7th issue december 2012 vol 4,issue 4

December 2012 Volume 4, Issue 4 www.ricepluss.com

PLUS

Rice Technologies Exhibition by Institute of Research Promotion & PASTIC-PSF

Basmati paddy transplantation by human hand

Editorial Board Chief Editor Hamlik Managing Editor RahmatUllah RozeenShaukat

Page No

1

Editorial Note

Maryam Naseer

2

Rice Personality

Business Development Manager

8

Symbiotic Regulation in Rice

English Editor

10

Stale Seed Bed Technology in Rice Fields

14

Rice - Left to the Mercy of Circumstances

16

Prospects for Water Management in Rice

19

Ending Stocks in Rice Good Tool for Traders

Sarfraz Ahmed

21

Issues of Wet Paddy

Khalid Shabbir (UAE)

24

Country at a Glance

Shamsahd Ahmad (Saudi Arabia)

27

PARB Corner

31

Rice Technologies in Pakistan

33

Current News

Mujahid Ali Graphic Designer Mohammad Zakariya Marketing Executive(s)

Legal Advisor Advocate ZaheerMinhas

Editorial Advisory Board Admiral (R) Hamid Khalid Javed Islam Agha Ch. Hamid Malhi Dr. Akhtar Husain Dr. Fayyaz Ahmed Siddique Dr.Abdul Rashid(UAF) Islam Akhtar Khan

ge

Zuhair Hasnain

$

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Editorial Note Harvesting season has already been started in sub-continent and elsewhere, production per unit seems to be little higher. Paddy prices of aromatic varieties are on higher side in India and Pakistan. The currency of both countries is depreciated as compared to last year. Crop condition in main rice bowl (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippine is satisfactory so far except Indonesia where due to erratic weather, crop may suffer a little.

North Africa including Egypt, South East Africa and Kenya are expecting good harvest. It seems that world largest importer Nigeria is again struggling and might have low crop. US crop after initial harvesting losses has recovered and production might increase previous estimate. European and Australian Paddy crop is not much different from previous year. China is having good crop but still imports might be more than last year.

Global Rice trade will be driven by increased demand from China, Nigeria, Indonesia, Somalia and Philippine.

Cambodia and Myanmar seems to be in little trouble. In spite of unfavorable weather both the countries will be able to produce enough rice for their own consumption but export will suffer due to unfavorable weather. Vietnam and Burma are increasing their Parboiling capacity with the help of Indian machinery. Cambodia is investing to upgrade their milling machinery and storage capacity.

Distortions in the global Rice Market have been created due to highly controversial Rice Mortgage Scheme in Thailand and heavy subsidy in India. Rice industry stakeholders in USA have registered their concern by describing it a possible violation of WTO. Thailand is very active to gather rice exporting countries in East Asia to make a cartel to ensure better prices, which will not only badly effect the interest of common consumer in importing countries but also can create a problem of Food Security in these countries.

Economic recession is already hitting the segment of aromatic rice market as prices have come down from US$1700 per ton in 2009-2010 to US$ 1300 per ton in 2012. All the exporters of high priced rice segment like Homali in Thailand and Basmati in subcontinent needs to make concerted effort to improve the marketing of this segment.

An environmental issue like methane production by Rice paddy fields is getting a grave concern. We need to develop those varieties which are of short duration and more productive. To reduce the use of water to produce one unit of rice paddy is getting imperative.

A substantial part of scientific community SIAL Food Exhibition is being organized in Dubai from November 2012. This is one of the most effective and important exhibition in Middle East. Thousands of visitors attend this important event to display, exchange views, discuss global food scenario and future sourcing also. The events have been organized in Europe since decades under the management SIAL Group.

Hamlik Chief Editor riceplus@irp.edu.pk

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Rice Personality

Mr. Javed Islam Agha Chairman, Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan CEO, Reem Rice Mills (Pvt.) Limited Human development is product of short and long term struggle of few legends in the history. But there are individuals, who did struggle in life synonymous to each other. Rice sector of Pakistan is highly indebted to 4-5 legends, who devoted themselves for the progress of rice sector by inspiring vision, taking bold initiatives and leading the sector through odds.

Javed Islam Agha is appraised as one of the legendry pioneers who made the struggle for rice as part of life during last 25 years. He is an Electrical Engineering Graduate from UET, Lahore having experience with national and international market. He was the founder chairman of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan from 1994-1997.

Again he is elected Chairman REAP for the period of 2011-2012. He is Chief Executive officer of Reem Rice Mills (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture of Al-Muhaidib group of Saudi Arabia and Al-Ghurair group of U.A.E since 1997.

Mr. Javed Islam Agha agreed to share his views on global & domestic rice sector by sparing his valuable time.

Rice plus: How do you feel by taking additional responsibilities of being chairman REAP?

Mr. Javed Agha: REAP is brainchild of a few friends including myself. We always own it and feel pleasure for its working & improvement along with other professional responsibilities. It is very challenging time & this position requires lot of attention to lead, manage and monitoring. Being a Chairman, it is more important for me to enhance the growth of Pakistani rice export through the platform of REAP. We are rigorously and consistently working for better marketing and achieving standardization of rice quality being exported from Pakistan.

Rice plus: How you will justify the role of QRC in the changing scenario of Basmati trade globally?(Especially, in the case when, India has changed the definition of Basmati Rice to facilitate the export of C1121 variety, which has non-basmati parents).

Mr. Javed Agha: Inspite of all opposition from vested interests, the self- disciplinary mechanism of QRC has proved very effectively for the promotion and recognition of Pakistan's Basmati Rice which is photo period sensitive and aromatic. The new Indian varieties including Pusa 1121 are neither photo period sensitive nor aromatic. The presence of QRC is very essential to check adulteration and certify the authenticity of Basmati Rice of Pakistan which is unique in the world.

We must pay attention for the development of new rice technologies, modern production facilities and improved quality of rice to compete the Indians who are making fast developments in this area.

Rice plus: The trade between India & Pakistan is going to be liberalized now. Do you think that it will affect Pakistan's rice industry? How can we overcome upcoming challenges?

