16th february,2015 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

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Uruguayan rice: the secrets of a success story Written by Gonzalo Zorrilla.

Uruguay is a small country in the Southern Cone of

South America, located in a corner between the Río de

la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean. Rolling hills, excellent

natural grasslands, and temperate climate have made the

country a perfect place for beef, wool, and dairy

production, while typical temperate agriculture has been

a tradition since the early period of the Spanish

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February 16 , 2015 V o l u m e 5, Issue I

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colonization. The country’s traditional products are wheat, barley, sunflower, and maize, with

soybean dominating the scene these days.

Rice is a relatively new crop. The first rice fields were recorded back in 1926. In less than 100

years, Uruguay developed an exportoriented rice production system that grew continuously on

up to 180,000 hectares (Fig. 1). The country has attained high yields and a premium position in

the international market. Having a tiny fraction of world rice production, it is seventh on the list

of rice-exporting countries, behind only the big players.

Farmer-miller alliance

How has this happened in the most intervened

and protected grain market in the world?

Natural conditions favored rice production

with good land, abundant water, and climatic

conditions affecting high potential for an

irrigated crop. But the key to the country

having a competitive and successful position

as a rice exporter was the private and public

institutional array of support that was

constructed over time.

Farmers and millers organized the Rice Farmers´ Association (ACA by its Spanish acronym) and

the Rice Millers´ Association (GMA by its Spanish acronym) in the late 1940s. Since then, both

organizations have been articulating all aspects of the rice agribusiness chain, knowing that each

has specific needs and interests, but that both are in the same boat of the rice industry. The best

example of this integration is a private rice price agreement, which is based on transparency

between ACA and GMA in which, for more than 50 years, the final value the farmer receives

depends on the total value of rice from one season (exported and sold internally), less the milling

cost and a fixed millers’ gain.This farmer-miller alliance was reinforced with sound government

policies that, without intervening in the markets or with prices, helped producers with roads,

electricity for irrigation pumps, opening markets with country-to-country agreements, and farmer

and miller loans, among other things.

Institutional innovations

In 1970, Estación Experimental del Este (Eastern Experimental Station) was established, which

started local research and innovation for rice. Since its early days, research has been highly

integrated with ACA and GMA, thus ensuring well-oriented, demand-focused actions. In 1980, a

government–rice sector agreement channeling private funds to Estación Experimental del Este

started the research investment of farmers and millers in Uruguay.

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Estación Experimental del Este became INIA Treinta y

Tres, with the creation of the National Institute for

Agricultural Research (Instituto Nacional de

Investigación Agropecuaria, INIA) in 1989. INIA was

established as an institutional innovation that had its

roots in the rice farmers’ experience, in which

government and farmers’ funds come together. This is

recognized in the Institute board, of which half of the

members are elected by the Ministry and half by

farmers’ associations.

In the last 40 years, a whole technological revolution based on local research took place,

resulting in the highly competitive indicators today. Now, 90% of the area is planted with

national varieties, which were developed by considering not only agronomic and high-yielding

traits but also the highest standards of grain quality, and taking into account the markets to which

Uruguay exports.All rice is planted in dry soils with minimum tillage and using no-till planters

that are adapted for planting over levees.

The country’s rice production is extensively mechanized, with an average farm size of 300

hectares. Rice is planted in rotation with pastures, with a typical rotation of two years of rice and

three years of grasses and legumes, which allow for highly productive cattle farming. This low-

intensity rotation system improves sustainability because it reduces pest and disease pressure and

maintains good soil conditions. This crop technology package is carefully followed by most

farmers. The national average yield reached 8 tons per hectare in the last five years, with top

farmers surpassing 10 tons per hectare (Fig. 2).

Well-organized farmers’ and millers’

groups, sound government policies, and an

articulated research and innovation system

brought the institutional framework to

success. This has become possible even

without any kind of subsidy, without a

domestic market to rely on (Uruguay’s

local market is only 5% of the rice it

produces per year), and depending on

highly volatile international markets (95%

of the rice is exported).

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Competitiveness is the name of the game for Uruguayan rice farmers and the race is never over.

