possible.Much of the evolutionary analysis of the genome was performed by Muhua Wang, a UA plant sciences doctoral candidate, and by Carlos Machado of the University

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of Maryland. Yeisoo Yu, a research associate professor in Wing‘s research group at the Arizona Genomics Institute, led the sequencing effort.

In analyzing the 33,000 genes that make up the African rice genome, the researchers discovered that during the process of domestication, Africans and Asians independently selected for many of the same genetic traits in the two species, such as higher nutrition and traits that make harvesting the crop easier.Additionally, the sequenced genome helps resolve questions about whether African rice originally was domesticated in one region or in several locations across Africa. By comparing the genome with what is known about the genetic structure of wild varieties, Wing and his team found that it‘s most similar to a population of wild rice species found in one location along the Niger River in Mali. ―Our data supports the hypothesis that the domestication of African rice was centric in this region of Africa,‖ Wing said.From 1998 to 2005, Wing led the US effort to help sequence the genome of Asian rice, which is the only other domesticated rice species.

Those results were published in the journal Nature in 2005, and have since enabled the discovery of hundreds of agriculturally important genes, including genes that code for faster breeding cycles and the ability for the plant to survive for up to two weeks underwater during periods of flooding.Wing‘s research group is now focusing on sequencing and analyzing the genomes of the wild relatives of African and Asian rice. ―By understanding the entire genus at a genome level we have a whole new pool of genetic variation that can be used to combat pests and plant pathogens,‖ Wing explained.One example, he said, would be adding disease resistance genes from all of the wild rice varieties to a species of cultivated rice, creating a new super-crop that is resistant to diseases and pests.

Wing is also working with Quifa Zhang from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China, to create a set of super-crop science and technology centers around the world, where focused and coordinated efforts could help solve the 9 billion-people question. ―We really only have about 25 years to solve this problem, and if we‘re always competing with each other it‘s not going to work,‖ he said.―After decades of promoting high-yielding Asian varieties, the emphasis now is on developing types that combine the former‘s higher yields with glaberrima‘s tolerance of environmental stress,‖ Carney noted.In November, Wing and his collaborators will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Asian rice genome and the new completion of the African rice genome at the 12th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics, a conference that will be held in Tucson, Arizona.

Sequencing of the African rice genome was made possible by National Science Foundation grants # 0321678, #0638541, #0822284 and #1026200 to the Oryza Map Alignment and Oryza Genome Evolution Projects.

Source: By Shelley Littin, University of Arizona Topics: Environment, Bioinformatics, Genetics, Biology, Botany, New Rice for Africa, Oryza sativa, Genome, Plant breeding, Tropical agriculture, Rice, Molecular biology, genomics, Rod A. Wing

Image Caption: Understanding the complete genome of African rice will enable researchers and agriculturalists to develop new varieties of rice with African rice's hardiness, making them better able to adapt to conditions of a changing climate. Credit: International Rice Research Institute

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Zimbabwe: Realising Zimbabwe's Rice Promise Zimbabwe is set to embark on an ambitious programme to boost the country's rice output after the country signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese rice research centre recently. Businessman and farmer, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, struck a deal with renowned Chinese agricultural scientist Professor Yuan Longpin's National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center in Changsha in Hunan Province to start a pilot hybrid rice production exercise that could easily transform Zimbabwe into a major rice growing hub in the Sadc region using varieties suitable to local conditions."After I met Professor Yuan Longpin - revered as the 'Father of Hybrid Rice' Yuan expressed his desire to support the pilot project to enhance the country's rice output and reduce hunger and poverty," said Ambassador Mutsvangwa who is also Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister.

He signed an MOU on behalf of his firm, Moncris Private Limited while Prof Longpin signed for the National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, under a deal which was approved by Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made."Prof Longpin pledged to put capital into the rice project to make Zimbabwe the rice breeding pad of southern Africa," Ambassador Mutsvangwa said."The Ministry of Agriculture is part of this project and a team of technical experts is coming in the third week of July to start making preparations for the implementation of the rice project at my farm in Norton."Prof Longpin also expressed his desire to meet the President (Mugabe) during the upcoming summits"Under the agreement, the Chinese rice development centre will provide rice hybrid varieties for on-farm trials by Moncris on Zimbabwean soil."On completion of this initial seed trial both parties will evaluate the results and make necessary recommendations for further progress.

