6th november,2014 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine www.ricepluss.com

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter

6th November , 2014

Today’s News Headlines…

 Ban On Rice Import Will Cause Shortage – Rice Dealers  Vietnam eyes water-saving technology for its rice farms  Ebola-affected countries face new threat: food crisis  TDRI chief calls for ceiling on state debt  Jokowi to stop rice imports within two years  USA Rice Calls Foul on Iraq Rice Tender  SA Rice Launches Instagram Account  Kenyan menu coming to Easton  AFRICA INVESTMENT-Africa's richest man targets Nigeria's rice deficit  Making Every Grain of Rice Count in the Philippines

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine News Detail….

Ban On Rice Import Will Cause Shortage – Rice Dealers

Rice is not the only commodity that is imported into the country so if we want to ban then we should ban other commodities as well.―But we should also not lose sight of the fact that the ban will increase the level of unemployment and also reduce supply which will result in price of rice going up

Vietnam eyes water-saving technology for its rice farms The irrigation method entails draining rice paddies rather than flooding them The strategy is said to lower water usage and pumping costs and boost crops Small-scale Rice Dealers Association of Ghana (SSRIDA) has kicked against moves by government to totally ban the importation of rice.According to them, the total ban of the importation of rice will create a huge shortage of the commodity.Government over the years has been pushing for a total ban on rice imports as part of moves to boost local production and also ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Yaw Koran, President of SSRIDA, who was speaking to Citi Business News, said the ban will not help the country’s economy, explaining that it will lead to price hikes due to the gap that would be created when the ban is put in place.‖―As local rice producers, we are looking forward to the day when Ghana would be self sufficient to emulate the example of Nigeria by banning all imports of rice. As we speak we are not self sufficient,‖ he said.Mr Koran said though rice production in the country was little over 500, 000 tonnes per year, the country consumes about 1.8 million tonnes per year.He said, ―If the directive is enforced there will be a huge gap which will bring about price hikes.

But getting farmers to adopt it will be a struggle, says Vietnamese expert [BANGKOK] Agriculture experts say application of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technology in Vietnam’s rice farms, one of South-East Asia’s largest rice-producing countries, holds great promise in cutting water use and greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation without sacrificing yield output.Vietnam along with Bangladesh and Colombia recently partnered with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to introduce the large-scale application of AWD, also known as controlled irrigation in which farmers periodically drain rice paddies rather than keeping them perpetually flooded. The number of non-flooded days can range from 1 to 10 days. The technology can reduce water use by 25 per cent and estimated to cut methane from flooded rice field by 50 per cent.

But getting farmers to adopt it will be a struggle, Nguyen Hong Son, vice-president of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, tells SciDev.Net during an interview at the

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Fourth International Rice Congress in Bangkok, Thailand (27 October to 1 November).―It’s something that will give the farmers complications in application,‖ he notes. ―It’s really hard for them to understand the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We will try to convince them of the benefits of AWD since it can also help them save money in irrigation. ‖Aside from economic savings through lower water consumption and pumping costs, there is also evidence that AWD can help crops perform better and improve soil conditions so that machines can operate more efficiently in the fields, says Björn Ole Sander, who is coordinating the effort.

But AWD is not without controversy. Adopting the irrigation method will increase nitrous oxide emissions, which Sander himself acknowledges will be anywhere from 20 to 100 per cent. Still, given that paddy rice does not produce much nitrous oxide to begin with, the decrease in methane, which the crop produces in heaps, will more than offset any increase in nitrous oxide, says Sander. ―We still have a huge overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,‖ he adds.

The planned wide-scale adoption of AWD is in line with the Vietnamese government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions especially in the agricultural sector, which is predicted to account for almost 73 per cent of emissions in the country by 2030, according to a UN fact sheet produced in 2013.

The first phase to expand AWD in Vietnam as well as in Bangladesh and Colombia will run for the next 18 months and will involve preliminary research in each of the participating countries to identify the best areas where AWD can be applied, possible barriers and the needs for investment.Representatives from the CCAC will soon hold roundtable working groups with various national stakeholders, including scientists.

A central information kiosk containing extensive information on rice management and greenhouse gas emissions will be hosted by the Philippinesbased International Rice Research Institute, which along with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia, will provide technical advice and services.

Image: Image credit: Pascal Deloche / Godong / Panos This article has been produced by SciDev.Net's South-East Asia & Pacific desk.