Now, they are figuring out how to profit with increasing production costs and weaker rice prices,

and pressing for new technologies to further increase yield potential.

_________________________________________

Mr. Zorrilla is the director of the National Research Program at the National Institute of Agricultural

Research in Uruguay and a member of the Rice Today editorial board.

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Unleashing the rice market Written by Lanie Reyes.

What is the true price of rice? Do we have enough

rice to feed the growing population? Where will

the rice in the future come from? What drives the

global rice market? What are the game changers?

These were just some of the questions raised by

economists and other participants at the 2014

Global Rice Market and Trade Summit in

Bangkok, Thailand, on 27-29 October.Government

policies, climate change, increasing population,

migration of farmers to cities, and the rising

middle class are some of the game changers in the global rice market that echoed among the

speakers during the Summit.

Climate change

There was a note of concern on the projected impact of climate change on agriculture. Most

agreed that rising sea levels, increasing soil salinity in farm areas, higher temperatures, and more

frequent occurrence of floods and droughts will have great adverse effects on rice production.In

Asia, large areas of rice are grown in low-lying deltas and coastal areas such as the Mekong

River Delta in Vietnam and the Ganges basin in Bangladesh and India. A 1-meter rise in sea

level could wipe out these prime rice production areas.

With increasing sea levels, saltwater could penetrate more inland areas and contribute to soil

salinity, thus radically reducing rice yields as most rice varieties are only moderately tolerant of

salt.Increases in temperatures will also decrease rice output. A study at the International Rice

Research Institute (IRRI) indicates that a rise in nighttime temperature by 1 degree Celsius could

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reduce rice yields by about 10% while many varieties are sensitive to higher daytime

temperature.

About 20 million hectares of the world’s rice-growing area are at risk of occasionally being

flooded, particularly in major rice-producing countries such as India and Bangladesh.Although

more research is needed to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, IRRI has already

developed several climate-smart rice varieties that have made huge impacts in unfavorable

environments in Asia and Africa. IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler said the second Green

Revolution is benefiting the marginalized sector of society— the poorest of poor farmers—who

live in areas most vulnerable to climate change (see Green revolutions 2.0 and 3.0: No farmer

left behind).

Booming population

There will be more mouths to feed in the future. The population is increasing, particularly in

South Asia, where most of the world’s rice supply is grown. "Thirty percent of the global

population growth in the next 5 years will be coming from this region," said Dr. Suthad

Setboonsarng, a Thai economist and currently member of the IRRI Board of Trustees. In

addition, the number of nontraditional rice eaters is rising, especially in African countries. With

global rice demand estimated to increase from 439 million tons in 2010 to 555 million tons in

2035, rice production must be able to keep up if world market prices are to be stabilized at

affordable levels for billions of rice consumers.

Rising urbanization

The changing economic structure of Asia and the increasing number of its middle class will have

an influence on the international rice market. "The higher the income of the people, the more

diversified are their diets," said Dr. David Dawe, FAO senior economist. "This change will have

an effect on the demand for rice."

And, 50% of this change is coming from India and China, according

to Dr. Setboonsarng. China's economic progress will result in mass

outmigration from farms to cities. The rural migration will be

massive, according to Milo Hamilton, senior agricultural economist

and co-founder ofFirstgrain. com. More than 250 million people in

China will leave their farms and move into cities in the next 15

years. In China alone, 1 billion more people will live an urban life

by 2030. This phenomenon is also occurring in other parts of Asia. Southeast Asian farmers are

leaving rural areas for better wages in cities. For example, Cambodians in rural areas are

migrating to the cities of Thailand to work in construction or in factories.

A worrisome question is who would be left on rice farms to feed the ever-growing cities that

need increasing quantities of food, said Mr. Hamilton. "This is a double whammy on the rice

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market—increase in urban consumption and reduction of rural food sector workers," added Dr.

Setboonsarng.

Water and rice

According to Dr. Setboonsarng, the expansion of urbanization in Asia is leading to an increase in

domestic consumption of water, which will compete with the use of water for agricultural

production, especially rice production. It is a fact that rice is the most water-intensive crop.