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Mr. Javed Agha: The trade between India and Pakistan will not pose any threat as long as Level Playing Field is provided to Pakistani traders and exporters. If we just analyze the prevailing scenario of both countries, the Indian farmer has more subsidies, cheap electricity, fertilizers and taxes. On the contrary, Pakistani farmer has no subsidy, less support of government, high energy prices, and very high cost of fertilizers almost double as compared to India. The import of rice in India is subject to 70 – 80 % duty while import of rice in Pakistan is having.

Mr. Javed Agha: Historically pure basmati 370 was first developed by Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku (RRI-KSK) in 1937, which means it belongs to Pakistani territory. During the war of 1965 Indians took basmati paddy from Sialkot area to India and multiplied it in their own country. India has developed big brands by taking the advantage of our nationalization policy in early 70s, when, Government of Pakistan nationalized rice business and export control was given to RECP. It banned export of rice by private sector and mechanism of Government to Government (G to G) export was introduced. It ultimately damaged the name of Pakistani rice in international market. In early 90s an eminent scientist of Pakistan Dr. Abdul Majeed, Director General of Rice Research Institute-Kala Shah Kahu developed another pure strain of Super Basmati Rice which was photo period sensitive and aromatic. In the mean -time rice trade was deregulated in 1989-90 and Pakistani private sector started developing new markets for rice export and developed earnings of Pakistan from US$300 Million to US$ 2 Billion.

The new varieties such as Pusa and 1121 developed by the Indian recently although have longer grains but they are neither photo period sensitive nor aromatic. I can see a promising future of our new Basmati variety 515 recently developed by RRI-KSK which will Insha Allah replace Super Basmati. It has better yield extra -long grain and aromatic.

Rice plus: How electricity shortage and water deficiency is affecting the production of rice?

Mr. Javed Agha: This is very serious issue as cost of production is increasing everyday with the continuous increase in the prices of electricity. There is no subsidy by the government. Water is also becoming scarce in many areas.. We should preserve and store water by developing water reservoirs / Dams through consensus otherwise our land will become barren. The rice industry of Pakistan is earning two billion dollar per annum and become second largest foreign exchange earner after textile. The government is paying more attention to solve energy crisis of textile industry while the rice industry equally deserves the same.

Rice plus: Pakistan is known as one of the largest rice exporter, but the changing situation needs more advancement and exploration of new opportunities. Is REAP also trying to approach new emerging markets for export? Any policy or plan about this?

Mr. Javed Agha: Being the 5thlargest exporter of the world, we enjoy this esteemed position. Yes, I agree that ultimate achievers always keep an eye on the development of the new technologies for winning the future. The platform of REAP is aware of this vital demand. Now we are exporting rice to more than hundred countries in the world and our new variety basmati 515 carries lot of potential e if it is developed and commercialized properly. For having a winning edge, we are trying to approach new markets as well. In future, export is going to be technical. For this, we should try to modernize our milling pattern for generating less broken and pinheads to achieve better Head Rice yield and longer grain length. We also need clean and protected warehouses from insects such as beetle khapra with improved sanitary measures, consultancy to farmer and miller for pre and post harvesting technologies, marketing strategies and up gradation of our labs according to international standards so that our certifications process can be equal to international standards Rice plus: How can an entrepreneur enter into rice business and how REAP can help?

Mr. Javed Agha: The orientation of basic knowledge is very important. As a Chairman REAP, I will recommend three steps for interested entrepreneurs who want to enter into rice industry. First, start from trading of rice to understand the various varieties and there price structure in the market which should follow by exporting smaller quantities to understand the complications in the field of export. Third, when you get sufficient knowledge and experience, you can make your own processing facilities. The proactive and aligned approach will help for

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Rice plus: How the increase in prices will have impact the preferences of global consumer?

Mr. Javed Agha: The increase in prices is definitely affecting the preferences of our global consumer.

They are going for products having cheaper prices. Our basmati is still sold at high price because of its aroma, taste and quality.. Basmati is our identity but we should try to keep its pricing w Rice plus: How REAP can bring foreign investment in the rice industry of Pakistan?

Mr. Javed Agha: Being a commodity, Basmati business has low margins as compared to other businesses. The margin would be increased only by developing value added products like rice bran oil, instant rice products and rice nutrient cereals etc. We can attract foreign investment by ensuring our brands having good quality and cheaper price as has been recently achieved by MATCO. Rice plus: How Pakistan can protect our rights keeping in view Geographical Indications (GI) laws? Keep in view the heritage of hamalyian terrain, Basmati is grown in Sudan, Ethiopia and Philippine has announced export to Middle East.

Mr. Javed Agha: Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2009-2012 clearly showed government decision that a sui generis GI Law will be enacted on fast track basis and TDAP was given the authorization to hold ownership of all GI products of Pakistan on behalf of the people of Pakistan. My question to TDAP is what the status of this decision is and why it was not followed properly in the first place for the past three years? Once it is done no country can sell rice by using the name Basmati.

Rice plus: In your opinion which steps are needed to improve economy & increase rate of innovations in rice sector?

Mr. Javed Agha: We have to do lot of research to develop new varieties having better yield and quality; we have to improve our harvesting technique to avoid breakage and aflatoxin in paddy; clean and healthy storage facilities to avoid infestation and our Millers have to upgrade processing units in order to control wastage.

The support of Government plays a vital role. Government needs to spend more on R&D by providing timely funding. The laboratories should be well equipped and must have necessary infrastructure f or Research purpose.

We just need to develop more rice varieties on frequent basis. Our R&D centers must produce quality products and their certification must be acceptable all over world.

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Different fungal endophytes segregate in a habitat specific manner which includes phomopsisspp. Fusariumspp. and Alternaria spp.

One or more combination of these endophytes may present in soil where rice plants are transplanted.

Colonization by endophytic fungi may confer benefits tothe host plants by means of growth promotion, protectionagainst diseases or pests or assistance in phosphorus uptake. These endophytes play important role in growth and development of symbiotic plants as endophyte colonized plants preferentially allocate resources into root growth till well establishment of roots hair.