Ebola-affected countries face new threat: food crisis BANGKOK] A domestic food crisis looms in three West African countries ravaged by Ebola as planting, transportation and cost of rice is severely affected within these countries, international experts warn. ―If these countries break down and their economies go down, their local population will not have the power to buy rice,‖ Samarendu Mohanty, head of the social sciences division at the International Rice Research Institute, tells SciDev.net during the fourth International Rice Congress held in Bangkok, Thailand (27 October to 1 November).―The purchasing power of these countries is very low, says Mohanty about the precarious financial state of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine According to reports, the fear of Ebola has affected rice shipments from Asia to Africa as ships either refuse to travel to severely hit countries or demand higher freight charges, stoking a food crisis in one of the most malnourished parts of the world.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was the first international group to report the food crisis affecting the three countries, which are all grappling with what the FAO describes on its website as the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976.

Guinea is especially vulnerable because its major rice-producing regions are located in forest areas where Ebola started, notes Frederic Lancon, an economist at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development.―I’m worried,‖ he said at a press conference during the rice congress.

A significant change in local prices, particularly in Liberia, is already happening, added V. Subramanian, vice president of The Rice Trader, a weekly publication of the International Commodity Institute that tracks trends and developments in major rice markets.During the same press conference, Subramanian declined to offer statistics, but said that more details will come to light around March and April next year when rice imports are at their peak.

The three West African countries are currently harvesting their rice crops, which will be finished in November.Ebola is unlikely to have an effect on this batch of crops, notes Lancon.

The Ebola virus is also not expected to have a major impact on the global market, since the affected countries are not major rice importers.Challenges are mainly confined to within each of the affected countries, but help is on the way.

A couple of weeks ago, the UN World Food Programme launched a regional emergency operation that will supply food assistance — rice, pulses, vegetable oil and salt — to roughly 1.3 million people residing in the three Ebolaaffected countries.

This article has been produced by SciDev.Net's South-East Asia & Pacific desk.

TDRI chief calls for ceiling on state debt Published: 6 Nov 2014 at 06.00 Writer: Wichit Chantanusornsiri

The loss incurred from the rice-pledging scheme could reach almost 1 trillion baht if

it takes 10 years to sell 18 million tonnes of milled rice in stockpiles, says the head of an economic think tank.

Warehouse audits were already under way early this year, but the military took a highprofile role in assessing contents of warehouses nationwide after the army chief seized power in a coup on May 22. (Photo

by Patipat Janthong) Nipon Poapongsakorn, president of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), recommends fixing the government's debt at no more than 20% of the annual budget to avoid a repeat of the

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine big loss. Nipon is also heading a TDRI study of alleged corruption in the rice scheme introduced by the former Yingluck Shinawatra government.

with 75 billion incurred from rice sales, 32 billion from replacing pledged grains with low-quality rice and 1.9 billion from missing rice.

A nationwide rice audit led by ML Panadda Diskul, permanent secretary for the Prime Minister's Office, found only 10% of the 18 million tonnes of rice in state stocks was of good quality.

Mr Nipon said the rice scheme cost 585 billion baht in economic rent — any payment to a factor of production in excess of the cost needed to bring that factor into production."I believe a third round of damage from such a subsidy will happen if there is an elected government," he said.The first heavy damage from subsidising rice production emerged in Thaksin Shinawatra's government.

The report said 70% of rice was tainted with a yellow colour and the rest in bad condition and inedible.

Assuming a price of 7,500 baht a tonne for rice stored in warehouses, the loss now amounts to 660 billion baht — half the loss from the Financial Institutions Development Fund's bailout of financial institutions during the 1997 financial crisis, Mr Nipon said.

His estimated loss is far greater than Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula's forecast of nearly 500 billion baht.

The now-defunct rice scheme, which ran from 2011 to this year, emerged as the country's largest rice intervention scheme, with 985 billion baht spent to buy 54.4 million tonnes of paddy.The subsidy scheme, which set pledging prices at 4050% above market prices and bought every single grain, backfired badly on the former government.

It cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of baht and left millions of tonnes of rice in warehouses, while the rice price has sunk after the subsidy was terminated. Moreover, the scheme was alleged to be riddled with corruption.

Apart from setting a debt limit for the government, parliamentary approval is a must for spending on any populist policies to prevent massive losses, Mr Nipon said.