"Water, a limited resource, is diminishing," Dr. Setboonsarng said. "The groundwater used to

irrigate rice in countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China is stressed because of the

expansion of irrigation."

Mr. Hamilton said that rice production is more

like water conversion. When one trades rice, one

is also trading water. Samarendu Mohanty, IRRI

senior economist, said that "when the

government of India is subsidizing rice

production, it is, in one way or another,

subsidizing the water need of the country that

buys the rice." It is said that China has the

capacity to produce more rice if it wants to, but,

unlike India, it is conserving its water by

importing rice.

This goes back to the issue of finding the true value of rice. Mr. Hamilton said that water, itself,

is not usually priced but what is priced is the cost of obtaining the water. How we put a price on

rice is akin to how we put a price on water. Water scarcity will have an effect on where the rice

is coming from in the future. According to Mr. Hamilton, rice will be coming from countries

whose water resource has not yet been depleted.

A political commodity

Since rice is the staple food of more than half of humanity, it is easy to understand that it is a

political commodity. Governments will do everything possible to make rice available to their

constituents. They have done a lot of things to control its price so their constituents or "voters"

can still afford it, or buying from farmers at a higher price to encourage farmers to produce it.

When the price of rice spiked during 2007-08, riots erupted in different corners of the world and

posed tremendous challenges to many governments.

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Government policies

The rice price crisis was a wake-up call for many governments. Many created policy

interventions to prevent food crises from occurring again. For rice-importing countries such as

the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the policy is selfsufficiency. The Philippines is doing

its best to increase its rice production through its Food Staples Sufficiency Program, at the same

time encouraging its citizens to diversify their diets by eating carbohydrate alternatives such as

sweet potato and cassava. In addition, the Philippine government launched national campaigns

discouraging consumers from wasting rice.

But, "government interventions in the form of rice policies often hide the true price of rice," said

Dr. Mohanty. For example, the rice-pledging scheme of Thailand made the price of its rice less

affordable—and less competitive—in the international rice market. India’s policy on rice subsidy

makes rice production cheap for farmers so they can sell rice at a low price. With India’s low

price, plus its bumper crop in 2013, it temporarily displaced Thailand as the top rice exporter in

the world.

"The government intervention in rice policies is two-pronged," explained Dr. Setboonsarng.

"Most governments control the price of food, including rice, to keep the price low. At the same

time, they subsidize the producer, especially the farmers to enable them to keep up with the

production. And as a consequence, the indirect recipient of subsidies to farmers is, in fact, the

rice consumer, not only in one’s own country but also in other countries. For the domestic rice

market, low prices discourage innovation in the whole rice value chain—from production and

marketing to storage and distribution."

And what does this mean to the international rice market? "As both the exporter and importer

control the consumer price of rice and subsidize rice farmers, the supply curve of rice is shifted

and lowers the price and quantity traded in the international market," Dr. Setboonsarng added.

"As a result, the world rice market becomes small and volatile. Moreover, the self-sufficiency

policy of most rice-importing countries adds to the uncertainty."

Lack of transparency

―Another reason for uncertainty is the lack of reliable information,‖ said Bruce Tolentino, IRRI’s

deputy director general for communication and partnerships. "Uncertainty in the global rice

market leads to speculation, and speculation can lead to confusion and panic." He also

emphasized the importance of transparency as a key to a stable global rice market.

"In fact, the root cause of the 160% price increase during the 2007-08 rice crisis was not the lack

of supply but a lack of transparency," Dr. Zeigler pointed out. "And, those hundreds of millions

of people who suffered are the poorest of the poor. That became the wake-up call for us.

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"For many, they think that the wake-up call was to pay attention to production technology," he

continued "But for us, we needed to understand what was going on in the rice trade and what we

could do to make a difference."

Over the years, IRRI has been focusing its expertise on what drives the global market and the

kind of information required to attain a stable environment. The Institute has been gatheringdata

and information on the socioeconomic aspects of rice: how much rice is needed, what it takes to

grow a good crop, what a good rice crop is, and what consumers want."

The underlying foundation is that IRRI is viewed as an honest broker," said Dr. Zeigler. "We

don’t have a dog in the fight in rice trade. This allows us to provide unbiased and accurate

information on rice production."