"Moncris will provide the land, labour, logistical support and finally seek the necessary Government approval to ensure smooth progress of all commercial activities carried out by all parties partaking in this agreement," read the MOU.All sides committed themselves to subsequently set a formal agreement, form a joint venture company to cooperate and implement large scale hybrid rice production.The key objective of the deal supported by both the Chinese and Zimbabwean governments is to enhance the country's long term food security position and food production strategies.Agricultural experts say rice is rapidly growing in importance in Zimbabwe and most other African countries.They say it is now the leading provider of food calories in West Africa and Madagascar and it is now the second largest source of food energy in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

"Wheat as a winter crop is facing serious challenges," said Ambassador Mutsvangwa."We cannot compete with countries such as Argentina and others that produce the crop at lower cost. So it is imperative to seek strategies to boost the production of crops such as rice to fight against hunger."He said the growing demand for rice provides a strong impetus to explore ways to improve growth and efficiency of local rice production as well as developing policies to control large imports that can impede the development of the domestic rice sector.

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SONA Fact Check: Gov't efforts hurting rice hoarders President Aquino says in his SONA that steps have been taken to achieve enough rice supply. This way, hoarders who cause prices to increase are frustrated Manila, Philippines – In his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Benigno Aquino III warned unnamed government officials that they would end up in prison once evidence against them are completed. And he wasn't talking to anybody involved in diverting or pocketing some discretionary fund.He was talking to officials who are being investigated for allegedly conniving with rice hoarders and smugglers.

Rice hoarding is blamed for the insufficient supply and rising prices of rice, which the President said the government is addressing. Efforts are undertaken too to help farmers become more productive, he said.Rappler checked Aquino's statements against other sources and found that, with rice sufficiency level at 96%, government efforts have started to hurt rice hoarders.In his SONA, the President said the following rice importations had been made or approved since November:   

500,000 metric tons of rice to supplement decreased supply due to the typhoons; approved in November; complete supply arrived last March 800,000 metric tons, in fulfillment of our buffer stocking requirement; approved in Febuary; 360,750 MT arrived in July 500,000 metric tons, to be done through open bidding; approved in July

"The NFA also has the standby authority to import an additional 500,000 metric tons to prepare for the effects of calamities on harvests and rice prices," the President said.

Near-100% rice sufficiency The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization confirmed the additional importation of 800,000 metric tons of rice, approved last February, and importation of another

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500,000 metric tons approved last July 22.The entire 800,000 MT of rice will have arrived in the Philippines by the end of August, according to Secretary Francis Pangilinan.Pangilinan also confirmed that the National Food Authority (NFA) is on standby to import yet another 500,000 MT.These importations are to drive down prices of rice and, as Aquino mentioned in his SONA, to outwit rice hoarders and smugglers who are counting on a dearth of rice in the market to drive up prices.

But in a radio interview, Senator Grace Poe said importing rice should not be the government's sole course of action in ensuring there is enough rice for the country."The focus has been to import as opposed to helping our own farmers attain higher yield from their fields," she said in a Bomba Radyo Cebu radio interview.The President said in his SONA: "We are providing our farmers with modern equipment to ensure the efficiency of planting and harvest.

From 2011 to May 2014, we have already turned over 4,628 units of production machinery, 11,362 units of post-production machinery, and 105 rice mills to a number of farmers‘ associations."PhilMech Director Rex Bingabing confirms the accuracy of these numbers, but pointed out that some of the rice mills are still under construction. Beneficiary farmer associations have already been identified for these mills. (READ: Machines on PH farms: Catching up with ASEAN integration) According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Philippines is currently 96% self-sufficient in rice. The agency set a 100% self-sufficiency target for 2013 but it was not met because of the disasters that damaged many rice fields.

Officials probed "Apart from investigating those who have allegedly hoarded NFA rice, we are also probing all those in concerned agencies who may have conspired with these hoarders," Aquino said in his speech. "Employees suspected of wrongdoing are already under scrutiny, so that we may file charges, and eventually, imprison those who must be held to account."DA Secretary Proceso Alcala earlier told Rappler of his suspicions that people in government had been working with rice hoarders and smugglers. He said complaints have been filed against some government employees, with further investigation underway. – Rappler.com Filipino farmer image via Shutterstock

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UA effort leads to unlocking of rice’s secrets Rod Wing and fellow researchers at the Arizona Genomics Institute led an international effort to complete a genomic road map for African rice that should lead to greater productivity for the world‘s most important grain.It also fills in details of a cultivation story that stretches from West Africa to the slave plantations of the Carolinas.Africans in the Niger Valley first cultivated wild strains of rice into an important commodity more than 3,000 years ago, according to the international group‘s paper, published this week in Nature Genetics.