Economist Ammar Siamwalla, an adviser to the study on the rice scheme's fraud, said the government should not pledge perishable exported products, as these goods must compete with those of other countries.It is foolish of politicians and reflects something wrong in Thai politics if they are still unaware of damage from the rice scheme after it turned out to be a disaster, he said.

Methee Krongkaew, a former member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), said fraud prevention for government policies must be improved.For instance, the anti-graft body should be able to file legal action immediately against those involved in any projects warned earlier by the NACC without having to launch an inquiry after damage has been incurred.

The TDRI's study estimated that fraud in the scheme amounted to 94-109 billion baht, Contact us for Advertisement & Specs: mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com +92 321 369 2847

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Jokowi to stop rice imports within two years Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Sidrap, South Sulawesi | Archipelago | Thu, November 06 2014, 10:43 AM Leader of the pack: President Joko ―Jokowi‖ Widodo (center front) launches the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a concrete wall of an irrigation facility in Tallumae village, Watang Sidenreng district, Sidenreng Rappang regency in South Sulawesi, on Wednesday. The facility will regulate water from Sidenreng Rappang regency to Wajo regency. JP/Andi Hajramurni

President Joko ―Jokowi‖ Widodo is targeting the cessation of the rice import program within the next two years as the domestic product would be able to satisfy demand.

Jokowi revealed this after a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of the irrigation facility in Tallumae subdistrict, Watang Sidenreng district, Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap) regency, South Sulawesi, some 200 kilometers from the provincial capital of Makassar. ―In approximately the second year, rice imports will have stopped,‖ Jokowi said.Also in the President’s entourage were First Lady Iriana, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul YasinLimpo.Jokowi said

that rice production was expected to increase by up to 30 percent every year, so within the next three years, rice production would be abundant and food self-sufficiency realized.

He also expressed hope that self-sufficiency would be realized in corn and soybeans.―These are the people’s needs and will be made a priority,‖ Jokowi said.To meet the target, Jokowi said, dams and irrigation facilities would be rehabilitated or constructed to ensure a smooth water supply to the rice fields. Supplies of seedlings and fertilizers, similarly, would also be increased.

He said within his 5-year term of office, he had targeted completing the development of 25 to 30 dams across the country.

Development would be started in 2015, during which 11 new dams would be constructed.―In January–February, we will develop five dams in Aceh, Banten, North Sulawesi, Kudus, Central Java and East Nusa Tenggara. From July–August, we will build six more dams,‖ Jokowi said.He said Rp 8.2 trillion (US$656 million) had been allocated for the development of the 11 dams through the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry.

Apart from building new dams and irrigation facilities, Jokowi went on, improvements would also be made to damaged facilities. Currently, he said, 52 percent of all dams and irrigation facilities had been damaged due to old age.

To realize this target, he added, some of the fuel subsidy would be allocated to the development and improvement of dams and irrigation facilities, as well as seed and fertilizer supplies.The irrigation facility being visited Wednesday is one of those to be improved. The facility, located across

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Tallumae and Belawa districts in Wajo regency, was built in 1971. Yet, so far, it has no concrete walls, thus reducing water flow as some of the water is absorbed into the walls.The Rp 24 billion funding allocated to build the concrete walls for this dam has been taken from the 2014 and 2015 state budgets.

Head of Sidrap Water Resource Management Agency, Imran Abidin, said that the regency currently had four large irrigation facilities and 94 simple ones. However, not all the rice fields could benefit from the irrigation facilities.He said Sidrap had over 48,000 hectares of rice fields, of which 31,000 hectares had technical irrigation facilities, 11,300 hectares had semi-technical irrigation and the remaining 6,000 hectares depended on rain water. ―We hope more irrigation facilities will be built here so that rain-fed rice fields will no longer have difficulty with water supplies,‖ Imran said.

USA Rice Calls Foul on Iraq Rice Tender If it isn't quality, and it isn't price, what is it?

ARLINGTON, VA -- Following what appeared to be productive technical meetings and a fruitful tour of the delta by Iraqi Grain Board (IGB) officials earlier this year (see USA Rice Daily, June 11, 2014), the USA Rice Federation says the results of the latest IGB tender are inexplicable, and that farmers sitting on an abundant crop are left scratching their heads.

USA Rice has learned that the IGB awarded 170,000 metric tons of milled rice to Uruguayan, Brazilian, and Thai origin rice, despite the fact that U.S. bids for the tender were lower than all bids except from Thailand and Vietnam.

"The results make no sense," said Betsy Ward, President and CEO of USA Rice. "The U.S. is price competitive, the quality is excellent, the logistics are perfect, so why would the IGB want to pay significantly more than they have to?"