Symbiotic Regulation in Rice

Some researchers have found that plant roots which are symbiotically associated with endophytes expand five times more than the rates at which non-symbiotic plant roots grow. However, numerous reports indicate that increased growth and biomass of plants colonized with fungal endophytes. These studies describe that the allocation of resources was different in case of symbiotic plants to expand root system, preferentially before allocating large amount of the resources to stem system. In symbiotic plants, root system produces extensive root hair before allocating significant amount of resources to the stem. Acceleration of root growth and development as induced by endophyte colonization may increase competitive performance of seedlings for nutrients uptake. Further in addition to beneficial effect of endophytes for the functioning and development of root system, it has also been reported that endophytes in symbiotic plants have substantially influenced the sexual reproduction of many shrubs e.g. Artemisia tridentate.

Farhan Khalid1, Dr. Azraf-Ul-Haq Ahmad1 and Naeem Fiaz2 1 = Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 2 = Sugarcane Research Institute, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad

Rice is the 2nd most important crop of Pakistan.

Rice belongs to two type of species of family poaceae namely Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima which refer to tropical and subtropical , southern and southeastern Asia and to Africa as well . It provides more than one fifth of calories consumed by human beings. Present research shows that rice can be cultivated under flooded, muddy alternate wetting and drying conditions while in Pakistan mostly rice growers sow under flooded conditions as to avoid weed attack.

Soil environment greatly influences the plant growth and root morphology. It has been reported that integrated use of mineral fertilizers and farm yard manure can greatly increase the root length density, root volume, root dry weight and depth of root penetration. Different soil moisture levels affect the soil environment as well as the microbial population. Roots encounter a plethora of microorganisms in the soil that are harmful, neural or beneficial of the plant growth. Soil microorganisms including fungal endophytes make associations with plant roots. These organisms play a wide range of ecological roles and interact with host plants to make association ranging from mutualism to parasitism.

Although the importance of endophytes in regulating the growth and development of plants has shown siginificant results, but only few scientific studies are available. Mostly the work is being carried out in developed countries regarding root morphology and behavior under different water regimes in relation to microbial impact on root functioning. There is a dire need of research work to be carried out regarding evaluation of endophytes in relation to root growth and development under varying irrigation regimes for rice plants especially focusing on biological and biochemical processes in the soil.

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Stale Seed Bed Technology in Rice Fields

Emerging weeds are killed by two or more additional shallow cultivations at weekly intervals and immediately after final cultivation when crop is planted. As under firm soil, small weed seeds germinate better because of better seed soil contact therefore after all cultivations except the final one rolling is recommended. In stale seed bed it is very important to keep the soil moist after irrigation but if the temperature is too high and soil is quickly dried out then apply light irrigation to keep the soil moist. A cultivation practice at weeds normal time of emergence develops a light flash and enhances nitrogen mineralization. Most of the weed seeds Khuram Mubeen, Department of Agronomy, from soil seed bank will germinate if the soil University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (Pakistan) and remains moist and there is an adequate seed soil Amit Kumar Jhalla, Citrus Research and contact. After killing of emerged weeds if soil is not Education Center, University of Florida, disturbed, seeds will not be exposed to light and Lake Alfred, USA. will be buried therefore emergence of new weed Weeds reduce the yield of crops more than any seedlings is less likely to occur. Stale seed bed can other pest that threatens world food supply. The be implemented by following steps; losses caused by weeds are further becoming worse · The soil should be well moist. in developing countries like Pakistan as the country · Wait as long as you can so that has to bear loss of several billion rupees annually. maximum weeds may germinate and Weeds can be controlled by variety of ways emerge. Weed seedlings should be including preventive, cultural, biological and allowed to grow to the third leaf stage chemical etc. One of the older techniques of or at least to first true leaf stage. controlling weeds is stale seed bed. · Flushing out most of the weed seeds · Glyphosate or Gramaxone should be before planting crop and depleting the seed bank in applied to soil surface before surface soil layer thereby reducing subsequent transplanting. weed seedling emergence. · Without disturbing the soil of the · A seedbed is prepared in several bed, transplant the crop followed by days, weeks or even months before planting or pre emergence herbicide to soil transplanting a crop to encourage germination of surface. first and usually the biggest flush of weeds · Most of the weed seeds in upper one followed by pre plant burn down application of to two inches of soil having potential non-selective broad spectrum herbicide to germinate will occur usually (glyphosate). within two weeks after soil Actual stale seed bed approach is that the soil is preparation. tilled to prepare for seeding the crop. Planting is Glyphosate can also be effectively used for control delayed for two to three weeks to allow weeds to of perennial weeds before soil preparation. It is a emerge and these emerged weeds are killed with no systemic and hydrophilic herbicide therefore or minimal soil disturbance just before sowing of avoids use of heavy water or water with high the crop. While false seed beds are aimed at calcium carbonate contents while making depleting the weed seed bank in the upper soil herbicide solution. Such herbicides bind with layer. The soil is prepared in advance like in stale suspended soil particles and metal surface (iron seedbed but the soil is cultivated many times to buckets) thereby reduce efficiency of such shallow depth to stimulate germination between herbicides. cultivation and planting of the crop.

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路 Non-reactive surface like plastic containers can be used for preparing spray solutions. 路 路

Animals should not be allowed to graze in herbicide treated fields.

Effectiveness of weed control is decreased by gnawing of leaves sprayed with herbicide because of adverse effects on underground translocation.

If farmer prepares a seed bed without following stale seed bed, weed problem will become serious but if farmer delays planting for several weeks after seedbed preparation by adopting stale seed bed, one or more weed flushes can be eliminated by shallow cultivations before planting the crop. Preparation of stale/false seed bed makes sure that weed seeds disturbed and brought to soil surface during tillage are more likely to germinate. Therefore these germinated and emerged weeds will be killed before sowing of crop. This method is also important for organic farming and has been widely used worldwide for many years. As this method reduces the number of viable weed seeds near the soil surface after seeding or transplanting, it will also aid any of the residual herbicide to perform better than it normally would. Any of the cultivation performed should be kept extremely shallow (up to maximum of one inch) so that there is no relocation of additional weed seeds. Use of this technique is also very effective to control herbicide resistant weeds with glyphosate etc. beside a huge reduction in costs of weed control In order to avoid further weed seed germination, it should be keep in mind that crop has to be swallowed just before planting the crop.. The soil surface at this stage should be loose and dry, from which there are fewer chances of weeds to take up moisture and germinate.