Portuguese traders then transported the rice and the knowledge needed to grow it in slave ships to the New World, according to one of the paper‘s co-authors, Judith Carney, a geographer and environmental scientist at UCLA.Carney has spent decades researching the story of African rice, seeking to show that the agricultural economy of the Southern states, in particular the Carolinas, benefited not just from the labor of slaves but from their knowledge of agricultural techniques.Wing said Carney‘s 2001 book, ―Black Rice‖ was an inspiration for his genomic study.―We wanted to tell a story along with the genome work,‖ Wing said.

Wing, whose team previously helped map the genome of Asian rice, or Oryza sativa, said the genetic detective work done on both species demonstrates clearly that they were individually cultivated, with the Asian variety coming first some 10,000 years ago.The African rice, Oryza glaberrima, produced a thriving agricultural economy in the New World, particularly in South Carolina, said Carney.Growers adopted techniques developed in Africa to grow rice under varying conditions.―Rice cultivation had a central role in building strong, knowledgeable and vibrant agrarian cultures in West Africa,‖ according to the Nature Genetics paper, whose 31 authors come from four continents and represent universities, research institutes and seed companies.

Rice continues to be an important crop in West Africa, where it is grown in a variety of ecological niches — from riverine mangrove swamp to drier upland areas.Many African farmers switched to Asian varieties over the years because of its higher yields, but growing it demanded fertilizers, pesticides and more water, said Carney.The African rices are hardier, more salt-tolerant, drought-tolerant and disease-resistant than the more widely cultivated strains, said Wing.An effort known as Nerica or ―New Rice for Africa‖ has already blended those qualities into the higher yield Asian rice, Wing said.The genome structure his team created will allow rice to be grown even more efficiently in less-than-ideal conditions.

Wing said his overall goal is to tackle the ―9 billion problem‖ — the question of where food will come from when the world‘s population balloons to 9 billion people by 2050.Georgia Eizenga, a research geneticist with the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Arkansas, said the genetic framework done by Wing and

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his colleagues should prove useful in Africa and other areas with similar growing conditions.―The types of things that Rod did are more in-depth, give you more backbone to work with. ―Is it useful? Yes? Will it be used? Not all of it.‖Knowledge of the genetic markers that produce certain traits is one thing, she said. ―You still need somebody to grow it and to test it. ‖Wing will be pursuing development of better strains as the AXA Endowed Chair of Genome Biology and Evolutionary Genomics at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, where he expects to spend about 25 percent of his time in the coming years.―I‘m really excited about it,‖ said Wing. It‘s a chance to translate this genome biology into practical solutions.‖Wing is director of the Arizona Genomics Institute, a member of the UA‘s Bio5 Institute and a professor in the School of Plant Sciences and the department of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Contact reporter Tom Beal at tbeal@tucson.com or 573-4158.

Searca, IRRI: Global warming to decrease PHL rice production Category: Agri-Commodities 30 Jul 2014Written by Alladin S. Diega | Correspondent LATEST crop-simulation modeling and analyses showed that temperature increase is likely to result in rice-yield reduction, a joint statement by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) said on Wednesday.―Global warming is likely to lead to drier conditions, which will result to a decrease in area planted, hence, affecting rice overall production in the Philippines,‖ according to the study titled ―Impact on Climate Change on the Philippine Rice Sector: Supply/Demand Projections and Policy. ‖The study, a collaboration between Searca and the IRRI, concludes the impact of climate change on rice farming in the Philippines, explaining that crop yields were estimated and compared for different possible climate scenarios, which included incremental increases in temperature change in rainfall volume and distribution, and increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.Adaptive measures, however, were in place and is already showing positive reports, the study said. The model in climate change‘s effect in rice production was successful in ―establishing data on the sensitivity of rice yield to weather variables, analyzed the risks associated with climate-related hazards, and assessed the availability of and access to coping measures in the major rice-growing areas and the level of adaptive capacity of the rice-production

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systems,‖ the statement said. The study, the statement said, conducted a survey of key climate-change adaptation measures and good practices in rice production in the country.