When the IGB visited the U.S. in May, progress was reported on three technical issues including broken content, chalk analysis, and shipping in bulk as opposed to 50kg bags, and IGB officials were confident they would begin purchasing U.S. rice again."If our prices are lower and the technical issues have been resolved, it doesn't look very good for why IGB snubbed the U.S. again," said Bob Cummings, USA Rice's Chief Operating Officer. "This is the fourth tender where the IGB has either refused to purchase rice or ignored competitive U.S. offers."

Iraq is a huge rice importer, typically purchasing well over one million metric tons annually. Cummings said USA Rice would be discussing the issue with U.S. officials in Baghdad and Washington to learn more, and to urge the officials to engage with the IGB. "It's unacceptable," said Ward. "If these are legitimate tenders we want to know why we aren't being considered. And if they're not legitimate, well, that's another story."

Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458

SA Rice Launches Instagram Account ARLINGTON, VA -- Today the USA Rice Federation launched an Instagram account

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Kenyan menu coming to Easton

By Kelly Huth | The Express-Times on November 06, 2014 at 11:00 AM, updated November 06, 2014 at 11:07 AM Where can you find Kenyan food?

(@the_dish_on_rice) that will feature photos relating to agriculture, rice production, and rice recipes, and will visually convey the significance and beauty of the rice industry.

"Social media is an essential part of a successful communication strategy, and Instagram in particular is easily accessible to consumers via their smartphones and will allow us to offer an engaging and personal view of our industry," said Colleen Klemczewski, USA Rice's Social Media Coordinator.

Klemczewski says research shows the brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than text, making Instagram a speedy way to tell the industry's story."Whether it's beautiful landscapes of rice country, exciting photos of how rice gets from farms to tables, rich food photography, or interesting photos of the men and women who help feed us, I'm looking forward to interacting with people in this medium," she said.

Contact: Deborah Willenborg (703) 236-1444

In Easton. For one night only.While others may be focused on bacon on Saturday, First Presbyterian Church of Easton, 333 Spring Garden St., will be serving up a full traditional Kenyan menu. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $8 for students, and is free for kids under 5.

It's the third year the Easton church has offered a Kenyan dinner, thanks to an idea from two families in the church who once called Kenya home.

Maggie Muthoka and Anthony and Sherrie Moki brought the idea to the church in 2011.

Muthoka says it was a way to share her love of cooking, and highlight the recipes she grew up with in Kenya (which she left 20 years ago).

"Anytime you bring food, people will respond," Muthoka says. "We can prepare a

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Kenyan dinner and invite our community members to be in on the tradition."



Ugali: Cornmeal mush



Coconut Ndengu: Green peas in coconut milk

Apart from being delicious, Muthoka, of Easton, says the dinner is a way to celebrate the diversity of the church and community.

Not familiar with Kenyan cuisine?

Noralee Manzek, of Bethlehem, says "The food is not a lot different than what most people are used to." "(It's) familiar foods with a new blend of flavors," says Manzek, who is a member of the church and helps to organize the dinner.

Dishes draw flavor from cumin, cardamom, turmeric, ginger, curry and coconut milk.

There's also a lot of cream, garlic, bay leaves and lots of veggies.

The dinner menu will be set up as a buffet, allowing people to either fill a plate or a take-out container with the following: 

Samosas: mildy spicy, beef-filled, fried appetizers



Kachumbari: a fresh salad of chopped peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, onion, lemon and salt



Chapatti: whole wheat flatbread



Cardamom Chicken: sautéed chicken



Kabeji: sautéed cabbage



Sukuma Wiki: sautéed collard greens with onions



Mandazi: Kenyan doughnuts

Guests will also find Basmati rice and Pilipili (tomato and jalapeno-based hot sauce) to add to dishes. Ice cream, doughnuts (mandazi), Kenyan coffee and Chai Masala (ginger tea with spices) will be served for dessert.

Call ahead Manzek says the dinner usually nets 80-100 visitors, and reservations are recommended.

Church volunteers spend two days prepping and cooking for the event.

It's one of many culinary fundraisers the church offers – a Robert Burns supper, cod dinner, fish and chips meal and Hungarian night, among them. Money raised from the dinners supports the mission of the church.