IRRI has been developing state-of-the-art tools to provide timely and accurate estimates of rice

production in Asia. "We have a suite of technologies on board," he said. "First, we have a much

better way of estimating the realizable yield of the rice crop using a crop growth model, a

technology that we have been developing for the last 25 years. We have an extraordinarily

accurate assessment of what a rice paddy is going to do."

Dr. Zeigler added that, through satellite imagery, data can be gathered and processed in real time

to obtain a good assessment of actual rice production. The real breakthrough is that IRRI now

uses radar imagery, which can provide superior penetration capability through any type of

weather condition, and this can be used in daytime or nighttime.

He explained that, unlike before, because most rice is produced during the monsoon season, all

we got were beautiful pictures of clouds. With radar imagery, IRRI can obtain a very good

assessment of rice distribution. It can collect data on soil, water, and temperature and even obtain

a weekly estimate of rice area, and determine the time when rice was planted. And, combining

all these with crop growth data, we can estimate the harvest. This timely and accurate

information will remove much uncertainty around production.

"Rice demand can be determined by income growth and distribution, and government policy,

among other data," Dr. Zeigler said. "As a rice research institute, IRRI can contribute in

providing highly accurate information on the rice crop. Having a good understanding of both the

supply and demand side of the equation is an important part of having a stable rice trade."

IRRI’s expanding role

Indeed, IRRI has an important role to play in the

development of rice policies. A number of interventions that

governments have made, although reasonable in the short

term, such as making sure that rice is available so that people

will not have riots on the streets, have long-term adverse

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impacts.

According to Dr. Zeigler, organizations such as IRRI and the International Food Policy Research

Institute are well placed to help governments work through the implications of their policy

choices. Those policy choices will have a dramatic impact on rice trade— locally, regionally,

and in the overall global rice market.

"From our perspective, we see a transition from a strictly research orientation attending to the

issues around how to produce more and better rice in a more sustainable way as a good starting

point for moving to a much richer engagement with the global community," he said. "We think

that it is increasingly important that we bring an unbiased point of view to the table to help

provide the information that the global community needs for an open and transparent rice trade."

_________________________________________

Ms. Reyes is the managing editor of Rice Today.

Source with thanks:http://irri.org/rice-today/unleashing-the-rice-

market?utm_source=IRRI+email+subscriptions&utm_campaign=0c5f0976ec-

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40925885

Rice serves up double measure of biofuel and fodder

An inexpensive process developed in Japan will allow farmers to produce their own tractor fuel

and cattle feed in one simple step.

Japanese researchers found that fermenting harvested whole rice plants with yeast and enzymes

into bales wrapped in impermeable film could produce ethanol for fuel, while the bale still

contained nourishing silage for cattle feed. Image: Shutterstock

Climate News Network Friday 13 February 2015

Japanese scientists have found a potential answer to

the biofuel dilemma that if you grow crops for

energy, you have to sacrifice crops for food.They

report that they can now ferment rice to deliver

ethanol, while making silage for cattle feed –and that

it can all be done on the farm without need for any

expensive off-site processes.Mitsuo Horita, of

the National Institute for Agro-Environmental

Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan, and colleagues write in

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the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels that they used a process of solid-state fermentation

known to temperate zone farmers everywhere: grass or cereal is harvested, compressed, sealed,

and fermented in the absence of oxygen.

Pickled product

The outcome is a pickled product that is both nourishing and palatable to cattle during the winter

months − and a mix of liquid hydrocarbon products that must be disposed of in ways that won’t

pollute water supplies or harm fish and wildlife.

“

What we’ve now demonstrated is a complete and scaled-up system that shows its potential

in a practical on-farm situation. Instead of a complicated process requiring special

facilities, our system simply builds upon traditional processes already used by farmers for

producing silage for animal feed.

Mitsuo Horita, scientist at the National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences

The Japanese research team packed harvested whole rice plants with yeast and enzymes into

bales wrapped in impermeable film.Sugars and starch in the rice were converted by the yeast into

ethanol, which could then be drained and distilled for fuel. And at the end of the process, the bale

still contained nourishing silage.For each bale, after six months of fermentation, the researchers

collected 12.4kg of pure ethanol, or alcohol − which is about 10 times more than anyone could

expect from traditional silage fermentation.