Seed bank can be depleted by stimulating germination.

Timely cultivation coupled with other ways to eliminate all weed seeds can take most weed seed banks down to 5-10% of their initial population density within several years. If some seeds germinate at later stages of crop growth, then try to manage them at seedling stage to eliminate early critical competition as weeds pose significant threat to crop yield at this stage. If the weeds are adapted to crop safe site then farmers should practice crop rotation. Several environmental factors like day/night temperature, moisture, oxygen level and light affect the weed seed germination. Small seeded weeds like common lambs quarter and pigweeds require light or temperature fluctuations for germination. Remove the escaped weeds before their seed production to prevent increase in weed seed bank.

The depth, timing, method and frequency of cultivation may influence the composition, density and long term persistence of weed population. Finer seedbeds produce more weed seedlings but direct weed control becomes pretty easy because of smooth surface.

Rough surface has fewer weed seedlings, but protects against direct weeding operations. In Pakistan rainfall usually is a problem during land preparation. Land preparation can be a good alternative and for the modified system various agronomic practices should be adjusted due to ever changing weed dynamics. Besides this, the economic cost of farmers in terms of land preparation, herbicide and water usage for crop production should be keep in mind. . Canopies can change the shade of light, for example, red light is enriched under green canopies therefore weed seeds cannot germinate.

Research should be conducted to check the time and pattern of germination of various weeds. Research can also be focused on weed seed dormancy and use of compounds to break dormancy, for example calcium can be used as a weed seed dormancy breaker. There is an immediate thrust to figure out weeds peak season of emergence for various weeds. Institutions and government departments can play avital role in creating awareness among farmers to implement this technique. Formal and non-formal training can be imparted to them by extension workers and agricultural experts especially weed control scientists.

There is an urgent need to focus on this potential as it is the economical way of controlling weeds in rice in order to avoid annual loss of several billion rupees of the dwindling economy.

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ZUHAIR HASNAIN We are pleased to announce that Mr. Zuhair Hasnain has joined Rice Plus as Member Editorial Board. Zuhair is a PhD research scholar recently back from The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, and worked with C4 Rice Project there. While working with rice, his expertise includes nutrient and water management, Rice Agronomy, and major field crop production.

Zuhair is also Dignity Advisor at IRRI-Philippines and a brief overlook about him can have from the following URL: http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item &id=11718:hasnain-zuhair&lang=en

Rice - Left to the Mercy of Circumstances

2. Diminishing water availability The availability of 80% of the annual water flows in the 80 days of summer necessitates the continuous building of big reservoirs in the country. The dwindling resources of water for agriculture are primarily due to the loss in storage capacity which continues to go down at the rate of 1% per annum. The raised Mangla Project

Hamid Malhi, President, Basmati Growers Association The crop of rice suffers from an indifferent attitude of the so-called managers of agriculture. Its sowing, growing, harvesting and marketing, unfortunately coincides with two other major Kharif crops of Cotton and Sugarcane. Pakistan is considered, having cotton economy, since most of the political bigwigs from agriculture belongs to the cotton and sugarcane growing areas of Punjab and Sindh. Rice hardly gets the due attention; it requires to thrive as a sector. Policy making for agriculture which was till yesterday the realm of the federal government, today stands devolved to the provinces. The provinces, being incapacitated are not geared to tackle the policy issues of agriculture which today happen to be their exclusive domain. The pesticide and fertilizer companies are also interested in cotton being a bigger business attraction. There are millions of farmers, thousands of traders and scores of exporters whose daily bread and butter comes from the rice crop.

Currently the rice sector suffers from various maladies some of which are:1. Rising costs of rice production The costs of the basic inputs of fertilizer and machinery operations have risen multifold. Urea fertilizer has shot up from Rs.850 per bag to Rs.1700 per bag, High Speed Diesel has shot up from Rs 64 per Liter in 2008 to Rs 115 per liter in 2012, thereby pushing up cost of cultivation, water pumpage, harvesting and transportation of produce and also inputs. Whereas the prices of paddy are stagnant at Rs. 1500 for Basmati and Rs. 850 for Irri-6 ever since.

There seems to be no rationale between the export price which is presumably around 1500 $ per ton and the reported export price of Basmati @ 900$ per ton as compared to the domestic wholesale prices @ Rs37004000 per 40 Kg. Transparency needs to set in for a fair return to the farmer.

after completion has increased storage capacity by 2.9 MAF but Mangla filling would only be once in 7 years as it is mostly dependent on monsoons. With erratic monsoon behavior, it is bound to remain half-filled most of the time. The Bhasha dream is a farfetched dream. Why are we shying away from Kala Bagh Dam? Now that the pinch is being felt by the industry and the commercial sector as well, why can't we advocate the building of this dam, which has been pushed back more due to political reasons than technical. Rising costs of thermal electricity has made our exports uncompetitive, gas resources are diminishing, hydral power is the cheapest source even if compared to Thar coal. How will agriculture afford the wastage of this precious resource when the rising needs of the economy require increased agriculture production for domestic consumption, exports and raw material for the industry? This would put our economic stability or whatever is left of it, at stake.

3. Arsenic reported in rice samples originating from India The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has found arsenic content in about 30 samples of Indian Basmati rice in its preliminary analysis. However, exporters from India have said that their Basmati rice was free from arsenic content as shipments are made only after complying with required tests.

The USFDA has collected 200 samples of rice and rice products available in the American market from different countries including India. The FDA is in the process of collecting and analyzing a total of approximately 1,200 samples to examine the issue thoroughly. This data collection will be completed by the end of 2012. After thatFDA will analyze these results and determine whether or not to issue additional recommendations. Of the 200 samples released yesterday, as many as 34 samples were from Indian origin Basmati rice. Of that, 31 samples contained inorganic arsenic content in the range of 1.8 to 6.5 microgram per serving. What steps the Government, Federal or Provincial have taken in this regard? No one knows so far,Just waiting for the blow to come.