Manzek encourages anyone curious about the cuisine to come out "To learn about a different culture, to meet members of our congregation and to enjoy an evening of fellowship and good food."

breast, marinated with cardamom pods and served with a coconut sauce 

Mchuzi ya Nyama: Beef stew with

"People don't have to try everything. They can pick what they like," Manzek says. "I

potatoes and carrots

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine don't think you'll find anything spicy – except the hot sauce, which is optional."

sitting on the world's eighth largest gas reserves but can only produce a few hours of power a day.

Muthoka says it's a wonderful feeling to see her church community embrace the dinner.

As with the other bottlenecks holding back Africa's biggesteconomy, decades of bad

"People's faces light up when they talk about it," Muthoka says.

governance and corruption lie at the root of Nigeria's agricultural dysfunction.

Image: First Presbyterian Church of Easton will host its third Kenyan dinner Saturday. They'll feature dishes such as (clockwise from top left) Sukuma Wiki (sauteed collard greens), Cardamom Chicken and Chapatti flatbread.

Organizers include (from left to right) Maggie Muthoka, Sherrie Moki and Noralee Manzek.

(Courtesy Photos)

But

where

reform

remains

deadlocked by vested interests, the government is making serious efforts to clean up thefarming sector and attract investment.

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote thinks he can resolve the rice conundrum. He plans to do this by investing in farmland and

Given his track record in other areas, this is a

Thu Nov 6, 2014 5:30am EST

Dangote plans to produce a million tonnes of rice in 4 yrs * Nigeria is 2nd biggest rice importer despite good climate * Seeks replicate successes in domestic cement production

By Tim Cocks LAGOS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Nigeria enjoys a perfect rice-growing climate over a vast area yet it is the world's second biggest importer of the staple, often from countries in its warm, latitude

oil,

mechanising farming practices in a country where many farmers still depend on preindustrial tilling techniques.

AFRICA INVESTMENTAfrica's richest man targets Nigeria's rice deficit

wet tropical exporter Thailand.

unlike

like

project to watch.

GET LAND, ADD WATER AND SOW "Everything you need for rice is here, but unfortunately for a long time no one was interested," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. Not having enough land was the first obstacle that faced him after he thought of the idea.

top

It's one of those baffling Nigerian paradoxes, like the fact that it is Africa's top oil producer yet suffers frequent fuel shortages; or that it is

He was surprised at how easily that got solved, as the governments of Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi, Edo and Kwara states between them offered 50,000 hectares to Dangote Industries.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine "I think this is enough for us to grow and

Nigerians eat rice in outsized portions and no

process up to a million tonnes of rice in the next four years," he says. "I believe this is just the beginning."

party is complete without mountains of bright orange "jollof" rice -- a West African style of cooking the grains in tomato paste, onions and fiery peppers. Parboiled, not white rice, is

To back up his optimism, he points to his past

favoured.

success in producing cement.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Dangote grew his company over a decade from a relatively small cement import business

President Goodluck Jonathan made local

to a behemoth that manufactures nearly 30 million tonnes of the stuff a year, makes up a

production of rice a signature promise before he was elected in 2011. His government has

third of Nigeria's stock exchange and now has factories in various stages of completion across the continent.

an ambitious target to import zero rice by the end of 2015, using incentives for farmers like free fertiliser and tax breaks for investors.

Jonathan will seek another term in February.

For decades Nigeria was one of the world's biggest cement importers. "We (Nigeria) were producing less than 2 million tonnes of cement," in 2004, the tycoon says.

Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina has cleaned up corruption in government handouts of imported fertiliser, which have been hampered by fraud and an inefficient supply

Ten years later and Nigeria as a whole now produces some 40 million tonnes a year, said Dangote, whose cement empire worth an estimated $20 billion has earned him the label "richest black person on the planet" from Forbes magazine.

This month, Dangote Cement even had to cut prices to make up for falling sales amid oversupply.

Like cement, demand for rice among Nigeria's 170 million population is huge, so he won't need to think about export. Dangote estimates the current rice deficit at 2 1/2 million tonnes a year.

chain stretching from the port to the remote villages where it ends up. That was a major obstacle to development of the sector.

Dangote says his own factories will soon be producing more fertiliser than Nigeria could ever need -- 2.8 million tonnes a year -- which would cut out the need for imports altogether.

His plans for a 400,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery and petrochemical plant remain on track, he added.

Rice smugglers from neighbouring Benin, Niger and Cameroon are the biggest threat to his business model, Dangote complains, but it still stands to be highly profitable.