The bales also leaked effluent ethanol at the rate of about 1.7kg a bale.Biofuels are often seen as

a solution that creates more problems. Will increased ―green energy‖ mean high grain prices?

Will specialist biofuel crops escape from the farms and cause wider problems for the

environment? Could biofuels be more efficiently made from waste, or from natural sources not

for the moment of any commercial value? This new approach sidesteps some

nagging questions.―Generally, the bottlenecks in second-generation biofuel production include

the need for large facilities, bulky material transport, and complicated treatment processes, all of

which are costly and consume a great deal of energy,‖ Horita says.

―What we’ve now demonstrated is a complete and scaled-up system that shows its potential in a

practical on-farm situation. Instead of a complicated process requiring special facilities, our

system simply builds upon traditional processes already used by farmers for producing silage for

animal feed.

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Zero waste

―It results in a high yield of ethanol, while producing good quality feed, with zero waste.‖In

effect, the team has delivered fodder and tractor fuel in one step.Fermentation takes longer than

usual, but no extra energy needs to be supplied for the process, and the alcohol drawn off

contained no insoluble particles, and so would make it easier to handle.The researchers used a

vacuum distiller to get at 86 per cent of the baled alcohol, but they concede they must do more to

improve both the yield and the recovery of the ethanol.Meanwhile, they point out, they have

shown the way to an on-farm fuel system that could help farmers in the developing world, and

which exploits the same field for food and fuel at the same time.

Source with thanks:http://www.eco-business.com/news/rice-serves-double-measure-biofuel-and-

fodder/

Nigeria to benefit from N610bn rice grant BY OUR REPORTER ON FEBRUARY 16, 2015BUSINESSWEEK

BY STEVE AGBOTA

In order to attain self-sufficiency in food production, Nigeria has been selected to benefit from

about N610.5 billion (about $3.3 million) granted by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

(BMGF) and the German Development Cooperation (BMZ), under the Competitive African Rice

Initiative (CARI) project.Other three African countries included in the project are Burkina Faso,

Ghana and Tanzania .The project, which has been scheduled to end in 2017, was designed to

reach about 120,000 small-scale rice producers, as well as rural service providers and rice millers

as secondary beneficiaries.

The scheme, which is geared towards improving their sourcing capacity of quality supply, has

implementing institutions selected as grant facilitators to include GIZ, Technoserve, the John A.

Kufuor (JAK) and Kili Trust (KT).During the establishment of the Nigeria/ECOWAS Rice Sec-

tor Policy and Regulation Advocacy Platform in Abuja, CARI’s Project Coordinator, Mr. Stefan

Kachelriess-Matthess, explained that the main instrument for the implementation of CARI across

the four countries on the matching grant would be on the basis of Public Private Partnership

(PPP).Kachel-Matthess added: ―The projects are implemented at two levels of support. We

support up to 40 per cent of implementation cost and our Nigerian partners in the private sector

have to provide 60 per cent of the implementation cost.

‖Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on the New Partnership for

Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, who was represented by Mrs. Jael

Kpatuwak expressed the hope that the CARI project will address coordination failures, create

better linkages among rice value chain actors, the result which, she said, will lead to increase in

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the economic returns for all stakeholders.According to her, the sector holds the key to getting

Nigeria out of poverty as it provides food security, employment for the teeming population and

creating the platform for a diversified economy towards an industrialisation revolution.Njeze

said, ―this focus on rice commodity is most strategic for Nigeria and the West African sub-

region, which imports close to 50 per cent of rice from foreign countries outside the shores of the

African continent.

―In the last couple of years, Nigeria spent approximately N1 billion daily on rice importation.

This has led to the export of our jobs and financial resources meant for the transformation of the

domestic rice sector in order to achieve self-sufficiency and exports.‖She said the German

Development Cooperation has been a major partner to NEPAD in the implementation of the

Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), adding that GIZ had

supported the organisation of Nigeria’s CAADP country team orientation workshop in 2011.