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Prospects for Water Management in Rice Production, Current Status and Future Challenges Hafeez-ur-Rehman University of Agriculture, Faisalabad Rice is grown in Pakistan under diverse climatic and edaphic conditions predominantly with some IRRI coarse and fine Basmati varieties. Traditional transplanting in puddled soils with continuous flooding for most of crop growing season is the major rice production system.It is grown from April to November and depends on irrigation water supplies from Indus River, melts of Hamalyian glaciers. Total area under its cultivation is about 2.3 M ha with rice-wheat system as major cropping system with one crop per year. Usually long grain fine aromatic Basmati rice subspecies of indica cover about 80% area in traditional rice belt "Kallar tract" of Punjab famous for its cultivation. These rice types are also economically important and earn huge amount of foreign exchange every year. The present average yield of Basmati rice type is 3.2 t/ha instead of 6.2 t/ha potential yield and the gap has become widened and stagnant resulting in decreased area under its cultivation. Further, since last decade extreme weather conditions, changes in temperature and rainfall, acute water shortage and onset of drought and floods due to variability in rainfall occurrence have greatly affected the rice production from 2000 to onwards. The low water productivity of 0.34 kg/m3, depleting ground water resources and increased fuel prices, continuous rice-wheat rotation over the decades and imbalanced nutrient supplies have further aggravated the situation by increasing salt affected area.

The reasons includes: low investments in developing new plant varieties, farming technology and water infrastructure. Being water stressed country; rice production is further to be reduced by 15-54% in next decade.

Since after 1933, approval of Bas 370, several breeding efforts for development of Basmati rice have been taken at RRI-KSK with major emphasis on yield and quality traits. Breeding efforts for some special traits like salt resistance led to development of Shaheen Basmati at SSRI, PindiBhatian. Research experience at IRRI and Pakistan has also showed that saline soils can be brought under rice cultivation by developing new varieties and necessary variability also exists in rice germplasm for salt tolerance. However, with decreasing water availability, research efforts by several academic and research institutes with collaboration of many national and international funding organizations had been made in development and dissemination of water saving technologies. These technologies include alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and direct seeding under aerobic condition (DSR) to reduce water inputs and improve water productivity. Several varietal trials under development and dissemination of water saving technologies in South Asia by Asian Development Bank (ADB) at RRI-KSK and farmer's field were conducted during 2006-2011. Yield increase from 3.5-5.0 t/ha in farmer's field trials using basmati varieties and 6.8-7.8 t/ha for coarse ones were obtained with water savings up to 35%. Yield increase of 8.5% and 14.2% were also found with water saving of 25 and 32% under AWD at RRIKSK. Similarly, some dissemination trials by NARC at farmer's field and University of Agriculture, Faisalabad reported savings of 5-7 irrigations and net benefits from 9, 000-15,000/ha

by AWD. AWD is promising technology to enhance crop diversification but any exposure to decline in moisture availability may affect yield and quality in Basmati lines under this system. Four promising high yielding basmati types; Bas 385, 515, 2000 and Super Bas were identified as donors and efforts to develop breeding lines with more closeness to Basmati rice are in progress.

Recently, identification of gene GW8 from Bas 385 and another similar variant could combine the advantage of both variants to influence quality and productivity. Introduction of these into Basmati rice could increase its productivity by 14% without sacrificing quality.

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In addition to traditional breeding, recent advanced breeding techniques like marker assisted breeding (MAB), quantitative traits loci (QTL) and plant transformation techniques should be used at rice research institutes for which basic infrastructure should be strengthened for genomic studies of Basmati rice. For example, efforts for development of basmati hybrid cultivars through identification of thermo genetic sterile male lines, transgenic lines using local basmati rice like Bas 370 and Super Bas for drought resistance, marker assisted breeding to introgress QTLs for drought stress environment using drought tolerant donor parents viz, Azucena, APO and IR55419-04 into Super Bas and use of isotope discrimination techniques to improve water use efficiency (WUE) using Bas 385 and 370 are in progress. Likewise, rapid developments for submergence tolerance under flooded conditions should be promoted using such breeding techniques to make rice ready for climate change. Nonetheless, use of these breeding efforts may help to stabilize country rice production and compete in International market by exporting good quality rice.

Likewise, latest developments in Direct Seed Rice (DSR) technology under projects financed by Punjab Agricultural Research Project (PARB) and Cereal system initiative for South Asia (CSISA) had great impact on adoption of this water saving system. Demonstration trials of DSR technology at farmers' field had shown water savings up to 50% with 20% yield increase of Super Bas than traditional method. The project is in commercialization phase and by adopting this technology growers can earn Rs. 10,375 per acre without sacrificing on quality and rice cultivation area under DSR is expected to increase by about one million acres within few years. However, success of DSR technology depends on varietal improvement for this rice culture and quality and precise use of weedicides to control weeds and support of Extension Department for its spread to prove its utility and worth.

Nonetheless, under fluctuating water crisis, further increase in rice yields is possible through development of technology packages, demonstration and farmer's participation. Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) introduced National Coordinated Research Programmes

(NCRP) in 1976 on various crops to strengthen research capabilities. These programmes were very successful in increasing productivity, release of significant cultivars and production technologies and about 33 NCRPs programmes of such types in close collaboration with provincial institutions until 1980's and due to reduced funding; all these terminated needs their continuation. Since after great devastations by floods in 2010, due to lack of farmer's support price and increased prices of agriculture inputs, area under rice cultivation has declined. Pakistan can potentially produce 10 million tons of rice annually, but the government's uneven policies and bureaucratic intervention have restricted it to half that figure. Further without any breakthrough in seed or production process Basmati rice may lose its economic sheen. Pakistan has to save its local patent due to source of diversity for taste, intellect and employment to millions of people. Being Basmati consumption nation, domestic consumption pattern and price differential hinders shift to hybrid regime. We have to fetch the sources and attract the eyes of International donors to make investment to strengthen infrastructure of rice research institutes to compete with developing world and achieve self-sufficiency in rice food security.