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine But with a reputation as a ruthless monopolist, with interests in everything from food milling to petrochemicals and a personal fortune equal to 4 percent of Nigeria's GDP, is Dangote not getting too big? He expects some will say that.

from alone.―The meal really revolves around rice,‖ says Filomeno Aguilar, a history professor atAteneo de Manila University in Quezon

"People not investing will raise their hands and say 'he's got a monopoly in rice'," he says.

"Everyone has an opportunity. If other people don't invest, why is that my fault?" (Editing

by Ed Stoddard and Tom Heneghan)

City.

something

―It’s

else.‖

always

That

rice

same

plus

thinking,

Aguilar explains, also applies to restaurants like McDonald’s, which serves rice in the Philippines. ―In today’s [Filipino] culture

Making Every Grain of Rice Count in the Philippines

with fast-food restaurants, one could go for

by Manuel Rapada

burger and pizza, and [without rice] it’s not

November 5, 2014 at 22:00

considered a meal‖ he says.

Illustration by Tyler Hoehne

So it might seem odd that in November 2004, the archipelago nation celebrated its Without fail, my mom asks the same

first

national

rice

question at our go-to restaurant: ―Where’s

honoring an already indispensible grain.

the rice?‖ At house parties, the procession

Though Aguilar says the campaign is

around the large buffet-style spread usually

directed

starts at the rice cooker. The grain is a staple

government officials want to use November

of my Filipino family meals, and I’m far

to promote responsible rice consumption by

mostly

awareness

at

month,

schoolchildren,

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine all citizens: minimizing waste, thanking

eaten. Otherwise, I would get a scolding as a

Filipino rice farmers, and, more recently,

child.‖

swapping white rice for brown.

This new austerity plan goes for businesses, For a country where the average person eats

too. In the past few months, councilmembers

250 pounds of rice per year (a figure that’s

in Quezon City and Cebu City have passed

one of the highest in the world, though

ordinances requiring restaurants and other

decreasing), the Philippines could use a

food businesses to serve a half-cup of rice,

friendly reminder to finish what’s on its

instead of the full-cup norm. A similar 2013

plate. The average Filipino tosses out a

bill from Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.—yes,

couple tablespoons of rice each day. With an

the son of the ―martial law‖ president and

estimated population above 100 million, that

the first lady with an impressive shoe

seemingly small amount of per-person waste

collection—that

would

could

nationwide

not

feed 4.3

million

people in

the

for

fine

businesses

allowing

half-cup

aggregate, according to the International

orders received some online pushback, to

Rice Research Institute.

say the least.

Aguilar suspects that wastage skews higher among the middle and upper classes, which in 2012 consumed 7 to 12 percent more rice than the poorest Filipinos, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. ―My father regarded rice as sacred, the gift of God,‖ he says of his upbringing in a family of modest means. ―Every grain on my plate had to be

Last year, coinciding with the Philippines’ National Year of Rice, the Southeast Asian nation

introduced

Brown

Rice

Day,

encouraging restaurants to offer the whole grain as an alternative to the customary, more-refined white variety. The push has its roots in lifestyle and economic concerns, says Hazel Antonio who leads the Be RICEponsible campaign for the Philippine

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine Rice Research Institute. The World Health

more aware of health trends, will more

Organizationestimates 7.8 million people in

likely make the switch.

the Philippines will have diabetes by 2030, As for how schools will get involved, in a and

research

suggests

a

brown-rice mid-October

memorandum

Education

swap could lower risk for the disease. Plus, Secretary

Armin

Luistro encouraged

during the milling process, 10 percent more everyone from students to department of the grain is retained in brown rice than officials to participate in various ricewhite, which must have more layers awareness events, including taking a rice removed and be polished for its pure color. pledge

during

flag

ceremonies.

The

Thus hearty brown rice could be a boon to the country’s overall food supply. (The

Philippines government hopes the third paragraph

from

the Panatang

Philippines was supposed to be rice selfMakapalay pledge

becomes

a

common

sufficient in 2013, a goal that was pushed back—a typhoon certainly didn’t help—

refrain among Filipinos before they tuck intoadobo, lechon, or anything that can

before being placed on hold this summer.) accompany rice. A rough English translation But although Aguilar acknowledges its

reads: ―I will get a serving that I can

popularity is growing, current brown-rice consume so there will be no leftover on my consumption remains small and dependent on a person’s position in society: The

plate.‖ Wise words for rice lovers the world over.

middle and upper classes, which may be rice food waste the philippines

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