While speaking at the event, the ECOWAS Commissioner of Agriculture, Environment and

Water Resources, Dr. Lapodini Marc Atouga, represented by a Director at the commission, said

rice consumption in the last two years in the sub-region had increased from 7 to 7.7 million

tonnes, saying this clearly shows that production is not matching up with the consumption as it

has to depend on international imports for 40 per cent of its rice supply with Thailand and Viet-

nam as the leading suppliers of the commodity to the region.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=105028

Cluster programme helping small enterprises think big

A platform for entrepreneurs to join hands

Small and micro enterprises in Kerala have got

a leg-up with the cluster development

programme, introduced as part of the State

industrial policy in 2003, providing a platform

for entrepreneurs to join hands to develop their

units into world class units. Industry

Department sources said about 50 sectors had

been initially identified for cluster development

and about 40 of them were registered across the

State.

The cluster development programme in Ernakulam district includes the Kalady Rice Millers’

Consortium, the plywood, plastic and furniture clusters in different parts of the district. Clusters

have also been formed for food processing, printing, electronics, wood-based industries, rubber

and general engineering.K.P. Raveendran of Kerala Furniture Consortium near Perumbavoor

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said 33 units made use of the common facility centre for value addition. The centre has facilities

for seasoning, treatment and finger-joining. New design development programmes were also on

in collaboration with the National Institute of Design, he said.N.P. Antony of Kalady Rice

Millers’ Consortium said the formation of the common facility centre for rice millers was helpful

in diversifying product lines.

The common facility centre for rice millers is a rice bran oil refinery with a capacity of 50 tonnes

per day.The establishment of the rice bran oil unit has helped the entrepreneurs expand the

marketing of the rice bran oil, which, Mr. Antony claimed was a healthy and cheaper cooking

medium. There are 38 units that make use of the common facility established at a cost of Rs. 7.5

crore.Sources in the Industries Department said Kerala had succeeded in having the largest

number of projects sanctioned under the Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development

Programme of the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

The Ministry provides 70 per cent of the project cost as grant and the State government provides

20 per cent. The rest of the investment comes from the beneficiary units.The formation of

clusters in the State is being overseen by the Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP).The

State has so far received approvals for 14 projects from the Union Ministry for establishing

common facility centres in clusters involving a total investment of Rs. 86 crore. Seven of these

projects have been commissioned and the rest are in various stages of completion.

Source with thanks:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/cluster-programme-helping-small-

enterprises-think-big/article6900372.ece

The Foods That Will Survive the Disasters of the Future

Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

When we think of the future of food, we think of crops that are bred

to be stronger, more productive, and even more nutritious. But it

turns out that these super-crops can have unexpected weaknesses—

as one scientist realized after a cyclone hit eastern India in

2009.Over the past few years, we've heard a lot about what foods

may not survive the changes our Earth is currently going through,

from corn to coffee, and even about the labs where scientists are

growing more resilient ones. But in some cases, it seems that we should actually looking back at

foods from the past.In a fascinating story on Ensia, we meet Debal Deb, a scientist who runs his

own rice seed bank.

After a cyclone hit the region in 2009, salt water from flooding ended up killing the remaining

rice crops—most of which were "modern, high-yield" varieties designed to produce more food

with fewer resources. But these wonder-rices weren't good at one thing: Surviving exposure to

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salt in the soil.That posed a huge problem for inhabitants who depend on rice to live—and so

Deb became an unlikely hero. Shreya Dasgupta explains:

Most traditional rice varieties, including the ones Deb carried that day, are adapted to local

climates and regions. But with the advent of modern high-yielding varieties of rice, local

varieties became disused, and many were subsequently lost. Fortunately, a handful of rice

conservationists in India have managed to save some of them.