The irrigation system also require rehabilitation and improvement to meet the water demand, inequality of water distribution between the beginning and end of system needs to be eliminated. Storage capacity of dams needs require improvement to decrease flood damages and harvest the rainwater. Lack of qualified research personnel, weakened leadership with overall vision and without new investments in agriculture are some of lapses in strengthening of agriculture research system and it is not clear, how Pakistan can tackle such problems.

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Ending Stocks in Rice Good Tool for Traders The traders in rice can use ending stocks trend for planning of rice export and import from various countries. The stable trend of decreasing or increasing of end stocks gives very meaningful insights to rice traders.

China India Indonesia Japan Philippines Thailand Vietnam World Total

2008/9

2009/10 2010/11

2011/12

38,546 19,000 7,057 2,715 4,673 4,787 1,961

40,534 20,500 6,577 2,693 3,520 6,100 1,470

42,574 23,500 6,175 2,689 2,459 5,615 1,941

44,774 26,000 4,625 2,785 1,809 9,375 2,326

2012/13 2012/13 Aug Sep 45,174 45,474 26,000 22,000 2,725 2,725 2,673 2,673 1,248 1,248 12,125 12,125 2,501 2,501

92,397

95,174

98,710

105,724

101,819

102,234

The statistics of this article is reveals the quantity of ending stocks of countries in rice. The quantities are in 10000 (MT) and affect the future course of rice trade and prices in the Market.

There are two factors related to ending stock,quantity of ending stocks in a country and variation in quantities.

These factors can affect the trade of rice. We have taken

the data of last five years to analyze these two aspects.

In china, the ending stock is constantly increasing with stable rate on increase over the periods. The rice traders may face challenges in terms of low prices or slightly less demand or slow growth affected by increasing ending stocks. The ending stocks will also have effect as already availability may cause lowering the export and import prices.

India also has same trend while last year observed decrease in ending stocks. In contrast to that Indonesia having continues decrease in ending stocks could be in the interest of exporters.

Japan and Vietnam have very stable trend in ending stocks. Thailand stocks are increasing which offer positive sign to the importers of rice from Thailand. Philippine stocks are decreasing over the time which shows stable or increase in export price of rice.

Pakistan is one of the largest rice exporting countries and observe very high rate of variation on ending stocks. There are number of reasons like weather condition, yield rate, flood, export opportunities and local consumption. The high rate of variation does not permit any kind of prediction regarding pattern of stocks of rice. It is hard to link end stock of Pakistan with trade and price of rice due high level of uncertainty.

The rice traders can follow ending stocks trend for planning of import & export of rice from the experience of various countries. The stable trend of decreasing or increasing of end stocks gives very meaningful insights to rice traders.

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Issues of Wet Paddy- Call for State Administration Special Report by Rice Plus Magazine Team Rice Paddy

路 The major cause of wet paddy issue is lack of government interest in agriculture affairs.

There is no role of agriculture extension or other department in controlling this wrong practice.

Therefore, farmers take liberty to supply highly wet paddy having no checks and inspection by government departments.

The Control of Wrong Practice of Wet Paddy 01: There should be very strong and active Govt. rules to ensure moisture content upto 18%.

There are many examples of other countries where law-enforcement plays vital role. The government should impose penalties, cancel license or ban the trade of farmers, who supplies wet paddy beyond the given limits. Indian Paddy which is allowed to be sold must have less than 18% moisture.

Paddy rice is natural rice kernels in unprocessed state also known as rough rice. Paddy rice is harvested directly from rice fields and transported to Rice mill. As part of the processing, the protective hull is removed, leaving only the actual rice kernel and stored for further uses.

Wet paddy received in the Market

Issues of Wet Paddy The rice processors of Pakistan are facing big problem in terms of wet paddy supply. The processors receive paddy having moisture content above 14% ranging from 20% to 30% some times.

This is a very problematic area in Pakistan. The processors face lot of problems, increased cost, extra care and lot of management work due to additional wet paddy moisture in paddy Aflatoxin grow.

The wet paddy is perceived very wrong practice and cause lot of damage.

The Causes of Wet Paddy Primarily, the farmer intends to earn more money and therefore bring wet paddy to the market. There are many reasons which compel farmer to do this wrong practice: 路 Pre-mature cultivation to spare land for next crop. 路 Avoiding risk of loss due to reasonably dry paddy. 路 Earning more money due to water weight.

02: Alternatively, REAP or groups of processors involved in paddy buying should come forward and control the wrong practice of high moisture content in paddy. The community of processors, if join hands can prevent lot of losses and improve their processing. The processors community have price as tool to control wet paddy issues. Incentive should be paid for quality paddy while low price should be fixed for substandard wet paddy.

There is primaryresponsibility of government to control the issue of highly wet paddy supply. The state machinery of agriculture in Pakistan should be activated and encouraged to perform due role.

21

Mr. Foko Tolsma is delivering Lecture at Profarm Seminar

Dr. Zafar is sharing Nanotech application in food science

Country at a Glance EU Market in Rice- The Data Speaks Overview The EU market is always considered to be rich for rice exporters from all over the world. There are certain reasons like good price, stable market, easy cash recovery and predictable supply which attract the exporters to cash maximum pie of the EU rice market.There are lot of lessons in data of EU rice market such as import/ export statistics, and domestic consumption figures.

Year Imports Exports Domestic Consumption

2000 1310 286

2001 1254 336

2002 1288 250

2003 1125 225

2004 1095 175

2005 1124 161

2006 1340 148

2007 1568 152

2008 1339 140

2009 1317 244

2010 1391 259

2011 1300 220

2012 1400 235

2608

2567

2697

2627

2636

2651

3052

3334

3075

3150

3250

3300

3350

Data of Rice Export The statistics of rice export from EU shows that it traveled from 286 (MT in 000) down upto 140 and then upto 235 in 2012. The data shows that export downs to 51000 MT in last 12 years. This data also backs the above import statics as imports are on rise There is need of research to find out varieties used to be exported to EU and now being more consumed within EU. There is an opportunity of export from EU market to respond to the needs of buyers. .