The survey said that ―despite their vulnerability to climate hazards, the study areas continue to be the top rice-producing provinces in the Philippines,‖ indicating a high adaptive capacity.The study sites were the top rice-producing provinces in the country, including Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Camarines Sur and Iloilo, the statement said, adding that ―farmers in these provinces have successfully put into practice adaptation measures and good agricultural practices to cope with climate change. ‖Included in the good practices surveyed were adjusting the crop calendar, updating of weather-based dynamic cropping calendar based on crop-yield probabilities, planting more resistant or climate stress-tolerant crop varieties, and employing crop-diversification and crop-livestock integration.To be more adaptive in view of climate change, the study recommends defining potential climate scenarios to specific provinces, additional study on the interprovincial or regional trading of rice among areas with surpluses and shortages in the context of food security under a changing climate, and the incorporation of the available climate-change adaptation measures available in the integrated crop-management strategies in order to increase adaptive capacity of rice farmers. Searca Director Dr. Gil Saguiguit said the results and findings of the study will be valuable in helping the government and stakeholders, particularly rice farmers, deal with the effects of climate change on rice production. ―[Rice] is the staple food item in the diet of about 80 percent of the Filipinos, and the value of its annual production is close to P2 billion,‖ he said.Latest data from the IRRI showed that from the 5.4 million hectares of arable land in the country, 81 percent, equivalent to 4.4 million hectares, are devoted to rice production.However, the IRRI said, rice production in the Philippines faces a number of constraints, namely, growing population, declining land area, high cost of inputs, and poor drainage and inadequate irrigation facilities.―Due to the Philippines‘s location, the rice sector becomes highly vulnerable to climate change, which severely affects crop production. Successive heavy rains cause severe drainage problems in paddy fields, thus resulting in a significant reduction in rice yield and quality,‖ the IRRI said.

In Photo: A farmer carries baskets of palay seedlings to a rice farm in La Union, a province north of Manila. (Mau Victa)

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Rice bran helps human rotavirus diarrhea 08/01/2014 07:39:00 admin Friday Aug. 1, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study led by scientists at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA suggests that dietary rice bran or supplements can protect against rotavirus diarrhea.The authors of the study report that rice bran contains phytochemicals that are known to promote gut mucosal immune response against enteric pathogens.The current study was to test the effects of rice bran on rotavirus induced diarrhea and immunogenicity of an attenuated human rotavirus (HRV) vaccine in gnotobiotic pigs. For the study, four groups of animals received one of the four treatments, rice bran plus vaccine, vaccine only, rice bran only, and placebo.

Rice bran was used in a dose of 10% of pigs' total daily calories from milk starting from five days of age until euthanasia.At the 28th day after the inoculation, a subset of animals from each group were challenged with virulent human rotavirus and were monitored daily for diarrhea and virus shedding during the first seven days post-challenge.Supplementation with rice bran was found to significantly protect against diarrhea induced by the virulent human rotavirus and enhance the protection of the vaccine against the diarrhea.

Biochemically, rice bran supplementation was found to significantly increase IFN-Îł producing CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses. It also reduced the numbers of IgM, IgG and IgA cells before challenge.The study concludes rice bran protect against rotavirus diarrhea and enhance the antiviral effect of the vaccine.

In the United States, rotavirus, the leading cause of severe diarrhea among infants and young children, causes illnesses that lead to more than 400,000 doctor visits, more than 200,000 emergency room visits, and 55,00 to 70,000 hospitalizations, and 20 to 60 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The virus infected almost all children by their fifth birthdays before the vaccine was introduced in 2006. It takes 2 days for the virus infection to cause symptoms including severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain, according to the CDC. (David Liu) Yang X, Wen K, Tin C, Li G, Wang H, Kocher J, Pelzer K, Ryan E, Yuan L. Dietary rice bran protects against rotavirus diarrhea and promotes Th1 type immune responses to human rotavirus vaccine in gnotobiotic pigs.

Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2014 Jul 30.

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Rotten rice may be used for ethanol Published: 30 Jul 2014 at 18.19 Online news: News Writer: Online Reporters

The Finance Ministry is looking to sell about 100,000 tonnes of rotten rice in the government‘s stockpile to national energy conglomerate PTT Plc for processing into ethanol.

Grain in some sacks stored at a warehouse in Phitsanulok's Wat Bot has decomposed and had turned to powder, public auditors said. Dead rats and pigeons were also found on site. (Bangkok Post file photo) Finance permanent secretary Rangsan Sriworasart, chairman of a sub-committee on closing the rice pledging scheme account, said inspectors had so far found about 100,000 tonnes of inedible rice which could be processed into something else.PTT had expressed interest in purchasing the grain for use in the production of ethanol. More discussion was needed on the amount and the price. Mr Rangsan said he felt that 20% of the pledging price would be satisfactory.The Yingluck Shinawatra-government's programme allowed farmers to pledge ordinary white rice to the government at 15,000 baht a tonne, at least 40% above the market price, and 20,000 baht for fragrant rice.After the May 22 coup, the National Council for Peace and Order ordered the inspection of government rice stocks in 1,800 warehouses to establish the facts behind allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the scheme.

The fnal result is expected in August.Last week, inspectors checking supplies of rice stockpiled in Chachoengsao opened a locked warehouse and found only rice dust mixed with insect and rodent waste.There were also reports of missing rice in some provinces, including Pathum Thani where construction scaffolds were found in the middle of the stacked rice, boosting the size of the pile.

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