Deb has spearheaded the effort to distribute these traditional—and salt-tolerant, thanks in part to

his strategic cultivation—types of rice to farmers in the region, making them more resilient in the

face of the ever-worsening storms and floods.Modern science and botany has given us the power

to build better foods—but it turns out that nature is still a pretty damn good engineer, too. [Ensia;

H/t Climate Central]

Lead image: An aerial view of an isolated and marooned village is seen in the Gosaba area near

Sundarbans, on, Wednesday, May 27, 2009, after Cyclone Aila pounded eastern India and

Bangladesh, killing at least 191 people. AP Photo/Indian Defense Ministry, HO

Source with thanks:http://gizmodo.com/the-foods-that-will-survive-climate-disasters-1685867792

Grain diversion: role of Hassan rice mill being probed

The investigation into the seizure of rice meant for distribution under Anna Bhagya scheme at

Arkalgud has brought to light the alleged involvement of a Hassan-based rice mill in the illegal

transportation of foodgrains meant for government schemes.The Arkalgud police had seized 450

bags of rice on Thursday, when it was allegedly being transported to Kerala by a truck. The

police had found that the stock originated from Guru Rice Mill in Hassan. Two persons were

arrested in this connection.

Interestingly, the same rice mill was in the news in 2013 for keeping a stock of 305 quintals of

Anna Bhagya rice, illegally. The Food and Civil Supplies officials had conducted a raid on

August 15, 2013 and seized the rice. A case had been booked against Krishna, owner of the rice

mill, under relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act. Later, the rice seized had been

sold through auction and the matter is in court.―The accused got a bail in the case. The trial is

going on,‖ said S.E. Mahadevappa, Deputy Director of Food and Civil Supplies Department.

In 2004

In fact, it was not the first time that the rice mill was in news for wrong reasons in August, 2013.

Mr. Krishna’s brother, Jagadish, was an accused in a major rice-scam involving misuse of

foodgrains meant for drought-relief programme in 2004. It was Guru Binny Rice Mill, owned by

the latter, from where over 12,000 tonnes of rice had been allegedly exported illegally to

Mombasa in Kenya. Then, cases had been booked against 28 people, including Mr. Jagadish.

Many government officials faced charges in connection with the alleged misuse of 17,000 tonnes

of rice. This matter is also in the court.

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Mr. Mahadevappa alleged that proprietors of Guru Rice Mill were often involved in crimes of

similar nature. ―The department has issued notices to the mill several times. We have requested

the police to deal sternly with perpetrators,‖ he said.

Guru Rice Mill said to have been involved in a crime of similar nature in 2013

Police urged to deal sternly with those misusing foodgrains meant for public distribution

system Source with thanks:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/grain-diversion-role-of-hassan-

rice-mill-being-probed/article6898047.ece

Nigeria on track for self-sufficiency in rice

Inside AfricaNigeria

Feb 14, 2015

Investment in production and the rollout of higher-yield strains are

helping put Nigeria on track for self-sufficiency in rice, potentially

opening the possibility for exports further down the line.unnamedOil-

rich Nigeria has long been dependent on staple imports to feed its

170m people, with a total bill of $4.3bn at the end of December 2013.

Nigeria has typically consumed around 6m tonnes of rice a year, importing almost half the

amount to bridge its supply deficit.

However, a tighter fiscal environment – a result of declining oil revenues – alongside efforts to

strengthen the agricultural sector, has prompted a state-led push to improve local staple crop

production and sustainability. To that end, the government plans to ban all rice imports by the

end of this year, saving some N360bn ($1.9bn) a year.The target is ambitious, but according to

the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria has recently

reached 80% self-sufficiency in paddy rice production, speaking in November at the Second

Nigeria Rice Investment Forum.

Production increase

According to government officials, the recent increase in production has been achieved through

private sector investments as well as state support schemes for growers.Minister of Agriculture

and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, said the introduction of new rice varieties – that

meet international standards and allow for two plantings a year to generate additional yield – will

boost output and quality as well as open up export opportunities in the future.We started a rapid

process of replacing local varieties with these new varieties,‖ he told OBG. ―Within the last three

years, we have reached 6m farmers who have expanded cultivated area by 2m hectares. These

new varieties can be produced in both wet season and dry season, so for the first time in this

country, we are doing dry season farming.‖

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―I expect within three years Nigeria will be a net exporter of rice just like Thailand and India,‖

he added.The new strains will be crucial but there is a broader package of measures currently

being rolled out, including an upgrade of infrastructure and storage facilities, which is equally

important.―Realistically Nigeria must get its infrastructure right, including roads, irrigation and

storage facilities, along with co-operatives and efficiently sourced inputs,‖ said Mukul Mathur,

the head of Nigeria Olam, which has invested N18bn ($111m) in an integrated farm and milling

facility in Nasarawa State. ―Only then will the discussion be about higher yielding seeds,‖

Mathur told OBG.