Data of Domestic Consumption The data of domestic consumption shows very rich figures of growing EU market. The domestic demand has reached form 2608 (MT in 000) to 3350 adding around 700 into the total EU consumption. The increase in domestic demand is strongly predictable and averagely 60000 MT could be forecasted. There are exceptions in three years out of 12 years as 2000, 2002, 2007, with reduction of 41, 70 and 259 (MT in 000) respectively.

The exporters of rice to EU market can plan for averagely 60000 MT increase in EU rice demand.

Especially exporters of countries like Pakistan having good relationship with EU market and some special privileges can better cash the opportunity reflected from the data.

Data of Rice Imports The rice import data of EU market travels from 1310 (MT in 000) down upto 1095 in 2004 and then back with some fluctuation upto 1400 in 2012.

There was peak observed in 2007 rising upto 1568.

The entire difference is of 473 (MT 000) ranges between 1095 in 2004 and 1568 in 2007. The EU market comprises of 27 countries which is almost 10% of world rice market. The up and down of average 39000 (MT) per year in rice import of EU is significant figure for any planner of rice export.

There is need for future research to find out driving

24

PARB Corner

A Landmark Success of PARB's project through CA Technology (First Shipment of Mango Sindhri to Europe) Maryam Naseer-Research Publication Officer PARB

Pakistan currently produces over 14 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables, out of which almost 1/3rd never reach to consumer and wasted between farms to end-users. High post-harvest losses not only lower the net income of producers and traders, but also reduce the quantity of produced available in local markets as well as for exports. Despite large production, our fresh produce exports are negligible (<3%) having less prices in international markets (<41% world average-FAO, 2005).

Mango is one of the most popular tropical fruits in the world, earns about $24 million annually.

Around 60-70% good quality of mangoes is exported to Middle East and 15-16% to Europe.

Limitation in export of fresh produce, particularly that of mango is the enormous cost of air freighting (e.g. to Europe: Avg. Rs. 160/KG compared to Rs. 20/KG by sea during 2009).The interest in sea freighting of mangoes is growing industry and probably the only commercially viable option for future. However, it needs extended time and specific protocols to be developed for maintaining fruit quality, which is only possible using Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Technology.

A demand driven Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) project“Exploiting Control Atmosphere Technology potential for extended storage and shipping of fresh produce to international markets”, 36 months project with a cost of 21.159 million was submitted by Dr. AmanUllah Malik, Professor of Horticulture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) to increase shelf life of fresh vegetables and fruits for the export to distant markets. The project has collaboration with National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFS&T), Plant Pathology department of UAF and METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan.The project has to determine CA conditions for extending the storage life of locally produced apples, mangoes, kinnow (orange) mandarins and chilies. The specific problems to be addressed through this project were:

v Determine optimum CA-conditions for

different fruits and vegetables v Extend shelf life and maintain quality of

mangoes, enabling its sea-freighting for reducing cost of shipment to high end markets v

Establish local infrastructure/facilities to continue R&D in the area of CA technology

The project has successfully completed this year and overall results are very good. The team of scientists, extensive and planned monitoring of PARB and support of Chief Executive PARB Dr. Mubarik Ali has made the achievement of the project. Dr. Ali said that the project has successfully determined CA technology for fresh produced, would bebeneficialfor Pakistani exporters in future”. It will generate a good return of money, enhance our exports and create sound recognition for Pakistani produced at international markets. The overall results on mango varieties have increase the storability and marketability and demonstrated that it has potential for long distance shipments (up to 4 weeks) followed by 5-6 days of shelf life. Chilies performed better under CA conditions with storability up to two weeks followed by 2 days shelf life. The technology on kinnow did not get too much success due to sensitivity of fruit, however initial precooling, wax and proper Ventilation can increase it shelf life.

Effect of CA conditions on apple varieties determined that Kala Kulu and Shin Kulu can be stored up to 9 months followed by 2 weeks shelf life at ambient conditions.

CA Stored Chilies

CA Stored Kinnow

CV Stored Apples

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A recent success story is that a commercial CA shipment of 'Sindhri' mango using the SOPs developed under this project was sent to Netherlands. General remarks about shipment were very good, fruit was firm green, attractive in appearance and developed good taste. There was complete control on disease and importer was pleased with outcome, interested to import large volumes of mangoes next year. The successful arrival of the shipment after 36 days (29 days in transit and 7 days in shelf) is a great breakthrough in the mango export industry. Just one 40-feet container of mangoes saved Rs. 2.00 million in freight charges, compared to the same quantity delivered by air. Investing Rs. 20 million in the project to develop SOPs will induce many more containers to be exported to far fetch destinations thus will bring large return in the form of foreign exchange to the economy. This is also a great achievement and a sense of pride for researchers and PARB who helped in planning and coordination of the research activities of the project.

Pakistan currently produces over 14 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables, out of which almost 1/3rd never reach to consumer and wasted between farms to endusers. High post-harvest losses not only lower the net income of producers and traders, but also reduce the quantity of produced available in local markets as well as for exports. Despite large production, our fresh produce exports are negligible (<3%) having less prices in international markets (<41% world average-FAO, 2005).So far Pakistani exporters have not been able to penetrate into high end supermarket chains, which share about 80% of the fruits and vegetables sales in EU and many other developed countries.

Information regarding this project has been demonstrated by arranging seminars, trainings, workshops, meetings and visits for the local growers/ store keepers/ cold store operators/ traders and exporters.Another remarkable work is that two research papers have been accepted for 7th International postharvest Symposium in Malaysia.

A modern Controlled Atmosphere R & D infrastructure has been developed at Institute of Horticultural Sciences (UAF) to meet the long term national needs.

It is worth mentioning that success of the project is also attributed to Minister for Agriculture and Chairman PARB Malik Ahmed Ali Aulakh, who is determined to reform to sustain R&D sector and working efficiently to enhance economic growth.

No doubt Punjab Government has a good support, but need is to speed up the process of funding projects as world crop scientists are taking agricultural research on top priority in order to combat future challenges. Many projects related to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and livestock are in timeline of PARB, with achievable outcomes to increase yield, earn foreign exchange and will bring prosperity for our country.

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DR.GHULAM ABBAS INCHARGE RICE RESEARCH STATION BAHAWALNAGAR Dr.Ghulam Abbas, a young scientist has joined as Incharge/Rice Botanist/Crop Specialist at Rice Research Station Bahawalnagar, a newly initiated project by Government of Punjab.He has completed his B.Sc.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Hons.) and PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics from University of Agriculture Faisalabad in 2003, 2005 and 2011, respectively.

Dr. Ghulam Abbas has published more than dozen publications in various journals of national and international repute. He has a sound knowledge of field plot techniques and biometrical genetics used for varietal evaluation and adaptation under different environmental conditions.Being a new entry among the scientists of rice club, the whole team of RicePlus welcomes him in the field of rice research and expects that he will show his capabilities and prove his worth in development of high yielding and nutritious rich rice varieties for rice growing regions across the country.

Rice Technologies in Pakistan Call for Academia and Industry Institute of Research Promotion-IRP is widely linked with scientists of the universities and rice industry of Pakistan. IRP requests scientists of universities to do applied research for local rice industry. IRP also encouraged requests industry to adopt locally done rice research by scientists of Pakistan.

Opportunity for University Scientists University scientists are encouraged to take highly emerging issues topics for applied research from IRP. IRP will support in providing research dataindustry driven research issues, support in research process, endorsement for research funding and commercialization of developed technology.research findings. We provide need based real issues of agri-sector in all areas of engineering, pre-harvesting, post-harvesting, marketing and management of agriculture.

Opportunity for Industry in Rice Sector Industry in rice and allied sector is requested to share their needs for new technologies and required solutions of the problems. IRP will try to develop solutions in collaboration with university scientists on very economical price.

Industry is also requested to adopt locally developed technologies available with IRP.

World's Top 10 Rice Exporters and Importers Here are USDA rankings and forecasts for the world's top 10 rice importing and exporting countries.

World's top 10 rice exporters (in million tonnes) Exports Rank

Country

World's top 10 rice importers (in million tonnes)

Forecast

(2011)

(2012)

Country

Imports

Forecast

(2011)

(2012)

1

Thailand

10.64

6.50

Indonesia

3.09

1.25

2

Vietnam

7.00

7.00

Nigeria

2.55

2.45

3

India

4.63

8.00

Iran

1.87

1.90

4

Pakistan

3.41

3.75

Bangladesh

1.48

0.40

5

Brazil

1.29

0.90

EU-27

1.47

1.40

6

Cambodia

0.86

0.80

Philippines

1.20

1.50

7

Uruguay

0.84

0.85

Malaysia

1.07

1.08

8

Myanmar

0.77

0.60

Saudi Arabia

1.05

1.15

9

Argentina

0.73

0.65

Iraq

1.03

1.20

China

0.48

0.50

Ivory Coast

0.93

0.95

10

Source: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/08/thailand -rice-factbox -idINL4E8IJ0LI20120808

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Current News 1. SIAL Food and Grains exhibition is going to be held in UAE from 26-November-2012.This is the biggest

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Foods and grain exhibition in the Middle East and is being successfully organized every year which is being visited by all global Foods and grain stakeholders in a large number.

Indian Basmati export to Iran(biggest importer of Indian C1121) can be decreased as a result of new foreign exchange regulations which allows Rice import in category 2 at Iranian discounted Rial 23000/US$ against official rate of Rial12500/US$.

India has exported 19.8 lakh tons Basmati till 31-Oct-12 & exported 17 lakh tons till 30-Sept-2011.India exported 32 lakh tons during 2011-2012.

Due to low carry over stocks ,depreciation of Indian Rupee & robust overseas demand of Basmati Rice,Paddy prices of aromatic varities have shoot up by 35% of last year.

Global rice trade will be around 37 million tons, which will be mostly driven by supplies from Thailand, Vietnam, India, Pakistan and USA and import from Nigeria, Indonesia, and China at low end market like 25% broken.

Mali, Ghana, Mozambique, Sera Leon have little higher production than last year.

Nigeria is expected to be the largest Rice importers with over 3 million tons, mainly due to damage to local crop as result of flood.

Per capita consumption of rice is inching up in developed countries due to recession and consumption in developing countries is pegged at same level.

Global trade of Basmati which is around 4 million tons (India 3.1 and Pakistan 0.9) seems to be less marginally due to less demand in west Asia and payment problems between Iran(largest importer of C1121) and India.

South Korea is expecting a contraction of 5.2% in Paddy production from 4.32 million tons to 4.09 M. tons a net shortage of 300,000 M. tons.

Talks between Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to make a Rice Cartel to increase rice prices, regarded as globally irresponsible by FAO were inconclusive.

Thailand is planning to auction around 600,000 M.tons from its pledged stocks in coming 2 months.

Farmers representative are extremely unhappy in Bangladesh due to low prices of bumper paddy this year and Aman Paddy of last year.

Philippine to auction 2250 tons of Vietnam rice, which was confiscated being mis- declared as gypsum and construction material. Earlier 20,000 tons of smuggled Indian rice was confiscated by Philippine authorities.

India is going to be largest exporter this year with over 10 million tons export but next year the forecast that Thailand will be largest exporter with 8 million tons.

Myanmar Rice export which is mostly from common border has come to a lowest level due to Chinese authorities' crackdown.

Rice export from Pakistan has been almost stopped due to non-availability of import permits which will be re issued at the start of new Chinese year in February next. It is important to note that Chinese is emerging as a substantial importer of Non-Basmati rice from Pakistan.

Indonesia has issued import permits of 700,000 M.tons for rice import till the end of this year but it seems maximum 600,000 can be imported in remaining 35 days, out of which 300,000 has been contracted from Vietnam and Amira Foods of India has announced to sell 90,000 metric tons.

Myanmar has announced to sign a contract of 500,000 tons supply to Indonesia but time and rates has not been disclosed.

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