Private sector involvement

Significant investments have also been ploughed into processing capacity, with the number of

rice mills rising from one plant five years ago, to 24 at present, according to the Rice Millers,

Importers and Distributors’ Association of Nigeria. Increased processing will enable Nigeria to

reduce milled imports and boost the value-added in the production chain.One of the biggest

investments in processing was made last year by Dangote Group. In August, the Nigerian

conglomerate committed to spend more than N165bn ($1bn) in mills, farms and related

infrastructure in a bid to support the country in its goal of becoming a net-exporter of rice. The

group acquired farmland in five states, which will be used for the commercial production of rice

paddy.

It will also set-up two rice mills with an installed capacity of 240,000 tonnes of rice per day.The

expansion of downstream activity is crucial to ensuring that Nigeria’s rice sector is sustainable.

Countries that have been able to fully develop their agriculture sectors have done it through

commercialisation, Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Industries Limited told OBG.

―Nigeria is already making strides to prioritise greater private sector participation in farming,

since large commercial entities can introduce larger capital investments and productivity-

enhancing initiatives,‖ he added.

Imported rice destabilises market

In addition to other initiatives, the Federal Government recently said it had concluded plans to

establish and manage a rice levy fund to support local rice production and growers.Under the

Backward Integration Programme scheme, introduced in 2013, approved investors who are

developing rice processing facilities are allowed to import rice at reduced tariffs until their

production capacity comes on line.The programme, which will end in 2017 when domestic

production is expected to be sufficient to meet demand, is credited with having helped attract an

estimated $1.6bn in private sector investments. However, it may also have caused distortions in

the market and a drain on state funds with claims of increased smuggling of rice as a result of a

government price hike on imports.

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Cheap smuggled rice has toughened the competition for local growers, lowering the price they

can attain on the market. At the same time, some companies may have obtained an import quota

but have not made any investments in the rice sector, or have imported quantities of rice well

about their quota, without paying the appropriate levies.In mid-January, the government

announced it would pursue instances of under-payment or non compliance, with the N36.5bn

($195.7m) in estimated debts to the state, once collected, to be put into the newly established

National Domestic Rice Production Fund.

Source with thanks: spyghana.com

Amira Nature Foods : ATTENTION AMIRA SHAREHOLDERS: Shareholder Rights Law Firm Johnson & Weaver, LLP is Investigating Potential Violations of the Federal Securities Laws by Amira Nature Foods Ltd and Certain Officers

02/13/2015 | 10:46pm US/Eastern

Shareholder Rights Law Firm Johnson & Weaver, LLP is investigating potential violations of the

federal securities laws by Amira Nature Foods Ltd (NYSE: ANFI) and certain of its officers.

Amira is engaged in processing, distributing and marketing packaged specialty rice and other

food products.On February 9, 2015, Prescience Point Research Group published a report alleging

that Amira had overstated its India-produced Basmati rice revenue by at least 116.9% in 2014,

citing Indian government reports on Basmati rice exports.

Prescience further alleged that Amira had engaged in material related-party transactions with its

largest distributor, one of its largest suppliers and a company from which Amira intended to buy

$30 million of land. Additionally, the report stated that Amira Chief Executive Officer Karan

Chanana used Company resources for personal use, including paying salaries for household

help.As a result of this news, Amira stock plummeted $3.45 per share to close at $9.95 per share

on February 9, 2015, a one-day decline of nearly 26%, on volume of over 3.6 million shares.

If you are an Amira shareholder and are interested in learning more about the

investigation or your legal rights and remedies, or if you have any information that may

assist us in our investigation, please contact Jim Baker ([email protected]) at

619-814-4471. If you email, please include your phone number.

Johnson & Weaver, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in

California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in

shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm

and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonandweaver.com. Attorney advertising. Past

results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Source with thanks: Courtesy 4-traders.com